#it feels like it just came out i can't believe it's been so long wtf

[scarlet-bee]

Finally rewatching season 3!!

[elryuse]

It Should Be Me

Yandere Yooyeon Triples X Male Reader

Requested by my dear friend on discord. Hope you like it bruh.

I can't remember a time when Yooyeon wasn't there. We were practically attached at the hip from preschool. She was always the older, wiser one, even if by a year. I remember her pulling me away from a particularly nasty sandbox fight, her small hand gripping mine with surprising strength.

"Don't fight, Y/n," she'd said, her voice firm for someone so young. "It's not nice."

I pouted, but I listened. There was something about the way she looked at me, with that intense focus, that made me feel safe.

As we grew older, our bond deepened. We'd spend hours lost in our own world, building forts in the woods behind my house, sharing secrets, and dreaming about the future. Yooyeon was my confidante, my protector, and my best friend.

Then Nakyoung came along. She was a whirlwind, a burst of sunshine that lit up every room. I was drawn to her energy, her laughter. It was like she brought color into my world. I remember the day she confessed her feelings for me, under the old oak tree in the park. My heart pounded in my chest as she poured her heart out. It was overwhelming, but there was something about her sincerity that made me realize I felt the same way.

We started dating, and it was like a dream. Nakyoung was everything I could have asked for in a girlfriend. She was smart, funny, and incredibly supportive. We spent countless hours together, holding hands, sharing secrets, and making plans for the future.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, there was always Yooyeon. She'd been there for me through everything, and I cared about her deeply. But our relationship had changed. The closeness we once shared had drifted apart. She seemed quieter, more withdrawn.

Now in high school, with Nakyoung by my side, I tried to ignore the growing distance between Yooyeon and me. It was like she was watching from the sidelines, a silent observer of our happiness. Sometimes, I'd catch her looking at me with a longing that made me uncomfortable.

I pushed those feelings aside. After all, Yooyeon was my best friend, and I trusted her completely. But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Yooyeon was changing, and I didn't know how to help her.

Little did I know, the darkness that was creeping into Yooyeon's heart would soon consume her, and our lives would be irrevocably changed.

The cafeteria was a cacophony of noise, a sea of students jostling for space and food. Nakyoung was perched on my lap, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck as she giggled into my ear. Her laughter was like a warm sunbeam, chasing away the shadows of my worries.

"You're such a dork, Y/n," she teased, her breath tickling my skin. I grinned, squeezing her a little tighter.

"Only for you, princess," I replied, my voice muffled by her hair.

Just as I was about to steal a kiss, a crash echoed through the cafeteria. My heart skipped a beat as I turned to see Yooyeon standing there, her face flushed with embarrassment. A tray of food lay shattered on the floor, the remnants of Nakyoung's lunch scattered everywhere.

Nakyoung's smile vanished, replaced by a scowl. "WTF!!! Watch where you're going, idiot!" she snapped, her voice sharp.

Yooyeon's eyes widened in shock. "I-I'm so sorry," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper.

A wave of anger washed over me. It wasn't Yooyeon's fault. Accidents happen. I reached out to take Nakyoung's hand, trying to calm her down. "It's okay, Nakyoung," I said softly. "It was an accident."

But she was beyond reason. Her anger was a wildfire, consuming everything in its path. "Don't defend her," she hissed, her eyes flashing with fury. "She's always been clumsy."

My blood ran cold. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Yooyeon was my friend, and Nakyoung was being incredibly unfair. A surge of protectiveness for Yooyeon ignited within me.

"That's enough, Nakyoung," I said firmly, my voice low and dangerous. Her eyes widened in surprise. I'd never spoken to her like that before.

Without another word, I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cafeteria. We stormed out into the hallway, ignoring the stunned stares of the students.

I dragged her into a small café on the corner, the bell above the door jingling softly. We sat down at a quiet corner table, the soft jazz music providing a much-needed respite from the chaos of the cafeteria.

I ordered two dalgona coffees and a small plate of brownies, trying to calm my racing heart. Nakyoung sat across from me, her arms crossed, her face still flushed with anger.

"I can't believe you defended her," she said finally, her voice laced with venom.

"Yooyeon is my friend, Nakyoung," I said calmly. "She didn't mean to spill your food."

"She's clumsy," she retorted.

I sighed. "Accidents happen, Nakyoung. We all make mistakes."

She glared at me, but I could see the anger slowly fading from her eyes. I took a sip of my coffee, the sweet and bitter taste a comforting contrast to the turmoil inside me.

*sighs* "I-i'm sorry for overreacting," she said finally, her voice softer.

I smiled. "It's okay. But please, try to be a little kinder to Yooyeon. She's been there for me since we were kids."

She nodded, her expression thoughtful. "I know. She's your noona, right?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, she's my noona. Even though we've grown apart a bit since high school, she's still my senior. I look up to her."

Nakyoung smiled, and for the first time since the incident, her eyes held a genuine warmth. "I'll apologize to her tomorrow," she promised.

Relief washed over me. I reached across the table and ruffled her hair. "Good girl," I said, grinning.

As we left the café, hand-in-hand, I felt a sense of peace wash over me. The tension between Nakyoung and Yooyeon had been a constant source of stress, but for now at least, it seemed to have eased.

Meanwhile, In Yooyeon's POV

My heart pounded in my chest like a trapped bird. The sting of Nakyoung's words was a physical pain, a sharp knife twisting in my gut. To be dismissed so casually, to be seen as nothing more than a clumsy idiot, it was almost too much to bear.

I watched as Y/n and Nakyoung walked away, their hands intertwined, their laughter like a mocking melody in my ears. They were a perfect match, a fairytale couple, and I was the unwanted extra in their story.

A wave of despair washed over me. I'd loved Y/n for as long as I could remember. I'd watched him grow from a shy little boy into the handsome young man he was now. And yet, I'd never had the courage to tell him how I felt.

I pulled out my phone and found a picture of Y/n from our high school yearbook. His smile was as bright as the sun, and my heart ached with longing. I traced his features with my finger, tears blurring my vision.

"Why didn't I tell him?" I whispered to myself, my voice trembling. "Why didn't I have the courage?"

The answer was a bitter taste in my mouth. Fear. Fear of rejection, fear of losing his friendship. I'd let my fear dictate my life, and now I was paying the price.

But as the tears continued to flow, something else began to stir within me. A dark, twisted feeling that was both terrifying and exhilarating. A part of me wanted to lash out, to hurt Nakyoung for what she'd said. To make her pay for stealing Y/n's heart.

And another part of me wanted to possess Y/n completely, to be the only one who saw him, touched him, loved him. I wanted to be the center of his world, the only person who mattered.

A dangerous smile crept across my face as I stared at the picture of Y/n. This wasn't the Yooyeon I knew, the shy, quiet girl who was always in the background. This was someone new, someone dark and twisted.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging inside me. I knew what I had to do. I had to get Y/n back, no matter the cost.

And as I looked into Y/n's smiling face, I made a promise to myself. I would have him, even if it meant destroying everything in my way.

The cafeteria was buzzing with activity, a sea of students chattering and laughing. I took a deep breath and walked in, bracing myself for whatever Nakyoung had planned.

To my surprise, she approached me with a look of genuine remorse. "Yooyeon Unnie, I'm so sorry about yesterday," she said, her voice sincere. "I was out of line."

I was caught off guard. I hadn't expected an apology, certainly not such a heartfelt one. I forced a smile. "It's no problem, Nakyoung. It was my fault for being so clumsy."

We stood there for a moment, an awkward silence hanging between us. Then, she nodded and walked away, joining her friends.

As the day wore on, I tried to focus on my classes, but my mind was racing. Nakyoung's apology had thrown me off balance. Part of me wanted to believe that she was sincere, but the other part was wary.

During my last class, I caught a glimpse of Nakyoung and her friends huddled together, their voices filled with laughter. I couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"And guess what?" I heard Nakyoung say, her voice excited. "I'm going to steal Y/n's first kiss!"

The room seemed to tilt on its axis. My heart pounded in my ears as I processed her words. She was going to take Y/n's first kiss? How could she be so heartless?

My vision blurred as anger and jealousy consumed me. I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there.

I stood up abruptly, my chair scraping against the floor. My classmates stared at me in confusion, but I didn't care. I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the classroom, ignoring the teacher's calls for me to stay.

I ran out of the school and into the fresh air, the cold wind doing little to cool the fire burning inside me. I stumbled upon a park bench and collapsed, my body trembling.

How could I have been so stupid? I'd let Y/n slip through my fingers, and now he was about to be taken by someone else. I was a failure as a friend, as a woman.

Desperation and hatred warred within me. I had to do something, but I didn't know what. All I knew was that I couldn't let this happen.

Nakyoung was going to pay for what she was planning to do.

Back To Y/n's POV

I was buried in textbooks, trying to absorb the dense material for the upcoming exam. A sharp rap on the door startled me. Assuming it was Nakyoung, I quickly got up to open it. To my surprise, it was Yooyeon, standing there with a hesitant smile, holding a bag and a glass of soju.

"Yooyeon Noona? What are you doing here?" I asked, confusion evident in my voice.

She chuckled nervously. "I brought you dinner. And... well, I thought we could use a drink."

I stepped aside, inviting her in. The sight of her, standing in my small apartment, felt oddly intimate. We settled on the couch, the bag of food between us. The apartment was filled with an awkward silence, a stark contrast to the usual noise of our high school lives.

"So, how have you been?" I asked, trying to break the ice.

Yooyeon's smile faltered slightly. "I've been... okay, I guess. Just dealing with the usual final term stress."

We talked for a while, about school, friends, and the future. It felt like we were reconnecting, like we were back in those carefree days of childhood. As the soju warmed my insides, the conversation turned more serious.

"Y/n," Yooyeon began, her voice trembling slightly, "I need to tell you something."

I nodded, my heart pounding. "What is it Noona?"

She took a deep breath. "I saw Nakyoung with another guy today. They were... pretty intimate."

My world seemed to stop. Nakyoung? Cheating? It couldn't be true. I knew her, I trusted her.

"Y-you're lying," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Yooyeon's eyes filled with tears. "I wish I was. But I saw it with my own eyes."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My heart shattered into a million pieces. I felt betrayed, deceived.

"N-no," I whispered again, shaking my head. "It's not true."

Yooyeon reached out and took my hand. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. She's been cheating on you."

Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't stop them. I felt like a fool, a complete idiot for trusting her.

Yooyeon pulled me into a tight embrace, her body trembling against mine. "I'm so sorry, Y/n," she whispered. "I know this must hurt you"

I clung to her, finding solace in her warmth. In that moment, she was the only person in the world who understood my pain.

"You're the only one who's ever really cared about me," she said, her voice muffled by my hair.

I looked up at her, my vision blurred with tears. She leaned in closer, her eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and desire. And then, she kissed me.

It was a gentle kiss, filled with a tenderness that surprised me. In that moment, the world disappeared, leaving only us. It was my first kiss, and it was perfect, or so it seemed.

But as our lips parted, a cold dread washed over me. I had been betrayed, not just by Nakyoung, but by my own heart.

I was lost, adrift in a sea of confusion and pain.

Nakyoung's POV

My heart pounded in my chest like a frantic drumbeat. It was almost midnight, and Y/n hadn't answered any of my calls or texts. A wave of panic washed over me. Something was wrong.

I raced to his apartment, my mind a whirlwind of worst-case scenarios. I pounded on the door, my knuckles aching. "Y/n! Open up!" I shouted, my voice trembling.

The door creaked open, revealing Yooyeon standing in the doorway. She was wearing a little piece of clothing, Her hair was disheveled, her eyes filled with a strange intensity. My heart skipped a beat. What was going on?

"Yooyeon Unnie? " I stammered, my voice barely a whisper.

She stepped aside, revealing Y/n sitting on the couch, looking pale and drawn. My relief turned to horror as I took in the scene. Yooyeon was wearing Y/n's shirt, and there was an undeniable intimacy between them that made my blood run cold.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, my voice rising.

Yooyeon's lips curled into a sinister smile. "It's simple, Nakyoung. Y/n is mine now."

I felt a surge of anger. "You're crazy! He loves me!"

Yooyeon laughed, a cold, hollow sound. "Love? That's a childish notion. Possession is power, and he belongs to me now."

I lunged forward, ready to confront her, but she held up a hand to stop me. "Don't even bother," she said, her voice dripping with contempt. "It's too late for you."

She turned to Y/n, her eyes softening. "Darling, why don't you show her how happy you are?"

Y/n looked at me with a vacant expression, as if he were a sleepwalker. He stood up and walked towards me, his movements slow and deliberate.

Terror gripped me as he approached. I backed away, but there was nowhere to go. I was trapped.

Yooyeon stepped in front of me, her arm around Y/n's waist. "He's mine now, Nakyoung," she whispered, her breath warm against my ear. "So go home. This is our life now."

I tried to fight, to break free, but it was useless. Yooyeon was stronger than I thought, and Y/n was like a zombie, following her every command.

As I was dragged out of the apartment, I looked back at Y/n one last time. The man I loved was gone, replaced by a hollow shell controlled by a deranged woman.

A cold despair settled over me. I had lost everything.

The world seemed to darken as the door closed behind me, leaving me alone in the cold, unforgiving night.

The End

[siriustaylorsversion]

She's always owned my heart (Taylor Swift x reader) pt.2

it's been a long time coming... part 1 part 3 part 4

taylorswift

taylorswift In my Eras era. 💅 liked by yourname.official, gracieabrams and 10,556,004 others.

yourname.official it's been a long time coming, miss americana 🫶🏼

florence.bysinks WAIT WILL WE SEE YOU TOGETHER??? gracieabrams mothers 🧎🏻‍♀️ forever.more GRACIE REPRESENTS ALL OF US DJWNJWCNJKHRCG

sadiesink_ OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD

blakelively screaming crying throwing up

y/n_sink I'M LITERALLY CRYING

tay.y/nforevermore MOTHER CAME BACK STRONGER THAN A 90'S TREND costataylorsversion i wake up TO THIS???

yourname.official

yourname.official is there anything better than opening for the opening night for the best, most talented woman? wait... what if it's performing with her? WHAT IF IT'S BOTH??? glendale, can't wait to see you tonight! liked by taylorswift, blakelively and 7,900,544 others.

taylorswift stop i'm BLUSHING

yourname.official *plays maroon* costataylorsversion NOT yourname.official BEING THE DEFINITION OF A SWIFTIE oliviarodrigo i LIVE for these interactions

conangray TAKE MY HOUSE GIMME TICKETS

oliviarodrigo (real) snehit.13 😭🫶🏼😭💘

ememyers SEE YOU TONIGHT MOTHERS

tay.y/nforevermore please gimme the tickets or jenna's number I'M BEGGING YOU zendaya 💕💕

theerastour.updates

theerastour.updates taylorswift and yourname.official IN THEIR INSTAGRAM STORIES!!!!!! liked by yourname.official, forever.folklore and 400,930 others

taylorswift

taylorswift WOW, just… wow. Thank you to the band, dancers, and I can’t stop talking about how insanely magical it was playing for you guys tonight. You were always bouncing, dancing, screaming every lyric. And you created so many breathtaking moments for us, you know what I mean. Looove yooouuu.

And, yourname.official, YOU WERE WITH ME throughout this unreal night!! Beyond the music, you are my partner in every sense of the word. Through the highs and lows, you've stood by my side, and together, we've made memories that I will cherish for eternity.

Thank you, my love, for being the muse behind every lyric, for sharing this magical stage with me, and for filling my life with endless love and happiness. With you, the world becomes a symphony, and I am forever grateful for the melody we create together. liked by yourname.official, blakelively, and 11,800,300 others.

yourname.official I'M CRYING WTF

yourname.official MY HEART JUST SKIPPED 13 BEATS

tomholland2013 so you're dead... hopefully? tay.y/nforevermore MY FAVORITE ON SCREEN SIBLINGS😭

theerastour.updates IM FREAKING OUT I WANNA BE HERE OH MY GOD I WANT TICKETS PLEASE

ememyers LITERALLY THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE 💘

zendaya SAME conangray *plays jealousy jealously* oliviarodrigo STOP- forever.folklore CONAN REPRESENTING ALL OF US RN

blakelively MY FAVORITE PEOPLE ARE HERE AAHH

vancityreynolds The girls and I are offended... blakelively shush, now's not the time.

yourname.official

yourname.official THANK YOU TO ALL THE LOVELY FANS, THANK YOU TO THE GODDESS THAT IS BLONDIE!!! i was dared to write something more romantic than taylorswift wrote.. we all know that's not possible but i shall try.

taylor, beyond the stage, you are my rock, my confidante, and my partner in crime. your unwavering support and love have lifted me up in ways I never thought possible.

tonight reminded me of the beautiful journey we've embarked on together, both personally and professionally. the music we've made, the memories we've shared, and the love we've cultivated is something i hold dear to my heart. it's a testament to the power of two souls intertwining and creating something extraordinary.

thank you, for being my light in the darkness, for always believing in me, and for making this night an unforgettable chapter in our story. with you by my side, anything feels possible, and i am forever grateful for the love we share. it's you and me, that's my whole world. liked by taylorswift, zendaya and 9,700,405 others.

taylorswift your caption is definitely better than mine, i'm crying

taylorswift MEET ME BEHIND THE STAGE YOU LITERAL ANGEL.

yourname.official your wish is my command. tomholland2013 😏 yourname.official @tomholland2013 DIE.

conangray WHEN I TELL YOU I SOBBED

ememyers literally the most relatable person ever. florenceby.sink CONAN FNKHTNJAWHTBVJWHJ

blakelively IM CRYING MY BABIES ARE BREAKING RECORDS 🥺

mayahawke PLEASE PERFORM TOGETHER AGAIN. PLEASE GIVE TICKETS. PLEAASSEE.

DOES ANYONE WANT ANOTHER PART??? I NEED REQUESTS??

[the-kr8tor]

Genie! Hobie? Genie! Hobie🤭

Genie! Hobie, who's tired of the pompous humans that constantly ask for the same three wishes.

Genie! Hobie, who starts using their words against them after being asked for the nth time for "vast riches".

Genie! Hobie, whose lamp has been lost for several hundreds of years and somehow ends up in a small antique shop.

Genie! Hobie, whose lamp gets picked up by you after deeming it "adorable".

Genie! Hobie, who comes out of the lamp in all his glory after you tried cleaning it once you got home.

Genie! Hobie, who just sighs and asks you what it is you so desire, thinking you'd be like all the rest.

Genie! Hobie, who is dumbfounded when you say "Wish? I mean, uh, I guess I'm wishin' for a sandwich right about now. Kinda hungry, dude."

Genie! Hobie, who looks at you like you've got a couple of screws loose when you proceed to light up at the sight of the sandwich in your hands.

Genie! Hobie, who furrows his eyebrows when you offer him half of it, because none of his former masters were this weird (nor did they try to give him anything that they wished up).

Genie! Hobie, who's perplexed when you keep him around for months on end, chatting with him like he's your best friend in the entire world.

Genie! Hobie, who doesn't understand you for basically forgetting the fact that you have two more wishes left that you've let collect dust for months.

Genie! Hobie, who doesn't know how to reign in the tears that surprisingly fall when you ask him how long he's been stuck in that dark lamp by himself(eons, it seems like and he's shaking when you pull him in for a hug.)

Genie! Hobie, whose eyes grow soft with fondness now every time he looks at you.

Genie! Hobie, who lets you put his hair in different hairstyles and gets lulled to sleep by the feeling of your fingers in his scalp.

Genie! Hobie, who enjoys your company more than he ever thought he would with a human.

Genie! Hobie, whose heart breaks when you come home crying one day, clearly in distress.

Genie! Hobie, who holds you as you cry, your sadness seeping into him when you mumble against his chest, "I just wish someone would care about me for once."

Genie! Hobie, who cups your face and whispers softly as he wipes your tears, "I care about you."

Genie! Hobie, who doesn't count that as a wish because he truly does care for you, no magic needed.

Genie! Hobie, who's shocked when you tell him you won't keep him with you anymore, wanting him to be free to come and go as he pleases.

Genie! Hobie, whose ties to the lamp shatters the moment you wish for him to be free.

Genie! Hobie who can't believe that you'd do something so... selfless. Make a wish just for him?

Genie! Hobie, whose tears won't stop because he sees just how much he'd viewed himself as a tool to be used and discarded, nothing more.

Genie! Hobie, who takes you around the world with him, because if he was finally free to do as he pleases, he was gonna do it all with you.

Oh, man. Idk what came over me🫣🤭💕💕

AJSNIWKXKW GENIE! HOBIE?!!!

I love this R!!! What a silly goose!

They're besties now!!

😭😭😭😭 okay wtf I knew the 'free' wish was coming but i was not ready for it 😭

Perhaps they're going around the world on a magic carpet ride?

[yoddhasblog]

Mahabharat is and will always be my favourite tale to reflect upon and talk to people about. This book was immensely hyped up along with the author. I have now read three of her books. The Last Queen, which admittedly I adored. Then, the Forest Of Enchantments, the book I'd been looking forward to for such a long time. That one left me in a rage.

I went into this book expecting to be pissed off and disappointed. And I wasn't let down on that assumption.

The Palace Of Illusions is a retelling of the great Indian epic-Mahabharata. A tale incorporated so deeply into our hearts that everyone has their own takes and beliefs and opinions about it. I sincerely believe that you cannot write a retelling without angering a number of people. Well, I'm one them.

The writing style:

I didn't have too many issues except i did not get why there were so many rhetorical and philosophical questions? Literal, paragraphs that were nothing but questions.

Draupadi, the enigma, the fire-born, the one person I would fight for as long as there is life in me, why was acting as though she was a little more than a sullen child? In the book that was supposed to be from her point of view, the person, the author did the most injustice with was-Draupadi.

The plot assassination:

As I mentioned above, most of everything in the plot of the epic was butchered and mangled to fit into the author's narrative of women, good-men,bad. It is common knowledge that women's position in society was as downtrodden as depicted here. Don't get me wrong, horrific crimes happened against women and justice was also delivered adequately but the author pulled apart the entire social structure only to be able to say that every bad thing happened to Draupadi was because she is a woman.

~ In the very first chapter, Draupadi said it was egoistic of her father to give her a variation of his own name when her brother, Dhrishtadyumna got an original name. In Vyas Mahabharat, her birth name was Krishnaa but like many people in Hindu beliefs, she was also known as Draupadi, though that is the most commonly used name. So, no points to the author trying to convince everyone that this was sexist.

~ Draupadi was highly educated and trained in many things including economics and she was the one who was in charge of the treasury of Indraprastha. She was a finance minister of sorts. So, saying that King Droupad refused to let her train because she is a woman is stupid.

~Also, I've grown up listening to that Draupadi stepped out of the fire as a young woman. She wasn't a child. Some sources say she was around 16 some say around 25.

~ Are we still stuck about 50 years ago that we're going to be okay with authors portraying that all women in power are evil? Kunti and Draupadi viewed each other as rivals? Draupadi throwing temper tantrums over other women? wtf

~ Draupadi as a pick-me? Half the book Draupadi's internal dialogue is nothing but I don't know how to socialize with other women, they're jealous of each other, they're always giggling, I won't survive the world of women, I can't dance, people don't find me pretty because of my dark complexion(where did white supremacy even came in this conversation) but suddenly out of nowhere Draupadi just knows that every woman is envious of her. She adores the saris and jewellery that she used to find impossible to handle.

~ Maharishi Vyas giving Draupadi Divya drishti to see the battlefield of Kurukshetra came out of nowhere. It felt a forced action done only to show Draupadi's emotions about the deaths.

~ Draupadi harbouring hidden feelings for Karna and him secretly returning those feelings felt like a teenager's fever dream. A teenager who's hellbent on sexualizing everything they come across.

~Bhagvat Gita was witnessed by everyone on kurukshetra including the Virat roop? Again, it felt like a move forced that was done in order to show Draupadi's internal dialogue. How did the author even think she could fit Bhagvat Gita in half a chapter?

~The Pandavas just had no personality whatsoever outside of being obedient to their mother and scared of Draupadi's temper tantrums.

~Krishan ji was told to be this charismatic, carefree, silvertongued diplomat but he was simply shown as someone who randomly showed up and gave unsolicited advice.

~And I don't know what that ending was but you can't be serious telling me that Karna and Draupadi somehow end up together in heaven?

~WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR'S PROBLEM WITH RESEARCHING ABOUT MAHABHARATA???

There was no way the entire plot of Mahabharata could've fit into one book. She tried too but this book sucked. I understand it's a retelling and sometimes had to change but everything here felt so forced. The author broke everything in context to fit into her supposedly feminist ideal. Don't get me wrong, i dislike the Pandavas, the Kauravas and their elders with all my heart but they all had one dimensional personalities. They had caricature-ish depositions. I had no emotions attached to anyone in this book whatsoever. This was a headache.

[yuukei-yikes]

takane's awesome for a million reasons but one of them is that she's the only one to basically... condition?? morph?? her own power as she pleases. opening eyes is technically the eye power version of a "teleportation" power. it projects your spirit somewhere else without PHYSICALLY taking u there. takane just uses it... exclusively through technology?? for some damn reason??? this is so funny bc it also exists within conditions bc she cant go anywhere with no internet and can't feel where her body is😭

azami and mary used opening to be in other places at once through projecting their spirits there (including technology), but they don't lose consciousness when they do it. we could say since takane's 100% human she can't do so much at once like them but... no other eye power has that sorta thing? everyone's able to do everything. haruka's snake can REGENERATE HIS BODY if he gets hurt like i think takane should be able to get a pass to be facetiming everywhere at once. sorry haruka and takane are fucking creatures. everyone else's eye powers don't require that much physical involvement at all. it's almost as if haruka and takane's whole thing was particularly their physical bodies getting involved as a price to pay..🤨..... the came back wrong of it all... ok sorry im getting sidetracked i was talking abt takane

BASICALLY. i truly do believe takane doesnt even know how to use opening eyes. she never read the nonexistent instructions so she made up her own way of doing it and after she gets her body back she's just been doing it that way for so long she just..yeah❤️

and also takanes the only one who had their power in Constant Activity. with that i mean takane existed through opening eyes alone for TWO YEARS. she had that shit On all the time. she had no choice bc she didn't know where her body was, she is a little stupid but this was mostly out of making the most of her situation. i think post str she should learn how to use it❤️ but can't. so she gets frustrated she can't ❤️ erm erm erm. something something haruka and takane are the only ones who cant entirely master their powers. takane uses it with these conditions (loses consciousness/exclusively online) and for haruka awakening is keeping his heart healthy but Doesnt provide Any extra strength.

anyways. all of that so i could say: au where azami lives post str and she sees the way takane uses opening and she's like. Wtf. and tries to coach her on how to use it properly but they can't understand each other and keep clashing. sorry for being cringe i like azami she should live. erm. whoa when did i write all this.

[yujeong]

(My) Top 5 VegasPete scenes

Listen. Listen. I'm surely not being original here. I'm certain this post has been made before, especially closer to the show airing, but I wasn't here then, and the spoons for such a post came right now, so I'm doing it now. Now, a warning: my choices will make you question my sanity. They will make you wonder wtf is wrong with me for *not* including specific scenes. They will make you question my VP taste in general. I know, I do too all the time, but the thing is, I have *reasons* for every single one being here and I will thoroughly explain, and if you're still baffled, I get it, I am too, but the brainrot works in mysterious ways. So, let's go (very long post incoming):

No5: The pool scene - Episode 14

LOOK, I COULDN'T NOT INCLUDE THIS SCENE OK? I'M NOT THAT STUPID (Pls don't kill me for not putting it higher, I know, it's a crime, I know-). Fun fact: I had seen a screenshot of the point in which Pete says he's hungry, before watching the VP arc, and I deadass thought it was fan subtitles, like a joke, a meme, SOMETHING other than what he ACTUALLY said. It was very funny when I found out the truth. God, this scene is heart-wrenching for all the right reasons. It had everything I could ever ask for and more I didn't even know I needed. I think my No1 reason for loving this scene so much is Pete's desperation to save Vegas and all the ways he showed it. To explain, we have: - him coming to find Vegas after resigning from the main family to be with him, - him being physically intimate for the very first time to such a degree (he fucking hugged Vegas from behind, I lost my marbles when I saw it), - him trying so fucking hard to say "I love you" without saying it, because he can't, it's not sth he can say, but holy fuck will he show in SOME way, - him saying he's Vegas' pet while dying a bit inside but it's necessary goddammit, Vegas won't get it otherwise, he won't understand that Pete *needs* him, - him killing the guy who shot Vegas without hesitation. I wholeheartedly believe he'd kill whoever that person was, even Korn himself, and I love it. ALSO, can we talk about the fact that the scene was dead silent, no music, nothing during their talk, then when hope is on the horizon a soft melody plays and then BOOM, Ink comes just as Vegas gets shot and you feel like YOU got shot along with him. I love the title of the piece, and I love how it gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it, and I love how *tragic* it is, because what we're witnessing is a tragedy, and would remain a tragedy if the hospital scene didn't exist. 10/10 writing, I can't believe this scene is real, I can't believe how lucky we are to have witnessed such a moment.

No4: Vegas hits Pete with the belt + tasers him when he escapes + finds him unconscious later - Episode 11

I am aware that I'm cheating with the last scene but I love it a little too much and it's the continuation of the previous one so I'll add it in. Ok, firstly, I had to include the scene which inspired me to write my first ever meta post in here, guys, it was essential. Furthermore, one thing you should know about me is that I love - what I like to call - "pre-VP VP", meaning VP interactions up to ep 11 (which is my favorite episode, you'll figure out why as we move through the list). It had everything; it had Pete refusing to eat, throwing his philosophy at Vegas' face, it had Vegas lashing out at Pete in a way he didn't even enjoy (he started shouting as he was hitting him to convince himself he was enjoying this but he wasn't, I'm biting my FIST here), we had Pete using the belt to escape, only for Vegas, the fucking SLUT with the loose shirt showing off his TITS, to follow him outside, we had the tasing and the catching and the soft handling of Pete's body as he fell (he totally carried him back bridal style), we had Vegas believing Pete would laugh at him for what his father did (oh Vegas you moron, he would never laugh at you, if only you saw his face when Gun slapped you), we had Vegas freaking the fuck out at a non-responsive Pete, we had it all folks. I've watched these scenes more times than I can count, they're fucking glorious. And the music too, oh God the music. You'll see me scream about the music a lot here, because it's one of the deciding factors in my preferences, so I have to mention it, just as I did for No5. Unfortunately, Shazam hasn't helped me find the first two pieces used in the scene (when Pete is hit with the belt and when he uses it to escape) but I know of the other two, which are Lost Register and Walking the Distance, which are such perfect titles for Vegas, aren't they? I don't have any intelligent things to say about these scenes, I just love them so fucking much, even though Vegas hitting Pete with the belt makes me flinch, even though Pete gets the worst treatment here (minus the ball roasting I guess), I love them so much, because it's the limit that Vegas surpasses, and the realization he did so was incredibly enjoyable to watch.

No3: Vegas tortures Pete - Episodes 10-11

Yes, I did cheat again but technically the two scenes happen back to back on the same day (it's not the same day, Vegas is wearing a different shirt, but we'll pretend it is okay?) and yes, I did put only Pete screenshots here, look at my name, what do you want from me? When I said I have a deep fascination with "pre-VP VP", this is what I mean people. These two scenes solidified my obsession with this specific dynamic of theirs. Pete was so fucking unhinged and it was the most beautiful thing I have laid my eyes upon. There are too many things to mention, I adore them so much. We have Pete not speaking a single line of dialogue during the scene in ep 10, we have ep 11 and Vegas changing his approach, touching Pete in a sexual way which unnerves Pete but he's still not lost complete control, we have Gun hitting Vegas in front of Pete, with Pete putting the pieces together, we have the fucking phone call to his grandma, which is the thing that makes Pete give up and it's wonderful, because after that we have Pete screaming - I love his screams, I've listened to them on repeat, I have issues - and trembling with pure rage as Vegas toys with him. I've watched these two scenes, both for fic purposes and for my own enjoyment, probably more than 30 times at this point and I loved every single one of them. Btw, can we pay attention to the fact that the sneaky bastards over at BOC put a slight variation of Stable Delusion during the moment in which Vegas puts his hand inside Pete's underwear? Because I noticed, and I hope you did too. A lot of VP fans said they truly noticed Pete here, which is fair tbh, even though I was a big fan of his from the start. He truly shines in these scenes and seeing this side of him is delicious every single time.

No2: Pete's breakdown - Episode 13

Fuck my whole existence, what am I supposed to even say here? How am I even supposed to touch upon this scene without losing my mind? How do I explain what this scene did to my brain when I watched it, and kept watching it, and never stopped watching it because it's so fucking important to me? Pff, whatever, let me try. I'll mostly use the music playing throughout the scene to help me describe my feelings about it. The scene basically starts with both Vegas and Pete being lost and miserable, each one for different but interlaying reasons. The music accompanying the scene is called Unspoken, because neither can really say outright what's bothering them, because they're hanging by a thread and it's so, so good. It's heavy and painful and it creates this uneasy feeling in your stomach, accompanied by the visuals. It goes on, until it stops, right as Vegas says "Isn't my fucking life like this because of them?", because of course it does, Vegas is one second away from snapping at Pete, but Pete doesn't hesitate, he says to Vegas the harsh truth: "It's your choice." And then, Vegas drops the noodles - Pete's food, Pete's nourishment - on the floor, and the music playing is called Calculating Catastrophe, which I *only just discovered* and I want to pull my hair out. The dream is gone, no more afterglow, only misery, because Vegas can't handle the truth, because Pete can't handle the lie, because it's all crushing down and Pete can do nothing about it but accept it, accept Vegas' cruelty, accept the knife in his throat. He's waiting to die, he says it, he grabs Vegas' wrist and then, only when he says he doesn't even have his humanity left, does the music resume playing, the OST called This Creed, just as Pete tells Vegas - tells us, the audience - what his "set of beliefs which guide his actions" is, and both Vegas and us watching are dumbfounded, we're as scared for what Pete might do as Vegas is, and it's so painful and so beautiful to witness. The music stops again as Vegas says "No" to Pete being just a pet, and both him and us are breathing a hesitant shy of relief, only for Pete to snap again, to scream at Vegas while showing his handcuffed wrist, to ask "what the fuck is this then?" and the music playing compliments this moment brilliantly, because it's called Absent Cognition and it's a 10/10 fit. And the most brilliant thing here is how they're BOTH HAVING A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONVERSATION. They're talking past each other and Pete knows, he knows Vegas is stuck on his delusions because he can't do otherwise, he can't, it'll destroy him, but Pete himself also can't do this anymore, he can't stay, he has to go, "I'm sorry, Vegas, I'm sorry" (relevant post to this point specifically because I have lost my mind over it in the past). God, this scene is sosososososo good and so them, and I can't stop watching it, I can't get it out of my head. It's utterly stunning and I love it.

No1: The pill kiss/VP's talk - Episode 11

Ok. I am not normal when it comes to this scene. I have based my entire fucking personality around it since 2022. It makes me emotional every time I rewatch it, it gives me goosebumps just remembering its existence. It's because this scene is the shift in their relationship. It's them finally looking at each other in the eye and truly seeing each other. It's a promise in the shape of a pill, it's a revelation, it's rebirth. Vegas being gentle with Pete for the first time shifted something in me, as it did in Pete himself. Vegas is fighting it a bit at first; he says "Take it" to Pete harshly, demanding Pete take the pill, but when Pete rejects him, his tone gets softer. It almost sounds like begging to me and it's so powerful. Oh Bible, the delivery of some lines feel like a slap across the face, thank you. Little House on the Hill starts playing as Vegas lowers his body and puts the pill into Pete's mouth through a kiss. Even the title of the song is softer, their own little world in a little house, as they're coming closer through a promise that ended up not being kept: I can be gentle with you too. Please take the nourishment I'm giving you. And then he gets up, and sits on the floor, and the show literally gives us VP being on equal ground for the first time, truly equal: both battered and broken and looking at each other. And they talk, and Vegas starts opening up already after Pete asks him what happened, and then A Sky Sparkling starts playing as Pete talks to Vegas about his childhood, about how his father beat him up for losing, and then for winning, and I'm a sobbing mess on the floor at this point. (A Sky Sparkling = Vegas' worldview changing, gaining light, a new perspective. Fuck the titles of these songs have ruined me.) You'd think I'd have the most words about my all-time favorite VP scene, but I'm afraid that's not the case. I'm speechless. It'd given me such a visceral reaction that I simply don't know how to explain myself anymore. All I know is that I'll never get tired of watching it, of thinking about it, of analyzing it in my head. It's everything to me. I love VegasPete so much. At the end of this super long post, that's all I can say.

[ckret2]

Here, have another post about my headcanoned human Bill Cipher!

I promised to answer the second half of @dykefnctl's question—

also, like, wtf does stan and ford think? i'm invested.

—but I just got a separate ask about Ford, so I'll talk about Ford in that one and focus on Stan here.

So: Stanley versus human Bill!

Of all the Pines, Stan had the least to do with Bill throughout the entire show; at best, he would have seen this triangle guy come up a few times in Ford's journals and once Ford came back maybe he would have personally warned Stan to watch out for a fast-talking magic triangle. (Although considering how long it took Ford to open up to Dipper, whom he was on much better terms with, the odds that he'd have said anything to Stan are still pretty low.) So to Stan, Bill's just some weird triangle freak who came outta nowhere to mess up Gravity Falls, personally threatened his whole family, and forced Stan to sacrifice his brain to get rid of him.

So when the freak comes back, Stan's ready to shoot first and figure out how to hide the body later.

"Maybe Bill's possessing a normal human and you'd be murdering an innocent" doesn't dissuade him; he'll kill a single stranger if he has to, he's not taking any chances when his family's safety is on the line. (Also the world's safety, but he's more concerned about his family.) What DOES dissuade him is "maybe being trapped in a human body is the only thing keeping Bill's reality-altering powers in check." Stan doesn't know much about how this stuff works, but he's already seen Bill shed one body to hop into someone else's head, and he doesn't wanna restart Weirdmageddon.

He's still somewhat skeptical—"if killing this body would make him a god again, how come he hasn't jumped off a cliff?"—but even if Bill wouldn't regain all his powers if he was "freed," there's still a chance he could just go possess someone new and come back, right? And Stan might be willing to kill ONE innocent to protect his family, but he doesn't relish the idea of killing a whole string of innocents being puppeted by Bill. Or risking that the next innocent is somebody he knows.

So he'd rather keep Bill right where he is: inside his current body, and somewhere close by where Stan can keep an eye on him. For now. Until they can find a way to kill him for good. If the memory gun couldn't do it, maybe Poindexter and Old Man McGucket can whip up something that can.

Bill, meanwhile, is perfectly willing to let Stan and everyone else keep believing that killing his body will unleash him again—when the truth is, he himself doesn't know what would happen, but he suspects that might just kill him for good. Or else shuffle his humanized ghost into humanity's afterlife system, which he doesn't much relish either. It's not too long before Stan starts to suspect that Bill's willingness to put up with makeshift imprisonment in the Mystery Shack, rather than smash his own head in and escape, means that he can't just hop over to a new body... or, at least, he doesn't know whether he can. So they're at a stalemate: neither Bill nor Stan knows whether killing his body would liberate him or destroy him, and as long as they don't know, neither is willing to risk the consequences if it doesn't go their way. But both of them really want to find out—while not wanting the other to find out.

So for now, they mostly just glare at each other, and sometimes Bill grumbles about Stan's cooking.

Once they've been around each other long enough that the white-hot rage Stan feels at the sound of his stupid whiny voice starts to cool down, Stan starts to suss out that Bill is, in fact, a lot like himself. That is, a fast-talking stone-hearted con artist who's probably served time in multiple jurisdictions and whose "friends" are more likely fairweather partners in crime. Stan can grudgingly respect that. Being in the Shack means Bill inevitably comes in contact with a few customers, and the guy can make up a whopper of a tall tale at the drop of a hat and sell anything you put in front of him—Stan respects that, too. All these little similarities also make Stan start to suspect that Bill's like him in other ways: that maybe his stone heart has a mushy center that gets very, very lonely without his family, whatever and wherever they are.

But Bill's still the creep who tried to murder Stan's whole family and planet. Who cares if under his weird alien trappings he has relatable problems! It's not gonna make Stan go soft on him or whatever.

(Stan's slowly going soft on him. It's hard to keep feeling threatened by a depressed clumsy loser who thinks depth perception is a curse and lets Mabel paint glitter on his face.)

[b0mblover]

Sharks and White Bread HinsaoJiro

By: J

No tws unless you count white bread ig.

1,500~ words

Uh. How do you write a character that literally doesnt even have a canon design? make it ooc of course!

i can’t believe i hate hinsaori so much it looped back to loving him. oh god. what next theyll go to therapy?

Tsuruhiko Multi Grain?

this is essentially crack taken somewhat seriously.

im so sorry for writing this

Hinsaori came out of his room and was searching through the kitchen cabinets. Bread. White. Fucking. Bread. It's all he's wanted for a while. All day. Everyday. Every meal. White fucking bread. But of course. It wasn't healthy to only have bread for every meal, and even if he didn't care for his own nutrition, Kouga wouldn't let him. He's always so sweet to everyone, how did Ota get so lucky.

But, this was his first two slices of the day, and Kouga wasn't home to kick his ass, so he could eat his two slices of plain white bread in peace.

He sat on the couch, rubbing his hands deviously one may say, planning to absolutely devour this 'meal'.

So that he did. Absolutely devouring that bread- less violent devouring, but the taste was so good to him he might as well be. 

On his second piece, Nito had come out of his room, he was still here? Ota had thought Jiro had left with the others to do gods-knows-what, apparently not though.

Jiro essentially threw himself onto the couch cushion, absolutely bodying it, with a sigh. 

Jiro was. Hard to read. To say the least, his expressions either were the opposite of what he feels, or exactly what he feels. It's just figuring out which is when that's the hard part.

Hinsaori put down the bread slice in his hand before speaking

"Uh.. Y'okay?" (BEHOLD. MY AMERICANISM. *EVIL LAUGHS CHOKES AND DIES*) 

Jiro looked over to the long haired man, looking him up and down 

"Yeah, just.. Thinking" he said in a monotone voice. 

Why did he look at Ota like that? Did he do something wrong? Was it because of the bread?

"Wellllll you wanna say 'bout what?" he asked before slightly cocking his head.

Jiro sighed and paused, considering how to word his statement.

"Well.. You know the thing about 'if I can't swim, and sharks can't walk, it'd come down to who's the better cycler'? Like, how would the shark stay on the bicycle? Wouldn't it fall off and be disqualified?"

That...What The fuck is Nito on right now. 

Hinsaori just stared at Jiro for a while, "wouldn't it be disqualified" does- does Nito know that sharks can't breath out of water-.

"J-Jiro. You uh, feeling okay bud?" he asked putting his hand on Jiros’ shoulder, seriously has he even slept? 

"Yeah, just wondering y'know?" Jiro responded before looking at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing there was.

"Have you slept?" Hinsaori was starting to seriously worry for the others health, sure Jiro could be impulsive, and destructive, and an absolute dumbass, but this? This was new.

"Hm? Yeah? Why are you asking aren't *you* the insomniac?" He had a point, but where did that question even come from? Sure the guy wasn't serious all the time, but that expression..

"oh god I can't do this- Jiro. Where the fuck did that question come from." 

and in return, all he got was a blank stare and a shrug.

Jiro stood up and walked into the kitchen, Hinsaori could hear him putting a kettle on

"Tea?" he asked 

"No I want to drink boiling water"

"What." 

"You heard me birdman. Just eat your soggy bread."

What the actual fuck. 

Hinsaori sighed, setting the bread slice he'd been clenching for the past 5? Minutes now, on the table and walked into the kitchen as well.

He pulled out a knife from the knife box (wtf are those called) 

"Who are you and what have you done with Nito!" he pointed the knife (somewhat playfully) at the assumed double

The Dumbass number 2 reached around him, pulling another knife out of the knife box, handing it to Hinsaori

"the one you have is dull" stating blankety before turning back to the kettle

"also would you like some tea or coffee?" he asked unmoving

"I- sure?" he lowered the knife, even if this somehow really wasn't Jiro, whoever this was clearly wasn't okay.

Jiro moved to the cup cabinet, 2 down from the stove, and pulled out two mugs, one plain black, another white with some black and red writing.

Jiro opened the little tea pouch thing (idk what it's called, tea foreskin ig) and put it in the black mug, before putting copious amounts of sugar into it as well...maybe This was Jiro?

"Tea or coffee" he asked

"Uh- coffee is fine" he replied, even if this was Jiro, would he know how to make his coffee?

Jiro put one 1 teaspoon of coffee grounds in the white mug, then two of sugar, damn, does Jiro really pay that much attention to everything? Sure it's not overly complicated, but he didn't even ask and Jiro isn't one for assuming.. 

Jiro stirred his tea, then Otas coffee with the same spoon before handing the mug to him. Before he took his painfully sweet tea and walked back to the couch. 

Hinsaori did the same after putting the knife away. Plopping down on the couch cushion beside Jiro.

He took a sip of the coffee and.. Damn. Damn! It really was good, it was his usual but for some reason it tasted so much better? What the hell did Jiro put into this shit?

He wanted to ask, but he watched the man make it. There was nothing else in it. Maybe it was just because he was still tired-ish?

Seeing how words didn't get him very far, he rested his right hand on Jiros leg, sipping with his left. Instead of jerking away like usual, Jiro let him. Drinking his 'disgusting' tea. He sat it down on the table beside him, and closed his eyes. Fuck he really was tired huh? He could feel Hinsaoris warm hand through his pants, it felt nice, especially considering the cold weather as of late, he almost wanted to sink into it more, no matter how impossible that was.

Hinsaori, noticing that Jiro had finally relaxed, sat his coffee on the floor by his feet, just far enough away to not kick it by accident.

He brought his right hand up to Jiros forehead before speaking,

"Y'know, if you're tired we can go lay down, you don't gotta push yourself" Even though he'd said he'd slept.. Hinsaori was doubtful, he wasn't an insomniac sure but for some reason he had this odd habit of pulling all-nighters, even if he wasn't doing anything specific. 

Jiro halfway opened his eyes, before pushing his head into Hinsaoris shoulder, whispering "yes..Please...that'd be nice." Letting impulse take over. He didn't feel like he needed to explain himself to the others, that he didn't need to explain why he lied about not sleeping. There was always some unspoken understanding between him and the others. It.. It was nice.

"Alright-" Hinsaori started as he ruffled Jiros’ hair lightly, god Jiro felt as if he could melt into the guy.

"Go ahead and get into bed, I'll be there in a second mm? Alright?" 

Jiro vaguely tried to nod his head, really only nudging himself into Hinsaoris’ shoulder bone. "Yeah..", he moved finally, taking a few swigs of his tea, he stood up, walked to the kitchen, threw the tea bag out, rinsed the mug, put it in the sink, and headed to bed.

Did Jiro really finish his tea that quickly? Jeeze.

Hinsaori picked his coffee off the ground, taking a few sips, yeah there's no way he's gonna finish it that fast, so he sat it on the counter beside the sink, he'll deal with it later, all he cared about right now was snuggling with the unsnuggleable.

He walked into his bedroom to find Jiro, facing the wall, blanket pulled down, waiting for Ota. He shut his door behind him.

He unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, he considered changing but he felt comfortable enough, he could always just rewash it.

He got into bed and pulled the covers up onto both of them.

He stared at the ceiling fan, he never turned it on, Jiro always had to have a fan on, or at least the noise, even in the middle of winter. It's a wonder that his still works considering how often it's on.

Just staring at the ceiling, he didn't feel as tired anymore. He rolled over to Jiros back, huh. Jiro usually turns his back to the wall, maybe he's over thinking it. Yeah. 

He mentally crossed his fingers that he wouldn't be killed for what he was about to do, and wrapped his arms around Jiros lower torso, resting his face in between his shoulder and head, so close to his ear..

Jiro moved his hands to Hinsaoris, resting them there. His hands were always so cold compared to everyone else's, he'd never admit it but, he loved holding hands, how warm it was.

He was at peace.

He whispered something out before falling dead asleep to the world, Hinsaori followed soon after.

"I love you."

"I love you more. Always."

. .

Kouga, Reina, and Noriko got back later than expected. Even though they were an activist group, they were still people, which meant they still had to run errands. 

Kouga was in the kitchen with Reina unpacking groceries while Noriko took off her shoes on the couch, before she went to stand up to put them away, she saw it to her left..

A piece of white bread. Just on the table. Sitting there. Menacingly.

Today was Hinsaoris date with death.

[starxiasstuff]

!!ANGER ISSUES

A Satan/nb!mc angsty fluffy oneshot refer here for more context

WARNINGS!!

Foul language, depictions of fictional violence, depictions of physical violence, gore. I hope these are all warnings please lmk if there are more to be added

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

It was a long weekend in the Devildom and what better way then to spend these three beautiful days out and exploring the beauty that is the devildom.

You were at the gate of the HoL returning after a long day of shopping, you even picked up a new book on cats for your beloved Satan, as you opened the gate a pit began to form in your stomach all the 7 brothers were obviously at HoL but it was deadly quiet, it suddenly put you on edge, you kicked your shoes off and ran into the living room to a terrible sight.

You let out a gasp and dropped your bags to the floor it was a gut wrenching sight for you take in, all 6 brothers in a circle surrounding Satan, chanting what appears to be a spell, satan was on the floor straining against the spell, a thousand thoughts running through your mind ("what the-?, WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO HIM!?!, is his temper really this bad?, should I interfere- NO i could be making a stupid mistake.., Satan..please be okay").

It appears that your presence has finally been acknowledged as the closest to Satan, Asmo looked up from his concentration gave you a pitiful look and then went back to chanting the spell, your knees felt weak and you fell to the floor with a silent thud. The spell the brothers seemed to be chanting appeared to be getting stronger as black and purple chains started to form around Satan, he was still continuing to strain/resist the spell while you tried to stifle a scream of yours.

Then suddenly you heard a snap like chains being broken followed by a purple light and screams/yelps of the 6 brothers..the worst case scenario, Satan looked furious as he glared at his brothers in his demon form. As his 6 brothers fumbled and stumbled to get back up. Satan was already busy by chanting various spells and shooting stuff across the room, his aim was quite sloppy when it came to his other brothers but when it came to mammon he had pin point accuracy.

Asmo signalled Beel towards you, to get you somewhere safe ofc, all you could do is just stare mouth agape at the most brutally hellish situation ever. But before Beel could reach you were unfortunately hit by a misdirected spell, this bolt of indoor lighting hit you like a truck to the stomach the pressure and spell sent you all over the HoL like a pin ball. The brothers were in shock seeing you hit by the spell, your scream was bloodcurdling it even pulled Satan out of his current state of wrath/rage??.

"MC!!" they all yelled in unison as they heard you crash somewhere into a wall near the kitchen.

"SATAN, this all your fucking fault now mc's hurt because of your insatiable wrath.. I can't believe you did this because of abook page" the 5 brothers including belphie and asmo were throwing curses and yelling at him while Lucifer just stayed quite.

"wtf... was i really hit by a misdirected spell.."

you were lying flat in your stomach against the cold hard marble, your vision was getting hazy and blood was pouring out of your head and trickling down all the way to your eyes and lips. Before loosing consciousness you heard the wall above you crack and the very concerned yells of the 7 brothers screaming in panic and yelling your name.

The last thing you could recall before loosing it was the feeling of being picked up and hearing the words "I'm so sorry mc... so, so sorry..".

You could feel some warmth as you slowly start to wake up, you stir and groan at the sudden pain you're feeling while the seven demon brothers stare at you with tears welling up in their eyes.

"huh..what's going on.." you let out a feeble sigh and closed your eyes again trying your best to recall what happened

"ok so, shopping, mad satan, spells, hit!?! now I'm here"

As you started to make sense of what happened you finally opened your eyes again and glanced at the 7, paying more attention to satan as he was staring at the ground fighting back tears. Everyone in the room knew satan had terrible temper, but his true intent was to never hurt his beloved.

To break the silence you ask to be left alone with satan, the brothers left the room but stayed close by as to prevent another outburst.

It was just you and satan in the room now, noone there to judge you both but yourselves. Satan was still staring at the floor, this time letting a few tears drop and he shamefully walked over to you.

"mc.. I'm so so so SORRY I never meant to hurt you in anyway I was just in the heat of the mom-"

"Satan, you're rambling again.. and besides you don't have to say sorry againg.. heh, I already heard you the first time 'round"

you propped yourself on the the bed leaning on the headboard looking at Satan with a soft smile.

His heart melted at the sight before him, this time he couldn't hold back he tears.

You held Satan in a comforting embrace, his arms gently wrapped around you as he cried into your shoulder.

"so..sorry"

"it's, okay Satan, we'll work on your temper, hm?"

"mkay.. I'm just glad your alive.."

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

AYY I haven't written in like a year, this is the closest I can get to writing a fic

Started-2:46am

Ended-3:43am

[musical-chick-13]

I know we’ve talked about it a little but I wanna be reminded/hear you talk more about it. Rebecca/Nate 😅

So, I'm gonna be honest, I am...not a fan of this one. I don't even think I'd say I dislike Nathaniel, exactly, but I definitely thought the other characters were more interesting than him.

Mainly, I think this particular romantic arc dragged out too long. I understand that this show exists to-among many other things-deconstruct a whole host of common rom-com tropes, and "douchey misogynistic guy becomes marginally better because of one (1) quirky woman" is indeed a common rom-com trope, but I don't think the show spent enough time on brutally deconstructing it. Like...with Josh, we spent two and a half seasons breaking that down and showing why all of the stories that follow similar beats to their relationship don't hold up. And although we got the Nathaniel's rom-com dream episode (which is one of my favorites), and Rebecca's obsession titles shifting to Nathaniel, and "Nothing Is Ever Anyone's Fault," and the episode where he reads her diary and she goes "wtf dude, get out," compared to the amount of time they spent specifically deconstructing her dynamic with Josh and all the things that entails...this just didn't seem like enough.

If we take Greg, he went away to work on himself, and it's clear that he's a much different person when he comes back. And, yes, Nathaniel did get a few moments of "Omg, I'm so nice now" with other characters going, "But are you really" but there was so much about him that I just feel never got fully addressed. What he did to Josh's family. Cheating on Mona for months. His casual misogyny. (I also can't ever remember him like actually apologizing?) We spent a lot of time talking about why Josh and Greg weren't good endgame matches for Rebecca, and although what we were given in canon was enough to convince me that Nathaniel wasn't either, the fact that we weren't given as much time as with the other two makes it seem like the narrative is favoring him in some way. (Most of the fandom certainly thinks he was the Best Choice, even if the point was supposed to be that none of them were.)

I just...to ME, their banter was less "banter" and more "every straight white man I ever worked for insulting a woman he hates being attracted to." His support of her seemed less "support" and more "I am making this woman who did not ask into my own personal manic pixie dream girl for the sake of resolving myself of the part I played in my own issues." His "getting better for love" was canonically until almost the absolute very end. SOLELY. rooted in getting Rebecca to want to date him again.

And if, say, Josh's girlfriend we see him with at the end of the show turned out to have bpd, I believe that Josh would do the work and ask his therapist about it to understand what that mental illness is. And that if he badly handled her having an episode, he would apologize. And I believe that if Jason came back and dated Rebecca, he would do the same regarding her bpd. I just don't think Nathaniel would ever do any of that. I can't see Rebecca telling him that she's in the middle of a spiral and him taking the time to listen to and talk her through her symptoms or make her soup. (Honestly, I can't even see him, like...not getting annoyed with her for singing off-key while practicing.) And that's a really important requirement to sell me on a ship involving a mentally ill character-especially one with a particularly stigmatized illness.

Rebecca/Nathaniel is just...a little too real in the ways in which it's uncomfortable or pRoBLeMaTiC. I've met men exactly like this. I've been a woman like Rebecca (though obviously minus the more extreme behavior like arson and everything she did regarding Josh). And that makes it really hard for me to have any kind of narrative investment in this relationship. I see this exact dynamic play out in every other movie and tv show, and I gotta be honest, it is boring, if not downright insufferable every time it happens. And I'm all for people in fiction making each other worse, but we need at least one mentally ill main character who gets better. And given that "mentally ill lady gets better" was ultimately the central concept of the show, pairing her with Nathaniel in any long-term way seems directly antithetical to the story this piece of media was trying to tell.

Send me a ship and I'll give you my brutally honest opinion on it.

[sonderwrit]

C102: Don't understand

I Have to Be a Great Villain - Masterpost

At the end of the day, Wang Yi learns to embrace Ho Yay.

X: *CHU~*

Wang Yi: !

X: If it's annoying, I'll call them back.

WY: Urk…it's fine.

Qin Xian 2: No sneaking hugs allowed!

Qin Xian 1: Me too!

(sfx: coming over)

WY: (Not good, it's really no good if there's too many people!)

*SHWAAAAAAH*

X: Is it fine if it's just me? (Back to just 1 person)

WY: That's not what I meant…

WY: (But he definitely continued from the words I couldn't say out loud.) [Mind-reading verified]

WY: X. Can you answer a few of my questions?

X: Hm?

X: What do I get if I answer? Can I get a kiss?

WY: Urk. Buddy, don't be a hopeless romantic. [*strategic retreat*]

WY: Since you have your seniors' memories, you should know what kind of jerk I am, right? I'm the kind of guy that'll abandon you anytime.

X: Hm, that's fine.

X: X won't lose you ever again.

X: No matter where Wang Yi runs, I'll find you.

X: Of course, that's assuming you—

X: —eat a portion of me. [There's still time before my next evolution, so no worries about getting devoured.]

WY: Huh?

**((NOOOOOOO WHY IS THE KISS OFF SCREEN DARN U CHINESE CENSORS))**

WY: (Wha…there's something there.) *gulps*

WY: (Something unimaginable—entered through my mouth!)

Qin Xian?: I love you.

Qin Xian?: I love you.

Qin Xian?: Can you—stay?

Qin Xian?: I'm begging you…

Qin Xian?: Begging you—

WY: (? ….)

WY: (I seemed to have…caught a glimpse of something. But it's too foggy for me to be certain.) [A misassumption?]

WY: (Wait a minute, now's not the time for that!)

WY: WTF are you doing?! 

WY: Did you put your own body…can I even digest something like this after eating it?! It'll be a big problem, right! *repeated gagging*

X: Don't worry, it's impossible for humans to digest X's body, nor is it harmful for humans. It'll just stay quietly inside you.

WY: (Does it have to be like this?)

X: Hm? Wang Yi's internal thoughts seem to be very chaotic. (Can't see clearly)

Arrow: After receiving the two Qin Xians' knowledge, he now understands the meaning of "reading one's heart."

WY: The heck, I only made a promise to Qin Xian (2), but now you're telling me you're all the same person. Of course it's chaotic now that my promise has turned into 3 promises.

WY: I don't get why I keep running into you every time I transmigrate. (The other characters are all random.)

WY: I also don't understand why…

WY: You would like me.

X: Perhaps this is fate.

X: Fate tied us together, so—

X: We can never be separated again.

WY: As if I'd believe you. *punch*

WY: In any case, you can't call it coincidence after all these times. There has to be a reason, so you need to tell me what you know. [The type of person who doesn't believe in superstition]

WY: Also, urk…

WY: If you still don't mind staying with me, then I'll fulfill my promise too.

X: !

X: Hehe. Although X's form of love is twisted enough to leave a marker inside your body, you can still accept it?

WY: If you're clear on the fact that [I don't understand what kind of emotion "like" is, but I'm doing my best to work with you]

WY: Then we can give it a try.

WY & X: …..

*chuckling*

WY & X: Hahahahahaha…

WY: Haha, we're really a match for each other.

WY: Although X has just regained some memories, it feels like we haven't parted for long at all. (You're not a stranger at all)

X: Just like you said, we really didn't part for long.

WY: And you?

WY: (Speaking of which, I never knew the ending for the campus romance setting Qin Xian.)

X: Me, huh…

X: It hasn't been long either, I guess?

(The days without you were agony)

Butler: Master, it's time to rest.

(The bites from the zombies were also very, very painful—)

(But if all this loneliness and grief came from waiting for you)

(Then to me it's as—sweet as sugar.)

*WHOOSH*

X: Hello.

*changed his looks*

X: I'm the new assistant Xiao Qin. Please take care of me.

WY: Come in.

[Left a portion of slime to pretend to be the experimental subject]

S-0: Hah? Host what's going on, you hired an assistant? This is a little different from the original novel?

WY (whispering): It's fine. More people means more help. The future "Mermaid Rescue Project" task of the heroine isn't easy.

WY: (Don't let S-0 know you can hear its speech)

X: (Understood!)

WY: Moreover…Sao-Ling, don't you want points?

S-0: ?

S-0: Is Host planning to…

WY: Yep.

WY: Time to do some shipping.*

*shipping - To 炒cp in Chinese means to "encourage a Couple Pairing," aka do actions that imply a romantic relationship by the ambiguous nature of their subjects

[claudiajcregg]

🏆🪨

Thank you for asking, Ally! I've answered both (trophy, rock) but happy to give alternatives! I have plenty of them.

🏆- The fanfiction you are the most proud of

Once again, the answer is all of them. Today's pick is oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun. I debated between the 3+1 press fic, the vignettes and this one, but went with this one. An unusual choice, maybe. It's tooth-rotting fluff, and there are a million ways that day could have gone, but I just love how romantic and natural and precious it all is.

(Press fic my beloved. I love writing about that period in S7, and beyond. Once again, a fic that benefitted from sitting in the drive for a while, since the 2 and the +1 definitely work better with the changes I did as I edited. And funnily enough, had I not posted the vignettes we wouldn't have this fic – it came out of realizing I could've used this moment as the 2007 rep, lol.)

🪨- The hardest fanfiction to write

I find that writing long multichapters is the death of me. Same with angst, since I need to be in a special kind of headspace. I need an outline with a lot of ideas. My IM AU from… three and a half years ago (wtf) had one… Until it didn't, towards the end. Coincided with many different developments. So the hardest for this one were a couple of early chapters and then finishing it.

But truly, the most accurate answer to this question is my infamous s5 pregnancy AU, which would also be a great answer for “out of my comfort zone.” Much like my driving license, this is taking too long, and I've started to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but haven't gotten to the end of the process yet. I started with an outline and then the characters decided to take over… So I had to recalibrate, and I haven't always had a clear idea of what direction I wanted to take it in. Shorter stuff, I can write on vibes and ideas, but I didn't want this to feel pointless. (Still kinda feel like it sometimes does, though.)

Plus, it's written in many phases. I had the idea in the spring of 2023; started writing in June, just to get it out of my head. And… It's still going, lol. I can knock down an 8k chapter in a couple of days, and then be five months without touching it. (That inconsistency in writing meant I've been/am reluctant to take the step to start posting it.) Pair that with it being about something I have not experienced but am trying to portray in a somewhat believable way without sounding like I'm spouting my research back at the reader, and we've got a ballgame.

Still love it, though, and I can't wait to share it.

Thank you again for asking, Ally!

[arobinwithoutbatman]

((Okay lets get going! I believe I'm up to... Knightquest Crusade Volume 1. I am... so concerned about everything.))

Jean Paul still being an absolute menace as Batman, I see

...a pair of cowboy twins? Robbing the same bank? Not knowing the other was there? Admittedly that's kinda funny

Oh Jean Paul is 100% walking headfirst into his programming, he's not resisting like he think he is

*Did you fucking brick up Tim's way into the Cave?!*

...he's gonna crash into a train?! That's gonna completely wreck Batman's reputation!

-----------

I'm so glad Mrs Mac is an actual good woman

Awwww Tim got his special provisional!

Bruce and Alfred are still in Santa Prisca?! Jesus...

A train robbery and Tim's breaking into the cave

...I see that jawline... and that grin... *fuck off, Clown*

Ugh, Tim really can't win and Jean-Paul has officially lost it and no longer considers himself a human

----------

Robin #1? Huh.... might have to alter my reading list...

...he snapped out of it? At least enough to stop hurting Tim though now Tim is understandably very cautious and doesn't want Jean-Paul anywhere near him

Tim has his own car now tho. I always thought he Redbird was a bike tbh

Oh! He's still with Ariana, cute

Awwwww he's taking her to his school's dance! And talking up her talents and dreams, what a gentleman

...I spoke too soon. Tim inserted his whole foot into his mouth by getting snappy about cars. You're doing a shit job of hiding the fact that you really want to drive your secret vigilante car

...oh hi Arthur Brown. Oh! That means Steph will be turning up soon!

Boyz? ...fuck me, that alone is making me feel old. This issue came out in... 1993?

And now Tim's been mistaken as one of the 'Speed Boyz'

---------

Oh shit right, Jack is still missing

Awwww still calling his girlfriend when he can~

...wtf is Alfred doing in England? I thought he and Bruce were in Sants Prisca?

Oh good! There's a good lead on Jack! And the Redbird can look after itself, thank goodness

Tim is such a little shit in his head, I love it and wish he had the confidence to say some of that out loud

------

Back to 'Batman'

Tally Man... that's a new one

I'm not sure an isolation tank is the best thing for you, Jean-Paul. That kind of sensory deprivation can be pretty peaceful for some but in your specific situation? I have a feeling it would only make things worse

Again, I'm not sure I like the route of his meditation but it certainly reveals a lot

And Tally Man is seeking more debts

...Jean-Paul hid his isolation chamber... in the warehouse that Tally Man's target happened to be using. And neither of them realised until this Johnny *found the fucking tank and shot it?!

--------

Okay cool, Jean Paul having more System bullshit that's only making his headspace *worse*

Tally Man has a bone to pick with... debtors?

Ah. He killed the previous Tally Man as a 12 year old and was treated to adult jail because everything sucks in comics

Aaaand Jean-Paul's switched to calling himself Azrael. This... isn't good

-----------

Lunch break

---------

Jean-Paul... buddy. DOn't do it. Don't go on an actual crusade through Gotham

Insider knowledge... admittedly clever but jfc JP

Okay... so now there's someone who JP could have become and potentially is becoming

Okay cool, mobsters being taken out, Gordon suspects Bruce isn't under the cowl and JP is just getting worse. He doesn't care for the detective work that's necessary to the role, he's just here for a fight and it's such an easy way for the System to worm in and corrupt everything in his head. Which I suspect is exactly what's happening

---------

...holy shit, JP's rambling actually worked?!

And now this Mekros is all confused

---------

Oh the Trigger Twins are back

JP, don't frame this as not wanting Tim in danger. You don't understand the partnership and you think he holds you back

Car chase on the train tracks, okay

And they're dealt with... OH FUCK OFF CLOWN, YOU AND YOUR STUPID LONG HAIR

-----------

Damn. Christmas again. Which means it's been... a year since Bruce got his back broken?

Oh hey Mr Freeze! Was wondering when you would turn up

--------

Oh? Catwoman issue?

Oh! Selena is with an eco group? And they've never noticed that she's not around when Catwoman is? Incredible

So looks like JP and Selina are gonna meet

These environmentalist guys are so... 90s stereotypical

---------

Hm.... JP might have a little crush~

Lol he totally had dirty dreams about her~

And he's got it wrong and once again proving that he's not great at the detective side of things

Huh. She's immediately guessed that there's someone else under the cowl

Oh dang, she really called him sterile

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

Gotta say... I definitely prefer the sleeker black look over the purple sprayed on look

Though it does add to the disguise funnily enough. From a distance, she looks naked and either you're gonna look away or you're gonna stare too much at her boobs and pay little attention to her face or what she's doing

And now you've gone and framed Catwoman because you don't know how to do the detective side of things or investigate and put an entire section of Rainforest at risk

--------

"Undersexed sanctamonious dolt" that's one hell of a description and absolutely implies that she knows Bruce would've gone for her and treated her like a gentleman. And also confirms that he goes along with the flirting

At least he listened and they fixed things

[jjungkooksthighs]

No. No. Nooo!!!!! I feel like I've been waiting 50 years for this chapter, only for you to leave it on such a horrific cliffhanger!! There is no way you're gonna kill off alpha Jungkook! I refuse to believe it. Honestly, I felt my heart plummet into my stomach when I read that cliffhanger. A part of me was in such disbelief I had to re-read the last paragraph. I'm in a state of shock right now. Wtf just happened!

Throughout the last few chapters of lead up to the battle, I always thought JK was a little too cocky about his fighting ability. And while I knew he could easily beat Tae and Jimin, I always thought Yoongi was a wildcard. He seems to be a much better fighter and that he could possibly beat JK. So a part of me was a little worried for JK. I was actually wondering if he could lose to Yoongi in the story, and what the story would look like if that happened. But then you started doing all the alpha!jungkook asks, which seemed to take place after the battle. So that kind of lulled me into a false security of "oh he wins the fight". Even though nothing in the asks confirmed he won. While reading this chapter, I was kind of expecting Yoongi to jump in somewhere. But he didn't. Until the very end. And now I'm left stunned speechless. I really hope that it doesn't take another 8 months to find out if Jungkook survives the fight! My sanity can't handle it. I completely understand why it was so important to you to get this fight right, and I definitely think you nailed it. But I think now the pressure falls on the Jungkook/Yoongi battle, so I fear it will take you just as long to write the next chapter. But I feel like it wouldn't fit the story if Jungkook dies. The whole story has been lead up to him claiming her and the really freakin' awesome smut scene that is supposed to follow it. And if he dies, I feel like I would be jipped out of what the story was doing for 13 chapters. And if Yoongi wins that means he forcefully claims and rapes OC over and over again. I'm not sure that would be a good rest of the story! LOL So I'm pretty sure Jungkook will win. I'm like 80/20 on Jungkook winning over Yoongi. But now I'm thinking what ifs. What if Jungkook does lose to Yoongi, but can't handle the thought of losing OC, so he goes rogue, steals OC, and they run away together, forever to be hunted by Yoongi. See now my mind is wandering all over the place with what could happen in the next chapter. This is why I hope it doesn't take 8 months to find out. I will probably pull out all my hair by then!

A horrific ending, you say? Oh dear… that’s not good. Hard to hear that something I wrote was horrific. :/

Anyway, It has been a little while since COC was updated, but as I went over in my author’s note, it was important to me that this chapter was done right and that it was everything that I envisioned in my head. This chapter and the next one both were one of the first ideas I had for this story, so I wasn’t happy with what I was producing prior to posting.

Of course, being that I am a very self-critical person, I wasn’t entirely happy with how this one came out. I felt like I could have done it better, but it came to a point where I just couldn’t stand to keep deleting what I had anymore, and so I made myself keep going until this chapter was finished through a 3-4 day period.

It seems like what most talking about is that ending. It’s not a kind of ending I’ve ever written before, but then again, I’ve always tried to challenge myself to being in new elements and facets to my writing so that I can continue to develop it.

You seem very worried about Jungkook, but I think it would assuage you a little if you remember all the things that your alpha has promised to you and what he’s told you about his seasoned status in combat.

After all, one does not come to be the Lead/Pack Alpha unless all other alphas submit/yield to him. For that, he would have to battle any alpha that tried to take his title/rank.

Even Yoongi.

Recall that Jungkook has asked you to trust in him. To believe in him. For his sake, you should.

Also, the next update won’t take months. I promise.

[talesofesther]

dreams made of sand and golden waves

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: It's time for the yearly trip to your grandparent's beach house; this year you are hellbent on not going alone, and Eddie is just about the only person who can pass as your boyfriend. It's just one weekend, so keeping real feelings at bay should be easy, right?

A/N: aka a very cliche fake dating au with lots of domestic fluff that I indulged myself in writing. I wrote this as nothing serious and just because I really like this trope (but boy did it take me fucking long to write it wtf). Also very important to say that I don't live in the USA, so if anything about the locations in here is wrong, blame it on Google. That being said, let's take Eddie to the beach <3.

Word count: 12,6k

Masterlist

"Eddie, pleeease!" You groaned, following him around inside his trailer.

He picked up a beer from the fridge and walked back to his room, turning his head to give you a quick glance with a smirk. A Black Sabbath album resonated through the trailer from his player beside his bed. The cheap yellow lighting made his eyes glint, the brown orbs you adored now causing annoyance to surge inside you.

Eddie plopped himself on top of his worn yet incredibly soft bed, crossing his legs and taking a sip of his beer. "Sorry sweetheart, can't do it."

You heaved an exasperated sigh, resting your hands on your hips and avoiding his eyes, to look around his bedroom. His guitar hanging in front of the mirror felt like it might as well have been laughing at you, given the hole you dug for yourself. Right beside it, haphazardly taped to the mirror, was a Polaroid of both of you; Eddie's arm around your shoulders, your smile almost as big as his, the two of you on the Ferris wheel, with the light from the fireworks illuminating your faces. Eddie always loved to capture moments like these. That way they'll last forever, he'd said.

The picture brought good memories, but you forced your eyes away. You'd spent countless hours hanging out with Eddie in this same bedroom, listening to music and smoking the occasional weed to loosen up weekly nerves. You were no stranger to the posters, the VHS tapes, and the mess, yet now your anxiety made the room feel a little suffocating.

"Please Eddie, it's just one weekend." Your voice leveled out in a steady tone.

The half-full beer bottle was discarded to the floor. Eddie looked up at the ceiling with his lips parting in a sigh, before he let himself fall back on his bed, his head hitting the mattress. Deep down he knew he'd never be able to deny you anything.

The mattress dipped as your knees came to rest on top of it, you slowly crawled your way to him. Laying down beside him with one hand under your head, you fixed your eyes on his profile. You followed the line of his nose to the curve of his lips, gripping the bedsheets so you wouldn't reach out.

Eddie turned his head to look at you. "Your family is not gonna like me, y'know. Why does it have to be me?"

"Because," you pursed your lips, "everyone is going to be there, all my cousins and aunts. With their plus ones. And I can't be the only sad loser who's still very much single and alone." You picked at the sheets, avoiding his eyes. "I can't stand another year hearing the 'when are you gonna find someone, Y/N?' questions with that pitiful look on their faces."

"You're not alone." Eddie reasoned.

Ever the charmer, you thought to yourself. His words made you chuckle lightly. "Sorry, I know I have you. And…" Biting the inside of your cheek, you said in a lower tone; "no one here knows me better than you do Eddie, you know that. If anyone is gonna make it believable when pretending to be my boyfriend, it's gonna be you."

Eddie could feel his mouth drying up just by hearing the words, his heart picking up a quicker pace. Pretending. That word would be haunting him forever.

How was he supposed to hold your hand, kiss your cheek and keep you close without it meaning anything?

How was he supposed to go back to being your friend — best friend, most important person in the world, as you liked to call it, yet friend nonetheless — after living through the one thing he wanted the most?

He'd be driving a knife right into his chest. And yet, for you, he'd do it smiling.

One thing he knew though. He wouldn't have to pretend to be head over heels for you.

"Okay."

You pushed yourself up on your elbows, wide eyes glued to him in excitement. "Really?"

Eddie sighed loudly, running his hands over his face. He peeked at you through his fingers. "Yeah really, whatever. You'll owe me big time."

Next thing he knew you were throwing yourself on top of him, momentarily knocking the air out of his lungs. He held you back with a huff, already smiling at the affection you gifted him with. His arms encircled your waist, while yours closed around his neck between his soft hair and the bedsheets.

"Thank you, Eddie. I'll make it up to you, I promise." You breathed out against his skin. Relieved out of your mind that you wouldn't be alone in that beach house. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Eddie's lips parted as he stared at the stained ceiling, feeling a distant sting in his eyes. He gripped the fabric of your shirt, focusing on the comforting weight of your body atop his; instead of the fact that he'd be condemning his poor heart in just a few days.

_____

It was a yearly family trip, you could go as far as to say it was a tradition. Everyone coming together in your grandparent's beach house in Porter, for at least one weekend. The place was beautiful, and you had countless unforgettable memories there from when you were younger; however now, the trip was starting to become a day you didn't exactly look forward to — especially after moving to Hawkins, going back to your hometown usually only made you miss it more once you had to leave again. And you loved your family, but naturally, they could be a little too much sometimes, especially your aunt Kathy, who was your typical matchmaker.

Having Eddie with you would be a relief, not only because you wouldn't have to hear the incessant nagging about when you'd find someone, but also because he would quite literally be your source of comfort.

After loading up everything you'd need for the weekend, you drove up to Eddie's trailer. Parking your car beside his beat-up van, you got out and walked up the stairs to the front door, not bothering to knock before getting in, he knew you were coming.

Wayne looked up from his place sitting on the couch when you walked in, a beer can in his hand. "Hey Y/N."

"Hi Wayne, how are you?" You smiled.

"Good," he nodded, and a smirk appeared on his face, he tilted his head towards Eddie's bedroom, "so you're finally making it official then?"

"Ha ha." You humorlessly faked a laugh, feeling your face heat up. "Don't start, it's just a stupid family gathering that I don't wanna go alone to."

"You kids always finding excuses." Wayne raised an eyebrow at you with a teasing look, that you chose to ignore, making your way to Eddie's bedroom.

Eddie was rummaging through his wardrobe, a deep frown on his eyebrows. He threw a black shirt on his bed and you noticed that he already had a small backpack with clothes there.

"How's my other half?" You teased, sitting down on his bed. You picked up the shirt he just tossed there and folded it neatly.

Huffing out a sigh, Eddie turned to you, now with a pair of grey sweatpants in his hands. His hair, you just noticed, was tied in a low bun; you always loved this look on him.

"Trying to find beach clothes… that I don't have."

"Spring has just started Eds, we're not gonna swim, don't worry." You grabbed his backpack, curiously peering inside to see what he was taking.

Eddie sat down beside you, clutching the sweatpants to his chest. "You think that's enough?"

You chuckled, leaning towards him and snatching the pants from his hands to fold them and tuck them in his bag. "I think you're worse than me when it comes to packing."

His unamused look made you smirk. You closed the zipper on his backpack and raised a hand to his face, flicking away a loose strand of hair that had fallen on his eyes. "It's perfectly enough, and we should be leaving already."

You got up from the bed pulling a strap of his bag over your shoulder, not seeing the way his cheeks reddened with your touch.

Eddie followed suit, stuffing his hands in his pockets and giving his bedroom one last glance over to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

"My parents already left yesterday to get there earlier. We're going with my car," you turned to him, walking backward and to the living room, "you're driving." You threw the car keys to him, which he scrambled to catch mid-air.

After saying goodbye to Wayne and tossing Eddie's backpack in the back of your car with your own bags, you were finally on the road to Porter Beach. The drive was a little long so you stopped by a gas station to grab a few snacks.

About one hour of driving, and you were munching on a cereal bar, feet resting up on the dash. Most of the way there was through a beautiful countryside, green fields surrounding the highway as you avoided going through any city's traffic. You were looking out the window, enjoying the low tune of a Bon Jovi tape you insisted on playing.

Lazily turning your head to the side, your gaze settled on Eddie. He had one hand resting on the wheel while the other held a can of soda, his eyes focused on the road ahead. You felt your lips curling up in a smile. He looked handsome, it felt right to be doing this, casually going out of town with him to meet your family. For a moment you forgot it was play pretend.

"So um- what are the ground rules?" Eddie's voice brought you back down to earth, making you frown.

"Ground rules?"

"Yeah, I mean, what we can and can't do. What are the boundaries of this relationship?" He shot you a suggestive glance with a toothy grin.

You rolled your eyes, stretching your arms above your head before throwing away the empty wrap of your cereal bar. "Well, we just have to pretend while we're with them so… holding hands, the occasional cuddle, those things. It's pretty straightforward, just like any other relationship you've had I guess."

Eddie promptly fixed his eyes back on the road, biting the inside of his cheek and gripping tightly onto the steering wheel. "But I don't… Just- just give me some pointers alright? What are you comfortable with?"

"There's not much to say, Eddie. You just kind of roll with it, and I'm sure whatever you're used to will be fine by me too, I trust you." You lean your head on the back of your seat, looking at him and taking notice of his tense shoulders. Whole body, really. "I mean, you've been in a relationship before, right?"

Eddie clenches his jaw, eyes looking anywhere but you as he grumbles; "you know I didn't." He didn't know why it bothered him, it's not like you'd judge him. But a little embarrassment still twirled in his stomach. And Eddie wasn't an idiot, he knew how couples behaved, but not having any experience in the matter still made him worried about crossing your boundaries; worried enough to step out of his comfort zone and ask.

"I know you didn't in the two years I've known you, but… before that?" You inquired tentatively.

Eddie's face twisted in a mixture of a smile and grimace. "Not many people are interested in dating the town's freak, I'm afraid."

His voice dripped with sarcasm but you could see the hint of hurt underneath, the loneliness. It baffled you though, how no one had had the privilege of knowing him like this. No one but you. The thought sent a shiver down your spine and you suppressed it just as fast as it came.

"It's alright, I know you'll make a great boyfriend." You smiled, poking his arm to bring a smile to him as well. "Just do what your heart tells you."

With your words, Eddie's heartbeat sped up. He cleared his throat and tried to sound casual with his next question; "what about kissing?"

That had you chuckling. You finally looked away from him and watched the road in front of you. "I guess we'll have to? At least some pecks here and there, otherwise they'll see right through it. If you're okay with it. I mean, what couple doesn't kiss, right?"

Eddie pursed his lips, gulping down the feelings clawing at his throat. "Right."

As you reached town, Eddie started following your instructions to get to the house. The town was pretty, and in some ways, reminded Eddie of Hawkins.

He ended up driving to a secluded neighborhood, and as he sped forward, fewer and fewer houses started to appear; until he reached the end of the road, and there, facing Lake Michigan, stood a big, white wooded house. It had two floors and a run-down stone path that lead to its entrance, surrounded by a few patches of grass, and a few coastal trees, but mostly light-colored sand that blended with the house nicely. And as Eddie parked the car beside the house, he noticed that some of the white paint was wearing off, certainly a teller of how long the house had existed. Yet despite its age, the house still looked well taken care of, fancy. It stood on a slight hill, giving them a perfect view of the beach ahead.

Eddie was quiet as he took in his surroundings, slowly pulling the key from the ignition when your car was settled beside the other two already parked there. Sometimes, he forgot how different your world was from his. Rich parents, fun childhood, big family. In moments like these, he was reminded of it.

"Here we are," you said quietly, eyes fixated on the house you practically grew up in. "I swear this place never changes." You opened your door with a soft click and the coastal wind filled your nostrils, making your hair fly. You turned to Eddie before stepping out.

He spoke before you could, hands still gripping the steering wheel. "You know, sometimes I forget that you're-"

"Don't say it." You cut him off.

"Rich?" With a raised brow, Eddie finally peeled his eyes away from the house and the waves washing to shore, and looked at you.

"Stop it, Eddie," you huffed, "for the last time, all of this," you gestured to the white house, fresh sand and seagulls that flew by in the distance, "belongs to my grandparents, not me."

Eddie squinted his eyes at you, pushing his door open as well. "It does belong to you, at least a little."

Rolling your eyes at his stubbornness, you climbed out of the car and pushed the door closed. The golden glow of the setting sun was warm against your skin, you took a moment to watch the way it blended in with the crashing waves, taking in a deep breath of the air that still tasted as fresh as you remembered it.

Eddie leaned his elbows on the roof of the car, about to ask if he should already take the bags but biting his words back when he saw you. The sunlight highlighted your profile with an orange glow and made your hair shine. Eddie could feel the air leaving his lungs and not coming back. This would be a long weekend.

You opened the trunk of your car and you and Eddie picked up all your bags. When you closed it again, you noticed the dark blue BMW parked beside you. You groaned, "shit, aunt Kathy is already here." With one hand you held onto the strap of your backpack whilst hooking your other arm with Eddie's, pulling him with you towards the front door. "Last time we were here she tried to pair me up with one of the surfers her son is friends with. He wasn't bad looking but… such a douche."

Beside you, Eddie hummed, subconsciously pulling your body closer to his. He took a quick glance down at his black jacket and ripped jeans. "More and more I'm kinda feeling like I won't be exactly the guy who fits in with your family, sweetheart."

You looked up at him with the ghost of a smile, watching the way his brown curls flew in front of his eyes and he tried to blow them away. "You fit in with me, that's good enough right?" The words slipped from your tongue before you had the chance to weigh them. Eddie turned his head to you, and you didn't let yourself think if the pink on his cheeks was from the sunlight or something else. "And you know, my parents adore you. They were thrilled when I told them about us." You finished quickly.

Eddie halted on his feet and pulled you along with him, his eyes comically wide. "You told your parents we're- we're…"

You chuckled and avoided his eyes, adjusting your backpack over your shoulder. "Of course I did, I had to, they're here too."

"But, what happens when we go back to Hawkins?"

You hadn't thought that far yet, but you pursed your lips with a smile and urged Eddie to continue walking. "I don't know but we'll think of something until then, say it didn't work out or whatever, and we're back as just friends."

Sand got inside Eddie's sneakers as he dragged his feet toward heartbreak. The thought of you and him not working out stung.

You stopped in front of the wooden door, reaching for the handle but hesitating. "You ready… boyfriend?" You chanced, smile teasing but tone anxious.

Eddie gulped, his lips parted as he looked at you with the most gentle eyes. "Nah man."

You nodded. "Me neither, let's go."

The front door opened with a quiet creak, allowing you the full view of inside the house, which hasn't changed much either since last year. The walls inside were cream colored, with a very open floor plan downstairs — joined kitchen and living room, that had a colorful couch and bamboo chairs for the dining table — and huge glass doors that lead to the porch facing the beach and the wooden stairs that made the path down to the sand.

In the living room sat both your parents, your aunt Kathy and her husband, uncle Arthur; and your grandmother, Louise, who got up as soon as she caught sight of you and Eddie.

"Y/N darling, you're finally here."

You gave her a big smile, letting your backpack fall to the floor and letting go of Eddie — who, you noticed, took half a step behind you — so you could hug your grandma. "Yeah, it was a bit of a drive, but we're here."

She let go of the embrace only to cup your face, squishing your cheeks as she always did. "Oh it's been so long, you've grown so much. How are you?"

Your parents, Kathy and her husband were now standing behind Louise with smiles of their own, waiting to greet you.

You chuckled. "I'm okay grandma, really, and it's good to be back." Gently prying her hands away from you, you blindly reached a hand behind you and grabbed the sleeve of Eddie's jacket, pulling him to stand beside you. "I want you all to meet my boyfriend, Edward."

Eddie, feeling a bit self-conscious under all the eyes fixed on him, managed a tight-lipped smile and a quick wave. "Hey, you- you can call me Eddie. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"No need for introductions darling." Kathy squeezed her way through the rest of your family and towards you. "Your mother has been telling us all about you two the whole afternoon."

"Aw shit." You mumbled under your breath, biting back a chuckle when your aunt pulled Eddie in for an unexpected hug.

She came to you next, keeping and arm around your shoulders as she said; "I'm so happy you found someone."

"Yep," you forced out a laugh, mindlessly intertwining your fingers with Eddie's, "I did."

After exchanging greetings with the rest of your family — including your grandpa; and your cousin Sean who came back from the beach dragging sand everywhere and earning a scolding from his father, Arthur — you found yourself alone with Eddie on the porch facing the beach, or, as alone as one could be through glass doors and a full living room.

"Aunt Jane will be arriving tomorrow morning, I think she couldn't get off early from her job today." Sitting on the wooden railing, you swing your legs back and forth. "She's a bit more easygoing than aunt Kathy." You extended a hand for Eddie to take, and when he did you pulled him closer and between your legs, letting your arms rest on his shoulders.

Eddie tensed with your touch, his brown eyes searching your face as his hands hovered just above your waist. He read your look quite quickly; 'play along'. Carefully, Eddie allowed himself to embrace your waist, praying you wouldn't hear the thundering of his heart. He kept his gaze over your shoulder and in the darkening sky above the shoreline.

You sneaked your hands up his neck and through his hair, mindlessly messing with his curls. Eddie closed his eyes momentarily, hearing the muffled voices from inside the house, the clattering of plates as they set the table for dinner, the crashing of waves, and the leaves rustling with the cold wind. He knew already, that going back from this, from having you, would be difficult.

"They like you, you know." You gently pushed away strands of hair that were in front of his eyes, watching the way his gaze lazily met yours. "I knew they would."

It was true, you heard your mother earlier, whispering quite loudly to your aunt; "always attached to the hip those two, no wonder they're together, took too long if you ask me."

And to which your aunt answered; "he's not what I expected for her, but I have to admit, they are adorable. And what a kind young man, so respectful."

"They're just being nice," Eddie mumbled, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of your hoodie.

You furrowed your brows at that. "No, they're not. I know my family, they wouldn't have a problem in letting it show if they don't like someone, in one way or another, especially aunt Kathy."

Maybe you were right, maybe Eddie could belong here. But he looked away and made the bold move of resting his chin on your shoulder, almost flushing your chest to his, with his hands holding your back so you wouldn't fall; because getting attached to a fake reality would be too hard of a blow in the long run.

And you didn't say anything else, feeling your skin prickle with goosebumps where he touched you. Closing your arms around Eddie's shoulders, you realized you'd never noticed how good it felt to hold him this close. Stop it. You told yourself. He's just playing his part like you're playing yours. It doesn't change anything.

The glass doors opened with a quick motion, making you and Eddie snap your heads towards the sound. Your father peeked his head through, sporting his 'kiss the cook' apron and with a spatula in hand. "Dinner's ready, you two. Come on in."

Everyone sat together at the table, talking loudly and passing bowls of food between each other. Eddie felt overwhelmed, but in a weirdly good way, with your family talking with him as if they'd known him for years.

"Edward, tell me a little about you. How'd you meet my niece?" Kathy asked excitedly from her end of the table.

Eddie gulped down half of the orange juice in his cup, his knee going up and down as he looked up at her. "We um- we met at school, right after she moved to Hawkins." He shifted his gaze from your aunt and to you who sat beside him, lips parted with uncertainty.

When you were about to step in and say something, you noticed his eyes softening. He focused on you and let the other people around fade out. With a soft breath, Eddie continued; "she stood out from day one, I- I couldn't understand how someone as amazing as her had ended up in Hawkins, of all places. I just knew I had to meet her."

Your hands became sweaty, and you couldn't hold his gaze. His words were too genuine for a made-up scenario, so you followed his lead shamelessly; "he was my first friend there, part of me knew we'd end up together, I think. He's been an easy one to love… from day one." The words grew quieter, you tilted your head and glanced at Eddie with a soft smile.

She doesn't really mean it. Eddie kept repeating inside his head, for the sake of his heart. But as you looked at him with a love that felt so true, his mantra started to become blurry.

All Eddie managed before going back to his food was a shy smile back.

Dinner went on as if nothing happened, the only one to mention how pure the young love was, was your mother.

Being tired from the long trip, everyone went to bed early tonight. You and Eddie ended up settled in your old bedroom in the house, now being generically furnished with a small bookshelf, a wardrobe, a desk, and a double bed in the middle.

You closed the bedroom door and leaned your back against it, huffing out a sigh.

Eddie, who was holding all of your bags, stood in the middle of the room. "Where should I…"

"Just leave them in the corner there." You pointed to the space beside the wardrobe. It wasn't worth unpacking everything only for the two nights you'd be staying.

You pushed yourself away from the door, grazing your fingers over the dusted books on the shelf. Some of them you knew, some had been your favorites growing up. You could feel Eddie's eyes watching you. "it wasn't too bad, right? Them and… us?"

Shifting in his stance, Eddie took off his jacket, leaving him in only a dark red Metallica shirt. He attempted to run a hand through his hair, his fingers getting caught up in loose tangles. "Not too bad, I think we'll manage to pull off our roles just fine." Despite the sour taste the words left in his mouth, Eddie shot you a teasing grin; "I do like to have a pretty girl to call mine for a change."

The warmth on your cheeks was instant, you chuckled, "don't get ahead of yourself, Munson." You pointed a finger at him and walked to your backpack, starting to search for pajamas to keep your hands busy.

"Uh, I'm gonna take a shower, you can go after, okay?" You glanced up at Eddie through your lashes.

"Yeah, sure."

Eddie busied himself with snooping around the room until you come back. Eventually, on the bookshelf, beside the old books, he found two portraits. Eddie picked them up with care, running a thumb over the images. In one of them, you and your whole family stood on the beach, with the big white house in the background, you were younger, maybe not older than seven and the smiles on all your faces were genuine. The other portrait was a picture of only you, maybe two or three years older than on the other picture, you held a plastic shovel and had a huge smile that missed one tooth, the beach water reaching up to your waist as you played in it. Eddie found himself smiling, they looked like happy memories.

"Oh no, you've found the relics." You walked back into the room, still drying your hair with your towel.

"I was hoping I'd find some ugly baby photos of you here." Eddie raised a brow, putting down one of the framed pictures. "These aren't so bad though. You really did grow up here huh?"

"For the most part, yeah. The house was big enough, and when I was around six my parents decided it was more worth splitting the bills, back then at least. And it's nice for a kid to grow up by the beach. Their words, not mine." You draped your towel over the desk chair, ruffling your damp hair with your hands. "And it was. Nice."

"Hmm, yeah." Eddie glanced down at the picture of the younger you in his hands, momentarily wondering what it would be like to grow up in a place where happiness and love surrounded him. He then held the picture up with a teasing grin; "where did all this cuteness go though?"

Your lips parted in a 'how dare you' way and you narrowed your eyes. "Fuck you." You giggled, walking up to him and snatching the portrait from his hands, pushing him to the door. "Go take a shower, you stink."

"I do not." Eddie joined in with a chuckle of his own, smiling big with the familiar teasing.

"Two doors to your left, pretty boy. Go on." You threw a clean towel on his arms and raised a hand to mess up his hair, just the way you knew always made him pout.

Eddie walked out and into the hallway with a permanent smile attached to his lips. The easiness with which you showered him with affection made his heart skip a few beats.

Closing the bathroom door, Eddie pulled his hair in a high bun to avoid getting it wet; it was a nightmare to sleep while his hair was still damp and even he wasn't able to tame it in the morning when it happened. He had to admit, the house was a pleasant place to be in, it had a natural homey feeling to it, and your family wasn't as bad as he was picturing them to be, he'd never felt so welcomed so fast. Part of him was already dreading the feeling though, all the more reason for it to hurt in the end.

The warm water of the shower was a relief against his skin and soothed his tense muscles. But he had been working almost on autopilot since you both arrived, and now, with the water hitting the tiles being the only sound, his mind had time to catch up. It was so easy for you to take his hand and pull him to you, to flush your bodies together as if it was nothing.

"Jesus, man." Eddie breathed out, splashing water on his face and keeping his hands over his eyes for a second. He doesn't think it could ever be nothing.

When he exited the bathroom all the lights in the house had already been turned off, he kept his hand clued to the wall to guide himself as he walked.

Eddie opened the door to your room slowly, cursing under his breath when the wood creaked quite loudly. He threw his clothes from earlier into a pile on top of his bag and just… stood there; in the dark room, with the only light being from the moonlight coming in through the window.

You were already laying down, covers pulled up to your chin. Eddie swallowed. You'd never discussed sleeping arrangements. He picked at his fingers, worrying his lower lip with his teeth; should he just lay down beside you?

After a beat, you answered for him, apparently feeling his worry all the way from under the covers. "Just get in here, Eds."

"Right, right," Eddie mumbled and scrambled his way to the bed. He made sure to keep a good distance between you two. His hands twitched to reach out for you, but he settled on watching the outline of your back until sleep overtook him.

_____

Saturday dawned with the sun shining right on your face, you nuzzled into your pillow to hide from its light; the pillow that felt weirdly warm under you. And you hugged the covers closer to yourself, except they definitely didn't feel like covers.

With your eyes still closed you scrunched your eyebrows, and when you felt your body being squeezed, you finally peered them open. Somehow during the night, you and Eddie apparently bundled together in the middle of the bed. Your body was almost fully on top of his, with your head resting on his chest and arms loosely around his waist. And Eddie had his nose pressed to the top of your head, snoring softly, his arms snuggly around you.

For this early in the morning, your heart definitely shouldn't be beating this fast. Yet his body was so goddamn warm and soft under you that you wondered if it was too selfish to allow yourself at least five minutes of this bliss. Waking up cuddled together without knowing where your limbs started and his ended could be excused for the sake of fake dating, right?

It was dangerous, you knew that, you felt it in the way Eddie mumbled something in his sleep and subconsciously tightened his arms around you; it was the one thing you tried to suppress the hell off when his warm brown eyes made your stomach fill with an annoying flutter of butterflies. But in the seclusion of the bedroom, under the first lights of sunrise, the worry felt insignificant.

Until you heard the clatter of plates and the muffled voices from downstairs; seagulls singing on the beach announcing the start of the day.

You gently ran a hand over the faded Dio print on Eddie's shirt, before trying to push yourself up and away from him. Try being the keyword, because his grip on you didn't budge in the slightest.

"Shit." You mumbled under your breath as you were squeezed back against his chest. You were hoping to separate your body from his before he woke up and noticed what happened. Apparently not.

You cleared your throat, turned your head up to look at him, and called quietly; "Eddie."

Nothing.

"Eddie, come on." A little louder.

Nothing.

"Ugh, dude." You grumbled. "Eddie! Wake up!"

His eyes shot open with a start and landed on you instantly, his hands gripped onto you before he let go completely as if you'd burned him. "Shit, shit, shit." He was all stiff limbs and warm cheeks because he'd just woken up with you in his arms, and it wasn't fair how pretty you were this up close.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- christ, I'm sorry."

Eddie's rasp morning voice sent a shudder down your back. You finally moved away from him and to your own pillow. "It's alright, don't worry, it was my fault too," your mouth hovered open, you shifted your gaze, "I just needed to get up and… Yeah."

The tip of Eddie's fingers — his whole body, really — was still prickling from having you so close. He missed the contact immediately. "Sorry." He said one more time for good measure.

You waved off his worry as if it was nothing, getting up from the bed and making your way to the bathroom to freshen up. Except it definitely wasn't nothing.

When you walked back to the bedroom, Eddie was already dressed up in dark grey sweatpants and a red flannel shirt. He turned to you when he heard the door open, and you had to stifle a laugh because his hair was all over the place. The sunlight coming from the window made the wild strands shine and look golden.

"Jesus Eddie, you're not going downstairs like this, sit." You told him with a smile, pointing at the bed.

He chuckled, one hand automatically going up to his hair. "What, you don't like it?"

"You know I do, but," you mindlessly reached for his hand and sat him down on the mattress as you stood in front of him, "just let me tidy it up a bit."

"And ruin my metal look?" Eddie clasped a hand over his chest.

"Drama, drama," you mumbled, running your fingers over his fringe and then the soft strands that framed his face.

Eddie closed his eyes, his shoulders relaxing. Slowly, his forehead dropped to rest against your abdomen as you worked your hands through the curls on his head.

It went unsaid just how much Eddie loved when you'd mess with his hair, it was a secret you kept close to your heart. And if you kept massaging his scalp for a minute longer after you were done, no one needed to know.

You walked down the stairs with Eddie behind you, your family was in the kitchen, starting to prepare breakfast, and you got down just in time to see your aunt Jane arriving. Stripes of sunlight were coming in through the windows and glass doors, bathing the wood in golden as a soft breeze came from the shoreline.

"Aunt Jane!" You called with a smile, skipping down the last steps of the stairs and pulling the older woman into a hug.

"Y/N, it's so nice to see you again." Jane pulled away, her hands still gripping your arms as she looked you up and down with a fond smile.

"Auntie, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Eddie." You said excitedly, turning to Eddie, who stood by the stairs, and making grabby hands at him.

"Boyfriend huh?" A new voice mocked.

Samantha, Jane's daughter, walked through the front door. Glossed lips pulled in a devilish smile and manicured hands held onto her purse and her boyfriend's fingers, who stepped in behind her. Much different from her mother, she wasn't the most pleasant person to have around — the tension between you and her was innocent, for the most part, coming from years ago ever since she used to steal your toys and go cry to her mother when you snatched them back.

You tugged Eddie to your side, intertwining your fingers with his with a proud tilt to your head. "Yeah, all mine." You raised a brow and felt the way Eddie's eyes snapped to you. "Hi Samantha, made a lot of children cry on the way here?"

"And I thought you wanted to be the lonely cat lady of the family." Samantha chuckled, earning a stern gaze from her mother.

Suddenly, your own mother materialized beside you and pinched your side, mumbling a "behave" to you through the gritted teeth of her overly sweet smile. She always advocated for peace in family gatherings. You couldn't blame her.

"It's uh- a pleasure to meet you." Eddie cut through the light tension, not knowing what else to say. But apparently, it was the right thing, because you and Samantha shared only one last glare before you were pulling him towards the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Eddie asked — close to your ear in a whisper that made the hairs on your neck stand up — when you stood side by side in front of the kitchen table.

You took in a breath, picking up four slices of bread to make sandwiches for you and Eddie. It was muscle memory to make them; butter, ham, and cheese for you, and only ham and cheese for Eddie. "We don't exactly get along. She's a stuck-up princess who likes to pick on me." You shot him a quick grin. "That's family for ya. Could you get us some coffee?"

Eddie chuckled, softly shaking his head. "Sure." He mumbled and leaned down to give your forehead a kiss before making his way to the counter near the sink, where the coffee machine was.

He poured two cups, one black and the other… Eddie looked around him, searching for the milk. Kathy stood only a little far from him, leaning on the isle and drinking from her own mug, talking to Louise about something regarding a paint job for the house.

Eddie raised a hand to the back of his neck, feeling self-conscious about talking to your family on his own. But before he could make a fool of himself, someone appeared beside him.

"Here you go, son." Your grandfather, Christopher, Eddie believed his name was, handed him the milk with a kind smile. "I gather that's what you're looking for."

With a sheepish smile, Eddie took the milk and thanked the man profusely, feeling his chest blowing up with warmth for the kindness.

He poured the exact amount you always did for your coffee and walked back to the table, taking his seat beside yours.

You turned to Eddie and gave his hand a quick squeeze as a thank you, setting his sandwich on a plate in front of him.

"Look who decided to show up." Arthur walked in through the porch doors, flip-flops covered in sand in his hands. He gave Jane a side hug with a smile.

She raised a hand in mock surrender. "I know, I know, should've been here yesterday. But I couldn't get off work and Sam was at a birthday party." She explained, throwing all her bags on the couch except for one. "But," out of the plastic bag in her hands, she carefully pulled out a tray, "I come bearing gifts."

Your face lit up with a smile upon seeing the neatly made cake, the recipe was Jane's specialty and your favorite.

"You are totally forgiven." Your father, who had been making himself waffles, ditched the food and made a beeline for Jane's baked sweets, already trying to take a piece and earning himself a soft tap on the shoulder from your grandmother as she looked at him disapprovingly.

Eddie chuckled beside you, and you turned to him with a smile of your own. "I absolutely love this cake she makes, you'll have to try it."

"If you say it's good, then I trust ya." Eddie took a bite of his sandwich, bread crumbs sticking to his adorable smile.

Breakfast went as it always did in the beach house, everyone sitting at the table and talking loudly about three things at once, passing food and drinks between each other, and making plans for the day.

One detail diverged, however. Samantha seemed to take an interest in Eddie's life, asking questions about what he did and what he liked, looking at him with a certain hunger that made you clench your fork to the point the metal was almost piercing your skin.

Fake or not, for this weekend Eddie was yours. And the jealousy that blossomed in your chest when Samantha reached out to tap his forearm almost made you haul yourself over the table to squeeze her throat.

After breakfast you decided to finally head to the beach, the air outside was chilly, but the sun was out as well, making the day perfect for a walk on the warm sand. You talked Eddie into borrowing your father's flip-flops and walked hand in hand with him down the wooden stairway. The steps creaked under your weight, they lead you all the way from the porch, down the slight hill, and finally to the beach. Near the house there were a few grass patches amidst the sand, along with a thin wooden fence, that had already crumbled in a few spots, leading you near the water.

The beach was mostly empty at this time of year, save for a few passersby and ambitious surfers.

Your fingers were loosely hooked with Eddie's, he was swinging your joined hands back and forth, his eyes stealing glances down at the way his feet buried in the thin sand as you walked.

You, on the other hand, were stealing glances at him. At the way he sometimes stumbled on the uneven ground, at the way his hair flew wildly with the coastal wind, at how the sun kissed his skin the same way you caught yourself wishing to, and at how he looked like he belonged here; with you and with the glistening water framing his profile.

You two ended up making your way to a local bar, the only one near the house. It wasn't big, but it made up for its size in the way it was built. The place had no walls, allowing everyone a full view of the crashing waves just ahead. A few tables were scattered underneath the roof and in the back stood the little booth that served the drinks and a few snacks, everything smartly decorated with the coastal theme.

"You want something to drink?" Eddie asked as you leaned against one of the pillars. His cheeks and nose were starting to take on a red blush because of the sun.

"Yeah I think so, we can drink while walking back." You smiled, absentmindedly running your thumb over his knuckles.

Chatter coming from one of the tables caught both yours and Eddie's attention, you turned around to see Sean, your cousin, talking loudly to some of his friends.

Eddie turned back to you and somehow his cheeks had gotten even redder, he mumbled an "okay", before leaning in and planting a tender kiss on your forehead. He made his way to the bar, fidgeting with the wallet in his hands, not bothering to ask about your favorite drinks; he knew it by memory.

You realized then that you weren't wrong, Eddie made for a great boyfriend.

"Y/N? Is that you?" An excited voice called for your attention.

You turned around and were met with the sight of Duncan, one of Sean's friends who just so happened to also be the boy your aunt tried to set you up with. He trudged his way towards you, sporting a long sleeve white shirt and shorts; and save for the shirt, he was soaked, causing the sand to cling to his skin and his blond hair to stick to his forehead and neck. You wondered if he was immune to the chilly wind.

"Hey, yeah it's- it's me." You raised your hand in an awkward wave, sparing him a tiny smile as he stopped a bit too close for comfort.

"I was hoping I'd catch you around, been a while since you've come here." He leaned a hand against the pillar behind you, causing you to take half a step to the side.

You stuffed your hands in the pockets of your pants, shrugging your shoulders. "Yeah, I usually don't come here more than once a year. Just for the family trip and all."

"Well I must say then, you've only gotten prettier since last year." Duncan smirked, leaning in towards you so he could speak in a lower tone; "you should definitely drop by more often."

You looked aside to take a breath, already growing annoyed. "I don't think that's likely, it's a long trip and I can't afford to leave work much often."

Duncan nodded slowly, "I could keep you busy here too if you'd like. What do you say we try again? Wanna go out tonight?" He was about to raise a hand to touch your cheek but halted in his movements.

"Got you your favorite, sweetheart." Eddie's voice washed over you like a fluffy blanket on a cold day. He was quick to swing an arm around your shoulders, squeezing gently and pulling your body flush to his.

The warmth was welcoming, undeniably comfortable and you were baffled by how safe he made you feel. You leaned into him, sneaking your own arm around his waist until you reached the pocket of his sweatpants by his hip.

"Thank you, Eds." You said quietly, not necessarily for the drink but reaching out for it anyway. Standing on your toes, you planted a kiss on his jaw.

"Hey dude," Eddie raised his chin towards Duncan, "I'm Eddie, her boyfriend." He made sure to accentuate the words, causing you to suppress a chuckle.

Shuffling on his feet, Duncan backed away from you. "Right, nice to meet you, man." He nodded awkwardly and turned to you, "I'll head back to Sean, see you around Y/N."

You waved him goodbye with a tight-lipped smile. When the blond was out of earshot, you let out a relieved sigh, leaning your head back into Eddie's arm. "Thank you for the save, really."

Eddie chuckled, taking a sip of his beer and pulling you along towards the shore and away from the bar; his arm steady around your shoulders. "No one's allowed to make the moves on my girl, even if she's fake."

You bumped your hip into him, laughing along, both your feet kicking the warm sand. "Told you you'd make a good boyfriend."

The walk back to the house was pleasant, you drank and talked with Eddie with the same easiness he always made you feel. Once the cans were empty and discarded, you and Eddie spotted a crab — who hid in its hole as soon as you approached — and then began the match of who could spot more crabs. Both of you ended up with the ends of your pants soaked, only thinking of rolling them up when the damage was already done.

But you couldn't care, because the sun was shining and the waves were crashing to shore. And you were both running like little kids, burying your feet in the sand and splashing water into each other. And you thought of Eddie's saying about pictures and moments, because you wanted today to last forever.

When your family's house came into sight, you were walking with your flip-flops in hand, lazily moving your feet under the water when the waves reached you.

Eddie followed beside you, avoiding most of the waves. There was a soft tilt to his lips, a permanent smile because he was happy. You made him so unbelievably happy, and as you looked at him then, meeting his eyes that were already on you; with the sun shining behind you and glistening onto the water, making you look heaven-sent — just like that, hair all over the place, skin flushed and clothes in a mess of sand and water — Eddie was not surprised to feel as if he was in a daze, in the most addicting high.

You extended a hand to him, fingers stretching to reach him. He did the same, his fingertips grazing yours, feet just out of reach from the waves; knowing he'd never risk his feelings getting in the way of this.

Five more minutes of walking and you were in front of your house, you stopped, feeling the waves crash to your ankles and bury your toes with wet sand. Eddie stood in front of you, with one hand trying to block the sun shining on his face and the other in his pants pocket. The tip of his nose and the outline of his lips were red from the sun. You wanted to kiss him.

Your gaze shifted from him and up to the porch of the house, you saw the outline of two people whispering in each other's ears, no doubt Samantha and her boyfriend talking shit about you. You knew she was doubting your relationship, or, you felt like she was; and the way her gaze kept searching for Eddie earlier really made your blood boil. So maybe it was a little bit possessive of you, but two birds one stone, you thought, and took the bold move.

You walked up to Eddie, not giving him much time to process what was happening before burying one hand in his hair and pulling his lips to yours. The kiss was gentle, testing the waters. Until you felt Eddie tentatively place his hands on your waist, bringing your bodies together as he angled his head to deepen the kiss. His nose bumped yours, his lips much softer than you imagined.

Pulling back slowly, you breathed air back into your lungs. Eddie was looking at you with those chocolate eyes of his, his lips parted and so inviting, his hands warm on your waist but still making you shiver. He was suddenly too close, the air too hot.

You separated your bodies, instantly mumbling an apology and; "we kind of had an audience." You pointedly shifted your gaze to the porch and the two people watching.

Eddie could only nod, the air still stuck in a lump on his throat because holy shit; you kissed him.

You squeezed his hand as you walked past him and towards the house. And Eddie stood there for a minute, his lips tingling with the remains of your taste, tears prickling the back of his eyes because for a second, for a fleeting moment where the world faded and all he could feel was you; it felt real.

Something shifted between you and Eddie after the kiss. Each touch felt heavier, each stare lasted longer. You wondered if there was a way back from the lines you were crossing in your friendship. You wondered if you wanted a way back. If you were still pretending at all.

Eddie stayed back at the house when you, Jane, and your mother left to go to the market — you kissed him goodbye before leaving, just a touch of lips that barely lasted a second, but already made your knees go weak — they wanted to grab a movie to watch tonight and you convinced them into picking The Shining, wanting to choose something Eddie would like.

As dusk settled over the beach, popcorn was made and a spare mattress was laid in front of the TV so the living room could accommodate everyone. You, Eddie, and your grandparents took the bigger couch, your parents and Jane took the smaller one, and Kathy, her husband, and your cousins were sitting on the mattress. All the lights on the house were off with only the TV on and you were starting to regret your choice of movie.

Eddie handed you the popcorn bowl, the scenes on the TV casting light over his eyes and making them shine. "Was it your mom who chose the movie?" He asked quietly, only for you to hear.

You squirmed beside him, tucking your knees closer to your chest, feeling a pit of anxiety in your stomach as the movie went on. "It was me." You mumbled back.

"You?" Eddie raised an amused eyebrow. "You hate these movies."

"Yeah…"

"Why would you-"

"I wanted to pick something you'd like, okay? Sue me." You interrupted him, avoiding his eyes and handing the popcorn bowl to your cousin Sean.

Eddie kept his gaze on you, the movie turning into background noise. You were making it really hard for him to not love you more than he should. His lips quirked up, watching the way your nose and cheekbones were highlighted by the TV. Eddie wanted to kiss you again so bad.

"You're something else, sweetheart." He said more to himself than to you, and brought an arm around your shoulders, squeezing your body against his.

You briefly closed your eyes when you felt Eddie maneuvering your body to his. You tucked yourself comfortably beside him, nuzzling your head on his shoulder.

When the movie finally came to an end, you were basically dozing off on top of Eddie. Your head on the crook of his neck and an arm sprawled across his lap, while he lazily played with your fingers.

When Kathy turned off the TV, Eddie looked down to see Sean drooling on the mattress and Samantha trying to wake up her boyfriend; Eddie stifled a laugh at that. Your grandparents had already excused themselves to bed, and Jane and your mother were in the kitchen tucking away the dishes from earlier. The house was silent and dark, save for the clattering of plates and the single light near the sink. Not even two days had gone by and he already felt like part of the family.

Eddie's lips grazed your hairline as he tried to look at you. Your breathing was starting to even out and your eyes were closed, most of your weight now laying on Eddie.

He was about to wake you up when the voice of your mother called out to him; "Eddie dear, can you come to help me out for a moment?"

"On my way." He glanced over the back of the couch and answered quietly enough to not wake you. With overly careful movements, Eddie separated his body from yours, managing to lay you down on the couch gently.

"Just put these up there for me would you?" Your mother instructed as he reached her, handing him the stack of porcelain plates and pointing to one of the higher cabinets above the sink.

Eddie did so with a smile, earning him a squeeze on the forearm from your mother and a warm smile of her own as she made her way upstairs.

"It's Edward, right?" Jane leaned back on one of the counters, dish rag in hand.

Eddie turned to her, fidgeting with his rings. "You can call me Eddie."

"Eddie, I just wanted to say, I'm happy for you two." She told him genuinely, and when Eddie frowned, she clarified; "you and Y/N."

"Oh," he felt his face warm up, "uh- thank you."

The older woman chuckled, she had fondness on her eyes as she stared out the window, listening to the waves crashing to shore. "What I mean is, she looks happy with you."

The words made Eddie's heartbeat skyrocket, hearing it from someone else made it feel real. And to hear he made you happy brought goosebumps to his skin.

"The last two years, ever since they moved away, she hasn't been the same. She was quiet, withdrawn, you know. Moving to a new town, and even more so far away from the place you were born, sometimes is hard." Jane explained with a faraway look in her eyes. "This year is the first time that I feel like she is really here, back with us. She looks happy. And I feel like a lot of it has to do with you. I'm glad she found you."

Eddie's words were stuck to his throat, he tugged at the ends of his shirt, taking in everything she said. He'd never been a part of someone's happiness. It felt good. It made his eyes glisten and vision blur. "I- all I want is to see her happy." The words tumbled out before he could think them through.

Jane pushed away from the counter, smiling at him. She landed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed before going upstairs as well.

For a few minutes, Eddie was glued to that same spot in the kitchen. He raked a hand through his hair, pushing back his fringe and making some strands stick up.

After gathering some semblance of composure, he walked back to the couch and crouched down to be at eye level with you.

Your cheek was pressed to the couch and one of your arms hung loosely from the edge, your fingertips grazing the wooden floor. Eddie deeply wanted to have his camera with him.

Raising a hand to poke your cheek, Eddie woke you up.

"Hmm no." You grumbled, opening your eyes to peer at him with a disapproving look before burying your head on the couch with a grunt.

"Come on, sleepy head. Let's get you to bed." Eddie was having none of your poutings, he easily put his hands under your arms and lifted you up to a sitting position.

You unenthusiastically slapped his hands away, trying to run your fingers through your mess of hair. "Ugh, you're mean, y'know." Eventually, you got up and started to walk up the stairs to sleep properly on the bed.

"Shut it," Eddie argued back with a smirk, walking closely behind you in case you'd stumble, "you love me."

You sighed, reaching for the doorknob of your room. "You know me too well." You thanked the heavens that you'd both showered earlier because you'd definitely be sleeping without it if you hadn't.

Unceremoniously, you threw yourself on the bed. Eddie followed soon after turning the lights off.

Shuffling under the covers, your hand found grip around Eddie's shirt. "Come here." You mumbled. And you would be blaming all of it on your sleepy brain in the morning, but right now you were tired, and Eddie was warm and comfortable.

"Hm?"

"Just come here, Eds."

"O-okay okay, coming." Praying for you to not feel his thundering heart under your hand, Eddie hugged you close, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder again.

Eddie's lips parted with shaky breaths. The hand he had around your waist grazed a patch of skin, courtesy of your pushed-up shirt. He shivered. This felt way too intimate.

But you were relaxed, one arm draped over his abdomen as if you'd done this countless times.

Eddie closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel it too, nuzzling his nose into your hair and tracing random patterns over your stretched arm.

"You know, they can be a bit much sometimes but… but I like your family." He said quietly, not above a whisper in case you were already sleeping.

"They like you." You told him, voice wobbly, slipping in and out of consciousness.

Several beats passed, and your breathing evened again. Moonlight bathed the room, and Eddie's eyes had already adjusted to the darkness.

"Maybe we could try this for real sometime." He whispered, quieter than before. A plea thrown in the open for no one to hear anymore.

Tomorrow would be your last day here. Tomorrow you'd be going back to Hawkins.

_____

Sunday was a quiet day in the beach house. You woke up the same way as the day before, with you and Eddie in a mess of tangled limbs.

You knew Eddie had woken up before you, being able to feel his fingers absentmindedly messing with strands of your hair as your eyes opened for the first time in the morning. You didn't say anything as you snuggled up closer to him, and he didn't say anything as his arms tightened around you.

Part of you knew you'd have to talk about it, eventually. Because you'd be going home later today. And an even bigger part of you was dreading the talk; the one that would end whatever it was that happened in the last days.

Sunday was a day for relaxing, always has been. Everyone knew it was the last day in the house, everyone already woke up with the bitter taste of goodbye on their tongues.

But you enjoyed the day until the last minute;

Before breakfast, when Kathy and her husband asked if you'd like to accompany them to the nearby market. You enjoyed walking the familiar streets with Eddie's fingers loosely intertwined with yours, telling him a few stories of when you were growing up here.

During breakfast, with everyone sitting together at the table, already making plans for next year's gathering.

And when, as it also could be considered tradition, the whole family went for a walk on the beach. Feet burying in the sand and splashing the water of the waves.

You basked in the utopian feeling of sitting together on the porch, watching as the sun started to descend over the water ahead, painting the sky orange and pink, turning the waves golden. And Eddie was always there, with you, and it felt so right for him to be there.

Your parents had already left about an hour ago, having work early tomorrow morning and with the drive not being a fast one, they didn't want to arrive in Hawkins too late.

Seagulls were flying by, their singing mixing with the crashing of waves on the shore. And the sun was only getting lower.

You sat on the railings of the porch with Eddie in your arms, standing between your knees. It reminded you of your first night here, just two days ago, and yet it felt like so much had changed. Eddie was talking with Sean, one of his hands was around your waist and the other moved around enthusiastically as he said something about DnD.

There was no telling how things would be once you were back in Hawkins, once the whole couple facade was broken. Anxiety was hot in the pit of your stomach, all because of the grave you dug for yourself. How naive, to think you'd be okay after having a taste of what it would be like to call Eddie yours and then having to let him go.

Twirling a curl of his hair on your fingers, you took a last glance over the beach. You only noticed the bouncing of your knee when Eddie laid a hand on top of it, calming down the movement.

Sean was long gone, and from the look on Eddie's eyes, he has been watching your profile for a while. "You okay?" He frowned.

You pursed your lips. Suddenly, you felt like crying. "Yeah, fine." You swallowed once, then took in a breath. "We… we have to go, Eddie. Or we'll get home too late."

Eddie's lips parted, he had words on the tip of his tongue that he bit back, instead settling for; "yeah, you're right."

He helped you down, his hand gently holding onto yours, and with that, you intertwined your fingers with his one last time.

Ever since you moved to Hawkins, today just might be the day where it hurt the most to throw your bags in the trunk of the car to leave the beach house, you weren't expecting to have enjoyed the trip so much.

You bid your family goodbye with a tight hug to each of them, laughing as your grandmother squished Eddie's cheeks and told him how much of a good boy he was. And just like that, you were on the road again.

The car's engine rumbled to life, Eddie turned it around in the driveway and towards the street. You kept your eyes on the rearview mirror, watching as the white wooded house got smaller and smaller in front of the setting sun, the hands of your grandparents happily waving goodbye.

Rolling down your window, you allowed the coastal air to fill your nostrils, extending an arm out the window to feel the wind. You tipped your head back against the seat, closing your eyes.

Unbeknownst to you, Eddie switched his gaze between you and the road ahead. His eyes followed the line of your eyebrows and the curve of your lips, with the passing shoreline as background. Part of him wanted to ask what happens now? But the moment felt too delicate to be broken. He turned on the radio instead.

Around the halfway point of driving back, you and Eddie decided to stop at a gas station to pick up some snacks and fill the gas tank. It was dark already, insects were gathering under the artificial lights of the gas station. Only two other cars were there, from people with rather tired looks on their faces, — Eddie noticed, as he walked side by side with you to the convenience store — travelers too, no doubt.

There was a stray dog there, caramel in its color, who came to both of you with its tail wagging. You kneeled to pet him and Eddie followed suit; it was all casualty and routine, none of you mentioning the huge elephant in the room.

Inside, you went rummaging through the bags of chips whilst Eddie scanned the freezers for the drinks.

When he had both soda cans in hand, Eddie made his way to you. Without so much of a warning, he slung an arm around your shoulders, pressing the ghost of a kiss to your hairline in a moment of heart overtaking brain, before saying; "found that one you were telling me to try out, let's see if it's any good." He wiggled the can in his hand.

The bag of chips on your hands nearly popped open with the way you squeezed it, a shiver running down your spine with Eddie's affection. Your words tumbled out of your mouth before you could stop them. "Uh we're not at the house anymore, Eddie, there's no need to pretend here." You forced out a chuckle, if anything, to try and cut through the tension looming around you.

Eddie had never pulled himself away from you so quickly. He gulped, his eyes looking anywhere but you as he shifted his stance. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I- I forgot." He grimaced, shaking his head.

"It's alright. No biggie." You mumbled back, hating yourself for making it weird. It was never supposed to be like that, Eddie has always been affectionate, even before this whole ordeal, why did it suddenly feel like… everything had more meaning?

You made a beeline for the bored cashier, desperate to have something take your mind off of the situation.

The cold from the soda cans on Eddie's hands was starting to pierce his skin and make it sting. He watched your quick steps away from him, watched how you took a piece of his heart with you and made the remaining one inside his chest bleed.

You and Eddie walked back to the car in silence, each one holding a bag. Only as you were about to open the passenger's door, that Eddie extended a hand to graze the skin on your wrist, it was enough to hold you in place and get you to reluctantly turn to him.

Eddie licked his lips, fumbling with his rings in anticipation. "Look, I'm- I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable these last days. It was never my intention, I promise, I wouldn't-"

"Eddie no, you-" you stopped him, because the way his chocolate eyes were glistening under the street lights made your throat feel tight. Boundaries be damned, you thought to yourself, it's not like we haven't gone way past them already. You took his hands on yours, brushing his knuckles softly. "You could never make me uncomfortable, okay? Never. I'm just… a bit bummed that we're leaving, that's all."

In a haste, you brought one of his hands to your lips, planting a tender kiss on his fingers and mumbling; "don't worry." You managed a reassuring smile before getting into the car. A smile that Eddie saw right through.

It was already late at night when you arrived at Forest Hills Trailer Park. Eddie parked your car a little far from his trailer, you didn't comment on it.

The night sky was gloomy, several clouds hiding the stars. There seemed to be some kind of gathering happening on one of the other trailers, you could hear excited voices and music flowing through the air.

Gravel crushed under your feet as you exited the car, ready to help Eddie take his bags inside; but he didn't let you, he jogged his way around the front of the car and to you.

"Y/N, can we… talk?" He half extended a hand towards you, giving you the chance to let him in or push him away.

Seconds felt like hours as you stared at his outstretched hand, until you finally took it, fingers lazily hooking together, the folds on your skin fitting with his. Eddie pushed himself up on the hood of your car, sitting there and pulling you between his legs, close enough that you had to lay your hands on his waist. A smile tugged at your lips at the familiarity.

You avoided his eyes though, keeping your gaze on the belt loops of his pants you were playing with.

With a gentleness most people wouldn't believe he was capable of if you told them, Eddie traced the outline of your jaw, urging you to meet his eyes. "What's wrong, sweetheart? You've been quiet ever since we left the beach house."

You bit onto the inside of your cheek until you tasted iron, the beginning of tears pooling on the bottom lid of your eyes. "I'm sorry, Eddie. I- I never should've asked you to do it." You choked out.

He frowned at your words, the hand he had on your waist pulled you closer in an attempt of comfort.

"Going there, with me…" You elaborated. "I feel like… it might have been a mistake."

Eddie gulped, his lips pulling thin to stop their trembling. "A mistake?"

"Last thing I wanted was for this whole fake dating thing to get in the way of our friendship." You brushed the sleeve of your hoodie under your nose, sniffing to hold back your tears.

Chances were; you were feeling awkward about being around Eddie now, or — and he took a leap of faith in even allowing his brain to conjure up the thought — he might just be lucky enough that you feel the same way he does.

Holding tight to every last bit of courage inside him, Eddie took a deep breath, pushing strands of hair behind your ear; "were we… ever faking it?" His voice came out much quieter than he intended. "Or- or did I just imagine what we had? Because it felt real sometimes."

The last of his words came out in a breath, big brown eyes tearing up under the cheap lighting of the trailer park the same way yours was, looking at you with blown pupils; and at that moment, you realized there would never be a reality in which you wouldn't fall for him.

Your silence made Eddie's hands fidget with your hoodie. He squirmed in his seat, heart in his throat. "Because, I think I'd like it to be real."

The air in your lungs left you in a breath that didn't come back, and you were glad Eddie was holding you because your legs just about turned to jelly. "You serious?"

Eddie chuckled, a fond smile on his lips. "To be totally real with you, I wasn't faking any of it."

You tugged at the collar of his jacket, moving closer and leaning your forehead to his. You smiled when Eddie nuzzled your nose with his. "Neither was I."

Eddie's cheeks hurt with how big his smile got, his eyes crinkling on the sides. "Then, I'm guessing we won't have to tell your parents we're breaking up?"

Pulling away with a smile of your own, you lifted a brow. "That's what you're focusing on?" A stray tear dropped from your eye, now more in happiness than anything else.

Eddie brushed it away with his thumb in a gentle touch, pulling you in to lay a kiss on your forehead. He was buzzing with happiness, his heart light with joy and affection. He closed his eyes for only a second, lips still grazing your skin, to take in the feeling of finally, truly having you.

He pulled away but kept his hold on you, a boyish grin on his face. "Oh and, you know, the fact that maybe I can call you my girl for real from now on? No biggie."

You gripped his thighs and tilted your head with a grin, leaning your body closer to his. "You may."

Eddie didn't waste a second in pulling you in for a kiss, he was all passion and neediness, with a tight grip on you as if you'd go away if he let go.

The metal of your car was cold against you as you leaned a hand on it, the other going up to Eddie's head and burying itself in his curls. His lips were soft, tender, and perfect. It tasted different, kissing him for real.

A kiss that was soon broken by shared giggles, by the way Eddie hugged your body to his and gently swayed you both from side to side.

You wouldn't have to fake break up with him after all; and who knows, maybe next year, when you both drive down to the beach house as a real couple, this can be a funny story to tell over dinner.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Thank you for reading this story. This one also took me weeks of writing, rewriting, and editing, so feedback and reblogs are very much appreciated so I can keep bringing you these stories. <3

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