#but then your former teammates try to steal them from you!

[rayukiriver]

Birthday boys!!

i guess better late than never, right? x))

[hinatiny]

swooning ੈ✩‧₊˚ semi eita

you're not sure whether it's a blessing or a curse to be the only witness of semi's charming side; being treated like royalty all while falling victim to his antics and yet, you never really try to stop him.

w.c: 0.8

you feel so silly when you catch your breath hitching due to having your shoes tied by someone else. 

it's not like it's the first time. you vaguely remember fragments of childhood memories where you needed someone else to tie your tiny shoes while you still hadn't learned how to do it yourself. once or twice or so, you've had to ask a friend to hook the loosened strings of old sneakers, probably because your hands were too full to do it. of course it has happened before.

it’s just that it’s, for some reason, a lot more intimate if it's semi eita.

your fingers feel clammy around the edge of the chair you’re seated in. stood in the hallway and ready to head out, you had bent down just a few moments ago to tie your shoes, just for your hands to be gently swatted away by a pair of others.

“you know, i can do it myself.”

semi doesn’t look up at you from where he’s sitting on a knee in front of you, but you can make out the small curve of a growing smile as he breathes out a chuckle. “you can,” he says softly, although there’s something playful lacing his voice, “but what kind of boyfriend would i be to not do it for you?”

“semi, it’s just some sho–”

your words fall short, replaced by your breath getting stuck in your throat when you feel his lips graze your knee. you catch the slight force of the final knot but before semi reaches for the other shoe, he grazes the tip of his nose against the skin and once again, you feel the tingling traces left by his lips.

under the dim lights, his ears are graced by various shining piercings. you’re greeted by the fluff ash gray hair and you have to fight the urge to touch it, not needing to leave it more disheveled than it’s already been purposely styled for the upcoming event of the night. he tilts his head back, just slightly, enough for his eyes to peek up at you past the messy strands. the fall half-lidded at the same time as he flashes you a smile, one you barely can see as he’s busy pressing another kiss to your knee, a bit further up this time.

you feel so silly, being this nervous by such simple actions, but it’s the mere fact that it’s semi tying your shoes this time that’s making you oddly nervous.

“my angel got so dressed up and pretty just to come to one of my band’s gigs,” semi gently hums. “the least i can do is to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”

so serious and stoic, at times even hotheaded and competitive—you got that confirmed as early as the first volleyball game you watched shortly after getting to know semi—yet ever so gentle and kind in the purest forms of the words; you’re certain that’s how everyone from his former teammates, to his current band members, to his friends perceive him. they’re not wrong. far from such, but it sometimes makes you wonder how many of them, if any at all, are familiar with this side of him, the rather assertive and impish side that has your heart racing abnormally fast by the most simple of gestures. maybe any of his previous partners? you’re surprised to find yourself not feeling remotely bothered or jealous at the image, because somewhere you’re sure you’re the only one who has gotten this privilege (or curse, take it as you may).

“eita, we’re gonna be late…” you mumble into the peaceful coziness of your home, poking the cheek that wasn't resting on your leg.

semi laughs again, before sighing in defeat and returning his full focus on the other shoe. without tearing his eyes away from the strings around his fingers, he speaks, "you look stunning tonight – trying to steal the spotlight away from me?"

"oh, hush," you scoff, although making him chuckle when he can almost hear the smile you're responding with.

tying the final knot, semi settles one last kiss to your knee. he pushes himself up from his own, but stops eye-level to you. his palm finds your cheek, cradling, caressing it oh so lovingly.

you feel less silly when he leans closer, because you simply cannot be blamed for feeling the flutter in your chest as your lips lock with his – a brief touch, but it carries every bit of affection he holds for you, and you hold for him.

"alright, let's go." semi pulls back and flashes you a wide grin, "can't get late to showing you off."

this makes you laugh, even as he holds your hand to swiftly pull you up on your feet, "i thought we were going there for your live?"

"i have my priorities."

[theladybarnes]

CRIMSON AND CLOVER: CHAPTER TWO

"There is no shame in running.”

▸ summary: winter brings the holidays, vacations, and new worries ▸ characters:  robin buckley, eddie munson, & steve harrington 💕 (ft. dustybuns) ▸ word count: 10.2k         ▸ warnings: SMUT (18+MINORS DNI) unprotected p&v smut, angst, & fluff ▸ series masterlist

NOVEMBER

 “Okay, honey, gonna need you to ease up on the—shit that was a stop. Break!”

 You pressed down on the break gently, forcing the car into a stop at the side of the road. Frowning over at your boyfriend. “Can you please stop nagging my driving?”

 “Nagging? Baby, you missed that stop sign!”

 Glancing over your shoulder, you look back to the sign. “I did not!” You grumbled, shifting back to look at the road. “I just did a California pause.” 

 Steve scoffed a bit, trying to stop the smile that wanted to creep its way in.“Yeah, well, that California pause is gonna get us an Indiana ticket.” 

 “I wish the two of you would settle on who’s actually driving.” Robin said softly from the backseat. A glance in the rearview mirror showed you a very nervous Robin who was currently covering her face with her hands. 

 “I am driving! Steve is shutting up now.” You said with a roll to your eyes. The house of the party was only a couple blocks away now and Steve’s worrisome attitude would soon be over. 

 To be fair, the two of them had been a little on edge tonight. It had taken nearly all afternoon to convince the both of them to come out with you tonight. Jason Carver was hosting a party during fall break and you needed a mindless distraction from all the school work you’ve been diving into lately.

 Naturally, they had good reasons to be so reluctant about going. 

 Robin for the fact that most of the people there did not like her due to her status in band. And also because no one she’d actually like to talk with would be there. 

 As for Steve, well, he wasn’t too keen on the idea of going to a party at former teammate's house. After the events that happened your first year here, it was clear he was pushed out of the team’s good graces after his fallout with Tommy. 

 But after promising that you’d make sure they had a good time in your group's own fun way, they finally gave in. 

 “You know, I really don’t mind driving us.” Steve said softly, trying again to gain back some control. 

 Holding in a tired sigh, you reached over and placed your hand on his thigh. Squeezing at the limb tenderly. “Honey,” you said, stealing his own nickname for you. “Just relax, and let me take care of us okay? We’re almost there.”

 A quick glance showed you Steve slightly taken back by your slight dominance. 

 “Why did I like that so much?..” he asked himself, but sat back anyway, resting his hand on top of yours. Robin peeking out from her hands let out a small laugh as she leaned closer towards the two of you.

 “I thought by now you’d have convinced your old man to send over another car. Didn’t you complain the other day that he just got a new car for himself?”

 The bitter memory of your phone call back home brought a sour look to your face. It was supposed to be a regular end of the week check in but it turned into their big recent purchases.

 “He’s pissed I’ve ruined another car.” You pouted. “I tried to convince him it was because of the mall fire but he said since I didn’t pick a safe enough parking spot, it was on me. Which means I’m unfortunately carless once again.”

 “Not completely,” Steve butt in, squeezing at your hand again. “I’m willing to pick you up and drop you off anywhere.”

 “And me too, right, dingus?” Robin asked, looking over at her friend. Steve waved his other hand side to side. Acting like was debating whether or not to agree with her. She settled for slapping him upside the head lightly. 

 “I’m still debating on that,” he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. “Trouble here though, should know she’s set for life on rides.” 

 “Rides that I’ll occasionally get to drive on?” You said playfully, watching as he laughed hesitantly with a small head shake. 

 “Still debating that too.”

 “It makes sense to take rides from Steve anyway.” Robin pointed out. “You two are together for most things anyway.”

 You turned the wheel down the next block, not really sure on how you should reply.  But honesty always seemed to be the best way to go most of the time. “I’ll need to drive on my own eventually.” you shrugged. “Especially if things are different next year..”

 The weight of those last words hit the car instantly and you tried not to physically wince at the small silence that followed after it. 

 “Right.” Steve said soon after, squeezing at your hands. Almost reassuringly. “It will be different..next year.”

 Glancing to your right, you watched as he gave you a small smile before looking out the front window. “Stop!” he said suddenly, making you slam on the break a bit. The three of you jerked forward before falling back against the seat.

 From the passenger rear view mirror, you could see a golden looking cat strutting away from the car. 

 “Well that guy came out of nowhere.” you said sheepishly watching as both of their heads turned to look at you incredulously. Nervously, you adjusted the top of your jacket, looking back to the road. “Anyway, Steve was distracting me. So now that he’s stopped we can finally get back to business.”

 “Back to business?” Robin asked as she settled back into her seat again. “You mean you back to carelessly driving while Steve tries not to go into a panic attack?”

 “Yes, but only to the second part.” Turning on the left hand signal, you checked over your shoulder to the road before setting back to the party. “I am getting us to this party, in one piece, and you two will enjoy yourselves and thank me later for having such a good time.”

 You glanced quickly at Steve, raising a brow at him. “Right, Steve?” you asked, looking for a little back up. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he finally nodded his head. Absently giving you a thumbs up as he glanced at the road. 

 “Yeah, exactly.” 

 “Sure,” Robin agreed. “We’ll have a good time. If we don’t die on the way there.” 

 You ignore the jab and keep on with your positivity. “Again, in one piece and a good time!”

 Steve thankfully sensing your slight distress held onto your hand. Rubbing at the back with his thumb. “Ease up, Buckley. Trouble’s right. Plus we’re not even that far from the place anyway.” 

 “Yeah, yeah, sure.” Robin waved off. “But if I could just say one more thing then I’ll keep quiet back here.” 

 “What is it?” You asked tiredly. 

 “You just missed our right turn.” 

 “..Fuck.” 

Things thankfully did turn around the minute you guys entered inside the house. 

 Robin was first to set off in a different direction when she caught sight of an old friend from band that had graduated previously. Leaving you and Steve to mingle your way through the crowd of kids. Surprisingly, there were a couple of old faces that seemed to be pleased to see their former classmate again.

 “So wait, the two of you were actually in the mall that night?” asked Anna Jacobi. Her Purdue sweater had a distracting splotch of beer on the front of it that kept catching your eyes.

 “We were.” Steve answered casually, trying to downplay the actual events of the night. “It was pretty crazy. Things got pretty hectic after we got our friends out. Didn’t even have the chance to really see all the damage that had gone on.”

 “I heard you guys had to be checked out by paramedics.” Said her date Mark Sutton next. “Did anyone get hurt?”

 “Well, we inhaled a lot of smoke and fell a couple of times trying to get up the broken escalator. Some of us had to get patched up.” You waved off, trying not to think about the ‘simple’ patch work like El’s leg, Jonathan’s face, and almost the entirety of Steve’s body.

 “I swore I saw Harrington with a shiner for like a week afterwards.” Said someone from the back, making you think you almost slipped up on that last part of your thoughts.

 Instinctively, you turned your body closer to Steve’s. Almost attempting to shield him from their line of curious questions. To this day the sight of his bruised and battered body still haunted you. Reminding you that had it not been for Dustin or Erica, the three of you would have faced a lot worse than truth serum. 

 “Some guard inhaled too much smoke. Then attacked Steve when he thought he was trying to keep him inside.” 

 From the side you could see Steve gave you a small curious look while the group murmured in astonishment. 

 “I’m sure the guy won if he was up against Harrington.”

 All of you snapped your head towards the source of the voice. Standing in his Indiana State sweater was Tommy Hagan. His legs wobbled a bit as he pushed his way through the small group of people around you guys. A clear sign of how inebriated he was.

 “Tommy,” Steve said dryly. “You’re here.”

 “Yeah,” he scoffed, crossing his arms. “Seeing as I was actually invited and not someone’s plus one.” he smirked as he perched at the edge of the armrest, giving him the chance to look down at you two.

 “Speaking of being invited. I don’t remember inviting you over for this conversation. Why don’t you go do something useful like bothering someone else? Or going to take a swim with a slab of concrete?” you said simply, giving Tommy a glare. It’s been months since either one of you have had to put up with him and you weren’t too keen on that changing now.

 His smile faltered a bit before he shook it off to smirk at you. “Lovely as ever, Henderson. I’m actually surprised to find you here. With Stevie boy of all people. Would have thought you were done playing guard dog to freaks when he graduated.” he finished, bringing his can of beer up to his lips. 

 The comment struck a nerve with Steve. He nearly shot up from his seat but seemed to hold back from giving Tommy the full reaction he was looking for. From his side you could see his hand clench up in a fist while the other wrapped around you pulled you in closer. 

 “Is there any reason why you’re here, Tommy?” Steve asked, not leaving room to humor his inquiries. “Or was bothering us part of your list of things to do tonight?”

 The group around you guys slowly seemed to catch onto the animosity, pulling away a bit from the three of you, but not enough so that they’d miss out on the conversation. 

 “Ooh,” he cooed, smirking down at Steve. “Can’t a guy catch up with his old school chums?” 

 He looked around the room, trying to get someone to smile at him. “I just want to make my visit back home fun before I head back to school.” He turned back to the two of you, giving a sardonic smile. “That’s something Stevie boy will never have to worry about. He’ll always be here. Stuck in Hawkins, waiting to catch up with us.”

 Steve’s face hardened. You started to see red. 

 “Wow, Tommy, after all this time you’re still so obsessed with what Steve is doing.” Getting up from the couch, you sized him up for a moment as you stood with your hands on your hips. You made sure to throw in a bright smile. “I would have figured you stopped keeping tabs on him a long time ago. Then again, I guess you must be bored and bitter now since Carol dumped you on her way to OSU.”

 Finally the smile dropped from Tommy’s face as a scowl took over. 

 “Listen bitch,” he muttered, pointing a finger at you. “I don’t think you of all people here have room to talk about being dumped. Didn’t you get dumped by Billy after you wrecked his ca–”

 The cup of beer is taken out of your hand quickly and thrown into Tommy’s face before you could even react. Steve was up now, moving you to stand behind him as he stepped up to Tommy. “Watch your mouth, asshole.”

 “Wow,” he chuckled, wiping his face of any liquid. “Still got some fire in you, I see.” Standing up now, he adjusted his sweater before looking Steve in the eyes. “Why don’t you and I take this outside and settle things once and for all? That is unless you’ve gotten shittier since your fight with Byers..and Hargrove..and I guess we should count the mall security now.”

 “Fuck you.” Steve grunted. 

 The two looked like they were about to start fighting then and there when the sound of a hollering noise came up from behind them.

 “Tommy! I’m so glad you made it, man!” 

 Jason Carver, the party host, pushed his way through the small audience that had formed around you guys to make his way and hug Tommy. He quickly realized the boy had been soaked up in beer and frowned at his shirt before looking between both boys. “Is everything cool here?” He looked more concerned about Tommy than the overall situation.

 “Yeah,we’re cool” Steve said calmly, not giving room for the other boy to clue Jason in. “Tommy might need some help keeping dry, though.”

 Turning around, he gently placed his hand into yours. 

 “Come on, let’s get some air.”

 Without looking back, he led you out of the living room and out the back door of the house. The backyard was just as busy with buzzing kids, but at least had cool crisp air to give you guys some breathing room to relax from the tense moment. 

 It wasn’t until you were towards the back gate of the house that Steve let go to lean against the wood wall. Letting out a tired sigh while he kept his gaze down at the floor. 

 “Are you okay?” you asked softly.

 “No…I’m not okay.”

 “Please don’t be upset.” Reaching out, you cupped the sides of his cheeks and tried to get him to look at you. “Tommy’s an asshole. He’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Out of both of us.”

 “He’s right though..I’m still here. Stuck.”

 You shook your head quickly, needing to get some sense into your boyfriend. “You’re not stuck here. Just because this asshole puts it like that doesn’t mean shit. He doesn’t know anything you’ve been through the past two yea–”

 “Wasn’t it you just a few years ago, who told me I’d be nothing but the boy who used to be relevant?”

 Hearing your words brought up felt like a bucket of ice water thrown to your face. Surprisingly, it stung more than you thought it would. At the time the words made sense, you wanted Steve to hurt as badly as you did. 

 But things changed, he changed.

 “Yeah, I said that. And I was wrong. Okay? I was wrong and a liar because at the end of the day I did like you. I liked you so much that I had to physically keep myself away from you.” 

 The very idea of Steve thinking so far back to what you said and it possibly being something that continued to hurt him made your stomach twist up. 

 “So yeah, you’re not in tech, or state, or wherever. But you’re here with me, and you’re my favorite person in all this stupid world. Who does stuff like sticking up for me when you know I can handle angry customers, or letting me drive your precious car to lame parties, or giving me crazy hot sex at the office at work that I still think about sometimes.”

 Sighing, you make a point to take a step back from him. Giving him a small sad smile. “I said a lot of awful shit to you in the past..I’m sorry. I’d never say anything about the guy standing before me now. And you shouldn’t give two craps about your jealous ex best friend or anything he says. But I guess that’s just what I think.”

 Feeling a little frustrated, you make a move to step off towards the gate door when you’re pulled back gently. 

 Steve wrapped one arm around your lower back while the other cupped at your cheek. “I’m sorry,” he sighed, resting his forehead against yours. “I shouldn’t have brought that up. That was another time for us. I just.. I just can’t get his words out of my head. If Tommy Hagan of all people is doing better off than me–”

 “Tommy Hagan is currently throwing up on Jason’s couch,” said a voice suddenly. 

 Staggering from the side of the house was Robin. In her hands was a stolen bag of chips and an unopened six pack of beers. “I highly doubt he’s doing better than you right now.” she smirked as she came over. 

 The two of you pull apart, but keep each other’s hands linked together. Steve is still down, looking only at your hands while he sniffed to himself. You glanced over at Robin who gave you a small nod, seeming to already know what’s happened from inside the party. It brought back the twisting feeling in your gut when you remembered how much of a better mood he was earlier that day. 

 “This party blows.” you said nodding over to Robin. “Wanna go drink and watch scary movies?”

 “I know a place where we can grab a quick flick.” Robin smiled, seeming to like the change of plans. She moved over to Steve’s side, nudging him in the shoulder lightly. “Waddya say, dingus? Wanna get buzzed and watch some masked guy chase a hottie?”

 He picked his head up at that, giving Robin a slight pout before he turned to look at you. Leaning in, you gave a small kiss to the corner of his lips in effort to make him smile. “That is if you’re up for it.”

 The two of you keep your focus on Steve, leaning in comically enough that he has to hold up his hands to push both away lightly.  “Fine,” he said, a smile cracking through his lips. “But I get to pick the movie.”

 It’s weird to be ditching a party so early. This wouldn’t have happened last year. But something about leaving to go enjoy the rest of the night with Robin, Steve, and a cheesy horror movie felt right. And as the three of you made your way over to Steve’s car, you hope that he felt the same way.

  DECEMBER

 It was early one Saturday morning when the sound of a boy’s boisterous laugh woke you up. A dangerous move on the stranger’s part considering you were still in your beauty. 

 Grabbing onto your robe, you emerged out of your room. Brushing off the early sleep from your eyes to find the source of the noise pollution. Dustin, who didn’t have anyone over as far as you know, was standing in the living room surrounded by a small group of boys you recognized from school. 

 “Who’s the guy who can’t control the volume of his voice?” you muttered, giving the group a small glare. 

 Two boys in matching shirts jumped in place, not seeing you behind them. A third boy, who looked like he had seen a ghost, spat out the water he had been drinking. “D-Dustin,” he stuttered, shakily pointing over at you. “You didn’t tell us a girl lived here.” 

 “Girl?” Dustin snorted as he piled in books and snacks into his backpack. “You mean Medusa? Could’ve sworn that she was a Gorgon.” 

 “Oh you’re so funny!” You said, faking a hard laugh. “Wanna know what else is gonna be funny? Aunt Claudia’s face when I tell her it was you and your little troop of dungeoneers who dragged dirt onto her clean carpet.” 

 Dustin scoffed at the threat, getting up from the floor to cross his arms at you. “Please. There’s barely anything.” 

 “There is something, right here.” you insisted. 

 He huffed a bit before he joined you at your side. Peering down at the floor. You waited until he was distracted enough before putting him in a chokehold. Instantly he fought back, trying to get out of your vice like grip. The two of you ignored the anxious other boys as you struggled against each other.

 “Let me go!” Dustin cried out, slapping at your arms. 

 “Say you’re sorry for the Medusa comment or else your ass is grass!” you hissed, pinching at his sides. It only caused the boy to become more erratic. Flailing in your arms until he was able to release himself out of your hold. He quickly stepped back and held up his hands defensively. 

 “If you tell my Mom about any of this, I’ll let slip about seeing Steve’s little morning exit from your window last Sunday!” he yelled back. 

 You let out a loud gasp. Shocked that he not only knew about last week’s rendezvous, but was brave enough to use as a threat against you. At any other time you’d be pretty impressed about it. But since he was doing it in front of his little friends, you could only scowl at your cousin. 

 “You little shit!” you growled, moving over to begin slapping at him. He instantly fought back, slapping at your hands and arms while leaning his face as far back from your assault. The other guys in the room are slightly gaping at the childish fight in front of them. It isn’t until Mike Wheeler came barreling through the front door that you two stopped.

 “Sorry!” Mike apologized, panting out huffs of air. “We had to drop Holly off at her friend's house before my Mom could get me here. I’m ready to go.”

 Dustin made sure to jump around you in order to get around the room to his bag again. The only thing you did was grumble as you made your way back towards the kitchen to get something to drink.

 Thankfully the other boys followed Mike back out the door, calling out how they’re all ready to go while Dustin made his way over to you. His face was red from the one slap you got in on him, but he looked more sheepish than angry. 

 “Look, sorry about the comment..please don’t tell Mom about today? She’d only freak out.”

 You crossed your arms over your chest, wanting to take the petty route for this. But considering he still had something to hold over you, you settled with nodding your head. “So long as you don’t bring up last Sunday. EVER.”

 “Deal.” he laughed, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. “Wouldn’t do me any good anyway.”

 “Why do you say that?”

 “Because if she grounds you from seeing Steve, then that means I don’t get to see him either.”

 You couldn’t help but laugh at that, nodding your head again before waving him off. He turned around and made his way towards the door to join his friends outside. But not without throwing one more bit of information over his shoulder.

 “You’ve got mail by the way. Something from California!” he called out before closing it up behind him. You rush over to the kitchen table and find an envelope with your name on it. The address you had memorized by now looked up at you tauntingly. 

 “California. Seems important.” Said a voice from behind you. Eddie, who was coming out of the bathroom apparently, sauntered over to your side. Peering down at the envelope.

 “This is important, Ed.” You mumbled, ignoring the fact that he was inside your house. The nerves of what the letter could say inside was far too distracting at this point. 

 “What’s so special about this Stanford? It’s just some cushy college, right?”

 You sighed softly, checking the weight of the envelope as if that were enough to give you any indication of what could be written inside. “It’s a law school, Eddie. It’s the law school that my family and I have been anticipating for since I was a kid.”

 “Wait,” he said, leaning in carefully. “Just how important are these results to you?”

 “Like my whole future sort of relies on this saying I’m accepted.” 

He whistled at that, crossing his arms as he looked at the paper suspiciously. “You think I should bring the boys back in and do a prayer circle or something?” 

 You looked over him weirdly before chuckling at how serious he actually was. “As sweet as that is, I think I can settle with you just keeping me company.” 

 Flipping the envelope over, you carefully tore off the tip of the paper. Getting the glued tab to come off cleanly before freeing up the contents inside. It was a minute of silence as you scanned your eyes over the page. 

 “Holy shit.” you whispered.

 “Congratulations! You have been admitted to the Stanford Class of 1990!” Eddie read out before he looked back at you. “That’s good, right?” You didn’t speak as you slowly faced him. Shocked to have the words read aloud for you. 

 “I’ve been accepted to Stanford University.” you said finally.

 “You’ve been accepted.” he confirmed slowly. “Woo?”

 Finally the excitement took over and you let out a happy scream. Jumping up and down gleefully. Eddie caught on with your happiness and let out a little laugh as he clapped his hands.

With how happy you felt inside, you didn’t even stop to think about sharing some of the joy you had and threw your arms around Eddie. 

 He huffed a bit from the air being pushed out of him before gingerly hugging back. “Way to go, Princess.” he said into your ear. Sounding genuinely happy. You can’t help but let out a small cheerful laugh and press a kiss to his cheek. 

 Pulling back, you’re about to thank Eddie for the moral support when the phone suddenly rang. Dashing into the kitchen, you pick up the landline and bring the phone up to your ear. 

 “Tell me you got yours!” said Nancy on the other line.

 “I just opened it! What did yours say?”

 “I GOT IN!”

 “ME TOO!” you cried out, making the other girl on the line scream out. 

 Eddie was still standing by the table, hand over his cheek as he stared down at the letter. From outside you could hear Dustin call out his name. Nancy on the other end calls to your attention too. Making you and Eddie only have a brief moment where you both make eye contact.

 “Thanks.” you mouthed, feeling a little bad about ditching him for the phone call.  He didn't say anything but smiled and waved goodbye. Casually stealing one more glance as he made his way out the door. 

 You find yourself still smiling even after he leaves. 

 LATER THAT WEEK

 “Steve if you don’t get your hands off of me..”

 “I’m helping keep you steady.” he chuckled from beneath you.

 You were currently at the top of the ladder above the romance section. Attempting to use a pin and string to hang up the mistletoe you bought off a Christmas tree lot yesterday morning. Steve had just clocked in five minutes ago before he made his way over to you. Letting his roaming hands go around the sides of your hips while you were distracted.

 “You’re actually tickling me.” 

 He snorted at that before moving around so he could stand at the other side of the ladder, holding onto the sides to keep it in place better. You quickly pushed the pin into the roof of the store, holding a hand beneath it to catch the object. When it didn’t fall you stepped down, smiling up at the sight. 

 Not missing the chance, Steve stepped forward just a bit so that he stood right beneath it. “Looks like we’re under the mistletoe.” he hummed, moving to wrap an arm around your back. 

 “Would you look at that?” you laughed, pretending to be shocked. “It seems we are.”

 He smirked down at you before reaching up with his other hand to use the tip of your chin to angle you up to him. Bringing you in close enough so that your lips could meet in the middle. It was a sweet, simple kiss that still took your breath away by the time he pulled back.

 “Missed ya today.” he said softly, looking at you with such a warmth that it has you feeling flushed all over. 

 “I missed you too. Did you enjoy the morning off?” you asked, biting your lip in an attempt to control the grin that wanted to plaster all over your face. It was hard to keep your cool composure around him sometimes.

 He shrugged a bit, bringing a hand up to casually pull at your bottom lip. Caressing at the plump tender skin before he leaned in to quickly sneak in another peck. “Got to take care of a few things. Including stocking up for our little weekend.” 

 The two of you recently planned for a private little getaway the moment you both found out you had the weekend off. It took some convincing and switching for Robin, plus some shifts covered to make Keith happy. But you guys managed to get away with it.

 “Oh?” you hummed, blinking a little bit. You were still a bit stunned from his little bits of affection.  “Someone’s excited. I guess I should say thank you for taking care of everything.”

 “I think I know a way you can thank me.” Steve said, sounding a little too excited. “I believe last month you showed me a pretty good way to thank me.”

 Laughing, you rolled your eyes and stepped away from Steve and his workplace temptations again in order to put away the ladder. “As much as I’d love to entertain that idea, I switched shifts with Robin. I have a test I need to study for.” 

 “What?” he pouted. “You didn’t have to switch her, I could have helped you with that!”

 Again you can’t help but laugh. “As much as I’m sure you mean that, I know your method of studying..not exactly the type of thing I need for History.”

 He followed after you, grabbing the ladder quickly to help put it away in the stock room in the back. You waited until he was done setting it against the wall before draping your arms around his neck, pulling him close now that you guys had some privacy. 

 “Now if it was Chemistry..that’d be a whole other thing.” you smirked watching as his pout slowly turned into a smile. “Tonight the store gets a break from our sexual escapades, this weekend however, will not.” You curled your fingers into the back ends of his hair, giving it a light tug as you looked up at him. “I’ll be all yours for forty-eight hours.” 

 Steve grunted a bit at the tugging, pressing himself close to your front while he rubbed his hands around the sides of your waist affectionately. “All mine?” he mused softly. “Just for the weekend?”

 “Well no, I’m always yours. But this weekend will be..extra special.”

 That piqued his interest even more. Making his eyes turn dark as he leaned his face down to your neck. “Define special.” he purred, letting his breath fan against your skin before he brought his lips close to yours.

 Laughing a bit at his unbothered public flirting, you gave in to his tempting looks and gave him a kiss quickly before your mind thought about the letter in the back of your jeans. You were still debating on whether to share this news with Steve now or later on. Unsure if you could hold back the exciting secret anymore.

 “So there was this letter–”

 “There she is!” 

 The sudden waving over from the front counter quickly distracted you. Making you pull back from Steve enough to peek out and see Eddie over at the front. Raising a brow, you stepped over towards him, giving him a small smile as you moved to stand beside him.

 “What are you doing here, Eddie?” 

 “Well, I was actually here to check out Sleepaway Camp.” he said, patting the tape on the counter. “But, it turns out I owe you guys money that I already paid.” 

 Robin, who was looking at Eddie curiously nodded her head in agreement. “There’s a three day late fee, dude. The system says it was returned but never paid for.” she said pointing to the screen. Steve came to join her at the register, frowning over at Eddie briefly before he looked at the screen himself. 

 “You owe us for Dune.” he said curtly, crossing his arms. “It’s a three dollar late fee.”

 Momentarily, you ignore your boyfriend’s uncalled for attitude in order to sort out some of the mess your new friend had gotten himself into. “Geez Ed, you do know this is only for rent, right?”

 Eddie looked over to you slightly exasperated before he leaned in.“Dune turned out to be a lot harder to watch than I thought. But it was only late by a day.” he said softly. “Think you can help me out with your friends?”

 “You know we can hear you, right?” Robin asked, becoming less amused by the boy. Steve on the other hand looked a little more on the angrier side. 

 Holding a hand up, you lean over the counter and look at the screen carefully. “What day did you come in to return it?”

 “Uhh, Monday. Night time. Probably when you guys were closing.”

 You quickly thought back to earlier this week. That night had been slow, and it took you nearly an hour to convince Keith to let you off early to get an extra bit of time with Steve before he had to drive you home.

 “Keith.” you said simply. “He was the only one here that night and we all know what he’s like the last hour here.” Steve pursed his lips, ready to rebut that but you raised a brow at him. “This mess wouldn’t have happened if I had been here. But seeing as I had plans..I wasn’t.”

 That seemed to shut him up but didn’t quite take away the frown from his face. 

 Robin clicked the mouse over the screen, deleting the charge before shrugging her shoulders to Steve. “Keith does hate checking movies back in. He probably waited for one of us to do it the next day and forgot about the charge.”

 Steve looked over the three of you with a small glare before shaking his head, moving to restack the pile of tapes over by the return counter. “Whatever, I guess.” 

 Pushing the tape towards Robin, you turned to face Eddie. Pointing a finger sternly at him. “This is the last time I will help you with a late fee problem. Next time bring your movie on time, whether you understand it or not.”

 “Yes, ma’am.” he chuckled, giving Robin the money for his new rental. “Gotta say, if that’s how you work as a defense lawyer before Law school, then I can’t wait to see you after. Might have to find a way to contact you in California.”

 “California?” Steve asked quickly. 

 You couldn’t help but freeze into place. Silently cursing Eddie for spilling the secret about your recent plans in front of Steve without you getting the chance to. “Uh,” you laughed nervously. “California..it’s where I’ll be starting school next year.”

 “Wait, when did this happen?” asked Steve as he came around the counter to go over to your side. “You got into a school in California?”

 “Pfft,” Eddie snorted, grabbing his tape from the counter. “She didn’t get into just any California school. She got into Stanford.”

 Robin gasped softly, looking over astonished before she clapped. “Holy shit, Henderson. You got in?!” 

 Steve beside you is slightly taken back. Brown eyes shifting between looking between you and Eddie. Was he happy, worried, mad? For once your boyfriend seemed to be completely unreadable to you. 

 “I just found out the other day.” you explained looking between the group. 

 Eddie nudged his elbow gently into your arm, giving you a small smirk. “Hell yeah you did. And because of that bit of news, I know just the person to help me out with my many upcoming parking tickets.” he teased, throwing a quick wink. “Catch you later, big shot.”

 The three of you quietly watched as Eddie left the store. For a moment there was a bit of awkward silence before Robin cleared her throat, causing your eyes to return over to her. She looked a bit worried at Steve but quickly shot you a wide grin. 

 “Congratulations, kid. All that law nonsense you’re always bringing up is finally gonna come in handy.” 

 Despite the teasing in her tone, her smile is genuine. Making you feel a little at ease about how awkward it seemed to be.  

 “Thanks, Robin.” you laughed a little bit before turning to Steve. 

 He was looking at you with such a forlorn look before he blinked into realization. “C’mere.” he whispered, pulling you into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you, honey.”

 The warmth and love behind the hug is so genuine that you can’t help but melt into his arms. Feeling Steve press a kiss to the side of your head. But even with the affection, you can’t help but still feel like something was off. 

 “Is everything okay? You looked a little sick a second ago..”

 He let out a small huff of amusement before leaning forward to kiss at your forehead. “I am, I promise. This is just..this is big news.”

 Reaching into your pocket, you pulled out the acceptance letter, opening it up for Steve to have a look at.

 Carefully, he took the paper into his hands and scanned his eyes over the page. A small smile tugging at his face before he glanced up at you. “This is amazing but..how come you were keeping this a secret? This is good news.”

 “It wasn’t supposed to be.” you said honestly. “I was going to tell you this weekend as a surprise but Eddie’s mouth is too fast for his brain to catch up and he gave it away.” 

 “How did Eddie know anyway?” he asked, slightly hesitant. Robin, who was still watching the awkward scene play out, waved the two of you off and went to the back to distract herself with work. Leaving the two of you alone.

 “He was picking up Dustin the other day for some sort of game night and saw me with the letter. It was only by chance that he found out first.”

 Steve looked a little bit unsure of your answer, but didn’t seem to go against it. Only giving you back the letter. For a moment you’re worried that he might still be upset about things, but he quickly turned to make things back to how it was before. Wrapping an arm around your waist as he pulled you closer. 

 “So I’m guessing the letter was that extra special thing you were mentioning earlier.”

 Happy to have him back in a playful mood again, you can’t help but grin up at him. Despite wanting to play cool and coy. “Yes..and no.” you hummed, pressing your hand to rest against the front of his chest. The beat of his heart was thumping heavy through his shirt. “The actual special bit is the fact that a certain set of clothes I found in Vanity Fair last month arrived in the mail for me today.”

 “Clothes?” he asked, face scrunching up in confusion. “What’s so special about clothes?”

 Tracing your hand from his chest up to the side of his neck, you watch as his throat bobbed a bit. “Well for starters they’re in red. Your favorite color.”

 “Red is nice.”

 “Yeah, so is lace.”

 His eyes widened at the reveal and you felt a big surge of pride in knowing that Steve was already enthralled with the outfit without having seen you in it yet. But his shock quickly turned back into a frown, making you worried he might be upset again.

 “That’s not good.” he said with a shake to his head.

 “What’s wrong?”

 “We’re gonna need a lot more than forty-eight hours now if I’m gonna see you walking around in lace.”

 Now it’s your turn to stare at him with a stunned look. But with the sound of Robin calling out to Steve, there’s no time  for you to even think of a response to that. Meanwhile Steve has completely soaked in the sight of you taken back for once, giving you a kiss to your cheek before he patted your behind.

 “Duty calls, Trouble.” he winked, giving you one last look over. “I’ll call you later.”

 And just like that you’re left at the counter, both excited and anxious for the weekend to come.

 TWO DAYS LATER

 There were a couple of things you learned since the start of the getaway weekend. The first thing was the fact that you and Steve were doomed to either order take out the rest of your lives, or sign up for cooking classes. 

 The second was that Steve Harrington really loved red lace. 

 “Fuck, I’m so close.” 

 The two of you had been going at this all night. Taking breaks from eating, talking, and watching tv in order to make out or mess around. Despite the fact that you two had a very healthy sex life for two working teens, you both took every opportunity that this weekend could bring. 

 “Me too.” you whimpered, rolling your hips again. Steve had you on his lap by the fireplace. Letting the heat of the fire keep your bare skin warm since the only thing left of the lace was the bra you managed to keep on.  

 The palm of his hands gripped tightly to your hips, helping you keep the rhythm that was getting the both of you closer to your third climax of the night. At this point the way you two were going it was like you were trying to start a new record. 

 “God, you’re beautiful.” Steve grunted, trying hard not to grip tightly to the soft skin of your hips. His eyes were looking everywhere from your face down to your bouncing breasts. You couldn’t help but feel a heat go over your face. 

 Leaning close, you pressed your lips against his. Trying to capture his heavy breath so that you could soak him in completely. But at the same time he’s thrusting upward to keep up with you and his cock is hitting at just the right spot. Making you throw your head back in a gasp.

 Steve wrapped you in his strong arms. Making sure to maintain the deep thrusts and keep you situated on his lap. Your hands reached out to grip against his shoulders. Sharp nails slightly digging into his skin when he thrusted into the right spot again. It caused him to grunt softly, face scrunching up in concentration. 

 He relentlessly slammed into you next, giving his everything into your pussy as he repeatedly bucked his hips up. Beads of sweat started to fall down the side of his face and you paused your bouncing to brush back the sweaty hair from his face. “Your perfect pussy is gripping on me so tight,” he growled. “I’m gonna lose it.” 

 His dirty words affect you like usual, making you not only moan, but squirm even more in his hold. “Please, baby. I’m almost there.” you whined, rolling your hips a bit. There’s a good amount of arousal that’s slicked up between you and Steve can’t help but smirk down at the sight before he glanced at you again. 

 “Don’t worry, honey. I’m gonna make you feel real good again.”

 With one hand still around your waist, keeping your body pressed to his, he used the other to cup at the side of your neck. Keeping you perfectly still to drill into you in a brutally fast sequence. One thrust, two, three, and with one hard final push, he’s hitting the right spot that has you seeing white spots. 

 Your weak body collapsed fully on top of him, falling into the ecstasy like bliss it always does while Steve rode out his orgasm. Between you two, the remnants of his orgasm started to slowly seep out, coating the upper part of your thighs. 

 “So good.” you murmured into his skin. Lips lazily peppering his neck with kisses. He pressed his lips to your forehead, gently stopping his thrusting so that the two of you could slowly fall backwards into the pile of pillows on the floor. 

 It wasn’t until a second later that the two of you pulled apart completely. Falling on your backs as you tried to gasp back some air into your lungs. But with the fire beside you still alive and spreading its warmth into the room, you couldn’t quite cool off right away. 

 But that didn’t matter, not when Steve was pressing loving kisses over your neck and shoulders as he came down from his high. He was murmuring sweet words into your skin, almost silently to himself before he settled for resting his face against your shoulder. Close to your side.

 It’s a peaceful, intimate kind of cuddling. Something you guys don’t get to have often since most of the time you’re having sex in the heat of the moment or some place you aren’t supposed to. But this was different. This was almost like playing make believe that you lived this kind of way.

 “Your thinking face is on.” Steve said softly, pulling you out of your thoughts. His hand was gently running up and down the side of your arm as he looked over at you. “Mind sharing with me?”

 “It’s nothing.” you sighed, trying to avert your gaze down. The curls on his chest were slightly slick from the heat of everything. “Just admiring the day we got to have.” 

 “Oh,” he chuckled. “So you’re thinking about it too?”

 For some reason that has you turning shy, hiding your face away from his knowing eyes and hiding in the crook of his neck. The skin there smelled like his cologne and something musky, making you take a deep inhale before you placed a kiss there. 

 “I think I could live everyday like this.”

 “What? Burnt steaks and sex every night by the fireside?” you asked, pulling away to gage his reaction. He looked very pleased with the question, nodding his head quickly.

“Who the hell wouldn’t?” he said as a matter of fact. The palm of his hand wandered from your side down to your bare backside. “Do you think they have that lace in more colors?” he said a second later, cupping at the cheek of your ass

 “Steve!” you chided, trying to hold in a laugh. But too quickly is that failing and he’s dragging you back close. Letting his lips land on yours while he kneaded at your behind. You melt into the moment, letting yourself give into Steve completely. 

 “We can have that you know.” you said against his lips. He hummed in question, not pulling back from you so that he could continue the grazing over your skin. “Live like this every day.”

 “I know,” he agreed. “Someday right?”

 While he was right about that, there was something you had in mind. It came to you the day before when you were packing for the weekend. A small spark of an idea really. No matter what you did throughout the day, the idea of sharing an apartment in the bright sunny California with Steve kept bringing a smile to your face. 

 “Well, it could be someday..or it could be next fall?” 

 He pulled away confused before you sat up to look down on him. If there was anyone that you’d want to share a room with, a home with, a life with; it was Steve. 

 “Stanford starts early next fall. And my parents want  me to live off campus so I can have a better place to stay. Meaning that I’d probably get an apartment close by. But it’d be just me alone in a new place with no friends..no you.”

 “Right.” he said slowly, not exactly sounding like he understood where you were going with this

 “But, if we work things out early..it doesn’t have to be that way.” He still looked up at you perplexed with unsurety in his gaze. You take it as a sign just to be straightforward with this now. 

“Do you think maybe you’d come with me and live together?”

 His brows furrowed together, lips pouting as he took in your formal words finally. “Live together? Like together? In California?”

 “Yes, like us in a place back home.”

 “I thought that you’d want something long distance.” he asked, eyes shifting. 

 “What, you expected the two of us to just be together almost three thousand miles apart in a completely different timezone?” 

 “Wait, you actually did the math?”

  “Steve..” 

 He held his hands up defensively, licking his lips as he nervously stuttered out his next words. “Baby, look, I don’t think I can just leave home. I-I can’t just uproot my whole life for..” he cut himself off, frowning over his own words before he looked at you nervously.

 It’s safe to say the words still hurt you to your core without being said. Enough to almost make you physically flinch inside. But the part of you that tries to hide, aka the venomous bitch, is festering off this conversation. 

 For the first time in a while, you let her out a bit. “Finish it.” you said sternly. “Finish the sentence.” 

 Steve quickly shook his head, not wanting to steer anywhere near that kind of talk. “No, no, honey. You know I didn’t mean it like that.” he pleaded, trying to reach for you. But you already reeled yourself back, getting some space as you felt the anger heat up your face.

 “Say the rest of the damn sentence, Steve. Say how you don’t think I’m worth changing your life for.”

 He moved to sitting up now. Looking at you the most serious since he’s been in a while. “I’m not gonna finish it because I don’t believe that. You’re one of the few people in my life that’s helped me for the better. I just meant that I didn’t want to uproot my life for nothing. I need to do something in order to do that.”

 “Starting a life with me is nothing?”

 He sputtered a bit. Trying to say multiple rebuttals to that at once. “Don’t twist my words!”

 “Then what is it you’re trying to say, Steve? Because as far as I know you’re not doing anything here but working at family video.” Looking at your hands you try to control the word vomit coming out but the pain in your chest is making that hard to do. “You’re still on this weird sabbatical since you didn’t make it into tech. And FYI, you could do something in California. There’s tech schools, community colleges, christ, even video rental stores. Why can’t you just do that over there where you can be with me?”

 “What, like some love sick boy following around his girlfriend while she’s off becoming a lawyer and he’s stuck renting tapes out to jerk offs?” Steve scoffed lightly, not really pleased with your suggestion.

 “No, like a man who wants to be with the supposed woman he’s in love with. Or did that mindset only have a lifespan of one school year?”

 “Stop..stop acting like it’s just that. You know it wouldn’t be an easy change! Not to mention there’s other factors.”

 “Like what?”

 “Like the fact that I have other people in my life that are important too. Not just you!”

 You look over at him shocked. Mind instantly scrambling to put together if you had even insinuated that at all in the conversation. “I never said there wasn’t.” you frowned, wondering where this conversation was going to. “You mean the world to Dustin and I know Robin is your best friend. But..I wouldn’t expect Jonathan to stick around just to wait around for me. I’d..I’d want him to venture out and find something good for him.”

 “I want that for you too. Okay? I want you to have all that..”

 “And what about you? Why don’t you want that for yourself, Steve?” You almost reached out to shake him. Wanting to make him see that this move would be so much more than just moving in with you. It’d be a whole new world, a whole new life that you believed the two of you deserved. 

 Why wasn’t he getting that?

 “What I want and what I need are different things. I need to stay and check on my friends and make sure they’re safe in this hell hole. What I want is..you.” He reached up and gripped at your hand, bringing it down to press against his chest. The beat of his heart was fast beneath the tips of your fingers. Whatever he was feeling, it was enough to make his heart panic. “All I’ve ever wanted is you because I love you..”

 “Just not enough to come with me..”

 His mouth slacked a bit and he quickly shook his head. Seemingly stumped by your words. You sniffled a bit, holding back the tears you felt pinching at your eyes. Quickly, you pulled away from his hold. Reaching over for the robe you had been wearing earlier and slipping it on before you got up from the floor. “I think I should go home.” you said softly, averting your eyes.

 “No. Wait, please.” Steve said, quickly reaching for his sweats. “You can’t just leave. Besides, it's snowing. You don’t have a car and could get hurt.”

 “I’ll risk it.” You said bitterly, making your way up to go upstairs to where your stuff was. Steve caught up in time to stop you from taking the bag from the floor in his room. You tried to pry it out of his hands but he wouldn’t let go of the bag. You settled for letting go, moving over to stand in front of his window now. 

 This wasn’t how the night is supposed to be going. The two of you were supposed to have carefree fun. But because of your big mouth, the real world was coming in and tearing it all down. “I don’t want to be here right now.” you said honestly. 

 “Please,” he said, letting out a sigh. The tip of his fingers curled over your shoulders as he slowly dragged you back to press against his front. Crossing his arms over your chest like a blanket. “This isn’t how I wanted things to go.”

 “I know, me neither.” you said softly, voice sounding small and unfamiliar. This sudden weak feeling was still so unfamiliar to you. Especially with Steve of all people. He was the only one for a while other than Jonthan that you felt you could be vulnerable with. But at the moment, it’s the furthest you wanted to be.

 He pressed a kiss to your neck, soft and loving. But didn’t push for you to turn around. You kept your gaze out of his window the pool, letting the light distract you from the eyes you know would instantly pull you in. 

 “Take my room tonight..I’ll..take you home in the morning if you still want to leave.” 

 You nodded your head, staying in place, frozen. He gave you just one more kiss to your shoulder before he fully let go. His steps dragged as he slowly made his way to the door. As if he were waiting to see if you’d change your mind. But you knew you couldn’t.

 The wood creaked softly as he tugged it close, but not before he softly said one more message. 

 “I love you, don’t forget that.”

 With that he closed up the door, officially ending the conversation and the night. The distant sound of him heading back downstairs followed along with the heavy beats of your hearts.  It was all that beat in your head as you made your way over to Steve’s bed. 

 The familiar comforting smell of his fabric softener hitting your senses instantly. It wasn’t until you dragged the covers over your body that you felt the tears break through. Reaching out, you turned off the lamp by his bed. Letting yourself be engulfed in the darkness so that you could mull over what could very much be more than just a bad night. 

  The following morning, you wake up curled in the comforter of Steve’s bed. He kept his distance throughout the night. Leaving you tossing and turning with a mixture of anxiety and anger coursing through you. Glancing at the watch on your wrist, you note how early in the day it really was. Too early for a heavy sleeper like Steve. It’d be at least a good hour or two before he stirred awake on his own. 

 Glancing at his nightstand, you hesitantly reached over for the phone. Fingers twitching just about the receiver. It didn’t feel right to do this. It felt cowardly. But if you stayed the morning and continued to talk the way you both did last night…well, you weren’t sure where things would head.

 The dial tone only rang twice before the person on the other end finally picked up.

 “Hello?”

 “Nancy, it’s me.”

 “Hey! Are you okay?” asked the girl with concern. 

 “No, I’m not okay.” There’s a tremble to your voice and you silently curse yourself for already feeling like breaking down at the comforting tone of your friend. “Do you think you can pick me up? I’m over at–”

 “I know where you are. I’m on my way.”

 It only took Nancy about ten minutes to arrive outside the driveway of Steve’s house. The moment you saw her familiar car, you quickly moved out the door. Carefully shutting it behind you as you walked down the pathway.

 Her regular curls were tied up messily on the top of her head. Sleepiness was still heavy on her face along with the remnants of her makeup from yesterday. But her blue eyes, however, were filled with a familiar worry that had you slightly relieved. 

 Guilt quickly engulfed you. Not only were you ditching Steve with nothing but a note saying you’d call him later. But you had your friend up early with no other information as to if you were okay or not. 

 It felt like nothing about this weekend was ever going to go right. 

 You quickly entered the car. Allowing the heater to warm you up as you buckled into your seat. It wasn’t until you were settled in that you were brave enough to look over at Nancy. A small smile tugging at your lips when you noticed she had driven over in her plaid pajama set. The only thing fit for the weather was her jacket and the heavy snow boots she had.

 “Thanks.” you said softly, rubbing your cold hands together. “I know it’s early and you weren’t really expecting to hear from me. But we uh…” the argument suddenly returned to your mind. Making your voice die down and water prickle at the rim of your eyes.

 “It’s okay.” she cut in softly, reaching out to grab at your hands. “We don’t have to talk about it yet.”

 Nodding your head thankfully, you look out onto the dashboard. Trying to focus on anything to control the moisture that’s trying to leak out. Nancy let out a small sigh before suddenly turning to face you.

  “Wanna get some breakfast?” she asked, causing you to look over at her. Her smile was big and she had a small look of determination on her face. While a part of you really wanted to go back home and cry into your pillow for the rest of the weekend, something about maybe dishing out your current problems over a hot plate of food sounded oddly comforting.

 “Know a place that has good waffles?”

 Smirking a bit, she changed the gear on the car. “I know just the place.”

 The low hum of music was the only noise after that. You couldn’t help but steal a longing glance in your rearview mirror. Taking in one last look at Steve’s house, and for the weekend that it could have been. 

A regretful choice unfortunately. Because as the view of the house began to grow smaller, so did the sight of Steve standing at the front of his door. Alone. With nothing but a note in his hands.

A/N: Please don’t hate me! I wanted to make sure this chapter had enough fluff, smut, drama, and set up for the future of the season. 

[pensat-i-fet]

A better apology (Martin Ødegaard x Reader)

**Requested. I hope you guys enjoy it! It’s a little harder to write for people I don’t follow but still a lot of fun 😊❤️**

Word count: 1081

Masterlist

Wattpad

"Alright. As former captain, I'll supervise this new captain initiation", said Xhaka, staring at his successor.

"Captain initiation? That's not a thing".

"It's at Arsenal, Martin. And it's time for yours".

The team had decided to go for dinner together at a fancy London restaurant. It was the beginning of the season and a bit of bonding wouldn't hurt. But this turn of events was not something the new young captain welcomed.

"I'm not singing here. We'll be kicked out".

"Nah, singing is boring. You have to do something else".

"What?"

"Steal something".

"What?!", Martin couldn't believe what his teammate was asking. "I'm not going to steal anything! Are you crazy?"

"Just something small. They won't notice".

"It's a tradition", said Ramsdale, trying not to laugh. He was pretty sure there was no tradition but he wanted to join in the joke.

Martin shook his head and they all changed the subject and continued eating. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. His teammates knew he was superstitious and would worry about this bringing the team bad luck. 

So when he got up to go to the bathroom, he noticed a very small decoration near the door. And so on the way out, he took it and put it in his pocket.

"Done!", he said when he sat down.

"You're kidding!", said Bukayo, looking around to see if anyone was looking at them when his captain took the decoration from his pocket and showed them briefly.

Xhaka was laughing but he was also impressed. "Yeah, we are in good hands with you. But I might never invite you to my house. I have expensive stuff there".

Martin rolled his eyes and put the decoration back in his pocket. He still couldn't believe what he had done. 

By the time they were done with dinner, they all looked at him and left. He had to pay too, great.

"Excuse me!", he told you when you walked past the table. "Could I have the bill, please? Whenever you have the time".

"Of course".

You had been paying attention to the table. You weren't allowed to serve them but being an Arsenal fan, you couldn't deny it was intriguing to see the players there.

"Here. Do you want me to add what you stole to the total or do you want to give it back and we can pretend nothing happened?

You weren't normally this bold. It wouldn't be deemed professional. But seeing him do that had really annoyed you. These men have everything they could ask for…but want to steal things too? Ridiculous.

Martin had gone even paler when he heard your words. His hand went to his pocket and he took the decoration out and gave it to you.

"It's not what it looks like".

"I don't care about what it is".

He felt so disappointed. This wasn't something he did but he let his teammates pressure him and do it. And now he had embarrassed himself in front of you. And, of course, he didn’t know you but had noticed you moving around the restaurant all night. 

"Here", he said, giving you the card machine back after paying.

"Thank you, sir. I hope your meal was pleasant and that we see you again soon", you said, politely.

Martin just nodded and left, still embarrassed. And you felt slightly bad for him but…he got himself into that situation. 

When you looked at the receipt you noticed the tip he had left. He must have felt really guilty.

                                        **

"Someone is asking for you?", told you one of your coworkers.

"For me? Which table?"

"Not a table. It's someone by the front door".

"But I can't leave…I'm really busy".

"Charlie knows. It's fine".

So you went to the door, wondering who could be asking for you. And then saw Martin there.

"Can we talk?"

"I'm working".

"It's ok. Your manager is giving you a 20-minute break".

"He is?", you asked, shocked. "Is he having a stroke?"

Martin laughed at your reaction. "Just come with me, please".

When you were finally alone, you two sat down and you looked at him waiting to see what he wanted from you.

"I wanted to apologize. For the other day. It was a prank my teammates played on me and I was stupid enough to fall for it. Not that it excuses my behaviour but I wanted to let you know".

"You weren't stealing from me. I'm not the one who deserves an apology".

"You were the only one who noticed and I don't know who owns the restaurant, so", he shrugged.

"Ok, you're forgiven".

"You don't mean that".

"I just…I'm a fan, ok? And I was not allowed to work on your table because I wasn't trusted or whatever", you said, rolling your eyes. "And then I saw that you do that and…it was disappointing. Especially that it was you who did it".

He noticed the blush on your cheeks and smiled.

"Why was it worse? Bukayo is the saint, not me".

"But Bukayo isn't my favourite", you confessed. 

"Then I'm even more sorry. I'll make sure you forget about this when I'm on the pitch".

"I guess that will do", you said, laughing.

You realized your break was almost finished. Already?, you thought, annoyed.

"I need to go".

"So, am I forgiven?", he asked, offering his hand for you to shake.

"You're forgiven, captain".

                                      **

"Someone is asking for you…again".

"What?"

Your coworker just pointed at the front door again and you were wondering if Martin had shown up again. I mean, you forgave him, why would he be there?

"Hi miss, can you sign here?"

"Sure".

It wasn't Martin but a delivery man with a box for you. You signed the notice and took the box quickly, anxious to know what was in it but also knowing you needed to get back to work soon.

When you opened it, you saw a red shirt. An Arsenal shirt. And unfolding it, you saw the name Ødegaard on the back. You put it down to see the rest of the box’s contents and found two tickets for the next match…and a letter.

"Talking to you the other day didn't seem like enough, so I hope tickets for a match are a better peace offer. For a better apology. 

And since I'm your favourite, you can wear my shirt to the match. And maybe, if you want me to, I can sign it for you after we win.

Martin".

[lovepmd]

Explorers!Hero (or multi!hero) who is usually extremely nice, but Team Skull are still up to their old tricks. Even after they saved the world with Partner and came back from non-existence, those three are still up to no good. Sooooooo—the hero is about this || close to snapping when they happen to remember Zubat being left behind in Apple Woods.

Like a Sharpedo they smell blood in that water.

It takes first writing out individual letters to Team Skull in different styles, they have picked up a skill like this from teaching non-guild teammates how to write. The hero pretends to be a huge fan of the trio that really wanted to send their favorite Pokémon some help. Hero pretends to spell like a really young kid—a weedle they sign off as. The “fan” basically gushes and gushes, until they mention how they wonder the noxious gas combo would work in a dungeon. Fan begs Team Skull to try their hand at *insert dungeon* which Hero knows has a lot of tough non-smelling Pokémon.

“Fan” included reviver (reviser) seeds, a joy (doom) seed, and heal (sleep) seeds in their letter to help! …They even put like 388 Poké in as the “request” reward thing. Which isn’t a lot in retrospect, but at least sweetens the deal for Team Skull. While this kid heaped on praise for the other two, they kinda had some questions about Zubats role on the team. He got knocked out by the team’s famous combo, right? Zubat goes to meet the “fan” while the other two try the dungeon. Obviously, he’s a little creeped out when he finds Hero in the “fan’s” place.

Hero has a wide smile, inviting him to sit/lay down to chat for a bit! After all—they ordered Zubat his favorite drink. (The former human had to ask Spinda who normally doesn’t give this information.) He says he feels a bit uncomfortable even if it’s just the wimpy partner’s friend. Hero says that’s fine. They don’t want to make him feel trapped, such a shame that can’t talk shop though. They mean… doesn’t Zubat hate being shunted to the side like this? The hero pretends to not know about the letters, pretends to not be the fan.

They gradually get Zubat to sit down and just casually point out the Pokémon’s weaknesses repeatedly doing innocently backhanded comments. “Oh sure, you can’t see but I am sure that high-pitched echo location makes you aware of everything. Not like anyone will ignore it”, “Really I got lucky to be turned into the Pokémon I am, I could have gotten stuck in a physically weaker body… sort of your situation of being a glass cannon for reference”, and “it must suck that your team’s signature left you knocked out too. If me and partner had been a wild/criminal, winces that could’ve gotten ugly.”

They keep playing into his insecurities, then off-hand says, “You know it’s really easy to be just plain old cruel. Say something mean, it’ll stick with a Mon. Steal from them? They remember you if you let them see what you are. Leave a less experienced team forced to go through no-dinner after working a long day? We were bitter. Anyone can do that, but making it personal? Oh. Oh that sticks so much better!”

“I could have hypothetically slipped a stun, warp, and blast seed into your drink to make you a random bomb—” Zubat spits it out “—but I didn’t. Really, that would have the chance to hurt someone else and isn’t the most personal thing. Hypothetically, I could have simply called in a few favors and had you three… fainted. Permanently. Or do it myself. Truly, there are quite a few ways I could justify it. I know the freaking Dragon Gods of Space and Time. No one would be able to find what remained of you or them, if I was truly that unhinged.”

What kind of psycho discusses this in front of who they want to—

“Again if I genuinely wanted to. You three are beyond annoying and petty bullies, but death? Oh no. That would be too permanent for my taste. Also, not a Pokémon remember unless you didn’t hear—I’m human no matter what my form is and the instincts I have so I still think like one. We tend to have these things called ‘intrusive thoughts’. It’s sort of thoughts about what we could do in spite of the consequences. Like,” Hero pulls Zubat close to whisper, “being stuck in a small room with a crying baby Whismur who won’t stop crying. Sure, it’s a baby it doesn’t know better. But, after a certain point you would just want to smash it against the wall to get it to stop for Arceus sake…!”

“So with all due respect, either keep the schemes civil without endangering anyone or pick a new term of employment. Or else I will let the intrusive thoughts win. Understand?” Their reputation be damned, they are in a world of super-powered animals who fight daily. The intrusive thoughts have only gotten stronger.

jesus f-ing christ

multi!hero making it their MISSION to make team skull as uncomfortable as POSSIBLE without directing doing any harm to them, one member at a time

[the-lazyyy-artist]

What Are You Doing, New Year's Eve? (a fem!reader x oliver aiku holiday smau special)

Chapter synopsis: Enjoying your time as Shidou and Sae's third wheel on the most romantic day of the year, you unexpectedly met someone who you think can change the course of your single life.

Notes: affectionate names from Shidou (bc who even is Shidou if he doesn't call you names affectionately?

masterlist • prev • next

Chapter I: The Meet-Cute (pt.2)

"Hmm," you hummed, feeling the warmth of the hot chocolate overcome your body. The Christmas village was packed this year, seeing couples and families enjoying the Christmas cheer and music in the air. Shidou and Sae sat side by side in front of you, enjoying the atmosphere. "Quite a crowd," Shidou peeped, nudging Sae's forearm. Sae tsked as his hot chocolate almost spilled with the action, causing a chuckle from Shidou. "Thanks for letting me come along," you said for the hundredth time.

Despite being their official third wheel, you'd still feel grateful that they include you on almost every date. It was Shidou's idea to keep you involved, because according to him, the moment Sae signed up to be his lover, he got a 2-in-1 deal. "Where I go, you go," he once said, "and besides, I don't want your single ass to wallow in sadness, dummy." You slapped his arm silly after he said that. "Hey," he laughed, watching your efforts to hurt him in response, "no need to be butthurt! It's true!"

"Would that cause me to feel more miserable? Tagging along?" You asked, crossing his arms. Shidou shook his head, "Nope!". And surely, it just felt like hanging out with friends... With the exception of Shidou being so clingy around Sae, stealing kisses and holding his waist whenever he has a chance. Sae would look away or look at you as if saying "You're friends with this guy?"

"No need to say thank you," Shidou replied, "Sae would want you here anyway. Right, baby?" Shidou asked, purring. Sae sighed and nodded in your direction. You know Sae is so reserved towards you, but you like how he's acknowledged your presence and importance in Shidou's life.

After finishing your hot chocolates, you three decided to walk around and check out the booths and stands, buying and trying things. You'd snap photos of the couple anytime you had a chance, seeing the glow in Sae's eyes whenever Shidou does something for him and how Shidou's smirks soften into small smiles whenever they act like it's just them in the world. Makes you wonder if a love like that would find you someday. The type of love you'd only read in books and hear in songs, and they personified that. They brought out the best of each other, both in their relationship and on the field.

Cue in: Oliver Aiku. He bumped into you as you took another picture of the couple, apologizing as he chuckled. "Didn't see you there," he said, his deep voice filling your space. As you looked up, you were met with the most beautiful heterochromatic eyes you've ever seen in your entire life. The way the Christmas lights bounced off of them, shining like stars in the galaxy. Words got caught in your throat, and just in time, Shidou came to the rescue.

"Captain," he chirped, his usual smirk appearing back on his lips, "got lost?" Aiku smiled slyly and shrugged. "Just walking around. You with Sae?"

"Why do you want to know?" Shidou asked in a sing-song tone. Sae then stood beside Shidou, face emotionless. His turquoise eyes looked back at Aiku with a bored stare. Aiku let out a soft chuckle and shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Nothing." Aiku then turned to look at you, still shocked that this was not only Shidou and Sae's former teammate, but this was also THE Oliver Aiku. Still speechless, you reached for Shidou's hand, as if saying "IS THIS HIM???"

"Oh, by the way, this is y/n. Y/n, meet Aiku, and yes, it's him," Shidou said, his tone teasing. You still said nothing, still starstruck at the soccer player. Aiku smiled softly at you, and you really didn't hear what he said, but the next thing you knew, he was off.

"Oi, what was that?" Shidou asked, laughing, "Cat got your tongue?" You frowned at him, embarrassed by the fact that yes, you froze and that yes, you really didn't believe that Aiku was more beautiful up close. "Shut up, Shidou."

"Hey, don't be surprised if he messages you later," Shidou added, his teasing tone never leaving his voice. Sae sighed beside him and gripped your arm gently. "By all means, if you want to talk to him, tread carefully," he warned. This surprised you. Sae was always the type to speak when needed, so it was nice that he gave you this warning.

Though, you're not blind. Articles upon articles of Aiku being with different girls almost every week or month have bombarded your news app since you started following the star player. It's a good enough warning not to dance along with him. But being friends with him won't hurt. Maybe.

You nodded at what Sae said, and Sae nodded back.

As soon as the clock struck 12 midnight, you saw couples kiss and greet each other a Merry Christmas. Romance definitely filled the air. You turn to look at your two other companions and there they are, whispering to each other after sharing a quick kiss. Sae was never big on great acts of affection, but he'd let Shidou shower him with little ones that were soft and subtle that only they could enjoy in the crowd.

You interrupt them by running towards them in a hug, and Shidou pulls you closer to them. "Merry Christmas, dummy," he said, "make sure next year you have someone to kiss and not looking around like a fucking weirdo."

🎄📌: @shidousprincess @soleilonthesun @pan-kojiwa @anglefish3008 @thebestsetter @shrii-kk

Taglist is open!

[tomorrowedblog]

Friday Releases for August 30

Friday is the busiest day of the week for new releases, so we've decided to collect them all in one place. Friday Releases for August 30 include Slingshot, Afraid, Star Wars Outlaws, and more.

Slingshot

Slingshot, the new movie from Mikael Håfström, is out today.

A psychological thriller starring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, SLINGSHOT follows an elite trio of astronauts aboard a years-long, possibly compromised mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. As the team gears up for a highly dangerous slingshot maneuver that will either catapult them to Titan or into deep space, it becomes increasingly difficult for one astronaut to maintain his grip on reality.

Afraid

Afraid, the new movie from Chris Weitz, is out today.

In AFRAID, Curtis (John Cho) and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new home device: a digital family assistant called AIA. Taking smart home to the next level, once the unit and all its sensors and cameras are installed in their home, AIA seems able to do it all. She learns the family’s behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs. And she can make sure nothing – and no one – gets in her family’s way.

1992

1992, the new movie from Ariel Vromen, is out today.

In 1992, Mercer (Tyrese Gibson) is desperately trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his son (Christopher A’mmanuel) amidst the turbulent 1992 LA uprising following the Rodney King verdict. Across town, another father and son (Ray Liotta and Scott Eastwood) put their own strained relationship to the test as they plot a dangerous heist to steal catalytic converters, which contain valuable platinum, from the factory where Mercer works. As tensions rise in Los Angeles and chaos erupts, both families reach their boiling points when they collide in this tense crime-thriller.

The Deliverance

The Deliverance, the new movie from Lee Daniels, is out today.

After moving into a mysterious house, a struggling mother must face down her demons in order to save her children’s souls.

The Falling Star

The Falling Star, the new movie from Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, is out today.

The latest caper from Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel (Lost in Paris, The Fairy) filters the language of film noir through their characteristically colorful palette to create a series of deceptively minimalistic setpieces that recall the best of Tati and Keaton. Abel plays Boris, a former activist hiding from his dark past, keeping in the shadows as a barkeeper until a one-armed vigilante finally hunts him down. The fortuitous appearance of a double – the depressive recluse Dom (also played by Abel) – seems to offer the perfect decoy. But his tenacious and loopy ex-wife, the private eye Fiona (Gordon), could foil their master plan.

The Wasp

The Wasp, the new movie from Guillem Morales, is out today.

In this tense, twist-filled psychological thriller, Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer deliver captivating performances as two estranged friends who reunite over tea, only to unveil a dangerous and deceptive plot that will irrevocably alter their lives.

You Gotta Believe

You Gotta Believe, the new movie from Ty Roberts, is out today.

Based on the inspiring true story: after dedicating the season to a teammate’s ailing father, a group of underdogs from Fort Worth, Texas, takes its Cinderella run all the way to a record-breaking showdown in the Little League World Series.

Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws, the new game from Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft, is out today.

Experience the first-ever open world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, an emerging scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted.

Better Me Than You

Better Me Than You, the new album from Big Sean, is out today.

Alligator Bites Never Heal

Alligator Bites Never Heal, the new album from Doechii, is out today.

[nomminmothdragon]

Nosk, I've got a few questions for you 1. Now that your trainer is...gone, where exactly do you live? 2. How have you been able to keep contact with most of the members of your team? 3. You mentioned that you "lend" your pokeball to whatever patient you're offering services too at the time. Does that mean you're basically independent and can only be controlled when you let yourself be? what failsafes are in place if a patient tries to steal you?

Nosk: Well I'll try my best to answer these. 1. I don't really have a set living space. When I'm not with a client or patient I'm free to travel where I wish, and use the amenities accessible to all service pokemon. 2. We have a meeting spot at our trainer's mother's house. She told us we were always welcome to come stay, but only Basil has truly taken her up on that offer. Herrah is the only one to have never come visit. 3. In essence, yes. Not many people seem to know that a pokemon can really exit and enter it's own pokeball at any moment if they know how, even after they've been 'captured'. (Just look at the anime and several moments from the games.) I already knew how to do so thanks to my late trainer and former teammates, but all service pokemon are taught how to break out of their own ball in case of emergency, such as our patient being in danger, or if they're trying to steal one of us. The Master Ball might be an exception, as it can catch any pokemon without fail, but I have no personal experience with that one. If a patient tries to steal me away, I can simply exit my pokeball and restrain them. I hope that was helpful!

[minniethemoocherda]

Nobody’s Fool

Summery: Swindle meets up with his old teammates The Combaticons to convince them to help rescue his brother.

A/N: I love the Combaticons so I'm really hoping we get to see Swindle team up with his old teammates in season 2! Xxxxxxx

Ao3: 

It had been months since Swindle had last set eyes of the derelict warehouse his fellow Combaticons were forced to call home. It was nothing compared to the all inclusive high-rise the mercenaries used to enjoy before the war; but hey from Swindle's perspective anything was better than prison.

Swindle rehearsed his apology speech in his head as he tried to pick the lock. To be honest he was slightly annoyed that Onslaught must have changed it.

Like, sure he could have left them a note, but it wasn't his fault that Hardtop dropped by unannounced. And yeah Swindle could have invited him in but the last time the Combaticons had interacted with his brother, Brawl had ripped his arm off and Vortex had tried to frag him so really it was better for everyone that Swindle did the job with Hardtop all by himself.

Also it wasn't like he had a choice. It was either split what should have been a trailer full of energon between two people or between five. It was just simple mathematics. They can't blame him for that!

Besides he'd done worse. The time he'd sold them as spare parts to the devil (Starscream) unhelpfully springing to mind.

It wasn't long before the lock sprung open, and Swindle tiptoed inside.

Hopefully most of his former teammates would be out, leaving only one or two behind that he could convince to not kill him and help him get his brother back.

"And where have you been?"

Scrap.

Swindle's wide eyes adjusted to the dim light to see Onslaught stood in the entrance, arms folded across his broad chest.

The rest of their team were gathered around him. At his right hand side as always was Blast-Off who placed his hands on his hips, after elbowing Brawl for giving him an oblivious wave. On his other was Vortex who flashed Swindle a grin as sharp as the knife in his servos which wasn't exactly an unusual sight but it had been while since it had been directed at Swindle.

"Oh hey Onsie! Didn't see you there! Which is hard because it's hard not to notice you. Have you been using that new polish I got you?" Swindle rambled, apology disappearing from his mind as he automatically turned on the charm. Which was admittedly not one of his smarter plans as now Blast-Off was sending him death glares.

"You mean the polish you stole from Blast-Off and re-gifted to me?" Onslaught asked which from anyone else might have come across as a joke, but there was no trace of humour in their leader's voice.

"Yeah that one! I mean I didn't steal anything! And even if I did, Blast-Off doesn't mind. I know he appreciates how the polish makes your rivets shine." Swindle said, pointing to Blast-Off who's rose tinted face was now actively looking anywhere but their leader. Which come on! How was it his fault that Blast-Off's crush on their leader made him as easy to manipulate as stealing rust sticks from a sparkling.

"You believe that futile flattery makes up for six months of absence?" Onslaught demanded.

"No of course not! Which is why I'm offering you something much more valuable." Swindle said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Me."

Onslaught raised an unimpressed optical ridge which was rude to say the least.

"Look as the humans say, here's the coffee." Swindle said, putting on his best salesman voice. His teammates were near immune to it at this point but for the sake of his brother it was still worth a try. "Hardtop was captured by the Autobots, so I figured we could use Bruticus to bust him out."

"And why would we help you rescue the brother that you abandoned us for in the first place?"

"Money."

Onslaught stalled. It was a small movement, barely more than a clenching of his gears. Not something an ordinary bot would notice. But Swindle had literally been inside his leaders head. At this point he didn't need to be a master con-man to recognise his tells.

If there was one word you could use to describe Onslaught it was proud. And scrounging by in their derelict warehouse after once leading the most revealed mercenaries on Cybertronian was not something for the bot to be proud of.

Something which money could fix.

"Soundwave is offering the remainder of the Deception funds to anyone willing to assist in a mass break out." Swindle explained. "So not only do we get Hardtop, we also get to rescue an entire armies worth of customers."

By the brightening of his optics, Swindle knew Onslaught was interested.

Unfortunately Onslaught had something Swindle did not.

Dignity.

Brawl didn't have enough modular cells to hold a grudge and Vortex was up for anything that potentially involved mass murder. The pair were already wearing matching grins of glee at the idea.

But it didn't matter what they thought as allowing a bot who had openly disobeyed him back onto his team without retribution wasn't something that Onslaught's pride would concede.

No, Onslaught and Blast-Off were the ones he really had to convince. Swindle needed to convince one of them because as much as the other would never admit it, they would follow whatever the other decided. And although he would never tell them with words, he did really want his place back on the team. For as much as Swindle often... well swindled his teammates, he did love to be apart of the Combaticons.

"Hardtop used to be a sniper for the elite guard before the war." For a week before they fired him due to him taking money to assassinate the then Prime but his point still stands. "Rescue him and I can get him to join our team permanently."

Swindle could tell Onslaught and Blast-Off were thinking the offer over. Their optics flashed as they both shared a look. Even before the group had combined, those two had always had a way to communicate with just a look. Usually over how bad to reprimand one of their team after they'd done something particularly stupid.

"If we had a sniper, we could complete assassinations that Bruticus was too big of a distraction to carry out." Blast-Off suggested and Swindle couldn't help the smile that spread across his faceplate knowing that he'd just sealed the deal.

"Fine." Onslaught relented, pointing a large digit towards Swindle. "But you're also on cleaning duty for the next millennia. And don't try to trick Brawl into doing it for you."

"Anything you say boss!"

He was definitely going to trick Brawl into doing the cleaning for him.

[karasunotebook]

It's the Bokutos! (1/4)

warning: timeskip!haikyuu, cursing, pregnancy, eventual smut (3&4), not proofread, fem-bodied!reader

masterlist • two • three • four

Akaashi sighs. His former high school teammates sit on the opposite side of his living room, waiting for him to speak.

“The Bokutos are coming over,” he states finally.

Komi shouts a “yes!” as Konoha, Sarukui, and Washio celebrate to themselves. You and your husband bokuto always bring the best food and snacks to a party, no one can deny.

The door opens when you arrive.

“What’s up, buttercups! Haha, your captain has arrived.” It’s cute how he still calls himself captain even after high school.

Bokuto makes a drumroll with his hands and lap. “And here comes….” The other boys, minus Akaashi who’s still setting up the table, cue in to the drumroll.

You step into the doorframe, one hand holding up a tin-foiled tray of mystery food, another waving at the guys.

“My beautiful, beautiful wife!”

“Hi, everyone.”

“Hi, [y/n],” they say, staring at the tray in your hand.

Akaashi walks up to take the tray but Bokuto interrupts him with a hug.

“Akaash! When did you grow muscles? Did you steal mines?” Bokuto flexes his arm against Akaashi’s. “Hehe, nope. Still bigger.” Bokuto smirks, making Akaashi roll his eyes playfully.

“Alright, big guy.” Bokuto laughs, walking over to his friends and giving everyone head ruffles.

“Here, lemme handle that, thanks,” Akaashi says, taking the tray from you.

“Thank you. How are you Akaashi?” You ask following him to the kitchen.

“Things are going great. How about you guys?” He asks as he organizes the table as the lovely aroma fills the room. You help him out with the plates and utensils.

“We’ve been doing great as well!”

Akaashi nods, and moves a little closer to say something under his breath. “And the baby?”

You chuckle, nodding. “Really great.” Akaashi looks over to Bokuto and his friends who are in deep conversation, cackling at jokes.

The baby, Akaashi is referring to is the one growing in your belly. The one Bokuto gave to you. You found out in the middle of one night when you decided to take a pregnancy test, since you’ve been trying for one. And honestly, “trying” is kind of a stretch since you guys only had one encounter and Bokuto took a lot of pride in that.

The next morning, you surprised Bokuto with breakfast, writing “baby” using ketchup on top of the omelette rice. He gobbled that shit up so quick that you got mad and eventually had to explain to him. He was confused as to why you were watching him eat instead of joining the meal, but then he burst into tears upon hearing the news, full of happiness. He picked you up in a hug, and twirling around like a giddy child.

On the same day, he had been bouncing all over the place, wanting to tell at least one person. So you let him tell Akaashi, his best bud. You remember as he facetimed his friend, asking him if he was alone so he could tell him the news. Akaashi seemed to have just woken up from a nap, telling us to give him a minute so he could coffee up. It took a while so your impatient husband decided to just text him a baby bottle emoji as a hint. And Akaashi immediately calls upon reading the text, understanding the meaning behind the text.

“What?!?! Are you serious? A baby?! Congratulations, you guys,” he said over facetime, looking much more awake and refreshed.

Now, you and Bokuto are here to tell the news to the others. Along with Akaashi, who knew first.

“I’m surprised Bokuto is not on the edge of his seat and spilling the secret already.” The former setter laughs. “When are you guys planning to tell them?”

“After dessert,” you whisper as you both enter the living room to the wild crowd.

“Good luck with that.”

[miammey]

(I rant, it goes in ten different places, I feel better by the end of it, yada yada, I apologize in advance)

I will never shut up about how sad the Hunting Dog’s situation is, like, they can’t leave. They’re practically chained to their jobs and won’t survive without their maintenance surgeries. They’re basically just living weapons at this point.

Yes, “cops shouldn’t be violent”, you’re right, but these guys are more than just your standard street police, they’re military, specialized in being what Teruko described as an “ultimate violence” towards criminals, it’s their JOB to be violent towards the people they fight, who are typically incredibly strong Ability Users.

As for their actions, that’s them as people and not their jobs, so to say. It’s hard to explain.

Jouno is a former criminal, he enjoys hearing people suffer, but he also enjoys saving people as well, more than the sound of suffering, which he only learned after he became a Hunting Dog. It makes sense that it’s taking a while to get used to suddenly being on the opposite side of the law, probably given the choice “join us or die.” He has no idea what being a good person entails, it seems, so he just does what he’s good at, and what he’s good at gets results, so he keeps doing it.

Tachihara was caught trying to steal from them, but then asked to join. He enjoyed his work at the Hunting Dogs, though we don’t know much about his thoughts in the position itself, other than he cares for his fellow teammates.

As for Tecchou and Teruko, we don’t know their backstories or reasons for how they act yet.

Tecchou has an incredible sense of justice, but even so he’s shown to put people above the law, or did you forget he promised to slit his own stomach open if he failed to let Lucy off scott free and give the ADA a fair trial. As for recent chapters (99-100), it doesn’t take a genius to realize he’s incredibly upset about losing the man who’s basically his partner. As much as I ship them, putting that aside we can see that Tecchou never resented Jouno, only putting him in his place if need be. For him, it’s people over laws.

As for Teruko, we also know very little about her, she enjoys torture as much as Jouno, but she also takes such pride in being a Hunting Dog, in being the fangs that tear criminals apart. She doesn’t like crime, it’s been stated that she alone was able to lower crime rates, and she even stated that a world run by violence and crime would be a terrible one. She’s the one who specifically said that they were not to attack the civilians in the Sky Casino, even when they were actively hunting down her and Tachihara for money.

Sure, they’re not the kindest group, and they’re aggressive as hell, but I’d be concerned if the people tasked with hunting down terrorists and others who wished to harm innocent people treated them kindly, and trusted them when they said they were innocent.

One more thing

THEY’RE STILL UNDER THE BOOK’S CONTROL, OF COURSE THEY WON’T BELIEVE THE AGENCY, AND OF COURSE THEY’LL CONTINUE TO TREAT THEM LIKE TERRORISTS.

Tecchou and Teruko won’t believe a single thing they say, if they’re going to trust the Agency’s word, they’re gonna need to do it after finding Fukuchi guilty, rather than the Agency innocent.

In conclusion, the Hunting Dogs are a specialized unit of soldiers who are essentially human weapons, tasked with taking down incredibly dangerous Ability Users. They are under the impression that the ADA are terrorists, and it would be incredibly concerning if a group with this role to play treated them nicely, especially when the actually DOA has killed over 100 people globally, and with the Book’s influence they won’t believe a single word the ADA says.

We also don’t know much of anything about their backstories or even have character sheets for them, and the only information we have of them is what we’ve seen in the manga, and currently they are acting as antagonists (not villains, but antagonists), so of course the series would paint them in a bad light until we see their backstories and get to know them better as actual people.

I’d also like to add how different they act on and off the battleground. Like, Tecchou’s intimidating as hell when fighting/working, but when not he’s a dork who likes watching ants, working out, and mixing same colored foods. Teruko acts a lot more childish, asking for piggyback rides, but she doesn’t change too much on and off of work. Jouno is sadistic and cruel, but he’s also stated that he’s basically the team’s babysitter, having the disciplinarian or “straight man” role in the team. As for Tachihara, he’s the youngest, most likely, he’s a bit stiffer with the Hunting Dogs, as they’re his seniors, but we know he cares a great deal for them, and they him. He seems a lot more chill than his delinquent-like Mafia persona.

Final conclusion to this rant: we as readers have the hindsight that the characters don’t, so it’s easy to forget that the Hunting Dogs are doing their best to try and take down the terrorist threat. We know the ADA is innocent, so it’s easy to forget that they were framed for terrorism, and its the Hunting Dog’s job to take down those incredibly dangerous criminals.

If this is confusing or you have an comments or questions please tell me, I love talking about them.

Also, I didn’t include Fukuchi because he doesn’t really fit the theme of “the Hunting Dogs are doing their jobs”, since he’s a terrorist. Remembering that, it kinda makes the Hunting Dog’s actions a bit more understandable, since he’s their leader, but I’m not gonna rant any further, this is already incredibly long.

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ prompt: "we're not just fucking friends and you know it!” / "sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t see you with another person.”

♡ character: roy harper / arsenal

♡ pronouns used: she / her

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / I AM A WHORE FOR ROY HARPER IN THIS PIC OH MY GOD

"no way," Donna giggled as she saw your outfit. all of the original Titans plus a few others had decided to throw a halloween party and because of the event, you decided to surprise one of the only people you knew who would more than likely fall to his knees if he saw you, "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

you fixed the yellow hat as you saw yourself in the Speedy outfit. you couldn't help but start laughing as Donna continued to gawk at you, "between you and whatever the hell Jason decided to go in, Roy is going to lose his mind," she input. you shrugged as you patted the invisible dust off of you, "good. I can give that idiot a good run for his money tonight."

both you and Donna walked out of your shared apart and out into the Gotham cold, "real arrows too? did you steal em from him?" she asked. you nodded slyly as you threw the arrow and accidentally breaking a window in the process. your eyes widened as the two of you ran inside of your car and over to the place where Dick had said the party was.

you had a bottle of unopened Buchanan whiskey in your jacket as Donna had opted to bring dessert and White Claws. you knew Dick had a fixation over those disgusting seltzers but you would take anything to see that idiot drunk dancing on a table again. it seemed like a ritual for Dick every Halloween weekend.

the party was located on the other end of Gotham City as you heard the music, seeming like Jason was the one responsible for, from a few blocks out. you gave Donna a smile, a feeling in your heart that you knew tonight would be one for the books.

once you and Donna reached the venue, you grabbed the bottle from your jacket and gave Donna a shot. she motioned to the keys as you rolled your eyes, "please, like you won't be going home with Dick tonight," you mocked as you poured the whiskey into the glasses. the two of you clinked the bottles together before chugging them down, feeling the harsh whiskey go down.

'you were meant for me' by Gene Kelly played as you and Donna walked inside the venue. your eyes immediately met with Dick's as his expression went into shock. you giggled again as you tilted the hat jokingly, "Speedy at your service," you joked as he shook his head, "you're trying to kill Roy, aren't you?" he asked.

"no, why do you ask?" Dick let out a belting laugh, "because he's been pinning after you since we were teenagers. you wearing his old uniform is more than enough to kill him." you put the bottle on the table as you took another shot, "no but maybe his knees would be more than sufficient."

Dick and Donna's face went straight to disgust as they tried stop anything coming to the imagination about what you had said. since Roy's original Speedy outfit had consisted of a cut-sleeve shirt with pants, you had did away with the pants and matched it with a skirt that looked similar to the rest of the outfit. you had asked Donna on help with it but she had no idea it was for Roy's outfit.

"what made you want to be Speedy? I thought that hero was long gone," Dick asked. you shrugged, "why not? the retired outfit doesn't mean that we can't wear it. plus, it seems like Wally is enjoying it." you waved down the speedster who seemed to perk up at the sight of you doing it. you hadn't seen Wally in quite a few months so it was always a perk to see your former teammate.

Donna gave Dick a quick look, wondering when the sudden change between Roy and Wally happened, "nice Speedy outfit," Wally complimented. you gave him a smile as you kissed his cheek as a hello, "right? just waiting for the owner of it to actually show up," you replied. Wally nodded as he greeted the other two.

"well, we should sit and actually eat. I'm sure Dick managed to get some decent food," you said as all of you went over to the food table. between Wally and Dick who both had stomachs that never seemed to end, it made it seem as though you and Donna were hardly eating anything. you sat between Wally and Donna as everyone dug into the food.

Roy, who had just walked in with Jason, dropped the jacket he was holding as he laid his eyes on you. Jason started laughing as he realized what was going on. "wow, didn't think she'd actually do it," Roy gave his friend a look of betrayal, "you knew?" he exclaimed as Jason nodded. you had mentioned it to him in passing a few days ago but he knew that you wanted to surprise him with it so he kept his mouth shut until today.

"looks like Wally is going for it too," Jason mentioned as he saw the mesmerized eyes Garth had on you. you weren't really paying attention to the speedster as you were too busy with arguing about something with Dick, "Wally isn't her type. I know what I'm up against," Roy replied as he started walking over to you. a nervous sweat appearing on his palms as he finally locked eyes on you.

you chuckled with a smirk playing on your lips as Roy returned the smirk, just as evil as you had intended, "surprising me, aren't ya?" he asked as he walked over to you and practically kicking Wally to side, catching him by surprise, "don't flatter yourself, Harper," you replied, "I just wanted to see how dorky I looked in the Robin Hood hat. can't say I don't look as dorky as you were when we were kids."

Roy gave you an playful yet offended look as you tipped your hat to him, "what made you late? surprised you weren't here earlier," you asked. he pointed to Jason before explaining that Jason was off being an idiot a few days ago and had managed to get himself thrown into county until Roy was able to come up with the entirety of the bail money.

"it wouldn't be Jason if he wasn't getting thrown in jail," Wally, who was now annoyed that Roy had interrupted your conversation with him, cleared his throat, "evening Roy, nice to see you," Wally said with an inch of annoyance in his voice. Roy gave him a piercing glare, catching Jason and his brother off guard, "nice to see you Wally. haven't exactly been in contact with us recently."

you had Kori walk in as you and Donna ran over to her, Donna very happy that she had gotten out of that situation, "hey, I'm not late, am I?" you shook your head when you realized that Roy had taken your seat which left you and Donna to find another table with Kori.

"you completely missed that little altercation with Roy and Wally over her," Donna whispered to Kori as you had walked away to get Kori something to drink, "why does Wally think he even holds a chance? she has had Roy wrapped around her finger for years. whatever chance Wally thinks he has, he is achingly wrong," Kori replied.

you walked back, handing the two other girls shots, "I've always said that we should build a team together," you said as you sat down, "working Dick can get kind of annoying," you murmured as you heard a 'hey' from the back of the building. you laughed, shaking your hand to shoo him away.

for the rest of the night, you remained talking with the two girls as you had hardly paid attention to Roy and Wally, who were still having their little teenage argument a few tables down. you were a couple of drinks in as you grabbed Donna and Kori by the hand to dance with you and like you had told Donna earlier, it didn't take long for Dick to find her and start dancing with her as Jason had asked Kori to sit with him at the bar to 'catch up'.

"hey, looking for a partner?" Wally asked as he slid right into Donna's place. you had shrugged, not realizing that Roy was sitting at the table, seething with anger as he watch Wally talk you up, "not looking good for you," Jason whispered into Roy's ear knowing it would get a rise out of him.

Roy threw him a shot glass, which he quickly dodged. you were getting another drink from the bar as Wally had went to the bathroom, "ditched me for the other redhead?" Roy asked. you giggled, shaking your head, "no one could replace you Roy," you managed to say through your slurred words. Roy could tell you were getting to the point where you were about to get blacked out drunk and that was either a really good or a terribly bad thing.

"you should really slow down on the drinks," Roy mentioned as you went for what seemed like the sixth drink, "you slow down on the drinks!" you replied as you saw Wally giving you a smile on his return. you walked back to Wally, leaving Roy more angry than he was before.

he continued to watch you talking with Wally and he could tell that Wally was more than inclined to taking you back to Central City for the night. like he had mentioned to Jason earlier, he knew your type was not Wally. in your eyes, you tended to go for the 'bad boy' type and Roy was more than enough for you; however, because the amount of drinks you had inside of you, you weren't exactly stopping Wally from flirting his way into your pants.

"as much as I would like to see her and Wally together, she did go dressed up as Speedy tonight so go get her," Dick said as he kicked Roy in the back of the leg. upon that thought, Roy had heard the song you and him always heard in the car together and it immediately caught your attention, "Roy!" you screamed, practically ditching Wally and running towards him.

Roy laughed, seeing the way you were tripping against your feet, "it's our song!" you yelled over the music as you dragged him to the dance floor. you knew Roy was as stiff as they got when it came to dancing but you weren't exactly worried about that at the moment.

Roy immediately pulled you against him as he gave Wally a competitive look. you had your eyes closed as you were too immersed in the music to see what was going on, "you look great tonight," he murmured in your ear. you giggled, turning around to face him, "I know I do. I look like Speedy," you replied, your foreheads touching each other. he groaned in response as he slightly bent down to kiss you on the lips.

you quickly allowed him as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Wally now completely annoyed had went to the bar to get himself a drink. seeing the way you were around Roy really made the statements he was hearing from everyone else true. all night he kept hearing that he was playing a dangerous game by messing with the girl everyone knew to be Roy's but a part of him wanted to believe that maybe you did see him just as a friend. the two of you had known each other for years and he still hadn't made the move.

"I left Wally by himself, maybe I should go see if he's okay," if Roy rolled his eyes harder than he just did, he was sure that they would've rolled into another dimension, "Sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t see you with another person,” he whispered, tightening his grip around your waist. "uh, we're not together Roy," you replied, trying to leave again.

Roy, finally having enough of you and Wally being together, dragged you to one of the back exists and roughly pinned you against the brick wall, making sure you were still okay. you were stunned with his sudden movements, "what the hell are you doing?" you whispered. Roy gave you one look before smashing his lips against yours.

the two of you remained kissing for what felt like centuries until you were both out of breathe. you still weren't exactly sure what Roy was on but if it meant him continuing to kiss you this way, you weren't going to stop it.

"what I mean by I can't see you with another person is that I'm tired of seeing you acting like you're single!" he exclaimed. you laughed, not believing what you were hearing, "I am? we're friends-," you were immediately cut off by a scoff that sounded more angry than annoyed, "we're not just fucking friends and you know it!” he yelled.

you remained silent, knowing he had a point but not knowing what to respond with.

"cut the shit, everyone knows that I'm yours and your mine so when is that going to get through your silly beautiful head," you giggled at the compliment before you realized that you were about to vomit the contents of your stomach in a matter of seconds. you pushed Roy off of you as you managed to throw up behind a random car.

Roy held your hair back as he rubbed your back to make sure that your hair didn't get caught in the vomit. as you went back up, Roy cut a part of his sleeve to clean the remnants of what was left on your face. you sighed, "so, are we together or?" you asked shyly. he chuckled, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and holding you close, "you think I'd let you go back to Wally single?" he replied.

the two of you walked back in as Roy had mentioned to go back to your place so you could start dealing with the onslaught of a hangover you were going to suffer through in the morning. you grabbed your jacket before telling Kori and Donna goodbye as Roy did the same with Dick and Jason.

"better luck next time champ," Roy whispered in redheads ear. Wally rolled his eyes, "but you should've gotten the hint when she came in here dressed up as me," he added on before walking over to you and pulling you onto his back to make sure you didn't trip or fall on the walk to your car.

[funkzpiel]

I recently fell head first into the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webnovel, which is banana times crazy long. I'm only 60% done, but I couldn't stop thinking about the 46th Scenario and what might've happened if Yoo Joonghyuk had gotten the star. So here we go...

THE TRAITOR WHO LOVED A STAR Pairing: Yoo Joonghyuk/Kim Dokja Warnings: Forced Bond(s), Scenario 46th Gone Wrong, Betrayal (available on AO3)

From the moment the transfer to the scenario chamber began, Yoo Joonghyuk was already preparing himself to run. There would be – as was true with many scenarios – only one glimmering moment of opportunity to succeed before all was lost. Or rather, before Kim Dokja was lost to him—no, to the company. To the company, of course.

He had to get that star.

Focus, damn it, Yoo Joonghyuk snarled to himself as their bodies broke apart into twinkling lights, taking him to the chamber – and the star – that had once been his hell and would now become, perhaps, his salvation.

[MAIN SCENARIO #46 – PROOF OF STARS] CATEGORY: MAIN DIFFICULTY: ??? CLEAR CONDITIONS: ACQUIRE AND USE THE “STAR” IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM OR PREVENT THE OTHER PARTY FROM OBTAINING THE “STAR” WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT. IF ONE OF THE TWO CONDITIONS ARE MET, THE SCENARIO WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CLEARED. TIME LIMIT: 3 HOURS FAILURE: CONDITIONAL DEATH COMPENSATION:

OPTION 1: IF YOU ACQUIRE OR USE THE “STAR” BEFORE YOUR OPPONENT, YOU CAN ACQUIRE ALL THE SKILLS AND STORIES OF THE OPPONENT.

OPTION 2: IF YOU ACQUIRE OR USE THE “STAR” BEFORE YOUR OPPONENT, YOU CAN ACQUIRE INDEFINITE LIFE OR DEATH RIGHTS OVER YOUR OPPONENT.

OPTION 3: …

From the moment they appeared, Kim Dokja was already reading – always reading. Yoo Joonghyuk did not even need to spare a glance to know what he’d find: the Constellation’s chin held in pensive fingers as his free hand traced a scant inch above the scenario window line by line. Meticulous. Observant.

But Kim Dokja was not the only player who had been carefully watching and observing all this time, and Yoo Joonghyuk had seen enough to know the man’s weak point. He was a former gamer, afterall. He knew how to beat a boss fight. He knew when to wait and watch for openings – and he knew, after years of watching Kim Dokja, that the man’s true and most valuable opening would only appear once.

Now, at the beginning, while Kim Dokja thought they were still on the same page. In the corner of his eye, he could see Kim Dokja slowly turning toward him even as his eyes kept reading – calm and relieved to be teamed with a person who already knew and understood the scenario, no doubt. He could hear the man saying, “Well, it’s simple. We just—”

Then Kim Dokja finally saw him. Yoo Joonghyuk knew what would follow. A fractional, pivotal second of confusion and panic. The opening of whatever skill allowed the Constellation to steal abilities from others, then Way of the Wind, followed by Electrification. If Yoo Joonghyuk had waited even so much as a moment longer to act when they appeared, the Constellation might’ve caught him in time.

But Yoo Joonghyuk was a pro-player, a fighter unmatched. A Regressor and a Transcendent. He knew how to win, even against clever men like Kim Dokja.

The Regressor's long fingers closed around the star – warm and gleaming between his fingers – just as Kim Dokja slammed into his waist, sending the both of them tumbling into a pile. He could feel Kim Dokja's thin, scrawny limbs flailing against him, trying to get some sort of advantage over the situation, and Yoo Joonghyuk let him. More than content to allow the little Constellation to climb atop him and settle on his waist. He had already won, after all. If that position made this all more bearable for Kim Dokja, then so be it.

“What the hell are you—” Kim Dokja began, still blissfully unaware he had lost until the messages began to arrive one by one with telling little pings.

[The “star” has been acquired by Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk!] [Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has betrayed the “trust” of his teammate.] [Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has acquired the “Traitor” story.] [The story “Traitor” has begun telling its story.]

Kim Dokja’s eyes grew wide, the blue of the scenario windows glittering in those dark depths like stars. His pale skin further illuminated by the twinkling star cradled carefully in Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand.

“It’s not too late,” Kim Dokja said suddenly, quickly – thinking, always thinking – as he urgently met Yoo Joonghyuk’s gaze. “Refuse the prize, we can still fix this, we—”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has selected his prize.] [The target of this selection is a Constellation!] [Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk’s selection is currently being evaluated for approval by the Star Stream.]

Yoo Joonghyuk watched hope briefly flit across Kim Dokja's face. It was quickly dashed.

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk's selection has been approved by the Star Stream.]

Above him, Kim Dokja stiffened and quickly screwed shut his eyes, as though bracing himself. A silent, heavy moment passed – then another and another. Until, finally, Kim Dokja slowly opened an eye to peak at him when nothing immediately happened. Yoo Joonghyuk simply continued to stare at him, and Kim Dokja’s pretty mouth slowly began to pull into a frown.

“Well, go on,” the Constellation snapped. There was something indiscernible on the man’s face. No, not indiscernible. Yoo Joonghyuk knew the look. Kim Dokja was disappointed, furious – hurt. The Regressor remembered what it felt like, and something aching passed through his chest as the knowledge settled that he had inflicted this upon Kim Dokja. The pain of a companion that you trusted taking a star you never even thought to take yourself... But Yoo Joonghyuk would bare it. He had to. If that was the price of the Constellation's well-being, then so be it.

“Go on!” Kim Dokja snapped again, louder now, less controlled. More human. He seized Yoo Joonghyuk by the collar of his black clothing and lifted him just enough to jostle him back down against the floor firmly in a little slam. “If you wanted my stories and abilities so badly, then take them. What do you even want? Way of the Wind? Electrification? My attribute? What do I have that you covet so much to do this?”

The bottoms of the Constellation’s lashes were growing heavy above him. Wet and hot, glimmering tragically in the starlight. Yoo Joonghyuk found he couldn't look away.

“Always so foolish,” The Regressor finally said, and regretted – for just a moment – that the situation wasn’t different. Because, as it stood, it was impossible to enjoy the rare surprise on Kim Dokja’s face when the next message sprung up above him, as precious as that expression was.

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has acquired the Life and Death Rights to Constellation Demon King of Salvation.] [The story “Life and Death Companions” is trembling.] [Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has acquired the story “Traitor Who Loved a Star”.] [The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” has devoured the story “Life and Death Companions”.] [The story "Traitor Who Loved a Star" is growling possessively.] [Secret ability of the chamber's “star” has been triggered.]

“Yoo Joonghyuk,” Kim Dokja gasped. Yoo Joonghyuk could see it on the man’s face as he began to connect the dots. The messages leading him like a trail of breadcrumbs towards an inevitable conclusion.

“For the past three years, you’ve been free to act like a feral animal,” Yoo Joonghyuk said as one by one, more and more messages cascaded above them. He didn’t care for them. He knew what would happen. He cared more that what came next was done right. There was no room for error. Not when it came to someone as cunning as Kim Dokja. “I can tolerate it no longer.”

[The chamber's “star” has become a vessel.] [The chamber's “star” will bind the Constellation Demon King of Salvation’s Constellation Star in order to fulfill Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk’s selection.]

The light of the star held delicately in Yoo Joonghyuk’s hands began to glimmer all the more brightly. Light poured from between his fingers as Kim Dokja sucked in a stuttering gasp as though struck. The slim man’s shaking hands released Yoo Joonghyuk’s collar to flutter and paw at his own chest as though searching for a wound that wasn’t there, or perhaps trying to hold something in.

Above, delicate little orbs of light began to appear and drift down to them like snow as the ceiling of the chamber disappeared, revealing the expanse of the cosmos above. It drew both of their gazes up, the room for just a moment looking more like a galaxy than a scenario chamber. There was the soft chime of a clear and ringing bell, and then in a small flash of light, a larger orb fell from the sky with great speed, only to come to a gentle halt just where the ceiling should have been. It twinkled gently, a soft and humming melody echoing from its softly pulsing light until voices began to whisper out from its depths.

“We will see the end of the scenarios together—" “—can’t let them know. They must see the end. I’ll be fine, I’ll find another way; but they cannot die here.” “Yoo Joonghyuk, that crazy sunfish—” “—Is this what it feels like? To have fami̴̮̓l̴̰̆͐͠ͅy̶̮͑̚—” “—They’ll hate me for this, but it must be done—”

The melody became fragments of thoughts. Kim Dokja’s thoughts. Past, present, future; they radiated from the little orb, honest and true. Above him, Kim Dokja flushed from the tips of his ears down to the delicate hollow of his clavicle peeking out beneath his collar. His gaze fell down quickly to Yoo Joonghyuk, hands moving to frame either side of the man’s head on the ground as if the span of his now hovering back between the vessel and his star could block the true light of his Constellation Star from becoming one with the vessel Yoo Joonghyuk had made.

“D-don’t do this,” Kim Dokja pleaded, his calm wavering slightly as his eyes darted here and there across Yoo Joonghyuk’s stoic face. “I don’t know what I did to you to make you hate me this much, but I—”

[The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” is crying out indignantly!] [The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” is telling its story more passionately!]

The force of the story's cry compelled Yoo Joonghyuk. Compelled them both. Even as a part of Yoo Joonghyuk wondered if it were love, if he could even love, if he even knew what it was – he felt love sway his hand up to cup Kim Dokja’s face above him. To cradle the gentle curve of the Constellation’s trembling jaw. And all the while, Kim Dokja just stared down at him with wide, startled eyes – for once speechless.

“It would be so much easier to hate you,” Yoo Joonghyuk said as the star continued to descend from above Kim Dokja’s head, haloing the man in brilliant light. “But three years without you was more than enough to realize I can't…”

“I don’t understand,” Kim Dokja whispered dumbly. "Then why are you doing this?"

[The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” is growing exponentially!] [The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” is telling its story!]

Kim Dokja jerked as though struck, and all of a sudden his eyes became sightless and dull, clouded over with memories. In them, Yoo Joonghyuk could see the faint reflections of what the story was showing him. The aftermath of the Constellation's sacrifice as the shackles he had forced upon his friends fell away with his death. The terrible days of hopeful, painful waiting – because he had come back before, maybe he would do it again. The children crying, their faces buried into the bellies and hips of their older companions. And just as painful, the crying of the adults – hidden, broken moments in stolen away corners, deep in the quiet, solitary darkness of night. Their grief laid naked beneath the gluttonous gaze of the Star Stream. They continued without him. They thrived because of Kim Dokja’s hand in their training, their evolution, their stories. But they also died a different death without him. A thousand tiny, little dreadful deaths. Three years of them.

Yoo Joonghyuk felt a wet, hot drop fall on his cheek. First one, two, then a small handful more as above him, Kim Dokja cried the stunned, silent tears of a Constellation’s grief. Each drop twinkling like starlight.

“I had to,” Kim Dokja tried weakly when his sight had returned, only to shudder as the falling star above him passed harmlessly through his back, illuminating him from within, then continued through his chest – taking his mortal heart with it with a little gasp.

[Life and Death Rights have been initiated!]

Kim Dokja’s head fell to hang heavily between his shoulders above Yoo Joonghyuk, his dark bangs hiding his eyes.

“They’ll call you a traitor,” the Constellation whispered in a broken little voice.

“Not if they don’t know.”

Kim Dokja’s gaze shot up to the Regressor's, wide once more and so preciously confused. Yoo Joonghyuk’s thumb brushed back and forth along the slope of the man’s jaw.

“You aren’t the only one who’s clever, Kim Dokja,” he finally said as the light of Kim Dokja’s Constellation Star finally made its final descent into its new vessel. The light between them bloomed impossibly brighter for a moment – dazzling and casting their shadows in stark relief against the walls – until all at once it disappeared into a far more subdued glow within the palm sized star in Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand. Kim Dokja shuddered, head tossed back as what sounded like a key turned in the metaphorical lock of their bond.

[Constellation Demon King of Salvation has been bound!]

Kim Dokja trembled, his spine bowed into a tight and quaking arc above Yoo Joonghyuk, legs tight around the Regressor’s waist where he was still primly seated.

[Constellation Demon King of Salvation has lost his Life and Death Rights!]

“N-Noo,” Kim Dokja whimpered, even as Yoo Joonghyuk’s hands fell on his waist, thumbs rubbing gently, soothingly. It would all be fine in the end, Yoo Joonghyuk reminded himself as he bore the pain of watching Kim Dokja become shackled as he had been in his 2nd Regression. But he would be a better master than Anna Croft. He would. For all their sakes.

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk now possesses the Life and Death Rights of the Constellation Demon King of Salvation!]

A bond - invisible and unbreakable - formed and thrummed tight and strong between them as the vessel in Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand began to pulse needily, craving its final resting place, capturing both of their attention. The Regressor brought that hand up to his own chest even as Kim Dokja shakily collected his wits above him. The Constellation’s slender hand grasped Yoo Joonghyuk’s wrist in a weak, final bid to plea with him. And for just a moment, Yoo Joonghyuk grimaced.

"Just let me think for a minute," Kim Dokja pleaded, hand shaking where he held Yoo Joonghyuk's wrist. "I can fix this."

“No, Kim Dokja. We cannot lose you again,” The Regressor said, and ignored Kim Dokja’s shocked little ‘no’ as he pressed the Constellation Vessel to his own heart. The little light flickered brilliantly, recognizing its new home, before absorbing into Yoo Joonghyuk's chest eagerly. Kim Dokja’s slim fingers scrambled to pry Yoo Joonghyuk’s large hand away, but bit by bit the light disappeared until finally, it was gone as though it had never been. The room grew suddenly dim around them without that light.

"This is the only way to save you from yourself," Yoo Joonghyuk continued in the quiet, hushed only by the startled heaving of Kim Dokja's furious breaths.

"I didn't ask to be saved!"

"Then now you know what it feels like."

[Constellation Demon King of Salvation’s Constellation Star is no longer aloft among the sea of stars!]

Above, a certain patch of the Star Stream sat empty and barren.

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk now has the right to make requests of his Constellation.] [Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk is making his first request.]

Kim Dokja kept his gaze resiliently away even as he felt pulled in by the message, his attention drifting toward Yoo Joonghyuk like an asteroid pulled in by Earth’s gravity.

“Look at me, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, and when the Constellation atop his waist firmly attempted to rebel against the request, thinking it a command, Yoo Joonghyuk used Life and Death Rights to show just how futile the attempt was. Now, uttering a true command, Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice dipped lower as he said, “Look at me.”

With a sharp inhale, Kim Dokja’s gaze shook heavily. His body trembled like the last delicate leaf of fall, and barely a moment later his breath exploded from him in a relieved little gasp as he relented and looked at Yoo Joonghyuk. The Regressor let Kim Dokja breathe for a moment, all too familiar with the overwhelming pain of resisting a command just as much as the heady relief of obeying it. And when Kim Dokja’s overwhelmed gaze became a sullen glare above him, Yoo Joonghyuk finally continued.

“This is my command, Kim Dokja. You will not throw away your life ever again.”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has issued a command using Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation cannot throw away his life ever again!]

Kim Dokja shuddered, his trembling voice stuttering off a soft, “Y-you don’t u-understand—” but Yoo Joonghyuk simply continued.

“You will communicate your plans with me openly, honestly,” and then, after a searching moment as he saw the cogs already turning in Kim Dokja’s mind, added, “Eagerly.”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has issued a command using Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation must communicate his plans with Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk openly, honestly and eagerly!]

Kim Dokja’s hands fell to Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest as another wracking fit of trembling overcame him, overwhelming him. His fingers curled there weakly, nails dragging faint lines into Yoo Joonghyuk’s skin even through his shirt. It was a distant thing. Yoo Joonghyuk barely noticed, too absorbed by this rare opportunity to finally protect his companion.

“You will do everything within your power to survive and remain with the people you insist on getting to your perfect ending.”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has issued a command using Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation must do everything within his power to survive and remain with the people he has been championing to get to the ◾◾!]

Kim Dokja cried out, his head finally falling weakly until his brow laid heavily on Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest. The Regressor could feel the Constellation’s breath, hot and panicked, those slim ribs heaving.

“And finally,” Yoo Joonghyuk said softly, his hand rising to lace his fingers through those dark tresses with surprising tenderness. Beneath his hand, Kim Dokja shivered pleasantly now, as though Yoo Joonghyuk’s touch was a soothing balm. Craving it, even as Yoo Joonghyuk knew he’d be fighting it furiously within. Yoo Joonghyuk remembered that siren’s call, after all. And he suddenly regretted that now, with the bond between them, he’d never know if their companionship was true or not.

Another price to pay.

“When we leave this room, you will not remember that this bond has been established.”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has issued a command using Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will not remember that he is bond to the will of Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk's Life and Death Rights!]

Kim Dokja jerked up, staring at him – shaken and furious.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, don’t—!”

“You will remember my commands. You will be open to further commands from me and me alone. But you will not look for your star up in the Star Stream. You will not wonder why it’s not there. You won’t think of me as a traitor, and you won’t tell the others of my new story. When we leave this room, you will believe neither of us touched the star.”

[Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has issued a command using Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will retain all commands given using the Life and Death Rights!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will be open to further commands from Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk in the future!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will not look for or wonder about his missing Constellation Star in the Star Stream above!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will not consider Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk to be a Traitor!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will not tell the others that Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk has acquired the story "Traitor"!] [Constellation Demon King of Salvation will believe that neither he nor Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk acquired or utilized the chamber "star" after departing from the scenario!]

Kim Dokja slammed a delicate wrist down on Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest as the messages came pouring in, even as he spoke, but could not so much as stop a single word that spilled from Yoo Joonghyuk's lips. And when the commands finally rattled to an end, all Kim Dokja could manage to mutter was, “Why? Why are you doing this?”

Yoo Joonghyuk let the question hang for a long, pregnant moment as he felt the weight of his answer finally settle in his heart. As he brushed Kim Dokja’s tears away the blazing Constellation Star within him illuminated the darkness and denials that hid the truth before, until there was only one thing left to say. And even as Kim Dokja scowled, the Constellation leaned into that touch. Drawn in by the gravity of the bond.

With time, it would feel natural. With time, neither of them would question it.

“Because, Kim Dokja... I am the Traitor who fell in love with a Star.”

[The story “Traitor Who Loved a Star” is telling its story.]

(available on AO3)

[mysticalrambling]

Hello

I m new on your blog and read your work and i fell in love with your stories. I read you were interested in taking request so can you take my request too? I was wondering if you can write a steve rogers x reader, where y/n is his girlfriend and he leaves her after civil war and then they see each other in infinity war, he tries to patchup with her but she ignores him because in past he often compared her to peggy and also because she knew about him kissing sharon and she is hurt. During the fight she doesn't talks to him and when tony returns from space she still continues to ignore Steve and when he confronts her she snaps at him for hurting her for a long time. He apologizes and somehow they makeup and also him kissing sharon was misunderstanding because sharon kissed him. And then they are happy together and also in endgame the reader is worried steve will stay in past but he comes back and they get married with the team present and have kids and live happily

Happily Ever After (S.R)

A/N: Thank you so much lovely and I loved the plot line. I loved writing about it and I made a few additions to the story. Hope you like it and I am open to more requests.

Steve Rogers Fanfiction (Fanfiction Master List)

Summary: Steve comes back after Civil War and you are angry with him because he left you. You do not forgive him because you thought he cheated on you and he always compared you with Peggy. But he returns from the past when he chose you over Peggy and you forgive him. You eventually get married and expand your family.

Warnings: Angst but eventual fluff.

._._._._.

He stood right there in his Captain America shield with all his former glory. Your ex boyfriend looked the same but there were some differences like he had a full grown beard and he was more muscular. He kept staring at you with longing and pain but it was not even the half of what you experienced while he was gone.

“(Y/N), you need to take the position left to Steve.” Tony pulled you out of your trance and you just stared at him when you comprehended his order. He had been there for you from the moment Steve left you after the Civil War. Sitting with you when you couldn’t sleep at night and forcefully feeding you when you spent the whole day starving. He didn’t want you anywhere near Captain but you both always worked best together and there were much more important matters at hand.

“But Tony, I can be with Steve.” As much as Rhodey wanted to be away from all of the people that were responsible for his fall, he didn’t want you to suffer. They all had seen you fall apart on the Avenger base when you realised that your boyfriend left without saying good bye to you and without an explanation. Just telling Tony on a voice message to take care of you wasn’t enough.

“I’ll be okay, Rhodey. You are needed near the buildings so if some of the aliens escape our defenses, you can be there to protect the city.”

All of the avengers kept stealing glances at the both of you because they knew that it was only a matter of time before you exploded. But they were wrong. You were not the stubborn, hot headed woman that did not let anyone walk over her. That woman died when Steve left. He took her with himself.

"Take your positions and give them hell." Steve and you made your way towards your designated place.

"(Y/N), listen to me. I-"

"Do not talk to me. We are done." Keeping your eyes trained on the path, you avoided meeting his eyes.

"But, let me explain. I did not have a choice. You sided with Tony and I couldn't tell you that we were leaving." He tried to catch up with you but you were a woman on a mission.

"I did not side with Tony, I sided with the accords. And I was working my ass off to get you all out of there and I looked like a fool in the end." He collided in you as you abruptly stopped in your tracks.

"(Y/N), I didn't know-"

"You didn't know because you never tried to contact me. I was the one who had to go through multiple trials with the government because they thought I helped you all to escape." There were tears pooling in your eyes and Steve wanted to kill himself for being the cause. "I was benched for four months, for Gods sake."

You are reminded of those horrible times when you didn't know what your next step was going to be. The others tried to help you but you had to suffer through all the criticism alone. Some days you just wanted to leave it all behind and start a new life. But you weren't a coward. You wouldn't let anyone run over you like this and ruin your life. Getting back up was tough but you managed it. The day that you were allowed back on the field was the day that you decided you were not going to let anyone ruin your life.

"(Y/N), I made a mistake and I missed you so much." He tried to touch you but you flinched. A look of hurt passed his eyes and retracted his hands.

"Let's just fight. I want to kick some ass." The war crafts soon landed and you all got to fight. You had to admit that Steve was one of the best teammate that you had. He knew when to defend you and when to let you attack. You were busy fighting two of the aliens when one came from the back. Steve saw it and immediately came to your defense. You were never going to admit it but you missed this.

When the fight ended, you both made your way towards the main compound and saw all the avengers gathered together. Steve and you only had minor cuts throughout your body but nothing major. The moment you saw what all the commotion is about, your breath hitched. It was Tony with half of his skin burnt and taking his last breath.

Kneeling down beside him, you started crying. "Hey, it's okay. Just be happy and do not hold on to old grudges. Take care of family for me, please." Pepper was beside you and she started crying harder when she heard him. "Steve, come here for a second."

"I am so sorry for everything. You will always be my friend, Stark."

"We both were in the wrong, Cap. For what it's worth, do not lose (Y/N) because she is the best thing that has happened to you."

Tony was on his last breaths now and you both moved aside because Pepper wanted to have some last moments with him. There were some rifts in the team since the civil war but at this moment, you all were in this together. Tony was the one who brought you all together and saved many of you from your abusive lives. He was your best friend and you didn't know how you would spend your life without his sarcastic comments and his new inventions.

"You go, Tony. We are going to be okay. I love you." The words that left Pepper were a mere whisper but because of the pin drop silence, you were able to hear her.

"I love you too," Uttering his last words, he finally closed his eyes and all that could be heard were Pepper's wails of agony. Everything after it was a blur; the med bay, the briefing, the funeral. Time seemed to pass you by and you were numb the whole time. It was like a large piece of your heart was torn away from you and you didn't know how to react.

"(Y/N), can we talk?" Natasha lightly knocked on your door before you muttered a small come in. She looked around the room and noticed the lack of pictures in your room. The warmth that once radiated from your room was now gone. There were pictures of you with the team, with Steve and with Natasha. You liked to capture all the memories and it was one of the things the team loved about you.

"Hi."

"Hello. I just wanted to see how you were doing after everything."

"I am fine. Just processing everything." The loose thread on your blanket was the main focus of your attention right now.

"You don't seem fine. I know you, (Y/N)."

"No, you don't." Scoffing at her ridiculous statement, you felt anger bubbling inside your chest. "You were one of the first people who became my friend when I came to this tower. You knew I couldn't live without Chris and you. You both were my support system."

"(Y/N), I wanted to tell you everything. Believe me, I did. But we had to keep it a secret because we had to protect the other avengers as well."

"I have been listening to this reason from the past few days and I am done. I was ready to help you guys and you could have just contacted me once. I didn't know if you were dead or alive."

"I am sorry. I wanted to do it but it was never the right time. Half of the times you were surrounded by government officials. Can you forgive me?" The red head came and sat next to you on the bed.

"I can but I don't know if we can go back to the way things were."

"It's okay. We will be friends again. And as a new friend, I just want to tell you that Steve was miserable these past two years and he loves you so much."

"I don't want to talk about him, Nat. Let's go to the gym and spar."

"I am going to kick your ass as alway, (Y/L/N)."

"I have been practicing, Romanoff." You both went on to sparring and Natasha won in the end. However, the whole day you kept thinking about your ex boyfriend. He had been trying to talk to you from the past two weeks. It was hard for you to ignore him but you were now reminded of the times when he compared you with Peggy.

The small things that you did was always met with criticism like Peggy did not work in the field like this or Peggy wouldn't talk to him like a brat. Apparently, she was the mature one and you could never compare to her. Most of the times, you tried not to let the comments get to you but you were human. He might have done it unintentionally and you didn't want to hold it against him. But it hurt.

"We are going to talk today and you are not going to run away this time." He blocked you in the kitchen when you came out of your room to drink some water.

"Funny how you are saying that I am the one that is running away. Hypocrite much now, are we?"

"(Y/N), I am apologising to you because I can't live without you."

"You did so well for two years, I don't know why it is a problem now."

"I understand that you are angry with me. I wanted to be with you so bad but my duty as Captain prevented me from it." Your face was turned away from Steve but you turned towards him when you heard the words leave his mouth.

"Your job is more important than me?" Enraged, all you could see was red and you wanted to punch the daylights out of him.

"I thought it was but not anymore. You are the most important thing in my life and I don't want to lose you."

"Well, you have other women in your life so you don't need me."

"What other women?" Steve's confused gaze swept over your face when you spit those words out.

"I know about Sharon. You kissed her when we were still together. You cheated on me and I hate you for it." Pointing your fingers at his chest, you didn't realise when your voice started to rise.

Steve held your hands and pulled you close to his chest. "Sharon kissed me and I immediately backed off. I would never cheat on you."

You couldn't believe your ears right now. This was one of the things that helped you get over Steve. Believing that he cheated on you, made it a lot easier for you to despise him. Granted that never happened but it was still easier. However, he was still stuck in the past and he did not want to admit it.

"Even if Sharon is not a problem, you are still stuck in the past."

"What do you mean?"

"You are still in love with Peggy and I can not be your second choice anymore."

"Peggy has got nothing to do with this. She is dead and I love you."

"But I would have never been the one you loved if Peggy was here."

"That's not true. You both are totally different people and I love you now." Steve didn't know how to explain it to you. The things he felt for you were totally different for what he felt for Peggy. You made his breath hitch and his heart pounded whenever you smiled at him. He was so in love with you that he didn't think it was possible to love someone this much.

He knew that he compared you with Peggy before he left but at that time he was not ready to leave the past. It was unfair of him to do that to you while you tried very hard to meet all his expectations. However, he realised afterwards that you did not have to meet any of his expectations because you exceeded all of them. He felt so guilty and he just wanted to have you back in his life and forget about all the things that happened.

"I don't believe you."

"Please do. I want us to be okay before I go to return all the stones."

"You do that and then we can talk about us." He gave you a quick peck on the cheek before you could say anything. You were pretty sure that would stay back with Peggy and that's why you didn't want to reconcile things. You didn't want him to break your heart again.

"Ready to go, Cap?" Scott asked as he rechecked the time machine again. Everyone glanced at each other when he said that because they all thought that Steve might remain in the past for Peggy. They all had their doubts but everyone was scared to say them out loud. "You only have five seconds to get back before you are stuck."

"Ready." He glanced at you one last time and stepped in to the machine. You held your breath as Scott counted out loud and when he reached the number four, you were sure that he wasn't coming back. You were about to turn back when a snapping sound echoed throughout the room.

"I told you I will come back." Coming to a halt right in front of you, you couldn't believe your eyes. You pulled him in and kissed him ferociously.

"I love you."

"I love you too and remember that no one compares to you. I am really sorry."

"It's okay. You passed the test." When you both kissed again, all of your friends cheered for you.

As time passed by, you realised that Steve was the best person you could have possibly ended up. He was the literally the man of your dreams. Waking up to him every morning, cuddled up in your bed to going to bed with him kissing you goodnight. Steve made you breakfast every morning even when he was getting late and weekends were only reserved you.

The day that he proposed was still so clear on your mind. You remembered how he was nervous for a week that you thought something was seriously wrong with him. He would stutter and sweat when you got too close to him like it was a new relationship. There was a barbecue for the whole team on the compound and you all were gathered around the garden with drinks in hand. Everyone was enjoying it to the fullest when out of nowhere Steve knelt in front of you with a ring in his hand. After listening to his speech, you said yes with tears in your eyes.

"Are you ready?" Natasha asked you as she smoothed down your wedding dress that you spent months picking out.

"Yes." Pepper helped Morgan with the flower basket because the seven year old wanted to be the flower girl.

"Okay, then it's time." Walking down the aisle was worth it when you saw the adoration flicker in his eyes. He said some of the most heart warming words that had you ruining your eye makeup. It was a beautiful ceremony that only included close family and friends. You wanted a private wedding and you announced it to the world the next day. They all went crazy but the positive response was overwhelming to say the least.

Four months in to the wedding, you realised you were pregnant. Natasha was the one who sat beside when you waited for the test while Pepper brought a million of them for you. You were scared to tell him because you never discussed the possibility of having kids in detail.

"Just tell him. He is going to be ecstatic." Natasha tried to soothe you when you started crying with your face in between your hands.

"Okay. Steve will be home anytime soon."

"We should probably get going." Pepper and Natasha made their way towards the door and gently closed it.

"Hey, babe." Kissing you on the cheek, he immediately went to the washroom to take a shower.

"We need to talk."

"Sure. What's up?"

"I am pregnant." Blurting it out was not what you had planned but you couldn't think of another way. He stopped folding his armor midway and just looked at you with disbelief in his eyes.

"Are you serious? Oh my god. When did you find out? I am so happy, baby."

"I found out about an hour ago. And you are seriously happy?"

"Of course, I am. We will have a mini you or me with us in nine months. I love you, baby."

"I love you too." Keeping his hands on your stomach, he hugged you tightly and you knew that you got your happy ending. You were one of the luckiest people alive because you have a husband like Steve and now you were going to have family with him.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!!

._._._._.

A/N: I love Captain America and I was happy to write a fanfiction about him. If you guys have any more request, I will be happy to write about them and message me if you want to be added to the tag list.

Taglist: @justile 

Like, comment and reblog.

._._._._.

[ahkaahshi]

steadfast [miya osamu x reader]

pairing: miya osamu x fem reader + miya atsumu x reader x suna rintarou

genre: smut (18+)

warning(s): explicit sexual content, group sex (threesome), cuckolding, dirty talk, swearing, praise, daddy kink, deep throating, squirting, brief mentions of jealousy, and just a lil bit of that competitive spirit ya know?

word count: 4.3k

overview: after years of witnessing suna and atsumu shamelessly flirting with his girlfriend, he decides to give them one chance to change her mind knowing damn well she won’t.

By nature, Osamu is observant. Few things escape his attention, whether it’s trace amounts of ice cream disappearing from his tub in the freezer or the longing look you always give him moments before you press your lips against his in an affectionate kiss. Though he wants to pay full attention to the intense game of Super Smash Bros.a few of his former teammates are playing, he can’t help but let his eyes wander to your form as you shuffle into the kitchen to grab another beer. It’s not for you, but for his twin brother who places a lingering touch against the small of your back upon accepting it.

To the untrained eye, the action would appear as a gesture of appreciation and nothing more. But Osamu understood his brother well enough to know that he’d always had a habit--or intention, rather--of being handsy with you. His dark, stone-colored gaze quickly flicks back to the game on the television, however, when you saunter over to him to lean down and place a gentle kiss against his temple.

“Need anything, babe?” you ask, (e/c) eyes tracing over the handsome features of your boyfriend’s face.

He shakes his head and assures you, “Just ‘cause this is our place, don’t mean ya hafta play hostess, y’know.”

“I know,” is your cheerfully spoken response before you turn your attention to the chaos unfolding on-screen. “Damn, who knew Kita-san was good at video games?”

Aran, who overhears your comment, laments, “Not me. This guy acts like it’s his first time holdin’ a controller ‘nd then proceeds to give us an ass-beatin’!” That deceptively sweet smile you’d seen many times before soon spreads across Kita’s lips as he casts it in your direction. Moments later, you notice his chosen character catapult Aran’s off the side of the screen, making the man sigh and hand his controller over to a somewhat unsettled-looking Ren.

The exchange makes you laugh, and your amusement quickly spreads to Osamu, who smiles as he pecks your cheek. “Why don’tcha come sit down, honey?” he suggests, patting his knee and slowly pulling you closer by giving your hand a gentle tug.

“Later. I’m gonna go talk to Rin real quick.”

Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, you back away and dart past the television to where Suna’s standing on the balcony outside. Osamu doesn’t miss the lazy grin that tugs at the corners of his friend’s mouth when you greet him and seat yourself on the chair beside him. Though he’s noticed how much of your attention Suna must’ve been aiming to steal away the entire evening, he doesn’t comment or intervene. Instead, he sends a sideways glance at Atsumu, who plops down on the couch beside him, pops another sliver of pickled plum into his mouth that Kita brought with him, and returns his attention to the game onscreen.

It’s not until later that he decides to speak on the issue, when everyone’s left the informal team reunion but Atsumu and Suna. As you’re scanning the apartment for any trash that may have been forgotten—though there’s not much to find since Kita and Aran scolded anyone who so much as left their drink unattended—you find yourself tripping over the rug sprawled across the wooden floor. Atsumu, who’s seated on the couch nearby, avoiding any tasks associated with cleaning up while tapping through his own Instagram story, quickly extends his arms towards you to steady you as you stumble towards him.

Feeling his hands on your hips and hearing him say, “Careful, there, girly,” brings a rush of heat to your neck and face.

“Thanks, ‘Tsumu!” you chirp quickly, pushing yourself away from the couch with haste.

“Anytime, hon,” is his nonchalant response. Normally, you wouldn’t think much of it because he’d developed a habit of giving you affectionate names over the years you’d known him, but, in this situation, his reply has you glancing over your shoulder at Osamu. Though he remains silent and focused on the task at hand, that quiet but dominating presence of his is intense. You know his brother’s actions are hardly going unnoticed, so you hustle into the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes Kita had neatly piled in your sink—which you’d had to practically beg him not to clean for you by insisting that he was your guest.

Osamu’s dark gaze narrows at his brother in a silent warning once you’re occupied again. Atsumu, being competitive and provocative as ever, simply raises an eyebrow at him as a challenge. However, both their attention soon snaps to you when they hear you and Suna snickering about something that must’ve been just hilarious while he helps take care of the dishes. Jealousy isn’t an emotion Osamu’s entirely used to, seeing as he’s always been secure in his relationship with you, but knowing the types of things his friend and his brother have said about you in confidence before the two of you started dating makes a flicker of it burn within him.

Finally, he speaks, not even attempting to hide the curtness to his tone when he questions, “Why don’t the two of ya just fuck ‘er already?”

The silence that befalls the house following his outburst is deafening, and you freeze in your act of handing Suna another plate to stick in the dishwasher. The three of you collectively turn your gazes to him, though theirs clearly portray an intrigue to learn more about what he means.

“What’re ya sayin’ that for, ‘Samu?” Atsumu asks rather coyly, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees.

However, your boyfriend isn’t having any of his twin’s attitude tonight, since he retorts, “Don’t fuckin’ act like ya don’t know what I’m talkin’ about. I know you’ve been wantin’ her for years now. I see the way you both fawn over her whenever I bring ‘er around.”

“Baby…” you coo softly and dry your hands so you can approach him.

The daggers he sends sticking into you with a sharp glance in your direction stops you in your tracks, though, as do his words. “What? It’s not like yer doin’ anythin’ to stop it.”

You swallow thickly, your eyes sinking to the floor as shame wells up inside of you at the truth his statement holds. You had never intentionally flirted with either of them, but you hadn’t done anything to put an end to their advances. Even though Atsumu and Suna were close friends of yours—and had been since high school, when you’d first met them along with Osamu—you knew they’d both harbored feelings for you at some point over the years. Part of you didn’t stop them because you hadn’t wanted to think the worst, which was that they still had any remnants of desire for you when you were clearly in a committed relationship with Osamu.

However, as you look around and find yourself the subject of not one but three hungry sets of eyes, you realize that they’ve still been hunting you regardless of the fact. “’Samu, I—”

“Do ya wanna let ‘em fuck you?” he interrupts. The fire you can sense burning behind his ash-colored eyes robs you of a response, so he adds, in a softer tone, “’S okay if ya do.”

Atsumu chuckles, “Might not wanna give ‘er the chance since she might rethink her decision about who she chose.”

Without thinking, you shake your head diligently and argue, “I would never leave him.”

“So, is that a yes, then?”

As you take a moment to ponder his inquiry, you notice Osamu moving closer to you before he takes your face in his hands. Tenderly, he kisses your cheek and leans towards your ear so he can murmur, “Why don’tcha let ‘em live out their li’l pipe dream for one night, (f/n)? You’ve got nothin’ ta lose, since I’m the one who suggested it in the first place.” A slow, shuddering breath escapes your lips when he adds, “In fact, I want you to do it. Show ‘em a good time; hell, enjoy yourself too.” He lets his finger run over the gentle curves of your neck, sending tingles down your spine. “I hope they make you feel good—or at least try to, since I know there’s no way they’ll be able ta make you squirt like I can, pretty baby.”

His words quickly fill your core with heat, and you’re consenting with an enthusiastic nod without so much as another thought. A small smile ghosts across his lips for a moment before he gives you a gentle nudge in the direction of the hallway leading to your bedroom, silently telling you to lead the way. Even though your body’s abuzz with excitement at what you’ve willingly gotten yourself into, you can’t help but feel somewhat sheepish at being the subject of three intense gazes. Having them follow you down the narrow hallway makes it somewhat hard for you to breathe, but it’s not long before they’re finding more physical ways of taking your breath away.

Upon entering your bedroom, Atsumu’s the first to paw at your shirt, taking the soft fabric in his grip so he can pull it over your head. Your bra is unclasped moments later and tossed aside haphazardly before you’re pushed onto the bed. The suddenness of your body hitting the mattress makes you squeal, eliciting a low chuckle from Atsumu as he leans over you and captures your lips in a surprisingly tender kiss. While your eyes are closed, you can feel one set of fingers trailing lightly along your sternum while another pair of hands tugs at your pants before removing them, along with your embarrassingly wet panties.

“Mm,” Suna hums gently, pressing his lips to the inside of your thigh, “Soaked already?”

“Lemme feel.” The fingertips grazing the expanse of skin between your breasts soon travel down closer to your core, plunging inside and emerging coated in your essence. A soft whine escapes your mouth at the fleeting sensation of being somewhat filled, and you watch with half-lidded, (e/c) eyes as Atsumu slides his fingers into his mouth. “Just as sweet as I expected,” he comments before placing another passionate kiss against your lips so he can swipe his tongue along yours to give you a taste. “What did ‘Samu say that gotcha all worked up, honey?”

From where he’s sitting on a chair across from the bed, Osamu grunts, “None of yer damn business. And don’t call ‘er honey.”

Suna understands why Atsumu’s attempts at using this pet name for you are futile when he sees the way you clench around nothing at hearing it leave Osamu’s mouth. “’Samu,” you whimper softly and look in his direction. In spite of the way Suna and Atsumu’s hands feel against your skin, you’re still pining for the familiarity of your boyfriend’s touch. Eager to bring you back to the matter at hand, Atsumu turns your face back towards him and occupies your lips once more.

Meanwhile, Suna sets himself to running his fingers through your glistening folds and pleasuring your sensitive spot, making you moan into Atsumu’s mouth. When his digits venture inside of you, your hips instinctively buck against them, desperate for the thumb you know he’s intentionally keeping away from your clit. “Keep making those pretty sounds, baby,” Suna coaxes, using his free hand to palm his erection through his pants. Between him thrusting his long fingers into your core and Atsumu pinching your nipples with his, it’s not long before you feel the knot in your stomach threatening to come undone.

What pushes you closer to the edge is the smooth, wetness of Suna’s tongue dragging over your slit. “Rin!” you squeal, grinding your hips against his face to get as much contact with his mouth as you can. He squeezes your thighs gently, holding them in place over his shoulders where he kneels on the floor at the side of the bed. At hearing his name leave your mouth between kisses from Atsumu, he rewards your behavior by flattening his tongue against your clit and licking in broad stripes. Suddenly, a wave of ecstasy crashes over you, reducing you to a moaning mess as you cling onto Atsumu’s arms and squeeze Suna’s head between your thighs.

Your wanton cries have all three men in the room mesmerized. However, their awe quickly transforms into something more animalistic, and, in your ecstasy-induced haze, your body is nothing more than putty in their hands as they maneuver you into a different location and position on the bed. You’re vaguely aware of your own hands reaching for Atsumu’s shirt to remove it before unzipping his pants so his erection can spring free.

As you move closer to him to take his cock in your mouth, Atsumu grabs a fistful of your (h/l), (h/c) hair to keep you from doing so. “Oh, sweetheart, I love how eager you are to suck me off, but I’m dyin’ ta see whose cock you like better: mine or ‘Samu’s.” Osamu growls with irritation at this comment but feels his dick throb painfully at knowing what he’s about to witness. With that said, he relinquishes his grip on your strands of hair so that he can readjust your position, bringing you face to face with the tent in Suna’s pants.

This time, it’s him who’s threading his fingers amongst your locks, but with a much gentler and more affectionate grip than Atsumu’s, and his sandy-colored irises fasten on you as you work on unzipping his fly to give him some relief. If anything, knowing he’d just brought you to an orgasm with his mouth spurs you on to use yours so you can do the same for him. The way you eye his erection hungrily once you’ve freed it from the confines of his pants has him tugging your hair backwards to tilt your chin up towards him. He’s always wondered what it’s like to kiss those delicate lips of yours, and they look far too delectable—slightly swollen from Atsumu’s bruising kisses and glistening with the saliva he can see dripping off your tongue—for him to show any restraint now that he’s been given a free pass to do so.

“Are you gonna be good and take all of it?” he wonders, his mouth brushing against yours with each word. Your diligent nod earns you a deep kiss, and you moan into his mouth at the feeling of his tongue trailing along yours, carrying the taste of you. “Gonna drool all over my dick for me with that pretty, little mouth of yours?”

You’re barely able to let out a breathless, “Yes,” before his lips are over yours once more. But, just as quickly as his onslaught of kisses started, he’s pulling away and moving your head down south. Saliva collects in your mouth at the sheer size of him, and you cast him a demure glance up at him through your eyelashes as you lick a long trail from the base to the tip, causing a low groan to rumble in his throat.

At feeling the head of Atsumu’s cock teasing your sensitive clit, a whimper rolls off your tongue. “I’m gonna fuck this sweet, little pussy of yours so good, (f/n),” your boyfriend’s twin murmurs, his hands moving your hips so he can push the tip inside of you, “so you’d better take it like a good girl.”

“Don’t hurt ‘er, dumbass,” Osamu barks, the hand he has shoved down his sweatpants coming to a halt at the thought of your comfort being compromised by his brother’s greed and desire to show off. “She’s sensitive.”

“Oh?” Atsumu challenges as he inches more of his cock inside of you, making you remove your mouth from Suna’s dick to mewl loudly and drop your head towards the comforter. “It’s ‘cause yer not used to bein’ filled up are ya, sweetheart?” Another lascivious cry from you is stifled by the thick duvet when he snaps his hips against yours, sending himself deeper into your clenched core. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of ya in all the ways ‘Samu can’t.”

Osamu’s face burns ever so slightly with humiliation and anger, but he finds he can’t tear his gaze away from the scene before him. He watches in silence as Atsumu’s fingers dig into the supple skin on your rear and snake around your hips, pulling you closer to him as he sheathes more of his cock in your greedy cunt. Then, his eyes are darting to where your pretty lips are wrapped around Suna’s dick, eyes gazing upwards at him in an affectionate manner that he thought was only reserved for himself.

He feels as if he should be enraged by the whole situation—by the way he’s being forced to sit and watch while his brother and his friend fuck your pussy and your mouth, respectively—but he isn’t. In spite of being excluded and having derogatory remarks thrown his way by Atsumu like daggers, he loves it. He loves every moan of their names that leaves your mouth because of how good they’re making you feel, as well as the hungry looks in their eyes at how good you’re making them feel. Because no matter what his twin says about how he’s “gonna make ya feel better than ‘Samu ever will,” he knows he’s wrong. In a scenario where Osamu should be the one feeling inferior, his ability not to lose sight of what he knows is the truth is what keeps the warmth burning in his stomach.

No matter how much you drool all over Suna’s cock while he thrusts deeply into your mouth, batting your eyelashes at him each time he sends a compliment your way, he knows whose pants you’re pulling down after he’s had a long day at work. Even as Atsumu’s hips snapping against yours reap a myriad of mewls or moans from your mouth that bring a self-satisfied smirk to his face, he’s confident that you’ll always be louder for him. Nobody knows how to treat you quite like Osamu does, and nobody knows how to fuck you like he does either.

So, as he slowly strokes himself off to the sight before him, he’s able to ignore the sting of every off-handed comment thrown his way and the sound of you begging Atsumu for more in the moments when Suna’s dick isn’t down your throat. He might as well let them have all the fun they want with you, seeing as it’ll be their last time doing so. He only intended to give them a taste of how good you are as a way of getting back at them for all of their shameless advances towards you in the first place. What’s better revenge than giving them something amazing that they can only remember, but never recreate? Nothing, he thinks.

“Lemme cum inside ya, pretty girl,” Atsumu coos, though his voice is raspy from his heavy breathing as he slams into you. Removing your mouth from Suna’s dick with a loud pop, you shake your head, making them both look at you with raised eyebrows. “Why not?” he asks.

Osamu nearly finishes on the spot when you whine, “Only ‘Samu can.”

Atsumu shoots his brother a withering look that he beats down with a smirk but obeys your wishes anyway. “Whatever ya want, princess,” he murmurs, placing a gentle kiss against your spine before continuing to thrust into you at a breakneck pace that has you crying out with ecstasy in no time.

Your breathy moans sending vibrations along Suna’s dick have him finishing inside of your mouth, and you swallow his seed as you sink into the bed once more. Atsumu’s hands keep your hips flush against his as he plunges into your spasming core until he can hardly take the sensations your body’s offering him anymore. Once it gets too much for him to handle, he obediently pulls out of you and cums on your back, spreading warmth along your skin and eliciting another whimper from you.

As you come down from your highs, you feel Suna’s long fingers stroke the side of your face affectionately, as if trying to communicate the praises he can’t find the words for. Meanwhile, Atsumu takes one last look at your back coated in his release before grabbing a tissue and cleaning you up. “So,” he mentions, interrupting himself to place a gentle kiss against the nape of your neck, “whaddya think? Did we change your mind?”

There’s not even a moment of hesitation before you shake your head and reiterate, “I’ll never leave him.” The soreness you feel settling into your body does nothing to quell the warmth in your belly, especially with the way Osamu’s gazing at you hungrily from his seat at the other end of the room. It’s almost as if your body moves by itself as you get up from the bed and shuffle over to him so you can seat yourself in his lap. “I want you, baby,” you breathe as your arms instinctively wrap around his neck.

A shit-eating grin appears on his lips as he places his hands on your waist, pulling you closer to him. You moan softly at the bulge in his pants pressing against your sensitive entrance as he mentions, loudly enough for the other men in the room to hear, “How cute. Even after getting’ fucked by them two, ya still only wanna be stuffed full of my cum, huh?”

“Please.” Your plea escapes you in a soft whine when he bestows a fleeting kiss against your lips. He hums into the tender skin on your neck, eyeing Suna and Atsumu over your shoulder while he does so as if to clearly convey to them who’s won this challenge. However, his silent gloating is soon put to an end when you wriggle your hips against his, move your face closer to his ear and beg, “Please, daddy.”

In an instant, he’s barking at Suna and Atsumu to get off the bed so he can push you down onto it. “So good for me, honey.” Osamu’s loving words have you clenching around nothing as he shoves off his sweatpants and positions himself at your entrance. “Shoulda never doubted ya. I know how much you love me, don’tcha, baby girl?” he muses, flooding you with heat once more.

“Mm!” you chirp enthusiastically, “I love you so much, ‘Samu.”

His smooth voice becomes ever so slightly strained as he pulls your hips towards him, slides his cock into your warm, velvety core, and replies, “I love you too, (f/n).” Having him inside you once more brings you a pleasant sensation of comfort that you felt as if you’d been missing earlier, and you reach for one of his hands. Sensing your desire to be more connected with him, he wraps his fingers around yours and presses the back of your hand against the mattress beside your head.

You moan softly at being filled once more when he bottoms out inside of you. Glancing over at where Suna and Atsumu are sitting nearby, he comments, “Ya feel so good, honey,” and increases the volume of his voice before adding, “it’s like yer sweet, li’l pussy was made for me, wasn’t it?”

“Just for you, daddy,” you agree with a small smile, eliciting a low groan from him and spurring him to start thrusting into you with long, deep strokes. From where he’s standing at the edge of the bed, he’s able to lift your hips upwards to drive himself even deeper into you than he’s sure Atsumu could reach. Any overstimulation you felt initially has since been replaced by pleasure once more as he showers you with kisses accompanied by compliments that you confirm enthusiastically, earning you more of what you want.

“Why don’tcha tell ‘em whose cock ya love the most, baby girl?”

You cry out his name once.

“Who’s making ya feel so good right now?”

Twice.

“Who’s gonna make ya cum harder ‘nd faster?”

Thrice.

He leans down towards you to press those slow, passionate kisses against your lips that you’d missed so much, spreading your legs further and pounding into you with more speed. It’s clear he knows the map of your body that he’s made through experience like the back of his hand, since he’s able to hit that sweet spot within you time after time with more accuracy and precision than anyone else could. “Right there!” you cry, fingers dragging along the muscles rippling beneath the skin on his arms as your toes curl.

A few more thrusts send you over the edge again, and the strength of your orgasm is felt by every man in the room. Atsumu and Suna realize your cries are much louder than they were before, and Osamu smiles when he feels you squirt as your walls clench tightly around him. He doesn’t mind that you’re getting his clothes and the comforter covered in your essence—he only cares that he’s delivered the promise he’d made for you earlier. It’s not long before he reaches his high and fills you up with stuttering snaps of his hips and labored breaths. You moan breathlessly at the sensation of warmth inside your core, and let your head come to rest against the bed while he finishes inside of you.

As much as you want nothing more than to crawl under the sheets with him and rest, you’re reminded of your guests when Osamu casts his dark gaze in their direction. “Ya got whatcha wanted. Go home,” he announces, eyes narrowing at his twin brother who, along with Suna, are clearly still in awe at what they’ve witnessed. 

Turning back to you and planting a tender kiss against your collarbone while they rise to their feet and head for the door, Osamu adds deviously, “So much for rethinkin’ her decision, huh? Now ya know why she won’t.”

treat me to a coffee! ⭐︎ kinktober masterlist

taglists (see pinned post on my blog for form)

general: @dinablossom, @newfriendjen​, @devlovesramen, @ohbyunhunn, @aftcrlust, @mister-future, @kyleclxin​

osamu: @pretty-setters​, @misora-msby​, @why-aminot-dead​, @atsunakaashi​, @heyhinata​, @why-aminot-dead​

[abbatoirablaze]

Putting Baby In The Corner, Chapter 6

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings:  manipulation, jealousy.

“Coach Tucker, there’s a woman here saying that she’s going to be the other coach for the team…” one of the assistant coaches said as he looked nervously at Lance.  Lance frowned, knowing that his time to coach the girls accurately and help them to the Olympics was going to be cut short by Hope.  The assistant looked away from Lance and he bit his lip, “should I-should I let her in.”

“Unfortunately,” Lance groaned, looking away from the coach and to the girls.  He clapped his hands together and looked at the women who’d managed to make it into the top ten, already hating what he’d agreed to; hating that his glory to coach the girls was going to be overshadowed by his former Olympic teammate, “alright ladies, gather round.  I’m going to need you to stop practicing for a few minutes so I can introduce someone to all of you!”

The girls stopped what they were working on and slowly made their way towards their coach, all having a confused expression on their faces, “what’s this about Coach T?”

“We just got started.”

“What did you need?

But just as he was about to answer, a small blonde woman came walking into the gym, a bag slung over her shoulder.  She had a smug look on her face, and she was walking tall, and Lance wasn’t sure if she really had this sort of attitude or was just putting on a show since the last time they saw one another she was taking the bronze and he was ghosting her.  She looked around Lance’s age, and had a frown on her face as she looked over the women in the gym, “this is it?”

“What are you talking about, Hope?” Lance growled, suddenly feeling defensive over the women he’d trained, “these women are the top ten in the United States.”

“I expected more,” she smirked, giving him a knowing glance, “especially from the guy who claims to be the god of gymnastics.  They don’t even look like champions...”

“You know it was only going to be the top ten moving from the Midwest to the rest of the country,” he grumbled, “did you expect a gym full of girls begging for a spot, Hope?  Because this is a serious training facility.”

“Coach Tucker who is that?”

“My name is Hope and I’m the bronze medalist gymnast from the 2000 Olympics.”

“Anya, isn’t that the one that your mom won like all the golds in?” Tiff asked with a giggle.  Hope frowned as she caught sight of Lance’s daughter giggling towards a serious looking teen.

“You two…names.”

“Anya Leskashov and Tiffany Tucker,” Lance said quickly, stopping the girls from having any unnecessary interactions with the jilted gymnast, “they’re th-“

“Ones that are injured and coming off an injury…” she said smugly as she walked over to them, “I’m surprised someone hasn’t come in and taken your places.  You keeping them around because you have personal ties, Tucker?  That’s nepotism.���

“Anya is the high scorer.  She managed to still beat all of us even with a rolled ankle!” Tiff said quickly, coming to the defense of her friend, “and I scored number four just coming out of an injury, Ms. Hope.”

She gave the teen a stern look before turning to Lance, “we’ll split them up.  The girls.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want your kid or her on my side,” she grumbled directly, looking at both girls, “her mom stole my golds an-“ “My mom didn’t steal anything!” Anya said firmly, breaking her silence, “you just couldn’t cut it in the Olympics!  My mom and dad made me watch all the tapes ever since I was little.  Don’t go blaming he-“

“One more word and you’re off the team, highest scoring girl or not!”

“Dad, can she do that?”

“No, she can’t!” Lance said firmly, cutting back into the conversation, “But since you want to be unfair to them, yes, we’ll split the girls down the middle.  And I’ll take Leskashov and my daughter so you don’t ruin our chances for Olympic golds.”

“Whoever gets more girls in the Olympics is head coach!” Hope said quickly, as though she was trying to establish some type of dominance.

“I’ve already accepted the role of head coach.”

“So have I!” She said firmly, “but there can’t be two co-head coaches, Tucker.  What would the boards say when the screen pans over to us while our girls go.   Co-head coach?  We’re not part of a cheerleading team in high school.  I want head coach.”

“Afraid to share the spotlight there, Hope?” Lance teased.  A few of the girls laughed, but they stopped when they saw her face, “Fine…deals a deal.  More girls into the Olympics gets head coach.  I can do that.”

“I choose Maggie!”

Lance frowned, “can’t even give the girls an introduction?  Just going to saunter in and split them up like they’re cattle?”

“My name is Hope.  You can call me Coach or Coach Hope.  I was the bronze medalist in the 2000 Olympics, and I’m going to be your head coach when this is over,” she said quickly, eyes scanning over the girls.  She turned on her heel and looked at Lance, “happy, Tucker?  Or should I give them a more…intimate encounter of how I’m aware of you?”

“Whatever floats your boat, cupcake,” he chuckled, turning away from her, “who goes first then?  I’m assuming you, since you want to pick Maggie off the bat.”

“Yeah…they always say, ladies first, right?”

“Fine.”

“Maggie.”

“Anya.”

Hope stopped short, her next pick pausing on her lips, “you want to choose her?  Really?”

“You said I had to take Anya and Tiff…figure if I don’t pick them up then you’ll make sure they’re out the door before the next qualifiers,” he pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest “pick your next two since you know that I’m taking Tiff.  We don’t have time for games, Hope.”

“Rittany and Mary!”

“Sam.”

“Christine!” she said firmly, taking a step into his space.

“Ashley.”

“Madison!”

“Britt!” he said with finality.  By the end of the choosing, Hope had managed to get up and personal into Lance’s space.  But even with that, she barely came up to his chin.  He chuckled, turning away from her, “alright ladies.  Everyone that’s on my team, take the east side of the gym.  Hope’s team, take the west.”  

The girls listened, not wanting to see what was going to happen between their new coach and the one that had been training them the entirety that they’d been on the road.  Lance gave her another smirk as he took a step back, “remember when I’m the head coach that I let you have first pick…and you didn’t want my daughter or Anya.  They’re probably the most dedicated girls on the team.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t kick her out the first second you could.”

“She’s a good kid.”

“You sure you don’t just have residual feelings for her mother?  Jessi was the only girl who ever got under your skin…literally and figuratively…you ever get rid of the tattoo?  She was really proud of that when she bragged about it after the awards ceremony.  Her name still right above your cock?” she asked with a smirk, teasing the older gymnast.  Lance’s jaw ticked and Hope smiled, turning towards Lance’s team, “she kind of looks like her…doesn’t she?   The daughter.  Bit cuter…I’ll admit…but definitely looks like the girl that left you high and dry, costing you nearly all of your Olympic sponsorships!”

“She’s not her parents, Hope…”

“Sounds like the words a man who would want to fuck her would say?”

“That’s inappropriate,” Lance muttered, looking past Hope and to her team that was already giggling and goofing off, “these are a bunch of girls.  And the girl you’re talking about is best friends with my daughter.”

“You like em barely legal, don’t you?” she teased, “I’ve seen tabloids Lance.  The only thing more obvious than the fact that you can’t seem to keep a relationship, is that you’re picking them from the same high school your daughter goes to.”

“Hope…maybe you should focus on your team,” Lance growled, feeling far too uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going, “you know you’re going to need it to get the girls you picked into the Olympics.”

“What about a little side bet?” she asked, stopping Lance from walking away.

“What are you talking about, Hope?” Lance asked, “me getting sole ownership of the head coach role isn’t enough for you?”

“I win…you’re in my bed the whole time at the Olympic village…”

Lance scoffed, “that’s not going to happen, Hope.  I ghosted you during our Olympics for a reason.  You’re not good enough for more than a night…and even then I have to be hammered.”

“You scared?”

Lance chuckled, shaking his head at the woman, “I’m not scared of anything, Hope.  You’re just coming off as desperate.  I’m embarrassed for you.”

“Then take the bet.”

“And what do I get if I win, huh?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her, “because it seems like the only one getting anything out of this is you.”

“You win and I’ll lay off Anya and Tiff.”

“I win you’ll lay off them anyways,” he scoffed, walking off towards his office, “grow up Hope.  I’m not into desperate bronze medalists.”

“Well you can’t bed the golds…so what are you going for, Tucker?”

“Not you!”

Chapter 7