#did lots of thinking today (I was in the freezer all day at work)

[southislandwren]

1) Boytoy thinks the October Incident is the main factor of my nightmares but I was having nightmares (albeit less frequently) BEFORE the October Incident. 2) the reason I have such bad separation anxiety is directly linked to getting onto that plane on March 23rd 2021, and in order to get over my separation anxiety I have to process the worst day of my life, which will never ever happen

[ridingthatd]

✧༺ CRAZY CHOSO

chosoxfem!reader, nsfw, heavy smut, possessive choso, crazy choso, choso eating it out

choso stare down at his phone, his heart is empty, he feels like it isn't even here anymore- you stole it from him. you stole it from him a week ago, the day you decided to break up after a heated argument, and what bothers choso the most is that- he knows, he knows it his fault, you have always been patient with him, you have always showed your love to him- showered him with it.

even when- choso heart tightened, even when he never did- tears swell his eyes, even when all you received was a cold hearted jerk who doesn't know how to love, choso choke on his breath, tears running down his eyes- it finally hit him like a truck, after he finally lost you, after you finally realized he isn't worth your love, reality hit him.

he can't breath, fuck he can't breath, choso grab a hold of his dark locks, tugging them hard, fuck how could he- how could he treat his baby like this, how could he never say a simple i love you, even when you said it hundreds, thousands, millions times to him, even as- he chokes on his sobs, even as you left this door, your final word was "I love you, choso" and he didn't even go after you he just stood there, staring at you dumbfounded, why couldn't he just return your i love yous, is he this fucking much of a loser to be embarrassed to show his love to you?

the house was so quite without you, the only sounds that filled it was his choked sobs, he feels like he'll throw up, choso hurriedly made his way toward the kitchen to grab a cup of water- but what catch his attention as he was opening the freezer, is the sticky notes- your sticky notes, that you never forgot to leave for choso everytime he left to work, his hands shakily grabs into one of them.

"hope you enjoy the lunch i made you love ya :p".

a tear runs down his face.

"i left you some sweets today, even if you don't like them eat them love yaaaaa >:(".

another tear roll down.

he clenchs them against his heart- the heart that is bleeding sorrow, he slides down the fridge, hitting the cold kitchen floor.

it's been a week since you left choso, for a break as you're calling it, you sigh even though it's only been a week you miss your grumpy man. even though he might be cold in front of other peoples eyes- to you he was just a comfort person- a comfort pillow, cuddling him every time you can, choso was like the comfort blanket that people keep with them from childhood- no matter what other people say, you still love your little comfort blanket- your choso.

you look outside the window, it was raining, you couldn't help but think about how you would be cuddling with choso right now in this rainy day- while you tell him to read you whatever book he has in his hands, you listen to his rough voice, while he gently stroke his hand down your spine, putting you to sleep.

you wipe your tears immediately once you hear a knock on your door, you frown making your way to see who is it, at such weather, you were stunned to see chosos wet figure at your door, his clothes were snugged into him from being wet, his hair was dripping a few dots of water down his face, and your heart clenchs as you stare at his blood shot eyes.

"choso-"

he didn't mutter any words, he just simply held you up by your hips grabbing you so hard that you're sure that it will leave red marks on your sensitive skin later on. placing your heavy thighs on his board shoulder like they weight nothing, his face making direct contact with your bare pussy- regretting masturbating and forgetting to put your panties on.

"what are you doing?"

you couldn't finish your sentence because he's already shoving his tongue up your pussy, sucking, licking the juice from the orgasm you had an hour ago, an orgasm you had thinking about him, he clearly wasn't here to talk- he was here to do a lot more than talking.

it's been a week since you had something this good on sucking on your clit- something as good as chosos tongue, suckling on your clit like it's a nipple- like he's trying to get milk out of it- but the only difference is that he isn't trying to get milk, but he's trying to rip an orgasm out of your cunt.

and of course he did, you grasp hard on his long black hair, gasping out to the ceiling, arching your pussy into his mouth, making sure he drinks all of your juice and he glady do. like a starved man who hasn't had water for day, and your pussy was a river of water for him.

you look at him, thinking he will let you go by now, but he didn't, he keeps his face shoved into your pussy, it drives you crazy the way his nose brush against your clit everytime he breaths.

"could put me down, please?"

he clearly had no intentions of putting you down anytime soon, because he selfishly licks, slurps at every drip of arousal that leave you. you weren't sure what to do, you always knew that choso was obsessive in his own way, but you only got to experience a bit of it, but now that you left him you're sure it triggered a part of him that you've never seen before. he keeps sniffing, trialling his nose on your clit, wetting his face with your wet cunt.

"darling" you moan out.

he simply lock his lips on clit again sucking on it, his eyes are closed as if he's a youngling sucking, his long eyelashs tickling your belly, ripping a giggle out of you, making him finally look at you, with his red-puffy lips wet from your juice.

"can you put me down now?"

he pulled you from his shoulders but kept you in his arms. as he led you into the bedroom, glancing at your underwear that you left on the floor. choso placed you on the bed and pressed you against it with his body. he was cornering you, engaging in some primal display of possessiveness that he never showed you before.

his hands were roaming around your body, he was clearly trying to in print you again, feel your warm skin against his hands again, he keeps his face inside of your neck rubbing his face on it, as he stroke his hand from your thighs to your ass, just to make his way to your breast, as soon as he feels the fabric of your bra- he doesn't like it one bit, so he simply rip it off, out of his way.

cold air hit your nipples making them harden, he trails his face from your neck slowly to your breast, brushing his lips softly against your nipples, breathing in but not taking it inside of his mouth. he just wanted to feel you, feel your skin against his again, because he clearly thought he won't get to feel that ever again.

your heart clenchs at the thought of what he might have felt, the feeling of being left all alone, choso never acted like this before- right now he's acting like a baby he never was able to act like, he was always putting a hard on act.

you quickly snatch his head closer to your body, holding him close, so close that you can listen to his pluse "it's okay baby, I won't ever leave you again."

you can feel it pick up, quick, clearly affected by your words, you smile knowing it always made him shy whenever you called him baby no matter how many times you say it, he still gets frustrated. he doesn't say anything, he just look up at you, before he opens his mouth that was brushing against your nipple and place it inside his mouth, his tongue was quick to circle the bud.

"we- we should really talk about..."

he makes sure to coat both of your nipples with his silvia, leaving your nipples all swollen and red, before he picks you by your hips again and placing you on his, clearly didn't have enough.

you were suffocating his face. again. choso was a 6 feet big guy, so that clearly didn't bother him.

he kept on slurping on your pussy, till it's silk with your orgasm and his silvia, making sure to print your taste against his tongue so it will last for weeks.

"okay," you panted, your sweaty forehead now resting on the cool sheets, while your defeated cunt hovered over his mouth.

"we need to talk now. you've spent half the day licking me."

but the only words choso mutter out were- "sleep now" he horsely says. as he snuggle his face into your boobs, you were about to complain till you felt wet drops slide down your cleavage, you shut your lips together, gently stroking his hair pushing him further into you.

but choso didn't have any intentions of sleeping because you feel his rough, huge hands make their way toward your wet pussy drenched with your orgasm and his saliva. he slowly warped his lips around your nipples, drawing circles with his tongue.

you felt him tug his pants down, as he frees his huge leaking cock out of it, he slowly shove his cock inside of your tight cunt and he couldn't help whimpering on your nipples, missing your warm, wet pussy.

"shh it's okay baby, I'm here- I'm here" you whine out, drunk on the feeling of being stuffed with his cock.

it only takes him a few rock of his hips before he's spilling his hot cum inside of you, you thought he was gonna pull out- he didn't he kept his cock inside of you all night, while your nipples brushed against his lips as he softly breath out, sleeping in your embrace.

you can feel him get hard again inside of you every once in awhile so he just jults awake, stare at your nipples with hazy eyes before he takes your fat hard nub into his mouth, suckling, biting on it while he start rocking his cock into your already cum filled pussy, till he fill it again, fall asleep and the process repeat till the next morning.

[userlando]

✧･ﾟ 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥

steve murphy x female!reader summary ⤍ work is piling on, bogotá is suffering from a heatwave and all you want is steve murphy. warnings ⤍ 18+ (mdni), co-workers to lovers, explicit language & smut, public sex, unprotected sex (piv) a/n ⤍ surprise surprise, of course i'd circle back to steve murphy some day. hope i made it justice. prob won't be the last i write of him since this was a lot of fun, so hope you enjoy this one lovies <3

It was brain meltingly hot in the office today, perspiration on your forehead and bra uncomfortably pinching your torso, to the point where it was almost antagonising you. It had been hot the moment you got out of bed this morning, and it hadn’t gotten any better throughout the day even though you’d opted to stay back in the office and work on the mountain of stacked papers that only seemed to grow by the hour on your desk.

You’d think that the heatwave would settle when people had begun to filter out, emptying the office space little by little. But the sun was still shining tauntingly through the windows and the floor fans were doing their best to keep up.

You glared at said fans, watching them spin round and round with the occasional squeal. A sigh escaped your lips as you leaned back against your chair, ignoring the discomfort of your shirt sticking to your back and reaching out for the nearest folder you could use to fan yourself with. The people in the office could really use an extra two swipes of deodorant and cut back on the cigarettes. The odours were starting to settle in your nose in the most unpleasant way and you didn’t know how much longer you could stand it.

It was clear that you weren’t going to get much work done anymore, but you’d be damned if you stepped foot outside the building with the sun still beating down on the city of Bogotá and you had a feeling that your apartment wasn’t much better than… this. It had too many large windows with afternoon sun.

Your freezer contained ice lollies though, something you’d craved all day. And your apartment offered you the liberty of wearing a long tank top with no pants and no bra. But it didn’t have Steve Murphy.

Steve Murphy, who was sitting across from you with his back leaned against his chair in a similar position to yours. He was reading from a folder, eyebrows tightly knit the way they always got when he was concentrating and you took a moment to silently admire the arch of his nose and the inviting pink of his lips. His hair had been styled halfheartedly in the morning, but it was now sticking up from running his fingers through it and the strand were clumped up together from the sweat and moisture in the air. Nobody made sweating look as good as Steve did. It should’ve pissed you off but it was a sight for sore eyes.

Your thoughts stuttered to a halt when he stuck a chewed up pen in his mouth and bit into it, looking a little annoyed all of a sudden and you knew he’d finally given up on making sense of the endless amount of scripts and documents you’d spent the last three days pouring through. Carrillo was truly a closeted sadist for assigning you so much work to go through in such little time.

There was a small clearing of a throat from the side and you glanced to the left, feeling like a kid who’d gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Javier wasn’t looking at you, but there was a small smile playing on his lips that let you know that he’d definitely caught you ogling the blond man sitting in front of you. You reached your leg out and kicked him in the shin, earning a startled yelp from him and a questioning glance from Steve.

“Sorry,” you said with no remorse in your voice. “Muscle spasm.”

Javier narrowed his eyes at you like he could see right through your bullshit, flicking a stack of papers on his desk before picking some new ones up to read through. You could’ve bet a few bucks that he wasn’t reading through them as intently as he had been two hours ago. His mind had already checked out for the day, as had yours. You couldn’t blame him.

The three of you worked in moderate silence and the occasional annoyed grunt and comment thrown into the air, for the next hour. The sun was finally starting to set, casting shadows in the moderately empty office but you were getting more agitated by the second.

The heat was getting to you and fucking Steve couldn’t stop chewing his lip and touching his neck.

It all took you back to that one godforsaken night a few weeks ago. You’d gone out with the two of them for a drink, and Javier had wandered off at some point; Mumbling something about getting laid. And he’d subsequently left the two of you alone at the bar with more drinks in your systems than necessary and sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

You’d sworn to never involve work and pleasure when you transferred to Colombia to work on catching the drug lord, and yet you’d found yourself pressed up against a wall in the far back of the bar and your tongue shoved down your partners throat. The taste of whiskey on his tongue had been intoxicating, everything about him had been irresistible. But it had been a one time thing, that’s where you set your boundary and Steve had respected it in his own way. He hadn’t tried anything with you, but there had been the occasional eye contact and suggestive comment. You’d be a filthy liar if you said you didn’t enjoy it just a tiny bit.

You must’ve started fidgeting in your chair because you caught Steve glancing up, not picking his head up from where it was slumped. The sight of him looking at you through his lashes made something in your stomach squirm.

“What?” You mouthed, biting the inside of your lip when his lips transformed into a smirk. It was like he could read your thoughts in your eyes. “Fucker.”

His smile got wider somehow, and he quickly managed to tamper it down when Javier suddenly sighed loudly. You both turned your gazed toward him, just in time to watch how he stood up from his chair and picked up a few folders.

“Need to make copies.” He explained, as if one of you had asked him. Javier didn’t need your permission though, nonchalantly grabbing his blazer and walking out of the room and you had a feeling that was the last you’d see of him for tonight.

You glanced back at Steve to catch him already staring at you, and you tried to not feel so self-conscious about the way your hair was probably a damp mess and your face sweaty. It looked good on Steve, but you couldn’t pull it off like he did.

“You done with that?” He asked, like you hadn’t been having a staring contest and you gave him a questioning arch of the eyebrows until he clarified by nodding at a folder by your arm.

“Have at it.” You sighed, handing it over to him before standing up from your chair.

It scraped against the floor and you glanced around to see if you’d disturbed anyone with the obnoxious sound. Aside from a few officers on the other side of the room, it was completely empty. And that made something redhot run through your blood.

You walked over to the water tank to fill your mug up with water cold enough to give you a brain freeze, thinking about maybe taking off and going home. Javier had once again left you alone with Murphy, and the heat was melting the last of your common sense.

There had been one close call where Carrillo had paired you and Steve together for a stakeout; monitoring a warehouse on the outskirts for any signs of drug transportations, but you’d smoothly gotten out of it and had Peña jump in instead. There was no telling what would happen if they put you and Steve in a car during the night with nothing but the two of you to keep each other company.

It wasn’t like the two of you hadn’t been friends before the bar incident, it was quite the opposite. Being a woman in this field was tough, but Steve had - along with Javi - welcomed you like his own surprisingly quickly.

There were only so many times you could carpool and watch a shitty movie cuddled up on the couch before you started treading over dangerous water. A phone call home didn’t bring you the same comfort as greasy food on the couch after a long day of chasing ghosts and criminals. It was easy to feel homesick when alone, so it was a good thing that you had your partners a few doors down if you ever needed them.

“It’s way too fucking hot to work.” Steve complained and you gave a laugh with a nod. He flicked the papers onto the desk and leaned all the way back on his chair and you took that as a sign that he - much like you - was done with work.

You rounded the corner of the desk and tried not stare too hard at his arms when he reached up to rest his hands on the back of his head. His biceps were bulging a little too invitingly, and you had to shake yourself as you perched on the edge of his desk. There was no mistaking his wandering gaze as he slowly looked up your legs, to your upper body until he reached your eyes and you raised your eyebrows to show him that you’d caught him looking.

He didn’t seem too embarrassed though, judging by the slow smile forming on his face.

“Might be time to call it for tonight.” You said, glancing around the half-empty office. “Not like we’re gonna make any more progress than we’ve done today.”

Steve made a sound in his throat like he agreed with your sentiment, happily accepting the mug of water when you handed it to him. You watched him take a sip, throat bobbing as he swallowed and you suddenly felt a little too hot under your clothes.

“D’you wanna head over to mine? Grab a beer and just kick back.” He asked, glancing up at you and you nodded slowly.

“Sure.” You watched him stand up, shuffling papers and folders around in a poor attempt to organise his desk before giving up and reaching for a packet of cigarettes. He stuck one between his teeth and lit it up. “Do you think Javi will be back?”

Steve looked at you with an are you serious? look, and you tried not to think about how hot he looked with a cigarette hanging from between his lips. Cocky looked so good on him.

“You’re lucky if you see him any more today.” He replied, grabbing his jacket and pushing in his chair.

You made a sound of agreement and walked around the desk, picking your bag up and showing a few folders inside it before the both of you were set to go home.

It couldn’t have been in your head, the tension in the air as the both of you walked out of the office. It felt like you were barely hanging onto a thread and it seemed to grow even thinner when the blond man touched your waist as he let you pass by him first through a doorway.

The two of you locked eyes for a split second and that confirmed everything that you needed to know. And that’s what you used as an excuse as your eyes flickered back and forth until you found a door that you knew lead to a documentation room, not hesitating for a split second as you reached your hand back and blindly grabbed Steve’s hand in yours.

He let you lead him way too easily, your hand shaking a little as you turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. And that’s when Steve took over, putting more of his body weight on your back to help you get into the room faster. You didn’t think of how unethical it was, or how it was such a bad idea to hook up once again with your partner at your workplace, of all places.

You didn’t even think of how absolutely stifling it was in the small room, too focused on the way Steve was staring you down like a predator eyeing it’s prey. He closed the door and turned the lock without taking his eyes off of you, and it was dark but not dark enough for you to miss the smirk playing on his lips as he walked you backwards.

You reached your hands out to grab at his disheveled tie, yanking hard enough for a breath to escape his lips before you settled your mouth over his in a heated kiss. There was a loud bang as he placed a hand flat against the metal drawers by your head to keep himself from stumbling into you, a moan creeping its way up his throat and you revelled in the taste of his tongue.

It was warm inside, suffocating really, but you needed more. You needed him closer and on you. He didn’t have any problems with complying when you snuck an arm around his torso and had the other one grab at his hair, turning your head slightly so he could lick deeper into your mouth.

You could taste the coffee he’d been sipping on a few hours ago and smell his aftershave that transported you back to that night at the bar where you’d been in a position just like this. He slid his mouth down your cheek, jaw and pressed sucking kisses and licks against the side of your throat. It was hard to stay still when the sharpness of his moustache hairs pricked and scratched your sensitive flesh.

“Fuck, always smell so good, baby.” He was panting, and so were you.

There was no doubt that he could feel your heart beating in your throat, right under his lips where he was definitely sucking a mark that wasn’t gonna fade within the next week. It should’ve made you furious, because that meant scarves and long collars in this unbearable weather but it only made you keen and pull him in closer. The thought of him marking you up for your co-workers to see, for Javier to give off that infuriatingly smug grin and for Steve to proudly parade around; Knowing he did that.

You were a proud woman, having worked your ass off to get where you were today and you’d be damned if you were to be seen as someone other than their own person. But something about fooling around with Steve; Breaking the obvious unspoken rule that wasn’t really a rule. Not really. Rules were hardly a thing to follow within these walls if they weren’t reinforced by the colonel himself.

“Steve, you better fuck me now or I’ll scream.” You tried to sound threatening, but your voice sounded too breathy and it only made Steve laugh like he knew he had you right where he wanted you.

“So needy,” he whispered, pulling his head up to look at you and you reached forward to steal a kiss from his lips that he was all too happy to give. Hearing and feeling him sigh happily against you made your stomach feel like it was bottoming out, all the feelings you’d been trying to hold in, spilling out.

He brought his hands to the front of your torso, squeezing at the swell of your tits over your shirt and sliding his hands down your quivering stomach until he got to the button of your jeans, letting out a noise of frustration. You watched him unbutton your jeans with a smile, taking your chance to grab at his messy hair and tilt his head to the side so you could kiss the delicate skin of his neck.

You didn’t see it, but you could feel his hands falter where they were struggling to unbutton your jeans, his head throwing back for a few seconds like he was trying to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. You could’ve taken mercy on him and help him get you out of your pants, but it was a little too enjoyable for you to kiss and nibble at his throat and earlobe. You’d only hooked up twice now, but it didn’t take a genius to find his sweet spot seeing as it was right beneath his ear.

“Couldn’t have worn a damn skirt.” You heard him mutter as he crouched and you grinned.

“Not very —“

“Practical. Yeah, I know. So you’ve said.” You couldn’t see his eyes, but you could hear the eye roll in his voice and it made you smile even harder. Steve could be an asshole, but you’d be damned liar if you said that he wasn’t a good listener.

He finally pulled back and yanked your jeans down your legs, crouching down to help you out of them, one leg at a time. You ran your fingers through his hair and almost recoiled when he glanced up at you from his crouched position; Caught off-guard by the softness in them. The blue of his eyes made something fierce squeeze in your chest and you let out a small whimper when he leaned forward to press a gentle kiss between your legs, over your panties.

You watched him kiss his way up, and it felt like coming home when he finally reached your lips and pried then open with his own. There was no doubt that the man could kiss, and you loved every second of it.

It made you jump a little when he pulled your panties to the side, the pads of his fingers swiping through the mess that he’d created. He let out a shuddered breath against your lips and rocked back just far enough to look at you without the both of you going crosseyed.

“I don’t have a condom on me.” He murmured, and if you’d looked hard enough then you would’ve seen remorse in the blue of his eyes.

You tried to collect your thoughts but it was difficult when his fingers were circling your clit. Your hands grabbed at his shirt, and you wouldn’t be surprised if you ripped a hole in it.

“I’m on the pill,” you said, feeling your cheeks heat up a little as his eyebrows climbed on his forehead. “And I’m clean. I trust you.”

He searched your eyes for a moment, and it would’ve almost been tender if it wasn’t for the fact that he got two fingers up your cunt and was fucking into you like he was testing out how wet you were.

It felt like an eternity when he finally nodded, offering you a small smile and a quick kiss.

“I’m clean too.” He pushed his fingers deep, making you gasp and buck into him. “And there hasn’t been anyone else after you. Or even before you.”

The implication was there, and you revelled in his confession because those had been thoughts that had been plaguing you for a hot moment. Javi had his line of women to call and you didn’t know if that was the case for Steve. You spent a lot of time together outside of work, but there were still gaps in time where he could’ve hooked up with whomever he pleased. This job was hard and it put a whole lot of pressure on your shoulders, so much so that the average person would cave from it. It was only normal to seek basic human intimacy and lose yourself in it, even if it was only for a night or an hour.

It made your belly turn a little sour whenever you thought of it, you just didn’t want to admit it out loud because that would somehow make it seem real. Make your feelings for him real. You weren’t sure what that meant.

Crossing the line with your partner a second time went against everything you’d believed in. You never wanted to get involved with anyone like this because your work was dangerous enough, add a person you cared for into the mix and it made it even more terrifying.

“Hey, you with me?” Steve’s gentle voice brought you back from your inner turmoil and you blinked at him, giving him a nod.

“Yeah, I’m here.” You replied, giving him a small smile when his lips turned up in reassurance. “Come on, I’m ready. Fuck me please, Steve.”

Steve groaned like he’d never heard anything sweeter, pulling his fingers out and bringing them up between you. He didn’t even hesitate to slip his digits inside his mouth to clean them off and you felt your entire body heat up at the crude sight. It reminded you of all the nights where you’d go out to grab a bite after work and he’d be licking his fingers clean from frying oil and grease. You’d found it a turn on then, and it certainly was a turn on now.

“You’re an asshole.” You giggled at the filthy smile playing on his lips, getting your hands on his trousers and unbuttoning them.

You glanced between the two of you and stuck your hand inside his underwear to fish him out, heartbeat picking up at the weight and warmth of him in your hands. You could hear him breathing against the side of your head, pressing his lips against your temple and making a piss poor attempt of stifling his moan when you got a good grip on him and slid your hand to the base.

“Feel so good in my hand, Steve.” You hummed, closing your eyes and marvelling in the press of his body when his hand started giving out to the weight. He was moaning quietly into your ear, voice rough and raspy as you jacked him off. “Can’t wait to feel it inside of me.”

He hummed out a drawn out groan, bending a little at the knees to get a good grip on your right thigh and hauling it up over his hip. The new angle allowed him to nudge against you and you gasped, leaning into it.

You were too busy looking between the two of you, and you didn’t register his other hand sliding up to cup your cheek until you were staring right into his eyes in the darkness. He was observing you, you realised. The moment felt a little too intimate to have in a decrepit room after office hours, but you didn’t dare to look away from his gaze.

His thumb ran over the bottom of your lip. “You okay?”

You couldn’t help but smile, nodding your head to show him that yeah, of course you’re okay.

“I’m more than okay. Now, come on before the janitor makes his rounds.” You urged him, earning a startled laugh from the man.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded, gripping himself and leaning a little more of his weight against you so he could notch right against your hole.

Your eyes fluttered closed when he pressed in, feeling him filling you up quicker than you expected but there was something about the burn that made you want more. So you didn’t protest, only gripping his shoulders tighter until he bottomed out.

Steve was watching your face the entire time, eyes struggling to stay open because fuck, the heat and the tightness of you gripping him made him feel like he’d died and entered the pearly gates of whatever heaven existed. The small hitches in your breathing was like music to him, and he longed for the day he could get you in his bed and fuck you properly until he had you moaning without the fear of being caught.

You were a loud one, that’s what he’d garnered from the one occasion you’d hooked up. But you were still holding back and he could tell by the way you gnawed at your lips and bit incomplete circles into his shoulders that did fuck all to silence your pretty sounds.

“That’s it, sweetheart.” He murmured in encouragement when he started thrusting, hips meeting yours in the awkward angle but he knew he was hitting something good and deep inside of you. It was written all over your face. “Clenchin’ up so nicely around me. What a pretty sight you are.”

“Steve.” You moaned, treading your fingers in the strands of his damp hair and bringing his mouth to yours in a sloppy kiss.

It was all teeth and tongue, noses bumping and teeth knocking but it made you weak in the knees all the same. You indulged yourself for a few moments, letting yourself get lost in his taste and touch before breaking the kiss, leaning your forehead against his and watching him through blurry eyes as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Seeing Steve lost in the feeling, hips working against yours and arms grabbing at you to keep you steady and hold you close was a marvel to see. You weren’t sure if you’d ever get tired of the little pinched expression on his face when something felt particularly good for him; How his mouth would drop open into a little O and his eyebrows would draw together. Kind of like how they did when he’d sit across from you at your desks while he struggled to read Spanish.

Your stomach was knotting up, the telltale sign of your end nearing and you let go of his shoulder with one hand to shove it between your bodies and hook your hand into your panties.

The touch of your fingers against your clit made you clench, which made Steve’s thrust stutter and his breath get punched out of him.

“Keep going,” he encouraged you, nodding his head and jostling your head in the process form where it was leaned against his. “Touch yourself for me, wanna feel you come.”

It was cliché, and ridiculous how fast you neared the edge of oblivion at the whispered words he was speaking against your mouth. They sounded so demanding, breathless and absolutely filthy.

There was a second of desperation where the two of you clung to each other, his hips bruising yours and his hands no doubt leaving marks as he pulled you tight to his body. Your hand cramped up and you had just enough time to lean toward his shoulder and bite down before you were sent over the edge with a muffled shout.

You heard a distinct guttural moan, and you couldn’t tell if it was coming from you or Steve thanks to the sound of the blood rushing in your ears. But you could absolutely feel how he buried himself inside of you and let himself go, your already sensitive body shaking where it was slumped against his.

There was no telling who was holding up who, but you suspected that he was doing the brunt of the work because you couldn’t feel your fucking legs and your mouth was still open against his shoulder. You picked your head up when your senses slowly started seeking back into your body, making a sound in your throat when you realised that you’d been drooling.

Steve tilted his head to the side at the noise, gaze following yours and he let out an exhausted laugh.

“Is it weird if I find that hot?” He asked, voice hoarse and low and you laughed.

“Shut up,” you winced as he slowly let your leg back down on the grimy floor, slipping out of you in the process. “Oh, gross.”

Steve snorted, cupping a hand against your cheek and pressing a kiss against the side of your head. You bit back a smile at the tender gesture, busying yourself with adjusting your underwear so you didn’t have to look at him.

He didn’t say anything as the both of you got cleaned up as best you could, redressing yourselves and you didn’t want to chance a glance at him just yet. You didn’t know what you’d find written on his face; whatever emotion or expression it would hold. You weren’t quite ready to face it just yet.

You watched his back as he walked up to the door, eyebrows raising in amusement when he cracked the door open and peeked outside into the hallway. He must’ve deemed it clear, because he slid it open and stepped to the side, reaching a hand out to gesture you to get a move on.

You didn’t waste any time to slip back outside again, the hallway feeling much cooler than the stifling confines of the documentation room. There was nothing you craved more than a shower at that moment, feeling sticky all over. And the fact that you were absolutely ruining what was left to salvage of your underwear.

“Are we still on for that beer?” Steve asked, distracting you from your wandering thoughts and you glanced at him from the corner of your eye.

His hair was looking worse for wear, cheeks flushed and lips bitten raw and pink. There was no way that anyone could take a look at you and not think that you’d been screwing each others brains out. You almost feared looking in a mirror, afraid of what you’d find in terms of marks and scratches.

“I hope you have some at your place because all I have is milk.” You replied, earning a small shoulder bump from the man next to you.

“I’ve got you.” He opened the door leading the way out to the street. “Besides, I’ve got better fans in my apartment.”

You couldn’t argue with that. Yours was only days away from falling apart into pieces. You just hoped that yours wouldn’t break down tonight when this heatwave was still active and raging. You’d actually cry.

Steve unlocked his door and opened the passenger door for you, regarding you with a look in his eyes that made you stop in your tracks.

“What?”

“Would you wanna stay over tonight?” He asked, forehead wrinkling and your eyebrows raised.

He looked almost nervous. Uncertain. Like he didn’t know whether you were going to blow him off or take him up on his offer. It made you pause as you searched his face, and you didn’t know why you suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of adoration but it made your knees shake a little.

“You mean sleep in your bed?” You asked, voice lilting into a teasing tone and it made Steve smirk.

You watched him tilt his head back and forth, as if he was unsure but the smile on his lips was playful and it made you feel a little giddy.

“Amongst other things.” He replied and you laughed.

“Scandalous.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, tongue in cheek as he struggled to refrain from smiling too big. You turned and started to climb into his truck, the sound of a loud smack making you let out a loud yelp. You didn’t even register the slight pain in your asscheeks until you’d turned fully and sat down on the seat; Realising that he’d just slapped you.

“You’re a sleaze, y’know that?” You glared at him, but Steve only grinned like he was proud of himself.

He pushed the door open even wider and crowded your space, sliding his hands up your cheeks to cup them and bring your face to his. You blinked up at him, a little breathless at the sight of his blue eyes so close up to yours.

“You still like me, don’t you?” He murmured, corner of his lips tugging and you couldn’t help but press a kiss against it; Watching it transform into a smile.

“Just a little.” You lied, earning a longer kiss from him.

“I’ll take that.”

[russellsppttemplates]

I'm with you all the way (Mick Schumacher)

Baby Aurora is ready to make her entrance to the world

Note: english is not my first language. this is another long piece that I hope you enjoy (I've had this one planned for a bit and I'm so happy I'm finally publishing it)! Also, of you're looking for more pieces of dad!Mick, I also have some pieces on my masterlist where they become a family of four and some other moments too! (You can read the latest one here!)

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

my masterlist

Tw: pregnancy and childbirth

Your night routine, especially when Mick was home, had turned into a ritual that he would not do without. Like so, you were laying on the bed already, having done your skincare and brushed your teeth, your loose pyjama top resting just under your boobs while Mick also got ready.

Grabbing the bottle of bump oil, he dosed the right amount on this hands and spread the product on your skin, "you know, today was the last day at the factory before winter break, and everyone was hoping you'd pay them a visit as soon as it was possible. And you got some gifts too, we now have a few team onesies for you, and they also said they would get a pair of headphones ready for when you attend your first race", he smiled kissing the skin above your belly button, "I'm sure that's going to be an eventful day", you chipped in. This routine had been pretty early on and it always allowed Mick to feel closer to his babygirl. He would usually tell her all about his day, random thoughts he had and discussions you would have about certain topics, "did you feel okay today?", he asked, laying his head near your bump but looking up at you, "yes, I mean, at this stage there's always a degree of discomfort, but I've been okay. Spent most of the day changing a few things around and I also cooked a big batch of food to put in the freezer", you added, brushing his blond hairs with your fingers.

You think you managed to sleep about four hours until you were woken up from the pain on your hips and your lower back. They were once than cramps but still tolerable, yet they were keeping you from sleeping all way through the night. They became a lot more frequent, around forty minutes between each of them, leaving you like you were standing on a tightrope: you'd be woken up from the pressure, it would relieve and you'd do your best to fall asleep, only to be woken up by the pressure again and repeat the cycle.

By the time morning rolled around, Mick woke up at his regular hour, turning to face you, "good morning, liebling", he croaked out, his hand landing on your bump with soft strokes, "morning, my love", you yawned, "I did not sleep all that well, I think I might cut out of watching you work out today", you apologised, "it's okay. Take sometime to rest, yeah?", he cuddled you for a little, "but what happened?".

Appreciating the way his body heat was feeling against your skin, you snuggled further into him, fingers tracing shapes on his chest, "I have this pressure on my hips and lower back, I don't even know if they're contractions. In my head, it makes sense that I would feel those in my belly, right? Because of how the baby is coming out? I don't know, I just know I barely slept", you pouted, feeling Mick's lips on your forehead, "maybe it's just some Braxton-Hick contractions", he mumbled, moving his hand to soothe the areas you had complained about.

When you got up to use the toilet in hopes of going back to bed when you noticed some blood, making you finish your business and meet Mick in the home gym, "I thought you were going to sleep? Are you alright?", he wondered, not expecting to see you there, "I had a tiny bit of blood on my underwear and I have just texted my OB about it, maybe it is my mucous plug? And those were in fact real contractions, so maybe there's that", you told him, "but I feel fine, like any other day, Rora has kicked and everything, no now we just wait", you finished, grabbing a comfy chair you had in the gym for the purpose of sitting while your husband worked out. A lovely view, one might had.

"What did she say?", Mick questioned as he set the weight back on the stand, having heard the notification on your phone going off, "she is advising that we go to the hospital to get checked out, and that she'll call me later", you read, setting your phone down, "so maybe after this, we have breakfast and then you pack the rest of your things?", you suggested, earning a nod from Mick, "I can finish now, there's no need to-", your husband began tidying up, "no need for that. I'm feeling fine, genuinely. And, besides, you were just going to do some squats, right? Mama wants to see that", you giggled, tapping his butt when he walked past you, shaking his head from side to side at your comment.

Despite the initial hurry Mick felt, you were able to do things like you normally would, commenting many times how you actually felt pretty okay and if you should really go to the emergency room, "better be safe than sorry, liebling", Mick offered as he finished putting the last things on his hospital bag, "I'm packed, do you need me to get you anything from upstairs?", he asked one last time before he went upstairs to get the phone chargers.

When you go the hospital, you went straight to the CTG room where they would monitor the contractions and the baby's heartrate, talking to Mick and every healthcare professional that walked in time to time just to check that everything was okay, "is it painful?", your husband asked, "a little bit of pain comes whenever I feel the pressure, but other than that, it's the same as any day", you explained, squeezing his hand that was holding yours.

When the doctor on call looked at the paper that was coming out of the machine, she decided to do an observational exam, "your cervix is still in a posterior position, and it's closed still. You are in early labour, yes, and you did very well in coming here today, but this is going to take a few days. You've only had two contractions while you were here as well. So maybe next week something should occur", she smiled.

"Is there anything we can do now?", Mick asked, a little bit more relieved that everything was fine, "just take this time to rest", she offered, bidding you goodbye as you, too, made your way back home.

Back home, you and Mick spent the afternoon in the sofa, only getting up when you needed the bathroom or when you wanted to eat or drink water, Angie cuddled up next to you. While the pain remained at the same tolerable level, it was around dinner time that you began to feel it around every 20 minutes.

The night had proven to be even harder. If you had only slept a little bit the previous night, tonight you couldn't sleep at all. The contractions were coming along every four to ten minutes, and the pain had increased significantly. You went to sleep at ten at night, given your tiredness, and now three hours later, you were past the point of not wanting to bother Mick, "Mick, my love, wake up please", you called, shaking his body softly and firmly at the same time, seeing him open his eyes, "what's wrong?", he croaked out, "I can't sleep because the pain just got a lot lot worse, and I don't think I can be here. And I'm probably in labour", you muttered between another contraction, "let's go then", he said, getting up and helping you up too, putting on something a little more decent other than pyjama shorts and a sleeping gown for you.

The bags had ready been in the car from your trip this morning, making Mick only grab the chargers and head out with you, "Angie, mama is going to the hospital, and by the looks of it, your sister will be home soon", you held the dog's snout on your hands before kissing her, almost noticing weariness in her eyes, after all, her humans were not usually up at this time of the day. "Shall we go then?", Mick asked, guiding you to the car after petting the dog's head.

Driving to the hospital was fine, your body recoiling a little bit whenever you felt another contraction, "we're nearly there, liebling", your husband conforted, his hand squeezing yours on top of your thigh. Sensing his worry, you looked to calm him down a little, "Hey,", you squeezed him hand back , "So far everything is good, and we're finally gonna meet this little lady. So until we have to, let's not worry, okay?", you finished as he parked near the entrance of the hospital, "I can walk from here".

Mick flashed you his dashing smile, leaving his side and going around the car to help you out once he put on the backpack and slung the other bag over his shoulder, "Let's go then", he said, somehow managing to lock the car and support your lower back, along with the bags, along to the door.

Your midwife, Caroline, was already waiting for you at the entrance, "I was just going to ask if you needed help, but you look like you're just fine!", the older women exclaimed once she saw Mick, "perks of being an athete, I guess", he chuckled nervously, "where do we sign in?", he asked once he sat you in one of the wheelchairs as comfortable as you could be.

"Hi liebling, how are you handling it?", he asked as soon as he walked inside the room after filling in all the paperwork, seeing you already in a hospital gown and your OB typing things on her iPad, "I'm good, they're getting stronger, but I'm handling it, I think", you smiled, happy to have him back with you. "Hi, everyone. Sorry, I just came in and didn't even greet everyone", he blushed, "That's okay, don't worry. Like I said to Y/N, she is 4 fingers dilated, so this little one is coming out today", she smiled, "if you need anything, please call someone, okay?", she said before herself and the rest of the team eventually left you two in the room.

"I hate seeing you like this", Mick mumbled against your skin, kissing your sweaty forehead, "it's part of the job, but yes, if there was a way I could give you some of this discomfort, I would give you since you're offering", you said back, chuckling a little before groaning at another contraction, opening your eyes when it finished when you noticed two yoga balls, "I want to go on the ball, I want to try it", you pointed, your husband promptly helping you to do so and grabbing the second one so he could sit and be at your eye level, "I love you, Y/N", he said once he got comfortable, holding your hands in his as you rocked your hips from side to side, "I love you too, so much, Mick. We're finally going to meet our babygirl", you said, "we are, my love. And it's all because of you", he recognised, gulping when he saw you bracing yourself for another contraction, "it took the two of us to do the deed", you attempted to pull a smile out of him, failing by a small margin as only the corners of his lips lifted up and smiled a tight lipped one, "yet you're the one-", he attempted but you shushed him, "None of that. You're being amazing, and I would like some kisses and I don't fancy them if they're not from you", you smirked, seeing him smile a genuine one this time.

Later, you wanted to move to the bed as the tiredness began washing over your body. If this was what happened after two sleepless night, the newborn phase was going to be interesting to go through.

"Here, careful, I'll call someone, yes?", Mick said, the crease between his eyebrows back on his handsome face. The room door opened and Caroline walked in, "how are we doing, Y/N?", she asked softly, approaching you, "I'm okay-ish, they're picking up now, like a lot", you mentioned, "Mick was just about to call someone", you yelped.

"It's 5 am, so you could be going along well. Let me check you, please", she urged, helping you scoot down down on the bed, "okay, you're about 8 to 9 fingers dilated, good job Y/N!".

"You're doing so well, liebling", he mumbled against your skin, "I'm going to check with the OB, but looking how this is going, you should expect to be wheeled into the birthing room in an hour or so", she smiled, typing the new informations on her iPad before leaving you two.

You opened your arms, your husband taking the hint immediately and sitting on the edge of the be, one leg next to your while the other supported him on the floor, his hands soothing your pains around your hips and back area, "does your bump hurt?", he asked as he scattered a few kissed everywhere he could reach, "I don't think I can tell apart the areas where it hurts, it's just my whole torso", you said and immediately regretted it, sensing his tension grow at his helplessness, "but your hands are doing a good job at distracting me, and I appreciate that a lot", you soothed him, hopefully, the feel of his fingers and his scent calming your own body despite everything that was going on.

Between shared affections, words of encouragement and even a video call from Corinna, the time came for you to be wheeled into the birthing room, doctors and nurses ready to.

Your body was urging you to push and you complied. Holding Mick's hand, he helped your support your torso when your strenght was giving out, "C'mon, Y/N, you're doing an incredible job!", Caroline urged you while Mick mumbled into your ear, "a few more pushes and Aurora will be here with us", he encouraged, "you're doing so well, my love, I'm amazed at you".

It took you three big pushes until your baby girl was out in the world. Leaning back against the pillow, you felt Mick kiss the side of your head until your senses focused on the new noise, a high pitch scream from your daughter, "she's here, Y/N, congratulations mama and papa", Caroline said as she placed the baby on your chest.

A head full of blond hair, the softest of chubby cheeks ever and eyes wide open just taking in the world around her, quietly calming down as soon as she felt your skin on her. You briefly looked at Mick and, like you, tears were running down his face as he kept caressing your shoulders and whispering praises and "thank you"s on your ear, his finger coming up to touch his daughter's soft cheek.

"Look at her, she's so tiny", you whispered, kissing the top of her head and looking at your husband again, kissing his lips chastely while the medical team waited for you to deliver the placenta, checking if everything was going like it was supposed to.

After a few minutes of admiring her, Caroline approached you, "you're all set, Y/N, everything looks good and it should heal nicely. Now, we need to take this little lady to check everything with her, okay?", she asked as one of the nurses held out her arms, making your extend your own so she could grab her.

Mick looked at you like you hung the moon and the stars just for him on a regular basis, but at that moment, it was more than that. You gave him the start of his own family, a little girl who had captured his heart the moment you told him you were expecting and new opportunities to form memories.

"I love you so much. Thank you for not letting me give up", you whispered and you kissed his hand that was caressing your cheek and brushing the hairs out of your eyes, "You've made me a father, there's, again, no words to thank you for that".

Seeing your husband holding the baby your love created really was a whole thing. Hormones were flying around since you had given birth, and now back in the room, watchinh your husband being the most attentive ever to your little girl was the last drop. While Caroline checked your vitals and made sure everything was healing nicely, you couldn't stop looking at Mick walking around with Aurora tucked into his chest, his hands holding her against him while he spoke soflty, "and after Opa Michael, there's Oma Corinna, she has been so excited since she knew you were coming, she's going to be enamoured of you, I just know it. I think she's making her way here, actually", he smiled as he turned to you, seeinh you nod, "they're going to spoil you so much, little one", he said before placing a kiss on top of his daughter's head.

"Do you want to do some skin to skin with her? Babies enjoy it a lot, especially when they're this young", Caroline pointed out.

There, that was the last straw, "sure!", Mick said enthusiastically, settling the baby on your chest so he could take his shirt off, "there we go", Caroline helped him place his hands around her small body. And that was a sight you would happily watch all day, every single day, making you grab your phone so you could save the moment forever, "you're both very enamoured with your little one, as expected, so I'm going to leave you. Call if you need anything", Caroline excused herself.

"You know, I'm very happy that she's here safe and sound, but I'm also very happy that my body is preventing me from having another kid right away because right now it sounds great, even though my rational self also knows it would be crazy, doable, but crazy", you mused, looking at Mick and seeing him watch you, "and as I was saying, because mama seems to have forgotten that there are little ears in the room, me and mama are sure to love on you any moment of your life, that is a promise we've made long ago and that we intend to keep forever", he gulped, looking back at you to kiss your forehead, "rest up a little bit, liebling, me and Rora are going to catch up".

[tonberry-yoda]

I would like to request something, More like a comedy/fun/silly request :3

So... Have you ever thought about how would Alastor, Husk, Angel Dust and Lucifer would react to their female s/o calling for them in a visibly mad tone for their complete name from the kitchen?? Maybe them knowing that they didn't thawed the chicken they try and run away from her but she teleports in front of them and tuggs them from the ear (motherly behaviors entered the chat) while saying something like

"Oh, honey, you're not gonna escape from me, and NOW you're gonna clean the house for ONE WEEK"

(in headcanon format please 😌) (also I rode on one of your posts that you got many HH and HB requests so if you wanna ignore this, go ahead I don't really mind, It's your decision ^^)

notes: OMG ANON THIS IS SO FUNNY! sorry this took so long btw, ive had so many requests to get through lol and this is a pretty difficult idea to actually turn into a writing piece, but that's what makes it more fun lol. and dont worry about the too many requests about HH! I just thought it was interesting that i had a lot of fans of the show lol. thanks for the request anon and I really hope you enjoy!! WARNINGS: I left out Lucifer because I don't know too much about him and kept the reader gn because Angel Dust is gay, so I didn't want to make it a female s/o. thanks for the request <333

ALASTOR

this man isnt easily intimidated by anyone

i mean he is the radio demon frrrr

but you?

oh this man is TERRIFIED OF YOU

not when you're lovey dovey, just when you're mad

which to be fair isnt often

but you went to leave the house and pressed a huge kiss onto Alastor's cheek before leaving. You told him that you wanted him to do the dishes while you were away and he gave you a thumbs up telling you that it would get done

but then you get home

and find out that not a single plate was clean

Alastor was relaxing upstairs and you were on the verge of losing

not helpful that you had an awful day on top of it

you called him by his full and complete name from when he was alive and while he was upstairs, he felt chills down his spine

he quickly ran downstairs and realized the mistake he had made a little too late

"do you expect me to do these, Al? you've been sitting on your ass ALL DAY, I am not doing any of this!" You pointed to the huge pile of dished and Alastor felt defeated

he apologized a thousand times and ended up getting them done both clean and fast in record time

and he bought you flowers to apologize

HUSK

you were at work when you remembered you needed the chicken pulled out of the freezer to thaw

you quickly texted husk and asked him to do it and all he sent was a thumbs up emoji

you prayed that he did what he needed to do

you got home in a very chipper mood from your day at work to find no chicken on the counter

you tilted your head and checked all over the kitchen

in the pantry, on the counter, in the cabinets, in the fridge

and finally

in the freezer

you almost lost your shit right then and there

you called Husk down to the kitchen and he walked in, picking at his fingernail before noticing you there

"hey babe, welcome home."

you crossed your arms and he noticed how pissed you look

shit

the chicken

mans went to run off, but you quickly teleported in front of him and grabbed him by the ear

"oh no you dont, mister. where do you think you're going?"

"to my room?" he tried, shrugging

"not on my watch. it looks like you're not only getting me dinner out tonight, but you'll be doing the dishes for three weeks now."

husk sighed, but agreed to your terms. he hated it when you were upset

ANGEL DUST

omg mans is a brat

let me tell you

you wake up in the morning smiling

like so happy that you had the best sleep cuddled against this softie

and then you remember that you have a super important meeting that day

and then you ask angel in the NICEST voice "do you mind getting the dishes out of the way today, love? I have a meeting today."

he shoots you the DIRTIEST look and has the AUDACITY to say "no. im not up for that. Im tired"

and turns away from you

you poke him so hard in the back

"ANGEL!"

"what?!" but he turns to you and recognizes that expression

mans effed up

he apologizes immediately and then tells you that he'll do them

he doesnt end up doing them btw

~~~~~

hazbin hotel masterlist | pinned post @tonberry-yoda

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Stuck Between a Jock and a Metalhead

Summary: Nancy, on a whim, decides to visit Steve at Scoops Ahoy, which leads to her overhearing confessions from Steve that leads her to think about the decisions she's made. A few days later, she decides to come back. She finds him being hit on by the town freak. What's a girl to do? Oh, get stuck in a freezer with the both of them.

@nightmareglitter

Warning: Very Anti Billy Hargrove. Lucas talks about his feelings on the subject like he deserves, too. Angst all around as the kids talk about their feelings.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Chapter Twelve - Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Nancy paced in front of her boyfriends and Robin nervously. The piles of notebooks on the table seemed to be staring at her. They all stood in Steve's mostly clean apartment. There was still a lot of work that needed to be done, like getting a new AC unit and appliances for the kitchen as well as new furniture. In order to do all that, Steve needed a new job. He was managing to cover most of it with the compensation money, but most of it was going towards the furniture. Steve was going to have pay for the AC unit and things for the salon downstairs, which meant getting a job, something he was looking for with Robin.

"Whatcha thinking about, Nancy?" Eddie asked.

"Steve," Nancy replied.

"Aww. Me too. He is looking particularly handsome today," Eddie cooed at him. "Look at those pretty pink lips. I think somebody put on their lip gloss today. Our boyfriend is insanely hot. Stop it, Steven. Distracting Nancy like that. Can't you see she's trying to think?"

"I'm sorry. Next time, I'll put a bag over my head," Steve said sarcastically.

"Well, that's a bit dramatic, but now you're thinking ahead, baby," Eddie said.

"No," Nancy laughed. "I was trying to stop myself from overthinking this whole thing with the kids, so I started thinking about the things that need to get done around here."

"Did it help?" Robin asked.

"I don't think so. Do you think we're doing the right thing here? What if they hate us?" Nancy asked.

"I think what they're going to see is us trying our best to help them get through this," Steve said. "They're probably going to be little assholes about it at first, but they'll come to their senses."

"I hope you're right," Nancy said.

"You're doing the right thing, Nancy," Eddie said. "These kids need people to talk to."

Before they could say anything else, they heard the sounds of footsteps, and then there was a knock on the door. Nancy opened it, and one by one, the kids came in. The only one who was missing was Max.

"No Max?" Nancy asked Lucas.

"Uh, Billy's dad skipped down, so she's helping her mother pack up," Lucas said. "They're moving to Forest Hills."

"That is where we live," El said and smiled before frowning.

"Yeah, kiddo," Eddie said. "Don't feel bad about being excited about seeing your friend more. You're allowed to be happy."

"Okay," El said softly.

"It's going to be right across from you guys. Your uncle is helping them," Lucas said and paused. "Even if that wasn't the case, I'm not sure Max wants to see any of us right now."

"That's understandable," Nancy said.

"Why have thoust summoned a council meeting, milady?" Dustin asked.

"I can see why he's your favorite," Nancy heard Eddie whisper to Steve.

"I thought we should touch base and see how everyone is holding up. We went through a lot of shit recently, and I know it hasn't been easy for me. I just wanted to let everyone know that we're here for you if you need to talk about anything. This is a safe space," Nancy said.

"I'm fine," Mike shrugged.

"You're fine?!" Eddie asked, his eyebrows raised. "Nancy, I think your brother might be a psychopath. I am so sorry you had to find out like this."

"Okay, you don't have to talk about it, but there's no way you came out of it fine," Nancy said, rolling her eyes and ignoring her boyfriend.

"Okay, I don't want to talk about it," Mike said.

"That's okay. Like I said, no one has to talk. We're going to talk, and if someone wants to speak up afterward, then that's okay too," Nancy said.

"I'll go first," Steve said.

"Are you sure?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah," Steve said. "You know, most of the time, I can't sleep now. It was bad before, but never this bad. I lay awake, wondering if the Russians are going to break into my house and come for me or if they're going to come for Dustin and Robin. . . Just everyone I care about. And when I can't go back to sleep from the most God awful nightmare, I go out in my car and drive down everyone's street, just to make sure you guys are safe. And the nightmares. . . I dream that they come for me, and they take me away to a dark place where they take me apart piece by piece. Sometimes, it's the Russians. Sometimes, it's a demogorgon, and sometimes, it's my parents. When I wake up, I have to go out and make sure we're all still here."

"Holy shit, Steve," Eddie muttered and placed a comforting hand on his back, leaning heavily against him.

"I don't know how to make it all better except when I see all of you guys again, and I know you're safe," Steve said. "I know I complain a lot about doing things for you guys, but the truth is I love doing them. You're my family, and my biggest fear is that something will happen to you. I can't let that happen," Steve said.

Dustin suddenly threw himself into Steve’s arms, hugging him tightly.

"It's my fault you got hurt, Steve," Dustin said, sniffling. "I should have left the Russian transmission alone, and you wouldn't have gone down there."

"That's dumb, I made my own choice to go down there, and if we hadn't gone down there, then the others wouldn't have known where to go to shut off the machines," Steve said.

"Hopper died," Dustin sobbed.

"He made his own choice, too," Steve said softly. "He chose to save Hawkins. We wouldn't have made it out of a lot of situations without you."

"Yeah, but we wouldn't have gotten into certain situations if it hadn't been for me like when I tried to keep Dart. What if he had killed my mom and not my cat?" Dustin asked.

"But he didn't," Steve said.

"Sometimes, I have nightmares about him eating mom, my friends, and you. Now, I also dream about the Russians hurting my older brother," Dustin said. "I don't know what I would do if you died because me."

"You are not responsible for what happened. The Russians are and the mad scientist who started all of this," Steve said softly and clutched him tightly to his chest.

"I know it doesn't look like it, but I question myself all the time, and I wonder if I'm making the right decisions," Dustin said.

"We all do that, Dustin," Nancy said softly. "You're not alone in that."

"Even you?" Dustin sniffled.

"Especially me," Nancy said. "I've made decisions that could have the cost the lives of this entire town. I know what it's like to feel responsible for the decisions you've made. The minute you realized that you messed up with Dart, you tried to fix it. I mean, you did it by yourself, and he ended up escaping, but you did try. You ended up reaching out for help, and in doing so, you got a big brother out of it. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is take responsibility and do better rather than stewing in the regret of the decisions you've made. It took me a while to even realize that I messed up. Even longer than you. I still feel like I have so much to make up for. You're not alone in feeling like that, and you're not alone in feeling like everything is your fault either. Just because you were responsible for one thing doesn't mean that you're responsible for another."

Dustin moved from Steve’s arms to Nancy's and hugged her tightly. Nancy sighed and removed his hat to kiss the top of his curls. She put his hat back on his head and pinched his cheeks. Dustin scowled and sat back down. He cracked a smile as he adjusted his hat.

"I feel small," Robin blurted out. "Like, I saw everything, and I just felt so much smaller now that I know what's out there. I just feel like everything in my life doesn't matter, or at least that's what I think, but then it's like maybe it matters even more now, to live your life the way you want to without anyone's expectations bringing you down. Just when I think that I'm going to do that, the feeling of being small comes back, and I think about all those people stuffed inside that fucking monster. It honestly scares me that your life can just be snuffed out like that. If that makes sense."

"It does. On one hand, you want to be true to yourself, but on the other hand, you're afraid that your truth might scare the people you care about most away," Will said. "Even if you know that they wouldn't care, there's still this irrational fear that they might be carrying that secret like the secret you carry."

"Exactly," Robin agreed.

"And at the end of the day, you have to risk trusting them because you want the people in your life to know you," Mike said. "Because you never know, they might understand more than you think."

"And you just have to decide if they're worth the risk," Robin said, smiling at Steve. "It's all about perspective."

For several moments, no one said anything until Lucas started sniffling and shaking his leg.

"What's up, Lucas?" Steve asked.

"I just - no, it's too awful," Lucas sniffed.

"Hey, safe space here," Nancy said. "We're not going to judge you."

"It's just that I'm glad that Max isn't here, that she broke up with me because I'm not sure if I'd be able to look at her if she knew what I was thinking," Lucas said. "There's a part of me that's glad. . . That's glad that Billy is dead because at least he can't hurt anyone anymore. The monsters, they're scary as shit but Billy scared me more than anything else because he wasn't a monster from another dimension. He was just a person who targeted me because of the color of my skin. He held me against the wall, and he threatened to break me. I still have nightmares about him holding me there, and what if Steve hadn't intervened in time? What if he held me to the ground and beat me until I couldn't wake up? Then I dreamed about him going after my dad, my mom, and my sister. He makes me watch and tells me he's going to break us, that we don't belong. . . then I'm back at the Byers again, and he's holding me in the air, threatening to break me as Steve lies dead on the floor. Billy scared me more than anyone or anything because before he got possessed, he was a real monster, and there's more people like him out there who wanted to see people like me dead. It scares the shit out of me. I feel like I should feel bad, though, that he's dead, but I don't. I only feel bad for Max."

"Lucas. . . You're not a bad person for feeling the way that you do. Billy Hargrove was a terror, and you're right. He was a monster. You had every right to be scared of him, and you have a right to be relieved that he's not around to hurt you anymore," Nancy said softly.

"He scared the crap out of me, too. Remember when he tried to run us over and he almost killed Steve? I am super glad he's not around to hurt my friends anymore. Do I feel bad for Max? Yes. Do I feel bad that Billy's gone? No. In my book, that's another bad guy who's not around to hurt our family anymore," Dustin said.

"I felt sad that his father was so mean, and that his mother left him alone, but that does not mean he should act like Papa. I am sad for Max, but I will be glad that he will not be around to hurt Max or any of my friends," El said. "He will not be missed, which is sad, but he made his own choices, and he chose to be bad."

"I'm glad he's gone even more now that I've heard what he's done to you kids. He was a psychopath. You could see it in the eyes. He definitely had it in for my friend, Jeff, which is further proof that he's a racist shithead," Eddie said. "Fucking sexist too."

"See? You're not alone in feeling that way, Lucas. It doesn't mean you're a bad person," Nancy said.

"Then why do I feel bad about not feeling bad?" Lucas asked.

"Because you're a better person than he was," Steve said.

"He saved us, saved El," Lucas said.

"A bad person can do one nice thing his entire life, but it will never make up for all the shitty vile things he's done. . .that takes constant work," Nancy said. "It took El digging in his head to pull out the one shred of decency that he had buried deep inside."

"You can either end the cycle of abuse your parents' beat into you, or you can pass it on. Billy chose to pass it on, man," Steve said. "He had every opportunity to give Max the older brother she deserved, but he waited at the very last minute to do the bare minimum. You're not a bad person, Lucas. Billy was, though."

Steve got up to hug the crying Sinclair, but Erica had beat him to it. She threw her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.

"You're my brother, and you can be such a dumbass but I love you. I'm glad he's not around to hurt you anymore either," Erica said softly.

Lucas sniffled and hugged his sister back just as tightly. Everyone fell quiet as they watched the siblings hug. They sat back down, and the silence continued as they let Lucas mull over what's been said. Nancy pulled out a box of tissues and laid them on the table. Lucas gladly helped himself to some.

"I don't want to move to California," Will blurted out.

"Have you told your mom about that?" Nancy asked.

"No. I know how much she wants to leave, and I get it. She was put through hell here. We all were, but this is our home, too. All of you are here, and what if something happens again? I also don't want to be the one to make my mother miserable here," Will said. "I just wish I had a choice like El did. I want to stay here too."

"I think maybe you should tell your mom that. I think she'd understand about you wanting to stay," Nancy said. "I think she'd be happy with whatever choice you wanted to make."

"I mean, it's not like we'd never see each other again if we did move to California," Will said.

"I don't want you to move either," Mike blurted out. "You're my best friend. You're our best friend. Why does it have to be all the way in California? I mean, can't it be somewhere closer? First, we lost Hopper. Now we're going to have to lose you? You have to lose us? It's not fucking fair?! It's not right! And what about us? What if something happens again? We're just on our own again?! It's not fair!"

Will stood up and pulled Mike into his arms, squeezing him. Mike sobbed and hugged him.

"I'll talk to my mom, okay. I'll talk to her," Will said softly.

Lucas stood up and joined the hug. Dustin soon followed, and then it was El who joined the hug after them. Dustin cleared his throat and looked over at the others. Nancy moved with everyone else, and soon, they were all holding onto each other. They all stayed like that for a while until Dustin let out a gaseous cloud that dispersed them immediately.

"Oh my God! Steven! What are you feeding that child?!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! So many things were released today! What's one more toxic thing?!" Dustin exclaimed as everyone gagged.

El started giggling, which set off a chain reaction that caused everyone to laugh. They laughed harder when Robin dramatically threw open the windows. They didn't stop laughing until they all collapsed on the ground.

"I have to ask though, what's with all the journals?" Lucas asked as they all stood up.

"I got those for all of us to write our thoughts, feelings, and dreams down in," Nancy said.

"I do feel a little better now that I got some stuff off my chest," Lucas said.

"And I got stickers for you to decorate your journals with," Eddie said.

"Why are there so many My Little Pony stickers?" Mike asked.

"The question is: why isn't there more?" Erica asked.

"That's all they had in the store," Eddie said. "I LOVE My Little Pony."

Nancy and Steve shared an amused look as Eddie got into a heated debate over My Little Pony with Erica and Dustin. It had been a good idea to do this because it was another step forward to moving on and receiving the proper healing that they all needed. Nancy only hoped that they could keep this up. She knew that there were still hardships ahead, but as she gazed at them all, she could feel hope on the rise.

Chapter Fifteen

[000noway]

Obey me Careful Not to Eat TOO Much (Pet Version.)

This is Based off the Card story!!

Go to my profile for more!!

Part 1:

As MC made their rounds, filling food bowls for their menagerie of pets, Beelzebub's tail wagged with anticipation. The moment his bowl touched the ground, he dove in, eating with his usual gusto.

MC settled at the table with their own breakfast, idly listening to their parents' conversation in the next room.

"Honey, we're both working from home all day today. I don't think we'll have time to cook dinner," MC's mother said with a sigh.

"You're right," their father replied. "Maybe we should order in?"

MC's eyes lit up, and they couldn't help but interject. "I could cook dinner!"

Their excited outburst caught everyone's attention, including Beelzebub, who lifted his head from his bowl, ears perked with interest.

MC's parents exchanged hesitant glances. "Sweetie," their mother began, "you've never cooked a real meal before..."

"I promise I'll make something easy!" MC pleaded. Then, with a stroke of genius, they added, "And Beel can help me!"

At the mention of his name, Beelzebub's tail began to wag furiously. He trotted over to MC's side, joining them in giving MC's parents a pleading look. Not to be left out, Mammon scampered over too, adding his own puppy dog eyes to the mix.

Faced with the triple threat of MC, Beelzebub, and Mammon's imploring gazes, MC's parents' resolve crumbled.

"Alright," their father chuckled. "But nothing too complicated, okay?"

MC jumped up, pumping their fist in the air. "Yes! Thank you!" They turned to Beelzebub, who was practically vibrating with excitement. "Did you hear that, Beel? We're going to cook dinner together!"

Beelzebub let out a happy bark, his tail wagging so hard it looked like it might fly off.

As MC's parents left for their home offices, MC knelt down beside Beelzebub. "Okay, big guy. We've got to plan the perfect menu. Something easy, but delicious. What do you think?"

Beelzebub's enthusiastic bark seemed to say, "As long as there's lots of it!"

MC laughed, ruffling Beelzebub's fur. "Don't worry, we'll make plenty. This is going to be so much fun!"

Belphegor, from within his covered cage, seemed to perk up slightly at the commotion. Though he'd never admit it, the prospect of MC's home-cooked meal had piqued his interest too.

That afternoon, the kitchen buzzed with anticipation. MC stood in the center, with Beelzebub at their feet and Belphegor's cage placed on a nearby counter.

"Alright!" MC declared, their eyes shining with excitement. "It's time to get star— Oh no! I forgot my apron!"

As MC dashed out of the kitchen, Belphegor's voice drifted from his cage, curious rather than annoyed. "Why are you so happy to help, Beel?"

Beelzebub's tail wagged as he replied, "They're my snack buddy. I want to help them make enough food for our family."

"Plenty for you, you mean?" Belphegor teased, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Just then, MC returned, tying their apron with a flourish. "Okay, now we're ready to get started!" They strode to the refrigerator, Beelzebub trotting eagerly at their heels.

Opening both the fridge and freezer, MC asked, "What should we make, Beel?"

Without hesitation, Beelzebub grabbed a package of frozen beef from the freezer, his eyes hopeful.

MC chuckled, knowing exactly what he wanted. "Nice try, big guy. But you know we need something easy and for everyone, not just your favorite cheeseburgers."

Beelzebub's ears drooped slightly as he reluctantly put the beef back.

Scanning the shelves, MC's eyes landed on a jar of Alfredo sauce. "Hey, we have some pasta in the pantry. How about we make Alfredo?"

Beelzebub's tail began wagging again, and he gave an enthusiastic bark of approval.

"Great choice!" MC grinned, pulling out the sauce. "This'll be perfect. Easy to make and everybody loves pasta, right?"

From his cage, Belphegor watched the scene unfold. Though he tried to maintain his disinterested facade, he couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of curiosity about how this cooking adventure would turn out.

MC started gathering ingredients, chattering excitedly to Beelzebub. "Okay, first we need to boil the water for the pasta. Can you grab that big pot for me, Beel?"

As Beelzebub carefully carried the pot in his mouth, MC smiled fondly. "You're such a good helper, Beel. This is going to be the best dinner ever!"

Part 2:

As MC stirred the Alfredo sauce on the stove, Beelzebub let out an eager bark, gesturing towards the pot with his nose.

MC laughed, "Beel, it just got on the stove!"

From his cage, Belphegor echoed the sentiment, "Seriously, Beel? It's barely warm."

Belphegor blinked, surprised to find himself agreeing with MC.

Despite their initial protest, MC couldn't resist Beelzebub's pleading eyes. They dipped a finger into the sauce for a taste. "Mmm, not bad!" Then, to Belphegor's shock, MC grabbed a ladle and offered some to Beelzebub.

Just as Beelzebub was about to lap up the sauce, MC's mom walked in. Her eyes widened in horror. "What on earth are you doing?!"

MC, oblivious to the problem, smiled. "It's okay, Mom. Beel has a tough stomach. Remember when he ate that whole box of chocolates with no effects?"

Their mom pinched the bridge of her nose, exasperated. "That's not the issue! It's not sanitary to let a dog lick silverware we all use!"

She took the ladle, placed it in the sink, and turned to MC. "You need to be more careful, and firmer with Beel. Okay?"

MC nodded reluctantly. "Okay, Mom. I understand."

After their mom left, MC continued cooking. Each time they turned away from the pot, Beelzebub would sneak a quick taste. MC caught him every time but pretended not to notice, hiding a smile.

Before long, MC realized the pot was half empty. They were about to tell Beelzebub to save the rest when they saw his big, pleading eyes.

"Oh, alright. One last taste," MC relented, letting Beelzebub lick a bit more sauce.

As MC turned to start on the pasta, Beelzebub trotted back to Belphegor's cage, looking very pleased with himself.

Belphegor eyed his brother suspiciously. "Is it really the last time?"

Beelzebub gave a doggy grin that seemed to say, "Of course."

Part 3:

As the delicious aroma of the Alfredo sauce filled the kitchen, MC and Beelzebub shared excited glances, both eagerly anticipating the meal. Belphegor, feeling drowsy from the warm kitchen and comforting smells, decided to take a quick nap.

"Beel," Belphegor mumbled sleepily, "wake me up when it's time for dinner, okay?"

Beelzebub gave a distracted response, his attention firmly fixed on the pot of sauce.

Sometime later, Belphegor stirred, waking on his own. He blinked sleepily, realizing that Beelzebub hadn't woken him as requested.

Soon he heard a commotion outside his cage. Curious, he peeked out from under his cover, only to be met with an unexpected scene.

MC and Beelzebub stood side by side, both with guilty expressions and mouths covered in Alfredo sauce. MC's parents loomed over them, clearly upset.

"We can't believe you ate before dinner!" MC's mother exclaimed. "And letting Beel eat the rest of the food straight from the pot? What were you thinking?"

MC's father shook his head disapprovingly. "This is not how we raised you to behave."

Meanwhile, the other brothers had gathered around Beelzebub, each wearing a look of disappointment.

"Beel, how could you?" Mammon whined. "You got MC in trouble!"

Satan's tail swished in annoyance. "And you ate all the food."

Asmodeus chimed in, "Not to mention how unsanitary that was!"

Leviathan added, "Yeah, now Mc's parents will probably have to order takeout. Again."

MC's parents exchanged a look before turning back to their child. "You're grounded for a week," MC's father declared firmly.

"And you, Beel," Lucifer added, looking at the remorseful St. Bernard, "are forbidden from going into the kitchen or sampling any kind of human food for the foreseeable future."

Beelzebub's ears drooped, and he let out a soft whine of apology.

Belphegor watched the scene unfold, a mix of emotions playing across his face. Part of him wanted to feel smug about the trouble MC had gotten into, but he couldn't ignore the twinge of sympathy he felt for his brother's crestfallen expression.

As the scolding wrapped up and everyone began to disperse, Belphegor retreated further into his cage. He couldn't help but think that if he'd been awake, he might have been able to prevent this disaster. Not that he cared about MC getting in trouble, he told himself firmly. It was just... well, he didn't like seeing Beelzebub so sad.

Part 4:

As the chaos settled, MC's mom turned to her husband with a sigh. "What are we going to do about dinner now?"

MC's dad rubbed his neck, considering. "We could eat out after feeding the other pets," he suggested.

MC perked up, "I could feed-"

"No," their parents said in unison, their tone leaving no room for argument. "You're staying here to clean up this mess," MC's mom added firmly.

With that, MC's parents left the kitchen, the other pets following behind, leaving only MC, Beelzebub, and Belphegor in his cage.

As MC began to clean, shoulders slumped in dejection, Belphegor watched with surprise as Beelzebub approached MC, whining softly and nuzzling their hand.

"It's okay, Beel," MC said, somehow seeming to understand the dog. "I don't blame you. We both got carried away."

Belphegor's eyes widened. How could MC understand Beelzebub so clearly?

MC sighed heavily. "I just wish there was a way to make it up to Mom and Dad."

Suddenly, Beelzebub perked up, tail wagging as he pawed at the freezer. Curious, MC opened it, and Beelzebub immediately grabbed the package of frozen beef.

"Beel, we can't make cheeseburgers for you now," MC started, but then paused, studying Beelzebub's expression. "Wait... do you want me to make burgers as an apology to Mom and Dad?"

Beelzebub nodded enthusiastically, and Belphegor felt his jaw drop. Beelzebub, willing to give up his favorite food?

MC hesitated. "I've never made something that complicated before..."

Beelzebub barked encouragingly, nudging MC's hand.

"Okay," MC said, determination settling over their features. "Let's do this!"

What followed was a whirlwind of activity. MC faced numerous challenges - struggling with the grill, nearly burning the buns, almost oversalting the meat - but each time they faltered, Beelzebub was there with a supportive bark or a gentle nudge.

Likewise, whenever Beelzebub's resolve wavered, his nose twitching at the tantalizing aroma, MC gently reminded him of their goal. "Remember, Beel, this is for Mom and Dad. We can make some for you another time."

All the while, Belphegor watched, fascinated by their teamwork and mutual understanding.

Finally, just as MC's parents returned from ordering takeout, they found a plate of slightly misshapen but appetizing cheeseburgers on the kitchen island, accompanied by a heartfelt apology note.

Confused, they rounded the island, only to find MC and Beelzebub fast asleep on the floor Beel curled around MC-just like when they first met.

As MC's dad moved to carry MC to bed, Beelzebub let out a low, sleepy growl. MC's mom tried next, only to be met with the same response.

Belphegor, watching this unfold, felt a sudden realization wash over him. Beelzebub truly cared for MC, perhaps even more than he did for food. This wasn't just some human feeding him; this was a genuine bond.

As MC's parents resigned themselves to letting the pair sleep, draping a blanket over them instead, Belphegor curled up in his cage, his mind whirling with new understanding. Perhaps there was more to this human than he had initially thought.

Chat-I won't lose to you! 1

The other brothers were contentedly eating their dinner when they overheard MC's parents discussing the unexpected burgers. Curiosity piqued, they began to make their way towards the kitchen to investigate. However, as Mammon trotted towards the door, Asmodeus hopped in front of him.

"Mammon, wait," Asmodeus chirped, his little bunny nose twitching. "I have a question for you."

Mammon tilted his head, albino fur gleaming in the light. "What is it?"

"Out of all the brothers, who would you least want to lose to?" Asmodeus asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Huh? Why d'ya wanna know that?" Mammon barked, suspicious.

Asmodeus shrugged his tiny shoulders. "Just curious."

Mammon thought for a moment, then answered confidently, "Lucifer, of course!"

"Oh?" Asmodeus pressed. "What if you two got into a fight?"

Mammon's tail began to wag as he launched into a rant. "Lucifer's always messin' with me! He's constantly on my case, scoldin' me for every little thing!"

Asmodeus nodded sagely. "Maybe that's how he expresses his love for you. You know, showing he cares by teasing you."

"Ya got it all wrong!" Mammon insisted, shaking his head vigorously. "Lucifer's a sadist! One of these days, I'll make him regret ever messin' with the Great Mammon!"

Suddenly, a deep, menacing voice spoke from behind Mammon. "Is that so?"

Mammon froze, his fur standing on end. He slowly turned to see Lucifer standing there, his equine eyes blazing with anger.

Asmodeus gasped dramatically. "Oh my, I didn't hear Lucifer coming at all!"

Realization dawned on Mammon. "You... you set me up!" he growled at Asmodeus.

The bunny smirked. "Payback for stealing and wearing my favorite accessory, darling."

As Asmodeus hopped away, he called over his shoulder, "Have fun, Mammon!"

Mammon tried to dash after him, barking, "If I'm goin' down, you're comin' with me!" But before he could take more than a few steps, Lucifer's hoof came down, blocking his path.

Mammon gulped, looking up at Lucifer's towering form. The horse's eyes were narrowed, promising swift retribution. Mammon's ears flattened against his head as he realized just how much trouble he was in.

"Now then, Mammon," Lucifer said, his voice dangerously calm. "What was that you were saying about making me regret messing with you?"

Mammon let out a whimper, desperately wishing he could take back his words. As Lucifer began to lecture him, Mammon couldn't help but think that sometimes, being a dog wasn't all it was cracked up to be - especially when you had brothers like his.

[pleaseeeimjustagirl]

🎀30 Day Glow Up Challenge🎀 - day fifteen

♡ Mindset : I watched a Jay Shetty podcast episode today on love and relationships. He talked about how we either self sabotage and we can benefit from relationships and the important aspects we should look for in a partner it def was a very much needed episode.

♡ Health : I had work today so I reached my step goal easily. I walk a lot on my way to work and back from work. I went grocery shopping I picked up the rotisserie chicken I got last week and I put in a order for some salad kits and protein yogurts on Instacart which was so much easier than running around for my groceries after a long day at work.

♡ Self Care : I was going to use my feet mask but I didn’t I think I’m going to save it for Sunday. I did my skin care as usual. I ordered my probiotics, women’s multivitamin, collagen supplement, and a ice face mask on Amazon I opted for that instead of a ice roller because I like the idea of just taking it out of the freezer and snapping it on.

♡ Experience : I’ve been working on my Pinterest page converting all my blog post here on to Pinterest I’ll share the link soon for you girliesss.

Happy first of the month!!!! We are half way through the challenge<3333Tell me how you’re doing babes I would love to know my inbox and requests are open<33333

[theheartofappalachia]

Here I am, sitting in a parking lot writing about the past few days. My mamaw just got out of surgery and is still in ICU and thank the gods for the hospital having power. I came up here to get gas, signal and charge my phone and hopped on tumblr and reddit for a few just trying to get my mind off things....

And what do I see? Politics about this disaster and people only caring about Asheville fucking everywhere. Listen, Asheville wasn't the only place hit in this storm and North Carolina wasn't the only state and for those of us in Virginia, Tennessee and southern West Virginia it's starting to get real goddamn irritating seeing yall only talk about North Carolina and even then you're only talking about it because Asheville is an urban tourist center therefore it's getting media coverage.

Fuck those poor bastards that live up the hollers and in the hills away from town right? 37 trees. I've cut 37 trees off of houses in the past 4 days(one of them being my own) and while the power flickered on for a second today, it's still out. People's food is ruined, we're shitting in holes in the ground because indoor plumbing doesn't work without power(and hauling buckets of water to flush isn't feasible for some people). You think we can afford to just replace a fridge or freezer full of food? It's not that simple, not in this economy.

Insurance? Yeah we live in old houses that Insurance won't cover to begin with unless we do thousands of dollars worth of upgrades and then many who have insurance are being denied. Yall say FEMA covers it? What a joke. FEMA is great for what it can do but it doesn't replace houses, nor does it give out lots of money.

Nobody cares about your fucking politics. I haven't seen one politician in the mud with us. Nobody cares about voting right now. This isn't the time regardless of what you idiots say. Read the fucking room. We deserve this because of how we vote? Fuck you, again. Stop being high and mighty and come help instead of sitting back with your vape in your hand going "Kamala will fix this" or "Trump will send all the aid" or "Biden is going to rescue everyone". Newsflash, none of them give a shit.

People are legitimately downvoting those of us who live in these areas on r/Appalachia because we're saying stop bringing politics into it or please stop saying you're upset that your vacation spot is gone. Ya'll tag shit Appalachia left and right now yet you didn't give a fuck about us before unless it was to say how pretty our leaves are as you go camping for a weekend and leave your trash laying around....and you'll forget about us the next time a big news story hits.

I've gotta get away from social media for a while. What I thought would take my mind off the roughest time of my life did nothing but make me hate people.

[paulgadzikowski]

I've been on an adventure since yesterday.

When my late mother bought a car and effectively turned it over to me because she wasn't driving any more, she disallowed road trips because she was afraid of the car breaking down out of town. So for something like seven years I've been planning that, once I'd inherited the car like I did in May, I would take a day trip and have Steak & Shake for lunch. There are none in Omaha so I don't think I've had Steak & Shake since I last went with my late wife to Iowa City for her to take the Iowa bar exam. The delay worked to my advantage because now there's one in West Des Moines, only a little over two hours away, that wasn't there yet the first time I looked (the closest one then was on I-29 in Missouri somewhere), and I lived the dream a few weeks ago, mostly.

I was telling the story to my sister's and brother's families last weekend while they were in town for clearing out Mom's apartment, and afterwards I took it into my head to look up where the nearest White Castle restaurant is. (You can get brand name sliders from your grocer's freezer but it's not the same.) The answer was Columbia Missouri. I don't think I've eaten at a White Castle since I lived in Louisville so yesterday afternoon I set out, thinking - not having looked at the online map too carefully - that Omaha to Columbia would also be two hours one way, probably less.

I was wrong. It took me five and a half hours, including rest breaks. If I'd been thinking, even when I thought it'd be a round trip of about six hours (including the meal), I'd've left at about noon like I did on Steak & Shake Day instead of at about 14:00. It probably didn't help that I hit Kansas City at rush hour (I'd been thinking that that would happen on the way back) but it probably didn't hurt all that much either.

I had my meal about 19:30 and then (having started considering this option shortly after realizing how far it was between Omaha and Kansas City, and then deciding on this option shortly after realizing how far it was between Kansas City and Columbia) I got a hotel room and put off driving back till today.

Will I do it again? Not soon.

But was it worth it? Yes.

For one thing, before I left Columbia I had lunch at the Steak & Shake down the street from the White Castle. Also I saw a lot of cows

[sunnylands-world]

Winter wonderland

Pairing: Jim Hopper x FEM Reader

Summary: it's a cold day in Hawkins and you just want to be held and maybe more…

Word count: 1'232

Warning: p in v, kinda drunk Jim, degrading, praise, light dirty talk, this one's filthy, explicit words [of course], daddy kink, oral [female receiving], fingering, kinda overstimulation, soft and aggressive Jim [couldn't decide if should be rough or soft so I did both], age gap [but no minors!] I think that's it, let me know if I missed anything

Universe: strange things

A/n: well…i don't know what this is, it's a mess and it's cold where I'm at so here you go, for all the Jim girlys!!

You read the warnings if you continue to read. I'm not to be held responsible.

Comments, reblogs, and inboxes are appreciated and motivational

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It was a simple day today, minus the cold weather. The house was quiet and still with the voices of whatever hopper was watching, playing in the background. Winter was beginning and as you walked around the tip of your toes seemed to freeze and your body felt like you were standing in the doorway of a walk-in freezer. Jim wasn't needed and you were home from work as well so he was sat in that chair that he always sat in with a beer in his grip and the ashtray next to him had buds from his cigarettes.

It was a strange comfort walking through his house with the smell of burned tobacco, and forest breeze. As you peaked out the window you could see it was snowing and as if you felt it a shiver ran through you. Jim must have noticed from his chair because he patted his thigh, his way of telling you to come sit and you walked over eagerly taking a seat on his thigh. You wrap your arms around his neck, tucking your face away in the crook and with the hand that wasn't busy with beer he rubbed your back soothingly.

"It's gonna be cold for awhile baby, should've brought yourself warmer clothes instead of all these cropped tops and short shorts," he says as his hand moves lower and his finger hooks in the band of your shorts pulling them from your ass enough that when he releases it pops back. You're not gonna try to argue with him because you know he's right so you whine in response.

"You know, with all this time off I could focus on other things," he mutters and you can smell the alcohol on his breath along with the musk and Laundry soap from his skin and clothes. Something about sitting on his thigh with his hand teasingly playing with your shorts and running along your back as he watches tv, talking about nothing has you rolling your hips against the denim of his jeans unconsciously.

There's that sweet pleasure licking at you as move against him slowly with your toes curling and you know he knows you're starting to become a needy mess when his hand places the beer down with slight force and it finds its way to your other ass cheek gripping it like his other hand, but moist and chilled from the sweating cold can. It makes you shiver at how his hands grip a handful and for him that's a lot so not much skin is left untouched.

Nothing is said as you move back and forth picking up the pace with whines and whimpers kissing his skin.

A smack is delivered to your ass that has you letting out a yelp in surprise.

"Are you all shy now baby, even though you're grinding like a needy little whore, ruining my jeans?" He demeans and it only makes you hide your face more and increase the movement of your hips and he chuckles.

"that's alright, I'll have you screaming in no time" he says planting a kiss on your shoulder blade and your lashes flutter dazed as he lifts himself from the couch holding your ass firmly while he stumbles a bit to his room and doesn't bother shutting the door as he places you on the bed. that's one of the things you admire about him because even drunk Jim doesn't give a fuck.

His hands tug your shorts off urgently as he sits himself between your thighs throwing the item elsewhere, and you don't have much time to think about it anyway because his thumb presses against your clit with just enough pressure to make you wither and he rubs tight circles as his lips attack your thighs like he can't decide what he wants first, nipping at your skin and switching so the tip of his tongue can lick the sweet juices from your folds.

You aren't sure what to do with yourself. You feel like you're drowning in pleasure and your fingers can't seem to grip anything as you moan loudly and your eyes roll back into the heavens.

As if it wasn't enough already that he was practically assaulting your bundle of nerves he adds his fingers, curling them so they hit the spongy spot inside you.

"aww look at that you're all wet and swollen. Want daddy to make it all better for ya?" He coos and your thighs start to quiver as he starts to move his fingers searching for the deepest places inside you. when you start to feel your body cover in goosebumps and your pussy starts to throb around his digits he takes them out and you whine thinking you'll cry as he cups your cheeks, smearing your arousal on your skin and says,

"Shut up crying whore, I'm gonna give you what you need." Before slipping his fat cock into you and tears trickle down your cheeks in both relief and from the prickle of pain mixing with your pleasure like the smallest prick of a needle.

He releases his hold on your face grabbing your hips instead but gently rubbing up and down your curves as slams his length into you, kissing your cheeks and anywhere else he can reach.

"your so pretty baby" he whispers, making you moan in response and it plays on your senses the way he's gently caressing you and roughly pulling you down to meet his thrust.

Your toes curl and your mouth hangs open as tremors cause your body shake.

"That's my girl, take it," he growls, kissing at your skin and that throbbing in core causes you to grip and release his cock as it glides back and forth making you feel every angry vein along him.

Your eyes open and close like you'll pass out feeling him chest to chest and your nails scratching weakly at his back while the rest of you is shaking. Your skin sweaty like his, leaving you feeling sticky as you try to breathe; smelling your arousal in the air. your ears ring with the clapping of skin and the bed creaking like it's gonna give out any minute.

He's so in tune with your body that his thrust slows a little and his hands become almost feather light when he pulls back looking into your eyes and fingers coming up to rubb soft circles on your nipples as he moves in and out.

"It's okay baby, that's okay. daddy's got you," he assures you, his brown eyes looking into yours and your heart strains in your chest thinking he sobered enough to guide through the end.

He leans forward again, lips crashing against yours letting you taste the lingering sex and his beer as he gives you his tongue quieting both your moans.

Your back arches and he taste your lips a little longer before he leaves hot, wet kisses along your jaw and neck till he finds your favorite spot and whispers,

"come for daddy baby" and you being the obedient girl you are, you let your release take you and everything blurs together but you feel him empty inside you with a sigh of pleasure shoving his hands under your small body so he can hold you close as you graze the clouds and fall back to him so he can keep you warm on this winter day…

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

©Sunnylands-world this belongs to me therefore you don't have the right to do anything with my work or ideas without permission.

Nice thought, reblogs, and inboxing is appreciated and motivational ❤

TAGLIST FOR JIM HOPPER HASN'T BEEN MADE/REQUESTED

[billetwoes]

The Boring Introductory Stuff (and the interesting...) Billet Woes Part 2

Disclaimer: This is my first attempt at fanfic. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, rudeness is not.

Word Count: 5,537

So, you had finally met your assigned guest and...so far, so good! However, he thinks that you are uneasy around him. What are you (or what is he) going to do about it?

Yep, this is the boring introductory part with lots of planning, but there's also a lot of food :D I hope you enjoy!

****************

In the following days, you had prepared yourself and your place for your guest. Your contact information was stored in a secure database at the Outworld Investigation Agency, and always with consent, was given to the Clans/Agencies of future guest. In your case, you were contacted by the wife of the Shirai Ryu’s Grandmaster, Harumi, via encrypted e-mail two days after Lord Liu Kang paid you a visit. You were informed that you will be billeting one of their warriors.

As Lord Liu Kang had mentioned, it is estimated he would be staying for a month. He will be arriving in exactly one week from today and you are instructed to meet him at a specific muster point; the date, time, and address where you will be picking him up were provided in the email.

You asked if there are any allergies to food and cats that you need to be aware of, as you suddenly thought that you had nobody who be willing to look after your kitties for a month. She denied any food and cat allergies. You thanked Harumi for the information.

At work, you had requested for a few Fridays off, two of which were granted for the last two weeks,

including the Mondays for those weeks to boot. This would give you time to catch up on orders and time

for cleaning. It was a good thing that your workplace was unionized so that any vacation days taken were

paid. You used a personal time off day towards the day that you are to pick up your guest.

You are a planner and a perfectionist, even though you hate that term and tend to interpret that as a slight when being called one to your face.

The longer of your two couches can be unfolded and made into a guest bed and you had sets of clean

bedding and a down duvet ready. You also deep cleaned both the guest bathroom and your

bathroom.

You had a pad of paper in front of you and began to list all the food and toiletry items. Once that is done, you began to meal plan for 3-weeks worth of food most with simple enough recipes or one that you can quickly assemble and throw in the slow cooker or oven to do the work for you. The rest of the days you reserve for taking your guest out to good restaurants in your city with a few of your close and trusted friends, if the circumstance permits it. You didn’t know what his shift or days will look like, but you want to have Plans A-Z just to be as flexible as you can.

While you were cleaning the apartment and your Roomba was doing its daily job, the kitties were staring at you with interested and curious eyes while meowing loudly and nearly making you trip a few times. They can sense a change in your behavior and energy while moving and rearranging things and vacuuming their cat trees and dusted the cat shelves that decorated the living room walls. Luckily, you don’t have to move the kitties’ litter box, as you had the large robot kitty litter box that the girls share with no issues, and it is in your bathroom. You made a point to install a cat flap on your bedroom door and were willing to pay to replace the door if you decide to move somewhere else.

You made a Costco run for the first week of your guest’s stay with you during the weekend. Once you got home and organized the snacks and fruits in baskets and set them on the island counter in the middle of your kitchen so that they are easily accessible and put away the meats and vegetables in the fridge and freezer, which you have deep cleaned a couple days prior.

You did all this while juggling your job, pushing out orders from your small business, and looking after the kitties. Once a hard day’s work is done, you went through your nighttime rituals and hit the sack.

All night, you heard the never-ending flapping of plastic as the kitties were going in and out of the cat door and pawing at each other by pushing the plastic door repeatedly. You had wondered whether you made a mistake with that modification while resisting the urge to scream at the cats.

The day arrived when you are to pick up your guest. You are to meet outside an abandoned building in an industrial area at 4 pm. You were glad that you had the day off so that you are relatively relaxed and had lots of time to grab a coffee from Tim Horton’s. When you arrived there, you droved into a parking lot where there was a group of around 20 people with Lord Liu Kang. Also, there were two ladies. The first one wore a black trench coat with her hair in a neat ponytail and comfortable flat leather boots. She also had what looked like a sheathed katana strapped to her back. The second lady wore what looked like a black leather vest with a wide belt with pink and white garments underneath the leather vest. Her boots and fingerless leather gloves also matched the color scheme of her clothing, and her hair had small side braids that were tied up into a high ponytail.

As you parked in a stall, you and a few other billet hosts walked towards the group, some with their children, and once everybody was present, Liu Kang raised his hands to get everybody’s attention. The crowd of people shushed each other, and all turned their eyes towards the Fire God.

“Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for coming here today,” he began, “Most of all, we are grateful for your dedication to look after our warriors and protectors. You honor all of us.”

He then turned to the first lady in the trench coat and motioned to her, “This is Harumi, the co-leader of the Shirai Ryu.”

She nodded solemnly and addressed the hosts, “We are truly grateful for supporting our warriors. Your roles are of the utmost importance. As you have been informed, there is a suspicious area with a portal appearing and disappearing identified outside of your city that needs to be monitored for threats. We suspect that this portal is from Outworld, but it could be from the Netherrealm or the Chaos Realm. Constable Li Mei from the Sun Doh District of Outworld is working with us to investigate this anomaly.” She gestured towards the second lady.

The second lady stepped forward, “We suspect that one of our generals named Shao is responsible for this, as he is guilty of insurrection against our kingdom. There have been talks and rumors in our realm about a group of rebels under this general to invade your realm. I give you my word that I will not rest until all threats are neutralized.”

There were concerned and slightly panicked murmurs in among the billet hosts. You listened attentively with held breath, which you only let out now. Many people asked questions and raised concerns. Fortunately so far, this was the only one known to date and nothing of concern by way of a serious threat has arose.

Harumi stepped forward to speak, “Your willingness to aid us by opening your doors to our warriors that are strategically close to this area makes it convenient for us to respond to any emergencies. Be assured that you are far enough that you are safe. Should any of you be endangered, our warriors will protect you.”

“On behalf of Outworld, we are in your debt,” Li Mei said gratefully, “Harumi and I will not be joining you, as we have to attend to matters concerning our clan and people.”

The billet hosts, including yourself, nodded in support and expressed heartfelt gratitude for the warriors, and they returned the gesture.

“And now, we will begin assigning your warriors to you,” Liu Kang announced, “Harumi and Li Mei will separate in to two groups. Once your name is called, please step forward.

On queue, the Outworlders, who were dressed in their traditional garb grouped together behind Li Mei and the Shirai Ryu, who were dressed in t-shirts, zip up hoodies, leggings, dark washed jeans and sneakers. One by one, Harumi and Li Mei took turns calling names and people stepped forward to be paired with their guests. Greetings and handshakes were exchanged, and smaller groups began to walk away towards cars as pleasantries and excited chatter from children faded.

“Y/N,” Harumi called.

You stepped forward and walked towards her.

“Tomas,” she called turning to her left.

A tall man carrying a couple of medium sized duffel bags stepped forward. His hair was gray, which surprised you, but you did your best to keep a pleasant expression. Is that his natural hair color? The next thing you noticed was his demeanor. He wore a serious expression on his face and his piercing silver-gray eyes had an intense look. There ere a couple of scars above his left eyes and his eyebrows were shaved, at least you though they were, in such a way that made him look intimidating. The image of a rattlesnake came to mind because its top eyelids were slanted above it eyes that made them look perpetually angry and mean all the time.

“Y/N, this is Tomas,” she gestured towards the man, “also known as Smoke. He is our second in command. I trust that he is in your capable hands.”

‘Smoke’ in reference to his grayness??

“I will do my best,” you replied humbly, nodding then turning to Tomas, “Hello, Tomas.” You shook his hand.

He smiled and shook it back, “Hello Y/N. Thank you for having me.” He sounded friendly(!) which kind of threw you off guard.

“Oh, you’re welcome,” you replied, letting go.

“I will take my leave, Harumi,” He bowed respectfully.

Harumi nodded, “Stay safe, both of you.”

You both walked towards your car.

“Is this your first time in Canada?” You asked starting a conversation.

“No, it isn’t,” he replied, “I’ve been billeted before in Quebec and the Yukon. This is my first time in Alberta.”

“Welcome to Alberta! Have you eaten, by the way?” You asked him, wanting to make sure he’s comfortable.

“No, not yet” he replied.

“Would you like to go grab a bite first? We can discuss the details when we get home,” you offered, “Do you have a preference?”

“Whatever you recommend, I’d love to try the food here,” he replied happily, smiling, “Thank you!”

“Alright, then! I’ll take you to one of my favorite spots,” You started the ignition and set up Google maps and entered the address of one of your local favorites, which is a French-Scandinavian style restaurant. The Elder Gods forbid that you get lost on your way out of this deserted location and spend time driving around in circles. Though friendly enough, the mental image of a happy rattlesnake in Peter Parker’s voice made you laugh internally.

Your dinner was light-hearted enough and you kept conversations casual and asked each other surface-level questions about each other. He touched on his experiences with the Shirai Ryu and his relationship with Harumi and her husband, Grandmaster Scorpion. Turns out, he was his adopted brother.

“Oh,” you exclaimed, “That’s something!” As if your insides weren’t chaotic enough with the knowledge that he was the second-in-command, he was THE ADOPTED BROTHER of the GRANDMASTER of the Shirai Ryu. The pressure! Before your brain had time to process that, your nervous system had decided that you’re screwed.

“What’s wrong,” he asked, looking concerned, “You look scared?”

“Uh,” you laughed nervously, “Well, I guess I’m dealing with precious cargo! Ha ha! Yeah, a little.”

“Don’t be! I’m human, like you,” he reassured, “I don’t bite.”

You nodded, still laughing nervously. Your perfectionist brain, otherwise known as the brain that took over your Asian Parents after you left them, went into hyperdrive. ‘Smile!’ ‘What are you doing?! Fix your face! You are making a bad first impression!’ ‘Say something intelligent or you will make him lose face!’ ‘He’s more important than you, watch your manners!’ For those of you who had Tiger Moms, you know the PTSD that comes from that upbringing. You raised your eyebrow while rubbing your forehead to try and soothe yourself.

“Ok,” you replied, still with an incredulous smile, mentally beating yourself with a wooden stick to get yourself to calm down, “I’m sorry. I-uh, I just got…” You feel embarrassed because you probably made a fool out of yourself.

“Wow, this duck is really good!” He praised, taking another bite of his dish. It felt like he was distracting you from your chaotic thoughts by redirecting your attention towards the food, and you were grateful for it. “I can see why you like this place. What other dishes have you had?”

“Oh,” your thoughts snapped back to the present moment, “I love their cod dish, which is unfortunately a seasonal item. I often come here for brunch, especially during weekends, so I’m more familiar with that menu. I love the Oeuf en Cocotte and their Grav Lax. If time permits, I’d love to take you here again for brunch and to other hot spots!” You had forgotten how nervous you were moments ago because any mention of food and restaurants will get you excitedly talking and making recommendations.

“I’d like that very much!” He took another appreciative bite of his food.

“I’ll stop talking now and let you eat,” you muttered, “I tend to talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

The both of you ate the rest of your meals in silence. Once your empty plates were cleared, your desserts came, which was a salted caramel chocolate cheesecake with candied pecan and toffee crumble on top with crème fraiche vanilla bean ice cream on the side and a couple of macarons. 

You paid for your dinners and drove home in a happy mood. Once both of you entered in your apartment, you introduced him to your kitties, and always the social butterfly, Minou immediately rushed to smell your guest for a couple of minutes before she decided that Tomas was worthy of being marked as a friend. She meowed, purred, and rubbed her body and head against his legs.

“Well, hello there!” Tomas smiled and greeted in a high voice that sounded like how someone would talk to a cute toddler, “You’re so friendly! I’m Tomas, your new friend!” Minou flopped on her back and exposed her belly in response.

Bijoux on the other hand, stood a few feet away staring at Tomas warily. When Tomas finally noticed her and went to introduce himself, Bijou took a couple of steps back and hissed.

“Bijoux,” you scolded in a stern tone, “Be nice!” You went to pick her up, but she bolted and hid in your room. “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure a stranger in her space must be uncomfortable for her,” he chuckled, “We have a few stray cats in our compound, so I’m familiar with their behaviour.”

You gave Tomas an orientation of your apartment, starting with the kitchen, showing him the food that he can help himself to and the appliances that he can freely use. Next was the living room, where you explained about the couch that you will unfold to make his bed; then you showed him the guest bathroom where there was a new set of toiletries and shower items, which he can choose not to use if he brought his own stuff; you showed him the closet outside the guest bathroom where he can access clean towels, and the laundry room beside it; finally, you briefly showed him the room that you have set up as a work shop and explained that you will be keeping this shut during times when you will be working on orders. You gestured to your bedroom, which you didn’t show because that is your space.

Finally, you lead him to the counter where you keep your keys on and where your landline is. You pulled open a drawer and pulled out a laminated envelope labeled “Emergency”.

“If you ever need it, there is money in here for emergencies,” you explained, “Do you have any questions?”

Tomas shook his head with an expression of approval, “So far, I have none! You really went out of your way to make sure that I’m looked after! I am impressed…and grateful.”

Humbled, you briefly bowed your head before responding, “Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I will!” He was smiling. You had decided to sharply nudge your jerk brain to cut out the jerk-talk and your nervous system is still on amber alert. You breathed a sigh of relief, and Peter Parker rattlesnake is behaving like Minou and rolling in rainbow.

“Anyway, I want to discuss our schedules so that I can plan on accommodating you,” you gestured towards the dinner table, “Would you like something to drink?”

“I would like some tea please. I’ll try the triple berry please.” This you made for him, and you made yourself a chamomile tea. You offered cream, milk, sugar, honey, or Stevia, and he refused all of them.

You discussed how the both of you would be coordinating your schedules. As Lord Liu Kang had mentioned, both schedules were close enough, which makes it easier for you to accommodate him. The large group was broken into three smaller group that would be covering the morning, evening and night shifts. It was very important that all the warriors had time to rest, maintain their training, communicate with their superiors, and just as equally important, socialize and maintain relations with their hosts. It is also important for the hosts to be close by just in case they need to take the warriors to the site to do their jobs.

Tomas was assigned to the morning shift. You start work at 8:00 am and the morning shift started at 6:00 am. This means that you would have to get up at 4:00 am to make breakfast then take him to the site, which will take 20 minutes if there is no traffic, as per Google Maps on your laptop. That meant that you have to hit the sack at 8:00 am in order to get a full 8-hour’s worth of sleep. Once you dropped him off at the muster point, another host will take the entire morning group to the site, then you can head home to work on orders before driving to work. He ends his shift at 2:00 pm and you end your shift at 4:30 pm, which meant that he had to wait for you for 2 ½ hours. To complicate things, you didn’t know what the traffic situation was like driving to pick him up at the muster point.

You then asked him if he knew of any of his group mates that were being billeted in your city, and he knew of two. Tomas had proposed to have a Zoom call to see what their situation looked like with their hosts, which was arranged after he contacted them. While one of the hosts was in the same situation as you, the second host, a lovely lady named Lisa who appeared to be in her thirties, fortunately worked from home and can pick up the three warriors and, with consent, can bring them to a friend’s place that has a large space dedicated to workout. There, the three can train there until you and the other host get off work to pick them up at the friend’s place. This was a stroke of luck which lifted a heavy burden off your shoulders. All of you in the call exchanged contact information, got the address of the friend’s place, thank Lisa for the kind accommodation and hung up. One major problem solved.

You wouldn’t have any issues with making dinner once you get home, which lead to the next question of what his food preferences are. You were told by Harumi that he had no allergies, which he confirmed. He said that he had no preferences and would be happy to eat whatever you made. You also wanted to know what his typical meals were like (ie. How much protein, how much vegetables, what time he typically eats, etc.). He gave the basic information and told you not to worry about following the regimen to a tee.

You asked about his lunches and whether you needed to pack food for him, and it sounded like you did as there was no mention of any arrangements for lunch. Noted.

You also took account the time difference between Edmonton, your city, and Japan, which was 15 hours, so you worried about jet lag. Tomas explained the Shirai Ryu’s current situation with the Lin Kuei and how they are always on a state of being on red alert around the clock, and therefore must be ready to respond at any time, even if they must wake up in the ungodly hours of the morning. You made a comment about how exhausting this sounds, which he agreed saying it was an understatement. He reassured you that you didn’t need to worry about his sleep schedule, as he is able to adapt easily.

“So, you guys are pretty much more than first responders,” you said, shaking your head, “dealing with your personal feuds and protecting us at the same time. Thank you for your service! To say that we appreciate you would be an understatement.”

“Kind words, Y/N,” Tomas replied humbly, “And we likewise thank you for your service. We would be in a much more difficult position if it were not for what you do for us.”

The rest of the conversation involved tying up loose ends about your arrangements and during this time, Minou decided to jump on the table make friends with Tomas some more by exchanging head bonks and purrs for scratches and praises.

You offered Tomas more tea, which he accepted. Once this was done, you decided to set up his bed. You unfolded the couch, put on the bedding sheets, two pillows (you made sure to buy memory foam ones, and the down duvet, which had its own duvet covers.

It was an hour before you went to bed so you decided to lay out the ingredients for breakfast on the counter (save the eggs and bacon, because heaven forbid you inconvenience your guest with food poisoning!).

For his lunch, you made something quick, but made sure that it was as nutritious as hell, because, neurotic much? You cut some herbs and vegetables to be roasted with two chicken legs which you seasoned well and with olive oil and chicken rub. You threw that in the 400 F preheated oven for an hour. While that was in the oven, you made some pilaf which you flavoured with minced garlic, mushrooms and chicken stock. Once this was done, you scooped the piping hot rice into one side of a large two compartment container and washed the pot and some utensils. Once the chicken was done, you first scooped the roasted veggies on the other side, then the chicken legs on top of the rice and veggies. You set the lid on top but not fully covered to let steam escape so that it would cool down before you put the whole thing in the fridge. 

Boy do you have A LOT to get used to for the next month! No more being a night owl for the next month or so, and thankfully, you had a week’s practice to sleep earlier, even though you obviously needed more than that.

You noted that Tomas was observing you with a smile. Deep down, you felt scrutinize, but pushed the feeling down, as you were most likely overthinking things.

“You are taking this far too seriously, Y/N,” he chuckled, “I can see that you enjoy cooking. I am excited to try your food, it smells great!”

Maybe it’s how you’re perceiving things. On first impression, he seemed polite and friendly; in fact you felt that he was too polite that it was making you uneasy. You were a suspicious person by nature, especially when it comes due to having been surrounded by polite people in the past that showed their true colors down the road. You didn't think that he was like this, as you have just met him and so far there were no issues, so you concluded that you were overthinking things to prevent yourself from seeing him through that lens.

You shrugged it off and replied in a nonchalant tone, “I haven’t billeted one of you guys in a while, so I need to be on my A-game. I’ve been accused of being neurotic at times, but I feel it’s justified.”

“I like your attention to details and how focused you are. I’m a little concerned, as you seem…how do I say this, uneasy,” he explained, piercing eyes staring at you.

“What do you mean?” You asked, trying to hide the fact that you are due to fighting your own internal thoughts. You made yourself continue to clean to avoid his eyes, “I’m ok.”

There was an uncomfortable pause and when you raised your head, he kept his eyes on you still.

“WILL YOU STOP STARING AT ME???” You mentally screamed at him, “YOU’RE MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE!!”

“What?” You asked, still scrubbing the glass dish under the running water. Being stared at and scrutinized irritates you in general, and you can feel yourself starting to head there.

“I see…,” he said gingerly, followed by another silent pause, “Anyways, who was the last person you billeted?”

Saved.

“Ashrah. She’s a doll!”

“A “doll”?”

“It’s one way of saying she’s amazing with a great personality, like, she’s a peach or she’s a gem.”

Tomas nodded, “Ah, yes, she is amazing.”

You washed the rest of your dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Once the dish with the chicken has cooled down enough, you secured the lid and placed it the fridge after asking if that amount was enough for lunch.

“Goodness, that’s plenty!” He exclaimed, eyes brightening appreciatively.

“Good.” If you had guests, you have the quirk of cooking way more food to make sure that nobody starves to death.

After cleaning the kitchen, both of you decided to call it a night. Minou did not curl up between your legs that night like she usually does, and Bijoux was still hiding under your bed with her ears flat against her head when you tried to coax her out.

******************

The next week was the week of settling into your routine. You found that getting up at 4:00 pm after being disciplined enough to sleep at 8:00 pm was no problem at all, mainly because your psyche won’t allow you to jeopardize Tomas’ mission. Negative reinforcement has usually worked when something important is involved.

The both of you went about as planned, having the first breakfast of his stay. You’ve made scrambled eggs, bacon, and banana blueberry pancakes with oats, the latter which in your opinion was ok as you normally don’t eat breakfast, let alone make it. You went overboard with the assortment of fruits, nuts, granola bars and Greek yogourt. Plus, there was an assortment of juices, milk, almond milk, oat milk, and your lactose-free milk.

You had to warn Tomas about keeping the bagels in the bread box as Bijoux, the grumpy calico, was obsessed with bagels. The two cats were kept in your workshop while you had breakfast, to their disappointment, and their miserable meows serenaded your ears, which you apologized for, assuring Tomas that you weren’t an abusive cat mom.

You cleared the table once done, reheated his lunch and packed it in an insulated lunch bag. The cats were let out once their wet food and automatic dry food feeder has been filled and had full water dishes. You drove him to the muster point.

You went about your workday and once done, you picked up Tomas from Lisa’s friends place once work was done and went home for dinner. Rinse, repeat.

The week went by smoothly with no problems (thank the gods!) and there were no complaints coming from him. Again, he remained polite and respectful.

While the weekends were more relaxing for you, as you had no work, the warriors worked 7 days a week. You hoped that they got compensated well for that, and that is also part of the reason why you always go above and beyond when you billet them.

On Sunday evening, you passed an area of the living room where Tomas was having a private phone conversation with someone; he had his back towards you.

“It has been uneventful so far, Kuai Liang. No threats yet.”

As you didn’t want to eavesdrop, you went about preparing dinner after locking the kitties in your workshop. Again, the miserable meows filled the air.

When the pot of vegetables that you had cooked in a pot filled with vegetable broth and coconut cream started to boil, you pureed the mix with your immersion blender until the pot magically turned a beautiful vibrant orange. You added more salt, sugar, cracked pepper and spices to taste until you had achieved a desired balance.  

You then proceeded to make a simple apple salad with a sweet and tart citrus vinaigrette that paired well with a large pork roast that you had in the oven, and then toasted slices of sour dough with the roasted garlic and herb compound butter that you made a few days ago. There was also gravy ready made on the stove. Since it was the fall, you wanted to make something season appropriate.

Once that was done, you set the table and started to bring out the food. While you were doing so, you overheard this:

“There have been no problems with my host so far. I have been properly spoiled with home made meals…………Well, she is nice enough, but she’s too serious. Cagey. I’ve been observing her and my first impression is that she seems uneasy around me, like she’s scared of me!” This was followed by loud laughter by the person on the other line.

You stopped moving and were taken aback.

“………Actually, in fairness to her, I do remember her reaction when I mentioned being……(more laughter on the receiving end)…....no, it’s not funny!.........What?? Since when am I intimidating??.....(……….”yeah, man!”).....I  also look too serious? It’s never my intent to…………..Cut it out! I do NOT look like a Russian villain!”

You kept moving and managed to finish setting the table and let slipped a silent stifled giggle. You couldn’t help but wanted to eavesdrop, even though you know you shouldn’t.

“I don’t know how to get her to be more comfortable around me,” Tomas hissed quietly, “…………Oh, really?..............That’s the thing, I’m not, though!” He let out an exasperated sigh, “You know what? I’m hanging up now!”

You decided to hang out in the kitchen and pretended to finish up.

There was a delightful exclamation of “Oooh! This looks amazing!” from where the dining table is.

“What would you like to drink?” You asked from behind the counter, opening the glass.

“Lemonade, please.”

You filled a tall glass with his juice of choice and you settled for a hot apple cider and took the glassed to the table.

“By the way, you don’t have to lock the cats in. I am fine with them roaming around,” he said reassuringly.

“I didn’t want them jumping on the counter while I’m making food, nor do I want them on the table while we’re eating, because, you know? Litter paws. Germs.”

“Fair enough. I feel bad for them, though.”

You began carving the pork roast while Tomas bowed his head and said, “Itadakimasu!”, and then helped himself to the salad and toast. All the while, you gave no indication that you overheard the conversation he was having with Kuai Liang, but in the back of your mind, you were dying to know what they were saying about you.

[tonberry-yoda]

Pineapple Flip Flops - A One Piece Modern AU - Chapter 2

notes - Here's chapter 2!!! I had a lot of fun writing this one because Ace is my canon boyfriend and I get to brag about him through my writing tee hee. Also, Luffy is 19 in this AU :) word count - 818 summary - Luffy wakes up to his brother Ace and they make food together while considering college.

“Hey, doof-ass, wake up.” Ace smacked Luffy’s forehead with a rolled up magazine and Luffy woke right up, sucking in a line of drool.

“Huh?” Luffy looked around the apartment in confusion, but his face lit up when he saw his brother in front of him. “Yo! Ace, Ace, look!” He shoved his foot in Ace’s face and Ace just laughed, pushing his foot away.

“Nice foot, Luffy.” Ace rolled his eyes with a laugh and walked to the kitchen.

“No, no, look!” Luffy ran after him and slipped off his flip flops, which made him trip over his own feet and fall onto the floor. That didn't stop him though and he was able to show Ace the design on his new shoes.

Ace squinted and then laughed out loud. “Are those new?”

“Uh-huh! I lost my pineapple ones today.”

“Damn, bud, that sucks. Those were my favorite ones.”

“Me too.” Luffy pouted and sat at the dining room table, splaying his arms in front of him.

“Well, I dig the rubber ducks.” Ace stared in the freezer. “Want pizza?”

“PIZZA!” Luffy threw his arms in the air.

“Pizza it is.” He pulled out two frozen pizzas and laid them on the counter, preheating the oven. “Really sucks that Sabo isn't here. Neither of us can cook actual food.”

“Yeah,” Luffy chuckled. “You always almost burn the house down.”

“Shut up.” Ace laughed and sat across from Luffy.

The two sat in short silence for a little while just randomly scrolling on their phones. But Luffy got bored pretty quickly and started drumming on the table. He just wanted the pizza right then and there and was hoping to kill at least a little bit of time.

Ace looked up from his phone and smiled. “What did you do today, Luff?” he asked. “Other than lose your shoes.”

“Just rode my bike all day.” He laid his head down on the table and turned it over, making his cheek squish and voice muffle. “You?”

“Just work. I helped with some field trip for another school and then started doing after school activities again.”

“Where was the field trip?” Luffy asked hopefully.

“Just some little pool. It was crowded as hell.”

“Lame.”

“It was fun though. And no one drowned,” Ace chuckled. “So that was good.”

The oven was done preheating, so Ace got up and put the pizzas in there. He then leaned against the counter and stretched, doing some overdramatic yawn. “When are you planning on going to college, Luffy?” he asked mid-yawn.

Luffy looked at Ace in the kitchen with disgust. “Never.”

“You can't mow lawns forever.” Ace scoffed.

“I know. But I am not going to college. Shanks didn't, and he’s doing really good.”

“I know, buddy.” Ace sighed and walked back to the dining room. “But you’re Luffy, not Shanks.” He poked Luffy’s chest. “There’s still time to apply if you wanna. Plus, I think you’d like my major.”

“But I don't wanna have to take a math class!” Luffy groaned.

Ace laughed. “Neither do I.”

Ace majored in outdoor activities where he got the opportunity to learn a lot and travel a lot. The things he got to do were always fun: rock climbing, hiking, nutrition, etc. But – as said earlier – there were its boring parts, like having to take math in order to graduate, but that's what Sabo was for whenever he was around.

Ace had only been in college for a year, but he would always come home with a smile and a story. Luffy loved these stories – even getting jealous some of the time – so Ace figured that Luffy would love college. But he insisted he would rather explore the world on his own and figure the rest out himself.

Ace understood Luffy, but as his older brother, he couldn't help but worry a little also. The world wasn't built for people like them and that sucked big time. It was surprising they even made it out of high school.

The timer on Ace’s phone went off, signaling that the pizzas were ready, and Luffy jumped up with a smile.

The two brothers ran to the kitchen and collected their pizzas, sighing knowing that they had to wait for them to cool.

“Speaking of college,” Ace said, trying to cool down his pizza by fanning it with his hand. “I have to go get some financial aid stuff figured out tomorrow before classes start in the next couple weeks. Wanna come with?”

“Only if I get food.” Luffy said with a mouthful of pizza already.

“Yeah, we’ll go get some lunch.”

“Then sure, I'm not doin’ anything better.”

Ace smiled and ate his own pizza, just barely burning his tongue in the process.

It was getting lonely without Sabo, but it was nice to know that Ace was going to have a day out with his favorite little brother.

~~~~~

one piece masterlist | one piece modern AU masterlist | pinned post | ko-fi

2023 @tonberry-yoda– do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

~~~~~

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Stuck Between a Jock and a Metalhead

Summary: Nancy, on a whim, decides to visit Steve at Scoops Ahoy, which leads to her overhearing confessions from Steve that leads her to think about the decisions she's made. A few days later, she decides to come back. She finds him being hit on by the town freak. What's a girl to do? Oh, get stuck in a freezer with the both of them.

A/N: Oops, this wasn't supposed to be so long. I've been working on it for the last couple of days, trying to get Steve’s family background just right.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Eddie's POV

Eddie sat up in bed with a start and looked at the clock on his bedside table. Oh, fuck he was going to be late. He had spent worrying about how things were going to go that he didn't get very much sleep last night. He had spent that time trying to pick out an outfit, which was stupid because it wasn't like it was a date. The idea of them dating wasn't totally weird though. He knew that three people could date, but the idea that both of them wanted him at the same time. . .it was absurd. Besides, it was clear to see that Steve had eyes for Nancy Wheeler. Not that Eddie could blame him for it, and he certainly couldn't blame Nancy for looking back at him. Eddie tried to get out of bed, but his legs got tangled in the sheets, and he fell out instead.

"I'm fucking cursed," Eddie groaned.

"I keep telling you that you probably pissed off Mother Nature at some point when you were little. Right little terror, you are," Wayne called from the kitchen.

"Ha fucking ha, Uncle Wayne, you're so funny," Eddie growled as he stomped into the kitchen and stole a sip of Wayne's coffee.

"What's got your panties in a bunch, son?" Wayne asked.

"I'm going to hang out with a couple of friends of mine. I woke up late," Eddie said.

"New friends?" Wayne asked.

"Yeah, uh, Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler," Eddie replied.

"Harrington? He ain't kin to Otis Harrington, is he?" Wayne asked.

"I think Steve mentioned something about his grandfather's name being Otis," he said. "We're supposed to go through his grandfather's salon today. I volunteered to help him."

"He thinking about reopening it?" Wayne asked.

"I think so. His parents don't really want him to. I met his mom. She's a real. . . bitch," Eddie said.

"Knew his grandfather back when he had the salon open. He was a great man. Did real good on my hair. It was such a shame when he had to close it, and then when he passed," Wayne said. "It's nice that Steve wants to do that and it was real nice that you offered to help."

"Well, it's nothing," Eddie shrugged and pressed an obnoxious kiss to his bald spot. "I'm going to get ready, old man. See you later."

"Boy! I hate it when you do that!"

"No, you don't!"

A moment later, Eddie came out freshly showered wearing his nicest pair of black jean shorts and a new Dio tank top.

"That's a nice shirt. Is it new?" Wayne asked, looking at him knowingly.

"Shut it," Eddie said.

"I was just pointing it out. Your hair is all up in a bun. . .that's nice. Oh, I see you have a fresh coat of black paint on your nails," Wayne said.

"Stop pointing things out! I'm leaving now!" Eddie exclaimed as he slipped on his vest.

"Which one of them are you interested in, son?" Wayne asked with a chortle.

"Leaving!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Don't come back pregnant. It's bad enough I spoil you, I don't need a grand baby to back up those goddamn cow eyes of yours," Wayne laughed affectionately.

Eddie rolled his eyes, huffed, and walked out the door. He popped his head back in a moment later.

"You're lucky I love you, old man," Eddie said and flipped him off.

Eddie cackled as he walked to his van. He loved him even if he could be such an embarrassing dad sometimes, which Eddie wouldn't admit that he loved. Wayne was always there for him, but he picked up a lot of parental moves once his dad officially walked out of his life. He's always been pretty supportive of everything he's done, even if he didn't like it himself, like showing up to his talent show and listening to him play and on his days off he'd sneak into the Hideout to watch him. It wasn't his kind of music, but he loved being there for Eddie. When he came out to his uncle as bisexual, he had been the most supportive he had ever been. He had been relieved that nothing changed between them.

"You're still my boy, Eds," Wayne had put it so simply but somehow managed to say everything that needed to be said.

"Don't come back pregnant. . .asshole," Eddie scowled as he climbed into his van. "He knows that if people say shit, I'm going to picture it in my head."

He waved the image of his swollen body cuddled between Nancy and Steve away with a loud huff, erasing it away like it was a chalkboard. He followed the directions that Steve told him to follow. He pulled up to the salon, which was a few doors down away from Melvald's. To his surprise, Steve and Nancy weren't there yet. He was the first to arrive? Or maybe they waited so long that they went ahead and investigated without him. He got out of the van and went to the door and tried peering inside, but the windows were too dirty to see anything. He vaguely heard the sound of a car pulling up, but he ignored it. He leaned back, his hands on his hips, and frowned. HONK! Eddie screamed and jumped. Someone had laid on their horn, someone really close. He turned around to find Steve sitting in his car, laughing his ass off while Nancy hit him as she struggled not to laugh either. Steve got out, still laughing, and Eddie glared at him.

"That wasn't funny, dick," Eddie said.

"I beg to differ," Steve snickered and pulled a carton out of a paper bag from Scoops Ahoy. "Will your favorite ice cream help you ease the pain?"

"Hmm, strawberry with extra sprinkles? Hmm. . . It will suffice. . .for now," Eddie said as he opened it and started digging into it with the plastic spoon. "Hmm, yummy. What was I annoyed about before?"

He was well into eating and licking his ice cream when he realized that he was being watched with interest. His eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that Steve and Nancy's eyes were following his every little movement with his ice cream. Did they both find him attractive? Eddie couldn't help but blush as his mind went back to that moment in the freezer when Steve kissed him. No, it was a pity kiss, that's all. He was seeing things that he wanted to see.

"Uh, don't you guys have ice creams of your own?" Eddie asked.

"Yes!" Steve and Nancy exclaimed.

Eddie leaned against his van as they enjoyed their ice cream. He could feel Steve’s eyes on him again.

"Those are some nice legs - shorts! Those are some nice shorts!" Steve exclaimed.

"What the fuck are legs shorts?" Eddie asked.

"Nothing!" Steve said quickly.

"Right. . ."

Eddie was hearing things he wanted to hear now, too, because he was pretty sure Steve Harrington just commented on his legs. He watched Nancy lean against Steve and giggle. He had noticed that they seemed a little more carefree than before, a lot less weighed down, but they still held a story behind their eyes. Eddie wasn't too keen on getting in between whatever new was growing between them. He could at least admire their beauty and imagine what could be between the three of them. For now, he was excited for their growing friendship. They finished off their ice cream, and Steve tossed the remains in the nearest trashcan. He fished out his keys and unlocked the door to the salon. They immediately inhaled some dust. It seemed like someone hadn't been here in a few years. Steve propped open the door with a brick to air it out.

"It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be," Eddie admitted as he looked around the place. "If you ever think about reopening, Wayne said he would love to help. Had good things to say about your gramps."

"Yeah, I'm starting to hear about that from other people, too. I mean, I loved my grandpa, but I didn't know that other people loved him too. It's weird because other people really hate my parents, and they've really tarnished the family name," Steve grumbled. "It's all I ever here is how much my father is an asshole."

"I'm not surprised. But I figure that if anyone can untarnish the family name, it'd be you," Eddie said.

"You think so?" He asked.

"Well, if you are able to put up with your unbearable mother, I figured you can do anything, big boy," Eddie said, clapping him on the back.

He watched his cheeks turn pink, and he laughed in amusement. Eddie looked around the room. It was exactly what you would expect a barber shop to look like and then some. With its red checkered floors and comfortable chairs that stood in front of dust covered mirrors. Although it was a lot more home-y than Eddie expected it to be. It felt more like a cross between someone's living room and a barber shop. Rat eaten, moldy couches were tucked up on either side of the room. Magazines with their covers bitten into lay on intricate looking coffee tables. They looked hand-made. What surprised him the most were the wooden varnished animals worked into the walls itself. Tiny wolves, deers, rabbits, and birds were sticking out of carved trees that were also worked into the wall. Plastic leaves had once hung on the trees, but it looked like they had fallen off. It was the coolest thing that Eddie had ever seen.

"Wow," Eddie gazed at in wonder. "This is so fucking metal."

"Yeah, my Grandma, who died before I was born, had a mutal friend with Grandpa, and they both surprised Grandpa Otis with this," Steve said. "My Grandpa didn't talk about him a lot. Whenever I asked about him, he always got really secretive. He talked about him a lot near the end, though. Him and an old war buddy of his, Steven. As well as my Gran, I thought it was sweet whenever he called her his best friend, and he always did even in the end."

"Wait, he had a war buddy named Steven?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, Grandpa named me after him," Steve replied.

"Your grandpa named you? Not your parents?" Nancy asked.

"Well, my grandpa practically raised me the first few years of my life," Steve said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"Uh, where were your parents?" Eddie asked.

"In and out like always. It was a busy time for my father's company," Steve said. "He built it from the ground up, you know. I also think there was a scandal at the time. I don't know what it was. My dad wasn't always loaded. Anyway, my grandpa's things are in the apartment above us."

Steve entered through a torn curtain, flipping on lights. There was a thick wooden staircase that led to a small hallway, and turning left, there was a door. Steve unlocked it and turned on the lights. Inside was a modest two bedroom apartment. Eddie could tell that the second bedroom had been added on. A wall had been put up as a way to devide the once one room apartment. Both bedrooms were filled with boxes, and the furniture was covered with sheets.

"It's nice," Nancy said. "Very home-y."

"Unlike my house, you mean?" Steve snorted. "Anyway, this was my bedroom."

"Your bedroom?" Nancy asked.

"When I lived with my grandpa, the first few years of my life. A couple of years later, he started getting sick, and he had to close the store. Then, we had to move into the house. Honestly, I wasn't even sure they were my parents. My Grandpa mainly told stories about when my dad was a kid and my mom wasn't around a lot for him to get to know," Steve shrugged again.

It was taking everything in Eddie not to burst into tears and not hug the stuffing out of this guy. The way he talked about it so casually. . . Like it was the weather and not the fact that his parents abandoned him, then used his life like a revolving door. Eddie breathed in deep and then exhaled, stuffing his hands into his pockets, clenching his fists. He shared a look with Nancy, and she looked just as shocked as he was.

"How come you never told me about any of this stuff before?" Nancy asked.

"I don't know. You never asked," Steve shrugged, his back to her.

Eddie knew it wasn't supposed to be a slap in the face, but judging by the look on Nancy's face, it had been. She looked so guilty. Maybe if Steve hadn't been so casual about it like he was used to people not actually being interested in the real Steve Harrington. He knew his fucking parents were the cause of that. Eddie nudged Nancy gently, letting her know that she wasn't alone in making assumptions about Steve in the past. There were more layers to this guy than they both ever knew, and they were all about to find out more. He didn't know what went on with them, but he hoped it all worked out.

"Hey! My stuff!" Steve exclaimed as he walked into his bedroom, and he looked at the boxes.

"Your stuff?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, the toys, clothes, and blankets my parents gave away to the church," Steve said.

"Did they at least ask you first?" Eddie asked.

"No!" Steve said as he dug through the box happily. "The teddy bear my Grandma made when she found my mom was pregnant with me. She stitched this together herself. Made it from Dad's old baby clothes. I used to sleep with this thing every night, and then my mom said I was too old to sleep with a stuffed animal. Said I looked stupid. Sir Snuggsalot because he's so snuggly."

Eddie's heart swelled in his chest at the sight of Steve cuddling the bear. It suddenly turned to anger. He pulled Nancy off to the side.

"Okay, we lie in wait for his parents to come home then me and you. . . We kill them," Eddie said. "It needs to look like an accident."

"I have been reading up on poisons," Nancy said.

"Hmm. . .it can't be quick. They don't deserve a quick death," Eddie said.

"Hmm. Agreed. Rusty pair of gardening sheers?" Nancy asked.

"Nobody will believe they garden," he scoffed.

"That's why they're rusty. He does sleep around a lot," Nancy said. "Maybe she finally snapped."

"Yes! Murder suicide. I like the way you think, Wheeler," Eddie said.

"What are you two talking about over there?" Steve asked.

"Nothing!" Eddie and Nancy exclaimed.

"Anyway, there's a note. Pastor Young, who used to babysit me here, recognized these things and dug them out of the donation box. He must have brought them here right before he died," Steve said, shaking his head fondly. "Miss that old man."

"Fuck it," Eddie muttered.

He walked over to Steve and slipped his arms around his waist, pulling into a tight side hug. Eddie squeezed him.

"Uh, what's going on?" Steve asked.

Nancy copied Eddie and joined Steve on his other side, hugging him tightly as well.

"Okay, I don't know what this is, but it's nice," Steve said.

Once they dug through his childhood things, they moved over to his grandfather's boxes. They pulled out photographs and metals as well as several pieces of artwork that Steve did for Otis as a child. There were several photos of him and Steve when Steve was little. Eddie cooed at every single one of them. There were several more photos of Otis when he was younger with Steve’s Grandma, Irene.

"You have his eyes, Steve," Nancy noted as she gazed at a picture of young Otis in his uniform.

"I do?" Steve asked and looked over Nancy's shoulder. "Oh yeah."

Eddie joined Nancy at her other side to look at the photo.

"Yeah, definitely. You have his shoulders too," Eddie said.

"And his hair," Nancy added.

Eddie grinned as he watched Steve preen as he realized he had more in common with his grandfather than he thought he did. Eddie dug through the box and pulled out a picture frame. It was Otis in his uniform with his arm wrapped around a handsome man with rather curly thick hair and dark eyes. His face was littered with freckles. They were gazing at each other, and Eddie didn't think it looked all that platonic.

"Oh, hey, that's Steven," Steve said, looking over at Eddie's shoulder. "According to the date, it was about the time he and Gran got engaged."

"There's something wedged in the back," Eddie said. "I'll fix it."

He opened up the back, and another photo slipped out. Steve caught and read the back.

"Thanks for letting me take this picture. You gentlemen are lovely together. One day, you'll be able to show everyone your love, and they'll accept you as I do. Love always, your best friend, Irene," Steve read off the back and flipped the picture over. "Oh, wow."

Eddie scurried to look over his shoulder, as did Nancy. Otis and Steven's arms were wrapped around each other as they locked lips.

"Okay, there has to be journals around here that have more information," Eddie said with wide eyes. "I need to know more about them. I mean, if you don't mind."

"I think he wouldn't mind at all. He would probably be happy to know that there were more people like him learning about his story and his struggles," Steve said.

"Especially his grandson," Eddie said with a grin as he nudged him.

The three of them started to dig around the room, trying to find anything with journals in it. It was Nancy who found a box under the bed. When she opened it, they discovered tons of journals. They eagerly started to dig through them, each taking turns to read them as they learned more about Otis Harrington. It helped that it was written more like a novel.

Before Otis had gotten drafted, he had worked in his father's barber shop in Hawkins. Irene Callahan was his best friend in the world, and their parents were sure they were going to get married. Of course, they weren't at all aware of Otis's secret: He was gay. Women held no interest for him, not even Irene. Turns out, though, Irene was more than okay with that because there wasn't a single man or woman alive who held any interest for her, and she had doubted that it would ever happen. They eventually agreed that they would get married. . . It was safer that way, and Irene didn't want to get stuck with someone she couldn't stand. And even though it was a marriage without romantic love and sexual attraction, it was a marriage built on love. And they were happy.

"That's cool, though, that they had a marriage like that. Just like a friendship marriage. And that Irene could be like that," Steve said. "My grandparents were awesome."

"That they were. You know, my best friend, Ronnie, is a lot like your grandma. She's at NYU studying to become a lawyer," Eddie said.

"For the longest time, I thought I was like that. I wasn't really interested in anyone or in dating. I mean, besides that tiny crush on Tom Cruise. Until Steve came along, I wasn't sure I could like anyone," Nancy said.

"Hmm, maybe you're pansexual," Eddie said.

"Pansexual?" Nancy asked.

"It's like where it doesn't matter what gender someone is. You're like attracted to what's inside a person," Eddie said.

"Like their fluids and stuff?" Steve asked.

"No!" Eddie snorted with laughter. "You're like attracted to people and not what's on the outside. While bisexuality focuses more on gender and neither sexuality is wrong. Look, I was confused about my own sexuality for years, I'm not sure if I can explain someone else's. It's whatever feels comfortable with you. Hell, you don't even need to have a label if you don't want to. I'll take you guys up to Indie, and I will take you to this place my friend took me. I think exploring your sexuality is something that you need to do for yourself."

"So, you're not going to guide me like a queer Yoda?" Nancy asked, her eyes twinkling with delight.

"A Quoda!" Steve exclaimed, and Nancy giggled.

"I hate you guys," Eddie said, grinning as he swiped the journal from Steve’s hands.

Before Otis and Irene had even gotten engaged, however, a man had moved into town to open up his own diner. He had stumbled upon the town of Hawkins and decided to move to this quaint, quiet town. He had come from the large noisy city of New York, and he was looking for some small town charm.

"Small town charm? What they don't tell you about small towns could fill a book," Eddie said, causing Steve and Nancy to snort while sharing a look. "Or a TV show."

When Steven Jones stepped foot into the barber shop, Otis had been smitten with him almost immediately. They became fast friends, all three of them, and from that moment on, it felt like they had always been friends. They were inseparable. That summer was the best time for all of them. Otis and Steve fell in love while Irene had the pleasure of watching unfold. She even helped keep it a secret. Wartime soon fell upon them like dark clouds on the cusp of a great big storm. And when rumors started popping up, it was Irene's idea to get married, treating it as a celebration of their friendship. While she was married to Otis in the spirit of friendship, she knew the romantic marriage was between Otis and Steven. She had a secret ring made for Steven to wear around his neck. So while Irene and Otis had a huge church wedding with Steven standing beside Otis, they had a secret wedding for Steven and Otis in this very apartment with Irene officiating. Steven had deemed it a coin marriage, both with different sides and both of equal value. One side was romantic, one side platonic.

"A fucking coin marriage," Eddie said. "Your grandparents were brilliant."

It all came crashing down when both Otis and Steven had gotten drafted, leaving Irene to look after the salon with Otis's father. Letters between the three of them were stuck between the pages of the book. They were filled with longing and fear, all three of them separated by war. The last letter spoke of Steven and Otis meeting on the same battlefield, finally together again. Eddie's shakily turned the page.

"Otis had returned home, to the joy of his father and his wife, but Steven. . . Steven would never come home again. And when Otis stood in front of his wife, he placed Steven's necklace in her palm as he drew her into a kiss. To anyone else, he was greeting his wife with a loving kiss, but they knew differently. Salty tears from both sides, it was a kiss filled with sadness. . .two lips clinging to each other in a comforting hug as they mourned for the loss for the man they loved so differently and completely. . . The man who loved with every fiber of his being and who couldn't carry hate in his heart for anyone even when he was fighting on the battlefield. He showed his love through food, and taking care of people was like his special language. Hawkins would be a lot less brighter with one less star, and Otis would always be missing a piece of his heart. . . "

Eddie put the journal down, sniffling as he wiped his eyes. He let out a choked sob, trying to ignore Steve and Nancy's own sniffles. They took a moment to collect themselves, and Nancy took the journal from him. The journal had skipped ahead several months later, with Otis addressing it to his beloved. . .to Steven. Otis and Irene were discussing ways they could possibly have a child. There was really only one way they could. . . With a turkey baster. They had talked about it in depth, trying to figure out if they were trying to fill the hole in their lives. After a lot of talking, they figured out that it was something that they really wanted. Several months later, they welcomed a baby boy and named him Jonathan after Irene's father, who had passed during the beginning stages of her pregnancy. As he grew, John was a happy boy who loved both of his parents. He was witty and sharp, but as the years went by, he started befriending the more popular kids who were very arrogant. They didn't believe in people who strayed far from the path, who stood out. John had firmly believed that his parents' marriage were like everyone else's, a little silly perhaps but did not stray too far from the path. Otis had decided that John had been old enough to learn the truth, and he had trusted him to be able to handle it. That had been a mistake.

" . . . Watching the love fade from my son's eyes had been hard to watch, and seeing it be replaced with disgust had been even harder. I'm looking at him now, even though he's right next to me, and I miss him. I wish I never told him at all. . . "

Nancy paused, her bottom lip trembling as she gazed at Steve.

"Fuck," Eddie and Steve cursed.

"Continue," Steve said, swallowing thickly.

" . . . It would be my fault for whatever comes next with him. I've always ignored it when other people spewed hateful things, and I never felt ashamed for being who I am until the hate started coming from my own son. My father had died and left the salon to me, but he died knowing who I was. He accepted and loved me all the same even if he didn't understand it himself. The worst part was when we would go out in public, and John wanted to keep the image up of us being a happy family. I always tried to make sure that he knew he came from love, created with love even though it wasn't the conventional way. All he felt was betrayal, and I couldn't help but feel like it was all my fault. . . "

"That's bullshit! It's not his fault. He was just being honest about who he is and my father . . . Well, if he hasn't learned by now that he's the asshole in this situation, then he's probably never going to," Steve scowled.

"Steve. . . ," Nancy said softly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe after. Let's just finish," Steve said and took the journal from her.

As the years went by, John argued with his parents about getting help. . .about needing to be fixed. It always ended the same way, with John being kicked out, leaving his parents to cry over their son and wishing Steven was still with them. He still tried to keep up with visiting his parents, and eventually, he dropped the subject, but he always looked at them funny. Instead, he talked about the insurance company he was building with his friends and bragged about how well it was going, making jabs about how Otis was still a barber. When he turned his insults to Irene, it had been the last straw and kicked John out. He had been planning on giving the house to John, but after disowning him for a time, he sold it to someone else. Irene and Otis moved into the apartment above the salon. The next time that they had talked to their son, he announced he was married to a wonderful woman. They could tell that he didn't even love her, not even platonically. She was desperate for his love, though, and was willing to give him anything even children to keep up the image of the importance of family. She hated kids, though. Steve paused and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You okay?" Eddie asked softly.

"I just - I always suspected that this is why my mother had me, but I had hoped that there was some part of her. . . Some part of her that loved me," Steve said as he struggled not to cry.

"Steve. . .," Nancy said and reached out to touch his knee.

"Let's just . . . Get on with this," Steve said.

When Margaret had announced her pregnancy, Otis and Irene tried to focus on the fact that there would be a grand baby on the way. They didn't want to think about how Margaret looked sour during the announcement and that John had looked happy about it for all the wrong reasons. It was just a means to end for him, another piece to maintain the image that he was on the right path. Irene spent all of her time working on making a teddy bear for the baby, making it out of John's clothes and putting all of her love into it. Just after finishing it, Irene's heart gave out. There was too much damage, and he sat with her on her deathbed with John nowhere to be found. He had been too busy at work, too busy to say goodbye to his own mother, and Otis knew he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"I'll give Steven my love. I'll leave some for you and John to give to the baby," she had smiled weakly. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if they named the baby Steven? It's such a lovely name."

They had been her last words, and Otis had been distraught as she slipped away even more so after she was gone. He had never felt more alone in his life. John and Margaret had stood at the back of the funeral. When John did approach him later, he didn't say anything, but he did look regretful. For the first time in a while, Otis was looking through the eyes of his son. He should have known that it was too good to last. They hadn't called him when Margaret had gone into labor. John had shown up with the baby in his arms and gave the bundle to him. He declared that he didn't have time to take care of him, and Margaret didn't want anything to do with the baby. Though Otis had felt sad for the baby in his arms, he also felt love and joy. He had come up with the perfect name. Steven Ira Harrington.

"Your middle name is Ira?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah," Steve said. "Problem?"

"No, Ira-really like it," Eddie said with a cheesy grin.

"That was so stupid," Nancy giggled, and Steve laughed in agreement.

The next few years of his life had been busy. The divider had been built by James Hopper Sr and his son, Jimmy. It was a name only Otis was allowed to call him. Occasionally, Jimmy would come into help with the wall but would also help look after baby Steve. Tucked in between the pages was a picture of young Hopper bouncing baby Steve in his lap while Steve laughed and reached for his face. It wasn't long after that Jimmy had gotten married and left for New York. Raising Steve had kept Otis busy for the next few years, and when he got sick, he started to write less. When he lost the use of his hands, he stopped writing all together. He did manage to write one more thing.

"Steve, if you find these journals, please don't think less of me. . . And Steven. . .oh, Steven. . . He may not be yours by blood, but somehow, he managed to inherit your heart. . . . "

"If anything, I think more of you," Steve whispered and then paused. "He never talked about that friend of his who did that piece of artwork downstairs."

"Well, I think there might be a couple of journals missing, judging by the dates," Nancy said.

"Pastor Young probably took them when he dropped off my things," Steve said.

"Or maybe Pastor Young did the artwork," Eddie said, and then he gasped. "Maybe Pastor Young was Otis's lover."

"Maybe that's why he took the notebooks. He didn't want anyone to know," Nancy said.

"That would explain why he was so involved in my life," Steve said. "And why he had a key. Now that I think about it, he did sleep over a lot, and he never slept on the couch. Jesus, it was right there in front of me. I mean, he was there even until the end. Although, after Grandpa died, he didn't come around a lot, and then he died. My father probably told him to stay away if he figured out what he was to my grandfather. My fucking parents. . . "

Eddie watched his face flash through several mixed emotions. His own father was an asshole who breezed in and out of his life. He was finally out of it for good.

"I know what it's like," Eddie blurted out.

"What?" Steve asked.

"To have a parent come in and out of your life, not caring about you. I spent so many years trying to catch my father's attention only to realize he wasn't going to care about me. I did have someone who always did, who I took for granted. My uncle was always the dad that I needed in my life. He was the one who taught me how to care. You had not one, not two but three grandparents. Even though two of them never got to meet you, it seems they left their love behind in Otis which he passed onto you," Eddie said.

"And you've passed it onto me and to the kids. They communicate it through their actions, especially Dustin, who takes care of you as much as you do him," Nancy said. "And you taught Max that she could stand up for herself. You gave them an example of what a good older brother should be, just like your grandfather showed you what a good parent is supposed to be. You showed them that love can look differently to many people, and it doesn't have to be romantic. And even if they don't say, they show it. . .they love you, and I think they do that by making sure that you never feel alone ever again. They do that even by filling up your house with noise and dirt. They chose to be a part of your life. And I know you love them that just as much as they love you."

Steve burst into tears, his body shaking with sobs. Eddie immediately wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. He turned to Nancy and pulled her into the middle of them. Eddie and Nancy hugged him tightly, unknowingly solidifying their bond even further into a deeper and more permanent one.

Chapter Eight

[msfbgraves]

Since Baby Showers only became a thing later on, what about something where Daniel’s pregnant with his 8th child at his shower? Or maybe something between him and Terry when they realize Daniel is going to have another kid—after all, Terry was super anxious when Daniel didn’t have any Heats for some years after Luna. Terry thought it was for…other reasons, but Daniel’s poor body was only taking a break lol. Serves you right Terry!

"Yeah, alright, Terry, I did enjoy the driving range, but what are we going to do about lunch?"

Terry pulled him close. "What is in that freezer I bought you?"

Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Frozen food. Emergency rations! We're not snowed in, and I missed church too..."

It may have been a little while since he was with pup, but Terry had not forgotten never to mention his mate was a little more anxious in this state, lest he wanted to survive on sandwiches for the week. So he said: "You'll be grand, babe. After all, what's the point of attending two congregations if you can't claim you were at the other one?"

Daniel scoffed. "Madonna mia, I'll have to vouch for you some day," but he seemed slightly more relaxed as Terry opened the car door for him. Danny looked longingly at the steering wheel, but Terry held firm. "Don't start that, sweetheart. Sit down and relax."

"It's easy for you to say. Eli alone could finish the contents of that freezer. And I don't know where Gianni puts it all. He's trying to outgrow you, mark my words, and the girls need a good meal in them, Luna doesn't eat enough, and it's not only the Alphas that need their strength, Robby and Anthony..."

"They're grown pups, mo cuishle, they can fend for themselves and the little ones, they're grand -"

"Just because they've thrown you to the wolves back in the day doesn't mean my pups -"

"Peace," Terry laughed. "We'll take them out to lunch, is that acceptable?"

"I'd cook you better if you'd have let me plan, Terry, surprises are fine but why Sunday of all days...!"

"Mea maxima culpa, my sweetest one."

"It's work, is all I'm saying," Daniel said, a little deflated. "I know you come home to relax, and I want you to, but that doesn't mean I can drop everything at a moment's notice."

Terry reached over. "I know, baby. But you should let the pups pull their weight."

Daniel laughed. "We have four Alphas, have you any idea why the house hasn't been destroyed yet? It's not because I'm spending my time sipping homemade limoncello, dear."

"Does it have to be homemade?"

"Dai!" He slapped his hand. "One more word, I'm replacing all the whiskey with Scotch."

That, of course, was unthinkable, so Terry held his tongue. Daniel stroked his arm. "I do enjoy these dates, Sir. Give me a heads up next time? Something to look forward to?"

Terry could think of a lot of things to look forward to, but before they could get into that, Daniel hissed. "What's my Ma doing here?"

Trust Italians to be late, had he not explicitly instructed everyone to be on time? It had been hard enough as it was to stall his Danny love at golf, eager as he was to get lunch finished. Not today. Today was all about him enjoying himself.

Ah, well. Maybe Lucille had enough sense to feign a surprise visit. He let Danny out, then parked the car - only to immediately be greeted by a highly upset Anthony. He really was the spitting image of his Mama, eyes blazing and gesticulating as if they were in downtown Naples. "Daddy, nobody will listen - "

At least Yasmin was hot on his heels. "Anthony, don't do that!!"

"Quiet!" He looked to the both. "What's going on?"

"He just took off -"

"I can see that, acushla," he said, a little short. "Anthony, what's happened, baby?"

"Dad, he's not a baby!"

"I'll get to you, darlin," he said, and now she had the good sense to shut up.

His son lifted his chin as if preparing to deliver a lawyer's opening statement, and it took everything Terry had not to grin and ruffle his hair. "I said it was going to be a potluck style, because there are too many people, and auntie Apollonia doesn't know what that is, but I'm right, Daddy, we can't do sit down, there are too many people...!"

"I know I've told you to listen to your auntie, Tony, love."

"But she's wrong, this is my house and she doesn't understand we -"

"This is my house, Anthony, and if I tell you to listen to your aunt, you will listen to your aunt."

"But -"

"It's not your responsibility, darlin'. Now go apologize to her and help out."

"I don't -"

"Now!"

Yasmin was looking rather too self-satisfied, so he took her shoulder.

"I told you to watch him."

"Which is why I'm outside..."

"He might have gone into heat!"

She scoffed. "He's not going to go into heat, he presented like three seconds ago!"

He breathed in. "Some people like that idea!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Ew, Dad, that's gross!"

"How do you expect me to get you off dishwashing duty at the Stallion if you can't even look after your omega brother?"

She looked down. "Nobody can keep that one in check, conniving little brat -"

"And you think you are never going to encounter more of those?"

She was quiet for exactly half a second. "I thought there were no more stray kitties allowed at the Stallion?"

Terry looked over his shoulder, but Daniel was still firmly in conversation with Lucille. "Don't call them that."

"What?"

"Your brother is not an animal. Your mother is not an animal!"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't mean them -"

"That language is only used by people who can never hope to take care of an omega. Don't you want to be in the position to care for one, some day?"

She shrugged. Terry stared. "Come again?"

She sighed. "Don't take it personal, Daddy. I want a life. I don't want to be tied down."

"Tied down."

She was a strong girl, he'd give her that. He'd seen hardened criminals shrink back from less. "Oh, come on, look at this," she scoffed. "The whole week gone because Mama is going to have a puppy. Again."

"And there are more important things."

"Not for you, Daddy, I know." She flicked her hair. "I'm not built for this, is all. I'm different."

He looked at her. Beautiful. Radiant, healthy and strong... and she'd throw it away in a heartbeat.

He closed his eyes. "God keep you, acushla," he said, walking past her. She followed him inside. "Dad, I knew you'd be like this. It's not that I don't appreciate what Mama does -"

He turned around. "When he sat at your bedside for a week, should he have done more important things, perhaps?"

"Oh, come on, it's what they do..."

He stood and looked at her, and she had the decency to stutter. "I mean - it's Mama. It's not like he wanted to do anything else...?"

"You foolish girl."

She turned white. "Daddy, I love Mama, I only meant -"

"You live in paradise, and you don't even know it. Jaysis, Mary and Joseph, I'm ashamed of you."

Tears glistened in her eyes, but she lifted her chin. "Isn't that what he's supposed to do? And you? Take care of your pups?"

He steadied his breathing. "He's given you his whole, entire life. Don't you know what it's cost him?"

"I didn't ask him to," she said.

He'd never laid a hand on her and he never would. "Go relieve Susan," he said.

She blinked. "Why?"

"Because I can't stand the sight of you right now," he spat. "If the rest of life is so much more important, go do an Alpha's job, and you can do it without a hot meal, or talking shit with your Uncle Louie over a glass of wine. And you can stay there until after Dennis has relieved Bobby, and you will listen to him, Yasmin, because he has more years under his belt than you've even been alive."

Now she was getting angry. "I only said what I felt!'

He smirked. "And you assume people care. They don't, acushla, the world's a very cold place, and nobody cares about anything other than what they can get from you." He didn't wait for her reply, shifted into logistics: how many entrances, people, weapons, how many trusted allies and potential traitors. He'd wanted to show his sweet Danny right off and he did, saw him melt at the gifts of clothes and toys and a newly decorated crib (Luna's work, with all his other pups chipping in for specific details), saw Anthony host like a pro, always subtly flanked by either Sammy or inseperable Gianni and Eli, while Robby had a watchful eye on his Mama's every comfort.

'I didn't ask him to.'

He wouldn't have gone into heat if things weren't good between them, Yasmin's entire existence a sign that his Danny boy wanted this and him, and now, this new pup an extra confirmation that they were good, and the marriage, family, was wanted, for feck's sake -

'Don't you know what it's cost him?'

Danny's delight in greeting every one of his pups, the way he beamed at all the neighbors bringing over supplies and toys and stuff they didn't need, of course, not with the exquisite care Daniel took with every facet of his puppies' lives, it had to mean they'd made it, right?

Right?!

"Terry? Where is Yasmin?"

And maybe he shouldn't have relented at something as simple as Daniel going: "Terry. Where is my pup?!" if he wanted this lesson to stick, but then again, it was foolish to think Daniel had not observed what had gone on between them, if he never directly undermined Terry's authority. So if Yasmin was brought back with quite a bit of fanfare, that was something he'd have to accept, for Danny's sake, and at least Yasmin had the decency not to look like she was above it all. Then Daniel whispered something to Luna and she ran to his side with that sweet smile of hers, "Daddy, play us a song", which of course turned the afternoon into an impromptu jam session that not even Samantha and Tory's eternal posturing could bring any tension to. Tory was a mean fiddler, and not to be outdone, even Yasmin took up hers; Robby played a Sicilian song for Apollonia, and Tommy showed the Italian pups how to do a jig, and Terry knew he was going to Hell, but he'd claw out his way backwards to be with him again, his love, his Danny boy, the light and soul of his entire life.

[jimxnslight]

Detective Perfect

Summary: Detective work is one of the most challenging jobs in terms of intelligence- at least, that's what you've noticed as someone who has been on the sidelines for the past two years. But with Kim Taehyung by your side, how hard can it be?

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Genre: High school student reader, high school student Taehyung, best friends to lovers, detective au, bantering, fluff

Word Count: 5.8K

Warnings: Mentions of murder, dead bodies, divorce and cheating (not between oc and Taehyung), blood, gun violence, physical violence, mentions of gangs, minor character deaths, mentions of parental abuse, detailed mentions of drugs

Author's Note: My first fic ever! I'm a little nervous haha, but I'm glad I'm finally gaining the confidence to do it (*_*;;;). I hope you enjoy this and everything else I have planned for the future of this page!

"Here."

The plastic bag hanging from your hand dropped onto the grass next to Taehyung, who looked up at you with an annoying grin. Your best friend grabbed the bag happily, pulling out its contents.

"Aw don't be like that," Taehyung teased at your sulking, bringing out a pair of wooden chopsticks and a plastic container of steaming chicken from the bag, "you did this to yourself."

You rolled your eyes, "I did not. Remind me to never place a bet with you again."

Taehyung pouted as he brought a piece of the chicken to his mouth like he always did when he ate, "you say that every time we make a bet, and every time it ends with you making me food."

"Mhmm, and who won the last time we made a bet?"

He just waved you off, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The familiar feeling of wanting to throw your best friend off a bridge engulfed you, but for the sake of the greater good, you suppressed it reluctantly. 

"Come on," you said, tapping his knee as you turned towards the police building, "our lunch break is almost over and I'm pretty sure our new case is more interesting than finding some lady's purse this time!"

That had his eyes widening in excitement as he quickly closed the container and placed it in his bag, running after you, "you really think so? How do you know?"

"I overheard some officers and Detective Lee having a serious conversation. Then I heard him mention our names! I know it's not a lot to go on, but it can't be nothing, right?"

Taehyung was silent for a moment, clearly mulling over your words, "maybe? I really hope so, I'm so ready for a case that doesn't involve finding Mrs. Hwang's grandson in the convenience store."

You chuckled as you both made your way towards Detective Lee's office, "at least she always gives us cookies after, even though he's always just trying to stuff himself in the ice cream freezer every time."

Taehyung just shook his head, "man, that kid is something else. If I even thought of being that reckless, my mom would beat me with her slipper."

You nodded in agreement. Your dad would never let you see the light of day again.

When the two of you finally arrived at Detective Lee's office, you let Taehyung open the door to find the detective sitting behind his desk, gaze intensely focused on the papers sitting in front of him. At your entrance, his eyes flickered upwards before standing up and giving you both a grim smile.

"Taehyung, Y/N, today your task will be a little different from the ones you're normally used to," he announced. It took every ounce of self-control in you not to jump excitedly at his words and one glance at Taehyung's restrained smile made it clear he felt the same.

"We're ready for anything you ask of us Detective Lee," he said quickly and you nodded alongside him.

Detective Lee nodded his head towards the guard standing in front of the door you and Taehyung had entered from. In a matter of seconds, the guard walked in with a police officer trailing behind him. All their expressions looked solemn.

"Meet Officer Jang. We will be working with him during this case," he said, allowing the officer to stand beside him as he spoke, "Officer Jang, this is Y/N and Taehyung. They've been student volunteers here at this precinct for the past 2 years and will be accompanying us as part of the precinct's shadowing program."

The officer, who had been expressionless up until now, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "how young are they?"

"They're both 17, so not too young. But please keep in mind they are still high school kids. Try to limit their interactions with the crime scene to what's appropriate."

Crime scene?

You glanced at Taehyung, who already had his eyes on you. Were you both going to investigate a crime scene? Like an actual murder? Or maybe a robbery? Detective Lee wouldn't be so adamant about not seeing a bank robbery. It had to be a murder.

The possibility had your heart beating rapidly in your chest.

"Alright then," the officer said in finality.

"Let's begin with the briefing."

-

-

-

The story of how you and Taehyung met has always been a popular one for the parties. It often left your classmates shocked in a mix of emotions, which of course the two of you could not care less about. The pain behind it had passed, and now the only thing you could do was laugh it off and continue with your lives. 

You weren't childhood friends that grew up together, nor were you classmates that had found friendship during the school year. In fact, Taehyung didn't even become a student at your school until after the two of you became friends and Taehyung had asked his mother to transfer.

It all started when you were 12 and had started noticing an odd atmosphere suffocating the air in your house. Back then, you were much too young to understand the hesitance and aversion in your parents' actions towards each other and, unfortunately, none had made an attempt to explain the situation to you. It was probably because you were young and the topic was a little too mature for your age, but still, looking back you would have appreciated it if someone had taken the time to sit down and walk you through it. 

Instead, you found out about it firsthand in a way that was frankly traumatizing for a child to see. 

Your mother had been having an affair with another man,

and you had caught them both in your mother's bedroom doing... well, affair-worthy stuff.

While your mother had covered up and desperately tried to explain to you the importance of keeping this secret from your father, the sound of his footsteps entering the room had left all attempts at secrecy futile. And as if that wasn't enough, a woman you had never seen in your entire life had barged into the bedroom a few minutes later and began yelling at the man still sitting on the bed. 

"Is this normal in the adult world?" A voice had asked. You had turned to find a boy around your age standing and watching the chaotic yelling coming from all four of them now. You assumed he was the son of the unfamiliar woman in the room considering their similar appearances. 

"No one warned me we would need earplugs to prepare for adulthood," you thought out loud. He had laughed and after the divorces took place, the two of you had been inseparable since.

You're not sure whether the infatuation with crime had been because of that incident in some weird psychologically twisted way or you would've found the interest regardless of that situation, but either way, it happened. You and Taehyung had spent hours watching crime shows and documentaries together, using your non-existent detective skills to solve the cases presented. 

That's what led you both to volunteer at the local precinct in your city and eventually to the place the two of you were in now.

A house.

You and Taehyung had been a little disappointed by the lack of creepy haunted mansions and mysterious dead bodies when the officer had explained that a murder had taken place in a normal house a few neighborhoods away from your own, but at least the mention of a murder was interesting enough. Detective Lee had followed the officer to the body while giving orders to the two of you to search the upper level of the house for evidence.

"He doesn't want us to see the body," Taehyung said dejectedly, walking through the doorway of one of the bedrooms. 

"There are probably some kind of laws in place for minors seeing stuff like that," you guessed, looking around the room. It had already been searched by officers beforehand, evident through a few evidence markers that had been placed here and there, "but who cares? If we show Detective Lee we're useful, maybe he'll let us come to more of his serious cases."

"I want to actually be a part of the investigation, not look at underwear," he pouted as he pointed towards an open drawer that was full of said undergarments, "he's just keeping us busy because he thinks we're children and he wants us on the sidelines."

"I mean... we are children, though."

He just sighed, "there's nothing here. Let's check the other room."

You nodded, feeling the same disappointment Taehyung was. But it only made you more determined to show Detective Lee your potentials. 

You followed behind Taehyung mindlessly as he walked through the doorway of the second bedroom. 

"What the-" Taehyung suddenly yelped, flinching backwards into you.

"What is wrong with you?" You said, pushing him off you, and walking into the room.

At first, you didn't understand what could have caused his reaction, until you saw it.

There was someone in here. A boy, around your age, sitting calmly on the floor, eyes glued to a window that revealed the brick wall of the house next to the one you were in now.

How creepy.

You inched towards him despite Taehyung's protests to get behind him.

"Hey, are you okay?" You asked softly. The boy was still for a moment, before turning towards you and you gasped.

He was beautiful.

You sounded so pathetic saying it, but damn was the boy sitting on the floor fine. His jawline was sharp, body toned and cheeks cutely puffy but still managing to be structured at the same time. And his eyes... Although they were simply brown, they were so intense as they first scanned you and then Taehyung.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he said softly, pulling himself off the ground.

Taehyung gave you a look before he whispered, "why'd you gasp like that?" 

"He's hot."

You noticed Taehyung's jaw clench as his eyes scanned the boy, his gaze suddenly very cold.

The boy on the other hand smirked and, even though you had whispered it, you had a feeling he might have heard your comment, "I'm Jimin, Park Jimin."

"I'm Y/N, and this is Taehyung," you said politely, eyes travelling down to the outline of his abs against his shirt before forcing them back up to his face.

Congratulations Y/N, you are officially a creep, you thought bitterly.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung said. You were surprised to hear the distance in his voice. 

"I live here," Jimin said, regarding Taehyung before his eyes landed back on you, "my father was the one killed."

That's when Taehyung's eyes softened, "I'm sorry."

But to your surprise, Jimin just waved him off, "he was an abusive bastard. Whoever killed him did me a favour."

"I'm assuming you guys are here with the detective to figure out who killed him?" Jimin continued, as if he wasn't talking about his father's murder.

Then again, he did say he was abusive. If your dad abused you, you doubted you would love him as much as you did.

"Yeah, we are," you replied, deciding to take advantage of the situation. Jimin nodded, walking past the two of you while grabbing some keys that had been sitting on the desk, "come on, I'll show you the office he always kept locked. Maybe you'll find something there."

The two of you followed behind Jimin as he led you through the hallway of the small house. He slowed down a little, causing Taehyung, who had been walking directly behind him, to step back, allowing Jimin to fall into step beside you.

"So Y/N, you're into this investigative stuff?" he asked.

You nodded, "I'm going to be a detective in a few years."

"You must go over a lot of cases and watch a lot of crime documentaries in that case. It must be fun to do that stuff with your boyfriend," Jimin asked suddenly, "do you? Have a boyfriend I mean?"

"What?" 

The stupid response escaped before you could think it through. Why would he want to know that?

"Just curious," Jimin explained nonchalantly.

You were about to answer when Taehyung spoke from behind you, "yes, she does. Screw off Park Jimin."

You rolled your eyes and slapped him on the shoulder, "No, I do not Taehyung."

A smile perched on Jimin's lips as he smoothly set the key into the lock of an unfamiliar door and pushed it open, "good to know."

You and Taehyung peered curiously into what seemed like a normal office. There was a desk littered with papers and mail, a bookshelf filled with a bunch of textbooks and a picture frame of a girl posing lewdly for the camera.

"What was his job?" You asked, slowly starting to sift through some of the papers on the desk. Surprisingly, it didn't seem like the police had searched this room yet. 

"I don't know," Jimin shrugged, curiously looking around the room as if he had never been in there either, "some kind of businessman, I think?"

The papers, which turned out to be documents, seemed to confirm that. They showed mass purchases of various products, from bathroom supplies to giant construction machinery. 

Your eyebrows furrowed as you continued to sift through the transaction documents. His purchase history was so odd that you couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what kind of businesses he dealt in. Sometimes he was mass purchasing random grocery items, other times he was selling oddly named airplane parts. 

What the heck?

"Hey guys?" You spoke up, watching as they stopped their search and turned towards you, "um, do you guys know what bathroom accessory a 'nalatir' is?"

Both boys' eyebrows furrowed as they made their way to you and peered over your shoulder to look at the document in your hand. 

"Yeah, I've never heard of an 'ethem' before," Taehyung announced, with Jimin nodding on your other side.

"Definitely haven't heard of an 'enaicock' before," Jimin continued, smirking a bit. 

You rolled your eyes at his childishness, "maybe he's not actually purchasing and selling what's written on the paper?"

"You think they're some sort of anagrams?" Taehyung asked, hand brushing against yours faintly as he took the paper from you and narrowed his gaze at the words.

You felt your fingers tingle at the subtle touch, a little surprised by your reaction. What was that?

After a moment, Taehyung turned towards you, pointing at one of the words on the paper, "this one roughly spells out cocaine if you read it backwards."

You took the paper from him.

enaicock

kcociane

cocaine

It kind of made sense. You looked at the other words to make sure it wasn't a coincidence. But you found yourself finding various names that happened to relate to a variety of drugs. 

Taehyung had cracked the code. 

"I think you got it," you said, smiling a bit at Taehyung who returned the expression, "maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were."

He rolled his eyes at your teasing, but the smile didn't leave his lips as he turned towards the desk, "so your dad was a drug dealer or something?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was," Jimin huffed, "just when you think that man can't get any worse," he mumbled under his breath.

"Actually I don't think that's all," you said, feeling kind of bad for Jimin and what all these new revelations were probably doing to him. You can't imagine suffering at the hands of someone you thought you knew, only to discover that he was so much worse than you had thought. 

"The product names on these documents are all some form of anagram for drugs," you explained, showing them the purchase history for the 'bathroom accessories,' "but I can't really find any drug names from these names over here."

You placed a purchase history document that was supposed to be for construction equipment in front of the two, "If we're still going with anagrams, then these names kind of remind me of the names of weapons."

Slowly the boys nodded, looking over the other documents.

"I think you're right," Taehyung said, eyes glued to the papers. 

"These kind of make out names, don't they?" Jimin said, placing the 'plane parts' document in front of you. He was right, you could make out a few human names here and there. 

"What does a person use drugs, weapons and names for?" Taehyung thought out loud.

"It's kind of like those gang or mafia TV shows," Jimin chuckled. But the smile was wiped off his face when he noticed your expression, "wait, seriously? You think my father was part of a gang or something?"

"It's a pretty likely guess," you said.

The conversation came to a stop when you all heard a series of bangs come from the downstairs level of the house. 

"That kind of sounded like-" you said slowly.

"Gunshots," Taehyung concluded. And in a matter of seconds, he was already running out of the room.

"Taehyung!" You yelled, running after him with Jimin right on your heels. 

Was he insane? What kind of idiot runs headfirst into a gunfight? What if he got hurt?

Your run came to a stop when you made it to the living room, eyes widening at the scene before you.

Everyone was dead. 

Detective Lee, the officer that had brought you and Taehyung here and the other officers that had been roaming around the crime scene, were lying on the floor with gunshot wounds littering their bodies. 

The only two that were still alive were standing in the centre of the room. The weight of the situation was suddenly clear to you. 

Taehyung stood only a few steps before you, hands up in the air as his gaze focused on the man in front of him.

Jimin's dad. Park Hae-Soo. 

He stood amidst the chaos, gun pointed at Taehyung with what seemed like a cross between a grimace and a smirk, yet the body that had brought on the investigation was still lying near the wall. 

The person that had been killed had not been Jimin's dad, you realized. The body had just meant to lure everyone here for Hae-Soo's plan. The only question was, what exactly was he accomplishing  by killing all these people? What was his motive?

"Crap," you heard a shaky voice behind you whisper. You found yourself looking back to find Jimin staring with wide eyes at his father.

The nonchalant Jimin that had spoken casually about his dad was long gone and had probably never existed now than you thought about it. That mask had dropped to showcase just how terrified Jimin was of his father. He was trembling- no shaking- at the mere sight of him. His gaze flickered between the bodies, then the gun and then finally his father's face. 

"Why?" Taehyung asked, gaze firmly directed towards the man that could end his life in mere seconds. You wanted to shout at Taehyung, scream at him to shut up and care about his life. How could he speak so casually with a man that had murdered at least a dozen people in the span of five minutes?

"Why?" The man laughed, "Kid, how old are you? They bringin' children to do men's jobs now?"

He nudged one of the dead officers with his shoe, with a haughty scoff, "bastards."

You began to tremble just like Jimin as he fixed the point of the gun at Taehyung's head and unlocked the safety of the weapon, "I'm giving you an option, but I'm not a man that likes to repeat his words so listen carefully." 

"You and your girlfriend can walk out of here without bullets in your bodies as long as you promise not to tell anyone about this."

His voice lowered considerably at his next words, "but if I find out you didn't keep your mouths shut, I'll personally track you both down and show you what a slow and painful death looks like."

His words floated dangerously in the air as silence ensued. You knew what Taehyung would do, what he would say before he opened his mouth. 

"We're not-" But he was interrupted as you ran towards him and covered his mouth.

"We will! We'll leave and we promise we won't tell a single soul, just let us go," you said hastily. 

You could both leave here and let the officers of another precinct know about this, but you had to survive first in order to do that, "just let us leave unharmed."

Taehyung's eyebrows furrowed. 

"Well, I can see who's the brains in the relationship," the man said, licking his bottom lip as he smirked a little. You knew where his eyes were, and they were not on your face. 

With a disgusted expression, you nudged Taehyung to get him to move, "come on Jimin, let's go."

"No," Hae-Soo's strong voice cut through the air like a knife, "that boy stays here."

That boy.

Your gaze landed on Jimin once again, who hadn't moved an inch from the doorway of the living room, expression still terrified. 

"I said you two can go, not him," Jimin's dad commanded loudly, and you could've sworn you noticed Jimin flinch, "he stays here."

That was going to be a problem. 

You couldn't leave Jimin here after hearing about his father being abusive, who knows what he had in store for Jimin. It was clear his father didn't have an ounce of love for him, or any kind of connection with him for that matter. Jimin couldn't stay here. 

"We're not leaving him," you said firmly, and although some may consider it brave, the only thing you felt was fear because you might just become the reason for your and Taehyung's, and maybe even Jimin's death.

"You're in no position to make demands sweetheart," he sneered and pointed the barrel of his gun at your head, "get out. I won't say it twice."

You felt Taehyung take a step to move in front of you, but Jimin's dad moved the gun towards him, stopping him in his tracks, "don't move unless you're leaving this house."

"I'm giving you one last chance," he said slowly, eyes blazing with anger, "leave, or die."

Another silence overtook the room as no one moved. It was like there was a timer ticking in your head, counting down the seconds you had left to change this situation. Your eyes darted everywhere, trying to think of some way you could disarm Jimin's father. Some way you could save both Taehyung and Jimin. 

Your gaze travelled towards the grey leather couch, then the white dirty carpet drenched in blood, and then the bodies littering the floor.

There was nothing.

"Time's up," Jimin's dad said suddenly. You saw the barrel of his gun point towards you once again.

"No!" Taehyung yelled. You felt Taehyung's hands on your shoulder at the same time you heard the sound of the gun going off. 

Your head connected harshly with the floor while Taehyung hovered over you. You could make out the bullet hole on the wall just a meter above where you had been standing a second ago. Taehyung didn't waste much time as he pushed himself up and ran towards Jimin's dad, trying to pry the gun from his hands. 

"Sehun!" Hae-Soo yelled while trying to get out of the hold Taehyung had on him now.

You felt a pair of hands grapple you down as you tried to pull yourself up. The owner of the hands, most likely Sehun, was unfamiliar to you, but it was clear that he was on Hae-Soo's side as he held you down and waited for further instructions. Behind you, you could make out Jimin fighting with another man dressed similarly to Sehun. 

Your gaze dropped to Taehyung and Jimin's dad, who were now grappling with the gun. It sat between them, the barrel pointed dangerously at Taehyung as he tried to pry it from Hae-Soo's hands. You could feel your heart beat loudly in your chest as you saw Jimin's dad's finger snake around Taehyung's arm and feel the trigger of the gun. Only you don't think Taehyung noticed the action, which made your stomach drop.

"Taehyung move!" You yelled.

But it wasn't fast enough.

The sound of a gunshot reverberated across the room. Taehyung, whose eyes were wide now, slowly looked down at the gun and then Hae-Soo's face. 

The barrel had been pointing at Taehyung.

Taehyung had been shot.

Kim Taehyung, your best friend, was going to die.

You heard yourself scream his name before you could even realize what had happened. You couldn't lose him. You couldn't lose the best friend that had helped you through the choppy divorce of your parents. You couldn't lose the man that made sure to call you after school every single day to make sure you got home safely. You couldn't lose the one person in your life that did everything he could to make you happy when you were feeling down even when it involved embarrassing himself.

You couldn't lose Kim Taehyung. Because without him, you think you'd lose yourself.

"Get up," a man's voice rang from in front of you, but you didn't move. Your eyes stayed glued to Taehyung. 

"Get up, we have to go before his men get here, your friend is fine," he said more firmly. His words caused you to look up at him, surprised when you saw Sehun passed out on the floor not too far away from you. Instead, another man was standing before you, hand raised to help you onto your feet. 

His black hair was trimmed into an army cut and he towered over you, looking a little impatient as you stared at him from your position on the floor. 

Who was he? And where did he even come from?

You turned to look at Jimin, who was being helped by a guy that was dressed in similar clothes to the one in front of you, only he was a little shorter and adorned with light purple hair that somehow managed to suit him. 

But then you processed the man's words. 

Your friend is fine.

You turned back to Taehyung, who was crouched over Jimin's dad. There was blood surrounding them, but none actually on Taehyung's shirt. It was Hae-Soo. It was his shirt that was soaked in blood. An unfamiliar man stood behind him, a gun in his hand as he pried Taehyung off of Jimin's dad and dragged him out the door. 

"See? He's fine," the man in front of you confirmed, and you were surprised to see him smiling, a prominent dimple on each cheek as he beckoned his hand towards you once again.

"Now let's go."

A blindfolded truck ride later, you, Jimin and Taehyung found yourselves being led, by the man that had saved you earlier, through the halls of an enormous mansion silently. You didn't know where the other men that had been with him had disappeared, but it was clear whatever had happened back there was not finished. 

After they had loaded the three of you into a truck, there had been no explanations whatsoever about who they were and where they were taking you. You half expected them to be kidnappers now that you thought about it. 

"What are you going to do with us?" Taehyung asked. For the past hour he's been asking the same questions. 

Who are you? Why did you save us? Where are you taking us?

But the man was silent, not sparing as much as a glance at the three of you. 

Finally, he led you into a large room that resembled a meeting room. Desks full of computers lined the walls and a large table sat in the center, holding various maps, papers and other things you couldn't even recognize. The only sign of life was one man sitting with his back towards you while watching the screen of a computer. If you were to guess, the screen seemed like it was displaying some kind of surveillance footage. 

Now that the guy leading you had stopped, the fear was starting to kick in. Who were these people?

"Well, Yoongi hyung?" The guy who had led you here said, apparently towards the guy sitting at the desk, "how's our situation?"

"The bastard is dead, thankfully," the guy named Yoongi huffed, "Police officers are at the crime scene right now, inspecting the body. Jungkook's there too, but I don't think he'll pick up our trail, although I'll continue to monitor him just in case. We can't have the cops on our back... again. I'll plant some evidence to lead him away if I have to, don't worry Namjoon."

Namjoon crossed his arms, "Good."

Finally he turned towards you all, who had huddled closer to each other in fear. These people were clearly not with the cops, so what were they going to do with you all?

"We're letting you guys go, so relax," he said, which earned him three confused stares.

Namjoon sighed, like you all were some kind of nuisance to him, "we just need to make sure that if you're questioned, you won't mention us. It's the least you could do after we saved your life."

"You're misleading cops, there's no way you people are any better than that gangster," Taehyung countered. As much as you wanted to jab him in the ribs with your elbow, because they had guns and you all did not, you still had to agree. Whatever this was, it wasn't legal, and it was definitely shady. You couldn't just stand by and do nothing, even if they did save your life.

"Kid, the cops aren't exactly angels," Namjoon said, his tone light but firm, "you're still a child, so I don't expect you to understand."

He took a few steps closer to you all, "but just know that if you tell anyone about our existence, a lot of people are going to get hurt, both the cops and the people I care about. Keep your hands clean from blood by keeping your mouth shut, this is my warning."

"Hoseok, get them out."

A few moments later you were being pushed out into the now dark street by a guy named Hoseok, who apologized for 'being so mean.' After handing you some money, he was gone. 

Everything happened so fast that the three of you just stood in silence for a good minute, contemplating everything that had happened up until now.

Then Taehyung grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from a shock-stricken Jimin so that he couldn't hear your conversation.

"That was weird," he said, and all you could do was nod because, yes, that was in fact weird.

"Should we... tell the cops?" Taehyung asked uncertainly. He was feeling conflicting thoughts as well, you were sure of it. You should have said yes and reported them to the police right away. But something felt wrong, like doing that would get a lot of innocent people hurt. 

And that's what Namjoon said, didn't he? That people would get hurt if you exposed them to the police.

It occurred to you for the first time that maybe everything you knew about the station, about the justice system in general, wasn't completely the truth. After all, you still didn't know why Jimin's father did what he did. There were secrets, secrets you could only get from the inside. 

"No, I don't think we should tell them," you said finally and you were glad to see Taehyung nodding. You loved how you two were always on the same page, even without having a proper conversation. You both knew each other too well. 

"Good because I was thinking the same," he explained, looking almost relieved.

"By the way, why'd you ditch Jimin over there?" You asked, pointing towards Jimin who was still standing idly in shock. You doubted he even noticed you and Taehyung had moved a pretty big distance away from him. 

"Because he's annoying," Taehyung huffed, sending him a glare.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Your gaze narrowed at him. Taehyung was always so friendly and cheerful with everyone, it came as a surprise to you when he acted so cold with Jimin. 

Taehyung paused for a moment, scanning your face before sighing, "you know for an aspiring detective you're really not good at picking up clues."

You tilted your head, not sure whether to be offended or not, "I didn't realize I had a case."

"Well then let me give you a briefing," he said firmly. There was no hint of jokes or laughter anymore, he was serious, "I spend every minute of my free time with you. I pick up on every small detail about you. Every time I look at you, I can't seem to find any words to tell you how beautiful you are because none of them would do you justice. I always reply to your texts within seconds even though I literally leave people on read for months. I can't think about losing you because I genuinely feel like something happens to my heart when I do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you. Solve the case, Y/N."

You couldn't help your mouth that was wide open now. All the things he said... they all pointed towards one thing...

"You... like me?"

Your voice came out in a hesitant whisper. If he was trying to get at something else, which was probably the case, you had no clue. Maybe you really were bad at detective work?

Before you could backtrack Taehyung pulled you into him,

and pressed his lips against yours. 

For a moment, you froze, the action not registering in your brain even after Taehyung pulled away from the soft peck on your lips. 

"I know you may not feel the same way, but-"

You didn't let him finish. 

You grabbed the collar of his shirt and crashed your lips against his. He was quick to respond, hands pulling you closer as yours did the exact same. 

It felt like only a second had passed when the two of you broke off for some much-needed air.

"I can't believe this," Taehyung said through pants, "you really accept me? What about Jimin?"

"Screw Jimin, I want you Kim Taehyung, only you," you said, giving him a smile. He returned it for a moment, but then something seemed to cross his mind.

"But I don't have abs."

You shrugged, "Abs are overrated anyway."

Apparently, that was a lot bigger of a deal than you had thought because he engulfed you in a hug and began jumping excitedly, "good because I refuse to go on a diet. I love food just as much as I love you."

You don't think he realized just how much of a praise that was to you. Food was elite. The fact that you could even compare to it made you realize just how much Taehyung liked you. 

You quickly gave him another kiss in excitement before pulling away, "okay, we have to get Jimin and figure a way out of here."

"Out of where?" Taehyung asked, looking a bit dazed after the kiss. 

"We're literally in the middle of the street, which is also in the middle of nowhere, idiot."

"Oh, right," Taehyung said, noticing, probably for the first time, where you all were, "can't we just leave Jimin?"

"No, now come on," you said, dragging his whining form towards Jimin, who was somehow still frozen in shock. 

"We need to start re-evaluating some things."