#makes me kick my feet and giggle like EWWW

[randomositycat]

MY GOD HE IS SO ANNOYING!!!

[starlightandfairies]

Insecure Summer ~Billy Hargrove~

Description: The reader is insecure about her body, she's at the pool and some girls decide to make her feel worse and Billy is there to help in the aftermath.

Warnings: Swearing, hints that the reader is a virgin, angst, fluff, soft Billy, insecurities such as stretch marks and scarring from eczema, she/her pronouns, mean girls

Key: Y/N = Your Name, POV = Point of View

Word Count: 1,920

First Person's POV

I had my cover-up over my bikini, I didn't like swimming around lots of people, and I didn't like being stared at in judgement by the mums and the teens who either judged or hunted for a bang. I sat on the edge of the pool where there weren't many people, swaying my feet in the water, ignoring the laughs of the children and the scolds of the mothers. It was too hot, and the concrete was burning my skin but it was better than needing to swim around in the water with everyone pushed up against each other like it was some teen party. I also wasn't comfortable with my body, so having to be around all these people did not make me happy. The lifeguards had recently swapped, so it was no longer Heather on the job but 'bad boy' Hargrove. 

Obviously, the mothers checked him out, usually, he'd give them a flirtatious reply but he only gave them a devilish smile. His eyes were solely focused on me and I didn't like that. I've never seen him so dedicated to someone, especially someone that was like me. Billy crouched down beside me and hummed slightly, I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, the back of my legs becoming numb due to the burning sensation. 

"Hey, there, why aren't you in the pool? Doll?" 

"I just don't want to be," I whispered, freezing as I felt his fingertips graze across my arm, his sunglasses fell off his eyes and a chuckle escaped his lips. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he rested a hand on my back and gave me a peculiar look. 

"I think there's a different reason." He whispered, ignoring the girls that swum up closer to him, pushing up their breasts in the hope that it would get his attention. Billy was too focused on me for now, no one was walking around and little kids were being held up by their parents. 

"It's nothing to worry about," I promised, the boy scoffed slightly and he sat down beside me, I glanced back at him to see what he wanted to know. 

"I'll be sitting in that stand, I want you to tell me when you're ready." 

"Okay, Billy," I whispered, smiling slightly as he squeezed my shoulder before he left, I kicked my feet in the water softly humming gently and laughing to myself as Billy yelled at some kid. He seemed perfectly content with himself as he sat in the stand and eyed everyone. Billy's lips curled into a friendly smile as he realised I was looking at him, I blushed slightly as I watched him chuckle to himself as he caught onto my reaction. Billy and I had a very strong friendship, he wasn't the asshole he was with everyone else and he relied on me and I could rely on him. I pushed myself off the concrete, politely excusing myself as I pushed through the crowds of people. 

I walked into the girl's locker rooms, reapplied my sunscreen and I stared at myself in the mirror, my upper arms and back were covered in scars from scratching due to eczema and I didn't like people picking it. Because they did, then there were stretch marks on my hips and thighs. I liked swimming, but I hated being so exposed to heartless people. I stared at the girls that walked in, each of them giving me a bitchy snarl, I went to walk out but they blocked the entrance and gave each other evil smirks. 

"Look at her, what the fuck is that on your back!" 

"Ewww! It's on her arms as well." I stared at one as she took my cover-up and then lit it with a lighter. I glared at the girl, not making any move to get it back. 

"Are those tears?" The giggling emerged from their lips, and then a girl walked closer and stared at my legs. 

"Stretch marks as well, please, it's like you're asking to never be fucked." 

"But still, she's a prude, they have wants and needs. But what guy is going to want to touch this? This body of vile, a body that will be a fuck and leave."

"Come on, you're gonna have to spread those legs soon, we better spread the memo to the guys to take a blindfold for when they fuck. I mean if you look at the facts, we're all a piece to look at and then there's you. The ugliest girl in Hawkins, no fucking way will you be with someone who wants to look at your body while you're doing it. The ugliest girl is here, before us, crying and revealing an untouchable body." I pushed past the girls, speed walking to get my bag, this was why I wouldn't be seen often at the pool, my insecurities were picked up on and it made me feel like shit. 

My eyes were blurry due to my tears, I crashed into someone, which caused a gasp to escape my lips as I felt my feet slip from underneath me. Whoever I crashed grabbed onto me before I slipped, holding onto me tightly by my wrists. I stared at the person in shock, my lip quivering as I felt my emotions take control and stared at Billy in embarrassment. 

"Darling, what happened? Who hurt you?" He immediately asked once he saw my face, I shook my head, pushing away from him and gathered my items. 

"Y/N" He whispered gently, taking my hand before I could walk away, I didn't like crying in front of people and I didn't like that people were staring at me. 

"Billy, it's fine, don't worry," I begged, pleading with my eyes, he nodded cautiously and slowly let go of my arm. I pushed past him, walking past people as they moved in odd patterns of standing in my way. A scream escaped my mouth as I was pushed into the pool, and my arm scraped across the concrete as I landed in the water. I gasped as I broke the service, unable to touch the ground, my shoulders and above poking out. I was short, so I couldn't be in the deep end of a pool. Billy jumped in almost instantly, holding onto me as I caught my breath from my little freakout. 

"Shh, I got you, just wait by the bathroom, I'll be there in a second." He whispered into my ear, rubbing my back gently, I nodded and used his help to get out of the pool. I ignored everyone and walked over to where he said. I jumped as I heard him yell at the teens, getting up close to them all in a threatening way. Billy told Heather to keep watch as he walked over to me, holding my things in his arms, he took my hand and led me to the men's locker room and shouted to the open space. 

"Hey! Everyone out, get the fuck out now!" He shouted, scaring everyone into a scrambling mess. After everyone got out, he placed a sign at the front of the entrance to say the bathrooms were closed and then sat down by me. He threw a clean towel over my shoulders, drying my face with it as he rested the towel on my shoulders and gave a small grin. 

"Thanks, Billy," I whispered, longing for his touch as he let go of my hand. He walked to the wall, took the first-aid kit down and sat back with me. He started treating the wound, making sure to be careful as he cleaned and dealt with the blood. 

"What happened? Who's made you cry?" I frowned at his question, he cupped my face in his hands and gave me a gentle smile. 

"Just some girls, they played on my insecurities and shit. Telling me I'm ugly, that my scars and stretch marks are hideous and that no guy would want to be with me or fuck me and if they did, they shouldn't look at me while we did it. That I should just hurry up and spread my legs, so I'm not a prude anymore and that I'm a 'fuck and leave' kind of her girl." I whispered to him, sniffling as I tried to hold my emotions back once more. Billy pulled me into his chest, hugging me in a tight yet soft way. I blushed slightly as Billy kissed my forehead and then looked into my eyes. 

"Well, those bitches don't know what they're talking about. You, darling, are perfect. You have a gorgeous body more girls should be happy with having a body like yours.  You are not a 'fuck and leave' kind of girl. I think any guy would be lucky to have you and I promise you, I will hurt anyone and everyone who makes you feel this way. Y/N I really hope that whoever is your first, treats you right, these insecurities of yours, they're nothing to be insecure about, they're sexy…" I giggled at his last words, hugging Billy once again and blushed as he continued to whisper in my ear. 

"They show that you're real, that you went through a cycle of life, Y/N please don't believe anything these people say, they are not true. You are infinitely perfect, I will always believe that and I hope you will too." Billy dried my tears, giving me a reassuring smile and then took my hands, pulling me up as he went to his locker. He handed me a set of my clothes, I looked at him confused, then smiled at his words. 

"I got Heather to get your things from your locker, you can put your wet things in mine until they dry." I hugged Billy again, relaxing with the idea of having Billy at my side. 

"Thank you, Billy," I whispered, he chuckled, nodding and pointed somewhere for me to change. I dried off, changing my clothes, being careful around the large bandaid that Billy placed on the obnoxious graze. I carried my items back to Billy, he smiled at me and placed my things in it. 

"I want to take you on a date." I heard him whisper, as he turned back around to face me, I grinned at his words and nodded a little stunned, to say the least, Billy grinned happily, picked me up and spun me around. Billy took a hair tie off my wrist once he placed me down, he quickly did my hair in a surprisingly neat plait. Billy handed me his whistle, winking at my confused look. 

"Blow the whistle whenever you see a girl who said that stuff to you and I'll give them a permanent band from here." 

"You'd do that for me?" 

"Always." 

And so, as we walked out, I pointed out every girl who made me feel shitty today and Billy gave them a permanent band for the pool. He even let me sit in his lifeguard chair, as he stood at the base to keep watch over everybody. Billy spoke with me about the date he already had planned, clearly leaving out some details for a surprise.

[tamales78]

Slenderman X soulmate! reader pt: 2 - New life

2 years later~

It’s now been 2 years, and now I’m Slender’s wife. He broke up with Anne, and she left. No, Slender did not kick her out she just left. I’m now his wife, Sally’s mom, and Splendor’s, Trender, and Offender’s sister in law. 

Anyway, I was in the kitchen cooking dinner when I felt someone wrap their arms around me.

“*kiss* What are you making, love?”

“Pasta and some chicken.”

He grabs a spoon and tastes the sauce.

“Mmm, it’s good. Just like you.” He whispers.

I hit him with the towel making him chuckle, he kisses me and his hands go down to my ass.

“Ewww, don’t do that!” Ben says.

“Then, don’t look!”

I giggle and Slender carries me.

“Ben, do the food.”

“Wait, WHA-”

Slender teleports us to the bedroom, and as soon as we’re they’re he throws me  to the bed.

“*giggle* Baby!”

He gets on top of me and starts kissing my body. He removes his suit and pins me to our bed.

“*kiss* I want a baby.”

“A baby?”

“Mhm, if you’re okay with it of course.”

I smirk at my husband and pull him to me, indicating that I did want a baby. 

6 months later~

*kick* *kick*

“Did you feel that, Sally?”

Sal “Mhm, mommy. When are my siblings coming?”

“*giggle* In a few months, sweetie.”

She places her little hands on my womb and my little ones kick once again. Sally then places her ear on my swollen womb and hears her siblings heartbeats. My husband comes in and looks at us.

“Sally, what are you doing?”

“Hearing the babies heartbeats.”

I and Slender laugh and he places his hand on my womb.

“How are you doing?”

“Well, my feet are swollen. my back hurts, and your children won’t stop kicking.”

He chuckles and caresses my womb.

“So, are you tired cause your brothers are coming?”

“Ugh.”

His smile fades and Sally and I laugh.

“Now, now don’t set our three children a bad example.”

“Bad example?!”

“Mhm.”

“You’re showing us to hate our siblings.” Sally says.

Slender is left dumbfounded and I and Sally laugh. I hug her and kiss her cheeks.

“That’s my daughter.” I say while kissing her cheek and holding her tight.

1 month later~

I was on my way from the store, when I felt my children kick.

“Oww.” I caress the spot and feel someone looking at me. I shrug the feeling off and keep on walking. 

However, I not only feel someone looking at me, but I also feel someone following me. I walk faster and turn to see Anne, and Zalgo!

Zal: “Well, well if it isn’t Slendies little toy, (Y/n).”

“And don’t forget his filthy whore.”

“You have no right to call me that, Anne.”

“Yes, I do! Especially after you took him from me!”

“He was never yours!”

I glare at her and feel my children kick more.

Zal: “Now, now Anne don’t hurt her. She is after all expecting twins.”

I scoot back and all of a sudden Zalgo blows some kind of dust. I grow tired, and weak then next thing I know everything goes black.

[sweet-curried-powder]

so I joined a sk8 server recently, and @lo9lziz shared a headcanon involving the sk8 boys doing karaoke, and even though i hadn't been in said server for very long and wasn't very active, i felt like i just HAD to write this fic. i just had to. so here you go dudes

here's the ao3 link if anyone's interested in that!

~~

The karaoke place was loud.

There were a lot of people in the lobby that night, their ages ranging around about late teens to early to mid-twenties. Some of them were squealing and shouting, others were just talking loudly. There was music playing on some sort of speaker that didn’t seem visible to the eyes of the public, some sort of loud, denpa music playing loudly.

It was all way too much, so much noise. It made Langa’s brain hurt, with the loud noises echoing through his skull. He gripped his arms tightly, his fingernails digging into his pale skin.

“Langa?”

The Canadian felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Reki.

“Are you okay? Is it too loud?” Reki’s voice was reassuring, with a caring tone, that reminded Langa of his mother, yet was still his best friend and crush. When Langa nodded, Reki dug in his hoodie pockets, putting some earbuds in his friend’s ears. Music started playing through the buds, one of the songs that Reki would play while they were skating. It might not be relaxing to others, but it was to Langa.

“Better?” Reki asked, taking Langa’s hands in his own, smiling as Langa nodded. “Good. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

Langa mumbled a thank you in English before looking around. “I didn’t know there were places like this here in Japan.”

“Oh yeah, there’s tons of karaoke joints here,” Miya chimed in, glancing up from a sort of menu with bright neon colors on it. “This particular place is part of some karaoke lounge chain. Karaoke is a really big deal here for some reason.”

Langa nodded, looking around the lobby. There were lots of neon colors and bright lights, and the carpeting looked like it belonged in an 80s style roller rink.

“Okay kids, does anyone want any drinks before we go up to the room?” Cherry called out, adjusting his glasses slightly. “Feel free to get any drink you want, provided it doesn’t have alcohol.”

“I’m cool with whatever,” Miya mumbled, staring at a poster on the wall.

“I’ll have a cola!” Reki shouted, grinning widely.

“I’ll have what Reki’s getting.” Langa held on tightly to Reki’s hand, which felt warm and comforting.

“Ewww, get a room you two.” Miya teased, smirking as Reki shot a look at the younger boy.

“We are. The karaoke room.” Langa shifted his weight from side to side, still holding Reki’s hand.

“You’re fucking with me, aren’t you.”

“Language, Miya,” Cherry scolded, handing the boys their drinks. “C’mon. We have the room on the top floor for the next hour and a half.”

The earbuds came off once Langa was in the elevator.

~~

The room had plenty of open space, most likely because Cherry didn’t want the gorilla (Joe) to take up a tiny ass karaoke room. There were couches and some tables, and some sort of phone that looked like a common landline on the wall, with a laminated copy of the menu from downstairs hanging on the wall. There were several microphones on the table, which was near a small yet decently sized stage in the front of the room, next to a large TV on the wall. Langa noticed some sort of tablet-like object on a table, and picked it up, staring at the screen.

“How does this…” Langa mumbled in his native language, tapping on the screen. He didn’t even know what did what, he was just pushing buttons, since everything was in Japanese, and reading it was in no way his strong suit.

“Hold on, bud. I’ll show you the ropes.” He scooted over to Langa, pointing out the buttons and translating them for the Canadian. “This button shows you what songs are most popular, and if you click here, you can filter them by language and genre. And this button shows you all the songs they have in that specific language.”

“Wow, you’re really familiar with this, Papa,” Miya noted, sipping his drink.

“Of course he does. The thirsty gorilla probably drags girls here all the time,” Cherry muttered, shaking his head as he sipped his cherry cocktail. Of course, this spiraled into a fight, which proceeded as normal, aside from the fact that Cherry was already slightly tipsy.

“Should we do something?” Reki asked. “I mean, I’m used to them fighting, but I don’t want us getting kicked out…”

“Eh, I’m pretty sure they’ll settle things after—”

“Reki. Miya.”

The sudden, unnatural tone change in Langa’s voice caused the both of them to turn their heads. Langa showed the screen to them, where bright as day, the song Sk8r Boi was highlighted.

“Oh my God, they have it on here!” Reki’s smile was so wide, you would have thought his face was going to split in half. “Miya, c’mon! We gotta sing it!”

“You think I was gonna pass it down?” Miya grabbed a microphone and bounced onto the stage. Langa queued up the song, going onto the stage next to Reki, the opening notes of the song beginning to play. Joe and Cherry stopped fighting, glancing at the small stage. Reki was doing a dorky little air guitar riff, Langa awkwardly trying to copy him while Miya bounced on his toes.

“Oh God, not this song again,” Cherry groaned, rubbing his temples. “I was hoping they didn’t have it here… fuck, are we going to be hearing this for the next hour?”

“God, I hope not.” The muscled man looked at his kids. “Don’t tell Reki I said this just now, but his singing’s kind of awful.”

“I mean, we’ve heard worse,” Cherry sighed, tilting his head back and chugging the rest of his drink. “Remember our freshman year of college? We went to a party in one of the bigger karaoke bars, I think somewhere in Tokyo, and we had a singing contest?”

“Do I? Man, that guy sounded horrible. I wanted to throw up five seconds in.”

Cherry chuckled, leaning back. “That was fun. We were fun.”

“Hey! I’m still fun!” Joe shoved Cherry playfully.

“Yeah. But we have kids now. And two out of three of them are dumber than you.”

Joe decided to let that one go for now, glancing back at the boys.

“I’M WITH THE SKATER BOY!”

“I SAID ‘SEE YOU LATER, BOY’!”

“I’LL BE BACKSTAGE AFTER THE SHOW!”

The three of them were dancing around wildly as they sang, bumping into each other and nearly falling off the stage. Langa clearly had two left feet, his dancing making it look like he was having some kind of seizure, while Reki was fairly coordinated in his movements, though it clearly looked like he was trying to match up with Langa, even somewhat.

Miya sat down on the stage after the song was over, panting softly from the intense singing and dancing. Langa took the little song selector thing, swiping through the songs, looking for something to sing.

“Let’s join the kids.” Cherry announced to Joe, standing up and stumbling slightly, tugging Joe’s giant arms, trying to pull his childhood best friend to his feet. “C’mon, you big assed gorilla.”

“You’re drunk off your ass, aren’t you Karou?” Joe stood up, trying to support Cherry as best as he could.

“I’m just tipsy. And I can be fun again,” Cherry pouted, pulling Joe to the boys. “Boys! We wanna sing.”

“...you’re drunk, mom,” Langa commented.

“A brilliant observation, snow slime,” Miya scoffed.

“C’mon, what’re we singing?” Cherry smirked, grabbing a microphone and flipping it in his hand.

“I was thinking something like—”

“NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP!” Reki shouted, loud enough to make the room shake, maybe. Langa jumped slightly, Miya returning the shit-eating grin that took up almost all of Reki’s face.

“I’ll sit this one out,” Miya giggled. “I wanna record this.” He pulled his phone out, hitting record as Langa searched up the well-known rickroll and pressed play. The familiar tune played through the speakers, and nobody looked at the TV. They knew the words by heart, thanks to a certain snow-haired teenage boy.

“WE’RE NO STRANGERS TO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE, YOU KNOW THE RULES, AND SO DO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

It was pure chaos on the stage. Langa was doing his weird seizure-like dancing, Joe was taking up a good portion of the stage, and Cherry and Reki were tied for the loudest voice in the room, though the latter was singing horribly, and the former had no shame, being drunk.

Miya was trying his hardest to not laugh his cat whispering ass off. This was going to be pure gold when he showed this to Cherry the next morning, especially if the calligrapher didn’t remember jack shit.

[hopelikethemoon]

Zoo Trip (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Zoo Trip Rating: PG-13 Length: 2600 Warnings: Family Fluff Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. Set in January 1998. Summary: Reader and the family go to the zoo. 

Taglist:  @grapemama  @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @hiscyarika @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale  @roxypeanut @just-add-butter @snivellusim @amarvelousmandalorian @lukesrighthand @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @exrebelshocktrooper @awesomefandomsunited @ah-callie @swhiskeys @lady-tano @beskar-droids @space-floozy @cable-kenobi @longitud-de-onda @cool-ultra-nerd @himbopoes @findhimfives @pedrosdoll @seeking-a-great--perhaps @frietiemeloen @arrowswithwifi​ @random066​ @uncomicalhumour​ @heather-lynn​ @domino-oh-damn​ @cyarikaaa​ @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage (if I forget to tag you, I’m sorry)

“You know, you really pull this look off.” You teased as you knelt down in front of Javier to pick up the beanie that Sofía had managed to pull off. She giggled and squirmed in her carrier, kicking her feet excitedly as you leaned in and kissed her forehead, making a dramatic kissing sound for her benefit. “You gotta keep this on, squirmy.” You told her as you pulled the hat back on, pulling it down over her ears. 

“Where’s mine?” Javier questioned, clicking his tongue against his teeth as you stood back up. He turned his head, tapping his finger against his cheek 

“Aw, Javi.” You reached up and nudged his chin so he was looking at you. “Do you need kissies too?” You questioned with a playful lilt to your tone, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips and making the same sound you’d made for Sofía. 

“Ewww.” Josie shouted, grabbing at your hand and trying to pull you away from Javier. “Mommy that’s icky.” 

You laughed, kneeling down in front of her. “Is it icky when I kiss you, babydoll?” You questioned, pulling her towards you and smothering her with kisses. 

Josie giggled, throwing her arms around your neck as she hugged you. “Can you carry me?”

“You are getting too big, kiddo.” You said with a frown, poking her in the belly. “But I can push you in the stroller. If you promise to stay belted in.”

“I don’t wanna.” She huffed, throwing her head back very dramatically. “I wanna see the lions.” 

Monica pushed the stroller closer, “I heard only big girls who sit in their strollers get to see the lions.” 

Javier nodded, “Mhm. That’s the truth, princesa. You can’t see the lions if you don’t sit in your stroller.” 

Josie crossed her arms across her chest, “But I’m not a baby.”  She moved towards him then, wrapping her arms around his leg. “Daddy, can you carry me?”

“Sweetheart, I’ve got Sofía.” He gestured to the carrier that was strapped to his chest. “Can you sit in the stroller for me?”

“I want you to carry me.” She stomped her foot.

You knelt back down to her height, “Josefina.” 

She pouted. 

“You’re not going to get Dippin’ Dots if you keep acting up.” You warned her, giving her a disappointed look. She had the worst stubborn streak, which could only be blamed on the fact that the two of you were her parents. 

Javier reached down and gave your shoulder a squeeze, “Baby, she can ride on my shoulders.” 

“Javi, your back is going to be killing you tomorrow.” As it was, it was hard enough to get him to admit to having any pain. He already had one bad shoulder and knee pain that he acted like he could just pretend away.

He shrugged, “It’s a small sacrifice.” 

You shook your head, “When you can’t get out of bed tomorrow, remember this.” You remarked, before you picked Josie up and helped her onto his shoulders. She was thrilled. “Don’t kick your sister.” 

“Okay, mommy.” Josie beamed, resting her hands on the top of Javier’s head, fingers curling around his hair. “Come on daddy. I wanna see the lions!”

“He’s not a horse.” Monica quipped with a laugh as she took your backpack and tossed it into the stroller. “She always gets what she wants, doesn’t she?”

You rolled your eyes, watching as Javier started ahead of the two of you with both of the girls. “When it comes to them, ‘no’ isn’t in his vocabulary.” You shook your head slowly. “He’s a good dad.” 

Monica nodded, “He really is.” 

You smiled at her, “That sentiment goes for you too.”

She laughed quietly, “I do not need anything.”

“What about that stuffed tiger at the front gate?” You questioned teasingly. 

“You both have already done so much for me.” Monica reminded you. “I have a safe place to live, a job, and I’m still in school because of you. There’s nothing more I could want.”

You reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “We just want what’s best for you.” And that was the simple truth. You wanted what was best for all three of your daughters. 

“Don’t get all sappy on me.” She swatted your hand away with a laugh. “How are you doing? We haven’t really talked about everything that happened…”

“I’m good.” You cut her off, “Some days are still challenges.” You shrugged your shoulders, chewing on your bottom lip as you looked straight ahead. There were still some days where it felt like your thoughts were your greatest enemy. Sofía still had days where she refused to breastfeed and it hurt. But she had gotten better and Nancy had helped you find ways to cope with that disappointment. 

“I still feel so bad…”

“Don’t.” You assured her. “I would’ve been stressed regardless of the situation.”

“I know, but—“

“Don’t blame yourself.” You shook your head slowly, “The DEA put you in a difficult situation. I’m not going to judge you for it. It’s fucked up that they targeted you.” 

“It was definitely eye-opening.”

“It’s all water under the bridge, Monica.” You bumped your shoulder into hers, offering her a smile. “And if it hadn’t happened the way it had, I don’t know if Javier and I would’ve ended up in therapy. Which we needed more than either of us wanted to admit.”

There had been so many misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and situations outside of your control. Therapy had really helped mend some of those issues. 

“You know,” She started. “I’m surprised he was so willing to go. Not to generalise, but men never seem that into talking about their problems.”

You laughed, “I don’t think Javier is into it either. But I’m pretty sure he would do just about anything to keep our family together. Even if that means spilling his guts.” A smile spread over your lips as you watched Javier up ahead. He had paused to let Josie look at the giraffes. 

“Is it helping?”

“Therapy?” You scraped your teeth over your bottom lip. “Oh, yeah. It’s helped us in a lot of ways—“

“I don’t want to know about any of the ways.”

You snorted, “Trust me, I wasn’t planning to go into any details. I’ve been sworn to take things to the grave.” You shook your head slowly, “We’re just trying to focus on our relationship.”

“I’ve noticed the hickies.”

“So judgy.” You teased, before heading towards Javier and the girls. “You’re almost as tall as a giraffe sitting up there, sweetheart.” You told Josie as she watched the zookeepers feeding the giraffes with rapt attention.

“Mommy what’s your favorite amnimal—”

“Animal.” Javier corrected her. 

“What’s your favorite animal, mommy?”

“Good question.” You tapped your finger against your lips as you considered the question. “I have always loved foxes. And Komodo dragons are pretty cool.”

Javier gave you a look. 

“What?”

“I didn’t know that.” He shrugged.

“Well, what’s yours?”

He rocked his jaw slowly, his tongue pressed to the inside of his cheek. “Maybe coyotes.” 

You cocked your head to the side, “Really?”

He shrugged, “They used to be a real problem on the ranch when I was a kid. But they’re just trying to take care of their own, in their own way. It’s not like they know what a fence is.”

You looked towards Monica then. “What about you?”

“Koalas.” She turned her backpack around to show you the koala patch she had sewed onto the front of it. “I used to have a koala wallpaper border in my room as a kid.”

“I like lions.” Josie announced, patting the top of Javier’s head. “I wanna be a lion when I grow up.” 

“Then you’ve gotta work on your roar.” Javier told her, curling his hands around her ankles as she kept kicking her heels against his chest. You could tell he was getting frustrated, it was evident in the way he was holding his jaw.

“Oh god.” Monica groaned, covering her face as she knew exactly what was coming next. 

“I’m gonna be a mighty king!” Josie sang out loudly, swaying back and forth on Javier’s shoulders. 

“You’re gonna break your father’s back if you keep at it, JoJo.” Javier warned her. “Sit still, please.”

Josie’s response was to wrap her arms around his head, “But I’m singing, daddy.” She explained, patting his forehead with her whole hand.

“Why don’t you give your old man a break, kiddo?” You suggested, holding your hands up to help her off his shoulders. “Even the cutest lion cubs have to sit in strollers.” 

Josie pouted as you pulled her down and strapped her into the stroller before she could fuss any further. “But I’m a big girl, mommy!”

“And big girls ride in strollers.” You told her, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “You still good with pushing her?” You asked Monica. 

“I don’t mind.” She assured you, readjusting the backpack that had been in the seat of the stroller, shoving into the compartment beneath it. “Just call me a lion tamer.” Monica chuckled. 

“Thank you.” You widened your eyes dramatically, before turning your attention back to your daughter. “Hey Josie?”

“Yes, mommy?”

“We’re almost to the lions.”

“Yay!” She cheered.

Javier rolled his shoulders as he rubbed at his lower back. He was clearly in pain. “Don’t.” He cautioned you as you shot him a pointed look.

“You mean, I shouldn’t say ‘I told you so’?” You questioned, shaking your head. “She’s getting too big to carry around on your shoulders. Especially with Sofía.” You moved his hand aside, rubbing your hand over the spot. “Here?”

He grimaced, “Yeah.” 

You pressed your thumbs into the spot, trying to work out the knot for him. “If you’re lucky, I’ll give you a massage tonight.” You told him, rising up on your toes so you could rest your chin on his shoulder. “Does that sound nice?”

Javier titled his head to look back at you, “I like the way you think.” 

“I thought you might.” You pressed a kiss to the back of his shoulder before pulling away. 

“You done?” Monica teased you, wearing an expression not unlike the one Josie was giving you from beneath the canopy of the stroller. 

“The kids are judging us.” You nudged Javier in the ribs, reaching down to take his hand into yours. 

“They’re always judging us, baby.” Javier countered with a smirk, giving your hand three squeezes. 

Josie was enthralled by the lions. She stood and stared at them for almost an hour. She would alternate between getting you, Javier, and Monica to kneel down beside her, while she told you about what she was seeing. “That lion is sleepy!” and “That lion likes his rock.” She was precious.

By the end of the day, she was more than willing to get into the stroller and fall asleep. She’d seen her lions, she was good. 

 ————

 “One down, one to go.” Javier remarked as he walked back into the kitchen with Sofía in his arms. She was wide awake. 

“I don’t know how she managed to sleep at the zoo. It was so noisy.” You chuckled, shaking your head as you wiped the pizza plates off over the garbage can, before putting them away in the dishwasher. 

“Let’s hope she doesn’t stay up all night.” He huffed quietly, looking down at her in his arms. “You know, baby. We made some really beautiful kids.” 

“I wonder if we’ll still be saying that when they’re teenage terrors.” You gave him a look over your shoulder, before you grabbed more dishes out of the sink and loaded them into the dishwasher. “How’s your back?”

Javier grumbled, “It’s been better.” 

“She’s getting too big, babe.” You turned around to face him, arms folded across your chest. 

He shook his head slowly, shoulders sagging. “She’s still my baby girl, though.” 

“I know.” You met his gaze. “But neither of us have been very kind to our bodies over the years. If you want to carry Sofía on your shoulders when she’s older, go easy on yourself now.” 

Sofía fussed in his arms, her little hands grabbing at the front of his shirt. 

“Here,” You offered, moving towards him to take her. “The glasses need to go in.” 

“I’ve got it.” He pressed a quick kiss to your temple as he stepped past you to finish loading the dishwasher. “Think the DEA will reimburse for PT?” Javier questioned with a humorless chuckle. 

You rolled your eyes, “Maybe after we expose their asses.” 

“Have you…” He trailed off. 

“Yeah.” You nodded, cradling Sofía to your chest, trying to lull her to sleep. But she was far more interested in tugging at your hair and making little squabbling babbles. “I said I was going to.” 

“I know.” He sighed. “I just don’t want there to be blowback. We’ve finally got things back to… normal.” Javier wiped his hands off on a dishtowel, before throwing it over the side of the sink and turning back to look at you. “I just fucking hate them.” He clicked his tongue against his teeth, “But I’m not going to stand in your way.”

“Especially since you got the contacts for me.” You reminded him, holding his gaze. “I didn’t realize how much I cared until I started on this path. I’m tired of the bullshit, Javi. Not that I want the girls to follow in my path, but if they did… I don’t want them to deal with the institutionalized bullshit I did. And then there’s Monica. Who does want to follow in our footsteps. What sort of role model would I be if I just gave up?”

You looked down at Sofía, smiling as she cooed up at you. “And I’ve talked about it — at length — with Nancy. She thinks I’m ready to start pursuing it again. I’m better.” 

“And I’m equipped to handle things if you’re not better.” Javier pointed out, folding his arms across his chest as he held your gaze. “I just want you to be happy, baby.” 

You smiled at him, looking between him and Sofía. “Javi, I am happy.”

“I’m happy too.” Javier said as he moved towards you. He wrapped one arm around your waist, his other hand resting against Sofía’s back. “Sometimes I think about what my life would’ve been like if I didn’t have you girls. And it’s bleak.” 

“I do too.” You admitted, shaking your head. “I can’t believe Josie turns five this year. It doesn’t make sense at all.” 

“Sofía is almost one.” 

“She is only six months old, Javi.” You laughed softly, leaning up to press a kiss to the curve of his jaw. “I want her to stay a baby for as long as possible.” You said as you looked down at her, relieved to see that Sofía had finally succumbed to sleep.

“Me too.” Javier agreed with a nod, looking down at her too. “Feels like just yesterday you were putting that fucking cactus on your desk.” 

You stuck out your tongue. “You’re just jealous because I had a cactus that looked like it was flipping you off.” 

He rolled his eyes, “Maybe a little.” 

You leaned up and brushed your nose against his, before you tilted your head to kiss him. It was hard to believe that Josie would be five in a little under five months. That you had started at the DEA almost eleven years ago. Time wasn’t standing still for either of you. 

[jisungsmochi]

competition - na jaemin

summary: you and jaemin have been competing alongside eachother in soccer since you were younger. it slowly became a competition when your teams were often compared to each other, so you both instead became rivals. but things change, when your teams are forced to merge.

childhood best friends to rivals (?) to lovers hehe 

a/n: i really outdid myself with this one but i just couldn’t stop writing HAHA pls enjoy it!! 

word count: 6.6k 

//

‘over here y/n !!’ you heard a high pitched voice call from your left, you giggled softly before dribbling the ball between your feet, handing it over to the six year old boy.

he dribbled skilfully before taking the final kick for the goal. both of you cheered as your parents and siblings watched on, clapping at your efforts. you ran up to him with arms wide, as did he, both meeting in the middle and embracing eachother in a slightly sweaty hug.

‘we are such a good team!’ you pat him on the back, while walking to your parents.

‘yeah we are! i can’t wait until we’re older, we can play on the same team!’ jaemin cheerfully exclaimed, making you nod in agreement.

‘i’ll see you next friday! bye jaemin’ you gave him one last hug before jogging to your parents.

‘ewww y/n! you like jaemin!’ your brother, mark teased.

‘i do not! boys have cooties!’ you crossed your arms, following your parents to the car.

‘whatever you say! i bet he will be your boyfriend in the future!’ mark taunted you while making kissy faces. although he was just a year old than you, you didn’t hesitate to slap the back of his head.

na jaemin was your best companion on the field. you practiced every friday, as your families were good friends, so your friendship was bound to have happened. but your interest in soccer was what really brought you two together.

as the years went by, your love of soccer didn’t fade away.

//

when you were both fourteen, you tried out for the regional teams at your local soccer club.

you both hyped eachother up as it would give you both an opportunity to be scouted when you both go to college.

‘y/n, you’re the best player i know, those girls have nothing on you!’ you nodded at his mini motivational speech. he looked at you with his smile which instantly made you feel at ease. you both had practiced almost everyday after school for this try out.

‘jaemin’ he looked over to you. ‘promise that we’ll play alongside eachother one day’ you pulled out your pinky, in which he nodded whilst linking his with yours and conjoining your thumbs at the end. it was a small action that was significant to you both.

‘i promise!’ he cheered before you both headed to the field.

and with flying colours, you both earned positions on your respective teams. jaemin came running to you, as he had done many times before, picking you up and spinning you around.

‘we did it! i can’t believe it! we are amazing!’ he smiled, slinging his arm around your shoulders as you both walked over to your parents.

‘we are going to own high school together!’ you smiled up at him, in which he smiled back at you.

everything was going to be perfect, so you thought.

but high school wasn’t all you expected. jaemin soon became a distant stranger. you couldn’t find time to hang out after school due to your practice schedules. and school was a whole different story, different classes, new friend groups. the whole lot. it was difficult to stay in touch. the only thing you both seemed to still have in common was your love for soccer. but it wasn’t enough to keep your friendship growing.

dinners at each other’s houses soon turned into just jaemin’s parents and his little sister. jaemin was always busy with his new friends and with his soccer team, he couldn’t come over anymore. and each time you would come over to dinner at his place, he would lock himself in his room to chat with his friends and play video games, leaving you and his little sister to watch random shows on tv. you missed him, a lot. you missed how you would both go to the local reserve to destress by kicking the ball around. you missed how he would text you at early hours of the morning because he had a nightmare. you missed how you give eachother shoulder massages before every tournament you attended. you missed na jaemin being your best friend. but this feeling soon turned into a distaste for him. you disliked how he tossed you away as soon as he found a new clique. you disliked how he became the star player on his team, when you were always placed second on yours. you disliked how no matter how many memories you both made, na jaemin refused to acknowledge your existence in the halls. you soon came to dislike na jaemin. and you weren’t so sure it would change any time soon.

//

you made your way to the soccer club, checking yourself in and meeting up with the rest of your team mates.

you only really had one other close friend on the team, yuna. she was the team’s goal keeper, and was often described as a prodigy as she only began playing soccer two years back. you both took your seats on the bleachers, awaiting the arrival of your coach. you looked over as you saw him, followed by the boys team.

‘oh no, this looks bad’ yuna gasped as the boys made their way over to your team and sat to the right of the bleachers.

‘okay so now that we are all here, i have some news. coach shin for the boys regional team has gone on part time leave due to an injury. we aren’t sure how long he will be gone for, but he and i have both agreed to merge training for the male and female teams to be on the same days.’

a wave of groans filled the stands as both teams were infuriated.

‘i understand your frustration, but i believe this is the best option as you all know we have the upcoming co-ed tournament. i will be choosing six players from each team to be on the team with consulting from coach shin. but for now, please practice as you would, and do not hesitate to practice together! now chop chop, we don’t have much time left!’ your coach blew his whistle as everyone made their way to the field.

‘i can’t believe it, the boys are complete assholes’ yuna groaned as you both left your seats.

‘i know, i can’t believe jaemin is still there’ you sighed.

‘okay but he is one of the best players in the club, you can’t deny it, he’s definitely making the co-ed team’ she looked over at him, then back at you.

‘yeah well i’m going to make it on the team as well. i need to beat him’ you spoke with such determination, yuna just nodded as you both began to practice dribbling.

on the other side of the field, jaemin was watching you practice. he hasn’t seen you on the field in a while, due to his schedule. but he couldn’t deny that you were getting better by the second. his thoughts were interrupted.

‘bro, take a shot!’ jeno yelled from the goals, as jaemin readjusted himself, before striking the ball, only for it to completely miss the goal. jeno ran up to his friend, with confusion.

‘dude you never miss, why did you miss?’ jeno questioned.

‘just...distracted’ was all jaemin could reply with.

‘by what? the girls?’ jeno joked, giving his friend a small tap on the shoulder.

‘it’s just so unfair that they are taking up half our field space as well as us having to share our practice time’ jaemin rolled his eyes, letting them land back on you.

‘yeah i know it’s whack, but if coach said it will be good then it will be. plus we have to try to get on the co-ed team’ jeno explained.

‘you mean, you, have to try’ jaemin jokes, as jeno tackled him to the ground,

‘oh you’re an asshole’

//

the next day at training, you saw that some of the girls on your team had started practicing with the boys. you weren’t completely against the idea, but it was always instilled into your team that they were our rivals. the boys team always competed in more well-known comps and had won more tournaments than your team. it was a real confidence bust. as you stepped onto the field, your coach called you over.

‘hey y/n, could you please practice with jeno? he’s still a bit unconfident with his goal kicks, and you are one of our best strikers so it wouldn’t hurt to help him out’ your coach politely asked. you didn’t dislike jeno, the way you disliked jaemin, so you agreed, making your way over to jeno. but the two boys came like a pair, get one, and forcefully get the other.

jeno gave you a small wave before jogging up to you to shake your hand.

‘hi y/n!’ he smiled at you, in which you returned,

‘hi, coach said you need help with goal kicks?’ you got straight to the point, ignoring jaemin staring from the corner of your eye.

‘yes please’ jeno followed you to the goal, observing your every move as you explained your technique. you tried your best to make it simple for him to understand. it took a while for him to get the hang of things but once he did, his face lit up. you couldn’t help but watch as jaemin glared at the both of you. you couldn’t read his expression, but he wasn’t happy.

once you had finished with jeno, jaemin approached you.

‘your leg wasn’t straight’ was all he said.

‘what?’ you struck back at him, the tone in your voice coming out harsher than you anticipated.

‘i said, your leg wasn’t straight. your knee kept bending’ he stood so his figure towered above you, his way of making it clear he felt superior. you rolled your eyes before poking his chest,

‘well hotshot, coach asked me to help jeno, and he actually got it. so my leg may not be ‘straight’ but i still got the job done’ your eyes pierced into his.

he scoffed, while crossing his arms,

‘i could have done better’ his whole composure infuriated you. this wasn’t the jaemin you used to practice with everyday. this wasn’t the jaemin who would compliment your every move.

‘just shut your mouth for once, jaemin, no one asked for your opinion’ you shoved past him, as jeno was jogging to you guys.

‘hey what happened?’ he asked you politely, trying to stop you from storming off.

‘he’s an asshole’ was all you could say before making your way to the bleachers and packing your things. you hated that he made you feel so small. you needed to prove to na jaemin that you were a good player, no matter what it takes.

//

the weekend had come along and it was a local tournament for your team. the boys were pretty much forced by coach to attend in order to analyse how the girls play. you and yuna were preparing for the match, tightening your shoe laces and doing some last minute stretching.

‘okay girl, what’s the game plan?’ she asked you as you both walked into the field.

‘game plan is to show these boys how it’s done’ you chuckled as you fist bumped her and made your ways to your designated spots.

the team you were up against were known local champions, you had only won against them a few times, but they had a well known rep for playing dirty. as the game commenced, everything went at such a quick pace. players from your team were getting tripped over, and constantly getting blocked shots. it frustrated you how embarrassing it seemed from the boys’ perspective. you had received the ball, whilst two players from the opposing team were chasing you down, one of them tripped you over as the other ran for the ball. as you fell to the ground, you felt your ankle twist, instantly knowing it wasn’t going to end well. as your body hit the ground, you immediately reached for your ankle in pain, calling out for the ref. the ref dismissed the action from the other players, and called a time out. your coach, along with some players from your team, helped you to the bench.

‘does it hurt when i do this?’ your coach was worried about the extent of the injury. you shook your head.

‘how about this?’ he strained it in another direction,

‘oh god yes it does’ you winced before grabbing your ankle again.

‘okay it’s not broken, just a sprain, someone get her some ice, you need to be on rest for the next few weeks’ he sighed, evidently stressed about the whole situation.

‘but coach, i need to make the co-ed team’ you cried,

‘try outs for that team aren’t for another two months, you will be okay’ he pat your shoulder as someone aided you with ice.

fuck this, was all you could think.

you scanned the bleachers as your eyes met with jaemin, who, for once, seemed to be worried. you ignored his glance before attending to your ankle.

//

despite your injury you still wanted to attend practice even if it meant you were to be put on the bench. jaemin constantly kept looking over at you, as if he was unsure on whether to approach you or not. you were tapping away on your phone when you felt a presence next to you,

‘how’s the ankle?’ he asked in a monotone voice.

‘why do you care?’ you shut off your phone and glared at him.

‘just asking’ he shrugged, taking a seat next to you.

‘it’s fine, i mean, i can’t really feel it but if i move it the wrong way, it just hurts so bad’ you sighed, unsure of why you were letting this out on him.

‘i’ve had a sprained ankle before, it will pass, don’t worry too much about it’ he awkwardly spoke as you just nodded. the tension was slightly unbearable.

‘you going to try out for co-ed?’ he decided to continue the flow of the conversation.

‘yeah of course, i can’t wait to beat you’ you chuckled softly, watching as his eyes met yours.

‘oh really now? with that little ankle of yours?’ he shot you his flawless smile that used to calm you down when you were younger.

‘once i’m healed you better watch out’ you continued with the banter. it felt nice to talk normally with jaemin again, but it still didn’t excuse the way he had acted towards you in the past.

‘i’m sooo scared’ he put his hands up in defence, yet again, smiling at you.

stop doing that, you thought to yourself.

‘it’s been a while’ you sighed, he looked at you with a confused expression.

‘since we’ve properly talked’ you explained, as he slowly nodded.

‘yeah about that i’m-‘

‘HEY! jaemin! my mum’s here to pick us up!’ jeno interrupted, as he made his way to the car park.

‘oh i’m sorry i should go, nice talking to you after so long’ jaemin quickly packed his things before rushing off to meet jeno.

he was something else. one moment he was criticising you on your kicks, and now he’s trying to be all friendly.

//

during school, you would never even taken notice of jaemin, but since that conversation at practice, it was all you could do. everywhere you went, he was somehow always there. part of you wanted to talk to him, but it seemed like something you both could only do at practice.

your brother, mark, was picking you up from school that day. as you put on your seatbelt, he started the car.

‘woah hold on, is that jaemin? i haven’t seen that guy in ages!’ mark spoke in awe before popping his head out the window,

‘yo jaemin!!’

the brunette boy noticed someone calling his name and made his way over to mark’s car.

‘what the fuck are you doing?’ your eyes widened as you slid down the car seat.

‘hey mark, it’s been a while’ jaemin was at the driver’s window.

‘oh hi y/n’ he smirked as you gave him a small wave before rushing to grab your phone.

‘damn you’ve gotten taller, wanna come hang out at our house, we’ve got to catch up!’ mark offered him, before you blurted,

‘no!’ the two boys looked over at you in confusion.

‘i- i mean, shouldn’t we also invite his parents too? mum and dad are both home from work today’ you quickly put together, watching as mark nodded in agreement.

‘yeah sounds good’ jaemin spoke, causing you to look over at him.

‘cool, come over at 6’ mark waved goodbye as he drove off.

‘why did you do that?!’ you slapped his arm.

‘hey! unlike you, i am still friends with him okay? and dude, are you sure you don’t have a crush on him? because i see the way you been looking at eachother an-‘

‘one more word and i’m going to dye all your white shirts, pink’ you threatened as the older boy became quiet.

what in the world was going to happen tonight?

//

six o’clock struck. your parents were frantically setting the table, excited that their friends were coming over after a while of not seeing eachother. you felt bad that they had stopped hanging out, partly due to your distance from jaemin. mark was excited as well, him and jaemin would play fifa on the playstation together, whilst you would bother them to watch a movie with you. it felt like old times were reoccurring.

the doorbell rang, and you being the closest, walked over the answer it. there you saw jaemin and his parents. he was dressed in a grey hoodie and some black jeans. it was a simple outfit but it made him look more fit and attractive. which you didn’t want to admit. you greeted them all politely as jaemin’s mum began to explain,

‘ah yes yeeun is currently on school camp so she is unable to be here’ you also missed hanging out with jaemin’s sister, hopefully that day will come again soon. both of your parents instantly reconnected, chatting away in the living room.

‘hey‘ you smiled at him softly. he looked down at you with slight admiration.

‘hey’

‘it’s been a while’ you spoke awkwardly.

‘yeah almost, three years?’ jaemin sighed, looking around your house that he once used to come to everyday.

‘not much has changed, really’ you led him towards your room, where a large butterfly sculpture was stuck on the outside of your door.

‘this is still here?!’ his mouth widened in shock.

‘yeah well, using super glue to stick this bad boy on, makes it difficult to remove’ you smiled as you opened the door,

‘ah my bad i’m sorry about that! but hey, i was eight’ he shrugged before looking around your room.

he walked over to your trophies that were displayed on a bookcase next to your study table.

‘so what’s new with you?’ you asked, taking a seat on your bed.

‘umm a lot? y/n, we haven’t spoken since like three years ago’ he sat next to you, leaving some space between you both.  

‘yeah, who’s fault was that?’ you mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

‘what do you mean?’ he tried to regain your attention.

‘you’re the one who stopped being friends with me!’ you threw your hands in the air in annoyance.

‘not true! you’re the one who left me for another group!’ he retorted, your eyebrows furrowed, irritated at his words.

‘well you’re the one who stopped coming over. you stopped talking to me at school and you stopped taking the bus to practice with me. what else was i supposed to do, but make new friends!’ you scowled at him, angered that he was trying to put the blame on you.

he was unable to say anything in return, instead he pulled your head against his chest and ran his fingers through your hair.

‘i- i just thought that, we were drifting already since we weren’t in the same classes, so i just cut our friendship off to just, try and make things easier. it’s not a good excuse i know, but i thought its what you wanted’ he explained, his words trembling as you felt his hands shake.

‘i didn’t want to stop being friends’ you wiped some tears that left your eyes and looked up at him.

‘i’m sorry for everything.’ he mumbled just loud enough for you to hear.

‘it’s okay’ you nodded, placing your arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug.

‘can we try to pick things up where they left off?’ he offered, unsure of what your response would be.

you debated on your response. remembering the times he was completely rude to you.

‘we can try. but the moment you act like an asshole, i’m not afraid to hit you’ you threatened as a smile crept onto his face.

‘thankyou for giving me another chance’ he muttered.

‘it’s okay, promise you won’t mess this up?’ you pulled out your pinky. he smiled widely at your actions before linking your pinkies together and joining your thumbs.

‘i promise’

and with those words, and the official seal of friendship, na jaemin wasn’t so unbearable.

//

the next practice you both attended, your coach allowed you to participate in some simple training.

‘hey, your ankle seems to be healing pretty quickly!’ jaemin approached you, as he trapped the ball between his feet.

‘oh yeah, it’s barely hurting anymore’ you smiled back at him. although it has only been a week since he had come over for dinner, you both attempted to somehow rekindle your friendship. at times it was still awkward and you both were unsure of how to continue the conversation, so you both unanimously agreed to only talk during practice.

jeno and yuna would often join you both, abiding by your coach’s orders of light training. so the four of you were just passing the ball to eachother in a circle while talking about events at school.

yuna, unfortunately didn’t attend your school, which often led to her ranting about her crush on a guy in her maths class by the name of haechan.

‘ugh he’s just so nice to me but he’s so oblivious! i invited him to go to the movies but then he invited one of his friends as well because he thought it was a group thing, so i ended up third wheeling them!!’ she groaned, passing the ball over to jeno.

‘that’s a tough blow, maybe you just need to be more straight up?’ he passed the ball over to jaemin,

‘or how about this? get over him! you were already clear by asking him out’ jaemin shrugged before tapping it over to you.

‘i agree, he isn’t worth your time’ you stated to your best friend as she nodded along to everyone’s advice.

‘you are all probably right, fuck boys’ she giggled as jeno chased her to the other side of the field.

‘they would be cute’ jaemin muttered, standing beside you.

‘i mean i guess’ you chuckled, ‘want to go out? just the four of us?’ you offered as he agreed,

‘damn you’re asking me out on a date already? y/n i don’t like you like that’ jaemin smirked as you shoved his shoulders,

‘can you like not be self absorbed for like five minutes?’

‘no can do’

//

you were seated next to jaemin as yuna and jeno sat across from you both.

‘we’re really having mcdonald’s for dinner?’ yuna commented, whilst taking a bite of her fries.

‘got a problem?’ you retorted, causing her to chuck a fry at you.

‘so how are we feeling about co-ed try outs? i mean, we HAVE to all make it’ jeno started the conversation.

‘but jeno, we are both goalies, only one of us can be the team’s goalkeeper, and besides i suck at dribbling’ yuna sighed.

‘don’t be discouraged! we can help you’ jaemin offered, trying to cheer her up.

‘yeah, it’s no fun if one of us is left out!’ you exclaim, remembering back to when you and jaemin promised to play on the same team together one day.

as you all parted ways from car park, jaemin approached you.

‘hey y/n, want me to drive you home?’

you were originally waiting for mark, but remembered that he was studying for his college exams. you nodded in response to his offer and entered the passenger seat of his car.

‘wanna go somewhere?’ he mumbled, looking over at you. there was a short silence before you responded,

‘let’s go to the reserve’ you smiled as his face lit up. that reserve held so many of your memories. the time that you and jaemin were hiding from mark and yeeun when playing hide and seek. the time that jaemin got rejected by his crush in 7th grade and asked you to buy him lollies so you could both talk about it.

you hopped out of the car, meeting jaemin at the centre of the reserve.

‘it’s so quiet’ he whispered, slinging his arm around you, like many times before.

but this time it felt different. you missed the feeling of his arm around you. you missed his hugs and his motivational speeches, you really missed jaemin.

‘yeah it is’ you sighed before taking a seat on the grass. jaemin followed, not saying a word before pulling you closer to his side and allowing your head to rest on his shoulder.

‘remember when we were younger, and we wanted to play on the same team so badly that you even tried to cut your hair shorter so you would look like a boy’ jaemin chuckled, causing you to lightly slap his thigh.

‘hey! i had to live with a bowl cut for a whole year before my hair reached past my shoulders’ you whined, hiding your face in the crook on his neck, which made his composure stiffen. he wrapped his arm around you before continuing to tease,

‘no you looked very cute, the bowl haircut really suited you’

you didn’t know why he made you feel so fuzzy inside but you didn’t want that feeling to go away. you wanted to keep feeling how na jaemin made you feel.

moments passed before you moved your head to face jaemin. his side profile was so gorgeous, it made you speechless. his jawline was defined, his cheeks weren’t as full, his lips were plump. he soon took notice of you staring, turning his head to look you directly in the eyes. your faces were mere centimetres apart, if you would have just moved slightly forward your lips would have touched. jaemin’s eyes flickered between yours and your lips. his breath was hitting the surface of your lips as you felt his hand move a piece of hair from your face. he let his hand linger there, still not saying a word. you wanted to just close that gap, but you were unsure of how he felt about it.

‘i- i mean we should go’ he whispered to you, pulling away from you. you didn’t know why your heart hurt at his actions. you wanted to kiss jaemin right then and there, but you guessed that he clearly didn’t feel the same. you quickly made your way to his car, he remained silent the entire trip back to your house. as he pulled up to your drive way, you turned to him before saying,

‘i’m sorry about earlier, it wasn’t meant to happen. i mean, god i don’t know. i’m sorry, thanks for the ride, bye’ you stammered, making your way out of his car and heading inside. jaemin sat back in his seat, his heart beat finally resuming to pump at a steady pace.

he wanted to kiss you. but the timing didn’t feel right to him. he didn’t want to hurt you, like he did years before. jaemin sat in your driveway for a few minutes, recounting the events in his mind, replaying what he should have done differently. eventually he just groaned to himself before driving back home.

as you entered your room, you immediately called yuna, ready to pour your emotions out for the rest of the night.

//

a week had gone by since that day. your ankle was 99% healed, and you were cleared to play as usual. you entered the field and immediately began practicing your goal kicks. yuna was absent due to a cold, so your next best goalkeeper was jeno. you were shooting balls at him, left and right and he managed to save more than you expected.

‘let’s take a break’ he almost wheezed before walking up to you and handing you a water bottle.

in the back of your mind, you wondered where jaemin was, it wasn’t like him to skip out on practice, but part of you also didn’t want to know, in fear that your embarrassment would resurface.

‘try outs are next week, how you feeling?’ jeno asked, spreading himself flat on the field. you chuckled whilst copying his actions.

‘i feel good about it, and you?’ you question him back, as he lets out a small sigh.

‘fingers crossed, am i right?’ was all he said. you weren’t sure how to respond so you remained silent as you both stared at the stars in the sky.

‘hey’ you suddenly blurred, causing jeno to sit up and face you.

‘how do you know, if a guy likes you?’

jeno gave you a puzzled look before thinking of what to say.

‘well, depends, are you talking about any other guy or are you talking about jaemin?’ your eyes widened at the boy’s question, worried that you had been too obvious.

‘how did you know?’ you hung your head low to play with the grass.

‘i’ve seen the way you both look at eachother, you don’t just do that with a friend’ he shrugged before approaching you closer. ‘y/n, what are you waiting for?’

you weren’t sure what he really meant. it wasn’t like you were waiting for jaemin to confess. you weren’t waiting for you both to have some romance story to tell people. you weren’t sure of what you wanted from na jaemin.

‘i’m just scared, that things are going to go back to the way they were before. us ignoring eachother and not being friends’ you muttered, pulling your knees to your chest.

‘it won’t happen, you just need to be upfront with him. jaemin can be reserved and quite the ignorant guy, but he will let his guard down’ jeno reassured you, whilst softly rubbing your back.

his words remained with you for the rest of the night. as you laid in bed at 2:34am, not able to fall asleep, you called the one person you needed to talk to most.

‘y/n?’ the deep voice groaned, clearly having been woken by your call.

‘meet me at the reserve in 15 minutes, we need to talk’ you quickly hung up and put on warmer clothes. jaemin was confused to say the least, but he agreed that you both needed to talk.

and just like that, 15 minutes later, his car pulled up to the reserve where you sat in the centre of the field, just like many nights ago. you could hear his footsteps approach you, your heart pounding with every step he took. he hunched down to meet you at eye level before taking a seat next to you.

‘you called me out here to talk’ he spoke so softly, you didn’t want to look at him. instead you stared at some trees before replying,

‘what are we?’ you struck at him, watching as his demeanour changed.

he became more enclosed, his lips sealed and hands in his pockets.

‘what do you mean?’ he cluelessly replied.

‘you know what i mean, jaemin. you can’t keep confusing me. i can’t keep going on thinking we can still be just friends when you haven’t even properly told me how you feel.’ you sighed as you faced him, his face washed with a blank expression.

‘you haven’t told me how you feel either’ he retorted. part of you wanted to scream at him, but you knew he was right.

‘fine. i’ll say it. i like you, na jaemin. i’ve liked you since we were little. i’ve liked you since you took my hand after each fall in our practice games. i’ve liked you since you plastered a stupid butterfly sculpture on my door because you said it looks pretty. i’ve liked you since you promised me that we would make it on the same team one day. but these past three years, i’ve been battling myself into not liking you. i’ve tried to hate you because you just tossed me away. like all our memories didn’t mean anything to you. do i even mean anything to you?’ you suddenly felt tears rush down your face, your breathing becoming heavy and your fists were balled up. jaemin stared back at you, with every ounce of hurt he had ever felt. he didn’t want to hurt you. that was his number one priority since you were children, but he didn’t exactly that.

he pulled you to his side and stroked your hair to calm you down.

‘y/n, you mean more to me than you will ever give yourself credit for. i thought that i was holding you back, three years ago. you were pretty much the star player of the club, i couldn’t compete. i know that we were on different teams, but i wanted to be better than you. and fuck, that feels so selfish and arrogant to be saying right now but i hated how we were both brought up the same but you were significantly improving whilst i remained the exact same. so i decided that being friends with you, would only bring a lifetime of competitiveness and jealousy. there wasn’t a day that went by where i didn’t regret my actions.’ jaemin reached for your hands to interlock. still continuing to stroke your hair as you listened to his sweet voice.

‘now that we’ve had the chance to reconnect. i feel like an asshole. i should have kissed you that night. i kicked myself everyday since then because i didn’t do it. i just didn’t want to end up hurting you, so i pushed you away. and i am sorry for doing that to you’ jaemin pulled your face to be met with his. both his palms rested on your cheeks as he made eye contact with you.

‘before i keep rambling about how much i fucked up, i wanna say that, i like you too. even though it took me longer to realise it, i like you.’ he said above a whisper, your lips now millimetres apart. a smile crept to your lips, your tears had halted as you were admiring his words. na jaemin liked you back. that’s all you needed.

you leaned in closer, waiting for him to continue. he smiled back at you before softly pressing his lips against yours. his hands moved down to the side of your neck as the kiss got deeper. your hands played with his hair as he motioned for you to lay down on the grass, his body towering over you. his lips were so soft, so supple, everything about him was so amazing. he pulled away for a split second,

‘can we continue this in my car? It’s getting cold out here’ he smirked as you eagerly nodded.

god, he was something else.

//

today was the day. co-ed tryouts were commencing. you, jaemin, jeno and yuna huddled together,

‘okay everyone, let’s kick ass and show them what we’ve got!’ jaemin cheered as you all pat eachother on the back.

jaemin pulled you aside, pulling you in for a kiss, that lasted a big too long for everyone’s liking.

‘oh god they’re doing it again’ yuna fake gagged before pulling jeno to the field.

jaemin chuckled at their reactions before mumbling to you,

‘you got this baby’ you blushed at his words before giving him another quick kiss and running to your position on the field.

you pumped out your absolute best skills in this game, you had to put it all on the line. making this team would mean that you had a chance for college, and you needed it more than anything.

after what felt like hours of constant running and kicking, the game came to an end. you ran up to jaemin and embraced him in a hug as he swung you around.

‘that’s it, we’re done!’ he smiled before kissing your cheek.

‘i can’t believe we made it to this point’ you were in awe that in just a few moments, you would find out if you had actually made it.

jeno and yuna joined the both of you as you all walked to the leaderboard with the names listed.

‘oh i can’t look, one of you guys do it for me please!’ yuna trembled, hugging your side. you also put your hands over your eyes, asking jaemin to tell you the results. the boys both took a deep breath before reading the list of names. they both didn’t say anything. you and yuna slowly opened your eyes as the boys led you away from the leaderboard.

jeno looked solemnly at the both of you, along with jaemin who had his head in his hands.

‘what happened? did we not make it?’ you asked nervously, clinging onto yuna.

‘no’ jaemin blurted, followed by a sigh. ‘we all fucking made it! let’s gooooo!’ he cheered loudly, pulling you off the ground once again and spinning you around.

‘oh fuck you na jaemin!’ you giggled whilst slapping him lightly.

‘don’t do that again!’ yuna rolled her eyes before slapping jeno’s arm.

‘guys we are the dream team’ jeno stayed as you all laughed.

‘this is amazing! we have to celebrate! let’s go to mcdonald’s!’ yuna exclaimed, ‘race you to jaemin’s car!’ she laughed as jeno chased her to the car park.

you looked over at jaemin who couldn’t stop smiling.

‘you’re something else’ you pulled him to your side and slung his arm around your shoulder.

‘yeah but you love it’ he teased.

‘yeah and i love you’ your words stopped jaemin in his tracks, as he brought you to face him.

‘what did you say?’ he spoke in disbelief, looking for any sign of bluffing from you.

‘i love you, jaemin’ you said again with more confidence.

his smile got even brighter, if that was even possible. he attacked you with kisses all over your face and finally attached his lips to yours, pulling you in by the waist.

‘i love you too, so so much’ he mumbled against your lips, not caring that families were witnessing your major public display of affection. his forehead rested against yours as he stared into your eyes.

na jaemin was never meant to be your competition. he was meant to be your first love. he always has been.

[mulderscreek]

Title: Candy Cane  Author: msgilliana AO3 link

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, they belong to CC (🙄), FOX, 1013, blah blah blah. Summary: Day 1: Candy Cane

Note: I thought I’d contribute to the Nursery Files, so the nest several posts from me are going to be my pregnant Scully ficlets from my Ficmas 2020 collab with Lainey/bisexualreina . I’ll post about 2-3 stories a day so as to not spam.

——————————

“We’re home!” Mulder announced as he took the key out of the lock, followed by a much softer but still loud “Mommy, we’re back!”

“How was it?” Scully asked, wiping her hands on a towel as Mulder went to give her a kiss, placing the plastic bags full of groceries on the counter.

“Ewww! Daddy has cooties, mommy!”

Both adults chuckled as Mulder swooped up their four-year-old daughter. He held her at the side of his chest so she was eye-level with her mother. Mulder leaned in, Emily giving Scully a kiss on the cheek.

“We got candy, mommy!” the little girl exclaimed.

Scully arched an eyebrow, but Mulder feigned innocence.

“Oh?” she asked, prompting her partner to speak.

“In my defense, they should not make candy canes that taste like Sweet Tarts!”

Skeptically, Scully slowly made her way to where Mulder had set down the grocery bags. Looking through both, she pulled out a pack of plain red and white peppermint candy canes, and another pack, this one with various colors of the sugary rods. The latter had two missing, which she assumed had been consumed by her partner and child on the way home from the store.

“I see someone got a little excited,” she teased, lightly tapping Emily’s nose with her finger.

The blonde giggled and held her hands out, signaling she wanted to be held by her mother.

“Not right now, Em. Mommy needs to not carry anything,” Mulder told her.

“Mulder, I’m fine.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“And I am.” Scully took the child, supporting her with one hand and adjusting her with the other.

“When is brudder getting here?” Emily asked innocently as Mulder placed the groceries in the proper place. He left the candy canes out.

“Not for a few more weeks.” Scully pushed hair out of her daughter’s face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Now, do you wanna help make brownies?”

“Yeah!” Emily started to wiggle, accidentally kicking Scully.

“Be careful, baby.”

“Sorry, mommy.”

Scully let her down and Emily dragged a stool next to where her mother was. Standing on top, she was tall enough to help.

“Okay, so take this,” Scully said, handing her a hard, white plastic spoon, “and stir. Like this.” She showed the little girl the proper stirring motion, and let her do that while she put up the vegetable oil and egg carton.

“Having fun?” Mulder asked, who was watching from the bar.

“Yeah!”

“I think she likes helping,” Scully noted.

“I can’t wait to eat them!” Emily exclaimed.

“Soon,” Scully chuckled.

——————————

After the chocolatey goodness had been stirred, poured, baked, and consumed, the small family sat in front of the television watching a cheesy holiday movie.

“You know basically all Hallmark movies are the same?” Mulder commented.

He was currently sitting on the edge of the couch with his partner in the middle. His arm was around her shoulder and her swollen bare feet laid across his lap.

“This isn’t a Hallmark movie.”

“Ah, potato, po-tah-to.”

“I like this movie!” Emily piped up from Scully’s side.

“Two against one.” The redhead smiled, giving Mulder a quick kiss before slowly getting up. She placed a hand in her belly for stability, and made sure she had her footing before moving to the kitchen.

Mulder followed her with his eyes questioningly until he found her motivation. She was taking one plain and two colored candy canes out of their respective packaging and held them in her hand as she came back to the living room. He continued to look as he helped her sit with an exasperated sigh.

“I could’ve gotten those, Scully.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” she said, handing a colored candy cane to their daughter after opening the tightly twisted plastic and pulling it over the curve of the cane.

She handed another one to Mulder, keeping the plain one for herself.

“These are good, mommy!”

“Who knew candy canes were enough to keep this one satisfied?” Mulder asked jokingly.

“They are good,” Scully noted, tasting the red and white colored cane. “I remember eating these with Missy as we walked around the shopping center listening to the Christmas music.” She smiled sadly at the memory with her late sister. “These always make me feel nostalgic.”

“The power of peppermint in the shape of a stick.”

Scully eyed him curiously and jammed the sticky top close to his mouth. He chuckled as he play-spit and grabbed her feet, startling her.

“You’re silly, daddy!”

“Daddy is silly,” Scully agreed.

Mulder stuck his tongue out in jest, causing the small human much amusement. Placing Scully’s feet in his lap again, he slowly massaged the aching skin. She laid her head on his shoulder and Emily snuggled up next to her.

When the movie finished, he reached for the remote to turn the tv off. Looking at his side, he saw his partner fast asleep with their daughter curled up in what little lap space was left. The four-year-old hugged her mother’s belly with a visible drool spot on Scully’s shirt. Two candy cane wrappers were held under her hand atop her mother’s stomach so they didn’t fall off.

Mulder carefully got up from the couch and grabbed his phone to take a picture of the sweet moment. However, he’d forgotten to make sure the flash was off and woke Scully up when the brightness filled the room for a split second. Groggily, she opened her eyes and clutched the plastic wrappers.

“Sorry, Scully.”

“‘s no problem.” She rubbed Emily’s back and her belly before stretching her arms up.

“You think she’s out?” Mulder asked.

“I’m sure she’ll wake soon. The baby’s been pretty active today.”

“I don’t know how you’re able to sleep.”

“Well, it’s not the most restful, but I’m so exhausted these days I just… do, I guess.”

Mulder sat back down on the couch and placed a hand around her shoulders again. He placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth and she smiled sleepily. Kissing her again, deeper this time, he cupped her face and the corner of her lips turned upward.

“You better stop before you wake a certain someone,” she whispered.

Mulder ignored her and kissed her again.

Scully removed her lips from Mulder’s. “Hey, you still haven’t finished your candy cane,” she noticed. It was sitting on the end table.

“Eh, who cares.” He moved toward her, lips pursed, but Scully stopped him.

“We need to put her to bed first before we do anything else.”

Emily got woken up and she slowly walked down the hallway holding her father’s hand. After the little girl had been changed and put to bed, the adults resumed their previous romantic activities. The candy lay forgotten as quite gasps and smacks filled their bedroom.

[choruscas]

suptober day 07: domestic

please let me know if you’d like to be added to my tag list! (or removed if you prefer) it tags you in all my short stories like these so you never miss them!

doctor!castiel, mechanic!dean, parent!deancas by the way, i’m a complete and utter sucker for parent au’s and domestic fluff so this is what i interpreted with the prompt.

“Claire and Jack Winchester! Your ride is here!” Mrs. Thacker, the third grade teacher of the school called out.

Carrying their big backpacks on their little bodies, Jack held Claire’s hand across the parking lot and into their Chevy Impala. The crisp air made them tug at their jackets harder and pulling their gloves tighter.

The chatter spoke behind them as they opened the car door, Jack helped Claire hop in and then quickly ran to the other side.

It was October 7th, a Friday. Monday was Columbus Day so school was out so they got an extra day weekend. The best kinds of weekends. Next week would be a four day week, which was an extra treat when it came to days off.

“Hello, Claire! Hello, Jack!” Castiel turned around in his seat, looking at his children with such joy. They both were adorable kids.

“Hey kiddos.” Dean said at the same time, looking up at the mirror, making sure they were buckled in before he began driving. Claire had just learned how to do hers correctly, which both dads were grateful of.

“Hi daddy! Hi papa!” Claire said to Castiel, then to Dean, her platinum blonde hair bouncing and shining in the light from the sun.

Jack had also said his greetings to his parents and stuffed his backpack on the floor, unzipping the front compartment and grabbing his red folder out. The words “Jack Winchester” were on the top written in Sharpie, in neat handwriting, presumably Mrs. Thacker’s.

“How was school?” Dean asked, looking at the both of them through the rear view mirror again.

“It was a-muh-zing, papa!” she called out in a sing-song voice, her little sneakered feet kicking her seat.

“Here, dad,” Jack handed the folder over to Castiel just as they were reaching the road. “It’s my weekly folder. I’ll give it back Monday.”

“Actually, you’re not going to school Monday!” Castiel told them, smiling with a wide grin at the both of them.

“Yay!” They both exclaimed in unison. Although they were two years apart (Jack being in third grade, Claire being in first) they were still connected like twins.

The husbands exchanged glances and Dean had realized they weren’t holding hands, so he quickly changed that. The red folder sat in Castiel’s lap that he will look at in just a second, as soon as he was done talking with his children. A blush appeared on his face when Dean reached up his hand and placed a chaste kiss on Castiel’s knuckle. That caused an ‘ewww’ from both children in the backseat. Afterwards, the family smiled, causing a glow in all of their hearts that they shared without communication.

The Winchester family was a small one, but with their large hearts combined, it was filled with love and compassion that all four of them had for each other.

“And we have another surprise.”

“Are we going to McDonald’s?” asked Claire.

“Burger King?”

“Are we surrogating another baby?”

“Woah!” Now that caused a ruckus out of the couple. No way were they having another one. They decided two was 

. “No, ma’am.”

“Aw. Okay, daddy.” Claire fake pouted, and Castiel reached back to pinch her nose to cause her to giggle.

“We’re actually going to California!”

“We’re seeing Uncle Sammy and Aunt Jess?!” Jack exclaimed, his face and body peeking up in excitement.

Dean nodded, a smile wide across his face. He squeezed tighter on Castiel’s hand. This was the first time in a while that they were all able to go on a vacation, more specifically to California, as Castiel’s job as an oncologist had really pulled a strive on the family.

Often times he worked the night shift and would be asleep by the time Dean had dropped them off at school. Oddly enough, school started at seven in the morning for them, but Dean’s mechanic job didn’t start until 8:30. So he would come home — since the school was simply five minutes away from their house — and make Castiel breakfast and black coffee. He would enjoy that little time with his husband of twelve years for about an hour before he needed to head out.

Castiel wouldn’t admit this, but he feels extremely guilty for how his job has distanced the family and his relationship with Dean. The whole family was still strong and compassionate, but Castiel not being there at night and in the mornings affected it greatly.

Castiel has tried to keep it hidden, but crying into Dean’s shoulder after a long shift was a common thing between the men. Sometimes Jack and Claire talked to their dad about how they feel like they only have one dad, and it completely broke his heart.

Finally, Castiel had gotten a little bit of a break. Perfect timing, considering it was on Columbus Day weekend. He cried tears of joy when he was finally able to relax.

“Yes! Aren’t you excited?” Castiel replied, joy bubbling in his heart. He loved his family so much, as they have all three changed him for the better. He had never had a family like this, so he promised himself to keep it special forever.

The children began chatting amongst themselves, predicting if Jess’ baby would be a boy or a girl, and if so, what their names would be. The whole car had a good belly laugh when Claire blurted out the name “Princess” for a girl with a straight face.

Holding on tighter, Dean smiled over at his husband with a proud look in his eyes. They were good parents with amazing children and an even better family altogether. They had done it.

Domesticity at its finest.

(tags below)

@potato-painter

[writingfandomfeels]

Scott McCall - Stories From Camp

Every kid always has stories from their times at camp. They get excited sharing them and they almost always include something adventurous and amazing. Not you. The idea of being stranded in the woods with strangers telling you what to do, when to eat, what to eat, and basically giving you chores, sounded a bit like the definition of prison, just in the wilderness. But apparently others found that very appealing. You figured once you’d passed grade school the question of summer camp was no longer there, and yet, here you were. All in the name of college applications. Volunteer work looks good on college applications and since you liked kids you thought you’d try out this camp counselor business. Quick into the gig you found yourself having a lot of fun, especially when it came to another camp counselor: Scott. He was amazing with the kids. You’d already had quite a few shifts with him, each one leaving you grinning like an idiot. At the moment you were on your way to conducting arts and crafts with him and his friend, and honestly, you’d been looking forward to it all day. 

You stood at the head of the long table where the group of small children were talking and playing around with the craft supplies in front of them. 

“If everyone could… if, I could have your attention… if you could please listen…” You stuttered, trying to get the attention of the young group to give the instructions. 

“Hey everyone!!! Let’s all listen to what counselor Y/N has to say and then we’ll make our crafts, okay?!!” Scott projected his voice above the many others and the children quieted down for you. 

“Thanks” you smiled at him then proceeded to give the instructions on the craft. The kids were given the option of either making a card for someone, or making caterpillars out of cut up egg cartons and decorating them. 

“What’s your caterpillar’s name Stiles?” A little boy asked Scott’s friend who was decorating an egg carton next to the child. 

“What? It’s an egg carton.” Stiles replied. 

You saw Scott (who’s face was covered in stickers a little girl had put on him) give Stiles a look, seeming to ask him to be nice to the kid. 

“Uhhh, Jimmy.” Stiles named the carton. 

The boy inspected the carton before shaking his head. “No, I think his name is Randall.” 

“Okay, fine, then it’s Randall.” Stiles begrudgingly gave in. 

As you helped a kid with the glitter glue, you overheard Scott and the little girl he was sitting with. 

“Wow! That looks amazing! What do you think it should say inside?” Scott asked her. 

“Ummmm, well she has really pretty hair. Maybe you should say her hair is pretty.” The little girl suggested. 

“Thats a great idea!” Scott encouraged. “You should write that down for me.” 

The little girl spelled it out loud as she wrote it down with a marker. 

“I gotta peeeee!!!” 

Your attention was quickly stolen from Scott and the girl as a boy stood in front of you, grabbing his crotch and dancing a little. 

“Oh! Okay, let’s go now.” You responded and quickly got up to escort him. 

When you returned, the group was cleaning up. The little girl Scott was with ran over to you and handed you the card she’d been working on. 

“Scott wanted me to help him make it” She beamed. 

“Thank you!” You accepted the folded, bright red, construction paper. 

On the front was a glitter glue flower and a heart that was still drying. Flecks of extra glitter fell off the card with every touch. On the inside it read: 

TO: Y/N. YORE HAIR IS RELY PRITTY. With a few of the letters written backwards. Then it had the word “love” scribbled out and replaced with FRM: SCOTT MADE BY MARIE

You felt a blush heating your cheeks. “That was very sweet of you.” 

The boy that you’d returned with from the bathroom grabbed at your arm to try and pull it down for him to see the card too. 

“Ewww.” The boy grimaced. “Is Mr. Scott your boyfriend?” 

Well if your cheeks weren’t bright red before, they definitely were now. Your eyes darted up, seeing Scott smile from across the room. Quickly you shot your eyes down, trying to hide your embarrassment. 

“Umm, no, he’s, he’s not.” You replied awkwardly. 

“Oh. Well he should be. People don’t get gross like that unless they’re in love.” The boy informed with a shudder that made you giggle. 

Once the craft supplies were completely cleaned up, you found yourself leaving the art cabin at the same time as Scott. You smiled at him bashfully. A moment passed as you were trying to get up the courage to say something to him, when a boy ran by yelling. 

“OHHHH, AHHH, OH NOOOOO, IT’S… HAPPENING!!!!!” The boy yelled and fell to the ground, seeming to be in pain. 

“Are you okay?!” You worried, rushing to the boy’s side. 

“IT’S, IT’S THE FULL MOON, AHHHHH” The boy continued to scream. “I’M. I’M. I’M A WEREWOLF!!!!! AWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” The boy howled. “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

Unimpressed, you frowned at the child. You really thought something had been wrong when he was, quite literally, just crying wolf. Meanwhile Scott just grinned at him. 

“Actually kid, if you get practiced at it you can control when you turn into a werewolf despite the full moon.” Scott disclosed. 

“Whoa.” The kid stared at him in disbelief. “COOL!!!!” Then he ran off continuing to howl and growl at other kids, occasionally pretending to eat them. 

“Into mythology I take it?” You questioned, relieved to have finally found something to say. 

“You could say that.” Scott nodded. 

A silence fell on the two of you again. Apparently your conversation starter only scratched the ice rather than breaking it. 

“I, uh, I’ve got canoeing next.” Scott gestured behind him to the lake. 

“Oh, that must be nice. You can cool off in the water.” You replied nervously. 

He smiled. “Uhh, not so much actually. You, don’t really get wet. That’s… kind of what the boat is for.” He chuckled a bit. 

“Oh. Right. Yeah, of course, I don’t know why I-” You were cut off when another counsellor called Scott from a distance. 

“Scott!” 

“Yeah!” He responded. 

“We need you at the lake now!” 

“Yeah! I’m on it!” Scott replied. “Sorry, gotta run.” 

“I-right, yeah, that’s- okay, see you later!” You called after him as he ran off. 

***

You didn’t see Scott again until the next night when you were sat across the fire from him. He had brought his guitar and was playing classic camp songs for the kids. After it was discovered that you have a knack for roasting marshmallows, you turned into The Official Best Marshmallow Roaster to most of the kids, receiving many requests to ‘pretty please roast my marshmallow for me Miss Y/N’, and of course you happily complied. 

“Alright, who wants to hear me write a song right now about anything you want?” Scott asked after finishing Down By The Bay. The kidlets cheered. “What do you want to hear a song about?” Different kids began yelling out ideas. “BUGS!” 

“CATS!” “MY GRANDMA!” “BOOGERS!” “MISS Y/N!” The last one caught Scott’s attention. “Ahh, I don’t know.” he responded. “WHO WANTS COUNSELLOR SCOTT TO SING ABOUT COUNSELLOR Y/N?!” Stiles stood up and asked the kids. “YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” All the kids yelled in response. “The jury has spoken.” Stiles stated and sat back down. “Um, okay,” Scott smiled nervously then fiddled with his guitar, trying to find a certain chord. He then proceeded to play an awkward but extremely cute song featuring how nice you are to everyone, the color of your eyes, how you like to eat toast for breakfast in the mess hall and so does he, and how great you’ve been making the summer for everyone. When he finished there was a brief silence which was rare with so many kids around. A little girl approached you and tapped you on your knee. “Miss Y/N, will you please go out with Mr Scott?” The girl asked politely. You pressed your lips together in an attempt not to smile and blush even harder than the song had made you. “Oh c’mon you guys! What, you don’t think I can get my own dates?” Scott teased the kids before smiling back at you. 

“Noooooo!” The kids answered. Another counsellor then changed the topic by starting to sing Baby Shark. Your eyes were still locked with Scott’s, both of you smiling at each other. “Do you want to?” Scott mouthed over the many singers. You nodded your head. All you ever wanted was to go on a date with him. And after that song? It was dumb to say but you were melting. “Okay” He mouthed again, nodding excitedly too. Then he jumped in with his guitar and playing the music for Baby Shark. 

***

Just after the campfire was disbanded, a very young child handed you a paper then disappeared without saying a word. You unfolded the note and read it. 

Meet me on the dock at 10:30 -Scott

You grinned at the paper before slipping it into your pocket. Once your cabin was tucked in and fast asleep, along with all the other cabins, you walked down to the dock. You found Scott sitting on the edge of it, his feet hanging into the lake. Taking a seat next to his flip flops, you joined him. “I liked your song.” You said, your eyes fixed on the lake, too nervous to look at him. “Thanks,” You kicked your feet in the water a little bit. “So, uh, what brought you to camp this year?” You asked, attempting to make conversation. “My mom suggested it. Volunteer work makes it easier to get into colleges and universities and Stiles and I could use all the help we can get.” He answered. “Where do you want to go? Or, what do you want to do?” “I’d like to be a veterinarian. I’ve been working at a clinic for a few years now and I love it.” He smiled. “That’s so cool! I love animals. Although I guess I don’t really know anyone who hates them… I mean who can look at a puppy and hate it, that’s just inhuman.” You babbled a bit, making him laugh. “No, it’s true.” Scott agreed. Suddenly your stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. “Are you hungry?” He asked. “Yeah,” you admitted, “I’m used to snacking a lot at home so I haven’t really gotten used to the set meals and things here yet.” “You know, I have a key to the mess hall. You wanna sneak in and check out what leftovers are in the kitchen?” “Sure!” “Okay, let’s go!” He stood up from the dock, and took your hand, leading you up to the mess hall. Your stomach fluttered in excitement at the feeling of his hand holding yours. He unlocked the door and you crept inside. Unsure of where the light switches were located, Scott used his phone to light your way. Once in the kitchen, the dim light from inside the fridge illuminated the room. “Now what do we have here, chicken, apples, macaroni salad, ooh!” Scott reached in and pulled out an already cut into blueberry pie. “How about this?” “Looks delicious.” You replied, staring at the pie. He cut a slice for both of you and grabbed forks. You stood next to the preparation counter to eat. While eating, the two of you discussed your hobbies, your friends, and your last year of high school approaching. “It’s all happening so fast, you know?” He agreed. “Yeah, in some ways it feels like high school didn’t start all that long ago. But then you remember everything that’s happened since then. All the changes.” “I hate change.” You stated, shaking your head a bit. “I know I’ve been working towards Harvard, what feels like my entire life, but now… I don’t know it just seems so soon. I don’t want to leave my friends and have it all be different.” “Sometimes change can be good though… right?” Scott said, putting down his fork. You shrugged, still eating your pie. “I guess. I don’t know… it depends.” He took a step closer to you and gently brushed a strand of your hair so it was behind your ear. “What about this?” he asked softly. You looked into his sweet brown eyes. “This… is good…” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “And this?” He leaned in, pressing his lips to yours, his hand cupping your face. Your heart pounded inside your chest as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Fingers tangled into his hair as you kissed him back. He moved his hands to your waist, his tongue gently grazing your bottom lip, seeking entry. Opening your mouth for him, you felt his tongue glide across yours, you replied back in a similar motion. The kiss was broken too quickly though as you felt him suddenly pull away and the lights flick on. You opened your eyes to find a boy in his pyjamas standing in front of the two of you. “What, uh, what are you doing out of bed?” Scott questioned the boy. “What are you doing in the kitchen so late when you’re not kitchen staff?” the boy replied. “That’s… that’s a good point.” Scott paused, looking at you. You gave him a sheepish grin. Scott looked back to the kid. “I won’t tell if you wont?” “Give me a slice of that pie on the counter there and you got yourself a deal.” he bargained. Scott handed over the last slice in the pie plate to him. “I was never here.” the kid said, leaving with his pie. You giggled when Scott turned back to you, breathing a sigh of relief. “We, uh, we should probably get out of here before that happens again.” he suggested. You nodded your head, stifling laughter at the situation. 

That was definitely your best camp story.

[platypanthewriter]

Strangest-chapter 9

They were kicking the steps to knock snow off their shoes when Will threw the door open, staring them up and down.  

“...Max called.  I told her what Hopper said, about calling him and locking the doors.”

“What?”  Billy grabbed the door frame, trying to untie one shoe while standing in the other, and Will and Steve both reached out to steady him.  “What’s that even mean?”

“If your dad shows up, Sheriff Hopper says to keep you inside with the doors locked, and call him.”  Steve watched as Billy stumbled inside, promptly walked across lumps of snow in his socks, and swore.  “Tried to tell you, but you were starting a fight with a dumpster.”

As Steve struggled with his own shoes, Will followed Billy to the kitchen table.  “Are you okay?”

“We’re supposed to lock him out?”  Billy squinted, frowning between them, and Will nodded.  “Just--lock him out.  Of the house.  It’ll just piss him off--”

Will was staring between them.  “Him? Your dad?”

“Just until Hopper gets here.”  Steve fumbled with his frozen laces with numb fingers.  

“Hopper has to come haul me out from under your bed, he’ll be as pissed off as he is--”  He pulled the snow lumps off his socks, and grimaced, tugging at the transparent wet spots.  “I’m not...”

“He doesn’t know you’re here, don’t freak out.  But if he pulls up in the drive, Hargrove, don’t open the door.  Go upstairs and call Hopper.”

“No.  You’re a fucking moron, you can’t--”

“I’m not, I’m normal, and you’re not dumb either.”  Steve finally kicked off his other shoe, peeled out of his socks in an explosion of all the snow that had worked under the cuffs of his pants, and jogged over to pull a chair out.  He sat the wrong way around in it, facing Billy. “Come on. If you see his car. No reason to think he even knows you’re here. Just slide the lock closed on the door, go upstairs, and lock your bedroom door.”  Billy shook his head, glancing at Steve’s bare red feet and focusing on pulling his own socks off. “B--Hargrove.  Go upstairs.  Call Hopper. Wait for me.”

“I’m not--I’m--what are you saying, even, you’re gonna--you’re scaring your kid.”  Billy waved at Will, who swallowed.  

“If he doesn’t wanna hear, he can go in the other room.”  Steve reached out and squeezed Will’s shoulder, trying to grin convincingly enough that his shoulders would relax.  He couldn’t. “Hargrove. Seriously--”

“I’m starting lunch,” Billy leaned away, standing, “--come on, toddler, help me out.”

“Okay...”  Will’s eyes flicked between them, wide and worried, and Steve leaned over to poke him in the wrinkle between his eyebrows.  

“Will, he’s gonna be fine, if we can get him off his bullshit--”

“Shut up, Harrington,” Billy sighed, crouching by a lower cupboard.  “Will, get the cheese out--Harrington, sit your ass down, I don’t want food poisoning.”

“I’m getting us socks,” Steve rolled his eyes, and grabbed a raggy towel from the pantry to kick around in the ice water on the floor.  When he wandered back in with socks, Billy was chopping things, and Will was pressing them into a pan.  

“Oh thank god,” Billy rolled his eyes, “The king’s back to supervise.  What ever did we do without him.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, dropping into a chair to put on his dry socks.  “...yeah, you better drop what you’re doing and get my advice, I lived for two weeks once on spray-can Velveeta.”

Billy choked, covering his sputter, and leaned on the counter to laugh.  “What?!”

“Why?!” Will giggled.

“I used instant coffee on cereal once,” Steve wiggled his toes, enjoying the warmth.  “Makes it pretty soggy.”

“Oh my god,” Billy dropped his head into his arms, cackling.

“Oh, I do have some wise food advice, actually:  Orange juice is not good on instant oatmeal.”  Steve waggled his eyebrows, and Billy gagged.

“Ew ew ew ew ewww,” Will was chanting.

“You aren’t supposed to heat up potato salad, I think,” Steve narrowed his eyes at the window, and Billy smacked the spatula down, glared over, and yelled “No!”  Steve fought to hold a straight face. “They put it in with the fried chicken and applesauce! It wasn’t too bad all mixed together, kinda like that Chinese fried stuff with sweet sauce--”

“I’m gonna hurl,” Will groaned.

Billy stared over, laughing, with wide eyes.  “Are you shitting me?!  How do you not have scurvy.” 

“I ate some teabags once,” Steve replied, cheerfully, and Billy stomped over to slide a hand around the back of his head and yank him into a kiss.

“You’re gonna die without me.”

Steve laughed against his mouth.  “--I get takeout--”

“I need to talk to that Williams lady,” Billy stared into his face, “--maybe she can feed you sometimes.”

Steve grabbed his hands, and pressed clean socks into them, grinning up, and Billy swung them to smack into the side of Steve’s head.  

“You’re gonna write these damn letters and tell me what you’re eating.”  He smacked Steve with the socks again, and Steve started to cackle, collapsing against the table.  “Don’t you fucking lie to me. And order some goddamn broccoli.”

“I can--I can do that,” Steve wheezed into his arms, wiping his eyes.  “I’ll eat anything. Nancy used to feed me her brussels sprouts, she hates ‘em--”

“Make those, then!” Billy whapped him across the head with the socks.  “If you fucking--”

“Gross!” Will gagged.  “They’re worse than the teabags!”

“They are really not good,” Steve agreed, batting away the socks, and Billy stopped to squint at him.  

“...then why were you eating them.”

“I mean, I didn’t love them,” Steve grinned up, “--but I sure loved Nancy.”

Billy went still, then dropped into a chair to pull the socks on.  “...get Will’s book, and shut up, Harrington.” Before Steve could comment that reading aloud silently sounded like a challenge, Billy kicked his chair, hard enough to shove him into the table, and stalked off into the front room.  When he returned, he went to smack Steve in the head with the book, and Steve grabbed his forearm, turned it to take the book, and kissed the soft part of Billy’s wrist--then wished he’d looked up, because Billy made a soft noise in his throat, smacked Steve’s hands away, and jogged over to lean against the counter.

“Uh,” Will leaned to look at him, then back at Steve, “--should--what should I--”

Billy cleared his throat.  “Add some more goddamn ricotta.” 

 They ended up making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, waiting the interminable hours while the smell of lasagna started to fill the house.  Billy made noises about their ‘spoiling their lunch,’ Will called him a mom, and fled to Steve, who held him in place while Billy hesitated before tickling his feet.  

Listening to anyone trying to read Lord of the Rings with peanut butter in their mouths was wildly entertaining.  Particularly, Steve thought, when they’re talking about elves, and all the Great Battles of History.  He couldn’t see why the recitation of these battles was much more exciting than the paper he still needed to outline about the Revolutionary War, but the Trespassers William were giggling, so he tried to pay attention.  They settled in the fort.  

Steve took up the unfamiliar Nintendo controller, trying to figure out why you’d want to program a video game to play tennis.  He was half-listening to Will reading about the Fellowship Of Midgets meeting some hippie dude in the woods, when Billy dropped next to him on the mattress and curled up with his head in Steve’s lap.  

Steve won the tennis match, and ran his fingers absently along Billy’s cheek during the victory music.  His thumb caught. “Wow, you need to shave--and you’ve got so many freckles,” he bent down to look, grinning, “--get a little sun off the snow this morning?”  After seeing tanned abs in the gym showers in the middle of Indiana winter, Steve had had his suspicions about Billy Hargrove actually lairing in a tanning bed like some kind of...Californian Sunpire, but the freckles clinched it.  

“Shut up.”  Billy batted his hand away.  “Figured it didn’t matter, not like you’re gonna like me any better no matter what I look like.”

“That’s so true.”  Steve tossed the controller aside, gathering Billy up in his arms and peppering kisses all over his face.  Billy yelped out a stream of fucks, squirming, and Steve flopped sideways to put an arm around him, nuzzling his side.  “I promise I’ll like you just as much tomorrow, when you cover up all your freckles, as long as I get to say hello to them today--” he pressed kisses to the warm tanned skin where Billy’s shirt had ridden up.  “You’ve got freckles on your back--”

Billy groaned, smacking at his hand.  “--get off me or get me off, you sadistic fucking tease.”  

“Guys,” Will huffed.  Steve felt the book smack his shoulder.  “You’re missing it.”

“Oh no,” Steve whispered into Billy’s side, and he kicked, squirming.  “I’m just talking--you crawled into my lap, take your punishment like a man, Hargrove--”

“Fucking--tickles--Harrington!”

Will groaned.  “I’m going to skip to Bree.  We’re meeting Steve there, so pay attention.”

“Why are you doing this to me,” Billy rolled backwards to try and squish Steve’s face, but Steve pushed himself back upright, grinning down.  Billy reached up and pushed Steve’s grinning face away, then flailed to grab a pillow and drop it over his crotch. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk, whatever you want--laugh it up over there, dickless, talk to me after you hit puberty--”

Will threw another pillow at him.  “Guys,”  He crawled over to lean against Steve’s side, and folded his arms.  

“Yeah, our child is right here, Harrington, keep your hands to yourself.”

Will giggled, leaning to bump his shoulder into Steve’s arm.  “Come on, pay attention.” He started to read again, and Steve moved the nintendo controller away from where Billy’s curls were starting to claim it for the Kingdom of Hargrove.  He stroked through them, and Billy looked up to meet his eyes, flushed, and smirked, turning his head into the crook of Steve’s knee. Steve ran his thumb over rapidly-reddening freckles, and Billy grabbed his hands, holding them to either side of his head, mouthing ‘Stop’.

‘Sorry,’ Steve mouthed back, tugging at his hands, but Billy squeezed tighter, glaring up.  Steve bit his lips together, trying to think about something that wasn’t how empty his house would be after Billy left, or how empty his house would be if Billy saw his father coming, and walked out the door.  He tried to focus on Will’s voice, the story of, apparently, children drunk at a bar, dancing on tables, and threatened by a hobo, and then realized Billy was silently laughing into his leg.

“Let Steve read,” Billy grinned up.  “He’s starting to rock in place, give him something to do that isn’t petting me.”

“Eugh,” Will groaned.  “Fine.”

Steve accepted the book, cleared his throat, and continued the adventures of Froggo--

“Frodo--” Will corrected.

“Sandwich Gimpy--”

“Do it right, Steve!” Will hit him with a pillow, and Steve sank the hand not holding the book into Billy’s curls, grinning.  

“Fine.  So these children ran away from home, and now they’re drunk--”

“They’re Hobbits!” Will gasped.

“--some homeless dude at the motel yelled at them--”

“--it’s not a motel!” 

“--and now he’s telling them the forces of darkness will be fooled by pillows under their blankets?  Nice.”  

Billy muffled sniggers against Steve’s jeans.  

Will was staring at him in open-mouthed horror, and Steve fought to keep a straight face.  “What happened to that stoned hippie character they met in the woods? After they spent the night in the haunted graveyard.”

“T-Tom Bombadil,” Will squeaked, and Billy’s shoulders shook harder.  “He’s a nature spirit--and don’t call Aragorn son of Arathorn ‘some homeless dude’!”

“He is clearly described as some homeless dude,” Billy put in, and Steve nodded.  

“Yeah, he’s an angry hobo.”

“In a bar, no less,” Billy added, cackling as Will scrambled for a pillow and whacked him with it.  “He probably smells great.”  

“Shut up, shut up!” Will giggled, smacking the pillow at whichever bit of either of them he could reach.  

Steve leaned closer over Billy, shielding him with his arm and shoulders, and Billy watched his face, swallowing, then turned on his side again, grabbing the pillow away from Will and holding it over his head.  Steve blinked down, wanting to pull the pillow away, or lean to see what he was hiding, but he cleared his throat, and returned to reading, sitting on his other hand. He half paid attention to the kids in the Will’s book buying a pony, and finding out their wizard babysitter was wildly irresponsible.  “Wait, he was supposed to meet them, didn’t show up for months, and now he’s missing?  He should not be asked to babysit anymore--” and deciding to travel with the hobo--“What, he’s a king hobo?”

“He’s not a hobo!” Will smacked the back of his head.  “He’s a king!”

“King of nothing, sounds like,” Billy snorted.  

“Like me, I guess,” Steve risked freeing his hand--it was falling asleep--and tapped Billy’s elbow on the way to patting his shoulder through the pillow.  

Billy tensed, then relaxed again, huffing a laugh.  “Stevagorn, son of Stevathorn?”

“My sword is not busted,” Steve grumbled back, and Billy cackled into his knee.  “My sword is fine, I swear, just give me a minute, this usually never happens--”  His jeans felt hot where Billy was silently wheezing with laughter.  

“I think they make drugs for that,” he whispered, and Steve bit back a snort.  “Get your ‘sword’ pointing, uh, north again. It’s okay, Harrington, it happens to everyone.  Except me.”

Steve snorted.  “Of course.”

“He gets a good sword,” Will rolled his eyes.  “We meet Billy soon, come on.”

“Funny how this Tolkien guy knew us,” Billy muttered, tossing the pillow at Will, and grabbing Steve’s hand to hold against his chest.  “Who’s Nancy, then?”

“Right?  She’s an elf!”  Will flopped to lie against Billy’s back, and Steve felt him startle.  “I’m Frodo, because--”

“Hey, Byers, don’t just slam into him, okay, don’t just--grab him or--stuff,” Steve interrupted, and Billy snorted.

“What?  Sorry?” Will sat up on his elbow, and Billy groaned into Steve’s jeans, burying his face.  

“Shut up, Harrington, it’s fine, I’m not--I’m not fucking scared of Will Byers--”

Steve grinned, ruffling Will’s hair.  “Yeah, no biggie, just don’t.  Who’s Lucas, Will?  Which...hobbit.”

“Uh,” Will blinked wide eyes at him, and Steve raised his eyebrows.  “Yeah, okay, um. Lucas says he doesn’t care, but if he has to be anybody it’s Merry, because he’s the only one with any goddamn sense.  Once the floodgates were opened,Will took them through a recitation of everyone they knew as compared to a Lord of the Rings character, down to his science teacher as some moth-summoning wizard, and Joyce Byers as queen of the elves.  

When he started to wind down, Steve started reading again.  He stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth as he carefully turned the page one-handed, and narrated on.  Will leaned over to get whispered permission to thunk against Billy’s back again, and Steve’s hand started tingling again as Billy squeezed it too hard.

 When the timer went off on the lasagna, Steve was reading about the suspiciously familiar group of tiny idiots being herded across a river by their lost wizard (who he pictured, privately, as Hopper).  Billy rolled to his feet, leaned in for a quick smooch, and then loped off to the kitchen. Will grinned at the side of Steve’s head, and Steve felt like a dad on TV, who ought to continue to read his newspaper while his wife cooked, but decided to be a better-than-shitty boyfriend instead.  He tried to stay out of Billy’s way, setting the table.  

Billy sat the lasagna pan across the burners, and stopped to stare out the window.  “I miss the water.”

Steve dropped his handful of silverware in the center of the table, and came up behind him to slide his arms around Billy’s waist, kissing his neck.  “...the beach?”

“Used to surf,” Billy sighed, letting Steve sway them together.  

Steve bit his lips together, thinking, then went back to the mark he was making on Billy’s neck.  He ran his teeth over it, and then tightened his grip around Billy’s ribs, laughing at the sudden weight of swearing Billy against him.

“Fuck you, Harrington,” he muttered, flushing.

“Y’know there’s lots of white water rafting around here,” Steve licked his neck, grinning, and let Billy grab his hair and shove him away, “--it’s not surfing, but it’s water, it’s fast--”

“You should go on a date,” Will prompted, from the doorway.  “Go river rafting.”

“...yeah, maybe not in February,” Steve leaned away from the spatula Billy flailed at him, then dodged around the table, “--not in a river--”

“I dunno, I think a dunk in cold water would do you some good,” Billy snarled at the lasagna.  

“It’s probably like the book, actually, all the white water.”  Will plonked himself into a chair, bouncing.

Steve nodded.  “Wizards in rubber rafts, elves in lifejackets--”  

“Shut up,” Will laughed.  “Now I wanna go.”

“You’d probably like it.”  Steve leaned to catch Billy’s eye, and watched him glance over, and then growl at the plates he was serving up.  “It’s kinda fast and rough, y’know--”

Billy turned to bury his head in his arms against the counter and groan, and Steve laughed so hard he started wheezing, as Will frowned between them, narrow-eyed.

 By the time Will finished his lasagna, he was bouncing in place, ready to snatch Billy’s plate and dance around Steve’s chair until he surrendered his, and usher them back to the drudgery of elves.  Steve leaned to groan into Billy’s shoulder. “Maybe we’ll all get laryngitis,” he whispered, and felt Billy’s laugh more than heard it. Will was clattering around with the plates, and Steve leapt up to take over, and suggest they get reading while he did the dishes.  Anything to have it over, he thought, grimacing as Billy derailed into songs that referenced elves and wizards, and he and Will gathered around the stereo again.  Like he sounds happy so often, Steve rolled his eyes at himself.  Nah, I’m just here wishing he’d shut up and pay attention to me.  I’m such a nice guy. Just the best. God, no wonder Nancy thinks I’m bullshit.  

“Book Billy” was introduced, some knight named Boromir who, according to Will, basically wanted to grab the ring and raise his middle fingers at the rest of the world.

“Sounds about right,” Steve muttered, drying the plates, putting them away, and leaning against the counter for a long moment wondering whether to intrude.  As the chapter continued (sporadically, between songs), a bunch of dudes at a table got a history lesson about some evil empire, and he thought Nancy would probably enjoy this too.  Smart fucking brunettes.  He sighed, reminded by the descriptions of some elf fighting huge spiders that he didn’t want any pony-sized arachnids in his house, and got out the duster.

“...are you cleaning house?”  Billy stopped to stare, and Steve shrugged.

“I can hear you guys fine.”

“It’s Saturday,” Will threw a pillow, missing Steve by about two yards, “--come back.”

“You need help?”  Billy offered, leaning back on his elbows so his unzipped sweatshirt slid open.  

Steve shook his head, but wandered over to kiss the side of his head.  “I got it, honey bun.” Billy grabbed his sleeve, yanking him back down and leaning against his shoulder.  His sweatshirt was another one of Steve’s, and he tried not to grin, liking something about the idea of something of his keeping Billy Hargrove cozy and warm.

“Guys,” Will hissed, as Steve leaned in for a kiss.  Billy closed his eyes, sitting up into it, and Will stood, clearing his throat.  “Uh, I can go take a bath, or--just--just go upstairs--I guess--”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Steve pulled back, disentangling Billy’s hands from his shirt.  Billy held on to his hands, frowning upward, so Steve pushed him onto his back, pressed kisses all over his fingers and swung a leg over him to kneel with his knees to either side of Billy’s chest.  “Go ‘head and read,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss Billy’s grin.  

Billy slid his arms up around Steve’s neck, and Steve grinned into the kiss, bracing his arms on either side of Billy’s head.  

“Lemme go.  I’ll let you get back to finding that ring somebody dropped in the river,” he whispered into Billy’s mustache.  

“Comfy right here,” Billy whispered back, and Will cleared his throat, trotting off to rummage with something in the kitchen.  Billy slid his hands over Steve’s shoulders, then up the sides of his neck, pulling him into another kiss.  

Of course kissing somebody hot while half on top of them had Steve’s dick enthusiastically wanting to come off the bench and join the game, so he grabbed Billy’s hands and kissed them again, squeezing his wrists together with one hand and pushing himself up and away with the other.  

When Will stuck his face cautiously around the edge of the doorway, Billy’d gotten hold of Steve’s pants, and yanked him back down, curling around him as Steve cackled, batting at his hands.  Billy crawled back into the fort, hauling Steve by whatever he could reach, and laid half on top of him, throwing his leg over Steve’s flailing ones. He just wriggled closer when Steve tried to escape, waving Will over, and Will finally sighed and sat in a pile of pillows with his legs across theirs.  “I got the chocolates. I’m just gonna sit on you, okay, that’s what my mom does when we fight--”

“Feed me some chocolate, asshole,” Steve muttered into Billy’s shoulder, after trying to free a hand.  At least getting a chocolate would mean his hands off Steve, instead of stroking up and down his side, like he was fanning the heat running through Steve’s veins.  Steve found himself actually missing Tommy, and his annoying habit of just putting on porn and jacking it in Steve’s front room, without asking first whether maybe Steve had anyone over.  I could do with some porn, he huffed, blowing Billy’s curls out of his face.  I bet Tommy isn’t returning mine, either.  Dickhead.

Billy leaned one arm across Steve’s forearms--Steve swore, kicking--and leaned back to rummage in the box, returning with a chocolate he rubbed along Steve’s lips.  

“Fuck you,” Steve panted, after trying to grab it with his tongue, and mostly just licking Billy’s fingers.  

Billy stared at his mouth, and brought the chocolate around for another pass, so Steve bit him.  Billy rocked back, overturning the box of chocolates, and Steve grabbed at them to press both his advantage, and a handful of chocolates and their paper cups into Billy’s face.  

Billy flailed back, yelled “Shit!”, and kicked out, and Steve scrambled away to snatch up his rags.  The chocolates had rained over Will, and he sighed, dumping handfuls back in the box.

“--I need a shower,” Billy rolled to his feet, and jogged upstairs.  

Will wrinkled his nose, watching him go, and Steve stopped dusting to think.  

“I…’ll be back in a sec.”  

“Oh my god, gross,” Will moaned as he ran out.  

When Steve ran upstairs, Billy was leaving his own room and heading to Steve’s with an armload of clothes.  “Hey--”

“Fuck off,” Billy muttered, elbowing around him.  “My stuff’s in your shower.”

“Okay…” Steve blinked at his hunched shoulders.  “Sorry? Oh, no, wait. Can I, uh, get something from your room?”  

“What?!  Your goddamn room.  Whatever.” 

“It’s not, it’s--”  

Billy kicked the door to Steve’s bedroom shut after him, and Steve trailed off, then shrugged, pulling the crumpled note with Billy’s mom’s number out of his pocket, ducking into Billy’s room, and locking the door behind him.  

The phone rang for a long time.  Maybe. What with Billy thudding angrily around in the shower, any time might seem long, Steve figured.  Finally, a woman picked up.  

“Uh, hello,” Steve paced around the floor, staring at the note in his hand like it would be reasonable to read her own number to her over the line.

“...Billy?” she whispered, and he stopped, one foot half in the air.  “Billy, honey, no, you know you can’t call here, not until your birthday--”

“My name’s Steve Harrington, ma’am,” he cut her off, because she sounded sniffly, like she might have started to cry.  “I’m Billy’s, uh, friend. Can you talk to me?”

“What?”  Her lungs made a squeaky noise, and Steve grabbed the phone with both hands, like an an idiot.  Even if she was here, she wouldn’t want some guy grabbing at her.  Shit, she cries as easily as he does.  

“I’m Billy’s friend from school--”

“Did something happen?!” she hiccuped into what sounded like wheezing, and Steve flailed a hand, stomping in a circle.  

“He’s fine!  He’s great! I mean, he’s--he’s okay, ma’am, please don’t--I’m sorry--”

She sniffled again, and took a deep breath.  “S-Steve, you said?”

“Yes!  Steve Harrington!  He’s--shit, what do you want to know?  You can’t talk to him?!”

“...I’m not sure I should talk to you either,” she cleared her throat.  “Doesn’t sound like he tells you much.”

“Uh,” Steve grimaced out the window, trying to distill his history with Billy Hargrove into something his mother would want to hear.  “Um, just--his dad just told him you left. Uh, he doesn’t know you aren’t supposed to talk to him, he thinks--”

“What,” her voice shook, cracking into hoarseness.  “Neil--just--he thinks--”

“So you want to talk to him?”

“Of course I want to talk to him,” she hissed into the phone, and Steve scrabbled at his hair as he paced, because now it sounded like she was suppressing sobs.  “That--Neil--”

“Why the hell did you marry that--” Steve flopped backwards on the bed, rubbing his face.  “He’s--Billy’s--staying with me--”

“What?!” 

“You know his dad,” Steve growled back.  “He’s here. He wants to go home to California.  But he thinks you don’t want him, so--”

There was a thunk at the door, and Steve realized the shower had shut off at some point.  “...why’s my door locked, Harrington.”

“He told him I don’t want him?” she snarled back, and he felt relief swelling his lungs.  “Wait, home to California?  Where the hell is he?”

The door thudded so hard it creaked in its frame.  “Whatcha doin’ in there, Harrington,” Billy yelled.

“That’s him, isn’t it--he doesn’t know you’re calling,” she whispered.

“He thinks you wouldn’t want him to,” Steve gritted back, listening to her tears, but also aware of Neil Hargrove’s entire being.  “You left him with his dad.  So you do wanna see him.”  Another bang came at the door, like Billy’d kicked it.

The weight of the thudding sounded like Billy was actually going to break the door down, and Steve plugged that ear, trying to hear her, then yelled “Shove it, Hargrove, gimme a goddamn minute,” and the pounding stopped.  

“What is Neil doing,” she whispered, then, “--shit, shit, I have to--I have to get to work, I have to--call me later...Steve Harrington.  I think--I think we need to talk, call back, okay, I can’t--I can’t be in contact with him, but this needs to--call tomorrow.  Call me tomorrow.  Shit.”  Steve winced as she slammed the phone down.  

 Billy’d gone quiet outside, and when Steve unlocked the door, he didn’t come in.  Steve stuck his head out, warily, to see him leaning against the banister, gaze on the trees outside the window.  “You needed to use the phone without me hearing,” he huffed a laugh. “My room, huh? I thought--”

“Sorry.”  Steve stepped closer, hands up like he’d dropped a weapon.  

“What’d I do.  Was it Hopper, or--or my dad--”

“No, no, it’s not--nothing like that--”  Shit, of course she didn’t say she wanted to see him, she didn’t say why she hasn’t--I can guess, but if I say I talked to her, found out nothing, and she sounded real sad he’s gonna feed me my teeth.

“Was it Nancy.”  Billy swallowed, rubbing his face.

“--y-yeah.  It was Nancy,” Steve nodded, and Billy folded his arms, leaning his face in them.  

“Shit.  You can just--you can tell me to fuck off.  You don’t have to lock me out--”

“Crap.  Sorry.” Steve ran a hand up Billy’s shoulder, and when he leaned into it, up and down his back.  

“You getting back with her?”

“No!  No, it was, uh, about Will, y’know.”

“...so you locked me out?”  Billy’s skin was still flushed from the shower, Steve figured, but his eyes were suspiciously glassy.  “I’m always the one there, with Will, don’t try to--”

“No, I called her before, from the IHOP.  That’s who I was talking to. Outside.”

“When you were being sweet to me in the IHOP.”  Billy dropped his head in his arms again. “Had to check in with Nancy first.  She give you good advice?”

“Kinda gave me confidence, y’know.”  Steve leaned against the banister next to him, feeling on safer ground.

“Yeah, of course that wasn’t me,” Billy laughed, pushing himself up, and wiping his face.  “Fuck. Of fucking course.” He shoved by, stomped into his room, and Steve could hear him blowing his nose.  When he pushed the door open again, Billy’d flopped backwards on the bed to stare at the ceiling.  

“Hey,” Steve nudged Billy’s leg with his foot, “--come on.  Don’t freak out about who was better at the gay sex talk. Nancy wasn’t even there.  You were perfect.”

Billy laughed, and got up, grabbing Steve’s elbow as he stalked by, and dragging him towards the stairs.  When they finally made it to the fort--since Steve had to lean in a few times and kiss Billy’s face, and get batted away--Will narrowed his eyes at them, and handed Billy the book.

“Ha, Will thinks you cause more trouble than I do.”  Steve kissed him again, enjoying the contrast between mustache and freshly-shaven skin, but dodged away from the grabby hand flailing at his belt loops.

“Do you guys have to keep doing that,” Will groaned, trying to reorganize the box of chocolates by the included map.  “Can’t you just tell me, and I’ll go for a walk, or--”

“Harrington’s too sexy for that,” Billy licked his thumb, turning the page, and Steve threw a dusty rag at him, “--I can’t keep my animal impulses in check--”  He threw the rag back, and Steve dodged, flipping him off.

“Gross!”  Will giggled.  “You’re more fun than Jonathan and Nancy.”  Billy and Steve both went still. “I mean, they don’t, you know, they’re trying so hard.”  Billy started reading again before he finished his sentence, and Will leaned to thump into his shoulder.  “I mean, you guys aren’t all nervous, it’s just like you’re friends.”

“Friends with animal impulses,” Steve slid around the edge of the fort and tackled Billy to the bed, dropping solidly along his body, and wrapping an arm around his chest.  

“Oof,” Billy let the book fall over his face, “--I don’t think he wants us to do that here, Harrington.”

“Mmm.”  Steve let his head rest against Billy’s warm shoulder, feeling the vibration of his voice.  “I mean, we aren’t tryin’ as hard.  He’s already seen me wandering around like a freak at three in the morning, with a bat, he knows what I’m like.”

Billy snorted.  “You don’t exactly have to dress black tie, for me.”

“I mean, I would,” Steve propped his chin up on his folded arms, and Billy kicked at him, grinning.  “I’d throw on a tux. Take you out--and I know you get all dolled up for me--”  He reached out to brush his thumb along some freckles, and Billy bit at his fingers.  “--it’s actually kinda neat to see you, y’know. Chill out.”

“I do not get dolled up,” Billy growled.  “What is it with you and freckles--”

“You’re always checking your reflection,” Will grinned, “--both of you.”

“My hair’s my best feature,” Steve grumbled into Billy’s chest, and Billy cracked up, dropping the book to wrap both arms around him, and rolling them to the side, away from Will.  

“You trying to look pretty for me?” he whispered against Steve’s neck, and Steve sighed.

“I mean, probably you’d still dump me if I, like, grew a patchy beard--wore bellbottoms--”

Billy snickered into his neck, hugging him a little too hard.

“You lost our place,” Will groaned, flipping through the book.  As he started reading again, Steve’s eyes started drifting shut.  

 When he jerked awake, he was flat on his back, mouth open and dry, and patting next to him did not reveal Billy Hargrove.

“He’s out having a smoke,” Will sighed, and Steve’s lungs unstitched themselves and worked properly.  

“I’m just,” he mumbled, stumbling upright, squinting at the door, and listing toward it in a unintentional crescent shape to fumble with the knob.

“You do that,” Will muttered.  

Billy was out by the pool, sitting in a lawn chair he’d tipped back on two legs, and Steve stopped and groaned into his hands.  “I don’t know why I’m out here.” He rubbed his face. “God.” The snow crunched under his shoes as he tromped back toward the stairs.

“King Steve!”  Billy shouted. “Harrington!”  Steve turned around at the sound of crunching footsteps behind him.  Billy was standing a few feet back, rubbing his arms up and down his sleeves.  He flipped the stub of his cigarette away, blowing the last cloud of smoke into his fingers.

“...what?” Steve stomped in the snow, shivering.

“No idea.”  Billy stepped closer, watching his face.  “What’s wrong?”

“It’s stupid.”  Steve shrugged. “Just woke up dumb.  Y’know.”

“More than usual?” 

“Thanks, asshole,” Steve snorted.  “Come on, it’s cold.”

“Did you...want to ask me something, or…”  Billy cocked his head, stepping closer.

“Nah,” Steve reached up to fix his hair, “--I didn’t want anything, I don’t even know why I’m out here.”

“...I can think of a few ways to spend time,” Billy laughed, waggling his tongue, and Steve rolled his eyes.

“Oh, yeah, out here in the snow, that’s totally what I wanted.  Nah, I just woke up and--” He waved a hand.

“...I told Will where I was going,” Billy narrowed his eyes, “--just wanted a smoke.”

“It’s dumb, okay, I just--”  Steve clapped his hands to his cheeks, suddenly the warmest part of his body.  “I just wanted to see you, I wasn’t--I don’t need anything. It doesn’t make any sense, okay--”

“...what.”  Billy walked up so close they would have bumped chests, if Steve hadn’t stepped back.

“I’m kinda dumb and clingy,” Steve turned back to the house, snickering.  “I used to get lonesome and climb in Nancy’s window. I know you’re leaving and I’m just, like, the owner of a free couch--” 

Billy shoved him back around and grabbed his face.  “...you--you idiot,” he stared, holding Steve’s jaw with cupped hands.  “You--you fucking moron, you--”

“That’s what I’m saying, jesus,” Steve laughed, ending in a muffled curse as Billy kissed him, and kissed him again, and then yanked him close with one arm crushing his ribs, and the other fisted a little too tightly in his hair.  Steve cautiously hugged him back. “The hair, dude, don’t scalp me--”

Billy’s fingers loosened--slightly.  “You dumbass.  You--how are you in school.  How do you drive.  Did a brick fall on your head as a child.  Did you stick your face so far in eating Nancy out you couldn’t get oxygen.  Are you brain-damaged.”

“Yeah, probably,” Steve rolled his eyes, “--does it--”

“Shut up, idiot--okay,” Billy took a shaky breath, “--okay, you--you wanna keep everyone safe, right.  I’m--we’re, like, you know me now, you just want--”  He squeezed tighter, voice cracking, and his fingers dug in to Steve’s ribs.  “I can--I can do it. I”ll do it, okay. I’ll--avoid him. Somehow. I’ll lock up, I won’t let him in.  I’ll try to get upstairs. Won’t--” he swallowed, “--I won’t get in his car. I’ll--I can--wait for you.  That’s what you want, right--”  

Steve’s heart had started pounding when Billy grabbed him and kissed him, stumbling over his words, and he’d had a vague, kind of--in hindsight--hilarious idea of where Billy was headed.  I’ll let you get between me and my scary dad sure wasn’t it, and he cocked his head as Billy pulled back to survey his face.

Billy laughed.  “Shit.  Damn it.  Of course that wasn’t it, I’m getting it wrong.  Again. What do you--” He shut up as Steve wedged his arm between them, cupping Billy’s jaw to put a thumb over his mouth.  

“No, wait.  Stop--stop there.  Shut up, Hargrove, it’s good.  You’re good.”

“I’m good,” Billy snorted.

“That’s good,” Steve pulled their foreheads together, holding the back of Billy’s head with both hands, and staring him down.  “That’s more important. You’re important.  Good.  Good--good job.  If something happens, wait for me.”

“Okay,” Billy whispered, closing his eyes.  “Yeah.” He huffed a laugh, but his shoulders slumped a little, letting Steve press their heads together.  “Wait for you.”

“Get away from him, go upstairs--”

“Fair warning,” Billy laughed, clenching him painfully close again.  “I lock that front door on him and I’m not climbing stairs, you’ll find me just inside that door in a pile of shoes.  Probably--probably pissing myself, christ.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue, and clocked Billy’s repeated swallows, and cold sweat.  “...he doesn’t know you’re here. Try to--at least--try to get where you can’t hear him, okay.”

“Yeah,” Billy nodded against his head, shivering, and Steve pulled him closer, into a kiss.  Billy turned his head, opening his mouth easily, but Steve kept it soft and sweet, just wanting to take some warmth, and press it into Billy’s skin.

“Okay,” he whispered.  “You ready to go back inside?”

“What’d you really want me to say,” Billy whispered back.  

“No, you’re good.  You’re--” Steve swallowed, his throat unexpectedly raw, “--you’re fine.  You’re--perfect, you’re great. It’s--be safe, Hargrove. Just--be okay, that’s--that’s plenty, that’s enough.”

Billy laughed, pulling back to wipe his eyes.  “Anything you want, your majesty. You sure there’s nothing--”

“Nope,” Steve threw his arm around Billy’s shoulders, “--no, nope, that’s--that’s better, jesus.  Let’s get back inside. Come on. Chocolate.”

 They returned to listen while Will read about the whole band going up a mountain, which sounded awful, and into some underground set of tunnels, which sounded infinitely worse, particularly after Idiot Pippin decided to find every mysterious thing in the caves and throw a rock at it.  He threw a rock at the water outside, and Billy flailed his arms along with the book’s flailing tentacles until Steve leaned to bump shoulders. “Come on, you’d totally have thrown the rock,” he whispered, and Billy snorted.

“I’d have cannonballed in,” he whispered back, and Will lowered the book to glare at them as they both cracked up.

Steve tried to cover his snickering.  “Who’s Pippin, Will?  

“Dustin is Pippin--”

“Yeah, that scans,” Billy mumbled, as Steve laughed into his shoulder.

When Dustin-Pippin’s rocks drew the monsters up through the tunnels, Steve sipped his hot chocolate, gazing into the middle distance. Billy slid an arm around him, kissing him under his ear where his neck met his jaw.   Billy makes hot chocolate like I do on...bad nights, Steve thought, letting the peppermint swirl around his mouth.  Even when he’s drinking it himself.  He frowned at the memory of Billy up at 3am, under an afghan, drinking Steve’s pointlessly-complicated ritualistic blend of flavors.  And just handing it to me, when I got up, his mouth quirked.  Then, out of the blue, the wizard fell to his death, and they both stared at Will.

“What the fuck?” asked Billy.

“Hopper, no,” Steve whispered.

 Steve sat up in bed, cheeks and exposed arms numb with cold, heart thudding.  He squinted around at the Christmas lights of the fort, rubbing his face as he took in the burrito-lump that was Will on his right, and most of the covers, and the empty space to his left.  He patted it, and the sheets were cool. He’d forbidden the thermostat to both Williams, but crawled to the end of the mattress and out to raise it, blinking through the dim to try and avoid all the moved furniture.  

Billy was a lump at the kitchen table, securely wrapped in afghan, his hands around a steaming mug.  

Steve turned up the heat, rubbing his arms, and wandered in to his line of vision.  “What’s my heater doing in the kitchen?”

“--here,” Billy slid the mug towards him, and got up to open the cupboard.

“...I don’t need to steal your drink,” Steve grinned up, and shivered.  “I could share it.”

Billy turned back to assess him, then came back over and sat down.  Steve scooted closer, pulling an edge of the afghan over, and leaning against Billy’s warm side and shoulder.  His eyes started to drift shut again.

Billy watched.  “...the fuck d’you do that,” he asked, his voice exhausted and gravelly.

Steve had been about to comment on the clock, which read two-thirty-eight in the morning, or that Billy’d obviously been awake a while, so he squinted back, lifting the mug to inhale a familiar mix of marshmallows, candy cane, chocolate, and coffee.  “Huh?”

Billy leaned their heads together, his breath warm against Steve’s cheek.  “This.”  

“Shit,” Steve jerked away, laughing.  “--fuck. Sorry--”

Billy yanked him back in, rubbing his stubble against Steve’s jaw, and Steve snickered, trying to shove him away without waking Will.

“--stop--the fuck are you doing, you dickhead--”

“Shut up, you know you’ll cry without me,” Billy stubble-burned his flailing forearms, and Steve tried to suppress cackles.

“Fuck you, man, I’ll fucking stop--” Steve squeaked as Billy turned to hold him close with both arms, switching to licking his struggling hands.  The chairs under them creaked as Steve leaned away, squirming, and trying not to laugh, and Billy pulled him closer.  

“Poor lonely Harrington,” Billy whispered, biting his arm, and Steve pushed at his face, kicking at his chair and trying to hold his breath against giggles.  ���Gonna tape a picture of me to your pillow? Hug it every night?”

“Stop it,” Steve hissed back, grinning.  “Stop licking me with your stink tongue, Hargrove--”

The mug of hot chocolate jostled, and they both froze, before Billy’s smirk turned into sniggers.  He leaned into Steve’s shoulder, relaxing his arms into a hug.  

“So you really don’t want me to stop,” Steve whispered in his ear, grabbing the mug and taking a sip.  

“Never said I wanted you to sit three feet away and fucking--stare at me like a hungry dog,” Billy snorted into his shoulder, and Steve seriously considered dumping the hot chocolate down his back.

“Pretty sure I wasn’t doing that.”  He rolled his eyes, but slid his fingers through Billy’s curls, sipping the hot chocolate and squinting through the holes in the afghan to try and read the clock on the microwave.  “You stare at people, they start scooting away. Nancy used to--”

“But I’m a friend, right,” Billy laughed softly.  “Bet you do this with all your friends.  Bet you sleep in Tommy’s lap.”

“Maybe when we were like six,” Steve cocked his head to try and bite a piece off the top of the candy cane.  “Not sure you know what friends are like, Hargrove--”

“Yeah, you noticed,” Billy snorted.  “Not really friend material--”

“Wha?”  Steve stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth to try and capture the candy cane without pulling his other hand out of Billy’s curls.

“What, you think I had friends?” 

“I like you.”  Steve felt his cheeks heat.  He got his teeth on the candy cane, and crunched.

“Yeah, well, took me a while to grow up and get sexy.”

“...no, I mean, you are, but--”

Billy leaned into Steve’s fingers in his hair.  “I’m saying once I got fuckable people didn’t mind having me around, Harrington.  I’m not nice.”

“...pictured you as cute.”  Steve squinted, thinking, and sucked on the half candy cane in his mouth, burying his face in Billy’s hair to breathe him in.  “The curls, maybe.”

“Maybe if I hadn’t been fucking feral,” Billy snorted, pulling his legs up to lean more of his weight into Steve.  “Fucking--I fucking picked up a kid’s desk once and threw it.  He was still sitting in it.  Just sitting there being a little asshole until I came along.”

Steve clenched his fingers in curls, hugging him closer.  “...how did nobody make sure you were okay.”

“They were making sure he was okay, Harrington.  He got thrown.  It was like a car crash, he landed on all these other desks--”

“No, yeah, but--”

“So this is what friends are like,” Billy sniggered.

“I know I’m weird, alright, you can tell me to fuck off.”

“You’re a goddamn pain in the ass,” Billy groaned into his neck.  “Already, you’re a pain in the ass, just do it, I’d be easier to put up with, right, just fuck me.”

“I’m a pain in the ass?”  Steve nearly choked, finished chewing the hunk of candy cane, and took a swig of hot chocolate.  He cleared his throat.  “Me.  I’m the one making things weird.”

“...you don’t have to think so hard about it,” Billy muttered into his shoulder.  “I’m easy, Harrington, just--”

“You are anything but easy!” Steve hissed back, and Billy laughed, clenching his fingers in the back of Steve’s shirt.  Steve thonked the mug back on the table, and wrapped his other arm around Billy’s shoulders. Under the afghan, Billy’s shirt was a weird mix of sleep-warm and cold where the gaps between squares had let the air through.  “I’m a pain in the ass?  Have you looked in a goddamn mirror.”  He stroked his thumb through the warm hair at the back of Billy’s head, where the weight of his curls pulled it straight.  “Other than to fucking admire yourself.  Christ. You’re more trouble than the whole Goonie posse, I swear to god.  At least I can keep them safe with a bat.  Easy, jesus.  You’re the farthest thing from easy--”

Billy was cackling into the neck of Steve’s t-shirt.  “Sorry, your majesty.” He’d wedged himself half onto Steve’s lap, his legs off to the side, slumping against Steve’s shoulder and neck, as Steve tried to get both thighs under what felt like six tons of muscled ass cutting off the circulation in his leg.  

Steve strained, half-lifting Billy’s heavy butt with a hug, so he could shift against the hard edge of the chair.  “God, you weigh a fuck ton, they’re gonna have to amputate my legs, you fuck,” he muttered, hugging Billy tighter, and feeling him shake with laughter.  “Look. Seriously.  Hargrove.  I’m not weird enough I couldn’t hide it for a few hours,” Steve wanted to push away and pace, flailing, so he contented himself petting Billy’s hair like he was a cat, pushing at his head.  Billy snickered harder, and Steve felt the hands in his shirt grip tighter. “I could get anybody in our school over here if I got on the phone.  I could have a party here in minutes, you--you shithead.  I could get laid in an hour, tops--”

“You sound like such a prick,” Billy sniggered into his neck.  

“--and it’d all be easier than you, you--you asshole fuckface, jesus.  Easy.  The fuck do you think easy is?”  Steve trailed off into a softer whisper.  “It’s not you. God. Nothing about you is easy.  Nothing about your life is making my life easy, you’re--you’re like I saw a--a hurricane and opened the door, come on in, make my life messier--”

“Probably shouldn’t do that,” Billy snorted.  “It’s kinda--”

“Shut up,” Steve muffled a laugh in his hair.  “I can--I can have a hurricane if I want to. Fucking stop me.  You aren’t my mom.”  Billy’s shoulders shook as he laughed breathlessly.  Steve raised his eyebrows at the familiar humid warmth.  “Not the hurricane’s fault it’s kinda...wet.”

“Shut the hell up, I’m not crying,” Billy huffed, sniffling.

“Fucking--floods everywhere,” Steve pulled him closer.  “Easy.  Jesus.”

“I said easier--” Billy dug his nails into Steve’s back, and Steve slid his hand up Billy’s shirt, lifting the edge to expose his side to the frosty air of the kitchen.  Billy squirmed, hissing as he retracted his claws, and Steve smoothed his hand over the shivering skin of Billy’s side before pulling the afghan more securely around them.  

Billy groaned into his shoulder.  “--I know what I’m like, jesus, Harrington, I’m just saying--if you’d just--”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” Steve whispered back.  “That’s gross, stop it. Nasty. I’m not fucking--jizzing in you to make my life easier, stop saying that shit.  If--if I wanted easy you wouldn’t be here, I want you.”

Billy made a soft wheezy whining noise in the back of his throat, and bit Steve’s shoulder.  He took a shaky breath, and swallowed. “I--I don’t think that came out how you meant, Harrington--”

“I want you here,” Steve smacked his shoulder, but wrapped both arms around him, forcing himself to swallow through his dry throat.  “I fucking want you here, it doesn’t need to be easier, I want you. Here. If you were easy you wouldn’t be you, you’re not easy.  It’s--it’s fine, it’s fucking fine, stop--stop saying gross shit about treating you like you’re--like a blow up doll.  And don’t bite me, you’re so nuts, jesus fucking christ--”

“Sorry I’m not easy, then, I guess,” Billy huffed a laugh, breathing against Steve’s wet t-shirt.

“I’m not.  Shut up. You-you’re Billy Hargrove, so you’re fine.  Billy Hargrove is fine.” he squeezed tighter, steadying himself.  “I don’t--I like--you’re messy as fuck, but it’s not--you’re just a mess ‘cause of your goddamn dad.”  Sometime in the previous sentences, Steve had gone hoarse, and his eyes were burning.  

Billy swallowed against his neck.  “...hey, now, if it weren’t for my goddamn dad, you’d be all alone in this big empty house.  You wouldn’t have--”

“If it weren’t for your fucking dad,” Steve cut him off,  “--you wouldn’t be so goddamn hard to make friends with.”  Billy took a deep breath, and Steve reached up to slide his hand over what he could get at of Billy’s mouth.  “Shut it, just--just shut up, sorry, I know--I know he’s got you convinced he’s great and you’re shit, but I don’t wanna hear it.  I like you, I don’t wanna hear you talk all the shit he says. Just--just don’t try to fuck me like you’re disarming a bomb. I don’t wanna fuck anybody who thinks that--”

“Shit,” Billy lifted his head.  “Harrington--”

“I know you don’t--” Steve laughed, swallowing, and Billy grabbed his head and pulled it against his shoulder.  Steve took a shaky breath.  “I know I’m--I’m the woods, for you.”

“What?” Billy scraped his nails up the nape of Steve’s neck.

“...uh--okay, shit, that feels good.”

“Yeah it fucking does.”

“--I just--I mean, I know E--uh, they closed the hole, to--to the other place, the Upside-Down.  There aren’t monsters coming out, the woods are fine, there’s nothing out there.  I still have to go check.  If the phone rings when I’m asleep I think everyone’s dead, I mean, I know they’re not dead, but--” he groaned into Billy’s shoulder, half annoyed at the general slipperiness of words, half enthralled at the feeling of Billy’s warm callused thumb rubbing the join between his neck and jaw, and up behind his ear.  “And--it’s just--you know I won’t hit you with the bat, I mean.  But like--if you’re startled, or if I wake you up, or grab you--it’s like me and blue monsters.  It’s like me and the woods.”

“...I guess it is,” Billy breathed into his neck.  

Steve’s feet were dead asleep, but Billy was addictively warm, and listening.  “And that’s--I get that, that makes sense, your brain’s all--doesn’t want you to fuckin’--die.  But don’t--don’t try to--if you think I’m--I’m a minefield, lock your room or something, go for a drive--go to Ms. Williams, I guess, don’t--don’t try to fuck me into not exploding, don’t--just don’t.”

“I just thought it’d--” Billy dropped his head to Steve’s shoulder again, wrapping his hand tight around the back of his skull.  “--it wasn’t--if you have to have me here, at least--”

“Shit,” Steve sighed, closing his eyes tight.  “You never wanted me at all, did you. You just--I wouldn’t calm down, I was freaking out, you kissed me so I’d chill the hell out.  Damn it.”

“Wait, what,” Billy lifted his head again, running his thumbs across Steve’s cheeks, and squinting at him in the dim light that filtered from the stove hood through the afghan.  “No, I thought you’d be more likely to hit me, what the fuck.  Wandering around in the snow with your shirt off, and the fucking bat, jesus.  Thought I was gonna fucking--cream my pants, snow melting off the nails and dripping red down your shoulders--good way to die, I thought--”

Steve snorted, laughing.  “What?!”

“--just like--melting in your hair--running down your--”

“Okay, okay, yeah,” Steve squirmed, face flaming, and hoped Billy couldn’t feel him getting hard in his sweatpants.  “Meant when I almost dragged you down the stairs, and you thought I might bash your head on the ground, or--”

“...oh, uh.”  

“Yeah, that’s--that’s what I thought,” Steve closed his eyes, swallowing, “--don’t--don’t pull that shit, it’s not--”

“Shut the hell up, you did the same thing to me in the Mexican place,” Billy bonked their heads together, “--you just wanted me to calm down, you even told me how nasty I fuckin’ was, you said I tasted rotten.”

“You were drinking spiced rum, eugh,” Steve shuddered.  “It’s not even good in coke--”

“Yeah, right.  So if you can kiss me to shut me up and tell me I’m foul, I can--”

“Shit, wait.”  Steve reached over his shoulder to smack some fingers over Billy’s mouth again.  He ignored the immediate licking. He tried to keep ignoring the licking, and focus.  “No, it’s--”

“And again after you said we were done,” Billy laughed.  “Right there against the counter. It’s okay if you’re just shutting me up, I get it, I like it a hell of a lot better than--”

“No,” Steve shook his head, “--that’s not--that’s not why--”

“You kiss me to impress Will, or when I’m being a fucking pussy,” Billy hissed in his ear, “--now I’m supposed to break bottles, and wave your kiddie bat around.  You probably won’t kiss me again unless I get into my shit somewhere and--and it’s worth it to you to shut me down, because I’m--I’m a goddamn freak show, and I’m not allowed to ask for--for anything--”

“Shut it.”  Steve took a deep breath.  “That’s--shitty. Sorry. I--shit, I’m such an idiot.”

“Nah, I get it.  I’m not easy, whatever works.  I’ll stop asking.  I can’t get you to like me, you made that clear--I can’t--” he took a shaky breath.  “Nothing I do is gonna matter for that, even if I get to kiss you, you’re not gonna have a--a fucking movie moment, you said it enough times--you let me at you once and that sure changed your mind--”

“Not what I meant!” Steve yelped, and Billy shushed him, laughing wetly into his shoulder.  Steve held his breath, listening for Will, then braced himself, and whispered “Not--not what I meant.”  He blew air through his cheeks, trying to shove the words into place in his head.  “You--aren’t easy.  You’re crazy, you do all this crazy shit, living alone would be better than somebody who beat me up and tried to set my house on fire and--and acts like I’m a monster sometimes--scares kids,” he took another shaky breath, holding Billy against him under the afghan when he tried to pull away.  “Shut up, listen. If you were anyone else, I--I would help you.  I’d--I’d still give you money.  I’d fix your car, if you were someone else.  Your dad shouldn’t hit you, nobody’s--that’s not--I’d help any random asshole if their dad was such an...an asshole, christ.  And then when you left I’d be so fucking glad you were gone.  I’d throw a party.  But--”

Billy leaned away, making the chair creak under them, and Steve grappled him close again.  “You can stop anytime--”

“But you’re you,” Steve squeezed him, swallowing, “--you’re--you’re Billy Hargrove, and I...it’s different, than--than if it was somebody else.  I don’t want you to leave. I--I never want you to fucking leave.”

“Christ,” Billy whispered, clenching a fist in Steve’s hair.

“You--I mean.  You could make me happy as hell with a blow job, yeah, if I--if I let you.  But you can’t--fuck. Hargrove. I can’t like you more.  I can’t like you more than I do, it doesn’t--I can’t--I like the hell out of you, I can’t--I like you too fucking much, you don’t--”

“Shut up,” Billy yanked him closer, laughing unevenly.  His voice had gone hoarse. “Harrington. King Steve. You--”

The lights switched on, and Steve yanked the afghan off his head to stare into Will’s sleepy glower.  

“Oh my god,” he moaned, switching the lights back off.  “Are you guys done yet, shut up, it’s almost morning--”

“We can carve ‘Cockblock Byers’ on his tombstone,” Billy growled into Steve’s neck, sliding warm hands under his shirt.  “Let’s go upstairs.” Steve froze at the feeling of Billy’s hot mouth on his neck, biting softly.  

Will groaned, flailing his arms, and stomped off to the front room.  “Just be quiet!”

“Come on, Harrington,” Billy shifted against Steve’s lap, whispering.  “You been rock-hard since I sat down. You like me so goddamn much? Fill me up.  We can lock the door. Just shove something in my mouth so I’m quiet.” He bit Steve’s earlobe, letting it slide from between his teeth, his hot breath hitting the wet places along Steve’s neck and sending a jolt to his dick.  “Anything.  Shove anything in me.  Harrington. Come on. Gimme full-body carpet burn from your parent’s bedroom floor.”

“I CAN STILL HEAR YOU,” Will yelled from the other room, before what sounded like more yelling through a pile of pillows, and Steve startled out of his daze.  

“Shit.”  He swallowed, didn’t feel like it did the job, and swallowed again.  “Shit, shit, shit--shit.” He swallowed a third time, and Billy slid off his lap and stood, pulling him upright.  

“Come on, your majesty,” he whispered, as Steve tried to stand with his feet completely asleep, and tried not to look at Billy’s mouth.  

Will’s right there, he told himself firmly.  He pulled some pillows over his head, but he’s fifteen feet away. 

“I could keep my clothes on, if you can’t get it up--” Billy laughed, shoulders tensing, and Steve got, horribly, even harder, imagining stripping him down in a pile of pillows, kissing him all over until he laughed and swore, and just--pointing out everything he liked to look at.  With his mouth.

It’s almost dawn, and I do not have a good track record with saying the right thing.  He took a deep breath, held it, and felt Billy start to pull away.  “Not with Will here,” he whispered back, tucking his nose against Billy’s jaw.  “Not--just--” He could feel Billy swallow against his mouth.

Steve’s feet were starting to wake up, the discomfort starting to dispel the images Billy’d conjured up.  Not that throwing him on the ground and shoving things in him sounds particularly great.  Gags? Did he--“Hey,” he pulled back, wincing as he flexed a tingly foot, “--uh.  Did you have--kind of--maybe a shitty boyfriend? In California?”

Billy’s eyes were still on Steve’s mouth.  He licked his lips. “What?”

“Did you have a boyfriend in California that--”

“Ha,” Billy blinked, pulling his hands from Steve’s ribs to his forearms.  “What? I never had a boyfriend, the hell, Harrington.”

They both winced, grinning, at the sound of Will’s muffled wail into the pillows.  “Shut up, you guys!”

“Had a few one-night stands,” Billy leaned to whisper in his ear, and Steve tried not to grimace at the image of some stranger throwing him to the floor.  “Shut up,” Billy flinched back, hissing. “I know I’m a fucking slut, okay--”

“Wow, shhh, shush,” Steve smacked his hand over Billy’s mouth, ignoring his growl.  “I don’t--that’s not--” He took a deep breath. “--I wasn’t saying that. And I’m going to bed.  You coming?”

Billy shook his hand off, whispering.  “You know I’ll wash off, right,” he grinned, “--few good hot showers.  Whatever fucking--fag cooties I’ve got, my--it won’t stick on you, you can fuck my mouth and not--”

“Christ,” Steve clapped both hands over Billy’s mouth, and Billy punched his shoulder, shoving him away.  He stalked back out into the front room. When Steve inched back out there, Billy was curled up on the edge of the mattress, facing he wall of the fort--and he’d pulled the blankets over his head, so Steve had the choice of crawling up under them from the foot of the mattress, or walking up and trying to shuffle down between the Williams’ heads.  He lifted the blankets at the bottom, and army crawled up the middle of the bed. Will was making a weird little snorfle noise every time he breathed, his face squashed between the mattress and the pillow. Steve rolled to face Billy’s back. He reached out, then folded his hands under his arms, squeezing his eyes shut to think, before reaching out to pat the mattress by Billy’s shoulder, and using his fingers to write U R GREAT down Billy’s back in big capital letters.  

Billy snorted a laugh.

SORRY, Steve wrote.  Then, after some thought, NOT SLUT.  He ran the flat of his hand up and down Billy’s sweatshirt like his back was a chalkboard.  NOT GROSS. He smoothed that away, Billy’s muscles tense against his fingers. WORRIED. SORRY.  

Billy rolled back into him, squirming around to lie facing him in the faint rainbowy light filtered through the sheet over their heads.  He reached over and wrote DIP SHIT across Steve’s chest, and Steve shivered, biting back a snicker.

DUMB ASS, Steve wrote, distracted by Billy’s unzipped sweatshirt, and his warm collarbones. 

GOOD NIGHT KISS, Billy wrote back, fingers lingering on Steve’s side, and Steve took a shaky breath.  He smoothed his hand down Billy’s chest, swallowing, and feeling warm skin. MAGIC SLEEP KISS, Billy wrote, and Steve yanked his hand back to muffle a laugh.  ABRA KA DABRA, Billy’s fingers traced, slowly, before ‘wiping away’ the letters. SLEEP NO DREAM KISS.

Before he could think too hard, Steve scooted closer and pressed their lips together, then leaned back against his pillow as Billy grabbed at his hands and shirt.  

NOT READY, Billy wrote.  

Steve could feel him panting, and feel the blood pounding under his fingers against Billy’s chest.  He’d tasted like chocolate.

ASSHOLE, Billy wrote, firmly, letting his head thump forward against their clenched hands.  LET ME.

Y--, Steve began spelling, and Billy tugged at his sleeves, and his fingers, clumsy in the dark, and curled closer.  Their knees bumped, and Steve raised one, grinning in the dark as Billy slid a leg into the gap, and scrambled closer until he had his hands clenched in Steve’s shirt, and his breath was warm against Steve’s mouth.  Steve started again, spelling YES against the warm soft skin of Billy’s stomach. He let his fingers run over the muscles Billy liked to show off, running around shirtless, and felt him huff a laugh.  

Billy took a deep breath, and splayed his palm out against Steve’s chest, breathing shakily.  KING, he finally wrote, and stopped again, and Steve stopped exploring the smooth skin and soft wispy curls between his bellybutton and his sweatpants.

WHAT, he spelled back.

LET ME, Billy wrote again, and Steve was already writing DO IT.

Billy leaned closer, his breath warm against Steve’s lips.  LET ME STAY.

Steve froze, his lips almost brushing Billy’s.  

LET ME STAY HERE, Billy tried, and Steve leaned in to kiss him, unable to resist.  YOU WILL STARVE. His mouth was as hot as ever, Steve thought, a small part of his mind on the letters spelling out against his chest, the rest imagining curling up every night against Billy Hargrove.

AM FINE, he wrote across Billy’s stomach, feeling him twitch away.

LONELY, Billy wrote back, and Steve was still for a long second, before leaning in to kiss him.

He kept it slow and quiet, memorizing the smell of soap and cologne and Billy, and feel of his mustache, and slid the arm he was lying on under Billy’s head to hold him close.  He smoothed his hand up Billy’s abs a few times. I M OKAY.

NOT OKAY, Billy insisted, and Steve squeezed him, eyes burning.  

He took a few long deep breaths before pulling back to run the back of his hand over Billy’s pecs again.  HAVE TO GO, he wrote, in careful block letters. DONT GET HURT.

Billy pressed him back into the pillows with more kisses--I’ll miss the moustache, Steve thought, suppressing a giggle as his tears ran over the bridge of his nose and into the pillow.  His lips were starting to feel tender under the onslaught, and he closed his eyes, relaxing 

DUMB FUCK, Billy wrote under the collar of his t-shirt.  STARVE CRAZY.

Steve pulled their foreheads together, feeling Billy’s eyelashes brush his cheek.  WANT YOU TO STAY. Billy nuzzled closer, squeezing his hand and kissing his knuckles.  BUT DONT. BILLY SAFE.

Steve’s fingers started to hurt in Billy’s crushing grip, before he swallowed against Steve’s shoulder, and sighed, nodding.  He let go of Steve’s hands to grab his shirt, and Steve pulled him close.

 “So I went to pick up my car...” Billy leaned back against the counter, letting his head drop to Steve’s shoulder.  

Steve tried to keep washing dishes without jostling him off.  “Yeah?”

“They said it was all paid up.  That you had them do a tune-up. Change the oil.”

“Yep?”  

“You sure you don’t want a blow job?”

“Jesus shit, you don’t--I’m--I’m not a vending machine,” Steve jerked away, trying to ignore Billy’s stagger.  “Stop. Just--christ.”  

“I dunno, I seem to keep pressing buttons,” Billy pushed himself up on the counter, sighing.

“You don’t have to fucking put coins in to get me to be nice, what the hell.”

“You don’t wanna take my currency anyway,” Billy laughed, swallowing hard.  “Kinda hard finding anybody that wants what Billy Hargrove’s got.  Maybe I should hit an exchange.”

“What?!” Steve smacked his handful of silverware into the suds with a splashing clatter.  “What the hell are you talking about.”

“I’ve got someplace to stay, my car’s working again, you keep--” he glowered, waving a hand unhelpfully at Steve washing dishes, “--you’re doing all your--bullshit, because you--you like me, okay, shit.  You think I’m hot, sometimes.  You’d help anybody.  ‘Cause nothing I’ve got is worth shit to Steve Fucking Harrington.”  Billy kicked his feet. “--and I know it’s not worth much to anyone, but like--can’t we just make an--exchange rate.  Just--”

Steve shook the water off his hands and stepped over, pushing a soapy hand against Billy’s face.  “I don’t like where this is going. Don’t--this isn’t--” he took a deep breath, and Billy watched, eyes half-lidded.  “You aren’t--you don’t owe me, okay.  You don’t have to--pay me back, or--or earn anything--Hargrove.”  Billy’s wandering attention snapped back to his face.  “Look. If you wanna pay me back for the money, get--get a goddamn job.  When you get some extra, send me a fucking check.  But don’t just--don’t--do not ever tell me you want my cock in your mouth unless that’s all you want, okay, just--if that’s--if you just want me, then we can--”

“Hey, guys, I’m gonna take a shower, are you--never mind, I’m taking a bath,” Will turned on his heel in the stairwell and went back upstairs, and Billy dissolved into snickers.

“Use my room!” he shouted up.  “Sparkly soaps!”

“SCREW YOU,” Will called back, laughing.  “REALLY REALLY LONG BATH.” He tromped onto the landing.

Billy turned, grinning, back to Steve, who stepped back.  “I’m serious--”

“Oh, you’re serious,” Billy whined, laughing.

“Shut the hell up, stop saying you’ll give me a blow job like--like it’s ditch-digging.”  Steve hunched his shoulders, stalking back to wash dishes, then waving his hands instead of grabbing any dishes.  “--‘Here, you--dickbag--monster, calm down, I’m Billy and I’ll put my mouth on your dick, so you don’t hit me.  You’re so fucking broken, Broken Steve Harrington, up nights seeing monsters and talking to nobody, I’ll suck you off ‘cause you can’t get a fucking date.’  Fuck you.  Just--fuck you.  Jesus.”

“What...” Billy stared at him.

Steve didn’t look up to meet the stare, though he could feel it intensifying into a glower.  He ducked his head, and kept scrubbing the melted cheese off a plate. The pipes hissed as Will cranked the water on upstairs.

“Harrington.”  Billy slid off the counter.  “Hey.”  

Steve shrugged, tired of trying to explain himself, but allowed himself to be pulled backwards against Billy’s chest.  He tried not to think too hard about the biceps and strong hands wrapped around his torso. “What.”

“Tell me what you want.  You want me to want you?”

“Ye-no.  I don’t--stop trying to handle me, christ.  I’m not a zoo ani--”

Billy spun him around, pushing him against the counter.  “Harrington. Do you--” he narrowed his big bluey-green eyes, and Steve felt a flutter of idiocy in his chest, pulling him towards kissing Billy’s freckles, and across his eyelashes.  

He dropped his gaze, trying not to stare back into Billy’s eyes, and ended up watching him lick his lips.  Steve squeezed his eyes shut with a groan.

“Harrington,” Billy said again, both hands holding Steve’s head pointed in his direction, and Steve felt his cheeks heating.  

“I’m listening, what.”

“You think I’m hot.”  It was a statement, but Billy sounded more open to opposing views than usual.

“I’m not blind,” Steve muttered, then realized Billy’s hands could feel his face heating like a stove burner, and grabbed Billy’s wrists with soapy fingers.  “I can tell--I know you think I’m--”

“You want me to kiss you for no reason,” Billy whispered, so close Steve could taste the smoke on his breath.  “Just ‘cause I want to.”

“Fuck.” Steve had meant to pull Billy’s hands away from his face, but he just stood there, eyes closed, his hands loose on Billy’s muscled forearms.  His face was probably glowing red.  “If you--if you fucking--”

Billy yanked him forward into a kiss, and Steve blinked, staring at Billy’s long lashes so close to his face they were blurry.  “You shut up this time,” he whispered, and Steve let his eyes drift shut again, turning his head for a better angle, and relaxing into the heat of Billy’s mouth and hands against his face.  Steve winced as the counter dug into his back, but slid his arms around Billy’s neck, pulling him close enough to feel Billy’s heart thudding in his chest--nearly as much as Steve’s was.

“So you’re saying I don’t have to bargain.”  Billy panted, mouthing along his jawline.  His eyelashes tickled. “You’ll let me.  I can just--” he slid his hand up the back of Steve’s neck and pulled him into another press of lips, and Steve heard himself moan into it, and licked deeper into Billy’s mouth, pretending he wasn’t completely obvious.  

“I can just kiss you?”  Billy laughed, pulling back enough to stare into his face, and Steve kissed him again.  He tasted like beer, a bit, and lunch, but mostly good.  

“Like I was ever gonna say no.”

“You did,” Billy panted into his neck.  His fingers shook, combing through Steve’s hair and catching clumsily at his ears.  “You said no. You said we were done, you said I was disgusting--” he pressed his whole body against Steve’s, and Steve was vaguely aware he’d have a bruise across his back the next day from the edge of the counter, but mostly he was focused on the friction and pressure where the hard line of Billy’s cock in his jeans rubbed against Steve’s own.

“Sorry,” he breathed back.  “Sorry. Everybody’s gross, I mean, sometimes--”

“Shut up, shut up--” Billy ran his hands down Steve’s sides, covering his mouth with his own again, and Steve forgot his argument.  Billy’s hips nudged forward again, and Steve swallowed a moan, pulling an arm free so he could grab the back of Billy’s jeans and hold him close.  Billy laughed, and leaned closer, his eyes drifting closed on a soft groan.  

Steve pulled his hand around, tucking his fingers in the front of Billy’s jeans, and Billy jerked his head back, wide-eyed.

“Will hasn’t even turned the bath water off yet, there’s time,” Steve slid his thumb under the button, pulling back to let Billy’s lower lip slip from between his teeth.  Billy’s eyes fluttered shut. “Can I stick my hand down your pants?”

Billy jerked against him, then hugged Steve’s head, laughing against the side of his face.  “Speak more of this poetry to me.”  

“Shut up,” Steve laughed, kissing the bit of Billy’s jaw he could reach.  “Can I?”

Billy was quiet, and after a few seconds, Steve pushed his hands away so he could pull back and see him face to face.  He’d gone kinda expressionless, and Steve reached up to flick his earring.  

“You gonna let me?”

“You decided I was nasty pretty fast the last time,” Billy shrugged, smiling down at Steve’s hand, “--maybe--”

“Don’t drink any Captain Morgan,” Steve flipped the button open with his thumb, raising his eyebrows, “--and don’t threaten any kids, and I’ll think--I won’t think you’re nasty.”  He tugged the zipper pull, staring back into Billy’s eyes.  “Lemme unzip you.”

“You--you fucking tell me if you change your mind.”  Billy clenched his hands in Steve’s shirt, shoving him back against the counter.  “New rule. Don’t--just tell me, I’ll back off.  I’ll--I’ll stay six feet away.  Whatever you want.”

“Christ.  Yeah.” Steve nodded.  “Not gonna change my mind, okay.”

“Fucking say it,” Billy growled, shoving him back again.  “You get my cock in your hand and wanna puke, don’t--” he swallowed, leaning in to grate Steve’s back against the edge of the counter, “--don’t--just tell me to get out.  Throw my ass in the garage again, whatever--”

“That’s not--I’m not going to--”  Steve stared back into Billy’s increasingly thunderous smirking face, and tried to think.  “--okay, yeah, yeah, I promise. Okay. If I get--pissed about something, your--your dick, or whatever--”

Billy snorted, leaning in again for a kiss.  “Yeah. Don’t hit me if you get pissed about my dick.”

“Mmf.  Okay,” Steve couldn’t think and kiss Billy at the same time, and kissing felt incredibly good, “--wait, sto--wait.  I won’t--I’m not gonna hit you anyway, Hargrove, jesus.”

“I don’t know what the hell decides you about people,” Billy shrugged, sliding his arms over Steve’s shoulders and around his neck.  

Steve squeezed him tightly, breathing in the warmth and smells of Billy Hargrove.  “I’m already decided about you, Hargrove.”

Billy laughed, swallowing, and Steve leaned in to kiss him again, holding him close with one hand on his lower back.  At Billy’s nod, he pulled the zipper down with the other.  

He slid his hand in to smooth skin over hard flesh, and the tickle of hair, and paused, feeling only Billy’s dick and the interior of his jeans.

“--I need to do some laundry,” Billy laughed against his mouth, “--shit, sorry.”

“I could’ve caught you in the zipper,” Steve froze, staring down at Billy’s lack of underwear, “--you shoulda said something--”

Billy grabbed Steve’s hand out of his pants, and yanked his sweatshirt down over his dick with his other hand, hunching his shoulders.  He ducked his head, grinning. “Yeah, I didn’t think this’d get too far. I’m gonna--”

“God dammit,” Steve grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him back into a kiss, sliding his other hand back in to grab Billy’s cock, and slide his thumb over the tip of it.  

Billy yelped against his mouth, half-falling against him, and jarring him into the counter again.  

“C’mere--” Steve reached his less-busy hand around to grab the back of Billy’s jeans, and kept his thumb rubbing over the tip of Billy’s cock, and the vein underneath--Billy was certainly wet enough--but his eyes were as wet as his dick was, and the quick breaths he was taking against Steve’s mouth felt less like excitement, and more like hyperventilation.  Okay, Steve thought, taking a deep breath, I gotta get this right, or he will absolutely bite my dick off.  “D’you want me to stop,” he squeezed gently, but didn’t move.  “I--I’ll keep going, I mean, I want to keep going, but if you want me to stop we can--”  

“Don’t you fucking dare stop,” Billy’s voice cracked.

 “I’m gonna jack you off,” Steve whispered, between kisses, and Billy whined, licking into his mouth, “--mnn.  And then we’re gonna need a shower, ‘cause we’ll both be gross.”  Letting go of Billy’s pants, since he wasn’t trying to pull away, Steve slid his hand up Billy’s back and around the back of his neck.  “Then we can--we can hang out with Will, and I’m--I’m not--letting go of you.”

Billy laughed against his cheek, swallowing.  “Fuck yeah.” He nodded.

“Okay, stop--stop freaking out.”  Steve put his attention back on Billy’s dick, and trying to ignore his own.  The trail of hair up Billy’s suspiciously tanned abs brushing his knuckles didn’t help, and neither did Billy’s clumsy kisses and swallowed noises, or him apparently not knowing where to put his hands.  “Shit,” Steve clenched his hand in Billy’s hair to keep him from running off, and pulled his hand back to unzip his own pants. “I just have to--”

“Want me to do something about that,” Billy whispered, biting at his lips.  “Let me get down--”

“S’fine, it’s your turn.”

“...finish me off, then.  You can use my mouth in the shower.”

“Christ,” Steve unzipped himself and grabbed Billy’s cock again.  He yanked faster, holding Billy close, so his hand could just barely move between them.  

Billy staggered against him, grabbing at his shirt, and Steve pushed him back, grinning into his kisses.  

“Sit down.  Babe. Sit down in a chair--”

Billy clung, laughing.  “Shit, you make my knees--”  He backed until his legs hit the chair and dropped into it, hanging on to Steve’s arms, and Steve straddled his lap.  Steve’s hand was just starting to get tired at the awkward angle when Billy’s nails clenched into his arm. “My knees just--Ha-Harrington--fuck--” he panted, and Steve leaned to bite at his ear.

“Come on, Billy Hargrove,” he whispered, and Billy made a broken noise, jerking against him.  Steve barely had time to close his hand on the warmth of Billy’s dick to keep their shirts from telling poor Will somebody’d been jacked off in the kitchen.  Billy collapsed against his shoulder, his face hot against Steve’s neck. “...sh...shit. Should probably get your hand washed off,” he said hoarsely. “Want me to lick it clean?”

“Nah,” Steve nuzzled in to kiss his ear, then his cheek, then his mouth, as Billy lifted his head.  

He panted into the kiss, then pulled back to watch Steve’s face, eyes narrowed.  “You--uh,” he grinned down at himself, a little lopsidedly, “--everything still okay?”  

“Kinda desperate, after watching that,” Steve whispered back, pushing in to kiss him again, and Billy laughed against his mouth.

“Christ, what is even happening.  Fuck yeah. Come on. Don’t change your mind.”  He grabbed Steve’s clean hand, dragging him toward the stairs.  

Once they got in Steve’s bathroom, Steve wondered, briefly, how much hot water Will had left--before his brain entirely devolved into appreciating Billy’s ass sticking out of the shower as he turned on the water, and his wriggle out of his pants.  

Steve shrugged out of his own sweatshirt, tried to kick out of his pants and skivvies, and staggered over the pile to slide his fingers up and under Billy’s t-shirt, pushing it up with both hands flat against his chest.  He followed along with his mouth and tongue, and Billy grinned, raising his arms to let Steve pull his shirt off over his head. He leaned into Steve’s hands and his kisses, laughing as he allowed himself to be pushed backward into the shower.  “You’re still...wearing a shirt,” he said against Steve’s mouth, and Steve rocked their hips together.

“Really--” Steve kissed him under the showerhead, “--super don’t care.”  He combed wet curls out of Billy’s face with his fingers. 

Billy grinned, lowering his eyes to look through the water clinging to his lashes.  “You’ll have to let go for me to blow you,” he whispered, mouthing along Steve’s jaw, and Steve nuzzled into his neck.  Billy licked the water up the side of Steve’s face, and Steve held him tighter, cackling, and smushed him up against the wall of the shower in a licking war until they were both laughing too hard to kiss.  Steve slurped the water out of Billy’s mustache, and Billy smacked at his head, laughing so hard he wheezed, then pushed away, placing his hands on Steve’s shoulders.

“Ha-Harrington,” he laughed, trying to hold a straight face.  He pushed his hair out of his face.

“Hargrove,” Steve whispered back, giggling as the shower water got in his mouth.  He tried to lean back in for a kiss, one hand on his cock, sliding up and down in the water, the other reaching for Billy.  

Billy grabbed both hands.  “Harrington, you idiot, leggo your dick,” he leaned his face out of the spray, coughing, “--you gotta let me kneel, you moron, if--”

“Oh!”  Steve stopped trying to pull him back, laughing.  “Right. Right--sorry--” He leaned in for another extremely wet kiss, getting an ear full of water from the showerhead, and Billy pushed him firmly away, dropping to his knees.  Steve shivered, leaning against the wall as warm hands slid up the back of his thighs to squeeze his ass, and Billy licked a swath up his dick.

The wet heat of Billy’s mouth and the muscles in his throat felt even better than the first time, if possible, and Steve remembered to curl his fingers into Billy’s wet curls.  Almost there, already, he thought, grinning down just as Billy pulled off, coughing and wiping his face.

“Wait, no,” Steve dropped to a crouch, sliding a hand along Billy’s jaw to pull his face up, while he tried to wipe at his snot, and red eyes.  “Jesus, you’re drowning, stop. Are--are you okay?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, your finest majesty.  Shit. S’fine, I’ve got my breath now,” Billy suppressed a cough, then couldn’t.  He leaned his face back into the spray, shaking his head so his hair flung out. “--it’s fine, come on.  I’m not your granny’s fine china.  Come on, what the fuck, Harrington, you’re not gonna kill me with your goddamn fun-sized pencil dick.  Harrington.”  His snarling sounded hoarse.

Steve jerked his hand back, and stepped away to avoid Billy blowing his nostrils clear over the drain.  “Shit.”

“You aren’t fucking--King sized, okay--” Billy laughed, kicking out, and Steve turned as far away as he could get in the shower stall, grabbing the soap to slick himself up.  

I keep forgetting what he’s like, he yanked away at his cock, at this point trying for some kind of I-don’t-care-what-you-think revenge orgasm.  It’s normal, I think?  It’s a good size? It fits right in my hand?  Fucking...fucking Billy Goddamn Hargrove.

“The hell are you doing,” Billy yelled, and Steve flinched as wet terrycloth splatted loudly against his back, then slid down.  

He sighed, trying to focus on heat, and friction--

“Screw you, fucking--bastard--asshole--” Billy coughed, staggered to his feet, and leaned his forearm across Steve’s chest to shove him into the wall.  “Don’t. Harrington. Christ. Stop it.” He swallowed, wiping his face again. “Don’t pull this shit. Come on. You have to tell me, it’s--it’s a goddamn rule, you have to say.”

“Say what,” Steve turned to stare at him, and Billy’s eyes narrowed.

“...you--you fucking changed your mind.  Tell me to get the hell out. Don’t just pretend I’m invisible, your majesty, come on.”  

“I didn’t change my mind, you started screaming at me,” Steve hissed back, and Billy grinned, leaning into him, and kissing his neck.  

“Nah, you pulled back--”

Steve yanked his hand free, trying not to enjoy the hot breath against his collarbones, or the friction against Billy’s stomach.  “Lemme fucking get off, what the hell is wrong with you.”  

Billy nodded against his shoulder, and slid his hand between them, but Steve grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him at arm’s length.  

“You--you promise not to--don’t bite me or--or anything--”

Billy waggled his tongue, grinning, and Steve groaned, pulling them both down to sit wedged against each other in the little shower stall.  “It’ll be worse down here.” Billy raised his eyebrows, tucking his hair behind his ear. “I could suck you if you lean against the back wall--”

“No, no, don’t drown again--”  Steve tried to think with Logic, and not just... climb into Billy’s lap and rub off on him like Clifford the Big Friendly Pervert.  He cleared his throat. “Use your hand.” 

Billy squinted at him.  

“I mean, what if you.  Use your hand. So I can kiss you.”  I am a genius, he realized, feeling like he could feel his pulse from his dick clear up to his brain.  I can’t kiss him with his face on my dick.  “Please.”

“Wha--?!”  Billy’s legs fell apart as Steve pushed him back against the wall of the shower, sliding his hands over tanned freckled skin.  Billy’s wet curls drug at his fingers.

Steve grabbed one of Billy’s hands and licked a finger into his mouth to suck on.  “You can breathe if I’m kissing you.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Billy pulled him in to a kiss, sliding his knuckles down Steve’s chest and stomach, catching against his wet shirt, to wrap his fingers around Steve’s cock.  Steve groaned into the kiss, scooting closer.

 Once they’d finished, and Steve had relaxed a while, panting against Billy’s neck, he pulled a hand free to smack the nearest part of Billy--his knee.  Billy snorted, nuzzling his hair, and Steve growled. “...the fuck, Hargrove. You have words too, y’know, you could ask whether I’m--doing whatever that--whatever you thought I was doing, christ.  Instead of insulting my dick, what the hell, dude, what the fuck was that even--”

“Sorry,” Billy laughed against him.  “Thought if I made you mad, you’d come back over.”

“...babe,” Steve sighed.

“You ignore me, I will get your fucking attention,” Billy whispered against his head.  “I’m right here, Harrington, don’t you fucking dare look through me, I will--I will…” he took a deep, shaky breath, and Steve pulled him into an open-mouthed kiss.

“Nobody’s ignoring you.  I’m listening to your asshole voice right now, okay, you said my dick was fun-sized and I’m still--”

“Shit, I did,” Billy snickered, and Steve rolled his eyes.  “I said you weren’t king sized--”

“Yeah, okay, California Queen--”

Billy cracked up, curling into him, and Steve stroked his hair, staring down at the side of his head.  

“...you gonna apologize to my dick, you bastard?”

“I could kiss it better,” Billy offered, lifting his head.  “You could pound me into the mattress--”

“Christ,” Steve ran his thumb along Billy’s jaw, feeling him lean into it.  “I wasn’t ignoring you--I mean, I guess I was, kinda, just ‘cause you were screaming--like--bullshit at me.  I thought you were gonna start throwing bottles.”  Billy hummed.  “You wanna shampoo?”

“--what?  Fuck yeah, yes--”  Billy shoved him off, scrambling for a shampoo bottle, and then dropped back beside him, looking annoyingly smug.  

“The hell are you so proud for,” Steve muttered, sudsing up, and Billy grinned, ducking under his hands for a kiss.  They spent so long kissing that the shower started washing the shampoo back off Steve’s outstretched hands, and he snorted against Billy’s mustache, bringing his hands up to start soaping sodden curls.  

Billy let himself tip forward against Steve’s shoulder, laughing against his collarbone.  

“What,” Steve grunted, still annoyed, and ran his left thumb up and down the nape of Billy’s neck while he carefully avoided yanking Billy’s earring, rubbing shampoo in with his other hand.

“We’re on again, huh.”  He could feel Billy’s grin against his shoulder.  “We’re screwing around. It’s not bullshit for Will anymore.  Right?” He pulled back to look Steve in the face, smile intent.

Steve stared back, waving his hand in the water so he could wipe away the suds trailing down Billy’s forehead towards his eye.  In the bright overhead light, Billy’s eyes looked less like a summer swimming pool, and more like rainclouds.  

“Come on, Harrington.  You don’t hate me anymore.  I made it up to you, right?”

Steve licked his lips, blinking back from noticing the tips of Billy’s eyelashes were almost blond, when he didn’t wear mascara.  “What?”

“Shit.  Never mind.”  Billy started to turn to face the other way, and Steve grabbed his head with the hand that was still soapy, and tried to open the shampoo with the other.  

“Wait, what?  No. I never hated you, what the hell.”

“Ha.  Whatever.”

Steve slapped a handful of shampoo into Billy’s curls, scowling.  “--are you--are you deaf?  I keep saying all this--just--dumb--” he scrubbed Billy’s head so hard it pushed him sideways, then yanked him close.  “I said I like you, you fucking dickhead.  You’re important, remember?”

“Yeah, I know, humans are important,” Billy tried to dodge Steve’s thorough fingers, snickering.  “I get it, I know, calm down, jesus--”

Steve grabbed his face with both hands, squishing his cheeks together, and Billy was laughing too hard to get away.  “No, that’s--that’s, like, yeah, I mean, but you’re--Hargrove.” He stopped giving Billy chipmunk cheeks to wipe more suds before they got in his eyes.

“You never make any sense,” Billy grinned, leaning into his hand, “--I never know what you’re--”

Steve pulled him into a hard kiss, then pulled back, biting his lips together while he thought.  “I--I would eat brussels sprouts for you.”

“Oh my fucking god,” Billy collapsed sideways against him, cackling.  “What the hell--”

His hair swiped the whole side of Steve’s soaked shirt with suds, and he peeled it off, startling as Billy’s hair brushed his chest.  “Come here, sit up.”

“I can’t, jesus christ,” Billy slid his arms around Steve’s waist, laughing.  “What the fuck, your majesty. Holy shit. You--” he lifted his head to wipe his face, “--you won’t get scurvy, then, you’ll eat some fucking fiber after I’m gone?”

“....yeeeah?”  Steve’s eyes narrowed.  “That wasn’t--”

“You’re so weird,” Billy grinned at him, cheeks flushed, and Steve had to lean in and kiss him.  “You’re fucked in the head,” he laughed against Steve’s mouth, sighing. “But we’re good now, right--”

“We were good before,” Steve groaned.  “Come on, turn around, I have to finish before the water gets cold.”

“I’d eat a teabag for you,” Billy laughed, letting himself be manhandled into facing the showerhead, and Steve forgot about the shampoo, and started kissing along his spine.  Billy laughed harder, leaning his head in his hands, and Steve got up on his knees to lean over him, stroking the suds out of his hair in the lukewarm water. Billy spat, wiping soap out of his face.  “Why are we eating things we hate for each other?”  

“I dunno.”  Steve felt his face heating.  And his neck.  When the water gets cold, it’ll feel good.  Unless it turns straight to steam when it hits my skin.  “But yeah.”  He cleared his throat.  “We’re--good. You’re good, I’m not--mad, or anything.  I like you, he thought, --and I wish you could hear what I’m thinking, and put it together yourself.  It’d be easier. Except you would die laughing.

Billy leaned back, smirking up, and Steve finished rinsing with the hand that wasn’t holding Billy’s head.  Occasionally, he had to switch. By the time his knees started to hurt against the tile, he was getting the last of the suds out of thick curls, careful of the side where Billy’s head had met the door.  By the time he finished, Billy’s eyes had slid closed, and his smirk relaxed into a soft grin. Steve leaned in and touched his tongue to the tip of Billy’s nose, and Billy’s foot jerked and thonked into the door of the shower stall.  He glared up, upside down, watching Steve fall sideways into the corner laughing, then scrambled around to kneel facing him, and grab the conditioner.

“Water’s getting cold,” Steve grinned up at him, wiping it out of his face, and Billy looked him up and down, licking his lips.  

“What do I get if I turn it off,” he whispered, and Steve snorted, blinking.  “You look pretty cold...Harrington.”

Steve pressed himself back against the wall, laughing, and trying to get his legs out of the rapidly-cooling water.  “What d’you want me to say?”

“Ask me to warm you up,” Billy grinned over, reaching back to slide a finger along the handle, “--maybe you can convince me.”  The water went fully cold, splashing on Steve’s feet, and Billy flattened himself against the wall to avoid it, shivering.  He kept his eyes on Steve’s, though, keeping one hand stroking the handle to turn off the faucet, and sliding the other up his abs, slowly, brushing his fingers through the water along his muscles.  “Don’t keep me waiting, Harrington,” he whispered, grinning.  “You got what it takes?”  

Steve’s mouth went dry watching.  “What,” he nearly barked a laugh, as Billy twined his fingers in his necklace, and pretend to pull himself forward, biting his lower lip.  “Christ, Hargrove.” They’d both pressed their knees together, swinging their legs away from the freezing water, and he caught Billy’s glance trying to see whether his words were having any effect on Steve’s dick.  Hell yeah, they are, he tried not to just lose it snickering, --this is so dumb, christ, he’s so hot.  We’re so dumb. Steve’s feet were against the stall door, and it would have taken just the slightest pressure to push it open, and escape.  He pulled them back, trying to think of what to say. “Please turn it off,” he couldn’t help laughing, “--come over and warm me up.”  

Billy cranked it off, halfway in his lap before Steve had really gotten to appreciate his sudden grin.  “I wanna choke on your dick,” he whispered, licking the water up Steve’s jaw. “I like it. Come on.”

Between Billy’s shivering, warm bulk suddenly in his lap, the tongue gliding along his jaw, and the hot breath in his ear, Steve’s engine had flooded, and he gave himself a second to restart.  “...really?”

“I really want to,” Billy whispered back, and Steve’s heart must have started in, like, four-wheel drive, he realized, because he felt like he was radiating heat.  “Shit,” he pulled Billy’s head around for an actual kiss. “I think it just caught on fire, probably. Like a lightsaber.”

Billy went still, and then Steve realized his shoulders were shaking with laughter.  “...that’s disgusting,” he wheezed, sliding his hand down Steve’s thigh, to run his thumb up the anatomy in question.  Steve jerked against him, gasping. “Still 100% flesh penis,” Billy reported, and Steve snorted, cheeks flaming.  

“Shut up, you’re--it’s not my fault I’m hard enough to drill metal--”

Billy did the thing Steve was starting to recognize as being taken by surprise, but in a good way--he smiled, leaning his face against Steve’s knees, and took a couple of deep breaths.  

“What about you?” Steve lifted a hand--his heart was pounding so hard he was shaking, he realized, unless it was cold.  He didn’t feel cold. He stroked Billy’s hair, squeezing the water out.  “So it’s fair.”

“Just spread your damn legs and hand me the conditioner,” Billy pressed his face harder against Steve’s leg, and Steve grabbed the bottle and tucked it into his hand.  

He’s shaking too, Steve noticed, watching him squirt half the bottle into his hand, mutter under his breath, and squish it through his fingers onto his dick.  

“I’m so glad you don’t call it, like, a cockmeister,” Steve blurted, and Billy stopped moving entirely to stare.  “Tommy got all weird in the communal showers at first, he kept saying shit like ‘Little Tommy the Cockmeister wants to meet Stevey Jr. for after dinner drinks--’”

“Sure he did.”  Billy’s eyes narrowed, and he shot a glare over his shoulder at the doorway.  “Lil’ Tommy better stay in his fucking pants.”

“What am I supposed to be doing,” Steve turned so his back was against the tiled wall, letting his legs fall wherever, “--while you’ve got your hand on your cock and your mouth…” he trailed off, watching Billy waggle his tongue.  “Jesus. While you’re choking on me?  I feel like I’m a shitty--”

“Like you’ll be able to think that far,” Billy leaned in for a kiss, grinning, “--you’ll just be seeing God, okay--”

Steve licked his lips, laughing at the slight tickle of Billy’s mustache as he kissed his way down Steve’s chest, and tried to think.  It’s the perfect opportunity, he narrowed his eyes, staring vaguely through the door to the shower stall, --he likes it when I’m nice to him, but he can’t freak out and yell at me with his mouth full.  The moment Billy’s lips slipped over the head of his dick, all he could think about was sensation--the heat of his breath, and the texture of Billy’s tongue, and the roughness of the roof of his mouth.  “Uhnf,” Steve let his head fall back, closing his eyes. “Christ,” he mumbled, and Billy pulled off to laugh.

“You there already?”

“Nah,” Steve muttered as Billy wiped his mouth, and bent down again to kiss along Steve’s inner thigh.  “I was just, y’know. Oh my god,” he groaned.  “I thought I’d say all the shit you don’t let me, y’know.  You’re too good at this, I can’t think.”  

Billy hummed inquiringly, and the vibration pinpointed Steve’s entire awareness on the skin Billy was sucking.  

Steve patted a clumsy hand at Billy’s head, wondering how much time was going by.  “Will’s probably downstairs with a pillow over his head,” he realized, and Billy pulled back again, sitting crosslegged and coughing.

“Sorry, am I boring you?” he smiled around clenched teeth, wiping his mouth.  “The fuck is all this shit you wanna say to me when I can’t answer back?”

“No, no, damn it,” Steve scrubbed his face with both hands.  “No, not--not like that, damn it.  No.”  You’re so much work, he wanted to say, and didn’t.  “Come back, come here.” He squinted at Billy, trying to think of something perfect to say, then clapped.  “Oh no, don’t turn the cold water back on!”

Billy snorted, then coughed, snickering.  “I should, you fuck.”

“No, come on, let’s like--conserve body heat,” Steve tried to keep a straight face, but his shoulders were shaking with laughter.  “Out here, uh, where it’s really cold, I really need you.”  He raised his eyebrows, pointing at his dick, and Billy laughed, leaning to gnaw at his knee.  

“Asshole.  Yeah, beg the snow monster of Hoth to blow you, and maybe he’ll have mercy--”

“Gross, no, I don’t want a--a bigfoot thing, wait.”  Steve frowned, waving him closer.  “Hoth.”

Billy scooted closer again.  “Yeah. Star Wars?”

“Holy shit,” Steve breathed, “--you nerd, you watched the new one.”

“You own it!”

“Yeah, because gremlins use my credit card,” Steve rolled his eyes, as if he didn’t hand it over.  “I don’t pick that shit out.” Billy huffed, shivering, and crawled back between Steve’s sprawled legs.  Steve tried to keep his train of thought through breathy, open-mouthed kisses down his abs. “I don’t--jesus.  That’s the--you think--you think I hate you, and--fuck god your mouth.”

Billy snorted, one hand tight on Steve’s thigh, his other arm flexing as it moved between his legs, and the muscles of his throat squeezing Steve’s dick.

“Mmm,” Steve tried to talk, swallowing.  “Nerd,” he whispered, and Billy smacked his thigh, grunting.  “No. Not--you’re--I don’t like it. Elves. Elf--bullshit, I don’t--I like you--oh god I love you doing that--” Billy spluttered, shoulders shaking with laughter, but didn’t pull off again, and Steve relaxed the fingers he’d automatically clenched in Billy’s hair.  “Shit. Shit, sorry, fuck. Sitting through--two goddamn days--elves and gremlins and--wedding parties--jesus, Hargrove,” he whined in the back of his throat, back arching.  “Billy--Billy Hargrove. Holy--holy crap. Shit.” Keeping track of his thoughts with Billy Hargrove doing his best to be distracting was never going to work, and all he managed was to garble that he was coming at the exact moment he did so, so Billy didn’t have time if there was anything he wanted to do about it.  “Sorry,” Steve whispered.

“Should be,” Billy turned the shower handle just enough for a trickle to clean off his hand.  His voice was hoarse, but he was somehow managing to swagger walking on his knees. “Who’s the nerd now?”

“You.”  Steve watched him, registering for the first time that for that even a tan, there had to be a tanning bed somewhere that had had Billy Hargrove’s naked dick rubbed all over the inside.  “You’re having a great time. You think I’d listen to a whole weekend of witches and goblins if you didn’t like it?” He clambered up to push the door open, wishing he could use the Force to grab a bath towel.  “I’d just tell Will to read ‘em on his own. Or drop him at the arcade.” He tied one around his waist.

“...I’m not into that stuff, I never even saw the movie until I came over here--”

“Yeah,” Steve leaned back into the stall with another towel, tossing it around Billy’s shoulders, and using it to pull him close.  “Yeah, but you’re into it. If I get bored I can watch you--”

“What.”  Billy glared back, chewing his lip, and Steve leaned in to kiss it. 

“I like watching you.  Y’know, into it.  You really wanna know what the dwarves are gonna do, or whatever,” Steve kissed him again, pulling the towel up so he could start toweling Billy’s hair, pulling him close, so he could whisper “--it’s cute,” across Billy’s ear, and feel him twitch.

“...watch it, I’ll seduce you with my book-listening,” Billy whispered back, and Steve gave up on towelling and just hugged him.

“You already did, asshole, pay attention.”

 When then finally made it downstairs, Will groaned at them.  “You were up there forever.”  

“Harrington can’t keep his hands off me,” Billy shrugged, dropping next to him, and Steve flopped with his head in Billy’s lap.  “He likes watching me when I’m into it.”

Steve rolled onto his side, snickering, and then cleared his throat.  “Okay, tell us about the fairies.” He waved a hand, and Billy snorted.  

Will threw a pillow at Steve’s head.  “They are elves--”

“Like at Christmas, Harrington,” Billy put in, and Will grabbed the whole comforter and threw it over them, half yelling, half laughing.

“I thought we already talked to the elves!” Steve whispered, and felt Billy cackling against him.  

“That was Santa.  This is where they make the toys now.  Boromir is a good knight and doesn’t want to know what Santa’s bringing.  Steveagorn is hot for the elves,” Billy whispered, and Steve shoved him, wheezing with laughter.  

“You shithead, that was actually helpful.”

“Nancy used to game with us,” Will stuck his head under the blanket to grin at them.  “She dressed as an elf.”

Billy rolled onto his face, groaning, and Steve flopped directly on top of him, facedown, so he could whisper in Billy’s ear, and their legs all flailed together.  Whenever it got boring--which was mostly--he let his head drop against the back of Billy’s. He woke to the warm muscles under him going rigid, blinking to consciousness to Billy’s knight character chasing one of the hobbits around a rock, trying to scare him and steal his stuff.  

“Hey,” Steve whispered, but Billy was listening intently to Will describing Froggo running away in fear--invisibly, again, and Steve secretly pictured him driving Wonder Woman’s invisible jet.  Steveagorn from the book told Billymir off, and sent him off to protect Book-Dustin and whoever the other one was, and Steve squeezed Billy’s shoulders. “He’s gonna protect the others, it’s fine, he’s a knight.  He’s gonna save the other kids.”

“Actually he dies,” Will said, with relish, and Billy rolled Steve off him and stood.  

“Y’know what, I’m gonna take a run.”

“We’re almost done!” Will waved the book at him, and Billy stalked by him towards the door.  

“I’ll be back soon.”

Shit, Steve thought, watching Will frown after Billy, then frown down at the book.

 When Billy wandered back in, he started throwing things in a pan, and Steve let Will help while he set the table.  It didn’t take long.

Once seated, Will poked at the meat that had fallen out of his taco, and sighed.  

“Use a fucking fork,” Billy tipped his chair back to rattle around in the drawer.

Steve was trying to fit a third of his taco in his mouth, and nearly succeeding.  He chewed slowly, eyes fluttering shut.

“Jonathan’s back tomorrow night,” Will mumbled.  “I can go home. I guess.”

“Custody battle,” Billy sang, tossing a fork so it twanged off Will’s plate.  His chair thudded back to earth, and Steve paused in shoving the rest of the taco in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.  

“You can always come back, y’know,” he kicked the foot of Will’s chair.  “He’ll be here for a week or two.”

“And our epic love story wouldn’t be the same without letters,” Billy waggled his eyebrows, then snorted as Steve blew him a kiss.

“You’re gonna write letters?” 

Billy cut off Will’s excited next question with “You can’t read ‘em, they’ll be full of me praising Harrington’s dick.”

Steve choked on his taco, coughed, and swallowed, as Billy grinned at his plate.  

Will was hiding behind his hands.  “No they won’t!” He glared between them.  “Not all of them!”

“Good ninety percent,” Billy shrugged, and Steve rolled his eyes.

“You can help me write some, though, he’s gonna get bored hearing how I got knocked over in PE because I didn’t plant my feet.”

“If this is where knocking you over in PE leads, you better learn.”  Billy narrowed his eyes, and Steve snorted.

“You getting possessive?”  Steve shoved the last of the taco in his mouth, moaning as the cheese and beef hit his tongue.  “Mrum. God. S’good. Played sports my whole life, Hargrove, never kidnapped a teammate before.”

“...yeah, well,” Billy cleared his throat, and took a bite of taco.  That evening he sat weirdly quietly through a couple hours of Steve and Will teasing each other over the beginning of the Two Towers.  

“Nancy said she’d rather be Legolas than Arwen, because he gets to do stuff,” Will rolled his eyes, as Steve and Billy’s heads popped up like groundhogs.  “And then Jonathan said that made him Gimli the dwarf, which is gross.”

“It is gross,” Steve agreed, fighting a snicker, and Billy punch his shoulder, grinning.  

“Lego-lass,” he whispered, and Steve leaned into him, cackling into his shoulder.  

“Shit, that means I’m looking for the little shitheads with my ex and her hairy dwarf.”

“And I’m dead back there somewhere,” Billy snorted.  “I’ve got some homework, I’m gonna go up to my room.”

Will turned his big eyes on Steve, who waved him on, picking through the chocolates.  When Steve tried Billy’s door later, and knocked, he got a “Whaddaya need, Harrington,” sigh, and lifted his hands, and shouted back “Nothing, night!”  They woke Monday morning to the sound of the garage door opening, and the Camaro engine.

“Did you guys fight?  I mean, again?” Will whispered in the dark, and Steve dropped his face back in his pillows with a groan.

 In his first class, Steve kept Nancy awake.  In his third, he was glad Billy’s presence had enough of a lingering effect that he’d slept, because Jonathan was as drowsy as she was.  Steve had to scribble frantically between nudging them in turn with a ruler, trying to get notes they’d actually understand.  

After the bell rang for the end of fourth period, he was ready for a break, and some quiet.  So naturally, he had his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration when Max dropped across the table, and he nearly bit it off.  “Whumf,” he tried to ask, glaring.

“That’s horrible,” she said flatly.  “What is it.”

‘It’ was his ceramics assignment, he tried to explain, before Eleven cut in.  “They’re all like that.” She pointed at another pile of dried-up clay coils. “It looks like something a dog made.”

“Yeah, with its ass,” Max leaned closer, squinting.  “Why are you all making clay dog shit?”

Steve had pulled his tongue out of his mouth, trying to get a good look at it.  It didn’t look like any bits were missing. “It’s a vase.  And it’s a construction thing, she wants to make sure we did it right.  I thought I’d give it to Billy.”

Max snorted.  “Tell him it’s a portrait.”

“Does Billy want a…”  Eleven trailed off, squinting at it.  Steve bit back a grin, and she leaned closer to the cart full covered in unfired matte glaze.  “Did they paint toothpaste on them?” She made a face at them, and leaned over Steve’s shoulder to frown.

“Anyway,” Max couldn’t take her eyes off it, nose wrinkled, “--El wants waffles.”

“Get Billy to do it,” he muttered, trying to push one of the walls of his vase upright.  It slumped inward further the second time. “I kept falling asleep in this class, I have makeup work.”

“Eugh.”  Max slumped forward, folding her arms under her head.  “Hurry up and catch up, it’s snowing again.”

“Yeah, I noticed.  Get Billy.”

El wrinkled her nose.  “You could give him something nice.”

“It’s Billy,” Max groaned.  “He can’t wear it or drive it or drink it, so--”

“You could make him a mug.”  El dropped to sit next to Steve.

“Why would I make something nice for Billy,” he felt his cheeks heat, “--this will be hilarious, come on, look how awful it is.”

They watched him build it higher for most of the lunch hour.  “Oh good,” Max commentated. “There’s more and more of it.  It isn’t getting any prettier, Steve.”  She stopped, clearing her throat.  “So…” Steve raised his eyebrows, keeping his attention on the crooked handles he was attaching, and she grimaced.  “...uh, how is, uh...has he…” She trailed off, as Steve tried to figure out whether she meant “how’s he doing,” or “has he killed anyone?”  “How has he killed anyone?”, maybe, he bit back a smirk at his project.  Probably she doesn’t know what to ask either.

“Will said he had fun.”  Eleven held the top of the handle, as Steve surveyed the whole, then adjusted it to be a bit more crooked.

“I can’t believe you’re kissing Billy,” Max moaned into her hands.  “He’s disgusting.  He put his cigarette out in his beer can once, forgot, went to drink it again, and then when he saw me watching he wouldn’t back down, he just drank it!  With the cigarette in there!”  Eleven and Steve both made faces.  Steve felt like he should...defend Billy’s honor, or something, but Max was on a roll.  “His room smells like a whole basketball team jacked off in a garbage truck.  Made of armpits.”  

Steve snorted.  “...he’s been pretty clean, actually.  He does the dishes all the--”

“Billy knows how to do dishes?”  Max stared vaguely at the cupboard of glaze behind him, wide-eyed.  

“Maybe it’s because he likes Steve,” Eleven sat her chin on the table, staring up, “--maybe--”

“He must, what’d you say to him,” Max refocused on Steve’s face.  

“...to...make him do dishes?” Steve trailed off, lost.  “I thanked him?”

“I guess, but--no, like...what’d you--at the party, he wouldn’t tell me.”  She folded her hands together, pointing at him. “When you met. What the hell happened.  Why would my asshole brother--”

“At the...party?”  Steve squinted.

“Yeah, that stupid party, he was practising in front of the mirror all afternoon--Tommy kept talking about you, and he was gonna, like, tear you off your throne.  Swagger over from across the room and just--look badass, I guess, what’d he finally end up saying?  He couldn’t decide.”

“...when he...came over to us?  At the party? He...didn’t. He just like...stalked over and stared at me and--I think he wandered off, I was with Nancy.”

Max slowly folded over the table to collapse in wheezing giggles.  “No--no way--he--he couldn’t talk--he saw your face and--Steve.  He couldn’t talk.  He fucking--the goddamn--the goddamn idiot--”

That seemed unlikely, but Steve tried to remember.  “He and Tommy just stared at me, I didn’t know what to--”

“Oh my god,” Max cackled.  “Uncool! So uncool, Billy, weak, jesus christ--oh my god--he saw your dumb face and he couldn’t make words--” 

“...so he fell in love with you?”  Eleven’s stomach growled.

“Yeah, sure,” Steve laughed, focusing on the stupid vase.  It wasn’t as funny, suddenly.  I was gonna throw it out anyway, he reminded himself.  He’s supposed to think it’s shitty, that’s--that’s the joke.  “He was probably too drunk.”

“Not if he was walking around,” Max snickered.  “His feet go first, he starts stumbling all over himself--he got drunk on your big brown eyes, Steve.  Oh my god.”

“Ha.  Yeah. Shouldn’t you guys go eat lunch?”  

Max staggered to her feet, still sniggering, and walked around to smack his shoulder.  “I’m gonna give him so much shit for this.  No wonder he climbed out the goddamn window to play house and wash your fucking dishes, oh my god.”  She wiped her eyes.  “Oh my god, Steve, my dumb brother is--like--he’s--���

“Shut up, Max,” he rolled his eyes, “--he just got distracted, he’s not--”

“No, he totally is,” she leaned in close, narrowed eyes inches from his, “--and you want him to be, don’t you--”

“Shut up, Max,” he said, through his teeth, at the vase.  “Fuck off. I’ll try to get done faster, but--shut up.  Seriously.”

“What?  No, he is, really, Steve, he--”

“Let’s go,” Eleven tugged at her sleeve.  “Max. We can just ask him.” Steve stared after them in horror, imagining that scene of carnage, but couldn’t make himself follow.  Max knows what he’s like, she’ll stop Eleven, he told himself, and felt his cheeks flame up.  He shook his head, burying his hot face in his arms.  Max is his sister, and she knows him really well.

 Tommy came and threw his arm around Steve’s shoulders as his next class ended, and Carol sat on his desk.  “We got some cherry vodka,” she kicked his knee, lightly. “You could stop crying into your pillow--”

Tommy snickered.  “Whining over your princess--” 

“--and come get plastered.  My mom’s got the night shift, we’ll have the house to ourselves--”

After a moment of staring, convinced they knew he’d coaxed Billy out his tower window, Steve flushed, remembering he was an idiot.  “Uh, can’t tonight.”

“Told you he turned into a--” Carol punched Tommy in the shoulder, and he shoved her off the desk.  She put a hand on Steve’s shoulder to steady herself, leaning in to whisper, “We know how to have a great time without you, your majesty, just wait--”

Tommy swung his hand right between their faces, and they both recoiled.  

“Okay?”  Steve raised his eyebrows.  “Soooo...go have an awesome time, woohoo?”

Carol grabbed Tommy’s hand and drug him out as the bell rang, and Steve shook his head, packing his bag, and trying to wrap his brain around the economics of the Roaring Twenties.

 Fresh snow covered the driveway, so Billy hadn’t wandered back yet.  Steve pulled up in the driveway, flapped his arm back to find his bag, then unhooked his seatbelt to wedge himself between the seats and grab for it.  A siren beeped in the driveway behind him.

When he slowly lifted his head, El was waving wildly through Hopper’s windshield, nearly elbowing a grinning Mike in the face.  Hopper sauntered over, surveying the font of Steve’s house.  He’s seen me, Steve thought, he’ll yank me out if I crawl under the seats.  

“Just getting home?” Hopper raised his eyebrows as Steve climbed out, and Steve nodded.

“Yeah.  Uh. I’m doing some--extra credit.”  He tried to be subtle wiping his palms on his pants.  “Is--is something wrong?”

Hopper frowned at the ground, and scratched his stubble.  “Been having some real interesting conversations, the last few days.”  

Steve laughed through his rising dread, grabbing his backpack off the seat and locking his car.  “Okay…”

“El was hoping you’d come for pizza.  In the next couple days. You and the Hargrove kid.”

Steve swallowed, and cleared his throat.  “I--I guess, yeah?”

She’d leaned over to honk the horn, and Mike was wrestling with her, but she still waved.  They were both laughing. Steve took a deep breath, and shrugged. “Sure. I’ll--I’ll talk to him.”

“Probably oughtta meet the kid taking my girl out for waffles,” Hopper side-eyed him, mouth quirked, and Steve scrabbled at his hair.

“She can break his fingers, I figured.”  He snuck a dry-mouthed glance at Hopper’s gun, wondering when he’d switched from imagining it as protection against monsters to Billy Hargrove with a bullet hole in his head.

“Kid,” Hopper dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder.  “--she’s trying hard to sell me on your boy. I’m not your enemy, here.”

Your boy reverberated around Steve’s head while Hopper drove away, and Steve cupped his hands over his face, paced in a circle in the snow, and blew deep breaths into his fingers.  He leaned against the bumper of his car, watching the road, then stalked around in another circle, rubbing his arms, before heading to Ms. Williams with Billy’s mom’s phone number burning a hole in his pocket.  Before he left, she came over and patted his elbow, while he was hugging the head of the nearest dog goodbye.  

“My darling...saw a lot out there,” she said, folding her gnarled hands.  “Hawkins has always been...Hawkins. My sweetie talked to someone, you know?  It helped to...talk it out. Maybe you should think about it.” She was smiling at the dog, where it was wriggling harder against his chest, and he didn’t feel the bristle he had when Nancy brought it up.

“Maybe Billy should,” he muttered, into short warm fur.

“Maybe he should,” she agreed.

 When he got home, Billy’s car still wasn’t there.  He let himself in, taking a deep breath of the lingering smell of lasagna, and cologne, and just...it smells less stale.  You’d think somebody lived here.  He took the stairs three at a time, figuring he’d try to get his remaining homework out of the way before Billy arrived, and turned on the landing to find his door broken.  It was hanging crooked on one hinge. There was a smear of what looked like blood on it, and he slammed into it, shouting for Billy. He threw the bathroom door open, and Billy’s bedroom, crawled around on the floor to make sure he wasn’t lying somewhere, and took a deep breath.  “You fucking bastard,” he yelled, “--if you’re in here, you answer me.”  The house stayed quiet.  Steve rubbed his face, took a deep breath, and ran downstairs.  He turned toward the garage, then back, and frowned at the table, then stalked over and snatched up the note.  “‘Sorry about the door,” he read aloud, “--went out to calm my shit. Back late or tomorrow morning.’” Steve dropped into a chair, banging his elbow on the table.  He didn’t feel it. “‘There’s still lasagna.’...jesus, Billy.”  

 When the walkie-talkie came on, Steve was supposed to be editing his essay.  Mostly, he was holding his pencil between his nose and his upper lip, staring at the ceiling, and ignoring the characters on Dallas.  “Harrington,” came Billy’s voice, and Steve flailed off the couch and ran to the kitchen, frowning around.  “...Harrington,” Billy called again. “...pick up, Steve Harrington. Sorry I broke your door.”  

Steve grabbed up the walkie-talkie from the hook by the door and flopped back on the couch, grinning.  He pressed the button. “Hargrove.”

“Pick up, pick up,” Billy was crooning.  His voice sounded soft, and a little slurred.  “Talk to me, your majesty--oh. Over.” “Jesus, I’m here, idiot, shut up.  You have to click the button. Over.”

“You’re talking to me.” Billy sounded so happy about it, Steve’s heart gave a weird thump, and he rolled against the back of the couch to cover his hot face.  “...’m sorry I broke your door.”

He forgot again.  Steve shook his head, waiting for the eventual “Over.”  He grinned, holding the walkie-talkie with both hands. “Yeah, what the hell?  You okay, honeymustard? Dick?” There was a long pause, and Steve sat up. “Babe?  Oh, sorry, over.”

“...I think, yeah.  Yeah, I’m over,” Billy mumbled back, and Steve sighed, letting himself drop back against the couch again.  

He leaned to click off the TV.  “Thanks for leaving a note, moron.  Go ‘head.”

“...shit.  Sorry about the door,” Billy’s voice dropped to a whisper.  “Sorry.”

“I’m not mad!”  Steve clicked it off to groan loudly, then clicked it back on with a frown of concentration.  “I’m not mad, Billy Hargrove. Okay?”

“Your car was there and I yelled for you.  I thought…”

“You fucking thought I was ignoring you.  Yeah. You know what, the doorknob works. I mean, it did, before you broke it.  Jesus, Hargrove.  I’m not--” he took a deep breath, and punched a pillow.  “--you scared the shit out of me, you--you fucking--shithead bastard, I thought your dad came and--” Steve pressed his eyelids, swallowing, until he could breathe smoothly again.  “I thought he took you, you--you goddamn fuck.  I was about to go over there with a bat, I--I thought he drug you out.”

“Shit.”  Billy paused.  “Nope. I’m...I’m at Tommy’s, I...think.”  He hummed, considering, and Steve laughed, and wiped his eyes.  “Does Tommy...have...ruffles. Ruffly...canopy bed?”

“I hope so,” Steve told him, earnestly, and Billy started giggling.  “If it’s yellow check, though, no, you’re at Carol’s.”

“‘M at Carol’s,” Billy repeated.  “...okay.”  

After another pause, he said “Huh,” and Steve laughed harder against the back of the couch.  “You need a ride, Hargrove?”

“...kinda drunk,” Billy informed him, in a stage whisper, and Steve tried not to cackle.  

“Yeah, shithead, I can tell--”

“I am ex--I’m--I’m just as drunk as I need to be,” Billy announced, as Steve wandered over to the door and started pulling on shoes.  “Tommy…” he huffed, “--Ha-Harrington, y’know...Tommy, he…”

Steve bit his lips together, raising his eyebrows, and wondered what tragedy Drunk Billy would think deserved that level of gravity.  “Tommy found my condoms,” Billy sighed.  “They were flavored.”

Steve, flapping an arm for his jacket sleeve, almost fell into the wall laughing.  “You dumbshit,” he snorted. “At least you bought some.  They’ll sell more, y’know.”

“It was banana.”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve shook his head, grabbing his keys, and a dorky bobble-headed ski hat with a matching scarf.  “We can find you more banana condoms, babe.”

“He put it on and pretended to be King Kong,” Billy mumbled.  “He beat his chest. Preten--pretended she was, y’know. The blonde.  Think I was a hunter? I don’t even know.”

Steve cracked up laughing, stumbled, and had to lean against his door.  “Wait, what? You--you all--all three of you?  Yeah, okay, I see why you needed to get bombed.  You and Tommy and Carol?!  Christ. You okay?  Go on.”

“Shut up, like you--you never--never?  Over.”

“Never have I ever,” Steve snorted.  “Ever. God, how did that even happen?  They tried to lure me over there earlier, did they jump you, or…?”

“I drink to forget,” Billy sighed, then snorted into the microphone.  Steve winced at the loud gust of static. “Harrington. Monkey noises.  He kept--he wouldn’t stop--he Tarzan yelled the whole time, Harrington--it’s--it’s all--makes you vibrate.”

“Shut up, jesus, I’m jogging, keep making me laugh and I’ll trip.  Eugh.” Steve focused on Billy’s voice, and not the falling snow. “You okay, though?  Your turn.”

“He tasted like a plastic banana,” Billy groaned.  “...what? You’re...on a run? Why--what time…” There was some scuffling, and a static-y groan from Billy’s end.  “...god, I can’t--I’m gonna puke.”

“Then go puke,” Steve panted, foggy in the streetlights.  “Just click off first.”

“I don’t want to,” Billy groaned.  “...over.”

“That’s okay,” Steve snorted.  “Are you okay?  Go ahead.”

“...never okay,” Billy laughed.  It sounded wet. “I’m not--even Will could fucking tell, shit, Harrington.  Thought--I thought, y’know. I thought we were okay. Thought he was...fine, with me.  Some of your kids, they’re--Max hates me, but El. Will. Thought they didn’t, not as much.”

“Oh, damn,” Steve grimaced, turtling his shoulders so his scarf warmed his face.  “Hargrove--”

Billy’d forgotten to click off his mike, so he couldn’t hear.  “I know they’re not dumb. Not gonna decide I’m great from a few waffles.  I could tell he gave me the dipshit character, but he was useful sometimes--”

Oh my god, Steve couldn’t help snickering.  “Babe.”

“--and he could fight better than your dumb impotent ass--”

“Oy, we fixed my sword,” Steve told the walkie-talkie, since Billy wasn’t listening.

“--even if he was all ‘wish my brother was here, he can read,’ I mean, I think he was pretty dim--Will had that right--”

Steve slowed to a walk, laughing.  “You are thinking way too hard here--”

“--he remembered to bring firewood up the mountain.  The lil fairies would have died, Harrington. Will and you and Wizard Hopper.”

“I can’t reply, lamebrain, so I don’t know what you want from me,” Steve told the walkie-talkie, jogging again.  

“Been frozen.  Frozen to death.  And I made a path with you.  Together.”

“You are absolutely wasted, babe,” Steve pushed his hood down, starting to sweat.  He yanked his scarf off and stuffed it in a pocket, without slowing.

“...but I’m really just evil, right?”  Billy sighed in a burst of static. “An--an’ I don’t like women.  Elfs. Steveagorn,” he whispered. “You hooked up with Nancy in those woods, right?  The Loathly Elf Woods.”

“I want a lawyer,” Steve said to nobody, after rolling his eyes.  

“And then I tried to beat up a kid,” Billy yelled, “--again, I tried to beat Will up and take his stupid magic ring and I scared him--Harrington,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “...this phone isn’t plugged in to anything.”

“Christ,” Steve resisted the urge to shake the walkie-talkie, and ran faster.  

“...why’s Carol have a toy phone,” Billy mumbled.  “So dumb I’m talking to a plastic baby phone, your majesty.  Will could tell, he knew I was scary, he--he knew I’d have to be put down.  I’m weak and I die, right? Kid gets the ring and he’s fine for years.  Billy Hargrove stands next to him for two days and loses his fucking mind.  That’s my shit ending. I’m the--the fucking weak link.”

“It’s a walkie-talkie, Hargrove, you fucking moron, click the button,” Steve yelled, and a light came on in a house after he passed, but he was listening to what sounded like Billy Hargrove starting to sniffle, and he put on a burst of speed.  “He said you die saving them, you dipshit,” he told Billy, knowing he couldn’t hear.

By the time he turned into the right driveway, Billy was mumbling at random again.  “God. This...this is thick--”

“Sure it is,” Steve snorted, tiptoeing through the snow to Carol’s door, and patting the top of the door for the spare key.  

“I think this is...creme de menthe and...maybe Fra Angelico?”

“Stop drinking it,” Steve hissed, leaning inside.  He coughed on a cloud of marijuana smoke.  “Hargrove!” he stage-whispered, and the walkie-talkie sighed with a burst of static.  

“...I hear Steve Harrington on this toy phone.”  

He finally clicked the button, probably, because Steve heard a muffled “Fuck me,” from upstairs when he asked  “Where’re Tommy and Carol? Click the button when you’re done talking, Hargrove.”

“...in the shower..?”  Billy hummed. “...I hear a shower.”

“I think I found your pants,” Steve informed him, picking up the crumpled pile on the stairs.  “D’you see your shirt anywhere?”

“...your sweatshirt..?”  Billy mumbled. “...where is Steve’s sweatshirt.”

“Are you asking the floor?”  Steve grinned, scooping up another lump of fabric, squinting at it in the dark, and finally giving it a sniff.  It smelled like beer, but he tucked it in his arm.  In case I can’t find more clothes, it’ll--

“Too goddamn...bombed to look for clothes, Harrington.  I’ll get it. Bring it tomorrow.”

Steve could hear Billy in both ears, creeping up the stairs--and the shower, which was reassuring, since he figured Carol would be completely justified losing her shit if she found Steve Harrington tiptoeing around in the dead of night.  He poked his head in her room, snorted at the piled blankets on the floor, and the bra on the doorknob, and crept around the bed to see Billy, naked, on his back.  

Billy tried to wave a bottle, and it slid through his fingers, making a conk noise against his cheek before it rolled away.  

Steve tried not to laugh.  He grabbed it, crouching, and caught Billy’s flailing fingers, surveying his sweaty, sticky tanned skin in the low light of the lamp on Carol’s bedside table.  “Hey, Hargrove,” he whispered, turning the walkie-talkie off, and stuffing it in his jacket pocket. “Didn’t that hurt? You too numb?”

“Steve isn’t here.”  Billy squinted up, smiling.  He held up the other walkie-talkie, and dropped it on his chest with a thud.  “He’s on the phone.”

“Nope,” Steve winced, laughing, and grabbed it, looking around for Billy’s bag, “--he came to get you.  Stop waving things, babe, that’s gonna hurt tomorrow--”

Billy swallowed.  “No. I’m a fucking mess, go away--”

“Yeah,” Steve leaned across him to grab the bag, kissing his fingers before letting them go, “--can you get to the bathroom?  It’s right there--”

“They’re in there.  Harrington. They’re probably screwing--”

“Yeah, but they’ve seen your naked ass already, right?  Go on, you can clean up a little.”

“...gonna puke,” Billy muttered.  “‘M seeing...Steves. I should stop drinking.  Go away, I’ll stop.”

“Probably should,” Steve agreed, lifting pieces of clothing between two extended fingers, and trying to remember whose they were.  “...serves Carol right if I haul you home stuffed in one of her turtlenecks,” he muttered, and Billy snorted, rolling onto his side to snicker silently.  “...go puke if you need to, Hargrove.” Steve patted his hair, after checking for any visible...disgusting reasons he wouldn’t want to, and Billy laughed harder, nodding.  

“You can’t be here,” he grinned up.  “Nobody’s telling Steve. Nobody. Tommy won’t tell Steve and Carol won’t tell--” his eyes widened, and his voice dropped to a whisper.  “I told Steve.  On--” he batted at the walkie-talkie.  “On Carol’s toy phone.” He flailed his arm, then dropped it over his face.  

“This was supposed to be secret?”  Steve rifled through another pile of clothes, feeling an internal twist he hadn’t when he’d figured Billy was just at his usual bullshit.  “What, is this a regular thing, just keep it from Steve? Big old secret from Steve. Great. That’s great, that’s--that’s really excellent, screw you, Hargrove--”

“Okay,” Billy mumbled, just as a Tarzan yell came from the bathroom, and the guttural, slurred words “C’mere, kitten, Koko’s ready for you.”

Steve choked on a horrified snicker, and Billy groaned, and rolled to grab the bottle of thick brownish-green liquer.  

“Not drunk enough,” he muttered, and Steve grabbed it back, trying not to cackle.  

“Stop, babe, look what happens--”

“I’m in Planet of the Apes...they’re gonna want me gone.” Billy paused to squint at him, “...Harrington?”

“Jesus,” Steve grabbed his hand, “--lemme pull you up, let’s get you out of here--”  

Max was right, Steve realized, bewildered, as he tried to pull Hargrove upright, and had to catch at his waist when none of his joints supported weight.  His words work, but his feet don’t.

“Sorry,” he moaned, covering his mouth and slumping against Steve’s legs, and Steve crouched again.  

“...you’re like a water balloon,” he whispered back.  “Don’t you have bones? A beer balloon.”

“Is it morning?” Billy asked muzzily, and Steve groaned.

“Let’s get some clothes on your naked ass,” he got an arm around Billy’s shoulders, and held him upright enough to yank him into the Hardy Boys t-shirt he’d found in the blankets of Carol’s bed.  Billy tried to help, which made it take longer, but eventually he had Billy Hargrove poured mostly into a t-shirt and jeans. The only socks he found had pompoms, but he pulled them on Billy’s shivering feet.  

“Sorry you’re late for class,” Billy grinned up at him, and Steve’s lips thinned, as he wondered why he wasn’t even annoyed, except with Tommy and Carol.  He let Billy drag him back down for a kiss, and tried not to make too obvious a face--both at the sticky-sweet mint and almond taste of what Billy’d been drinking, and the thought that his mouth might have been on Tommy or Carol’s, and he hadn’t brushed his teeth.  Billy’s description of the taste of banana condom popped into his head, and he shuddered--I think the worst I’ve done drunk was...however I ended up in that parking lot, Steve tried to remember, hefting Billy to prop him against the bedpost, and turning to get him piggybacked.  Another Tarzan yell, this time in unison, came from the bathroom, and Steve and Billy twitched in unison.  At least I never woke up like this.

“Probably your sweatshirt came off first, if your jeans were on the stairs,” Steve thought aloud, and Billy swung a loose fist at his shoulder.

“...’syour sweatshirt.  Dumbass.”

“Right.”  Steve narrowed his eyes.  “Let’s go hunt it down.” He scooped Billy’s bag up from the floor, and the bottle of gross alcohol.

“Favorite,” Billy mumbled into his neck.  

When they got down the stairs, Steve sat Billy in front of the toilet.  “You should probably throw up, Hargrove.” Once Billy was wedged between the wall and the toilet, and facing basically the right way, Steve snuck off to look for his sweatshirt, listening for the shower above.  He found it with a leopard-print condom packet on it, and shook his head, stuffing it in a pocket. The bottle he dumped down the sink--what’s wrong with beer, he thought, cringing--shook clean, and filled with water, before to returning to rub Billy’s back and get him to rinse his mouth.  

“...probably should stop,” Billy eyed it, and spat, wiping his mouth.  

“No, come on, drink some,” Steve unscrewed the lid, and held it up, sliding his other hand up the back of Billy’s head.

Billy didn’t argue, but he pressed back away from it, turning his head.

“Come on, if I have to make little airplane noises, I will,” he swished around in the bottle.

“...’f I drink that much vodka, I’ll die,” Billy said in a flat voice, eyes flicking to Steve’s face.

“Shit, no, it’s water,” Steve stared at him, “--just water, from the sink.  So you won’t be as hungover. Okay?”

Billy’s expression didn’t change, but he let Steve tip up the bottle and give him a few swallows before he pulled away again.  

“You okay?”  Steve tucked a few wild curls behind Billy’s ear.

“Fine, just a goddamn mess,” Billy told the toilet, laughing, and Steve rubbed his face.  “‘Cause you’re the king, and I’m the weak link.”

“Christ.  He was a knight, babe.  He died saving the little guys, remember?”

“...nope,” Billy accepted another few swallows, and took a shaky breath.  

“If I’m the king, I can say you’re a knight, right?” Steve tried, leaning to catch his eye.  “I can just say ‘This is William of Hargrove, my knight--’”

Billy started giggling, leaning his cheek on the edge of the toilet bowl, and Steve pulled him back.  “This sweatshirt a favor, King Harrington?”

“Yes?  Sure?” Steve agreed with whatever made Billy grin like that, though it was hard getting him in the sweatshirt, with him slumped half in Steve’s lap.  It was easier getting him in the scarf and bobblehat, and Steve didn’t even bother with shoes.  He’d grab them on the way out, he hoped.

“--’m I your favorite knight?” Billy mumbled, and Steve kissed his cheek, hauling him upright, and hoisting him again, so Billy’s mouth rested against his ear.  “You can say no, I’m not gonna remember much.”

“What?  Jesus, you’re heavy,” Steve stopped, heard the upstairs bathroom door open, and leapt for the door.  He locked it hurriedly, plonking the key back in its place, and hoping they didn’t notice the melting snow his shoes had left.  “Where’d you park, babe?”

“Why is my car here,” Billy asked, and Steve sighed, squinting under streetlights for the Camaro as he tromped along the street.

“Shit.  You are smashed, sweet--dickhead--”

“Sir,” Billy corrected, his drunk breath warm against Steve’s ear.  “Sir William, right.”

“Y’know, if you won’t remember.  You take too damn long in the bathroom, Sir William Hargrove.  You’re already pretty, let somebody else get their hair done.”

“Prettier than you,” Billy snorted.

“You’re such a prick.  Can’t believe you had wild monkey sex with Tommy and Carol--”

“I can’t either,” Billy groaned.  “Thank fuck I won’t remember. I’m your favorite knight, though.  Tell me tomorrow--”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you tomorrow.  Give you a sweatshirt again.”

“Okay,” Billy nuzzled his neck, and Steve ducked his head, grinning.

“There’s been--there’s been a lot, uh.  I talked to your mom? She loves you. I’ll tell you that tomorrow, too.”

“What,” Billy’s voice cracked.

“God.  I got home and--I thought your dad drug you out of the fucking house, asshole.  I’d--I’d have--” Steve took a deep breath. “I--I’m--pretty sure the sheriff knows we’re screwing?”

“What the fuck,” Billy hissed, arms tightening around Steve’s neck and shoulders.  Steve let go of Billy’s leg to adjust the bag around his neck, and something sticky rubbed his hand.  To his disgust, he pulled out a condom-covered banana. “Uh,” he said.

“Shit, I don’t think so,” Billy whispered.  “I hope not, fuck.”

Steve sighed, tossing it over his shoulder, and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I--I think I’m falling in fucking love with you, Knight Banana Ass.”

“Jesus christ.  That’s my car, get me in, I need something to write that down with.”

Steve started laughing so hard he almost fell, and Billy smacked his shoulder.

Thanks @tbehartoo​, @waterhobbit​, @perfectfestivalalienfish​ for beta-reading!  Here’s the Ao3 link:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876677/chapters/50623466

(For reference, this is the kind of thing Steve’s class is making.  Obvs. he is making sure his is the worst.)

[baelllamyblake]

Alive and Well. ( Bellamy Blake x Reader )

Request : 1 -Reader suppose to be on the Ring but she was with Clarke and they didn't make it to ship on time but they both survived. And Reader and Bellamy were couple so she's the one talking to him on the radio everyday. And he was completly broken after that and when they got back he's shocked and they share very emotional reunion (as they both changed very much). And she almost attacked them scared that they're people from this prisoner ship. Thanks! -ANON

2 - Hey there! Just another cute request with Bellamy Blake coming back on earth 7 years after praimfaya when the reader had to stay on earth (he thought she was dead with Clarke) Small detail: one day before goint back to the ark, the reader gave birth to their daughter and see her again 7 years after, when Bellamy had to raise her alone in the ark. NOTHA REQUEST WHICH ACTUALLY GOES WITH THE PREVIOUS ONE: could I please with sugar on top get an imagine when bellamy is raising his daughter alone on the ark with the reader being on earth (supposely dead) Like cute moments daughter/father, the skaikru team being protective and playing with the daughter 😎 Have a nice sundayyyy - @enoraturner

Pairing : Bellamy x FEM Reader

Word Count : 2,753

Warnings : like three curse words lol 

A/N : okay so lets just imagine that D/F/N was a ripped metal ass baby that can survive the vacuum of space bc going to space a day after ur born is kinda unrealistic LMAO the ending might be a little lackluster sorry!! just wanted to get this out there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also thank you so much for requesting!! please request some more !! i love writing for Bellamy !! im really scared on how this will do pls help me out here

D/F/N, D/M/N = daughter’s first name/middle name

FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED SO PLEASE FCK ME UP WIT IT<3

“ Here we go again. “ You huffed out quietly, a radio in one hand and a wrinkled map in the other. A stray breeze flowed gracefully through your hair and along the branches of nearby trees. You gazed longingly at the black CB radio in your palm, hoping a familiar voice would just speak out of nowhere. It nearly brought you to tears just imagining the thought of someone responding after six lonely years.

“ Bellamy, if you can hear me, you’re alive. It’s been 2,199 days since Praimfaya. I don’t know why I still do this every day. Maybe it’s my way of staying sane here with Clarke. Not forgetting who I am, who I was. It’s been safe for you to come down for over a year now. Why haven’t you? I miss you. “

“ D/F/N D/M/N Blake! Come out, come out, wherever you are! “ Bellamy playfully yelled out, his voice echoing throughout the metal halls of the Ark. His feet quickly tip toed along the corridors while his eyes briefly scanned each and every room in search of his little daughter. Just before leaving after peeking in the last bedroom of Hall C, a high giggle could be heard from under the floorboards.

“ Hm, if I was a seven year old, where would I hide? “ Bellamy questioned curiously out loud, attempting to lure D/F/N out of her hiding spot. The tiny child kept her fingers planted on her lips, refraining from making a peep of noise. Her father slowly kneeled down on the floor, silently lifting up a tile and revealing the surprised face of a little girl. “ I found you! Now, come on out, sweetheart. Monty’s making us try foods again. “

“ Ewww, do we have too? “ D/F/N groaned out, her nose crinkling in disgust as she crawled out of the tiny floorspace. Bellamy hummed out in affirmation, a small sigh following suit. During the six years in space, Monty has been experimenting to find sources of nutrients to sustain eight people, even if they tasted like bitter posion. “ Last one there has to drink two! “

“ Hey! No fair! “ Bellamy barked out, running after his daughter who already disappeared around the corner like a ghost. He groaned out as a hand ran through his ruffled hair, knowing full well he would never catch up to D/F/N. She was too smart for her own good, an obvious trait she inherited from her wonderful mother, and she never stopped asking about going back to Earth.

Bellamy saw so much of you in D/F/N: the H/C hair, the E/C eyes, the ability to think in such creative and unusual ways. She was practically a carbon copy of everything he missed so dearly. Bellamy would look down on the world from the Ark, watching it simmer in radiation and never letting himself forget how he didn’t try hard enough to get you to come along. As D/F/N grew, Bellamy became somewhat accustomed with your absence, it was like you left her as a souvenir for him!

“ Bottoms up, King. You got two to drink this time. “ Murphy teased, his chin planted in his palm as a smug grin curled on his lips. The rest cheered loudly as Bellamy took the seat next to D/F/N on the bench, eyeing the nutrients warily while his stomach did ten flips.

“ Chug! Chug! Chug! “ Skaikru chanted over and over, their fists pounding sonorously on the metal table, even D/F/N joined in! That little rat! Bellamy groaned out defeated, his hand lifted the bowl to his lips and his throat choked down both bowls of the sharp tasting sludge. Laughter and claps broke out when Bellamy slammed the bowl down on the table, sloppily wiping the residue from off his mouth.

“ Your turn, dear. “ Bellamy spoke deviously, nudging D/F/N and almost nearly gagging right after. It never got any easier to drink that sludge, ask anyone in the Ark. D/F/N sighed out, silently preparing herself as she pinched her nose and downed the nutrients without fail. Raven and Echo clapped happily, showering her with accolades for being such a big girl as Murphy gave her an eager fistbump. Monty slapped his hand with a smile on his face and D/F/N did just the same, taking Bellamy by surprise. When did he teach D/F/N him and Jasper’s signature quirk? “ Okay, that was pretty good, I won’t lie. “

“ You’re just mad because you had to drink two, dad. “ D/F/N boasted confidently, her nose stuck up and her arms crossed firmly over her chest. Bellamy’s right eyebrow cocked slightly at her, the rest pointing and laughing at him. The mischievous smile on Bellamy’s face hinted that karma was about to bite D/F/N in the ass.

“ Well, joke’s on you, sweetheart. You earned yourself an extra hour of studying. “ Bellamy stared bluntly, the jeering instantly shifted into boos as D/F/N pouted childishly. The resent showed plainly on her face as she stomped to the makeshift library down Hall D.

“ You make a great dad, you know that? Y/N would be insanely proud of you, really! “ Raven commended him, the others quickly agreeing as well. Bellamy smiled sheepishly in response, relived that he wasn’t doing such a bad job of being a father figure to his daughter. “ We’re all really proud of you too, Bell. Keep up the good work! “

“ I really appreciate all your guy’s help. I wouldn’t have been able to this on my own. “ Bellamy humbly thanked Skaikru, a small smile remaining on his tanned face. Everyone sat in a comfortable silence, looking back on what’s happened during the six years in space as well as the years down on Earth. Everyone missed you yet no one mentioned it, especially Bellamy. You always had a way of breaking the silence and distracting people in a way where they totally forgot that the world was a complete shithole. “ What do you guys think about returning to Earth? I think it’s about time. “

“ Can you please help me? “ D/F/N peeped out, a small book in her hand as her finger pointed out the name Hecuba. Bellamy put down the Iliad beside him to get a better look. “ What does that say? “

“ Hecuba. Say it for me? He-Cu-Ba? “ Bellamy enunciated the name of the woman whose cry of grief moved the Greek Gods in the heavens above, looking to his daughter after. D/F/N attempted to repeat the name but didn’t really succeed. It’s the thought that counts!

“ Hey, D/F/N. Want to do something not boring? “ Raven peeked in the crack of the doorway, moving the tendril of hair behind her ear. D/F/N gasped in response, her mood instantly lifting and her eyes sparkling as she dashed out the door with Raven. Bellamy sighed out, she was supposed to study! He roamed over to the bedroom window, a perfect view of the scorched Earth beneath him. A half full bottle of alcohol sat on the windowsill, Bellamy’s thoughts pondering if they should really go back.

He left you behind and he couldn’t seem to stop beating himself up for it. Bellamy brushed his hand over his beard out of sheer stress, what if you and Clarke were dead this whole time? The trip back would be all for naught and there was definitely no way of getting back. The rest of the group were also uneasy about the proposal of risking everything if there was just going to be another Praimfaya and no second option of surviving it. Bellamy and them decided to let the thought marinate a little before collectively making a final desicion.

Bellamy contemplated finishing off the rest of the blue potion, in hopes that everything would be okay and that you were still kicking it. He took it into his hand before shaking the thought off and setting it back on the window sill, he has better things to do. Bellamy forced himself up off the desk chair to find D/F/N and Raven somewhere in the Ark.

“ Oh my god, Raven! You are not taking her on a space walk! Are you fucking crazy! “ Bellamy scolded her as she froze in the middle of zipping up a child sized space suit for D/F/N. He nearly lost his shit at the scenario of D/F/N floating off into space like some thriller movie. Echo, Monty, and Murphy sat silently in guilt, they thought it would’ve been cool! How could not try it? “ When did you even make that! “

“ Echo and I totally did not sew this suit for D/F/N a few months ago and we totally have not been planning this space walk for a few months now. “ Raven lied through her teeth, her head hung low in shame. Anger rose in Bellamy’s chest, so much for thanking them for their help! They were going to kill his one and only!

“ And you guys just let this happen? “ Bellamy questioned Monty and Murphy, putting them on the spot just before berating them for being in on the scheme. He looked to D/F/N with furrowed eyebrows and kneeling before her, his hands planted on the sides of her tiny biceps. “ You should’ve told me, sweetheart. This is dangerous! You could die out there! “

“ I’m sorry.. If we were on Earth, stuff like this wouldn’t happen! I want to see my mom already! “ D/F/N murmured out an apology with a sniffle before bursting into tears and running out of the airlock room. Bellamy sighed out, if you were here, he wouldn’t have been dealing with this problem. Bellamy rose from his place on the cold floor and sent one last death look to everyone before retreating to find D/F/N.

“ D/F/N? Where are you? I’m sorry for yelling, sweetheart. I just didn’t want you to get hurt! “ Bellamy yelled down each hallway, his head peeking in every other before moving into the common room. He stopped dead in his tracks like a deer in the headlights. D/F/N stood frozen in utter fear as a rifle barrel was pointed just between her eyes.

“ Come with us or she dies. “ One of the strangers spoke up as the other retrieved D/F/N who let out a high yelp as the woman dragged her roughly down Hall B by the bicep. She tried so hard to rebel against the outsider by screaming and thrashing violently but the effort was rendered futile. They both disappeared around a corner but D/F/N could still be heard crying and shrieking out for her father. Bellamy’s raised hands gripped into tight fists out of fury. Where were they taking her?

“ Who are you? “ Bellamy barked loudly, his jaw clenching tightly as the rest of Skaikru joined behind him, their hands slowly rising to the ceiling. His instincts told him to attack while the end of an assault rifle forced him to seethe in rage.

“ We’re here to take you back to Earth. “

“ The bunker’s gone silent, too. We tried digging them out for a while, but there was too much rubble. I haven’t made contact with them, either. Anyway, I still have hope that I’ll get to see you. Tell Raven to aim for the one spot of green, and you’ll find me. The rest of the planet, from what I’ve seen, basically sucks, so- “ You spoke into the radio, eyes gazing at the dirt and leaves under your boots. A distant boom ripped your attention from the ground to the high clouds above.

A small, almost microscopic in the sea of blue zoomed across the sky, the sound of its rockets could be heard from a mile away. You rose to your feet, your chest rising with all kind of emotions like you were going to burst into a million pieces. Bellamy felt the same way, the possibility of seeing you again and showing you the product of his teachings made him want to scream out in joy for no reason at all. D/F/N tightened her clutch on Bellamy’s jacket, her nose sniffling as leftover tears stained her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her thin body, his lips pressed against the top of her head in hopes to reassure D/F/N that everything would be fine. Bellamy couldn’t wait to tell you everything that happened up in space, holy shit.

“ Nevermind, I see you. “ You uttered, tears running down your cheeks as you rushed to wake Clarke up. You shook her awake, a giant smile plastered on your face. Clarke grumbled incoherently, her fingers rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “ They’re here! I think they heard us, Clarke. “

Clarke instantly shot up from her resting spot, following suit behind you as you dashed to get a better look at the ship. It was strange as the ship inched closer and closer to the ground, it was a lot larger than you remembered. Bellamy was unsure of how close they were to landing, they were locked on the bottom of a floating prison transport ship while the fugitives piloted the vehicle on the top floor.

“ You said it was a small ship, right? “ You asked, slight fear consuming your chest cavity. Clarke confirmed with a silent nod as you looked down the sight of your nearby assault rifle. “ Oh God, get down and get the rover out. Load all of the guns too. “

Clarke hastily followed your orders and retreated into the driver’s seat of the jeep, backing it up behind the treeline. What the fuck is going on? You cocked the handle of your rifle and slowly made your way to the landing site of the prison transport.

The ship was dauntingly gigantic, much larger than the drop ship but smaller than Arkadia. You’ve never seen this kind of ship before, it looked much more advanced than any technology you’ve seen on the Ark before. You’ve never seen the corporation name either. Who was running the Eligius Corporation ship?

Your train of thought was quick to be derail when the sound of latches and locks started moving out of place, indicating that the entrance will be revealed and you were going to kill whoever came out on sight. The gun was pressed firmly to your shoulder, your finger itching to press the trigger.

You already knew who it was as soon as you saw the top of their head. The tears were already falling and all your muscles immediately untensed in complete and utter relief. Bellamy was alive and D/F/N was absolutely gorgeous. You dropped the gun on the grass, your heart raced at a hundred miles per hour, excited to hug the love of your life.

It was like all the oxygen in Bellamy’s lungs left as soon as his eyes adjusted to the light and eventually focused on you. Skaikru stood in blatant shock, you were alive and well after everyone thought you weren’t. You beat the impossible odds and here you were in your full glory, face to face with Bellamy after an eternity spent apart.

No words were spoken, just a long awaited hug to confirm that you both were real and it wasn’t just a simple dream. D/F/N hid behind Echo’s leg, her large eyes trained directly on you. You took in all of Bellamy: his hair, his clothes, his smell. Before opening your eyes and realizing that your seven year old daughter was watching you. You pulled away from Bellamy, acknowledging D/F/N was here on Earth with you. She rapidly averted her gaze and shrank even more behind her leg. Echo looked to D/F/N and patted her head comfortingly, letting her know that everything was completely okay.

You knelt on the ground and held out a hand to her, eyebrows furrowed in nervousness. What if your daughter rejects you? You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself. D/F/N peeked her eyes out to look at Bellamy who nodded for her to come out of her hiding spot. She steadily shuffled her way to you, uneasiness showing as plain as day on her face.

“ It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been waiting a really, really long time for this, D/F/N. I’m Y/N, your mother. “

[yukiwrites]

A Game Gone Wrong

Thank you so much for commissioning me again, @pissybritchess​! Thank you so much for your patience as well ;v;)b

Summary: Kana and Nina grew up in a healthy and loving environment, but their taste for adventure didn’t diminish with the warmth of their family. On the contrary, they wanted to explore more and more! ... But would they be able to keep playing even after entering a wolf’s territory?

Commission info HERE and HERE!

Sonja's wit and melodious laughter took its time to come back during the first years following the loss of her first child; however, they came back instantly the moment Nina and Kana were born.

No matter how much work it was to raise twins (she avoided using milkmaids the most she could since she wanted to be the one to do everything for her children. She didn't have any of that growing up, after all), she and Niles always did it with a smile on their faces. They would jokingly push the responsibility to each other whenever it was time to wake up in the middle of the night or would point at the children's most prominent facial features and say:

"See, you made these kids alone, look at how their skins darkened throughout the years... there isn't a single trace of my white skin on them!" Sonja would joke, pointing at a mess the twins made on the floor.

Niles would sneer and push her to clean it. "Are your eyes okay, little bird? They're clearly dragons, look at their ears and red eyes. No outlaw blood in them."

"Oh? But do you see how Kana even has your hair color? You can barely notice the ear under all that hair he got from being your kid. You clean it."

"Hah, if you're going there, then what about Nina's purple hair? It's even soft like yours. You clean it, little bird."

They would keep such conversations on and on until they burst in laughter and compromised on who would clean things on even-numbered days and who would clean on odd-numbered days.

The first few times they allowed the kids outside were filled with preoccupation and anxiety. Be it overprotectiveness or simply the deep wish to do everything right this time, it took the couple a long while to get used to letting the children BE children and play around in the mud and what not.

Since Sonja was at the farthest corner of the ascension line, her children didn't quite need to fit what was expected of a prince and princess, although of course they were properly educated from a young age.

But she also wanted them to have everything she didn't have: a wholesome childhood full of freedom, laughter and large spaces. No confinement, no physical reprehension, no heavy punishments. They would be proper children.

Apollo was a fundamental piece in this allowing-them-outside business, since he got attached to the children from their crib.  He allowed them on his back when they were old enough to not feel sick on a horse's back and would take them for strolls to no end at the large garden beside Sonja's property. Always with a big smile on his face, or the closest he could do, being a horse and all.

Niles' blood on them did nothing to keep him away from them, though it seemed that his bickering with his master's husband got worse with the passing of years, since he didn't like Niles being close to his own children. Or wife. Or in Apollo's general direction at all, really.

"I'm gonna eat your ass one day, you better sleep with one eye open, you hear?" Niles threatened more than once, sometimes in the twin's presence, which would prompt them to protectively jump in front of the horse.

Which would, of course, make Apollo lift his chin, looking extremely smug and make Niles narrow his eyes before in return, telling the kids it was only a joke, of course.

Nevertheless, despite all the bickering and sparks between man and horse, Niles did know that the children would be relatively safe if they were in Apollo's presence (though if one of them fell from his back there would be absolutely nothing the beast could do, and that was where danger lived), so him and Sonja reached a compromise as the kids grew up.

The couple wanted their children to have their space; they wanted them to run freely. That being so, they would let the kids play around the property under lax supervision. Apollo would be the one who would 'report' their doings to Sonja (who somehow understood what the beast said) and would serve as a carrier pigeon from her to them.

That seemed to please both parties (Niles not included), and the children couldn't wait to explore everything they could in each other's presence!

When they reached seven years old, Nina found another game to play: hide-and-hide. She would hide for a long as possible from Niles (since he always snuck up on her and her brother from a young age), trying to not be found and sneak up on HIM instead.

Sometimes she would pull Kana into this game, but he would get hungry too quickly and his stomach’s growl ruined three games already.

"This is unfairr! Papa always finds us!" She complained for the nth time one morning. Niles had been hunting for them to call them for breakfast, but they managed to find themselves inside Camilla’s study, on the opposite corner of the castle.

"Hah, you're one hundred years younger to outsmart your Dad, kid." He said, ruffling her hair.

"It wasn't Kana's fault today!" The young boy puffed his chest, tilting his head so as to also receive a pating. "Papa won't find me next time!"

The former outlaw smiled softly before wearing a smirk, disheveling both children's heads. "I'll always find you two rascals, no matter what."

Nina gasped. "No! I don't want Papa to find meee! We always lose!"

Kana grasped on his father's leg. "But I like when Papa finds us; he's always playing!"

"At last my efforts are recognized!"

"Humph," the little girl crossed her arms, lifting her chin as her little braids sharply followed her head. "Just you wait, Papa, you won't find us next time!"

Kana giggled, trotting to his sister. "Yep! You'll see!" He held Nina's hand, who quickly pointed at him.

"No! He won't!"

"Oh!" The boy covered his mouth with his free hand. "That's right! He won't!"

"Alright, alright," Niles pinched each child's nose and got up from his crouching position. "We'll see that, hm? Now, since you two lost, you gotta do what I say, yeah? Which is: let's get to eating already, your mom's gonna starve before we even get there."

"Race you there! Hahah!" Nina pulled Kana, quickly running out of the room. "Papa won't win today, you'll see!"

"Yeah, yeah..." he smiled as he watched them run off, giving it a bit of a distance before he, too, started running.

These day-to-day interactions were so much more rewarding than he'd ever thought. He wouldn't let anything happen to these children, no matter what.

Of course, he outran the twins and arrived first at his and Sonja's quarters (the small family liked to eat there instead of Krakenburg's large dining room), laughing as he opened the door for them.

"Papa's unfair! We were so fast! He was soooo behind us!" Nina pouted, sitting on her small chair.

Sonja snorted immediately. "Did you lose again, Nina?"

"Papa's super fast! We were so far away but he caught us and won the race..." Kana kicked his foot, feeling rather defeated.

"Hah, yeah, kiddos; you gotta practice a whole lot to win against your dad." She pinched their cheeks, then slapped their shoulders. "Did I see you washing your hands? C'mon, c'mon, up you go."

"Allllright..." They complained, dragging their feet to the bowl of water behind the folding screen.

Still with a wide smirk on his face, Niles sat down beside his wife, placing one arm over her shoulders. She rested her head on his. "You could let them win once in a while, you know? Look at how crestfallen they got."

"You kiddin' me? If I let them win once, I'll never be able to win again! These kids are too cunning for their own good." He nudged her cheek, placing a soft his on her neck. "If they weren't so sloppy covering their tracks, I'd still be looking for them."

Sonja giggled, ticklish. "Are they that good?"

"Not as good as me, of course," he said in a low voice, making Sonja instinctively lift her shoulder to cover her ear. He trailed his kisses from her neck to her earlobe. "Especially in, you know..."

"You're terrible." She snorted loudly, covering his face with her entire hand so as to push him away the moment the kids were done washing their hands.

"Ewww, you're kissing!" They said at the same time, their disgusted faces always a fun sight to see.

"Oh, whatever shall I do now, Daddy? I was caught in the act!" Sonja feigned feeling faint, her wide smile betraying her act.

"Why, Mommy, we should kiss more, of course." He pulled her to him, locking their lips under the children's loud protests.

"Ewww! Now I won't be able to eat!" Nina covered her eyes as Kana puffed his cheeks.

"Only Kana can kiss Mommy!" He stomped his foot, making Sonja and Niles both choke on their kiss and bonk their heads, laughing.

"If he seriously starts calling me Mommy instead of Mama I'm gonna kick your ass." She managed to say under strangled laughter, pushing his shoulder away from her, his own weight pressed against her body.

"Y-you started it." He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, his body shaking with mirth.

"Mamaa! Papaa! I'm hungry!" Nina also stomped her foot, crossing her arms. "Don't ruin my food, okay?"

Kana ran to the divan Niles and Sonja shared, squeezing himself between them. "Now Kana's beside Mama!" He wrapped both tiny arms around Sonja's waist, making both parents choke another snort.

"Alright, you both win; we're not touching, see?" The princess lifted both hands as though caught in the act. Niles followed.

"Let's eat quickly, Kana! Before they start, ugh, smooching again!" Nina quickly sat down, eyeing the table full of baked goods, juices and tea to choose from.

"And then we'll play a game Papa won't win, heehee!" The little boy covered his mouth to hide the giggle, kicking his feet in anticipation.

Sonja and Niles exchanged glances and smiled softly at their children.

That was true happiness.

Immediately after eating, the children jumped out of the window (they were on the ground floor) towards the open property. Their games of hide-and-hide usually happened inside the castle, but not even their Papa could find them in that great wilderness! It was already their win!

"There's a place I wanna show you, Kana! I found it last time Apollo took me all the way over there!" She pointed to the northernmost wall, so far away the young boy had to squint to see it.

"We gotta run if we wanna get there before dark!" He huffed as they reached a small peak, feeling like he owned the world.

Despite being a ugly place when compared to more prominent flora and fauna, Nohr was everything that Kana and Nina knew -- and, for them, it was a beautiful and tremendously explorable! The grass wasn't too green, nor were the trees 'healthy' as they heard the adults say, but the swamps and tall roots and strange insects and carnivorous plants were all too fascinating! Every single day they found a new area or a new plant or animal -- and always came back with so many new stories they both fell asleep before being able to say everything to their parents.

They ran like wildcats through the plains and swamps, Nohr's weak sun allowing them to walk in the open without having a heat stroke. They jumped over large carcasses and random animal bones, not paying them any mind. They only looked back to the castle to check how far away it already was despite feeling their feet hurt only a fraction of the usual.

"Nina, Nina! It's Apollo! He's coming this way!" Absorbed in their exploring game, Kana put one hand over his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun, despite barely needing it. "What do we do?!"

The little girl widened her eyes, shooting her head up from the bushes she had been inspecting. "Hide! He's gonna tell on us to Mama and Papa!" She pulled her brother to the bush.

"Okay! Haha!" He giggled, covering his mouth with both hands so as not to give their position away. Apollo easily caught up to them and narrowed his eyes, trying to pinpoint their actual location.

Holding their breaths, they looked at each other as Apollo growled softly, putting his snout on the ground, as though he were a hunting dog.

That took everything the children had not to burst into laughter -- he was such a big animal doing these extravagant movements! It was way too funny for them--

"Pfft..." Kana couldn't hold it in and started laughing.

"Shh!!" Nina held her brother's face as he trembled with mirth, widening her eyes as they met Apollo's. "Run! We're almost at the wall I told you!"

"Haha- w-wait!" He scrambled himself up as Nina pulled him with everything she had. They went deeper into the woods, Apollo's loud neighs right behind them.

"Over there!" Nina pointed, jumping over a tall root.

It was an abandoned steel gate, leading to an even deeper part of the woods. It was covered in rust and ivy, and it could easily pass as part of the wall weren't for a hole Nina had made the first time she went there.

If they were grown-ups, even if they had found a gate, it would've been over for them -- the mechanisms used to open it were long broken and everything was so rusty it basically became part of nature.

But they weren't. They were the perfect size to fit between the large bars and jump to the other side.

"Lalala, you can't get us here, Apollo!" Nina mocked, shaking her behind to the horse who almost ran itself onto the gate after they squeezed themselves through it.

"We won!! For the first time, Apollo didn't catch us!!" Out of breath, Kana sat on the ground, laughing to the tall trees amongst them.

"C'mon, Kana, let's go quickly before he tells on us! We gotta leave here if we wanna hide-hide from Papa!" Nina dried the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand, extending the other one for her brother.

"Alright!" He laughed, excited beyond words to explore this new side of the forest they were used to.

Nervous and worried, Apollo neighed loudly to call them back, feeling hopeless for the second time in his life. The first was during Sonja's mourning time: she couldn't even bring herself to touch him, and he couldn't do anything to help her! Useless horse!

And now, look at him: watching her children delve deep into a cave wolf's territory! Stupid kids! Didn't they see the bones scattered through the woods? The wolf was so big and strong it tossed them across the wall all the way to this side! Come back!

"We can't hear youu!" Nina's voice echoed through the woods, making Apollo's heart freeze in his chest. No! They can't make much noise! It's almost time for the wolf to wake up!

He looked around and turned his back to the gates, kicking it so as to break it down. However, the loud creaking noise made Apollo jump on his skin and give up. If he tried hard enough, he was sure he'd be able to break it down, but the wolf... No, he couldn't.

The horse burned holes on the gate, his small brain doing everything it could to think. If he remembered correctly, he would be able to circle the wall if he went through a gate all the way close to the main entrance. From there, he would need to run through parts of the city to reach the woods and then it would be time to sniff his way towards the children.

He lifted his head with conviction. It was a long way from where he was, and he wasn't as young as he used to be back during the war, but he would run with everything he had.

He would run to save his master's children he loved so much.

The deeper Kana and Nina went into the woods, the less they knew where they were. It got dark with each step they gave, as though the forest sucked the little sunlight left in the day. It made the sounds of their steps echo and reverberate through the trees, giving them the chills.

They squeezed each other's hands with everything they had. "N-Nina, I'm hungry..." Kana gripped at his tummy, feeling it growl.

The little girl sniffled, lifting her head. "I think I have a macaron I saved from yesterday's tea time, do you wanna share it?" She scavenged through the pockets on her shorts, finding crumbles and a soggy macaron.

"Mhm..." He nodded as they held the pastry between themselves and broke it in half, quickly eating it. "Shouldn't we go back? We already won against Apollo..."

Nina froze. She didn't know how to go back. To be honest, she had been trying to guide them the way they came, but those woods were so deep and dark and scary and... Her chin trembled. "P-Papa said he would find us no matter what..." She sniffled, her eyes burning with tears. "We always lose, so he'll find us. Right?"

Feeling his little sister's anxiety, Kana tried to puff his chest to appear confident. "Y-yeah, he'll find us." His voice cracked, tears already welling up on his eyes, "he'll... find us."

"P-Papa...!" Nina squeaked out, squeezing Kana's hand as she dried her face.

"He's gonna find us, Nina! D-don't cry!" Feeling responsible for his younger sister, Kana held his tears back.

"He won't! He'll never find us all the way here, wahhh!" She wailed, crouching and hugging her knees. Fidgety, Kana tried to pat her back, but her crying started setting him off as well.

"D-don't c-cry... wahhh! P-Papa... Mamaaa!" He also crouched, his legs, arms and body tired. His feet hurt and his tummy rumbled so much he just wanted to wake up beside his Mama and his Papa!

A rustling sound made both of them immediately shut up, dread freezing their voices. "W-what was that?" Kana whispered, once again squeezing Nina's hand. She held it back, holding it at the almost bone-shattering point.

"I-it's getting closer!" She whispered back, her eyes so large they almost bulged out. "F-from there!"

The first time it sounded, the rustling could have been mistaken by the wind; however, as it started getting closer, it was as though something was running in their direction.

They hopelessly hugged each other, muttering their parent's names. "I-it's a dragon!" Kana cried out.

"We’re the dragons, dumb-dumb! It's a wolf!" Nina closed her eyes and hid her face on her brother's chest.

Kana's grip on her loosened. "It's Apollo!"

"Dumb-dumb! He can't find us here-"

"No, it's really Apollo! Look!" He shook her so she could open her eyes and from the distant tangled trees and vines, she could see the unruly horse running with everything he could.

"Apollo!!" They yelled in unison, jumping up and waving.

The horse widened his eyes and quickly circled a large tree to reach the children. He still had his nose to count on!

"Apollooo! Take us hooome!" Nina ran with open arms to the beast, followed by Kana.

"To Mama and Papa!" He said.

"Brrr!" Apollo blowed his lips, his ears turned back. He kneeled so the children could mount, but didn't go back the way he came, and instead took a path slightly west from where the kids were going.

"Apollo, let's go quickly-"

"Brr!" He lowered his neck downwards, sniffing the ground.

"Nina, shh!" Kana shushed with his index over his lips. Nina covered her mouth with both hands, startled.

They never saw Apollo being that serious before.

Even the way he moved was strange -- he didn't run nor walk, but made sure not to trot so as not to make much noise. He meant to circle the wolf's territory through the western side, but he could smell it not too far from where they were.

He decided to take them to a large, hollow and rotten tree trunk, quickly kneeling back and bending to the side to throw the children on the ground.

They fell on their behinds, but hadn't time to complain since Apollo himself lied down pressing them against the wood, giving them no room to escape nor move, for that matter.

"You're- crushing us, Apollo--" They squirmed, but the horse didn't move, and instead shushed them again.

"We can't sleep here!" Kana replied, as though they had an actual conversation.

"Brr!" Apollo lowered his neck and closed his eyes, closing any discussion.

"If Papa had found us instead, we wouldn't be sleeping here. Humph." Nina muttered, leaning on Apollo's back to close her eyes.

The horse shook and growled at Niles' mention, but still remained as still as possible.

He had heard Niles and Sonja's discussion back at the house when he was circling the way to the main gate. Niles was genuinely worried about the kids, Apollo had to give him that.

Whatever. The one with the children now was Apollo, anyway.

At the back of the horse's mind, he couldn't help but think how hopeless he was, though. If he at least had a rider, they would be able to fight through the wolves and run back home that very night. But what could a horse alone do? Only mask the kid's smell with that putrid wood and hope the wolves would ignore them while the moon was out.

Despite their fear and anxiety, Nina and Kana fell asleep rather quickly -- they had been walking for over ten hours, after all. The moment they were beside Apollo, exhaustion took ahold of their body. It was a long night for the horse, who kept anxiously waiting for the wolf to go back to sleep.

The moment dawn broke, he snapped awake, unsure of when he'd fallen asleep. He narrowed his eyes, hearing something in the distance, not quite knowing what.

Nevertheless, he shook himself awake and jumped up on his legs, leaving the kids to have a rude awakening.

"Ouch-!" They bonked their heads together. "Ouch- where are we- ahh!! We're not back home!" Nina scratched her eyes, rubbing away any drowsiness.

"-na!" A faraway voice called, making Apollo turn his ear towards the noise.

"Did you hear that?!" Kana jumped up, a wide smile on his face. "It's Papa, I'm sure of it!"

Nina's eyes welled up. "Papaaa!"

Apollo neighed loudly, stomping on the ground to make as much noise as possible. Now that the wolf was asleep, they could get out!

"Nina? Is that Apollo with you? That stupid horse actually found you two?!" Still unsure of whence his daughter's voice came, Niles looked everywhere from atop his own horse. Apollo's stomps made the ground shake under him, guiding the way to them.

"Papa! I told you it was Papa!" Kana shook Nina before running towards a very pale Niles.

"You bunch of IDIOTS!" He raved, jumping out of his horse. That made the children stop in their tracks, afraid of a scolding.

Instead, Niles ran up to them and held them both in his arms. "You idiots...! Never scare me like that again, ever." His arms shook as he squeezed them so hard they were out of breath. "Enough of this stupid game, you hear?!"

"P-Papaa!" They cried, digging their snot-covered noses on his chest. "We're s-sorryyy!"

"It's okay now, kiddos. Papa's here." He sat on the ground, patting their heads. “You’re here now, that’s what matters.” He huffed as his heart took its time to unwrench itself, the kids' warm bodies finally bringing life back to his. He looked up to Apollo, who worriedly nudged one hoof on Nina's back.

Man and horse looked deeply into each other's eyes, years of bickering slowly melting away between them. The love they felt for those kids was genuine (despite Niles knowing a HORSE'S feelings couldn't even compare to his own, after all), and they silently came into a compromise.

"Thanks for finding them, stupid horse." Niles snorted, touching his foot on Apollo's.

"Brr!" Apollo lifted his chin and growled, though Niles could miraculously see a smile in there.

Maybe he was starting to speak Horse after all.

[that-rogue-valar]

One After the Other

Pairings: Ivar x Wife!Torhild (OC) 

Warnings: Pregnancy, swearing, mentions of labor, somewhat sweet Ivar (Should that be a warning??)

Word Count: 1,311

My entire body trembled as I mentally prepared myself to deliver the news to him. I stepped up slowly to the steps of our shared house, my hand resting on the knob. “Come on, Torhild. He has to know.” I whispered to myself. 

I twisted the knob and pushed the door open, enveloping myself inside. The warmth of the fire burning in the hearth was comforting, despite the overwhelming anxiety that made me want to run. 

He sat in his armchair, the firelight dancing in his perfect, blue orbs. “Hello.” Ivar greeted. 

“H--hi.” I stuttered as I made my way over to my own seat in front of the fire. “I went to the healer today.” 

Ivar nodded, opening his mouth to say something. “Did you?” He mused as a smirk spread across his features. “And what did they say was wrong with you?” 

“Well, I...it’s nothing too serious,” I muttered, folding my hands over my lap, avoiding his piercing gaze. 

He shrugged his shoulders, leaning his head on his knuckles. “I would’ve guessed it was something more serious by the way you throw your insides up every morning.” 

“They figured out the reason why I was throwing up every morning,” I said, fiddling with my fingers. “Ivar...Ivar, I’m pregnant.” 

Ivar’s face went pale and his smirk fell from his face. “Is it m--” 

I cut him off. “Yes.” I turned towards him, studying his eyes for any evidence of a tantrum. He seemed almost too calm. “You’re the only man I have ever slept with, Ivar.” 

“That’s because everybody knows you are mine.” Ivar’s smirk returned once more. “And I intend to keep it that way.” 

A moment of silence passed. “How far along are you?” He asked as his eyes trailed up and down my torso. 

“Three months or so.” 

                                                         * * *

6 months later...

Of all times, the baby decided to be born now. Ivar was busying himself by training with his brothers out in the backyard. I grabbed a fistful of my skirt and gritted my teeth as another contraction rolled over. 

I swung the back door open, clutching my swollen abdomen before yelling at Ivar. “Get the midwife and the healers! Your child is about to arrive.” 

He sat there in utter shock before nudging Hvitserk with his elbow. “Don’t just stare!” My husband hissed as his older brother took off into town. “Torhild, you cannot just stand there. Get to bed now.” 

                                                        * * * 

After hours of rather painful labor, our baby was welcomed into the world. The baby was kicking and happy, cooing until their little heart was content. Ivar pulled himself up onto the bed beside me, resting his chin on my shoulder. 

“He will be strong,” Ivar announced, poking his daughter’s plump belly gently. “Don’t you think?” 

“We have a daughter, Ivar. Didn’t the midwife tell you?” I chuckled as his expression changed. I could’ve sworn he was blushing...

                                                       * * *

It wasn’t long after Embla was born that I was pregnant again. My husband, being rather proud of himself, went around Kattegat pointing at my stomach and showing off his newborn daughter. 

“And they said I couldn’t have children...pfft.” Ivar snorted as we made our way home. “I have proved them wrong.” 

“Yes, you did. And now my body is going to pay for it.” I said, giggling as I clutched a sleeping Embla over my slightly swollen abdomen. Ivar stalked closely behind on his crutches. 

He did his best to shrug, despite having to support himself on his crutches. Embla stretched her little legs before opening her bright blue orbs. She had her father’s bright blue orbs and my honey-colored hair. 

“Good morning, sunshine.” I smiled as her tiny fingers curled around mine. “You seem to have slept well.” 

I glanced over my shoulder to find a smiling Ivar. Rare. 

Once we got Embla taken care of and sleeping, I tucked myself under Ivar’s arm in our bed. His hand was draped protectively over my stomach as he stared blankly at the wall. 

“Do you want a son?” I asked, peering up at his electric blue eyes that glittered in the pale torch-light. His hand slipped from my stomach to my hip before giving my side a gentle squeeze. 

“I...do not know.” 

I nodded and settled myself into a comfortable position for sleep. I rested my head on Ivar’s chest before drifting off into a deep sleep. 

                                                        * * * 

Embla, Eira, Hertha, Oili and Jorunn sat at their father’s feet and waited patiently for him to tell a story. I leaned against the doorway of the living area before cracking a grin. Ivar sat in his armchair, surrounded by his five, ever so eager daughters. 

My husband noticed my grin before leaning forward on his elbows that were propped up on the arms of the chair. Jorunn, being the youngest and smallest, climbed up on her father’s lap happily. 

“Papa, tell us about the time you met Mama!” Jorunn squeaked, raising her little hands to Ivar’s face before pinching his skin. Ivar squinted his eyes before slowly tearing her hands away. 

He sighed and leaned back, bringing Jorunn with him. The rest of our girls scooted closer to the armchair in anticipation. 

“Alright, just hush.” He pressed a finger to his lips and made a shushing sound. “Your mama was a kind girl--” 

“Was? Who birthed your five daughters with very little complaining?” I snickered. 

“Your mama was a kind girl,” he smirked up at me before turning his attention once more to the girls. “She did not care about my legs or the fact that the other kids thought I was scary. Mama played with me almost every day and didn’t run away from me like the others. She didn’t make fun of me. Your mama liked me.” 

“Liked? I still like you most of the time.” I laughed as I crossed my arms over my chest. “

“Would you quit interrupting?” He let out a small laugh before continuing. “Once we were older, I asked your mama to marry me. A few years after we were married, Embla came along, then Eira, then Hertha, then Oili and then--” 

“Jorunn!” I said as I scooped up the giggling three-year-old in my arms. 

I settled her on my hip before grabbing Ivar’s chin between my thumb and index finger. I pressed my lips to his, despite the series of “Ewww”s that came from the girls. 

The girls prepared themselves for bed and were asleep at the snap of a whip. Ivar was still in his armchair, staring into the fire. I blocked his view of the fire and placed my hands on either arm of his seat. 

“You twisted our story up into what you thought happened,” I confronted as a small giggle escaped my mouth. He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a smirk before grasping my hips with his strong hands. "It was what you made up in your head." 

“I could not tell the girls that we fucked in secret for years, now could I?" He taunted. 

"Certainly not." 

"Do you want to make another baby?" Ivar asked, raising an eyebrow in questioning. 

I shook my head. "Certainly not," I told him as I turned on my heels. "But I wouldn't mind the practice." 

His eyes widened and his jaw fell before he lunged into the floor. "Fuck the damn crutches," He grunted under his breath as he dragged his body across the floor. 

Once I was our bedroom, I closed the door and smirked, obviously pleased with my work. He chuckled darkly before opening the door. 

"Oh no, my little lamb. You do not get away so easily." 

[wierdogal]

Car Kicking Reduces Stress

Prompt: “I’ve had a really awful day so I started kicking a car out of frustration and it turned out to be your car I’m so sorry”

Author’s Note: Like father, like son ;) Written for Rumbelle Is Hope

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [AO3]

“Why is there’s a huge dent on the door of the bug?” asked Belle as she joined her husband in the kitchen.

“My question exactly,” replied Gold as he continued to make dinner. “Bae, Emily and Gideon are somewhere in town. I asked David if there were any reported accidents but so far none.”

“They walked?” asked Belle and Gold just shrugged. She looked around and sighed happily. It was a rare occasion having the house to just the two of them, and having the peace and quiet. It wasn’t easy with three hyperactive children. Technically, Neal wasn’t a kid anymore, seeing as he was 18 and attended college in New York--but he did act like one whenever he’s around his younger siblings.

“Maybe Emma,” replied Gold. “Didn’t Neal say he was going to pick her up before heading home. It is little Leo’s birthday afterall.”

Leo was Emma’s younger brother who was the same age as Gideon. The two boys had formed a friendship, same as their older siblings but maybe not that close.

“You know it’s been a while since we had a quiet home,” said Belle as she walked over to her husband of a decade. “Maybe we could--”

“As much as I want to,” said Gold with a laugh as he placed the dinner on the oven and turned to look at her. “I’ve been traumatized by both David and Robin’s tales of their children walking in on them. Best not to tempt fate.”

Belle gave him an amused look and playfully slapped his shoulder. “That wasn’t what I was implying.”

“Liar,” replied Gold as he sneaked in a kiss and Belle happily complied, wrapping her arms around his neck and all but melting into his embrace.

True enough, they heard the arrival of a car and two pairs of feet galloping towards the house. “Mom! Papa! We’re home!” chorused 10 year old Emily and 8 year old Gideon, as they raced to the kitchen only to stop and make disgusted faces. “Ewww, Bae! They’re being gross again!”

“Guys,” warned Neal as he appeared in the kitchen. “Give them a break. They spend all the time with you two.”

Belle and Gold separated as he glared at his son while Belle giggled.

“Now where have you three been?” asked Belle but she already caught a glimpse of the paper bag Neal was holding and could guess the answer.

“Ice cream!”

xXx

“So?” asked Gold as she and Neal washed the dishes while Belle got the kids cleaned up. “Mind telling me why there’s a huge dent on the car you begged for me to buy for you? The car you said you’d take care of, that you would look after like a child of your own or maybe even like a wife?”

Neal groaned and if his hands were covered with soap water might have covered his face in shame. “You really remembered everything?”

“Well when your eldest son creates an actual presentation, complete with statistics of children who owned cars at the age of 16 in the state of Maine and New York,” teased Gold. “It tends to leave a mark.”

Neal groaned once more as he dried his hands on a nearby tea towel. “Well, for starters, I didn’t hit anyone or anything.”

“But?” prompted Gold as he dried the last plate.

“But someone did hit the poor ol’ bug,” said Neal with sigh as he avoided his father’s gaze.

“Someone?” asked Gold in all seriousness. “Bae, is someone bullying you in New York?”

“What?” asked Neal in surprise. “That’s what--oh Papa, no! Everyone’s been extremely nice at Uni.”

Gold sighed in relief. He had been worried when he son went away for college, hoping that the people Neal met were nothing like the people he had gone to Uni with. Back then, everyone basically avoided Gold because he was there on a scholarship and didn’t have any money at all.

“That what happened to you?” asked Neal all of a sudden, giving his father a worried look. “Papa…”

“You know me, Bae,” began Gold with a small smile. “I wish very hard that all the suffering I went through will not be something that my children will face in their lifetime.”

“I know, I know,” replied Neal as he went and placed a hand on his father’s shoulder. “I love you, Papa.”

“I love you too, son,” replied Gold as they hugged, completely forgetting the reason why they had the conversation in the first placed until the rest of their family got back downstairs.

“You finally found out why there’s a dent in the bug?” asked Belle teasingly as the two men broke apart.

“Was in the middle of it,” said Gold as they all headed to the living room for some family time. “Apparently, someone hit the bug.”

“Someone hit the bug?” asked Belle in surprise. “Well that’s a bit of a relief. I had thought you now had a record somewhere.”

“So what exactly happened?” asked Gold. “I mean it’s not that deep for it to have come from another car and if another card had been involved you’d have the bug in the shop already.”

“Well, you remember how Emma hitched a ride with me back to Storybrooke?” asked Neal as his parents nodded. “Well her initial ride, her boyfriend--well ex-boyfriend now, Walsh sort of bailed out on her at the last minute.”

“Poor Emma,” began Belle as she let Emily and Gideon read on the other side of the room. “Did Walsh hit your car?”

“Technically?” said Neal, really looking sheepish now and Gold turned to Belle amused.

“Technically,” repeated Gold, turning back to Neal. “Is it too late for you to charge major? Maybe you should try your hand at law.”

“Neal,” began Belle, ignoring her husband. “I’m sure whatever reason it is, it’s not bad. I mean you didn’t intentionally--”

Neal’s eyes widened a bit which pretty much contradicted whatever Belle was saying. “Bae, what did you do?”

“Well Emma was pretty pissed when I got to her dorm,” began Neal, looking at the floor. “And she really wanted to blow off some steam, kick something and--”

“Bae told Emma to kick his car,” said Gideon from across the room.

“He also told her she was welcome to kick the bug anytime she wanted,” added Emily as Neal glared at them. He prepared for the lecture about taking care of your belongings and that no matter how much he cared about Emma, that destroying other people’s property wasn’t--wait, what happened to the lecture?

Neal raised his head to see that his parents were trying very hard to control their laughter. “Um, Mom, Papa...are you two alright?”

Gold raised a finger but Belle’s giggled developed into a full on laugh and soon enough both adults were laughing uncontrollably on the couch, much to the confusion of their children.

“It’s not that funny,” tried Neal as Gideon and Emily both turned to look at him. “What? It’s not. I was trying to be nice.”

“Totally your son,” managed Belle as she finally got her myrth in control. “100 percent.”

“Ok, there’s a story there,” said Neal, eyeing his parents. “What’s so funny?”

“Yeah,” chorused the other children.

“Well,” began Gold as he smiled towards his wife. “You all know the story of how your mother and I met for the first time.”

“But not what pushed us to be together,” finished Belle, winding her hands with his.

“Didn’t Uncle David, Uncle Robin and Uncle Killian make a bet with Papa?” asked Neal. “That’s what Roland and Alice told me and Emma.”

“Not exactly,” said Belle. “You see, I too had a bad night back then and well, there was this big old car in the lot and I just really needed to kick something...”

[spencerreidsmiles]

The Annual FBI Easter Egg Extravaganza

Written by: spencerreidsmiles

Happy Easter, everybody! This fic has Spencer and the reader’s son, Parker, is throwing a fit because he doesn’t want to go to the Annual FBI Easter Egg Extravaganza. 

Send feedback, requests, and asks!

MASTERLIST

“Easter egg hunts are dumb! I don’t wanna. It’s for little kids,” Parker exclaimed. He stormed around the kitchen, stomping as loudly as possible in his light-up shoes.

“Oh yeah?” you asked, amused. Your seven year old son, Parker, had been throwing a fit all day over how much he hated the Annual FBI Easter Egg Extravaganza. Everyone who had kids at the FBI had all of the little ones participate. Parker had been a part of it since he was old enough to walk by himself and not try to eat everything brown.

“Yeah! Only little babies do Easter egg hunts,” he insisted.

“Your sister is doing the Easter egg hunt,” you pointed out.

“Emmie’s a baby!” Parker kicked around his toy cars in a mad frustration.

“Emerson is not a baby. She’s four,” you stated. You plopped Parker on your lap and gave him a quick squeeze.

“That’s a baby!” Parker shouted.

“Shh, Parker, Emerson’s napping,” you whispered, shaking your kid.

“See? Only babies nap. And only babies do Easter egg hunts.”

“Alright, then, sweetie. If you say so,” you replied, smothering your curly haired son with kisses.

“Ewww, Mom!” Parker squealed. He ran off to the kitchen in a flurry.

“Yeah, ewww, Mom,” a deeper voice mimicked. You turned around happily and leapt into your husband’s arms. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hello, Spencer. How was work?” you asked, looking up at your Spencer.

“It was fine. Just paperwork.” He kissed you while looking lovingly in your eyes. “So, what’s Parker talking about?”

“Oh that he just doesn’t want to go to the FBI Easter Egg Hunt this year. He thinks it’s for babies.”

“But all of the kids still go the Annual FBI Easter Egg Extravaganza. Even Jack goes to the Egg Hunt every year. And he’s fifteen!” Spencer exclaimed.

Spencer loved the Easter Egg Hunt. Although he wasn’t religious, he loved the Egg Hunt since he was never able to do it when he was younger. And Parker just not wanting to just crushed him.

“I know, sweetheart, but if Parker really doesn’t want to do it, then he shouldn’t have to do it,” you answered.

Spencer poured himself a glass of water and sat down on the couch next to you. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and kissed your cheek.

“My god, Y/N. Parker’s seven. Can you believe that we have a four year old and a seven year old?”

“I know. It’s incredible. And can you believe that it’s been fifteen years since we first met?”

“You mean, fifteen years since I fell in love with your beautiful eyes and your beautiful hair and your beautiful smile-” your husband rambled.

“Oh my god, Spence. You’re such a sap,” you teased.

“It’s because I can’t get enough of loving you,” he cooed. He snuggled you tightly and planted you with kisses.

“I love you too, Spencer,” you murmured. You closed your eyes and rested your head on Spencer’s shoulder.

There was a nice silence that you hadn’t heard in awhile. It was so sweet just having the space for Spencer and you alone. It brought you back to yours and Spencer’s-

“MOM!”

“Well that little moment didn’t last very long,” you grumbled. “What’s up, Parker?”

Your son jumped up into his father’s lap and kicked his feet happily.

“I’m doing the Easter Egg Hunt!” Parker exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh yeah? What changed your mind?”

Your son blushed and giggled. “Tyler Maxwell is going to the Easter Egg Hunt. But you can’t tell him, Mom! You too, Dad!”

Your son ran off to the playroom again as you and Spencer grinned at each other knowingly. Yours was full of delight while Spencer’s was more like a terrified horror combination.

“Our son has the exact same face you did when you first saw me,” you squealed.

“Is he allowed to have crushes? He’s only seven. I should research this,” Spencer babbled, panicked.

“Oh, come on, Spencer. It’s nothing. It’s just an innocent little crush,” you giggled. “And just think of it this way, at least Parker’s going to the Egg Hunt now.”

“Maybe he’ll keep pining after Tyler Maxwell for the next eight years so which’ll make him keep going to the Easter Egg Hunts,” Spencer grumbled.

“Spencer!” You laughed and rolled your eyes at him. “Alright, kids, time to dye the Easter eggs!”

“Easter eggs!” The kids came squealing down the hallway like the bunch of hooligans that they were.

“Alright, Spence, do you want the green dye or the blue dye?”

“Whichever color I get to do with my lovely wife,” Spencer declared lovingly.

“Ugh, you sap. If you talk like that anymore then I’m going to make you draw a replica of Jesus’ resurrection on an egg,” you warned, waving around a blue stained wooden spoon.

“I’d have no problem with that at all, darling,” Spencer replied. “That actually sounds really fun. I have this drawing in my book-”

“Sweetheart, I’m not sure if the kids want to see that, but we can display that on our own mantel for Easter.”

“Well, that sounds lovely…just like you.”

“…sap.”

@hanny-bananny

[omgmissmillie-blog]

Sparks [Trent Seven]

A/N- y'all I procrastinate way too much and I’m sorry. After finals I will be finishing up a bunch of stories because I am very unreliable when it comes to fics sometimes 😂😂 but anyways this is for my mans Trent he gets no love sometimes so I decided to make a fic for him. So enjoy le chapter one ❤

Wordcount:3,684

Warning: Swearing & Cheating

Tagging: @hardcorewwetrash @screamersdontdance @asylumxclub @fuckyeahbulletclub @sammiielli

Little feet tread across the wooden floor, I held my breath and shut my eyes as I pretended to be asleep. “Mommy!! Wake up its time to see Miss Shannon!” My lovely child Gianna shook my arm but I remained silent. “Mommy!!!” Gianna jumped up and down on the mattress. I jump up and grab her. “Boo! C'mere little girl!” Her little screams and giggles filled the apartment.

“Did you try to get dressed?“ She stood up straight in front of the mattress and held a cute crooked smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at the outfit she picked out. “Gigi baby..are you sure you wanna wear your tutu out today? Its raining and it might get ruined.” I fix the slightly slanted tutu around her waist. “But…I told miss Shannon i’d wear it today.” Gianna brought her arms across her face and began to sniffle.

“Okay okay baby, If you go get your boots and jacket you can wear your tutu. I promise” I held my pinky out and wiggled it under her arm. She removed one arm and wrapped her small pinky around mine.

Gianna rushed out of the room to get her stuff, I grab my clothes and head into the bathroom to shower quickly. The warm water splashed off my skin and bounced to the bottom of the tub.

“Mommy..can I come in?” Gianna knocked until I shut the water off and wrapped up in a towel. I open the door, she sat cross legged on the floor looking up at me smiling.

“Ewww mommy is naked” she squealed and giggled. I smiled down at her, “Everything that I have you have as well Gigi, now come on lets brush our teeth.” I lift her onto the counter and grab the tooth brushes, Gianna kicked her legs forward and sang, “brush brush brush your teeth brush brush brush your teeth.” I lean over and bob into the sink, she followed suit and spit into the sink.

“Look at mommy and smile” I turn towards her and cup her cheeks, she smiled big and reached out for mine, “smile mommy!” I smile back and help her down. I pull my clothes on and slide into some old black converses. The rain came down hard against the window, I finished helping Gianna get ready and held her hand as we left our apartment.

We walked out of the elevator and headed to the mailboxes, Gianna enjoyed saying good morning to all the seniors, I found it rather cute that she wanted to run around and hug them and say hello. Mrs.Melody turned the corner from the elevator and approached us, Gianna gasped and ran over to her, she smiled at her softly and dug in her purse and pulled a lollipop out and handed to Gianna. I smile and finish gathering the mail from the box.

“Morning Y/N, how’s little Gianna?” A soft familiar voice emerged from behind me. I turn to see our landlord Celeste leaning against the mail box watching Gianna in amusement. “She’s great… My little bubble of energy,” She runs up to me and shows me the lollipop. “Look mommy! Hi Miss Cele” I bend down to pick her up and put her on my hip. “So Y/N rent was due yesterday.. Do you have it ready? Section 8 has been kicking my ass because I haven’t given them the money on time..” Celeste’s face spread with worry.

I let out a sigh and run my free hand through my hair, I was running low on money and I refuse to call my mother up and ask for money. “I don’t have it at the moment…I just had to pay this lawyer can you give me another week.. Please.” I pleaded. I was struggling and being a waiter wasn’t bringing in enough money…

Celeste studied me before smiling. “One week. I’ll give you one more alright. Otherwise we’ll have to terminate the lease,” I pull Celeste into a hug and thank her. “Bye Miss Cele” I put Gianna down and hold her hand as we walked down the street to the daycare.

Gianna took off running into the daycare building, her little legs wasn’t getting her too far as I kept up. “MISS SHANNON!” Gianna screamed as she ran and hugged onto shannon’s leg. I give her an apologetic look and lean against the counter, Gianna absolutely adored her and was always excited to come to daycare.

Shannon and I were friends since junior year ad she’s been there even after Gianna was born, she had my back even in the toughest times..

The little kids gathered on the carpet as Shannon started an episode of Sesame Street, She made her way over to show off her tutu. “I knew it’d make her happy so I went and bought one.” She smiled and hopped up on the counter. “Of course it would. Anything makes her happy..I love it” I played with my hair as I stared at Gianna’s back, she was playing and laughing along with the show.“So when do you have to go back to court?” I felt Shannon’s eyes burn into my skull as she awaited my response.

I sighed quietly, “Today..in an hour. I just paid for a lawyer but I doubt he’ll do me justice since he was a cheap one.” The judge ordered for Gianna’s father and I to be in court today to figure out who will gain custody of her. I used my last paycheck to get a lawyer but sadly the more money the better quality the lawyer is.

Shannon shook her head, “This is ridiculous. Adrian hasn’t been in Gianna’s life ever since she was born, why does he want her now?”

“I don’t know.. Did I tell you he tried to break into my apartment last week while we were sleeping?” I rub at my brow. Shannon gasped and cupped her mouth. “No way you’re lying… He’s crazy.” I pick at the leftover polish on my nails. Shannon never liked Adrian and had always expressed it with him around and behind his back.

Adrian and I met five years ago, I was still a waitress at Danny’s Diner. Every night he’d come in and order something and try his hardest to pull me in with his accent. Soon we were exchanging phone numbers and texting all night, he treated me like an absolute princess. After two years he insisted I moved in with him and start our lives…together.

But.. I learned my lesson, all fairytales come to an end. Mine came soon after a few missed periods and some trips to the bathroom with morning sickness. Everytime I went to sleep my dream sends me back to that night that I wanted to tell him..

My heart pounded as I approached the apartment. I don’t know how he’ll react or let alone if it’ll be good or bad, he said he wanted to start this together and I can only hope for the best.

I take a deep breath and unlock the door. “Hello? Baby I’m home.” The living room look like a storm ran through, pillows on the floor and the table slanted funny.

I froze as I got a whiff of some strong perfume, It wasn’t mine and I’ve never smelt it before either.. Is someone here?

A creaking noise emerged from our bedroom, I couldn’t stop myself as I headed back there. The closer I got more noise became clear, moaning and squeaking of the bed.

I peeked into the crack to see Adrian having sex with another woman. Everything felt like it went in slow motion. Why was he doing this.. What did I do wrong. Anger boiled inside me as I heard their moans.

I slam the door against the wall and stared straight at Adrian. The girl hopped off of him and tried to cover up, I can feel the tears sitting on my eye threatening to fall but I refused to let them come out.

“Who…the fuck…is she and why the fuck..are you having sex with her.” I tried to remain calm but anger filled my voice. He gave me a stupid look but couldn’t answer my fucking questions, I whip around quickly and storm out of the apartment.

The sounds of stumbling and tripping faded as I rushed down the stairs.

“Y/N!!”

“No! Fuck you and that bitch. Have a nice fucking life you bastard”

I didn’t want to be that person and keep him from his daughter but he refused to take my calls. I left him several messages regarding her but nothing so I decided to cut him off completely. The day that man came to my apartment and served me papers it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. The man who refused to answer any phone calls or text messages is trying to take my daughter, I thought it was a fucking joke until I actually walked into that courtroom and saw Adrian and his lawyer.

“Alright Shan.. I gotta start heading to the court house.” I push off the counter and walk to the door. Gianna smiled and whispered to me, “bye mommy.”

“Y/N, I forgot to tell you there’s this gym near my apartment you should come and stop by. The owner is really nice his name is Trent, he can help you release some stress” Shannon held a flyer out to me.

The smile threaten to spread as I tried to look disgusted, “I don’t have any “stress” alright. But I’ll check it out”

Shannon bounced on her heels excitedly, “Okay awesome. Go today I’ll keep an eye on Gigi until you get back.”

I shook my head and walked out towards the exit. I look down at the paper and smile, “British Strong Style huh…what a name” I shove the flyer into my pocket.

“Mr.Neville, before your daughter Gianna Marie was born is it true that Y/N was indeed trying to get in contact with you?”

Adrian mumbled a few words to his lawyer and shot a few dirty looks my way. I glanced over in his direction and rolled my eyes enough to see my brain.

“Your honor, my client –”

“I did not ask you. I asked Mr.Neville if he chooses not to answer then its up to him.”

Adrian lifted his hand and put on a charming smile, “Your honor she did actually but because of my hectic schedule I was unable to take any calls.”

The furrowed brow on the judge’s face indicated her reply was gonna shred Adrian to pieces. “If your schedule is so busy how do you expect to even care for your daughter?” Adrian played with his fingers behind his back, he only did this when he had to come up with something off the top of his head. “Well she would stay with the house keeper of course.. When I’m working that is.” The judge wasn’t impressed. Neither was I.

“Leaving your child with the housekeeper isn’t parenting. Mr. Neville, A child needs their parent not someone like it” The judge tapped her pen against the stand and looked down at me, “Y/N can I ask why you didn’t continue reaching out to him?”

I stood up and folded my arms. “Your honor, I tossed the bone for him but he refused to take it. I’m not going to continue wasting my time, even if I know he won’t help after this is settled. He comes in here trying to gain full custody like excuse my language but, Fuck that.” I shrugged off the glare the judge shot my way, I wasn’t going to bullshit her this was how I honestly felt. Adrian wasn’t taking my baby especially not after the stunt he pulled, this was unacceptable.

“You’re pathetic, Just accept whats best for our daughter.” Adrian snarled. My eyes widen, did this son of a bitch really just say that. “What’s best for our daughter? Where the hell were you the last three years huh? You didn’t even pick up my calls! When she’s sitting there asking me “Mommy do I have a daddy? Everyone at daycare has one” I have to figure out if I say I don’t know or that you’re just dead.“ I screamed as I tried to push past my lawyer, luckily he was holding me back otherwise I would’ve been caught up in another case.

"Order in the court!” The judge’s voice roared over us. I stopped and fixed my now messy hair, “I don’t care what’s going on with the both of you but you WILL come to an agreement in this court. By next month on the fifteenth I want you to have your minds made up, do you both understand?”

“Yes your honor” Adrian stood up and tossed his hands into his pockets. I couldn’t shake off the side eye he gave me as he walked out. This man was full of spite and nothing more, he cheats on me and doesn’t answer my calls for his daughter, I’m in the wrong clearly, makes absolutely no sense.

I looked up at the judge and nodded before leaving the room. This man..this evil fucking man wants my daughter. Its like he’s begging for war, well he’s got one. I won’t go back to being who I was and I won’t go back to being hurt.

As Gianna started to grow her features started to be more define, she had his eyes and her hair was definitely like his, I would sit up at night and cry until I couldn’t anymore. When she was able to walk and talk she would come into the bathroom and hug me and pat my head with her small hands.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Shannon’s number. I held the phone up to my ear as I walked out to the bus stop.

“You have to tell me everything” Shannon forced the words into one, I groaned loudly into the phone before starting up.

“He came into court demanding full fucking custody Shannon. Is he stupid or is he stupid? He has another thing coming if he thinks for a SECOND i’m giving him my daughter. He’s lucky if I even agree with visitation.” I watched as the bus slowly stopped in front of me and opens its doors.

“Wait..you can’t be serious.What did the judge say?”

“She rescheduled our final hearing on the fifteenth either we both agree on something or she’ll decide what’s best.” I sighed as I sat in the back and watched as the people loaded into the bus.

“I’m sure you’ll agree on something don’t worry…” Shannon soothed my nerves temporarily.

“I hope so”

“I’ll call you right back, gotta feed the kiddos. Keep your head up Y/N.” The sound of little kids flooded my ears before she ended the call.

I sink low in my seat as the bus began to move. Work was getting hectic and this court situation is only gonna make me rip my hair out, I can’t let this turn badly. I pull the paper out of my pocket and examine it closely, 6252 Donovan street… that’s just around this corner. The bus stopped at the light, I pulled the cord and stop in front of the door, I push it open and headed towards the corner. Straight ahead an old looking building sat next to a vacant parking lot.

The gym was packed with big men lifting weights and squatting, A large ring sat near the back next to a few punching bags that were lined up against the wall. I toss my hands in my pocket and walked over to a guy with some weights in his hands, he wasn’t as tall as everyone else but he was quite fit with a seemingly impressive mustache. “Excuse me?” I place my hand gently on his back, he pulled his ear bud out and held an innocent smile, “Hey what’s up?”

I couldn’t help but smile back his smile was so contagious, his voice was kind and gentle,“um where can I find the owner Trent Seven?”

The young man place the weights back on the ground, “I can bring you to him, he’s usually back here”

I trailed behind and followed him to the ring where two men were sparing. One was tall,bulky and had quite the beard, the other was also buff and held a mean look on his face but was undoubtedly handsome.

“Alright Peter you’ve worked me hard enough lets take five.” The taller man walked over to the rope, his face was soft as he smiled, but there was something intense behind the glint in his eyes.

“Trent, I have a nice lady with a pretty smile here for you.” The sweet guy motioned towards me and held tight on both ends of the towel that rested behind his neck.

“Thank you Tyler, now shoo shoo.” The guy named Trent rolled under the ropes and leaned against the ring post. Now that he was up close he had some how gotten more handsome. His mouth was moving but I was staring intently at his beautiful green eyes.

He snapped his fingers in my face which brought me back to reality thankfully.

“Oh um…sorry, my name is Y/N. My friend, Shannon told me to come here and check this place out.” I tried to hide my shaky tone but i’m sure he has picked up on it.

A light chuckle erupted from his chest as he folded his arms across his chest, “Shannon you say… I am quite surprise she isn’t here today usually Tyler and her use Monday’s to max out.”

“She said I should come and sign up” I couldn’t stop myself from playing with a little bit of my hair.

“Alright do you got some clothes we can get started right now” Trent pushed himself off post and started walking past me.

“I mean I have some spandex shorts on…if that works?” I glance at all the muscular men chatting and praising each other as they worked their muscles.

He turned his head slightly and smiled softly,“It works just fine. I have a T-shirt in my office you can borrow, it maybe too big so you can tie it at the bottom.”

I noticed Trent heading towards his office near the corner, I move past all the men to follow him. He held the door open for me as I slide into the tiny office.Posters and awards hung around the walls,above the window sat a belt that read:

ICW World Heavyweight Champion

“You must be top shit holding that belt I see.” I point slightly up towards the belt.Trent smiled and walked over to the set of lockers.“Of course I was, I like to believe genuine winners are the real champions."I lean in to examine some of the awards."If that’s true why aren’t you out there defending those words and that belt?"I stood up and turned back towards him. Trent shook out the tiny shirt and held it out to me,"There’s no point anymore,the company was closed and I was the last champion so who is there to defend it from?” He shrugged as I took the shirt from his hand. Trent headed towards the door and placed his hand on the knob before slightly turning to me.“Once you finish getting dressed I can figure out what we can start you off with.”

After five long hours passed by the gym was nearly empty, Trent and I were sitting the middle of ring practically drained. “What time is it?” I lie back and look over at Trent, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, “Its almost ten.” My eyes widen as I quickly roll under the ropes.

“Woah what’s wrong?” Trent rolled out on the other side as I rushed to the office. “I have to leave or else I’ll miss the bus!” I knew Shannon was okay with watching Gianna but I hate feeling like a burden. “Slow down I can drop you off don’t worry.” Trent placed a hand on my shoulder as I finish slipping my shirt on. I stop and look up into his eyes, I didn’t want to miss the bus but he is offering. “Okay…thank you.” I finally got dressed and waited outside the gym for Trent to finish locking up.

Trent fished his keys out his pocket and walked towards his black truck that sat in the vacant lot. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door for me.

“You’re quite the gentleman Trent.” I smirk at the gesture, entering the car.

“I gotta be when there’s a pretty lady around.” Trent chuckled as he shut the door and made his was to the driver side. “Alright where am I heading to Y/N.” He asked. “Can you drop me off at the daycare near Arcadia Ave?” I told him, buckling my seat belt. He started the truck and backed into the street heading towards the stop light.

I pull out my phone and dial Shannon’s number. “Shan? I’ll be there in five minutes or so.”

“Okay, I’ll have Gigi ready by the time you get here.” Shannon said ending the call.

“Picking up a niece or something?” Trent cleared his throat as he slowly turned the wheel. “My little girl actually.” I said. “Yeah? How old is she?” His voice filled with astonishment.

I turn to face him and let a smile creep up to my face. “She’s three, why are you so surprised? Do I not fit the motherly look?”

“No. You don’t, you look like someone who wouldn’t want to be bothered with kids.” Trent’s smile hid under his mustache.

I swat lightly at his arm. “That’s rude, I enjoy kids. I won’t say it’s easy taking care of Gianna but she’s bright so she took it easy on me.”

The truck stopped in front of the daycare where Shannon and Gianna stood waiting.

“Thank you Trent for the ride.” I unbuckle my seat belt and open the door to get out. “No problem, it was nice meeting you I hope to see you again.” Trent waved me off and flash a sweet smile.

“Mommy!”

I shut the door and walk over to Gianna. “Hey cupcake, were you being a good girl for Shannon?” I propped her onto the side of my hip. Gianna nodded and rested her head upon my shoulder. Shannon waved to the truck before it pulled off, “oh man oh man you got alot to tell me tomorrow.” She smirked as she turned to head to her car.

I laugh to myself as I walked down the street holding onto Gianna, I could tell she was going to sleep good tonight since she seems all played out. “Mommy?” She mumbled as she tucked her head in the crook of my neck. “Yes cupcake?” I paused at the light and waited for it to change.

“Can I see daddy?”