#dad wants to buy me a beer about it. i won't say no

[daddy-socrates]

IT IS SENT. MY THESIS IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF MY COMMITTEE

[lovewithmary]

(not) moving on — a max verstappen x stark!oc x charles leclerc series

★ fc: madison beer ☆ summary: evangeline "evie" stark is in love with her best friend, max verstappen, but he tries his best to keep her at arm's length. but what happens when she starts to get close to his fellow drivers in the paddock? ★ notes: kinda short chapter but the reconciliation chapter may or may not be coming soon. either the next chapter or the chapter after that. we'll see though

previous next series masterlist

"How much do you think it costs to buy an F1 Team?"

"Papa, you can't buy Ferrari—"

"Why not? As much as I hate to admit it, I actually like your boyfriend and he seems talented enough to win a WDC, if it wasn't for the shit tractor and shit strategies," Tony said.

Tony, as much as he wanted to hate Charles, had been won over by the Monegasque. Even if Tony was rooting for Max, he wouldn't be too mad if Evie would end up being with Charles. Or, better yet, he'd be happy if she would end up with both of them.

"Tony," Pepper warned.

"I'll wear you out about the F1 Team eventually," Tony said.

"Just like you did when you asked her to marry you," Evie commented, making Pepper smile and Charles stifle a laugh out of shock from beside her.

"Okay, that's it. Your name won't be on the F1 Team when I buy Ferrari," Tony said.

"I'm a Stark, my name would be on the Team name regardless," she shot back at her father.

Before Tony could say something back, Pepper had dragged him away, leaving Charles and Evie alone. "Would your dad actually buy Ferrari," Charles questioned, making her sigh.

"Who knows at this point. Papa's got more money than he knows what to do with it and he's always wanted a team," she told Charles.

"He seemed to like you, though,"

"Really? I didn't think he knew who I was until he called me your boyfriend,"

"Trust me, he does. If he didn't like you, he wouldn't offer to buy your team. It is Tony Stark's love language; giving gifts to tell people he likes them," Evie said.

"I noticed it's also yours," Charles commented, having received a watch from her that costs more than his Pista, and he nearly dropped the watch at the sight of it.

"I suppose I do like you as well. Just a little bit though," she teased, putting her hand up and moving her pointer finger and thumb as close together as possible without touching, signifying how "little" she liked him.

"Oh, just a little bit, amor? You weren't saying that last night," Charles teased back, grabbing her waist in order to pull her close to him.

"Leclerc! Just because you're dating my daughter does not mean I should have to see you commit cannibalism on her!" Tony called out, making Sam and Bucky ooh and ahh at them like they were children.

Pepper tried stopping her husband but the people around them were already looking at Evie and Charles. Meanwhile, Steve was trying his hardest to give the couple some kind of semblance of privacy, turning around to not look at them in the eye. Wanda and Natasha were explaining to Thor and Vision that Charles wasn't actually trying to eat Evie. And Peter was trying his best to not let Morgan run away and explore.

Evie rolled her eyes, and rested her forehead on Charles' chest, groaning at the absurdity of her family. "They're your family. You love them. You love them." She chanted, trying to remember or else she might end up killing them.

[silent-stories]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇

Pairing: Eddie x GN!Reader

Summary: Eddie was not used to a kind of touch that was not violent until he met you.

Warnings: angst, fluff, domestic violence, blood

1972

Eddie was seven years old and didn't know how to ride a bike.

His mom had left about a year before and Eddie was a child but he wasn't stupid: he knew she wasn't coming back.

His father had lost his job and Eddie didn't know what he did all day - and often all night - outside their house.

No one had ever taught him to ride a bike. But that hadn't stopped him from trying to learn when he found an abandoned bicycle next to a garbage can on his way home from school.

The other kids made it look so easy.

The first time he fell he grazed his knee, which started bleeding when his skin scraped against the asphalt after his jeans ripped.

He wanted to cry but his father said real men didn't cry, so he got up and tried again.

The second time he fell, his arm hit the ground and blood started coming from the scrapes on his elbow as well.

The third time he ended up with his face against the asphalt and a cut on his left eyebrow.

He tried again and again, until even his hands were covered in blood and bruised.

When he got home he used a bottle of whiskey to disinfect the wounds, he didn't know if it was really useful but his father always did it when he came home bleeding.

In his room then, he cried. Not really from the pain of the wounds and the bruises that were starting to form, but because his mom had left him, his father hated him and no one cared about him enough to even teach him how to ride a damn bike.

1974

Eddie was nine years old and he was used to seeing his father come home drunk.

"What the fuck do you want?" the man asked seeing his son as he was stumbling into the house.

Eddie just stood there saying nothing, watching his father struggle to remove his jacket and missing the coat rack, then heading to the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"I told you to buy some beer." He said closing it and turning to look Eddie in the eye.

"I'm nine. They said they won't let me buy it." Eddie muttered and it was the truth.

The father walked towards him and Eddie had to keep from stepping back.

When he reached out his hand for him Eddie flinched but the hand stayed in front of him.

"The money."

Right, his dad was waiting for Eddie to give back the money he didn't spend on beer.

There was just one problem. Eddie had spent that money on a book. He had seen it displayed in a shop window next to a supermarket and hadn't resisted, only now did he realize how stupid he had been.

"So?" Repeated his father, "the money"

Eddie shook his head.

"No?" Eddie could hear a note of anger in his off-balance words. "No what?"

"I don't have your money, sir." Eddie muttered. He shouldn't have bought that book, he never should have.

The father's outstretched hand shot forward the kid and grabbed ​​the child's face, squeezing it between his fingers.

"What the fuck did you do with my money?"

"I'm sorry" the boy murmured as tears formed in his eyes.

"What the fuck did you do with them!?" He raised his voice, his hand still gripping Eddie's face, probably going to have a bruise the next day.

"I-I bought a book." He finally breathed.

"A book?" the father asked, his bloodshot eyes staring into the boy's.

Eddie nodded and before he could understand what was happening his father's hand had left his face and the other, clenched in a fist, reached his face.

Eddie's vision blurred as the punch hit his cheekbone and sent him to the ground.

His head was throbbing and his ears were ringing but he still understood what his father said before disappearing into the bedroom.

"Next time remember not to spend my money on bullshit."

Eddie curled up on the living room floor as he began to sob, one cheek resting on the cold floor as the other felt like on fire.

He stayed there until the sun came up.

1982

Eddie was seventeen and hadn't lived with his father for several years, which was good, but people at school had started calling him "freak."

He pretended that it didn't bother him, that it didn't hurt him and everyone seemed to believe it.

They looked at him with contempt and disgust and Eddie honestly didn't even know why. Was it the way he dressed? Was it because he liked metal?

The jocks had started to bump on him on purpose when walking in the hallways making him drop whatever he was holding in his hands.

But he was already used to things like that.

1986

Eddie was twenty-one and trying to graduate, for the third time.

He was part of a band and at lunch he ate with the other Hellfire members, so he could tell he had found some friends.

But there was also something else. Someone. You.

He'd met you one night when you'd picked up the kids after a Hellfire campaign, complaining that you were sick of babysitting but greeting Dustin by ruffling his short, dark curls, showing that you weren't really mad at any of them.

The thing that surprised Eddie was that you introduced yourself shaking his hand, a common gesture that people did so often but which happened to him so seldom.

He had never told anyone that that gesture had made him feel more "human" and less "freak" than he had ever felt during the last years of his life.

Since that day, every time you went to pick up the kids after a campaign you stayed there a bit more just to talk to him, sitting on a bench outside the school for a few minutes, and Eddie thought it was really weird for him that sometimes he almost wished the game would end soon, to see you again.

You were kind, you were not scared to be around him and you always managed to make him smile.

Sometimes your leg brushed his as you talked and Eddie felt a weird sensation in the pit of his stomach but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

He liked having you close, he liked when your hand brushed his, when your shoulder touched his or when you put a hand on his arm as you burst out laughing at something stupid he said.

And every time he felt something weird, simultaneously feeling the urge to pull away from you, not to let him touch him the way you did, and the urge to push you closer to him, to grab your hand with his and intertwine his fingers with yours or put an arm around your shoulders.

Another thing that amazed Eddie is that at school you would greet him every time you saw him in the hallways, even just with a simple "hey", but you did it every time. He didn't expect you to want others to associate you with him but it looked like you didn't care.

It was when you gave him a hug, one day, that he realized he was completely screwed, because he liked you. He liked you in a way he'd never liked anyone before and didn't know what to do.

"I knew you could do it!"

It was stupid to be so happy for him since it was his third time taking that math test and it wouldn't alone determine the final result of the year but when you threw your arms around his neck, Eddie felt his heart burn in his chest.

He placed his hand on your back and as he held you close, he found himself burying his face in your hair, breathing in your perfume and hoping that moment would never end.

When you walked away Eddie wanted to pull you against him again but you said you were late for art class and ran away before he could say anything.

Eddie stood in the empty hallway for a few moments, trying to sort out his thoughts, trying to figure out what was happening to him.

His thoughts led him to the last time he had had human contact that wasn't any kind of violence. He finally came to the conclusion that you were the first person in many years, or perhaps for the first time in his life, who offered him a gentle touch.

His uncle wasn't one to physically show affection beyond a pat on the back once in a while and his mom probably gave him a hug once or twice when Eddie was four.

That was all.

The rest were just things Eddie preferred to forget.

And now that you had shown Eddie how a hug, or even just a touch, from someone he loved made him feel, he didn't want that feeling to end.

Fuck, he thought locking his locker with the intention of skipping biology class, he was really screwed.

"Thanks for the ride," Dustin said as you got out of your car in the school parking lot.

"You're lucky I have to drive past your house anyway." You rolled your eyes.

"I swear I'm going by bike tomorrow." He said as you walked side by side towards the school.

"Hey" you nudged him lightly "it's okay. I'm just kidding. You know I can give you a ride every day if you need it."

A huge smile appeared on Dustin's face but before he could say something his gaze met the crowd of people gathered in a sort of circle in front of the school. Some shouted, others cheered and laughed.

"What the hell?" You asked before walking towards the crowd with quick steps, followed by Dustin.

When you arrived, it looked like the show was already over.

You shouldered some students to get a glimpse of what was going on. In the center of the circle, Jason Carver was talking agitatedly with a teacher.

"He started it! I just defended myself!" Jason practically yelled at the teacher as he tried to calm him down.

"That's enough. You know very well that fights are not allowed in this school."

Fights?

"I know. And like I said, it wasn't my fault. I didn't start it." He replied confidently.

Liar. Jason was always the first to start a fight.

"As soon as you got here, Mr. Jones, he ran away. It's obviously his fault and he knows it too." Jason's tone was filled with anger and contempt.

Only at that moment you noticed the blood stain on Jason's white shirt, even though he didn't seem to be hurt.

The professor looked around. "What are you all still doing here? Everyone go to class!"

The crowd around Jason and the teacher began to dissipate and most of the students walked away.

"Mr. Jones, you don't understand!" Jason exclaimed dramatically, "that freak has to pay for what he did."

As you heard that word you turned to Dustin and your worried gazes met.

"Eddie." You both said at the same time.

You'd decided your history class could wait and you started looking all over the school for Eddie, you had told Dustin that if you found him, you'd let him know.

After checking out the music room as well, one of the few classes Eddie really liked you figured that if he wasn't inside school then he must have been out.

You looked around hoping that no teacher would see you sneaking out and you went out the back door.

You found Eddie sitting on the ground, his back against the school wall, his head down.

"Hey." You announced your presence slowly walking towards him.

Eddie's head snapped up.

"Holy shit." That was all you could say.

The right side of his face was covered in blood from a cut on his forehead and around his barely open eye was a dark purplish bruise. There were marks on her cheek, as if his face had been pressed into the ground and there was also a small wound on his lower lip.

"It's nothing, really. I'm fine." He said avoiding your gaze. "I've had worse."

"It doesn't look like nothing to me." You squatted down in front of him and wondered if his eyes were watering from physical pain or for some other reason. Up close his face looked in even worse shape and the urge to kill Jason with your own hands escalated to extreme levels. What did he do to his pretty face?

"C'mon, let's go clean up and disinfect the wounds, mh?" You said getting up and holding out a hand to help him getting up.

He stared at it for a moment.

"Trust me. There's no one in the infirmary now." You said.

Finally he grabbed it and got up, his hand was warm against yours.

You pushed the door again and entered the school, you were still holding his hand as you guided him towards the infirmary.

"It will hurt a little." You said soaking a cotton ball in the disinfectant and approaching Eddie, who was sitting on a cot.

"You're missing a class because of this" He said "I can do it myself."

You shrugged, "I really don't like history. Too many dates." Then you focused on his face.

You gently placed a hand on his left cheek to keep his face still and placed the cotton on the wound on his forehead, which fortunately had stopped bleeding.

You expected him to flinch, you knew how much it could hurt, instead he just closed his eyes and leaned into the touch of your hand. He seemed calm.

You finished disinfecting his forehead and pushed his hair behind his ear to clean the blood that had stained his temple.

His eyes were still closed, his hand still gently resting on the side of his face as you disinfected his cheekbone and lower lip.

"All done" you said putting down the blood stained cotton, moving your hands from his face and noting that he already looked much better than before "are you okay?"

Eddie opened his eyes again and his chocolate brown orbs silently stared at you with a look that was very reminiscent of the one of a puppy.

"Eddie." You called to him again, trying to figure out what was going on, then you felt something brush your fingers and you looked down.

His ringed hand had met yours. You watched as he slowly brought it back to his face, not saying a word.

You ran your thumb up his cheek and he seemed to relax as you did it.

"Thank you" he whispered "I like it when you do that."

"When I do what?" You asked.

"Your touch. I like it when you touch me." He muttered.

"Oh Eds." You brought your lips to his forehead for a kiss and then to his cheekbone, just below the bruise, barely brushing his skin trying to be as gentle as possible.

Then you slowly wrapped your arms around him, pushing his body against yours, being careful not to hurt him. He rested his head on your shoulder and his hands gripped the fabric of your shirt in an almost desperate way, as if he didn't want you to leave him.

You held him as you stroked his back and left a few kisses in his dark hair.

You realized that his reaction was probably caused by the fact that he hadn't received much affection in his life and your heart ached at the thought.

He didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve all the awful things that happened in his life.

When you heard the bell announcing the end of first period, Eddie lifted his head and gently pushed you away from him.

"You should really go now."

You cupped his face but with one hand on his neck to avoid touching the wounds and you gently placed your lips on his cheek, on his jaw and then again on his forehead and temple.

"I love you so much, Eddie Munson, never forget that." You said then and he couldn't help but push you back in towards him for a hug.

"I love you too." he whispered.

You knew you weren't talking about that kind of love, not yet. And that was fine, for now.

You reached into his hair and dug your fingers into his curls, your nails scratching his scalp.

"You know what? I already skipped the first period, I don't think it will be a problem to take a day off. We can stay here a bit more."

He just pulled you closer.

[bigification]

Gainers Roulette

It's a risky game played by men desperate enough to risk their bodies for a chance at a bigger life. Men come from far and wide to play a game of Gainer roulette, some come out strong and sexy, some aren't so lucky. Although the game isn't all luck, it has a way of punishing those it deems unworthy.

Six needles are loaded, four with a serum that increases muscle and testosterone in the body, and two with a serum that drastically increases age and fat in the body.

The first player is a young man who pulls up on a motorcycle. He learned how to ride a motorcycle so that he could join his dad's group, but now he just gets picked on for being young and skinny. Well regardless, him being skinny won't be a problem after this.

He takes the serum. Immediately his face starts to change. His young and smooth features become more ragged, his clean shaven face quickly grows thick black hairs giving him a bushy beard, and the hairs on his head fall out leaving him with a smooth bald head. At this point it's hard to tell if he's won or not. Aging and losing hair is a common sign of losing, but he did want to look older and tougher so it could be either.

Next his body started to rapidly grow. He grew taller and taller as his shoulders broadened and his chest grew two juicy pecs that burst out of his shirt. His flat stomach grew into a thick six pack with a small layer of fat covering them. His arms exploded with muscle, becoming large and defined. Hair started to grow all over his body, covering his chest, stomach, and arms, giving him a much tougher look.

Moving downward, his previously flat ass perked up and pressed firmly against his shorts. His legs thickened as a thick pelt of hair grew over them, and his feet grew a few sizes, busting out of his shoes. And finally, a large bulge formed in his tight shorts, just for good measure.

Looks like we have a winner. The man leaned against his motorcycle and looked down at his nearly naked body. He smiled before riding off.

Our next player arrives in a luxury car. These never go well, rich guys only have one thing money can't buy them, good looks. So they come here expecting to walk out strong and good looking, let's see how this goes.

An average looking guy in an expensive polo and a gold chain walk out of the car. Not exactly what I expected, but close enough. He appears to be on the phone, and he doesn't seem to be enjoying the phone call. He puts the caller on hold as he approaches and takes the shot without even saying a word to me.

The man's well kept hair quickly falls off his head as his facial features start to age. It's not looking good for him so far. His cheeks puff out as a couple of chins grow under his soft jawline.

His scrawny body bursts out of his expensive polo as his gut grows bigger and bigger. He is left with a big hairy beer gut hanging out of his ripped shirt. His chest soon follows, growing into a thick pair of man tits with cheap looking tattoos on them.

His arms and legs thicken with mostly fat as his hands become thick and pudgy. The man is left old, bald, and fat. This is what usually happens to the rich guys who come here. He resumes his phone call as if nothing happened before getting in his car and driving away.

The next player slowly walks up holding a cane. He is an elderly sheriff who had to quit his job due to his physical condition, but wants to work again.

The man takes the shot, and almost right away his back straightens as he grows taller. Most of the wrinkles on the man's skin disappear as his he grows a clean silver beard. His receded hairline grows back and his skin tans from a pale white to a healthy golden brown.

The man's chest perks up and his shoulders broaden, filling out his sheriff uniform. The fat in his stomach disappears, leaving his uniform hanging off of his pecs. His biceps tripled in size, filling with muscle until they were about to rip his sleeves. His ass perks up and his thighs thicken, filling out his pants.

The man stands tall, smiles and nods at me approvingly before leaving without a word.

Next player is a young man who pulls up on a bike. He says he's close to getting drafted into the football league of his dreams, but he just hasn't been able to put on the weight needed for his position. Well either way I'm sure he'll be beyond heavy enough.

He takes the shot and his body starts to fill out. His skinny arms grow large and strong and his flat chest plumps up into two defined pecs, bursting through his tiny shirt. His pudgy stomach tightens up into a barely visible six pack with a sizable layer of fat covering it.

His legs and his ass explode with muscle and fat, giving the young man the look of a superstar football player. The pressure in his shorts grows until they rip open in dramatic fashion, making his ass bounce as it's released. Finally his face fills out, matching the rest of his massive body.

It looks like we have another winner. He seems to come to after the transformation is complete, an embarrassed look takes over his face as he attempts to cover his dick with his hands. His hands are quite massive, but it would be futile to try to cover up the monster he's got packing down there.

I throw him a towel to cover up and he thanks me before biking off.

The next player is a middle aged man who shows up in a barely functioning mini van. He said he used to be an athlete but had to stop after a serious injury. Ever since he had his kids, he has gained a lot of weight and struggles to do any activities with his kids.

The man takes the shot, and similar to the sheriff from before, his back straightens as his height increases drastically. Within moments the small feeble man with a can has become a tall and imposing man. His height has made his shorts look like short shorts and his shirt look like a bra, exposing his hairy gut. This would not last long however, as the fat in his body rapidly started to drain. As it did, his body began to twitch as an immense amount of muscle started to grow in his body. His hulking gut became a rock hard six pack and his moobs became a juicy pair of pecs. The man's soft arms became solid and defined as his hands became thick and calloused. His legs became strong and sturdy, and his ass became round a perky instead of sagging like it did before.

The man's face slimmed down, making his double chin fade as a thick black beard grew over his face. His receding hairline also grew back a little bit, giving him a more youthful look. Finally, a thick pelt of hair grew all over the man's body. Though the transformation seemed very taxing on the man, and he ended up passing out.

He must have been 6"4 and at least 250 pounds, so dragging his body to a bed was no easy task. It didn't take long for him to wake up. He thanked me profusely before getting up and leaving in the minivan.

Our last player for today is a young man who shows up in a cop car. He approaches wearing a police uniform, he feels he is not being respected by the more senior police. He wants to be more intimidating and demand more respect, but something tells me that his co-workers aren't the only reason he wants to be more intimidating. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea that there is only one shot left and it is not a winner.

The man impatiently takes the shot. Almost immediately, the man's flat stomach distended outward into a beer belly. It grows and grows until rips through his police uniform, leaving him in a tight black undershirt. He is left with a thick ball gut that hangs out of his shirt. His once defined pecs grow into two soft man tits that lay on his gut. The fat in his chest has even forced his arms to lay further out from his body. Speaking of his arms, they plump up under a thick layer of fat, nearly ripping his sleeves in the process. Even his hands look fat, with fingers that look like stuffed sausages.

Lucky for the young man, his uniform pants seemed to be slightly too big for him, so they have enough room to store his new body. His ass explodes with fat, stretching his large pants to their limit. His thighs follow suit, filling his pants until they're about to burst.

Just when the transformation is about to end, it gets worse for the young man. His face becomes pudgier as a thick double chin forms on his neck. But as the fat filled his face, the stubble on his chin went from brown to white. The hair on his head followed suit, becoming a pale white colour as his hairline slightly receded. Wrinkles started to form on his face as he began to rapidly age. From his mid twenties, to forties, all the way to his sixties in mere moments. His body started to sag under its own weight as blemishes formed on his skin.

Police equipment was scattered across the floor as the man was left in a tiny black undershirt and pants that barely fit. He flexed, making his shirt ride up even more, and smiled as he looked at his body. It seems as though he is unaware of how different his body was mere moments ago. He chuckled and states that the station will have no choice but to respect a man of his stature, and besides, he's definitely old enough to get some seniority. He picks up his ripped uniform off the ground and comments that it must have shrunk in the wash and that he needs to get a new one. He thanks me before squeezing into his police car and driving off

[crybabyddl]

Check You Out

Modern!Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Chapter 1

Warning: swearing, flirtation alcohol, older guy being slightly creepy, eventual smut, strangers to lovers, fake dating, modern setting

Author's Note: God, I need Steve at a despicable, ungodly level that even I can't fully comprehend. It's not healthy. But to cope with that, I'm gonna write this and hope that someone else out there can appreciate and/or relate to being so desperately in love with a fictional character that you can't have. And yes, I looked up an Indiana sales tax calculator in order to write this as realistically as possible.

Extra Author's Note: Hi. It's been ages since I've written anything, let alone a whole first chapter of a fic! I probably won't update often, but who knows? Maybe this will end up being a full-fledged fic! I like the idea of that, but let's see how posting this chapter goes. I hope you like it! <3 Glad to be back! :)

—

   For the past year, your Friday nights consisted of checking out customers' groceries and helping clueless individuals operate the self-checkout machines. You'd think with a name like 'self-checkout' there'd be no need for assistance, but people are dumb and selective about when to use their reading comprehension skills--if they possessed any in the first place. Working the night shift wasn't ideal, but it was the only time that allowed you to take care of your parents and drive one of their cars while you lived under their roof. Unfortunately, you had to walk to work today because your dad was out of town this week and your mom's car was in the shop.

    "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in ten minutes. Please make your way to the registers to complete your purchase. Thank you for shopping at Green Leaf Market!" The overly chipper tone of your supervisor, Carol's voice was far less unsettling when it meant that you were almost done with your shift. Now you just had to wait for all the last minute shoppers, lollygaggers, and stragglers to get their shit together and get the heck out.

  "Hey, Y/N, how's it going?"

 Oh brother... you thought. Mitchell was a regular on Fridays, but he was also a bit of a douche. He was in his mid-40s and was seemingly trying to grow a beer gut. It was no surprise that he was buying another 24-pack of Busch Lite. 

    "I'm alright, thanks Mitchell. How are you?" You plastered on the best customer service smile you could muster, taking hold of the reusable shopping bag he always brought with him, regardless of the fact he never needed it.

  "Better now that I've seen you, dollface."

   Dollface? That was a new one, and definitely the worst yet. You tried your best to ignore the embarrassment that caused your face to heat up, but you had a hard time pretending not to be bothered by his comment.

   You moved the fruit-and-vegetable-patterned vessel over to the other side of the register before grabbing the scanning wand and reading the barcode on the hefty cardboard box. He knew the drill, handing you his I.D. for you to scan. The glass bottles clinked as Mitchell lowered the box back into his shopping cart. God, you could go for a beer right about now.

    "That'll be $25.67. Would you like your receipt?"

  "Only if your phone number's on it, honey." Yikes.

    "O-kay, you're all set. Have a great night!"

  "You need a ride home? It's not safe to be walking alone out there this late. Maybe you could keep me company and have a few beers? You seem lonely."

   Nothing Mitchell was saying was particularly wrong, but he certainly wasn't reading the room correctly. He'd also tried this countless times before with no success, so why was he still trying? What were you supposed to say that would make him get the hint?

    "Um-"

  "Hey, uh, Y/N! I just wanted to grab a few beers. You almost ready to get out of here?"

   In that moment, the stranger's interjection was the closest thing you'd heard to a choir of angels.

    "Y-yeah,"

   Mitchell grumbled something under his breath as he snatched up the bag and pushed his cart toward the exit. You felt your shoulders relax as you exhaled a heavier sigh than you expected to be holding in.

    "Oh my God, thank you for saving my ass back there." You lifted the six pack of Blue Moon off the conveyer belt and hovered it over the scanner. 

  "No problem. Sorry if I caught you off guard. I take it he's a regular that thinks he can pull someone half his age?" He takes his wallet out of his back pocket, fishing for his I.D.

    "You nailed it. Mitchell's probably harmless, but I'm not really interested in finding out. And no worries, you're good." You take the driver's license from between the man's fingers, inspecting it quickly.

   Stephen Harrington. Born August 12th. 5'10". Brown hair, brown eyes. You looked up and sure enough, his hair and his eyes--they were pretty--were brown.

  "I don't blame you," Steven put his license back in his wallet before taking out his card. "How much was it?"

    "Oh shoot, I never actually never told you, my bad. It comes out to $11.76," You selected the EFT payment option on your register and waited for Steven to tap his card on the reader. "How did you know my name?"

  "It's on your name tag," He inserted his card in the chip reader. "I'm Steve, by the way." The reader made an unhappy trio of beeping sounds.

    "Nice to meet you, Steve," you smiled. Probably the first genuine one of the night. "You might have to tap it. These machines are a pain in the ass."

  "Tap?" Steve tilted his head in confusion, which you found... cute.

    "Yeah. You just hold your card against the reader and it scans it. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I think it has to do with the chip or something."

  "I see, I see. Like this?" He holds the card above the number pad, but nothing happens.

    "Almost! You have to hold it over the screen part, like this."

   Without thinking, you grab a hold of Steve's debit card, bringing his arm closer to the screen of the card reader. The machine makes a blip noise and the receipt begins printing in a matter of seconds. It's only after you hand him the receipt that you realize you might've invaded his personal space. Should you apologize? Did he even notice? Why did you choose to work at the supermarket?

    "Thank you, Y/N. I should get going, but uh," Steve pauses, looking unsure. "Are you doing anything right now? Would it be wrong of me to ask you if you wanted to come back to mine and have a couple beers? I'm having a few friends over and you seem pretty chill. Totally okay if not, just figured I'd ask, you know?"

   The cute stranger that saved you from Mitchell was asking you to hang out... maybe he really is an angel.

   This was totally different than having a married man with kids ask you if you wanted to have a couple drinks; this was a guy your age, a hot guy your age. The internal panic of saying the wrong thing subsided thanks to the amount of excitement you felt.

    "I would love that. Let me just get my bag and clock out."

  "Sounds good, I'll go put this in the car and pull up." He gives a smile, which you return along with an unnecessary thumbs up.

    "Okay." You watched as Steve exited the store, six-pack in hand.

    What person in their 20s gives a cute guy a thumbs up? You wanted to smack your palm against your forehead, but refrained. You were an idiot. Speaking of thumbs, you were surely going to stick out like a sore one if Steve's friends were even a fraction as cool--or attractive--as he was. You realized you were getting ahead of yourself as you punched your code into the time clock. You were just going to be hanging out and having drinks with some nice people your age. Nothing more, nothing less. 

   After mentally talking yourself down, you walked through the automatic doors of Green Leaf Market feeling the humid summer air hit your skin in a calm wave. Sure enough, right out front, there was a beige BMW sedan with the passenger window rolled down. Steve aims a finger gun at you and clacks his tongue against his teeth. You see his eyes flit towards the offending right appendage, his cool demeanor faltering for a split second. However, he quickly recovers from whatever shyness he might've felt, leading you to wonder if you'd imagined it as you open the passenger door and join him in the air-conditioned car.

—

please leave a like, reblog, and/or a comment if you enjoyed!

[delopsia]

We were so robbed of Rhett and Perry just being brothers.

I want Rhett and Perry buying stupid shit and terrorizing their folks with it. Royal eating breakfast and looking out the kitchen window just in time to see Rhett gliding by on a neon yellow hoverboard, taking one of the horses out to the barn. Going out to scold him for playing with toys while at work, only to look over and see Perry on a purple one, trying to separate two cattle.

I want to see them getting into petty arguments and then banding together right after because Royal said something that neither of them liked.

Perry waking up early to steal Rhett's horse and trying to run when Rhett comes chasing them down because that's his mare, goddammit! "Look, you ripped my damn saddle pad!" "That was there before!" "No, it wasn't!"

Waiting until Cecelia looks away and exchanging food off their plates. Rhett isn't fond of steamed carrots and Perry doesn't mind exchanging his mashed potatoes if that means his little brother will clean his plate.

Them going out for drinks and winding up in a 2 v 3 with the Tillerson brothers because Trevor mouthed off about Rhett's most recent ride. They're outnumbered, but Rhett is quick on his feet, and Perry hits harder than a freight train. Ending the fight and then overhearing an older man chuckling about how they're definitely Royal's sons.

I want Rhett and Perry frantically cleaning themselves up so that their folks won't clock them for getting into another fight. Buying a case of cheap beer and drinking in the back of Rhett's truck until the sun rises or they run out. Whichever happens first.

Them realizing that they've got near identical birthmarks; Rhett has one on his left hip and Perry on his right. Getting annoyed when their momma says she knows. Because why did she never tell them?? It shouldn't have taken twenty-three years for them to realize this!

I want both of them red in the face as Cecelia tells stories about the things they got up to when they were kids. The time Perry tied a string to Rhett's loose tooth and yanked it out. How they got busted eating their Easter candy when they were supposed to be in bed. When they figured out how to drive the four-wheeler by themselves and got grounded for three weeks.

Family dinners where distant relatives come together, bringing up all the old times. And oh god, Dad is talking about politics again. "Perry, you trip me, and I'll do the rest." There's nothing worse than Thanksgiving turkey being ruined by an argument between Royal and cousin Steve.

There's so much that we could have had from these two!😭

[rainbow-nerdss]

I want to see the 118s perspective of the drunken confessions from black out so bad 😭

HELLO ANON I LOVE YOU FOR THIS. SO MUCH LOVE. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. This has been sitting here in my inbox for a while because I wanted to do it justice, but I had SO MUCH FUN working on this! I present: Chimney's POV of that whole situation from my fic Blackout (3k, E) I may have gotten caught up in my Madney/Dad!Chimney feels for a while there, but who can blame me?

Chimney has always loved having Halloween off work, glad to avoid the crazies, but it's even better now he's a dad, especially now Jee's old enough to have fun with her costumes, and to understand what Trick-or-treating is all about.

He gets to dress up with her, a whole-family pirate ensemble, to pose while Buck snaps way more pictures than necessary of the three of them, and to take her door-to-door around the neighborhood. 

And, after getting Jee-Yun in bed, he heads to Hen's for the grown-up party. 

Buck takes a detour on the way, to pick up Eddie and see Christopher before his first teenage Halloween party. Those are days Chimney isn't looking forward to—when Jee is old enough to prefer spending time with her friends than her parents, when she won't climb on his back and pose for a dozen pictures as they wear matching costumes.

He hopes she never grows out of this.

When Eddie and Buck arrive at the bar together, they're walking in step with each other, Eddie mid-laugh at something Buck has said. Eddie heads straight for the bar, while Buck stands for a moment, watching him before making his way to the booth where Chimney is sitting with Hen, Bobby and Ravi.

Everyone's in a good mood today, it seems, as they order rounds of drinks: beer and whiskey and cocktails. Hen is pacing herself more, but Chimney is pleasantly buzzed, verging on drunk. He's nothing compared to Buck and Eddie, though. They're both pink-cheeked and laughing, pressed together in the booth, practically in each other’s laps.

Bobby makes his excuses just after eleven, telling them all to have a good night, and to stay safe.

“Aww, c’mon Cap! Stay a while longer!” Buck protests, leaning over Eddie to reach for Bobby. Chimney catches the way Eddie’s cheeks turn pink as he looks anywhere but at the denim-clad Buck in his lap.

Bobby shoots a look at Hen, raising his eyebrow. She nods.

So, great, Chim isn’t the only one seeing this.

“Sorry, Buck. Athena’s waiting up for me. I’ll see you at work, okay?”

Buck pouts and reaches for the dregs of his last drink, barely shifting out of Eddie’s lap.

“Twenty bucks says it happens tonight,” Chim whispers, sliding back into the booth next to Hen.

“Those idiots? They’ve been like this for weeks now!” Ravi argues. “I’ll take those odds.”

Hen shakes her head. “They’ve been like this for years. Stop wasting your—” but Hen cuts herself off as Eddie takes out his phone, checks a message and shows it to Buck, whose expression turns ridiculously soft as he drops his head onto Eddie’s shoulder.

“Huh,” Hen says, narrowing her eyes at them. “Honestly, you might have a point, Chim. This isn’t their usual dance. Here’s how it’s gonna go—”

Chim orders a round of shots while Hen draws up the bet in her notes app. 

“This is the last drink we buy for them,” Hen insists. “Otherwise, it gets weird, morally speaking.”

“Agreed,” Chim and Ravi both chime in, and they all shake on it, then down their shots. Buck and Eddie don’t even break eye contact as they drink the shots, but a moment later Eddie is scrambling out of the booth, pulling Buck with him.

“I love this song!” he yells.

And Buck follows him, eyes wide in a way that Chimney wishes wasn’t the exact same expression Maddie gets sometimes, right before they fall into bed together.

He’s going to have to drink a lot to forget that sight, but at least he’s definitely gonna win that bet.

He loses them for a while, getting another drink, showing Ravi the trick-or-treating photos again: “Look at this one!” he coos, showing yet another picture of Jee. “She was looking for the treasure!” 

He only snaps back to the moment when Hen smacks him on the arm, and he looks up, following her eyes to where Buck and Eddie are dancing. The song’s different, but they’re closer than before—Eddie’s hand is on Buck’s chest, Buck’s on Eddie’s waist, and that is probably the most intense eye contact Chimney’s ever seen—and he’s seen Ravi and Lucy attempt to communicate telepathically during a long shift with very few calls. 

“It’s happening,” he whispers. “Hen, come dance with me!”

He takes her arm, and pulls her within earshot of Buck and Eddie—trying and failing to be subtle, but it doesn’t make any difference for all the attention they’re paying to anything but each other. 

“—really pretty,” Buck says, expression dazed.

Eddie blinks at him. “Pretty?” he asks. Buck nods, touching the corner of Eddie’s eye, letting his hand rest there.

Eddie swallows, and Chim squeezes Hen’s arm as Eddie leans in, then muffles a curse as he pauses. He glances over and sees Ravi preening at the edge of the dance floor, but then Buck is pulling Eddie in, and yes, yes there it is!

“They’re kissing!” Chim cheers as quietly as he can, practically jumping for joy while Hen tries to get him to stop. Chim shakes her off, then holds his hand up in the shape of an L, directing it at Ravi, who rolls his eyes.

“I love you,” Chim hears Eddie say, and he whips his head back around to them. 

“You—Eddie. Really?” 

“Of course I do, Buck. God, of course I do.”

Buck pulls Eddie close, burying his face in his neck. The smile on his face is familiar to Chimney: it’s the same one he knows he wears each and every time he looks at Maddie. 

“I love you too,” Buck says. “So much. I…you know, you and Christopher, I think I’d be happy if I did nothing but sit in your house and make pancakes for you both for the rest of forever.”

“Buck, oh my god,” Eddie chuckles, while Chimney pretends to gag at the sincerity. “You know, having nothing but pancakes would probably not be healthy,” Eddie points out, but Chimney can hear the fondness, the love in his voice.

“Don’t care. Not if it makes you happy.”

“You make me happy.”

“Good. C’mere,” Buck says, and it’s all the warning they give before Eddie goes in for another kiss, and this is not the type of kiss Chim wants to see his future brother-in-law, the uncle to his beautiful daughter, engage in, but there’s really no avoiding how much he just goes for it. 

“Fuck.” 

Chimney hears Eddie’s low growl before he’s, thankfully, pulled away by Hen, back to where Ravi is waiting, trying to maintain a scowl over the smile that’s clearly fighting to break free on his face.

“Alright, well, pay up!” Chimney announces, resolutely not looking up to where Buck and Eddie are practically mauling each other on the dance floor—more than five years of sexual tension all trying to resolve itself at once.

He holds out his hand while Ravi grumbles. “Who even carries cash anymore? Can I just venmo you?” 

Chimney rolls his eyes. “Sure, fine, whatever. But you will be held accountable for this, got it?”

There’s a crash to his right, and he turns to see Buck, grinning, out of breath and red in the face. “We’re uh, we’re gonna head out.”

Eddie pops up behind him, mouth latching on to the side of Buck’s neck from behind, eyes hazy in a way that Chim tells himself is just from the alcohol but he knows is probably something beyond that. 

“Get home safe, boys!” Hen tells them. They back off, making their way to the door before Chimney calls after them.

“And be safe in the other way, too!” he yells, earning him a chiding slap on the arm from Hen. He grins. “I think our loser ought to buy the next round of drinks, don’t you, Hen?”

He sticks his tongue out at Ravi, who rolls his eyes, grumbles, but still gets up to order another round.

Chimney doesn’t stay too much longer after that. He orders an uber for himself, and Hen and Ravi both follow him out. He’s the first one dropped off, and he stands on the curb outside his house for a moment, smiling at the little garden, the front door with the lopsided pumpkin he’d carded with Jee, the little bats and spider decorations they’d hung together. 

There’s a light on in their bedroom, which means Maddie’s still awake—probably reading or watching a show in bed. Chimney does a little skip on his way up the porch steps. 

He has so much to tell her.

[according2thelore]

i love the es dean / ls sam dynamic you've set up so much. I feel like it would slowly become a little hard for es dean though, as much as he's also happy as hell -- bc this sam knows him SO WELL and can read him like a freaking book and is able to ~take care of him~ and dean tries soo hard but he can't reciprocate as fully. it's the steak, it's sammy pushing him away for older dean after a nightmare, it's something happening that sets him off and sam just LEAVES (okay, to the gun range, not leaves-leaves, but STILL) and when es!dean tries to follow ls!dean won't let him, says he needs the time alone to regulate.....

I think it would be really tough for 26yo dean who is so used to caring for people--who LOVES caring for people--and is not so used to being doted on. and ofc ls sam knows he's trying and adores him for it and isn't at all upset but still... i think the role reversal, as it is, would be tough for him at times.

you're so right, anon!!!!

and EEP!!! thank you!!! ES!Dean and LS!Sam are just *sounds of me devouring them like the cookie monster*

you've hit the nail right on the head!

one of my favourite things about dean as a character is his crippling desire to be essential.

i think this trait is a lot more baldly demonstrated in the early seasons--he's collapsing inwards from it. he needs to be essential to dad, but he's not. he needs to be essential to sam, but he's not.

hell, he says it S1E2: "saving people, hunting things" -- he needs to be needed. his entire identity is built on the necessity of his existence. he has to hunt these monsters, because they (civilians) rely on him. who is going to protect them if i don't? i sacrifice my health and safety and life so the ambiguous "you" are safe.

LS!Dean takes a more back-step approach to this: he has a circle of friends/family that he wants to be important to, but he really only needs to be essential to sam (the trials, kicking cas out of the house in a time of particular need, not being responsive to jack's need to connect, etc.). he has his reasons, but he's a lot more jaded, and connects less with individuals on hunts. a barest touch less "saving people" a touch more "hunting things."

but for ES!Dean?? babygirl he NEEDS IT!!!! he loves serving a purpose!!!!! when sam says "i need you to be my brother again, because, just because--" DEAN DROPS EVERYTHING!!!! HIS BABY NEEDS HIM!!!

people needing ES!Dean is his purpose! so i think an LS!Sam who has needs that dean can't fill, or that can only be filled by someone else (like LS!Dean), it would tear ES!Dean down from the inside.

and he's not used to being doted on! his whole purpose is functionality to the user. ES!Sam just came back after not-needing dean so hard that he left for four years, some of that no-contact.

so for LS!Sam to choke down a steak that he can't stand, or take ES!Dean to the store and insist on buying him whatever cool shit he can fit in his arms; to, hell, even the quiet moments, of LS!Sam bringing ES!Dean his beer first. or salting ES!Dean's fries at the counter like he likes them before they even sit down.

it's confusing!!!! ES!Dean keeps trying desperately to reciprocate, to prove that i have function too! i know you, too! i'm not ungrateful, and i'm not purposeless, and you should keep me! please keep me!

but he keeps misstepping! from big things like the steak or being unable to calm sam down from a panic attack to small things like not knowing which weird hippie cereal sam likes best.

he keeps trying to provide and to dote and to care, but LS!Sam needs different things from dean than he did when he was 22.

of course, LS!Sam is giddy and smiling softly and wants to hold his little baby face between his hands because he can tell ES!Dean is trying so hard. ES!Dean adores being doted on, as much as it's confusing and strange, because it makes him feel wanted!

you said it--ES!Dean LOVES caring for people! it's how he expresses his love and devotion and intention! and being unable to fully reciprocate this attention from LS!Sam would break his little ES heart!

he can't understand why LS!Sam sometimes needs to leave to regulate (and a small, frantic, base part of him panics bc the last time sam needed "space," dean didn't hear from him for two years). dean's not good at giving space, lol. he wants to be needed! he needs it! he loves it!

by the way, i ADORE the way you wrote this. your insight!! your talent!! mwah!!!

YOU GET IT!

-lizzy

[auiciqa]

Can you do a fic about the marage council w miguel ohara, where you guys divorce and Miguel realized how much of a bitch the other girl was, and starts to miss her. So he sobers up and changes the way he is, then tries to get back together… maybe some angst and fluff?

Marriage counseling with Miguel O'Hara pt.2

Pairing-Miguel x ex wife/reader

Warnings-light Angst and fluff(but it's all in Miguels head lol)and mentions of alcohol abuse,lmk if I missed any

a/n-yall I did not except to make another part to this and yk I can't really miss out on a good chunk of angst and fluff together,but it is best recommended to read this at night ifykyk angst fics hit harder at night.

It's been a year since you and Miguel had divorced,yeah it was the hardest period in your life but at least he didn't have one cent left to his name.The hardest part was co-parenting, every time Miguel would drop off Gabby at your house his girlfriend which was his ex girlfriend at the time you guys were married, would make smug faces at you and throw her used cigarettes and beer cans at your yard when her and Miguel would leave.you couldn't care less despite the fact you still had love for him and he could say the same thing for himself,if he wanted to.

"Dana why can't you just shut the fuck up already,all you care about is these expensive things that I buy you and it's still not enough to make you happy!" He yells as he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs,"Pleaseeeeee miggy I promise I will be the happiest woman in the world after you buy me this necklace." Didn't take him too long to finally give in.

"c'mon Gabby you're going to be late to soccer practice!" You hurry and fill up her water bottle."Dad's going to pick you up from practice today so meanwhile you're at practice I'll pack your change of clothes."okay mommy!"Once y'all settle in the car y'all hurry off to the field."Bye Gabby I love you!" "I love you too mommy!"

Miguel had many sleepless nights thinking about you,by sleepless I mean by him going out to bars or after work or going to the nearest gas station and buying a dozen of beers just to drink half of them in his front porch before Dana even notices.Yeah he thinks about you a lot just the two of you cuddled up in bed or on the couch while y'all whisper sweet things to each other,i mean how tf is this bitch going to think about you this way after cheating on you.

"Daddy, mommy said to drive to the house to pick up my bag since we were running late she didn't have enough time to pack it." "Alright dear what ever you say." As he makes a u turn driving to the direction of the house.

"Ok,there's her clothes,iPad,dolls and swimsuit let me know if I missed anything." Nope I'm pretty sure you didn't." He says as he looks through the bag."well bye I guess.""w-wait" he says as he grabs your wrist,"what is it?" "Can he just please work this out I know that cheating on you was wrong but I'm a completely different man now I promise I won't treat you that way ever again.." you look at him as you sigh knowing that if you let your feelings get in the way this would end up in "one thing led to another" situation which is very immature."Miguel I'm sorry but..I don't think we could go back to how it was it.. just wouldn't be the same." "I know and I'm sorry it's just that Dana is being a total bitch right now an-" you were furious,not that because he wanted to get back together it was because of his stupid excuse."so you want to get back together because your girlfriend isn't treating you the way you want her to?" "No I didn't mean it that way it's just I've been thinking about us lately...yk maybe it could work out this time." "Why are you saying that as if we've broke up and gotten back together multiple times,I'm not your side piece and it won't be easy to get back together and you can't just say that you want be together again out of the blue that's just..dumb" You were out of words and so was he,you practically left the man speechless."just think about it, gabby wont have to grow up thinking that co parenting is normal and that it's ok.. i mean we should set a great example on how a real relationship is supposed to look like and it's ok to let our feelings get in the way sometimes." He was right,it wouldn't be ok to set an example that it's ok to be hoeing around co-parenting to your daughter,and that you both know that deep down y'all still love each other,maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

[mynameis-noe-body]

Okay so — time for Stranger Things' Headcanon: dad Jim Hopper edition.

James "Jim" Hopper was born around 1941/42, follow me on this. He went to school with Joyce, same year, right? And we know they are around 40 in Season 1 — it's 1981/82.

Let's say he left for Vietnam right out of high school, he's barely 18, just a boy. But he spends five of the worst years of his life fighting in a foreign country, breathing shit and stuff. He's 22 when he comes back — 1964.

Joyce gets married the same year, to Lonnie. They are definitely not going to be happy, and Jim knows that. They have been friends, good friends years before. So, he's not really surprised to find about his old friend unhappy marriage. They spend and awful lot of time talking about that, but there's nothing she can do, come on — she's a young woman, just married and even though she fights her husband every day she still believes there's something that may be saved. That's when she gets pregnant with Jonathan — 1966.

Jim is 24, he just started into Hawkins Police and damn, the uniform dresses him good. Chicks look at him, and he likes that, he can't deny. At the same time, things for Joyce keep getting harder.

Things go slowly and difficult, and even boring sometimes. Nothing really ever happens in Hawkins. And people talk — better saving the appreance, right?

It's 1967 when, one summer night, Joyce is exhausted. Lonnie hasn't come back yet, and she knows she won't see him before Monday night, that's just how her weekends usually go. She's lonely, and tired, Jonathan is finally sleeping and she need a break. Jim calls to check on her, just to say hi or something. She invites him over. "God, I need a beer and a cig, Jim. You don't know how tired I am."

He comes later, six cold beers and a pack of cigarettes. (Maybe even some weed, for old time sake.)

They drink, and smoke. And laugh. And smoke, and drink. They don't know exactly how it happens, but it happens. They wake up still half naked on the couch next morning and they swear it was just one night, and they'll forget about it. He leaves, and life goes on.

Lonnie comes back home, Jim meets his wife some time later. And when he gets married, they live on the other side of Hawkins for some time, before New York. It's not a big city, and somehow the two of them just slowly becomes... strangers. Up to the point she doesn't even know...

And surely he cannot imagine Joyce's pregnant.

She keeps telling herself the baby's Lonnie's. It cannot be another way around. In 1968, she has a girl.

Jim is 38 when he comes back to Hawkins — it's 1980. He hates to watch the happy family; he knows Joyce isn't happy at all, but that girl. Sarah would have been 9 and Joyce's girl is just a little older, a 12 years old spitfire. Funny little thing, she is. And she hates her father to the guts. Everytime she can, she leaves the house, running into the woods. Her older brother tries to keep her but it's just — she's wild. A little rebel.

When Jim finds her the first time, running all alone in the street, crying an ocean, he immediately recognizes her. Jim takes her to the Benny's Burger, gets her a hot dog and fries, and a coke. She keeps talking, and talking, and talking — about her family, school and all the things no one in her family seem to care about ("Lonnie's fighting with Johnny, and mom's fighting with Lonnie and no one ever see me. This is good, can you buy me more sometime?")

He feel in love that night. He didn't get to be a father to Sarah... but she desperately needs one. So he talks to Joyce and keeps telling her it's alright. "Listen, that's a mess, I can see that. But I'm glad to help. If your daughter needs a safe place... just, you know where to find me."

And she does find him. The girl spends half of her nights at Jim's, mostly when her father comes home drunk enough to take it out on her, too. Jonathan is tough — he really doesn't want to deal with an old Chief, nor to be saved from his own father. But she's just a child.

Jim buys a VHS player. And a second toothbrush. She is small enough to take the couch. He can't cook to save his life, but finds out he's willing to learn — she can't eat pizza every fucking night, for god's sake. He helps her with math homework. Teachers are used to him coming to pick her up at school.

She calls him dad at school, speaking to her classmates. They know her as the Chief's daughter. Joyce doesn't mind explaing, she's done with keeping the appearance. "Jim is my dearest friend" she says, buying grocieres at the store, her youngest running around the shop, showing her the last pack of coloring pencils he wants for his next birthday. "He's always been there for my girl, and she just loves him like a daughter would."

He calls her peach. She's fine with it. And she should be at that age where kids get embarrassed by their own parents, but she jump out of his Hawkins Police pick-up with such pride before entering school — he couldn't be happier about that.

He lectures her about that danger of drugs, and alcohol and boys at the beginning of her first high school year. Now she's embarrassed. "I'd rather talk with mom about that, if you don't mind..." he nods, silently. "But thanks anyway, I love you too, dad."

It's the first time she said that. Jim doesn't get any sleep that night. He hadn't realize just how much he cared about her — it wasn't a matter of blood anymore, she was his daughter. Not Sarah, not a sort of surrogate for his own loss — his kid. She was her own person and he loved her.

He teaches her to drive. But she definetly improves with Jonathan, he can't be really patient about it.

She loves her brothers, really — they are just different. Like, there is something, somewhere... she can't wrap her head around it, but it's there. They are family just not the same family, perhaps. There is Joyce in her eyes, and in her smiles, but nothing of Lonnie. Even though she can see his nose on Jonathan's face, and his lips on Will's. The way he used to walk, bouncing around just like Johnny does. And the way he used to hums rock music, sometimes — just like Will's habits. She does not. None of this. She's quiet, and loves old movies, and checkered shirts, and coffee. No coffee in the Byers house, but tons of it in Jim's trailer.

And it all comes around when she gets a fever. Appendicites. Joyce and Jonathan rushes her to the hospital, they call him from the public phone. "Peach's getting operated right now — please, can you come?"

He's never left the Police station faster. And the doctors say they need blood — "Type 0 is rare. We don't have any bags available at the moment, but she needs a transfusion to recover as quickly as possible" the doctor explains.

Thank god Jim's there because the next day, when she opens her eyes, she asks about him too. He's slept in the hospital room, Joyce says, in case she woke up. But then, the doctor delivers the complete blood tests. They made sure about blood type compatibility and everything else, even though it was predictable — after all, she is his daughter.

And that's where all the knots come home to roost. Jim turns pale. He and Joyce exchange an eloquent look. He swallows. "My daughter — sure, but you mean that I... that we..."

Everything goes back to that 1967 summer night, to those beers, a joint shared on the sofa. Life couldn't get any stranger, right?

[bropunzeling]

fic author Never Have I Ever brady/quinn?

oh gosh do i want to write a fic for them so bad. i am a bit intimidated just bc i have mutuals who are Hughes Bros Scholars and i am not a scholar, merely auditing the classes as it were, but like. they're besties! they had to do a stupid odd couple video for the draft! the way quinn looked at brady at his wedding gets me!!!!!!!! and while i have some concepts that i am v seriously batting around (ballet quinn you are IN THE QUEUE) i also have some where idk if i will ever get to it, and one of the latter is the one where brady gets divorced.

the thing is, no one ever gets married expecting to get divorced, and brady certainly did not get married expecting to get divorced. two years ago, he would've said they were happy and he wouldn't have been lying; a year ago, he would've said they were happy and it would've been - not the truth, exactly, but not a lie, either. they were happy, most of the time. happy enough.

and then they weren't happy. these things happen, apparently. you can try your hardest, give 110%, and it still won't be what the other person needs. what they thought life would be like and what you did aren't lining up, can't line up. hard to stay married after that.

they finalize the paperwork during brady's bye week. when he signs on the line, brady can't help feeling like he's fallen short, somehow.

the sens do okay. make the playoffs, which has happened more frequently than it hasn't in the past four years; lose in the first round, which is - also pretty typical. brady hangs out with his siblings for a few weeks, hits the golf courses with dad, tries to keep his mind off his season.

mom sometimes mentions his ex in passing, but only when she thinks brady can't hear her. brady tries not to be too upset about it.

midway through the summer, brady goes to michigan. he didn't go to the lake that much when he was younger - always spending time with his family, and then with his girlfriend, and then it was his wife, and well - there wasn't time. but this summer, he's at loose ends, and he accepts quinn's invitation gratefully.

the best thing about it is quinn is the only one who isn't treating brady like he's different, like something happened. which, yes, a lot of things happened, but that doesn't mean brady wants to think about it. brady wants to try out jetskiing, brady wants to beat quinn and then jack and then trevor at beer pong. brady wants to help quinn buy groceries and put on a party. brady wants to do circuits and watch quinn's t-shirt cling to his back. brady wants to sit on the dock and talk about nothing, the way they used to all the time as teenagers.

about a week in, brady realizes that he doesn't just want to sit on the dock with quinn. he wants to put his hand on the small of quinn's back. he wants to rub a knuckle along the nape of quinn's neck, to see if quinn will flinch, or shiver. he wants to - does, not on purpose, but he does - reach out and tug at quinn's hair. longer now. it falls in his eyes. he wants to kiss quinn, and one night, he does.

for a millisecond, quinn kisses back, and it's up there for one of the best things that's ever happened to brady.

then quinn pulls back, eyes flat and revealing nothing. when brady tries again, quinn puts a hand between their chests. when brady asks why - quinn liked it, quinn wants it, he kissed back - quinn stares at the splintery wood of the dock and says, you don't get to just - decide you want to kiss me because you're sad, or you - you don't get to. not when i -

quinn doesn't say anything else, but he doesn't have to. brady knows, now. he can read it all over quinn's face.

[diningwiththeasquiths]

You've heard about Amanda x Johnny x Daniel, but what about Carmen x Johnny x Dutch? Hear me out.

Dutch gets out of prison and is in need of a place to crash. The remaining Cobras all offer their homes to him and he reluctantly accepts but tells them he'll only stay a week or two at each house because he doesn't want to impose on them. They all tell him 'nonsense, stay as long as you need to get back on your feet', but he's stubborn and, true to his word, never stays longer than 14 days.

It's Johnny's turn to take Dutch in and he's super excited about it, buying beer and junk food and asking Robby to help him set up HBO Maximum ("It's just HBO Max, dad.") because apparently Iron Eagle is on there in really good quality.

Understandably, Carmen is less excited and more cautious. She quietly worries about letting another criminal near Miguel and him maybe having a bad influence on Johnny. But she decides to wait and see before making any accusations.

The first thing she notices is how tactile Johnny and Dutch are with each other. It starts out with a big hug (not one of those bro-ey 'handshake and one-armed' hugs, although there is some light back slapping). After that, they seem to always be touching in some manner, almost like they're drawn to each other like magnets. Leaning against each other while they talk to her and her mother, play-wrestling on the floor, snugly pressing against the other on the couch even though there is enough space (each time she glances over she expects to see them cuddling while watching their movie).

It kind of baffles her that Johnny not only allows it but also initiates it. She hasn't seen him act like this before, except with her. Sometimes Dutch slings his arm around Johnny, almost protectively, and Johnny just beams at him. Other times Johnny leans against Dutch and hooks his head over his shoulder to see what he's doing (he cooks a lot, she figures it's his way to make up for his presence in their apartment).

The two of them seem so happy together, yet they manage to never make her feel excluded. Because Johnny still gives her equally bright smiles, and Dutch asks her mother to teach him all her favorite dishes so he can surprise her after a long day at work. He even helps Miguel with his homework (Johnny calls them both nerds but is unable to hide the fond look in his eyes).

She wonders if she's crazy, if they're nothing more than really good friends, if she's imagining the looks of adoration, the tension, between them.

Then, on the thirteenth evening of Dutch's stay (his bag is already packed and Johnny has been moody all day), the three of them end up on the couch together. Johnny's head is in her lap, turned towards the screen although his attention is probably focused on his socked feet, which are on Dutch's lap who is absently stroking and massaging them while staring at the action movie playing.

"Dutch," Carmen starts, and she can feel Johnny tense up. "Johnny and I... we want you to stay. Indefinitely. And we won't take no for an answer. Unless you're sick of us, of course." She adds that last bit with a teasing but careful smile.

She hasn't discussed this with Johnny beforehand, but she doesn't have to. And she finds herself wanting the same thing. This whole situation is unexpected, unorthodox and new, but these days she recognizes good things when they cross her path. She hopes her boldness will pay off and that Dutch won't be too stubborn to decline. Because if he says 'yes' they'll have all the time in the world to figure this all out. Together.

Sorry about that cliffhanger haha. I looove Dutch x Johnny and was thinking about it happening during Cobra Kai, and suddenly this ship came to me. Lemme know if you're feeling it too!

[mr-ribbit]

so idk why I keep putting posts here about it but idk how to bring it up in any other setting

my dad got checked into the hospital about two weeks ago after a fall, with additional complications from alcoholism as they realized he had fallen after having 800% the driving alcohol limit in his blood test. after which they determined his liver is absolutely fucked and dying and a bunch of other shit too. he didn't just Fall, he fell which made them realize he was in a near deadly body shutdown

a year ago he almost had a heart attack also related to this and he lied to my mom about quitting and started drinking again.

ive had a bad relationship with him for a long time and I've always known he's an alcoholic, but apparently he's been drinking at least a 24 pack of beer a day +hard liquor my mom can't keep track of. and that's just been happening for who knows how long now. he drives around (presumably not sober) in the morning when my mom's asleep to go buy more in secret.

they are putting him through detox and now he's in a "rehab facility" which I believe is mostly an assisted temporary living place for his injuries/health stuff. when it first happened my mom said they were going to make sure he got into alcoholism classes or counseling or Something to help, and he agreed to it, but now that he's in the facility he's saying he wants to go home and I'm 99% sure he's going to ignore any advice he agreed to before

or maybe he won't and he'll get better. which is great. but idk my bad relationship isn't just bc of the drinking it's bc of years of shitty behavior, verbal abuse, and other stuff. so like my mom's asking me to come see him and coddle him and be nice and I'm like. why the fuck should I, my brother already does and pretends he doesn't know about all the bad stuff and enables all of this behavior.

i finally said like yea ill come see him to tell him how I feel about this, and if he's promising to get sober then maybe I'll visit more. but now my mom is lording this over me to make me come and celebrate my fucking birthday with them in the hospital and when I tried to say that sounded awful she got super manipulative and crazy at me

and idk there's a bunch of other shit involved that I don't want to get into here but no matter how many boundaries I try to set or whatever my mom just calls back and pretends to be surprised when I'm not happy that she's pressuring me to do the thing I said no to already

I told her I wanted to tell him the next time I see him that I'm not gonna keep visiting him if he ever drinks again. I don't want to watch him die in front of me and I don't want to become his full caretaker, like he's trying to do to my brother who apparently gets calls at 2am a few times a year now bc my dad fell drunk in the night and couldn't get up. and apparently he's just been DOING that and no one's been drawing any lines or getting him help or telling him to stop or anything. they just keep saying "you know how he is" and I'm like. I fucking do which is why I refuse to come to christmas with him anymore, it's why I hate being around the family, it's why I have disorders

but now they're using my literal birthday as ??? bait to manipulate me, bc apparently MY birthday is about MY PARENTS because they CELEBRATE HAVING ME and I'm a fucking TERRIBLE PERSON if I say I don't want to fucking open presents and pretend to smile and laugh and eat cake in front of them while my dad refuses to address the fact that he almost killed himself 2 weeks ago

[aspenmissing]

𝙰𝚜𝚢𝚕𝚞𝚖 (𝙿𝚝 𝟷)

"No, Dad was in California when we last heard from him. We just thought...he comes to you for'munitions. 'Maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything," Sam says into the phone. Dean and Y/N are sitting off to the side, talking.

"Kay."

"Thanks."

"You bet." Sam puts the phone down and looks at Dean and Y/N.

"Caleb hasn't heard from him." Y/N asks.

"Nope. And neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim. What about the journal? Anything leads in there?"

"No, same as last time I looked. Nothing I can make out...I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like friggin' Yoda."

"You know, maybe we should call Feds. File a missing person's."

"We've talked about this. Dad will be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail," Dean says.

"I don't care anymore." Y/N's phone then rings. She crosses the room. "After all that happened back in Kansas, I mean...he should've been there, Dean. You and Y/N said it yourselves. You try to call him and... nothing?"

"We know!" She rummages through her duffel. "Where the hell is my phone?"

"You know, he could be dead for all we know," Sam says.

"Don't say that! He's not dead! He's-he's..."

"He's what? He's hiding? He's busy?" Y/N finds her phone and flicks it open.

"Huh. I don't believe it." Y/N says quietly.

"What?" Sam asks.

"It's, uh...It's a text message. It's coordinates."

==

A while later, Dean is typing on the laptop.

"You think Dad was texting us?" Sam asks.

"He's given us coordinates before," Dean replies.

"The man can barely work a toaster, Dean."

"Sam, it's good news! It means he's okay, or alive at least."

"Well, was there a number on the caller ID?"

"Nah, it said 'unknown,'" Y/N says.

"Well, where do the coordinates point?" Sam asks.

"That's the interesting part. Rockford, Illinois."

"Ok, and that's interesting, how?"

"I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this. This cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth, blows his brains out. And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum."

"Okay, I'm not following. What has this to do with us?"

"Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal. Let's see..." Y/N says grabbing the journal and skipping through the pages. "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths—till last week at least. I think this is where he wants us to go." Sam snorts.

"This is a job...Dad wants us to work a job."

"Well, maybe we'll meet up with him? Maybe he's there?"

"Maybe he's not? I mean, he could be sending us there, by ourselves, to hunt this thing."

"Who cares! If he wants us there, it's good enough for me." Dean says.

"This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting? The coordinates?" Sam asks.

"Sam! Dad's telling us to go somewhere; we're going." Sam gives Dean a bitchface and then looks at Y/N with his famous puppy dog eyes, but she shrugs.

==

"You're Daniel Gunderson. You're a cop, right?" Dean asks, walking over to a man who's sitting at a table.

"Yeah," Daniel replies.

"Huh. I'm, uh, Nigel Tufnel, The Chicago Tribune. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions about your partner?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm just tryin' to have a beer here."

"That's okay; I swear it won't take that long. I just want to get the story in your words."

"A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair. Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me here?"

"Sorry. But I need to know what happened." Sam walks in, pushing Dean aside roughly.

"Hey buddy, why don't you leave the poor guy alone? The man's an officer! Why don't you show a little respect?" Y/N then comes over.

"Woah! What the hell, man? Don't push my brother. Nigel! Come on, we're getting out of here." Dean pauses, staring, then walks away, following Y/N.

"You didn't have to do that," Daniel says.

"Yeah, of course I did. That guy's a serious jerk. If it wasn't for his sister, there was no telling what I would have done. Let me buy you a beer, huh?" Sam looks at the barman. "Two?"

"Thanks."

==

Sam walks out of the bar and over to Dean and Y/N, who are sitting on the hood of the Impala.

"Shoved me kind of hard in there, buddy boy," Dean says.

"I had to sell it, didn't I? It's method acting."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"What'd you find out from Gunderson?" Y/N asks.

"So, Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-keeled, he had a bright future ahead of him."

"What about home?"

"He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody, but he was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids," Sam says.

"Alright, so either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him."

"Right."

"What'd Gunderson tell you about the asylum?" Dean asks.

"A lot."

==

Arriving at the asylum, Sam, Y/N, and Dean jump over the tall chain linked fence at the asylum and enter.

"So apparently the cops chased the kids here.... into the south wing," Sam indicates, indicating a sign over one door.

"South wing, huh? Wait a second," Y/N flips through John's journal. "1972. Three kids broke into the south wing; only one survived. Way, he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place."

"So, whatever's going on, the south wing is the heart of it."

"But if the kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren't there a tonne more deaths?" Dean says. Sam looks around, and he notices the broken chain.

"It looks like the doors are usually chained. Could've been chained up for years."

"Yeah, to keep people out...Or to keep something in," Y/N says. The three look at each other, then Sam slowly pushes the door open. They walk down a hallway.

"Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel," Dean says.

"Dude, enough."

"I'm serious. You gotta be careful, all right? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you got going on."

"I told you, it's not ESP! I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams."

"Yeah, whatever. Don't ask, don't tell."

"You get any reading on that thing or not?" Sam asks.

"Nope. Of course, it doesn't mean no one's home."

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day."

"Yeah, the freaks come out at night."

"Yeah."

"Hey Sam, who do you think is the hotter psychic: Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?" Sam pushes Dean, who laughs, joined by Y/N.

==

"Man. Electro-shock. Lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest," Dean makes crazy eyes and grins at Sam and Y/N. She elbows him, smiling, whereas Sam ignores him, and Dean's smile drops. They look around some more.

"So Whaddaya think? Ghosts possessing people?" Y/N asks.

"Maybe. Or maybe it's more like Amityville, or the Smurl haunting."

"Spirits are driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in The Shining," Dean says, grinning.

"Dean," Sam says, making Dean look at him. "When are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"About the fact that Dad's not here."

"Oh. I see. How 'bout...never."

"I'm being serious, man. He sent us here..."

"So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here; he obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later," Dean says.

"It doesn't matter what he wants."

"See. That attitude? Right there? That is why we always get the extra cookie," Dean says, gesturing between himself and Y/N.

"Dad could be in trouble; we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about."

"We understand that, Sam, but he's given us an order," Y/N says.

"So, what? Do we have to always follow Dad's orders?"

"Of course we do," Sam says, giving Dean a frustrated face. Dean stares at him, then turns away, ending the conversation. Y/N gives Sam a sad look and also turns around. "'Sanford Ellicott'... You know what we have to do. We have to find out more about the south wing. See if something happened here," Dean and Y/N walk away, leaving the sign with Sam, who stares down at it with a bitchface.

==

Sam sits on a couch, flicking through a magazine. A man comes to the open door. The sign on the door reads, 'Dr. James Ellicott, Clinical Psychiatry'"

"Sam Winchester?"

"That's me."

"Come on in." The two move into another room.

"Thanks again for seeing me at the at the last minute. Dr... Ellicott. Ellicott, that name. Wasn't there a... a Dr. Sanford Ellicott? Yeah, he was a chief psychiatrist somewhere," Sam says, looking around the room.

"My father was chief of staff at the old Roosevelt Asylum. How did you know?"

"Ah. Well, I'm sort of a local history buff. Hey, wasn't there an incident or something? In the hospital, I guess. In the south wing, right?"

"We're on your dollar, Sam. We're here to talk about you."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Sure."

"So. How's things?" Ellicott asks.

"Ah, things are good, doctor."

"Good. Whatcha been doing?"

"Ahh, same old. I just been on a road trip with my brother and sister."

"Was that fun?" There's a long pause.

"Loads. Umm. You know, we...ahh...we...met...a lot of...interesting people. I did a lot of... interesting things... ahhh. You know? What was it exactly that happened in the south wing? I forget..."

"Look, if you're a local history buff, you know all about the Roosevelt riot."

"The riot. Well, no. I know. I'm just curious."

"Sam. Let's cut the bull, shall we? You're avoiding the subject."

"What subject?" Sam asks.

"You. Now I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all about the Roosevelt riot if you tell me something honest about yourself. Like, uh, this brother and sister you're road-tripping with. How do you feel about them?" Sam looks a little freaked out.

==

Outside Dean is leaning against the glass window next to the door, and Y/N is next to him, both looking bored. Sam walks past; the twins catch up and match his pace.

"Dude! You were in there forever. What the hell were you talking about?" Y/N asks.

"Just the hospital, you know."

"And...?"

"And the south wing? It's where they housed the really hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane."

"Sounds crazy," Dean says.

"Yeah. And one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff. Attacked each other."

"So, the patients took over the asylum?" Dean asks.

"Apparently."

"Any deaths?"

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott," Sam says.

"Whaddaya mean, never recovered?" Y/N asks, looking confused.

"Cops scoured every inch of the place, but I guess the patients must've stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden."

"That's grim."

"Yeah. So, they transferred all the remaining patients and closed the hospital down."

"So, to sum it up, we've got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies."

"And a bunch of angry spirits."

"Good times. Let's check out the hospital tonight."

==

Back at the entrance of the asylum Sam pushed the door, with Dean and Y/N beside him. Sam is holding a video camera; Y/N's got a flashlight; and Dean has an EMF metre.

"Getting readings?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, big time."

"This place is orbing like crazy."

"Probably multiple spirits out and about."

"And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting..."

"We gotta find 'em and burn 'em. Just be careful, though. The only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed-off spirit... is the pissed-off spirit of a psycho killer." They keep walking. The three keep looking and move into separate rooms. After a minute, Sam sees an old woman through the video lens.

"Dean?! Y/N?!" Sam shouts. The twins run into the room, Dean rummaging in his bag at the same time. "Shotgun!"

"Sam, get down!" Dean shouts. Sam throws himself on the ground. Dean shoots the woman, and she disintegrates. They look around, gasping.

"That was weird," Sam says.

"Yeah. You're telling us," Dean says. Dean starts moving out of the room, followed by Y/N, then Sam.

"No, Dean, I mean, it was weird that she didn't attack me."

"I looked pretty aggro from where I was standing."

"She didn't hurt me. She didn't even try! So, if she didn't want to hurt me, then what did she want?" A noise comes from a room they are passing. Dean immediately raises his shotgun, Y/N flicks on the torch and shines it into the room, and Sam stands between the two. They approach a metal bed covered in a ragged sheet on its side. They see the top of a blond head behind it. They brace themselves. Sam reaches out and tips the bed over to see a girl crouched facing the corner. She spins around, terrified and gasping.

"It's alright; we're not going to hurt you. It's okay. What's your name?"

"Katherine. Kat."

"Okay. I'm Dean; this is Sam and Y/N."

"What are you doing here!?" Sam asks.

"Um. My boyfriend, Gavin."

"Is he here?" Y/N asks.

"Somewhere. He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just...you know. Pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and..."

"Alright. Kat? Come on. Sam's going to get you out of here, and then we're gonna find your boyfriend."

"No! No. I'm not going to leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you."

"It's no joke around here, okay. It's dangerous," Dean says.

"That's why I gotta find him." Dean, Y/N, and Sam look at each other. Sam shrugs.

"Alright, I guess we're going to split up then. Let's go," Dean says.

[mimimariet]

Vent art.

At least that's the truest thing my ex ever said lmao.

This is.. long. And not all of it. But just some of the important things I feel like sharing.

Being in love really does just blind you from all the red flags your partner displays. My friends hated him. They also witnessed the abuse and I was just like "oh nah this is normal he's always like this! He means well, he's such a sweetie! He loves me!" Meanwhile I'm getting emotionally abused and neglected being absolutely blinded.. I said yes to marrying this dude. I'm embarrassed.  And it's gonna take me so long to recover from the mental damage. "I talk to everyone the same way I talk to you!" and I have people saying "uh, no?"

 "I don't want to be perceived as a bad person!" and then treats me like shit behind closed doors. 

Every single time I cleaned he shat on me about it "You call this clean, Marie? This is disgusting. If you're gonna clean dishes, just don't. Stick to the easy things." He sent me voice clips to intimidate me. I told him I wanted a ukulele and he sent me like 10 minutes of voice clips saying "no you waste your money Marie you don't use the shit you ever buy for yourself!" and then at the same time "It's your money you can do as you please I don't care what you buy but I know you're not gonna use it."  I'll never be able to forget the cruel words and way he treated me. I can probably heal from it, and I could wish him dead. I would love to see him get the help he needs but that's a damn joke.  "My mom was right, we're not financially compatible. She always said "wine taste but beer money."" The end of our relationship being a "trial run, welcome to a real relationship, Marie. This is what it's like." and then taking a dig at.. my upbringing? My family?? How I was raised?? "I never once gaslit you Marie. I never once made you feel like you were crazy."

"It's not you, it's me." and then blaming me for "bad timing" anytime he wanted to do anything with me when I was in a depressive episode from something HE would always cause. He never wanted to leave the house. He promised me all these things we'd do when I'd move all the way from Florida to bumfuck Illinois. I don't hate where I live. I hate that I got lied to that things would be different. "You can heal in the environment you got sick in" and then just made me sicker. The engagement ring he got me didn't fit. It was his idea to get me a new one. Who paid for it? My credit card. It took him 2 years to pay me back the $375 that was spent on it. 2 YEARS. He made me feel so undesirable.  "Marie it really hurts ME when you say you're unattractive, cause you are. You're fucking gorgeous!" and then proceeds to never touch me. Lol. A whole year without intimacy. Only recently had it dawned on me just how manipulative he was. "I was gonna ask for sexy times but you're upset so maybe another time." It happened EVERY time I was down in the dumps. He said "I dunno if it's you or me who has bad timing." Go to hell. There's another thing I could say but that's his problem that I won't just share to the public. But even then, he never did anything he said he'd do to resolve that. More lies, anything to keep me with him. "You need to learn how to cope." he said to me when we haven't had alone time in months and I was upset about it. 

There was a segment in the H3 Podcast where they announced looking for artists for Teddy Fresh. He told me about it and said I should apply. I asked later about my resume and he said "Oh.. I didn't think you'd actually do it. I dunno." Very supportive partner he was! 

"When you're in Illinois we're gonna get you health insurance, we're gonna get you a car and your license" and then "I suck as a teacher, my dad's gonna teach you." and he handled all my medical stuff. When I transferred to Circle K up here I had to quit, cause management was super toxic.  We worked at the same store and the manager would tell him how she was going to fire me cause I was an awful employee. So I sought out a new job.. and during that.. "You're gonna get your GED Marie!" and he brings home a math book to go over fractions with me. "I don't want to get my GED." "Well how are you going to get a better job??" and when I ended things, YES I ENDED THINGS IT WAS NOT MUTUAL. "Maybe I didn't push you (for the GED) hard enough or maybe I pushed you too hard.." is what he had to say.

I owned a lot of clothes. He bitched at me when I first moved here and said "You were supposed to DOWNSIZE Marie! I just had surgery, my grandpa has a bad hip and this is too much shit!" and so I got rid of my stuff. "I never wanted you to get rid of your stuff, I know you love clothes and stuff" or whatever he said to me post breakup. Are you kidding me?! "I have so much anxiety Marie! I'm a minimalist! This is too much!"

We never went out and kept the love alive. We'd go out to dinner and I'd mostly pay and I guess to him that was emasculating? "I hate that you always have to pay. How do you think that makes me feel as a partner that can't pay for dinner for his wife??" "It's okay I don't mind paying." "I know you don't." We went out I could probably count on my fingers the times.. Cause "it hurts to drive long distances Marie. I never feel good. I don't have the spoons, Marie. My legs hurt when I drive too long. I have anxiety." 

"Why not get help for your anxiety?" "I don't like the way the medication makes me feel!!! Stop asking me. It pisses me off."

Turns out he had "emergency" anti-anxiety meds for a program at his job. No anxiety meds for Chicago, though.

"I'd take a bullet for you, but not go to Chicago. I'd go to PEORIA, but NOT Chicago." For internalized racism reasons as I learned. I get it, black people are sooOoOoOoOOoo scary. They're rare where we live. It's so fucking WHITE in this town! I was told I was going to get TRAFFICKED if I walked by myself at night time. Cause "You're rare, you're Puerto Rican. You'd go for a lot of money. Hahaha." What partner says that? Oh yeah, him. I hope he never gets into another relationship. For the sake of the girl. Try to understand, this was a once in a lifetime event. I won a spot in Kesha's listening party in Chicago. I sobbed I cried I choked on my own spit begging him to go with him. He has NO experience in Chicago so he says "well according to x who lives there, depending on the area, it's BAD. Chicago's BAD." I understood that the timing sucked, the event was on Mother's Day. Y'know, a holiday I don't believe should be a big deal if you truly love your mother every day should be Mother's Day. Also Kesha was there. I got to meet her. A photo with her. I was able to talk to her. I wanted to find out if her PO Box was still available but he rushed me to leave "Marie my blood sugar is super low I'm gonna throw up we HAVE to leave I HAVE TO EAT. Marie come on. Get the LYFT. I don't feel good." at the end of the trip, after the deep dish pizza and the nice hotel, he suggested we take time off to visit Chicago again.. to see more things.. Mind you we argued prior about even going in the first place..?  

I have him blocked, but I archived our messenger messages. That includes all the voice clips. I don't know why that was his go to. He also has a smart phone with voice to text, but as I said, he used voice messages to intimidate me. It'd be 5 minutes at a time of just voice clips that could've been a text. "It's just faster than typing, sometimes it hurts to type." I'm disabled, too.. I get it.. but he merely did it so he could raise his voice and have a shitty tone with me. All. the time. If I were a truly evil person those voice clips would see the public. I'm only a little evil with telling my story here. I guess.

I mentioned the tone issue several times and had to eventually give up cause "I talk to everyone the way I talk to you. My mom, my sister, my friends." but I never witnessed that. His mother, yes. Not his friends, though. He'd say to me anytime I'd get upset, "I'm quite literally tone deaf, Marie." "Well you don't talk to your patrons the way you talk to me??" He had to tell me that he comes home to unwind, cause he puts up that fake customer service personality. Where was the good boyfriend personality? He told me anytime that I was acting distant he was quietly sobbing in the bedroom alone. He was so worried about me and our relationship.. But proceeded to do nothing about it. I was merely his property. Someone to demean and control. He couldn't though. I'm no ones property. Sorry! 

In June we adopted Gold. She's forever a kitten at heart. Callie hated her, as expected with a new animal in the house. Callie was hostile. Isaac said he was going to give up and we'd have to return Gold cause it wasn't working out. He sobbed on Facebook asking for reassurance and then bitched at me saying how I wasn't reassuring him. Sir, you got that on Facebook. You're standing here yelling at me about the cats not getting along. Why would I want to respond to that? I was sobbing on the floor with Gold rubbing all over me. But it was my fault I wasn't comforting the man yelling at me. Meanwhile another mutual of ours prior to all this had also adopted a new cat and the original cat was doing the same shit. Everything he'd say in confidence to me, but never the people he spoke shit about by the way.  "I got you this cat to make YOU happy. I mean yeah I wanted another cat, too.." 

For my birthday all I asked for was an Icee. "I forgot."  He came home with flowers and candy, but i was coming to greet him at the door and he yelled at me "DON'T LOOK. STOP. LEAVE." to surprise me with what he got. Which I would get but that's how he usually "spoke" to me. 

"Despite my short comings, I do pretty good right?!" with candy, a ghost plushie, and flowers. "I'll get you an Icee tomorrow." It was 2 days later.  Which sounds petty but when that's all you ask for and get told "Oh I forgot." as if I'm not known for being the Icee Queen of the last 20 years of my online presence. 

"I don't want to be perceived as a bad person." The simple solution is to be a good person? He would say "your mom is nice, but she's not kind." He was also indirectly describing himself anytime he said that. 

There were a few times when he'd be in a bad mood and completely shut down, refusing to talk to me. He'd isolate, but I was never allowed to do that. Cause as he said before, word for word "you need to learn how to cope." 

"You say I need therapy but what about you!?" 

"Didn't you tell me you were doing behavioral stuff for BPD??"

Just turned back to me "but you need therapy, too, Marie!!"

It's weird to remember him saying we'd need couples therapy before we ever got married. Was he foreshadowing things? Was he actually aware of the problems? Or was it just me? I had the problems, there was nothing wrong with him. 

I rarely argued back at this man. There was one moment I was having issues with my ebay account and bank being linked together. As he's going off on me about how the bank does this weird shit all while opening my mail and reading me what was in it. I think that was the only time I snapped at him. I said "DON'T. OPEN. MY MAIL." and it stuck to him.. but not permanently. He opened mail addressed to me from my aunt. Gifts. I was in the other room and he's opening and spoiling the surprise. And then telling me "we can't use these bed sheets with the pillow topper. We'll have to donate them." Any gifts I got that are no longer in my possession was not up to me. I barely had any say in what we did as a couple.

"Our parents are gonna move to Florida and we'll get the house! But (his brother) will still be living in the basement." I wasn't okay with that. "We don't have much of a choice Marie. We can't afford that house on our own. He'd be splitting rent with us." I didn't want another person living in the basement if we were a married couple.. y'know, I'd like whatever imaginary privacy together. "He keeps to himself we won't even know he's there half the time." It was a "too bad" situation that I had no say. 

I want my own house. "With peace and love, good luck getting a house with the housing market." Going to prove him wrong while he still lives in his parents basement. "I'm gonna save up and get a studio apartment." 

"You can keep the promise ring. Cause I will always love you." I'm unsure what to do with it, as I still have it in my possession. "We'll always be best friends." I don't want to be best friends with an abuser. Emotional abuse is still abuse. It's fucked with my brain. I was mistreated so much by friends and family. I didn't deserve any of this.  "I fucked up. You deserved better." Is the truest shit he's ever said to me. I doubt he ever loved me. He just loved the idea of having someone put up with him. He knew he was unbearable. Blame it on his ADHD or whatever. I don't have the full story, but I do remember his ex girlfriend saying he was abusive, too. I only knew of what he'd tell me.  And that she hated me haha. I didn't push or question it, but now I've lived it. Almost 5 years of a "trial run" relationship. "You've never been in an actual relationship, so congrats. This was the trial run! This is what it's like to live with someone!"  

Then there was my doctors appointment. The stress had my A1C at a 6.6. My doctor said she could see the light fade from my eyes. I told Isaac what was said. He was just quiet about it. He knew he was the problem. He just had nothing to say. And the stress was the main factor. My A1C now is 6.2 5 months post breakup. So uh. Yeah. Plus probably from cutting out the amount of rice as this man only knew how to make rice dishes. 

Speaking of dishes, I'd try and learn recipes. I'd make meals and I'd offer him some food to sample. I wanted to grow as a cook as I'm just a beginner and he always makes meals. Most of the time he refused and would say "I can't force myself to eat something I don't want, Marie. I'll throw up. I will literally throw it up." Instead of anything normal like just trying a bite or saying "no thanks I'm not hungry." It had to be "If I'm not hungry for it I will get sick!" He was.. overdramatic a good chunk of our relationship. I remember being in Florida while we were still long distance, I mentioned Dominoes cause the store was closed and I was ordering food. He mentioned him having an eating disorder when I said he needed to try my favorite thing from there, the garlic parm bites. It was a voice clip as you'd expect over messenger. That "I can't eat something I don't want, I will puke it up. I have an eating disorder." I don't know how true that is. Him having an ED. A lot of the time I just got quiet and gave up. There was no point in talking to him when he would shut down like this.

The final straw was me falling in love with someone else. I wanted to attempt polyamory but "those lips are mine. And that pussy is mine." He also gave up once he realized I fell for someone else. I even told him the day I was questioning my feelings and he thanked me for being honest. But then he questioned if I cheated on him during that time. I'm sure his friends and family got a different story. His dad says polyamory is cheating. His mom scolded him for getting into a relationship with someone whos polyamorous. No fault of mine, he knew this before we got together. I was in a poly with my ex overseas and a girl of 3 months. More toxicity there! I just love red flags!

So there I am. Just vibing in a field of red flags. Cause they're just so charming. And I'm a fool. But I'll get better. I just don't know how long that'll take me. He is still haunting me in my dreams. I never want to see him or his family again. 

[callsign-joyride]

Maybe some fluff of Hangman making fun of rooster for being single…only for him to bring his wife and kids to the Hard Deck the next day.

Piano Man | B.R.B.

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x wife!reader

Content warnings: Just pure fluff

"Come on, Bradshaw. When's the last time you've bought someone a drink? You're so single that it's kind of embarrassing," Hangman said.

"Ease up, Bagman. You bring a different girl home every night. The walls are pretty thin, you know," Coyote said.

Everyone laughed and started joking at Hangman's expense. It only got funnier as Hondo and Maverick joined in on the fun. Some of the things that were said had Fanboy and Bob laughing so hard that they were crying, it was that funny.

"This was fun but I gotta go. I'm so tired," Bradley said. Everyone seemed to buy his excuse, but Phoenix knew that he had to get home to you and Nick.

"Hey, you're meeting us at The Hard Deck tomorrow night, right?" Payback asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh cool. Hey, bring a lady!" Hangman teased. Bradley chuckled and grabbed his stuff before leaving the base and heading home.

You were working on dinner while Nick was playing in the living room. There were times that you could've sworn Nick was a genius. This was one of those times. The driveway wasn't visible from the living room window, but you laughed to yourself as Nick exclaimed that his dad was home and stood in front of the door. You smiled when the door opened and Bradley picked Nick up.

"Oh, you'll love this. Nick, what did you say at preschool today?" You asked during dinner.

"I said fuck!"

When you had picked him up earlier in the day, the conversation with the preschool teacher didn't really surprise you. You couldn't say that you were mad, either. You and Bradley rarely argued, but even when you did, you didn't cuss at each other. Bradley almost choked on his beer from laughing.

"Oh my God. Did he say it at someone?"

"No, she said that he dropped a toy and that's why he said it. I tried so hard not to laugh. We really need to be careful about what we say around him."

A few hours later, Nick was in bed and you were watching a reality show with Bradley.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" He asked.

"Sure."

"So, Hangman was making fun of me earlier. Said that it's embarrassing that I've never picked anyone up from the bar. Everyone is meeting there tomorrow night, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me. I'm sure Nick could go, too."

"Brad, he's four. I've never seen a four-year-old in a bar."

"Hey, I grew up going to tons of bars with my parents and Mav. Look, I know that you have social anxiety. I won't drink and we'll leave when you want to leave. That sound good?"

"Yeah, I'm okay with that."

That was how the three of you ended up in a bar. Well, you weren't in the bar yet. You were still in the Bronco. Bradley figured that it would be better if you got there early, just so that walking through a crowded bar wouldn't overwhelm you and Nick. Bradley smiled as he saw Phoenix and Bob pull up together, and you felt comforted to know that you weren't going to be the only woman there.

The three of you went inside and greeted Penny. Bradley had shown you pictures of the Dagger Squad, so you recognized everyone who walked in. Nick and Bradley were standing near the piano, and you ordered yourself a water before going over to them.

"Who's the lady, Bradshaw?" Hangman asked. Bradley waived you over and put his arm around you.

"This is my wife. And my son is over there with Phoenix."

You couldn't help but laugh as you saw Hangman go slack-jawed. You saw Maverick walk in and smiled in his direction. Rooster and Phoenix stood by the piano, and you watched as he sat Nick in front of him. Phoenix unplugged the jukebox and Rooster started to play the beginning of Piano Man by Billy Joel.

"Hey, Rooster, you big stud!" You yelled.

"That's me, honey!"

"Take me to bed or lose me forever."

With a chuckle, Rooster said, "Show me the way home, honey."

Penny and Maverick had been looking in your direction, and Phoenix snapped a quick photo as you went over and sat on Rooster's lap. Maverick was starting to tear up as he watched the three of you have your moment.

The three of you didn't leave until shortly after dark because Nick wanted to play on the beach. Rooster put everyone's shoes in the Bronco and he laughed as you and Nick chased him down the beach, eventually tackling him.

Taglist:

@littlebadariell @jakexfmc @luckyladycreator2 @idontcare-11