#gonna hurry up and finish s3

[finnickodaiir]

Didn't even realize S4 of Abbott Elementary is out... ooops

[once-upon-an-imagine]

Teenage Dirtbag - Eddie Munson

A/N: well, this keeps on working so far 😂😂😂 here's Eddie's story! and then is full Marauders, James, then Remus, and then Sirius! I hope you guys like it!

Request - lunamadhatter99 asked: I do have a request, my friend! I'm so happy requests are open😍 Anyway: Henderson!Reader x either Steve or Eddie (whoever works better for you), where the reader is very quiet, not necessarily shy, but still. She's targeted by the jocks too because she's the "loser" sister, you know, and maybe one day, one of their pranks went too far and she's very upset about it (maybe is the process a special possession of hers). Every time she gets bullied, Steve/Eddie helps her comfort her, especially because she doesn't want to tell his little brother, who thinks she is friends with them... does it make sense? I don't know, I'm sorry 😂👋

Warnings: mentions of sex; Billy being an asshole (also, this is kinda between s3 and 4 and Billy didn't die so Jason and Andy are his dumb friends I hope this makes sense) reader is kind of mean to Dustin (not really, she's just grumpy and a loner instead of shy, kind of like Kat in 10TIHAY)

Disclaimer: I don���t own Stranger Things :) gif isn’t mine :D  

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Teenage Dirtbag

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me, ooh

“DUSTIN! Hurry up! Steve is gonna be here any second! We’re gonna be late!” you smashed your hand against the bathroom door, yelling for your brother to get ready. You had been feeling anxious all day. Something inside you told you that today might not be a good day and, as much as you tried not to, you took it out on Dustin.

“I’m coming! Geez, calm down!”

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the kitchen to finish your coffee and wash the dishes but you tripped over a bag full of garbage.

“Ugh! Dustin!” you yelled as he walked over to you.

“What? What did I do now?”

“The trash is your chore” you complained, grabbing the bag and handing it to him. “When I say take out the trash, I mean outside of the house. To the trashcan!”

“Maybe you can show me for next time” he laughed.

“Maybe I can give your Nintendo to goodwill” you smirked back, erasing the smirk off his face.

“Fine, sorry” he said, grabbing the bag and going outside.

“Let’s go!” you said as soon as you heard Steve’s car parking on your driveway.

“Wait, where’s lunch?”

“Oh, shit!” you said, grabbing some of the money you left near the door in case Dustin needed to order food. “Here” you said, grabbing $10 for yourself and giving Dustin $5.

“Why do you get $10 and I get $5?” Dustin complained.

“Take out the freaking trash!” you replied, mocking his exact same tone.

“Good morning, Hendersons!” Steve smiled as you got in the front and Dustin got in the back.

“Thanks for the ride, Steve” you said. “Robin still out of town?” you asked, confused to not see her there already.

“Yeah, she’s coming back next week-”

“Why are we even going this early? School doesn’t start for another hour!” Dustin asked on the ride to school. “And why do you always ride shotgun?”

“Because I’m Steve’s favorite Henderson” you smirked. “And Steve has an early shift, so I wasn’t going to make him wait for us” you explained. “Plus, I have to get together with Nancy for something about the school paper” you informed him.

“Well, I could have taken my bike-”

“Just say thank you, Dustin!”

“Thank you” he said, rolling his eyes a little.

“Hey, aren’t those your old friends?” Dustin asked as Steve drove into the parking lot. You looked to where he was pointing to see the basketball players hanging outside the school with some of the cheerleaders.

“No” both you and Steve replied at the same time.

“Are you sure?” Dustin asked, confused. He recognized some of them, although he had noticed you never talked to them anymore.

“I’m sure” you said, rolling your eyes. “Just… stay away from them, okay?”

“Okay” he said, unconvinced. “Um, are we having movie night?” he asked Steve.

“Yeah, my house” he nodded.

“Cool. I think we’re going to Mike’s after school, so I’ll see you there” he told them.

“Okay” you nodded. Dustin started opening his door but you stopped him. “Dusty” you said, making him look confused at you. You rarely called him that anymore. “Nothing… I’ll see you at Steve’s” you told him and he nodded before he got out.

You saw him make his way over to Mike, Will, Lucas, Max, and El and you heard him complain about you and all of them saying how you used to be fun and happy all the time. You let out a sigh of frustration, throwing your head back on the chair.

“You know, you could just… tell him” Steve shrugged.

“I’m good” you told him.

“Dustin’s just worried about you” he insisted. “And to be honest, so am I-”

“Harrington, I know my brother’s your best friend now-”

“That’s not true” he glared at you.

“But you were my friend first and you promised we wouldn’t discuss this with Dustin” you told him.

“I’m just… a little confused, okay? Why did you all of the sudden stop hanging out with them like, what, a year ago?”

“You did too!” you argued.

“Well, yeah, because they’re assholes-”

“Exactly” you told him.

“But, now you’re here alone, because I graduated, I just don’t want you to be alone-”

“I’m fine on my own” you shrugged. “Plus… Eddie’s my friend-”

“Oh, right… Munson. That’s another thing. I know something happened last Halloween, okay? You mysteriously stop hanging out with all of our friends, you started wearing darker clothes, darker makeup and you start hanging around with Eddie, the freak, Munson-”

“I told you to stop calling him that” you glared at him.

“Which you also hide from Dustin-”

“Well, I just don’t want him to think that the only reason he and his friends are in Hellfire is because I asked Eddie to look after them-”

“But you did-”

“Steve, it is too early in the morning to have this discussion” you said, rubbing your temple.

“Fine… I’ll drop it” he said. “For now” he added, making you glare at him a little. “You working today?”

“No, it’s my day off” you informed him.

“Cool, want me to pick you up after work?”

“You sure it’s not too much trouble?”

“Nah, you’re my favorite Henderson after all” he smirked.

“I knew it!” you said, kissing his cheek before you opened the door. “See you later, Stevie” you said.

“Have a good day, kid” he waved at you.

He noticed you walking close to the group of jocks and they yelled something at you but you simply flipped them off and kept walking. Steve felt a bit uneasy about it but decided he would ask you about it when he picked you up. Sooner or later, you had to talk to him.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Hey, princess” you felt a small smile, trying to contain the butterflies you felt in your stomach when you heard that voice. You turned around to see Eddie smiling at you.

“Munson, I thought you were standing me up today” you said as he sat at your usual table in the woods, past the bleachers.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, love” he said, sitting in front of you. “What do you got for me today?”

“I forgot to make lunch, so I had to grab something from the vending machine” you said, putting your cigarette out. “So, pretzels, or Reeses Pieces?”

“You just… happened to pick my two favorite things?” he smirked. “If I didn’t know any better, Henderson, I would think you like me” he mocked you.

“Uh-huh, is that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? And two cokes?” your sked, looking at his bag.

“Grape jelly. Your favorite” he winked at you.

“Huh, if I didn’t know any better, Munson, I would think you like me” you returned the smirk.

“Wanna split it?” he asked and you nodded as you split the three things between the two of you. “So, what are you working on?” he asked, about to grab your sketchbook.

“Nothing!” you quickly said, putting it away before he could get it.

“Oh, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all” he mocked you. “Come on, show me!”

“It’s just… a work in progress” you told him. “It’s not finished yet” you insisted.

“Fine, be all mysterious” he chuckled. “Hey, did you get new colored pencils?” he asked, grabbing one of them.

“Oh, um… y-yeah” you said nervously. “There was a discount at the store where I work and-”

“Really?” he raised his eyebrow at you. “Or were your old ones… broken?”

“Um… there may have been an… incident-”

“Who?” he asked, his tone turning angry.

“It doesn’t matter, Eddie-”

“Yes, it does! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I don’t want you to get into a fight and not graduate with me this year” you told him, making him laugh just barely. “Look, it’s fine. I really did get a discount and…” you said, looking through your bag. “I got markers too” you smiled brightly at him. “Look!”

You stood from your place and sat down on the table with your feet on the bench next to Eddie. You grabbed his hand and placed it on your knee, which was not an uncommon thing for you to do whenever you drew something on him but he felt his cheeks blushing. You quickly drew a small doodle of the Hellfire symbol using different colors and you smiled when you were done, showing it to him. Eddie rarely get to see that smile on you and he loved it when it happened.

“Holy shit!” he smiled, looking down at his hand. It looked cooler than the one in his shirt.

“Do you like it?” you asked, bashfully.

“I love it, princess! This is amazing!” he said, looking back at you. “You’re amazing” he smiled.

“Um, thanks” you said, looking down at his hand and feeling your cheeks burn. You could not ignore the butterflies in your stomach any longer. You grabbed his hand and stroked your thumb against your new drawing. “Uh, a-actually, what I didn’t want to show you is um… kind of… a surprise…” you admitted, not facing him.

You saw Eddie’s hand untangle from yours and make its way up to your chin, lifting your head gently and making you look into his beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes.

“A surprise?” he asked, smiling brightly. You simply nodded, unable to form any words by the way he was looking at you. “What is it?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise!” you chuckled. “I just want to finish it before I show it to you” you told him.

“Okay, fine” he said, as his hand suddenly found its way back to yours and you started playing with his rings. “But… you promise you’ll show it to me when it’s done?”

“I promise. I mean, it’s kind of… for you” you told him.

“Really?” he asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah, it’s kind of… a thank you” you admitted. “For everything” you added. “Even for my brother and his friends. Thanks for letting them in Hellfire” you told him. “I know they're a bit weird but… I love them and I'm happy they found someone like you” you said.

“My pleasure, princess” he told you. “They’re cool kids” he chuckled. “Especially Dustin” he added. “Although he keeps asking me why I always have different doodles all over me” he chuckled.

“Yeah, he’s pretty smart” you laughed too. “I don’t think it’ll be long before he realizes about us” you said, without really thinking. “I m-mean uh-”

“Us?” Eddie smirked. “And exactly what would he realize?” he asked, getting up and towering a little over you, placing his hands on both your sides. “That we’re friends?” he asked, with the same smirk still plastered on his face.

“Y-yeah, I guess” you said innocently.

“Would he mind?”

“Um- I don’t think so, I just… don’t want him to think that you’re only his friend b-because of me” you explained.

“Oh, he wouldn’t think that” he assured you, as he gently brushed your hair away from your face. “And… what if he thinks there’s something else between us?”

“Is there?” you asked, as you felt him getting closer. And then the bell rang. The stupid bell rang. “Fuck!”

“Ignore that” he pleaded.

“No! We have a Math test” you said, pushing him away and gathering all of your things. “I told you, Eddie, you’re graduating this year, with me. Let’s go!” you threatened him.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart” he said, as you pulled him with you but he was stronger and he pulled you back. “To be continued?” he smirked.

For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, you smiled. It was a different smile, one that you didn’t think you had in you anymore and you could see Eddie noticed it. You leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“To be continued, Munson” you said, before you started pulling him towards the school despite his protests.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

You were waiting in the parking lot for Steve. As much as you wanted, you were not able to be with Eddie alone the rest of the day. You were hoping to catch him at the end but, as a surprise to no one, he got detention, so here you were.

“Well, if it isn’t my lucky day?”

You cursed under your breath, silently begging for Steve’s car to appear any moment now. But no such luck.

“Hargrove” you sighed. “Oh, if it isn’t Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum” you smirked at Jason and Andy, standing with Billy.

“Fancy meeting you here, babe” Billy smirked at you.

“Can’t say the same” you said, trying to walk away but he stepped in front of you. “What do you want, Hargrove?”

“See, I have a question for you” he said. “Andy here, says he saw you coming out of those woods with Eddie fucking Munson” he said, getting closer to you and making you take a step back. “Is that true?”

“I fail to see how that’s any of your business, really” you glared at him.

“Well, for starters, I think Munson can do better” he said, making Andy and Jason laugh.

“Lovely” you rolled your eyes, trying to walk away again but they blocked your way.

“Aw, did I strike a nerve there? Do you have a crush on Munson?” he mocked you.

“Just, leave me alone, Billy-” you said, trying to leave but, you felt your sketchbook being taken from you.

“Oh, what is this?” Jason asked, opening the sketchbook. “Do you write your love letters to that freak here?” he laughed.

“Give that back!” you said, trying to get it back from him.

“Oh, it’s even better than that!” he said, showing your sketches to Billy and Andy who started laughing.

“Give me that!” you said as he tossed it to Billy.

“Looks like you’re a bit obsessed with him, babe” he said, looking at your drawings. “I’m guessing you wouldn’t want anything to happen to this, would you?” he said, tearing a few pages apart.

“Billy, give it back!” you yelled, but he pushed you back, making you fall to the ground, your hands aching when they hit the pavement.

“Whoops, clumsy me” he said, tossing your sketchbook on a nearby water puddle.

“Stop it!” you said, getting up and trying to get to it but Andy pushed you away.

“HEY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?”

“You want something, freak?” Jason yelled, smirking.

“Oh, speak of the devil” Billy smirked as Eddie approached all of you.

“Get the fuck away from her” he said, making his way over to Billy.

“Why don’t you keep walking and mind your business, freak?”

“You know, I gotta say, even for you, it’s pretty low, three guys against one girl” he smirked, erasing Billy’s.

“You really think it’s worth it? Standing up for that slut-?”

Before Billy could go on, Eddie quickly punched him in the face.

“Eddie!”

“You’re dead, freak!” Jason said, punching Eddie back while Billy got up, laughing.

“Looks, like you got some fire in you, Munson!” he yelled before he punched him too.

“Eddie!” you yelled, trying to get to him but Andy stopped you. “Stop it!”

“You having fun, Munson?” Billy smirked as he landed punches on Eddie before he grabbed him by his jacket. “No one tells me what to do!” he said before he pushed him to the ground again. He then threw himself at Eddie and started landing punch after punch, like a madman. The last time you had seen Billy like this was when he fought Steve and it shook you to your core.

“STOP IT! BILLY, STOP!”

“You really think you traded up, babe?” he smirked, looking at you. “He’s even worse than Harrington!”

“STOP IT, PLEASE!” you said, as tears started welling up in your eyes.

“Aw, you gonna cry, princess?” he said, mocking Eddie’s voice with the last word.

As if your prayers were finally answered, a car reeled in front of you, almost hitting Jason.

“What the fuck, Harrington?” he asked as Steve got out of the car.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

“Come join the party, Harrington” Billy smirked at him, finally letting go of Eddie. “Ready for round two?”

“Yeah, let me just get my friend here” Steve smirked, grabbing his bat out.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Andy said, letting go of you, and slowly walking away with Jason. You quickly ran over to Eddie, pushing Billy aside.

“Ready to go, Hargrove?” Steve said, walking closer to him as he and the other two stepped away.

“You know what? She’s not even fucking worth it” Billy said, throwing one last glare at you. “Let’s just go” he told Jason and Andy as they walked away.

“Eddie! Oh my God, Eddie! Can you hear me?”

“Do I have a concussion or did King Steve Harrington just save my ass?”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Ouch!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry” you apologized, taking the cotton ball away.

You were now in Steve’s kitchen, cleaning Eddie up. You carefully pulled his hair up in a messy bun with your scrunchie so you could see him better. You placed your hand softly on his cheek and your heart broke seeing a big purple bruise printed on his left eye. He looked at you with his huge, deep brown puppy eyes and you had to take a deep breath to not lose it right there because you knew he needed you.

“You okay?” Eddie asked, worriedly.

“M-me? You’re asking if I’m okay? Eddie, Billy and Jason just beat the shit out of you, and you’re asking if I’m okay?”

“First of all, I’d like to think that I handled that with dignity. Secondly, you fell to the ground and that idiot Andy was hurting you” he said, grabbing your hand and tracing his thumb gently on the bruises forming in your arms where Andy grabbed you.

“I’m really sorry, Eddie” you said, coming out in a whisper and tracing your thumb against the now fading drawing you made earlier on his hand. A small tear fell down your cheek and Eddie quickly wiped it away before he cupped your cheek.

“Princess, you have nothing to be sorry for” he assured you.

“Yes, I do! You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if it wasn’t for me” you insisted.

“Hey” he said, pulling you closer to him. “I would do it all over again, love” he smiled at you.

“Hey, man” Steve said, coming into the kitchen and making you and Eddie jump apart. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I got some clean clothes for you” he said offering Eddie a shirt and some sweatpants.

“Thanks, man” Eddie smiled, grabbing the clothes from him. “I’m uh- gonna go change and I’ll get out of your way-”

“We’re having movie night” Steve blurted out of the sudden. “We’re ordering pizza and Dustin, Mike, and the rest are coming over. If you’d like to stay” he offered.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude, man-”

“You’re not intruding. It’s the least I can do after you got hit for me” you told him.

“You keep bruising my ego, Henderson” he smirked at you. “What are we watching?” Eddie asked, interested.

“Gremlins” you told him.

“Seriously?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at Steve.

“Don’t look at me, man. It was her turn to choose the movie!” he said pointing at you.

“Shut up, you two. Gremlins is an awesome movie!”

“Isn’t that what you call your brother and his friends?” Eddie laughed. “I didn’t know that was your favorite movie, princess” he said. “Well, how can I say no to that masterpiece and pizza, I really can’t” he said, leaving the kitchen.

“So…” Steve started.

“So?”

“Are we going to talk about what happened today or are we just going to pretend nothing happened?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Well, you can choose between telling me why your sketchbook has smudgy drawings of Eddie” he said, opening your wet, torn, destroyed sketchbook. “Or why Hargrove and his friends were beating the shit out of him in the parking lot” he added.

“Steve, I don’t want to talk about it-”

“Well, tough. Look, we’ve been friends for a very long time now. I told you why I stopped talking to Tommy and Carol and all of our friends but you never told me why you did and somehow Munson knows!” he argued. “I get that you don’t tell Dustin everything because you want to protect him but what is so horrible that you couldn’t tell me?”

“You don’t want to know-”

“Yes, I do! You’re my best friend! You can tell me anything!”

“You’re gonna hate me!”

“What? No! I swear, okay? Nothing you say will make me hate you! We’ve been through enough shit that you should know that already-”

“I slept with Billy!” you blurted out.

“W-what?” Steve asked, hoping he hadn’t heard you right.

“What?” another voice asked, from another side of the kitchen. Dustin.

“Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me!” you said, feeling like you were going to throw up. “What are you doing here?”

“We all just got here, I was looking for you” he said, walking closer to you and Steve. “You slept with Billy Hargrove, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Dustin!” Steve warned.

“You know what? I don’t want to deal with this right now” you said, grabbing your damped sketchbook and walking out of the house to Steve’s backyard. Dustin was about to follow you but Steve stopped him.

“Look, I get that you’re upset but you’re not going out there if you’re only going to upset your sister more. She had a hard day-”

“Well, how would I know that, Steve? She doesn’t talk to me!”

“What’s with all the yelling?” Eddie said, coming back into the kitchen.

“Eddie? What are you doing here?” Dustin asked confused. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Uh- I am…” he looked at Steve, unsure as to what to say.

“Okay, what the fuck is going on? And what are you two and my sister hiding from me?”

“We’re not hiding anything from you. You need to calm down and we can go sort this out, okay?”

“Fine” Dustin said, unconvinced.

“You promise you won’t snap at her like you just did” Steve glared at him a little.

“Okay” he sighed, rolling his eyes. The three of them walked outside to find you sitting on one of Steve’s pool chairs. Steve and Eddie sat next to you and Dustin sat on the edge of the one you were sitting in. “Uh, hey” he said, nervously. “Um-” he continued when both Steve and Eddie glared at him. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier” he muttered.

“It’s fine, Dusty” you said, sitting up and hugging your legs to you.

“Look, Dustin and I are just worried about you” Steve continued. “We don’t want to push you or anything, we just… want to know what’s going on with you” he added. You looked up at Eddie and he softly nodded at you. He really wanted to hold your hand but he figured Dustin might freak out about it too.

“Um…” you took a deep breath. “Look, I know that… I’ve kind of been pulling away” you started. “And I’m sorry, it’s just…” you sighed. “It was a stupid mistake and I didn’t want either one of you to hate me” you admitted.

“What- uh, when?” Dustin stuttered. “Um, no, y-you go” he said.

“It just happened once” you informed them.

“At… last year’s Halloween party?” Steve guessed and you nodded.

“Look, I was… really drunk and, dad had just left and… mom was kind of a mess and… I don’t know, I guess I was too” you said, sadly.

“Wait, I was there that night, why didn’t you tell me anything?” Steve asked, confused.

“You had your own shit going on” you reminded him. “With Nancy” you added. “So, after you left I got drunker and… then I don’t know, Billy was just there and… it happened” you sighed. “And after I felt so awful” you told them. “When I came down I ran into Eddie and he saw I was upset” you explained. “He drove me home and… he stayed with me and he made sure I was okay” you smiled. “That’s how we became friends-”

“You two are friends?” Dustin asked. “I knew I recognized your doodles” he said, looking at the metalhead.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you” you told Dustin. “I just… didn’t want to get into the whole thing and… it’s not really the conversation you have with your little brother” you admitted.

“I get that but… we used to talk about everything” Dustin said, sadly. “We were always kind of a team and for the past year it just felt like… you hated me” he said.

“Dusty” you said, sitting closer to him and hugging him. “I could never hate you” you assured him. “I am so sorry I pushed you away, I was just… so embarrassed about what happened and, I kind of wanted to forget the whole thing and I guess that in the midst of it all I just… ended up pushing everyone away” you explained.

“So, what happened today?” Dustin asked, confused.

“Well, I was waiting for Steve to pick me up and Billy and his friends just started being idiots” you told him. “Eddie saw and tried to help me” you continued. “And then Steve got there with his bat and they went away” you told him.

“So, that’s why you tell me to stay away from them? I mean, I always knew Billy was a dick but… all of your friends?”

“Well, yeah. I told Billy that if he ever said a word about what happened to anyone, I’d tell everyone he cried like a bitch and he had a small dick” you said, making the three of them laugh a little. “And then, either I just stopped talking to them or they would stop talking to me and… it wasn’t just Billy, you know? You were right” you said, looking at Steve. “They were all just… assholes” you admitted.

“I could have told you that a long time ago” Eddie chuckled.

“You okay?” Dustin asked you.

“Yeah” you smiled. “I’m sorry… about… everything” you told him. “Both of you” you said, looking at Steve.

“Don’t worry” Dustin smiled at you. “I love you dumb-dumb” he said, putting his fist so you would bump it.

“Love you too, dumb-dumb” you smiled back and bumped his fist. “No more lies” you promised and he nodded, smiling.

“It’s fine” Steve said, getting up and kissing your head. “C’mon little Henderson, let’s go set everything up” Steve said, patting Dustin on his back.

“Wait, why do I have to go?” he complained, still getting up.

“Just be nice to your sister, man, she’s been through a lot” Steve complained.

“What about me? I have been through a lot too!” he said, dramatically as they went inside, leaving you and Eddie alone.

“Hey” you smiled back at Eddie.

“Hi, princess” he said, moving over to take Dustin’s place in front of you. “How are you feeling?”

“Not so bad” you sighed. “I still would have preferred not to discuss my sex life with my little brother but… it is what it is” you chuckled.

“Sorry about your sketchbook, love” he said, looking at it on the floor.

“It’s okay” you sighed, going through the damped pages. “It just… might take me a little longer to finish your surprise now” you said, sadly.

“Wait, is that… is that me?” he asked, feeling his heart flutter.

“It… was supposed to be” you told him. “I mean, your D&D character” you muttered. “I… wanted to um… I was trying to get it right and I thought you m-might like it-”

“It’s perfect, princess” he smiled at you.

“It’s ruined, Eddie” you chuckled.

“Well, then I guess I need to get you another sketchbook, love” he said, grabbing it from you.

“You don’t have to get me one, Eddie” you smiled as he scootched closer to you.

“Jesus, Henderson would you just let me do something nice for you” he smiled, cupping your cheek with his hand.

“You do nothing but nice things for me, Munson” you smiled.

“What can I say? You bring out the best in me, sweetheart” he smiled back.

“Well, in that case, maybe you can do one more nice thing for me” you said, pulling him by his shirt, well, Steve’s shirt and he pulled you gently, brushing his thumb against your cheek.

“Gladly, princess” he said, smiling before he finally connected his lips with yours. He felt you smiling against his lips as you started deepening the kiss before you were rudely interrupted.

“Hey guys, pizza’s here- what the fuck?” you jumped apart when you heard Dustin’s voice again, with Lucas, Will, and Max standing next to him, trying not to laugh. “You two are together? I thought there were no more lies!”

“Would you believe me that this literally just happened, Henderson?” 

The End

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A/N: hope you loves liked it! :D

[freesia-writes]

I haven't watched TBB yet but I've been spoiled but not as much. I'm also not gonna be able to watch S3 yet because I need to finish TCW, but I have been so so so so so very massively in love with Wrecker ;///////;. I gave up rushing so I'm gonna just gonne binge on all the fluffy Wrecker fics for Happy Hearts Month ♥.

May I please have a Wrecker x Reader fic where:

Reader and Wrecker were supposed to meet either for a date or something and Reader is late so Wrecker ate what he was supposed to give to Reader because idk maybe he's anxious or worried? It can be cookies, cupcakes, chocolates, a cake — anything sweet.

And maybe Reader did the same? Ate what she was supposed to give Wrecker and when they met they just both realize they did the same thing cause there'd be crumbs or something and sjdlaksjdlkajdlkajdakljdalkd.

Just over all feel good wholesomeness. I don't mind any flirting or slight nsfw, but bear hugs and all over kisses from Wrecker would b suuuuuuperrrrrrrrr adorbs!

Maybe a second date vibe?

Only if you can, pretty please and thank you ♥. Sorry if it's too much!

I can't wait for you to get to enjoy the series! I kinda took this in a sliiiiightly different direction for funsies. ;) Dividers by @stars-n-spice from this post here!

Wrecker x GN Reader

1.5k words

No content warnings

The air in the bustling corridors of the base buzzed with anticipation as you hurried toward your meeting spot with Wrecker. Your heart raced with excitement, eager to spend time with the big-hearted clone who had captured your attention. You’d spent extra time getting ready, wanting to make a good impression, as it was still only your second date. It had been a surprising few weeks that you’d been able to be stationed on the same base, catching little conversations with him when his squad was on site for a few days before being shipped off again, and the romance had blossomed immediately. 

You’d been so shocked and delighted at his willingness to pursue something, having assumed he’d make excuses or find it entirely unattainable for someone in his position. But your first date had been so simple, so sweet… You were blown away and entirely infatuated from then on, and you had to wait another few weeks for Clone Force 99 to return. 

So when you were finally able to greet him with a beaming smile, immediately finding yourself wrapped in his unmatched, delightfully warm hug upon his return, you’d made plans immediately for a second date, excited for the convenient upcoming holiday that celebrated love and romance in all its forms. 

Rounding the corner, you spotted Wrecker standing there, a hopeful look in his eyes. He looked so dapper, you thought you would burst with joy. He’d found some basic cargo pants and was still wearing his black shirt, but he’d added some kind of sport coat that looked two sizes too small, yet gave him an adorably debonair appearance. Your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, and you quickened your pace, eager to close the distance between you. 

But as you approached, you couldn't help but notice the guilty expression on Wrecker's face, immediately sending you into a spiral of overthinking.  Confusion flickered across your features as you came to a stop in front of him.

"Hi!” you said, trying to be nonchalant. But his reaction evoked the true question out of you. “What… Erm… Something wrong?" you asked, your brow furrowing in concern.

Wrecker's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "Uh, well, you see... I had a real special treat for you… Something I found at a food cart outside the base. It was so fancy…" he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. You smiled at his irresistible charm.

“Well what’s wrong with that?” you said playfully, gently grazing a hand up and down the outside of his arm. 

“I ate it,” he blurted, slowly lifting his eye to yours with an expression of shame and a touch of mischief.

Your eyes widened in surprise. "You ate it?" you repeated, your tone a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"Yeah, I, uh, got nervous and... it looked really good," Wrecker confessed, his cheeks turning an even deeper shade of red.

A laugh bubbled up from your lips as you reached out to gently pat Wrecker's arm. "It's okay, Wrecker. I'm sure whatever it was, it was delicious," you reassured him with a warm smile. “And that’s kind of adorable,” you confessed, blushing yourself as his jaw dropped and his eyebrows rose. “Besides, dinner with you IS the treat,” you snickered.

Wrecker's expression brightened at your understanding, his heart swelling with gratitude. "Thanks... You're the best," he said earnestly.

With a shared chuckle, you fell into step beside each other, the awkwardness of the moment melting away in the warmth of your easy camaraderie. As you walked, you couldn't help but sneak glances at Wrecker, marveling at the way his eyes sparkled with life and his smile lit up the room.

Before long, you found yourselves at a quaint little café nestled in a corner of the nearby town, the scent of freshly baked pastries wafting through the air. Wrecker held the door open for you with a gallant flourish, a proud grin on his face as he ushered you inside. As you settled into a cozy booth by the window, your cheeks almost hurt from smiling when he squeezed onto the cushy bench seat beside you instead of sitting across from you.

“This alright?” he asked with a grin. 

“Heck yes,” you quipped, and the way he rested his broad palm on your knee as you considered your menu made your heart skip a beat. So polite, so comforting, so protective… All in a single touch? How did you get so lucky… Conversation flowed freely as you considered your options, ordering a few different things to share between the two of you. 

Hours passed, with a hearty dinner followed by some little bites of dessert and some hot coffees to finish the whole thing off, and you found yourself stuffed, warm, and unbelievably content as you leaned against his side. He’d just finished a detailed description of a mission that had gotten steadily more wild as it went on, and by the end you didn’t even know if it was an entirely true story. But it didn’t matter; you were in heaven and would weasel the truth out of him later if needed. 

You finished with a walk back to the base, taking the long way around and sharing some gum that the restaurant had given you along with your bill. You blew bubbles, snuck gazes at each other side to side, and meandered slowly. The conversation dwindled a little, leaving a comfortable silence that stretched until you reached the door where you would part ways. 

You stopped, slowly turning to face him with a demure look on your face. It felt like a dream that you didn’t want to wake up from, and he opened his arms to invite you into another hug that conjured up every warm, happy moment you’d ever had. A sigh fell from your lips as you leaned into his chest, shifting your bag back over your shoulder as it swung forward to whack him in the hip.

“This was really fun, Wrecker,” you said earnestly, pulling away only a little bit, leaving your arms around his hips.

“It was a blast!” he exclaimed, resting a hand on each of your shoulders. “Can we do it again?”

“Yes please!” you giggled. “Right now?”

“I wish!” He joined you in laughter, gently rubbing up and down the outside of your arms with polite affection. “Tomorrow? We should have some time after exercises.”

“Absolutely.” With another ill-disguised sigh, you started to pull away, slowly turning to take your own path home for the evening. 

“Hey, um…” he called, and you bounded back to face him without a thought to how quickly you moved. 

“Yes?” you asked, unabashedly eager.

“Do you… uh…” He definitely wasn’t looking for any excuse to keep conversing with you. “Do you have a tissue or somethin for my gum? The flavor has been gone for a long time now.”

“Of course,” you laughed, swinging your bag back over your shoulder and rummaging around absently. You felt the corner of a napkin, lost in his puppy-dog eyes, and pulled it as hard as you could… producing… with a flourish… a shower of chocolate crumbs that would have caught anyone’s attention as they scattered in a puff from your hand all over the ground. “Oh! Uhh… That’s… That’s nothing,” you spluttered suddenly.

Wrecker tilted his head, interest piqued now at how quick you were to deflect. 

“Oh?” he said quietly, a little gleam appearing in his eye.

“Here… Here’s your tissue!” you said, flushing bright red.

“Come on,” he insisted, drawing closer and bending down playfully. “What’s the secret of the napkin…” You fumbled for words, shaking the rest of the crumbs out of the napkin and about to begin when he gasped. “Wait! Nooo…”

Did he seriously figure it out? He couldn’t have…

“Did you…” He paused to giggle. “Did you have a snack in here?”

“Maybe…” you said slowly.

“Was it something you were going to bring for me?” 

“Mayyyybe…” you smiled, covering your face with a hand.

“And you ate it?!” The final piece of the puzzle was laid into place in a delightful exclamation, joy brightening his face as your reaction confirmed his guess. “Oh ho ho! How the turn tables… have… Ha!”

“I was too busy getting ready to eat lunch today so I was really hungry and I didn’t think you’d miss it if I never said anything about it and it’s been a long week and my self-control was really--” you dove in, laughing as you tried to explain yourself, but Wrecker waved it all away, bundling you in his arms again for another boisterous hug. He gave you a squeeze, still chuckling, as he gazed down at you fondly.

“Well now I have to take you out for dessert again sometime,” he reasoned. “Also, I think I love you already.”

[shizuoi]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

tagged by: @chibiosaka ♡♡ this was fun, thank you for tagging me!!!

3 ships: just gonna take this as 3 ships i've been writing about recently so cot3, varim (george/bobby), and georcy! all l&co what a shocker jdklshdgjfa

1st ever ship: gosh uhhhhh probably robin/raven or dramione? it's been so long i don't remember anymore ;-;

last song: cherry gene 'hy-fluid mix' by tripleS

last film: godzilla minus one!! (shaking your hand jessie hehe) it was so good, i was on the edge of my seat the entire time

currently reading: so much fanfic LOL book-wise im on a bit of hiatus with 'the anthropocene reviewed' by john green and 'babel' by r.f. kuang,

currently watching: x files bc i need to hurry tf up and finish s3 so i can catch up to my sister who's in the middle of s4

currently consuming: i just had mcdonald's for dinner. bad choice TT

currently craving: i always want sweet drink! currently thinking of wushiland's grapefruit yogurt drink w/boba since i had it on saturday so it's on my mind :3

tagging (for anyone who wants to join in):

@athena-blooms @evakant @arsenicalbronze @synestheticwanderings@thelittlemissmisfit

[inyoursheets]

to prioritize the strangers!pwp or the angsty post-s3 heartbreak fic....hmm

[still-a-morosexual-help]

OBEY ME! LESSON 60 DETAILED SUMMARY + DISCUSSION/THEORIES

*I wrote this days after the lesson was first posted and never bothered to go back and edit it so meaning there will be me theorizing about the next lesson as well

*I write a small para for each chapter and I write it immediately after finishing that chapter so there’ll be theorizing about the next chapter too

*I swear more than usual here

*Some of the dialogue is heavily plagiarized and a few is lifted directly from the story, the game is to figure which is which.

*Summaries and Discussions/theories for all the other lessons can be found on this blog under #obey me spoilers or #my theories or #my headcanons

Welp this is it… DAMNNNNNN the last two seasons each had a lesson near the beginning of the season dedicated just to a date with Mammon and I’m praying S4 has one as well and though it sucks Mammon & MC’s hellos and goodbyes are always really sweet and ahhh how am I already missing them. I’m desperate for S4 and I haven’t even finished S3 yet… fuck okay. 

Post Lesson 60 edit: The last chapter goodbyes are gonna be direct quotes cause I’m an emotional mess. 

As MC is about to head outside Mammon calls out to them and tells them to bring him a cake on the way home, they ask him why he’s been so cold and distant with them lately and he frowns at them and says he doesn’t know what they’re talking about and tells them not to forget the cake and then he leaves. Asmo who had being eavesdropping laughs and says that even for Mammon that was oddly bossy and arrogant. He then asks if he can tag along with them partway cause he’s heading to the spa. As they walk past the lake Asmo tells MC not to hold Mammon’s recent attitude against him and that he’s so upset about having to leave MC again that he doesn’t know what to do with himself and since rn all he can think about is MC he’s not sure how to act around them. Asmo says Mammon’s spending too much time dwelling on this. He looks disappointed and shakes his head when he asks himself what he’s gonna do about Mammon and that he’s being a child. (IS2G Asmo is the number #1 Mammon x MC shipper???????? Relatable) MC asks him if he hasn’t been dwelling on leaving. He asks if they wish he was and says they’re always on his mind and that’s why he doesn’t seem any different now. He says the actual reason he’s still so himself and not outwardly upset is cause he has faith (HA!) that they’ll end back together again like all the previous times they had to separate. He says he’s still sad about having to say goodbye but all that makes him want to do is treasure the moments they have rn. They can hold his hand, kiss him or say that’s a really Asmo thing if him to say. He smiles and says positivity is one of his charms (Asmo ily but weren’t you the one who got drunk and cried and needed to have Satan carry you back home the first time MC left…) They eventually part ways. I’m guessing the order of the rest of the ‘goodbyes’ is gonna be Satan, Mammon and then Lucifer cause those two always end up last in that order…

EYYYYY! They run into satan and ask where he’s off to. He says he’s off to the bookstore to stock on some human books before they head home and asks MC if they want to tag along. He hands them a list and tells them to start looking from the top and that he’ll start from the bottom. He says thwy can use magic as long as no human sees them (ME: thinking back to that one human MC, Belphie and Diavolo scared the shit out of…Hmmmm). They agree and he says that knowing they studied under Solomon makes him feel safe to trust that they know what they’re doing. He says he always knows he can count on them when he needs them and that being in the Devildom without them will be troublesome (I said in the fairy dust/angel lesson that Satan & MC are incredibly similar and that their friendship is highly underrated and I still stand by that.) MC uses magic to lift a book from a high shelf and Satan warns them that someone’s coming making them loose their concentration and the book to come falling down, Satan shields them though and gets hit with it instead. They each ask if the other is alright and he says they need to be more careful that no one sees them (ME: INTENSELY THINKING BACK TO THAT TIME WITH DIAVOLO AND BELPHIE WHEN MC WAS WILLING TO BARBEQUE A MAN FOR FIRING A GUN AT BELPHIE) He blushes and tells them he’ll show what he means and he takes them behind a bookshelf where no one can see and wraps his arms around them and pulls them close (Satan what kinda romance novel pickup line was that??? Also all I can imagine is that SNL bookstore skit with John Cena & Aidy Bryant). MC can kiss him, wrap their arms around him or just thank him for shielding them earlier. He says there’s no need to thank him and that he’s just happy they’re not hurt, He then laughs softly and asks if they’ll be okay once he’s gone. They ask him in turn if he’ll be okay. He blushes and says he won’t and that just thinking about life without them was enough to drive him mad.

At dinner levi asks if everyone is there and Beel looks sad and says Mammon isn’t, Belphie sighs and says he always has to make things difficult. Levi says it’s okay and he gets it and that Mammon obviously thinks dinner’s gonna suck since Levi made it and holy shit can we pls take Levi to a therapist pls? Belphie says Levi’s beating himself up for no reason and Levi goes on a rant about how he’s an ultra-negative, depressing otaku and how no one likes being around him ajndsvddjsnk LEVI pls!!? (unrelated but Levi’s actually my third favourite) Belphie asks MC to go get Mammon and Beel tells them to hurry. They knock and enter his room. They ask him what he’s doing and he says he was just watching a shark movie Satan gave him. He asks if they’re here to tell him about dinner and that they should head back and eat and not to worry about him. He looks upset and says he’s not in the mood to eat. They say they’re really gonna miss him and he’s eyes widen for a sec before he looks away and asks if they’re some sorta kid. He then laughs though and says they’re not the only one who feels that way. He blushes and says of course he’s gonna miss them too and that they already knew that. He asks if there isn’t some other way for them to stay together forever. He says that being a sorcerer they have to make something happen. They can say a.) that despite being a sorcerer they’re still pretty green and he laughs and says the one time he needs them they’re no use at all. He blushes and tells them to hurry up and ‘ripen’ and that a green sorcerer won’t cut it. B.) being a demon he should make something happen. He says if there was something he could do he woulda done it a long time ago. Looking aside again he says hanging out with them and talking about dumb stuff is something he takes for granted and he just realized he won’t be able to do it again anytime soon, he says that once he’s back in the devildom life would be dull and that once he used to be happy as long as he had money but after they met that was ruined. And now during his free time he thinks about them and feels all worried and unsettled. He blushes and asks them to stay with him and keep him company since all this is their fault. Belphie texts them asking where the fuck they are they say they’ll have dinner with Mammon later, he then wishes them luck with Mammon.

In the music room Levi’s bemoaning how he understands that any coffee he makes won’t be good enough while a wide eyed Asmo asks him what he’s talking about cause as you can see Asmo is drinking his coffee, Levi says he never admitted it was good though. Asmo smiles and reassures him that it’s actually good and asks Belphie to back him up. Belphie says he wants no part of any of this which immediately crumbles all of Asmo’s hard work and makes Levi depressed. Lucifer pops his head in and once he spots MC asks them to come to his room. They ask what he wants to talk about, he says he’ll tell them when he gets there. To the room as a whole he says that Diavolo wants them all at the hotel the next day. This surprises both Mammon & Beel, and Satan asks if there’s another problem at the hotel, making everyone turn and eye Levi who turns red and protests. In his room Lucifer asks if MC knows why he called them and they say nope. He asks if they really don’t know or if they’re just playing dumb. When they don’t answer he says it’s about why Diavolo called them to the hotel. He says Diavolo hasn’t told him the reason behind it and asks if MC knows, saying that for Diavolo not to tell him it has to be either something that’ll supremely piss off Lucifer or something that Diavolo finds fun and exciting that Lucifer won’t like but will have to endure. They say they don’t know anything about it. He says, “what do you think you can lie to me? Have you forgotten who the fuck I am exactly!?” When they still remain silent he drops the blank faced glare and laughs saying he can take a guess at what’s going on considering they’re not willing to share. He says considering this is them they’re probably gonna do something nice for them and he tells them they’re really sweet, they tell him not to stop and to keep stroking their ego (or they can ask for a reward). He says he may considering how things go tomorrow. He then pauses and says he’s actually in the mood to indulge them today so he’ll sing their praises just for today. (They can ask if he’s sad about saying goodbye, he says yes and then blushes and says obviously that means they’re spending the night in his room – I noped out at this point. Is it weird that Lucifer’s the only brother I can’t see MC platonically sharing a bed with?) They then tease him saying this is very unlike him. He blushes and agrees, saying that when he’s with them he doesn’t have to be the avatar of pride but that’s okay because they love all the different sides of him (I thought this was really sweet, Lucifer needs to know that there’s someone who loves him as a whole even the parts of him that are massive jerks and I love that this interaction can be read as either romantic or platonic. He smiles and says he’s looking forward for tomorrow.  

The brothers are all surprised when from the hotel they are taken to the currently most popular club in the human world that has been reserved all for them, with Simeon making all the food and Luke making cakes. Luke tries his best to protect the food from Beel while Satan and Mammon say how surprise they were by Barbatos’s magic making them walk out into the club after walking into the hotel. MC asks if they like it and Lucifer says of course they do and thanks them for doing this. Solomon says he has a present for all of them too, Levi worries that he cooked for them (though he asks it with the sweetest smile cause all these demons are still hanging on to not letting Solomon know his food is toxic waste in case it hurts his feelings) and Lucifer whispers to MC that if so they might all die here. Solomon says he had offered to help cook but Simeon had insisted he had it all handled (he looks awfully disappointed when saying this). Mammon cheers on Simeon and Belphie says “…yeah I never thought I’d owe my life to Simeon but here we are” Their real present is Solomon lighting up the room with what, according to Belphie, looks like a fallen star. Asmo gushes about how beautiful it is.  Beel asks if he can eat it. Levi laughs and tells him he better not. Diavolo says they should officially start the party and everyone cheers. In a side lounge area Simeon says seeing the brothers enjoying the party so much makes all the effort feel worth it, Barbatos says he’s just happy seeing Diavolo having so much fun and he thanks MC. They say they could never have done it without their help in the first place. Simeon says it was MC to got them all working together to make this happen in the first place. Levi then arrives to come drag MC towards the karaoke (which Diavolo insisted they have – poor man’s still trying to sing a duet with Lucifer I see)

Satan and Asmo complain about Levi hogging the mic and singing anime songs, he yells at them for not understanding the raw passion and energy of anime songs (which isn’t that true? Anime songs have a unique kinda passion that makes you hyped that I’ve never being able to find in other songs..). Levi tells MC to forget about them and MC asks to sing a duet. Levi says he’ll queue up a bunch of duets and Mammon yells at Levi for hogging the mic and using this as an opportunity to hit on MC. Levi laughs and says that he’s not swooping in and doing anything the way Mammon said and that MC wants to sing with him. Mammon then blushes and demands to sing the next duet with them from MC. Asmo then calls the one after that and Mammon asks Beel & Belphie what they’re doing. They’re mixing drinks. MC says there new drink (demonous with scorpion powder and something else) sounds really good (cause they’re a freak like that) Belphie says the flavours do seem to go surprisingly well together and he asks Mammon to try some. He protests saying they just want to use him as a guinea pig. Lucifer’s drawn to the commotion and says they all seem to be fun, Levi asks if he wants to sing next and he says later, he then thanks MC for planning a fun surprise for them and that they were able to create some nice final memories in the human world before heading home. MC says they’ll share more great times together and Lucifer laughs and agrees saying this won’t be the last time they’re all together and this is just one of many happy memories they’ll share in the future. When they go back to the lounge area Solomon says they could hear them all talking, singing and laughing all the way from over here despite the music, emphasizing that they could hear Levi the most. Diavolo asks them to come sit and pours them another drink and says they were all talking about them and how they helped them enjoy their time in the human realm. He thanks them from the bottom of his heart. Solomon says last time they were all together in the Devildom and this time it was in the human realm and asks where they should be together next. Luke is surprised he’s already thinking about the next time. He laughs and says it’s cause he can barely wait for the next time they are all together. MC can suggest one of the three worlds. (personally I chose the Devildom cause the brothers aren’t allowed in the Celestial Realm and as much as I am completely in love with Mammon’s human world look I miss the aesthetic of the Devildom.) Diavolo laughs and says he’s happy they’ve taken such a liking to the Devildom and that he’d love for them to come back and that the brothers will be thrilled too. From the distance and getting closer they hear Lucifer telling his brothers to quit pushing him. Mammon tells him to just hurry up and go inside. Levi says Lucifer has to be with them or they won’t be taken seriously. Lucifer groans and asks if they’re actually planning on saying “this to him”. “Of course.” Says Satan. Belphie says it’s at least worth asking. Asmo agrees saying anything’s possible if you put your mind to it. They all tumble into the lounge area and Solomon asks what brings them all here. Lucifer looking tired says that his brothers have something to ask Diavolo. Mammon tells Lucifer not to act as if he isn’t part of this and as if it hasn’t been on his mind too. Diavolo chuckles and asks what they want to ask. Beel says they’ve all been thinking about something for a while now and they want to discuss it with him. The brothers all together yell: “We want MC to join the family!” GUUUUUYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!? Not me softly sobbing at the image this makes in my head ahhhhhhh!??????? AHHHHHH!?????????? MC’s shocked and speechless. Asjvfkjffvuiefhi pls don’t give me hope like this wtf and what do they mean by join the family cause I don’t mind Lucifer more or less adopting them, and like Beel said they already seem to be a part of the family but MC brought up proposals with A LOT of the brothers so is that what they mean? Like marriage??? But they’re all asking and other than Beel & Belphie wanting to share with each other and Asmo being open to threesomes none of them want to share MC so……. Also I do not see my OM! MC getting married at all but at the same time if it was to squirrel their way into a permanent position in the family then…

Diavolo’s wide-eyed and stunned silent, and then he asks “…huh!?” Solomon bursts out laughing. Luke is red faced and tells Solomon this is no time to laugh. Solomon still laughing chokes out that he’s never seen Diavolo so stunned. Luke pauses and then asks what exactly they mean by ‘join the family’ and then he turns red and demands if they mean marrying MC. The brothers obviously haven’t really thought about what ‘join the family’ means and only now realise it can imply marriage. Asmo immediately volunteers. Mammon red faced protests to MC marrying Asmo and then stuttering says that if they’re gonna marry anyone they should marry him (he screams the last part out after struggling through the first part). Levi gets pissed saying if MC marries a scumbag like Mammon they’d have a dark, terrible future (watch me put together a 200 slide presentation refuting this) Belphie tells Asmo and Mammon to back off before they mess things up. Lucifer, looking dead tired, says it’s already a mess. Diavolo goes, “Umm…Lucifer?” and asks him to explain what’s going on. He says the others want MC around on a permanent basis so they don’t have to say goodbye ever and they put their heads together and decided on this. “Marriage!?” goes Luke. Solomon says the demons hadn’t thought how they’d make them part of the family. Lucifer tells Satan that he can look at the others like they’re a band of idiots but to leave him outta it. Solomon asks MC what they think of all this and they say they want to be part of the family too (it’s implied through out the main storyline that generally MC’s someone who’s very calm and collected and who while being incredibly blunt doesn’t express their emotions outwardly much (at the beginning of S2 Lucifer even comments on them being more expressive than before they left) but I’d like to imagine at this moment they are wet eyed and beaming because of these loveable idiots who ARE their family even if it’s not official). Diavolo smiles and says he sees. Luke has problems with humans and demons mixing and being a family (LUKE I THOUGHT WE WERE OVER THIS!?) “Yes, Luke. I know…” says Diavolo. His face then becomes serious and he’s silent and contemplative. Diavolo looks at MC and says that though they aren’t aware of it there’s still bad blood amongst the three worlds and that no matter how much they all want to be a family and stay together it’s not within his power to let that happen. He looks upset and apologizes. Lucifer is silent. He says though that his goal is to one day remove these barriers between the worlds and that he’ll do everything in his power to make that happen, and as the future demon king he promises that one day he’ll make it so that they can marry anyone in this room (I’m screaming just MC – queer as hell and with they/them pronouns waiting in the human world for marriage to get legalized only to fall in love with someone from another world and having to wait AGAIN for marriage to be legalized… I’d have lost my entire shit.) “WELL, isn’t that good for you, you apprentice poaching motherfuckers but guess what I’m a human meaning WE can get married in the meantime… CHECKMATE, BITCHES~” says Solomon. Mammon actually snaps at Solomon and calls him a “son of a –“ before he remembers the child in the room and trails off and snaps at him not to say stuff like that. Belphie asks if Solomon can even be classified as a human given his age. (Can MC even be classified as fully human given the whole Lilith situation? I mean ik Lilith was reincarnated as a human but she still kept and passed on her supernatural magic. Plus there’s a Belphie devilgram that takes places pre S1 that implies MC’s not fully human plus that whole thing about fairy hallucination angel!Lucifer not taking MC’s word for it when they said they were human… it’s very likely though everyone here’s too dumb to realise it). Satan says at this point Solomon might as well be a demon. Asmo tells him not to pretend to be a human when it’s convenient. He laughs and says that even though he can’t grow old or die he still belongs to the human race. Beel says that maybe but Solomon isn’t playing fair, Levi agrees and says Solomon’s also making him jealous. Diavolo says MC sure is popular seeing as they are all fighting over them. Lucifer says he knew this would happen and that’s why he didn’t want them to have this discussion. Luke’s shocked that MC’s got demons and the world’s greatest sorcerer wrapped around their finger, MC asks him if he sees them in a new light now. Luke says he thinks it’s impressive but it also creeps him out.

Back near the dance floor, Satan laughs and says Beel’s eating too much, Beel says Satan’s drinking too much, Satan who actually seems tipsy says he’s nowhere near his limit and challenges Beel to a competition to see who reaches their drink/food limit first, Beel agrees. Given how much beel can eat I can only assume this is the last we see of Satan RIP. Barbatos, looking uncharacteristically extremely worried, tells them to slow down cause neither of them know to stop. Levi, finishing up his song, calls for Luke who booked next but Mammon says Simeon went to put the “little guy” to sleep and asks Levi to come play cards instead. Lucifer, who’s playing with Mammon, asks if he hasn’t lost enough at this point, Mammon turns red and says this time he’s gonna win it all back. Asmo laughs and says Mammon just jinxed himself. Belphie asks why MC’s looking around the room so restlessly and they can say A.) I don’t see Diavolo anywhere B.) where’s Solomon? Either way the answer is he has no idea where Solomon went but he did see Diavolo head out earlier. He says the two of them are probably together talking. MC finds Diavolo and asks what he’s up to. He says he wanted a break and to gaze at the city lights and sober up a little since he won’t be able to see them again for awhile. He asks them to sit next to him and then laughs and says he could barely believe his ears after he heard what the brothers asked. He says he’s known the seven of them for a long time and knows how close they are and that it’s unbelievable that they’d want to include someone new to the family (MY HEART!? ALSO FOUND FAMILY TROPE!) He says it almost makes him jealous. They say that they know for a fact that he’s very important to the brothers too. He’s like “thanks for saying that but rn you’re either playing dumb or you actually are this dumb which makes me question my taste but then again I’m also in love with Lucifer so…” and he says he’s jealous of the brothers not them (Sure, Jan. We know you’re jealous of them both don’t lie). He says he feels the same as them and blushes and says he keeps thinking about how it could be if they were together forever (Sir, pls Lucifer is right there. He’s available. Pls.) He says if their relationship was on that level and if their bond was deep and permanent like those of a family he can’t even imagine how amazing that’d be (he keeps repeating ‘family’ and the brothers weren’t even thinking marriage when they asked for MC to be part of their family and Diavolo was really shocked and he now said specifically it was them asking about being ‘family’ before Luke even first mentioned marriage that made Diavolo jealous. What I’m saying is that considering Diavolo’s lonely, strict childhood the one thing he wants more than anything is a family not marriage specifically). He smiles and says they beat him to the punch and that he asks them to give him time cause he’s gonna do everything he can to mend the bridges between the three worlds for MC and for the brothers…and a little bit for himself. He gives them his word.

Out on the balcony Solomon greets them and asks if they shouldn’t be down with the others, they say they needed a break and wanted to talk to him, he wonders if the others would be pissed if they knew Solomon had MC all to himself. He says he figured he’d stay out of the way today and let MC and the demons spend time together considering he’ll have enough time to hang out with them later. He says he can’t believe they asked MC to join the family and that he didn’t see that coming. He starts laughing again about how serious they looked and how shocked Diavolo looked, and how Lucifer looked like he had a migraine (Ik we all say Lucifer’s the sadist but have we considered…) MC asks if he really thinks it’s that funny (and I’m pretty sure they’re offended on the brothers’ behalf and hurt cause that’s what they want too.) Solomon says for him it’s funny. He says it’s common of a demon to ask for a business arrangement or a pact but he’s never heard of them asking humans to join their family. He smiles and says he’s beginning to think he chose a “truly incredible” human as his apprentice. MC asks what the demons in his life are to him, he gives it serious thought and said these days he sees them as close friends. MC asks if things were different earlier and he says they were but also asks that they not get into things rn cause the story is long and tedious, MC asks if he’s just trying to avoid their question and if he’s gonna tell them the truth or not. He laughs and says nope and that though you can’t tell it by looking at him he’s a little too tipsy. He reminds them that they’re barely a sorcerer rn and that they should leave questions like that for later until they can use “magic like this” without an incantation. He uses magic to teleport the others on to the balcony (what a snake. Imagine instead of going to a crowd to escape a conversation you use your magic to bring the crowd to you to avoid a conversation AND to set a line for MC to reach before they can start poking at his past.) Asmo says he’s being wondering where the two of them went and how naughty it was to sneak off together, Levi complains about being cut halfway through a song, Beel asks MC to judge his eating competition with Satan and Satan says it’s actually a drinking competition. Barbatos looking deeply concerned asks if the two of them intend to empty the hotel’s pantry AND its wine cellar. He asks MC to stop them. Lucifer’s goading Mammon and kicking his ass in a card game and Mammon refuses to give up (HC that Lucifer taught Mammon to play cards up in the Celestial Realm as a way to get him to sit still and NOT set the drapes on fire). Belphie comments on the card game and the party continues. (Pretty sure Solomon saw the demons as pawns or tools to get what he wants/ for more power and that he was much more ruthless with making pacts with them than he is now when he pesters Lucifer (aka getting Asmo drunk while he was upset and making a pact) the question is why? And why did Michael basically sponsor this? We know that the Celestial Realm and Devildom had just called a truce when Michael took an interest in Solomon so could it be that he wanted someone to keep an eye on the demons and the best way to do that was to have a powerful human sorcerer make as many pacts with demons as possible. I mean Solomon made a pact with Asmo mostly because he was Lucifer’s brother and Michael still has a heavy interest in the brothers so it could be possible that he wanted Solomon to make a pact with one of them so that he could see what they were doing?)

LAST ONE GUYS! :) I’m okay really :)))))))) Outside the manor in the morning, Barbatos tells Diavolo it’s time and Diavolo looking really sad agrees. (RIGHT OFF THE BAT HUH!?) Even Solomon seems upset when he realizes it’s time and then that damn song starts playing, that ending song that always chokes me up and this time it doesn’t feel as sad as last season because honestly the “Till we meet again” party really helped while last season all the brothers tried to run away with MC and that shit HURT but it still makes me choked up FUCK I want them back so badly. Diavolo comes up to MC and says they have to return and that though they weren’t here for a long time it was really fun. “So, till we meet again, MC” he ends with. Barbatos thanks them for all they did to make their stay in the human world more comfortable. He says next time they meet he’ll prepare a special tea for them that he’s sure they’ll like. From here we’re going to direct quotes because I am EMOTIONAL:

Mammon says, while not meeting their eyes: …Listen, why’re you sittin’ around twiddling your thumbs, huh? I saw how hard you worked to become a sorcerer, so I know you got it in ya. (He blushes, still not meeting their eyes) Hurry up and learn summoning magic ASAP! You big dummy… (he finally looks up at them and smiles) And once you learn it, you’d better summon ME first! All right? You promise, right? (MC can either hug or kiss him….AND YOU GUYS MUST KNOW ME BY NOW SO MC just kisses him in front of all the brothers just like that????????? – he blushes and looks away again) Dammit, now I wanna take you back to the Devildom with me… (He meets their eyes one more time, face still red)

Levi says, blushing and looking aside: …You know that game we were playing? Final Devil Kingdom… (He looks up at them, still blushing) Well, I’ve decided not to make any more progress in it until I see you next. (He smiles brightly then) So we need to get together and play it again as soon as possible, okay? I mean, I’m dying to move on to the next dungeon… (He looks up at them with a sad expression then and they can either hug or kiss him and look I love Levi but I’ve already made my choice so MC hugs him – he blushes and gets a determined expression on his face) I’m going to be messaging you a lot, okay? So… don’t ignore my texts, or I’ll cry. (He smiles at them one more time)

Satan says, looking confident and meeting their eyes: …There are several cats who come by the manor for food each day. Make sure to take care of them for me. If you’re on the job, I feel like I can rest easy knowing they’ll be okay. (He frowns, blushes and looks away then) But keep in touch. Let me know how the cats are doing every day. Got it? Every day. (They hug him and he laughs and then says with a smile) Knowledge is power. The more you have, the better off you’ll be. So study hard, and learn to stand on your own two feet as a sorcerer as soon as you can.

Asmo says, looking really upset but making eye contact: No matter how I dress myself up or how cute I make my nails and makeup, if I can’t show it to the one I love the most, it won’t be fun at all. (He smiles then) So, I’ve decided to think about it this way… I have to strive to make myself more and more beautiful with each passing day! 🤍 (He smiles even more brightly) So that one day you’ll fall for me completely and then you’ll be all mine! How does that sound? (MC hugs him and he giggles, and says smiling) I’m going to put a little something extra on my hug! 🤍 (he squeezes them closer)

Beel says with a soft smile looking in at them: …It was fun getting to eat together with you every day here human world, MC. (His smile brightens) You know, when you’re with the right person, good food has a way of tasting even better. I want to be able to eat with you all the time, every single day. I want that to be normal. And I’m going to do whatever I can to make it so that someday soon, it really will be like that. (MC hugs him and he blushes and smiles and says) Make sure you eat enough, okay? Take care of yourself.

Belphie says also with a soft smile, making eye contact: I’m glad I got this chance to live here in the human world. Spending each day together with you in your world has been incredibly fun. (He looks sad and looks to the side) …Having to go to sleep every night in a house without you in it from now on is going to be really sad, and really lonely. (MC hugs them and he blushes but his expression is still sad and he doesn’t make eye contact) Take care, MC…

Lucifer’s wearing that fond smile that makes his eyes squint shut and he says: …Never did I imagine that one day, I’d find it this hard to say goodbye to you. I’ve managed to shock even myself. (He looks up at them then) Once I’m back in the Devildom, where I can’t see you anymore, this feeling is probably going to grow even worse. I hope this is every bit as difficult for you as it is for me. (MC hugs him) …Let’s make sure we see each other again sooner rather than later. (He gives that soft fond smile again)

Barbatos opens the portal. Solomon tells them all to take care. There’s a flash of bright light and the opening song starts playing. “MC!” Yells Mammon with a bright smile before he jumps in. “Toodles!” Says a beaming, waving Asmo. “Till next time!” says Levi with a small smile. “Take care of yourself!” Says a brightly smiling Belphie. “Bye…” Says Beel with a smile. “See you around.” Says Satan with a smile. “See you next time.” Says Lucifer with a nod of his head and a smile. “Goodybe, MC.” Says Diavolo with a bright smile. There’s another flash and the portal’s closed and they’re all gone. The credits play thanking all the main and side character VAs over human world backgrounds and YOU! Back in front of the manor Solomon says it suddenly got so quiet that he feels lonely. MC’s silent and doesn’t answer him. “Hey,” he says after a bit, “didn’t they officially hire you as their “babysitter” because you came here looking for a job, you know that thing you need to be able to survive independent adult life in the human world… Did they ever pay you for that?” “…SON OF A B–” At the angel’s halo Simeon tells a sad, silent Luke that the others must have gone back home by now, Luke quietly agrees. Simeon laughs and asks if that bothers Luke. Luke blushes, stutters and denies it. Luke tries to change the topic by telling Simeon to hurry up and grind some coffee cause they’re about to open. Simeon says they still have enough time and Luke says he’s gonna take out the trash and runs out back to avoid his feelings and this conversation. Simeon laughs. The door opens and Simeon turns to tell them they’re not opened yet but trails off. ??? says, “I can see that, yes…” Simeon’s eyes widen and his mouth turns down, he’s too shocked to say anything. ??? says, “Well, look at you. I could almost believe you really are a human, brother…” Simeon’s entire face goes blank and settles on a cold emotionless expression though he still doesn’t reply before he slowly smiles, “…Welcome. So glad you could stop by, Raphael.” And the chapter, the lesson and the season is over. So…SO…you know I don’t even have words really. I’m not, we really are getting new characters aren’t we. I mean I said in some of the earlier summaries that at this point with the way they were hyping up the angels in this season that it only makes sense to bring them in BUT I never 100% believed they would and now I’m just???? They really are gonna do it holy fuck GUYS!? I need S4 badly like rn immediately but given that the break between S2 and S3 was really small AND that they maybe introducing at least 2 new characters the break between S3 and S4 might be longer AND I get it y’know but still I desperately need this now. Holy shit. And Simeon’s facial expressions! How he looked surprised and upset and then how his face just shut down (something we rarely or never? See from him) and then how it smoothed out into a smile ajsdvbkdwhskcjksk Raphael’s way of speaking fit exactly with what I imagined after what Asmo, Lucifer and Belphie said about him. This kinda formal, authoritative, cold, distant way. And the tension between him and Simeon!? “BROTHER!????” Does he mean brother in the same way as the Sins do or is it more brother in arms the way I see Lucifer and Simeon being in the Celestial Realm? It felt cold compared to them. Pls give me a heavily dysfunctional, distant and cold angel family to contrast with the dysfunctional but close and loving demon family I WILL SCREAM. I’ve screamed all my angel and celestial realm theories in the previous summaries (there are a lot) so I’m not gonna go into detail about them here but I will say I’m keeping my fingers crossed for morally dubious/grey angels who believe they are completely in the right at all times and I’m deeply scared of getting at least part of S4 without the brothers as we are introduced to the angels – I mean don’t get me wrong I’d love if they took time to introduce us to the angels without the brothers’ dynamics with them being involved and to give us a chance to hear their side of the story before they have the whole reunion between everyone BUT I’ll also feel the heavy withdrawal effects of being deprived of the brothers so yeah. Overall the goodbye to the brothers felt far more uplifting than last season’s one given that they ended with the upbeat opening song and not the melancholic sounding ending song. WOW okay. I’m gonna try and get through the hard lessons and unlock the chapters I couldn’t since S2. SEE YOU NEXT SEASON! LOVE AK 🤍

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S3:E2; Chapter Two, The Mall Rats - [Pt. 4 - FINAL]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

Baffled with Mike's sudden behavior, El seeks out Y/n and Max for advice while Will struggles to get through to Mike and Lucas. Billy takes his co-worker on a field trip, and Steve and Dustin enlist a helpful ally in their top-secret mission.

⚠️: s3 mike wheeler, y/n and mike angst. more google translate. the reader eating ice cream [if you're lactose intolerant, it's dairy-free xp], mama steve loving and worrying about his children, his little henderson ducklings especially 🥰 *heavy sigh* oh yeah, kidnapping and more possible allegory to r*pe :( as usual, a marker will be placed but it plays till the end of the chapter so you only need one

🔑: y/f/o = your favorite [ice cream] order

📝: idk if the tip seems small or not but either way keep in mind this was the eighties so inflation hadn't gotten quite as bad yet. As far as the Mike stuff, I know he wasn't being possessive, he was just worried she would get caught and taken away or worse but also he handled it badly, and then everything else in this chapter just kinda rode that angsty bad decision train outta here lmao.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

"если действовать осторожно... неделя длинная. серебряный--"

Robin pauses her pacing momentarily to point at the tape Dustin has in his hands.

"Wait, that last part, just one more time,"

The sounds of the wires hissing as they rewind fill Robin's thoughtful silence.

"если действовать осторожно... неделя--"

"Okay, that word!" She says, and Dustin quickly presses pause. "Um... it's pronounced... 'dly-nna-ya.'"

"'Dly-nna-ya'" Dustin repeats, nodding excitedly.

"Which is spelled—"

"-D... D, D, D..." Dustin mutters, springing up from his seat, scurrying towards the whiteboard as Robin grabs the book. "The— The chair! The chair-looking thingy!" He says, pointing to the Russian 'д'.

"Yeah, okay," Robin mutters excitedly, hurriedly scribbling into their notes.

The glass partition swings open with a loud clang alerting Steve at the counter.

"We've got our first sentence,"

"Oh, seriously?" He asks, turning around with two orders in his hands.

"Yeah," Robin nods. She drops her voice into a lower pitch and imitates a Russian accent. "The veek is longh,"

Steve's face falls. "Well, that's thrilling,"

"I know, but," she shrugs. "Progress."

With that, she retreats into the window and slides the door close leaving Steve to return to his ice cream slinging duties.

"Okay, here you go. You got uh, a vanilla with sprinkles and extra whipped cream and one y/f/o,"

Steve hands off the rest of the orders to El and Y/n who gladly take them. Max stood next to them, digging into the order she had already been handed. She only comes up to say 'thanks' in near sync with her friends.

"Wait a second," he says, a thoughtful look falling over his face as he frowns at El. "Are even allowed to be here?"

The girls freeze, once again pausing to share a knowing look with growing ice cream-mustached smiles and giggle. In a hurry, the three of them scurry for the door. Y/n nearly makes it before coming to a skidding halt that leaves her bouncing on one foot as she catches her balance. She runs back to the counter with a mischievous smile and a dollar in hand.

Steve watches confused as she tucks the dollar away in the tip jar, and sends him what he finds to be a childish wink.

"Keep this quiet?" She asks, and he almost laughs. But he could tell she was all too serious. "Also this is your tip! Thanks, Steve,"

Steve watches utterly baffled as she turns on her heel and makes a break for the girls waiting just outside and around the corner.

"Okay?" He says, beginning to trail off. "Wasn't gonna tell anyone anyway?"

She's nearly out the door when he realizes what her being here means. He hopes it's not too late to call after her.

"Hey, wait a sec!"

Thankfully, she hears him and turns back around. He motions her forward and while confused, she ultimately complies.

"Hey, uh, does Dustin know you're here?"

Y/n tilts her head as she thinks about it then shrugs.

"I'm not sure, why?" She asks, taking a lick of her ice cream.

Steve hooks a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the window but he pauses when he realizes it's better she doesn't know what he's doing here. He quickly plays it off and plants both hands on the counter to lean against it.

"I don't, uh— It's just that he came by earlier and he seemed pretty down about last night,"

Y/n's shoulders slumped immediately, her eyes widening a little.

"He did?" She winced, nibbling nervously on her lip as she looked guiltily at her ice cream. And in doing so, any budding feeling of anger and protectiveness vanishes in Steve. "It's just, he wasn't there when I left and I assumed he went with the guys to Mike's."

With the same, guilty look in her eyes, Y/n glanced over her shoulder at her waiting friends and Steve instantly regretted bringing it up. He sighs, shaking his head.

"Look, it's—"

"If he comes back, will you tell him I'm sorry?" She laughed a little, very sheepishly. "That we can guilt Mom off the TV again so we can a have a monster movie night like we used to, or something?"

In that moment Steve decides not to be honest with her and tell her he's probably still too upset for that, he just doesn't have to heart to. Nor does Steve have the guts to say it wouldn't matter anyway, that he's right in the back room decoding a top-secret Russian communication. So instead, he forces his lips into a firm line that was supposed to be a smile and nods.

"Sure thing, kid,"

She perks a little. "Thanks, Steve. I'll see ya later,"

"Alright, take care," he straightens from the counter, watching as she retreats back out of the shop. He sighs again, almost hating how soft and protective he's become, and calls after her, nodding discretely in El's direction. It all comes out in the form of annoyance, though, naturally. "And don't be stupid, alright?"

Y/n smiles in response and returns to her friends. Together, the three of them disappear into the crowd.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

One of many sets of double doors swing open as Y/n, El, and Max step back out into the sunlight.

Despite their every desires to keep their special day at the mall going, the three girls knew the bus back into town was leaving shortly. Y/n takes another quick and frantic lick of her fastly melting ice cream as Max turns to El and gestures to her strawberry ice cream cone.

"Wanna trade?"

El responds with a giggle and eagerly trades off her vanilla cone for strawberry.

"No... fair," Y/n grumbles, nearly attacking her ice cream as it turns to a puddle before her eyes. She spares only a single second glare enviously at their still freshly frozen cones while she has spent between licks.

"You're not," lick. "making your," lick. "ice cr━ shit!" two licks. "melt."

The girls giggle again, wholeheartedly amused by the sight before them.

"Shut up," another lick.

"That's ridiculous," came a nearby, all too familiar whine. "Why can't I just—"

Max's face falls into a glower, pulling Y/n and El into a stop next to her. "Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

Just across the concrete entrance, fumbling to separate their bikes from the bike stands were Mike, Lucas, and Will.

Forgetting her melting ice cream momentarily, Y/n takes a moment to sigh at the ground when she realizes whatever is about to pass, will be far from good.

"—haven't got that much," Lucas says.

"Okay, what if we split it?"

"Split it with what? Does that even make sense?"

Two of the three boys continue to bicker, completely unaware of the three angry figures making their way towards them. More specifically, two angry figures and one slightly disgusted one who tosses out her nearly finished ice cream cone and the napkin she used to wipe her hands off with in the trash cans they all pass.

"Isn't this a nice surprise?" Max asks, plastering on a smirk as the three boys and their bikes come to a halt before them.

Mike's face pales when he realizes Max had caught him, and even more so when he realizes El is with her. His bike crashes to the ground, forgotten as he gapes at her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Shopping." She answers matter-of-factly, her icy stare never once wavering.

"This is her new style," Max says, eyeing him carefully. "What do you think?"

"What's wrong with you?" He spits, gesturing to El. "You know she's not allowed to be here."

"What is she, your little pet?" Max fires back.

"Yeah. Am I your pet?" El asks.

"What? No!"

"Mike, she needed this," Y/n says. "Besides, you lied to her! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here either."

Mike finally turns his wild gaze to Y/n, utterly baffled at the stance she was taking.

"Are you kidding me?" He gawks, ignoring her eye roll. "You of all people should know about keeping her a secret,"

Y/n hotly takes a threatening step forward. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning you would know, you're good at hiding her,"

Everyone inched closer, apart from El who was seething at Mike. Y/n, on the other hand, scoffs loudly, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"You said you were over that!"

"Yeah, well, guess I'm not,"

She looked around quickly, her voice falling into a whispered hiss. "What, so I should be locked up all day, too?"

"Maybe!" Mike said, instantly feeling guilty.

"Mike!" Will snaps, stepping forward another few inches. And so did El, her shoulder subconsciously shielding Y/n. Shielding her from, Mike, or Mike from her, she wasn't sure.

But she knew she was livid. And hurt.

Mike sighs, putting his face into his hands and running them tiredly over his face.

"I'm sorry, that was over the line," he sighs, sounding embarrassed.

"-You're damn right it was," Y/n snapped.

"But that doesn't change the fact that she really can't be here," he corrects himself, looking El in the eye carefully. "You can't be here. It's not safe,"

"I can take care of myself," El says.

"I mean," Mike sighs again, frustrated as he trips over his own words. "you and a lot of other people could be in danger if anybody starts asking questions. I just care about you, alright? And I don't want anything to happen to you, not again,"

El shakes her head, all visible anger melting away leaving only sadness in its wake.

"Then why do you treat me like garbage?"

"What?"

"You said Nana was sick,"

The panic returns to his eyes, and he and Lucas desperately try to cover their tracks.

From over their shoulder, Y/n meets eyes with an exasperated Will, and the couple shares a look and tired shake of the head.

"She is. She is sick!"

"Yeah, sick— she's sick," Lucas nods. "She's super sick. And that's why we're here, actually."

Y/n silently meets Will's eye again and makes out the subtle firm line he presses his lips into and the small shake of his head 'no'.

Oblivious to Will, the two continue.

"Yeah, w-we're shopping! Not for us, but for her, for Nana,"

"For Nana."

"Also," Mike sighs, giving El an earnest look. "we're here to get a gift for you. It's just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard."

"-super hard." Lucas sighs, giving an honest, apologetic look to all three of them. "It's— It's expensive,"

"Speaking of," came Will's, softened voice. "Here ya go. Sorry it's not real,"

He takes a step forward and sheepishly offers the small goodie bag to Y/n. Everyone watches confused and almost a little intrigued as Y/n takes it curiously. Quickly, she dives her gaze and hand into the baggie and smiles as she pulls out the small y/f/f candy ring.

"Oh, a ring pop?" She flashes Will a beaming smile as she rips open the package and slips it on her finger. "Thanks, Will,"

He nods happily, completely relieved she was this happy to get one.

Y/n's smile drops instantly when she remembers what they're interrupting and she quiets, clearing her throat a little.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sending an especially sorry look to El as her hand graces her shoulders in a gentle apology.

El sends her a weak smile, eyes falling back down. Sadly, she looks to her ice cream and then deeply into Mike's eyes as the day's events all come crashing down on her. And it's with great disappointment she realizes what has hurt her, and what hasn't.

She shakes her head softly, the disappointment evident on her face now more than ever.

"You lie," she says finally, all the more saddened to see Mike squirm under her gaze, only confirming her words. El shakes her head again. "Why do you lie?"

She waits and waits and when Mike can't give an answer, the screech of the bus's tires in the distance tells her a decision must be made. And it's with a seething glare, El makes up her mind.

Everyone watches carefully in silence as she takes three tantalizing steps until she's staring up at Mike. He's frozen, as is everyone else as he fears her next words. And he has every reason to.

"I dump your ass."

Y/n's eyes find Will's once again, this time, regret clouding them when she realizes. Tonight was meant to be spent at his house, dinner with him, Jonathan, and Joyce at least but it seems the day had different plans in mind. She stood rooted to the spot, her lips parted in shock as she processed what had just happened.

She detected sadness in Will's eyes, as she was used she had in her own but reality came crashing down, breaking her from her spell.

"I'm sorry," she sputters, more so to Will than Mike and Lucas. "I didn't think she would," she breathes.

"What?" Mike's widened eyes land on her, flickering between her and El's retreating figure. "Did you tell her to do this?"

"Of course not!" She said, eyes darting between him and Lucas sympathetically. "But it's still their decision. I'm sorry. I am,"

"Y/n! You coming?"

Y/n looked over her shoulder to find El and Max moving up the line, nearly ready to board. From there, El looked between Y/n and Mike, as if she were worried Mike would take it out on Y/n more. Y/n gave her friend a weak, reassuring smile and turned back to the guys.

Will specifically.

"I'm sorry," she said to Will, beginning to back away even though she didn't really want to leave him. "But I think I need to be with them right now. Is it okay if we take a rain check?"

Will smiled, nodding and she felt a fresh wave of guilt. She could have sworn she saw a hint of sadness but if it was ever there, he had buried it for her sake.

In a spur of the moment, she ran forward and planted a kiss on his lips before pulling back. She shot Lucas and Mike a lingering look, not really knowing what to feel for them in the moment.

And then she took off.

The three friends stood baffled, reeling from how much everything had changed so quickly. Their legs kicked into gear and followed the crowds to the bus but the doors had just swung closed. From where they stood at the curb, they could make out three familiar lingering silhouettes from behind the tinted windows, all piling in together.

Max had nabbed the window seat, El seating herself next to her. It was only a matter of moments before Y/n had joined them, plopping herself in the seat directly behind them. She peeked out over the low backs of their seats, wedged right in between them with a breathless look.

For just that moment, the three best friends sat there in stunned silence before breaking into a breathless laugh.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The sun had set behind even the lowest of valleys, bathing the town in a pale glow and unforgiving chill that couldn't be quenched even on the hottest days of summer. Starcourt mall was alive in every way but one; the hum of the neon lights reached every corner, but the mall had long since closed leaving it a beautiful, vibrant wasteland.

The only remaining occupants were tucked away in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy, standing before a whiteboard facing the daring truth they had worked so hard to uncover. In perfect sync, they read the words aloud with confusion muddling their brains and exhaustion filling their systems.

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west."

Steve, Robin, and Dustin stand before the translation willing something to make sense. But all they were left with when they turned in for the night, closing the grated metal gate that went with closing up shop was utter bafflement.

"I mean, it just..." Steve sighs into the ground, the keys in his hand turning in the lock. "It just can't be right."

"It's right," Robin assures. When Steve returns to his feet the three of them begin their lazy journey to the exit.

"Honestly, I think this is great news," Dustin shrugs.

"How is this great news?" Steve chuckles bitterly. I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense."

"It's not nonsense. It's too specific. It has to be a code."

Steve's face screws up into a puzzled pout. "What do you mean, a code?"

"Like a super-secret spy code,"

"That's a total stretch,"

"I don't know, is it?" Robin scoffs.

"You're buying into this?"

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What'd you think they were gonna say, 'Fire the warhead at noon'?"

"Exactly," Dustin gestures, his gaze returning up to Steve to see the gears spinning in his head.

"And my translation is correct," Robin assures. "I know that for sure, so... 'The silver cat feeds'. Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the true meaning of their message?"

"Exactly!"

"And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the true meaning of their message was somehow sensitive?"

By now, Dustin was rubbing his triumphant smirk in Steve's face. "Exactly."

"So I guess that confirms your suspicion," Robin says, looking to Dustin who remains triumphant.

"Evil Russians,"

Robin wears a tired smile as she looks back at Steve with a dry chuckle. "I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians."

"So how do we crack it?" Dustin asks, flashing his charming toothless grin her way.

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges."

"A pattern. Right, like maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place?"

"Or a person."

"Or a weapon,"

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to track it, but..." Robin trails off when she notices she is one dingus short. "Where's Steve?"

The new duo spin on their heels where they spot their missing friend a few yards down. He had a frown screwed onto his face as he stood in front of one of the many kiddie rides, his hands diving into his pockets no doubt searching for coins. Sure enough, the clinking of coins rattling together as he purs them out in his palm confirms their suspicions.

"Hey, Steve," Robin calls, her empty hand swinging limply out in a puzzled gesture. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, it's," Steve doesn't bother answering her question and the only time he picks his eyes up off his hands is to check the mechanical horse for its cost. "a quarter. I need--" he mumbles to himself, looking hopefully to his friends. "Do you have a quarter?"

Despite her confusion, Robin lets out a chuckle, and she and Dustin quickly shuffle over to Steve's side. "Sure you're tall enough for that ride?"

"Quarter!" He yells, jumping forward to catch the coin Robin flipped out for him.

He catches it with a clumsy spin and drops his knees to insert it into the ride. They watch was Steve remains huddled on the ground, a funny look on his face as the ride begins. Robin can't resist poking fun, and does with little strain on her voice to be heard over the music.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?"

"Shh-shh! Shh!" Steve snaps, gesturing to the galloping horse. More specifically the music it plays. "Would you two just shut up and listen?"

Robin and Dustin are almost shocked at his seriousness, but the smile remains on Dustin's face from Robin's comment. That is until it eventually slips off his face when he realizes why the familiar tune being played before them was so familiar.

"Holy shit," he breathes, locking eyes with a grave-looking Steve. Dustin looks to Robin, helping her to connect the dots as he begins shedding his backpack from his shoulders. "The music,"

He had heard it all day. They all had while translating the tape. The very tune Steve had been complaining so much about.

"The music!" Dustin cries again, dropping to his knees as he desperately fishes his bag for the tape.

How had he not recognized it? Y/n and him used to ride the Indiana Flyer at the fair as soon as they were old enough. And then the caricell, over and over every year until they were old enough to ride the bigger rides. And even then, the tune carried out across the Fun Fair where it could be heard from as far as the top of the Ferris wheel. The two of them would drag their mother every year. It was the sound of his childhood.

Dustin presses play on the tape, and as he gazes up at Robin, silently pleading for the dots to connect the sound of the song on the tape is louder than Russian for the first time all day.

But Robin only shrugs between them.

"I don't understand,"

"It's the exact same song on the recording,"

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia?"

"The 'Indiana Flyer'? I don't..." Steve shakes his head. The look on his face made clear he wished he was wrong. He looked... unsettled. "I don't think so. This code, it... it didn’t come from Russia."

And they that unease. They could feel it settling into their chests, making their hearts beat a little faster and their stomach twisting up into knots at what he said next.

"It came from here."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The roads are empty, even still. Crickets sing into the night and the steady breeze taking itself through Hawkins back roads are momentarily swept up with the leaves when a lone Chevrolet Camaro pulls into Brimborne. The lot remained abandoned, seemingly, other than the figure stepping out of the car, with sweat on his brow.

The summer sun had set hours ago, taking the searing heat with it. But the humidity that clung to the air felt to be Billy like he was sitting far too close to an open fire. But still, he lumbers to the trunk where the reason for his being here lies.

The latch opens with a loud clunk, and the trunk lid opens slowly. His eyes find the contents immediately, as does the murky light from the trunk bulb onto his face.

She was still unconscious.

A foreign voice in his brain — the one who had brought them both here, the one to have put here — spoke up again without permission. And yet, it didn't exactly speak in words, but feelings. And all that shot to the surface was one thing — one word.

Good.

It was Billy who couldn't stop thinking about it. What he had done. The small part of him that fought.

[■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

Among the pain, Billy feels tears building up inside him when he realizes what that tug in his gut is ordering him to do. He can also feel it happening again. He can feel himself slipping away, just as he had when he fled for the showers. But this time he fought it.

God, he fought it so hard.

But it wasn't enough.

His nails dug into the flesh of his knees that he had been clutching so tightly to his chest. That and the tears racing down his cheeks now blending with the water were the last things to happen that were truly Billy's doing.

"Billy, are you okay—?"

The last thing Billy sees before he loses control is his hand lunging for Heather's throat. His iron grip locks her in a chokehold and her hands fly to his. Desperately she claws at his hands, her nails raking into his skin but he never flinches. She feels her feet leave the ground, her toes grazing the tile floor as he picks her up and pins her to the stall doors.

Her widened, fearful eyes look deep into his but all she finds as he rips the curtain closed is the lack of human emotion within him. His eyes were hollow, the whites of his eyes running black and they are the last thing she sees before unconsciousness overtakes her.

- 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

She's limp in his arms as he carries her throughout the darkness of Brimborne whose only source of light is moonlight spilling through the dirtied glass window panes hanging high above. He walks with all the time in the world, his eyes dead set on the last place Billy ever wanted to see again. The only sound to be heard within miles was the scuffle of his rubber soles scraping against the dirt and leaves sprinkled across the concrete.

The scratchy thumps of his boots turn to metal echoes as he disappears down the darkened stairwell. From there, inky blackness like the sludge coursing through his veins is all that can be seen. Little moonlight has survived the journey through the grated floor, but there was enough to illuminate Heather's body that he places onto the cement floor.

Soft, discomforted groans break through the duct tape over her mouth as she comes to. She rolls onto her back, confused as to why she feels pain in her head and cement digging into her spine.

But everything she needs to know becomes all too clear almost instantly when she sees Billy's hollowed eyes staring down at her from where he's perched above her. Panic sets in, and as she realizes all too late why she is unable to move her hands or feet. That doesn't stop Heather from trying as she fights against the restraints, eager to use her dried-out voice.

Her breath is knocked loose when Billy throws her back into the ground after she managed to sit up even an inch.

He keeps a small majority of his weight on her shoulders as he leans in close, his breath on her ear.

"Don't be afraid. It'll be over soon."

Tears tickle her temple when they escape her eyes. She prays for many things, but she'll even settle for the small possibility the sweat collecting on her skin is enough to weaken the tape on her mouth. Then maybe, just maybe she can scream for help.

"Just stay very still."

This specific hope fizzles away, drowning in her own confusion when, without moving his head, he looks to her and slowly peels the tape off of her lips.

She's too shocked to do anything. Too afraid. But she wasn't prepared to let that stop her. Heather was going to do something, she had to. She would.

But that all died when Billy suddenly stood up, looking almost disinterested in her as an eery, unnatural sound reverberates throughout the darkness before her. Slowly, her head turns to face the dark abyss when she catches movement out of the corner of her eye.

His face is as hard as stone though his eyes hold a flicker of struggle and pain when it all unfolds. Heather may be the only one in binding, but she is not the only one who is trapped. There is nothing at all Billy can do but watch as the large and bloodied mass of flesh stomps forward from the shadows, ready to feast.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

68 Ways To Donate in Support Of Asian Communities - [link]

FSFAPV Justice: "community family coalition that offers help and justice to families in the Twin Cities and nationwide that have lost loved ones to police violence" - [link]

30 Organizations That Are Boosting African American Educational Achievement - [link]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[feralnumberfive]

I have to disagree with you on the marketing team doing a bad job. The October 1st thing was meant to be a special occassion, like they've done with previois Hargreeves birthdays and the holidays. It wasnt the start of their promotions, but did set up their marketing angle they'll be taking for s3. And I think part of the silence right now they've been editing. I don't think they've known when they'll finish or be ready to release in 2022. With that Netflix is still deciding their release schedule for next year. They'll want to start marketing once they have a release date and we're closer to it. Droughts are terrible for fans, but marketing something for ages and ages isn't that feesible. Either the public are gonna get sick of it before it's even here, or their marketing budget is gonna be ruined. And at this time they can't reveal much of anything or have actors say too much in interviews (if they would interview them so soon) and it would get boring and defeat the purpose of promoting it. They wouldn't be drawing new fans in or hyping up old ones anymore. And since this isn't a new show they're trying to make a hit, they aren't going to be marketing it beforehand as long as a new series might get.

I didn't mean the October 1st Instagram makeover and video was a bad thing, but it is an interesting look into what's to come with the whole broken timeline and Sparrow takeover. With TUA being a somewhat big show for Netflix it feels a little odd that nothing has happened yet, especially with the wrapping date the optimistic estimated release date. Or possibly this just means that something new is coming soon. And like I also said though, it's not TUA's marketing (or I also said whoever is in charge's) fault because they have rules to follow from the higher ups aka Netflix. Yeah I shouldn't have said "not exactly" their fault because it's not their fault at all.

I also don't want to sound like I'm saying "They need to hurry up, I want S3!!" because I absolutely admire everything that goes into making this show and every movie/tv show, especially the makeup, hair, and cinematography workers who work super hard and get very little sleep and aren't treated well, let alone get paid well. And understandably editing in post production takes a long time, especially if you look at my S1 & S2 comparisons. They heavily have to make the magic happen!

I definitely agree with you about the marketing and how they don't essentially want to be teasing fans and dragging it on until people get tired and impatient before a series/season gets released. We got the S3 episode names, which was awesome, but then for the TUDUM event they made it sound like we were getting something special for S3. Of course the fans expected something for S3, so that's also on us for getting our hopes up for something new haha.

As we know S3 is being kept very secretive, but we've also heard from cast and crew about how awesome this season is supposed to be. It's supposed to be the best season yet according to many so that's really got the fans riled up and waiting for anything new from S3. So it feels like it's being dragged out, but from a fan's point of view. We're hearing all these great things and going "Okay, can we have a little info on what's to come? :]" but we're just waiting and waiting. It's especially hard this year with the longer gap between seasons because of Covid heavily changing the way shows are produced along with lockdowns and quarantines.

And like I said, I based everything for S3 off of S2, which was a new season for TUA and not the start of the series. You really can't compare S1 promos and S2 promos because S1 began to promote right away. So it would make more sense for S3 to be estimated off S2 because it's not the start of a show but another season. If S3 ends up marketing in the same timeline as S2, then it won't be something that's dragged along, especially if S3 is released in March. Another part that makes the wait feel like forever is that pretty much every fan has been following the filming process since it began in February, so it feels like a long wait :]

I'm just a (growing impatient simply because I'm obsessed with this show) fan looking for something, anything new about S3. I know that I am 100% not the only one too. I'm looking at the past two seasons and their "checkpoints" and trying to figure out where S3 might fit in, trying to see if they match. Honestly part of my personal fun in estimating and predicting S3 is purely because I want to see how close I'll get to my estimations when all the S3 "checkpoints" fall into place. I don't expect any type of interviews soon, I'm just hoping for a release date or promo image soon!

[kilyra]

You Gotta F*ck Dead Guys?

A/N: My apologies right off the bat because Eric doesn’t actually make an appearance until towards the end - but until then, there are a few fun cameos! This follows immediately after “You Work for Him?” Like essentially a Pt 1, Pt 2 situation. 

After Eric’s display at Merlotte’s, you decide to head out outside and find him. That turns out to be a very, very bad idea.

Warnings: Bad language and violence. No spoilers though (I myself am only on S3 or 4, so this is an early Eric style fic…also, please don’t send me any spoilers).

If you want to be on my tag lists, (all or just a character) just let me know! (Credit for this amazing gif goes to @bonniebird​​​. Thank you SO much!)

Pressing your back against the wall, you were trapped by Lafayette's knowing stare when all you wanted to do was get back to your table. Finally, you raised your eyebrows in a silent question – what?

“You gonna tell me what that was all about or do I actually have to ask what the hell it is you got yourself into?”

“I didn't do this,” you snapped as your eyes darted to the side.

The adrenaline had yet to subside from your veins even more than an hour after Eric had left Merlotte's. Every time you calmed down, the scene would replay in your head and your anxiety spiked all over again. Taking a moment in the washroom and splashing cold water on your face didn't snap you out of it.

Your string of drinks almost had but...

Lafayette's voice dropped as he pointedly tilted his large metal spatula in your direction. "Girl, I'm not playing here. Eric fucking Northman would never come all up in this place for no good reason.”

Your mind skipped over why he had such strong opinions about the vampire and went straight to his accusations. Waving him off, you continued side-stepping along the wall – this was the last thing you needed. "Why don't you ask Sookie?"

“Well, honey, that's hard to do when she's a no show.”

Although he never tried to block your exit, his blunt statement stopped you just as effectively. As you swallowed back the new surge of panic that scrambled up from your chest, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. He was clearly waiting for you to come back to him with an expectant quirk of his eyebrow.

Running your tongue over your lips, you took a deep inhale. It didn't help. “She...didn't show up today? As in she's...missing?”

Taking a long moment, Lafayette's eyes dropped over you, making no effort to hide that he was searching you, head to toe, for visual clues of what was going on. “As in she called to say she couldn't make it. Again.”

A small glimmer of relief settled over your fear. It still wasn't good, but at least she wasn't dead. The fact that your mind went straight to death was something else you couldn't deal with. “I have to go.”

“Mmmhmm," he hummed in an irritated tone but didn't try to stop you. He had always been good at reading you and especially at knowing when it was pointless to push.

Hoyt and Jason immediately stopped their conversation as you approached the table and scooped your jacket from your side of the booth. Softly, Hoyt tapped his knuckles on the table to get your attention. “Oh, what? Sick of us already?”

You needed to find out what was going on, and Eric obviously wasn't coming back to the bar.

Scoffing lightly, you plastered a relaxed grin on your face. It came shockingly easily to you. “No, no, my ride's here is all. So thanks, it was fun...and hopefully tomorrow won't be such a shitty day.”

Rolling his eyes with a half shrug, Hoyt let it go. But Jason shoved himself from the booth and immediately stood in your way after you downed the last of your drink. His dark brown eyes were filled with deep-seated concern as he leaned towards you. "You sure it's a good idea to be alone right now? If you wait just a minute, I  can pay up and come with you."

Letting out a long sigh through your nose, you couldn't help the slight aggravation that swirled into your chest from his sweet gesture. Having him with you wasn't going to help. Finishing your sigh with a chuckle, and hoping that was a good enough cover, you added a nose crinkle to your ongoing smile. “Oh, come on now, there's nothing to worry about. I'm not in any danger.”

Jason's lips pinched together as he quietly thought everything over. “I don't know, Y/n. That didn't seem very friendly like.”

Resting your hand on his solidly toned arm, you gave a reassuring squeeze. “Seriously, Jason, it's fine. Besides, you have to invite a vampire into your home and you can't possibly think I'm that dumb.”

Because that would be dumb...

Glancing down at your hand, he rubbed the back of his neck before he finally nodded. “Aw, hell, of course I don't. I just...look you got my number, alright? Make sure you use it is all.”

After repeatedly promising, you were still shocked that he let you go without following you out. All it would have taken was a single glance outside to see there was no ride. But as you hurried out of the parking lot, no worried shouts came to try to stop you.

Although you had only walked to Merlotte's a time or two before, you were confident you knew the way back home. What you didn't count on, however, was how different everything looked in the dark. While it was unimposing during the day, the shadows from the trees seemed to reach out for you with clawing hands at night. You quickened the pace.

It didn't take long before the alcohol wore off enough that you started questioning how good of an idea it was. Truthfully, you hadn't expected to make it much past the bar before Eric turned up to confront you. But, as you made your way along the deserted rural road, the little voice of reason...the one that spent way too much time being quiet lately...spoke up.

Get back to Merlotte's. This was a stupid idea.

But, just as you paused to turn back, there was a rustling in the bush.

And, just like that, your doubts disappeared in a wave of anger – partly for confronting you like he did and partly for letting you walk alone as long as he did. Huffing forcefully, you spun on your heel. “Well holy shit, about time. You wanted to talk so badly, so come out of there and lets fucking talk.”

Silence.

Clenching your jaw, you scanned the trees, waiting for Eric or even Pam to emerge. After a few long moments, a figure finally came out of the brush. Flanked by a few other figures. None of them were the tall, slim silhouettes you were expecting. Your pulse raced just a little faster.

As they came onto the road, the silver moonlight lit up their faces and you recognized them immediately. The mouth-breathers from Merlotte's with the suspiciously clean trucker hats.

Your heart dropped.

“Bad news, you fangbanging bitch but it ain't your pretty boy vamp out here.” It was too dark to see which one said it. Not that it mattered.

“You think she was really just planning on talking?”

“No. What's a matter baby, is a real man too much for you? You gotta fuck dead guys?”

Their sneering comments back and forth flooded you with the horror of your situation. You were out there alone and severely outnumbered. Not even Jason's training could help the odds. Through your panic haze, one clear thought came to the surface.

Run.

Darting to the side, you scrambled headlong into the treeline, leaving them yelling after you as though it would stop you. Following their chorus of swears came the crunching of leaves and twigs as they trampled the ground behind you. Trying to part the way with your forearms up over your face, you ignored the thin vines and branches that scraped your skin.

Blindly running, you had no idea where you were going and sharply veered to the side to take a less predictable path. Stumbling forward, you caught yourself with one knee on the ground and your hand braced against a rough tree trunk. Holding your shaking breath, you listened for your pursuers but it was hard to hear anything over the rushing in your ears. It sounded like they had gone straight, that your turn might have helped...

Carefully, you pulled yourself to your feet, attempting to be quiet. Your chin quivered as the adrenaline caught up to you, railing against the painstakingly slow movements you were taking. As your heart hammered violently against your rib cage, you kept your panting to shallow sips of air and crept forward.

Your efforts didn't matter. Just as you came close to a clearing, thick arms wrapped around you from behind. Everything inside you screamed out, but you stayed silent as he growled. “Got you now, bitch.”

Dropping one foot back, you grabbed his elbow and bent forward, throwing yourself as hard as you could. He was too stunned to fight it as you pulled him with you, catching his side on your hip. His foot tripped on your shin, taking away his last chance of staying upright and he flipped onto his back in front of you, letting out a pained grunt.

It worked. Jason's relentless training worked.

The surprising victory was short-lived as you dropped your grip and started running. Suddenly, your face met the ground.

Blinking away the stars dancing over your vision, you turned back and saw his hand clamped over your ankle. His teeth seemed to glow in the dim light as he grinned and roughly yanked you back to him. Your body went on autopilot as you kicked your free leg at his face, grinding his nose under the heel of your boot.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Blood sprayed with each stomp, followed by the crunching, squelching sound of his broken nose being split open. His teeth didn't glow so much once they were coated in his dark blood.

Getting your feet under you, you didn't care how loud you were as you raced into the clearing. As you ran, you starting pulling a long, silver chain from around your neck. It was thicker than a decorative necklace so you kept it under your shirt, but it had been a good idea that Jason came up with. Or had gotten from Sookie, more likely.

Even though the assholes chasing you weren't vampires, the chain was solid enough to at least hurt if you whipped it hard enough. And you planned to.

Reaching the small clearing, you realized you didn't hear lumbering footsteps behind you. Not slowing, you scrambled to cross over to the trees on the opposite side. But before you dashed back into the bushes, an odd sound caught your attention. You couldn't help but freeze.

A rustle followed by a loud thud. And again. The sound got closer until the last one was just at the edge of the clearing where you kicked the man off you. But that time, you could hear a loud groan of pain. Something was very, very wrong.

Run.

A whooshing kicked up from behind as your feet came back to life and you dove forward. But the safety of the trees didn't get any closer. Distantly, you realized you weren't moving, your feet were just sliding on the grass. Something was holding you back.

Wrapping one end of the chain around your hand, you swung wildly as you turned. There was a blur and a hand caught your flailing wrist, the chain bouncing harmlessly off the sleeve of a leather jacket. The long, honey-blonde hair that framed your attacker's face didn't even stir at the unnatural motion. Looking up, you found yourself staring into piercing blue eyes before they dropped to the chain still swinging against the fabric.

Snapping back to you, with a high arch of the eyebrow, the memorizing eyes dulled with irritation. It took your scrambling mind a few seconds to realize who was holding you, frowning as though you were a child having a tantrum.

Pam.

Her grip was unyielding as she spoke over her shoulder. “Eric, if your pet burns me with silver...we won't have to worry about saving her anymore.”

“S-saving me? From...from those guys?”

Snorting, Pam finally let you go as she rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Like I'd waste my time saving you from idiot, drunken locals.”

“Speaking of those idiot, drunken locals, Pam...you didn't kill any of them, did you? Because we can't afford an incident like that right now.” Eric's cool voice seemed to drift to you from somewhere behind the vampire staring you down.

Shrugging, she turned towards the voice. “I wasn't trying to.”

“Pam.”

“What? They'll probably be fine. Hell, I couldn't have hurt them any worse than Y/n did. Did you see him? He hardly had a nose left...”

Your insides clenched as the image of his blood-covered face flashed through your mind, and Pam's grin made it worse. When she glanced down at you, there was even a hint of pride in her stare. It took everything you had left to force the bile back down your throat.

"Go get Chow from Y/n's house and bring the car here. We need to get back to Fangtasia." Apparently, they expected you to get a ride home as well.

Pam's smirk dropped, but she didn't argue. In a blur, she disappeared, leaving Eric standing before you. His eyebrows rose as he frowned. It almost looked apologetic, but you knew that couldn't be right.

Swallowing heavily, you desperately tried to stop your mind from reeling. Everything was a frenzied mess and you couldn't tell if you were relieved or angry to see his icy eyes drinking you in as he stood a few feet away.

“I suppose you expect me to be grateful or some shit?”

Your fire carved out a deep grin on his lips and...unless you were delusional..a similar look of pride to Pam's. But when he spoke, his voice was as dispassionate. “I only expect you to get in the car. As I said, we need to get back to Fangtasia.”

“A-as...as you said? Y-you haven't said anything! You cause this entire shit storm and then just start bossing me around?” The words sputtered out as you struggled to grasp any of your racing thoughts.

Blinking, Eric spread his hands apart, looking the part of the confused and innocent man. "I've spent this entire night trying to help you, at a great personal inconvenience I might add."

The chain rattled lightly as you balled your hands into tight fists. “None of this would have happened if you hadn't just shown up like that! What did you think would happen if you singled me out in front of a bunch of small-minded bigots?”

Stepping closer, he titled his head as a faint furrow traced a light line between his eyes. “And so you expect to keep this a secret? How well do you think that will work?”

Taking a subconscious step back, you thought you caught a fleeting look of disappointment flashing across his features. It stabbed at you. "I-I...this...This? What even is this​?”

Straightening, he turned his head slightly, as though he caught a distant noise that you had no hope of hearing. “At the moment? More of a problem for you than you realize.”

A thin layer of confusion rolled through you, forcing you into a sudden stillness. It wasn't the answer you were expecting. Even your voice grew softer. “Look...I'm sorry for how I reacted at Merlotte's but-”

His face snapped back towards you, cutting you short with just his hard stare. “While I'm sure it's tearing you up inside, that's not what I'm talking about.”

The sarcasm cut as deeply as his earlier look of disappointment, but you stayed quiet.

“It seems the declaration I was pushed into, claiming you as mine, has painted a target on your back.”

Your mouth went dry, and you stumbled back another step. Within that second, all the bolstering strength you found in training to defend yourself simply dissolved. What were you in his world but a lamb being led to slaughter?

“I...I don't understand?" Had there been even a slight breeze in the air, it would have swept your soft words away entirely.

Eric's cold features seemed to take on a mild hint of warmth as he moved towards you. His eyes bore into yours as he carefully set his hand on your arm. “I'll explain everything. But we need to go.”

Your gaze drifted past him, looking over the clearing. Somewhere in the trees laid several unconscious men. Bad men who were ready to do worse to someone they didn't even know. And yet, anyone passing by would have no idea. The world was still and calm. A quiet, deceptive lie in the soft light of the moon.

“Y/n, we need to leave. Now.”

Although his words had a trace of his usual, commanding tone, there was something subtly different. Almost like there was a plea buried deep in there. You both knew he could snatch you up and take you anywhere whether you wanted him to or not. And yet, there he was, asking you to see reason and make the choice to go with him.

A quiet confidence trickled through you, melting what was left of your anger. Things were changing and trying to keep fighting it was draining you to your core. Letting out a long sigh, you lowered the chain and stepped towards him, bumping your forehead against his chest. His heavy arm wrapped around your shoulder as you pulled yourself against him and finally nodded.

He gave a gentle squeeze before you pulled away and let him guide you from the clearing. “Good. Because we also have to get you cleaned up. You're a mess and we just can't have that.” 

That time, you were certain you saw a faint grin tug at the edge of his lips.

Taglist:  @foreverfaeries​  @flower-two​  @getlostinyourparadise​   @selfishkiddo​  @angelicshinigami​   @parkersbabey​  @thatchampagnebitch @mysteryoflovve  @edweirdoddlepot  @divadinag  @crazy-fandom-girl1  @givemeabite @breanime @shondlenoodle @hermionesalvatore84   @dyingformyships    @dreamers-wonderland @adriellej  @bitchader

[finnyboywolfhard]

Song That The Morning Brings (Prologue)

Steve Harrington x Henderson! Reader Series

Summary: Y/N Henderson is new to Hawkins and what better to have than someone willing to show you around. She befriends someone who eventually becomes her best friend, but the ties begin to break as they face some changes. 

a/n; hellooo! this is going to be a S1-S3 slowburn fic. I’m going to try to update regularly but I can’t promise anything. Let me know if you want to be taglisted or anything :) enjoy!

warnings: cursing, angst, slight mention of abuse, alcohol

word count: 2.1k

The  Hendersons arrived in Hawkins only a few days before the beginning of the school year. Luckily for Dustin, he had only just finished 4th grade, his friends were mere technicalities in the move. However for Y/N, that meant that she had to leave her friends right at the start of high school. She couldn’t necessarily be mad at her mom for leaving her dad finally, Dusty was still a little too young to understand the severity of some of what happened between their parents. Their dad didn’t ever get physical with their mom, but the damage done to her mentally was enough for anyone to break. So, Claudia helped her kids pack their things while their father was away and move the distance to Hawkins.

“Hey mom, I’m gonna walk around the town a little bit just to try to get acquainted. I’ll be back.”

“Okay honey, please be careful. “ Claudia kissed her daughter on the cheek and let her wander off.

It was still warm out, which was nice but what was even nicer was the cool breeze blowing in her direction. She walked down past Lincoln Park and found herself wandering into a clearly richer neighborhood.

The girl was scared from her thoughts as she bumped into a boy who had been running in her direction attempting to catch a ball.

“Ah shit! I’m so sorry.” He said.

“It’s alright; I was kinda in my own little world anyway.” She said with a smile, slightly taken aback by how attractive he was. Maybe she could get used to being in Hawkins.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but do I know you?” He asked her.

“Steve! Dude! Come on!” A boy yelled from far away.

“No you don’t, I just moved here. My name is Y/N” She reached her hand out for him to shake it, “It’s nice to meet you Steve, but I think you should probably get back.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to but tomorrow I can give you a proper tour of Hawkins if you meet me here tomorrow morning at like 10 AM.”

“Steve that would be lovely.” She waved goodbye to him and began walking back to her house.

When she got home, she ran to tell her mom about what had happened, before her mom sat her down for a serious conversation.

“Y/N, I know this was hard for you, and I’m so sorry that you had to move away from your friends.”

“Mom, it’s okay. I’ll make it out okay. I just know it. And I know Dusty will be just fine too. You don’t have to worry about us.”

“I know, I just know I can’t be the male influence in your guys’ life, and that worries me.”

“Mom, you’re the best influence we have, okay? I’m gonna head to bed and I think you should too. I love you mom.”

“I love you too my dearest. Trees, Leaves and Needles.”

Y/N went to bed that night with her mind going ninety miles an hour. She couldn’t stop thinking about Steve and whether he was playing some grand practical joke or if he was being super genuine. She thought about what her mom said about a male influence, because in all reality she never had one nor needed one, but Dustin would. Neither Claudia nor Y/N could be that for him.

When she rose the next morning, she was eager to get ready and head over to Steve’s. She didn’t even say goodbye to her mom and brother. The walk was super pleasant and she got there quicker than expected.

“Y/N! Hey! I’m so glad you actually came!” The tour was the official start of their friendship.

After that day the two were inseparable. For all of freshman and sophomore year, the two were never seen without the other. On the last day of Sophomore year, Y/N had just gotten back to the school to clear her locker out for the summer.

“Hey Stevie!” Y/N hugged Steve from the back, hands flying around his waist.

“Hey Y/N/N, where have you been all day?”

“I told you! Today was when I went into meet Chief Hopper about being a work study for him over the next few years.”

“Oh yeah, and you’re positive it’s not because of your dumb school girl crush on him?” She slapped his arm for that response, having been embarrassed of the fact that she opened up to him about that in the past.

“I am 100% positive about that. I am also 100% over that. Anyway, I’m primarily gonna be working with Flo, and if I’m not with her, I’m gonna be filing shit away for them. So, how was the final day in Hawkins High for the year without me?”

“I got invited to a party!”

“Wait, really? By who?”

“Tommy H! He said it’s gonna be super laidback and fun, and I was thinking that you could come with me….” He was nudging her in the side, her blatant disgust by the idea stayed on her face like cement. “Come Y/N, just one party that’s it, that’s all I’m asking.”

“I’ll think about it, when is it?”

“Tonight.” He muttered under his breath, knowing she was gonna freak.

“Tonight?! Steve! I told you that I have stay with my mom and brother tonight because we’ve hung out every other night this week.”

“I know, but I was hoping that maybe your mom would be chill if you just stayed home tomorrow instead.”

“Steve, we have plans to hang out tomorrow already. Remember?” He shakes his head a little. “We are gonna go see Trading Places and then dinner.”

“Y/N, please. I really want to go to this party but I don’t want to go alone.” The girls heart broke a little at the sight of him so let down. But she had made a promise to her mom, and seeing her mom like that would be so much worse.

“I’m sorry Stevie. I made a promise. I’ll drive home if you want? I don’t have to pick up Dustin for another hour.” The boy agreed to her driving him home.

Later on in the night, she had just sat down in the living room to watch Raiders of The Lost Ark with Dusty for probably the sixth time in the past few months when her phone started ringing off the hook. She rushed over to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Y/N! Oh thank you for ans-s-swering. I n-need you to come-“ A burp interrupted the sentence deliriously coming from the other end of the phone. “To come get me. I’m a little drunk.”

“Steve, where are you?”

“Tommy’s house. He lives on Holly Avenue.” This sentence a little more clear, but definitely still slurred.

“I’ll be there in like 5.”

She hung up the phone and walked over to Dustin, letting him know that she would be back soon and that he could keep watching the movie without her. She walked to her car, already feeling the anger she was gonna feel when she got there. As she started her drive over, she played her favorite Grateful Dead album, Wake of The Flood. They always helped her stay calm when she was gonna burst. When she pulled up, she could already hear the loud, overbearing music and could already see the stumbling teenagers rejoicing in the end of their school year. She parked her car, and decided to dive head first into the sea of her peers in search of the dumbass boy she had befriended last year. The floor was sticky beyond belief, and the smell of the air was a mixture of disgusting and putrid. Her blood was already beginning to boil, but reached its point when she heard, “Harrington, your girl is here to pick you up.” The girl whipped her head around and saw a pack of boys standing around Steve cracking up, all of them visibly less gone than he was. She hurried her pace to go over to the group, she grabbed his wrist with a firm grasp and an authoritative “Let’s go”. Steve followed close behind her, stumbling ever so slightly, slowly becoming closer and closer to her, almost as if she was a stable surface to push his body weight onto.

“Y/N. Y/N. Y/N. Y/N, you’re going too fast. “ The girl slowed her pace a little bit.

“Y/N, are you mad at me? I don’t want you to be mad at me. I was just trying to have a little fun for once.” It felt like a dagger going through her heart, ‘for once’. That one hurt her.

“Y/N, please talk to me.” They had just reached the passenger side of the door, and she was buckling him in, just as Chief Hopper arrived to break it up.

“Steve, stay here.” She had rushed over to Hopper when he was getting out of his car.

“Hey Hop. I’ll file this tomorrow morning; this is Tommy Hagan’s house just so you know.”

“Believe me, I know. This isn’t my first time coming here. Why are you here?”

“I had to pick up an idiot friend. I’ll let you go do your thing, just thought I should inform you just in case.”

“Thanks Y/N, see ya.”

She prepared herself for what was coming once she got in the car. Her heart was beating out of control. However, she was pleased when he was quiet while she was buckling herself in, but once she started her car the chattering was back.

“Y/N/N, why are you mad at me?” His voice was super sad, but she was also really upset.

“I’m mad because I didn’t really want you or me coming to this party tonight, but you came and I had to come to get you because you can’t handle your alcohol. Also, you said have fun for once. I thought we had fun when we hang out but whatever.” At this point, she was on her way to his house.

“Y/N, I’m Sorry. I promise.”

“Yeah, whatever its fine.” The car then fell silent, until he realized she was taking him to his house.

“You can’t take me to my house.”

“What? Why?”

“My dad will kill me if he finds out I have been drinking.” She could tell he was starting to sober up, even just a little bit.

“Okay, well I can’t take you to my house with me, so how about we drive around until you think you can see your dad?” The boy nodded his head. Just as he did that, her favorite song from the album came on. She started humming along until the chorus hit, where she started full on singing.

“Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,” he began staring at her as she sang along, “This is my favorite lyric Stevie, ready… Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings, Isn’t that beautiful?”

“Yeah, it really is.” Love starting filling his eyes, but she never saw it. They drove for a while longer, until he felt comfortable enough to go home. She looked at the clock, and saw her curfew was about to expire in about 20 minutes. This dwindled down to ten by the time she got to Steve’s. She put the car in park, got out and walked him up to his room, knowing the layout of the house as well as she’d known her own. She got him up to his room and ready for bed, before walking over to the door to leave, knowing she’d be the one to have to talk to Mr. Harrington. Steve stopped her as she was leaving by saying,

“I really am sorry Y/N. I promise you that this will never happen again.”

Except that promise was repeatedly broken. The amount of times that she had to leave her house to rescue a drunken Steve Harrington, or as people would say “King Steve”, from a disgusting party became too much for her. The last time he called her, was the last time that they had ever talked after nearly 2 years of nonstop friendship.

Junior year came at her like a flash, and here she was three months in, finding herself lost without Steve by her side. But deep down in her heart, she knew that this ‘King Steve’ character was just a façade that he needed to deal with, and that her best friend would be himself again eventually. That didn’t make her feel any better about the whole situation regardless.

[kawaiikichi]

The Words “I Love You” (BKDK)

Hello, you guys! I have come with another one-shot for BKDK! This one is a little longer than the rest that I’ve done up to this point and is based off the 5 + 1 Things (I’m late to the party, I know). It’s five instances where Izuku tells Katsuki he loves him and the one time Katsuki says it back.

I hope you guys like it! :D

Title: The Words “I Love You”

Summary: A 5 + 1 Things documenting the five times Izuku told Katsuki “I love you” and the one time Katsuki said it back.

One-Shot Notes: Everything is pretty much the same except it diverges from canon after the Deku vs Kacchan battle in S3; they start dating about two and a half months after the fight; their relationship is a “secret” (everyone knows they’re dating, but they choose not to say anything)

One-shot is under the cut! 

Instance #1 - The Dorms (Afternoon)

“Godfucking dammit! I fucking hate cleaning! It fucking sucks!” Katsuki snarled, shaking the broom that Aizawa handed him earlier.

“But somebody’s gotta do it, don’t you think, Kacchan...?” Izuku spoke hesitantly, hoping to assuage his fuming boyfriend.

“Fuck that shit!” Katsuki roared, explosions erupting from his hand as he blew the broom into smithereens.

Izuku let out a horrified shout as he gaped at the remains of the broom that laid before Katsuki.

“Kacchan! We do not make the brooms explode!” he scolded. 

“Huh?! What are you, my fucking mom?! Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Deku!” Katsuki roared, more explosions erupting from his hand.

“I can do whatever I please, Kacchan! So stop trying to pick fights every chance you get!”

“So you think I’m trying to pick fights, huh...well, I’ll show you what a real fight looks like—”

“Yo, Bakugou! Stop picking fights with Midoriya and get back to work! Here, I even brought you an extra broom!”

Katsuki whirled around to glare daggers at Eijirou, who entered the common area along with Denki.

“Fuck off, Shitty Hair! This is between me and Deku!” he then marched over to Eijirou. “Also, gimme that fucking broom!” he shouted, swiping it out of Eijirou’s hand.

“Alright, alright, bro! Well, Kaminari and I are going to go upstairs for a tutoring session with Yaoyorozu!” Eijirou declared.

“Okay, then! We fucking get it, so go to your goddamn tutoring session before I blast you and Pikachu out of this fucking dorm!” Katsuki snapped.

“Whoa-ho! Chillax, Fireball! We’re going now, alright?” Denki said.

“Huh?! Who the fuck you calling a goddamn Fireball—”

“Kacchan, just let it go!” Izuku wrapped his arms around Katsuki’s torso as he shot looks at Eijirou and Denki. “Kirishima, Kaminari, hurry upstairs while I still have him restrained!” he called out.

“Alright!” Eijirou replied as he and Denki scampered away.

Katsuki let out a growl.

“Goddammit...!” he bit out.

“Kacchan, if you try to struggle any more than you already are, I will literally slam you down onto the floor! You know I will!” Izuku shouted.

“Oh, fucking fine!” Katsuki shouted back in response.

Izuku released Katsuki as the blond released a sigh, reaching up to run a hand through his spiky hair.

“Ugh, those two fucking piss me off sometimes...” he then shot a side glance at Izuku. “Also, sorry for yelling at you. It’s gonna take me a while before I can stop doing that.” he said.

“Oh no, there’s no need for you to apologize, Kacchan! I completely understand!” Izuku nodded at the broom that Katsuki held in his hand. “Let’s just get to cleaning, yeah?” he suggested.

Katsuki glared at the broom in his hand and then at the vacuum that Izuku was holding before sighing.

“Fucking fine...” he grumbled as he proceeded to sweep the rug.

Izuku watched his boyfriend huffily sweep the rug as an idea came to him.

“Hey, Kacchan. I have an idea.” he said.

“Huh? Am idea?” Katsuki answered.

“Yeah! To make cleaning duty a little more fun for you.”

“Okay...I’m listening...”

“So, how about we compete to see who can finish cleaning the fastest? The winner can get the loser to do whatever they want for the rest of the day.” Izuku explained.

“Hm...sounds interesting enough. I’m in.” Katsuki eyed Izuku curiously. “But why do all this? You know, come up with the competition and stuff.” he asked.

“Hm, I wonder...” Izuku made his way over to Katsuki and leaned in so that he could whisper in his ear. “Maybe it’s because I love you and I want my boyfriend to stop being so grumpy?” he replied.

He watched as Katsuki’s cheeks turned pink. He couldn't’ help but giggle.

How cute, he thought to himself.

“Oh, by the way, the competition starts now. Try and catch me if you can.” Izuku said before turning on the vacuum and dashing off with it.

Katsuki blinked, trying to process what just happened. Then, a wide smirk pulled his lips upward.

“Oh, now you’re asking for it, Deku!” he hollered as he took off after Izuku, using his Quirk to help him gain some speed.

Izuku whirled around, his eyes growing wide upon seeing Katsuki using his Quirk.

“Kacchan, wait! You shouldn’t be using your Quirk in here!” he shouted.

“Don’t worry, Deku. I’ll make sure that I don’t damage anything!” Katsuki shouted back.

“That’s not the point here!” Izuku whined.

They came around a corner and raced past Shouto, who was exiting the kitchen with a cup of green tea in his hand.

Shouto could only stare in mild surprise as Katsuki tackled Izuku and the two of them went tumbling to the floor. He watched Katsuki proceed to tickle Izuku, the sounds of high-pitched squeals and pleas for mercy accompanied by the blond’s raucous laughter reaching his ears.

Shouto let out a sigh as he took a sip from his cup.

What a couple of lovebirds.

🧡💚🧡💚

Instance #2 - Training Grounds (Afternoon)

After being told of their one-on-one training battles for today along with drawing lots for who was battling who, everyone went to the locker room to change into their hero costumes.

Izuku pulled his shirt over his head as Eijirou spoke.

“So the first battle will be Bakugou versus Todoroki, huh...that’s gonna be just as intense as when they battled during the school festival.” he commented.

“And this time, you better not hold the fuck back, Half n’ Half Bastard!” explosions erupted from Katsuki’s palms. “Come at me so I can blast you out of the damn arena!” he roared.

“The same goes for you too.” Shouto shot a look at Katsuki. “I’ll try my best to defeat you, as well.” he stated.

“You better fucking mean it!” Katsuki snapped as he began to hurl expletives at Shouto.

Denki shuddered.

“Geez, they’re so intense already...” he released a sigh. “Well, my battle’s against Jirou, so that’ll be interesting.” he said as he threw his jacket on.

“And mines is against Yaoyorozu! Ah, I’m really looking forward to that battle...” Mineta trailed off, drool spilling from the corners of his mouth as his mind began to wander.

“Mineta! Stop it with your filthy fantasies right this instant! We are in a school environment!” Tenya shouted from across the room, moving his hand up and down in his signature chopping motion.

Izuku laughed as he proceeded to put on his hero costume. As he did, he managed to catch a glimpse of Katsuki’s toned chest as he took off his shirt. Izuku swallowed as he watched Katsuki’s muscles flex with each movement he made.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Shirtless Kacchan, shirtless Kacchan! I mean, I’ve seen him shirtless countless times already, but now that we’re dating, it’s enough to make my heart flutter, he thought to himself.

He didn’t realize that he was still staring at Katsuki until a familiar voice pulled him back into reality.

“Oi, Deku! The hell are you looking at?!” Katsuki barked out.

“N-Nothing! Nothing at all!” Izuku shouted in response, his cheeks a fiery red as he quickly snapped his gaze away from the blond.

He quickly got dressed and left the locker room before anyone could ask him any questions. As he walked down the hall, he heard a voice call out to him.

“Hey, Deku.”

Izuku let out a small yelp as an arm wrapped itself around his waist and he was pulled into a side embrace, the familiar scent of cinnamon and cologne flooding his senses.

“You see something you like back there?” Katsuki asked.

“H-Huh?! No!” Izuku exclaimed, the tips of his ears burning as Katsuki chuckled.

“Really now? Because I’m pretty sure I saw you staring at me intently as I was changing my clothes.” Katsuki teased, a smug smirk tugging at his lips.

Izuku pouted.

“Kacchan—”

“Deku!”

At that moment, Katsuki withdrew his arm from around Izuku’s waist, shouted “Die!” in a loud voice, and blasted Izuku into the wall. He watched Ochaco gasp out of the corner of his eye.

“Deku!” she raced over to him. “Deku, are you okay?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright.” he replied as she helped him up.

Katsuki let out a “hmph” before whirling around and marching off. Ochaco shot a look at Katsuki’s retreating back.

“Bakugou! Why would you do that—” Izuku cut her off before she could continue.

“Don’t worry about it, Uraraka. I think I went too far with my teasing this time around...” he trailed off.

There’s no way I could tell her that he did it so that he could cover up how close we were just now. If she ever finds out that Kacchan and I are dating, she’ll pass out from the shock, he thought to himself.

“Is that so...” Ochaco trailed off.

“Y-Yeah! Kacchan’ll cool off eventually. We should get going.” Izuku said.

“Yeah!” Ochaco chirped in response.

The two of them made conversation as they headed to the training ground, discussing their upcoming battles with Tsuyu and Aoyama. Eventually, everyone else arrived at the training ground, Aizawa along with some of the other teachers waiting for them.

“Now that everyone is here, we will begin the battles with the first one being Todoroki versus Bakugou. The two of you, make your way up to the battle stage. I’m starting to get sleepy already.” Aizawa grumbled, zipping himself up in his yellow sleeping bag and laying down on the ground.

“Hah! It’s “Blasting Icy-Hot Outta This Fucking Arena” time!” Katsuki roared as he bumped his fist against his palm, creating a small explosion in the process.

As he was about to head onto the stage, Izuku called out to him.

“Wait, Kacchan! I need to say something before you go!” he shouted as he raced over to Katsuki.

“Huh? What is it now, Deku?” Katsuki asked as Izuku approached him.

Izuku motioned for him to lean down so that he could whisper in his ear. Katsuki hesitated for a moment before complying. Izuku cupped his hands around Katsuki’s ear and a part of his cheek before whispering to him.

“Go show Todoroki what you’re made of. I love you, Kacchan.” he said.

He then delivered a quick peck to Katsuki’s cheek before pulling away. He watched Katsuki’s face flush a light red and he had to stop himself from grinning at the sight.

It seems like Kacchan.exe has stopped working, he thought to himself.

“You...You don’t need to tell me twice! I know you fucking do! And I’ll blast that Half n’ Half bastard into smithereens! Just you wait!” Katsuki shouted before marching over to the stage.

Izuku laughed nervously as Ochaco and Tsuyu walked over to him.

“Deku! What did you tell Bakugou?” Ochacho asked.

“I am curious as well, Midoriya. What did you tell him? He seemed pretty flustered, which is rare for him.” Tsuyu commented.

“Oh, that? Nothing much. It’s just...” Izuku watched as Katsuki launched his first attack on Todoroki. “Something to boost his ego a little, maybe?”

🧡💚🧡💚

Instance #3 - Grocery Shopping (Late Afternoon/Early Evening)

“Now, let’s see here...” Katsuki burned holes into the shopping list that Momo handed him when he left the dorm with Izuku earlier today. “We got the cabbage, so let’s go get the fucking soba noodles.” he said.

“Okay!” Izuku chirped as he pushed the cart, following Katsuki around like a puppy would follow its owner.

Katsuki eyed Izuku, silently noting how eager he looked.

Class 1-A decided to draw lots in order to see who would go grocery shopping this time around. Katsuki and Izuku ended up being selected and Momo handed them a list she wrote up before ushering them out of the dorm. As much as Katsuki was annoyed that he got chosen to do the task, he didn’t hate it, either.

Not when Izuku had such a damn adorable look on his face. 

They made their way down the noodle aisle and picked up some packets of soba, udon, and somen noodles along with some instant cup ramen. Placing them in the cart, Katsuki checked them off the list.

“Alright, now let’s go get those fucking baking ingredients for Satou and then that green tea Half n’ Half bastard likes. Ponytail said that this store also carries her favorite tea from some place called Harrod’s, so we’ll also go and fucking pick that up—” he stopped, feeling Izuku’s arms wrap around his own.

He stared at Izuku in mild surprise.

“Oi, Deku, just what is it that you’re doing?” he asked.

“Hugging your arm.” Izuku replied.

“I can fucking see that. Why are you doing it, though?”

“This feels nice. You know, the two of us going grocery shopping together. Don’t you think this is nice, Kacchan?”

Katsuki looked over at Izuku and was nearly sucker-punched by the wide, doe-like eyes that Izuku was shooting him.

Fucking shit, I can’t not answer him when he looks at me like that, he thought to himself.

“Yeah...it does feel nice.” he said.

Izuku beamed up at the blond, rubbing his cheek against his arm as Katsuki began to push the cart.

They picked up the ingredients that Satou needed and quickly made a detour to the candy aisle to pick up some sweets that Mina and Tooru said they wanted to try.

As Katsuki put (read: chucked) a package of sakura-themed Kit Kats into the cart, Izuku spotted a large milk chocolate bar. His eyes sparkled in swe as he picked it up.

“Whoa, this is super big...” he looked over at Katsuki. “Hey, Kacchan! Look at what I found!” he called out, waving the chocolate bar around for him to see.

“Huh? What is it?” Katsuki answered as he looked at Izuku, frowning upon seeing the chocolate bar in his hands.

“Fuck no.” he said almost immediately.

“Huh?” Izuku blinked his eyes twice in surprise. “Wha—”

“Fuck no.”

“But—”

“I said. Fuck. No! If it ain’t on the damn list, we ain’t picking it up!”

“But Kacchan—”

“Fuck no means fuuuuuuuck noooooooo! Put it back, Deku.”

“Kacchan—”

“Put it back or else I’ll blast it right out of your hands.”

“But then you’ll have to buy it, anyway.”

“Don’t get smart with me, Deku! Now, put the chocolate bar back where you found it.”

Izuku’s lips curled into a pout.

“Fine...” he mumbled.

He shot Katsuki a dejected look as he turned to put the chocolate bar back. As soon as the bar hit the shelf, Katsuki let out a groan.

“Aaaaaaargh, fine! Fine! Put it in the cart! I’ll buy it for you!” he shouted.

Izuku immediately picked the bar back up and whirled around to face Katsuki, his eyes sparkling with glee.

“Really?!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, really. Now, hurry it up and put it in the cart before I change my fucking mind. Just know that we’re sharing that because there is no way in hell you’ll end up with a gazillion cavities in your teeth—” Izuku tossed the bar into the cart and threw his arms around Katsuki before the blond could finish his sentence.

“Thank you, Kacchan! I love you, I love you, I love yooooooooooooou!” he gushed excitedly.

“Whoa, slow down there!” Katsuki blushed a little. “You do realize that we’re in fucking public, right?” he asked.

“Oh.” Izuku replied, his eyes wide as a boy’s voice reached their ears.

“Mama! Those two guys are holding each other!” he shouted.

“Shhh! Honey, don’t look!” his mother chided.

A bright red blush spread across Izuku’s face as he withdrew from Katsuki.

“Sorry for suddenly hugging you like that...” he murmured.

“Shit, don’t apologize, just...” Katsuki sighed, running a finger through his hair. “Let’s just get the rest of the groceries and get the fuck out of this store.” he said.

Izuku nodded.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” he said.

The two of them exited the candy aisle and they went to get the tea for Momo and Shouto, an awkward silence hanging over them all the while.

🧡💚🧡💚

Instance #4 - The Dorms, Katsuki’s Room (Evening)

Katsuki was seated at his desk, working on his homework when there was a knock at the door. He looked over at the door, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Yes?” he called out.

“Um, Kacchan? It’s me...”

Katsuki felt the tension in his body seep out of him the minute he heard Izuku’s voice on the other side of the door.

Oh, thank god. I can distract myself for the time being, he thought to himself.

“The door’s open.” he said.

The door opened moments later to reveal Izuku, who poked his head inside.

“Hi, Kacchan.” he spoke sheepishly, his cheeks tinted a light red.

It felt like Cupid had struck him through the heart.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit—!

Oh goddamn it all, why does Deku have to be so cute, he asked himself.

Izuku stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He had on a simple navy blue v-neck shirt and blue pajama pants that had red stars, white stars, and All Might on them. Katsuki resisted the urge to snort. The pajama pants were ridiculously dorky, but they definitely suited him.

He looked down and noticed that Izuku was holding a piece of paper and a pen in his hand.

“Is that for me?” he asked.

“Oh, this? Yeah, it is. I’m stuck on this problem and I need you to help me solve it.” Izuku explained.

“Is that so...well, come sit on the bed. Make yourself comfortable.” Katsuki said.

Izuku nodded as he crawled onto Katsuki’s bed and leaned against the pillow Katsuki climbed on as well and sat down beside Izuku.

Immediately, the scent of eucalyptus mint hit the blond’s nostrils. Looking at Izuku’s slightly damp hair and his glowing skin, it was clear to him that he just came out of the shower. This made his heart hammer against his ribcage.

Shit, he smells so good. I wanna nuzzle my face into his neck and just inhale his scent, he thought to himself.

He shooed that thought away before it could fully manifest into an action.

“So? What’s the problem?” Katsuki asked.

“It’s this one.” Izuku showed him the paper. “I don’t know how to go about simplifying it...” he trailed off.

Katsuki took the piece of paper from him and he scanned it over.

“2i<6u...? Oh come on, Deku, this shit is so fucking easy. You just divide two from both sides and you get i<3u.” he said, taking Izuku’s pen from him and outlining teach step for him.

“I see...” Izuku peered down at the paper. “You know, that looks like it could be read a different way.” he pointed out.

“Huh? Read a different way?” Katsuki eyed the sheet of paper quizzically. “The only way that this can be read is i<3u.” he stated.

“No, there’s another way.” Izuku stated.

Katsuki furrowed his brows.

“I don’t follow.”

“You don’t know?”

“No, I fucking don’t.”

“I thought you were smart, Kacchan.”

“Huh?! Don’t test me, Deku! I’m fucking intelligent, I’ll have you know!”

“Then what is the other way you can read that?”

“Like hell if I know.”

“Would you like me to tell you?”

Katsuki shot a look at Izuku, who looking right back at him. This lasted for a few minutes before Izuku began to giggle.

“Alright, since it seems like you want me to tell you, then I might as well.” he said.

That was when Izuku leaned in closer, which caught Katsuki by surprise.

“Oi Deku, just what is it that you’re doing?” he asked.

“I’m going to tell you the answer.” Izuku replied.

Yeah, I figured that much, but do you have to be so close? It’s bad for my heart, Katsuki thought to himself.

Izuku leaned in even closer, his breath hitting Katsuki’s ear.

“The less than three makes a heart. So in other words, it can also be read as “I love you,” Kacchan.” he whispered.

Katsuki sat there for a few minutes, trying to comprehend what Izuku said. Then, it clicked.

“So in other words, it can also be read as “I love you,” Kacchan.” Izuku’s words played in his mind like a broken record as a blush crawled onto his cheeks.

Then, it began to spread to his ears the moment plush, warm lips connected with his cheek.

Oh, goddamn it all, he sure knows how to drive me wild, Katsuki thought to himself.

Before he could grab Izuku and show him what a real kiss is like, Izuku pulled away and he climbed off of the bed.

“Thanks for helping me solve that problem, I do appreciate it.” Izuku made his way over to the door. “Goodnight, Kacchan.” he said.

Then, Izuku winked at him (which, by the way, Katsuki thought was the cutest thing on Earth) before slipping out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

Placing the paper and pen off to one side, Katsuki flopped down onto the covers, burying his face in them.

Deku...he knew what the answer to that problem was all along, didn’t he? He only came up here to have me solve the problem so that he could tell me that he loves me, he thought to himself.

He did it on purpose.

Katsuki chuckled as a giddy feeling filled his chest.

“Damn.”

🧡💚🧡💚

Instance #5 - The Dorms, Katsuki’s Room (Morning)

Katsuki stirred from his slumber that morning to feel something warm pressed against him. Peeking under the covers, he saw Izuku curled up against him, his head resting on his chest over his heart.

Katsuki grinned.

Gosh, he’s so cute when he’s asleep, he thought to himself.

He slung an arm around Izuku’s torso and began to rub his back soothingly as he recalled what happened last night.

Izuku came to his room at around eleven-thirty last night in tears, saying that he had a dream where the League of Villains had taken Katsuki custody and in the end, he didn’t make it out alive. Izuku had been so shaken up that his first thought was to go upstairs and see for himself that the blond was alive and well. Katsuki took him into his room without a second thought and they ended up sleeping together in his bed with Katsuki rubbing circles into his back and whispering sweet nothings and reassurances before drifting off to sleep.

Izuku smiled in his sleep as he curled up closer to Katsuki. The blond rested his head atop Izuku’s, inhaling the scent of lavender shampoo in his curly, dark green locks.

Everything about this moment is just so fucking perfect. I wish I could wake up with him in my arms every morning, Katsuki thought to himself.

He moved his head down and began peppering Izuku’s face with chaste kisses. As he left one on his right eyelid, Izuku’s eyes fluttered open. He released a yawn.

“Mmmm...Kacchan...?” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

Katsuki felt like he got shot in the heart by Cupid as Izuku reached up to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Fuuuuuuuuck, he’s so fucking cute! Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Holy shit! Oh my god! Damn, now I really hope this moment can just last forever, he thought to himself.

Katsuki grinned down at him.

“Damn right, it’s me. Morning, Deku.” he leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I take it you slept well last night?” he asked.

“I did! And it was all because I was in your arms the whole night, Kacchan.” Izuku replied, beaming up at him happily.

Katsuki laughed.

“You’re damn right. I’m your boyfriend, so I gotta make sure you’re getting enough sleep and shit.” he said.

Izuku couldn’t help but giggle.

“I know, I know.” he looked at Katsuki. “So, what were you doing before I woke up?” he asked.

“Looking at you. Thinking about how fucking cute you were as you slept. Showering your fucking cute face with kisses.” Katsuki replied.

Izuku blushed.

“So that’s what you were doing...”

“What, so you were actually awake the whole time?”

“No. It was only when I felt something pressing gently against my eyelid that I woke up.”

“Is that so...”

Izuku smiled.

“You know, I love you so much, Kacchan.” he said.

A blush dusted Katsuki’s cheeks pink as Izuku continued.

“You know what would make me love you even more than I already do?” he tapped a finger against his lips. “If you kiss me right here.” he said.

Katsuki chuckled.

“I like that.” he wrapped his arms around Izuku’s waist. “I really like the sound of that.” he said as he began to lean in towards Izuku.

Before their lips could touch, however, there was loud knocking at the door.

“Hey, Bakugou! You up yet?!”

Katsuki glared daggers at the door, hoping that it would slice through and stab whoever the fuck was at the door (most likely Eijirou).

“Fuck.” he bit out.

Way to ruin my alone time with Deku, dipshit.

🧡💚🧡💚

Bonus Instance (+1) - The Dorms, Near Izuku’s Room (Night)

“Kacchan, you know you didn’t have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Walk me back to my room.”

“Well, I’m doing it because I want to.”

“But—”

“Shut up and let me fucking walk you back to your room, Deku.”

Izuku and Katsuki stepped into the dorm after spending two hours doing practice battles at the training ground (with permission from Aizawa, of course). They walked side by side, the only light in the dorm being the beams of moonlight that shone through the windows.

“Oi, Deku, you sure you don’t wanna shower before you go and sleep? You reek.” Katsuki said.

“Well, you reek, too.” Izuku responded with a huff.

“Huh, don’t you have a smart mouth, Deku.” Katsuki commented as he tickled Izuku’s side, causing him to dissolve into barely stifled giggles.

Flicking on the lights, they headed down the hall to Izuku’s room. Once they stopped, Izuku turned to smile at Katsuki.

“Well, thanks for walking me back to my room even though I told you numerous times that you didn’t have to. I appreciate it.” he leaned in towards Katsuki. “I love you, Kacchan.” he said before pressing a kiss to Katsuki’s cheek.

Katsuki looked at Izuku with a stunned look on his face as Izuku pulled away.

“Good night.” Izuku said as he turned to open the door.

Before he could step inside, Katsuki called out to him.

“Oi, wait just a fucking minute.”

Izuku turned as Katsuki grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him towards him, cupping his cheek as their lips crashed together in a kiss. Izuku was taken aback, but it only lasted for a short moment before melting, kissing Katsuki back.

The kiss lasted for a couple more minutes before Katsuki pulled away, pressing their foreheads together. Red bore into green as Katsuki spoke, his cheeks turning red.

“I...fucking love you too.” he said.

Immediately, Izuku blushed bright red. His heart soared and giddiness began to bubble up from within him like soda at Katsuki’s words. He grinned from ear to ear.

“I know, Kacchan.” he pecked him on the lips. “Good night.” he said.

“Yeah, good night.” Katsuki said as Izuku pulled away and he headed inside.

Before closing the door, Izuku turned and flashed Katsuki one last smile. “I love you, Kacchan. I really do.” he said.

“I know you fucking do. Now, go and catch some fucking zzz’s.” Katsuki said with the wave of his hand.

Izuku laughed before turning and closing the door behind him. Almost instantly, Katsuki dissolved into a blushing, flustered mess. He facepalmed as he let out a loud groan.

Oh my god, why am I acting like some fucking high school girl who just got her kiss?! My heart won’t stop fucking racing, my cheeks are fucking red, and my lips feel like they’re on fucking fire! It was just a fucking kiss and a simple “I fucking love you too,” so why the fuck am I like this, Katsuki asked himself.

He took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart and to get rid of the raging blush on his cheeks. It worked in a matter of minutes.

“Now that’s more fucking like it.” he said.

He turned to start walking back to his room only to come face to face with a widely smiling Eijirou. This caught Katsuki off-guard.

“The fuck—”

“Man, Bakugou, you’re such a smooth operator!” Eijirou gushed.

“Huh? The fuck are you going on about, Shitty Hair?” Katsuki asked.

“Obviously when you pulled Midoriya to you and kissed him! And then you were all like, “I...fucking love you too” with really red cheeks and this really soft look on your face! Like, soft Bakugou is some good quality stuff right there!” Eijirou said.

Katsuki glared at Eijirou.

“You saw that?!”

“Uh, yeah? I mean, there’s nothing to be afraid of, since everyone else knows you two are dating.”

“What?! Everyone knows?!”

“Oh shit, I promised Yaoyorozu that I wouldn’t say anything—”

“Die!”

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

Hurry! Are you gonna have time to finish the golden (jeresa) s3 rewatch in time?! You only have less than 7 weeks before s4 starts and you’re only at 302! You’re making me love them even more with your commentary (I didn’t think it was possible to love them more). But at the same time I feel like I should distance myself because s4 is probably gonna break my jeresa heart. Or I should soak it all in now and get all I can get.

Haha I’m trying anon! The early June premiere date took me by surprise–I thought I was working with a few more weeks to fit everything in.  Rewatching, taking notes and setting up my queue can get intensive time-wise (I did a word count on my rewatch tags and it’s nearing 18k+ yikes! No wonder I don’t have the energy for fic writing lol) but never fear, even if I’m posting 10 times a day my plan is to finish before the premiere. Thank you for the rewatch love! Glad you’re enjoying it.As for mentally preparing for s4, I don’t know about you but this rewatch of s3 is already breaking my Jeresa heart lol. It’s kinda their thing tbh. But I realize you mean in a different way for s4. It’s hard to know for sure when we don’t know what we are working with…but personally I’m looking forward to it hurting so good.

[silveranchor]

Fire on Ice

Sorry for not updating but life's been wild...

Also, I haven't had time to watch much of S3 so I feel pretty bad about it. Working on this fic has been my saving grace to keep connected with the show. Please pray so I can catch up with episodes.

Thanks to @huffletiika and @from-red-string for helping out and a shoutout to @deliverychicafresa because I love her.

The SL figureskating!au no one wanted

May, off-season. 3 months till competition. Buenos Aires. Marissa Juliana Mint Skating Club

The hallway leading to the skating rink, right in front the main office, is lined with medals and pictures, a few trophies and diplomas here and there. Juliana can be spotted in most of the photographs, either smiling on the podium or looking proud beside one of her skaters.

Matteo's eyes are drawn immediately to one of the bigger pictures hanging above the medal case. Julianna looks young and impossibly bright, a Brazilian flag upon her shoulders and a big silver medal hanging on her neck, the Olympic rings visible behind her. That same medal lies directly below the framed picture. He brings his hand to rest upon the protective glass, the closest he can get to touch it.

He's seen many medals in his life; he's had a lot of them placed on him, but this one is different. There's something about Olympic medals being only awarded every 4 years that makes them special. He really wants one of his own.

"Bro, you've been staring at that medal for like 15 minutes. Want me to give you some privacy so you can make out with it?"

Matteo doesn't even have to turn around to know Gastón is smirking and raising his eyebrows at him. His best friend is an idiot.

But he's his idiot, so he quickly leaves his suitcase on the floor and runs to embrace him.

Gastón holds him tight and pats his back enthusiastically. They haven't seen each other since the World Championships three months ago and Matteo missed him too much, not that he'll admit it out loud.

They let each other go, smiles still on their faces.

"How was the ice show in Japan?" Gastón asks.

Matteo moves to pick up his stuff. "It was fun. Got a lot of gifts from the fans. Flor sends greetings, by the way. She basically forced me to help with her exhibition skate."

"Ha! I would have paid to see that." Gastón sits on the floor and pats the spot beside him. "Was it Thriller?"

He obliges and sits. "Thriller. Zombie makeup and all. She owes me big time."

His friend snorts. "Gosh, I have to look for it online."

He's about to elbow him when Juliana steps out of her office, looking down at them with that no-nonsense expression she seems to have mastered. "Matteo,  welcome back. Come now so we can discuss what we're gonna work on this season."

She opens her door, expecting him to go in and stares at Gastón. "Périda, your edges won't magically become clearer themselves. On the ice. Now."

Gastón hurries to his feet and yells "Yes, ma'am" behind him while he runs for his life in the direction of the rink.

Matteo can only chuckle under his breath and shake his head before catching Juliana's gaze and entering her office.

Once inside, she signals for him to take a seat while she does the same behind the desk.

"Well Matteo," she says with a sigh, "I liked your choreography and the music you chose. Very good insight using Sinatra for your short program and I especially like the step sequence. Your choreographer did an amazing job."

He can sense she's not finished. "But?"

She purses her lips before answering. "Your music choices and the choreography are great, Matteo, but I'm not convinced by your portrayal of them in the videos you sent me, mostly in your free skate. That's the main thing we need to work on right now. Luckily, we have enough time. It was very smart of you to select your music last season. Your choreographer also deserves credit for coming up with two full programs so fast. We have plenty of time to polish them for the Lombardia Trophy in September."

Matteo knows what she's talking about. He chose music from the Life is Beautiful movie soundtrack for his long program. The Italian movie is one he grew up watching and one of his mother's favorites. He has many memories of her playing the soundtrack while reading in the living room or playing some of the songs on the piano. It was watching the movie with her on the plane to a competition that he decided he should use the music for one of his programs. He'd spent most of his free time working with his music editor to make the perfect fusion of the songs. The final arrangement highlights the different moments of the movie perfectly: the comedy, the romance, the tragedy, the hopelessness, the heartbreak, the relief. His choreographer also did an amazing job, selecting the ideal moment for each element, creating a step sequence and a choreo sequence perfectly in tune with the music and the emotion he desires to portray. The problem is that, while he knows what he wants the audience to feel as he skates, he doesn't know how to achieve it.

This is probably his most emotionally charged program to date, he's never skated to something so meaningful or that he had such a strong connection to, but maybe that's the issue. He's never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve and he's not quite sure he can. Maybe he should have just stuck to his usual cocky and confident characters.

He doesn't know what his face must look like but, apparently, it betrays his thoughts, because Juliana's eyes soften as she rests her clasped hands on her desk.

"Matteo, this will only be my second season working with you, but I've followed your career for a long time. You are a great performer, but you need to learn to project your emotions into your skating."

He knows she's right, but he can't help his sneer. "Emotion won't get me +3s, improving my technique will."

His coach shoots him an unimpressed glare, already used to his attitude.

"I know you don't just skate for a number, you do it because you love it, because it means something to you. Same with this music, you chose it for a reason and you know it; you just need to make the audience know it too." She looks him in the eye and he tries not to squirm under her gaze. " Emotion is not weakness, Matteo, it is strength. You and I need to find a way to help you be comfortable baring your heart out on the ice. It might take a while, but thanks to your work, we have enough time to do that. This is Olympic season, meaning there will be more people than ever watching you skate. You need to make them remember you, and the only way you'll do that is if you give it your all."

Juliana is very strict and never takes any crap, but her worst quality is that she has a tendency to be right all the time. Matteo wants to hate her for it.

He can't though, she makes even that difficult.

He started skating as a little kid back when he still lived in Rome. His cousin, Flor, had dragged him along with her to classes, but he quickly learned to love it. Even when Flor moved away to France, he kept skating. His parents were proud of his dedication and supported him when he decided to start competing locally at 6 years old. It was when he started his advanced novice career that the problems started. His diplomat father viewed his wish to make a life out of the sport as a stupid fancy. When they moved to Madrid for his dad's job, his father thought he would leave skating for good, being cut out from his home rink and his coach.

No such luck. His mom found him a new coach and training rink in Spain, and he kept skating and doing great in competition. Same when they moved to France, and when they moved back to Spain. No matter how much his father disapproved of his decisions, his mom had found a way for him to keep following his passion. She was there in every competition she could, always supporting him. She was the one who contacted Juliana to be his coach last season when they moved to Buenos Aires.

Matteo has infamously worked with 4 different coaches before, but, even if reluctantly, he likes Juliana the best of all. As a skater coming from Latin America, she defied all odds by becoming one of the best in history. She paved the way for skaters from other overlooked countries to shine in the international circuit. She's a legend.

Secretly, he wants to be like her. He wants to inspire people, to show them that, no matter your circumstances, you can do anything if you fight hard enough for it.

If he wants to do that, he needs to do what she says.

It scares him to show so much vulnerability in front of other people, but if he really wants to hit the mark with his free skate, that's just what he needs.

For a moment, he thinks back to his mom, probably doing some work at home. Defying his father by showing so much support towards Matteo's skating career probably wasn't easy for her. His dad sometimes spent days without speaking to either of them after a competition. She never backed down, though. If she could be that brave, maybe he could too. Especially while skating to music she loves so much.

It takes most of his courage to hold Juliana's gaze when he answers. "You're right. I need more emotion in the program, and I'll get it... I promise."

A part of him is comforted by the reassuring smile his coach directs at him,  but the rest of him freezes... Because just how in hell he's gonna get it?

He really needs to figure that out.

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

After a good workout at the adjacent gym, he puts on his skates and heads to the rink a few minutes early for his stroking session with Tamara, one of the coaches.

When he gets there, she's nowhere in sight. In fact, the ice is surprisingly free, except for a girl he doesn't recognize practicing spirals along the edge, one foot on the ice while she brings her other leg up behind her.

He studies her for a moment. Her edges aren't deep enough for his liking, but he can't find many faults beyond that. Her lines are smooth and her angles perfect as she smoothly glides upon the ice.

The turns between her sequence aren't the best, but her spirals themselves are definitely exemplary.

Before he can think twice about it, he's calling to her across the rink "Too bad Spiral Sequences are no longer compulsory!"

She whips her head back at him so fast she loses her balances and tumbles to the ice.

Concerned, he takes the guards off his blades as fast as he can and skates towards her.

She's quickly back on her feet, rubbing her left thigh as if it hurts. It probably does.

He can't help but feel a bit guilty, still, he smiles at her. "Are you okay? "

She prods at her leg with a finger. "Yeah, I think s-" That's the moment when she looks up at him "- huh... Yeah, I. Yep, fine"

She's staring at him wide-eyed, her face going red. His mind immediately registers that her eyes are probably the most striking shade of green he's ever seen, but he decides to file that information for further study another time and focus on the fact that she doesn't seem to be breathing.

"Are you sure you're okay? You don't look like it."

It's only when she covers her face that he realizes that was probably not the best choice of words. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. You're just redder than a tomato." Great, this appears to be a foot-in-mouth day for him.

The girl looks even more horrified as she tries and fails to get some stray hairs away from her face. "Don't worry. I'm fine, you just took me by surprise."

She looks around frantically as if trying to find a way out of this situation. He decides to have a little fun. Afterall, he already made her splat, what more harm can he cause?

He glides closer to her and she stumbles backwards a little. "Sorry to have distracted you. I'm Matteo, by the way."

The girls visibly swallows while her eyes dart to the hand he put on her arm to stop her from falling again. "I know... I mean-" She groans in frustration. "- I'm Luna."

He accepts the hand she reaches out in greeting; and if he holds it for a moment longer than what would be appropriate, who can blame him?

Most of the time, he doesn't really focus on the fact that, among fans and the skating community at least, he's an actual celebrity. Especially during ice shows and competitions with skaters who are more popular than he is, it becomes easy to forget. There is something really satisfying in having someone starstruck at meeting him for the first time, though. He'd be lying if he said he doesn't enjoy it.

"Well, Luna, those were some damn good spirals. Is that sequence for competition?"

She immediately brightens at his praise and he can't help but smile wider.

"I hope so. Maybe I’ll use it as part of the choreo sequence for my free skate this season."

"Nice. Are you new here? I don't remember seeing you before."

She nods. "I've been to some skating camps with Juliana, but this is my first season with her as my coach. She's helping me with my international senior debut."

He vaguely remembers Juliana mentioning a promising Mexican skater she planned on giving a scholarship to months ago. Given that there are very few skaters from that country in the field, especially with the kind of level he's just seen from her, his bet is that this girl is the one she was referring to.

"You can't be much younger than me. Why did you put off seniors for so long?" Matteo is genuinely curious, most female skaters advance to the senior field as soon as they're age eligible at fifteen or sixteen.

Luna looks down at that. "I only started skating when I was ten and I didn't have very good results at international competitions until two seasons ago." She bites her lip before continuing. "Plus, I can only continue skating because Juliana covers most of my costs. She was very generous in giving me a scholarship. She's gotten me some sponsors too."

Now Matteo feels like a jerk for asking. Sometimes he forgets how expensive the sport actually is. He's lucky his family is rich.

"Juliana must really believe in you."

Probably not his best line, because she looks worriedly up at him. "I'm really afraid that I don't deserve all her effort."

He freezes for a moment; mostly because he doesn't really know what to say, but also because he's in awe. How is she comfortable with saying this like that to someone she just met? Yes, she looks embarrassed about it, but she still said it. He would have never, he has never.

Thoughts about his problem with expressing his own emotions on the ice come to mind. He's suddenly sure that this girl has never had that issue. She seems to not be scared to appear weak. She just confessed her insecurities to him, for goodness’ sake! How does she do that? More importantly, how can he?

Mind still whirling, he tries his best. "If Juliana is doing all of this for you is because she knows you're worth it. You've probably seen just how critical she is, she wouldn't do any of this if she didn't see a bright future for you. She's many things, but she's not stupid, she doesn't fight for lost causes."

Half of his brain registers that Luna relaxes visibly at his words, the other half realizes that what he said applies to him too. If Juliana believes he can learn to show his emotions in his skating, it is because he can. If his coach truly thinks so, it's because she knows that he has the capacity to emote the hell out of that program.

A blaring alarm shakes him out of his thoughts and he watches as Luna skates towards the boards and picks up her phone.  "Oh, sorry! I have to go. I have some homework I have to send in an hour."

"Online school?"

"Yeah. Last year of it, luckily," she says with a chuckle.

He stands still on the ice as she skates out of the rink and holds onto the board to put the guards on her blades.

She looks back at him warmly when she's done. "Thank you. For what you said. I really needed that."

He blinks at her for a few seconds, trying to form words. "Well, you're welcome."

She looks as if she's about to turn away, but stops at the last second. "Did you really meant what you say? About my spirals, I mean." She doesn't meet his eyes as she asks it.

He snorts. "I did. You could definitely deepen your edges, especially in your turns,  but those spiral were pretty good."

She stares at him, expression blank, then shakes her head and chuckles. "Wow. That means a lot really. And thanks for the advice."

She looks down at her phone and swears under her breath. "Crap, I gotta go!" Luna picks up her bag and starts walking towards the exit, looking back only to quickly shout, "It was nice meeting you by the way! I'm a big fan of your Bond short program! Bye!"

He can only laugh at her receding form.

Tamara arrives a minute later, apologizing for being late. He just shrugs her apology off and strokes along with her.

Looking back to his conversation with Luna, he realizes that he was actually able to be himself around her. He said what he thought, what he felt, and didn't stop to analyze it twice. It felt refreshing, for once not having to hold back.

If he can replicate that while he skates, he's golden.

How he'll do it, he has no idea; maybe he was only able to be himself with Luna because some of her influence rubbed off on him.

If that's the case, he'll have to keep her close. He's not taking any chances.