#flooring store in carmel

[forever-lunasea]

Open - Living Room

Living room - large traditional formal and open concept medium tone wood floor living room idea with a standard fireplace and a plaster fireplace

[napleonsolo]

Open in Indianapolis

Inspiration for a large, open-concept, rustic living room remodel with brown walls, a traditional fireplace, a stone fireplace, and no television.

[damedonger]

Indianapolis Living Room Open Inspiration for a large, open-concept, rustic living room remodel with brown walls, a traditional fireplace, a stone fireplace, and no television.

[90days-90reasons]

Living Room in Indianapolis Mid-sized Zen formal living room idea with light wood floors, white walls, no television, a regular fireplace, and a tile fireplace.

[the-night-writer1]

The cutest kick to the knee

When Red son finds himself in a tool store he runs into a three year old who kicks him in the knee. (The uncle monkie kid au timeline a)

It was a Tuesday afternoon as Red son found himself looking for a replacement wrench. Thus he was looking over the selection his preferred store had. He didn't want just any wrench it had to be sturdy, heaven forbid it snap like his old one had this morning.

Mother was fuming that he needed a new wrench which delayed father's release by a few hours. She relented when Red son asked if his own well being was worth father's release. She didn't want Red son to lose his arm. A few loose bolts was all it would take.

Now he was debating which of these wrenches were worth the price. Though mother wouldn't care ,he did. The tool should last as long as his last wrench had. It lasted at least thirty years given all it had to endure.

He was holding a particular brand of wrench when he heard feet behind him. He stepped to the side not paying much attention as he was reading the description on the casing. The demon probably should have been playing attention.

"Heys" the lil tot said as he tried to grab the big red head's attention. He needed the wrench the man was holding for his baba. He saved all his money to get it because Uncle Mk broke baba's other wrench. Baba was looking at the screw drivers so it was the perfect time to surprise him with a new wrench!

"heys!" He repeated yet the man wasn't listening to him. He needed that wrench! It was the last one of baba's brand. Why was this guy not listening?!

Red son didn't realize someone was trying to talk to him until he got a very sharp kick to his knee. Which caused him to yell out of shock and pain as he dropped to the floor. The wrench he had been holding hit the floor and he saw little hands hands grabbed it. A little boy was taking a wrench from him what the hell?

Adorable little tot with deep red hair and golden hazel eyes started booking it away from him. Red quickly got up and gave chase after the toddler. He shouldn't be taking things from adults. The little guy was fast thanks to that knee kick.

"Mengyao? Why are you running bubba?" A Carmel brunette asked as Red caught up to the boy. They picked up the tot and looked over to see Red then looked back at their son," What did you do?"

"he kicked me in the knee and took the wrench I was looking at" Red son said in a calm manner. He wasn't going to hell at the parent trying to figure out the situation.

"Mengyao we've talked about this you can't hurt people to get something you want! I don't care what auntie Mei says auntie Mei isn't your baba" the man softly scolded as he took the wrench and handed it back to Red son. Red catching the tinkering scars on the man's hands.

"buts you need a new wrench baba and I tried to ask but he's was ignoring me!" The toddler protested trying to get wrench back.

"I am so sorry sir. He's not super good with words yet." The man apologized as he kept the toddler on his hip," Mengyao apologize to this man for kicking him in the knee"

"but you needs the wrench baba!" The toddler said with a huff.

"I can order a new wrench sweetheart. He may need it more than I do and you were very mean kicking him" the man said as the toddler started to tear up. Aw he just wanted to help his baba. Red had ignored him unintentionally and red probably would have done the same at his age.

"if it means anything little one I am sorry I didn't hear you" Red said to the little boy who rubs his eyes.

"I sorry I kicked you in the knee. Baba wrench broken" Mengyao said as he started hiccuping and his baba kissed his forehead. It was pretty cute he was so determined to help his baba.

"again I'm sorry sir listen if you want a bowl of some of the best noodles in the city just go to pigsy's noodles and say Shanyao sent you or call me and I'll set it up for you" Shan said as he quickly wrote his number down and ripped it off his grocery list before handing it to Red son," I'm going to get him home it's clearly nap time"

"oh thank you. I hope you're able to get a new wrench" Red son said as he let Shan leave with his adorable little boy. He'd forget the name of the business later that afternoon when he chased the man's brother through the city.

[untilautumn]

Do a Steve Harrington smut in the back of scoops ahoy where robin has to cover for you guys :)

I'll give it a go :)

here ya go love <3

Steve Harrington x fem!Reader

A/N- This is my first writing work so it's honestly pretty shitty and needs some work. I would LOVE to hear feedback and any constructive criticism-emphasis on constructive bc i'm sensitive so be nice, ty :)

Summary-You help Steve feel better after a long day of work and a fight with his parents

Warnings-SMUT, little bit of sad Steve and one tired af Robin, mini covo about shitty parent-child relationship 😒, very impatient reader

You walk through the Scoops Ahoy doorway in search of your boyfriend. As you make your way over to the counter you notice that Robin looks a little frazzled. She looked like a shell of her usual self. She was hunched over the counter, beads of sweat sliding down her forehead, hair sticking to the sides of her face taking slow and deep breaths trying to ground herself.

"Hey Robin.....long day? You look like you just got ran over by a truck......or two."

"Yeah, uh the boss just fired 4 people because she caught them all smoking weed in the bathroom." Robin breathes out with a slight chuckle at the end. "Right now it's pretty much just Steve and I working, besides this one really old woman who is pretty much on her fucking death bed." Robin huffs out, rubbing circles on her temples.

"Jesus Robin, maybe you should take a damn break, how long have you been here?"

"Since uhhh" She twists her body around to read the clock hanging on the wall. "Since around 6."

"Well where the hell is Steve?" Her face falls slightly at the mention of his name.

"He's uhh, he's in the break room, he's pretty beat too. But luckily in the past 20 minutes or so things have finally died down. I've just had a lot of cleaning to do. You should go back for a few and try to cheer him up, he's been in a pretty shitty mood today. I can cover up here for a bit."

"Alright I'll go check on him, but if you need help out here yell back and I'll send him out." You smile at her before turning on your heel, heading for the break room.

You slowly push open the door, peering your head in inch by inch.

"Steve?" you softly say. "Baby, are you in here?"

Turning the corner you finally see him. His limbs are sprawled out as he lay on his back on the disgusting old tile of break room floor, his arms covering his eyes. You walk over to him immediately, kneeling beside his body.

"Hey, what's wrong love? Robin told me you weren't doing so hot today." You say, gently removing his hand from his face to hold it in your own, caressing his warm skin with your thumb.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to call today, I've just been super busy at the store and I had a huge fight with my parents this morning, i-i-it's fine i'm just uh...i'm just taking a minute." He reaches up with his opposite hand, dragging it down his face, exhaling a large puff of air.

His voice sounded slightly hoarse, you assume from the yelling and arguing with his parents. You knew Steve had issues with his parents, he never kept his family dynamic a secret from you. But anytime something happens with them it never fails to send a sharp pain in your chest at the thought of Steve being unhappy. Though it doesn't happen often, when Steve fights with his parents (usually his father) he goes dark. Not wanting to talk or be around anyone for days on end.

But since you two started dating he's turned to you to lift his spirits. He always tells you how much you help him feel better whenever he's going through something.

Rising to stand, you reach for Steve's other hand, pulling him to his feet. "I'm so sorry love, I know how they can be. what were you guys fighting about this time?" you ask, gazing into his deep, carmel brown eyes, a soft frown settling over your features. "Ahh just college bullshit, none of it matters anyways. I'm much better now that you're here." He sighs, pulling your left hand to his lips, placing a few soft kisses on your knuckles.

Steve's Dad has always had high expectations for Steve, though rarely being home when he does take the occasional pit stop at the Harrington house it's never for long and it's never good for Steve.

"It does matter Steve, everything about you matters. Your problems are my problems too, if you need to talk about it i'm always willing to listen."

"I know baby and I always appreciate when you let me talk, but right now i'm so sick of thinking about it, I just want to be here with you. I want you to be the only thing on my mind."

"My beautiful..."

He brings both his hands to the sides of your face, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of your nose.

"Caring..."

then a kiss to your cheek.

"Insanely sexy, girlfriend."

Tilting your head up with his hands, placing a final slow kiss to your lips.

Moving your arms to rest on his shoulders, you feel them relax more and more the longer his lips remain on yours. After a few seconds he pulls away smiling.

*I guess I really do make him feel better.*

The thought brings a blush to your face.

"Oh shut up Harrington, you're just trying to get in my pants." You joke with a giggle.

"And if I am?" Steve retorts. Eyes challenging your next words.

You pause, trying to gauge your next move.

"And if you are........I'd be very willing to help you relieve some stress." You say, the right corner of your lips slowly turning upwards into a small smirk.

Steve's breath hitches, lips parting slightly, hot air fanning your face being clearly affected by your words. You pick up on his irregular breathing and decide to take it a step farther with a phrase you know will REALLY get him going.

You slowly move your head to the side of his head until your lips are brushing his ear.

"I want you to use me Steve." you whisper in a sultry tone, sending a chill down Steve's spine.

Almost immediately after finishing your sentence, Steve's hand grips the back of your neck, pulling your lips to crash into his. He inhales deeply through his nose when you both collide. Lips fitting together like a puzzle piece, pulling away momentarily before fitting together again from a new angle. Lips sliding over each other in a sort of dance.

You moan into Steve's mouth when he moves his hand from the back of your neck, sliding both hands down to grip your ass. He uses your moan as an opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth to meet yours.

"Steve" you whine out.

"What Y/n? What's wrong baby?" stopping immediately, looking over your face worriedly. Scanning for any discomfort or pain.

"I'm fine, I just don't want Robin to walk in on this, let alone hear this shit. It'll scar her for life, she'll never be able to look me in the eye again."

"Y/n....I could give a shit about Robin or anyone else right now. I just need you.....Please baby?"

You take a step back from him and start towards the door.

"Y/n?" "We don't have to Y/n, I'm sorry we c-"

His worries cut off by the sound of the lock clicking. You turn to face him, trying not to smile.

"Oh-" "I mean yeah I knew you weren't gonna walk out on me, I just-"

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Just shut the fuck up and kiss me." You state harshly, pulling your top off.

He stands staring at your exposed chest for a few seconds.

"Yea- um yeah I, absolutely I was ju-"

Steve's babbling was cut short by your lips reattaching to his. Only this kiss was hotter. Tongues clashing immediately, breath hot and heavy. Steve's arms scoops you up, slamming you to sit onto the break room table, almost knocking the wind out of you. Your arms reach up to rest around his neck. His mouth finds it's place back on yours, hands sliding down the outer part of your exposed thigh, massaging the skin while moving his lips to your neck. Biting and sucking on the spot under your ear that he knows you particularly enjoy, causing you to let out a soft groan. His fingers inch their way closer and closer the where you need his touch most, skirt being pushed up your waist in the process. His thumb grazes your aching clit through your panties this time an loud moan escapes your agape mouth.

Steve's hand immediately flies up to cover your mouth. "You have to be quiet baby, you're gonna get us caught and I've barely even touched you yet."

His fingers curl around the waist band of your lace panties, ever so slowly dragging them down your thighs. Kissing down your leg, falling to his knees when he gets down your calves.

Finally pulling your panties all the way down, he tosses them over his shoulder, not paying attention to where they land. He grabs your legs placing them gently over his broad shoulders, gaze rolling down your body, admiring the position he has you in. Your patience runs thin watching him just stare at you while you're practically dripping onto the floor with anticipation.

"Steve, just touch me already or I will."

He immediately obliges, thumb making full contact with your clit as he begins rubbing small ,slow circles. Your head falls back, biting down on your lip to keep from screaming out in pleasure, a quiet groan still slipping through.

"You like that baby?" Steve whispers, hot breath fanning your pussy. Eyes gazing into yours.

"Fu-fucking hell, Yes!" You barely manage to push out.

His thumb removes from your clit, middle finger trailing down to slowly push into you. Tongue replacing where his thumb was, he gets to work. He alternates between licking and sucking on your clit, finger pumping in and out of you, slowly adding in another finger. His unoccupied hand reached up to pull the cup of your bra down, gripping your tit. Gently pinching and twisting your nipple before sliding his hand back down your stomach.

"Steve" you mutter.

"What baby? whats wrong?" He halts his movements, worrying he did something wrong.

"NO, no don't fucking stop, I need more."

"What do you need from me baby?"

"I need to feel you." You pause, taking a few deep breaths.

"I need you inside of me."

He grips the top of your thighs, using them to push to his feet. Your thighs part for him to stand between them, legs hooking around his back. His lips went back on yours only for a moment before he pulls away, forehead resting against yours.

"I gotcha baby, i'm gonna make you feel good."

He pecks you once more before reaching for your skirt. You grip his shoulders so you can lift your hips, helping him to slide the skirt off your body. Your lips reattach, his tongue sliding in between your lips. He simultaneously reaches around your back to unclasp your bra with one hand, letting your bra fall onto the table beside you. You reach out, pulling his scoops ahoy uniform shorts down his legs. He kicks them off his feet and pulls his dick out of his grey boxers.

You could see just how hard Steve was. Veins bulging out, tip leaking. You wanted it in your mouth so bad. But you wanted it inside of you even more.

You stared him in the eyes as you licked up your palm, hand reaching to grip his cock. Steve lets out a loud groan at the contact. Your thumb swirls around his tip, spreading his pre cum. You pump his dick slowly before rubbing his tip through your folds. His hand grips your wrist, taking himself in his hand. Your hands grip his shoulders in preparation of what's to come.

"You ready baby?"

You softly nod your head yes. Upon your signal he licks his lips before slowly pushing into your body, both moaning out at the sensation. He hold still for a minute allowing your body to adjust to his size. You give him a nod to let him know that he can start moving.

He pulls out of you until he's almost all the way out before gliding back in. Even from the first stroke your mind is sent into a spiral. His thrusts gradually increase in speed, hips rolling into yours, pelvis rubbing your clit with each movement.

Your moans fill the room despite your best efforts, as he works you closer and closer to your orgasm.

You're were both so caught up in the moment that you almost didn't hear Robins voice through the frosted glass window. But then it hits you...Robin's calling for Steve's help.

"Hey guys, quit fucking around and get out here, It's getting busy again!"

Shit.

You look worriedly into Steve's eyes. His hips never faultering.

"Uh, Yeah! I'll be- I'll be out in a second Robin!"

"Steve stop, Robin n- Mmm, Robin needs help out there."

"I could give a shit about Robin, I'll help her after you cum." He says softly between thrusts.

His hips pick up speed, the table about to tip over from how hard he's fucking into you. He lifts your right leg over his hip, the new angle allowing him to hit deeper inside of you causing you to nearly scream out.

One hand covers you mouth, the other gripping for dear life onto Steve's bicep. You slip the hand from Steve's arm to make fast, hard circles on your clit.

A moment later you're both on cloud 9. Both of your loud moans fill the air. Lips clashing in an attempt to quiet your moans, but you knew that Robin had to have heard that.

You both sit there trying to catch your breath. Steve slowly pulls out of you, reaching to grab a tissue to clean you up.

"That was so fucking hot." You laugh out, slipping your panties and skirt back on.

"I know." Steve smiles. "I love you so much."

"Hmm, I love you more handsome." You beam up at him.

Once you're both dressed, you make way toward the door. Stopping Steve just before he can push it open, you pull him into a final sweet kiss.

You finally break out of you bubble, pushing open the doors to see Robin running around scooping ice cream and throwing toppings around frantically. She notices your presence and turns to glare at you two.

"You know you guys weren't discrete at fucking all right!? Steve you owe me so much."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Sorry."

He turns to say goodbye to you.

"Hey, I'll see you later yeah?"

"Of course, baby." You say before turning your head to whisper in his ear.

"By the way, your shorts are on backwards."

[allysartblog]

Here are some cute domestic jargyle headcanons enjoy!

They have lots of cookbooks in their home and are always borrowing we new ones from library.

Jonathan isnt good at baking but Argyle is.

Argyle makes the best cookies, pies and his famous carmel flan cake. He likes to spice things up with unique flavors

There are multiple bottles of flavored hot sauce in their kitchen cabinet Argyle likes to collect them for some odd reason.

Jonathan hates spicy things but is slowly building up his spice tolerance since dating Argyle.

They have cookouts in the summer time and bondfires in the fall. Where they envite all their friends and family over for a good time.

Argyle loves making Jonathan breakfast in the mornings. He is a morning person and gets up super early to cook all of Jon's favorites while he stays in bed.

When they first moved into their new place they ordred chinese take out and ate it on the living room floor.

The have deffo done the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti kiss thing.

Argyle makes the best weed brownies they are so moist and chocolately.

Although their place is small Jonathan and Argyle still like to have everyone over for the holidays.

They take bubble baths together Argyle gives himself a bubble beard and pretends to be santa which always makes Jon laugh.

They have a puppy named Socks and a cat named Max.

Argyle is alergic to cats but Jonathan loves them luckly their cat is hypoallergenic.

Jon found their cat in a box on a cold rainy day and helped to nurse it back to health.

Their house is decorated with funky things they find at thrift stores and think are cool.

Argyle always has insence burning.

[greatbigbellies]

New anonymous commission story! This is another hyperpregnant slice of life piece, about a couple of boys who find out that they can conceive additional babies mid-pregnancy which will grow to catch up to the largest sibling, resulting in rapid growth for one of the husbands! Contains hyperpregnancy, tmpreg, some weight gain and lactation, mild belly worship, and allusions to sex.

Leo sat in the passenger seat of he and Marko’s sedan, his boyfriend behind the wheel. The pair sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. They’d received some… rather shocking news from Leo’s most recent doctors appointment. All three babies were fine, all perfectly healthy... but that was precisely the point, all THREE were healthy. At three months in, Leo was at the tail end of his first trimester, and when he started, there was supposedly only one in his womb. Then a few weeks ago, they were suddenly expecting fraternal twins. Then finally, today, triplets, all inexplicably at the same stage of growth.

“What’s going through you mind, hon?” Marko finally asked, breaking the silence. Leo brushed a few brown, fluffy hairs out of his face with one hand, and held his tummy protectively with the other. “I’m just… I’m floored we’re having three kids! I’m just… confused I guess? Like we were set with one for a while… and then two… and now…” Leo trailed off. Marko squinted in concentration as he thought of how to word his theory. “I… think I know the pattern… I don’t think it’s a matter of the doctors just mysteriously being unable to count…” Leo could tell where this was going. “You mean…” Marko nodded. “Think about it? There was the night we conceived after the party… that’s one. Then there was minigolf night...” Marko began listing off. Leo nodded, “Yeah, Minigolf was fun, we need to do that again sometime,” Leo smiled. Marko raised an eyebrow, “Like… just the minigolf, or what came after too?” 

Leo turned to him and batted his eyelashes, “I dunno, can you get another hole in one?” Marko felt himself start to blush. He was typically the more dominant one, but Leo knew how to push his buttons. “Besides, I wanna test your theory. See if I wake up with four tomorrow,” Marko was now no longer ‘starting to blush’ and was instead outright blushing. “Are you teasing me, or are you serious? Cause our turn to go golfing comes up in two blocks,” Leo put his hand in Marko’s shoulder, leaned over, and said “put another baby in me,”

Marko smiled mischievously, eager to relive their minigolf date. “But! If I win you gotta buy me a sundae. The babies want hot fudge,” Leo teased. Marko’s grin widened. “Nah hon, I’m gonna get a hole in one, beat your ass at minigolf, buy you TWO sundaes, watch you eat them, then we’ll fuck like there ain’t no tomorrow,” he said, wearing his confident smile proudly. Now it was Leo’s turn to blush, turning away and putting his hands over his mouth and cheeks. “Fuck, I hate it when you get all assertive like that,” he said through his hands. Marko laughed. “No you don’t, you little bottom!” Leo erupted in laughter himself, his adorable, irregular laugh like music to Marko’s ears.

“I mean… in fairness, you’re too competitive to lose on purpose, but too much of a gentleman to let a pregnant guy go hungry,” the praise elicited another more subtle blush from Marko, two ran his hand through his short, black undercut. “I mean… you need lots of calcium for the babies. There’s milk in ice cream so, like… it’s good for you right now?” Marko stumbled to his point. Leo chucked and lifted the hem of his beige sweater up to his chest, exposing his tiny first trimester tummy, looking ever so slightly pudgy from being 3 months along. Marko’s blush shifted to a deeper red and he tried to focus on the road, but was a sucker for Leo’s belly. “You’re going to get so big with four babies,” he said, his voice just slightly quivering in anticipation.

“Why stop at four?” asked Leo. “Are you serious?” replied Marko. “100%. We’ve talked about this before. We both love…” he gestured to his bare tummy, “THIS. We both have decided to take on fatherhood, why not just… shoot for the moon?” he put his shirt back down. Marko pulled into “Albatross Minigolf” and put the car in park, looking very seriously at Leo. “That’s going to be really hard on your body,” “I know,” “We’ll need a bigger car,” “I know,” “We’ll need a bigger APARTMENT!” “Marko… we’ll be fine! We only get to really do this once, lets make the most of it!” said Leo reassuringly. Marko wasn’t sure if “this” meant pregnancy, parenthood, or life in general, but he didn’t care. He kissed Leo on the lips, beyond excited to watch his boyfriend grow huge with his babies.

He got out of the car and ran around to the other side to get the door for Leo. He was more than prepared to dote on the man, already deciding he’d get Leo THREE sundaes after minigolf. After all, they’d need some calories to burn.

3 months later

Now six months along, and swollen with large sextuplets, Leo was solidly what one would call ‘very, VERY pregnant’. His usual button up flannel shirts had grown tighter and tighter until they wouldn’t button. While the pair did like the belly out, unbuttoned shirt look, Leo preferred to be more modest when in public. As the temperature dropped due to the coming of autumn, Leo had switched to his larger sweatshirts to remain covered, and even those didn’t really do the job anymore. Now looking overdue with quads, he waddled through the Willowbrook Square Mall wearing that same beige sweater he wore during minigolf night, once two sizes too big, now pulled tight over his bump and only reaching just above his navel.

To cover his lower belly, he wore a supportive belly band to help redistribute the weight of his womb and provide some modesty. Unfortunately for Leo, but much to Marko’s delight, the top hem of the belly belt and bottom hem of the shirt couldn’t quite meet, resulting in a cheeky strip of exposed tummy, complete with his popped navel peeking out.

Leo’s belly swayed slowly back and forth as he waddled next to Marko, squeezing his hand. He absolutely loved being so pregnant, but he tended to get colder feet in public. He was a sight to behold, and people weren’t shy about staring at his impressive bump. “I think that lady has intentionally hopped from store to store to keep me in view,” whispered Leo meekly, “She just keeps watching me, it’s weird,” “Bet she’s jealous of how great you look,” chuckled Marko. “Marko! I’m serious!” Leo hissed, “I like being this big but I don’t like being the center of attention!”

Marko raised an eyebrow, not liking his boyfriend being nervous. “I can talk to her if you’d like?” Leo shook his head, “Nono, I don’t want confrontation, I just want… honestly I just want a milkshake…” he said as cravings shifted his focus to his empty stomach. With each added baby to his womb, his appetite grew stronger, even as the amount of room in his smooshed digestive system grew smaller. Marko swiftly steered the pair toward the food court, knowing exactly what to get him.

Leo wasn’t much of a foodie before pregnancy, but getting knocked up had not only expanded his palette, but increased his appetite to the point Marko was constantly feeding him. He had actually become something of a good cook, and really enjoyed feeding Leo. As a result of his new caloric intake, Leo has began to physically soften with time, his thighs and ass become pillowier, and for the first time in his life, he had love handles. Marko took this as a point of pride, that his cooking was good enough to make someone a little pudgy. Of course, the constant flow of ice cream treats certainly didn’t hurt either.

“Any preferences, dear?” Marko asked as he helped Leo ease into a chair, which had to be pulled away form the table to make enough room for the belly. “Where you buying?” He asked. Marko tilted his head toward one of the chain restaurants in the court, “Sonic has the biggest shakes here, and I know you like car-” “Carmel oreo please,” grinned Leo. Marko’s heart flittered a little bit at Leo’s innocent smile, still in the honeymoon phase even after being together for so long. He nodded and made his way toward the Sonic, leaving Leo to sit and rest his aching feet.

He placed his hands on the top shelf of his belly, and scanned the food court. He was semi-used to being stared at by this point. Being visibly trans, being in a visibly gay relationship, hell, even his nose ring got glares from older folks. But this felt different, it wasn’t him they were stealing glances of, it was his belly. He felt a draft blow across the sliver of exposed skin between his sweater and belly belt, and felt a little self conscious. To make matters worse, the woman who had been stalking him made a b-line and was actually approaching him. He considered getting up and moving, but knew he’d reached the point in size and weight were he really needed Mareko’s help to do anything quickly.

“Excuse me!” she said, Leo braced for the worst. “I’m sorry, I know I’ve been following you around, we’ve made eye contact like 4 times, but I really need to ask you something,” she continued. Poor Leo grimaced and prepared for the worst. What invasive question would he have to answer this time? She took a seat at his table, sitting across from him. She made eye contact and seemed very direct, something Leo wasn’t super crazy about.

“So my friend is pregnant, and she’s carrying decuplets, and she’s really starting to struggle with her size… where did you get that tummy support thing?” Leo blinked, feeling like an overhyped bandaid was just painlessly torn off. “Oh, uh, there’s a place across town that sells maternity wear, called ‘twins n’ up’, and the owner makes their own stuff. They, uh, they custom made it for me,” he answered. The lady nodded intently and made several notes on her phone.

“Is this lady bothering you, hon?” asked Marko as he returned with 32 ounces of creamy milkshake. “No, actually she was just asking me about this!” Leo pulled the hem of his supporting belt, letting it snap back against is belly. “I swear I’m not trying to harass your husband, he’s just the first person i’ve seen who is as pregnant is my friend and I wanted to know where he got his clothes. I’ll leave you guys alone now, thank you!” she said to Marko, offering her seat to him. Marko’s protective nature made him a little cautious of the woman’s intentions, but she seemed harmless enough. “Take care!” smiled Leo as she left. Marko sat across from him, and handed him the milkshake.

Marko chuckled, “I guess we look like husbands now?” Leo took a long, indulgent sip of his shake, basking in the sugaryness of it all. “I mean, we are growing our family quite a bit,” he patted his tummy, “I think it’s a fair assumption we’re married,” Marko considered the situation for a moment and realized, yeah, it WAS a fair assumption they be married, or at least engaged… maybe it was near time he brought assumption to reality…

3 more months later

Marko and Leo were currently no longer boyfriends. Rather, they were fiances! Marko popped the question privately after a very fun and successful baby shower, and Leo immediately said yes. Some tears of happiness were shed, celebratory cake was consumed, and more babies were added to Leo’s ever swelling womb later that night. Things were progressing smoothly for the expecting couple as they’d moved from their old smaller apartment to a larger, open floor house. 

Now 9 months pregnant with thirteen babies, Leo was a sight to behold. His belly was permanently bared, no wardrobe in the country able to cover his bump. Through some luck, good genes, and lots of cocoa butter, he’d managed to avoid any stretchmarks, but his navel was thoroughly popped. While he’d started the pregnancy off on the skinny side, Marko’s endless flow of food had made sure baby weight accumulated, and now everything from his legs to his chest was growing. The only part of him that didn’t seem to gain any weight was his face, which was still lithe and adorable. His fluffy brown hair had only grown fluffier and fuller with the prenatal vitamins he was taking. He had to lose his blonde highlight though, as the babies could absorb chemicals through hair exposure, strangely enough.

Marko had been hard at work unpacking their whole life into this new house, as Leo had grown too large to really do much besides be doted on, which Marko was fine with. He’d set up their bedroom, and taken the doors off their hinges and removed the doorframes to buy Leo just a few precious weeks of being able to travel through doorways. At the rate they were going, they would need every inch of their open floorplan just for Leo’s titanic tummy.

Leo’s belly now held not only tredecuplets, but enough amniotic fluid to stay full and spherical. He was clocking in at around 300 lbs, and just under half of that was belly. Through the help of Marko, Leo could still walk… but getting up and down was a challenge. Leo’s belly was beyond bigger around than he was tall, and there were substantial portions where he could no longer reach. That didn’t stop the couple from conceiving more though. Even at thirteen full and pregnant beyond words, the couple still had plans for more. Call it some kind of hedonism, but Leo loved being bred and growing ever more massive, and Marko loved to watch. 

Even now, well into January, large snowflakes lazily falling outside, the pair were together, warm and happy. Leo had basically outgrown the couch at this point, his belly more wide than the cushions were deep. Instead, they had splurged on an electric recliner which was situated facing slightly to the right of the television, so that Leo could lay back in a reclined position, but only had to turn his head to see the TV, since he couldn’t see past his own tummy straight on at this point. Strong visible kicks could be seen occasionally poking out of his tightly stretched skin, often in places out of view from Leo himself. 

He sat, laid back in his large, cushy recliner, eating some chinese takeout Marko had picked up for him. He set the styrofoam container on his chest, idly scooping noodles into his waiting mouth. A chow mein noodle fell into his cleavage, something he didn’t have 6 months ago, and he picked it out with his chop sticks, hoping Marko didn’t notice him miss his mouth.

Marko didn’t notice, too enarmored with his future husband’s massive midriff. He got to see it every day, and yet every day he somehow loved it more. His hands were almost always touching it, only off of the bump when cooking or otherwise doing housework. He knew this had to be hard for Leo, being so massive and carrying so many, so Marko worked hard to do his part. Anything Leo wanted, he got. Specific foods, foot rubs, new clothes, a bigger belly… all of it was hand delivered by Marko himself. For being the more dominant of the pairing, he’d become something of a servant as Leo grew closer to immobility.

Right now, Marko had a dining room chair pulled up next to Leo, and was working cocoa butter into the side of his tummy, working slowly to both be gentile and maximize his time spent touching it. It amazed him how no matter his size, or how many were in there, his overburdened belly still had just a little give to it. Leo smiled, watching his partner be just engrossed with his tummy. “You have such a hopeless belly kink,” he chuckled. “Hmmm? Me?” Marko said, almost missing the question cause he was staring at the belly. “Yes you! Even before I got knocked up you liked touching me there! Who’s hands were on my tummy when we made out the first time?” Marko blushed. “I mean, yeah mine... but also who was so eager he got close enough that our glasses hooked on themselves? Who was so willing he whispered how he wanted a ‘baby in him right then and there?’,” Marko teased. 

Leo was the one blushing now, thinking back to one of their first dates. Little did he know just HOW MANY babies would be put in him later in life. “Is it… bad I still want you to put a baby in me?” he said, embarrassed by his own words and avoiding eye contact. Marko set aside the cocoa butter and stood up, taking a good look at the tummy that lay before him. “No… I don’t think it’s bad… but I wonder if there’s room in that belly for any more?” he teased, pressing the tips of his fingers into Leo’s exposed tummy.

“Oh come on Mark, don’t make me beg, you said you’d take care of me?” Leo teased right back, deepening his finance’s blush. “Hmmm…” he rested the side of his head on the front end of Leo’s belly, listening to the ambient, living sounds from inside. “It SOUNDS pretty full, can one guy get any more pregnant?” Leo crossed his arms and mock-pouted. “I won’t ever find out if you keep talking...” Marko leaned over Leo, casting a shadow across his face. “So you’re ready for number 14?” he grinned. Leo wrapped his hand around the back of Marko’s head and pulled him in for a kiss before whispering, “Why stop there?”

Another 3 months later

Marko had needed to make some calls. He had a few contacts with the fabrication industry, and knew some guys always willing to help him out. Now a year pregnant, and full of 20 babies, Leo no longer fit standard furniture. He was simply too large and heavy for traditional couches and chairs. Instead, Marko’s friends had put their heads together, and fashioned him a special, form fitting lounge chair, with a sturdy metal frame and soft, satiny cushions. They even thought ahead and made certain parts of it adjustable to accommodate for his growing size. And growing he was. Now beyond overdue, the growth of his still healthy brood pushed his body to new maximums. Leo often joked about how his womb would need its own zipcode soon.

Leo buttoned his shirt back up, setting the pumping apparatus on the table next to him. He’d had to start pumping his milk, or his breasts would begin leaking on their own, and frankly, he didn't want colostrum on his plaid flannels. “Hon, could you put that in the fridge?” he asked, pointing at the bottles of milk he’d produced. Marko ran his hand along the circumference of Leo’s belly as he moved past him, slightly tickling Leo in the process. He took the bottles and placed them in the fridge before circling back. “How’re you feeling honey?” he asked. “Big. Pregnant. Massive, really,” Leo answered. “Just how you like it?” Marko replied. Leo grinned, “Yeeeaaahhh,”

Marko placed his hands firmly on the expanse of pale, pregnant skin, and started kissing. Leo squirmed on his throne of pregnancy as his husband moved slowly up his belly toward his face. Marko gave him a deep, passionate kiss on the lips, causing Leo’s breath to shake slightly. “You love me so much,” he said in his quivering voice. “I”m so massive and pregnant and huge and round and you adore me like this.” he continued, getting a little emotional. “Of course I do,” replied Marko, giving his lovely husband a side-hug. “You’re my person, and you’re carrying a lot of persons, just for me, and that’s not easy. And I appreciate it. And I want you to know that I love you, both for doing that and for just being you!” Said Marko tenderly. Leo teared up a little, reaching out for another hug. Marko obliged, Leo wiping a couple tears on Marko’s 80’s style denim button-up.

“I couldn’t do all this without you, y’know… all… THIS!” Leo gestured to his astounding belly, which nudged with movement slightly in response. “You shouldn’t ever have to, babe. That’s why we have each other,” The two shared a tender silence, Marko rocking back and forth slowly. Leo sniffed and shook his head, “Augh, sorry. Pregnancy hormones… y’know… make me all emotional.” he said. “You’re allowed to be emotional, babe,” reassured Marko. “I know…” nodded Leo. 

Leo’s tummy rumbled and Marko chuckled, “You also get emotional when you’re hungry…” he pointed out. Leo laughed his bubbly, infectious laugh. “Yeah, I can’t argue with that… lemme see… the babies want…” he paused, “Potato soup!” Marko nodded, making his way to the kitchen to cook a huge batch. “Anything for you, my love,”

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 1 - Small Beginnings

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

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Pairing: Joel Miller × Female!Reader/OC

Summary: Joel, Ellie and the reader start their month long journey to Jackson. Although it takes time for the reader and Joel to get to trust one another, things develop quicker with Ellie.

Word Count: 5.668

Warnings: Canon typical violence, detailed description of bloodshed/gore and death; PTSD related events and some sexual tension ;)

Author's Note: Here goes another part of the series! There's this one bit where the reader and Ellie are sleeping, I was kind of inspired by that one scene in the beginning of Lady Bird where Christine and her mom are sleeping, so... Anyways I hope y'all like it 🥰

Enjoy!

Moving out of Carmel and Indiana altogether to Illinois was quite the challenge but it didn't take you all too long to reach a city named Peoria. The route Joel had picked was crawling with infected and you had to take detours to avoid them, barely having any time to rest; but when you reached the city in question, it turned out to be awfully quiet there. Although Joel knew you were special forces, he was impressed with your precision and combat discipline - but of course he kept it to himself.

"The weather is getting colder," Ellie commented when you all settled down on a secure, empty house- the sun was beginning to set.

Before you left the building in Carmel a few days ago, Ellie had fetched Kurt's backpack while Joel and her were collecting some ammo from the room he was held in. You couldn't look at your teammates' dead or infected bodies, you couldn't dare - it would've been too much to take in all at once. All you had asked of Joel and Ellie was to close their eyes if they were possibly open, and waited for them at the other end of the hall, crying quietly. Joel gave you your rifle (it had your name on it and it was left on the same table as Kurt's backpack) and Ellie handed you Kurt's bag with his stuff in it.

"I thought you might want to have this," she had said with melancholic eyes.

You smiled and thanked her. She clearly wasn't aware of who Kurt was and what he meant to you. He had his famous jacket and blade rolled up in the bag, a few supplies and ammo and finally, a picture of both of you on the front pocket. He was like a teacher and guardian to you, you wouldn't have survived this long if it weren't for him and knowing he was no longer with you destroyed you, stabbed you in the guts and made you feel sick. Of course you had to swallow it all down and wait until either you reached Jackson or met your maker on the way.

"Hey, why don't you wear this," you took Kurt's jacket off and tossed it to her. "It should keep you warm at night."

"What about you? You're more exposed than I am," Ellie objected as you were still in your undershirt. It had more blood on it than it had while you were in Carmel.

"I saw a clothing shop around the corner," you smiled and grabbed your rifle from the table in the living room. "I'll swing by quickly, see if it still has some clothes in it and I'll get us all something warm."

"You're not going now," Joel entered the room. "The sun is setting."

"It hasn't yet and I'll be quick, don't worry." You turned to leave but Joel stopped you. "It's right around the corner, you saw it. We need new clothes, Joel."

He hesitated for a moment, then moved out of the way. He often forgot you were as quick as a snake in grass.

You cleared out the single runner in the store, which had no legs and had his spine following it around like a tail. The store was quite empty at first, but you checked a couple of rooms in the back and found a lot of clothing from the "autumn collection". There was a tricolour raincoat that could fit Ellie, you also grabbed a black blouse for her and moved to the women's section. You quickly started feeling the texture of every blouse you came across (your options were more limited comparing to the kids section) and eventually grabbed a dark brown blouse, then searched through a bag of jeans. There were only two left, one your size and the other significantly bigger. It felt weird, finally getting your hands on normal clothes.

Just before you moved onto men's clothing, your eyes landed on the underwear section for women. You began digging through it but there was no normal underwear left. What you had was dark coloured thong's and brazilian's and matching bra's.

"Yeah... Who'd wear these in the middle of the apocalypse..." you muttered to yourself and groaned. You had no other choice but to take them and you hated how fancy they were, with their laces and everything.

You made sure to grab Ellie some underwear too and you wished you were as small as she was, for children's underwear looked more comfortable and normal. You felt odd at first, wondering how she'd react, but she needed clean clothing as much as you did.

You moved to another room, dug through men's section which was also quite empty. The only things left were plaid, lumberjack shirts and a sack of black t-shirts, so you immediately grabbed one of each.

You quickly sneaked back to the house, praying that you wouldn't get into trouble as your cargo was quite heavy.

"That was quick," Ellie told you as you set your rifle aside once more, making Joel wait outside the room as you handed Ellie the clothing you got for her.

"Told ya," you smiled. "These are for you... I uh, I hope you don't mind that I got this too."

You showed her the underwear and her eyes widened: "Oh, um- thank you."

Although it was a bit awkward, Ellie was grateful nevertheless. While she got dressed, you went to the room Joel was in.

"I got something for you too," You announced as you walked in. "It's not much, the shop was completely ransacked, but it should do."

"Oh," Joel, surprised, took the clothing and studied it before quietly saying: "Thanks."

You smiled shortly and moved to leave, but his voice stopped you: "Uh, I don't wear XXL..."

You turned around and smirked: "Oh, my apologies, did you really think I was focusing on the size while looking for something to wear?"

Joel sighed and nodded: "Right... you got yourself some stuff?"

"Of course I did," you rolled your eyes. "Finally, kissing this nasty thing goodbye."

Joel's lips turned upwards slightly, then you walked out. He actually appreciated the way your undershirt hugged your frame. You were built quite well, body resembling one of an athlete's - thanks to the torture like training you'd gone through pre and post outbreak. Joel shook his head, what the hell am I thinking, and began changing.

You walked into a bedroom with a mirror and sat down on the bed, slowly removing your undershirt. It used to be white and decorated with different stains, now it was completely red.

You froze at the sight of your body - it was almost completely covered with dried blood and bruises, your mind immediately reminding you of the events that happened dayss ago.

----

"Well, well, well; if it isn't our fish out of water lads..." you heard the all too familiar British accented voice behind you as two hunters pressed you down to the floor along with your teammates. "You really are hard to kill, eh? Well, well done Gabe."

You struggled against the men who were holding you down, spitting blood on the floor.

"Gabe! You son of a whore!" Maxim, the teams sniper, yelled and earned himself a punch in the gut. You breathed furiously against the floor, anxiety rising as you had a few ideas on what you were going to face, watching Gabe walk over and greet the leader of the group.

"Move them upstairs," the leader commanded and the hunters dragged you off the floor to your feet. You tried to escape but they were built like an ox - you doubled over when one of them punched you in the gut, blood coming out of your mouth. "Put them in the room to the right, except for this one..."

He walked over to you slowly and grabbed your jaw tightly, making you growl and spit on his face: "This one goes to the room on the left... She'll be my special guest after I gut all of her teammates."

And with that, he wiped the blood off his face and sucker punched you, making your vision go black.

----

"(Y/N)?" You heard Ellie knocking on the door. "Can I come in? I have your jacket."

You quickly walked to the door and hid behind it before opening it: "Thanks Ellie."

You closed the door once more and muttered to yourself: "I can't wear these before I get cleaned..."

The only thing you missed about the Boston QZ was the showers. They were cold and you didn't have any soap, but in the end you still got cleaned.

You quickly walked into the bathroom connected to the bedroom and digged through the cupboards to find something - anything to help you get rid of the blood. When you couldn't, you tried for the bath aimlessly. You were caught completely off guard when water hit your face, so you shrieked.

"Holy shit," you breathed heavily, too surprised at the water streaming out to hear Joel's footsteps bursting in through the room.

"(Y/N)?!" Joel called for you when he walked in and saw your discarded undershirt. "Are you-"

"I'm fine, there's water here!" You spoke excitedly, but suddenly the water almost stopped pouring. "Oh no."

"What?"

"The water's stuck, I think?" You tried to pull the shower head out but it didn't work. "Quick, pass me my knife!"

"Where is it?"

"In my bag!" You pulled harder on the showerhead as he went through your bag, only to come across your new set of underwear. He froze at the sight, but immediately grabbed the knife after you shouted Quickly Joel! His eyes widened even more when he saw your half naked state, but didn't stop from going in and giving you the knife. You got into the tub and cut the showerhead off, water immediately coming out and pouring onto your body.

"Ah! Shit-" you gasped at the cold touch of the water and stumbled out, body completely soaked.

"Son of a bitch," Joel stared at the bathtub in awe before turning to you and looking you up and down. "I guess you, uh, you should go first. Keep it short."

"Yes sir," you rolled your eyes.

Joel quickly walked out, his stomach doing a flip, almost bumping into Ellie.

"What happened?"

"(Y/N) found some water in the bath..."

"Shit, really?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck yeah!" Ellie exclaimed. "Our luck seems to be turning ever since she joined us, huh?"

Joel didn't make a comment even though, when he looked at it, you really did bring some luck with you.

You quickly washed your hair and cleaned the blood off with your fingers as fast as you could - your arms, chest, lower body, legs...

"You've got to be kidding me..." You smiled when you got out and came across towels in a cupboard in the bedroom. You dried off and called Ellie once you were dressed up, letting her know it was her turn.

While you waited on her to finish, you went over to Joel: "Do we have any bandages left?" You showed him your arms and wrists: "They're not quite healed yet."

Joel looked at you from where he was seated - you looked so different in normal clothing and with your hair down and wet, he almost thought you looked real pretty.

"Yup," he cleared his throat and proceeded to bring some out of his bag. "Sit here."

You sat across him on a leather couch as he applied the new bandage: "This place is so weird, it's almost untouched. I found some towels and more clothing you might wanna see in the wardrobes."

"M-hm," he hummed, then moved onto your other arm.

"It's feels so good to be out of those clothes," you smiled, trying to make conversation. "If only there were some socks, I'd be complete."

"Yeah... like the little set you got for yourself?" Joel (actually) teased, making you blush.

"How did you- Oh, right..." You remembered he had to rummage through your bag to find your knife. "They were the only ones left!"

"Right..."

"I mean it! Do you think I'm in the position to impress someone in the middle of an apocalypse?"

"I'm just messin' with ya," Joel smirked slightly and looked at your face once he was done. "Did you by any chance come across jeans or something in those wardrobes?"

"Pants, shoes, underwear- as I said, this place is untouched." You replied and pulled your sleeves down as he got up and left.

The journey from Peoria to the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska was mostly uneventful. Every day you gained more strength, keeping watch more than Ellie and Joel as Joel seemed to trust you a little more now. You had also discovered that Joel's brother, Tommy, was waiting for them in Jackson. He used to be a Firefly that you helped here and there - you used to send aid whenever you could to the Fireflies, as you thought they served a better cause, but that vision got destroyed once Tommy and a few others quit. You worked with him quite often and were surprised to find out that him and Joel were brothers - for multiple reasons.

"Uh, was Tommy by any chance a Firefly?" You had asked one day, cutting through a shady looking buding in Bloomfield.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I used to help them get around FEDRA a few years ago- how come you ended up separately?"

"Wait, what-" Joel began, but the sounds of clickers interrupted him. "Shit."

You immediately raised your rifle and got into position in front of Ellie: "Stay behind me."

It was just two clickers on the entire floor - you made it out without breaking any sweat. You decided not to ask about Tommy again, not getting to hear the rest of the story until you reached Jackson.

It had been approximately two weeks ever since you left Carmel, now you were in Omaha, clearing out yet another apartment to rest in. You hated breaks in buildings, you preferred lakesides, where the water was calm. What you liked about the country and the route was the abundance of lakes and rivers. You got to clean yourself more often, wild life was mostly around it so you didn't starve and it was safer around water - unless it was a stream. You always walked far away from streams, it earned you a few questions but you always managed to avoid them.

Joel was less grumpy with you each passing day. What Ellie had said about luck when you found water in the shower stuck with him, as the road was mostly clear for the three of you; not encountering large groups of Hunters or any herds for a couple of days made things a lot easier. Comparing to his journey from Boston to Carmel, Joel had to agree you were like a good luck charm.

There were a few clickers on the floor that needed to be sweeped. You and Joel moved side by side through the corridors, quietly taking out the abomination. You slowly walked through a door and swept the room with your eyes quickly.

"Clear- through here," You whispered. Just as you were inspecting a crack on the ceiling, a deafening shriek filled your ears and two clickers fell through the crack, bringing half of the ceiling down with them. You jumped backwards to where Joel and Ellie stood, tripping and falling on your back, grunting as quietly as you could. Suddenly, you felt Joel's hands under your arms, dragging you up and away from the wreck. He backed the both of you up to the corner of the room as the clickers slowly got up. Ellie quickly hid under the desk on the other side of the room, but you couldn't get a hold of your footing while trying to keep an eye on her and bumped right into Joel, pushing him into the corner completely with your back pressed tightly against his body. You were breathing too heavily, Joel had to put his hand over your mouth. The closer the clicker got to you, the more you pressed yourself against him. You bit your lip and slowly took out your knife.

The clicker, after making its distressing and obnoxious noises inches away from your face, turned around and walked over to the other one.

You sighed as best as you could with Joel's hand over your mouth, his breath coming down hot on your neck and ear, making you shiver involuntarily. This situation could've been better if our lives weren't at risk, you thought as Joel slowly removed his hands from your waist and mouth. You immediately went for the kill, decided it was too risky to stay here, then moved to another floor.

"Phew," Ellie had said once it was safe. "That was way too close."

"Yeah," you replied, slightly shivering at the memory. However you weren't sure if it were your closeness to Joel or the clickers almost falling on top of you that made you shiver this time.

Days later, somewhere near the Wyoming border, you found an empty cabin in the forest. You'd just escaped a herd and decided to hide there until it passed entirely. Luckily, they were coming from Wyoming; you would've had real shitty luck if it were the other way around.

You had been keeping watch for the past two days so you barely got any sleep, you were restless and tired, so Joel took watch and gave you and Ellie some time to rest.

The cabin was very small, it had only one double bed in the only other room connected to it. You both laid down and just as your eyes were about to close, Ellie started asking a variety of questions which were unrelated to each other, eventually putting you to sleep with her hushed voice. Ellie had really grown on you and you could tell she liked you too. You cared a big deal for her and, as you'd grown older and spent every day with her, she really brought out a motherly side to you; which wasn't entirely bad but it wasn't too good either.

A few hours later you woke up for a brief moment, out of the blue. You were facing Ellie: She was asleep, her body rising and falling slowly. She looked so adorable and at peace like this, it made you smile. You carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her face and watched her for a while, slowly slipping back to sleep.

----

"Please... let her go!" you whined.

"Shut her up!" The man growled and one of the men who were holding you punched your side, making you cry.

Your vision was blurry, but not blurry enough to keep you from seeing the scarring images of your teammate being tied to a tree next to a stream by her ankle. She was passed out, beaten by the group of Hunters who held you captive, so she couldn't do anything but let them throw her unconscious self into the water.

"No! No! Please!" You sobbed, blood pouring from your mouth.

You watched her drown in the stream, crying helplessly. Your only hope was Kurt's tracking skills finding you before she drowned completely - however minutes passed, which felt like eternity, but Kurt didn't show up. You cried and begged, but they didn't listen.

"My, my. What a devoted leader you are... But don't worry darling," that annoying, triggering British accent laughed. "You'll be joining your girlfriend very soon."

You watched as they cut the rope around Felicity's ankle, and watched as her body brutally hit the rocks and fall down the waterfall; making you scream: "NO!"

----

"(Y/N)," you woke up again to the hushed voice of Joel.

"Hm, what's wrong?" You whispered sleepily.

"Your turn to keep watch, c'mon."

Ellie greeted you when you got up and left the bed for Joel to rest, commenting on how much you slept. After awhile of hesitation and silence, she asked about who Felicity was.

You tensed at the mention of Felicity, you must've talked in your sleep.

Felicity was your best friend. You knew her since forever -ever since you were children in kindergarten- and you both enlisted after school was finished. You went through everything together, you survived for twenty years in this mess; until one day you two were ambushed while scouting a new area. It was your first encounter with the same group of Hunters that ambushed you out in Carmel. Felicity's death was the reason why the new recruit, Gabe, was brought to Alpha One.

"Maybe some other time, Ellie," you said weakly. You felt sick to your stomach, like you did when you stepped outside and saw a glimpse of one of your teammate's corpse.

"Are you alright?" Ellie asked. "You're very pale."

"Yeah, I just... I just need to lie down, I think." You ran your fingers through your hair, feeling dizzy.

"Why don't you go lie back down? I can keep watch." Ellie offered. "I'll come wake you up if something happens, I swear!"

"No, Ellie," you gave her an apologetic smile. "I'll stay for a bit, if I feel worse I'll go, okay?"

"Fine," she huffed and settled on the edge of a window across you.

Nausea hit you like a tidal wave after only 10 minutes and you launched yourself out of the cabin, Ellie hot on your heels. Kneeling under a tree and getting what little food you had in you out, you doubled over to the ground after you finished vomiting, which was overdue. Ellie helped you back inside, brought you your water and walked you into the bedroom where Joel was long passed out.

"Call for me if you need anything."

"Alright, you too." You replied after reluctantly lying down next to Joel. "Hey Ellie?"

"Thank you sweetheart." You smiled as best as you could when she turned around, then returned the gesture.

----

"The legendary Alpha One leader, (Y/N) (L/N)..." the man walked around you as his goons tied your ankle around the tree like they did to Felicity. You barely had any power to fight back with your beaten up state, but the shock of your best friend's death and your fate being decided by a bunch of Hunters had adrenaline pumping through your veins. "Look at 'er still kickin' lads! Ha ha! Like the dead fish she is!"

"Fuck you! Fuck- I'll fucking get you, you son of a bitch, you hear me?!" You struggled against the pairs of arms holding you down, right above the stream. "You'll fucking die! I'll kill you for this!"

"Don't be funny lass," the man laughed. "Last time I checked, I wasn't the one with a rope around my neck- or my ankle, if you prefer. Show her what we do to people who try to interfere with our business, lads!"

And with that, you were thrown into the water.

You held your breath at first contact, but the water kept going against your nostrils. You tried to swim to the surface, but you realised you couldn't really move your arm. You groaned and let out some of the air you'd been holding at the realisation that your arm may be broken. Was this really how you were going to die? Was this really it? Your body felt like it was going to explode with the amount of adrenaline and shock and the rest of the emotions you were going through, ready to give up. Just as you were indeed ready to give out, however, you felt yourself being dragged by the ankle. Were they cutting the rope or-

With one hard pull, you flew out of the stream with a loud gasp, choking on water as you landed on your back.

"She's alive! My god she's alive!" You heard Kurt yell and rush to your side. Guess this wasn't how you were going to die after all. "I got you darling, I got you."

You gasped for air, looked around for hunters only to find the rest of Alpha One slowly approaching your position. Knowing you were safe, you relaxed and began sobbing violently: "It's okay (Y/N), I'm here, you're safe."

----

Your eyes slowly fluttered open at the sudden overheat. Your body was turned to the left, but with more weight on it. Something hot was blowing against your face and something else was pressing down on your waist. You slowly got grip of reality, only to notice that it was Joel partly cuddled up against you. Your eyes widened but you couldn't really move - his arm was loose around your waist but you didn't want to wake him up

This is nice, having some sort of physical contact which didn't pose a threat-

Stop... you thought to yourself, but then realized how your forheads almost touched.

Shit shit shit...

Your face scrunched up at your situation, cursing yourself internally for being so weak and getting yourself almost ill to end up sharing a bed with a man you'd only known for, what, two weeks?

And he was somewhat cuddling you in his sleep. How did he even know you were next to him?

He suddenly shifted a little, getting impossibly close to you, his hand almost touching your rear and making you feel uneasy. Your teeth were going to crush and your jaw was going to lock up if you stayed like this any longer - this made your imagination run wild, involuntarily of course.

It had been somewhere near 15 years since you got involved with any type of romantic and sexual activity, you were touch starved and Joel was incredibly attractive -impossibly so- with his deep voice, handsome face; all the muscles hidden under that green shirt of his... He was rough; he had this air of dominance to him which got you flustered from time to time. But what also attracted you to him was the possibility of a soft side, hidden deep beneath tough layers of walls built over the past 20 years.

You were involuntarily getting turned on when his hand was practically on your ass so you cleared your throat, more quietly than you had intended, to which he didn't respond. God fucking dammit-

"Look at you lovebirds! Ew..." Ellie's comment woke him up instead, you acting like you were sleeping as well so neither of them suspected a thing.

"Oh god," you moved away as Joel mumbled an apology, retreating to his own side.

"I'd say get a room, but-" Ellie continued but Joel interfered.

"Just-" Joel gave that one impatient glare of his you got so used to, making Ellie immediately stop talking.

"Okay, okay!" She raised her hands defensively. "Well, I thought you should know, I think the herd passed."

"You think?" Joel and Ellie went outside quickly, but you stayed exactly where you were, sat on the edge of the bed.

You were disciplined and certainly had self-control, but you never had had the time to grieve anyone properly. You just pushed it away and stayed strong for everyone in Alpha One, you realized how you never made grieving an option for yourself. It wasn't the first time you had lost someone of course. Your parents, friends, people you were acquainted with in a variety of places... but Feliciy drew the line and Alpha One crossed it with it's entirety. You really needed to get to Jackson, you didn't know when you would slip and lose your composure altogether.

Joel walked back in to tell you that it was time to move, but halted when he saw you still sitting at the edge of the bed. He felt embarrassed, he felt like he probably triggered a bad memory.

"Hey... You alright?"

"Yeah yeah, just, gimme a second," you said, swallowing back the urge to cry.

"Look, I'm sorry, I- I wasn't doing it knowingly," he tried to explain without tumbling over his words.

"No it's fine, really," you spoke and turned to face him. It was more than fine, in fact. As awkward as it was, it made you feel a type of warmth in you which you hadn't felt in quite some time. "I um, I shouldn't have invaded your space-"

"Nonsense," Joel interrupted immediately, taking a step toward his side of the bed. "Ellie told me you got sick, you had every right to rest."

You were expecting him to be angry with you for leaving Ellie by herself with a herd passing only miles away, but you reckoned he was more embarrassed than angry. You couldn't blame him, he never acted soft, ever, this must be truly awkward for him.

"We gotta move," Joel cleared his throat and reached for his bag on the floor. "You feelin' alright?"

"Yup," you partly lied. "Let's go."

And so continued your journey, onward to Jackson which was at the other end of Wyoming. Joel and you had very few chats after what happened in the cabin, only really talking when Ellie started up conversation.

One night, days later while you were in Casper, getting sidetracked for the umpteenth time, Joel joined you in watch while Ellie slept.

"Y'know, you sometimes talk in your sleep," he started conversation as he sat across you.

"So I'm told." You pursed your lips, memories of Felicity starting to resurface in your mind.

"You kept mumbling a woman's name," Joel tried. "Was she your..."

"I don't wanna talk about it," you snapped, more because you were scared rather than you were angry. You were scared, because you knew it would hurt once you started talking.

"Okay," Joel looked away. Ever since you started travelling with them you'd been nothing but nice and caring toward him. Even though you were ex-military. You felt so human to him, as if you weren't in an apocalypse. Most people lost themselves and their humanities in the past 20 years. He'd seen god awful things, including the slaughter of your team, but a piece of human still remained in you. He'd seen how you were with Ellie and he really appreciated how you treated her like a little sister... or even like a daughter from time to time. He knew from the beginning, deep down, that he could somewhat trust you when Ellie first told him your stories at the QZ... but one can never be too careful.

"So," you felt bad for snapping at him, so you tried to change the subject. "You and Tess smuggled her outside the QZ, for what?"

Joel visibly got tense at the mention of Tess' name, so you backed off. "Nevermind."

Joel didn't say a word but he thought about you. Once you were in Jackson he had to tell Tommy, that meant you were going to find out why him and Ellie were out in road sooner or later anyway, but he picked later for now.

"I, uh..." you tried again, cringing internally. "I want to ask you a few things, but they all might connect to something in your past, so..."

"Yeah," Joel nodded. He was both surprised and amused at your honesty.

You stared at him for a while as he stared at the small fire in front of you. You really did want to get to know him a little, but getting to know people have been like walking through a minefield for the past twenty or so years.

"I reckon you were a soldier before all this?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Yup- spec ops." You nodded. "What about you?"

"I, uh, I was a carpenter."

"Really?" You asked in disbelief.

"What?" He looked offended.

"No, I mean it's just that- you're this big rough guy and- shit, I dunno, I expected something else?"

"Rough guy, huh?" Joel chuckled. "What did you expect?"

"Anything but a carpenter... though I can see it now, with the shirt and everything."

You both chuckled. Joel bit his lip and stared at the ground for a while before giving into his curiosity: "I can't help but ask... how old are you?"

"Now that's not a very ideal question to ask a lady, isn't it, Mr. Miller?" You smirked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry ma'am." He mocked and rolled his eyes.

"I'd say... around my late thirties?" You had no clue about precisely how many years it had been since the outbreak. "I was twenty when I joined special forces, six months later everything went downhill."

"I'd hate to break it to ya, but I think you're either forty or forty one."

You gasped: "Shit, already? What about you?"

"That'd make me around... God damn..."

"What, fifty?" You laughed.

"Something around that..."

You immediately stopped laughing, cheeks heating up a little. He can't be fifty!

"Forty eight," he mumbled.

"Well, if it's gonna make you feel better, you look a lot younger." You smiled.

"I can say the same for you. I thought you were no older than thirty-five..."

That was the first time you'd had a conversation other than the route. A genuine conversation about each other's personal lives- on some level anyway. It felt nice. Conversations like this with Joel, although brief, took your mind off things. Ellie's too of course, but sometimes she got a little too curious for your liking, but you weren't rude about it in anyway. And that's basically how it went until you reached Jackson: Watching each other's backs, small talk about the stuff that didn't relate to his and your background and slight teasing here and there. You became more comfortable around him after that night and he seemed to be getting more comfortable and trusting as well. You knew you shouldn't be getting too attached, as you knew you wouldn't be seeing them again after they left you in Jackson, but you couldn't deny the fact that they kept you going - that they kept you safe.

[thephantomofthe-internet]

Not Your Type

Steve Harrington x Reader

Read part 2 HERE

Word Count: 6,669

Warnings: Swearing, Smoking, Drinking, Sexual Assault mention

Tag List: @carolimedanvers @moonstruckhargrove @denimjacketkisses @hotstuffhargrove @thechickvic @alex--awesome--22 @hipsmcgee @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @so-not-hotmess @balladblood @ashescilev 

“You’re not her type, Steve.” 

“You can’t say that till she meets me.”

The two had been arguing for days on the subject, without a clear answer in sight. Robin had promised, after weeks of watching Steve fail at getting girls, first at Scoops Ahoy and now at Family Video, to introduce him to a girl. Not just any girl, a girl like her. Steve had finally admitted that Dustin was right and he needed to go after girls who could make him genuinely happy, not just a girl who fit his popular mindset. He had tried his luck with Robin, and easily accepted the loss due to her own sexuality, and now he was set to try again. And Robin had been hyping up this friend of hers for weeks. She was cool and funny and smart like her and she was straight. That was all he was looking for. Whoever she was, she sounded perfect. 

But Robin was holding out on him.

His turned halfway to look at her, leaning his elbows on the counter to watch her shelf VHS tapes of music videos by the checkout line. She kept her back to him, rolling her eyes at his last comment. He was so pig headed most of the time, it was honestly annoying.

“Robin, you made this big deal about her, you said she was perfect, that I’d want to marry her on sight, and now you’re holding out. You gonna tell me what the deal is or not?” he asked with a brutal sigh. 

Robin didn’t turn around “Look, I might have...overhyped her a bit...like she’s amazing but she might...not be interested.” she said, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, turning to look at him with an embarrassed grimace.

“What?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Look...she likes Billy Idol types. She probably would’ve gotten along with Billy Hargrove if...well, you know.” Robin said, trailing off at the end. Both nodded softly, Robin swallowing as if her throat was dry. Maybe it was, the memory was certainly hard to swallow and even harder to forget.

“Right...so?” 

Robin scoffed “You’re too squeaky clean for her.” 

Steve slapped his hand on the counter, his hair bouncing excitedly with the quick movement “Oh come on! Do you remember me? I’m Steve ‘Hair’ Harrington! I was the coolest guy at Hawkins High.” he puffed up his chest proudly, like a peacock.

“And the most modest.” Robin stood up, dusting off her knees from grim from the carpets sticking to her bare skin. The only perk of working at Family Video was the lax dress code. The store’s air conditioning had broken in June and had turned the place into an oven with its big windows that couldn’t be shaded to hide the marquees and cardboard cutouts in the windows. Keeping the front door open and wearing as little as possible helped. 

“But seriously, Steve, I don’t want you to get your hopes up about her. She might not be interested.” Robin replied, planting her hands on her hips.

“I got it, now when can I meet her?” Steve asked.

Luckily for him, you were already on your way.

You had no idea why Robin had been so insistent on you visiting her at work. She never had been before, she’d made you promise not to visit her at Scoops, which was strange since you only worked a floor above at Claire’s, piercing children’s ears with ugly silver butterflies and flowers, only for them to buy big plastic hoops and balls to shove into the unprepared holes and get them totally infected. It was fun, you got to use a piercing gun. You’d almost gotten fired for trying to pierce your nose with the gun. You were glad that you didn’t, it would’ve totally ruined your nostril, but you wouldn’t pretend that it wasn’t totally worth it to see the look on your fat manager, Marge’s face. She was such a bitch, you were glad when that damn mall burned down. The one in Carmel was better anyway.

When Robin insisted on you coming to Family Video to meet her for her lunch break, you weren’t insanely apprehensive about it. It wasn’t until her tone changed when she mentioned meeting her coworker and friend that you started getting that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. She was trying to set you up with someone. Again. She always did this when she wanted something. Last time she did it, it was with that awful Keith to try to get him to give her his poster from The Godfather, which he’d nicked from the back storage at The Hawke while it was still open. Whatever she wanted, you weren’t going to be used to get it. 

Still, you showed up. You promised that you would after all, and you were a person of your word. Parking your car in front of the store, you saw the almost empty parking lot and the wide open door signaling the open store. You sighed softly to yourself, grabbing your purse off the seat next to you and stringing it over your shoulder, popping the door and climbing out.

“Robin? You here?” you called as you walked in.” the store was empty and far too quiet for your liking.

“Welcome to Family Video, where we bring movie magic to you! Can I help you with anything today?” Steve asked from the counter, startling you. You practically jumped out of your skin, your hand coming to clutch at your heart as you whipped around to meet the soft expression of Steve Harrington. He looked slightly bemused, clearly trying to not laugh at your over the top reaction. You rolled your eyes, walking up to the desk.

“Is Robin here? Robin Walker.” you asked, looking him over with a calculating eye.

“Yeah, she’s just in the back, wait here.” Steve stepped out from behind the desk, pulling at his stiff, polyester golf shirt. The shirt was so white and blindingly bright that it hurt to look at, but the large black logo for the store broke it up enough to make it easier to watch Steve leave as it was to watch him walk away. 

Steve didn’t even make it all the way to the stockroom before Robin emerged, already changed out of her uniform and was grinning like an idiot. “Hey! You made it just in time!” she said, tossing you her purse and sweater. You caught them easily, relieved to see your friend and get out of there. 

“Steve, this is my friend Y/N. Y/N, you know Steve, right?” Robin said, gesturing between them with her now free hands. 

“What up, Harrington?” you asked boredly, crossing your arms over your chest.

Robin gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut and pulling her lips into a straight line. This is exactly what she thought would happen. Every time she’d introduced you to someone, no matter how genuine she was being, you turned into a brick fortress, completely impenetrable. Gone was your bubbly, snarky personality and quick wit, replaced by sneers and eye rolls and sarcasm. You weren’t nice or warm or open when you met the boys Robin decided you’d like. You weren’t yourself.

This wasn’t you. Robin knew it, she was certain that deep down you knew it. But Steve didn’t know it. Robin was certain that he had no idea who you were. And that made it worse. He had no background to you other than her own descriptions. And that wasn’t enough. This was not going to end well.

“You ready to grab food?” you asked, drawing Robin out of her mind.

“Huh? Oh yeah definitely. Burger in a Basket cool?” she replied, her eyes darting strangely between the pair of you.

“Sure, I’m not vegetarian this month. Accidently ate a fish stick last weekend while babysitting Todd Carther again. Total shit head but his parents pay me so much money to do it.” you replied, handing Robin’s things back to her. 

“Hasn’t he scared you off yet?” Robin asked, tying her grey sweatshirt around her hips.

“Nope, almost got me by dumping a whole jar of electric blue paint on my head. But the stuff is non-toxic so it didn’t mess up my eyes or skin and it let me know that dying my whole head blue isn’t going to be a good look for me.” you replied with a giggle, flashing a strand of faded blue hair to her. “The stupid paint did dye some of the bleach though, which totally sucks.”

“You babysit Todd Carther?” Steve asked, drawing your attention back to him and indented a hard frown onto your face. Robin caught the look and wrapped an arm tightly around your shoulders, squeezing them too hard. 

“Oh yeah, Y/N is utterly fearless.” Robin announced with a grin.

“I know his older brother Matt; wicked dude, total party animal. He threw the best parties at the end of the basketball season. Totally rad…” he trailed off with a doofy grin, clearly imagining the fun times he’d had at some shitty house party.

“I know Matt too. He groped Sylvia Newman in the middle of freshman English for a stripe of Fruit Stripe gum. He assaulted her and didn’t even get detention for it.” you replied stonily, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Oh… bummer.” Steve tried. You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “No, I’m serious. I didn’t know about that, that’s really fucked up. I don’t hang out with him anymore, but if I did I’d stop.”Steve said more confidently this time, running a hand through his overstyled hair. 

That...wasn’t the answer you were expecting. It knocked you out of your senses and you took a moment to respond. “Yeah...well I take money from his parents so I mean nobody’s perfect. And that whole family’s fucked up anyway.” Steve smiled slightly and you tried not to notice it. He just looked so proud of himself. It was almost endearing. But not enough to make you want to care.

“So, anyway, Steve? You go on break yet?” Robin asked.

Steve furrowed his brow, looking at Robin as though she’d grown a third head. Robin nodded her head towards you strangely and suddenly Steve blurted “That’s the girl? Really?”

You whipped around to look at Robin, utterly appalled. You had a sinking feeling that the whole reason you’d been invited out today was to be introduced to some guy, but you had no idea it would be so quick and for the guy to be Steve motherfucking Harrington. You couldn’t believe it. I mean he was the dumbest, more generic guy at Hawkins High. You swore he’d won the metal for stupidest questions in your Home Economics class in freshman year. He was just…such a dork! How he’d gotten so popular, you had no idea. Maybe this town was such so void of charm and charisma that even the most empty, callus boy could become a god with a wink and a smile.

“What does he mean that’s the girl?” you asked, your face pulling into a look of sheer anger that could stop a man in his tracks.

“Oh great work, Harrington, now you’ve done it.” Robin sighed, pulling her purse across her chest, smacking his arm roughly.

“Robin, what does he mean? What did you do?” you snapped, forcing her to look at you. Her face pulled into a look that you knew too well. Regret, embarrassment, and just a little bit of fear.

“I might have promised Steve that I’d introduce you to him.” You groaned loudly, your head falling back to look at the white tiled ceiling. Robin pressed on, her face turning into a look of sympathy, her smile made of rubber. “Because you’re so great! He doesn’t have many friends his own age anymore and I just thought-”

“Oh I know what you thought.” You bit out.

“Well, are you coming or not?” Robin turned to Steve, completely ignoring you.

Steve’s face turned sour and surprised and he looked between the two of you and then to the clock above you. “I mean…I kind of have some stuff to finish up here and I should really wait until Keith gets here before I go on my break…don’t want Mr. Mueller mad at me again.” He scratched the back of his neck, shrugging awkwardly.

Robin clicked her tongue “Since when do you care?” Steve simply shrugged again. “Y/N, can you wait for me outside?”

You nodded, turning on your heel and heading out just far enough to be out of sight. You wanted to hear whatever they had to say.

“Dude what the fuck? You wanted this!” Robin whispered violently.

“Yeah but I didn’t want her!” Steve replied. You didn’t see the smack, but you sure heard the sound of skin hitting skin and the embarrassing yelp Steve let out.

“Yeah well, you’re going to come with us and you’re going to be nice. Because I did this for you. And now you have to accept it.” Steve didn’t respond, which must have been a good sign for Robin.

“Remind me to never do anything nice for you ever again…” Robin muttered as their footsteps charged closer to you and you scurried out the open door, choosing to lean against the burning hot glass, crossing your arms over your chest and knocking the sunglasses from the top of your head to your face again.

“You ready to head out?” You asked, standing up straight, smiling at Robin.

“Yeah, just waiting for Harrington to put the sign.” Behind her, Steve was hanging the tiny clock shaped sign on the door, trying to figure out what time it would be when they got back.

“Just put four fifteen, Steve, Keith will be back by then and your shift will be over like immediately anyway. You clocked out, right?” Robin said quickly, turning to you to add “Keith is a menace; he doesn’t like to work with anyone and kicks everyone off the floor whenever he can.” You nodded boredly, you’d heard this when she worked with him at the arcade; she quit whereas he got fired, it was a point of bragging for her.

“Yes, Robin. I did what you said. I don’t like this idea, I need this job more than you do.” He muttered bitterly. You raised an eyebrow curiously. Bitter looked decent on him.

“Oh, will you relax? Let your hair down a bit, dingus.” Robin grinned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. The three of you headed down the street to the cheesy diner Burger in a Basket. The whole place was themed after a fifties diner, complete with neon and pastel colours and fifties nostalgia on the walls. Bikes, hoola hoops, records, pictures of dead icons like Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, movie posters-the whole shebang. You didn’t go there for atmosphere, no, you went for the food. Robin insisted that it was the best burger she’d ever had and you’d be hard pressed to find one better in Hawkins. You didn’t know if Steve had been initiated into the burger ritual yet, but you didn’t really care.

Entering the teal and pink dining room, you nodded to the poor young thing in the giant black beehive wig and roller skates, you and Robin heading towards your normal booth. Steve followed behind, wide eyed and a little bit horror struck. You slid into the booth and grabbed the menus out of the rack at the table, handing them out wordlessly. Robin pushed Steve towards your side of the booth and he begrudgingly slid in, much to your dismay.

“You dragged me out of work…to go to a cheesy themed diner?” Steve asked incredulously.

“Just wait till you try it, Steve, it’ll change your life.” Robin said with a grin, flipping open the menu. You knew that she always ordered something different each time you came. You always ordered the same thing so you didn’t bother to open yours. Steve cautiously followed Robin’s example, flipping around with a wide eyed, innocent expression.

“Alright, welcome to Burger in a Basket, I’m Sylvia, how are you guys doing today?” the voice above you asked. You grinned as you saw Sylvia standing there in the stupid uniform. It was a comfort to know that her life was a little worse than yours. After all, she was such a bitch to you most of the time. That Matt Carther thing gave her plenty of room to get away with being a complete bitch, and it gave you something to use as a tester with guys in town. If they didn’t know who she was or they laughed, then they weren’t worth your time. Sure, you felt bad for her, but she treated you like dog shit for a year before dumping your ass to hang out with Macy Clarke and Nancy Wheeler.

“Hey Sylvia, we’re doing alright.” You said with a slight smirk, resting your head on your palms. Sylvia cringed slightly, but her eyes landed on Steve’s and her whole expression changed.

“Hey, Steve…” she murmured, pulling her lip into her teeth, grinning slightly.

“Hey, Sylvia, how’s it going?” he replied. Of course he’d go for her, you thought to yourself, she’s exactly his type. Just dumb enough to be cute but just pretty enough to hold your attention, with the slightest stink of desperation. You wanted so desperately to roll your eyes, but Robin was watching you with the knowing look, so you maintained your composure.

“I’m good! Can I get you a drink? Or are you ready to order? Do you need a minute?” you wanted to laugh; this was the best service you’d ever gotten at the restaurant. And it was all thanks to Steve.

“I mean…are you guys ready? I think I’ve got it figured out.” Steve said, gesturing to Robin with a nervous expression.

“Yeah, I’ll get the Fourth of July burger with mushrooms and can I get no mustard? Oh, and a diet coke.” Robin said, smiling confidently at Sylvia, who took down the order boredly.

“Sure, and for you, Steve?” she asked sweetly, fluttering her lashes.

“Um…I need a second more, Y/N can you order?” he muttered, leaning over to you. You nodded, surprised that him being closer to you didn’t upset you. It was almost…nice.

“Yeah sure…I’ll get the double hula burger with extra cheese, no pickles, no ketchup, and a triple thick chocolate shake.” You rattled off quickly, enjoying watching her struggle to get everything down.

“Alright, you ready, Stevie?” Sylvia asked and you noted the distinctive blush forming on his cheeks. Sylvia seemed too proud of her work and you wanted to wipe that look off her face. Pride was a bad look for her.

“Can I just get classic burger with mayo and extra tomato? And a coke?” he asked awkwardly, still clearly very unsure of himself.

Sylvia nodded “Perfect! I’ll be back with your drinks in a moment.” She said, turning and skating off, waving coyly to Steve as she headed back into the kitchen. You and Robin snickered, Robin rolling her eyes as soon as Sylvia disappeared.

“Oh my god we should have been bringing you since day one, they never give us that much attention!” you cried with a loud laugh.

“Dude, she wants you so bad oh my god!” Robin added, reaching out to slap his shoulder. Steve lowered his head, shaking his head.

“I totally remember her now…she had a thing for me in junior year, covered my locker in paper hearts. I wasn’t supposed to find out but I did. It was very uncool.” He muttered, shaking his head. You remembered that too, how she’d planned it for weeks, forcing you to help cut out pink, purple, and red hearts. You thought the whole thing was so cringy and weird, but she was dead set that he’d be intrigued by the mystery and sweetness of the action. She thought it was so cute. Barbra Holland unintentionally started the rumor that it was her, but you wished it was you to tell the world. Watching her slink home was worth the afternoons in the library with her calling you stupid for not cutting the heart out perfectly.

“She was just trying to put her feelings out there!” Robin replied incredulously.

“No, Rob, she was being weird. She could’ve shoved a note in his locker, send him a candy gram and Valentine, they do that every year for lacrosse team. She did something unnecessary and creepy to get attention. You’re just a hopeless romantic.” You grinned, reaching out to touch the bright red heart drawn in permanent marker on her wrist. You knew she had a thing for Jennifer Buffet, who worked at the now defunct Starcourt movie theatre. She always drew that little heart on everything whenever she had a crush, it was like she was trying to get caught, you didn’t get that; you always wanted to hide your crushes until the other person showed any interest in you. You wouldn’t usually agree or defend Steve Harrington, but he was right for once. You didn’t mind agreeing if he was correct for once.

“I am not!” Robin cried, crossing her arms over her chest.

You leaned in to whisper to her “Tell that to Tammy Turner.” Robin turned bright red and she leaned back into the vinyl seat, looking away from you.

“Oh was it bad?” Steve asked with a wide, doofy grin. You were surprised to know that he knew about Tammy, but you didn’t question it. Asking questions could reveal something that Robin didn’t want known. You were used to being careful with her.

“Ohhhh yeah, it was a rough year with her pine after that muppet.” Watching Robin pine after Tammy Turner was so embarrassing, since the girl was so straight. I mean the Steve thing was one thing, but the girl dated Tommy H for two weeks between his forty-second break-up with Carol. That’s the epitome of straight bullshit: finding Tommy H’ s awful, crass, and downright sexist attitude and sense of humor attractive and desirable. How Robin didn’t see that was beyond you.

“That’s what I said! She sounds like a damn muppet! Like Kermit the frog or something!” Steve cried, smacking the vinyl and turning to look at you fully. When he wasn’t trying so hard, he was actually pretty cute. His eyes blew wide and his smile reached its fullest capacity, straining to not split his face in half.

“I thought more Ms. Piggy, like when she sang with Elton John. She always like pinching up her mouth at the end of her words, she looks like a wrinkly old apple.” You said, giggling slightly. “Don’t go breaking my heart…” you imitated, pursing and squeezing your lips together, making a tiny ‘O’ with your lips. Steve’s eyes grew impossibly wider and he laughed far too loudly, his head tossing back. You turned to Robin, who was blushing crimson, fully turned away from the scene you were making. Sylvia skated over with your food and drinks, smiling far too much. She placed each order in front of you, angling herself so her chest landed in Steve’s face when she handed his order over to him. He didn’t seem to notice, he was too busy laughing.

“What’re you guys talking about?” she asked, tossing your order in front of you.

“That time you made Steve’s locker look like the Valentine’s Day massacre.” You grinned back spitefully.

Sylvia paled significantly and she reached up to adjust her wig, looking away. “That…that wasn’t me…” she replied softly.

“Yeah…yeah it was…” Steve said between breathes, wiping tears away from his eyes. Sylvia opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She turned away quickly, skating out fast. You laughed hard when she ran off, hunching over in your seat.

“That was so mean!” Robin cried, looking between the pair of you with a stern look.

“She…she deserved it! After everything I dealt with from her, I get to have one!” you replied, shrugging softly as you recovered. Steve offered you a high five, which you took happily. You never thought in your life that you’d be laughing with Steve Harrington. Today was a weird day.

“Eat, both of you.” Robin snapped and you complied equally happily. You loved this place-everything was fresh and made to order. Sure, it was greasy and unhealthy, but you deserved a bit of comfort food once and awhile. Steve took his first bite and let out a very loud moan. You giggled, it was so stupid. And a little cute, you wouldn’t pretend that it wasn’t. And maybe a little hot. But you wouldn’t admit that.

“This is so good!” he said, muffled by his mouthful of food.

“It’s even better when you’re high.” You whispered, nudging his arm. Steve nodded in approval, clearly into the idea.

The three of you ate in silence, wolfing down your burgers without much of a hum save for the sounds of ice clinking in glasses and small slurps from straws. Burger in a Basket still had glass bottle of coke, the rumor was that they filled them up with every drink and washed them after, since they didn’t really make glass bottles of soda for retail sale anymore.

With only their fries left, the group returned to each other’s attention. To your surprise, Steve spoke first.

“Can I be like honest here?” he said, turning to face you once again. You nodded shortly, shoving a fry into your mouth. “I have like, no idea who you are. I really don’t.” you raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of how you were supposed to react to that news. You swallowed your mouthful, nodding to yourself.

“Yeah, I figured as much.” You replied “I remember you though.”

“Oh yeah, what for?” Steve leaned back in the booth, putting his arms over the seat. He looked to be ready to take in praise.

“I remember how shit you were on the basketball team. How shit that whole team was.” You replied with a chuckle, watching Steve deflate immediately.

“I was, like, the best player on the team!” he replied indignantly.

“That’s not saying much.” That line made Robin laugh and Steve curl further into himself.

“You really should’ve joined the track and field team. You were much better at that anyway.” You added softly.

“On what planet? I’ve never even done track and field.” Steve cracked bitterly.

“Yes you have, we all had to do it in middle school.” You said. Both Robin and Steve looked at you like you were crazy, so without any remaining shame, you pressed on.

“At the end of the year, every year of middle school, we had the grade-wide track and field meet. We all trained on basic stuff-long jump, cross country, shot put for the older kids, and high jump. Then, each grade would compete and the best of those kids would go onto the main competition. We all got a day off to watch and there were free freezies. It was one of the best days of the year.” You explained.

“Yeah, so what? I never competed.” Steve replied, watching you closely.

“Yes, you did.” Steve raised an eyebrow at you. You rolled your eyes and continued.

“You were in eighth grade and I was in seventh. You had won the long jump in your grade level because Jude Armstrong broke his ankle and I had won the high jump. So we both competed. I remember three things about that day: one; that I won the high jump against all the older kids and Tina tried to push me into the mud after I got my medal; that you and Tommy snuck off to smoke cigarettes during the high jump. You both pretended that you’d done it before, and maybe you had, but Tommy was coughing so hard even after that it was so obvious that he’d never even touch a cigarette before.  And three, that that was the year we were all forced to run the cross country race. Nobody had wanted to compete in the race, so they forced us to do it to set an example. I didn’t want to run it, I’m not a distance runner, but you were so confident. You didn’t look nervous at all. And when the whistle blew and everyone bolted, you held back. You came in third in the cross country race and second at long jump, against the odds on both. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.”

Steve nodded. You looked so pretty when you explained the memory, your whole face lit up and your smiled so softly. You looked angelic, it was truly a sight. But the memory itself turned his stomach.

“I remember that…” he muttered “What I remember about that day was my dad telling me that no other place matter except first and that I was absolute shit.”

You felt so bad, bringing it up at all. He looked so sad now, you regretting even commenting on it. “Oh…I’m sorry…” you said softly. Steve shrugged as if it meant nothing, as if he felt nothing. “God, what a dick and you were good too!” you cried.

“Nah, I kind of sucked.” Steve replied, pushing away the compliment with his hands.

“No seriously! We could have used you on the team, Jude Armstrong sucked ass after like freshman year! You showed real aptitude. And you’re built for it, strong legs and a good core. Let guys like Chuck Bronson stomp around the court, you should’ve came and competed with us, you would’ve won something.” You joked, kicking his shoe with your own.

Steve huffed “We got into the county semi-finals last year…”

“Yeah? We won country finals and got fifth in state. Half my team got into state colleges on scholarship based on that alone.” You replied haughtily.

“You gonna get one?” he asked.

“I might, I got a scout watching me. Don’t know if I’m gonna take it.”

“Oh yeah, why not?”

You grinned proudly “I’m hoping to follow in Emma Lancaster’s footsteps.”

“What she do?” Robin rolled her eyes at that comment.

“She got a full ride to NYU for fashion design.”

“You sew?”

You rolled your eyes “I’m the head of the costume department for the drama club.”

“It’s how we met.” Robin added proudly.

“Emma Lancaster founded and headed up the fashion club at Hawkins High and ran the sewing club. She wants to work for designer labels and head up her own one day. I just want to make costumes for plays. I’d work anywhere that paid and go to any school that offered money.” You explained.

“That’s cool, I hope you get it.” Steve said and you noted the slightest hint of sadness in his tone.

“How’s your planning going, Steve, got any ideas yet?” Robin asked, clearly catching onto the tone Steve had in his voice.

“Well…” he looked a little embarrassed as he spoke, but did so anyway “I was thinking about applying to the police academy in Carmel…it’s not a clear shot, but I’d like it more than working for my dad.”

“My uncle works there, I can put in a good word with him if you want.” Robin said cheerily.

“That would be cool. I just don’t know if I’d be any good.” Steve muttered to himself.

“I’d think you’d be pretty good, I mean you’ve got strong morals.” You turned to Robin “Remember when he broke freak Byers camera? He deserved that fucking shit.” Robin nodded in agreement.

“I mean yeah, Steve, you care about people. Like you take care of Dustin like he’s your brother. It takes guts to be genuine and unafraid about hanging out with literal children.” Robin added.

“You hang out with Dustin Henderson?” you asked curiously.

“You know Dustin?” Steve asked, equally confused.

“Yeah, my sister Stacy made fun of him for like a week last year after the snow ball for asking her to dance. I wanted to smack the shit out of her for it, it takes guts to ask somebody out, especially at that age.” You explained, slamming your tall milkshake glass on the table, having just slurped up the last drops of chocolate milk and whipped cream.

“Yeah well he’s got a girlfriend now named Suzie.” Robin said. Steve’s attention had turned to the window and you heard a small gasp.

“Shit, Keith’s here, I gotta run.” He pulled out his wallet and slapped a twenty dollar bill on the table before sliding out of the booth.

“Don’t get in shit, dingus!” Robin called after him.

He spun around quickly, jogging backwards “If you get me fired, I’ll kill you.” He looked you over slowly, a lopsided grin pulling at the corner of his mouth “I’ll see you around, Y/N?”

“Yeah, sure.” You smiled. Steve nodded happily and his back slammed into the poor dish boy, stumbling slightly before scampering off.

As soon as he was gone, Robin turned to you with a devilish grin “He likes you.” She giggled, reaching out to poke your shoulder.

“Good for him.” You replied, trying to seem confident and uncaring about the whole situation. Internally, you were utterly rocked. He’d gotten to you. You’d drunk the Steve Harrington kool-aid. He was deeper, more genuine, honest, and cooler than you’d ever expected him to be. You were utterly intrigued and now you had to know more. But you weren’t going to admit it now, not when Robin was being so cocky about it.

“I think you like him toooo!” she said in a sing-song tone.

You scoffed “No, not really.”

Robin saw right through you. But there was no sense in arguing when you were like this. You had too much pride to admit it now, especially with Sylvia floating around, looking for any excuse to rip the rug out from under you. But she had an idea.

“So, listen, I’m not working tomorrow and we haven’t hung out in forever. Wanna have a sleepover tonight?” Robin asked, pulling out cash from her wallet to cover herself and you, since she owed you money from the last time you’d gone out to eat.

“Sure, I’m not babysitting the brat tomorrow.”

“Great! You want to rent a movie or something? I get a discount at Family Video.”

You knew what she was doing, but you went along with it. No sense in calling her out now when she had a plan, it wouldn’t stop her anyway.

“Eh, whatever. I’m good either way.” You replied breezily.

“I wanna rewatch Carrie so let’s head over. Maybe grabbed some snacks too, I want some sour belts.” Robin said, climbing out of the booth and grabbing your hand, pulling you out. You didn’t really like horror movies and you really hated sour belts, they weren’t even sour, so you knew Robin was milking your ambivalence for all it was worth. What she didn’t know is that you actually kind of liked Carrie and you had a new dress that needed fitting and Robin would be the perfect model for it. Karma was a bitch.

Robin dragged you all the way to Family Video and inside, grinning at Keith and watching him blush as you passed by. He’d told you that he loved you the first and only time you hung out. You never called him back and Robin had to explain to him that saying I love you on a date that wasn’t even a date is the wrong move. Now, he wouldn’t even speak to you, which you didn’t mind.

“Y/N! Go gather as many packs of sour belts as you can get your hands on! I’m gonna find Carrie in the back!” Robin instructed.

“Get something fun too! Like the Princess Bride or something! Something I’ll actually watch!” you called after her. Robin flashed you a thumbs up and you sighed, turning on your heel and heading to the checkout line, grabbing lime green packs of rainbow striped, sugar coated candies off the rack and clutching them to your chest.

Robin found Steve in the back and, with very little pushing, sent him out onto the floor to talk to you. It only took two tries from him to get the courage to go and talk to you.

And again, he scared the shit out of you. He tapped you on the shoulder and you jumped a foot in the air, dropping all the sugary treats.

“Shit sorry!” Steve cried, dropping to his knees to clean up the mess.

“It’s okay!” you replied quickly, following suit. He shouldn’t have to clean up your mess after all. Your hands both rushed to grab the packages and when they brushed one another over the last packet, you couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t nice. The briefest chance of touch set your heart aflutter. You felt like you were ten years old again. He handed the packages over quickly, standing up just as fast. He offered you a hand up, which you took, if only to hold his hand for the briefest of moments. God, who even were you? You pulled it away fast.

“So…what’s with all the sour strips?” he asked, looking over the armful of candy you had.

“They’re Robin’s favourite. She told me to grab a shit ton, so I did. She’s grabbing the movies for tonight.” You explained.

“What movies?”

“Robin wants to watch Carrie. I’m hoping she gets something fun too, like Fast Times at Ridgemount High or The Princess Bride. Something funny.” You replied. You’d never smiled so much in a day, your face was starting to hurt but with Steve you couldn’t help it!

“Oh yeah? Having a sleepover or something?” that cocky Steve Harrington attitude was coming out, but it wasn’t making you as nauseous as it usually would, which was very odd.

“Yeah kind of. Which means Robin’s gonna wanna watch horror movies, eat so many of these until she pukes, and sneak malt whiskey from her father’s liquor cabinet.” You said, not hiding the slight disdain in your voice.

“Yeah? What’re you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna hem the dress I made for the Roenke County theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet, sip vodka from my flask, and take away the sour belts when Robin gets sick.”

“Sounds fun?” Steve questioned.

“It probably won’t be,” you chuckled “But it’s not the worst way to spend a night.”

“How’d you think an evening with me would chalk up? In comparison I mean.” Steve asked, his hand coming to the top of the low black shelf to lean into you.

“Well I guess it would depend, what’s your plan?” you asked with a grin.

“Whatever you want.” He murmured softly, smirking far too confidently. You didn’t mind though, you knew what was underneath it all.

“Well, I’d have to think about it…how about you call me sometimes and we’ll talk about it.” You replied slowly, looking him up and down.

“Anytime, you got a pen?” Steve said. You nodded, pulling one out of your purse and grabbing his arm. You scribbled out your number on his palm, trying to make it as legible as possible and ignore how big and warm his hands were.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, that cool?” he said as you watched Robin saunter up too confidently, too proud of herself and of what she’d done.

“Sounds good.” You smiled, ignoring Robin’s cocky leer. “You ready to pay for this shit?” you asked as she walked up, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Gimme the belts, I got this.” Robin said, eyeing up Keith like she was going to beat him up. Maybe she was. “Wait in the car, okay? I didn’t bring mine, so you’re driving me home.”

You nodded “Got it.” You turned to Steve, smiling softly “I’ll see you around, Harrington.”

“Definitely.”

[5-secondsofcolor]

Bixby Canyon Brigde || M. C.

Prompt: Roadtrip!Michael, ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I almost never do.’

Event Masterlist

Length:2.5K words

TW: Swearing and an embarrassing bit of morning wood. If you’re like me, driving.

_____

“We still on for Shadow Realm tonight?” Calum asks as he unpacks a box of records. Michael walks straight past him, trying to collect his things from the register and get out as quickly as possible. He’s tempted to not answer but he needs someone to watch Moose and candidate number one is unfortunately going to want an explanation.

“No. I’m going on that road trip this weekend,” Michael tries to walk away quickly, he knows the comments that will soon follow. The comments about all your time together, he hears you through Michael’s headset when they play their games. Calum’s all too aware of what neight of you will admit. “You can still watch Moose, right?”

“Anything for my best girl,” Calum says. Putting down his box and following Michael up to the register. Refusing to drop the subject, he teases. “Are you two dating yet?”

“No. It’s rude to assume just because we hang out we’re dating.”

“It’s the heart eyes that really give it away, Mikey. Known you your whole life, mate.You only make those eyes at food or someone you’re crushing on.”

“Fuck off,” There’s not much else to say. Michael doesn’t turn around again as the boys shout their goodbyes, afraid his pink cheeks would give away just how well Calum could call him out. 

____

After a quick trip dropping off Moose, you’re on your way. Hitting Highway One quickly. You’d spent months promising Michael a road trip, wherever he wanted, you’d go. And a promise is a promise, you think as you begin to follow the signs indicating Califonria North. 

Driving up the coast had been a dream you only recently learned Michael held too. All too exuberant when you told him your big plans to drive until you hit Bixby Canyon Bridge. You’d mapped out the time already and the places you both wanted to see at least. Both of you scraped together the little money you had and decided to hit the road.

“Can you just pick a song Michael?” You laugh as he changes the song for the millionth time. 

His taste in music feels too broad as he tries to decide what you’d like. He wonders if it’ll be the Bon Iver or Winnetka Bowling League that will win you over, it goes on until you finally suggest “Why don’t you play that new Wander album you were telling me about at lunch?”

“Oh yeah.” 

The first day is uneventful. Leaving him worried that you’ll end up with the dullest experience of road trip history as you pull into the hotel parking lot. A quick dinner is split between the two of you before its lights out but Michael tosses and turns half the night. Wondering what’s left in store.

__

“Michael! Wake up,” A pillow is tossed in his direction once he shows no signs of movement. You open the window, letting the light in hoping it would make him move faster. “Mike we gotta beat the traffic.”

All you get is a grumpy “hump” as he buries his head under the pillow you tossed his way. Trying to hide from the sunlight filling the room. 

The struggle to start the day comes as no surprise. It happens everyday, no amount of food or adventure makes him move any faster. You learned that quickly as you resort to everything short of pulling him out of bed to hit the road faster.

“Come on, you don’t even have to drive. I get the morning shift. Let’s go,” you laugh as you play tug of war with his covers. 

A bit of fighting later, you grab a coffee before hitting the road. Excitement grows as you follow all the signs along the way. You sing loudly, keeping yourself entertained as he sleeps a while into your drive. 

Michael pretends to be asleep, his head leaning against the window. It was one of the few ways he got to hear you sing more confidently, more clearly than your usual mumbling when he was awake. He couldn’t help the smile on his face, no matter how off key your voice was always such a calming sound.

“Mike, wake up,” you reach out to shake him gently, before pulling onto the road’s shoulder. Finally having reached your first stop of the day, you’re too excited for Michael to open his eyes and see the green sign reading,“Big Sur”. 

“Are we here?” He laughs, opening his eyes to see you’ve stopped on the shoulder of the highway; turning on your emergency lights as you grab your phone. 

“No. Come on. We gotta take the first picture.” 

You take a quick picture, Michael nestling his face beside yours. His head resting on your shoulder as you struggle getting the right angle until he takes your phone and takes the perfect one. Laughter and shouting fills the air as you run back to the car. 

Michael can’t believe it as he sees the forest of trees emerge. The flat open land gives way to think forests. The highway winding as the forest thickens. She opens the windows, allowing in the smell of the forest. So many views at once leave him overwhelmed as he takes a deep breath and enjoys the calm. 

Canyons open up, finally allowing them to pull over and admire the look of everything. “Thank you so much for doing this with me,” he says as he looks over the pictures again. His heart swelling as he sees the pictures of you together, excited that it’s only the first one of the day. “I can drive for a bit. Let you admire the views too.”

You take over the music, playing a few classics. You and Michael shout along. His voice easily takes over the car. You both feel free for seconds before the car jumps abruptly. The noise is unmistakable over the music as your heart sinks. Michael’s no doubt sinks even further; he’s quick to turn on the emergency lights. 

“I think a pothole took out the tire,” he says. The color drains from his face as he tries to move out of traffic. Your hand settles on his arm, trancing the band tattooed on his arm to comfort him. The bounce in his leg becomes a dead giveaway for his stress. 

“It’s ok. We have a spare or we can call a tow truck,” you steady your breath, unsure if the words are to comfort him or yourself as you feel your body go cold. 

With the car parked, a flat tire on your side is clear. 

“Fuck. I’m so sorry. I just didn’t see it,” his hands squeezing tighter and tighter around the steering wheel. You slip your hand into his, trying to soothe him a minute as you think. 

“Hey we’ll figure it out. We’re ok. That’s all I care about right now. Let’s just call someone and they’ll replace it.” You shuffle around the car only to find both your phones without any cell service. 

“Fuck,” Michael’s frustration only grows more as he realizes how screwed you are. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food and now no car. “Have you ever changed a spare?” 

“Not like myself but theoretically.”

“What does that even mean?” 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I almost never do.” You say as you check your phone one more time. A final prayer is left unanswered as the “NO SERVICE” stays across the top. “But I think we can figure it out.” 

You crack a smile, seeing how small he looks beside the spare tire in the trunk but feign confidence. It’s a tire. A simple tire. It’s not that hard but it eats a chunk of your day. Finally getting back onto the road, you opt to skip lunch. Instead adventuring through big sur so you’d make it most of the way to the planned hotel before sundown and you do make it. 

You opt to stay in the car while Michael rents a room. He comes back to the car, cheeks a little pink and avoids your eyes as he plops back into the driver’s seat. 

“Did they have room?” You ask as the “No” comes alight along the Vacancy sign. 

“Yeah. We actually got the last one,” He mumbles. Something off with the way he avoids facing you lets you know he isn’t answering the full question. 

“Mikey? What’s wrong?” 

“There’s uhhh there’s only one room left. And it’s just got a single bed. I guess they’re full because of the long weekend but I can sleep in the car or on the floor.” 

It was bound to happen, Michael and you knew luck would run out after so much time on the road and Carmel is just where that happened. So much for spontaneity. Exhaustion is heavy in your bones, you should’ve stopped earlier but making it up further North was more important for tomorrow. You can argue you shouldn’t have taken so long at the beach or taken dinner to go but it’s too late for it now. All you can feel is your lower back shouting for anything other than the car’s seat.

With the next rest stop unknown, you don’t bother trying to look for it. Instead you start to collect your things from the front seat, stuffing it into one of your bags. You try to remain calm as you speak, “Mikey it’s fine. We’ll save a little money splitting anyways.”

You knock on the trunk, prompting him to open it and follow suit. Grabbing his bag from the backseat before you make the walk to room 512. You’ve shared rooms the entire time, you’re no strangers to plopping onto the same bed to split dinner or watch a movie but today a tension settles between you two. 

You open the door and hear Michael sigh, as those some part of him still hoped to find two separate beds.Ignoring it, you try to decide, left side or right? Do you just pick yours first? Ask him which he wants? You settle on making the first decision, placing your phone by the nightstand on the left as you get into the room. A breath of relief hits as he puts his stuff on the right. 

You’ve been friends a while but recently there’s been something in the way Michael looks at you and you wonder if you do the same. If he can sense the way your heart skips a beat when his name pops up in your phone, a silly little thing in the way you can’t stop smiling around him. But expectations with him have always been low. You can’t start a fire without a spark and it’s never been like Michael gave much to go off of. 

“Did you need the bathroom? I’m gonna take a quick shower,” You open your bag, unsure why you’re afraid to look over at him. 

“No.Thanks,” he mumbles. 

You try to make your shower long. Going through the motions, if you just go straight to bed, nobody needs to acknowledge any awkwardness. You settle on that. Go out. Go to Bed. The end. Relief hits as you finally open the bathroom door and find the lights already out, Michael long settled for bed on the right side. 

It feels like half the night goes by as you lay there, tempted to reach out, thinking about how smooth his skin would feel under your fingertips if only. Instead you turn away, leaving your back facing his, and leaving you staring at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It’s bright red numbers taunting you as they count all the minutes of sleep passing you by. 

You’re up first the next morning, Big Sur, the flat tire, the entire previous day feels so far away as you struggle to finish waking up all the way. It becomes more abrupt as you become aware of someone's body pressed against your own. It’s comfortable waking up in his arms, his body pressed against yours as you stare down at his arms, your hand already laying on the bands decorating his arm. 

It isn’t until you shift again in his arms that he presses his hips against you, a distinct pressure against you, that you realize. Heat flooding your body as you realize exactly what’s pressed against the back of your thigh. You hand involuntarily closing around his arm as you ignore your initial instincts to run. Maybe you can try to wiggle out of his arms and act like it never happened but there’s no way. He only pulls you closer against his chest when you try. 

You try again but this time, Michael stirs. Nuzzling his face further into your neck before pausing. Hel nearly sits upright once he realizes what’s going on. Disoriented, he tries to play it off, pulling the covers over himself as he tries to get his thoughts together. 

“I’m gonna shower,” he excuses.

Just as quickly, you bounce out of bed, cheeks hot as you toss on a sweater, “I’m gonna go see if they’ve started serving breakfast.”

—

“I can drive” he volunteers himself up unsure if he’d want to stare at anything other than your profile. For a moment this morning felt like the most amazing dream. Finally having you to hold. It’s all he can think about as. You’re unsure what he would like to hear and Michael just wants to crawl into a hole so you listen to a random album just to fill the silence.

“Thinker, Can we stop at a Starbucks? I really need a coffee.” 

“Uh yeah.” With the silence finally broken Michael’s words flow, not knowing where to start he just lets the, flow, “Listen,I understand if you want seperate rooms for the rest of the trip. I can search up a hotel for tonight and I’ll call ahead. I’m really sorry—“

“You don’t have to do that,” You turn to face him, staring at his profile unabashedly. You can’t help but stare, his face catching the morning light just right, making his lips your favorite color of pink as he takes them between his teeth, and you finally admit to yourself what you’ve known a while.

“No.” Persistent to get out his full apology, he rants on. “I’m sorry if you were uncomfortable. It wasn’t my intention but I’ll make sure we have two beds tonight.”

“What If...” with a deep exhale you speak quieter than you intended. “What if I didn’t mind sharing a bed?” 

You can see realization flood his body. The tops of his cheeks catching color as he struggles to find the words finally settling on a meek, “You didn’t?”

“No. Did you?” 

“I guess I didn’t mind either.” He admits, a little smile lighting up his face. He can’t will himself to hide the butterfly’s started up in his stomach as he catches your hand already resting on the center console, intertwining your fingers with his.

[evisconti]

@pureiimagination​​ said  :    "It's a beautiful day to stay inside." Raine hummed as they watched the steady rainfall from their place in the shop's doorway. It was almost laughable; despite their namesake and the peaceful comfort such weather brought them, it had always been conditions they had to avoid. The risk of getting wet and exposing themself to the town too high. But, things were different now, weren't they? Hand extended out beyond the threshold of the tucked away music store, letting a few splattering raindrops fall into their open palm, watching with a smile as small orange scales bloomed over their wetted hand before they drew it back. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like, Ercole," the shopkeeper called over their shoulder, offering the young man a smile as they wiped their hand on the front of their shirt, clearing away the water and the scales even they weren't quite used to seeing themself.     /     1 line stolen from INSIDE starters

          one  could  find  ercole  COMFORTABLY  SLUMPED  in  one  of  the  many  chairs  found  around  the  shop  ,    a  RECORD  PLAYER  nearby  playing  an  album  RECENTLY  RELEASED  that  he  hadn’t  heard  of    ―    there  was  a  peculiar  ,    DELIGHTFUL  scent  that  possessed  the  shop  ,    ADDING  to  this  homeliness.    rather  peaceful  ,    possibly  the  MOST  peace  he’s  had  in  a  while.

            ercole  didn’t  PLAN  on  dropping  by  today  ,      (    in  fact  ,    he  was  HOPING  to  completely  IGNORE  the  music  store    )      but  the  rain  clouds  CLOSED  IN  on  portorosso  quicker  than  ercole  could  ride  on  his  VESPA  home      ―      with  no  place  to  go  ,    and  COMPLETELY  unwilling  to  get  wet  ,    ercole  took  SANCTUM  in  the  music  shop.

            this  wouldn’t  be  his  FIRST  time  here    ―――    otherwise  he  wouldn’t  be  so  FINE  with  relaxing.    a  magazine  was  PINCHED  between  the  pointers  and  THUMBS  of  his  two  hands  ,    CAREFULLY  examining  the  contents.    raine’s  gentle  voice  CAUGHT  his  attention  somewhat  ,    bringing  carmel  hues  to  peer  JUST  ABOVE  the  pages  of  the  mag  at  them.    brows  FURROWED  at  the  sight      [  .  .  .  ]      INDULGENCE  in  their  sea  monster  horridness  ,    supposedly  finding  FASCINATION  with  the  sickly  scales  that  SPREAD  across  their  hand.      (      how    COULD    they    ?        any  single  scale  that  reared  its    UGLY    HEAD    on  ercole’s  skin  always  made  him  want  to    RIP    IT    OUT  .  .    a  difference  between  them  he    DIDN’T    UNDERSTAND.    )      as  soon  as  the  shift  had  started  ,    ercole’s  gaze  FLICKERED  to  the  magazine  ,    a  displeased  HUM  just  under  his  breath.

                     once  addressed  by  name  ,    the  man  BEGRUDINGLY  looked  up  again  ,    finding  SOLACE  in  the  fact  raine  had  put  their  scales  back  into  hiding.    the  invitation  to  STAY  certainly  stuck  out  in  his  brain    ―――    even  though  ercole  wasn’t  being  much  of  a  NUISCANCE  in  this  moment  ,    the  FACT  he  was  being  offered  such  a  thing  with  a  REPUTATION  like  his  own      [  .  .  .  ]      it  sat  oddly  in  his  stomach.    with  a  DIFFICULT  feeling  bubbling  in  his  chest  ,    ercole  HAMMERED  it  away  with  a  quiet  grumble      ―      legs  coming  from  the  floor  to  his  chest  ,    heels      (    SHOES  and  all    )      wedged  securely  on  the  edge  of  the  seat  underneath.    A  SAFE  BALL  ,    his  position.      ❝    ehhn    .    .    .      grazie.    ❞      sort  of  disingenuous  and  dismissive  SOUNDING  ,    but  he  was  grateful  for  the  invitation  nonetheless.    ercole  just  wasn’t  the  BEST  at  showing  it.    besides  ,    he  DIDN’T  PLAN  on  leaving  anytime  soon.

[notsosecret-slgarden]

Not So Secret - For you, My Love.

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[followingliz]

Spokane Washington Day 1

Our first day in Spokane we decided to do all the touristy things! From the river walk to the mall, using lime scooters to enjoying the flowers at Manito Park- we packed a lot in!

We started our day with a nice lie-in and only headed to brunch at 11.30! Our first stop was, of course, Incrediburger & Eggs. With mimosas, the Pig Newton- burger, fried egg, Havarti and fig jam, and the Earth & Turf mushroom burger with carmelized onions -- Mom and I were in food heaven! It's hard to think of a more American meal than really good, packed-with-flavor hamburgers.

On our way downtown, we found an "adventure" spinny wheel which had a variety of suggestions of little things around downtown to try. We found we had no choice but to feed the garbage goat!

It's a metal goat with suction for its mouth that will suck up garbage into a metal container. A way of encouraging people not to litter but also a brilliant little quirky activity.

Right next to the garbage goat, you'll find the bridges across the Spokane River. The upper bridge gives great views of a rushing river and some light rapids.

The lower bridge really highlights the 'falls' and both bridges offer stunning views of the river. Watching the river is pretty mesmerizing. We don't get a lot of rivers like this in Tucson, nor in any other place I've lived.

We were going to take the 'sky ride' which involves gondolas going over the river but it was too hot! An extreme heat warning, temperatures in the 100's F (40's C), and a city not prepared for that kind of heat meant no sky ride and also required us to head into the air-conditioned River Park Square mall to cool down. The Mall is huge and tall, though the top floor is only movie theaters.

In the mall, there is a local store called From Here. Where, you guessed it, they sell items made in Spokane! They had a wide variety of printed shirts, magnets, teas, bath bombs, jewelry, mugs, stickers, artworks etc. It was a really cool store and we each got a little something.

Once out of the mall we were able to use one of Spokane's other cool features- Lime Scooters. This is an app like bike-sharing except for electric scooters! It makes it so much faster and easier to get around downtown -- especially in the heat! Mom was a bit worried about her balance but she did a great job! And we arrived safely at Aunties Bookstore.

This is a bookstore a perfect new bookstore. If I had the time and money I could spend every day at this bookstore. New books, an upstairs gallery and some off-beat merch- - the vibe is immaculate.

It's also connected to Uncle's Games! Which is just plain cute.

I showed great restraint in not buying all the books and we scoot scooted our way back to the car to head to Target for some swimming supplies for Day 2.

It was weird being inside a big box store like target where virtually no-one was wearing a mask. While the smaller stores like Aunties and From here still had mask requirements in place- Target and other big box stores say (according the the CDC guidelines) vaccinated customers don't have to wear masks...and we're just using the honor system...

It was a weird pivot from Italy to not have the hand sanitizer station and temperature gun at the front and practically everyone shopping as though there was never a pandemic! ( except for the checkouts which had plexi glass and all the employees were masked)

Aside from the River Front, Spokane has another really fabulous park where you can enjoy the fresh air - Manito Park! This is more of a botanical garden but completely free! We found a little tree fort for children ( and big kids like me! ) and then we were able to enjoy the very well-manicured flower lawn. Another big difference from Italy where the parks tend to be wilder and over-grown.

The flowers were beautiful and although the rest of the fam got a little annoyed with my stopping every 5 seconds to take another picture it was a delightful place to explore! It felt so nice to be out in nature again- even if it was just a city park. Surrounded by pine trees is the way to exist in the world!

We ended in the Rose Garden and got ready to find a perfect dinner spot.

After puzzling over google maps for 45min we found Wooden City. We called and were able to just squeeze in a reservation for 15 minutes from our call! And let me tell you, this place is worth the wait!

Amazing koren-style chicken wings with carribbean rub, superb pizzas, and a to-die-for lemon bar for dessert! The atmosphere is a perfect mix of casual-chic and our waitress had the most calming vibe in the world. You just felt more calm speaking with her. The food was delicious and Sam even taught us about putting honey on pepperoni pizza! I know the Italians are dying inside at the thought but the salty-sweet flavor profile was quite nice.

All in all, Spokane didn't disappoint. When you first drive in on the freeway it looks a bit doubtful but once you get a chance to explore: there's a lot to do, beautiful places to see, and the delicious food.

[midnightwhumps]

Taken

Wrapping the plaid scarf tight around my neck, I stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind me. 

A hand grabbed it, forcing it back open. “Don’t forget the chocolate,” Mack yelled, leaning out the door of our apartment, before being pulled back inside by his shirt collar. I shook my head, lips twitching in a slight grin. “Carmel and Hazelnut, Amara! Don’t fecking forget!” 

“Get the heck inside, man, before someone hears you” Nicolai grumbled at my twin the door slamming shut. I shook my head, jogging down the staircase to the ground floor. Outside, the autumn breeze caught my hair, whipping strands around my face. 

Despite the coldness, I embraced the sweet smell of rain, the crunch of fallen leaves under my boots. Mack and I decided the small town of Wolfville had a good ... atmosphere, as Mack declared. We, our small group of runaways, wanted somewhere quiet and rural to settle. If only for a little while. 

And it had been good, so far. 

Locals didn’t question us, assuming we were university students from campus a few miles away, and welcomed us with open arms. Just yesterday, the three of us had been in town, adventuring, like we did every Saturday morning.

Mack joked with a few older women, while Nicolai questioned a man an incident at the shipyard. I had enjoyed the coziness of the little bakery, huddled up with a doggy-eared book, occasionally casting curious looks when the bell dinged and customers flooded in and out.

“Would you like a refill, dear?” Dorthy asked, the owner of the store, gesturing to my empty cup of coffee. 

I offered a small smile. “I’m about to head out, actually,” I said, “a few more errands to run.” Don’t forget the chocolate, Mack’s voice echoed in my head. How wonderful it was to worry about something so small, so simple, when the last year had been nothing but harrowing. 

“I’ll meet you at the cash -” 

The sharp jingle of the bell above the bakery door cut her off. We both looked up and I sucked in a deep breath. 

The two men in white stepped in. They both sported pristine white scrubs, each with a taser and radio at their hips. Handlers. 

These two know how to make an entrance, I thought, shrinking into my seat. Most of the customers gave them an odd look of wonder, turning to their cups of espresso and company without a second thought. They were both young, dark hair, probably mid twenties. The tall one, with piercing hazel eyes, stepped forward, cautious as he searched the faces around him. 

Red, the second handler, stayed by the entrance, blocking a potential escape attempt. No one seemed bothered by their presence, yet a cold shiver made its way up my spine. 

My heart thumped, blood curdling in my veins. Keep quiet, don’t move, I thought, maybe that glanced around the cafe, eyes blank and calculating. Maybe, they will look right past me, not recognize my bleached hair and weathered clothes. Maybe -  

“Ms. Van Winkle,” hazel eyes called, staring directly at me. 

Nope, I’m a goner. 

“Do not move,” he warned, charging forward. “I am -”

I bolted, heaving the scalding coffee in the direction of the handler, hoping it’ll burn him. I gave two craps what he had to say, what he wanted. I sprinted for the back exit, the cashier gasping when I shoved her aside. 

“Get the van. I can handle her.” I heard one of them call. 

I scoffed, throwing open the heavy door at the back, bounding into the chilly wind once more. Hazel eyes was on my heels, refusing to let me get away. Panicked, I headed for the park, hoping to lose the handlers. The park had woods I could disappear into, to hide, to survive - anything but capture. 

Capture meant a certain death. 

Things were a blur as I dashed for the park, crossing streets, vehicles nearly taking me out. Drivers honked as I continued, shouts of anger falling on deaf ears. 

In a slow whirl, I had slammed to the wet grass and a tangle of arms made my heart race, blood pounding in my ears. I couldn’t help but focus on the hands grabbing my waist, flashes of white over my head, the tinge of peppermint filling my nostrils. 

“Don’t make this harder on yourself,” Hazel eyes warned, flipping me onto my back. He straddled my waist, using his weight hold me down as he reached behind him, baring a pair of handcuffs. 

I fought him, thrashed and spit and swore, but it was no use. When he managed to encircle the metal around my wrists with a triumphant hmm, hauling me up to stand, I knew I’d made a mistake. 

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” he sang, his hot breath tickling my neck. I lifted my lips in a sneer, spitting on his shoes. His calm, nonchalant demeanour faltered, but only for a second. “I’m Deven, your new handler.” 

“I don’t care what your name is, dipshit” I shouted, struggling in his hold. He let out a low, irritated breath, glancing up. The second handler rushed forward, seeming uncertain and flustered. Must be new to the game.

“Sawyer, let’s get her secured in the van and radio into headquarters,” Deven said, with a sickly sweet smile in my direction. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you, Amara.”

I kicked out my leg, catching Deven in the shin. He groaned yet his hold never loosened. Sawyer took my forearm, jerking me forward. “Well, ain’t she a defiant little one,” he muttered, shoving me into the side of the vehicle, the back of my head bouncing off the metal. 

The tall man stepped forward and smirked, a flash of hunger sweeping over his expression. “Mhm,” he said, winking, and reached out to stroke my cheek, “and the most fun to break.”

[bananaairplane]

A Bad Idea Is a Great Idea

Sometimes you commit to an idea that you know is terrible— objectively so— because you feel in your gut that, if not a good idea, it is the right idea. This was how the plan to camp in my Toyota Camry came into being. No sooner did it occur to me that I could fold down the backseats and spread a sleeping bag over the flat space that extended from the trunk to just behind the front console, than I knew I must do it. 


My camping exploit would be the centerpiece of a drive along the Pacific coast from San Francisco to San Diego. Day 1 would take me through Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel, and into the heart of Big Sur. In the final episode of Mad Men, the enigmatic anti-hero Don Draper has an epiphany at a yoga commune in Big Sur. He wanders in with a few belongings in a paper bag and slowly succumbs to the beauty of the place. Why are all my aesthetic imperatives 1960s-era men? There is a debonair carelessness in their attitude when faced with challenging circumstances: the cigarette dangling from the driver’s lips in the Italian Job as he handles switchbacks at high speeds; Don Draper’s disdain for luggage. There is obviously a whole scaffolding of privileges that allows these men to drift along, so confident in the benevolence of the universe. There is a certain depravity in thinking, the world’s going to end, let’s have a cocktail. Such confidence is called something else when adopted by others, and is punished brutally. But there’s another side, one that takes in the inevitable ugliness of the world, the myriad ways it falls short of what it could or should be, and says, let my life be a piece of art hewn out of the stone of reality. 


No, I don’t have any camping gear. In San Francisco my brother, sharing the vision, loaned me a sleeping bag and— presciently, expertly— a ski hat. A hardware store in a shopping plaza in Carmel, California yielded a camping chair. It was clearly meant to be: I asked the clerk if they had any folding chairs and he started to describe some patio furniture. “I’m looking for more of a camping chair,” I clarified. He disappeared briefly and then reemerged. “You know,” he said, “I have this one chair that I was holding in the back for a customer who called in, but that was several weeks ago. I was just about to put it back out on the floor.” Kermit green, in a bag with a little strap, it was kismet. The man at the campground, the kind of hardened hippie worn smooth by Bug Sur sunsets and weed, seemed bemused at my endeavor: One person, one night. “Are you going to sleep in your rig?” he asked as he typed my license plate into the computer. Later, when I reemerged from the forest asking to use the microwave, he peered into my takeout container and asked, “where did you score this?” It was cumin lamb and I made it in San Francisco, then packed it up in the cooler bag from the Goodwill in Oregon that has been a linchpin of this road trip. He commented politely that it smelled good. I took my lukewarm noodles and a pack of firewood back into the warren of campsites. 


Wilderness is a relative term— an unknown, unmapped place, standing in opposition to settled places, to familiarity. For me, the West Coast is already a land of wilderness. It feels bigger, and the forests larger, nearer, pressing in around. Mountains, gorges, tall trees all press around the settled places, which do not seem to have won as definitively as they have on the East Coast. Even the mountains of New England roll gently and are dotted with fragile steeples. On Highway 1 at Mendocino, I saw a rugged cross standing up out of the hillside— I used to see similar crosses in Haute Savoie, in Eastern France, where they are a symbol of the maquis, scrublands that took on symbolic meaning during World War II as a place of refuge for the French Resistance. The crosses were used as landmarks by Resistance fighters, who fled to the maquis and then organized themselves there. The maquis is a good metaphor for my wilderness— a place to hide out from occupying forces, but also the place to mount a new offensive. A place outside the scope of government. Government here is another metaphor— I’m no prepper, outside of a couple of gallons of water in my trunk leftover from the threat of wildfires. Government is the forces of domestication and embourgeoisement. The government of expectations and inertia. The virus has created its own kind of maquis or wilderness, effacing our landmarks of daily life and throwing us into unfamiliar terrain. Suspending the normal flow of life and its authorities: the office, holidays, sociability. It’s a cloud bank blotting out our lodestars. Astrolabe lies useless on the map table. It’s a time of feeling in the dark. I’ve been consulting my gut to figure out where to go and what to do next. What does my gut know? It whispers, drive on. Leave behind the oasis, familiarity.

And so I sat in the dark in my camping chair, beside a blazing fire. Some kind of highway construction project was underway on Route 1, so the supreme stillness of the woods was cut by the whining rumble of large machinery doing something laborious. I sipped red wine. The brightness of the fire rendered the darkness all around me more complete. I felt like I had slipped into the space in between time. The group at the adjacent campsite was speaking Japanese, and the patter of unfamiliar words and occasional laughter tucked in around me. The sound of the machinery faded slowly as it rumbled on down the road. I turned the logs and fanned them as the fire died down. 


My brother had suggested that I test out my sleeping arrangements before leaving San Francisco, an idea that I dismissed out of hand. My plan was flawless, testing it was pointless. When I folded down the backseat in the dark, though, I immediately discovered that it did not lie flat. Scrambling in and plunging my bottom half into the trunk, I found that the angle of the seat rendered the opening to the trunk too narrow— it clamped uncomfortably around my hips. I would be sleeping in the backseat. This was, of course, why I didn’t test my plan out earlier: Learning this in San Francisco might have deterred me from realizing my vision. I unfolded the mattress pad I absurdly brought from the East Coast, that didn’t fit the mattress I ended up finding on Craigslist in Oregon. My yoga mat unfurled on top of it, and then the sleeping bag. All night long, when I opened my eyes, I saw the trunks of Redwood trees silhouetted in the dark through the surround of window glass and the pane of the sun roof.


In the morning I packed up quickly, pumped some free campsite coffee into a hot mug, and drove to a turnout overlooking the sea. I set up my camping chair in the gravel near the edge of the cliff and sprinkled Cheerios into the empty container from my cumin lamb. There was a plastic knife in the car somewhere but I used my spoon to slice chunks of banana over the cereal. Setting the container on the trunk, I poured out milk as the occasional sports car or camper van whooshed past. The waves crashed rhythmically below and a band of mist smudged out the line between sea and sky. The brown hillsides glowed gold in the morning sunlight. The whole world stretched out around me.