#but all everyone ever says is how GREAT he was for graduating so young

[flintsilvers]

i know its a silly little thing but for a piece of literature that is trying to make a point about child soldiers its uhm. Interesting that we dont have a clear understanding of how old (read: young) the characters were

[msschemmenti]

Blabbermouth Junior

Jennifer Jareau x Reader

Prompt: Reader is Henry’s Fifth Grade teacher and at his graduation he puts a little plan into action

JJ smiled softly as she smoothed the tiny gown over her son’s shoulders. She really couldn’t believe her first kid was heading to middle school. It felt like just yesterday a nurse had handed him over in a hospital room. Time flew, and she was honestly just so grateful to experience these moments with him. After ensuring the team wouldn’t have any cases this weekend, she and the team were all piling into the Elementary school gymnasium to watch one of their BAU kids move on to their next step.

“Oh Henry, you look so cute. I can’t believe you’re going to middle school. My baby.” JJ pouted as she smoothed her hands over the boy’s head. 

“Mom,” Henry whined but allowed his mom the freedom to fawn over her son. He looked around at his classmates a bit self-consciously but secretly loved having his mother there with him on such a big day. 

“Alright, friends! Let’s tell our families ‘see you later’ and start lining up.” A cheery voice called over the room, drawing everyone’s attention. JJ followed the sound of the voice and was shocked to see a young woman dressed in yellow at the end of the hallway. Her arms were extended toward the children in the hall and she had the kindest smile JJ had ever seen. All the other children hurried down the hallway toward the gym and as much as Henry wanted to follow, JJ’s hands had yet to leave his face. 

Garcia, who’d come to the back to snap pictures of her godson, studied JJ closely. She watched how the blondes eyes shifted from the woman’s face to her legs and quickly back. She definitely didn’t miss the way she was still holding Henry’s face either. With a knowing smirk she nudged JJ and looked down at Henry with a smile. “Hen, is that your teacher?” 

“Yeah, Ms. Y/Ln is the best.” Henry grinned up at Penelope before looking over his shoulder to the smiling teacher. 

“I bet so. Sweet, you’ve gotta stop staring at the cute teacher so the boy can go line up.” Garcia grinned, practically shoving JJ out of admiration. She scoffed indignantly before smoothing her hands over Henry’s hair one last time and letting him go. 

“I wasn’t staring at the cute teacher. I just can’t believe my baby is growing up.” JJ fumbled for words. Garcia rolled her eyes in disbelief but pinched Henry’s cheek affectionately. 

“Henry? You ready, bud?” Ms.Y/Ln asked as she sidled up to the three blondes left in the hallway. 

“Yes ma’am, if my mom is ready to let me go…” Henry teased causing JJ to roll her eyes and the other two women to laugh. 

“Awe, Henry be nice to your mom. Graduating fifth grade is a big deal. Pretty soon you’ll be off to college.” Ms. Y/Ln spoke pulling the graduation hat from her side on Henry’s head and allowing him to sprint down the hall toward the other students.. 

“Oh don’t remind me, I’m going to be even worse then.” JJ whined, placing her hand over her heart. 

“Let’s take it one day at a time sweet. I’ll take the emotional mother out to the gym so we can watch our little man walk the stage. So sorry for the hold up, Miss?” Garcia asked sweetly. 

“Oh where are my manners, I’m Ms. Y/Ln, Y/Fn Y/Ln.” The teacher smiled extending her hand briefly toward the tech analyst. 

“Penelope Garcia, the Godmother of all Godmothers. And this is Jennifer Jareau, Henry’s super mom.” 

“It’s great to meet you both. I’ve heard quite a bit about you Mrs. Jareau, Henry’s very fond of you.” Y/n smiled, sending JJ a wink. 

“Miss,” JJ corrected unconsciously. “And I can say the same about you. He’s been raving about you all year long, it’s really nice to finally put a face to a name.” 

Y/n smiled sweetly in thanks before looking to her watch for the time, “That warms my heart. We’re gonna get started in about a minute and I don’t want y’all to miss anything. I’ll remind Henry to smile real big when he walks.” 

“That would be great, come on Jayje I need to make sure Morgan got us good seats. Nice chatting with ya Teach!” Garcia called over her shoulder pulling JJ down the hall and toward the gym. JJ sent the teacher an apologetic smile before allowing Garcia to lead her to the ceremony. Both women squeezed through the other parents and family members to sit in their seats between the team. 

“There you guys are, what took so long?” Emily asked leaning over to look at the two women. 

“JJ was ogling Henry’s teacher.” Garcia answered. All heads turned to face the mother in a combination of shock and intrigue. 

“I was not ogling.” JJ protested. 

“Oh she so was. Just wait until you see her, you’ll all understand.” Garcia grinned as everyone chuckled at JJ’s expense. 

-

“Congratulations Henry!” Y/n smiled down at the boy as he rushed into the classroom. 

“Thank you Ms. Y/Ln.” Henry grinned up at the teacher. He’d always been pretty fond of his teacher. She really made the transition to fifth grade so easy for him and he was surely gonna miss her. 

“Are you excited to be going to middle school?” Y/n asked as she watched and waved at parents and children exiting the room.

“Yeah, I guess.” Henry answered. 

“You don’t sound too sure bud. What’s up?” Y/n asked squatting next to the the desk the boy was sitting on. 

“I’m just gonna miss having you as my teacher.” Henry confessed. 

“Well I get that kid, they probably won’t be as cool as me. But if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think I’ll have any students as cool as you either.” Y/n teased ruffling his blonde hair maternally. Henry grinned at the praise and kicked his feet from the desk. 

“There’s our graduate!” Morgan called entering into the classroom. The remaining children and parents turned to watch as the team of Profilers filed in with gifts. They all scooped up the young boy with congratulations flying around. Y/n slowly floated over to her desk to give the group some privacy. 

As the team fawned over Henry, JJ found herself searching for Ms. Y/Ln unconsciously. As subtle as she thought she was being, she knew she was caught when Emily siddled up next to her sporting a knowing smirk. “She is pretty cute. I see why you were ogling.” 

“Oh God, not you too.” JJ groaned turning away from the teacher. 

“I’m just saying, she’s no longer Henry’s teacher and from what I’ve heard– Henry is pretty fond of her as well. Wouldn’t hurt to at least talk to her.” Emily encouraged. 

Before JJ could even respond, Henry was at her feet with a smile on his face. “Mom can I give Ms. Y/Ln the gift I got her before we leave?” 

“Of course honey,” JJ smiled fishing the card and candy out of her purse and handing it to Henry. 

“I’ll be quick.” He promised and then made a beeline for the teacher’s desk. “Ms. Y/Ln, I got you this gift and just wanted to give it to you before I left.”

Y/n’s eyes widened in glee as she took the card and candy from one of her favorite students, “Oh Henry, that’s so sweet. Thank you so much and you remembered my favorite candy.”  

“Yeah my mom let me buy it.” Henry answered. By now JJ had turned her attention to the two and was making her way over to them slowly. 

“Well that’s very sweet of her.” Y/n said catching JJ’s movement in her peripheral. 

“She also thinks you’re cute.” Henry threw in causing both Y/n’s and JJ’s eyes to widen comically. JJ was so shocked she even stopped walking briefly. 

Y/n blushed and giggled, “Oh?” 

JJ jumped into action and placed her hands on Henry’s shoulders before he could continue speaking. JJ and Y/n’s eyes locked and the embarrassment was burning behind both of their eyes. “Henry…” JJ sighed with a grimace. She went to deny and save face but she could hear Emily’s voice in the back of her head. It was already out, what was the harm in at least talking to her? “Well, I’d hoped I could tell you myself but Henry seems to have beat me to it.”

“Someone had to say it.” Garcia piped in from the group now listening. 

“Shut up Garcia.” JJ grumbled. “Henry go hang with the team.” 

“Of course mom.” Henry grinned going over to stand with Penelope, who highfived him in triumph. 

“Well Ms. Jareau, I’m extremely flattered. Even if Henry told me first.” Y/n smiled and leaned her head on her fist. 

JJ blushed a bit and ducked her head, “God I love that kid.” 

“He is rather special. Oh and if it wasn’t clear, I find you pretty cute as well.” JJ’s head popped up in shock and the blush returned with a vengeance. Y/n grabbed a sticky note from her desk and scribbled her number down. “Summers here and from what I’ve heard you’re pretty busy. How bout you give me a call when your free? I’d love to get to know you a bit better.” 

The group of profilers very childishly whistles and ‘oooo’ at the interaction and JJ could only roll her eyes before accepting the number with a promise to use it. They all said their goodbyes and just as they were about to exit the school JJ pulled her son into her side. 

“You don’t mind any of that with Ms. Y/Ln right? Cause if you do I won’t–” Before she could finish Henry wrapped her arm around her waist. 

“Oh I’m excited. I thought of the plan before the graduation started but I didn’t know if it’d work.” Henry grinned. 

“God I love you kid.” JJ sighed  and pulled him toward the car. Middle School is not ready for her boy.

[apomaro-mellow]

Sunshower

Read on AO3

Written for @slavicviking for the @steddieholidayexchange !

When Steve Harrington had graduated, Eddie thought he’d be pretty much done with him. Not that they had a lot of face time before. He just thought, in the true fashion of guys that peak in high school, he’d fade into the town, get married young, show his face at the 20 year reunion. Maybe he’d catch glimpses of him around Hawkins, but not for very long. Eddie was planning on hightailing it out of here the moment the diploma was in his hands. So what if it would take another year?

The positive was supposed to be that he was NOT going to see Steve’s face in the hallways. It was a great misfortune to see him walking up from the football field with some kid. Eddie had just finished a deal by the picnic tables. Why Harrington was hanging with what looked like a freshie, he didn’t know.

Eddie would’ve known if he had a brother. So who was the kid? Curiosity got the better of him and he trailed a good distance behind them. He was a little surprised when Steve took him through the cafeteria’s kitchen doors, which had a broken lock. It was the school’s worst kept secret, but he never imagined The Hair sneaking into school during summer vacation. 

So what could he do but follow? 

What he saw as he crept behind them was Steve Harrington giving what must be a future freshman a tour of the school.

“Here’s the cafeteria. Honestly the food’s not bad. Their creamed spinach isn’t the best, but really who’s is?”

Steve led the kid with the curly hair out of the cafeteria and into the greater part of the school. “Here’s all the lockers. No you don’t get to choose one, but once you get assigned you can always switch with someone who’s got better real estate.”

“Does the location of my locker really matter?”, the kid asked, nose scrunching up.

“Do you want one right next to the bathroom?”

“....Boy or girls?”

Steve smiled. “Good. You’re learning.”

Eddie shadowed them for the whole tour, which ended up being about twenty minutes. Harrington was really showing this kid everything. And yet was giving him the most skewed tunnel vision of high school. Great, just what he needed his third time around as a senior. A mini-Steve. Steve was telling him which teachers would let him get away with coming in late, the best spot to sit in the classroom, what teams it was worth going for.

“Steve, it’s like you don’t even know me. Have you ever seen me dribble a ball?”

“I’m just saying that it’s a fresh start. You could be someone new”, Steve reasoned.

“Did you become someone new in high school?”

Eddie thought back to the proto-Harrington he knew in middle school. The answer was clearly no. He’d been on the baseball team back then and was pretty much just as self absorbed as he would’ve been in high school. Steve gave a non-answer about how everyone had different experiences and pushed the kid on. Eddie decided he’d heard enough. Enough to know this kid was under Steve’s wing, but clearly they had different interests.

So come the first day of school, Eddie wore his Hellfire Club shirt loud and proud. The air was still warm, which meant he did so without his jacket. That just allowed the emblem to show even more. He’d told the other members to also wear theirs. Normally Eddie waited about a week, scoping out the freshies before figuring out who he’d approach to join. But he’d already had his sights set on at least one boy.

Imagine his delight and surprise when said boy had two others hanging around. Eddie was hanging outside the school, his cronies surrounding him as they caught up from what happened over summer. The trio was loud. Very obnoxiously arguing over something. Freshmen tended to be more self-conscious, wanting to keep their heads down at first. Eddie noted the Weird Al shirt one of them had. These boys were the opposite of timid. Perfect Hellfire material.

Eddie waited until lunch to make his move though. Give them a bit of time to get acclimated and at least half a day to see where everyone stood. But when Eddie did get to them, he was glad to see both excitement and relief in their eyes. They were looking for somewhere to belong. And he could give it to them.

Screw any influence Steve Harrington had on them. Which was why Eddie made careful measures not to even mention his name. The guy had graduated. His reign was over. Actually, it had kind of ended back in 84 but who was keeping record? Dustin, Mike, and Lucas were great additions to the club. They had a passion for the game and a never-back-down attitude. Honestly, it was so great, that Eddie almost forgot that these kids knew Steve.

That is until sports tryouts started.

“You can’t honestly be thinking out trying for a team”, Mike said, practically slamming his lunch tray onto the table as he sat down.

“I’m not just thinking. I’m already training”, Lucas replied.

“Ugh”, Mike retched. “Don’t get me started on that. You spend more time with your dad than us now.”

“His dad’s not the one teaching him”, Dustin said. “Steve keeps bailing on driving me places because he’s coaching Lucas.”

Mike had a look of utter betrayal and was definitely about to say something in response when Jeff cut him off.

“You’ve got Steve teaching you? As in Steve Harrington?”

“Yeah”, Lucas answered, much to the jeers of the rest of the table.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen”, Eddie said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. “We must not bar Lucas from his own choices. And as for Steve, well, let’s just be glad young Sinclair didn’t go to him for academic assistance.”

The others laughed at that and the subject was quickly changed to something else. The rest of them didn’t really want to talk about any of the sports teams, lest that get Eddie really going and off on one of his rants. Sometimes it was nice to have just a stress free lunch.

“He said that?!”, Steve shouted indignantly as he dribbled the ball around on the court. He and Lucas were at a public court. Lucas was getting some practice in with his dad, but whenever he was busy, Steve stepped in.

“He’s not your biggest fan”, Lucas said with a shrug.

“Yeah, well he’s no prize either. Don’t let him get in your head. There’s nothing wrong with the sports programs.”

“But they’re right about there being cliques. If I get on the team, can I even be friends with Dustin and Mike anymore if they’re gonna be in Hellfire?”

“You should go for whatever you want. High school only happens once.” Steve dribbled the ball a few times before giving a bounce pass over to Lucas. “Alright, show me your handling.”

Lucas followed Steve’s advice. He officially joined up with Eddie’s club. He loved DnD and he enjoyed playing with his friends. But walking around with a Hellfire shirt didn’t do good things for their reputations at school. The others took it in stride, but Lucas was tired of being called names and girls looking at him weird.

So as soon as the sign-ups for try outs was out, Lucas put his name down. He didn’t really announce it but he didn’t hide it either the first time the guys wanted to do something and he was busy. The reception was not so good.

“You actually wanna be on the basketball team?”, Mike was incredulous.

Eddie was leaning against the lockers, arms crossed. “I get the feeling someone put this idea in your head. Was it Harrington?”

“He didn’t put any idea in my head he just..encouraged me”, Lucas confessed. “He said I should go for what I want. You only get one life.”

“One life indeed”, Eddie nodded.

“And you wanna use it shooting hoops with Jason and his cronies?”, Jeff asked.

“They’re probably not all that bad. Steve wasn’t”, Lucas defended.

The opinions were mixed on that. Dustin, Lucas, and Mike knew what Steve had done that they couldn’t tell others. He had stood between them and certain death more than once. But they couldn’t tell Hellfire that.

“You guys don’t know what Harrington was like”, Eddie said.

“Are you saying Steve bullied you?”, Mike asked with a raised brow.

“Bullied? Pfft, no. Harrington and I barely crossed paths. I just know his type. I know what he’s about. And he and I couldn’t be anymore different.”

At first it was just a conflicting of ideals. Whatever Steve told them about high school, Eddie told them the opposite. And there was no telling one what the other said.

“Harrington’s an idiot.”

“Munson’s a loser.”

It made talking to either of them hard. Most of their days involved hanging with Eddie and when they saw Steve it was all they wanted to talk about. Sort of difficult to talk about Eddie without talking about Eddie, but they managed for now. 

Well, at least they did until the party got super deep into Hellfire. The campaigns were really involved, to the point of needing rides home from Steve when they ran too late. It resulted in quite a bit of petty glaring across the parking lot. Mike and Lucas had resigned themselves to the status quo remaining, but Dustin wasn’t satisfied with that.

It took quite a bit of doing, but what else brought people together more than a missing child? Dustin didn’t actually go missing. He simply concocted a plan with his friends to make it seem like he did and only to Eddie and Steve. He wasn’t crazy enough to get the whole town looking for him. Steve wasn’t crazy about Eddie tagging along for the search but the priority was finding Dustin.

“Why do you need that to find Dustin?”, Eddie asked, reaching a hand out to touch the nails in the bat, just to see it they were real.

“Don’t ask”, Steve bit out as they entered the woods.

Dustin thought getting them to work together would ease the tension, and it did. But only after bickering like children for a little while longer. Steve didn’t like how Eddie was undermining everything he’d been saying about high school. Eddie didn’t like how Steve had been trying to lead his sheep in the wrong direction.

“Yeah well before they were your sheep they were my-”

“....They were your…”, Eddie urged him to continue.

“Nevermind.”

“You and Nancy must’ve been pretty tight when you dated to get so close to her brother and his friends.”

“Me and those guys bonded outside of Nancy.”

“Is there a story there?”, Eddie asked.

“Yeah-” Steve froze when he thought he heard a sound before continuing. The sun was still high in the sky, so they didn’t have much to fear just yet. It didn’t hurt to be cautious though. “I just…I guess I just know how high school can be for kids like that. I wanted to make it easy for them.”

Eddie shook his head. “Doesn’t matter what kind of cheat codes you give ‘em. There’s always gonna be someone who makes it harder than it needs to be.”

Steve thought about thanking Eddie for giving them a place right away, but didn’t. Eddie thought of saying how Steve seemed to have changed, but didn’t. When they finally found Dustin, they laid into him hard, especially because he wouldn’t stop smiling despite his lie being revealed. All Dustin cared about was the fact they weren’t arguing with each other.

Mission accomplished.

Mission accomplished a little too well.

Now instead of having two friends who hated each other’s guts, Dustin had two friends who reveled in being shitty older brothers to him. Any time Steve picked them up from Hellfire (which he did with a suspicious amount of willingness now) he and Eddie traded notes on whatever it was that Dustin did that week. It was like a Henderson Briefing and the main objective was to either embarrass him or annoy him, sometimes both.

“I regret ever forging this friendship”, Dustin said.

“I think it’s the best thing you’ve ever done”, Lucas beamed.

Mike was grinning too. “It’s definitely the funniest.”

It got to the point where sometimes Steve and Eddie would hang out on their own. And wasn’t that just bizarre? What did they even do together?? The answer was mostly smoking, drinking, and shootin’ the shit. Even though Steve wasn’t able to tell Eddie any of the grimier details of the past couple of years, he was still able to tell plenty. And Eddie had no NDAs to speak of. 

They were sitting out by Steve’s pool one day in March, the weather just starting to warm up to be able to relax there without freezing. Spring would officially come soon and with it, maybe a day or two where they could actually take a dip.

“I’m telling you, the lunch ladies changed the formula. Something’s different about the meatloaf”, Eddie said, fully reclined in a pool chair.

”You’re implying that they actually cook that stuff in the school.”

“I’ve seen the vats of mystery meat stew, Steve. But some of the food is made on-site. And the meatloaf is one of them.”

Steve smiled up at the clear sky. They talked like this, high or not. Just the most inane things that he never wanted to end. What did he care about the food at a school he no longer attended? He cared when Eddie was the one talking about it.

“So you’re done with the loaf then?”

“I don’t even think it’s the same meat anymore”, Eddie said. “Or maybe they changed the seasoning…?”

Steve continued gazing up at the sky as Eddie mused on that. Suddenly a drop of water hit his head. Then another, then a third. He wiped his face and looked to Eddie, who was also blinking through drops. Wordlessly, they got up from their seats and went under the porch awning as the rain began falling in earnest.

“How is it raining? The sun is still out”, Steve said, reaching a hand out just to be sure it was still rain.

Eddie snorted. “Never seen a sunshower, Harrington?”

“No”, he answered honestly.

“Don’t sweat it. I’ve still gotta knock ball lightning off my strange weather checklist.”

“It’s just weird seeing it rain with no clouds”, Steve said.

Eddie watched the droplets fall in the sunlight. It was like liquid gold falling from the sky. He watched Steve’s face, no hard lines or sarcasm, just awe at seeing something new and wonderful.

“You know, some folks back where I’m from have a name for this.”

“You mean something other than ‘sunshower’?”, Steve tore his eyes from the rain to look at him.

“They say the devil’s kissing his wife”, Eddie stuck his tongue out. “Give you any ideas?”

He had been a hundred percent teasing. Eddie had just been talking. Flapping his gums. Doing his usual friendly flirtation style. He had no plan in place for when Steve actually kissed him. But when it happened, there was only one choice: to kiss him back. The rain provided some pretty romantic ambience in his opinion.

“So are you the devil in question?”, Steve asked when he pulled back.

“Only if that makes you my sweet, lovely little wife”, Eddie teased and then made kissing noises.

“Fuck off, Munson”, Steve laughed.

Feeling like they were on the edge of something, Eddie took the plunge and kissed him again instead of cracking wise. Steve softened so beautifully that Eddie wished he could go to the past and kick himself in the pants. He probably could’ve been doing this months ago.

“You know we absolutely can’t tell Dustin about this?”, Steve said against his lips.

“It’s none of his business anyway.” Eddie didn’t feel the need to mention that no one could know. He just put his hands on Steve’s hips and for once was thankful for the privacy the backyard gave them.

Weeks later, during the spring break from his darkest nightmares and the stroll through actual hell, Eddie would have an epiphany.

“That’s why you have that bat!”

[roosterforme]

The Younger Kind Part 28 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley is leaving soon, and everything is changing for you. As your graduation approaches, he takes some matters into his own hands. He wants to share everything with you, and sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. 

Warnings: Angst, swearing, fluff, smut, and age gap (18+)

Length: 4700 words

Pairing: Single dad!Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x babysitter!female reader

Check out my masterlist for more! The Younger Kind masterlist.

Sunday night ended up being family night, and Bradley was hoping it could become a regular occurrence. The three of you went to see a movie, and Noah sat in the middle. Or at least he started out there. About halfway through, Bradley scooped Noah up onto his lap and slid over one seat, wanting to be closer to you. 

So when the movie wrapped up and you had your fingers laced with his and your head resting on his shoulder, Bradley made it a point to say this should happen all the time. 

You kissed Noah's cheek and then his before you stood. "But you'll be deployed soon, Daddy."

He eyed you up and down as he stood with Noah's arms wrapped around his neck. "Trust me. I know how much I'll be missing out on when I'm gone. The two of you will be eating homemade food and taking nature hikes."

"And coloring," Noah supplied. 

"Can't forget about that," Bradley said, reaching for your hand. "Now let's get you home. One of you has daycare in the morning, and one of you has finals."

"I still wish you could come with me," you whispered, letting your cheek rest on his bicep on the way to the parking lot. "I'm sure I'd do much better if I got to sit on your lap and eat Skittles the whole time."

After Bradley buckled Noah into his carseat, he wrapped his hands around your hips and pulled your body to his. "No reason we can't keep having sexy Skittles time at home," he rasped. "There's something magical about you and me and the living room couch."

You whimpered as your hands came to rest on his chest. When you pressed your glossy lips together, Bradley wanted to take you right up against the Bronco again. But he knew everyone needed to call it an early night, which probably meant no sex. 

So he opened your door for you and helped you inside and then drove home. When you and he were in bed for the night, he kept his hands in innocent enough places as you studied a few more things on your phone. He quizzed you on a few topics, and when you started yawning, he insisted it was time to go to sleep.

"You'll do great, Princess," he whispered, gathering you up in front of his big body and spooning you. "I love you."

"Love you, Daddy," you sighed softly as you fell asleep. Truth be told, he was less worried about your day than he was his, because he knew you'd do great. Meanwhile Bradley was going to have to run across town during lunch to meet with Tracy. He already had a case of Red Bull in the back of the Bronco that you insisted he should take to her. And he had to follow through with everything related to Meredith, which were some loose ends he was anxious to get tied up. 

He usually slept great with your body tucked against his and his hand resting on your belly, but not tonight. Noah was old enough now that the deployments were going to get harder. And Bradley didn't know what he was going to do if you wouldn't move in with him. Or if you found a job outside of San Diego and moved away. You told him you applied to a world-renowned hospital in Arizona. What exactly was he supposed to do with that information? Demand that you stay here in California and continue to love the two of them forever?

His lips came to rest on your neck, and you whimpered in your sleep. This was the first time Bradley had ever felt this way. He supposed he'd loved Meredith. He'd been in love with another of his exes, too. But this was insane. And you were so young, Bradley could feel you holding back when he talked too much about the future. So he knew he was going to have to keep things exactly where they were for a few more months, at least until he got home. 

He must have dozed off eventually, because he woke to you kissing his forehead and whispering, "I'm heading to campus. Good luck with Tracy."

"Wait," he grunted, sitting up and reaching for you. He tugged on your hand until you were sprawled across him in bed giggling softly. Bradley cupped your neck with one hand and stroked your cheek with his thumb. "You'll do great today, Baby. You're incredible."

With a kiss to the tip of his nose, you were running out of his bedroom, and Bradley decided to just get up for the day as well. And when he went into the kitchen, he found a full breakfast spread for him and Noah on the table. Fruit, bagels, jelly and muffins. And a little note for him to read to Noah saying you had to leave too early to say good morning, but that you'd be back in time for dinner. 

"Fuck," Bradley groaned, holding the note in one hand and cradling his face in the other. He needed you here. They both did. It was startling that he could hardly remember what it was like before he met you. 

"Daddy?" Noah called from the hallway, and then Bradley got started on the morning routine. 

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

When Tracy's receptionist opened her office door for him, Bradley strolled in wearing his flight suit and carrying the case of cans of Red Bulls. Tracy looked up from her small conference table and started laughing. 

"You're a client," she informed him. "I shouldn't accept gifts from clients."

He shook his head. "Not from me. From my girlfriend."

"Ah," she said, reaching out to take it from him. "Then I accept. Have a seat."

Then Bradley was presented with a huge folder of things to read and sign. Tracy went through all of it with him and answered what seemed like a hundred questions, and after an hour, he'd worked his way to the end. "So what does that all mean exactly?"

She ran a purple highlighter over his name on the last sheet and said, "Means you are Noah's sole legal guardian. The only one who has rights to anything related to custody. As soon as you pay me and I file the paperwork, that is."

Bradley was reaching for his checkbook right away, but Tracy held up a hand. "Not yet. You asked me to look into appointing a temporary guardian for Noah? And what it would take to get a protective order?"

"Three protective orders," Bradley clarified. "All against Meredith."

Tracy sighed and leaned back in her seat. "You want to appoint your girlfriend as a temporary guardian? While you're deployed?"

"Yes."

"No problem. We can fill that paperwork out right now."

Bradley's heart soared in his chest. But only until Tracy said, "However... getting protective orders against Meredith for all three of you is going to be a little bit tricky."

"How?" Bradley demanded. "She attacked my family when they were at a playground! I can't be around to watch them all the time."

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about you. If you know you're leaving for deployment, you'll have to disclose that information to the clerk. And if you try to lie about it, then I won't be able to represent you any further."

"What does my deployment have to do with the fact that I know my girlfriend still thinks about slamming into the parking lot at Myers Park? I was picking asphalt out of her arm."

She shrugged like she knew he was right. "Exactly. But the only times you saw Meredith were when you invited her into your house and when she accidentally ran into you at the coffee shop."

"I doubt that was an accident," Bradley ground out through gritted teeth.

"Be that as it may," Tracy said, walking across the room for two water bottles, "when you combine that with the fact that you'll be out of the country, you may be denied."

Bradley sat quietly for a moment and sipped the water bottle he was given. "Well, can I file for the three of us anyway?"

"Sure. The filing fees will total around $1,300. And you can sign for Noah. She will have to sign and submit hers on her own behalf."

"Give me the papers," he said, and she stood to print them out. "And if you have the time, I'd like to ask you what exactly would be involved if I ever get married and decide I want someone to adopt Noah."

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

Bradley and Noah were already home when you got there, and you went running inside with your tote bag smacking your hip. "Bradley?" you shouted, sprinting into the kitchen and right into his arms. "I aced my anatomy exam," you whispered against his lips as you threw your arms around his neck.

He slipped his hands around your waist and held you as he kissed you. "I knew it," he said with a smile as you kissed him a little harder. Your fingers were in his hair and you were tasting his mouth with your body pressed again his hard chest and abs. And then you heard Noah scoot his chair across the floor, and he came over to investigate. 

With a soft grunt, Bradley let go of you. Then you knelt down and kissed the top of Noah's head. But when you looked back up at Bradley, his eyes were needy as he planted his hands on his hips. 

"I didn't even get to the best news yet," you told him as Noah hugged you. "I have two job interviews tomorrow. One in the morning and one in the afternoon."

Bradley pulled you to your feet, and Noah was sandwiched between you. "Where are the jobs?" he asked, his voice a little rough.

You licked your lips and smiled at him, but he looked apprehensive. "One is in a hospital and the other is private practice. I'm excited about both of them."

"Are they here?" he asked, his left hand gripping your waist a little tight. "In San Diego?"

"Yes," you replied. You turned down interviews with a few out of state jobs already. It was a no brainer at this point; you wouldn't be this happy anywhere else. "I want to stay in San Diego." 

After that, Bradley didn't leave your side for the rest of the night. He helped you make dinner, he helped you get Noah ready for bed, and then he helped you get organized for both of your interviews. And he kept kissing you as often as he could. "You're clingy tonight, Daddy," you said as he pulled you onto his lap on the couch. "Not that I mind, really."

His hands were up inside your shirt, his big palms flat on your waist. "You scared me with that Arizona bullshit the other day."

You snorted and kissed his cheek. "I applied for that one after I thought you and Helen were hooking up."

"Shhh." He shushed you and then kissed your lips. "Don't say that. You belong right here."

You licked his lips and wiggled yourself against him. "Right here? With your dick poking at me?"

He was trying not to laugh. You could tell. You always got a good laugh out of him, and this time he chuckled before he ground himself up against you. "Yes, Princess. Right here on my dick."

He let you tilt his head back against the couch so you could take control of kissing him. It was sloppy and hot, and he had your shirt and bra off in no time. He used his big hands to slow down the rolling of your hips as he dipped his lips down to tease your breasts. He wasn't rushing anything, just gently sucking and releasing you with soft moans and grunts. But you were going to lose it. Your fingers were tugging on his hair, and you thought you might cum with your jeans on. 

"You're so sensitive," he whispered, nibbling on the underside of your left breast. His tongue flicked over your nipple and you whined his name. "Gorgeous tits."

When you slipped down to the floor between his legs, intending to suck his dick here like that very first night, you only got your lips around his cock for a few seconds before he wrapped his hand around the front of your neck and stopped you. "What are you doing? I want your daddy dick."

"Fuck," Bradley growled. "You're gonna get it." He eased you back onto the floor and stripped your jeans off you and pulled his own pants down to his knees. "I said you belong on my dick. You didn't disagree." 

He kissed the valley between your breasts before rolling to your side. He looked cocky, laying next to the snag in the area rug with his arms folded behind his head. But he had every right to lay there with a smug expression, because his cock was huge, and he knew how to use it. 

"I don't disagree," you whispered, straddling him and slipping him inside where he stretched you until you were gasping and grabbing at his shirt. With the fabric balled up in both fists, you leaned down to kiss him and whisper, "You're huge, Daddy."

"Mmm," he hummed, kissing you back but making no move to touch you. "Show me what you got, Baby."

You were clenching just from his words alone, and when you started riding him, you teased your own clit with your middle finger. He had you doing all the work to get yourself off. Not that it was difficult with his cock inside you and his handsome face to look at. When you squeezed your breasts, it looked like he was going to reach for you, but instead he just let himself relax and watch. It shouldn't have surprised you that you got off twice on him like this, moaning and jerking your body along. You were sweating and shaking after the second time you came, and Bradley eventually reached up and stroked his fingers along your neck again. 

"Did you get enough?" he asked, and you nodded vigorously. "You ready for me to cum in that pussy?" 

"God, yes," you moaned, and he brought his hands to your hips and guided you in a smooth rolling motion that would have been enough for you to finish again if you weren't so wrung out. 

"I'll cum for you," he grunted. "Every fucking time." And then he was gritting his teeth, the veins in his neck and forehead so prominent against his skin. And he came with your raspy name on his lips. 

You snuggled against his chest, thoroughly exhausted but honestly having the best day. He rubbed your back gently and kissed the top of your head. "God, you're such a good girl," he whispered, and you let out the most embarrassing sound in response that just made him chuckle. 

"I'm ready for bed," you informed him a minute later as you let his soft cock slip out of you. 

When you met his eyes, he kissed you softly and said, "Can you do one thing for me first? In the kitchen?" 

So you pulled your underwear and shirt back on and shuffled into the kitchen with his hand on your hip. He nodded at the table, and you sank down, exhausted, into one of the chairs. 

"Would you mind filling this out?" he asked, handing you a pen and some paperwork. But you froze when you really looked at it.

"You want me to fill out a petition for an order of protection?" you asked, looking up at him. "Against Meredith? Did Tracy say this was a good idea?"

He kissed you so well, you decided to stop questioning everything. And when he said, "Yes, Princess. Please fill it out," he stood next to your chair as you started writing your name at the top. You filled everything out all the way to the bottom. You wrote a bit about Meredith at Myers Park which gave you chills. When you filled out your social security number, Bradley removed his hand from your back to type something up in his phone. But when you got to the end and saw that it would require over four hundred bucks to process this form, you pushed it aside. 

"You know, I don't think this is actually necessary." You set the pen down on top of it and added, "I think the most important thing is that you and Noah have some sort of protection in place like-"

Bradley silenced you with a lingering kiss that trailed off into a dozen tiny kisses before he pulled his lips away from yours. "It's necessary. I need to know that I did everything I could to keep you and Noah protected, okay? And I'll pay for it."

But you didn't want him to. You should be able to do things like that for yourself. And you would! In a few weeks you'd hopefully have a steady income. Things would be different then. You could buy new clothes, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if your car died. But right now, paying to have this form processed would be a stretch beyond what you could afford. And you were about to tell Bradley no and rip it up, but he was holding his phone screen in front of your face. 

"Pick a design," he said, placing the phone in your hand. "They have one with a princess crown I thought you might enjoy."

"What's this for?" you asked, completely puzzled while looking at the Mastercard website. "I don't need another credit card."

"I added you to my account," he said confidently. "Just pick a design so I can order your card and have it arrive before I deploy."

"What?" you gasped, handing the phone right back to him and standing up. "No, you don't have to do that. Don't add me."

"I already did, Baby. I just read your social security number off the form you filled out. Choosing a card design is the last step, and the page is going to time out in a minute. You want the one with the princess crown?"

"You shouldn't be paying for things for me," you protested. "I'll use my own credit card while you're away. I'll have a job!"

"No," he said, shaking his head and holding up his phone. "When I'm gone, you'll be one hundred percent responsible for Noah. I'm adding you as a temporary guardian for him. I'm paying for an order of protection for you. I'm paying for everything. You have thirty four seconds left to pick a card design, by the way."

You glanced at the screen and looked at the timer before meeting his eyes again. "I can use my own card, and you can pay me back later."

"Absolutely not. You're making my life easier. Just knowing that Noah is with you of all people serves a dual purpose. I know he'll be taken care of, and I know you won't be too lonely. Twelve seconds."

"But, Bradley-"

"Pick a card, or I'll leave Noah with Penny."

You glared at him and reached out to tap the purple credit card design with the gold crown on it. 

"Now was that really so hard?" he asked with a satisfied smile. 

"You're obnoxious." But you kissed his cheek, and then he followed you to the bathroom for a shower, reminding you that he put five hundred dollars cash behind the TV.

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

Your graduation was coming up on Friday night, and you'd been so busy all week, Bradley had barely seen you. You told him both of your interviews had gone well when you got home on Tuesday, but you hadn't shared much more beyond that. He got the sense that you were hoping for one or two job offers, but you didn't want to jinx anything. So he just asked you a few open ended questions as you snuggled on the couch with him. 

Then you told him he and Noah would have to eat leftovers for dinner on Wednesday, because you were going out with some people you knew from school. 

"Will Greyson be there?" he asked immediately, wrapping his hands around your waist. "Or those other fraternity idiots who deserve to feel my fists connect with their faces?"

You placed open mouthed kisses along his scarred neck in response before promising it was only a few girls going out together. "Just some ladies who will drool on themselves if I mention how sexy you are. But I appreciate your enthusiasm, Daddy."

"You want me to drop you off and pick you up? Just in case? And that way you can drink as much as you want?" He knew he sounded clingy. He felt fucking clingy. It must be the result of his upcoming deployment weighing so heavily on his mind, but he didn't really care. He wanted you with him all the damn time, and he wanted you to know it.

You responded by raking your fingers through his hair and sucking on his neck. "You're such a Daddy," you whined, dragging your lips along his skin and kissing his stubbled jaw. "You always want to take care of me, but I always want to take care of you."

And a minute later, you were sucking his dick like only you could. Soft, innocent eyes that just made him harder, and long lashes that brushed your cheeks when you gagged on him. After he came for you, he watched you swallow him down and then lay with your cheek on his bare thigh with your fingers softly brushing along his trimmed hair up to his abs. 

"You take care of me," he whispered after a few silent beats, earning him a smirk as your lips grazed his soft cock. "And not just like that. You make my house feel warm. You adore my kid." As he ran his knuckles softly along your cheek, he watched your eyes flutter closed. "I've never loved someone like this before."

"You haven't?" you asked softly as your warm breath teased his thigh. 

"No," he promised. "Nothing even close to this, Princess." 

So when Wednesday night came, and you went out, Bradley put Noah to bed after he whined about how he missed you. Then he settled on the couch alone and put a movie on. When the movie ended, and you still weren't back, he thought about texting you. Had he misunderstood about you going back to your forgotten rental for the night or something? The idea made him uncomfortable. You didn't belong there any longer. 

Bradley responded to some texts from Nat so his phone would already be in his hand if you tried to contact him. He was just deleting some old emails when he heard your car pull into the driveway, and then your key was in the door. 

"Hi," you whispered, rushing inside and gently closing the door before heading his way in your pretty dress. You were smiling as you climbed right on top of him where he was stretched out on the couch. 

"Hi," he replied before your lips met his. "Did you have fun?"

You grinned and braced your hands on the arm of the couch behind his head. "Yes, but I missed you. And I logged in to check my grades when they posted at six o'clock."

He let his hands rest on your back. "And? How did you do?"

"I had a 4.0 this semester, probably because you're the best study partner, Daddy."

He smiled up at you. "Or maybe you got perfect grades, because you're perfect. And Noah and I will be in the front row at your graduation on Friday. Can't wait to watch my perfect girlfriend in action."

"Are you really going to sit in the front row?" you asked with a kiss to his cheek.

"Yeah. I'll push my way up there. I'll knock over elderly people if I have to."

"Oh," you said with a snicker, "so you'll knock over people your own age for a better seat?"

Bradley smacked your ass while you laughed, and he hauled you to bed.

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

You wanted to tell Bradley your good news in person, but you didn't get a chance to see him before your commencement ceremony started. Where you were standing off to the side backstage, you could see the front row starting to fill up. When you saw someone's elderly grandmother hustling along with a walker, you had to bite back your laughter. Because a moment later, Bradley came rushing for one of the only remaining empty seats left up front with Noah in his arms. 

As soon as they were settled in, you pulled out your phone and texted him. 

Nice work. You didn't even have to trip that old lady to get a seat.

You watched him take his phone out of his pocket and smile as he entered his passcode. Then his shoulders shook with laughter as he eyed the woman and her walker where she sat right next to him. And then he started to look around the room, clearly trying to figure out where you were, but it was time for you to collect your diploma. 

Bradley Bradshaw: Nothing is going to keep us from watching our Princess. Noah is very excited.

You were excited, too. For so many reasons. When your name was called, and you walked across the stage to collect your diploma, you could hear Bradley's voice over the rest of the crowd in the auditorium. As you turned back toward your seat, you blew them a kiss. And you barely heard a word of the speeches, because you couldn't keep your eyes off them. 

And then it was all over, and you were no longer a student. Anxious to get to them so you could get home and talk to Bradley, you nearly tripped over the old lady's walker yourself. "Careful," Bradley said, laughing harder than you thought was necessary as he caught you. "Or you'll be the one who needs a walker."

You ignored him and kissed Noah's chubby cheek as he hugged you around your neck. He tried to say congratulations a few times, but then he just went back to hugging you instead. 

"I love you, sweet Noah. And I love you too, Daddy."

"Ready?" Bradley asked, taking Noah from your arms and leading the way out to the parking lot with his hand resting on your back. 

You followed them in your car, and when you pulled into the driveway, Bradley was scooping Noah out of his carseat. "He's out," he muttered as you opened the front door for them. 

You gasped. The house smelled like fresh flowers and something sweet. When you turned on the light, there were flowers everywhere. Noah had made a banner out of construction paper that was all taped together. And when you went into the kitchen, you found champagne, a stack of adult coloring books, and a small cake decorated with Skittles. It took Bradley a minute to get Noah in his bed, but when he strolled into the kitchen still wearing his sexy suit, you threw yourself at him. 

"Let's open the champagne," he muttered next to your ear. "And then we can eat some Skittles cake. And you can take me to bed and do whatever you want with me."

You giggled as he backed you up to the counter. "I have more good news."

It wasn't lost on you the way Bradley's lips parted in silence before his eyes dipped down to your belly. "Do you?"

You nodded and bit your lip. Maybe what you had to say wasn't actually that exciting at all, but you blurted out, "I got two job offers."

"Princess!" Bradley gasped, gathering you up into his arms. "Of course you did, Baby. Everyone wants a piece of you." He set you down on the counter and kissed you about a thousand times. He told you he was proud of you. He told you he would help you make a decision by next week. And then he fed you some Skittles cake, but you insisted on splitting it with him 50/50.

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

Daddy will be gone soon. I have a lot of asks about dirty/sweet/loving/rough goodbye sex with Daddy and Princess. So stay tuned for that. Hope you enjoy your fic, @beyondthesefourwalls And thank you @mak-32 !

PART 29

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[m3talmunson]

Steve Harrington is incredibly smart. It's not his fault nobody believes him. Or, well, maybe it is.

Steve used to be his parents pride and joy, everyone knew that. When he was young, doing his piano lessons, his mother would show him off at their house parties.

"Look at my Steven!" She'd say, and all the other mothers around would parrot something like "What a sweet boy!" and he would just keep playing. That night his father would commend him for keeping the ladies occupied, that he'd grow up to be a real ladies' man, and how great it was that he kept the women out of the men's hair. He'd never said "I'm proud of you," or "I love you," but that was as close as he got.

And for a while, Steve LIVED for it. He'd come downstairs, see his mother in her good pearls, her party pearls, and know that he'd be good for them that day. Be needed for something.

And then it got old. So he learned cello. That kept them entertained for a while, until it didn't. Then he learned flute. That one kept them occupied a little longer, Mr. Harrington could stand the fact that it was a "girly" instrument because it kept Steve's mouth shut. He got too good at talking while he played the other instruments.

Then he tried guitar, and well all the instruments just stopped impressing them, because they stopped having house parties. Instead, they'd started going out to them. Started going out and not coming back, for weeks upon weeks at a time. Steve was determined to give them something to show off, something to praise.

He had always been quite book smart, but he started really putting the effort in. Steve gave it a year and a half of straight A+'s, until he realized that his parents would never care. So he tried a new approach, called 'skating along right above failing'. It didn't get their attention one bit.

Even when Steve came home beaten and torn, from the upside down or a fight, they weren't even there to ever notice.

And sure, people like Joyce or Hopper would notice, check in on him until the black eye went away. But after that, they had lives to live.

So no, the adults in Steve's life didn't really give him much attention at all.

Of course he didn't mind it all that much. Some small part of Steve just figured 'I deserve it,' and he rolled with the punches.

He found solace in his instruments, still. He learned more and more. Piano was his best, but once you had learned piano you could learn just about anything else with some dedication. His guitar he could whip out at a couple of his high school parties. In private, alone in his room with a girl, he could strike a few chords and they would just obsess over it. Got him the companionship he so desperately needed for a while.

Even so, he never showed Nancy. She made it clear to him that she loved watching him swim, loved his muscles. The more masculine parts of him. So he never brought it out. When she asked about the shiny grand piano in his living room, he'd just say his mom played. He stashed away his other instruments in a spare room, so she wouldn't see them.

That's not to say he didn't want to show her one day. He wanted to, but once you get called bullshit once, you're pretty much over the vulnerability.

So he continued to hide it, hide his smarts. He skated through until graduation, nursing the wounds in his body and mind all alone. Then he met Robin.

And he was just too scared to show her that part of himself. His instruments had become his little secret, and he just wasn't keen on sharing.

Not until after the events of Vecna. He had lost enough by then. He didn't lose any friends this time, but he was close. Max regained some of her eyesight, wearing thick glasses that Steve paid for. He'd never let Max's mother do it. Eddie got his new government-supplied trailer, and walked the long road to recovery. And near the end of that road, Steve threw one damn good party.

It was early August. Steve and Robin had already celebrated a year of being best friends (and being free of Russian torture), but Max was having a harder time, so they waited a little longer, until the Byers-Hopper group had settled in, but before school started. It was pretty much a "Hey Hawkins is (Relatively) Safe!" party. Everyone had mostly recovered from the events of spring break, the Byers-Hopper clan had finally put the finishing touches on their home in Hawkins, getting a nice big house that someone left behind in the "Great Escape From Hawkins of 1986". Eddie had finished high school, a little bit with the pity of teachers who were sorry that they thought he was a murderer, combined with the pity that he was nearly killed in the "earthquake", but who's counting? It was his year.

It was all of their years, finally over with this upside-down business. So Steve threw a party.

The adults had left, calling in their bedtime at 9. The kids and the older teens were sleeping over though. Steve had more than enough space, and of course, the moment Joyce Byers closed the front door with her last "Call me if you need anything!" they had to break out the good old party games.

The kids insisted on truth or dare, and they got a couple rounds in before Dustin decided to single our Steve for once.

"You haven't been called on much, it's my turn to fix that." Dustin said. Argyle was the only person who had chosen Steve so far, since he was on vacation from California for the summer, staying at the Byers place after helping them move in.

"Yeah yeah just spit it out kid," Steve retorted, taking the last swig of his first-and-only beer for the night, always playing it safe in case he had to drive one of the kids home unexpectedly.

"Truth or Dare?"

Steve contemplated for a moment. He picked dare earlier with Argyle and it had been pretty simple. A truth might make him spill some of the secrets he was content to keep in his brain. Within the kids group half of the truths so far had been about crushes. It left Will stammering earlier, and he wasn't about to let the same thing happen to himself. He could admit he had... new feelings when it came to romance that he'd rather not let out in THIS room. What's the worst that could happen if he chose dare anyways?

"Dare. Hit me with your best shot kid."

"Damnit, I had only thought of a truth! Give me a second." Dustin fumbled, turning to Lucas and trying to think of a good dare.

"All that talk..." Eddie whispered into Steve's ear.

That was a new habit the older teens had gotten into. Whispered secrets behind flexed hands, like a little kid's game of telephone. Something that made them feel like kids again. Though if we're being honest, it was mostly Steve and Eddie.

"I know, right?" Steve whispered back. Admittedly, something about the whispering made the hair on Steve's neck stand up on end. It made him feel like he and Eddie were the only people in the world.

He always had to come back to reality though.

"I dare you-" Dustin interrupted, " -to show us something you've never shown anyone before. Like a hidden talent or something."

Steve thought about it for a second. Maybe he could finally be vulnerable with the group. He had gone to hell and back with these people, multiple times. Surely he could play some piano.

So Steve got up, passing his empty bottle to Nance who eyed it with a raised brow and set it on the side table next to her. He stepped over the boys' sleeping bags, all of them sticking around in the living room that night so the girls could have the basement. Steve chose to ignore when Mike fussed, saying that he got stepped on.

He sat down at the piano bench and cracked his knuckles, looking down at the keys before snapping his head up and asking, "Any requests?"

"Wait Steve you can-" Nancy started, before Robin blurted out a song.

"Take Me Home Tonight!" Robin shouted. It had become their collective favorite song recently, both of them singing it every day on the drive home from work.

"Yeah, I can do that one. Be my backup Robs?"

"You don't have to ask twice!" She swung up from her place next to Nance, stepping over the sleeping bags the same way Steve had.

When she made herself a comfy spot on top of the piano, swinging her legs back and forth, Steve started the intro.

Steve thought it sounded a little dinky on classical piano with no synth. He winced to himself as he played the intro, looking up to Robin for comfort. He just saw her jaw drop, and her mischievous smile go wider. He didn't have to look at anyone else, Robin's nod for him to start singing was all he needed to look back down at the keys.

Steve had never been a confident singer, always putting on a bit of a show, carrying a tune -but never doing his best- so if someone said it was bad, he could say he wasn't trying. This time though, he gave it his all.

By the first chorus he was throwing his head back and closing his eyes, putting on a show for a different reason, smiling as wide as he could whilst singing.

He took some liberties: embellishing a little on piano, changing "Ronnie" to "Robbie" because, honestly, who wouldn't have. He got to her solo and, playing the supporting chords with his left hand, held out his right hand and his fake microphone to Robin, who took his arm in her hands and let out her most dramatic "Be my little baby," straight from the heart.

Playing the intro to the next part, Steve remembered that there were people in the room besides him and Robin. He looked around at the faces of his friends. Lucas and Max were bopping along on the floor, Will, El, and Erica had been dancing haphazardly in the corner the whole time, El dragging her brother up by the arm. Erica followed; she had recently taken an admiring to the bitchin' girl with superpowers, plus both El and Max enjoyed having another girl at sleepovers. Dustin's jaw was still on the floor, although Nancy was more subtle about her shock, her mouth hanging in a little "o" . Jonathan and Argyle were nodding their heads along to the bass chords, having just the time of their lives. It was Eddie's face that made Steve's heart jump. He was marveling at Steve, and anyone could tell. It was enough to make Steve sing the next verse directly to him. It became all too real all of a sudden, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

Soon after, the game was ditched, all the kids rattling off songs for Steve to play for them, so they could sing along. After some Loverboy, Blondie, Grease, and their more-than-fair share of ABBA, the kids tired themselves out. Will and El made a point to thank Steve for his playing, Lucas, Max, and Erica whooped and hollered after every song, and the rest of them showed their thanks in other ways, in hugs goodnight or simple looks, eye contacts worth a million words. Then all the older teens headed upstairs. Jonathan and Argyle headed to their room early, but Robin and Nancy stuck around in the Steve's bedroom, where he was sharing with Eddie.

"When were you going to tell us you were a musical GENIUS?" Eddie asked.

"I'm no genius, I just- My mom wanted something to show off at parties when I was younger, I started learning when I was seven so I could be their free entertainment."

"Thirteen years, Steve?" Nancy felt pretty awful not knowing about something so personal to him.

"Yeah, this is my first time showing someone who wasn't at those parties though. Well, on the piano at least."

"What do you mean 'on the piano?' Do you play other instruments dingus?"

"Well, a couple others! Cello, flute, guitar, french horn, and drums a little. I can carry a tune on harmonica, but I mainly picked it up to learn Piano Man. Thought it'd be kinda funny."

"You are magical Stevie, did you know that?"

Those words, Eddie's words, bounced around in Steve's head for the rest of the night. Magical. Him? Magical.

"Seeing as we know a girl with superpowers, I doubt that I'm the magical one." Steve brushed it off.

The girls took their leave a while later, leaving Steve and Eddie to stew in their awkward nature around eachother.

"I guess I can give up on being the only cool guitar player in the group." Eddie said, faking a heartbroken look.

"You can still be the only cool guitar player, I'm just a guitar player."

"Oh c'mon Stevie! You know these kids think you're the coolest person on the planet."

"I think you've got that one covered, I'm just their ever-so-giving host and chauffeur." Steve tried to make a joke out of it, gave his best self-pitying chuckle and everything. Eddie saw right through it. Saw the tears cloud the edge of Steve's vision before he blinked them away.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Eddie stopped Steve, "You're so much more than a ride home and a place to stay to them, okay? I mean it, they think you're the coolest person on the planet. And they're not the only ones who think it."

"Ha, like you think it."

"I do, Steve. I do think it."

"I mean, come on Eds! There's really no redeeming factor," Steve let the tears fall freely, moving off of his bed where Eddie sat, and gesturing to himself,"I have a nice car, a big house, and a shit personality. I'm not good in conversation, I don't know any of their nerd games. I'm no good at keeping them safe from anything that isn't an interdimensional monster. I'm just kind of here. I'm not smart, or nice, or even funny, or magical like you said. I'm just here."

"Steve," Eddie started, this look in his eyes, trying it's hardest to tell Steve everything he means to them, means to Eddie. But Steve just closed his eyes, bowed his head, like Eddie had some power over him.

Steve just stood there, head bowed, flexing and unflexing his fists.

"Come here." Eddie commanded, patting the bed next to him. And, just like the little kid who learned piano to entertain his mom, Steve listened.

Steve sat down and Eddie immediately scooted him closer, putting Steve's chin in both of his hands. Making Steve look him in the eye.

"You are so much more to those kids. And even if I'm wrong, you're so much more to me. You are smart, you are kind, you are generous, and loving, and you care for each and every one of us more than anything or anyone in the world could reasonably ask you to." Eddie wiped Steve's tears as they fell, but he never broke eye contact. "You've saved their LIVES Steve. Many of them wouldn't be here without you. I wouldn't be here without you. You carried me out of that hell hole, and you've been here for me since. If there's anyone in this world qualified to tell you how much you mean to them, I think it's me."

"You really believe all of that?"

"Every syllable of every word."

See, Steve Harrington is incredibly smart. It's not his fault nobody believes him.

Not even himself.

But maybe, for the first time, he was about to make a smart decision.

So he learned forward, into Eddie. Pressed his lips into Eddie's and didn't doubt that Eddie would kiss back. And when Eddie did, Steve's heart soared. He put all of his gratitude, all of his feelings into kissing Eddie.

After he finally pulled away, Eddie just had to bring some light into the situation. He wiped away one of Steve's tears, and said:

"I hope I don't have to see those pretty eyes cry for that to happen again."

"You don't-" Steve leaned in again.

And if Robin found them suspiciously close in the morning, it was nobody's business but her own.

[three--rings]

You Should Watch The Spirealm/致命游戏

What is it?

A 2024 cdrama based on the danmei webnovel Kaleidoscope of Death. It's a censored version of a BL novel, with thriller, mystery, and horror aspects, 38 45-minute episodes.

What's it about?

A young man accidentally gets drawn into a virtual reality video game that involves passing tests in a series of doors. Once you start playing, you cannot stop and if you die in the game, you die in real life. He meets a frustratingly mysterious, competent, and attractive man in the doors who recruits him to be part of his game solving team. Well, specifically to be his partner. Lots of gay subtext ensues as they fight through door after door seeking to get to the final door in order to end the evils of the game. (The book is a little different, as it's more supernatural.)

So basically it's a infinite flow deadly game situation, with m/m romance.

Main Characters:

Lin Quishi/Ling Juishi (novel/drama versions of his name)- Our protagonist. A smart graduate in computer science, good at games. Well meaning but a little naive to start out.

Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Lanzhu - Our love interest. In the novel he crossdresses often and he presents as a woman for the whole first arc. Super intelligent, expert at the game, extremely flirty but reserved at the same time. Got one look at Lin Quishi and said That One.

Other Characters, aka the Found Family:

Ruan Nanzhu's team consists of a pair of twin brothers (one young and dumb and one uptight), a hot doctor vet, a woman whose main job seems to be cooking dinner, and a not-so-stable dude.

Then there's Li Dong Yuan, a rival player who becomes reluctantly-tolerated friend, and his cute female assistant. And Tan Zao Zao, an actress who hires the team to help her in the games and also sticks around persistently.

They're pretty much all delightful and some may start off silly/annoying and end up breaking the hell out of your heart.

Okay, but what's the VIBE?

Big Guardian vibes. The team of lovable scamps investigating weird supernatural (?) type mysteries? While the boss and the guy he fell for have a situationship? Totally. This definitely has more of a horror feel than Guardian, though, even though they tone things down from the novel.

Each door is its own setting, and some are more scary than others. So one is a mental hospital, one is a traditional village, one is a gothic manor, etc. Lots of tragic female ghosts who have been wronged and are getting revenge. The one that really creeped me out was the one with the children with the eggs. It does a lot of creepy rather than really horror. It's not truly gory at all, as it was made to air on Chinese TV and they have strict limits to violence.

The camerawork and set decor is really nice, actually. It looks great most of the time and a lot of the effects seem to be practical. It looks a lot better than Guardian is what I'm saying, if not quite to a film level.

How Gay is It?

Oh MY GOD. Okay look, this show was NOT supposed to be released, but thank whoever put it up for that two hours. It's really incredibly blatant, like really as much as Word of Honor was, although because the plot is focused elsewhere it's maybe not quite as in your face. But the actors UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and there's so much longing and SO much implication. After a while, everyone basically just treats the main couple as a couple even thought it's never talked about.

I mean episode one there's Only One Bed and at the end of their first meeting Ruan Nanzhu gives Lin Quishi a RING. I mean, the flirting is also BLATANT. I also just find this a really romantic show, despite the Not Talking About It thing.

Is it a Happy Ending?

So, It's Complicated. I'm trying not to spoil anything and this show is pretty easy to have spoiled for you. There's definitely a good bit of tragedy in this show in general. Characters die and it's really sad. Like, this is a plot with stakes and if no one we liked ever died, it wouldn't be the same.

I will say I consider this show to have a happy ending, but you do go through some pain first. Essentially the main couple does have a separation, but there is a reunion before the end. There's also a scene that will give Guardian fans fucking PTSD, but the show does a fix-it on its own, okay? I do feel that I have to warn for that, though.

Where can I watch it?

The show is legally available on Viki with a subscription. Obviously there are other ways to find it as well, and links went around before it was picked up by Viki so check tags if you need those.

I really hope this encourages some people to watch this show, as it's really well made and a great time. It's one of a very small number of danmei adaptations we've gotten, but a lot less people have watched it since it's modern and had a weird release. Honestly, it's well written and acted and filmed and you should give it a shot.

(All gifs by @ruanbaijie, thank you very much for allowing me to use them. Check out their blog, there's such gorgeous stuff there!)

[reysdriver]

Reminiscence | R.L.

You and Remus confess your feelings for each other at James and Lily's wedding, but it's never too late — remus x fem!reader fluff

warnings: brief alcohol consumption, some foul language

words: 1.4k

It was the night that your best friend Lily was getting married to James Potter of Marauders fame back at Hogwarts. You were proud to say that you were the maid of honour for Lily, with Alice and Marlene at your side as bridesmaids.

They had found each other at school, James had courted her for years, and they had been dating since year seven; three happy years together. Though, you couldn't say the same about yourself.

You did like someone—one of your best friends, Remus Lupin—but you didn't think he liked you back since he never made a move or showed any true interest. And you didn't want to say anything, as it had potential to ruin a great friendship.

After you and your friends graduated from Hogwarts, you decided to put your feelings for him away for good, and just accept the fact that you're only friends. It was what you thought best for everyone involved.

Although, your hope for a purge of feelings didn't seem to be working. Two years after graduating, here you both were; he was in his groomsman suit, and you were still thinking about how you want to be his.

The wedding ceremony was lovely, taking place at Hogwarts while it was empty for the summer. They got married in the courtyard, where Lily and James had their first date and the reception took place in the Great Hall, where Lily agreed to date James. 

It was almost over, with only about half of the original number of guests still hanging around. You had a half-full glass of firewhiskey as you talked with Lily, James, and Sirius. You were all reminiscing about life at Hogwarts. Even though it was just two years ago, it felt like a decade.   

"You know what?" You said with a faint gasp. "I wonder if our carvings in the bedposts are still there in our old dorms." 

"Oh Merlin, I forgot about those!" Lily giggled. 

"I want to go check! I know if I don't it'll be on my mind forever, I'll be back. I'll let you all know." 

"And with her leaving, this is my cue to get another glass." Sirius said, getting up right after you. 

You started to head out of the Great Hall, but you bumped into Remus by the doors, almost spilling your drink.

"Oh my, Remus, I'm so sorry." 

"No, don't worry, I wasn't looking where I was going." He apologised. 

Trying to shift and carry the conversation, you mentioned where you were headed. "I was just going to the dorms to reminisce." You said with a soft smile. 

"Oh, well, have fun with that." He said, excusing himself and walking to the table. 

Slightly disheartened, but not too thrown off, you continued heading to your old living quarters, unaware of the conversation starting in the Great Hall between Remus and Sirius. 

"Moony, mate, you have absolutely no game." Sirius taunted as he walked towards his friend with a fresh drink in hand. 

"Shut up." Remus grumbled. He had been tired of the years of teasing from his friends about his crush on you, and assumed it would have stopped when you graduated, but it never did. 

"Moony, 'Hey Remus, I'm just going to see my old bed, and oh Godric, I wish you would join me!' and you reply with 'have fun with that'?!" 

Sirius had apparently overheard your exchange, and was clearly having fun with it.

"She didn't say that." 

The two young men sat down at the head table, a few seats away from the happy couple. 

"But she meant it. Believe me, I know what it looks like when someone wants to sleep with you, and that was it."

Remus looked at Sirius with a questioning look. "If she likes me so much, why hasn't she ever mentioned it?"

"You've never told her about it either. Plus, she thinks you hate her."

"What? How could she think that? I could never hate her."

"Every time you're near her, you get all awkward and nervous and weird! What do you expect her to think?"

A wave of realisation washed over Remus as he thought about your perspective of everything. "Oh fuck, you have to help me, Pads."

"You don't need help."

"What are you talking about? Of course I need help! You just pointed out that (y/n) thinks I hate her!"

"Exactly. She thinks you hate her and she still likes you. All you need to do is talk to her and tell her how you feel." 

"Now?"

"Well I think now is the best time, besides the last decade or so. Don't you think so?"

Remus realised what he needed to do, and started to head up to your old dorm rooms. He had an advantage due to his long legs, and so he strided quickly to catch up to you. 

Once he reached the Gryffindor girls dorms, he found you leaning down, focused on the wooden bedframe where you used to sleep. 

"It's all still here." You said, catching Remus off guard as he didn't know you were aware of his presence. 

"What?" 

"The carvings the girls and I made on our old beds." You clarified. "Our names, little hearts and flowers, 'L.E. + J.P.', 'M.M. + D.M.', all of it." 

"What about your initials? You never wrote down your initials with someone else's in a little heart?" 

You shook your head. "I never had anyone to do it with." 

"Why not? You never liked anyone? Because you could have anyone you wanted."

Memories started to flood through your head. Memories of crushing on the man in front of you throughout your entire academic career, plus the time even after you graduated. 

"I did like one person. But nothing ever happened between us. He didn't—doesn't—like me back." You confessed, fidgeting with your fingers. 

"That's not true." 

"I think if you knew who it was, you would disagree."

"I think I do know who it is." His words caused your gaze to suddenly shift from your hands over to him. "(y/n), is it me?"

"Yes." You said ashamedly. 

"Then I was right. The person you like feels the same way. I do, I've felt this way for years."

Millions of new thoughts rushed to you. Remus Lupin likes you, and he has for years.

"Why didn't you say anything?" 

"Why didn't you? Merlin, (y/n), you're stunning, and you're kind, and you're funny. You're perfect." He took two long strides towards you, then took your shaking hands in his. "You're so incredibly out of my league, I never thought you would like someone like me. A mon—"

You cut him off with a soft hand over his mouth before he could finish that word. As you slowly pulled your hand away, he pressed a gentle kiss on your palm. 

"Remus, don't say that. We've been over this. I promise you that you are not a monster. You are the exact opposite of that. You're my best friend, you're the sweet, witty, adorable man I've been in love with for half of my life." 

Remus placed a large hand on your reddened cheek, lightly stroking his thumb under your eye. 

"Since the day we met?" He said in a half joke. 

You laughed lightly and looked back into his soft eyes. "Of course. I've been in love with you since the day we met." 

"Good. Me too." 

He leant down to your height and pulled you into a long-awaited kiss. It was sweet, and it started with just a small brush of your lips. It quickly became gentle yet passionate, as you now had all that you have been waiting for. 

The two of you pulled apart, smiles strung across both of your faces. 

"I really should have done that a lot sooner." Remus admitted. 

"Me too." You said with a slight giggle as you indulged your younger self. "But I think we should go back downstairs, I promised to tell Lily about the carvings." 

[lgckiyong]

⸻ 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 ,

-ˋˏ ★ Say hello to 수기용, born MAR052001, a not so aspiring model who was scouted to the company in JAN2024. He's a fresh face and hasn't yet allowed the reality set in that this might very well be his new one, uncharted land as it is.

profile , aesthetics , full nav

( Press the ♥ and I will wiggle into your DMs or add me on dc @ serachasauce. )

BACKGROUND ,

Soo Kiyong was born March 5th, 2001 and raised in Seogwipo, a city on the island of Jeju, to two loving parents.

While his childhood wasn't super eventful, it should be noted that he was pretty doted on as the youngest of his siblings. ( And yes, he hates doing chores and will whine!! )

He took up an interest in swimming competitively in middle school and continued on throughout high school and even university. He also dabbled in taekwondo and enjoyed playing soccer for fun with friends.

By the time Kiyong was 18, he decided he would apply for a college in Seoul and help his grandparents with their cafe. He only needed to fulfill the promise that he graduate with good grades and pass the entrance exam.

Miraculously, he gets accepted into SNU and decides to major in marine biology and oceanography.

After a couple years attending uni, he decides to get his enlistment out of the way. Unfortunately, he injures his shoulder during training and as a result, his swimming career would have to be shelved.

( Note: during late January 2024, he even ended up having a surgery for the rotator cuff tear he experienced. This has potential for past headcanons! )

When he returns in the summer of 2023, he gets his dream job at an aquarium as an aquarist. But the dream is short-lived. A year later, he is fired after he was discovered to be conspiring with his coworkers to place the beluga whale into a better habitat.

With only his job at his grandparents cafe to sustain him, he's had to resign himself to the fact that maybe he should finally seriously consider this modeling thing. Ever since being scouted on the street earlier this year, he's been apprehensive. Especially knowing that his parents will be ... rather confused by his sudden path change.

PERSONALITY ,

Pisces sun, Gemini moon, Capricorn rising / ENFJ

Very happy-go-lucky! Energetic and silly! Another tall golden retriever boy to add to the pile! Friendly boy swag

Sensitive, but in tune enough with his emotions. He is a little bit of a crier, but he keeps it together well enough.

He's actually quite clumsy and prone to accidentally breaking things… but at least he's innovative trying to fix them with a shoelace and some gum!

This one's for you! (misses shot)

Knows how to sew and thinks crafts are pretty fun.

Actually has quite a good head on his shoulders. He doesn't get angry easily and he is great at mediating and trying to solve problems in a calm way.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that he has an obsession with all things marine life. Especially sharks

Total romantic with so much love to give to everyone who can hold it. He loves those he cares for so much ( maybe too much ).

Friends, family, partners. Everyone!

That being said, he is an affectionate guy. He enjoys giving and receiving hugs. It's how he recharges.

He's working on his Jeju accent but since he's lived there practically his whole life, sometimes he has a hard time.

His grandmother used to be a model for decades when she was young. Basically, the only hope for him that he will make it out of this.

An advocate against the mistreatment of animals, particularly marine life.

PLOT STUFF , I'm open to brainstorming but here's a link to his plot page. I'll list some general stuff I want for him!

customers that frequent his grandparent’s cafe or the lotte mall aquarium before he was fired

anyone who lived in Jeju anywhere from 2001 to 2019

those currently attending SNU from 2020 to current year

friends - he has many of them! even if not close

people with unique interests to drag him around and try new things

any introverts for him to adopt

he’s a great listener and good shoulder to cry on

would highly prefer any plots that we could go pretty deep into, especially with crafting headcanons and other unique interactions in their past.

any senior models or any others who have been in the industry for a while. advice would be much appreciated, as the industry is poised to chew this guy up and spit him out if he’s not careful

negative relationships of any kind are are open too

[des2dream]

Analyzing Sakuverse Men: Andrew💕🖋

Artist: The Space Moth (space_moths)

Well, well, well! If it isn't The Golden Boy! The one who blew a fraction of the internet by storm! The one who opened everyone's eyes and ears to the world of ASMR and audio content! The one who gave people comfort because 2021 was a time where single people were feeling lonely and those who weren't single couldn't see their boos everyday and the love department was going pretty slow! The one who gave the ZSakuVA channel a lot of attention and love over the years! The one who everyone falls for the most! The Strict Professor himself, Andrew Marston!

This man has been given two whole seasons and plenty of OVAs in between and even after the story ended! With that much material, there's quite a lot to unpack with Andrew. He was given a lot of attention to his parents at a young age as he was met with books all his life and working hard to achieve greatness. He's a very smart fellow. He graduated high school, college, and became a professor at a young age (around his early 20s) which got him even more attention. He takes his work very seriously and you could say he has a strict policy (ha! ha! ha!) when it comes to business. But, there's more to him than meets the eye. He's not all that professional as anyone would assume he'd be. I mean, come on now! He literally made out with Listener RIGHT AFTER CLASS IN THE CLASSROOM (even though it was incredibly risky) in the first episode after an....interesting discussion. Yeah, Listener confessed to Andrew in their latest assignment and Andrew jumped at the opportunity for some daring activity! Ever since then, it's been sneaking around in his office for a little while.....until he started feeling.....jealous, Andrew felt jealous of Listener's friend and it soon hit him that he was feeling something more for The Listener than just an experimental fling.

After a sweet date at the museum, things turn tragic when someone decided to record them and it leaked to the university. Everyone knows. Everyone is shocked. Everyone is staring. RUN!!! Actually, Andrew did run. Andrew wanted to save Listener from the outcomes that came with getting caught and decides to break it off with Listener after driving them home resulting in an argument which led to leaving in anger and tears. Very sad. Cue SWV's "Where Is The Love?" Interlude song here! Some time passes and Listener has been avoiding Andrew so much to the point Andrew has to meet up with them at their home to discuss assignments.......yeah, we all know they didn't ONLY talk about assignments at this point. They talked about their relationship and how Andrew missed them and it was even expressed in his writing. He decides to give Listener some time to think about things and they do meet up again at a cafe where they DO get together again, but this time for a REAL relationship! Whooo! Story over, right?.......no.....this was all from Season One....we still have another season to talk about.

Season Two has our Listener having to face their final year at university and they've become very close with Andrew. We learn that he has a twin brother who hasn't been given the same amount of love or attention as Andrew and he's actually distanced himself away removing all contact from his family including his own brother. We'll never know where he is......We also learn that while Andrew was a university student, he used to go out with Issac Rhoades! We even learn that his favorite childhood movie was, Dreamworks's Shark Tale (hell yeah)! As Andrew and Listener grow closer, there's still the issue of people at the university knowing of their relationship. Teachers and staff aren't very approving. The Dean is being questioned with this "tomfoolery". Students are still staring and whispering. There was even a petition going around saying that Andrew should be dropped from his professor duties. Things only got worse during a date night when one of the university students lashed out at Andrew making a complete fool of herself and embarrassing everyone involved. Luckily, there wasn't another breakup. After a meeting with The Dean of the university, Andrew makes the heart-heavy decision to resign from his duties, yet his reputation wasn't going to be permanently damaged.

As the year ends, we see Listener graduate, Andrew resign, and the two finally decide to move in together. The OVAs happily give us how well their lives have been after Season Two with Andrew working at the museum. The same museum where they had their first date. Now, I love this character. I love this storyline. I love Andrew's character growth. I love his relationship with The Listener even though it's been through ups and downs. It's a good listen and with Andrew close to being shelved, I can only thank him (and Saku) for bringing such an entertaining time for so many people.

[deleahtarte]

I was talking about this with a friend a while back but… Style Rockstar AU!

I imagined Stan—super popular rockstar, preformed more concerts then he knows how to count, more money then he now knows what to do with—burnt out from the fame. It isn't as great as what he thought it was when he was young and naive. One day, he's drinking in this bar completely bored with his life, wanting something, missing something-just doesn't know what. He thought the fame and the sex would be enough but...surprise, it isn't.

And then this hot red head walks in and Stan is immediately already physically attracted. Just as he’s thinking of going over there himself, he watches Kyle tell off a dude who was hitting on him all by himself— and only then was Stan like "I have to at least fuck him once." So Stan tries to hit on him expecting Kyle to know who he is because everyone knows who he is, duh he's Stan Marsh, but Kyle doesn't. This stuns Stan, but it only made him want Kyle more. Eventually as they spoke through the night, Stan actually starts liking Kyle for more then just his body. They do end up sleeping together—luck, maybe— and in Stan's head he thinks, "I really want to keep seeing Kyle" but when Stan blinks his eyes open the next morning, Kyle is gone. He didn't leave a note behind, no number, no clues, nothing. Stan is devastated and then sent himself on a wild goose chase to find Kyle.

One of the ways he tries to find Kyle is by making songs about him because Kyle has become his muse and the lyrics are obviously about him. A couple months goes by and nothing. Stan visits the same bar whenever he could hoping to catch a glimpse of red; red cheeks, red hair, red lips. Yet, nothing.

Christmas comes and Stan flies back to South Park to go visit his mom and his family. During the dinner, he's prepping the table and in strolls Kyle with his parents. Stan finds out that Kyle was originally from South Park too, and that they've never saw each other because Kyle spent most of his childhood and years at the hospital because he was extremely sick and only recently got better last year.

As it turns out, Kyle have always seen Stan playing with the other kids, being jealous because he wanted to join, finding Stan adorable and wanting to be his friend—but not being able to because of his weak constitution. The years go by and Stan blew up and became a rockstar, leaving South Park. Kyle watches Stan preform in different parts of the world from his tiny tv, wanting to see the world, too. A miracle happens and Kyle gets the perfect organ donor and he heals up. The first thing he tries to do is travel. He chose to go to Stan's concert as like a last goodbye because he is no longer sick and it wasn't like Stan was going to pay attention to him anyways. He thinks of it as him ‘graduating’ from the Kyle that could only ever experience live through the TV. The concert is done and a few days pass and that's when Kyle runs into Stan at that bar and officially 'meets' him for the first time

Of course he's going to pretend like he doesn't know Stan

But now, at the present when they see each other again at the Christmas party, Stan is NOT letting Kyle go. Kyle tries to reject him, and Stan accepts it rather obediently, which surprises Kyle a lot. Stan instead asks if they could friends, and Kyle (because damn those puppy dog eyes) says yes. The rejection worked (or so Kyle thinks) Stan is persistent in a way where he’s hitting on you…but maybe he isn’t? Is he just this friendly? Kyle doesn’t know.

Stan buys him a lot of gifts, from every day pastries to big items that must’ve costed him an arm and leg; because apparently, friends do that. Kyle only accepts the little ones, the ones he himself could afford, and rejects everything else. Stan is touchy, not uncomfortably so, but casual touches like an arm slung around his shoulder or a pat on his thigh when they sit next to each other; because apparently, friends do that. Stan tries to understand him, really—understand him. He listens to Kyle talk for hours about what it was like being confined in that hospital bed, where the only thing Kyle saw day to day was the ugly mellow yellow walls and the horrid stench of hospital. Stan remembers the little things Kyle says in passing, that he can’t stand coconut and how much he hates any type of repetitive noise. Kyle finds that Stan is very much as charming, sweet, and funny as Kyle thought he was all those years ago; where he could only listen to Stan crack jokes to his others friends from the window. It disappoints Kyle, because he doesn’t want to like Stan. In actuality, he’s just scared because this is his first love. But there’s really no helping it. He falls, and he falls hard.

They do remain friends. Stan helps Kyle figure out the stuff Kyle has never messed with before, like signing up for college (that Stan had ditched completely) or social media and registering for your license, etc etc. Kyle has grown used to Stan being by his side, as if he had always been there, as if he was supposed to be there—that it completely catches off guard when Stan announces he has to return to the big cities to continue doing his rockstar activities.

“Oh…okay.” Nodded Kyle limply. He was so shocked that he wasn’t able to offer a better response. Stan looks up, blue eyes searching his face. Kyle doesn’t know if Stan found what he was looking for; because his lips curl up into a smile that does not at all reach his eyes.

“We’ll keep in touch, alright? You’ll hear from me everyday.” Stan reassured him. One his large hands cover Kyle’s own for a moment, giving it a single comforting squeeze before it lets go. “I promise.”

Kyle believed him. He knew Stan by now. He trusted that Stan wouldn’t forget about him. He had faith. But…

Stan was a rockstar, a super famous, still revelant one that people talked and made posts about constantly. When would be the next time Kyle gets to see him again? To be able to bathe in his attention and that overwhelming warm, tender smile? Would Kyle have to wait weeks, months?

Could Kyle do that…?

The day comes for Stan to leave. His flight is unbelievably late, 2 am. He’s dressed in the airport with a mask and cap that he wants to throw off. He doesn’t want to go. He feels like a dog running away from home. For the first time in a long time, Stan wants to go back to South Park rather than away. And he knows exactly why he feels that way.

Kyle. It’s all been about Kyle since the moment Stan met him.

I’ll come back, he promised himself. I’ll come back the second my tour is over and work to win your love again.

Just as Stan wrote that in his heart, he’s about to head for his gate when someone tugs on his sleeve—a fan who recognized him, fuck.

With a huff (it’s not them, it’s him—he doesn’t really wanna see anyone but Kyle right now), Stan turns around and blinks at what he sees.

“I don’t have first class tickets, so how about you come join in economy?” Kyle asked, standing right here in front of Stan in a sweatshirt and jeans, a suitcase right next to him. “Oh…wait, people would probably recognize you, huh? You can’t keep this get up on the flight the entire time.”

Kyle flicks the top of Stan’s cap. And when Stan still didn’t reply, he starts to get a little nervous. He crosses his arms and huffs. “…Or I should go home?”

Only once he heard those words did Stan spring to action. He grabs Kyle by the back of his neck, leans down, and pulls him into a kiss much too inappropriate for the airport. You couldn’t pay him to care, and apparently, Kyle felt exactly at the same.

“Are you a hallucination?” Stan asked breathlessly when they part. All the air has left. Kyle laughs.

“That kiss felt very real to me, dude.”

This time, it’s Stan who laughs, resting his forehead against Kyle’s. “Me too. It felt—it felt real for me, too.”

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if, somehow, Bella and Edward had zero classes together and never got close to each other until graduation day? At which point Edward smells her for the first time?

Why Edward likes Bella so much.

Also the caveat that Forks is small enough that this would never happen. Especially when Edward and Bella are pointedly in honors classes. That was the whole thing, Edward couldn't change his schedule to avoid Bella in Biology. It's slightly miraculous he somehow only shared Biology with her.

Well.

Bella's in trouble.

The thing about canon is that Edward initially found Bella to be extremely overrated. The school goes nuts over her and he looks over and sees a girl that, sure, she's pretty, but Rosalie as a human was 1000 times hotter and she's sure to be boring and gross like all the other ones. He vaguely approves of how she responded to Jessica when she filled her in about the Cullens and lunch in general but he was extremely not interested.

We'll be generous and assume Bella's not murdered/dies in a parking lot/all the other times Bella would have died without Edward's intervention.

This then continues for a year and a half. We'll assume Bella's still the hot commodity for the prom (which she then flees to Seattle to avoid). Bella has more or less the same relationship with Angela and Jessica. It doesn't get as strained in New Moon with Jessica, but Bella also doesn't initiate anything either, and Bella doesn't get close to Jacob having no reason to seek him out in New Moon and going "ew too young" when meeting him in general (as she did in Twilight and parts of New Moon). (Most the wolves also don't shift as James and company roll through town and leave again as they would have had Bella not been at the baseball game).

What we're getting at is a girl who's pined over the mysterious hot Cullens from a distance but has been far too shy and mortified to ever do anything about it (which is good because Edward would eat her). As in canon, Bella tries to subtly grill everyone she can, but the most she's getting is the flirting with Jacob in which he reveals that "yeeeeeeeah we're really superstitious and it's kind of embarrassing". Bella probably doesn't believe it in this world and wishes she had a way to organically get close to the Cullens when she shares classes with none of them and has to stare at them sadly from across the lunchroom.

Luckily for her, because she doesn't speak about it out loud, Edward pays relatively little interest. I imagine he's wary of why this girl keeps asking about the family, but Alice hasn't seen anything, and her lack of thoughts is probably his gift acting up (what he assumed in canon) or else there's something wrong with her head (what he also assumed in canon).

All that aside, we get to graduation, he smells the smell, and we'll say he pinpoints it to Bella Swan (he may or may not be able to do this if he's in a crowd in which case... well... things won't be good).

And we'll say that Alice for some reason is so distracted watching Jasper again that she misses all of this.

If it's Bella, and he knows he's likely to never see her again, we get one of two things. The first is that he goes through with the Biology plan, he either murders the entire graduating class, all their family, and friends so as to eat Bella Swan or else he holds himself off until he can lure Bella out on her own at which point she never comes home from graduation.

Otherwise, he manages to succeed in controlling himself, runs off to Alaska, and thank god the family's going to "college" now and Edward is not going to the same school. Except. Now. It bothers him.

What we get is Twilight the college edition in which Edward "SURPRISE" transfers to the school Bella's going to, in her exact department, making sure he's in the course offerings with her, so he can meet her again and prove to himself that he has totally great control and she's not the boss of him and make sure he didn't reveal he was a vampire.

It's basically the same as canon except Bella's only slightly older and not sure how to take the fact that Edward ignored her for a year and a half and now he's suddenly at her college.

(In which Edward will either eat Bella or turn her. There's no third door.)

[nightingale2004]

The Marauders next gen: Wolfstar version (Sirius x Remus)

Artemis Hope Lupin

Faceclaim: Diana Silver

Artemis is the firstborn daughter of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black

Her middle name was the name Remus's late mother

Looks a bit like both her dads but takes after more of Sirius's looks and personality

She is fiercely protective of her family

Attends Hogwarts

Gryffindor through and through

Raging bisexual

Quidditch player (beater and chaser)

Inherited Sirius's love for pranks and loves brainstorming with the weasley twins

After Sirius got locked up to Azkaban, Artemis felt like she had to take care of everything, and everyone in her family and be the adult but still a great big sister

Loves going to music record stores and just loves music in general (more specifically, Rock n roll 🤟)

Her patronus is a husky dog

Her favorite subjects are flying, charms, DADA, care for magical creatures, muggle studies, and transfiguration

Doesn't know a lot about Sirius's side of the family other than what she was told and what she has found out about them (she is very nosy and has dug around for information about them)

Has an interest in auto mechanics and engineering

She wears Sirius's old leather jacket

Likes chocolate but prefers sour candy

She is also an animagus, and her form is a husky dog, similar to her patronus

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

Caelum Alphard Lupin

Faceclaim: Felix Mallard

The second child and the first son of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black

His middle name came from Sirius's late uncle, Alphard Black

Sirius and Remus got married a year after they graduated from Hogwarts and had their children shortly after

Caelum is more like Remus but takes after Sirius in looks

Caelum is considered quiet, distant, and intelligent. He also considers himself an artistic soul

If you were to ask Caelum, he'd say Artemis was the Sun, and he was the moon

When Sirius was sent to Azkaban, Caelum was only 1 year old, while Artemis was 4.

He vaguely remembered the Potters, but what he did remember was that both his dads loved them and that they would take Caelum and his sister over to the Potters all the time

He is sorted into Slytherin when the hat senses his determination, ambition, and cleverness. He was almost put into Gryffindor, but the hat changed its mind

He is on the quidditch team as a seeker but is not as passionate about it as his older sister

When he was sorted into Slytherin, his sister was worried for him along with their father, but Remus still loved his son but at the same time was afraid of what he would turn into in Slytherin

He is a major choco-holic (prefers dark chocolate)

His patronus is a raven

He also has an animagus form, which is a cat

He once snuck out to Grimmauld place out of curiosity of Sirius's side of the family. And he found out a LOT of information about the Blacks and his late Uncle Regulus and how similar he was to his uncle Regulus in some ways

☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆○☆

Cerys Nova Lupin

Faceclaim: Bailey Bass

Cerys is the adopted daughter of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black

They both adopted her a year before Sirius went to Azkaban, so Nova doesn't remember much of her other dad

Before she was adopted, she was born to a werewolf couple who were formerly a part of Fenrir Greyback's pack who gave her up for her safety

After Sirius went to Azkaban, Remus wasn't present as much, and Artemis took charge at a young age. Taking care of her younger siblings and her own father

She is literally the sweetest person you'll ever meet. A literal cinnamon roll that needs to be protected, but she can she won't hesitate to fight you if you speak badly about her family

Loyal to a fault

Loves gardening and sweets

Loves milk and white chocolate

Sorted into Hufflepuff

She is the second werewolf in her family, while her older siblings are full wizards.

She loves it when her siblings turn into their animagus form during full moons. It makes her feel less lonely

Sees Harry like an older brother.

Severus has a soft spot for this young wolf (how can you not?)

Her patronus is a wolf

[thedoctorsthings]

BTS reactions: confession during the battle of Hogwarts

warning: kind of bad ending for Jimin (sorry) no nsfw but kissing. suicidal thoughts (it's one line don't worry), magical violence and one(1) mention of blood.

(also my native language isn't English so I got no idea where to put commas)

fluff/angst

word count: a fucking load

SEOKJIN

You had to go with everyone being evacuated. You knew you did, no matter how much it broke your heart. That damned accident had taken everything from you, your ability to walk properly, your quidditch career, and now you couldn't even fight for the school you loved, the only place you ever called home. As you're walking out the great hall he's all you can think of. You hadn't seen Seokjin since you left the room of requirement. Somewhere in the hurdles of people you'd lost him and now you were starting to worry you might not see him again before it all begins, before you're out of here to safety and he's still in here fighting for the life of the school without being able to say goodbye. All you see is people running around, panicking looking for their friends like you. Seokjin was part of your friend group, although you always felt something more for him he always saw you as a friend. Right now that didn't matter. All that was important that you could see him at least one last time, whether or not he felt the same for you was irrelevant. You're almost at the entrance to the tunnel now, just mere minutes and it's too late. Right when the front of the line starts entering you see the back of his head. You would recognise those shoulders anywhere. He's standing at the other end of the hallway and he's far away, too far away. "JIN" ,you yell and you start running towards him. "JIN" , now he turns his head. After a fraction of a second he sees you and starts running too. You push people aside as you go as quick as your bad leg permits you. He's much faster than you and when he get's to you he takes you in his arms, almost lifts you off the ground and catches you in a passionate kiss. Many times you had imagined what this moment would be like, him finally kissing you. None of it compared to what you felt right now. The whole world disappeared, all that was left were his arms around your waist and the feeling of his breath on your cheek. When you break away from each other he starts rambling. A stream of words about how he thought you'd left already and how he'd been worried sick that he would never see you again spilled out of his mouth, meanwhile he had not yet let you go. He'd be an idiot to ever do that again. "I have to go", you told him, but as you looked around you saw your chance had passed. The group of students being evacuated was gone. They'd all passed through the tunnel and you were left behind. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, I promise", Seokjin said as he took you by the hand, leading you to a safe space. His 7 years of messing around at night and with Filch had made him an expert when it came to secret rooms and passageways.

YOONGI

You panicked as you ran into the Great hall, looking around for your friend. You knew all your other friends were safe. You'd been together the whole time but in the chaos of the battle you had lost Yoongi somewhere. Now you could barely bring yourself to look at the bodies lined up along the wall. What if he was one of them? What if the boy you loved was one of the bloody remains robbed of their chance to even graduate? What if he was one of the poor children who's last moments were shrouded in darkness and fear? He would be taken from you before you ever had the chance to find out if he felt the same for you. Reluctantly you looked at all the faces, professor Lupin, his wife, the young boy with the camera and, oh God, Fred Weasley. This damned war was destroying everything. So many innocent faces you'd seen striding the hallways happily not even a year ago. Dread settled in your stomach as you couldn't spot Yoongi among any of the living in the room. You could barely breathe as you started walking quicker. Then, finally, you spotted him sitting on a bench on the other side of the hall. Now you were actually crying. When you've nearly reached him you call his name through tear stained lips and almost jump in his arms when stands up. You hug each other tighter than you ever have. He pulls you impossibly close while you sob into his shirt. When you look up at him, he kisses you just as hard. Everything you've ever dreamed of in the sickest of circumstances. "I love you", he whispers into your mouth. You tear away and sit down on the bench together. All you can do is sit in silence and hold each other while you try to process the horror of what has happened. "we're all too young, none of us will ever recover", you say after a few minutes. The only response he can give is to pull you closer.

HOSEOK

You're standing together on the bridge between debris and dust. Watery sunshine graces your faces. It seems like it's the first time you've felt it in months. "I always believed in him, from the very beginning. When things started getting bad I never doubted for a second that Harry would do the right thing and save us". You tore your eyes away from the view and looked at Hoseok: "Of course you did. You always believe in a good ending", you said. "do you think he'll ever recover from this?", you add. "of course not, I'm not that optimistic". You sigh: "I'm going inside. I need to find some way to contact my mother". "wait". Hoseok turns to you and takes your hands: "This whole battle has made me realise something", he waits for just a second, as if trying to gather his words. "I care about you more than I thought. All I could think about this whole time was you. Wondering if you we're okay and making myself sick with scenarios where you don't make it. I'm in love with you Y/N". Even amidst all this misery and mourning you manage to feel a kind of joy you haven't felt since the ministry started coming after people like you, muggle-borns. "I love you", you say with a smile before kissing him softly on his dusty lips. He wraps his arms around your waist and breathes a sigh of relief: "good, I was worried you'd push me on the ground again for ruining our friendship". You manage a little giggle: "that was one time, let it go". "never!"

NAMJOON

You're running through the hallways, or at least what's left of them. Left and right people are dueling. The hallways are lit up by colourful spells and stones whizzle around your ears. You have to find him. You love your friend and love is even word too soft for what you feel for him, but your clumsy friend should not be trusted to be alone in a battle like this. You take a second to look around. A death eater lunges for you but you manage to paralyse him right before he gets to you. "see, I told you those reflexes wouldn't only be useful in Quidditch". You look around and see Oliver Wood who just landed a stone on Rookwood's head. "Oliver, where is Namjoon!", you yell. "I saw him leave through the big doors? he's after yaxley". You bolt for the doors. You manage to dodge an expelliarmus curse and jump out the door. Once outside you're overtaken by horror. The familiar feeling of cold and inexpressible dread fill your entire body, worse than you've ever felt it before. Dozens, no hundreds of dementors are eerily floating over the near frozen grass, but they have no eye for you. they're all going for the Namjoon. He's hunched over and sitting on the ground. No matter how hard he had tried he had never been able to cast a Patronus, but neither had you. Now was the moment. You had to. You had to save the boy who had struck up a conversation on the Hogwarts express at the beginning of your second year because he knew you were new and had no friends, the boy you were in love with since he took you to the yule ball and danced with you all night. You thought of that night and said: "expecto patronum". nothing happend. You saw how a dementor held Namjoon's almost limp body by his face. "come on!", you begged yourself in tears. As you gripped your wand tighter you tried to repress every bad memory with images of Namjoon. slowly but surely your mind was taken over by warm memories of the boy who introduced you to all your dear friends. "EXPECTO PATRONUM" you yell now. The entire field is engulfed in a white light. A beautiful swan cleaved the darkness like it was nothing. The hundreds of dementors hissed with the ugliest sound you'd ever heard and disappeared. You ran over the grass and kneeled next to him. "why are you out here all alone, you absolute imbecile!" "well good day to you too", he said as he pulled in his arms on the ground. "I love you", you said while he rolled you over with your back on the wet grass. "about time you said that", he chuckled before kissing you like a man starved.

JIMIN

you're both hidden behind the remains of column on the courtyard. A couple of meters from you is Fenrir Greyback and two other werewolves. You can almost smell the stench from their doglike bodies. Your only chance of escape is the whole blown in the wall to your left. "they're faster than us we can't run, especially not with your wounded leg Jimin!" you whisper yell. "Okay, I'll distract them and you run." "Are you crazy! you'll never get away from them alive!" "you don't know that", he says confidently. "Jimin you can't do this, it's a suicide mission". "what else are we going to do?", he asks sternly. You remain silent. He's right there's no way out. You've lost your wand and he can't run fast. "Y/N, you've saved my life so many times. These past years there have been so many days where I was ready to end it all and all that kept me from jumping of the astronomy tower was you. Everyday you save my life by just smiling at me. Y/N I feel the warmth of the sun again when you talk to me". Tears well up in your eyes ass you grab his face and kiss him. He holds you close and whispers in your ear: "let me do this one thing for you. let me pay you back once. I'm a good fighter, I promise I'll get out of here". Hopelessly you nod at your life long friend: "I love you", you whisper. He gives you one last kiss before he jumps over the column with a war cry filled with fear and love for the girl with the eyes that hold the universe. You run. The least you could do was making sure Jimin didn't make this sacrifice for nothing, so you run like you've never ran before. You look back a split second and see Jimin cast a Bombarda spell stronger than you've ever seen. You run through the hallways until your lungs burn. you find the secret room you and your friends found years ago and slide down against the wall. You sob until you no longer feel like a person.

TAEHYUNG

"Taehyung you can't be serious! are you really not going to stay?" "no of course not, what's the point?" "how can you say that!", you yelled: "the point is to protect our school! More than that, it's to protect the whole wizarding world! Tae if we lose this war Voldemort wins and muggles will never have a good life again. Mudbloods like you and me will be killed or imprisoned! How can you just give up like that". He stayed quiet for a moment: "there's no point. This war can be fought by other people. There's no need to lose our lives". You, now seething with anger, scoff: "Kim Taehyung if you walk away now I will never talk to you again!" "fine!" he spits while turning his back. "you're a coward Taehyung!", you yell with tears in your eyes as you see him disappear around the corner. An hour later you're dueling Crabbe senior in the hallway by the main entrance. There's no time to shed tears over the friend you were hopelessly in love with. He wasn't who you thought he was. You shot spells out of your wand faster than you've ever done but the big man dodges them all. He's much more skilled than you and you both know it. By now you've realised your only way out is finding a way to escape, but it looks like that's not going to happen. You see in his eyes that he will kill you if he get's the chance. You're out of breath, your arms hurt and you know you can't keep up much longer. Then it happens. Crabbe hits your side with a well-aimed spell you don't even know and you feel an excruciating pain in your side and after that warm blood seeping down your waist. You drop your wand and fall to the floor. This is the end, you know it. There's no one in this hallway. You look at the sky one last time and let the tears flow because you will die with as sole company, your murderer. "STUPIFY!" you hear a familiar voice scream. the hallway bathes in a red light and when you look up Taehyung comes running at you from the end of the hallway. Crabbe lands on the floor next to you, completely paralysed. Taehung slides next to you on his knees and takes you in his arms. He strokes the hair out of your face and sobs "I'm so sorry Y/N". "You came back!", you sigh in relief as you wrap your arms around his shoulders. "I'm so sorry I left, I should have been here to protect you". You feel the wet of his tears against your neck and chuckle through your own tears: "yes you should have, but you're lucky you came back on time. He would've killed me I saw it in the way he moved". He let's you go just enough to look at you: "I love you so much Y/N. I'm never leaving again. "good", you whisper and kiss him like you've wanted to for so long.

JUNGKOOK

You and Jungkook stand back to back in the corridor underneath the divination classroom. You're being attacked by two masked death eaters from both sides. You're losing your battles but you can't give up because above your heads in the classroom you've hidden a bunch of left-behind first years. If you don't survive this those children are left to fend for themselves and you can't let that happen. So you fire another spell at your opponent and almost manage to throw her off her feet. Behind you, you hear Jungkook laugh: "I've never felt so alive Y/N" and then a hoarse voice answering: "I'll put an end to that soon" followed by another curse hurled at Jungkook. You burst the mask of your deatheater's face and see fire in her eyes. In that small moment of fear she's to fast for you and as she disarms you she cackles a hollow laughter. "JUNGKOOK, HELP!", you yell helpless without your wand. The genuine fear in the voice of the girl he's been secretly in love with for years gives Jungkook the adrenaline he needs to finish this. with a simple Wingardium Leviosa he lifts up his opponent and slams him through the window out of the castle. With the speed of light he turns around and does the same to the woman standing opposite of you. Both of you stand a moment in silence as you try to process what happened. You turn to look at each other and that look in his eyes tells you everything you've wanted to hear for the past 4 years. You throw yourselves in the other's arms and almost fall to the ground with the power of the kiss that follows. When you tear apart for air the adrenaline wears off and the both of you start crying. "I love you Jungkook", you say with his face in your hands. All he does is kiss you again.

[23starii]

Gʜᴏsᴛ Oғ Cʜɪᴄᴀɢᴏ

Kᴀɢᴇʏᴀᴍᴀ Tᴏʙɪᴏ X Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

m.list

Pᴀʀᴛ Oɴᴇ: I Wᴀs Nᴇᴠᴇʀ Lᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ Fᴏʀ Hᴇʀ

Wᴀʀɴɪɴɢs/ɴᴏᴛᴇs: This chapter will not contain Smau/ more like an introductory chapter into Kageyamas' feelings, yelling, name calling, panic attack (not directly mentioned), toxic Kageyama (middle school), flashback

Kageyama Tobio has only had a crush once before, his entire life.

A lot of people (his family) say that his first love has always been volleyball, but he knows the truth.

Before her, Kageyama Tobio never cared for girls. He was only twelve years old when he met her, after all.

His first love was the first girl who caught his eyes. A girl who was impossible to ignore, who floated above everyone else, and he ruined any chance he ever had to be with her for volleyball.

He broke her spirit, her love for the sport. All because he wanted to be the best.

It haunts him every night, and every time, the ball falls in the court, and his team gains a point.

He hears her sobs in his head. He sees her frown in every reflection.

He only did it because he was right.

Right?...

It was Kageyama's third year at Kitagawa Daichi, Oikawa, who graduated two years ago, leaving his sister and team behind.

Kageyama still remembers the first time he met Y/n Oikawa. But it was like a distant memory now, now that things were... the way they were.

If he said his feelings for her had changed since the first time they met, he would be lying. But he would never ever say it out loud, and if he did, it would surely be the end.

His crush on her was clouded by his intense desire to win, and it was killing him, confusing him. She just had to be the manager of his team.

No matter how many times he complained and nagged about hating the manager, how useless she was, the coach wouldn't budge.

"Y/n is the perfect addition to this team. She's got a great head on her shoulders." Coach would say, shutting down Kageyama's attempt to get her kicked from the team.

So, Kageyama subconsciously came up with a plan. A plan to get her away from him.

He was convinced she was part of the reason Kunimi couldn't hit his serves.

How could he? How could Kageyama focus on setting or Kunimi focus on hitting the ball when Y/n was always watching so intensly..his every move.

He couldn't take it anymore.

If coach wouldn't kick her from the team.. then Kageyama just had to force her to quit.

That day haunts him. The day he made her quit.

Y/n had been partaking in her usual duties, taking notes on Kageyamas sets and Kunimis spikes during a 3v3 against other members of the kitagawa team.

The young girl spectated from the sidelines along with the team's Coach beside the score board she was also in charge of. Coach always mentioned how Y/n's ability to observe was beyond that of anyone else. He knew she saw every flaw.

Y/n secretly hated being on the team. She hated how Coach dismissed Kageyamas actions despite the fact they both knew he was the problem. Kageyama lacked discipline and coach lacked the ability to give it to him.

What good was observing and taking notes if they were never actually taken into consideration?

She sighed and watched. Noticing coach had disappeared from her side.

Kageyama gets into position, the ball hurdiling his way. Kunimi sees this and prepares to jump.

Finally the ball settles into the curves of Kageyams hands, he bends his elbows and launches it into the air in terrifying speed. Kunimi runs, jumps as high as he thought he could and swings his arm, keeping his eyes on the ball, he hardly touches it.

The ball flies to the other side of the court, landing right our of bounds.

Kunimi lands back on his feat and looks at Y/n. She pulls back the number revealing a 25/24 score on the score board.

Kunimi curses under his breath, knowing what comes next as he watches Y/n scribble a line on the clipboard she held.

She glances over the sheet once more. Focused on the check marks and exes she had been writing down the entire game, she hardly notices the stomping aggressive footsteps of the teams young setter rushing toward her.

Kunimi is taken aback, he hadn't even noticed Kageyama move when he suddenly saw him walking over to Y/n.

He and kindaichi knew this couldn't be good. They nervously watched from the court, making eye contact with eachother for a moment. The other team watched too, the feeling in the room was different, much more intense .

Y/n doesn't notice, not until Kageyama is right in front of her aggressively snatching the clipboard from her hands. She gasps and looks up at him.

He flips the clipboard over and stares at it. Y/n stands there unsure of what to do or where to look.

The grip Kageyama evidently had on the clipboard was rough and angry.

His eyes dart from the page onto the girl in front of him. She can feel her arms shake. Suddenly her legs felt like air.

"What is this?" He flips the clipboard over once more shoving it in her face and pointing at the last X mark she had written down.

Y/n stares at it but doesn't speak. She couldn't find the words.

She knew the X meant the last set was faulty, causing Kageyama's side to loose the 3v3.

"Why did you cross this off?" His voice rough and his words like a whip bouncing off the walls and into the ears of the teens in the room

"I-it well..the set, it was faulty so-"

"Faulty?!" Kageyama interupted, just as the girl had built up the courage to reply to his original question.

"Are you stupid?" He breathed out, lowering the clipboard and getting in her face.

She averted her eyes quickly, fear seeping through her.

"Are you sure you were watching? Because from where I was standing... I dont think I could have given him a better set." He stated, his words rang in her head yet she could barely process them from how scared she was, he had gotten pissy at her before but he had never looked this scary.

"It's not my fault Kunimi and you are incompetent. This court is mine. I am the best member on this team and you are nothing. Get your eyes fucking checked." He shoved the clipboard to her chest but y/n being too stunned to speak wasn't able to grab it before it slipped from his hands and onto the floor with a loud thud.

That's what pushed him over the edge and he turned to her.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you do anything?!!" Now he was yelling.

The boys in the court stiffened up unable to process if they should do anything.

Before Kageyama could say anything else, Y/n takes a deep sharp breath and finally musters up the courage to turn on her heel and run away through the open sliding doors.

Y/n screwed her eyes shut, feeling the wind hit her face and blow through her hair.

She ran and ran until she reached the next building, she hid behind it. Suddenly she was hunched over panting heavily and wiping her tears as they flowed from her eyes despite her efforts to stop.

She couldn't believe what just happened. She hadn't done anything wrong, yet Kageyama got so angry. It was impossible to reason with him when he yelled.

Y/n couldn't belive she ran away either, she felt like a coward yet she was still afraid of going back and unable to stop her crying.

Her thoughts are abruptly interupted by the sharp snap of a twig. She immediately turns to the sound, seeing Kunimi standing right next to her.

She gasps and stands up straight, whiping her eyes.

"Hey.." Kunimi places a hand on her shoulder nervously. He wasn't sure of what to say or really do. He just knew he had to go after her and he couldn't stand being in that gym any longer.

His words and presence alone were enough to make her sob. She wad glad someone cared enough to go after her.

She covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them, leaning into Kunimi's shoulder. The boy placed his other arm around her and let her cry into his uniform.

Kunimi stood there without saying a word. He kept his hand on her shoulder, occasionally soothing over it when her breath hitched in her throat.

Kunimi didn't know it, but what he was doing was exactly what Y/n needed in that moment.

And neither of them ever knew that right behind them was the cause of everything.

Kageyama had ran after Kunimi and was now standing behind them watching the interaction.

He wanted to be angry, he wanted to yell again he wanted to rip Kunimi apart for touching her.

Then he realized..

He made her cry.

Kageyama made y/n cry.

He didn't know what was happening. Why did he feel this way? His chest was tight, and so were his fists. He walked away.

After that day, Kageyama never saw Y/n again.

She quit the team and avoided him at school every day.

After that day, Kageyama was cursed, cursed to remember her face and her voice. To be crushed by the guilt of what he had done.

_______________________________________

Tɪʟʟ I Fᴏᴜɴᴅ Hᴇʀ

Next->

[artificial-transmutations]

Two sides of the same coin - Road to Success

"You know, they should just, like, close that place down." Alden said and took another deep drag. Devan, his pal, nodded eagerly and waited for Alden to give him the blunt.

Both young men sat at their usual spot in the park opposite of the big Financial Applications Partnership bank and smoked weed. Other guys in their age were probably in college right now, learning for their future, but not those two. They started smoking weed together back in high school and had not stopped ever since. Learning, working or earning money was such a foreign concept for them. Sure, they had their part time jobs to pay for rent, but it was not something they enjoyed doing or wanted. It was a necessity in that exploitative capitalistic system they had to live in that didn't let two fine young men do what they wanted all day long. In their case, this was relaxing in the park and smoking weed. Fuck the system, really.

"Or really, all the banks." Alden continued. "Who needs money anyway? Right?"

Finally, he passed the blunt to Devan who took a drag and smiled.

"Yeah dude. Money is the worst."

Then, he made a serious face for a moment and asked. "But imagine, dude. What would you do if you had like, a ton of money? What would you buy?"

Alden was distracted for a moment by a glittering object next to his old sneaker. When he picked it up, it was a shiny coin, sparkling in the sunlight. He pocketed it quickly. He kept his money in his pocket because he believed that wallets were for rich people.

Too late he realized that Devan had asked him a question.

"Sorry dude", he smiled, "what were you saying?"

Devan shrugged and took another puff before passing the blunt over again.

"If you had, like a million dollars or even a billion. What would you do with it?"

Alden thought about it for a while, then answered honestly.

"I'd probably spend it all on weed." Then he smacked his forehead. "No, wait! I probably couldn't smoke all that weed by myself, right? So, I would just buy everyone weed, tons of weed."

Devan laughed heartily.

"Yeah man. And we could have parties every day!"

They both laughed at the idea of having parties every day. That sounded great to them.

"But how would I even get so much money?"

Devan looked around and pointed the building at the other side.

"Perhaps you'd work at the FAP bank?"

Both laughed again, the notion was ridiculous.

"Then I would probably, like, need to go to college or even university, right? That sounds like so much work."

Some subtle changes occurred to Alden's face. His hair straightened itself and his beard got a little less messy.

"Yeah, and look at you, you wouldn't even be accepted by university. Not with these dirty shoes of yours." Devan joked and took the blunt back. Neither of the two men found it odd in the least as Devan’s own shoes dissolved suddenly, leaving him bare-footed. Shortly after, his feed became black and leathery, becoming clean black lace up shoes.

Alden nodded and got out of his shoes, putting on the new ones that were Devan’s feet just a few moments ago.

"But if I were in university, I would probably ace all my classes, because I'd be really smart. And don't forget I'd play baseball. I'd be the star of the team and win all games."

This time, the changes were more extreme. Alden’s body pumped up with muscles and his new shoes transformed into cleats.

"You would need proper baseball pants for that. No way you could play with those torn jeans."

Immediately, Devan's pants vanished and revealed his legs, balls and cock, which quickly began to change. While his legs became a pair of white baseball pants, his cock and balls hardened into a sports cup and jockstrap.

"Duh, of course." Alden was already discarding his old pants and fastened the athletic cup around his groin with the jockstrap before he pulled up his new pants.

"It would of course take a while to graduate, but I would surely be top of my class. I could apply at the bank then."

Alden quickly gained a few years and his whole appearance became more cultivated. His beard disappeared and his hair became well-groomed and dyed blond.

Devan, who was now literally only half the man he used to be laughed. "As if they would even consider you if you showed up in a t-shirt. A button-up is the least they'd expect."

Immediately, his torso flattened and folded in on itself, depositing his head on the bench with the blunt still in his mouth. What was once his arms and chest formed into a neat white button-up shirt.

Alden nodded seriously and changed into his new shirt. He looked smart and neat now, with his muscles straining the shirt just the right amount.

"Of course, I can't expect to make a fortune from one day to the next. It will take me at least 20 years of hard work to establish myself in the company and raise through the ranks to upper management."

Even his speech pattern was different now, but his changes were not quite over yet. His hard earned university muscles degraded somewhat again, as more and more years piled up in him, leaving him a mid-40s ex-jock. Still attractive, but with the hard cold eyes you need in order to be really successful.

"Just imagine wearing a tie everyday..." Devan joked, as the last part of him, his head, changed and transformed into a blue silk tie.

Alden nodded politely and quickly put on his tie with movements he did a thousand times before. Then he grabbed his cigar that had fallen to the bench next to him and sighed. That cigar did cost more than other men earned in a month. Still, it had fallen to the dirty bank, so he would have to throw it away. It didn't matter. He was successful and rich now, what did he care for people less successful than him?

He straightened his expensive suit and walked back to the FAP bank. Time to make more money.

If you like the theme, be sure to check out my other stories of the same kind!

[hugheses]

Have you ever read anything about why Jack decided not to go to college? I know he was projected to go first for a while and his goal was to make the team right away, but Quinn and Luke committed to Michigan at like 14. So when jack was 14 too it was kind of a long ways off from him knowing he’d go first overall. I wonder what his parents thought since their dad has said multiple times that their kids all playing college hockey was their dream

this is a kind of long answer so buckle up. first of all, as kids, jack was very different from luke and quinn. obviously all 3 are elite players now, but both jim and ellen have said that jack’s trajectory differed from a young age. so while quinn went 8th round in the ohl draft, the plan for him was always college and it wasnt until he was at the program that he started to be seen as a top player. but jack as a player was so elite so young that people were talking about him going first overall before he was in high school. he applied for exceptional status for the ohl so he could play as an underager but was denied (bc he was so physically immature and would have been playing against men) but had he played in the ohl, he would have not been eligible for the ncaa. so for a while that was the reason. and then he went to the program and after his first year a lot of michigan fans had hoped that he would graduate HS early to go play with quinn at umich, but he said that he wanted to stay where he was for his development. and at this point he's been the presumptive first overall pick for years, it wasn't until the year of the draft that kakko was seen as a serious challenger. most first overalls go into the nhl their draft year, with some exceptions like owen power obviously, but for the most part, 1st overalls who play in college either have earlier birthdays than jack (so would age out of the ntdp etc before their draft year like auston matthews) or graduate early on purpose to play in college. quinn's birthday actually falls in the weird category of spending 2 years at the ntdp and still needing to graduate early to go straight to college. to sum things up, college hockey was yes the dream for quinn and luke, but jack was always different and their parents have said as much. they wont explicitly say it, but they knew jack was going into the nhl long before 14. and i don't know how close it actually got to happening, but in summer 2018 jack was (allegedly) stopped by the admissions department from going to umich where sometimes they will fudge stuff for elite athletes. but i kind of doubt he would have gone anyway, because he loved the program and it was hockeyhockeyhockey 24/7 in a way college just isn't, and he lived close enough that he saw quinn all the time.

from earlier that year,

And Quinn said he'd be happy if Jack played for the Wolverines next season. “Playing with my brother would be a dream come true,” Quinn said. “He’s gotta make his own decision.”

and

Jack and the Hughes family has options. Along with U-M, the Mississauga Steelheads drafted him with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection. Or he could stay at NTDP for the second year. “It could be a perfect scenario,” Jim said of Jack going to U-M. “But they’re not there yet. The beauty is Jack is in a really great spot right now. He values the development he’s getting with Seth and Wrobo.” Quinn said he and his brother haven’t talked about next year's possibilities yet. They’re focused on what they still can accomplish this season, on their respective teams.

and then here's an article on him choosing to stay at the ntdp that year. so the reasons he didnt commit young were mostly that he didnt know if he even could go to college, and then he almost did go as a 17 year old but ultimately did not. every school in the country would have tripped over themselves to try to nab him, but it was assumed by umich and everyone else that if he went to college, it would be there. but pretty much everyone at the time expected him to make the jump to the nhl immediately in 2019, including himself, he was very vocal about wanting to do so.