#because here was this kids mom trying to make sure her kid didn’t bully the disabled kid

[mother-ofthe-universedraws]

Based on true events

[canthelpit0]

Silent

Pairing: Matt x reader

Wordcount: 1.8k +

Summary: you’ve always quietly watched the triplets, silently wishing you could be a part of a group like them. Until you and Matt talk for the first time…

Warnings: selective mutism, anxiety, crying, angst, praise, no use of y/n, no oc

(Disclaimer: I’m not mute in any way. This was a request from an anon that I accidentally deleted. Hope you like it ! Requests are open)

I developed selective mutism pretty early on. My mom says that I didn’t talk even back in kindergarten.

But it’s been years now.

I can talk, and I can’t shut the fuck up for the life of me. I talk a lot, even have full conversations with myself.

Just not at school, or around new people. God, especially not in school.

It’s not like I want to be the ‘ weird’ mute kid. I would love to talk and make friends, I just physically can’t open my mouth and talk.

It even took months for me to utter simple words to my therapist, tho by this point I’ve known her for years and I’m pretty comfortable.

There are these triplets in my grade. We’ve always gone to the same school, but I don’t think they ever noticed me.

Well the first time I noticed them was in first grade, because there were three of them. Of corse my six year old self didn’t understand the concept of multiples back then, and I really wanted to ask, and talk to them. I really thought they were cool.

The first time I interacted with any of them tho was when I was in fourth grade and Nick had asked to use my dark green pencil since he only had light green and needed both dark and light.

Back in fourth grade I wasn’t just selectively mute, but also really shy. So I’d just looked down and stared at the desk giving him a small nod.

In freshmen year I shared a class with Nick again, he asked me for a pen, wich I gave to him.

Despite not having talked to him once in my entire life, he remembered my name. Wich isn’t too shocking since we’ve always been around each other, I was just kinda in the shadows.

He actually gave me that pen back. Most other people would’ve forgotten and just taken it, but Nick didn’t and I appreciated that.

I only ever interacted with Nick those two times. despite sharing a few classes with both Chris and Matt over the years, I’ve probably never even held eye contact with either of them.

I’ve been watching everyone.

Bullying isn’t really a thing. Sure there were some hurtful comments by jocks here and there but it really wasn’t as bad as in the movies.

Besides I think most people forget i even exist so they don’t even bother bullying me.

I’ve had my eye on Matt for a while. Not in a weird way. But Matt seems to pretty obviously have anxiety too. I don’t know if he’s open about it, I’m not in his friend circle.

But every time I’m feeling overwhelmed and we’re in the same room, I unconsciously glance at him to see if he feels the same or if I’m just going crazy.

Chris seems to be the loudest and most extroverted one. And while yes, Nick seems pretty extroverted too, Chris seems more… random? Bold?

I sulk in the back of the class my lips pulled into a tight line as I try to get myself together.

There is literally no reason for me to be feeling like this. Honestly no one has tried to talk to me today, nothing happened, I just feel so overwhelmed.

I raise my hand just slightly. I make eye contact with the teacher. Mrs. Evans. I literally love her, she’s so kind.

Her son is apparently mute too.

When I was diagnosed with selective mutism they thought it’d be a great idea to make me learn sign language just in case, and that’s just what I did.

Since Mrs. Evans son is mute, her son, as well as her and her husband also learned sign language.

So whenever I needed something I could sign to her. Not that I wouldn’t be too embarrassed too.

Our eyes lock. Everyone was working on some paper I should also be doing, but I’m too busy hyperventilating.

I let my hand drop on my desk and glance at the door quietly asking if I can go to the nurses office since I was too tired and ashamed to sign it to her.

She gives me a pitying smile but nods. I hate pity, but then again that’s better than getting told im faking.

I look around the class of students. I get up, as quiet as I can. I pack up my little stuff and quietly walk to the front of the class. I nod in appreciation and walk outside.

I stare at the ground while I walk down the hallway. I sigh.

I feel my eyes start to water and I bite the inside of my cheek.

Honestly I should probably go to the nurses office to get checked out, just so I can leave. But I don’t think I can handle communicating with another human.

I feel like I’m about to break down. I continue to walk down the hallway clutching the straps of my bag harshly.

I consider if driving home even is a good idea seeing as I’m about to have a mental breakdown. Or-

Suddenly I bump into someone.

I close my eyes trying not to cry right then. I don’t know who I bumped into but I want to apologize, but I know that I can’t, and since I don’t know who I bumped into I don’t know if it’s someone who’ll be mean about it or-

I’m taken off guard by a gentle brush to my upper arm.

“You’re good, it’s okay” I hear a soft voice say. I can feel my lip quivering, I feel like if I open my eyes the tears brimming at my waterline will actually fall.

“can you open your eyes?” It sounds more like a question, and that voice sounds painfully familiar but I can’t quite place it.

I want to tell him that I can’t, that I’ll cry if I do and I’ll feel even more embarrassed. But my curiosity takes over me.

So I slightly blink open my eyes. I don’t open my eyes fully, just enough to see the person through my tears.

It’s Matt, looking down at me all concerned.

I blink my eyes open. at the sight I watch his expression relax just slightly.

He himself looks overwhelmed, and honestly I don’t know if it’s because of how I’m acting, or if he had a shitty day himself.

“You okay?” He sighs slightly. I watch as he licks his lips and swallows thickly.

I take in another deep breath trying to calm down. I nod just slightly, but while I do the tears in my eyes finally spill.

I feel my hot tears run down my face. Matt’s eyes immediately widen and his mouth opens slightly like he thinks it’s his fault.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, no please don’t cry.” He holds up his hands in front of my face as if he wanted to wipe my tears away but was holding himself back because he didn’t know my boundaries.

He looked miserable, like he was about to cry himself. And I just know that something this wouldn’t have him emotional like this on a normal day. At least I don’t think it would. But he seemed to be overwhelmed as well.

I scrunch my nose slightly sniffling in response. I glance back up at him and the sorrow in his eyes makes me want to sink into myself. I breathe out shakily.

Before I know it I’m bringing my hands up to my face and covering it. I tilt my head forward trying to stop crying, because crying in the school halls is just pathetic.

“I’m sorry. Fuck- can I touch you?” I hear his frantic voice. I appreciate that he asked first. I want a hug, but then again I don’t know Matt. But he just seems so genuine.

I overthink not responding to his question. My thoughts spiral at the sound of the sweet nothings and apologies leaving his mouth, only being back round noise.

Matt seems to notice that I’m starting to spiral. I feel his hand tenderly touch my wrist. I flinch slightly, and as soon as I do I feel him retract his hand.

Everybody deals with anxiety differently, some people like to be physically grounded others liked to be comforted some other way and I just knew that Matt was trying to figure out what to do without overstepping.

I’d tell him that it’s okay, or that he can hug me, but I literally can’t speak and I feel too embarrassed to let him see my teary face.

“I’m sorry, I’m-“ I hear Matt let out a breath. I know an anxiety breath when I hear one, he is panicking.

I decide to bite the bullet, what’s the worst that can happen. I look up slightly and peak through my fingers.

His hands are up and frozen. He looks almost frantic, Matt looks like the only way he knows how to ground me is by hugging me or something, but he seems unsure if that’s okay.

Despite myself I let out a little nod. Matt lets out another breath but this time he actually touches me, and I don’t flinch.

He holds my wrist and gently pulls my hands off of my face.

I let out a shaky sigh. I can’t help it when I let my head fall forward.

“It’s okay.” He says sweetly under his breath. He puts his hand under my chin as he picks my face up. Our eyes lock. I see the way Matt is also crying, tears running down his face too and I relax just a little.

He never seemed like the type to make fun of someone for crying, but especially not now.

“You wanna go to my car?” He says softly, not in a way where he is forcing me to do anything, but rather offering.

And honestly as upset as i am I have to weigh my options. Would I rather cry in the school hallways or in Matt’s car?

The best option would be to go to the bathroom, but Matt wouldn’t be able to come with, and honestly I would feel too bad leaving him alone at this point.

So I nod.

I feel Matt’s arm go around my shoulders as he hugs me for a moment. He turns me, and starts walking in a way where his arm is still around my shoulder keeping me close to him.

We walk out to the parking lot. I watch as Matt unlocks the car and opens the door for me to enter.

And by this point, if I go out this way so be it…

Before i can even register Matt is also getting into the backseat next to me.

We just look at each other for a moment. He breathes out another anxiety sigh.

“You want a hug?” And with that I don’t really know if he’s asking for me, or to comfort himself. But regardless I nod.

I feel his arms come around me and I sink into the feeling of his hug.

I’m uncertain if by tomorrow he’ll act like this all never happened, or if he’ll try to get to know me, because I’ve been wanting to know him for a while and I would more then gladly let him.

Masterlist

A/n: I know this is really short and I’ve been uploading a lot of angst recently. But I’ve been feeling sad, and every time I do write smut it’s for Kinktober. Soon you’ll get smut tho. Also this ended up a lot like crybaby. <3

‼️please don’t copy my work/idea‼️

Taglist: @muwapsturniolo , @sturnad , @iluvm4ttsturni0l0 , @evie-sturns , @me09love , @fratbrochrisgf , @spideylovin , @chrissgirlsstuff , @stunza , @whicked-hazlatwhore , @sturniooolos , @ecliphttlunar , @orangeypepsi , @klaus223492 , @char112244 , @sst7niolo , @slut4chriss , @mattsturniololoverr , @th3-3d3n-g4rd3n , @st7rnioioss , @t1llysblogs , @nonat-111 , @blahbel668 , @rockstarchr1s , @sturnsintrouble , @nayveetbhh , @tillies33ssss , @sturncakez , @strnilo , @somegirlfromasgard , @mattslovelygf , @sturnsmaeve , @sturnstvr , @lucianastrun , @jnkvivi , @jamiesturniolo , @chr1sgirl4life

[bobbin-buckley]

Partners

Astrid Deetz x Masc!Fem!Reader

Summary: Astrid finds a partner to survive college and her classmates

Warnings: Some bullying, fluff, some mentions of almost dying, some spoilers from the movie, homophobia, horrible flirting, fluff at the end!

e/c: eye color

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She found herself wandering the darkened aisles of the college’s library, fingertips brushing against the spines of of each book that have been sitting there for so long some dust falls. She received an assignment regarding Shakespeare, it was basically a detention assignment due to her arguing with her teacher about some disagreements.

When reaching for the book she needed, her warm hand collided with a cold one. Turning her head to look up at the taller figure, she saw you. Now you weren’t popular or anything, but for it being a small college and town she could easily recognize you.

Astrid furred her eyebrows, politely asking you to let go. “I’ve found this book first,” she said in a stern tone.

You glanced down at her. She could notice your attractive state, you were very pretty. Astrid’s brown eyes stared into your e/c, and damn she felt like love at first sight really hit her.

Your voice cut off her trance, “It’s okay, I’m sure you need it more than me.” Your hand moved from the book and her hand, she pouted a bit at the absence of your hand against hers.

Grabbing the book still, she tilted her head slightly…examining you and your features. “Yeah, I do need it more than you. Thanks…” she paused, realizing how shitty that sounded. “Anyways, what’s your name?”

“Y/n,” you answered, “and you?” The more you looked at her the more familiar she became, I mean..yes of course she goes to the same college as you. But you don’t exactly observe the people around you, especially the quiet ones.

She bit her lip, your voice was sexy. Her grip tightened on the book, trying to stay focused. “Astrid,” she answered before asking. “Hm, you just look familiar, have we met?”

“Now that you mention your name, aren’t you the kid that keeps getting picked on by those goons right?” Well that was definitely out there, not that she took any offense to it. She was getting bullied by some of the other schoolgirls, they’d put a Halloween prop in her dorm to scare her, which never works.

“Yeah, I am. I also wish those idiots would stop it.” She sighed, not really wanting to think about them.

“I get that, well I can deal with them if you want,” you offered. She was shocked, never ever did she think anyone would be willing to protect her. Besides maybe her mom, if she was even here.

“It’s fine, really.” Astrid shook her head, she didn’t want to see your pretty face get hurt.

All you did was nod, putting your hands in the pockets of your school pants. “Well uh…just let me know. And if you need help school wise I’m happy to, Shakespeare isn’t easy.” You walked off through the aisle with a smile, disappearing when turning the corner.

Sigh

How was she going to get over you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was never going to get over you.

You were just too damn sweet and perfect! She couldn’t handle the way you smile, the way your eyes beamed into hers and your voice was incredibly attractive!

Astrid wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it, she said she wasn’t going to fall in love like her mom. She didn’t want to be anything like her mom. Even if she did, she might end up getting a divorce if she does ever get married..would that happen with you?

“Ugh, this is so frustrating.” Astrid said under her breath, she’s spent at least two hours now doing all this research and shit.

Normally she does okay when doing school work, but why couldn’t she think? It was because she was thinking of you, fuck.

She took a deep breath, and began to gather her stuff. Maybe if studying with you would help make her less distracted?

Wrong. Absolutely Wrong

Astrid left her dorm, locking it and making sure those pricks won’t get in like last time and prank her. Though when she turned around and headed for the stairs, a book came skimming across the wooden floor, ironically ending up right under her foot causing her to slip and trip down the stairs.

She gasped, her book bag flew down with her. She expected to hit the ground and be dead, but she felt warm arms around her, preventing her from dying.

“Hey you okay?” Astrid looked up, seeing how it was some guy who caught her. She wasn’t sure why, and she was disappointed for some reason.

“Uh..yeah I’m fine,” she backed up from the guy and brushed off her skirt. Then the uproarious sounds of laughter were heard from behind her up the stairs where she slipped. It was the girls that harassed her, they were laughing with tears in their eyes.

Astrid rolled her eyes, a flash of red flashing over her cheeks in embarrassment. She looked back up at the guy.

“How’s your leg? You slipped pretty hard,” he held her hips..for some reason trying to get closer to her.

Astrid backed up again, bending down to pick up all her stuff as he tried to help. “I said I’m fine, thanks.” She said a bit more aggressive, she wasn’t mad at him..just at those girls.

“Well uh..” he started again.

God can’t he shut the fuck up?

“Uhm…I’m Nick. I’m in your literature class.” He said, thinking she’d just know who he was. When really she didn’t. “I was your partner for the Shakespeare project.”

“Shit.” She said out loud, making the oblivious boy furrow his eyebrows. She forgot she had a partner, she just left class early to cool off from being stressed, she never heard who her partner was.

“Right…yeah sorry. Uhm..” “No it’s alright you forgot, I actually came to ask you if you wanted to go study in the library?”

Why did he have to ask that?!

“Oh sure, yeah I guess,” dumbass. Astrid thought, fuck she was screwed..she wanted to study with you!

“Great!” He exclaimed, “let’s get going cause I’ve got a club to meet with later.” He smiled, leading her to the library and she followed him anxiously. She totally forgot about the girls and their prank.

Astrid sat across from Nick, though after every few minutes he’d scoot his chair closer. It made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be rude and leave, she already said yes to studying with him. But you…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking through the library, your books in your arms. Now the head over heels girl you are, you studied Shakespeare for Astrid. Even if she didn’t agree to study with you yet…you still wanted to be nice.

When passing through the library, you could hear a familiar voice faint from across the library. You peaked around the corner of an aisle of books, seeing Astrid with a guy!?

“The fuck..?” You muttered to yourself, why was she studying with a guy? I mean sure..cool I guess, but you offered..and why did she decide to go with him instead? You’re definitely smarter than him. (Since you are in your favorite class with him and he has no idea what’s going on)

Jealously floods through your body, hands clenched in fists and clenching the books. You wanted to beat the guy with your books and take Astrid to your dorm.

But she didn’t say yes. So that’s her decision, not yours to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While deep in thought of studying, Astrid caught a glimpse of you staring at her and and Nick. You left quickly and she sat up.

“Whoa, you good pretty girl?” Nick asked in a flirty way, bothered the hell out of her.

“No..I’m not.” She huffed, unsure if she should chase after you or not.

Nick bit his lip, “well..maybe uh, taking this studying date behind closed doors might cheer you up?”

Astrid’s eyes went wide at his words, the forceful feeling of gagging escaped her. She turned to looks at him from the library doors.

“Excuse me what? No thank you, and this ain’t a fucking date weirdo.” Astrid stood up quickly, gathering her things. Nick shot up from his chair, damn he was desperate.

“W-wait no, hey I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. How about uh..flowers? Would that suffice?” His dumbass tried to convince, but none of his ‘charm’ was getting to Astrid.

“No. End of story, I’ve got a different study date to catch.” Literally

Astrid took off, speeding walking out of the library and left him behind dumbfounded in the library. She had no idea where you could have gone, she wandered the halls aimlessly.

“Oh is the dyke looking for her girlfriend? She ran off to her dorm with tears in her eyes, you know it’s hard to break Y/n.” Astrid heard the snitch say, she turned to face her and sighed.

“Just shut up Kayla. I don’t need you on my ass right now,” Astrid scoffed and walked off to find you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She spent about an hour looking for you, she eventually found you outside in the rain by the garden. A common place for those who are stressed or sad to hangout at.

“Y/n?” You turned your head when you heard her voice. She looked pretty as ever under the rain, and so did you. You turned away again, not sure what to say but still be upset. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She stepped closer to you, sitting down next to you.

“Sorry, I was just shocked when I saw you with…that guy,” you tried not to sound jealous. But regardless of what you say it sounded like it. “It’s..it’s not that I’m jealous. I just really wanted to be the person to study with you.”

Astrid blushed at your words, her heart feeling touched by your words. “Sounds like your jealous to me..but I won’t tease you.” She chuckled, smiling up at you. “Besides, it was cute of you to come find me and ask again.”

Your own cheeks flared up, it was the first time someone’s ever made you flustered. “Thanks Astrid, if you want to we can still study?” She smiled, meaning yes. “Oh! And uh..might be a little too much but I already did some studying for you..to see maybe what you could be struggling with.”

She watched you pull out some notes, which were kinda ruined from the rain. “Well…” “it’s okay..we can start over if you want.” Astrid stopped you, placing a hand on yours.

Your eyes shifted to hers, then her lips. “I’d love to start over.”

HAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAH CLIFFHANGER

actually nvm I won’t do that to y’all

Astrid pressed her lips against yours, not hesitating to do it. You were glad she did, you were too damn nervous to get any closer. Her hands grasped around your neck, while yours let go of the already damp papers onto her waist. The notes began to dampen even more from falling into a puddle.

From now on your promise to always study with her and keep her from dumbasses like Nick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: Rushed bc I felt bad for not posting anything in awhile

My first time writing Astrid too

And idk who the jerks in the movies names were so Kayla was something that popped into my head

Also not all the way spelled checked bc my brain hurts from homework

[fayeofthenightingale]

I've decided to contribute to the Miguel nation even though I was almost a year late

I present to you…. Brother's best friend! Miguel! A drabble…. (Might turn this into a full fic idk)

Cw: Brother's best friend trope, grammatical errors, fem reader, possibly OOC Miguel, this is more like a flashback really since it's focus is more on Miggy and reader's childhood, this is kinda long wth 😭

Bbf! Miguel who has been friends with your brother since middle school, would often play in your brother's room when they were younger. As typical boys do, they'd play video games. He doesn't mind when you want to join them. He finds it endearing whenever you try to put your stuffed animals on the Legos they built, claiming they're people or something like that.

Bbf! Miguel who defends little you whenever some mean kids try to bully you, is taller than the average kid, making him intimidating. When this happens, he stands behind the bullies, towering over them with a menacing glare and arms folded. All he has to do is say something like "scram" or "leave," and the kids your age run away. Then, when you're feeling sad or upset, he treats you to ice cream to cheer you up.

Bbf! Miguel who helps you pull pranks on your brother, sometimes he’d be surprised you were able to pull off a bit extreme pranks but he’d be happy to do it for shits and giggles.

Bbf! Miguel who helps patch up your wounds whenever you have a little accident in the midst of pulling a prank on your brother all while speaking to you in the gentlest of ways to calm you down. "can you get up? no? All alright I'll carry you then” Your eleven-year-old mind panics when he easily carries you.

Bbf! Miguel who defends you against your older brother, Leo, gets into an argument whenever he can, Leo’s older, and can handle himself, while you are 4 almost 5 years younger than them and therefore helps you whenever he can, it’s just not fair sometimes.

He stood by the side of Leo’s room, witnessing the fight between you and your brother, 13-year-old Leo yelling at you for breaking his model aeroplane. “I Told you not to come in here without my permission!” Leo huffed, “I’m sorry! I-I just want to look at it” You defended yourself but Leo wasn’t having it,” Well now look at it! It’s broken!” little you are almost on the brink of tears, that’s when he stepped in. “come on now, the wing is the only one that’s broken, I’m sure we can fix it,” he said, trying to cool down the argument, Your brother stormed out of his room to cool off leaving you with Miguel “Are you okay Chiquita?” he asked and you shook your head a small sniffle escaped you as you try to justify yourself “I didn’t mean it” little you murmured as you look up at him with teary eyes, he sighed as he took the broken plane and its wing “hey, it’s okay yeah? Leo just needs to cool off, with the help of a super glue I’m sure we can fix this” he reassured you with a little ruffle on your head and grabbed the super glue to fix the broken model plane with his best friend’s little sister.

Bbf! Miguel got his heart broken for the first time because the girl he’s been crushing didn’t like him back because he was “too nerdy” for her liking, Leo brought it up during dinner when your mom asked how your day went and you were saddened for him, who wouldn’t like Miguel? He’s kind, understanding, and funny, he may be too intimidating because of his more-than-average height but that’s his outside appearance! He’s really sweet on the inside… wait…. Why are you thinking like that about him? Nevermind that.

Bbf! Miguel showed up the next day at your house since he and Leo needed to finish a project that’s due tomorrow, eyes puffy and a bit dishevelled from crying, you felt bad despite your brother calling him out that he looks like shit. Miguel didn’t deserve this, so you, the ever loving little sister of his best friend decided to go buy something for him.

Bbf! Miguel who walked out of your house to head home since the project they’ve been working on is finished, “Miguel!” you called out to him with a small paper bag in hand, you catch up to him panting heavily, have you been running? You held out the small paper “Umm.... I’m sorry about what happened yesterday… Leo told me… I mean he told mom when she asked how our day went” you rumbled, you were too busy making sure the treat in your hand stayed warm that you haven’t thought about what to say to him! “… anyways theseareforyouIhopeyoufeelbetter'' you said rather too quickly and before he could say anything you ran away and inside your house too flustered to face him, he took a peek inside the bag and a small smile was painted on his lips, warm empanadas from his favourite store, oh how sweet of you…

Bbf! Miguel who's taken the rejection to heart, maybe much of a nerd after all and that needed to change, so day by day he changed himself, no longer wearing those thick-framed glasses instead he opted for contact lenses, the baggy shirt that has corny science jokes were now nowhere to be seen and he's even doing a little workout to build his tall lanky body, of course, this was never unnoticed to you, who wouldn't notice your brother's best friend slowly gaining muscle and lean body type? You're happy for him of course but a part of you hoped that he did it because he wanted to and not because he's pressured by society's views of him, you like the nerd him? he's cute!

Bbf! Miguel who's never seen you so down in the dumps before, usually your beams and silliness can rival the sun itself but now you're gloomier than the night sky. He asked your brother about it and he didn't expect the reason for your sudden gloominess.

“Ah, she's just upset because no one gave her a Valentine's gift” your brother nonchalantly said as he played on his computer, his series of curses from losing the game was blurred out and in his peripheral vision, he only saw you, without saying any word he left your brother's room and approached you. You can hear the low vibrato of his voice as he approaches you “Hey” he greeted and sat down beside you “You okay?” he asked with his usual gentleness and you looked at him “I don't know… do I look okay?” you mumbled sassily which took him aback but sighed “I… I don't even know why I'm upset, it's just a silly day, it's not even a holiday! it's just a stupid day to have an excuse to ask your crush out or chow down chocolates” you mumbled bitterly, really it's a childish thing to be upset about something small like this, but Miguel didn't think so, no, he’s been there and he knows how it feels, Miguel didn't say anything but pats your head gently, his way to console you.

Bbf! Miguel who had surprised you on a random Friday afternoon with a box of your favourite chocolate and a pink coloured rose “Here” he said as he handed you the gifts, your eyes widened in surprise but took them “What's with this?” you asked but he shrugged in response “For you” he didn't show but it was amusing to him (and kinda cute) to see the sparkle in your eyes shine although it was short-lived “you didn't have to do this you know?” you mumbled, as much as you appreciated his effort you didn't want him to do that out of pity, again your brother's best friend shrugged “It’s not out of pity, it's for you, pink roses for appreciation" and that got you thinking “appreciation? for what? what did I do?” you asked him genuinely curious as to why “just existing, we've known each other for years-” “but I'm not your best friend” you cut him off “who said you have to be my best friend for me to show you my appreciation?” he asked you and in turn you weren't able to say anything, too surprised to utter a single word. He called your name softly, “I appreciate you, not because you're Leo's sister, but my friend, one of the closest, as embarrassing as it sounds but I cannot deny the truth, you have a certain charm I'm drawn to, you make me smile easily, you understand me, and don't tell Leo about this but at least with you I'm slightly more comfortable” he said with a small smile.

Before you could say anything Leo called out Miguel's name and he left right after, a hand on your chest to ease the beating of your heart and butterflies on your stomach. And in that moment, you realized you had fallen for your brother's best friend.

----

Omg why is posting stuff online so anxiety inducing?! Anyways Likes and reblogs are highly appreciated! If you have feed backs I'm more than eager to hear them (just be kind please) 🩷

[idontplaytrack]

eii, this is a bit different but can you do a regina X janis X reader where the reader is Regina's little sister and she's acting different until one day at school janis and regina see someone bullying her because they saw her throwing up in the bathroom (she had bulimia and was hiding it from them) so they help her and take her home?

✧ Try to stop the feeling

Janis ‘Imi’ike x Regina George + little sister reader

Warnings: coarse language, bullying, mentions/some descriptions of an eating disorder. Reader discretion advised.

“y/n!” Regina hollers, knocking on your bedroom door loudly. Obnoxiously loud.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing mom. Just that y/n’s not up yet and we’re gonna be late.” Regina scoffs.

“Open the door and go wake her up.” June shrugs.

“Ugh.” Regina groans, “Fine. I’m coming in, y/n.” The blonde opens the door, walking in to see you still asleep, under the covers, back facing her.

“y/n, come on. Get up, let’s go.” Regina sat down by you, hand on your back.

“I’m not going.” You mumble, Regina glares at June. ‘Hello?!’ She mouths to her.

“Honey, what’s the matter?” June asks, entering your room too.

“Nothing. I’m just fucking tired, Mom. Let me skip for one day. I’m not gonna die if I miss a day of school.” You snapped.

June stares at you, wide eyed, a little startled. “Huh. Okay, okay, sure. Yeah, you just rest up today. Regina, you go ahead.”

“Alright, then.” Regina shrugs, leaving for school without a second thought. “Bye, silly.”

You groaned, covering a pillow cover your head. Regina looks over her shoulder, biting back a smile. Her brows were furrowed together in worry, that your refusal to go to school was more than just you being tired.

On her way to school, Regina stops by Janis’ to pick her up— as usual. Every weekday morning, for the past half a year, like clockwork. “Hey, Jay.”

“Hi, Gina.” Janis grins, getting into the front passenger seat and shutting the door. “Where’s…where’s y/n?”

Regina sighs, shrugging, “Didn’t want to get up this morning. Then she snapped, saying she was tired so mom let her skip today.”

“Oh.”

“Actually, I’m pretty worried. She’s never done this— ever.” Regina admits quietly, “Like, what if— what if something’s going on that we don’t know about?”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye on things at school. You know? Pay closer attention to the people around her, see what they’re doing, hear what they’re saying.”

Regina sighs, “Yeah, I guess. Hey, what if I just talked to her?”

“I mean, you and y/n are very close. She might open up to you about it, but we have no idea what it is yet. So how about we observe for today what’s going on at school, then you decide?”

Regina nodded her head in agreement, then the rest of the ride was silent, but comfortable. The couple was then separated by a few classes before then met up again for lunch. Regina waits for Janis by the lockers right next to the classroom she’d be in before lunch break. Arms crossed, she was leaning against the metal just looking around at nothing in particular. Until, some little girl, a freshman said your name and Regina’s ears perked up. Blinking profusely, trying to focus.

“I know, ugh. Thank god she isn’t here today.” The girl laughs, “Finally we don’t have to hear her throwing up when. we go to the bathroom.”

Two other girls beside that one, agreed, laughing and nodding, mocking you— making gagging noises, pretending to stick their finger into their mouths. Instantly, the anger in Regina surfaced. Her fists were balled together, her nostrils flared as she approached the trio. “Keep my sister’s name out of your damn mouths. You’re new here, focus on not failing your classes, kids.”

The three of them were caught so off-guard but tried very poorly to hide it behind a bitchy demeanour. Something Regina herself knew all too well. “Oh, Regina. There you are.” Janis came up to them, “What’s up?”

“Oh, not much just managed to figure out just how fucked up these kids are.” Regina snarled, “Leave her alone. Focus on your own miserable lives, work on yourselves. You’ll never make it in the real world like this. They’ll chew you up and spit you out, you’ll be begging to be freed.”

“Whatever. I hope she dies. Unlike you, she’s fat, and ugly and stupid. And a slut.”

“Enough is enough.” Regina spat, each word laced with venom.

“Regina, let’s go.” Janis places a hand on her shoulder, firmly, “Let’s go.”

Regina exhales, giving the girls one last glare before leaving with the brunette before she completely blew her top.

“The girl said y/n’s been making herself sick. I can’t believe I never noticed. Even they heard her. We live in the same house, but I never—”

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“Huh—”

“Like, a therapist.” Janis continued.

“I mean, yes. She has been since mom and dad got divorced but I don’t know if she’s actually going?”

“What?”

“My mom’s the one who takes her usually. Sometimes, she says she’ll go on her own, so I don’t know if she actually shows up or skips. Or if she’s lying during her sessions.”

This whole situation weighed on both Regina and Janis’ minds. But they didn’t have the heart to bring it up, worried that you would get so upset and shut them out completely. They made it through the day, Regina arrived home with your favourite food after June texted that you didn’t want to eat. Regina was hoping you would eat at least some of it, but was also highly aware of the fact that she had to keep an eye on you after you ate so you didn’t do it.

God, she cannot even bring herself to say it. Regina just couldn’t.

“y/n?” Regina knocks your door gently, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” You told her, and she does, walking inside with a familiar paper bag.

“I brought you some lunch.” Regina sat down on the floor with you, you look up from your sketchbook, “I’ll eat with you.”

A quiet sigh falls from your lips, “So you know?”

“Yes.” Regina answered honestly, “I’m not gonna judge you, I get it. I also…I also struggle with that sometimes. It’s difficult, but we can’t give up and let those people who don’t know us, don’t understand anything affect us. I know it’s way deeper than that, I don’t know your reasons— heck, I don’t even know all pf the reasons why I do that. But you gotta take care of yourself. Sometimes we try and we try and we try to do whatever we can to stop the feeling of guilt, of disgust, anxiety…anything. But at the end of the day? Taking good care of yourself, your mind…your body. That’s the most important thing. Keep going to therapy no matter how hard it is, confront the problem, work through it.”

“Thanks, G.” You finally made eye contact with her, closing the book and slowly pushing it away, “I…I’m not ready to talk to you about why. But I— I have been going to therapy still for dealing with Mom and Dad’s divorce and some other existing issues, but not this— I will, though. bring this up at my next appointment. I’ve been trying so hard not to do it but sometimes I lose control of what I’m thinking and it just…happens.”

“y/n, I get that feeling. But don’t let it be all you feel. Try and remember that.” She rubs your back, “Don’t cry, okay?”

You nod, wiping your tears away, “Thanks for hearing me out. I’m sorry you—”

“It’s okay.” She assured, “I’m working on it. Here, Mom says you hadn’t had lunch yet, I got your favourite sub from the place we used to go to with Nana.”

Smiling softly, you took the wrapped up sandwich from your sister and carefully opened it up to take a bite. Regina dug into her food as well.

“Who else knows?” You asked quietly.

“I was waiting for Janis outside her classroom before we went to lunch together. Those girls walked by and started saying crap, I told them off and that was when Janis showed up. I did tell her, but nothing explicit. She knows about me, and she’s had her own struggles with similar things so gets it. No judgement. You’re safe with us.”

The next day, you felt okay enough to go to school. Saying goodbye to your mom, you left the house with Regina, picking up Janis along the way. “Hi, you.” Janis smiled when she saw you. You waved as she got into the front seat, “Hey, Jan.”

School went by arguably fine once you tuned out the chatter and solely focused on your classes. Until, it didn’t. You ran into them again while on your way to gym class and they stopped you. “What’s the matter? Couldn’t stand up for yourself and had to let your sister do it for you?”

“Piss off, Winnie. None of your business. Leave me alone.”

“It is when you’re throwing up in the school bathroom letting everyone wait for a stall. And hear that disgusting noise from your disgusting behaviour.”

Your breath gets caught in your throat and you feel your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. ‘Don’t engage with them anymore, y/n. Walk away.’ You thought to yourself.

Attempting to push past them, they only pushed you back harder. You stumbled like two steps back but didn’t fall. They laugh anyway, finding it to be the funniest thing ever.

“y/n, I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Janis. Thank God. The girls were terrified of Janis and you’ve just found that out. Perfect.

You turned around, jogged towards her and asked her what was wrong. “Nothing.” She chuckles, “Gina says we’re cutting school.”

“Huh?” You looked at her, puzzled.

“We’re cutting school, come on. She’s waiting for us in the car.” Janis says, taking you by the hand and quickly leading you to Regina’s Jeep.

“Why are we—”

“Had enough of those fuckers badmouthing my girls. I wasn’t gonna put up with that anymore today. So we’re going out, we’re gonna have the time of our lives and just, relax.”

🏷️Tag list:

@ashecampos @auliisflower @cheesysoup-arlo @frogs00 @ludoesartnstuffs @pda128

💭A/N:

This one was pretty short…I apologise but I hope I did your request justice!

[steddieas-shegoes]

This is for the request from @mogami13 : Werewolf den mother steve being seduced to be eddie's mate which they wrote a post on found here. My post is not related to theirs, but you should ABSOLUTELY go read it and let them know if you want more!

This was so out of my comfort zone and it shows to me, but I wanted to try. Hopefully it does not disappoint! - Mickala ❤️❤️

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

Everything you think you know about this town is wrong.

The raspy voice of Eddie’s mother on her death bed echoed in his head often over the years.

He was nine when she died.

She died before explaining what she meant.

When he moved in with his Uncle Wayne, he got an explanation in the form of a wolf suddenly running into his room, biting his shirt, and dragging him outside.

As he stood on the back porch, heart racing, he realized the wolf was his Uncle Wayne.

He didn’t know how he knew, he just did.

He watched as Wayne disappeared into the trees for a few minutes, unsure if he should follow or not. He assumed Wayne would have waited for him if he was supposed to, so he stayed put.

When he came back, he nudged Eddie to sit on the step, and rested on the porch next to him.

They stayed like that for a while, Eddie fighting sleep as much as he could.

Finally, Wayne stood up, moved to part of the porch that was hidden from neighbors, and transformed back.

Eddie just stared, flabbergasted.

It was one thing to just know the wolf was Wayne and another entirely to watch the transformation.

Wayne walked back inside, probably to put some clothes on, and Eddie followed slowly.

They talked for hours, almost until dawn, about the history of the town, the history of their family, how Eddie would have his transformation when he hit puberty. How his mother got sick because she wasn’t able to transform anymore due to an injury his father gave her years before.

“When we can’t become our true selves regularly, it hurts every version of us. Drains us. It’s important you let this part of you out. I can’t lose you like I lost her.”

He told Eddie about how he spent a decade trying to convince his sister to move in with him instead of Eddie’s father, that it would be harder to leave when Eddie was born.

And it was.

She never left. She got hurt. Then she got sick.

Now she was gone.

———

Eddie loved being able to transition whenever he wanted.

Wayne told him stories of other families in the area that would only do so once a month, on the full moon, how stereotypical, to keep from dying. They didn’t let their kids run in the woods, or curl up in a cuddle pile. Sure, Wayne and Eddie didn’t make much of a cuddle pile, but it was perfect the way it was.

The Harringtons were an example.

According to Wayne, they hid the fact that they were even wolves from everyone else. The strangest part, according to Wayne, was that their son, Steve, had a very delayed transition. Most wolves have their first transformation when they hit puberty, but his didn’t happen until he was 16. They didn’t know what finally made it happen, but Eddie hoped it wasn’t anything that would make him sick like his mom.

When he told Wayne that, Wayne smirked.

“Worried about Steve Harrington? Who are you and what have you done with my nephew?”

Eddie slapped his arm, but couldn’t ignore the blush on his cheeks.

So what if Eddie had a little, tiny, baby crush on Steve Harrington? Who didn’t? He was hot, he was popular, he was athletic.

Maybe he hung out with some of the worst bullies in the school, but he never actively bullied anyone.

It’s not like anything would ever happen. Steve wasn’t into guys and Eddie was probably the farthest thing from his type he could get.

————-

When he met Dustin Henderson, he knew immediately he had to protect this kid at all costs.

High school was a fucking war zone and he was the weakest link, it was clear to anyone with eyes.

But he came with a couple other kids, Mike and Lucas, who probably would be fine if they just kept their heads down and got involved with the right things.

Hellfire Club wasn’t the right thing, at least not if they wanted to be popular or even just remotely average.

But they insisted they wanted to be a part of it, that D&D had been their lives for so long, and it was the only way they could kind of stay connected to their friend Will, who’d moved before school started.

It took him too long to realize they meant Will Byers, the boy who got sick like his mom, but somehow survived. He couldn’t transform anymore, but would lead an otherwise normal life.

He welcomed them into the club, made everyone else already in it welcome them, explained that it was important for Freshman to get involved so that the upperclassmen had someone to pass it all down to.

Eddie was going off the assumption that he’d graduate, that all of them except Jeff would graduate.

But when spring break happened, he didn’t find it in him to care nearly as much about graduating. He just needed to survive.

————

When he woke up in the hospital, he felt instant dread.

He was alive, but at what cost?

Wayne was asleep in the chair next to him, Dustin asleep in the chair at the end of his bed, and Steve fucking Harrington was sitting next to Dustin, watching Eddie.

They were clean and changed, so it had to have been at least a day since his whole world nearly ended.

“How long?” His voice was barely even a whisper, but Steve must have incredible hearing.

“Four days,” he whispered back, probably trying to avoid Dustin and Wayne waking up.

Have they been here the whole time? Wayne couldn’t miss that much work, he’d get fired. And Dustin. Dustin’s just a kid. His mom must be worried.

Steve couldn’t possibly have sat here for four days. His parents would lose their shit.

“I’ve made them go home every day to shower and eat, try to sleep in a real bed. Told them I’d call if anything changed.”

So Steve had been here the whole time.

That explained the bags under his eyes.

“Eddie? You awake?”

Wayne’s sleepy voice made him turn his head. He let out a pained groan, his whole body resisting any movement.

“Stay still. You’ve got a lot of stitches holdin’ you together. Let me get the nurse.”

Wayne hurried out of the room, Steve watching them with a small smile.

“He’s been worried. I don’t think he’s slept more than a couple hours since he first got here.”

“Dustin?”

Steve looked over at Dustin, worried frown on his face.

“He thinks it’s his fault.”

“What? How?”

Eddie could ignore the pain pulsing through his veins for now. He had to understand how Dustin could possibly think any of this was his fault.

“He thinks if he’d jumped back through sooner, you wouldn’t have lost as much blood. Or that if he’d come up with a better backup plan, you never would’ve had to do it at all. We’ve never been this close to losing people.”

Wait, people, plural?

“Max?”

Steve stood up and came closer to his head, keeping his eyes on Dustin to make sure he didn’t wake up.

“She’s still in a coma. They don’t think she’ll come out of it.”

So she wasn’t dead, but she might as well be.

Eddie fought the tears welling up.

“Mr. Munson! Wonderful to see you awake.”

Steve and Eddie both jumped, Eddie letting out a hiss as he felt a searing pain along his side.

And then Dustin was awake.

“Eddie? Eddie!”

He was crowding in next to Steve, ignoring everyone else in the room. His eyes were wide and teary, and Eddie knew if Dustin started crying, it’d be game over for him.

“Hey bud. Doing okay?”

Not the right thing to say. Dustin let out a sob and collapsed against Steve, who wrapped his arms around him to hold him up.

“I’m just gonna bring him outside for a minute while you get checked over.”

“No!” Dustin exclaimed, pulling away. “I can’t leave him, Steve! Please.”

“Dustin, it’s okay. He’s okay. They have to check his bandages and we’ll be just around the corner.”

Steve looked at Eddie and silently asked him to reassure Dustin. He could do that. He was tired and in pain, but he could do this.

“I’ll see you in ten minutes, okay? Just take a lap, grab me a soda or something.”

“Sir, I don’t recomm-“ the nurse started, but was waved off by Wayne.

“Ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Okay.”

Dustin let Steve lead him out of the room, Wayne following to close the door behind them.

“Alright, just have to check your vitals and do a pain assessment,” the nurse started. “This probably won’t be fun, but I’ll need to check the wounds on your legs and sides.”

Eddie nodded and let her get to work.

It hurt. Everything hurt.

But Wayne was holding his hand, and Dustin was coming back with a soda for him, and Steve was here for some reason.

He’d almost been eaten alive by demon bats, he could survive this nurse checking him over.

————

As soon as he was out of the hospital is when it started.

Dustin always found reasons to have Steve come with him to visit.

First, it was just because he was his ride, Claudia having to work a bit more because many of her coworkers had left town after the “quake.”

Then, Steve would stick around because Dustin insisted he wouldn’t stay for long and he didn’t want Steve to have to make two trips so quickly.

Which was kind of bullshit, Eddie and Steve both knew it, because Steve actually only lived about 8 minutes from Eddie and Wayne’s new trailer.

But they let him get away with it.

Eddie liked having another adult around. None of his friends from high school were allowed to talk to him, so it was pretty much just the kids and Wayne for the last two months.

Steve would sometimes even bring Robin, who Eddie would probably be in love with if he liked women at all.

Especially when she came out to him while Dustin was making sure the kids cleaned up the table after a campaign.

“What’s up with you and Steve?”

“What do you mean?”

She looked nervous. Were they a secret for some reason?

“Like, if you’re dating, you should just tell everyone. Pretty sure everyone thinks so anyway.”

Robin let out a loud laugh.

“Dude, no. We are obnoxiously platonic. Trust me.”

“Kinda hard to believe when you do everything together. You finished his sentence yesterday.”

Robin rolled her eyes.

“I’m super gay, Eddie. Not interested in Steve even a little bit.”

That…should’ve surprised him more, actually.

“So you’re just best friends?”

“Yeah, I mean, we’re pack, ya know?”

“Oh! You’re…” Eddie started, using his hands to pretend he had claws.

“No, actually. But I helped Steve get more comfortable with his whole wolf thing when his parents wanted nothing to do with it. My cousins on my dad’s side are wolves so it wasn’t really a secrecy problem.”

Eddie had kind of forgotten that there was any secrecy left. All the kids were wolves, so they openly talked about it often. He hadn’t really thought about the fact that any of them might not be.

“Have you done it since everything happened?”

“Uh. No. Owens said I had to heal completely before I tried.”

“Haven’t you been healed for two weeks?”

Eddie was silent.

“You’re scared.”

It wasn’t a question and he wasn’t going to deny it. He was scared.

He was scared that he wouldn’t be able to, sure. But he was even more scared that he’d face the same sickness his mom had, that Will had but managed to get through. He knew he wouldn’t be as lucky as Will, though.

“Would it be easier if you had someone with you the first time?”

“Maybe. Wayne offered, but I don’t want him to see if it goes wrong.”

“What about Steve?”

“What about Steve?”

“He could stay with you when you try. He’s good in emergencies, especially if you end up hurt. He knows everyone so even if he couldn’t help, he could call the kids or Wayne or hell, Claudia. And I know he hasn’t spent much time with just you, but I think he wants to and doesn’t know how to do it.”

“She’s right,” Dustin said from the doorway.

“Why the hell were you listening to a private conversation?”

“Is it really private if you’re talking at a normal volume in a room where anyone can come and go at any time?”

“Watch your tone,” Eddie replied.

Dustin was right though. And so was Robin.

“I don’t wanna bother him.”

“Steve’s not gonna be bothered. He loves taking care of people! He’s basically our mom.”

“Jesus, dude, I’m not your mom,” Steve said as he walked into the room holding more trash than Eddie remembered there being on the table.

“You’re saying that holding a pile of trash that the children should’ve been cleaning up,” Eddie said with a smirk.

“Well, they’re getting distracted and I don’t have all night.”

“Spoken like a true mother.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but Eddie could see a small smile on his face. He was proud to be considered their mom.

“Eddie’s got a favor to ask, Steve.”

Eddie glared at Dustin.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“He’s lying. He needs someone to be with him when he transforms for the first time since, ya know, everything.”

Eddie glared at Robin now, too.

“Oh. Sure. When?”

“Uh. You really don’t have to. It might not even work. Don’t want you to waste your time.”

“It’s not a waste of time. We can try tomorrow after my shift if you want?”

Dustin was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement and Robin was hiding a smirk behind her hand.

“Yeah, okay. If you’re sure.”

Will started to walk in the room, then walked right back out when he felt the tension pouring from Eddie.

All the kids had done plenty of meddling, helping Dustin find reasons for Steve to always be around Eddie.

El and Max even convinced Steve that Eddie needed him to sit next to him at the diner when they had breakfast because he couldn’t cut his pancakes alone.

Which was fucking ridiculous and Steve actually believed it. Eddie would’ve been more annoyed if he wasn’t completely endeared by the fact that Steve hadn’t even asked him, just grabbed his fork and knife when they were brought to the table and started cutting them.

He didn’t stop him.

It was kind of nice to be taken care of.

So if he could have more of that for something like this, maybe he could just let it happen. No embarrassment, no arguing.

“Sure. See you at 9:30 tomorrow night?”

“I’ll be here.”

“Cool.”

————-

Eddie was a nervous wreck.

For all of Dustin’s meddling, he suddenly had no interest in helping Eddie through his anxiety.

He tried calling him three times, every time going to voicemail. He tried calling the other gremlins, same thing.

So they were all in on this, Dustin was just the boldest one.

He was nervous about the actual wolf part, definitely.

But he was nervous that Steve would be there. He would see him at his most vulnerable, possibly even worse if he couldn’t even change any more.

When he told Wayne about what he was doing, he just smiled and said “you’d know if you couldn’t, son.”

So Eddie waited for 9:30. He paced inside. He paced outside. He took a shower that he didn’t even need. He sat on the couch, twiddling his thumbs. He stood by the window watching for Steve to show up even though he knew he wouldn’t be there early.

He was a mess, plain and simple.

He could feel his heart thrumming with anticipation.

And then headlights flashed through the front windows and Eddie was opening the front door before Steve was even out of his car.

“Hey Eddie. You ready?”

How did he look so good coming from work? Still in his stupid vest, hair tucked behind his ears. A little sheen of sweat on his forehead because the AC was out at the store and the ride here wasn’t long enough to cool off in his car.

It was so fucking unfair.

“Eds?”

Jesus, okay. He had to get it together. Seriously.

“Yeah! I’m good. I’m just a little nervous. Don’t wanna end up bleeding out in the backyard,” he laughed nervously.

“Is that a possibility?” Steve asked, his voice choked and wobbling.

“Sorry! No. I don’t think so. I think I’ll be fine. Honest.”

Steve visibly relaxed and Eddie kind of hated himself a bit.

Dustin was the one who told Eddie about Steve being the first to get to them in the Upside Down, how Steve performed as much emergency care as he possibly could with Nancy helping before carrying him through the gate.

How Steve had been covered in more of Eddie’s blood than his own by the time the ambulance arrived.

How Steve didn’t sleep for nearly 48 hours because he wouldn’t leave Eddie’s side, half convinced he’d imagined rescuing him.

Eddie shouldn’t joke about bleeding out when the man who had to watch him nearly do so before was his only help tonight.

“Where are you doing this?”

“Uh. Back porch has a lot of space that neighbors couldn’t see. And then the woods are right there after.”

“Should I…um…stay human?”

“Yeah, just in case.”

Steve nodded and followed Eddie as he led him through the front door.

“Want a drink or anything? I have water, or beer, or…that’s it actually. I can run out and get you something else though if you want. You’re probably thirsty. Been a long day. I’ll be right back-“

“Eddie. I’m fine.”

Steve’s hand was on his shoulder. Warmth flooded through Eddie, his body relaxing under the touch.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Eddie led them out the back door and over to the side of the porch hidden from view.

Steve turned away while he stripped off his clothes and left them on the floor for after.

He took a few deep breaths and let his body relax.

He could do this.

It was natural.

One moment, he was considering telling Steve it wasn’t gonna happen, the next he was a wolf. He was so busy relaxing into the feeling, he didn’t notice Steve moving closer.

Until Steve’s hands were cupping his head, his fingers gently scratching at his fur.

It felt good and Eddie couldn’t help the low growl he let out.

“Feel okay?”

Steve still looked worried behind the unreadable look on his face.

Eddie nodded his head once.

He stood there, kind of afraid to move, kind of wanting to stay here just to keep Steve’s hands on him, kind of dying to run.

His human form was clumsy, could barely walk in a straight line sometimes without tripping over his own feet. His wolf form could run through trees at a speed most people couldn’t even fathom.

But Steve had his hands on him.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Oh.

Oh.

“I mean, you always are. It’s just. I’ve never seen anything like you.”

Eddie wasn’t sure how long he could stand there taking Steve’s compliments. He knew Steve was still new to the wolf thing, maybe had never even properly seen another adult, so he tried not to let it mean much.

But Steve looked so earnest.

And then his hands moved to his neck, running his fingers through the fur there.

He paused suddenly, letting out a small laugh.

“Oh my god. I can’t believe Dustin was right.”

He felt Steve’s finger circle a spot near his shoulder blade, right where he knew he had a shock of gold fur instead of the dark brown that covered his whole body.

“I know I’m staying human tonight, but I have a spot of dark brown fur in the same spot. But the rest of my body is gold like this. I’ll show you next time.”

Next time, next time, next time.

“Dustin said that makes us soulmates.”

Of course Dustin said that.

But then he remembered his Uncle Wayne telling him about a spot he had in his fur for over a decade, a black circle instead of the gray of the rest of his body.

How his Uncle Wayne told him that he believed his soulmate had the same kind of spot, but gray.

How his spot disappeared randomly and he never got any explanation.

How a few years ago, he’d found out his high school sweetheart had died tragically in a car accident right around the time he lost the spot.

How he never put much stock into soulmates until then, but was now a firm believer.

It felt impossible. It had to be impossible.

“Oh my god.”

Steve’s hands dropped and Eddie whimpered.

“Sorry,” Steve mumbled as he rested his hands back in Eddie’s fur. “I just realized. The first time Dustin tried to convince me to come to D&D was after the first time he saw my wolf. That little shit’s been trying to set us up for almost a year!”

Eddie huffed out a breath of disbelief or an attempt at laughter, he wasn’t sure.

“And Robin! She’s been trying to convince me to hang out with you since you came home from the hospital.” Steve pulled away and started pacing as Eddie watched. “The kids are all in on it. That’s why they always find reasons for me to stick around when you’re around.”

Steve plopped down on the floor, back to the wall of the house.

Eddie trotted over, plopping down on the floor next to him and placing his head in Steve’s lap.

He nudged his nose against Steve’s hand, wordlessly asking for Steve to pet his head.

He got the message.

“You don’t wanna go run?”

Eddie sighed against his lap.

“You could. I’ll be here when you get back.”

He didn’t want to. Not alone.

Maybe he could convince Steve to come with him to the lake next time, go for a run in those woods together.

Steve rested his head back against the wall.

“Do you believe in mates?”

He wasn’t really sure at this point. Maybe they were real, maybe they weren’t. Maybe Steve was his, maybe it was just a weird coincidence.

He nodded his head once.

“Do you think we’re mates?”

Eddie considered it.

He was part wolf. He was attacked and almost eaten to death by demon bats not that long ago. An evil half monster half human had nearly destroyed Hawkins.

So, yeah, they could very well be soulmates.

He nodded his head.

Steve curled himself inwards, letting his head rest on Eddie’s.

“How long are you staying like this? I kinda wanna kiss you.”

Well, he kinda wanted to kiss Steve too.

He pulled away and focused on what it would feel like to kiss Steve.

As soon as he was human again, he planted himself in Steve’s lap, not even caring that he was naked.

Steve looked at him, amused grin in place.

“You survived.”

“Worried I wouldn’t?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Soulmates, huh?”

Steve’s face was a cherry red, and Eddie was pretty sure he’d never been so in love.

He gripped Steve’s face between his hands, a mirror image of what Steve had done when he was a wolf.

“Can you believe Dustin wanted a dad so badly, he set his mom up like this?”

Steve snorted.

“Not his mom.”

“Sure about that? Didn’t you just punish him by taking away rides to the arcade for two weeks because of his attitude?”

“So?”

Eddie just raised his brows at him, smile widening as Steve shrugged.

“Okay, fine! Are you gonna kiss me or just keep teasing me about my favorite kid?”

“Oh, you want a kiss? From me?”

“Please.”

How could Eddie resist when he was asking so nicely?

Eddie’s kissed a lot of people. Girls in school, guys at the bar, Jeff once when he was really drunk.

But not a single one of them compared to this one.

Or any of the kisses they shared after.

[dbnightingale24]

Sneak Peek To ‘A Huckleberry Is Nothing Without His Hummingbird’

 A follow up to ‘It’s Ridiculous, But I’ll Always Love You’ A Lloyd Hansen Love Story

~~

I’m back! Thanks for all the congrats and well wishes! So much writing has been going on since I got back, and I can’t wait to start posting again! Thank you, as always, to @fuckingbye​ for the amazing moodboard and just being amazing in general! I love you! I hope you all enjoy this snippet, and I hope to have the full story up soon!!

Warnings: Swearing, Family Drama, Angst, Drama, Arguments, Lloyd being Lloyd, Slight Mention of Drinking

Word Count: 1,014

~~ 

Lloyd’s P.O.V

“Trav, you and I need to have a talk,” I sigh as I take seat his computer desk.

He’s nine years old, why the hell does he have such an intense computer setup?

“Aren’t you supposed to knock before you come in? Mom knocks,” he mutters, not even bothering to look up from his book.

“She’s the nicer one.”

“Didn’t she punch my gym teacher in the face just for making a remark about my attitude when it comes to leading team sports?”

“I said she’s nicer one, not the more sane one, and put the damn book down. I’m talking to you.”

“What?”

“Watch your fucking mouth. What’s going on at school, and why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“In order for me to tell you about anything, you’d have to be here for that,” he snaps.

Ah yes, that’s why he has an insane computer setup. Guilt.

“I’m here now.”

“Good job.”

“Travis, I swear to God-”

“You’re never home, Dad! Before, you were always away on missions. Now, you don’t do missions but you’re always at work, and when you are home, you get pissed off about every little thing. If you don’t give a damn, why should I say anything?”

“That’s not true and you know it. I’m just adjusting. I know I’m not good at it, but I’m working on it.”

“Are you capable of apologizing to anyone besides Mom?

“I apologize to you when you deserve one.”

“Now seems like a pretty good time.”

“Jesus, you’re so much like your Mother sometimes. I swear that sometimes I think you two work together to drive me insane.”

“Well, I’m the one who got sent to my room, so it can’t be all that bad.”

“You owe your Mother an apology.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighs.

“Sit up and tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t feel like talking about it.”

“Yeah, I don’t care. Get up and talk to me. Why didn’t you tell me you were getting bullied?”

“Didn’t we just discuss that?”

I swear he’s just like Y/N.

“Travis.”

“Some of the kids at school think it’s funny that I’m scared to go to gym class, or that I jump when a book drops, or that I have panic attacks.”

“Why the hell are youi afraid of gym class?”

“A ball bouncing off the wall? A basketball bouncing-”

“Okay okay,” I sigh, sitting back. “You can’t let the bullies win. That’s not how your Mom and I are rasinging you.”

“I fought back and got suspended and, I’m sorry, isn’t that the Hansen way?”

“Are we sure you’re only 9?”

“I learn from the best.”

“That you do. Do you want to be home schooled?”

“Not forever,” he mumbles and I roll my eyes. “What now?”

“Speak up, I’m not raising you to be shy!”

“Why isn’t Mom having this talk with me?”

“Because she’s making dinner and I’m your Father.”

“You should’ve ordered something,” he goes on, completely ignoring the part about me being his Father.

Great, my kids hates me too.

“I offered to and she said that you prefer home cooked meals.”

“It doesn’t matter, she’s stressed out. You just have to do it.”

“How do you know this?”

“When she gets really upset over the things you do, I make dinner or talk her into ordering food,” he shrugs as if it’s no big deal.

“I’m trying to do better-”

“Don’t try, Dad. Just do it. Mom is here all the time and she deals with all of it, and then has to deal with your mood swings on top of it? It’s not fair.”

“Yeah, I know,” I mutter as I get up.

“Now who isn’t speaking up?”

“Watch it,” I warn ib the voice that lets him know he’s got no more buttons left to push, “and watch the swearing around your Mom. You know how much she hates it.”

“But why?”

“You’ve spent time with your grandparents, that’s not how she was raised. You’re too young to swear.”

“That’s not what you think.”

“You’re gonna swear anyway, so who gives a damn when you start? However, your Mom doesn’t like it, so cut it out.”

“I preferred when you two lived apart.”

“Well, get used to how things are now, because it’s how they’re staying.”

“Not if you keeo going on like this,” he mutters, picking up his book.

“Stop being a little shit and get ready for dinner. I’m taking everyone out.”

“Where?”

“Wherever your Mom wants. Get up and get dressed.”

Yeah, I owe him an apology, but he’s not getting one while he’s being a little shit.

It also doesn’t help that he’s right.

Trying to think of the romantic way to tell you that I’m taking you both out, I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen to see you sitting outside at the patio dinner table, smoking a cigarette and drinking wine.

How did I fuck this up? We were doing good and then, as usual, I got in the way. I’m the one starting the arguments, I’m burying myself in an attempt to keep the bit of sanity that I have, I’m not there for Travis like I used to be...

I keep fucking it up.

You’re right: this isn’t college and we can’t go on raising Travis like this. I have to start giving and stop taking. I’m not afraid of much, but I am terrified of losing you again, and I can tell that you’re on your last leg. I’m unforgiving and an entitled asshole, and you knew that when you fell in love with me, but the charm was that I never treated you like everyone else.

Well, never to this extent.

Now, I keep taking too much and don’t even think of giving anything back, and I can’t be mad that you’re ready to call off the wedding. Hell, I haven’t even seen you look at a bridal magazine in months.

If this is gonna get better at all, it’s gonna have to start with me.

~~

taglist: @emerald-evans​, @maroonsunrise83​, @nomadstucky​, @autumnrose40​, @fuckingbye​, @companionjones​, @whiskeytangofoxtrot555​, @mazda098​, @pono-pura-vida​

[glisten-inthedark]

STanon, not really a Byler thing but more of an internalized homophobia thing

I really wish they had explored more of Billy’s queercoding and internalized homophobia and toxic masculinity because so much of what we see in his season 3 memories that Eleven walks through parallel Will

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they named two characters William (just double checked to make sure that Billy isn’t his birth name and yeah his gravestone reads William Hargrove) and then paralleled them so greatly

the most notable parallel to me is how in season 1, in a flashback we see that Lonnie was supposed to take Will to a baseball game but never showed up. Will admits he doesn’t like baseball when Jonathan presses and and we find out that Lonnie has been trying to force both his sons to like “manly” things—he made Jonathan shoot a rabbit when hunting when he was nine. for Billy, we find out that he played baseball as a kid but his dad got angry that he didn’t slide into base, accusing Billy of being afraid of being hurt, after which he called Billy a “p—y”

on that front—both Lonnie and Billy’s dad have called their William different variations of homophobic slurs

Joyce and Lonnie got into verbal fights, with Lonnie as the abuser. Billy’s parents got into physical fights (his mom threw a plate at his dad, his dad punched her) with his dad as the abuser.

Lonnie left. Billy’s mom left.

Under the care of his loving mom and without his abusive dad, Will stayed sensitive and loving. Under the control of his abusive father and without his loving mom, Billy became angry and violent.

Will is bullied for being (presumably, as far as his bullies were aware) gay. Billy became the bully and called his victims “p—y” just like his homophobic dad.

Will got an adopted sister in Eleven. Billy got a step-sister in Max.

Both were victimized by and possessed by the Mind Flayer.

Billy moved from California to Hawkins. Will moved from Hawkins to California.

part of me feels like a reason they didn’t confirm that Billy was gay or bi is because it would likely come across as a “bury your gays” moment but I truly feel like this interpretation helps support the theme of how destructive homophobia and internalized homophobia and heteronormativity is.

[insert Eddie’s “it’s forced conformity—it’s what’s killin’ the kids!” gif here]

Hello!

Tbh I never thought about Billy's possibly being queer, but now that you mentioned I can definitely see the parallels.

Him calling people "p–y" definitely feels like it might be a case of internalized homophobia.

And yeah, I do think them trying to avoid certain reused and harmful tropes such as bury your guys may be a reason why didn't address Billy's possible queerness.

[chickenskins101]

mike wheeler

okay so with all these set photos coming out and these arguments between byler, and mileven, i think it’s time we start focusing on MIKE WHEELER.

people think that he is some b!tchy dude who is mean to his friends but people always forget that he has trauma too. but see, his trauma isn’t exactly from the upsidedown itself like wills, els or max. his comes from everyday struggles and i am here to speak my truth about that.

let’s not forget how heartbroken that kid was when his BEST friend will disappeared. I mean we’ve all seen that one scene where dustin and lucas are arguing and he’s in the middle look so depressed. for a whole week, he’s looking for will. this guy tried to 💀 himself. yeah yeah he did it for dustin, and im sure that’s part of it but for his teeth? they were baby teeth too. but he lost el, had a big fight with lucas, his best friend is still missing, and is living on one ounce of hope that will is alive after seeing his “dead” body dragged out of the water.

he grows a connection with el, then loses el. on the positive side, he did get his best friend back, but that doesn’t change the trauma we went through. but how can he express that trauma? i mean, his best friend is suffering from bullying and the side effects of coming back to life all year. how pathetic would it look to him if he started going, “when you went missing, i went through hell.” not to mention he couldn’t talk abt that to his mom or sister because barb didn’t come back. nancy has to deal with losing her best friend. at least mike got his back. that’s all that is going through his mind.

when el comes back, he can’t talk about the depression he went through after knowing what it felt like to lose will, and then to lose el for a whole year. she’s got all this trauma from the upsidedown and the lab. once again, he would look stupid if he started talking about his depression.

then his best friend and girlfriend move away to the other side of the country. cleary that destroyed him. i mean he prob thought that he would have will and el his whole life. will, who he has known for like what a decadeish? is gone. can he mourn, be sad, tell his friends that his two favourite people gone is killing jim from the inside? no! and why? because max just watched her step brother die. (i’m not a big fan of that arc cause he was literally so abusive). anyways max is going through it, thinking about what she could’ve done, isolating herself from lucas and the party. he once again probably would feel selfish if he were to mention that in front of his friends.

eddie was his friend too. cleary, he looked up to him in some shape or form. but he knows that dustin was closer AND had to watch him die. mike, wasn’t there for yet. he’s probably going through it too, knowing that someone he cared for is gone. does he even know that eddies dead yet? (pre s5 time skip). but dustin had to watch him die so it feels like him mourning would be more pathetic cause at least he wasn’t there. he can’t be as sad as everyone else when max his in the hospital bc he isn’t close enough like everyone else. that’s one of his best friends girlfriend, he has if way worse.

people forget that will and el weren’t the only ones bullied!! (dustin and lucas are also forgotten, that’s a post for later!). he was bullied his whole life too. he almost died because he was bullied. bullying, especially at a young age will affect you. i’m not excusing any of his fights he’s had with el or will, but apart of trauma and not getting help for it, means you are going to act as what you hate the most.

even the unrelated upsidedown stuff makes him look pathetic. his dad is there physically, but not emotionally. that would put a toll on anyone, having a dad that is never trying to bond or connect with you. but can he say anything about that? wills dad abuses him, dustin doesn’t have one and max had hers replaced with an abusive stepfather.

his whole life, he felt like his trauma want important enough because everyone has it worse than him. i am not shaming any other characters for their trauma, their traumas are just as important. what im trying to prove is that he isn’t some butthole teenager. he is a teenager who feels alone and keeps his feelings hidden until they explode.

plus, if you are a byler fan or a queer mike truther, you can add on to the fact that he probably hates himself for being some different weird losers who wants to be with his best friend, a man. that probably breaks all rules he grew up with.

add all these things tgt, and you get a very emotionally drained teenager who needs help.

(all the kids need therapy, srsly, why is max the only one in therapy. each kid has gone through sm, im not dissing them or ignoring their trauma, everyone’s trauma is equally important and ill make another post about each character in the future).

i really hope they talk about his trauma and depression, this dude has gone through and yet feels like it’s not important enough.

[desiccatedwithering]

chat with you, baby (flirt a little, maybe) — ch 1/2

(ao3 link for those who don't want to read a 7.1k tumblr post)

Eddie has his players on the edge of their seats, so wound up that half of them scream when the door slams open.

“Hey, shitheads!” Steve “The Hair” Harrington barks, looming in the doorway like a monster from the Abyss. “What the fuck are you doing in here? Get your asses down to the gym right fucking now.”

Eddie gapes. First of all, the audacity— Second, he’s never been much for physical fights, but if this douchebag thinks he can bully any of Eddie’s kids, he’ll have to go through Eddie first.

“Let’s go! Move it!” Harrington snaps, making an impatient gesture down the hall.

Eddie rises from his throne and steps in between him and the kids. “What’s your problem? Here to bully the freaks?”

“I don’t have any issue with you, dude,” he says, surprisingly gentle for someone who was just practically shouting at a bunch of freshmen. “But I really have to grab my kids and haul ass back to the gym, so could you move?”

“What’s up? Is it a Code Red?” Dustin asks, and Eddie has a moment of whiplash before he remembers the kid’s weird, inexplicable hero worship for this washed up asshole.

“Lucas is actually playing in the championship game right now, and you little shits are missing it!”

Dustin visibly wavers, which is truly unacceptable. “So what?” Eddie asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “He chose his side.”

“His side—? What the fuck are you talking about? They’re his friends; they should be there to support him.” He glares at Eddie, hands on his hips, before turning to Dustin. He points emphatically down the hall. “Go!”

Dustin goes, running like a bat out of hell. So much for the future of Hellfire.

Mike, at least, protests, “He should be here playing with us!”

“Mike Wheeler. Nancy is in that room, and I will absolutely tell her that you chose D&D over seeing Lucas play for the first time.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Mike challenges. Half of Eddie wants to cheer—Yes! Stand up to the jock! Show some spine, unlike Henderson (that traitor)—and the other half wants to roll the kid up in bubble wrap because what the fuck is he thinking? Sure, having a spine is great in theory, but Mike is at that weird lanky teen stage where he looks like his body is just a collection of twigs, and Harrington could absolutely snap him in half with almost no effort.

“Try me,” Harrington growls, baring his teeth in a feral grin, bloodlust in his eyes. Huh. That definitely should not be doing something for Eddie right now.

Horrifyingly, Mike stands up. “Sorry, Eddie,” he mutters, slinking out the door like a scolded dog, then taking off towards the gym.

Harrington does a quick visual sweep of the room, freezing when his eyes land on Erica. “He’s your brother,” he groans with exasperation. “Why are you still sitting there?”

“Uh, we’re in the middle of combat? You can’t boss me around like those nerds. Besides, I doubt Lucas will even get his hands on the ball anyway.”

Harrington pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. “Are you even part of this campaign?”

“No. I subbed in because Lucas couldn’t make it.”

“You realize that’s fucked up right?” Harrington asks, hands on his hips.

Unbelievably, Erica wilts a bit under his disapproving gaze. She opens her mouth to protest—

“If you don’t go to the gym to support your brother right now, I won’t drive you to my house for our next D&D session.”

Woah woah woah. Hold up. Did Steve Harrington just say that he plays D&D?

“I’ll get my mom to drive me.”

“Robin and I will never play with you again.”

She clenches her jaw but stands and points at him dramatically. “You owe me!”

“Yes, yes, I know. Move it!”

“I’m going! Jesus, you’d think we were dealing with the commies again.” And with that, she, too, sprints away.

Then it’s just him and his bandmates in a room with Steve Harrington, who turns to look at him with fire in his eyes, arms crossed over his chest. “Why didn’t you reschedule for Lucas?” he demands.

Eddie scoffs, though he feels like he’s lost his footing, the ground unstable beneath him. “We’re not going to reschedule for a single basketball game.”

“It’s the championship,” Harrington says, like that matters.

“So? It’s the end of the campaign.”

“That makes this worse. You know that right? You’re just finishing the campaign and don’t even care that Lucas can’t make it?”

And something in his tone actually makes Eddie’s stomach twist with guilt. God, unacceptable. How dare this jock make him feel guilty? He doubles down, lifting his chin imperiously. “He could’ve chosen to skip the game tonight.”

“And you could’ve chosen to wait until after spring break.”

“Jeff is graduating this year,” he says, though it feels far less relevant than when he brought it up in the cafeteria.

Harrington scoffs and throws up his hands. “Unbelievable.” He turns and gets a single stride down the hall before he stops, whirling back into the room abruptly. His hand darts out, and Eddie flinches, expecting a punch, but instead Harrington grabs his wrist and starts dragging him down the hall.

“What? Let go!”

“No,” Harrington snaps, hand like a vice around his wrist. Eddie tries to tug himself free but immediately realizes it’s a lost cause. Stupid strong jock hands. “You’re coming to support Lucas whether you like it or not.”

Eddie throws a wide-eyed, panicked look over his shoulder, but his three remaining players just give helpless little shrugs as he’s dragged towards his inevitable demise, not moving to aid him at all. Cowards. He’ll kill their characters if he ever manages to break free.

Harrington practically sprints, grumbling under his breath the whole time. “I swear, if I miss him making a shot because I had to deal with your screw up and come knock some sense into the kids—”

“That session was important,” Eddie complains.

“Spring break is literally a single week long. I don’t think it’s the end of the world to wait.” He adds something else under his breath. It almost sounds like, “Believe me; I’ve seen the end of the world.”

“It’s also not the end of the world to not watch a basketball game. You didn’t have to drag my players out to see it.”

“They’re my kids,” Harrington counters. Which is both rude and bizarre. Why should he get claim over them when he’s just a dumb jock? He’s not related to them. He doesn’t care about them. Obviously not, or he would’ve let them keep playing rather than force them to go to a basketball game like all the other boring, normal people in town. “And I don’t want them to ruin their friendships with Lucas because of your campaign.”

Eddie wants to protest because this situation is in no way his fault, but Harrington’s barreling on, “Believe me, if I knew where Max was, I’d be dragging her here, too. And honestly, it’s pretty fucking rich that they’d pick your campaign—no offense—over supporting Lucas, when Mike spent all of summer break ignoring Will when he wanted to play. Do you know how many free ice cream cones I had to give that kid? He’s always so sad! And Mike just abandoned him after he was—” Harrington shoots a look at Eddie, seeming to suddenly remember his presence “—after he got lost in the woods. Y’know? And then he moves away, and D&D is immediately cool again, and they all join a new party? I’m gonna get El”—Who the hell is El?—“to kick all their asses the next time they come to visit.”

And that should set off alarm bells in his head, a jock threatening freshmen with violence, but the tone is weird. Irritated, yes, but with an underlying current of fond exasperation, of indulgence. It sounds less like a bully targeting some children and more like a parent saying, “Kids. What can you do, right?”

“And, like, we talked about making time for your friends and being supportive even if you’d rather be doing something else, even if you think it’s more important. The only reason Scoops Troop was even formed—which, don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for—was because everyone else ditched Dustin on his first day back from camp, when he was trying to introduce them to his girlfriend.”

Jesus Christ, Harrington talks a lot. The kids probably just completely tuned him out whenever they allegedly had their ‘friendship is important!’ meeting or whatever he’s going on about.

“And Erica— God, that girl is smart. But she apparently just loses her mind when it comes to D&D. I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat thinking about how she tried to bike to Indy to sell that acid to replace her books, you know?”

Eddie is honestly kind of fascinated—not in a positive way; more like how you just can’t help staring at a car crash as you pass it—by how Harrington’s brain works. Is he aware that Eddie has no fucking idea what he’s talking about?

Before he can ask any of the infinite questions that little anecdote raised—(For example: Acid as in LSD or, like, vinegar or some shit you’d use in chemistry class that could melt your skin off or whatever? And no matter what option it was, why was Erica in possession of it in the first place? Who was she planning to sell it to? Why was she biking to Indianapolis? And how did King Steve get involved in any part of it?)—they reach the doors to the gym.

Harrington drags him inside to an empty spot on the bottom row of the bleachers but doesn’t drop Eddie’s wrist, probably—rightly—assuming that he’ll bolt if given half a chance. Luckily, the way they’re sitting hides the fact that they’re a bit too close to holding hands in public for Eddie’s comfort. The kids are sitting in a little huddle across the gym, right next to the marching band, looking miserable and frustrated. One of the band players leans over, whispering to them, and they smile, postures relaxing a bit. They look back at the court and cheer as Lucas gets his hands on the ball for a second.

A blonde woman a couple rows above the kids catches sight of the two of them, waving at Harrington, and he halfheartedly waves back. She frowns and crosses her arms when he doesn’t make any move to join her, but Harrington doesn’t notice, attention already pulled back to the players like a moth to a flame.

“Did you seriously ditch your date to steal half my party?”

“Hmm?” Harrington tears his eyes away from the court to glance at Eddie. “Oh, yeah, I did.”

“...Why?”

Harrington frowns. “I told you. The kids should be here supporting Lucas.”

“But why do you care about their relationship? Why do you care about any of them?”

Harrington presses his lips together, fighting to keep a straight face. “I’m their babysitter,” he says. It’s clearly an inside joke, and Harrington shoots him a wolfish grin. Eddie hates seeing it this close. It sets off butterflies in his stomach, which is both stupid and unacceptable. This is Steve Harrington, the straightest man in Hawkins and an irredeemable asshole. He may be objectively attractive and have great hair, but he should not be making Eddie’s heart flutter, no matter how sharp his smirk is.

Harrington’s attention is—predictably—back on the court, but Eddie can’t help staring at him. He feels like the world has tilted on its axis, maybe flipped upside down completely. Never in a million years would he have imagined himself sitting in the gym during the championship basketball game, all but holding hands with Steve Harrington, who has apparently adopted Eddie’s pack of nerdy freshmen.

Then Harrington’s breath catches, and his fingers tighten on Eddie’s wrist, dragging him in even closer as he starts to stand up. Eddie looks back at the court just in time to see Lucas’s feet leave the floor, the ball flying through the air. The buzzer goes off, and Eddie thinks, Huh, does that still count?

A second later, the ball swooshes through the hoop to a thunderous roar from the crowd, which answers that question. Harrington whoops beside him, almost deafeningly loud, jumping in place (and Eddie really never expected him to be the type to jump for joy). Eddie cheers with him. Fine, he’ll admit it: He’s proud of the twerp, even if he is sore that Lucas would choose basketball over his campaign.

“It’s not you.”

“What?”

“He didn’t choose to play basketball because he dislikes your campaign,” Harrington says, apparently reading his mind. “He was hoping that if he played, he’d get popular enough that people would stop bullying him and his friends.”

Oh. Eddie’s heart clenches. He’d been reading the whole situation wrong. But it makes sense. Eddie never had the option to not be a freak, so he took that label and turned it into armor, made himself untouchable. He plays up the drama, the “demonic possession.” He’s weird and a nerd and a drug dealer, but people don’t pay him much attention beyond that. He’s off-putting intentionally; he scares people away before they can get a good look. So he may be a freak to them, but he’s not queer. (It also probably helps that Eddie refuses to deal to anyone who knocks his lights out, which keeps most of the jocks in line.)

Lucas and Dustin can’t hide like that. Mike could probably fly under the radar, but he seems to be too preoccupied with being surly and unpleasant to bother.

“C’mon,” Harrington says, dragging him forward with a spring in his step and a wide grin. It lights up his whole face, and Eddie thinks that he could spend hours staring at it. Not that he would because Harrington is still a dick. One insightful comment about Lucas doesn’t change that. “Let’s go congratulate him.”

“Not meet up with your date?”

Harrington waves the question aside. “She genuinely thought Tammy Thompson’s singing was good.”

Eddie snorts. “Yeah, for a muppet.”

“That’s what I said!” Harrington laughs. “We all know Tammy Thompson’s a total dud.” The last part is said slightly louder. Not loud enough to draw the attention of the crowd, but loud enough for the band player who had talked to the kids earlier to catch.

“Steve!” she scolds, reaching over to smack his shoulder, though she snickers as she does it.

“What! You agreed with me, Robin!” He shoves her back playfully. “And it was under the influence of whatever shit was in those syringes, so I know you weren’t lying.”

Eddie carefully files that grain of information into the folder he’s just created, dedicated to figuring out what the fuck is going on with Harrington and why he seems so different from just a couple years ago.

Robin notices the way Harrington is still holding Eddie’s wrist, and her eyebrows climb. Eddie braces himself, but she just leans forward with a sly little smirk. “Damn, Steve. I was gonna tell you that your date left and add another tally to the ‘You Suck’ column, but it looks like you found yourself a new one. Finally a mark for ‘You Rule.’” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

Ok, and here come the slurs—

Harrington rolls his eyes. “No, he’s just here as a punishment for not rescheduling the end of their D&D campaign so that Lucas could make it. I was worried he would bolt if I let him go.”

Is Eddie losing his mind, or did King Steve just ignore the implication that he was on a date with a dude? And he’s still holding Eddie’s wrist. Maybe he just missed the hint. That’s possible, right? He is a dumb jock, after all. (Or maybe he’s far, far cooler than Eddie expected. No, there’s no way.)

Robin frowns at Eddie. “You wouldn’t reschedule?”

“Hey”—Eddie lifts his free hand in surrender—“I’ve already been put in my place by Harrington here, so you don’t have to bother.”

“Ok,” she says slowly. “But just know that if you upset any of the kids, Steve and I will feed you to a demogorgon. Or the mind flayer.”

“Robin!” Harrington hisses, elbowing her in the side, then throws a pointed look towards Eddie. Which is a weird reaction to an even weirder threat. Is he supposed to be scared of a couple of D&D monsters? They do know he literally DMs the game, right?

She rolls her eyes, complaining, “God, you’re so dramatic. Wait here. I’ve gotta go change out of this atrocious polyester prison before I die.” She looks back at Eddie and makes an I’m watching you gesture, then drags her finger across her throat. “Demogorgon and/or mind flayer. Don’t test me.”

Harrington looks frantically around the room, oddly desperate for a topic change. His eyes land on Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Erica, talking a few feet away, and he lifts an arm to wave them over. “Lucas!”

Lucas bounces over, accepting Robin’s high five as they pass each other, and Harrington drags him into a one armed hug.

“That was a fantastic shot! Whoever taught you must’ve really known their stuff, huh?”

Lucas rolls his eyes with a grin before noticing Eddie. He blinks, like his presence might just be a hallucination. Eddie’s right there with him; this whole night feels like a hallucination. “You came to my game?” he asks, utterly baffled.

“Didn’t really have much of a choice,” he drawls, waving towards the arm still being held hostage. He’s fairly certain he won’t be getting it back ever again. Maybe he could convince Harrington to switch to handcuffs, which at least wouldn’t be actively trying to crush all the bones in his wrist— Oh. He clears his throat as his wrist is slowly shattered. “But, uh, yeah. You did good, man. Great shot.”

Lucas lights up, and the crushing pressure around his wrist eases. “Thanks. That— means a lot.” He glances away for a moment, towards Mike, who gestures emphatically as he says something to a frowning Dustin and Erica. “So, uh. Did they win the battle?”

“Nah, man. Half my players were dragged out before we could even really get into it. Guess we’ll just have to finish the campaign after spring break.”

Lucas beams. Ugh. What is it with sports boys making him feel guilty tonight? Lucas looks so thrilled that he’ll get to play in their final session, and Eddie feels like a complete monster. He kinda wants to run into the woods and never return. He’ll hide out in Reefer Rick’s boat house or under Skull Rock or something, anywhere to get him away from the clear delight on Lucas’s face.

God, if Harrington doesn’t let him go soon, he’s gonna gnaw off his own arm like a coyote in a trap to escape this whole mess.

A moment later, Lucas is dragged away by the other basketball players—yuck, but also thank god because Eddie really didn’t want to have to try to talk about sports; he’s content to be supportive from afar, like a divorced parent who only gets custody once a month. (Before he’s whisked off by the jocks, Harrington murmurs a reminder that Lucas shouldn’t let the other guys pressure him into anything, and if he ever feels unsafe, he can call Harrington for a ride; seriously, dude, I mean it; call me.) There’s clearly a weight off Lucas’s shoulders as he trots away.

Harrington’s thumb sweeps back and forth across Eddie’s pulse, and when Eddie musters the strength to look up at him, Harrington is staring back with such a warm and fond expression that it steals his breath. What is happening here? It can’t be what he’s thinking. Can it? No, definitely not. Unless…?

“Hey, Steve,” Robin cuts in, walking back over sans uniform, an unimpressed look on her face. “Can you stop making googly eyes at Mr. Hellfire here for long enough to drive me home?”

Harrington glances over at her, and Eddie can breathe again—even as he tenses at the phrase googly eyes, though Harrington just ignores it again and starts leading Eddie towards the doors. “Yeah, of course. Can you ask if any of the kids need rides? We’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

Huh. Maybe Harrington really is a babysitter. Certainly not the profession he would’ve expected from the resident pretty boy, asshole jock, but why else would he be offering to drive around a bunch of freshmen like it was a regular thing?

“—Eddie?”

“Huh?”

“I was asking if you need a ride.”

“Oh,” Eddie says, a bit dumbly. He blinks twice and manages to drag his eyes away from Harrington, looking across the parking lot. “No, I’m good. I have my— Fuck!”

Harrington startles a little, pulling him in closer, which is surprisingly nice and protective and— Eddie mentally slaps himself. He is not going to stand here swooning over Steve Harrington. No way. Not even a little bit.

“What’s up?” Harrington asks, tense as a bowstring.

Eddie gestures towards his van with a scowl. “Some fucker slashed my tire.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Harrington breathes, relieved, which is fucking rude. Then he seems to realize what he said and winces. “I mean, that sucks. Obviously. Do you have a spare?”

Eddie puffs up his cheeks in that way that makes Wayne compare him to an angry chipmunk. “Nope. It’s whatever. I don’t live too far from here. I can walk.”

Harrington frowns. “It’s dark out.”

“So?” He raises a brow. “I know my way around; I won’t get lost.”

Harrington shakes his head and declares, “No, it’s not safe. I’ll drive you.”

Eddie is about to argue, but he pauses. Harrington didn’t say that it might be unsafe. He said it with absolute certainty. Like he knows about some monster lurking in their town. Which is absurd, obviously. Sure, the past few years have been weird, with people going missing and then turning up dead, but that doesn’t mean there’s any danger now. Those were chemical leaks and a mall fire and one kid who got lost in the woods. (Which, by the way, did anyone ever figure out the identity of whoever they actually fished out of the quarry after the Byers kid turned back up?) There’s nothing that would put him at risk.

But Harrington’s hand has tightened on his wrist again, like he thinks Eddie might break free and run off into the woods never to be seen again. So, “Fine,” he says. “But don’t expect me to pay for gas.”

Harrington lets out an aggrieved sigh. “No one ever does.” He sounds so much like an exhausted dad that Eddie can’t stop the giggle that bubbles out of him. Harrington looks delighted at the sound. Then he glances back at Eddie’s van and tilts his head. “Hey, uh, is that Chrissy Cunningham standing by your van?”

“Damn,” Robin says, reappearing on Harrington’s other side and scaring Eddie half to death. “I didn’t think Queen Chrissy was the type to slash tires.”

Harrington tilts his head and makes a considering noise. “I don’t know. I feel like she has it in her.”

Robin glances at him and snorts. “Yeah, I guess rich kids are the ones who go the most feral when given half a chance.” She mimes swinging a bat, and Harrington elbows her.

“Shut up. You’ve never even seen me use her.”

“No, but I’ve gotten the play by play at least a dozen times by now.” She puffs out her chest, deepening her voice for dramatic effect. Eddie briefly wonders if she’s ever thought about playing D&D. “A fog sweeps into the junkyard, obscuring your view. You can hear Dart prowling and finally catch sight of him, but he’s not taking the bait. So you bravely heft Mrs. Harrington—”

“Ew, that is not her name.”

“—so you bravely heft your bat—which is named something you’re too embarrassed to tell me—and step out of the fortified bus to be the bait.‘Human tastes better than cat, I promise.’ But then! The horror! Dart isn’t alone; he’s brought friends, a whole pack of de— dogs, lying in wait. They attack! You dodge out of the way, roll over the hood of a car, and hit one as you come back to your feet.” She mimes another swing, and Harrington rolls his eyes with a sigh.

“You barely make it back into the bus alive. The dogs batter the outside of the bus, trying to break in to devour you all. As you brace the door, trying to keep them out, one jumps onto the roof. It looms in the open hatch right above Max and opens its terrible, disgusting mouth. You shove her aside, putting yourself in harm’s way again to save her life. Luckily, the dogs run away seconds before your untimely death. Thus making a trio of twelve year olds fall madly in love with you.” She sweeps into a dramatic bow, and Eddie would clap if he wasn’t still being restrained.

Harrington scowls. “One, you have to know the kids are exaggerating. And two, I’m positive none of them said anything about being in love with me.”

“One: Yeah, ok, maybe they’re exaggerating that one, but I distinctly recall a man trying to pull a gun on us and you deciding to scream, run directly at him, and then tackle and wrestle him until you managed to knock him unconscious. And if that’s not rich kids gone wild, I don’t know what is.” She shoots him an extremely judgmental look. “And two: They didn’t have to. I can see it all over their faces whenever they retell the story. Or, Max and Lucas, at the very least. Jury’s still out on Dustin.”

“Gross, Rob. Those are my kids. Were you drugged again?” Harrington looks her up and down, and Eddie glances between them, trying to find any hint that they’re joking because, uh, hello? Drugged? Again? “Why are you being like this?”

“No, dingus. I’m just riding the high of our victory. Go, Tigers!” she cheers. Harrington raises an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes. “Ok, fine. A certain somebody laughed at my joke, and I’ve decided to focus on the elation I feel tonight and save the soul crushing terror and probable panic attack about the other thing I said for our shift tomorrow.”

Harrington looks at her for a moment longer, then nods. “Alright, fair.”

“Drugged?” Eddie asks.

“Russians,” Robin answers, as Harrington jabs an elbow into her side and says, “Long story. You don’t want to know.”

Uh, Eddie absolutely wants to know. He’s never wanted to know anything more in his life. God, it’s like Harrington doesn’t understand him at all. Unfortunately, Harrington’s face makes it abundantly clear that he won’t be elaborating any time soon. Maybe Dustin knows what the hell they’re talking about.

“Right,” Eddie says, drawing the word out as he glances between the pair.

“So, are we gonna do something about the queen of Hawkins High slashing your tires?” Robin asks. Then, to Steve, “Oh, also the kiddos are good. They all have rides.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t the one who did it,” Eddie says. Harrington and Robin both turn to look at him in eerie unison. It sends a shiver down his spine, and he continues, weakly, “I was supposed to drive her back to my place after the game.”

Robin raises an eyebrow. She lets go of Harrington and swings around to hang off of Eddie instead, giving the bandana in his pocket a pointed tug. “I didn’t really think she was your type,” Robin murmurs, thankfully quiet enough that only Eddie can hear. “Honestly, I was pretty certain that she’s much closer to my type than yours.”

Eddie’s jaw drops because who just says that? Eddie is the capital “f” Freak of the school, and even he wouldn’t just casually come out to someone he’d only just met. Sure, he’s flagging, so she probably had a pretty good idea that he was safe, but what if the bandana had just been a coincidence? What if she’d been wrong? Before he can figure out how the fuck to respond, Harrington comes to his rescue. Ugh, rescued by Harrington. This is the one and only time he’ll ever be grateful to have the dude around.

Harrington shoots, like, a weirdly sympathetic look at Robin, then tilts his head like a puppy and asks, “I thought she had a boyfriend?”

Eddie absolutely will not read into the slight frown that crawls onto Harrington’s face when his eyes dart from Robin to Eddie. It means utterly nothing.

Then he realizes what Harrington is actually asking and nearly chokes. Does Harrington seriously think that Chrissy would cheat on Jason with Eddie, of all people? “For drugs. We’re doing a deal. She wanted something stronger than weed, which I don’t carry around.”

Harrington’s brow smooths, and he nods like everything is suddenly right with the world. And then the frown comes back as he looks back at Chrissy. His hand tightens on Eddie’s wrist again, apparently subconsciously.

“What is it now?” Eddie asks, rolling his eyes. “You got a problem with the idea of me dealing to a cheerleader, King Steve?”

“No, I don’t care about that. Just— Is she ok?”

Eddie shrugs. “Don’t know, honestly. She acted like a spooked horse when we met up in the woods, and then she asked for something stronger. But we don’t exactly know each other well. She could’ve just been nervous buying drugs for the first time.”

Harrington’s still frowning, tapping an absent minded rhythm against Eddie’s forearm. “Well, I can drive her to yours, too. I don’t want her walking around this late either. Or going to the basketball players’ party if she’s not feeling alright.”

Steve Harrington, knight in shining armor, apparently, protecting kids from—feral? rabid?—dogs (maybe?) and driving people home so they don’t have to walk around the spooky woods of Hawkins. Eddie could swoon. Except he wouldn’t. Because this is still Steve Harrington. Straight asshole jock. He’s not swoon worthy in the slightest. He’s not.

Eddie takes a step in Chrissy’s direction. He’s brought up short by the hand still holding his wrist. “Are you going to release me so I can get her?” Eddie asks flatly. Harrington squints at him for a moment, studying his face, and Eddie rolls his eyes. “I promise I won’t go running off into the woods.”

“Friends don’t lie,” Robin interjects extremely unhelpfully.

Eddie sighs. “Jesus Christ. I’m not lying. I am going to walk over there, tell Chrissy the plan, and walk back here. It’s like thirty feet. I’m not going to run, and nothing’s gonna eat me, or whatever you’re worried about.”

“Knock on wood,” Harrington mutters.

Eddie is losing his mind. Maybe he’s the one who needs the Special K. He tries to wrench his arm out of Harrington’s grasp again, giving him his best puppy dog eyes when it doesn’t work.

“Fine, fine. I’ll let you go.” He points at Eddie’s face. Eddie experiences a moment of derangement where he thinks about biting his finger. That would definitely go well for him. “No running.”

Harrington finally drops his hand, and Eddie’s wrist immediately feels cold and bereft. Jesus Christ, he’s gotta get a grip on himself. This is getting ridiculous.

Eddie briefly considers scampering off into the woods just to fuck with them, then realizes it’s probably a terrible idea. If Harrington had no qualms grappling a man with a loaded weapon, he certainly won’t hesitate to tackle Eddie onto the asphalt, likely breaking all of his bones in the process.

He glances around as he walks towards his van, double checking that there aren’t any basketball players loitering about, then raises his hand and calls, “Hey, Chrissy.”

She startles a little but quickly spots him. She meets him halfway, hands twisted together in front of her. “Your van—?” she starts, worried.

Eddie sighs. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with it in the morning. Harrington offered to drive us back to my place, if you don’t mind.” Her eyes slide to something over his shoulder, which is the only reason he doesn’t have a heart attack and literally die when he turns and finds Harrington and Robin standing right behind him. Apparently they can move like goddamn ghosts when they want to.

Harrington has his arm slung over Robin’s shoulders, and when she realizes Chrissy is looking, she shoves him away so hard he nearly falls on his ass. “Hi! Chrissy, right?” she asks, surprisingly sweet and innocent for someone who just assaulted her friend (boyfriend? beard? He’s genuinely got no idea what’s happening in that relationship).

Chrissy nods.

“I’m Robin, and you probably know Steve.” She lowers her voice a bit and adds, “Don’t worry. He’s not as much of a douchebag as he used to be.”

“Thanks for the glowing recommendation, Rob,” Harrington sighs.

Chrissy glances at Eddie, hesitant, and he shoots her a smile. “It’s cool. They’re not gonna rat you out or anything. Harrington used to buy from me when he was still king of the school.”

“And Steve and I became best friends when we were insanely high. Like, I genuinely have no idea what we were on, but it was a trip. We watched part of that movie—”

“—the confusing one where Alex P. Keaton’s mom wants to bang him—”

“—and then we both went and puked—”

“—and shared some deep, dark secrets—”

“—and now we’re bonded for life!” She pats his cheek, then pinches it. “He can never get rid of me.”

“God knows I’ve tried,” Harrington says, deadpan.

Chrissy muffles a giggle with her hand, and Robin looks like she might pass out at the sound. “I didn’t realize the three of you were friends.”

“We’re not,” Eddie says. Harrington shoots him a wounded look, like crashing Eddie’s D&D campaign and dragging him to a basketball game he didn’t want to go to should’ve been enough to earn him friend status.

“We share custody over the same group of nerds,” Harrington explains as he leads them back over to his car. “I get them on weekends and most afternoons, and Eddie has them during weekdays and Hellfire nights.”

Chrissy nods like this makes total sense, while Eddie just stares frozen and befuddled. Here he is, feeling maybe a little bit jealous (ugh) of the relationship Harrington seems to have with the kids, and Harrington is just easily talking about it like they’re coparenting the twerps. Has he somehow stepped into an alternate dimension? How is this happening?

“And Steve and I met working at Scoops Ahoy in the mall last year,” Robin adds.

“May those stupid little hats burn in hell,” Harrington says solemnly.

Robin ignores him and continues, “And now we work together at Family Video.”

Chrissy nods, shooting Robin a sweet little smile as she asks, “You’re in marching band, right? I’m pretty sure I saw you playing, at least.”

Robin looks like she might actually die. Harrington steps on her foot. “Yes!” She nods like a bobble head. “Sure am. I play the mellophone.” She then mimes playing a trumpet, and Eddie just barely manages not to wince.

Harrington’s fingers twitch, like he wants to smack her hands out of the air. Instead, he just takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a long, long moment, clearly fighting back a sigh. After composing himself, he glances at Robin and asks, voice playful, “So, Robin, you want shotgun?”

Robin looks at him with fire in her eyes. “Eddie already called it, remember?” she says, voice sugar sweet and utterly deadly.

Harrington smirks. “Of course. How could I forget?” Then he pulls her close to whisper something in her ear and gives her the most “Go get ‘em, champ!” pat on the back Eddie has ever seen.

Holy shit, he realizes, the stars aligning and a lightbulb going off in his head. Harrington knows that Robin’s queer. And he’s being her wingman. (At least, he’s like 90% sure that’s what’s happening right now.)

He’s not sure how he managed to get into the car since his whole brain was focused on that earth shattering epiphany, but when he blinks back onto the Prime Material Plane, Harrington is staring at him expectantly, hand hovering over the gearshift.

“Can I help you?” he asks, a bit defensively.

“Yes, you can, actually,” Harrington says sweetly. Then he orders, “Seatbelt.”

He points towards it, like Eddie might not understand what he’s talking about. What, does Harrington think he’s some sort of caveman who’s never heard of seatbelts? Just for that offense, he’s not going to use it.

(And the thing is, he was going to put his seatbelt on. The moment he’d gotten his license, Wayne had taken him by the shoulders, stared into his eyes, and said, “I know I can’t stop you from driving like a damn maniac, but do me a favor and wear your seatbelt, yeah? I don’t want to get a call about them having to scrape you off the road because you flew through the windshield like a dumbass,” which was fair, honestly, and Eddie hadn’t hesitated to agree; Wayne didn’t need that kind of stress in his life. But now that Harrington’s ordering him to—)

Harrington must see something in the mulish set of his jaw, because his eyes narrow. “I’ll sit here all night if I have to.”

“It’s really not worth fighting him on this,” Robin says from the back, exhausted (and safely buckled in).

Eddie sighs and gives in. It’s not admitting defeat—because he would never let a jock win—it just happens to be in his best interest. He doesn’t want to drag out this interaction any longer than necessary, after all. Or die in a car crash.

Harrington shoots him a blinding—and infuriatingly triumphant—smile after the seatbelt clicks.

“So do I get a gold star, or what?” Eddie snarks.

Harrington laughs. “I don’t have my stickers on me, but I’ll have Henderson drop one off for you at your next game.”

Eddie genuinely cannot tell if Harrington is fucking with him right now.

Then Harrington puts a hand on the back of his seat, twisting around as he pulls out of the parking space, and the terrible part of Eddie that’s completely ruled by teenage hormones thinks, Oh god. Hot.

He takes a shaky breath and is hit with a wave of Harrington’s cologne. It’s probably something he put on special for his date. (His date that he ditched so he could spend more time talking to Eddie—) Harrington seems like the type of rich dude who’d have a different cologne for every occasion. Whatever it is, it smells incredible. It’s probably worth more than the entire trailer park, which Eddie should find offensive just on sheer principle, but honestly, all he can really think about is how much he wants to bite at Harrington’s forearm.

“You need directions?” Eddie asks as he battles off the horny demon in his brain.

“No, I’m good. I know where you live.”

Before Eddie can ask why Harrington knows where he lives—is he being stalked or something?—Robin launches into a summary of her day. It’s so routine, so familiar, the teasing little back and forth that she and Harrington settle into as she fills him in on the new gossip, that Eddie almost feels like an intruder. Or, he feels like he should feel that way. Instead, it’s weirdly comfortable to just listen as Harrington and Robin banter, and they never seem thrown off when he interjects.

Harrington has just finished whining about how much it’s gonna cost to take all the kids out for ice cream to celebrate Lucas’s game-winning shot, like he’s not absolutely loaded, when Robin says, “I still can’t believe they brought Tammy Thompson all the way back from Nashville to sing at the championship.”

“I know!” Chrissy hesitates for a second, then adds, “This is going to sound mean…”

Robin waves away the concern. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure everyone in the car has said worse.”

“Yeah, Rob’s a real asshole.”

“Case in point,” Robin says, through gritted teeth. “Ignore him. You were saying?”

“I kinda thought she sounded like a muppet,” Chrissy admits, voice a bit timid.

Robin lets out the loudest, most braying laugh Eddie’s ever heard, clapping her hands together like a sea lion. “Literally all of us have said that at some point!”

Chrissy’s nervous expression shifts into a grin, and she leans closer. “Really? God, I thought I was the only one.”

“No, no, she definitely sounds like a muppet. That time when Steve and I were high out of our minds, he did this impression of her, and I swear I nearly peed, I was laughing so hard.”

Harrington makes a thoughtful noise. Then, quietly enough not to disturb the girls giggling in the back, he asks, “Do you think Tammy Thompson’s singing is some sort of litmus test?”

Eddie stares blankly at the side of his head. “For?”

“Finding friends of Dorothy.”

Eddie feels a bit like someone just set off a firework inside his head. His thoughts are traveling faster than light. Or possibly swimming through molasses. He’s not really certain. There’s just a jumbled mess of half formed conclusions that he agonizingly starts to sort through.

One: Steve Harrington knows what Friends of Dorothy means, which confirms Eddie’s suspicion that he knows that Robin is queer. Two: Harrington thinks that Chrissy is queer. Three: Harrington thinks that Eddie is queer. Four: Harrington seems to have no problem being in a car with three maybe-possibly-probably queer people—actually, he seems to be enjoying the experience. Five: He’s absolutely trying to set up the two girls in the back seat. Six: Harrington was the first one to mention that Tammy Thompson sounds like a muppet—

Hold up. Did King Steve just casually come out to him?

He turns, openly gaping. “I— You—?”

And then Harrington has the audacity to fucking wink at him. Holy shit. Harrington did just casually come out to Eddie “The Freak” Munson after trying to set up his lesbian best friend and Queen Chrissy Cunningham.

This is the single strangest fucking thing that’s ever happened in this town, no doubt about it.

(tumblr post for ch 2, or read it on ao3)

[adri-2022]

Happy Birthday

Fandom: Chicago PD

Characters: Jay Halstead x FemReader / OC Thomas "Tommy" / OC Gianna "Gia" Halstead / Will Halstead

Warnings: Slight swearing/ fluff

Word count: 1722

Jay Halstead Materlist

A/N: Hello guys! I hope everyone is doing okay. Here is an original imagine. Portraying Thomas "Tommy" is Jacob Tremblay and portraying Gianna "Gia" Halstead is Maia Mitchell. Sending love 💖

Don't be afraid to leave your comment!

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Your boyfriends birthday wasn’t something he made a big deal about. From a certain point in time to the present days it bargained him with the memories of all the people that couldn’t be there with him, the people that had to leave too early. But nonetheless you always tried to bring him joy on the occasion, since you had started dating Jay always made sure you knew that he didn’t expect something big or anything for that matter. The only thing he wanted was his little blended family.

In a really early morning, you had all woken up to get ready for the day. Laughter and jokes filled the small house you had bought together for you and your kids. Having breakfast, sharing plans and teasing one another. And even though it was his birthday no one had said anything about it yet, you all opted to have quality time before he left for work.

There was Gianna -or Gia- Jay’s 15-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Her mom was still around and even if things hadn’t work out between her and Jay you were all friendly towards each other, she was a nice woman. This was the difference between Gia and Thomas -or Tommy- your 9-year-old son. He didn’t have any other male figure besides Jay, his father had left a long time ago.

So because of this other young humans beings you had been hesitant to try a relationship. Having been proved wrong because almost 5 years later you’re living together and giving each other a chance to be happy again. A chance to be complete.

Sitting at the kitchen table was Jay, Gia and Tommy while you stood leaning on the sink gazing at the people that meant the most to you. A sentiment shared by the young detective.

“Alright I’m leaving” Jay said standing and moving towards the sink.

“Be careful out there okay. Happy birthday” you whispered the last part as he hugged your waist

“Thanks. Love you” he muttered before pulling away and pecking your lips with a little smile that you matched.

“Love you more. Say hi to the team for me” you said as you pecked his cheek a couple of times making him chuckle

Then he moved to the table where Tommy and Gia were making the plans for their snowy day free from school. Their relationship was very cute and even though they weren’t related by blood, they both loved each other as if they were. After all they had been really young when they first met, so they had basically seen each other grow up. As he reached the table he bent to kiss Gia’s forehead before doing the same to Tommy and ruffling his hair.

“Love you both. Behave” he said looking pointily at Gia who raised her hands in surrender making all of you laugh

“Dear father you wound me. I always behave, right Y/N?” Gia said in a matter-of-fact way, making you nod as you hummed

“Yeah right. Stop covering for her babe” Jay countered back not fully convinced and raising an eyebrow towards you

“I’m not” you said between laughs as Gia smiled innocently at her father

“They so are” Tommy whispered squinting his eyes at his stepsister

“Hush Tommy. You on the other hand. Behave, be careful and stop giving Trudy headaches” the girl said raising an eyebrow at his dad to which he squinted his eyes at her going to say something before Tommy spoke.

“Good one Gi!” Tommy said smirking

“Which side are you on?” Gia said rolling her eyes jokingly

“I’m Switzerland” Tommy said winning a snort from the people present.

“High five?” he asked Gia innocently  

“You’re lucky you match my vibe” the teenager responded as they shared the high five laughing

“I’m getting bullied by my children, unbelievable. You guys are the worst” Jay said jokingly shaking his head

“You’re the one always getting shot” Tommy said between chuckles

“Not funny” you said looking pointily at Tommy

“Did he lie, though?” Gia pitched in, making Tommy point at her before nodding his head

“Okay, alright. Now I’m leaving love you all” he said walking towards the front door.

“Love you dad” the kids responded before Jay was out the door. There was a moment of silence before Gia decided to break it.

“So- what’s the plan?” she asked smirking slightly as your son smiled at his stepsister with raised eyebrows

“You shall know soon my young padawans” you answered all three exporting the same expression as you reached for the car keys.

Now hours later you stood in front of the cakes on display in the grocery store not being able to decide on which to order for Jay.

“I think this one is perfect Y/N” Gia commented pointing to a chocolate cake on display

“And I think great mind think alike. You are 100% right Gianna” you answered smiling at her as she told the clerk the cake she wanted.

“Got the balloons ma” Tommy exclaimed from behind the balloons as he walked towards the both of you

“Tommy!” you started laughing at the sight of all the balloons

“I didn’t know which to pick. So I got one of each” Tommy’s voice muffled behind the wall of balloons

“Did you use all the money?” you asked raising a hand to your forehead

“Maybe…” you heard him say in an innocent voice

“I think you might start flying Tommy” Gia said between chuckles as you shook your head with a smile

“Also, I might’ve dragged something from the shelves in isle 3”

“Oh good god. Alright. We got balloons, snacks, and the cake. That just leaves-” your sentence was cut by Tommy

“Mom can I hold the cake?” he asked innocently as you started walking out the store

“Sweetheart, Gia already has…”

“Tell you what. You hold the cake and I’ll hold the balloons. Yep- careful- so that way you don’t go floating away” she interrupted you as she slightly bent to pass him the cake and reach the balloons.

As you had reached the house you three started putting everything together for the little surprise, just to remind him of the good things in life. An hour later between break snacks and exploded balloons you had managed to finish the little details, climbing down the stairs.

“Alright” you clapped gaining their attention,

“Balloons?” “Done” the teenager answered with thumbs up

“Snacks?” “Ready” Tommy pointed to the table

“Movie?” “Set up” your stepdaughter answered

“Cake?” “Looks delicious” at Tommy’s response both you and Gia gazed at him with an amused look

“That leaves-” Gia started reaching for her phone before the back door interrupted her

“Hey! Sorry. Long shift. I parked my car in your backyard” Will, your brother-in-law and coworker said as he rushed into the house with a guilty expression. You waved him off as he proceeded to hug everyone in greeting before looking at everything he smiled.

“He’s gonna love it” he said as he hugged you tightly.

When you opened your mouth to respond the sound of the front door filled the house. Everyone rushing around to the opposite side of the kitchen table to be facing Jay.

“Babe” your boyfriend called

“Kitchen” you shouted back hearing his footsteps heading to the spot you were all in

“Hey, did the kids open the fence to the back-”

“SURPRISE!” you all screamed. As Will blew an airhorn and the kids some cheering props

“Shit!” he said jumping startled putting a hand over his chest and closing his eyes.

You chuckled as you rushed to his side grabbing his face and smashing your lips in his, feeling how he relaxed before his arms circled you by the waist. When you pulled away you smiled before leaving kisses all over his face to which he chuckled.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY” Gia screamed pressing the air horn again as everyone laughed before Will reached to take it from her hands

“Let me take this- thank you. You are dangerous missy” he said making Gia scoff

“Happy birthday, dad. Thanks for everything” Tommy said hugging Jay’s waist the latter not doubting to hug him back

“Bud, you have nothing to thank me for” he whispered before ruffling his hair as Tommy tried swatting his hands away

“Love you dad. Happy birthday” Gia followed

“Thanks sweetheart” Jay answered as he reached for his daughter in a hug

“You may be older, but you just got handsome-ish” the teenage girl said hugging her dad with all her strength as Jay rolled his eyes. You followed the kids, leaning in the kitchen aisle as they hopped on to sit.

“Man. You get uglier by the year” Will jokingly shook his head at his brother from the other side of the table

“Guess what! I look like you” Jay responded smirking before he flipped his brother off

“Are we about to witness a fight?” Tommy whispered to Gia

“Maybe” she answered throwing candy in her mouth

“You know it’s the truth” “We can go outside” Jay and Will kept bickering as you lean to pick a candy from the bowl on Gia’s lap

“Hm interesting. Who would win, the doctor or the detective/ranger?” Tommy continued as he reach for a candy as well and munching it

“Think we should step in?” you asked looking at the Gia and Tommy

“Nope” Gia muttered as you snickered

“We’re not going outside; with your luck you might get shot” Will said pointing at Jay as the latter’s mouth hung in an offended manner

“Damn” Gia muttered eyes wide passing more candy to Tommy who gasped

“You’re right I might get shot. Bullets chase me. You can’t even keep a girlfriend” Jay countered back teasingly shrugging his shoulders  

“Uh. Low blow” Tommy said hand over his mouth, as Gia chuckled

“Real mature Jay” Will said throwing a cheering prop to his brother, being met with Jay’s mocking laugh.

“I am. Just got a lot wiser” Jay said in between laughs as he beckoned the kids to take pictures

Looking between the people that surrounded you in this kitchen you felt happiness. Jay’s smile as he took pictures with the kids and his brother would be ones of many. This memories lasting forever, saved in little polaroid’s on Gia’s memory box.

[whispering-radiance]

I was preparing a question about the characters of Eiko and Nomi, but now I have a new one. Perhaps the concept of a male heir can be traced here, or Eiko expressed a desire to engage in exorcism from early childhood. But still, why do the characters of children have such serious differences? After all, they grew up in the same atmosphere (and, perhaps, only with their father and his friend). Besides, the mentality of the time couldn't allow Nomi to not be able to stand up for himself... could it? Okay, they basically grew up without a mother, which has left Eiko devoid of some sense of values, and on top of that, their father is almost always busy. That is, Eiko can be a courageous, independent, immodest and brave girl. But why isn't Nomi like that?

You may not be looking at the mentality that allows you freedom of action (I have my doubts about school, but that doesn't matter). Still, Eiko and Nomi spend a lot of time together, and they also have a cool father (it doesn’t matter whether others know about it or not - it doesn’t stop them from being proud of their father).

And something else. Does Nomi have a complex about his sister standing up for him? Or does he simply not yet know such dark feelings as envy (and, of course, loves Eiko)?

All this is important. I think this is the reason why Nomi disobeyed his father and put on the mask.

Oh this will be a long one, but RAAAAH I will answer. Now, I should probably add that not every little doodle should be analyzed under a careful eye, sometimes I just feel silly and make things because I want to.

| A golden star for parenting |

(I’m not quite sure when exactly Eiko and Nomi were born; but it might be close to defeating the sorcerer; rather than after)

Now that wasn’t fully thought out till last weekend — Amber was a part of the family for quite a bit. I never fully stated this, I just wrote “they’ve managed to start a family before she disappeared” — But oh, even though she was, she wasn’t ideal. If you’re familiar with how Slavic moms sometimes are, then you’ll have a good image of Amber’s character.

She probably left when Nomi and Eiko were old enough to remember her, but they were pretty much still young kids.

What I can say is that she ventured to stop an ancient evil from escaping the Shadow Realm, if it had managed to get out, it would have been game over for all — but obviously I can’t go on with details because I’m still polishing the story.

| Eiko and Nomi - Kids |

I’m not sure where should I start with— Hmm well, maybe I’ll start with Nomi, because I didn’t have a chance to fully explain his character.

Nomi is dangerously smart, he’s an observer and analyzer, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak or not able to stand up for himself. He knows how he should act in certain situations, and that violence is a double edged sword. Like if he stood up to bullies at school, that would just attract unwanted attention or it would have resulted in some kind of parental intervention; and he preferred not to have all eyes on him.

While Nomi sticks with his motto of “Think before you act”, Eiko acts before thinking — At least she when she was w child.

At that time, Eiko was a mess. She tried her best to fill the void their mother had left, but this turned out to be too much of a challenge for her.

She was impulsive and often ended up causing problems for herself.

They both depended heavily on each other — providing emotional support, encouragement, and trying to keep the other from getting into too much trouble. I don’t think they ever felt envy towards each other

| Are they different for each other? |

I don’t think so — What is different about them is the way of dealing with emotions and different situations. Nomi usually bottles up his feelings, prefers to stay quiet and tries to resolve everything by himself. Eiko on the other hand takes it out on the world, usually with anger.

| Exorcism |

Hmmmm— you gotta believe me on this one, but I will write a post that goes in depth on this whole concept — But the whole business with evil and good spirits was kind of an escapism for Eiko; and also a new possible path she could take in the future

| Nomi, his disobedience |

Now this event happened later in his life, we’re talking full adult, developed brain, probably near his 30s — At that time he was already a respected master.

Whatever went through his brain was a mix of an impulsive decision and childhood dreams of wanting to be a Ninja — After all, he worked incredibly hard to archive and learn the ninja knowledge — His father’s order felt like an insult. And so he wanted to prove that the right successor was there all along.

(And like I’ve mentioned in one answer— First Ninja wasn’t fully aware of the curse, but he knew something was fishy about the way the masked acted sometimes— So trusting his gut feelings he wanted it out of his clan — for safety reasons)

[wit4writ]

PJO Episode 2 Detailed Review (Part 2/2)

Part 2 of my Episode 2 Review. Part 1 can be read here.

Three seconds of darkness, and we’re in another creepy nightmare, which quickly cuts to Percy in the cabin with Luke being the best exposition robot he can be, between talking about nightmares, explaining who his dad is, and GLORY.

We also meet Clarisse, who is amazing. She’s confident and terrifying, knocking over Percy like he’s nothing. This is great characterization in a few seconds, establishing her strength, her attitude, and her messing with Percy.

Then we’re back to exposition robots, as Luke’s friend (Chris?) tells Percy that Luke’s the best swordsman in camp. It would’ve been more effective if we had a demonstration of that. For that reason, I would’ve had the scene with Clarisse happen later at the training grounds. Percy’s rationale of getting his dad to notice him was sadly realistic, but it would’ve tied in with Luke’s whole GLORY bit without Clarisse being there, which is another reason I’d move Clarisse’s introduction.

I enjoyed the archery scene, but I would’ve cut the beginning with Luke talking. The blacksmithing scene was also good, but I would’ve added both scenes to a longer montage of Percy trying various activities and failing at them: losing footraces, accidentally pulling out strawberry plants instead of weeds, losing chess games (possibly with Annabeth, but any Athena kid would do), and getting trounced by Luke in a duel (with the Ares kids watching and Clarisse being introduced here).

I’d also want to show Percy excelling at canoeing but I’m not sure where I’d put it. (Maybe right before Luke and Percy duelling.) That way in the next scene where Percy’s having lunch, they can encourage him, “At least you didn’t suck at canoeing too,” or something along those lines.

The burnt offerings thing was more conversational, so it felt like a more natural way of sharing info compared to earlier.

The scene of Percy burning candy in the woods to talk to his mom was so sweet and gave us insight to his inner thoughts. However, I think it would’ve made more sense if Percy said, “I think I’m making friends here,” because at this point, he’s known Luke and Chris for a day and a half, so to assert they’re friends already seems fast.

Three seconds of darkness which we didn’t need later, Percy is being accosted by Clarisse. His line and the transition to the bathroom were good. The scene itself was slightly strange. We don’t know why Clarisse is so annoyed by Percy killing the Minotaur and why she’s so fixated on him admitting he’s lying. In the book, her motivation is “initiation”—she’s a bully and he’s fresh meat. We aren’t giving enough info on Clarisse here to understand where she’s coming from. I also didn’t like the scene happened at night with no one around, which I’ll touch on once we get to capture the flag.

The scene where he soaks Clarisse and the others is great, but it would’ve been more impactful if it was just a little longer, maybe with them trading insults.

Annabeth’s official introduction is next. The conversation with Percy asking if she’s stalking him and her admitting to watching him would’ve made more sense if Annabeth was sneakily in the background of previous scenes, or they cut to a shot of her observing him, him noticing, then the scene moving on. Her being in the infirmary that night makes her creepy, but not a stalker, as stalking is most often used to refer to a repeated pattern of behaviour.

Three second darkness transition (sigh) and Luke the exposition robot is introducing capture the flag and Annabeth as the head counselor of the Athena cabin. Sorry, but no. In a cabin full of high intellect, even if Annabeth is the best and most experienced among them, she is still twelve. Kids tend to create their own hierarchy based on age. I don’t see prideful, eighteen-year-old Athena kids being able to let her be in charge, no matter how good she is. Also, they should emphasize that Hermes and Athena cabins are allies, not a team, because “team” implies they’re always working together, which they very well may be, but that brings up questions of why.

Luke explaining the backstory was, again, exposition we could either cut or reframe. Also, we are told they have a relationship while having no evidence of that, which makes it seem less authentic. If we threaded small interactions of them throughout this, it would characterize them and their relationship.

We also get the “forbidden kid” exposition, which, again, would’ve benefited from being more concise. We could have also dropped hints about Thalia earlier on (referring to Thalia’s pine, etc.), so it didn’t come out of left field.

While it makes sense that Percy asks Luke about Annabeth’s motivations, it takes away agency from Annabeth, and makes her a passive part of her own story. It would’ve been interesting if Luke had stepped back, assuring him that Annabeth had her reasons, and allow her to tell him herself later.

The capture the flag beginning was amazing. It was good to see Luke and Percy talk and skip some of Chiron’s instructions, because we didn’t need to hear it. Annabeth and Luke interacting was great, so why didn’t we have more of it?  

Annabeth leading Percy to the lookout point felt like an actual character interaction, even with Percy rambling on how much he needs to impress his dad and Annabeth showing off her invisibility cap. A bit rough, but I’ll take it.

Three seconds of darkness (I DON’T LIKE THIS TRANSITION, IT FEELS SO CHOPPY) that we didn’t need later, Luke and his team have an incredible fight scene (it would’ve been great if his skills were shown at earlier, like I previously outlined) and after he says Percy will be ready, we get a great cut to Percy goofing off. This made me laugh, because this felt very in character, especially for a kid with ADHD. He’s alone and away from the action, he would get distracted.

Then Clarisse arrives, and her spear looks fantastic (Props to the prop master). This fight scene was good, but again, Clarisse’s motivation isn’t. In the book, she’s getting revenge here after being publicly humiliated during the bathroom incident, because everyone saw it happen and made fun of her for it. Here, it happens in the middle of the night, with no one around except Annabeth. Her revenge line makes much more sense if she got humiliated and wants payback, and is a stronger motivation then him admitting he’s a fake because she’s…jealous? Again, we’re not given enough insight to her motivation.

Percy also getting better at fighting once they were near the lake was hard to explain. In the book, it’s because he got in the water, which is hinted at earlier on. Now, he just so happens to be near the water and got better, so the reasoning behind his sudden athleticism becomes more confusing.

I’d also have Clarisse give him a parting line before just letting him go. Something like, “You get lucky this time.”   

Annabeth interacting with Percy after this would’ve been served by more dialogue to give her more characterization, like so:

// Percy: “You were here the whole time, and you didn’t help me?”

Annabeth: “I was going to, but honestly? You didn’t need it.”

She helps Percy up.

Percy: “Didn’t need it? I almost got sliced up!”

Annabeth: “But you didn’t.”

Percy: “No thanks to you.”

Annabeth stares at him, not saying anything.

Annabeth: “I’m sorry.”

Percy: “Really?”

Annabeth: “For this.”

She pushes him in the water. //

Percy getting claimed by Poseidon was the perfect, climatic moment for the episode to end on. The quest giving should have been pushed to the next episode, that way the episode literally starts with the fact that the quest is also starting. The quest giving bit also gave us more exposition robots in Chiron and Mr. D, where they talked at him instead of with him.

Percy initially refusing the quest made sense in character, but I didn’t understand why Chiron and Mr. D didn’t reveal the truth about his mom then. It seems strangely shortsighted of them to not realize this was the perfect motivation to get Percy to go on the quest. Also, I would’ve had a shot of Grover eavesdropping on Percy’s briefing beforehand to explain his sudden appearance.

Then, the fact his mom was alive, while being a great bombshell drop, took away from the moment of him getting claimed, which is another reason I’d push this to the next episode. Finally, if we’d only hinted at his mom being alive previously (as I outlined), the moment Percy finding out would have hit much harder.

We sacrificed more characters for the sake of info drops, this time Luke suffering the worse. As exposition robots, they felt one-dimensional, and the whole episode felt bloated and messy. There were good moments, but they were few and far between, and not enough to redeem the episode.

I don’t mind Annabeth figured out Percy’s parentage, but it would’ve been good to build to that, characterizing her through actions: have her observing his failures, etc., while also showing her relationship with Luke. Instead, she popped up at the beginning and the end, which was a weird choice since she’s one of the main characters.

No one explained all the heroes have ADHD and dyslexia. Is that not a thing in this world? It was a large part of the books, so I found it odd they skipped over that.

Overall, I liked episode two a lot less than episode one.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Should I keep writing these? Is one long post better or split into two?

[flieslikeamoron]

Haven AU!!!

So Haven AU is the Steve Can’t Feel Anything But Eddie fic. I posted the beginning part of it here. It’s not really a Haven AU because that show was one of those mystery box shows where the box is so pretty and intriguing, and then when they finally open it you find out there’s a turd inside. But the idea of a person who can’t feel anything except this one other person’s touch is from Haven. And the idea of powers that are like afflictions. Haven had a monster of the week format, but the “monsters” were just people who for the most part couldn’t control their powers and were accidentally hurting themselves or their loved ones or the town. I liked that the show was a “we try to help these people if we can” show instead of a “we kill monsters” show. Anyway the fic is only slightly related to the show but the germ came from there.

I mostly have notes not writing on this one because the original idea was honestly just vibes. Like it was just Steve Can Only Feel Eddie's Touch - Eddie Doesn't Want to Touch Anyone Because He's a Touch Telepath. So it took a while to figure out what the actual arc could be after that first accidental touch. Like why does Eddie keep touching him? Where does it go from there? I think I have the shape of it now, but of course I never know for sure if it works until I start writing it. So I do have to get on that. I’m still not even sure if I’m going to do both POVs or just Steve's, but I’ve been writing some of Eddie’s just so I know what’s going on with him. And I’ll use the stuff or not depending on whether it's needed.

These aren't exactly snippets from an actual draft, but here are a couple bits of Eddie's POV. It’s two different versions of what it could be that I wrote when I was trying to work things out.

This one was more of a he hates his power from the jump type of thing.

Eddie doesn’t realize at first what’s happening. It feels like- Feeling. Like little bursts of feeling, and maybe sometimes they don’t seem to quite- Fit. Inside him. But hell, it’s not like his mind is normally a super organized place. It’s not like his feelings have ever been- There’s always been a lot of noise is the point. Inside his head. He’s always felt a lot of shit. So of course he didn’t really notice a few… Extras.

It gets worse, but that takes a while to notice too. More than just a feeling, it’s thoughts sometimes. Fully formed. Not fitting right. It’s a place. A moment. Like a memory of something that never happened to him. Is it that weird though? The part where it doesn’t fit is weird, but his head’s always been full of worlds and characters, anywhere but here stories. That’s partly why he loves D&D so much. A way to let those things overflow. So this is, it’s not that different. It doesn’t seem... Crazy. 

And then it starts to feel like maybe it is. Maybe he is. Crazy. Fully off the tracks. Head full of jagged pieces that aren’t him. They can’t be him. Things he wouldn’t think. Things he couldn’t know. Things that aren’t real, probably anyway. Delusions. Voices inside his head. Lock you up type stuff. Because he’s lost it, completely lost it. Just like his mom.

And then this one is I think is more what I’m going with. It’s from a version where he thinks at first he can use his power to get dirt on the popular kids and the bullies. He thinks it’ll be kind of fun to have something over on them, but he quickly realizes he doesn’t actually want to drown in other people’s shit.

He doesn’t want to know sweet, pretty Chrissy Cunningham hears her mom’s voice in her head when she makes herself throw up. He doesn’t want to know Billy Hargrove’s dad hits him. Fuck, what a bottomless pit that guy’s head was. A thick black sludge of barely held back hatred, rage closing over Eddie, dragging him down. But even worse, somehow, was the soft focus light at the bottom of that bottomless pit, the glowing memory of his mom. Maybe a little too much like what Eddie thinks the picture of his own mom might look like if somebody could see into him like that. He doesn’t want to know he and Tommy Hagan have had some similar thoughts about Steve Harrington’s mouth. Mostly what it might feel like, look like wrapped around a dick. That, at least, is proper blackmail material. But he hates the familiarity of the shape of those thoughts. The useless want and the slimy coil of shame and the sickening, pathetic need for attention. Any scrap of attention. He hates seeing any echo of himself in these people. Hates the way all the ugly shit clings inside his own head long after he’s stopped touching someone. Oily streaks of pain and fear and anger. 

No, fuck all of that. He doesn’t want any of it. 

[elliesbelle]

belle what the fuck happened??? are you okay???

long story short (prob won’t be short, knowing me oops):

tw: drug overdose, suicide, hospitalization mentions

work has been one of the biggest stressors in my life lately. i’ve been getting relentlessly harassed and bullied by a coworker (and my boss has done very little in regards to it), and something happened the other day with an extremely cruel parent of one of my kids, and it triggered something in me.

i was already having a difficult time the night before in regards to my ex (had a late night arguing with him and there were many countless unkind words said about me and the kind of person i am), and i was already in an incredibly bad place, so the work thing just pushed me to the edge. so i left work early, purchased a lot of cold medicine, went home, and took it all on top of sleeping pills and other stuff i can’t remember. said goodbye to my loved ones before i eventually went to sleep.

after that, a lot of it was a blur, so what i’m relaying right now is either from the few times i was lucid or from what other people have recalled to me.

live-in ex had been driving around trying to find me after my friends at work alerted her that i’d left suddenly, but she eventually made her way back to our apartment where she found me cold in our bed, and so she called 911. she tried rousing me but she was unsuccessful. paramedics eventually came and they kept trying to wake me up and eventually brought me to the emergency room.

i’m not sure what they tried to do to me in there, but obviously they tried to flush all the drugs out or whatever. i remember very little during this time, just that they had to cut my clothes off of me and i couldn’t stay awake for long. live-in ex was there the whole time, but they didn’t let her in the room until my mom got there and declared her as family (they wouldn’t let her past the waiting area bc we’re not related, so my mom had them list her as my spouse so she could be with me).

eventually, they placed me in the ICU where i was placed on bed rest (literally was not allowed to get off my bed because there were at least like, five or six wires attached to me) the whole time. a nurse has to be in the same room as me at all times, so they rotate these different nurses in 12 hour shifts, apart from the regular lead nurse who does hourly rounds to check on me. thankfully, they allowed visitors, so live-in ex stayed with me for most of it (so did my mom and my dad briefly, but they’re not as important). when they deemed me “healthy” enough (basically they wanted to make sure i didn’t lose my liver or something), they moved me into a regular hospital room.

been in here for the past day or so now. i can still have visitors, so live-in ex, both my parents, and my baby sister have all visited me. one of my coworkers who i’m close to also surprised me with a visit (which was so sweet, i was trying not to cry). they’re thankfully allowing me to have my phone and all (i’d be going insane if not), but i’ve been mostly sleeping honestly.

i tried asking them to not admit me into the psych ward cause i hate being in the looney bin, but i don’t have much of a choice because of the “severity” of my attempt. tried to opt for outpatient, but gonna be put in inpatient whether i like it or not, so i’ll be spending christmas here in the hospital alone unfortunately. oh well.

oops, yeah, not long story short lmao. anyway, sorry for worrying y’all. i really was not as lucid as i believed i was at the time that i’d made all those cryptic posts. i wanted to spend some time writing while i’m in here, but my emotional state has been so raw recently and the past few days being in here has caused me to be a lot more blocked in regards to that. my writing is tied to my emotions, so i won’t be able to write for y’all until i can process my emotions better again.

i don’t necessarily plan to abandon y’all, but if i’m slightly less active on here than usual, please understand why.

love you all.

[mejomonster]

Jin Mi from Ashes of Love, Xuanji from Love and Redemption, and Tantai Jin could all start a club about how it’s going having no emotion growing up

Jin Mi: was going great, excellent, until her friend went missing. Was still doing great, gender didn’t matter to Jin Mi and neither did ridiculous romance, but the people around her SURE thought it SHOULD matter so. ;-; it’s not going great for our babe.

Xuanji: doing AMAZING. she WAS bullied for the no feelings thing, and also nearly frozen to death, but her dad does love both his daughters AND xuanji’s sister babies her AND she’s got a shixiong looking out for her, AND a very sweet demon boy becomes her friend and is very willing to help her too. So a lot of her bad times (at least before the plot’s rolling) are more to do with her willing to suffer Endlessly for friends. she is bullied but like... when her sister ling long is intent to kill the bullies there’s only so much damage they can do, with ling long there to attack them and try and comfort xuanji after in her abrasive way. Xuanji also has quite a knack for accumulating friends anyway, which also helps. perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal is mr. Abusive Controlling Gaslighting ex-from-another-life Bai Lin creeping around and STILL trying to control her, and the lack of emotions make it just that Bit extra hard to notice the red flags he’s throwing off and recognize the way she’s getting trapped.

Tantai Jin: honestly would’ve maybe done alright (i’m only in ep 4 though lol) if only bitches hadn’t CONSTANTLY wanted to harm him. Dad blamed him for his mom’s death and that’s not fair, so starvation and bullying here they come. The Jin palace likewise were just DICKS because to be mean to Tantai Jin was to do what the king would be happy with, then he got traded as a hostage where YET AGAIN the king would appeased if he’s suffering since he’s a hostage. So everywhere the poor kid went people wanted to beat him for status perks. Then to top it all off, poor kid can’t cry just like xuanji, and that made one of his maid caretakers think of him as a monster instead of just different (which sure didn’t help), that made the people beating him feel they could keep beating him hoping for more of a reaction, and just ;-; He seems like if he’d been given ANY friend or nice sibling, like xuanji, he would’ve probably did fine. But he didn’t have anyone on his side from like the one maid leaving onward to until he got his crow friend so. :c To top things off? Of COURSE he attached to Xiao Lin, the first ORDINARY person treating him NORMAL. And Xiao Lin had the status to make punching Tantai Jin not worth the social benefit of doing so. I would like the acquaintance friendship/admiration/parallels but differences explored more (both princes but one can feel and one cant, one has a mom who’s favored and one is an orphan whos hated, one seems to do only good in society’s eyes while the other can’t do ‘good’ even if he behaves the same). I really like the idea to parallel these two. I love this kind of writing. I’m also thinking... Xuanji could’ve been quite similar to him given the same childhood situation (and vice versa he probably would’ve turned out quite heroic and sweet if he’d had steadfast close emotional connections growing up like xuanji).