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sexy-monster-fucker · 9 months ago

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Darkness

Mark Hoffman x afab!Reader

details: smut, disgusting street men hitting on reader, lots of flirting, mild biting, oral f!receiving, Mark's constant use of "fuck", unprotected sex, cream pie (please wear protection), Mark low-key being into you calling him detective????, kinda possessive Hoffman

word count: 3,550

a/n: me? late to writing a fic i promised months ago? never lmao. requests are open for more Hoffman fics, I am very excited to write for him

~~~

Loud music, too many people talking, and the smell of alcohol overwhelmed your senses.

You sat at the dim lit bar, slumped over the counter spinning the straw in the drink you did not even finish. Your two friends who you had met here earlier in the night had their backs to you. They had gotten comfortable with two strangers at the bar. Flirting with slurred words from a little too much alcohol was the standard with them.

It was deep into the night, anything besides the bar was closed. You decided you were done with the night out. You tapped your friend closest to you, "I'm heading home. Shoot me a text so I know you make it safe." She nodded still entranced by the man in front of her, "Oh-Okay. See ya'." You threw some cash down on the counter and grabbed your bag.

You squinted your eyes at the bright street lamp directly outside of the bar. It was completely black out other than the lights every few feet. Couples attempting casual hookups, people throwing up surrounded by their friends, and other bar dwellers decorated the streets outside. You tried not to look at anyone in particular, but a group of suspicious looking men caught your eye. Eye contact with one of the members was the biggest mistake of the night. You began walking faster down the street, your bag clutched as firm as possible in your hands.

"Oh- Hey, beautiful!" One of the men approached you from behind. Chills of disgust painted up your arms.

"We saw you checking us out. We can help you home~" Another man stepped in front of you under the street lamp.

You tried your hardest to keep walking forward, ignoring them.

"What's the problem, sweetheart? Don't you want some gentlemen to help you out tonight?" A third at your side. You halted under the brightest light you could find as the fourth man joined them. You were surrounded. With no where else to go, you backed into the pole. "I can make it myself," your voice cracked slightly. You were begging, pleading with the universe for some form of an escape from the situation you were in. A lump was forming in your throat, tears beginning to dance at your eyelids. You were scared.

"Don't get shy, sweetheart. We can take care of you tonight."

They were closing in on you. Your mind was racing for a way out. One of them swatted at the bag in your hand, missing the bag but grabbing the strap. You held on with all your might as he pulled. "Just give me the bag, skank!"

The sound of tires behind you made your heart sink. You were sure this was it, they were going to take you off somewhere. Never to be seen again.

"Do you know these guys?" A rugged voice came from the car. You heard the door open and slam, followed by footsteps behind you. The guy in front of you finally released his grip on your bag, his hands throwing up in the air. You stumbled back slightly, bumping into the man from the car as he was directly behind you. His hand went to your shoulder helping you stabilize, "Are you okay?" You nodded with flushed cheeks.

"Listen, we were just trying to help this chick home. No need to get serious," one of the guys spoke.

"Go ahead and crawl back to where you came from before this does get serious," the man from the car spoke sternly, flashing the gun on his hip at them. The entire group ran off into the night.

Your breath you had been holding in finally released. Your hands were shaking ever so slightly. The man stepped in front of you, looking around for any sign of a group you may have been separated from. He finally turned to face you. You felt your face flush with heat at how handsome he was.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone this late at night?"

"I just left my friends. I just wanted to get home," your hands rubbed up and down your arms. Your eyes scanned over his entire body. He was obviously a cop of some kind. There was also no ring in site. His broad chest and chiseled face made heat flood your body.

"I can take you home. Miss..?"

"Y/N L/N. And you?"

"Detective Hoffman," he held up his badge for you to see, "But you can call me Mark."

Mark led you to his passenger side, opening the door and helping you in. Walking around the vehicle, he joined you inside. You buckled as the car began off. "Just tell me how to get there," he looked over at you.

The ride was silent. Nothing but the whirring of the cars vents and the occasional bump on the road. Each lamp you passed lit up your face as you stared out the window. Mark's eyes stayed straight on the road, one hand on the wheel the other at his side.

"I forgot to say thank you," you broke the silence. His gaze shot over to you, "It's nothing." You smiled at him slightly.

"So, Detective," you spoke with a tease on your tone, "What kind of cases are you working on?"

"You know I can't disclose that to you," he stared at you momentarily.

"Oh, come on! Homicide detective? In this city? I know you've got something good!"

Mark huffed. The car slowly approached a traffic light. Mark's eyes now could not get off of you.

His eyes examined you fully. He noticed how nonchalant you were being with him, as if you had known each other longer than tonight. Your body and legs leaning towards him showing your trust for him. His gaze wandered down to your exposed thighs. The outfit you had wore was not necessarily revealing, just short around the legs. He had to fight the place his mind wanted to go.

Silence returned to the vehicle. You leaned closer to Mark, "Is there anything I can do to say thank you, Detective?" Your hand flattened against the middle console in an attempt to be closer to him. He rolled his shoulders waiting for the light to change. "O-of course not," he choked, "I am just doing my job."

Mark turned his head to look at you better. Red from the light illuminated both your faces in the dark. You swore you had never seen anyone as handsome in this moment.

Green.

Both of you looked forward at the sudden chance, acting as if the moment you had just shared never happened.

The car came to a halt in front of your apartment building. You stared out the window wishing this car ride could last forever. "Well this is me," you shot a smile over at him. Mark stared at you with hooded eyes. Heat flushed every inch of you.

"Thank you, Detect- Mark... thank you, Mark," you looked at him one last time before starting to open your door. His hand gripped you, "Let me walk you inside so I know you make it safe."

Mark got out of the car and walked around, opening your door for you. He extended his hand to you, helping you out of the car. You mumbled a thanks as you stepped up on the sidewalk. Your heart was racing a million miles a minute. Your body wanted him badly. It longed for more than a simple shoulder touch, or grasp of a hand.

You led him into the elevator of your building. Clicking the button for a silent trip up. The ding of each passing floor rang in your ears. Mark stared up at the numbers as they passed, looking over at you every few seconds between. You both jumped slightly as the door opened abruptly. You showed him down the hall to your door.

"Here we are," you leaned your back up against the door. Mark's eyes silently looked you up and down. His pupils were completely blown, his shoulders heavy, and his chest heaving slightly. He looked around the completely empty hallway, "I'm glad to get you home safe."

"Y-Yeah! I can't thank you enough," you blushed when his eyes met yours again. His lip curled into a sort of smirk seeing you flustered. You felt your entire body rush with heat. You stared down at your feet, almost too embarrassed to look him in the eyes.

"Well. I'm going to head back out. Have a good night, Y/N," Mark began to walk back towards the elevator.

"Mark?"

He turned around quickly to look at you.

"Do you want to come inside?"

Mark's eyes darkened with your question. His eyes darted around momentarily before rushing over to join you. Hands ghosting down your sides as you turn to get your key in the door. His broad chest was pressed firmly against your back. Chills painted every inch of your body, heat rushing straight to your core. His lips pressed against your ear, "I didn't think you were gonna ask."

Your face grew completely red hot, your hands fumbling with your keys. You wanted inside your apartment so bad, but Mark had you flustered and you could not focus. He rested his chin on your shoulder, "What is it, Y/N? I can help you with the keys since you can't focus." His hand snaked up your arm, wrapping itself around yours to steady it. Guiding it into the lock with ease, he turned it for you. "There you go. Good girl," he growled in your ear. You were puddy in his hands.

You opened the door, leading him into the dark apartment. Mark pulled you flush against his chest, his hands going around your waist. The only glow on his face came from the illuminated numbers on the microwave. It lit his eyes beautifully. His breath was hot against you, his eyes staring as heavily into yours as possible.

"You do this with every girl you rescue off the street?" You teased him.

"Do you do this with every man who rescues you late at night?" Mark chuckled, his hands gliding up and down your curves.

You bit your lip, staring heavily into what little of his eyes you could see. "If they all looked as good as you, I probably would," you taunted him.

"Oh, yeah?" Mark's tone was dark. His lips slipped onto your neck. You threw your head back giving him better access. He decorated your skin with sloppy kisses leading up to your ear, "None of them would make you feel as good as I will."

Instant heat. The growl on his tone made your stomach do a flip. You ran your hands up his chest, playing with his tie. He took in a deep breath, his chest tightening with your touch. Hands gripped your ass tight, pulling you flush against his hard member in his pants. A quiver of a breath escaped you.

Mark crashed his lips into yours suddenly. Sloppy, tongue filled kisses were shared between you. You took his lower lip between your teeth lightly. A gruff "fuck" escaped him. One of his hands went to your hair, forcing your lips as close to his as possible. You were on each other like wild animals; two people who were forced to be apart almost.

Mark grabbed your hand, placing it against the front of his pants. "You've got me fucking worked up, pretty girl," he growled in your ear. You were breathless. Your hand began feeling his member, stroking him to the best of your ability. Mark's breathing kicked up, his shoulders heaved with each breath. A smile creeped upon your face seeing him so caught up with you.

"Keep grinning and I'll fuck you on the floor," Mark huffed at you.

Your entire body was overheating. You wanted him. You needed him.

Your hand released from his member, getting a dissatisfied growl from him. Your fingers toyed with the waist of his pants. Mark tilted his head slightly, staring at you. He could feel you much better than he could see you. His eyes had adjusted, but it was still too dark to make out finer details. You dipped the tips of your fingers down into his pants. Tight belt against his waist stopping your fingers from going past. You could feel the liner of his underwear now, playing with the waistband. Mark heaved a breath feeling your fingers against his skin. Your eyes stared up at him now, your other hand dipping under his overcoat that still decorated his body. Fingers finding his suspender, feeling it all the way down.

Mark's finger went under yours chin, redirecting your attention to his face. He placed a more tender kiss on your lips. Tenderness turned into neediness quickly. The sloppiness from before returned, both of his hands went to your face. His body pushed you into the back of the door. Mark began removing his overcoat, never removing his lips from yours. He threw it into the darkness behind him, his hands returning to your face. Heavy breaths escaped between kisses. Your hands went to each suspender attempting to remove them from his shoulders. He pulled his hands through, desperate for the clothes that he wore to be removed. Hands tugging at the tie around his neck as if it was suddenly choking him.

Mark flipped you around quickly, kisses sloppily being placed on the back of your neck as he attempted to unzip your dress. You shimmied yourself out of it as Mark's hands desperately tugged it down your body. He spun you back around, his lips instantly going to the exposed part of your breast. Hunger painted his figure, teeth digging into your skin. You threw your head back against the door. Blindly, your hands searched his chest for the buttons to his shirt. Mark's hands explored your body as his mouth focused on your chest. Large hands gripped your bare ass.

Two of Mark's fingers felt your wet pussy through your panties. You arched your back into him, getting an amused chuckle from him. "I can't wait to feel you around me as I fuck you," he kissed your cheek.

"Please, Mark," you begged.

Mark pulled back from you, staring down at you. You could see him smile in the dark, "Please, what?"

He was taunting you slightly, wanting you to beg for it.

"Please- fuck me, Mark," you pleaded.

"That's what I thought," Mark kissed you.

He backed away wanting you to lead him to your bedroom. You grabbed him by the wrist, leading him through the darkness to an even darker room. Mark walked slowly, trying to follow your lead around the room. Completely unable to see, he did not move too much. You grabbed both his wrists, pulling him along with you as you slowly sat onto the bed. He kissed you, leaning you down onto the mattress. His kisses ventured down your body, stopping right above your panty-line.

Mark's fingers toyed with the band of your panties, teasing you. You arched your hips up in an attempt to make him do something, a whine escaping you.

"You're so fucking needy," he growled against your skin, following it with a kiss. He pulled your panties down off your legs, the air hitting your slick opening. Mark was directly in front of your need now. One of his fingers dipped into you pulling a moan from your throat. It was so sudden. "Fuck, you're so tight," he growled, his hot breath hitting your exposure. He pumped his finger in and out of you slowly. Shockwaves went through every inch of you. He pulled his finger out, you cried out.

"Christ, you're soaked," he chuckled with satisfaction. That same finger was suddenly pressed firmly against your throbbing clit. You called out his name. He joined you face to face, panting above you as his finger still circled your sensitivity. Your mouth was hung open as if you could not catch your breath. Your hands ran up his chest, you had only unbuttoned the top button with your attempt earlier. Hands played with the small patch of exposed chest hair. You could see his teeth glaring down at you, eyes heavy and dark. You began unbuttoning his shirt further, you wanted to see as much of him as possible. Broad chest decorated with a light amount of hair was hiding under the tightly buttoned shirt. You felt him from as far as your hands could reach down to his neck. Hands resting on his cheeks, you leaned up placing a kiss on him. Lightning was shooting through your body as his circles harshened.

"I'm not gonna let you cum just yet," Mark abruptly removed his finger. You whined and arched your back. "Do you want me to fuck you?" his tone toyed with you. He sat on his knees now, pulling his shirt the rest of the way off. His hands removed his belt with haste.

"Yes, Mark," you swallowed.

He pulled his hard member from his pants. It sprung up, hitting him in the stomach slightly. It's almost as if you could feel your mouth run dry. Hands went to both sides of your body, his nose brushing against yours. You could feel him fighting the pants off his legs. His cock played at your opening, rubbing against your slick. Your chest was heaving with anticipation.

Mark grabbed his cock by the base, lining it up with your opening. He sheathed himself inside you, pulling a moan from both of you. His body fell into you slightly, your breasts pressing against his bare chest. He idled momentarily, bathing in this feeling.

"Fuck, I have never felt a pussy this good," his jaw hung open. Slowly, he picked up the pace. Pulling himself almost completely out before ramming back in. He rested his forehead against yours. You exchanged heavy and hot air. Rhythmically he pumped himself into you.

You wrapped your arms around him, running your nails down his bare back. His lips rested against your ear as his body fell flush with yours, "Yeah? Never been fucked this good, have you?" You could only moan in response. "That's right. And you'll never be fucked this good by anyone else," he growled. Partially claiming ownership over you now, but knowing if this never went further he would be the best fuck of your life.

Your walls began pulsing around him as your orgasm approached. After the tension he had put on your clit, your body was ready to unwind.

"Better not cum before I make you cum," Mark snarled against your neck.

You stared up in the darkness. Focusing, trying your hardest to fight the sensation coming over you while still enjoying his cock inside you. Mark's motions became more aggressive as he felt you pulse. Your chest was growing tight as you took in air rapidly.

"Detective," that slipped out, "Please I want to cum."

Mark sat up slightly, looking into your desperate eyes. "Detective?" you could see his mouth curve into a grin when he realized what you said.

Sitting up fully and throwing your legs over his shoulders, Mark began to fuck you fast and hard. "Want Detective Hoffman to make you cum? Gonna cum all over his cock are you, you dirty girl," Mark teased through his teeth. He passed one of your legs to join the other in one hand as his finger returned to your clit. The sound of skin smacking together along with loud moans from you filled the dark room.

The knot in your stomach was building, you could feel the bottoms of your feet growing warm as your orgasm approached. "Mark, I-I'm gon-gonna cum," you threw your head back into the pillow.

"That's right you are. Cum for me," Mark gritted, his hair falling loosely in his face. You felt your walls tighten and the knot come unraveled in you. Walls fluttered around his cock as your orgasm washed over you. Your back arched off the bed, deepening his cock inside you. "Good girl, fuck," Mark sped up his motions, his orgasm not far behind. He laid your legs back, falling back into his previous position, fucking you harder than he had. Lips crashed into yours, his tongue venturing into your mouth. "You're my girl now. Mine, mine, mine," he growled into your mouth. His motions steadied as he shot inside you. Thick ropes painted your inside, Mark forcing his way as deep in you as possible. Your body was shaking with pleasure.

Mark's body fell on top of yours, heaving breathing coming from him. "Fuck," he mumbled against your skin. You ran your hand up and down his back, petting him slightly. It's as if you both were still catching your breath.

Mark rolled off of you, pulling his cock out with him. He pulled you tightly to his side, placing a kiss on your head. You rested your head on his chest. Your finger ran through his body hair.

That same silence from the car ride returned now. There really was not much to say.

You were happy he was the one who rescued you tonight.

~~~

END

[Thank you for reading! If you are interested in being tagging in any of my writings don’t be afraid to message me! All tag lists are open! I have a master taglist and one for each character!]

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@sleepybunnybobby |

#mark hoffman #mark hoffman x reader #mark hoffman smut #saw #saw movies #fanfic #SexyMonsterFics #costas mandylor #saw franchise #sawposting #saw movie

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updownlately · 1 year ago

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how do i hold these emotions (when you spin my world out of place?)

| leah williamson x reader | angst | 3.9k | inspo: butterflies by abe parker | a/n: so this has been sitting in the ask box for nearly a month. initially i didn't get to it bc of school and then bc i struggled to think of what to write. i'm not really happy with how this turned out tbh but i want to at least get something out in regards to this one, lest i stretch it out another month, so here ya go...

~~~

You hadn’t meant to hurt her. You really hadn’t. Everything had happened so quickly. One second you were intently watching the ball get kicked around during five-a-side and the next you were diving to make a save, unaware of the blonde running in behind the ball.

In your urgency to secure the ball, you hadn’t actively paid attention to your arms stretching out, nor the way the white cleats got caught between your outstretched limbs, you managing to gather more than just the ball.

It was only when the blood rushing from your ears disappeared, when the slight jolt of adrenaline wore off, that you realized the tangled mess of limbs that lay behind you.

Pausing, you immediately furrowed your eyebrows. Players weren’t supposed to be where she was. Players weren’t supposed to be behind the keeper.

Eyes widening in realization, you dropped the ball and quickly stood up in a panic.

“Oh my god, I’m so s-“

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” The sharp voice cut through your sentence, the anger behind it nearly pushing you a step back.

“I-I’m sorry. I swear. It was an accident.” Your voice quieter this time, the fear evident. The midfielder was on the ground, almost curled up in fetal position, hands clutching her ankle.

By now the whole team was nearly surrounding you two, Lia and Steph crossing you to be by Leah’s side.

“An accident is when you miss the ball, not when you fucking take out your own teammate during a damn practice,” Leah practically growled out, her eyes still not meeting yours.

“Leah, breathe. She was just doing her job, it was an accident.”

You looked over at Steph, a grateful look appearing on your face for a brief second before promptly turning your attention back to Leah.

“Her job is to stop the ball, not injure a teammate. If she can’t do that then she should find another job.”

You swallowed hard at her tone, the words hitting you hard. You knew being signed by Arsenal, even as a backup keeper wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, you had expected it to be gruelling and tiresome. But you didn’t expect this. You didn’t think you’d manage to turn one of the club’s key players against you on one of your first few practices with them.

Leah didn’t even turn to look at you, her back being the only thing visible as she let the other two players and the oncoming medical staff examine her speaking volumes to you.

The way the ever-supportive, always-understanding skipper couldn’t even look you in the eye hurt you more than words could say.

Body slumping, your shoulders caved in and you quietly stepped back, letting your head hang low. Mentally berating yourself, you cursed at your mind for reacting so quickly, for not looking at where you were diving, towards who you were diving.

Part of you knew it was your job, that this was part of the game, that technically it wasn’t your fault. Yet, the people pleaser inside couldn’t help but agree with Leah. It was stupid of you to have saved that ball. After all, it was just a practice, right? You could have most definitely gotten away with just letting her score, but you didn’t. And where did that leave you? With a future Arsenal legend cursing you out while they likely had another injury, no thanks to you.

Just as your thoughts began spiralling towards what Jonas might be thinking about only just acquiring you and you already injuring one of his key players, you felt a gentle hand come to rest upon your shoulders.

Body jolting, you whipped your head around, tense muscles only slightly relaxing when you saw who the hand was attached to. Stina.

You let her gently tug you towards her, walking backwards, eyes still downcast.

“Ignore her okay? She’s just running high on emotions, she doesn’t mean it.” The quiet words whispered in your ear don’t have the desired effect however, the weight of your actions sinking into your thoughts.

You shrug in response, taking off your gloves to wipe your sweaty palms on the side of your shorts.

Bending down to tuck the gloves between your knees, your lips mumbled out a quick prayer to a God you didn’t believe in enough. You prayed, hoped, begged that whatever you had done wasn’t major. After all, the blonde had only recently come back from injury.

Inhaling deeply, you rose again, unaware of Stina’s eyes on you. You intently watched as the staff tested out Leah’s legs and ankle, holding your breath when one of them gently pressed their fingers around her ankle, turning it slightly. Your eyes immediately flickered over to Leah’s face, eyebrows furrowed, concentrating, trying to gauge the potential severity of the collision.

It was only when the striker grabbed your arm for a second time that you broke from your staring. “C’mon, it’s a water break. Let them do their thing, she’ll be fine.” Your head swivelled at her comments, finally taking note of how empty the field around you was, save for the ongoing situation. Shooting one last concerned look over at the gunner trio by the goalposts, you trailed behind the Swedish player.

Throughout the water break, you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift over to Leah and the medical staff. Even as Katie and Kim tried to distract you with conversation, your mind wandered. You wondered how Jonas was feeling about this whole situation. It had only been a little over a month since Leah had come back from her ankle injury, a slew of lesions across the years causing a tense relationship between the midfielder and her crucial joints. And now you had potentially caused another one. You despised the thought of you being the reason she would be out again, for more reasons than one.

Your worries however, rang true, attention being stolen from the girls in front of you and finding its way to the oncoming stampede of footsteps from the pitch.

Wincing, you turned around, ready to assess just how badly you fucked up.

Unfortunately for you, the sight ahead of you had your heart silently breaking in two, partially in worry for yourself, but more so in pain for the blonde that was limping across the grounds.

You could sense the tension in the group walking towards the locker room. Leah was hobbling on one foot, using Lia as a crutch while Steph walked beside the pair, defeat clear in her body. The medical staff themselves were quietly conversing with one another, discussing something you couldn’t quite make out.

Deciding to take a chance, you opened your mouth to apologize as the blonde passed you, another ‘sorry’ on the tip of your tongue. However, before you could even get any semblance of a sound out, Leah interrupted you, steel blue eyes connecting with yours for the first time since the encounter.

“Save it. You’ve already done enough.” The irritation didn’t surprise you, after all, you didn’t expect her to be your biggest fan right now. Still, the contempt in her voice had you in shock, heart aching at what you had done and where it had left you.

Eyes staying wide, body frozen to where you stood, you closed your mouth.

It was only as Leah walked away from you that you let yourself move, immediately bringing your hands to run through your hair in frustration, before bringing them over your face in a failed attempt to rid yourself of the guilt that plagued you.

Fuck.

~~~

A week had passed since the collision, the injury turning out to be nothing more than a somewhat minor ankle sprain, only looking to keep the defender out for a little less than three weeks.

In the days that had gone by thus far though, you did your best to avoid Leah, still nervous at the blonde’s initial reaction and her icy demeanour towards you.

You wanted to chalk up her disdain for you to just the unfortunate event and forget about it, but since the incident, each time that you passed her around the training grounds, she seemed to avoid you, ignoring your existence completely. And you’d be lying if you said it didn’t hurt.

You had looked up to the defender throughout your own career, marvelling at her determination and dedication even though you were only a few months younger than her. To have her nearly pretend you don’t exist whilst on the same team burned you more than you’d like to admit.

Knowing you had to be mature however, you pretended to be fine every time you saw Leah conversing with another teammate near you. You ignored the tug in your heart when she’d greet the rest of the team, her lips magically skipping your name, as you all filed into the weight room. You told the team it was fine when they confronted you about it, even going as far as telling Kim that you didn’t take it to heart, that you understood why she was upset.

Well aware that you didn’t deserve this treatment, you still let it slide, not wanting to cause any more problems.

You didn’t let it show to the team but now you were slightly more cautious in practices, letting more goals rocket past you, too afraid of diving too close to a teammate. It was a dangerous game you were playing, nearly putting your career on line, but you couldn’t care about that right now as much as you wanted to. Ensuring you didn’t injure any more teammates was your top priority, lest you somehow manage to turn the whole Arsenal women’s team against you after injuring yet another player.

So as practices passed, you gave your 100% during any distance shooting drills, diving left, right, and centre as needed. You did what you had to, knowing there was no one near you. But when it came to close range shooting, five-a-side, or any other drills you dialled it down. You tried to be subtle with your lessening actions but you knew that the training staff could tell. And you were proven right.

Training had just ended for the day, the cold January breeze making you shiver as you walked across the pitch. You had only made it half way over before you heard your name being called, Jonas’ booming voice carrying through the wind easily.

Turning around, you walked to him, confusion etched on your face, dread running cold in your bones.

“Hey, what’s up?” You tried to sound nonchalant. You’re pretty sure you failed.

“You’re holding back during practices, don’t think I can’t tell.”

“What do you mean?” You feigned innocence.

“Don’t. Listen, we brought you here for a reason, what happened with Leah was a freak accident, it wasn’t intentional and we all know that.

Your body stiffened, swallowing audibly, aware that you just got caught.

“I don’t care what whoever tells you. You came in here with a job to do and you were doing it well. I’d like to hope that it continues as such.” Jonas ends the conversation, leaving no room for discussion. You can only nod in response, turning around to head to the locker rooms.

Stuck in your own musings, contemplating on your choices, you don’t see LW squared headed your way, Leah finally off the crutches she’s been using for the past week and a half.

It’s when you almost crash into them, cleats just barely appearing in your field of vision ,that you realize your predicament. Quickly throwing yourself to the side, you just barely manage to avoid hitting Leah again.

“Do you make a habit of injuring all the national captains or just the English ones?” Leah grumbled into the air, the quip no doubt directed to you even as she looked straight ahead.

“S-Sorry.” You squeaked out, picking up your pace and heading in the opposite direction.

You knew she didn’t like you. And you knew you had to make amends with it. What you couldn’t figure out yet is whether you rather have her ignore your existence or acknowledge it with her dislike for you on display.

You didn’t know it as you walked away, but the second you’re were out of earshot, Lia confronted Leah, understanding just how terrible of a position you were in right now.

“You know it wouldn’t kill you to be nice to her right?”

“It wouldn’t kill her to not injure me, especially not after I just came back from an ankle injury,” Leah muttered in response.

“Listen, she’s already been beating herself up for it ever since it happened. You need to cut her some slack.”

“But-“

“No buts. Leah she’s been too afraid to even dive during close practices now. The only time she’s actively being a goalkeeper is during long distance shooting, and we both know that’s not going to do us any good and it definitely won’t do her any good.”

Pouting, it was Leah’s turn to look at her cleats, mind wandering.

“I wasn’t that rude to her was I?” “You’ve been ignoring her for two weeks! She’s only been here for three!”

Silently groaning, the blonde continued walking.

“Leah…”

“Yes mum?”

“Fix it.”

“Yes m-“ “And stop calling me mum, you child.”

“Yes mother.” A gentle smack hit the back of the skipper’s head before the Swiss captain took off running onto the pitch.

“Oi!”

~~~

You thought being a backup keeper for a club like Arsenal, who already had a great goalie meant that playing time for you wasn’t going to be crazy. You believed it. Nearly confidently knew it. So when Jonas told you that they were resting Manu for the game against Leeds, your anxiety spiked through the roof. After all, it had only been a little over three weeks that you had been with the club, two of them spent with a star player of theirs injured because of you.

Aware that with the team you had the game would be easy, even if it was the fourth round of the FA cup, you weren’t worried about the Gunner’s ability to score and win. The thought of starting while being a backup goalie however, of wanting to maintain a clean sheet on your first game, intimidated you.

When you had initially got the news, two days before the game was supposed to be held, you immediately started to prepare.

After Jonas had pulled you aside, you had gone off and begged one of the trainers to stay back and shoot at you, setting you up in tough positions and sending in shots from all sorts of angles. Spending an extra two hours on pitch that day, you tirelessly saved shot after shot, working on your release, your control of back passes, and your dropkicks, wanting to perform your best. It was only when the trainer called it a day that you agreed to go home and rest.

You spent match day minus one reviewing game footage, nervousness still rolling through your body. You had studied Leed’s strikers’ shot tendencies, taking note of how the starting XI liked to attack, but still, the weight of what this game meant for you, for your career, sat on your shoulder with a heavy weight no matter how much you prepped.

Arriving to the Meadow Park the day of the game, headphones blasting music, you tried to quell the butterflies in your stomach, tried to ease the tension in your jaw, but it was to no avail.

Even throughout Jonas’ locker room speech and announcement of the starting lineup, your leg bounced fervently. It was only when warm-ups started that you finally started feeling a bit calmer, the familiar feeling of being on the pitch shushing the roar of voices in your head.

However, when the team huddled up right before the game started, you could feel the nerves crawl up your spine again. It was only when you felt a hand rest on your arm did your thoughts finally branch off from the game, eyebrows furrowing as you traced the limb to its owner, Leah.

Eyes widening, you looked down at your feet, checking to see if you were maybe stepping on her foot or accidentally crowding her. Noting that you weren’t in fact injuring her in any way, you stepped back, mind reeling at the fact that Leah, the Leah that you injured not so long ago, and then almost hurt again, was willingly standing next to you right now, your arm in her grasp.

Sliding up next beside you, Leah turned to face you, your eyes meeting blue ones for the first time since the injury.

Taking a sharp inhale, you let your head fall slightly, body deflating. You really weren’t in the mood to be reminded of how you injured the girl, not with the way you were feeling right now.

Leah sighed at your timid demeanour, Lia’s words from a week ago still whispers in her head.

She knew you had been nervous all day, very likely due to the fact that you were starting today. With the way she treated you thus far, she thought maybe she could try and help make you feel a bit more confident but clearly with the way you almost collapsed in on yourself in her presence convinced her otherwise.

Still, it was worth a shot.

“Listen, I know we haven’t started off on the greatest footing, but just know that I’m rooting for you today…we all are. You’ve got this. You weren’t starting keeper for the Red Stars for no reason, you earned it there, and you’re gonna do that again here. Don’t let the voices in your head convince you otherwise.”

The quiet words from the blonde had you frozen in your spot, the gentleness and concern catching you off guard. The words somehow managed to ease your anxiousness ever so slightly however, the weight on your shoulders easing just ever so slightly.

Nodding, you whispered out a meek thanks, eyes meeting hers to show your appreciation.

Splitting from the rest of the team, you made your way to the goal, throwing your water bottle to the side and taking position. Stretching your neck, you let Leah’s words play in your mind, shoulders loosening up, chest puffing up in confidence.

Throughout the game, you were hyper focused, eyes tracing the ball, following its path even whilst it was wholly across the field from you. Active at every chance you needed to be, you were agile, running to aid in back passes, being aware of a few shots taken your way, ones that you caught with ease.

By half time, your confidence in yourself was off the charts, proud of your performance and for keeping a clean sheet thus far. It also helped that the team had a comfortable 3-0 lead, thanks to Foord, Kühl, and Kim.

Making your way across the field behind the rest of your team, you saw Leah staying back, her gaze on you. As you approached, she fell into step with you.

“You did great you know? Clean sheet so far and you made a handful of key saves! Especially the one shot where you somehow managed to punch the ball just wide.” You couldn’t stop the smile that took over your face at her words, posture straightening in pride.

“You really think so?” “Yeah. You did great. You’re not a half-bad keeper y’know…”

Walking the last little bit in silence, you internally celebrated at Leah’s words, glad that she wasn’t upset at you any more.

~~~

As the final whistle blew, the three sharp tweets ringing throughout the pitch, you let yourself sigh in relief, all the tension leaving your body in seconds.

A content grin on your face, you grabbed your water and started making your way to the rest of the team.

A string of claps on the back and acknowledgements from your teammates on your performance as you joined the group had you smiling, the clean sheet and nine goals scored no doubt bringing a sense of achievement to everyone. You let yourself be roughhoused by Katie, the Irish woman loudly expressing her joy and tackling you with a muffled “good game rook!” as you listened to Jonas talk. As he finished up his overview of the game, you could feel his sights rest on you, your head tilting, curious at what was going on.

“And just before I let you guys go and change, I just want to shoutout our keeper’s efforts today. From being told that she would be playing in her first game only two days ago, she’s done fantastic, keeping a clean sheet and being ready at any given point to help our defence out. I know the past few weeks have been hard to you, with the new environment and team to get used to, but you absolutely killed it and we’re all proud of you.” Directing the last few sentences to you, you looked at your feet in nervousness, overwhelmed by the support you were receiving.

“Couldn’t have done it without you guys…thank you all, seriously,” you replied back, head raising to make eye contact with all of the gunners around you.

And as Jonas finally let you go, you let yourself take in the moment one more time, aware that while this game would be minor in the long run, it now held a special place in your heart, bringing on beginnings only you knew.

Getting jostled out of your thoughts however, you found the English captain at your side once again.

“How you feeling?”

“Happy I think? It feels nice to be here right now.”

“Just right now?” Leah questioned, an inkling in her mind at the choice of your words, one that became concrete as you shrugged in response to her question.

“Hey listen, I’m sorry for being mean earlier. You didn’t deserve it and I had no right to be an asshole to you when it could have happened to anybody.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for injuring you right after you had just returned from another injury.”

“Don’t you dare apologize for that. Accident’s happen, it was just an unfortunate series of events.” “Still-”

“I’ll go back to being rude to you y’know? If you keep apologizing.”

Smiling to yourself, you sighed in defeat.

“New slate?” You stuck out your hand, awaiting a handshake.

“New slate,” Leah agreed, her own meeting yours, three shakes between you two.

Letting go, you felt as the Leah’s arm come to rest over your shoulders, and for the first time, you held your head up high, delighted that you could stand beside her without fear. Basking in the moment, you let yourself be pulled into her side hug, cheeks hurting from smiling so much and a heart that was finally content for the first time since you joined the club.

You hadn’t meant to hurt her and you were glad she knew it. With your guys’ budding friendship now growing, you wondered what the future would hold, happy to be here, beside her, a seed of hope in your heart.

#leah williamson x reader #leah williamson imagine #leah williamson #woso fanfics #woso imagine #woso x reader #angst #my writing #fic req #fic #not proofread im sorry #started off strong and then idk where it went...#hdihte

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bettyfrommars · 6 months ago

Text

I'm on Fire: The Epilogue

biker!Eddie x artist!Reader

biker!Steve x Astrid (fem!OC)

masterlist playlist

wc: 14.6k

18+ONLY as always, adult themes, allusions to smut, backyard union/wedding, violence, auto theft, hustling, fist fight, mention of blood, mention of guns and shooting, relationship issues, Eddie is a cat dad, tw: Charlene, alcohol consumption, healing, lots of love.

Summary: If you're one of my ride or dies who have read this far, you know what to expect, but I do mention pregnancy and kids more than a few times, for good reason. We get to check in with what the gang has been up to, and how the families have grown. A little bit of drama, of course, and Coffin Kings mayhem. For the sake of this story, the character Bones is meant to be Tom Hardy from the yet to be released movie The Bikeriders.

A/N: This is reallyyy more of another chapter more and an Epilogue, lmaoo. I love all of these characters so much that I keep wanting to spin off in different directions and write a bunch of niche stories; I can see myself living in this world for a long while. I know I say it all the time, but my IoF readers mean so much to me, and I really hope you enjoy this. Please see a second author's note at the end.

--------

Highway 22 had once been the only main road out of town, but since the freeway came to Hawkins in the 60’s, very few ever took the country road lined with cornfields and alfalfa crops. There were several homesteads scattered about, mostly farmers, and all of them spaced out by several acres; but for the home of the Whittiers—Bob and Helen—who just happened to live across the street from the place once owned by the Fergusons.

The first time they heard the rumble of motorcycles approaching, Helen screamed through the living room that it must be an airplane flying too low, about to crash into them. She nudged Bob awake from his nap in the recliner and then ran out onto the porch, wringing her hands.

What she found was a motorcycle gang, clad in leather and covered in tattoos, crawling twenty deep into the driveway of their newest neighbors.

It was rare for Eddie to invite the entire local Coffin Kings MC and a few of the Hells Belles over, but the ceremony for Steve and Astrid’s union was an exception. She was 8 months pregnant with the twins at the time, bursting at the seams, but Steve had this bug up his ass that he needed them to be official before the babies came, and Bones was happy to officiate.

Under an arbor in the neatly manicured lawn of your front yard, flanked in willow trees and cherry blossoms, Robin stood as Steve’s best man, and pretended like she’d lost the ring during the ceremony when he asked for it. The panic in his face made everyone in attendance snicker when she pulled it from the tiny pocket of her vest with a wink. Steve wore black suit pants with a collared white shirt, rolled up to the elbows, under his Coffin Kings leather. Astrid looked stunning in a hunter green, off-the-shoulder dress with a few pieces of simple, gold jewelry, and a baby’s breath flower crown in her hair.

Astrid didn’t need a ring, or any traditional symbols, and the material stuff meant nothing to her, but Steve insisted. He took the extra step of getting her name tattooed on his ring finger, which made her roll her eyes and fall more in love with him all at once.

You stood at Astrid’s side, making eyes at your boyfriend Eddie who was extremely handsome in his leather and a suit in the front row. You were still reeling at the idea that this was your life, as fear kept trying to creep in and tell you it was all a dream, or that something would happen at any second to take it all away at any moment.

You’d barely had the keys to the farmhouse for two months before the wedding, and so things were still stacked in boxes on the main floor, and the plumbing was a mess, but every morning, Eddie kissed you goodbye before work, and then you padded over in bare feet to the empty space with south facing windows that would soon be your studio.

Wayne gave Astrid away, and there were tears streaming down Steve’s cheeks. Once the official “I do’s” were said, everyone, including the bikers and their families in attendance, started to hoot and whistle for the kiss. Steve held her face in his hands, and it was deep and sweet and made the obnoxious howling from the crowd melt into a collective swoon before erupting in applause.

Eddie’s heart swelled with love, not only for his friends who were finally getting the happy ending they deserved, but for you, and the promise of the life you were building together. Neither one of you held the matrimonial traditions of society in high regard and didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that you were devoted to each other, but right then, watching you stand with Astrid, he thought about dropping to one knee and begging you to be his wife.

Neither one of you had a family history of marriage keeping people together, in fact, it had mostly only succeeded in fucking everything up. In his heart, it was till death do you part, and that was all that mattered. In fact, he planned on finding you in the afterlife as well.

Steve had Oliver on his shoulders while they cut the cake, but what everyone didn’t know was that Astrid was fighting some stomach cramping. She figured it was the two babies kicking from all of the excitement, but the second the music started for the reception, her water broke.

“This can’t be happening right now,” Steve was flabbergasted, holding up his wife so that she didn’t sink to the ground. “They’re not due for another month?”

“Oh it’s happening,” Astrid gushed, framing her belly with her hands. “They are coming.”

“Take my car,” Katie offered, digging around in her purse for her keys. The driveway was full of vehicles, pinning in Astrid’s truck, but Katie’s car was further out, near the highway.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Eddie shouted, reaching for your hand.

Dustin was the voice of reason, stepping in front of him while the others headed for the vehicle.

“She could be in labor for hours, and you’ve got guests,” Henderson reminded his friend. He was there with his wife Suzie and their daughter Stevie. “I say stay here, man. Robin can call you from the hospital with an update.”

For a second, it had slipped both of your minds that you even had guests; approximately 87 of them.

The big speakers Eddie had hooked up to a sound system were playing Hold onto Me by Cowboy Junkies, and the two of you turned to stare at each other, wondering what to do.

“Dustin’s right,” you looked around, eyes settling on your ex-coworker Jeff who was drinking red wine straight from the bottle. “I don’t want anyone to puke in our bedroom or something.”

Suzie handed you a glass of champagne, ring finger heavy with a Princess cut diamond. “I promise you, those babies probably won’t poke their heads out until morning.”

You just hoped nothing went wrong, since Astrid confided in you that labor had been notoriously hard on the women in her family; there had even been a few mothers who didn’t make it. What if they needed to do an emergency C-section? What if one of them started to come out sideways?

You were about to take a sip of the sweet bubbles when you saw Steve jogging back in your direction.

“Katie’s car is dead,” he huffed, headed for the back patio where his Harley was parked.

Craning your neck down the long row of cars, you saw Astrid sitting on the front bumper of the dark blue sedan with Oliver holding onto her arm while Robin and Katie appeared to be having an argument. You were sure it was nothing personal, but tensions were high.

“Hold tight, let me grab the jumper cables,” Eddie jogged alongside Steve, aiming for the garage.

“Nah, it’ll take too long, we need to get out of here,” Steve was throwing a leg over his bike and revving the engine before Eddie could offer another suggestion.

You ran up beside Eddie. “He’s driving her to the hospital on that?”

“It appears that way,” Eddie stepped back so that Steve could roll by the two of you, fishtailing through the lawn before jumping a rock bed and weaving between the vehicles to pick up Astrid.

A lot of pregnant women might have hesitated to go by motorcycle, but Astrid did not. She didn’t hesitate to get on behind him, knowing that the sooner they got to the hospital, the less likely things would go wrong. Making room for her ample stomach took a moment of adjusting, but she strapped her helmet on before tapping his shoulder to let him know she was ready.

“You’re insane!” Robin shouted at him, and then she covered her face in frustration.

Bones, Devlin, Van, Ratchet, and a few others went along as escorts, clearing the highway with their own bikes so that Steve could have the road.

Across the street, Helen was on her porch with a pair of binoculars. “Bob? Where are they taking that pregnant woman?”

Bob was in the living room with the TV on, and he pretended not to hear her.

“The music is loud enough,” she scoffed. “The whole thing better quiet down by 10 or I’m calling the police.”

If so, that wouldn’t be the first time she’d called the cops about her across-the-way neighbors. The first time was during the week they’d moved in, and a couple of the Kings came over to help unload furniture. Helen reported that there was a gang breaking into the Ferguson place to steal things.

“Let me get this straight,” Hopper twirled a pencil between two fingers while he spoke into the phone. “They’re stealing things by putting them back inside the house?”

He very politely talked her down from a ledge, and then drove by on the highway to give her a wave so that she felt safe.

The Velvet Hammer was closed the day of the wedding, as most of the employees were guests. But the next day, Shana opened up the bar at 10, harboring one of the worst hangovers of her adult life.

The shrill ringing of the phone made it feel like a buzzsaw was cutting through her skull, and Jackie leaned over the bar counter to snatch the receiver.

It was you, letting them know that Astrid had given birth to two healthy baby girls named Gracie and Rue early that morning, and that labor had been horrific, but their mother was on the mend.

Poor Steve. When the doctor came out and said there were “complications”, he nearly tore down the wall trying to get in there to his wife. The first baby, Rue, started to come out feet first, and he had this terrifying thought of the umbilical cord getting stuck around her neck or something, but once they got her turned around, the rest went smoothly. He did the best he could to coach her through the breathing techniques they’d learned in the Lamaze classes, but at one point, she politely, yet abruptly, asked him to shut up.

Not even three months later, Astrid was pregnant again.

They were certain that the procreation of the twins had been a fluke, a miracle; something that would only happen once in their lifetime.

But they’d been gravely mistaken.

They’d just transported the whole family to the ranch style home Astrid had inherited from her grandmother. Everyone had their own room, including another living area in the basement, and a vintage Landshark Airstream trailer in the back yard where Steve and Astrid slept when they needed alone time. It was the communal living, and the constant support from Robin and Katie, that kept them from mental collapse when they found out there was another baby on the way.

“What is wrong with you?” Eddie chuckled at Steve when he gave the two of you the news one morning over coffee at your kitchen table. “Couldn’t keep it in your pants for a few weeks?”

“I told you,” Steve shrugged. “I have a magic dick.”

At that, you and Eddie shared an affectionate eye roll. All joking aside, Steve was ecstatic about the news, bouncing on the balls of his feet everywhere he went at the idea of having a fourth child. Astrid, on the other hand, was trying not to have a panic attack as she breastfed two infants at once. If it happened to be another set of twins, she said she’d have to give one to you and Eddie.

You were testing paint swatches on the wall when Eddie snuck up from behind on the hardwood floor and put his arms around you, nuzzling his face into your hair. He had on a pair of his “holiest” jeans that were so ripped and worn, they were about to be shorts, along with his Slayer shirt that now had wide, cut out arm holes, exposing his ribs.

“Which one do you like more?” You asked, slipping your arms over his.

He hummed, kissing your earlobe. “They all look yellow to me.”

“Close, but one is Summer Sunset, one is Lemon Cream, and one is—-”

“What about black?” He asked in all seriousness. “Or gray?”

“Or we could just keep all of the wallpaper as it is,” you giggled at the tickle of his beard scruff on your neck.

The country rose wallpaper was lovely, but heavy pink floral themes in every room was a bit much for both of you. “You’re right, I love Lemon Yogurt or whatever.”

“I figured as much,” You turned to search his face. He’d been growing his bangs out, so they were just long enough to tuck behind his ears. “How does tofu curry sound for tonight?”

Your lips met, and you could taste that familiar mix of wintermint and Camel Lights that you’d come to love. He’d cut back to only a couple smokes a day, but he went through a pack of gum in an hour.

“Mhhmm tofu,” he closed his eyes dreamily. “Is there meat in that?”

Just before the twins turned one, you and Eddie had your first big fight.

Big enough that you threw some clothes in a bag and said you were going to stay with Katie and Robin right before you slammed the door so hard, a vase full of daisies he’d bought for you crashed to the ground and shattered.

It was over something so stupid, really. The way he left hair in the sink after he shaved bugged the shit out of you, and when you rolled as far away as you could from him in bed, he took it personally. You’d felt restless and out of your mind that week, and then you started your car to realize the gas tank was empty, even though he said he’d fill it up. You promised Eddie you’d have some quality time with him one night, but then Steve needed you at the Hammer and…all of these things started to pile up until the dam burst.

You sat in your car with the engine on for a while, swallowing back hot gasps, unable to pull the trigger and drive away. It wasn’t long before you felt his shadow, and a few soft knuckle taps on the window.

“Please don’t go,” he said.

“I don’t want to go,” you shivered and finally broke out in a sob, tears streaming down your face. “I love you so much.”

Next thing you knew, you were in his arms, and then you were back in the bed you shared, begging him to be so deep inside, until it made you see stars.

—-----

“An inch to the left,” Robin coached you from the ground as you were up on a ladder at the Velvet Hammer, hanging a piece of artwork along the brick red wall opposite the bar while Mother Love Bone played from the jukebox. “Ah, right there. Perfect.”

You’d brought a few paintings over weeks earlier, at Robin’s request, and they all sold almost immediately, so she begged you to bring in a few more. Still an employee at the Hammer, Steve offered you something more of an assistant manager position, but you were honest with him and confessed you didn’t want the extra responsibility, but that you’d help as much as you could. Plus, the tips you earned waitressing mostly surpassed what they could offer you as an assistant, and you were under the gun to get a collection of work together for the upcoming show in Marysville.

The same Marysville shows at the airplane hangar where you’d bumped into Eddie and Charlene that one night three years ago. The memory felt surreal to you, as if it were something that had happened in another lifetime.

The bar didn’t open for another hour, and Steve was hunched over a cup of coffee, popping energy pills he’d bought at the gas station.

“Get any sleep last night?” You asked, on your way to return the ladder to the storage room.

Steve grumbled something unintelligible, and his head bounced, nodding himself awake as if he’d been drifting off right where he sat.

“Mae has some serious pipes on her,” Robin quipped, speaking of Steve and Astrid’s newest baby girl, Mae, who was barely 16 weeks old. “The only one of us she seems to want to be around is Oliver.”

The twins were over 2 years old by then, and just as much of a handful as you’d imagine toddlers would be. Now with another baby, the family was running on empty. You and Eddie volunteered to babysit Rue and Gracie for a weekend after Mae was born, and even though you loved the girls dearly and cherished the time with them, you found yourselves counting down the minutes until their dad came to pick them up on the last day. “I’m glad we decided not to have kids. Steve’s brood is more than enough,” Eddie whispered to you at the window watching Steve drive off. He even considered getting “snipped” around the time Steve had the procedure, just as a precautionary measure.

“Why are you here so early anyway?” Robin asked around a yawn, adjusting the clasp on her denim overalls. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll stay until Shana gets here at noon.”

Steve yawned too, stretching his arms above his head as he stood. He wore a nice pair of blue denim jeans and a sage green pearl snap shirt that was buttoned wrong. “Can’t. Interviewing for a new apprentice over at the shop.”

Construction on the tattoo parlor next door took longer than anticipated. So long, that Eddie got frustrated enough to go ahead and do a bunch of the work himself. They’d just passed inspection the week before and were anxious to get some bodies in there working. They’d decided on the name Velvet Ink, and Wayne found some vintage barber chairs at auction for the reception area aesthetic Steve was looking for.

As of then, Wayne was fully in remission and getting his strength back. He’d even been well enough to take his 1948 Harley-Davidson Panhead out on a few Sunday cruises with the boys. Rue, one of the twins, took to him like glue, and Eddie remarked that he’d never seen the old man smile as big as he did when she called him “gan-pa”.

Taking the last big gulp of his coffee, Steve made his way out, letting in blinding beams of sunlight when he pushed open the front door of the Hammer. He paused for a moment to look at the padded leather stool that was there, the one he’d parked his butt on for many a night. Even though he helped to keep the peace if necessary, most of the past two years had been spent behind the scenes. A weird, secret part of him missed it; missed the simplicity of being a bouncer, versus being the owner of two businesses. Before he knew it, reminiscing on his old life brought his thoughts back to Charlene.

He was sure that she kept tabs on him, and he hoped she never decided to drop in and wreak havoc on his life again, but he was grateful for the fresh start she’d given him. He hoped that she was enjoying herself with Billy…or whoever the hell she was fucking those days.

—-----

It was Eddie’s night to make dinner, and you spotted him fussing in the kitchen through the side window of the farmhouse when you drove up that night. It looked like he touched something that was too hot and was snapping his hand in the air to cool it off.

You saw his motorcycle parked in the red barn, and wondered if he was planning to do some repairs on it. The Chevelle was no longer around, as he’d sold it to a collector up north so he could get a pickup that would be more useful to your new lives. You’d begged him not to, as you knew how hard he’d worked on it over the years with Wayne, but he couldn’t be swayed otherwise. .

Turns out, your man was extremely stubborn.

“Hey there, Dungeon Master,” you greeted him, shutting the back door to take your coat off. He’d been teaching you to play DnD now that he had a new head mechanic at the shop, giving him a bit more time to lean into his hobbies. Max and Lucas moved back to town, and Eddie was happy to teach Lucas how to operate the tow truck when he voiced that he needed a job.

In a black Hanes tank and jeans, your man was barefoot with his hair tied back. Looking down at the pot of sauce he was stirring, he smiled so big his dimples popped. “You really like calling me that, don’t you?”

Calling him Dungeon Master was a new kink unlocked for you.

You set your bag on one of the kitchen chairs and wrapped your arms around him from behind to sink your teeth into his shoulder. “I love finding out what a nerd you truly are. It’s hot.”

He lifted up a wooden spoon full of marinara, cupping his other hand underneath, and turned to blow on it before putting it to your lips.

“Smells yummy,” you said before taking a taste. He watched your mouth, but then eagerly found your eyes for the verdict.

“Mhmm baby it’s delicious.”

Satisfied, he went back to stirring. “Astrid gave me her recipe. I’ve never made it from scratch before,” he took a lick off the spoon for himself. “I think I used too much garlic.”

Another facet of Edward Munson you’d never realized before was that he was a natural in the kitchen, and found a lot of joy in cooking. One of the first things he made when you first moved in was chickpea patties for burgers, and whenever the two of you went into a bookstore and you found him browning the vegetarian cookbook section.

If you weren’t working at the Hammer, nights at home were very low key. There was the occasional concert or dinner on the town, but mostly nothing sounded better than curling up on the couch with him, or on the porch swing with a cocktail. Charlie was strictly an inside cat, but you found a stray living in the barn. All black with green eyes, a recent visit to the vet let you know that she was pregnant, and a litter of kittens was on the way, one of which had already been claimed by Oliver. So, you brought her inside and made her comfortable in the guest bedroom, until just yesterday when you found her curled up for a nap in Eddie’s lap.

He named her Scully because of his love of The X-Files, and you wondered if he’d be able to give the rest of the kittens up for adoption with the way he fawned over his new companion. He bought her a fancy collar with a bell, as well as catnip and special treats that she was forced to share with Charlie.

Later that night, sprawled on the couch with your head on his chest, you were having a hard time keeping your eyes open during an episode of Saturday Night Live when the phone in the kitchen rang. You almost jumped out of your skin, and both of the cats sprang from their perch on top of the couch.

“What the shit,” Eddie grumbled, gently sliding out from underneath you just as a second ring shattered the once peaceful evening.

“Who would be calling this late?” You said groggily, pulling the blanket up to your chin to turn and watch Eddie disappear down the hall.

“I don’t know, but this better not be Steve wanting to rant about one of his late night epiphanies.”

Phone calls at midnight were rarely ever a good thing. You sat straight, waiting to hear Eddie pick up the receiver. Had someone been hurt? Were the girls okay? Had something gone wrong at the Velvet Hammer? Maybe it was Bones needing Eddie for something to do with the Kings, and if so, you didn’t want him to answer it.

Eddie jerked the white, cordless phone to his ear, frowning. “Yeah? This is Eddie.”

You shifted to the edge of your seat, muting the TV so that you could hear him.

“How did you get this number?” He mumbled gruffly.

That made you get to your feet.

“...what makes you think I had anything to do with it?”

You took a few steps and froze.

You had a very bad feeling that you knew exactly who it was at the other end.

Eddie locked eyes with you when you came to pause at the stove.

“You have to be mistaken, there’s no way he was one of ours—-,” Eddie said to whoever it was, shaking his head.

You reached out and motioned for him to hand you the phone.

He swallowed, hesitating at first, but then you took it from him and put it to your ear.

“Charlene?” Your tone was patient. “What’s going on?”

—----

Earlier that evening at the Harrington residence, Astrid was breastfeeding Mae in the rocking chair while Katie helped the twins get dressed after their bath, and Robin washed dishes with Oliver. The TV was on, but no one was paying any attention to it, and Mae nestled against her mother like she was finally ready for sleep.

God, Astrid was tired.

Exhausted to the marrow of her bones and beyond.

Absolutely in love with her daughters and in awe of the beautiful family they’d created, but wishing she could have a few hours away from it all, just the same.

The twins were being loud, giggling as their Auntie Katie ushered them across the hall to their bedroom, and Astrid held her breath, worried they’d wake the baby up.

She let Robin know she was putting Mae in her crib, and then went to take the first shower she’d had in a while, feeling her stretch marks and all the ways her body had changed after carrying three babies. She never doubted Steve’s attraction to her, but he tattooed gorgeous women every day, not to mention the ones who waited tables in fishnet stockings and danced at the Hammer. She was sure a handful of those young beauties had a crush on their boss and would offer him comfort any time he wanted it.

She hated when her mind went there, when she could feel the walls of insecurity and depression closing in. She wanted to be nothing but grateful for every waking moment, but sometimes she was way too tired to think clearly. She needed to cry or scream or fuck… or something.

Between the kids, Steve’s schedule, and having zero energy at night, she couldn’t remember the last time the two of them had been intimate. A few kisses and touches in passing was really all it had been. Considering the insatiable hunger they’d had for each other over the years, it made her worry that he just wasn’t attracted to her anymore. But also, she knew that was bullshit—-but the whispers kept nagging at her.

On her way back down the hall to her bedroom, she could hear Oliver reading the girls a bedtime story and she paused to listen, emotions catching in her throat. Rue and Gracie loved him so much, and he was such a wonderful big brother, slipping into the role like he was born for it. Born to be a nurturing, caring soul just like his father. She often wondered if Ollie would grow up to be who Steve would’ve been, if he had been surrounded with love as a kid. Before Wayne took over his care, he hadn’t known much comfort or safety.

Steve came home smelling like a distillery, and when he tried to kiss her on his way in, she moved her head away.

“Where have you been?” She didn’t have to ask, it was obvious he’d tattooed late and stayed to have a few drinks. She missed the guy who would spend hours rubbing her belly and talking to the babies inside of it. It was the closeness she missed, not the sex itself.

Alarms went off in Steve when he caught the way she didn’t want to look at him, the way she shrugged away from his touch. “Hey, baby, I’m sorry. Jake paid extra to have his back piece finished tonight and so I—”

Robin and Katie had adjourned to the basement, and Astrid was folding laundry at the couch. “You just thought you’d booze it up with your buddies while I took care of our girls?”

He lowered his arms to hook his thumbs into his belt loops. “I thought about calling but I didn’t want to wake the—”

“Your daughters are all asleep. Gracie was asking for her daddy,” she pinned a towel to her check with her chin and folded the ends together.

Steve’s heart tightened, thinking of how he’d missed his baby girl asking about him. Thinking of how he was already letting her down. “I’m gonna sneak in and say goodnight,” he mumbled, heading that way.

“Please don’t,” Astrid snapped. “It took a long time to get them to calm down, but you’re rarely here at night so you wouldn’t know.”

Okay, something was definitely wrong. He’d fucked up, but he wasn’t exactly sure how. Astrid knew that he’d have some long nights, this was something they’d talked about. There had to be something else going on.

He sat down on the edge of the recliner, facing her, and laced his fingers together. “Is there anything…you want to talk about?”

Astrid scoffed, keeping her eyes on the TV. “Where do I even start?”

“I’m sorry if I—”

“Just say it, Steve,” she bit, stacking folded towels on top of each other. “Just say you’d rather get drunk with the dancers at the Velvet Hammer rather than come home and be with me.”

At that, he was dumbfounded. Gobsmacked, even.

“How could you…what? That’s crazy. Shit, you know other women don’t even exist for me, Astrid,” he kept trying to catch her gaze, but she’d avoid it. “No one has ever meant more to me than you. You're the love of my life.”

“I can tell you’re not attracted to me anymore, Steve. Just say it, I don’t float your boat.”

“Float my boat?” He almost chuckled at that, but immediately caught himself, realizing that it wasn’t a good time for humor.

There were tears welling in her eyes and Astrid bit her cheek in an effort to keep them at bay; her shoulders were shaking.

“Hey, listen, baby, c’mere,” he stood and reached for her hand. She let him have it, dropping the t-shirt she’d been holding. “Tell me you love me? Please?”

“Have you fucked anyone else since we’ve been together?’ She stared at him that time, eyes wet.

Steve didn’t hesitate. “Never even crossed my mind.”

She swallowed thickly, lowering her gaze.

“Wait,” Steve’s mind raced, realizing that it had probably been months since they’d had sex. “Have you? Fucked another dude?”

That one pissed her off, and it showed in the look she shot him. “When the hell would I have time for that, Steve? I barely have time to pee.”

He let go of her hand. “Oh, so, you’ve wanted to, with other people…you just don’t have time?”

“Steve, I’m going to punch you in the throat.”

He pulled her over so that she was in his lap, and she only fought him a little because then she was crying into his neck, overcome with exhaustion.

“Tell me,” he said softly, brushing her hair away to kiss her forehead. “Tell me you love me.”

“You know I do,” she sniffed, letting the tears roll hot down her cheeks, pulling her knees up so that she was snug in his lap.

“Say it,” he was pushing it now, tipping her chin up to find her mouth with his.

She mumbled her devotion as the tip of his tongue dragged along her bottom lip.

She clung to him as she cried it out for a minute, letting him hold her close and stoke her hair.

“Is she okay?” It was Oliver.

He’d snuck in from the other room and was watching the scene with a creased, worried brow.

“I’m fine, honey,” Astrid sat up, wiping her eyes. “It’s just been a long day.”

Oliver stared at his dad, almost defiantly. “I don’t like to see her sad.”

Steve saw his own tender perception mirrored back to him in his son's eyes. “I don’t like it either, come over here,” he motioned for Ollie to get close enough so he could put his arm around his son. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I didn’t want to miss you again,” Oliver admitted, sending another pang into Steve’s heart.

He’d gone from working all the time to…working even more, and something had to change. He hated being away from his family so often that he missed bedtime several days a week; they needed to hire more full-time help like Robin suggested, but Steve and Eddie were trying to pinch every penny.

After he talked to Oliver about his day, Steve realized he needed a goddamn smoke. Since the twins were born, he’d tried several times to cut back, but decided to quit cold turkey two days ago, and it wasn’t working. He needed to get some of those nicotine patches or something because being irritable with a throbbing head was no way to live in tandem with everything else on his plate.

Two hours later, after he’d tucked Ollie in and everyone else in the house was asleep, Steve made love to his wife.

He was about to try for a second round when his beeper on the nightstand started buzzing.

The alert was from Eddie.

Steve frowned at the number and excused himself to use the phone while Astrid pulled her robe on to go and check on Mae.

Come to find out, the past was indeed back to haunt him, yet again.

—--------

Hawkins was the last place Charlene ever expected to be on her birthday weekend. She’d said goodbye to that place forever, or so she thought, as there was nothing for her there. Her relationship with Billy lasted the better part of a year, but when she found out he’d been cheating on her with their neighbor, it didn’t even phase her. Normally, she would’ve been furious and exacted some elaborate revenge on the two, but at the time, she only shrugged and told him good luck. She was never in love with him, he’d been just another way to pass the time; a way to distract from her deep, soul-sucking loneliness.

Just before the separation from John, she’d purchased a storage unit for sentimental items she didn’t want to look at, but also didn’t have the heart to throw away. She’d considered letting someone from Storage Wars buy it just so they could be disappointed, but there were private letters and photos in there that she never wanted anyone to see, especially not strangers. So, she was back to clean it out and burn whatever she no longer wanted to hold on to.

She was in disguise, so to speak, with a new cropped brunette hairdo, and oversized sunglasses. The divorce and the bankruptcy of one of John’s businesses made headlines in the paper for weeks, as there was clearly not much to talk about in Hawkins, and for the first time since marrying into money, she didn't want to be recognized.

She promised she wouldn’t punish herself by driving along the street in front of the Velvet Hammer, but she did it anyway. She picked up her white 1970 Jaguar XKE from the secure garage it’d been stored in, and parked across the street to watch you carry a huge painting in while Robin held the door for you. The neon sign for Velvet Ink was clever, and she sat there for over an hour, until Steve finally stepped out of the main building. He squinted up at the daylight, shaking his fist like he wanted to punch the sun, and went next door to shake hands with a woman who was tattooed neck to foot, before unlocking the door to the parlor.

She had plenty of phone numbers for young men who would love to get paid to be her escort, but she was tired of paying people. She wanted someone to want to be with her, and be protective of her, without the money or the status, and she was realizing she didn’t know how to act normal when it came to earning someone’s genuine affection.

So, that night, she was alone at a swanky rooftop bar drinking a dirty martini and listening to someone playing a Christopher Cross instrumental on the piano.

Eating the last olive, she was thinking she’d make her way to her hotel when she felt a body sink down for a seat just one stool over. She smelled him first; a familiar mix of leather and nicotine, but this one had superior taste in cologne as she recognized a hint of cedar and honeysuckle from Dior’s Fahrenheit.

He ordered a beer and a shot of Jameson and then, to her surprise, he leaned over and pointed at her empty glass. “Can I buy you another?”

Her first instinct was to flat out ignore him or say, “no, I can buy my own drinks, thanks,” but then she turned to see who the voice belonged to, and her tongue got stuck on the roof of your mouth.

Maybe ten years her junior, he wore his jet-black hair slicked back, while his full lips and hazel eyes reminded her of someone. She could tell he was tall with broad shoulders, and a couple tattoos exposed where his shirt was pushed up to the elbows. A few chunky metal rings similar to the ones Eddie always wore, and from the insignias on his leather vest, she could see that he was also a member of the Coffin Kings MC.

Charlene notoriously had a thing for outlaws, especially pretty ones, and so she let him buy her that second drink, and then a third.

He said his name was Nick, and she was relieved to find out he appeared to have no clue who she was. She said her name was Rita, and after that third drink, she invited him back to her room to continue the party there.

Inviting a stranger back to her suite was not how she’d expected the evening to go, but the need to feel the weight of him on top of her overrode any common sense that might’ve tried to dissuade her. He was sexy and he made her laugh, and those were the only qualifications she needed at that moment.

After a few hours of getting to know each other in the biblical sense, and enjoying the mini bar, Charlene excused herself to the bathroom.

“I think I need a shower,” she hummed, lifting an eyebrow. “You want to join me?”

He was stretched out on the bed naked with his hands behind his head watching an episode rerun of ER.

“You go ahead, babe,” he seemed to nestle further into the pillows after that term of endearment, shooting her a wink. His Coffin Kings leather was neatly folded over the back of the nearby chair. “I’m gonna make us a couple more drinks.”

She left the bathroom door open a crack, just in case he changed his mind, but then she got fully absorbed in how heavenly the steaming hot water felt. She thought she heard him come into the bathroom at one point, so she peeled the curtain back a few inches, but only found her reflection in the mirror.

By the time she turned the water off, the steam from the hot shower was as thick as soup, and she realized that at one point, he’d shut the door all the way for whatever reason. Perhaps for her modesty? Him being such a gentleman felt almost too good to be true.

“You could order some food from the late-night menu if you’re hungry,” she said from behind the closed door while brushing her hair out. “Pie sounds good for some reason.”

Either he wasn’t responding, or he did, and she just couldn’t hear him over the audience laughter on the TV. She rubbed in some expensive body butter and then checked herself in the mirror a few times while putting the fluffy, white hotel robe on.

“But if you need to go home I’d understand, as long as I can have one more—-”

She opened the door as she spoke, but then stopped dead in her tracks.

Nick was no longer sprawled on the bed, and all of his clothes were gone, even his kutte.

Nothing wrong with that, maybe he went to get ice or to take a phone call.

The suite was large, with a separate sitting room, and so she checked around for a bit before realizing he had, in fact, vanished.

Anxiety rose in her chest but she pushed it down, taking a seat on the edge of the bed to reach for her lipstick on the nightstand.

But the lipstick was in her purse and there was no purse to be found, just a few condom wrappers and tiny, empty bottles of booze.

She’d taken her purse into the bathroom with her, she was sure of it.

After a few sweeps of the place, mumbling to herself in disbelief and horror, Charlene realized that her purse, her money, and her car keys were all gone.

She’d been hustled by a member of the Coffin Kings, and the truth of it made her scream into the palms of her hands.

She sprinted for the window to yank the curtains back. It was the middle of the night, and they were on one of the highest floors, and she couldn’t see the Jaguar from there even with binoculars.

She didn’t even bother to change out of her robe or put shoes on as she bolted from the room. She was pissed, sure, but there were sobs catching in her throat, and that old loneliness dropped like a lead weight, threatening to bring her to her knees.

By the time she rushed breathless into the lobby, Nick and her car were long gone.

—------

For whatever reason, Charlene asked Eddie specifically not to tell Steve; she didn’t want to face him under such lame circumstances. But the two men made an agreement a while back that one would tell the other if they ever heard from her, just to keep miscommunication to a minimum when dealing with someone who had a track record for manipulation.

“She thinks one of you put this Nick guy up to it,” you said, standing at the door watching Eddie get dressed. “As payback or something.”

Eddie frowned, adjusting the strap on his watch. “If I felt like I needed to get back at Charlene, I sure as hell wouldn’t trust someone else with the task. Plus, I didn’t even know she was back in town.”

“Did Steve know?”

The last person you ever wanted to feel bad for was the rich white woman who tried to ruin your life, but still, you didn’t like the idea of any woman getting hustled and used in that way.

Okay, maybe Charlene deserved some payback, but you hated to think that someone from the Coffin Kings was out there making a habit of taking advantage of women in such a spineless way.

Eddie was rummaging through the top dresser drawer. “We don’t even have a member named Nick, so that’s another whole fucking problem.”

“Another charter, maybe?” You followed him into the kitchen.

“Maybe,” he put his leather jacket on while Scully wound herself around his legs. He bent down to pet her and spoke to her in a baby voice before finishing his thought. “Or maybe it’s something worse.”

You didn’t have to ask to know that impersonating a member of the MC was a big problem.

Under any other circumstances, Eddie would wait until the next day to deal with whatever happened to Charlene, but the chop shops worked fast, and if they didn’t hurry, they’d never get her car back.

Why did Eddie even care? He asked himself that on the way to meet Steve at the hotel, rumbling along in his midnight blue, square box Chevy. She could’ve just called the cops and let them sort it out. But Eddie knew that, aside from Hopper, the police force was a joke, and there would be days of paperwork and questioning before anything attempted to get solved. By then, whoever the guy was would be long gone, and the Jaguar on a cargo ship to its next owner.

Steve was already in the parking lot, leaning against his bike with a smoke in his mouth when Eddie rolled up.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” He asked, slamming the door of his truck.

“Left a message for Miser down at the chop shop,” Steve exhaled, ignoring his friend’s question. “He said he’ll keep an eye out for the car.”

Eddie had already sucked down his ration of cigarettes for the day, so he shoved another piece of gum in his mouth as they made their way to her floor.

There was a crystal chandelier in the lobby and mirrored elevators that gave Eddie the creeps.

“You think it’s some sort of trap?” Steve had his hands in his pockets, leaning in the corner while they traveled up with a Beach Boys instrumental played from a speaker in the ceiling. “Like she’s trying to trick us or something?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Eddie muttered. “I’m not gonna mention it to Bones and the rest until we know what we’re dealing with.”

Still in her robe, Charlene would’ve touched up her makeup to look presentable, but her Estee Lauder compact, and mascara were both in the stolen purse. Also, she was too upset to care. She’d called to cancel the credit cards in her wallet, but there was a bunch of cash that she’d surely never see again. She’d have to contact her bank in the morning, but until then, she was basically squatting in that expensive hotel room.

Eddie did not look happy to see her when she opened the door, but she’d expected as much, tucking her bob of hair behind her ears.

What she hadn’t expected, and what made her breath catch, was that Steve rolled in right behind him, scowling. He had what appeared to be baby spit up on the front of his Santa Cruz skate shirt and dark indents under his eyes.

Steve didn’t acknowledge her, he just breezed into the room and started looking around like he was a seasoned detective at the scene of a murder.

Charlene gave Eddie a look, whispering, “I asked you not to tell him?”

All Eddie could do was shrug, as he was still weary of her intentions, and for good reason.

Steve couldn’t help it, ever since the birth of his daughters, every injustice done to a woman in the world was something that could potentially happen to his girls, and he wasn’t having it.

“What did he look like?” Eddie asked the question just as Steve spun on his heel at the other side of the bed.

Hands on hips, she gave the description as best she could, and it sounded like half the guys in the club.

“He said his name was Nick?” Steve picked up the remote to turn the TV up a notch. Unsolved Mysteries was on and he was suddenly interested, forever distracted. “Do you think he was telling the truth?”

Charlene scoffed. “I had no reason to think he was lying? I didn’t ask to check his driver’s license.”

“Maybe you should from now on,” Steve kept his eyes on the screen, sitting down at the end of the bed. “The way you go through men like a meat grinder.”

“Look who’s talking, Romeo,” she spit back.

Charlene turned to complain to Eddie, but instead he held his hand up, palm out to silence her. “Are you sure he was with the Coffin Kings?”

Charlene tightened the sash on her robe. “Okay, you two can feel however you want about me, but you know I’m nothing if not observant.”

The two were silent in agreement.

“His leather vest looked just like the ones you have on now. Black, tooled leather with the reaper holding a coffin on the back. Embroidered insignias on the front as well.”

“Did it have a nickname or rank?” Eddie stuffed a third piece of wintermint gum in his mouth while Steve lit another smoke. The smell of the nicotine made Eddie’s hand twitch and his muscles ache.

Charlene shook her head after a moment of contemplation. “He didn’t have a name on his cut, but Hawkins was the charter, I’m positive.”

Both men shared a look before Steve got to his feet. “So you had your car stolen, what’s the big deal? Don’t you have like a hundred of them?”

Charlene shot him a look, reminding herself not to be a bitch. “That car belonged to my dad. It was special. He’s the only person in this world who ever gave a shit about me.” She went to the bedside table to grab a half empty travel size bottle of Jameson and drank the rest. “That’s why I kept it in storage. I couldn't take it with me, and I didn’t want to sell it.”

Eddie scratched the stubble on his chin, thinking about how he couldn’t wait to go home to crawl in bed with you and the cats.

“How much is it worth?” Steve asked out of curiosity.

Charlene shrugged, leaning against the wall to cross her feet at the ankles. “Dunno what it would go for today. Easily 300K.”

Eddie almost choked on his wad of gum thinking of what he could do with that much dough.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “You better hope this Nicky is stupid and greedy enough to sell it locally, or we might be shit out of luck.”

—-----

You felt Eddie slink in under the covers to spoon you early in the morning before dawn, but you were too tired to look at the clock or ask him how it went. Charlie was curled up at your feet and Scully took her pregnant belly over to nestle behind Eddie’s knees and purr.

He wasn’t in bed with you at quarter to 8 when you finally rose from sleep, and for a second, you thought maybe you’d only dreamed about him coming home, until you saw the note he’d left on the nightstand.

Had to run again

Tell you everything later

Left the coffee on

Love you infinity, Eddie

The way he always signed his notes made you chuckle, as if anyone else would be leaving notes for you at the house. You folded it up and tucked it into the shoebox in the closet where you stashed all of his notes to you.

After a half hour of letting yourself rejoin the living on a much-needed day off, you went up to the studio to stare at the two paintings you were working on, but your reverie was shattered when the phone rang.

Breathless, you answered to find that it was Robin. The shrill wail of a screaming child sounded from somewhere in the background.

“Is Steve there at your place?” She sounded rightfully flustered.

“No, um,” you looked around the kitchen as if maybe he was there, you just didn’t know it. “Eddie was here but then he left again. They might be together?”

A thoughtful silence and then, “Steve never came home last night. We assumed he stayed at your place.”

You were shaking your head but then realized Steve could have slept in the living room and you wouldn’t have been the wiser. You walked through the house to see if there was a blanket on the couch, but it was as tidy as you’d left it before bed.

“Are you busy right now?” Robin continued, making the executive decision to worry about Steve’s whereabouts later.

That was a loaded question, and even though you had plenty to do, you knew that was Robin’s way of saying she needed help. “Not…right this minute.”

“I hate to ask,” it was true, she really did hate to ask for help, but sometimes it was necessary. “Could you come over here for an hour or so? Katie has teacher conferences, I have to go to the Hammer, and as you know, Steve is MIA…”

“Sure,” Mae let out another earth-cracking wail that made you fear for your life. “Be there in ten minutes.”

—------

Miser’s underground chop shop operated behind one of the oldest buildings in Hawkins; solid brick, using a mom-and-pop place to get an oil change as a front during the day, but at night, stolen cars were stripped for parts and/or sold on the black market. The building was huge, and had once been a busy hotel and saloon, as it was near the train station.

Miser himself was short and muscular with a gray, handlebar mustache, a rodeo buckle from his old bareback days, and a cowboy hat. He’d been a pillar of the community for decades, and one of the last few anyone would suspect of illegal activity.

That morning, Eddie, Steve, Van, and Devlin rolled into the alley, passed the No Trespassing signs, and settled at the locked garage door. Miser’s Old Lady was one of the head Hells Belles named Jackal, and she came out of the back door with him. A long ponytail of silver hair, she lit a smoke and gave the guys a tip of her chin.

“That car you said to look out for? The white Jaguar?”

Eddie and Steve still had their sunglasses on, nodding once in unison his question.

“The guy showed up an hour ago,” Jackal inclined her head, whispering. “He’s been here before. He’s with another crew that likes to scam older women and take their shit.”

Steve and Eddie exchanged a look with the other two members, palms itching to get their hands on him.

“I asked him about the Kings flash,” Jackal continued. “He said he was from another charter, but he didn’t know who Bones was.”

Bones, President of the Coffin Kings Hawkins charter, was one of the first original 9 members of the MC when they first banded in the 60’s. Every CK member from Indiana to California knew exactly who Bones was.

So, this guy Nick just made it to the top of their shit list.

“This might get messy,” Eddie said to Miser.

“We got you,” Jackal confirmed, waving for them to follow her.

At the far end of the building, a door opened, and a guy with slick black hair, wearing a Coffin Kings kutte stepped out.

“Shit, that’s him—” Miser hissed, reaching for the Ruger at his hip.

But it was too late, the guy saw them and bolted.

Steve cursed, letting out after him on foot alongside Jackal, while Eddie and the others pursued on their bikes.

Around the next building, there was a car waiting for Nick—a plain white sedan—and even after Steve summoned his high school athlete days, he still couldn’t catch up. Nick jumped in the passenger seat and the vehicle peeled out, throwing dust up into Steve’s face as his arms windmilled to a halt.

“Fuck,” Steve took his sunglasses off and threw them to the gravel, nostrils flaring as he watched the vehicle flee.

Miser sent a gunshot, aiming for the front tire, but missed as the car picked up speed.

Eddie and the others continued on in hot pursuit, and Jackal motioned for Steve to get into her truck that was nearby: a lifted navy Bronco with monster tires. Steve had to grip onto the side bar to heft himself up into it, and then she gunned it, skidding out of the parking lot.

The sedan led them on a wild chase over the railroad tracks, skirting the center of town to avoid the cops. Eddie and Van made their way to the side of the vehicle and Van cracked the driver’s side window with the hilt of his knife, making them swerve. The car dove into the nearby alfalfa field, going where they knew the motorcycles couldn’t follow.

But, Jackal’s Bronco was made for the mud.

“Hold on—” she warned Steve.

“I’m holding,” Steve said through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed on the target in front of them, his fist tight on the grab handle above his head.

The sedan almost got its back tire stuck in the ditch, but the Bronco bounced right through the muck like it was a paved road, tractor tread crawling along like a tank.

While Steve and Jackal took a diagonal course through farmland, Eddie and the rest took the next side road, aiming to cut them off before they could hit the highway.

—-----

You were on your way to Robin’s when you caught sight of a white car being chased through a field by what looked like a monster truck from one of rallies at the coliseum.

“What…the—-”

It was far enough away that you didn’t feel in danger, but you slowed down to see if you could understand what was happening.

But then three riders on motorcycles were headed in your direction at full tilt, so you pulled off to the side of the road to get out of their way, wondering if you knew any of them—-

“Eddie?” You squinted, wanting to be mistaken.

Indeed that was your boyfriend leading the pack.

He saw you as they passed at lightning speed and picked up his hand in a wave.

You sat there for a while, watching the three of them disappear in your rearview mirror, clearly angling to beat whoever was driving their car through the crop rows.

After a heavy sigh, you dropped your shoulders and kept on in the direction you were headed.

Three years ago, you would’ve freaked out and followed them. But at that point in the relationship, such a scene was par for the course, and you knew it was best to stay out of it.

—----

Up ahead was a sharp turn in the bend, and Devlin sped up to angle the sedan away from the street. His approach clipped the bumper of the car, making it lose control, forcing it back into the ditch, but it also made his own bike go flying. Thankfully he was thrown free before the hunk of metal landed on his leg, skidding across the gravel.

Jackal rode her tire up onto the back of the sedan, pinning it there as the two men inside fled.

Steve was on the ground so fast, he could barely find his feet. His legs felt like that of a roadrunner in one of the cartoons, flying in circles.

Eddie snagged the driver, throwing him into the dirt with a grunt, followed with a punch of his fist. The driver was gangly, with a prison spider web tat on his elbow and dishwater blonde hair styled in a mullet.

Nick climbed up onto the main road and bolted, until Jackal aimed and shot a bullet so close to his head, the heat grazed his ear.

That made him stutter to a halt, just in time for Steve to tackle him at the waist, putting him down hard on the pavement. Van took Eddie’s place, putting his knee into the driver’s back, pinning him there while the rest went to deal with the Coffin Kings imposter.

No words were exchanged for a while, just Nick sputtering in pain while Eddie rolled him over to check his pockets.

He found a wad of bills and waved it in Nick’s bloody face.

“C’mon man, that’s like 2 grand—-” Nick protested through a busted lip before Steve punched him again.

“Yeah, it’s real nice,” Eddie flashed a grin, standing to tuck the money in the top pocket of his leather. “Take that thing off of him.”

Steve and Devlin got the leather vest off, making sure they hurt him in the process, and then Devlin put his boot on the guys belly to keep him there.

Eddie inspected the insignia’s, noticing there were no rank or name placards, and the material wasn’t even real leather.

Eddie gripped it in his fist. “Where the fuck did you get this?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear,” Nick wiggled, grimacing at the weight of Devlin’s foot. “Just let me go, okay?”

Steve bent down to lap the guys face with the back of his hand. “He asked you a question.”

Nick looked like he’d rather vomit than tell the truth, but then Jackal stepped up and pointed her gun at him.

“Okay okay!” He squirmed. “M-my mom made it for me, alright? For my birthday a few weeks ago.”

None of them had been expecting that, but they all made eye contact and snickered in disbelief; Eddie’s grin nearly split his face open right before his expression turned dark again.

“Tell your mom to come see us sometime, we’ll put her to work,” he joked. “But you? You’re fucking done, do you understand—?”

Steve pulled Nick to his feet by his shirt and got in his face, jaw tense. “I should kill you for what you did to her.”

Eddie gave a sideway look, not expecting Steve to still have so much heat under his protectiveness for that woman. Maybe that’s part of what having daughters did to a man.

“B-b-but you’re not going to, right?” Nick blubbered. “We’re cool?”

“We’re far from cool,” Steve pulled him close to whisper in his ear. “I’ll be coming for you.”

And then Steve shoved him so that he tripped over his feet backwards and fell again.

“You better run, cowboy,” Jackal shot a bullet into the ground at his feet, and he let out a high-pitched scream before taking off down the road on foot.

“I see either of you again, you’re dead. Understand?” Eddie shouted after both of them as Van let go of his death grip on the driver.

The two were too scared to look back; too busy scurrying away as fast along the corn field to care about how stupid they looked.

“Hey, War Machine,” Van brushed blonde hair away from his beard stubble. “Was that your girl we passed back there?”

Eddie checked over his shoulder in the direction of the farmhouse, wondering where you’d been headed, exhaling a long breath. “Yeah, it was.”

—-----

You only saw Robin in passing once you arrived at the house and parked behind the Airstream. Oliver was at school, so it would be the three young girls with you and Astrid.

The twins were on the floor in the living room, coloring, and you couldn’t get over how much Gracie looked like Steve. Since they were fraternal, Rue resembled her sibling, but was also very different. She had Astrid’s wild hair and a face that didn’t quite resemble either of their parents; Astrid said she was the spitting image of their grandmother, Evelyn.

Astrid came around the corner cradling Mae in her arms with her mane of black hair back in a clip, and her eyes were puffy.

“Please take her,” she groaned, handing over Mae into your arms with a sigh of relief. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Mae had a pacifier in her mouth, but you could tell she was smiling up at you, lids droopy. You began that automatic movement of rocking her in your arms. You’d never been around many babies in your life, but the soothing gesture seemed to be ingrained in your dna.

Astrid flopped heavily into the kitchen chair with a groan. “Did Robin tell you Steve never came home last night?”

“She did,” you bent to kiss Mae’s soft forehead. “Eddie came home late and left early, so Steve might’ve been with him, and I just didn’t know it.”

“It’s not like Steve to not leave a note or let me know somehow,” she started picking at an invisible thread on her peach dress that buttoned down the front. “Do you think he did anything with Charlene?”

You were shocked at the question, but your friend looked like she hadn’t slept in days and perhaps wasn’t processing thoughts at peak capacity.

“Oh god no, Astrid,” Mae squirmed, kicking her strong little legs a few times in her Big Bird onesie, and you sat down in the chair next to Astrid. “Steve would never, and I think you know that. He’d cut his own hand off before he did anything as stupid as cheat on you.”

“Maybe,” she swallowed hard like she was trying to push down a sob. “We just…can’t seem to connect like we used to, and I’m just…just…”

She covered her face with both hands and cursed into her palms.

“Hey,” you leaned forward with a free arm to rub soothing circles on her back. “I’ll stay out here with the girls if you want to take a nap or something? Slam some beers in the bathroom, whatever.”

Astrid chuckled a bit at that, sliding her hands down her face and into her lap. “Maybe I do need some sleep.”

From where you sat, you could see the twins on the floor in the next room with papers and crayons scattered about. Just then, you noticed that Rue was headed in your direction, curls bouncing around her face.

There was a tiny frown on her face, like she’d been concentrating, and she handed each of you a piece of lined notebook paper that had been ripped in half.

Apparently, she’d made some drawings, but before you could say anything, she was off again, determined to get back to her work.

“Thank you Rue, I love you,” you called after her.

“One is from meeee!” Gracie shouted.

“I love you too, Gracie,” you laughed, staring fondly down at the mess of colorful scribbles.

“They want to be like their big brother so bad,” Astrid had tears in her eyes, but for a different reason this time; she was so proud of her little family, so grateful to be a mother.

When you held the paper up to the light, you noticed that there was some writing on the back of it, so you turned it over.

My hot wife —

Slept in trailer, didn’t want to wake the girls

Can’t wait to kiss you again

I love you

“Um, I think you should see this—” you passed the note to Astrid, and enjoyed watching the relief spread across her face as she read it.

—------

A few hours later, Steve rolled up to Munson’s Garage in the Jaguar, after giving it a test run around the hills to enjoy how smooth it took corners. He found Charlene already waiting there on a bench in the shade, talking with Wayne who wore a pair of light blue coveralls.

Wayne got to his feet while Steve pulled the sportscar up to the closest parking spot.

“Took you long enough,” Uncle barked at him, crossing his arms. “Cab dropped her off an hour ago.”

He’d left the top down, so his hair was a mess, and he pushed his sunglasses up, eyeing the two.

“No, it’s fine,” Charlene shrugged, looking relaxed. “I had good company.” She had on a teal, halter top pant suit with matching heels, and she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Steve put one booted foot up on the bench seat next to her. “Yeahm, so, that guy Nick, he wasn’t—”

“I know,” Charlene reluctantly held her hand out to take the keys he was offering. “Eddie told me. I’d like to say I’ve learned my lesson, but probably not.”

“No woman deserves that,” Wayne said, giving Steve a pointed look. “I hope you boys took care of it.”

“We did,” Steve met his gaze, letting him know without words that the dude wouldn’t be hanging around Hawkins if he had a lick of sense.

Wayne said a polite goodbye to Charlene before heading back to the shop.

“You never mentioned how charming your uncle is,” she said, running a hand through her hair.

“Stay away from Wayne,” Steve grumbled, sitting down across from her.

“I didn’t mean—” she got flustered and then straightened. “He reminds me of my dad, that’s all I meant. Nothing nefarious.”

“Never can tell with you,” he muttered, fumbling to rip the wrapper off a soft pack of Camels with his teeth. He told himself he wouldn’t buy another pack, but he lied.

There was silence while Steve lit his smoke, all but for the sound of faint rock music and an electric drill from one of the garages.

“So,” she chanced. “I hear you have a big family now.”

“Yeah, what about ‘em?” He scowled at her after a hearty inhale.

Charlene lifted both palms out as a sign of surrender. “Forget it, I was going to say I’m happy for you.”

Steve snorted. “You expect me to believe that, after all the shit you pulled, that you actually give a shit about anyone?”

She’d expected that, and she knew she deserved it.

“I give a shit about you,” she muttered. “I would’ve done anything for you.”

The sincerity confused him but then he pushed his shoulders back. “I’ve got everything I ever wanted, and I won’t let anyone fuck with that. ‘Specially not you.”

“Understood,” she said, rubbing her magenta lips together with a nod.

“I want you to be happy, though,” he softened his tone. “I cared about you once, and that means I always will, no matter how much I wish that weren’t true. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“That’s probably the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she scoffed a self-deprecating laugh.

“That sucks,” Steve exhaled through his nostrils. “You’ve got a good heart, Charlene. It’s just too bad you don’t know how to use it.”

A car pulled into the compound and at first, Steve didn’t pay much attention until he saw over his shoulder that it was you.

With Astrid and the girls.

—-----

Eddie turned the radio up in the garage when Come and Get It by Judas Priest came on, and then wiped his hands on a red rag as he made his way to the office. Although the finances at the Hammer and the garage were handled separately, he’d hired one accountant he trusted to take care of it all, and she’d just left a stack of paperwork for him to sign.

On the wall behind the desk was a framed photo of the two of you together, hugging in the front doorway of the farmhouse the first day you’d moved in. The flashback made his mouth twitch in a smile, as he had so many fond memories of those first couple weeks, back when there was nothing but a mattress on the floor and several leaks in the roof he had to control with various buckets. It was just the two of you, making love and whispering about lifetimes of devotion.

He had a secret place in the metal file cabinet where he kept all of the notes you’d left in his lunch over the months, and he had this tugging need to look through them again just before he caught sight of your car coming through the open gate and into the compound. Wayne was gone, but there on the picnic table sat Charlene and Steve, and before he could think too much about it, his feet were moving, wrenching the door open to make his way across the lot.

Steve jumped up when he saw you angling for a parking spot nearby. Oh shit, Eddie realized you had Astrid and the girls with you, too. The fact that they’d helped Charlene was no secret, but still, it made him feel uneasy with everyone about to converge in one spot.

—------

“Please tell me that is not Charlene,” Astrid whispered, eyeing the profile of the woman sitting across from her husband.

“I’m afraid that is exactly who it is,” you muttered, suddenly feeling like maybe it wasn’t a great idea to bring the girls by to visit daddy at work. It had been a while, and you assumed she’d be gone by then.

But it was too late now. You recognized the Jaguar parked nearby; it was the same one she brought in for Eddie to fix that first day you met.

All three girls were safely in car seats in the back, and when Astrid went to step out, Steve was right there, blocking her exit.

Funny enough, Eddie did the same, but on your side. He was there so fast, you accidentally hit his leg with the door.

“What a sight for sore eyes,” he grinned, pulling you flush to him while tipping your chin up for a kiss.

With lips still brushing together, you mumbled: “What the hell is she still doing here?”

And then through gritted teeth, Eddie responded: “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Steve went to grab for Astrid right away, hands at her hips, and she let him, but her attention was over his shoulder.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, gorgeous?” He murmured, noticing that she’d put on some mascara and deep burgundy lipstick after not wearing makeup for months.

Steve only shuffled back a few steps to allow her to shut the door, but then he continued to act as a barrier to keep her from going any further. He bent down to knock on the back window, waving to the twins as Mae slept in the car seat between them. Gracie shouted “daddy!” and held her hand out as if he could grab it through the glass.

Steve glanced sideways at Eddie. “So, should we all go get pizza or something? At that one place with the bouncy balls that the girls like? My treat. If you head over there, we’ll meet you—-”

Eddie was close to telling his friend to shut the hell up, as it felt like his babbling was only making things worse.

Astrid kissed his cheek. “Please move out of my way, Steven.”

—----

Charlene stood up and took hold of the keys to head for the Jaguar. She could tell by the looks you and Astrid were sharing that she’d managed to make things awkward, and more than anything, she felt embarrassed.

But, she took a step away from the picnic bench just in time to see Steve’s twin daughters come bouncing out of the vehicle in matching Oshkosh overalls and her chest tightened—-oh god, one of them was the spitting image of Steve.

And why were the two tiny girls headed that way on their little wobbly legs as if they knew her?

“Slow down, Rue!” Astrid called after them as Steve fumbled at getting the car seat out that had Mae inside.

“She’s, um, she was just leaving,” Steve grunted, trying to move the apparatus out without waking the baby. Astrid was already rushing to catch up with the girls, making each of them hold one of her hands.

For some reason, Charlene was frozen. Locking eyes with Gracie, knowing they were Steve’s hazel eyes, accumulated with the rest of her regrets like a punch to the gut.

Her deep dark secret was that she’d always wanted children of her own, but John refused.

You and Eddie followed them over, albeit reluctantly. If there were ever some serious conversation that needed to be had with Charlene, it certainly wouldn’t be done with the kids there, and so you weren’t at all sure what could possibly unfold.

Although Charlene and Astrid had spent a very tense few moments together the night Craig was shot, they’d never shared more than a few words with each other. Last night, when Steve got the page from Eddie, she’d known it was about Charlene before he even said a thing; she could feel her arriving in her bones like some might feel the impending threat of cold weather.

Steve hurried to get between the two women and set the baby carrier on the picnic table. Gracie was on her tiptoes with her arms up, begging him to put her on his shoulders, and so he did, and she took hold of his hair like a saddle horn.

“Glad we could meet under better circumstances,” Astrid said to Charlene, sincerely.

Eddie put his arm around your shoulder and you sank into him, wrapping both arms around his middle. You wished you could hide under his blue and black flannel so no one could see you.

“You have a really beautiful family,” was all Charlene could think to say as she caught sight of Steve’s third daughter.

“Thank you,” Astrid replied, maintaining steady eye contact.

There were a few strained silences, and you could feel Eddie wanting to fill them, but suddenly he burst out with:

“Did you want to come by the Hammer and see what we’ve done with the place?” He chirped, rubbing your arm almost violently.

Your whole body tensed at that, and you could see that it was the same physical response for Steve.

“No, that’s…I’m good,” Charlene removed the Gucci sunglasses from the top of her head and put them over her eyes. “There are several cargo crates of my things being sent to Hawaii right now, and I have a flight to catch. But I’m sure you’ve done well with it.”

But it was Rue who broke the next silence.

She’d wandered a few yards over to the fence and back, carrying two bright yellow dandelions pinched between her fingers.

She was right there, blocking Charlene’s path to her car, arm outstretched to offer her one.

“For me?” Charlene was genuinely confused, and not accustomed to the wholesome kindness often displayed by children.

Rue just nodded, tucking the other one behind her ear so that the bloom was at her cheek.

The rest of you exchanged a few baffled looks—all but Astrid, because she knew what was happening. She knew then that her daughter carried the same gift she’d been born with; the gift of intuitive sight. Even at her young age, Rue could read people and their intentions, and she knew that Charlene was no longer a threat to them. She knew that everyone in that parking lot deserved healing and forgiveness.

“Like this?” Charlene put the flower in her hair the same way with tentative fingers, and Rue nodded again, moving around the woman to walk back over to her family.

Astrid scooped Rue up into her arms.

Charlene took one last look over at the group as she drove out of the compound, seeing the way you all smiled at each other, continuing on with conversation as if she’d never been there. You were all visibly relieved to no longer be sharing space with her, but Rue had been able to see her with fresh eyes, without all of the pain and suffering she’d inflicted on others and on herself. There’d been no judgment or weariness in that child’s eyes; just curiosity and love. It gave her a bit of hope that maybe she could��start over. Maybe she’d fall in love again with a guy who wasn’t Steve, maybe she’d adopt a child of her own one day, or maybe…she’d get a dog and call it a day.

—------

A few days later, you couldn’t find Scully, and the two of you fell into panic mode.

“Did you let her out?” Eddie snapped. “You know we need to keep her inside this close to the due date.”

Eddie was a mess. Granted, you were upset too, but he was ready to tear the whole house apart looking for her, and then some. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself seeing how devoted he was to this once stray cat. Some nights he even made room between the two of you so that Scully could sleep in the middle.

But finally, a soft mewing from the closet alerted you to the fact that she’d tucked herself away in the dark to have her babies.

“Honey, come look,” you whispered down the hall to him.

There she was, snuggled back in the corner in a box of old sweatshirts, nursing four tiny baby kittens. She had one more a half hour later to make the final count five. Two black, one gray, one black and white, and one orange striper.

“Daddy must’ve been an orange guy, hey my darling?” He hummed a conversation to Scully as you picked them all up to put down some fresh blankets, making sure she had food and water nearby.

“What should we name them?” Eddie asked as you both sat in the doorway, watching them nuzzle together for sleep.

“I think we should let Oliver name the orange little girl, since I know that’s the one he’ll pick,” you whispered, to which Eddie agreed. “Maybe I’ll name the gray one Keanu,” you said, mostly joking, but Eddie didn’t seem bothered. As soon as it was possible, Scully would be back at the vet to get fixed, but you were grateful to have this experience with him.

“Can I name the black ones Dio and Vecna?” He asked, hopefully.

“What kind of a name is Vecna?” You wrinkled your nose. “Should we call him Vicky for short?”

“The black and white looks like a Leia,” he continued, eyes sparkling.

“Leia is a good name,” you hummed, putting your cheek on his shoulder.

You moved Scully and her box of babies into your bedroom so that she would be closer if she needed anything, but then in the middle of the night, she moved the kittens back to the same spot in the guest bedroom closet, so then that is where you let her stay.

Later that night, you were in the kitchen cleaning up before bed, when you heard Eddie singing a song under his breath in the next room:

“Hey little girl is your daddy home, did he go and leave you all alone…”

You thought you recognized it as you scrubbed a dish, eyes darting to the window to watch two motorcycles zoom by on the dark highway in the distance.

“I got a bad desire…”

On the refrigerator behind you, secured by magnets, were photo snapshots of the two of you with Steve and Astrid, Robin and Katie, Gracie, Rue and one of Mae when she was first born. There was one of Wayne twenty years ago, standing with Taz and War Machine as two gangly teenagers. There was a long strip from a photo booth at the fair with you, Eddie, and Oliver all making faces for the camera.

“Tell me now, baby, is he good to you

Can he do to you the things that I do? I can take you higher…”

He’d been folding the blanket on the couch and blowing out candles, but then he was on his way to you as the mumbled lyrics got clearer:

“Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull

And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my skull…”

You finished what you were doing, but then you stayed still, feeling him come up behind.

“At night, I wake up with the sheets soaking wet

And a freight train running through the middle of my head…”

You leaned back, letting yourself be caged in his embrace; his head dipping to kiss your neck. You thought about that day on the side of the road when he picked you up in the tow truck, and how it didn’t feel like you were meeting for the first time but more, coming back together after a lifetime apart.

His lips ghosted the shell of your ear. “Only you can cool my desire…”

After that first kiss years ago, you knew there would never be another option for you; Eddie Munson was endgame. Having tasted true love once in your life, you felt like you could die happy.

But not until you rode the highway of life for a long, long time. Even at the end, you’d still be holding on tight.

“...Oh oh oh I’m on Fire…”

—------

The Epilogue of an Epilogue

“Yo, Steve. Package for you.”

It was Thumper, working the door at the Velvet Hammer for what promised to be a wild Friday night. Max ended up showing interest in the Assistant Manager position, after deciding that long haul trucking was taking a toll on her need to start a family, and Robin couldn’t hire her fast enough. Jeff also came on as a part-time bartender, leaving you pleasantly surprised and wondering what other skill sets he had up his sleeve.

Steve had just come through the door to ask Shana for a cup of coffee when the crumpled brown piece of mail flew at his chest. He caught it, but took the time to throw Thumper a dirty look.

“Ease up, boss,” the burly biker grumbled through a huge grin. “Since when do you have a penpal in Hawaii?”

He stopped in his tracks at that, afraid to look down. Afraid to open it, even. Steve’s newest ink—-Mae’s name on the back of his hand—-glistened from the recent layer of Aquaphor.

He asked for his coffee with a pound of sugar and sat at the end of the bar, frowning.

The return address was a P.O. box in Honolulu without a name, but he didn’t even have to wonder. He was sure he could smell the Chanel through the packaging.

Inside was a ring of keys.

Car keys, clearly, but it took him a second to understand what they belonged to and why they looked so familiar in his hand.

There was also a note:

These are the keys to the Jaguar. It’s parked in a secure garage at the airport, instructions also enclosed.

Every time I drive it, I get myself in trouble. Hopefully you will have better luck, or maybe Rue can have it when she gets older.

The dandelion was a fair trade.

—----

I have so much to say, so much love to give to you all, and I hope you can feel it through the words. I'm so deeply grateful for each one of you and this experience. Whether you have left comments, reblogs, thoughtful asks, or edits, I remember you and you are special to me. I would give anything to meet up at the Velvet Hammer for cocktails (and/or tea, of course) but here are a few in particular I'd like to thank:

Huge thank you to @cryptidcurio for being the initial inspiration for this fic in the first place, and for always feeding me the best ideas. Some of the most popular scenes in this series are from her. Our biker Eddie and biker Steve talks seem to have somehow gotten us through the past hellish year, I love you. I'm so grateful for @texasblues and all of our chats about Steve, Astrid, Wayne, and the girls. Truly, the only reason Astrid and Steve are so perfect is because of Jennie and our brainstorming. We chat a lot about what Rue, Gracie, and Mae will be like when they are older, and hopefully we'll have a few blurbs about that someday. Also, I highly recommend her Steve & Astrid writings HERE My beautiful friend @dandelionnfluff decided to do a bind of I'm on Fire for their personal use and I am still choked up about how much work they put in and how gorgeous it is. You can see their amazing work here: book bind

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Taglist: @notsobubblybaby @unfocused81 @aysheashea @etherealglimmer@manicmagicmayhem @dream-a-little-nightmare@chaoticgood-munson @emxcast @rhirojo @bexreadstoomuch @micheledawn1975 @falling-solar-system@secretdryrose

@whatwedontdointheshadows @miarosso @seventhlevelofhell @corrodedcoffincumslut @lofaewrites @goldyghoul @chloe-6123 @kelsiegrin @chelebelletx @stylesxmunson @kurdtbean@dandelionnfluff @hideoutside @truffleshuffle12 @tenthmoon @texasblues@emilyslutface@mmunson86@onegirlmanytales@laylaloves-ed@dashingdeb16@eddiiiieeee @ick90 @dashingdeb16 @polyestermonster @trixyvixx @atomickaratel8dy @kiyastrf94 @allthingsjoeq @eddiesxangel @razzieth @corrodeddeadlydoll @erinekc @angietherose @sllooney @writinginthetwilight @moonbeamsandmayhem @brianamunson92 @joannamuns9n @bellalillyrose @alba8688 @chevelle724

#I'm on Fire #IoF #biker!Eddie #biker!Steve #biker Eddie Munson #biker Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson fanfiction #biker au #Robin Buckley #Steve Harrington

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bruhaintnowway · 1 year ago

Text

I felt like writing soft, low-key, bottom Leon Kennedy so that’s what I did take it or leave it.

Older Leon S. Kennedy x Young Fem Reader

•Fluff

•Smut

You were used to not seeing Leon for long periods of time. In fact, hours would often turn to days which would turn to weeks without seeing your boyfriend. Although you were busy and consumed with all the work you had to do for your final exams, the loneliness hung on your skeleton, weighing you down relentlessly. This had been the longest you had been apart. Stacked on with the fact you knew nothing of him.

Every day the growing fear that a knock would sound at your door and it wouldn’t be Leon but a colleague of his telling you the worst news imaginable, petrified you leaving you with restless nights.

You felt silly sometimes walking around your apartment seeing a shirt of his and hugging it to sleep holding it close to your face for even a fraction of the feeling that he was there.

But today was a different feeling of restlessness today he was coming home. You could practically feel your body vibrating with excitement just at the thought of him being near again. You try to get your mind off the wait typing an essay on your computer for your class but every noise had your head snapping to the door and when nothing appeared a heavy sigh would leave your nose heaving your chest in frustration.

“Fuck,” You mutter tapping your finger on the table.

After an hour with nothing but a sentence on your screen, you sigh heavily closing your computer with a snap and standing stretching your body.

“Any minute now,” You kept repeating in your head and under your breath as you tried to fill the time with busy work to keep your head distracted. Picking up any paperwork discarded from past projects.

The sudden knock on your apartment door echos in your head and your heart thumps in your chest. You spin on your heel as the doorknob turns on its own and there he stands.

It was always heartbreaking to see Leon after a mission he was covered in dirt and sweat, there were dark splatters across his clothes that you choose to ignore although you knew the look of dried blood when you saw it. His hair was messy and unwashed the need for a shower was completely apparent.

He offered you a smile but it was weak his eyes looked tired the eye bags darker than the last time you saw him the blue dulled and you sigh finding yourself running to him and hugging him tightly.

“What took you so long?” You mumbled softly, burying your face in his neck.

A low chuckle escaped him and suddenly everything aligned again his voice soothing you instantly.

“Got caught up with something.” He joked back, hugging you tightly. His face is in your hair taking a deep breath of your scent.

“Want to clean up?” You say, a small smile on your lips he nodded slowly. The sweat and grime of his mission burned your nose but you laughed at his slow nod. You pull him in shutting the door behind him. Although you burned with excitement first thing was first.

You pull him into the bathroom pulling back the curtain and filling the tub with warm water. You look back at him as he shrugged his clothes off. The clear routine that happened whenever he came back home of heading to clean himself off before anything. You see how tense he is and you sigh pouring scented oils and salts hoping it would relax him for even a moment.

“Come on now,” He nods at your words tiredly and walks over to you leans down, and plans a soft kiss on your cheek.

You smile at the soft affection and help him, a low groan of approval escapes his lips as he sinks into the water you laugh a bit.

“Feels good right?” You laugh softly he looks up at you lazily a small smile on his face as his calloused hand cups your face you lean into the touch for a moment taking him in.

“Welcome home,” You mumble softly into his hand as you kiss the palm. Another low laugh escapes his lips as he sinks into the water. You laugh at this motion and your hands move to his shoulders your thumbs working the tension on his back and he whined a bit relaxing into your touch.

“You’re an angel,” Leon whispered softly tilting his head back to look up at you. You smile your hands tracing scars on his back as you worked on what you could.

“I missed, you.” You say gently kissing his back where the scars had faded, frowning a bit at the new inclusions but you don’t say a word about them. You massage shampoo into his hair gently another soft groan of approval leaves his body and you smile.

“I missed you too,” He mumbled back. You were silent, enjoying the peaceful moment as you scrubbed away any dirt from his body and hair. Your hands moved gently over his skin as you coddled him.

He sighed happily, he never asked for affection it was a little fault of his. Leon saw it as asking for help but you knew better even though he was older you couldn’t help it. He would never find himself pulling away when you ran your fingers through his hair gently or helped him get dressed in the mornings when you could. When he finally felt clean enough to you, you help him stand offering a soft towel which he smiles at.

“You baby me too much.” He chuckles. You laugh a bit as you work on picking up the soiled clothes tossing them into the hamper and draining the water from the tub.

“Are old men always this grumpy?” You tease. He laughs relaxing a bit more as he dressed in clean clothes and walked over to you hands on your hips pulling you in for that much-wanted kiss.

“I missed you so much,” He whispered softly you smiled your arms resting on his shoulders as you kiss. It didn’t matter how many times you kissed him there was always a tingle of excitement that ran through your body like waves. You sense the desperation he has the moment his hands travel under your shirt.

“How much?” You whisper teasingly against his lips.

“Enough,” He says roughly his thumbs rubbing circles on the sides of your stomach gently.

“Are you sure you can take it?” You laugh your fingers toying with his wet hair gently. He chuckles a bit the low sound making your heart race with anticipation.

“I’m not that old,” He chuckles. He looks down at you the usual gleam in his eyes back making him look alive again.

“You always say that,” You smile, moving your hands to cup his cheeks and squish them gently.

“My cute gramps,” You laugh and he rolls his eyes as he laughs at your words.

His laugh always made you happy there was never a moment when his happiness didn’t infect you completely. He shook his head at the tease and kissed the palm of your hand, looking down at you lovingly. His hands pull your waist near him, a coy smile on his face a soft blush spreading over his skin.

“I’m here, safe and sound,” He says. You hug him tightly for a moment just for a moment you let it sink in that he’s back he’s alive and safe and whole your heart soars at his company and you swallow thickly.

“You are,” You say softly, you take in his scent. The smell of him you’d been doing whatever you could to get when he was gone filling your lungs.

He hugs you back tightly no matter how cold you kept your apartment he was a walking furnace and you soaked up his warmth greedily. Your hands move down his body it was exactly as you remembered it, every curve and dent. You looked up at him a warm expression on your face as you sigh. You push yourself onto your tip toes a loving kiss pouring out of you as his lips met yours.

You let yourself settle with the realization that he was here.

He was alive.

he was safe.

You could hold him.

You feel him open his mouth a bit and you smile against his lips as your tongue invaded him taking in his taste determined to remember every single thing about him again.

“Mmmf~” He whined a bit. You feel yourself get lost in him melting into him as you kiss him happily. You start guiding him out the door lips hardly separating as you stumbled together to your room.

“I missed you, so much,” He mumbled against your lips it was a desperate attempt to rile you up. His hands traveled to your waist holding onto them as you stumbled into your room.

It dawned on you that it had been a month an entire month since you had last seen Leon, having to find ways to pleasure yourself through the scent of his shirts and through the pictures in your phone that you saved for when he was away.

He stumbled onto the bed sitting down as you climb on top of him. Your knees pressed into the bed on either side of his thighs as you sat on his lap leaning against him with arms warped around his shoulders to pull him in closer. He doesn’t fight back in fact you knew for a fact that he hadn’t had the satisfaction of rubbing one out for that entire month that he was gone. A desperate grumble vibrates through him and makes you shiver with excitement. His hands toyed with the hem of your shorts and you pulled away from your kiss.

“Desperate?” You whispered he whined a bit as you hold onto his hands keeping them from exploring your body any further.

“P-Please,” He looked up at you his pupils blown with need.

“Baby.” He whimpered as you moved your hips with intention. You smile moving to press soft kisses on his jawline and down to his neck kissing on the skin gently. You felt him sigh in happiness as you did and you smile against his skin sucking on all the spots you knew he liked. A soft moan escapes his lips as he tilted his head back giving you more access to his neck.

“Good boy~” You cooed biting the skin softly your tongue licking over the marks gently to soothe them.

He whined in response, relaxing under your touch completely as you worked. You pulled away just enough to roll your hips into him his breath catches and he looks up at you with a pleading face.

“P-Please,” He whined, his hands not moving from your hips because he knew better.

“Please, what?” You say a smile on your lips.

Fuck, you missed him.

“Please, I want more,” He says not even trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

“Sweats,” You slide off of him as you instructed.

Almost as if on instinct he pulls his sweats off, his boxers showing the wet spot of pre cum that had gathered while you were grinding on him.

“What a good boy,” You say again kneeling down on the carpet and spreading his legs apart. You settled between them he sat on the edge of the bed watching you, his face completely flushed as your hands massaged his thighs.

“You look so pretty,” You whisper to him kissing the inside of his thighs and he shutters taking a deep breath of anticipation as your lips press onto his skin gently. You see bruises on the skin not healed from his missions and you feel a bit of sadness wash over you. You kiss them gently not putting pressure on them.

“You poor thing,” You coo and he sighs looking down at you gratefully.

you decided against bruising the skin further. Your hands move to his bulge hidden under his boxers and you graze it teasingly. He shutters again a soft gasp escaping his lips. You palm it through the fabric and he lets his head fall back, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

“Hah~” He moans softly.

You continue to tease him grazing your hands up and down his happy trail. You see him settle a bit and you move to finally free his cock sliding down the boxers and discarding them to the side. You gaze at the thickness of him running your thumb over the slit of the tip and he whined your name hazily.

“Hmm” He hums.

You ghost your fingers near his shaft grazing it teasingly and he rolled his hips wanting any contact.

“Don’t make me tie you down,” You threaten.

He whined a bit embarrassed as he settled back down. You smile and lean forward your tongue lapping at the pre cum collecting at the top that came out in beads. He whimpers softly in pleasure and you swirl your tongue at the tip, you watch his body tense and you can’t help but feel the burning sensation of want in your stomach. You moved down to the base of his cock licking up and down the hardened shaft agonizingly slow.

“Fuck~” He mumbled breathily. His hand comes down to your hair tugging it.

“Leon, you know better,” You warn.

He gasps a bit moving his hand away and holding onto the sheets under him you hum approvingly licking up and down his stiff cock and taking the head of it into your mouth, you feel him shake under you. Your hands hold his hips as you swallowed the girth of it completely. You missed the feeling of his cock down your throat and you hum in satisfaction as your nose reaches his base.

“Hah~” Leon whined again gripping the sheets under him his knuckles turning white.

You find yourself too desperate to continue teasing him so you begin moving slowly. Your head moved up and down taking in his cock down your throat like it was the best thing you’d ever tasted. He squirmed under you, his breath becoming more ragged with every movement.

“Shit~” He whined, rocking into your mouth desperately as he let his head fall back in pleasure.

You gag a bit at the movement but continued, speeding up as your tongue swirled around his shaft.

“Hah~ Ah~” Leon’s voice rang through the room and echoed in your head making your body burn. You happily bobbed your head sucking his cock like it was candy.

“I- I’m- hah~” Leon’s voice was soft and desperate as he gripped at the sheet under him your eyes water as he bucks into your mouth and you swallow around him causing another groan to rip through him.

“I’m gonna~” He whined his voice was heavy.

Your movements didn’t slow as your jaw locked around him and tears flowed from your eyes as his dick hit the back of your throat over and over again. His back was arched and his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he let out one final moan as his cum shot down your throat.

Your hands massaged the outside of his thighs soothing him through the process as you swallowed his seed and pulled away his cock. You look up at him wiping your mouth as he panted.

“So good,” He mumbled trying to catch his breath. You stand a slip your shorts off along with your panties.

“I’m not done.” You say pushing him against the bed kissing him roughly forcing him to taste the cum in your mouth.

“You taste good,” You mumble into his mouth and he whined his hands at your waist.

“Can I touch you now?” He begged.

You smile against his lips and move his hand between your thighs. He moved on instinct as if muscle memory carried him while his fingers rubbed the sensitive nerves. You moan into his mouth softly as he works slick coating his fingers.

“Looks like you missed me just as much as I missed you,” He smiled up at you as he spoke.

His fingers worked your clit just the way he knew you liked it. His digits push in after a moment making you buck against his hand.

“Keep going,” You whispered softly rolling your hips into his hand fucking yourself onto his fingers.

“So pretty,” He whispered softly, sending chills down your back you grab his wrists and force him to stop placing them on your hips.

“Keep me steady, yeah?” You whispered softly and he nods your hands moves to his cock again pumping him to stiffen him up he whined softly at the movement. You position yourself on top of him and slide down slowly the slick of your body making it easy after he had stretched you out.

“Fuck, I love you so much~” He whined breathlessly gripping onto your hips.

You crack a smile you missed him too. His words sunk in you, and the heat in your stomach knotted with desire. You place your hands on his stomach steadying yourself as you took a deep breath moving your hips back and forth slowly, soft moans escape your lips as you look down at Leon with a smile, he grins back up at you his face completely flushed.

“Look at you~ so cute,” You coo.

He whines as you quicken your movements rocking your hips and feeling him inside you. You’d missed the feeling of this. Having him completely under your control and doing whatever you asked him to. it was your favorite thing about him. You knew he felt the same it was no secret Leon was bigger than you, stronger, and older he could do whatever you wanted to you if he felt the urge. He could fight back but he willingly let you do whatever, anything you wanted he’d give it to you.

You quicken your movements on him bouncing a bit so that his cock hit that perfect little spot inside you. He groaned at your movements panting heavily as his grip on your thighs tighten.

“S-So good~” He whimpered looking up at you his eyes glazed over with lust.

You don’t answer so focused on the feeling of him inside you, you couldn’t help but hang your head in pleasure panting as moans escape your lips his hands keeping you steady as he bucked up against you making a moan rip from your throat loudly.

“Leon,” you rasp, moaning as you continued to move your pace rhythmically.

“I’m sorry,” He breathed, squeezing his eyes shut as you moved.

You continued to move. Your movements became erratic losing control by the second the longer you moved the more you felt your stomach tighten.

“H-Hey, I’m gonna-“ He whined, you look down at him with sharp eyes.

“Don’t you dare,” You say, as you continued to move.

He nods with a whine and holds you steady as you continue to pleasure yourself with him using him for the satisfaction you had been craving for so long as he laid and took it, repressing the release he so obviously craved.

“Please, please I need to,” He begged, his breathing was erratic.

You say nothing.

“Please, oh god… please… baby… I need to…. So… fuck…” He babbled, unable to form a sentence as he used him.

You looked down at him as tears formed in his eyes as he continued to beg you to let him cum. His face was flushed as drool dripped from the corner of his mouth. He held back his release his breath catching into his throat. He looked up as tears flowed from his eyes.

“Please~” He begged, you look down at him saying nothing and he sniffles.

“Fuck,” He cried the intense pleasure overwhelmingly strong as he begged to finish.

Finally, you feel the string in your stomach snap and you let out a string of moans clenching around him as you cum in satisfaction. You slide off just as he cum’s onto his stomach and he relaxes into the bed heaving, sniffling, and wiping tears from his face. You wipe the tears off his face, cooing softly.

“You did so good,” You whisper.

“Good job,” You reassure as he calms down a bit. He pulls you down into a strong hug, panting holding you tightly.

“Fuck, I needed this,” He sniffles.

You smile and pull away.

“Who said I was done?"

#leon s kennedy #resident evil leon #leon x reader #leon kennedy #vendetta leon #older leon kennedy #young readers #resident evil #leon smut #smut #leon fluff #older man younger woman #fem reader #boyfriend

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inactivewattpadauthor · 6 months ago

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Johnny Cage x Reader: Low In The Studio

Warning: Unfinished + Angst - He didn't cheat on you, but emotions were definitely played ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Damnit!" Cursing under your breath, you crumpled up yet another paper. Tossing it carelessly to the overfilled bin where all your other failed scripts went. None of them came out write. Any new draft would turn out the same. Ending in you somehow manifesting your issues and emotions into the dialogue, which is something that made you cringe when you reread, over and over.

The audience wouldn't want some cheesy, cliche drama, would they? You needed to get your shit together. You took the liquor bottle and poured your glass for - however many it was now - time. If you somehow can't do this one thing you were always good and proud at, what's the point in being here?

Downing your shot, you glanced numbly at your phone. It was faced down on the disorganized desk, and you were just sorely tempted to reach for it. But all it took was remembering how happy he looked with that pretty blond military general. Could I have made him smile like that?

Thinking on it hurts, and you only pray all the liquor could sooth the burden, hurrying for another glass. Fuck it. You set the small glass down and drank straight from the bottle instead. Everything still hurts.

Setting your head down on the desk, you took deep breaths. Everything was spinning. All you did was close your eyes, staying still as everything went black and silent

...

"I'm back!" A voice sung. "Woah, it is dark in here!" White lights flickered on, waking you up. You didn't even know you passed out, but you felt groggy. Sleeping was always great when you had problems, but you felt worse this time.

"Y/n! You here? I got some time off from the military so I could shine up my acting career." You hear him. You just didn't answer.

"Hello?" He playfully peeks at your desk. Taking off his sunglasses, he sees how messy everything was around you. You looked a mess yourself, all you did was give him a troubled look. The kombatant didn't even know he's the reason for it.

"Tough day? You kinda look..." He grimaces at you, looking at your messy hair to the bags under your eyes.

"I'm amazed, Johnny. I really am." You started off, brushing back your wild hair, trying to keep in your composure. Of course, he looks at you with confused brown eyes, not knowing why you seem upset towards him.

"I didn't mind that you went into the army. It's noble and I do have a few family members in the military as well, but," Your lips were starting to quiver. You forced yourself to look straight in his eyes. "To see you taking pictures of you kissing some other woman... What the hell is that all about?!"

Johnny freezes up, knowing what you meant and how he didn't think he'd need to explain. "Ohh, Y/n, Sonya? She's... We are-"

"I know. Don't worry!" You fake a smile. "That's exactly why I'm amazed! You made me feel loved! I thought we were gonna have that! But it's fake!" You got up beginning to pace around. "You really are a good actor."

Johnny watches you past by him, reaching for your car keys. "Y/n? What are you doing?" He walks to you swiftly with concern.

"I'm going out!" You shout, tears threatening your eyes.

Grabbing your wrist with the keys clutched in them he begins restraining you. "No, you're clearly drunk. Why don't we sit and talk about this? Come on!" He keeps you from leaving the door, trying to pull you to the couch.

"Fuck you! Don't act like you care!" Your sob begins. "We slept together, not even once! Did it not mean anything to you?" You shout, trying to push him off, but he uses his strength to carefully sit you down on the couch.

"Y/n- Y/n, I know you feel bad. Just listen!" Johnny holds your arms so you can stop trying to hit him. At least he has you on the couch, extracting your keys from you so you don't go out and hurt anyone or yourself.

"You're a douchebag! I didn't want to believe the other women, because I didn't think you'd dispose me like that!" You cried out your rants, struggling to remove your arms from his grasp so you can just punch his stupid, douche face.

"I am. I'm sorry." He admits with shame, not like you could tell.

For a few minutes, he has you held down so you don't do anything reckless, repeatedly apologizing and getting you to calm down. You grew tired and all was left was just heartbroken tears and sniffles, not understanding anything. Cage knew this but he grew up to know excuses were worthless.

"Listen to me," He begins as things were quieter. "You have every right to hate me. But you're going to grow into the best screenwriter the world has ever seen. If I die in Special Forces, you have my permission to spit on my grave." He genuinely offers the last part, but still it was somewhat funny,

"I don't want to hate you. I just..." You sat on the couch and wiped the drying tears. "Were we not a thing?"

"I- No... We should've spoke about that." The actor looks to the side and rubs the back of his head.

"Miscommunication. Great..." You sigh, slowly getting your senses back together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~

#mortal kombat 11 #mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #mk imagine #mortal kombat imagines #mk headcanons #mortal kombat headcanons #johnny cage #johnny cage x reader #goddesswritings

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withacapitalp · 2 years ago

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How to Rehabilitate a Jock in Four Months Part 11

Part One Part 10 Part Twelve Link to Ao3

Alrighty guys I want you all to thank @stevethehairington for betaing this and making it fantastic, @henderdads for making the poll that made me finally finish writing this, and @steveshairychest for being a furry lmaooo (Sorry I had to)

Also I know you guys reallllly aren't going to want to hear this, but I wanted to put out one more chapter before I let you know that HTRAJ is going on a hiatus. Not a long one! I just have way too many WIPs going right now, and two of them are Valentines gifts (and good reads if I do say so myself!)

Step Eleven: Play Some Music

“Steve gets shotgun,” Eddie called as they exited the trailer, tossing Steve a smile that made his chest feel fuzzy as he jumped down the last two steps.

“What the hell man?” Jeff grumbled, looking slightly put out, “We take turns,”

Steve opened his mouth to say he didn’t mind and he would take sitting in the back, but Eddie pushed him towards the van with ease.

“Steve’s never been inside of Hortensia, he deserves to see her at her absolute best,” He reasoned, giving Jeff a big megawatt smile and waiting to see what he would say. He still didn’t seem thrilled, but Jeff just rolled his eyes and climbed into the backseat.

Steve would have made a comment on the fact that Eddie had named his beat up clunker ‘Hortensia’ of all things, but it was just so Eddie that all he could do was smile and shake his head. That was classic Eddie, always seeing the good, always finding something to make better. A trashy white van was Hortensia, an ex-jock was a potential friend.

It was his superpower, almost as strong as El’s.

“Your ride, my liege,” Eddie said, opening the passenger side theatrically. Steve rolled his eyes and climbed in, buckling his seatbelt as Eddie jumped into the drivers side seat and flourished his keys.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Eddie declared, turning the ignition.

Nothing.

Another attempt. The van gave a low grumble but did nothing.

“Damn hunk of junk, piece of shit, mother-”

“Hortensia, huh?” Steve said with a raised brow, interrupting Eddie’s tirade of angry muttering. He threw Steve a slightly dirty look, staring at him directly in the eye as he tried the ignition again.

Bingo. The van roared to life, headlights instantly taking the empty blackness around the trailer and filling it with trees. The entire group cheered as Eddie victoriously beeped the horn, and Steve opened his mouth to say some stupid comment that would probably make everyone laugh.

Then the headlights flickered.

In a single moment the ease, the happiness, it was just gone. Like a fire in dry brush, it had disappeared, and all that was left was a quick panicky feeling that there was something watching them, something waiting nearby.

He needed his bat.

“What the hell- Woah, what’re you doing?!” Eddie demanded as Steve shoved his way out of the car, walking over to his Beemer. He had already gotten his backpack out and was rifling through it by the time Eddie snuck up on him.

“Steve?” Eddie asked softly.

Eddie was out of the van. He was vulnerable. If something was sneaking up on them, then he would be the first one down.

Steve moved quickly, spinning the two of them so Eddie was up against his car, and Steve was out in front of him. That was better. He didn’t have a weapon, but he knew how to fight these things. At the very least, Eddie would have the time to run to the van if things went bad.

“Do you see anything?” Steve asked, looking around them.

The lights had only flickered once, just once, but once was enough. Once was a warning, and ignoring that would be stupid.

That was Hopper’s number one rule. Don’t be Stupid.

“What should I be seeing? A boogeyman?” Eddie teased, standing up straight and walking over to Steve, “You think I’m gonna see a were-”

“Eddie,” Steve cut him off with a severe look, grabbing Eddie’s wrist and pulling him behind him again, “Do you see anything?”

“No,” Eddie murmured after a moment. Steve spared a quick glance behind him, faltering when he saw just how uneasy Eddie was.

“There’s…Steve there’s nothing out there,”

Nothing out there. The lights were clear, they had been the entire time, and there was no growling, no sound of strange steps creeping up. Just the purr of a rusty engine, and the sound of Steve’s blood racing in his ears.

Eddie was right. There was nothing out there.

A rush of humiliation barreled over Steve, erasing everything else. He let out a slow shaking breath, running a hand over his face and hating the way his eyes were starting to burn.

A few lights acting funny and he turned into this? Over lights?

“Are you-”

“I’m fine,” Steve whispered, the lie strikingly obvious to both of them, “Just-”

Steve reached around Eddie and grabbed his backpack off of the ground, hefting it up over one shoulder and turning back to the van.

“I have what I need. Let’s go,” Steve said, closing the door before Eddie could ask him again if he was okay.

Flashlight, walkie-talkie, car keys, first aid kit, knife.

Flashlight, walkie-talkie, car keys, first aid kid, knife.

Flashlight-

What was he doing?

Steve forced an exhale, pushing all of the air out of his lungs, letting the deafening chatter from the car around sink back in, and finally releasing the death grip he had on his bag.

The backpack that had his flashlight, walkie-talkie, car keys, first aid kit, and knife. Everything he could carry inconspicuously in case of an emergency. His knife wasn’t ideal, but better than nothing. Steve would have loved to have Baby with him too, but she had to stay in the trunk of the Beemer. The last thing he needed was everyone to know how actually insane he was now, and carrying around a bat full of nails was a one way ticket to the loony bin.

Maybe he should ask Nancy to teach him how to shoot a gun. A pistol was easily hidden, and-

Jesus. There really was something wrong with him.

This was fun. Steve was supposed to be having fun. It was just a nice normal night with nice normal friends. The gates were closed, the kids were all together having a sleepover at the Wheeler’s, everything was just fine.

So why was his stomach still twisted up in knots? Why was he obsessively looking out the window at the trees, just to make sure nothing was running alongside the van?

“What do you think, Steve?” Eddie asked, thrusting Steve back into the conversation happening all around him. The bumping bass from the radio was gone, and the rest of the group was now staring at him, waiting for an answer.

Shit.

Steve curled his hand around the strap of his backpack again, shrugging and giving Eddie a tight lipped smile, hoping that would be at least a somewhat adequate answer. Judging by Eddie’s furrowed brow and downturned mouth, it wasn’t.

Flashlight. Walkie-Talkie. Car Keys. First Aid Kit. Knife. Flashlight. Walkie-Talkie. Car Keys. First Aid Kit. Knife.

“He probably hasn’t listened to either of them yet,” Jeff cut in, tapping his chin.

Oh. They were still talking about bands. Steve probably couldn’t have answered that question even if he had been listening instead of quietly freaking out.

“You can tell us which was your favorite after the show,” Frank said, making eye contact with Steve from the rearview mirror and giving him an easygoing smile. Steve returned it, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease up ever so slightly.

Frank was a cool guy. Understated, but nice. He always kind of hung around in the back, but that was fine. In a group like Hellfire with so many big personalities, having a steady person like Frank helped to balance everything out.

“I still think he would like Black Sabbath best,” Jeff said, settling back in his seat.

“Of course you think that,” Gareth replied with a roll of his eyes, pausing for a minute before crossing his arms and continuing in a begrudging tone, “Quiet Riot. Everyone can appreciate them. Even Steve.”

It wasn’t exactly an insult, so Steve decided to let go of any part of him that bristled at Gareth’s words. Gareth was a lot like Mike, it took him time to warm up. It was just…taking a bit longer than Steve had expected it to.

Whatever. He liked a good challenge.

“Trust me, we’ll play a song from the new Dio album and Steve’ll be a total convert,” Eddie said, shooting Steve a bright smile that warmed him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. “We’ll have to get you a battle vest to match mine soon enough,”

Without really thinking about it, Steve let go of his bag and reached up to play with the guitar pick hanging around his neck. Even just touching it was enough to ease away whatever nerves were still rolling around his body.

It wasn’t like he was magically some different person, but wearing Eddie’s clothes and having his necklace was… it was almost like there was a shield. They were a buffer, a barrier between Steve and the fear that seemed to rule over everything he did nowadays. Here he wasn’t the babysitter or the protector. He was the new kid, someone who was still learning and allowed to slip up. If he didn’t know something, then it wasn’t the end of the world.

“You sure you’re okay?” Eddie asked, staying quiet so the other three who were still debating wouldn’t hear him.

“Yeah,” Steve replied immediately, squeezing his fingers around the chain and taking a slow deep breath, “better now,”

“If you wanna talk, I’m always here,” Eddie whispered back, giving Steve one more soft glance before turning his eyes back to the road. Steve sighed, dropping his hands back to his lap and letting his head rest against the seatbelt, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see the forest around them.

The thing was, Steve knew he wanted to talk to Eddie. He wanted to tell him that Dustin had left at 4 o’clock today, and Steve had been late because he was nervous about coming tonight. He wanted to tell Eddie that he was worried about fitting in, worried about letting his guard down, worried about the endless ‘what-if's' that seemed to run around in his mind in an endless loop these days. Eddie would listen, and even if he didn’t understand, he would empathize.

Steve wanted to, but he couldn’t.

Because Eddie was understanding, but he was also so so nosey. He would poke and prod and try to learn the whole story, because he wouldn’t be able to help himself, and Steve couldn’t handle that. If that happened, Steve would have to pull back, put distance between them. Not only to protect himself and his people, but to protect Eddie too.

Steve had seen what happened to people who got pulled into their world.

Bob was what happened.

And even the thought of something like that happening to Eddie made Steve’s heart race. He reached up to touch the guitar pick again just to ground himself in the moment.

It was fine. Nothing was going to happen to Eddie. Nothing was going to happen to any of them. Steve wouldn’t let anything ever happen to any of them.

“Alright freeloaders, we’re here!” Eddie crowed, and Steve opened his eyes just as they pulled into the parking lot of a dingy looking hovel.

The place looked about two steps from being closed for a health code violation, and Steve was instantly reminded that his mom had made him promise to never get within a thousand feet of the Hideout. It was apparently a bar for ‘other’ kinds of people. Mechanics and factory workers and cashiers. Not Harringtons.

But here he was, right outside, and the world hadn’t caved in. Imagine that. Steve laughed quietly to himself, getting out of the van and coming around to the back with the rest.

“‘Sup douchebags!” A voice called from across the parking lot.

Rocky and Janet were walking over, both decked out in their metal best. Rocky was wearing the same spiked vest he wore every day, but he had chosen a pair of jeans to go with it that was more chain than denim, a look that would have gotten him sent straight to detention if he so much as stepped onto the parking lot of the school wearing it. Janet was wearing her usual attire, but her hair was up in a messy bun complete with deep dark eyeliner and a skull patterned choker.

“Hey asshole,” Gareth replied, slapping Rocky’s hand against his own and opening the van door, “Help us with set up?”

As they began to coordinate getting all of the stuff out of the van, Janet skipped over to Frank to chat.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to come out tonight,” Frank said, rubbing his arm and giving her a timid smile.

“I wasn’t. As far as my parents know I’m asleep in bed right now,” She replied, giving Frank a mischievous little grin as she kissed him quickly on the cheek, turning around before she could see the way the boy immediately turned into a tomato.

“Hi Steve. I like the new look. You should wear it to school when we go back. Start 1985 off with a bang,” Janet said in her normal slightly snarky tone.

“Hi Janet,” Steve said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and ducking his head down to hide the stupid grin on his face as she came over to inspect him, pointing out various add-ons he could have made to get the ‘true full metal experience’.

This was the thing he had been searching for. Blissful normalcy with dumb conversations and stupid lighthearted jabs. Something easy that wasn’t bogged down in reality.

“Hup two, guys. We’re already late,” Eddie huffed, pulling on an amp that was far too big for him to hold up on his own.

“And who’s fault is that?” Jeff said with a roll of his eyes, quickly stepping in to take the other side of the equipment and gently easing it out of the van. Steve grabbed a random box and hefted it up, walking towards the door with Janet hot on his heels, still examining his new outfit.

“Is that Eddie’s necklace?” She blurted out the second she spotted the dark red swirls, her jaw dropping open comically wide as she stared at it with huge eyes.

“Someone decided to play Heavy Metal Barbie with pretty boy right before we were supposed to leave,” Gareth grunted, accidentally smacking Rocky with one of his drums as he stepped out of the van.

“Okay! Let’s just get moving, please!” Eddie quickly shouted in an uncharacteristically high pitched voice, practically dragging Jeff as he hurried into the bar.

If Steve wanted to let himself over examine things, then he would have dared to say that Eddie was blushing. Instead of assessing that particular thought, he grabbed the door and held it open for the rest.

With all seven of them working, set up went quickly, and before too long there were only a few things left to get.

“I’ll grab them so you can start tuning or whatever,” Steve offered.

“I’ll go with you,” Rocky said, pulling Steve out of the bar.

“You know, I can’t believe he let you wear his lucky pick,” Rocky said the second they were alone outside, pitching his voice low even though there was no one to overhear them. “He doesn’t even let anyone else touch it, let alone wear it. ”

This was enough to stop Steve in his tracks, his eyes darting down to the little piece of plastic around his neck.

No one else was even allowed to touch it?

The necklace was already sentimental enough when it was just Eddie’s favorite. Now it was something precious, a treasure that wasn’t meant for any other person. Steve had been joking about Eddie staking a claim on him before, but the guitar pick practically felt like a brand at this point.

The startling thing was just how much Steve didn’t mind.

It was the same as ‘Sweetheart’. This was another thing that guys weren’t supposed to do for other guys, another thing that Steve shouldn’t want. He should be taking it off right now, handing it back to Eddie and going home back to the life he belonged in.

None of this was right. Steve shouldn’t be here at a bar meant for people who were supposedly below him, he shouldn’t be dressed up like a metalhead going to listen to thrashing loud music in the middle of the night, and he certainly shouldn’t be happy Eddie Munson was having him wear something he wouldn’t even let anyone else even touch.

This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. This wasn’t who Steve was supposed to be.

But was anything the way it was meant to be anymore?

There were monsters from other dimensions and little girls who could move things with their minds. There were government cover ups, evil scientists, and dead people all over the place.

No, nothing was how it was supposed to be anymore. At least this was a change that made Steve happy. He didn’t need to think about that too much, or try to figure out why.

At least, he didn’t need to yet.

“Well…maybe he just thought I could use some good luck tonight,” Steve murmured, reaching up and letting his fingers rest against the necklace for a moment before grabbing one last amp and walking back into the bar. He put it down gently on the floor of the ‘stage’ (It was a rickety wooden platform that was barely a feet off the ground, but Eddie had called it a stage), fully intending to turn right around and go back to the car to get his backpack.

“That was the last of it, Sweetheart,” Eddie called from behind, making Steve stop short, “Rocky and Jan grabbed the best table in the house for you guys. It’s far enough that the drunks won’t hurl on you if they end up having a little bit too much. ”

“Oh um,” Steve’s mind flitted around as he looked for any excuse he could use, “I…left my wallet in the van,”

Steve crossed his fingers, praying that Eddie wouldn’t call out the very obvious wallet shaped lump in his right pants pocket.

“You won’t need it,” Eddie said smoothly, hopping down and steering Steve gently towards the table with their friends, “The barkeep knows to keep my people fed and watered. Just let him know you’re here with me, or better yet, make Rocky do all the heavy lifting. He is a freshman after all, he has to take his licks.”

That would be great if Steve was actually worried about his wallet. He wasn’t. He needed his flashlight, walkie-talkie, car keys, first aid kit, and knife. He needed to be prepared in case things went wrong.

He needed those things, but he couldn’t explain to Eddie why, and he couldn’t walk out right now without looking like he was trying to ditch. Steve’s breathing started to kick up, and he could feel his heart leaping in his chest.

They weren’t safe right now. Anything could happen, and he wasn’t prepared. Anything could go wrong, and-

“Relax,” Eddie said slowly as they reached the table, pulling out a stool and nudging Steve towards it, “No one’s gonna bite,”

“I will,” Rocky immediately replied, baring his teeth just for show.

“Okay well don’t sit too close to him, and you’ll be just fine,” Eddie laughed, the other two Hellfire members snickering alongside him. This was where Steve should laugh with them too, but his throat was closing up.

He was in a place he didn’t know, with a group who he didn’t really know, without anything to defend himself or keep in touch with his people.

This wasn’t safe. Steve wasn’t safe right now.

A soft touch on his arm startled him and he jumped back. Or he would have, if Eddie hadn’t held on and kept him from moving and crashing into the table. Steve stiffened up, looking up at Eddie knowing that he wasn’t doing a damn thing to hide how freaked out he had become.

He couldn’t care about that. He couldn't care about anything except how dangerous everything had suddenly become.

“Seriously. Everything’s okay. I promise,” Eddie whispered, leaning in so their heads were close together. Steve closed his eyes, taking a deep breath the way Joyce had shown him. In for four, hold for four, out for four.

Usually it didn’t do anything for him, breathing slowly normally only made him even more aware of how little air there was in the room, but the breathing combined with Eddie’s hand still on his arm was enough to get Steve centered again.

Everything was okay. The kids were safe, Nancy and Jonathan were safe, Hopper and Joyce were safe.

Steve was safe.

He was out with friends doing something fun, and there was nothing wrong with that. This was normal. This was what he was working towards. All he wanted was something easy, and this was easy. He didn’t have to make things complicated by being afraid.

And, if anything went wrong, he could just run outside and get his things.

“Thanks,” Steve whispered.

“Anytime,” Eddie whispered back, his big dark eyes locked on Steve’s. Once again Steve was completely aware of the guitar pick around his neck, and the fact that no one else was even allowed to touch it.

“Eddie! Seriously! Tick fucking tock!” Frank shouted from the ‘stage’. Eddie growled quietly, muttering to himself about evil bandmates who had no sense of boundaries. Steve snorted, chuckling softly until Eddie stopped grumbling.

“Have a good show,” Steve said, pulling away from Eddie and hopping up onto the stool.

“Prepare to have your world rocked,” Eddie said, trying to act cool as he walked backwards, but tripping on the world’s tiniest step and falling flat on his ass on the stage.

Steve made a valiant attempt to not laugh along with the rest of the bar, but he quickly failed, tossing his head back and laughing loudly, putting a hand on his chest and feeling the hard plastic against his fingertips. Eddie paused, giving Steve an indescribable look before straightening up and brushing away the invisible dirt from his vest.

“And with that incredibly suave move, I’d like to formally introduce our band to the dozen or so drunks that are here tonight,” Eddie said into the mic, spreading his arms out wide like he would at Hellfire. The meager crowd yelled back and raised their drinks, making Eddie put on an absolutely feral grin

“Ladies and gentleworms, we are Corroded Coffin,”

Much like Dungeons and Dragons, Steve hadn’t really expected that he would enjoy the show. He liked Eddie and he enjoyed the rest of the group, so he figured he would come and watch and be a good sport.

And, much like Dungeons and Dragons, he was completely wrong.

It wasn’t his favorite genre of music by any means, but the energy in the air was absolutely enthralling. From the first note there was just this push, this indescribable palpable movement in the air that was exhilarating while also being settling. It was like they were collectively experiencing something special, and all having a grand old time while doing it.

It didn’t hurt that he was also about four whiskey sours in.

He had only planned to drink one, maybe two, but every time his glass was empty another magically appeared by his arm, courtesy of Rocky and Janet. He had tried to turn them down a few times, but they could be awfully persuasive when they wanted to be, and Steve couldn’t help hoping that the alcohol might clear up the last bit of the panic that was still rolling around in his head.

So with a warm fire in his belly and a brain that was finally for once quieting down, he happily listened as Janet and Rocky screamed the lyrics right alongside Eddie and the rest. He couldn’t really understand, per say, but the energy was all that mattered.

And then, halfway into their set, everything fell apart.

“Alright, everyone,” Eddie said as they caught their breath from an original that left everyone slapping their tables and stomping their feet, “It’s time to settle a bet.”

He turned to face Steve dead on, a gleam in his eyes that had nothing to do with the low light of the bar.

“We have, let’s call him a…metal virgin, with us tonight,” Eddie drawled, letting the crowd hoot and holler as they pleased. There was less than two dozen people in the bar with them, and there was no way any of them besides Hellfire knew that Eddie was talking about Steve, but he still felt like every eye in the room had just turned to him.

“Earlier tonight the band and I were trying to figure out who would make him a convert. Black Sabbath, Quiet Riot, Metallica. I said Dio, because I think this song is right up his alley. So, this one’s for you,”

Steve’s heart began to race in a completely brand new way as Eddie began shredding down on his guitar, joined by Gareth with an impressively quick beat on the drums.

The song was good. It was fast-paced, lively, and Steve could actually follow along with the lyrics unlike some of the more intense songs from before. Eddie had hit it exactly. The song was just another example of Eddie knowing him even more than Steve expected him to.

It was so good in fact, that Steve almost didn’t notice the lights behind the bar begin to flicker.

Almost.

Steve’s hands began to shake as his eyes darted around, looking at all of the walls. The other lights were also flickering, but the walls were still straight and narrow. No bending. No monsters.

Not yet.

Or not here.

Steve’s heart dropped as reality slapped him square across the face. If the lights were flickering, but there was no sign of any monsters, then they were close, but not here. They could be anywhere, going after anyone.

Going after one of his people.

Steve stumbled off the stool, catching Janet and Rocky’s attention as he nearly toppled to the ground.

“Steve! Are you okay?!” Janet yelled above the noise.

No, he wasn’t okay. He was a stupid fool in fact. A complete idiot who had honestly let himself believe that the danger was gone when he knew it wasn’t.

“I- I need to-” Steve couldn’t finish the sentence, couldn’t make his breath even enough to find the words for what he needed.

He needed his bat. He needed his backpack. He needed to get in touch with Hopper. He needed to get out of here.

He needed to find his kids.

And then, just as Eddie hit one last screeching solo note on his guitar, everything went dark.

Tag List: @paopaupaus @zerokrox-blog @surferboyzaza @whatever-is-a-good-name @minjintea @addelyin @5ammi90 @hagbaby420 @shinekocreator @bornonthesavage @starxlark @electrick-marionnett @resident-gay-bitch @ash-a-confused-enby @classicdinosaurdeathpose @valon-whomsttf @rotten-lil-goblin @thereindeerlady @love-ya-kash @kerlypride @sparkle-fiend @thefreakandthehair @flowercrowngods @milf-harrington @sadcanadianwinter @gothbat99 @hotcocoaharrington @henderdads @lightwoodbanethings @colorful565 @h0n3y-dw @craterbbox @sourw0lfs @lesliiieeeee @bidisastersworld @tinynebula @ravnlinn @bonescaro @mexmatch @cottagecoredreams @joruni @hellykelly @maegan1116 @farewell-wanderlvst @desertfern @due-to-the-fact-that-im-a-slut @anythingforourmoonyedits @eerielake @fandemonium-takes-its-toll @sidekick-hero

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porkcutletbowl44 · 3 months ago

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Bestie, I am a Simon girl till death but this book of yours? I’m fangirling over Keegan so bad. Like I fucking need this man, and the slow burn? Is so deliciously painful.

Why is my man rubbing on in the bathroom while I’m over here ready to serve him? Ready to get on my knees and be a good girl for him?

He even gave me an exhibition kink because I want this man to fucking take me to pound town in the kitchen aisle while Simon watches us.

* what my thoughts diverted to when I pictured him leaning against his he tile of his shower*

so what if he didn’t knock? So what if he did not announce to you that he was coming? He didn’t care, he hears the whippers from the entrance, you are hurt ,you are crying that’s all he thinks when he barges in.

Yeah you are crying, Keegan feels so god that tears are rolling down your cheeks because you are seeing stars.

You’re whimpering yes, every time he slides back in it takes your breath away, you are so sensitive after the two orgasms he took out from you, that it’s all too much… in a good way.

Simon seen your eyes roll back to your head the second Keegan intensifies his trusts . Simon soul leaving his body when he hears Keegan “ That’s a good girl, so so good for me… whose good girl are you mama?”

“Yours, I am yours Keegan all yours” you cry and Simon knows that pitch in your tone… you are close, so close.

Aaaaaand, thanks to you I’m here adding another kink to my list, of things that haven’t happened but you write your story so good that I so want that to happen ( I read this like I am the protagonist, like I was just married to Si and know I’m all unsure about this thing with keeg, but I’m horny for him… decisions, decisions.)

Thanks again for delivering such a treat, I am on my knees for you to baby🩷🫶🏻

Oh God, whew, it's hot in here 🥵

No cause Keegan would SO brag about it to him,

"you wish this was you, huh?" AHAHAHHSHSHHSHABA

Keegan is one cocky mf and would FULLY enjoy taunting Simon, he'd eat that shit UPPPP.

Simon on the other hand might realize he's got a great view of mama, all the faces and sounds in spectator mode? It's (almost) better than the real deal, seeing how pretty and perfect reader is 🫣🫣🫣

Ofc he'd turn it into a competition, cause Simon has known reader longer and knows allllll the good spots

Wow I need to change my pants holy— *(s)creaming*

This low-key makes me want to write a spin off

But THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT LOVELY 🫶🏻🫶🏻💜💜

#keegan p russ x reader #simon ghost riley imagine #simon ghost riley smut #keegan p russ smut #keegan p russ #thanks anon!#anons welcome #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #fanfic #call of duty #simon ghost riley #cod mw2

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random-potat · 3 months ago

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and they were roommates - kjs - profiles 2.

p1harmony members.

introducing p1harmony, a 6 member boy group who debuted under fnc ent. on oct 2020. fandom name is p1ece. debuted with their movie, P1H: The Beginning of a New World (a/n: FNC pls make a sequel i beg 🙏).

kim jongseob + priv (🐯): '05, our main boy, maknae on top, one of the best 4th gen rappers, was very hesitant in joining wbr bc he's a shy boi, music boy, film camera boy, and game boy with his 30 video games (a/n: stream jongseob's song game boy on soundcloud).

yoon keeho (🐺): '01, leader, jongseob's angel AND devil on his shoulders, in everybody's business for the greater good, also somehow knows everything, thinks he manifested the ynseob ship, part of the kpop canadian line.

theo (☀️): '01, tired of fish n cakes shit, oblivious pt.2, always teasing jongseob, just existing tbh.

choi jiung (🐿): '01, a perfectionist, just wants to make his music in peace, oblivious pt.3, low-key writes music about what the members are going through atm.

hwang intak (🐶): '03, just happy to be here, always teasing jongseob pt.2, also just existing, lowkey ships ynseob.

soul (🍟): '05, a menace, aquainted with y/n bc theyre minecraft buddies, knows ni-ki bc theyre both some of the best 4th gen dancers, captain of the ynseob ship, watches everything from afar.

synopsis: With long-time K-pop fans asking for another season of the infamous variety show We Got Married, MBC brings it back with a spin-off, We Became Roommates. As a way to bring K-pop fans together, the first season involves six idols born in 2005. With seeing each other every day, doing missions for every episode, making memories, and fans watching and shipping, blossoming friendships and a bubbling romance can't be helped. pairing: idol!jongseob x fem idol!reader genre: idol au, crack, fluff, humour, coworkers to friends to lovers

previous ✉︎ next ✉︎ masterlist

likes and reblogs are appreciated ⋆˙⟡♡

taglist; open 📌: @yoizhrs @sunoostripletriple @seobluv @sirenla @rkivegirlsblog @tkooooop @forever-atiny ~ (send an ask or comment you'd like to be added to the taglist ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ,<)~✩‧₊)

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kthecutest · 1 year ago

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Hi I have seen that your request are open. Can I please request K as a boyfriend headcanon. I love K so much and I'm happy that you also write for &team. 🥰🥰🤩

Ps: I love your writings😘

ケイ Kei as your bf (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡

A/N ೃ⁀➷ I'm so happy you requested it!! I've wanted to write boyfriend K headcanons for agessss! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) Mwah Mwah - kisses for my gratefulness ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎ pls if you ever have any other ideas for K 🦘content, you can count me as your num1 wish granter (◡̀_◡́)ᕤ Anw! Hope you'll enjoy this one! (⁎⁍̴̛ ₃ ⁍̴̛⁎)!!

⇆༶•┈┈┈┈┈┈୨◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷୧┈┈┈┈┈•༶↻

The unexpectedly clingy one. Kei is probably the one person that you’ve expected least to be a clingy little puppy. His constant determination in his work really gave you that impression – but you only noticed it was the total opposite when you’d receive sweet ‘I miss you’s from him every second he’s away at work; and the ‘good morning’s paired with sweet motivational quotes; although you must admit how old-styled the quotes can be sometimes – but they didn’t fail to motivate and humor you.

A puppy who’s a big fan of physical affection. Every corner of your house, he will be stuck to you like gum, sharing body heat every single second of the day. “Keiiii, just give me one second I need to get that pan up there”, you’d whine. Instantly you felt your feet off the ground as he carried your feather-light body – “There baby~ better?” You couldn’t help but pout and proceeds with your work. There’s no way you can push this puppy off of you.

Loves being super intimate with you. Of course he knows you have a boundary and he totally respects that but that doesn’t stop him from being so touchy and clingy with you – basically goes hand in hand with the point above. You’d often find yourself in the bathtub or shower together with him and you’d just stand there, questioning yourself in the head like; ‘howwww did it escalated to here-‘

It’s easy to make him flustered and the entire process is so evident too especially on his expressive little cute face. “Wow! Hehe you look so cute in that scarf love!” – “hmm but I prefer your hands around my neck~” – ba’am he’s spinning and turning and rolling, practically blushing and dying from your smutty comment. His brain going complete short circuit while you stood there with an innocent little smile.

But the flustered state won’t last long because he’ll always have a better comeback to throw you off even more than you could to him. In the blink of an eye, his huge hands are wrapped around your petite neck, his warm breath hitched close to your ear, and he spoke with a low tone – “you’re right love~ they really do look better around your neck than that scarf.” Oh fuck, you know you’re in great trouble now.

He’s the one boy who tries his best to always do the best for you but the occasion always gotta go wrong one way or another; guess luck just wasn’t on his side – probably because Kei himself was the embodiment of luck. Your puppy boyfriend had fully planned out a picnic date on the beach for the evening – a view of the tangerine blob of light fading in a daze in the sky. Suddenly, it started pouring, both of you were drenched as you two booked it back to the car. The bright smile on his face has now faded into a dazed saddened frown – but you reassured him you had the best date ever which brought back his warm glittering smile that you’ve always adored.

Literally hates his baby photos and tries to hide every piece and bit of his childhood photos from you because those are what you’d use most to tease him with – “Awww look at who this cute little boy isssss~ this cute little boy who’s munching on snacks~ loookkkk, awwww I just wanna give him a huggg~!” – earning a pout and a frown from your cute boyfriend. “Hey! But this boy in front of you is cuter!” his whiny tone followed by a clingy hug; had you chuckling and giggling. Only he’s allowed to tease you; not the other way around!

Takes thousands of selfies of you two together but then hesitates which ones to post every single time – because he’s too indecisive – and just like that the photos weren’t post on theme because the special occasion was eventually over. Kei’s had this trouble even before you two got together but it did helped a bit now that you’re here since you’re more of a decisive person; you could guide and help out your troubled little boyfriend.

Pretends like he don’t wanna share you his food. Kei holds up the chopsticks, a piece of porkchop in between, practically taunting your hungry figure; swaying it in front of your eyes. Yet when you try to take a bite, the piece of meat goes flying straight to his mouth. Kei smiled and giggled at your shocked and pouty expression yet when he sees the saddened expression on your face, he can’t help but apologize and pile up snacks and meals right around you like a puppy building a nest.

Flirty and romantic – sometimes you even think he is the epitome of cupid but instead the kind who kept shooting heart arrows at YOU and apparently, it’s working because you just kept falling into a spiral of love around him. Blows hearts and kisses at you even through the air whenever he sees you pass by at work – and he does it really obviously too just to flaunt it. Matching outfits are a must, at home or outside. The type who could come up with a more heart-attack-like comebacks to your flirty and smutty comments. The type who would feed you with a kiss instead of a spoon – he loves to be unique okayyy.

Your personal dance teacher. He isn’t the type to convert you into his hobbies but you yourself originally was into dancing – and just knowing that your own boyfriend is a professional at it, got you requesting him to teach you. Very focused and determined when he does so; might be a bit strict with you though, but that’s just how he is when it’s work hours, so you aren’t complaining. Might get a little bit too touchy in some moves; ahem and then it leads to something else – heated sex in the practice room

Lovessss to flaunt his strength and size to you very often. Would pick you up out of nowhere with his single arm – “showing off your muscles again Kei?” – “hehe don’t pretend you don’t love them baby” (I mean he ain’t wrong-) Would also hug you from whatever position and you would just feel like being sunk into a huge giant teddy bear – perfect for the snowy winters.

Gets strict with you when it comes to your health. You’re the kind of restless person who loves to bury yourself in work and stress, and it might barely affect you but Kei is definitely phased. He’ll drag you out every morning to the park for morning jogs, take away your piles of fast food – and make you some fresh veggie salads and when the clock dings midnight – “alright enough work baby, time to sleep~!” – “naur but I need to finish this” – “absolutely not~” – drags you straight to bed and hugs you like a teddy. You can’t even escape with his size and weight. He makes sure you get enough sleep except those nights when you guys must attend to your sexual desires – he could definitely make an exception for that.

Needy, mushy, wet kisses that often escalate to needier events. Sometimes you would earn little pecks from your huge boyfriend as a sign of affection and you absolutely adored them. But whenever this puppy comes home from work, omg no more pecks, literally draws you into him and makes out with you to the point you felt like he was gonna eat your face. Your puppy’s just missed you too much, could you blame him?

When he sees you drowning in his oversized hoodies or shirts, omg it’s like his soul got thrown to a whole ‘nother dimension. Literally melts at the sight of it all, and doesn’t miss even a second to pull out his phone and spam the camera shots. At the same time, the tent in his sweatpants is seriously visible as well – got your eyes widening and everything. Welp, might as well get on with it now that the tent won’t go down~ and for the photos he took earlier? – well that can wait for when he gets to work – might need a release or two on his breaks.

#&team #andteam #&team imagines #&team scenarios #&team k #koga yudai #k #&team fluff #&team soft hours #AAAAAAH MY HUSBANDDDDD #I LOVE KEI SO MUCH IM DYING

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sitepathos · 2 years ago

Text

141 Boys + Alejandro + Konig x Male Hogwarts Student Reader Headcanons (Platonic)

Disclaimer : before we go any further, keep in mind this is my very first post on Tumblr. At first, I was just thinking about asking another user to write this, but I fell in love with the idea so much that it kept buzzing around in my head and now here we are.

Context: a group of pro-Muggle witches and wizards were able to get the Ministry of Magic to approve a program that would open up more to the outside world and start building a relationship with its people. You, being a Muggle-born, were asked to be the first “envoy” of this new program, seeing how Muggles would react to the Wizarding World and if mutual trust could be established. But, since the Ministry is run by a bag of dicks, they decided that you would be sent to the military, hoping this program would die in its infancy. After some debating behind closed doors, representatives from the Ministry and the SAS decided you would be trusted to Task Force 141.

Price

This man is less concerned about you being a wizard and more about you being a minor. “No, I don’t care if he’s almost eighteen, he shouldn’t be here!”

Was almost ready to throat punch Shepherd when Laswell stopped him and he reluctantly agreed to keep you on base.

Of course, when you showed off your magic for the first time, he was amazed for sure. And if you’re a skilled potioneer, he appreciates you brewing dozens of Wiggenweld Potions for the team. “Those potions are great! They work like… well, magic!”

Also, if you could use your potion making skills to mix up a drink for him, he’d really appreciate it. Being in the military, he has to forgo all comfort and luxury, but this man DESERVES a good drink on a regular basis! He’s in charge of one of the world’s most deadly fighting forces and is constantly dealing with terrorists and death everyday, so I’d say he should get a bottle of the good stuff. Low key would let you share a drink with him in his office if you do.

He also appreciates you casting the Bandaging Charm whenever they get hurt. As much as he hates you being in the field, he has to admit you make an effective field medic.

He’ll also ask your help in recon if you’re an Animagus. As a bird, you can be outfitted with a camera and get a literal bird’s eye view of the AO and as a cat/dog, you can go right up to the enemy and distract them. As they’re scratching your fluffy belly, Ghost will knife them.

And if you can turn into a cat, he may or may not ask you to sit on his lap while he sits in his office chair. Whenever a rookie is brought in for insubordination, he loves to do the Dr. Evil chair spin and freak them out. He’s very stressed out from all these missions and needs some comic relief! Plus, he loves to scratch you behind the ear and you love it too.

He also scares the rookies that if they don’t listen, you’ll turn them into a frog or something. Of course, you never tell him you can actually do that. Don’t want to give him any ideas.

Will also appreciate your help in interrogations. Give the perp some Veritaserum and the interrogation is over in like 5 minutes. Low key, though, Ghost is a bit pissed because they always let him conduct the interrogations, and now they can just get all their questions answered because of some juice you made.

He also makes sure you keep in regular contact with not only Dumbledore, but your parents as well, says that he’d be worried if his (minor) son was placed in the hands of the military. “They worry about you and I’m sure they just want to make sure you’re alright, son.” Low key goes behind you back and arranges for regular meetings (tea times) with both your parents and Dumbledore to discuss how you’re keeping up with your studies and assuring them that he’s keeping a close eye on you and making sure you take care of yourself. After a while, he comes to see you as another member son of Task Force 141.

Gaz

Look, he freaks out a bit when you show off your magic for the first time, and you understand. The first time you did magic, you accidentally levitated the family dog. Thankfully, you were inside at the time, so Fido just hit the roof.

For a while, things were awkward between you, but after you bandaged him up after a sparring session, he started to open up to you.

Meaning, he began asking you all sorts of questions about the Wizarding World to see if any of the fairytales he was told as a kid were real.

“You don’t really fly on broomsticks, right? I mean, that’s just ridiculous.” “Well…”

As soon as you roll up on you Nimbus 2000, this man WILL ask for a ride, giving you his best puppy dog eyes and you cave almost immediately. During his first ride, he was TERRIFIED; I mean, he’s a hundred feet up in the air sitting on a flimsy piece of wood, of course he’d be scared and holding on to you tightly.

But, after that first ride, he’ll beg you for a ride every time you both have free time. He’s flown in dozens of helicopters in his life, but feeling the wind against his skin and maneuvering around the way you do gives him a thrill unlike any other. Seriously, as soon as he gets back from a mission, he’ll go straight to you and beg to go out flying with you. Doesn’t matter if it was a week long mission and he’s had to go without food and sleep for most of that time, the thought of flying with you on your broomstick was enough to keep him going.

He also loves it when you teach him all that you learned in History of Magic; unlike Professor Binns, you do everything you can to make your lessons interesting. You use magic, you act out certain events, you even give him chocolate frogs when he passes you pop quizzes. PS: please give this man magic sweets, he always gives the biggest grin when he sees you walking towards him while holding candy. He likes chocolate frogs the best since he’s building his collection of cards. (He just needs a Dumbledore card…)

He also loves to hear about your time at Hogwarts. This man wants to know everything that happened to you, from the Sorting Ceremony to when you were made the first Muggle Envoy. He also doesn’t understand why House Slytherin hasn’t been disbanded. “I understand not every Slytherin is bad, but most of the worst wizards have come from that house! And its founder kept a giant snake around to kill anyone not a pureblood!”

He thinks you being an Animagus is amazing and if you turn into a bird, he’s both astounded and jealous. “I want to fly in the sky as a bird, too…” and if you’re a cat, well… “I heard all cats love curling up in a box. As a cat, do you have those feelings, too?” “…Yes.” So, best boi Gaz shows up to your quarters with a large cardboard box with multiple blankets and you instantly take to it. Like, you forget all about your bed and sleep as a cat in that box. And you don’t know it, but he one time came into your room to ask you to go flying when he saw you curled up in the box (and in human form, no less!) and his heart melted at the sight. He also took several pictures which he then proceeded to drop in the 141 Group Chat. Needless to say, they were quickly printed out and is the highest kept secret from you (hell, even Laswell is in on it).

In conclusion, Gaz would be very welcoming to you in the beginning, but in all honesty, probably not as much as Soap.

Ghost

Look, when you met Ghost for the first time, you were scared out of your mind and 95% sure he was a Death Eater sent to kill you and ruin this program. But, after a few days, you figured out that he was just a Muggle and you relaxed a little bit. Still, you kept your distance as this 6’2” man still scared the hell out of you.

When Price told them that a wizard was joining the 141, he thought the man finally lost it after postponing a well deserved vacation for far too long. But, after seeing you cast a spell when you first joined the team, he quickly ripped up the anonymous note he wrote to Laswell to force the Captain to take a vacation.

When you started talking to him about the Wizarding World, he quickly took an interest in magical creatures. Look me in the eye and tell me he wouldn’t be fawning over a Thestral! That’s actually how you bonded with him— when he saw you caring for one, he asked about it and when he learned that they’re only visible to those who’ve seen death and are misunderstood to be a bad omen. He feels for the beast and offers to help you feed it when you’re ever unavailable.

Like Price, he hates you being in the field, but definitely sees the advantages to having a skilled wizard with them. He will, however, insist you stay behind them, casting healing and support spells. During one mission, all hostile were thought to have been killed, but one that remained tried to shoot him in the back, you quickly cast Protego to shield him and followed up with Petrificus Totalus. No matter what Soap says, he DID NOT have heart eyes when you did that.

As odd an experience as it is, he loves to Apparate from place to place. A helo attracts too much attention and riding a broomstick is just silly to him (look, he’s a 6’ 2” killing machine made of pure muscle and whose name strikes fear into the most hardened terrorist on the planet; him being on a broomstick ruins his streetcred!). Being able to appear anywhere out of thin air poses a strategic advantage, it bypasses all

He also takes interest in your Defense of the Dark Arts lessons. He’ll watch you practice offensive spells all day long, praising you every time you destroy a target. He also teaches you to handle a firearm and how to throw a knife. Sure, you can use magic, but use magic, but you its always good to know other skills. He really wanted to just spend some more time with you and teach you what he knows.

Will definitely help you practice your defensive spells if you ask him, but he’s very nervous as he fires rubber bullets at you. As much as he tries to argue with you, you’re persistent and finally does what you ask him. But if you’re ever hit by one, that’s an end to practice for the day and he’s dragging you to the infirmary.

Also, as much as he denies it, he loves it when you turn into your Animagus form. If you turn into a bird, he offers his arm as a perch when you return from stretching your wings; if you turn into a dog, we will give you the best belly rubs; and if you turn into a cat, we will hold you and scratch your ears. And he’ll do it anywhere, even during a mission briefing! Also, he gets very jealous when you’re held by anyone else and will fight to the death when someone tries to take you away from him. “Lt, it’s my turn to hold him!” “Negative, Sergeant.” He then proceeds to scratch your ears as he looks Soap right in the eye.

While not an alcoholic beverage, he loves butterbeer and always loves it when you bring back a keg from the Wizarding World. After a successful mission, you brought them to the Three Broomsticks for a fresh mug of butterbeer. He knows you had to jump through a lot of hoops to get this trip approved and appreciates you arranging for this. It’s here that he realizes that not everyone in your world is like you; some uppity witch mocks you for bringing them here and leaves as she calls you a “Mudblood,” which you later explain is a derogatory term used to make people like you feel less than them. Well, Ghost being Ghost, he slips out to teach that witch that being whether your pedigree means nothing when your fingers are broken and you can’t hold a wand, you’re weaker than a Muggle since you depend on you magic for everything, leaving you vulnerable. “Ghost, where’d you go?” “Just needed to take a break.”

He loves to harass you with terrible puns as he learns more of you world. “Wanna hear a joke?” “Ghost, please don’t.” “If a wizard gets robbed by a Muggle, has he been Muggled?” “What do you call a postman who can speak to packages? A parcel tongue.” Or the worst of them, “How does the head of Gryffindor see when swimming? She uses McGonagoggles.”

After a while, he finally trusts you enough to tell you some of his darkest secrets. What really hits you the most is what happened in the US-Mexico border with Roba, and how he was buried alive with a rotten corpse and forced to dig himself out with said corpse’s jawbone. After he finished his story, you offered to use the Memory Charm to make him forget, and for a brief moment, he genuinely wanted to say yes. The thought of being able to forget that horrible memory and never dream of it was enough to bring tears to his eyes (which he thought was no longer possible), but in the end, he said he appreciated the offer, but by forgetting what happened, he’d be losing a piece of himself that made him him.

You become a part of his team, and when you do, he’ll kill and die for you, just as he would for any other member of his team. Eventually, he gives you the nickname “Merlin,” and soon everyone starts calling you that and you’re honored to have a nickname after one of the most accomplished wizards.

Soap

While his team lost their collective minds when they first met you, Soap tripped the mightiest of balls and turned into a literal child when you demonstrated your magic. Also, the moment you tell them Hogwarts is located in Scotland, he turns very smug and brags about his homeland being the superior place on Earth. Of course, you eventually explained that there are magic schools all over the world, which broke his heart, but he quickly got over it when you explained Hogwarts’ very distinguished history.

You think I’m joking when I say everything you do amazes this man, but I’m not. After you showed up on your broomstick and gave Gaz a ride on it, he practically ripped the poor man off it and called dibs for the next ride; you show him a few Transfiguration spells, and he’ll ask you to turn everything on base into something else (Price had to step in when he had you turn his favorite hat into a goose and you two had to chase it down);you pull out a caldran and start brewing potions, he will sit and watch you every step of the way (and if you ever brew a potion of fire-breathing, he’ll beg you to let him drink it, he so wants to chase Gaz, pretending to be a dragon).

And speaking of dragons, he made a joke about dragons being fake and when he saw you not laughing, he instantly knew they were real and instantly starting begging you to take him to see one. Of course you told him that dragons are dangerous creatures and are kept far from society, he gave you the biggest put possible and of course you caved and reached out to a friend who worked at the Romanian Dragon Reserve, who was able to sneak you in. As soon as he saw the Common Welsh Green, he acted like a kid who finally got to Disney World and when you got back, he thanked you profusely and you two started hanging out every day.

This dude dedicates almost half his journal to you, writing down everything he learns about you, Hogwarts, and the Wizarding World at large. He’ll also draw picture after picture after picture; he’ll draw you, your wand, you casting spells, your house crest, etc. He also jots down his thoughts about your and your world and questions to ask you later. Ex: ask Y/N to cast Windgardium Leviosa on me while riding the mop used for latrine duty. Note to self: do it where the Captain/Lt can’t find me.

If you’re an Animagus, he absolutely loses his mind. If you turn into a cat, he thinks you’re a regular cat that wandered onto the base and is playing with you. “You want the pen? You want the pen? Go get it— Steamin’ Jesus, Y/N!” “Soap.” “Can we never—“ “Yes, we’ll never mention this again.” “Can I have my pen back?” “No, this is mine, now.” If you turn into a dog, he asks you to turn so he has a dog to pet. He strikes me as the kid whose best friend was a dog and after the dog died, a piece of him did as well, and petting you as in dog form reminds him of better days. Unfortunately, he tends to do this often, especially during mission briefings. “Johnny, Y/N needs to turn back, we’re having a serious mission briefing.” “I can brief him later, right now, he needs bell scratches.” And if you’re a bird, he asks to outfit you with a camera and has you fly over the AO and get much better intel without alerting the enemy they’re being spied on. And like Ghost, he offers his arm as a perch, but unlike the Lt, he keeps bags of popcorn in his bag and hand feeds it to you after returning to him.

Merlin help you once he discovers you can cast spells like Confringo and Bombarda. Soap will demand you cast said spells on the training field and wants to compete to see who can destroy the most targets (these contests can go on for hours and only ends when Price comes to rescue you). Of course, as much as he hates you being on the field, he asks Price to allow you to help in breaching fortified bases and destroy weapons caches and escape vehicles. He revels in the destructive power you bring to the team and loves to watch you work. “Fookin’ beautiful, Merlin!” “Johnny, we’re being shot at, eyes on the targets!”

Once this man finds out about Quidditch, there goes all your free time. Seriously, once you tell him that there’s a sport where you fly around on broomsticks and try to knock each other off by throwing balls at frightening speeds, that’s all he can think about for days. You tell him all about the history of the game, its rules, and the many famous players that have ver been on the pitch, and as you do all that, this man begins to yearn about actually watching a game.

Fortunately, he gets his wish— in an effort to garner more good publicity, Fudge extends an invitation to you and “the Muggles you’ve been assigned to” to attend the Quidditch World Cup and view it from his private box. Of course, Soap begged Price to allow them to attend and after clearing it with Laswell, all of you attended the most anticipated Quidditch event of the season. And when it was revealed that the Scottish National Quidditch Team was competing, he went flat out ape shit, shouting all sorts of Scottish chants and curses you have yet to decipher.

Of course, many in the Minister’s Box found him annoying and threatened to surge him, you were quick to Transfigure many of them into slugs when everyone was distracted whenever a team scored a point. Of course, Ghost would be the one to catch you. “Bein’ risky, are we?” “No one threatens Soap and gets away with it on my watch.” “Good boy.”

At the end of the day, he’s probably the first friend you’ll make in this scenario. While others are cautious, this man is running up to you and begging you to do magic for him every time you see one another.

Alejandro

The leader of the Los Vaqueros was shocked to see a real wizard before him and had reservations about a minor being allowed in the military, but after seeing you had nothing but the best of intentions being here, he quickly put aside his fears and welcomed you with open arms. Also, Rudy saw how much fun Gaz and Soap were having and wanted to join in, and who is he to disappoint his brother?

After he described the destruction El Sin Nombre, Hassan, and Shadow Company brought to his hometown, you offered to help rebuild. To say he was touched would be an understatement and he accepted the help. He expected you to just help clean up the rubble Graves and his tank made, but when he saw you cast Repairo and the buildings started repairing themselves, he was blown away. In less than half a day, all of Las Almos looked like nothing at all happened. “Ay dios mio… The whole city… it’s been fixed…” let’s just say that after that, you became an honorary member of the Cowboys and had a place in Las Almos whenever you needed it.

He’s very interested in your demonstrations of charms. He especially liked hearing about Wendelin the Weird and how she liked being ticked by the charmed fire so much she allowed herself to be captured multiple times. “Wait, she let herself be captured how many times, hermano?” “Forty-seven times!” “That’s crazy!”

In exchange for teaching him Wizarding World slang, he teaches you to speak Spanish. As well as some very creative swears that he knows Price wouldn’t like (which is why he does it). “Who taught Y/N to say that?!” “No idea, Capitan, might want to ask Gaz. That baby face of his seems like the perfect ruse, yeah?”

He appreciates all the Wiggenweld Potions you brew for him to take back to his men. While the cartels and Shadow Company have been driven out of Los Almos, Valeria is still out there and leading what’s left of her men, trying to rebuild her empire. He’s devote every last resource he has to capturing her, which leads to many injuries. Unfortunately, he can’t always get medical supplies, so that’s where you come in. Whenever you Apparate in their base with crates full of healing potions, you’re heralded as a hero by his men.

You two also bond over music from the Wizarding World. While he loves to listen to the Weird Sisters with his men, when it’s just him, Rudy, and you, he loves to listen to Celestine Warbeck. Once, when he was drunk, he began singing You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me and said that it reminded him of you. The morning after, you and Rudy decided to keep his little performance a secret from him, his men, and the 141, agreeing to take it to your graves.

Like the rest of the men on this list, he absolutely loses it when he sees your an Animagus. “Hermano, why did you not tell me you can do this?” He strikes me as the kid who always wanted a pet, but his parents weren’t able to afford one and there’s been a void only a pet can fill ever since. Sure, he could’ve adopted a dog after he moved out and joined the Mexican Army, but he’s been bust fighting drug lords for years, so he hasn’t had the time to. And here you come in, able to turn into a dog (of course he’d love it if you turned into a cat or bird, but what he really wants is a dog)! “Hey, hermano, do you think you can… you know?” “Of course.” Look, we all know that there’s a spot behind a dog’s ear that makes him thump his leg like crazy, but this man knows how to hit that spot on the FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME! And he does it with just right that you think your leg will never stop thumping. Rudy’s walked in on the two of you many times, and not only keeps quiet about it, but tells the rest of Los Vaqueros to not disturb their hermano. “He’s earned some time to himself.”

You also volunteer your services to help track down Valeria, which puts a smile on his face brighter than Lumos Maxima you’ve ever cast. “Time to go scorpion hunting, my brother!” While you weren’t well versed in Divination, you were able to spy on her men while in Animagus form and any that get captured are given your Veritaserum, making them spill their guts and tell you where her new base is. From there, it’s just getting the layout of the base, which you are able to provide, and that night, both 141 and Los Vaqueros raid the base that night, which ends with no casualties and Valeria’s capture. “We celebrate, my brothers! And we welcome a new member to Los Vaqueros!”

As much as he wanted you to pour the Veritaserum down her throat and make her tell him all he wanted to know, he wanted her to suffer, just a fraction of what he’s felt all these years. So, he asks you if you know any methods of torture that won’t kill her, just make her suffer a bit. So, you looked into it and gave him a boggart locked in a chest and told him about the creature’s ability to take the form of what its victim fears most. Seconds after being exposed to her greatest fear, she begged for mercy and told him everything he wanted to know. As she was being dragged away, still in shock of what she saw, he thanked you for the great service you did for Mexico and invited you to celebrate at a bar they rented out for the night.

Behind closed doors, the 141 and Los Vaqueros came this close to a fistfight because Alejandro wanted to take you back to Mexico with them, to which Price responded with a very loud “Hell no!” which resulted in a prolonged argument with everyone in the room. Finally, Laswell was able to calm them down when she told them that if they don’t “calm the fuck down,” you might be recalled and none of them will see you again. The thought of you leaving terrified them and agreed that they would share custody of you and Alejandro and his men would be allowed to visit the base and see you whenever they wanted to.

Konig

Look, when you both first met, you were terrified of one another. You because this man was as big as Hagrid, skilled in weapons, and made the muscle mass to break you like a twig, and he was terrified of you because he thought you could turn him into a toad like many of the witches he was told about as a child. For the first week or two, you both avoided one another like a case of Dragon Pox.

Eventually, you realized that this mountain of a man was 90% social anxiety and he realized that you weren’t planning on turning anyone into a toad or eating anyone (to which you were horrified that someone would think you possible of such a thing). In fact, when you learned he suffered from constant social anxiety, you brewed him a bottle of Calming Drought and after he drank it, he felt his sense of dread vanish for the first time in years. “Thank you, maus!” And from there, he became your shadow, always close behind you. You gave him bottles of Calming Draught on a regular basis to help the poor man and he became one of your closest friends.

If you have a knack for Herbology, he takes interest in it; there’s just something about digging into the dirt and watching your magical plants grow from such tiny seeds that relaxes him, not unlike your Calming Drought. He helps with carrying large bags of fertilizer, watering your plants, repotting Mandrakes, and harvesting herbs for your potions. He also loves hearing you talk about what each plant is and what they’re used for; not only because he finds this new information interesting, but because he finds your voice very soothing.

God, the moment he discovers that you can turn into an Animagus, he instantly takes a Calming Drought because the the thought of hurting you while being so small is enough to make his anxiety hit him like a sack of bricks. At first he asks you not to be near him out of fear he crushes you, but when you curl up in his lap as a dog/cat, he freezes up and is afraid to even move. Then, he finally works up the courage to pet you and when you let out a pant/purr, he instantly forgets his fears and pets you even more. If you’re a bird, you turn his shoulder into a perch and he instantly falls in love with the idea of being your perch and starts walking around the base like that. “Konig, is that Merlin?” “Ja, Leutnant.” “And you don’t think that’s a bit inappropriate?” “Nein, Leutnant.” As he walks away, he feels Ghost glaring daggers his way, and he’s sure it’s not because of what he’s doing, but because the Lieutenant wishes to take his place.

He also loves to watch you practice your spells and broomstick riding. How you wave your wand or move through the air with such grace astounds him and wishes he could do the same.

After a while, he finds spells and potions capable of reducing one’s size and wishes for you to make him smaller. When he tells you that he’s always felt people would like him better and he would be better at his job if he wasn’t so tall. You instantly tell him that’s not true and that you have a friend whose taller than him and everyone loves him. And so, you arrange a tea time with Hagrid and bring Konig, who is blown away by the size of the half-giant. To say he was breathtaking to have to look up to someone was an odd, yet satisfying experience. The two talk about being tall and Hagrid tells him that despite his giant size, he never stops trying to be helpful. By the time tea is served, Konig feels himself more comfortable in his skin and tells you that he no longer wishes to be small.

When Hagrid goes to bring out his infamous rock cakes, you warn Konig about their tough exterior. However, when he takes a bite, he does so without problem. “I don’t understand, Maus, they’re delicious. If you don’t want yours, may I have it?”

You two leave Hagrid’s hut with the promise to bring Konig back for more tea and rock cakes and when you return, he thanks you profusely for helping him become more confident with his height. He tells you that he sees you as the best friend he’s ever had and promises to always help you whenever you need him.

You also share your stash of sweets from Honeyduke’s, which he is happy beyond words. You warn him when he picks up a box of Bertie’s Every Flavor Beans and laugh harder than you ever have before when he spits out an earwax flavored one. It eventually turns into a game of randomly picking a bean and hoping it wasn’t one of the many disgusting flavors. He quickly grew to love Fizzing Whizzbees when he found out sucking on them allowed you to float in the air. Seriously, just imagine him floating in the air and loving every moment of it, it’s hilarious.

He may not have magic, but this man will NEVER allow someone to harm you. Even if it’s another wizard or witch, he’ll pick up that poor fool and break their back over his knee with no regrets.

#cod mw2 #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #john price #kyle gaz garrick #alejandro vargas #konig mw2 #task force 141 #task force 141 x reader #harry potter

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