#can you imagine that? not being hugged for over sixteen years?

[sleazyjanet]

i understand why alex had to die (to push ben's narrative), and understand less why danielle had to die (the streets are saying her arc was done? oh ok fuck that) and i know none of the characters get what they deserve, not really, but it really makes me sad that after all she went through, after so many years of being so utterly alone, and terrified, danielle just died like that? not even an interesting death, just a bullet (dart? arrow? what the fuck was that) to some imprecise part of the body and she's dead

and her arc wasn't complete, not to ME. she and alex were not close. alex never reacts much to danielle's affection, which makes so much sense of course, because she doesn't know this woman who loves her so much. it's as danielle herself said, she spent 16 years missing and loving this girl who never knew she existed, who never knew how much she'd been loved by her

so i understand alex had to die. but you know how the mib loves haunting people? danielle being haunted, regularly, by alex, being told what to do, and DOING it, because it's alex telling her to do it, being manipulated into doing things... and then learning the truth. that this was not really alex. idk, chefs kiss (+ danielle being visited by alex's actual ghost, too, like hugo with his ghosts)

(also the contrast of ben only seeing alex once, when mib needs him to do everything he says, preys on his guilt vs danielle not even being guilty at all for alex's death but still feeling responsible, being haunted by her regularly, seeing her everywhere, trying to grasp at straws, trying to build a relationship with a ghost of a person who never had the chance to really love her)

[artaxlivs]

This is ridiculous.

Eddie has important stuff To Do. He's a busy rockstar with a never ending list of stuff his manager and agent keep reminding him that he needs to get done while he's not on tour.

But. His house is being remodeled. And one of the carpenters or handymen or journey...men? journey people? whatever. One of the dudes in a tool belt. Well - he's hot as all hell and Eddie can't seem to find a single fuck to mark off that To Do list.

Every day this man shows up in jeans that hug his ass, a tool belt slung low to one side and this pristine white polo shirt with a logo over his left pec. The other people - people not men because there are actually three women in the mix, all with arms that could crush Eddie, and if he was into chicks, he'd be looking respectfully - are all in various dark colored shirts with a similar logo on the back or in the same spot on the chest.

But White Polo is the only white polo. White Polo must be in charge. He does seem to give a lot of orders. He's got big sexy hair and a strong voice. The first time Eddie was close enough to hear him talk, he had some feelings about that strong voice giving orders. The kind of feelings he explored later that night in his own bed. Alone.

It's not a mean voice though, not aggressive. Rather, it's the kind of voice that steadies you in a storm, that you can rely on. The kind of voice that probably sounds gravelly and sleep mussed on a Saturday morning. The kind you want to wake up to. The voice that Eddie wants to wake up to.

And it's not just the voice and the looks. It's the competency, too. Earlier this morning, White Polo was helping the crew put some kind of wood frame up. He hammered something in and then twirled the hammer and stuffed it in the tool belt all without looking. That was going directly to Eddie's spank bank. Maybe he could find other things for them to remodel so White Polo never has to leave.

"Mr. Munson?"

Eddie startles, almost dropping his Garfield coffee mug. There's a lot of noise in the house and he was sort of doing one of the things on his list. Writing a song in his head. It was definitely not about a man in a tool belt. Nor was it about anyone getting nailed.

Jesus Christ.

Clearing his throat, Eddie turns to White Polo, "It's just Eddie."

"Well, Just Eddie, I'm Steve." His voice is soft, strong though, with that little bit of gravel. It's not Eddie's fault at all that he's imagining him whispering in Eddie's ear when they're both sleep warm and too comfortable to get out of bed. "Looks like we'll be done here in another two days."

"Oh." He says dejectedly, not meaning to have such an honest reaction but he can't help himself. He's wasted three days just glancing at White Polo - Steve - from afar. Now Eddie's on a time limit. Two days isn't nearly enough time. Would it be inappropriate to invite him to dinner? Or to stay? Ask him for --"Coffee?"

Steve smiles and it's kind of small, like it's a secret smile, just for Eddie. Brushing his hair back over his ear, Steve says, "I shouldn't but...your coffee smells kinda great so...sure."

Grinning, Eddie tells him that he gets the beans from this little mom and pop shop that brews their own beans. The band discovered them on tour years ago and he still gets his beans shipped from them every few months. He's babbling but he can't seem to stop himself, telling Steve about different roasts and his fancy machine that cost more than his first van back when he was sixteen and living in a trailer park.

Leaning against the counter, Steve listens patiently, watching Eddie with hazel eyes and that little smile. He's got these cute moles that Eddie wants to kiss. Broad shoulders he wants to feel pressed up against the backs of his knees.

Shit. He almost spills the coffee when his face suddenly heats up at that.

"Everything okay?" There's concern in Steve's voice and he reaches out to steady Eddie's arm. His callused fingers brush Eddie's arm just over his bat tattoo and...oh.

It's like nothing he's ever imagined. So much more than all the stories. It's the biggest, brightest, most intense thing Eddie's ever felt. Just a brush of fingertips and the spots light up with gold. Three brushes across the bats' wings and a fourth smaller one off to the side. Eddie can feel the tingling on the underside of his forearm where Steve's thumb must have brushed as well.

Surging forward, Eddie cups Steve's cheek, leaving a bright gold palm print on his jaw, a thumb smear up by the cheek bone, bits of gold in the shapes of fingers curling along the side of his throat, and one little dab on the lobe of Steve's ear. Their lips are pressed together before Steve's fully reacted to the soul bond but that's okay. They don't have two days, they've got forever.

A few years later, when Corroded Coffin wins album of the year at the Grammys, Gareth takes the mic away from Eddie as he's doing all the polite thank yous to managers and agents etc - and he thanks Steve, telling the world, "If Steve had never been a hot guy in a tool belt, Eddie would never have written Golden Bats, Hammer of Love or, Eddie's favorite," Gareth says, grinning and leaning really close to the mic like it's a secret, 'cause it kind of is, "Ride the White Polo."

My Masterlist

While there are other gold touch soulmate mark fics, I've only ever read them in @kangofu-cb's Gold on Your Fingertips in the Winterhawk fandom and it will always be both one of my favorite soulmate fics and one of my favorite Clint Barton fics.

[gadriezmannsgirl]

Dad's Babygirl -Pedri González

Inspired by the video of Pedri being incredibly sweet to that babygirl at the LaLiga ceremony!

Note: Apparently Pedri doesn't have a solo picture with the throphy☠️🥴*Sighs in defeat*, but here's one with my in-laws🤭😌

Summary: You and your babygirl are supporting your favorite '8' at his first LaLiga ceremony.

You met Pedri when you both were sixteen, at seventeen you entered in a romantic relationship, have been together for three years and eleven months ago had a little blessing, a little unexpected blessing but a very welcomed one. Your little babygirl, Mía. Mía González.

She was the eyes of everyone in the family, yours and Pedri's. Both of you managed to make it work, at the beggining it was hard but you as a strong couple and as a good team with the help of your parents, eventually got the rhythm of the things and adapted to your new lifestyle.

You never thought about having a baby at a young age but now you can't imagine your live without your little princess.

"Gonna be good?" Pedri asked you once more, his hand on your thigh carressing it softly with his thumb as he drived towards Camp Nou, he wasn't playing because of a discomfort in his right thigh but he was going to be in the LaLiga winning celebration.

"Yes, mi amor. Don't worry, we'll be also with Fer and your parents" You put your hand on top of his smiling. Your promise ring noticeable as Pedri couldn't help but smile.

"Cualquier cosa me dices, ¿Sí? No quiero que estés incómoda o estresada y mucho menos con la señorita que ha estado muy revoltosa el dia de hoy" (You tell me if anything happens, yeah? I don't want you to be uncomfortable or stressed and mostly with the señorita that has been very moody today) He looked quickly behind where your baby was sleeping in her baby seat.

"She's sleeping, hopefully that little nap extends the whole match" Pedri laughs knowing she had already half an hour asleep and her naps usually last for about a whole hour. You laughed "Only one can hope" You say to him and he laughed a little more

Indeed, Mía had been moody today from screaming around the house, not wanting to eat her lunch, resulting in you forcing a bit of her meal into her mouth, kicking and throwing her toys at the wall. You were delighted when she pulled her arms up to you and fell asleep in your chest.

"However, it's not the first time we have been to a game, Pepi"

"Hostias, eso lo sé" (Yeah, well I know that) He smiled "But I always worry for my girls. I just don't want anything bad to happen. Not to her and definitely not to you." You smile leaning over to kiss his cheek

"Mi campeón" You whispered as he grabbed your hand and pulled it up to his lips "We'll be fine, don't worry, this is your night" You smiled pulling his hand to your lips as well. When he was done parking, he got out as you grabbed yours and Mía things, you felt both of yours and Mía's doors open and smiled at your man and babydad.

"Look who's awake" Pedri said grabbing from you the ear plugs to put them to Mía softly.

She was softly babbling, still sleepy

"Hi bonita" Pedri said getting her softly out of her seat and grabbing her into his arms, Mía let herself fall into his shoulder wrapping her little arms around him. He grabbed your hand as you started walking inside the stadium "Sure you don't wanna sit with me?"

"We'll be fine" You smile watching Rosy come down to you, she wrapped you in a big and warm hug softly swinging you both side to side

"Oye mamá, te ves muy guapa" You blush giggling

"Thank you, Rosy. You are looking really good too" She smiled before moving towards her son and her granddaughter while Fernando, Pedri's dad came over to hug you.

When you turned around Rosy was with the babygirl as Pedri came up to you to greet his dad and turn his attention to you

"Sure-?" You laugh nodding

"We'll be fine, amor. Don't worry" He nodded smiling lightly, he wrapped you in his arms quickly giving you a few seconds long kiss

"Te quiero"

"Y yo a ti, lindo" He pecked your lips once more before returning his attention to the baby giving her a few cheek kisses as well and one to her mom's cheek

"Me tengo que ir pero si algo pasa-" (I've gotta go but if something happens-)

"Que no pasará" (It won't) Fernando said making Pedri sigh a little blushing, he just wanted to protect you all.

"You know where I am" He finished, you nodded and watched him walk towards his place as you went to yours. Getting into your seats you greeted Fer, who had came from the bathroom and even greeted, Pedri's cousin.

Rosy passed you back Mía who was slightly fuming throwing her hands at you, she stayed calm the rest of the night. You watched the game quietly and even though Barcelona lost, you screamed and yelled when Robert did that goal in the last minute.

Pedri had gone inside the tunnel to change into his kit so he could be present of the ceremony, you were pointing to Mía where her dad was, as she excited wriggled her legs. She was soon to be one year but you hadn't make it possible to make her say dad or mom.

Even though you wanted her to say mom so badly first, that night you wanted her to say dad and put the cherry on top for Pedri's cake. You took of one of her ear plugs and talked in her ear

"Papá, Mía, over there, that's papá" You said smiling widely as she started babbling. You looked at her, she was a copy of both of you, the perfect combination.

Pedri held her and she looked like him but you held her and she also looked like you.

The things that she did got from her dad were her love for bananas and those big brown eyes, meanwhile she had your smile and hair.

"Venga, vamos abajo" Fer said, grabbing Mía's bag as Rosy lend you a hand whilst walking down the stairs. Once you were inside the pitch your eyes scanned the crowd to see your dark haired boy, when you suddenly feel hands on your waist, that made you turn around.

You saw the pretty eyes and beautiful you were so in love with, leaning into him

"Congratulations, pepi. You deserve this so much" You said looking up at him

"Gracias mi vida" He smiled kissing you softly before he returned his attention to the baby who was asking for him with her chubby hands "Wanna come with papá?" You moved her side to side, doing as if you were gonna give her to Pedri but backed away and he followed your game making Mía laugh

"Pa...pa!" Pedri and you stopped everything you were doing

"Did she...?"

"¡Papá!" She repeated herself over and over again as you and Pedri shared amazed looks, eventually people around you three heard Mía's yells and the ones who knew she hadn't said her firsts words yet, smiled excited

"Sí, bonita. Yo soy papá" Pedri said as you gave her to him, his eyes were glassy and his smile was bigger than before.

"¡Papá!" She was yelling over and over again, liking the reaction she got from us, eventually Fer, Rosy and Fernando were hugging us and hyping her up to say it once more.

And from that moment forward, she didn't left Pedri's arms, and it's not like Pedri wanted to let her go, Mía did not even let herself grab from you, there was this part where Pedri had to go and do an interview, but when Mía saw your hands extended to grab her and Pedri's arms undoing his strong hold to pass her she started fussing and grabbing herself from her dad's jersey, which she had one exactly like his but with the words "Papá" written

"C'mon, Mía. Papá needs to go"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it" Pedri winked at you, kissing your lips and turning around to make that interview

Later you were talking with Rosy when you saw Pedro and Mía still sat on the grass with the two flags of Pedri's town and birthplace on the floor, when Mía stood up and hugged her dad once more before placing a kiss on his cheek as Pedro laughed and tickled her. You zoned out from what Rosy had said and looked at the two loves of your life playing around as if nothing, as if they were at home.

"The three of you are so whipped for each other" You turned to Rosy with a smile "Mía dies for you and for Pedro, whenever she doesn't see you two around she goes crazy. Mi hijo y tú are the same with her. And with each other. I'm so glad you're part of our familia now, Y/N" She hugged you tightly

"Thank you for letting me be part of it" Both of you looked once more at Pedro and Mía "Mía loves me" You said after a few seconds of silence ", but she's definitely a daddy's girl"

"And Pedro's crazy for his babygirl" Rosy completed "Like father, like daughter" You laughed "Go with them" She pushed you lightly as you walked towards them

"Look, ahí viene mamá" You heard Pedro say as Mía looked at you surprised but then smiled, you sat in front of Pedro and Mía "Too far away, señorita" He said wanting you closer to him, you smiled and did what he asked "This is one of the best weeks and days of my life"

"You deserve each and every single one of them, Pepi. You've worked hard for what you wanted and you got it" You smiled at him pushing a bit of his hair out of his face "There are no words for me to describe how proud of you I am. You're simply amazing"

He smiled kissing your lips "And you two are what makes me wanna get better everytime" You couldn't resist and kissed him once more before leaning over and kissing your Mía, who shyly got her face inti her dad's neck, you two laughing "My best supporters, my girls" He hugged you both tightly

Until you felt how Pedri let himself fall onto the grass, taking the two of you down laughing with him watching the starry Catalan night with a smile.

"I've got everything I wanted, I'm really happy with it but I don't think I need anything else besides you two"

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviypedrisbride @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld

[storm-angel989]

heyy ik this is weird to ask but cam you do valentino's daugher x vox idk why but im screaming for content and honestly i think it would be interesting to see if they "got along" you coulf say you dont have to do this i just find this a interesting concept like imagine if they had more of a special bond then valentino and his own daugher plus im sorry if this is to much to ask for

Hi there,

Sorry for the delay! Take a peek at this one- and let me know if you were thinking a different vibe!

~Mandy

“Hey, Uncle Vox!” I called cheerfully as I walked into his office.  Two more nights, two more until my final game of the school year. As an avid water polo player, my games were the height of my highschool experience and this final game this year was one I had been working hard towards. I tossed my backpack on my desk next to my Uncle Vox’s and slid myself into my chair. 

My weekday routine had been the same since I started school. With my father being The Valentino, and the odd hours he worked, it was my Uncle Vox who usually woke me up early and kept me on a schedule. Brushing my teeth, getting me dressed, breakfast and out the door when I was little. Now that I was sixteen, that morning routine looked a little different. Instead of waking up at seven, I woke up at four with Uncle Vox. We hit the gym together, then parted ways until it was time for breakfast- or more importantly, coffee. Sometimes my dad joined us, and sometimes my Auntie Vel joined us. But with their ever changing schedules more often than not it just wasn’t practical for them to join. So Uncle Vox stayed the consistent one. 

“Hey yourself, kid,” Vox replied as he stood up out of his chair. “Your dad is on the line, he wants to chat with you.” 

I slid into Vox’s seat and my fathers face appeared on the monitor in front of me. My heart soared. I bet he had a big surprise waiting to celebrate after tomorrow night.

“Hi Daddy!” I said cheerfully. “Are you ready to watch me rock it tomorrow?” 

My father’s face looked sad. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about bebita. I’m sorry, I won’t make it. I have a crisis to handle down in the greed ring and I…” 

I could feel the sadness wash over me. The rest of the conversation went in one ear and out the other and I tried to hide my crushing disappointment. 

“I’m sorry baby, but your Uncle Vox and Auntie Vel will be there and they promised to keep me updated.” My father finished. “I’ll make it up to you later okay? We can do whatever you want. Daddy daughter day.”

Yeah, sure. I had heard that one before. To date, he owed me no less than six daddy daughter days. And the flowers and trinkets he sent to make up for his absence didn’t help either. He tried- I knew it. But nothing he said or did would make up for his lack of presence. 

I signed off and put my head in my hands as I tired to keep tears from falling down my face. I felt Vox’s hand on my shoulder and I looked back at him as I bit back bitter disappointment. 

Vox seemed to recognize the look on my face. “Aw honey, I know. But we’ll be there. I promise.” He squeezed my shoulder gently. “Your Auntie Vel and I will cheer you on.” 

“Yeah, at least someone cares.” I muttered as I rubbed my eyes. 

“Now you know that isn’t true sweetheart,” Vox began. “Your Daddy loves you very much, his work just…”

“You make time for me!” I said angrily. “You make it a point to sit with me and go to my games and ask me about my day, I can’t remember the last time I saw my dad at one of my games or even just right after school!” 

“My schedule is a lot more fluid than your dads is sweetheart,” he replied calmly. “I understand your frustration, but if your dad could make it he would.”

It was the age-old argument. After a few seconds, I stood up and Vox pulled me into a hug. 

“Hey, you’re loved. Don’t forget that, okay?” He planted a kiss on my forehead. “Now let’s get that homework done.” 

I scowled but sat back down at my desk. The homework rule had been instilled by my father from my first days of preschool. Home. Snack. Work. Sometimes at my pink desk in my room, if it was Dad or auntie Vel picked me up. But more often than not, it was uncle Vox who showed up in the limo and he had work to do too. As I grew, the desk next to his grew as well. From a tiny pink plastic chair to a full grown pink office chair- I sat right by Uncle Vox almost every single day. 

His snack drawer too changed as I grew- from cheeze-itz, to fresh fruit, to protein bars and goldfish. 

“Hey, can you check this one?” I asked after a few moments of work. “Uncle Vox?”

“Did you try it three times three different ways and watch a video?” He replied back without another glance. 

“Yeah.”

“Then, sure.” He lifted his head up and picked up my homework sheet. He glanced it over. “I think this is a quadratic formula problem. You forgot the square root sign- remember the song?”

“I do but…”

He cleared his throat. “X equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus for ac all over two a!”

To his credit, the song was a great study tool. To my mortification, Vox couldn’t sing worth a damn. 

“You’re way too enthusiastic about math,” I muttered as I made the correction. 

“But I was right wasn’t I?” He teased as he turned back to his computer. 

“That’s not the point,” I replied. Not to my surprise, the problem worked itself out. “Thanks Uncle Vox.” 

I stood up and leaned in between him and his desk wrapped my arms around him. “And thanks for being the best uncle a girl could want.” 

I felt him return the hug. “Love you, kiddo. More than you’ll ever know.” 

I released him and he grinned. “If you get your homework done quickly I’ll take you to the pool and run a few practice rounds with you. And then I’ll take you out to dinner- see if Auntie can meet us.”

The work that went into Vox being able to get into the water was tremendous- not to mention he’d be leaving his job early. 

“Really? You have time for that?” I asked. 

“For you sweetie? I’ll always have time.”

[izvmimi]

cw: selfship content. halloween themed. female reader. multiple children are mentioned, all named. family fluff.

You sigh, running gel through your son’s freshly dyed sandy blond hair for what feels like the third time in the last twenty minutes as he frowns in the mirror and points to portions where his curls have overpowered his desire to mimic Dynamight’s signature spiky tips.

“Maybe we should just cut this part?” Izumi asks, a slight whine in his voice. You shake your head and tut.

“Be patient with me, honey,” you insist. He doesn’t seem so sure, brow furrowing which you smooth out with your non-sticky pinky. He whines again and you look to your other son instead to prevent yourself from being just as frustrated with him. Aki is sitting quietly and waiting patiently, kicking his feet as he sits on the edge of your bed and it makes you chuckle, because somehow the two-toned wig suits him a little too well, and you can imagine Shoto as a kid with the exact same peaceful expression on his face as he entertains himself.

You finally come up with styling that your eldest will accept and he gives you a thankful hug then starts to run off, almost tripping over a plastic gauntlet as it falls off his arm, poorly adjusted. Aki looks at you and then his brother, eyes wide in shock, and you find yourself laughing, because again, he’s got Shoto’s mannerisms down a little too perfectly.

“Mom!” Izumi immediately calls out, not bothering to pick the gauntlet up, pointing at it helplessly. 

“Baby, it’s not broken, don’t worry,” you reply softly, coming over.  You scoop it up and kneel to readjust it just when Izuku comes in, a little Red Riot on his hip, and your only child with a traditional costume, Atsuna the Good Witch, trailing close behind holding her father’s hand in a bright pink glittery dress.

“Is everything okay?” Izuku asks, tentatively. He’s dressed as a mummy but his heavily bandaged up face only sparing his curls, his eyes, parts of his nose and his mouth reminds you too much of every time he’s been practically chained to a hospital bed. Atsuna, as though summoned, runs over to tap a visibly anxious Izumi’s shoulder with her wand and he bristles at her but doesn’t snap and you’re thankful that your irritable son still loves his little siblings more than anything.

“The gauntlets won’t stay on,” Izumi grumbles. You fasten them carefully then remember you have tape and ask him to hold on. Izuku adjusts Kenji who’s sucking on a lollipop with zero cares in the world on his hip and frowns sympathetically.

“Aw, that sucks, buddy! You know whose costume doesn’t have gauntlets-“ 

“Izuku,” you warn as you rummage through the drawers for a lasting solution to the Gauntlet Affair.

“I’m just saying!” He calls back. Atsuna floats up to her dad’s eye level then taps her wand on his nose as well and he smiles at her before booping her on the nose as well. She giggles as 4 year old girls are wont to do and Izuku figures out her bid for attention and cradles her in his other arm.

“Aren’t you the cutest witch?” He praises her and she replies, “Princess witch, Dad! Princess witch!”

“Yes, Princess witch, of course!”

They play together for a moment while Kenji finally decides he’s had enough of sitting still and insists on slipping out of Izuku’s grasp to sit with Aki instead. Aki carries him awkwardly on his lap, still kicking his feet as he waits. Kenji thrusts his saliva-covered lollipop in his face but Aki shakes his head instead and smiles without consequences.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding as you finally secure the gauntlets with enough tape to last sixteen years of play. Izumi, now overjoyed, throws a few punches then jumps for joy.

“Okay, let’s go!” He insists, beaming and despite your earlier unrest, this also brings you to a grin.

—-

“I just don’t know why he doesn’t think I’m cool too,” Izuku mopes as the two of you stand back at the edge of the curb, watching Izumi, Aki and Atsuna collect candy from a particularly well decorated house. Atsuna stands ahead, singing “Trick or Treat!” and gets the oohs and ahhs she deserves while Izumi pretends to be tough and gets candy regardless, and Aki is tremendously polite as usual, bowing as he’s treated as well. 

“Let your kids escape you for one night, Izuku, please,” you reply. He pouts again and you giggle. “Just on our short walk here we passed by five Dekus, I think you’re liked enough.”

“It’s not the same!”

Izumi might look nearly exactly like Izuku but that similarity is bidirectional when it comes to pleading with you.

Kenji looks at his dad and shakes his head too solemnly which makes you nearly burst out laughing, and then he offers you a now nearly completely consumed lollipop stick that almost sticks to your Dorothy costume wig if not for your artful dodge. You peck his forehead to distract him as you gently remove it from his sticky fingers, then continue to watch ahead at your older children.

“And he banishes us,” Izuku adds, displeased. 

“He’s banishing you, not me,” you correct.

“I can’t stop people from asking me for autographs.” Izuku’s close to another why-doesn’t-my-son-love-me spiral, as Izumi often sends him in, and you pat his cheek sympathetically.

“I know, and that’s why I appreciate the mummy costume this year, although it’s not working with our theme, baby.” You pinch his cheek. 

“I think considering half of us are cosplaying as my high school friends, and the other half the Wizard of Oz, we don’t have a cohesive theme anyway,” he retorts, crossing his arms. He looks satisfied with his response and you raise an eyebrow.

“Are you telling me I should have dressed like Ochaco?”

The blood drains from his face.

“When did I say this?”

“Careful,” you reply icily. He gives you a nervous smile, then kisses you on the forehead. You let him defrost you, and Izuku pulls away as both of you receive a group text.

We’re turning the loop, we’ll meet you halfway? Your friend texts you and Izuku. With that text, there’s a picture of Bakugou’s son dressed as a little Deku which makes you stifle a laugh. When you turn to Izuku, he’s positively elated. It’s the original suit too, the very first costume he’s ever had at UA and looks almost perfect, and Izuku raves about the attention to detail and how he can’t wait to see the little boy in person.

“See you’re someone’s hero!” you whisper as the kids finally make their way back with their hauls. Atsuna and Aki obediently hand the buckets to you to inspect the candy before you hand them each a piece, and move on to the next. Izumi frowns but reluctantly hands his bucket to his dad.

Izuku takes it and ruffles his hair before Izumi runs off ahead, Aki and Atsuna following close behind. Izumi suddenly stops, and turns to Izuku.

“Dad, race me?” he asks. 

Izuku is happier than anything to do so, and you watch your family run down the street, as sweet a sight as can be.

[andvys]

We'll burn the sky | part sixteen

Warnings: slight angst, mentions of drugs and alcohol, loss of a parent, mostly fluff, a few hints at steddie x reader

Pairings: Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Fem!Rockstar!Reader | slight Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader | slight Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Word count: 7k+

Chapter summary: Back on tour, you and Eddie spend more time with each other again and get a nice surprise on New Years Eve.

Author's note: thank you for the help as always @mysticmunson <3 & @aftermidnightwriting I will definitely use your amazing idea with Dustin in the arcade later on in the story!

Series Masterlist

-

You have dreaded this day ever since the article was released. 

Going back on tour should fill you with joy and excitement but instead it fills you with dread and anxiety. Now that the truth about your dad is out, you can already imagine how awful the following weeks or even months will be. The paparazzis and journalists will be all over the place, throwing awful words and questions at you that you know will upset you even further. You are not ready for that, you don’t think that you will ever be. 

You always did everything to keep the truth a secret but now it’s all out in the open. 

You don’t even care about the things that they have said about you. They upset you, sure but you can ignore it and move on from that, you don’t let it get to you. Having made up stories about you comes with being in the music industry, especially since you’re the only woman in the band. Lies and rumors will always be created.

After three days of being stuck in Eddie’s trailer, you were now able to go back on the road, since the storm had passed. You loved those three days, you got along so well with Wayne, the man has earned a place in your heart. And Eddie, it was so nice to be around him like that, to fall asleep next to him only to wake up in his arms again. 

“It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart.” He whispered to you this morning when you voiced your concern about the tour. “You have me, I won’t leave your side. We’ll get through this together, okay?” 

Now you’re here, standing by the tour bus, saying goodbye to Wayne. He wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a warm hug. 

“Look after yourself, alright kiddo?” 

You chuckle, nodding at his words, “I will.” 

“Don’t worry Wayne, she’s in good hands,” Eddie says from behind you. 

Wayne squeezes your arms before you pull away, you see the stern look in his eyes as he stares at him, “she better be, Eds.” 

On Christmas day, Wayne had confronted you about your relationship with his nephew while Eddie had gone to take a shower. 

“What’s going on with you and my boy?” Wayne asked while you were sitting on the couch with drinks in your hands. 

“What do you mean?” You asked nervously. 

He only chuckled, eyes flickering with amusement, “I may be old but I’m not blind, kid,” he said, “I see the way you look at each other, there’s clearly something. But there’s also pain in your eyes,” he mumbled, pausing to take a deep breath, “he hurt you didn’t he?” 

You looked down as your eyes flickered with sadness. You didn’t want to talk badly about Eddie or your relationship to someone that means everything to him. 

“It’s alright, you can talk to me, if you want.” 

You hesitated for a moment. 

“I just– I really love him.” 

His eyes softened at your admission, a small smile appearing on his face. 

“But he never told me about Chrissy.” 

He raised his eyebrows, eyes flickering with shock, he brought his hand up to his face, cupping his cheek as he stared at you, “oh boy..” 

“We weren’t together or anything but we were with each other all the time, he told me about you and Steve and his other friends, he told me everything, he just never mentioned her,” you explained, “b-but it’s okay, we talked about it, he opened up to me about their relationship, I guess I understand why he never told me about her..” 

Wayne sighed, sympathy crossed his face. With just a single glance at you, he saw the look in your eyes when you looked at Eddie, you are in love with him. He could only imagine how hurt and heartbroken you were. 

But he can also see the way Eddie looks at you, he is in love with you. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” you smiled, “we’re okay now.” 

Wayne was quiet for a moment, he stared at you deep in thought and then a smile tugged at his lips. 

“I hope you know that he cares about you, a lot. I think yesterday proved it, when he stormed in like a mad man, that boy was ready to go through the storm to find you,” he paused, “you make him happy, you know? You always did. He called me a lot and all he ever talked about was you. I hope you can give him a second chance ‘cause if there’s someone who deserves it, it’s him.”

“She will always be,” Eddie smiles as he walks towards his uncle to hug him as well, “I’m gonna miss you so much, old man.” 

Wayne chuckles, “you’ll see me on Saturday again.” 

Eddie’s eyes light up at his words, “right, you got the VIP tickets and everything,” he chuckles, winking at you, “you can bring a date.” 

Wayne scoffs, “stop that.” 

You both laugh at him and his eye roll. 

“I gotta go or I’ll be late for the interview,” Wayne says as he looks at his watch. 

“Oh,” you say excitedly, “good luck! I just know they’re gonna hire you.” 

Wayne gives you a smile and Eddie chuckles, “of course they will, I put in a good word for you. The night shifts are soon to be over.” 

“Hopefully, I got my fingers crossed.” 

After one more hug and one last goodbye, Wayne leaves just as Johnny, Gareth and Jeff arrive. 

While the other two still look tired, Gareth is already sporting a big smile and a happy look on his face. 

“Alright ladies, are we ready to rock ‘n roll again, or what?” Gareth exclaims excitedly as he walks towards the tour bus with a bag in his hand. 

Jeff rolls his eyes, “how many coffees did you have this morning?” 

“Just three.” 

“It’s 10 am!” 

“Exactly.” 

You missed their banter and you missed them. 

The cold morning air is crisp, much more snow is covering the ground, now it truly looks like a winter wonderland. 

You put your hands in your warm pockets, looking around the empty street of Hawkins one last time, hoping to come back. The town has grown on you, something about it made you feel at home. Maybe it was just Eddie and Wayne, your new friends and the safe feeling you got from this place or maybe you just always craved a part of this, peace, safety and a family. 

Eddie is watching you with a smile on his face, he knows what you are thinking. He is thinking about it too. 

He never really liked this town, well, maybe it was only the people that he didn’t like but you made it more bearable, even when you only spent a few moments together in the whole week you were here. Still, the moments that you did spend together, made him happier. 

Maybe one day, he can come back here with you, to stay here. 

“You’re not leaving without saying goodbye, are you?” 

Both you and Eddie turn around with smiles on your faces. You’ve said goodbye to everyone last night, yet most of Eddie’s and your friends are here now. 

Robin is the first to approach you and wrap her arms around you. 

“I’m gonna miss you so much, rockstar,” she says as she squeezes you tightly. 

You smile as you hug her back, meeting Steve’s eyes, your smile widens when he waves at you. 

“I’m gonna miss you too, Robin. You should come to Chicago on Saturday, Steve’s coming too.” 

“Oh trust me, I’m gonna be there,” she says, grinning at you as she pulls away, “I can’t wait to see you on the big stage.” 

“And what about me? Are you excited to see me?” Eddie asks her as he ruffles Dustin’s hair who slaps his hand away in annoyance. 

She scrunches her face up, shrugging, “eh, not really,” she teases. 

He squints his eyes at her, “you love me, Robin,” he grins. 

“No, I really don’t.” 

Shaking your head at them, you walk towards Steve. 

“Hi,” you whisper. 

“Hi,” he smiles, “you ready to go back on tour?” 

You shake your head, “not really but it’s gonna be fine,” you shrug. 

He nods, looking over your shoulder and at his friends, he reaches for your hand and pulls you away, leading you behind the tour bus. 

He blushes as he runs his fingers through his hair, letting go of your hand, he reaches into the pocket of his coat, “I uh– I got you something.” 

You raise your eyebrows, eyes flashing with curiosity. 

“I got it a few days ago, before the whole thing at the trailer,” he says quietly, “I know we already exchanged presents and all but I wanted to wait with this.” 

“Why?” 

He shrugs as he scratches the back of his neck. 

Your eyes soften as he hands you the little box, you glance into his eyes before you look down at the present, you open it to find a pretty necklace, a pendant with a bird on it, it’s wings are open. It’s beautiful. You touch it with your fingertips, a soft smile appearing on your face. 

“Birds stand for freedom, you know?” 

You pick the necklace out of the box and look up at him, smiling, “yeah?” 

He nods. “You’re free too, just remember that you can do anything you want, you can always dream bigger, you can go wherever you want, it’s your life, you get to choose what will happen.” 

Your chest warms at his words. 

“You’re cute, you know that right?” You chuckle. 

He shrugs, jutting his lip out as he smirks, “yeah, yeah. I know.” 

You can see the blush on his cheeks, the nervous look in his eyes. 

“I love it, Steve.” 

“You do?” He asks as his eyes lighten up. 

You nod, “it’s beautiful, thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” he smiles. 

“Help me put it on?” You ask as you hold the necklace out to him. He whispers a small ‘of course’ as he takes it from your hand. You turn around, standing with your back towards him. You move your hair to the side as he moves his arms around you, placing the silver necklace around your neck.

“That better be my lucky charm now,” you joke as you look down at the necklace with a smile on your face. You turn around to face him again. 

“It will be,” he winks. 

“I’m gonna miss you, Steve.” 

His gaze softens at your words. 

“I’m gonna miss you too,” he whispers as he opens his arms for you. You step towards him, falling into his embrace, you lay your head on his chest and wrap your arms around him. He holds you tightly and closes his eyes. 

He finds himself wishing that he didn’t have to say goodbye. You have grown so much on him, you became a part of his life.

“Maybe I should put you in my suitcase and take you with me,” you joke as you pull away from him. 

“I don’t think I’ll fit in there, honey,” he laughs, eyes twinkling as they lock with yours, “you can still hire me as your stylist,” he jokes as he puts his hand on your back, leading you back to the others. 

“Yeah, maybe I should,” you chuckle. 

“You better come back to Hawkins again, y/n,” Dustin says as he walks towards you with a grin on his face, “we didn’t even get to go to the arcade together!” He frowns. 

“Next time, alright?” You smile as you pull the younger boy into a hug, “I’m gonna come visit after the tour and we can go to the arcade together.” 

“We better!” 

You hug Lucas and Max next, squeezing both of them tightly before you press a kiss to their cheeks, almost bursting into laughter when they turn towards each other with wide eyes and excited looks on their faces. They squeal when you turn away from them, missing the amused look on Robin’s face as she stares at them. 

Eddie pulls away from Steve’s hug, saying something to him that you can’t make out. His brown eyes meet yours and he smiles, “ready?” 

You nod. 

Eddie waits for you to get on the tour bus first but you turn towards Steve one more time. He raises his brows, a smile tugging at his lips as you approach him one more time. Reaching your hands out, you cup his cheeks and stand on your tippy toes, pulling him towards you, you kiss his cheek, leaving a lipstick mark on his skin. 

Robin and Dustin chuckle in the back, their laughter only getting louder when they see Eddie’s eye roll. 

Steve chuckles as well, blushing at your sweet action. 

He cups your cheeks now, giving you a big kiss on the cheek too, just barely missing your lips. 

“Alright,” Eddie rolls his eyes, shaking his head, “let’s go, sweetheart.” 

You and Steve giggle at each other, he ruffles your hair, “take care of yourself, yeah?” 

“I will.” 

“I’m always one phone call away,” he whispers. 

“I know,” you smile as you squeeze his hand before you step away. 

“Goodbye Stevie.”

His eyes flash with bittersweet sadness, though he will see you in a week again, he knows things will be different. This is a different goodbye.

You pick out the necklace from beneath your shirt, reaching for the pendant, you give it a kiss. 

“Goodbye Stevie.”

He smiles at your action, eyes following you as you step on the tour bus, his smile falls a little. 

“Goodbye honey,” he whispers. 

Eddie watches him closely, their conversation is still deep on his mind. 

Both men look at each other, a mutual understanding flashing in their eyes. 

“Take care of her.” 

Eddie nods, “of course.” 

-

“You know, I missed this.” 

“Hotel rooms?” 

Eddie chuckles, stealing a fry off your plate, he dips it in ketchup before eating it, “hotel rooms with you.” 

You smile, watching as he licks his lips, missing the ketchup on the corner of his mouth. You reach your hand out towards his face, wiping the condiment off, you look into each other’s eyes as you bring your thumb back to your lips, licking it clean. 

A blush takes over his face and he looks down with a smile on his face. 

“I missed it too.” 

“Yeah? You did?” 

You nod, humming at his question. 

Neither of you want to think of the few lonely nights you spent without each other after the night in Cincinnati. It feels wrong to even think of the moments you weren’t with each other.

Eddie can look at you with the same happiness in his eyes as before everything. You are here with him, wearing his shirt again. Your hair is still wet from the shower you took earlier, the necklace that Steve got you, hanging around your neck. 

The first day back on tour was mostly spent on the tour bus and the hotel. Rob, your tour manager won’t be here until tomorrow morning. 

The following days you will be busy with interviews and photoshoots before the concert on Saturday. Eddie isn’t sure if you are ready for it but he will be by your side, every step of the way. 

“What’re you thinking about?” You ask as you push your half eaten plate of food away from you, reaching for your coke, you take a sip before placing it back on the tray. 

“How do you know I’m thinking about something?” He asks as he eats the rest of his burger. 

“You always have that look in your eyes,” you explain, eyes flashing with amusement, “and you’re a nervous eater, you always scarf down the food when you’re deep in thought, which you just did,” you chuckle. 

He furrows his brows, chewing his food slowly, he tilts his head. 

He steals your coke, drinking half of it which you don’t even seem to mind. You’ll share everything with him. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” you breathe. 

“Huh, I never realized,” he chuckles, scratching the back of his neck, “I guess you’re right. I’m always reaching for snacks when I feel stressed but then again, I always think about food.” 

“A real taurus,” you chuckle. 

He laughs but nods in agreement. 

“So… what were you thinking about?” You ask again. 

He chews on his bottom lip for a moment, “I don’t wanna ruin the mood right now.” 

Eying the concern on his face and the uncertainty in his eyes, you already know what this is about. 

“It’s about the article isn’t it?” You ask. 

He sighs, nodding. 

“What about it?” 

“I-I just, I’m worried about you,” he says as he scoots closer to you, reaching his hand out, he grabs it and places it in his, “the journalists, the press… the fucking paparazzis will be everywhere, it’s gonna be brutal, sweetheart.” 

Yes, they will be but you will be fine, you have to be. 

“It’s okay, Eddie,” you whisper, “I’m not gonna cry, break down or get angry at them, I won’t give them that satisfaction. They asked about my dad before, remember?” 

He nods. He remembers that interview, the way you tensed up and looked like you were actually on the verge of a breakdown. 

“It was just a rumor, back then no one even knew anything about it,” you shrug, “this can be treated like a rumor as well, some asshole ‘made’ that shit up about my dad. Once they see that it has no effect on me, they’ll leave me alone. There’s no proof, no one was there that night, no one except for me.” 

His eyes flash with sadness at the mention of that night. You opened up more about that night, telling him about what you came home to. 

“They talked shit about me before, remember that one article they wrote about me?” 

He nods, rolling his eyes in anger. 

He was so focused on you, he didn’t think about how it would affect him. His first priority is you. He wants to protect you, be there for you and take care of you. But he also knows that the following weeks or even months will be a challenge for him as well, he will deal with anger, too much of it. Anger for all the people that try to harm you in any way. 

“Then it’s nothing new,” you shrug, trying to play it cool, “sure, it’ll be a lot and I can already hear the disrespectful questions from all those asshole journalists and paparazzis but fuck it, you either ignore them or you… take it easy.” 

“Take it easy?” He scoffs, “how am I supposed to take it easy when they’ll attack you?” 

“Eddie, they won’t attack me,” you sigh. 

Your gaze softens, your heart flutters in his chest as you look into his eyes. He cares so much about you, it’s something you never realized before Christmas. 

“Something that I learned is, you gotta act like you don’t give a fuck about anything, you gotta shrug things off, play it cool, throw sarcastic comments at them, maybe mean ones too, anything to make them leave you alone. My dad taught me that, it always worked out for him. Once they realize that they can’t use a single fucking thing against you, they will get bored.” 

Eddie blinks as he stares at you. 

“That’s what I’m gonna do and it’s what I want you to do. It’s about taking care of yourself, protecting yourself, Eddie.” 

You are strong, so much stronger than him. You allowed yourself to grieve, you allowed yourself to break down and cry and for a moment you were broken, maybe you still are but you got up again. 

“Don’t let them see how broken you are, it’s what they want. You put on a mask in front of these fuckers and you only take it off in front of people who truly care about you. You can cry and be angry but not in front of people who wanna see that.” 

Eddie remembers the way you put that mask on, after you had just found out about Chrissy, your heart broke, you were angry and sad and yet you managed to hide those feelings in front of strangers. No matter how hurt you were, you were always able to hide it. 

“And honestly? I’m more concerned about who spilled.” 

“Who knew about your dad?” Eddie asks, furrowing his brows. 

You look down, staring at his hand, you play with the new rings on his fingers, the ones that you got for him. 

“Sam, Rob and my mom. That’s all, I didn’t even tell my friends,” you mumble, “it obviously wasn’t Sam or Rob, so I guess that just leaves my mom.” 

There is something you are not telling him, he can see it on your face and he can hear it in your voice. The room falls silent, the candle light flickers. Eddie rubs circles into your skin, staring at you with curiosity in his eyes. 

“Who else knew?” 

You hesitate. Your eyes meet his again. 

“Sweetheart–”

“Chrissy and Jason knew.” 

He draws back a little as his eyes widen, his lips parting in shock. 

“W-What?” 

You take a deep breath. 

“Yeah uh– that night at the hideout, Chrissy followed me out to talk, then Steve and Jason followed us out as well. She just dropped that on me, in front of Steve too, I didn’t want anyone to know, Eddie. At first, I didn’t know how they found out but I kinda figured that my mom told them.” 

“What the fuck,” Eddie mumbles as his eyes flash with anger. 

“She is the only one who could’ve told them,” you frown, “I called her, she was weird, weirder than usual so… and I honestly don’t think that it was Chrissy, if anything it was her sleazeball boyfriend and her bitchy mom.” 

“You don’t think it was Chrissy?” Eddie asks with a confused look on his face, “she had it out for you.” 

You sigh, shaking your head, “I talked to her the night before Christmas Eve, I was at the diner and she was there too..” 

“Jesus,” he sighs, running his fingers through his hair, he clenches his jaw, eying you in concern. He can already imagine what kind of things she has said to you, “did she–”

“She was.. nice,” you mumble, “we talked normally. I don’t think it was her, I have a feeling that it wasn’t.”  

Eddie is still suspicious but he doesn’t say anything. 

“Her mom is religious, right?” 

Eddie nods, “yeah, Jason too,” he rolls his eyes. 

You chuckle, shaking your head, “trust me, it was them. I don’t know why they would care and I have no fucking clue how they found my mom but they must have given her a lot of money.” 

“Wait what?” 

“Oh, all she cares about is money, Eddie. You pay her a good amount and she’ll tell you anything you wanna know.” 

Eddie raises his brows, a sigh leaving his lips as he shakes his head. He squeezes your hand, “I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay, I-I just wanna move on from this, you know?” 

He nods. 

“Okay,” he whispers, “but why didn’t you tell me about Jason and Chrissy’s mom?” 

“I didn’t want you to get into a fight with that asshole, it’s whatever. In the end it doesn’t even matter who sold that fucking story, it won’t be the first scandalous article, there will be many more.” 

He would have definitely gotten into a fight with Jason and cuss the old Cunningham witch out, god knows how many times he had done it before when she would comment on Chrissy’s weight, not only was she horrible to her own daughter, now she also managed to find a way to hurt you, you who had absolutely nothing to do with her. 

“I wanna beat his face in and put nair in her shampoo,” he grumbles as his eyes darken. 

Eddie was always protective of the people he loves, of his friends and family but he had never felt this kind of protective before. 

You snort at his words. 

“I’m serious!” 

“Okay,” you giggle, “that witch is gonna lose her hair at some point, karma will get her. Same with Jason, he’ll get what he deserves.” 

“But still, I wanna hurt him.” 

“You already did.” 

“That punch wasn’t enough.” 

“I’m sure an asshole like him will get many more punches in his lifetime.” 

“He better.” 

Sighing, you let go of his hand, taking the food tray, you place it on the ground before you lay down, placing your feet on the soft cushions and your hand on your stomach. 

Eddie looks at you, smile tugging at his lips. 

You reach for the necklace beneath your shirt and curiosity sparks inside of him. 

He lays down next to you, placing his elbow on the soft pillow, he cups his cheek as he stares down at you. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

You turn to look at him, rolling over on your side so you can face him. 

“How do you really feel about Steve?” He asks, “I-I’m not angry or jealous, just curious. I can tell that he means something to you,” he says, reaching for the necklace he got you. 

You hold your finger to your lips as you think about his questions. 

Eddie waits patiently. 

“Why are you asking me this?”

“I just, I see the way you’re around him,” he explains, “you’re comfortable with him, it’s different than with others, even your friends.” 

“I just really like him. He is kind of amazing.” 

“Kind of?” He smiles. 

“Very amazing,” you chuckle, rolling your eyes, “you’re still my favorite.” 

His smile widens, heart skipping a beat. You put your hand on his arm, squeezing it. 

“But how do you feel about him, Eddie?” 

He draws his brows together as he gives you a questioning look. It makes you giggle. You were surprised about the kiss they had shared that one night, it didn’t exactly seem like it was their first kiss. 

“How many times have you kissed him before?” 

“Oh,” Eddie breathes, chuckling. His cheeks grow red. 

“Or did you do…. more?” 

He shakes his head, “no, sweetheart. It was just a few kisses.” 

“A few kisses?” You chuckle. 

He nods as his eyes fall on the necklace that he is still holding between his fingers, he scoots closer to you. 

“Yeah, a few drunken kisses,” he snorts. 

“That’s all?” 

“That’s all.” 

“You never wanted to go further than that?” 

“I mean, back then I did,” he admits shyly.

“Oh my god,” you exclaim, your eyes flash with excitement at this new revelation, you push him back and place your hands on his chest, “tell me everything.” 

He laughs at your curiosity, not wasting a moment to put his hands on your back. 

“I was kinda into him but wasn’t sure if he’d be open for more than just a few kisses, you know?” 

You nod. 

“So I never tried,” he shrugs, “and then Chrissy asked me out so I never really thought about it again.” 

“Oh,” you pout. 

He chuckles, placing his hand under your chin, “what’s that pout for, sweetheart?” 

“I think you and Steve would’ve been cute together,” you say, giggling. 

“Shut up,” he laughs, rolling his eyes at you. 

“You know who would be cute together?” 

You shake your head, placing your chin on his chest, you brush your fingers through his curls, making him smile. 

“You and I, we’d be cute together,” he smiles. His eyes are soft, filled with nothing but adoration and love. 

Warmth rushes through your chest a smile tugs at your lips but you pretend to be skeptical, “hmm… you really think so?” 

He playfully glares at you, “of course!” 

“But I wouldn’t stand a chance if you were dating Steve,” you say, pretending to be jealous. 

He almost laughs, shaking his head at you. 

“Baby, we’re both obsessed with you,” he chuckles as he digs his fingers into your sides, tickling you. 

“Eddie!” You laugh, pushing his hands away. 

“If I was dating Steve and you came along, we’d both fall for you and just date you both.” 

Your lips part in surprise, your eyes widen, “oh?” 

He chuckles at the expression on your face. 

“And what if I didn’t want to have two boyfriends?” 

“But we’d treat you like a queen. You’d be the happiest girl in the world.”

You chuckle, blushing at his words. 

“Hmm, maybe two boyfriends aren’t too bad,” you whisper, “should we call Steve?” 

“No!” 

You giggle when he wraps his arms around you and flips you over. 

“No? I thought I could have two boyfriends.”

“I never said that,” he points out, giving you a stern look, “that would’ve happened if I dated Steve in the past. You are the only one that I need and I’m the only one that you need.” 

Your heart flutters and so does his when you cup his cheek. 

“You do have a soft spot for Steve though,” you whisper. 

It’s the truth. Out of all his friends, Steve was always his closest one, even though there’s people in his life that he had known much longer. Steve was different, you found a place in his heart. Eddie hated to admit it but he did. 

He was sick with jealousy when you had been with him but he always felt relieved that it wasn’t another man. It was just Steve. He always trusted him and he knew that you were safe with him.

“As do you.” 

Yes. 

Maybe the both of you have a bit of a soft spot for the handsome dork, he grew on you and a part of you hated the thought of him being all alone again. A part of you feels guilty, you gave him something, only to take it away again. 

“I feel like an asshole.” 

“What?”

His eyes are filled with guilt as he looks up at the ceiling. 

“The night at the trailer, Steve and I got into a fight… kinda.” 

“What? Why?” 

“He admitted that he likes you. I asked him if he loves you but he didn’t say anything. He looked pretty upset about the fact that you like.. me.” 

You talked about this with Steve. He told you that he has no feelings for you, that it was nothing but an attachment he had formed. 

“I got angry and we started saying stuff to each other, then it all led to that moment.” 

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, “I feel bad, I-I didn’t want to accept that he may have feelings for you, I was scared that I would lose you because of it but when he gave you that necklace, I felt bad for him.” 

Your eyes soften and you frown at his words, “w-why?” 

“Because he didn’t want to let you go and yeah, maybe it’s just a friend not wanting to let go of someone that means the world to them and I know what it’s like to watch you leave, I know what he feels like. Losing you is the most painful thing, sweetheart.” 

“I don’t ever wanna lose you,” he whispers as he presses a gentle kiss to your knuckles, “even if you decide to leave me in the end, I will never leave you, no matter what.” 

Tears well up in your eyes. 

Eddie doesn’t understand what weight his words hold. He doesn’t know that this small moment, these simple words might have saved you. 

You know that he will stand by your side. 

And as long as you have him, you know that you will be alright. 

-

Cruel words and weird stares were expected when you left the hotel the next day, you successfully managed to ignore them though. You don’t let these things get to you. You’ve become an expert at building walls up around you, ones that no one can tear down, least of all strangers who have no relations to you.

You make it through the interview, you manage to get through the photoshooting and even the talk show that the band has been invited to. 

The journalists weren’t the nicest people to deal with, they of course used the article as an excuse to ask you questions that you have felt uncomfortable to answer but as you have told Eddie, you put on a fake smile and acted as though it had absolutely no effect on you. 

You noticed the concerned glances of your friends, Jeff asked you how you were doing multiple times, Gareth tried to lighten your mood while Rob and Johnny tried to distract you by talking about the upcoming concert. 

Eddie held your hand through it all, comforting you with his touches and encouraging smiles. 

You appreciate them but most of all him.

You tried to think of anything but the mess that you had gotten in, which was quite the challenge considering that people brought it up, constantly. 

Friday rolled around and you were happy to be back on stage for rehearsals. You haven’t sung since the night at the hideout and you missed it. 

You and Eddie tried to keep your touches to a minimum but it was difficult to do so, you just couldn’t stay away from him and neither could he. It was nice to hold his hand again and sing with him. 

You have gotten to the venue in the morning, a few hours have passed since then and you have decided to take a break. 

With a cup of coffee in your hand, you sit down on the ground and flip through the pages in your notebook. 

The guys went out to eat, you didn’t feel like leaving the venue, not when you know that there’s a bunch of people waiting out there for you. Eddie had wanted to stay back but you know that he hasn’t eaten anything since last night so you had to convince him to get food with the others. 

He only begrudgingly agreed, not wanting to leave you alone but eventually he caved, especially when his stomach grumbled. He promised to get you something as well before he left. 

You hear heavy footsteps and a loud sigh, you don’t have to look behind you to see who it is. 

“What’re you doing, kid?” Rob asks as he sits down across from you, a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in his other. 

“Just going through a new song text that I wrote.” 

“Oh, you wrote a new one?” He asks with a smile on his face. 

“Yes, started working on it a while back, do you wanna read it?” 

“Sure.” 

You turn your notebook around and slide it towards him. “I thought that this could be on the next album.” 

He raises his brow and smiles, “next album, huh?” 

You nod, “yeah, I mean I hope we can make one.” 

“With the way things are going, I can’t see why not,” he shrugs before he breaks eye contact, placing his mug on the floor, he reaches for the notebook. Placing his cigarette between his lips, he squints his eyes as he starts to read. 

You shake your head at the expression on his face, that man refuses to get himself some reading glasses. 

You take a sip of your warm coffee and look around the empty room, the one that will be filled with thousands of people tomorrow night. 

“Sounds angry,” he chuckles, “and very emotional.” 

“I was very angry and emotional,” you nod, laughing. 

“I can tell.” 

“Whenever I’m angry or sad, I get inspired…. Is that weird?” 

He smiles as he shakes his head slowly, “no, kid. It’s not weird, it’s your way of dealing with it. Which is good because at least there’s a great outcome from it. Other’s turn to other things when they are in pain.” 

You swallow, nodding at his words. 

“Yeah, drugs, alcohol and sex.” 

His eyes widen as he nods in agreement, “that’s right. I’ve been there myself, it’s not good. It feels good in the moment but you always come back from it, you sober up and when you do, you feel like absolute shit so you drown yourself in it again and again. You don’t want to but you do, despite knowing how fucking awful it is. You want to stop but the moment you’re in it, it just seems impossible and the longer you do it, you get more and more lost.” 

“Yeah,” you breathe, nodding, “you lose your way out.” 

“You really do. That’s why you should never even start with it because the moment you do, all those fuckers out there,” he says, pointing into a random direction, his cigarette still between his fingers, “the ones who are waiting for your downfall, they all fucking win. Everything they said about you, becomes true and you don’t want that. You gotta do what’s best for you, you gotta be better and stronger than them.” 

“But what if you realize that you are not strong?” 

“Then you gotta find that strength, you look for the light and hold on to that. Don’t succumb to darkness.” 

Rob’s words echo in your mind for the rest of the day, playing on repeat. 

You found your light and you will hold onto that, no matter what. 

-

“Are you ready?” Gareth grins at you, wiggling his brows. 

“Yeah, I’m ready,” you chuckle, giving him a confused look, “why are you acting so suspicious?” 

“Me, suspicious?” He gasps, shaking his head, “why would I act suspicious?” 

“I don’t know, you tell me.” 

You look behind his shoulder, smiling at Steve who looks away from Eddie, his eyes lock with yours and he smiles. 

Robin is watching the opening act with a look of awe in her eyes, Wayne next to her. 

The backstage crew is rushing around, preparing for your concert. 

“Can you believe that all these people came here for you?” 

You furrow your brows, laughing, “they came for us,” you mumble. 

“No, they came for you.” 

He looks behind you with a smirk on his face. You’re just about to turn around to see what he is looking at when a pair of hands cover your eyes. 

“Guess who.” 

You gasp at the sound of her voice, almost squealing in excitement, you grab her hands and turn around. 

“Jamie?” You exclaim as you meet the eyes of your best friend. 

She grins at you, happiness flashing in her eyes, she pulls you into a tight hug. 

“I missed you so much.” 

You close your eyes, blinking away the happy tears, you squeeze her tightly. 

“I missed you too, Jaims.”

“Alright, move over, Jamie. It’s my time.” 

Your eyes snap open and you just now notice the other two girls. Frankie and Wren rush towards you with excited squeals. They both wrap their arms around you, pulling you into a group hug. 

You giggle as Frankie presses her lips to your cheek, “I missed you so much, babe!”

“How?” You ask as you look at your friends in surprise. 

Jeff comes up behind Wren, pulling your friend into his arms, “we thought you could use some time with your friends,” he grins at you. 

“Wait,” you look at him with a smile on your face before you turn to Gareth, “you guys planned this?” 

“It was Eddie’s idea,” he shrugs, “I almost blurted it out the other day though.” 

Your gaze softens, heart warming. You turn around, looking at Eddie who is already staring at you with a smile on his face. 

‘Thank you,’ you mouth to him. 

“Of course, you can never keep your mouth shut,” Jamie snorts at him. 

“Hey! I did keep my mouth shut!” 

You shake your head, turning back to your friends, you stare at them for a moment. It’s been months since you had last seen them. Wren’s hair is longer than it was before, a happy smile is lingering on her face as she hugs Jeff. 

“How are you guys?” 

“Oh, Wren and I are fine,” Jamie says to you before she looks at Frankie who has that flicker in her eyes, “this one though, crazy in love.” 

Your eyes widen, you look her up and down, not only is she blushing like crazy, there’s also something on her hand that you haven’t seen before. 

“I-Is that an engagement ring?” You gape at her, reaching for her hand to stare at it. 

“Yes,” she squeals. 

“Wow, I– where’s this coming from?” You laugh, eying the beautiful ring, “who’s that lucky guy?” 

She opens her mouth to speak but is quickly cut off by Wren, “before she rambles your ear off, his name is Thomas, he is rich and crazy obsessed with her.” 

“And he has a yacht!” Frankie exclaims with a happy smile on her face. 

You pull her into another hug, “congrats, you always wanted a yacht,” you giggle. 

“Hi guys.” 

For a moment, your friends all fall silent at the sound of Eddie’s voice, it almost makes you nervous that they know about what happened. You didn’t tell them, you didn’t want to, especially not over the phone. 

Eddie places his hand on your back, waving at them awkwardly. 

They all greet him after a moment, giving him small smiles. It makes you relax a little but then they lay their eyes on Steve, who stands on the other side of you. 

You introduce them to him, your friends eye him in curiosity, you can already hear the questions coming the moment they get you alone again. 

They share teasing grins when they notice how both men look at you. Their grins only get bigger when you call Steve ‘Stevie’. 

Jeff excuses himself, pulling Wren along with him. You smirk to yourself when you see them walking into one of the backstage rooms. 

Gareth walks off as well as he mumbles something under his breath, leaving you standing here with two men on both your sides and your very curious best friends. 

Jamie falls into a conversation with Eddie and Steve but quickly finds something more entertaining behind you, you follow her gaze. Robin. 

She is staring at Robin. 

A mischievous smile appears on your face, the blush on her face deepens when Robin turns around, meeting your friend’s eyes. Jamie was the one who teased you the most when she found out about your feelings for Eddie, you will enjoy this. 

“So which one of them are you dating right now?” Frankie whispers into your ear after pulling you away from the group. 

“W-What?” You chuckle. 

She grins, playing with her red hair as she leans closer to you, “are you dating both?” She asks, “I know you always loved those love triangle books.” 

“Oh my god,” you groan. 

She turns to look at them, catching the look on Steve’s face as he stares at Eddie. 

“Oh uh, babes, I think he has a crush on your man.” 

You follow her gaze to see Steve nodding along to Eddie’s words, smiling at him. 

You almost burst into laughter. 

“Wait no–” she cuts herself off, Steve looks at you for a brief moment, “wait…” 

“What?” You chuckle. 

Her eyes are squinted, she looks at them and then at you, eyes moving back and forth, “did you…” Her eyes widen and she gasps before she even finishes her questions, before you even say anything, “you did, didn’t you!” 

“Did what?” You laugh, acting clueless but the flustered look on your face and the nervous smile gives it away.

“You know what,” she wiggles her brows. 

“No…” You say in a hushed whisper, hoping that no one can hear you or see the look on your face, “we didn’t–”

“Yes you did, you naughty girl,” she smirks. 

“I-It wasn’t, we didn’t.. not actually,” you stutter, rolling your eyes as you cross your arms over your chest. 

“Not actually?” She asks with wide eyes, “but you did something.” 

“It was just… a little something.” Not an actual threesome, you think to yourself. 

“A little something, huh?” She grins. 

Shaking your head, you roll your eyes playfully. 

“Nothing too crazy.” 

“How did that even happen?” She gasps, giggling like a schoolgirl, “I thought you and Eddie were dating all this time.”

“We weren’t– aren’t dating.” 

She draws back, scrunching her face up, “you’re kidding right?” 

You shake your head, “nope.” 

“I’m not buying that, that man,” she points to Eddie who turns to look at you with a smile on his face, “he is head over heels for you.” And then her eyes fall on Steve, “and that one too…. maybe, I’m not sure yet.” 

You shake your head, sighing. 

“Who’s head over heels for who?” Wren whispers in your ear as she sneaks up behind you. 

“Eddie and his boyfriend.” 

Wren giggles and you roll your eyes with a smile on your face. 

“Oh my god,” Wren laughs, “look at you, you became a rockstar and got yourself two boyfriends, have you adopted any kids yet?” She jokes. 

You chuckle, “should I?” 

“Yeah, you should make them both daddies.” 

“Jesus Christ…” you groan. 

“Who’s gonna be your new year’s kiss tonight? Which one is getting the first smooch?” 

They both giggle at the flustered expression on your face, teasing you with their eyes when both men walk up to you again, standing on both sides of you like before.

“You ready to go on stage, sweetheart?” Eddie smiles excitedly as he reaches for your hand. 

You nod, ignoring the giggles of your friends. 

“Good luck, honey.” 

They whisper behind your back, mimicking their pet names for you before they giggle again. 

You already know, their teasing will be never ending and this night will be a long one. 

-

@littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @corrodedcorpses @mysticmunson @aftermidnightwriting @sherrylyn628 @imjuststeddietrashatthispoint @yearwalker96 @eddiemyloveee

[thisisourlovestory]

Safe and Sound

Finnick Odair x reader soulmate AU

Summary: you are a victor from district 4. The Quarter Quell has just been announced. How will you cope with the turn of events coming your way.

Wordcount- 3.9k

Notes- okay so this has taken a lot longer than I thought it would but it’s here now finally. And I have changed my url so I’m sorry if you thought this was some random person tagging you

Chapter 6

I woke up the next morning sprawled across my bed and tangled in the sheets. I stumbled up and made my way into the dining area, only bothering to wrap a dressing gown around myself so as to not expose my arms. Unfortunately Lysander greeted me much too cheerfully the second I stepped foot in the room, with a wide grin and loud words.

“Good morning!” He trilled. “Sit, sit and eat. You have an important day ahead of you.” I slumped down into a seat and grabbed an apple, biting into the crisp red skin and sinking my teeth deep into its flesh.

“So what did you get up to with the lovely Megara last night?” He inquired as an avox served him a plate of toast piled with eggs and cheese and ham. I judged his choice in food for a moment and then almost snorted as his words registered in my mind. He certainly wasn't being subtle at all I thought as Finnick and Mags entered and seated themselves. I took another bite out of my apple and grinned.

I stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of silk pyjama shorts and a loose top. Megara was sprawled across my bed, shovelling ice cream into her mouth as fast as physically possible. She noticed me and smacked the bed.

“Sit.” I sat. “Now spill. You and Finnick flipping Odair.” I sighed.

“Pass me a cupcake. No, not that one. No, no, yes. Thanks.” I peeled the case off and bit into it, the rich chocolate and caramel spreading across my tongue. “I found out when I first got it.” I showed her my wrist and she inspected it closely. “We were, well we were friends I suppose. After I won that is. I saw his once, it was an accident. I don’t think anyone else really knows he even had one.” I took another bite of my cupcake. “We kinda stuck together for a couple of years. He helped me through the aftermath and the nightmares and everything.” She looked at me curiously.

“So what happened?”

“Annie Cresta happened. When she won everything changed. You know how the boy she went in with that year was decapitated and she lost it?”

“Everyone knows, though the Capitol tries to brush over it.” I laughed quietly.

“Well when she came back she was absolutely broken. She couldn’t function by herself. So Finnick helped her. At first I knew it was necessary, she probably would have offed herself otherwise, but the days passed to weeks and weeks to months. He had just,” I breathed, “He had just left me and gone to her.”

Megara's mouth opened in a shocked expression.

“You would’ve been fifteen?”

“Almost sixteen.”

“And he just, what, abandoned you?” I shrugged.

“Love is weird. It comes and goes at the most unexpected of times and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” She placed a hand on her forehead.

“Okay, sorry for interrupting. Please continue.��

“The nightmares came back, I spiralled, I spent I think two months here. Doing shows, staying as far away from them as I could. I mainly talked to Effie and Haymitch.” I smiled fondly. “They were really something. Always bickering and picking at each other like an old married couple. They made me laugh a lot, the only thing I laughed at really. Then it all changed again. But that’s not relevant.” I ignored her look and powered ahead. “I stopped talking to anyone, unless I had to, I wouldn’t say a word. I sang at shows but nothing more. And that was my life I guess. Not happy, not sad. It just was.”

Megara unexpectedly leapt across the bed and engulfed me in a hug.

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that.” She pulled away. “I can't imagine if I met my soulmate and then had to pretend like they meant nothing to me.” I smiled back at her sadly.

“Like I said, love is weird. And why would he want me when he has her.” With that I flopped down in bed and curled up in a ball. “Goodnight.”

“We didn't do anything interesting. I ate a bit then fell asleep. I was tired.” I smiled tightly at Lysander, a glint of challenge in my eyes before my gaze slipped to my plate and I took a second bite out of my apple. It tasted like ash in my mouth. “What's on the agenda today?” With that his eyes lit up and he beamed.

“Training.”

As it turned out, training was in fact the only thing on the agenda. I walked into the room and was greeted by the sight of the majority of the other tributes already showing off. My eyes flicked around the room for a second, Finnick was already bothering Katniss, the girl looked extremely unimpressed at him showing her how to tie a knot in the rope and didn't even try to hide her disgusted expression as he pretended to hang himself. I made my own way over to the survival skills section, I immediately picked up two pieces of wood and began to rub them together to little effect. Just as I was about to give up a shadow appeared above me.

“You have to rub quicker, and lower down.” Katniss took the sticks from me and demonstrated. “See.” I nodded slowly.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” With that she turned and made her way to one of the compartmentalised training rooms, grabbing a bow and a sheaf of arrows along the way. I watched from a distance as she put an arrow through each glowing hologram that appeared. I started as I saw one holding an axe and it immediately disintegrated, a small bolt of fear shooting through me. Were they supposed to represent us? My question was answered as another showed up holding a trident and resulted in the same fate. The closer I watched, I could see more similarities between the holograms and all the people stood watching. Johanna and Finnick were obvious, two appearing next to each other and reacting in sync, Cashmere and Gloss, one with long, sharp nails that none of the others had, Enobaria. A really burly one, Brutus and a couple of spindly ones, the morphlings.

Bile rose in my throat as Katniss annihilated them all. Then just as everyone thought the simulation had ended, a final hologram appeared. Smaller and thinner than all the others and it threw a golden blaze at her which she ducked and suddenly an arrow was lodged in it and it dissolved like all the others. It was clear that it was supposed to be. All the movements of the other holograms had been techniques the corresponding victors used in their games, the weapons they were most famed for using. And the Capitol had simply taken those moves and projected them into the simulation. But for me, the only moves I had back then were throwing that one knife and then my shoes. So that was what they had to use. I stayed frozen in my spot as the others stared at Katniss, contemplating looks in their eyes. I could see the cogs turning in their brains, they wanted her as their ally, who wouldn't to be honest. She was the favourite to win at the moment- perhaps also Finnick- and she would get sponsors upon sponsors. I watched her gaze pass over all of them to settle on me; I stared back at her blankly for a moment before she looked over to Peeta who stood watching her from the camouflage station, his arm covered in detailed paintings of rocks and tree bark. He smiled slightly and turned back to his work.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a grinning Finnick.

“Quite the spectacle she's put on wouldn't you say?” He asked and I hummed in response. “She'd be a good ally.” I shrugged.

“I guess.”

“You guess?” He scoffed. “With an aim like that she could take out all of us in a matter of seconds.” My lip quirked upwards at his words. He didn't know just how true they were.

“I suppose, but if she was your ally, one wrong move and you'd be six feet under. But by all means, ally with the girl on fire; when she decides to kill you- don't say I didn't warn you.” I spun on my heel and strode away from him, my shoulder tingled where he had touched me and I felt a tug in my chest at the growing distance. It was as if the more time we spent around each other the more the- well I suppose the word that the Capitol used to describe it was a bond- the more the bond seemed to recognise us as soulmates and tried to drag us together. It was the only reasonable explanation for why he was talking to me.

I walked with my head down, stepping to the side to avoid bumping into other people. I made my way to a station where the two from district 3 had settled themselves at after struggling to light a fire and were fiddling around with wires and bolts. I sat myself down and picked up a few thin pieces of bronze metal. I twisted them together, intricately weaving them in a complicated pattern so they formed a pin of sorts. I twisted my hair up and stuck it through, the metal scraping along my scalp as I shook my head to make sure it was secure.

“The gamemakers won't be too impressed with that.” Beetee spoke quietly from beside me and I made a face.

“I don't really care. They're the ones hiding behind a forcefield.” His gaze sharpened.

“How do you know that?” I shrugged in response.

“The shimmer in the corners. Makes it look a bit like glass but they don't want us to know they're afraid of us and glass is too noticeable. Next best thing is a forcefield, I mean it uses a lot of the energy in this place. Zaps it like,” I snapped my fingers, “that, but most people won't know how to recognise it at all so they can keep up their pretences without worrying about one of us trying to murder them where they stand.”

Beetee stared at you for a second before a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“A scholar I see.”

“Just curious.”

“Not even some adults back home would be able to tell me that.” Beetee murmured. “You've done your research.” I looked up to the gamemakers.

“Well,” I spoke softly, scratching at my wrist absently,”you never know what they'll throw at you and it's always good to be prepared.” He hummed in assent as Wiress tugged on a loose strand of my hair, babbling nonsense under her breath. I gently extracted myself from her fingers and wished them a pleasant day, a hint of sarcasm in my voice, before I left them to fiddle with their little toys.

I found myself wandering through the huge building, mindlessly gazing around. My eyes flitting over the white surfaces, shining brightly in the even whiter light from the ceilings. All of a sudden I heard voices. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, was that Finnick and Haymitch? Talking to Plutarch Heavensbee? I listened intently, pressing myself against the wall next to the tiny crack in the door to hear better. My eyes gradually widened with each sentence that left their mouths, I couldn't believe it myself, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been hearing it directly from the source. They stopped talking and I ran. I sprinted down the corridors and to the lifts, frantically pressing the buttons as I entered and running out just as quickly. I didn't slow down until I slammed the door to my room shut and launched myself onto my bed, clutching a pillow so hard my knuckles started to turn white. They were planning to get Katniss out of the games and start a revolution. A revolution. My mind repeated those words for minutes, my mouth moving to spell it out in disbelief. Slowly the disbelief I felt faded into determination. They clearly hadn’t been about to tell me anything about it, I wouldn’t be included in their alliance. But I could sure as hell help.

Throughout the next couple of days, I woke up as early as possible to train without anyone watching me. I would take my ballet shoes down with me and wear them as I threw knives at the holograms, rise onto my toes and dance around them in circles until my feet were bleeding and bruised. The pain only made me work harder, if I could fight with my feet broken beneath me then I could run forever and wouldn’t feel a thing. On the last day before the games would begin I did the same as I had been. But when I had destroyed the holograms a hundred times over I didn’t stop, I dropped the daggers in my hands and closed my eyes as I spun and leapt. For the first time in years no one was watching me and I could just dance. Even on the train there had been cameras pointed at me but in the interest of not wanting anyone to get mad and try to kill them the gamemakers had left the training room cameraless. So I danced as if I was a child again and my mother was watching me from the door of the house cheering me on. And then I fell. My ankle gave out beneath me and I crashed to the floor. I landed on my side, my arms crossed to hold my head off the floor. I pushed myself up and undid my shoes; pulled them off my feet and stood up. When I fell I had accidentally pressed a button and holograms had appeared again. I reached down to grab the daggers again as they advanced towards me.

“You wanna play?” One of them threw the knife they were holding at me. It skimmed my cheek; I lifted a hand up to touch it. My fingers came away red and I laughed quietly. “Fine, I’ll play.” With that something inside me cracked and I leapt forward. I was like a hurricane as they all rushed at me and I weaved through the gaps leaving bloody footprints wherever I stepped. I rained down blow after blow on them, if holograms could bleed I would have been covered. But they couldn’t bleed and they couldn’t die, they just disintegrated into orange sparks whenever my blade hit home in their rib cages only for more to take their place. I dodged and threw and stabbed until I thought the simulation ended and I stood in the centre of the room. The air moved and in the blink of an eye I spun and struck, the last thing I saw of the hologram was the trident in it's hand. Then I heard the clapping.

I turned around quickly to see Johanna watching me. I quickly stepped outside.

“What do you want?” She grinned.

“Who knew you could fight princess. I’d actually be quite impressed if I didn’t think you’d payed for some poor Capitol bastard to teach you.” A hysterical giggle forced itself out of my throat and for a second an unreadable expression passed over her face like a cloud. I picked up my shoes by the ribbons and let them dangle by my legs as her eyes went to my feet. “Aww did standing up by herself for a moment make the princesses feet hurt?” I swallowed.

“You don’t know me Johanna Mason.” I spat. “You don’t know anything about me so do not make assumptions about things that you do not understand.” She watched me walk away, yelling after me.

“See you later princess.” I ignored her, focusing on not leaving a trail of blood back to the room.

A few hours later, after I had bandaged up my feet, I headed back down for the evaluations. The others were already there and I sat down at the end of a bench. Feeling eyes on me I looked up and locked eyes with Katniss, she stood up and made her way over to me. She sat down silently and I looked at the pin she had on her top.

“A mockingjay.” She looked up at me surprised.

“Yeah. How did you know?” I laughed.

“Some members of the Capitol have them as pets. Ones they managed to catch after the jabberjays bred with mockingbirds. They domesticated them and have them sing all day every day.” My voice turned sharp. “They don’t like being reminded of their failures so they turn them into spectacles.” My head turned as the robotic voice spoke ‘Y/N L/N report for evaluation.’ I stood up slowly and walked past Finnick who was exiting and into the training room. I was greeted by the sight of the gamemakers laughing and talking with each other, completely ignoring my presence as I made my way over to the weapons stand. One of them spared me a glance before dismissing me. They knew who I was and they didn’t think I was a threat. I took a step forward, narrowing my eyes and realised something. The force field was strong if it was concentrated, but it was only being held together by four balls that it was projected out of, one in each corner creating a screen. So it was strong at the outside but where it all met in the centre would be weaker. I grinned at my revelation and practically skipped back to the table with the knives on. I picked one up and balanced it on my finger, I quickly looked around and grabbed a long piece of rope, tying it around the handle. I twisted the end of the rope around one hand and pirouetted, as my head whipped to the front I let the knife fly through the air, right through the centre of the forcefield. It embedded itself in a piece of watermelon and then the wall. I gripped the rope harder and yanked towards me, I caught the knife and raised the dripping red fruit up to my mouth to take a bite as I curtseyed deeply, dipping my head and letting my foot slide as far behind as possible. I smiled sweetly at their horrified expressions. You can almost see the thoughts running through their heads I mused as I walked calmly out of the room, head held high.

I was waylaid by Lysander who dragged me back to the room and made Finnick and I sit until the scoring was announced hours later, I was almost falling asleep in my chair. Yawning widely and eyes drooping until the music sounded and I bolted up. The second Gloss’ photo appeared on screen with a score of 10 flashing under him my heart sank. My little outburst would probably not have gained me anything other than a low score. The rest of the careers had predicatably high scores, Brutus an 11 and Finnick the same. Lysander screeched happily at his score, patting him on the back furiously and I murmured my congratulations. Then it was my turn. My face appeared on the screen and a bright bold number 12 flashed underneath it. I spat out my water in shock and blinked rapidly as Lysander gaped at the screen. Mags patted me gently on the shoulder, giving me a small smile; Finnick leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.

“Congratulations angel.” The nickname shook me out of my trance.

“Angel?” He shrugged and gave me an easy smile.

“Yeah, you looked like an angel on the chariots and you certainly act like an angel, especially with that little girl.” His voice turned serious. “But something tells me you aren’t such an angel as everyone thinks you are.” My lip twitched and I forced it to stay in a straight line.

“Maybe you’re right.” I turned around, my back to him, his eyes searing into my skin as I whispered. “But some things cannot be determined with a passing glance.”

The next day was the day of the interviews. I was slumped in a chair, clad in a silk robe, as my prep team scoured my body. They perfected every imperfection they could find until my skin was like a blank canvas. All the while they chattered, asking me not so subtly about my evaluation score and even less subtly if I had a soulmate- thankfully they didn’t question my insistency that I covered my wrist while they ‘cleaned me up’. I ignored them for the most part until Priscilla began to waffle on about Finnick. I clenched my fists and tried to block her out, waiting for her to finish. But she wouldn't stop, she went on and on about him, his… relationships with Capitol women and then what a shame it was that he might die. My fingernails dug crescent moons into my palms until I felt pinpricks of pain and saw tiny specks of blood beading on my skin. I settled for fiddling with the robe until they left. The girls walked through the door giggling with each other as Quintus turned around to me.

“I understand how you feel.”

“What?” I asked confused.

“You have a soulmate yes?” I nodded slowly. “But he either doesn’t want you or doesn’t know about you.” I nodded again.

“The second.”

“I had a soulmate once.”

“You did?” I mumbled.

“It was about 15 years ago. I had just started working here for the games and she was a tribute.” He laughed slightly and ran his hand through his hair. “She hated me, I tried to get her to run away with me before the games could start but she wouldn’t let the kid from her district die even if it meant she lived. They only lasted 5 days in the arena.” He smiled sadly. “But those last couple of days she was alive and I got to see her were the best couple of days in my life.”

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

“Don’t waste time. Every second with the ones we love is precious.” Just as suddenly as he had begun the conversation he left the doorway, leaving me in silence.

Soon enough Megara came in, laden with bags upon bags containing god knows what. She dragged a chair over and sat down opposite me. She pulled out a teapot and two cups before setting them down on the table ignoring my incredulous look. She poured tea into the two cups added a splash of milk and sugar to one and gave me an inquisitive look. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I poured milk into the cup and spooned 3 teaspoons of sugar into the cup.

“So honey, how are you feeling about the interviews?”

“Honey? Aren’t you younger than me.”

“Nope,” she popped the p,” I’m 24.” I sighed.

“They can only go so badly right.” She grinned; took a sip of her tea, placed it down, stood up and walked over to a huge bag hung up on the door.

“I suppose we’ll see then.” She unzipped the bag and I gasped.

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[ellieluvr420]

Friends? Never. Pt.18 (Ellie Williams x reader)

MASTERLIST (and information about Palestine) Please read!

SYNOPSIS: You and Ellie had been bitter enemies for years now but before that you were best friends. You had always planned to be roommates one day but when that becomes a reality the situation isn't exactly how you both imagined it.

“Come on! We’re gonna be late!” You call out to Ellie from downstairs as Clem puts her shoes on. She had been the first one awake as always and you were surprisingly energetic this morning so you had let Ellie sleep in though you soon came to regret that when it was time for you to leave and Ellie was nowhere near ready. 

“I’m ready mommy!” Clem chirps with a sweet smile as she appears next to you at the door. 

“Ellie if you aren’t down here in one minute, we’re leaving without you!” 

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Ellie calls out breathlessly as she bounds down the stairs, almost tripping over the last step from her speed. She grabs her converse and hops around trying to slip them on as you and Clem watch in amusement at her whirlwind. “Sorry, sorry.” Once her shoes are on she pauses to look at you both with her hands on her hip as she sucks in a deep breath. “We ready?” 

“Bold of you to be asking us that.” She rolls her eyes and you yank the door open ushering everyone out in front of you. As you walk to the school, Clem in the middle of you both holding onto your hands. She’s practically dragging you both along as she can’t contain her excitement and the sight has you and Ellie both beaming at her.  

As the school comes into view you notice Maria standing at the gates, waiting on your arrival. 

“Bet she was waiting for us to be late.” Ellie mutters prompting a scoff from you. 

“Or better yet, not turn up at all.” You both chuckle as you reach Maria who is smiling at Clem. 

“You excited for your first day Clem?” She questions. 

“YES!” Maria smiles at the both of you for the first time in weeks and then nods her head in the direction of the school signalling it was time for Clem to go in. 

“Okay honey, we’ll be back at three, have a good day okay?” She nods and you pull her into a hug tight enough to hear her tiny wheeze before pulling away and kissing her forehead, then her nose before cupping her cheek and standing once again. Ellie then bends down, also hugging her and kissing the top of her head before standing and ruffling her hair. 

“Hey! You’re not the one that did her hair this morning.” 

“Sorry, sorry. Have a good day kiddo, knock ‘em dead.” Clem quirks her eyebrows at Ellie causing a chuckle to erupt from you. “I’ll explain that one later.” Clem nods and runs towards the gates where a teacher was waiting to welcome her. 

“Do you even have an explanation for her?” 

“Oh shut up.” Ellie nudges you with her hip before placing her hand on the small of your back as you both turn to Maria. 

“Good morning?” You both nod. “Well, best get you to your new jobs then shall we?” She walks off, leaving you both to follow like lost puppies. She doesn’t slow her pace until you reach the gates where a small group of six teenagers were standing waiting. 

“Right guys, as you all know you are being trained to start patrolling. We’re losing some of our best so you’re going to be trained by them.” Maria smiles smugly as she pats you both on the back, your jaws both hung open at your new assignment. “Come on, follow me.” She turns on her heel, you and Ellie both trailing behind her with the group following behind you both.  

“Maria, how old are they?” You question. 

“Some sixteen, some seventeen.” 

“And we’re training them, seriously?” Ellie’s voice is high with disbelief. 

“You agreed to picking up jobs in Jackson. This is where you’re needed so this is what you’re doing.” Maria glares at Ellie as she hears the sigh leave her lips and you can only chuckle as you enter a large building you assumed had been used for storage previously that was now cleared with weapons lining one of the short walls at the far end of the building. There were targets on the same wall and you had to admit you were impressed with the set up. The commotion of laughter and what you assumed was shit-talking has you turning back to the group of teenagers with a stern stance. You look over at Ellie who was still admiring the area in a relaxed position that made her look the least threatening she could possibly look so you coughed pointedly at her to get her attention. She spun to face you and when she saw your stance and your raised eyebrows, she quickly mimicked you, letting her face fall into a stony glare that had you pursing your lips in attempt to hide your smile. “Right! From here, they are your superiors. What they say goes. You are in very capable hands so listen!” Maria nods at them all before taking her leave. Everything is quiet before you glance at Ellie who was already peering at you expectantly. You clear your throat, a small chuckle leaving your lips that even surprised you. You introduced yourself to the listening teenagers. 

“This is Ellie. Erm I’m guessing none of you have been on patrol then?” You’re met with a shake of their heads which leaves you pondering your next question. “Okay well have any of you ever left Jackson?” Another shake of their heads. “Right well you’re in a better position than I was when I went for my first patrol. I had never left Jackson either but I also didn’t get any training until I was out there so consider yourselves lucky.” You go quiet for a moment before the memory of you getting selected for patrol rushes back to your mind and its like a light has switched on in your head. “Raise your hands if you’ve been sent to Maria for some sort of physical altercation.” Not to your surprise, all their hands raise which causes Ellie to break her facade as she chuckles a little. 

“Now I see why Maria has us training you.” She mutters so only you can hear, you giggle and the groups eyebrows raise slightly causing you to quickly regain your composure. “Let’s see your skills then, get into pairs.” The group looks perplexed but follow her instructions anyway as they pair off. Two girls go together and two boys leaving the largest boy to be paired with the remaining girl. 

“Aw come on, it’s not a fair fight, me against Maya? That’s too easy.” The largest boy chortles as he crosses his arms smugly. 

“Oh so you think a girl couldn’t take you down?” You question, Ellie peers at you with an expression of amusement at your tone. 

“Well... yeah.” He shrugs. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Harvey.” 

“Everyone else take a seat. Harvey, I want you to try and take me down.” Ellie’s face switches from amusement to concern but yours doesn’t falter from its stoney expression as he scoffs before shrugging and preparing himself to launch his assault. He steps towards you and as he throws his right arm into a punch towards you, sloppily at that, you dodge the attack and grab his arm, twisting and manoeuvring it to be pressed behind his back as you stomp down onto the back of his knee sending him to the ground where you pin him down, pushing his face into the dirt just to emphasise your point. He grunts and groans in pain before you stand, freeing him from your grip to address the group. You glance at Ellie who was eyeing you like she was starving as she not-so-subtly licked her lips. “Now imagine if he had tried that on a 6 foot 3, 200 pound guy. Because that’s the kinda shit you’re gonna be dealing with on patrol. It’s not just infected that pose a threat but humans too. Ellie can tell you more than I can that the real enemy here are the people you’re going to come into contact with. You may think you know how to fight because of your schoolyard punch ups but trust me when I say, that is child’s play. So, anyone wanna get cocky now?” They all shake their heads vigorously as Harvey shamefully drags himself up off the floor to join the rest of the group. 

“Sorry.” He mutters. 

“It’s okay, I had the exact same attitude before I went on patrol because I had fucked up Ellie more than once.” 

“Er I wouldn’t say you fucked me up.” 

“Eh agree to disagree.” You smiled playfully at her as she rolled her eyes before taking a step towards the group.  

“We are going to show you how to fight smart so pay attention.” She approaches you and pulls you to the side in a hushed manner. “You demonstrate everything on me, okay?” 

“No way, we’ll just take it in turns.” 

“Babe I’m not arguing with you. Just demonstrate on me, please.” Her words are barely above a whisper but the group notices the tension between you two as you reluctantly nod and return your attention back to them as you clear your throat.  

“Right, this is especially important for us girls. Getting your opponent onto the floor is the quickest way to level out the playing field. So, Ellie is going to attack and I’m going to show you how to do that.” You nod at Ellie and she gives you a second to prepare yourself before lunging at you. You dodge her first attack and kick down at her knee in the same way you had Harvey before pushing her down to the ground and straddling her back while pressing her hands behind her also. You stay in that position for a moment, both of you slightly flustered before you jump off of her, offering her a hand up. “Okay, so that’s if they’re coming at you from the front but that won’t always be the case, a lot of the time you’ll be getting attacked from behind you so you need to be prepared for that. I’m gonna show you the movement slowly then I’ll show you how it actually happens.” Ellie takes her position behind you and as she wraps her arm around your neck she lowers herself to your ear. 

“You okay?” 

“Think I should be asking you that.” You whisper back before tapping her arm that was wrapped around your shoulders. “Right! It does not matter how much your opponent outweighs you, this move is about speed, this needs to become a reflex for you, so, you grab onto your attacker, tight.” You punctuate your sentence by gripping onto Ellie’s arm. “Then you’re going to snap forward as quick as you possibly can. You need to use your entire body for this to be effective, as you’re about to see.” You and Ellie both reset as you glance over your shoulder at her. “You ready? I’m sorry if this hurts.” You say quiet enough for only her to hear. 

“It’s okay, I’m ready.” You take a deep breath and as you feel her arm wrap around you once again, you grip onto it and snap forward sending her flying over you to land on the ground harshly on her back as she wheezes slightly. You finish the move by straddling her and pressing her wrists to the ground for a moment before once again helping her up as she coughs slightly while rubbing her back.  

“Like I said, that move is all about speed and it is really important that you can do this so pair up like you had originally but Maya go with Ellie and Harvey come with me.” 

“She meant that the other way around. Harvey you’re with me.” Ellie doesn’t look at the scowl that you had directed at her as Harvey walks over to her and Maya you so you sigh in defeat and let her have her way. “Take turns being the attacker and remember this is practise, we aren’t aiming to hurt each other. But you do also need to be able to take a hit and get back up so this will prepare you for that too.” With a nod of your heads the group begins practising what you had taught them in their pairs. You and Ellie each let Harvey and Maya practise both moves on you before pairing them back up. You tell the partners to swap around every couple of rounds as you and Ellie watched, pleased at their progress.  

“How’s your back?” You query. 

“Sore but I’ll live, yours?” 

“Just about the same.” You smile at each other as you subconsciously gravitate towards each other until your arms are grazing, causing goosebumps to erupt over your skin. “I think we should start showing them their way around guns. None of them will have even touched one before and they need time to work on their aim.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. They’ve got this down, let’s do something less physical, give their backs a break.” You nod before addressing the group. 

“Guys! Everyone over here.” You walk over to the targets while Ellie grabs two hand guns from the stock of weapons in the adjacent corner of the room. “You will not be sent on patrol without a gun so you need to know how to use it.” Ellie hands you the gun while tucking hers in the back of her jeans out of habit as you begin your demonstration. “This is a semi-automatic pistol. You’ve got the magazine in the handle.” You remove the magazine and push it back in just to show them. “To load a bullet from the magazine in the chamber, you pull back on this part okay, use a firm grip and then let it fall back into place. Keep the gun aimed at the ground while you’re doing this. Once there is a bullet loaded, flick the safety off and get ready to shoot.” You ready the gun and then turn to the side so they can see your stance. “Hold the gun in your dominant hand, and support with your non-dominant. Feet should be shoulder-width apart and your non-dominant foot should be slightly more forward than your dominant one to stagger your stance. Take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger in one smooth motion and that is how you shoot a gun. To aim, hold it up so the top of it is eye-level and to start with you might want to shut one eye. Be prepared for the recoil and be patient, having good aim takes practise. Ellie’s gonna shoot a couple rounds so you can see that all in practise, so pay attention, this is important.” You put the safety of your gun on and and place it in the back of your jeans as Ellie removes hers and eyes you before walking over to the targets and preparing herself. The group watches in quiet anticipation and as she shoots three rounds back to back you watch their reactions. 

As you look at the target, a smile grows on your face because all three bullets had hit the bullseye so close together you could barely see the three separate bullet holes. Ellie’s coy smile is only visible to you and as you make eye contact with her you raise your eyebrows at her in a silent well done which only makes her smile more before turning to the group with the same stony glare she had sported the whole time. “Everyone ready to give it a go?” They nod vigorously. “Get into three lines and each time you shoot only shoot twice before passing the gun onto the next person.” Ellie grabs two guns and you grab one and hand them to the person at the front of each line. There’s a tension in the air as they all prepare themselves and their stances. “No one shoot before we’ve checked your stance.” 

You walk over to Harvey as Ellie walks over to a blonde girl and as you’re checking his stance you notice the fidgety nature of the blonde and the blush of her cheeks as Ellie fixes her obviously purposefully bad stance. You hear Ellie mutter a ‘there you go, you’re all set’ and as she goes to walk away the girl grabs her bicep. 

“Wait, I’m sorry I’m just kinda confused. Are you sure my stance is okay?” Ellie obviously picks up on the girl’s game and looks at your smirk and raised eyebrows as she tries to stifle a chuckle. Ellie goes over it again as the blonde flashes half-lidded blue eyes at her like she was trying to undress her with them. 

“Amber’s got a thing for your girl.” Harvey whispers causing your eyebrows to scrunch up.  

“What?” 

“Oh come on, it’s so obvious you’re a thing. Amber just always wants what she can’t have.” You chuckle and shrug your shoulders. 

“Eh it’s cute to watch. Can’t say I blame her, obviously.” He chuckles and you check his stance once more before giving him the all clear to start as you move on to Maya. 

You and Ellie stand watching them take it in turns to shoot, one bullet every couple of rounds hitting the edge of the targets but you expected no less.  

“So er think you’ve got a secret admirer.” 

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a secret.” Ellie says smugly. 

“Mm very true. Could see that from a mile away. Enjoy the ego boost?” 

“Oh yeah. You jealous?” 

“Why would I be? I’m the one that gets to make you scream when we get home.” She scoffs and glares at you as you grin like the cheshire cat. 

“I miss how much we used to fuck.” 

“Me too. We need to get better at shower sex.” Your hushed conversation is wrapped up as Amber walks over to you both, though only looking at and addressing Ellie.  

“Our magazine’s empty, can you show me how to reload it?” Ellie glances at you and as you nod your head in Amber’s direction she sighs and walks over to the weapons stock as Amber trails behind. You can’t help but chuckle to yourself at the situation as Ellie looks completely bored despite the facade she was trying to keep up for fear of any of the trainees complaining to Maria about her.  

You let them all empty out their second magazines before you take a break because of the constant loud of the bullets firing. 

“Who’s the better shot out of you two?” Harvey asks mischievously. 

You and Ellie each say the other’s name at the same time before glaring at each other. 

“Oh my god, can you have a competition?” Maya calls out excitedly. 

“Fuck yeah!” Ellie goes to walk towards the targets but your hand on her chest holds her back and your stern glare reminds her of what you’re here for so she regains her composure and avoids the knowing looks of the group. 

“She’s being modest. Ellie is the better shot and us having a competition is a waste of bullets so you’re just going to have to take my word for it.” You grit out as you notice the rosy hue adorning Ellie cheeks and nose as she looks down at her shoes. At the same time Maria pops her head in and beckons you over to check in on how they’re doing so you walk over leaving a flustered Ellie with the group. 

“Hey Maria, everything okay?” 

“Yeah, just wanted to check in and see how it’s going.” 

“Yeah they’re doing good, shooting needs some work but that’s to be expected. They know how to get an attacker onto the ground and we’ll teach them close combat fighting after lunch maybe.” 

“Okay, well done. I’m proud of you both.” You beam at her as she walks away leaving you to join Ellie again who was clearly telling a story by the awestruck faces of the group. 

“So I was being an asshole and we split up and then these two huge clickers ambushed me and she comes running in, shoots one of them and it drops straight away and then she leads the other one away so I could climb out the window. I’m telling you she’s a badass.” You clear your throat behind Ellie causing her to whip around with a guilty look on her face as you quirk an eyebrow at her.  

“Please shut up.” You say through chuckles and they all laugh as Ellie rolls her eyes at your embarrassment. “Everyone take an hour for lunch and meet back here alright? Good work so far. We’re gonna be doing some more fighting when you get back so be ready.” Everyone takes their leave, so you and Ellie remain alone in the building. You grab your backpack and when you pull out two sandwiches as well as an apple each she looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky. 

“Oh babe, you’re the best.” 

“It’s sandwiches and apples Ellie.” 

“You’re perfect.” She sweetly pecks your lips, lingering for a second as she smiles into the kiss. You both scoff down the food before moving outside of the building to sit in the sun for the rest of the hour. 

“Were we really like them at our age?” You query. 

“God I hope not.” 

“I don’t think they’re that bad.” 

“Seriously? Even Amber?” She smirks as you roll your eyes with a grin. 

“I can’t blame her. You’re a catch... until you open your mouth.” You chuckle as its her turn to roll her eyes though she can’t stay mad when she looks at the cheeky smile plastered on your face and the small pink of your tongue poking between your teeth. 

“You love my mouth.” 

“Oh that I do.” 

“We know you have some experience with fighting but as I said earlier, this is not a childish punch-up. If you are fighting on patrol, it will be life or death. You or them. Remember you want to get them on the ground but once they’re on the ground you need to make every hit count. That goes for if you can’t get them on the ground too. There are some weak points that you need to know.” You walk over to Ellie who is already looking at you. “The throat is often accessible and can incapacitate an attacker enough to get the jump on them so if you can, strike the throat.” Your hand lingers over Ellie’s throat before you mimic a punch to it that has her jumping slightly, small enough that only you noticed. You cock your head slightly and raise your eyebrows at the notion that she actually thought you would hit her. “The eyes are also a good target, gouge at them, jab a finger in there, anything, this could temporarily blind your opponent at best and at least give you enough time to make your escape at worst.” You take your time showing each of the important points to hit before setting them off to spar against each other to practise basic fighting skills. 

You and Ellie both wondered around the room checking everyone’s form and giving pointers when necessary. You approach Amber and Maya and watch silently until you notice consistent mistakes on Amber’s part. “Maya go watch another pair for a second please.” She nods and walks off leaving you and Amber alone.  

“What’s up?” 

“I’m gonna attack and I want you to defend okay?” 

“O-okay.” She readies herself as do you and as you throw your first punch she dodges it but she steps towards your arm that you hadn’t punched with which allows you to throw your arm around her and yank her backwards into you so your arm is firmly around her neck. You apply pressure to the side of her head with your right hand in upwards motion.  

“And just like that. Your neck is broken.” You release her from your grip as she wheezes for air to shoot you a death glare. “You aren’t anticipating their next move, only what they’re doing in that exact moment and you can’t do that. You need to be a step ahead.” 

“Well I’m not a fucking mind reader am I?” 

“I’d watch your mouth if I were you.” You narrow your eyes at her and she shrinks back as she takes a step away, you take a step forward to close the distance again as your face remains blank. “You need to learn to be a step ahead because if you aren’t and the enemy has a gun you are dead in a second Amber. I am trying to help you, so listen.” 

“You just think you’re so much better than me right? You’re older, you’re trained. If you’re so good why aren’t you patrolling anymore?” 

“That’s none of your fucking business. Wind your neck in.” You go to storm away but before you do you turn back and crowd into her space. “I don’t think I’m better than you Amber, I know I am. So shut up and listen to what I say. You may not like me as much as you do Ellie but I am still your superior so fucking act like it.” You walk off and signal for Maya to join her once again as you reach Ellie who is already eyeing you knowingly. “Don’t say a word.” 

“You sure you’re not jealous?” She smirks. 

“Oh fuck off. I gave her pointers and she gave me fucking attitude. Ungrateful bitch.” Ellie gasps at your cruel words though she’s obviously trying to stifle a laugh. 

“And you absolutely schooled her babe. She’s a hard-headed teenager that sees you as a threat to her happily ever after with me.” You smack at her chest, and she chuckles. “Sorry, in all seriousness, she’s stubborn and doesn’t like to be told when she’s doing something wrong. She’ll learn. Look, she’s already doing better. You helped.” As you watch Amber you see Ellie is right and as she pats you on the back you smile ever so slightly. Suddenly a light flickers in your head and you look at your watch, quarter to three. 

“Fuck, Clem finishes in fifteen minutes.” 

“You go, I’ll finish up here.” 

“Okay, thanks, see you at home, love you.” 

“Love you too.” You rush off without looking back to see all the groups eyes on you before turning to Ellie with matching looks of mischief. 

“So err, where’s your mrs running off to?” Harvey prods as Ellie tears her eyes away from your retreating form to look at them all stunned.  

“Excuse me?” She scoffs as she speaks. 

“Oh come on how stupid do you think we are?” Harvey looks smug and the others look thoroughly amused. 

“Pretty stupid, especially because you seem to have forgotten who you’re talking to. So, you can all thank Harvey while you’re doing drills. 20 burpees, 20 star jumps, 20 high knees, 20 push ups and 20 mountain climbers. Three times.” She punctuates her sentence with a sickly-sweet smile as they all groan and glare at Harvey, except for Amber who sat frozen with a look of shocked horror on her face. “This is actually kinda fun.” She mutters to herself as they all reluctantly began the drill. 

Ellie watched from her seated position with a sick sense of satisfaction as the group all struggles through the drills until they all finish and collapse on the floor with laboured breaths and wheezy coughs. “Well done everyone. Good first day... mostly. Go home and rest because I want you all back here 9am sharp tomorrow.”  

“Where is my cute little Clemmy?” 

“MAMA!!” Clem comes bounding towards Ellie at the sound of the door slamming open, she leaps into her arms, Ellie spinning around with Clem in her arms as they each hug each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years. As you come into Ellie’s view her face lights up impossibly more as she holds an arm out for you to join the embrace. 

“How was the rest of training?” Ellie chortles as she shakes her head causing you to pull away and raise your eyebrows at her. 

“We are not as incognito as we thought.” 

“Oh?” 

“The second you left I was interrogated about where my mrs was going.” You chuckle as you walk to the kitchen, Ellie following behind you with Clem still cuddled in her arms.  

“What did you say?” 

“Made them do drills. They all looked like they were gonna pass out or puke or both at the end.” 

“That’s my girl.” She beams at you as she rests her head on Clem’s. 

“Mama! Look what I made.” Clem wriggles out of Ellie’s grasp to run to the living room, returning with an A3 piece of paper that as she got closer realised was an image of three stick people holding hands, the one in the middle significantly smaller than the outer two. “Miss Lovett helped me make it. It’s us.” 

“Oh wow kiddo! This is perfect. You’re a natural Clemmy.” Clem giggles and jumps up and down in excitement at Ellie’s praise as you watch their interaction, you felt like you were glowing just looking at them. 

“Why don’t you two go get cleaned up and I’ll start dinner.” You suggest. 

“You sure? I can do dinner if you want.” 

“Well you don’t know what I’m making.” 

“So tell me.” 

“That ruins the surprise.” You grin cheekily as she raises her eyebrows before nodding and taking Clem upstairs. You begin getting everything out to start the lasagne you had planned on making. You and Ellie had pasta quite regularly but you figured this was different and it felt like a day to celebrate.  

Ellie and Clem returned half an hour later both clean and pyjama clad as you hummed along to a record playing, rumours by Fleetwood Mac, one of your favourites. You had cooked the mince and made the creamy white sauce so you were now finishing assembling the lasagne as you sprinkled the freshly-grated cheese over the top. You felt a small pair of hands wrap around your waist as Ellie gently turned your head towards her for a sweet peck on the lips. You smiled at her before bending down and picking up Clem to show her your creation. “You hungry Clemmy?” She nodded vigorously before laying her head down on your shoulder which told you she wouldn’t be up much longer after dinner, likely tired from her busy first day. 

“What’s this babe?” 

“Lasagne, it’s pasta.” 

“Doesn’t look like pasta.” Her eyebrows suddenly scrunch. “It looks amazing, but it doesn’t look like pasta.” 

“I know, it’s different but I think you’ll love it.” 

“Well you made it so obviously.” 

“Ew you’re so gross.” You giggle as does Clem before you pass her over to Ellie so you can put the lasagne in the oven. Once it’s in, Ellie tells you to go sit down and relax while she tidies up so there’s less to do later so you and Clem go to the living room where you both fall down onto the sofa with equally slouched positions. You were tired from the day but nothing like the kind of tired you were after patrol and for that you were grateful. You had actually enjoyed your new assignment and you knew Ellie had too. Clem had been a ball of energy as she finished school, ranting and raving about all the fun she had had and all the things she had learned and it made you feel all the more confident that you could all handle this, your new lives, together. 

“How long does the las-ah-nee cook for babe?” You laughed at Ellie’s awful pronunciation as she pouted at you from the doorframe she was leant against. 

“Lasagne and half an hour, you hungry babe?” 

“Starved. Just looking at them doing drills made my stomach rumble.” 

“Imagine how they felt.” She chortles at your snarky expression. 

“I can’t believe I forgot to tell you, when it all came out about us being married or whatever-” 

“Oh we’re married are we?” 

“Well you’re my mrs, sooo... yeah.” 

“Ah I see.” 

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, you would’ve loved to see Amber’s face, she practically went grey, her eyes never left the floor. She was mortified.” 

“Oh poor thing.” 

“What?! Now you’re making me sound mean.” 

“I know, that’s the point.” You stick your tongue out cheekily as Clem giggles at you both.  

“You guys are funny.” She says through high-pitched snickers. 

“I’ll take that.” Ellie concedes with a grin that matched yours as you both gazed at the joy that was Clem who lit up the room with her laughs. 

tags: @emiliabby @readbydayana @radioheadfan699 @lil-elliesgf @isitadinosaur @amberputh @maelovescashew

[stardropsaloongossiptrain]

Bachelors and Having a Baby

I saw another hc blog do this and I wanna do my own take~

Sebastian --

Extremely shocked when you tell him you're pregnant, but would react with a blank face and "oh, huh. Interesting." It does not sink in for a few minutes to an hour, and then he's losing his fucking mind.

Never thought he would be a dad, and convinced himself he would be a bad one. Even if him and the farmer weren't using protection, it still blindsides him

He cuts back on freelance work to help more around the farm, especially in the last trimester. The farmer is NOT allowed to do anything more strenuous than play video games. He will prob call on Abigail and Sam to help, he's not exactly the most athletic guy in the world.

Despite his fears that he wouldn't do a good job, he certainly works to make sure they won't come true. Reads a lot of parenting books and talks to Robin a lot. Those talks heal a bit of the rift between them.

Robin jokes that she's too young to be a grandma, but Demetrius cries when he's given a World's Best Grandpa mug. Maru happily steps up as an aunt and will spoil the baby with custom made toys and a ton of STEM for baby books.

Abigail and Sam are the chaotic aunt and uncle I imagine Shane was to Jas. They will babysit (mostly Sam) but expect funny pictures and wacky situations.

Elliott --

He is overjoyed when you tell him the news. He's going to be a papa! Lots of hugs and swinging you around. He doesn't strike me as the type to seek parenthood, but would lovingly embrace it once given to him.

It doesn't hit him for a while that a baby is going to mean changing his lifestyle quite a bit. No more all nighters, he won't be able to write for hours and hours at a time anymore. He finds it worth changing that aspect of his life to adjust to this new addition, a physical manifestation of your love.

Starts to change his habits early on so he'll be better suited after the baby arrives. Fully supports when you go nest mode and will move the furniture around as much as you want.

Has had a list of names for years before you even meet him. And all of them are beautiful

Leah takes on an aunt type roll, and loves teaching the baby about art and colors.

Sam --

Panics hard at the announcement. It doesn't matter that you're married, he still feels like he's sixteen sometimes, and he's worried about getting in trouble

Jodi and Kent are overjoyed at becoming grandparents, and Vincent thinks it's cool he's going to be an uncle.

Abigail and Sebastian make fun of him for being so worried about it, and help him get ready mentally to be a dad. They may need to remind him how much he helped with Vincent.

Once he calms down and realizes his family isn't going to be mad and his friends will stick around, he's extremely excited. He helped make an entirely new person! Someone he can teach music to! Can you skateboard with a baby?

Happily becomes the stay at home dad and handles a lot of the childcare.

Absolutely writes banger after banger of goofy songs for his kid

Alex --

I think he would be the type that always wanted to be a dad, just to spite how bad his was. When you tell him he's going to be one, he's over the moon. One of the few times you ever see him cry is when you tell him about the pregnancy, and again when the baby arrives.

Immediately befriends all the moms in Pelican Town and joins their gossip groups so he can get their advice and help as you prep for the baby. They adore him. He's like their pet.

Gets into what-to-expect books and takes over farm chores basically as soon as you tell him. No, you don't need to be doing all of that. He's got it. Which, I do think he would be pretty involved on the farm. I don't think he's the type to slouch while his spouse does everything. You can trust that he'll do well.

Evelyn and George are shocked by the news. George especially didn't think they'd live long enough to see it. They both love the little one quite a bit, and despite George's general attitude, he only speaks sweetly to the baby.

Haley will absolutely bury you in baby outfits as gifts.

Harvey --

Probably the most panicked on the list. He's not an ob/gyn but he IS medically trained and knows how easily everything can go wrong.

This doesn't mean he isn't thrilled and amazed in equal measure. Sure, you knew it was a possibility, but... He's so happy. He always wanted to be a dad, and now it's happening! He gets very misty-eyed.

He starts taking over cooking to be sure you're getting all the nutrients you need. You will find snacks in your bag, all healthy.

He also wants you to cut back on the farmwork, maybe hire someone for a season or two to hold it down. He would take over if he could, but being the town's only doctor keeps him too occupied.

He will absolutely do every type of birthing partner class.

He also helps set up the birth plan. He handles your medical needs until the birth. The plan is to go to Zuzu City about when the baby is due, deliver in the big hospital where he can be by your side and let someone else be the doctor. This plan fails when you deliver early and he has to step up. Everything goes well.

Shane --

He never thought he would be a dad. He didn't think he was good enough to take in Jas, and for the longest time, he didn't think he was good enough to be involved enough to have a kid.

He's come so far since when you first met. He's still got his issues, but he has a healthy grasp on them anymore. He isn't filled with loathing when you tell him, but tears up and holds you close. He feels incredibly lucky to have someone that loves him enough to welcome a child from him.

He is excited to prep for the kid. He was around when Jas was born, so he still remembers a fair bit about the baby years.

Jas can't wait to be a big sister. She likes playing with Vincent, but it would be even better to have a brother or sister. Marnie tears up when you both tell her the news. She's already a great-aunt to Jas, but looks forward to welcoming your baby as well. If you call her Grannie she will melt.

Shane absolutely faints in the delivery room. Man thought he could handle it. He cannot.

He's a very attentive dad. He never, ever wants this part of him to feel like it's not loved or good enough.

[ms-wwe]

CHAPTER 2 (Pt. 2) DAMIAN PRIEST X OC (RIGHTEOUS DESIRES: LOVE AND REDEMPTION IN THE RING)

“I know you were very reluctant to do this” She begins. “And I am so thankful that you chose to trust me to do this. As I’ve told you over the phone, hearing a small portion of your story was so compelling, and I feel that you deserve the chance to tell your truth in its entirety. With that being said, please do not hesitate to decline to comment, or to completely end the interview. I can only imagine how difficult this may be for you, and I want you to know it’s totally fine to stop and revisit, that’s why I allotted at least 3 interview days to meet in case you needed time to process or to just give your emotions a break” She tells me in her warm tone. Truth be told, I was thankful for the reassurance. I knew I trusted her, and that she wouldn’t pry for information I may not be ready to share. “ I really appreciate that” I say as I look down at my mug, trying to hold back the tears I feel swelling in my eyes. “I’m going to start my recorder now, are you ready?” She asks while holding the small recorder in her left hand. I sigh and nod in response. This was it, this was happening, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. “Where do you want me to start?” I ask her. “Let’s start from the beginning” I pull my right leg into my small chair, hugging my knee close to my torso, hoping it’ll bring me back down to earth and make my heart stop attempting to escape my chest. “I started in the WWE when I was sixteen” I say flatly. Cassie shakes her head with a small giggle. “No honey, I mean the very beginning. Start with your childhood. I want to go back to the very start of you, I want to know every facet there is of you. I want to know about Riot, not just Riot Hardy the wrestler, but Riot the woman.” She says in a reassuring tone. I close my eyes and take in a slow breath. I could do this, I owed it to myself to do this. I just needed to think of this as a casual conversation with someone. “My name is Riot Hardy, I’m a Virgo, my middle name is Elizabeth, I drink mass amounts of caffeine, I recently moved Orlando to be with my boyfriend Luis, Or Damian Priest if you know him by his ring name, we’ve been together officially since April of this year, I just turned thirty-four, my birthday is the day before my dad’s, and I’m not gonna lie, I miss living in small town North Carolina” I spill out like I’m gasping for air. Cassie is writing down notes as she speaks. “Tell me a little bit about your dads, I’m interested to know more about what the dynamic was like growing up” I smile as I think of my dads and what the early years of my life were like, how it felt being a small girl raised by three men, sometimes I felt it was a miracle I didn’t turn out to be gay. “We had an interesting dynamic in this house for sure” I say with a smile. “My dad had me when he was only sixteen. My mother wasn’t in the picture ever. She was significantly older when she was fooling around with my dad, she already had two other children that she’d given up for adoption, why she chose to give me to my dad, I have no idea, but I’m thankful everyday. In my really early years my grandfather took on more of the fatherly role around here. My dads were already chasing their wrestling dreams hard and heavy even back then, so my grandfather did his best to help my dad manage being a father and achieving his goals.” I continue as I sip my coffee. “Your grandfather sounds like a wonderful man. Was your grandmother involved? You’re quite close with your uncle, what was it like with him growing up?” She asks as she scribbles more notes down on the pages of her notebook. “My grandfather was the most selfless person you’d ever meet. He passed a few years ago and I don’t think I’ve fully recovered from that” I trail off as the heartache of my grandfather being gone sets in all over again.

[soup-of-the-daisies]

so here’s part 2 of my james potter hcs bc this shitbag lives in my head rent free :))

(part 1 for those interested)

his prescription isn’t really heavy and he can technically get around without his glasses, but he gets really bad headaches if he doesn’t wear them

tried muggle contacts for a bit but got an eye infection after a month, went back to glasses permanently

can get really, really mean in the blink of an eye if he sees or hears something he doesn’t appreciate—something as innocent as feeling jealous or something as bad as blatant bigotry, doesn’t really matter. fandom may say that he was sirius’ moral compass but ohhh boy

“imagine sirius black having to reel you in” - overheard in the hospital wing by a random hufflepuff after a group of wannabe death eaters got hexed so badly for terrorising some muggleborn students they had to stay there for two days

can argue himself out of any sticky situation by being passionate and arrogant (like only getting a month’s worth of detention for hexing said group of wannabe death eaters into a two-day stay at the hospital wing)

did not relentlessly pursue lily, actually. he didn’t ask her out until their fifth year and stopped entirely after the slur-incident

did form a relentless (at times one-sided) rivalry that often went way too far with severus snape though, i’ll give you that

he’s got hazel eyes with a bit of green thank you

his nose isn’t longer than harry’s (he’s got a ‘hidung pesek’, like my mum would say). his nosebridge can’t hold up european glasses and it’s a struggle

sirius looks physically like his father which means james does, shamefully, find orion black handsome in a purely aesthetic way. he’ll take this tidbit to the grave with him though as sirius would have an aneurysm if he found out that james thinks orion is a bit of a dilf

james has tackled peter multiple times. most notably, that one time it was over the last digestive in the biscuit tin that hope lupin sent remus

peter broke his nose and james cried because he felt so bad

he’s got a dab hand at healing spells and sirius is good at cleaning spells so it was fine in the end

also ugly crier james 2k23. that man can WEEP

gives the BEST hugs. you’ll feel so safe. he just presses your face against his chest and you’ve got to take it, because it’ll relax your entire body

“it’s like i’ve been reborn” - peter pettigrew after The James Hug following the orange marmalade incident of 1975

will never talk about the orange marmalade incident of 1975 because peter asked him nicely

great secret keeper!! should’ve been his own secret keeper, actually!!

big beatles fan and really cringy about it: he even considers getting a mop top for a bit.

thinks george harrison looks like sirius (but not as handsome) and therefore george is his favourite

same james

ALSO he would be so flattered that some parts of this fandom see him as ATJ’s john lennon i swear lmao

would kill for sirius and has considered killing for sirius on multiple occasions

harry’s ‘trouble usually finds me’ gene comes from him and he has been face to face with acromantulas on multiple occasions purely by accident

harry’s ‘there’s no need to call me sir, professor’ gene is a mix of lily’s sass and james’ smart-assery. part of the reason jily started dating is bc they could match each other’s quips so well

good at practical magic with several seemingly random interests in the theoretical background of certain types of magic. will go off on a tangent on the Braach’s Sixteen Laws of Weight when someone offhandedly mentions a featherlight charm

created the runic sequences of the Map that ground the spellwork woven into the object to ambient magic all by himself and was SO proud of himself that severus was valid in saying james strutted around like he owned the place

human embodiment of the following emoticon= >:3

[chippedshake]

Yeah, this happens every day, I fall in love with a different face

No matter how many times Steve convinces himself that he knows all the sides there are to Sodapop Curtis, he always manages to be surprised.

Every day, a new side to him, a new face, something different about him is revealed, and every day Steve falls a little bit further.

And tonight, you'll be miles away

He's always let himself put off telling him. Because of the stories in the paper, because of Sandy. Because he's scared. Because there's always tomorrow and Soda will always be there.

Only Soda won't be there tomorrow. Tomorrow he'll be training god-knows-where, and soon enough he'll be halfway across the world, fighting for a country that's never done anything for him.

But I cannot quiet my mind

He still can't help but imagine Sodapop running off the train before it leaves the station, into Steve's arms to tell him that he loves him too.

He can't help but imagine the war being called off tomorrow and Sodapop coming home, even if he doesn't feel the same (he ignores the squeeze in his chest and the pure painful longing his body responds with).

He can't help but imagine thousands and thousands of scenarios where this isn't a now, in front of all your friends and strangers, or never situation where he already knows the answer is never. Even if it's completely delusional.

Somethin' different, somethin' new, spend my whole life in a moment with you

He blinks and they're eighteen and Steve's graduating and starting to work full-time at the DX. Sodapop's reintroducing him to Darry and Ponyboy as his boyfriend and maybe the little shit doesn't like it at first, but he gets over it.

He blinks and they're twenty one and opening their own gas station. Sodapop's grinning at him with that smile that's kept him breathless since the sixth grade, but now Steve knows that it's for him and only for him.

He blinks and they're thirty and they're the cute couple that run a store together and share kisses when they think no one's looking. They think back to the days before they got together and wonder how they were so stupid.

He blinks and they're forty and their backs hurt so they hire a couple of teens to help them out. One of them's magic with cars and for a second Steve could swear he's looking at his sixteen-year-old self (and the way he looks at the other boy makes Soda and him trade smiles and unspoken memories).

He blinks and they're fifty and he still can't process the fact that he gets to wake up and see Soda every day.

He blinks and they're sixty-five and retiring and they never got out of the neighbourhood but they're happy anyway.

He blinks and they're seventy and their grandchildren come over and he can see Sodapop in all of them.

He blinks and they're eighty-something, going quietly in their sleep together.

Just a glimpse of a future that's not meant to happen

He blinks and Sodapop is boarding the train, saying tearful goodbyes to his brothers, making them promise not to fight too much.

He blinks and he's seeing news articles about boys like him being beat to death over who they love.

He blinks and he's looking away as Soda kisses his latest girlfriend goodbye.

He blinks and Sodapop won't give him more than a brief man-hug and a teary smile with an "I'll miss you".

He blinks and a piece of his heart is being ripped out of his chest and boarding a train.

But for 30 seconds I'd like to imagine

So is it so wrong to imagine a world where they can be happy and together?

There are millions of people, and millions of lifetimes, and maybe in one of them, I found my voice and I told you I liked you, and then came for coffee

There is a world where Steve told Soda when he first realised it, towards the end of seventh grade, when girls started paying attention to Soda and Steve finally understood the gnawing bitterness in his chest.

There is a world where Steve told Soda when Soda broke up with his first girlfriend because he thought Steve liked her since he'd been icing him out since they started dating.

There is a world where Steve told Soda that time they were studying in Soda's room and he threw himself in Steve's lap and Steve started playing with his hair and Soda let out a little sigh that just about made him melt.

There is a world where Steve told Soda when Soda started crying because Ponyboy had just explained something he hadn't understood in class for him and he'd never felt more useless.

There is a world where Steve told Soda when the police came to knock on their door and for once it wasn’t to arrest anyone, but for something worse that made Steve realise how quickly it could all be over.

In five years we're married, a house and a family

Not all those worlds have a happy ending for them, but enough of them do. Growing up together, getting married – legally or illegally, Steve isn't picky –, adopting, getting to hold hands in public...

Then I snap out of it, realize I'm crazy

But this world doesn't. This world has a dead-end road town with people killed for loving differently. This world has a war that breaks families apart, making their own tragedy pale in comparison. This world has a coward playing Steve and an oblivious bastard playing Soda and no way out.

This world has a boy boarding a train to his death. A boy Steve won't ever see again. A boy Steve won't ever get to tell how he feels. A boy who Steve won't ever know if he feels the same.

And watch your train pass me by

[fandom-imagination-ss]

Imagine: Derek having to convince you that you deserve love

You weren’t particularly fond of it. Emotions. I mean you had them. You can cry on a dime if you watch a sad movie or scene. And oddly enough when you get hugs.. sometimes you tear up.

You weren’t raised to be “emotional” or to Expect a lot. You weren’t neglected or ever wanted anything from your parent.s they just decent enough parents. They made sure you had food in your belly, clothes, and whatever you wanted within reason. But you were different. When you saw your friends being young and Stupid. You just saw warning signs. And you stared clear. And when All your friends got coupled up. And you were Left behind. You are sixteen. Realized. You would always be alone. So you had to make a decision. Cry and Let a status determine who you were. Or Learn to be happy with yourself which was pretty easy. You were always by yourself. Sure you had friends. But you didn’t go out to party and weren’t ever invited out. You. I just.. accepted it.

It was because of Erica you learned to about the werewolves in Beacon Hills and about Derek Hale. You knew about him. From passing. Especially since you saw him from time to time and you always had to stop. He would be a few yards away and you would stop just t Marvel at his beauty for a second before going on your way. Well after Meeting him and watching Erica change completely. With her personality and boldness, you barely recognized Erica. You were changed to. Not by choice. Derek just did it. You survived the bite but you weren’t like Erica. You weren’t bold and dressing differently you felt better but still yourself.

Two females in a pack. And having Derek as the Alpha. It was clear both you and Erica thought Derek was unbelievably attractive. And rationally you didn’t want to do anything about it. Because you were just 17. And he was over the age. And far too Hot. And you were fighting with your contentment. You weren’t the kind of girl who gets the guy. Erica tried everything to get Derek’s attention. Secretly you were enjoying the failed attempts she wasn’t just giving up. She got a thrill each time he refused her. Then During a training session, Erica jumped and Kissed him. You weren’t overly stunned that she tried getting into Stiles’s pants earlier. That week. But Derek tossed her off and Eric’a statement “I have someone else in mind for you.”

That’s when you spoke up, “what do you mean by that? You’re setting us up? Playing matchmaker?”

Derek looked at you. As he spoke, “Don’t worry when you’re older. We will discuss it again.’

“No- No you can tell us Now? You shuffling us around like cattle?”

Derek chuckled as he spoke, ‘No of course Not. But I have hopes.. for who my two betas will be with” 

you looked over at Erica and Boyd knowing instantly who he was going to set them up with. “Erica and Boyd... you’re going to push them together..” looking at Derek. who was standing over you after just tossing you to the ground? he was covered in sweat as he crossed his arms. which you just knew meant you were Right. “And. Me and-” Derek stopped you there as he spoke, “I haven’t - you aren’t going to him. this conversation is over!’ 

and it was. Derek kept his word he didn’t bring it up again, Not after Erica died, Or Boyd..Isasic-you wasn’t sure what happened to him. one second he was with the hunter and the next in Paris? or Egypt you weren’t sure. you’re pretty sure he is alive. either way years passed. Out of Derek’s pack, you were the only one left. Derek tried to push you off to Scott thinking you would be better and safer with him. you loved Scott he was your friend. him Stiles, Lydia, Malia but he wasn’t Derek, and you didn’t want to be in A pack without Derek as your Alpha. Derek didn’t sugarcoat anything. Scott has a can-do butterfly and rainbow outlook on things. saying that he/ the pack will Fix everything and everyone will be safe. the positivity wasn’t what you needed. you wanted the truth about the dangers. Derek was the only one who gave you the truth and true reassurance. Naturally, Derek tried everything in his power to Ride himself of you but you were Stubborn. and refused. 

After High school, you went away, and Derek encouraged it. wanting you to experience Life, and Scott promised he would Stay in beacon hill to protect and help the younger wolves. which He did.. until Liam graduated and Scott just figured that the wolves and all the supernatural mischief would Just Stop. you were Slightly furious that Scott Left Beacon Hill, after promising he would stay and be the Alpha and help out whenever a new Big Bad showed up. Derek was there. with Eli but it wasn’t the same. Scott was the Alpha since Derek lost his ranking. it was Scott’s responsibility, not Derek’s. you moved back to help out. plus you got offered a teaching position.  

Returning to Beacon Hill Derek was Stunned to smell you, you smelt the same as when you left. he was stunned as you hugged Eli and gave him a long story about your adventures in New Orleans. One of the Downfalls of being the Alpha he could smell the scents off you. it originally was a thing for Alpha to have over their packs to keep them safe. hundreds of years ago. but now it was Creepy.. and Even the other pack members can smell who was close to the others. but Alpaha’s noses are more tuned in and he could smell right now to how long it was lasting. unfortunately, Derek smell your former lovers.. or in your case your Lack of Lovers.. he was Stunned. watching you go around and give your headbutt to Malia. your secret handshake you then pulled her into a Hug. and Derek was Stunned. 

Out of All the girls, in the Pack. you were the one that knew was going to be a heartthrob, with your Shinny y/c/h and the depths of your eyes. your dry sense of humor and you’re brilliant brian. you could have easily been the CEO of any company or the Next president of the united states. you were Smart enough and could literally be Anything in the world. but you choose a Teacher. He knew your grand plan was to come back to Beacon hill one day. you loved it here. it was home. and you wanted to be here in case something bad happened to cause you wanted to protect your family. you skillfully and masterfully were able to keep your secret from them. 

When you were in High school Derek had the hardest time reminding himself. you were a high schooler and he refused to be a creep. Sure he thought about Everything he wanted to do with you, on you, to you. for you. and that was when you were in High school. Now an adult. and more confident in your words, and your mind was expanded, Everything about you changed but fundamentally you were still the same. Derek secretly cursed all the boys at your university. he figured you would be hounded by boys left and right.  he definitely figured you would have a line of boys waiting to Woo you. Malia didn’t notice her nose could only smell your soap and shampoo and the deodorant you were using and the calmness you had. 

Shifting over hugging Derek you gave him a big squeeze as he hugged you tightly. they all helped you move into Derek’s Old flat you were renting as Eli said it was going to be a man magnet for sure. which you just laughed. 

Malia soon took Eli home while Derek stuck behind as he spoke, “can I ask a personal question?” 

you were sitting on the sofa about to stick your hand into  a bag of lays chips, “yea absolutely what’s up?’  

“Why don’t you have a partner?’ 

that wasn’t what you were expecting to hear, you expecting to hear “why did you come back, why aren’t you exploring the world” along the lines of the speech he gave you when you graduate to go out and explore the world. but Not why are you single? 

“Oh- well. I don’t know- No one is knocking on my Door.” 

Derek rolled his eyes as he spoke, ‘bullshit- your beautiful, funny, kind, compassionate, Brilliant. you are the last person i expected to be Single.” 

“thank you?” you laughed at that statement as you shook your head, ‘No one- I guess. I don’t know. it’s not like I’m outspoken. I just- prefer my own company.” 

Derek saw right thru that Lie. he knew you were lying to yourself when you use to state that you were content with being just by yourself. the truth was you were terrified of loving someone. And that you were afraid No one could love you. so you are never tired.  Derek figured. after school when you went to university and the boys saw you. that they would sweep you off your feet. and you would learn you deserve Love. If it weren’t for the fact you were a high schooler when he turned you. Derek would have. he would have made you feel like a goddess on this earth. But again. Derek’s mortal compass refused to hurt you in that way. he promised himself he wouldn’t even entertain the idea of having you, being with you, until you were an adult. then you moved and he thought he would finally be finished with his crush on you. Now sitting there giving faint lies as to why you were still Single. it drove Derek even crazier. 

“you deserve the love you know y/n. more than anyone in this town. you are. unbelievable.’ 

you rolled your eyes you heard your mom give you the same speech hundreds of times. when she would call and bug you about who you were seeing. as if even If you had someone you would Go into details about your love life with your mother! But Derek was different. Derek was Derek. “I do not, it’ just- hasn’t happened. and I’m not going to Wallow in sadness because I’m alone. you’re alone.. and look at you.’  

Derek sighed heavily as he spoke “I’m alone by choice because of the only woman who could tempt me. is afraid of love.” 

your eyes grew large as you spoke, “Malia? you sick Fucker.” 

Derek rolled his eyes as he spoke, “you idiot! Not my cousin!” 

your mouth fell open as Derek walked over crouched down in front of you looking up at you. “ive been intoxicated with you. since before I bite you Y/n. I didn’t- i wouldn’t do anything about it.. when you were...” Derek paused as he grabbed your hand, “remember when you figured otu I was hoping for Erica to be with Boyd?” you nodded your head,”yea you wanted me with Isaac.” 

he’s grip on your tighten hearing as he shook his head, “No- I never said that. you assumed. I- wanted you. I was hoping. One day. we could be together.” your mouth fell open hearing that as Derek spoke, ‘let me show you how much you deserve Love.” 

WOW, was all you could think about the next morning. As you laid on the floor beside your bed. The mattress you brought was completely destroyed along with half your bedding and the sofa derek brought over. You were so thankful for super healing. Since there were moved you never thought were imaginable. Derek was laying beside you. As he was breathless as you tapped his chest softly with the back of your hand.

" Derek this isn't a one time thing right"

Derek shifted wrapping his arm around your waist as he pulled you into a side hug.

" God I hope not"

"Good. But next time.. no claws"

"Deal"

[spontaneousful]

Furina's Nightmares

I saw this post, which was super cute, and started thinking about all of the different nightmares Furina might have, and the answer is too many. Furina needs some love, a hug, and maybe a hot chocolate, but let's pit her against some of her fears instead >:D

◇The Knave actually kills her

Instead of stopping when she realizes Furina doesn't have the gnosis, the Knave kills her. I think would go great with also waking up from the nightmare and dealing with it, because if she would have died there, she would have died miserable, alone, and for nothing, because Fontaine would still be doomed.

♡ Bonus: She has this nightmare while she's still the archon and is completely alone. Hurt no comfort. I would cry reading this, honestly.

◇She is trapped in the Opera Epiclese

The Opera Epiclese is the best physical manifestation of her mental prison. She lived there, worked there, and watched every performance/trial hoping it would be the one to bring the end. She could leave it for a while, but she always had to return. Everything bad happened there, except her meeting with Focalors.

♡ She is trapped on the stage and back into a never-ending performance

♡ She is trapped in her room in the Palais Mermonia listening to people gossip about her, or letting down the charade only for someone to walk in, or just stuck there, alone and scared, and unable to do anything

♡ She is stuck in the Opera Epiclese while keeping up appearances as Fontaine's God

♡ She has to watch everyone else enter and exit freely, living their lives happily while she is stuck there forever

◇She is all alone in Fontaine/Everyone died

Imagine, for a moment, if you will, that when Furina goes outside to find the prophecy is false, she only finds an empty city. Or, consider, everyone is fine one minute, and gone the next.

♡ She visits her favorite spots, like the place that sells her favorite only-sixteen-slices-a-day cake, looking for anyone or anything left behind in a pristine Fontaine. There is nothing left.

♡ Before her eyes, Fontaine rots as if it's been abandoned for centuries. Suddenly, she is back on the throne, surrounded by water.

◇Forced to be in an opera or play/Being a puppet

She's spent 500 years playing the part of a pretentious god, a little more acting won't kill her! She's so good at it, it's a shame to let that talent go to waste. I think this would be scary for her because, obviously she was acting non-stop for 500 years and she no longer wants to be in the public eye like that, but also I think she would fear being invisible as in no one sees who she really is, they only see the facade.

♡ She's in a performance in the Opera Epiclese and cannot escape the spotlight

♡ She is back to being the archon, but her body moves and talks without her permission, and she can see the strings attached at the joints, but no one else seems to notice

♡ She is on the stage, acting a character she doesn't act like, when suddenly it's just a normal day, but she can't stop acting and no one sees anything wrong. Tea time with Neuvi and she's spewing insults?? Watching a performance at the Opera and having over-the-top reactions to every little thing?? Another meeting with the Knave and she's just like, bestie, let's blow this place up??

◇Fontaine is flooded and she is at the bottom of the ocean

This one is inspired by her character teaser, linked at the end if you haven't seen it. This one is like her finding Fontaine empty, but the city is underwater. This could have just been a bullet point under that one, but I wanted to make it its own thing. I would like to propose a fear of drowning to accompany this one.

♡ She watches Fontaine get overrun by marine life. Plants start growing on/inside of her

♡ She tries to swim to the surface and get away, but she can never make it to the surface

◇Dissolving

She was terrified of the primordial seawater, and it did have an effect on her; the possibility that she could've dissolved has got to give her nightmares. Dissolving in front of everyone when she was so close to saving them has got to be a way to go.

◇The Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale kills her

Like the one above, she was so close to saving everyone and being free, but instead of the Oratrice only killing Focalors, it also kills Furina. Do the people of Fontaine still survive? Technically, everything could play out to where they do, Furina just wouldn't be entirely alone when she cries on her throne.

♡ Everyone lives and Furina has to watch them be happy, neither version of herself ever getting to live the quiet human life she wanted. Do the people of Fontaine care that she died? Do they remember her as a hero or a liar?

♡ Everyone dies and they blame Furina. They are returned to their oceanid state and they attack Furina. This one is clearly not thought out, lol, but why would you want everyone to be mad at Furina anyway

◇Time Loop

Furina gets stuck in a time loop. This one is Paimon's fault; she tells Furina about some of the light novels from Inazuma and the popular trope of getting stuck in a time loop, and Furina ends up having a nightmare about it. Okay, these could also just be a time loop story and not a nightmare, but for the sake of theme.

♡ She has a good life after everything that happens, lives to be old and frail and dies surrounded by love. She wakes up on the day she met Focalors. The time loop starts.

♡ She gets exposed as a fake god and suddenly she is back at the ceremony where she introduced herself as Fontaine's god. Every time things go awry in Focalors's plan, Furina gets reset to this point.

♡ Focalors's plan doesn't work, and everyone dies. Furina wakes up 100 years before the traveler arrives every time she doesn't save everyone.

[athanasia-day]

In honor of the Suicide Prevention Month I think i like to share some thoughts about it and some realizations I just had. I'll be writting this in English and it isn't really my native language, so bare with me.

It was early December of 2021, I was a few months over 16 when I decided that I was finally done with life. Being honest, the idea of suicide had already crossed my mind since I was really young, when? I couldn't exactly tell you, but I was really young when I came to understand that, I wasn't scared of death like everyone else, instead, I crave it.

I can not by any means tell you what made me and still makes me so sad. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't love myself enough, that I didn't feel loved or maybe I was just born sad and tired.

Since kid, I was one of those smarty pants girls who loved books and praise from anyone around me, I craved validation.

So, in 2021, when my anxiety and depression hit me the hardest, I simply dropped, there isn't other word I could use to describe it. I stopped caring about grades or making friends, I only wanted to sleep for hours and to read in a quiet place.

A fact that I always remind myself now that I'm in uni and everyone keeps asking why I choose this career, I always said "it's what I wanted to do since I was a kid" because that was the last time I imagine myself as an adult. After that? I didn't see myself living past my sixteens. Even now it's difficult for me imagining a day where I'll be 30.

That December, when my grades arrived I just knew that I had disappointed my family, and I think that was the last straw at that moment, the only thing keeping me sane was the need of validation. Without that? I was lost.

So, 16 years old me decided that I was gonna take advantage of my family not keeping tabs of the multiple pills we had. I didn't know how It worked, and I'm thankful that it didn't cross my mind to do more research.

I remember my mother screaming at my dad because of my grades as my older brother hugged me, saying that they were just grades, that I least didn't fail any subject or something.

That night, while I was hiding in my family room (where we all slept together except for my older brother), I was lying on my little brother's bed while I was planning.

When it was midnight, I went down stairs knowing mom would be asleep and I checked the pills and grabbed some. I went to my brother's bed again and lay there with the pills.

And yes, as horrorific as it sounds, I was ready to die in my brother's bed, and thinking about that, what the hell was I thinking? The twins were both 10, and they would be the first ones to find my body, how could they ever sleep on those beds again? Knowing that their sister died there?

I was just lying there and processing if I should really go on with my plan when I decided to text my friend to get some help or to simply say goodbye, after all, my parents' goodbye letters have already been written years ago.

So, it was like 2 a.m when I texted my friend, Andrea, and yes, I'm name dropping her because she's an amazing human being and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.

I got into a long talk with her, and even though it didn't change my mind, she made me promise to go out with them some days later. I didn't know that she shared our conversation with our others friends till days later on the outing I saw my friends conversation with another one.

And, it may not sound like much, how could a simple hang out mean so much that it makes you change you mind on suicide? But it meant the world to me, but it reminded me that I am loved, that there would be people who would cry and miss me. It gave me what I had lost sight of, that I was more than some value defined by the things I did or haven't done.

A month later I made a new letter that I personally read to my dad, and I don't think he really understood how deeply hurt I was or how bad the situation was before, but the hug he gave that day cured a lot of wounds that I didn't even knew where there.

Today, I had a very good day, and I'm thankful to say that I enjoyed so much more of life that I would have if I had taken that choice when I was 16.

I realized that, if I had taken that choice, my mom and family would had buried two bodies in a month, my grandpa's, my mom's dad who passed away a few days after my outing, and mine.

Today, I'm 19, because I was reminded by the people who really cared about me that I was more than what I saw in the mirror, that I was more than some bad grades.

Today, I'm 19, studying a career that I can't tell you right now if I love, but that I certainly like. I go to uni Monday to Friday, I work in the morning, I'm studying English and looking to study more languages.

Today, I'm 19, because even if my mom and I fought a lot, I still love her enough to stay by her side, because I love our fights even though I cry a lot during them, because I love how she bakes chocolate cakes and hears me when I talk about Taylor Swift, Doctor Who, Percy Jackson or whatever I'm obsessing at the moment.

Today, I'm 19, because Andrea, Vicky, Jonathan and Maru where there for me and loved me even when I couldn't do it myself. And I'm so very thankful for that, and I swear that I'll live to the fullest with the new life they gave me.

And you, who is reading this, stranger, friend or someone I know that I decided to share this with, know that you're loved, even if you can't see it.

I won't lie to you, it will hurt, you will have your drops, but, and as cliche as it sounds, life is not only about the bad things in our life. It's about that chocolate cake that awaits for you at the table, about that book you still haven't finished, about that friend who would forever remind you as a more than a depressed person, but as their soulmate.

Take care, and thank you for reading.

[evermetnotforgotten]

Set in the far future.

In many ways, Graham's relationship with his parents was quite simple. Firstly, be kicked out at sixteen because you were a delinquent little shithead who was well on the path to either being shot up on a street corner, or thrown in prison for being the one doing the shooting. Spend twenty-odd years in the wind. Then call dear old mum and dad up on a whim one day asking whether they're free for a coffee and a slice of cake—their choice, your shout.

They’d picked the key lime pie.

Most of their questions, surprisingly, had been in line with that of a normal suburban family. Less about his decades-long absence—the lie about getting out and into a job driving diplomats around seemed to inspire the desired amount of polite disinterest—and much, much more about ‘wait, you're telling us our long lost son is now married to a man?’ In their first few reconnecting dinners Graham had already located and defused the bomb of ‘we'd actually hoped and dreamed of our only son telling us he was only a gay teen instead of in a teenage gang,’ and done similar to the IED of ‘good thing we've changed churches since you were little or blessed Father Derrick would have simply had a stroke between the pews’—along with the total landmine, dear Lord in heaven the nuclear fucking blast of ‘but so… if you're married, doesn't that mean you're Gay now?’

But they were willing, and forthcoming. And surprisingly relaxed about his sudden reappearance in their lives.

All that had been left was for them to finally meet him—his sweet and kind husband, the infamous Lev. Which, apparently, called for dinner at Pete and Cressida's spacious suburban home.

"Topoff, my boy?" A question from Pete to Lev that Graham only moderately tenses up at, for more than one reason. Would rather not have to explain them all.

"Do you have any more of that sparkling, actually?"

"For you? Course we do. Would you pass the apple juice, hun?”

The first impression had nearly ended in disaster. Trust his old man and lady to blow through his first two cardinal requests immediately—he'd been firm to the point of militant on the topic of touching Lev without asking first, then witnessed in horror as his mother completely lost her mind and initiated a crushing hug. Then was the wine, though on that Lev had reassured they were in the green. Couldn’t drink on the meds anyway.

Now, outside overlooking the garden, wooden bannister flickering with light from the ceramic potted citronella candles, the wine flowing and barbecue cooling… things were actually starting to feel good. Calm. He's not checking his watch every minute, and his husband seems to be at relative ease while keeping deft pace with the conversation. Lev presses the kitchen knife down past the crust of the chocolate tart he’d insisted on bringing, listening to Cressida explain of the accreditation process of an arts therapist.

As the conversation dwindles, his mother twists her blond hair at the back of her head and spears it with a pin. The look brewing on her face is one of an imminent interrogation, but Graham recognises it far too late to cut her off at the pass.

"So you're… gay, Lev? Is that right, is that what you prefer?"

"Ma," Graham scowls, warning low and short. 

Just as Cressida's eyes flash with equal challenge, gearing up to meet her son’s protest with one of her own, Lev responds with an easy smile, a raised hand. "It's okay—I'm actually bisexual."

"Oh! So you're the same then. That must keep things simple."

Peter, whose cheeks are drawing closer to the tint of his chequered shirt with each fresh glass of wine, chimes in. "So you've been with both. Women, men… lucky guy, lucky guy…"

“Christ. Dad…”

"Yes, that is what the ‘bi’ part means, Pete. Oh, I know the loveliest lesbian couple whose daughter is a bisexual. Can you imagine that? All that diversity under the one roof."

Though Graham wants so, so badly to cup his hands over his face and screech into the miniature void there forever, Lev’s chime of a laugh rings above the abject horror roiling in his gut. “We do tend to flock, I’ll give you that.”

Seeming impressed with the response, Peter reaches for the bottle on the table and sets about refilling glasses again, even though most are still half-full. Graham reaches across to steady his mother's glass as the red comes dangerously close to sloshing up and over the other side. One of two teeny little dogs—rat-sized morsels that Daisy would have eaten for breakfast and barfed up before lunch—scurries around to their side of the table, interpreting the sudden movement as a potential signal of pending table scraps.

"Well," Peter says, "our son must have done at least one thing right in his life to have won you over. It's all a downright comfort, if you ask us. Isn't it, honey?"

He doesn't know quite why that's the part, out of everything, that gets him. Something slimy and misshapen rears its head within Graham’s chest, writhing through the holes of his ribcage where it's installed itself into the gaps and expanded like some sort of horrible, living caulk. He's done fuck all to deserve a man as good as Lev, right hand to God. Still feels as though he's long-conning him into staying, most days. But when his partner responds by taking Graham's hand under the table, giving a reassuring squeeze, the dial of all that noise is turned down low. The domesticity just a little less cloying.

"I feel lucky to have him, actually." A wink only meant for him. “He’s put up with me so far.”

"Ha! Just wait until you've been together forty years and he's still leaving dishes by the sink—"

"Or when it becomes impossible to go to on a fifteen minute shopping trip that doesn't turn into a forty-five minute catch-up with a playgroup friend—"

"I'm really glad that you two haven't changed. Just so glad.” Though Graham says it in exasperation, the fondness is hard to ignore. He brings his husband’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. 

"So Lev, Graham tells us you're working on a coffee table, is that right?"

-

“So… verdict?” He’s almost scared to ask, but needs to know his partner is okay after… all that. 

"They're nice! Really nice.”

“But…?”

A sigh from the passenger seat. “But it was… difficult. I guess."

Graham winces, blows air out through his cheeks. Should have known it would always be a little bit trial-by-fire. "Yeah, sorry. Thought they'd gotten all of the, uh, sexuality talk out of their system. Apparently not.”

Lev turns, giving him a curious look. "Oh, no, not that part. That was fine. Though I'm really glad they didn't want more details than they did," and a laugh tinged with the specific kind of glee of knowing exactly how terribly that could have gone. "I just… it's hard when I don't like how they treated you."

Graham frowns. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in the course of the evening. "What do you mean?"

"Throwing your sixteen year old kid out of the house when he's clearly in it deep, and cutting off all contact." Lev shakes his head, looking out the windscreen at the blur of pines whizzing past. “Your dad said they were praying for you to come back… but how would they have known if you’d needed to?”

Graham hears his old man’s farewell of the night. Don’t be a stranger, hey kiddo? We’ve missed you. “I… used to rob 7-Elevens with that crew. In gorilla masks.”

Not a beat missed. “We’ve all been sixteen.”

Spotting a tiny smile out of the corner of his eye at his own bark of a laugh, Graham reaches over the handbrake to place his hand on Lev’s thigh. As always, it’s covered by a smaller, warmer one.

Now just as ever, Graham feels like he could be in awe of the indestructible core of his partner until the day that he dies. Though Lev would be the first to deny and the last to admit it, there's a grain of diamond at the very centre of him. 

Behind a fortress or surrounded by ash and rubble—it's still beautiful. Still incredible.

“I’d still… like to stay in touch with them.” Graham clears his throat. “If that’s alright. You wouldn’t have to come, though, if you don't want to.”

“Ah, wasn’t at all saying that we shouldn’t.” A gentle apology squeeze. “Would really love to go to that gallery.”

“Doesn’t have to be any time soon.”

“‘Course. But I want to. Let’s do it.”