#and at first the guy won’t let go but Bobby’s boys are tired and his throat hurts so he won’t be talking to any reporters anyway

[savvylittlecoxswain]

Flashing broad, white grins, Joe and his crewmates paddled back to the Princeton shell house, tossed Bobby Moch in the water, fished him out, and then lined up for the press and newsreel photographers waiting for them on the float. Henry Penn Burke, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Rowing Committee, positioned himself next to Bobby Moch and extended a silver cup to him. As the newsreel cameras whirred, Moch, dripping wet and bare chested, held one of the cup's handles and Burke, in a suit and tie, held the other. Then Burke began to speak. He spoke and he spoke and he spoke. The boys were tired, and it was blazing hot out on the float, and they wanted to hit the showers and start celebrating. Still Burke continued to talk. Finally Moch gave a little tug on the cup and it popped free from Burke's hand. Burke kept right on talking. Eventually, with Moch clutching the cup, the boys just drifted away, leaving Burke alone on the float, still talking as the newsreel cameras continued to roll.

— The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Training pt.2

Joe Rantz X Ulbrickson!Reader

Summary: After their date, Joe's distracted...

Warning: Swearing/ kissing/ angst/ sadness/ yelling.

Word count: 1.1k

After they got official, Y/n and Joe went on dates, one of them included a date at the dinner. Where Joe saw his dad again for the first time since he left, but Y/n didn’t know that. But she knew that the bathroom had a vent that made eavesdropping easier. She knew it wasn’t right, but she was just too curious. ‘’You left me when I was 14! And now your back and you didn’t tell me?’’ Joe said. It was his dad. What the hell? Now she felt bad about spying on him, so she went back to her seat. She played with her fingers while she waited for Joe to come back inside. When he did, he looked pissed, but tried to put on a smile for his girl. ‘’Sorry, it was, uh, that was my dad’’ he confessed. ‘’Are you okay?’’ she took his hand. ‘’It’s just a long story and I don’t want to ruin the mood’’ he says. ‘’It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, just know that I’m there for you. And we have to get you to practice’’ Y/n says smiling. Joe was happy that he didn’t have to explain everything, but Y/n saw that it disturbed him. ‘’You’re right, let’s go.’’ He speaks. ‘’Say hi to Don and Bobby for me’’ she said. They told the team they were together; they were all happy for them.

‘’Rantz, where the hell is your mind?!’’ she heard her dad yell. She took her skirt in her hands and started to walk very fast to the deck. Don saw her coming. Her father was looking at Joe, who didn’t feel like talking at all. ‘’Do you want to be in that boat, Rantz’’ her father yelled again. ‘’Uh, dad, why not wait a little bit, they’re all tired, and uh, I need you to sign something’’ She stammered, trying to take his dad off Joe’s back. But, before her dad could say something, Joe decided to say something. ‘’I don’t care’’ he mumbled. She thought about telling him to shut up, but it would just upset him even more. Her dad took a deep breath, he was fuming. ‘’You don’t care? So, you won’t care if I replace you’’ he said to him. Y/n felt so bad for Joe. ‘’Dad, please I – ‘’ Her dad shushed her with his finger. She was starting to get angry, when he shushed her, she was angry. ‘’Coy, you’re taking Rantz’s place! Y/n don’t ever interrupt me like that again!’’ he yelled. She wanted to hit tell her dad a piece of her mind, but when Joe walked past her. Coy felt bad, he knew Joe was better than him, but he didn’t know what just happened. Y/n looked at her dad, cursing to him in her mind, then, took her skirt as she started to run after Joe, who was already inside.

‘’Joe, talk to me! I know that was because of your dad, can you stop walking. Joe talks to me!’’ she said. He wasn’t speaking to her, but he was still walking, she followed him into the boy’s locker room. ‘’Are you serious? Joe I’ve tried to help you and argh! Please talk, yell, kiss do anything but please don’t shut me out!’’ she said. He turned to look at her. ‘’Y/n, I just need to be alone!’’ he almost yelled as he stormed outside. ‘’What the hell?’’ she whispered. She replaced her hair, messy from the wind and sat on the bench.

When the team came in, they were all nervous to see what happened to the couple. ‘’Is she okay you think?’’ Bobby asked. ‘’Her dad was harsh on her.’’ Jim said. When she heard the guys coming in, she wipes the tears from her cheeks and got up. ‘’I’m sorry, I’ll go a-away’’ she stutters. Don sits next to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He wasn’t a very talkative person, and he was very reserved, so when he did this move, she started to cry again. ‘’Give him time, he’ll crawl back to you’’ Bobby said. Y/n smiled. ‘’Thanks guys, I’ll let you guys’ change. Goodnight, guys’’ she said as she got up. When she walked back to her dorm, she felt alone. Usually, Joe would kiss her goodnight.

3 days had passed since Joe was out of the team. They didn’t talk since, Y/n stayed in her room for 3 days. She eaten on leftovers she had. But today, her dad was bringing her to New York for the competition. So, when she got out of her room, with her luggage, she was surprised to see Joe standing outside her room with flowers in his hands. ‘’Y/n, I’m so sorry about the other day. I never should’ve been mean to you, I really like you and I’ve been dealing with stuff, and I know it’s not an excuse. But I need you and I’m really sorry’’ He blurted out. She blushed, seeing how desperate he was to get her back. ‘’I really like you too, Joe Rantz’’ she said, kissing him. She took the flowers in his hands and went to put them in a pot in her room. ‘’Come on, we have to take the train.’’ She said, taking his hands.

When they walked out of his dorm room, her dad and her mom were downstairs. ‘’I’m going to go talk to your dad. I’m getting my place back’’ he said, pressing a kiss on her cheek. Her mom came up the stairs, to meet her daughter. ‘’You guys look great together, he looks likes he makes you happy. I’m happy for you, my darling’’ she said hugging her. Joe came closer to Y/n’s dad and was fidgeting with his hands. ‘’Coach, I’m really sorry. This boat is all I have, please.’’ He begged. Y/n was watching her dad. He looked at his daughter’s eyes, they were filled with joy for her boyfriend. ‘’I want you to look at my daughter’s eyes. Look at them’’ he said. Joe looked at Y/n eye’s they were filled with love. Joe just realised how she looked at him. ‘’She looks at you with love and hope, you make my daughter happy. And I can tell rowing that makes you happy. So yes, you’ll have your seat back. And welcome to the family, kid’’ her dad said, looking at Joe. ‘’Thank you so much, Coach’’ Joe said. He turned back to look at his girlfriend. ‘’I’m back on the team!’’ he said, yelling and putting is hands up in the air. Y/n practically ran down the stairs to hug her boyfriend. Her mom came down and hugged her dad. ‘’Welcome to the family, Joe.’’ Her mom said. Y/n hugged her parents, then pulled her hand out to bring Joe in the hug. They were all a big family.

[ninjago13]

this is chapter 2 of How do you stop an angel from opening Purgatory ? -by Sam and Dean Winchester

Chapter 2: The plan

‘Listen, Cas. I know you want to kill Raphael, I mean he is annoying, but don’t you think this is going a little too far ?’ Balthazar said. Cas sighed. ‘Listen, I can explain. But first we have to get out of here. Crowley basically wants to rip your hearts out. I’ve kept him from doing that, but I don’t think he’ll hold himself any longer.’ ‘And you didn’t think you should’ve said that a bit earlier ?’ ‘Why? If you are stopping him, then why should we be afraid?’ Sam asked. 

Balthazar suddenly realised what Cas was up to. ‘You’re gonna betray him,’ he said. ‘Yes. Look, I’ve made a mistake. But I want to fix it. I don’t care if you don’t believe me, but we have to get out of here now !’ ‘Uhm, guys?’ Dean pointed at the window. Outside they saw a huge demonic storm, trying to get in. ‘Balthazar, can you teleport us somewhere safe?’ Dean asked. ‘Yes. I will first teleport you and your brother. Then Castiel and Bobby here.’ ‘Alright, just do it quickly.’ Everyone, except Balthazar, were stressed now. The demons were almost through the door when Dean suddenly saw a beach. He felt the sand beneath his feet and heard the rustle of the sea. 

A few seconds later he also saw his brother, Bobby and Balthazar with a tied up Cas. ‘Where are we ?’ he asked. ‘Kauai.’ ‘K- Kauai ?’ Jeez. That was a long way from home. While they walked to the beach, Balthazar said: ‘Crowley won’t suspect that we’re here. We’re safe here. At least for now.’ They made a campfire on the beach. Sam first worried a bit, because there were of course other people, but Balthazar made sure that no one could find or see them. When everyone wanted to sleep, they faced another problem. Cas. ‘Well, I guess that we have to play guard. I’m going first. I don’t need to sleep anyway.’ ‘Alright. I’ll go next, Balthazar,’ said Sam. 

During the night nothing happened. Which was good, but in Cas’ experience he knew that many times it was too quiet. Especially with the Winchester boys. He tried to get into a more comfortable position, but he couldn’t really move. He looked up. The sky was beautiful. There were thousands of stars, shining on the beach. Cas later didn’t know if it was because  he was tired or if the rustling of the sea calmed him down, but he fell asleep a few minutes later. He normally never slept. But the rope was carved with Enochian sigils. It made him practically powerless. 

The next day they discussed what to do. ‘We can’t let Crowley just open Purgatory.’ ‘Tonight is the moon eclipse. We have to do it before then.’ ‘How, Sam ?’ Dean asked. ‘If we prevent it tonight he’s just going to do it the next eclipse. And how are we even going to stop him ?.’ They went on like this for a while when Dean said: ‘Let’s eat something. I can’t do this on an empty stomach.’ They all agreed on that. Dean and Bobby went to the village to buy some food, while Cas, Balthazar and Sam stayed on the beach. 

‘You think Crowley already has the blood ?’ ‘Not when I was with him the last time,’ said Cas. ‘Uh, yeah…well…about that.’ Sam and Cas first looked at each other then Balthazar. The angel held the newspaper up. He’d just quickly teleported to the village and back to see if there was any news. ‘A girl died yesterday. She was pretty popular on the internet, so it’s all over the news. Pretty sure she’s a virgin.’ ‘Great.’ 

‘Hmm, what pie do you think I should take ?’ ‘I don’t know, just choose one.’ Dean looked at Bobby. The older man was sweating and constantly looked around. ‘Hey hey hey, what is it ?’ ‘We have to get out of here.’ Dean quickly paid for the groceries. While they walked to the beach Dean asked: ‘Bobby, what was it ? You looked like you saw a ghost.’ ‘The cashier was a demon. I saw its black eyes.’ ‘You sure ?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘But then why didn’t it kill us ?’ ‘You ask me.’ 

‘Can I take a walk ?’ ‘No,’ Sam and Balthazar answered in unison. Cas sighed. How was he ever going to gain their trust again ? He doubted. On one hand he needed the souls, but on the other hand… Opening Purgatory was a great risk and he didn’t want to lose his friends. He had come so far just to end up here. Feelings were difficult. He was starting to feel a lot more since he was on Earth. And of course because he was befriended with Dean and Sam. Cas never could have imagined that humans could feel so much at the same time. It was confusing. A year ago he knew what choice he’d make. A year ago he was still serving Heaven. But then he rebelled. To give Dean and Sam a chance to stop the Apocalypse from happening. It didn’t work, obviously. But they did stop Lucifer. Eventually. 

‘Hey. There are demons here. We have to go.’ ‘Great. Oh and Crowley probably already has the blood. Let’s eat something and then get on the way.’ ‘Good idea, Sam. Where’s Cas ?’ ‘He’s-.’ Sam looked around. ‘Not here,’ he finished.

end notes:

I'm currently editing the chapters of this fanfic, but I'm not done with everything yet. So I'll try to finish everything in a few days. Hope you enjoy my fanfic!

[evanjinx]

alternative universe buddie fics recs :)

note: the links weren't working the first time i wrote the post but i edited and they're okay now!! if it still isn't working for you is probably because you're trying to open from a reblog from before i edit it, so try open directly from the original post on my profile.

Blind Date by @sassypopstar [complete | teen and up audiences | 3.8k words]

Buck feels a little ridiculous dressed in a jacket and a shirt. But Maddie had insisted on him dressing up for the occasion and even Chimney had quipped that it’s the right thing to do. So Buck, who never went on a blind date before in his life, listened to his big sister and her boyfriend because apparently that’s who he is now. Or the one where Buck goes on a blind date with someone called Eddie.

Buckley's Bouquets by awashleyno [complete | teen and up audiences | 23.4k words]

A world where Buck owns a flower shop and manages to develop a huge, massive, ridiculous crush on a handsome firefighter that comes in for a visit one day. Or, 5 times Eddie gives flowers to other people and the 1 time he gives them to Buck.

Call It What You Will - Fate? Destiny? (A Tsunami) by @abow123456 [complete | mature | 20k words]

Evan Buckley's day of relaxation is cut short when a tsunami hits the beach he was relaxing at. He has to fight to keep himself and a lost little boy safe from the water, as well as anyone else he finds. After, he meets the boys father and family, and it causes a snowball effect of good things for him, for once.

Capuccino with extra, extra sugar by buckbng [complete | teen and up audiences | 2.7k words]

Buck is the cute barista and Eddie is the grinch that hates coffee. Until, he doesn't. Because if Buck says he looks like the kind of person that would love a cappuccino, who's Eddie to disagree with him? OR Eddie really doesn't like coffee but pretends he does just so he has an excuse to see the cute barista at the coffee shop.

Confirmation Bias by strifechaos [complete | mature | 31k words]

After the fallout with his ex-wife, Eddie believed he could only trust his family with his son. He hadn’t imagined falling for his son’s sweet-hearted nanny, Buck. With his own family so distant, Buck never considered that he’d be lucky enough to find a home for himself, let alone people he could count on. Not until he meets the Diaz boys. AU: Buck was never a firefighter, and becomes Christopher's sitter when Shannon's job takes her away from Eddie and Chris for the summer. Eddie tries to not fall for his son's nanny, he's not very successful.

dream of some epiphany by extasiswings [complete | mature | 7.3k words]

Evan Buckley is lost. It’s happenstance that he wanders into the navy recruiting center—he’s been in San Diego for a few weeks, bartending late nights and weekends, living in a house with three other guys not because he needs the roommates but because he doesn’t want to be alone, and the military is…respectable. Stable. So Buck thinks maybe and opens the door. Buck leaves ten minutes later with a set of printed instructions for sending his first letter, assured that he can drop it off whenever he’s ready, and a name. Staff Sergeant Edmundo “Eddie” Diaz.

Frequent Flyer by red_to_black [complete | mature | 13.4k words]

In his entire time being a firefighter, Eddie has never met anyone as accident-prone as Evan Buckley. And Buck - well, he's quickly becoming the 118's best customer. (Or - the one where Eddie is a firefighter, Buck isn't, and Eddie finds himself rescuing Buck from increasingly sticky situations. Sometimes literally.)

Gave me no messages, gave me no signs... by @reallysmartladymariecurie [complete | teen and up audiences | 7.4k words]

"Buck is beyond nervous, and he’s really trying to convince himself that the familiarity of the situation is not some sort of bad omen. Just because there are parallels of the start of his relationship with Eddie to that of his relationship with Abby doesn’t mean that this new adventure is destined to end in the same miserable fashion. He hopes it won’t, has to believe it won’t. Because even with Abby, he hadn’t fallen this hard for her before their first official date. With Eddie, everything is already intensified by a thousand." Or, Buck covers a shift for a firefighter at the 136 and it leads to a budding relationship through text messages.

Gotta Find My Corner (Of the Sky) by doctornineandthreequarters [complete | general audiences | 31.3k words]

It was the last day of 2016 and two lost souls found themselves in a quiet dive bar, as the loud noises of the city celebrating New Year’s Eve buzzed around them. Most people chose loud, flashy bars with DJs and entrance fees and promises of champagne for New Year’s Eve. But both occupants of the dive bar preferred the quiet. They both didn’t need the added chaos when everything around them already felt chaotic. --- Or, Buck and Eddie meet on New Year's Eve, 2016, a meeting that sets of a series of events that changes the trajectory of both of their lives.

I Didn't Know I Was Lonely 'Till I Saw Your Face by @hmslusitania [complete | general audiences | 10.4k words]

After the ladder truck and the blood clot and the tsunami, Bobby makes Buck go to therapy before he does something stupid (like sue the city). Buck's not totally comfortable being alone with a therapist, but fortunately he makes a friend and ally who's willing to help him out - Eddie Diaz from the 136 who's just been caught in an illegal fight club. OR Total strangers Buck and Eddie go to couple's therapy together to get out of the therapy requirements their captains have placed on them.

i want your midnights by allyasavedtheday [complete | teen and up audiences | 36.3k words]

In which Eddie decides to rent out his spare room to help with mortgage repayments right around the time Buck decides to move out of Abby's place after some not so gentle prodding from Maddie. It's a coincidence. Or serendipity. Or maybe just really good timing.

i wanna be know (by you) by @starlightbuck [complete | general audiences | 12.5k words]

“I didn’t mean to do it.” Hen glances down at Eddie’s phone then back up at him in disbelief.

“How do you ‘not mean’ to download a bunch of dating apps but still have them on your phone?”

Or  In which Eddie delves into the intimidating world of online dating.

if i got locked away (would you still love me the same?) by @firefighterhan [complete | general audiences | 3.7k words]

Buck gets accidentally thrown in jail after meddling in a fight outside of a grocery store. There, he meets an unexpected guest, famous music artist Eddie Diaz, who is being suspiciously quiet about how he ended up here in the first place.

if only in my dreams by @buttercupbuck [complete | general audiences | 5.4k words]

Years before Eddie joins the 118, Buck meets him at an airport bar on Christmas day.

in a week by @buttercupbuck [complete | explicit | 78.9k]

in which Eddie joins the U.S. Forest Service and in the meadows of California, finds the things he thought he lost and the things he thought he'd never have.

It Started With A Bang And A Hostage Situation by JayJay__884 [complete | general audiences | 6.6k words]

Buck goes to the store one late night to buy food because of Maddie's pregnancy cravings. Whilst at the store, Buck accidentally gets caught in the middle of a robbery and gets knocked out. After waking up in the backroom, Buck finds himself as a hostage with a handsome and caring stranger.

Leading with the Left by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels [complete | explicit | 84.7k]

When Buck said he was a "bartender" in "South America" what he actually meant was "stripper" in "Mexico." And when Eddie said, "What's your problem?" what he actually meant was, "Is this about the time you gave me a lap dance?" In other words, there's a few things the 118 doesn't know about Buck. Or Eddie. Or Buck and Eddie's relationship.

Lift me up by @captain--sif [complete | teen and up audiences | 5.5k words]

Buck gets stuck in his apartment building's broken elevator with his good-looking neighbor from the sixth floor.

Love and Bullets Both Shatter Hearts (But Only One Can Put You Back Together) by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels [complete | explicit | 11.2k words]

Agent [Redacted] Diaz is the best at what he does. Usually. But lately there's this real pain in the ass* who's been ruining his missions: Code Name "Buck."

*stupidly handsome and annoyingly talented rival spy

Mr. Buckley's After Hours Detention by aresaphrodites [complete | mature | 11.4k words]

It’s not like Eddie Diaz planned on this. Really, there was no scenario in his mind where he would ever be bringing his son’s teacher a freaking goody basket to class; a homemade goody basket, no less. Then again, Christopher has never had a teacher quite like Evan Buckley.

MukbangsWithBuck by @reallysmartladymariecurie [complete | teen and up audiences | 19.3k words]

After growing tired of eating alone in his loft, Buck decides to start a YouTube channel where he records himself eating dinner and telling stories about crazy things his team has encountered on calls. He eventually gains a substantial fanbase, and he is led to the channel of another LA firefighter who uploads informational videos and also casual vlogs with his ten-year-old son. It isn't long before the two start a friendship through messages, both of them secretly hoping it will turn into something more. Or, Eddie and Buck are both firefighters/YouTubers and they end up falling in love.

Objects in the Mirror by SevenSoulmates [complete | explicit | 139.1k words]

The voice had always been around, Eddie remembers it, like a stream of consciousness that babbled incoherently to the point where Eddie just tuned it out.  But then the voice started speaking directly to him. Conversing like he was a whole person standing right in front of him. Like he could see what was happening around Eddie. Eddie shook his head. No one was talking to him, and Eddie most certainly was not talking back. He wouldn’t talk to the boy in his head ever again. There was no boy in his head. 

Passive Aggressive Flirting by @starlingbite [complete | general audiences | 4.5k words]

Buck and Eddie have never met. They both work at the 118 but just on different shifts. That's all about to change when Buck finds a sticky note message, signed E.

String of hearts... by @reallysmartladymariecurie [complete | teen and up audiences | 11.1k words]

“Now. Eddie is this incredible presence. He’s funny and smoking hot, and he has a son who sounds wonderful. And he’s serious and vulnerable at times. But so enjoyable to be around, every single second that he’s there. And how can I put myself out there when the expectation is so high? When the thing I might lose is so beautiful?”

In which Buck owns a plant shop in LA, and Eddie becomes his new favorite customer. Pining ensues.

check out my post of buddie fics with dad!buck

[libraryofloveletters]

The Mistletoe Proposal

Eddie Diaz x Reader 

Warnings: fem!reader, kissing, a little bit of friendly bullying with buck. 

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 1.9k

Author’s Note: Based on this request and this request!! this is basically a part 2 to The Parent Trap but it can be read as a stand alone :)

---

It was Christmas Eve and the 3 of you sat on the couch watching how the grinch stole Christmas. Emily and Christopher had spent the day hanging out and playing video games while you put up last minute decorations and did some gift wrapping. Christmas was always super small for the two of you, it usually consisted of you buying gifts for Emily and then tv in your pjs all day but since Eddie and Chris came into your lives this year, you decided it was time to go all out. 

“What do you two want for dinner?” leaning back into the couch as you paused the movie. 

“Pizza” 

“Burgers” 

“How about both ?” 

A loud yes and the two of them getting off the couch to go get their shoes. Your phone buzzed as you tumbled through your bag for your car keys. Pulling it out of your pocket, Eddie’s name popped up on the screen. 

From Eddie: What are you guys up to ? 

To Eddie: Going out for pizza and burgers 

From Eddie: Did you starve them today ? Why both ? 

To Eddie: Haha very funny Diaz, they’re growing children

From Eddie: Swing by the station ? I miss you guys 

To Eddie: We’ll see, I'll message you if we’re coming by 

From Eddie: Bobby’s making dinner but sounds good 

“Kiddos! Can we take a rain check on burgers and pizza ? Eddie just texted and Bobby’s making dinner at the station. Maybe we should stop by ?” 

The two kids nodded, “can we take the cheesecake too ?” Emily asked you, her and Christopher were sitting on the bench by the front door. You headed back to the fridge to grab the cake before heading out. 

-- 

The drive wasn't very long, it was only 15 minutes from your place to the station. Helping the kids out, they went into the station a few seconds before you, you had to get the cheesecake from the car. When you got in, Buck was being smothered with hugs from the kids. “Hey pretty boy” you smiled at him, the nickname making him laugh, he pulled you in for a hug. “Hey yourself, I haven’t seen you in forever” 

“You saw me last week Buck” 

“Yeah but that’s too long, who’s supposed to make me dinner if Bobby doesn't cook ? Plus Eddie won’t share whatever you pack for him” he pouted at you, his arm over your shoulder. 

“Oh you poor baby, I'll make sure you make double next time. One for him and one for you” you chuckled, Buck smiled. Chim and Hen had already come down and helped the kids up the stairs and to the game machine. “This place is so cool!” Emily said to Christopher, Christoper smiled at her, “I know!” 

“Hey, I thought you said you'd text if you were coming ?” Eddie walked over, giving you a hug. “Surprise ?” hugging him back and chuckling, he kissed your cheek. “Did they say hi to you ?” the two of you looked over at the kids who were very into the game they were currently playing. “No,” he laughed, “they ran off. I’m gonna go say hi, make yourself comfortable” Eddie’s hand squeezed your waist softly before letting go. 

Turning to the kitchen, you were greeted by Bobby who was stirring something in a pot. “Is that cheesecake ?” he looks over at the box in your hand, you nodded. “A little something for you guys. Chris and Em helped me make it,” you glanced over at the kids before whispering, “if there’s any eggshells, just bypass that ?” Bobby nodded with a smile. “I’m sure it’s great.” 

“What can I help with ?” you washed your hands and took a look around. 

“You’re a guest don’t worry about that” he told you, you shook your head, “Oh please, let me help. It's a lot” 

“Fine, but only because you insist. The carrots and celery need to be chopped and someone needs to let the table” he said, his attention still on the pot in front of him. 

“I got the veggies. Eddie! Buck!” the two men found their way over to you in a matter of seconds. “Set the table please ?” smiling sweetly at them, Buck glanced over at Eddie. 

“Question Buck?” you glare at him,

He shakes his head, “Oh no, I’m fine”

“Why are you two still standing here ? Go set the table” you nod towards the table, the two men walk away. You can still hear them bickering as they set the table. 

“Is she always that bossy ?” Buck asks him, Eddie nods. “It’s hot though” Eddie replies and Buck agrees with him earning a smack to the arm. “Dude! c’mon that’s my girlfriend” Eddie groans making Buck laugh, “if only I had gone to pick up Chris that day” he jokes, Eddie walks away leaving Buck at the table. 

“You should come around more often. They stopped listening to me months ago” Bobby tells you, “they’re a handful. I don't know how you do it” you laugh, taking over at the stove. 

--

After dinner, Eddie disappears with Chris and Emily for a few minutes only to come back with a suspicious look on all 3 of them. “What's up with you ?” taking a seat on the arm rest of the chair Eddie was sitting in, his arm comes up and wraps around your waist. “Nothing, just a little conversation” he smiles at you, your arm around his shoulder now. 

“You’re losing!” your daughter giggles, Chim groans, “I'm not losing to children!” “You’re losing!” Chris laughs this time. You glance down at Eddie who has a smile on his face. 

Your heart felt like it grew 10 times its size when you saw Eddie’s reaction to them. 

“C’mon!” Buck shouts from the other end of the kitchen, he’s holding a mistletoe above Bobby and Athena. 

Bobby smiles at Athena before kissing her. “Okay Mr. Buckley, get out of here now” Athena pushes him away, Buck gives her a grin and walks away. 

He then finds his way over to Hen and Karen who are sitting at the table together. “What are you doing ?” Hen gives him a look, already tired of him. “Just spreading the holiday love. Come on, give your wife some lovin’” Buck and Karen laughed, Hen shook her head. “Say that again and I'll push you over the balcony” she gave Karen a kiss. Buck seems satisfied with his result, leaving them alone. 

“Hey love birds” Buck smiled making his way over to you and Eddie. “Don’t start” Eddie warned him. “Fine,” Buck walked around the couch to where you sat and held up the mistletoe. “I’ll just give her a kiss myself” Buck leaned down and kissed your cheek. You smiled at him, “you’re a sweetheart Buck, but I think I rather kiss Eddie” you patted his chest and turned to Eddie. Buck gasped, his hand dramatically hitting his chest, “I’m hurt! how could you?!” he pouted, “you’ll find the right one Buck, don't worry” Eddie said, pulling you down onto his lap. His hand cupping your cheek, you leaned in. Eddie’s lips touched yours, every time felt like the first time, you never got tired of kissing him. Eddie pulled away when a chorus of “gross” and “ew” started, you both looked over to see Buck and Chim encouraging the kids. 

Burying your face in the crook of Eddie’s neck, you could feel the heat on your cheeks. “Are you blushing ?” Eddie whispered, kissing your head.

“No, you are” you mumbled, he chuckled, feeling the vibration each time he laughed.  

“Let’s goooo!” Buck picked up Chris and ran down the stairs. “Okay little lady, your turn!” Chim picked up Emily and followed Buck down the stairs. “Where are you guys going !?” you shouted from the chair, “To show them the trucks!” Buck shouts back. You didn't think anything of it, you were glad you ended up coming to see Eddie at work. 

“You know,” you fiddled with the collar of his shirt, Eddie’s arm was around your waist, your legs swung over the other end of the chair. Eddie hums waiting for you to continue, “you look kinda hot in your uniform. I never get to see you in it” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah” 

“Maybe I'll have to wear it more often then” Eddie smiles at you as you get up. He grabs your hand, “where are you going?” he pouts. “C’mon, you’re gonna start pouting now ?” you gave him a look, he kept pouting. You leaned down and gave him a kiss, “would you look at that, the pout’s gone” 

“Let’s go find the kids” Eddie holds your hand, letting you walk down as he follows behind you. As you get down the stairs, you stop in the middle of the station. The kids are up on the trucks. On one truck stood Buck and Chris holding on the end of a rather large banner. On the other truck stood Chim and Emily holding the other side of the banner. Everyone else stood by the truck, watching you as you read the banner. 

“Will you marry me?” 

You turned around to see Eddie, who was down on one knee now. Letting out a gasp, he opened the little velvet box to reveal the ring. “Y/n, I know we’ve only been together for a year but you make me happier than I could ever imagine. You’ve been so amazing with Chris and he loves you so much, as do I and I love Emily so much too,” he glances at the kids and gives them a smile. “Would you do me the honour of being my wife and marry me ?” he let out a breath, looking up at you. 

“Yes! oh my god Eddie, yes” you leaned down, your hands holding his face. He smiled at you as he got up. You admired the ring as he slid the ring onto your finger, “you have excellent taste Mr. Diaz” you hold out your hand, admiring the ring again. “I had some help from Chris and Emily” his arm wraps around your shoulder. 

Everyone comes over to congratulate the two of you, the kids come over to you two. “How could you two keep this from me?” you ask the kids, they smile at you. “He made us promise” Chris said, Emily nodded. “Do you like the ring mommy ?” 

“I love it and I love you both so much” you give the two of them a hug. They run off with Chim to go play some game. Everyone clears out, going off to do their own thing. You and Eddie are still wrapped up in each other, most definitely in the honeymoon phase again. You look up at the kids with Chim when you spot the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. 

“Hey” you poke Eddie’s cheek, “what?” his brows furrow, his eyes follow your finger to the ceiling. 

“That had to be-” he started, 

“Shut up and kiss me already Diaz” He laughed as he pulled you in for a kiss. 

---

Taglist: @ssa-volturi​ @advicefromnixxxx​ @keenmarvellover​ @takashishiroqane​ (only cause you loved the first one :) ) 

[stiliskishit]

fighter!stiles stilinski

Noah doesn’t know what to do with Stiles anymore. He knows, of course he knows, that he shouldn’t be so tired of listening to his own son, of seeing the boy around the house, but he is and if he doesn’t do something to get the boy out of the house, he could end up doing something he’ll regret forever. 

That’s why he enrolls the boy in Finstock’s boxing academy, the boy is too agitated, too anxious, and too much everything after his mother’s death, Noah and the psychologist have agreed to put him to do some sport, the gym is cheap and Stiles can manage to punch a sandbag for sure. 

So the sheriff put him there and begged to any greater power to make his son better so that Stiles would calm down, stop crying just at the sight of a glass of whiskey in Noah’s hand. 

The sport paid off and although Finstock seems a little crazy in the head, the guy did a good job with Stiles. 

Well, that was what Noah thought back then. 

Years passed, Stiles grown up and just made it quieter, whenever the kid came home he looked tired but much better than the sheriff could have asked for after the panic attacks had passed. 

He should have been more attentive, more observant with his own son. 

The first time Noah learned of the possibility of Stiles being gay he admits, he didn’t take it very well. Some of his subordinates were talking about the increase in the death rates of LGBT people at the police station, one of them, Mahealani talked about worrying about Danny, his favorite nephew and who had come out to the family some time ago. 

“But what can you do? It’s not like the kid is to blame for the bad people in the world,” the man said, sighing “If people kill others because of who they love, it’s not the fault of the person who dies. Of course, I don’t want Danny to get hurt, but I won’t hurt him myself. I know you understand me, don’t you, Sheriff? I know there is a difference between Danny and Stiles, but I also worry about the boy, even if he takes fighting lessons.”

 Noah stared at the man, he doesn’t know what Jayden was talking about, but he doesn’t disagree too, doesn’t want to offend the man and his nephew. 

“Stiles is tough” He suggests nonetheless “But I understand you.” 

After this day, Noah began to pay a little more attention to Stiles, began to be aware of his own son. Sometimes, Stiles will be home with bruises because of training, sometimes he’ll be home with hickeys and bites. The sheriff doesn’t know how to talk about it with the boy, since his mother’s death Stiles became a very independent child, dealing with his own problems and needs. 

Noah shouldn’t be proud of that, proof that he was a neglectful and selfish parent, but he is, because his boy, his son, was able to handle problems that not even the sheriff was. 

Noah let the talk slip of his mind, Stiles is almost an adult, he managed to basically raise himself after his mother’s death, why he should be worried? His son is in a boxing gym, of course, he will appear with some bruises, and he’s young, he doesn’t need someone pointing to his hickeys and marks. 

Nevertheless, on a night when the two of them are home for dinner and order a pizza to eat together, Noah makes a comment about being "safe." 

He didn't expect stiles to respond with a mocking laugh. 

“So now you care?”

He doesn't gapes, of course, but he is shocked. Stiles never spoke to him like that, never answered him that way. Before he manages to recompose himself Stiles is out, catching his hoodie and fast in his car, running off him. 

“God” Noah mutters, running his hand over his face “Why did you take Claudia and leave me here when I'm such a horrible father?” 

He doesn't get an answer, as always. 

_____ 

The next days Noah realizes that he's been a horrible sheriff in his own house and an even worse father. 

Stiles' room reeks of cigarettes and marijuana, a few quarts of vodka are scattered on the floor, and the boy doesn't look like he's slept in the bed in days. Not only was he a failure, but he also contained being and Stiles seems to be following in Noah's footsteps. He doesn't want that for his own son. 

The sheriff contacts Bobby Finstock, he wants to know what the other knows about Stiles' life, why he is so angry right now. He doesn't even need to ask. Bobby greets him with a sigh and says: 

“I was wanting to talk to you Sheriff.” 

When Bobby starts to talk about stiles and how he is talented and has a gift for the sport, Noah knows that his son is in trouble. Stiles' teachers always seem to try to placate the Sheriff with a few nice words before unleashing all the wailing about Stiles. 

Bobby, for some reason, don't do that. He just says he's worried because the boy recently seems to have been the victim of bullying and, if the Sheriff doesn't do something, Bobby will have to do it himself, because he doesn't want stiles tossing his gift in the trash because of “some homophobic shit” and going to jail. Finstock also has a few choice words to talk about how Noah is being negligent, how he must talk to his own son sometimes before he loses the boy. 

He knows that Noah has been negligent but he's not dumb. He worries more about the “jail” part of the conversation, though. 

______

Noah contacts an old acquaintance. Chris Argent isn't the best person in the world, but he owes him, and the Stiles needs someone who would listen to him, and who he would listen to. 

“Do you want me to train your boy to be a professional wrestler?” Argent asks, seeming skeptical. 

“Yes.”

“You know that I'm in France right now, don't you? And Peter loves here, he doesn't want to go back to Beacon Hills anymore.”

“Yeah, I know. If stiles need to be there to stay out of trouble, even better.”

Argent sighs. Noah seems to be hearing this sound from a lot of people lately, himself included. 

“Fine. I'll talk to him next week.”

“Excellent. very good indeed." Noah thinks for a moment, then adds, "I'd rather you not tell him it was my idea, make it look like a recruitment." 

Argent snorts but agrees anyway. 

“You're getting weirder with the age Noah.” 

He laughs, even if he doesn't agree. He's not getting weirder, he's getting a little better.

[xlostinobsessionsx]

Good Girls are Bad Girls that haven't been Caught | Luke Patterson

Pairing: alive! 1995! Luke Patterson x fem! Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 4,038

A/N: A big thank you goes to @bass-ic-deaky for proof-reading and making this fic much more vibrant! 💖

This fic is based on "Good Girls" by 5 Seconds of Summer.

Masterlist

Luke and (Y/N) knew each other since they were kids. They had been neighbors since childhood, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to be playing with each other in their adjoining backyards most days. But time went by and slowly they got older. On his 8th birthday, Luke had gotten a guitar and quickly realised his dream of becoming a rock star. After meeting Alex Mercer and Reggie Peters in middle school, the dream slowly became reality. Sunset Curve was born. (Y/N), on the other hand, took on violin instead. 

As time passed, they slowly began to grow apart. One would describe Luke’s style of music and dress as more rock n’ roll grunge. (Y/N), however, looked the total opposite, elegant, poised, which could also be heard through her playing throughout the neighborhood. (Y/N) listened to classical music and took ballet lessons while Luke continued his guitar lessons and went to ice hockey practice. It seemed like after all this time, the two had nothing in common anymore.

Now they were in high school and they barely knew the other existed anymore. The only times Luke saw (Y/N), even though they were still neighbours, was when they ran into each other in the hall or if they just so happened to leave for school at the same time, which these days was very rare. (Y/N) was quite the early riser, and was often already off on her way while Luke was still lying in bed half asleep. Though they had two classes together, they hardly spoke to each other. It was as if their friendship before this had meant nothing.

Sometimes Luke missed the old days. Back then, (Y/N) didn’t seem too different from him. He could still remember them sitting in his treehouse, sharing gummy bears and listening to an old Led Zeppelin album. Now all she ever seemed interested in was studying. But even despite their different paths, they talked to each other from time to time. Their parents, on the other hand, were still very close. Occasionally they met at one of their homes, cooked together, talked about their jobs and even more so about their kids. Luke had learned from his parents that (Y/N) planned to go to Harvard once they graduated. Of course, when they told him that, he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. He knew his parents wished he had the same or at least similar plans for his life. But Sunset Curve was finally starting to take off. After they played their first gig at a small bar in L. A., more and more bars and clubs were willing to let them perform. Luke had loved rehearsals before, now they were even more fun, especially knowing that they’d get to perform their new songs in front of more people than just Bobby’s parents. Bobby became a part of the band when he moved to L. A. four years after they had formed. With Bobby’s arrival the band not only found a rhythm guitarist, but also a place to rehearse. Before that, they had to rehearse in Reggie’s basement, between boxes and useless junk. Then of course his parents constantly fighting upstairs didn’t make for the best working environment.

Whenever Luke fought with his parents and just needed space to clear his head, there was no better place for him than a small shed in Bobby’s backyard which they had affectionately dubbed their studio. The words from his parents still rang in his ears as he pulled out his bike, guitar case slung over his back. 

“Why can’t you be more like (Y/N)?! She has good grades and a bright future at Harvard!” His mother had wailed.

“Being a rockstar is not a realistic goal, it won’t bring you any money or stability.” His father tried to convince him.

Every time it was always the same. Luke jumped onto his bike and made his way through the backyard towards the gate, when he stopped in his tracks. In the corner of his eyes he could make out a dark figure, running through the yard next to his. At the end of the driveway, he could make out the lights of a car, shining through the trees and the figure running towards it. When the figure finally came into the light, Luke could finally see who it was. She turned around, taking one last look at the house behind her before she opened the car door and got in before promptly speeding off into the darkness. Who did (Y/N) just leave with?

--

Luke was tired the next morning. Despite spending the night in the studio, far away from the trouble with his parents, the young guitarist hadn’t slept a wink. His mind was racing with thoughts of (Y/N) and the mysterious person she had left with. During their lunch break at school, he told his band members of the encounter. “Wait, you mean to tell us that (Y/N), the definition of the perfect daughter, snuck out?” Bobby asked in disbelief. 

Luke nodded. “Yep, got into a car with someone. Can’t say for certain who it was.” The eyes of the four guys wandered to said girl, who was sitting with her friends at a table not far away from their own. 

“I’ll dip into the school gossip and see what I can find out. I’ll deliver the goods.” Alex smirked. And deliver he did at their band practice later that day. “So you know Tori, the girl who sits next to me in chem class and never shuts up? She told me that she heard from one of her friends, who was told by one of his friends that (Y/N) was spotted with Brandon Jones in the back of the library.” 

“Brandon Jones?” Luke asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Alex nodded “Yeah, the captain of the football team who always drives a really expensive car.”

“How do they even know each other? Isn’t he usually on the brink of suspension?” Reggie asked curiously to which Alex shrugged. 

“Well, well, well, seems like your little (Y/N) likes bad boys, Luke.” Bobby laughed, while throwing an arm around Luke’s shoulders. 

Luke quickly shrugged it off with a grimace. “She’s not my (Y/N).” He snapped. “It just surprises me that she sneaks out to meet him. That doesn’t sound like her.” 

“Yeah, ‘cause you know her so well after barely talking to her for years and only making eyes at her from afar.” Bobby countered. 

“I’m not making eyes at her!” The guitarist defended himself much too quickly to be believable. Back in the day when he still was friends with (Y/N), he may have had the tiniest of crushes on her. Luke had to admit that (Y/N) was indeed very beautiful, but he most certainly wasn’t making eyes at her as Bobby had suggested. 

--

A few days passed. Luke sped through the house looking for his jacket so he could get going to band practice, which he was already running late for. “Mom, Dad. I’m going to Bobby’s” He shouted through the house, hoping his parents had heard him. Finally finding his jacket under his bed, he shrugged it on as he made his way through the kitchen. 

He was about to open the back door, when his mom appeared behind him. “Don’t you have a french test to study for? (Y/N)’s father told me about it.” Emily looked expectantly at her son, arms crossed over her chest. 

Luke rolled his eyes and turned around. “Yeah, that’s why I’m going to Bobby’s. We’re gonna study together.” He lied convincingly. 

Emily nodded slowly, a bit skeptical. “(Y/N) studies every night alone and gets good grades. Maybe if you would just concentrate more, you could study alone, too.” Emily suggested. Luke laughed silently. (Y/N) studying every night? That was rich, if only her parents really knew their daughter. 

Luke mentally shook his head out. “Sure, but Bobby is better in french than I am. So he can help me. Work smarter not harder, isn’t that what they say?” He shrugged. 

Emily looked at him thoughtfully. “You could study with (Y/N). She’s nearly fluent in French now.” 

Luke nodded, a slight laugh escaping his lips as he opened the door. “I’ll think about it, alright? Now I really have to go!” He quickly said and made his way outside, slamming the door behind him. He couldn’t be late, after all Sunset Curve was playing another gig tonight. Luke took his bike from its spot against the fence and made his way towards the gate to the front yard when he suddenly saw a figure out of the corner of his eye again. Her hair was flowing in the wind as she quickly made her way through the darkened yard only this time instead of just watching, Luke went after her. Before (Y/N) could reach the car that was waiting for her behind the trees, Luke touched her shoulder. Startled, she let out a yelp of surprise as she spun around. “(Y/N)?” 

“L-Luke...hey.” She laughed nervously. 

“What are you doing out here?” He asked her confused, he was half expecting her to be up in her room studying like the perfect little princess she was. 

(Y/N) clasped at his wrist and pulled him behind the trees, out of the sight of her house. “Don’t you dare tell my parents about this!” She hissed at the guitarist through gritted teeth. 

Luke laughed. “What? That their little princess is sneaking out?”

“I’m not a princess!” She angrily countered. 

Luke shook his head “Nah, you’re right, you’re clearly the living definition of a goody-two-shoes. Such a good girl, eager to please.” 

(Y/N) rolled her eyes “You clearly forget everything you thought about good girls.” 

Luke furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?” 

Suddenly a voice interrupted both of them “(Y/N) you’re coming?” Brandon Jones, cool as ever with a cigarette poised elegantly between his lips, sat in the car beside them, looking with raised eyebrows at the girl in front of Luke. 

(Y/N)’s gaze wandered between the two boys “I gotta go.” She murmured as she opened the car door. But before getting inside she paused and turned to Luke again. “Good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught.” She winked as she got into the car immediately rolling down the window. “Now be a good boy and just turn around and forget about this encounter, alright?”. With that, she sped off leaving the guitarist standing there dumbfounded. Luke shook his head in disbelief, what had just happened?

When he arrived at Bobby’s, (Y/N) words were still running laps through Luke’s head. He was quick to tell the rhythm guitarist about the encounter. “‘Good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught’.” Bobby murmured. 

Luke nodded. “That’s what she said. Sounds pretty rad don’t you think?” He looked at the other guitarist who nodded in agreement. “Yeah...” Suddenly it was extremely and rather awkwardly quiet. “Do you think that they-” Luke started.

“Are seeing each other?” Bobby finished his friend’s question, the lead guitarist nodding in confirmation. “Would it matter?” 

Luke shrugged. “I mean, I just don’t want her to see her being pressured into something she doesn’t want to.” 

Bobby laughed quietly. “OR you just don’t want her doing anything with Brandon.” 

“Okay, I am definitely not jealous!” Luke countered, shaking his head.

“I never said you were, but now that you mention it…”

“Oh shut up...besides I’ve barely spoken to her in years!”

“But people don’t really change that much!” Bobby countered. 

Luke huffed dramatically. “Well she did!” 

“I don’t know about that, bro. Sneaking out? Doesn’t really sound like the (Y/N) we know from school.” He paused a moment. “The (Y/N) you knew when you were younger, the one you’ve told me about, that’s her down to the letter.” He shrugged as rose from his spot. “But enough about this. We’ve gotta go pick up Alex and Reggie. Otherwise we’re going to be late!” Luke quickly nodded, grabbing his guitar before following Bobby outside. 

The club was completely packed with people. Luke could hear the audience’s chattering from backstage. “This is so cool!” Reggie excitedly said after taking a look through the club. “There are so many people here from school, too!” 

Luke took a deep breath. Adrenaline was starting to course through his veins. He could practically hear his heart beating in his chest as the band made their way onto the stage. He blinked a few times as he tried to get used to the spotlights. His gaze drifted down through the crowd in front of them as they quickly set themselves up. Suddenly he stopped. At the back, right next to the bar, there she was standing. Their eyes met and a small smile played around her lips. Luke laughed to himself quietly before taking a step closer to the mic. “We’re Sunset Curve!”

After their gig, Luke made his way through the crowd. Everytime someone patted his shoulder to tell him how good they were, she nodded thankfully but his eyes always stayed fixated on (Y/N). When he finally stood in front of her a giggle left her lips “Good show, Patterson.” 

He smirked, leaning against the bar. “Thanks.”

“Just like we imagined when we were kids.” She slightly bumped against his shoulder. 

The guitarist felt his heart beat faster at this. Nervously he rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess.”

“So that’s what you’ve been up to all this time...?” She quietly asked, her gaze drifting through the crowd. Luke nodded in reply. “And soon you’re gonna be famous!” She smiled suddenly much more excited. 

Luke laughed “I think that’s still a long way off. What about you? What’ve you been up to?” He asked her curiously. 

“Oh, you know violin and ballet lessons, the usual. I haven’t told my parents yet that I’m sick of it!” She nonchalantly took a sip from her coke and looked at him. 

Luke furrowed his brows, he was genuinely confused. “I thought that’s what you liked? I mean you got your violin around the same time I got my guitar.” 

(Y/N) shook her head “I practically begged my parents to get me an electric bass so we could form a band but they got me a violin. Said it would be better for me.” 

Luke was surprised at those words. “A band?” He saw (Y/N)’s cheeks taking on a pink shade. 

She shrugged. “Like Led Zeppelin.” Suddenly ‘Whole Lotta Love’ started to blast through the speakers of the club. (Y/N) laughed “That’s creepy. Like they’ve been listening to us talk about it.” 

But Luke barely listened to her. Instead he had been transported back to 1987. He had just found the old Led Zeppelin EP in one of his dad’s boxes he kept into the attic. He had immediately called (Y/N) to meet him in the treehouse. They had been listening to the songs when suddenly (Y/N) had told him about her best female friend (Y/F/N), who had told her that she had kissed Fynn, a boy from their class. “Like a real kiss? On their lips?” Luke had asked with wide eyes. He, of course, had asked her if she ever had kissed a boy on the lips. (Y/N) had admitted that she had never. In her childish recklessness, or could it be her boldness, she had told him that he was the only one who she would have wanted to kiss. Luke remembered how nervous he had been, when (Y/N) had leaned in, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ playing in the background when their lips touched but for a short second. 

Luke looked wide-eyed at the girl in front of him, who didn’t know the memory that was playing in his head at the moment. His gaze fell from her eyes to her lips. Maybe Bobby had been right. Maybe (Y/N) hadn’t really changed that much and maybe he still had those feelings he had for her when he was smaller. He quickly shook his head. He couldn’t have those thoughts. (Y/N) was here with someone else. “So where’s your shadow?” He asked, referring to Brandon. He turned to the bar to order a coke. 

She sighed “Having a smoke.” 

“Already missing him?” He laughed. 

(Y/N) huffed, slightly annoyed. “Yeah, sure.” 

“I thought you were a thing?” Luke asked, turning to her again. 

(Y/N) furrowed her brows “Who told you that?” 

“Nobody. I just thought because you always sneak out to meet him and because you’re here together…?” He shrugged. 

(Y/N) laughed. “No, I mean it’s fun to hang out but I would never...I mean...he’s a player and only plays with girls.” 

Luke looked at her amused. “So you’re just hanging out with him for the sake of hanging out?” (Y/N) nodded. 

“I was just tired of everything. Of my life. It seemed like a good escape, you know? But now...it’s really hard to make it clear to him that nothing will ever happen.”

“Just be careful, alright? I don’t think he’ll let you get off the hook so easy.” 

(Y/N) shook her head “Soon he’ll get tired of me and look for someone else.” 

“And what about you then?”

(Y/N) took a deep breath and turned to him, something obviously weighing heavily on her mind. “Luke, I-” She started, but before she could finish her sentence they were interrupted as an arm found his way around (Y/N) shoulder. 

“I’m back.” Brandon smirked, eying Luke suspiciously. 

“Hey Brandon.” Luke smirked, annoyance evident in his gaze, before turning to (Y/N) again. “It was nice catching up, (Y/N). See ya around.” With that he made his way through the crowd, trying to stop himself from thinking about (Y/N).

--

Days passed. Once again, Luke barely saw (Y/N) apart from their classes. He was sitting in his room, writing down the lyrics to a song that had been stuck in his mind for days, when suddenly the doorbell rang. He ran down the hall of the family’s ranch style home and was met with her beautiful eyes, when he opened the door. “(Y/N)! So good to see you!” Emily greeted with a big smile, appearing behind Luke. “Come on in.” Luke stepped aside to let the girl inside. With a questioning glance, he looked to his mother. “I called (Y/N)’s parents to ask if she could help you in french. I think that would be better than having to go all the way to Bobby’s, right?” 

Luke nodded slowly “Uhm, yeah. Sounds good. Uhm, we could go into my room?” He suggested, looking at Emily. 

His mother nodded “Yes, but leave the door open. I’ll bring you some snacks.” 

Luke nodded in agreement and turned to (Y/N). “Shall we?” (Y/N) nodded in reply and followed him down the hall to his bedroom. “Take a seat, I guess.” He pointed to the chair in front of his desk as he took a seat on the bed. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you in french.” She laughed. 

Luke nodded slowly, a sly, teasing smirk appearing on his face. “And, uh, is Brandon alright with you hanging out with me?”  

“Who cares?” (Y/N) rolled her eyes at the mention of his name. “Right after your concert I told him I couldn’t see him anymore.” 

Luke furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“As I already told you, at first it was just an escape but...he wanted to do more the entire time and I just didn’t want to...at least not with him.” She laughed. 

Luke looked at her, a playful glint in his eye. “Not with him, huh? So someone else has caught your eye then?” he laughed. 

(Y/N) shrugged, casting her glance downward. “Maybe. But that won’t happen, so…” 

“Why not?” 

(Y/N) sighed, nervously keeping her gaze trained to the ground, before looking up at him again. “Luke...you see...I know we haven’t had that much contact over the last few years, but...I wish it was different and I’m sorry. I thought...well I had hoped...“ She paused, inhaling deeply. “Maybe we could start over? Being friends again?” She asked, hope evident in her voice. 

Suddenly Luke felt his heartbeat just a tiny bit faster. “Friends?” He croaked, before clearing his throat. “You mean like back in the day?” 

(Y/N) nodded. “Yeah, and uhm maybe…” She nervously played with the necklace around her neck. Luke’s eyes drifted to the pendant. It was the necklace he had given her when she had turned seven. Inside it he had put a picture of the both of them. (Y/N) eyes softened when she saw what Luke was looking at. She took the chain from around her neck and slowly took his hand, placing it in his palm. She looked expectantly at it before looking up at him. Luke opened it and found himself looking at his and (Y/N)’s younger selves. In the picture he had his arm slung around her shoulders. Both of them were smiling brightly. 

Luke sighed as he smiled at the memory of that day. “I had a little crush on you back then.” He admitted quietly, staring at the toothy grin of her younger version. 

“You did?” (Y/N) asked. 

He nodded, his eyes never leaving the picture. “I was so sad when we stopped talking, but it...it had just happened, right?” 

“I wish it hadn’t...I uh...I had a crush on you, too.” she murmured. 

Luke laughed quietly, the pieces of the puzzle slowly falling into place. “So if we want to go back to how it was then…” 

“You would have a crush on me?” (Y/N) smiled hopefully. 

Luke shrugged. “Maybe I still do.” He felt his cheeks heating up as (Y/N) clasped at his hands. 

“Maybe I still have a crush on you, too.” 

Luke’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. His eyes met (Y/N)’s and he couldn’t stop his smile from growing wider if that was even possible. “Just maybe?” He asked cheekily, as he slowly leaned in closer. 

“Alright, so definitely.” (Y/N) giggled as their lips connected in a tender kiss. 

--

“Please, you have to come!” Luke whispered into the phone in the kitchen where the landline was. It was already dark inside the house, his parents already having turned in for the night. 

“Okay, fine. But you tell my parents that you have a good influence on me the next time they see us.” She laughed through the speaker, before hanging up. 

They met behind the trees at the back of their yards. He leaned in to greet her with a short kiss. “I missed you.” He murmured, hiding his face into her neck. 

“We just saw each other a few hours ago.” (Y/N) laughed. 

“That’s so long ago!” He countered as Luke got onto his bike and looked expectantly at (Y/N), who stood on the tire spokes behind him. “Hold on tight!”

The venue was filled with people dancing and chattering. (Y/N) followed Luke to the side of the stage. “Stay here so you’ll have a good view of the stage and that way I can see you, too.” He said, looking at her with a wide smile. 

“Knock ‘Em dead, rockstar!” She beamed at him, leaning in to give him a good-luck kiss. 

“Alright, enough of that lovebirds. We gotta go!” Bobby laughed, interrupting the cute moment pushing Luke toward the stage. 

Reggie smiled at them. “Look at all the people! It’s gonna be sick!” 

Alex shrugged nervously. “I hope they like us...” 

(Y/N) smiled at the other band members “You’re gonna rock this, I’m sure of it!” She hugged them and wished them good luck, before the band went onto the stage. 

Luke’s gaze immediately fell to his girlfriend, who gave him a thumbs-up. He winked at her before getting closer to the mic. “Hey, we’re Sunset Curve, thank you for having us.” The crowd erupted in cheers. “Thank you.” He laughed “We directly wanna start with a new song. It’s inspired by a person who means the world to me.” His gaze fell to (Y/N) again, who was smiling at him. “It’s called Good Girls/Bad Girls.”

“She said to me forget what you’ve thought, cause good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught.”

[hotshotsxyz]

Yes your writing is so cool!! If you ever have time my prompt would be sth along the lines of - what if Buck gets insecure abt whether or not people like him? Most of the time he knows the 118 loves him, but sometimes he feels like he's exhausting them. And there is that one time they joke abt sth but he interprets it wrong and gets his feelings hurt so he starts to withdraw. But they're having none of it and WHEN they figure it out? Oh boy, he gets showered with love. Maybe tears up a lil.

I finally did it!! Thank you so much for sending in a prompt, I really enjoyed writing it! I hope you like it!!

not then, not now

buddie (1.6k) (read it on ao3)

The thing is, Buck knows that when Chim’s jokes are a little more biting than usual, it’s because he’s dead on his feet. Having a baby at home will do that to you. He knows that when Hen ignores him in favor of her textbooks, it’s because she’s stressed and being pulled in too many directions all at once. When Bobby lectures him, it’s because he cares. When Eddie retreats in on himself and won’t talk to him, it’s because he’s had to be fiercely independent his entire life, and he still struggles with leaning on the people that care about him.

In his head, Buck knows all of these things. It’s like he told Maddie, though: sometimes, he just doesn’t feel like he can trust it. Objectively, he can point to a hundred times his teammates have shown him they love him. Hell, they’ve told him. But in those little moments, he doesn’t feel it.

(“Exhausting.”

“What makes you say that, Evan?” Dr. Copeland asks.

“Eddie said it once.” Buck squirms uncomfortably.

“Do you think he meant it?”

“No,” Buck says, looking away.

“How did it make you feel?”)

So he does little things to make them feel better, and he tries not to make it about himself. He makes a cup of tea for Hen and doesn’t try to bring up the article he read the night before. He offers to babysit for Chim and Maddie and makes sure to laugh at Chim’s jokes, even if he has to force it. He spots Eddie in the gym and pointedly doesn’t ask why his jaw’s been clenched for the better part of an hour. He helps Bobby in the kitchen and does his best to look contrite when he’s scolded for not leaving the fire fast enough, even though there’d still been a bedroom left to check.

It’s been that kind of week. Still, he can’t help but chatter excitedly on the way back from a call that involved a sinkhole, because, like, sinkhole! It’s the first one he’s ever seen, and maybe the only natural disaster he’s never been called to before.

Hen shakes her head (fondly, right?) and sighs. “You’re a walking, talking Wikipedia, you know that?”

“Yeah, one that never shuts up,” Chim jokes, elbowing her.

He doesn’t mean anything by it. Buck knows he doesn’t mean anything by it, but he snaps his mouth shut anyway and offers a sheepish smile. Eddie shoots a glare at Chim, which Buck appreciates, but honestly, he’s not wrong. He keeps quiet the rest of the ride.

The rest of the week, actually. They could all use a break from him, Buck’s sure of it. They love him, he knows that, but it doesn’t mean they want to deal with him 24/7. That’s fine. It is.

Eddie ambushes him in the locker room on Monday morning. They’re just coming off a 24-hour shift, and Buck’s barely keeping his eyes open. They’d had call after call, virtually nonstop, and the only thing he can even begin to think about is going to bed. So when Eddie asks him what’s wrong, he’s genuinely confused.

“M’fine,” Buck yawns. “Tired,” he amends.

Eddie chuckles softly. “Yeah, me too.”

“Pretty sure I could sleep for a week,” Buck says.

Eddie nods in agreement. “If you’re willing to trade a week for ten hours, you want to come over for dinner? I know Christopher would love to see you. He’s been dying to tell you about the book he’s reading in class. Something about extreme weather?”

Buck wants to go. Of course he does. And Eddie’s inviting him, which means he wants him there. It wouldn’t be too much. Still though… “I don’t want to take up your family time with Chris,” he hedges, pulling his duffle onto his shoulder.

Eddie frowns. “You’re family too, Buck. You know that, right?”

To Buck’s horror, his eyes begin to sting. The combination of his exhaustion, a week’s worth of walking on eggshells, and Eddie being nice, just like he always is, is about to push Buck over the edge.

“‘Course,” he says roughly. “I’ll be there.”

Eddie narrows his eyes. It’s times like these when Buck curses just how well Eddie knows him. If he’s not out of this locker room in 30 seconds, Eddie’s going to clock that he isn’t just tired, and then he’s going to make Buck explain, and then Buck’s going to be putting his shit on someone else all over again.

“Buck,” Eddie starts.

“Gotta go, see you tonight. Text me the time!” Buck says in a rush, pasting a bright smile on his face and turning to leave as quickly as he can.

Eddie catches his elbow.

Too late.

“Please talk to me,” Eddie asks softly.

Buck feels himself deflate. “It’s stupid.”

“Not if it’s bothering you. And don’t tell me it’s not. We’ve all noticed something’s been off this week. We’re worried,” Eddie says. “I’m worried,” he amends, when Buck won’t look him in the eye.

He looks at Eddie and sees the care and concern written all over his face, and he just… can’t keep it in anymore. A tear slips past his lashes and rolls down his cheek. Eddie’s eyes widen. He raises a hand to Buck’s face and brushes away the tear, then leads him to the bench.

“Tell me,” he pleads.

“I don’t…” Buck trails off. It’s not that he doesn’t know what he’s feeling, not even that he has trouble putting it into words. He just can’t say it. “I can’t,” he whispers, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands.

“You can, Buck, I promise. Whatever it is, I’ve got your back, remember?”

Buck nods miserably. “I’m not going to make you carry my shit,” he says. “You’ve got enough to deal with as it is. I know something’s been bothering you, too.”

Eddie sighs. “You would notice that, wouldn’t you?”

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but whatever it is, I’m not going to add onto it with…” he trails off and waves his hand, as if to encompass everything he’s thinking.

“My parents want to visit,” Eddie says after a moment, “and I’m not looking forward to defending every decision I’ve ever made all over again. Especially not after… well, you know. That’s what’s been bothering me. Your turn.”

“Eddie, I-“

“Look, Buck. I appreciate you letting me work through it in my own time, but I’m not… keeping things from you. I just needed a minute. And I’m your friend, alright? I always want to know what’s going on in your head, even if I’ve got shit rattling around in mine, too. So tell me? Please?”

“I don’t want to be exhausting,” Buck says, voice small and quiet. He hunches his shoulders in, just like he did as a kid.

Eddie looks stricken, and Buck’s immediately hit with a wave of guilt and regret.

“I’m sorry,” Buck backtracks, “I shouldn’t have said that, I don’t-“

Eddie surprises him by surging forward and pulling him into a bruising hug. “I’m sorry,” he says into Buck’s ear. “I don’t think I ever said it, but I am. I didn’t mean it then, and I don’t think it now.”

“I know,” Buck says quietly. He returns the hug, but doesn’t quite relax into it.

Eddie pulls back a little and looks him in the eye, not letting go of his shoulders. “I don’t think you do,” he says.

“You don’t have to-“

“I do. Buck, you’re the most selfless person I know. You care about everyone else so much, and sometimes I wonder if that leaves enough space left for you. You matter, Buck, to all of us. Whatever it was we did this week that made you feel like this, we’re sorry. Every single person here loves you, and we want to know when something’s wrong, okay?”

Another tear tracks its way down Buck’s face. “Okay,” he whispers.

“C’mon,” Eddie says, standing and holding his hand out.

Buck takes it and stands, wiping his face with his other hand as he does. To his surprise, Eddie doesn’t let go; instead, he threads his fingers through Buck’s and pulls. Buck follows him helplessly as he leads him out of the locker room and back up the stairs to the firehouse loft. To his even greater surprise, the entire team is still there.

“What, uh, what are you guys still doing here?” Buck asks. His voice is steadier than before, but still comes out rougher than he’d like.

“Waiting for you,” Hen says, standing from the couch.

“Why?” Buck can’t help but ask. He knows. He knows, but… maybe he wants to hear her say it.

She gives him a look, like she knows he’s fishing, but indulges him anyway. “Because you’ve been down all week, and we care about you.”

Buck’s knee-jerk reaction is to tell her he’s fine, but then Eddie nudges him. It makes him want to laugh, because of course Eddie knows exactly what he was going to do. He shakes his head and smiles.

“I was feeling a little, uh, insecure, I guess.” Buck looks at his feet, but looks up as Hen walks closer, Bobby and Chimney following behind.

Hen nods, like she already knew. Honestly, she probably did. “And now?”

Eddie squeezes his hand. “Starting to feel better,” Buck grins.

“Good,” Hen nods, and then she’s hugging him.

“We love you, kid,” Bobby says, joining in.

Chim wraps his arms around all three of them. “Yeah we do, Buckaroo,” he says.

Eddie plasters himself along Buck’s back and puts a hand on his waist. He leans in close to his ear and quietly says, “and I’m not going to let you forget it.”

Buck sighs and relaxes into the hug. So what if he gets a little stuck in his head? He’s got a family that will always be there to pull him back out.

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

He makes a mental note to give Bobby a talk later, when he’s feeling better, about hiding stuff like this—and then maybe he’ll give Luke and Alex (and himself) a talk about whatever they did to make Bobby feel like he has to.

We need Reggie yelling at the boys to be better friends to Bobers PLEASe

ok so this took forever and also it's not actually Reggie yelling at Luke and Alex, it's Reggie yelling at Bobby.... but I tried like four different versions of this and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy!

This takes place in my All Too Well Splinterverse. It's a direct sequel to something about it felt like home somehow, but it takes place after the events of cause there we are again in the middle of the night, so be aware of spoilers/confusion if you haven't read both of those.

read on ao3 here:

--

Gathering up his courage, Reggie knocks on the door.

“Come in!” a voice calls, hoarse and stuffy, followed by a round of harsh coughs.

Reggie hesitates again, curling his hands into fists around the straps of his backpack. Maybe this was a mistake, he starts to think. Maybe he should’ve waited a little longer, waited for a better time to do this. Maybe he should’ve just left the stuff he brought in the studio and gone home without making any actual conversation…

But he made it all the way here… he can’t back down now. So he takes a deep breath, swallows back his nerves, and pushes the door open.

Bobby’s sitting up in bed, propped up against three or four pillows, a blanket over his legs and another around his shoulders. He looks tired—like, more tired than Bobby always looks, which is saying something—and his hair is all mussed up, his nose cherry red, his cheeks flushed in contrast to his waxy skin.

He’s sick, all right. Sicker than he was a week ago, the last time Reggie saw him when they were helping Luke with his discharge from the hospital. Being sick doesn’t make Bobby any less attractive, though, which Reggie should really not be thinking about right now.

“Reg!” Bobby croaks, placing the steaming mug he’s holding on the nightstand. He clears his throat and swipes a wrist under his nose, sniffling as he turns back to Reggie with a thin smile. “Hey, man, what are you doing here?”

Reggie blinks, forgetting for a second what he is doing here. But then he remembers and shakes his head a little, scrambling to get his backpack off and unzipping it. “Oh, um. Your mom let me in. I brought…” With some difficulty, he yanks out a packet of papers stuffed at the top of his pack. “...your homework!”

“Gee, thanks,” Bobby mutters sarcastically. He sniffles again and rubs his nose, nodding at the desk by the door. “You can just leave them there, thanks, man.”

Reggie nods and stacks the papers on the desk, followed by the books he grabbed from Bobby’s locker after trying every possible combination until he could get it open. With his official mission complete, though, Reggie hesitates again, lingering by Bobby’s desk. He doesn’t want to leave, but… he also doesn’t quite know how to say what he actually came here to say.

“You probably shouldn’t—” Bobby starts to say, then breaks off to sneeze into his elbow, twice.

“Bless you,” Reggie says, hovering awkwardly

Bobby makes a tired, congested sound and sniffs wetly, grabbing the tissue box on the bedside table. “As I was saying, you probably shouldn’t get too close. I am… disgusting.”

Reggie doesn’t respond. Bobby blows his nose and tosses his dirty tissues into the overflowing trash can next to the bed. He slumps back into his pillows, retrieves his mug and takes a sip, and only then seems to realize Reggie’s still standing there.

“Did you need something else, bro?” he asks, peering at Reggie over the rim of his mug.

“Just wanted to see how you were feeling,” Reggie says, a little too quickly. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder again. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous right now, so awkward.

Maybe because he’s never been in Bobby’s room for this long before, or at all without the other guys, or alone with Bobby since—

Since a few minutes in the hospital, since holding his hand on the front porch, since Reggie realized he liked Bobby as more than a friend.

Not that that… matters, now.

“I’m okay,” Bobby says with a shrug before coughing into a fist. “I sound worse than I feel, honestly, I’m mostly just congested at this point. But I’m on the good drugs, so.” He chuckles a little; Reggie doesn’t join him. Bobby clears his throat again and turns serious. “No, but. Fever’s been under 101 for three days straight, so. I’m on the mend.”

“Good,” Reggie says, managing a smile. “Good, that’s really good.”

Something shifts in Bobby’s expression, something that makes dread pool in Reggie’s stomach even before the words, “How’s Luke?” are out of Bobby’s mouth.

“He’s—” Reggie starts to say and then chokes on the word good. “—getting there. Fever’s gone, but he hasn’t been back at school yet cause his ribs are still healing. And he can’t play music yet, so he’s bored out of his mind.”

Bobby nods. “Yeah, he took his guitars home, but I didn’t know if he could do much playing yet. Things at home, though, are… I mean, he’s been okay with his mom and dad?”

“So far. I think they’re just really glad he’s home.”

“Good.” Bobby smiles a little, visibly relaxing, and then turns away to cough into his elbow, rubbing at his chest like it hurts. He sips at his tea some more.

This should be Reggie’s cue to leave. He brought Bobby his homework, he asked how he was feeling, he gave him an update on his… on Luke.

There’s nothing more for Reggie to do here. And yet he can’t get himself to walk away.

The words are out of his mouth before he makes any conscious choice to say them. “Bobby, are you and Luke, like… dating now?”

Bobby chokes on his tea. “Uh—I—wh-what makes you ask that?”

“Well, you said he kissed you. And you guys seemed pretty cozy at the hospital, so… I just wondered…”

Something closes off in Bobby’s expression, like a curtain being drawn behind his eyes. It makes Reggie’s heart sink, reminds him that oh,  yeah, he and Bobby don’t… talk about things like this. That even though they’ve been getting along better since the whole migraine incident (not that they’d been getting along badly before then, they just hadn't really been… getting), they’re still not much more than bandmates.

“You don’t… have to tell me.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Bobby says quickly, even as his cheeks flush red. “I, uh… I guess we are? Or we’re going to be? Dating, I mean, once we’re both feeling a hundred percent.”

Reggie nods. He doesn’t know what to say. He feels… not sad, really, or even disappointed, it’s not like he’s surprised—but just… Actually, he doesn’t know what he feels.

“I’m really happy for you guys,” he manages to choke out.

Bobby’s smile cuts like a knife. “Thanks, Reg. That means a lot.”

Reggie nods and starts backing toward the door. “Cool. I mean—yeah. Yeah, no—no problem, man.”

He fumbles for the doorknob, but Bobby’s voice stops him. “I gotta thank you, Reg.”

“For what?”

“For all your help last week.” Bobby shifts his weight on the bed and clears his throat, his hands wrapped securely around his mug like he needs it to steady him. “With Luke, and… and taking care of me at the hospital. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

Reggie blushes and starts to stammer out a reply, but Bobby cuts him off again. “And I need to apologize for snapping at you.”

Reggie blinks. “What? When did you—?”

“The other night, at the hospital. You asked if my head hurt and I…”

Right. Reggie remembers now. He’d seen Bobby rubbing his forehead and thought the stress of the night had given him a migraine (turns out, he was just catching Luke’s cold). So, he’d tried to take Bobby’s hand, ready to use the pressure point trick that had worked so well on him last time, but Bobby had flinched away, eyes wide and angry, and said, I’m fine!

That had been right after Bobby told Reggie that he and Luke had kissed. So Reggie had been feeling a lot of feelings at the time. He must’ve blocked the rest of it out.

“I just don’t like to make a big deal about them,” Bobby continues. “The migraines, I mean. And Alex doesn’t even know about them, and there was already so much going on with Luke… but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Why not?”

Bobby blinks. “Why… should I not have taken it out on you?’

Reggie shakes his head. “Why doesn’t Alex know about your migraines?”

“Because I didn’t tell him?”

“But why not?” Something sharp in Reggie’s chest tells him he shouldn’t push, but he can’t help it. “Why didn’t you tell any of us? If I didn’t find you that one time, you were just gonna play a whole rehearsal in pain and then go hide in your room to suffer alone, without telling any of your bandmates something was wrong? We would’ve helped you, Bobby. At the very least, we could’ve rescheduled our band practice.”

Bobby’s expression is hard to read—not quite angry, but definitely not happy with Reggie’s little speech either. He says, his voice low and small and just creeping toward cold, “I told Luke.”

Right. Because Bobby was Luke’s friend first. Because Bobby is Luke’s boyfriend now. Because Bobby is Luke’s.

But for the first time in weeks, that thought doesn’t make Reggie sad. Instead, it makes him furious. So even though he wants to support his friends, and even though Bobby’s sick, and even though Reggie makes a point to never shout at the people he loves, all the anger and hurt and jealousy inside him just burst out.

“What did we do to you, man? Me and Alex, did we—did we say something wrong? Why do you act like we’re not really your friends, like you can’t trust us? Even when Luke was really sick, you couldn’t call us for help until he was burning up from the inside out. And I don’t get it! Do you just like Luke more than us? Did he do something we didn’t to prove he could be trusted? Are you just really fucking stubborn? Why won’t you let me help you? I just wanna help you, Bobby!”

He loses steam and fumbles over his thoughts, the emotions that had been so prominent a second ago draining out of him until he almost can’t remember what they felt like anymore. Bobby’s staring at him, his face flushed and not from fever, his gaze laser-hot, his white-knuckled hands wrapped so tightly around his mug of tea that Reggie worries it’ll shatter.

“I don’t need your help, Reg,” he says tersely.

Reggie feels an agonizing pang in his chest, like his heart has cracked into a million pieces. He takes a deep breath and lets the shrapnel puncture him.

“Okay, Bobby,” he says flatly, and scoops his backpack up off the floor. “If you don’t want my help, then I’ll just stop offering.”

He doesn’t wait to hear Bobby’s reply. He just turns away, swiping at tears he didn’t realize he’d shed, and walks out the door.

--

Taglist (ask to be added or removed):

@whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @teenagedirtbag-dot-jpeg @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @shrimp-colours @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas @molinapattersons @julieandthequeers @joyandthephantoms @it-tastes-like-lizard @jatpfs

[impalas-r-important]

Love of my Life - (2) New Guy

Summary: Bobby brings home an injured hunter. Dean's not so fond of him.

Warnings: None that I can think of.

Word Count: 3429

Series Masterlist

_____________________________________________________________

“Hello?” You could hear Sam answer his phone from the living room. You were in the kitchen cleaning up. You, Sam and Bobby had a deal that whoever didn’t cook meals had to clean up after. Sam had made the both of you grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for a warm lunch on a chilly January afternoon. “Oh, hey Bobby, how did your hunt go?” A few seconds passed and then you heard Sam mutter, “Yeah, sure. We’ll be ready when you get here. How far away are you?” He walked into the kitchen, still on the phone, with a concerned look on his face. You gave him the what’s going on look and he held up his finger and said his goodbyes to Bobby.

“What happened, is Bobby okay?” You pressed.

“Yeah, he’s fine. He said that he met another hunter who was working the case, so they teamed up. I guess the new guy saved Bobby’s bacon and got pretty beat up. Bobby’s bringing him back here to get him all healed up. He said it was the least he could do. He asked if we could get the spare room cleaned out and ready.”

After days of researching for Bobby’s case, you had discovered it was yet another Greek god with another vendetta or unfinished business or whatever. Blah, blah, blah. It was getting repetitive at this point, but gods were always tricky to deal with. You were just glad to hear Bobby was okay and that someone was there to help him out.

“What happened? Do we know if he’s badly hurt?” You wondered.

“All Bobby said was that he doctored him up as much as he could. They aren’t far from here now.”

“Okay, I’ll go get the room ready.” You wiped your hands off on a dish towel and headed upstairs. You stripped the sheets off the bed and threw them in the washer, putting a set of new ones on. The room hadn’t been used in a long time. You and Sam were crashing there in 2 of the other spare bedrooms, but this one was pretty dusty from sitting idle all this time. After clearing out boxes of old books from the closet, you grabbed a duster and went over everything.

“They’re here!” Sam yelled from downstairs. “I’m gonna go help him inside.”

You ungracefully shoved your cleaning stuff into a bucket, then quickly sprayed a little air freshener to try and mask the smell you could only describe as “old”. You could hear voices coming closer down the hall. You grabbed your supplies and walked them to the bathroom to put them away. Their conversation was easily heard through the thin walls.

“Alright, here’s where you can crash.” Sam said as he helped the new guy into the room and sat him down on a chair in the corner. “You really took a beating, huh?” Sam gave him a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think I caught your name, by the way.”

“I’m Nick.” He reached his hand out to shake Sam’s but didn’t make it all the way before he winced and grabbed his ribs.

“Well Nick, thanks for saving Bobby back there. He said he wouldn’t have made it out of that one if it weren’t for you. I’m Sam.”

“Sam, like as in Sam Winchester?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you’ve heard of me?”

“Buddy, I wasn’t born yesterday. Every hunter who knows what they’re doing has heard of you and your brother.” You heard Nick say as you walked into the room and leaned against the door frame. He turned to look at you and straightened his posture in the chair as much as he could. He gave you a little half smile and blinked a few times as he managed to say, “Wow, uh, hey, hi…”

His stammering made you laugh a little. “I overheard you boys talking. You’re Nick, right?” He nodded. “Well, anyone who saves Bobby Singer is a friend of ours. I’m Y/N.”

“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Nick winked and gave you a cheeky grin which quickly turned into a grimace. He was definitely in pain. He was covered in mud stains and blood. His ankle was bent the wrong way and he had bloodied bandages wrapped around his bicep and thigh. But through all that, you couldn’t help but notice that he was surprisingly handsome. He had sandy blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Most of the hunters you met looked like truckers or smelled like dumpsters.

“Don’t even try man, she could kick your ass 3 different ways before you knew what hit you.” Sam joked. “I’m going to let Y/N take it from here. She’s better at the doctor thing than I am. I’ll go grab your bags and bring them up.”

“Why don’t we see what we can do about some of that bleeding.” You grabbed the first aid kit from on top of the dresser and walked over to him. “Can I?” You motioned to the bandage on his arm, and he nodded. You peeled away the layers to find a nasty looking gash. “Geez…” You whispered. “So, I can stitch you up, but it’s going to hurt pretty bad.”

“I’m no wussy. Do what you gotta do.” Nick looked up at you and for half a second you caught yourself studying his ocean eyes, but you looked away quickly and grabbed the sanitizing alcohol. “This will probably hurt the most. Sorry.” You dumped some on his wound and he clenched in pain and closed his eyes, letting a big exhale escape through his nose. You threaded your needle and began to stitch his cut closed. You had done this many times before and with Sam and Dean and liked to think you were decent. But you knew the key was distraction.

“So, where are you from?” You asked.

“Not really from anywhere. I grew up like a lot of hunters did. On the road with my dad and uncle, learning tricks of the trade as we went. What about you?”

“Well, I was born in Arizona, but my family was killed when I was six. I spent my life bouncing between hunters until I could drive. Then I went out on my own.”

“I’m sorry about your family.” His sympathy caught you off guard. Most hunters couldn’t care less about others.

“Thank you, but we all have our sob story. No one chooses to be a hunter just for kicks and giggles”

“Man, I’ve heard some crazy stories about those Winchester brothers.” Nick gave a small laugh. “It’s weird to actually meet one of them in person. What happened to Dean? I thought he and Sam were inseparable.”

You sighed and your heart dropped like it always did when his name was mentioned. “He actually got out of the hunting life. He lives close to here, stops by to check on us every once in a while.”

“I’d love to meet him. All I’ve heard is how badass he is. Like the ultimate hunting machine.”

“Well, you call him badass, I call him dumbass.”

“Hah! You guys close?”

“Not as close as we used to be. Sam and I try to keep him out of the hunting life as much as we can. He helps with research every now and then but hasn’t been out on a case in a while.” You finished your last stitch. “Your arm is all done but looks like we need to take care of this one as well.” You pointed down to his leg. “Do you care if I just cut your pant leg off? This pair looks like a goner anyway.”

“You can take my pants off anytime you want.” Nick smirked at you.

“I’m going to chalk that up to the loss of blood and pretend you didn’t say that. Keep in mind, I’m the one with the needle here.” You held up the long needle as you threaded it with a clean suture and gave him your best don’t go there face.

Nick reminded you a strange amount of the Dean of old. Handsome, but in a different way, snarky, and seemed like the kind of guy who flirted with any and every girl he could find. You couldn’t lie to yourself and say you didn’t like the attention he was giving you. Part of you still wished it were Dean giving you that attention though.

You finished up and started to pick up the bloody bandages off the floor. “I’m going to go get Sam and he can help you get into the shower. I think we need to take you to the doctor for your ankle though. Looks broken to me.”

“Damn, I was hoping to avoid the hospital. I don’t suppose you know how to set a broken ankle?” He looked at you hopefully.

“You’re outta luck, sorry.” You shrugged and began to head out the door.

“Y/N?” Nick stopped you before you left, and you turned to face him. “Thank you.” You shot him a smile and a nod before heading downstairs to find Sam.

After Sam had helped Nick wash all the blood off of himself, you two had taken him to the hospital where they set his ankle and gave him some pain killers for the broken ribs. Sam had gotten him upstairs and into bed and you brought some food up for him.

“Here you go, a Singer specialty.” You placed a tray with Bobby’s chili on his lap and handed him the remote to the ancient box tv.

“What makes it so special?” Nick asked, stirring the chili skeptically.

“If you ask Bobby, he’ll say it’s a secret family recipe, but I’ve been around long enough to know that the real magic happens when he dumps it from the can into the pot.” Nick laughs as you get his food situated so it won’t spill. “I brought you in some movies if you want to watch them. Mostly Dean’s old western tapes. We’re in short supply of variety.”

“Thank you. But I do have to say, I feel a little uncomfortable having you guys help me this much. I’m usually a strictly independent person…”

“We all need a little help sometimes.” You were actually glad that Nick was here. It gave you something to keep your mind off of Dean. “I’m in the room next to yours, just bang on the wall if you need anything.”

“Goodnight, Y/N. I owe you one.” He flashed his tired smile at you, and you returned the gesture.

“Night, Nick.”

You woke the next morning to find Sam’s car gone. You figured he was at the gym or swung by Dean’s house for something. You headed into the kitchen and started on making breakfast. The cupboards were pretty empty, but you knew there was always pancake mix around somewhere. You whipped up a few cakes with a side of scrambled eggs. When you were done, you headed up to Nick’s room to see how he was doing. You knocked softly, careful not to wake him if he was still sleeping. A few seconds passed with no response, so you cracked the door open and saw him dead asleep with the half-eaten bowl of chili still on his lap and the tv crackling with black and white static. This made you chuckle a little. You tiptoed over to him and gently lifted the tray off his lap to take with you downstairs and turned off the television.

The rest of the morning was spent looking for cases in the papers and online, but you didn’t have much luck. You gave up after a while when you heard a boot clomping down the stairs, letting you know that Nick was on his way.

“Morning, sunshine!” Nick pronounced and winked at you as he walked in the room.

“It’s 2 in the afternoon, lazy bones.” He laughed a little and sat down in the chair across from you. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I was yesterday, that’s for sure.”

“I bet you’re hungry.”

“Starved, actually.” He placed a hand on his stomach.

“Do you feel up for going out and grabbing a bite? We’re short on supplies here, but I know a great little diner just a few miles into town. Mel’s.”

“That sounds amazing! I could really go for a great big cheeseburger right now.” Look at that, yet another similarity to Dean. You could swear this was the universe playing a cruel joke on you.

“Sam’s not here and Bobby’s holed up in his room, so it’s just you and me. Hope that’s ok.”

“More than fine with me.” He flirted. “Our first date!”

“Whatever. Come on, gimpy.” You helped him up out of the chair and led him out the door and towards your car.

You had actually really enjoyed your late lunch with Nick. It was nice to get to know someone new and you were surprised at how well the two of you got along. You usually butted heads with other hunters, but Nick was pretty easy going and had a good sense of humor.

A little while later, you pulled back into the driveway of Bobby’s house to see both Sam and Dean’s cars in the driveway.

“Wow, that’s a beauty of a car.” Nick remarked as the two of you walked past the Impala.

“Don’t touch it. That’s Dean’s baby. He’ll kill you if you scratch it.” You warned as you walked into the house.

Dean quickly rushed at you as soon as you opened the door and pulled you into a bear hug. “Y/N where the hell have you been?! I’ve been calling you over and over! No one knew where you were! Don’t scare me like that!”

“What? We were just in town. We haven’t even been gone 2 hours…” You pulled out your phone to check for his missed calls but found it to be dead.

“We?” Dean interrogated. Nick walked in a few steps behind you and Dean glared at him. “Who the hell are you?” He instinctively pulled you behind him.

"Whoa, whoa easy there tiger." You put your hand on Dean's arm and he looked at you, with questioning eyes. "That's Nick. Didn’t Sam tell you? He saved Bobby's ass on their last hunt and got pretty beat up in the process. Bobby brought him back here to heal up a bit."

"And you're what, just hanging out with some hunter you barely know? He could be a psychopath! You know better than this!"

You couldn't help but roll your eyes and feel annoyed at Dean’s over-protectiveness. "He's got a broken ankle, bruised ribs, and massive gashes on his arm and leg. You really think I couldn't handle him if I needed to?"

Dean kept his eyes on Nick the whole time, looking him up and down, trying to get a read on him. Bobby slammed the door of his room and walked out to the commotion. "Would you idjits keep it down out here? I could hear every word of this stupid conversation!" Bobby looked to Dean who was clearly still in defense mode. "Oh, pull the stick out, Dean. The kid literally saved my life. He's harmless."

It took Nick a few seconds to process the situation. He walked over to Dean and reached his hand out. "It's an honor to meet you, Dean. I look up to you a lot. You’ve got some great people here; they’ve been nothing but nice to me and I’d never do anything to hurt them.”

Dean was clearly expecting him to say anything but that, and reluctantly shook his hand. You wished you had a camera to take a picture of look on Dean's face. Priceless.

"I hate to break up the fan fest, but what are you doing here, boy?" Bobby questioned Dean. "Not that I ain't happy to see you, but you haven't been around here much lately."

“I, uh, was going to see if Y/N wanted to hit up Mel’s. I’m starved.” Dean looked at you for an answer.

“Nick and I were actually just there…” You felt a bit guilty, but you didn’t know that Dean was even planning on coming over today. “I’m sure Sam would go with you. I haven’t seen him yet today, but it sounds like he’s up in his room.”

“Oh, okay.” Dean looked dejected but nodded and headed towards the staircase.

Dean kind of knocked on Sam’s door as he walked in.

“Uh, sure, come on in.” Sam gave Dean a glare as he folded clothes and organized them neatly on his bed.

“I knocked. You want to go grab some food, Sammy?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m almost done here.”

Dean walked further inside and over to the dresser to fiddle with some things sitting on top of it. “Why didn’t you tell me about the new guy?”

“I doubt he’s sticking around. I didn’t think there was anything to tell.” Sam shrugged.

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t let Y/N just hang around some stranger all day. We don’t know anything about him.”

“Dean, he seems like a teddy bear. We’ve been doing this for long enough to know when someone is a piece of crap. Nick seems genuine.” Sam let out a small laugh. “You know, he’s actually a lot like you. I think you’d really get along with him if you were still hunting.”

“Yeah whatever.” Dean grumbled as he played with a knife he had picked up.

“What crawled up your butt?” Sam shot him a sideways glace. Dean didn’t respond. “Oh, I see. You just don’t like him hanging around Y/N.”

Dean clenched his jaw. “Well, I’m so sorry if I just want to make sure she’s safe. I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to look out for her. Someone’s gotta do it if you aren’t.”

Sam scoffed. “Hey, I am looking out for her, Dean. But she doesn’t need me to. She is way more than capable of handling herself and honestly, it’s none of your business who she decides to spend her time with. She’s not your girl anymore.” Sam knew it was a touchy subject, but he didn’t care. He hated to see how much Y/N was hurting because of Dean.

Dean slammed the knife into the top of the dresser. He shook his head and turned to leave. “I’m outta here.” He walked down the hall but stopped at the top of the stairs as he watched you grab a soda from the fridge and a bottle of pain pills which you then took over to Nick. He hated the way that Nick looked at you. He hated that you sat down next to him and smiled your perfect smile at someone other than himself. Dean ran his hand along the railing and subconsciously made his way back to his brother’s room.

“Does she like him?” Dean asked in a broken voice as he leaned against the doorframe, looking at the ground.

“I don’t know.” Sam could easily see that his brother was genuinely hurting. “But I meant what I said, Dean. She’s not your girl anymore. You chose Lisa over her.”

Dean didn’t have words to describe the heartache he was feeling. “I didn’t… I… I don’t know…” Was all he managed to get out.

“Dean, Y/N is still like a sister to me even though you two aren’t together anymore. We’ve gotten a lot closer since we both died and came back, and honestly, I’m happy to see that a guy is making her smile. She was really heartbroken over you. She still is. So maybe it sucks for you to see her with a guy that’s not you, but now you know how she feels every time she sees you with Lisa.”

Dean slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground, with his head hanging in his lap and his hands on the back of his neck. Sam sat down next to him.

“Dean, I’m not trying to be harsh on you.”

“I know. You’re right though.”

“Maybe it’s none of my business, but why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you move in with Lisa so soon after we died?”

Dean cleared his throat. “I don’t know Sam. I guess, she was there, and Y/N wasn’t. There’s just a lot to it and I don’t expect you to understand.” Dean got up, regained his composure and left swiftly. Making sure Y/N and Nick were out of sight before he left.

Chapter 3

[tripleaxeldiaz]

maybe one day i’ll fly next to you

chapter 4/8

read on ao3

start from the beginning

“Buck!”

Buck nearly slices his hand on the skate he’s supposed to be sharpening when he hears May’s voice. He drags his eyes away from ice long enough to see her, Chim, and Maddie looking at him expectedly. Apparently, that wasn’t the first time she’d said his name.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said we’re going to that Thai place on Sawtelle for dinner, do you wanna come?”

“Oh, uh—” his eyes drift back in time to see Eddie land his cleanest quad lutz all day, and he tries not to smile. “I’ve got a session with Hen in a little bit, maybe tomorrow?”

“You okay, Buckaroo?” Chim asks. “You look...forlorn.”

Buck snorts and shakes his head. “I’m fine, just tired.”

Chim shrugs as he follows the girls out of the rink. Buck tries to focus, tries to get lost in the back and forth of sharpening, but he keeps getting distracted by Eddie’s practice and the way he commands the ice even when no one’s scoring him. He feels an ache in his chest watching him, a dull one but still there — it’s been a month since Skate America, and they still have lunch and hang out and everything is fine, but there’s also a tension between them now, the tension of knowing what it’s like to have their hands on each other, what the other one tastes like, and wanting to do it more. 

They make eye contact as Eddie heads for the locker room, and he sends Buck a smile so warm Buck swears it’s better than sunshine.

He keeps thinking this waiting thing is going to get easier, but it really, really hasn’t.

“Did you guys get a divorce or something?” Buck jumps as Hen sits down next to him and starts lacing up her skates. 

“What? We haven’t— We never— What?” Buck asks, voice an octave higher than normal. 

Hen levels him with an unimpressed look. “Don’t give me that. You went from hating him to being attached at the hip to staring at him like a lovesick puppy in like six weeks. Either this is a lover’s spat, or it’s some kinky roleplay thing that I don’t actually want to know anything about.”

Buck doesn’t think he’s ever blushed so hard or so fast in his whole life. “Jesus, it’s none of those things! We—” he looks around quickly before turning back and lowering his voice, “we did kiss, at Skate America, but it was just once and we decided to...pause any next relationship steps until after the Olympics.”

“Why? You’re allowed to date teammates, that’s not against the rules.”

“I know, but—” he’s not sure how to explain I can’t stop thinking about him but that makes me lose focus and as much as I want to make out with him I also want to beat him at every possible competition without sounding insane, so he settles on “we just don’t want any distractions.”

“So you’re gonna pine for each other from afar for the next three months, because that’s less distracting than actually being together?”

Buck pauses lacing up his own skates. “Okay, so maybe it’s not a great plan.”

Hen shrugs as she pushes off from the boards, skating backwards so Buck can still see her skeptical frown. “It might be easier to handle if you just embrace it now. I know it’ll be easier for me to handle.”

Maybe she’s right, a little voice in his head whispers, because it makes sense. But at the same time, a relationship is something he’s never had to factor into competition season before, so he’s honestly not sure how to navigate it. Maybe it starts great, they’re mooning over each other, but then one of them has a bad showing, and it leads to animosity or jealousy or some other ugly thing that would drive a wedge back between them when they’d (he’d) just overcome it. Buck cares about Eddie, cares about their friendship, their potential relationship, Eddie’s general happiness. But he also cares about his career, about his own dreams, and call him selfish or single minded, but he really cares about winning the Olympics. And he’s not willing to risk hurting any of those things by jumping into something too quickly.

He wants to do this with Eddie, but he wants to do this right, when he can make Eddie a top priority like he deserves. If that means he has to endure a few more months of pining, then fine. Come February, it’ll all be more than worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, he’s sitting cross-legged at center ice, staring off at nothing, when he sees Eddie skating over to him out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t say anything, just sits down next to Buck, copying his position, and inviting himself into the reflective silence Buck’s created in the dim morning light.

He finds he doesn’t mind the company so much. 

“Are we meditating?” Eddie whispers eventually, like he still respects the quiet even though he has no idea what it’s for. 

“Something like that,” Buck says, and Eddie nods, lets them fall back into their own thoughts. It makes Buck melt a little bit, a welcome relief from the incessant buzzing he’s been feeling under his skin all morning.

The truth is, Buck hasn’t been able to make himself move for about 20 minutes. He came in for one last early practice before they’re supposed to fly to Japan, fell on every single jump he attempted, and eventually just didn’t get back up. He had half hoped giving up would spurn his stubborn streak to try one more time one last jump, but instead he just sat, his worries burying him deeper and deeper like freshly fallen snow.

He groans and leans back, laying flat on the ice, trying to focus on the bite of the cold on the back of his head instead of anything else. Eddie follows suit to mirror him again, and Buck’s stupidly grateful that he’s here. He turns his head to face him and is met with eyes glowing honey colored in the sunlight.

“I’m really worried about fucking everything up,” he says in a rush, like Eddie’s gaze pulled it right out of him before he could put all is walls up and lock them, pretend like he’s still strong and has it all together.

“You won’t,” Eddie says with no hesitation.

Buck rolls his eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“I do. I’ve watched you skate since we were 16. I know setbacks make you fight harder.”

“This isn’t about setbacks,” he says, sitting up and resting back on his hands. “This is about going to the last GP before the Final, where everyone is warmed up and has all their kinks worked out, while I can’t even land a clean triple loop.”

Eddie, once again, sits up to mirror him. “One bad practice doesn’t mean anything. Your programs are solid, the audience and the judges love you, you really have nothing to worry about.”

“Except your perfect jumps getting in my way.”

Eddie laughs and it echoes around the rink. “Yeah, except that. But hey, if I win, I’ll let you hold the medal, just to remember what gold feels like.”

With anyone else, Buck would bristle at a joke like that, especially after a trainwreck of a practice. Hell, three months ago, he certainly wouldn’t have been okay with Eddie saying it. But now he just laughs, and he feels almost relieved, because despite their being direct competition, despite the pause they put on whatever it was they were moving towards, he still has Eddie in his corner. He might not actually know how this next week will go, but Eddie believes in him, and right now, it’s enough to finally get him up off the ice, offering a hand down to Eddie to pull him up too. They linger for a minute, hands still clasped, before Buck pulls away and glides toward the edge of the rink.

“Think you can’t beat me in a 500 meter, golden boy?”

Eddie smiles that smile that makes Buck’s stomach drop, and then he’s flashing past him, halfway around the ice before Buck can even start. They go around and around, name calling and playfully shoving, and Buck’s nerves melt away with every burst of speed and every glimpse of joy on Eddie’s face.

~~~~~~~~~~

By the time they land in Sapporo, Buck’s so exhausted he feels a little drunk. He’s never been good at sleeping on long flights, always too distracted by the endless movie choices or a trashy thriller he picked up at Hudson News or his own worries swirling in his head. He finally managed to fall asleep for an hour before he was woken up by the warm weight of Eddie’s cheek resting on his shoulder, his hair softly brushing his jaw.

His only focus after that was on keeping as still as possible for the rest of the flight.

Eddie, thankfully, takes charge of herding him through customs and to the car waiting for them at arrivals, gently steering him so he avoids people and poles while his eyes are half closed. He’s much nicer about it than Maddie ever is, and he only runs into a wall once. Eddie apologizes for it profusely, gently rubbing his head checking for bumps. Buck has to literally bite his tongue before an embarrassing string of words tumbles of his exhausted mouth.

They make it to the hotel in one piece, and Buck barely has time to take his shoes off before he passes out, starfished on the bed, soothed by the background noise of Eddie puttering around the bathroom. 30 seconds later (actually four hours but it feels much shorter), an alarm goes off, and Buck is once again herded around the room and out the door, a cup of coffee shoved into his hand as they get in the van to take them to practice. 

Thanks to the coffee and a 30 minute nap in the van, Buck’s at least awake enough to be functional when they arrive. He’s even more awake after a few laps around the rink, the wind stinging his face a better pick-me-up than caffeine. He runs his jumps with Bobby, lands them clean, and he feels good, his nerves quieted by lingering exhaustion and confidence he hasn’t been able to find in a few weeks. 

He sees Eddie by the boards, the usual thrill of having him watch running through him, pushing him just a little bit harder, but it’s quickly snuffed out when he sees that Eddie’s not alone, and he’s not even looking at the ice. Instead, he’s talking to a handsome Russian skater, one that Buck’s known since they were juniors so he knows how big of an asshole he is. He’s laughing loudly like Eddie just told the funniest joke he’s ever heard, his hand running up and down Eddie’s bicep in a much too friendly way. Buck tries to shake it off and keep focused, but after falling out of two spins and almost face planting on a three turn, Hen sends him off to stretch on his own and “get your damn head on straight”. He stalks off, passing close enough to Eddie and The Asshole to hear The Asshole ask when Eddie will have time to get dinner before going back to the States. 

Buck...he’s not jealous. He has no reason to be, he and Eddie are not dating. But he feels something boiling hot and nasty in his stomach, and he kind of wants to slam the guy’s hand with a toe pick every time his laugh pierces through the rink.

He’s being obnoxious and distracting, so Buck is pissed, but not jealous. And he is not avoiding Eddie by hiding in Chimney’s room until he’s sure Eddie’s asleep.

He does avoid him the next day, out of an abundance of caution that his brain-to-mouth filter might fail and he’ll say something he regrets, and because he does need to get his head on straight and focus like Hen said. He needs at least silver to qualify for the Final and push him a little bit further in the USFSA’s good graces, upping his chances of being named to the Olympic team in two months. He can’t do that if he’s worrying about non-existent relationship drama. So he fills the rest of the day with practice and conditioning, working hard enough that his brain quiets and he feels prepared, but not so much that he hurts himself. He sees Eddie here and there, thinks he tries to catch his eye a few times, but he’s got tunnel vision now, and nothing short of a life or death emergency will break it. 

At least, that’s how his tunnel vision used to work. 

But the next day during short programs, he sees The Asshole strutting towards Eddie again before their warm-up group goes out, and his tunnel crumbles, filling his brain with static and rubble.  

His program could have gone worse, overall, but it also certainly could have gone better. A quad loop turned triple loop and a sketchy landing on his triple axel land him in third place, meaning his free actually has to be perfect to get him to the Final. Only the six highest scoring skaters after all Grand Prix events qualify, and last he checked, he was just in sixth place but could easily be overtaken. Eddie is (surprise surprise) in first, Buck feeling a strange mix of pride and panic as he watches him execute another flawless short. It seems to be only getting stronger as the season goes on, which should also be happening for Buck, but instead it feels like he’s slowly unravelling, hurrying to spin himself back together before he loses too much ground.

The Asshole is in second. Buck has to sit on his hands during the presser so he doesn’t reach across the table and smack that smug look right off the guy’s face.

“He really said he was ‘looking forward to representing his country at the top of the Olympic podium’. Like seriously? We’re all thinking it, but no one’s conceited enough to say it out loud and on the record.”

Maddie shrugs from the other end of the bed. “Maybe it’s a language thing. Like he meant to say ‘on the podium’ instead but got confused because English is hard.”

Buck levels her with an unimpressed glare. He had come to her room right after the presser, lamenting about everything that went wrong and stupid judges and stupid Russia (“Really, Buck? The whole country?”). He’s usually grateful for Maddie’s voice of reason, but today he just needs to vent all his frustrations that have built up over the past few days. He really doesn’t care if they make sense or not.

“You should see the way he’s throwing himself at Eddie. I’ve watched him flex his arms every time Eddie’s walked past for two days. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so irritating.”

“Well, I’m sure Eddie’s not falling for it if this guy is as big of a jerk as you say he is.”

Buck stays quiet, avoiding her eyes and slowly dragging a french fry through ketchup on the room service plate in front of him. 

“Oh my god,” Maddie groans, reaching forward to shove his shoulder. “Do you really think Eddie is that shallow?”

“Well I don’t know!” Buck says. “I heard him ask Eddie out to dinner after the competition, maybe he said yes! It’s not like he’s seeing anyone.”

“It’s not like he’s seeing you, is what you mean. Since you were the one who said you two should wait until after Beijing.” 

“Whatever,” he mutters as he stabs another fry into ketchup.

Maddie shakes her head. “Jealousy is not a good look on you, Buck.”

“I’m not jealous! I’m just...concerned for my friend, and—” He stops as Maddie just stares at him like she sees right through him. Which, he supposes, is probably not hard for her to do. She reaches out for his hand, taking it in hers and squeezing gently.

“If you’re that ‘concerned’,” she says, air quotes very much implied, “then I think you should just go talk to him.”

“And say what? ‘I don’t want you to go on a date with that handsome Russian man because I want to go on a date with you, even though I was the one who said we should wait because I’m an idiot’?

“...maybe not those exact words. But you do have to go back to your room, because it’s after midnight, the free dance is in eight hours, and I need to sleep.” She all but rolls him off the bed, pulls him into a quick hug, then shoves him into the hallway. “You got this! Use your words!” she yells as the door closes behind her.

When he gets back, Eddie is still awake, reading a book and icing his right ankle. He smiles at him in greeting, that same soft smile that Buck’s pretty sure only he gets to see. The smile he definitely didn’t see whenever he saw Eddie talking to The Asshole.

Maybe not all hope is lost.

“Rough day?” Buck asks, nodding towards Eddie’s ankle.

“Think I just landed on it weird,” Eddie says. “You did really great.”

“I think the judges would say otherwise, but thanks. You were really great, too.” They swim in a semi-comfortable silence as Buck gets changed. He waffles back and forth on what to say, if it’s actually even worth saying anything at all despite what Maddie said, until he faces Eddie again and blurts out, “So are you gonna go to dinner with that Russian guy?”

Eddie just blinks at him for a second before he starts laughing. It’s not a mean laugh, it’s more like a I can’t believe you just said something that dumb laugh. Maddie has a laugh that’s very similar.

He’s still catching his breath a bit when he answers. “No, no I’m not going to dinner with that guy. You know him, right? He’s a total douche. Pretty sure he was actually holding a flex whenever he was talking to me.”

Buck sits on his bed and tries to keep his own laugh in, worried that it would come out hysterical with relief. Not that he ever really doubted Eddie’s taste or ability to take care of himself. It’s just...nice to have it confirmed.

“Plus,” Eddie says as he gets his composure back fully, “I, uh, told him I’m interested in someone else anyway. So hopefully he’ll back off for good.”

Buck freezes, his eyes locked on Eddie’s. A wave of guilt washes over him so suddenly it makes him nauseous. As dumb as his friends may think he is, he’s not that dumb — he knows what he asked of Eddie when he put this thing of theirs on hold. But hearing that Eddie’s following through, seeing it in action — it doesn’t sit right with him. It makes him feel like he’s imposing, like he’s taking away part of Eddie’s life just for the vague chance that they could have something, something that’s not even guaranteed no matter how right it feels to Buck even now.

“Eddie,” he starts, waffling again, “if you want— I mean you shouldn’t have to— I don’t want you waiting around for— for me, for us, if that’s not something you’re interested in anymore.”

There’s a beat before Eddie moves, tossing his book and the ice pack aside. He stands gingerly, favoring his left side just a little bit, and shushes Buck when he tries to protest. He crosses the short distance between their beds slowly, like he’s trying to make sure Buck doesn’t bolt before he gets to him. Carefully, he reaches down to take both of Buck’s hands in his, moving until he’s standing just between Buck’s legs. When Buck doesn’t look up (partially out of embarrassment, and partially out of marveling at how warm and good Eddie’s hands feel in his), he squeezes gently until he gets his attention. Buck finally manages to lift his head, and is met with a look so full of fondness it takes his breath away.

Eddie lets out a slow breath through his nose. “I wasn’t kidding when I said it meant something,” he says quietly, unwilling to disturb the bubble of peace they seem to form when they’re together. “So I’m still very interested. And I really don't mind the waiting. It’s only three months — we’ll be too stressed and working too hard to think about anything else anyway.”

Buck tries to talk around the lump in his throat, but he can’t, so he just nods instead, squeezing Eddie’s hands back. Something loosens in his chest, a tension he thought was coming from agonizing over his programs and his protocols, but maybe not. Maybe he’s come to rely on Eddie, on his friendship and general presence, more than he thought he has over the past few months. That confirmation that they’re moving toward something, together, makes him feel grounded in a way that he hasn’t felt in weeks.

They stay in their bubble for a little bit longer, and Buck feels himself calm even more. Eventually, Eddie squeezes his hands one more time, whispering “goodnight, Buck” before pulling away and getting back in his bed. He turns the lights off, the room falling into darkness, and Buck drifts off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Something’s definitely wrong. Maybe it was minor yesterday, but after landing on his ankle eight more times during his free, Eddie’s clearly favoring his left side and in a whole lot of pain. It’s clear to Buck, at least — to anyone else, Eddie is all grace and smiles as usual, easily taking first place with no way for anyone else to beat him, even with three skaters left.

But Buck knows, knows Eddie and knows that feeling of trying to push through the pain better than anyone, but he doesn’t have time to do anything about it — talk to Eddie, talk to Bobby, talk to someone — before it’s his turn to skate. He tries to shove the worry down, but that raspy little voice is back in his head, whispering about all the worst things that could be happening to Eddie, and all the worst things that could happen to him again if he fucks up his own landings. Visions of cracked bones and bandaged cuts fly through his head — flashbacks to months of bitterness and rage and uncertainty. The panic at his dream potentially slipping away from him again floods his chest and makes it hard to breathe. He swears he feels his leg seize up, just like it used to, just like it hasn’t in over a year until right now, but can’t figure out if it’s real or not.

His music starts just as his spiral does.

The first fall is, technically, his fault. He’s too close to the boards for his triple axel, so he can either crash into them when he lands or stop short and hit the ice. He loses points either way, but in the split second he has to think about it, the latter seems less embarrassing and less painful. As he stands back up, he quickly does the math in his head. Accounting for his average component scores and any potential tech panel biases, he really, really cannot afford any more screw ups. 

So, naturally, he falls again.

It’s the jolt this time — that fear that grips his entire body when he sees the ice so far below him, the memory of landing so incorrectly that he couldn’t walk for three weeks, couldn’t skate for even longer. And it’s all laced with worry for Eddie, who he knows is watching from the side, no ice on his ankle and still standing on it, trying to ignore something that’s only going to get worse. Maybe it’s projection, but he wouldn’t wish the misery he went through on anyone, not even Eddie when he couldn’t stand the sight of him, and especially not Eddie now.

He finishes by sheer force of will, his stubbornness and perfectionism overcoming his panic long enough to get him through his last step sequence and spins and to hit his final pose with a smile. The applause feels genuine, but he knows it’s not enough. It’s not even close to enough.

He finishes fifth in free skate, fourth overall, and he knows before he even sees the complete standings that he’s not going to the Final.

Luckily, since he finishes off podium, he doesn’t have any post-competition pressers or photo ops or reasons to slap on a fake smile for anyone. He goes back to his room and packs up so he has something to do with his hands. Maddie and May both text him about doing something with their last night in Japan, but the thought of going out and talking to his friends about their successes against his own failures kind of makes him want to throw up. Instead, he turns off his phone and finds a Japanese dub of Goonies playing on cable and burrows into bed in an attempt to get his brain to shut up for the first time all day.

When burrowing doesn’t work, he squishes himself into the armchair by the TV instead.

When that still doesn’t work, he paces.

That’s what he’s doing when Eddie gets back, looking worn out but still smiling, ribbon of his gold medal dangling out of his warm up jacket pocket. He waves goodbye to whoever is on the outside the door, but as soon as it’s closed, the act drops. Buck watches him sink against the door and lets out a long breath, grimacing as he tests out putting full weight on his right ankle.

Whatever anxiety Buck had managed to pace off (which really wasn’t a lot) comes back in full force, and he’s at Eddie’s side in three long steps.

“You’re hurt,” he says matter-of-factly.

Eddie shakes his head. “It’s just really sore, Buck, it’ll be better when I finally get to rest it.”

“No, it won’t be,” Buck snaps as he strides towards the ice bucket in the corner of the room to start filling up a bag. “You’ll think it’s getting better, and you’ll keep taking painkillers to take the edge off, but it’ll just keep getting worse, and you won’t even know it until your PT finally tells you it’s either two months off your feet to let it heal properly or you risk never being able to compete again.” He almost rips the bag in half as he finishes filling it with ice. He wraps it in a spare towel and shoves it at Eddie, who takes it gingerly before sitting on his bed and placing it on his ankle.

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Eddie says. 

Buck shrugs. He might know a thing or two about trying to force healing too quickly and ignoring pain, about getting a cast off two weeks too early and almost having his bone heal crooked. But his issues are not what’s important right now. 

What’s important is Eddie.

“Look, can you just—” Buck sits on the bed next to Eddie, hovering over him like he can use his body to shield Eddie from anything else that might hurt him. “Just promise me you’ll get it checked when we get home, okay? Don’t put it off, don’t wait until after the Final—”

“Hey,” Eddie says, his hand coming to Buck’s shoulder and squeezing. “I’ll go, I promise. First appointment I can get.” Buck nods, and Eddie nods with him, thumb softly pressing against his pulse point. He doesn’t feel better, but he feels less buzzy, less like he’s dangling off the edge of a cliff by the tips of his fingers.

Buck nods again, decisively, before quickly squeezing Eddie’s wrist and standing. Eddie catches his hand before he makes it very far, his eyes filled with an intensity he hasn’t seen off the ice.

“I’m okay,” he says firmly, reassuringly. “We’re okay. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

You don’t know that, Buck thinks, but he just quirks a smile instead before heading to the bathroom.

He closes the door behind him, sinks to the floor, and tries to let any worse case scenarios push him back over the edge.

~~~~~~~~~~

[from: Eddie] It’s a stress fracture

[from: Eddie] They said if I had landed on it a few more times it would have been much worse

[from: Eddie] Glad I listened to you

Buck feels a weird sense of relief and unease as he reads Eddie’s texts. The door to Bobby’s office shuts behind him, the sounds of the rink muffled to a dull murmur. He’s not sure why he’s here — he hasn’t done anything to get him in trouble, and they literally had practice together an hour ago.

Bobby sits at his desk, hands folded in front of him. “So I’m not sure if you heard, but Eddie—”

“—has a stress fracture in his ankle, yeah, he just told me.”

Bobby smirks before continuing. “He’ll be out for the next six weeks at least, so he’ll be missing the Final.” He pauses for what feels like dramatic effect.

Buck scrunches his brow. “Right. But what does that have to do with me? I’m second alternate, that kid from Japan should be taking his spot.”

“And he is,” Bobby says. “But the skater from Canada who qualified also has to withdraw. I guess a bad case of the stomach flu has been going through their team. He won’t be back in shape by next weekend, which means—”

“I’m in,” Buck says quietly.

Bobby nods. “You’re in.”

Buck’s first reaction is to laugh. A high pitched, hysterical laugh because he really can’t believe this is happening. He screwed up, screwed up bad, but he’s getting a second chance, by some twist of fate or intervention from the universe or however the hell this happened. Bobby keeps talking about flights and practice schedules, and Buck hears him, but not really, because all he feels is relieved. Relieved that his Olympic chances maybe won’t be as squashed as he thought, and relieved that he gets a chance to prove himself again, to show that he can deliver and that he’s worthy.

That’s all he’s ever trying to do, really.

He leaves Bobby’s office practically floating, already texting Hen about when they can meet and tweaks he wants to make that will push his programs that much closer to perfect. He’s in the middle of calling Maddie when he gets a text back, pulling it up as she starts listing all the program improvements she has planned for her and Chim to work on since they didn’t make the Final themselves.

It’s not from Hen like he expects, it’s from Eddie — a picture of him laid up on a couch, foot in an air cast but still smiling at the camera.

[from: Eddie] Told you I’d take care of myself. I’ll be cheering you on from here

It hits him then, and he plummets back down to Earth at the reminder.

Eddie’s not coming with him.

He gets to try and keep his Olympic dreams alive, while Eddie stays home and hopes that he does enough to be healthy in time for Nationals.

A year ago, he’d be stupidly smug about a change of events like this. Now, it just makes his stomach twist and sympathy and sadness. He’ll be facing this competition alone — without his friend, his fiercest competition, his...Eddie — and no matter how much easier it might be for him to stay focused, alone is the last thing he wants to be.

[blush-and-books]

Hi! I wasn’t sure if you were still taking requests but could you do #22 for Juke? Make it angsty if you want I’m in that type of mood today 😂

From this prompt list: Kissing someone’s cuts/bruises/scratches etc. High school AU, Luke is ~edgy~, Julie is the best friend in the whole world and he has every reason to be in love with her (which he is). IDK if you’re still in an angsty mood but I made it angsty. I also went off with this one because I was having too much fun. Thank you <333

“Guys, please don’t tell Julie.”

It was early in the morning before school, and Luke was hunched over one of the dirty sinks in the bathroom while trying to nurse his bloody nose. Alex was twirling one of his drumsticks between his fingers in a nervous habit, and Reggie was propped up against one of the stall dividers. 

Luke’s face was bruised and bloody from both his nose and his own scraped knuckles that keep brushing against his cheek on accident. 

“She’ll find out,” Alex sighs, and Luke glares at him through the mirror.  “Fuck, Bobby will probably be bragging about it,” Reggie adds. 

Luke, Reggie, and Alex had been planning on going into the music room before school to quickly test out some new material that they had been working on with Julie for their rehearsal after school that day. Normally, the music teacher lets them go into a practice room and mess around, but this morning, their teacher was distracted: By Bobby Wilson. 

AKA their ex-bandmate.

Who they had found with the music teacher, hunched over a computer, playing a recording he had made of a song with eerily familiar lyrics. 

He had recorded songs that Luke wrote when they were all still in a band. And he was showing them off to their music teacher as his own. 

Their music teacher was singing Bobby’s praises, telling him how proud she was that he was developing a career, and then she excused herself to go make some sheet music copies for one of her classes -- and that is when Luke made his entrance. 

Long story short: Bobby had a black eye and some cuts on his face from Luke’s rings, and Luke had a bloody nose, some busted knuckles, and a bruise blossoming on his cheek. 

And the last thing he wanted was Julie, his best friend, finding out. She would be so mad. 

“Well then just let me handle it, please,” Luke spits. “Don’t go running to her saying ‘Luke and Bobby beat each other up-’”

The door to the boys bathroom flings open -- and an angry girl with dark, curly hair storms in. 

Julie Molina. 

While, under any other circumstances, Luke’s day would be made just by seeing her -- he knows it’s about to get a lot worse.

“Lucas Michael Patterson, you better have a fucking valid reason for getting your ass kicked or I swear to God-”

“Julie-” 

“Bobby? Seriously? I thought you decided he wasn’t worth your time?”

“If you’ll just let me explain-”

“Maybe we should go,” Reggie cuts in. Luke rounds on him. 

“You-” He points at Reggie, then Alex, “you two weren’t supposed to tell her.”

Julie speaks up again. 

“You told them to hide this from me?” “I texted her SOS as soon as we broke you and Bobby up,” Alex explains, avoiding Luke’s eyes. “Sorry. We thought she would know a little more about first aid then we do.” 

Reggie walks over to the door, and Alex follows him before Luke can tear into them more.

“Thanks, Julie,” Reggie says right before grabbing Alex’s wrist and pulling him out of the room. Luke is left alone with Julie -- and Angry Julie is not a fun Julie to be around. 

“Jules, I-”

“Save it.” 

She puts her backpack on the floor and surprisingly pulls out a bag of bandages and a container of rubbing alcohol. A small package of tissues follows, which she instantly passes to him to hold to his nose. 

Relief fills him. They’re the soft kind -- not the sandpaper stuff that the school keeps in the bathrooms. 

“Thanks for… Doing all this,” he mumbles, voice nasally. Guilt pangs at his chest when her scowl deepens and she still won’t meet his eyes. 

“Well, I knew you wouldn’t have gone to the nurse, and someone needs to make sure you don’t get an infection.”

She’s right. The nurse means admitting he got into a fight to a school employee, admitting he got into a fight to a school employee means suspension, and suspension means an upcoming raging argument with his parents. 

He’s filled with a burning warmth when she suddenly grabs his hand -- still not making eye contact with him. His knuckles are pretty torn up, and Julie starts to remove his rings one by one. 

Luke’s heart breaks a little at how much he wants to lean into her while watching her do it. He wants her to do this again, preferably when she’s not mad at him, preferably in his room or in the studio while they write songs. 

“Now,” Julie finally speaks up and breaks his trance of distraction. “What happened?”

As he inhales a deep breath, he slowly removes the tissue from his nose, which has minimized it’s bleeding. 

“Well-”

Luke’s cut off by a stream of cleansing alcohol running over his cuts and stinging every square millimeter of space. 

“Fuck! Ow!” Julie’s face remains expressionless as Luke tries to pull his hand away, but she keeps it firm in his grip. His breathing gets heavier as he tries to face the pain. “Okay, I know I fucked up, I’m sorry. I deserved that. Let me explain.”

Another drop of the alcohol splashes on his knuckles. As he hisses, Julie gives him an expectant look. 

“I’m waiting, Patterson.”

With a few more deep breaths, Luke starts. 

“We found out that Bobby recorded our songs. My songs. Songs that were supposed to go to Sunset Curve, and he stole them, and recorded them, and played them for Ms. Harrison.” Julie’s grip tightens on his fingers. He hopes she understands his anger. “And she was just so happy about it, and was giving him all these compliments, and… When she left, I confronted him, and he was being a dick, and I just… Got mad.”

Julie finishes pressing a towel to his knuckles to wipe away some of the blood, and begins to softly wrap a bandage around his hand. Her touch is more gentle than it was a minute ago. 

“Who threw the first punch?” 

Luke sighs. 

“I did.” The bandage is tugged tightly around his knuckles. “He said that I’ll never have a band ‘with that Julie girl’ that’s worth anything close to what Sunset Curve was, and that he was making a success out of what wouldn’t have been.” 

The bandage loosens. 

“I’m sorry that Bobby is a song-stealing asshole,” Julie finally says, finishing up the bandage on his right hand. Now, time for his left, so he turns fully towards her and lifts the hand towards her to take. His heart flutters when her fingers wrap around his, but it’s quickly killed by the pierce of the rubbing alcohol. “But you know you shouldn’t resort to violence. You should be the bigger person.”

“Being the bigger person doesn’t exist when you’re a teenage boy,” Luke retorts, only to be defeated by a strong pour of the alcohol once again. “But you’re right. I know you’re right.”

“As I always am.”

Well, he can’t argue with that one. 

“As you always are.”

Finally, Luke catches a small smirk on his best friend’s face, which fills him with relief. Temporarily, his attention is taken off of his burning knuckles as she calmly finishes wiping away the blood and beginning to wrap a bandage around his left hand. 

“At least tell me you kicked his ass,” she says, out of the blew. “I want to know it was worth it.”

Even in the current situation, Luke grins wider than he has all day. Julie never fails to bring it out of him. 

“I mean, not to brag, but he definitely looks worse.” Julie looks up at him, clearly wanting a full description of the other party’s injuries. “His knuckles are trashed too, but I got in a black eye and my rings tore him up pretty good. He looks like he got attacked by a raccoon.”

“As he should,” she thinks aloud. Luke nods vigorously in agreement. 

They stand in silence under the aggressively fluorescent lighting of the bathroom, and Luke spends the next thirty seconds just staring at Julie like a lovesick idiot. She looks tired (like all of them do, every morning -- they’re teenagers for God’s sake), but her hair is down and curly and beautiful, and her sweatshirt looks beyond cozy. 

Suddenly, Julie lifts Luke’s mummified left hand to her lips and presses a light, slow kiss to it. Followed by another one. 

And then, she finally looks up at him through her long eyelashes, which takes his breath away completely. Her feet shuffle a small step closer to him, and for a moment he panics that she’s going to kiss him, or he’ll lose his self control and kiss her, but what she does instead makes his heart pound just the same:

She lifts herself onto her tiptoes and kisses the oval-shaped bruise painted across his cheekbone. 

His hand, with a mind of its own, comes up to cup the back of her neck and keep her as close as possible, which she doesn’t fight. Instead, she brushes her nose against his, and today just went from being the worst day ever to the best day ever, and-

The school bell rings. 

Julie pulls away. 

Hastily, she’s tucking her medical supplies back into her bag, and avoiding his eyes once again. 

“Try not to get in another fight, please,” she sends him an awkward smile as she zips her backpack, “I only brought the two bandages.” And before he can even blink, she’s gone.

[joyandthephantoms]

21 "don't let me go" + Bobby and reggie? 🥺 - @sunsetcurvecuddles

hi G thank you for the prompt ily

Words: 1k

Rating: Teen and up

ao3 link

Bobby would say he doesn’t know what Luke was thinking, but no, it was obviously something along the lines of “I’m not about to let some homophobic fuckwad say shit to Alex,” and honestly, Bobby probably would have taken a swing at the guy himself if Luke hadn’t beat him to it.

It doesn’t really matter what he would have done, though, because Luke punching a stranger in a crowded club snapped Bobby straight into deescalate-and-get-his-boys-out-of-harms-way mode, so what he did do was yank Luke away and shove all three of his friends out the door and into his car and bring Reggie home with him after dropping off Luke and Alex because the way his shoulders tightened when Bobby asked “So should I take you back to your place, or what?” told him everything he needed to know.

So now he’s in his garage, telling Reggie things he definitely already knows—“There are sheets in the bin over there, and I can go grab food from the house, if you still need to eat”— because he just doesn’t know what else to do with himself.

“You’re shaking,” Reggie says.

Fuck.

“I’m fine,” Bobby says. “It’s fine, I just need to—” what? Go finish the fight he pulled Luke away from? Go fight with Luke instead, yell at him for being an idiot and making things worse? Just scream forever? There’s no way to finish the sentence. “I’m fine,” he says again, and of course his body chooses that exact moment to betray him.

The edges of his vision go black for a second and his knees buckle. He catches himself easily, is standing up straight again in just a few seconds, but the damage is done.

“Bobby, I think you need to sit down.” There’s a panicked look on Reggie’s face, and Bobby kicks himself for being the one to put it there. Being here was supposed to be less stressful than his parents’ house, that was the whole point, Bobby can’t fuck it up by passing out and making everything worse.

It doesn’t make sense that that’s even a possibility. This isn’t the first time they’ve had to deal with an asshole at a gig, it’s not even the first time it’s gotten physical like that, so there’s absolutely no reason that this time should leave him dizzy and shaking.

The universe gives zero shits about remaining consistent, apparently.

“Yeah. Okay,” Bobby says finally. He sits down, if only so Reggie will stop looking at him like he’s scared he’s about to fall to his death or something.

As soon as he does, it hits him how exhausted he is. His chest is heavy and his skin feels numb and unbearably sensitive to everything at the same time and he’s two seconds from snapping and if he has to move an inch again he might cry and he can’t have that happen.

He’s always tired, but it doesn’t always bowl him over all at once like this. But as the adrenaline fades out, he feels . . . not drained, actually. Just—too sharp and too full to do anything but shut down.

Reggie sits down beside him. “Not that I don’t appreciate you looking out for us,” he says, “but you didn’t forget that you’re still just 16, did you?” He’s using that carefully teasing tone of his, the ”I’m keeping this lighthearted so both of us have an easy out but I do sincerely mean everything I’m saying” voice.

Having it turned on him makes Bobby feel defensive and exposed and cared for all at once. “What was I supposed to do, leave it up to your parents?” It comes out bitter but not sharp, more muttered than barked. Still, Bobby expects Reggie to skitter away from him, to draw back into himself the way he always does when he thinks someone is mad at him.

He doesn’t expect him to dive forward and wrap his arms around Bobby’s stomach and lay his head against his chest.

Bobby’s shoulders tense automatically, and he prays Reggie doesn’t notice and take it the wrong way. He’s not mad at Reggie, it’s just that he’s not used to this kind of affection—it’s different from the way Alex will carefully reach out for him, or the way Luke, who needs touch like he needs air, will throw himself at him recklessly, like he never even thought about it at all.

Reggie has all of Alex’s intentionality and none of his hesitation, and it makes that exposed feeling flare up in Bobby’s chest twice as hard. He’s seized with the urge to shove Reggie away and backpedal and close everything up again, somehow, even though if he didn’t lose that battle from the moment he invited Reggie to stay the night, he for sure did when he sat down.

“Just don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?” Reggie says.

Bobby doesn’t shove him away. He settles a hand on his back and says, “Sure, yeah.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” Bobby will never understand how Reggie does this to him. He won’t pretend that he doesn’t still feel defensive and prickly about Reggie trying to take care of him, but he also won’t pretend that those feelings can even come close to matching the unfiltered fondness that Reggie draws out.

Bobby can’t help it. Reggie saying or doing anything at all turns him into a fucking cat in a sunbeam, apparently. He’s still exhausted, that doesn’t just go away, but he also feels . . . solid. Not as stretched thin and full of knives as he did a minute ago. More rested than he has in ages.

He doesn’t want the feeling to go away. He and Reggie stay exactly as they are for ten minutes, then twenty, and he barely breathes for fear of disturbing it. Then whispers, so softly that maybe he could get away with claiming he didn’t say anything at all, “Don’t let me go.”

Reggie doesn’t respond. He might have fallen asleep, or he might have just not been listening. Bobby doesn’t know if he’s disappointed or relieved.

But Reggie doesn’t let go, either.

[smol-and-grumpy]

Golden Cage - Chapter.08

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: She’s a spoiled little princess — at least that’s what people say. Her father is the King of all Kings, the man who everyone fears. Then, along comes Dean Winchester, the one guy who manages to see into her soul, but — — is Dean really who he says he is?

Chapter Warnings: Violence, threats, minor character death, fluff, angst, doubts

WC: 5675

Beta’d by: @deanwanddamons​ <3

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Become a Patron ~ Buy me a coffee

Dean’s in the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day ahead of him, when he hears furious banging against his bedroom door.

“Be right there!” He shouts out with his mouth still full of toothpaste. Dean spits it out and rinses the brush. 

He already took a shower this morning, as he needed it to wake him up. Maybe he also needed it to calm himself down because he was so goddamn hard and there was no Y/N next to him. His cock was aching for the intimacy they shared last night, but he thinks that his heart ached more for the closeness, he just doesn’t really want to admit it. Can’t possibly admit it just yet because he’s a stubborn idiot.

“We’re leaving in ten!” The voice says and Dean knows that it belongs to Ed. Benny had most likely sent him to get Dean. It’s probably not because Benny wants Dean to tag along again, but more because Azazel wants it that way. They’re all not really happy about him being nosy in their operation at all, but Dean can’t really fucking care about that.

And yeah, he wants to be there this morning because he has a fucking blood bath to prevent. He doesn’t even want to think about what would happen if the dude didn’t have the money like he promised he would. 

Dean rinses his hands under the warm water and turns the faucet to cool before splashing some cold water onto this face and dries himself off with a washcloth, “I’ll be down in ten.” He calls out and flips his wrists to check his watch. It’s 6.37 AM. It’s way too early for his taste and he’s still so tired.

Last night was fucking amazing, there’s no doubt about it, but Dean has maybe slept two hours, tops. He’s even more grumpy when he doesn’t get his four hours of shuteye and there’s a pounding in the back of his head. He has to be careful that it won’t grow into a full-blown headache.

The lack of sleep is really his own fault, though. Dean really has no one else but himself to blame. 

Last night, he waited until she fell asleep. Then, waited some more to make sure that she was in a deep sleep before he scooped her up to carry her over to her own bedroom. He had to do it because there wouldn’t have been a good way to spin a story of how she would wander from his room into hers in the morning when everyone’s up and awake. He’s sure someone would have seen her if he would have let her stay and it pained him that he had to do it, it really did.

God knows how much he wanted to let her stay beside him. How much he didn’t want her to leave his bed at all, but this whole thing is fucked up enough as it is, he doesn’t need to pour gasoline on a goddamn fire. 

This whole thing is fucking stupid and risky—

—and yet, he knows in his heart that he can’t possibly walk away from it. From her.

Dean braces his hands on the sink and drops his head. He’s smirking as memories from last night flashes before his eyes. He came fucking twice! Within fucking minutes! It had never happened before and he wasn’t lying when he told her that never wanted to stop fucking her. How could he? It felt super awesome being inside of her wet heat. And the way she came on his dick? Jesus, he’s getting hard again just thinking about it. He’d like to experience it again sometime, would really fucking love to.

The fucking was awesome, he’s established that. But the thing after was also super great? Like, Dean didn’t account for that, if he’s honest. 

The way she laid in his arms, the way she curled up against him, the way she fell asleep. It was great and Dean felt a calmness in his heart he never experienced before. He couldn’t stop himself from touching her. Couldn’t possibly stop, no matter how much he would have wanted to. No, there was no stopping because he wanted to memorize every feature of her face, wanted to memorize the bumps and creases of her skin with the tip of his fingers. 

Carrying her over to her room was hard for him to do because he had to make sure that she didn’t wake up while at the same time making sure that nobody heard him walking around. He even wore fucking socks so as not to make too loud of a sound. 

He laid her into her bed and pulled the cover over her, tucking her in gently, before he kissed her lips one last time, lingered a little longer than he first wanted. It was just so hard to part. 

Dean shakes his head to clear out the pictures of her swimming around in his mind and clears his throat after, to get the bittersweet taste out of his mouth, before he pushes himself away from the sink and makes his way out of the bathroom. 

Her panties and the shirt she came into his room with are still on the floor. Dean picks it up and stuffs them deep into the hamper, making sure that nobody will find them. He doesn’t think that anyone would search in there anyway. 

She didn’t ask any questions last night about why Dean handed her his shirt instead of hers. It was a spur of the moment decision for him. It was just.. when he came out of the bathroom and looked at her shirt, he felt the sudden urge to give her one of his. There was a sudden possessiveness that crept up his spine. Dean can’t really explain it himself, to be honest. He smirked when she pulled it over her head, thought that she looked fucking cute in his shirt, but he tried to not be too obvious about the joy he felt.

Walking over to the door, Dean turns around again to take a last look to see if he left anything behind that could bust him — bust his ass for the things he’s already doing and of course bust him for fucking her. When he’s satisfied that there are no traces, he leaves the room and closes the door. He doesn’t lock it, fears that it would raise suspicion if he does. 

Dean walks along the landing, has to pass her door on his way down the stairs, and he almost stalls, almost knocks on her fucking door. Almost. He catches himself on time, reminds himself that he’s running late as it is. Besides, it’s not even 7 AM. She’s most likely still sound asleep. He hopes she is. He also hopes that she’s not too sore.

She did ask him to fuck her harder. 

Dean chuckles at the memory, gets flustered too. His ears are burning. He hopes that they aren’t too red because it’s hard to conceal.

Jesus, this fucking girl.

He shakes his head as he makes his way down the stairs and suddenly, there’s another thought popping into his mind. There’s still an issue he has to talk to her about. Wanted to actually talk last night, but when he saw how exhausted she was, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Dean makes a mental note to bring it up as soon as he would meet her. He hopes it’s going to be today.

 *

 Dean’s the last one to arrive at the restaurant. Benny and his boys are already inside because even though Dean said he’ll be down in ten, the fucking gang had already left. So much for taking him along. 

To say that the incident is making him even more grumpy is an understatement.

He barges into the door to find the restaurant owner strapped to a chair yet again. The man’s sobbing uncontrollably, he is gagged with a tie. The man’s wife is already laying on the ground, a bullet wound through her chest and the middle of her head, which seems a bit of an overkill. It happened just a moment ago because he can see that the blood has only started to seep from under her body.

Dean takes it that they didn’t manage to get the money.

The kids are each strapped to a chair, both of them squirming and crying, both of them have ties around their mouths, too. 

And that, pisses Dean off to no end.

“What the fuck is going on?” Dean roars it out so loud that the other men are flinching, “Who the fuck did this?” He gestures wildly at the dead woman on the ground.

Glancing at the men, Dean notices quickly who fired the shots because Benny’s the only guy who has a fucking gun in his hand. 

Dean rushes over to Benny, presses up close in an act of dominance, their faces only inches apart. 

Benny snorts, “Who the fuck are you to tell me how to fucking do my work?”

Oh, Dean’s angry, alright. He knows everything about how they fucking operate. Bobby made sure to tell him details and this never came up. They don’t shoot women. They don’t fucking kill children. 

“I don’t fucking care, Benny, you don’t fucking bite off a hand that fucking feeds you!” He spits out his words into Benny’s face. 

The other man snorts some more, “He doesn’t have the fucking money!”

Dean turns away and paces around, still shaking his head. At last, he turns to face Benny again, but from a safe distance, “Then fucking shoot him and not her!”

“We just want to scare him,” Ed chimes in and gets shot down by Dean’s menacing glare. The man quickly shuts his mouth. 

“Well, he is scared,” Dean says. His voice is a little calmer now. He had noticed the wet pants around the man’s crotch, “Congratulations! Mission accomplished. I hope you’re fucking proud! And what now?”

“We kill off the boy next,” Benny says drily and the dad whimpers while the boy screams. 

“And then?” Dean asks, because he can’t wrap his head around it. It’s not what the family stands for. Not at all.

“Then the dad.” Ed shrugs as if it’s no fucking big deal.

“And the girl?” Dean asks, and he fucking knows that he shouldn’t be discussing any of it in front of the victims, but that’s just how it is, and there’s no way for him to talk to his men in private. 

Benny smirks, “We have connections and I’m personally thinking about expanding the family business, branching out, you know.”

Oh, Dean knows. Dean knows exactly what Benny’s talking about, and he’s not happy about it. 

“Does Azazel know?” 

“Not yet,” Benny shrugs, “But I’ll have a meeting later, I’ll bring up the new business idea.” 

Dean looks from Benny to the kids and back at the guy, “I’m taking them with me—”

“—You will do no such thing!” 

Benny cuts Dean off before Dean could even finish his sentence. The man’s also in Dean’s hair, inches so close and pushes at his chest, “You let us do our fucking job and you do yours!”

There’s a lot of staring each other down, a lot of quivering lips and steely gazes. Dean sighs before he resigns. Not because he wants to, but because he knows that he has to. He would overstep his duties, and he would make himself suspicious. More than he already is in the men’s eyes. 

So Dean does what’s expected of him. He takes a step back and walks out of the room without another word. 

 Y/N wakes to the sound of soft knocking at her door. She blinks the sleep away before her eyes scan her surroundings. It takes her some time to realize where she is. 

She’s back in her own room.

Disappointment clouds her face and she curls up on her side. Her eyes stay open as she stares at the door where someone knocks again.

“What is it?” She calls out grumpily. Today’s not a good day, she can already feel it. 

“Madam,” The maid says, “It’s past 1 PM, would you like your lunch?”

What? Past 1 PM? How? She never gets up this late. Has probably never slept past 10 AM in her whole life.

“No, thank you.” She says, “I’ll go into work once I get up.” 

“Alright, Madam. Just ring me if you need me.” 

“Thanks.”

Y/N sits up in her bed, pulls the blanket aside, and notices that she’s still in Dean’s shirt. And then it dawns on her. That is why he wanted her to wear something for bed, wasn’t it? So that he could carry her back into her own room. 

Bringing the shirt to her face, she sniffs at it. Couldn’t really do it last night when Dean was next to her. She smells him. Smells his cologne, his soap, his musk. He probably slept in it the night before, because it doesn’t smell like it has been washed in a while. And strangely, she doesn’t care. It smells heavenly. 

The scent of the shirt brings her back to last night and her mind starts to spin. God, they really had sex. Dean’s a great lover, he made her come more than she had with any other man. Even on his dick alone, which never happened. It was totally different from Adam. Adam didn’t really make a big effort if she had to compare, but also she doesn’t know what’s the norm? Was Dean just over-attentive or is that standard? 

Jesus, she even forgot to go pee afterward and that’s what she should have done, right? Ellen told her so many times already that she should go pee after having sex so as not to contract UTI. She completely forgot in her blissed-out state. 

Dean did that to her. She was incapable of forming one coherent word afterward. 

Y/N liked everything about last night. Like how he took care of her, liked how he fucked her. But most of all, she liked how he took her in his arms afterward, how his hands brushed over her face, how the gestures lulled her to sleep.

Getting up, she peels the shirt from her body and stows it away underneath her pillow. Just in case. And she wants to wear it again tonight just because she can. It’s hers now, she won’t give it back no matter how much Dean would want it returned to him. 

On her way to the bathroom, she feels something warm running out of her vagina and she hurries to the bathroom, doesn’t necessarily wanting it to drip on the carpet because she would have a hard time explaining it to Ellen. That woman has bat ears and eagle eyes, she would know, Y/N’s so sure of that.

Inside of the shower, she inspects the wetness that runs down her thighs and it keeps running out. God, just how much did Dean come inside of her? Because it’s a lot and it was his second time too, having spilled the first load onto her stomach and pussy. 

She turns on the shower, washes herself down there with water before soaping herself up. Her hand rubs at her clit and it somehow hurts a little because it’s very sensitive. It doesn’t help that she actually wants to rub there some more because of the tingly sensation she feels inside of her guts. Dean has really left a lasting impression on her, that much is clear. 

After the shower and with no release because it just hurt too much, she walks out of the bathroom frustrated and grumpy. It also doesn’t lift her mood when she sees Ellen in her room. The woman has a key to every door in the house and she’s not afraid to use it. 

Ellen’s in the process of stripping her bedsheets and she already notices the edge of Dean’s shirt hanging out from the laundry basket.

“No!” She shouts and runs to the basket, fishing the shirt out, “I want to wear it again tonight.” She says, but then she realizes that she maybe shouldn’t have said it, “I mean, I just pulled it out of the closet and… uh, it’s still good to wear. It doesn’t need to be washed yet.” She stammers, trying to somehow make sense. 

The woman looks at Y/N with a frown on her face, “Hun, since when do you care if I wash a shirt you’ve only worn once?”

“Uh, I don’t know? Just— I know that I want to wear it again, okay?” She clutches at the fabric and pulls it out of the basket, proceeds to walk with it to her walk-in closet but Ellen was having none of it. 

The woman tugs her back by her arm, “Y/N, show me.” 

“Ellen!”

“Do I have to use force on you? Because I’d rather not.”

God, she hates how Ellen goes all mom on her. The woman’s been here since before Y/N was born and when her mother died, she came closest to being a mother figure to Y/N while she also took care of her own child. Ellen knows her better than she knows herself, even knew about Adam, but Ellen didn’t tell. She wonders if she can tell Ellen about Dean? If she should tell? No, that’s probably not a good idea since Dean doesn’t want anyone to know.

“Y/N, I’m asking nicely.” Ellen holds out a hand, waiting for her to hand over the garment. 

She sighs and rolls her eyes, “Fine!”

Ellen doesn’t even wait for her to lay the shirt into her awaiting palm, instead, she tears it from Y/N’s grip. 

The woman holds it up, frowning, “That’s not your shirt.”

“How do you know?”

“I know every item in your wardrobe, Y/N, and this shirt isn’t yours,” Ellen says and puts the shirt to her nose to sniff at it. Y/N cringes, “Yep, definitely a man’s shirt. What happened?”

“Nothing?”

“Well, I hope that nothing knows what he’s done and that he’s in a lot of trouble if the King finds out.”

“I told him—” Y/N says meekly, “—about Adam.”

“Good, boy needs to know.” Ellen hands the shirt back to her, “Please don’t tell me it’s one of his.”

She doesn’t say anything but also, she doesn’t meet Ellen’s questioning eyes, avoiding them at all costs.

“Dear God, honey! No!” Ellen sighs loudly, “This is not going to end well, and you know it!”

“It’s different!” She shouts, “He’s different!”

“Yeah, tell that to your father when he has the boys balls in his hand ready to cut them off, will ya?”

Oh god, the image of it makes her skin crawl. Ellen is right. Of course the woman’s right, and Y/N hates that she is.

“He doesn’t need to know,” Y/N mumbles softly. 

Ellen gestures with her hands and there’s obvious irritation on her face as she rubs a hand over her forehead, “Look, I’m on your side, okay? Just please be careful, and I’m going to get you new pills, I’ll drop them off and hide them in your room in the evening, okay?”

Y/N’s pout turns into a big wide grin as she throws her arms around Ellen’s neck and sprays kisses on her cheek, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ellen says, “I love you, okay? I just want you to be safe.”

“I know.”

 Dean’s sitting at the counter of a roadside diner a couple of hours out of the city. To be honest, he didn’t know where to go at first, just got into his car and thought about leaving it all behind. He knows that he can if he really wants to, knows that he’s allowed if he has a good reason. 

While he drove, he thought about the reasons, but he came up empty-handed. Apparently, corruption of his own moral compass isn’t good enough of a reason, and he knows that too. It’s not going to be a reason for them to accept it because he’s been in his game long enough. 

But he has decided something for himself on his way out here. After this is all over, he’s going to leave the Bureau. He’s going to leave it all behind, get in his car, and drive. He has the feeling that he’s getting too old for all this bullshit. When he first started, he really had the impression that he could make a difference, that he could help make the world a little safer, but the reality caught up to him pretty fast, and now, after doing what he does for a decade, he knows that the world doesn’t change. When he catches a bad guy, there are at least five more who are going to take that guy’s place. When he closes a case, there are going to be ten more coming up. It’s a vicious circle that keeps on spinning.

He’s here now, isn’t he? He’s going to get this over with and Dean started to think about reasons for him not to leave, and there are some. There’s also a chump holding him back by clawing into his skin. That chump comes in the form of a stunning girl with a beautiful smile. That’s when Dean realizes that he doesn’t have a good enough reason to leave, but has a better reason to stay.

It’s afternoon and the diner is more than half empty. He’s nursing his coffee that tastes more like water with a sprinkle of coffee flavor as he waits. 

He knows it’s fucking risky disappearing after what happened at the restaurant this morning. It’s fucking risky to just get in his car and drive away without telling anyone where he’s going, but he needed a breather and he especially needed time to sort things out in his head. 

This whole operation is fucking with his mind. Fucking with his grip on morality. He has always known what’s right and what’s wrong, and he’s worked undercover before, but it never involved innocent fucking children for god’s sake!

The bell of the diner chimes and he notices a woman coming in. She walks to the counter and sits next to him.

“You got any news?” Dean asks, but he doesn’t look at the women. Instead, he stares down at his coffee, signaling for the waitress to pour him some more. 

“Not much.” His supervisor says, “You know we shouldn’t meet like this, right?”

Dean snorts, “We shouldn’t be doing a lot of things, Naomi. Yet, here we are,”

The woman ignores him.

“We found out that Benny is in contact with Marv,” Naomi says, while she signals for the waitress to bring her a cup as well. 

Dean debates on telling her that the coffee tastes like shit, but he decides against it. It’s the little thing he finds joy in nowadays. Instead, he tries not to frown too much as he asks, “Marv?”

“Marv Armstrong. He’s big in the human trafficking business.”

“Oh no,” Dean rubs at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, bringing it together in the middle to pinch at the bridge of his nose. He didn’t sleep nearly enough for such fucking bullshit.

Naomi thanks the waitress and takes a sip from her cup, spitting it right out with a disgusted expression on her face, and Dean has to hold himself together so as not to laugh out loud. 

The woman soon regains her composure, even before Dean’s done with laughing, “Try to be there when Benny meets Azazel. We want to know more about it.”

Fucking Christ, first they have a mole in the fucking family, and now this? Dean didn’t fucking sign up for fuckery, did he? 

He sighs and gets up from the stool before he fishes out a five-dollar bill from his jacket pocket, “I’ll try.”

“You want to leave so much for a bad coffee?” Naomi grits her teeth but doesn’t look at him.

Leaning down a little, he places the bill on the counter, “Hey, everyone needs money to get by, doesn’t matter how bad the coffee is.”

Dean walks out without another word and hurries to his car. He knows he has to be there for the meeting, but he has to do something else first.

 Y/N spends some time working in the restaurant after lunch. After she ushers Ellen out of her room, she gets dressed and puts some makeup on her face in order to hide the dark circles around her eyes. She arrived at the shop hangry, so Garth had made her a delicious burger and fries because he somehow knew that she needed it, and it really did help lift her mood a little.

Garth always knows what she needs and she loves him for it, is thankful that he enjoys working in her restaurant. He never complains about anything and always smiles. Sometimes, Garth is indeed the light of the restaurant and it makes her workdays so much more bearable.

After the meal, she checks in on her other employees to see if they have trouble managing the whole place without her being in as much as before, but apparently, everything seems to be going fine which actually disappoints her a little because it shows that she’s really not needed at all. 

Her dad’s right about it, and she hates that he is.

When she’s about to go to the back and continue with her inventory, the bell chimes and her dad walks in with some of his entourage. He walks straight to the counter and doesn’t sit down in his booth like he normally does. She senses that something must be going on.

“Are you hungry, dad?” Y/N asks and looks back at Garth who’s tossing some fries into the oil, “Garth’s making a new batch of fries.” 

“No, I already ate,” Her father says, “Is Dean in?” 

Well, should he be? She doesn’t know, because she hasn’t heard from him since last night. Her cheeks burn up at the memories.

“I’ve not been here long enough to know.” She says simply. Maybe because it’s the truth and maybe, because she does want to sound like she cares. 

God, she does care, though. Where is Dean?

“We’re going to be down for the rest of the day. Send him down when he drops by,” Her dad says and doesn’t even wait for her answer. Instead, he strolls to the back door, his entourage following him. 

“Benny is in but I haven’t seen Dean,” Garth chimes in from the back, but she doubts that her dad registered it. It doesn’t matter to her dad what Garth has to say anyway. 

Garth’s still smiling and it almost breaks her heart. She watches as Garth just shrugs and continues to whistle a tune while he takes out the fries as if he doesn’t really care if people don’t like him. He’s just being himself and that’s what she admires him for. She wished she could be a little more like Garth.

“Jo, you got this? I’ll be in the back,” she says, as Jo walks back to the counter with an empty tray after having served customers. 

“Sure thing,” the girl smiles at her.

Y/N nods with a smile before walking to the back thinking that she’ll definitely miss working in here.

 *

 About a half-hour into boring inventory, she hears the doorknob being turned. She has stopped listening to music while she’s in here, it just doesn’t seem safe when she can’t hear her surroundings. Her hand immediately goes to her gun that’s laying on the shelf next to her clipboard, as a precaution.

“Leave it, it’s me.” 

Y/N doesn’t have to turn around to know who it is. She’d recognize the hushed whisper anywhere. She’d recognize the smooth bass of the voice, even if her eyes were closed. It’s crazy how the sound of someone’s voice can jump-start her heart in a flash.

She doesn’t turn around, doesn’t know if she’d be able to look him in the eye, because she’s still a little salty that she didn’t wake up next to him, even though she knows that it’s irrational to be salty about it.

It’s absolutely stupid, she knows. 

He did the right thing, because how should she explain if she would have gotten caught going out of Dean’s room in the morning wearing only a shirt and panties? There’d be no way to talk herself out of it and it would land Dean in so much trouble. It’s just… her brain is incapable of thinking rationally at the moment, and she’s as far away from being reasonable at this very moment as she can be. It’s probably the princess-effect. 

“Dad’s waiting for you.” She says simply, trying to occupy herself as she takes her clipboard and writes something on it. She doesn’t even know what to write, draws stupid circles, and makes up numbers to write on it, hoping he doesn’t see the doodles. 

Still with her back to him, she feels him coming closer, feels the broad of him standing right behind her. The heat of his body radiates over to hers. And she smells him too. Smells the soap on his skin, the cologne on his shirt. 

God, it clouds her mind.

Dean places a hand on her shoulder, the other hand strokes down her back until it weaves around her waist, fingers span wide on her stomach. He pulls her closer, molding her back to his firm chest, and places a kiss on her neck. She feels the roughness of his scruff, which sends shivers up her spine.

“Have I upset you?” He whispers into her skin. 

She tilts her head a little and Dean kisses her temple, leaves his lips there as the grip around her waist tightens. 

“Just disappointed that I woke up in my own bed.” She mumbles.

Moments pass before she hears him chuckle next to her ear. 

“I’m sorry,” He says and kisses her once more on her cheek. 

He breathes out after, and she smells coffee on his breath, wonders where he got one. Wonders if he had one here. She places the clipboard on the shelf, turning around in his grip to meet his eyes for the first time, noticing when she sees him that he looks tired. There’s worry on his face also. 

Y/N hooks her arms in the back of his neck and Dean leans down, presses his forehead on hers, “I got something for you,” He says and smirks before he pecks her lips. 

Dean’s hand leaves her waist, goes to his jacket pocket and she feels something hard poking at her from in between them. It’s a little box and she leans back to be able to take a look at it. She takes it in her hand, examines it.

 Plan B

One Step

 The words read boldly on the box, and she looks up at Dean with a frown etched between her eyebrows. 

He chuckles and lifts his thumb to rub at the crease, “I shouldn’t have, uh, you know, come inside of you. I’m sorry about that, but you said things that made me forget my own damn name.” 

“I don’t need it,” She whispers, holding the box to him and wants him to take it back. 

This time, it’s his turn to frown. There’s clearly irritation on his face which she has to laugh at. 

“Why?” He asks, but he doesn’t take the box back. 

“I’m taking the pill, Dean. It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Dean exhales loudly. His hot breath fans over her face. He takes a step back and paces around, before he threads a hand through his hair, “Jesus,” He groans in relief, “It was nagging at me the whole day! Fuck!” 

Y/N laughs when she watches him pace around some more and there it was, the realization that dawns on him, the tension that ebbs out of his body. Suddenly, Dean’s on her, wrapping his hands around her and lifts her up, one hand around her waist and one at the base of her neck as he draws her in for a kiss. It’s soft and gentle, tongue only teasing at her teeth, but when she opens up her mouth, he sucks in her tongue. 

God, it feels incredible. 

He chuckles when he parts and lets her down, but she’s still lost in the moment, still chases his lips with her mouth, her eyes still closed. His chuckle grows into a laugh and he pecks her nose, making it wet. 

“Baby, your dad wants to see me,” Dean whispers, pecking her lips once more and she groans out in frustration. His big hands go further down, cups her ass in his palms, and give it a squeeze, “I’ll see you, okay?” 

“‘K,” She nods, and licks her lips as he places one more kiss on her forehead. 

Dean leaves to walk to the door.

“What’s with that?” She still has the Plan B box in her hand and waves it around. 

“Keep it,”

“What?”

“Well, I can’t possibly turn up with Plan B in my jacket.” 

He’s not wrong, but still. Now she needs to walk around with it in her purse so she rolls her eyes, making him chuckle as he opens the door to the hallway.

Dean takes a last look back at her, lips curving up, creases deepening around his eyes, “You know, you’re really the only thing that keeps me going. I don’t think I would still be doing the shit I’m doing if you weren’t in it.” 

Y/N feels the color rising in her cheeks and Dean closes the door with a last nod of his head.

Chapter.09

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

[chaneilkular]

ok the gay stuff...... why is literally EVERYONE in this show gay hello????? fucking obsessed. i get the feeling u prefer cartero to bobby & cj which so valid. first of all cj hello cyrus & tj combined like 🥴 no but i love him he seems super sweet and like makes bobby more bold i think??? BUT ALSO why is this kid a junior 😕 the entire time i was like oh he’s a sophomore so only one grade above but then someone said junior at the end and i...... like what was the reason</3 considering that i feel like they won’t be endgame but honestly s2 did not go as i expected so i’m not gna even try and predict what will happen. either way i’m happy bobby has new friends and a bf i feel like he needed those to help him branch out!!! the whole are you jealous what if i am HELLO batshit crazy again bobby being pushed to be open ab his feelings ‼️‼️ but ok cartero like...... liam straight up looked like he’d been the told the worst news of his life at the end HELLO the dude has 2 be bi and like him back why else would he be that devastated ???? i appreciate that they teased a love triangle but it didn’t come until the end rly threw me for a spin ! jada breaking up w him hoooo boi last thing i expected it was so random but hs is like that but still i just didn’t think the writers would do that 😳 ALSO bobby on his own the most important ofc i’m not super attached to either couple tbh like i will say i see more chemistry w cj only bc we got more focus on them but he’d be happy w both and as long as bobby’s happy i’m fine ! so so proud of him for coming out obviously that isn’t necessary at all but for him it meant expressing himself and opening up which he never does so :’) and telling elena AH she was the best and the whole i’d rather take a guy that was incredible..... and then his mom naur don’t get me started the dude rly went his name is cj ah 😭 i was straight up doing a jig in my room last night at all his scenes i love him sm. ALSO ok wish we had more of danielle and cami together but her proposing :’) oh the gays are winning here anyway that is it for now PLEASE lmk ur thoughts on literally anything 💖

let's get into thisss... honestly, this is how a good show should be structured. everyone gay, the token straights on their best behavior and actually setting an example on how to be good allies. we love to see it. yeah, I'm not going to lie. when I've sunken my teeth into something fruity, you better believe I'm going to keep chewing until I've extracted all the flavor. honestly, I just don't have an opinion on cj yet. like, I think liking them as a couple is fine and to say he didn't help bobby grow is just plain wrong. there's just not much else to him for me, personally. they could've named him anything but cj, though. like, this is not a coincidence, I refuse to believe that. so, if we're going to see a lot more of him next season (let's hope, we're going to get one... I've not forgotten how long it took d*sney to renew this show), he needs to presented a little bit more complex, in detail of sorts. we need to get to know him better. when it comes to love triangles though, I'm always all in for just one guy and you know who that is here 🙊 honestly don't know why they went with the 'cooler older guy' trope. I feel like there's a lot of vicious spins to this and I just hope we don't get to see any of them. I'm just tired of certain narratives when it comes to gay relationships in media. going to admit they had a lot more chemistry but this was mainly because bobby and liam had basically nothing going on this season except bobby's initial jealousy... only for them to crank that shit up to 100% real quick with that scene™. if this is not what heartbreak looks like, I don't know what does. for the record: that boy is not straight. I've never been a big fan of coming out narratives. maybe that's just my personal view on things or whatever. but they did it so well? I can't even express how I'm feeling about it. streets are saying I might have been crying a little. will not go into detail. really the most beautiful and best reactions you could get and I love that so much for bobby. really beautifully done, really hopeful. they didn't undermine the importance of it either but also didn't make it weird... you know? maybe the best moments this season by far. cami is literally my favorite side character. I just love how unapologetically lesbian she is with everything she does and says. it's so refreshing to have an character who is allowed to view things from a gay perspective and say things from a gay perspective. completely unredacted. I just love her so much. the show just wouldn't be the same without her 💕

[shingeki-no-scenarios]

Title: So P(r)etty

Characters: Connie Springer x GN!Reader

Genre: Crack, Fluff

AU: Present-day

Warnings: Some cuss words; Reader being a jealous, suspicious, petty bih and hitting Connie's arm; Corny pet names

Summary: A simple internet challenge turns into petty drama.

A/N: Is this challenge still a thing or :D Also idk what this is I just need smth light-hearted after Going Thru Sum Things

"Come on, Connie!" they pleaded, even jutting out their lip and clasping their hands tight in an attempt to get their nonchalant boyfriend to give into their demands. "Pretty please?" their voice was sickeningly sweet and very unlike them.

Merely clucking his tongue at them, Connie furrowed his eyebrows as he focused on his game. He loved his honey baby love to bits, but if he lost this ranked game, he just might end up withholding forehead kisses for the rest of the afternoon. "The presentation of the "please" doesn't matter, babe." he said monotonously as he continued to mash the buttons on his controller.

They really didn't want things to come to this, but they were left with no choice. Walking over to Connie and taking a seat on his lap, they leaned on his shoulder and looked up at him with the best pleading emoji face they could pull. "Pleaaase?" they pleaded once more, fighting back a smile once they saw a shift in their partner's face that meant he will give into what they have been pestering him about.

"Two minutes." Connie muttered. He didn't need to look at them to know that they were doing That Face, and damn, it melted his heart like butter on hot toast every single time. "This is the last round, I promise, then I'll go do your make-up." he added, tilting his body to the side slightly as if it would help him defeat the virtual enemy better.

Upon hearing that he will indulge them in the "My Boyfriend Does My Make-up" video they've been wanting to film for a while now, they let out a squeal of delight and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll go set up." they said excitedly before skipping over to their shared bedroom.

Slumping further into the couch, Connie quickly pressed on the controller buttons that would give him the winning combo, smiling softly to himself upon hearing the joy in his beloved's voice that he will never get tired of.

––

"Okay, I guess I'm done." Connie put the brush down and shook the creeping numbness out of his hand. Who knew that five minutes of him handling cosmetic tools would make his hands hurt more than when he'd spend hours on his video games?

With their heart beating fast in a mix of excitement and nervousness, they slowly opened their eyes and adjusted to the brightness of the room before turning to the mirror propped right beside their camera.

"Oh my God!" they exclaimed, blinking at their boyfriend's work in disbelief. Connie merely smiled at them awkwardly, as if to say "I told you I'd suck at it". "It's...." they were at a loss for words as they studied their reflection. They thought they would end up looking like a cakey mess as show in other challenge videos, but no– they actually looked like they had their make-up done by Bobbi Brown herself. "It's perfect!" they chirped, smiling as they admired the soft glam look their boyfriend ended up doing for them. Connie smiled proudly and puffed his chest out in mock arrogance, putting his hand on his hips and letting out a haughty, villain-like laugh though the heat that rushed to his cheeks became evidence of how flattered he was by the compliment.

However, the light-hearted moment was short-lived as an observation sunk in: Connie had always been a typical "boy" when it came to cosmetics– he childishly whined non-stop whenever they took too long to get ready for a night out, grumbling about how they looked much better with a bare face anyway, and shamelessly showing his boredom whenever he accompanied them to a Sephora– hence the abrupt confusion of how or when the hell did he become such a pro at doing make-up.

"Connie?" they called out, to which their boyfriend merely raised his eyebrows at. Slowly craning their neck to look back at him, their face showed an indifferent expression that made Connie flinch a bit; the image was eerily similar to a scene from a horror movie. "Who taught you how to blend?" they deadpanned.

"H-huh?" Connie stuttered out– his first, and presumingly, last mistake. Never, ever play dumb in front of a significant other asking you a direct question. "What do you mean?" he was thoroughly confused at why his baby doll was being scary about this.

"You know what I mean." they answered with annoyance. They weren't usually the jealous, petty type, but the situation sounded alarms in their head. "Have you been hanging around some other bitch who's been teaching you about make-up? Huh?" their words started coming out rapidly. Damn, they were pissed.

It didn't help that Connie merely scoffed and chuckle at the accusation, but he couldn't help it– it was simply ridiculous! "Can't a guy just be talented?" he teased, jokingly flexing his biceps as he did. His humorous moment was cut short upon having them slap the shit out of his arm. "Ow! What the fuck!" he exclaimed a bit too loudly, gripping the spot that now felt like it was burning. They really were hooked on that one volleyball anime, huh?

"Where'd you meet, huh? Discord?" they knew they were being stupid, but it was too late– emotions were high and IQ was low. "Is your little 'Discord Kitten' teaching you how to blend eyeshadows and shit? Well, tell them I said "hi"!" they huffed, pouting and sticking their tongue out childishly before storming off, leaving Connie with mouth open in disbelief and grip the arm that still burned a bit.

He was even more flabbergasted that the whole thing was caught on camera. Well, hopefully it won't make the cut. Or it could. It would be funny if it did.

He knew they were just having a little moment and they will come around, but perhaps a box of doughnuts and their favorite popsicles would expedite the forgiveness process.