#i will admit i took some time to find the secret fourth thing

[distance-does-not-matter]

not enemies not lovers not friends but a secret fourth thing

the secret fourth thing is kind strangers

Song Request by Lee So Ra feat. SUGA (asking a stranger for a favor over the phone and they agree. you will never meet this person. you are having an awful time. they help you out, make you feel better. they do not know your name)

Night Train by Milena (exchanging a smile with another person up late at night for the same purpose. your paths will never cross again, but in this moment, you are together)

Yeosu Night Sea by Busker Busker (when the older lady calls you "baby", when the vendor gives you an extra snack that you didn't pay for, when the stranger at the bus stop gives you a tissue when you're crying and doesn't insist on eye contact, when you and a stranger stand side by side appreciating the same view)

鬼ヶ島 by Ichiko Aoba (this one, to me, could be sitting in a quiet restaurant where it's you and a few other customers in quiet camaraderie, especially at night)

Laundry by youra (holding the door open for a stranger as you leave the laundry room, telling them which washer is open and which dryer is broken, commiserating over nobody coming to take their laundry out of the machines)

So life goes on by Heo Hoy Kyung (walking among crowds of strangers, a little miserable, but someone gives you a little smile. someone tells you they love your outfit, your hair, whatever, and they genuinely mean it. life goes on. you dry your tears and compliment a stranger. they beam at you)

Pigeon by Dasutt (laughing at a squirrel's antics with a stranger, cheering on a bird together, petting a stranger's dog at the park and never meeting them again but always remembering that dog when you meet another of the same breed)

Your Dog Loves You by Colde (the warmth in your chest from animals loving so purely and wholely, and being reminded of your pet when you see a stranger with theirs) (ok mostly i just wanted you to be introduced to this song)

Memory by Gaho (all those kids at the park who you were briefly, incandescently, best friends with for half an hour, who you think of fondly when you drive past the park. you wonder if they remember you too)

saphir by Pomme (strangers are whole people, too, and this knowledge warms you entirely. they have families, loved ones. you watch crowds bustle home at Christmastime and know that they are loved, and you are loved, too)

Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1raqqbYw5BI505QZO2K5zL?si=d14ad65bc1db4e02

[alexanderlightweight]

Wednesday ask - I love your Claimed by Fire and I was wondering how the story would go if Magnus knew that Alec was his soulmate and had to get through the Clave to get to Alec. Just a thought! I adore your writing and have been reading your works on AO3 for a long time, I just got on to tumblr so I’m still trying to figure out how this works! Thank you

okay this was fun to write and i hope you enjoy it! thank you so much for the prompt

--

Magnus stares at the small, still flickering fire message. It’s a shriveled little thing, more char than words but he knows what it says.

It’s his name. 

His demonic name that no one should know but his father and there are words and what looks like blood and tear stains and something in Magnus breaks.

It should never have made it to him. 

Not if what he thinks it means is true. If Magnus’ soulmate is a nephilim, then their fire message should never have reached Magnus, not while he’s in the spiral labyrinth. 

Magnus wonders how many notes were sent. How much desperation his soulmate poured into his messages, for this one to reach him.

The end of the message read Lightwood, no first name, whatever was written the flames ate away. 

Magnus knows this isn’t one of Maryse or Robert’s traps, they wouldn’t ever insinuate or sully their children with even a hint that they were soulmates with a warlock.

Which means that Magnus’ soulmate is being raised by people who hate Magnus. Who hate what Magnus is, who hate his people and his magic and don’t even believe he has a soul.

It’s intolerable. 

Magnus has not waited eight hundred years for this gift to be denied it.

Magnus refuses to let the clave and shadowhunters take one more thing from him, because they will, if they find out, and they’ve already taken so much.

So Magnus plans and he researches and he threatens people and tortures others and he kills until he has a complete if sparse dossier. 

Three Lightwood children and a foster-fourth who bears a different last name.

A babe, Max, too young to send a message. The middle, Isabelle, who is still in training and Alexander, the oldest, the Lightwood heir.

Alexander is his, Magnus knows the moment he reads his full name and his magic surges with hunger.

Cat and Ragnor plan with him, carefully. Ragnor takes them deep into his memory, to show Magnus every secret he can without risking the oaths he once took to teach at Idris.

The clave doesn’t think warlocks can be trusted, so they don’t consider that warlocks trust each other, some of them at least.

But Ragnor loves Magnus more than he loves the sanctity of his own mind and he welcomes both Magnus and Cat in, so that all three can get as much information as possible. 

“You’ll have to be quick, once you're through the wards.” Cat reminds as they look over the layout and the weaknesses. 

“What will you use as a distraction once you’re in? It could take ages to find him.” Ragnor asks, reading glasses perched as his nose as he carefully draws an array.

“I’m going to open a rift to Edom.” Magnus says casually, like he hasn’t been refusing to do so since the start of the war.

“Magnus—” Cat trails off, biting her lip and then nodding solemnly. She understands that to him, the risk is worth it now in a way it wasn’t before.

“Your father is a bloody arsehole.” Ragnor mutters and scowls at the table when Magnus chuckles with relief at Ragnor’s predictable reaction. “At least you’ll get more of your power back, this will break what’s binding him to Edom, won’t it?”

“Yes,” Magnus admits easily. “Even the Council doesn’t know my heritage, only my abilities. If they knew what the risk was, they would never have asked me. However they have, that I chose to go through with it is their own fault.”

Which is true. Magnus has been at the forefront of this war, his magic and blood spilled more than any other as he fights for life and freedom and sometimes for revenge. Because Magnus is owed his pound of flesh and when he storms Edom for the soul born of his soul, he’s going to take it.

—

Magnus opens the rift slowly, carefully. Ragnor used the last of his priceless nephilim artifacts to create a spell that will let Magnus slip past the wards and go to the location Magnus knows from Ragnor’s mind. 

So it’s with shocking ease that he enters Alicante in the early glow of dawn. A pink and orange hue dapples over the sky as the sun peeks up over the great forest and mountains that protect Idris.

And Magnus opens the rift and the sky bleeds red and the air fills with screams. Magnus tucks himself away, up high and in the shadows so he can watch the nephilim run like ants, screaming and shrieking like so many downworlders do in their raids.

Some are killed instantly, unable to get their weapons in time and unprepared for violence in their perfect little city of rotten divinity. Magnus is getting bored, watching the demons trying to crash into the towers and the shadowhunters trying to drive them away. Some get ripped in half and others dropped into the rift for other demons to devour.

It’s gruesome and horrific and possibly the most gory massacre Magnus has ever had the pleasure of watching or instigating and he can’t even enjoy it properly.

He has something more important to concentrate on.

He doesn’t find him for ages. Not until several hours have stretched past, the demons still coming but slower than they once did. Idris may yet survive this, it seems Magnus’ father has finally awoken and is calling some of the more controllable ones to him, the ones who haven’t scented angelic blood and answered Magnus’ call.

It’s a culling the likes of the nephilim have never seen and yet Magnus forgets it all when he sees a demon fall from the sky, a red-fletched arrow through its eye.

Magnus is too slow to track the arrow and another demon crashes into the tower the archer is hiding in.

The tower goes down.

But the demon also falls, a small figure wrapped around its neck with something glinting in the air.

Magnus is in delighted awe.

His soulmate realized he was about to fall — Magnus would have caught him, will always catch him now he’s found him — and instead, jumped on the demon and is now hanging on via some kind of weapon in its body. The demon twists up and up, wings beating powerfully as it tries to dislodge it’s attacker and Magnus holds out his hand and says, “bring him to me.”

The demon comes, ignoring the hunter clinging to it, obeying the master who claimed it.

Magnus lets the demon get above him and then destroys it, his magic wrapping protectively around his soulmate and Magnus steps out, catching his soul in his arm.

“There you are.” Magnus says, his entire being filled with a sense of delighted awe.

His shadowhunter is shocked and bloodied, but he’s whole and he’s in Magnus arms. And then hazel eyes are lighting up with equal awe and weapons are being dropped as arms come up around Magnus neck.

And Magnus is being kissed with the desperate and innocent passion of someone who has been waiting to be found.

“Sayang, my Alexander.” Magnus murmurs, “you clever boy. Getting your messages to me, shall we go home now?” And then because he needs to hear it, he murmurs his own name and Alexander kisses him, more chaste now, shy rather than untold years of agony being soothed.

“Anywhere, as long as it’s with you, Magnus.” 

He’s told and Magnus summons his boy’s weapons and in the middle of carnage and devastation, he opens a portal and takes his soul home.

[jimintomystery]

Byakuya headcanons

[Above: When you tell them to stop being poor but they keep doing it anyway]

Took me a while to warm up to this twerp. Then again, I have some experience with finding the charm in smug aristocrats in unlikely found family situations...

This is kind of an easy one, but I like to think Byakuya has more affection for his surviving classmates than he cares to admit. They all know that, to one degree or another. So they put up with him treating them like lowly employees, and he puts up with them treating him like an equal.

Byakua spends a good chunk of Trigger Happy Havoc biding his time, waiting for the right moment to "win" the Killing Game with the perfect murder. The fourth trial changes his mind, and after that everyone pretty much lets bygones be bygones. But Byakuya's never forgotten what he intended to do, or how thoroughly he planned it. The closer he gets to the others, the more it haunts him, and he doesn't talk about it.

I don't have any specific ideas about what sort of murder Byakuya was planning. But when I watched chapter five I became certain he was the killer, until the twists at the end. The timeframe of the murder largely depends on Toko's testimony, and it conveniently forces Makoto and Kyoko to break each other's alibis rather than work together towards a common goal. So I'd imagine Byakuya's perfect crime would look something like that.

I'm a big fan of the way Dan Avidan voiced Byakuya in the Game Grumps play-through. Nothing against the actual official voice actors for the character, of course. But after he gets the hang of it, Dan does this low, almost growly thing that adds so much seething contempt to the dialogue. For me it's the missing piece that elevates the character from Draco Malfoy to Baron Zemo.

Upon escaping the Killing Game, Byakuya thinks he's the leader of the gang. He is not. It's just easier to let him believe that nobody else can make a decision without his approval. What keeps this dork squad running smoothly is that he's not a complete tyrant, since he respects Makoto and Kyoko for their insight.

Byakuya is sharp enough to pick up on Makoto and Kyoko's feelings for one another, arguably before either of them do. On the other hand, he doesn't actually expect them to act on those feelings. (Byakuya does not read my fanfiction.) From his point of view, it'd be like if his gardener made a pass at his attorney--it'd never work out, and he wouldn't want either of them to get hurt, and more importantly it would reduce their usefulness to him personally.

It's hard for me to get a bead on Byakuya's relationship with Hina or Hiro, beyond the fact that they're all in the larger group. The lazy approach would be that they're not close to each other but they all have Makoto in common. But to me the interesting thing about this found family is the idea that everybody has a special attachment to everybody else, even if we only see them being rude to each other. So I choose to believe Byakuya has a unique bond to Hiro and to Hina, and I just have to keep digging to identify it.

Along those lines, I want to believe Byakuya cares--at least a little--for Toko. Don't get me wrong--he obviously despises the way she moons over him in front of everybody. And I'm hardly convinced he reciprocates her romantic feelings. However, Toko is a masochist that takes every compliment as an attack, and Byakuya is very observant. If he wanted to be nice to her, he'd treat her exactly the way he does treat her, and nobody would know the difference. (Well, Kyoko could figure it out, but I'm not sure she'd give a shit.)

I am intrigued by the fact Byakuya's family is part of some secret cabal that controls (controlled?) the world, which gives him access to a library full of secret knowledge he reads for fun. Kind of like when I read Time Life's Mysteries of the Unknown. I think he should have a peculiar interest in Atlantis or something goofy like that. Hmm, maybe that's how he bonds with Hiro...

I like the idea of the survivors going underground immediately after THH, and getting by on their own for a while before the Future Foundation locates them. To that end, I imagine them leaning on Byakuya's Illuminati-type shit. Like, his family had some secret underground bunker set up for the end of the world, so we might as well see if it's still intact. I also wonder if the troops he led in Danganronpa 3 were assigned to him within the Future Foundation or his own private army from his connections to the cabal.

Obviously a lot of these are still pretty half-baked. Maybe if all goes well I'll find ways to refine them...

[theressomethinghappeninginparis]

Apparently I'm rolling and my plan works just fine. I live, and Luddick decided to get back to me! He wants to call me (which I don't really like) and claims it is safer than communicating via mail.

Transcript of the first and second page: Luddick has high hopes considering connection on a train, and in case this works I wil provide him with information on Vasiley's murder and Eckhardt. Maybe I don't have to tell him all. Here's my list of questions so I don't talk gibberish:

What do you know about Eckhardt and his past doings?

Why do you think he is involved in Vasiley's death?

Are you aware of a person named "Heissturm"?

Do you know about the murder spree that had been going on in Paris?

Was Vasiley involved with artifacts called the Obscura Paintings?

Speaking of the devil, he wanted to speak to me within an hour. I did my best to be all alone and ended up in the restroom...anyway. He answered, I wrote everything down on two seperate pieces of paper to be more secretive and improvise professionality. So, here are his answers:

He was a few photos of Eckhardt and calls these "dossiers". Didn't want to show me. Apparently the alchemist is staying over at the Strahov whatever the fuck that is, and has been going in and out with another dude doing some kind of secret work.

He denied that Eckhardt is involved in Vasiley's murder, but I know better. He claimed he doesn't want to dig his head that deep into this and Vasiley had more ties with the Prague mafia.

There is no person he knows of with such name. He only has something on Eckhardt, Vasiley, and Grant Muller, again, whoever the fuck that is. It's supposedly a botanist and he said he had seen plants and botanical materials being carried into the Strahov.

Transcript of the third and fourth page: Continueing the answers Luddick gave me:

4. Here he had a good laugh, the Paris killings have been in every newspapers, of course he as a journalist would know. Some coworkers of his have been updating him, and some link the abrupt stopping of the killings to the murder of Vasiley who had ties to Paris. 5. He wasn't too sure of that. A woman already contacted him and wanted information -which he claims to have given her- and if I want it, it'll cost me.

So: I assume the woman is Lara Croft. I'm close to her footsteps now. Also, this chat opened way more questions than I'd like to admit. First, I want to get these dossiers Luddick mentioned. Then, I need to find out anything about Grant Muller and the Strahov. Also, the murder scene of Vasiley has been closed off by the police, but I could try to access it, no? I need an office, it's hard to keep track of everything. I need more on the Sanglyph, on the Lux Veritatis, on Muller, the Strahov, the dossiers.

While struggling with this I did some more research and came across a quote, this one: "Through the Golden Lion the Nephilim will enslave the sons of men and inherit the Earth". The Periapt Shards have a handle that is shaped like a lion, and I remember Fayolah's attached picture of a lion with three knives around it. Does this mean the shards are a weapon to enslave the world around Eckhardt? Can he use them? As far as I know, or think to know, Eckhardt is within this pact of Nephilim so the shards could be initially made by him (or the Nephili). What if they got stolen by the LV and used against him? Like in the drawing?

Transcript of the fifth page: Our train is stuck again. It's snowing, but at least we're approaching the Czech Republic. I found a graph on- a lot. It took me some time to fully read it. So, there were initially five Images of Blood, made by Eckhardt, which I know; which then got painted over and turned into the Obscura Paintings. Each othe them has a metal part within, and these can be combined to access the Sanglyph, this mystical weapon(?) Eckhardt has created.

Transcript of the sixth page: This is my scheme of the whole thing. The Sanglyph came first; then was split for whatever reason; then the apintings got commissioned, then painted over; then each painting got a peace and was hidden away, as I know Vasiley had found one of them on accident on a monastery. So if you bring all five parts together, it will please the Nephilim and make Eckhardt immortal? Is that how it works? I know that the mutilated bodies could be used for metals found within us, and the blood ties it to the Sanglyph itself, but this all sounds too...fantastic. Almost as if I'm tripping and sharing my bad trip with the whole world.

Transcript of the seventh and eighth page:

You won't believe what I found on Grant Muller. Or Müller, not sure. So I found a photo, it's a scan and bad quality but apparently depicting him. It was stored online on a journalist's cloud who found Muller so hilarious he wanted to spread his looks, I guess. I can revearse image-search him now and maybe come up with something better. His name sounds German, and with that I found even more. I can't quite grasp it and I'm almost in Prague, in an hour if everything goes smoothly. So, I'll print out his published srticles on mutagens. Mutagens can mutate DNA and damage it, like radiation, or simply change your eye color. But he's working on plants so he could be working on herbal medicine or something? I'm not sure what he's got to do with Eckhardt, but all I know of him so far is

he is 62 years old and born in Tirol, DE

his university expelled him for some reason and he never finished his degree

his works are heavily debated by biologists for being non-scientific

his current work place: the Strahov, Prague, CZ, who would have thought

he often references the Bible(???)

So he either is a Christian weirdo who wants to revive alchemy by plant matters or he actually works on something, some science, only Eckhardt appreciates. Perhaps he has a website? I will also try to find Vasiley's gallery. And, since I still have some time, I hope my dear "friend" “PassionforReseachion” will upload new data. I might be able to use that.

[bent-penny]

Please infodump on sparklingapplecider please-

Only because you said please/hj

Sparklingapplecider in my nonsense AU. Well Applecider, then Cupchal, then Sparklingapplecider. I hope that's fine. 👉👈

I like to think that Cuphead (and Mugman) have been friends with Mac all the way back in kindergarten. In fact, Cuphead was Mac's only friend for a long time. Cuphead taking notice of Mac's drawings is what led them to talking and having lunch together later that day.

Mac and his Granny Smith have been the cups neighbors for a long time too, however he very rarely came over to the cottage. Cuphead would go to him, either in his backyard or the crick, it was mostly down at the crick. Cuphead still would never openly admit that Mac made him feels things but it wasn't easy to deny when he started seeing him at the crick almost every weekend. At least to Mugman. Though he promised Cuphead that his secret would be safe with him.

While Cuphead and Mugman were collecting soul contracts, Mac (along with Canteen) wouldn't be far behind them. Whenever Cuphead or Mugman got hurt after a fight he would be there to help patch them up.

When Cuphead and Mugman set Ms. Chalice free from the urn Cuphead had never been so captivated by someone's beauty before. He would never admit it to anyone but Mac about how he felt about seeing her. Mac would even draw her for him. At first, Cuphead did feel a little guilty whenever he talked about her, he could tell that it made Mac a little jealous about how beautiful he found her.

With the help of Chef Saltbaker and some tour guide they brain washed/hj, Ms. Chalice got a chance to call Cuphead and Mugman to the fourth Isle to help in the making of the wonder tart, and Cuphead got a chance to make a formal impression on the ridiculously beautiful lady ghost.

Both the cups were amazed by Ms. Chalice and her fighting skill, but Chalice didn't start to feel things for Cuphead until he took a hit for her and saved her for the first time. Mainly because nobody's ever almost died for her.

DLC events and other stuff you've already heard later.

Cuphead and Mugman are on the boat ride back with Ms. Chalice. It's a few hours before the three are greeted by Mac and few other friends that promised to wait for them. You know how I said that Mac would get a little jealous whenever Cuphead would talk about how beautiful he found her? Well he was right to be so, at least that's what he thought.

I think Mac was almost as stunned by Ms. Chalice as Cuphead was. Even in the dark of the early night, he couldn't even say anything to her. It was a little awkward. The injuries that left scars were taken notice of the morning after when Mac came to check on them and see how they were doing. Ms. Chalice ended up with a scar beside her eye that damaged her vision.

I have this headcanon that Mac is blind in one eye due to an injury that he suffered when his was little (he was bit by the dragonfly in treetop trouble) I also think that Cuphead also ended getting half his face blown off when him and Mugman fought thier way through the casino and also had his vision damaged

As Chalice was struggling to adjust to it, Mac (very awkwardly) said that the three of them match. I think it was an awkward breakfast, especially for Mugman. Chalice thought he made a good first impression.

I think that both Chalice and Cuphead were taken back by Mac's awkward sweetness but she was a little more comfortable with his open affection than Cuphead. Ms. Chalice almost couldn't stop talking about him on the walk home.

I don't think that Mugman realized that Cuphead was having feelings for Mac AND Ms. Chalice until later on. But I do think that he would flreak when he did find out, and wouldn't stop talking about it to Cuphead whenever Chalice and Mac weren't around

The three wouldn't have "date" dates but they would often go to breakfast or lunch, maybe even to the carnival, or out of sight on top of a food vendor or something just to talk. I think that Ms. Chalice would model for Mac, he would draw her wearing anything she could sneak out of an expensive store. I think that she would be able to get Cuphead in on it too. It would be boring as hell but it would be worth it to see the final product.

Cuphead and Ms. Chalice would sometimes use training thier powers as an excuse to show off how powerful they are to Mac. They would get competitive with each other too, half the trees in the woods would be gone as a result. I think that Mac would want to draw it but would be too amazed.

I think that after defeating the devil and detours and the events that occurred on the fourth Isle, the three cups gained some popularity in Inkwell city, and eventually the three were looked at as heros. But not everyone thought so. Sometimes, very rarely, the cups would end up in an unsafe situation with the people who saw them as anything but good people. I don't think that Mac would be the only one to protect them but he definitely has to to it the most (right next to Elder Kettle and Chef Saltbaker) Mac and other friends like Canteen would often act as the cups bodyguards. He would always be very insistent on being with one of them because he wanted to keep them safe.

And I'm gonna have to stop right here because I've been writing this all day and it's a little too long. It may or may not be updated I don't know yet, but thank you for reading!

[ofbluesandyellows]

Ten: Jitterbug Love - Eddie Munson/Reader

Warnings: alcohol, guns and swearing

Word count: 6,645

a/n: this is a special chapter... here’s Eddie’s POV hope you enjoy it :)

Previous chapter

Eddie was pacing around his room, the floor could dent at any second of how much he had been walking on the same five meter long room, all in a straight line back and forth. It had been two days, and no one had given him any information about where the hell were you.

He tried calling at your aunt’s place just for your uncle to tell him he couldn’t give any information to someone he didn’t know, to which Eddie had to pinch the bridge of his nose extra hard to not smash the phone on the floor.

He tried Dustin, but the kid took promises pretty seriously and he was still clearly upset about Eddie dating Chrissy.

“I didn’t plan things to go that way!” Eddie repeated for the fourth time as they were picking up their stuff from the last summer campaign session.

“Why are you telling me this? I’m not the one you should be whining and telling this to. Seriously, grow a pair Eddie.” Dustin grunted and left the room. Jeff snorted, but got quickly smacked on the head by Gareth.

Since you left Eddie’s jacket, Eddie had been in the worst of moods, always complaining and finding zero time to play with the band. To be honest he had been moody way before that but he was not ready to admit it.

His friends were worried about him, he spent time either alone or with Chrissy and they didn’t like her much, because she always wanted to be alone with him, as if he was some secret to keep, yet neither dared to say or ask about it. Instead they just tried to distract him.

It didn’t work.

Eddie was beyond desperate, he picked on the skin of his fingers a little too much, he had to put a band-aid around his thumb after he almost peeled the skin out of it. He tried to call just one more time at your place, no one picked the phone, later he went to see Robin and Steve but they weren’t there either. Keith almost called the police when Eddie thought he had heard your voice in his office, pushing Keith a little too harshly to pass through. His mind was playing tricks on him and that was bad enough.

But not as bad as when he decided to show up at your aunt’s house, he had probably a little too many beers in a very short amount of time. His van parked right where he always parked it whenever he visited you, the stereo was so loud it made the windows rattle with the threat of breaking. He didn’t care. These days he cared about very little anyway.

Love Hurts was making it all more dramatic than needed, however Eddie felt like maybe this was the most romantic shit he’s ever done for anyone, ever.

It started slow, with little twigs and small pebbles hitting the window of your room until maybe he threw one with too much force—it took him more tries to aim now that he was tipsy and wobbling around the front yard—the smash off glass was clear and loud.

He froze in place, but nothing happened.

“What the fuck!” he whined, he felt tears burning in his eyes, “Y/n come on! I am so sorry, please talk to me!”

Stillness.

“Y/N!!!!” This time Eddie was not going to ask nicely, he was shouting to the shattered window where he had seen you before in PJs as ABBA played, “I WANNA TALK TO YOU, PLEASE JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME YOU PRECIOUS LITTLE LADY! I PROMISE IF YOU DO I’LL FUCK OFF RIGHT AFTER, JUST PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HERE, LOOK I EVEN CAME TO SERENADE YOU!”

Had to Fall in Love played now, he kicked the grass as he waited for a reply, one that didn’t come. The song playing made him feel more miserable, the fact that he somehow had that song in his mixtape should’ve been enough for you to come down running to his arms, because Eddie would never listen to that willingly, too mushy, too sad. He kind of liked it now, he got it.

“I LOVE YOU OKAY! I KNOW YOU PROBABLY DON’T WANT TO SEE ME RIGHT NOW BUT I PROMISE YOU I—I DIDN’T MEANT TO HURT YOU… SHIT SHIIIIIIITTTT!!”

The light of the house turned on, Eddie’s heart accelerated and he felt the tears falling hot on his face, he whipped them fast with his dirt covered hands. The door opened into what felt like a slow motion scene, he was almost running to see you at the doorway, instead there he was, your uncle.

With a shotgun?

“Hey kid, you better get the fuck away from my property! She is not here and stop fucking yelling we are trying to sleep, we have neighbors.”

“Oh, shit sorry sir, yeah I’m gonna—“ Eddie tried to walk backwards, he felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw the man pointing the shotgun at him. Eddie fell on his bum, and crawled away. “Fuck, please don’t shoot, I— didn’t know…”

“Just get the fuck out, the cops are no the way.”

Eddie nodded eagerly, feeling his stomach twist. Oh he was about to be sick but it’d be a mistake to do it in front of your uncle’s house.

“Sorry, Mr. Johnson, won’t happen again.” He ran to his van, the keys clinking around, falling on his lap, he couldn’t even find where the ignition was.

“Stop embarrassing yourself, kid. Get a damn job!”

The ignition started and Eddie drove away from your crazy uncle. Eddie never drove so fast in his life, he almost crashed into some trash cans right after he looked over his shoulder to see if there were really cops coming or if your uncle was insane enough to follow him down the road, neither happened. A sigh escaped him, he was having heart palpitations and felt like he could just turn into a ball and cry until he felt like he needed to rehydrate himself to cry once again.

His trailer was empty, his own uncle probably out with his drunken friends or working. Eddie didn’t care, he felt like trash. He sat on his bed, the heels of his hands on his eyes making pressure to stop the tears from coming, he had done nothing but embarrass his ass, he felt so pathetic and hopeless. What was he going to do now? You didn’t want to see him, you had sent your uncle with a damn shotgun to scare the shit out of him. This was not how things were supposed to happen for him, for you.

But in the first place he didn’t expect any of it to happen, yet you came and decided to charm him with your laugh and the way you always paid attention to what he said and didn’t feel intimidated by him or the way he looked, the music he liked, it felt good. With Chrissy it went from buying him weed to finally remembering they had interacted in the past and still things felt like they were going nowhere between the two.

Eddie was torn between the two girls, even when deep down he knew the answer.

The next day, as he tried to manage the monstrous hangover and the pounding headache, Eddie decided to grow a pair as Dustin had said, he sighed and slammed the door of his van extra hard, it took him a second to acknowledge he was fixing his hair, as if someone cared about his appearance. Grimacing and all he walked straight to Family Video where a very bored Robin met him. She was painting her nails on the main desk, she almost dropped the tinny bottle over the surface.

“Easy there, it’s just me.” He said, giving her a lipped smile, that was the best he could do. “Where’s Harrington?”

“Lunch.” She simply pointed to the back door of the establishment.

“Ok, good. I need to have a word with you, Buckley, and I want the truth in exchange for my own version of the events of last weekend.”

He clasped his hands together, the rings clinking as they collided with each other. Robin squinted, Eddie felt that if he didn’t get the girl to talk he was doomed to live drowning in the uncertainty of how things had gone from good into a swoop of wrongness with you.

“Okay.” She took her time to close the bottle of nail polish, take a sip of her drink and finally looked him directly in the eye. “You know this already, but you, my friend, fucked up big time.”

Oh he knew, “It went out of my hands. Like, imagine this… you have two beautiful girls paying attention to you, one you’ve had a crush on for years and the other just happened to… magically arrive! It was unexpected and I already had this thing with Chrissy, like it wasn’t going anywhere but Y/n gave me the push and I was like ‘yeah I should try this with Chrissy because there’s no way y/n feels anything for me’ like come on! I have zero chances. I know when to be realistic, Buckley!” Eddie scoffed, “yet…here we are��who would’ve thought! I’m the luckiest bastard in the fucking planet, and then I got to spend more time with y/n and she was—she is the coolest girl ever—ok listen, yeah I did her wrong but I want to fix it… but I need to talk to her and I know you know where she is, because it’s been a  fucking week Robin! And I haven’t got any information and it’s driving me insane, as in I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, about her. Can’t even play guitar, it’s killing me slowly.” he was begging, he never begged for anything in his life before.

“Jesus, Eddie you need to chill man. She is not here.” This could’ve been probably enough but, it was the way Robin was nibbling at her lip and the way she was fidgeting with her vest, it gave him a bad impression, “She's gone.”

“Uh, what do you mean, gone?” he kind of chuckled, he was feeling like his soul was being sucked out of his body.

“She went back to New York, that’s why she gave you back your jacket, to close the cycle.”

Eddie felt his stomach drop, how was that he became the unluckiest dude in the world, he must have guessed the curse was still on him right after that one summer when he was fighting bats and almost died in battle.

Both of his hands went flying to his head, he grunted and then his palms slammed the counter, “So you are telling me that I won’t be able to apologize to her, because she simply left.”

Robin’s eyes were wide, she was shocked at his reaction.

“Fuck me!” Eddie yelled.

Nothing could stop him from storming out of the store, he drove away with the music as loud as his old stereo allowed him, which was loud enough to make people turn their heads. He honked in exasperation to pedestrians, turned the curves a little too harshly making the van lean a little on each steering-wheel manhandle.

After a quick stop to get his stash of weed of the week, he went straight to his trailer, his room was pitch black the only light coming from under the door and the joint when he sucked from it forming a little halo of orange as it consumed. The music was one of the tapes he had taken from Dustin. It reminded him of your music taste, indie and kinda lacking power but he didn’t mind much, he was trying to come up with something to make things better, he had come to terms that this was to bring peace with his mind not so you could forgive him.

Of course he wanted you to forgive him and to kiss him again and play with his hair because, hell! He was certain no other girl made his whole body buzz the way it did when you two were high on the carpet, and your hands were brushing his hair in such a light way and he felt like he could implode there.

So now he needed redemption, it was his hero complex probably, he needed to be on the right side of history because he was not going to give up on your friendship just because he had fucked everything up for being a stupid boy.

Girls on Film started and his mind went flowing with the rhythm, this was something Steve would listen to. Dustin was practically the reflection of all his friends, he liked a bit of everything and he could get away with it, not Eddie, though. In that very moment his mind was lighter so he let it all pass through him, and then when his brain was less stressed and his hands stopped picking at the skin of his lips he had the idea, the brightest of them all.

He called for an S.O.S meeting. They had all agreed to just demand these kinds of emergency calls when they were in an emergency of course. Which Eddie found totally appropriate.

Not surprising when Steve Harrington didn’t see the situation as critical as Eddie did, Steve kept on complaining.

“I said these calls were only meant for life or death situations, not romantic struggles. Come on guys, keep up, we can’t continue with this.” Steve clapped, exasperated.

“Y/n first, now you. Yeah, totally deserve each other.” Robin plopped on the grass outside Eddie’s trailer.

“Wait, she called for an emergency meeting too? Was it about me?” He couldn’t help his heart to accelerate at the thought of it.

“Whatever, Munson. What’s the problem? We have work.” Steve said already tired.

The teens arrived just in time, letting their bikes fall on the grass with a thud. And that’s when Eddie spoke about giving you a mixtape, he said he could play a few songs… ones he had written with your face in mind, with your voice replaying nonstop in his brain as he came up with the right words and the correct chords.

Mike and Dustin cringed at the idea while Robin was grinning and nodding because she knew you better than anyone there so she would know what you would enjoy more. But no, it was Max the one who pointed out that it was too cheesy and that you only needed an apology, not a full concert.

It took Eddie a full month to find the perfect songs for the mix, he wasted around seven cassettes not because he couldn’t re-record them but because he got frustrated and would throw the tapes across the room in a fit of stress. When the songs were picked, he took an extra week to arrange the songs in the perfect order, the curation of it served him almost as therapy, that, and a couple of joints to ease the anxiousness. His mind got cleared, almost like an epiphany, he needed to talk to Chrissy.

He had avoided Chrissy for a few weeks now, which was another dick move from his part.

Chrissy was popular he had this in the back of his mind whenever they saw each other, but Eddie deep down thought she didn’t care much for that, not after all the Vecna stuff that had happened, he kind of got blinded by the idea of being with her that he didn’t noticed much besides being with her, but that night when he went to talk to her, at a party at a friends house, Eddie was not invited, Chrissy never said anything to him about it either, he didn’t ask questions this was the least of his problems, his mind had been working on other things.

It hurt him to be looked at as the freak, he had worked on it for so long he seemed to be unaffected, however the whispering and the glances made his hands twitch, and his jaw clench.

Eddie found Chrissy surrounded by people, he waved a hand at her, she looked a bit taken aback by his presence there, so she told her friends something, some of them grimaced and others rolled their eyes. She made a hand gesture for him to follow her somewhere. They found themselves in the garage of the house of who knows who.

He gulped feeling the uneasiness in his back, he needed to do this. And he did.

“I’m so sorry, I know I haven’t been what you expected me to be.” Chrissy looked hurt when he explained how he felt about her, about you.

“I should’ve known, some people told me this was not smart, but… I guess it felt right, in the moment.” She sighed. “Either way I guess we were not destined for more than a summer fling, I’m moving away for college,” Chrissy half shrugged, embarrased.

“You are? Why didn't you tell me? When? Where?” Eddie felt a little betrayed for keeping him in the dark about such important matters, even when he had no right to it.

Chrissy scoffed, “you never asked and we haven’t been talking much, haven’t we?”

“Right, sorry. You’re correct, I’ve been an idiot lately.”

“It’s fine, I was not doing much either.”

“I’m really sorry for wasting your time, Chrissy.”

She gave him a lipped smile, “me too, but it was fun. Just keep on being you, okay?  Don’t let anyone take that from you” She kissed him on the cheek, “And good luck!”

She patted him on the chest, Eddie felt his cheeks warm up, a light chuckle came out of his lips, “good luck in college.”

Chrissy grinned and walked away. He sighed, hands on his hips, something released from his chest as he watched her join her friends, one last look got shared between the two. He left the party with the sensation of freedom. Things were finding their place now.

☼

Soon as Halloween arrived, his band got booked for a few gigs Eddie had to put on hold the whole recording tape thing—it was in one of these concerts where Corroded Coffin met the manager of a band, which happened to just have signed a record deal with said Californian band and was about to start their tour in February, things were moving fast in that area of his life. Eddie spent the night celebrating with the band when they got offered a deal for a tour in the north of the country.

Eddie was too happy, for once he felt happy, still all he wanted to do was call you and tell you all about it, a sad smile appeared over his lips as he sipped from the bottle of his beer, Jeff was passed out on the couch of the small room they rented to spend the night in Illinois. His biggest dream was coming true, not to mention all the attention they were getting from girls, who had been approaching the boys the minute they got off stage, but once again Eddie couldn’t find the will to flirt.

He had things to arrange and his heart belonged to someone else. Eddie could pretend, but it was like betraying his heart, he was longing for something more and that something was you.

The making of the studio was the longest process ever, it wasn’t even just for the band’s single, Eddie had other plans for it, yes it would’ve been easier to get a damn recorder for it but Dustin wanted to put his skills at task, and who was Eddie to stop the boy.

Mid-November hit when Dustin was finishing arranging the studio for the tape recording with the help of his friends and then there he was, Eddie speaking to the wall on Jeff’s garage, he wasn’t sure if he was saying the proper things or if he even apologized he just let himself be and the words left him, not thinking much of the outcome, he wanted you to know he cared for you more than anything, that you were special that you meant a lot, that you had come to his life to change him, even when neither of you were aware of it.

When he gave the cassette to Robin, Eddie felt that some part of his heart had been given away, he felt vulnerable and nothing would guarantee him that you would listen to it the same day it arrived or a day later or never, he just hoped the cassette would find you in a moment where you could listen to it and not judge him for what he did but for the person he was when he had recorded those words.

It was one thing to act tough around idiots at school. They were afraid of different , that, became Eddie’s strength. He was different and he was okay with it, but with you, he found that what could show you how strong he was, was speaking of how he really felt and why he had done what he did. Honesty and vulnerability.

It was hard to believe that he could pull off dating someone like Chrissy at least for a few weeks but it was beyond him how by being himself you fell for him just as hard as he had fallen for you.

Eddie’s body felt like it could finally rest, as if someone had taken some heavy weight off of his shoulders.

☼

Christmas day was usually a day just like any other, with cold air coming in thought from under the doors, the tiny cracks and crevices inside Eddie’s tiny trailer, but that day, his definition of Christmas changed drastically.

When he went out to try and get the amplifier he had left in his van two days ago, he noticed the bright blue paper package shining on the side of his doorstep. It was very late, he wasn't sure when or how that appeared there, with half a shrug he took it. The package wasn’t too heavy but heavy enough to know it was not some coupons Robin or Steve would give him for Christmas, and it definitely wasn’t a present from his uncle.

Eddie put the amplifier in the living room, his uncle was sound asleep there. Eddie went to his room and shut the door carefully. He had to shake the pretty shiny package just to check if it wasn’t just a joke, the package rattled, which was even more odd. He furrowed his eyebrows, starting to rip it open. A small box showed first, it was plastic but it was pretty, probably one of the prettiest things he owned.

He took the lid off, and his jaw practically hit the floor. A small note was under the chain.

Merry Christmas Eddie.

P.S: It’s the most Eddie Munson thing in the world, please do us all a favor and wear it.

With love,

Y/n

His hands started to tremble, a lump in his throat forming, he didn’t know why he felt like fucking crying over a chain made of small cute skulls.

“Fucking hell!” He mumbled, the grin and watery eyes was a special scene to witness, definitely one for the books. If only you were there to see how Eddie jumped off the bed and attached the chain to his jeans, it hung from the belt hops on his left hip.

He sniffed, and laughed lightly. How was that you managed to make him beam and cry all at once? This was definitely the most beautiful and precious thing he owned and oh he loved his guitar a little too much but this new addition had reached god tier level of beauty. They would have to bury him with that chain. He knew that much.

For New Year’s, they were at Steve’s house, a small gathering that started to turn into a big party. Corroded Coffin played and Steve let him crash with the teens and Robin in his room. Eddie kept silent when they were all reunited in Steve’s room to play Lucas’ tape.

The Promise by When In Rome started to play right at eleven with fifty-seven minutes and thirty-seconds. Everyone was laughing and smiling as the music blasted from Steve’s stereo set, it was all about friendship, after everything, Lucas’ song choice was spot on; they were all there for each other, no matter what.

You were on the phone on speaker mode as the song kept on going and everyone was speaking over each other, even when Eddie knew that you knew he was there, he didn’t attempt to say something, not even when the clock streaked twelve and everyone hugged, he saw Robin sneak out of the room, probably to look for Vickie.

Personally, Eddie wished for a year where he could see you at least one more time. A year where his band was successful enough to allow him to fix his van, a year without uncertainties, a happy year, an easy one, a year where you could bring that magazine into a reality. Because yes Nancy had talked about it a little too much and Eddie always smirked when he heard any new detail about it.

Corroded Coffin went into their first tour, it started slow but slowly they started to perform in bigger venues, crowded places, and even people started to sing back to their songs, ones that were dedicated to someone special. And between their new dates and their upcoming shows they took a few days off, Hawkins waiting, never changing.

Eddie must have done something right in those days, because the phone rang loudly, interrupting his writing session. The trailer’s ceiling had a thick layer of smoke floating but Eddie knew his way around that place with closed eyes.

“Hello?” Smoke came out of his lips as he said the word.

A moment of silence later, he was ready to hang up, he was tired of those jokes.

“Hi Eddie,”

Smoke or saliva got stuck midway his throat, Eddie was practically choking, this had to be a dream, he thought as he clenched his black shirt right over his chest trying to gain some control over the cough and the shock and what the fuck .

“You okay?” he couldn’t believe it was your voice, the one he was hearing through the line.

“Y/n? Is it really you?” Eddie said between coughs. The joint in his fingers got smashed under his shoes. “fuck me!” he squealed.

You lightly chuckled, it caused his whole body to come to life, dammit he had missed your laugh, “yes it’s me… um…. hi.”

“Hi, hi, hello. Wow I was not expecting this at all, wow. Uh how are you?”

“I’m good… working hard, sleeping very little but I’m okay… what about you? How are things?”

He was not sure how you sounded so damn chill, he was shitting his pants, hands sweating too much, his cheeks were hurting from smiling. “Great, really good. Now I’m even better because you called. Hell, I think this is the best day of my life.” He sighed, grabbing the side of his face, he was truly in disbelief.

“It took me a while to put on my big girl pants, but… anyway… I’m happy to hear you are doing well.”

Eddie’s heart was racing against his rib cage, hands over it feeling it jump wildly. His mind in a haze, he just wanted to hear you talk for the rest of his life, “I am, and I hear you are doing pretty good with that magazine of yours.” He giggled, literally like a little girl’s giggle, his cheeks felt hot, “Can't wait to read it.” He tried to put his voice in a deeper tone.

He heard you snort, “Ow, yeah, the girls over there are working extra hard, I’m just doing the editing aspect of it, nothing much.”

“Please, y/n, not with the self deprecating again, we’ve gone through this already.” You laughed, Eddie grinned bigger—if possible.

“Right, no, that’s true, well, I was actually calling for that.”

“For the self deprecating thing?”

You laughed again. Eddie got just the reaction he wanted from his comment, “no, for the magazine, dumbass.”

“Oh,” he tugged at his lower lip, “okay, I’m listening missy.”

“Remember that conversation we had?”

“I remember all of our conversations.”

Silence.

“Okay then, the one where… you promised me a Corroded Coffin interview.”

“Um no, I don’t remember that one.” He smirked, waiting for your reaction.

“Munson, be serious right now.”

He laughed lightly, the back of his head hit the wall he was leaning on, he hated when you called him Munson and not Eddie, but he let it pass because he was in no position to ask for kindness.

“I’m joking, of course I do,”

“So that’s still on?”

His belly fluttered, “for you, anything.”

Silence.

Eddie could imagine you sitting on your bed, anywhere really, you biting the inside of your cheek, with shiny eyes and rosy cheeks, looking at him. He being unable to keep his eyes away from your face—

“Uh, sorry what was that?” he shook his head, he had lost himself in daydreams. Very typical lately.

“I said that we should arrange a phone call for the interview, I have a few questions but I still need to prepare for it… or I can ask Nance to interview you, that’d be more convenient—“

“No, no I’m free, whenever you want I’m ready, just say when.”

Eddie wasn’t smooth when it came to girls, he never was but with you he felt like the most stupid boy in the world, trying to do anything to impress you to keep your attention in him. Like now, he was willing to stop the tour just so you could have a twenty minute conversation with him.

“What if we do it after spring break? So I can have enough time to prepare everything, and I can ask Jonathan to take a few photos of you and the band… is that good for you?”

“Yeah, absolutely.”

His stomach dropped, this was a mere business call. Eddie wanted to say a lot but the chances of making everything worse were higher than the ones where he made things better. He closed his eyes, listening to your breathing, he didn’t want the call to end.

“Did you—did you get the cassette?” He winced at his own voice.

“I did… thank you, It was nice to hear that you polished your music taste a little.”

Your soft chuckle didn’t miss Eddie’s ears, “I got your chain too… very bold choice, but a correct one. I’ve been wearing it since I got it, so thank you .”

“I have listened to your mixtape almost everyday since I first got it so… I guess we are even.”

Eddie clutched his chest, eyes still closed, the way his whole body felt, like it could burst into tiny sparkly specks, just by how intense he felt the sentiment of love towards you.

“As I said, I’d do anything for you, even listening to ABBA’s whole discography.”

“Please we both know you love them, don’t try to blame me.”

He laughed, “I guess we do crazy shit for love don’t we?”

“I guess so…”

“Y/n… I’m really sorry about—you know… everything.” Eddie said so softly he was afraid you hadn’t heard him, “what I said on the tape was all true—“

“I know, Munson… I just, can we talk about this another time? I have to go, now. I’ll call you a day or two before the interview, okay?”

“Y/n, please let’s—“

“I’m sorry… bye.”

The line died, and so did Eddie’s will to write, to breathe, to live.

He scared you, he risked everything for nothing.

His back rested on the wall for a moment then he slid down plopping on the floor, his head hit his knees, he grabbed his hair in his hands, fists tugging at it out of frustration.

“FUCK!” he screamed loud enough to hurt his throat.

☼

There were rumors, ones coming from Dustin and Mike. Something about a trip to New York. It didn’t matter much to Eddie until he heard your name being thrown in the conversation involving that trip. That’s when he decided he had to convince them to spill all the beans about this New York secret plan. The trip was a long one but they had no option, there was no way they were denying this to Eddie. It was the last chance he had.

That’s how he found himself driving his van with Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will on his refurbished  car back seats. Steve, Robin, Max and El were in the fine Mercedes a few meters ahead of him. It was beyond crazy how they had forced him to wake up at four in the morning to hit the road, yes he was excited however the idea of having a few more hours of sleep didn’t sound bad at all, specially when he hadn’t had much time to do so thinking about seeing your pretty face again.

Almost twelve hours of driving later, they crashed into a motel, three rooms got paid by Steve and the kids little money–they didn’t accept a no for answer– while Eddie and Robin put more gas into the tanks and gathered some food for the gang.

He was not going to complain about the little hours of sleep he got, having Dustin and Mike chatting in his room non-stop along with how he was starting to feel that fluttery sensation bubbling up to his chest was enough to keep the sleepiness at bay. As the morning crept through the sky painting it green and pastel blue all over it with a thin line of yellow showing the path of the rising sun. Eddie took a quick shower, and darted outside to get his first cigarette of the day, Eddie knew it was a bad habit but he was nervous as fuck and who could blame him.

Eddie was taking a drag of his smoke, his mind lost in what if’s.

“Hey, you are up early.”

Eddie lightly choked, “Harrington you fucking scared me,” he said between coughs.

“Shit, sorry.” He put his hands in the air, then lightly brushed his hair to the side, a classic Harrington move. “Couldn’t sleep or what?”

It was the way Steve looked at Eddie with that wry smile, and the nudge he gave Eddie that made him finally laugh, “am I that obvious?”

Steve shrugged, “I’d be if I were about to see the girl I like… things are going to be fine, she likes you and if things end up going sideways, you still have us.”

“How comforting, really you shouldn’t have.” Eddie scoffed.

Steve shot him a glare, “Come on man, we are a great team, even if I acted… kinda bad towards you the last couple of months, I think you are all right… I guess.”

“We’ve done this before Harrington, no need to apologize, we are good.” Eddie patted Steve on the back once, then offered him his cigarette.

“Nah I’m good… but can you um, promise me one thing.” Steve crossed his arms over his chest, leaning on one foot to the other.

“Yeah.”

“I know you are very in love with y/n.” Eddie winced, “yeah I said in love because that’s what you are, you are a complete clown man. Just be good to her okay? She was fighting hard to not let her feelings go over the board but I guess you did some things right but others wrong so… fix it and treat her right, she deserves it.”

Eddie flipped the cigarette bud to the parking lot, he cleared his throat hiding his hands in his jeans. He knew very well how stupid he’s been but coming from Steve was like a jab to the ribs. Not because it was Steve saying it but because he knew Steve would always tell him the truth no matter how hard it could be to hear, he was always going to act the right way, which made Eddie a little jealous, he would love to be a little bit more like him. Taking in mind Dustin worshiped Steve, and even when Eddie was also aware that Dustin liked him too, Steve had the highest spot in the kid’s hero list, so yeah, it was hard to hear but he was grateful that after all they had gone through at least he could still count on Steve.

“Shit man…” Eddie felt his throat tightening, “you know it’s twice as hard for me to get a chick to like me than what it is to you. So yeah I did many things the bad way but I like her more than I’ve ever liked or wanted anything in my life… my sweet baby guitar? You can have it as long as I can get to see Y/n again, you know what I mean? This, what I feel inside here,” Eddie’s palm landed on his chest, too harshly it almost made him grunt, “I’ve never felt it, and I won’t let anything get in the way, even if she doesn’t want me back, who the fuck cares, I’d be her friend for the eternity, I just want her to be happy. Even if that means to stay away… I’ll do anything.”

Steve gave him a lopsided grin, but his eyes were a little sad, “You're really a great dude. And it’s been rough for me too, Munson, so don’t try and make a competition out of it because I’ve been doing bad with the ladies.” Steve looked at the floor, trying to kick a small rock on the pavement as he paced around, “it’s as if I’ve lost my charm but dude I’m so popular with the kids now… what a plot twist,”

Eddie squatted down, a smirk on his face, it was weird to see Steve so vulnerable and disappointed in himself, he was King Steve after all, he shouldn’t be sulking, not over girls.

“I think it’s the hair Harrington, ladies dig the long locks. I’m telling ya man, this is the new hot. ”

Steve snorted, “please shut up now before we get into a real argument as to why you are wrong… just for the record ladies love this mop of hair, all right?” The boy pointed to his fluffy hair, he was half joking half offended.

“Whatever you say man.” Eddie chuckled, and Steve shook his head in disbelief. “but thanks for the pep talk, it’s always reassuring to see that King Steve also has insecurities.”

“Ow zip it Munson. I was just trying to help, Once we are there you are on your own man.”

“Fine by me, thought you said: you will always have us. Some empty words there, huh.”

Eddie laughed lightly watching Steve smile, “I didn’t say always but those words came in all honesty, now if you excuse me I’m going to see if the ladies are ready to go, we’re already late.”

Eddie played with a leaf on the floor thinking that this was it, last few hours to go to finally see you. A grin tugged at the end of his lips as the chain on his jeans clinked when he moved.

Things were going to be fine, or he tried to convince himself of it, his hands getting shakier by the minute.

Next chapter

[nattatanker]

There’s no happy ending to this

It’s happening again and it’s happening so fast. We slept together two times. My feelings didn’t change. It was a bit of a let down, we were both nervous. I enjoyed the compliments and the obvious feeling of having missed each other. I didn’t care apart from that. Should’ve left it at that? 

The third time was different. The sex and intimacy was amazing. Top three he said. Out of all the times we have been together spanning over 5 years now. We laughed. We kissed. We talked deeply. He said he loved me, then laughed and took it back. But I know there’s truth to it. I asked him serious questions. He attempted to dodge them. He looked away. He has secrets he won’t share. There’s another woman in his life now. She’s unavailable but it’s probably exciting. Something that motivates him. He hasn’t gone down that road before, like he has with me. He doesn’t know what’s on the other side with her, if he ever gets there. I understand it. I wish he found someone available though. But i am happy for his excitement, all though he hides it. 

After that third night, my head started spinning. It did for him too. He can’t stop thinking about me, even though he tries. That same night he said he wanted to stay single, that he didn’t want to be exclusive, but he could actually consider being exclusive, but then we would basically be dating, and that would be fine, except it wouldn’t, because not enough time has gone by. I doubt he has tons of options that interest him if he even entertained the thought of being exclusive. All of those things he said in the same sentence. He said “how many times will we be discussing this before there’s actual feelings involved?”. We then proceeded to joke about marriage. I then said he already has feelings. He laughed his boyish laugh and admitted yes. He does. 

My head has been spinning since. He takes away the loneliness for a bit. It’s nice. I can’t tell anyone in my life about this. They’d hate me if I admitted to going back. And part of me is disappointed in myself. I’m jealous. I know the new woman hates me. She’s at the top of her own self made hierarchy, and I doubt there’s room for someone like me. Someone that touched him so deeply the way I did. 

I don’t like feeling the jealousy. Wondering where he goes and if he’s been with others. But at the same time, I think it’s natural when you sleep together. I think I did with the last guy too, but there were no butterflies involved. This time there is. 

And then we met a fourth time. Yesterday. It was different. He didn’t pick up on how it was different. He was more relaxed, and in so, more pushy. I set my boundaries, but how he attempts to push them takes me back to how it was. I’m not sure how long I am able to keep my limits, because in a way it has always been like this. He decides. I follow. All to make it less awkward, or make him mad. I am not going back to that. 

I can’t go out, I don’t think. There’s too much of a risk running into things that’ll hurt me. I need to find distractions elsewhere. I can’t put all my eggs in this basket. I don’t think I even want that. I’m not in love with this man. He has let me down so many times before. He sometimes lies. He twists the truth a lot. He has a lot of enemies. He has no self discipline. He is a shallow and hurt man. 

I wish you’d move away. Go in to the big city. Start your life over. And in a couple of years, I’ll move there too. We can reconnect then. If you’ve grown even more. If you’re still interested. Then, we can be together. But only then. Not enough time has passed for this to end in some romance. There is not a chance that it could and would work today. So the only way it could end, is badly, I think. But I hate giving up on things that bring me comfort. Nothing brings me comfort like you. But I can’t have you. I don’t want all of you all of the time. But the jealousy still persists. For my own good, I think I’ll keep doing things without you. I need to spend time away and on my own. We could maybe meet on Sundays, when the parties are over and we feel vulnerable. I think I’ll have to see what your next move is. 

[starlsssankt]

//I feel like you'll love this one!!! Fourth Wing first year things?? I'm so excited to finally explore their friendship!!//

The sat on the wall drinking, Azriel watching Aleksander out of the corner of his eye. He was looking to the stars, smiling again. He'd begun to recognize that smile after all these years, it was the smile that told him he was thinking about Anastasiya.

"Did she say something about stars?"

He nearly said her name but he knew he didn't need to. Aleksander blinked at him, as if his mind was light years away. That smile was back though quickly enough. He looked back at the stars, and his smile widened.

"She told me we must have been carved from the same star to find each other so quickly. To know we were it to each other so young."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't know why it irked him. He thought Anastasiya would take Aleksander form him when this whole thing started. But Aleksander was still here, he just seemed happier - lighter. He even liked her, she was kind, loyal and always happy to lend a hand.

What was that like?

Should he want that?

Was it really better than one-night stands and week long flings? He understood with his parents, there had been a war and very a real possibility they'd die. That type of urgency pushed everything forward at a speed that made sense.

But there was no war, no real war beyond Doranelle slowly falling apart.

But that didn't effect them right?

"Hypaxia told me you and Annie haven't done anything but kiss. Which, maybe Annie was embarrassed to admit what you've actually done but -"

"It's true. She isn't ready to go all the way and I -"

Aleksander shrugged, taking a swing of his drink.

"I'm happy to have what I have with her. I'm sure - no I know the moment that doors opens she'll consume all my thoughts."

Azriel resisted the urge to say she already was. That she had taken residence in his head since they were five and kissed his cheek.

Azriel hummed and looked to the sky again. Is this what couples did? Did Xaden and Violet do this on slow nights out in the Outposts, stare up the sky? Did Zimri and Arbela stand on their porch on the hill and look at the nightsky when little Niya was finally asleep?

Did his parents do this when the world slowed down at night?

If so, why? What did anyone gain at seeing something static but pretty? The stars couldn't help him protect his family. It didn't hold the answers to how to keep them safe from the ravages of war.

It didn't spell out the secrets to never feel that pain again.

Or how to feel deeper than he already did.

Did he even want to feel that deeply again? He hadn't been right since Terresan fell. As if some vital peice of him has been killed in that mass grave.

He exhaled, and looked back to him.

"How do you know she's it if you haven't - I know it's all not about sex. But come on Aleksander how do - isn't it agonizing?"

A great part of him was absolutely lost in thought, deep in his head as he felt... good. Really good. Aleksander took a swig of his drink, his attention on the twinkling stars in the night-black sky. He couldn't remember the last time his heart, his very soul, had felt so free, so light.

The smile on his face came naturally, it wasn't remotely forced, as thoughts dwelt in Aleksander's mind of Anastasiya, of the way his heart beat a little faster and his soul felt a little lighter whenever he spent time with her. It was like the stories their parents used to tell...

He knew, absolutely knew beyond all doubt, that she was his. Because how could he be hers if she wasn't?

As he turned back to face his twin, the smile remained and even a little chuckle left him. He shrugged. ❝ I don't know... I don't know how to explain it. I tried asking Xaden what it felt like, but he couldn't either, but... I just know it's her. It has to be-- ❞

She makes sense, she makes me whole, she completes my very soul, the thoughts ran rampant through his head as Aleksander turned his attention back to the stars above.

❝ We have our entire lives to be together. I don't want to rush her, to make it too... I want her to be ready. To want it as much as I do. ❞

@siderealxmelody

[eboni-napalm]

1, 18, 21, and 23 for Kazuya for the ask game? 😁

IT'S KAZUYA TIME BABEYYYYYYY (this is basically gonna be my catchphrase every time something for him shows up in my inbox LOL) 1. What was the moment that made you realize that you wanted to be together with them? And vice versa if you want. - For me, it came during the end of the chaos of the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament. After the swarm of JACKS ambushed us and we attempted to fight them off with Heihachi, Kazuya threw him to the wolves and was ready to escape- frankly, I fully expected him to do the same to me since I wasn't exactly important (or so I thought), because he asked if I trusted him enough before he did something. When I told him yes, all he told me was to close my eyes and "hold on and don't let go"- he'd lifted me into his arms and taken me with him to safety. It took me a couple years to find out just how he did that, but from that moment on I knew I couldn't not have him in my life. If he gave enough of a damn about me to actually save me that night, it had to mean something. 18. What was the last thing you two ever got into an argument over? It can be petty, doesn't need to be anything serious. - Kazuya and I never argue over anything that could be perceived as trivial. The most recent "argument" that was brought up was when I wanted to fight Akuma first when he'd finally arrived at G-Corp's main office. He basically went into an immediate protective rage and tried to stop me from going after him, and we both had to stop and breathe before we both overreacted. Eventually he relented, and even though the encounter with Akuma didn't go as I wanted it to, the outcome at the very end of everything wasn't exactly horrible. 21. What's the one thing that no one else knows about you (including friends and family) that your f/o knows? Doesn't necessarily have to be some deep dark secret. Can be anything. - To be perfectly honest, I'm an open book about a lot of things relating to me, whether those things are super secretive or not. But Kazuya seems to be the only person who knows how I prefer the flavor of my tea- a tart, but still strong and sweet black cherry herbal blend. He's the only one who can consistently make it properly for me; no one else can get it right.

23. If you're in a universe/time period where phones exist, what kinds of things do you text each other? Do you ever have long conversations with them over text or do you only ever text each other small things? If phones don't exist within the universe/time period, what other types of communication do you use that isn't talking to each other directly and how often do you do that? - Kazuya and I both have phones, and we're each other's most communicated with "contact", as well. However, we only really call/text each other if something unexpected comes up or if we need to speak and we're not in the same area. He absolutely prefers calling over texting, even though he's not one for drawn-out messages to begin with. As for what kind of conversations we have, most of the time it's smaller, simple things, but there are instances where he'll want to video chat with me while he's at work and I'm at home. Sometimes it's in the middle of the night because G-Corp is always trying to keep its public reputation stable, and therefore he's there a lot more than usual- but he always tries to make time for me. He'll never admit it in public, but hearing my voice relieves a lot of stress on him and he thinks it's adorable when I answer his calls and it woke me up.

[imagines-about-celebs]

Could you write a Joseph one where you've been part of the cast of Stranger Things since the first season and but in the fourth your character becomes Eddie's love interest and with that you start to spend more time on and off camera with Joseph in which during production everyone of the cast realizes that you have a chemistry together to the point that you start dating but keep the relationship a secret from the public but the cast knows and keep this secret that you are together and during the interviews you two do together with Joe, Natalia and Maya or only with two of you , the public begins to realize that have something going on between the two of you and then pictures come out on the internet of you leaving a restaurant together holding hands, and during the red carpet you both decide to assume your relationship, thus breaking the internet since the public ships you together

New Love [Joseph Quinn x Reader]

A/N: sorry, this took long to write. I work fulltime at a day care, and it has been pretty hectic that I barely had time to write anything. I hope you enjoy it. I think this might be one of my longest that I have written.

You were finally returning to work on Stranger Things 4. You had been a regular on the show since season 1 and were definitely excited to see where this season takes your character. You had heard around that there were going to be some new characters, therefore new cast mates. You loved meeting and collaborating with new people. You make your way to set and excitedly find Maya and Joe Keery. Everyone was so happy to see each other, and you couldn’t wait to welcome the newcomers. “How are you guys? I feel like I haven’t seen you guys in forever.” You exclaim at the two. “I am so excited to start filming, the script sounded so good.” Maya said excitedly. You notice a cute curly headed guy walk on set and start introducing himself to the others. You had never actually seen any of his work before and therefore, weren’t too sure about who he was. he started making his way over to where you were talking with Maya and Joe. “Hello, I’m Joseph.” He begins to shake Keery’s and Maya’s hands. “Nice to meet you, I’m Joe and this is Maya and Y/N.” Joseph sticks his hand out for you to shake but you were lost in your thoughts. ‘Wow, he’s super and English’ you thought. Keery snaps his fingers in your face to get your attention. You shake away your thoughts, slightly embarrassed. “Hi, sorry.” You apologise. Joe just smiles at you, which makes you feel slightly weak in the knees. ‘How is this man having this effect on me?’ you question yourself.

Everyone gets called into a huddle by the Duffer brothers, ready to give a welcome back speech and direct everyone on what is going on. You look around at everyone’s faces, listening and super focused. Your eyes land on Joe once again, admiring the way he looked in the natural light. He catches you looking and shoots you a small smile. You blush and smile back. After the quick meeting, you make your way to the hair and makeup trailer. You knock on the door softly and wait for an answer. You are greeted by Amy, the head of the hair department, smiling wide at you as she lets you in. “Hey, how are you?” she gives you a small hug and you sit down in the chair. “I’m good, how are you?” you answer back. “I’m good. Excited to be back and working?” you smile wide at her. “Of course, it’s so good to see everyone and to finally be working on the show again.” You reply happily. You had to admit that you were a bit of a workaholic when it came to the show. You had studied the script tirelessly before coming into work today, wanting to be prepared. You go over your lines for the day while gets started on your hair. This season, your hairstyle would be different than the past seasons, going from black, curled Farrah Fawcett styled hair to more of a Joan Jett style mullet as your character was beginning to have a bit of a rock n roll vibe. You hear a soft knock on the trailer door and then the sound of it opening then closing. In walks Joe Quinn, catching your eye once again. You started to feel a little nervous in his presence, what did he think about you staring at him earlier? Did he think it was weird?

“Hey Y/N, hair is looking good.” He gives you a small smile. He sits down in the chair next to yours. He notices that you’re reading the script again. “So, which character are? Sorry, I haven’t really seen the show so I’ve been asking everyone who they play” you giggle at him, and you can see him relax little. “I play Dustin’s sister, Amelia Henderson. Who are you playing?” you ask him, you weren’t able to attend the table reads but playing a reoccurring character, you were allowed to miss it. He smiles wide and replies “Eddie Munson. Looks like we fall in love this season.” You laugh and start to blush again. Eddie was described as the metalhead misfit of the season; you couldn’t wait to see how he looked as the character. You could see the various different concept pictures of his different wig styles, but you weren’t sure about what his final look was.

You left the trailer before Joe did, so you weren’t able to see his final look. You waited for your cue to walk into the scene you were shooting. As you walked into camera view, you had spotted Joe and suddenly forgot your lines. He looked amazingly hot in his Eddie attire. You pull yourself together before anyone notices you staring. You act out your scene, executing your lines perfectly. Once you heard ‘cut,’ you notice Joe smiling at you from the side. He was admiring your acting skills. You blush to yourself again, hiding it better this time. You knew Maya was watching you intently as your scene was alongside her. You gave her the side eye as you knew she was teasing you in her mind what she was witnessing between you and Joe, you knew you would get a grilling from her later. Joe was called to set to film the next part of your scene, your characters were meeting for the first time. Quiet on set was called, followed by action and you and joe were in full character. Your characters were meeting in the school cafeteria after Eddie gives the instructions of finding a sub to Dustin and Mike, you walk over to where the boys stood. You deliver your lines, ‘Hey Dustin, mom is gonna be home late tonight, so I’ll pick you up after Hellfire.’ ‘Hey there Henderson’ you could feel the butterflies starting to form in your stomach from Joe’s gaze. ‘Munson, I’m just trying to have a conversation with my little brother.’ Joe walks over to you, grabs your hand and gives your knuckles a gentle kiss. The feeling of butterflies gets stronger, and a genuine blush appears on your cheeks. ‘Eddie seriously’ roll your eyes, you turn back to Gaten, ‘I’ll see you later Dustin.’ You walk off set as the cut is called. You walk to your cue, ready to hear feedback on whether you’ll need to film it again. “Well done guys, we’ll move on to the next scene.” Matt Duffer calls out. You head back to your trailer to wait until you’re needed again. As you’re walking, you hear someone call out to you. “Hey Y/N, wait up.” You turn to find it was Joe. He jogs over to where you are standing. “Do you want to hang out and maybe go over our lines together?” He seems nervous as he waits for you answer. “Sure, I’m cool with that.” You smile at him.

That became the daily routine for you and Joe, doing scenes together or just hanging out in either your trailer or his, going over lines. Maya would tease you in the evenings about how close you and Joe had gotten, how cute you would both be together. Your response was either you blushing or giving her a small shove. She was one of your best friends on set. You and Joe had eventually become so close that you both decided one night to make it official, but you kept it private from the fans. Filming had been wrapped for a few months now and it was time for the cast to start promoting the new season and going on press tours. You were obviously teamed up with Joe for most of the interviews but there were a few where you were both partnered up with Maya and Keery. The four of you always had lots of fun in the interviews, goofing around, making jokes and reminiscing about all the fun everyone had on set.

Tonight was the red carpet and you decide to sit on Tik Tok as your hair was being styled. You always came across fan edits about you and Joe’s characters, the fans loved them together. Some videos started to come up of the fans shipping you and Joe, some theorising that something was going on between the two of you. An image pops up on one video of you and Joe leaving your favourite restaurant hand in hand after your last date night together. You felt a pang of nervousness inside you, you weren’t sure whether Joe had seen this or not. Then you hear a knock at your hotel door. “Come in, it’s open.” You call out, you weren’t worried about who it as your whole hotel floor was had security. In walks Joe, also looking nervous but very handsome in his Kenzo suit he had chosen to wear. He gives you a quick kiss and then sits down on an armchair close to you, admiring you with loving eyes. You show him the video you just saw. He watches it a few times, focused and in thought. “Maybe we should go public tonight. I mean they already suspect it.” He shrugs, like it was an obvious option, but you didn’t think he was actually ready. “I’m ready to if you are.” You look at him in the mirror. He gives you a comforting smile, as he reaches for your hand. You enjoy this moment for a minute, as you both acknowledge that you’re ready to share with the world that you’re in a relationship. You nod your head, then stand to change into your outfit for the red carpet. You were wearing a beautiful navy-blue, floor-length dress that hugged you in all the right places, matching with Joe’s suit. As you walk out, you notice Joe gawking at you, completely enamoured by your beauty. He walks over and captures you in a passionate kiss, surprising you. He’s given you many kisses but this time, it felt different; filled with more love and longing.

The ride to the red carpet seemed like it took forever as you were definitely filled with nerves about revealing your relationship with Joe. You knew you had nothing to worry about as the fans already expressed how much they’ve wanted you and Joe to end up together. Once you pull up to the venue, Joe gets out first. The flashing lights puts you in somewhat of a daze, then you focus on Joe reaching his hand out to help you out of the car. The camera flashes started getting crazier and questions are flying in your direction. Many asking if you were both dating and how long it has been going on. Joe gives your hand a gentle squeeze as he notices you getting a little anxious about it all. He was such a sweet and supportive boyfriend; you were head over heels for him. You just knew that your phone would be going crazy with notifications as you and Joe walked the carpet hand in hand, in your own little bubble of pure love and happiness. You greeted your castmates as you reached where they were all standing, ready for a group photo.

The next morning, you spent covered in the blankets with Joe, just holding each other. You hear your phone ping on the bedside table. A message from Maya, telling you to check twitter. You and Joe were trending after last night, the fans in shock and awe over the news. It was so hectic that your app kept crashing, unable to keep up the amount of traffic going through your newsfeed. You show Joe and you both just smile wide at each other. Finally happy that you don’t have any secrets from the fans but still some privacy to enjoy each other.

[corrodedseraphine]

4th of july | hughie campbell x fem!reader | one shot

Pairing: hughie campbell x fem!reader

Summary: As a Frenchie's sister, your place in the group was automatically assigned. From the very beginning, a relationship between you and Hughie was different from the rest. Shy glances and smiles awakened little butterflies in your bellies, which exploded like fireworks in the sky on the evening of July 4th.

The one shot is also avaliable on Ao3

5 693 words

I got inspired while listening to the song "4th of July" by Aidan Gallagher. I also used "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith.

hughie campbell masterlist | general masterlist

"So what are we actually supposed to do here?" you asked, looking around through the car window. Colorful stalls and decorations stretched across the square attracting more and more people. Today was the Fourth of July, and on this occasion Vought decided to hold a huge event to which all residents of New York were invited. Of course, the entire Seven was also present there. Butcher immediately saw this as an opportunity to steal some documents from the tower. He wanted to take advantage of their lack of attention so together with Kimiko, Marvin and Frenchie they decided to break in there this evening. You and Hughie fell into the role of observers. You had to go to the festival and monitor all the time to make sure nothing suspicious was going on and that none of the supes were leaving it. The task seemed all too easy, but you both knew it could only be the calm before the storm.

"Pray that suddenly a friendly family festival doesn't become a bloody massacre." Hughie laughed. "We wouldn't even be able to stop it all."

"What if we were?"

"What?" Without answering, you pulled from your bag a small box containing two vials of green liquid and two syringes. "Shit, y/n. How did you get it?" he asked moving closer to you. You ignored the shiver that went through you.

"You could say that Billy has a very dead sleep." you shrugged your shoulders. "I thought it might be better to be prepared if they suddenly needed our help, or if something went wrong here."

"Forewarned is forearmed, right?" From the moment you first stole Butcher's temporary V, you had to admit that the power you felt then was addictive. It was pleasant not to feel fear, at least for a while. You knew that Hughie felt exactly the same. "But you promised Frenchie that you would never take it again," he said.

"So hopefully we won't have to use the power and then no one will know anything, right? You're not going to blurt out to my brother, are you?" You knew you shouldn't take it, but the desire to feel powerful was much stronger.

"It will be our dirty little secret." he smiled and took one of the vials from you.

The surge of power and energy you felt when the V started coursing through your veins was indescribable. You felt you had something you had always lacked. Control.

"So... are we going to sit here for a few hours or do you feel like wandering around the stalls and pretending we're there completely by accident?"

"Sounds like a plan." You smiled and got out of the car.

People were swarming everywhere, you had the feeling as if the entire population of New York and the surrounding area was right there. Suddenly you felt someone grab your hand. When you looked back you saw Hughie smiling shyly in your direction. "I can't let you get lost in this crowd." he said somewhat nervously. He was glad that your post-V superpower was not incredibly sharpened hearing because if you had heard his heartbeat you would have guessed right away that this was just an excuse to get closer to you. From the very beginning when you appeared with the team he looked for every possible opportunity to be close to you. From the very beginning there was something between you that made you always find your way to each other, even unconsciously. Despite knowing that you liked each other a little more than you should have, neither of you wanted to take the first step. You preferred to dance around each other and let your feelings lead you freely to the rhythm of uncertainty and tension that was building between you.

The day flew by very quickly, nothing suspicious was happening, so you let both of you enjoy yourselves for a while, forgetting why you were really there. You ate cotton candy, took a ride on the ferris wheel, listened to concerts by small local bands, all the while letting your fingers intertwine from time to time, feeling the butterflies in your stomach awaken with every single touch. Leaving aside the real purpose of your visit to this event and the fact that there was a substance running through your veins giving you superpowers you would have been an ordinary couple carelessly enjoying a date. As it began to get dark you got a text message from the rest of them that everything had gone according to plan and they were just going home, so you also reluctantly headed for the exit.

"What a lovely sight!" an elderly man standing at the dart-throwing stand suddenly exclaimed. "Young man, maybe you'd like to win one of these adorable plushies for your beautiful sweetheart?" Before you had time to say that you are not a couple Hughie was already standing in front of the target and aiming at it. You looked with amusement at the surprise of the man, who could not believe that all the darts hit perfectly in the very center. The smile never left Hughie's face.

"You can choose whichever one you want," he said with satisfaction in his voice.

"Hm... that one looks good." said pointing a finger at a small plush dog.

"Are you sure? Don't you want anything bigger?"

"No, I love it." you said while taking the award from the man's hands. "I'll call him Hughie, how about that?" you laughed.

"As long as it's not your favorite Hughie it can be," he said.

"But just look at him, he's so cute! How can he not be my favorite?" you asked teasingly.

"A kick in the teeth, y/n," he said putting his hand on his chest. "I'll forgive you on the condition that you stay here with me for the fireworks show, how about that?"

"I'd love to, but I have an idea for a better place."

"What kind?"

"I'll tell you in the car, come on."

When you got into the old pick up you started giving him directions and after less than 10 minutes you were at a viewpoint from which you could see the whole festival. The view from the top was beautiful. Thousands of little twinkling lights were spilling below you, and the crowds you were in not long ago seemed incredibly far away. You parked near a small bench and fortunately there was no one else there. You left the car windows open so that you could hear the radio and sat down on the bench close enough that your shoulders were touching. There was an awkward, tense silence between you, which neither of you dared to break. Now all the confidence you felt down there was gone. Your heart was beating harder and harder, and your hands were covered with an unpleasant sweat. You felt a strange tingling in them as if your hand was demanding his touch.

"Dear listeners, now a special dedication to all those who have not yet dared to make the first move. May Steven Tyler's beautiful voice awaken your courage on this beautiful magical evening and make you realize that none of you want to miss a thing." Hearing this, Hughie laughed quietly, feeling as if these words were directed straight to him.

 I could stay awake just to hear you breathing

Watch you smile while you are sleeping

While you're far away and dreaming

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender

I could stay lost in this moment forever

Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

"I love this song." you said quietly however you didn't dare to look at him. You stared ahead admiring the landscape, but he was watching you carefully paying special attention to your lips wondering what it would be like to kiss you. Many times this thought had crossed his mind but now it was a thousand times more intense.

Don't want to close my eyes

I don't want to fall asleep

'Cause I'd miss you baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

'Cause even when I dream of you

The sweetest dream will never do

I'd still miss you baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

How many times did you appear in his dreams? He couldn't count anymore. Every time he woke up from one, he desperately tried to fall back asleep hoping that you would appear in them once again.

"Hey, y/n..." he began uncertainly. When you looked at him he suddenly felt as if he had completely lost the ability to speak.

"Yes?" your voice was quiet, but it reached his heart causing his heartbeat to be comparable to A-Train's during a heart attack. He was unable to mumble anything. He sat like that and, looking into your eyes, begged in soul that you would read from his everything that was going on inside him right now.

Lying close to you, feeling your heart beating

And I'm wondering what you're dreaming

Wondering if it's me you're seeing

Then I kiss your eyes

And thank God we're together

And I just want to stay with you in this moment forever

Forever and ever

"I really want to stay with you in this moment forever." he whispered. Seeing a smile forming on your face he dared to touch your cheek gently. You, without thinking, cuddled your face into his large hand and closed your eyes relishing the moment. Hughie slowly moved closer to you and rested his forehead against yours. Your breaths sped up, and as colorful streaks splashed across the sky he brought your lips together causing you to feel as if those fireworks were exploding inside you. You had waited so long for this moment that with each kiss you desperately wanted more, as if you wanted to make up for all the lost time.

I don't want to miss one smile

And I don't want to miss one kiss

And I just want to be with you

Right here with you, just like this

And I just want to hold you close

I feel your heart so close to mine

And just stay here in this moment

For all the rest of time

"I would definitely want to stop time right now and stay here in this moment for the rest of my life." he said as you pulled away from each other to catch your breath.

"I may not be able to stop time, but I can make you feel that way for a while." you replied while looking toward the sky. Your superpower after taking V turned out to be slowing down everything nearby. You discovered this when, during a trip to Russia, you slowed down bullets that were fired straight at you and your brother. Now everything around you froze. The colors in the sky stopped looking as if they were painted.

"They froze like the stars in the sky." he said. "They reflect in your eyes in a beautiful way."

"Yeah, but I can't keep them like that any longer," you replied laughing.

"It's fine." he said. "Can I..."

"Yes." you said interrupting him. You knew perfectly well what he wanted to ask. Hearing this, he brought your lips together again in a sweet kiss.

"Hughie?"

"Yes?"

"Can you promise me that when we return to the gray reality again and we will be consumed by another mission you will not forget what happened today?"

"Why should I forget?"

"Memories like to fade," he said.

"The best ones always last. Besides, I have a feeling that there are many more similarly beautiful memories ahead, y/n."

"Even if time moves on, I will keep lookin' back to tonight," you sighed. "I will always go back to it."

"Me too." He replied quietly kissing the top of your head. You felt a smile creep onto his face again immediately after.

When, unfortunately, your time together came to an end Hughie drove you back to the place where you lived with your brother and Kimiko, and he himself returned to his apartment. When you opened the door you almost tripped over the bag that stood by it. When you looked closer you saw that it was filled with your belongings.

"Serge? Kimiko?" you called out going deeper. At the sound of your voice they both left the room. Kimiko had tears in her eyes and your brother barely looked at you. He was furious. You had already guessed what had happened. Wordlessly, he handed you a phone that showed a video of how fireworks suddenly froze in the sky.

"Why?" he asked.

"Serge... I can explain." you felt panic rising in your body.

"You promised! You promised never to take that shit again in your life!" he shouted. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"I wanted to feel better! That I had control over something!"

"What fucking control are you talking about?! The only thing you had control over was whether that shit got into your system or not!"

"What if something had happened there? What if one of the seven had done something?! What if you guys suddenly needed help? If something happened in the tower!"

"But nothing happened! Everything went according to plan! Also, that's still not enough reason to take it!"

"I know! But if you took it you would understand what I'm talking about, Serge!" you felt tears running down your cheeks. "All our lives we are afraid of something, we are constantly running away from something because we are never safe! Do you remember what happened when our father was getting drunk? He would beat you into unconsciousness, and all I could do was look at it and beg him to stop! And the moments when we had to sell ourselves to the sleazy rich to have anything to eat at all? When Nina forced us to kill all those people? If only I could have had those powers back then believe me our lives wouldn't be so fucked up now! Maybe it would be at least a little... normal."

"But you didn't have them and the fact that you have them now won't change anything. Nothing will ever change our past y/n, but it will change the future because I don't want to see you anymore." his voice was becoming calmer, and that scared you even more. You felt as if barbed wire was wrapping around your heart and tightening, driving straight into it.

"Serge..." saying his name your voice faltered.

"You have betrayed my trust y/n, once again you have done it. Now Vought knows there's some supe with the power to slow down time wandering around somewhere, and they'll definitely be looking for them. You can't stay here, for the near term it's too dangerous. And I can't even look at you." Although his gaze was glued to the window you could see tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. From the very beginning, the two of you were inseparable. Growing up with an unbalanced alcoholic father from an early age, you had to learn how to take care of each other, so you went through every worst situation in life together. You could always count on each other, and now suddenly you were supposed to disappear from his life?

"I've done so many awful things in my life, and it never bothered you..."

"Taking V is the worst thing you've done."

"Bullshit! You took much worse things yourself, after which you almost died more than once you asshole! You took things that could kill you in seconds!" you didn't know how you felt. You were furious that he didn't even try to understand you. You were hurt that after all you've been through together he just so simply wants to remove you from his life. He saw you murdering people and never hated you because of it. He was always there for you and helped you cope with all the darkness that engulfed your life. He did everything to be the best big brother to you. You both were each other's support and motivation to stay alive. Now that was about to change. Now you would be left all alone like a country dunny.

"And I'd rather die than take V!" he yelled. "In your bag are the keys to the apartment in Larchmont and a bus ticket." he added more calmly. "Leave your old phone here, you need to find something new."

Feeling resigned, you picked up the bag and turned to leave. Before you could grab the door knob you felt someone grab your wrist. It was Kimiko, whose eyes were shining with tears. You hugged her tightly.

"Hughie didn't know anything." you said before leaving. "He didn't know I took V." you lied. You could no longer be saved by anything though, you could save him from all this.

With pain in your heart, you left the apartment and headed for the bus stop. Sitting there, you looked at the little plush dog you held in your hands. You wondered how such a beautiful evening could have turned into the worst of your life. As soon as you gained something beautiful you immediately had to lose it along with everything else you loved. You had never really been alone in your life. Now you had to face it at a frighteningly fast pace.

It's been a week since you left, at first Hughie thought you were avoiding him after everything that happened at the festival, but he knew you weren't the kind of person who just disappears like that. He tried to contact you many times but each time was met with no response. He explained to himself that if you had made up your mind and decided that you didn't feel anything more than friendship for him after all, you would surely have told him. He also wondered if maybe he scared you then? Did it all happen too fast?

"Does anyone know what happened to y/n? She hasn't been here in a long time." He finally couldn't stand it during one of the meetings. Taking the opportunity that Serge was out of the apartment he decided to find out as much as possible.

"Frenchie decided to send her to a little rehab from temporary V." Butcher replied.

"What?"

"On the 4th of July, she stole my V and took it. Frenchie found out, got mad and kicked her out of the house. He made her leave the phone and sent her outside New York." he summarized. Hughie felt like someone had just kicked him in the stomach. He probably preferred to believe that he was simply being avoided, rather than what really happened.

"I never thought something would happen that could divide them." sighed MM "I don't know how you couldn't see that he was under the influence of this crap."

"I..." he was in such shock that he had no idea what to say. Didn't you admit that you both took it?

"No more chitchat, we have a mission to talk about." interrupted Butcher starting to explain the strategy. However, for Hughie, these were just indistinct words clumped together into one long sound. His thoughts were completely absorbed in something else.

When Butcher finished speaking, burdened by a barrage of information and feelings, Hughie sat down heavily on the couch right next to Kimiko, who was drawing something. He could see that she had been withdrawn more than usual for the past few days.

"You okay?" he asked.

She picked up her phone and began to text. I miss her.

"Me too." He replied sending her a sad smile.

She told Frenchie that you didn't know she had taken V.

This hurt him even more. The fact that even as your life was collapsing you decided to protect him, and he couldn't do anything to help you. He felt like a damn coward for not being able to tell them the truth.

She said she took it because she wanted to have control. She was talking about all the terrible things that had happened to them.

Suddenly it dawned on him how much pain you must have experienced in your life, and he didn't know most of those stories yet. He wanted to know everything about you, he wanted to know you inside out and accept it fully, because what you had done in the past didn't affect his feelings for you.

"Do you have any contact with her? Do you know where she is now?" he asked. However, Kimiko only shook her head negatively in response and went back to drawing.

He couldn't stand the pain that was spreading throughout his body. The mental was turning into physical. He was furious. Angry at Frenchie, who made the decision that you must disappear from their lives. He was furious at himself for letting you take V. That he didn't stop you. He cursed in his soul that he needed it to feel confident enough to finally take a step toward you. He blamed himself for this and couldn't forgive himself for not telling you to put those damned vials away then.

It's been two months since you disappeared suddenly and very painfully. It is said that time heals wounds, however, Hughie had the impression that his wounds grew even larger and fate sprinkled salt on them every now and then. Every day he looked for your face in the crowd, but to no effect. Whenever the opportunity arose he would rummage through your brother's things hoping to find any contact or address information about you, but he never managed to find anything that would help. He spent whole nights thinking up ways he could reach you, but nothing ever worked out. It was as if you suddenly vanished. Collapsed into the ground and disappeared forever. Thoughts of you being somewhere all alone now haunted him and bit into his brain causing him even more pain. With your absence, happiness was also gone. Nothing gave him pleasure, nothing made him happy. The only emotions he felt were grief, sadness and anger. They consumed him completely. From time to time, he wondered if maybe you had already met someone new and were actually putting your life back together? Maybe you have found someone with whom you feel happy and safe? The jealousy that gripped him at the time made him feel like screaming. He was the one who wanted to be the person who made you smile. He loved your smile. He loved the sound of your voice and laughter. He loved watching you teach Kimiko new things or patiently learn her language. After losing Robin, you brought brightness back into his life. You were the sunshine that chased away the dark clouds.

Everyone was convinced that his bad mood was because Annie had found herself a new boyfriend. He let them believe it because it was more convenient. He didn't even have the strength to deny it, because his heart was broken in truth, but for a completely different reason.The longer he thought about all this, the more convinced he became that he couldn't just let you disappear. He knew he was risking a lot, but you were worth it. You were worth everything.

"I knew she took it." he said when Marvin opened the door and stepped inside. "We both took V then, and I damn well wish I had stopped her from doing it!"

"What?"

"She would be here with us now if I had stopped her! It's all my fault. Now she's not here and I don't know what to do with myself." He nervously walked around the room combing his hair with his hand.

"You talking about Annie?" Marvin was visibly confused.

"Holy shit MM! I'm talking about y/n! Annie and her new guy don't matter to me even a little bit! From the very beginning the only person I cared about was y/n! And now she's gone." he felt tears gather in his eyes. He couldn't help it. Emotions were pushing outward, and he couldn't hold them back. For two months he had kept them inside, but now the dam broke giving them outlet " That day when she showed me that she had picked up those damn vials from Butcher I should have somehow talked her out of the idea. But instead I agreed. I took the damn thing to feel better. To feel confident. To finally stop feeling like a complete loser in life, like a slacker. To stop being afraid and finally do something to show her that I care about her!" he tossed out word after word. "The moment when I grabbed her hand and she didn't take it? Or the one when I won that fucking teddy bear for her? If it wasn't for V I probably wouldn't have even hit the target. And that moment when the fireworks froze in the sky? It was one of the best in my hopeless life! When I kissed her she didn't move away, didn't run away. Damn, seeing her smile right after that made me feel that everything could finally work out! Fuck!"

"You kiss my sister?" through all this, he didn't even notice when Frenchie also appeared in the room.

"Yes, Frenchie, I kissed your sister and I don't regret anything." His hands were shaking with nerves, and single tears flew down his cheeks. He was ready for your brother to go at him with his fists right away, to be honest he was sure it would happen. He wouldn't even defend himself. Because at that moment he didn't care about anything anymore. He missed you and couldn't cope with your absence from his life. "All this time you thought it was Annie who broke my heart, but that's bullshit. Even if I once felt something for Annie it was never as strong as with y/n. I am in love with her, and it was you who broke my heart, Frenchie. You broke it by making her disappear from our lives." He hid his face in his hands. Silence fell between all three of them.

"You really love her?" finally Frenchie asked, sitting down next to him on the couch.

"Yes," he said without thinking. "I know I messed everything up, but I can't turn back time, no matter how much I wish I could."

"I think she needs to hear all that you've said, too." interjected MM looking at Frenchie, who was thinking intensely about something. Your brother had two choices. He could attack Hughie and probably massacre his face or rethink the situation. No matter how angry he was he knew that this anger would not go away for even if he unloaded it on the boy with his fist. But he could also try to understand and give you a second chance. Your relationship with Hughie? Frenchie knew very well that he would never hurt you. He knew from the beginning that Petit Hughie had the purest heart of you all and would be able to take good care of yours.

"I am disappointed." Serge began slowly. "But y/n is my sister and I love her with all my heart. No matter what she does I will always want the best for her." he sighed.

"I think Frenchie wants to say that he forgives you." Marvin laughed.

"I'll forgive you on the condition that this time you swear on everything that you'll never take that shit again."

"I swear." Finally, for the first time, hope awoke in him. "No More V. Never."

"My sister deserves the best, I hope you know that if you break her heart I will kill you in the most drastic way I can think of?"

"I know, but I have no intention of breaking her heart."

"I know, that's why I didn't break your nose when I found out about the kiss. You may be an idiot sometimes, but your heart is good Petit Hughie. That's why I'm able to trust you to take care of y/n the best way you can."

"Will you tell me where she is?"

"I'll take you there, come on." 

The road passed them in silence. All this time Hughie was trying to arrange in his head what he would say once he saw you. However, he was also ready for the scenario that if he saw you with someone else he would not retreat. If necessary he would fight for you, because he knew he couldn't bear to lose you once again. When you finally arrived at your destination they parked under a small tenement.

"I want to talk to her first, so wait here." Frenchie said while turning off the car.

You were lying on the couch cuddled up with plush Hughie when you heard a knock on the door. Startled, you opened the door, and the sight of your brother completely caught you off guard.

"Can we talk?" he asked, stepping inside.

"I thought you didn't want to know me..." you were happy to see him. The last two months have been a nightmare of loneliness for you. The pain of losing all the people you cared about caused you to isolate yourself from the world and not even try to get to know anyone else. You felt as if you had lost the ability to meet new people and function in society. You cried all days and lay staring at the TV. You lost the desire to do anything. You even ate only when the hunger was already unbearable. The last two months were just existence, because it definitely couldn't be called life. You were daydreaming about what would happen if Hughie found you. You kept coming back to that night with memories of when it all started and ended.

"Y/n Listen..." Serge sighed. "I'm mad, you broke your promises, You betrayed my trust, but that doesn't mean I stopped loving you. You are my sister and even if you stab me in the back I will still love you."

"I'm so sorry frère..." your voice squawked.

"I know that sooner or later I will forgive you, but it will be a really long time before I can trust you again."

"Please let me go home. I'll do everything I can to make it right. I hate being here alone, I can't handle it Serge." You walked up to him and grabbed his hand tightly. Your heart was breaking into pieces, you felt guilty and knew that this feeling would not go away too soon, you knew that you deserved to be punished, but you were aware that you would not last a moment longer here. Your brother also knew this very well.

"Come on, we'll pack up your things, okay?" he said coming closer to you, and you threw yourself around his neck hugging him with all your might.

"I missed you so much," you sobbed into the collar of his jacket.

"Me too sœur, me too." he replied feeling a weight fall from his heart as well.

Anxious Hughie sat in the car nervously shaking his leg. Minutes passed and you were still nowhere to be seen. He began to fear that the situation had gotten out of hand and instead of getting along you would start arguing again, but as soon as he saw you leaving the building all thoughts from his head disappeared. His heart skipped a bit and without even knowing when he was standing in front of the car smiling in your direction. At the sight of him you threw the bag you were holding in your hands on the ground and ran towards him. Your bodies collided with such force that he lost his balance, causing you to land on the asphalt. But at that moment it didn't matter. All that mattered was that you were now in each other's arms. He cupped your face and looked deeply into your eyes, which were glassy. Tears began to flow into his as well. This time they were a sign of joy and emotion. Pure happiness enveloped you completely.

"Are you crying?" you asked with a giggle.

"You are crying too." he replied still smiling. He corrected his position by sitting down on the ground, and you sat across from him and close enough that your foreheads touched.

"I missed you so much." you whispered.

"I kept thinking about you, remembering everything," he said grabbing your hand. "And I know that memories fade, but the best ones will last" he placed a gentle kiss on the top of your hand. "As time moves on, I keep lookin' back,"

"Kiss me like it was the 4th of July".

"When fireworks froze like stars in the sky?" you had the feeling that your heart was about to fail. Seeing Hughie's world's cutest smile as he held your hand it was melting at an incredibly fast speed.

"I thought you had forgotten..."

"I'll always remember the 4th of July and the look in your eyes... I saw every color of the rainbow in them."

"I didn't know there was such a romantic hidden in you."

"I can tell you more, I can tell you that it was actually you who was like a rainbow that appeared in the sky after a nasty storm. Did I go too far? Too cheesy? If you don't like it tell me, I'll stop right away." His self-doubt at that moment was charming. In truth, the words he said really touched and impressed you. Even if they sounded like they were taken straight out of some cheap, cheesy romantic comedy.

"Just kiss me Hughie." you replied. And he closed the gap between you without a second thought. The world around you ceased to exist. You didn't care that you were sitting in the middle of the parking lot. What mattered was that everything seemed to be getting back on track and you had the people you loved and who loved you with you again.

[zi-i-think]

Friends for Now

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Rating: SFW

Word Count: 1500+

Warnings: curse words(?)

Request: yes, @rainelikerain

Prompt: fluff

1. “Boyfriend and girlfriend right now?” “No.” “Boyfriend and girlfriend eventually?... You didn’t say no.” “I’ll play the long game.”

AN: So sorry it's been a while, I've been busy with transferring universities and work.

You went into Hogwarts like all the other students. You were 11 with wide eyes, walking through the halls and already picturing your next 7 years. The train ride to the school was the beginning of your life-long friendships.

You can recall the first conversation with a redhead claiming he could turn his rat yellow and a boy with glasses. The redhead, Ron, was starstruck that the famous Harry Potter was in the cart. You, as well as Harry, were new to everything, so the wide eyes and questions were unexpected and a bit strange.

You later met a girl with bushy, brown hair. A bit of a smart aleck, but you grew to love her.

You hold all of your first meetings with your friends close to your heart. And those memories of others. You met Ron’s older siblings later after the train ride. You found Percy stuck up, and the twins were two of the most incredible people you’ve ever met. George was brilliant, and Fred made you laugh harder than you think you ever have.

Harry said that there were hearts in your eyes when you first set eyes on the older twin. You didn’t keep it a secret. Looking back at it, your face turned red in embarrassment.

“Hey, cutie. Wanna save me a seat at the dining hall?” You’d flirt. As a 12-year-old, you admit you had some moves. Most of them were things you saw in the movies and on TV. And to be fair, you didn’t know what CPR was when you asked if you knew how to do it cause he “took your breath away.” There was an awkward minute after he asked what it was, and you didn’t know what to say.

But it built up some sort of relationship between the two of you. Any time you were around each other, you find some way to flirt with him, and he’d give back a cheeky response. You admit, it hurt knowing he didn’t reciprocate the same feelings you had. But the playful banter and the smirks were a part of how you interacted. A part of you wondered if he even realized that you were making real moves, not just joking.

Leading up to the Yule ball in your fourth year, you desperately wanted for him to ask you to be his date. But you knew he wouldn’t.

Sitting in the dining hall to do an essay Professor McGonagal had assigned, you had only partially been listening to your friend’s complaints. Something about not having dates to the ball.

“Might I interest you to know that Neville’s already got someone.” You heard Hermione inform the boys.

Ron groaned. “Now I’m really depressed.”

“You should be. I think I’d rather go with Neville than either of you two blokes.” You mumbled, still paying more attention to your essay. You always hated how your friend talked about Neville. You found that a little bit of picking on was alright, but you barely ever heard them say anything good about the forgetful boy.

“Shut up, Y/n,” Ron grumbled.

Out of the corner of your eye, Fred slipped Ron a piece of parchment. Ron glanced around, making sure Professor Snape wasn’t watching them. Curiosity overcame you, and you leaned over Harry to read Fred’s messy handwriting.

It read: “Get a move on, or all the good ones will have gone.”

“Tell me, Freddie. Do you consider me one of the good ones?” You winked at him.

“Obviously, gorgeous.” Fred bounced his eyebrows. You giggled and shook your head. It was the little comments like that that made your heart flutter.

“Who are you going with then?” Ron asked his brother.

Fred glanced at Angelina and then threw a paper at her. And that’s when your heart, at first fluttering like a butterfly, then fell to the floor, crashing on the marble floor like glass. Angelina gave Fred an annoyed look while he pointed at the two of them and mocked a dance. The ruffled look turned into one of more surprise, and the girl nodded “yeah.”

You looked away from the scene. Attempting to refocus on your assignment felt like a better option than watching the guy you like ask someone else to the ball.

In the end, you went to the ball with Harry. You figured that since Fred was going with someone, you might as well already get a date. Not that Harry was your date date, since you only went as friends. Harry had eyes for Cho, and most everyone knew about your crush on Fred.

It wasn’t until the ball that you realized how bad of a partner Harry was. He didn’t want to dance and just sulked through most of it. You kept glancing over at Fred and Angelina. They came as friends, you knew that. But you so desperately wished that it were you dancing and having fun.

“Harry, I swear to Merlin if you don’t get out of that seat right now.” You threatened through grit teeth.

“I’m not going to dance.” He said bluntly.

“You’re an arse.” You put it just as bluntly.

You didn’t want to sit there anymore with the mood-killing boys. With a huff and a stomp, you left the table and went out into the hall. It was mostly empty. A few horny teenagers making out in the darker parts of the corner, and there was one couple fighting at the top of the stairs.

You took a seat at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the wall, and closed your eye. Focusing on the music in the dance hall, you imagined you were with Fred. Swaying to the beat and actually having fun rather than sitting around and hating everything.

“I can see you’re having the time of your life.” Fred’s familiar voice pulled you out of your daydream. You opened your eyes, seeing him walking up to you from inside the Great Hall doors.

“Obviously. Nothing I’d rather be doing than sitting outside the ball while everyone else has fun.” You said sarcastically, looking into the ballroom. The lights were bouncing off the walls, and the song changed to one of your favorites. The crowd inside got wild, and voices were singing along. “Harry isn’t much of a dancer, it seems. I’d much rather be alone than with brooding teenagers.”

“You couldn’t come with anyone other than Harry?” He asked while he sat next to you on the steps.

“There was one boy from Durmstrang who asked me, but I turned him down.” You shrugged.

“Now, why would you do that?” He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. His smirk was an amused and questioning one. It made you a bit angry, honestly.

“Don’t act like you don’t know.” You huffed. “All my flirting and the obvious hints. I wanted you to ask me. Not some Durmstrang boy or Harry.”

“Oh, you think I didn’t want to ask you.” He laughed and bumped shoulders with you. “Merlin, Y/n. Of course, I wanted to, but your best friend, my brother, was right there. He’d kill me if I asked you out.”

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Ron?” You wanted to laugh. Whether in humor or frustration or whatever. He couldn’t be serious. “He’s the reason you haven’t asked me out?”

“He’s really not ready for that.” He justified. “Come on. His prankster of an older brother dating his friend. He’d crucify me. Say that I’m playing you or something.”

It was quiet between you two. You sat there for the moment, thinking to yourself, eyes staring at the floor. You knew that Ron hated your blatant, sometimes vulgar flirting. Ever since your first year, he’d roll his eyes and tell you to stay away cause his brother was a pain.

You didn’t know, however, that as the years went by, Ron has also been telling Fred to keep away. That he didn’t want to have to comfort you when you were crying about him. He didn’t want any awkward dinners in the future.

Fred looked at you in the silence. Studying the crease between your brow and the frown you had. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, and you turned your head to look at him.

“So, what if,” You thought. “Boyfriend and girlfriend right now?”

“No.” He chuckled at the way you asked that.

“Boyfriend and girlfriend eventually?” You asked. Fred stayed quiet, a cocked smirk painting his lips. “You didn’t say no.” You bit your lip with hope.

“I’ll play the long game.” He shrugged. “I’d rather wait for you, knowing that I can truly live with you happily than have to deal with my brother’s incessant nagging.”

You grinned and turned your head back down, feeling a blush creep on your cheeks.

“Well, then. I guess tonight wasn’t terrible.” You giggled.

“How about we go back in there,” Fred pointed inside the ballroom. “And you can come dance with Angelina and me. As friends.”

“As friends for now?” You needed one last clarification.

“As friends for now.” He nodded.

“Beats sitting here.” You jumped up from the steps. Fred followed your lead, and the two of you entered back into the party. Not together, but together.

For now, at least.

[bokutosworld]

home sweet home | hq boys with their kids! 

character/pairing: msby black jackals boys with their kids - hinata, atsumu, bokuto, sakusa!

wc: 1.5k words, pure fluff!

summary: when they finally get a much-deserved break from volleyball, there's nothing that the boys want more than to spend time with their little ones. but what do they do if you're not around for the day?

a/n: inspired by my fave korean show the return of superman! i just cant stop imagining how the boys would be like if they were left on their own with their kids<3 hehe

part two with schweiden adlers trio here!

---

HINATA SHOYO He wakes up feeling warm. When Hinata opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is the sight of his adorable son laying peacefully on his chest. He brings his hands to ruffle his messy hair, the little boy pressing his cheeks closer to his father's body. It's been a long time since Hinata felt relaxed in the morning, and he honestly thinks that he could stay in this moment forever. But after a few minutes, he finally gets up and stirs the little boy in his arms awake.

"Dad? Where's mom?" Seiji asked, his bright, inquisitive eyes mirrored Hinata's own and he felt proud that his son took after him. He explains that you were off to your parents' house for the weekend and this makes the five-year-old pout. Despite looking a lot like him, Hinata knew that Seiji was a mama's boy and, though he wouldn't admit it, sometimes felt jealous that you were hogging all of his son's attention. So he was over the moon to have time alone with the boy.

"But don't worry! The two of us will have a great all-boys weekend," he declares. All of a sudden Hinata lifts Seiji over his head and places him on his shoulders. The little boy then got excited, starting to loosen up and laugh as they ran out to the living room. "Wow, look at that, Seiji, you are flying!"

With his dad's hands carefully holding him tight, Seiji felt safe and extended his arms in the air as they playfully circled the house. When they got tired, the two boys collapsed on the sofa. Hinata reached over his to mini-me, wiping some sweat that has formed on his forehead, "Are you hungry now? What do you want dad to make for breakfast?"

Seiji looks up at his dad expectantly, waving his fists excitedly with a big smile on his face, "Can we do that again?" And Hinata happily complies, already looking forward to a great father-son bonding.

MIYA ATSUMU "Papa, can we pwease go to Uncle Osamu's shop today?"

This was the third time Atsumu heard the request from his daughter. The four-year-old has taken a strong liking to his twin, and while Atsumu mostly finds this endearing, he wonders if she likes Osamu better than him. He takes the little girl from her sitting position on the floor and sets her on his lap, brushing some strands of hair that have fallen.

"Aya, do you like Uncle Osamu more than me?" As if on instinct, the little girl shakes her head. Worried that she might hurt herself, Atsumu cups her cheeks to stop her movement, but only to be shocked to see that tears are threatening to spill from her doe eyes. Shit, he thinks. "Okay, darling. Don't cry." He brings her to an embrace in an attempt to calm her down. "Let's get you ready, huh. We'll ask free food from Uncle."

When the door to Onigiri Miya opens, Aya immediately goes to Osamu's side, slipping past the counter and running to his open arms. Osamu lifts her up, "Hello there, little girl. Do you want to cook with me today?" She beams and nods her head enthusiastically, waving a hand to her dad who was standing by the door. "Hey, 'Tsumu. Just take a seat wherever, we won't be long here!"

This was the fourth time this week that they have been to his brother's shop. At this rate, he might as well have Aya sleepover with Osamu and let her spend time with her cousins. He opens his camera and takes a selfie, along with a message that he sends to you. Back at Uncle Osamu's again. She loves food just as much as you, it reads. He hears a bell coming from the kitchen, followed by a pitter-patter of footsteps. When he looks up from his phone, he sees Aya running towards him holding a plate with a small riceball on it.

"Papa, look! I made it for you," she excitedly tells him. Atsumu is touched by the gesture, taking the plate to place it on the table and tacking his daughter in a hug. He peppers her cute face with kisses and Aya is giggling, her laughter fills the Onigiri Miya shop. Osamu smiles and takes a photo of the father and daughter.

"I'm so happy, Aya, thank you." Before Atsumu eats it though, he makes sure to take a photo of her masterpiece. Our little chef made this, he proudly captions it before sending it to you.

BOKUTO KOUTAROU When you left Bokuto alone with your two kids, he was confident that he can handle them on his own. But boy, was he wrong. The whole house has been turned upside down with the seven-year-old Naoki jumping all over the place, and the two-year-old Suki crying on her baby chair. Not to mention their golden retriever barking to add to the chaos.

Sighing exasperatedly, Bokuto approaches Suki first, taking her from the chair and swaying to calm her down. He's having a staring contest with the dog, Tama, as his eldest son continues to wreak havoc. Then an idea pops up in his head.

"Naoki, what do you think of taking Tama out for a walk?" The playful boy stops in his tracks, turning slowly to look at his dad. Bokuto moves closer to him and grins. He knows how the young boy has always wanted to walk the dog, only you were opposing in fear that he might let go of the leash. But Bokuto has complete trust in him, and if things go south, he could always chase the dog. He crouches to his son's level, looking at him in the eyes, "We'll keep it a secret from Mom. What do you--"

Before he could even finish his statement, Naoki was already putting on the dog's collar and leash. Bokuto smiles and walks to the kids' room to change Suki's clothes. He pulls out a baby pink dress and carefully dresses his daughter. He also pretties her up, tying her hair in two ponytails with pink ribbons. When they finish getting ready, the trio proceed to walk in the park.

He notices that Naoki is much more behaved and more mature this time, thinking that he definitely looks the part as an older brother. Feeling much more at ease, Bokuto walks with a spring in his step, subtly bouncing the little girl who is strapped to his chest. Suki giggles at his father's actions, and he can't help but kiss her forehead.

"Hey, dad," Bokuto hears Naoki quietly call out to him. He sees the big smile on his son's face and feels like a proud dad. "Thanks for letting me walk Tama." Oh, you bet he was going to brag to you about today.

SAKUSA KIYOOMI Sakusa and his six-year-old daughter, Shiomi, were currently taking a vacation at your parents' house. As much as you wanted to come along with them, work held you up and you had to send off your daughter and husband, wishing them a good time in the countryside.

It's been three days and the little girl has been enjoying time with her grandparents. Sakusa could feel his heart warming whenever he watches her helping her grandmother doing household chores or when she is sitting in the garden and reading a book to her grandfather. He knows how you never want to miss a moment of your daughter's life so he sends you random snapshots and videos throughout the day.

He was lounging on the tatami in the living room, a book in his hands, when Shiomi came running to him. The little girl tugged on his hand, "Papa, come with me! We're planting a tree!" Completely smitten by her, he puts down the book and goes along with her to the back garden.

Shiomi helps him put on some gloves and hands him gardening boots. "Wear these so your feet don't get dirty!"

As soon as he wears them, the two of them proceed to get their tools and start working in the garden. Time always seem to pass quickly when one is having fun, and before Sakusa knows it, they have planted three sprouts of trees and sowed vegetable seeds in the family garden. He glances at Shiomi who is still full with energy, her eyes shining as she proudly looks at her work.

Sakusa hurriedly takes out his phone. "Honey, come here." He beckons her, and removes his glove before wiping a towel to her face. "Let's show Mama what we did today."

Shiomi goes to the other side of tree, pointing at it before displaying the widest grin. Sakusa sets the front camera and their faces are shown on the screen. With the biggest smiles on their faces, he takes a photo and sends it to you, the caption reading: We missed you. Planting is fun!

[ultrablackwidower]

An Enemy

Inspired by 'Rag n Bone' by Tor Miller Marc Spector fic Warnings: None

It's a call to those inside their homes Who wish away All the weight and disarray Jagged stones As they talk to me I walk alone And ring my bell Ring it loud and ring it well

Business.

It was like a claw embedded in leather, a phantom dragged through oceans made of flame. It was the sun, engulfing everything, she thought as she packed up her papers and shoved them into a briefcase. The business she dealt in was a liquid knife, a hellish infection. A wraith of feathers and glass screaming out arrows.

She fixed up her lipstick and twisted her hair into a bun, securing it with a pen before she shuffled into the corridor. The elevator ride was short and quick, guards watching her at every turn. No, not guards— regular people who just weren’t regular anymore. The watched her like hawks, even as she fiddled with the latches on her high heels before stepping out into the foyer and out the front door. Straight into the back of a waiting Escalade.

It was only when the door shut that she felt like she could exhale. Despite the prying eyes always on her, they didn’t know half of what she was up to. If they did, they’d have killed her before they even found out her name. But right now she was safe.

Right now, she kept it a secret.

And a secret was a strange thing. In the years of living many lies, she learned that there were three different kinds of secrets. One was the sort that everyone knew about, the sort needing at least two people. One to keep it and one to never know about it.

The second was a harder kind of secret; one kept from oneself. Every day, thousands of confessions were kept from their would-be confessors, none of them every knowing that their never-admitted secret all boiled down to the same three words: I am afraid.

And then there was the third kind of secret. The most hidden kind. A secret no one knew about. Perhaps it was known once upon a time, but was taken to the grave. Or maybe it was a useless mystery, lonely and unfounded because no one ever looked for it.

But then, sometimes…some rare times…a secret stayed undiscovered because it was something too big for the mind to hold. Too strange, too vast, and too terrifying to contemplate. She thought about this as the car pulled outside her apartment building and the driver came to open her door. Finally, she could be alone.

Everyone had secrets. They were keepers or the kept-from, players or the played. Secrets and cockroaches— that was all that would be left at the end of everything.

And she had lived with every sort of secret.

They weighed heavily on her shoulders as she trudged up the steps to the fourth floor, fished her keys out of her purse. The interior was dark, just like it always was, reminding her that she was all by herself. She kicked off her high heels on her way to the kitchen, tossed the briefcase on the counter as she opened the fridge. Pulled out a bottle of red wine.

It would’ve been unpleasant to drink if it was left out in the Cairo heat.

She poured a glass for herself as the light from the fridge cascaded across the hardwood floors. She brought the rim to her nose and inhaled the fragrant aroma of oak, earth, leather, and dried cherries. But there was something new to the bottle of cabernet this time. Something she couldn’t quite place.

There was the soft scent of salt, sandalwood, and…motor oil.

She took a cautious sip of the red liquid and slowly place the glass on the counter. Her other hand reached into her waistband, trying to move as gently as possible.

Before a hand encircled her wrist, spun her around, and pressed her into the cold countertop.

“Don’t,” a deep voice said.

And there the smell was stronger now. And she could feel the tears prickling in her eyes already before she even looked up.

The rarest of secrets was suddenly in the kitchen with her. It was here, a thing that could get them both killed if someone were to find out; because such a thing was incomprehensible. He was dead.

None of this was real because it was impossible.

But when she finally brought her eyes up to meet his, she searched for another reason to disbelieve. “Marc,” she breathed.

“If I let your hand go, do you promise not to shoot me with that pistol you’ve got?” he asked, almost like this was a joke.

She felt her teeth bare at him as she shoved forward, placing space between them. As quickly as possible, she grabbed her gun, popped the clip out, and set it on the countertop behind her hips. She wanted to shoot him. She wanted to slap him. Wanted to scream and kick and cry. But somehow, she felt barely able to move. Barely able to string together a line of thoughts in her head.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said to him, feeling her hands beginning to shake. “You were dead. I saw you, in the temple. A bullet went through you—”

“I’ve got a God watching my back, sweetheart,” he reminded her, taking a step back and looking around her apartment as though the bird himself was here watching. Maybe he was. “You, however, seem to have gone to the dark side. Didn’t expect you to be working the books for Harrow’s people.”

She scoffed. “If you’re here, it means you’ve been watching me. Which means you should know that I’m not working for his people. I was looking for something.”

“Another score?” Marc wondered, beginning to wander around the apartment looking for a light switch.

“No. Not exactly,” she began slowly. “I was looking for another tomb.”

The lights flickered on in her kitchen, basking them in warmth that she was suddenly so afraid of. She didn’t want to see him. Didn’t want those feelings to come flooding back that she fought so hard to control when he died. She didn’t want to be that person ever again.

“Why? Harrow’s been put away. He’s in an asylum and we put his Goddess away, too.”

She pressed a hand to her temple and kept her eyes closed as she listened to his footsteps return to her. “I keep hearing this voice in my head. I think another one is looking for an avatar. Which means something big is coming. None of it’s over, and I think it’s looking for me.”

There was a heavy silence for a moment.

“No,” Marc told her sternly. “You’re not going to be an avatar for anybody.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

Suddenly she felt his warm hand on her arm and she couldn’t stop herself from opening her eyes. There Marc was. Marc fucking Spector. He was the kind of handsome that crept into her bones, the kind that spoke to her of their memories before he needed to say another word.

When he died, she died. Her whole heart had shrivelled up inside of her ribcage and sat there, collecting dust and cobwebs while the whispers of another deity kept her up most nights. Those nights that she wished he had been in bed with her, keeping her safe and warm and calm. Those nights that she didn’t think she’d get through without him.

But she had.

And just when she had begun to heal, here he was. Ready to rip open her wounds again.

They were never an item. Never even kissed. But she always felt drawn to him, felt a yearning for him that was so indescribable that it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair for her to feel that way when he was never hers to have. He had been married. Was in love with someone else.  

There was an incredible sadness washing over her. “Why are you here, Marc? Why didn’t you just stay away?”

It was his turn to soften, and it took him another moment before he spoke. “I— no, we need your help.”

Tag List: @ahookedheroespureheart

[alloftheimaginesblog]

Prom Queen Of My Heart {Steve Harrington x Plus Size Reader}

Plot: Steve Harrington is obviously going to be voted Prom King. You know it’s tradition for Prom King and Queen to dance together but instead of dancing with Abigail Wickers, Steve comes to you, his plus size girlfriend, and chooses to dance with you instead.

Character: Steve Harrington x Plus Size female identifying Reader

Requested by @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​

Part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series! 

Around you, teenagers waited excitedly to find out who would be crowned Prom King and Queen of this year. You laughed slightly as you looked at their desperate faces. You’d never been one to yearn after the plastic crown or the bunch of three dollar flowers that the winners got. You liked the tradition but it just wasn’t for you. 

Your boyfriend, Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington fidgeted nervously with his suit jacket, “Do I look okay?” He asked you, “My hair? Is it okay?” Everyone knew that Steve would win Prom King. He usually did at these things; he was popular and handsome and everyone liked him. He was a people’s person and of course, he would win. You rarely voted at these things but you absolutely voted for your boyfriend to win it.

You rolled your eyes with a smile, “Steve, love, you look great.” He grinned at you, that signature Steve grin and turned his attention back to the stage where the Principal was giving a small speech before crowning the Prom King and Queen. You watched him for a few seconds, smiling at him without him noticing. Your heart soared every single time that you looked at him, you always felt so lucky and grateful to have him by your side.

People didn’t understand your relationship and that was fine because you didn’t ask their opinions or what they thought of the two of you. The fact of the matter was that people didn’t think Steve should be with someone fat which is just downright stupid. How does someone’s weight define their worth or beauty? It doesn’t; people are just jerks. People viewed you as being lesser than him, that you somehow weren’t worthy of him or his love due to your social status and your weight. It was bullshit. Just because you were plus size did not mean that you were any less worthy of love and affection. It didn’t mean that you were ugly, it didn’t mean that you were repulsive. It simply just meant that you were fat and there is nothing wrong with being fat. The only thing that mattered was Steve.

It began when you and Steve were paired up for a History assignment. Things had started off awkward as you’d had preconceived notions that he was a jerk but quickly, you learned that you had been wrong. When he was with his friends, Tommy H. and Carol, he was a jerk but when he wasn’t trying to show off, he was the sweetest boy alive. He asked you how you were every day that you worked with him, he spoke about movies he liked and about things he wanted to do. You found yourself opening up to him too, telling him your dreams in life. He would invite you to his house to study and when he first said it, you had immediately thought it was for sex so he immediately took it back and apologised. He told you he meant nothing like that but in order for you to be comfortable, that the two of you could meet at the library either after school or on the weekends. It was then your opinions of Steve Harrington changed. He wasn’t some dumb jock who cared about getting into girl’s underwear, he cared about your opinion, he praised you for being so good at History, he complimented you and he truly got to know you. He wanted to make you comfortable and when he saw that you were uncomfortable, he immediately tried to fix it. He was different.

The assignment took three weeks to complete and you had a spare week to go over everything. It was in that forth week that you began to realise that those secret glances you were stealing at Steve from across the table in the library wasn’t something a friend did. You realised that you laughing at his stupid jokes wasn’t out of pity, it was because he could actually make you laugh. You realised that in that fourth week when you said that you were comfortable to go hang out in his house to go over the assignment, it meant that you were comfortable with him. You realised as he was making you pasta for lunch at his house that you had feelings for him. 

Although you’d been trying to ignore the feelings because you didn’t think someone like Steve could like someone like you but one day, Steve had introduced you to Tommy H. and Carol and they had made a comment about your weight. You were used to people saying things about your weight but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when people would say it to your face. You had went to leave but Steve caught your arm and started going off at his so called friends. It was in the moment that Steve admitted how he felt about you, telling his friends that you were the best person he’d ever met and you were the most beautiful girl to him. He had pulled you away as tears brimmed in your eyes. When you got to his car, Steve let out a long sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. He apologised for them and apologised that they had made you cry. But you had shaken your head and said they didn’t make you cry, it was him.

“Steve, you practically just said that you’re falling in love with me.”

“I, uh... I... So why are you crying?”

“Because I think I’m falling in love with you too.”

The rest is history. You and Steve got an A on your assignment and came out of it a couple. People didn’t understand your relationship but that was okay, you never asked them to.

You were brought back to reality when the Principal said, “Your new Prom King is... Steve Harrington!”

Steve fist pumped the air as the crowd clapped and cheered as he spun around to you, “I’m the King, baby!” He hugged you tightly as you planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Go get your crown, King.”

You watched him practically leap onto the stage, grinning and clapping. Sure, you didn’t understand why Prom King and Queen always caused such a fuss but you couldn’t help but be proud of him. He looked so handsome up on stage with his perfect hair and bright smile. The Depute Principal brought his crown over to him, Steve ducked down and she placed it on his head. You could hear him say, “Careful with the hair,” as she did do.

When he stood straight, he looked absolutely charming; grinning widely with his plastic crown on. You couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him. They announced Prom Queen to be Abigail Wickers, a popular blonde girl who was in the same class as you. Abigail looked beautiful as she stood next to Steve and you couldn’t help but feel like maybe that’s who people thought Steve should be with; someone prettier, someone skinnier... No. You wouldn’t go down that spiral. Steve loved you and you trusted him more than anything in the world. He loved your body and didn’t care that you were overweight with curves and stomach rolls. He loved the softness of your stomach and the jiggle in your thighs. Steve loved all of you.

As the lights dimmed and the crowd created a space in the middle of the dancefloor, it was announced that the Prom King and Prom Queen would start off Prom with a slow dance. It was always tradition, you weren’t sure why; a romantic slow dance to commemorate the occasion. You hadn’t realised that Steve hadn’t taken his eyes off of you the whole time, grinning at you.

Abigail Wickers held out her hand, ready for Steve to lead her to the dancefloor but instead, Steve jumped off the stage and began to walk towards you. You looked around, unsure of what was going on, and then back to Steve who had stopped just short of you. Around you people began to whisper as Abigail raged onstage. 

“Care for a dance?” He asked with that lovable, goofy grin.

You could feel your cheeks burn as you gave an incredulous laugh, “You’re meant to dance with the Prom Queen, not me.”

Steve outstretched his hand and slowly, you took it. He led you out into the middle of the dance floor, “You are the Prom Queen of my heart,” he said before gesturing for someone to turn the music on. You didn’t know what song it was because all you could focus on was him, “Why dance with someone I don’t care about when I could dance with the girl I love instead?”

He pulled you closer to him and all you could do was stare at him with a smile, “You mean it?”

“Course I mean it. You’re the only one that I give a rat’s ass about, not Abigail; not anyone else here. Just you.”

The whispers of the other students had long since stopped and you barely realised that everyone had just kind of accepted it and were beginning to join in the slow dancing, “I love you, Prom King.” You laughed as you reached a hand up to fix his wonky crown.

“I love you too, Prom Queen of my Heart. Always and forever.”

[heyhihellowhatsup0]

Hooked On Your Feelings - Chapter Two (FWB! Tom Holland x Reader)

SERIES MASTERLIST

Warnings: Some angst, language, eventual smut in future chapters, fluff

Word Count: 5255

Summary: After a bad breakup, making an agreement with your womanizing neighbor, Tom to be friends with added benefits and no strings attached seemed like the perfect idea. Until things become messy, emotions caused your agreement to crumble.

A/N:  I am HYPE to post this new chapter! Omg I just love writing this series so much its so fun writing Tom like this lol. Also low key...this chapter has an easter egg to a pervious series of mine and I’m v curious if anyone catches it but probably not because its superrr tiny but either way I hope you guys like this one! Obviously, smut is in this chapter! DM me to be tagged and I cannot wait to hear everyone’s thoughts! (Also .gif is not mine. DM me for credit please, I found on google!) Thank you xx -N

“What happened to that girl you took home the other night from The Lace Rabbit?” Harrison asked as he ordered his lunch before he took a seat at the table with Tom. It was typical for them to meet up during the week on their lunch breaks and catch up when they were not busy being wingmen for the other while bar hopping on the weekends. 

Tom shrugged off Harrison’s question as he took a bite of his sandwich, “She got a little clingy so I had Y/N help me get rid of her,” he smiled as he said your name out loud. His friends knew of you as the hot girl who lived next door who bailed him out of sticky situations. Always teasing Tom how he could never actually get you. The irony made it all too funny for him, “How’d it go with that blonde girl?” he asked to change the subject off of him.

He didn’t know if he should bring up the two of you sleeping together with Harrison. Harrison was his best friend and wouldn’t judge but he knew he’d give Tom shit for it. He’d want to know details of your arrangement or how it came about, if you were really that good and Tom didn’t feel comfortable answering that. Not if it was about you. He didn’t want his other friends knowing about you in the way he did. That was personal between you both and he wanted to show you he respected you.

“It didn’t,” Harrison admitted while taking a sip of his water. He let out a chuckle as he felt himself blushing, “Forgot her name and she spilt her drink on me. Can’t say I didn’t deserve that one,” he at least knew when he was in the wrong.

Tom cringed into his sandwich as he let out a cackle, “You definitely deserved it, mate,” he laughed with another bite. His phone vibrated in his pocket but he chose to ignore it, knowing like clock work what it probably was. It was going to ruin the rest of his day and he at least wanted to enjoy lunch with his friend before getting pissed off for the day.

“She’d probably love you,” Harrison teased. 

“Fuck off,” Tom rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I’m not taking your angry seconds.”

“Don’t knock angry sex til you try it,” Harrison smirked knowingly. 

Tom shook his head as he once again ignored the phone ringing, “I think I’m good, thanks,” he brushed it off with another eyeroll. 

He didn’t know why he suddenly felt weird talking about their last venture out at the club. Maybe it was because Tom knew where he ended up after that girl had left and he knew what that meant for the both of you. But Tom wasn’t done with his bachelor days, and even you knew that. Hell, you practically insisted since this was a no strings attached deal.

It just felt strange not telling Harrison about you. Like it was a weird secret. But at the same time, he felt oddly protective of you. Not wanting his friends to see you as some girl he was getting laid with. Or worse, a potential love interest. He knew it wasn’t going to happen. Hell would be freezing over before Tom decided on any sort of long term obligation. But he knew his friends and he knew they wouldn’t see this is a simple agreement between two friends. And he didn’t want to deal with that conversation.

Staying quiet was the better option. For his own sanity. And...well, would you care if he told anyone about this? Tom figured that was another rule he’d have to ask about. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries and he knew you had a list of rules as well that he was happy to follow. As long as that meant one thing and one thing only: non-exclusive.

Harrison noticed Tom’s phone buzzing for the third time. And Tom ignored it for the third time. He checked the message with a huff of his breath before turning the screen face down on the table, going back to his lunch before he had to get back to work.

“Clingy girl?” Harrison nodded towards Tom’s phone. 

Tom shook his head, “My mother was supposed to visit this weekend but you know the routine,” he mumbled into his food, not even wanting to respond to her.

“Let me guess,” Harrison began, knowing exactly where this was going since he knew Tom’s whole story inside and out. Including the bits he hated to discuss which was mainly his family, “Going skiing with Clint in Veil instead?” he questioned knowingly.

Tom scoffed out a laugh at his guess, “Surfing with Clint in Malibu but same shit,” he corrected as he tried not to let it get to him. But even Harrison could tell he was getting bothered by it once again and who could honestly blame him.

 Always the same story every time no matter what and Tom grew tired of her antics. He couldn’t even blame Clint for it anymore considering she’d been this way since he was a kid before he was even in the picture. Only now she would just use him as the perfect excuse to get out of coming to visit.

He knew he shouldn’t care anymore but he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t something easy for him to simply let go of. It was his mother. And no matter how many times he’d try she would always give him back the bare minimum and it always made him upset. She was his one final connection to him and she could care less about any of it, so why did Tom? It always got under his skin and he loathed that it did.

But he would still invite her. No matter how miserable it made him.

“Well at least now you’re free this weekend,” Harrison broke his thought while he gathered their garbage before they headed back to work, “The usual at The Lace Rabbit this Saturday then?” he suggested with a knowing smile to try and get Tom out of his mood.

Grabbing his phone, Tom clutched it tightly as he inhaled sharply. Knowing his change of plans meant doing his normal routine even though he was looking forward to the slight change this weekend, which now just seemed bleak to him

.

“Yeah,” Tom agreed as he tapped your name on his phone but hesitated when he saw his mother trying to call for a fourth time, “The usual this weekend.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your chest tensed as you got into your car after your extremely long day in the office. Everything around you felt heavy and you couldn’t wait to get home as soon as you could but you found yourself still frozen in your car. Unable to move as the moments from earlier this afternoon invaded your thoughts once again while you tried your best to move in. Even though you knew you were completely grief stricken and didn’t know what the hell to do.

The promotion was yours, at least you had thought it was by the way your boss would constantly hint at it. You knew it was never a definite thing, but you were confident in the hard work you had put into your job and knew you were a top contender for the spot. You worked longer hours, took on extra tasks, you even worked on the occasional weekend to get your work done. Taking every precaution necessary to prove that you were the best fit for the role.

Everything felt like it was lining up for you. Co-workers were giving you a pat on the back for your work accomplishments, your boss was taking note of everything you were doing, and you overall felt really good about where you stood for the potential position. So imagine your surprise when you attended the big luncheon and your boss announced his undeserving son was getting the spot instead of you.

It was both nepotism and misogyny rolled into one and it made your stomach turn the longer you had thought about it. None of it made any sense and it was far from fair. You knew you were the one more deserving of the position, the whole office knew it. Even your damn boss knew but he chose his damn son over you and it felt like a stab right to your gut.

You felt so betrayed and beside yourself as you finally decided to head home. Tears streamed down your cheeks while you tried to focus on the road but you just couldn’t ignore the facts. How were you going to be able to show up and take orders now from your boss’ son? You knew the job more than he did and it felt like a huge screw you.

On your drive home, you tried to make yourself feel better by putting on some music to distract yourself but nothing helped. You felt beyond defeated and frustrated right now you didn’t know what was going to make you feel better at the moment. It felt like the world was against you. Between finding Justin with another woman and your job, you were really batting one thousand lately and you weren’t sure when you would catch a break.

Things were not going how you planned at all. The thought of just quitting your job and starting all over again crossed your mind but the fear of the unknown kept haunting you. You didn’t know which direction to go in or who to turn to for advice anymore. You were slowly drowning and you needed someone to throw you a goddamn life jacket already.

You were relieved to finally be home. Maybe some peace and quiet would make you feel a little better, you thought to yourself while you kicked your shoes off and turned some music on for yourself. Trying to put the day behind you and focus on the present moment while you got changed into more comfortable clothes to unwind.

You jumped out of your skin when you heard a knock at your door, not expecting anybody to come by right now. Pulling your hair up into a bun, you headed back towards the door and looked through the peephole. To your surprise, you weren’t really surprised at all. You were actually sort of relieved when you opened the door and saw Tom standing there holding a pizza box.

“That better have extra cheese,” you asked with a narrowed expression while you invited him inside with the pizza that he would always bring you even in normal times. 

Placing the box on the kitchen table, Tom opened it with a grin as he showed you the pizza pie with cheese practically oozing from the crusts, “Figured it was an extra toppings sort of day,” he admitted, knowing he really needed the escape from reality. Even if it was just a pizza.

“Tell me about it,” you sighed as you grabbed a piece closest to you as Tom handed you a paper plate. You headed over towards your refrigerator to grab you both a few beers while Tom leaned up against your kitchen counter as he devoured his slice, “I’m guessing you had a bad day judging by your pizza presentation?” knowing there wasn’t really any particular reason he’d be coming over with it today. Unless if he wanted something?

You slowed your pace back from the fridge wondering if he was going to pick up on how you were feeling. You weren’t entirely sure if you wanted him to notice. Whenever you and Tom had a pizza night it was merely to gossip about your lunatic neighbors or watch a game together. You talked about casual things but never really gone into depth or prying into each other’s lives. Why did it feel like suddenly you wanted something different? Would sex change that much in your friendship?

“We can just ignore that...we don’t have to talk about unimportant stuff,” you waved it off. Tom didn’t need to hear about your miserable day. And you didn’t want to pry into his. 

He swallowed the last bite of his slice, “If something makes you upset, it’s not unimportant,” he noted. But when he noticed you just looking at him, he raised his hands in surrender. “Ignore my philosophical ass. But I’d like to hear about your day, you know,” he laughed it off. 

What the hell was he doing? He thought to himself. Don’t let personal shit ruin this. Enjoy her company. That’s it. 

“I didn’t get the promotion,” you told him. You had mentioned to Tom a while ago that your boss was hinting at it but you never went into detail with him about it. You weren’t used to Tom actually wanting to be open or the other way around. And you’d be lying if you said you weren’t slightly surprised Tom even gave a crap about stuff like this. 

Tom frowned at your answer and he felt his heart sink a bit when you told him the truth about your bad day. He didn’t know much about your job but he was sure you were a hard worker. He saw how much you loved your job and how passionate you were about it when it would come up. You would share upcoming projects with him from time to time and he would see the look on your face whenever you explained them to him. So hearing that you were passed by for a promotion was upsetting to him.

“I...shit, Y/N,” he put his pizza down as he walked over towards to give you a hug. Sliding his hands around your waist he pulled you into him as he felt you relax against his chest, “You didn’t deserve that,” he added softly.

You allowed Tom to embrace you, his warmness comforting you a bit before you pulled away and started crying when telling him about your boss’ son getting the job instead of you. Making you laugh by calling him every name in the book, you and Tom finally found a common ground as you kept venting to him.

Tom pulled away slowly, his hand resting at your chin while he licked his lips, “You’re boss sounds like a fucking prick, I hope you know that,” he told you reassuringly. The small smile you formed when he spoke made him want to keep making you feel better, “I’m glad you’re smiling,” he blushed at his confession.

Stretching your mouth wider, you flashed Tom a playful yet overly wide grin to deflect the attention he gave to you. The two of you laughed as Tom pulled away with a loud chuckle, shaking his head at your sudden silliness, “That has to be the most hideous smile. But we’ll work on it,” he told you through his laughter.

You rolled your eyes before going back to your pizza, giving Tom a look as you nudged him, “Not gonna tell me about what happened to you?” you finally asked.

Tom tensed as he tried to brush it off with a simple shrug into his pizza. The thought of his mother’s texts and ridiculous apologies and excuses continued to drive him crazy as he mumbled into his bite, ���It’s stupid shit,” he told you as he swallowed the crust he was chewing, “Mom stuff, not important,” he added bluntly.

You could see the look on his face and could tell it was important to him but you didn’t want to force him to talk about it. Tom was never one to bring up his family ever to you and that was the first time you had ever heard him even mention his mother. He never spoke of his father, at least to you, so you just assumed both were out of his life for whatever reason and it was none of your business to ask.

 And Tom refused to admit it but he wanted you to ask about him. Spending hours upon hours at bars, turning his focus always onto the girl; because he knew no girl would ever want to go home with a self righteous, egotistical guy. It was never something Tom minded to do, especially with complete strangers who he would never open up to in a million years. It might have been the recent development he had with you but there was something refreshing he felt around you and as much as it freaked him out, he didn’t seem to mind.

But diving into his mommy issues with you now seemed too much to deal with right now. You were dealing with more than enough problems with your job and your miserable ex-boyfriend, he figured you didn’t need to hear his bitching right now anyway. He came here to get away from those shitty thoughts, not open those wounds further. 

Tom came here for a distraction.

Licking his lips, Tom perked up as he looked at you fervidly, “Wanna have sex?” he asked matter of factly. He figured he didn’t need to beat around the bush since you had your arrangement but maybe he was a bit too direct with his request. Tom cleared his throat as he tried to save the night, “I-I mean, I just figured since we both had shitty days that maybe we could uhm-”

“Thought you’d never ask,” you cut him off with a smirk and you perked up as well, nodding as you smoothed out your hair. Standing back up as you turned your back towards him, removing your shirt in the process, “Let’s go,” you called over your shoulder as you headed towards your room.

“Oh, we’re jumping right in,” Tom mumbled to himself as he practically fell off his chair to follow you into your room, tossing his shirt beside yours as he practically froze already seeing you completely undressed, “Christ…” he breathed out while taking you in. 

You rolled your eyes as you walked over to him, bringing your lips to his now bare shoulder, “You’re really acting like you haven’t seen me like this the other day?” You laughed against his skin while you began to suck a bruise against him, hearing him let out a gasp while your hand snaked into his pants sneakily, “Beginning to really like this whole friends with benefits thing we have,” you laughed as you found Tom’s lips.

Practically growling into your kiss, Tom lifted you up and lowered you onto your back on your bed. His lips traveled from yours, to your stomach, dipping his tongue into your belly button as you moaned quietly before he brought himself down between your thighs. His lips peppering your inner thigh before he got straight to the point because this whole arrangement meant no foreplay. Another plus for Tom.

“Darling, I think you may be the best friend I’ve ever had,” Tom breathed out a laugh as he pressed his tongue flatly against your clit. Sliding two of his fingers into your core while he slowly pumped in and out of you, “This is what got me through my day today,” he told you before he brought his mouth back to your core.

You arched your back while your fingers went towards Tom’s curls. His name began to fall from your lips while he lapped his tongue carefully, letting it slip inside of you as he continued to tease you with his mouth. His fingers sliding into you again, adding a third as he moaned against your center; allowing the vibrations to roll throughout your entire body.

“Mmm, oh, fuck...!” you cried out, yanking gently against Tom’s hair as you felt the coil beginning to burn from inside of you. Biting your lip to stifle another moan, “Fuck...yo-you’re really good at that,” you breathed out with a small laugh which turned into a whimper.

With his head peering up at you, Tom flashed you a cocky smile with a playful wink as he licked your folds teasingly, “Did you seriously doubt my abilities to make you cum with my mouth, Y/N?” he raised his eyebrow while pumping his fingers now tantalizingly slow, “You’re gonna pay for that comment,” he said to you.

“Just...shut up and make me cum, Tom,” you told him through another gasp as you felt his teeth drag teasingly against your already throbbing bud. His lips wrapped around it as he sucked more harshly, doing exactly as you had asked him to do, “Ungh...oh god, okay. Yeah, keep doing that,” you instructed as you began to grind your hips against his mouth.

Tom took it as a challenge and picked up his pace, beginning to flick your clit faster while he continuously sucked on it. His three fingers now entirely coated in your warmth as he felt you clenching around them. His pants feeling tighter from his hard on while he knelt at the end of your bed trying to bring you to where he wanted.

His free hand splayed against your stomach, holding you in place while he felt you trying to squirm around from the way he was making you feel. Rubbing your clit in between his breaths, Tom looked up at you as he licked a solid stripe down your center, “Let out how you’re feeling from today and cum for me, Y/N,” Tom commanded. 

Your eyes shut as you did exactly what Tom had suggested. Completely coming undone from beneath him while you released as much of the tension from earlier as you possibly could but in the most amazing way. Your eyes rolled back into your head while your back arched as Tom’s tongue continued to work you up while you were at your highest point.

Letting out a breathy laugh as you started to come down from it, feeling Tom begin to kiss his way back up your stomach with a smug look, “Don’t give me that look,” you rolled your eyes at his cockiness as his tongue traced along your neck, “I could do what you just did to myself, you know,” you tried to knock him off his high horse a bit while he pretended to be wounded from your words.

“Ah, but you didn’t. Did you?” Tom reminded you as his lips found yours. His hands still in between your thighs as he brought them between you both, showing you his coated fingers while he tasted you off of them, “Tastes like I made you cum because you wanted me to,” his smugness only elevated as he pushed himself off of you as he laid on his back on your bed.

“Need I remind you that you came to my place like a porno with a pizza looking to get laid,” you retaliated as you shifted so you were now hovering over him. Your hands guiding towards his belt buckle to get him out of his restraintive pants. The pleading look on his face made you just as smug, “Sounds like you want me to do just about the same thing, am I right or am I right?” you sang in his ear.

Tom helped you get the rest of his pants and boxers off, feeling himself spring out as he stared back at you with uncertainty, “Did you...just call me a porn star?” he questioned as the two of you let out a laugh.

“You wish, Tommy,” you teased as you ran your tongue down his abs, placing small and open kisses against his stomach as you made your way down to his legs while your hand carefully gripped his hardened length, your thumb running the pre-cum around his tip while you already heard him gasping for you.

Gripping your bedsheets with one hand, Tom reached around to create a makeshift ponytail to hold your hair. Cussing under his breath as he watched your mouth wrap around his tip, swirling your tongue around it while your eyes searched for his. He was really trying to hold it together but you were already driving him crazy.

“Let’s see what you got, Y/N,” Tom challenged you with a heavy breath as he tightened his grip around your hair, “Sometimes, girls think they know exactly what to do but-OH FUCK!” 

His words were lost as soon as your mouth went straight down to his base. Suctioning as hard as you could before coming back up his cock painfully slow. Moaning your name as his chest began to heave, Tom felt his thighs start to quiver from under you. Even just watching the way you were working on him was enough to make him whimper right now.

“Fuck...okay, yeah I take that back,” Tom gasped as his nose crinkled up while his other hand white knuckled the sheets, “God, your mouth is fucking perfect. Why haven’t we done any of this shit before?” he was in such a fucked out haze, he wasn’t even sure if anything he was saying made any sense at all. But he felt his stress from earlier going away finally. Even if this was just a short state of bliss, he was grateful for it anyway.

“You really want me to answer that or would you just prefer me to keep sucking your dick?” you sassed while you kitten licked his tip. You watched from the end of the bed as Tom bucked his hips into your mouth to try and get more contact from your lips but you pulled away from him and just kept licking his tip.

God, you were good, Tom thought to himself.

‘K-keep going,” Tom finally breathed out, flinging his head against the pillow to brace for the impact.

Hollowing your cheeks, you pushed yourself all the way down his cock. Your tongue flicking the base in between as you began to feel him throb inside of your mouth. You could tell he was close so you moaned softly into his cock, watching as Tom shuddered from the sensation you just sent through him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Tom cried out, moaning your name as he rutted his hips into your mouth. His pupils blacked as he felt the heat rising in his body, “Shit...I’m gonna cum, Y/N,” he warned as you pulled away, running your hand down his shaft as he began to come undone for you.

His warmth spilled out into your hand and down his cock while he let go finally. The stress somewhat leaving his body as it did yours while the euphoric high peaked for him. Your lips crashed against his while his tongue parted your lips to find yours, tangling them together as he moaned against your mouth while riding out his high finally.

You waited for Tom to catch his breath before you smiled against his lips, placing a small peck against them as you pulled away with an even bigger grin, “Yeah, you’re welcome,” you gave him the same arrogant tone he gave to you moments earlier before you pecked his lips again.

After taking some time to get yourselves together mixed with the continuous fooling around underneath the sheets, you and Tom finally decided to get up and end the night. Even though he didn’t want to leave, he knew he probably shouldn’t overstay. Primarily, Tom was adamant about never spending the night at a girl’s place that he slept with. That made things complicated and he didn’t want complicated. But since you and him had rules to not make things messy, he wasn’t sure if that applied to you. For now, he wanted to play it safe so he got himself dressed again.

You pulled on an oversized t-shirt, realizing both of your hair looked a mess. Luckily you were already home and Tom was down the hall so it didn’t really matter. You wanted to say something to Tom, that you were thankful he came by tonight. You were thankful even before sex was on the table. It felt nice to have him as an ally to swing by with a pizza when he didn’t even know you needed that.

“...is it weird to say I’m glad you came by?” you gestured towards your bedroom while you walked with him out into the kitchen where the half eaten pizza was left, “I know we haven’t really made too many rules about it but…” you trailed off with a nervous laugh as you smiled at him awkwardly.

“Like we said, zero weirdness,” Tom reminded you as he padded his way over to you. He grabbed a leftover crust from the box and shoved it in his mouth, clearly starving already from the workout you had just given him. He smiled while he chewed lazily, his mouth still filled with pizza crumbs, “But I’m happy to come by when we have shit days...and make you cum as well,” he smirked deviously. 

The door opened as you smiled back, “Doesn’t have to be just bad days, you know. We could...screw whenever we feel like it,” you told him, hoping that it wasn’t too much.

“Did you just say screw?” he whipped his head towards you with a loud laugh.

“Alright then, I guess I’ll just leave you to the girls who leave you unsatisfied then,” you fought back.

Tom leaned against the door with his mouth gaped open, “They do not...leave me...unsatisfied?” he questioned himself, knowing that that was true, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

“Then why are you here?” you placed a hand on your hip, feeling the smile pulling at your lips while you messed around with him. You certainly weren’t in this mood earlier before Tom came around.

Pressing his lips together, Tom rolled his eye at you, “Fine...we can screw...whenever,” he leaned in closer to you with his eyes big as he mimicked your voice when you said it, “As long as we keep this thing strictly what we intended, you can use me whenever you need, Y/N,” and he meant it.

You didn’t back away when he sealed his words with a soft kiss, paired with his trademark grin. Tom pulled away slowly, taking in the moment as he wished you a goodnight quietly before kissing you against the cheek, “Like I said, best friend I ever had,” he said softly once again.

“Am I interrupting something?” A voice broke from behind the two of you. Both of your eyes widened towards each other as you both simultaneously pivoted your heads towards the staircase where the voice was coming from.

Tom closed his eyes with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to ignore Harrison staring at the two of you with a crooked grin. Making it known to Tom that explaining this was going to be a lot tougher than he had imagined.

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