#left. because i’m a cheesy sap and thought that would look nice and i think about the separation between god and man so often so sorry

[ash5monster01]

An Innocent Man

Chapter Nine - The Longest Time 🎶

Pairing: Steve Harrington x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, implied smut, mentions of pregnancy, language, super cheesy & lovesick

Summary: Celebrating your wedding Anniversary Steve relishes in the feeling that he will always love you and he never thought he’d get to be so lucky.

word count: 2.1k

Eight ←→ Ten

Masterlist

Spring 1992

But I've gone this far, and it's more than I hoped for

The backyard is dark, the only light coming from the pool and the fairy lights you had put up for the occasion. The party had quieted down, only a few friends and family still hanging around. As Steve sways you around the backyard to Innocent Man by Billy Joel, your chin rests on his shoulder, eyes cast on Dustin who sleeps in the lawn furniture with your daughter in his arms. You’re certain there is nothing more perfect than this moment.

“Do you ever think about how long it’s been since the day we met?” Steve mutters into your hair softly, it raises the hair on your arms, your hold tightening against him.

“It’s only been seven years Steve” you remind him and he chuckles lightly, pulling back to look into your eyes. There’s so much love and you realize there is something more perfect than this moment. Or someone.

“That doesn’t matter, I’ve loved you for the longest time I’ve ever loved anyone. If you said goodbye to me tonight there would still be things left unsaid, love left to be given” and your heart clenches at the sentiment, your love outpouring for him in a new way you never found possible.

“Good thing that would never happen” you tell him in a low whisper, eyes glancing at his lips because if you didn’t kiss him soon you might not survive the rest of the night. Yet as always the boy has so much more to say.

“I’m serious, I don’t think there’s anything left for me but loving you. I’m so inspired by you. Just when I thought my innocence was gone you found me and now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, more happy then I ever thought I’d be” he rants and you smile, happy tears rimming your eyes. What a big sap.

“Happy anniversary to you too Steve” you tell him, arms coming to wrap around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. Steve smiles, tightening his grip around your waist. Your guests are long forgotten, the two year wedding anniversary finally becoming about just you two.

“Happy anniversary, now let’s make it a lifetime” he tells you, finally ducking close where you can capture his lips with your own. You kiss him like he’s your only source of oxygen and you hadn’t had a chance to breathe for hours.

“I think the greatest miracle of all is how I needed you and you needed me too” you tell him, thinking about that first day in the record shop. How you had went in search of company, a loneliness buried deep within you that you thought music could cure, and instead Steve did.

“You know I had second thoughts at the start?” Steve admits and your eyes widen as you gasp at him, a bit surprised by this comment.

“Second thoughts?” you question and he laughs, shaking his head as he realizes you have taken it the wrong way.

“I’d just been so hurt before, I had to make sure I held onto my heart. Yet you felt so right and we had gone so far, it ended up being more than I hoped for. So I took my chances and now I know what kind of woman you are” he explains himself and you gaze up at him lovingly, wishing you could go back and tell the younger version of you both how good this would turn out.

“And what kind of woman am I?” you inquire and Steve smiles, squeezing lovingly at your waist.

“Wonderful, romantic, kind, sexy…” he whispers the last part in your ear and your skin crawls, the desire for the party to be over and be up with him in your shared bedroom becoming more and more desperate.

“Nice to know I still got it, even after a baby” you tell him and he grins at you, lustful eyes examining every inch of your face and chest.

“No matter how many babies we have you’ll still be sexy to me baby, you’re more than I could have ever hoped for” Steve tells you earnestly and you giggle, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone.

“Well that’s good to hear” you tell him and Steve furrows his eyebrows together, a suspicious look on his face as he tries to determine the underlying meaning to that sentence.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” he asks and you give the most unconvincing face as you shrug, unable to suppress the wide grin that tugs at the corners of your lips.

“I’m just saying, I may have missed my period” you tell him and his mouth is opening in shock, surprise and excitement filling him all in one go.

“Oh my God you’re serious?” he says, shaking you lightly and you laugh, gripping onto his shoulders to keep balance.

“I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty certain. Especially since you haven’t left me alone since the doctor gave the go ahead” you tell him, an accusing tone that holds no resentment. Before you can even respond Steves arms are wrapping around you and spinning you around.

“Baby, oh my God” he cheers as some of your lingering friends glance at the two of you with confused eyes.

“Shh, be quiet. I don’t want to announce it until I know for sure” you tell him as he sets you back down but it’s far to late, the smile on his face is permanent and the hand he puts on your stomach is the most suspicious of all.

“Okay, but please can we check tonight?” he asks like a little kid, mind already on the pregnancy tests he knows are in the medicine cabinet of the bathroom in your bedroom upstairs. You chuckle before nodding your head.

“Yes we can check” and he’s spinning you around again, just as happy and eager. Yet the moment ends when the soft cries of your daughter reaches your ears. Both of you turn to find Dustin waking up and panic filling his face as he realizes he doesn’t know what to do.

“Shit” he mutters, starting to bounce her in his arms. You giggle as Steve rushes over and saves his young friend from panicking.

“Thanks for watching her Dustin” you tell him as Steve steps inside the house in search of a bottle. Dustin smiles and rubs the sleep from his eyes, the lateness of the night catching up to him.

“Of course, I better get going though. I told Susie I’d call before bed” he mutters, eyes opening to look at you and you smile and rub a hand a long his shoulder.

“Night Dustin, drive safe. I’ll tell Steve you left” you tell him and he nods as he stands to collect his things.

“That’s our cue too, thanks so much for having us” Nancy walks over, wrapping you in her arms and you smile widely against her.

“Of course, anytime” you tell her, waving to Johnathon who stands behind her with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Just like that everyone shuffles out, leaving the backyard from a fun family function when not so long ago it used to be loud music and alcohol. Either way you didn’t really mind, this home and your lives had been evolving for a long time, becoming better and better with each day. After cleaning up a few things you step inside the back door just as Steve descends the stairs, a soft smile on his face as he spots you.

“I got her to go back down” he tells you quietly and you smile, pulling him close to press a soft kiss on his lips.

“Thank you” you tell him and he smiles as he pushes some hair behind your ears, holding you close and keeping your face on display for him.

“Could I convince you to take the pregnancy test now?” he asks quietly and you snort, shaking your head softly at his eagerness.

“Fine, and to think I was about to get laid” you joke and Steve laughs loudly, it bellowing out of him and filling the home. Thank goodness your daughter was a heavy sleeper, just like him.

“Who says you still won’t after?” he asks, following you to the staircase, shamelessly watching the sway of your hips as you climb the stairs. You roll your eyes but continue on your trek anyway to your sahred bedroom. Steve sits on the edge of the bed as you disappear inside the bathroom and dig one of the spare tests out of the medicine cabinet. He can barely sit still as he waits for you to finish, eager to know if he was about to be one step closer to his family of six. You only guranteed him three. Either way he was happy to have another baby in the house.

"Alright we have to wait five minutes and then you"ll have your answer" you tell him as you step out the bathroom and he smiles wide as you approach him. It's no surprise he helps guide you onto his lap, legs straddling either side of him as you draw him close for another kiss.

Steve happily complies, mouth finding your own as he shoves the cardigan off your shoulders and starts tugging at the hem of your shirt. You giggle as he pulls that off as well, breaking your lips from his own as he drags it between you. Five minutes felt like nothing as you both sit here making out like you were teenagers again. You in your bra and Steve's hands wandering anywhere he can get away with. It was moments like these that reminded you how much you really loved him.

"I think it's been more than five minutes" Steve says with a soft laugh, hands gripping your arms as he breaks himself away from you. His excitement outweighing his lust and you roll your eyes as you crawl from his lap anyway and head towards the bathroom to grab the test. His leg bounces fastly as you disappear inside and he can't seem to contain his excitment. In this moment he was praying harder than he ever has.

When you return from the bathroom your expression is unreadable. He watches how you hold the test delicatley in your hands and saunter towards him. When he's positive he can no longer take it, you flip the test his way, a smile cracking wide across your face the same time he sees the prominent two lines in the center of the test. He's off the bed in seconds, cheering as he wraps his arms around you, and spins you in a hug. The test is confirmation enough and pretty soon he'd have another baby boy or girl to love.

"We're having another baby!" he cries out, happy tears pooling in his eyes and you kiss him deeply, loving that you found a man who loved you and this little life you had so much.

"We're having another baby" you confirm and he smiles somehow even wider as you both land on the bed and he hugs you close. He intends to hug you for the longest time, never wanting to let go. Nothing could top this moment, well at least until the baby came.

"I can't believe Laura is going to be a big sister, she'll be two by the time this one arrives" Steve says, his hand cupping your stomach that wasn't even close to showing yet but you let him anyway, loving how happy this made him. Thankful you were the one who could make him this happy. Give him that perfect white picket fence dream that he once felt embarassed to have.

"Two years seems wild but she will be the best big sister, I just know it" you agree, voice a hushed whisper as you duck close to your husband. He smirks, knowing exactly what you were getting at as you nudge your nose against his own.

"Mhmm, I'm gonna love you for the longest time" is all he says before pressing his lips against your own. The hand that was on your stomach slides to your hip and this time Steve hovers above you. Kissing you in a way to convey how much he loves you and how thankful he is for this moment and all the ones before it, even more so for the ones that would come. You don’t answer him with nothing other than a kiss, already dreaming of the next time you get to tell him you're pregant.

Maybe he'll get six after all.

Taglist: @slvtforstve @keerygal @goosy-goose @livsters @blckburd @loveshotzz @ohwauwdoritos @superblysubpar @southereads @amataadriana @violet2022 @mxrcjqckspnchqsc @madaboutjoe @thunderstomp-and-tequila @justdamnpeachy @micheledawn1975 @fangfatale @kingstevesgf @notlilyyyy @eddiesguitarskills @palmtreesx3 @momospeaches47 @pbs-theundeadmaggot @xuimhao @lianna75 @lvjmel @sadbitchfangirl @halflifejess @starkleila @ellharrington @avobabe87 @newyorkangelbaby

Comment if you want to be added to the taglist :))

[nazumichi]

where’s the bna episode where shirou gets contact lenses

[tbyfandoms]

Love Story | Dream x Reader

Pairing: cc!dream x gn!reader

Word Count: 2k

Summary: when taylor swift drops her rerecorded song ‘love story’, y/n and dream are excited and decide to stay up for the release. y/n thinks it’s just an ordinary night full of one of their favorite songs, yet dream has other plans in store for them

Warnings: none

Masterlist | Ask/Tell/Request

A/N: hi everyone! i just wanted to start off and say thank you so much for all the notes on my first dream x reader! I had never posted any fanfic related stuff on here before so it was so nice to see that people enjoyed it! If you’d like to read that one you can find it here. (I’m going to work on a master list soon dw!) I hope you enjoy this post as well, ever since taylor dropped the rerecording and i saw dream listened to it during release i couldn’t get this scenario out of my head, it’s so cheesy and maybe not the best but i love it. anyways, happy valentine’s day, enjoy, and let me know what you think! :)

Excitement coursed through your veins as you looked at the time and realized there was only about fifteen minutes left until midnight. Only fifteen minutes until Taylor Swift released her re-recorded version of her iconic song ‘Love Story’. 

Ever since you were young that song has held such a special place in your heart. You used to sing and dance along with it all the time, and still do to this day. The fact you would get to hear present Taylor sing this song from so many years ago was insane. You could already feel your emotions running wild at the thought of this re-record and all the ones to follow.

Dream had understood your love for Taylor and her music, he too was a fan and he was so excited to spend this special moment with you. Things had been super crazy lately and any moment he got to spend with you was important to him. 

You sway from side to side in Dream’s desk chair as you wait for him to come into his office. You wanted to listen to the song in here because Dream’s computer has good audio and you guys want to get the best experience when you listen to the song. Dream said he had to go get something before the release but he had been gone for a while now. You figured he had just stopped to talk to Sapnap before coming into his office.

The door cracks open and you turn around to see your boyfriend poke his head in, smiling.

“Hi, baby,” He says as he makes his way in. “How much longer until the song drops?” 

Dreams walks towards you and you smile as you stand up, meeting him halfway and wrapping your arms around his neck.

“About ten minutes now! I’m so excited,” You say as Dream pulls you closer to him, nuzzling his head into the side of your neck. 

“Me too, I can’t wait to live through this historical moment with you,” Dream lets out a small laugh and you roll your eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” you reply as you let out a small giggle in return. “Should we ask Sapnap if he wants to join us during this historical moment?”

Dream pulls away from you and you notice a small flicker of some emotion cross his face, unsure of what exactly it was.

“Oh-uh, no it’s fine. Sapnap doesn’t really listen to Taylor that much. I’m sure he doesn’t even know she’s coming out with something tonight.”

“Oh, okay,” you say, a little confused. You know Sap doesn’t listen to Taylor like you do, but you were positive he didn’t dislike her. He’d sing along sometimes when you guys would hang out and listen to music together. Besides, Sapnap always loved to mess around with you and Dream, you guys were two of his best friends, so the fact Dream didn’t even want to ask him was a little weird but so be it.

“Besides, he’s probably listening to Roadtrip on repeat again,” Dream says while shaking his head and smiling. You laugh and nod your head.

“You’re probably right.” You sit down in the chair again and open up the Spotify application, wanting to check your assumption and get ready for when the song comes out. You look over to the right side of the screen for your friends activity and let out a big laugh as you see Sapnap is in fact listening to Dream’s song.

“Sapnap the biggest Dream stan, confirmed!” You exclaim, watching Dream as he looks and notices Sapnap’s song choice. He lets out a big wheeze and you can’t help but smile at the sound. You would seriously never get tired of that tea kettle laugh.

You and Dream had been dating for around four years now and they had been some of the best years of your life. Of course there had been ups and downs but at the end of every day you were both always there for each other. Dream had shown you a love no other guy had before and you were so grateful to have him, just like he’s grateful to have you.

“Hey, look! There’s only two minutes left until midnight,” Dream points out. You look at the time on the monitor and notice he’s right. You quickly search up Taylor’s name in the search bar and click on her Spotify profile, the song would be dropping any minute now.

Dream reaches over and adjusts the volume, making sure to turn it up loud enough for you guys to feel fully immersed in the music, but also not loud enough to receive a noise complaint from the neighbors.

The screen lights up on your phone and you grab it, letting out an excited shriek as you see it’s a notification from Taylor’s twitter. The song was officially out!

The Spotify screen refreshes and the single pops up in front of you and Dream. “You ready?” Dream asks while looking over at you. You nod your head eagerly and he smiles before reaching out and grabing the mouse, clicking on the song, and pressing play.

The familiar opening chords start playing through the speakers and you swear you can feel something inside of you light up.

“Shall we, my love?” Dream asks as he reaches out his hand towards you while slightly bowing. You giggle and instantly accept his hand.

“we were both young when I first saw you”

Dream holds you close and sways you both from side to side. You press your cheek into his chest, smiling at the warmth and familiar scent of his cologne.

You can feel the vibrations through Dream’s chest as he starts to hum along with the song. He pulls back and spins you around under his arm. The beat of the song begins to pick up pace and you start to sing along, fully feeling yourself getting into the music.

“I’ll be waiting all there’s left to do is run”

You bop your head from left to right, laughing as Dream constantly pulls you in and out.

“You’ll be the prince,” you sing as you point at Dream with the hand that isn’t holding onto his. “and I’ll be the princess.”

Your stomach flutters with butterflies as you take in everything that’s happening. The sound of Dream’s sweet light singing filling your ears and the smile that is unable to leave your face because of it. The music feels as if it’s pulsing through you and you can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else but here right now.

The two of you were practically yelling the lyrics now, not caring at all what you looked like as you jumped around and danced with each other. Both laughing at the state you guys were in. You wouldn’t doubt it if Sapnap could hear the both of you going nuts over a thirteen year old Taylor Swift song, but oh well.

The song slows down again, right before the big ending and once again Dream pulls you a little closer to him. You stare up at him and practically melt as you look into his big green eyes. You honestly could get lost in them for hours.

You reach up and push a piece of Dream’s wavy hair away from his face, tucking it behind his ear. You let your hand linger on his cheek for a moment, feeling him relax into it. He turns his head and places a soft kiss on your palm before reaching up and grabbing that same hand.

Dream steps back and begins to lift your hand up in the air, allowing you to spin circles underneath his arm as the final chorus plays in the background.

“I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.”

You feel Dream let go of your hand but you continue to spin around, laughing as you imagine yourself in the music video, dancing around a big ballroom, wearing a gorgeous outfit that you could only dream of.

“cause we were both young when I first saw...”

You take a final spin, tilting your head back and laughing as the song comes to a close. You stand still facing Dream as Taylor sings out the final word of the song, “you.”

What you didn’t expect to find was your boyfriend kneeling on the floor, hand out with a black velvet box placed in it.

Although the room was still settling from your spinning around, there was no chance to mistake the sight in front of you. A gasp left your lips as your hands flew to cover your mouth in surprise.

“Clay?” You whisper, feeling your eyes start to tear up.

“Y/N, I don’t even know where to begin if i’m honest with you,” Dream starts off, letting out a small laugh. “These past four years with you have been the best years of my life. You have loved me and have been there for me through everything and I truly cannot imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else by my side. You are the love of my life and I am so grateful to be able to call you mine. I could talk about everything I adore about you for hours, from your smile, your laugh, your passions, your intelligence, to the way you love so fiercely. You are my favorite person in the entire world, and I love you so much,” Dream opens up the box and reveals a gorgeous engagement ring. “It’s a love story, baby, just say yes.”

Both you and Dream laugh at his reference and you can’t help the tears that start to fall down your face. The man in front of you was the epitome of love. There was no one else you could picture yourself growing old with. Clay was everything you could hope for in a man and the fact he did this and incorporated a song that means so much to you in his proposal made you melt.

“Yes, Clay! Yes I will marry you!” You rush forward and envelop Dream into a big hug. He wraps his arms around you and lifts you up, spinning you both around. “I love you so much, oh my god.”

“I love you too, Y/N, I love you so much,” Clay pulls back and takes the ring out of the box. You hold out your hand and he places the ring on your ring finger. “Thank you for saying yes,” he smiles.

You let out a laugh and wrap your arms around Dream’s neck.

“Thank you for picking me,” You whisper as you lean up and capture Dream’s lips in a passionate kiss. The absolute love you felt was indescribable. You could not believe this was actually happening to you.

“Wait,” You say after you and Dream pulled apart. “Is this why you didn’t want to ask Sapnap to come listen to the song with us?” Dream laughs and nods his head in response.

“Yeah, I mean he knows I was doing this tonight, but obviously I wasn’t gonna have him in here when I proposed. Could you imagine how much he’d be third wheeling right now?” Dream wheezes and you can’t help but join in. This man was truly something else.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” You reply. “We’re still making him listen to the song though.”

Dream smiles and nods his head.

“Definitely, but for now.” he says moving towards the computer, “let’s listen together again.”

“I’d like that very much,” You smile and tilt your head up, nudging your nose against Dream’s.

The song starts to play again and Dream takes your hands, wrapping them around his neck before placing his on your waist.

The both of you sway along to the music, feeling nothing but happiness at the thought of your future together.

You started the night off listening to one of your favorite songs, and ended it by getting engaged to your Romeo. It truly was a Love Story.

[carrotmakar]

Sunsets and Surprises

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: A trip to Italy isn’t the only thing that Harry surprises Y/N with.

Warning(s): itallyrry, lost luggage, y/n constantly in harry’s clothes, harry being an absolute sap, surprises, not edited (sorry, i hate having my betas read the shorter pieces)

A/N: anon requested: harry and y/n visit a small town in italy. harry takes y/n to a private beach and he proposes. Yet again, this gif has like, nothing to do with the fic, i just like it fjshdak!!! This is only like, the third (?) proposal scene I’ve written so I apologize if I still suck at the proposal speech!! Normally I wouldn’t give away the big surprise but it was quite literally in anon’s request so I figured I may as well apologize for it now. I hope you like this anon!! I don’t know how I feel about it completely but yeah!! I hope you enjoy it!!

Masterlist | Taglist | Request - Guidelines | Come Talk To Me!!

Reblogs help a lot and are greatly appreciated!!

*

When you originally imagined visiting Italy, you imagined a peaceful getaway, all worries left back in the States. 

You should have known that it wouldn’t be that simple. Your luck forbids anything from going as it’s supposed to. Which is why you’re standing next to the baggage claim in Catania Airport, waiting patiently for your bags to roll around. Harry’s already gotten his bags, so he asked you to watch over them while he quickly runs to the bathroom. 

After almost ten minutes of watching the same bags roll around the claim, you decide that there’s no way your bags are here. They must have gotten lost somewhere. You try to keep calm, knowing that as soon as Harry gets back from the bathroom, he’ll calm your nerves. 

You turn away from the baggage claim and look in the direction of the bathrooms. What is taking him so long?

After a few more minutes of waiting, Harry turns the corner and all the tension immediately leaves your body at the blinding smile that he flashes you. 

“Sorry for taking so long, baby. There was a lone in the bathroom and then I stopped to take pictures with a few fans.” You smile at him and wave it off. 

“It’s fine, honey. I get it.” He looks around you for a moment before training his eyes back on your face.

“Where are your bags?” You grimace, almost having forgotten about the missing luggage until he brought it up.

“Yeah, about that…” He frowns at your words.

“It got lost, didn’t it?” You nod and he just sighs.

“Alright, well, let’s just go. I’ll call and get it sorted out. Until then, you can just wear my clothes. I brought extra knowing you’d probably want to wear them anyway.” You smile at that, loving how he remembers that you always prefer to wear his clothes over your own. 

“Hey, baby?” You speak up as you’re following him out of the airport to where the car is supposed to be. 

He hums in acknowledgement, encouraging you to continue. 

“Can I play the music in the car?” He laughs slightly and nods.

“Of course, doll. Play whatever you want.”

*

The drive to Sicily isn’t as bad as you initially thought it would be. The fact that Harry let you pick the music (as he does most times, he still swears he has no clue why you act surprised nearly every time he agrees) helped the drive go by much faster than it really was. 

“Where exactly are we again?” You wonder as the both of you climb out of the car in front of one of the most beautiful villas you’ve ever seen. The outside of the building is an off white stucco design. There are arches that make the place look slightly asymmetrical, but it all just adds to the appeal. The shutters, trim, and porch covering are all wood that’s been stained a brown so dark it almost looks black.

“We’re just about on the coast of Riserva Dello Zingaro beach.” You swoon slightly at the light accent he has while pronouncing the name of the beach. 

“Go on in, dove.” He throws you the keys to the place you’ll be calling home for the next week. “Get comfortable, I’m just gonna bring the bags in.”

You do as you’re told, venturing into the villa and taking in the space. It’s not huge, and you’re grateful for that. You know Harry handpicked this spot, knowing exactly how much you hated having unnecessary amounts of extra space. The floor plan is open, the kitchen, dining room, and family area all visible, no walls separating them. The decorations that make you smile, the homey feel that they give off making you feel like you could stay here for the rest of your life. 

You walk to the back of the house and into the bedroom that you and Harry will be sharing for the week. The moment you lay your eyes on the room, you gasp. It’s possibly the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (besides Harry). The bed is larger than any you've ever seen, the frame matching the white bedspread. There’s a white couch facing the floor to ceiling window that faces the view of the beach. 

As you’re ogling the room, a pair of arms wrap around your waist and you immediately relax into them. “Do you like it, baby?”

You nod and hum in approval. “Love it.”

“I’m glad.” He places a kiss to the crown of your head and you turn in his arms.

“Can we go to the beach?” He pouts at you for a moment.

“I can’t today. Gotta make that call about your luggage, remember?” You nod.

“It’s okay. We can stay in today, get used to everything.” He expected you to be slightly more upset about not being able to go out, knowing that you barely get to go anywhere anymore without someone recognizing you.

“We can go tomorrow if you want.” He offers.

“I thought you wanted to go explore tomorrow. Wasn’t your plan really to go to the beach starting Wednesday?” He smiles fondly at you as you speak.

“Yeah, but we can always change plans if you want to.” He’s trying to reason with you so you get what you want, but you know how much he likes sticking to the plan. You’ll be fine without the beach for a few days. 

“No, baby. It’s fine. We’ll go on Wednesday like we planned.” He leans forward and places a peck to your lips. 

“If you’re sure, then we can do that.” He’s scanning your face.

“I promise I’m sure.” You reach up to wrap your arms around his neck and push yourself on your tippy toes to give him a quick kiss.

“Alright, then let me go make this call really fast.” You nod and let him make his way to the family room while you begin to rifle through his suitcase to find a comfier outfit of his to slip on.

*

The next few days with Harry are perfect, and you’re not sure how it could possibly get any better. He had been constantly loving up on you every chance that he got. He blamed it on you always being in his clothes, but you figure it’s probably just because he’s been happier, more carefree while he’s been here.

“Are you ready to go to the beach, baby?” He peeks his head into the bathroom and is faced with you in a navy blue bikini top and a striped pair of bottoms. 

“Yeah, I’m ready. Wanna help me finish applying the sunscreen to my back?” He just nods and reaches his hand out blindly for the bottle. You chuckle at his actions.

“You’re like a teenage boy, H. Act your age.” You notice your mistake the moment he begins to hum under his breath. “Great, now you’re going to have that song stuck in your head all day, aren’t you?”

He just shrugs, a smirk on his face while he applies the sunscreen to your back. He uses deep circular motions, almost like he’s massaging you, and you have to tell him to stop before you never make it to the beach.

The walk there is short, five minutes at most. In the heat, however, it feels like it takes a lot longer. 

You’re confused when you get to the beach and nobody’s there. You’d think that there would be more people here at this time of day, especially at a beach this nice.

“Honey, why is there nobody h-” Your breath catches in your throat as you turn on your heel and see Harry down on one knee, a velvet box in his hands.

“It’s a private beach, not many people come here. At least not at this time.” He chuckles lightly and you can’t help the way that your heart swells at the look of the smile on his face.

Before you can say anything, he clears his throat. “Y/N, I know this is unexpected, it wasn’t planned out much or anything. But that’s okay, because neither was falling in love with you.” He chuckles again, almost like he’s nervous. But you can’t really blame him. You’re nervous too. “I didn’t expect to ever fall in love, really. I thought that nobody would ever be able to understand, to cope with the hectic lifestyle that came along with being in my life.” His voice waivers for a moment. He pauses to gather himself before continuing. “But then you came along. You walked right into my life and said you didn’t care what baggage I already had or what we picked up on the way, you were here for it all. Looking back on it, there wasn’t a distinct moment that I fell in love with you, but there was a distinct moment in which I knew. I knew the minute you came to my house in the middle of the night just because I was stressed out and you didn’t want me to be alone. You put my happiness and health over yours that night and that’s when I knew, without a doubt, that I was royally screwed. You make me so happy every single day that you’re around me. Excuse my cheesy reference, but you light up my world like nobody else.” He pauses while you giggle lightly and roll your eyes at him. “I look forward to making you smile and laugh every time that we’re near each other. And, if you’ll let me, I’d love to continue putting a smile on your face every single day. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Y/N. Will you marry me?”

You don’t hesitate before saying yes and throwing yourself into his arms, letting him spin you around and take you back to the villa to show you just how glad he is to have you as his fiancé. 

*

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[hargrove-mayfields]

Memories Are Golden

The prom of ‘85 was just one week away. If you asked Steve how much involvement he would’ve have in the event, not even a month ago he would’ve guessed it to be nothing more than maybe taking a flyer home and immediately throwing it in the trash.

Because he wouldn’t be able to go anyways, him and his date didn’t exactly abide by the administration's rules, or society’s, for that matter, so he didn’t care about the whole thing, until last minute, when Nancy had successfully convinced him to be a part of the prom committee with her.

The conversation had basically been a very lengthy guilt trip, he’s well aware of that, and her whole, ‘best moments of our lives’ speech hadn’t really done much to change his mind either.

In the end, Steve had only decided he was going to do it for three reasons: he’d get extra credit in the teacher in charge of prom, the math teachers, class, he wouldn’t have to go to any of his morning classes, and Robin joined in on Nancy’s bullying him because her and Heather would be apart of the committee too.

So now for the next week leading up to the big day, Steve has to spend his mornings in the gym putting up the decorations for the grand march.

But it isn’t all bad, because their small little task force made up of the other poor souls Nancy had rallied to do this with her is all of his friends, Nancy and Barb and Robin and Heather, with the addition of one very begrudging Billy Hargrove.

The girls were all the type you’d expect to be into this thing, the crafty ones mixed in with popularity, and everyone knew Steve would do anything to show school spirit, especially if Nancy bullied him into it, but nobody actually expected Billy of all people to even show up.

He certainly looked more likely to be the one crashing the prom than hanging up little foil stars on the walls, and anyways, rumor had it he only was on the committee as an alternative to detention for smoking weed under the bleachers.

But Steve knew that had absolutely not happened, for one thing, Billy’s weed stayed tightly locked up in his bedroom, thank you very much, and for another, he was there completely willingly. Steve knew that, because he’d been the one to tell Billy to sign up.

Which, when it really got right down to it, Billy honestly was the only reason Steve was even doing this whole thing. They were used to working in a couple of very limited interactions on the court or in the few classes they shared, but with the prom committee they’d be required to spend at least four hours together every day. It was the golden opportunity, even if that wasn’t the way Nancy intended it.

So maybe Billy does show up a little late every morning on purpose, just to keep up appearances, but he’s got a smile on his face, hidden behind the styrofoam coffee cup he gets from the cafeteria as he seeks out Steve and sits beside him in the bleachers to wait for that days instruction.

“Mornin’ Bill.” Steve mumbles tiredly, used to coming in late every day and getting at least an extra hour of sleep most days.

Billy nods and hums in his throat as his only response, so Steve asks him, “You wake up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin’?”

And of course, in true Billy fashion, he flashes Steve his most shit eating grin, and says all nonchalant, “Always do when I wake up alone.”

It’s so cheesy, and very obviously meant to get to him, but Steve can’t help the blush that creeps up his neck. He’s still trying to think up an equally as flustering comeback, when the teacher in charge finally shows up.

She announces that this year’s theme was ‘under the stars’, which Steve thought sounded incredibly tacky, but there was still no way it would be any worse than the godawful ‘hollywood’ theme from the year before. Hawkins High had a reputation for a lot of things, but creativity was not one of them.

They get split up into groups, Nancy and Barb in charge of the promo, the writing up, designing, and printing of the announcements and tickets, and Robin and Heather got the delicate detail work, blowing up balloons, laying down the artificial grass squares and hanging or putting in place whatever the other groups made them.

Billy and Steve, on the other hand, were stuck with all the dirty work, the manly jobs. They’re the ones who have to paint the banner that’s going to go over the door, and carry anything that’s considered too heavy and hang anything too high (even though Barb really isn’t that much shorter than them), and set up the tents and string the electricity to the lights in the fake lamp posts.

Quite frankly, Steve doesn’t think it’s fair that they have double the workload as the girls, most of the week had been dedicated to their work, but he just can’t bring himself to complain about getting to watch Billy working every morning, still barely awake yet, his hair pulled up so it didn’t get paint or that much glitter in it.

~~~~~~~~

On their last day in the gym, all that’s left is to sort out a few last minute details, the final squares of fake grass are laid out, lights are tested and glitter is spread out on everything. It doesn’t take too awful long, so they end up with just under three hours leftover to kill.

What they’re supposed to do is report back to their morning classes and try to catch up on all the work they’ve been missing out on for the entire week, but Billy isn’t looking to worry about a bunch of school work, so he tries to convince the rest to skip those last few hours with him.

From Barb and Nancy he gets an instant no, which, he was honestly expecting that. They’re responsible girls, and he can’t blame them for giving two shits about their education. The fact of the matter is though, that he doesn’t.

What he isn’t expecting as much is for his best friend to tell him no, but Heather’s too excited about her senior prom to get in trouble the day before it, and he can respect that.

He already knows that if Heather’s not going, Robin’s not either, so he waves her off before she even bothers trying to explain herself.

That just leaves Steve, and lord knows Billy’s been a bad enough influence on him that he doesn’t even have to ask if he’s ditching, so when Mrs Mitchell and the girls leave, they follow behind until they’re out in the hallway, then duck out of the back entrance of the gym.

Most of the time when people skip they just go home considering the lack of literally anything at all to do around Hawkins, but with Steve’s house too far away for it to be worth leaving, and Billy’s stepmom still at home, that sort of wasn’t an option for them.

Usually they don’t skip for those very reasons, but today they have a handwritten excuse to be out of their classes until exactly 12:15, so in a way, it isn’t so much like skipping as it is just using their free time wisely. Or at least, that’s how Steve rationalizes it, earning from Billy, who thought it was sweet that his former bad boy felt it necessary to make excuses for skipping, a chuckle and a warm smile.

They decide to just hang out on the school grounds, nowhere in town to go but the diner and the stores downtown, and they weren’t in the mood for food nor did they have enough money to blow buying stupid shit they didn’t need, so smoking and sneaking kisses by the tree line on the practice field it was.

It’s nice, but Billy doesn’t like the quiet, furrowed brow as he plucks blades of just growing grass trying to think of something to say that would break the silence. Steve just waits patiently with a lit cigarette burning out between his fingers for Billy to speak, listening intently when he finally says, “You know, s’a shame that I can’t take you to the prom after all that work we did for it.”

“Nah, prom’s way overrated.” Steve blows him off, not wanting him to feel bad about it, personally viewing the dance as stupid anyways, in a way sort of glad he doesn’t have to go, “It’s just a way to pay for new football uniforms and make kids who piqued in highschool feel good about themselves.”

But Billy doesn’t even laugh at that, flicking the head off a dandelion to keep his hands busy as he basically mumbles, “Guess you had time to think ‘bout it already.”

“Yeah. I guess I just always thought dances were kind of dumb. Now that I’m not King Steve anymore I just don’t really see a reason to bother with ‘em.” Steve explains, sliding his hand over to Billy’s across the tips of cool blades of grass, linking their pinkies together and leaning his head against his shoulder, soft touches like these the only way Billy could tell the difference between an open conversation and an argument.

“Still, think it’d be nice to be able to show you off. Let ‘em know what they’ve been missing.” Billy admits, a shy crack of a smile, like he was afraid to bring it up, and it makes Steve smile back, looking straight into the vulnerability behind his blue eyes and saying so softly it’s almost a whisper, “S’not necessary, B. I’m all yours.”

Billy pulls his hand away, a flush on his cheeks that wasn’t just from the warmth of the sun, overwhelmed by the affection just a bit, not uncomfortable with it, just not used to it, and bumps his shoulder into Steve’s, telling him, “God, you’re such a sap.”

“Hey, you’re the one that wanted to take me to the prom.” Steve says, barely even defensive, making Billy smile again.

There’s a break in the conversation, both of them flustered and thinking about the other, until Steve interrupts the quiet this time, leaning back on his hands in the grass and suggesting, “We could do our own prom though, you know.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Well, we can’t do the real thing, obviously, but I don’t have any other plans tomorrow. You should drop by.”

“You’re really askin’ me to be your prom date?” Billy smirks, but the vulnerable hope in his eyes gives him away, and makes Steve’s heart flutter, though he replies nonchalant, “Who else? Be there at 8:30?”

“It’s a date. See you then, pretty boy.” Billy says with a smile, leaning in to kiss Steve, but getting interrupted by his watch beeping, their break time almost up already.

Steve chuckles and kisses his nose, and says, “Guess we better get back then.” waiting for Billy to leave first so his boyfriend had a head start to get into the school before him.

Billy throws a wink over his shoulder as he retreats towards the gym doors, and suddenly the weight of what they’d just agreed to settles with Steve.

Maybe this prom thing wasn’t as overrated as he thought, because did he ever feel over the moon right now, blushing like an idiot and just standing there dazedly until he hears the bell ring inside the building.

Apparently it showed too, that butterflies in his stomach feeling he had for the rest of the day, if the fact that Robin pulled him aside in the cafeteria for an emergency meeting about why he couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off his face was any indication.

He told her some lie, something about one of the teachers he got his makeup work off of cutting him some slack, and Robin doesn’t believe that, but she knows it’s none of her business, so she lets him keep smiling.

Still, as much as Steve was looking forward to this, at the end of the day when he waved at Billy from across the parking lot, he got nervous. Like, speeding back home to Loch Nora in under ten minutes on a normally fifteen minute drive nervous.

Because he still has a lot of shit to get done between now and tomorrow night when Billy is supposed to show up.

For one thing, his house is a disaster. He almost never cleans it until it’s too late, half-assing the dishes and overloading the washing machine and hiding things in closets usually the day before his parents were supposed to get back.

Another thing is how should he dress? He had a few fancy suits of his own from outings with his parents and past dances, but he knew Billy wouldn’t. Still, wouldn’t it be rude to underdress just because he assumed Billy would be too poor to clean up?

And what did people even do at prom? Get drunk and have sex? If Billy wanted to do that he would’ve just said so. How was Steve supposed to figure out what else they were going to do? The rest of prom is just bad dancing and even worse food, was that something he was supposed to include?

What if he’d sent the wrong signal in the first place and it wasn’t just going to be them? What if Billy showed up at his door with a bunch of other losers skipping out on prom night and this wasn’t really special at all?

The thing is, he knows he’s being irrational. Billy’s not the type to care about this stuff, and even if he did he wasn’t gonna like, break things off just because their little fake prom in Steve’s living room wasn’t perfect. That’s just ridiculous.

So he tries to redirect that initial panic into productivity. Get at least something planned out and put together before he freaks all the way out and loses his motivation.

He decides to do it in small parts, tonight he’d start with the cleaning and getting everything he already had together, and tomorrow would be for shopping and decorating.

Because he’s got such a scatterbrain, he makes a list of all the things he needed to get done before 8:30 tomorrow night, and already he feels the stress start to dissipate with each thing he gets to check off, the living room cleaned until Ruthie would approve, picking out a nice sweater he’d never worn before, fancy but not too much, and tracking down all the things he already had, a record player, the fancy wine Billy said he liked, and a couple of strings of fairy lights and tinsel.

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning he goes straight to Melvald’s, with the rest of his checklist to but candles, more decorations, a boutonnière, just to do it, and maybe something other than takeout to eat for once.

He must look as nervous as he feels, dumping his purchases on the counter, because Joyce smiles that understanding smile of hers, and asks him, “Last minute jitters before prom?”

“You could say that.” He responds breathily, trying to return the smile.

“Jonathan and Nancy decided not to go, but it sounds like it’ll be fun.” Joyce says with a nod, and Steve realizes he’s given her the wrong impression, explaining, “Oh, I’m not going to the real thing either, just hanging out with a friend tonight.”

“Well that sounds nice anyways.” She says, as she rings up his stuff remarking, “You must really like this friend to go all out like this.”

“Yeah he’s-“ Steve physically shakes his head, a reminder to stop talking before he gets himself caught, backpedaling with a shaky excuse, “I-I mean, it’s not like it’s a prom date , it’s just, you know, two guys hanging out.“

Joyce puts her hand on his, that same warm smile still on her face, and tells him, looking him right in the eye as if to say, ‘I know, but it’s okay’, “I’m happy for you, Steve. Have fun tonight.”

Steve nods, a flush to his cheeks as he leaves the store with not another word than, “I… Thank you Mrs. Byers.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Billy knew absolutely jack and shit about school dances.

The first and only he’d ever been bothered to go to was way back in elementary school, and that didn’t exactly hold a candle to the fucking prom.

It helped some that it wasn’t the real thing, but Steve was talking like it might as well be, and quite frankly, he wanted it to be. This was going to be special goddamnit.

But before he can even think too much about it, he realizes none of that will matter if it turns out he can’t show, so he brings it up with his dad at dinner.

At the table is where he’s least likely to get beat if Neil said no, so that was always the time he chose to ask for things. “I know it’s, uh, kind of last minute ‘cause it’s tomorrow night, but could I go to the prom?”

Neil quirks an eyebrow, seeming mostly uninterested, “With who?”

“Nobody as a date.” Billy explains, using the cover story he’d been coming up with since the minute Steve asked him, or rather in anticipation of, “Heather has a spare ticket ‘cause her actual date ditched her last minute and she asked me if I would go with her.”

Neil nods, seemingly believing him, and asks, “When’s it start?”

“Uh, about 8, I think, so I’ll probably leave at like, 6:30 or so.” Billy throws it out nervously, tapping his fingers against the underside of the table, and freezing when Neil speaks.

But he doesn’t get yelled at, it’s just a simple, calm, “Susan, do we have anything planned that time tomorrow?”

“No, dear. Max is going with her friends at six, but other than that...” Comes her timid response without a hitch, and Billy already knows he’s in the clear before Neil gives his response, still not looking up from the table.

He agrees, but with a few conditions that Billy wouldn’t dare disobey, “If you drop your sister off first, you’ve got yourself a deal. Just don’t come home if you’re drunk, and don’t waste all my damned money on pictures.”

Billy nods, his heart racing in anticipation of something he was pretty sure at this point wasn’t going to happen, though some part of him was still waiting for the slap across the face and a never your mind as he says dutifully, “Yessir. Thank you.��

~~~~~~~~~

Billy starts getting ready six hours early for two reasons: for one thing, the sooner he’s ready, the more time he had away from Neil and to psyche himself up to knock on Steve’s door, and for another, his hair on a normal day takes at least an hour if he doesn’t want it frizzing out or losing it’s curl or getting heavy, and this was his prom, he was willing to spend a whole day on his hair for the sake of looking nice, even if there were no pictures of it.

Of course Max, being the little nuisance she is, follows him to his bedroom when he goes to get ready, holding the door open with her foot so he couldn’t slam it in her face, and earning herself a grumbly, “What do you want, Maxine?”

“I thought you told me you weren’t going to the prom.” She says it like she caught him doing something wrong, as if plans couldn’t change, and it pisses Billy off a little bit.

“I’m not-“ He starts to explain, cutting himself off when somewhere in the house Neil pops the tab on a beer can, a tiny sound Max probably hadn’t even picked up on, but if his father was out and about in the house Billy doesn’t want to admit what he’s going to in front of him. He opens his door wider and ushers his step sister in, immediately shutting it behind her and finishing what he was saying,  “I’m not going to the prom.”

She quirks an eyebrow, through Billy’s eyes maybe looking a bit too much like her step-dad when she does it, “Why’d you tell Neil you were?”

“Crashing the after party. Thought it’d look better if I said I went.” He just shrugs, half assing the lie, and, picking up on that, Max fires back smugly, “You’re lying.”

Billy snaps, no longer looking at her while he starts lining his shit up on his makeshift vanity, getting ready to get ready, “Yeah, I am. But it’s really none of your business, shitbird.”

“Are you going on a date or something?” She looks at him knowingly, if not a little surprised, and asks as it dawns on her, “Oh my god, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Maxine Nicole!” He hisses through his teeth, turning to glare at her and seeing that she’s holding his hair spray that he literally just put out, probably planning on stealing it, “Jesus, give me that.”

She lets him snatch it out of her hands and puts it back in its spot on the vanity she told him didn’t count as a vanity multiple times, rolling her eyes, “Yeesh. I’ll take that as a yes then.”

“If you’re going to tell on me Max, I swear to god-“ He starts, defensive, more vulnerability in his voice than intended, but Max insists honestly, the most not bratty she’s been since she stepped into his room, “I’m not, I wouldn’t.”

Though it doesn’t last very long, her not being a brat, because she immediately cracks a big smile and asks Billy, “Who is he though?”

“Mind your own, Max, Christ.” Billy blows her off, catching glimpse of himself in the mirror and taking note of the barely there flush to his cheeks, pointing to the door and telling his meddling step sister, “Out.”

“Awww, Billy-“ She tries to whine, but he cuts her off, “ No. Out. Of. My. Room.”

But Max offers quickly, like it’ll change his mind, “I’ll do your hair if you let me stay.”

And maybe it doesn’t immediately change his mind, but it does successfully stump him, because he’s asking her, equal parts genuine curiosity and sarcasm, “Why would I let you touch my hair?”

“No reason.” Max says, looking down at his carpet, definitely overplaying the bashfulness in bringing up her answer to appeal to Billy’s emotions, “I just thought, and maybe it’s stupid but like, most guys have their moms to fuss over them for prom, but, you know, you don’t, so I wanted to, I don’t know, be a good sister and do that for you or, whatever.“

Billy sighs, that had been exactly what he was thinking about all night last night, how his momma would be proud of him for finding a way to do this with the person, the boy he loved, and how she could’ve been there to do exactly what Max said, so he agrees, “Alright shitbird, guilt trip successful. You’re not kicked out.”

Max claps her hands together and sits on her brother's bed, getting all of Billy’s wrinkled button ups tossed at her from where they had been previously shoved, unfolded into a dresser drawer, and a command to, “Help me pick a shirt.”

She asks him while she’s unfolding all of his shirts he’d thrown at her and spreading them all out over Billy’s bed, “Are you going to button it.”

“What do you think?”

“Billy. It’s your prom.”

“Fine. One more button.”

“Two?” She tries to bargain, but he shuts it down again, making her giggle when he jokes, his tone level like it's a real threat, “One or I‘m going shirtless.”

“Then I pick.. this blue one.” Max says and puts her hand on a navy blue, quarter sleeve shirt after careful consideration of holding each button up up to Billy and thinking hard about it, but one more once over and she changes her mind, handing Billy a white shirt with snap buttons instead, “No, no, no, wait, this one with full sleeves is better. Yeah, that one for sure.”

“Sleeves it is.” Billy says taking the shirt and hanging it on the door so he’d remember to iron it, crudely shoving the rest of the button ups back into the drawer, and asking Max, “Will I need to wear like, a coat or something?”

She shrugs asking him smugly, “That depends on who it is.”

“Sensitive information.” Billy says immediately, when she looks like she’s going to argue shutting her down before she can say anything, “Which means I’m not tellin’ you.”

“Can I guess?” Max asks, making her case by reasoning with him sweetly, “Please? You wouldn’t be telling me that way.”

He genuinely considers it for a minute, and decides it’s whatever, in his head assuming there was no way Max would be able to figure it out, so he waves his hand with an eye roll, giving her the go ahead to start guessing.

Her first question is, “Okay, okay. Is it.. someone I know?”

“Yep.”

Max furrows her brow, and asks, “Do I like him?” To which Billy shrugs and responds, “Probably.”

“Um, is it…” Max snaps her fingers, an idea coming to her, “Is it Tommy?”

But again she’s shut down, because for somebody she’s supposed to probably like, she sure does a lot of complaining about Tommy, and he calls her on it, “Do you like Tommy?”

Max hums thoughtfully, taking a second guess, “I guess not. Is it Keith?”

Billy shakes his head, giving her the most confused look she’d ever seen on his face as he asks, or basically exclaims, “Who the fuck is Keith ?”

“Well excuuse me for not knowing a lot of guys around here!” Max says, defensive, making Billy roll his eyes again and turn back to digging through his drawers for a decent pair of jeans to wear with a button up, most of them stained and worn.

“Not Tommy, not Keith, who’s left?” She thinks hard then gasps, connecting something in her mind, a devious, knowing little smile on her face, “Is it Steve?”

Billy doesn’t answer her, quite frankly doesn’t know what he should say. It’s his fault, letting her guess between the only three boys his age in town she apparently knew, but now that Max knew who his mystery boyfriend was he wasn’t feeling so hot.

Honestly, some part of him is expecting Neil to come busting through the door any second, like this was some sort of run around way of finding him out, but after a few minutes of her squealing like teenage girls do, he realizes all he has to face is an excited little sister.

He flushes, and asks her over his shoulder, his forcing his tone to sound bored, “Are you done?”

“Yes.” Max says, nodding, but she smiles wide and dissolves into a fit of giggles again, covering her mouth with her hands when Billy crosses his arms, and insists, “Okay, okay, I’m done!”

“Good.” Billy says, but he can’t help cracking a smile. He angles his mirror down towards the floor and sits in front of it, telling his sister lightly to, “Help me with my hair then, shitbird.”

Max sits behind him, and runs her fingers through his hair, “You should’ve put curlers in it or something last night.”

Billy rolls his eyes, realizing as he does so for the dozen things time since Max barged in that she maybe learned that from him, deciding that doesn’t even warrant a response, and hands Max the comb and one of the many cans of hairspray off of his vanity.

She sits up on her knees, and brushes back the hairs just behind his ears that always frizz out and lose their curl, holding them at the back of his hair with a bobby pin, one of the blond ones she bought specifically for him so he could use them without immediately getting caught using ‘girly’ things, but had so far been too scared to anyways.

It looks strange on him, looks more like something Max would wear than him, but honestly he doesn’t hate it, so he lets her keep going, only frowning a little when she adds a pearl adorned hair clip, big enough it looks more like a fancy brooch, to the back of his hair.

She sprays it with so much hairspray it’s tacky, scrunching it up so his curls are tighter, and smoothing the sides so they won’t come unclipped.

When every curl is in its place and approved by Billy, who insists he’s not in the least bit emotional about what Max had said early, that thing about having nobody but her to fuss over him, she hops up, telling him to, “Wait one minute.” while she runs to her room.

She returns with her bulky pink Caboodles box, the one that has all of her mostly unused makeup in it, tapping him on the shoulder and telling him, “Alright, turn towards me.”

Her plan didn’t work though, at least he’s almost positive it was her plan to break down his defenses just so she could use him as her dress up doll anyways, but he isn’t having it, telling her quickly to “Put that shit away, Max.”

“Why? You wear makeup everyday.” Max observes simply, making Billy hiss and tell her to lower her voice, “Yeah, but never the extra strength shit that makes your eyelashes curly and your face pretty. Neil will sniff this out the second I step out of this room.”

Max just shrugs, “Then I’ll make sure he doesn’t see your face. It’s not a big deal.”

“He’ll make it into one.”

“I think your senior prom is an even bigger deal, though.”

Billy sighs, once again losing to her arguing skill, and turning to face her like she told him, “You owe me if I get caught like this.”

Max rolls her eyes and does her magic, each second that passes Billy regretting agreeing to turning the control of his appearance over to his little sister, expecting to come out of this looking like her Diva doll, fidgeting more and more the longer it takes her.

Just before he’s about to panic, Max tells him, “All done.” and lets him look in the mirror.

He blinks repeatedly at his own reflection, surprised to see he didn’t have sparkly eyeshadow up to his eyebrows or rouge on his cheeks, just a tasteful amount of lip gloss and a copper tint to his eyelids, framed by darker than usual eyelashes and the smallest bit of eyeliner.

She gets impatient after a few minutes of Billy not saying anything, and pushes his shoulders to turn him around again to look at her, staring at him until she decides what she thinks is missing.

She hurries to the upright jewelry box in her mother’s room, and brings him back a clip on pearl earring for his right ear, opposite the chain of silver stars she already picked for his left.

“Here, it’ll look better if you have earrings in both ears.” She reaches up, pushing his hair out of the way and clipping the earring on, letting him do the screw on the back himself so she didn’t make it too tight.

Billy lowers his hand and scrunches his nose, leaning in slightly towards the mirror, “They don’t match.”

“It looks nice though. You look really pretty.” She tells him honestly, not realizing the impact the simple compliment, though not so simple for somebody like him, has on her brother until he’s trying to subtly blink away tears behind mascara coated lashes, pretending like that wasn’t the case and telling her, “Whatever, it’s too late to change it now if you want to be on time.”

He does one last once over himself in the mirror, though he knows he’s going to be using his car windows for the same purpose at the last minute, and shoos Max out of his bedroom door, trying to hurry out of the house before Neil can stop him and see him all dolled up.

He’s got one hand around the door knob and his keys through his belt loop when his dad does stop him, his heart just about stopping as Neil calls from the other room, “Do you have flowers for the girl?”

“I have a corsage in the car.” Billy lies, hoping his tone is sure enough for Neil to buy it.

“Good. Just remember what I said, boy.” Neil says, still from the living room, so Billy lets his posture relax a bit and breathes out a quiet sight, saying casually, “Get Max to her friends, don’t spend any money, and don’t come home drunk, I got it, dad.”

“Watch the attitude, William.” Neil says low, the air going still for a minute until he adds, “And have fun tonight.”

“Yessir.” Billy says, ushering Max quickly out the front door, sighing when it closes behind them.

~~~~~~~

Billy drops Max off at the Wheeler’s, just driving around Hawkins until it’s time to show up at Steve’s, making sure to stop past the Holloway’s place just in case Neil went asking around wanting to know if anybody saw his car in the neighborhood.

At 8, he decides he doesn’t want to show up empty handed, buying Steve some flowers like he’d lied and said he had for Heather from Melvald’s, not understanding the knowing look the cashier lady has in her eye when he brings a dinky bouquet of flowers to the checkout counter.

He rings the doorbell at 8:30 on the dot, checking himself out one last time in Steve’s window while he waits, fifty cent roses held behind his back.

On the other side of the door, Steve stands in the dining room, now adorned with cheap party decorations that would’ve made his mother pitch a fit, waiting a whole thirty seconds before he goes to answer it, trying to collect himself first.

Billy smiles wide, and, as cheesy as it was, seeing him standing there all dressed up taking Steve’s breath away and stealing the words right off his tongue, Billy having to invite himself in because Steve was busy catching flies.

He hands him the flowers, nodding towards the silver tinsel wrapped around the banister, the stars hanging in the archway that lead into the living room that were almost identical to the ones they hung from the basketball hoops at school and saying, “Place looks nice.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Steve says, quickly adding, “You know, you look nice too.”

Billy smiles softly, looking at him with that ‘you’re an idiot Steve Harrington’ look he was so used to by now, “C’mon, Stevie, we’ve been dating for four months now, you don’t gotta be all awkward with me still.”

“I’m not, I mean it, you look really good, Billy.” Steve says, smiling now that it’s his turn to fluster Billy.

“Oh by the way, I almost forgot. Got you this just because.” He remembers, handing Billy a box with a floral pin inside, pink roses with lace, and telling him expectantly, “It’s a boutonnière.”

But Billy doesn't open it, just raises an eyebrow and says, “I thought you did corsages for prom?”

“Corsages are for the girls.”

“Ah. Got it.” He says it like he already knew that, like he was hoping maybe Steve didn’t, so Steve offers, not really understanding it, but knowing what he means all the same, “It came as a set, I still have the corsage upstairs, if you want it.”

Billy nods and pins the boutonnière to Steve’s shirt instead, explaining simply, “Just so we match.”

Steve runs upstairs and gets the corsage, giving Billy a minute to actually appreciate just how much went into decorating this place, snickering to himself when he imagines Steve having to stand on a step ladder to put the string lights so high up on the wall.

Steve tosses Billy the box from the top of the steps, letting him open it while he comes back down and ties it around his wrist, having to tie it twice because he put it on the wrong way the first time.

Billy asks him, shaking his wrist to make sure the bow is tight enough, “So what’s our official plan for tonight, Stevie?”

“Honestly I don’t really know. I’m sort of just winging it here, I don’t know what you even do at prom.”

“You never went at all?” Billy asks, surprised miss priss hadn’t dragged him along to their junior prom last year.

“Nope. Like I said, overrated.” Steve confirms, and Billy smiles wide, saying, “I’m sure I got a few ideas in mind then.”

~~~~~~~~

Billy’s idea basically consisted mainly of drinking all that fancy wine Steve had gotten out of the cellar specifically for this, shoving his tongue down Steve’s throat, and complaining about the real prom happening up at the school.

Honestly, Steve suspects things wouldn’t have been so different had they actually gone, but he can tell the fact that they weren’t able to go was still bothering Billy, judging by the sheer number of times he brings it up.

After what must be the tenth time that night Billy brought up Heather and Robin getting to go, Steve asks him, “Do you wish we were there?”

“No, that’s the thing. I couldn’t give a damn less about the whole dance, a thousand times over I’d rather just be here with you.”

“But?”

“But I wish we had the choice to go, you know? It’s just, bugging me that if we had genuinely wanted to go, we couldn’t’ve.” Billy rants, very obviously having been holding this in, “And I keep thinking about all the other gay kids who don’t have a big empty house or a safe place to do what we’re doin’.”

“Yeah, but it’s really not a big deal. Prom is pretty much all for the parents anyways, and the way I see it we, and all the other people like us, we’re so used to disappointing them, what’s it matter if we don’t go?”

“Just, I don’t care about the event or whatever, but it feels like we’re missing out on something. Like maybe we should’ve just swallowed our pride and went with Hetty and Robin anyways.”

Steve stands up abruptly, picking up their wine glasses and kicking the coffee table all the way over to the far wall to clear the floor, offering Billy his hand, “I know you feel like you’re robbing me of something by us not going, but we don’t need all of that for this to be good. I meant it when I said that’s superficial to me anyways. We can make it mean something to us.”

Billy looks up at him, still bothered deep down, but out of ways to argue about it, and accepts Steve’s hand, wrapping his arms around the back of his neck when he pulls him close by his waist.

It’s not really a slow dance as much as it is an excuse to just be close to one another, to breathe each other in and sneak kisses and be sappy, but that’s was this whole thing was about. They could’ve just hung out tonight if they wanted, and honestly they probably would’ve anyways, but they called it a prom, put that title to it that made both of their hearts pitapat.

Steve had always heard, even felt it a few times before, that when you were with the person you loved, everyone and everything else would melt away around you until it was just you, but somehow, this was different than that.

Because that would mean there were times when his world didn’t revolve around Billy, and that there was ever a moment when he could focus on anything but the boy he loved, and that just wasn’t true.

This wasn’t performative, wasn’t a relationship formed on the status of being able to show off that they were better for being in love either, this was simply Billy and Steve, dancing in their tennis shoes on Ruthie's carpet, snickering when a particularly sappy song came on the radio, barely able to be separated long enough to turn to side B, falling in love all over again under the stars.

~~~~~~~

When the wine bottles are all empty and the stack of records has been spun through, Steve’s schnockered, and insisting they get a picture, searching the house for an old Polaroid camera and making Billy stand with him in front of the fairy lights strung

They only had three chances to get a good picture, no new packs of film and only a few left in the camera, so Steve took all three.

The first one was upside down and so off center he was hardly in it, Steve being maybe a little more drunk than he thought, and the second Billy closed his eyes because the flash was too bright, but it didn’t matter too much anyways because the film didn’t develop properly and the picture was nothing but reddish-yellow tinted blackness anyways.

The third one by some chance turns out fine, maybe a little blurred because he moved and still not quite centered right, but it’s a picture, something to hold onto the memory of this night forever when the hangover wore off and things got a little blurry, and that was important to the both of them, for different reasons.

As soon as it develops, a little 8 by 10 of Billy kissing his cheek, Steve runs upstairs to hang it on the cork board above his desk before it gets misplaced, dating it and doodling a little heart with a S+B inside it, hiding the picture behind a ribbon for a middle school art contest and a picture of him and his parents.

Billy hooks his chin over his shoulder, his hands traveling a bit lower than Steve’s waist this time as he watches what he’s doing. He hums and asks, when Steve stands up straighter and turns in his arms to face him, “So? What have you got planned for the after prom, Stevie?”

[halloweenhoneylover]

bewitching

summary: spencer and the reader have the best couples’ costume, and they like to slow dance (spencer reid x fem!reader)

word count: 1.7k

author’s note: i’m uhhh not super happy with this but whatever it’s halloween babey!!! the song is i love you (for sentimental reasons) by nat king cole and you’re legally obligated to listen to it while you read. also, morticia and gomez addams are peak romance <3

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Count of three?”

“Count of three.”

You both burst from behind your respective doors and gasped. A smile crept onto your face and stretched until you grinned from ear to ear, and with an appraising eye, you scanned him from up and down, trying to take it all in. Spencer’s usually unruly mane was combed neatly and gelled back with a precision you hadn’t known he was capable of, and his already lengthy limbs seemed to stretch on for miles in the pinstriped suit he donned. You had to laugh at the fake mustache he had placed on his upper lip; it looked fairly realistic (his application was superb) but was incredibly amusing all the same. This style was different, but you had to admit some welcome warmth began stirring in your stomach at the sight. With a breathless laugh (a weak attempt to disguise the full extent of his effect on you) and a wild amount of sincerity, you murmured, “You look good.”

His face flushed with your comment, but his pink cheeks paled in comparison to the fact that he hadn’t recovered enough from the sight of you to even shut his mouth, so he just stood there gaping at you, mind utterly blank. This outfit was certainly an impressive debut for you as well. Spencer was always so enamored with the amount of color you could fill your daily outfits with, but he couldn’t deny that you dazzled just as spectacularly in noir as well. Unfamiliar sleek locks of raven hair spilled over your shoulder, and your dress, Spencer prided himself on being a man who very much respected women and refrained from letting his eyes wander, but he couldn’t have stopped them if he had tried. 

Black velvet that was simply begging to be touched, black velvet that fell just right. And a devilishly plunging neckline that made his mouth go dry. While he was well-acquainted with the gentle planes of your neck and décolletage, seeing that skin presented so...elegantly was enough for him to squirm. When he mustered the strength to meet your gaze again, he nearly passed out as you looked up at him from beneath long lashes, the dark, shimmery shading of your eyelids only sharpening the gleam of your eyes.

Reclaiming some control of his voice, he spoke lowly, “You look utterly bewitching, mi amor.”

Somehow your gaze brightened even more at that. “Has somebody been brushing up on their Spanish?”

“I have to get into character, of course,” he teased right back, coming back into possession of his mental faculties.

You finally bridged the gap between you, hands coming to rest on his chest, and you mindlessly adjusted his lapels. “Well, I, for one, think you make an excellent Gomez Addams.”

He smiled, and finally, he gathered enough courage to rest his hands on you, gently holding your hips. (The velvet was just as lovely to feel as he thought it would be.) “I’d be nowhere without my Morticia though.”

Laughing at that, you fiddled with his tie, and your voice went soft. “It’s a good thing I’m here then, mon cher.” 

He took your hand from his tie and pressed a kiss to your knuckles, hazel eyes firmly meeting your gaze. “‘To live without you, only that would be torture. A day alone, only that would be death.’”

Ducking your head, you huffed out a laugh. “It’s only 5:00, and you’re already getting sappy on me?” You turned to sashay towards the kitchen (it was hard to do anything besides sashay in a dress like this), and he followed like a lovesick puppy, very nearly tripping over his own feet on the way. (He was really good at getting into character.)

“That’s a direct quote!” he protested, but you just shook your head and grinned. “Besides, it’s hard not to be sappy when you’re around.”

“Okay, Mr. Addams, you can still be the biggest sap in the world as long as you help me finish setting up. People will be here in a half hour.”

“Anything for you, querida.”

———

Heaving the door shut, you sighed. “I believe that was the last of them.”

Spencer called from the kitchen, “I think tonight might have topped last year!” The sweetest of all sweet things, he was already cleaning up, putting dishes in the sink and picking up paper plates shaped like pumpkins. 

Tugging up the sleeves of your dress, you joined him. “I will admit this year was pretty good, but can anything really top Hotch’s drunk rendition of Vincent Price’s interlude in Thriller last year?”

He chuckled slightly at that and continued to battle a particularly stubborn lipstick stain on Garcia’s wine glass. “No, I’m not sure anything could.” A beat. “But this year was pretty great.” His smile was warm as he spoke, his words laced with an incredible tenderness. You hummed in agreement. And shoulder to shoulder, you stood there quietly washing and drying dishes, immersed in this moment of balmy domesticity.

Music drifted softly through the apartment, gentle notes dawdling around corners and settling in the soft places. You mindlessly hummed along until one particular melody tickled your ear, and you gasped. Somewhat startled by this breach in the reverie, Spencer looked to you with questioning brows, and you grabbed his wrist. “Oh, Spencer, I love this song!” you gushed. “Will you dance with me? Please, it’s what Gomez would do!”

The way your eyes shined up at him made Spencer’s heart twist in his chest. (Despite the substantial length of your relationship, it somehow always came as a pleasant surprise that you looked at him with those gleaming, lovely eyes.) His expression softened as a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Well, if that’s what Gomez would do….” He refrained from saying something stupidly sweet and cloying like, you don’t even have to ask, or I’d do anything for you, my dear. 

It seemed impossible, but your smile widened even further as you lightly dragged him into the next room. The string of jack-o-lantern lights that hung from the mantle doused you in a warm orange glow, and Spencer took a moment to glance around the room, admiring the little votives you had set on shelves and the various spooky decor that seemed to occupy every bit of free space in your apartment. Brushing the tips of his fingers with your own, you regained his attention, and he grabbed your hand. His other hand slid around to your lower back, relishing in the now familiar velvet and pulling you close, while you slid a hand up to hold on to his shoulder and rested your head on his chest.

As you settled into a nice slow sway, he finally took notice of the song. Nat King Cole’s smoky tones dripped like honey as his pianist’s fingers tumbled across keys. 

I love you, for sentimental reasons.

Spencer huffed a small laugh at your song choice, and pressing a nose into your hair, he murmured in your ear, “I don’t know how you can complain about me being sappy when you’re the one making us dance to cheesy jazz songs about love.”

You scowled teasingly, “We both have our moments.”

Smirking mildly, he nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give you that.”

A few moments drifted by wordlessly with gentle swinging, and Spencer swore that his heart had never felt so full. It had been a lovely night with his family, and now he was slow dancing with the love of his life, and in thinking back on all of the choices he had made in his life, he could not pick out the rights ones that lead him here to this exact moment, and it didn’t really matter because he really was here, right now, with you. Fate had always seemed a fickle thing to him, but he thanked whoever was in charge of this wildly arbitrary universe for being so kind as to give him you. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky. His thumb smoothed up and down the back of your hand, the littlest movement to remind him that the kindest, prettiest girl tucked into his chest was still very, very real. Cursing himself, he tried to blink back the tears welling in his eyes at the thought of just how happy he was. (He didn’t mind crying in front of you, but if he cried, that also meant you were right, that he was the biggest sap on the whole planet, and he didn’t want you gloating.)

Leaning against his chest with your eyes shut, you breathed out a contented sigh before joining Mr. Cole in serenading your dear Spencer. “I love you, and you alone were meant for me.” His eyebrows raised slightly at your sudden breaking of silence, but then he settled back into the dance, listening to your honeyed words. “Please give your loving heart to me, and say we’ll never part.”

Beaming, he replied, “I promise. You can never get rid of me.”

You both laughed at that.

You continued this little back and forth, you singing syrupy lines of longing and Spencer chattering away in response, the biggest grins on your faces.

“I think of you every morning.”

“Funnily enough, I do the same.”

“Dream of you every night.”

“So, I’m the man of your dreams?”

“Darling, I’m never lonely—”

“I’d sure hope not.”

“—Whenever you are in sight.”

“That’s very sweet of you, cariño.”

You snickered at that, “Ah, so Mr. Addams has made a reappearance, I see?”

Taking your hand and gently spinning you, he used his free hand to tap his moustache. “He never left, dear Morticia.” You rolled your eyes but couldn’t resist a grin, while humming in understanding.

“Well then, darling Gomez, how would you say tonight was? Was this Halloween everything you had hoped it would be?”

“Mi amor, tonight was perfect.” He brought his lips to your knuckles, placing a chaste kiss on each, and there was no resisting the blush that flooded your cheeks. Funny how you were just as smitten as the day you first started dating. His hazel eyes flicked up to meet yours, and you couldn’t help but feel like you were home.

Your voice taut with emotion, you whispered with a blistering smile, “I’m glad.”

Pushing a fallen strand of hair behind your ear, he cocked his head slightly and came to rest his hand against your jaw. “‘Are you unhappy, my darling?’”

“‘Oh, yes—yes, completely.’”

[collecting-stories]

Comfort - JJ Maybank

Request: hi!! i love your fanfic about obx and i was wondering if you could write something where the reader is struggling with her body image/self-confidence and the pogues don't know but JJ, her bf, somehow finds out and comforts her? i haven't been feeling very confident lately and i feel like this would help idk why. thank you <33 - @teaheeee

A/N: This was a tough one but here it is.

Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“I’ll be like five seconds.” JJ swore, running up the stairs to your room where he’d left his wallet.  

“JJ come on.” You groaned, falling back onto the couch. This was at least the fifth time he’d stalled the two of you from leaving the house. You were supposed to be meeting everyone at the beach and you hated being late.  

“Hold on!” He shouted. He had dropped his wallet under the bed earlier and almost left without it when the two of you were leaving. While you waited downstairs, he grabbed the wallet, pausing when he noticed the ripped picture on the floor. Shredded by hand into pieces was your school picture, the one you’d just gotten last week.  

JJ picked up the pieces, sifting through them for a moment until you called him again, reminding him that the task at hand was getting his wallet so you could get to the Wreck. He didn’t want to bring down the evening and he wasn’t sure what to say so he said nothing when he came down, only holding up his wallet to show you that he found it.

It was entirely possible that he was reading too much into things. That you had really just hated your senior portrait and thought it was awful. There was nothing wrong with that, school pictures were always cheesy. But ripping your picture to shreds wasn’t an isolated incident, not in his mind at least. You’d been avoiding any type of jean or tight all week. He was honestly surprised today to find you wearing a nice dress though he supposed that it was for everyone else’s benefit because you kept holding the hem like it was going to billow up.  

You were fine at lunch. It was JJ that caught Kiara’s attention, seemingly more distant than she remembered seeing him before, she leaned over at one point to ask if everything was okay at home.

“What do you mean?” He asked, gaze straying to you as you pushed at the food on your plate.  

“Are you okay? You seem really distracted.” She replied, keeping her voice down so no one else noticed.  

JJ shook his head, “fine.” He didn’t want to tell Kiara that he was worried about you. If you hadn’t said anything to her, and you clearly hadn’t because she seemed oblivious to your behavior, then he didn’t want to draw attention to you.  

It wasn’t any one thing. You couldn’t pinpoint the moment or the day, it wasn’t that you stepped on a scale and gained a few pounds. It wasn’t that your jeans felt a little too tight around the hips. Though now that you thought of it, you were feeling kind bloated lately. But it wasn’t just that. It was the sudden breakout of acne near your jawline and the way you felt like you just couldn’t quite ‘pull off’ the clothes you were wearing. It was the feeling of something being wrong but not being able to pinpoint it. That unsettling, unnerving feeling of looking in the mirror and knowing that it was all wrong. That you were all wrong. Your hair looked dull and lifeless, your skin was puffy and it didn’t glow the way the serum you bought said it would. You could name something from head to toe, there was list, sprawling inside your head of all the things that were wrong. Your posture, your nose, your waist, your legs, your eyes...everything had something wrong.

JJ waited until you were back at your house, sprawled out on the couch with you while you watched some rerun of a stupid show. Never good at confrontation that wasn’t with someone he didn’t like, JJ jumped right in, “Are you okay?”

It was a simple enough question. You could just say yes and he could be satistfied and everything could go back to normal. You could hope that you would eventually shake the awful feelings and be okay. Or you could tell him that you were just tired or just not feeling well or just whatever. It didn’t matter what you said, there were a million excuses and all you had to do was choose one.  

But that was easier said than done and you found yourself floundering for a moment, trying to think of the most believeable way to say that you were fine and he didn’t have to worry. He had enougn on his plate, he didn’t have to be bothered with you too.  

“Yeah.” You replied, voice a little shakier than you meant it to be and you grimaced slightly at your own voice.  

“Are you sure?”

If he was asking the question than it meant that he probably knew the answer.  

“Yeah, fine, good.” You nodded.  

“I saw you ripped up your picture.” He admitted.  

“I can explain-”

He nodded, “you know you’re awesome?” He asked, as if he was expecting some sort of response from you.  

“Sometimes,” you shrugged, “I don’t know...I just feel like...it’s not worth it. Like I just want to stay in bed and under my covers because then no one has to look at me.”

“Well I like looking at you so I can’t say I’m a fan of that idea,” JJ replied, smiling when bit your bottom lip, “although if the bed’s big enough than that’s fine, we can hide together.”  

“JJ,” you sat up more and so did he, “I’m being serious!”

“So am I,” JJ replied, “you think I’d hesitate to do anything you needed me too? You don’t have to believe me but that doesn’t mean I won’t remind you ever day how incredible you are.”

“You’re such a sap,” you tried to play off his words as if it didn’t make your heart race to hear him say those things to you.  

“Eh,” he shrugged, pulling you against him and kissing the side of your head, “worth it. Now, you wanna tell me what’s the matter, really?”

“I told you.”

“More than that.” He stressed.  

“I just feel gross I guess. I don’t know, it’s not any one thing it’s just like, every little thing that I see that I don’t like. It’s so easy to just...look at myself and see all the ways that I’m falling short. All the things I wish I could change about myself.”

“I don’t know how helpful it is to say it but, I wouldn’t change anything about you.” JJ admitted. “You’re my best friend, I mean...” he shrugged, almost as if he wasn’t entirely sure how to end that sentence. JJ wasn’t the best with words, he had always had trouble getting his thoughts. He could name every single thing that he loved about you, and the list was extensive, but saying the words felt like his throat was closing up on him.

It didn’t really matter though, you knew what he meant. The soft look and the kiss on your forehead that had you closing your eyes when his lips touched your skin. He wasn’t used to comforting, hadn’t ever had any example of it in his own life, but he was good at it. He was good at letting you know it would be alright. Even if he didn’t say it outright.  

-

taglist: @maplelattes22 @poguesrforlife  @freckled-and-daydreaming  @chasefreakinstokes @millie-753 @fangirlwithme @alex12948 @katherine097 @tangledinsparkles @carbonated-beverage @mariofgreengables @damonsalvawhore27 @dopedoodes @dolanfivsosxox @belledutchess @poguelifeeee @faded-blue @parkerpetertingle @thebookwormlife @summer-clouds-and-long-days @jellyfishbeansontoast @minigranger @hoewkeye @love-someone-special @tiredfeels @strangerthanfanfiction713 @the-only-nana @tomzfrog @mozz-are-lla @vindictive-hearts @ssprayberrythings @jenahbell @beautyandthebleh @gothackedalready @teenwaywardasgardian @sarahcxmeron @haha-fuck-you-thot @stillbelieve398-5 @rewindlr @queenniccimicci @kissessforharryyy @thedarkqueenofavalon @alytavzla @bqmblebee @linniep @nerdypartytrashpsychic @xxchxrryxx @spencer-reid-is-a-cutie @danielladreaming @obx-saltlife @youngestxhearts @spnobsessedmemes @wowitswondergurl @mybnkjj @pineappleandcherries @mysterious-adventurer @justawilddreamerchild @rhyetaylor62 @calm-rejects  @oh-annaa @aiifandomsunite @x-lulu @ceruleanjj @wicked-laugh @obxwriterfan @allie-mcginn @literarycharleton @khiaraaa-in-spacee @crushe-s @teamnick @daydreamlilys @collectiveuniverses @activist-af @mdgrdians @buckys-sunflower @vindictive-hearts @copper-boom @talksoprettyjjx @5am-cigarette @smiithys @dontjinx-it @outerbanksbro @mysticsthinking @heavenlymama  @rudy-pankow-needs-an-oscar @babymatilda @raekenliar @lemur46 @under-a-canyon-moon @calums-betch @jolomez @summerkaulitz 

[thepumpkinthingart]

You seem like the best source to ask. What are good/ your favtotie Msummers fics?

Bold of you too assume I have good taste-

But ah-I am a frequent digger through the Mcsummers/Halex. Starved for content, pleading for angst, fluff, and just- Alex being a good bf to beasty. I got quite a few. I’ll break this up sfw or nsfw and shall tag the author if they have a tumblr! Please, Please, PLEASE go support the authors and look into their other content. <3

For the sake of clarity I am gonna keep this to Mcsummers focused fics. There is plenty more I enjoy that have Mcsummers and Cherik, or Scott/Logan, etc. If you need more to read feel free to private message me, I am happy to link you to some of these as well.

SFW

“Black Coffee on Fabric” by @crystallized-iron

This one is a short read but it’s super adorable. Poor Hank a bundle of nerves who just wants to cute blond coffee shop worker and just- doesn’t quite stick the landing

“Supersonic” by @silverxsakura

My heart, my weak little heart. Disgustingly sappy fluffy and it’s wonderful. In summary without giving too much away- Alex is dumb like always and has a hard time dealing with his feelings for Hank so like the himbo one we all know- bullies him.

“Animal Transformation” by @eleonorebirk

Short but absolutely adorable. Alex is transformed temporarily into a cat- and his affections from a certain bozo are hard to hide when you happily want to be pet by the guy.

“You left us behind” by @parkshan820

Can I just say parkshan does a lot of amazing Mcsummers work? Seriously at some point I will go down the list and put as many as I can in here. This is a angsty as hell slow burn and it’s the best kind of torture. Also I like to personally thank parkshan for a Alpha/Beta/Omega Mcsummers. A/b/o dynamics written well is one of my favorite things and I think this may be the only Mcsummers one- if not someone link me PLZ. I just- I don’t want to spoil anything, go read it and then cry with me.

“The Magnificent McCoy” by @ag3nt-a

Once again someone else that does a lot of amazing Mcsummers work! Again will have to work down the list and put in some more. All the science puns omg, I love Alex is just as a dorky as Hank and it’s great. Also anything that touches on the fact Alex having some of that intelligence from the comics and the geophysics is perfect.

“Breathe” by @ag3nt-a

Hey look it’s my request! Has it really been 3 years? Weird to think I wasn’t even a adult then. Now I pay taxes and stress over bills. I had a old tumblr by the name of zombiemutt-trash-center, It was a mess and now I am here. 3 years later- doing the same bullshit. ANYWAYS, I do really love this fic. Alex having to calm Hank down and be sweet is always great, but Hank having to help Alex deal with PTSD is perfect. Based on how Alex lost his parents in the comics.

NSFW

“Fighting Acceptance” By @heeroluva

Let me tell you this a fic I constantly go back too. I am a sap for Alex being a caring and supportive bf, but of course still a teasing jerk. All in the name of love. Heeroluva writes that dynamic really nicely, Alex doing his best to be supportive and trying to get Hank to realize he isn’t any different as the Beast. But also is impulsive and well a dumbass. Also of course it’s nsfw and spicy as hell. 10/10 would recommend.

“Who knew books could be hot?” By @ag3nt-a

Just Hank and Alex are horny dorks, who need better guidance in figuring out their feelings. Also Hank is also now a fanfic writer and it just made me want to read fanfics written by a Hank McCoy. Also- it’s really cute seeing Alex being apologetic not just cause attraction, but because he genuinely felt bad. Spice is nice- but like sappy “I’m sorry I was a asshole to you” is god tier—- and then spice later.

“Taste of What Could Have Been” by @atomicrebelomega

Also won’t be the first time you see Atomicrebeloomega! Also-, man fuck apocalypse. So my favorite Alex summers is apocalypse Alex. Aka Suburban Dad Alex summers- I love Alex from first class obviously. But worn out Alex who has calmed on the temper bit and more of a teasing asshole with a stupid grin. So any content with older Alex is much appreciated from me. Alex being the same dumbass at 31 as he was at 16 about his feelings is great. Warning this ends with the apocalypse ending.

“Flicker” by @trojieface

This one is a Apocalypse fix-it. One again grown ass Alex still dumb when it comes to feelings and it’s still great. This is more a nsfw without plot but teeth edition.

“Friendly fire still burns” by 1001cranes

This is a high school/modern Au, Where Hank is president of the NHS and Alex is the football captain. Angst, Fluff and smutt ensue, and it’s great.

“Grooming” by Wangler

So- the idea of Alex helping Hank brush out his fur after he takes a shower is adorable and precious and definitely a head cannon I hold to my heart. I mean- It’s not meant to be adorable in this fic, but leave it to me to make fluff. Also let it be known I enjoy more animalistic Hank, growls, teeth, claws, instincts and all. Alex is a furry what can I say. This one fills my need on those tendencies.

“The Side Project” By @bellsyblue

A more playfully teasing Alex and a Hank who is terrified to break him in half. Once again I love fics that play into more of Hank’s beast mutations like his strength and Alex being more then happy to take all that comes with that.

“Sweater Weather” by emperors_girl

Omg It’s so cheesy and adorable, and I love big brother Alex to Scott. Omg Alex collecting the fur and first thought was “dam this be a nice sweater” is great. Stupid cute and Hank is so done by the end of this.

“Matched” by @ag3nt-a

Big brother Alex and suburban dad looking fool with a stupid grin and awful sappy flirting? Yes please- My favorite kind of dumbass level. A getting together story about two dumb mutants meeting online. Also supportive friend Raven is best Raven. This does have Mpreg and fan kids in it, I personally enjoy these things but I know not everyone does. But as someone who has my own dumb Mcsummers children, I love to see it.

“Power of Persuasion” By @atomicrebelomega

Alex and Angel are friends and it’s great. Basically pure smut but we love to see it. Also Alex has the confidence to wear a stripper outfit and once again- it’s great.

I think this is a good starting point! Honestly I threw this together from my AO3 bookmarks- There is so many more I want to put in here. Ugh, so many good authors. I like writing, but it’s not my strong point. I enjoy drawing these nerds a lot more anyways. But I do have prompts for god dam days if anyone wants them. My free time is spent wondering all the shenanigans these dorks could get into.

If there is a author I didn’t tag but you know they have a account please message me!! I want to link back to the authors, they deserve credit.

[wing-dingy]

Hey there! So I said I was half tempted to post some mk fanfics, so i did *nervous jazz hands*

Basically just some subscorp, fluff with very little plot, basically Hanzo has a restless night and decides to drop by the Lin Kuei temple for some comfort in his lover, Kuai Liang. Also includes Hanzo feeding Kuai, because Kuai is such a workaholoic that when he has time to eat he forgets to. I’m a sucker for lovers taking care of each other 🥺😭 like literally the file name for this fic was “oops all fluff” lmao

Oh, and a few puns because back when I rped as Kuai, I had this whole thing going on where he makes more puns than he should be allowed to and i got too attached to it as a hc lol

well hope y’all enjoy cuz all i want is some gotdamn happy subscorp

     Kuai Liang took a deep sigh as he laid back in the snow. Far past midnight, many of the students fast asleep, but not the Grandmaster himself. No, instead he was laying in the snow, bare of any clothes save for his briefs. His clothes were neatly folded in a pile by him as he laid, now closing his eyes. The thoughts were vanishing, nothing but emptiness in his mind. It was a new form of meditation he had picked up, becoming one with the snow. It was always when the ice began to coat his body as he let go of himself and his grip on the world that he knew he had succeeded in his meditation session.

     Sometime into his meditation, he heard in the distance the sounds of snow crunching. Someone was approaching. He opened his eyes and sat up to prepare himself for a potential visitor. But when he looked around, he saw nobody, only the footsteps. Perhaps just a student wondering, looking for something to do to tire themselves out. He laid back down, then closed his eyes after a few thoughtful blinks. And there they were again, the footsteps, snow crunching and packing under the weight of somebody approaching near. Next he heard the slow scraping of metal, and that was when he rolled over and stood up to face his visitor.

    “Your hearing hasn’t failed you quite yet,” Hanzo teased as he sheathed his katana. He was without his armor, just casual clothes as it was late, but he still carried his weapons on him, just in case. “But still, that was too close.”

    Kuai smiled sweetly as he faced Hanzo. “Hearing is one of the most important senses. These ears will never fail me. But I felt my timing was amusingly dramatic no?” The cryomancer stepped forward to Hanzo, arms open. Of course Hanzo opened his arms and they united in a tight hug, cold and warmth meeting, fulfilling the temperatures each other craved. “It is wonderful to see you again, Hanzo. But why are you here? It is quite late.”

    “I was having another restless night, I wanted to see you...” Hanzo let go of Kuai just slightly, just enough to see his face while still holding him. “Why were you laying in the snow? Is your cryomancy not enough to keep you cool?”

    “I was meditating.” Kuai answered. "You are free to try it with me, if you're interested."

     Hanzo looked down at the snow, then back up at Kuai. "I worry I may melt the snow."

     "You are quite hot, you make even me melt." Kuai winked at him, causing Hanzo to blush lightly.

     "Is that another pun of yours?"

     Kuai had an awful cheeky smile. "Perhaps.” The cryomancer let go of Hanzo to retrieve his clothes he left on the ground and began to at least put on the pants. Sweat pants, just to emphasize it was the Grandmaster’s leisurely hours.

     “You can still meditate if you please,” Hanzo offered.

    “And what would the fun be in having to pretend you’re not here with me? I would much rather spend time with you.” Kuai took a hold of Hanzo’s hand, once again the cold meeting hot, and out in the snow it caused a subtle steam from their strong hands holding each other. Then Kuai gently pulled Hanzo guiding him towards the doors. “Come inside with me, I will prepare you some tea.”

    “Perhaps I can make you some food, too.”

    “You needn’t, Hanzo. Not if it is making you go out of your way.”

    “I want to feed you, my snowflake. I know you forget to eat sometimes when you get so caught up between work and your own personal time.”

    “A fair point.”

    “When was the last time you had eaten?” Although it sounded like Hanzo was scolding Kuai, he really wasn’t. He wasn’t mad at all with Kuai, it was just his worry for Kuai’s well being coming out in how he naturally expresses it.

    “Lunch time, about… 6 hours ago.”

    “Do you not feel hungry?”

    “I suppose I do now that you mention it. I suppose I can’t ever say no to your cooking, I do enjoy it.”

    “Good,” Hanzo huffed.

    Inside the temple was much warmer, something the Grandmaster always made sure of every night for his students. While he was a cryomancer himself, and he understood some of his students were also cryomancers, there were plenty that were not. The nightfall’s cold would be far too bothersome if they tried to endure it in their sleep, and a warrior without proper rest is a vulnerable one. It was even warm enough for Hanzo to notice, giving him a cozy vibe, which he didn’t mind at all given he tends to like it warmer… Except for when holding Kuai.

    Kuai took Hanzo around to the temple’s large kitchen, and let go of his hand just to begin preparing to boil the water for their tea. In the meanwhile, Hanzo looked around at the options of foods to work with for him and his lover. Something meaty, of course, since there were tons of meat stored and ready for cooking. Much of the Lin Kuei’s diet consisted of meat, it was easiest to obtain, as animals were more abundant than anything agricultural. What they did have besides meat was always received by the Special Forces to help them maintain at least some semblance of a balanced diet. Very nice of them.

    “What do you plan on making, Hanzo?” Kuai asked.

    “I am thinking of kushiyaki. It should be quick enough to prepare,” Hanzo answered as he began to pull some meat, labeled ‘game’, out of the fridge.

    Kuai loved hearing Hanzo’s Japanese. He could literally just be listing various foods in their Japanese names and Kuai would be head over heels for his lover’s mother tongue. “What is kushiyaki, dear?”

    “Kushiyaki is like the yakitori, except that it can include non-poultry meats on it. Usually it is only meat on it, but I suppose some vegetables would benefit us.” It probably didn’t count as kushiyaki then, rather than a regular grilled kebab.

    “Would you like some help preparing the meat?” Kuai asked, already drawing a knife from a drawer. “I can hardly cook, but I am quite skilled in cutting.”

    Hanzo nodded. “I would appreciate that.”

    And together they chopped the meat into cubes and rectangles. They cut off enough for five skewers, part of Hanzo’s plan. Of course, this was unnoticed by Kuai Liang until Hanzo had already flavoured and spiced them and began to put them on the skewers. “Hanzo, we may have to make another one to even the amount.”

    “No, my love. I am only going to have one, maybe two. I want you to eat the rest so you are eating enough.”

    “Hanzo,” Kuai muttered as he felt the love and care from his love. “Are you sure?”

    “I am.” Hanzo set down some bell peppers and carrots on the counter in front of Kuai’s cutting board. “Now please, help me chop the vegetables. You seem to have quite an abundance of peppers.”

    Kuai took a few peppers, and with a new knife began to cut them. “General Blade warned us the harvest would be plentiful that shipment.”

    “You do know if you ever need produce, I can supply you with some, right? My temple has a garden with plenty of vegetables.”

    “Indeed, but I do not want to take from your supply for ours.”

    “Our clans are allies, Kuai. We must help each other.”

    “I cannot disagree with that, but I do want you to take care of your clan.”

    “Just as I take care of you?” Hanzo teased as he leaned in to kiss Kuai’s cheek, then continued on to set up the grilling process of their food.

    “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Despite how deadpan his tone was, he was very clearly joking. “But of yourself, what made you so restless tonight?”

    Hanzo closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply. “Nightmares, I suppose.”

    Kuai frowned with deep sorrow for Hanzo. “I am sorry to hear that.” He knew that they both suffered deeply from trauma, from all the fighting, protecting Earthrealm, their past feud, their own hardships through life and death as revenant and wraith, and their losses through time. They really had gone through it all, and then some. Nightmares were just a side effect of the trauma, one they both suffered from, sometimes together. “Did you need to talk about it?”

    Hanzo thought about talking about it, but shook his head. “Not this time, thank you.”

    “Very well then.” Kuai gave Hanzo a tight hug from behind and sighed. “Regardless, I am always happy to be here to help you, and I am glad you have come over here for comfort. I will always welcome you here, my love.”

    “Thank you, my snowflake…” Hanzo did straighten himself from his vulnerable position, and instead began to help Kuai put the meat and vegetables onto the skewers so they could grill them.

    “I almost dare to ask if you can cook those yourself, but alas you had already set up the grill.”

    “You seem to have an affinity for my hellfires cooking your food.”

    Kuai smiled. “It leaves a taste of love.”

    “You are a sap.” But of course, it was one of the traits Hanzo loved about Kuai.

    As their food cooked, the tea had successfully boiled. Kuai began to place the chamomile tea bags in, to turn it into tea. That was when a horrible pun came to mind. “Hanzo, how do you make holy water?”

    “I would not know.”

    “You boil the hell out of it.” That cheeky smirk again that showed the self-proclaimed pun-master was proud of another crack of a joke. Of course, it was always adorable, the way Kuai actually thought these puns were humorous.

    Typically Hanzo didn’t like puns, they were cheesy and cheap, but Kuai was the only person allowed to make puns. He shook his head with a small touch of a smile. “You are adorable, Kuai.”

    “I take pride in being the only one allowed to make puns around you.”

    “Good. Though I still would not have thought of you to be the one to make such jokes.”

    “Cage may have had a slight influence.” Kuai Liang gently touched along Hanzo’s forearm with his cold finger tips. “It’s easy to make puns when you’re as cool as I am.”

    Hanzo huffed a small snicker. “You are certainly cooler than Johnny Cage, I will give you that. ”

    “How generous of you, Hanzo.”

    “I can say plenty more nice things about you, my dear snowflake.”

    “And I, about you.” While the chamomile tea was finishing boiling into the water, Kuai grabbed a lemon from the fridge to chop it in half. A strong squeeze poured lemon juice right out of the lemon and into the tea kettle where it boiled into the tea, then back into the fridge it went when it was no longer of use. Next was the honey, which he had to retrieve from a jar within the pantry. As he set the jar down, he looked over at Hanzo. “You know,” Already Hnazo knew a pun was about to come, it was that damn set up. “I’m not sure if honey is needed in this, since you’re already ‘sweet’ enough.”

     Okay, that pun may have got Hanzo blushing lightly again. “Yes… Well… Not as sweet as you.” Oh Hanzo, bashful at sweet praises, just as he had been with his wife a very long time ago. He tried to carry on, returning to the task at hand. He took the skewers off the grill and set them down onto a plate. With the tea finishing just in time, Kuai poured them both a cup, and the settled at one of the kitchen’s islands to consume.

    Together they ate and drank their teas, discussing their lives and what they had been up to. Kuai had plenty of new stories about his dragons, and the ghosts he’d been noticing at the temple. Hanzo spoke of his students, the gardens’ new blooms, and a new training regiment he had started. But what they both had in common was missing each other. Kuai could fly over on his dragon any time, Hanzo could hellport any time, but alas it was about their scheduling. They missed each other deeply, they missed each other’s quips, touches, shared pain and healing and comfort, each other’s languages of love. All of it. They were both Grandmasters of their own clans just wanting to forget about the world to be with each other.

     Which eventually led Hanzo and Kuai in front of the door of the Grandmaster's bedroom. Initially it had just been to walk him there, and Hanzo had planned on leaving to return to his own temple, but Kuai pulled Hanzo in as he entered his room. "You should stay the night here, Hanzo. I think the both of us could use a night together."

     "I should return to my temple, I do not want to be leaving my students without word of where I am."

     "My dear, they know of our love, and they know you have slept here before. They will take the hint in the morning when you return."

     "I suppose. I just worry if something is going to happen while I am gone."

     Now Kuai realized what Hanzo's nightmares were about, what caused his restlessness. He was having nightmares of losing his clan once again. He was having those traumatic memories of losing them before. Kuai Liang sighed. "I will not force you to stay here or there. But I promise you, they will be okay. I understand your fears, as a Grandmaster myself. When I leave, I get worried my clan will be attacked and slain. We worry because we care, and we care for them as deeply as we should be. But alongside care, we must provide them with trust. We must be able to trust that they can fight for themselves and protect each other, should they be attacked. I know your students will be safe, because they have been taught by the greatest warrior I have ever fought in my whole life. Nobody compares to you, Hanzo.” Hanzo reflected on Kuai’s words. Funny, he felt the same way, that Kuai was his toughest opponent, so surely the Lin Kuei must be great, too. “And as well, Hanzo, I’m unsure if you noticed but one of my students is at your temple for the night. We’re not the only ones visiting each other. Should anything go wrong, I’m more than certain she’d come home to alert us.”

     “I was unaware of your student staying at my temple. That does help to know, I suppose... But you are correct in your words, I need to give them trust that they can protect themselves.” Hanzo looked at Kuai’s large bed, noticing one more blanket on the bed than before, and a rather thick one, too. A significant difference that warmed his heart. It meant Kuai was seeking warmth in his sleep, attempting to reach the same warmth of the pyromancer. “It seems I should sleep with you tonight anyway,” He noted as he lifted the blanket.

     “I find myself sleeping better with a bit of warmth, it reminds me of you,” Kuai confessed as he sat down on his own bed.

     “I find myself needing at least a fan on when I sleep,” Hanzo also confessed. “The cold grounds me when I start to get too nervous.”

     “We truly do complete each other.”

     Hanzo began to start taking off his own clothes, as well as leaving behind his weapons all onto a neat pile on the floor close to the bed, so Hanzo may retrieve them in the morning. Then he got in bed with Kuai, and as he got comfortable Kuai was already holding him, admiring the natural warmth of Hanzo rather than the blanket.

     “Do you feel well enough to sleep again, Hanzo?” Kauai asked.

     Hanzo nodded. “I think I do.”

     “Good, I’m glad.” Kauai closed his eyes with a sigh, and started to feel himself drift to sleep. “Sleep well, Hanzo. Wake me up if you need anything, I won’t mind.”

     “And I hope you sleep well, too.” Hanzo hesitantly closed his own eyes. And together, in each other’s arms, in each other’s elements, they both fell asleep together.

[writethelifeyouwant]

Dive Bar, Ch. 1/?

Pairing: Dean x OFC (Dany) x Sam (brief), Dean x Sam (eventually)  Rating: 18+ Prompt/Summary: @spnkinkbingo square - Gay Panic (eventually, I don’t know how to write short things, so the gay panic comes later). Dany and Dean hit it off at a bar and Dean is confident it’s a sure thing. But Dean doesn’t know that Dany’s has a dare to complete, and he definitely didn’t imagine his night would end with his pull inviting his little brother to come home with them too.  WC: 3278 Tags: alcohol, cheesy flirting, tags will change next chapter 😉😏🍆 A/N: Okay, let’s be real. Anyone who knows me by now, knows I can’t fucking cut to the chase. Welcome to part one of who knows how many. If you want the smut quickly, I encourage begging 🤣(and so does Sam 😏) Ambience: Really want to set the mood? Welcome to a dive bar in Nowheresville, USA: Playlist and Ambience 

***

Sam told Dean he was crazy for even trying but Dean had a sense about these things; Sam didn’t. He was too considerate. Sam thought the fact she was out with her girlfriends meant she wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t want to be bothered, but Dean knew better. The ones who went up to get the next rounds were the ones who were looking to be bothered. They were separating themselves from the pack on purpose, to give guys the opportunity to pick them up and show them a good time. They wanted to prove to their friends that they were desirable. It wasn’t a bad confidence boost either, even if the guys that came on to them weren’t what they were after. 

So, when the girl with the flirty eyelashes that had been staring over at Sam and Dean’s table for the past half-hour spun off her stool and went to lean against the unpleasantly sticky bar, Dean knew his window had opened. 

“Watch and learn Sammy,” Dean smirked and slapped Sam’s shoulder as he sauntered over to his target, fixing his best smoulder in place. 

The girl felt movement behind her when Dean slid up and motioned to the bartender that he was after another round, and she turned with a coy but almost predatory twitch to her smile. She knew exactly who was behind her. 

“Hi there,” Dean was almost leering at the girl. 

*

Across the room, Sam was resisting the urge to put his head in his hands and pretend he’d never met his brother. This was gonna be a train wreck. At the very least, Dean was about to end up with one of those margaritas the bartender was laying down in front of her thrown in his face. 

Deciding to spare himself the second-hand embarrassment of watching Dean crash and burn with the coed he’d been eyeing since they arrived, Sam let his eyes wander the rest of the bar absentmindedly. He was nursing his second beer of the evening, after pounding back his first one with Dean in their stupid post-hunt ritual. 

It was new, their whole ‘who can down their beer the quickest’ routine. Before Stanford, Sam was lucky if his dad let him split a beer with them after a hunt, let alone chug one. But ever since he and Dean had been back on the road, it was like Dean was trying to make up for a bit of lost time, and things that absolutely smacked of immaturity were becoming part of how they lived their lives. Like how now, after a successful hunt, they always raced to the bottom of the first beer bottle, leaving the loser to buy the rounds for the rest of the night. 

When Dean started it, it was because he figured he obviously had the upper hand. He had years more drinking experience than Sammy, and there was no way the little geek had drunk that much at college.

What Dean didn’t know is that, for a while there, Sam and his friends had gone through a bit of a mental breakdown that manifested itself in endless parties, borderline alcoholism, and a very brief experimentation with some drugs on the ‘gateway’ end of the spectrum. Really, it was Sam’s best friend Brady pushing all of that, but with how he had grown up, Sam felt he was due some kind of breakdown, and it had felt good to let go for a little while. So, when Sam beat Dean in that first chugging contest, it became a whole different ball game. Now every time they did it, Dean was defending his honor. And he defended it about half the time but that night, Sam had won. 

Exhaling quietly in amusement at the absurdity of their routine, Sam spared a glance back towards Dean at the bar. He quickly ducked his head down when he realised Dean and the girl were looking over at him, like Dean was talking about him. Why would you spend time telling the girl you’re trying to bang about your weird kid brother? Maybe she had asked who Dean was there with, just making small talk. 

Yeah, that must be it, Sam thought to himself as he took another swig and realised he’d finished it on the sip before.

Torn between wanting another drink and not wanting to walk into the middle of a Dean Winchester flirt fest, Sam tried to quietly observe his brother again, hoping he would have struck out by now and it would be safe to approach. Peeking out from behind his hair Sam could see them leaning against the high wooden bar quite cozily, and laughing all nice and friendly-like. 

Damn. It looked like Dean was gonna be right about this chick; she was into him. Really, she shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone’s into Dean. And now he was gonna have to sleep in the Impala tonight. For once he’d like to just have a drink with his brother and go home (to the motel) and sleep in his own (motel) bed. Just perfect. 

*

When Dany turned around to acknowledge Dean, who had just sidled up behind her at the bar, she was very pleased with herself. 

Guys are just too simple, she mused. 

“Hi there,” Dean smiled down at her (he was considerably taller, despite her heels), charm turned on full blast. 

“Hey yourself,” she smiled back. She was friendly, but careful not to be too forward. Dean was the kind of guy that felt proud of winning the chase, she could just tell. And considering how forward she was planning on being after she made sure this guy wasn’t an axe-murderer, she figured playing coy for a little wouldn’t hurt. 

“So, this is kind of embarrassing,” Dean leaned down conspiratorially but still had to speak quite loudly to be heard above the noise of the bar. “My brother over there is a little shy.” Dean jerked his head behind him, to indicate where he had left Sam a moment before. 

Taken by surprise, Dany leaned back to look at Sam sitting alone at his high-top, who happened to look over at the two of them at the same time. Sam quickly ducked behind his bangs, trying very hard not to make eye contact. Dany giggled to herself. She had figured this guy was about to chat her up but he was over here asking for his brother who, based on his reaction a second ago, definitely was shy. How cute. 

“And,” Dean continued speaking and pulled Dany back from her thoughts of his shy and cute younger brother, “he wanted me to ask you for your number, so he knows how to get a hold of me tomorrow morning.” 

It took a second, but when the penny dropped Dany burst out laughing. Dean beamed, proud of his choice in pick-up lines, and let Dany get the giggles out of her system. “I know, I’m adorable.” Dean shrugged as if to say ‘what can you do?’ and leant back against the bar, bringing himself closer to Dany’s level. “I’m Dean.” He held out his hand and she took it, still stifling the last of her laughter. 

“Well, let me congratulate you on your originality Dean. I genuinely have not heard that one before.”

“Do I get a prize?” Dean’s eyebrows arched cheekily. 

“I don’t know,” Dany shrugged. “What do I get out of this deal?”

“Sweetheart, you get whatever you want.” 

“How about we start with a drink?” 

“Sure your friends won’t mind me taking up all your time?” 

Dany looked behind her to where she’d left her friends. They were all giggling and looking at her and Dean at the bar but trying to look like they weren’t paying attention to them at all. She shook her head despairingly at how unsubtle they were. Her friends were the worst. But she supposed they had more of a vested interest in how her night went than usual. Tonight was her dare night. 

“I think they can live without me for a little while.” 

*

“Wow, you’re really putting ‘em back sweetheart,” Dean laughed as Dany drained another beer. She was matching him round for round. 

“Well, I came out to have a good time tonight,” Dany shrugged, smiling mischievously. 

“How’s that working out for ya’ so far?”

“I’d say, so far so good, Dean.” 

Dean made finger guns at the empty glasses. “Get you another?” 

“Yeah, thanks,” she grinned as tucked her hair behind her ear. 

Dean rocked up to the bar and motioned to the haggard looking student behind it that he was after refills. When something brushed against his shoulder he jumped, reaching under his jacket until he realised it was just Sam. 

“Hey,” Dean drew out the ‘y’ on the end of his word. “Ma’ man Sam.” Dean smacked Sam’s shoulder and his brother tried to tamp down his bemused grimace. 

“How buzzed are you, dude?”

“Just the right amount Sammy,” Dean grinned wolfishly as he accepted the new beers from the bartender. The kid tried to take Sam’s order but Sam brushed him off. “Woah, you’re not tapping out?” Dean’s concern was almost comical. 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna go back to the motel. Grab some shut eye.” Sam tried to sound sage, like he was making this move because it was the smart, responsible thing to do, and not let on that it was his loneliness driving him home too early for Dean’s approval. 

“No, come on man, I’m not letting you be a sap tonight.” Dean waved over to the bartender for another beer, over Sam's objections. “N- listen. You’re gonna take this beer, bring it over to my table with Dany, and we’re gonna pick you out one of her friends.” Again, Sam tried to protest but there was a cold glass sloshing into his hand and a commanding grip on his shoulder and… he was always gonna follow Dean. “They’re all college chicks Sam. One of them has gotta be geeky enough for you.” 

When Sam got dragged to the edge of the table where Dean had left Dany a moment ago, something felt off. Sure he felt a little awkward becoming the third wheel while Dean sealed the deal on his sleeping arrangements for that evening but that wasn’t what he noticed the most. Dany looked far too happy to have the extra company at the table. Most girls with Dean in their tractor beams didn’t want anyone interfering, he’d been on that end of the stick one too many times to forget how it felt. But Dany was relaxed and smiling, beaming even, when Dean pushed Sam into a chair between them. 

Sam tried to settle into the easy conversation that Dany and Dean were having but he’s too preoccupied trying to suss Dany out to contribute much, despite Dany’s attempts to bring him into the discussion. 

“So Sam, Dean said you were the college goer in your family, what did you study?” Dany sipped her beer with her eyes trained on Sam. 

“Uh, pre-law,” Sam’s answer turned up at the end like a question. He wasn’t questioning what he studied at Stanford but he was questioning Dany’s motives in talking to him. Why wasn’t she just ignoring him and flirting with Dean? 

“Ah, smart guy. Interesting.” 

“What are you studying?” 

“Media and communications. I want to go into news or television.” 

“Well you definitely have the face for it,” Dean cut in smoothly. Dany flushed but she didn’t look embarrassed. She knew what she looked like. 

“Okay captain obvious,” Dany laughed. “You usually try this hard to get girls?”

Sam snorted into his beer, highly amused someone was calling Dean on his shit besides him. 

“Well I’m sitting here drinking with a beautiful woman. I don’t see any reason to pull punches,” Dean grinned. “Speaking of,” he leant forward craftily, “you got any other beautiful friends we can hook him up with?” Dean jerked his thumb towards his little brother. “I feel bad leaving him high and dry for the night.” 

“Dean!” Sam objected loudly, rolling his eyes. Dany just giggled. 

“Yeah I think I can help with that.” She drained her remaining drink and stood up. “Let me grab us one more round.” 

“Sounds great sweetheart,” Dean swatted at her ass as she passed him on the way back to the bar, ignoring Sam’s further objections to Dean’s new-found mission to get him laid. 

“Dude what are you doing?” 

“Helping you!”

“I don’t want your help!”

“Well trust me, you need it.”

“Do not!”

Sam’s objections were cut short when Dany returned with three beers and three shots on a tray; one clear and two amber. Dean reached for the drinks to help her unload. “What are we celebrating sweetheart?” He nodded to the shots. 

“We’ll find out soon,” Dany hedged, without giving up any more details. “So Sam, what’s your type?” 

Sam nearly choked on his beer. “Look Dany, ignore Dean please, I don’t need-” 

“No, come on, I’m invested now. What are you into? Boobs? Ass? Both?” Dany’s questions were curious but clinical. None of the teasing that Dean usually injected into the conversation when he tried to get Sam to open up about his sex life. Something in her tone was compelling. 

“Are we actually having this conversation?” Sam glanced between Dean and Dany astonishedly. “Did you slip something in my drink?” 

Dany laughed at Sam’s attempts to deflect but she could also see something in his face twitch, like his brows tugged up the corners of his lips. Something in him wanted to answer the question, wanted to open up to her. So she pushed. 

“Well?” 

Sam chuckled once ruefully, more to himself. Cracked his neck and settled back in his chair. Dany could tell he’d made up his mind, he was playing now. 

“Both,” Sam smirked. He was invested now too, and he wanted to see where Dany was taking this. Plus, it had been ages since he’d gotten any. 

“Okay,” Dany nodded and processed the information, deciding how that affected her line of questioning. Dean was keeping to himself in his corner, but he was having trouble hiding his grin behind his beer. This was already more than he’d ever been able to tease out of Sam. 

“Okay, so, not specific about body type, what about attitude? Feisty and forward?” Dany leant forward and trailed her finger down Sam’s arm. He smirked. “Or shy, and sweet?” She withdrew her hand, and ducked behind her hair. 

“Okay, why do I feel like I’m getting shut out here?” Dean laughed from his over his drink, not sounding as cocky as he hoped he did. 

“Don’t worry Dean, I’m not letting you go anywhere,” Dany smirked. “I’m just doing what you asked, making sure Sam here is sorted out for the night too.” Dany turned her smile back to Sam. “So which one? You like feeling in charge? Or you like getting a little roughed up like Dean over here?”

Now it was Dean’s turn to choke on his beer. “Excuse me sweetheart, what makes you think-”  

“Come on Dean,” Dany batted her eyes back in his direction. “I know what you’re after. I know you’re a boob man, that’s why you picked me. Your pick up lines and bravado, they’re looking for validation. You’re looking after your little brother, trying to make sure he’s happy, taken care of… you want someone to do the same thing for you.” 

Sam and Dean were both a little speechless. Dany reached past her empty beer and grabbed the shot glass with the clear liquor. 

“You sure you don’t actually study psychology or something?” Sam drained the last of his beer, impressed. 

“I’m not a shrink,” Dany smiled and shrugged. “I’ve just spent some time with some people, I know what to look out for.” 

“So, who are you picking out for me then?” Sam leant forward, now profoundly interested in what Dany may have deduced about what he wants in the bedroom. 

“Come clean time,” Dany knocked back her shot with a grimace and let the courage that came from lower inhibitions bubble up. “My friends and me, we play a game most weeks, pick a dare out of a hat. This week mine… was ‘have a threesome.’” Dany peeked up from behind her hair to look at Dean, who looked like he had just won the lottery. Sam’s expression was cautious. 

“Okay, so who else we taking home with us sweetheart?” Dean rubbed his hands together and turned to look back at Dany’s group of friends.  

“Sam.” Dany answered simply. 

“Which one’s Sam?” Dean was still scanning the group of coeds. 

“Uh Dean, I think she means me…” 

“My dare was a threesome with two guys.” For the first time that evening, Dany’s grin was a little sheepish. “Look I uh- I’m not just doing this because of the dare, it’s not coercion or anything. I wouldn’t be asking you both back if I didn’t want it.” 

Dean hadn’t found his voice yet. He was just staring at Dany, mind clearly running a mile a minute, and resolutely not looking at Sam. Sam, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off Dean. The only recognisable emotion on Sam’s face was the tinge of fear in his eyes, like he was waiting for the bomb to go off, and getting more and more anxious by the second the longer it didn’t. 

“Why don’t I give you guys a minute to talk,” Dany stood up and pushed the shots she had bought towards them, “and I’ll go grab my purse and meet you by the door?” 

“And by ‘you’, you’re speaking in the strictly plural sense?” Sam checked, fingering the whisky in front of him. 

“That’s up to you guys,” Dany smiled and rounded the table, dragging her fingers over Dean’s shoulders on her way back to her friends. That seemed to be enough to jumpstart Dean back into speaking.

“Dude what the hell?” Dean’s voice was so, so close to a squeak, Sam really had to hold in his laughter. 

“What?” Sam was good at poking the bear. 

“What do you mean what? What the fuck?” 

“Yeah, I think that’s what she wants Dean. She wants to fuck.” 

“Yeah with me and my little brother!” Sam could tell Dean wanted to be shouting but he was keeping his voice to a hiss as best he could. 

“Yeah, so?”

“So?!” 

God Dean was so easy to wind up, Sam grinned. “Dean, have you never had a threesome before?” 

“Uh, yeah, of course.” 

“You’re lying,” Sam was astonished. He figured of course Dean would have done this kind of thing before. “You’ve never done one before?” Sam had to double check. 

“What, like you have?” Dean defended angrily. 

“Uh, yeah,” Sam’s grin was an unusual combination of sheepish but proud. “I um- I have actually, yeah.” Sam reached back and rubbed his neck, at a loss of what to do with his hands right now. 

“What the fuck did you do at that college?” 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me Dean.” 

“Okay, so what, you’re saying you’re okay with this?” 

“I’m saying, there’s a real pretty girl over there by the door that wants to have sex. And she wants it so much, she wants two dicks in the equation.” Sam fixed Dean with a firm, decided stare. And he was pretty sure that Dean’s uncertainty was about to evaporate. Dean finally met Sam’s eyes and Sam saw the fight melt out of him. 

“Son of a bitch,” Dean breathed, then downed his shot.

***

Tags: @negans-lucille-tblr @hawkerz12​ @akshi8278​ @babybrotherandthedemon​ @dylansbabygirl24​ @mineshinamary​ @popsensationnicole23​ @spn-problems​ @donthateme454​  @doyouknowsamw​ @peridottea91​ @delightfulbakeryaliendeputy​ @fictionallemons​

I tagged everyone who liked my ‘announcement’ post. If you want to be tagged or you want me to take you off tags, just lmk!  

[melon-wing]

Red and Green

Betaread by my amazing betareader @aaronampora-ao3

This Story is based on the unbelievably amazing image done by @gridoc Doc stood in front of the giant door to Grian’s base, waiting for the lord of the house to arrive. He tugged a little on the front of his clothes, trying to loosen them. He rarely wore anything constricting. Sure he had worn a suit a few times and this was far more comfortable, but still a long way from his loose labcoat that wasn’t even covering his chest. 

He knew that Grian had told him not to bother and that he could go to the festival casually dressed, but he also knew seeing him in this light cotton kimono - yukata, Ren had called it when handing it to Doc - would make Grian really happy. And Grian being happy was far more important than him being comfortable.

The doors opened and Doc looked up with a smile, his whole face lighting up when he saw Grian. While Doc was more dressed than usual the yukata was far more revealing on Grian than his red sweater. Doc tried very pointedly not to look at the white skin of Grian’s chest peeking out below the green fabric.

“Doc! You wore one!”, Grian said in delight, jumping up a little in joy and hugging Doc enthusiastically. Doc could feel his heart racing and he put his arms softly around Grian in return.

“Ren told me that this was appropriate attire for our date”, he replied flatly, but Grian giggled as if he had just cracked a joke.

“Oh you big sap. Don’t blame this on Ren. I bet you wanted to match.” Grian leaned back a bit, his arms still around Doc, as he took in Doc’s appearance. “Red really suits you. You should wear it more often.”

Doc chuckled. “Well, dear, green also looks very good on you. There really should be more green things. All. Over. You.” Doc pulled Grian back and Grian made a cute squeal that was swallowed by Doc’s lips. Grian let out a tiny whimper, but pressed himself against Doc, hands flying up to his head, pulling him down further. When they broke apart both of them were flushed and a little out of breath.

The way Grian smiled up at him, his whole face glowing made Doc’s heart beat faster and he leaned in again for a small peck. He would have gladly continued just making out, but they didn’t dress up to stand around. But Grian did look rather nice in those clothes and the way he was looking at Doc, cheeks a soft red...

“X will have the portal ready for us in about ten minutes. We should really head over now or we won’t make it on time”, Doc murmured, still not letting go of Grian, who nodded but didn’t step back as well, just gazing longingly into Doc’s eyes. Doc wanted to resist the temptation. He really tried. But instead of moving away, his body leaned in again and his lips moved down to meet Grian’s once more.

When they arrived at Xisuma’s place in the nether the admin was looking at them impatiently. The portal next to him was already glowing a bright yellow, showing that it was leading out of this world.

“You guys do know I have better things to do than wait around a dumb portal for half an hour? I got my own date to get to”, Xisuma greeted them in an annoyed tone and Doc almost felt bad. He mostly felt bad because it would be really hard to convince X to open a portal the next time they wanted to go on a fancy outside date.

“Sorry, X. You know how things are”, Grian said with a small smile, “I got so lost in building I forgot to get ready for our date and made Doc wait. I bet your boyfriend does the same sometimes. We builders are all so forgetful.”

Xisuma sighed again, but the annoyed look eased off a little and he smiled more fondly, probably thinking of the person waiting for him at home.

“Well go on through then. I’ll reopen it when you message me. Have fun you two and don’t get lost.”

Doc nodded and pulled Grian forwards, walking up onto the obsidian frame with him. They faced each other, holding hands. Grian’s face looked even more pretty lit up by the golden glow reflecting off his skin and eyes. It made Doc wonder again how he could have gotten this lucky.

Grian giggled, the cute smile Doc loved so much back on his face.

“You know, I’m the one who’s lucky.”

“How…?”

“You always look at me all adorable before you say those cheesy things. I know how you work by now, Doc. You are almost as predictable as your redstone machines.”

Doc bent down to kiss Grian again, but before he got the opportunity they were both teleported away. Well, there would be more opportunities for kisses. Especially after what Doc had planned for today. The thought of his plans alone made his heart race. He tried to calm his nerves, taking a deep breath as he reappeared somewhere else.

“Hurry along please! Step out the portal!”, someone in an orange vest kept repeating and he and Grian walked along, following a small stream of people that had probably come from the portal just before them. He had always wondered how these interdimensional admin portals worked, but so far X hadn’t felt like sharing.

It took them only a minute of walking until they entered the festival grounds. There were rows upon rows of stands, selling different wares, food and drinks. People were walking by. It was dark outside, but above them were a multitude of lanterns, strung up and illuminating everything in a soft glow. It was perfect for a romantic getaway. Doc turned to look at Grian whose eyes were wide and sparkling as he took everything in. It made Doc smile softly. Grian was always so full of emotion, always an open book and Doc knew every little change in his moods and their meaning. There was nobody he could read better. And even when he himself wasn’t as open with his emotions, Grian never seemed to have a problem to read him as well.

“I’m glad you like it here”, Doc said, smiling and finally Grian turned back around, looking at him in childish excitement.

“It’s amazing! I’m glad we came. This world is so beautiful!“

Doc nodded in agreement. “So… Where do you wanna go first?“

Grian looked around again, his nose scrunched up in that cute way of his, showing that he was thinking about all of his options. Finally his whole face lit up even more and Doc swore he saw his hair puff up a little as he was shaking in excitement.

Doc followed his line of sight and a fond smile appeared on his face as they landed on the game booth Grian was now pulling him to. By the end of the night they probably would have played every game around here. And if Grian liked something enough, they sure as hell would have an upgraded version of that game in their world soon as well.

Grian went up to the booth and tossed a diamond to the vendor who handed him a crossbow and a few arrows He pushed a button and behind him small targets shaped like Mobs began to move around. Doc leaned onto the counter. He looked at the targets for a few seconds, before turning to look at Grian again. And the sight made his heart beat faster. Grian’s forehead was furrowed in concentration, one eye closed and the tip of his pink tongue sticking out a little. Doc almost wanted to laugh, but held back, not wanting to distract his boyfriend.

Grian fired a few times, and each time a frustrated groan left his lips. Doc didn’t even need to look to know that he hadn’t been even close to those targets. Grian had never been much of a fighter. If there was a game about flying now, that would be a completely different story. No one could compete against Grian in that area.

The last arrow sailed through the air and Doc’s eyebrows flew up in surprise as he heard a metallic clink. He turned to look and on of the small zombies was really flipped over.

“Did you see that, Doc?! I hit one! And it moved really fast! Now you can’t tease me anymore about not being able to shoot! I’m an amazing shooter!” Grian put down his crossbow, shaking in excitement. A fond smile appeared on Doc’s face and he gently petted Grian’s head.

“I’m so proud of you, dear.”

The vendor put a small piece of candy on the booth and Grian’s face fell a little, looking at the tiny price. His gaze wandered up and Doc noticed the way he was looking at the huge stuffed animals. With a sigh he pulled out a diamond of his own and put it onto the booth.

“I’m gonna win that one for you. It’s just as cute as you”, he said pointing at some especially cute looking teddy bear grinning at the way Grian blushed.

“I can win my own prizes, Doc. You should pick something that you would want to have.”

“Oh, but I already have the biggest prize I could ever wish to win”, Doc replied, his tone light as he bent over a little, to press a small kiss to the corner of Grian’s mouth, watching in amusement as he got even more flustered. Even now after going steady for three years, Grian would react this adorable to compliments and Doc just loved it.

He picked up the arrows, putting the crossbow up to his mechanical eye and took a breath in, focus completely on the moving targets. Highest points went to the little vex flying around at the fastest speed. He shot and the arrow flew, hitting the first vex right in the centre. Grian cheered loudly next to him, and Doc allowed himself a short glance over, smirking a little. “Impressed, dear?”

Grian giggled and nodded. “As always, darling.”

Doc could feel his heart skip a beat and the nervousness from before was back, as he felt like his clothes suddenly weighed a ton more with the knowledge what he was carrying around. The vendor cleared his throat and Doc quickly turned back, stringing the next arrow into his crossbow.

One shot after another was fired, hitting the tiny mobs and making them fall over. Doc tucked in the last arrow, focussing on the only vex left that seemed to be flying even faster now. He took a deep breath, the muscles in his finger on the trigger tensing and…

“Watching you like that really turns me on. I’d just love to rip your clothes off right here, right now.”

Doc flinched, his eyes widened, the arrow flew through the air, flying high over the targets and embedding itself into the booth’s wall. Doc turned, looking flabbergasted at Grian who had now dissolved into a giggle fit, holding his stomach, tears in his eyes, leaning heavily on the booth. Every time he seemed to be able to stop the laughter, he took one look at Doc’s shocked face and it started all over again.

Doc gave an annoyed huff and turned to the vendor who seemed to be slightly amused by their display as well.

“Don’t ya worry, mate. Points are still enough for the cute bear. Though I would keep it to myself. Ya guy is too much of a gremlin to deserve it.”

Doc chuckled as he was handed a teddy bear.

“I wouldn’t have him any other way”, he just casually replied, before hitting Grian right in the face with the teddy bear. “Oi, stop laughing your ass off or I’ll buy another arrow to shoot that stupid grin off your face. Let’s not start another war.”

Grian spluttered, arms snaking around the huge teddy bear and lowering it away from his face. The shit eating grin was still there, but he was no longer laughing at least. “Well now wouldn’t that be fun? I bet everyone on the server already missed our wars… Your opening line this time just won’t be as catchy: It all started when Grian’s sexyness made me lose at a shooting game. Doesn’t have the same ring to it as the bush.”

Doc rolled his eyes, starting to move again. He pulled Grian along, linking their arms together as they continued on walking between the booths. Doc kept looking around. He had been here before, searching for the perfect spot, but now with so many people hurrying around and illuminated only by lamp light it seemed so different from daytime.

Grian still looked around excitedly and then his eyes landed on something and he hurried off through the crowd. Doc sighed. Next time they went out on a date night into some crowded place he would take a leash with him. He really should have started doing that after Grian got lost on their anniversary last year and he had spent the whole night searching the woods.

At least Doc had the advantage of being huge and towering over most of the other people by a good bit. It was easy to keep track of his hyper boyfriend. He was still lucky that Grian didn’t go to far and soon stopped at one of the booths selling stuff, already talking hurriedly with the vendor. When Doc reached them Grian had already put a diamond onto the counter. And before Doc could react a red fan was pressed into his hand and Grian smiled brightly at him.

“It matches your eye colour. Just as I thought. Such a nice and vibrant red. As beautiful as a rose.“

Doc smiled at that. Grian really was special. He had never once been turned off by Doc’s mechanical parts. While past lovers had looked at those parts with pity, comparing the colour of his eye to blood, Grian loved them just as much as his non-mechanical body parts. He had never made Doc feel insecure about his flaws… And if he knew Doc had just thought of them as flaws he’d probably give him a piece of his mind.

“You’re spacing out again, darling“, Grian said with a fond smile, still waiting for Doc to take hold of the fan. Doc chuckled, finally letting his fingers curl around the wooden stick, holding the fan in front of his face and staring at Grian.

“You know red isn’t my colour, it’s yours. Always running around in those stupid red sweaters.”

Grian smirked. “Well maybe that’s the other reason I like you with that colour so much. It shows everyone that you belong to me. Wouldn’t want anyone daring to steal my boyfriend away.“

“I don’t really think you have to worry about that. Most people look at me and become scared.”

Grian huffed in annoyance, looking around and like always there were some who threw irritated glances at Doc’s appearance. Grian made sure to glare extra hard at them. “Well they don’t know you’re a major softie. You’re even more adorable than this teddy.“

Doc chuckled and pulled Grian up to him, holding the fan to the side and pressing a soft kiss on his lips. They separated only a few millimetres apart and Doc couldn’t help but smile gently. The world around them seemed to disappear while he was looking at Grian.

“Grian, listen… There’s something I need to talk about…“

Grian looked up at him with huge questioning eyes. Doc’s mouth felt too dry all of the sudden, his tongue too heavy to move. And then he became aware again of all the people moving around, throwing glances at them, bumping into them to get to some booth.

“You want something to drink?”

This sudden shift from a serious tone to that question made Grian look at him in confusion, but he didn’t ask and soon smiled again.

“Yeah sure. Let’s go over there and-”

“No, no. I’ll get the drinks. You could maybe get some snack or something. I… I’ll be right back, okay. Let’s meet at the pond behind those booths, alright? Have a little picnic so to say.”

Grian’s face lit up and he nodded hurriedly, bouncing in excitement. “Will do. See you there. Whoever gets there last is a wingless phantom.”

Doc chuckled as Grian darted off into the crowd, making his way over to one of the stands. He let his hand wander into the pocket of his yukata, fingers curling around the little box inside. Would they finish another date without him being courageous enough? He had been trying for months now. Ren would have his head if he came back again with bad news… But it wasn’t as easy as Ren made it sound. He needed the perfect moment. During their last date there had been a sudden thunderstorm and Ren had called it a romantic drizzle.

Doc paid for the drinks and slowly made his way to the pond. Usually he was just as competitive as Grian when it came to their little fights and races, but not today. Today he’d let Grian win if that meant he’d be in an even better mood than he already was.

Doc didn’t get that far. He was just about to walk between two booths to the other side, when he heard raised voices, and one of them sounded too familiar.

“Come on. We just wanna have some fun. You look like you’d always be up for some fun.“

“I said I’m not interested. I have a boyfriend.“

“Dump his sorry ass. Or are you just saying that because you’re shy. You wouldn’t find anyone better than us.“

Doc turned the corner, walking between the booths again and there he was. A few steps away stood Grian, surrounded by three tall guys, his back against one of the pillars between booths. He was only holding a teddy bear and no food, which probably meant they had already stopped him a few minutes ago. Doc felt anger bubble up inside him as another one of the guys spoke up.

“We’ve got quite a few diamonds to spend, you see. Wouldn’t you like to be treated? We’d cover you in jewellery instead of stupid stuffed animals. It would suit you. Wearing nothing but chains and gold…” There was a hand on Grian’s cheek now and Doc saw red. He knew very well that Grian was able to defend himself, but Grian always was too friendly to people coming on to him and Doc would have none of that.

He put the drinks down at one of the tables and marched forward, stopping right next to Grian, pulling him away from the guys so he was no longer trapped. One of them turned to look at Doc enraged.

“Who do you think you are asshole?”, he snarled and then stopped as his eyes landed on Doc.

Doc had put a hand over Grian’s shoulder possessively and was glaring over his fan at those guys. He noticed out of the corner of his eye, that Grian was smiling fondly now, but the tight grip he had on the teddy bear proved that he was still at least a little shaken. And if those assholes ruined the mood for the evening now…

“This is my boyfriend“, Grian started, grinning at Doc who continued.

“So you lowlifes better back off, or I might be forced to remove you another way”, Doc growled, his mechanical eye glowing brighter as he felt the fury inside him rise.

The guys also seemed to notice, practically staring at his mechanical parts. They didn’t look as confident as before anymore, but rather scared.

“Sorry, Mr. Robot, sir. Didn’t know he was yours. Please don’t shoot any laser beams at us.“

Doc felt irritated at that, his glare only becoming more pissed off, which finally made the guys turn around and hurry off, still apologizing to the ‘scary robot’. And he swore he heard one of them say something about his ‘terrifying murder eye’.

Doc’s grip on Grian tightened and only when Grian winced a little he realised that it must have been painfully hard. He backed off at once, but Grian would have none of that, pulling him back and into a hug.

“Let’s go somewhere more quiet now.“

Doc nodded and with Grian holding onto his arm he went back to get the drinks before they made their way through the booths and off the festival grounds. There was a small pond, illuminated by the soft orange glow of floating lanterns. They sat down at a stone bench right next to it, the teddy bear right between them, silently looking at the water and enjoying their drinks. Doc rubbed at the metal parts of his face, still slightly irritated at the comments he had gotten. He shouldn’t let it get to him as much as he did.

“You know those guys were idiots?“

Doc chuckled. “Tell me something I don’t know already. They really should know not to put their slimy hands all over-“

“That’s not what I’m talking about“, Grian softly took Doc’s hand and pulled it away from his face, “They said a lot of dumb things about your beautiful face.“

“It’s alright Grian. I know my face is scary. Weren’t you scared as well when you first saw me?”

Grian giggled quietly. “Oh I was scared, but not because of your eye or arm or anything like that. The trident flying right by my face was way scarier. I might also have been so nervous because you are too hot, not because I was scared.” Grian was now softly tracing a metal line on the side of his face, resting his hand on Doc’s cheek. “I fell in love with you not despite the way you look, but with you as a whole. I love every part of you, be it your human parts, your creeper parts or-” Grian bent forward, putting a light kiss right above Doc’s glowing red eye “-your mechanical parts. I wouldn’t want you any other way.“

And Doc felt like there would be no better moment than now. He cleared his throat nervously, his hand wandering into his pocket and pulling out the box. Grian didn’t seem to notice, still looking at nothing but Doc’s face.

“I love you too, Grian. I love you at your best and at your worst mood. I will still love you if you start another war. I love you with all your flaws… And there are a lot of those”, he added the last part in a joking tone and Grian softly hit him in the shoulder. And then Grian’s eyes wandered down and he noticed the small box. A hand immediately flew up to cover his mouth, eyes wide in disbelief, looking from the box back at Doc’s face.

“Doc, you… are you…?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to”, Doc replied softly, opening the box to reveal a small silver ring. Nothing overly fancy, simple and still beautiful, just like Grian. “I want to love you for the rest of our lives and beyond. So-“

“Yes!“, Grian interrupted him, eyes shining with excitement and a few unshed tears.

“I haven’t even asked yet”, Doc said with an amused smile.

“Oh… Sorry. Go on”, Grian whispered, giggling softly. And that giggle just made Doc’s heart beat even faster, filling him with happiness.

“Do you want to marry me?”

“Yes!”, Grian repeated with even more excitement than before, grabbing Doc by the front of his yukata and pulling him forward, smashing their lips together.

When they parted again, both a little out of breath, Doc took hold of Grian’s hand, pulling the ring out of the box and sliding it gently over his finger. And he had never felt as happy as he did now, Grian looking at him with nothing but love, a lone tear running down his face and Doc could feel his human eye also become a little wet with emotion.

“And it all started when Grian touched my bush…”, he whispered and looked at Grian like he was the only source of light in his life, before bending forward and kissing him softly.

[dreamsimp]

~you’re absolutely beautiful~

(warning: slightly triggering topics, body negativity)

1945 words

  

dream was generally pretty confident in himself. he was always proud of the videos he made, proud of his and friends success. whenever he got hate comments, he'd always either ignore them or laugh about it with his boyfriends of two years, george and sapnap.

george and sap, were always super supportive of dream, through basically everything. they always comforted him if he needed comforting and vice versa. they all loved each other and they wouldn't have it any other way.

one evening after editing a recently recorded video with the two, he decided to take a short, though needed break and went to get a snack and some water. while dream had been editing, his two boyfriends were chilling on the couch and were pleasantly surprised by their boyfriend's appearance.

"hey, love, how's editing going?" george asked, getting up to greet dream with a hug and kiss to the cheek. sapnap followed and did the same, but with a small peck to his nose.

"pretty good, i'm almost done and just wanted a small snack break before finishing," the blond replied with a grin. he felt warm and fuzzy as he always did when given affection from either of his boyfriends. he couldn't get enough of it.

"glad to hear it," sap said, after pecking dream on the lips. while sapnap went back to the couch, george stayed with dream, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and staring over his shoulder while dream ate and scrolled through twitter.

dream giggled as george nuzzled his face into his neck. "mmm, you smell nice," george told the blond. dream smiled.

"thanks, i showered," dream replied with a chuckle. george giggled at his boyfriend's response. sapnap looked over the back of the couch and grinned fondly at his boyfriends. oh, how he loved them more than life itself and everything in it.

"hey, i'm gonna go lay in bed and chill if y'all wanna come with?" sap told his boyfriends.

"okay," george said with a smile and dream hummed in agreement.

     once in the bedroom, they lied down next to each other, george in the middle and head resting on dreams chest, his left hand intertwined with sapnap's right, sap's other hand carding through georges soft brown locks. dream and sap were staring at their phones and george (head still on dreams chest) was looking over at sapnap's phone screen.

while sap and george were focused on the fromer's phone, dream was looking through youtube and instagram comments. he clicked on his most recent merch picture on instagram (his face not in it of course) and scrolled through the comments.

'why do his body look like that doe'

'his fingers are all the same size wtf'

'why are his fingers all the same size that's so weird'

dream focused his eyes to his hands holding his phone and spread his fingers out. 'my fingers don't even look bad, what's their deal?' the floridian thought to himself. he looked down to his torso on the bed. 'and my body looks normal too, what?'

as mentioned before, dream would normally just laugh off comments like this, but everyone has intrusive thoughts sometimes. dream pushed down those thoughts and exited instagram. he instead went to youtube and clicked on his most recent video, of which he was very proud of (mostly because it was with george and sapnap).

he paused the video so no audio would play and scrolled down to the comments. as usual, the first comment he saw was a smart or funny comment with a couple thousand likes. he exhaled through his nose at the comment.

he clicked 'most recent' to see the most recent comments. for the most part they were normal. stuff like 'dream do a face reveal!!' and '9:27 that clutch tho!'. he continued to scroll, occasionally liking a few comments.

'bro his laugh is so weird, like if you agree'

the comment had 12 likes. he stared at the comment. '...eh so what, only twelve people, it's fine.' he didn't think his laugh was weird. in fact he never really thought about how he laughed in a negative way.

'ha his laugh sounds like a tea kettle. the tea is ready guys!😂😂😂'

     dreams eyebrows were knitted together in thought. now that he thought about it, his laugh did sound like a tea kettle. 'wow, my laugh is kinda weird...' he thought with a slight frown. he thought about the comments and started to nitpick every bit of his appearance.

     'i'm so ugly.' his mind was filled with anger and confusion. dream glanced over at his boyfriends. 'why do they love me? it could've been just them but they chose me, too.'

     tears started to prick at the corners of dream's eyes. 'there is so much wrong with me. my laugh is so weird. my hands are big and my fingers are the same size and my nose is weirdly shaped, why do they love me?'

tears were not streaming down his face and he was sniffling. george and sap obviously noticed of this and turned towards the taller of the three. "hey, dream, love, what's wrong?" george asked, his voice calm and soft yet stern and laced with worry. sapnap got off the bed and ran to the other side of it, going to gently rub dreams arm to comfort him.

"why do you guys love me?" dream asked in between sniffles.

"what?" george and sapnap basically yelled in unison.

"i'm so ugly and there's so much wrong with me, why do you guys love me?" dream repeated. both of his boyfriends' faces had frowns plastered on them.

     "aw, baby.." sapnap sadly said. he leaned closer to his tallest boyfriend and placed a kiss to his cheek, lips resting there for a couple seconds. dream's heart beated a couple beats faster, as it did whenever given affection from his two favorite people in the world.

     dream looked up at sapnap. "what was that for?" before sap could speak, george piped up.

     "hey, you listen to me," george began softly. "don't ever talk down on your self ever again. you are absolutely perfect. we love everything about you, my love." a slight smile appeared on dreams face. "your laugh, your smile, your generosity and how much you love the people in your life."

     george was also now crying. the amount of love he had for his boyfriends was so passionate and was increasing as each day passed. sapnap was rubbing small and gentle circles into dream's shoulder. "dream, you have no idea how much we love you," he added

     dream sniffled. "that.. that was really cheesy," he said with a slight chuckle.

     "oh my god, you're such an idiot," george scoffed and placed a watery kiss to the blond's forehead. sapnap kissed his cheek and dream could feel him smile through the kiss.

"but my laugh is so weird and my fingers are basically all the same size and-"

     "dream!" sapnap cut off. "what did george say earlier? don't talk down on yourself you're absolutely fucking perfect. and i mean that."

     dream glanced down shyly. "really?" he asked quietly.

     "of course, love," george replied.

     "of course, babe," sap said with a soft smile.

     dream leaned over and placed a kiss to sapnap's cheek, then leaned over to the other side and did the same to george. sapnap intertwined his and dream's hands, brought them up to his mouth and brushed his lips against dream's hand.

     "never ever forget it," george reminded him with a grin as he ruffled dream's slightly unkempt hair.

"um, if i can ask, what, er, who even, made you think you're ugly?" sap piped up. "which you're not," he added quickly after seeing dream's expression shift. "you're so beautiful, almost prettier than george!" he said with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

"wha- hey!" george tried to reach over and lightly smack sapnap's arm, but sap moved and george missed, his head landing back on dream's chest. george smiled up at the taller man. "hi."

the floridian chuckled. "hi," he said with a grin, and kissed george's nose. sapnap smiled fondly at his boyfriends.

"okay, you two, back to the topic," he said and his expression shifted to a more worried one. "why do you think you're ugly, dream?" he asked carefully, as if the sentence would shatter if he spoke it quicker or louder.

dream hesitated. "i, erm.. i was reading comments from instagram and some from my videos," he stopped and glanced down to his lap, as he was now sitting up, and his boyfriends were on either side of him.

"hey, take your time, sunrise," george told him softly, rubbing gentle circles with his thumb onto the back of dreams hand, which was clasped in george's. dream smiled slightly at the pet name george used.

dream took a long slow breath. "i was reading some comments from a picture on instagram and from one of my videos," his boyfriends looked at him with gentle smiles, encouraging him to go on.

     "they were saying stuff about my body and how my laugh sounds like a teakettle-" he was cut off by a snort from sapnap. dream glared at the taller of his boyfriends.

     "sorry, sorry, i'm sorry." dream opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by sap again. "it does kinda sound like a teakettle though," he mumbled. george smacked him.

     "sapnap!" george yelled at him.

     "it's not a bad thing! his laugh is cute!" he exclaimed.

     "let dream finish," george scolded the texan.

     dream sighed at them. "they said those things about my body and my laugh and i-i just couldn't push a-away the intrusive thoughts and by then i didn't even realize i was crying and, and-" he was crying again.

     he slowly lowered his back back onto the bed. sapnap laid his head on dream's chest and nuzzled into his neck, inhaling the sweet scent of vanilla and lavender. george cradled the back of dreams head and pushed it up slightly so he could place a soft kiss to his forehead. he laid his head back down and sapnap started trailing soft kisses down his jawline and neck. it sent shivers down dream's body.

     george burried his face in the blond's hair and inhaled. he kissed his head and said, "dream, my love, don't listen to what they're saying, it's all untrue and you're absolutely beautiful," into his blond locks. dream smiled fondly.

     "i love you guys more than you know," dream told his boyfriends as george sat back up.

     "oh, i think we know," sapnap giggled.

     "you tell us like a thousand times every day!" george added. "not that i'm complaining, though," he said with a grin. dream tilted his head up a bit and made a kissy face at george, and george leaned down and brushed his lips against dream's, passionately yet with the most gentle touch.

     after a couple seconds they pulled away and looked down at sapnap, who's chin was resting on his chest. he had a frown placed on his lips. "what's up with your face?" dream asked with a smirk, knowing full well what was 'up with his face'.

     "i want kissies too," sapnap grumbled. dream chuckled and used his middle and index finger to tilt sap's chin up so he could kiss him too.

     "i love you guys so much," dream told his boyfriends. said boyfriends, the proceeded to attack dream's whole face with small kisses and pecks. dream smiled his fondest smile at his two favorite people and giggled.

    

     oh, how he loved these two more than anything.

[tirednotflirting]

darling, you're the one i want

hi i wrote merrikat. based on paper rings. it’s pretty cute i’m pretty happy w it. esp bc it’s the first thing i’ve managed to start and complete in uhhhh over a month : ) sooooo yeah

here it is on ao3 if that’s more ur jam

Jack didn’t know love could feel like this. So loud and quiet all at the same time. So careful and turbulent and everything in between. He considers how something like that can be as he takes a sip from the wine he had found waiting for him on the kitchen island (accompanied by a sticky note with Zack’s messy handwriting telling him for you :) sorry about the long day xx). He lets his head rest against his palm as he leans against the counter, a small tired smile pulling across his cheeks as he catches the cologne on the sleeve of the hoodie he’d found waiting for him on the bed after changing into something comfier. (Another sticky note with a lopsided smiley face had been sitting on top of the soft, worn hoodie.)

There had been a third sticky note (this one with just a heart drawn in the center of it) on the box of takeout waiting for Jack in the fridge after he had come downstairs from the office after a long afternoon of livestream interviews with Alex. He always felt a lot of something in the direction of guilt when there was work to be done on his visits out to see Zack despite the teasing remarks he would receive reminding him that we are literally coworkers, Jack.

But now it doesn’t matter because the day is done. Any kind of negative feeling Jack had felt prior to coming down to the kitchen dissipated the second he saw the glass of wine and Zack’s patient face looking down at whatever book he had picked up to read next. From Jack’s spot at the island he can see his boy settled into the couch on the back deck that sits just in front of the big window in the kitchen.

Another paradox from the seemingly endless list of them comes to mind then as he watches the sun slip toward the horizon, the sky a swirling mix of oranges and pinks. He feels like he’s loved the man sitting on the other side of the window for both 20 minutes and 20 years and again, he wonders how that can be.

He’d loved Zack since they were teenagers and yet the relationship they had now had somehow still snuck up on them both. Drunken cuddles at parties turned into sober cuddles before soundcheck. Giggling kisses against cheeks while they ran around on stage in the middle of a show turned into Jack in Zack’s lap while making out on the tour bus couch. (Jack laughs to himself at the memory of Alex rolling his eyes while Rian was cracking up as he accepted a $20 bill after they’d wandered into the back lounge that night. Jack and Zack had only blinked in confusion at each other as they heard Alex grumbling that you guys just had to figure your shit out on a Tuesday, huh? as he went off in the direction of his bunk.)

It wasn’t how Jack was used to a relationship happening. It had felt so easy. He didn’t know it could be this easy. When he tried questioning it early on, Alex had only laughed. You’re best friends, what did you expect? Nothing ever felt complicated with Zack. Jack found himself thinking it was something he could get used to, something he wanted to get used to.

Three years in and they’re something in the realm of settled down despite the nature of their career never really leaving them in one place for too long. It had been Zack’s idea for them to spend the couple of weeks off on this tour at his place before catching a flight back to LA for more rehearsals. Time felt like it moved slower on the island (though if Jack’s being honest, anywhere moves slower than LA) and it was something he was thankful for. Every moment with Zack was something to be savored.

He picks up his glass and heads in the direction of the back door. After shutting the door behind him, he turns back to see Zack marking his place in his book with a receipt before dropping it against the coffee table sitting in front of him. Jack takes the spot beside him and smiles into the kiss he’s pulled into before settling against the cushions. With his free hand, he traces along the tattoos around Zack’s shoulder in the fading sunlight. “How was your afternoon?” Jack asks, finally breaking the comfortable silence, as his fingers trail down Zack’s arm to tangle their fingers together.

Zack smiles down at their joined hands before lifting them to press his lips against Jack’s knuckles. “Productive,” he hums with a smile. “Rearranged some stuff in the garage, went to the store. Found this plant while I was there that looked like it needed some love. I’ll show you in the morning, the flowers are a pretty color.”

Jack smiles brightly. Regardless of how long he comes out to visit, they settle so quickly into domesticity. It’s overwhelming, he thinks, but not in a way that scares him. It’s always felt easy to fall into a routine with Zack.

“Looking forward to it.”

Zack asks him about his day and Jack recalls on the afternoon of answering the same four questions over and over again for different radio stations all across the country and the way he basically had Alex’s answers to them memorized by the end of the day. He tells him about the story one of the interviewers told them about their first All Time Low show (Zack had thrown them a pick in 2010 and they apparently still had it inside a box of concert memories from over the years) and the cat that had wandered into the frame on one of the calls.

Eventually they settle back into another comfortable, lazy quiet. Their joined hands sit against Zack’s thigh, his thumb tracing circles in Jack’s palm, as they watch the sun take its time saying its daily goodbye to the world. A light breeze picks up, just enough to keep them cool. Jack takes a deep breath and despite the fact that his entire adult life has been spent quite literally living out his wildest dreams every damn day, if he was asked to stay stuck in one moment forever, it would be this one.

“I wish everyday could end like this,” Jack sighs as his head falls to rest against Zack’s shoulder after taking another sip from his glass. “This is really nice.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I would mind if forever had this view,” Zack answers. Jack assumes he’s referring to the last bit of sunset playing out before them over the mountains but then he feels a pair of lips press against his hair and he looks up to meet Zack’s tired eyes looking down fondly.

“Forever is a big word, mister,” Jack jokes with a blush, his eyes blinking up at Zack’s. Though he hopes it doesn’t come out as though he’s disagreeing.

“You’re right,” Zack laughs while tossing an arm around Jack’s shoulders to pull him closer to his side. His eyes pull away from Jack’s to look back out at the sky and they’re both silent, their breathing and the buzz of the approaching dusk becoming their evening soundtrack.

Jack lets his eyes fall shut, the calmness surrounding them making him sleepier than he felt before coming out to join his boy. He’s seconds away from the short sleep that Zack will allow him before dragging them both back inside to watch one of those documentaries they’ve been watching after dinner for the last few weeks.

“Marry me?”

Jack’s eyes shoot open as he turns his head up to face Zack whose eyes are still trained on the pink-purple sky rapidly shifting to a dark blue. “What?”

He shifts to sit up and Zack turns to face him then while the last bit of light adds a sparkle to his eyes. He smiles lazily as he lifts a hand to cup Jack’s cheek. Jack barely notices the way he instinctively leans into his gentle touch. “I want every sunset with you,” Zack whispers into the space between them. “I want every sunrise with you, even if it’s just you whining over how early it is.” Jack softly laughs as his mind briefly drifts to thoughts of clingy, early mornings before speeding back to the present.

“I want forever with you. Longer than forever, really. But I’m not sure that’s real.”

Jack laughs again while his vision blurs and lets Zack wipe away the single tear he feels starting to fall down his cheek. “Who cares if it’s real? That was so fucking romantic, you sap.”

“Are you going to give me an answer or do I have to wait until I get a ring for that?”

“Zack, babe, you could propose with one of your sticky notes and I’d say yes every damn time. Of course I’ll marry you.”

Zack pulls him in by the waist to press their lips together. As his eyes flutter shut, Jack feels another tear roll down cheek and when he pulls away several moments later, he can’t help but laugh at the watery eyes looking back at him as well.

“That could be arranged, though,” Zack says suddenly before quickly leaning across to kiss Jack’s forehead before pushing up from the couch and slipping inside. Jack is left with a confused smile pulling at his lips as he’s not entirely sure what Zack could mean by that.

Only a couple minutes pass before Zack returns, a folded sticky note and a roll of tape in his hands. He takes his spot back on the couch and looks up to meet Jack’s eyes, his blush just barely visible in the twilight.

“Okay, give me your hand,” Zack instructs. Jack starts catching on then what he’s doing and laughs as he lifts his left hand up in between them. Zack’s bottom lip gets caught between his teeth as he delicately wraps the bright pink paper around Jack’s ring finger and secures the loop with a small piece of tape.

“There,” Zack smiles, admiring his work before looking up to meet Jack’s eyes. “Perfect.”

“You really are,” Jack mumbles as he gently shakes his head at the man in front of him.

Zack laughs, the blush still painting his cheeks as he rolls his eyes. “Okay, Mr Cheesy. This will work until we can get you something shiny.”

“I don’t need shiny, Zack. I promise.” Jack replies.

“If we show up back in Baltimore to celebrate with everyone about this and you have a sticky note wrapped around your finger, both of our mothers and Alex will kill me,” Zack counters.

“Alright, you’re probably right,” Jack shrugs. “But just for the record, this is fucking adorable regardless.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Zack smiles as he moves to link their fingers together again before standing. “Should we go Facetime the boys and the fam to tell them?”

“Of course,” Jack nods as he lets himself get led back into the house. “Do you think they bet on this too?”

“Oh, I’m sure they did,” Zack replies as he reaches for Jack’s glass and a second one from the shelf for himself before opening the fridge to find the bottle of wine. “I’m sure Alex is going to lose again, too. Rian is too good at this kind of thing. Let me go grab my phone.”

Jack takes a seat at the counter and watches Zack jog up the stairs. He smiles down at the paper wrapped around his finger and sighs. His mind wanders around what forever will look like, what it’ll feel like with a big party and vows and an added weight on his left hand. As Zack reenters the room, the brightest smile pulling at his lips as Jack hears a shy voice excitedly stumbling through an introduction to their best friends followed by so we have some news, all he can think about is how he can’t wait to get used to this too.

*

[hh-rose]

Get Myself Back

ao3

playlist

Call him crazy, but Bucky assumed that when he came back from being turned to dust, he and Steve were finally going to get their happy ending. It would’ve been poetic. It was sappy, and Bucky was hardly a sap, but he thought he could allow being a sap this one time. 

Their story was already poetic and sappy and beautiful. Best friends who were always in love, but never together, torn apart by war and death. Best friend comes back from the dead but is horribly brainwashed and evil. Brainwashed assassin gets unbrainwashed just in time to get turned into dust. Then, of course, he comes back from being turned to dust. 

If Bucky was being completely honest, it seemed like a complete waste to not get a happy ending after that. He knew they had to take advantage of it because God only knew if they were going to get another chance. So, when everything died down, and Steve told Bucky that they needed to talk, Bucky expected it to be the happy ending talk. 

Call him crazy, but Bucky wasn’t expecting the conversation that he received. 

...

Bucky walked into the guest room he and Steve were sharing at Tony’s cabin just like he was asked to. He honest to God expected Steve to be on his goddamn knee when he walked in, no matter how cheesy that was. Instead, he saw a very distraught Steve pacing back and forth. 

“Steve?” Bucky asked. “What’s going on? What did you want to talk about?”

“I’m going to put the stones back where they belong,” Steve explained. Weird way to start this conversation, Bucky thought to himself.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he questioned. Steve stopped pacing and looked at Bucky. 

“No, no, you have to stay here,” Steve stated. Bucky’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. 

“And why’s that? Since when do we go on missions alone?”

“I’m staying in the past,” Steve said, looking straight into Bucky’s eyes. Bucky’s eyebrows fell back down into a straight furrow. “I’m staying in the forties with Peggy.”

“Peggy?” Bucky tested the name on his tongue. “I’m sorry. What?”

“She’s the love of my life, Buck.”

“She’s the what?”

“I thought you would be happy for me,” Steve said sadly.

“Happy? Happy? Why the hell would I be happy about this?” Bucky questioned angrily. “You’re throwing everything away to be with someone who you knew for a week? She’s not the love of your fucking life. You don’t even know her!”

“Bucky,” Steve chastised, shaking his head. “I love her. I would give up the world for her.”

“Yeah, well, last I checked, the only person you gave up the world for was me,” Bucky stated, biting his tongue afterward. He felt tears beginning to come up. “Why are you leaving me? I don’t understand. Am I not enough?”

“You’re perfect, Bucky,” Steve said, pushing some of Bucky’s hair behind his ear. Bucky backed away from him. “It’s just that I think it’s time that I take a nice retirement.”

“You can’t retire with me? You can’t have a happy life with me?”

“Buck.”

“When are you going?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“So we have tonight?” Bucky asked. Steve nodded. “I can’t convince you to stay. I know that. I deserve more than one night. I deserve to be happy and in love for the rest of my life, but I’ll settle for tonight. I assume that that’s something you want to, otherwise you wouldn’t have told me.”

“You deserve more,” Steve stated. Bucky entered into his space.

“Yeah, I do,” Bucky responded, lips not an inch away from Steve’s. He held Steve’s t-shirt in his hands. “But I deserve a proper goodbye as well.”

...

Steve left and came back in a matter of seconds. He lived a whole goddamn life, but it was only a few seconds for Bucky. Bucky was seething with rage the entire time. He knew that it must’ve seemed odd that he wasn’t going crazy with worry, and he knew it was completely out of character for him to send Sam to Steve first.

“Did you know?” Sam quietly asked Bucky when he was done talking to Steve. Bucky just nodded silently. “You should go talk to him.”

“I really, really don’t want to,” Bucky replied. Sam made a disappointed face, but Bucky didn’t have the energy for that either. “Fine.”

“Buck,” Steve said happily when Bucky sat down on the bench next to him. “I missed you.” Bucky only hummed in response. “You didn’t miss me?”

“You were only gone a few seconds,” Bucky said flatly. 

“Are you mad at me?”

“No,” Bucky answered. He let out a breathy laugh. “I don’t really care. I’m numb right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not, and that’s okay. It’s your life, and clearly, I don’t have a place in that anymore.”

“You’re always going to have a place in my life.”

“Really?” Bucky questioned sarcastically. “Is that so? Then, I’m sure this will be an easy question to answer. When you were back in the past, did you try to save me? Your best friend, your previous lover, who was being tortured, did you try to save him?”

“I…” Steve began. “I couldn’t. You know that. I couldn’t mess up time like that.”

“So you were fine with completely uprooting Peggy’s life, but you couldn’t be bothered to go get me? That’s fine, Steve. If you didn’t care enough to help me, that’s okay, but fucking own up to it,” Bucky told him. 

“I do love you. I…I did,” Steve assured him. Bucky nodded. 

“I know. Just not as much as you loved her, and not nearly enough as I loved you.”

...

It was only a few days later that Steve died. It’s not like they weren’t expecting it; he was exceptionally old. Another funeral wasn’t exactly what the group needed at the time, but they put one on nonetheless. 

It was a nice service. Not that Bucky would know as he was completely shitfaced the entire time. He stayed quiet for the most part. That was until the dinner afterward. Everyone was eating and telling their favorite stories about Steve. Bucky took a sip of his drink, smiled, and put it down on the table.

“You have a story to share, Bucky?” Scott asked. 

“Yes, I do,” Bucky slurred. “I came out to Steve when we were fifteen years old. It just kind of happened. I wouldn’t have planned to do it. It was the fucking thirties. Anyway, before he had the courage to come out to me, he said, ‘I still love you, Buck. I’m never gonna leave you. I’m with you till the end of the line.’”

“That’s sweet,” Wanda offered, but Bucky didn’t pay her any mind. 

“Til the end of the fucking line. That was his little phrase. He said to me all the time. Every time I was sad or in danger, ‘til the end of the line,’” Bucky said with a bitter laugh. “He didn’t say it to me again before he died. The one time I needed to hear it. He just fucking left me. First, for her, and then he just fucking died. ‘Til the end of the line my ass.”

“Bucky,” Sam cut in, eyes wide and upset. He watched Bucky down the rest of his drink. “I think that’s enough for tonight. Why don’t we head home?”

“What fucking home?” Bucky asked, causing everyone to look at him. “I lived alone in a shack in Wakanda. Of course, we could always go back to Steve’s apartment that I lived in for quite some time as well.”

“My place. We can go to my place,” Sam told him. 

“I’m not a fucking baby, pigeon,” Bucky spat. “I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“I know that,” Sam said softly. “Let’s just go, okay?”

“Fine, but I’m drinking there,” Bucky agreed. Sam groaned and helped Bucky up, out of the hall, and into the car. He was complaining the whole time, but eventually, he passed out in the passenger seat. 

“Bucky,” Sam said, shaking him when they arrived at Sam’s apartment complex. He realized that that wasn’t going to work, so he decided to just get out of the car and help. He managed to get Bucky to his feet and start walking up to his apartment. 

“He left me,” Bucky murmured so low that Sam wasn’t sure he heard him right. Sam pressed the button to the elevator and stepped inside, Bucky still heavily leaning on him. “He left me, Sam.”

“I know,” Sam whispered back. He had never seen Bucky this vulnerable, and he felt like he was intruding for a number of reasons. 

“I loved him so much,” Bucky whispered back as the elevator doors opened. Neither one of them said anything as they walked to Sam’s apartment. Once they got inside, Sam led Bucky to his bedroom. 

“Alright, let’s lay you down here,” Sam said, sitting Bucky down on the bed, but Bucky resisted. 

“No,” he groaned. “Couch. This is your bed.”

“It’s okay, Bucky. You can take the bed tonight,” Sam assured him. Bucky nodded and laid down. “Do you need anything else?”

“‘M good,” Bucky replied. Sam turned to leave the room, but he heard Bucky whisper, “I loved him so much, Sam, but I wasn’t good enough.”

Sam nodded sadly before shutting off the light and closing the door. He wasn’t entirely sure what he had gotten himself into, but he did know that it was Captain America’s job to take care of Bucky Barnes. 

...

Sam was up early the next morning. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. “Up early” implies that he went to sleep at all, and “sleep” was an over-exaggeration for his restless night on his living room couch. Either way, he was exhausted sitting at his kitchen counter anxiously waiting for Bucky to wake up. He knew that they needed to talk, but he also knew that Bucky was not big on talking. 

“Wilson?” Sam heard Bucky’s groggy voice from the hallway. He then appeared in the kitchen. “What the hell happened?”

“You drank three times your body weight,” Sam explained, getting up to pour Bucky a cup of coffee. Bucky sat down across from Sam at the counter and accepted the drink. 

“I’m not even able to get drunk,” Bucky murmured. 

“Well, you could’ve fooled me,” Sam replied with a smirk. Bucky glared at him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Bucky stated flatly. Sam nodded. Then he yawned. “Tired?”

“Extremely. The couch isn’t exactly the best place to sleep,” Sam responded, taking a sip of his coffee. “And that is precisely why we’re moving.”

“What?” Bucky asked, eyes wide. Sam chuckled lightly. 

“We’re gonna get a two-bedroom,” Sam told him. “I’m not taking no for an answer. Not that you would have any reason to say no. I’m just giving you a roof over your head. It’s a kindness really.”

“Oh, shut up,” Bucky said, but he was smiling. “You really want to live with me?”

“No,” Sam replied plainly, but then his face cracked into a grin. Bucky smiled back, and that was just the beginning. 

...

It didn’t take Sam and Bucky long to find an apartment they liked. They moved into their new place less than a week after they decided to move in together. Living together was definitely the right call. This way Sam could keep an eye on Bucky at all times. 

Bucky wasn’t doing well. Not that that was a surprise because he hadn’t been doing well since the forties. He wasn’t okay before, and Steve leaving shattered whatever was left of him. Sam knew that if he left Bucky to his own devices, it would’ve been a disaster. 

It had been months since Steve when Sam had had enough. At first, he really wanted Bucky to cope however was necessary, but after a while, Sam knew that it needed to stop. He came to this startling realization in the middle of the night when he heard crying and things crashing coming from the bathroom. 

“Bucky?” Sam asked, terrified as he walked closer to the bathroom. He pushed the door open and saw Bucky standing in front of the mirror. There were tears streaming down his face, and he was holding Sam’s electric razor.

“He loved my hair,” Bucky said angrily. He was looking at Sam through the mirror. “He loved it when we were kids, and he loved it before he left. His hands were always in it, and that is the only thing I can think of when I look in the mirror.”

“Okay,” Sam replied, nodding. “Do you want me to help?”

“Would you mind?” Bucky asked, looking into Sam’s eyes through the glass. Sam smiled softly. Bucky already knew the answer to the question. Sam stepped forward and took the clippers from Bucky’s hand. 

“How short are we talking?” Sam questioned, inspecting Bucky’s hair. 

“Buzzcut,” Bucky replied. Sam’s heart broke a little bit but he did as he was told. 

Sam was being incredibly careful as he touched and cut Bucky’s hair. He knew that this was something that Bucky was vulnerable about, and he didn’t want to trigger him in any way. It was incredibly hard to do that, though, when Bucky would roll his neck like that. 

“All done,” Sam said, voice barely above a whisper. Whatever the hell just happened was the most intimate thing they ever did, and it was greatly affecting Sam. He finally looked at Bucky’s full head in the mirror, and that affected him even more. “You like it? Did I do a good job?”

“I love it,” Bucky answered, moving closer to the mirror. He rubbed his head and smiled to himself. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Sam said with a smile. He left the bathroom and went to his room. He threw himself onto the bed with a huff. “Fuck.”

...

Obviously, after that whole mess, Sam knew that he needed to do something. He needed to help Bucky. He also knew that there was something new to how he felt about Bucky, but now was not the time to worry about that. His only concern was helping the man who was currently sitting on the couch after a mission that exhausted both of them.

“Man, I am wiped,” Bucky said, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “Maybe I’ll actually sleep through the night tonight.”

Sam hummed, but he hated what that statement suggested. He hated that Bucky wasn’t sleeping. He hated all of it. He knew that it was now or never.

“Did Steve ever tell you about Riley? My Riley?” Sam asked. Bucky raised an eyebrow at him, and Sam took that as a no. “He was my best friend. Somewhere along the line, we fell in love, and he became my entire world. I loved him with my entire being.

“He died when we were in the Air Force together. It absolutely destroyed me. It was the worst and darkest time in my life,” Sam explained. “I didn’t think I would ever get out of that place. He was my person, and he wasn’t there to help me anymore. Being with him, talking to him, it would make me feel better immediately, and I didn’t have that anymore. So, I wrote him a letter, and it helped. I got closure. I miss him every single day, but it doesn’t hurt like it used to.”

“I’m sorry, Sam,” Bucky said softly. Sam smiled at him. “Did the letter really help?”

“It did,” Sam told him. “I can’t promise you that it’ll help you the same way it helped me, but I do think that maybe you should try. Just give it a try, okay?”

“Anything for you, Sammy my boy,” Bucky replied, grinning. Sam rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, Barnes. I’m going to shower,” Sam said, pushing Bucky’s shoulder before getting off the couch. He heard Bucky clear his throat, and he turned around. 

“Thank you,” Bucky said genuinely. He looked Sam in the eyes, and that feeling of intimacy from the night before hit them both again. 

“Anything for you, Bucky my boy.”

...

It was a few hours later, and Bucky was sitting on his bed with a notebook on his lap. He ripped out yet another page, crumpled it up, and groaned. He took a deep breath and started again.

Dear Steve,

I’ve tried to start this about ten times, but I keep starting over. I’m not gonna start over this time though. I have a lot of feelings about all of this, and as we both know, I’m not great with feelings. I need to get it all out though.

 I don’t want to be mad at you. I have never been mad at you, but there have been so many times when you deserved for me to be mad at you. I loved you too much, though. I loved you too much to see that what you were doing warranted me being mad. I loved you too much, and you were too selfish. 

 You were always selfish from day one. You were sick, and you said you were fine because you wanted to play football with the rest of us. You got pneumonia after that, Steve. You could’ve died.  

 You got into fights with people who could have easily killed you because you wanted to. You didn’t care that your ma cried herself to sleep at night because she was so worried about you. You didn’t care that I was terrified to find you dead in some alley.  

 Then, you kept trying to get into the war even though you knew that you would die. You were going to die, Stevie. There was no other way. I was selfish at that point. I was so happy that they wouldn’t let you fight. I didn’t want you to die. Do you see the difference, Steve? I was selfish because I wanted you to live. I was selfish for you. 

 Then, you showed up all not you. You changed yourself because you wanted something so badly. You didn’t change yourself because you wanted to save the world. You just wanted the glory. You were selfish. 

 Then, a century later, you broke laws because you were selfish. Don’t tell me that you did that for me. I would have believed you if you told me that a few years ago, but not now. I know better now. 

 I wish you did it for me. I hoped for years that one day, one day you would be selfish for me. For us. I thought that you felt the same way. I thought that you were finally ready to settle down with me after everything that happened. You had one last piece of selfishness in you, and I thought you were going to use it for us. 

 But, of course, you used it for her. How could I be so stupid? How could I expect you to ever put anyone before yourself? Did you know that she had a family? She had kids, kids who don’t exist anymore thanks to you. You messed up the entire universe because you wanted to fuck some dame you met a hundred years ago.  

 So, yeah, now I’m mad, and I have every right to be mad. I love you. I loved you. I’ll probably always love you, but I really don’t want to be in this pain anymore. I don’t want to be in agony anymore. I want to let this all go. 

 I don’t forgive you. I’m not ready for that yet, and I’m not sure when that is going to be. I do know that I love you, and I hate hating you. I hate how I feel. I know that you loved me. Even though that wasn’t enough to keep you here, it is enough to get me through the day.

 I’m going to have a good life. I am. I’ll keep our memories (the good ones) with me until the end, but I think that it might be time to put that behind me. I’ll put you in a little box in my mind where you’ll be happy, and I’ll get to be happy too. 

 I hope that you had a nice life without me. I’m sure that sounds very bitter, but it’s only a little bitter. That’s what you do for the people you love, Steve. You hope that they’re happy, even if it’s not with you. 

 Wow, I really thought I was done, but I just can’t seem to end this. I guess I just miss talking to you. I miss you every second of the day, and I’m always going to miss you. It’s okay though. It’s all going to be okay. I’m going to move on, and everything is going to be fine. I’m going to be fine, Steve. I’m going to be fine without you. 

 You were the one who decided that this was the end of the line, and now I’m deciding that I’m not with you anymore. 

 Sincerely, 

Bucky 

Bucky closed the notebook and slept through the night for the first time in months. 

...

Sam didn’t want to say that Bucky was magically healed, but he was certainly better than he was before. He was smiling and laughing, and it was making Sam’s heart fucking soar. Bucky was sitting next to him on the couch laughing at the movie they were watching, and Sam couldn’t stop staring at him.

“What are you looking at, Wilson?” Bucky asked, not looking away from the tv. Sam’s face heated up so much that he thought he was on fire. 

“Just admiring my handiwork,” Sam explained, turning his attention to Bucky’s hair, which was growing in nicely. 

“Oh, yeah?” Bucky asked, turning his head to face Sam at last. “You think it looks good?”

“Yeah,” Sam replied softly, internally freaking out. “It looks real good, Bucky.”

“Yeah?” Bucky questioned, voice just above a whisper. He made eye contact with Sam, and something just changed in the air. “It’s really soft now that it’s short.”

“Can I...Can I, uh…?” Sam tried to ask, but it didn’t come out. Bucky just smiled at him and nodded. Sam bit his lip and slid his hand into Bucky’s hair. “You’re right. It’s very soft.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said, biting his lip to stop himself from smiling.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Sam told him. Bucky raised an eyebrow at him. “I like it when you smile.”

“Haven’t had much of a reason to smile recently, but, um, you helped me with that,” Bucky explained. Sam’s fingers tightened in his hair, and his eyes fluttered closed. 

“Glad I could help,” Sam whispered, face only a few inches away from Bucky’s where they were sitting turned into each other on the couch.

“It would help even more if you kissed me,” Bucky stated. Sam’s eyes went wide before his pupils enlarged. 

“Are you sure?” he asked. 

“Positive. Kiss me.” 

Sam took a deep breath before leaning forward and connecting his lips with Bucky’s. They were both hesitant at first, but when Bucky made an attempt to deepen the kiss, Sam immediately allowed for it to happen. He pushed Bucky down so he was lying on the couch was Sam leaning over him. 

“You’re still sure?” Sam asked, hovering for a moment. 

“If you don’t get your pretty face down here and kiss me, I’m going to break your wings.”

“Aw, you think my face is pretty,” Sam said, ducking down to give Bucky a chaste kiss on the cheek. He smirked before moving down to kiss Bucky’s neck. 

“Oh my God,” Bucky groaned. He could feel his pants getting tighter, and he was embarrassed for a second until he bucked up and realized they were in the same boat. 

Sam pushed Bucky’s hips down with his own and ground slightly, not wanting to move too fast. Bucky pulled Sam’s face up to his lips again, and Sam happily obliged. His hands began to wander down Bucky’s torso until they found the waistband of his boxers.

“Don’t ask me if I’m sure again,” Bucky said between pants. “I’m fucking positive. Do whatever you want as long as you’re okay with it.”

“You got it, Sergeant,” Sam responded, and the moan he received made him almost die. “Like that?”

“Yes,” Bucky whispered. Sam smiled to himself before placing a light kiss on Bucky’s lips. His lips then began to trail to where his hands currently were. 

“You’re in for the night of your life, Sergeant Barnes.”

...

Needless to say, that was not the only time that happened. It became a pretty regular thing between the two of them. They hadn’t really talked about it, which Sam, ever the therapist, wasn’t happy with, but he wasn’t exactly ready to stop doing it. 

“Buck,” Sam said in between moans as Bucky kissed greedily at Sam’s neck. “Maybe we should talk.”

“I think I’d much rather keep doing what I’m doing, thanks,” Bucky replied into the skin he was sucking at. Sam rolled his eyes, from both pleasure and annoyance. 

“Bucky,” Sam breathed out. Bucky pulled away and looked Sam in the eye.

“Look, Sam, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want, but I’m pretty sure you’re enjoying yourself,” Bucky informed, smirking as he ran his hand up Sam’s thigh. “Sure, we could talk, or I could do the tongue thing.”

“The tongue thing?” Sam asked, knowing exactly what Bucky was referring to. Bucky smirked and nodded. Sam bit his lip. “That’s not fair, Barnes. You know I can’t say no to that.”

“I know full well, darlin’,” Bucky replied, kissing behind Sam’s ear. 

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Sam stated. Bucky nodded in a “yeah, sure, whatever you say” way. “Now, get down there.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

...

Sam planned to stick to his word, even if Bucky didn’t have that same plan. So, the next night when Bucky sat down next to Sam on the couch, fully prepared to repeat the events of the night before, Sam stopped him.

“So, we’re actually gonna talk?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah,” Sam responded. Bucky groaned and not in the way that normally made Sam’s stomach flip. “This is really fun, and I really care about you. But, um, I want more.”

“More?” Bucky asked. 

“More,” Sam confirmed. “I want a real relationship.”

“Oh, so you want to stop this so that you can get into a real relationship.”

“What? No, of course, not. I want a real relationship with you,” Sam explained. Bucky’s eyes went wide, and he jumped off the couch and started pacing. Sam remained sitting. “If that’s something you’re interested in, obviously. And, if it’s about not being ready, I can wait until you’re ready. I just want to know if there’s any chance at us having a future.”

“There’s not,” Bucky said plainly, not looking at Sam. Now, it was Sam’s turn to stand up. 

“What?”

“Come on, Sam. We both know what this is,” Bucky told him, turning around to look at Sam. “We started this as a way to make me feel better after Steve, and you know it.”

“That’s not why I started it,” Sam replied softly and sincerely. Bucky let out a bitter laugh. 

“Well, it’s why I started it,” Bucky informed him. “That’s all you are, Sam. You’re just a replacement for Captain America, for the whole world, but especially for me. And you know that deep down all I am is a replacement for Riley.”

Bucky regretted it the moment it left his mouth. He had no idea what had taken over him in that moment. He didn’t believe any of those things. He cared so much about Sam, and the look on Sam’s face shattered Bucky’s heart into a million pieces. 

“I’m gonna go,” Bucky said. Sam nodded, but then his eyes went wide. 

“Wait, no, where are you gonna go?” Sam asked, worried. 

“Just for a walk,” Bucky responded. “I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” Sam said, and with that, Bucky was gone. Sam flopped down onto the couch that Bucky picked out for their apartment. “Fuck.”

...

Two hours later, Sam was positive that Bucky was never coming back. He told himself that Bucky must’ve cut his losses and moved on. Sam fucked everything up, and he knew it. He felt it too. He felt like absolute shit as he sat in Bucky’s bed wearing the hoodie that Bucky always told him was his favorite of Sam’s. He was about to start crying when he heard a knock on the door. He got up from the bed, unaware of who could possibly be at the door.

“Hey,” Bucky greeted when Sam opened the door. “I forgot my key. Sorry.”

“No worries,” Sam responded, walking away from the door to let Bucky in. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started walking towards his room. 

“It took me a long time to teach myself that I deserved love,” Bucky blurted out. Sam slowly turned around. “After a while, I really believed that I did. Steve, he, uh made me believe that I did. I wanted to die when I woke up. I deserved to die, but he told me that I was worth the world, and I believed him. I believed him, and then he fucking left me. He took that belief with him. If the only other person who believed I deserved to be loved left me, then I knew that I didn’t deserve anything. He fought for me, and then he gave up on me. I gave up on myself too.

“Then, um, I realized that he never fought for me. It was never for me,” Bucky explained. “I came to terms with that part of it. I still wasn’t sure about the whole ‘deserving love’ thing quite yet, but then there was you. You helped me when I was in my darkest place, and it wasn’t for you. You helped me because you wanted me to be better. Steve never did that. He saved me so that he could have me. You helped me because you wanted me to get myself back.

“I know that I deserve love, and so do you. You are the kindest to ever exist. You deserve to be Captain America, probably more than Steve did. You’re not a replacement for anything, and I know that I’m not either. I know that, and I’m so sorry that I let you believe anything else. If you still want, we can have a future together because as far as I’m concerned, there isn’t a universe where you aren’t in my life for the long run, Sam Wilson,” Bucky stated, finishing his little speech. He was looking into Sam’s eyes but Sam was just standing there not saying anything. Then, Sam broke eye contact by looking at the floor. 

“After Riley died, I never thought I was going to love anyone ever again,” Sam stated. “And that was okay because I thought that he was the love of my life. I know now that sometimes you’re lucky enough to have more than one great love in your life. I only know that because of you. I didn’t know it was possible until I met you.

“You’re not a replacement for Riley, and you never will be. I’m always going to love Riley, and you’re always going to Steve. That doesn’t mean that we can’t love each other,” Sam explained. He smiled. “I do, by the way. I do love you, so much.”

“Oh, God, I love you so fucking much, Sam,” Bucky said, face splitting into a grin. “I need you to know that you’re not less than Steve in any way.”

“I know,” Sam said softly. He took a few steps forward so he was closer to Bucky. He played with the hem of Bucky’s shirt. “You love me?”

“I love you,” Bucky whispered back. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“When did you turn into such a sap, Barnes?”

“The moment I laid eyes on you, sweetheart,” Bucky joked, but he gave Sam a sweet kiss on the cheek all the same. “What do you say, Sammy? Wanna consummate this new relationship?”

“I don’t think that’s how that works at all, but yes, I do,” Sam replied, chuckling lightly before leaning forward to kiss Bucky.

...

Several hours later,  Bucky was nuzzled under Sam’s arm in Sam’s bed. Well, he supposed that it was probably going to be their bed from now on. With that thought in his mind, he drifted into a deep sleep.

Bucky was back in his Brooklyn apartment in the forties. He smiled to himself as he looked around. Then, he saw a shadow in his old room. 

“Hello?” Bucky asked, moving toward his room.

“Hey, Buck,” a voice said. All of the sudden, Steve, young Steve, was standing in front of Bucky. “I missed ya, jerk.”

“You’re dead,” Bucky said incredulously. “You died.”

“This is very clearly a dream,” Steve informed him. “It’s me, and I’m talking to you, but you’re asleep.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, please don’t.”

“I am sorry though,” Steve stated. “Extremely. The way I treated you was horrible, and I feel awful. I don’t regret what we had, I don’t regret our time together, but I also don’t regret my time with Peggy.”

“Okay.”

“I really did love you,” Steve said. “And I miss you more than words can say.”

“I miss you too, Steve, and I love you. I’ll always love you, but I really do think that it’s time to put you in the past,” Bucky stated, a tear falling from his eye. “It’s time for me to get my happy ending or middle or whatever. It’s time for me to live my life without you.”

“With Sam,” Steve said, a grin taking over his face. Bucky blushed. “I’m happy for you, both of you.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said, voice just above a whisper. 

“I hope you have a very happy life, Buck.”

“I think I will,” Bucky replied, looking down at the floor trying to hide his smile. “I’ll see you on the other side, pal.”

“Hopefully a long, long time from now.”

...

Bucky woke up with a smile on his face, but that smile went away when he realized that Sam wasn’t with him in bed anymore. He rubbed his eyes and groaned before getting out of the bed. When he walked out into the hallway, he smelled food cooking. The smile returned. 

Sam was standing in front of the stove diligently cooking eggs just how he knew Bucky liked them. He was wearing sweats and no shirt, and Bucky’s heart skipped. He quietly walked up to him, wrapped his arms around his waist, and planted a kiss on the back of his neck. 

“Sleep good?” Sam asked, turning his face so that Bucky could kiss him. 

“Very,” Bucky responded against Sam’s lips. Sam smiled and Bucky kissed him again. 

“What’s got you so romantic this morning?” Sam asked, turning back to his eggs.

“Just love you is all,” Bucky explained, tightening his arms around Sam’s waist and hooking his chin over Sam’s shoulder. 

“I like hearing you say that,” Sam whispered.

“I like saying it,” Bucky whispered back. “I’m sure I’d like to hear you say it even more though, sweetheart.”

“I love you, old man,” Sam said with a smile. Bucky rolled his eyes. He pulled away with a groan.

“Nah, you hate me,” Bucky joked, sitting down at the counter. Sam rolled his eyes and put the eggs on a plate for Bucky.

“If I hated you, would I go out of my way to make your disgusting ass over easy eggs?” Sam asked, putting the place in front of Bucky.

“Maybe,” Bucky pouted. Sam raised his eyebrows at him. “Fine, maybe you love me.”

“Mhm,” Sam responded. 

“Hey,” Bucky said, grabbing Sam’s hand before he went back to the stove to make his own breakfast. “I want to have happy mornings like this for the rest of our lives.”

“I can make that happen,” Sam said, planting a kiss on top of Bucky’s head. 

Call him crazy, but Bucky thought that he finally met his soulmate. In fact, he knew it, and he knew he was going to have the happiest life with Sam. 

[cosmic-goddess-leo]

First Love / Late Spring Pt. 2

Kuroo Tetsuro x Reader

Series Summary: Reader was once a nationally recognized volleyball player until an injury she suffered her last year of high school. She and Kuroo knew each other vaguely through a mutual friend but lost contact after her injury. Now they attend the same University in Tokyo and are beginning to reconnect.

Chapter Summary: Kuroo and (Y/n) find something they have in common. Kuroo attends his first college party.

Word Count: 3263

Author’s Note: Here’s chapter 2! Thanks so much for reading and leaving messages, it means a lot to get positive feedback from everyone! Ps. I swear I don’t hate Bokuto, I just love drama.

It was only 4 and Kuroo was already exhausted.

He had mentally prepared himself enough energy to get through all his classes for the day, but not to run into (Y/n).

His day peaked when he got her number, now it was all downhill.

Or so he thought.

“This seat taken?”

Kuroo looked up at the owner of the voice, smirking when he realized it was (Y/n).

“First and last class of the day together, huh?” he mused, making room for her to sit beside him.

“Guess so, we have any other gen-eds together?” she asked, flopping onto the empty chair.

Kuroo pulled his planner out of his messenger bag, flipping it open to the page containing his class schedule. Despite what others would think, Kuroo was a very organized person.

(Y/n) leaned closer, tracing her finger over the multiple classes, times and locations. “Looks like we have another two together tomorrow.”

“Stalkerrrr~” Kuroo sang, earning a pinch to his arm.

“You wish.” (Y/n) countered.

“Maybe so.”

Shit. Was that out loud?

Thankfully (Y/n) laughed rather than pepper-spraying him and running away.

“Guess I didn’t need to sharpie my phone number onto your hand then...” she trailed off, clearly embarrassed.

“Your handwriting is nice enough. I figured it was an excuse to hold my very soft, very warm hand,” he shrugged.

“I already had your jacket,” (Y/n) smiled, “Why would I need any other sources of warmth?”

Kuroo tilted his head at her, flashing her another smirk, “Loneliness.”

Before she could reply, their professor entered the room and began the lecture.

At least he was being his usual brand of cool and collected rather than tripping all over himself like some sap.

The two exchanged a couple notes here and there, mostly joking about the professor and the typos they spotted in the syllabus.

Kuroo had to stifle his laughter when (Y/n) highlighted and underlined a section of the syllabus saying there would be no note passing in class. Every time Kuroo would write a new note, she would shoot him a playful glare while pointing at the section.

5:15 finally rolled around and the two darted out of the classroom like bats out of hell.

“God, he talked so slow.” Kuroo groaned.

“He’s an old man,” (Y/n) said, defending the professor, “But also, I know I’m gonna fall asleep in that class sometime this semester.”

Kuroo chuckled and adjusted his messenger bag as they left the building.

The rain had stopped hours ago, shifting into a light mist.

“So what building are you in now?”

“Oh, that was actually my last class of the day, I was just going to head home.” (Y/n) said. She made a move to unzip the jacket, but Kuroo lightly flicked her hand away.

“I’m done for the day too, how about I walk you home?” Too wholesome. “You can continue stealing my jacket until we get there.” Better.

(Y/n) smiled and looked down at her feet, trying to avoid small puddles along the sidewalk. “As long as it’s not too much trouble for you...”

“I can always use the exercise,” he said, “just lead the way.”

As the two walked through campus, they continued talking about their classes and first impressions on their new classmates, as well as what was going on with old classmates. 

Kuroo was in the middle of telling (Y/n) about how Kenma was at a different university in Tokyo when (Y/n) almost fell forward.

“Is this man kidnapping you?!” Bokuto yelled, hugging (Y/n) from behind and causing her to lose her balance. 

Kuroo chuckled awkwardly as (Y/n) wrestled to get Bokuto off of her. A couple students passing by looked on, slightly concerned.

“God, you’re such a spaz! Stop!” She squealed, regaining her balance once Bokuto released her.

“Kuroo’s here too!” Bokuto announced to himself, “It’s really a small world after all!”

“Sure is, buddy...” Kuroo said, allowing Bokuto to give him a quick hug.

“Where are you two headed?” he asked, pulling out of the hug and glancing between the two.

“I was actually just walking (Y/n) home.” Kuroo admitted, watching (Y/n) shift around in place through the corner of his eye.

“Ooooh, I’ll join you! What kind of bestie would I be if I didn’t accompany you two!” Bokuto latched onto (Y/n)’s arm in the blink of an eye, taking hold of her hand and lacing his fingers with hers.

Kuroo opted to remain on the opposite side of (Y/n) for the rest of their walk. If he were on the other side, Bokuto would be sandwiched between the two of them, making Kuroo feel even more awkward.

About halfway through the walk, Kuroo began to recognize the route they were taking to (Y/n)’s apartment. Once they stopped on front of the building, Kuroo felt his stomach do a backflip.

“This is me!” (Y/n) said, motioning to the large complex.

“I guess that means it’s just me and Kuroo now.” Bokuto said, turning towards Kuroo.

“Actually, this is my building too...” Kuroo trailed off, looking from the floor he lived on to (Y/n).

“No way! That’s so crazy!” Bokuto laughed.

(Y/n) smiled before giving Bokuto a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

“See you tomorrow! Bye Kuroo!” Bokuto allowed (Y/n) to pull out of the hug before waving goodbye to the two and walking off.

They didn’t speak until they entered the complex

“So... you two are still close, huh?” Kuroo asked, following (Y/n) to the elevator.

She nodded, sighing softly as she pressed the elevator button. “Yeah... he was really great when I got injured and all. That’s not really the kind of friend you let go of...”

Kuroo could sense a somber tone to her voice but didn’t want to pry for any details that would be too personal.

Before he was even given the opportunity, the two reached for the same floor button, looking at each other in disbelief once they had pressed it.

“There’s no way we live on the same floor and haven’t seen each other by now...” (Y/n) said, shaking her head.

“When did you move in? I got in about 2 weeks ago.”

“A month ago...” (Y/n) replied.

Once they reached their floor, they walked in the same direction down the hall, stopping at their doors... right beside each other.

Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh at the situation, it was all too bizarre and convenient, like they were living out some drama on tv.

“It really is a small world, huh?” Kuroo snickered.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes at him, unlocking her door and propping it open with her foot. “Lemme put my stuff down so I can give you back your jacket.”

“No no, maybe you should hold onto it.” Kuroo smiled, leaning against his own door. “It suits you...”

The slight tint to (Y/n)’s cheeks made Kuroo smirk and watching her begin to fidget with one of the long sleeves was the cherry on top of the interaction.

“Thank you... you’re really working to get that party invite huh?”

“Maybe so,” he chuckled, “better than just sitting next-door and listening to it.”

“I’ll text you then... See you tomorrow, Kuroo.”

Kuroo watched her retreat into her apartment before entering his own. He went from hardly ever speaking to her to suddenly being her neighbor WITH 4 classes together. AND an invitation to her next party... whenever that would be.

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

(Y/n)’s party came sooner than expected. After the first week of classes to be exact.

The text she had sent to Kuroo claimed it was to celebrate their first week of “the rest of their lives.”

It sounded cheesy, but it was an excuse to drink.

-Is there a theme?

(Y/n) gave Kuroo a deadpan look after reading the note he had scribbled on her journal before writing back.

-It’s not Halloween or Valentine’s Day...so no

-Tsk Tsk every good party has a theme

-The theme is don't get hungover

Kuroo snickered quietly, lightly nudging (Y/n)’s elbow with his own.

Once class was dismissed, the two began packing their bags.

“Are you going to need any help setting up?” he asked, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder.

“I think I got it, I got the drinks, I’m gonna order us pizza, and my flat is pretty much all clean. I just need to get my homework done before it starts.”

Kuroo huffed under his breath something about homework being for after the party and during the hangovers.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes playfully, lightly taking hold of the sleeve of Kuroo’s flannel and leading him out of the building.

“If you really wanna help you can come over and help me out with the short essay we just got assigned.” she offered.

“You always brag about how great you are at writing essays, yet here you are! Asking for my help,” he scoffed.

“Hey, I’m only offering since you’re obviously dyyyying for my attention.”

Well, she had him there.

Kuroo masked his embarrassment with another scoff. “Well I’d rather be helping a pretty girl prepare for her party than sit alone in my apartment, WAITING for the pretty girl’s party... but I guess I can settle for helping you with your essay.”

“You sound like Bokuto,” she grumbled, “I can barely handle one of him as it is.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow at her, “I sound like him because we both think you’re pretty?”

“No, you’re both difficult...” (Y/n) sighed, adjusting her bag. “And I don't think he thinks I’m pretty.”

Kuroo scoffed, combing his fingers through his hair. “He looks like he’s smitten every time he’s around you...”

Kuroo wasn’t sure if he had hit a sore spot or not. He figured he would have to bring up the elephant in the room at some point.

“Men... are unreadable.” was (Y/n)’s only reply.

“Some women like a man who is mysterious.” He smirked down at her, wiggling his eyebrows slightly and earning a giggle from her.

“Mystery is hot and all, but sometimes you need someone straightforward... we’ve been kinda dancing around each other since I moved to Japan with my dad... A game of cat and mouse is fun, but... sometimes the cat AND the mouse just need a break-”

Kuroo suddenly pulled (Y/n)’s body against his. Once her head made contact with his chest, she realized she was about to walk into the middle of the road as traffic whizzed past them.

(Y/n) slowly looked up at him, and it took all of Kuroo’s will power not to look back at her. Instead he watched the traffic until the pedestrian walk sign flashed on.

He reluctantly released his grip on her, finally taking the chance to meet her gaze. (Y/n) gave him a small, grateful smile.

She then took hold of his flannel sleeve and continued walking with him, chatting the whole way home.

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

Kuroo wasn’t sure why (Y/n) felt the need to change after they finished their work, he sure wasn’t going to. Now that he thought of it, maybe the party was supposed to be nicer than he thought. He looked down at himself; his jeans were nice enough, the flannel was new, and he couldn’t do much about the black t-shirt he was wearing underneath.

Maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe he should brush his hair. Why is this woman making me question my fashion?!

All she changed into was a t-shirt and a skirt, nothing too fancy. Though her thigh high socks did give off a classy/sexy vibe that Kuroo was feeling.

Guests began arriving, making the apartment more and more noisy. (Y/n) said it would only be a small crowd of close friends, but apparently those close friends invited their close friends. 

The only person Kuroo thought to invite was Kenma, and even then, that was one person who did enough speaking for half a person.

(Y/n) was off, being a good host, while Kuroo was left to his own devices. Despite the number of women at the party who approached him, trying to get his attention, he would say something along the lines of ‘looking for (Y/n)’ and that would send them on their way.

He eventually took a seat beside Kenma on the couch, taking the drink Kenma had been watching for him and chugging it down.

He grimaced and set the empty cup aside.

“Why did you offer to help finish off her vodka when you know you’re not a fan?” Kenma sighed, keeping his eyes on the movie (Y/n) had put on for ‘background noise.’

“Because, she looked very distraught when she told me how her mom sent it over but she could never get through it.” Kuroo replied, looking around the crowd.

“Just take it easy and drink water. That looks enough like vodka.” was Kenma’s simple suggestion. “Or maybe you should just grin and bear it.”

“Why do you say that?” Kuroo asked, turning to look at his friend.

“Well,” he pointed into the crowd, “your girlfriend is dancing over there. And we all know you don’t dance... willingly. So, you should get over there before she fades into the crowd again.”

Kuroo rubbed a hand over his face, feeling a small sense of dread flood his brain. He took the drink Kenma had been nursing, took a swig, then handed it back to him before getting up and maneuvering through the crowd. 

He tapped her shoulder, narrowly dodging her body as she whipped around to face him. 

“You’ve been looking for me?” she asked, leaning towards him slightly and resting her hands on his forearms.

He looked at her, clearly confused.

She smiled, pulling him closer, “Like 10 different people told me you were trying to find me.”

Fuck. Of course.

“I just wanted to make sure we didn’t have any party crashers...?” He fibbed, keeping his feet planted firmly on the floor as (Y/n) attempted pulling him into the small group of dancers.

“Oh, I don’t know some of them yeah, but... whatever keeps you occupied right?”

She sounded unsure of herself. What little glances Kuroo caught of her throughout the night was when she was double checking her bedroom door was locked.

“Why don’t you dance with me?” she whined, swinging his arms slightly.

“O-oh, I’m not really a dancer. I prefer to watch.” He coughed.

“I’ll show you then,” she insisted.

Thankfully, her dancing wasn’t anything really provocative. It was a little all over the place, full of spins and twirls, something fun that Kuroo didn’t really have to try too hard with. The best part was getting to pull (Y/n) flush against him after each twirl. The way she’d laugh and place her hands on his chest was intoxicating.

The moment was cut short as (Y/n) pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket. She apologized to Kuroo before leaving to answer the door.

Kuroo returned to the couch beside Kenma, watching as (Y/n) let Akaashi in. He said something to her that made her expression turn sour. She quickly put on a happy face before hugging him and ushering him into the apartment.

Akaashi, like anyone else, joined the few people he knew and accompanied Kuroo and Kenma on the couch.

Their greetings were short, as Kuroo was eager to know what he had said to (Y/n).

“Just that Bokuto was sad he couldn’t make it... Something came up.” Akaashi said, shaking his head slightly as he glanced around at the drink selection on the nearby table.

Kuroo stared off in the direction he last saw (Y/n), chewing on his lip as he thought of what he could say to bring her mood back up.

“She’s in her room. Go.” Kenma ordered, narrowing his eyes at Kuroo.

“I can’t just barge in there and-”

“Yes, you can. I’m sick of that dumb, kicked puppy look you have on your face right now. So get in there and say something sappy before I throw you in there myself.”

Kenma was hardly ever so forward about his frustrations with Kuroo. Even on Nekoma’s team he tended to keep grievances to himself unless he was pushed into doing otherwise.

Kuroo gulped before getting off the couch and rushing to the bedroom. The door was left slightly ajar, allowing Kuroo to hear (Y/n) on the other side.

She was either talking on the phone or in a one-sided argument. Either way, she was upset. Despite the loud music, she kept her voice low for fear of someone overhearing her.

“It’s either we don’t see enough of each other or we see each other too often. What do you want from me... Then you send Akaashi to give me the bad news instead of just texting me or calling me...”

She sighed deeply, hugging herself with her free arm.

“You always say that... you always say the timing is bad. Then you act like everything is fine, like we’re still teenagers making out under the bleachers...”

(Y/n) suddenly picked up her head, the hand holding her phone shaking slightly.

“Well don’t let me stop you from having a good time. Just don’t try calling me when you’re done.”

Kuroo watched the phone get tossed onto the dresser adjacent to the bed. He could hear a loud thump as (Y/n) flopped onto her bed.

He waited a moment before knocking on the door. It took (Y/n) a moment to respond and give him permission to enter.

He peeked inside first, waiting for her to motion fo him to come closer.

Sitting at the edge of her bed, he gently brushed his knuckles over her shoulder, frowning as she practically ignored his touch.

“Everything okay...?”

(Y/n) quickly nodded her head, sniffling softly.

“Are you sure...?”

(Y/n) paused before shaking her head.

“Do you want to be alone-”

“No.” She quickly interjected. She bit her lip, slowly taking Kuroo’s hand off her shoulder and holding it in hers. “I just... I want the strangers out of my flat.”

Kuroo nodded, “I can ask them to leave in a bit... how about we get you some pizza?”

She shook her head once more, “I don’t want pizza... I want the biggest bowl of ramen I could get my hands on...”

He slowly smiled, scooting closer to her and giving her hand a small squeeze.

“I don’t know about the biggest bowl you can get your hands on, but there's a ramen shop close by that’s open late... It can just be us two, or we invite the few people here we know and go in a group... Anything you want.”

(Y/n) rested her head on Kuroo’s shoulder, seeming to relax against him. “That sounds perfect... Especially since I haven’t seen Akaashi in so long...”

It wouldn’t be just the two of them, but the first step to spending time alone with someone was spending time with them in a group setting. Yeah, that was comforting.

“We should go clear out the vagrants then.” he snickered, making a move to get off the bed.

(Y/n) gripped him tighter, lightly pulling him back onto the bed. “Can we stay here just a little longer?”

He silently nodded his head, giving her a comforting smile as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

Kuroo had no idea what Bokuto had said to her over the phone, but whatever it was left her in this rough state. He could talk to her about it once they returned from dinner, for now all he could do was ground her and hold her close.

[just-absolutely-super]

Can You Hear Me I’m Expressing My Love

@soulxmakaweek

My contribution for Day 2: Flowers.

Summary: Maka receives a gift from a secret admirer.

Grab your nachos, guys. It’s a cheesy kind of story.

FF.net // AO3

Maka blinked.

Taped to the front of her locker was a single rose.

She didn’t know what to make of it, wasn’t really sure what to do with it. She had never been gifted with anything like this before. Sure, she had the occasional partnership request or fanmail, but this was something more…intimate maybe?

Beside her Soul snorted. “A rose, huh? How cliché.”

Maka nodded, “Yeah, but it is a sweet gesture. And at least it’s not red.”

The color surprised Maka. Instead of a typical rose color like red or pink, the flower was yellow with red tips.

Maka examined the flower, “There’s no card though… I wonder who sent it?”

Soul gave a noncommittal noise, “Probably some coward not cool enough to give it to you in person.”

Maka frowned at her weapon, “That’s a little harsh. Maybe they’re just shy.”

Soul shrugged, “Whatever. C’mon, we’re gonna be late.”

The two walked to class, Maka admiring her flower and giving it a sniff occasionally. Around her, she heard various whispers from some of the other girls in the hallway.

“Maka’s so lucky!”

“I know! I wish someone gave me a rose!”

“Who do you think gave it to her?”

“Who knows… Could be this guy who’s in my class. He likes to talk about how pretty Maka is.”

“Geez, all this fuss over some dumb flower,” Soul muttered.

“It’s considered romantic, Soul,” Maka defended. “Everyone wants to feel admired every once in a while.”

“I guess.” He simply said.

Maka scoffed. Boys just didn’t get it. Smiling at her rose, she proclaimed, “Well, I like it. It’s pretty.”

Soul nodded. He barely gave her a glance but she saw a tiny smile adorning his face. In his usual nonchalant tone he said, “If you like it, that’s all that matters.”

They made it to Stein’s classroom and sat down at their seats. Once Maka got settled in, Tsubaki leaned over to speak to her.

“Oh, Maka, that rose is lovely! Where did you get it?”

Maka smiled at her friend, “It was just taped to my locker. I guess someone put it there during last period.”

Tsubaki cooed, “How nice! Do you know who sent it?”

Maka shook her head, “No, they didn’t leave a card. It doesn’t matter though, it’s the thought that counts.”

Patty giggled from the row above as she began to sing, “Maka’s got a boyfriend! Maka’s got a boyfriend!”

Maka flushed, “No I don’t! I don’t even know who it’s from! I-It could just be from someone who’s a fan of my skills.”

Liz snorted, “As if. You, my friend, have a secret admirer.”

Maka scoffed, “Just because it’s a rose doesn’t mean anything. It’s not even pink or red.”

Liz leaned down to poke at the flower, “Think again, Maka. The tips of the rose are red. Everyone knows a yellow rose with red tips symbolizes falling in love. Therefore…”

“Maka’s got a boyfriend! Maka’s got a boyfriend!” Patty was practically squealing at this point, trying and failing to hold in her laughter.

Maka blushed, setting the rose down to hold her hands to her burning cheeks. Tsubaki gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Maka. It’s nice to know that someone loves you.”

Maka nodded, staring at the rose some more, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

She felt someone’s eyes on her and turned around to face her weapon. He had a strange look on his face, almost as if he were in deep thought about something. Maka tilted her head to the side.

“Is something wrong, Soul?”

Soul must not have realized he was staring because he jolted a little in his seat before turning around to face the blackboard. “No. Just spaced out a little is all.”

Maka frowned at him but decided to brush it off when Stein's lecture began.

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

Back at the apartment, Maka was sitting at her desk as she stared at her rose—which was now in one of their (few) crystal vases.

She hummed in thought. Was Liz right? Was this secret admirer of the romantic kind? Were they really too shy to confess in person and thus decided to profess their feelings via a beautiful flower?

It seemed like something out of her cheesy romance novels. While a sweet gesture, she couldn’t help but feel incredulous that someone would actually tell her they were falling in love with her through flower symbolism.

What’s more is she wasn’t sure who would actually like her enough to go through with the gesture. She didn’t know a lot of people, and everyone she did know didn’t give her any indication it was from them. If it was from one of her few fans, she wasn’t sure she could accept them. For one thing, they really didn’t know her that well, how could they assume they loved her?

And another thing…she knew for a fact she didn’t love them because there was someone else in her life who held her heart.

“Hey, I’m feeling Chinese takeout tonight. That okay with you?”

Maka jumped at the voice of her weapon. She swiveled around in her chair to reply, “Uh, yeah. That’s fine with me.”

Soul raised an eyebrow at her before flicking his eyes to the rose. Slowly, he walked over to where she sat at her desk.

“Ever since Liz told you about that rose you’ve done nothing but space out and stare at it. What’s up? Thinking hard about the poor sap who couldn’t tell you they like you in person?”

He said it in his usual teasing manner, yet Maka noticed his tense body language. She didn’t know why Soul was so wound up. It was making her worry a little…

Deciding to come back to his behavior later, she answered his earlier question, “Kind of. It’s just strange…”

“What’s strange?” Soul asked, making himself comfortable on her bed.

Maka hummed, turning her gaze back to the rose. “That there’s someone at school who’s so infatuated with me that they’re under the impression that it’s love. They don’t know me at all, yet they’ve decided they’ve fallen in love with me.”

“What makes you think they don’t know you?”

Maka looked to him, “There’s only so many people who actually know me. Whoever sent this has to be someone from another class. Someone who probably only knows me through my reputation as one of the better meisters of the DWMA. Who else could it be?”

It looked as if Soul was contemplating what to say before he shrugged, “You never know, maybe it is somebody who actually knows you.”

Maka snorted, “As if. I only have a small circle of friends. It can’t be any of you guys. Any one of you would have told me to my face, right?”

She expected Soul to agree with her, to laugh along with her and make a crude joke or two. Instead she was met with silence. She chanced a glance at her partner and saw that he had a frown on his face, a far-off look in his eyes. She wished he would tell her what his deal was already.

Finally he said, “Have you considered that maybe they couldn’t?”

Maka tilted her head to the side, confused, “What do you mean?”

Soul sighed, as if explaining to Maka why this would be was such a drag!

“I mean, maybe they don’t have the courage to tell you in person how they feel. Maybe all they could do was find some fancy flower that had some cheesy meaning and hope you would like it.”

“But why not sign it? Wouldn’t they want me to know it was from them?”

Soul turned his red eyes to her green ones and Maka was almost taken aback when she saw pure, raw emotion in them.

“Being rejected isn’t cool, Maka.”

It was such a cryptic phrase. She knew her weapon was trying to tell her something; she just needed to piece together the clues to figure it out. Before she could question him further, he suddenly stood up.

It was as if a flip was switched. Gone was that ounce of vulnerability he allowed her to see, and in its place was his usual no-care attitude. Soul stretched his arms over his head as he said, “Alright, I’m gonna call in the Chinese. You want the usual?”

Maka blinked at him. He was purposely avoiding looking at her now. She fought off a scowl. She had to think his previous words over before she started tackling this.

“Yeah, the usual is good.” She said.

“Cool.” With that he left.

Maka sighed as she watch him leave. She leaned back in her chair.

Should she be reading too much into their conversation? Were Soul’s words implying what she thought it was?

She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but it was hard to when he had looked at her like that. Like he was trying to tell her something but refused to outright say it. It was like he was practically pleading for her to figure him out.

And that slightly frustrated her because she had been trying to figure out Soul Eater Evans for years now and no matter how many times she broke down his carefully built walls, the boy managed to build more up in an attempt to keep her at arm’s length.

It was exasperating. More so if her wild thoughts were right about him and his possible connection to her secret admirer…

She must have been sitting there lost in her thoughts for longer than she realized because soon she heard a knock on her door.

“Hey, takeout’s here.”

Maka nodded in reply, “Coming.”

She walked out of her room, stopping in the doorway of the kitchen to stare at her weapon who was munching on a spring roll. He must have felt her eyes on him because he stopped mid-bite to acknowledge her.

“What?” he scowled, as if ready for her to reprimand him for something or another.

“You’re being messy.” She told him, not wanting him to figure out what she had been pondering on the last few minutes.

The Death Scythe snorted, continuing to attack his food with his teeth, “Who cares? I got nobody to impress.”

Maka rolled her eyes and giggled a little. Sitting down in the chair, she took her portion of the food and began to dig in.

After a few minutes she ventured to speak, “For the record…”

Soul stopped his eating, raising a quizzical brow at her. Maka continued, carefully choosing her words.

“If my secret admirer were to come to me in person and suddenly confess to me, I probably wouldn’t turn them down completely.” She then gave him a pointed look. If her theory proved right, he would understand the message she was trying to convey to him. Hopefully she wasn’t making an awkward fool of herself, “I mean, they went through all the trouble to show me how much they liked me. It’d be awful to reject them so cruelly, wouldn’t you say?”

For the longest time Soul didn’t say anything, just stared at her, his red eyes searching her own. She saw that same trace of emotion from before and it gave her confidence that she wasn’t making a mistake in her assumptions. Maka hoped he could see her emotions in her eyes as well. She hoped he saw what she wanted him to see. That she saw him and that she would never refuse him, ever.

Finally, her weapon broke their gaze and went back to playing with his food, “Alright. Do whatever you want, Maka. But if he turns out to be a lame creep don’t come crying to me.”

Maka giggled. “Nah. I’m sure he’s cool.”

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

Her secret admirer didn’t leave another rose for her, nor did he confront her.

Her girl friends were somewhat disappointed in the lack of development, but Maka didn’t mind. She knew her secret admirer wasn’t so secret to her anymore, and she was content to wait for him.

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Even still, she didn’t complain. She knew he was waiting as well. Either for the perfect moment or to actually gain his courage, she couldn’t say. All she knew was that neither one of them were going anywhere.

It wouldn’t be until six months later that Maka would wake up bright and early one day and come face to face with a large bouquet of roses. All yellow with red tips.

And the holder of this bouquet was the one she was waiting for.

“H-Here…” Soul said, face a lovely shade of red and his gaze bashfully turned away.

Maka gently took the flowers, pressing her face to them to smell their lovely aroma. Afterwards, she looked to the boy who held her heart and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I love them.”

I love you.