#jim is just sitting down here i swear

[acidic-potato-piss-water]

Teacup

(Uncensored on my bsky 👁👁 irraetional-art)

[hughes-your-daddy]

UH OH!

paring: quinn hughes x fem reader

warnings: swearing, labour, pregnancy

summary: your summer trip to the lake house ends in one extra person coming home with you.

it all started with a movie night. the whole family together for the first time since everyone made it out to michigan. jack, luke, quinn, ellen, jim and you. all bundled up on the l shaped couch, drowning in blankets and snacks.

quinn lays to the side of you on the l - shaped section, head resting on your chest, unconsciously tracing his fingers over your swollen 8 and a half month stomach.

one of the jurassic movies plays in the background, your eyes starting to droop, ready to fall asleep until a sudden quench of thirst hits you.

slowly, you peel off of quinn, a small pout forming on his lips as you giggle at him.

“you alright sweetie?” ellen asks, as quinn helps push you up from the couch.

“oh, yeh all fine, just need a drink. anyone want anything?” you ask, looking over to the others as they all decline.

you make your way into the kitchen, moving to open the cabinets and grabbing a cup to fill up with some orange juice. opening the fridge, you see some pickles which automatically catch your eye, completely forgetting about the orange juice and grabbing the jar instead.

you move around the kitchen to grab a plate before placing a few pickles on it, moving around to rest your elbows against the island.

so far, your pregnancy has been smooth sailing, all scans were prefect, any tests done came back clear. the nursery was set up at your shared apartment back in Vancouver, jack and luke even coming over for a few days to help paint and build furniture.

you had even gotten close to a name, but without knowing the gender yous didn’t want to commit to anything right now. saying that, yous also haven’t found the right options for a girl or boy, none of the names seeming to sit right with yous.

your eyes float back over to the empty glass, groaning when you remeber why you came here in the first place. pushing yourself off the island you move back over to the fridge leaving your 2 pickles to sit on the counter.

you go to open the fridge, startled by a sudden release of liquid between your legs. frozen, you slowly look down seeing a off-coloured liquid leak down between your legs. you snap back into reality just as you hear

“hey y/n, your nearly done-“

the sound of your fiancés voice rounding the corner of the island, freezing at the sight.

“quinn,” you say meeting his eyes, “i think that’s my waters.” your voice wavers slightly, a twinge of panic settling in your chest.

“shit shit, umm ok,” he mumbles rushing over, taking your hands and walking you over to a bar stool at the island, “your ok, just take a breath yeh?” he settles you on the stool, gently pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“i-it’s still going, why’s it still going? i thought it came all at once? do you think-” you begin rambling, only to be cut off by lips on yours.

“breathe baby. you’re ok,” he repeats, pulling back to look directly in your eyes, “i’m gonna get my mom and we’re gonna go to the hospital ok?” he says, voice calm and smooth. you manage to nod, feeling speechless.

you hear quinn call out to his mom and footsteps plodding down the hall, as all thoughts and panics swim your head.

“quinn it’s too early, im only 8 months, i-i don’t even have any contractions.” you ramble once again only to be cut off by a different voice this time.

“hey honey, you need to take some deep breaths for me,” your eyes focus to see ellen stood infront of you with her hands on your shoulders, “it’s not too early trust me, i’ve done this three times and none of them were anywhere close to their due date.” she sends a soft smile over to you, your eyes wandering over to see jack and luke mopping the floor with paper towels.

“i’m so sorry about the mess-“ you start, ellen interrupting you by clearing your throat.

“the least we can do for you, your bringing our little niece or nephew into the world.” luke smiles up to you, jack agreeing.

“do you have your midwife’s number y/n?” ellen asks, you nodding as quinn goes back into the living room to grab his phone, dialling the midwife.

“quinn, you need to tell her y/n’s waters have broke but there are no contractions yet ok? she’ll probably contact the hospital here to ask whether to send yous over or not.” she instructs quinn with a calming voice,he hands gently rubbing circles over your shoulders.

“why isn’t it stopping?” you ask, feeling a slow but growing puddle in your stool.

“that’s completely normal sweetie, not like the films where it all comes at once.” ellen answers, moving across the fill up a glass of water, “ but you have to keep hydrated ok?” she asks and you nod, hearing quinn back beside you on the phone to the midwife.

“yeh.. ok.. thank you so much.” quinn finishes slipping his phone into his sweatpants, “she said it should be alright to go to the hospital. she rang and they said they have plenty of room.” he says sending a soft smile your way.

besides the panic and worry filling your whole body, there’s a warmth and joy, knowing your going to finally be able to hold your little baby.

“do you think i could change clothes?” you ask, knowing your (or quinn’s) sweatpants are soaked and most likely your hoodie too.

“of course honey, i’ll try and pack a few things for you, i know your hospital bags back in vancouver.” ellen smiles, pressing a small kiss to the top of your head before disappearing.

“you think you can walk?” quinn asks gently, as you nod. quinn takes one of your hands, while jack takes your other arm, weary of the still, very sloppy, wet floor.

“thanks jacky.” you giggle as you can sense he is so confused right now.

“just make sure my little niece is alright yeh?” shoots back, smiling at your chirping.

“we don’t even know the gender yet jack.” quinn says as you get back to the carpeted floor.

“i just have this feeling.” jack smiles before heading back to finish mopping with luke.

“ok, just up some stairs honey.” quinn softly says, the two of you slowly making your way up the flights of stairs to the room yous are staying in.

you make your way across to the bed and quit gently sits you down moving across the room to the set of drawers beside the window pulling out some clothes.

“are these ok?” he asks holding up a pair of his flannel pyjama pants. you match his small smile, knowing they’re your favourite before he pulls out one of his canucks training hoodies and making his way back over to your bed.

he gently pulls your hoodie off, the hem at the bottom slightly wet and throws it into the en-suite to deal with later.

“you wanna keep this on?” he asks, referring to the small cropped tank top underneath, you shake your head knowing it’ll come off anyway, leaving you in your bra before he slides the new hoodie over top. he then starts on your sweat pants peeling off the now soaked one, throwing them also to the bathroom before moving away to grab a towel and dry down your legs.

“your incredible you know,” quinn says, as he dries down your thoughts, you giggle at the random comment making him look up at you, “just wanted to let you know.” he smiles, tossing the towel aside and pulling on the new pants, before helping you back to your feet.

“any contractions yet?” he asks, gently pulling you into his arms and swaying the both of you gently side to side.

“mmh no don’t think so, i think it’s all still braxton hicks.” you mumble feeling that exhaustion come back to you.

together the two of you (mostly quinn) move move around the room only packing essentials into his backpack like phones, chargers and some extra clothes.

“you ready to have this baby?” he asks wrapping an arm around your waist the holding holding his bag.

“i think so?” he hesitantly nod, a small smile appearing on your face.

making your way back downstairs, ellen has managed to pack a few things that she had buggy as presents for the two of you like a few baby grows, nappies etc.

“i think this should do you to for now, we gonna head straight into town first thing tomorrow morning to get you guys a temporary crib until we can figure out how you guys will get home ok?” she asks and you’re set back speechless as she hands another bag over top quinn.

“oh guys, you really don’t have to-“ you start only to be cut off by jim.

“we love you y/n your carrying pur grandchild, yous two only deserve the best.” jim smiles moving around to give you a small hug followed by ellen, jack and luke.

“you got this alright?” luke whispers as you nod.

growing up the new kid in town was hard when you were younger. moving at the age of 12 had a lot of issues with school and friends, but luke made it his personal mission to make sure that wasn’t a problem for much longer. yous two became inseparably quickly before jack joined and finally quinn, you were the same age as jack so you fit in with the brothers easily, getting out in goal when they practiced hockey even though you didn’t.

they became your second family, until you fell for the older brother one summer.

now your being loaded into his car, as the family get ready to follow in their own.

quinn slowly pulls out of the driveway, offering his hand for you to hold to try and ground yourself. he turns the radio on, soft music playing considering it’s around 11:30pm, the streetlights making the road barely visible.

he starts to get closer to the town, seeing the hospital in the distance when a massive contraction hits you out of nowhere.

“quinn.” you let out almost in a whine, gripping his hand tighter, as he rubs his thumb over your knuckles.

“your doing great honey, we’re just pulling up now, keep breathing for me.” he says, pulling into a car parking space before turning the car off and getting out to come round to your side.

your hands move to your belly, gently rubbing underneath to try and soothe the pain.

“you ready baby?” he asks opening the door and reaching over to help rub your belly.

“give me a sec.” you mumble, trying to catch your breath after that contraction, it knocked you right over, “ok, yeh i’m good.” you smile slightly, taking a deep breath before letting quinn help you out the car, both bags already over his shoulders as he grabs on of your hands his other snaking around your waist as you slowly make your way into the hospital.

you manage to get checked in and settled rather quickly due to how quiet it is, the nurse already checking your dilation.

“your already about 5cm which is great, hopefully it won’t be too long of a wait. i’ll be back in around an hour to check you again. if you need anything before then just shout and ill come over.” she smiles, binning her gloves before leaving the room, silence taking over as quinn stands beside your bed, hands in pockets looking like a lost puppy.

“quinn baby,” you smile gently, his eyes locking with yours, concern written all over his face, “c’mere.” you mumble, putting your hand out for him to grab, as his cautiously makes his way over taking your hand and setting himself down in the small chair by your bed.

“you ok? an hour ago you were the one calming me down, but now you look like your gonna cry hun.” you say gently, hand unconsciously rubbing your bump, which is now hooked up to lots of monitors, quinn holding your other with both his hands.

“trust me, the only tears that you’ll see are happy ones,” he lets out a small giggle before looking up to meet your eyes, “just feels like this is happening so quick.” he mumbles, his finger drawing shapes on that back of your hands.

“it is, but just think, it might be nice learning how to do all this,” you say gesturing to your belly, “with your whole family with us. it’s less stress.” you smile, as he brings your hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it.

“i’m so glad we have my mom and dad,” he lets out a happy huff, seeing your smile, before a knock interrupts you, “speaking of.” he smiles moving to get up and answer.

you adjust the light blanket over your lower half as you are now completely naked, only having your bra still on due to how hot your getting.

“hey guys,” quinn welcomes them, all of them here as they promised, ellen moving across the room to give you a hug.

“feeling any better now?” she asks pulling away as you give her a small smile and nod.

“said i’m 5cm and hoping it should go quick, so we’re just waiting.” you smile as they find seats around your bed, quinn moving to perch on the side of it, so his mom could have a chair.

hours pass from laying in the bed, bouncing on a yoga ball and now walking around the ward. the pyjama pants back on, hand low under your bump, now wearing quinn’s zip up hoodie over your bra as you hold onto your iv drop stand for support as you walk. quinn’s hand lays on the small of your back, slowly guiding you around the ward.

“i thought she said this would be quick.” you mumble slowly waddling along.

“they’re just being a little stubborn baby, wanna stay in your belly forever.” he smiles, moving to gently rub your bump with his other hand coming round to press a kiss against your temple, only for you to pull away, leaning against the wall with a hiss as another contraction hits.

“keep breathing baby, your doing so well.” he whispers, moving behind you to rub small circles on your back under his zip up.

“god it hurts quinn.” you whine, a tear falling down your cheek.

“i know, but your doing so well honey, not long now.” he says pressing a kiss to the back of your neck.

“ok, ok, i wanna go back, this isn’t helping.” you sigh, gaining composure after the contraction. he nods, guiding you back down the hall into your room, where jack and luke have crashed out on the small bench, jim out getting some coffees, leaving ellen on her phone.

“hey sweetie, did that help?” she asks as quinn sets you back down in the bed, putting the iv back by you.

“don’t think so.” you sigh, letting your eyes close for a moment.

soon the nurse drops by again, now 5:20am, as she checks your dilation once again.

“at 9cm now, not long sweetie, i’m gonna get the doctor ready as you should be able to push within an hour.” she smiles, moving to update your chart before leaving.

“it’s really time?” you ask looking up at quinn, as he pushes the hair off your forehead, placing down a kiss.

“yeh, baby, and then after you can get some rest.” he smiles causing a small chuckle out of you.

doctors and nurse begin filling the room, as family are ushered out leaving you and quinn, as they set up the stirrups.

he helps pull the pyjama pants off of you before the nurses get you in position.

“ok hun, when you feel that contraction you’re gonna push for me ok? i’m gonna count back from ten and once i reach zero you can stop but you gotta keep going for those 10 counts ok?” she asks, as quinn hand slips into yours, his other holding the back of your leg as he presses a kiss to your lips.

“you got this.” he whispers before you look back at the nurse, nodding.

as soon as that contraction hits, you begin pushing, pain radiating throughout your whole body, screaming and squeezing his hand to try and subside it.

“incredible job y/n, give me another big one.” the doctor calls out, as you catch your breath, small beads of sweat developing on your forehead.

once again you push and push and push until it feels like you’ve got nothing more to give.

“i can’t quinn, it hurts so bad.” you cry out, quinn coming down to rest his forehead on yours.

“you can baby ok? one more and then the head will be out and the rest is easy.” he says stern but soft, before moving to wipe a few stray tears from your cheeks.

so that’s what you do, keep pushing until you hear the cries of your newborn fill the room, tears of relief falling down onto your cheeks, as they’re placed into your bare chest

“that’s it baby, all done. you are absolutely incredible.” quinn laughs, a few tears on his own cheeks, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips.

“it’s a girl.” the nurse smiles as you cradle her close.

“hiya baby.” your voice wavers as your shaky finger comes to gently stroke her cheek, “she looks just like her daddy.” you whisper, before looking up to quinn who’s eyes are red and brimmed with his happy tears.

“gorgeous like her mama.” he smiles down before being called to cut the cord and having your daughter taken away to get cleaned and deliver the after birth.

the room quietens back down to a comfortable silence, only you, quinn and your newborn baby girl, cradled in your arms as quinn perched on the side of you bed, arm around your shoulders.

“what should we name her?” he asks, gently bring his hand down to brush the small tuff of hair out of her face.

“i did have an idea,” you mumble, quinn’s eyes meeting yours, “elleanor lucien hughes.” you smile seeing tears once again form.

“that’s beautiful baby. absolutely beautiful.” he whispers placing a small kiss onto the top of your head.

“but i guess now we’ll have to have another so jack doesn’t feel left out,” quinn mumbles causing a glare from you at the fact you’ve spent the last 7 hours in labour, “well wait a bit though, yeh?” he says hesitantly causing a smile to tug on your lips.

“i’d love that.”

[sturnsbae]

SPIN YOU AROUND - JACK HUGHES

summary: you and jack have been best friends since childhood. you’ve both always had suppressed feelings for one another, but when you suddenly become a country music fan, he finds his chance to actually confess.

warnings: use of y/n & underage drinking, not proofread sorry if there’s typos or mistakes :)

wordcount: 3.4k

—

for as long as you can remember, you’ve been best friends with the hughes brothers.

your moms were best friends in high school, and they always talked about their kids being friends growing up. your mom only ended up having one child, but it worked out perfectly seeing that she had a girl and ellen had three boys. despite her best friend playing it, your mom never cared much for hockey. but ellen made sure to have her sons teach you how to skate and how to understand the game. this led to your winter breaks always being spent playing pond hockey in a 2v2 game against the boys, which you wouldn’t have changed for the world.

you and jack are the same age, and this always made you two closer. maybe it was because you two somehow always ended up with the same elementary school teachers, or the fact that you two have the exact same humor, or maybe the fact that you guys have always had mutual friends. It doesn’t matter; he was your best friend, and you were his. although, you both took very different routes when you turned 18. he went straight to the nhl while you began college at penn state. you’re nineteen now, and so is jack. it’s finally the summer after your first semester, and you haven’t seen the boys since winter break.

as you and your parents enter the front door of your guys’ shared lake house, you smile at the familiar smell of ellen’s homemade cookies. “god it smells good in here!” you exclaim, making your presence known. “hey! you guys made it!” quinn smiles as he walks over from the dining room table towards you guys. being the gentleman that he is, he embraces your mother in a hug before anyone. luke quickly jumps off of the couch and runs over, picking you up slightly as he embraces you in a warm hug. your laughter fills the room as luke puts you down back on your feet.

“i swear, you get taller every time i see you,” you chuckle, making luke roll his eyes with a smile.

“maybe you’re just shrinking, y/n,” he shrugs before walking over to hug your parents. quinn walks over to you with a smile and gently hugs you, unlike his youngest brother. you say your hellos to jim and ellen as your dad and quinn bring in the suitcases. you furrow your brows and turn to luke, “where’s jack?” you ask.

“i think he’s in the shower, he should be out soon though,” luke shrugs before looking back down at his phone with a smile. of course, he’s probably texting a girl from school. you chuckle to yourself before walking to your room to settle in. as you walk past the shared bathroom between you, jack, and luke, you hear the shower running and muffled country music playing through the door.

you begin unpacking your suitcase, your door left open just slightly enough so that you can see the hallway. as you’re unfolding clothes, the sound of the bathroom door opening catches your attention. you look up and see jack walking out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. clearly, he has no idea that you’re home yet.

you can’t help but stare for a second… when did his back muscles get so toned?

you immediately shake your thoughts and continue unfolding your clothes. about three or so minutes later, there’s a gentle knock on the door. you look up and see jack in the door frame with his usual smirk-like smile.

“thought you could come home and not say hi to me?” he questions, making you roll your eyes and jump off the bed to wrap the boy in a hug. his arms wrap your smaller frame in a tight hug, his body still damp from the shower and the smell of his body wash emitting off of him.

“how’ve you been, dork?” he asks, walking in your room and sprawling out on your bed. you sit down criss cross by his feet, organizing your bikini tops to their matching bottoms.

“i’ve been good! how’s the nhl life?” you tease.

“eh, i’ve been playing alright. i’m kinda offended you haven’t been to a game since my debut, though,” he jokes, raising one eyebrow.

you groan in response, “i know, im sorry. schools been so insane. i have so much to do for my sorority, i have like a million sporting events to go to, and i have so many tests too�� i just haven’t found the time. next season ill be at more games, i promise” you smile.

“hey, it’s okay, i’m just messing with you, y/n/n. i know you’re a busy girl, being all studious or whatever,” he chuckles before looking down at his phone. you two then sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes as you finish unpacking.

—

you’ve done a lot of catching up with ellen and jim, all 8 of you sitting in the living room discussing the causal things. your mom and ellen spill their adult-life gossip, as if they don’t talk every day and meet for lunch once a week, while your dads talk about god knows what. you and quinn chirp luke about whoever he’s been texting, while jack is more focused on whatever video game he’s playing on his phone.

“jack, do you think you could go get us some pizza for dinner?” ellen asks, the room going quiet and the attention now falling onto jack.

“ugh, why can’t quinn go!” jack questions. ellen laughs, “you’re the one who insisted on bringing your jeep! you brought your car, which you never let anyone else drive, so now you have the duties of getting us dinner.”

“fine,” he groans before turning to look at you, a hopeful look in his eyes. you sigh loudly and stand up dramatically, “fine, i’ll come with you.” he grins cheesily as he grabs his keys and twirls them in his fingers on the way out to his car.

“can i have aux, pleaseeee,” you beg, making your hands look like you’re praying and giving him puppy dog eyes. he rolls his eyes and hands you his phone, “no stupid shit or ill take it back.”

jack is a country guy through and through, which you’ve never really gotten into, so you two tend to fight a lot about music. of course there are some songs and genres that you two both like, but when you put on some morgan wallen, jack looks at you like you just told him you killed someone.

“what the fuck? you- you’re- you’re willingly playing country music?!” he exclaims as he turns to look at you with a shocked expression. you have a shit eating grin on your face, “yeah, my roommate actually got me into it. i don’t know how, but she did.”

jack feigns a look of sadness, “oh, so some random girl you meet at college can get you into country, but the kid who’s been trying to get you to listen to it for like 12 years can’t?!”

you throw your head back laughing, “hey! in my defense, i was never stuck in a small room for an entire semester of college with you. of course i got her into some taylor swift though, don’t you worry. it’s only fair,” you shrug. he rolls his eyes at you jokingly before mumbling something about how you’re a fake friend, causing you to hit his arm playfully.

—

after dinner passes and the parents settle in for a movie night, you and the boys head outside for the annual first-night fire pit and beers, which started when you and jack were about 17. you and jack grab the s’mores ingredients while luke and quinn set up the fire pit. you take your seat around the fire, with luke and quinn sat across from you and jack on your right. quinn then hands everyone, even luke, a beer, making you chuckle.

“aww, lukeys first beer at the fire pit with us,” you fawn, making everyone laugh. “okay okay shut up,” the younger boy groans, his cheeks turning faintly florid with embarrassment.

“so, mrs party girl, tell us how college has been,” quinn says, roasting his marshmallow to perfection. you blush faintly at the sudden attention, humming a little as you think of what to start with. “well, my sorority is great. i love my roommate too, she’s like my best friend now. no offense jack, you’re still important i swear,” you chuckle, turning to look at jack. he flips you off before letting you continue to talk about your first semester.

“oh and, this shook jack to his core, but my roommate got me into country music. i don’t know how, im seriously convinced she put a spell on me or something, but she succeeded.”

luke’s eyes widen, “you like country now?! you used to swear up and down that you hated it!” he exclaims.

“i know! i know, but somehow she got me into it. or well, at least morgan wallen, that’s it. some country artists music i still can’t stand, i promise,” you laugh.

“i feel like this deserves a toast or something, because now we can finally listen to country on the boat without any complaints from her,” jack teases. everyone holds up their beer and takes a sip, before continuing on with the conversation. about an hour passes and the sun is completely down as you all still laugh loudly, faces illuminated by the orange glow of the fire.

you yawn, snuggling further into your sweatshirt. which is actually one of jacks old sweatshirts from high school. the logo is somewhat faded and cracked now due to how often you wear it, but he doesn’t need to know that. “you tired?” jack asks you, leaning over his chair slightly to talk to you.

you nod slowly, a telltale sign that you’re about to fall asleep. he sets down his beer and stands up, reaching out his hands for you to grab. you sigh and take his hands in yours as he helps you up. “i’m gonna take this one to bed. i can tell she’s had too many beers,” he chuckles.

“i have not!” you protest, your worlds slurred ever so slightly. jack just chuckles and walks you inside as quinn and luke are left to clean up the mess.

“they’re bound to get together one day, right?” luke asks his eldest brother.

“man, i hope so. im tired of this whole, ‘she’s just my best friend’ act. dude is whipped,” quinn shrugs. meanwhile, jack is sitting on the bathroom counter while you take off your makeup.

“you what?!” he exclaims.

“i kissed a random frat guy at a mixer with my sorority. it’s not that big of a deal jack!” you laugh, and jack just shakes his head. honestly, he would be lying if this didn’t make him feel oddly jealous. he’s so used to always knowing the guys that are involved in your love life. like for example, he was there during the alcohol induced game of truth or dare where you were dared to kiss trevor. you guys were 16 and drunk, so of course it never bothered jack. but now, he feels a weird pang of jealousy knowing that you’ve kissed another guy and he’s never even met him.

despite the fact that you’ve never talked to the frat guy since the kiss happened, jack still finds himself laying in bed scrolling through his instagram. “jesus christ, why don’t my abs look like that?” he mumbles to himself, quickly realizing how dumb he must seem right now. he puts his phone down and sighs.

this is gonna be a long summer.

—

the next morning is filled with laughter as the parents cook up breakfast, while you and the boys sit at the table with a deck of cards, playing your favorite game, BS.

“bs!” you call out as quinn puts down his alleged ‘two-fours,’ which you know is false because you literally have three fours in your stack. he groans in defeat as he takes the pile of cards, “you’re too good at this game. it’s no fun playing with you,” he whines, making everyone laugh.

“maybe you’re just a shit liar,” you shrug. as if on queue, the food is placed down in front of you guys as the parents take their seats. you all make your plates, of course the boys grab the most out of everyone. you chuckle looking at the two pancakes and two pieces of bacon on your plate, compared to jacks which has four pancakes and five pieces of bacon, along with a heavy stack of scrambled eggs.

“greedy much?” you chuckle, nudging jack slightly. he flips you off as he stuffs his face with food. a muffled, “i’m a growing boy, i can’t help it!” falls from his lips, making everyone chuckle.

after breakfast is finished, your guys’ parents go out for the day, leaving you all to fend for yourselves for entertainment. quinn suggests going out on the boat for the day, which you all agree with. you head upstairs to your room, slipping on your favorite bikini and grabbing a sweatshirt and sunglasses. you grab a book just incase, but you know that you’re definitely not gonna end up reading it.

“hurry up, y/n!” luke yells, making you groan in annoyance as you close the bedroom door.

“shut up luke, im coming i’m coming,” you say as you walk down the steps. you and luke walk side by side to the dock, where jack and quinn are getting the boat prepared. jack, per usual, demands that he get aux, and you all know better than to argue with him about it.

he queues up his country playlist, as expected. you chuckle a little as you hum a long to a few songs while quinn slowly exits the no-wake zone. about three minutes or so later, quinn speeds up the boat and your hair is flying. laughter escapes your lips as you look over at jack, who’s sitting next to you. “god i’ve missed this!” you say, making him smile and wrap an arm around you slightly.

he rests his head on top of yours, “i’ve missed you,” he says. this type of behavior is normal for you two, so quinn and luke don’t even bat an eyelash.

you guys come to a slow stop before luke throws the large tube out onto the water. him and jack get on it and grab the handles, laying down on their stomachs waiting for quinn to speed up. “everyone ready?” quinn asks, earning a “hell yeah!” and a “hurry up!” from the two boys. he looks at you and nods before speeding up. suddenly, the raft goes flying and they last a whopping twenty seconds before they both let go and belly flop into the water. you and quinn erupt into a fit of laughter, grabbing your stomachs in pain and wiping the tears that are falling.

“holy shit, are you guys okay?!” you ask, still calming your laughter as they climb back onto the boat. jack groans slightly as he rubs his now red stomach, giving you a perfect excuse to stare. you bite the inside of your cheek as he rubs up and down his abs with his hand in an attempt to soothe the pain, blissfully unaware that his entire vline is showing. he fixes his shorts and you quickly look away after you realize you’re staring, and thankfully he doesn’t notice.

“your turn y/n!” he smiles menacingly, and you quickly shake your head.

“absolutely not! personally, i don’t have a death wish today, thanks though!” you exclaim, immediately grabbing your book from your bag. “you’re so lame y/n,” he pouts before sitting down next to you and rubbing a towel in his hair to dry it.

you can’t help but slyly glance at his biceps, when the fuck did he get this hot?

suddenly, ‘spin you around’ by morgan wallen begins playing and you jump up with a smile. “i fucking love this song!” you say, immediately singing along as the words begin playing.

yes, you’re a few white claws in at this point, but you’re also just happy to be with the people you love. you’re dancing around on the boat singing the words, and jack is looking at you like he just fell in love. his smile is big and his eyes are glued to you, watching you dance and sing like a crazy person, yet he’s not judging you. far from it, actually. he thinks it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen, and the fact you’re in a bikini isn’t helping either.

he chuckles to himself and pulls the beer bottle to his lips, admiring the smile on your face and the way your cheeks are flushed from the sun.

—

the house is quiet since everyone is taking a nap or just resting from the long day out. you’re currently sat on the dock, playing some music from your phone and watching the water ripple from the slight breeze. the sun is approaching the horizon and you’re cuddled into the same sweatshirt from last night, the one jack gave you when you were 15.

suddenly, footsteps appear behind you and you turn around to see jack. “you okay?” he asks, sitting down next to you. “yeah, just got bored,” you shrug, turning down the music slightly. he smiles at the sight of you in his sweatshirt.

“watcha thinking about?” he asks.

“everything, really,” you pause. “i mean, isn’t it crazy how you and quinn are in the nhl, im in college, and lukeys already seventeen? i can still vividly remember when we were seventeen spending summers here, and talking about where we would end up for college. you were listing off your offers with no idea that you’d go first overall, while i was stressing about my common app,” you chuckle.

he smiles softly at the memory, “yeah, i miss those days honestly. i kinda wish i got the chance to go to college. it seems fun. maybe one day you can take me to a frat party,” he says before nudging your shoulder with his. you giggle slightly, “frats are gross and dirty, you’d hate it.”

“eh, maybe i would, but at least i get to spend time with you,” he shrugs. your cheeks run hot at his words, was he just being nice or was he flirting? you couldn’t tell, and the moment fell silent.

“i miss you, y/n. i miss living three blocks away from you. its so weird being in different states. and like, now you have all of these friends that i’ve never even heard of before. it’s really weird,” jack admits. your stomach turns with butterflies at his words, and you turn to look at him, praying the heat in your cheeks isn’t visible.

“i miss you too, rowdy. it’s hard being away from my best friend.” he rolls his eyes at the nickname but bites back a smile. as if on queue, spin you around by morgan wallen begins playing through your phone speaker. your face lights up, and jack suddenly gets an idea. “c’mere,” he says, forcing you to stand up. you furrow your brows before suddenly he starts singing along to the words softly, and you follow suit.

jacks heart is racing, but he knows that if he doesn’t confess his feelings soon enough, he’ll never do it. he takes your hands in his and sings along to the lyrics, “well you might tell me ‘boy hell nah,’ but hell what can hurt?”

you giggle as he takes your hands and spins you while singing, “cause i just wanna spin you ‘round, and ‘round this dance floor, get you drunk on a love like mine… might wind up and steal a couple kisses…” the rest of the words that jack sings along to fade as your heart thumps in your chest. he spins you gently around and then pulls you into his chest, looking down at you.

“cause the way you stole my heart without a sign, girl it outta be a crime,” he says softly. you’re wrapped in his arms looking up at him, a soft smile plastered on your lips and a heavy blush on your cheeks. “is it bad that i really want to kiss you?” you whisper, and jack grins like the happiest man on earth.

“i’ve wanted to kiss you for as long as i’ve known you,” jack quietly replies, his hands finding their way to the small of your back.

as the sky is painted with faint hints of pink and gold, jacks lips find yours for the first time in nineteen years.

[prettyfilmz]

THROB • JIMMY USO

author's note: hi my loves!! honestly have nothing to say other than this was a random idea that was born out of how fine jimmy looked here I hope y'all enjoy it😭

synopsis: in which you've been ovulating and taking your frustrations out on jimmy because you're too stubborn to ask him for what you need. lucky for you, jimmy knows just what to do to get you to act right.

tags: 18+(MDNI), jimmy uso x fem reader, established relationship, arguments, bratty behavior, teasing, breast sucking, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!), big jim™ , overstimulation, lots of dirty talk, squirting, creampie, slight humiliation, degradation, jimmy is a lil mean in this, dacryphilia, breeding kink, multiple orgasms, doggy style, mating press, small aftercare at the end.

word count: 3.2k words

You were pacing back and forth in the living room, arms crossed, your brow furrowed so tightly it could’ve scared the undertaker away.  Every little thing Jimmy did irritated you, though you knew deep down it wasn’t his fault. He sat there on the couch, broad shoulders relaxed, his tattoos flexing subtly as he scrolled through his phone. His usual goofy grin wasn’t there, though. He was watching you, trying to hold back his amusement.

“Why you stompin’ ‘round here like a lil’ ass gremlin, huh?” Jimmy’s deep voice cut through your mumbling, making you whip your head toward him.

“I ain’t stompin’, Jimmy! Maybe if you’d do somethin’ helpful for once like puttin’ your damn shoes away from in front of the door instead of sittin’ there, I wouldn’t be irritated!” You snapped, your tone sharp.

Jimmy slowly raised an eyebrow, setting his phone down. That cheeky grin started creeping back onto his face, and it only made you more annoyed. “Girl, ain’t no way you talkin’ to me like that. You been barkin’ at me all week, and I let it slide ‘cause I know what timing you’re on. But you really gon’ sit here and act like I don’t know why you mad?”

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms tighter.  “I ain’t mad, Jimmy.”

“Oh, so you just bein’ a brat for fun?  I’m supposed to believe that?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his smirk widening as he caught the way your thighs clenched together at the shift in his tone.

Your body betrayed you. It always did when he was around, especially now.  The heat between your legs was unbearable, and your nipples were pebbled, brushing against the soft fabric of your tank top in a way that had you biting back whimpers. Normally, you’d have your vibrator for relief when he was on the road, but he’d been home all week. Which fucked up your usual routine you had going and now you're too stubborn to ask him.

Jimmy tilted his head, his dark eyes dragging over your body like he already knew what you were hiding.  “Yeah, see, I know exactly what’s goin’ on with you, baby girl. You think you tough huh? You don’t even need to tell me nothin’.  I can see it in the way you walkin’ ‘round here all moody.”

“Jimmy, shut up,” you shot back, though your voice cracked slightly.  He noticed.

“Nah, I’m gon’ keep talkin’.  Matter fact, come here,” he said, his voice taking on that commanding edge that made your knees weak.

You hesitated, shooting him a glare.  “Why?”

“‘Cause I said so, that’s why. Don’t make me come over there and get you.” He leaned back, spreading his legs in that laid-back, cocky way that showed off the sheer size of him. His gray sweats left nothing to the imagination, and the way his dick pressed against the fabric had your mouth watering despite your irritation.

With a heavy sigh, you walked over, but your attitude wasn’t going anywhere.  “What, Jim?  You gon’ keep talkin’ shit?”

He chuckled, reaching out to grab your wrist and tugging you between his legs.  “Girl, you just mad ‘cause you’re neglecting what you need. But you too damn stubborn to ask for it, huh?” He let his hands slide down to your hips, squeezing them as he pulled you closer.

“Jimmy, I swear to God—”

“You swear to God what?” he interrupted, his voice dropping lower.  His thumbs pressed into the softness of your hips, holding you in place.  “You ain’t gon’ do shit, baby. Stop frontin’.”

The heat in his gaze melted your resolve, but you couldn’t let him win that easily.  “You just know everything, huh?”

He smiled, leaning forward to press his lips to the sensitive spot just below your ear.  “I know you ovulatin’,” he murmured. “And I know you ain’t been able to take care of yourself like you usually do. You need daddy to take care of you, hm?”

Your breath hitched, and you tried to step back, but his grip tightened.  “Jimmy, stop playin’—”

“Who said I’m playin’?” He tilted his head up to look at you, his expression softening just enough to make your heart flutter.  “Why you bein’ difficult, huh? This what you wanted, ain’t it?”

You tried to keep up your defiance, but when his lips trailed down your neck, you couldn’t hold back the shiver that coursed through you.  “Jimmy…”

“There she is,” he teased, pulling back to look you in the eyes.  “Now, you gon’ ask me nice, or you gon’ keep actin’ like a spoiled lil’ brat?”

Your pride wrestled with your desire, but the way his hands roamed your body and his voice dripped with authority had you caving.  “Please,” you whispered, barely audible.

He cupped your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze.  “Please what, baby? Let daddy hear you.”

“Please, daddy,” you repeated, your voice trembling with anticipation.

A satisfying grin spread across his face as he leaned back, patting his thigh. “There we go.  Now, sit that pretty ass down.  You got some apologizin’ to do.”

You climbed onto his lap, straddling him as his hands immediately found their way under your tank top.  His palms were warm against your bare skin, sliding up to cup your breasts.  You gasped when his thumbs brushed over your sensitive nipples, and he chuckled darkly.

“Damn, these are real sensitive, huh?” he said, leaning down to capture one of your nipples in his mouth. His tongue flicked over the hardened bud, and your hips bucked against him involuntarily.

“Shit!” you cried out, clutching his shoulders as your body betrayed every ounce of control you thought you had left.

“Shh, baby, let me take care of you,” he murmured, switching to the other nipple.  His teeth grazed it gently, sending a jolt of pleasure straight to your core.

You whimpered, grinding against him as the pressure built inside you.  “Daddy, please, I need…”

“I know what you need, baby girl.  But you gon’ learn not to keep this shit from me.” His hands slid down to your ass, giving it a firm slap that made you yelp.  “Next time, you gon’ tell daddy what you need, understand?”

“Yes, daddy,” you whispered, tears pricking the corners of your eyes from the overwhelming sensation.

“That’s my girl.” He kissed your lips softly before flipping you over onto the couch.  “Now, lay back and let daddy handle the rest.”

Jimmy hovered over you now, his larger frame trapping you beneath him on the couch.  His hands gripped your thighs possessively, thumbs brushing against your skin in a way that sent shivers straight to your core. You stared up at him, panting, your chest heaving as his dark eyes raked over you. That playful grin he usually wore was gone, replaced by something darker, more intense. He licked his lips like a predator sizing up its prey, and you couldn’t help but squirm beneath him.

“Mm-mm,” he growled, pressing his hands down harder to still your movements. “Ain’t no runnin’, baby. You wanted this, didn’t you?  All week, you been actin’ up snappin’, throwin’ them lil’ ass tantrums, tryna to act like you don’t need me. But I know you,” His voice almost in a mocking tone.  “Your body been screamin’ for me since I came back, mama.”

You whimpered, your pride dissolving under the weight of his words.  “I—Jimmy, please…”

“Please what?” His hands slipped beneath your shorts, gripping the soft flesh of your ass. “What you need from daddy?”

The way he said it so smooth, teasing, but dripping with authority had your resolve crumbling completely. “I need you to fuck me,” you breathed, barely audible.

He smirked, leaning down so his lips brushed against your ear.  “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?  But you still owe me an apology, baby.  You gon’ tell daddy you sorry for bein’ a brat?”

Your cheeks burned. “I’m sorry, daddy,” you whispered.

“Mean it,” he says, his tone sharp enough to make you obedient. His hands tightened on your thighs, reminding you exactly who was in control here.  “I know you can do better than that.”

“I’m sorry, daddy,” you whimpered out, your voice trembling with need.

Jimmy grinned, clearly satisfied. “Good girl.  Now let’s see if you can keep that same energy when I’m done with you.”

Before you could respond, he tugged your shorts and panties down in one smooth motion, leaving you completely exposed.  His eyes locked onto the slickness between your thighs, and he let out a low whistle.  “Damn, look at you. I didn’t even touch you yet and you already wet as hell.”

You whimpered, trying to close your legs, but he wouldn’t let you.  “Jimmy, don’t tease me…”

“Who you think you talkin’ to?” he shot back sharply, grabbing your knees and spreading them wider.  “You don’t call the shots here, baby girl. Now stay still.”

His hands gripped your thighs as he lowered his head in between your legs. The first swipe of his tongue against your clit had you crying out, your hips jerking off the couch.  Jimmy chuckled, pinning you down with ease.  “I said be still, didn’t I?  You gon’ listen, or you want me to tie you down?”

“D-daddy, I—” Your words dissolved into a moan as he sucked your clit into his mouth, his tongue working you over with precision.  The combination of his lips, tongue, and the slight scrape of his teeth had your body trembling uncontrollably.

You tried to squirm away when the pleasure became too much, but Jimmy wasn’t having it.  He slid two fingers inside you without warning, curling them just right to hit that sensitive spot that had you seeing stars.  “Stop fuckin’ runnin’,” he growled, his voice muffled against your pussy.  “This what you wanted, huh? So take it.”

You sobbed his name, your nails digging into the couch as he brought you closer and closer to the edge.  He didn’t let up, his pace relentless as his fingers pumped in and out of you, his mouth never leaving your clit. “Oh my God, Jimmy, I’m gonna—”

“Yeah, you gon’ cum for daddy?” he taunted, his eyes gleaming as he looked up at you. “Do it, baby.”

The coil in your stomach snapped, and you came hard, your back arching off the couch as your orgasm tore through you.  You screamed his name, your thighs shaking as he kept working you through it, refusing to let up.  “That’s my girl,” he murmured, licking his lips as he finally pulled back. “You look so pretty when you cum, baby.”

You barely had a chance to catch your breath before he was pulling his sweats down, freeing himself.  It was as thick and heavy as ever, and the sight of it made your mouth water.  He stroked himself slowly, his eyes never leaving yours. “You ready for this, baby? You gon’ be good for me?”

“Please, daddy,” you begged, your voice shaky. “I need you.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he said, positioning himself at your entrance. He slid the head of his cock through your slick folds, teasing you until you were whining in frustration. “Damn, you so wet, baby.  You gon’ take all of me, huh?”

“Yes, daddy, please,” you plead. “Please put it in..”

Jimmy finally pushed inside, and the stretch had you gasping, your nails clawing at his arms.  “Fuck,” he groaned, his voice low and rough. “You so fuckin’ tight, baby. Been missin’ me, huh?”

You could barely form words, the fullness of him stealing your breath.  “Fuck… yes daddy,” you managed to choke out, your legs trembling as he buried himself to the hilt.

“That’s right,” he growled, pulling back and slamming into you again.  “This my pussy, baby. Don’t forget that.”

He set a brutal pace, his hips snapping against yours with enough force to make the couch creak beneath you. Each thrust sent delicious shockwaves through your body, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. You were already on the verge of another orgasm, your body still sensitive from your previous release.

“Why you runnin’, baby?” he teased, grabbing your wrists and pinning them above your head.  “This what you been actin’ out for, huh?  So take it.”

“I’m tryin’ daddy!” you sobbed, tears streaming down your face as your second orgasm crashed over you. Your body convulsed beneath him, and you felt yourself gush around him, soaking his thighs.

“Fuck, baby,” he groaned, his pace faltering for a moment. “You squirtin’ for me now? you so fuckin’ nasty, that’s my good girl.”

But he didn’t stop. If anything, he fucked you harder, flipping you over onto your stomach and pulling your hips up so he could take you from behind.  The new angle had you screaming into the disarrayed couch cushions, your body trembling uncontrollably.

“You gon’ tell daddy you sorry again?” he growled, spanking your ass hard enough to leave a sting.  “Say it.”

“I’m sorry, daddy!” you cried out, your voice muffled. “I’ll be good, I promise!”

“Yeah, you gon’ be good now, huh?” He gripped your hair, pulling your head back as he pounded into you mercilessly.  “You ain’t got no choice, baby. Daddy gon’ fuck all that attitude outta you.”

Jimmy didn’t let up for a second. His grip on your hair kept you pinned in place as his cock slammed into you relentlessly, the sound of your ragged cries filling the room. You could feel the heat of his body pressing down on yours, his weight anchoring you as if there was no escape—not that you wanted there to be anyway.

“Look at you,” he growled, leaning over until his lips brushed against your ear. His breath was hot and heavy, dripping with amusement.  “All that attitude, all that shit talkin’, and now you cryin’ for daddy, huh? You so fuckin’ pretty like this, baby. All obedient for me.”

You whimpered, barely able to form words as his cock dragged against every sensitive spot inside you.  Your body was overstimulated, every nerve on fire, and the wetness between your thighs only made it worse. “D-daddy, it’s too much,” you choked out, trembling beneath him.

“Too much?” he repeated mockingly, pulling your head back further until you were arching against him.  “Nah, baby, you can take it.”

He punctuated his words with a sharp thrust that made your back bow, another broken sob spilling from your lips. Tears were streaking your cheeks as he fucked you harder, his pace unrelenting.  The sting of another spank sent a jolt through you, the sharp pain only intensifying the overwhelming pleasure.

“Tell me what you is,” he demanded, his voice low and commanding.  “Go on, baby.  Say it.”

“I’m—I’m your slut, daddy,” you gasped, your voice barely audible over the sound of your own moans.

“Damn right you are,” he snarled, slamming into you so hard the couch creaked beneath you.  “And don’t you forget it. This is my pussy.  Say it.”

“It’s yours, daddy..fuck!” you cried out, your voice breaking as you felt another orgasm building, threatening to drown you.

“That’s right,” he growled, pulling out suddenly and flipping you onto your back before you could even catch your breath.  He hooked your legs over his shoulders, folding you in half as he lined himself up again. “And I’m gon’ remind you every fuckin’ time you forget.”

The first thrust in this position had your eyes rolling to the back of your head, your nails clawing at his arms as his cock hit a deeper angle. His weight pressed down on you, forcing your thighs against your chest as he pounded into you like he had something to prove.  You could feel the muscles in his arms flexing beneath your hands, his strength keeping you pinned in place as he wrecked you.

“Fuck, baby, you feel that?” he groaned, his voice thick with arousal.  “Feel how deep I am?  I’m right where I’m supposed to be, fillin’ that pussy up. And you gon’ take all of me like a good girl, huh?”

“Yes, daddy,” you whimpered, your nails digging into his biceps as the pressure built inside you.  “Please don’t stop—please…”

He smirked, leaning down to capture one of your nipples in his mouth.  The heat of his tongue against your sensitive skin sent you spiraling, your back arching as you came again, harder this time. Your body convulsed beneath him, the pleasure so intense it almost hurt.

“Fuck, look at you,” he muttered, his voice laced with pride as he watched you fall apart beneath him.  “That’s my girl.  You so good for me, baby.  So fuckin’ pretty when you cum.”

 Even as your body trembled and tears streaked your cheeks, he kept going, his cock dragging against your sensitive walls with every brutal thrust.  “You said you wanted it, baby,” he teased, his tone both mean and sweet. “You been talkin’ shit all week so don’t tap out now.”

“Daddy, I—” Your words dissolved into a choked sob as he grabbed your wrists, pinning them above your head. His hips snapped against yours with a punishing rhythm, the pleasure teetering dangerously close to pain.

“You cryin’, baby?” he taunted, leaning down to kiss the tears off your cheeks.  “Aw, don’t tell me it’s too much now.”

“I can’t—Jimmy, I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” he growled, his voice firm but laced with a tenderness that made your heart ache.  “You gon’ take it, baby. You was made for this dick, and I’mma remind you every fuckin’ time.”

He reached down between your bodies, his thumb finding your swollen clit and rubbing it in slow, deliberate circles.  The added stimulation sent you spiraling, another orgasm tearing through you before you could stop it.  You whimpered his name, your body trembling violently as your walls clenched around him.

“Shit,” he groaned, his pace faltering as your orgasm milked him.  “You tryna make me cum, baby?  You want daddy to give you a baby, huh?  Want me to fill this pretty pussy?”

“Yes, daddy, please,” you whined, your voice trembling with desperation.  “Please cum in me, daddy.”

That was all it took. With a low growl, Jimmy slammed into you one last time, his cock twitching as he came deep inside you. The warmth of his release filled you, and you moaned at the sensation, your body shuddering beneath him. He didn’t pull out right away, instead grinding into you slowly, making sure you felt every last drop.

“Fuck, baby,” he muttered, his forehead resting against yours as he caught his breath. “You did so good for me. Took it all like a damn champ.”

You whimpered softly, your body still trembling from the aftershocks.  “Thank you, daddy,” you whispered, your voice barely audible.

He chuckled, leaning down to kiss your lips softly.  “Ain’t no need to thank me, baby.  You earned that.”

Jimmy finally pulled out, and you winced at the emptiness.  He watched as his cum dripped out of you, his tongue peeking out to lick his lips.  “Damn, look at that.  You so fuckin’ sexy, baby.”

Your face heated up, turning your face away, but he grabbed your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze.  “Don’t get shy on me now,” he teased, his voice softer but no less commanding.  “You did good, baby. Real good.  Daddy’s so proud of you.”

A small smile crept onto your lips despite the exhaustion weighing you down. “I love you, Jimmy.”

“I love you too, baby girl,” he said, kissing your forehead.  “Now let’s get you cleaned up.  You gon’ need your strength for round two.”

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[princesitangelita]

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ after swearing up and down that you can’t make a sale, jim lets you answer his phone to give it a try. his elaborate plan to prove himself right goes south as soon as the man on the other line buys a heaping amount of paper in exchange for your phone number..

warnings: flirty banter, teasing, fluff, mild humor, slight tension (?), jim being a little jealous (a lot, actually), close proximity

a/n: first jim prompt :,) feel free to send in req’s!

wc: 1.1k

“..but why? why do you think it’s impossible for me to sell paper?” jim was leaning over the counter of the receptionist desk, both of your faces not far from one another’s. “because you answer the phone like this!” he taunted your high pitched ‘customer service’ voice, your cheeks heating as you giggled quietly. “i do not sound like that!” jim smiled when you accidentally snorted, your eyes widening in embarrassment. phyllis looked over at you two, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “there’s a reason you didn’t get the sales position, ditzy.”

you gasped, slapping his arm playfully. “that’s a low blow, halpert!” shaking your head, you opened up the spreadsheet michael had forwarded to you, “and by the way, my insane typing skills got me this position. i get to sit and look pretty all day..” jim nodded, eyes flittering down to the soft curve of your lips. “yeah, that you do.” his voice dropped down a few octaves, the sound paired up with his words made butterflies flutter in your tummy. the girls were so going to be hearing about this later.

you met his eyes for a brief moment, both of you clearing your throats awkwardly at the sudden energy shift. “seriously though, how hard could it be?” just as you asked him, his phone began ringing. “wanna find out?” you were up on your feet, basically buzzing with excitement as you followed jim over to his desk. the last thing jim expected you to do was bend over the hardwood his phone was rested on, his distressed glare finding the cameraman. dwight was eyeing you with pinched eyebrows, wondering what the hell you two were up to now.

for his own sake, jim didn’t dare glance down at your backside in that tight pencil skirt of yours, instead he took his seat, pushing himself all the way in under his desk before motioning for you to answer the damned thing. flashing an innocent smile at dwight, he rolled his eyes as you put the receiver to your ear. “jim halpert speaking!” jim closed his eyes, holding in a laugh as he muted the call. “you have to say your name, not mine..” the realization dawned on you, a little ‘oh, that’s right!’ leaving your lips before he unmuted you.

chirping your name into the phone, the man on the other side of the line sounded confused as he carried on. “hello, is this dunder mifflin? the paper company.” you hummed, drawing a few stares from oscar and stanley. “hi there, my name is jonathan and i was tasked with choosing the best paper for my office, and i came across this number. if you don’t mind, i just had a few questions.” you nodded even though he couldn’t see you. “of course, i’d be happy to provide you with answers!” jim leaned in, listening closely to the call.

“why should i choose dunder mifflin as my business’s official paper supplier?” it was a simple question, but it still had you wracking your brain for what you should say. “uhm.. well! here at dunder mifflin, we have the best sales representatives always just one phone call away! we will keep your office and/or work space stocked with only the highest quality of paper, card stock, and many more! all at an amazing price as well, and you didn’t hear this from me.. but if you buy in bulk, you get major steals.” jim was flabbergasted. maybe he should be a receptionist instead. this was your desk now.

“wow! that sounds amazing. you really checked all of my boxes.” he laughed, a hint of flirting evident in his tone. “yeah? well i usually do.” jim looked at the side of your face, his gaze burning hot. “i bet.. look, this might come across as really weird, but gosh your voice is so pretty, it’s a nice change from the usual montone robots answering these phones.” you chuckled, the sound making jim want to snatch the thing out of your hand. dwight noticed this, a smug look taking over his features.

michael had his head poking out of his door, the entire office now listening in on your conversation. “put it on speaker!” erin whispered, everyone agreeing in unison. jim sighed, already not liking where this was going. “oh trust me, i know,” you spoke, “but would you be interested in hearing any of my offers?” you motioned for jim to pull up the package deals sheet on his computer. “please, enlighten me.” you gasped, raising your eyebrows at the man next to you. jim was quick to cover the scowl on his face, a fake smile gracing his lips as he pulled up december’s spreadsheet.

“okayyy! so starting off with the most expensive package, for five hundred dollars a month, you get a weekly delivery on your paper, and this includes an unlimited card stock supply that i can personally guarantee will arrive on time, all the time—”

“i’ll take it.” you blinked, dwight’s grin dropping from his face.

“r-really?! you don’t want to hear about my other packages?” jonathan, the man on the other line let out a disapproving hum. “no, i’ve heard quite enough, i’d love to make a deal with you though.” everyone exchanged looks, you and jim meeting each other’s eyes for the first time during this entire ordeal. “okay, may i please get your information?” you took the phone off of speaker, everyone, including michael, groaning in frustration. “i wanted to hear the deal!” kevin shook his head. angela made a face, turning around in her seat as she resumed watching cat videos on youtube.

you were quiet for a few moments, your eyes widening as jonathan stated his offer. “..so what you’re telling me is; in exchange for purchasing the five hundred dollar package, you want my phone number?” the office went into an uproar, dwight shooting out of his seat. “what is this? a phone sex hotline?!” jim couldn’t stand to listen to another second of this, his index finger reaching out and pressing the ‘end call’ button. you yelped, dropping the phone on his desk. “jim, what the hell?! i totally had that in the bag!” you stood up, a series of shouts sounding around the office.

“transfer him to my phone right now!” meredith shouted, jim wasting no time in giving her the number. “alright, ditzy, you could sell paper.” he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, clearing his throat as he made eye contact with one of the cameras in the corner. you may be lacking a bit in the logical department, but you were an expert when it came to reading jim, and right now? he looked nothing short of jealous. you leaned down next to his ear. “well i’m glad we could settle that, halpert.” jim swallowed thickly, your perfume diminishing all of his senses.

[lovebugism]

Hi!! I an so obsessed with your writing and characterization. Congrats on one year!! Can i request something for Steve?

Prompt:”i didnt realise we still weren't..."

Where someone asks reader and Steve how long theyve been together, Steve thinks theyd been dating this whole time, reader is confused cause Steve never asked her! Best friends to lovers and theyre both a little clueless. Thank you!!

i changed up the prompt a bit but i hope you like it :D — jim and joyce force you and steve to have an important talk about your relationship (established relationship-ish, also best friends to lovers-ish, fluff, 0.9k)

“Does it feel any better now?” Steve asks, cuddled next to you on the porch swing outside the Byers’ home. He’s been wearing the same worried glint in his honey eyes since the sun went down — when he tried to give you a piggyback ride and then slipped in the mud. He broke your fall for the most part, but your ankle got caught underneath him.

You nod, then grimace when you try to twist your foot. “Sorta…” you shrug.

“Have I said I’m sorry yet?” he jokes with a scrunch to the bridge of his chiseled nose.

“Only a billion times.”

“Well, I’m gonna make it a billion and one now. ‘Cause I’m sorry.”

“I’ve already said it’s okay,” you assure with a giggle, leaning over to knock your shoulder against his. “It doesn’t even feel that bad anymore. I swear.”

“I’ll kiss it better when we get home,” he offers, just to make you get all shy. His soft smirk widens to a fuller beam when his ploy works. “I mean, you are staying over tonight, right?”

“Of course,” you shrug. “How else are you gonna kiss my sprained ankle better?”

“Touché.”

He leans in for a kiss. The tip of his nose just barely grazes the side of yours when the screen door shrieks open. The Talking Heads playing from inside grows suddenly louder, then muffles again when the door shuts. Jim and Joyce stumble out together — eyes glassy and cheeks flushed, obviously not totally sober.

The woman pops a cigarette between her pink lips. Hopper lights it for her. “You know… I’ve already booked the reservation for Enzo’s,” he tells her lowly. His back faces the two of you, totally unaware of your presence and blocking any view of you.

“Oh,” she hums sarcastically, blowing smoke from her lungs. “Is that right?”

“Yep. So either I sit there all alone with my chee-anty, or you come and keep me company,” Jim lilts in a quiet, honeyed tone. “And if that doesn’t sound like a good time, then maybe the bottomless breadsticks will win you over.”

Steve leans against your shoulder. His mouth rests outside your ear. “Do you think they know we’re out here?” he asks.

You raise a silent hand with a pointed finger, shushing him without saying a word.

Joyce giggles like a teenage girl. “Look. I don’t even know if I like you,” she teases.

“But you’re thinking about it, right?” Hopper wonders, with all the hope of a schoolboy asking out a girl way out of his league. “‘Cause you should.”

Steve shifts. The porch swing squeaks. Both parents turn to face you, features softly agape. Jim blinks once. “You guys been sittin’ there the whole time?” he asks in a strangled voice.

“Enough to hear you groveling,” you answer.

“Alright…” he grumbles half-heartedly.

“The bottomless breadsticks are actually pretty good, Joyce,” Steve chirps obliviously, smiling wide and flitting his eyes between the two standing across the porch. “But, you know, if she doesn’t wanna go with you, Chief, I’m always available—”

“Okay, let’s go around back,” Hop announces, guiding Joyce down the steps with a hand curled gently around her elbow. The woman giggles when you whistle suggestively at them. Jim shouts at you over his shoulder. “Watch it! And ice that ankle when you get home!”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Harrington, don’t let her walk on it,” the man sighs, already exasperated. “Be a gentleman, alright? Give your girl a day’s bed rest, dote on her or whatever—”

“Oh, we’re not— I’m not his girlfriend,” you correct with a forced laugh.

Your words seem to take Steve by surprise. He flashes you a look, scruff features swirled with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re not dating, Steve.”

He scoffs an awkward laugh, brows pinching. “You’re joking, right?”

“Well, this is awkward,” Jim mumbles, grateful he’s not the butt of the joke for once.

Joyce slaps his arm. “Hop.”

“We’re gonna go,” the man announces, heading towards the backyard. “Have fun with… this.”

Steve waits until they’re gone to face you fully. He turns on the swing until his knee brushes the outside of your own. The hurt puppy expression on his face hasn’t quite ebbed. “You don’t think we’re dating?”

“You do?” you retort.

“Yes!” Steve shouts, talking wildly with his hands. “Our first date was at Enzo’s! I brought you flowers and everything!”

“You never asked me to be your girlfriend, Steve—”

“I thought it was implied!”

“—I thought you didn’t wanna be, like, official with me or something!”

Steve goes suddenly silent. His chest starts to ache like there’s a fire rising behind his ribcage. He swallows hard. “Have you been… Have you been seeing other people?”

“No!” you answer instantly, face twisted in abhorrence of the thought. “Of course not!”

“Okay. Good,” he nods, raking a hand through his wild hair and settling again. “‘Cause I haven’t either, so… We’ve basically been dating this whole time.”

You meet his smile with a playful glower. “You still shouldn’t asked me, though.”

“Well, I’m asking you now,” he announces and wraps an arm around your shoulder. He leans in until you can smell the birthday cake and soda on his breath. You don’t notice until now that your lipstick is smeared on his mouth. “Do you wanna be girlfriend-boyfriend with me?”

You purse your lips to the side with a playful hum. “Mm. I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, c’mon!”

[stevie-petey]

episode three: the monster and the superhero

“Breaking and entering into the school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files.” You wince. It’s as bad as it sounds. Tapping Dustin’s shoulder, you break him away from the walkie. “Wait, we won’t need my files, right?” Steve eyes you up and down, shrugging indifferently. “Well–” Hitting his chest, he sputters at you. “Why do you keep doing that?” “You’re not reading my files, Harrington.”

Summary: you and steve can never have a normal conversation, dustin threatens nasa, eddie sadly eats his cereal because youre mean to him, youre once again nancys biggest fan, dustin and steve have an awkward heart to heart, and you and max become felons together and trauma bond (again) !

Rating: general, some swearing

Warnings: swearing, fem!reader, use of y/n, mentions of blood, trauma lol

Words: 13.5k

Before you swing in: hi hi hi !! so so so sorry for the wait. this chapter was a pain to write and i was so busy with school and work :( promise updates will become more regular soon. i was just simply in the trenches for a hot few weeks. things in the story are heatin up, so get ready gamers. anyways, enjoy !!

–

It’s quiet in Steve’s car. 

Streetlights glow faintly, lighting the way home. The windows are down; the thick late spring air fills the car with the bittersweet scent of honeysuckles in bloom. In the dim of the car lies Steve’s faint outline as he drives. His hands rest against the steering wheel, his chest rises slowly as he inhales all the fear that settles inside the car. 

No one speaks. The tension is suffocating you. 

In the backseat resides Robin with Dustin and Max. The oldest sits in the middle, her fingers drum nervously against the head of your seat. Dustin stares out the window, he hasn’t looked at you ever since promising Eddie you’d be back for him tomorrow. He hadn’t wanted to leave him, he begged you to let him stay in the boathouse, but you wouldn’t let him. 

Max stares out the other window. Her eyes are closed, she’s pretending to be asleep. You’ve come to learn what she looks like when she pretends. Her nose pinches slightly, her eyes can never stay still enough to convince you she’s asleep. It’s what she does whenever she doesn’t want to face your questions, your concerns and your fears. 

Tension builds in the back of your skull, a dull throb rings within your ears. Exhaustion washes over you, fear pierces her nails into your skin. You can’t get Eddie’s terrified eyes out of your head. The way his voice trembled, the sticky blood on his fingernails from the skin he picked at. 

If they’re back again, we need to know.

Vecna’s curse.

The static Eddie felt, Chrissy’s trance-like state. Her bones, the morbid angles they snapped. Barbara Holland, daughter and best friend. Bob Newby, superhero. Billy Hargrove, dearly missed son. Jim Hopper, renown chief and beloved father. 

You’re the best of them, kid.

If the gate really has opened once again… Thick molasses grief coats your tongue and fills your mouth with remorse. There has been so much loss, so many funerals you’ve had to attend. Too many bodies buried without answers, without closure. 

Over and over again. 

“We’re here, Robin.” The gravel of Steve’s voice cuts through the endless dread. He parks the car in front of her driveway, the lights are off inside and you know that Robin is afraid of the dark.

“Need me to walk you in?” You ask her, quiet, but unyielding with all the love you have for her. 

She shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m brave, aren't I always brave?”

“The bravest,” Steve smiles at her, soft and unbroken. “Get some sleep, yeah?”

“I’ll… I’ll try.” Her facade slips, the fear that grips everyone tightens its hold. How could anyone sleep at a time like this? She shakes her head again, her smile returns, albeit forced, tired. Then she messily crawls over Dustin to exit the car, ignoring his cries of annoyance and pain when her elbow catches his ribs. “Sorry, little Henderson!”

“I don’t even let Steve call me that–”

“Too late, I’ve already decided to call you little Henderson,” Robin climbs out the car, lands with a soft thud on the pavement. She shuts the door with a glint in her eyes before poking her head through your passenger window. “Hey, uh. Y/N?” Her voice drops low, her eyes skirt to Steve, whose cool gaze meets her weary one. Robin clears her throat, you nod your head at her with slight concern. You know that she knows about your argument with Steve. He adores her, what he doesn’t confide in you, he confides in her. Knowing that Robin means well, you soften your voice. “Yeah?”

Robin hesitates, caught between her two favorite people in the entire world. Steve sees her hesitancy and sighs, turning away to provide some semblance of privacy. Relieved, Robin ducks her head down and whispers into your ear, “Talk to him.”

She’s gone before you can exhale. 

Steve starts the car again after Robin has safely made it inside her home. Max and Dustin are quiet in the backseat. As Steve drives, his fingers absentmindedly play with the frayed edges of his leather bracelet. It had been a gift from you, the word constants etched into the material. 

Constants. You were Steve’s constant, he was yours. Through everything you’ve been through together, all the heartbreak suffered in order to fall into one another, he’s the constant within your life. 

Now you’re afraid that you’re losing him. 

There’s still so much Steve doesn’t know. There are stories about your father that you still need to tell him about. Words Jonathan told you last night, the dangerous what if he brought into your life. You’re terrified of how Steve will react, he’s always been so trusting of you and Jonathan even after knowing the history you share. 

And yet Steve also doesn’t know that the future you see involves him, that he’s in it with as much certainty as the sky is blue; you just don’t know how to tell him this, how to articulate the abandonment that sits heavy within your chest that prohibits you from getting what you want in the end.

You have to talk to him. Steve deserves to know everything, all he’s ever asked of you is to be honest with him. 

The broken lamppost in front of Max’s trailer greets you. Steve slows the car, puts it into park. His eyes find hers in the rearview mirror. “This is you, Mayfield.”

“Thanks,” Max responds quietly. She goes to open the car door, but you turn in your seat and stop her. 

“Hey, look at me.” Your tone leaves no room for arguments. She listens, her blue eyes meeting your gaze. For a moment you see Billy’s eyes reflecting within hers. It’s only for a brief second, it ends before you can even realize what’s happened. Startled, you momentarily choke on your words. “I–”

Max raises an eyebrow at you. You’ve been acting strange all night, she doesn’t understand why. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Her words couldn’t be more ironic, more painful to hear. “I-I’m sorry.” Billy is dead, he’s gone. You shake your head, try to get his eyes out of your head. “Just… promise me you’ll call if anything happens, please?”

You know that Max isn’t in any danger, she’s safe at home with her mother, but across the street resides yellow caution tape and boarded up windows. Eddie’s trailer is across from Max’s, the proximity makes you uncomfortable. It’s an eerie feeling, Chrissy died here last night. 

Max seems to understand your concern, and she allows herself to nod. She doesn’t want to fight you, not tonight. “I will, promise.”

Squeezing her hand, you leave Max with a soft reminder to get some sleep. She smiles, a hidden joke between the two of you. Both of you know that there will be no sleeping tonight. 

Once she’s gone, it’s just you, Steve, and Dustin remaining in the car. Tension creeps slowly upon the three of you. Dustin’s never ending annoyance towards you clashes with all the unspoken words left floating between you and Steve. 

Dustin coughs awkwardly. Steve’s fingers tap anxiously on the steering wheel. You keep your head down, your fingers pick at the skin between your nails. The ten minute drive from Max’s house to yours is unbearably long. Stuck at one of Hawkins’ only stop lights, Dustin can’t take the silence any longer.

“Well, this is awkward.” He says to no one in particular. “Lots of tension tonight, huh?”

Neither you nor Steve laugh, and Dustin rests his head against the seat in defeat. He understands why you and him aren’t talking, he’s still angry with you for holding a knife to Eddie’s neck. What he doesn’t understand, however, is why there seems to be so much distance between you and Steve tonight.

Normally you’d be all over one another by now. The two of you can never keep your hands off of each other. As much as Dustin hates it, he’s grown used to the way your hands are always intertwined with Steve’s. Whenever he’s in the car with you guys, your hand always rests against Steve’s arm as he drives. At red lights Steve will always turn to you, pulled in by your smile. 

Except tonight Dustin doesn’t think he’s seen Steve look at you once during the drive home. Your hand rests softly at your side, balled into a small fist. There’s a coldness between the two of you, one Dustin is ashamed to admit that he hadn’t noticed before. 

Then he remembers last night. He’d been too lost in his anger towards you to recognize the tears in your voice. He hadn’t even stopped to consider that you wanted a code blue for any other reason besides lecturing him. His stomach twists with guilt at his own selfish actions. 

Something happened between you and Steve, and you had needed your brother last night. But he had abandoned you, denied the code blue you’d needed so desperately. 

When Steve’s car pulls into your driveway, Dustin runs out as soon as the vehicle stops. He’s frantic to escape his guilt, to escape the chasm that surrounds you and Steve. Slamming the door, he shouts, “Talk to each other!” Then, as an afterthought, he adds, “Good luck, Steve!”

The slam of the door echoes into the night. 

It’s just you and Steve, now. 

The air stills between you, reminiscent of the night you drove him home from the Halloween party. A year has passed since then, it’s been so long since Steve’s presence made you feel anything other than peace. The strings that have always followed you constrict against your throat. 

“We need to talk,” Steve says, but at the same time you say, “We need to talk about Jonathan.”

The words come tumbling out of your mouth, slipping through the grooves of your teeth before you can stop them. They’d been building within you all day, fizzling to the surface. And now they spill out into the silence of Steve’s car. 

His head turns to you, the street lights illuminate the shock and confusion on his handsome face. It pinches with bewilderment, he doesn’t understand. He had been ready to apologize to you, despite still not being able to comprehend how you don’t see a future with him. Steve doesn’t want to fight with you anymore, he was ready to just forgive and forget and hold your hand without the weight of guilt behind it.

Steve had been ready to salvage your relationship, and now you want to talk about Jonathan?

“Jonathan?” Shamefully, his voice cracks. He feels like a helpless little kid again, his stomach twists with the foreboding nausea that something bad is about to happen. “Why… why do you want to talk about him?”

The raw frailty on Steve’s face almost kills you. He’s drawing into himself again, preparing for the final blow that will decimate him and everything he knows.

You take a deep breath. This won’t be easy, nothing you’ve ever had to do has been easy. But Steve deserves to know. To hide something from him feels foreign, to lie to him feels like a betrayal. 

“Jonathan, he–” Your voice shakes almost as violently as your hands do. Steve is looking at you but you can’t bear to face him just yet. “He called me last night, after our… after our fight.”

“What did he say, Y/N?” Steve knows, even before you tell him, where this is going. The light in your eyes whenever you talk about Jonathan is gone. His name doesn’t grace your face with a smile. Instead, the grimace of guilt replaces it. Steve’s stomach twists into tighter knots. It’s happening again.

Inhaling, you close your eyes and try to commit to memory the before. How Steve looked at you with such adoration before tonight. How his soft hands, laced with trust, felt against your skin before tonight. His open gaze, one filled with vulnerability, stared into you before tonight. 

Opening your eyes, you exhale. Nothing will ever be the same again. “Jonathan asked me if I ever wondered if… if we made a mistake. Him and I.”

“A mistake?” Steve’s jaw tightens. 

“I think-I think he was asking me if I ever… thought about what could’ve happened between us. If somehow,” you swallow, the words cement in your mouth. “If-if somehow we made a mistake, choosing you and Nancy.”

Steve is quiet. The muscles in his body pull tightly together. He fills with venom, anger and jealousy and hurt; so much hurt. “And you think he’s right.”

It isn’t phrased as a question. 

Immediately your body turns to his. “No! God, no,” your hands search for any expanse of his skin you can find. Steve doesn’t lean into you, he doesn’t react to your touch. Panic overwhelms you, suddenly all you can do is talk and plead and beg. “Steve, I don’t think Jonathan even knew what he was saying, okay? H-he was high, and he’s been so lonely and-and he kept saying things were easy between me and him but-but that’s not how love is supposed to work and I know he’s just scared. He’s scared and he’s never been so alone before and I think-he’s just lost, okay? He’s lost and–” 

“Why are you telling me this, Y/N?” The hardness in Steve’s voice cuts into you, stings your skin. He isn’t screaming, not like he did last night, but you almost wish he were. The way his voice is leveled, cold and hard, scares you even more. 

“Would you rather I didn’t?” You’re helpless against his anger, you know he has every right to be, but you don’t know how to fix this.

Steve laughs bitterly. “I’d rather you not make shitty excuses for the asshole.”

“I’m not making excuses for him, I just wanted you to understand–”

“You are!” His voice raises slightly, almost imperceptibly so, but you hear it anyways. Steve’s chest rises and falls quickly. His hands fly wildly everywhere, he doesn’t know what to do, either. Then, almost as quickly as the anger surfaced, insecurity replaces it. “Is… Jonathan why you don’t see a future with me?”

Your fingers tighten around his wrist, almost as if you’re afraid he’ll slip between your fingers any second now. “I do see a future with you–”

“Pretty fucking hard to believe when you’re wearing the goddamn necklace he got you.” The words drip with acid. They’re hissed out with a jaw clenched so tightly you’re afraid he’ll somehow hurt himself.

The words startle you, catch you off guard. Your hand slips from Steve’s wrist. He’s never once insinuated any jealousy regarding you and Jonathan. He’s always been so trusting of you two together, he’s always been kind towards him. He always knew that he could never touch what you guys have, and yet his gaze now flickers cruelly to the bee pendant that rests against your neck. 

What Steve has said hurts you, deeper than he ever intended to. He knows how you love, how deeply you care for others. It’s who you are. Regardless of the hurt he may be feeling right now, it doesn’t give him the right to throw this crucial part of you back in your face. 

“I’m made of pieces of everyone I’ve ever loved, Steve. You know this.” The bee pendant rests against your skin as heavily as the charm bracelet does. 

And Steve does know that you’re made of pieces of everyone in your life. It’s what he loves the most about you. His eyes follow where your fingers reside, skimming the silver chain that encases your wrist. He hadn’t meant to say what he did, the words had slipped out before he could stop them. 

“Y/N…” Your name is spoken as an apology, it’s all Steve can manage in his shame. 

But the moment is ruined, you’re exhausted and all you want to do is go home. 

You shake your head at Steve, try to hide the tears in your eyes. He sees them anyways. “Can I leave, please?”

The way you ask so delicately to escape breaks Steve. Something in his chest shatters, his mouth fills with the taste of a broken promise. You don’t need his permission, he hates that you feel that you do. 

“Yeah,” his voice is softer than it’s been all night, but it’s too late. He knows this. Swallowing, all Steve can do is be gentle with you. “Yeah, of course you can leave, angel.”

Angel.

You nod at him; if you try to speak you’re afraid you’ll break before him. 

No other words are spoken between you. Steve watches as you leave. 

– 

The next morning you sit hunched over a mug of coffee, more exhausted than ever before. You haven’t slept properly in days now. Dustin finds you with dark circles under your eyes and a pathetic bowl of cereal before you. From the dazed look in your eyes, he knows you haven’t noticed his arrival, and he awkwardly clears his throat to get your attention.

“So, uh.” He scratches the back of his neck, your eyes are slow to look up at him. Pointing to your coffee, Dustin raises his eyebrows. “Rough night, I take it?”

You nod, too tired to say anything else. The cereal goes uneaten. Dustin doesn’t think your coffee is even warm anymore, he hadn’t heard you wake up this morning. He’s worried that you never even went to bed last night. You’re pale, sickly so, and Dustin hates that he hadn’t noticed the signs sooner. 

“Hey,” he pulls a chair beside you, sits down with a playful shove to your shoulder. He’s your brother, it’s his job to take care of you just as much as it’s yours to take care of him. It’s how the two of you have always been. 

For Dustin’s entire life you’ve looked after him, kissing his scraped knees and warding off monsters hidden underneath his bed. When your father left, the depression your mother fell into afterwards left Dustin clinging onto you. You were all he had left. 

Dustin leans against you, he used to do this when he was a little kid and could still fit between your arms. Resting his head against yours, shoulders pressed together, the angle is awkward and uncomfortable, but it’s safe. “Is it too late to have that code blue?”

It’s a peace offering, an extension of an apology, and you can’t help but smile at your brother. Hand finding his mess of curls, you ruffle his hair and laugh softly. “Yeah, guess we can have a code blue now.”

“Good, you know I always love to shit talk Steve.” Dustin says with humor. You both know he admires the boy.

“Language,” you remind him as you always do. Dustin knocks his head against yours in response and the two of you break into laughter; laughing with your brother again feels good.

In between sips of cold coffee and bites of soggy cereal, you tell Dustin about Steve. You explain the original argument a few nights ago, how he didn’t understand why you wouldn’t want him to follow you to New York. 

“It’s what mom did with dad,” Dustin says, looking down at the table. 

You nod at him, you knew he’d understand better than anyone. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Does he know what happened with dad?”

“No, and I know I should explain what he did, but there’s–” You cut yourself off. Dustin would kill Jonathan with his bare hands if he found out about the phone call. Even though it technically goes against the rules of a code blue, you can’t tell Dustin about Jonathan. Not yet, at least. Clearing your throat, you continue. “There��s… other things that have prevented me from explaining dad to Steve.”

Dustin narrows his eyes. “Other things?”

“Other things,” you look pointedly at him, standing your ground about not elaborating. He denied your original code blue. You’re allowed to lie this one time. “And now Steve thinks that I don’t see a future with him.”

“Well then he’s an idiot.” Your brother scoffs. Anyone with eyes can see how much you fawn over Steve. Dustin has watched you fall for him for years now. “You’re practically ready to marry the guy.”

Taking a bite of cereal, you grimace slightly. “Okay, marriage is a little much–”

“Tell that to mom, she’s already started planning the wedding.” 

Of course she has. She wouldn’t be Claudia Henderson if she wasn’t already planning the names of her grandchildren from Steve. 

The bite of cereal turns into cement, your heartbeat pounds against your throat. With everything going on with Steve, the hurt the two of you have brought down upon the other, you’re not even sure there will be a wedding at the rate things are going. 

As the days go on, you can feel Steve slipping away from you more and more.

Dustin must sense that the subject is hurting you, so he stands from his seat and claps his hands together. “Alright, I feel like we’ve covered our bases for a code blue. Checked all the boxes, felt the feelings needed to be felt.”

“I don’t like the feelings being felt,” you mumble, shoving your bowl away. You’re still drawn into yourself, pale and frail and unlike the lively girl your brother has come to miss. He knows things have been difficult between the two of you, a strain that can’t quite be loosened. 

Dustin falters, his bravado fades. He sighs again and his hand settles against your shoulder. He looks at you with sincerity, his expression softens. “Look, you and Steve will figure things out. You guys always do.”

And he truly believes this. Steve loves you with such a ferocity that rivals your love for him. Dustin can’t imagine a world in which you’re no longer with Steve, where he’s let go of you and allowed you to walk away. 

Except Dustin doesn’t know how to express this to you, but you can understand him anyways. Placing your hand over his, you squeeze it. “Thanks, Dustin.”

He smiles back at you and the code blue is over. The moment lingers for only a second longer before he frowns and sits back down next to you. “Do you think Eddie will be okay?”

And there it is. Eddie fucking Munson again. 

Shoving down your annoyance, you force yourself to focus on the situation from last night. As hurt as you are that Dustin wants to talk about Eddie right now, you can understand why he would. Chrissy died in front of him, he’s being accused of murder. 

You’re just being childish, easily irritated from lack of sleep and the stress of it all. 

“I don’t know, I mean…the cops will be looking for him.” With ease you fall back into strategizing, putting the situation above your own thoughts and feelings. Your mind spins with everything you need to do, trying to come up with whatever you can do to help. “If we have any shot of protecting him, we need to figure out what they know.”

Dustin nods, following along. “Cerebro can tap into the Hawkins PD system, we can easily get intel from there.”

“It terrifies me that Cerebro can hack into our town’s police system.”

“Be grateful I stopped there, Suzie wouldn’t let me use it to tap into NASA.”

You learn two things after using Cerebro to gather information. 

One, the radio is far too powerful to reside in your fourteen year old brother’s hands. He’s able to access the PD system with incredible ease, almost as if he’s done so before. It’d be impressive if you didn’t know the horrors that went on inside the kid’s head.

Two, Eddie is well and truly fucked. 

He’s the main suspect. They think he’s killed Chrissy and have every man in the force scouring Hawkins to find him. Her death was gruesome, you understand the manhunt that unfolds. Dustin, however, nearly loses his mind when he hears chief Powell instructing his men to search Eddie’s neighborhood for the teen. 

“We have to go warn him,” Dustin scrambles to his feet, the chair almost toppling over in his haste. “We need to leave, now.”

There isn’t time to argue, Dustin is already ringing Steve’s number. Either he’s already forgotten about your argument with the teen, or maybe he just doesn’t care. Regardless, the thought of seeing Steve again so soon after last night makes your stomach churn. You want to stop Dustin, make up some excuse to him about why you can’t help Eddie, but you know it wouldn’t matter. Your brother would only beg you to come, your worry for him would force you to listen. 

All you can do is drop your head into your hands and sigh.

– 

It was your idea to stop and get Eddie food. 

Steve had arrived at your house within minutes. Dustin immediately went for the passenger seat, which was more than okay with you, and Steve had mumbled a soft “hello” to the two of you. His greeting went ignored by you, still trying to find your breath around him, and Dustin, who promptly demanded that Steve pick up Robin and Max before returning to the boathouse. 

Halfway to Max’s, the silence in the car was thickening rapidly, so you offhandedly suggested stopping at the local grocery store to get Eddie some food and water. You figured he would appreciate the small act of kindness, especially considering the grime news you’d be delivering to him soon. That, and it’d give you an excuse to leave Steve’s car for a few moments and steady your breathing. 

The boathouse isn’t nearly as creepy in the daylight, but still you make sure your knives are in your pocket before approaching it. Robin walks beside you, helping you and Dustin carry the groceries, while Max and Steve walk silently behind. 

“Think we got him enough?” Robin asks, holding up one of the grocery bags. “I mean, don’t stoners eat a lot? Munchies or whatever?”

Rolling your eyes, you undo one of the buttons on your sweater, allowing the crisp spring air to soak your body. The sun is too warm to be worrying about whatever stoners eat. “If he complains, then he can starve.” 

“Cat’s got claws today,” Robin nudges you with her arm. Turning to make sure Steve is far enough away so he doesn’t overhear, she lowers her voice. “Guessing the talk didn’t go well last night?”

“Oh, it was just peachy,” you grit out through a forced smile. “But we have to focus on harboring a murder suspect right now.” Because nothing in your life can ever be simple. If you aren’t hunting monsters, you’re protecting the town. If you aren’t protecting the town, you’re fighting alternate dimensions.

Robin opens her mouth to say something, but Dustin shoulders past her and bursts through the boathouse doors, ending your conversation. “Delivery service!” 

Eddie nearly has a heart attack at the abrupt entrance. He jumps out of his skin and clutches at his chest after letting out a very unmanly yelp. The reaction is almost enough to brighten your foul mood, momentarily forgetting that Steve stands behind you. 

“Someone’s jumpy,” you sidestep your brother and walk over towards the table. Setting the groceries down, you begin to unload them. “We got you some food, but please don’t eat it all at once. I really don’t want to spend any more money on you.”

“Thanks…?” Eddie slowly approaches you, both relieved for the food and offended you seem so begrudged to have gotten it for him in the first place. From his few interactions with you since last night, he’s coming to learn that you’re far from the girl who showed him such selfless kindness all those years ago.

Eddie doesn’t think you even remember what you did for him. He had been at such a low point in his life, one failed exam away from dropping out of high school and disappointing his uncle, until you appeared. It’d been your sophomore year, Eddie’s failed one, and you had given him your pencil.

The action had been small, meniscal, yet it saved Eddie’s life. He hadn’t brought his own pencil for some stupid English exam. He’d been too nervous for it that he had forgotten his, and Mrs. Greer, the teacher who couldn’t have cared less whether or not Eddie died, threatened to fail him. 

The threat sank deep into his bones, freezing his intestines with dread. Eddie had promised his uncle he’d try harder in school, that he’d graduate, and yet he couldn't do something as simple as bringing a pencil to an exam. Close to tears, embarrassed and overwhelmed, Eddie almost hadn’t registered your softly whispered voice.

“Here,” you tapped his shoulder. Eddie remembers turning around, surprised you were even talking to him, and he remembers the immediate relief that sagged his bones when he saw the pencil extended in offering. He had nodded curtly at you before frantically rushing to begin the exam. He’d already wasted five minutes, he couldn’t afford any more. 

It would only be later that Eddie learned you willingly failed the exam because you’d given him your only pencil, just so he wouldn’t fail. In the end, he passed. It was the first exam Eddie had passed in a long, long time; his uncle had been so proud of him that he bought him his electric guitar.

Eddie never thanked you for that. 

And now you stand in front of him, once again extending your arm out to him with yet another offering, but your eyes are cold. Your body is tense around Eddie’s, he doesn’t miss the wide berth you seem to always give him. 

“Thanks,” he says to you again, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He accepts the box of cereal you offer him and he wills himself to smile. “I, uh. Appreciate it. I’d offer to pay you back, but…”

“You’re wanted for murder.” You finish for Eddie. 

He drops his head. “Yeah, it kinda ruins a person’s life, ya know?”

“I don’t, actually. Never been accused of killing someone.”

Eddie blinks at you. He doesn’t know what to do with the disdain you display towards him. “Right.” He looks at Dustin for help, silently begging the kid to step in before you gut him with your knives.

“Okay, why don’t you crack open that box of honey combs while we all gather around for a fun story time!” Dustin sets down the remaining groceries and ushers everyone to spread around the boathouse. 

“‘Storytime’?” Eddie asks him, looking around in confusion. 

“Y/N and Dustin did some detective work,” Robin offers him, trying to make her voice sound as cheery as possible. “They-uh. Well they found-I mean,” she doesn’t know how to break the news to Eddie, she feels awful for the guy. Deflating, she mumbles, “They’re definitely good detectives.”

Eddie only looks more confused by this, and Dustin sits down awkwardly on a stool next to you. “So, we got, uh. Some good news and some bad news.”

You snort at your brother. Steve stands next to you, his body angled away from you so that your skin doesn’t touch. The distance is small enough to go unnoticed by anyone, yet it’s a chasm that your stomach drops into. “That’s really how you’re gonna break it to him?” 

“What are you guys breaking to me?” Eddie asks, eyes wide.

Dustin hits your leg and gets the teen’s attention. “Ignore her, look at me, alright? Now, how do you prefer it? Good or bad first?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie doesn’t even think about his answer, he responds immediately while shoving cereal into his mouth. 

“The bad news is that you’re pretty fucked.” You inform him, arms crossed over your chest. There’s no easy way to lessen the blow of what you overhead from Hawkins PD. The news is bad, it’s all bad. 

Dustin snaps his head towards you, “Y/N!”

“I’m not going to lie to the guy or sugarcoat things!” 

“Would you just let me handle it–”

“Dustin,” Eddie hasn’t moved from his seat. His hand remains in the cereal box, his voice jagged and defeated. He’s tired. He just wants to go home. “Just say it.”

Your brother’s shoulders drop, the anger in his eyes extinguished. “We… We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you.”

“Chief Powell thinks you killed Chrissy.” Unable to look at Eddie, your eyes trace the ground. As much as you hate him, you can’t help but feel awful for the hand he’s been dealt. No one will possibly believe he’s innocent. “He ordered all his men to track you down before word gets out that you’re the prime suspect.”

“Which leads us to the good news: your name hasn’t gone public yet.” Robin continues for you, her own expression pitying. “But if Y/N and Dustin could find out about you during breakfast, then it’s a matter of time before others do, too.”

“And once that gets out,” you shake your head, you know how cruel a small town like Hawkins can be. “There’s going to be a lot of angry people who know your name.”

Eddie clenches his jaw. You can see tears forming in his eyes; you’re not sure if they’re from frustration or fear. He inhales sharply, licks his lips in disdain. “Hunt the freak, right?”

It’s the way he says it, with so much despair and venom in his voice. The look of resignation on Eddie’s face breaks your heart. He knows his odds, he’s been tormented and abused his entire life by the people in Hawkins. You’ve heard all the stories. The exile he faced because of how he looked, who he would hang out with, the music he listened to and the drugs he smoked. 

Eddie Munson, the freak. The moment the town finds out he’s wanted for murder, you’re afraid he’ll never come out of it alive. 

The ice-hot contempt you feel for him begins to melt. He’s only a year or two older than you, still just a scared kid with no place to call home anymore. Despite the protests of your body, you step towards Eddie and place a hand on his shoulder. Your hand is tense, your fingers scratch on the rough material of his denim jacket, but he seems to calm at the touch. 

“Hey, we’ll protect the freak, alright?” You mean what you tell him, your hand warms his skin. Whatever history you have with Eddie, good or bad, it doesn’t matter right now. He needs you, he’s lost and alone. 

Eddie looks up at you, your kindness startles him slightly, but he doesn’t move away. Instead, his eyes find yours. They’re brown, almost doe-eyed, with a vulnerability within them so intense that it leaves a lump in your throat. 

“We won’t let anything happen to you, Eddie.” Dustin’s voice cuts through, reminding you of where you are. Stumbling slightly, you remove your hand and walk back over to Steve, who gives you an odd, confused look. You ignore him. “We have to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” 

“That’s all, Dustin?” Eddie mocks, he doesn’t stand a chance and he knows it.

Dustin draws into himself, uncertain, before letting out a feeble response. You allow yourself to smile, enjoying his wallowing. You understand where Eddie is coming from. “It is a lot that we have to do in order to clear his name.”

“Okay, I know that everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this before.” Robin tries to reassure him. She’s leaning against a doorframe, she’s trying her best not to let her own uncertainty show. 

“We’ve been here before,” you say with slight bitterness. “You’d be surprised how many times we’ve almost died.”

Robin laughs nervously. “Well, mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related. I didn’t necessarily almost die, but Y/N has some pretty sick scars on her body and Steve has been concussed more times than he’s had girlfriends–”

“Get to the point, Robin.” Steve finally speaks up, no hint of amusement in his voice. His hand rests besides yours, his fingers ache to curl against your skin. You’re wearing a soft blue sweater, tucked into your skirt, and your eyes shine against the spring cold. He doesn’t want to be here right now.

“Right. The bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this.”

Unable to bear the itch in his skin to touch you, Steve brings his hand to his face and rubs at his jaw to distract himself. “Except we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but-uh. Those went bye-bye, so–”

“And she’s in California, hundreds of miles from here.” You add on, picking at your nails. The topic makes you uncomfortable. With California comes the reminder of Jonathan.

Robin points at you and Steve. “Both good points, so I guess you could say we’re more in the-in the…?”

“Brainstorming phase.” Max supplies, which Steve snaps his fingers in agreement and Dustin hums thoughtfully. 

“There’s-uh. There’s nothing to worry about!” Your brother says unconvincingly, voice high pitched and full of lies. 

Eddie stares at everyone around him, studying the collective mess that he somehow must place all his trust in. None of you can give him a straight answer about what will happen next, and as you listen to Steve and Dustin try again to make sense of what’s going on, you recognize how hopeless it all sounds. 

“We may not sound like much,” you interrupt the boys, trying again to ease the hopelessness Eddie must be feeling. “But we’re kind of your only option right now–”

The distant wailing of sirens drown out your words, loud and piercing. The sound sets everyone into a panic. Robin instructs Dustin to cover Eddie with a tarp while you, Max, and Steve run towards the window. Squished together, you watch as multiple cop cars fly down the street with an ambulance following them; your breath catches. 

The last time you saw this many cop cars speeding through Hawkins, they had been a dead body in the quarry. It had been Will’s body, lifeless and pale. You had watched as his body was pulled from the water, you held Lucas and Dustin as they cried.

Only this time Will is in California, far away from danger. The onslaught of cars can only mean one thing. 

“I think…” Your mouth fills with syrupy dread, coating your tongue with grief. Breathing becomes difficult. You hope, more than anything, that you’re wrong. “I think someone else died.”

The moment the words leave your lips, Steve grabs his keys and instructs everyone to get into his car. He doesn't ask any questions, he doesn’t question how you know. Dustin quickly tells Eddie to stay in the boathouse while you leave. 

Your eyes squeeze shut as Steve drives, your hand clutches the seat in terror. Every second that passes, your body becomes heavier and heavier from dread. Steve’s knuckles are white against the steering wheel. Robin can’t look at you, Max and Dustin don’t say a word.

The white blanket draped over a body is what you see first. A horde of police surround it, there are lights flashing everywhere. People crowd behind a barricade, necks straining to get a look at the body on the ground. 

Then you see who the cops are talking to, and your heart drops. 

“Nancy,” you breathe out, already opening Steve’s door before he can even park the car. Something terrible has happened. Nancy stands in front of the officers, her arms crossed against her chest as if to calm herself down. She’s never looked so weak, she needs you.

Standing outside the car, the others join you. Steve has parked as close as he can to the crime scene, no one moves. Nancy releases a shaky breath when her eyes find yours. Raising her hand, she waves at you, unsure, and you wave back. She smiles, timid but genuine, and a pit forms in your stomach.

You haven’t told Nancy about Jonathan. 

Steve looks away from her, gaze turning towards you, and he’s thinking the same thing. 

– 

Nancy guides everyone to a park bench at the trailer park. She doesn’t say anything as you all walk, her eyes are exhausted. The police hadn’t wanted her to leave just yet, they had more questions for her, but you’d quickly spoke with the men to let her go. 

Sitting around the table, a bitter cold creeps into the air. The sun is out yet winter still lingers. Nancy sits across from you with Robin and Max next to her. You’re with the boys, Steve pushes his weight against you while Dustin sits stiffly beside you. 

Seeing Nancy’s sunken cheeks and glass eyes, you reach across the table and grab her hand. “What happened, Nance?”

Tears well in her eyes and for once she doesn’t wipe them away. Nancy’s hand twitches in yours, she doesn’t hold onto you like you do her. She’s grieving, you’ve come to learn all the signs of someone who has lost a friend. “It-it’s Fred.”

She explains what they’d been doing, investigating Chrissy’s death at the trailer park. Guilt laces her words, she didn’t think anything would happen to Fred. He’s always been sweet to her, his crush obvious to you but unknown to her. A shiver runs through you; Fred was smart, he was nice to you whenever you spent your days in the yearbook room. 

He didn’t deserve to die. Neither did Chrissy. 

“That makes two deaths in two days,” you say out loud, voicing what everyone else is thinking. Death is common in Hawkins, an inevitability of what lies underneath it, but there’s never been such gruesome deaths so close together. “It’s happening again.”

“What’s happening again?” Nancy shakes her head. “I-I don’t understand, you guys already know what’s causing all of this?”

“We have a working theory, but it’s… not great.” Dustin slouches down, he isn’t sure how much he can explain to the girl with all that he still doesn’t know. “We think it’s connected to Chrissy’s death, something killed her in Eddie’s trailer. He told us she had gone into some sort of trance before her bones snapped and her eyes exploded..”

Nancy grimaces at the gory imagery and you squeeze her hand again. “I’m sorry about Fred.”

She gives you a tight smile before turning to your brother. “A trance? Like El? You aren’t… do you really think this has something to do with–”

“The Upside Down.” You and Max say at the same time.

“‘It’s happening again’,” Nancy echoes your words from moments ago. She understands, now. “So this-this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy is from the Upside Down?”

Steve nods at her and Dustin sighs heavily. “We think he attacks with a spell, or maybe even a curse.”

“But we don’t know if he’s under the Mind Flayer’s control,” you point out. “For all we know, he could just be someone with El’s powers. We know the lab tested on other kids, right?”

Max looks up at you and her face twists with apprehension. “I don’t know, something feels different about this, it’s almost like it’s something new. I don’t think it’s anyone like El.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Nancy mumbles.

“No, I think Max is right. Something feels off about all of this.” Your arms draw together, it’s impossibly cold for late March. The chill has set into your bones. 

Nancy nods at you, but there’s something else on her mind. “But Fred and Chrissy also don’t make sense. I mean, why them?”

“Maybe they were just in the wrong place? They were both at the game.” Dustin offers, and you shiver again.

Billy had been in the wrong place, too. It’s how the Mind Flayer got him. He’d just been unlucky and alone.

“And the trailer park,” Max adds.

Steve’s eyes widen slightly, he shifts against you and unconsciously moves you closer to him. “We’re at the trailer park, should we… maybe not be here?”

The wind picks up and a crow cries overhead. The barren grass rustles as shadows fall against it. Your spine prickles with nerves. Steve is right to be worried. There’s something eerie about the trailer park, the caution tape that guards Eddie’s door is still too fresh. 

You wrap your sweater tighter to your body, cold with unease. Nancy’s eyes flicker around the park as the wind rustles the leaves. “Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

Robin asks what she means, and when Nancy begins to explain how scared and on edge Fred had been, a dull throb slowly creeps up the base of your neck. The sensation builds until it’s a roar of nerve endings exploding against your temple, and you wince in pain.

Steve’s fingers skim the crest of your wrist. “Hey,” he’s lowered his voice so the others can’t hear, he knows you never like to worry others. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” the concern in Steve’s eyes burns you. He hasn’t spoken to you all day, but still his skin warms yours and he wants to make sure you’re safe. Comfortable. Okay. Even with the anger between you and all the unspoken half-truths, he still cares about you. 

You want to tell him that you haven’t slept in days, that the nightmares are back and that they’re worse than ever before. You want to rest your head against his chest and listen to his heartbeat. It’s the only way you’ve been able to keep the migraines at bay. 

But you don’t tell Steve any of this. Instead, you lie through your teeth. “I’m fine,” you reassure him again. There isn’t time for you not to be okay. Two people have died already, your migraines can wait. 

Steve doesn’t look convinced. He knows you, he knows how you are and how much you push down for the sake of others, but before he can press you further, Robin interrupts. “Hey, lovebirds, we’re trying to solve a murder case here.”

“I’m listening,” you roll your eyes at her, skin flushing a bit with embarrassment. “Anyways, what if Fred and Chrissy saw something that made them go catatonic? I think we should be focusing on the trace-like state more, it’s a trauma response.”

“What, so they’re insane asylum patients?” Dustin asks with slight displeasure. “I mean, I guess that makes sense. But Vecna can cast spells, at least in DnD. I don’t think they just ‘saw’ something.” 

Steve scratches his nose. “If I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.”

“Would you, though?” You don’t mean for the question to come off as condescending, and you quickly try to alleviate the offended look on the teen’s face. “What I mean is, who would you go to about something like that?”

“I… I think I know who they’d go to.” Max stares down at the table, her eyebrows furrowed together. She’s deep in thought, remembering something. “I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelly’s office. If you saw a monster, you wouldn’t go to the police.”

“They’d never believe you,” you bear your weight against the table. Nostalgia wraps around you at the memory of how scared you’d been to tell Hopper about El, the years it took for you to trust him. “That’s why I never went to Hopper when I first found El.”

Max nods, she’s relieved you get where she’s going with this. “Exactly, but you might go to your–”

“Shrink.” Robin finishes, sending you an apologetic smile for the offensive language against the profession you hope to one day go into. “No offense, Y/N.”

You roll your eyes, feeling defensive. “Again with calling Ms. Kelly a shrink. She’s not a shrink, she’s actually really nice.”

“You sound like you know her personally.” Dustin narrows his eyes at you. Nothing goes unnoticed by him. 

All eyes turn to you, and you sink down in embarrassment. “I’ve… had a few meetings with her.”

Simultaneously both Steve and Dustin widen their eyes. They hadn’t known you were seeing Ms. Kelly. Nancy looks at you curiously, Robin bites her lip, and Max nods solemnly. It’s a large range of reactions, one that makes you anxious to deal with. “Can everyone stop staring at me, please?”

Steve lets out a quick breath and runs a hand through his hair. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing the school’s guidance counselor, Y/N.”

“She didn’t tell me, either.” Dustin mumbles bitterly. You’ve never hidden anything from him before. He wonders, distantly, when you started to.

“I didn’t want to worry you guys, it really isn’t a big deal.” When both boys bristle at this, you hold your hand up to silence them. “No, I don’t want to hear it. It’s not like I was seeing Ms. Kelly for anything serious, okay? She’s the guidance counselor, so I just. You know. Needed some guidance.”

It’s a horrible lie, you know that no one believes you, but they take pity on you and move on. Originally you really were seeing Ms. Kelly for college admissions help, but after a few sessions you slowly started opening up to her about the sleepless nights. The image of Billy’s lifeless body. Max’s screams. 

Nancy clears her throat and changes the topic. She comes up with what to do next, creating a plan to ask Ms. Kelly what she knows, and you sit silently. You’re relieved the attention is finally off of you. Within minutes a plan is formed: you and Max will talk to Ms. Kelly to try and get more information.

Steve agrees to drive to the house. As you’re walking to his passenger side door, he notices that Nancy isn’t following. Instead, she’s going to her own car. “Hey, Nance. Where’re you going?”

Nancy turns around, a guilty but determined look on her face. Her eyes land on you, knowing you’ll be the hardest to convince of her plan. “There’s just-there’s something I want to check on first.”

Predictably, your shoulders tense and your eyes ignite with worry. “Please don’t make me remind you that there are people dying right now. You can’t seriously think it’s safe to be on your own.”

“I can protect myself, Y/N.” Nancy reminds you gently, understanding your concern but knowing it isn’t needed.

“You care to share with the rest of us?” Dustin calls over to the two of you.

“I don’t want to waste your time,” Nancy shoves her hands into her jean jacket. “It’s… a real shot in the dark.”

You frown at this. “If it’s something you think is worth looking into, then it isn’t a shot in the dark. You’ve always been right.”

Nancy blushes at your words, but Steve silently fumes beside you. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Are you guys out of your mind? No way is Nancy flying solo with Vecna on the loose.”

“I never said that she should fly solo,” you say slowly, not at all liking how he’s twisting your words. You had been complimenting Nancy’s intelligence, restoring her faith back into her work. You don’t understand where this protectiveness from Steve is coming from. “I know it’s too dangerous, that’s why I was going to suggest–”

“You’re right. It’s too dangerous. Bottom line. She needs someone to-Christ.” Steve isn’t listening. He’s too caught up in his head as tosses his keys to Robin, who only barely manages to catch them. “Here, Y/N and I will stick with Nance.”

You cross your arms and glare at him. “I’m sorry?”

Steve doesn’t look at you, he’s too busy staring at Nancy, and for a brief second you truly believe that there’s something soft in his gaze when he looks at her. They’re friends, you know this. There’s a history between them that rivals your history with Jonathan. Nancy was Steve’s first love, and now he loves you, and you try desperately to shake the insecurity that you feel. 

If you’re being completely honest, you’re not even sure why you’re suddenly thinking all of this. You’ve never been insecure, at least not in your relationship with Steve. During the almost year you’ve been with him, there’ve been times girls have flirted with him or old flings that have tried to vie for his attention. But through it all your trust in him never wavered, you knew that at the end of the day it was your bed he was crawling into. 

And yet there’s a voice in the back of your head telling you that the way Steve is looking at Nancy right now is different; it’s how he looks at you. The voice is darker, more cruel. It’s one you don’t recognize, and yet you do. 

Steve seems to come back to himself and turns to you. “Robin can go with the kids to the shrink. Max can talk to her alone, it’s no big deal.”

Robin holds the keys away from her as if they’re poisoned. “I don’t think you want me driving your car.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.”

Steve shakes his head with impatience. “Why don’t you have a license?”

“I’m poor,” Robin shrugs, and you laugh slightly. 

Max raises her hand. “I can drive.”

“No!” You and Steve exclaim at the same time, both of you getting war flashbacks to when Max had driven you after Billy had knocked you guys unconscious. It’d been a rough night and waking up to a thirteen year old driving a sports car definitely hadn't helped. 

“Please,” you look at Max with genuine longing. “Never, ever drive me ever again.”

“Literally anyone but you–” Steve sees Dustin make a face, offering himself to drive, and the older teen snaps his fingers at him in annoyance. “No chance.”

You shake your head as well. No way in hell are you allowing the kid to drive either. “Absolutely not, Dustin. You couldn’t even drive a golf cart properly.”

“I did a decent job!”

“I still think you’re the one who gave Steve his third concussion with your horrible braking.”

“We were being chased by evil Russians!” 

Robin steps between you and your brother, holding her hands up. “Alright, this is stupid.” She grabs Dustin’s walkie from his backpack and marches to Nancy while handing Steve his keys. “Us ladies, sans Y/N, will stick together. Unless Steve thinks we need him to protect us?”

She raises her eyebrows, challenging the teen, and you watch him. He shuffles nervously, ducks his head down. Steve is guilty and ashamed and embarrassed. Your stomach clenches. 

“He knows better than to doubt you guys,” you step in for him, saving him. “Right, Steve?”

Nancy laughs at the look of fear on his face and Robin smirks. Satisfied, they turn around and start to head towards Nancy’s car. You wish them luck as they leave, tell them to be safe. They wave back at you, and although you wish you could join them, you know that Max will want you by her side while she talks to Ms. Kelly. 

Once the girls are gone, you hit Steve’s chest. “Nice one, buddy.”

He lets out a pained huff, but he doesn’t say anything. He knows he had it coming. With a sigh he follows you back to his car and gets into the driver’s seat. Dustin stares at him through the rearview mirror with a shit eating grin on his face. Tired, Steve glares at him. “Not a word.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Dustin defends himself.

“No, but you were going to, and-hey,” Steve turns in his seat and glares even more at your brother. “Did you make sure to wipe your feet?”

“Yes,” Dustin says at the same time as you and Max say, “No.”

Steve pinches the bridge of his nose and starts the car angrily. His movements are jerky and uncontrolled. “Always the goddamn babysitter!” He exclaims, resentment marring his face.

You jump slightly at his raised voice. He hates being sidelined, you know this. Similar to you, all Steve ever wants to do is help. He does whatever he can, he tries harder than anyone. It’s what you first fell for, back when Steve originally crashed into your life. 

It’s because of his kindness and devotion to others that you reach for Steve’s hand. His skin is cold, goosebumps raise at your touch, but you interlock your fingers through his and slowly, piece by piece, Steve relaxes. 

He’s missed your touch. You’ve missed his, too.

– 

Ms. Kelly, to her credit, tries to mask her surprise when she sees you and Max standing at her door. “Oh, hello, girls.”

“Hi,” you smile kindly at the woman. “We really hate to bother you over spring break, but do you possibly have a minute to talk?”

“With the two of you?” Ms. Kelly knew that you and Max were both grieving Billy, but she hadn’t known that you knew each other. “Y/N, I’m sure you’re aware that this is highly unusual to request.”

You wince. “Yeah, I’m definitely aware that this is a pretty strange thing to ask. It’s just that I was the one who convinced Max to start seeing you in the first place, and now that I’m also seeing you, we figured we could… talk to you together?”

It’s a horrible excuse. The lie is vague and too transparent to believe. Neither you or Max had a lot of time to come up with a convincing cover story during the drive here. 

“I don’t know,” Ms. Kelly’s face strains with contemplation. 

Max softens her eyes and does her best to look small, pleading. “Please?”

You try to appear troubled as well, though it isn’t hard. Your headache hasn’t left. The pounding in your head has only intensified since leaving the trailer park. Ms. Kelly’s gaze flits between you and Max, reading for any signs of lying or ill-will, before her resolve crumbles.

“Oh, alright.” She opens her door wider, ushers the two of you inside. “Come in.”

Steve and Dustin watch as you disappear inside the house. They’ve parked across the street, opting to be the lookout in case anything happens. You spare one last glance over your shoulder, eyes meeting Steve’s, before Ms. Kelly closes the door. 

“Okay, they’re in.” Steve states the obvious, slightly unsettled to be stuck in the car while you’re inside.

“I’m missing collarbones, not eyes.” Dustin snorts. He expects Steve to say something snarky in response, but then he notices that the teen is still staring longingly out the window, tracing Ms. Kelly’s door. He looks pathetic, waiting for you, and Dustin sighs. “So… we gonna talk about it?”

Steve’s eyes linger on the doorway, a far off look on his face. When he realizes that Dustin has spoken, he turns to him slowly. “Huh? Sorry, talk about what?”

“Your temporary insanity earlier today when you basically threw yourself at Nance? In front of my sister?” 

“Okay, first of all, that’s not what happened.”

Dustin glares at Steve, defensive over you. “Oh, really? I’m pretty sure it did, there were a lot of witnesses. Y/N included.”

“What are you implying, little Henderson?” Steve rubs his face, too tired for the kid’s mind games. He knows he was being weird earlier with Nancy, but he would never do that to you. Ever. He had simply been overwhelmed and confused and feeling a multitude of things that he still isn’t ready to face.

“I’m not implying anything,” Dustin puts his hands up. “All I’m saying is that I know you and Y/N have been fighting lately and that for some stupid reason, you’re doubting your relationship.”

Steve throws his head back against the seat. Of course you told Dustin about last night. “Look, I’m not-I’m not doubting our relationship, alright? I mean, I love her, man. So, so much. We just… things have been hard, lately. Really fucking hard.”

He isn’t sure how much you’ve told your brother. He doesn’t think you’d tell him about Jonathan, at least not until you know yourself whatever the hell he’d been trying to tell you the other night. 

Dustin doesn’t say anything for a few moments. He stares past Steve, his eyes almost seem to glaze over. “It’s because she’s leaving, isn’t it?”

All the air in Steve’s lungs gets knocked out of him. “Yes,” he breathes out. His mouth is dry. He swallows, his tongue feels too thick for his mouth. “Sometimes it feels like she’s, I don’t know, like she’s outgrown me? I-I know it’s stupid, but she’s going so far for college and I’m stuck in Hawkins like some fucking moron and she-she didn’t want me going with her.” 

“Did you know that I cried when she got into NYU?” Dustin asks him, a hurt smile on his face. When Steve shakes his head, the boy inhales deeply. “Yeah, cried like a baby the whole night. I mean, I knew she applied, I knew she’d get in, but… you’re right. She is going pretty far. I’ve never,” he wipes at his eyes quickly, embarrassed that he’s crying. “I’ve never had to spend a single day without my sister.”

Steve stares at your brother, finally beginning to understand the distance between the two of you. For weeks now it’s all you’ve complained about to Steve. How much you resented Eddie for being Dustin’s new favorite person, how much you miss singing with him in the kitchen while you baked. But now here Dustin is, teary eyed, explaining to Steve just how scared he is to be without his sister. “It feels like she’s leaving you, too.”

“Yeah,” Dustin wipes his eyes again, nodding. “Yeah, sometimes it feels like she can’t wait to get out of this town.”

“Even though we’ll still be here,” Steve says solemnly. 

It’s quiet again. A few birds sing in the tree above them. You and Max haven’t returned, yet. After a while, Dustin turns to Steve. “She doesn’t mean it, you know.”

“Who?”

“Y/N,” the boy clarifies, and Steve’s heart skips a beat. “She doesn’t mean it when she says she doesn’t want you going with her to New York. She’s just… she’s scared, and she knows that it isn’t what you really want. Nothing gets past her, it’s really annoying.”

Steve scoffs a bit, fondness running through him. Dustin’s right. Nothing ever gets past you, you notice and see everything. But then he thinks about what your brother has said, the fear he hadn’t known about. “Why would she be scared?” 

Dustin stiffens in his seat, his gaze once again blurs. He twists his hands anxiously, fixes his hat. The atmosphere shifts, Steve can see that he’s uncomfortable now. He’s about to tell Dustin that he doesn’t have to answer, but the kid does anyways. “Our parents, they-um. Met in college.”

Steve sits up as well. You and Dustin never talk about your parents, at least not about your father. Steve can’t remember the last time you’ve even mentioned him. He thinks maybe the man had called you once, during Christmas. 

“They got married right before graduation. Our mom had been pregnant with Y/N, they got hitched and in their marital bliss, our dad somehow convinced our mom to leave Indiana. She grew up here, but our dad was from Virginia and he insisted that she move there.”

Bitter. Dustin is bitter.

“Everything was fine, I guess. I liked Virginia. Y/N did, too. But our mom was lonely, anyone could see that. We lived in a pretty small town, our dad was basically a goddamn Kennedy there. Everyone adored him, but our mom… things were different for her. She was always in his shadow, but Y/N and I were too young to notice for a long time.”

Steve swallows. “And then… the divorce?” 

“The stupid fucking divorce.” Dustin spits out. “It wasn’t a surprise, but somehow we still felt blindsided. One day our dad was charming, cracking jokes with everyone and playing the guitar with us, then the next he just-he snapped. Became bitter, mean. Y/N idolized him, but when our parents started fighting every night and our mom cried over some woman named Carry… I lost my sister, for a while.”

“She told me,” Steve whispers, remembering the rawness in your voice the night you confessed to him that you were once cruel. “I had to remind her that she came back, in the end.”

The corners of Dustin’s mouth turn upwards slightly. “Yeah, she came back.” But then his expression darkens, his mood sours. “Our mother almost didn’t, though. After having to move back to Hawkins with barely any money to support us, it basically destroyed her. She had lost all her friends by that point, her own parents died while we lived in Virginia.” 

“I’m sorry,” Steve’s throat constricts. He hadn’t known any of this. He feels like such an asshole now for assuming the worst in you. For allowing his own insecurities to blind him. “I-I didn’t know about any of that.” 

“Yeah, well.” Dustin shrugs. “Now you do. And you need to know that Y/N is being her usual selfless self because of our mom and what happened to her. She doesn't want that happening to you, dipshit.”

Steve exhales through his nose, his head is swimming with so many more questions, so many apologies he wishes he could say. Instead, he stares out the window, waiting for you to return. 

–

“So, what would you girls like to discuss with me?” The clock on Ms. Kelly’s walk ticks ominously behind her. She’s seated you and Max in her basement den. You can tell by the stack of books and messy desk that she uses the area as her makeshift office. 

Max slouches against her seat. “Oh, it’s nothing too serious, we were just–”

“I’m worried about Max.” You interrupt the girl, not daring to look at her.

Ms. Kelly raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I think with all the murders happening, it might be affecting her.” It isn’t necessarily a lie. You have been worried about Max and her behavior. Especially these last few weeks. “It might be resurfacing some… memories.”

Max tries to argue, but Ms. Kelly holds her hand up. “You’ve both experienced trauma, Y/N. She lost her brother while you held his dying body.”

A lump forms in your throat, your lungs feel cold. 

The woman turns to Max, now. “And when you keep your feelings in, your pain, bottled up the way you do, it doesn’t take much to trigger them again. I can see why Y/N may be worried.”

Max doesn’t meet Ms. Kelly’s eyes. She swallows heavily and looks down at her hands. “Yeah, I know.”

“You know you can always talk to me, Max.” You say softly, wanting desperately to reach out to her. But you’re afraid it’ll only drive her further away.

She frowns at you. “Like how you talk to Dustin, or even to Steve?”

Her accusation cuts deeply. You hadn’t known that she was paying attention to you. That your disguised “I’m fine’s” weren’t convincing her. Max must know this, because she lowers her eyes again and mumbles a quiet apology. 

Ms. Kelly notices the tension and leans between the two of you. “Do you think you’re ready to talk more about that night?”

Max’s eyes gloss over briefly, her face distorts with discomfort. An onslaught of memories overtakes her, just as they overtake you. The echoes of her screams for her brother replay in your mind over and over again. The squelch of Billy’s blood trickles down your spine. You were right next to her when it happened. The blood still stains your clothes from that night at Starcourt. 

“I live next door to where it happened.” Max changes the subject, her voice returning. When Ms. Kelly asks for more clarification, she continues. “Next to where Chrissy was murdered. The cops asked me a bunch of questions. Did they talk to you?”

The woman sits up, apprehensive. She hadn’t been expecting to talk about this. You sit there quietly, head still pounding from earlier as Max takes over. She interrogates Ms. Kelly, who does her best to dodge every question, and suddenly the warmth in the room becomes unbearable. 

“Excuse me,” you stand up, hand clutching your stomach. Nausea swirls within you. You feel faint, the pounding has increased and sweat trickles down your neck. Both Max and Ms. Kelly look at you in concern, but you ignore them.

Blindly you stumble towards the kitchen you remember seeing when you arrived. Too nauseous and overwhelmed to care about niceties, you dig through Ms. Kelly’s cupboards until you find a cup. After filling it with water, the icey coolness of the liquid settles uneasily in your stomach. You lean over the sink, hands clutching the edge. Everything in your body feels unsteady.

Max comes up the stairs and finds you breathing heavily. “You’re not going to hurl, are you?”

“Trying really hard not to right now,” you breathe through your nose, out through your mouth. “Thanks for the concern.”

No response comes. Instead, footsteps walk up behind you. You hear metal clanking against glass, and when you turn around, you find Max holding up a pair of keys. She smirks, flashing you the white keyring attached to them labeled, “office”.

Your eyes bulge out of your head. “No, we are not stealing–” 

Except Max grabs your arm and practically flings you out the front door. She shoves you, urging you to start running towards Steve’s car, and all you can do is stumble over your feet and follow after her. When you make it back to the car, panting from the exertion and thrill, Steve and Dustin turn to you with wide eyes. 

“What’d she say?” Your brother asks, noting your frazzled appearance. 

“Nothing, just drive.” Max dismisses. 

“I just became a felon.”

The girl rolls her eyes at you. “Personal property theft isn’t a felony.”

“Jesus,” Steve does a double take, baffled by this entire conversation. “What the hell did you guys do in there?”

“Steve, drive!” Max shouts at him. 

The tires of the car squeal against the pavement as Steve steps on the gas. He steadies the car, a wild look in his eyes. “Where are we even going?”

“The school,” Max holds up the keys she stole.

Dustin looks at her incredulously. “Are those–”

“The keys to Ms. Kelly’s office? Yeah.” You nod grimly. “I told you, I’m now a felon.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic–”

A voice comes through Cerebro, cutting Max off. “Dustin? It’s Lucas. Do you copy?”

Relief washes over you hearing Lucas’ voice. Between tracking down Eddie and dealing with interrogating school guidance counselors, you’d also been slowly worrying yourself to death over the boy. It’s unusual for him to be quiet for so long, and with all the murders now occurring… You’d been terrified. 

“Lucas? Where the hell have you been?” Demands Dustin.

“Just listen, are you guys looking for Eddie?”

You and Steve share an uncertain look. Why would Lucas be radioing about him? How much does he know?

Your brother tells Lucas that you’ve found Eddie and tells him where he is, that he’s safe. Immediately, the boy responds, “You guys know he killed Chrissy, right?”

Predictably, Dustin doesn’t take this very well. “That’s bullshit, Eddie tried to save Chrissy.”

Lucas presses further, not believing what he’s hearing. Max snatches the radio from Dustin, tired of all the vague responses. “Lucas, you’re so behind it’s ridiculous, okay?”

“Technically we still haven’t elaborated on the whole Eddie thing,” you point out, which she glares at you for. 

“Y/N?” Lucas asks, surprised to hear you’re with them.

You grab the walkie. “Hey, how’s your day been?”

“Awful,” he responds bluntly while Steve snorts at your question. “Why are you guys so sure Eddie didn’t–”

“Just meet us at school. We’ll explain later.” Max instructs, leaning over the car’s console. 

“I can’t,” fear leaks through Lucas’ voice. You sit up now, looking at Steve again. He hears it, too. “I think some real bad shit’s about to go down.”

You feel your heartbeat pick up. “Lucas, what does that mean? Are you okay, where are you?”

“Sinclair!” A voice shouts, before the radio cuts into static. 

“Lucas? Lucas!” Max shouts into the walkie, but he doesn’t respond. She sounds scared, it’s the most emotion you’ve heard in her voice in months.

You’re no better. You sit in the passenger seat, numb. The voice, you recognized it. You’d know Jason Carver’s voice anywhere. Everything clicks; you remember how Lucas was supposed to go to the party after the basketball game. Chrissy had been Jason’s girlfriend before she was brutally killed. The cops would’ve questioned him, they would’ve told him how her body had been found in Eddie’s trailer. 

Eddie Munson, the town freak everyone hates. 

“What shit could Lucas get into?” Dustin questions, annoyance twinged with worry for his friend. 

You try to steady your breathing, nausea returning. You almost don’t recognize the sound of your own voice. “It’s Jason. He’s-he’s angry.”

The words settle in the car, linger in the air, before they crash heavily upon the four of you. The realization dawns on everyone, the inevitability of what will happen next is an unbearable weight.

Steve steps even harder on the gas. He knows the basketball team, how cruel teen boys can be. 

– 

Every time you’ve snuck into one of Hawkins’ schools, it’s never led to anything good. The first two times had been in the middle school for Will. Neither time involved very pleasant memories. This year you’re sneaking into the high school in order to violate your classmates’ privacy and read their deepest, darkest secrets.

“This feels wrong,” you huff under your breath, barely keeping up with Steve and the others as they run through the hallway. “I’d hate it if anyone read my file.”

“Would you rather risk anyone else dying?” Max responds, giving you a pointed look.

You frown but don’t say anything, figuring she’s right. As much as you hate to do this, it’s objectively the lesser of two evils. You’ll apologize to the students after this is done. If they question why you’ve baked them brownies, you’ll simply lie and say you had extra laying around. 

“Dustin, do you copy?” Robin’s voice carries over the radio. Your heart skips a beat hearing her, you’ve missed her today. After your brother responds, she starts to explain what she and Nancy found. “So, Nancy’s a genius.”

“What else is new?” You say, and Robin laughs.

“My thoughts exactly, pretty girl.” She clears her throat. “Anyways, Vecna’s first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull’s-eye.”

The new information startles you. Vecna first started killing in 1959? Why didn’t you hear anything about it until now, and why didn’t El sense him before?

Dustin looks equally unsettled by the news. “Okay, that’s totally bonkers, but we can’t really talk right now.”

“What are you doing?”

“Breaking and entering into the school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files.”

You wince. It’s as bad as it sounds. Tapping Dustin’s shoulder, you break him away from the walkie. “Wait, we won’t need my files, right?”

Steve eyes you up and down, shrugging indifferently. “Well–” Hitting his chest, he sputters at you. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“You’re not reading my files, Harrington.”

Meanwhile, Dustin urges Robin and Nancy to meet you guys at the school. By the time their conversation wraps up, Max has unlocked the office door. She heads straight towards the drawers, long familiar with the layout; you follow after her.

Steve and Dustin look around while you and Max dig through the files. They mumble something about Watergate, but you can barely hear them over the rush of blood in your eardrums. Max’s fingers rest on a specific file. The name printed on it makes you feel sick.

Fred Benson.

“Holy shit,” she exhales, grabbing it.

“Found it?” Dustin stands next to you now, neck peering down. 

You struggle to breathe. “We didn’t just find Chrissy’s file.”

Dustin tilts his head, he doesn’t understand, and Max holds the file up. “Fred was seeing Ms. Kelly too.”

Steve and Dustin freeze. You can practically see their heartbeats still. The air in the room goes stale. Their eyes linger on you, they wish they couldn’t piece it together. Chrissy and Fred were seeing Ms. Kelly up until their deaths. You and Max have been seeing her, too. It’s one hell of a coincidence. 

But that’s all this is. A horrible, awful coincidence. 

“Y/N…” Steve breathes out, but you shake your head at him.

“Please,” your lip trembles. Not here, not now. He can’t look away from you, but you can’t bear to look at him. Instead, you grab the remaining files and hand them to Max. “We need to go through them. All of them.”

Dustin sits at the desk, Steve’s hand rests on the small of your back as you lean over Max to read the files. He shines a flashlight for the two of you, Chrissy’s file is the first one you read. The image of her once vibrant and alive smile stares back at you. There’s a column of writing to the left of her photo, the handwriting is neat, orderly, and it catches your attention.

“Are those…?”

“Symptoms.” Max softly answers, eyes skimming down the list.

Past trauma.

Terrible migraines.

Difficulty sleeping.

Headaches.

Max’s entire body tenses, her muscles pull taut against you. Your own body shakes, the tremors misalign your bones. Slowly, she looks up at you. Her eyes silently beg you to tell her that you’ve gotten it all wrong. Max’s blue eyes plead with you to tell her that none of this is real.

“Steve,” your voice catches, unable to inhale. “Can we see Fred’s file?”

He softly agrees, handing you the file immediately. You take it from him. The paper trembles in your unsteady grasp. Laying them down, you open the file and Fred’s photo burns you. Next to it is a list of symptoms.

They’re the same as Chrissy’s. 

They’re the same as yours. 

The headaches. Sleepless nights. The trauma you’ve been through, the nightmares that will never truly go away. Everything you’ve experienced within the last week. 

Nosebleeds is starred, and for a moment your heartbeat settles. You haven’t had a nosebleed since you were five. It isn’t one of your symptoms; it can all still be a coincidence.

“This-this can’t be right.” You don’t know if you say this to reassure Max or yourself, but when you look down at her, you know. She has a far off look in her eyes. She doesn’t react to what you’ve just said. 

It’s only then that you remember her nosebleed from earlier this week; it hadn’t been a coincidence. 

“Max?” You shake her shoulders, tears already in your eyes. You know better than to be so naive, so blindly ignorant. You should’ve known better. You should’ve known that something was wrong.

Dustin and Steve try to wake Max, but she’s already left her body. She’s unresponsive, lost in whatever trance she’s in. 

“Y/N, what’s happening?” Steve demands, fear in his own voice.

You’re hysterical, screaming and sobbing for Max to wake up. Her body is so small against yours, she’s frail and weak and her skin has never looked so translucent. Over and over you shake her, your palms rest against her cheeks and you cry.

You’ve come to know what fear is. How it can blind a person, leave them stricken with such raw anguish. Fear takes whatever air is left inside you and it poisons it with sulfur and leaves you choking. 

The day Will went missing, the only air left in your body had been blood. 

When inside the tunnels defending your little brother from monsters, the air in your body had been carbon. 

Starcourt mall and the fireworks that exploded over Billy’s dangling and bloodied body left only just enough air in your lungs to scream.

But this fear, seeing Max unresponsive to your pleas, this fear doesn’t spare you any air. 

Gasping and choking, you’re a wreck. “Max!”

Faintly you can feel Steve’s hands on you, or maybe they’re Dustin’s. Someone grabs you, pulls you away, but all you can do is scream.

It all makes sense now, Nancy’s question from earlier rings in your ears. You know why Chrissy and Fred were targeted. Why Ms. Kelly was somehow the center of it all.

The symptoms they experienced prior, the same ones that plague you and Max. You know what it is.

Venca’s curse.

-

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[bitchface24-7]

Absolutely angsty idea, reader is a mortician and after JayVik disappear with the Hexcore they work on their funeral shroud and grapple with the feelings of being left behind. 😌

WAITING FOR YOU… - JAYVIK X READER

synopsis: they’re dead. Your boys are dead. You’ve always held sympathy and empathy for the dead, caring for them, cleaning them up, ensuring they look just as their families remember them; it’s your job. But you boys are dead. And there’s no bodies to care for. So you make a shroud for them with items of there’s to burn in the furnace, it’s the best you’ll get. Your boys are dead, and you’re alone.

warnings: major character death, feelings of loss, mourning, depression, remembrance, angst, implied suicide, pre-established relationship

genre: m/m/f or m/m/m

p.s. now why would you do this? This was a great request and such an interesting plot idea, but goddamn it’s sad :(

The lyrics are from “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce. It was between this or “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens

If I could save time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to save every day

'Til eternity passes away

Just to spend them with you

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Your boys are dead, you know it deep down. You swear you felt your heart stop when theirs did. You weren’t there for their death, you don’t even know what caused it, but they’re gone.

And they’re not coming back.

As a mortician, you care for the dead. You give them the honour and respect they deserve. You clean them, care for them, make them look like themselves so the families and friends can grieve in peace. It’s your job.

You never thought you’d have to do your job on your two loves.

They were so young, just barely in their thirties. Full of bright ideas and world changing plans. But things got out of hand, people got hurt. People died. Your boys died.

So now you’re here, in your mortician lab crying silently as you sit by your desk. There are no bodies. Nothing to remember them by, as if they never even existed.

You were all supposed to grow old together, live your lives, and love each other unconditionally.

But they’re gone now, they left together. And you’re all alone.

You know it wasn’t planned, but your heart still aches. It’ll ache until the day you die. You can’t imagine a world without them in it, but now you have to.

You’ll make a shroud for them. Just one. They died together, you’ll bury them together. You just need some items of theirs to use.

So you have to go to their lab.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

If I could make days last forever

If words could make wishes come true

I'd save every day like a treasure and then

Again, I would spend them with you

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─���───── · ·

Their lab is a wreck. Broken windows, papers on the ground, their desks are splintered, the blackboard is ruined.

You see their wheelie chairs, and you break down sobbing. You remember how they’d sit there and bicker. Work on equations and prototypes. How your conversations would flow late into the night as you all sat by one another and appreciated the company. You’ll never get that again, your boys are dead.

And you’re all alone.

You pick some things to put in their shroud. Some pens, notebooks, a few hexgems, you even take a spare cane and hammer.

They’re your boys, and they deserve a proper burial. Even if you can’t give them one.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You go back to your lab, ensuring none of the other residents of the academy or the enforcers see you. You won’t let them stop you from honouring them, both of them. You can already see how Viktor will be forgotten, ignored, and villainized. You won’t let that happen, you’ll never forget him.

You’ll never forget his passion for helping others, helping the world. His sarcasm, his humour, how sweet he was.

No, you’ll never forget him.

You’ll never forget Jayce either.

But the rest of Piltover won’t forget Jayce. They’ll purposely leave out Viktor, and you won’t allow Viktor’s greatest fear come true.

You won’t allow him to be forgotten.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

The box would be empty

Except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

You finish the shroud, a basic linen fabric. You put all their items inside as carefully as you can. This is their stuff, it’s them. It’s a replacement, but it’s good enough. You won’t harm your boys, they’ve already been through enough.

You hum a melancholic melody as you write their names on a slip of paper. Your scrawl encapsulating the love you have for them, and your loneliness. You won’t ever see their smiles again, hear their laughter, watch them grow old.

You just pray as the years catch up to you you never forget them. You’re one of the only people who’ll remember the real them.

You place your shroud onto the incinerator and gently place the slip of paper on top. You start the fire and conveyor belt, and watch as your two boys leave you for one final time.

You can’t help but whine when you see them enter the blaze, the paper incinerating almost instantly as the shroud slowly burns. Eventually all that’s left is the cane and the hammer, and it takes a while for them to melt down.

As if they’re fighting, as if they’re trying to stay with you. But they can’t, your sweet boys are dead, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

You know they’d want you to live a long life without them, but you can’t imagine how. How will your life go on without them in it?

Hopefully you can still see them in your dreams.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

What you don’t know is they can still see you. They see you cry, they see you scream in agony, they see you make their shroud, they see you break and become numb.

They desperately want to reach out to you, they want to comfort you, have you back in their arms as they fight away your worries and fears. They want to kiss your lips and hug you close.

But they can’t.

They don’t know how to get to you.

So they’ll sit and watch as you crumble apart, your sadness enveloping you in ways they’ve never seen before.

And they’ll pray.

They’ll pray to gods they don’t believe in anymore to save you, help you, love you. Maybe they can visit you in your dreams, maybe they can comfort you in the dead of night.

They just hope you don’t follow in their footsteps. Their hearts wouldn’t be able to take it.

(You do.)

(And their hearts shatter.)

I wrote this like the flash. Honestly the prompt really inspired me and it absolutely shattered my heart. Wtf y’all, get your tissues ready cause this is a doozy.

[wondrluv]

୨୧ safe and sound ; hughes brothers

➪ summary: after the first incident of her getting sick, her brothers are on high alert for when the time comes again. but what happens when they're all away and she gets sick when she's alone? | based on taylor swift's 'safe and sound'

➪ warnings: reader is sick, throwing up, blood, hospitals, swearing

➪ word count: 3.0k

➪ emma's notes: i have mixed feelings about this fic because... well if you know what happened with this you know what happened. i am extremely proud of it though especially because i wrote it in one night and the person who this is based off of absolutely loved it when i posted it the first time as well

© wondrluv ; do not copy, repost, or translate my work and designs on any other website or here

'I remember tears streaming down your face When I said I'll never let you go When all those shadows almost killed your light I remember you said don't leave me here along But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight'

She was five when she got severely sick the first time and she was terrified. She woke up feeling warm and cold at the same time, her throat was scratchy and dry, and her eyes were watery but she didn’t know if it was because she was scared or if it was just a reaction, and her energy was slim to nonexistent which was scared Ellen and Jim.

By now, their sons would’ve scooped the youngest child out of her bedroom and made their way downstairs to watch something on TV or just play with her. Yet, it was dead silent in the house. Ellen got up from the bed and peeked into each of her son’s rooms and was relieved to find that they were asleep still. 

She hoped the same for her daughter but when she walked into the room and saw her five-year-old in tears sitting on her bed, she rushed over.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“Mommy!” She let out a loud cry alarming Jim and he came rushing in as well, not noticing the eldest Hughes child in tow. 

“Hey, sweetheart. I’m here, your brothers are still sleeping, let’s not wake them up. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel good.” She sniffled and quieted her voice.

Ellen picked her up and placed her daughter on her lap as she sat down, “Jim go get the-” 

Before she even finished, y/n leaned over and threw up, trying not to get it on Ellen, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, hon. Jim, go get the thermometer.”

Jim quickly walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom but got stopped as he ran into his son, “Quinn! Morning.”

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Your sister’s sick, it’s probably nothing.”

Quinn’s face went pale, “Is she okay? Does she have a fever? Is she throwing up?”

“Quinn! Calm down. I promise you, it’s probably just a little cold. You can go see her if you want, Mom is in there with her.”

Quinn walked into the room to see Ellen hugging y/n. He took one step and Ellen turned to him, “Hi, Quinn.”

“How is she?”

“It’s most likely just a cold. Y/n/n, look who’s here.” She directed her head to her son and pointed to him, “Quinny!”

She reached her arms out for him and Quinn gladly took her, placing her on his hip, “Hi baby bear.”

“I no feel good, Quinny.” Quinn nodded his head, “I know but we’re gonna make you feel better, okay?”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Jim walked back into the room, placing the thermometer under the girl’s tongue. Seconds later it beeped and Jim took it out of her mount, “40.6/104”

The parents sigh and start to walk out, “Quinn if you don’t mind can you get her ready quickly, we’re gonna need to go to the hospital.”

Quinn nodded his head and he walked over to his sister’s closet, “Whatcha wanna wear, sweetheart?” Y/n lazily pointed to her brown bear sweatshirt and snuggled her head back into her brother’s chest. Quinn got her ready and sat her on her bed so he could put her shoes on. 

“Quinny?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“Of course, not y/n/n. I’m never going to let you go.”

Jack and Luke had both heard the rustling from outside their rooms and they both stepped out into the hallway, “What’s going on?”

Jack shrugged, “No clue, bro. I’m so tired.” The boy saw his sister’s door open and walked in there.

By now, Quinn was sitting on her bed and y/n was lying in his arms, “What’s going on?”

“She’s sick.” Jack and Luke immediately wake up at the news and rush over, spitting out questions left and right.

“She’s got a fever but that’s all I know right now. Mom and Dad are taking her to the hospital.”

“The hospital?!”

“I wanna go.” Luke protests just as their parents walk back into the room, fully dressed, “Oh, good morning you two.”

“Can we go with?”

“Guys, the three of you can’t come with.”

“Please, mommy.” Y/n’s little voice spoke up from her brother’s lap.

Ellen sighed, “Fine. But if you guys aren’t out there in five minutes, dressed, then we’re leaving without you.”

Ellen reached over and grabbed her daughter, the three of them heading out to the car to wait for their sons.

ﾟ+*:୨୧:*﹤

In the hospital, Jim and Ellen were the only ones allowed to go back with her at least for now, and y/n let her voice be heard. She cried and cried until they relented and let one of them go back with the two. She reached for Quinn immediately and he nodded his head and followed behind his mom and sister, Jim staying with the other two. 

When they got home, the boys sat at the kitchen table as Jim tried to give y/n her medicine, “I don’t want to.”

“I know you don’t want to, honey, but you have to. Don’t you want to feel better?”

“Jacky.”

Jack’s head popped up from where he sat and looked at her, “Yeah?”

Y/n pointed to her medicine and then to Jack and glared, “You want Jack to give you your medicine?”

She nodded with purpose and Jim happily gave the medicine to his middle son, “All yours, Jack.”

Jack didn’t complain, it meant that she trusted him and he loved that feeling. Jack poured the liquid into the small cup to the correct fill line and put it near his sister’s mouth. She took it without a hassle and from the corner of his eyes he could see his father throw his hands up in defeat causing everyone to chuckle.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

'Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound'

Later that night, y/n lay in bed by herself, looking at the wall. Her stomach hurt and she let out a barely audible whine. Luke, who happened to be walking by, heard it and peeked his head into the room, “You doing okay, baby bear?”

“No.”

Luke walked fully into the room and sat on his little sister’s bed, “What’s wrong?”

“Stomach. Will you stay with me?”

“Of course, I will.” Luke laid down next to her and she curled into him, “Thank you.”

Luke looked confused, “For what?”

“For making me feel safe. All three of you.”

Luke awed internally, trying not to let tears fall down his face, “No need to thank me for that.”

Five minutes passed and Jack and Quinn got down waiting for their brother, getting up to see where he was. When they saw him lying in y/n’s bed, they made their way over to them, “You guys okay?”

There was no answer as both of them had fallen asleep. Quinn told Jack to stay there as he walked out to grab some pillows and blankets and brought them back to him. The two made their makeshift beds on the ground and fell asleep not long after.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

‘Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire The war outside our door keeps raging on Hold onto this lullaby even when the music's gone, gone

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound’

Ever since then, it was common that y/n had to go to the hospital. As the boys got older, they got more worried. They were busier, Quinn went to college and eventually, he and Jack made the NHL. Luke went off to college and this year he started his official rookie season with the Devils. 

However, it wasn’t as often that it happened when they were away, and if it did it wasn’t as bad as having to go to the hospital, just more or less the doctor’s office. They weren’t as worried about her when this happened, getting texts from either there or their parents and calling them to make sure she was okay.

This time was different. Ellen and Jim had run out to grab a few things for dinner and they left y/n at home alone, because she was 16 and was capable of being by herself. Yet, in hindsight, they probably shouldn't have. 

They had been gone for twenty minutes already and she thought they wouldn’t be much longer and she could hold on. But she couldn’t. Every couple of minutes it felt like she had a coughing attack, but this last one, blood came up with it. 

Wasting no time she dialed the first person that came up on her contacts, Luke. 

“Lukey.”

“Hey, y/n/n! What’s up?”

She was glad they didn’t have a game today, otherwise she’d be totally screwed. 

“Lukey, I’m scared.”

“You’re scared? Why? What’s wrong?” Luke stood up from his bed and made his way out of his room and towards Jack’s. 

He didn’t knock on the door before entering which left Jack to somewhat argue with him about knocking before entering, not that he was doing anything, but manners, you know? 

“It’s so bad. Really bad.”

“Well, where’s mom and dad? How bad are we talking?” Jack’s interest peaked at the mention of his parents and scrambled to sit next to his younger brother on his bed, motioning for him to put it on speaker. Luke pressed the button and pulled his phone away from his ear, waiting for the girl to talk. 

“They went out to grab-” She took a pause before coughing some more. Jack and Luke looked at each other worriedly, “Y/n?”

“Oh god. There’s more.”

“More what?” Jack inquired, nervousness settling at the bottom of his stomach, “More blood.”

The three were silent, y/n trying not to freak out and Jack and Luke trying not to freak her out. It was quiet for a couple of minutes before the oldest of the three-spoke up, “When are Mom and Dad going to be home?”

As soon as she went to say her answer the front door clicked and y/n rushed downstairs, “Dad! Mom!”

She threw her phone on the counter and Luke turned the volume all the way up in an effort to hear the conversation, “What? What’s wrong?”

“I threw up some blood.” 

“Oh my. Get in the car, I’ll meet you two there.” Jim rushed y/n to the car and Ellen ran around the house gathering a few things in case they were there for a while. 

Jack and Luke were freaking out, “Dad, what’s going on? Mom? Y/n?” Ellen spied her daughter’s phone on the counter and looked at it curiously seeing her son’s contact name on it, “Luke?”

“Mom, what is happening?”

“We’re taking her to the hospital. How long ago did she call you?”

“I don’t know like five minutes ago maybe?” Luke’s voice broke as he explained to his mom, Jack placing a hand on his back. 

“I want you to call, Quinn-”

“No!” Y/n interrupted her mom as she got into the passenger seat, “What do you mean no?”

“He has a game, please.”

“Honey, I think you are more important to him than the game. Let Luke and Jack call him.” Ellen’s voice was stern as Jim pulled out of the driveway.

“If you’re gonna call him, let me talk to him.”

Ellen, and the boys, went to protest but y/n’s face showed desperation, “Fine. We’ll call you two back when we have answers.”

“Don’t bother. We’re already packing.” 

As Ellen and y/n were squabbling, Jack ushered his younger brother to his room and told him to go back and he left his phone in his room. Jack pulled his suitcase out of his closet and was halfway finished packing when they acknowledged the two again.

“There’s no need-”

“You’re not winning this y/n/n. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Jack hung up and finished packing, meeting Luke and in ten minutes, they were on their way to the airport. 

Meanwhile, y/n had dialed Quinn’s contact, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. It was an hour before the game was supposed to start and she had no idea if he would actually answer or not, but to her luck, he did.

“Quinn.”

“Hey, y/n/n. What's up? Need help with some homework?”

“I’m going to the hospital.”

Quinn dropped his stick as he stood in the locker room, some of his teammates glancing at him worriedly, “What is it?”

“Same old, same old, but this-” Her sentence was interrupted by another coughing attack and Quinn could hear their mother telling her to take it easy in the background. 

“What do you mean it’s worse?” Quinn didn’t need her to finish the sentence for him to know what she meant.

Elias was standing next to him, a hand on his shoulder to ground him in case anything got out of hand, “I coughed up some blood.”

“You what?!” Quinn’s voice echoed through the clubhouse, “Quinn what’s wrong?”

The boy shushed his teammates, “Quinn, I’m probably fine-”

“If you’re coughing up blood you are not fine. Do Mom and Dad know? Do Jack and Luke?”

“Yes, Mom and Dad know, you idiot. Who do you think is taking me to the hospital? And yes the other two know, I already called them. I didn’t want to call you because you have a game.”

“I couldn’t care less about the game when my little sister calls and tells me she’s on the way to the hospital. Let me talk to coach, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Quinn, no-”

“Nope, la la la la. Blah blah blah. I’m coming. Give the phone to mom.”

“But-”

“No.”

Y/n reluctantly handed the phone to her mom but as she extended her hand, her arm dropped and the phone clattered to the ground. The only thing Quinn could hear was the faint yelling of his sister’s name from his mom. 

ﾟ+*:୨୧:*﹤

Y/n was lying in the hospital bed when Jack and Luke watched the only show that was on this late at night, Family Feud. She was trying to answer but every time she went to speak she’d start coughing. The two ran in just as y/n’s previous coughing attack had subsided and she was now glaring at the TV because someone said a stupid answer.

“I said sex first, asshole. But no one wanted to listen to me.” 

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

“Jacky! Lu!” Y/n had a dopey smile on her face as she saw her brothers. They couldn’t tell if it was the drugs or if she was just being herself.

“Hey, baby bear. How you feeling?”

“Mom, can I swear?”

Jack laughed, “Aren’t you the one who just called someone an asshole?”

“Mom! Jack’s being mean.”

“Jack, stop torturing your sister and yes, y/n, you can swear.”

“I feel like shit.” Luke nodded, the only one who seemed to have sympathy for the girl right now, “What did the doctor say?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening.”

Ellen and Jim explained how it wasn’t a big thing and that she should be able to go home in a couple of hours or so. The two stayed with her until she was discharged and drove home with the three where Luke carried her upstairs to her room because she fell asleep on the way home. 

That’s where Quinn found them when he got there, Jack and Luke on either side of her in her bed as they watched the Game Show Network. One of the many stuffed animals that Quinn had gotten her wrapped in her arms against her chest. 

“Hey guys.”

“Quinn! You’re here.”

“Of course, I’m here. I couldn’t let those two take care of you.”

Jack and Luke feigned offense at the eldest child but Jack moved over so Quinn could sit where he previously was, knowing y/n always chose to be close to him when she was sick. 

“You doing okay?”

“Could be better, but I’m happy you’re here.”

“I’m never letting you go, none of us are.”

“Please don’t leave me.”

It was something the three had already talked about, they had already talked to their coaches and were scratched from their next couple of games because their sister needed him. 

Y/n spent the rest of the night surrounded by her brothers feeling safe and sound.

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[wcters]

BACK TO MASSACHUSETTS

pairing: christopher sturniolo x fem!reader

word count: 1.3k

summary: you join your boyfriend, his brothers, parents, and best friend on a trip to their house in the cape.

warnings/contents: swearing, sleeping the the same bed, sexual innuendo(s)?

author’s note: i was going to make it longer but it sounded bad 😭, based on the video we become master chefs

The loud bustle of the airport drowned out Nick and Matt’s voices as you stood with them, Chris behind you with his arms wrapped around you. The two boys were sitting down with all of your suitcases leaned up against the wall you and Chris were standing up against. “You alright?” Chris whispered into your ear. “Yeah, fine. Just excited.” You mumbled back as to not interrupt his brothers. They were texting their parents and trying to figure out where you guys were meeting them.

“Okay. They said they’ll meet us close to the north side doors.” Nick told you as he finally stood up with Matt following him. You all grabbed your luggage and headed to meet them. The boys were back in Boston for their dad’s vacation and invited you to come with them. You agreed, obviously, having missed their parents and Trevor. You’d probably spend some time with your parents too while you’re down here.

You’re brought back to present time with Chris bumping his shoulder into yours and pointing ahead. Ahead were his parents, Marylou and Jimmy. “Hey!” You waved as you came closer. She and Jimmy said a quick ‘hi’ before hugging their sons. She then turned towards you. “Y/n, honey. You doing alright?” She asked as she pulled you into a hug. “Yes, ma’am. And you?” “Likewise.” You did the same with Jim, hugging and greeting each other before you all headed to the car and to the house. You, Nathan, the triplets, and their parents were all going to their house in the cape and even though the have a minivan, it couldn’t fit all of you. Jimmy and Marylou were going to go in one car while you and the boys went in the minivan.

You made it to the house, got into the designated cars, picked up Nate, and got to Cape Cod in record time. It only took about two hours, and the actual drive from Boston was about a little more than an hour. You were stuck in the backseat with Nick and Nate, but you didn’t really mind. You spent a lot of the time catching up with Nate and then using Nick’s shoulder as a pillow so you could take a nap.

When you got there, Marylou and Jimmy were already there and getting their bags out. “We’re going to bed soon. Feel free to stay up, but be quiet please. Y/n, make sure they behave.” Marylou spoke as she closed the trunk of the car. “You know it. Goodnight guys.” You replied as the boys and Jimmy said they’re good nights. The sun was setting and you were already tired from the flight and the car ride. You each went to your rooms, Nick, Nathan, and Matt sharing one to let you and Chris share one. His parents were fine with letting you share a room. You’ve been best friends since high school with all of the boys before you even started dating Chris, so his parents always trusted you and Chris.

You changed into sweatpants and a sweatshirt, all stolen from Chris. You walked into the kitchen and met the boys. “Do you guys have a plan or are we just hanging out?” You asked as you made your way next to your boyfriend who was on his phone. “Well, Nate wants pasta and that made me want pasta but we have nothing in the fridge so we’re going to go to the store.” Matt told you as Nate looked up and smiled. “Alright. Want me to drive?” “Nah, it’s okay.”

You all piled into the car and headed to the store to get the ingredients for the pasta and other food because they actually had nothing in the fridge. You followed the group around the store, arms wrapped around yourself because you were tired. They were vlogging this and you opted to stay in the background. You were standing with the cart in the sauce asile with Nick, Matt, and Nate when Chris came up to you with one hand holding the camera and another holding a large box of Pepsi. “Chris,” you scolded him as he asked Nick to put in the cart. “We’re going to be here for three days.” Nick scolded him as well. “He’s going to down them in one.” Nate half jokes from beside you. “He’s going to finish it tonight probably,” you added, “don’t be burping all night or I’m sleeping on the couch.” “I won’t!”

The rest of the time at the grocery consisted of the boys bickering about which pasta and sauce they wanted while you pushed the cart around. Before you left the store, you grabbed a couple coffee’s for everyone for the next few days and a red bull for you at that moment to try and stay up . . . And also help you deal with the chaos that was going to ensue as you attempted to make pasta in their kitchen that could not fit five people.

You eventually made it back to the house and put all the groceries in the fridge while Nate, Nick, and Chris started reading the directions for the pasta. The camera was sitting on top of the range hood as the recording was started. You cracked open a red bull while saying “this is my patience tonight” and taking a sip. You stayed in the corner of the kitchen, sitting on the counter with Chris between your legs while everyone else boiled the water.

“Look at these two,” Nate said as he grabbed the camera and turned it toward you, “not even helping.” Your one hand was in Chris’s hair while the other was taking a sip of the red bull while Chris was looking down at his phone. “I opted to stay out of the way.” You argued as Chris looked up. “Smart move.” Nate laughed as he high-fived you. “What about you?” “I’m keeping my allergies out of the way.” Your boyfriend told his best friend. “Alright, you both have excuses.”

Time passed with you hanging out in the corner as the boys joked around and filmed until the pasta was finally done. You thanked Matt as he got you your pasta and you moved to the table in the living room. You all took your seats at the table with Chris beside you. “I’ll get your reaction first Chris and then I’ll give you the Camera back,” Matt offered as he took the camera. Chris took a bite as Matt asked him how he liked it. “Fabuloso.” Chris answered as Matt then turned to you. “Y/n?” You moved your head up when you heard you name. “She’s too tired to even register what’s happening.” Nate laughed. “That’s true. It’s filling and I’m ready to go to bed.” You exclaimed, going back to your food.

You all talked and ate around the table, making plans for the next few days and reminiscing about childhood memories. “All right,” you stood up, “I’m heading to bed. Anybody want their plates put away?” They all declined and wished you goodnight as you went into the kitchen. As you went to go up the stairs you turned and faced them. “Remember to be quiet if you stay up later because your parents told you so, and you don’t want to mess with me if I’m woken up. You all know what I’m like.” Nate saluted, Chris smiled and put a thumbs up, and Nick and Matt nodded.

You fell asleep in no time from how tired you were, you didn’t even notice Chris entering the bedroom and getting into the bed. You only noticed him when you woke up the next morning and felt his body next to yours. You already knew that this trip would be good if you were waking up like this.

[topazy]

Little dark age

Pairing: Rick Grimes x reader

Warnings: Swearing

Chapter: 1.04

“That dead girl is a time bomb.”

You turn your attention to Daryl, who appears on the verge of losing control. Between the frustration of him only returning with his brother's hand—Merle must have cut it off himself—and the deaths at the camp from the walker attack, he looks ready to swing the pickaxe in his hand into Rick’s head.

“He’s right,” you say quietly. “When Amy wakes up and Andrea can’t pull the trigger, we could have a repeat of last night.”

“What do you suggest?” Rick asks, stepping closer to you.

“Someone who has good aim watches over. I know it sounds cruel, but if Andrea isn’t quick enough when Amy turns, then she’ll die as well and could take several others with her, including one of the kids.”

“For God’s sake, just let her be.” Lori lets out a loud sigh as she sits down on a log that was between where Rick and Shane stood.

You scoff at her words; Lori had no idea the toll killing someone even out of mercy could take on a person. Shaking your head, you pull two bandanas from your pocket and tie one around your face, covering your mouth and nose. When you reach T-Dog, you hand him the other one so he can do the same. The two of you start moving the bodies of walkers away from the tree line and throw them onto a fire.

When Daryl and Morales go to drag the body of a man who was in your group, Glenn rushes over to them. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

“This is for geeks,” he points toward a small clearing of grass. “Our people go over there.”

Daryl shrugs him off, “What’s the difference? They are all infected.”

“Our people go over there. We don’t burn them! We bury them. Understand?”

Seeing the emotion in Glenn’s eyes, Daryl and Morales don’t argue and move the body of the man back towards the pile of the rest of the people you’ve lost. Moments like this reminded you that losing people wasn't normal after getting used to it.

The life you had before the apocalypse wasn’t normal.

“A walker got him. A walker bit Jim,” Patrica calls out, gaining everyone’s attention.

Jim steps away from her, panic clear on his face as everyone starts to surround him. “I’m okay,” he says weakly. “I’m okay, I’m okay.”

Scared by how aggressive Daryl and Shane are, Jim picks up a shovel to defend himself, but before he can hit anyone, T-Dog restrains him. Daryl takes the opportunity and pulls up the front of Jim’s top, revealing the walking bite to his ribs.

—

“Thank you,” Jim says quietly. “It’s nice to know I’m not alone.”

“You’re not; I’m here.”

While the men in the group argued about how they should try and regain control of the situation, you decided to keep Jim company. You weren’t sure how long it would be before the bite fully infected him, but for now he was lucid and needed a friend. Plus, you were keeping enough distance from Jim that if he suddenly turned, you’d have time to grab one of your weapons.

“You’re not as good of a liar as you think.”

Confused, you look away from the group and back at him, “Excuse me?”

“Sammie Rose.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Jim coughs a few times before wiping at his mouth. “I’ve known for some time that’s not your name… Why did you lie?”

Your lips start to tremble; you try to think of a good lie, but before you can say it, Daryl comes storming over with a pickaxe in his hands. Instinctively you move in front of Jim, which causes Daryl to hesitate, giving Rick time to pull his gun out.

He points it at the back of Daryl’s head, “We don’t kill the living.”

“That’s funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head.”

Sighing, you motion for Jim to follow you, “Come on, I’m going to move you somewhere safer.”

—

Aside from helping bury Amy, you spent most of your time tending to Jim, who was rapidly becoming worse. Feeling a familiar sense of dread creeping into your stomach, you look to Carol, who was keeping you company, “Mind taking over for a moment? I need to get more water.”

“Sure thing,” she says sweetly.

Her abusive husband always kept Carol at a distance from everyone, but you could tell she was kind. She smiles at Jim while using a cloth to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Stepping outside, you walk around to the opposite side of the RV. Popping your last cigarette between your lips, you sit on the grass and light it. Jim was dying, and there is nothing you can do to help him. You just needed a moment to yourself to process it.

“How’s he doing?”

“Bad,” sighing, you look over at Rick, who’s crouching down to be level with you. “His fever is getting worse, he’s vomiting, and I can’t stop the bleeding from his bite. He’s presenting early stages of delirium, probably caused by the bite and dehydration.”

“Is there anything we can do to help him?”

“Aside from making sure he drinks plenty of fluids, there’s not.”

You could tell from the look on Rick’s face he wants to say more, but for whatever reason, he chooses not to.

“I thought you didn’t have any left?”

Rolling your eyes, you offer Daryl what’s left of your cigarette. He takes it and then quickly disappears, causing the former sheriff to chuckle.

“It’s a bad habit I’m trying to break,” you get to your feet. “What’s the plan? Soon I won’t be able to do anything for Jim.”

“The plan is we leave at first light tomorrow; you okay with that?”

You shrug, “As long as Glenn and T are going, I’m fine with it.”

“I should have known your loyalty runs deep with you being ex-military. “ He gives you a small smile. “I was speaking with Lori earlier, and she was telling me how much you’ve done for Carl. I just want to say thank you.”

“You’ve got a cool kid, Rick; there’s no need to thank me.”

—

You didn’t like how quickly things were changing; it was leaving a bitter taste in your mouth. You’d lost a friend when Amy died, Jim was going to die, and Morales and his family had decided to go and search for their family.

Jim crying out in pain pulls you from your thoughts, “Shh, shh, it’s going to be okay.”

While trying to cool him down, you feel how cold his skin is and know there isn’t much time left. You discreetly inform Patricia that she needs to seek help.

“You don’t need to pretend anymore. You’re a good person.”

Hearing the pain in Jim’s voice as he speaks causes you to tear up, “It... it started before the walkers. I was hiding from someone, and it just took a life of its own.”

“Leave me here. I can’t do it anymore; my body is in so much pain. Just leave me; I want to be with my family.”

“You won’t be able to protect yourself.”

“I don’t want to be a burden on anyone. I might only be lucid for five more minutes, and I want to spend that time feeling the sun on my skin and knowing you are all safe, moving onto a better place.”

Tears rolling down your cheeks, you turn around to see Rick and Shane standing, “Well, you know what the man wants. Help me get him outside.”

—

Your chest physically aches when you think of Jim. Your group left him sitting propped up against a tree just off the main road; he said it was for the best, but the guilt of knowing he’d die alone filled you with guilt.

Since Dale estimated it would take two more hours to reach the CDC, the cars pulled over to the side of an empty road so people could go to the bathroom at an abandoned gas station that Shane and Daryl checked for walkers.

You’re the first one back in the RV; almost immediately, you slump down into one of the chairs and groan into your hands.

“How are you holding up?”

Startled by Rick’s voice, you jump upright. “I’m fine.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright. I just wanted to check if you're okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” he sits down across from you. “Listen, I know we haven’t known each other long, but I’m here if you need to talk.”

“Thanks.”

Rick distracts you by making small talk, and when the others return, everyone starts to go back to the vehicle they arrived in. You walk with Rick to the doorway of the motorhome and notice the brief glare Lori gives you.

—

“Holy shit.”

Stepping off the RV and into the street, the CDC is on your nostrils, and they are filled with the stench reeking from the rotten corpses that litter the street. The majority of them are in military uniforms.

T-Dog pats your shoulders, “Try not to focus on it.”

The building's doors are locked and covered by metal shutters; Rick and Shane try to bust them open, but it doesn’t work. “I don't want to state the obvious, but if everyone outside is dead, then maybe whoever is inside is as well.”

“We’ve got company,” Glenn says, pointing towards stragglers walking towards you.

Using his bow and arrow, Daryl starts shooting at walkers. Looking around, you pick up a metal pipe that’s on the ground and use it to smack a walker in the head, joining him in trying to keep them from piling up. “Guys, if we can’t get in, we need to get back to the cars now; they’re going to be too many to fight off.”

“The camera, it moved!” Ricks runs back to the building, yelling and smacking his hand against the shutters, keeping you out.

“The noise is attracting more of them; we need to go now.”

Shane starts to drag Rick away, and just as he does, the shutters open. He was right; there was someone inside, and they were letting you inside the building.

[gingerteafairy]

clause of attraction (luke cooper x reader)

Michael's nephew is single, that's a sign to be a matchmaker (even if it's with the new lawyer).

tags n warnings: lawyer!reader, suggestive, forced proximity, mentions of bdsm, heels kink, language, teasing, small age gap, roleplay, the office characters included, comedy, second hand embarrassment. word count: 2.6k masterlist

You stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind you as you made your way to Dunder Mifflin. Jan had already warned you—Michael Scott needed another lawyer. The last one quit because, apparently, he couldn’t stop cracking inappropriate jokes. Great. You already had a sense of what you were walking into.

Pushing through the front doors, you caught sight of what looked like a bizarre meeting. Pausing for a moment, you finally knocked on the conference room door.

“Uh, excuse me…” you called out, knocking again. All heads turned toward you. “Michael Scott?”

“Whoa, hey there!” A man who fit the bill jumped up, grinning as he walked over. He offered his hand, and you shook it politely, though his energy was a bit... much. “And who are you, gorgeous?”

There it was—the exact behavior Jan had mentioned. You introduced yourself, gently pulling your hand back as his grip lingered a little too long. Glancing around, you noticed a camera pointed in your direction.

“Alright, everyone, listen up!” Michael clapped his hands together, turning to the group. “This is the new lawyer for Dunder Mifflin! Let’s give her a big ol’ round of applause.”

A smattering of weak claps followed. Some people didn’t even bother, opting to roll their eyes instead.

“Okay, Mr. Scott... If this isn’t a bad time, I’d like to talk—”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up. Call me Michael,” he cut you off, waving his hand dismissively. “But, uh, can I just say? You’re way too pretty to be a lawyer. I mean, I thought you’d be, like, old. The last one? Jeez, talk about a buzzkill.”

He leaned in closer, completely ignoring the concept of personal space.

“Honestly, compared to the grump who was here before, anyone would look like a model,” a man with glasses chimed in, standing up straight. “Dwight Schrute, Assistant to the Regional Manager.”

“That’s not even a real title,” a tall man commented from across the room, smirking.

“Can it, Jim! She’s just the lawyer,” Dwight snapped, sitting back down in a huff.

“Alright, alright, let’s not get caught up in the boring stuff. Here’s what really matters,” Michael interrupted, pointing right at you. “You single?”

“Uh, yes? But what’s that got to do with anything?” you asked, your brows furrowed in confusion.

“It’s got everything to do with this case,” Michael announced proudly. “Now, sit down. This is gonna blow your mind!” He gestured to an empty chair.

Reluctantly, you took a seat, feeling all eyes on you.

“Buckle up,” Jim muttered under his breath, his lips quirking into a knowing grin.

You frowned, unsure what to make of his comment.

“My dear,” Michael began, puffing up his chest, “you’re gonna absolutely love meeting my nephew!” He pointed dramatically toward the door. Everyone turned to look—but the doorway was empty.

“Uh... hold on, gimme a sec,” Michael stammered, rushing out of the room.

He rushed out of the room, leaving everyone exchanging looks—some surprised, others bored, as if this were just another day at the office. You shifted uncomfortably in your chair, feeling increasingly out of place. Maybe Michael’s nephew had something to do with the case after all.

Moments later, Michael reappeared, standing beside the door with a strange, almost giddy laugh. “Alright, folks. Let’s try this again. You’re gonna love meeting my nephew... Luke Cooper!”

“Oh, no.” The room groaned in unison as a young man strutted in, waving with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

______________________________________________

“Luke Cooper back in the office, folks,” Oscar muttered, laughing nervously as he squirmed in his chair. “We’re *****”

“I swear to God, if that kid pulls one more stunt, I’m gonna need that damn lawyer,” Dwight hissed, glaring daggers in Luke’s direction.

"You know when grandma stops you and just says you need to meet their lazy useless son?" Jim clicked his tongue, spreading on the chair. "Pretty much the same."

"Luke being here is not completely wrong, he made the selection, interview and all the things." Toby sighed, scratching his head. "But I think this is worse than the last time. It's... Legal... Unfortunately."

______________________________________________

“I love the warm welcome, everyone. Really makes me feel loved,” Luke chuckled, blowing exaggerated air kisses to the room with a mocking grin before plopping into the chair right beside you.

You stood up, crossing your arms. “Michael, can we talk in private for a moment?”

“No can do, sweetheart. Whatever you gotta discuss, you can take it up with Luke. He’s sitting right next to you,” Michael replied, beaming like he’d just orchestrated a match made in heaven.

You glanced at Luke, hoping for some sort of shared understanding, but he looked just as bewildered as you.

“Aw, don’t play dumb, you two. You’re perfect for each other,” Michael added, clasping his hands together dramatically.

“That’s it. I’m done,” a blonde woman muttered, abruptly standing and leaving the room. One by one, the rest of the office followed her out, clearly over it.

“Stay put. I’ll be right back,” Michael whispered theatrically, tiptoeing out the door. Just as quickly, he slammed it shut behind him, locking it.

“Hey!” you shouted, rushing to the door and jiggling the handle, but Michael was already outside. With a smug grin, he tossed the key into a nearby vase and strolled away.

“Damn it!” you muttered under your breath.

______________________________________________

“What do I think of the lawyer?” Luke repeated the question, staring at the floor for a moment before looking into the camera with a mischievous grin and winking.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Angela said primly, addressing the camera. “They do look cute together. She seems like a smart young woman. Michael’s nephew doesn’t deserve her. But, if they end up together, maybe she can straighten that boy out.”

“What do I think about Luke and the lawyer?” Jim echoed, tilting his head and tapping his chin. “Well, if she’s into 22-year-old guys with a rebellious brat streak, sure, it could work.”

“He’s probably gonna love having a babysitter around,” Pam joked, nudging Jim with her shoulder. He chuckled along with her.

______________________________________________

"Just so you know, I had nothing to do with this," Luke remarked, stretching lazily in his chair, his body language nonchalant but slightly restless.

“This company is going to have serious problems! I’ll sue you, Michael!” you threatened, your voice firm with frustration. But then you froze, realizing with a grimace that you were the company’s lawyer, not its opposition. With a resigned sigh, you dropped back into your seat beside Luke. “How do you think we’re getting out of here?”

“Maybe after I propose to you and whisk you off to Hawaii,” he quipped, letting out a dramatic huff as he ran a hand through his messy hair, giving you a crooked smirk.

“You’re just a kid. You shouldn’t even be thinking about that kind of thing,” you retorted, shaking your head as you leaned back in the chair, your arms crossed. Your gaze drifted to his face, studying him for a moment longer than you intended.

“Hey, I’m 22. I’m not a kid,” he grumbled, his tone defensive as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

“You’re literally acting like one right now,” you teased, laughing softly. His eyes narrowed as he rolled them dramatically, dropping his arms back to his sides in mock defeat.

“Well, I’m not that much younger than you—what, three years? That’s nothing,” he argued, his expression softening as he tilted his head toward you.

“Three years makes all the difference to me,” you shot back, smirking.

“If my uncle finds out you’re 25, he’s gonna lose his mind. You should just pretend you’re some teenage prodigy or something,” he suggested with a playful grin.

The idea made you laugh, finally easing the tension between you. “Do you really think Michael even read my file?”

“If he did, he wouldn’t be throwing you at me. You… you seem way too cool for that,” he said, his voice quieter, almost self-deprecating as his eyes shifted down to his hands.

“What do you think? If we kiss, will he let us out?” you joked, raising an eyebrow at the absurdity of the thought.

“We could pretend to be doing way more than kissing,” he shot back with a mischievous grin, leaning closer as if testing how far he could push the joke.

You rolled your eyes, laughing despite yourself. “God, you’re impossible.”

He smirked, leaning back. “You know, people usually only roll their eyes at me when they’re having fun.”

“Go find something better to do, kid,” you said, giving him a light shove. He rocked back in his chair with exaggerated flair before settling again.

“Wouldn’t be the worst idea,” he murmured, raising an eyebrow at you with a look that bordered on flirtatious.

“This violates, like, a thousand codes of conduct,” you exclaimed, throwing your hands up in mock exasperation.

“Good thing I’ve got a lawyer with me,” he countered, his grin unapologetic.

You stared at him, momentarily speechless, trying to process his audacity. But his words were real, and so was the way his eyes drifted over you, scanning your frame before locking back onto your gaze. That look lingered, holding a mix of curiosity and something unspoken that made the air between you feel heavy and charged.

"Tell me, counselor. Would you sue me if I kissed you right now?" Luke asked, his voice low as he leaned in closer, his eyes flickering between yours and your lips.

"As a representative of Dunder Mifflin, or as a person?" you countered, your tone steady, though the heat of the moment made your heartbeat quicken.

"As a man," he clarified, swallowing hard. His Adam's apple bobbed as his gaze lingered on your lips, the tension between you thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Probably," you replied, your voice softer than you intended, the weight of his stare making it harder to maintain composure. His eyes finally lifted to meet yours, the delay making the moment even more charged.

Luke ran his tongue over his lips, letting out a faint click of his tongue. "And would you put me in jail?"

"I’d do my best," you answered, trying to sound firm but feeling the cracks in your resolve. Your fingers unconsciously curled into the fabric of your skirt, the tension in the air making it impossible to sit still.

He noticed your fidgeting, his lips curling into a sly smile. "Chains and all?" he teased, his voice dropping even lower.

"Okay, that’s enough!" Michael’s voice cut through the charged atmosphere, startling both of you. You instantly straightened in your chairs, awkwardly adjusting your clothes as though you’d been caught doing something wrong.

"Wow, I see you two are really hitting it off," Michael said, grinning ear to ear, clearly oblivious to what had just transpired.

"She’s the love of my life," Luke joked, throwing a smirk in your direction.

You let out a quiet, nasal laugh, quickly covering your mouth with your hand, hoping to disguise your amusement.

______________________________________________

Ryan just stared at the camera, wordlessly throwing his hands in the air. “He did it. I... I..."

“Wow,” Jim breathed.

“How do I feel about being a living matchmaking service?” Michael asked the camera, his grin childlike and self-satisfied. “You already know my answer. Guru Scott, at your service!”

“I mean, ‘m not lying about she's the love of my life. She got that office siren vibe, that thing that could step her heels on me.” Luke sighed, his eyes distant. “I'm head over heels for her, man.”

"I saw a movie like this once," Kevin started seriously, approaching the camera to whisper "And it doesn't end well on the guy's balls."

“Don’t let her put her heels on him.” Kelly threatened with tears on her face. “It's Yves Saint Laurent.” she cried out, leaving the room to search for Ryan.

“Why did Yves let people make shoes of her skin? Snakes are way better,” Creed spoke, crossing his arms. “And that girl doesn't seem to have good skin for that."

______________________________________________

Michael finally let you and Luke out of the room, and you could finally breathe again. With a sigh of relief, you got back to work, handling the paperwork with Michael to formalize Luke as an official employee. This time, he’d gone through a proper hiring process rather than being handed the job outright. The whole ordeal took longer than expected, and by the time you were done, it was already late at night. Michael said his goodbyes and left you alone in the office, still finishing up the last of the documents.

“Hey, counselor,” Luke’s voice suddenly sounded behind you, making you jump. You spun around, clutching your chest.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack, kid?”

“Are you saying I’m your death?” he quipped, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

“You’re so funny,” you replied, your tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Good at kissing too. But I bet you like to work with evidence, don’t you?” he teased, leaning casually against the desk.

“In some cases, eyewitness testimony is enough,” you shot back, narrowing your eyes at him.

“So… you wanna see me kiss someone?” he asked, his boldness catching you off guard.

You froze for a moment, staring at him, both intrigued and slightly impressed by his audacity.

“You’re not gonna give up, are you?”

“You’re the love of my life, remember?” he joked, referencing his earlier comment. You couldn’t help but smile, placing your hands on your hips.

“You’re impossible.”

“Always living on the edge of the law,” he quipped with a wink, stepping closer. His gaze softened as he looked down, locking eyes with you. “And you’re way too beautiful to give up on.”

His compliment caught you off guard, and you felt heat rising to your cheeks. For a moment, you didn’t know how to respond, shyly smiling back at him.

That smile seemed to throw Luke off his game for a moment, but he recovered quickly, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Always works on them,” he joked, though his voice held a softer tone.

“Them? Are you that sought after?” you teased, laughing lightly, though your shoulders remained tense.

“Nah, I’ve dropped all of them. Can’t risk making a certain lawyer mad,” he replied with a soft laugh.

You smiled again, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “This isn’t exactly professional, Luke.”

“Am I bothering you? Harassing you?” he asked, his tone suddenly serious.

“No,” you admitted, shaking your head.

“Then we’re good,”

The absurdity of it all made you laugh. This company was bizarre, and so was Luke, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Taking a step forward, you closed the distance between you.

“I’m gonna arrest you,” you said playfully, narrowing your eyes at him.

“I have the right to remain silent,” he whispered, leaning in closer.

“Good, so you’re aware of your rights,” you murmured back, your eyes dropping to his lips.

“You can remind me of them later.”

When his lips finally touched yours, it was feather-light, barely more than a brush, like he was testing the waters.

You found yourself leaning into him without thinking, the tension in your shoulders melting away. Your hands hesitated before lightly brushing against his chest, grounding yourself as his lips moved just a little more firmly against yours. It felt natural, like he was waiting to match your pace, reading every subtle response.

When he pulled back, just slightly, his eyes fluttered open, meeting yours again with a mix of nervousness and a hint of a smile. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. “Okay, that was… better than I imagined.”

You couldn’t help but smile back, your cheeks warm. “Not bad for a first attempt.”

His grin grew a little wider, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “So, does that mean I passed the test?”

You chuckled softly, shaking your head. “Let’s just say… you didn’t fail.”

“So it means ‘m gonna do my best,” he muttered before brushing your lips together again.

______________________________________________

“What did we do after that?” Luke echoed, ruffling his hair as blush came across his cheeks. “As a Quentin Tarantino fan, i foreshadowed the last interview.” he looked all around, leaning closer to the camera to whisper. “Heels and chains.”

“Good thing he's in jail.” Dwight grinned, adjusting his glasses. “Justice always prevails. Thumbs up to that lawyer.”

You smiled shyly, sighing. “I'm a good lawyer.”

“You're the best.” Luke completed, sitting next to you with sparkling eyes. He looked back at the camera and closed with his hand to kiss you.

[morganski-19]

Chills Right to the Marrow Part 12

part 1, prev part

The Chief walks into the hospital room the next day in full uniform. Pulling out his key ring and setting the key in the lock. The cuffs open, clacking against each other as he takes them back.

Eddie is free.

“I owe you an apology, I should have taken these off a long time ago.”

Wayne looks at the Chief, wondering if he should be grateful or angry. “Why happed with the feds?”

“They agreed to point the other way. Still looking for a fall guy, but it won’t be your nephew. I made sure of that.”

“Thank you.”

The Chief huffs. “Don’t be thanking me. You should thank Harrington, he really knocked some sense into my head.”

That seems to happen often. Through his actions, the way that he talks to people. The way that he’s respected Wayne’s boundary to leave him and Eddie alone. The way he cares for Dustin. Cares for Eddie even when Wayne didn’t want him too. Fought for the things he knew were true, never giving up.

Wayne really needed to talk to him.

“I hear he’s been getting better,” the Chief continues. Taking the seat next to Wayne.

Wayne nods. “Yeah, wakin’ up slowly. Should be able to talk again in a few days.”

The Chief nods. “I know I was really dragging my feet to get the cuffs off, but my offer still stands. If you need anything, feel free to give me a call. I still can’t tell you everything that happened, but as time goes on, you’re going to have a lot of questions. I can hopefully give you some answers. Lend a hand when you need me to.”

There’s going to be a lot of things that Wayne will never understand. Life has shown him that already. There were things that he didn’t understand before and learned to.

He can do it all again. Try to ignore the need for answers and try to understand. Have the patience he had when Eddie was younger. As he was learning how to be the person Eddie needed him to be.

“I appreciate that, Chief.”

“Please, just call me Jim.”

Jim leaves a little after that. Giving Wayne some space. He goes on a walk a little while later. Wanting some fresh air. Coming back to see Dustin heading down the hall, Steve sitting peacefully in the waiting room. Looking a hell of a lot better than yesterday.

“Can I talk to you?” Wayne sits down across from him. Ready to actually have a conversation with him for once.

Steve sits up a bit straighter, trying to make a better impression. “Yeah, sure.”

Wayne clears his throat. “I owe you an apology. You never gave me a reason to treat you the way I did and it was harsh of me to assume things about you. It’s not an excuse, but I was angry at a lot of things and seein’ you walk out of here fine while Eddie’s not. . . It was an easy thing for me to be mad at.”

“I don’t blame you. I think I would have reacted the same if it was my kid in Eddie’s position. You really have nothing to apologize for.”

“But I do,” Wayne insists. “You all clearly went through something that I don’t fully understand. I had no right to keep you from seeing him.”

Steve has a look a mix emotions. Like he’s fighting between gratitude and sorrow. “Would it be ok if I saw him now?”

Wayns nods. Walking down the hall with Steve to Eddie’s room, letting him sit in the chair next to him. He swears that he sees tears start to form in Steve’s eyes, but he blinks them away before he can confirm.

“Where’s the kid?” Wayne asks.

Steve clears his throat. “Visiting Max. She’s doing a lot better now.”

“That’s good.”

“He looks so different,” Steve says after a break of silence. “Like the energy of him was sucked out.”

Wayne nods, having felt the same way for a long time.

“I know I didn’t know him that long, but.” Steve takes a breath. “During that week, he was really starting to feel like someone who could become a friend. I was really looking forward to becoming his friend.”

“What happened to him?” Wayns asks, desperate. “What happened to you?”

Steve meets his eyes, a troubled look resting on his face. The want to tell him but the knowledge that he can’t. “I wish I could tell you, but I legally can’t. I know that probably doesn’t make it better.”

“It doesn’t. But I appreciate you trying.”

Dustin comes in and reads his chapter like he always does. Having to pull up another chair since Steve stole his. They leave shortly after it’s done. Giving Wayne a few minutes to himself before he has to leave for work.

He leans closer to Eddie’s bed, placing a hand on the empty bar. Afraid to touch him, to do anything to make him worse. But he hasn’t said much in the days he’s been here. Too hopeless to imagine that Eddie could hear him. Today, he decides to try.

“Hey, kid. I’m sorry that I haven’t talked to you much in the past week. You must think there’s somethin’ up. That you did somethin’ to make me not talk to you. That’s not the case.”

Fear like this is something that Wayne never wanted to experience. Losing a child is something that a parent never wanted to even think about. Let alone live through. And while Eddie isn’t technically Wayne’s kid, he is in all the ways that matter.

“Truth is, I was scared. I thought I lost you so many times in the past few weeks. Each time I came in here, I thought would be the day that the nurses told me you were really gone. That I lost my son.”

Words get choked in Wayne’s throat as tears fall down his face. Things he’s been too afraid to say all coming out at once.

“But I didn’t. You’re still here. And you’re gettin’ better and I am so proud of you.”

Eddie opens his eyes, looking toward Wayne. His fingers tense, raising slightly towards Wayne’s hand. Wayne places his hand on top of Eddie’s squeezing it tight.

“Nothin’ you could do could ever make me not proud of you.”

next part

Note: I’m not crying, you’re crying. Jesus why do I do this to myself. Also this concludes chapter three, now posted on my ao3. Back to Dustin's POV in the next part

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[dbnightingale24]

React

A Stepceat Love Story about Jim

~~

~~

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4,Chapter 5

It took forever, but I finally have this part the way I like it! Thank you for your support, and thank you to everyone who checked in on me. It means so much to me! I hope it was the wait!

Word Count: 5,994

Warning(s): Swearing (MINORS DNI), Fluff, Drinking, Emotional Cheating, Forbidden Love, Crying, Family Drama, Sneaking Around, Stepcest, Step-Daughter/Step-Father, Angst...I think that's it?

Summary: You're officially done trying with your Mother. You've done everything in your power to make things right with her, but after the Christmas dinner you just had, you know none of it will ever be good enough. You'll never be good enough. Accepting this new reality also means that you need to come to a decision about Jim once and for all.

~~

I do not give permission/consent for my works/stories to be posted elsewhere. I do not condone this type of relationship, this is clearly for entertainment purposes only.

~~

Chapter 6

“Angel?” you faintly hear Jim’s voice call as he approaches you on the swing. 

You’re not sure how long you’ve been at the park and, thanks to the whiskey, you can’t tell how cold you actually are. 

A small silver lining on the shittiest day you’ve in a while.

“Go away,” you squeak out with a sniffle, using the back of your hand to wipe your nose.

“Angel-”

“Don’t Jim. Don’t comfort me-”

“She was wrong. Ciara almost lunged across the table after you left, and your Mother and I got into a huge yelling match in the bedroom. She knows that both she and Rose were out of line.”

“I just wanna leave,” you sob with a slight slur.

“Angel,” he sighs, crouching down in front of you and cupping your face in his hands, “I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

“I didn’t even wanna come!”

“I know, Angel. I know. Lets just go back-”

“No, I never want to see her again. I know what we did was fucked up, but she doesn’t even know about that! That’s just how she feels about me! How she’ll always feel about me! That’s just how she fuckin’ feels, and I...I have no choice but to accept that.”

“She’s drunk-”

“She’s always drunk, always angry with me, always blaming me, and I’m fucking tired of it. I’m tired of her!”

“You can’t stay out here all night, it’s too damn cold-”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Where do ya want to go?” he sighs, getting up and sitting on the swing next to you, taking the bottle from you and taking a drink from it.

“You have to get back-”

“Danielle took the kids with her, along with the gifts ya got ‘em. Ciara and Darragh took Nora home, because Ciara was too furious to think straight. I told your Mother I wasn’t coming back tonight during our argument-”

“Jim-”

“Rose is gonna stay with her, Angel. Whatever you want to do, I’ll do.”

“I just want to be with you, Jim. We don’t have to do anything, I just want to be with you-ya clothes!”

“It’s fine, Angel. I know everywhere is booked, but I know I’ll be able to find us somethin’.”

“What about-”

“Just let me take care of ya, Angel.”

He always makes it all seem so easy. He always seems to have a plan and he’s so damn calm. No matter what happens, he’s always so calm, and maybe that’s part of the reason you’re so tethered to him. 

After a few more swigs from the bottle, and a couple of phone calls, Jim is able to find you both a room for the next few nights. 

“Don’t you have to go back-”

“No,” he answers confidently as he stands up and holds out his hand. “Lets get your clothes from Ciara.”

“What about your-”

“I can get em tomorrow. C’mon, Angel.”

“Jim-”

“I promise to get em tomorrow. Now, lets go,” he smiles softly towards you.

You take his hand and as you stand up, you realize just how stiff you are.

“How much was the room?” you as you two slowly make your way to his car. 

“It’s a gift.”

“Jim-”

“I’m not tellin’ ya, so drop it,” he chuckles softly, opening the door for you.

“I feel bad-”

“Stop feelin’ bad for the mistakes she makes. You didn’t even want to come and, truth be told, I was gonna bring the kids to see ya at school,” he smirks before closing the door.

WHAT?!

“Jim, what do ya mean-”

“They’ve missed you,” he shrugs as he gets into the car, closing the door and starting the engine. “I almost suggested that we take them to see you a few times, but I knew it’d make you unhappy.”

“Jim-”

“I keep tellin’ you I want this, Angel. Yes, the sex is phenomenal,” he laughs softly as you giggle, “but there’s so much more to us than that. I’m not confused or angry, or any of that shite. I love you, Y/N. I’m in love with you. You’re the first thought I have in the morning, and the last one I have at night. I’ve missed watching movies with you, eating dinner with you, cuddling up and talking about nothing...this isn’t just physical for me, Angel. I have a lot to consider with us perusing this, and I don’t think you understand that. I have to deal with the possibility of my children hating me, your Mother berating me, Rose being...Rose, and I can only imagine what Danielle will do and I can’t blame her. Still, with knowing all of that, I still came after you tonight. I’ve been trying to get you to see that since we started this.”

“I just don’t see why ya’d want me,” you mumble before taking a drink from your bottle. 

Yes, you know you shouldn’t be drinking in the car while he’s driving, but you’ve had a nightmare of a day.

“None of the things your Mother says about ya are true. How can I not love ya? Not want ya? Angel, I’m amazed that you want anythin’ to do with me,” he scoffs as he pulls up to Ciara’s place. “I love you for all the reasons I’ve already told ya, and a million more that I’m just not ready to tell ya,” he promises as he kills the engine and looks over at you. “Lets get ya things.”

The second Ciara opens the door, she engulfs you in a hug and is apologizing profusely.

“You were just tryin’ to protect me,” you sigh as you and Jim make your way inside, “and I love ya.”

“Ya drunk,” she sighs, once she notices you stumbling a little.

“Only a little, besides, I’m not stayin’ here tonight-”

“You know you’re always welcome to-”

“I know, I know,” you quickly clarify, “but I don’t want Nora seeing me like this, and Jim got us a room for a few nights, so I’ll be there. I’ll come by before I go back,” you smile weakly.

“I’m so sorry, I really-”

“Ci, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was a dumb idea to begin with,” you sigh as you wipe away a lone tear falling down her face with your thumb. “Let me get my stuff.”

It’s not like you brought a lot to begin with, but you still pack your things with a heavy heart. It’s not like you’d expected the trip be amazing by any means, but you’d hoped for more than...this. You’d expected your Mother to be shit faced, but you really had done your best to keep her happy. You stayed out of the way, avoided Jim, made dinner, kept the children happy and entertained, and even played nice with Jim’s ex-wife even when she showed her claws. All of that work, and for what? You to end up alone in a park, drunk, and your...situationship to rescue you.

Happy fuckin’ Christmas.

“I don’t have my charger,” you sigh once you’re back downstairs with your one duffle bag packed.

You really hadn’t packed much.

“Do ya need it tonight, Angel?” Jim asks, taking your bag from you.

“She’s gonna-”

“Fuckin’ let her call and call!” Ciara snaps. “She deserves to feel like shit.” “Ci-”

“No Y/N. Do not try and protect her. She should feel horrible. Besides, you know that Rose is only over there encouraging her bad behavior. Your Mother never defends you, so why should you defend her?”

She has a valid point.

“I’ll let you know when we’re at the place,” you promise, wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Y/N, do not try and-”

“I promise I won’t.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

The both of you exchange gifts before you and Jim finally leave, and you somehow feel more defeated than you did before.

“What are you thinkin’, Angel?” he asks after a few minutes.

“Just tryin’ to figure out when she really started to hate me,” you chuckle humorlessly. “When did I really start to ruin her life?”

“Angel-”

“Cause it wasn’t always this bad. Sure, she’s never shown up all that much, but we could at least have fun together. We could skate, watch movies, have dance parties...we had some sort of a relationship, but now? Now, it’s all gone to Hell.”

“Angel, we’ll focus on that tomorrow. Lets just try and salvage the rest of this Christmas.”

“I ruined it for-”

“She ruined it,” he sighs, parking the car.

“Where are we?”

“A friend of mine manages this place. He was able to give us a discounted price on a room for a few nights.”

“Does he know about...us?”

“Yes.”

You groan as you put your head in your hands, “Jim!”

“Ciara knows!”

“That’s different!”

“How so?”

“She’s known my Mum for as long as she’s known me. She knows how terrible she is, how terrible she’s always been, and is very understanding of this whole...us. Your friend doesn’t know me from a can of fuckin’ paint,” you mutter, hating how much you feel like a child. 

“You’re right, he doesn’t know you, but he knows about the situation between your Mother and I. It’s fine, Angel.” “Jim-”

“I’d never bring ya somewhere where ya not safe. Lets get inside,” he smiles softly. 

You slowly get out while Jim grabs your bag out of the backseat. As your eyes trail over the building, you can’t help but wonder-

“No, this is not where Yvonne and I would go when we had our affair,” he sighs heavily, walking ahead of you, and you slowly follow after.

Now you feel like an even bigger asshole. 

“Hey, can we speak with Charlie, please?” he kindly asks the man behind the desk. 

“I’ll get ‘im for ya,” the young man smiles before disappearing behind the door.

“Jim, I’m-”

“It’s fine, Angel. We’ll talk in the room, okay?”

“I can stay with Ciara-”

“Angel, please just let me take care of you. I love you, I want to be here with you, and I want to do this. It’s all going to be fine, so please don’t worry.”

“I love you too, Jim,” you mumble, looking down at your feet. 

Today is making you feel so incredibly small and you hate it. 

“Thought you’d be here much earlier,” a man you’re assuming is Charlie laughs as he greets Jim.

“Had to get a few things together, but we’re here now.”

“One bag?”

“I’ll pick up some of my things tomorrow.”

“Really goin’ through with it this time, eh?”

“After tonight? Yeah, long overdue,” Jim scoffs, shaking his head as the man hands him a room key. 

“I’ll get ya when ya leave.”

“You sure?”

“You’ve got enough to think on, just leave it. Is this the little lady?” Charlie asks, smiling at you.

“She’s a little somethin’,” Jim laughs and you roll your eyes. “Y/N, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Y/N.”

“It’s nice to know ya,” you offer with a small smile shaking his hand. 

“Well, I’ve got food and a few bottles waitin’ up there for ya. Try to enjoy the rest of your night. We’ll talk in the mornin,” he nods towards Jim, who just nods in response, taking the key and heading towards the elevator.

God knows what that means.

“Angel, just be here for now,” he encourages as you two take the ride up.

“You’re doin’ all of this and I’m just-”

“Y/N, please stop. I love ya. I love ya so much, and I’m happy.”

“Jim-”

“I’m so happy to be here with you, and it’s not like I pictured it at all, but I’m still with you.”

“Jim...today has been such a mess and, if we stay together, they’re gonna be a lot more days like this before they get better.” 

“I know that. This isn’t like before for me. I know what’s waiting for me when we go through with this. I’m goin’ to be looked at as the dirty old man who seduced you, and ruined your relationship with ya Mum. I know Danielle is goin’ to be disgusted with me, and she’s gonna have an issue with the kids stayin’ with me. Rose is gonna raise hell and convince your Mother to do the same...I know what’s waiting for me,” he sighs as he opens the door to the room. 

“Jim...” you gasp as you marvel at it.

“I didn’t tell him to do this much,” he laughs, walking in behind you and closing the door, “I just told him I want somethin’ nice for ya.”

“This is...oh Jim,” you smile at him as your eyes start to water. 

Jim honestly could have gotten the two of you a rat hole, and you would’ve thanked him endlessly, but this? The room was gorgeous. Beautiful shades, a spacious bed, bottles of your favorite wine and champagne, food (which you’re more than thankful for because you’re ravenous), a gorgeous bathroom, and a small living area.

“Let me help you pay-”

“No,” he laughs, tossing your bag down. “Let me do this.”

“Jim-”

“I love you,” he whispers, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close.

“I love you.”

“So lets enjoy this, yeah?”

“Bathe with me.”

“Angel-”

“No tricks, no sex. I just wanna be with you a bit,” you promise, slowly breaking out of his hold and taking your shirt off. “I’ll get the water ready,” you call over your shoulder, grabbing the half finished bottle of whiskey, an unopened bottle of wine, and two glasses along with a wine opener, before making your way into the bathroom.

No, you shouldn’t mix alcohol, or be drinking anymore for that matter, but you’ve earned this. 

You’re quick to shed the rest of your clothes, grabbing your phone from the pocket of your jeans and scoffing when you see that your Mother has called 40 times and has sent 20 texts, then finally start the water. You’re well aware that between the two of you, you like your water hotter than Jim does. However, thinking back on how the whole day went, you know you both can use a bit a warmth to shield you from the cold of life awaiting you.

“I expected you to find you texting your Mother back,” Jim laughs, making his way into the bathroom in just his boxer briefs.

“I am tempted to, but I just want us to enjoy whats left of the day. There’s not much left anyway,” you shrug, turning to face him as he steps out of his boxer briefs. “You get in first, I wanna lay against ya.’

“How bad am I about to get burned?”

“I’m playing nice tonight,” you giggle, pouring the both of you a drink.

He’s slow to stand in it, but the second hes completely seated, he lets out a sigh of content, and looks up at you with the most loving look in his eyes. You hand him his drink before carefully stepping in. Once you’re settled comfortably between his legs, you lean against him and close your eyes as he wraps his arms around you tight.

You’re home.

You sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before asking, “Jim?”

“Yeah, Angel?”

“I love you.”

He presses a soft kiss to the top of your head and strokes your arm softly, “I love ya too.”

“What did you mean earlier?”

“Hmm? When?” 

“When you said they’re a million reasons you love me, but you’re not ready to tell me.”

He lets out a heavy sigh before taking a sip of his drink, “ya keep runnin’ from me, Angel.”

You didn’t think it was possible for you to feel any worse, but you stand corrected.

“And I understand,” Jim quickly adds, trying to lessen the pain from the blow he just landed on you. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t, but I’m not gonna lie to ya.”

“Jim...it’s just hard-”

“You have your reservations and rightfully so. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t hurt, but I know how this looks from your point of view. I cheated before, married your Mum, and now I’m cheating on her with you. Her daughter. I know how much of a scum bag I look like right now.”

“Ya told me about the cheatin, though,” you sigh, grabbing your own glass off the floor, and taking a drink from it.

“I can understand why it doesn’t mean anythin’ to you.”

“I don’t want to hurt ya, Jim-”

“I know you don’t, Angel. That’s why I don’t get angry or frustrated. This is a lot and I know it’s nothing either of us ever imagined. All of this is complicated, and it’s worse for you. If you really decide you don’t want this, then I’ll walk away. Either way, I’ll be divorcing your Mother and you’ll never hear from or see me again.”

“I don’t want that.”

“But I can understand if that’s what ya decide.”

“How are ya so sure, Jim? Why are you so confident?”

“When I cheated on Danielle...that was me being stupid. Yes, a large part of me had feelings for Yvonne, I thought she was pretty, but it wasn’t love. It was so exciting at the time, that I told myself it was love and made excuses for my actions, but I knew better. That’s why it was so easy for me to turn the idea of trying again with her down when she brought it up. After everything settled and I could think clearly again, I knew it was just a moment. It wouldn’t have lasted. That’s probably why I rushed to be with Orla. God, what a fuckin’ nightmare that was,” he mutters, before taking another sip of drink.

You start making little circles on his chest with your index finger, “what went wrong there?”

“You’re gonna think so much less of me,” he groans and you giggle softly. “I could never.”

“The first time I met Orla, she was a mess. Swearin’ in front of my kids, short tempered, combative, and I later found out that she drinks a bit much, which is a lot comin’ from me. That’s why I fell in love with your Mother, or, at least thought I fell in love with your Mother. At the time, she was the exact opposite. No, I didn’t feel as strongly for her as I do for you, and maybe all it was, was a sense of relief. She didn’t drink as much, she wasn’t so short with me, she didn’t assume that I was always out cheating...it felt like it used to with Yvonne. Then...”

“Then I came home,” you scoff.

“You came home.”

“What do you feel for me now that makes all of those times different?”

“None of it is gonna make any sense,” he chuckles, pulling you closer to him. “I just felt it when I first saw you in person. I had seen pictures of you and thought you were beautiful, but seeing you in person...I really wish I knew how to explain it. I just felt this...”

“Connection?”

“You felt it too?”

You hang your head and sigh in defeat, “yeah, I did.”

“Angel, I need you to understand that I didn’t intend for any of this to happen. I honestly did my best to try and stop this, but you...you are everything. This isn’t about the chase, this isn’t for my fuckin’ ego, and I won’t be someone else to hurt and let ya down.”

“Jim...it’s gonna be so bad.”

“I’ll face all of it with you, Angel.”

You turn a little in his hold and look up at him. You can tell that he means every words, but that he’s just as terrified as you are. Not that he’ll fuck it up, but that you’ll go running for the hills again. You reach up and cup the right side of his face into your hand and closes his eyes and leans into it.

You’re both so tired of fighting and running from what you both truly want.

“I love you, Jim.”

He dips down and kisses you passionately, “I love you so much, Angel,” he breathes once you two break apart. 

“Can we stay in here just a bit longer?” you question with a small smile as tears come to your eyes.

“We can do whatever ya want, Angel.”

You resume the position you were in before and lay your head on his chest, as he plays with the ends of your hair that are in the water. Why can’t it always be this easy?

“Have you always had Charlie’s support about us?”

“Fuck no,” he laughs softly and you giggle a little. “He asked me if I was out of my fuckin’ mind, and told me that I can’t be with you.”

“You told him-”

“After the first night I met you. I met up with him at that pub round the way and told him that I fucked up.”

“Were you and my Mother having issues before I came back?”

“Honestly? No, not really. We had little arguments here and there, but nothin’ to make me think there was a completely different side to her. After the first night, he convinced me that I was just angry and I’d get over it, and I tried to get myself to believe he was right.”

“What changed his mind?”

“At first, it was that every damn thing that came out of my mouth was about you,” he chuckles sheepishly, moving some of your hair off of your shoulder and kissing it. “No matter what we were talkin’ about, I always found a way to bring it back to you. Then, when I’d come ‘round with ya Mum, he could see the difference in the way I looked at her. The way I touched her. He saw me at her birthday party, and saw that I was constantly lookin’ around for ya. The way I smiled when my eyes finally found you...he could see it was much more than physical. He saw your Mum gettin’ worse, and the way you were always there, even when ya weren’t. When I told him that we...he wasn’t the least bit surprised. I guess anyone who knew what was goin’ on with us wasn’t. I could tell that he wanted to be angry with me, but he understood. He hated that he did, but he did nonetheless.”

“What does he know about me?”

“What doesn’t he know about ya? He knows that you’re in ya final year, he knows what you’re studyin’, he knows your favorite food, your favorite movies, he knows what my favorite things about you are, he knows that you’re scared...I tell him everything,” he shrugs, placing another soft kiss on your shoulder.

“When did you meet him?”

“His ex is best friends with Orla. We both broke up with them around the same time, and we just started hanging out. He’s a good one.”

“Can I ask-”

“I never cheated on Orla,” he sighs and it breaks your heart.

“Don’t get mad-”

“I’m not, Angel. I expect the questions. I just feel horrible that you feel like you need to ask.”

“I just-”

“I know.”

“I do believe ya, Jim. I believe that you love me and want this just as much as I do. I just...” “You’re scared, and you’d be a fool if ya weren’t. This isn’t gunna make things perfect overnight just because we want them to. I know I have to show you, and I know it’s gonna take time, and that’s fine with me.”

“I just know-”

“Angel-”

“Just let me get this out, please,” you sniffle softly. “I know ‘ve said some things that weren’t the nicest in an attempt to keep ya away. I want you to know that I’ve always loved ya, I was just tryin’ to do what was best. What I thought was best. I just want you to be happy, and I know you want the same for me. I know it’s gonna take some time and it’ll be tough, but I truly do want this. I’m all in,” you promise softly.

This time, he’s the one cupping your face and forcing your attention to him.

“Angel, don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”

“You know me well enough to know better. ‘m not gonna say somethin’ to make you feel better. If I’m sayin’ it, I mean it.”

“Say it again.”

“I’m all in.”

“I need to hear it one more time, Angel. Only say it if you’re sure.”

You take a deep breath as you turn in his hold and face him on your hands and knees.

“I’m all in.”

You laugh as he kisses you, pushing you back a little as water splashes around, and you kiss him back just as enthusiastically as you finally feel peace for the first time in a long time.

“I want to give you one of your gifts tonight,” he breathes once you two break apart.

“One? Jim-”

“One tonight, one tomorrow, and one when you’re back in school.”

“Jim-”

“I’ve already bought them, so you may as well let me do it,” he laughs as you shake your head.

“Jim?” you call softly once his laughter subsides.

“Yeah, Angel?”

“Say it for me, please?”

He smiles as his thumb caresses your cheek, “I love you.”

Yes, his smile is reaching his eyes, but you still see a bit of trepidation in them.

“What’s wrong, Jim?”

“Nothin’, lets just-”

“We’re not startin’ off like this. What’s wrong?”

“It’s dumb and it doesn’t-”

“Jim, it’s not dumb to me and it matters to me. What’s wrong?”

He sighs and leans back a little, “it really doesn’t matter.”

“Jim.”

“Remember when you rang your Mum...two months ago? She was askin’ about school and boys?”

You already know where this is headed.

You sit back down as you mutter, “yeah.”

“Did ya really-”

“It was only two dates and it didn’t go any farther than makin’ out. I felt so guilty the entire time, but I was tryin’ to get over you. It was wrong and, while ya still married to my Mum, it’s still wrong.”

“I’m changing that once you’re back at school. You don’t need to be here for that.”

“Jim, tell me that ya aren’t mad.”

“I’m not, Angel. I promise. I know why and I understand, it just...”

“It just...?”

“It irritates me because I don’t want you with anyone else but me. It scares me because maybe you’ll realize you don’t actually want this.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“It’s not lost on either of us that I’m the older one. Maybe you’ll realize you actually do want someone younger-”

“Jim, no. That’s not...no. I love you. I’m in love with you. Those dates only happened because I was tryin’ to get over ya, and....maybe get a reaction out of you.”

“A reaction?” he scoffs, sitting up and taking a sip of his drink.

“I know I kept tellin’ ya to stay away, and maybe it was just because I wanted to feel like I was a good daughter after everything that happened over the Summer. I think it’s clear that, that’s not what I wanted at all, and in the back of my mind...I was jealous. She had you and I didn’t. Yes, that was my doing, but it didn’t change the fact that I hated that she had you and I didn’t. I wanted to see if you’d react. How you’d react. I wanted you to show up and tell me that I’m yours or...somethin’,” you scoff sheepishly. “It was childish and dumb, but it’s the truth.”

“You really are somethin’ else,” he laughs, shaking his head and you smile sheepishly. “Lets get out of here.”

You lean forward and pull him close, wrap your arms around his neck, and kiss him passionately. It’s not sexual and it’s not teasing. You just want him to feel that you truly do love him as much as he loves you, and you’re in this for the long haul.

You want him to feel and know that you’ll never need or want anything or anyone else ever again.

When you two break apart, he’s smiling wide and you giggle softly. Once you’re both out, you drain the tub and Jim wraps you in a towel, holding your waist tight.

“I promise, it’s all going to be okay, Angel,” he whispers in your ear before kissing the shell of it.

It’s so hard to be afraid of anything when you’re with him.

“C’mon, I’ anxious to give ya your gift,” you giggle before squealing as he kisses your sweet spot.

Soon enough, he’s back in his boxer briefs and you’re in a pair of panties and an old Bangles t-shirt.

“Alright,” you start, reaching into your bag. “Don’t scold me.”

“What did ya do?”

“You need it.”

“Angel-”

“It’s fine,” you promise, handing him a neatly wrapped box and a card.

“You need to focus on yourself.”

“I’m fine,” you laugh. “Open them!”

“I’m openin’ the card first,” he smirks, and you roll your eyes as you finish off your drink, pouring yourself another glass. “Jim, I’m hoping you’re reading this after everyone’s gone to sleep. Also, burn this letter after reading,” he laughs, giving you a quick wink. “I know that this...relationship (I guess) between us hasn’t been anywhere close to ideal, but I want you to know...I want you to know that I truly do love you,” he reads a bit softer, clearing his throat. “It’s never goin’ to be ideal for us, and I’ve accepted that, but I don’t want you to think I hate or resent you, or any of the time we’ve spent together, because being with you is the happiest I’ve ever been. I don’t regret a second of it and my heart is always with you. No matter what happens...my heart will always be with you and it will always be yours. I love you, Jim. I am so in love with you, and I hope you never forget that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your gift. Before you try and argue with me, the one you have now is a piece of shite and you’re too stubborn to buy yourself a new one. Happy Christmas and I love you. Yours, always; Angel,” he finishes with a sniffle.  “You are so fuckin’ precious, ya know that?” he laughs, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “I love you, Angel, and I’m not gonna burn this letter,” he laughs as he reaches for the box.

You sit back, crossing your legs as he rips up the paper like a child.

“Angel...”

“You need it!”

“You have so much to save for-”

“Stop it, Jim. I’m happy to do it for you.”

“I’ll pay ya-”

“That’s not how gifts work,” you laugh.

“Angel-”

“I saved up for it. Just take it.”

“I love it, thank you,” he smiles and you laugh as he tackles you with a hug.

You hadn’t initially meant to buy him a Mac Book Pro, it just kind of happened. The first few nights you were at your Mother’s, you’d heard him silently gripping about it. A few days after that, you just decided you’d start saving for the damn laptop. You honestly hadn’t meant to, it just happened. You liked him, you could tell he’d never buy it for himself, and you knew your Mother hadn’t even thought to. The more you got to know him, the more you liked him. By the time you two started fooling around, the money was more than half way saved.

You told yourself that this would be the last thing you ever gave him, and that seems to have been a complete lie. 

“How are even making money?” he laughs, looking over the box.

“I write papers for other students, I write little stories here and there, dog sit-”

“You should be spendin’ that money on yourself.”

“Jim, I was happy to do it and I love you. Enjoy ya gift,” you smile. 

He cups your face again, capturing you in a soul stealing kiss, before grabbing a small box and handing it to you, “I love you.”

“Jim-”

“If you’re allowed to give me this, I’m allowed to give this.”

“Jim...”

“Just open it, Angel.”

You timidly take the box, but you’re quick to rip off the wrapping paper.

“Jim...”

“It’s not gonna bite ya,” he laughs, eyeing you with small hints of amusement in his eyes.

“Did ya spend too much?” “Nothin’ is too much for you. Now, no more questions, open it.”

“Jim-”

“Open,” he laughs.

Slowly, you open the small velvet box, and gasp at what’s inside. Two bracelets that have your favorite charms on them. You’d been eyeing them a few months ago, but decided against getting them because you wanted to make sure you had enough for everyone’s gifts.

“Jim!”

“Read the inside.”

You cocked an eyebrow holding them up and reading the inscription.

‘Mar sin, más rud é, a stór, is cosúil go mbeidh uaireanta Sean droichid ag briseadh idir tú féin agus mise’ the first one reads.

‘Ná eagla. B’fhéidir go ligfimid na scafaill ag titim muiníneach go bhfuil ár balla tógtha againn’ finishes the second.

“You are so...I love them so much,” you sniffle, tackling him with the biggest hug.

“Top marks if you can guess the poet,” he chuckles, pulling you into his lap before hugging you back just as tight.

“Seamus Heaney,” you giggle as you try and reign in your emotions. “The poem is ‘Scaffolding’.”

“Looks like school is paying off,” he teases.

“I love you so much, Jim.”

“I love you too, Angel. No matter what.”

“I really want this to work, Jim. I don’t want this to end. I don’t was us to end.”

“We won’t. It’s not gonna be easy, but we can do this.”

“Promise me.”

He presses a soft kiss to your head as his hold on you tightens, “I promise.”

You two stay like that for a while, and you honestly can’t remember the last time you felt this safe and happy. You can’t remember the last time you felt this loved.

This is probably the best Christmas you’ve ever had. Setbacks and all. 

“What are my other gifts?” you joke with a sniffle, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand.

“I told you when you’ll get them.”

“Why not tonight?”

“Because you need to learn patience,” he teases. “Do you wanna watch a movie?”

“I don’t care what we do, as long as you’re here,” you mumble, putting on your bracelets and settling under the sheets. 

“You need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Love.”

“I’m not.”

“You’ve had water, a few bites of potatoes, and too much whiskey. You need food,” he reaffirms as he makes you a small plate of food.

“Jim-”

“Eat,” he tells you as he hands you a plate of many different things.

All of which are your favorite. “You take such good care of me,” you tease, taking the plate from him.

“I plan on doin’ it forever.”

“That’s awfully long time.”

“Not long enough if you ask me, Angel,” he smiles towards you softly. “I love ya.”

“I love you too, Jim. Always will.”

As you both settle in and find a movie to watch, Jim pulls you close and you feel as if you’re finally home. Yes, the road ahead is going to be scary and bumpy, but you know that as long as you have Jim, it’s all going to be okay. However, you don’t want to think about any of that right now. Hell is headed both your ways, and you just want a little calm before the storm.

You just wanna live in this moment you’ve been dreaming of.

~~

[thedelusionalfiles]

Streeter’s Girl PART 1

A Dominique Luca X Y/N fic

Plot - Based on the Rick Springfield song ‘Jessie’s Girl’ but with a twist. Y/N is part of the LAPD working at SWAT HQ and is great friends with all of the 20 David Squad.

Luca has a crush on Y/N but always sees her giggling with Street and making him blush, he doesn’t want to ruin his friendships with either of them but just can’t help pining and feeling a little jealous……but maybe Luca has got the wrong end of the stick 👀

Authors note - This is my first time posting a fanfic, I had this idea one evening at like 4am and decided to write it out. Idk how long this is gonna end up being 💀

Warnings - tiny bit of swearing, might go crazy and write some smut one of these days 🤷🏻‍♀️

Luca cant help but glare over at them both. They are sat way too close for his liking and Y/N said something obviously hilarious because Street is blushing and giggling with her. He can’t help the eye roll and the huff that escapes his lips, he tries cleaning his gun as a form of distraction, unfortunately it doesn’t last long as his mind wanders.

I don’t understand why they are hiding it from everyone? It’s obvious right?

He thinks to himself

They are 100% dating, the way she looks at him with those eyes….. those goddamn beautiful sparkling eyes….

Luca has to snap himself out of the his daydream as he sees those gorgeous eyes along with the rest of her moving towards him.

“Oh h-hey kid” Luca stutters as he tries to regain his usual calm demeanour.

“Hey Luca, you still alright driving me home from Annie and Deac’s party tomorrow evening?” Y/N asks with her usual kind smile. She never wants to put anyone out of their way so she wanted to double check that Luca was still okay with what he had originally offered to do.

“Of course Y/N, I told you I would and I’m a man of my word” Luca winks with a cheeky grin.

“Well thank you again” Y/N embraces him with a warm hug, this was a usual occurrence for the two of them, both being very affectionate towards they’re friends and as such, each other.

Luca gently sighs as he watches the woman he’s secretly fell in love with walk away, once again being none the wiser of his affections.

————————————————————

Y/N POV

I don’t know why I’m so anxious, this is just a little party with all of my friends…… including the one man I’ve had the biggest crush on ever since I met him. Dominique fucking Luca….

Chris and I get out of her car, tonight was the night I promised myself I’d finally get her and Street to confess their feelings. I knew how Chris felt about him for a long time but it’s only been recently Jim confessed to me how he felt about her, which in turn made me want to tease him constantly and make him blush. We have formed a brother/sister like relationship where it’s basically constantly annoying and embarrassing one another. It’s great honestly!

“C’mon Y/N let’s get in there!” I hear Chris call me from standing on the front porch.

As we join the party, greeting everyone with hugs and smiles, I immediately notice him. He’s wearing a dress shirt and some very nice fitting jeans and he’s walking straight towards me oh shit oh shit keep cool stay calm!!!!

“Hey Chris, hey Y/N” Luca smiles and waves at us both. I feel like he glances down at what I’m wearing and I instantly feel shy under his gaze but I’m probably overreacting, he doesn’t see me as anything more than a friend, right?

As the night progresses I mentally cheer as I notice Street and Alonso getting extra friendly over in the corner, I’m so pleased that they have finally told each other how they feel!

I decide my job here is done and make my way to find my ride home.

“Ready to head off now?” Luca says as I approach him.

“Yeah that’d be great, thanks again for the ride” I say.

We walk out to his truck and I climb in the passenger seat. Classic rock is quietly playing through the speakers and we sit in comfortable silence.

“You alright there kid?” Luca breaks the stillness. I’m not really sure where this has come from but as I’m feeling calm and absolutely okay I reply as such.

“It’s just…. I saw you watching Street and Chris kissing…that must have been hard for you to see” He cautiously replies as to not upset me.

“….wait, what?” I’m completely lost now.

“Well, you and Street, were kinda becoming a thing….right?” He murmurs as he focuses back on the road.

I can’t help the giggle that erupts from my chest “oh Luca” I huff out between breaths “Street is basically like a brother to me!”

I notice Luca’s brows furrow in confusion “but what about all the whispering and the giggles and the blushing?” He rambles.

It’s like a lightbulb went off in my head “Oh you idiot!” I slap his arm affectionately, “I’ve been teasing Streeter because he told me about his crush on Chris the other week, I was the one who encouraged him to finally ask her out.”

“Oh.” He says whilst scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “I had definitely got the wrong end of the stick” Luca chuckles.

“Yes, you did” I giggle out. “Why have you been watching me and Street so closely huh? Were you jealous?” I jokingly say whilst I nudge my shoulder against his.

I’ve never seen Luca go this red before!

“You were!” I gasp pointing at him then the realisation hits “…… wait…. You were?” I question sincerely.

He pulls his truck onto my driveway and sighs as he turns the engine off.

“Yeah, Y.N, I was a little jealous….. I know, it was stupid.”

“Why were you jealous Luca?” I gently push the subject.

“Because I like you, a lot actually.” He looks over just as I lean over the to gently touch my lips to his.

It feels like time just stops.

[jazziejax]

𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲

𝐌𝐬.𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥

Pairings- Black!OC x Abbott Elementary Cast, later Black!OC x Manny (Can be read as x Reader though!)

Summary- S1E1-Light Bulb with Naoya Lovel

Warnings- Swearing, kids, mixed race reader( those aren't warnings really, just what to expect)

Jazzie'sNotes!- let me know what you guys think!! I've been really obsessed with Abbott Elementary recently and I'm contemplating if I want to write S1&S2 just to get to the Manny season. I want to get there fast but I know what won't be possible with two seasons worth of writing. Let me know what you guys think I should do.

Word Count- 5,680

“Ten seconds!” Jacob yelled over his shoulder at the people in the room. Melissa and Barbra rushed over to the sitting area in front of the television that played the action news. Naoya sitting the opposite of them on the small couch.

“Oh, we love Action News! Get in early just to watch it.” Melissa said to the cameras. “It just really calms you down after wanting to take a wrench to someone's side mirror in traffic.” She beamed as if what she said was totally normal.

“But the Philadelphia region continues to suffer, temperature in the mid-90s with a heat index approaching 100…” The television said as they all sat and watched.

“Now I’m a proud married Christian woman and I love my husband. But there’s something about that Jim Gardner.” Barba gushed to the cameras. “That non-regional diction.” The woman was practically blushing just at the thought of the man.

“It is so important to support and acknowledge local journalism, okay?” Jacob started. “There’s no agenda here. This is—This is one going, in the streets, powerful stuff.” He explained seriously.

“I get in early just to see my aunt Magnolia on the screen. She’s a news anchor and I like telling her what I like and dislike about her outfits every morning.” Naoya nodded nonchalantly.

“Wouldn’t want to see that dog in traffic.” Jim Fardner said as they all laughed while watching a little Pomeranian dog drive a toy car.

“Yes, Jim.” Barbra agreed, not seeing the confused look Noaya gave her from the side.

“I like the news because that’s when I can say whatever I want and nobody asks any questions.” Mr.Johnson told the cameras with a smirk.

“I’m taking a personal day.” The old man said as he entered the room, looking at the backs of everyone’s heads as they continued to watch the morning news. “Going fishing with my friends. Anyways, toilet papers in the closet.” He said before walking out.

“I hear him.” Naoya nodded, giving the people behind the camera a small smile. “I hear everything. Plus he is a hilarious old man and I wanna know all his secrets. I am this close to cracking him.” She said with an evil smirk making its way into her face as she lined her fingers together to indicate a small amount.

“I saw Jim Gardner once. At the Chipotle.” Barbra smiled bashfully, not taking her eyes away from the television. “Ooh, he orders a bowl so handsomely.” She gushed. Naoya gave the older woman another look, this time more concern than confusion.

It was only a moment later that Jacob was going through the break room fridge, poking around for something. “Who’s branzino is this?” He asked, holding the fish dish in his hands. “This is a very powerfully smelling fish to put in a shared fridge.” The boy complained as politely as he could, closing the ice box with a disgusted look on his face.

“Don’t touch it,” Melissa said looking up from her phone. “I’m making it right at my cousin Annette’s.” She made her way over to have a seat in her usual spot next to Barb. “She thinks she’s the best cook in the family. I’m gonna show her in a non-threatening way. Imma look cuter than her too.” She smirked.

“I have a distant cousin named Annette,” Naoya said, finishing up the delicious breakfast sandwich that she had every morning. “She was psychotic though, used to put poison in the condiments at restaurants.” The younger woman stated, looking off in thought as the rest stared at her in disbelief. “I haven’t seen her in ages. Don’t want to either, she was butt ugly.” She then took a sip of her orange juice.

Just as she finished, Janine walked into the room, putting her bag down on the table in front of Melissa and Barbra. “Guys, the lights in the back hallways have been out for weeks.”

“Thank you for the update,” Melissa said as she applied more makeup.

“What are you wearing?” Barbra asked, looking her up and down.

“And we need to do something about it. Okay?” The short woman tried to sound demanding but it didn’t come off that way. “Uh, Melina, from your class.” She started, pointing at Melissa. “Yeah, she was afraid to come to school this morning. Said it looked like “The Shining.” And I don’t even get how she knows that reference.”

“She loves “The Shining,” Melissa stated.

“It’s a classic movie.” Jacob chimed in.

The camera panes Naoya’s way, who looks at them at their movements. ‘Never seen it.’ She mouthed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“This isn’t okay, alright?” Janine stressed. “And I already talked to Mr.Johnson and he said that there isn’t anything he can do.

“What do you want us to do about it?” Barbra asked the girl tiredly.

“I mean, it can’t be hard. It’s just screwing in a few new bulbs.” The small woman stated.

“Janine, just worry about what can be controlled.” Barbra cut her off.

“Exactly.” Melissa agreed. “All we can do on a hot day like this is our own jobs, anyway.”

“I know what’s right,” Ava said as she barged into the room and made her way over to the coffee machine. “Why is it February and hotter than the devil’s booty hole outside?” She asked.

“Climate Change.” Jacob and Naoya said at the same time, causing them to point at one another in recognition while Ava shot both of them a tired look. “We are living in the middle of its disastrous effects. The permafrost in Russia—” He was about to rant before Ava cut him off.

“Nerd.” The woman said between coughs, which sounded more like a laugh. Naoya rolled her eyes while Jacob just turned back to what he was doing.

“Ava.” Janine started, walking up to the woman who was still laughing from her childish joke. “Can someone from the city come and check on the back hallway lights?”

“Girl, no.” The woman answered, her usual judgmental look on her face. “Do I look like the Kool-Aid man?” She asked, halving around the room. Her eyes stopped on Naoya, who raised her eyebrows in question. “Don’t answer that.” She pointed at the woman, who just shrugged it off. “I don’t have enough juice to manipulate the inner workings of city hall.” The principal continued, looking back at Janine and scoffing before making her way out. “They’ll probably come in the summer.” She said as the bell rang.

“I’m the summer?” Janine asked after doing a double take at her words. But the woman was long gone and the others were making their way out of the room to their classes.

“Tough break. Want some egg white bites?” Jacob asked, easing closer to Janine and holding out a plate. The solemn woman looked up at him with a new determination. “No. I don’t have time to eat.” She said before walking out. Jacob was mid-bite when he turned and faced Naoya, who was putting her bag over her shoulder. And before the man could even speak, the woman stopped him. “No, I don’t want your peasant food, Jacob. It’s insulting that you would ask someone as cultured as myself such a question.” She started before strutting out of the break room. Jacob stood there in disbelief.

“It’s just egg white bites, you put them in the microwave.”

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“Janine, what on earth are you doing on that thing?” Naoya asked as she rushed down the hall to the smaller woman who stood on a ladder. She had just come from using the restroom and leaving a class of a bunch of nine to ten-year-olds unattended for even a few seconds could lead to chaos. She didn’t know that chaos would be the grown woman who was the height of a nine to ten-year-old.

“I’m going to fix this broken light.” The woman said determinedly, only a step above the floor in the heightening tool. Naoya made it next to her, seeing the woman wasn’t doing much movement. She placed her hands on her hips, a smug look on her face. “Janine, you are not meant to go to those heights. God gave you your stature for a reason. Plus you’re terrified.”

“I am not terrified.” The woman said, shooting a glance at her. At that, Naoya gave her a knowing look before ushering the woman to go ahead. Janine nodded and looked back at the matter, fear gripping her. She gulped looking back at Naoya. “Okay, I am terrified but I’m gonna do it because I’m on a mission.” She said before carefully making her way up the ladder.

“If this backfires, you buy my dinner,” Naoya asked, after checking in on her classroom through the glass door, seeing them still doing their reading time. At that, Janine gave a confused look to the air, since she was too scared to look down. “Uh, no. This bet is not in my face, at all.”

“Well, at least have some faith in yourself, goodness gracious.”

At that, Janine continued, taking the cover off the lights and continuing to tweak at the wires. “See, look at this. It was just a loose wire.” The woman said, briefly glancing down at the people below her. She then connected the wire with another one, watching as the light stopped flickering. But it didn’t stop for long, the bulbs brightening before bursting in her face.

“Oh!” The woman screamed as she ducked:

“Janine!” Naoya yelled from below her, hosing her arms out in case the woman fell. Instantly, all the rooms were filled with the sounds of confusion and discomfort. The doors opened as the teachers exited.

“Oh, God! Can someone please help me down?” Janine asked, her voice shaking from the fear of the height she was at and the bulb exploding before her.

“And why would we do that since you caused this situation?” Melissa asked as she propped her door open.

“Okay, I didn’t know doing this would cause all the power to go out.” Janie tried to justify, still clutching onto the ladder.

“Well, the power is not all out,” Barbra stated. “It’s on in some places and off in others.”

“It’s off in my room,” Gregory said.

“On in the gym.” The coach said tiredly, slugging up to the group.

“Yeah, it’s off in my room,” Melissa spoke back up. “Thank God we got the A/C or we’d all be meltin’ already.”

“Okay, well before anyone freaks out, the best thing to do in these situations is just stay calm and—” Naoya started as she looked around the group but was silenced by the frantic voice of their terrible and terrified principal.

“Okay! This is it, y'all! The End Times!” The woman said as she rounded the corner in a hurry, a light strapped to her head. “It’s three months early, but it’s happening!” She said, as she closed in on them, giving the closest thing to her a tousle, which happened to be the very thing that was holding Janine up.

“Aah, don’t shake the ladder.” The smaller woman yelled from up top.

“Gregory is the only person that can stay in my bunker, so stop asking.” The crazed principal continued. Naoya’s head jerked back at her words, shocked at the woman’s blatant advancements that were harassment at this point.

“Ava,” Barbra started, holding her arms out in a non-offensive manner to calm the woman. “It is just a partial power outage. Alright, listen up everyone—.”

“Listen to Barbra, y'all!” The doomsday woman yelled, still latched into the latter out of fear.

“Are you kidding me?” Janie asked, clasping at the top of the ladder for support as it shook again.

“This is what we’re gonna do.” Barbra started again. “Everybody without power, please, head to the gym.”

“Head!” Ava chimed in again.

“We will conduct classes there until this is all fixed. It is not ideal—.” She stressed, looking up at the culprit on the ladder. “But it will work.”

“You hear her. Let’s go!” Ava demanded with a nod.

“Guys!” Janie called from the top of the ladder, causing them all to look up at her. “I-I just wanna I-I’m sorry, everybody.” The woman said nervously. “I just thought if I could get up here and get this done then we wouldn’t have to wait and..”

“And look where it landed us, baby girl.” Barbra cut in. “Everybody please head to the gym. We’ve got bigger fish to fry now.”

“Oh, Jesus! My branzino! Everybody out of the way. Out of the way!” Melissa yelled as she sprinted down the hall filled with children.

“Well, if someone can please help me! I feel like I’m one wobble away from death!” Janie begged from where she fluted the top of the ladder. At that, Naoya walked closer, raising her hand to help guide the woman down but was intercepted by Gregory's large arms. The two people glanced at each other, unexpected by the other one's move. Naoya waved her hand, signaling him to help instead. “Thank you,” Jannie said, too spooked to even pay attention to the odd interaction before her. “Okay, give me your hand. Take your time.” Gregory soothed, his large hand latched onto Janine’s. When he was turned away from her, she gave the camera an odd look, scratching the back of her ear. “Whenever you're ready.”

“Okay.” Janine sighed. There was a moment of silence between them all as they waited. “Am I doing it?” Janie asked, just standing there.

“No, honey,” Naoya spoke up, raising an eyebrow at such an odd question.

“Okay, let’s do a count of three.” Janine reiterated, adjusting herself to prepare.

“Okay,” Gregory started. “One, two…three.” He finished and the woman still wasn’t moving. “One more time.” He said.

▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣

“This is all my fault,” Janie said as she looked around the gymnasium at all the students. The shock clock then went off, the constant noise startling Gregory, who paused his class to speak to the woman. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have tried to do the job of a newly graduated DeVry student, but this is okay.” The man sassed, with an awkward smile as she gestured around the room. Melissa was teaching her kids the best she should with something in flashcards, while Barbra was teaching her students to tell time.

Naoya was on the other side of the room, all her students sitting in rows with their eyes closed and taking deep breaths, with her in the front as a group meditation process. She chose this alternative instead of their gym scheduled gym activities, so the kids weren’t accidentally hitting four-year-olds in the head with basketballs.

Janine sighed, going to pick up her phone that pinged. She read the messages she got from Tariq, and that pissed her off even more. Well, it wasn’t helping her attitude for today.

“I made this mess, and I need to fix this.” She said again, looking around at the distressed room of teachers.

“Okay, but fix this how? Gregory asked her. “It seems very outside of your skill set. You should probably just wait for somebody to get to it—.” He tried to reiterate what Barbra had been saying all along and Janine was not having it.

“I don’t want to wait for someone to get to it!” Janine hissed. “You know, our children have needs that deserve to be met. And I’m going to fix this. Nothing is going to get in my way.” She said determined.

“What if you have to climb another ladder?” Gregory finally asked. “Those seem very tricky for you.”

“No.” That was all Janie gave him. “Not today.

Sometime later, the bell rang, signaling to everyone that it was much time.

“Aren’t you going to lunch, Janine?” Melissa asked as she, Barbra, Gregory, and Naoya made their way to the gymnasium doors.

“Uh, no, I’m actually gonna stay and help the lunch ladies with lunch.” The shorter woman tried to find a reasonable excuse.

“The lunch ladies don’t like you, Janine. They never say hello back.” Naoya said, crossing her arms as she looked at the woman across from her. “So, is that what you’re really doing?”

“Yes!” She answered. “And maybe trying to get the lights back on.” She rushed out at the end, hoping no one heard. At that, the two older women groaned.

“Would you give that a rest?” Melissa started. What do you want? To make the whole school blow up?”

“No!” The woman said as she folded her arms. “Plus, I can’t. Luckily the school was built as a bomb shelter in WWII, so…”

“Let it go.” Barbra practically begged the girl before her before she and the rest of the teachers started walking away.

“Okay, I will.” The woman told them, watching them exit. She and Gregory held long eye contact, both knowing the truth deep down. After they were gone, Janine looked back down at her phone, not paying attention to her friends next to her.

“You’re not gonna let it go, are you?” Jacob spoke up.

“No, I’m not gonna let it go, Jacob, okay?” She said, giving the two of them a look. “I need to right my wrongs.”

“Okay, we’ll count me out.” He said, waving her off.

“I never counted you in,” Janine said to him, confused about where he got that from.

“Well, then count me in.” He restated. “Because I don’t have any lunch plans.”

“Okay.” She sighed. She then looked at the woman next to him, her purse on her shoulder. “Weren’t you going to lunch?” She asked.

“You owe me lunch, remember? Your plan backfired.” She reminded the woman from earlier with a shrug. Janine sighed, turning away from them and walking, knowing they would follow. “That’s not how bets work, Naoya. Both people have to agree.”

“That’s how my bets work and you owe me food, woman!”

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“This is just like the one in my apartment, this is going to be easy,” Janine stated as the three of them made their way to the breaker box that was in the custodian closet. “Me and Tariq have to go in that thing like three times a month.” She said them behind her, Jacob holding the flashlight above her head.

“Maybe you should move.” The man suggested.

“Yeah. Tariq says he is “practicing” his credit score.” Janine struggled out and she pushed to get the metal box open. “Apparently 380 isn’t a good—.” She continued to struggle, her words getting lost in her. “Let me try,” Naoya said as she softly nudged the smaller woman out of the way. She gave the box a pull and the thing popped open. She turned and smiled at the two. “I loosened it,” Jannie said, trying to save face.

“Sure, Jan,” Naoya said, going back to looking in the box. “Oh..” she said, looking at the jumbled mess of wires and switches.

“Oh, no,” Janie said, looking at the same thing. “Don’t touch. Not even a little bit.” She read out loud, giving the camera a certain look. “Uh, okay. What’s that say?”

“End of the Road? It’s so hard to say goodbye?” Naoya read out loud, looking at the labels next to some of the switches. “What? Motownphil—These are Boyz II Men songs.” She deadpanned, turning to the rest of them.

“Why?” Jannie asked, moving to stand in front of the box herself.

Jacob chuckled. “It’s ironic ‘cause I’m on Bended Knee.” He joked, giving the camera a brief look. Naoya genuinely snickered while Janie just laughed awkwardly. “Heh. Okay.” She said before going back to the wires. “Oh God, why is that one hot?” Offering them a glance of concern. “Let me try this one.” She said and just a flip of a switch caused a giant spark to erupt, the trio screamed and jumped back to dodge the sparks as best as they could.

“What in the world.”

“What going on?”

Melissa and Barba exclaimed as she entered the hot and dark school building with children running around. “It’s so hot I’m gonna frizz.” Just then, Janie and Jacob came out of the appliance closet, their hair a mess from the static they endured. The three teachers who left for lunch automatically knew who the culprit for everything was.

“Janine! What did you do?!” Barbra asked, quite fed up with the younger woman. “Looking like ‘who shot John.’”

“Barbra, look, I know you told me to let it go, but I couldn’t. Jacob and Naoya—.” At that, she looked back to see where the woman was but she was nowhere to be found. “Jacob helped me open the breaker.” She was quick to accuse.

“I ran away as soon as the sparks started flying. I was looking out for myself.” The woman shrugged as she leaned against the wall next to her. “Plus, I wasn’t about to get yelled at by Barb for this whole mess.”

“It was a chance to support a strong Black woman.” The man next to her breathed out, in a state of shock, quite literally.

“The breaker?!” Melissa asked. “Janine! You can’t do this stuff! What had you come to work today and lose your mind?”

“Look, I—.” She tried to find something to say. “I just have—she gulped—I feel lightheaded.” She said as she swayed.

“Ohh, okay,” Barbra said worriedly as they all closed in on the smaller girl.

“Did you eat today, because I know you didn’t have lunch,” Melissa asked the girl worriedly.

“And you didn’t have any breakfast,” Jacob stated, his tone showing his concern for the woman’s wellbeing. Janine couldn’t even say anything, her balance was off and her mind was delirious.

“Okay, we’re losing her,” Melissa yelled, easing up on the girl. “Do I have your consent to slap you?” At that, Janine fell backward into Gregory’s arms just as Ava and Naoya rounded the corner. “There she goes,” Melissa said over the shocked screams of her colleagues. “She’s out.”

“Yall feel this heat?” Ava asked, just now seeing the sight of the woman on the floor before her. “Oh my God! She’s pale like a zombie! You know, they eat the hottest people first, let me back my tasty ass up.” Ava said, going back to where she came from down the hall. At her stupid words, Naoya was tempted to follow her but snapped out of it when she saw Janine on the floor.

“Uh, okay! I’m gonna go see if I can get some water out of the fridge. Hopefully, it’s still cold.” Naoya said before running off.

“Oh my God, my branzino!” Melissa yelled, moving to push Barb back.” “Excuse me, Barb. She’ll be okay!” She yelled as she pushed the older woman out of her way and jumped over the unconscious woman.

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Once Janine woke up from her little coma, the coach told her that all the kids and teachers were outside. She walked out to see all of them playing in the water that was sprouting from the fire hydrants while the teachers lunged in chairs. “Oh, look who’s back in the land of the living,” Melissa said once she saw the small woman exit the school.

“Who opens the fire hydrant?” Janine asked

“Well, as Melissa would say, snitches get stitches,” Barbra said.

“It was Naoya,” Jacob whispered to his shorter friend, pointing over at said woman who was playing in the water with the children. She had her bat at her side, leaning her weight on it as she splashed the kids who came near her to throw water her way.

“That is correct.” Melissa started again. “But I am not talking to you on account of you killing my branzino.” She said, before leaning back in her seat. Barbra gave her a look and cleared her throat. Melissa looked at the woman from under her shades and sighed a little before sitting back up. Barbra then got up from her seat, allowing Janine to take it.

“So that’s it, huh?” Janine asked, looking around at the kids. “I , uh, gave it my all, passed out, and ruined the school day?”

“Oh, you tanked,” Melissa told her. “You tanked Janine. You took the whole school down with you. It was impressive.” She pressed, knowing she was pushing the woman’s buttons.

“Look, I know. I should’ve stopped. I’m sorry.” Janine sighed. “I just felt so bad when I saw that look on Melina’s face this morning.”

“You don’t think it kills us to see those faces in the morning?” Melissa asked her. “What, are we made of stone? You’re not the first person to feel things, kid. We care.”

It was silent for a moment as Janine thought over the woman’s words. “How do you and Barbra stop yourselves from caring too much if that’s a thing.”

“Because it’s the opposite.” Melissa smiled at the girl as she took off her shades. “We care so much we refuse to burn out. If we burn out, who’s here for these kids? That’s who you gotta take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, what’s with you today Nini?” Both women jumped at the sound of Naoya’s voice, while the woman just stood behind them with her bat. “You’re normally bananas, but…” She trailed off, waving at the girl's aura.

“Uh, I don’t know. Just some stuff at home, I think.” Janine shrugged with an answer.

“Oh, okay,” Melissa said with a nod. “See, that’s the other thing me and Barbra learned. All that at-home stuff—you gotta leave it at the door. Otherwise, you open up a whole nother Panera’s box of problems.”

“I think you mean Pandora’s box,” Naoya told the woman sitting in front of her.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s Panera’s box.” She nodded, while Janine and Naoya both gave the camera a look.

Later on that day, Naoya was in her room in the process of changing the clothes she had on into some that she kept in her closet. She enjoyed playing in the water with the kids but she was not going to go home wet. As she was in the process of changing, she got a phone call. Looking down at her phone, she saw the contact and quickly answered the phone.

“Hello, Adona.” The girl sighed into the phone as she pulled a new shirt over her head.

“Oh, well don’t sound so pleased.” The feminine voice over the phone said to her. Naoya rolled her eyes, as she opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a plastic store bag. She offered the camera a glance, knowing they were probably thinking as to why she kept so many plastic bags in her drawer. But all she could offer them now was a shrug as the voice over the phone continued.

“Anyways, how are you?”

“What do you want, Adona?” Naoya spat, stuffing her semi-wet clothes into the plastic bag.

“What? I can’t see how my own sister is doing?” The woman said over the phone, the hurt in their voice obviously sarcastic.

“No, but I know you. And I know that you only call when you need money. Money for something other than your child.” The younger girl snapped over the phone. All she got in response was a sigh and some shuffling from the other end.

“You know, you don't have to rub it in.” Adona started, and Naoya rolled her eyes at the woman’s words, knowing this conversation was about to go to the argument they always had. “This all would have been so much easier if the rest of us weren’t left out of her will.”

“That’s not my fucking fault, Adona. I tell you that every time you call. Do you think I want the burden of you and the others calling me every month for some fucking bill for me to pay? Not to ask how I’m doing?” Naoya spat at her sister over the phone. She could feel her eyes start to sting, she was never the best at arguing when it came to her family. She’d been called sensitive all her life and it rang true every time she talked to her siblings.

“ “The others”? That’s what you call us? You’re family?” That was all Adona could say back. Naoya rolled her eyes and let out a scoff, pulling the phone away from her face as she sniffed and held her head back, trying to stop her tear flow. After only a few quick seconds, she brought the phone back to her face. “Uh, I can already see where this is going, so I’m gonna end it here. Just send the amount and I’ll talk to you some other time. Take care.” She said before pressing the red button on her screen to end the call.

She placed her phone in her back pocket and moved around her room to gather her things, trying her best to occupy her mind from what just ensued. She was so in her head that she forgot the cameras were there. And she didn’t hear the voice of Gregory at her door.

“Naoya?” He called out to her.

She looked up at the sound of his voice as she placed her things into her bag. “Oh, Hello Gregory.” She smiled, her face showing none of the emotions she was feeling.

“You’ve eaten?” He asked, just standing in the doorway of her classroom.

“Uh, no, actually. Janine was supposed to buy me lunch because I bet that her plan would backfire.” The woman said as she placed her things in her arms. At that, Gregory gave her a questioning look. Naoya raised her hands in surrender. “I know, I sound like a terrible friend. But it’s not that I don’t believe in Janine, I just know how to black a bet. Get it from my father.” The girl shrugged. She and Gregory both laughed lightly. And when it died down, they just started at one another, the air between them oddly peaceful.

“But, uh, are you offering?” She asked, looking at the man before her.

“Uh, yeah. I was going to ask Janine too.” He said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the said woman’s room.

“Cool! Let’s go.” She said with a genuine smile, causing the man to smile at her as well. They walked out and over to Janine’s room, where it looked like the woman was doing something on her phone. Gregory knocked on her door to get her attention. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey,” Jaimie said, looking at the two.

“Have you eaten?” He asked.

“Oh. No. The um, lunch lady gave me that can of peaches but no can opener, so, no.” She chuckled, pointing at the can on her desk.

“What? No fair! You’re so lucky. Well, besides the whole can opener situation. ” Naoya said jokingly.

“Alright, we’ll, you wanna go get something to eat? With me?” Gregory said before Naoya lightly cleared her throat. “With us?” Gregory was quick to reiterate. Naoya nodded, offering the slightly flustered older man a brief look.

“Oh,” Janine said, looking between the two. “I was gonna wait for my boyfriend to finish his show to eat…” She said. Naoya nodded at her words, understanding where she was coming from. Well, understanding as best as she could because she’d never wait to eat for a man. But maybe that was love. She caught the way Gregory’s posture changed at Janin’s words out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t say anything but she did give me a crazy side-eye, hoping he noticed.

“But…no.” The shorter woman started back up with a laugh. “I’m hungry now, so I should eat now, right?”

“That’s typically how hunger works, yeah.” Gregory played along.

“Right! Normal people eat at normal times, like…4:00.” She said, pointing over at the clock on her wall.

“Yeah. All true.” Gregory said with a nod before smiling. “So, let’s go eat.”

“Let’s. Okay.” Janine said with an equally large smile before moving to grab her things. At that, Naoya turned around to head out the door, not wanting to be in the middle of an obvious love fest. She gave the cameras outside a knowing look, a large smirk on her face.

Seconds later, the two of them walked out of the room, Naoya joining them to go down the hall. On their way, they ended up meeting Jacob.

“Oh, hey guys, what up?” The man said.

“We’re just headed to get something to eat,” Gregory answered.

“Oh, great, I’ll join.” The man just inserted himself, not catching the looks thrown his way by the three. “After school crew.” He continued.

“Ooh, “After School Crew.” I like that.” Janine smiled. They all ended up stopping at the lights coming on within the school. They looked over to see Mr.Johnson in the supply closet, standing next to the breaker machine in his fishing gear.

“You touch the lights, didn’t you, Janine?” He asked, shooting an accusatory look the woman’s way.

“Yes,” Janine answered with a defeated look.

“Good thing I got me a system.” The man told her, flicking the breaker box closed. “I’ll make love to you. Like you want me to.” He continued to sing. This caused them to all sigh and continue walking. Naoya stayed behind, a fond smile on her lips as she watched the old man. When he caught the sight of the woman still there, he paused and looked at her.

“You have a good fishing trip?” She asked the man, crossing her arms over another. The man looked at the girl kind of shocked that she asked and that she knew.

“Yeah. Yeah, I actually did.” He said, offering her a smile of his own. Naoya nodded at his words before walking away, following the crew that left her. Mr.Johnson looked at the spot she left, a fond smile on his face as she continued to sing the song.