#keith just looking hot

[childoftheriver]

The boys

[discordiansamba]

anyways I don't know if it's due to falling asleep to the backdrop of people setting off way too many fireworks or not, but I had a weird dream last night and now I am here to tell you guys all about it because I've been idly rotating it all day. you've heard of body swap not get ready for... personality swap, I guess? But not completely?

anyways it seemed to take place at the tail end of season one, where instead of getting shot out into random locations by the corrupted wormhole, all the lions stayed on the Castle, but something about the combination of the corrupted wormhole and the paladin bond resulted in something... weird happening. Some kind of quintessence rearrangement that resulted in Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith all swapping aspects of their personalities around that Shiro was apparently spared from because of some kind of defense mechanism that Pidge installed in the control chip for his arm that's in his brain that protected him but the backlash forced him to require some time in the cyropod.

(I guess my brain said. you know what would be funny. Shiro just waking up to this nonsense. and honestly? valid.)

(also allura and coran are fine and somehow escaped the wormhole don't worry about it. apparently the mice did also have their personalities swapped around but like. they're mice. they don't care.)

Pidge was probably the least effected bc she got traits from Hunk, who she already has a decent amount in common with, except now she's prone to nervous tirades, is now a morning person, and is calmed by the act of cooking. except she can't cook. Hunk at least kept very clear notes on all of his cooking experiments so she has something to work with. She suddenly finds herself more drawn to tinkering with things as opposed to coding, but she can still do the latter super easily. Also she has a solid sleep schedule now? She also stops wearing her brother's glasses bc she winds up fixated on the idea that she'll break them so she just keeps them safe in her room instead. Which she has now cleaned. She still kind of feels like she dodged a bullet. Sorry guys.

Lance is... having an experience, because he picked up traits from Pidge. He likes studying now? Except apparently he still has ADHD, but also Coran gave him this clicker thing that seems to be working wonders. He's suddenly a lot less interested in flirting and his detailed skin care routine kind of doesn't seem so important anymore. He has to actively set alarms on his phone otherwise he'll pull all nighters. He's starting to learn how to code? Which is weird but it's oddly calming. He's also pretty sure he picked up Pidge's sense of humor, because Pidge definitely picked up Hunk's sense of humor.

Hunk, to his great misfortune, has picked up traits from Keith. Which also includes his temper and his general introversion, the former of which he is working very hard on managing. He's also spending way more time on the training deck than ever before, but it suddenly doesn't feel like exercise so much as it feels... relaxing? Also he is like. always tense. What the hell, Keith, how did you live like this. How is HE going to live like this. Although it is kind of nice to not feel the urge to puke from nerves, which he... doesn't really seem to have anymore? That's kind of nice.

Keith is probably the oddest case of the bunch. He picked up personality traits from Lance, which he can't even get angry about because he doesn't have a temper anymore? apparently? He's suddenly a lot more extroverted, and also he feels the weird compulsion to... flirt? He's also become way more interested in self care and is suddenly not a morning person anymore. But for all that in some ways he has the most traits leftover from his core personality, because those traits turned out not to be parts of his personality so much as they were due to him being Galra- so he still likes training and fighting as much as he did before. Which is great, because if he let Lance's personality take him by the nose, he'd definitely just start to coast on his talent.

But they also each still have core aspects of themselves that apparently their lions preserved so it's not a full personality swap. Pidge will still wax poetic about the tech around them. Lance might not be huge into self care anymore, but he's still interested in trying to keep himself looking good. Hunk is still very kind, which makes having Keith's temper hard on him. Keith still is a nature boy and a jock, and somehow still doesn't understand how the cheer goes.

POV: You're Shiro. You wake up to this mess. It's been like this for a week apparently, and Coran and Allura don't know how to fix it.

...can you just go back to the cryopod maybe?

[konnorhasapen]

After doing that whole Freelancer oc page not too long ago I've been on a roll. Just finished Honey, now it's Lovely and Darlin's turn.

[primakira]

doing an f1 x hockey au and i feel like i had a life-changing epiphany when i casted matthew tkachuk as this au's ver of max verstappen

[eiightysixbaby]

two-player

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

turns out it’s a great idea to screw around with your coworker (2.9k)

cw: 18+ only SMUT. mean!eddie, bratty reader (really they’re just stubborn idiots pining for each other), degradation on the low (eddie calls r some names), use of petnames, spanking, fingering, unprotected piv, creampie, lmk if I forgot any!

“I can’t fucking stand you,” you hiss, your chest colliding with metal.

You can hear the metallic jangle of Eddie’s belt buckle coming undone, his free hand pressing hard into your back, keeping you bent over the hood of his van.

He’d been driving you up the wall the entire day, your shift at the arcade seeming to never end. You were at each other’s throats the entire time, spitting insults back and forth like children until Keith had told you to shut the fuck up and go home - he'd close up shop himself - and not bother coming back until you could figure your shit out.

You were seething, tension at an all time high between the two of you when you stomped after him out to the dark, empty parking lot. You aren’t quite sure how you got here, you just know it involved Eddie pressing you up against the back wall of the building, his tongue tangling with yours.

A dry chuckle erupts from deep in Eddie’s throat. “Sure, sweetheart. I’m not that fond of you, either.”

You gasp when his hands tug your shorts down, your panties coming with them in one swift, harsh motion. His ring-clad hand comes down to smack your ass, kicking your feet apart with a heavy boot.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath, barely loud enough for you to hear it. His hands grope each cheek, spreading them to expose your tight little hole, the slick folds of your drenched pussy.

“Are you gonna keep ogling or actually do something, Munson?” you snark, letting out a startled squawk when he slaps your ass again.

“I’m gonna start by fucking that stupid little attitude right out of you,” he grits, gathering each of your hands and bringing your wrists together behind your back, holding them firmly. “Sound like a plan, sugar?” he asks, bending over your frame so that his mouth is inches from your ear.

You’re about to bite back when he swipes the middle and ring fingers of his free hand through your folds, rubbing back and forth through them.

“It’s real fucking cute,” he says, venomous, “that you wanna talk suuuch a big game, but here you are; getting soaked when I’ve barely even touched you.”

You shiver despite the heat of the night, craning your neck to try and get a better look at him. You try to shoot him daggers, but you’re aware you probably just look pathetic. It doesn't help that the fluorescent glow of the Palace Arcade sign was casting him in the prettiest oranges and blues, making him look ethereal.

He’s right, too. All the teasing, the arguing, the insults have done nothing but get you hot for him. You wanted to see how far you could push him, wanted to see if he’d cross into uncharted territory.

And cross he did.

He teases your entrance, swirling the pad of his finger around the slick hole, your back arching.

“Ed-dieee,” you whine, face going impossibly hot when you hear him laugh at you.

“What?” he asks, feigning nonchalance. “What do you want?”

You burn, jaw setting as he continues to tease you. “You know what,” you reply meekly.

“Do I? Hmm, I’m not sure. Nothing seems to be coming to mind…”

“Please,” you try, not wanting to have to say the words.

“Oh, so now you can be polite? That’s sweet, but I still wanna hear you say it,” he purrs. “Tell me what you want.”

Your jaw clenches, wanting to tell him off but thinking better of it. He won’t give you anything if you push him too hard. It’s harder than it should be to get the words out of your mouth, feeling petulant in your reluctance to tell him what you need.

“I want…” you say, exhaling sharply. “I want your fingers inside of me.”

“Oh, is that it?” he replies, and you don’t need to look at him to know that he’s got a shit-eating grin plastered on that stupid face of his.

You nod, cheeks inflamed with humiliation. Nevertheless, your core throbs for him, a deep ache that needs to be satiated.

“Eddie…” you whine, so softly, as if you don’t want him to hear it.

But he does. “So needy,” he taunts, fingers continuing to tease your entrance. He draws circles around it, three times before finally giving in.

Two fingers intrude, pushing in to the knuckle. You inhale sharply, jaw hanging slack when his fingers start to curl. The sick squelching sounds he draws from your cunt are enough to make him swear under his breath, a muttered, “Fuck, so wet.”

He knows exactly what he’s doing, it’s clear this isn’t his first rodeo. His fingers fuck you with a precision you haven’t known before. You’d secretly assumed that he’d be good, but this is mind-blowing.

If his fingers feel this good, you have to know how his cock feels.

In an embarrassingly short amount of time, you’re cumming around his thick digits, cream pooling around his rings.

“That’s it, baby, fuck. Such a god damn whore, cumming so quick,” he bites, but you can hear the condescension wavering in his tone.

You don’t say a word, your brain fuzzy, like the static on a television. Behind you, Eddie’s pulling his cock free from his boxers, and you can hear the rustle of movement when he shoves the clothing down his thighs.

One big hand reaches around to your face, palm open and waiting.

“Spit,” Eddie rasps, and your breath catches in your throat. It takes you a moment too long to compute for his liking. “Did I fucking stutter? Spit.”

You oblige, spitting in his hand, coating it with your saliva. You turn as best you can to watch him stroke his cock with his now slick palm, and a mewl escapes you at the sight of him. His cock is thick and glorious, the tip pink and leaking. You tug your bottom lip between your teeth, meeting Eddie’s dark eyes.

“Like what you see, sweetheart?” he asks, smug.

You almost retort with something snarky, but there’s a part of Eddie’s expression that says he really wants your approval. There’s a part of you that simply wants to give him whatever he wants.

“Mhm,” you nod. “It’s so big, Eddie.”

“Fuck,” he hisses.

He steps closer, pressing the head of his cock against your core. You whine, feeling yourself clench around nothing in desperate anticipation to take him. You bite down on your lip when he presses in, teeth sunk hard into the soft skin, fighting back the moan that threatens to break loose. It shouldn't feel this good, he's barely started fucking you, yet your entire body feels like a live wire.

Your hands clench into fists where he holds them behind your back, nails digging into the heels of your palms as he fully sheathes himself inside of you. A sharp whine is punched from your throat against your will, his cock splitting you open wide. His left hand digs into the curve of your hip, bracing himself as he starts to thrust at an agonizingly slow pace.

“Eddie, c'mon,” you say, desperate for him to fuck you fast, hard.

“Hm?” he hums, snapping his hips against your ass in a punctuated thrust.

You curse, letting the side of your face rest on the hood of his van. There's a tantalizing, slow drag of his cock pulling back out, making your body feel like it's on fire. You can feel how wet you are, the slick warmth beginning to drip down your inner thighs. The slight humiliation of the way Eddie has you exposed and vulnerable, the way he has you in the palm of his hand, makes your head spin and your skin burn.

Unable to take his devious pace, you huff in frustration. “Please, Eddie. Stop going so slow.”

His fingers squeeze, mean, into the meat of the junction where your hip meets your ass. “You're just never satisfied, are you?”

“I'm not fucking playing, Eddie. Come on. Are you gonna fuck me good or what?”

His nostrils flare, though you don’t see it. If you want to play this game, fine.

“You’re gonna regret that attitude when you can’t even walk during your shift tomorrow,” he snarls, bending his body over yours so that he’s speaking into your ear. “Don’t be a bitch.”

And you hate it — god, you hate it. The way his words go straight to your cunt, the way your walls squeeze his cock in desperation.

You whine in spite of yourself, cheeks going hot when you hear a triumphant puff of air leave Eddie’s nose.

He lets go of your wrists, a dull ache lingering where his fingers had wrapped around them. Both hands free, he grips each of your hips, holding you steady. He pulls his thick cock almost completely out of your needy pussy, before ramming entirely back in. A sharp moan is forced from your lungs, your hands trying and failing to find good purchase against the smooth surface of his van’s hood. Eddie gives you no time to adjust to his new tempo, falling into a quick pace seamlessly. Hands splayed flat on the metal, you prop yourself up on wobbly arms, your limbs feeling like goo.

Eddie’s a pro, his hips bucking against your ass with each deep stroke, the head of his cock pressing firmly into your sweet spot each time. This definitely isn’t his first time, and as good as it feels, it makes you a little bit jealous to think of some other girl in your position. You want him wrapped around your finger, begging on his knees for you and only you.

“Damn, sweetheart, this pussy was fucking made for me,” Eddie purrs. “Think she's been craving my cock for a while,” he says, squeezing your hips harder, the chunky rings on his fingers pressing almost painfully into the soft skin.

You let out a strangled whine, your legs feeling like they're on fire as he fucks you into oblivion. It's taking everything you have to stay standing, and his vulgar words only make your knees more weak.

“Come on, baby, tell me,” he goes on, his voice dropping an octave, husky and raw. “Tell me how long you've been waiting for this.”

Your teeth tug at your lip, embarrassed to reply. He's got you cornered, completely figured out, but admitting your secret desires for him is giving in to his ego.

He pulls his cock all the way out, the weeping tip nudging at your entrance. You whimper pitifully at the absence of him, and he tuts in disapproval.

“Ah-ah,” he leans in close again, the heat of his body over yours making you feel like molten lava. “You don't get what you want if you don't behave,” he speaks slowly, his hot breath on your ear. He rubs the tip of his cock through your folds, taunting you. “Tell me how long you've wanted me. How many nights you've spent with your fingers inside that poor, tight little cunt, wishing they were mine instead.”

You quiver at his command, your pussy throbbing for him as he continues to tease. You'd wanted him for far too long; moaned his name into the empty stillness of your bedroom on late lonely nights; fantasized about the softness of his mouth and the roughness of his hands; stared at him any chance you got at work when he wasn't looking. Or at least, you thought he wasn't looking.

You inhale shakily, Eddie's breathing audible behind you.

“I-I've wanted this for so long. Wanted you for so long. Since I started working here, since before then-” you whine, your voice high-pitched and pleading, begging him to give you what you want now that you've relented.

“Do you think of me?” he coos. “When you touch this pretty pussy?”

“Yes, Eddie. It's always you, always you,” you confess, gasping when he presses the head of his cock inside your aching walls.

“That’s right, baby. No one else could make you feel this good.” He slowly fills you, the sticky glide of his cock as it nestles deep making your brows furrow and your eyes shut tight.

He stills once he’s fully inside again, your breathing shallow as you anticipate his movement. His teeth nip at the shell of your ear, surprising you, but in an instant he’s drawn back, standing upright where you can’t reach those plump lips you so badly long to kiss. Without warning he falls into a quick pace, fucking you harder than before, better than before, if at all possible.

“God. Y'know, sweetheart,” he says, breaking the white noise of the night around you. “It drove me fucking crazy how I could never get you out of my head. No matter what I did, couldn't stop thinking about you,” he continues, grunting with the effort of his thrusts. “You have no idea how many times I jerked off to the thought of you,” he says, teeth gritted as he presses against your sweet spot. “Sometimes I'd even come out here and do it on my breaks, just couldn't fucking handle being around you. I've been dying to have you, for so long.”

Your jaw goes slack at his words, a silent moan frozen as you process it. All along it hasn’t just been you with a secret fantasy, no; he’s been right there with you the whole time. In another moment, a different scenario, you'd play back every too-long glance or lingering touch he'd given you in a different context, but right now he's making your head too fuzzy to think that hard.

“Eddie-” you pant, unable to continue. Words swirl in your brain but fail to form a coherent sentence, and you can only hope he's possessed a sudden ability to read your mind. That he can detect how much his words are affecting you.

You're soaking his cock, making each thrust slippery and smooth. You can hear the sick sounds of his balls slapping against your skin, your cunt squelching each time his cock fucks entirely into you.

“I'm, I'm gonna-” you stammer, voice shaky as you teeter on the edge.

“Cum for me, sweetheart. I've been waiting so long for it,” he commands, his voice a low rumble.

His movements don't falter, fucking you even as your legs shake and your walls clench hard around him, over and over. Your cries are incessant, moans and curses of his name into the black hole of twilight that surrounds you. His movements grow sloppier, his previous precision dwindling. Your body grows overstimulated quickly, each drag of his cock setting your insides ablaze.

“Shit, where do you want me to cum?” he asks, sounding nothing like he did before. An almost nervous edge to his tone, his cocky facade crumbling.

“Inside, Eddie, inside,” you rush out, your mouth parting in a gasp when he instantly spills inside of you; not a moment of hesitation.

His cock twitches, a quiet, drawn-out groan leaving his lips. His thrusts slow to an exhausted halt, his breathing ragged with effort.

Your surroundings seem to blur at the edges as you come back to some semblance of reality. He pulls out slowly, your cunt tightening once as if in attempt to keep him inside forever. You don't speak, too afraid that if you do, the whole moment will shatter. That everything he had said would turn out to be a lie, that this was all some joke, something he could hold over your head for the rest of forever.

You stand up straight, your back still towards him, bending to pull your pants back up. You hear him do the same, heavy breaths puffing out of his nose.

“You okay?” he asks finally, waiting for you to look at him, to speak, anything.

You take a shaky breath, relaxing yourself. “That depends,” you reply, turning to face him. You try your best to sound collected, unsure of how well you're really doing after the way he just ruined you.

“On?” He quirks a brow.

“Whether or not you were telling the truth. When- when you said you've been wanting me all this time.” Your voice comes out far breathier than you'd wanted, but you hold your ground, your face emotionless as you await his response.

Eddie's brows shoot up momentarily before softening, an expression you don't see on him often.

“Sweetheart,” he purrs, a hand reaching out to grab your waist, pulling you up against him, chest to chest. Your heart pounds and you wonder if he can feel it. “You have me in the palm of your hand,” he murmurs, leaning down to speak right into your ear. “I was just too much of a bitch to admit it.”

Goosebumps raise on your skin, your lips parting in a pleasant surprise at his statement. He draws back, deep brown eyes meeting yours.

“Well,” you say, still shaky. “I'm glad we got this sorted out, then.”

Eddie laughs, big and boisterous, so unlike that mean one he'd used before. It makes your heart swell, you want to reach out and grab his face, kiss him till he's breathless and reeling.

“Guess we could both stand to stop being so stubborn, huh?” he asks, tilting his head to the side with a cheeky grin.

“Me? Stubborn? I'm not sure what you're talking about, Munson.”

His eyes narrow, his tongue poking at the inside of his cheek. “I could go for round two right now, baby. Don’t test me.”

You crack, breaking into a laugh. “I’d actually really like to be able to walk during my shift tomorrow, and my chances of that are already slim, so can I take a rain check?”

He snorts, a playful roll of his eyes accompanying it. “Sure. A rain check. Just let me know when and where.”

“Preferably not in this parking lot.”

“Noted.”

[lovebugism]

Hi!!!

Could you write jealous!eddie x reader…🫣

I’m down so bad for this man istg

ty for requesting :D i too am down bad for this man — grump!eddie can't believe other people get to look at you (jealous!eddie, established relationship, 1.7k)

bug's one year celebration ��

Eddie thought the comic book section of Family Video was the coolest thing in the world until he met you. And it’s weird ‘cause now you’re all he can think about. He’s holding a collector’s item in his hands, but all he can see is you — and how close you’re standing to Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington.

The boy lays two VHS tapes on the counter before you, each packaged in a thick plastic case. My Neighbor Totoro and The Land Before Time. He waits for you to make an impossible choice while you idle just ahead of him, elbows propped on the countertop with your head in your hands. Your wide-eyed gaze darts between the two options.

Your head shakes between your palms. “I can’t decide,” you conclude, rising to full height with a final huff. “It’s like choosing your favorite child.”

“Well, good thing you don’t have to,” Steve quips with a lopsided smirk. His nose scrunches, and it makes his honey eyes sparkle. “‘Cause you’re getting both. On the house.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you tell him, brows pinched in a quiet sort of protest.

He drops the tapes into a plastic bag, then shrugs like his hand slipped. “Too late.”

“Won’t your boss get mad?”

“What Keith doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me,” you agonize, face twisted with every bit of it.

Steve meets your worry with a wider, pink grin. He bounces a shoulder and jostles the nametag pinned haphazardly to his emerald vest. “I’ll be fine, alright? I’m strong— I can take one of Keith’s stupid lectures.”

Your hesitant fingers brush his golden ones when you take the bag from him. “You’re so brave, Steve Harrington,” you lilt with a teasing glint in your eye, tilting your cheek to your shoulder to feign sincerity.

“The bravest, actually,” the boy jokes in return.

Eddie watches all this play out from where he lingers at the comic book stand. A whole rack of his favorite superheroes, and he isn’t paying an ounce of attention to a single one. 

He was only halfway listening at first, still mostly focused on the cartoon in his hands — if only to pretend he wasn’t completely eavesdropping on your conversation. But now he’s outright staring the two of you down, with an unabashed glare pointed at the asshole flirting with his girl. 

“God, he’s disgusting,” Eddie grumbles under his breath when Steve says something that makes you laugh.

He’s not talking totally to himself. Not entirely, anyway. Dustin’s crouched just beside him in search of one of the newer comics that he swears Keith is hiding from him. “He’s just being nice,” the curly-haired boy reasons with a shrug, obviously distracted as he flips through a stack of flimsy magazines.

Eddie scoffs and finally turns away from you to look at the boy below him. He blinks for the first time in several minutes as he shoots the kid a deadpan stare. “Oh, so it’s not because he thinks my girlfriend’s hot?”

“He’s definitely doing it because she’s hot,” Dustin answers without thinking twice.

“Watch it, Henderson.”

“You asked!” he argues, tilting his chin to look up at Eddie with a wide, ocean-eyed stare. “I’m just saying. Steve’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do that to you— Now, can you please help me find this stupid comic book before I lose my mind?”

Eddie huffs. He decides it might be healthier to distract himself with this metaphorical treasure hunt than stare daggers at you and Steve from across the room. “Which one are you looking for again?”

“Metamorpho— The original. Not the stupid reprint that just came out.”

The older boy stills. He closes the comic book between his palms with one pale hand until the cover of it flips down. Metamorpho, the vibrant cover reads, The Element Man. He’d been too busy looking at you, he hadn’t realized he’d been hiding the thing from Dustin for five whole minutes.

“Is this it?” Eddie murmurs, shoving the thing in the boy’s face.

Dustin’s head shoots up. He snatches the thing from the boy’s grip and gapes at it, with all his practiced teenage boy dramatics. “You had it the entire time?!” he shouts, but Eddie’s already sauntering to the front counter — where Steve’s still making you laugh. 

As pretty as you are smiling (so much that it makes his chest ache), there’s a simmering anger burning orange in his chest. Making you laugh is his job. Not Harrington’s.

You seem to notice his presence before he’s even wrapped you in his arms. You flash him a beaming grin that makes his stomach whirl. He gets sick with it — with nostalgia or something equally tender. 

The green of his envy starts to fade when he realizes you’re wearing his skull and cross-bones sweater, all bundled up in it like it’s yours. He feels a primal sense of ownership, knowing that you’re swaddled in something that belongs to him, knowing he has you in a way Steve doesn’t. It’s not every day the local freak gets to one-up the king.

“Ready to go?” Eddie grins, rosy and broad, as he wraps his arms around you in a loose, sideways embrace. The warmth of the proximity has your stomach doing backflips. The familiarity of his scent, musky and woody and smoky, makes your heart thud hard against your ribcage.

“Yep,” you nod, still smiling. “Steve’s letting me get the movies for free.”

Eddie’s lips smack against his teeth as his jaw drops in a feigned sense of awe. His wild curls bunch at his shoulder when his head tilts softly sideways, looking at the boy across the counter. “Aw,” he croons, high-pitched and sarcastic. “Isn’t that sweet?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Shut up before I revoke your comic stand privileges.”

Eddie squints. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me, Munson.”

Eddie, deciding to be the bigger person, chooses to abandon the petty argument. He feels like the bigger person, anyway — like he’s ten feet tall, walking out of Family Video with you under his arm. He could lose a thousand arguments and still feel like a winner as long as he gets to crawl home to you.

You can’t help but notice how weird he’s being, though. There was a foreign bite behind his words as he spat his sarcasm at Steve. The tension follows you even now, as he opens the passenger side door of his van for you. 

Eddie holds onto the rusted latch with a pale, tattooed hand. You turn to face him instead of planting yourself onto the chipping pleather seat. “Are you okay?” you ask, a subtle furrow between your brows when you peer at him from beneath your lashes.

The boy scoffs a boyish laugh, obviously overcompensating. “Yeah, I’m fine— what are you talking about?”

Your eyes narrow. “You’re being weird.”

“I think you’re being weird, doll— interrogating me outta nowhere.” 

He expects you to laugh. Then he could tell you how pretty you are, and you’d be so flustered by the compliment that you’d forget this entire conversation ever happened. You don’t laugh, though. You don’t even crack a smile. You just keep staring at him.

“I’m fine,” Eddie groans, wild curls billowing when a breeze rolls by. He still tries to smile, though the bright pink expression doesn’t quite meet his eyes. He shrugs and tries to play it cool because anything less than that is so not metal. “I’m just… I’m just a little annoyed. That’s all.”

Your chest stings and your stomach starts to ache. Your mind reels as you try to understand what you could’ve done because the oh-so-sensitive you feels like it must be your fault.

“Annoyed at me?” you press in a tiny voice.

“No!” Eddie booms instantly, much louder than you. He quietens, but his face still swirls with protest. He could never be annoyed at you. As far as he’s concerned, you’ve never done anything wrong in your life. “No— are you kidding? You’re perfect.”

He takes your face in his ringed hands, cradling your cheeks until they squish softly together. A perfect thing, indeed.

“Then what happened?” you mutter through your gently jutted lips.

The boy drops his chin to his chest and sighs. He hates that you care so much about him that you actually make him talk about his feelings. He’d much rather bottle them up and save ‘em for a rainy day. But no, you love him enough to pry the hidden emotion from his cold, black heart.

“I don’t know,” he answers first in an inaudible murmur, kicking at loose pebbles on the concrete because it’s easier than meeting your eyes. “Sometimes it gets annoying when… Other people look at you, I guess…”

He peeks at you beneath his long lashes, button eyes made of chocolate. They swim with a glittering emotion. Something tender and sheepish. He’s like a puppy when he looks at you this way. You can’t help but find him utterly adorable accordingly.

He’s a little surprised when his words make you laugh. He wasn’t joking, really, but he’s relieved to hear the honeyed sound. It runs over him like drops of summer rain and absolves him of all his envy.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can fix that,” you reply, smiling wide between his calloused palms.

“I know,” he whines, pouting softly. “And it sucks. ‘Cause you’re too pretty for your own good.”

You lean further into his warm hand. You blink at him with pretty eyes, and in a pretty voice, you wonder, “Would it make you feel better if I said that I only care when you’re looking at me? And that everyone else is basically invisible when you’re around?”

Eddie’s heart swells so much it starts to ache. You’ve awoken something in him — something that used to be dead before you came around, or something that didn’t exist at all. It’s something golden and made of velvet. Something warm and honeyed. Something that doesn’t have a name because you don’t even know you’ve invented it.

Despite trying not to smile too wide, a beam begins to pull at the corners of his mouth. A second later, and he’s grinning with all his teeth. He gets all shy, ducking his gaze as he nods at you. “Yeah, actually— that does make me feel a little better.”

You beam up at him, all lovesick and stupid. With your cheeks still in his hands, you rise to the tips of your toes and press a smacking kiss to the flushed apple of his cheek.

Eddie figures it doesn’t get more metal than this.

[voltrohgodwhat]

Yes! YES. YEEEES.

Though, I'm constantly torn between this kind of realistic excellence... or, imagining him never wanting for many supplies, too badly, because his dad stuck an underground bunker beneath that shack, and filled it with prepper magpie insanity.

I definitely don't dream about bunkers too much

The man got lucky with an alien, I cannot unsee him as a prepper, full house or no.

Both can be good; many supplies are not eternal, even if they are long-lasting. Especially if it's been down without maintenance - or without guard. Fallout has us believing the cram can survived untouched, but things decay, even sealed. They rot. Food and equipment need care.

Also, some time ago, there was a Desert Keith post, where someone WENT OFF about why these kids were outside without freaking water bottles, and they're still right, and they should say it.

Keith's desert cabin isn’t all empty. There’s a lot of valid stuff there, besides empty instant ramen packages: papers, books, stuff he most likely stole from the garrison when they weren’t watching; and survival stuff. Night vision goggles, various knives, smaller — for precise cutting, hole punching, and even digging — and bigger, sharper ones, to slash and cut things, including his hair. Screwdrivers, durable ropes, solar panels, he's probably modified his laptop, if he has one, to automatically charge from sun. Old, yet still working, headphones. Old, yet still in good condition, clothes. He’s experienced in survival. He knows how to make things last as long as possible in the hot desert weather. His minimalistic approach isn’t natural, it’s forced at first, and then becomes a habit.

what im saying is: when they discovered Blue, in those pouches of his there most certainly were multitools, flashlights, carabiners, chewing gum, bandaids, some random pills, etc etc

like

a lot of things

he wouldn’t have gone outdoors, accompanying other people, without basic things that he carries with him everywhere anyway

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two Three four

Steve’s eating a bowl of cereal, squinting in the morning light. He’s barefoot, wearing nothing but sleep shorts, and is considering going back to bed. He shouldn’t though; he has to be on time today.

Since the mall burned down, Scoops Ahoy is, annoyingly, no more. Robin thinks she has something though, some guy at Family Video who probably has the hots for her or something. Doesn’t matter though, Steve doesn’t really care what this Keith guys motivation is as long as it results in gainful employment for the both of them.

He really should shower.

Steve can see the pool from here, so he’s in a prime position to watch as Eddie pulls himself out of the water and makes his way to the back door.

This is the second time Eddie has come into the house, if you don’t count the emergency temporary over nighter in the bath tub. Well, it’s the second time Eddie has brought himself into the house, at least.

He waits patiently at the back door, like a cat waiting to be let in, and Steve opens the door for him, cereal bowl still balanced in the other hand.

He holds himself in that same way, flat of his tail curled up beneath him, giving him a little height, and he sits himself uncertainly in the middle of the kitchen floor, “hi Eddie.”

“Stee. Buddidy”

Steve gets him some celery from the bottom of the fridge and gives him the whole thing. They stand, and sit, together in comfortable silence, crunching their way through their respective breakfasts.

Steve watches as Eddie cautiously makes his way to the fridge once he’s done, looking to Steve with his his hand on the door, a question on his face, Steve nods, “yeah.”

Eddie opens the door, and Steve watches as he explores, carefully moving jars and condiments and stuff around, glass clinking quietly, before he opens the drawer at the bottom and pulls out a pear, carefully closing the drawer and door again after. He eats the whole thing, stalk, core, seeds, everything.

Steve washes up his dish, checking the time, “want to watch some TV?”

Eddie cocks his head, but follows Steve into the lounge. He sits, looking around, feeling the carpet under his hands, running his nails carefully through the pile until the TV catches his attention.

He moves closer. And then closer again, making Steve laugh when he taps a nail on the curved glass of the screen.

“I’m going to go shower, you shouldn't sit so close, it’s bad for your eyes.”

Robin does her make up in the car on the way over to Family Video, “how’s Eddie?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking, it really means a lot to me, how much you care about my well being.”

She sighs through her nose and rolls her eyes, and Steve tuts at her.

“He came in the house this morning, I left him watching TV.”

“Huh. I mean normally I would say it’ll rot his brain but, something for him to do would be good, right?”

“Yeah. And if I’m getting a job, we should try and teach him to use the walkie’s at least. In case there’s like an emergency or something.”

“A fruit and veg related emergency.”

“Yeah, kind of. We really need to figure out what to do with him, he can’t just sit in my pool forever.”

She hums in agreement.

It’s just starting to rain when Steve gets home, the first break in the nearly two weeks of sunny weather they’ve been having.

Probably won’t be sharing a beer with Eddie tonight then. Well, Steve hasn’t really been sharing, he’s been letting Eddie steal the last third of a bottle, which isn’t really the same thing.

Eddie’s actually sitting on on the couch when Steve gets in, which surprises him momentarily. There’s an empty container on the cushion next to him, Steve figures he found the grapes.

“Hey.”

Eddie turns to see him, smiling, clearly pleased to see him, which is a nice change of pace. Sure he knows Robin loves him, but she’s never actually openly really happy to see him unless she’s, like, drunk or high. And the kids. Steve knows they must at least kind of like him, but they’re all just little shits. Having someone to come home to who is genuinely pleased to see him is a really nice change of pace.

“It just started raining.”

“Raiiniing.”

“Yeah,” Steve points at the window, “uhm, wet. Uhm. Sky wet.”

“Et.”

“Yeah.”

Eddie’s eyes widen suddenly, scrabbling off the couch in clear panic, “Et! Et!”

“Yeah Buddy, what’s wrong-”

Eddie’s frantically slithering across the lounge carpet with what is a truly amazing turn of speed considering his anatomy, “et inied! Book! NO! NO!”

“Oh, shit! Your book,” Steve hops over Eddie’s tail, making it to the door and then sprinting across the grass, grabbing the book and bringing it back.

Eddie’s sitting in the door way, hands clasped together, watching anxiously, “it’s not so bad, just a little damp.” Steve holds the book out to show him where drops of rain have speckled the pages, “it’s not bad.”

“Not bad. Good,” but he’s still frowning, clearly concerned where the paper is discolored by the water.

“Wait,” Eddie does as he’s told as Steve runs upstairs for the hair dryer, plugging it in in the lounge and sitting on the floor, Eddie joining him with the book. “Here, feel,” he turns it on, pointing it Eddie’s way.

Eddie sticks his fingers towards it, and then pulls the back, startled. Then he does it again before watching Steve dry the pages of the book, “dry. Et inied.”

“That’s right buddy.”

“Stee Edidie budidy.”

“That’s right. Yeah.”

Eddie sits next to Steve watching nervously as Steve gets the final pages dried off, and Steve hands the book back.

Eddie grins, “thanks Birdidie,” and then darts forward to press his lips to Steve’s cheek. It's just a press, not a real kiss.

“Oh,” and then Steve chuckles when he realizes what’s happened, the behavior that Eddie's seen and is now mimicking, “no. Uhm. Thank you Steve.”

Eddie cocks his head.

“Wait, wait,” Steve takes the hair dryer with him, heading up the stairs again, and this time coming back with a handful of Polaroids, he shuffles them into a neat stack, sitting next to Eddie on the floor. “Right, this is Robin. Birdie.”

“Thanks Birdidie.”

“Yeah, that’s right, that’s Birdie, now,” Steve shuffles through, “Max,” he says pointing, “and El.”

“El. Max.”

It’s thirty minutes and two pears later, but Eddie seems to be able to identify everyone reliably from their photographs, “no, Dustin.”

“Dust bin,” Eddie replies, confidently.

“You know what, sure, dust bin. Let’s go with that. Kind of suits him, actually.”

Steve’s drinking his evening beer. The weather much better again today, but the evenings are drawing in, and the sun set has almost taken Steve by surprise with how early it’s painting the sky pink. Summer’s coming to a close. Which brings some urgency to the question; what are they going to do with Eddie? The pool isn’t heated, and it usually gets drained and covered for the winter months. It’ll definitely freeze over at some point if they leave it open like this, and there’s no way Eddie could survive that, could he?

Steve doesn’t know. There’s just too much they don’t know about Eddie.

Steve’s got his first shift at Family Video tomorrow, a closing shift with the manager, Keith. Apparently he wants to show Steve the ropes when it comes to shutting down the store; Steve figures just from that that he’s going to be stuck with more than his fair share of late shifts.

He wonders if Eddie’s going to miss his evening beer. He really should teach Eddie to use a walkie. Tomorrow, he decides, will be as good a time as any. Tomorrow morning, and then Steve can leave one with Eddie and take one to work with him.

At least he knows Eddie can get into the house if he really has to, if he gets hungry or whatever. He really could do with some sort of cover out here though. Some where to leave his book in case of the rain. Maybe put a couple of towels in there, some food in the cool box when Steve’s out, the walkie, that sort of stuff.

Eddie swims over, pushing his floating toy bucket along ahead of him in the water. There are things in it tonight, which is a first. Eddie puts his bucket on the side of the pool before pulling himself out to sit beside Steve.

He pulls something out of his bucket to show to Steve, “oh, it’s a pine cone. Hold on.” Steve puts his beer down to grab the encyclopedia, and Eddie duly swipes it. Steve flicks through the book wile Eddie sips the beer, “look, this is a tree.”

“Tee.”

“Tree.”

“Trrreeee.”

“Yeah, it’s a seed for a tree,” Steve shows Eddie the series of pictures, how the seed underground grows a little shoot that grows, eventually, into a tree.

Eddie fetches something else from his bucket, showing Steve, “trree?”

“Leaf,” Steve points at the leaf in Eddie’s hand, then, “tree,” as he points to the tree line at the bottom edge of the yard.

Eddie’s frowning at the page in the book, but he does nod, so Steve doesn’t push it any further.

“Steve do you know how early it is.”

“I know, but I don’t care, do you still have that tent you were playing around with last summer?”

“Camping, Steve, I went camping with-what do you want it for, anyway?”

“It’s for Eddie.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dustin’s tone changes to immediately helpful, “yeah, do you want to come and get it? I’m pretty sure I still have it-MAAAAA! MAAAAAAA DO YOU KNOW-”

Steve pulls the receiver away from his head while Dustin's hollering at his poor mother.

“Yeah, we know where it is, you coming now?”

Eddie’s holding a piece of plastic tubing, looking concerned, and watching Steve struggle with the worlds smallest two man tent, “it’s okay, I got this.”

Eddie tilts his head one way and then the other, like a curious bird, as Steve struggles. It takes a couple of failed attempts, not helped by the fact that Dustin couldn’t find the instructions, but it doesn’t take that long before the tent is ready. Steve sets it on the grass, the doorway edge butted up against the tiles that surround the pool edge. Steve fixes the guy ropes using metal tent pegs driven into the lawn. It’s not hugely spacious inside, just big enough to accommodate two medium sized dudes when lying down, just as long as those two medium sized dudes are super comfortable with each other, then it’s fine.

Steve goes backward and forward, lining the bottom with a couple of sleeping mats he also borrowed from Dustin, and then putting in a couple of towels, Eddie’s book, and rescuing the Rubik's cube and slinkie from where they've lain, ignored, on the side of the pool, “there, what do you think?”

Eddie moves closer, cautiously looking inside before looking back to Steve, “yeah, good. Go in, it's okay,” Steve nods and smiles and generally tries to be encouraging.

Eddie goes inside before turning to look out, sitting on his tail.

Steve sits in the doorway, “it’ll keep your book dry.”

Eddie ponders that a moment, touching his book, before looking up. He carefully touches the inside of the tent roof, “et inied?”

“Yeah buddy, that’s right. Good.”

Part six

[bluemantics]

Lance, staring at Keith training: god. He thinks he’s hot shit defeating all those bots. Look at him, swinging his sword like he thinks he’s a samurai or something! And these flips are not necessary. I bet his ego is growing every time he beats a stupid drone and we are all just LETTING. IT. HAPPEN. Someone needs to kick his ass and show him he’s not all that!

Meanwhile, in Keith’s head: I wonder if Taco Bell still sells the Crunchwrap supreme. I hope we haven’t been away long enough that the Crunchwrap supreme is discontinued.

[tartarusknight]

I want more platonic stobin and bisexualy disaster Steve and gay disaster Eddie in my life. So I wrote some :)

Steve wanted to scream as he tried the handle again. "Steve. Steve!" Robin pulled him away from the door. "They aren't opening the door, and you're just gonna break the handle. Keith already hates your guts. Don't make it worse." She pointed out, weirdly calm about all of this. "Plus, it's not like we don't share space normally." She says and sinks down to the floor, tugging him down with her.

Steve looked at the door, "Why can't they accept that we're only ever going to be platonic?" He asks and runs a ran through his hair. He was sick of this. Of the comments and the teasing. It stresses him out.

They kept pushing the two of them together, and Steve was worried that it could mess up what friendship he had with Robin. Because Steve's used to messing up and hurting someone, and he really doesn't want to hurt Robin. He has nightmares of outing her by accident and ruining her life. It terrifies him.

"Steve, come on, it's okay. It's just a stupid bathroom. We've shared a bathroom stall. This is bigger than that." She jokes, and he pulls his knees up to his chest.

"I can't do this, Rob." He admits and watches her freeze. Her walls climbed up like he said something really stupid. "I'm sorry, but I'm just-"

She cuts him off, "I get it. You don't want to deal with the backlash of being a lesbian's friend." She says, and he blinks.

"What? No! I don't want to say the wrong thing. I get bitchy when I'm annoyed and I'm easily annoyed when I'm stressed. And I'm stressed! So I don't - I can't be the one to out you. I can't mess that up for you." He says, and it's nice to finally admit his fears.

Robin blinks at him, "That's what- Steve, that's what bothers you about all this?"

Steve nods, "I mess up everything I touch. I can't do that to you, I won't do that to you. Honestly, you should probably find better friends. One who thinks with his brai-"

"Shut up." Robin snaps, and he stops speaking. Looking at her with wide eyes. "You can't talk about my best friend that way. I won't let you," She states.

"You're best friend?"

Her eyes soften, "yeah dingus. Who else would be my best friend? We're soulmates," She decides, and he's confused because she sounds like she means it. "Platonic, with a capital p, soulmates."

He swallows back a ball of emotion, "even if all the kids I babysit-"

"Mother."

"Babysit," he stresses, and she smiles. "Try to get us together at every opportunity and won't believe that we aren't in love. Or that I'm in love with you at the least. I think you're better off because you call me dingus more than my name," he mused.

Robin sighed, "I won't say that it's not annoying. But I'm used to dodging questions about boys, and this way... with you, I have someone to be myself with. That's more important to me than some stupid preteens who think locking us in a bathroom would get us together."

Steve smiles, "last time we shared a bathroom did go pretty well, honestly." She knocked her knee into his. He glanced over at the door. "Do you think they'll give up?"

Robin snorts, "Dustin's more invested in your love life than you are. I don't think he'll give up unless you're dating someone else or the truth comes out."

Steve sighed, chewing his lower lip until something clicked in his head. "What If I come out?"

Robin blinked, "you- what?"

Steve nodded, "I mean I like both but I could just say I favor guys." He shrugs, "it's not like they could disprove it since it's mostly true."

Robin stared at him, "Steve... since when did you- what? Steve oh my god," She shifted onto her knees and slammed into him. "Since fucking when! Why didn't you ever tell me!"

Steve raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean since when? I literally point out hot guys all the time! When we watched watched Rocky Horror, I said Tim Curry was sexy!"

She shook his shoulders, "you did no such thing! You ask if I also think a guy is hot and you said- oh." It clicks for her and she falls back on her ass. She covers her face, "holy shit."

Steve smirks, "holy shit."

A giggle escapes her lips, "you so have a type."

"Shut up," he groans.

But before they can really dig into it, there's a loud knock on the door. "We're gonna open the door in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" The door swings in a Dustin's hand is over his eyes like he's gonna be scarred at the sight of them.

"We're literally just sitting on the floor Henderson. Not having freaky bathroom sex," Steve rolls his eyes and stands, Robin following suit.

Dustin looks upset like he expect his plan to work. "I don't get it." Steve ruffles his hair as he passes the kid. Robin lets out a small laugh as she stretches her limbs like she had been stuck in there for more than just 15 minutes. Steve turns, and she locks eyes with him, a silent question.

"Kid, I've said this a million times, but I'll say it one more time." He glances at the other kids that had either always been there or gotten here at some point since he'd been locked into the bathroom. "Robin and I will never date. She and I have no romantic feelings for each other. And if you pull this shit when we're at work again, I'll kill you."

"It's not like it was hard to figure out how to check someone out," Max shrugged and Steve huffed at her nonchalant grin from behind the counter.

Steve ushers the kids out from behind the counter before taking his normal spot, looking around at the empty store. Robin moves and bumps shoulders with him. "Platonic feelings only." She gestures between them.

Dustin groan, "I just don't get why!"

Steve glances at Robin, "because I'm too gay for her." He states and everyone goes quiet. "Honestly boobies are so high school." He winks at Robin who looks at him like he's bravely stupid.

"Wait but you dated Nancy?" Mike questioned arms over his chest.

Steve rolled his eyes, "so? I am more picky on who I date. Doesn't matter the gender. Robin doesn't tick my boxes."

"But she should!" Dustin complains and Robin groans.

But then Steve sees someone in the windows, heading towards the doors to Family video. "My type is more," and he just gestures just as the door dings to call their attention to the newcomer.

Eddie Munson glances at the kids and then at Steve. "Sheepies," he says. Eyebrows raised in confusion at the eyes on him. Eddie glanced at Steve, "Harrington, you break the kids?" He asks as all the kids continue to stare at him as he moves to the horror section.

Steve waves his hand, like he can brush off the confusion. "Nah, they're just shocked that I'm not completely in love with Birdie over here."

Everyone's jaw is on the floor as Steve leans his arms on the counter, not even bothering to hide the way he checks Eddie out when the man looks away. "Right," Eddie sighs and grabs a movie. "Well, not everyone's type is jocks." Eddie teases slightly, having warmed up to Steve little by little when Steve picks the kids up from Hellfire.

Steve takes the movie from Eddie, giving him his one free movie he gets for the week and hands it back to Eddie without charging him. "I'll win ya over." He winks, and Eddie's eyes go a little wide.

Eyes glanced around like he could ask if anyone else saw that. "Um, well, yeah, how-how much for the-"

"Consider it on me." Steve waved his hand and then leaned more into Eddie's space, "I haven't seen this one yet."

Eddie swallows, "You should check it out. It's, uh, pretty good."

Steve smiles, "I'm shit with horror, maybe if I had someone to hold my hand through it." He sighs overdramatically, then snaps, "Oh, I know! If you're not busy we could watch it together. I mean, it seems like a scary metalhead like yourself would be capable of holding my hand through the jump scares."

Eddie's eyes are blinking rapidly, "it's for the boys." He says, looking lost. Steve frowns, and Eddie jumps into action, "But I could-" He stops himself and groans. "I've got to- plans- fuck-" He stumbles and practically smacks into the door in his rush to leave family video.

Steve sighs and leans his head down on the counter. Robin pats his back, "I miss my whiteboard." She sighs and he looks up to glare at her.

[stevebabey]

it was supposed to be short n small and now its 3k & its unedited and u all have to just deal with it bcos it was supposed to be SMALL | ao3

The driver's side car window makes a resounding thunk when Steve’s forehead falls against it.

Through the glass, his keys glint tauntingly back at him.

Still tucked in the ignition, locked in on the inside. So close and yet so far from Steve who is, unfortunately, locked on the outside.

I’m such a fucking idiot.

He lets his head raise up a bit just to drop it back against the window again, this time more in punishment. Of course, of course, he coughs up the money needed for a warrant of fitness and then he goes and locks his keys in the car the next day. Like he needed one more cost added to his finances.

Steve steals a glance at his watch. Fuck, if he doesn’t get on the road in the next 10 minutes, he’ll be more than late to work.

His eyes glance across to Eddie’s van, parked beside his own car, outside the trailer home in Forest Hills. Then he looks back at the trailer.

He can ask. He can just go inside and ask Eddie for the lift— and explain that the reason he can’t take his own perfectly fine car is because he’s so goddamn thick between the ears that he’s locked his keys inside, like some kind of moron.

The voice in his head sounds suspiciously like his father.

Something thick grows in his throat. He swallows it to no avail. Embarrassment begins to flush down his neck, hot and uncomfortable.

No, no— he can’t ask Eddie because as far as Steve knows, Eddie hasn’t quite figured it out yet.

Even while Dustin and Mike make their jokes about him being a bit slow, even when Robin says at least you have your pretty face, Eddie brushes them off and laughs. Takes them as jokes with no merit to them. Steve knows though.

So what if he doesn’t want to burst his bubble just yet?

He knows Eddie will figure it out eventually— because they always do. When he asks too many stupid questions and needs things explained twice and— and it’s just inevitable, okay? He knows that.

Fixing his glare through the window of his car at the shiny pair of keys within, Steve wrestles with what would be worse; being late or accidentally tipping Eddie off when they’ve just gotten so close.

Close enough to share a kiss, two nights ago, under the covers. It was barely more than a peck. But Steve knew it had taken a miraculous amount of courage from Eddie to do it— to surge forward and grab Steve’s face, his rings cool against his skin, and press his mouth against his Steve's own.

Eddie’s lips had been chapped but his smile had been pure sunshine and Steve thinks he could’ve stayed forever under that blanket, memorising the shade of pink Eddie’s cheeks turn after a kiss.

They’ve been dancing around it ever since. Each interaction is more charged, more flirty, more gooey. Long lingering looks and pointed nudges that make Steve feel like a 14-year-old with a crush again, in the best way.

So, no. He exactly can’t go ask.

With a heavy sigh and glance up at the darkening sky, Steve is only glad he’s not supposed to pick up Robin today as he begins to walk.

—

One phone call to the auto-shop reveals exactly how much it’ll cost to get his keys retrieved. Which is, to say, entirely too much for one adult living on the wage of a Family Video employee.

And they won’t be able to get anyone out for another whole day.

Growing more and more frustrated with himself, Steve angrily jots the number down into his little notebook, the pen pressing down hard enough to leave indents on the page behind it. Keith is somewhere out the back, snacking no doubt, and leaving Steve to man the front.

Normally, it wouldn’t bother him— especially because he could discretely make the phone call he needed— but now it’s just him, the empty store, and the number in his notebook that stares back at him.

Oh, and it’s raining.

The darkening sky from earlier had transformed into something closer to a thunderstorm, rain lashing against the windows and driving any and all customers away. Which is fantastic— just what Steve needs now, really the fucking cherry on the top.

The phone rings, the noise unusually shrill in the silence of the store. The film playing amongst the aisles has been on mute as soon as he’d gotten his hands on the remote and Keith had disappeared out the back.

Steve stares at the phone, watching it ring once, twice, before he picks it up with a heavy sigh. He dredges up his customer service voice.

“This is Family Video, how can I help?” He greets, putting as much pep into his voice as he can manage—which turns out to be a meagre amount.

“Did you walk to work today?”

Steve straightens up at the sound of Eddie’s voice on the other end of the line. His free hand instinctively smooths down the front of his vest before he quickly remembers Eddie can’t actually see him.

“Eddie?” He asks, instead of answering the question.

“Your Highness, himself,” Eddie responds. His tone is that usual jaunty playfulness that Steve’s come to adore. “Now answer the question, Steve-o. I thought you were one of those smart guys who actually listens when the weather report comes on the radio. Why the hell did you walk?”

Steve’s shoulders curl in, just an inch, and his eyes seek out the open notebook with the quoted amount, underlined and circled, staring back at him. His throat grows a lump at Eddie’s unknowingly poor choice of words.

“Thought I would walk today.” He replies, his voice clipped. “You know, walking, exercise, good for you? Any of these ringing a bell for you, Munson?”

It’s supposed to be a joke but Steve can tell by the end of the sentence, it’s come out way too sour to land that way. He sounds mean.

Steve cringes, clutching the phone a little tighter and screwing up his eyes. He waits for Eddie’s response.

“You know,” Eddie says, sounding a lot duller all of a sudden. “I was calling to maybe offer you a lift through the rain—”

“Sorry, I’m sorry, that-“ Steve cuts in, that same strange embarrassment swelling in his throat. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”

“—But if you’re gonna be a dick about it, you can enjoy the walk.”

Steve grits his teeth and pinches the bridge of his nose because this feels a little too much like a line from his Dad— but it isn’t because Steve is the one digging this hole all on his own. He’s the idiot who fucking locked his keys in his car and walked to work and snapped at Eddie and—

“No, I’m sorry.” He says, still a bit too tense.

Idiot, idiot, you’re being a fucking idiot, Harrington.

“A ride would be appreciated. Please.”

A pause. This time when Eddie speaks, he’s a little softer. “You off at five today?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at five.”

The dial tone sounds as Eddie hangs up but Steve stays where he is, phone pressed against his one good ear, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. The rain begins to flood the parking lot.

—

Five o’clock comes around too soon.

The rain has let up, just barely, but enough that Steve can actually see Eddie’s van when it pulls up into the parking lot. It rocks about dangerously in the wind and Steve suddenly feels bad for making Eddie come out to get him.

He could’ve stayed here, taken the longer shift. Told Keith to take off early and just walked back home when the rain let up a little more— or just camped out the back on the couch in the employee room if it never did.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

He’d started doing it more and more when his parent’s visits to home became more frequent. It was easy to pull a few white lies out and Steve far preferred answering questions like: Where were you last night? than Why won't you come out to our event tonight? Show face for the Harrington's? It's not like you're doing anything with your life, right?

The only reason he’d stopped, actually, was because he had become good friends with Eddie.

Eddie, who loved his company almost any hour of the day. Who gobbled up each and every morsel of food Steve cooked up, whether it was good or partially burned on the sides. Who told him he had a place in the trailer, day or night, rain or shine.

Eddie who… was waiting outside at five o’clock exactly, pulled up to the curb so Steve wouldn’t have to walk through the rain for more than a moment.

There’s a sliver of surprise, deep within his chest; like he thought Eddie might’ve not shown up and forced him to walk through the rain, just to learn his lesson. It would make sense, Steve thinks. You reap what you sow.

He clocks out hastily, barely murmuring his exit to Keith who doesn’t look up in the slightest. Steve heads for the door and decides then and there, he’ll happily pay the number in his notebook if he doesn’t have to tell Eddie what a fucking moron he actually is.

Water splashes as he dashes down the steps and Eddie’s leaning across, pushing the door open so Steve doesn’t even have to wait to yank it open in the rain. He slides in, sprinkled with rain, slams the door closed, and instantly gets blasted with heat.

“God, you’re a lifesaver,” Steve sighs, sticking his hands out towards the air vents which are working in overdrive. They whir loudly in complaint. Eddie smiles, the apples of his cheeks glowing in the warmth, and twists the wheel, his eyes on the road before him.

The van groans and the bumper dips, kissing the gutter, as they roll out onto the road and head for Forest Hills. For a moment, Eddie focuses on driving straight before he flicks his gaze across to Steve.

“You know I wouldn’t have actually let you walk, right?”

Steve blinks, unsure of what to say in response, because he actually did think that was a possibility until about 2 minutes ago. He shivers as a stray drop in his hair sneaks under his collar, cold and wet.

“Right.” He answers, giving a hesitant smile back.

They’re driving slower than usual due to the rain. Steve lets himself sink back into the worn seats of the van, comforted by the familiar smells. A tang of tobacco, a stronger hint of weed, and that musky deodorant that Eddie swears by— even if Steve has never heard of the brand before.

But, well, it must be working in some sense because when Steve takes a deep breath, he smells it and feels a sense of calm. He doesn’t even notice he’s begun staring.

The strange weather has made Eddie’s hair frizzier than usual and paired with his rosy cheeks, Steve thinks he looks goddamn delectable. He gets caught up in a daydream about having a hot chocolate when they get back to the trailer, maybe even sharing a blanket on the couch and—

And then, Eddie turns and says, “So, wanna tell me why you walked? For real, this time?”

Something shrivels up within Steve. The tightness in his throat from this morning returns. He turns his head and looks out the window.

“I don’t get why you don’t believe me when I say I walked because I wanted to.” He grumbles, almost too low for Eddie to hear over the rain.

Why are they still talking about this? He thinks of the keys through the driver’s side window, thinks of the number in his notebook and the much smaller one in his bank account, and has to hold back from thumping his head against the glass again.

Something metallic jingles behind him.

Steve whips around, his eyes zeroing in on his keys dangling from Eddie’s hand— clearly just retrieved from his pocket. Something ugly and warm wakes up inside him, his stomach knotting uncomfortably, and his cheeks start to burn in embarrassment.

Idiot, Idiot, Idiot.

He knows, he already fucking knows how stupid you are.

Eddie’s eyes dart off the road to look at Steve. “Cos you’re clearly not telling the truth.”

Steve averts his gaze, turning his face back to the window and the wet pavement rushing by beneath the car. He swallows but the lump in his throat doesn’t move.

“Okay, look I don’t actually care that you walked to work,” Eddie continues, placing the keys down in the cup holder between the seats. “I just don’t get why you wouldn’t tell me that they were locked in your car.”

Steve can’t help it, the way his shoulders hike up. His teeth sink into his bottom lip meanly, nearly drawing blood. He doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it— Eddie’s still trying to rationalise away what everyone else has already figured out.

“I just—” Steve starts, on the defence, but it comes out a bit too wet. He forces himself to swallow again, thankful there’s no sting of tears in his eyes. “I can fix that shit on my own. That’s all.”

“Well, yeah,” Eddie agrees.

Below them both, the hum of the van begins to dwindle and Steve realises abruptly that Eddie’s slowing down, pulling over to the side of the road. He looks to the side, at Eddie.

“Please, c’mon, I just wanna go home, man.” Steve pleads, not even caring that he’s referred so casually to Eddie’s trailer as his home.

“Wait, just,” Eddie waves a hand as he sticks the van into park, releasing the wheel and properly turning to Steve.

“I just want to understand. You know I can pop the door to most cars in, like, 5 minutes. Why didn’t you just ask?”

“Eddie,” Steve stresses, turning away with a pointed sigh. He runs a hand through his hair, latching onto the roots and tugging at it. “Just leave it, please.”

“Or asked for a lift!” Eddie continues, his hands gesturing out a bit wildly. “I could’ve given you a lift even.”

Steve's eyes slice across the van and he wills back every emotional outburst that wants to lash out of him, to poke the right spot that will hurt to get Eddie to back off.

But Eddie is just staring at him, brown eyes wide, a little furrow between his brows, and is just confused. Concerned.

“If you keep driving,” Steve murmurs, almost dejectedly. He ducks his head low and turns back to the window. “I’ll tell you.”

It works— the engine rumbles back to life and the wheels roll gently back out onto the road, just a couple more minutes from Forest Hills. Steve watches the road and tries to grasp for the right thing to say, each possibility dissolving like smoke. His eyes squeeze shut tightly. The rain dins loudly on the roof of the van, a song and dance of the elements.

By the time they’re entering Forest Hills, Steve still hasn’t said a word. The van crawls up into its usual spot, next to Steve’s own car, and Steve stares down at it. He can hear the soft click of Eddie’s seatbelt as he releases it.

He supposes it’s too late now, anyway. Eddie already knows. He keeps his eyes out the window as he speaks, his voice flat and dull.

“I just... I didn’t want you to think that I’m an idiot, too.”

There’s a questioning noise behind him, a little noise from Eddie’s throat that slips out, unbidden.

“Too?” He echoes. “Steve? Who thinks you’re an idiot?”

Steve huffs loudly and turns back, throwing his hands up. “Jesus, who doesn’t? Would you like a list?”

Eddie’s face twists into a meaner expression than Steve's ever seen before and for once, he properly matches the dark clothes and spooky tattoos he dons.

“Yes. And I’ll go door to door— wait,” He shuffles, shifting up onto his knees so he can stretch over the console and place his large hands on either side of Steve’s face, directing his gaze towards him.

It’s reminiscent of a kiss not too long ago. Despite all the burning self-deprecation that churns inside, the pleasant reminder dulls it significantly.

“I’ll go door to door to anyone who ever made you feel that way,” Eddie repeats, now face to face with Steve, their noses nearly touching. His brows are still pull tight into a furious frown. But it's not at him, Steve realises. “And I’ll do something— I’m not sure what yet, but it’ll be foul and like, maybe I’ll put instant mash potatoes on their lawn and— okay the specifics aren’t relevant but this— this is.”

He searches Steve’s face intently, eyes darting around, making sure the message is sinking in. His expression softens out, his eyes suddenly sweeter than before. “You’re aren’t an idiot, Steve. You aren’t an idiot for making a mistake and I’ve never thought that about you.”

Steve blinks. Swallows heavily and god fucking dammit, is the thickness in his throat ever going to disappear? This time it feels different though. He’s not sure how.

“You don’t think I’m an idiot, do you?” Eddie asks.

Steve shakes his head, moving Eddie’s hands with them at the same time. It’s true, he doesn’t. Eddie is… goddamn fucking wonderful. He’s like a warm summer shower through the wretched seasons of Steve’s life. One of the reasons it was worth living through the entire ordeal of 86.

The rain outside continues, pitter-pattering on the roof, somehow softer than it was a second ago.

“Okay,” Eddie says, a small smile on tugging on his lips.

“Okay,” Steve says back. He tries for a smile and it’s easier than expected, though it wobbles at the ends. It doesn’t matter— Eddie is still gazing at him, brown eyes shining and Steve believes what he says.

“Okay,” Eddie says one more time, his smile turning closer to a grin. “Let’s go make some cocoa, yeah?”

He moves to retract his hands but Steve moves faster, his hands darting up to hold them in their place, palms against his cheeks.

“Wait,” Steve murmurs, watching how Eddie stills and keeps his closeness, their noses still a couple inches from touching— and Steve clings to the threads of courage in him tightly.

His hands slide off Eddie’s, grasping lightly at his wrists, and it’s easy to lean forward and connect their mouths in one swift motion.

Eddie squeaks— then melts.

It takes half a second before he remembers to kiss back, equally as enthusiastic and it’s nothing like the first kiss they shared under the covers. The rain dances around them and Steve swipes his thumbs over Eddie’s pulse soothing, feeling the barest jump of his rabbiting pulse.

When he shifts back, breaking the kiss, Steve keeps the closeness, the tips of their noses bumping together. Eddie’s hands feel blazing warm on Steve’s cheeks but when his lashes flutter open, catching sight of Eddie’s glorious pink cheeks, he thinks it might be his face burning up too.

They tumble inside through the rain and with all of Steve’s prayers answered today, they also share a blanket on the couch, ankles linked beneath the rumpled fabric. They make hot chocolate, Steve’s style, and sip it at, making googly eyes at each other over the rim of their mugs— until Eddie laughs too much and spits it down his front.

Steve doesn’t feel stupid again— unless that is, you count feeling stupidly sappy.

(He does not.)

[childoftheriver]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer

[shesoutofhere]

I think I’ll die

Steve Harrington x reader (enemies to lovers) (kinda?)

Pt.2

Summary: you and Steve mutually agree to disagree, on everything. That’s until a hot summer day brings you two closer than ever.

Ignore all typos or I’ll cry <3——————————————————————————-

You have a pep in your step as you walk towards the family video store. Tape in hand, you swing the door open. You guessed the plot twist before even watching the movie and now Robin owes you ten bucks.

You walk in, you sigh at the sight in front of you. Leaning on a shelf talking to another customer is Steve. You quickly bolt into an aisle in hopes that he didn’t see you.

Your relationship with Steve is a bit more on the rocky side. One day he was King Steve, every outcast's worst enemy and then all the sudden he’s hanging around your best friend and a bunch of kids. Robin swears up and down that he’s a changed man but when you ask why, she offers no answers. So as of right now, your opinions on him remain the same.

In all honesty, it’s not like he’s made much of an effort to get along with you, so things proceed as they have been. You and Steve, Sharing Robin, like split custody.

You’re now kneeling down in the aisle you’re in, looking at the movies on the bottom shelf.

Out of nowhere a shadow appears above your head. You pay it no mind, hoping it’ll just pass over. The shadow clears its throat. You look up and there Steve is, in all his glory.

You roll your eyes and look back down at the shelf in front of you, trying your best to ignore him. The next thing you know, he’s leaning right over you, deciding now is the perfect time to put tapes back on the shelf above your head.

You know what he’s doing. Steve is doing what he always does when he sees you, trying to get a reaction out of you. Well Steven, today is not that day. You pay him no mind and continue sifting through the tapes in front of you. Steve takes your silence as a dare to push your buttons. He leans over you again, except this time you feel his knees pressing into your back. Your hands stop moving against the tapes.

You don't dare look up at him, you can envision his little smirk perfectly. Steve really starts to put his weight on your back, you stumble a bit forward, he lets out a small snort.

Without a second thought you scooch to the side as quickly as you can. Since Steve no longer has anything in front of him to hold his weight, he goes tumbling forward. He catches himself, of course, but not without dropping all the tapes in his hand and sending the ones on the shelf in front of him flying to the side. This time you let out a laugh.

“Oh come on, my stack.” Steve looks down at you with a glare.

You finally stand up from your spot on the ground and walk out the aisle, Steve follows right on your heels.

You feel him right behind you, “shouldn’t you be picking those up Harrington?” He scoffs, “I should make you clean them up since it's your fault they went all over the place.”

You turn around and Steve stumbles to a stop. “I am a loyal, paying customer, how dare you talk to me like that.”

“Oh bullshit, you don’t even pay for your movies half the time thanks to Robin.” That’s true, you don’t.

“Speaking of Robin, Where is she? I gotta talk to her” You lean over the front desk, peeking to see if Robin is hiding under the counter again.

Steve walks around and snatches the tape you’ve been holding. “She went out back for a Keith break.” You wince, completely understandable Rob.

Steve starts returning your tape for you. He sticks out his hand like he’s expecting something. “Can I help you Steven?”Steve sighs, “How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Steven, and yes, you owe me a late fee. You were supposed to return this yesterday.” Robin didn’t work yesterday, hence the reason you didn’t return it yesterday.

You snatch the tape from his hand, “ I’ll pay it when Robin gets back, can you leave me alone now?”

Steve scoffs at your bluntness.

You look back at the aisle you guys came from “ I think you should clean up your mess, it’s a hazard to other customers.”

Steve walks out from behind the counter, mumbling a quick ‘you’re a hazard to other customers’ and heads towards the aisle to pick up the tapes.

When you turn back around, you see Robin walking up towards the front. You give her a smile, waiting for her the reach the counter.

“Good afternoon my lady, you seem chipper.” Your smile widens, “Chipper I am Robin, I’m about to become 10 dollars richer.” Robin gives you a confused look which quickly morphes into shock. “No way, noo way!” You nod your head “Yes way Robin, pay up.” You stick your hand out expectantly.

Robin takes the tape from your other hand, “How? How do you always get it?” You shrug “It’s my god given talent.” Robin returns your tape and goes to say something when she’s cut off.

“Charge her Robin! Charge her the late fee!” you turn around and see Steve come out the aisle with his stack of tapes.

“Oh my gosh Harrington, go away.” He doesn’t. He marches right up next to you.

“This,” he points back and forth between you and Robin, “this has to stop, no more freebies for you any more.”

You look at Robin and back at Steve. “Okay, who you the right to decide that?” Robin backs you up, “yeah Steve who gives you the right?”

“I’ll have you know, I care about following the rules that pertain to my job.” Robin points her finger at him, “Oh you dirty liar, you give freebies to cute chicks all the time, hows that for following company policies.”

Oh, Does he? Interesting.

Steve looks at you, you can’t really tell what he’s thinking but it’s weirding you out. You look back to Robin.

“Look Harrington, We’ll let you and your freebies for hot chicks slide, if you let Robin and I’s little deal go.”

He gives a curt nod.

“Robin, I haven’t forgotten, My ten dollars please.”

Robin looks up at you, oh no, you know that look. “Funny story, I actually don’t have the a ten to give you.” Robin gives you a sheepish smile but you don’t take it. “Robinnn, you do this every time.” She shrugs “what, I’m poor.”

Steve just stands and looks at the two of you. “Oh so now you guys are openly gambling in front of me?”

You stick your hand out. “Steven this has nothing to do with you.” He pulls your hand down out of his face. You keep your attention on Robin. “Yeah well I’m poor too Rob. That was gonna pay for my day at the pool.”

You can practically see the gears turning. “What if I told you I know a person with a pool, for free.”

“Robin, who do you know that I don’t, that has a pool?” You say crossing your arms.

Steve figures out who she's referencing before you

“No way, my pool is private, not open to the public.”

Robin yanks on Steve’s arm from over the counter. “Oh come on Steve, the kids are there all the time. Would you be generous enough to share your fortune? For me, please?”

Steve is quiet, he’s thinking. Finally with a sigh, he decided “Fine, fine, whatever you guys can come hangout at my pool.” With that, Steve walks away with his stack of tapes.

Sorry Robin, there was no way in hell you were going to Steve’s house.

——————————————————————

You caved.

It’s hot, very hot, and all you can think about is taking a dip in a nice cold pool, even if it’s Steve’s pool.

Robin called you a while ago that she was already there. You waited another 30 minutes before heading out, really debating if you want to go.

You pull up to the address Robin gave you. You look at the address scribbled on the paper just to make sure you were at the right place.

You walk up to the front door and knock, no one answers. You sway back and forth on your feet and decide to knock again. No answers, maybe everyone is out back and can’t hear?

You’re thinking maybe now is the time to run back to your car and just go home. Your inner battle is interrupted by the door swinging open.

Steve stands there with a smug look on his face.

You stare back “um hey”

“Uh hi” he mocks you “were you thinking about walking away?”

What? Oh. “Where you just standing there watching me you freak?”

You know you should be nicer, it is his house after all but it’s hot and you're sweating and you feel like you’re melting and he’s being mean and he’s getting on your nerves.

“Well are we gonna keep standing here orrr”

Steve pushes the door open all the way, inviting you in.

You walk right past him and you keep walking but you have no idea where to go. Steve shuts the door after you and brushes past you, you assume he knows where he’s going so you just follow him.

As you walk through the house,you can’t help but stare at everything.Steve’s house is beyond nice, it’s beautiful. You linger behind him, focusing on every little thing you pass.

You aren’t paying attention and don’t realize that Steve has stopped walking.

You run right into him

“Okay who's the freak now, why are you starting down everything in here? it’s creeping me out.”

Dammit he noticed. No point in lying.

“Your house is insane”

“No it is not”

“Uh, yes it is.”

“No it’s not, it’s a normal house, now move.” He goes behind you and starts shoving you towards what you assume is the back door.

“Are you kidding me, this is not normal, you’re a true ten percenter.”

“Okay I get it, eat the rich or whatever.”

You look behind you and give him a disgusted look. “It doesn’t sound right when you say it.”

Steve ignores you and goes to open the back door. You are immediately greeted by the sound of yelling and splashing. How you didn’t hear it before is beyond you. Once you step outside and your eyes adjust to the light you see the culprits of the splashing.

A pool full of teens. A pool full of teens that are now staring at you.

Robin hops up from her lounge chair and walks towards you.

“Hey I thought you’d never make it, I called you forever ago.”

The delay was on purpose. “Yeah sorry, I got distracted, You know me.” Robin seems to buy the excuse and shrugs.

“Well come sit down.” Robin leads you over to the lounge chair right next to hers.

You go to sit down but you still feel lingering eyes. “Hey Rob, why are the children staring at me?”

She whips her head towards them and they immediately look away. “You’re new, they’re frightened.”

“Understandable.”

You leave it at that.

You sit in your chair but you can’t help but feel uncomfortable, caused by the mixture of heat and the situation itself.

Once you feel like everyones stopped staring you decide to take your jean shorts and top off. You try to be as nonchalant as you can, but you feel lingering eyes again. You turn to the kids but they're too wrapped up in whatever water fight they're having. You look more to your left and find the wandering eyes. Steve tries to act like he wasn't staring, he turns his head a bit too late, and it could just be the heat but you see a pink tint on his cheeks.

Weird.

You lounge on the chairs with Robin for a while. Robin seems unaffected by the sun, reading her book peacefully. You, on the other hand, are sweltering. Your skin is shiny with sweat. Everything in you wants to jump right into the pool but you don’t.

It’s weird. For some reason you feel almost embarrassed to get in the pool. You know Steve offered but you know it was reluctantly. Also, you have no idea who these kids are and the idea of just jumping in the pool with them makes you nervous.

How pitiful, a bunch of high schoolers are scaring you.

You take a deep breath in. Maybe Robin will want to get in with you. You glanced towards Robin, who is currently sipping on whatever drink Steve gave her, eyebrows scrunched tightly. She’s gotten to the good part of her book, so you can count Robin out of getting into the water with you.

This is fine, you think. You’ll just sit here and tan away. Maybe Robin will make the decision soon to get in and you’ll jump at the opportunity to join her.

You turn from your stomach onto your back. You use your hand to block the sun but something bigger in front of you does the job for you.

Steve stands in front of you. “You’re gonna pass out from the heat.”

You move your hand to look at him. “What are you talking about Steven?”

You hear a chuckle come from the pool “Steven? You call him Steven?” You lean over to see who's laughing. You see one of the kids hanging on the pool wall, he’s got a silly little grin on his face.

Steve turns around, “No, no one calls me Steven”

“Liar, I call you Steven all the time.”

Steve turns back towards you, “Yeah and I tell you not to every time you do.”

“Why, what's so wrong with calling you Steven?”

“Uh, maybe the fact that it isn’t my name”

You gasp, “No way that isn’t your real name.”

Steve puts a hand on his hip, “Oh as if you don’t know what my real name is.”

You give him a look.”What's that supposed to mean? Is everyone just expected to know who you are and what your name is, big shot.”

“Okay that isn't what I meant”

You and Steve start to bicker back and forth but are silenced by a loud groan coming next from you.

Robin slams her book shut, “do you see what you started Henderson, they were doing so well.”

Henderson, that's the name of the instigator.

You go to sit up, “I was doing just well until Harrington over here came up to me and started bothering me.”

“Well I just thought that you looked hot and-” he cuts himself off, “not hot, well yes hot, you look sweaty and gross and yeah, you know.”

You all just stare at Steve, You don’t know what bothers you more, the fact that he called you sweaty and gross, or that he was staring long enough to notice how uncomfortable you were getting with the heat.

You hear a full on belly laugh, it comes from the Henderson kid. He shakes his head laughing and swims back over to the other kids.

This leaves you, Steve, and Robin in an awkward silence.

Robin finally puts her book down on the side table next to her, “Alright maybe it is time to get in the water.”

Oh bless Robin, she may not always pick up on social cues but you internally applaud her for picking up this one.

You get up and start walking towards the pool. Robin jumps right in. You’re about to head in when you feel someone tap your shoulder. You turn around fully to look and it Steve. You're about to ask him what his problem is but before you can he gives you a smug smile and pushes you.

You lose your footing and fall right into the pool. You feel a splash right next to you from under the water. You assume Steve jumped in right after you.

You feel beyond embarrassed and stay as long as you can under the water. Gravity defies your wishes and you begin to float back up to the surface of the water. When your head breaks through the water you gasp for air. All you can hear is everyone laughing, but in the mixture of laughs is Steves.

He’s laughing, you’ve never seen him laugh this hard before. You can’t help but feel a little less angry. The water feels amazing and that's enough to fully disperse your anger.

The kids get distracted by their own antics and Robin joins in with them. You sit back, not really a fan of getting splashed. Steve swims over to you, still giggling. You try your hardest not to smile but you can’t help it.

When he reaches you he speaks up, “I wish you could’ve seen your face, it was the most hilarious thing ever.”

You splash a bit of water towards him. “Yeah well I didn’t really expect to get flung into the water.”

Steve shrugs his shoulders,”What did you expect?” You give a small laugh, “more from you, but shame on me for having faith.” You both just giggle. You sit in silence for a bit, just watching Robin and the kids fight over the only two tubes in the pool.

You glance towards Steve. He’s got a real big smile on his face. The suns hitting him straight on. He’s glowing and it makes your heart beat faster.

No, no,no,no.

You are not doing this. This is not what you need. You have seen about a bazillion girls go down this same path and you will not end up like the rest of them.

You continue swimming towards the stairs, “I'm just gonna sit on the stairs for a bit.”

“Hey if the kids are being overwhelming with all the splashing, I can tell them to stop.”

No Steve it’s not the kids, it’s you but he doesn’t seem to get it as he continues to follow you to the steps.

You don’t know how to fend him off so you do what you always do, you be mean. “Gosh Harrington can you just go bother someone else.” You sat on the stairs and looked at him and you wished you hadn’t.

Steve has got this sad puppy look. His browns pinched and brown eyes wide. Before you can apologize he turns and starts swimming towards the rest of the group, muttering a small whatever.

You sit alone with a pit in your stomach. You see everyone having the time of their lives. It's better this way you think. Better for you, better for him, better for everyone.

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

A couple of hours have passed and Steve has steered clear of you. You’ve all been going back and forth between the pool and the chairs.

The kids worked up a huge appetite so Steve ordered some pizza and now everyone was lounging around.

You haven’t felt any better than you did earlier and you think you’ve stayed long enough.

You walk up to Robin who’s floating on a tube in the pool.

You lean over the pool so you can catch her attention.

“Hey Rob I think I’m gonna head out.”

She sits up in her tube, “what, why, the pizza hasn’t even gotten here yet.”

“It’s okay I’m not that hungry. Plus it’s getting late and I forgot my glasses.”

Robin groans, “what did I tell you about you glasses, you gotta keep them in your car man.”

They are in your car, but at this point you’re looking for any excuse to leave.

“Steve can drive you home. He has to drive me home anyways.”

You give her a look. “Robin, you can’t just offer for him.”

She gives you a sheepish smile. “I’m sure Steve won’t mind.”

“Steve won’t mind what.” Oh gosh you feel like you’re gonna cry.

You both look at Steve as he repeats his question.

“You don’t mind driving her home right.”

Whatever you said about Robin and social cues, this is what you meant.

You shake your head. “No he doesn’t have to drive me home, it makes no sense and plus he probably has to take all the kids home anyways.” That should do it.

It doesn’t. “Actually Nance is coming to pick them up. They’re having a sleep over at Mikes.”

Oh, Nance, Nance, you’ve heard about her.

Nancy, super cool badass Nancy who Steve has been hung up on since high school Nancy.

With your new found feelings, you’d rather not see them interact so even more reason to leave.

“Well I-” Robin cuts you off

“At least stay for pizza”

You stare at her and then glanced towards Steve, he doesn’t say anything.

“Okay Rob, I’ll stay for pizza.”

Robin gives a small yes and floats away on her tube.

You're done with the pool and want to change. You see Steve heading inside and step after him.

“Hey, mind if I borrow the bathroom.”

He just nods. You wait for instructions on where it is but none come.

Steve looks at you with a “what” look on his face.

“um , where’s the bathroom?”

Steve starts walking without saying anything. You follow behind him.

He leads you up the stairs. Finally you reach a bathroom which you assume is his based on all the hair products sitting on the counter.

“You can use this one. The kids are taking turns in the one downstairs so they won’t bother you up here.”

That's actually..really generous.

“Do you mind if I take a quick shower to rinse off the chlorine? It’s starting to burn my eyes.”

Steve just nods. “Be my guest.”

He shuts the door behind him, leaving you in the bathroom.

You lock the door and shimmy out of your wet bathing suit. It takes you a minute to figure out the hot water but when you do, you crank it up.

Once in the shower, you look at all the fancy products Steve has. You grab a shampoo bottle and are immediately hit with a familiar scent. You shake your head and put the bottle down. You grab the body wash and it's the same thing all over again. You quickly use it then rinse off and get out.

You feel like you're losing it. Everything in this bathroom is overwhelming you and you need to get out, quickly.

You lather lotion all over yourself and finish throwing on your clothes and run out the bathroom with your wet clothes in hand. You scurry down the stairs and head towards the back door. You can immediately smell the pizza and are grateful that the scent takes over the smell of Steve's body wash on you.

You see everyone surrounding the pizza boxes. Steve is trying her best to keep things in order but there's only so much he can do against a band of hungry teenagers.

You see robin sitting at the outdoor table with two plates, she pats the seat next to her. You walk over to her with a small smile.

“Hey, I was trying to save you a slice of pepperoni but us grown ups might be stuck with the supreme.”

You pat her on the back “thanks for trying, I’m proud of you either way.”

Robin smiles at the praise and hands you a plate with a supreme slice on it.

You take it but cant help but look at it with a bit of disdain. You actually don’t like supreme but you’ve actually worked up an appetite, so supreme will do.

Eventually each kid starts taking a seat at the table with you guys. You guys small talk until the Henderson kid gives you a compliment on your shirt. You give thanks and look down at it, thats when it dawns on you that it isn’t yours.

The shirt belonged to an ex of yours, you said you’d throw out all his things but you kept most of the t-shirts he left behind. They make great lounge shirts.

“Um thanks, it's actually my exes.” all the kids giggle and Robin gasps at you.

“What the heck, I should’ve known something was going on, that would explain why he asks about you every time he comes into the store.”

This is news to you and before you can defend yourself you hear Steve mumble a quiet “is that who that is ?”

It throws you off for a bit but then you and Robin start bickering back and forth about said ex.

Steve clears his throat loudly, “I’ll be back,” and with that he heads inside.

Robin rolls her eyes at him “dramatic much?” The kids laugh again and everyone starts chowing down on their pizzas.

You and Robin chat with the kids. They have you laughing so hard that you tear up a bit. You can see why Robin cares for them so much. You all continue to chat until you hear another set of laughs coming from the back door.

You all turn to look and you see Steve and Nancy. Steve looks at her like he’s hanging onto every sentence that comes out of her mouth You look down at your plate, you start to get that obnoxious feeling in your stomach and feel your heart pick up.

All the kids yell in unison “Nancyy!”

She laughs, “hey guys, had fun?”

They answer with their own responses.

Steve and Nancy come to sit down at the table where everyone else is.

Steve grabs a seat next to you and Nancy next to him. You want to get up and move but you feel like that might be a bit of an overreaction.

Steve grabs a plate and puts a slice on it and hands it over to Nancy, just like its second nature.

Nancy gives him a small thank you and starts eating her slice. You can't help looking back and forth between your plate and hers, you feel embarrassed.Your plate is filled with all the veggies you picked off your slice, while everyone else is eating it just fine.

Robin interrupts your internal conflict by leaning over to talk to Nancy.

“Hey Nance, this is my best friend by the way.”

Nancy puts her plate down and reaches her hand out to you, “hey it's really nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

You reach your hand across Steve to meet hers, “It’s great to meet you too, I hope it's been all things good.” She just smiles and nods. Steve lets out a snort after your comment. You do your best to just ignore him.

Everyone starts chattering away as you continue to pick at your pizza.

Out of nowhere Steve lets out a sigh and looks over towards you.

“What's the point of getting a supreme slice if you're not even gonna eat it right.”

You feel your face flush out of embarrassment at him calling you out.

“There weren't any pepperoni slices left.”

“So then just eat the pizza that's left.” he says with a mean tone to his voice.

“That's literally what I'm doing right now.”

“No you aren't, you practically picked everything off your slice, its just bread.”

You're starting to get annoyed with his comments. “Okay I don’t like what’s on a supreme slice , is that a crime?”

“Not a crime, it's just a waste.”

At this point you can feel everyone quieting around you. You know that your arguments with Steve are a form of entertainment for others but you don’t want to argue. However, against your better judgment, you continue.

“What is it with you today Harrington? You are especially intolerable today.”

He scoffs, “you ever consider the fact its because I am having to spend more time than usual with you.”

Ouch

“Okay, you were the one who invited me over.”

There's a shift in the air. Everyone around you can tell that this isn't just some silly bickering. Robin tries to change the subject but Steve just can’t let it go.

“Yeah, well that was for Robin and in all honesty I thought you’d have the decency not to show up, all things considered.”

Everyone goes dead silent, no more lingering chatter.

“Considering what Harrington?” you urge him on, you really want to hear him say it. For a second you think he’ll hold his tongue but then he blurts it out.

“Considering I despise you.” he’s quiet for a second but not for long. “You’ve got no shame you know, showing up to someone's house even though you’ve done nothing but shit on them every chance you get.”

Robin chair screeches from next to you. “Steve! What the hell?!”

Everyone stares at you wide-eyed, all expecting a quick whipped insult back. It never comes. You don’t have anything to say to Steve Harrington and you don’t think you ever will after this.

You quietly get up from your chair with your plate in hand. Your legs wobble a bit as you stand and Robin reaches for your arm, urging you not to leave. Robin's puppy eyes won't get you this time.

You grab your bag of things and speed walk to the back door. Once you’ve open the door, you can hear a hush chorus of what the hell’s. You drop your plate in the sink and walk through the house to get to your car.

You hear footsteps, and don't know who to expect. When you turn around you get surprised when you see Nancy standing right in front of you.

She approaches you with wariness

“Hey, I just wanted to check on you, make sure you're good to drive.”

You give a pitiful fake laugh, “yeah, i’m fine, I just really have to head out now.”

She walks with you, “that's not like him, well not anymore, I don’t really know what that was.”

“Look Nancy, I don't need you to defend him to me. That's how it's always been between the two of us. I think he’s right, no more long periods of time with the two of us.”

Nancy gives a sad smile, you know she can see right through you and you hate it.

“I’ve never really seen him act like this, but I don’t think he despises you, I’ve seen Steve hate and that isn’t it.”

You know she’s just trying to make you feel better but the whole ‘I know him’ spiel just makes your heart ache even more. Nancy does know Steve in that manner and you can’t stand it even after him blowing up on you.

You give Nancy a small smile and tell her goodbye.

You finally get into your car and rummage around for your glasses. You can’t find them. You can't help but laugh. You really didn’t have your glasses all this time. You turn your brights on, in hopes that it makes seeing a bit easier.

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

You’ve been home for a while now and still are unable to sleep. Your brain is running a mile a minute and you’ve given up trying to lay down. You're sitting at your window staring out into space. You replay the conversation with Steve. You could still hear the way his voice raised and you can see the scowl on his face everytime you close your eyes.

You can’t just sit here, you’ve got to go and do something, anything to get your brain to just stop its constant buzzing. You grab your keys and a jacket as you head out your room. You don’t even bother changing out of your pajamas as you sneak out the side door. Your parents are heavy sleepers so you doubt they hear the engine turn but if they do that's just something youll deal with when you get back home.

You drive until you find a gas station that's still open. When you walk in, the cashier gives you an odd look. You ignore him as you go to grab all the snacks you crave. You usually have some self restraint but you think of it as a treat to make up for the day you had.

You walk out with a back full of candy and chips in one hand and an icy in the other.

When you make it back home you’re gathering your things when you see a car slowly rolling down the road. Still with no glasses, all you can do is squint really hard to try and make out the car. You see the car park two houses down the road and turn off. They sit in their car for a moment but finally you see the car door swing open. You decide that you might need to hurry inside.

you inhale sharply when you see the person making their way down the sidewalk, this time a lot closer than before. You start to speed walk to the side door.

All is well you think, until you hear a ‘hey’ come from behind you. You ignore it as you try your best to get your hands to stop shaking to unlock the door. You hear it again expect this time closer.

You freak out and the only thing you can do is chuck your slushy at whoever came up behind you and scream.

That's when you finally hear a string of curses from a voice that sounds oddly familiar.

You look over at the shadow figure and squint really hard. “Harrington?”

Steve, who now has slushy all over him looks up. “Yes, yes it's me Steve. Dude what the actual hell?” He looks back down at his shirt and tries to wipe pieces of frozen slushy off his shirt.

You look at him bewildered. Is he saying what the hell to you? After running up on you like some freak in the night?

“Hey that's my line, what else did you expect. You can't just creep up on a girl in the middle of the night, it's not right.”

Steve goes to argue back but you both see the light turn through the side door window.

You look back at each other with wide eyes.

“go, go hide somewhere.” you whisper shout to Steve, urging him to go anywhere that isnt right in front of your door.

He quickly rounds the corner of the house right as the side door opens. Your mother is standing in her robe with a frantic look on her sleepy face.

“What on earth is happening out here?”

“Oh, I was throwing away some trash.” you point to the bag in your hand, “then i saw some sort of critter run away from the trash cans.”

Your mom seems to believe your story. “Oh my gosh, did you see what it was?”

You shake your head. “No, i dont have my glasses.” you hope Steve is listening for the next part. “But I bet it was ugly and I hope it never comes back.”

Your mom’s too tired to pick up on your tone and just shakes her head back at you. “Why are you throwing away trash right now?”

“You know me and my late night cleaning.”

Yeah, you got her there. “Okay well don't forget to lock the door when you come back in, also please keep it down.”

“Sure thing mom, love you.” she gives a “love you too honey” and walks back towards her room.

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You head over to where Steve was hiding. When you round the corner you see Steve standing there still trying to get the slushy off of him. You can't see much in the dark but you know for a fact that his shirt is ruined.

“What on earth are you doing here?”

Steve doesn’t look up at you, he just continues to fidget with his shirt.

“I don’t know, I was dropping Robin off. We talked for a bit and she gave me your address. I think I want to talk”

“You think you want to talk?”

“Yeah.”

Um, “about?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

You scoff, “I think they’re warranted, all things considered.”

“True true, you got me there.”

You can’t really stand seeing a blurry Steve with red slushy dripping off of him so you speak before you can really think about it.

“Do you wanna come in?”

Steve finally looks up at you. “Like inside?”

“Where else would we be going?”

“But your parents are home.”

You let out an annoyed breath “Look you don't have to if you don't want to. I was just offering so you could get all that'' you motion towards his shirt, “off of you.”

Steve answers the second the sentence comes out your mouth. “Yes, yes, I’d like to come inside.”

“Okay well, come on.”

After asking him to take off his shoes, you have him sneak up the stairs as quietly as he can.

Once in your room you close the door behind you and lock it. Now that you're both in your room, you start to panic. You quickly look around to make sure there isn’t anything weird laying around. Steve doesn't seem like who knows where to look either. His eyes jump from item to item, scanning everything around your room.

You sort of have a deja vu moment to earlier when you were staring at everything in his house.

You clear your throat. “Um, through that door is the bathroom if you want to rinse off. I can find something that you can wear.”

You go to your drawers and rummage through until you find a shirt and shorts that you think will fit him. “Here, I think these should work.”

Steve takes the clothes from your hands. “More of your ex's clothes?” you think he’s trying to make a joke but his tone seems more upset than joking.

“No, that's actually my brother's old clothes.”

“Oh, well I’m gonna wash up.”

Before you can respond, Steve shuts the bathroom door behind him and you hear the shower turn on.

A bit of time passes and you hear the shower turn off, a bit of rummaging comes from the bathroom and finally Steve walks out. He’s got your brother's clothes on and his dirty clothes in hand.

“Is there any way I can try washing this?”

Now's probably not the best time to run the washer. “I think it’ll wake my parents.”

“Right” Steve nods.

“I can try scrubbing it in the sink.”

“Yeah , I’d appreciate it.”

You walk up and grab the shirt out of his hands. You go into the bathroom and he follows behind you. You reach under your sink and take out some bleach and a scrub. Steve takes a seat on the edge of the tub behind you.

There's no sound but the faucet running and you scrubbing at the stains on his shirt. Once you've scrubbed as hard as you can, you ring out the shirt and hang it on the towel rack.

“I couldn't get it all out but I think I did some damage.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

There's a pause, “I deserved it.”

Agreed. “Yeah , you really scared me.”

Steve shakes his head. “Not for that.”

You immediately know what he’s talking about and the mention of it seems to reignite whatever irritation you had for him.

“Yeah, talk about hospitality.” Steve doesn't seem to enjoy your sarcastic tone but he takes it nonetheless.

“Look, I was really irritated and everything you were saying was just really setting me off and” he pauses. “ if I could just explain my perspective I think you’d be able to under-”

Is he really telling you how irritating you were being?

You cut him off before he can finish. “What did you come over for?”

“What?”

“What did you come over for? Was it to apologize because where you were headed didn't sound like an apology.”

He gives no answer.

“I’d rather you not apologize if you don’t mean it.”

“I think we both have some apologizing to do.”

That throws you for a loop. “What do I have to apologize for?” Steve huffs, “You aren’t exactly innocent in all of this.”

“I didn’t embarrass you in front of a group of people you’ve just met. I also didn't kick you out of my house, which I'm thinking I should do now.”

“Woah, I did not kick you out of my house.”

You scoff, “Might as well have but don't worry, I now have the decency to never show up again.” you’re being mean and you know it but you can’t help it. Everything is so back and forth with Steve and you can’t help but revert back to where you guys started.

Fighting, saying mean things to one another should feel normal but it doesn't. You see Steve's face and he looks so defeated and usually that has no effect on you but it does this time.

“I don’t want to argue with you. It’s late and I’m tired.”

Steve goes to say something else but you beat him to it. “Aren't you tired?” Steve knows you’re not just talking about the time of night. He knows what you’re insinuating.

You let out a sigh and slump into the counter behind you. “Some people just don’t get along. Forcing a relationship isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Steve looks up from the ground “What’s that supposed to mean?”

You give a small shrug, you fiddle with your nails. “Maybe we just need to steer clear. It makes Robin uncomfortable, I can see it.” Steve stays quiet so you continue.

“She’s my best friend and I love her and for some reason she loves you just as much. I don’t want her to choose.” Robins is really good at hiding it in small jokes and jabs but you can see it in her face when you and Steve argue. Everyone else sees it as silly bickering but Robin knows the extent of it, she hears both sides constantly nagging about the two people she loves the most.

Steve finally speaks up “Yeah, I’ve picked up on that too.” you both make eye contact and Steve’s eyes still look so sad. “So what, we just ignore each other, I don’t think that’ll make Robin any happier.”

You let out a laugh and Steve looks at you bewildered. “What’s so funny?”

“We sound like divorced parents, like we're trying to figure out what the best course of action is for our kid.” Steve doesn’t find it as funny and you don’t get why, he seems genuinely distraught and you can't help but point it out.

“Why so serious? This is like a dream come true for you.”

Steve stands up from the tub and walks a few a couple steps and ends up right in front of you.

“You’re an idiot.” Is he serious right now? He wants to go again?

“What the actual hell is your problem? I am trying to be civil and you’re being an assho-”

“I’m an idiot too.” Okay, what is going on? Steve steps a bit closer and you try to scoot away but you're stopped by the counter behind you. He’s so close to you, you can smell your body wash and shampoo on him.

“Did you use my soap?”

He gives a simple “yes” and proceeds, “did you want to just sit in the water and not actually clean myself?”

“Well I didn’t know the hair could stand anything under a thirty dollar range.”

Steve doesn’t look as sad any more and you’re even more confused. “No, not usually, but I made an exception tonight.”

You're arguing with Steve, at least you think you are, but you second guess yourself because Steve seems sooo… bubbly?

You focus in, “okay we need to finish talking.”

Steve just shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore.”

what.is.happening?

“Can I tell you what I came for?”

“We already discussed this, you came to tell me how annoying I am and yada yada.”

Steve shakes his head again. “No, you never really let me finish. You just kind of ran with the conversation.”

That's…kinda true.

You stay quiet and let him speak.

Steve lets out a sigh. “I was irritated. I had been on edge all day at the idea of you coming over to my house. I was scared to have someone who I don’t get along with in my space. I was even more nervous to see how things would be around all the kids.”

He pauses, you bump your knee with his to get him to continue. “The way I get with you, I don’t act like that in front of the kids or really with anyone. I’m never sure where we will go and it was all unsettling, but then you got there and everything was fine and the kids thought we were a hoot and things felt, well, normal.”

You nod your head agreeing, things were fine. “It was going great but then you got all defensive again and it threw me off, kinda brought me back to reality. The reality is that you don’t like me.”

He inhales deeply before releasing it and continuing . “It upset me because I don’t feel that way about you, not anymore. At first yeah, you totally annoyed the shit out of me, but after time I found myself annoying you on purpose. If it got you to talk to me then it would do. Trust me I still felt bothered by you every now and then but it was different.”

Whatever realization you just had today, Steve had it a while ago.

You look down at Steve’s hands and they clench at his sides, and then he does something that surprises you. Steve brings his hands to rest on the counter behind you. He’s now trapped you in between his arms, but you don’t feel trapped, you feel oddly okay with this.

You and Steve are so close now, you can really smell your body wash lingering off of him. It makes your cheeks heat up. The idea of him in your shower, using your products like it’s no big deal feels intimate.

You look down at your feet to try and hide your blush but Steve brings his head down to find your eyes. When you look back up Steve’s got a serious look on his face.

“Not that you have to respond, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm so nervous right now I might die.”

You let out a laugh and Steve smiles at you, “you’re so dramatic.” Steve nods, “yeah, i'm all sorts of things when it comes to you.”

You feel like you can’t breathe, Steve has become so earnest in a matter of minutes and you don’t know how to handle it. You panic and say the first thing that comes to mind. “And what about you and Nancy?”

Steve looks upset for a second but then his face morphes into confusion, “What about me and Nacy.”

You shrug, trying to seem indifferent, “ Robins always going on about how hung up you are on her.”

“You know if I didn’t love Robin so much, I'd really put her through the ringer.”

You nod your head in agreement, Rob can be a bit much sometimes. Steve continues, “I think she interpreted that all wrong, I do talk about Nancy, that's true, but it’s not because I’m hung up on her.” he sighs, “I treated her pretty badly and I regret it so much and I think I always will but there's nothing with Nancy, that's over, closed, done .”

“Oh and, she’s got a boyfriend and they’re really great together and I'm happy fo-”

You cut Steve off by bringing your hand up to cover his mouth , “okay okay I get it. Point proven.”

You can feel him smile from under your hand, he lifts one of his hands up to grab yours. When he does, he keeps it in his hold. You flex your hand in his, not knowing what to do, he grips your hand tighter, thinking you're trying to pull away.

You both stand there for a minute before you gain the courage to speak. “What does this mean, for us?”

Steves quick to respond. “Whatever you want it to mean, if you want it to mean anything.”

He’s got a hopeful look in his eyes and you just can't turn him down, not anymore.

“I, Look, this is all very new to me. A couple hours ago I thought I was going to drown you in your own pool but now, drowning you doesn't seem as appealing to me.”

Steve laughs, like fully laughs, and for a moment you're scared your parents are going to hear him, but you're too distracted by him to care.

“Oh my gosh, talk about the confession of the century. Your’e not really good at this.”

Your’e mildly offended. “Yes I am, this is just different.”

“Was it different with your ex boyfriend too?”

Oh seriously?

“Why are we talking about my ex boyfriend right now? He’s not relevant to the conversation.”

No I guess not but since we’re on the topic, what's all that about?”

You give him a questionable look. “Whats’ my ex all about?”

“Yeah”

“um , he’s a guy that I dated, and then we broke up?”

You're questionable because you don't really know what he’s looking for.

Steve drops your hand to lean forward on the counter again. You can't help but be a little sad, just a little.

“Oh wow really, no, I mean why’s he always asking about you and why do you still have his clothes?”

You give a little shrug, “I actually had no idea he was asking about me, I really need to ask rob about that and I kept some of his shirts because, well, they're comfortable.”

Steve blinks at you. “Because they're comfortable?”

You nod.

Steve chuckles and leans in to put his head on your shoulder. “I'm gonna lose my mind, I really am.”

Woah woah woah, if you thought you were blushing before, you really are now.

Steve goes to lift his head up and you quickly push it back onto your shoulder. You’ll be damned if he sees you blushing this hard.

Steve laughs again and you can't help but laugh with him.

“Um, what's going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Mhm.”

You take a moment to really feel Steve’s hair and you're honestly a little jealous. Never in your life have you felt hair as smooth and silky as his. You continue and rub your hand through his locks. You’re not really holding his head down anymore but he makes no effort to lift it up.

You hear him sigh and it knocks you out of your daze. You lift your hand up and Steve shoots his head up.

“Why’d you stop?”

“What?”

He just repeats the question. “I- I don't know, I just thought that I should?”

Steve shakes his head, “man you're really out of your element here huh?”

You get defensive. “Uh no I am not, I just,” you let out a breath, “ Steve, I meant it when i said things are different with you but it's not a bad different, it's a good different and I think that- ”

Steve stops your rambling, eyes wide. “Did you just call me Steve?”

You stop to think, you didn't even realize you had.

“That is your name isn't it?”

Steve says nothing for a moment and then out of nowhere his hands are on your sides. He pulls you forward. You gasp in shock.

Steve looks you right in the eyes and asks “say it again.”

You play coy “it again.” Steve lets out a frustrated groan and gives your hips a shake “say my name again. If you don't, I think I might die.”

He’s really pulling out all the stops and he’s almost got you “Say please.”

Steve is as close as he’s ever been when he whispers a quiet “please”

You say his name even quieter but he’s close enough to pick it up

“Steve.”

There's a split second where Steve stares at you with a look that has so much meaning and all you do is nod and he’s invaded your space fully.

Steve kisses you with such urgency, like he’s waited his whole life for this moment and you can't help but meet him with the same furocity.

He’s obviously very skilled and the thought of all his past endeavors have you feeling green but as if he can read your mind, Steve pulls you in even closer, pressing himself against you.

You think you could do this forever but your lungs are demanding air.

Steve doesn't let you pull away for any longer than a second, each gasp of air is eaten by him right after. You can't help but smile into the kisses. Steve pays no mind and just lands kiss after kiss after kiss. You feel so light headed and airy, you think you’ll faint if this goes on any longer.

You bring your hands to his hair again, which elicits a groan from Steve. That alone makes you want to continue but you’ve got to breathe. You grab a hold of his locks and pull gently, Steve pulls away long enough for you to say his name again. Another groan follows.

He’s rushing forward, eyes on your lips, when you grip his hair tighter, he winces and you immediately rush to apologize.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry, I just needed a minute and that's the only thing I could think of.”

Steve pants out a response. “Next time you wanna stop, definitely don't do that cause that does not make me want to stop.”

It doesn't take much time for you to get how he’s insinuating.

You run your hands along the spots that you tugged on, hoping to soothe the sting.

“I'm sorry Steve.”

The sweet tone in your voice has Steve back on you, kissing along your jaw.

“Say.”

Kiss

“It.”

Kiss

“Again.”

You let out a sweet sigh, “Steve”

“Again.” he says as he makes his trail down the side of your neck.

you breathe out an airy laugh, “Steve”

you’d say his name a million times, over and over again, if this is what it got you.

Finally, after what feels like forever, Steve pulls away.

“You're gonna get tired of your own name if you keep making me say it.” you say teasingly

Steve��s still holding you close, “No way, not if it’s you saying it.”

You hum. You both stand close, basking in each other's presence when all the sudden you hear a loud crack.

You and Steve both jump at the sound. You both walk out the bathroom hand in hand. Steve gets in front of you, like he’s trying to protect you from whatever made the noise. It makes your heart stutter.

When you both walk into your room you notice that rain is coming down hard and you’ve still got your window open.

“Shit” you say scurrying over to the window.

Steve comes up right behind you to help push the window down. He does so with little effort of course.

You both linger and suddenly something comes to mind. “It's raining.”

“I see that.” Steve gives you a little smirk. “Pretty hard too.”

You nod “yeah, as your host” you pause to make sure he’s paying attention, “I just can't, with a conscious mind, let you drive in that rain. It's for your safety.”

Steve nods aggressively, “of course, of course.”

You clap your hands, “well that's that.” without another word, you drag him over to your bed. You throw your hoard of pillows onto the ground and fall onto your bed. Steve stands still, not really sure what to do.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Steve, still standing, says “things, many many things.”

You scoot into a comfortable position and pat the spot next to you “woah you move fast, freak.”

Steve gives an offended look but finally goes to lay down next to you. You both lay there, facing one another.

“I didn’t even say anything.”

You bring your hand up to flick him on the forehead, “you didn't have to, I can see it in your eyes.”

Steve grabs your hand before you can pull it away. “Whatever, you’re imagining things.” Steve tries his best to change the subject but you can see his face turning red.

“Steve,” you say, dragging his name, “are you blushing right now?”

Steve goes to cover your eyes, “Shut up, aren't you blind? You’re seeing things.”

You pry his hand away. “I am not blind.” you say, going to pinch his sides.

Steve tries and succeeds in pinning your hands down, he’s above you grinning. “Why are you insistent on harming me all of a sudden? Is it like a kink or something?”

You feel your face heat up, “what? Absolutely not. And what about you with the hair pulling?”

Steve is stunned silent. “Lets…. Let's not go there.”

Still with your hand pinned, “I think we should actually, you seem to really get a kick out of me yanking on your hair, I can only imagine what else you like being yan-”

Steve cuts you off with a bruising kiss and as much as you like teasing him, this is much much better.

Steve kisses with so much passion, almost like he can’t help it, it makes you get that sickly sweet feeling in your stomach.

Obviously distracted, he lets go of your hands and they immediately fly up to his hair. You think you might be obsessed with it.

Steve runs his hands up and down your body, your shirt scrunching up due to this. Steve wastes no time and slides his hands under your shirt to feel your skin. This causes you to gasp into his mouth. Steve likes this reaction, grinning into your lips.

You bring your legs to wrap around his back and pull him down. Steve stumbles a bit and is now pressing himself into you.

You break apart from him, gasping for air. Steve immediately kisses a trail down your neck. Hands still in his hair, eyes closed, you let out a blissful sigh.

Deciding to be a bit mischievous, Steve nips at different spots on your neck, eliciting small sounds from you, until he finally finds a spot that has you bringing a hand to cover your mouth.

You feel like you're floating, like you're dreaming and none of this is real. Is this real?

You lay your hands on the sides of Steve's face and lift. When he looks up, he’s looking at you with the dreamiest eyes. You need to reach a stopping point but with that look you just can't help it.

One more, you think. You guide him up to kiss you again and this time it’s so sweet you think you might cry.

One more turns into two, then a dozen more.

Finally after what feels like an eternity, you find yourselves with Steve resting his head in the crook of your neck, still kissing the skin there from time to time.

You lay there, running your hands through his hair, everyone now and then getting a sound of approval.

Steve breaks the silence first. “You know earlier, at my house, I really did feel like a freak.”

You give a small laugh. “What? Why?”

Steve, still with his face buried in your neck, “You were sitting in your bathing suit and you were legitimately glistening in the sun, and I could not for the life of me, stop looking.”

That's why you felt like someone was watching you, you'd just never assume it was him.

Steve continues, “that's when i decided to get you into the pull, I thought that if I pushed you in, you’d look like a wet dog and all would be well.”

You scoff and slap the side of his head “real nice Steve.”

He laughs, “let me finish” you can feel his hands fiddling at your side. “That totally backfired on me because you came up from the water and it was like, in slow motion, and you were laughing, like actually laughing and in that moment I could have died.”

“Steve, how's this gonna work? I can't have you almost dying every time I'm being a total babe, because that's like all the time.”

Steve nods in agreement. “Oh yeah, totally not good for my health at all, but you’re worth it.”

This makes your heart swell.

You both fall into a comfortable silence. You feel your eyelids getting heavier and heavier. You can feel Steve’s breathing getting slower as well. Before you realize, you both drift off to sleep.

——————————————————————————

When you stir awake, you’re lost for a split second before you remembered what all transpired last night. It's still pouring rain outside and you have no will to get out of bed, not that you could anyways. You don't know how, but Steve has managed to get most of his body laying on yours, head still tucked away and arm tightly wrapped around your waist.

You're totally fine laying like this until you get the urge to pee. You’re squirming finally wakes him up and for a moment you're hopeful that you can be freed to use the restroom. Steves blinks at you but then just closes his eyes and tightens his arm around you.

“Steveee.” he ignored you. “Steve, I have to get up.”

Steve shakes his head and gives a simple no.

“Yes, I have to. I have to go to the-”

You go quiet when you hear the stairs squeak from outside your door.

Now you really start to panic and yet, Steve is still insistent on holding you down.

You whisper now “Steve, no more jokes, it's my parents.” This has Steve shooting his head up, eyes now equally as wide as yours.

He lets you go and before he can say anything, you shoot out of bed and start throwing all your pillows and throw blankets over him into a big pile. He looks lost and you whisper to him. “Don't move, matter of fact, don't breathe.” and you throw one more pillow right onto his face.

You go to your door right as you hear a knock. You crack your door open slightly and see your mom.

“Good morning”

“Good morning.” you say, trying to sound normal.

You hear your dad from down stairs yelling that he’ll be in the car.

Your mom yells that she’ll be right there.

They’re leaving? Score!

Your mom looks you up and down. “We're heading to your aunts for breakfast, we’ll be back a bit later.”

You nod, trying to be nonchalant. “Yeah yeah, sounds good.”

You pray that's all but your mom says something else.

“Im assuming the animal came back last night.”

“um , what mom?”

Shes got a funny smile on her face, “the critter that scared you last night, it came back right.”

Ooooh, you’re done for.

You both look down the stairs when you hear the front door close. Youre mom looks back at you.

“Whatever is going on, we’ll talk later okay?”

You nod defeatingly. “Yeah okay.”

Your mom ruffles your hair through the crack in the door.

“And hunny?”

“Yes?”

“Go uncover that poor boy before you suffocate him to death.” and with that she walks down the stairs and you hear the door close for the second time.

Your a bit stunned at your door but your knocked out of it when you hear steve rise up from his pile, gasping for air.

You turn around and walk towards him. “Soooo my mom totally knows your here.”

He winces, “yeah I could kinda hear her.”

You sit down next to him. “On the brightside, it looks like my dad didn’t.”

Steve gives you a look. “Is that a brightside?” you nod your head. “Oh yeah, my dad would have killed you.”

Steve’s eyes go wide and you can't help but bust out in laughter. In a rush, he grabs you and has you both falling back into the bed.

“Don't play like that, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.” you pat his chest. “Oh that definitely wasn't a joke, you should definitely fear the old man.”

Steve gulps. “I dont know whats worse, that or trying to explain all of this to Rob.”

Oh damn. Robin.

You sigh. “That might take the cake.” Steve gives a mhm.

You sit up and swing you legs over Steve’s legs, now straddling him.

“We could sit and talk about how your ass is grass orrr we could do something else.”

Steves hands come up to grip your waist. “The second option, definitely the second option.”

“I like your thinking Harrington.” Steve gives you a look and pulls you down for a bruising kiss.

You’re absolutely done for.

You think this is a slippery situation. Steve will be able to get away with a lot when he finds out that all he has to do is kiss you. You think it might be the same for him.

Steve gives your side a pinch and you gasp into his mouth. This has him sliding his tongue into yours. His hands find their way under your shirt and caress your bare sides.

Steve continues with his slow languid kisses and you think that you won’t be able to live through another morning if it’s not like this.

You smile at your inner thoughts, finding it funny how his dramatics have rubbed off on you. Steve doesn’t question it and continues.

When you two finally pull away you go to lay next to him. Staying up super late and waking up early, the tiredness begins to creep up on you both.

No more words are spoken. With the rain pouring down and your room still being gloomy from the clouds, you decide that sleeping again is inevitable. Steve seems to agree as he’s already got his eyes closed and arm thrown around your stomach.

Everything can wait, you think.

Your mom

Robin

Your dad

The whole world for all you care.

With one final glance towards Steve, you close your eyes and are lulled to sleep by the rain hitting the roof.

——————————————————————————

Helloooo! I’m literally crying, this took me so long but I love it, I love them. I have so much more for them.

#myeyesareburning #naptime

[artificial-transmutations]

Finally Together

When Jerry called, I could immediately tell something was very wrong. He was holding an ice pack up to his face and looked deranged overall.

"Jerry? What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, hey. Yeah. This." he pointed at his face. "That's a long story."

"Let me see!" I demanded. You see, Jerry was, most definitely, my bff - my very best, very gay friend. And he had a talent for getting into trouble, sadly.

He slowly lowered the ice pack and I gasped. His right eye was swollen shut, and his face was covered in bruises.

"How..."

"Well, there was this guy. He was kinda hot, and totally my type, but, you know, straight as an arrow. At least *now* I know that." Even despite his bruises, Jerry raised his eyebrows in the cutest way possible - one of the traits I admired about them.

Yes, I should mention, I kiiiind of had a tiny little crush on Jerry. Or perhaps a gigantic one. You always want the ones you can't have, right? In my case, I was a woman - which was enough to disqualify myself rather finally.

"...and? Did he hit you?" I asked, even though I already suspected the answer.

"Yeah. I was just talking to him, trying to subtly find out his orientation. You know how it goes. Apparently, I wasn't too subtle about it, though, and he kind of escalated all over my face. It's no big deal, now I know."

Jerry smiled, but I could clearly see that it caused him pain to do so. It nearly broke my heart.

"It is a big deal." I answered. "That's horrible. You are worth so much more than this. Where did it happen? Did you call the police?"

"It was in the gym. Keith - that's the guy - works there, so, I guess, I need a new gym." Jerry joked. "And no, I didn't call the police, it's just... it's alright, okay Mathilda?"

I was not convinced but decided to let it go. Jerry was just a so sweet and innocent guy, he wouldn't even cause someone trouble if that someone punched in his face. I, on the other hand, was fuming. That was not a way to treat my bff! I would have really liked to kick that Keith's ass right now.

I chatted a bit more with Jerry before he had to go and promised him to come over that evening.

To be quite honest, I didn't plan to do anything, but when I was walking to Jerry's apartment in the afternoon, I passed his gym. I didn't even know it was on the way, because I honestly never paid attention to it much. But now that I saw it on the way, I couldn't help it. I would go in there and just tell the manager that one of their employees was a homophobic asshole. Just a little push in the right direction.

I entered the gym. It looked quite standard, but I couldn't see any manager or anyone else to talk to, for that matter, so I just went in there. It was quite empty, which was not surprising at this time of the day. There was, however, a young, muscular man doing push-ups. It was quite disgusting, actually, with all the sweat dripping down his body and a musky, penetrant smell was filling the room.

He stood up and greeted me.

"Hi, there. You're not a member, are you?"

"I'm not." I said. I felt like adding a "sorry" or something but decided against it. Instead, I clutched my handbag tighter.

"So, what can I do for you, ma'am?" He had that smug grin of an urge driven man who seemed to undress me with his gaze. I shuddered in disgust, but still, I straightened my back.

"Well, actually, I'm here to make a complaint."

"A complaint? About what?"

"Your staff."

"Oh? Do you have an issue with someone working here?"

"Well, yes. I just learned that one of your trainers, Keith was the name, I think, assaulted a customer. That is a terrible way to treat people, and I will not stand for it."

The guy laughed and flashed me a superior grin while he nonchalantly readjusted his groin. Free balling of course. Ugh. Can you spell 'toxic masculinity'?

"Look, honey. Whoever told you that, they lied to you. Keith would never hit a girl, especially not a pretty one."

I felt my face reddening from anger.

"First off, I'm not your honey, and secondly, it wasn't a girl but a guy."

The guy raised his eyebrows. "Really? A guy, huh?"

"Yes. He is my very good friend, and it's not funny at all."

"Hmm. Yeah, I think I remember the guy, some fruity fag who needed to be told a lesson."

Then it dawned on me. The disgusting guy in front of me was the man that had hurt Jerry.

"You're the one who did it! How dare you!" I exclaimed and tried to slap his face.

Before I could land a hit, though, he grabbed my wrist with an iron grip and grinned like a predator.

"Ah, ah. I wouldn't try that, if I were you. Would be a shame, if something were to happen to your pretty face, too."

I withdrew my hand and trembled from disgust.

"Ugh. You're just such a disgusting... jock."

In hindsight, I had no idea what happened, but perhaps some benevolent spirit or sprite was listening. In any case, Keith all of a sudden got a really strange expression on his face and looked really pale for a moment. And then... he suddenly looked even paler, like white paper or cloth. I will never be able to forget the expression of surprise on his face, as his body kind of... collapsed in on himself. His muscular torso diminished, and his arms and legs twisted and fused into thin rubber strips. But his face... His face contorted into a white fabric pouch that was completely devoid of any features within seconds. It had only taken a few moments, but Keith had disappeared.

I looked around first, but nobody else was in the gym right now. I carefully stepped closer and inspected what was left of Keith. Inside his black, damp gym shorts that was lying on the ground, I could see a pair of men's underwear, I believe it was called a jockstrap: A large fabric pouch held by rubber bands - designed to just cover the genitals, although, judging by the size of the pouch, rather large genitals. Now, as Keith had demonstrated quite clearly just a few moments ago, he had certainly not be wearing any underwear - and I had seen what had happened to his face.

With pointed fingers, careful not to touch the damp gym shorts and almost gagging from the strong smell, I picked up the piece of underwear. I had almost thrown it away again, when I noticed that it, too, was covered in sweat and stink. However, the piece of underwear that had once been a man held a strange fascination to me. I lifted it up to my face, to have a closer look, but didn't consider the consequences. When I breathed in, my nose was filled with the overwhelmingly strong and manly smell of sweaty, unwashed genitals, and it triggered something inside of me. All of a sudden, I felt tingly all over and groaned. My body felt weird all of a sudden. It was like that disgusting smell was all around me, enveloping me, pushing me to... change, somehow.

In horror, I felt my feet swelling up in my shoes. It wasn't painful, but it felt like I had been wearing boots that were way too small. The pressure was quickly getting unbearable and painful until my canvas shoes and thin socks couldn't take it anymore. First on the left and then, shortly after, on the right side, the toes of massive feet burst out from the footwear. The pressure subsided, and it felt fine again.

The changes didn't stop, though. Now that my feet had broken free from their restraints, my legs were the next to follow. A ripping sound heralded the death of my tights, as my legs gained mass and muscles. It looked almost comically how the threads of my tights were ripped apart, strand for strand. At the same time, I watched, as my hands grew larger. Gone were my delicate fingers, replaced by thick sausage-like appendages. Those new finger weren't carefully manicured but instead, I was now sporting short, ugly nails that would have been fitting for a lumberjack, rather than a girl.

While my legs were still growing, and I was getting visibly taller, my arms were next to follow. My blouse didn't even stand a chance as the arms did not only grew longer but most importantly, stronger. My biceps swelled like I visited the gym every day and, to my horror, I saw a tattoo forming on my right arm that reminded me a lot of the one Keith had had. I didn't have much time to think about it, though, as a new force practically ripped my blouse apart: My torso was pushing outward in all directions. My shoulders widened considerably, and my bra snapped from the strain. At first, I thought my boobs were growing, but it was quite the opposite. They were receding into my body, being replaced by even more massive and decidedly male pecs. Below them, a ripple went through my stomach, leaving behind the cobblestone road of abs.

The changes had met up at my midsection now and I was afraid of what was going to happen next. Sure enough, my skin-tight summer trousers bulged forward as something pressed against them from the inside.

"No..." I groaned, with a lower voice than I was used to, and tried to push whatever was appearing back into my midsection, but it was no use. With another ripping sound, a penis emerged from between my legs, quickly followed by a pair of testicles that pushed the ruined trousers down and settled in between my tree trunk-like thighs.

My head started swimming. That was wrong, that was so wrong. But the changes just went on. An Adam's apple formed in my throat, further lowering my voice, and my face reformed. It became squarer, and my jawbones became more pronounced. At the same time, my beautiful long hair receded into a short masculine cut. However, as hair disappeared on top of my head, it grew elsewhere. Or, should I say everywhere. Disgusting, wiry body hair grew in on my arms and legs and even on top of my enormous feet and the back of my hands. My chest was coated by a layer of short and coarse hair, and a treasure trail led down my midsection, where it disappeared into a thick pubic bush.

Speaking of bushes, two more formed in the large area of my armpits. Ugh. I was hairy like a fucking monkey. The only well-groomed bit of body hair was on my face, in the short beard that I could see in the gym mirror.

I could hardly believe my eyes. Staring back at me from the reflection was no one else but Keith. *I* was a splitting image of Keith now, only naked aside from the tatters of my clothes. I wanted to scream, but all that came out was a low grunt.

Okay, Mathilda, no reason for panic, I told myself. I would just... Go see a doctor. Yes. There had to be an explanation. This could be treated.

I took a step towards the exit and stumbled over the remains of my coughing. Oh, right, I was still naked.

The only piece of clothing was Keith's gym shorts. Well, his gym shorts and Keith himself, who was a piece of underwear now. I looked between the shorts and the underwear. On the one hand, I really didn't want to wear what had just been Keith, but on the other hand... I certainly wasn't going without any underwear. Everyone would be able to see the outline of my current genitals. Yuck.

So, lacking other options, I pulled on the white piece of underwear. It was, unsurprisingly, very sweaty, and it clung to my junk. I grimaced, but it was better than the alternative. My ass was still largely uncovered, but that was not as bad as the front side. I had to admit that my new equipment filled out the pouch pretty well.

I quickly shook my head and pulled on the gym shorts as well. It felt weird not to cover my chest, but that was probably acceptable in my current state.

Perhaps I could ask Jerry if I could borrow some men's clothing from him.

Oh my, Jerry. He was probably waiting for me. I grabbed my handbag and fled the gym.

Walking felt weird. Of course, regardless of my looks, I was still a woman, so I took small steps and refused to spread my legs too much while walking. It was very awkward. The sun was shining down and although it wasn't all *that* hot, I found myself starting to sweat. How disgusting was that? It was like those stupid mountains of muscle were producing so much heat that my skin was soon glistening with sweat and my armpits started to smell. I tested it by lifting an arm and taking a whiff. Ugh. I needed a shower, badly. I probably would be able to use Jerry's.

Jerry... I saw his face right in front of me in my mind. The cute smile, the adorable brown eyes, the cute little dimples on his cheeks when he grinned.

A strange feeling came over me from my groin area. What was going on down there? When I looked down, the ample bulge of my cock had become even bigger, probably tenting out the pouch that had been Keith's face. I groaned. Men were so primitive. All it took was one sexy thought and bam, erection.

Still, I couldn't deny that it felt pretty good. I checked it anyone on the street was looking before I felt the outline of the cock through the layers of clothing with my big hand. The touch made me moan, and I felt my member throb.

That's when I experienced the weirdest feeling. As the sweat from my groin mixed with the fluids seeping out of the cock head and were absorbed by the jockstrap, all of a sudden, I felt the presence of Keith - the real Keith. It was like a strong mental attack, to get his body back, but I fought back. It was not *his* body, it was mine, even though it may have looked like Keith right now.

It was the strangest experience. I could practically *feel* his thoughts and emotions. The humiliation from being wrapped around, well, *my* cock and balls, I could even taste and smell an echo of what he was tasting and smelling, including the weird taste of precum that had mixed into the face-pouch recently.

It wasn't easy, but I repelled Keith's mind and kind of stuffed it back into the underwear. When I continued my walk, I didn't even notice that I know walked like a man: With long, powerful strides and enough room for my balls.

Luckily, my cock had calmed down a bit by now, and I ran the rest of the way, just to make sure. I was glistening with more sweat when I finally arrived at Jerry's apartment and rang the bell. Ugh. That musk was so bad, I just hoped I could hop under the shower right away.

However, when Jerry opened the door, we were both stunned for a moment. I because Jerry looked even better in reality than when I imagined him. Foreign hormones flooded my system, coming from my balls and I just stood there for a moment. Of course, I had a crush on Jerry before, but right now, in this moment, I realized for the first time that now, Jerry wasn't quite as unreachable as before.

Jerry, on the other hand, backed away, an expression of fear on his face.

"Keith, what... Is this some kind of joke?"

I was taken aback by his reaction.

"No! It's not... It's me, Mathilda!"

"Who?"

"Mathilda, your best friend."

Jerry stared at me, confusion on his face.

"What are you talking about Keith? Wasn't it enough for you to bash my face in? Do you want to humiliate me now?"

"No, please. Listen, Jerry, you're my friend, and I would never hurt you."

He scoffed. "Oh really? My black eye says otherwise."

I could feel myself getting upset from all the testosterone and took a deep breath.

"I can explain. Please, Jerry, hear me out."

He looked at me skeptically.

"Fine. I'll listen."

With that, he let me into his apartment.

"Okay, first of all, can I take off these gym shorts? They are really really disgusting and sweaty, and they are clinging to my legs. Yuck!"

"Uh, oookay." Jerry looked even more confused but allowed it.

Gladly, I got rid of the stinking shorts and threw them at the ground, far away from me. Jerry frowned but was apparently more captured by my now only jockstrap-clad body that I sat down on his couch. I admit I wanted to get rid of the jockstrap, too, but then I would have been completely naked in my friend's living room.

The thought was oddly exciting, and I felt my cock raise in reaction.

I just hoped that Jerry wouldn't notice my state of arousal, even though there wasn't much fabric left to hide it, but I quickly spoke.

"So, Jerry, it's really me. Remember the time when we watched Star Trek: Voyager and had a pillow fight, and you beat me easily, even though I am taller and stronger?"

"How would you know about that, Keith?" Jerry crossed his arms. He had obviously noticed my midsection problem, which was throbbing now, leading to another wet spot on the piece of underwear.

"I'm telling you, I am Ma..."

Suddenly, I grabbed my head. There it was again. Keith had reacted to my arousal and was fighting for control of *my* body again. It was weaker this time, though, and although it took me a few moments, I pushed him back between my legs, where he belonged.

Finally, I spread my legs, man-spreading without even thinking about it and giving the whole world in general and Jerry in particular a good view of my massive groin. A smirk formed on my face. Having such a big cock was something to be proud of.

"...Mathilda." I finished my sentence, although I found the name rather unfitting for a stud like me. "I just kind of... transformed into Keith's body, but it's still the same old man as always. Woman, I mean."

"Uh... what?"

I smiled and stood up, slowly, so he could see all the muscles I had gained. I was taller, too, taller than Jerry even.

"But tell me, do you like what you see?" My cock was throbbing like mad now. God, I needed to have this man!

"Uuuh... uhm... yes? Yes."

I chuckled. "Well, Jerry. I don't know how to get back to my original body yet, but do you want to... touch this one?" I gently took his hand and placed it on my chest.

Jerry didn't react at first, but then he started caressing my chest. It felt great, and he moaned, too.

Another small spurt of precum spilled into my underwear and again, Keith acted up. It was even weaker this time, and I had no trouble staying in control. I did notice something else though. Apparently, Keith was enjoying this a lot, way more than a straight man should. He was almost addicted to my cock fluids by now, and he mentally lapped at my organ submissively. And he exhibited a longing for Jerry that appeared to be too deep-rooted to have developed recently. Well, good for him, because as my jockstrap, he would have a front row seat in what happened next.

"Mathilda, is it really... okay?" Jerry asked, barely being able to restrain himself.

"Yes Jerry." I said while looking into his eyes. "It's more than okay. It's perfect. And it's Matthew from now on, okay?"

I took a deep breath, breathing in my wonderful musky smell, and I watched Jerry do the same. And when I kissed him, I couldn't wait to tear his clothes off and plow his cute little ass with my mighty cock while my lucky jockstrap was watching.

[sammaggs]

1x02 Diefenbaker’s Day Off // 2x08 One Good Man // 2x13 White Men Can’t Jump to Conclusions // 3x01 Burning Down the House | Normalized

due South does a main character re-casting better than any other show on TV, and they do it by playing with television's own accepted meta-narrative.

Recasting a character has a long tradition in television, creating a viewership that knows and understands the storytelling short form at play. As viewers, we realize that sometimes actors aren't available to reprise a role (or simply aren't interested in it anymore); but, for the sake of the story, sometimes the show needs that character to come back. So we lean hard into suspended disbelief and just go with it. After all, the characters in the show accept the parareality of it—why shouldn't we?

Of course, the most famous example of a character recast would be the Dick/Darren disaster on 1960s sitcom Bewitched, when Dick York was unceremoniously replaced by Dick Sargent in the role of Darrin Stephens. ("The Dick Wars" would have gone absolutely insane).

it was... not successful

But they weren't the only ones to do it. Aunt Viv from Fresh Prince, Becky from Roseanne, Daario Naharis from Game of Thrones, Greg Serrano from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (pain, agony)—recasting characters but maintaining the fiction is a storied tradition in TV. New actor, same character; totally normalized.

And shows continue to do it, even today, with a—uh—similar dedication to fucking it up doing it poorly.

why must we be punished like this

due South even engages in this trope itself in season 2, when hard-hitting investigative journalist Mackenzie King is recast and they don't even try to find an actress who looks similar. In 1x02 Diefenbaker's Day Off, she's played by brunette Madolyn Smith-Osborne; in 2x08 One Good Man, she's been replaced by blonde Maria Bello, and nobody talks about it.

yeah i'm absolutely the same person, obviously

Everyone diegetically (within the world of the show) is just like, oh yeah, that's hard-hitting investigative journalist Mackenzie King. Totally. Only non-diegetically (outside of the world of the show) does the viewer go "No, that's not the same person." Internally, the fiction proceeds as usual.

So what would happen if, say, Samantha Stephens turned to Dick Sargent and said "You're not Darrin," when everyone else in the show continued to treat him as though he was? Or if Jaskier told Geralt that he knows he's not actually Geralt, and everyone treated him like he was delusional?

Or if Fraser, even, had recognized Mackenzie King as someone entirely different, and everyone treated him like he had a hole in his bag of marbles because of it? Of course that's Mackenzie King; even her boss knows it. No, she's never been a brunette. What are you talking about?

And that's exactly what happens in Burning Down the House.

the rays vecchio

Diagetically, everyone else treats Callum Keith Rennie's character as though he is Ray Vecchio. "Oh, good, you found him," says Det. Huey. Elaine, Franchesca, literally everyone else both at the station and outside of it treat Callum Keith Rennie Ray Vecchio as though he is David Marciano Ray Vecchio. They're acting exactly as any other TV character would in the face of a recasting: as though absolutely nothing had happened.

Except for Fraser.

Fraser's specific brand of parareal Canadian plot magic means that he's immune to the recasting blindness; he's acting as an agent of the viewer, voicing our non-diegetic concerns. Fraser is (as he so often is) a character with one foot outside of the narrative. He's just always been like this and he doesn't know why.

oh this man is infuriating and hot, fuck. shit.

And for a character who already thinks he is likely insane (he sees the ghost of his dead father! He communicates with his deaf half-wolf! He is instantly committed to a mental institution upon voicing the actual true story of his life!), this is very extremely distressing. Fraser thinks he's actually lost it this time, because everyone else in due South is acting like a TV character, and Benton Fraser is acting like a viewer.

This is so brilliant on so many levels. They just fully lampshade the damn thing. It allows our protagonist to speak for disgruntled or confused viewers. It engages at a postmodern level with television as a medium with a storied history (and due South is incredibly postmodern; nearly every episode is or contains a reference to another piece of media). It's written from the perspective of someone who loves and is knowledgeable about TV tropes.

And it gives us an entirely new Ray while still maintaining respect and loyalty to the original, something no other straight (lol) recast could ever do.

Genuinely one of the most clever, witty, well-crafted hours of television ever made. I could write essays about so many different parts of it. And I guess I will!!!!!!

It’s Burning Down the House week in our dS Stacked Rewatch!

[sp0o0kylights]

You know what I want to see, I want to see more of Steve, Eddie, and Robin being 1980s small town kids from Indiana, by which I mean;

Robin is The Source of Gay Knowledge purely because her parents host Hippie Christmas and she managed to sneak away to find a neat bookstore in Indiana once. 

Her knowledge is not in depth. It's patchy, woven together through rumors, stories she heard or things she picked up from her parents' old pictures. She's got a handful of zines, one book, and some movies she managed to order for Family Video behind Keith's back.

She acts like she's Queen of the Queers because in Hawkins she pretty much is.

(Max and El ask her what a lavender marriage is once, something they overheard snooping around. 

Robin confidentially answers that it's code for when one woman dresses up as a man, fooling officials into wedding two woman.

She does not live this down two years later when they find out what it actually means.) 

Eddie doesn't spend every weekend in Indianapolis. 

Gas is expensive, his busiest days of his "job" is Friday and Saturday, and he has no fucking clue what the hanky code is. 

He's wearing that bandana because Metallica front singer James Hetfield has one on all their tour posters. 

Eddie does make it down to a gay bar though, by accident. Rick needed some back up for a shady deal. Promised Eddie a boatload of free drugs to sell if he agreed to just stand there and look mean. 

He was warned the bar they were meeting in was 'weird' and to not 'freak out' --which Eddie thought was hilarious given his nickname and general appearance, but whatever.

He doesn't understand when they get there, because it's just a bunch of hot men with hanky's in their back pockets everywhere.

Then he sees two women kissing and it clicks. 

He can't out himself in front of Rick, but one of the bartenders playfully dresses him down for his own hanky, letting him know all about the code and teasing him through his embarrassment. 

He's got an offer to come back and learn what color and which pocket his hanky should actually be in, a prospect Eddie was salivating at until Chrissy Cunningham up and died on his ceiling.

(He still wore the hanky, because the feeling of that bartender tugging it out and stuffing it back in might be the closest thing he's ever had to sex and he absolutely wants a repeat. 

He's young and horny, sue him.) 

Steve Harrington may not be academically smart but he's not dumb. 

He figured out a while back that the basketball team as a unit probably crossed the queer line more than once--or at least it did before Hargrove came in. 

( Brad Handly for example, went around slamming kids into lockers and screaming slurs like a fucking movie villain one Monday because the varsity team got dead drunk at Laura's party on Sunday and hey, look, there weren't that many girls there, okay?

They all had fucking hands and mouths. Everybody but Tommy was single and hot to trot. Nothing gay about it.

Its not even like they were kissing or treating each other like chicks. It was just Brad's first time and they got to tease him later for overthinking it. 

Dude graduated soon enough after and given Steve was on the team as a sophomore, he hadn't thought about the guy and why he might be freaking out so bad in years.) 

Robin's entire panic attack at Starcourt, and a few more after had Steve replaying that whole incident. Reframed it a bit, and, yeah.

In retrospect that had been extremely gay, actually. 

It sat with him a lot easier than he'd thought it would. Partially because of Robin, but mostly because that's just who he was.

Stranger things had happened to Steve and this one didn't want to kill, maim or otherwise eat him, so it got filed under 'interesting facts he should never tell his parents if he wanted to keep his trust fund' and then he went about his day. 

(Or he tried too, anyways.

It caught up to him when Eddie and Robin somehow figured out the other was queer and dragged him along to some bar Eddie had a standing invitation at, with demands for Steve to do what he did best.

Babysit.

Their magical trip was utterly destroyed when Brad Handly happened to be the very same bartender who had given Eddie the invite.

 Considering Brad's immediate bark of laughter followed by a hug and introducing himself as "Steve's gay awakening", Steve ended up having to speedrun through Eddie and Robin both having a crisis for him.

It didn't help that Steve had politely, and laughingly, corrected Brad with a casual; 

"Pretty sure that was Tommy man, but if it helps I think that tongue of yours gave Matt Burdon a crisis."

--which ended up with him answering a lot more gay sex questions with Brad than he cared too. 

At least he, through Brad, was able to help Robin connect to some local lesbians and--after a second crisis from Eddie regarding how Steve managed to have more sex than "the resident town freak and guy who actually knew he was gay, Steve!"-- even helped Eddie out by catching the metalheads tongue with his mouth later that evening.

The last one landed him a boyfriend, trust fund be damned.)