#give me the science? the realization that oh wait no this is BAD bad? the graphs? the maps?

[apocalypticseagull]

My dumb little nerdy heart loves to see disaster type movies that have a science-y part behind it and things that could potentially happen to earth

[kiss-me-muchoo]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝? || 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Summary_ living the most perfect relationship turned out to be a sharp pain, your boyfriend Reed Richards was married and you didn’t knew, but thankfully, after the storm comes a rainbow.

Warnings_ age gap (not specified, but reader is in uni), ANGST, ANGST, implied smut, retro references, I hate home-wreckers but this is for the plot, DO NOT romaticize this shit irl.

Notes_ I HAVE A REASON TO ADD THE JOE QUINN TAG, PLEASE READ JOHNNY STORM LOVERS, and listen to how did it end?, please please please and Be My Baby with this, worth it.

♪ ♫ Pedro playlist | Reed + Johnny playlist ✰ Index (+ fics here)

𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ 𓆇𓆸⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ 𓆇𓆸⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ 𓆇𓆸

The subway was awfully quiet yet at full capacity. You assumed everyone was minding their business as usual, but you thanked them because you could perfectly hear the radio of an elderly man playing “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, and it made you smile.

Reed loved when you casually hummed and danced to the song as you cooked.

Oh, you were so in love.

It was at the beginning of your third semester of university when you met him. Being so introverted made it sweet and easy when you stepped into the wrong classroom, expecting an art class. Reed Richards, the physics professor let you know you were not in advanced sculpting class. He was so enchanted by your beehive hairstyle matching purple skirt and top, with a lilac sweater that had tiny embedded jewels.

He went to look after you that afternoon, learning you were at least past your teenage years and that you were not a science person like him.

And the rest was history, after months of having casual dates, he visited you often, and even met your parents. You loved him.

Reed was extremely smart. Always brings you the right gifts although you never ask him for anything. Always suggesting the best places to have dinner. It was like he had everything perfectly measured to make you happy.

I'll make you happy, baby,

just wait and see

For every kiss you give me,

I'll give you three.

Your stop was next and you enjoyed the rest of the song as you savored the feeling of being in love.

Walking through the streets you realized you had nothing else to do for the rest of the week regarding academic stuff. You also were expecting to arrive before the sunset at your home to start dinner. Reed was coming and your parents were going to join you two too.

For a moment you don’t think you’ve ever been this happy before.

-

Your dad opened a bottle of wine when you heard a knock on the door and that had you already blushing. You placed more raspberries and sliced lemon pieces on top of the cake you started as soon as you arrived home.

Reed greeted your parents and they welcomed him kindly.

“Our girl is in the kitchen,” your dad said.

“On my way to her,” you giggled, hearing his footsteps.

Immediately his hands came to lock around your waist. Which startled you but soon made you laugh.

“Hello, my love,” he said kissing your cheeks from behind.

“Reed! I’m trying to finish the cake” Giggling and trying to get away from him, he made you spin around before pulling closer and finally plastering a big kiss on your lips.

You melt into his touch in a second.

“Too bad I have more appetite for kissing my girl” you gently pushed him, returning to finish the cake.

“Don’t be like that… I put my heart in this one” Reed got closer, admiring your cooking skills. He then moved his eyes to appreciate you. His smile grew as his heart started beating faster.

“You sing, you dance, you sculpt, cook and bake. Darling, you’re perfect!”

“Kiss me again and I might believe it, baby” his silly smile made you chuckle, accepting his embrace and another kiss. It took you by surprise when gently pinned you against the counter, making you let out a gasp after feeling his manhood brushing your inner thigh.

“Are we still up for dinner?” Your mother called, peeking through the door of the doorframe of the kitchen.

“Yes. Sorry, Mom” you apologized feeling a sudden sense of embarrassment. Reed let you go, immediately helping you to grab some plates.

“We’ll continue this in the studio, darling” his hand reached out and gave you a soft spank in the ass, making your eyes wide open.

“Reed!”

“I said what I said, dear”

You would never deny his touch. The way the mere brush of the tip of his fingers could set you on fire and he perfectly knew the spots to make your body burn. So you just smiled naughtily. When he turned to see you again, you gained the courage to show him the outline of your shiny mint underwear that was lying under your dress.

“You’re killing me, y/n”

“After dinner, you can do everything to stop me”

His face was priceless, he blushed and looked adorable being so.

“How does it feel this summer without teaching?” You heard your father asking Reed after you gently pushed him out of the kitchen.

Between the laughs of your family and boyfriend, and the soft music playing in the background, you feel very happy.

…

“Reed…” you moaned his name as you watched his face under the hem of your dress. His lips were constantly licking your wet folds and had you biting your own hand to prevent louder moans.

“Darling… you are so pretty moaning like that for me” his hands snaked through your ass to the back of your knees, opening your legs even wider.

You were so close, your eyes closed in advance and you grasped at his hair harder.

yes, yes, yes, oh!… oh no.

His watch oddly beeped. The bubble of pleasure exploded, leaving only ashes of what had been the lust.

“I gotta go…” you frowned.

“What?… Why?”

“A friend. From work… he has a deadline for professors, I promised I would send him some of my archives to save him time,” he said and it only made you frown more.

“Can’t you send him the archives at least after making me reach an orgasm?”

“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll pick you up tomorrow to have breakfast at your favorite place. Then we can have some fun time in my car” he attempted to soothe your worries but it clearly didn’t work.

“Oh… okay, Reed”

He kissed your forehead before squeezing your hand and finally leaving.

The bitter taste of uncertainty hit you. And before you could even prevent it, you were distrusting Reed.

The next morning, while he talked about how lovely you looked and how great was his breakfast, you barely paid attention. While he took your body to the backseat of his car, more than pleasure you felt uncertainty again.

And no matter how much you tried to ignore it, you didn’t believe Reed.

…

It’s all in the past three weeks later. Everything went back to normal, dates were perfect again, and sex was pure gold again. You had no complaints about your relationship with your much older boyfriend.

Even better when he announced he got tickets to see The Beatles on Saturday.

You got your hair straightened. A black turtleneck dress, red seen-through tights, and matching red heels.

Your eyeliner was more perfect than ever. And Reed came to pick you up with a huge bouquet of flowers.

“How did you get the tickets, love?” you asked as he drove.

“Oh, I have a friend who works in the media. A dating show has its target audience set…”

You wonder what show he meant. There were some popular shows on the TV airing at the time. That’s long short story when you notice Reed had been watching you.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I love the sight of you…” his words made you blush. Much more when he leaned to give you a quick kiss that you enjoyed as if it was the last. His beard tickled you and only made you smile more.

“I don’t want to die without seeing The Beatles, Reed” He started laughing and soon you followed with a giggle.

He pulled into a parking lot, and you already felt excited, seeing the crowds making line to go inside the venue, waiting for the concert to begin.

“Oh, I’m so excited!” You squealed, hurrying to apply some more lipstick before getting out of the car.

“Honey, you don’t need more makeup, you already look gorgeous,” Reed said.

“But it’s your favorite color” he looked, noticing it was indeed his favorite color, crimson red.

“Damn right… it is my favorite color” Both of you laughed as you started walking outside of the parking lot.

He placed his arm around your shoulders but soon you remember.

“Wait!… I forgot my coat” Reed hands you the car keys and you go back.

The last sun's rays hit the car when you open the backseat door. You leaned to grab your coat, but a shimmery item caught your attention.

Locked under the passenger seat, you struggle to grab the object, not being able to see just guided by the touch.

First, you felt a paper and a harder one, like a card. Then, with your pinky fingers, you felt a cold rounded object.

Your heart pounded as you fished the object with your pinky fingers.

An ID from the NASA that belonged to a woman, named Susan Richards aka Sue Storm. She was older, but extremely pretty; blonde, blue eyes, perfect nose, perfect hair, just some years younger than Reed.

A picture of your boyfriend with the same woman of the ID, both looking at the camera, her hand gently placed against his chest, a big diamond in a ring also posing for the picture.

And the ring. The solid proof of your sudden question.

“Darling, Why are you taking so long?”

“You’re married?” You asked, handing him the golden wedding band with one hand and slamming the door of his car with the other.

“Darling…” he tried to reason, but you are enraged, red face and watered eyes.

“Why am I even questioning? Of course, you are married, Reed!” your hand dropped the picture and ID, and his attempts to calm you failed.

You can’t even process what is happening, you are just being consumed by the anger caused by his betrayal.

“We were going through a rough phase. And then I met you. I- I don’t even know what I’m doing right now” he admitted, sighing, accepting he was an asshole and a loser.

“AS IF I CARE!… YOU LIED TO ME!”

“Let me talk and explain, y/n”

You let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose, trying to keep the tears from falling. Your head started pounding, your body welcoming the stress.

“No. Don’t call me again, don’t get close to my college department on campus. Just… don’t you ever try to come back into my life again.” he called your name plenty of times, and you heard his footsteps following you, but after leaving the parking lot of the restaurant, he stopped.

After a good time trying to prevent the tears, you started crying. You loudly sobbed, ignoring the few people you encountered while crossing the streets of the vivid city.

By the time you are seated in the subway once again, you don’t realize you have walked more than five blocks. You could only think about Reed.

Every moment with him felt genuine. He was kind, attentive, romantic, and… honest.

Never gave a sign to make you believe you couldn’t trust him, more like the contrary. And that was the worst part.

Maybe you just loved him so hard that it made you blind to see that his love was a lie.

…

The phone rang every day. You never answered. A month passed and you avoided the rest of your life on the beaches of Florida.

Your parents believed Reed took advantage of his P.H. D out of the city, so it was better to break up. But they couldn’t bear seeing their poor daughter going through some breakdown.

And when you came back to the city, the neighbor told you your ex-boyfriend had sent flower bouquets during your vacation, not knowing you were out.

It only made you feel worse. Questioning How could you have missed the signs of him being married?. And now that the damage was done. Did the wife know? Did Reed ever love you?

If he couldn’t be faithful to his wife, certainly not to you.

But those thoughts are the kind of thing that makes you go out with one eye covered in purple eyeshadow and the other in bright orange. Mismatched socks and disheveled hair. Some girls laugh at you when you enter a cafeteria but you honestly don’t give a damn. You just want a sandwich.

After paying, you’re once again daydreaming, overthinking about Reed. Without realizing a man had stood beside you.

“Hey... I saw the girls over there laugh but… I like the way you styled yourself” You turn to see the stranger.

“I’m so lost in the head, I did something bad a while ago, so now I can’t even think straight ahead” you admitted, moving to grab some dressing and napkins while waiting for your order.

“Well, it must’ve been really bad, with all due respect.”

“It was…”

“Is it too bad that I’m curious to know?” He asked and you shook your head, sighing.

“I was dating a married man and I didn’t know,” you said looking down, too embarrassed to look at the guy in the eye.

“It’s not your fault if you didn’t know” it took you by surprise.

“I know. But it pains me so much because it thought it was… real.” a lady called your name, letting you know your order was ready.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be telling my problems to strangers. Thanks for listening, have a great day” you said, walking away to grab your sandwich.

“Wait!” The man called you.

“I don’t mind hearing. My brother-in-law always says I’m an asshole but I can actually listen to people. If you had no plans… We could have lunch together” he revealed, making you smile gently.

“I was going to take this home and eat alone. So yes, we could have lunch together…” you finally analyzed him. Definitely closer to your age than your failed previous relationship. He was blonde and had kind eyes, that no matter what you wouldn’t trust at all after what happened with Reed. But this man seemed sweet, slightly cheeky, and too much of an extroverted one, but you liked it.

“I didn’t catch your name before,” he said.

“I’m y/n…”

“Johnny… Johnny Storm” You remember it was the same name as Reed’s wife. But you can’t think this man had something to do with them. You can’t live continuing with mixing Reed with every step you took.

“I like your jacket”

“Thanks. I almost set it on fire this morning” You didn’t think he was saying it for real, so you laugh.

And oh, how much things changed after that.

…

Five months later, in the peak of autumn, Johnny and you celebrated your first month together. And accidentally you discovered he had some… abilities regarding fire.

Soon later, he was convinced you had to meet his family, so you agreed.

But when his sister opened the door, your face went pale. The woman in the ID you found in Reed’s car greeted you along Ben Grimm and soon you encountered with the cause of your endless midnights in sorrow.

Reed Richards looked the same. Wearing his usual clothes, the grey hairs above his ears, a charming smile, and an intellectual vocabulary.

Acting like strangers, he greeted you, pretending he never met you, never kissed you, never touched you.

Reed just slipped from you, but you weren’t afraid to walk away, just truly and messily hurt. Then you met Johnny, magically disappearing the weight of your broken heart. Even so, while walking inside the house, talking to the wife of your ex-boyfriend, you felt his eyes on you.

Reed was merely shocked, not knowing anything about you in months, then suddenly walking into his home as Johnny’s new girlfriend. He was horrified, but then he realized that he was no better than his brother-in-law. Reed always thought Johnny was an asshole for cheating on girls and being condescending. But you had truly changed him. Johnny followed you like a lost puppy, Reed questioned if you were a witch. And he accepted he wasn’t over you.

“How on earth did this happen?” Reed asked you during a brief moment of privacy.

“I don’t know, but I think I’m falling in love with him, Mr. Fantastic” you whispered in his ear. Reed saw how your eyes briefly glowed and he feared you, but more than fear, he felt panic about you completely forgetting about him.

As you walked inside the kitchen, following the conversation with Ben and Sue, Reed was witness of how you dropped a picture of his wedding with Sue, without touching it. His blood ran cold.

“What was that?” The blonde woman asked.

“A picture, it fell and the frame cracked a little” Reed calmed her, but he grabbed the item, noticing how it left some of your strange energy. The eerie gleam across the frame made him almost hypnotized, soon he shook his head. He would take that frame to run some tests and discover what the hell were you hiding.

Reed entered the kitchen finally, and saw how Johnny kissed your temple, his hand on the small of your back to lead you towards the table to have dinner. You weren’t lying, you were falling in love with Johnny, but you thought back at Reed. Your heart still belonged to him. And you couldn’t comprehend how did it end?.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

taglist: @raiyna-rred

Idk, I’m just excited for this movieeeeeee

[lara4eclipze]

“teach me”

sypnosis; you weren't exactly dumb but we're lazy yet when she started teaching you your grades went up—what did she do to make that happen

cw; age gap! y/n is 19 Lara is 23 , mean , teasing , smut , face sitting , dirty talk ,spoiled and rich y/n, inspired by this

original idea;@ivemiese / thankss

ALSOO happy birthday my love Lara!! , I'm so happy she's turning 19!! , gosh heres a birthday fic for the rajberries!

to say you were failing was an understatement your grades were plunging down the toilet yet you didn't do anything to change it

your parents were rich anyways you'll get the company by 5 more years , there's no point in studying

well your parents cared about your grades , tutor after tutor yet nothing worked , either you were mean to them or they quit out of pity for you

"mom I told you already these tutors are just not helping" you pout to your mom knowing she'll always fall for it

"well I still got you one — my friend Mitra recommended her to me" your mom sighs

you grunt in frustration, running up to your room muttering some profanity under your breath

—ʚɞ

school was as boring as everyday , you hated this place I mean you went to a very expensive university yet you can't seem to find people you would like to interact with

"disgusting" you scoff as an student accidentally bumps into you

after school was as worse, well atleast now you can rot in bed or go in a shopping spree

"darling your tutor came early today , shes in you room" your mother says to you before going out the door

your mom associates herself with other housewives of rich men , you told her countless times she'll just get influenced by those big head women but she never listened

you enter your room after you change into some oversized tee and short shorts

"hi there" the girl waves at you , oh. my. god. she was hot , gorgeous , smart based on how she's supposed to tutor you and god she looked so fine

"hi..y/n's the name" you said sitting next to her , shamefully (or not so) you check her out , her waist was beautiful her finger were long you wonder how it will feel inside of you

"Lara — raj , anyways I'll tutor you math and science for about 4 hours today" she said , she noticed how you didn't respond so she tsks

well that's until she realizes what you were doing...

"hey didn't your mother teach you checking out people is extremely perverted... especially when they're older than you?" she said her voice lowering

"what? I didn't — pfft what?" you try to play it off but judged by the smirk on her face you knew it wouldn't work

—✧˖*°࿐

after the day she quizzed you on the topic to make sure you understood it

"2/10? are you serious?" she questions

"what?" you ask as if it's normal

"you answered me flawlessly earlier" she reasons

"well maybe I need motivation" you snap back

her gears were turning but an idea struck her

"alright then"

obviously the time was done so she had to go, what a great start you thought, Great thing your tutor now was not boring

admittedly she is hot , a hot nerd you thought to yourself

—✧˖*°࿐

you try to find her social media online and see that she was older than you

"23?, not bad" you sigh

she posted loads of pictures, videos she looked well off why is she wasting her time tutoring spoiled rich kids then?

—✧˖*°࿐

the next day you didn't go to school since you were just lazy, plus what were you gonna do there anyways?

sit down and learn where and when Picasso farted?

although excitingly your pretty tutor was still coming today , you decided to go the extra mile and get ready for her wearing some of your skimpiest outfits

"you look great honey" your mom pipes up as she leaves the house

now we wait , you slouch in your room waiting for her , until..

"hey" she enters your room escorted by your maid

"oh hi.." you said back , deciding to pull your top down a bit

her eyes trailed down , you smirk at her reaction, ahh the hard work paid off i guess

"can we do math first" you plead to her giving her your best weapon ,doe eyes

she reluctantly agreed , chuckling at your actions

god she looked amazing with her glasses , her pierced nose, you can't even focus on what she's teaching you

"do you get it?" she asks

"yes" you replied

"okay then let's quiz you..— you know since yesterday I saw how you looked at me , so let's play a game"

"for every score over 5 you get a special prize , if you get anything lower well it sucks to be you cause you won't get anything" the older says , your eyes lit up at the mentions of prize

"alright then" you said

—✧˖*°࿐

"9/10?.. pretty good" she purrs , god her voice was like heroin so addicting but so bad for you

"tell me when you don't feel comfortable okay?" she asks , fuck being confused you needed her in you NOW

"mhm" you hum out , your heart thumping in synch with her movements her hands in your inner thighs her other one flipping up your skirt

soaked , wet , whatever it was you just needed her so bad

she ties up her hair , some strands falling to frame her face , her breathing gets heavy , the view was amazing, shes quite literally face to face with your cunt ,

"fucking slut" she tsks as she pulls away your undergarments a string of your nectar connecting it to your cunt

"'m not" you were but it felt humiliating , in a good way cause as much as you hate to admit it her degrading you with that voice is just perfect

a beat passes by and her tongue , it felt perfect, gosh her tongue passed by your tight entrance every now and then

"fuck please!" you whine , you felt like you were gonna orgasm just by this yet you needed more

"greedy girl" she says in a condescending tone , mocking the way you whined for her

finally she enters your slick entrance , her tongue reaching places you never thought of

your head lolled back as you moan her name like a mantra , your hands entangled in her hair as you push her head

"right nghm there!" you moan as she hits a particularly gummy spot in you

she chuckles , the vibration sending shockwaves through you , your eyes seeing stars your mouth open drooling due to the fact you can't go a second without moaning or even whining for her

"you close? — your greedy cunny is sucking me in" the older says as she redoubled her efforts her nose bumping your clit every now and then

"shit please! let me cum!" yes it was pathetic, but it felt oh so right ,

"hold it in for me princess" she replied

"please"

"do it or you won't get to finish at all" she threatens , her voice lowering

tears start to fall on your face due to the pleasure, sniffling while moaning, that's new

—✧˖*°࿐

"oh darling are you guys done already?" Lara bumps into your mom as she was going out the door

"yes ma'am , glad to see her improve" the red head replied

"I'm so thankful for you , I haven't seen y/n get along with any of her tutor before" the older woman excitedly said

"must be special then" Lara teased

—✧˖*°࿐

"6/10? what happened honey?" The older asks looking at your paper

your frown at her , what are you gonna get now :((

"don't worry lets make a compromise" she stands up locking your door slowly she removes her top

her abs were on display begging you to ride them , her boobs were perfect to be gagged on

next down was her skirt , along with her socks , shit her thighs were beautiful you itched to touch her

as your hands tried to make its way to her waist she slaps it

"ouch" you pout at her

"study next time , stupid girls don't get to have the privilege of getting fucked mkay?" she pouts back , teasing you as you practically were about to cry

"i hate you" you mumble

"we both know you don't" she replied, wearing her clothing

—✧˖*°࿐

"surprisingly miss her grades had been better , see it was D last semester now it's a B" your professor explains to your mother

you couldn't help but grin , I mean is this who she calls lazy?

maybe you were lazy but never ever were you dumb

"okay spill it what do you want for that grade" your mother says whilst in the car

"oh come on do you think of me so lowly mom?" you rhetorically ask

"but since you insist , can you schedule more of my tutoring with Lara?" you said trying to fight off smiling at the thought

"oh—i expected worse" your mother chuckles

"is that a yes?"

"obviously!" your mother replied happily

—✧˖*°࿐

"stupid slut" she whispers as her fingers hit all the right spots her lips on your neck

getting a score of 8 meant that she'll finger you, a win is a win yet it intrigued you what will you get for 10

"head filled with me fuckin her she can't even respond" she harshly said as she pinches your clit , and then going deeper

"please mo-mommy!" you didn't even realized it slipped out of your mouth till it did

"my whore" she spits as she fingers throb in pain , not a minute passed and you were gushing around them , she chuckles as her fingers dripped in your cum

"suck" she said as she forces her fingers in your mouth , she maintained eye contact as you gag around her digits

"perfect" she said afterwards, she carries you to bed making sure you were alright

"I'm okay" you reassure her

—✧˖*°࿐

school wasn't any better today , but good enough you got to recite here and there

going home was another story , everything was loud due to the party your dad hosted for his business partners or what ever they were

"god!" you scoff , as you open the door you were pulled in by Lara who giggles

"heard you had a good day?" she teases

"now your stalking me? , how interesting miss raj " you hum back

"Oh please " she laughs

she settles your bag in the chair near your desk , sitting down

"ready for your quiz" she asks smirking , she knew what she was doing and it's driving you crazy

"yes I studied hard for this one" you replied

"ooh you might just get what you deserve..." she trails off , you spot her grinning as you take the quiz

—✧˖*°࿐

you don't know if it was a miracle or just a dream but you were buried in between Laras thighs right now having the meal you much deserve after a long ass day

her low moans and wet noises make you go crazy

"fuck baby , go faster" she moans

you chuckle going even faster , like an animal who was starved for weeks , her cunt was perfect sweet and savory soft and so inviting it sucked you in practically

maybe hours passed and you were still down there , she was overstimulated but who cares fuck everything

"baby too much-"

"but" you give her the doe eyes and here she goes losing again

"fine" she said breathlessly as she lays back accepting your tongue again , your face dripped with her cum which was too perfect for her to see

—✧˖*°࿐

"Mom! Lara's staying for the night!" you scream

"fine" your mother replied

"eek she said yes! , now which one first" you said laying out a plethora of straps

"are you joking?" she asks

"no , now which one this one's cute pink and white"

[exoticb-utters]

Hi, could you do a little Hank McCoy x reader story, about Hank jealous (I love your previous story, it was very cute)💙

oooou yes ofc, I love making my men jealous 🤗

Feeling Jealous?

“Flufftober” series. 1 🎃 Jealous Hank X GN Reader ‘Fluff’ Word Count: 1.7k

You met Hank in college; yes, before he was big and blue. Also meaning, you inevitably met in your biology class. 

While you attended the class for credits, he attended just for fun. Turns out he already had all his credits, he just really liked science.

He was freakishly smart, like genius level intelligent. 

You first met him on the first day of class, sitting in the very front row of the lecture hall. 

You saw no one else was sitting in his row, so you decided to sit next to him. I mean…he looked a little lonely and you felt bad. 

You sat down next to him, leaving one seat between the two of you. You flashed him a small smile before pulling out your notebook and pencils. 

Unbeknownst to you, Hank was utterly gobsmacked at the fact someone so beautiful just so happened to sit next to him.

He’d always been academic-centered, not really getting involved with relationships to avoid distractions. 

But…he’s not so sure anymore. 

He returned your smile with a small nod, adjusting his glasses with a finger. Suddenly, the collar of his shirt was starting to feel too tight, and the classroom air was much too hot. 

Every class you exchanged small talk, a “What was that last line?” here, maybe even a “Is the quiz Tuesday or Thursday?” there. 

This inevitably progressed into you pairing yourselves into group work, which then turned into you becoming study buddies. 

Along the way somewhere, it ultimately blossomed into a good friendship. It was the most you could ask for anyway, having a crush on your guy best friend is no easy feat.

He was smart, sweet, a huge dork, hot, and was never hesitant to help you if you ever needed it. Most of your friends have been pushing you to ask him out- make a move even. 

But of course, the fear of rejection and the mere thought of ruining your friendship was stronger. So you’d admire from a distance, no matter how grueling it was. 

♡ ♡ ♡

“Hey, study sesh tonight? Usual time?” You say, walking out of class with Hank. 

“Yeah, but isn’t the library closed for tonight?” He replied as you both walked through the hallway, side by side as usual. “Really? I didn’t know that…” You hum in thought. 

“Well, my roommate should be out for the night…why not just have it over at my place?” Hank suddenly suggests with a shrug. You looked back at him in surprise, you’d never been to his dorm. The thought filled you with butterflies and curiosity.

Hank saw your shocked expression and thought he crossed a line. Before he could defend himself you stopped him. 

“Uh, yeah that’s fine. Five right?” You chuckled, walking through the main doors that led outside. 

“Yeah, sounds good!” He quickly replies, smiling at you. You began walking to your left before realizing Hank was going in the direction of the dorms. “W-wait, where are you going?” Hank called after you, stopping you in your tracks.

“Oh just stopping by a friend’s place- actually I’ll send you the address and you can pick me up and we can start the session!” You answer before giving him a final wave. 

Okay… that was strange. 

Hank knew he wasn’t your only friend, someone like you is bound to be popular. 

This just left a…weird feeling in his chest.  

He shook his head, snapping himself out of it. How childish, he’d see you in a couple of hours anyway.

Hank passed the next couple of hours by napping, not caring enough to do much anything else since most of his school work would be finished with you anyway. 

Once the alarm he’d set earlier went off, he got up and grabbed his keys and binder before walking out the door.

After making his way out the door and into his car, he pulled up the address you sent him.

He pulled up to the location and texted you a quick “here!” before getting out of the car. He walked up to the door, raising his hand to knock before spotting a doorbell. 

“That’s a better idea…” Hank mumbled quietly to himself, pressing the button with a finger. He heard the soft chime from inside the house before the sound of footsteps approached the door. 

The door was then swung open, revealing a stereotypical jock. The man had a couple inches on Hank, blonde hair, conveniently attractive (by societal standards anyway), and probably on the school’s football team. Hank’s heart sank. 

You were right behind him, of course. You push past him, removing him from the doorway. He rolled his eyes at your actions, you two must be close. “Oh, Will! This is Hank, the one I was telling you about earlier.” You say, motioning your hand towards Hank. 

He felt flattered you were talking about him to your...friend? Well, you did say you were stopping at a friend’s house earlier. You never even mentioned having a boyfriend, and Hank never asked; he feared it would come off…weird.  

“Ohh, yeah- Study session guy. Have fun.” ‘Will’ waved to you as you walked back to the car with Hank, and to his despair- you waved back. With a smile. 

He got into the car, starting the engine with a small huff. His hands tightened ever so slightly on the wheel, thoughts running wildly. Hank was never the jealous type, but not having your attention right now felt…wrong. 

It left a bad taste in his mouth, and he didn’t like it at all.

“Hey Hank! Thanks for picking me up.” You greet him with that sweet smile, closing the door behind you. 

He mumbles out a quiet reply as he shifts the car into reverse, backing out of the driveway.

Your brows furrow in confusion, not able to read his expression. He seemed almost…mad? No…maybe he was disappointed? 

You open your mouth to speak but Hank cuts you off. “So how was it?” 

You’re left confused, his question sounding more deadpan than the casual enthusiasm he’d usually have. 

“Uh, it was good…Just had to grab something…” You trail off, eyeing Hank cautiously as if he would explode at any minute now. This wasn’t like him. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m perfectly fine.” He hums, not missing a beat. He takes a turn before reaching a hand up to adjust the glasses that sat on his nose. 

“You just seem a little off, are you sure?” You ask again, studying his face for any more hints. 

“Yes.” Another curt reply leaves his lips. You let out a sigh, crossing your arms begrudgingly. Why was he being so difficult?!?

You decided to let him be, not having the energy to go back and forth with Hank of all people. The rest of the car ride was in tense silence, the atmosphere almost suffocating.

Once you reach his dorm, things carry out as usual…or so it would seem. Hard to ignore the way things went down just a few moments ago in his car. 

Hank opened his dorm room, flicking on the lights as he made his way to a desk in the far corner. You close the door behind yourself, Hank taking out his notes from class. 

He began flipping through the pages in silence, eyes quickly scanning each paper for the material you’d be going over tonight. 

You linger in place by the door, watching him as nothing but the sound of pages flipping fills the air. Clearly, you couldn’t carry out your session with him acting like this. 

You walk over, standing behind him with crossed arms. He turned around, the page-turning still continuing. He glanced at you over his glasses for a brief moment, raising an eyebrow. 

“Well?” You speak, mimicking the raised brow. “You’re the one just standing there.” He quips, pushing his glasses up with a finger. 

“Why have you been acting like this? You weren’t grumpy earlier today, why now?” You question, looking up at him. Yes, he had a couple inches on you, but you were not going to let that thought linger.

“Acting like what?” He replies, setting down his binder with a look. You roll your eyes with a huff. “Like a dick quite frankly.”

You could tell he didn’t expect your answer to be so frank, his blue eyes widening slightly. “Did I do something wrong Hank?” You say softly, your tone coming off more quiet this time.

Hank’s gaze softened, taking off his glasses before rubbing the bridge of his nose. “No sorry I just-“ He pauses, exhaling sharply. “I’ve been acting really childish and I apologize…”

There was a short pause, a heavy silence falling over the room. “Who was that guy? Will right?” He said, leaning against the wall with crossing his arms. 

“Yeah, he’s my friend.” You say, wondering where this was coming from. “He’s not a boyfriend?” He asks cautiously, his voice quieter than before.

Was this why he was so upset???

“No…I’m very single actually.” You hint, clearing your throat a little. Hank was so smart; but so, so oblivious. 

He felt a flicker of hope in his chest. Here goes nothing. 

He left his place in the wall, striding towards you. “So, would there be- I dunno…a chance you’d go out with me?” He glances down at his feet, before looking back at you. 

“Hank…” You start, but you don’t even know what to say. This was exactly what you’ve been waiting for. 

Hank’s expression fell at your pause. Oh no. He made it awkward. “It’s fine if you say no, I was just asking! Please don’t feel obliged to-“ You cut him off before he can ramble on.

“Hank I’ve liked you since we sat together in Bio. I’d love to go out with you sometime.” You wave your hand dismissively in the air. 

“Wait Hank…did you ask if Will was my boyfriend because you were…jealous?” You quirk a brow with a smile. 

His face instantly flushed at your words. “Um…no.” He mumbles, covering his face with a hand. Very convincing. 

You pull him in close in a tight hug. “I’m just glad you feel the same Hank.” 

So now, when you notice that certain look in your husband’s eyes when a man tries to make a pass on you, it reminds you much of his younger self. 

You simply just smile, giving him a quick peck to the cheek to reassure him. “You know I love you Hank~” 

“You know I love you too, dear.” He’ll smile, all worries melting away. 

What was he so jealous about before?

[moonstruckme]

feels odd being a marauder fan asking for tasm Peter content but i couldnt help myself <//3 if ur still taking requests id love to see ur take on Peter and the art students meet cute (or not so cute meeting) I always wondered how two vastly different people would even meet lol

Thanks for requesting gorgeous!

cw: mention of animal cruelty (not present in the story)

tasm!Peter Parker x artist!reader ♡ 831 words

Peter wonders if he should put on his mask. 

He’s not really sure what the protocol is for non-mutant criminal activity that makes its way into his daily life. But he’d only been trying to lock up the lab for the night, and there you are, spray painting all over the glass panes dividing the workspaces. 

“Hey!” He decides to forgo the mask when you direct your can scary close to a container of samples. “Don’t do that, you’ll ruin them.” 

You turn slowly, tense all over. It’s a look Peter’s not unfamiliar with; fight and flight are warring in your nervous system. You’ve been caught. 

“No one’s still supposed to be here,” you say, voice muffled slightly by the painter’s mask covering your nose and mouth. 

A laugh bubbles out of him. “Oh, my bad. Sorry—actually, since I’m clearly the one breaking the rules, I’ll just go.” 

You remain frozen in place, seemingly waiting to see if he’s actually joking or not. Peter’s not sure what to do. He can’t just…let you continue to destroy the lab, but calling the cops has never been his MO. He crosses his arms and leans back against a table, doing his best to look in control. 

“What are you even doing?” he asks. 

“It’s…” You look around you as if you’d forgotten, to the glass now dripping gorily with red paint. “It’s about animal cruelty. It’s a protest. Do you have any idea,” you say, your voice picking up conviction as you speak, “how many animals die in these labs every day?” 

Peter blinks. “Not really.” It feels shitty to say, but it’s not like he’s around for every class and project that happens here every day; something like that would be impossible to keep track of. 

Your eyes flash. “Too many.”

“So, what?” He looks around, at the red dribbling down the glass panes—blood, that’s what it is—and your paint-spritzed overalls. “You make some maintenance worker have to clean this up tomorrow morning, and then the science department will decide to stop?” 

Your eyebrows bunch. You hadn’t thought of that. “I just want to bring attention to it,” you say. “I’ll come back and clean up if I need to, but I just—I think it’s important that people see it. That they can’t just keep ignoring it.” 

Peter frowns, bending to pick up one of the paint canisters stacked neatly by a backpack. He gives it a little shake, and this one’s still full, the pile it came from larger than the matching one of used-up cans by your feet. Your eyes track his movements, too smart to try and take it from him but attentive nonetheless. You’re watching him with this flaming intensity. There’s something quietly passionate about you, like you’re burning with an energy that would be almost frightening if it didn’t seem so heartfelt. 

“You realize there’s cameras all over this place, right?” he asks. “You could get kicked out of school. This is vandalism.” 

You don’t flinch. “It’s uncommissioned public art.” 

“You think they’ll see it that way?” 

You sigh heavily, and Peter wishes he could see what was going on behind that mask so he’d know what you were thinking. Thankfully for him, your eyes are expressive enough. They narrow as you cross your arms, jutting out a hip. 

“So what, are you going to go and tell someone?” 

Peter sizes you up. He can relate to feeling like you need to work outside of the system to get something done. To being sick of going to the proper authorities after being told too many times that while they really do care, they won’t do anything about it.

“How about this,” he says. “You let me stay here and make sure you don’t damage any of the equipment, and I won’t rat you out.” He might even scrub the camera footage once you go. But he’s still figuring you out, so he doesn’t want to make promises. 

“Deal,” you say immediately. If you’re surprised at his bargain, you don’t show it, only shaking the paint canister in your hand and starting to spray another layer of paint onto the glass. Your brows pinch slightly as you work, evidence of an assiduous concentration Peter is familiar with. 

He makes himself comfy in a rolling chair, sitting back to watch you work. “We actually do some really important stuff here, you know.” 

“I’m sure you do,” you say without pausing. “It’s not like I blame everyone you personally. I get that the research helps people, but, I mean, at what cost?” 

Peter shrugs. It’s a good point. “True. It’s a lot worse for animals in the big labs. We’re small-scale because we’re funded by the school, and we’re also responsible for reporting to the higher-ups.” 

“I know.” Your eyes flit to him, less wary than before. “But I don’t have access to one of the big labs. Change has to start somewhere, right?” 

You can certainly agree on that. 

[jackiespurnell]

locked inside your heart shaped box - part two (no crash au jackie taylor x natalie scatorccio)

part one

summary: jackie's the hot, popular homecoming queen that everybody adores. she's destined to be the perfect housewife, but all her plans change a bit when tough burnout natalie scatorccio moves to wiskayok. cue the drama, the romance, and the sudden realization that maybe jackie isn't as straight as she thought...

tw: mentions of slut shaming, brief stereotyping, mentions of sex

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okay, look. if jackie had known that the girl she was assigned to show around her school was going to be the same girl who ended up taking her coffee order and therefore caused her to have a somewhat nervous breakdown because jackie has no sense of self when things aren’t going according to plan, she probably would have made a better effort to not have said nervous breakdown. (the again, if she had known in advance that this going to be a concern, she could have adjusted her plan to fit this in it. it’s not her fault she can’t tell the future or whatever).

she’s not exactly sure if natalie recognized her, but she smiled slightly, and the grunge girl exterior didn’t exactly scream ‘oh, let me pretend to be polite and friendly so i don’t cause problems’, so jackie figured natalie didn’t have too low of an opinion of her.

now, jackie knows she wasn’t outright rude or mean or anything. in fact, she knows that her attitude was probably above average customer behavior (approximately 74% percent of food service workers in new jersey have reported emotional abuse or harassment from consumers in the past year) but still, jackie held the highest standards for herself. she had to always be friendly and kind, and awkwardly nodding and staring wasn’t really the most friendly or kind thing to do.

but how could she not nod and stare? it was a suburban town in new fucking jersey in 1996, for crying out loud. sure, there’s a fair share of emo kids and whatever, but they’re usually just burnouts and smokers. not that she knew for sure natalie wasn’t a burnout who smoked - jackie was taught from a young age that stereotyping is bad (although jackie knows damn well that her parents wouldn’t appreciate jackie even talking to natalie, but of course, they would be too polite to say anything) - but she knew what kind of group nat was fit in it from the get to. yet, there was something different about natalie.

she could tell straight away that natalie wasn’t like them. cause kids like them would have made some dumb comment at jackie’s awkwardness. kids like them wouldn't be working at a coffee shop of all places. kids like them wouldn’t be standing in front of jackie, politely waiting for her to give them a tour of their new school, smiling at her.

“hi.” jackie perks up, hoping she could just slip back into her nice girl persona quick enough that natalie wouldn’t notice. “you ready?” she asks the blonde, to which she just receives a little nod. “yeah.”

jackie spends the next hour or so showing natalie around. she shows her the science lab where she accidentally fried her hair in tenth grade, the math class where she cried over an 89 on a test (she had all As that year, okay, she was really devastated), the gymnasium where she got named homecoming queen. 

she tries to ignore the growing pit in her stomach when realizes that she’s missing out on the few first classes of her senior year. she knows it’s probably not a big deal, they’re most likely not even learning anything the first day, and even if they were, at least jackie gets to skip class. but still. she can’t help but feel like she’s missing out. that something important is going to happen while she’s over here showing around the new kid. and natalie’s being so nice. and she’s funny and cool.

jackie doesn’t like that. (or rather, jackie doesn’t like how much she likes it.)

“and here’s our sports field.” jackie says, leading natalie outside to the grassy area outside of their school. “it’s used for all the sports games and practices. including what is objectively the best sport ever invented in the history of invented sports - soccer.”

“there are non invented sports?” natalie teases, to which jackie nods jokingly. “oh, absolutely. some of them just spawned out of nowhere. those are typically the shitty ones. like golf. like, who even likes golf?” 

“and what if i said i did, hmm?” natalie fake gasps, putting her hand to her heart as if offended. which she obviously wasn’t, if not noticeable by the way she’s stifling a laugh, then by the natalie does not like the type of person who would play golf. “then i’d say you’re opinion is terrible and you are wrong.” jackie ignores the weird feeling in her chest when she hears natalie laugh for real this time.

“i actually do play soccer though.” natalie said. “or at least at my old school i did.”

“maybe you should consider tryouts.” jackie says, and she isn’t sure why exactly she says it, she hasn’t even really figured out her opinion on natalie, so why the hell would she want to bring this girl into the one place where she knows she could be herself? it didn’t make any sense. but then natalie says “maybe i will” and jackie suddenly feels even worse.

“i’m actually the team captain this year.” jackie says, which basically means yes, you’re chill and you’re cool and you’re hot but that doesn’t mean you’re all that except for the fact that you actually are all that and it makes me feel weird so this is me trying to one up you. “so, i’m already in, but i’ll be helping out with tryouts.”

“captain, huh? you’re not gonna purposely screw me over at tryouts, are you?” nat says casually, playing into the easy banter.

and jackie knows that natalie is joking. and jackie also knows that if she it didn’t go against all the rules she set for herself, she absolutely would screw natalie over. she knows she’s a better person than most, and that’s not her being cocky, it’s just true. she knows she’s nice. it’s all she’s ever tried to be. and so far, she’s been doing pretty good. she’s a nice person, and nice people don’t exclude people they just met from their school’s soccer team just because they happen to be a tad bit cooler than you. it’s like, the number one rule of niceness or something.

“maybe i will, maybe i won’t.” jackie quips back, and she can’t help but crack a smile.

“why did you transfer here anyways? a small, dull town in jersey? there’s literally nothing.” jackie says, and if she was even a tinier bit better at navigating social cues, she’d be able to tell how natalie tenses at the question (but, unfortunately for both parties, she isn’t).

“um i moved.” natalie says. “it’s for my father’s, uh, job.” she says, avoiding eye contact. jackie just nods, humming slightly to herself. “where did you move from?” jackie says, walking ahead of natalie, picking at her nails. she’s always been told she has a tendency of walking fast, always constantly ahead of shauna or her parents or whoever it is she’s hanging out with.

“the city.” natalie says. “about an hour from here.”

“damn. well, then this is for sure a downgrade.” jackie teases. “but it’s not all bad. i mean, i’ve been here my whole life. it’s chill. if you like the suburban life, that is.” she quickly adds.

“and do you enjoy the suburban life?” natalie questions, and now it’s jackie’s turn to freeze up because how the hell do you answer a question that you’ve spent your whole life thinking about but have never actually been asked except now you are being asked and you really don’t know what to say except just stand there and then the bell rings and thank god for the fucking bell.

“oh, well, we should probably head back.” jackie says before natalie has to chance to interrupt. “hope you enjoyed your personalized tour from yours truly.” she smirks, trying to bring the humor back into the situation.” and she knows that natalie knows she’s uncomfortable, but she also knows that natalie isn’t going to bring it up, so she laughs at jackie’s joke instead. and if getting embarrassed sucked, jackie decided getting pitied sucked even worse. 

by the time lunch rolls around, word of the new girl has spread. while jackie has heard a few of the guys calling her hot - which jackie does not like - the main things she’s hearing are ‘burnout’ and ‘druggie.’ which, jackie, also doesn’t like.

“so,” shauna says. “you friends with the new girl or something?” she asks jackie. the two girls were currently at the school cafeteria, hanging with a few of their friends. shauna was currently scribbling whatever the fuck it is she scribbles in her diary (“it’s a journal jackie” “same difference”), and jackie was picking at her food, slightly zoned out until the other girl snapped her out of her trance. “uh, no.” jackie says. “i was just assigned to show her around. she’s chill but i wouldn’t really say we’re friends.”

and ironically, despite that being true given the fact that are not friends, it still feels like the wrong thing to say. any answer feels like the wrong thing to say.

shauna raises her eyebrows. “you know, that might break the record for the shortest sentence you’ve ever said.” jackie just laughs unironically, like the type of laugh you make when someone says something too offensive to be considered funny but not offensive enough to make a scene about it. “yeah, sorry, i’m just tired.” jackie offered, to which shauna just lets out a little hum as to say ‘okay.’

jackie keeps picking at her food, her leg shaking underneath the table. it was one of her nervous habits she picked up as a kid, something she always did whenever something or someone felt off. and shauna definitely felt off right now.

jackie purses her lips together. “hey, um, shauna, can i talk you about something?” she asks. shauna barely looks up from her journal, and when she finally does, it’s too late cause jackie feels an arm wrap around her side and a low, male voice saying “hey babe” right in her direction.

jeff and his friends typically hung around jackie and shauna, and even though jackie knew her best friend wasn’t too fond of the ‘fuck ass bro dues’ (shauna’s words, not jackie’s), she tolerated them. they weren’t all that bad, jackie had told her.

jeff sadecki was the quarterback of the football team. if this was a high school movie, he’d be the popular boy that all of the girls wanted. the love interest who swoops in at the end of the day to save the protagonist. and while this most definitely isn’t a movie - if it was, jackie wouldn’t be taking a calculus test next period - jackie likes to think of jeff as her movie love interest. the edward to her vivian, the josh to her cher, the harry to her sally. he was, like, basically perfect. well, besides the fact that she had to fake an orgasm because she didn’t want to be late for school and he was taking too long. but that’s beside the point.

besides, it wasn’t even like they were doing the real thing. he was just fingering her, it wasn’t like his dick was up her vagina or anything (even thinking about those two words in the same sentence makes jackie feel weird). maybe he’s just bad with his fingers. maybe that’s normal. jackie wouldn’t know, because it’s not like she’s ever done anything with anyone else. she’s waiting. her and jeff both are. which is what makes it so special, cause yeah, maybe he’s shit at pleasuring her, but she’d probably be just as shit, because they both have no experience. but they’ll learn. together. jackie thinks it’s romantic, the whole being-each-other’s-first thing. shauna doesn’t really get it, but how could she? she’s never fallen in love before. and that’s totally what she had with jeff. love.

(okay, so technically, one could say jackie did not in fact, love jeff, given that just this morning he told her he loved her and she, well, didn’t exactly say it back. but in her defense, she was just scared, okay? of course she loves him. that doesn’t mean anything….right?)

sometimes, love is hard. and messy. and complicated. and other times, love is a boy who smells more like a sweaty dog than an actual civilized human being kissing you in the middle of the school cafeteria right after taking a bite of meat loaf. and it was a big bite.

“hey, shauna.” jeff nods towards the brunette, who just awkwardly nods back. 

“okay, so” jackie said, looking between everyone at the table. “you guys all set to come to my party tonight?” the boys all nodded simultaneously, because who doesn’t want to get drunk at a rich girl’s house on a school night? a couple of them making jokes about all the girls they wanted to get with. one of their girls flipped off a couple of the guys, and everyone burst into laughter.

“what? you didn’t tell me you were having a party?” shauna cocks her head to the side, and jackie is positive in that moment that shauna must be having some form of memory loss because of course she would have told shauna. duh.

“um, yes i did? yesterday. when we were on the phone. when i called you.” jackie says, as if it’s obvious.

“jackie you didn’t call me yesterday.” shauna says, and jackie ignores how the rest of the group quiets.

“okay, well, then it was the day before. i don’t know, shipman. but i told you. i always tell you.” shauna hesitates, but then nods, and jackie lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “yeah, i probably just forgot.” shauna says, and jackie thinks to herself how she’s never been more grateful that shauna lets things go easily.

“come over to mine after school to get ready? please?” and jackie thinks that shauna’s probably going to say something stupid about how her parents wouldn’t let her or that she has to study even though she’s like, the smartest fucking person in the entire state of new jersey, but shauna just nods and smiles and jackie leans over the table to give her a hug because her and shauna rarely hug anymore and shauna rarely smiles at her anymore but here she is doing both of those things and that makes jackie smile too.

and in that moment, jackie decides that everything’s going to be okay.  she’ll tell jeff she loves him. she’ll figure things out with shauna. 

and as another kid yells ‘slut’ across the cafeteria in natalie’s direction, jackie decided that she’s going to figure things out with her, too.

“natalie!” jackie yells at the room, to which the blonde turns around from her table. she’s sitting with a few of the other burnt-out, drug-addicted kids, and her makeup is a little smudged which honestly adds to the whole grunge effect. jackie wonders if she did that on purpose. she motions for natalie to come over, which she does, that same smirk from before still plastered on her face - which, jackie’s gotta say, is really impressive cause if some guy publicly degraded her across the room like that she would not be smiling.

“come to my party tonight. my house.” she scribbles her address onto a posted note and hands it to natalie. “everyone’s going to be there.” 

“is there going to be booze?” natalie asks, with a subtle teasing tone, and jackie can’t tell if she’s alluding to the rather obvious fact she’s probably involved in alcohol or whatever, or because jackie looks too perfect and innocent to have ever touched a bottle of liquor.

“guess you’ll have to come and find out.” jackie smiles playfully, and if jeff and shauna and all of her friends are looking at her funny, because why the hell did jackie taylor of all people just publicly invite the new kid to her party, jackie wouldn’t have even noticed. she was too focused on the way natalie smiles at her right back.

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[morganski-19]

Chills Right to the Marrow Part 64

ao3 link| part 1 . . . part 61, part 62, part 63

the first part takes place after part 53, the second takes place after part 55, and the last before/during part 52

“Jesus Christ this wallpaper is terrible,” Eddie comments as he shuts the door behind him. As he, apparently, followed Steve up the stairs. Because he can’t give Steve a moment to deal with this. To not yell at him for not being prepared.

“I said I don’t want to talk about this again,” he repeats. Firm in his tone.

Eddie practically falls onto Steve’s bed, rolling to lay on his back. “I’m not focusing on that right now. I’m focusing on the fact that I just climbed a flight of stairs and am fucking winded. Holy shit, when did stairs become so hard.”

Steve snorts. Grateful for a moment where he can think of something else.

“So this is Steve Harrington’s room, huh,” Eddie continues. “This is what all the girls were so excited to see. From what I can see from laying down, I guess it’s ok. The décor is terrible though, what the hell is this furniture.” He pauses, because Steve took off his shirt, briefly, before slipping on a sweatshirt. “Oh, never mind, I get it.”

“You knew that they weren’t coming here for the furniture,” Steve mocks, laying down next to Eddie.

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Well aware. Just a joke. And maybe my round about way of asking to see you without clothes.”

“Could just be direct. Not like it would be unwanted or anything.” He takes a deep breath. “But that’s not what you came up here for.”

“That is not what I came up here for,” Eddie confirms. He turns on his side, looking at Steve. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I know Robin keeps bothering you about it, but I think not talking about it is worse.”

“Eddie,” Steve exhales.

“And,” he persists, “there is something that you’re not saying. And I think it’s better if you did.”

Steve lets out a deep breath, sitting up and Eddie does the same. He looks at Steve expectantly, but patiently. Reaching to take one of Steve’s hands and hold it. Waiting for him to open up.

“The more I think back on times in my life,” Steve starts, “my parents weren’t always terrible parents. When I was a kid, my dad would play catch with me in the yard, put in the pool when he learned I loved to swim, would help my study when I needed it. My mom, she would take me to the movies on my days off from school, bring me to the park, read to me. They went to all my games, had interest in my life and my friends, even insisted they met Nancy when they learned we were dating. Even if by then they had already pulled back.”

It was more for approval, he realizes now. But then, it was everything. There were times that Steve could look back on and try to find something wrong, something that made them out to be bad, but he couldn’t. There were other times that proved the exactly opposite of that, plenty of those times, but they all happened later.

Before high school, his parents were there. They seemed to enjoy being parents. Even if it was all a ruse, even if it was for a motive not obvious at the time, it still felt real.

“Sometime in high school, they just stopped caring. My dad cheated on my mom, and she started following him on all his business trips. They were home less and less. Each time they came back, it was clear that they weren’t interested in hearing about me anymore. This house was just a pit stop for them.”

Before, back in middle school, report card day used to terrify him. He was never good at math or science, something he could never wrap his mind around. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get that grade to an “A”. Something to be proud of. Yet, every time that report came through the mail, he was greeted with a smile from his mother, and a good effort from his dad. A motivating message to try and get better. It felt good in the moment.

There were a lot of moments like that. Where it felt good in the moment, but as Steve grew up, he understood the tone a little more. The meaning behind the eyes he was too scared to look in. It finally set in when he almost failed his freshman algebra. Passing wasn’t good enough, it wasn’t rewarded, just accepted. A lot of things were accepted and not revered.

Trophies were never allowed downstairs. It was a shelf in Steve’s room, that was their place. Because he should be proud of them, and be happy to look at them every day. And when people came over, his parents got to boast and have him run up the stairs to go and fetch the trophy for viewing, before being shunned again.

It wasn’t until he went over to Nancy’s for the first time, the proper first time, and saw Mike’s science fair ribbon hanging on the fridge next to Nancy’s straight “A” report. Dozens of pictures that Holly drew decorating their fridge. That was what real pride looked like. Even if they were just there for the day, it wasn’t shunned. It was acknowledged.

Steve’s accomplishments, his personality, his life was kept from the rest of the house. From them. Everything they ever cared about was things that could be bragged, and then hidden back away. When his notoriety ended, so did their love.

“I wasn’t interesting for them anymore.”

Eddie squeezes his hand, leaning on his shoulder. Steve didn’t realize that he started crying, not until a tear dripped off his chin and fell onto his lap. He stares at the small dark stain, and finds a way to finish.

“And as much as I hate them, as much as I can now see how bad they really were. There is still this part of me that is waiting for them to come back. Them selling the house is just proof that they never are.”

The air feels cleaner now that he’s said it out loud. The room less heavy, his mind a little more blank.

“They don’t deserve you,” Eddie says quietly. Using his hand to pull him closer, kissing his temple. “They don’t deserve you at all.”

“No, no they don’t.” Steve shakes his head, looking around at the only bedroom he’s ever known. “Where am I supposed to go after this?”

Eddie’s hand cups Steve’s cheek, his thumb rubbing away the tears. “One step at a time, right. We’ll get through this one step at a time. This is step one right here. Step two can come when it needs to. Step one point five can be us, sitting here, while you feel whatever you need to feel. Then we’ll get up, and we’ll eat something because I don’t know about you but I’m fucking starving. And then maybe we can watch a movie or something.”

Steve laughs, turning to look at Eddie. “I think I can do that.”

. . .

“So you’re moving in with Eddie?” Dustin asks unprompted.

Steve stills, setting the pile of tapes on the counter. “Uh, yeah, I am. How did you know that?”

They didn’t tell the kids about that yet.

“Not that hard to guess, considering you’ve been dating in secret.”

Also didn’t tell them about that.

He looks around, instinctively making sure no one is there. Even though the front door is locked, Steve just finishes up his closing tasks before he can go. Dustin had insisted that he stay so he didn’t have to bike home in the dark, which was a ruse, he knew. He just hoped that this wasn’t why.

It’s not like he never wanted Dustin to know. Just, that he wanted a bit more time. Robin knowing didn’t mean much, Wayne knowing meant it couldn’t go as unacknowledged. Telling Dustin meant it was real, though. This was it. No take backs if they mess up. No reverting back into awkward friends. Their relationship was real. Known.

Which wouldn’t be such of a problem if Steve wasn’t so scared he was going to mess it up. Every past relationship he’s had, even the small ones, have proven to him that things don’t tend to work out for him. It starts out great, better than he could possibly have imagined, and then it goes south. He says things he regrets, they say things they regret. It’s awkward for two years until a murderous psychopath forces them to spend enough time together to find a way to be friends again.

Robin says he’s projecting too much, but he thinks it’s being cautious. He’s been hurt. Sue him if he didn’t want to be hurt again.

“No one’s here, Steve,” Dusitn confirms when he notices him looking around. “It’s just me.”

Somehow, that doesn’t make it any better.

“I know.”

He truly doesn’t know how Dustin is going to respond. Which side he’s going to pick. He was close with both of them, it was going to be hard.

Steve was hoping Dustin would pick him, but he’s not sure about that.

Dustin makes a motion for him to continue, as if he’s supposed to have something to say.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say here. You seem like you already know everything.”

“I don’t know,” he exclaims. “Maybe hearing how long? How it happened? When you figured out you liked dudes? Something.”

Steve sighs, setting in more tapes to be rewound before answering. “When I worked at the mall, that’s when I figured out I liked guys. Or when I started to question it, I guess. I don’t think it was until after that I finally accepted it.”

Dustin nods, taking it all in. “And when you started liking Eddie?”

“I’m not exactly sure on that one. I know it was somewhere between getting stuck in the upside down and the final battle. But it all kind of hit me before we split off.”

“So that Nancy thing, that was all a fluke?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, kind of.”

“You know you are going to make this insanely complicated for me if you guys break up.”

“I am aware.” He switches out the tapes again. “Hoping that doesn’t happen, though.”

Dustin’s silent for a moment. Steve’s waiting for the shovel talk, ensuring that he doesn’t hurt Eddie. A sign that he’s lost Dustin in the potential breakup. Proof that, again, no one was going to stay.

“You seem happier,” Dustin says instead. “I didn’t notice it at first. But after you guys stopped fighting with each other, which is when I’m assuming you started dating, you changed. I haven’t seen you this happy before.”

Before Steve can find anything to respond to that, Dustin comes around the counter and hugs him.

“I know you didn’t exactly tell me the way you wanted, but I’m glad I know. And I’m glad that you’re happy.”

Steve smiles. “Thanks.”

“I’ll egg his house or something if he ever breaks your heart.”

He laughs. Selfish relief washing over him. “I appreciate it.”

. . .

His room never was the most cluttered thing there was, but it was still weird seeing it bare. His drawers empty, the pile in the back of his closet finally cleaned out. It was the end of something.

Life is always described in chapters. One bit of life ends, and the next begins. For Steve, though, it felt like up until this moment was one book. Everything that included this house was all tied together in one binding. The novel that this house created impacting its reader enough for a lifetime. Impacting Steve for a lifetime.

Tomorrow, when he leaves this house for the last time, he hopes that it starts a new book, instead of a chapter. A completely fresh start. A sequel, of sorts, but a whole new plot to further his future. His life. Something else to be the conflict that weighs on him.

He hopes that tomorrow, he can walk through the front door for the last time and leave all the pain this house gave him behind.

“Holy shit,” Robin says while helping him find anything else he wants to keep in the house. “Is this you?”

He turns to find her holding a large photo album. It’s been years since he’s seen that. “Yeah. I think was five in that picture.”

“I haven’t seen a picture of you before you were twelve, I thought you popped out as a preteen.”

Steve laughs. “If you want to keep thinking that don’t turn to the front of the album.”

Her eyes widen as she flips to the first page, many pictures of Steve as a baby laid out on the pages. Robin starts teasing him, saying how she’s going to find a weird one and make it a point to show everyone. Which isn’t going to be hard, considering the outfits his mom used to make him wear.

It’s nice, knowing that someone liked to look at these pictures. Wants to keep them, somehow. He always thought his mom took the book with him, but it was in the one cabinet in the living room the whole time. A sad feeling washes over him that his mom was going to sell the house without coming to get it back. But it’s nice to know he gets to be the one to keep it. It’s better in his hands anyway.

“What’d you find,” Eddie asks, coming into the room.

“Baby pictures,” Robin jumps to explain. “Look at Steve in this stupid outfit.”

Steve makes a face when he sees that one. He doesn’t remember wearing it, but it looks like so many others he was forced to wear. All of them were so itchy.

“Oh my God. You were so little.” Eddie takes the book and looks closer, before bursting out laughing. “What the fuck is that hat?”

“I will never know what went through my mom’s head when she dressed me like this.” Steve lets them look a little longer before taking it and placing it in one of his boxes. Going back to searching for anything else he wants to keep, or steal.

Eddie has started finding his own things as well, and Robin. They both had what they considered fancy blankets and pillows that they wanted to keep. Some of the kitchen stuff is already at the house, but Steve is making sure he has what he’ll need when he eventually moves out as well. And then there are the movies and records he wants to keep. He’s also taking the nice record player, because why not really.

Not much he really wants to keep, though. Except for his room, much of the space was never really his. He didn’t need all the fancy decorations and excessive touches. That all could stay and die in the house.

But the photo album, the things that he allowed himself to add over time, the memories he wanted to keep, that was all his. It was allowed to leave with him.

“I can’t believe that you’re actually leaving this place,” Robin says while helping him load some boxes into his car. “I thought I’d have to drag you out of there.”

Steve scoffs. “I would have left eventually. Just . . . wanted some time to process everything first.”

She stands next to him, staring up at the house. “You know, I’m only going to the community college in the next town, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see if we could get a place together. Be close for both of us.”

“That’d be nice. I don’t think I want to live alone anymore.”

He drives her home, leaving some of the boxes he doesn’t immediately need and her parents graciously offered to hold in their basement. Then he drives back to his house that’s only his for one more night. It will be the last time he ever drives up the driveway. What a weird feeling that is.

Eddie’s waiting for him when he comes home. Watching something on the tv. “You ready for tomorrow?” he asks, softly, as Steve comes and sits next to him.

“I’m not sure.” He wraps an arm around Eddie, pulling him close.

“I guess we’ll figure it out together then.”

“Yeah.”

Much like when Steve feelings for Eddie started, he can’t tell the exact moment that they turned into loving him. There was just a morning when he woke up, and it was the first thought in his mind. He spent so long fearing for the next time he fell in love, he forgot how nice it felt at all. With Eddie, it just felt right. He couldn’t explain it, but it was freeing.

The evening is the normal he’s become accustomed to. A house that doesn’t suck the life out of him, simply because there is someone there. Someone to drag his attention away from the space that is left empty.

When he wakes up the next morning, it’s before anyone else.  He walks through the house one more time, the quiet surrounding him. It’s not as suffocating. It doesn’t drag him in and keep him there. Instead, it pushes him out the door for the last time, as ready for a new start as he is.

The last of the boxes get put in his car, in Wayne’s truck. He locks up, slides his key off the key ring and places it in the envelope with the rest of the copies. Takes his ability to enter this house and puts it in the mailbox. Leaving the house behind.

So many memories in this house, a mix of good and bad. He thought that leaving would feel like a massive weight off his shoulders, something to make him feel different. There is that lose of weight, but nothing that makes him feel that different. Nothing that makes the change hard, it was all easy.

Yet, when he makes the turn off his street, and heads to the other side of the town, he feels a sense of freedom he can’t describe. One that makes him smile for no real reason at all. Sun glaring in his eyes as it moves into the afternoon.

He pulls into the driveway of the Munson’s house, feet no longer stuck to the ground. He is moving forward now. Moving on.

It’s terrifying, but he’s ready for it.

I cannot express in this moment how much I will miss writing this fic. It has been an experience for me that I was not expecting when I started it, but came to me in moments when I needed it the most. Tomorrow I will post the very long reflection post I do for my fics, where I will be able to go into how and why this fic means so much to me, so check back to my blog for that if interested. But for now, I further cannot express the love I have for all of you readers. Writing this was never something I imagined to get the support that I have. I found myself surprised to see you all read this, and react in the way that you did. To know that I wrote a story that other people loved as much as me is something I can never understand, but am grateful for every day. To those who have left likes, reblogs, and comments, know that I read and saw every single one. I awaited your reactions, and they always brought a smile to my face. Thank you for your support, it means more than you can ever know. Thank you for reading this story, it was a pleasure writing it.

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[mcu-pokedex]

First Date with Peter Parker

Overview: y/n and Peter are nervous about telling each other that they have feelings, yet somehow they end up on a movie date.

Warnings: Some kissing, all fluff

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Y/N POV:

I can't believe it! Oh. My. God. Walking out of computer science Peter asked me what I was doing tonight. Even though it was a Friday the only thing on my to-do list was putting on a face mask and watching Netflix. Stumbling over my words I had agreed to go to the movies with him. Again, oh my god! I was so anxious. Questions racking in my brain. All I can think about is what on earth do I wear? I had to get home immediately.

Well walking back home Peter texted me saying that he would get me at 7:30. The image of Peter at my front door gave me tingles. An unstoppable smile spread on my face. Opening my bedroom door and throwing my backpack onto the floor I rush to my closet. Throwing clothes into my bed and googling cute movie theater outfits. I knew this should be easy, but lord knows how much I will overthink this.

Peter's POV:

No way I just did that. After having a crush on y/n since the moment we met. Today I finally had the balls to ask her out. Well, kind of. I mean we are going to the movies together but I don't know if they see it as a date. Either way, my heart is beating out of my chest. I have been sitting in my living room waiting to go to y/n's place. I've been ready since 4:30 and it's only 6. Ughh. I don't even know what we are gonna see. I wanna leave it totally up to them. I do not want to mess up this kind of date at all.

Y/N POV:

Peter is gonna be here 10 minutes and I can't sit still. I am wearing blue jeans and a maroon shirt. It's simple and allows for my body to not overheat. I'm so flushed I don't even need to put on blush. After realizing this I blush even more. I did put on a little mascara and concealer to give me more confidence. Slipping on my white Converse it hit me what was happening. My stomach was doing flips at the idea of Peter about to knock on my front door. I made sure to spray myself with perfume so there was no chance I smelled bad. I am so nervous my throat is dry and my hands are fidgeting. After years of knowing Peter and having a crush on him for just as many, I can't believe we are going on a date. Unless of course, this is just a hangout. I want to spiral on that idea again but I can't as I hear a knock on my door. Sending electricity shooting through my body.

Peter POV:

Walking up to her front door was one of the most nerve-racking things ever. I raised my hand to knock on their front door, taking a deep breath before letting my knuckles touch the door. Only a beat later the door swung open. They looked gorgeous. I mean they always do. Even when they are tired late at night in our mini-study group. But right now my eyes had no choice but to soak them in, and I was loving it. Their mouth was agape making my heart flutter. Ned always told me that he thought y/n had a crush on me but I never believed it. I mean me? Peter Parker, pfff. But I do wonder what's going on in that pretty head of theirs.

Y/N POV:

He looked handsome. hair fluffy, in jeans, and a Midtown jacket. He was captivatingly comfy. His eyes are soft and giving you all there attention. His mouth was a little open which I couldn't help but giggle at.

"Hello Peter" I stated, looking him in the eyes, causing my breath to falter.

"Oh, uh- hello y/n" he cutely stuttered back. Making me laugh under my breath at how silly he can be.

"Should we get going? I saw that were was a preview of Titanic at 7:45 at the movie theater just down the road. "

"Yeah!" he nodded.

I closed the door behind me and stepped aside Peter. As we began our walk I noticed how the street lights made his face glow. Giving me a warm feeling inside. There had been a comfortable silence between the two of us till I asked.

"How have you been since school?"

"Good, I mean I barely touched my homework, but it's Friday and I got a whole weekend ahead of me" he lets out a little laugh and looks down at his hands.

"Same, that paper due for English also has me in a chokehold. I have no idea what to write it on." I said.

The rest of the walk was just casual conversation. I mean me and Peter are best friends no matter what this hangout date situation is.

Peter's POV:

As we walked I couldn't help but try to think of ways to make y/n laugh. I would do anything to hear that laugh they have. It brings me such joy to know they are happy. Without realizing it we had walked the few blocks in a matter of minutes. I walked up to the booth of the ticket holder.

"Two tickets for Titanic please?" I said handing them 25 dollars.

"Movie theater 2 on your left, have fun watching!" They said as they gave me my tickets and some coins back.

However, this outing ate away at my small personal savings. I could not imagine spending it in any other way. Whatever it took to hang out or see you I would spend. We walked through the entrance and y/n stopped.

"Peter do you want popcorn or anything?" y/n asked.

"Maybe, do you want any y/n?" I asked smirking knowing that asking was y/n's way of saying they wanted something.

"Peter you know me too well," They said hitting my shoulder playfully.

We both laughed as we got into line asking for a large popcorn with extra butter.

Y/N POV:

After finding movie theater 2. You both sat in the middle-top area. It's a good spot. I was surprised because of how full the room was. I noticed there were only two other empty seats throughout the entire thing. It was packed! I mean it is a Friday so it makes sense, even if this movie is old. I had been thinking about the chances of our seats before I even noticed Peter trying to ask me something.

"Have you ever seen Titanic before?" he looked curious, his cute little eyebrow raised.

"Uhh, I guess not" I shrugged not thinking much of it.

"Y/n I really need to do a better job at getting you well-versed in movies" he let out a little chuckle.

"I guess so! We can call it a date"

I was astonished at the words that just left my mouth. NO WAY did I just confirm that I wanted to go on a date with Peter. My face was red. I don't even need a mirror to know that. Thank god the lights were dim.

I stuttered out "I- I mean only if- you want it too, noooo pressure" giving a fake laugh to cover my anxiety.

" Y/n can I ask you something?" he says looking right into my eyes. Which felt like he was examining my soul.

I swallowed my spit " Uhh- yeah, ask away!" I said with way too much excitement in my voice.

"Is this a date?"

My heart was in my throat and my eyes opened wide. Did he really just ask that. There's no way. An eruption of butterflies took over my body. I was about to answer before we were cut off by the people behind us choosing us. I looked dead forward at the screen not wanting to see Peter's face. I ate some of the popcorn in my lap and handed Peter the rest. The nerve recked my appetite. And before dealing it the movie had begun.

Peter POV:

I was just about to get an answer out of y/n before the rude guy behind us interrupted. I was enamored with their face as the bright screen showed their wonderful details. They were stunned and in shock. I was beginning to believe that Ned had been right. I could not believe it. But it's the only excuse for y/n's reaction. Unless of course, they hate me. Which I highly doubt. I slowly looked at the screen as they handed me the popcorn.

---30 minutes later---

I noticed y/n shivering. I mean it was a little cold in here but not enough for me to be considered cold. I wonder if they want my jacket.

Y/N POV:

I had been so engrossed with the plotline before realizing Peter was handing me his jacket. It made me realize how I was sitting on my hands and folder over to keep me warm.

"Thank you, Peter"

"Of course y/n, anytime" he smirked.

I put the jacket on feeling the heat from his body still keeping it warm. It smelled like him, which was also a plus.

---Another 30 minutes later---

I was trying to watch the movie but all I could think about was the cute boy sitting next to me. Including all the cute things he does. Whether he is talking about space, the Avengers, or even his science homework. It always made me happy, to see how happy Peter was. I was so happy to be here with him. And he had bought the tickets and given me his hoodie without me even telling him I was cold. I slowly reached my hand from my lap and onto the armrest. Leaving my palm facing up. My heart was about to leap out at this act of confidence. But I just had to remind myself of all those times I dreamed of holding Peter Parker's hand. So I kept it there, hoping for the best.

Peter POV:

Their hand was on the armrest palm up. I had seen them move their shy hands up and onto the armrest. I was glad to know that all this worrying about my crush was actually real and that they liked me back. As smoothly as I could I picked my hand up and ran my fingers over their palm. Before I landed my plan in there's and squeezed my hand tight around there's. Our fingers are entwined with one another.

Their face held a small smirk which gave me just enough confidence to pull their hand into my lap. Pulling them over the arm rest. So that their head was leaning on my shoulder. It felt right, and I heard y/n's breath pick up and come to a steady resting place.

---Another 30 minutes---

I had seen Titanic many times before this. So I tuned it out. Only focusing on the feelings I was experiencing. To have y/n's hand in mine, them wearing my jacket, and them just being with me. I was on cloud nine. There was only another half hour before the movie was over and I could tell the end was gonna make y/n cry. It even made me cry the first time I saw it. They were holding my hand tight and were gasping to all the twists and turns.

As the movie wrapped up I was hesitant to move. I knew y/n had shed a few tears as my shoulder was lightly wet. Which did not bother me one bit. Also, I did not want this moment to end. I wanted them to make the choice to move away from me.

Y/N POV:

I had been lying on Peter's shoulder for half the movie. I knew I would have neck pain later but I did not care because I did not wish to move. I did cry a little but I hope Peter did not notice. I was sad to see the credits begin to roll and the lights un-dim in the theater. I waited till the last second to move away from Peter. Basically, until everyone was standing up. As soon as I pulled away I missed his touch. I looked down at us still holding hands and realized that he was looking also. When we looked back up at each other.

" Do you want to take a walk around Central Park?" he asked.

" I would love to Peter" I grinned as he stood up with our hands still locked together

We exited the theater in a blissful state. I was over the moon Petere actually liked me back. So much so that the ending of the Titanic did not take hold of my emotions.

"So I have to ask how did you like the movie?" Peter asked as you walked outside.

"Good. I was not ready for Jack though. Sorry if I got your shoulder wet. I was just surprised they did that to his character"

Peter chuckled, "It's okay y/n, all good"

Both of you had been walking in silence for a few minutes. Enjoying each other's company. A few seconds later Peter stopped when you reached the front gates of the park.

"What?"

"You never answered that question back there," he said raising an eyebrow.

" Pfff, whaaa, okay maybe" I deflected.

" Hey I mean I want this to be a date but only if you want it-"

I cut him off, "YES, please, Peter I have liked you for too long, please say this is a date!" I basically begged

" Well then y/f/n y/l/n you are in luck because I Peter Parker and taking you out on an official date. Would you like to walk around Central Park with me?"

'"Of course!" I said gidddy with a smile across my face.

It was late but neither of you cared. Walking around the paths, going under bridges, and still holding hands. The air was brisk yet it was all worth it to step on the crunchy leaves scattered across the ground. It had been a few minutes of silence and some light conversation explaining how long we both had liked each other. We were both walking when he stopped on top of a bridge above a little river. The lights illuminated above me.

Turning to me he said, "Y/n I have had a wonderful night"

"Me as well," I said smiling.

"Well," he said placing his arm around my back and taking a small step forward. " Now that I know how long we have liked each other . . "

"Yeah Peter," I said looking at him with curiosity.

Nervously he stuttered out "Y/n I like you a lot! And I just want you to know that and-"

He cut himself off by leaning into my face and gently placing his lips on mine. My breath hitched as I realized that Peter was kissing me. I quickly retracted. Soaking in how soft and tender he kissed me. it was so gentle it was almost like an angel. When he pulled away both let out a loud exhale. Then we looked at each other and laughed. It was silly how long it took us to get to this point. I leaned into Peter letting him pull me flush to his body. I grabbed his face with both of my hands and placed my lips onto his with a little more force this time.

Well kissing Peter all I could think about was how much I love this boy, causing me to smile into the kiss.

[astrylx]

Supernatural S.5 Ep.4 - The End - Liveblog

This episode appears to be a zombie episode. I am intrigued. I'm a very hit or miss person when it comes to zombie type stories. When I like them, they typically either satirize the genre or expand on science behind it. I'm expecting neither from Supernatural.

The demons have the Colt. Interesting. I'm curious how this is going to play out. I love Cas on the phone by the way. Is Castiel actually going to wait there all night?

SAM! He's telling Dean everything, is he? Fuck. The way Dean treats it too, I can't tell how he actually feels. If he's masking his emotions or he's just come to not be able to fully care because of everything that's happened. Or if he's shut himself out of feeling. I can't tell. But them acting like this with one another doesn't feel right.

"Stay away from each other for good." You can't mean that. You don't... actually mean that, right?

Is this Dean's way of protecting Sam, as he always has, as he has always done? Or is it his way of protecting himself?

Now is Dean going to see what it's like when he doesn't have Sam? Is this the Trickster again? Ngl, I kind of hope it is, because I absolutely adore the Trickster and want more of him. He's one of my favorite characters.

Croatoan... Whelp. That helps explain it. Makes sense too. I should have expected it, but I'm not going to lie, I kind of forgot that episode even though I really liked it. Probably because I watched it while sick. I wonder what this means for Sam though, because as previously established, Sam is immune. I also wonder if Dean is immune since even though he doesn't have demon blood, he is the vessel of Michael. I also wonder what demon released the virus. Setting my bets on either Lucifer or more likely, Meg.

Holy shit- the fucking military arsenal-

It's Zachariah, not Trickster. Fuck. Fuck that man, I hate him.

In this world Bobby is dead, isn't he? I hate that. I know eventually in this show Bobby will die, and when he does, that will probably be when this show actually makes me cry.

Castiel is in the photo? I'm confused. This episode is confusing me.

Dean just knocked out Dean? I am so confused.

As I proud hater of time travel (in almost all circumstances, Kurt Vonnegut with Billy being stuck in time, you are an exception), I am already not that big of a fan of this episode. It's two things I tend not to like in one: time travel and zombies. Yet we persist. So it goes.

So Sam is dead. Didn't Lucifer say he would revive him, though?

"You weren't with him?" Dean you literally hung up on him a few hours earlier. You said it was better off apart. No shit you weren't with him. Not to be a hater, of course. I understand how you're feeling. I can see the realization hitting your eyes. I'm assuming by Dean saying they haven't talked in five years that the call from earlier is the last time they talk. Which. Wow what a last talk.

CHUCK! I like Chuck. I don't fully trust him, he gives me odd vibes. I think he's more than we've been told. But I like him! Actually scratch that, idk if I like him because he talks to Becky and I fucking HATE Becky.

Cas sticking by Dean... Curious.

WTF HAPPENED TO CAS- WHAT- W H A T - I AM AGOG - I CAN'T- ORGY? I FEAR I HAVE TOTALLY LOST THE PLOT- I feel bad for him though because I can imagine everything it took to get him to that point.

The Colt.

Okay I think I'm getting it now. Sam isn't dead, Lucifer is in him, future Dean is going to use the Colt to kill Sam.

"Are you coming?" "Of course." Castiel... Oh Castiel...

I was right. Sam is now hosting Lucifer.

Future Dean does care. He wants current Dean not to repeat his mistakes. He wants Dean to say yes to Michael. Me personally, I don't think that's answer and I don't think that's what the priority should be. But hey, that's just me.

Hearing Cas talk like this is so weird to me.

Dean willing to use people as sacrifices... Yike.

SAM AS THE DEVIL HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT

I love that they have him in all white. Such a good touch.

This scene is done so incredibly well so far. Lucifer in all white, with the red rose between his fingers? If I had any faith in my art skills I'd draw that honestly. I'm loving the use of colour and framing.

Part of the reason to love humans is for their flaws in my humble opinion. I could go on a whole rant on this, I could. I won't. But I could.

The tears in Dean's voice, the look in Sam/Lucifer's eyes ACK.

"You will always end up here" see I could go on a whole theological/philosophical rant here, bring up topics of free will versus fate, quote some Nietzsche, quote some Calvinism, quote some Aristotle or the Mishnah, but y'all ain't here for that so...

"Nah" I love you, Dean Winchester.

Castiel pulling Dean out. Castiel in this season I could honestly write so much about, he's so interesting to me.

HE'S CALLING SAM HE'S CALLING SAM! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

I always forget just how fucking tall Jared is. Him getting out of the car genuinely shocked me. Like I'm 5'6, he's terrifying to me.

That was a great ending to the episode, them reuniting. Having each other's back. Yea, they are each others weakness. That's part of being a sibling though. They're stronger together.

In all, this episode was not my favorite. Aside from Castiel, and the scene with Lucifer and Dean in the garden (which did give me garden of Eden vibes, I see you Supernatural show writers), I wouldn't watch this episode. I don't like zombie stories or time travel, and this episode did not break that trend. The last 10 minutes are okay though. That's what I'd watch again. That's what was important to me.

I'm done with Supernatural for today. Maybe I'll watch some more tomorrow. It's supposed to snow overnight, I don't believe that. It basically never snows here. Anyway. Have a great night y'all.

[lagomoz]

playing baldur's gate 3 while rejecting all romance paths is actually hilarious because you get a harem all gunning for the least eligible bachelorette in all the lands

-caught off guard by Gale's magic lesson turning into yearning eye contact. I just wanted to learn about magic. I would give him a fist bump if I could

-Shadowheart asks to share a drink at the party in her tent. I go hell yeah pour up!, excited to party with my buddy, and my (real life, who's watching me play) brother has to tell me she was hitting on me

-Lae'zel asks to smash right in the middle of slaughtering a bunch of goblins. we're both covered in blood. there's several dead bodies right there. the rest of the party can 100% hear and see this. I tell her no thanks and continue killing goblins. nobody brings it up again

-wasn’t entirely sure if she meant “taste me” in a sex way or a cannibalism way at first. I would’ve been more likely to say yes to the cannibalism

-I ignore the weird S&M whipping guy until my brother suggests there might be a mechanical benefit to doing it. I hadn't thought of that, I just thought the game had a random weirdo for no reason. the rest of the party watches me turn down the clearly insane sadomasochist lurking in a shady dungeon until I remember stat boosts and run off to get whipped for combat advantage

-after knocking Minthara out, I accidentally steal her underwear. I apologize and sheepishly put it back in her inventory. everything else is still stolen without remorse

-Withers tells me not to get distracted by my bosom buddy. I have to inform him that not only do I have no goddamn clue who he's referring to but that he should be far more worried about me getting distracted by literally anything else

-Gale talks about the suspension bridge effect in the shadow lands. I excitedly agree that yes, I do know about that, isn't it interesting? psychology is so cool! the fact he might be trying to imply something by bringing that up is irrelevant in the face of fun trivia. this probably makes me more attractive to him honestly

-every time Astarion casually flirts in his dialogue I ask if he means it in a bro way. I suspect he wants to kill me

-Halsin asks to hit. I stare at him, go nope! and walk off. neither of us bring it up again

-world’s most awkward brothel scene. I’m most excited about the cat

-Orin replaces the circus dryad and tries to get information from a love test. I go oh well I have nobody to do this with and carry on to gleefully enjoy the circus without ever realizing it was her

-I make Gale lick the dead spider laced with aphrodisiacs because I'm scared of spiders. he agrees to lick the dead spider. Shadowheart judges him heavily

-after refusing Mizora I continue my hobby of trying new ways to harming her. explosions, magic, whacking her over the head, biting, etc. it doesn't stick but it's about the message

-I tell off creepy blood lady for trying to pressure Astarion and then cheerfully accept her creepy offer because someone experimenting on my blood sounds perfectly fine to me. her fetish is none of my business

-Astarion’s character arc around being only valued for his sex appeal derailed by the weirdo who’s second most prevalent thought after seeing him shirtless after the rune scars is wondering what kind of undead have nipples

-Withers. Withers do you have nipples. it’s for science Withers. hey wait where are you going-

-I meet an incubus. I politely ask him to put some pants on and then if he has any tips on murdering the guy I'm here to rob

-emperor asks to smash. I bluescreen for a good minute and tell it no thanks. neither of us bring it up again

-completely missed the implication Ansur and the Emperor were a thing. I would have nuked that squid idiot so much harder if I'd known. how'd you fumble an actual dragon that bad? I'd treat Ansur right

-I’m like 90% I’ve missed some other romantic implications because I’m focused on trying to loot every single tin cup

I haven’t bathed in a month. I collect body parts. I’m dense as fuck. I never have any idea what’s going on. I forget names, directions and what we were supposed to be doing constantly. I enjoy blowing people up. everyone wants me carnally

[guessimjoiningthespidermanfandom]

Hey! For your Miles requests, I'd love to read about what it might be like for the reader to watch Miles transfer to Visions if they both went to Brooklyn Middle together.

Not This Time

Miles Morales x fem!reader

Miles Morales x black!reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: none

Requested: yes

A/N: GUYS PARTICIPATE IN MY 300 FOLLOWER SPECIAL PLEASE also hope you guys enjoy electro because I had to make something up.

300 Follower Special <3

Masterlist

“You’re not gonna forget me right?” You wondered. 

It was the last week of summer and you were clinging to the last few days you had left with Miles. Sitting on his building’s rooftop you stared down at the Brooklyn you’ve known your whole life. You and Miles were the fastest of friends since your first day at Brooklyn Middle you genuinely couldn’t imagine not seeing him every day. You were still proud of him, however. Getting into Visions was a pretty big deal. 

“Why would you ask me that?” He glanced at you offended. 

You simply shrugged, pulling your knees up to your chest. “I dunno, you’ll go and make new friends and I won’t be so important anymore,” 

“No,” He shook his head, turning to face you. “That would never happen,” 

You looked back at him, maintaining eye contact. 

 “I’d never forget you,” He promised. 

The first week of freshman year was finally over. It wasn’t as bad as your middle school teachers tried to make it seem, you’d made a couple of new friends, and none of your teachers were mean.

Realizing you hadn’t spoken to Miles yet today you pulled your phone out to message him. 

you: how was your first week? 

miles: my science teacher was on my ass but my roommates not bad

miles: he doesn’t talk much 

you: i told you, you’d be fine

you: wanna go the end show w/me tonight in golconda

you: it’s at 7 

miles: im sorry I cant :( too much hw 

you: oh no don’t worry maybe next time

Putting your phone back down on your desk with a huff you tried not to feel disappointed. There would be other opportunities to hang out. It’s not like this was the end of your friendship. 

The excuses and cancellations only grew in numbers. Soon you’d gone from seeing Miles every day to barely holding a virtual conversation once a week. 

You weren’t going to sit around and wait for the crumbs of attention Miles was willing to give you. This would not be a one-sided relationship, you had too much self-respect for that. 

But just because you weren’t actively talking doesn’t mean you didn’t care. You’d just care from afar. 

—————-

You weren’t one to watch the news but the TV was open to Channel 12 when you made it home from running errands. Placing your grocery bags on the couch something compelled you to tune in. 

Seeing PDNY cars surrounding a crazed man wielding what looked to be lightning bolts sent you into a state of controlled panic. You practically sped to Miles’s apartment to check on Mr. Morales. 

He wasn’t there when you got to the apartment but Rio informed you he was okay and she’d just spoken to him on the phone.  

Letting out a sigh of relief you relaxed your shoulders. Slumping to sit down next to her on the couch she gave you a once-over 

“You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. How’s high school?” She asked, now getting a better look at you. 

“It’s definitely different,”

“We’ve missed you around here, Miles has been acting so different lately, he’s not my little boy anymore,” She sighed wistfully. 

“I miss you guys too,” You pouted.

 You didn’t want to get emotional but you really did miss your second family. And you weren’t trying to take it personally but Miles avoiding you truly hurt. “It’s so weird not seeing Miles anymore,” 

“Seeing him a couple times a week must be very different from every day,”

A couple times a week? You hadn’t seen him at all this month. Even if you were pissed at him you didn’t want him in trouble so you just agreed. 

“Yeah, I’m still not used to it.” 

You weren’t leaving until you saw for yourself that Mr. Morales was okay. Your stubbornness and unwillingness to take things as you’re told kept you from being able to fully believe Mrs. Morales’s promise of her husband’s safety. Anything could’ve happened between their phone call and now. 

Waiting on the couch listening to Mrs. Morales talk about work and her conniving coworkers. You felt the most at peace as you’ve had in a while. 

The peace didn’t last long as Miles came bursting through the front door adorning his red and black jacket with oversized sweats and his backpack slung over his shoulder. Mrs. Morales immediately stood up and moved towards him, the picture of concern. 

“Mijo, what’s wrong, what are you doing here it’s a school night?” 

Instead of answering her he just threw himself into her arms and wilted into her chest. 

From your place on the couch, you couldn’t hear the muffled conversation or anything at all, which only amplified your worry. 

“What happened? What’s wrong?” You found yourself calling out standing from your spot on the sofa. 

The sound of your voice snapped him out of his reprieve. Miles pulled his head from the crook of his mother's neck. He let his eyes roam over you attempting to assess if you were real or not. 

Once he decided his eyes weren’t deceiving him he practically launched himself into your arms. 

You stumbled back with the force of his weight and despite your anger and confusion, you hugged him back. 

Evidently, something was wrong but he wasn’t going to talk about it anytime soon. You tried to hold out and let him feel his emotions but- 

“Miles,” You wheezed out into his chest. “Can’t breathe.”

He released you the slightest bit but didn’t let you go. 

“Sorry,” He muttered to the top of your head. “Missed you so much,” 

“Missed you too,” 

As much as you loved Mrs. Morales, she was a chismosa and every conversation was not for her ears. 

“Let’s go outside,” You suggested grabbing his arm to pull you with him. 

You hadn’t made the climb to the water tower in a while and you weren’t as fit as you were a month ago. Trying to hide it out of embarrassment you switched the topic. 

“You cold?” You asked panting as you found your footing. 

“What?” He questioned looking down at himself.

 As if he just discovered the zip-up he was wearing he answered. “Oh! Yeah, yeah it’s really chilly out here,” 

Even without the years of knowing Miles under your belt, you would’ve known he was lying but you didn’t feel like starting an argument the first time you saw him in a while so you just dropped it. 

The two of you easily fell back into the swing of things as if there were never any distance between the two of you. You were glad to be talking again, now knowing his issue wasn’t due to anything you’d done. 

He was catching you up on everything you’d missed in his life when he went ghost on you, but he still wasn’t hinting at what was bothering him. He was using you as an alibi and not even telling you, it was so unlike him. 

Even his mom noticed a change in his behavior so why wouldn’t he just talk to you? You had to bring it up or you’d regret it once you’d gotten home. 

“You know you can tell me anything right?” 

He hummed in acknowledgment.

 You should be furious he’d ghosted you for so long. And now he won’t even talk to you? but looking at him now he looked so upset and broken you couldn’t feel anything besides concern. 

“Miles please, tell me what’s going on,” You begged. “We tell each other everything,” It was true you even told him when you had started your first period the summer before 7th grade. You never felt the need to hide anything from each other. So why start now? What happened between the start of high school to now to make him stop trusting you? 

“Is it me? Can you just not tell me?” You attempted to rationalize his behavior. 

“It’s not you,” He promised. 

“So then talk to me please,” You whined. 

“I can’t tell you. Not this time,” 

The last person to learn he was Spider-Man died. In the same month, he watched Spider-Man and his uncle die in right front of him. All his other friends left him and maybe it was selfish but you were the only one he had left. He refused to lose you or have you look at him differently. Maybe telling you would lift some of the burden of having a secret identity as just a child, but he couldn’t risk it. Not this time. Not with you.

©guessimjoiningthespidermanfandom

[eponymous-rose]

Tuesday!

I continue to be really impressed by this exercise class - I was the only one who signed up for my timeslot today (it varies week to week, apparently) and she messaged me just to make sure I was okay with having a private lesson instead of being with the group! No extra charge, no cancellation, just a great one-on-one discussion and class. Got some great advice on improving my push-up form and protecting my dang hyperextending knees. And Clara got to roll around on my yoga mat to her heart's content!

Off to work! I futz around a bit and realize belatedly I was supposed to be in an hour earlier than I thought, so I have to take a rideshare to campus instead of the bus, whoops. I get 100% free public transit through work (as someone who's ridden city buses to school/work since I was 10, this still blows my mind!), so I try not to sweat it when I have the odd Lyft/Uber trip since my transportation budget would be $0 otherwise. Nice to get to campus with time to spare!

First up is the faculty candidate talk - he does great! Very funny and also full of great science. He looks a little frazzled afterwards, but a couple colleagues and I scoop him up and bundle him out for bahn mi and soup. We stop for coffee on the way back and show him our favorite view on campus, which actually floors him (we live in a very, very pretty part of the world!). There's a conversation that reminds me that we maybe don't all have the same experiences, because everyone starts sharing what they did after finishing their PhD dissertations, and it's like, oh, I hiked in the Alps and spent some time in Switzerland, or, ah yes, I traveled Southeast Asia for three months. When I defended, I did get to visit a few friends across the US, which was AMAZING, but really it was just stalling a couple weeks while I waited for my furniture to reach my new home and stressing over where my paycheck was coming from while my visa stuff was being processed. Slightly less exciting!

We get in a little late, so colleagues and I sneak into the back row of the faculty meeting (we have about 20 faculty members, so our tardiness is definitely noted, whoops). There's a very silly moment where our chair is trying his darnedest to explain this strategic planning thing, and one colleague sitting next to me waves at another to pull down the blinds so we're not getting sun in our eyes. Colleague at the window makes eye contact, adopts a "what? huh? what's that you want?" look, and starts inching the blinds down, pauses to pretend to look confused, then puts it back up, frowns at it like that's not quite right, then puts it back down. Colleague starts waving and pointing downward more and more exaggeratedly as window-colleague grins more and more evilly and pretends he's never seen a window or a set of blinds in his life. We're all giggling in the back, worse than freshmen, and get a glare from the chair. Shush, you miscreants.

(I'm reminded of sitting in as a graduate student on a faculty meeting and being really intimidated until I got there and realized everyone was practicing swiveling on the fancy new chairs. It was all fun and games until someone gave an emeritus faculty a little push and he slowly drifted out the door with a quiet "nooooooooooo")

Anyway, the meeting itself is probably full of useful information, but I make the mistake of checking my e-mail and my to-do list grows nine items during that hour. Ugh. Can't quite manage to be in a bad mood, though - when I get back to my office I remember I picked up a slice of white chocolate banana bread at the coffee shop! This will fuel my remaining e-mails. I close my office door (I like to have an open-door policy, but my cheat code is occasionally locking the door and putting a post-it note up that says "I am here - please knock!") and grab my headphones to get an e-mail montage soundtrack going.

Okay! Item one: reply to my undergrad research assistant's e-mail proposing an abstract for her symposium submission. I give her some suggestions and help her out with accessing some data about Scandinavian thunderstorms she may want to include in her studies.

Next! I'm working on getting my budget settled for this wildfire project and the numbers just keep not quite numbering. I got an e-mail that I think summarizes what's going on, so I need to go in and fix it, plus add wording from the grants manager. It's so much better than I thought it would be, since it's just a typo rather than an error with unattributed funding. Phew. Get that done and sent off.

Next! In the aforementioned grants discussion, there's some weird indirect funding stuff going on that I need to clarify since my grants are starting to run dry and still need to fund 2.5 months of my summer salary. I send three paragraphs and then kinda give up and also link the e-mail address of the grants coordinator at the parent institution that will be disbursing the subcontract I'll be paid under. I know less than nothing about this financial stuff, man, but I'm trying my best.

Flights are being booked for my trip out to speak on a panel and visit a university halfway across the country! Exciting! I approve the flights they've chosen for me (direct!!!!).

I got an e-mail with some alarmingly close deadlines for a grant proposal I haven't fully written yet - I send a message to my co-author on the grant checking whether she can also get all this done in three weeks or so, and then offer to coordinate with the grants team to shift that deadline (the sponsor does not have a stated deadline, so all deadlines are pretty artificial here, at least). Things are further complicated by said co-author being on an eight-week field campaign in such a remote location that she must ski/snowshoe to get there.

Last week, a friend in computer science sent me an e-mail introducing me to a cool person he met doing research on campus that made him think of me. We exchange a couple e-mails and decide to attempt to grab coffee (weather permitting) a week from Friday! She sends another e-mail saying she was talking about my research with a colleague and he'd love to come as well - is this a new research partnership in the making??? 👀

I stop putting it off and reply to the student who's finishing his Master's remotely, offering some times to meet. I'm finding his situation extremely frustrating, but it would be great to get him the Master's and get him on his way!

Time to clear the inbox. I keep everything in a very nested set of folders and I have about 100 e-mails to clean up. Having to do this really makes sure nothing falls through the cracks (and my goodness, can I find things when I need to now!), but it's a bit of a slog.

Ah, shoot, forgot to submit reimbursement for lunch. I should do that sooner rather than later, since the itemized receipt is handwritten and just floating around my wallet. We were *way* under per diem (part of why I love this place is that you can get a good-sized lunch for under $10, which is basically impossible in a city this expensive!), and no alcohol, so the whole process is relatively painless. Whew.

Back to e-mail cleanup. Notification that my Master's (soon to be PhD?) student officially has access to 500,000 CPU core-hours and 10,000 GPU core-hours on a supercomputer for the next three years of his project! Woohoo! The e-mail addresses him as Dr., which is a liiiiiittle premature, but maybe it'll get him thinking of the possibilities...

A couple people reply-alled on a giant newsletter asking to be unsubscribed (there's a big button at the bottom, but hey), which has led to someone replying to them to say he actually quite likes these e-mails, hahaha.

Aha! My colleague in the mountainous wilds replies to say a three-week deadline bump works great for her. I broach the subject with the grants team. Hopefully they'll be cool with it!

I get invited to renew one of my appointments as associate editor - I'm cool with that, since it's about as many papers as I was reviewing, anyway. May as well get some extra credit for it.

I got an e-mail about nominating undergrad students for a leadership workshop opportunity - they're particularly aiming for students who have potential but are quiet/shy, and one comes to mind immediately. We can only nominate a couple people as a faculty, so I make a note to chat about this with another faculty member I've been meaning to grab coffee with at some point. That can wait for later this week - the deadline isn't until late March.

OKAY. E-mail is cleared, only half an hour later than I wanted to go home. It's still a little light out, even! I'm racing the last of my laptop's battery power here! Onward!

[pursued-by-the-squid]

MONSTER CHAPTER LFG‼️‼️

oh gihun my poor baby OH OH NO READER DONT GO DOWN THAT PATH NO COME BACK NOOOO ITS NOT YOUR FAULT OH GOD THEY HAVE AIRPODS IN THEY CANT HEAR ME!!!!

fellas is it okay to immediately move in on someone when their significant other is distraught by the death of his closest friend uhhh

gihun 🤝survivors guilt 🤝 reader

something very wrong with this man (give me his phone number)

i’m ngl seong gihun is kinda bad at this protecting us stuff 😭😭 why would he just leave like that now we gotta deal with the nervous tweaker and his annoying boyfriend

💗🎀🩷💖💕💝💓🎀💖💞 thanos + namgyu 💓💗💝🩷💕🎀💘💞💖💗🩷💓🩷 (i stand by what i said)

protective inho purr

gihun thinking about a man being on his knees in front of him 🏳️‍🌈 i know what you are

YOURE SP FUNNY gihun’s like i’m absolutely not jealous but i WILL be waking youngil up to get him away from reader

daeho junhee hyunju crumbs i’m living off of them

INHO YOURE SO EVILLLLLLLLL i’ve never witnessed forced comfort before

denial is strong with this one uh huh yeah sure inho yeah we believe you junhee definitely doesn’t remind you of your dead wife and it definitely didn’t hurt you to leave her behind u lil freak

on the one hand rahhh how could you leave daeho and junhee like that 😭😭😫😫 on the other hand… ginho sandwich 😈😈

BE SO FR NOW HWANG INHO HOW COULD TOU HAVE A [REDACTED] AT A TIME LIKE THIS

“forced onto the receiving end of your affections” if someone thought this about me i’d straight up end it

“it wasn’t the games that made gihun his equal. it wasn’t the 45.6 billion won or the innumerable deaths or the trauma that carved itself into both their souls. it was you” 🚨🦅🇺🇸‼️💵🏈 this is what free will was invented for thank you author i’m getting this tattooed on my forehead this feels like in a movie when they say the title of the movie (i’m sure this realisation will not affect a well adjusted man like inho AT ALL)

HELP NY EYES KEEP SKIPPING AHEAD I’M TOO EXCITED FOR THISBSVENE

be honest did you kill jungbae off just to get these two in the mingle room together

delicious thoughts of betrayal btw compliments to the chef

oh my goddddddd inho thinking reader is scared and disgusted by him but they’re really disgusted with themselves i can’t even describe how i’m feeling AND NOT TO MENTION READER VEING SO WILLING TO MURDER JJST TO LIVE YOUR HONOUR THATS NOT ANOTHER GIHUN THATS MY BOY CHO SANGWOO REINCARNATED 😫💕💖💓💞

thinking of themselves as a murderer just because of thoughts they didn’t even act on i cried u cried we both crode

wait the 6-people round being after the 2-people round??? does that mean fewer people survived??? nefarious plans are being cooked up as we speak

no one is doing it like pursued-by-the-squid and that’s a certified FACT

i apologise for the subpar memes today i’m slightly ill but you have to know how much i loved this chapter ‼️‼️‼️‼️

I'M FUCKING SOBBING, YOU'RE THE FUNNIEST PERSON I KNOW OH MY GOD

y'know, i feel like a really good summary of everyone's state of mind this entire chapter is just:

straight up not having a good time

""fellas is it okay to immediately move in on someone when their significant other is distraught by the death of his closest friend uhhh"", or in in-ho's terms,

PLEASE your meme YOUR MEME, I CANNOT WITH TOU BC THAT'S EXACTLY IT. THIS SICKO FREAK IS LITERALLY WATCHING THE TWO OF YOU LIKE YOU'RE HIS SCIENCE PROJECT AND HE'S RUBBING HIS HANDS TOGETHER A LA EVIL CRICKET STYLE

""now we gotta deal with the nervous tweaker and his annoying boyfriend"" the way i don't even know which one you're talking about im YELLINGn fajsdhfljkh

also in-ho (and probably gi-hun too) this entire chapter:

jun-hee? definitely not a reminder of his wife. gi-hun? he definitely does not care that gi-hun cares about him. you cuddling up to him while u sleep? yeah, he totally doesn't have a boner rn and it's honestly offensive u would even ask

but also consider, in-ho when he realizes that your disgust and vehement rejection of his comfort isn't bc ur scared of him but bc you've accidentally traumatized yourself BECAUSE you genuinely thought about killing him:

wait you mean i can make [reader] more evil by simply making them fear for their life

once he realizes you're able to be corrupted, ohhhhh bitch you are TOAST

""be honest did you kill jungbae off just to get these two in the mingle room together"" okay look let me tell you something LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING it wasn't the main reason, but it was a really lovely side bonus asjdfhlkasdhfk. in truth i decided to kill jung-bae earlier bc i needed a catalyst that would pull you and gi-hun apart, potentially bring you and young-il closer, and that could also lead to you doing some crazy stupid things (i.e., offering your 2 billion, almost killing young-il, and other such ideas to be revealed in the last chapter). the fact that it also meant you could be on the same pentathlon team, get stuck with in-ho during mingle, and it would utterly destroy gi-hun? that was just the icing on the cake

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

AHHH I’M LITERALLY IN GRAD SCHOOL FOR LIBRARY SCIENCE AND LOVE LIBRARIAN BUCK AUs 📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖

I saw the Eddie moves in with Buck plot bunny and have been waiting to find a fic exploring it! Glad that you’re writing it!🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️🛏️

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 I’m so excited!

AH YAY! SORRY IF I MAKE MISTAKES!

129 for 📖:

---

“Usually goes better for both of us.”

Another warm smile indicates that this was, again, the right thing to say.

“Well, thanks again, uh,” he looks at Buck’s name tag. “Evan.”

“Ah, everyone calls me Buck,” Buck tells him. 

“Eddie,” Edmundo - Eddie - says. “Thank you, Buck.”

Buck nods. “Any time.”

Eddie joins his son, and they come back a few minutes later with a considerable stack of books. 

“Is this too many?” Chris asks.

“Definitely not,” Buck smiles, before checking them out. 

As they leave, Buck finds himself looking forward to the next time they come back. 

ii. 

It takes longer than expected to see them again. And when he does, the circumstances aren’t fantastic. At least, not for Eddie.

Christopher’s books are more than a week overdue by the time Eddie and his son come back. It’s clear from the look on both their faces as they walk into the library, that Christopher has no idea and Eddie is all too aware. Before they even approach the desk, Eddie whispers something to Christopher, who then heads off for the stacks. Buck gets the feeling Eddie is expecting an awkward conversation, and doesn’t want his son to overhear.

And Buck gets it. It’s sort of not a great first impression, as far as librarian-patron relationships go. What Eddie doesn’t realize, though, is that Buck doesn’t make it a habit to judge when someone returns their books. He sort of hates overdue fines, as a rule. People have all sorts of things going on, and creating a barrier to literacy doesn’t seem constructive. Buck was never going to give him a hard time.

Regardless, Eddie seems frazzled. Like, maybe there is something more than the books bothering him. There’s a tired expression in his eyes that indicates more than a lack of sleep.

“Hi, Eddie,” Buck smiles at him as Eddie approaches the front desk with Christopher’s stack of books in hand. “How are things?”

“Okay,” Eddie sighs. “First, I’m impressed that you remember my name. Second, I know. Okay? I know this looks terrible. I am so sorry.”

“What looks terrible?” Buck asks. He wants to act like it’s really nothing of note. 

“The books are nine days overdue,” Eddie says. “I get it. Bad precedent when it’s our first time borrowing.”

“Oh, hey. It happens…”

“No! Look, I’m not a guy to make excuses. Really. But I’m working twenty-four hour shifts for the first time, and my Abuela usually watches him, but she broke her hip, and it’s just me, and…”

He seems one sentence away from cracking. 

“Eddie,” Buck says, firmly but kindly. “It’s really not a big deal. I’m going to waive the fines, okay?”

“What? No, I can afford it,” Eddie looks momentarily affronted. “It’s not that, okay!”

“Whoa, no. That’s not what I mean!” Buck assures him. “I mean, I get it. Shit happens. I don’t agree with fines anyway. I’ll waive them and call it an error in the system, between you and I.”

“Oh,” Eddie deflates a little. “I… Uh, thank you. Are you supposed to curse?”

“No,” Buck says. “Or waive fines.”

That gets a small little snort of laughter out of Eddie.

“Are you going to get in trouble?” Eddie asks.

“For cursing?” Buck is purposely obtuse. 

Eddie rolls his eyes. “For waiving the fines.”

Buck shakes his head. “Nope. My supervisor is a Marxist. I’m fond of her.”

Eddie takes a deep, steadying breath. “Okay. Thank you, man. I really appreciate you being so nice.”

“It’s all good,” Buck assures him. “You’re having trouble finding childcare?”

Eddie nods. “It’s not as simple as sticking him in daycare, you know? He has different needs than the other kids. And I have benefits. A good job, and I’m ex-military. But sorting through everything… God, you don’t need to hear this. This really isn’t like me, I swear.”

Oh, he’s not the first parent to unload on Buck. Maybe it’s that Buck is friendly. Maybe it’s that he’s good with the kids. Maybe it’s that he’s entirely removed from their lives and in an occupation associated with being quiet. He’s not actually very quiet, as far as personalities go. Regardless, people end up trusting Buck with their woes. He doesn’t mind it. He likes feeling helpful. Even if, usually, he’s not. 

Today, though… He might be?

Buck reaches into a desk drawer and pulls out a flier. Then he grabs a pen and begins writing on it. 

“Here,” Buck slides him the flier.

“Uh, what’s this?” Eddie asks. 

“A list of afterschool and weekend programs we run with city funding,” Buck explains. “Plus the number of someone who might be able to help you.”

“Someone?”

“Her name is Carla,” Buck says. “She was very helpful when my ex was having trouble caring for her sick mother. She’s organized and she knows her stuff.”

Eddie nods, reading over the page. “This is really kind. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Buck shrugs. “Well, maybe mention the referral to Carla. It’s been too long since she brought me any baked goods.”

Eddie smiles. “Alright. Brownie referral fee?”

“Even better - lemon squares.” 

“I do really appreciate it though,” Eddie says. 

Buck can tell. That’s why he’s happy to do it. 

---

96 for 🛏️:

---

 But he’s blushing.Trying to muffle a smile with a large bite of kale salad. Like he liked that. Interesting. Was it the touch or was it being cared for? Buck’s brain collects all the available data like a computer scanner. How can he replicate it? How can he make the reaction stronger?

So it gets worse.

After dinner, he experiments. 

They’re about to sit down and watch a game and Buck tries it again. He rests a hand over the bear skin of Eddie’s forearm and says:

“You look a little chilly. Can I grab you a sweater?”

The AC in the building is sort of intense, and Eddie’s arms are dotted with goosebumps.

Eddie looks at Buck’s hand on his arm.

“I can walk up the stairs and grab one,” Eddie mumbles, cheeks reddening again.

“Don’t worry,” Buck says. “I can.”

“Buck,” Eddie protests, his hand on the opposite arm to the one Buck is touching raises to cover Buck’s. “I’m okay. I’ll grab my own sweater.”

But his hand lingers on top of Buck’s for a second before he goes. So that’s it, then. Not being cared for, which was what Buck thought. The touch. Interesting. Is he feeling lonely and touch starved, maybe? Since his break up with Marisol and Chris leaving?

Well, hey. They’re pretty comfortable with each other. If Buck can help, he will. He’ll just be touchier than usual with Eddie. But not, like, to a point where lines are crossed. He does have a boyfriend, after all.

When Eddie comes back down, wearing an old, beige-colored high-necked zip up that Buck doesn’t think he’s seen before, Buck once again does another impulsive thing he doesn’t really intend on. He compliments him.

“That looks great on you, Eddie.”

Eddie stops, and looks down at himself. 

“This?”

“Yeah!” Buck says, realizing that’s not the kind of thing he says a lot. Despite thinking about it semi-frequently. “It’s a good… Uh, shade. And, uh, neckline?”

“It’s kind of old,” Eddie says. “From my Dad’s golf club. I, uh, I cleaned out my closet entirely and found it in the back. So…”

“It’s nice,” Buck nods. “You should wear it more.”

And then it happens. The blush. The smile. So subtle, yet Buck notices. 

Okay. He gets it now. Buck understands. Eddie just needs to feel good about himself. The gentle touches. The compliments. Hell, even being cared for to an extent. Eddie has been through the fucking wringer lately, and if he needs some comfort? A little gentleness? Of course Buck can provide. 

“Thank you, Buck,” Eddie mumbles. 

“‘Course,” Buck replies easily. He pats the empty seat of his comfiest armchair, reserving the less comfortable one for himself. “Come on. Game’s about to start.”

🛏️

The boundary is torn away like this.

A few more small compliments from Buck. 

“You were so smooth on that rope rescue today, Eddie. Kind of looked like an action star.”

“Your hair looks good this length, I think. Were you thinking of longer? That would look good, too.”

“You always call the plays before they happen. That’s impressive as hell, man.”

He focuses on that. Never brings up the elephant in the room of what today is. 

Then there are more little touches. Peppered into regular activities. Clapping his shoulder while handing him another beer. Poking his side when making a joke. Anything to make the contact that clearly Eddie is responding to. 

And it works. It works, it works, it works. Because Eddie stops staring miserably at his phone. He stops waiting for a call that isn’t coming. He stops sitting in his guilt and self-loathing and starts actually being present. 

By the end of the sixth inning, they’re sitting on the floor, side by side, shoulders touching. Buck’s not sure how they got here or who initiated, but it happened. And Eddie is smiling. Eddie is smiling, so what else really matters? 

[tobiasdrake]

Guess I'll wrap things up in town and head to the re-sleepover.

Okay, last time I was here, I weirded out this child. This time, I'm gonna TRY. HARDER.

Jackpot. Children love puns about their favorite thing. Now this small child of no clear importance thinks I'm cool.

That is very important to me.

I don't know why.

FROG SPELL

Nyeh heh heh heh heh! I have discovered the cheat code to being popular with kids. It's frogs. The cheat code is frogs.

Now if only I could extend that popularity to adults.

And my teammates.

And now. We have. THE FLOWER. Aggggggggh the flower. So much pressure. Hmm. Maybe I can bribe Bonbon into not hating me.

HEY HALF-PINT, PRESENT FOR YOU

Because I'm trying to improve our team's cohesion and the friction that exists between you and me is basically our only interpersonal conflict. Consider this an olive branch.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and call this one "Mission Failed" since I'm pretty sure I just made things awkward and weird. There might not be a way to bury the hatchet with this kid. They're under a lot of stress.

I just want to know who keeps breaking the bread. I was specifically watching for it and it still crept up on me. I blinked for one second - Well, okay, I had a brief chat with my Lemonfriend about ignoring all of you but that's beside the point - and then there was just this hideous CRACK and the bread was ripped in half.

How!? WHEN!? WHO!?

You could just tell me now and then I'll know it so when I die and you've un-told it to me I can spare you the embarrassment of telling me.

Then again maybe we should keep it on the down-low to avoid making my Lemonfriend jealous. I'm sure they're listening in on every word we say. They're clingy and stalkerish like that.

Wow. We're back here again already. In my defense, I DID check for traps. I very briefly skimmed each pillar so I'm pretty sure there has to be some sort of complex--

Well. Okay then.

I now realize that the cause of my death was, in fact, that I suck at my job. Cool.

I would make a remark here about "going to crawl under a rock and die" but the boulder has a sense for ironic timing so it's best not to chance it. Let's just flick this stupid switch and move on.

Done. Mistake unmade. No longer have I died a clown. DO YOU HEAR THAT, LEMONFRIEND!? I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY NOT DIED.

BOOM, nothing to worry about now. It should be smooth sailing from here. Let's go commit regicide with extreme prejudice.

Cutlery is an interesting subject matter, actually. There's a lot of differentiation in individual sizes, shapes, and compositions of individual cutlery that contribute to a variety of different meal experiences. Even chopsticks come in many different forms.

But this would fall under the category of etiquette. I'm not quite sure if Madame Odile's field of expertise falls into that wheelhouse. Though I could see it....

Hey, give me some credit. You know how hard it is to cheat gratuitously under four different sets of watchful eyes?

You call it cheating. I call it speed practice. That's the kind of manual dexterity that lets me throw signs so fast.

Well that's fucking dangerous. THANKS FOR JUST BRINGING IT UP NOW, BONNIE. What if I slipped on that?

<.<

>.>

What... if I slipped on that....

Zero hesitation. FOR SCIENCE!

YES

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Okay. We have proven that my lemon drop powers will still bring me back in time even if I'm frozen in time. This is a very useful piece of information to establish, so it's good to get that out of the way before we meet the King while the risk is still....

...

...while the risk is still....

...

Oh. Wait. That could have been really bad for me. If that didn't work then--

LET'S NOT THINK ABOUT THAT HAHAHA I'm sure my Lemonfriend wouldn't have left me strander there. It's fine. The important thing is that I now know my ability to loop is immutable even by time.

This is what PROGRESS looks like. >:D

[bunny-dr34ms]

youth is a storm - bffs!g.suguru g.satoru i.shoko x f!reader

summary. one night you see a picture of your high school friends and you think back to your youth as you reminisce how wonderfully catastrophic it was

w.c. 2985

cw/ tw; fem!reader, angst, underage drinking and smoking, irresponsible students, family issues, neglect, bully kind of,

features; g.satoru, g.suguru, i.shoko

an; i hope you guys enjoy this !! i think the trio in their youth must've been fun &lt;3

You love bad ideas.

And no one knows that better than your 3 best friends who were always part of each reckless plan. That's why the 4 of you are getting wasted on the beach. Tonight's scheme is a last hurrah before you officially say goodbye to your high school days.

"I'm so glad I have you guys with me." You giggled after you took another swig from some fruity beer. "Let's be friends forever!" Suguru chuckled behind you, turning his hand to take a deep inhale of his cigarette. He sat on a plastic chair with you in his lap, his arm hanging lazily behind him. The boy barely fit in the chair with how large he was so he had his legs spread wide and had you lean against him.

"Yeah yeah whatever you say sweet thing." Satoru chimed in waving his hand around, a blunt sticking loosely in his fingers. He was manspreading in a similar chair next to you with dark glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose. The way his blue eyes drooped and the way his words slurred told you he was starting to feel it.

Shoko sat under Satoru and had her head resting against his leg, her hand reaching for the lighter as she lit another cigarette. "The school must be glad to get the lot of you out." All of you couldn't help but laugh as 4 years of memories flooded your minds. It really would be nice to stay friends with all of them.

4 misfits that didn't fit in, even now with each other. Satoru and Suguru were basketball jocks who cared for nothing but themselves. Shoko was one of the smartest people in school, even with her hobby of cigarettes and beers. Then there was you. A ditzy cheerleader that would wreak havoc wherever you went. The sound of ocean waves was soothing in the background and you closed your eyes and began to think back.

You first met them in the first month of freshman year, under the bleachers during late hours in front of the school. You just came back from an away game and didn't want to go home so you took the time to smoke a cigarette. Unfortunately, you realized you finished your pack before the game and sighed in defeat looking at the empty box with save for your hello kitty lighter.

All of a sudden, you hear muttering and loud whispers a couple feet away from you. You walk a little closer, trying to stay in the shadows so you didn't get caught for eavesdropping. "Are the both of you idiots? You bring blunts without a lighter?" "It was Satoru. My job was just getting the goods." "You- Stop blaming it on me like you didn't lose your lighter." "Oh? So where's yours?" "In your fucking mom's hou-" "Wait shut the fuck up- I think someone's here."

It went silent and you become hyperaware of yourself. Unknowingly, you kept moving closer and closer to hear what they were saying. Your hot pink glitter lighter that you pressed against your chest with both hands reflected the light back which got you caught.

"Hey. If you let us borrow your lighter, I'll give you one."

Your upperclassmen stepped out of the shadows. There was three of them and the girl was offering a box of Marlboro Reds that only had one stick left. There was already one in her lips, her expression nonchalant with dark circles under her eyes. You know her as one of the geniuses of the school who's won a couple awards for science.

Behind her were two infamous basketball jocks known for their looks and immense skill. They looked at you with strained expressions. You heard how they weren't fond of people they didn't know. They glance at the lighter clutched in your hand and their expression changes slightly for the better. The boy you know as Satoru leaned forward with a smile and said, "You heard her. Let us use your lighter and you get a free cig!"

You think about and nod gratefully while you hand her the lighter. You would've gave it to them even if they didn't give something back anyway. "Really!? You're a life saver Ieiri!" All you knew about them was their name and somethings about what they did. Shoko was that she was a total science nerd and wanted to be a doctor. Satoru was a rich tease that became has a talent for anything he did. Suguru was a ladies man with brains, brawn, and money. You knew the three of them but you didn't think they'd all be in one group. "How'd you know I smoke though?"

“Under the bleachers was a popular smoke spot for students and teachers alike but it's not like you can tell who smoked what when.”

You watch as the boy pull out blunts from a tin to light up with your lighter. Satoru catches you staring and smirks with the roll between his lips. Embarrassed, you can't help but blush and look away. "Ha! You think you're sneaky when you smoke a couple feet away from me? Plus only cheer girls like you smoke Pianissimo." Shoko laughs as she hands you your lighter so you could light yours up. You almost cough at the bitterness but you choke it down before exhaling out grey.

"What? Red too strong for you?"

"As if."

There was a haughty tone in your voice but rasp contradicted your claim. Now even more embarrassed, you tugged your bow and tousled your hair, feeling your scalp tingle from the release of the tight pony tail. You combed your hair as you looked at the girl next to you who tapped the ashes from the her cigarette. "Sooo..Why are you here at school?"

Shoko shrugged inhaling through the cigarette and exhaling her answer. "Studying." Your tilted head and confused look was enough question for her. "Can't study at home. I can't focus there so I sneak around and stay at school."

You continue to stare at her and nod. You knew how that felt. To not want to go home, or rather the house where only chaos ensued. "I don't wanna go home either." You whispered, not taking your eyes off Shoko. "Umm..if you don't mind me asking. Why do you smoke such strong stuff? It's not like it's cheaper or anything." Red is actually way more expensive and hard to get as a student. Even as you asked your question, you couldn't stop your eyes from wandering to the two boys smoking weed. You thought you had it bad, but these guys are on a whole different level. A sudden wave of sadness sends a sharp ache in your heart. Were they like you? Hiding away in the night to find an escape from what was supposed to be a home? Did they also try to smother every emotion they felt in an attempt to be at least wanted?

The brown haired girl hummed her eyes closing for a second. "Anything not as strong as Red doesn't do anything for me anymore." She finally turns to meet your gaze. To her you look like a barely kept together mess. You hair and make up being pulled together with the tidiness of your cheer uniform. But your eyes, round eyes full of emotion and empathy. Something about your eyes makes her want to say more. "I smoke and drink because it's all my parents ever do. I tried it and I get it now."

"So? What's your deal?" She leans against the pole to her side allowing her to face you. Now you look away. "My mom has a scumbag husband. My dad has a cheating wife." It's not the most tragic story ever but both of your parents are so wrapped up in each other, they forget you exist. Or that you exist as their daughter and not their personal trauma dumpster.

Satoru looks at you from the corners of his eyes. He sees just how lonely you truly are because he can understand. in a way. He can understand how hard it is to be so devastatingly lonely even after working to get attention from everyone but the people you need it from the most. So that's when Satoru decides that you are worthy to be one of them.

He stares and stares until you turn and make eye contact with him. "You know, my parents hardly ever see me. They just tell me to make an appearance once in a while when their friends are over to show me off like I'm some prize they won." Satoru begins to ramble about his parents. He goes on and on about how they're always at work and no matter what he did they'd never spare him a glance. No matter how long he studied or what grades he got, nothing could win them over.

All you could do was sit there stunned and watch as Satoru explained wildly with his hands and expressions. When he comes to a close he looks deep into you and says, "I know what it's like, to be lonely but not alone." The sudden change of tone made your breath catch in your throat.

Suguru sighs and you realize he's been sitting there silently as Satoru went into detail of his life. He must've had to hear it a couple times already. He fixes his hair awkwardly and sighs again, "That's Satoru's way of making you feel better." You nod and you wonder if you're supposed to say thank you or ask if he's alright or tell him he's strong for growing through it all. Suguru cuts through your thoughts before you could say anything.

"I'm a little like that too.. My family is too focused on business to pay attention to me. They think I'm already a lost cause and they put everything else into my older brother. Not that I care much anyway."

A few moments of silence pass, the only sound being the four of you blowing smoke into the night. It was comfortable. Once the sticks burn away to nothing you smile at Shoko, the the two boys.

Has there been anywhere you’ve felt so safe? Or so at ease? Or so at peace with yourself? You turn to the and smile, your arms pressed a little awkwardly into your side.

“Can we..be friends?"

Shoko laughs quietly.

"Shoko. Call me Shoko."

“Hey if you call her Shoko you’d have to call me Satoru!”

“As if she’s calling you Satoru. She’ll call me Suguru before that happens.”

That night ended with a conversation that you so needed. Over cigarettes and blunts, you finally found friends you could cry to without judgement and they’d found someone that truly lightened the weight on their heart.

Ever since then, you and them were inseparable. Classmates whispered and gave the four of you odd glances but no one cared. You didn't need your fake cheer friends anyways. Shoko, Satoru, and Suguru were enough. Suguru held you while you cried. Shoko knew what you smoked and what you drank. Satoru listened as you blabbered on and on about what your mom did or what you dad said. You were enough too. You always went with Shoko on her late night studies and library runs. You always saw through Satoru and made him feel safe to spill whatever he needed to you. You kept Suguru company every time he needed to take hit late at night from stress.

They needed you as much as you needed them

And from then on, it was the four of you against the world. You stared at the picture in your hand with a soft smile. Those really were the times. So many bad decisions and mistakes were made but you were happy. Every night was hectic and you remember crying almost every day. The worst memories you had were fighting with your friends just to make up a couple days later. Underage drinking and smoking definitely caught up to you so you quit in college with just a few drinks here and there. Satoru quit with you actually. The stability of college was hard to adjust to but you worked hard because it was a chance given to you by Satoru and Suguru. There was no chance of getting into such a prestigious college with your record without their help. To be fair, those two were there by your side when you stole from small convenient stores and violated multiple property rules. Shoko was often busy with actually studying so whenever you had a terrible idea to execute, you'd find those two. They'd do anything with you and for you. You had a bit of a crush on the both of them back then and you'd like to think they liked you too. You couldn't help it with how they flirted with you and were so overprotective of you. You'll never admit it but if one of them asked you out now, you'd say yes. Your youth was a tornado of emotions and experiences that you wouldn't trade for the world. It was heartache and joy and liberating in all the ways it counted. It was your friends and your torn apart family. It was going to school late and leaving early. It was cramming to pass and skipping practice. It was lying on rooftops late at night with smoke and booze. It was running in the rain and yelling into thunder and laughing at lightning. Your youth was a storm.

It's been almost 7-8 years since then. Now you're all adults working on your own separate careers. Satoru and Suguru have been handling their own branches of their respective family businesses. Shoko has become one of the best surgeons in the prefecture. There's just you left.

Since then you've always thought about what you really wanted to do. You've wandered and dabbled in everything but nothing seemed to appeal you. Plus, you're not the same girl you were in high school anymore. You can't just run away from things you don't want to face. The world isn't as forgiving or as colorful anymore. Dark, lonely nights like tonight would still seem to glow back then. Not anymore, it seems. As of now, you work a nice modeling job for cosmetics. You were always pretty to look at and once you finally started investing in your face, modeling offers just came to you. You go around and take a few pictures for ads and magazines every once in a while. It pays well and it's comfortable. Parts of you still crave the rush of running around town late at night, drunk or high or both. The other part is grateful for the life you have now. You get to wear expensive clothes and drink expensive champagne in a expensive home. Younger you would look at the you now with stars in her eyes, you think. Leaning against the railing of your balcony in your apartment flat, you stare out into the night. The city below you was still bustling with life and bright colors. You take another sip of the fruity alcohol in your hand. Each sip makes your heart beat a little faster.

And your view of the city is pretty. The doorbell rings and you hear the door click open. "Y/n? You in there?" "Hey let me in first." "Shut up and just hold this." "No- what the fuck why would I hold it?" "Oh my god can both of you shut it? Y/n? You there?" The chorus of fighting and yelling of familiar voices makes your smile widen. You walk to greet them and their arguing takes a pause when they see your expression. They weren't used to your silence or the smile that came it with it. "What's wrong?" Shoko speaks first as she walks to you, her hands reaching for yours. Satoru and Suguru push through the door together and join you with curious and confused faces. It's been a good week or two since you've all gathered like this. Conflicting schedules and just being worn out kept you guys from meeting any sooner but tonight you suddenly texted them asking to see them. Seeing all of them now, worried for you and here for you because you asked made you want to cry. These are the people you grew with. The people who you cried and laughed with. These are the people who are always by your side no matter what happens. They are your home. You can't help but pull them into a hug. Your face was probably red and hot from alcohol. The room felt like it was swaying under your feet as you took a deep breath. Their arms wrapped around you tightly and you closed your eyes. The picture and your drink sat on a small table on your balcony. Your smiling and carefree faces with arms wrapped around each other was immortalized in that photo. You're no longer the girl in that picture and your friends have changed too. But that's okay. You'll continue to grow with these people by your side. It's fine to live in the moment as adults too right? "Y/n?" Satoru calls out your name, pulling you out of your thoughts. You pull away from them and you realize you're teary eyed. Yeah, you're all adults now and your youth is far behind you. It's okay though. Life is different but you still have them. You'll continue to walk through each moment together. You wipe your tears and Suguru rubs your back to comfort you. "Y/n..did something happen? Is that why you called us here today?" You shake you head with a smile and when you look back up at them, you swear for a minute you can see their high school selves stare back at you. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way, it was them here. That's all that matters. "It's nothing. I just missed you guys. That's all."