#more years than that actually because we’ve been friends since we were kids

[stargirlfics]

my partner got me a jellycat plushie and it’s gonna be here soon and i am over the fucking moon!

[bloop-bl00p]

In defense of Octavia

TW: Lots of Trauma Dumping, Mention of abuse

She’s been wronged way too many times in this fandom for some reason. Look at her vibing, how can you hate her?

I’m a fan of Helluva Boss, mainly because of its potential but the quality dropped dead in the second season. We’re gonna talk about a character I’ve seen other fans misinterpreting in favor of the so-great Prince Stolass.

I want to talk about her mainly because I do what I want and because after studying her character I just realized that she’s just like me. Especially regarding her relationship with her father, I see myself in my younger years.

All of that to say…

She has all the right to feel abandoned.

Octavia obliviously has a stronger bond with her father, it shows in her behavior and little background details

When she wants to draw her family, she draws her and Stolas, we mostly see her being happy with him which leads me to think that she’s emotionally neglected by Stella. To her, Octavia is just an ‘egg’ that fell off her and she doesn't care about the impact killing Stolas could have on her daughter.

Despite being emotionally absent, Stella has a much more physical presence than Stolas. Most of the time Stolas is alone in his castle which leads me to think that Octavia is somewhere else with Stella. They did mention the two went on a weekend somewhere. This leads us to this question…

How can Octavia feel more close to her father?

Here’s the thing, I see a lot of my family dynamic here. My mom doesn’t pay attention to me at all, she doesn't want me to bother her and she makes it clear. My dad, however, who’s absent like 90% of the time, always tried to spare time with me. He explained to me that he was working and why he was doing all of this (I was like barely ten) but it never prevented him from trying to play with me, sharing his hobbies, going on a walk, and else.

He was there emotionally and, as a kid who was bullied, had no friends at all, and a mother who didn't give a damn, I cherished this relationship.

I believe the exact same thing happened with Octavia, we never see her with friends or even outside the castle, she’s isolated. Stolas has Prince duties, we’ve seen him carry them in the shows, hence why he’s mostly absent leaving her with her mother. But, at least when she was a kid, he tried to do stuff bringing her to Loo-Loo Land or being the one to comfort her. That is why she clings to her father, he’s the only one who actually shows her love and she’s terrified of losing that.

Regarding her mother, Stella obliviously doesn't care about her so the feeling is reciprocated. From a narrative standpoint, Stella is an unpredictable force of nature getting angry for pretty much anything that doesn't go her way. So Octativa learned to not cross her mother's path.

I know this expression, this is the “Oh fuck… they’re at it again?” she’s used to her mother's constant screaming, she's used to her parents fighting.

She did say they were a time when a parent didn't hate each other, which to me refers to the time when Stolas tanked Stella’s abuse. But, that doesn’t mean that Stella wasn't abusing him in front of a younger Octavia, she’s erratic and they did imply that she can get physical in her toxic behavior. Since Stella was passive, it was probably mostly harmful comments.

Putting personal things here, my mom was also very abusive to my older sibling. Since I was extremely young I learned not to ‘be a burden’ to avoid being abused as well, which includes things like not talking to her unless she does it first. Whether Octavia is aware of the physical abuse or not, she must know enough to know that it’s a bad idea to annoy Stella.

This is the only picture where we see her seemingly having a good relationship with Stolas, which to me feels like she’s faking it considering all we know about the family.

She has a pretty shitty household but her relationship with her father make it bearable until Stolas did a 180°

He randomly started to prioritize Blitz and don’t spill me the bullshit of ‘he’s trying’ he stopped trying long ago.

Let’s analyze this episode by episode:

In Loo Loo Land, Stolas seemingly tries to rebuild a visibly strained relationship with his daughter by bringing her to a park she liked when she was a kid. To this, she immediately responds with an “I’m not 5 anymore.” and an “I rather kill myself.” There’s no room for miscommunication, she doesn't want to go there, and she won’t enjoy it as much as she did back then. Still, he decides to go there, showing that he doesn't listen, and, he brings the one the thing that is currently ruining his already horrible marriage because of his own actions. Blitzø.

He’s trying to spend time with his daughter after a long time (this is mentioned in the episode) and he decides to bring in that one guy he’s hooking up with to deliberately make sexual remarks about him in front of her.

She’s uncomfortable the whole time, not just because she allegedly doesn’t like listening to her father's comments but because she doesn't like the park. She said it, yet Stolas doesn't acknowledge it, he doesn't realize the faces she makes which are to me pretty communicative of her annoyance and discomfort.

This is not even subtle body language, yet he only notices it when she runs off. The worst part is that he still finds a way to think about Blitzø when his daughter leaves.

He looked upset that Blitzø didn't follow him! Did he expect that guy to pursue him constantly? He was in the middle of an argument with his daughter, I personally would have stepped away to give them space to talk and reconcile. But no, apparently Blitzø should be at his beck and call all the time.

But you know what, after all of this. He still apologized. That absolutely does not negate everything he did during the day but, at the end of it, he finally listened to her and even brought her to a place she actually wanted to be. Which is good, he acknowledged her discomfort and did something she liked.

Until Seeing Star.

Look I know Stolas was busy with Stella but he clearly doesn't care about her and her stuff.

Don’t tell me he couldn’t pinpoint Stella’s location with magic and teleport all of her belongings to her. Their discussion was barely about the furniture, he could have said that they were gonna be delivered and hung up the second he saw Octavia. Arguing with Stella is pointless, he’s the number one guy that should know that! Why does he continue to insult her, he’s just fuelling the fire!

Moving out her belongings would have been 10 times faster if he just hung up the phone, then he could have had a more mindful talk with Octavia without the constant bickering of his ex-wife.

But he didn't for some reason, fair enough, I guess. The writers do whatever they want. Anyway, Octavia got angry and ran to go see the stars on her own.

So, Stolas’ castle is in Pride but my point still stands, Octavia had the time to run from home and make the way all from her father's place to the city, find the specific building Blitzø held his organization in and Stolas didn't notice a thing.

You cannot tell me Stella managed to get his attention for that long AND you cannot tell me that his castle is close to the shitty disaffected building and the populace. His daughter ran off and he did not notice a thing.

Not only that but he has the nerve of blaming Blitzø for not watching the book. Like, dude! You should have watched your daughter instead!

Then he spills out more bullshit.

I don’t know Stolas, how could you possibly find her when you were shown to have countless abilities to do so?

Like bubbles projecting the image and locations of people.

Or that on time when you possessed corpses and one woman just to go full eldritch monstrosity just for one that one guy you’re cheating your wife with. And don’t whine about “They don’t love each other.” it’s still affecting his family, mainly his daughter so it’s still bad.

Of course, you do all of that without your grimoire without any problem, brushing it off with a…

I guess he forgot his ‘ways’ when it came to Octavia. But honestly, Loona literally found her easily just by looking at her Instagram account, couldn't he just call her or something? The girl had her phone the whole time and he didn't just think of calling her.

Me when I forget that I have teleportation power when I am in an enclosed space with nobody is looking.

You’re certainly not worrying right now. Via literally told him to his face that she was scared and he kept flirting with him even though he once again caused her to run away because of his neglect.

He’s not trying his best, THIS IS NOT TRYING!

No Loona, his daughter communicated very clearly issues related to their relationship, rather than reassuring her and being there for her as much as it’s realistically possible (he still has duties to carry), he gets in an avoidable petty fight with his ex and keeps an unhealthy dynamics with an imp he's been obsessing over. He doesn't focus, his priorities aren’t straight, and now Octavia feels abandoned.

I did mention that I had a good relationship with my father back then, but it stopped abruptly. His focus changed and he went out with friends after work and gradually stopped spending time with me. Until we never spent time together again, (to give you an idea the only moment where I could see him was in the morning for breakfast) now that can sound silly but I was a child, with no friends and a neglectful mom, losing the only good thing I had in life broke me. I knew his schedule, I knew he was spending time with work buddies and that just stung my self-esteem even more leaving me feeling like a burden when I was just a kid who wanted to feel love.

This is why I don’t like the “He’s trying.” I know what a trying struggling parent looks like and I know what happens when they stop. If you keep trying to do something and you’re constantly failing, either your technique isn’t the right one or you’re not and you’re convincing yourself you are.

And then there are people that’ll tell me that “He lived through the abuse of Stella for years for her.”

If you read all of this then I don’t feel like I need to explain how Octavia was at least partially exposed to Stella's toxic behavior and was affected by it.

For those who don’t know how it feels to live with an erratic mood-swinging person, it’s pure constant stress. You have to think constantly before you talk or move because you know that if you fuck up you’re gonna pay the price. And if you still eventually mess up you can never know with these types of people! You can’t defend yourself because the punishment will be far worse. You are ALWAYS in the wrong.

So he lived through the abuse of Stella just so his daughter could get neglected and abused in a less physical way?

The difference between my parents and Octavia is that they love each other. Stolas doesn't give a damn about Stella, he did say he was nice at first because he empathized with her they were in this shitty situation together, and fine, it's reasonable. But she never changed! Stella stayed the same! Why didn’t he leave her when he stopped carrying about her?! There’s no trauma bounding, Stella isn’t guilt-tripping or manipulating him, they got the child he could have divorced her easily without consequences! If anything, she’s the losing part of this divorce she’s lower in the hierarchy! “Andreaphul will get angry.” HE’S A MARQUIS! Hierarchically speaking Stolas is far more important and he mopes the floor with his peacock ass!

Am I supposed to be empathetic with that one dude who willingly let his daughter grow up in a hyper-toxic environment with an emotionally neglectful and unpredictable wife?! Am I supposed to believe he cares when he kept sleeping in his house in his bed with the same guy his daughter clearly is worried he’s going to leave her with?! Really?!

Don’t ever tell me that this is trying.

[literally-izzy]

Just Friends?

summary: you’re in love with your best friend who doesn’t feel the same way. right?

Modern AU!Anakin Skywalker and Fem!reader

A/n: ah! this is my first time writing a fic and i might’ve gotten carried away… there’s also original names. not all of the names are star wars related. please feel free to reblog! it would mean a lot!

cw: smut; unprotected piv, pet names, car accident..

Love. It’s a funny thing. I’ll never understand it. I only know that when it hits you, it hits you hard. Here I am, 25 and still pining over a man who doesn’t want me. You would think that after ten years I would forget about him and move on. It’s hard when he’s your best friend. Anakin Skywalker. I met him my sophomore year, his freshman year. Our moms worked together and became best friends. It was only inevitable that we would too. Every weekend was a movie night at the Skywalker house. Filled with love and laughter. The only times I hated it was when an unwanted visitor came. But I denied the real reason I disliked her.

I told myself it was just because she was too quiet. Not outgoing. Definitely not because she was dating him…. I hated the way he held her in his arms. I eventually began to realize it was because I wished it was me. Any moment I had alone with him was bliss. She didn’t go to our school. They met at summer camp the year before we became friends. So, school, especially choir was a safe place to be with him. He made me laugh like no other. And never changed the way he acted around me when his friends were around.

Now here I am, teaching a class of annoying seventh graders how to sing. Anakin is still in med school. I always admired him for it. He never thought he was smart enough for it. It took my encouragement. We still keep tradition and every Friday night; I go over to his apartment for movie night. When he graduated, he and his girlfriend, Padme, split up. So, for the past 6 years, I’ve never really had to worry about anyone else. He only had a few short relationships throughout the past six years since he graduated. Occasionally his sister joins us for movie night, that’s when we have to watch cheesy hallmark movies. Not that I hate all of them, but I dislike most of them.

I looked down at my desk and saw a text on my phone.

“Just you and me for movie night. Up for Fast and Furious?”

I smiled at the text. My students were currently working on their assignment, so I replied,

“That’s a stupid question, Anakin”. I put my phone down and I sat my chair.

He texted back almost immediately, “so I take that as a yes, y/n?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a yes. I’d love to talk more but I have a class to teach. Love ya”

“I’ll say a prayer for those students lol. Love ya.”

I smiled at the last sentence. We’ve been inseparable for ten years. Of course, we love each other. Mine just goes deeper than his. I’ve thought multiple times about telling him. But I just couldn’t. He’s always with someone new when I finally muster up the courage to tell him. And its not like I’ve stayed single. I’m actually with someone right now. He’s amazing in every way. He’s just not Anakin. I looked down at my phone again and realized I had a text from him.

“Hey babe, I’m gong out of town to see my parents for the weekend. I know you’re going to Anakin’s apartment for movie night, so I figured i’d tell you now”.

I feel like such a bitch. At least he’s not jealous of Anakin. My last relationship ended because I refused to stop seeing him.

I texted back, “okay, have fun!” I know I should’ve said more, but I really didn’t care. I saw another text from him but before I could answer it, the bell rang.

“Okay class, that’s homework if you didn’t finish it. Have a great weekend!” All the kids quickly piled out of my classroom. Once I was alone, I read the text from Trey.

“Okay. I will. Be safe on your drive up there.”

“I will.” I replied. I got my things together and walked out to my car. Once I got in, I connected my phone and started blasting love songs. I’m a hopeless romantic. I started driving.

He lives in the main part of Coruscant. Which is about 45 minutes away from where I live. I spent the drive belting love songs, consciously daydreaming about the life I could have with Anakin.

Once I pull into his driveway, he’s already outside waiting for me.

“Jeez, y/n, took you long enough” he smirks.

“Fuck off, Anakin” I laugh and flip him off. I walk closer to him and give him a hug. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt like hours. His muscular arms wrap around me tightly and contract as we breathe in sync. He smelled like the woods behind his house, where we used to explore. His curly dirty blonde hair that shaped his face brushed against my cheek as he finally pulled away. He stood aside, gesturing for me to enter his apartment.

“Wow, you cleaned!” I teased him as I took off my shoes and sat on his black leather couch.

“Yeah, but not for you. It is my bachelor pad after all” he smirked as he sat down beside me.

“Of course,” I said with an eye roll. I tried not to sound annoyed, but I know I did. Part of my annoyance isn’t even because I want him to myself. Some of it is because he’s not as careful as he should be. He just whores around because his good looks and charm let him. One day, he’s gonna end up being a baby daddy to at least three women. And I know i’d still be around to help him. Always being his best friend. Never the love of his life.

“Pizza should be here soon” Anakin interrupted my thoughts.

“Okay great” I give him a warm smile as he sits down beside me. He pulls out his phone and starts to text someone. I know I should give him his privacy, but I’m a nosey bitch. I discreetly shift my head and side my eyes towards his phone. He’s texting a girl named Aayla. From what I could see, they’ve obviously been hooking up.

“Who’s that?” I asked, letting my jealousy get the better of me. He looks up and smirks.

“Just a girl I’ve been seeing occasionally. Why? You jealous?” He teased. I knew he was teasing but I couldn’t stop my face from turning bright red. Every normal word went out the window. I couldn’t speak. Finally, I shook myself out of it and responded nonchalantly.

“Hell no. I don’t need whatever diseases you’ve contracted from your escapades” I teased. He laughed and playfully rolled his eyes. He put his phone face down on his lap and shifted his body to face me. His black ‘KISS’ tee shirt tightened around his body, outlining his stunning six-pack.

“So, how’s everything with Trey?” His face was calm. His lips pressed into a peaceful smile.

“Everything’s great. We just came up on 4 months together.” I couldn’t think of anything interesting to tell him. As bad as it sounds, my relationship with Trey is vanilla. Nothing daring or exciting.

“Can I ask you something?” He raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Of course,” I smiled.

He paused, thinking of what to say next. “So, I’ve only seen him a few times, but he looks awfully boring. Is he any good in bed?”

My jaw dropped. I started laughing a little. “I guess so. He’s only the second guy I’ve been with. I don’t have much to compare him to”.

“Wait, really?” He looked astonished.

I immediately started blushing. I felt embarrassed. “Um, yeah…”

“How come you never told me?” He looked genuinely hurt that I didn’t tell him I’ve only slept with two men.

“I don’t know. We’ve never really gone into detail about our sex lives”

“Yeah, but I mean, I told you when I lost my virginity at least. You didn’t even tell me that.” He sounded so hurt. And I could see where this was coming from. Besides this one topic, I tell him everything. He looked down at my hands that were fidgeting in my lap. All of a sudden, he grabs them. His big strong hands gripping my smaller ones, with a look of compassion on his face. “y/n, please don’t feel like you have to keep things from me. I’m your best friend. I would never judge you”.

How was I not supposed to melt. I nodded and swallowed, keeping my hands in his. “I lost my virginity when I was nineteen. In college. I was with Maul. I was embarrassed to say anything because you lost yours before me and I felt, different, I guess. After we split, I was scared to do it with anyone else. I’ve only recently slept with Trey.”

Just as he was about to speak, the doorbell rang. We knew it was the pizza, so he went up to get it. Once he got it, he walked into the kitchen. It only took a couple of minutes before he came back in with two plates of pizza. He set the plates down, walked back into the kitchen, and came back with two bottles of ‘Mikes hard lemonade’. He then sat beside me, turning on ‘Fast and Furious’.

We had gotten through the first three movies before I started to get sleepy. I tried to stay awake for another movie, but I couldn’t. We had talked about various things. Work, school, family, etc.

“I’m sorry, but I better leave. I’m starting to fall asleep.” I yawned tiredly.

His eyes widened. Then he started to look sad. “Wait, why don’t you just stay the weekend? I know you keep clothes in your car, and you said Trey would be at his parents’ house all weekend.”

I smiled. But then I started overthinking. What if I annoy him too much? We’ve never spent a whole weekend together without breaks. Or what if he wants to bring a girl over? I’d just get in the way. “Are you sure? What if you want to put your bachelor pad to use?” I slightly teased. Only slightly because part of me was serious.

He smirked, “Do you really think girls are over here every weekend?”

“From the way you talk about them, yes.”

He started laughing. “No, y/n. I’m really not that big of a man whore.”

I looked down at my hands, “Oh. Well, what about that Aayla girl?”

“Not important. We aren’t exclusive. She’s just something fun. There’s no relationship there. If there was, I would’ve told you, y/n.” He said seriously.

“Okay. I’ll stay. I don’t have pajamas in my car though.”

He smiled, knowing he had won. “I have a shirt and sweats you can wear.”

“Okay. Do you have a pillow for the couch?” I asked with a soft smile on my face.

“Yes. But not for you. You can have my bed. And that’s non-negotiable.”

I rolled my eyes as I stood up. I was too tired to fight. He motioned for me to follow him into his room. I’d only been in there once, and that was when he moved into the apartment. As we walked in, I was hit with the refreshing smell of his light cologne. His bed was in the corner, facing the door when you walk in. Across from his queen-sized bed was a tall, dark wood dresser. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a gray shirt and black sweatpants.

“Here, they might be a bit big, but you’ll just be sleeping in them.”

“Thank you” I smiled. He set the clothes on his bed before walking closer to me. Once he was close enough, he wrapped his strong arms around me. I hugged him back, breathing in his scent. His head rested on my dirty blonde curls.

“Goodnight, y/n”, he breathed out before pulling away. I sighed and smiled.

“Night, Ani”. With that, he smiled and walked out, shutting his door. I began to remove my clothes and replaced them with his. I was immediately engulfed in his natural woodsy scent. I then crawled into his bed. It was very soft, like laying on a cloud. His black sheets smelled like him. I laid there and started thinking about the future I could have if I just grow a pair and tell him. Eventually, I closed my eyes and drifted off, wishing he was laying beside me.

While I was sleeping, I felt something on my hair. I decided to ignore it. But I can't help but hope it was him. But I won't bring It up.

♡

I woke up to the sound of sizzling. I sat up and admired the way the sun shined on my body through the window above the bed. I tossed my legs over the side of the bed and walked out to the kitchen. I was hit with the smell of bacon, my favorite. I walked further in to see Anakin humming and cooking. He was so focused on breakfast; he didn’t even notice I was awake. So, I started to sing the words of the song he was humming. He quickly turned around with a huge grin on his face. His robe was open, exposing his bare chest. His body was God-like.

“You have such a beautiful voice, y/n/n” he complimented me. Sure, he knew I could sing, but this felt different. I blushed a little before responding.

“Thank you, Ani”. I smiled.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked with his eyebrows slightly raised.

“Yes, I did. Your bed is very comfy” I smiled.

He let out a small chuckle. “I know. So, I deserve a big thank you for letting you sleep in it for this weekend”

I rolled my eyes. “Thank you for letting me sleep in your incredibly comfy bed.”

“You’re welcome.” He turned back around to get our plates ready. Once he was done, he took them to the table and sat down waiting for me. We sat there and ate the eggs and bacon he had made. Then I remembered something.

“Last night, what were you going to say before the pizza got delivered?”

He looked down. He was thinking. “Well, I guess I was just surprised, I guess. It’s hard to believe you’ve only slept with two men.” I looked into his eyes and knitted my eyebrows.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, c’mon y/n/n. Just because we’re best friends, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how beautiful you are.” I choked on my water. I coughed for a few minutes before responding.

“Oh. Really?”

He smiled and laughed lightly. “Yes. Really.” I could’ve died right there. Why couldn’t he be mine?

Once we finished eating, I walked into his living room and sat on the couch. I got on my phone to check any missed calls or notifications I might’ve had. All I had was a text from Trey.

“Good morning, beautiful. Missed waking up next to you this morning” I didn’t. I wished it was Anakin.

“Why is he so cheesy?” I heard Anakin ask from beside me. I can’t blame him for being nosey, considering I did the same thing last night.

“I don’t know. It’s not my favorite if I’m being honest” I said with a slight grimace. He laughed before focusing back on his phone. I looked back down at the text and decided to respond.

“Good morning! Don’t miss me too much. Enjoy your time with your parents”. I rolled my eyes as I pressed send. I started scrolling on instagram. I stopped when I saw an engagement post an old friend from High school made. An instant feeling of jealousy and heartbreak came over me. I heard Anakin sigh as he started to speak.

“Oh yeah, I saw that.” He spoke as if it made no difference. It probably doesn’t to him. But to me, I feel behind. I thought I still had time to start all of that. Is 25 too old? He started to speak again when I didn’t say anything. “Hey, what’s wrong?” His voice was soft, like velvet

“Am I wasting my life?” I looked up with tears begging to be released from my eyes.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He knitted his eyebrows together.

“I though I still had time before starting a family. I thought 25 was still young. But now, Casey is getting married.” I sniffled. The tears finally leaving my eyes. Without saying anything, Anakin pulled me into a hug. Once again, his woodsy smell engulfed my senses and I felt calm. My face was pressed against his bare chest, since he still hadn’t changed. He gently rubbed my back with his hand. After a few minutes, I pulled away to save myself from falling for him even more, if that was possible. He began to speak.

“I don’t think there’s a time limit. You start it when you’re ready.” He smiled softly.

“When did you get so smart?” I teased. He scoffed and playfully put his hand to his chest.

“I am deeply offended y/n.” I pushed him and we started laughing. He paused. “Hey, I have an idea”

“What?”

“Let’s go see my parents. It’ll give us something to do.” He shrugged. I smiled. I hadn’t seen them in a while.

“I love that idea. I just have to get my clothes out of my car and change” I stood up and did just that. I walked back in with my book bag and went into his room and changed. I walked out with my slightly ripped jeans and my favorite ‘Nirvana’ tee-shirt. Anakin smiled and walked into the room to change while I waited. He walked back out in black jeans and a plain gray shirt. Even in the plainest clothes he was ethereal. I grabbed my phone and his as we walked out the door.

•

On the drive to his parents’ house, we blasted our favorite songs. We belted our hearts out, laughed at the stupid shit he said. My heart fluttered every time he looked at me. The way he says my name. After 20 minutes, we pulled into his parents' driveway. We got out and he rang the doorbell. Their house was white and older. There was a wooded area in their backyard where Anakin, his sister Ashoka, and I would explore and mess around.

When I moved closer to my job, I was sad to be so far away. But when Anakin moved to Coruscant to go to college and Coruscant Medical School, I was elated. We were now only 45 minutes apart instead of an hour. I hadn’t been home in 6 months. My parents haven’t even met Trey. Which is intentional.

After a few seconds, his mom Shmi, opened the door and a huge grin appeared on her face. She then gasped.

“Oh! y/n!! It’s so good to see you!” She pulled me into a tight comforting hug. Anakin rolled his eyes.

“Nice to see you too mom” he teased. I pulled away and smiled. She walked forward and pulled Anakin into a hug as well. Just then, his Step dad, Cliegg, came out and gave me a side hug before hugging Anakin. Shmi finally spoke up.

“Well, come on in! I just made some chili if you’re hungry”. I walked into their house and was hit with the smell of her infamous chili. My mouth immediately started watering. I proceeded to the kitchen and didn’t waste and time on grabbing a bowl. Anakin soon entered behind me and did the same.

Once our bowls were filled, we went into the dining room and sat at the table. His parents joined us, and we began to make some small talk. Shmi smiled and began to speak.

“So, are either of you seeing anyone?” Before I could say anything, Anakin spoke up.

“Well, y/n has a boyfriend. But I’m not seeing anyone right now.” I smiled awkwardly, knowing Shmi would tell my mother. Shmi’s face looked almost sad, as if she wanted me to be single or him to not be.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! What’s his name?” She asked brightly. I looked up from the table and smiled.

“His name is Trey” I said quietly.

“Is that short for anything?” Cliegg spoke up.

“His name is Daniel Jones the third. Because he’s the third, he goes by Trey.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Anakin said almost offended.

“Well, you never asked” I replied. The rest of lunch went well. After a few more hours, we decided to head back home. We hugged his parents goodbye and got back into Anakin’s truck. Once we started driving, Anakin cleared his throat and started to speak.

“Are you mad at me?” He said as if he would start crying if I said yes.

“What? No. Why would I be mad at you?” I asked genuinely.

“I don’t know. You’ve just been distant recently, I guess.” He shrugged, keeping his beautiful blue eyes on the road.

“I’m not trying to be. You’re my best friend, I would never try to distance myself from you.” I sighed. He was right. But I’m only trying to save myself from utter heartbreak.

“Okay. I believe you.” And with that, we stayed silent the rest of the ride home. The only time we spoke was when we stopped at a drive-thru to get food. We ate in the car. Still staying silent. Once we pulled into his driveway, I got out and went straight to his room to change.

In had just finished changing, when Anakin walked in. He just stood there. He didn’t say anything. I spoke up.

“Is everything go-” I was cut short by Anakin when he pressed his lips onto mine. I didn’t even have time to react before he pulled away. His eyes widened.

“I- I’m sorry.” With that, he walked out of his room and shut the door. I wanted to follow him, but I could tell he needed to be alone. I sat on the end of the bed and ran my hands through my hair. I looked down and spoke quietly.

“What the fuck just happened?” I crawled onto the bed and laid down. Did he mean to? Was he fucking with me? Did he want me as much as I want him? No. He couldn’t. It’s been too long for him not to have said anything. I curled into a ball and fell asleep thinking about what just happened.

The next morning, I woke up ready to talk to Anakin. I changed into leggings and a plain blue shirt. When I walked out, I didn’t see him anywhere. I checked every room until I saw a note on his fridge.

“I went for a drive. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’m so sorry. I’ll see you next weekend, I hope. - Anakin. I wasn’t angry at him for leaving, surprisingly. I understood. I walked back into his room, grabbed my stuff and left. As I drove back to my apartment, I couldn’t help but start to cry. I cried because I was hurt, confused, frustrated, in love.

When I pulled into the driveway, I sat in my car and cried some more. Eventually, I got out and walked into my apartment complex. I got in the elevator and kept my eyes on the floor so no one could see me cry. When the elevator rang, I walked out and ran down the hallway to get to my door.

I walked in and ran into my room. I crawled into my bed and cried. He kissed me and he regrets it. I was stupid to think that maybe we could be something. I fell asleep with tears still running down my cheeks.

After what was probably a few hours, I heard loud knocking on my door. I got up and opened it. Trey.

“Hey gorgeous” he smiled.

“Hi.” I said quietly. I stood to the side allowing him to come in. I couldn’t stop sniffling, so he turned around with a concerned look.

“What’s wrong, beautiful?” He said softly.

“I just don’t feel good” I lied. I couldn’t tell him that my best friend kissed me, said sorry, then left and I wished he wasn’t sorry. Trey walked over to the couch and sat down. He gestured for me to sit beside him. I did. Once I sat down, he pulled me close to him. I wont lie, Trey is very comforting. He is so sweet and honestly very good looking, but he’s not him. As much as I try to enjoy being with Trey I can't.

I sat there for what felt like another hour, before I got a call. I sat up and answered.

“Hello?” I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hi, this is Coruscant Hospital. Is this y/n y/l/n?” My heart dropped.

“Yes, it is”

“We have Anakin Skywalker here. You were number one on his emergency contact list. He’s in our trauma room right now. He got into a pretty bad accident. I would suggest that you come down and call any other family members”.

I froze. I couldn’t speak. I felt tears running down my cheeks, but I couldn’t make any sound. Finally, I said okay and hung up. I told trey what happened, and I left. I drove as fast as I could without getting pulled over. I sobbed thinking the worst. I called his mom and told her. She immediately tried to calm me down and told me she was on her way.

I pulled into the parking lot and ran in. I told the receptionist his name. She looked him up and told me he was taken into emergency surgery. I sat in the waiting room. His mom eventually came, and I told her. She held me as I cried. We sat in the waiting room for 4 hours. Eventually a doctor came out.

“Are you the family of Anakin Skywalker?”. We both nodded. “He’s out of surgery. He’s in a coma right now. He shouldn’t be asleep for long, but don’t expect him to be awake tonight.”

We nodded. A nurse came and led us to his room. As soon as I saw him, I immediately broke into tears. I pulled a chair up to the side of his bed. I sat down and grabbed his hand. He had a black eye, and his arms were covered in cuts and bruises. He had stitches visible on his chest, before they went under his gown. Shmi grabbed his other hand and gave it a kiss. We sat in silence before she finally spoke.

“He’s so lucky to have you, y/n.” She said softly with a light smile.

“What do you mean?” I asked with utter confusion.

“You bring out the best in him. He trusts you more than anyone. You’d drop anything the moment he asks you to. And you care about him so much. You’ve shed more tears tonight than I think I have in the last 4 years.” She explained.

“Of course, I care about him. He’s my best friend.” She just hummed in response. After an hour or so, another nurse came in.

“Unfortunately, only one of you can stay with him. It’s hospital policy.” I immediately went to stand up when Shmi spoke.

“y/n, stay. You need to. I’ll be back in the morning.” I she said sternly. I didn’t even try to argue with her. She left and I curled up in the chair and slept the best I could.

The next morning, his mom walked in and woke me up. She had brought me some coffee and a breakfast sandwich. We turned on the television and occasionally had a conversation. I barely let go of his hand.

Shmi left to get some lunch. I stayed. I held his hand with my left hand and used my right to caress his face. I whispered softly.

“Please wake up. I need you. I-I love you. Please Ani.” I begged. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears. All I wanted was to hear his voice.

After a bit, Shmi returned, and we talked some more. Once it got late, she left and went back home. I sat there and cried some more. I needed my best friend. I needed my Ani. All of a sudden, I heard a knock on the door.

“Come in” I said calmly. Trey walked in with some food,

“I got you something to eat. Figured I could sit with you for a bit and then take you home.” He spoke.

I sighed. “Thank you for the food, but I’m staying here. I refuse to leave him.”

“Can I ask you something?” He said softly.

“Sure” I said staring at Anakin’s beautiful face.

“If that was me, would you stay all night, not eat and hold my hand?” He spoke softly, but I could tell he was sad and angry. How could I blame him? But I was tired of lying.

“No.” And I said that with full honesty. “He’s my best friend. We’ve been inseparable for ten years. Why would that change now?” I spoke quietly. Not once taking my eyes off of Anakin.

“You love him. Don’t you?” He questioned. I didn’t know what to say.

“Of course. He’s my best frie-”. He cut me off.

“Cut the shit, y/n. You love him. More than a friend. And I won’t stand in the way.” He said solemnly. He walked out and I didn’t say anything. I just kept my red teary eyes on the love of my life. Whether he felt the same or not, it’s true. I kissed his hand. And for the first time in years, I prayed.

I prayed to God that he wakes up. That I get my best friend back. I turned off the television and the lights. I sat there with only the beeping of the machines. I leaned forward, laid my head on the side of his bed and cried.

After a bit, his nurse came to check his vitals. I watched as she did her job. I could tell she was very meticulous, and I was thankful for that. After she left, I felt the urge to cry again. So, I pulled out my phone and called the only other person who comforts me. My mom. The phone rang for a couple of seconds before she answered.

“Hello?” She said calmly.

“Hey mom” I said, my voice cracking.

“Oh, baby. I heard what happened to Anakin. Shmi told me you haven’t left his side in almost two days.”

“How could I mom? He’s my person, my safe haven. I need him. I love him.” I said hesitantly.

“We all know that. We’re positive he does too. We were just wondering how long it would take before you noticed.” She said with a laugh in her voice. She was always good at seeing the positive in everything.

“Damn. We’re dense. I just called you to calm myself down but I’m getting tired so I’m going to try and sleep.” I said in a calm tone.

“Okay, sweetie. Call me if you need me. Bye.” And she hung up. I set my phone down and leaned forward again so I could keep holding his hand.

I laid my head on his arm and drifted off to sleep.

I heard talking. I thought it was just nurses until I heard his voice.

“No, don’t wake her. My mom said she barely slept. I want her to get as much sleep as possible.” It was Anakin. I shot my head up. When I did his beautiful ocean blue eyes were on y/e/c ones. I brought my hand up to cover my mouth as I burst into tears. He smiled and brought his hand up to cup my cheek.

“Never mind.” He let out a soft chuckle.

The nurses all walked out and shut the door leaving us alone. I removed my hand and spoke.

“You’re awake!” I exclaimed.

“Am I?” He teased. “y/n, I’m so sorry about what happe-” I cut him off.

“I love you. So much actually.” I blurted out.

“Wait, really?” He knitted his eyebrows

I nodded. “I love you. More than just a friend. I’ve loved you since the day we met. I’ve loved you through every friend, girl, or fight we’ve ever had. I understand if you don’t feel the same way. I just needed to tell you.”

His face calmed and he smiled. His hand grabbed my shirt and pulled me forward. When we were close enough, he pressed his lips on to mine. We kissed passionately for what felt like hours. When we pulled away, he spoke.

“I never thought I’d hear you say that. I only got girlfriends to distract myself from the fact that I loved you. I thought I finally had a chance until you got with Trey. I’ve tried so hard to contain myself, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want you to leave Friday because I couldn’t handle having to wait another week before I saw you again. And at night I came in and kissed your forehead against my better judgement. y/n, I love you more than any word could express.”

I started crying again. He pulled me close to him. I laid on my side with my head to his chest. And I stayed like that for the next three days until he was discharged.

•

I helped him walk out to my car. Once we got in and I started driving, he put his hand on my thigh. I smiled as I drove us back to his apartment. Once I pulled into his driveway, I got out and helped him get out. We walked into his apartment, and the moment his door was shut, his lips were on mine.

Anakin moved his lips from mine down to my jaw and neck. I let out small moans of pleasure. He moved his hands down and grabbed the hem of my shirt. I raised my arms so he could remove it. Once my shirt was off, we walked into his room. When we got into his room, he began to remove everything except for his boxers. I removed everything but my bra and thong.

“Should we be doing this? You just had surgery 5 days ago” I reminded him.

“Baby, I need exercise to strengthen my heart again. That shard of glass really fucked it up. And what better way to get it working than to do this?” He smirked while he explained. I chose to just nod.

He walked closer to me and caressed every inch of me. He brought his hands around my back and unclipped my bra. I let it slide down my arms as he admired my bare chest.

“You’re so fucking beautiful baby” he grabbed my breasts and began to place kisses on my neck. He pushed me onto his bed and got on top of me. He brought his hands down and removed underwear in one go. I smirked and took my hand and placed it over his boxers, rubbing the impressive bulge. He let out a whimper, which drove me crazy. I pulled down his boxers and widened my eyes. He was huge.

Anakin took his fingers and began to rub my clit. I moaned and threw my head into the pillow. He leaned forward and placed my breast into his mouth.

“That feels so good Ani” I moaned. He began to move his fingers faster around my clit, causing me to squirm. It didn’t take long until he removed his mouth from my nipple and moved his body down.

He spread my legs open, and I felt him sucking on my clit. The feeling was phenomenal. He then started lapping at my pussy like he would die without it. He then took his middle finger and ring finger and began fingering me.

“Oh my god, Anakin. I’m gonna-” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. He let out a dark chuckle before he moved his body up.

I felt the tip of his dick at my entrance. He looked at me and smirked.

“Are you ready baby?” I looked at him and nodded. “Use your words, pretty girl.”

“Fuck, yes I’m ready.” With that, I felt him push his length in me slowly. I threw my head back and moaned loudly. Once I adjusted to his length, he began to thrust into me at a decent pace. He leaned his head down and kissed me deeply while bringing a hand down to rub my clit.

“Ani, go faster” I begged. He began to go faster and felt the knot in my stomach begin to unravel. I let out louder moans until they became incoherent babbles.

“Fuck baby, you feel so good around my cock.” Anakin let out the most glorious whimper I��d ever heard. That was enough to send me into orbit.

“I’m so close” I told him, and he began to thrust faster.

“Fuck baby, me too.” He whined. He kept thrusting faster until I felt my orgasm coming.

“Ani, I’m gonna come.” I moaned. He looked into my eyes and smiled.

“Come with me baby” and with those words I felt my orgasm take over my body as his thrusts began to slow down as he came in me.

“Fuck, y/n” He panted as he pulled out. He bent down and pushed his cum back into my leaking hole, eliciting a moan from my lips.

He got off of me and laid beside me. He then pulled me close to him, so my head was on his chest.

“You have no idea, how long I’ve wanted to do that for.” He confessed and I smiled as I began to trace circles on his chest with my finger.

“Me too” I replied. He leaned his head down and kissed the top of my head.

“I love you, y/n. So much.” He said softly as his hand ran up and down my back.

“I love you too Anakin.” I replied. We laid there, talking. At one point he brought the blanket over us. After a bit, we started to get tired, and it didn’t take long before I fell asleep in his arms. Where I belonged.

[hamiltonaf]

bestfriends to lovers lewis?🥹

Wingman | Lewis Hamilton

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x BF ! Female Reader

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: Slow burn

A/N: Hello loves ! Sorry for the delay, I believe I re-wrote this like 5 times because I had so many different scenarios in mind. I was so overwhelmed and finally settled on this. Nonetheless, I hope you babes enjoy. Requests are still open .xx

(Y/N/N) - Your Nickname

Nothing is harder than trying to hide your true feelings from your best friend. Well, theirs nothing to really hide considering how our relationship is, definitely not the same as my other guy friends. I’m fully convinced that everyone cracked that I have feelings for Lewis, except Lewis himself. Whoever said that guys and girls can be friends…they LIED.

Our friendship started about 2 years ago when Miles had introduced Lewis and I at Coachella. Miles and I go back a long way through our parents, we’ve been close ever since but just friends, nothing more. Miles knew about my love for F1 from early days and especially being a big fan of Lewis, he made sure that we’d meet some day since that’s his best friend after all.

I distinctly remember what felt like yesterday, we had the best weekend at Coachella and I was quite surprised how quickly Lewis and I grew on each other. Unfortunately, I rarely saw him since I had studying and work to do at the time, however that didn’t stop us from texting and video calling almost every day. That all changed earlier this year when I was done studying and I had a remote job so I had a lot more free time on my hands. I actually shared the news with Lewis first when I got my new job, he was so thrilled that he insisted that I now have no excuse not to attend more races.

What started off as friendly banter turned into flirting and teasing from time to time, if a total stranger saw us together they’d assume we’re a couple. Lol I wish. I have no clue what I’m doing wrong for him not to take a hint, unless he’s not interested in being in a relationship or worse case scenario… he has his eyes on someone else, but surely he’d tell me right ? I mean we’re best friends… or are we ?

That brings us to the present moment. It’s the Monaco GP weekend and you can imagine that almost every A list celebrity is here. Besides my love for F1, I’m a football fan as well - you can only imagine what would happen to my heart if I spot footballers in the paddock. Friday and Saturday are always quiet of course until Sunday strikes and the paddock is packed.

I was staying over at Lewis’ place for the weekend - no joke when I say we had a full on argument about me staying at a hotel when I can literally walk to the paddock since Monaco is so small. Of course he won the argument. Get my point when I say that people would think we’re a couple ?

It’s race morning, Lewis and I were getting ready not knowing what was going to occur the minute we’re about to leave. “(Y/N/N) are you ready ?” He called from the lounge. “Yep ! Just give me a sec” I yelled as I grabbed my phone and bag. I stopped in my track the second I saw that we were both wearing purple. “Are you kidding me ?” I said to myself. “You stole my look” he accused. “Excuse me ? I literally didn’t see what you’re wearing until now” I said defensively. “I’m just playing. You look beautiful and it’s cute that we besties are matching” he smiled. “Aww thanks Lew, but I have to change because everyone is going to think that we planned this” I said as I rushed back into the room to search for something else.

“Just forget about it, I’m changing as soon as I get to the garage in my team shirt and besides that we’re running late” he said as he grabbed me by my hand and pulled me along with him out the door to the elevator. “But Lew” I whined. He cupped my cheeks as he said, “Stop worrying about other people, focus on the positive..you got me and I’ll always have your back no matter what.” He gave me a quick wink and dropped his hands when we reached the ground floor. Not gonna lie that I had literal butterflies for those few seconds.

We drove to the paddock which didn’t take that long. I don’t know why I suddenly felt nervous, my hands started to feel clammy and I could already feel my body temperature rise. “Soo..you go ahead, I’ll meet you at the garage as per usual” I said as i stepped out of the car. “I was thinking we just go together” he smiled as he held his hand out for assistance out of the car. “Uhm are you sure ? People can be quick to assume things and start rumours..” Why can’t I shut up ?

“So what ? I don’t care, as long as you’re by my side” he shrugged. Aww. “Someone is being particularly nice today” I raised a brow at him as we walked towards the paddock entrance. “Pft..I’m always nice” he laughed. “On a normal day you test my patience to the limit with your banter, looks like someone is in a good mood. Don’t worry I won’t spoil it, I’ll make the most out of it” I smirked. As soon as we entered the paddock, we’re flocked by photographers and some fans taking pictures. In the moment I was so overwhelmed, luckily I had my sunglasses on the entire time so I actually ended up walking ahead of Lewis just to get to the garage faster.

I greeted a few mechanics, as well as Bono and Toto. We were lost in conversation that I actually forgot about Lewis coming back. Our conversation came to an end when all of our heads turned to Lewis greeting Neymar and Kylian. Oh my god. I was fangirling internally.

“No frikken way” I lowly said to myself. I started day dreaming and didn’t even realise that Lewis was next to me until he shut my mouth closed. “You’ll catch fly’s love” he half laughed. “Oh my god I can’t believe Neymar and Kylian are here !” I squealed. “You’re into football ?” He furrowed his brows. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t know - you weren’t the only athlete I kept tabs on” I lightly hit his chest. “That hurt my heart” he pouted. “Mine too considering you didn’t introduce me” I scoffed.

“No biggie, we’re meeting them later tonight” he said casually. “Say what now ? You’re lying” I rolled my eyes. Ain’t no way. “I swear” he said in all seriousness as he held out his pinky. “I’ll take your word for it” I linked my pinky with his. “In that case, do you think you could be my wingman ? I wanna know what the hype is about being a football wag” I teasingly suggested. “Uhhh..no” he straightforwardly said. “And why not ?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Because then I’ll have no best friend” he lied as he walked ahead. “Don’t worry, if you be my wingman then I’ll be your wingwoman. I’ll find you a new best friend or better yet, a girlfriend !” I enthusiastically suggested.

“I don’t trust your taste” he said as he entered his drivers room. “Okay then let’s forget about me being your wingwoman. Put in a good word for me” I winked as I took a seat on the couch. “Yeah sure” he sarcastically said as he shook his head.

The day went by so quickly after that, before we knew it the anthem was over and Lewis was already heading out to line up on the grid. Just before he could leave he was talking to Toto for a while, then finally turned to me. “As per usual, I hope you have a safe race. Best of luck bestie” I said first. “And as always..thank you for your support. I really appreciate you coming to races (Y/N/N)” he smiled before pulling me in for a hug. “You could thank me by being my wingman” I played along. “Not this again” he said annoyed as he broke away from our hug. “Don’t let it distract you from racing” I joked. He rolled his eyes at me with a serious look before breaking into a smile, “Bye (Y/N/N) !” He trailed.

The race went by so quickly, pun intended. Lewis finished at P4, we’ll take it as a win considering the performance of the car this year.

Didn’t see much of Lewis after the race since he had media duties. Once he was done, we spoke about the race in general on our way back to his place. “Soo what are our plans for the evening ?” I asked as I laid on the couch. “Are you forgetting the part when I told you earlier that we’re meeting Kylian and Neymar ?” He raised a brow. Realisation hit me in the face. “Oh my god I need to find something good to wear” I squealed as I rushed over to my bag.

“It’s in a nightclub, they’re not going to see you” he laughed. “They will when you play wingman and I’m leaving with one of them. Mainly Kylian, Neymar is off limits because he has a girlfriend” I said as I continued searching through my bag. “How are you so sure about leaving with Kylian” he laughed. “Well obviously that will happen after you put in a good word for me about my love for football” I said in an obvious tone. “Hmm okay” he said with a smirk.

As Lewis got ready, I decided to do the same, I had a shower and sat in my robe as I did my makeup, and hair. Once I was done, I slipped into my dress and heels. “(Y/N/N) you ready ?” He called for me. “I’m just putting on my heels” I said whilst holding onto the bathroom counter top for support. “Wow” I heard him say from behind me. “You look- wow.. gorgeous” he said softly. “Aww really ? Thank you Lew” I pouted as I looked at him through the mirror. “Your rizz is literally showing through your outfit” I said as I turned around to face him. “I guess I should take that as a compliment ?” He asked with furrowed brows. “Of course it’s a compliment, I basically said you look so fine that you could pull anyone you wanted tonight” I admitted. I mentally slapped myself for telling him he looked fine out loud.

“If I heard correctly, almost sounded like you were hitting on me ?” He raised a brow. “In your dreams babe, let’s go” I said as I tapped his chest and walked past him.

When we arrived at the club, Lewis handed the keys over to the valet, that’s when we spotted Daniel or otherwise known as Spinz. We greeted each other as we all walked over to the doors of the club. “I won’t remind you again what the plans are for tonight” I mentioned to Lewis. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget” he said with a grin. He’s acting sus.

As soon as we entered the club, we were escorted to the VIP area and that’s when I spotted Neymar, and Kylian. Oh my word.. unreal. Both of them spotted Lewis and walked over to us to greet him. I stood behind Lewis with Daniel, eagerly waiting to hear what Lewis has to say.

Lewis shook their hands and made some small talk before moving aside to pull me forward by my waist. It’s hard to hear over the loud music, but i oddly enough heard clearly every word Lewis said. “Boys, this is (Y/N), my girlfriend” he smiled. Sir, I beg your pardon. Girlfriend ? I knew he was acting sus. “Hey ! So nice to meet you both, I’m a big fan” I yelled over the music as I hugged them both.

“Great to meet you too. Lewis is a lucky guy” Kylian smiled. “Aha well, I’m a lucky girl” I joked. All of the build up to annoy him just died down. I really pictured having a full on conversation with both Kylian and Neymar but that also went out the window when I started to get frustrated yelling over the music.. I was actually starting to lose my voice. Besides that, I was itching to leave this place so I can have a talk with Lewis. Quite a relief that Daniel was with us so i had someone else to talk to in the mean time.

After about a whole hour, I started to get a headache and just felt the need to leave. I was seated in the VIP area with Daniel whilst Lewis was catching up with Kylian and Neymar not so far away. I walked over to him and tapped his shoulder, “I wanna leave” I yelled. “What ?” He asked as he leaned in closer. “Can we please go ?” I yelled once again. He nodded his head in reply. He briefly greeted them goodbye as I I did the same.

We walked in silence to the car until the car doors slammed. “Uhm care to enlighten me on what happened back there, boyfriend ?” I emphasised his new title as he then sped off. He stifled a laugh, “Well I got a bit- cough”. “What was that ?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Can we just talk about this when we get back home ?” He asked as he looked over to me for a second. I didn’t answer back, just looked out the window. When we got back to his place, I jumped out the car and walked ahead of him to the elevator. “Can you stop giving me the silent treatment ?” He said as he stood across me.

I remained silent until we were in his apartment. I sat on the couch and crossed my legs over, “Was that really necessary ?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well I thought it would be funny” he smiled. I took a deep breath, “I- do you want me to be single and lonely for the rest of my life ?” I faked a smile. “Oh my days (Y/N)…can you not take a hint ?” He said annoyed. I stood up from where I was seated, “I assumed you were just trying to annoy me like you always do and tonight you did exactly that, but worse.” I walked past him as he then caught a hold of my wrist. He pulled me back and twirled me to face him.

“(Y/N), if it isn’t obvious enough..I love you.” I was left speechless. “I’ve fallen for you since we first met at Coachella. You caught my eye and I knew then that I always wanted you by my side. You made my day when you shared the news with me that you were finally able to come to more races, I thought it’s now or never. I thought I was pretty obvious about how I felt about you, even Miles knows this” he softly smiled. “That idiot knew all this time and didn’t tell me even after I told him how I felt about you. Anyway, never mind him. Why didn’t you say anything earlier after I told you to be my wingman for tonight ?” I furrowed my brows.

“Because I wanted to wipe that smirk off your face” he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer against his chest. “To me it just sounds like you were jealous” I pursed my lips as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I wasn’t jealous” he scoffed. “So then why did you call me your girlfriend ?” I raised a brow. “Okay fine, you win that, but… will you be mine ?” He asked nervously. “I thought you’d never ask” I said as I closed the gap between us, placing my lips on his.

[lukeywritesstuff]

jack being in love with quinn’s best friend and maybe he finally gets the girl

Brothers Best Friend

Jack Hughes x Reader, Quinn Hughes x Platonic!Reader

Description: Mr. Jack Rowden is in love with his older brothers life long best friend.

Note: Jacks pov because sometimes I just like writing male pov. Also if I miss any ndtp boys ignore it there’s too many for me to remember them all 😍😍😍.

Warnings: fluff, angst, cursing, brotherly banter and fights, underage drinking, no Covid off scene sex.

Ever since we were kids Quinn has had this best friend, Y/N, ever since they met in like 2011 they’ve been best friends. They met when our babysitter brought Quinn, Luke and I to a park and since then the girls spent every day at our house after school, and since about 2014, I’ve been borderline in love with her. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, her body, her style, everything. Even things that have changed over the years due to growth and experimentation with fashion. I love it all. And yes I know. She doesn’t do it for me or any other men. But it still makes me happy to see her so confident and happy.

:-:-:-:

Fast forward to 2020, Quinn and I just bought our lake house, and us, Luke, Trevor, Cole, Matt, Alex, and Y/N have been here for a week. Since the season for us just ended we’ve just been relaxing and resting before we get partying and having fun.

The first weeks of summer consisted of me hanging out with the ndtp guys of my year, Luke with some of his friends and Quinn with Y/N, Brady and Josh. Then when we all got more comfortable within the living situations we started by bringing in alcohol and starting smaller parties with Luke only being 17 sometimes we’ll send him to our parents for a weekend because yeah I’m underage too but partying at 19 is better than partying at 17. At least I’m legal in SOME countries nearby and a legal adult too so I’m responsible for myself.

The first few parties were quite uneventful, until we decided to actually incorporate the lake and have a ‘lake party’ instead of a ‘pool party’ so when everyone showed up in swimsuits, it turned into a horny haven. This wasn’t the first time I saw Y/N in a bikini, but I guess with the alcohol in my system I had the courage to stare more and actually talk to her and get her to ‘dance’ with me.

The music was loud and sexual, her ass was against my crotch as we danced (grinded) on each other. The party was in full swing and everything just felt amazing. Until the next morning… I woke up to my arms around a naked y/n, and a massive hangover between my ears. My head pounded and my ears were ringing, but there was a gorgeous girl in my arms so I can’t complain.

:-:-:-:

Mid August, when all the partying is done, and we relax for a few weeks before going back to our respective cities where we play hockey and/or go to school. I’m sat on a devils beach chair with y/n on my lap, Luke’s on a Michigan one, Quinn’s on a Canucks one, Cole’s on a USA one and Trevor I guess bought a Ducks one for some reason and he’s on that.

:-:-:-:-:

Ever since that summer, the summer of 2020, THEE summer of 2020, i haven’t been happier. I have my dream girl, my dream job, any parents, siblings and friends are all healthy and happy with where they are in life and my life is honestly perfect right now and as I said, I can’t be happier!

[allsouls-emma]

could you maybe write an imagine with Leon and like his childhood best friend who became his girlfriend and they are just private but he mentions her during an interview and everyone on social media etc turns mental because of that ( for the face claim maybe Alexandra saint mleux ? )

✧The Quiet Confession✧ Léon Marchand x Y/N, Face claim, Alexandra Saint-Mleux.

Hello Anon, I Adore Alexandra so i was very excited to write this fic, Enjoy!

Warnings: Unrealistic Time line and settings, No knowledge of either peoples personal lives and mature themes.

The studio was buzzing with excitement as Léon Marchand took his seat across from the interviewer. The gold medal draped around his neck glinted under the bright lights, a tangible reminder of his recent victory. Léon was no stranger to interviews, but today felt different. It wasn’t just about the race or the medal—it was about opening up in a way he rarely did.

The interviewer, a seasoned journalist known for her ability to get athletes to reveal more than just stats and training regimens, greeted him with a warm smile. “Léon, thank you for joining us today. Congratulations on your incredible win! How are you feeling?”

Léon smiled back, his easygoing demeanor evident as he adjusted the medal around his neck. “Thank you. It’s still sinking in, to be honest. I’m just trying to soak it all in.”

The conversation flowed smoothly, covering his training, the pressures of competition, and the support of his family and teammates. But then, the interviewer shifted gears slightly, her tone more personal. “Léon, you’ve been a public figure for some time now, and your fans really admire how grounded and humble you are. What’s your secret? What keeps you centered amidst all the success?”

Léon paused, his expression softening. He knew this was coming, and while he was usually private about his personal life, something inside him felt ready to share just a bit more. “Honestly, it’s the people who’ve been with me from the start. My family, of course, but also… someone very special who’s been by my side through everything.”

The interviewer’s eyes lit up, sensing a scoop. “Someone special? Can you tell us more?”

Léon chuckled, glancing down at his hands as if gathering his thoughts. He could picture *Y/N* in his mind—her smile, the way she had always been there for him, from the early days of swim meets to the long nights of training. She was his anchor, his constant in a world that often felt overwhelming.

“Well,” he began, his voice filled with affection, “she’s actually been my best friend since we were kids. We grew up together, and she’s always been my biggest supporter. Over time, that friendship turned into something more, and now, she’s my girlfriend. We’ve kept it private because, well, it’s nice to have something that’s just ours.”

The interviewer tried to keep her composure, but the excitement in her eyes was clear. “This is the first time you’ve mentioned a relationship publicly. How does it feel to share that?”

Léon smiled, a mix of nerves and happiness washing over him. “It feels good, actually. She’s been such a big part of my life, and I think it’s time people know that. But we’re still going to keep most of it private—she deserves that.”

The interviewer nodded, clearly understanding the balance Léon was trying to strike. “Of course. Can you tell us her name?”

Léon grinned, shaking his head slightly. “I think I’ll keep that part to myself for now. But yeah, she’s incredible.”

---

As the interview aired, the internet erupted. Social media platforms lit up with fans reacting to Léon’s quiet confession. For years, there had been speculation about his personal life, but now there was confirmation—and everyone wanted to know more.

Twitter was abuzz with excitement. “Did Léon Marchand just casually drop that he has a girlfriend???” one tweet read. Another user posted, “Léon’s been hiding a whole relationship and we didn’t even know! Who is she?! #LuckyGirl.”

Fans began scouring the internet for clues, dissecting old interviews, and poring over any photo where Léon might have been seen with a girl. They found pictures of him at various events with a childhood friend, a girl who had always been in the background, quietly supporting him. The speculation intensified—could this be the mystery girlfriend?

Instagram was filled with posts tagging Léon, with fans expressing their excitement and curiosity. “We need to know more about her!” one comment demanded. Others were more supportive, understanding why Léon had kept his relationship private. “Respect their privacy, but OMG, I’m so happy for them!” one fan wrote.

Back at their apartment, Léon and *Y/N* sat together on the couch, scrolling through the reactions. *Y/N*’s heart raced as she read the tweets and comments. She had always known this day might come, but seeing it unfold in real time was overwhelming.

“I didn’t think it would blow up this fast,” *Y/N* said, her voice a mix of amazement and anxiety. She looked at Léon, who was calm as ever, his hand resting on her knee.

“I knew people would be curious,” Léon admitted, scrolling through his phone with a small smile. “But I didn’t realize they’d go this crazy.”

*Y/N* chuckled, leaning her head against his shoulder. “You just casually mentioned me on national television, Léon. Of course, they’re going crazy.”

He laughed, wrapping an arm around her. “Yeah, I guess I did. But I’m glad I did. I’m tired of hiding how much you mean to me.”

Her heart swelled at his words, but there was still a part of her that felt nervous. “Are you sure you’re okay with all this? With people digging into our lives?”

Léon turned to her, his expression serious but loving. “I’m more than okay with it. We’ve been through so much together, and I want people to know how important you are to me. But if it ever gets too much, we can handle it. We’ve always done things our way.”

*Y/N* nodded, feeling a bit more reassured. She had always admired Léon’s ability to stay grounded, no matter what life threw at him. And now, she realized, he was offering that same strength to her.

As the night wore on, the buzz online didn’t die down. Fans continued to speculate, creating theories about who *Y/N* was and sharing their excitement over Léon’s revelation. But inside their cozy apartment, Léon and *Y/N* found peace in each other’s company, away from the noise and the frenzy.

“I guess we’re officially out in the open now,” *Y/N* mused, looking up at him with a smile.

Léon grinned, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “Yeah, we are. And you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing.”

*Y/N* leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Me neither.”

They spent the rest of the evening wrapped up in each other, the world outside their windows a distant hum compared to the warmth they shared. Léon knew that life would get crazier from here, but as long as he had *Y/N* by his side, he was ready for whatever came next.

And so, as the world buzzed with excitement over Léon Marchand’s quiet confession, the couple at the heart of it all remained steady, secure in the knowledge that no matter what, they would face it together.

[theladybarnes]

CRIMSON AND CLOVER: CHAPTER THREE

" You know, you're not what I thought you'd be like ”

▸ summary: winter ends and so do relationships ▸ characters: robin buckley, eddie munson, & steve harrington 💕 (ft. dustin henderson and jonathan byers) ▸ word count: 13.7k         ▸ warnings: SEMI-SMUT (18+MINORS DNI) handjob, & angst ▸ series masterlist

DECEMBER (CONTINUED..)

 “You’re kidding me.”

 “I am not, Jonathan!” you hissed, looking down the hall. When there was no sign of anyone else coming out of their rooms, you continued on. “I just..left.”

 “But why would you just..that doesn’t make sense! Tell me from the beginning again.”

 Sighing, you sat down in the chair by the kitchen phone. It had been over an hour now of venting to Jonathan and because he’s currently hopped-up on whatever his friend Argyle supplied him, it’s taking longer to explain everything to him. 

 “Fine, but this is the last time.”

 “Last time, promise.”

 You go over the events that happened at the end of the night you spent at Steve’s. It was a bit painful to explain it in detail again but you really needed some advice from your friend. “..And when I looked back, he was standing there. Note in hand and everything.”

 “Christ.” he sighed, “And since then you two haven’t talked?”

 “I called him when I got home that afternoon. Other than that we’ve been thankfully busy. Mostly just school and then work. But I’ve switched with Keith a couple of times to avoid the long hours.”

 “You really know how to put on the theatrics, don’t you?”

 “Seriously?” you gaped, looking at the receiver as if it insulted you and not your friend on the other line. “I’m doing anything for theatrics. I’m literally trying to get out of possibly another fight.”

 “Yeah, which surely won’t happen the next time you see each other again.”

 “I’m sort of hoping it'll resolve itself by then.” he went silent for a moment and you knew that he was possibly coming to his own thoughts on it. “Don’t you think?”

 “I’m thinking you’re not gonna like what I have to say.”

 “I’m sure I can handle it. Just give it to me.” 

 He sighed softly, seeming to be more nervous at your request. But he spoke up either way. “I think you’re in the wrong for asking that much from Steve.”

 “..you’re right. I’m hanging up.” 

 “Would you let me finish?” Jonathan chuckled before he turned serious again. “I get where you’re coming from. I know that in your head it’s just logical for the guy with no official ties there to just leave and go with you.”

 “Good, you get it.” 

 “But,” he continued on. “I also think it’s wrong for you to assume it'd be easy. Steve Harrington has lived in Hawkins his whole life and despite any complaining he might have done to you at some point, a small part of him is gonna be scared shitless to just leave the comforts of home.”

 You frowned at your friend’s words. Hating that a small part of you felt like what you were hearing was right. “But I left home. I haven’t lived there in almost three years..”

 “And I’m sure if your parents asked you to come back you’d tell them no, right?”

 “I—“ the answer died on your tongue. At this point you weren’t sure what you’d actually say to a question like that. While Hawkins the place wasn’t your home, the people that inhabited it were. And you didn’t think you could give up any one of them. Especially Steve.

 “I know it sucks not to have things go your way. But sometimes you gotta take the curveballs life throws at you and do something else.”

 “Something else?” you frowned. “But..what about the relationship? The feelings we worked on getting out..all that was just for nothing? All because we let fear get in the way of progressing it?”

 Jonathan sighed and you can practically envision him with his hand on his hips right now. “Who says you guys are supposed to progress together? What if there’s changes along the way?..Look this is definitely something you should talk to Steve about. But, if this were me in the situation. I’d just do what my heart thinks is right. Even if it’s to the disappointment of others. Just do what makes you happy, you know?”

 The thought about what makes you happy was easy to answer. It was Steve. He was the only thing these days that made you the most happy. But Jonathan was right, if you truly went with what you wanted, some people along the way might get hurt. 

 “Henderson? You still there?”

 “I’m here I’m just..”  you sighed. You were about to ask about his thoughts on taking a gap year when the sound of a car engine cut you off. Dragging the phone and long cord with you, you peeked through the window to see Steve parking in your driveway. “Shit.” you whispered. “Can I call you back later?”

 “What? Why? Is Steve there?”

 “Yes,” you muttered, looking as he seemed to be talking to himself in the car. “I think he must have heard you lecturing me.” 

 “Good. The two of you need to seriously sort your shit out. Anyway, Argyle is gonna come over tonight. He has this new album he wants to show me.”

 “Fine, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

 “All right, sounds good. And look..just hear him out. Maybe he’s going through something we don’t know about, okay?” 

 The two of you muttered out a quick goodbye before dropping the phone back down. Grabbing your thick coat off the coat rack, you quickly made your way out the door. Closing it up behind you with a swift thud as Steve had just made his way out of his car.

 “Oh, hey.” he said nervously. “Guess you heard me coming in.”

 “Yeah.” you said plainly. “I was by the door anyway..”

 The two of you slowly moved towards each other. His usually confident demeanor faltered as he approached. His eyes, usually warm when looking at you, had a dull shine. Snow crunched beneath your boots as you both met in the middle of the driveway. It made your stomach twist to know that the two of you were not only nervous but awkward with each other. Even when you hated Steve you never felt this bad.

 “I missed you.” He said softly, reaching a hand out to place on your arm. “I missed you all week actually.” 

 “I missed you too.” you said softly, not even realizing that amidst the trouble, there was the need to see him again until he was before you now. Your eyes caught sight of a little patch of green peeking out from his shirt. Reaching forward you pull down his coat to expose the familiar tacky vest from work. “You came from work..”

 He chuckled a bit, nodding his head before he unzipped his coat, exposing the rest of the vest to you.“Yeah, I did. Would have come sooner, but I was sort of building up the courage.”

 That tugged at your heart a bit and you reached out to cup at his cheek. Rubbing with your thumb soothingly. “You should never be afraid to talk to me..”

 He reached up to place his hand on top of yours, a small smile on his face. “Never. I’ll always want to talk to you..it was getting you to talk to me that made me nervous.”

 Sighing, you look down to the ground. Not sure how the two of you were going to approach this. But things couldn’t continue this way. Turning your attention back to Steve, you give him what you hope came off as reassurance. “I’m listening..”

 Changing your hand to lace together, he led you over so that the two of you could lean against your Aunt’s car. Shading you under the roof of the parking spot and also placing you closer to his side. 

 “I have a small confession.” he murmured, moving his other free hand into his pocket. “I did come with other intentions than just talking.”

 You watched as he dug out a small box from his pocket. The size was oddly too familiar with something else but he quickly opened it up before you could question it. Peering down, you looked inside to find a beautiful gold necklace. 

 “Steve,” you softly gasped. “It’s not even Christmas yet.”

 “Humor me.” he said before reaching in. He pulled at the chain until he was able to dangle the center of the necklace to you. A small letter ‘S’ shined back at you. Nudging at your shoulders, he gently turned you around so that he could place the necklace around your neck, quickly locking it on. 

 Turning back to face him, the two of you glanced down at the accessory. It was a perfect fit. And though you’ve never been one to have your boyfriend’s name be proudly displayed for others to see, the small little S made your heart beat faster.

 “I've, uh, wanted to give that to you for some time now.” he said, clearing his throat. Almost nervously. “That box has been sitting in my sock drawer since the summer, honestly.” 

 “The summer?” you asked, “Why?”

 “Remember that night before we were stuck in the elevator?”

 You couldn’t help but smile a bit at the memory. It was the night that cemented your feelings for Steve. “Yeah,” you nodded. “There was that mess on the roof, then I got upset and you came over to cheer me up..it was perfect.”

 Steve smiled at that, nodding his head in agreement. 

 “That night changed everything for me.” He reached up to cup the side of your face, eyes boring down to yours when he suddenly turned serious. “I wanted to tell you I loved you a thousand times that night. But seeing as we weren’t there yet, I settled for trying to make a grand gesture sort of thing.”

 “You’ve loved me since that night?”

 “I’ve loved you since Prom, Honey.” 

 Your jaw slacked at the small confession. Unsure how you could have missed at all that Steve’s feelings for you had been that serious then. Prom had been the first time in months since the two of you kissed and he felt that strongly then?

 His hand reached out to hold the necklace, brushing his fingers lightly over the letter before he let go. “I got this the next day. Right in Starcourt.” he said, voice tinged with some sort of fondness. “Was gonna give it to you right when you entered the store, but then..”

 “I came from Billy’s attack.” you finished, reaching up to hold onto the necklace. “You wanted to give me this since then?”

 “I wanted to give it to you as a way to ask you to be my girl,” he looked down at the ground sadly. “But I guess now I’m giving it to you, to ask if you’re still my girl?” 

 You breath hitched at his words. It would seem leaving didn’t just prevent a fight from happening, but also put in a whole new worry for Steve. “I’m always gonna be your girl, Steve.” you said softly, reaching over to grab hold of his hand. 

 “Then why does it feel like I’m about to lose you?” 

 “You don’t have to lose me, Steve.” You sighed, letting go to lean back against the car. “In fact, I think me asking you to come with me proved otherwise.” 

 He straightened his composer, lips pursing at your words before he glanced up at you. “I told you, I can’t go with you. Not when I feel like I still need to be here.” 

 “I don’t get it, Steve.” You scoffed, pushing your hair away from your face. “How can you easily give me this necklace, talk about loving me for so long only to let me leave without even thinking about coming with me.” 

 “I can love you and know where I want to go, Trouble. It’s pretty easy to do both things.” He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “What I don't get is how you can love me back but be upset that I want to stay here. Why is long distance out of the question?”

 “Because long distance isn’t feasible for us, Steve!” You moved to stand before him, peering up at his face better. “How can you and I, the same two people who sneak into each other’s houses in the dead of the night, the very people who are constantly touching each other, suddenly just deal with the next four years without seeing each other.”

 “We’d see each other,” he pointed. “We’d have holidays, birthdays, and surprises. There’s ways we’d work things out.” 

 You sighed, meeting his intense gaze. "Those are only if we even get the chance to see each other. You’re forgetting that there are going to be nights where the both of us are tired from either work or school and we wouldn’t even have the comfort of having each other.”

 He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I know but Hawkins is... it's my home. There's something here I can't just walk away from."

 “But you’re willing to walk away from us? From me?” you asked, trying to keep your voice steady from the sudden ache in your throat. “I thought we were a team. I thought we'd want the same things..”

 He paced back and forth, unable to meet your gaze as he suddenly became torn. "My friends are here, my family is here.”

 "Why do you insist on staying stuck in Hawkins? You have so much potential, Steve. You could go anywhere, do anything, but you're choosing not to."

 The word slipped out before you could see the impact cut across Steve’s hurt face. It was the same word that Tommy had used just the other month and from Steve’s furrowed brows, you could tell it struck a nerve again. 

 "I'm not stuck, okay?” He gritted. “This is where I belong right now. I've got responsibilities here."

 "Responsibilities? What about your own dreams, Steve? What about your future?" you pressed again, exasperated at the fact that almost a week later and he still wasn’t seeing it. 

 "I've got people here who rely on me here, despite what you want or think." he countered, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

 "But what about you? Have you ever thought about what you want?" you shot back, feeling the weight of the disagreement hit again. 

 He hesitated for a moment, eyes cast down on the ground before he could meet your gaze again. "Maybe I've never really thought about all of it. But I can't just up and leave everything behind.”

 "It's not about leaving everything behind, Steve. It's about growing, exploring, finding your own path," 

 There was a life for Steve outside of Hawkins. Outside of you, and though your main point was to have him explore that life with you, it was hurting to see that he didn’t want that for himself. 

 “Look, I know it’s new for me to not agree to what you want, but this isn’t by choice. Even when I was with Nancy, I told her the same thing. I’d stick around, make sure she was okay and work here. I wanna do that for everyone.” 

 Bringing up Nancy brought up a sour feeling that you shoved down. Knowing that in some way, this was Steve’s poor excuse. “I’m not Nancy Wheeler. Okay? I’m not gonna sit back and let the boy I love waste potential in a place that doesn’t deserve him.” you glared. “And in case you can’t tell, the others are all grown up now. They’re in high school, Robin is following up right after me in graduating. What happens when they’re all gone, Steve? Is that the time you figure out you wanna be with me?”

 Steve circled back towards you, finger pointing over at you. “That’s not fair for you to say. You know I want you, God, it’s literally the one thing that’s been consistent since I met you. Why can’t you understand that me being here doesn’t mean I’m not with any plans of my own, huh? Why is it automatically your way or nothing?”

 Tears welled up in your eyes the longer you stared at Steve. “Then tell me!” you cried out. Frustrated that you pushed him into thinking things had to go your way. “Tell me what it is you want! Because as far as I know it just sounds like excuses to not be with me!”

 “I thought I made that clear a while ago. I want you, dammit!” he yelled, moving to gently place his hands on your shoulders. “Please, can we just pause this? I need some time to figure this out. Can we... can we take a break from this?"

 You held your breath. Not quite ready to have Steve be so suddenly upset from all this. You couldn’t help but think back to what Jonathan warned you about. Steve wasn’t ready to leave this place. Even if you didn’t understand, it didn’t change how he felt. No matter how much you wished it would. 

 “What’s gonna change in the next six months, Steve? We fall even harder for each other and break up then? When are we finally gonna stop going in circles over this and realize we’re on different paths?”

 “Different paths?” he asked softly, confusion over his face. 

 “Yeah,” you sniffled. “Different paths..” 

 His jaw slacked a bit and you tried to keep your composure tough but the realization is hitting harder than you thought it would. Before you know it, your vision of Steve is suddenly blurred by your tears and you’re swaying in place to keep from running back in the house to burst into a sob.

 “Honey..”

 “I think we want different things, Steve. I want to explore, grow, and I thought we'd do that together. But if you can't leave Hawkins..then I need to understand that I can't ask you to." Wiping at your eyes, your sight cleared up to catch his expression mirrored the same anguish you felt inside.“I never meant to push this choice onto you. Not when you weren’t ready. I want you to want things with me. But if you aren’t ready then I need to let you go..”

 “Please,” he pleaded, “I love you.”

 "I love you too," you whispered, ignoring the ice that was gripping onto your heart at the moment. "But if we keep this same argument months later..who knows what might happen. We might even grow to hate each other..”

 He reached for your hand, desperation in his eyes as he pulled you closer. "We can work this out. We've been through so much worse than this."

 "I know, but this is different," you said softly, pulling your hand away gently. "I feel like we both need to figure ourselves out.”

 "I don't want to lose you," he pleaded, voice cracking. 

 "I don't want to lose you either," you admitted, tears streaming down your cheeks. "But I need to move forward. And I don’t think I can do that when I know there’s going to be pain in the future.”

 He looked broken as he watched you take a step back. Hand twitching out to you before he brought it down to his side. "What... what do you want me to do?"

 The words felt like knives, but they needed to be said. "I need you to let me go too, Steve..”

 His eyes glistened with unshed tears, his silence speaking volumes. "So this is it?" he finally whispered. “After everything we’re just..over?”

 “Please, Steve.” you pleaded softly. “Let me go too.” 

 his hand reached up to cup your cheek, his gaze searching into yours. "This is what you really want?" You nodded, feeling a lump form in your throat. 

 "Yes."

 His lips met yours in a tender, bittersweet kiss, filled with all the love, and heartache that lingered between the two of you. It was a goodbye in itself, a lingering moment that you wished would go on for an eternity.

 When you pulled back, you carefully reached up to return the necklace, feeling like you were the person least deserving to wear his sign of love. But Steve quickly reached out to stop your hands. Shaking his head as he carefully readjusted it on you.

 “I’m– it’s yours. Regardless if we break up or not.” 

 Tears welled up in your eyes as you clutched the necklace tightly. "Steve..."

 "Please," he insisted softly. "You wanted me to make some decisions for myself? You keeping that is one of them.” 

 With a heavy heart, you watched as Steve stepped away from you. Hand reaching up to pinch at the side of his nose as he tried to conceal his emotions from coming through. It took everything in you to let him return back to his car. 

 You thought back to what Jonathan had said about doing what your heart thought was right. Even if it was to the disappointment of others. 

 Little did you know it’d be you who was disappointed in the end.

 JANUARY (THREE WEEKS LATER) 

 It had been a long dead night over at Family Video. The soft radio playing from the speakers was the only noise between you and Robin for the past hour. Something you were a little grateful for considering the awkwardness that came in when you first clocked in for your night shift.

 It was three weeks since that night in the driveway and things within your small group of friends had turned painfully stagnant. Whether it be from your three week reclusive approach, or Steve’s avoiding one. No one knew how to handle the break up. Hell, neither one of you would so why would your friends be able to?

 But along with the sadness between you and Steve came the awkwardness with Robin. Stuck between being friends with the both of you. It wasn’t until a couple of days ago that she had slipped up about knowing the details of everything that happened. Causing your walls to momentarily come up around her. 

 But that happened over a week ago and you were really trying not to push away one of your newer friends all because of a bad breakup. Robin was nice to you before even knowing Steve personally. So with that in mind, you tried your best the whole night to be friendlier. Or as friendly as you could be. But that didn’t mean it was going to be easy.

 Robin had restocked the snacks, you organized the return tapes, and then lastly the two of you worked together to set up a promo spot for tomorrow’s movie selections, All in record timing. Once Robin noticed you were slowly opening up again, she seemed to be keen to make up for the few awkward hours before. 

 “I don’t know how I feel about Weird Science.” Robin sighed, looking over the stack of movies facing the door. You set down the clipboard with the list of things to order for tomorrow to go join her on the other side of the counter.

 “I know. But, considering we’ve got Fright Night and Teen Wolf up, it’s at least keeping with the whole sciencey-horror theme.”

 “There’s absolutely nothing horror to do with Weird Science.” Robin scoffed as she adjusted one of the boxes, scrunching her nose over at the mini poster for Teen Wolf. “Keith’s gonna kill us.”

 “It can be considered scary if you’re bad at Science?” you tried, looking back over to her. She had a knowing look on her face that had your confidence in the set up crumpling. “Okay, he might. But just say I did it.”

 “Right.” she snorted. “It’s not like he’d ever tell you anything anyway.” 

 Reaching back for the stock list, you go over all the candies once more before sighing. It’s been a slow night and you weren’t looking forward to another hour here. But this was the life of a working teen and you were oddly still putting up with it. 

 Robin, who was quietly tidying up around the register, suddenly let out a loud gasp. “Oh no!” she said, reaching down the counter for her bag. You quickly left the candy area to join back at her side. Looking at her worriedly.

 “What’s wrong?”

 She pulled out a miniature calendar from her bag. Flipping through the pages rapidly until she landed on one with scribbled notes on it. “I completely forgot to write up the assignment needed for the Terminator’s class.” 

 The familiar name amused you momentarily before you glanced over her shoulder to see the circled date. “Shit.” you frowned, “How many pages do you need?”

 “Just three, but I barely had my notes put together yesterday.” she looked through her bag for another notebook before flipping through them for a certain spot. “God I’m gonna have to pull an all-nighter after this.”

 Glancing at your watch, you wince at the late hour. “You need more time.” 

 She ignored you momentarily to push back the notebook and calendar into her bag before coming back up. Biting her lip in worry. You couldn’t help but feel bad for your friend. Feeling the familiar panic of academic stress. Pushing the phone towards her, you nudge for her to take the receiver. “Call Steve to pick you up. Then at least you can get started sooner.”

 “What?” she gaped, looking at the clock on the back wall. “No, I-I can’t do that! You’d be by yourself.”

 “It’s fine, Robin.” you reassured her, pushing the handle into her hands. “Steve will get here fast, and you’ll at least get a big enough head start and maybe catch some hours of sleep before school.” 

 “No,” she shook her head. “I wouldn’t feel right leaving you by yourself. What if some creepy guy comes in and murders you?”

 You stood still blinking over at her. Wondering why she’d mention something so creepy at a time like this. “Not that I needed that new fear, but I’ll be safe. I’m a big girl.” You take the base of the phone, dialing the number practically engraved in your mind before pushing it to her ear. “What I do need is for you to study. So get to begging.”

 There’s a moment of worry on her face before the sound of Steve’s voice perked up through the phone. She thankfully gets the idea of you not backing down from your offer and asks Steve to come take her home. You give her a thumbs up and get the area ready to close off. Needing the distraction from the inevitable moment of seeing Steve again for the first time in days.

 Robin helped too. Making sure the windows and backdoors were all checked and locked before joining you back in the front. It was only a couple of minutes before the headlights of Steve’s car shined through the store.

 A part of you hated the idea of being alone. It was going to be creepy. But the sight of Steve stepping out of his car, hand combing through his lush hair, made you want more than ever for Robin to get out of here. The sound of the door ringing open snapped you into averting your gaze from the boy and you quickly meddled with the few papers in front of you to keep your focus on.

 “Hey, you guys ready to go?”

 “Uh, it’s just me, actually.” Robin said, grabbing her bag. “Henderson is gonna wait out till closing and for her Aunt to pick her up.”

 Without even having to look up, you knew that Steve’s eyes were on you now. It was like a magnetic pull that he still had on you. But you couldn’t look up just yet. Not when you knew what kind of face he’d be giving you right now. “Is that true?” he asked softly. 

 “Uhh, yeah, I was gonna call her in twenty minutes and let her know.” you coughed, face down. The sound of his keys jingling was oddly loud, but not as loud as the sound of your heart beat. 

 Before you knew it, Steve moved to stand in front of you at the counter. Forcing you to finally make eye contact with him. His eyes were etched with the same worry that looked at you the night in your driveway. You tried not to visibly recoil from the ache that burst into your chest.

 “I could come back for you.” he offered softly. A small bit of confidence in his voice. 

 “That’s fine, Steve. I’ll get home.”

 “I’m serious,” he frowned. “I could just come back. You’d be able to close up and maybe get some–”

 “NO.” you said quickly, having to physically take a step back. There’s a flicker of hurt over Steve’s face and he’s balled up the fist holding onto his keys. You can’t help but feel like how it was that second year here when you were cruel to him on purpose. Pushing him away from having still been mad at him. 

 You didn’t feel good then and you don’t feel good now.

“I’ll be fine,” you said more nicely after a minute of awkward silence. “You should take her home..she really needs the extra time.”

 He glanced over at Robin, giving her a questioning look, but all she did was mouth a please to him before he nodded his head. Backing away from the counter almost defeatedly. “Be safe.” he said softly, shuffling over towards the front door. 

 Taking that as a leaving cue, Robin picked up her bag from the counter. Reaching over to place her hand over yours as she threw you a sympathetic smile. “I owe you a million for this. Call me later so I know you’re okay?”

 “A million and one.” you said softly, trying to smile back. But with Steve’s presence there you’re sure it’s more wincing than you wished. “I’ll call you.” you added.

 The two make their leave after that agreement. Quietly making their exit from the store while you stayed over at the counter. They quickly enter the car, leaving you and family video alone for the rest of the night.

  Thirty minutes later and you’re done with the store being dead. If Keith wanted to get mad at you for closing early, then he could pout about it in the office tomorrow. Right now, all you wanted was to get into your bed and try not to think about the haunting brown eyes that looked at you with such concern tonight. 

 Picking up the phone, you made an attempt to reach out to someone at home. But with your Aunt possibly still out and Dustin most likely hanging out with your friends, there’s no one there to answer your call. You’re suddenly filled with panic of how the hell you’re getting out of here. 

 A part of you thinks it might be fine to just call Steve. It’s not like he’d be upset since he was so adamant before. But even the short car ride home would be long enough for that horrible pain to come back in and you didn’t think you could handle that. Nor did you want to put Steve through that either.

 Looking at your watch, you realize you’ll at least be able to make the last bus for the night if you close up now.

 Rushing to the back, you make a move to grab your jacket and purse, ready to lock up and get the hell out of here. But before you could grab the keys, you could hear the sound of the door’s bell jingle. 

 “Dammit!” you whispered to yourself. Of course tonight you’d still have to deal with annoying customers. Turning off the light in the room, you grab the keys and slowly enter back into the front. “Uh hey, sorry but we’re actually closing up–”

 The sight of an empty front desk killed off your words instantly.

 “Hello?” you called out. Taking a small hesitant step, you enter the counter booth and try to peer out into the store. There isn’t a soul in the place. 

 Biting your lip, you reached over to the phone on the counter. Unsure of who’d you’d even cal-

 “Lovely night, isn’t it?” 

 You let out a small yelp, grabbing the clipboard near you and swatting it to the direction of the mysterious voice. 

 “OW!” 

 Peeking your eyes open, you’re welcomed to the sight of Eddie rubbing the side of his head. A glare on his face as he looked over at you. 

 “Is that how you greet all your customers?” he chided.

 Setting down the clipboard, you use your hands to lean against the counter. Getting in some air to help calm you down before you looked back up at Eddie again. This time you used your hand to slap at his arm.

 “OKAY! Really?!” he asked as he moved to rub his hand. 

 “Yes, Eddie, really! Why the hell did you come in and scare me like that?”

 “Scare you?” he scoffed. “I said it was a nice night!”

 Frowning, you crossed your arms over your chest. “Oh yeah? And so sneaking up behind me as I called out to a totally empty store didn’t make you think I’d freak out?”

 “I thought you’d enjoy a different kind of greeting.” 

 Sighing, you turned away from Eddie, ignoring his presence momentarily so that you could finish up all that you needed before you’d eventually push him out. Even if you were about to have a heart attack, you’d still make it in time to catch that bus.

 “So I’m bored tonight.” Eddie yawned out, moving to stand in front of the counter before you. Unaware that you’ve moved on to closing up rather than waiting around. 

 “How fun.” you replied back, collecting the inventory papers together. 

 He tapped his hands against the counter, looking over the place before the VHS display caught his attention. “None of these go together.” he snorted, picking up one of the tapes. “Weird Science wasn’t even scary.”

 “I wasn’t going for scary.” you muttered, reaching out to grab the tape from his hands to set out on the counter. “I was going for..sciencey-horror..ish.”

 “Ish?” he smirked. “When did they bring in that genre?”

 “They brought it in just for Family Video, didn’t you know?” you shrugged. 

 He reached over for the copy of Fright Night next. Reading the back description out loud to himself before his gaze returned back on you. “Got a thing for vamps?”

  “Nah, but that Chris Sarandon is kinda hot.” you said quickly as you grabbed the tape and scanned it into the checkout before Eddie could change his mind. “Will that be all tonight?”

 He finally caught on to how rushed you were making things. Dramatically, he spun around to look around the store as if he had a line of people waiting behind him. 

 “Are you trying to kick me out, Princess?”

 “Yes!” you laughed, waving your hand out for him to pass over the rental fee. “If I close the store now I can catch the last bus home.”

 Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a couple of crumpled up dollar bills for you. “Why the hell are you taking the bus this late? It’s not safe.”

 You want to tell him because a giant flesh monster scrunched your car up into a ball last summer. But since that wasn’t an option, you settled for the semi truthful answer. “Because I have no car and need to get home.”

 He watched in silence as you flattened out the crumbled money before adding it to the registry. You noticed that he’s given more than needed and figure he’s already prepaying for his inevitable late fee. 

 “So..why don’t I just give you a ride home?”

 You waited until you closed the register before looking over at him. There was a bit of pink to his cheeks and you wondered how someone who had this usual odd confidence could be nervous about offering a ride. 

 “You know, Robin warned me about creepy guys coming in tonight.” you teased, watching as his face turned from nervous to shock. 

 “Offering a ride constitutes me being creepy now?”  

 “Probably.” you laughed as you watched Eddie cross his arms over his chest. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to be a bother to your night anyway. You were probably coming in to grab a movie and head home.”

 “It’d be an honor to drive you home, Henderson. Lord knows I gotta work on doing the whole nice friend thing.”

 “Oh and we’re friends suddenly?”

 “It’s what I’d call us.”

 Quickly, you closed up the computer, shutting it down so that you can end the night finally. “You kinda have to know a thing or two about each other before you can say you’re friends.” you pointed out before reaching down to grab your stuff. 

 “You know a lot about me.”

 “Like?”

 He tapped at the cover of the tape smiling at you. “That I got a thing for vamps too.” he winked, making you roll your eyes. “Besides, what better way to get to know each other better than with a nice ride home?”

 You let out a small sigh, unsure what the hell you were just about to agree to. But if he was cool enough to hang out with Dustin and his friends. Then you shouldn’t dwell too much on the simple favor. Right? 

 “It wouldn’t be trouble for you?”

 “You’re trouble, that’s for sure.” he chuckled. “But the ride isn’t.”

 The words sound all too familiar to you and you can’t help but blink a couple of times over at him. He’s not aware of the history of that nickname, and you hold back on telling him in favor of nodding your head. 

 “Let’s head out then.” you said instead.

 The next five minutes are left with you closing up the store with Eddie closely behind you. Talking about his recent venture out to Indianapolis for the weekend and how he’s excited to finally finish up the school year, again. 

 Oddly, you found yourself actually enjoying his company. It was sort of light spirited and completely free of problems. Something you haven’t had in a while. The only downside was playing down events that took part in the time you’ve dealt with the upside down. Like how you became close to Nancy and Jonathan. Or why Billy’s break up with you was a bigger deal and the fight he had with Steve. Or the damn mall fire. Everything had to be vague, but Eddie didn’t seem to mind. He actually enjoyed talking less about the heavy stuff and focusing instead on the more fun. 

 It was nice not to really think of the stresses you were bound to have this year and focus on silly things. Like what sort of bands Eddie listened to. 

 “So Iron Maiden isn’t a cool rock band led by girls?”

 “It’s like you’re musically inept outside of pop.” Eddie laughed as he parked his car just on the street of your house. You couldn't help but laugh at his reaction before you shrugged your shoulders. 

 “It’s not all pop. I like rock too.”

 “Really? You like rock. Like who?”

 “Joan Jett.” you said simply after thinking it over for a second. “She’s got killer makeup, great voice, good music. I love her songs. ” He raised a brow at you, almost waiting out to see if you were fibbing or not. 

 “She is pretty cool.” he agreed eventually before slapping gently at the wheel. “All right, that settles it. The Henderson family is officially a lot cooler than I expected.”

 “Oh?” you laughed. “You’re just figuring this out now?”

 “Not to mention you’re all so humble too.” 

 You playfully slapped his shoulder. “Don’t you forget it.” you smirked, reaching down to grab your bag from the floor. “Thank you for the ride and music lesson. I guess that means people from the Munson family are a lot nicer than I expected.”

 “Ahh, that stings a little.” he laughed, shaking his head. “But honestly, I think you should just say that the Munson family are nice to people like you.”

 “People like me?” you frowned, unsure what he meant exactly by that. “Care to elaborate?”

 “I would,” he said as he glanced towards your driveway. “But it’s late and a gentleman should never keep a lady from getting some sleep.”

 “Suddenly you’re a gentleman?”

 “Get out of my van.” he deadpanned, waving you off. “Here I am trying to charm you and you’re throwing me off with your quips.” 

 With a giggle you climbed down from the seat, ready to close the door after you when suddenly a thought came into mind. “Maybe we can hang out again?” you said softly, unsure of where you were going with this offer. “You can tell me what kind of person I’m like and maybe show me more of those groups you wouldn’t shut up about?”

 Eddie’s chest rose as he quickly sucked in some air. His brown eyes widened in shock before he quickly changed his face back to his familiar smile. “And you’d be okay hanging out with a creep like me?”

 “Wouldn’t be my first time.”

 He seemed to question that answer before he shrugged his shoulders. “You got a deal. I’ll uh, see you soon then.” He held up the VHS tape with a small smile. “That is if Chris Sarandon doesn’t get me.”

 “Oh that’s terrible.” You laughed, finding humor in his cheesy words. But instead of being embarrassed, he only grinned wider. Like that was the reaction he was looking for.

 “As long as it’s gotcha laughing.” He winked before changing the gear in his car. “Till next time, Princess!”

 You waved him off, waiting until he was turned around and back on the street before making your way up the driveway to your house. It’s odd but you found that you’re smiling genuinely about something for the first time in weeks. And it’s because of Eddie Munson of all people. Making a new friend must have been the thing you needed right now. Especially when you thought about how much you’d be laughing when you got to hang out with him again.

 “Your Aunt’s car looks a lot like Eddie Munson’s van.” said a voice suddenly, disrupting your thoughts. 

 It scared you a bit. Causing you to let out a small gasp as your head snapped towards the direction of the noise. 

 At your house stood Steve. Back resting against the front door with his head hung to keep his gaze downward and off from you. The gravel beneath your feet was the only noise as you slowly made your way over.

 “What are you doing here?” you asked slightly out of breath. Your composure was calm but the sight of Steve standing there had you feeling anxious. 

 “I drove by your house and noticed no one was home..was worried you’d still be stuck at the store.”

 “Oh.” 

 He pushed himself off the wall, closing the rest of the gap that kept you two apart. On his face was a look you weren’t quite place. Was it anger? Disappointment? Worry? Jealousy? 

 “I could’ve come back for you.”

 “Steve..” you sighed. He held up a hand, shaking his head as he seemingly tried to calm himself down. 

 “We wouldn’t have had to talk. It could have been just a ride. You’d have never needed to talk to Eddie Munson or get a ride from him.” 

 There’s a hint of disdain the way he dragged out Eddie’s name and you couldn’t help but sigh again. This was something you had worried about when Dustin had started to hang out with Eddie. The two were close these days. With how long that ridiculous game took, it’d be crazy for them to not have bonded by now. And while you knew deep down that your cousin could hold strong friendships with everyone. Steve did not.

 For a short while, Dustin was the closest thing he had to a best friend before Robin came into the picture. But the very idea of Steve hating a simple ride from Eddie threw you off.  

 “He came to rent a movie right when I tried calling home. Okay?” you crossed your arms, tilting your head a bit. “He’s a nice guy..he offered the ride when I told him I didn’t have a car.”

 “But I could have come. I would have.”

 “I didn’t want you to come.” You said slowly watching again as the bitter truth caused the hurt cut across Steve’s face. “We haven’t been alone in weeks. The silence would only make things..painful.”

 His head dropped quickly to look back to the ground while you wrapped your arms around yourself. This wasn’t the kind of shit you wanted to add to Steve’s list of problems. The break up was hard..period. But no matter how you go about things, you can’t stop this pain from coming in. 

 “I just wanted to make sure you were safe..” 

 “I know..thank you.” 

 He looked back up and raised a hand. Almost like he was going to reach out for you. And while you were dying to feel the touch of his skin again, doing that would probably only make things harder on the two of you. So without another thought, you took a step back from him. 

 His hand dropped quickly, stuffing into his pocket while he covered up his face with his other hand. Rubbing at the corners of his nose before he turned his gaze back towards the road. There was a glazed sort of look in his eyes. 

 “Right, so you’re here. I’ll just uh, head back home.” 

 You’re about to nod your head, but Steve didn’t even get the chance to see as he quickly turned and dashed away from your side. Moving towards the direction of the driveway. The sight of his retreating figure only hurt your chest even more as your thoughts were plagued with all the things he must be thinking right now. 

 The night of Tina’s Halloween party came into mind. The way he looked driving you home after hearing the truth from Nancy’s drunken confession. Before you know it, you’re chasing after him. 

 “Steve?” you called out when you reached close to his backside. He spun around quickly, almost bumping into you and causing you to fall back. But he quickly reached out to catch you. Cradling you close to his side until you were able to get your footing right.

 “Are you alright?” He asked, checking over you before he let go. His eyes were red and even if it weren’t cold you’d know it was from how he was probably feeling right now. 

 Reaching out, you couldn’t help but cup at his cheek. Watching as his eyes slipped close from the relaxing touch. It’s been weeks since either of you have been able to share this kind of comfort. An intimate moment that you shouldn’t be having with him. Not when things were already so hard. But just because things were over doesn’t mean the need to make sure Steve was okay could go away so easily. Especially when in moments like this, when he still meant the world to you.

 “I need time.” you said quickly, ignoring the worried voice in your head. 

 “Time?” he asked softly, eyes opening slowly to look down at you. The pad of your thumb brushed over his cheek and you could feel the warmth underneath. Your mind replays a supercut of all the moments you’ve felt that cheek. Kissing, against your own, against your body.

 God this was a mess. You were a mess.

 “I need time to feel comfortable around you again..I need to get over you, Steve. But I can’t do that if you’re still trying to be my hero..”

 “Hero.” he chuckled sadly, shaking his head from your gip. The brim of his eyes were red and he looked suddenly tired. “Never really did a good job of that, huh? Guess I’m supposed to be just your coworker now?”

 For a second you couldn’t speak. Only shaking your head no as you tried to reassure him that what he was thinking wasn’t true. He was everything to you. He could never be anything as casual as a coworker. But at the moment, you didn’t know what you could call Steve. He wasn’t your boyfriend, nor your enemy, and friend felt wrong. 

 “You’re just..Steve.”

 His throat bobbed. Like that was the worst answer he was expecting. And though you wanted to reach out again and pull him close, you couldn’t. Because this was just how things had to be. Just the two of you stuck in this limbo of love and loss. 

 “Right,” he said after a minute. “Just..Steve.”

 You opened your mouth, ready to apologize if what you said came off worse than you thought. But Steve quickly caught onto that and held a hand up, waving you off a bit. “I get it.” he said a bit curtly. “I’ll see you around, Hone–Troub– Henderson.”

 Again he’s gone from your side without a proper look at your reaction. He practically sprinted over to his car across the street, not once turning back. It was only a second after he pushed himself into his seat that his car was revving to life and leaving the block. 

 You waited out until you couldn’t see the taillights of his car before you forced yourself inside the house. 

 The usual warmth of your home wasn’t welcoming at all. All it reminded you was how cold you were feeling and no matter what, nothing could thaw out this permafrost that surrounded your heart. The empty house taunted you with the loneliness you were feeling. 

 That’s because you’re alone now. (Tick)

 “I’m not alone.” you whispered softly, making your way to your room.

 You will be. (Tock)

 FEBRUARY (VALENTINE’S DAY)

 It’s four weeks after that night in front of your house that you found yourself with Eddie Munson again. The two of you have changed simple hang outs into make outs,then into something else you couldn’t quite place. This night in particular, you found yourself knocking on his trailer door after work. 

 “Fuck, don’t stop.” Eddie groaned.

 The two of you were sitting on the dingy couch. Some loud tv show playing in the background as you straddled Eddie’s strong thigh. It’s been like this for a while now. What was originally just a chance to makeout with someone you trusted on Valentine’s day. Turned into Eddie flirting with you and you eventually feeling the need to make up for his lack of dating life. 

 It was Valentine’s day and you had unfortunately worked the night shift over at Family Video. Something you would have been pissed about last year. But considering the current changes in your love life, you didn’t have the room to be too upset. Especially when you found out you worked with Robin. That gave the two of you five hours to complain about how complicated love was. 

 Kind of like how your relationship with Eddie had turned from friends to..complicated.

 “God, you’re so whiny.” you smirked, pausing the movements of your hands. You glanced down to his lap, getting another look at the size of Eddie’s cock. It was red and hard against the base of his stomach. Weeping from the tip from the few strokes you had given him. It was only the second time you’ve done this with Eddie and you’re still stunned by how he gets from a simple handjob.

 “Shut up.” he gritted, letting his head sag back against the couch. “If you’d have any idea how good you are at this, you’d be just as desperate too.” The ego boost does something to you, and you quickly lean in to press your lips roughly against his. Causing the boy to let out a loud groan before he fought back. 

 The kiss was so different from your past boyfriends. Billy had always been so dominant, taking what he wanted without thinking too much if you liked it or not. Steve’s was sweet, hot, and romantic. As if it were the last kiss on Earth. And Eddie’s was fierce. Like he wanted you to remember him hours later.

 The tip of his tongue poked through your lips, brushing against yours as he deepened the kiss. His hand went down from your neck to grab at your hips. Pulling you closer into his lap. It made your head spin a bit but you pulled back enough to tighten your grip around his cock. Picking up the pace with your wrist. During times like this, Eddie never lasted long. He was already riding high from just kissing, and with the added teasing he’d never make it long.

 His other arm moved to grip at your thigh. Digging his fingers with every jerk that his hips gave as he reached closer to his climax. He jerked his leg up, giving you a slight sensation between your legs as you straddled him. While small, the touch was stimulating enough to have your eyes fluttering a bit. It’s been a while since you’ve really let anyone get you this aroused but you’re finding it hard not to roll your hips.

 “That is, princess.” he cooed, making your face get a hot flush. “Let me make you feel good.”

 The dirty words had your head spinning a bit and you pulled back enough to stick your face into his neck. Sucking lightly against the vein on his neck while continuing to jerk your wrist. Eddie’s breathing began to grow louder. 

 “Yes, fuck, please don’t stop.” Eddie rasped, letting the wrecked voice send a chill up your back. It pleased you to know you had this boy at the mercy of your hands. Moving your hand and wrist faster now in order to work him over. You made sure to use your long nails at the sensitive skin of his cock, causing Eddie to whimper whenever it was dragged closer to his slit.

 He moved to rest his face against your neck, pressing soft kisses at your skin while his other hand moved to cup at your breast. The only material keeping him from touching your warm skin being the bra you managed to keep on during his fondling earlier. 

 The gentle squeezing plus the ridge on his thigh you were rolling on hit just the right spot to have you letting out a moan yourself. Unfortunately, with how close Eddie was, there wasn’t going to be a chance for you to come with him. 

 “Come for me, Ed.” you whispered into his ear, another shudder falling from him. Stopping your rolling, you gave the base of his cock one good squeeze before jerking at a quicker pace. 

 The base of his member twitched in your hands and when Eddie let go of your breast, you watched in awe as he gripped to your hips, focusing down at your movements before he let out a loud guttural moan. 

 Ropes of white hot cum began to shoot out from the slit of his cock, coating your hand as you carefully continued with the jerking motion. It wasn’t until you watched as Eddie’s head fell back from ecstasy that you gently let go of him. 

 The mess before you doesn’t help with your sudden unattended arousal, but you remove yourself anyway. Quietly letting him know you were going to clean yourself off. The water quickly washed away all the remnants of your night and you quickly glanced up to fix up your appearance. The sight of your necklace quickly stole your attention.

 The small single ‘S’ sitting on the middle of your chest brought a pang of guilt to your chest. You hadn’t taken off the necklace since the night Steve gave it to you. Something that was probably wrong considering what you were just doing with Eddie. But wearing it brought you a sense of comfort that you couldn’t bring yourself to give up. 

 After you got yourself together, you emerged from the bathroom to find Eddie was still on the couch. He was tucked back in his pants but still with the belt unbuckled as he continued to catch his breath. A small snicker fell past your lips and you quickly covered your mouth when his eyes turned to look over at you. 

 “It’s not funny.” he frowned, trying not to smile at your amusement. “I’m literally a mess and you’re looking over at me with that goofy grin on your face.”

 “My face is never goofy.” you said as a matter of fact, hand reaching up to gently hold onto the necklace. “If anything, it’s your position that’s goofy.”

 Eddie held a hand up, pretending to mimic your voice through his hand while you moved towards the couch. It was a struggle to find your sweater amongst the mess of the room, especially when you just threw it behind you earlier. But before you could bend over to pick up the item, Eddie had climbed up from the couch to you. 

 Placing his hands gently at your hips so that he could have you face him. “Let me make you feel good, Princess. I know you didn’t get to come.” he said softly, rubbing his thumbs on the bare expanse of your stomach. 

 It hurt to look up into Eddie’s eyes. They were warm and so full of a genuine interest in you. Like you were the only person he cared to look at. It made moments like this confusing. Where your mind knew that this would make you feel right and move on, but something in your heart made it hard to follow through it. 

 Letting go of the necklace, you reached out to cup the side of Eddie’s face. Letting your thumb brush across the apple of his cheek before you gently pressed a kiss. “I’m fine.” you said softly, getting out of his grip to reach for the sweater. From the side of your eyes, you could see that Eddie was watching you as you pulled the material over your head.

 From his calmness you knew where this conversation was going to go. It’s not the first time Eddie’s pointed out an offer nor would it likely be his last.

 “Hey,” he coughed softly, shuffling awkwardly closer so he could rest a hand against your arm. “I didn’t mean to put you off.” Calmly you moved over to place yours on top, rubbing soothingly in hopes to get that worried look off his face.

 “It’s okay.” you said softly, not really having the courage to tell him what you were thinking. “Like I said, I’m fine with what we’re doing now.”

 Eddie reached out and gently brushed a hair away from your face. “Are you?” he asked slowly. “Or..are you I don’t know, nervous? I mean shit, I’m more than grateful for what we do now..and labels are shit. But if you’re wanting to be something more official in order to feel comfortable doing more then I’m more than happy to–”

 “I like us being friends, Eddie.” you cut in. Scared for what words might come out next. You weren’t ready for that kind of talk. “Even if what we’re doing is not the most normal thing friends do. I like just hanging out and having fun.”

 There’s a flicker of something in Eddie’s eyes. Like he might have wanted a different answer. But he threw you his signature goofy smile and leaned in to press a mushy, rough kiss to your lips. Causing you to laugh against his hold. 

 “Sounds good to me, Princess. Now I’ve kept you stuck in this dump long enough. You should probably head off home.”

 You turned your watch over, noting that while it was a little bit late, it wasn’t the worst you’ve come home at. But since Eddie’s Uncle might be coming home soon, it’d probably be easier to leave now than stick around and dance around the friends with semi benefits relationship.

 “I’ll see you later, Eddie. You rest up.” you smiled, taking a step back from him. He chuckled at that, waving you off as you quickly made your way out the trailer door. The residents of Forest Hills trailer park were quiet that night. A dark and eerie chill going up your spine as you made your way over to your Aunt’s car. Across the way you glanced towards Max’s trailer. 

 The majority of her lights were all off aside from one flickering light from the main front window. Things had been rough for her lately. Ever since her stepdad took off and her Mother started working two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. Things haven’t been the easiest. Especially with the sudden downsizing in lifestyle.

 You wished you could make things easier. But honestly, you didn’t have much you could say to Max that you thought would make her feel better. The events of the summer battle caught up to her and she began to close everyone off. Including you. 

 She was protecting herself from others. Every approach was met with a cold wall that you couldn’t crack. No matter what you or her friends did, she was a different girl now. She was here in Hawkins but her mind was somewhere else. And if you were being honest, you’d say that you were starting to feel the same.

 Your mind was busy focusing on other things like school, work, and your new thing with Eddie. But your heart wasn’t in it. Not the way it should be. It was permanently stuck in a loop of being unable to enjoy the new life you were making for yourself. All because of a boy in Loch Nora who still had power over it.

 Which was where you were now.

 Through the lush houses of the neighborhood and up the driveaway of the path that led to the Harrington household. You’ve been there so many times, but for the first ever you’re nervous to be there. You shouldn’t be here. 

 And you definitely shouldn’t be getting out of the car to walk to the front door. And you really shouldn’t be knocking..

 It only took Steve about a minute to come up to the door. He was more cleaned up since the last time you saw him. His hair was a little shorter, and there was a noticeable little bit of stubble on his lips. Almost like he’s debating whether or not to grow a mustache or not. It’s kind of nice..

 “Hey, you okay?” Steve asked worriedly. His brown eyes looked over your body, almost like he was checking to make sure you weren’t hurt. It was a little embarrassing. You didn’t mean to make him come down to the door, let alone be suddenly worried about you. 

 “I’m sorry…I just ended up here.” you whispered finally. Not really able to think of a better excuse to say. “I should go.” 

 He quickly stopped you by reaching out for your hand. It’s almost like an electric shock to have such contact from him again but you don’t dare let go of his warmth just yet. 

 “What’s wrong?”

 “Nothing.” you shook your head. “I just wanted to–”

 “See me?” He asked softly.

 You look at him for a long time. Feeling such an overwhelming amount of unsurety. Steve was someone who managed to wedge himself into your trust again. He earned it. But right now you were finding yourself struggling to be fully open to him. The thoughts running through your head were leading to a place where you two couldn’t go down. Not when things were so different now. 

 “It’s Valentine’s day,” you said lamely, wincing a bit at the dumb words that quickly came into mind. “D-did you go out?..”

 “You drove all the way over to my house to ask me that?”

 “..yes.” you lied, not needing him to know it was more like an impulsive need to see him tonight than some random inquiry.

 Steve looked a little bit taken back. Probably not quite believing the answer, but eventually went ahead and nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said honestly, to your heart’s dismay. “Uh, with Molly Stevens. I knew her from school last year.” 

 Nodding your head, you tried to control the jealousy that started to fill up in your throat. You have absolutely no right to feel this way about Steve. None whatsoever. But the very idea of him out with another girl brought up such a venom to your throat. 

 “Did you guys..” you waved your arms in front of you in a mindless motion. Stupidly unable to speak the words you’re dreading to hear. Steve looked only slightly amused as he crossed his arms over his chest like he’s caught you in your lie. The dark green shirt looked tight on his biceps, distracting you from that fact very quickly. 

 “No.” he answered simply. “Didn’t feel right.”

 “Right.” you nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief. “That’s um..good. I mean, not good but it’s um—“

 “And what about you?” He interrupted, raising a brow to you. “Did you go out?”

 “I worked tonight..” 

 He turned his wrist over, frowning down at the time his watch displayed to him. “It’s eleven thirty. Store closed at ten.”

 “I may have..gone to hang out with a friend.”

 “With Eddie.” he corrected.

 “Yes.”

 His lips pursed a bit before he took a step closer to you. Pushing your back to rest against the threshold of his door. “And did you guys..?”

 “No, not that.” You said evenly, gauging his reaction. “..but something like it.”

 For a moment Steve looked stunned. Like the words froze him in place. Now that previous venom is turning into guilt. He didn’t even do anything besides go out on an innocent date and here you were ready to burn Hawkins to find her. Meanwhile you were the one actually doing more with another guy.

 For someone that didn’t want to hurt Steve, you sure did so easily. 

 “I’m sorry.. I should go.” You whispered, feeling like you’ve put the guy through enough as of lately. Before you could fully turn around Steve had already reached out for your hand, keeping you in place. 

 The look on his face isn’t the same sad one you saw flicker moments before. It was determined now. Like he was fully trying to understand what you were saying before him. Carefully, he leaned down to press his face inches before yours. The small fan of his sigh brushed over your face. 

 The closeness should make you nervous. It should make you want to step back. But you’re curious to what he would say next.

 “So you mess around with Munson and still end up at my doorstep?” He asked softly. There’s a slight darkness in his tone that should warn you how bad an idea this is. But again, you ignored it. “Did he not make you feel good?”

 “He made me feel..fine.” you whispered back. Not sure how much you want to deep dive into whatever it is you and Eddie were doing. Turning your head up a bit, you peered up at him, placing your hand to rest gently on Steve’s chest to both keep him from getting closer and to get a chance to feel his heartbeat. 

 “Just fine? Not good?”

 “Steve,” you sighed. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.”

 But your words only encouraged him to pull you inside of his home. Keeping an arm hugging at the side of your waist as he pressed your back against the closed door. The personal space is gone out the window now that he’s able to wedge himself between your legs. 

 It’s painfully embarrassing how your body is instinctively trying to wrap around him. But you managed to keep your flat back against the door and legs unwrapped from his waist. But Steve seemed to be aware of your inner dilemma, moving to press himself even closer. 

 “He doesn’t make you feel good, honey?” He said finally, moving his face down your face to your neck. 

 The old nickname had your body shuddering. It’s been too long since you’ve heard it. This was definitely not the way you thought the conversation would go. But you’re struggling to find a way out of it. 

 “What I’m feeling isn’t your concern anymore..” 

 “Oh, it definitely is”. His hand slid down your waist, down to your hip, the tip of his fingers nearly diving past the waistband of your jeans. He casually rubbed his thumb underneath the hem of your shirt. “I want you feeling better than just fine.”

 “Yeah?” you asked softly, moving your hands to place against his shoulders now. They were itching to wrap around his neck, but you reminded yourself to keep from making things messier. Not that Steve seemed to care as he slid closer into the small space you had before. 

 “I want you to feel great.” he leaned down to your ear, pressing a kiss to the spot beneath your earlobe before he finished. “Actually, I want you feeling so fucked out of your mind that you wouldn’t dare go to another man’s house after fooling around with me.”

 There’s a darkness in Steve’s words but not one you’re afraid of. In fact, you’re excited. It had your heart racing and core growing so hot that you had to slightly rub your thighs together from the excitement. “Is t-that all?” you managed to ask, unable to think of a better response. 

 “That's all I want right now.”

 It’s hard not to feel that familiar spark that fires up your body when around Steve. You were feeling embarrassingly desperate for it at this point as you pulled him down towards you. “We shouldn’t be doing this. We’re broken up for a reason..”

 “It’s a bad idea.” he agreed, brushing his lips carefully down your neck. He seemed to catch the sparkle of the gold chain around your neck and followed down the line to where the S laid on your chest. He then gently placed a soft kiss against it.

 “We’re being so incredibly stupid right now.” you gasped, feeling his lips graze up again. 

 Though the tender touches were setting a blaze to your skin, it wasn’t quite satisfying the ache growing inside of you now. In fact, it was setting your whole body into a desperate, needy, frenzy. 

 “I gotta be honest with you, baby.” He said calmly.

 “Honest?” you gulped, failing to get yourself to cool down.

 “I really don’t care if we’re being stupid.” 

 Something took over you and you moved your hands up to grab hold of the hair at the nape of his neck. Pulling back so that you could get a good look at him. The browns in his eyes were gone and he looked at you with such a desire that you could feel yourself get embarrassingly aroused. 

 You should stop this. You should push him away and leave his house. Because there had to be something more important in life than having sex with Steve Harrington right now.

 But you really couldn’t remember what.

 “Fuck it.” You sighed shooting forward to press your lips against his. He didn’t waste his chance at all and wrapped his arms around. Using the palms to push down your lower back to press your chest closer to him. 

 At some point there’s a struggle with moving past the door and breaking the kiss apart. When air was needed, Steve quickly pulled back, pressing quick pecks to your lips before he turned to drag you up the stairs. Each step had your heart beating faster as you focused your sights on the warm glow coming out his bedroom door. Anticipation washing over you for whatever was going to happen next. 

 Once the two of you were in, he quickly shut the door behind him with the kick of his foot. Only giving you a second to catch your breath before he rushed over to capture your lips again.

 “Tell me,” he said against your lips. His hands were already working on your clothes, shedding them off with no problem. “Tell me you want this.”

 “I want this.” you said pulling back, moving to cup the sides of his face. “I want you.”

 For a second it looked like Steve wanted to say something else, but you pushed to press your lips back together. Capturing up any words he had in order to get back into the greedy need that had been building up. 

 Then after that, there’s nothing else left. Just you and Steve.

 The clock besides Steve’s bed ticked softly as you lay in his arms. It’s only been a short amount of time since the two of you had your fun and you can feel how Steve is easily relaxed against you. Letting his hands rub over your bare skin while he held you close. 

 It should make you worried. Things between you two were over. You both made it that way. But the soft kisses he was pressing against your arm and neck were too distracting. The feeling of completeness was too good to give up so quickly. And with the way Steve keeps pausing to give you looks, you think he might be thinking the same. 

 What could either one of you do? It’s been such a long attempt to get over him but all you can feel is yourself falling again with every touch. If anything, you think you might be even more in love with him after this. 

 You think back to the night where Eddie dropped you off. It felt like Steve was done with you. But like yourself, one night of giving into each other’s needs seemed to fill you both with an urge neither of you could quite get rid of just yet. 

 His hand reached out to cup at the side of your face. Bringing your attention back to him again before he kissed you.

 “Stay.” he said in between kissing you and down your cheek. No part of your face or body was left unscathed from his pink plump lips. You reveled in the sensation. Melting into his hold and allowing your body to relax again. It’s all you’ve missed these past few weeks. But even in Steve’s affection care, the worry of the real world sets in quickly with you. 

 “I can’t.” You said sadly. “It’s getting late.”

 “Who cares? It’s Friday night.” he replied, kissing even more now that he realized it has some sort of effect on your emotions. “You don’t even work tomorrow, I do.”

 “Your parents will be home soon, won’t they?”

 “They love you. Might even wanna take you out for breakfast.” You pulled back to give him a knowing look. He smirked a little bit before he rolled his eyes. “Okay, they’d freak out, but we’ll be quiet.”

 “I drove in my Aunt’s car..” you laughed, but turned to shuffle closer to him in the bed. He reached over to grab the back of your leg, moving your thigh now to drape over his waist. It brought your bare body dangerously close to his but he kept things tame for now. Moving to rub the palm of his hand on the round of your behind.

 “She can get it towed.”

 Rolling your eyes at his convenient answer, you pushed at his chest lightly. Attempting to get out of his warm hold but he changed to bring his arm back up to wrap around your waist, locking you in place. 

 “I’ll call the shop myself.”

 “Steve..” 

 Not wanting you to continue with the inevitable truth, he pressed his lips back onto yours. Shutting up the conversation and forcing you both to enjoy this fluke of a night. You give in to him, if only for a moment.

 It’s unfair how this is the most comfortable you’ve felt in days and it’s because you’re in his arms. But as soon as you begin to wonder why it’s like this, you remember how it felt to be in his arms that night. And how incredibly crushing it felt when you pulled away. So you made the kiss count until you eventually pulled away.

 His lips turned down into a pout. Which you forced yourself to ignore as you rolled out of the bed. A shiver hitting over yourself when you left the comforts of his warm side. Reaching down on the ground, you gather up the forgotten pieces of clothing you two discarded when you came into the room. 

 By the time you’ve got your outfit presentable and ready to go, Steve has moved to sit on the edge of his bed. Only a pair of boxers covering up his body now. He extended a hand out to you and you find yourself easily slipping it inside his. You hate how it feels perfect there. 

 “I want you..” He said, low and soft. Like he was almost afraid to say the words out loud.

 “I know,” you sighed, pulling the hand up towards your lips to press gentle kisses at his fingertips. “You always wanna go again.” 

 A frown flickered over his face, like he wasn’t quite looking for that answer. But he doesn’t say anything else, choosing instead to take your hand and lead you out the room and back downstairs to the front door again. 

 “Can I ask you something?” He asked nervously once the two of you were at the threshold. 

 “Yeah, of course.” 

 He paused for a second, looking deep into your eyes before he spoke again. “Did you come over on the pretense of having sex? Or because you really wanted to see me?” 

 A small pang of guilt began to build up in your chest again tonight. Reaching for his hand, you reached out to place it against your chest. Almost hoping that he’d feel the sincerity of your words through your heartbeat.  

 “I was thinking about you on the drive home.” you said trying not to reveal just how much you were actually thinking about him. He didn’t know the pathetic way you were still in love with him. “I didn’t even realize I had shown up here until I was at your door. It was like I needed to see you tonight.” 

 A small creeped on his face at your reply. He took the words as permission to press his lips against yours once more. Like always, it made your mind foggy and breath short. “Then tell your thoughts to think of me again tomorrow? Maybe after work?” he said, pulling away to return his gaze.

 You should say no and remind him that tonight was a fluke. A misstep on your attempts to move on from each other. But your body is unwilling to listen to your logic and instead chooses to nod your head. Making Steve’s small smile turn into a grin that has you trying to remember when was the last time you saw it.

 “Goodnight, Trouble.” He said softly, holding the door open for you.  

 “Goodnight.” You mumbled still a bit love-struck. 

 He waited at the door until you were in your car and waving off. The enticing view of Steve’s house eventually faded and you managed to get your brain working again in order to get home. The tv is playing some romance film for your Aunt and you bashfully wish her a goodnight as you floated to your bedroom. Still on the Steve induced high. It wasn’t until you flopped over your bed, brushing your fingertips over your kissed lips that Dustin decided to come in. A similar goofy grin on his face as he held out a Hershey’s kiss to you. 

 “Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

 “You’re in a good mood.” You snorted, taking the candy. “What were you up to tonight?”

 “Just got off the radio with Suzie.” He said with a dreamlike sigh. “She read out sonnets to me.” 

 “That’s sweet. You rode all the way up to that hill to talk to her?”

 “Hill?” He snorted before he remembered. “Oh! That hill. No, Steve spent most of the night helping me set up this new ham radio in my room.” 

 You shot up from your bed, looking at your cousin with a confused frown. “Wait, Steve was here?” You asked. “In our house?”

 “Yeah,” he confirmed. “He came around the time you left for work. Hung out with me all night until like an hour and a half ago. Didn’t even get to thank him before he dashed out of here.”

 Your mind was suddenly wrecked with a thousand thoughts. Why would Steve lie about going out? Why would he invite you in after hearing about Eddie? He didn’t have to lie about going out on a date, not with you. It’s not like you’d have judged him for taking things slow. Lord know you didn’t have the right to. Was he waiting to see if you’d come home from work all this time? Did he know you’d go to his house? So many questions without any chance of an answer came to you.

 “That was really nice of him...” you said softly, looking down at the candy.

 “Yup. That’s Steve for ya.” he replied matter of fact. “Makes you maybe wanna consider things, right?”

 Dustin’s attempt to mend the two of you hasn’t gone unnoticed these past couple of weeks. He wasn’t too aware of all the details. You and Steve never dived into it with him. Not wanting to ruin the relationship with the boy for either one of you. He was uncharacteristically neutral for the most part, but you knew that he was secretly hoping for some sort of reconciliation. 

 “Goodnight, Dustin.” you said instead, cutting the conversation short. He let out a big sigh before nodding his head, waving over at you before he closed up the door behind him. You kicked off your shoes, laying back onto your bed with only one thought running through your mind. 

 What were you going to wear tomorrow night?

A/N: HI GUYS I MISSED YOU. So sorry for the long awaited update. I struggled so hard to make this break up real but also angsty and drama filled? I don’t feel too confident in it, but there’s so much left in the season to work with so I hope you guys enjoy this. 

[the-bi-writer-blog]

I’m 38 now and here are some (mostly positive) things that have surprised me about aging:

When it comes to appearance and comparing myself to other people, I’ve gotten WAY more chill about it, even though I’ve got smile lines and a few small streaks of grey.

You know how, when you visit your old high school/middle school a few years after graduating, and all you can’t think is “WOW were we ever this young?? I thought we were So Grown Up at that age, but damn they’re just babies!”

So it’s like that. The way you feel about middle schoolers when you’re in high school, or high schoolers when you’re in college - they look like fresh faced babies and you wonder why you didn’t see it before.

So that’s the first thing: age-related appearance.

How I thought it would go: wow old people are all ugly and gross, I hope I never look like that

How it actually is: I love seeing laughter lines on my friend’s faces, because I can see echoes of the jokes we shared. I love their worry lines too, since they’re proof of what we’ve survived together.

And when it comes to my own face?

It’s just my face.

I’m WAY more neutral about it than I used to be. I used to see a checklist of things I wanted to change about myself, every time I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror.

Now? I’m honestly too tired and too busy to care about something that matters so little in the long run, and I’d rather use my headspace for something else that actually matters.

(And like, ofc I’m still insecure about parts of my appearance, I’m human. but it just feels SO much less pressing now than it did when I was younger.)

Eventually you really do just look in the mirror, shrug, and say, “Eh, could be worse.” And then you carry on spending time with your loved ones and hobbies, in the home you’ve made.

Also back to comparing my appearance to the appearances of those younger than me: I expected to just feel less and less sexy as I got older, and kind of assumed that maybe older people just kind of grin and bear it if they have sex at all (lol)

But the reality is - I don’t think I look “old,” per se. I just think that everyone else looks impossibly young 🤣

Looking at college kids now gives me that same feeling of seeing middle schoolers when you’re in high school. You’re just kind of like, “Why are these humans so underbaked” 😂😂

Idk. That started out one way and turned into a ramble, but I’ve been thinking a lot about appearance lately, as I begin planning the first steps of my own transition (YAY.) And I’ve been reflecting on how many insecurities really have faded over the years.

It will be the work of a lifetime to accept myself fully, of course. But I feel SO much more calm, centered and peaceful than I ever have before, and it’s been a really lovely surprise.

Tl;dr what they don’t tell you about aging is that it’s Fine, Actually, and you will feel SO much less insecure, I promise you. You’ll let others expectations roll off your back, and stop doing things to make other people happy.

And you’ll start the long (and wonderful) lifelong process of learning to make a home in yourself, for yourself ❤️

[coff-in]

We can have Toxic!Siblings Graves x Y/N (Andrew and Reader Romantic) (Ashley and Reader platonic)

Y/N would have been the babysitter when they were just kids, it wasn't by choice obviously, as Y/N's parents were working all day and couldn't leave a child alone all day, while Mrs. Graves simply couldn't. He wanted to take care of his own children.

So they decided to make Y/N a full-time babysitter for the Graves family, she gets food and isn't left alone while the Graves Siblings are taken care of, everyone wins :D (Sarcasm)

Their relationship was a little tense at first, Leyley was a pest to Y/N, calling her several names and accusing her of stealing her brother, which resulted in the two fighting all the time.

Even so, she didn't understand why Leyley still insisted on staying close to her, she didn't know that for Leyley, Y/N was the closest thing to a mother she had.

While for Andy, he found it strange to obey someone who is only 1 year older than him, but he liked the idea of someone looking out for him.

Until the infamous box day arrived.

Andrew felt so overwhelmed by that day, that he started to become more clingy/protective towards Y/N, as she was the only one who was understanding of his feelings, who became his safe haven and he was afraid of losing that. .

It got to the point where he and his sister created false rumors about dating/friends so that Y/N wouldn't abandon them.

The two siblings didn't know that Y/N knew that they killed Nina, she just didn't tell them because Mrs. Graves (out of a minimal maternal feeling) threatened her by saying that she was also an accomplice, since she should be taking care of them.

Because of this, as time passed, Y/N began to behave colder/aggressive/distant towards most people, especially her parents. Since they were responsible for her being practically abandoned and for practically selling her childhood to be a "mother" of two brats that no one wanted to take care of.

Until we reach Chapter 2, after sacrificing Mr and Mrs. Graves, Y/N received an amulet from the Demon that is capable of entering the dreams and memories of others while she sleeps. Then she accidentally manages to see the memories of Andrew and Ashley that they made with her behind her back.

note from coff-in: GOD THIS IS SO YUMMY!!! i love how long and detailed the ask is as it gives me something to build off of (which is always welcomed, i’m not always the creative i want to be). thank you so much for requesting! i think my characterization of andrew and ashley was a little wonky. i tried watching playthroughs of the game to see how they talk and think but i literally get too flustered to look at them whenever they're on screen, hahaha!! more Ashley focused than what you migh've hoped for but i tried my best to keep her interactions and thinking platonic and andrew's romantic. this was a wonderful idea and i have to thank you again so, so, so much for requesting. please enjoy!!!

[fem] reader-insert, reader is older than andrew by 1 year

Like a worm to an apple, they've carved their way into your life.

[reader] fucking hates the Graves siblings, hahaha!

Okay, maybe she doesn’t hate them, but [reader] definitely has a strained relationship with Andrew and Ashley. I don’t think that the quarantine helped them out much either. [reader]’s parents not only abandoned her and left her to become a parent of kids not that younger than her, but they actually sold her off. They probably heard of the quarantine from Mrs. Graves and decided that it sounded fun, I guess.

Ashley mellowed out her hatred towards [reader] as they grew up together. I don’t think we’ve ever seen Ashley interact with someone she sees as a friend (besides Andrew). I think she’d be very possessive over them. [reader] is her friend! She should be focusing on her and Andrew and no one else!

She and [reader] probably share clothes in the quarantine since [reader]’s clothes would all be at her home (wherever that would be…)

Andrew’s fucking living the dream. The rumors he and Ashley spread of them and [reader] worked to keep [reader] close but I don’t think that [reader] actually dated Andrew. I mean, if the boy you babysat during your childhood killed a little girl and got away with it, would you date him?

The quarantine has given him and [reader] that forced proximity that he hopes would work to get her into his arms. (And maybe under the sheets, too…? Hehehehe!)

He would go to [reader] during the night to sleep in the same bed during his nightmares. I think he would also go to Ashley for comfort from his nightmares, too, since she was actually there when Nina died (I’m pretty sure that’s what the nightmares were about) but this is just a personal thought/headcanon of mine.

Overall, they’re both clingy, possessive and kinda obsessive over [reader] and she hates it. Their relationship changed once they killed and cannibalized their cultist neighbor. With Nina, [reader] didn’t really have a choice… she wasn’t there in the room when they killed her in that box and Mrs. Graves didn’t allow her to tell the authorities to rightfully send these fuckers to jail!

“You’re an accomplice” my ass, [reader] thinks to herself.

But now? Sharing a meal with the two people she despises the most next to her parents, made with the blood and flesh of another human? Yeah, she can’t possibly say that she’s an innocent party now.

Once the gang pulls up at the hotel [reader] is ready to leave the Graves’s asses. This is her chance at freedom now! She doesn’t need to babysit them anymore, they’re fucking adults now!

Her chances are dashed once the hitman comes over to try and kill them. I never mentioned the demon and the vision trinket but I’m sure [reader] tries to block it out from her mind as much as possible. Kinda hard to do it now that she knows that yes, the trinket does work, and yes, there are actual fucking demons that exist in their world.

At the Graves parent’s house, [reader] probably wouldn’t do too much there. Obviously she can’t talk Ashley out of sacrificing them and Andrew is more-or-less aboard with the idea. [reader] just kinda stands out of the way when it comes to the bondage and actual killing/sacrificing part. I think [reader] would sleep with Ashley in the basement much to Andrew’s chagrin.

“[reader]? Are you okay?” Ashley looked at [reader]’s side profile as they lay on the floor next to each other. “You haven’t said much since we got here.”

[reader] stayed quiet. In all honesty, she was probably disassociating at that moment. Looking back at her memories in hopes of finding a piece of happiness lost somewhere so she can grab it. This whole fucking ‘adventure’ has been a total shitshow… 

“If it’ll make you feel better, we could kill your parents afterward.” Ashley offered carefully.

“Why the fuck would we do that…?” [reader] didn’t look at Ashley and continued to stare at the ceiling. She tried to focus on the cool concrete of the ground, the darkness that covered the walls, and their victims sleeping just upstairs.

“They weren’t any better than our parents, were they? I heard our parents talking when you were younger… you’re another child that wasn’t wanted. Just like me and Andy!” She smiled at [reader] as she got up to sneak towards the staircase. “It’s something that’ll bring us together! We’ll be orphans and friends! Unwanted children to the very end!”

When they finally sacrifice the Graves parents, everyone is shocked that the demon decides to give [reader] a trinket of her own. It’s a simple trinket in the shape of an eye with three stars dangling from it. It looks very similar to Ashley’s trinket.

That night (or day, I guess?) [reader] wanders about the demon/dreamscape and finds the memory of Andrew and Ashley spreading rumors. (You mentioned that it was on accident, so maybe she was trying to avoid looking at Ashley’s respective vision for the route you wanna go down). I mean, it’s not too hard. Who knows where any of those doors that litter the place will lead?

“Did you know that [reader] my friend?” Ashley would tell other students during lunch at school. “She’s my best friend even, so I don’t need you guys to sit with me or anything!” The other classmates give her demeaning leers and skeptical stares as Ashley turns away to find you in the cafeteria.

“What a fucking weirdo… there’s no way [reader] would be friends with her.”

“She’s probably lying about it.”

“I could see her and [reader] being friends… doesn’t she babysit her and Andrew?”

“Isn’t [reader] dating Andrew? Someone said that Andrew and [reader] were dating…”

What the fuck? What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?

Anger starts to boil up in [reader]’s veins as they replay that interaction in their mind. They’ve been pulling the fucking strings from the start. They’d been slowing sinking their teeth around her neck until she was trapped in their jaws, unable to escape the hell of their design.

What. The. Fuck!

----

coff-in

[lunajay33]

Home🤍

Summary: Reader gets separated from everyone when the prison falls and almost loses hope she’s been looking for the group for 2 years

•Masterlist•

The prison was attacked by the governor 2 years ago, well atleast I’m guessing it was around that time since the world ended keeping track of time was hard

I’ve been wandering around ever since looking for Daryl, I missed him more than ever, being without him hurt me everyday but I still had a part of him

“Mama!” Willow called as I walked with her in my arms, she was almost 2 years old now, I found out I was pregnant a few weeks before the prison fell I didn’t even get to tell Daryl and he may never know now

“What’s wrong baby? We have to be quiet remember” I whispered

Thankfully she was never a loud baby

“I’m hungry mama” she said as she laid her head against my shoulder

“I know sweetie, here I’ll give you the can a peaches only if you promise to give me one!” I said as I reached into my pocket to give her

She opened up the lid and chewed on the peaches I found in an abandoned house

“Here mama!!” She smiled as she pressed a peach against my lips

“Thanks love!” I said with my mouth full

I’ve been so hungry I’ve given her most of the food because she was at a crucial stage of growing and I’d do anything for her

We came to a stop at the end of the road to a big metal wall that circled something but I heard voices in there! Maybe they’d take us in

“HELLO!” I called out that’s when I heard guns clink and people above the wall looking down at me with guns raised

“What do you want?” A guy with ginger hair called out

“Do you have room for two more? We’ve been wandering around for 2 years” he looked at me then at Willow in my arms

He disappeared, that’s when the gate opened

“How did you find this place?” He asked

“I was just walking hoping to come across another house to get some food, it’s just been me and her for a while I just want a safe place for her to grow….please” I said as I looked down at willow who looked scared she wasn’t use to other people

“Okay you can come in but you’ll need to talk to our main guy he says who can stay” the guy said as he stepped aside and let me in as he closed the gate behind me

I was shocked, this was actually a normal town this is the perfect place for willow, and there were kids running around

“Look Willow! You can have friends here baby!” She smiled as I placed her down on the ground

“Is she safe to play with them?” I asked

“She’ll be okay! It’s safe here”

“Go on willow go play!” She was excited and ran off with the kids they looked excited to have another kid to play with

“I’m y/n by the way!”

“I’m Abraham!” The ginger said

~~~~~~

I was waiting with them by the gate for their leader to come back and judge if we could stay that’s when the gates opened and I heard the rumble of a motorcycle

A car and motorcycle came in and I couldn’t believe my eyes, I ran up to the motorcycle as he got of the bike

“Daryl is that really you?” I asked as he turned to look at me

He looked at me and pulled me into a hug, I could hear him cry

“I can’t believe it’s ya, I’ve missed ya so much, I looked everywhere for ya” he cried as he pulled back to look at me

I was crying now too, I placed my hands on his face and pulled him into a kiss

“I looked for you too, I’ve been looking everyday, but I found you” I smiled as he wiped my tears away

“Mama! I made friends!” Willow screamed as she latched into my leg

“Awe I’m glad baby!” I said as I kneeled down to her

Daryl kneeled down in front of us and looked confused and a little hurt

“And who’s this?” He asked but he had to know she looked just like him, his blue eyes and dark brown hair

“Mama is this daddy, like from the photo you showed me?” Willow asked before I could answer him

“Yes willow this is your dad, Daryl meet willow, she’s almost 2!”

Daryl looked like he was gonna cry again, she jumped in his arms and he held her tight

“It was scary being pregnant and alone out there and then I gave birth to her alone but she’s always been a good quiet kid! She takes after her father for that” I laughed as willow pulled back and giggled

“I’m sorry I didn’t find you”

“It’s okay daryl I’m home now”

[ripdragonbeans]

Do You Believe In Fate // Pt. 2 // Aegon II x Reader

Summary: You've entered high school and Aegon is...different.

Warnings: None

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6

As you entered high school it was clear that Aegon at school was very different from Aegon at home. When it was you and the siblings he'd be joking around and having fun with you guys. But as soon as he got to school he'd completely ditch you and his brother and sister. It annoyed you to no end. Even when he tried to explain it to you he made no sense.

Leaving school alone, you wondered when Aegon would catch up with you. He always did.

“Hey! Sorry, Cassandra and Sara kept me a little longer than I anticipated,” he chuckled. “Gods, they're just so fucking hot -”

“Why the fuck do you do this?” You snapped at him.

Confusion was etched onto Aegon’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you totally chill when it's just me and your siblings but as soon as someone else gets involved you throw us to the side? It's tiring, Aeg.”

“Pft, I don't throw you to the side.”

“Really? When was the last party you invited us to?”

“Cregan’s winter party! You were there!”

“No, we weren't. You came back home high as fuck and smelled like alcohol. You kept trying to tell me how you almost had a make out session with Cassandra and Sara until one of their then-boyfriends caught you.”

Aegon stared off wistfully. “That was a good ass party. You should've been there.”

“That's the point, Aegon. We weren't. We're never with you outside my house or yours.”

“Oh, give me a break. We're still as close as we were when we were kids.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Really? Are you sure about that?”

“‘Course I am!”

“Fine,” you stopped in your tracks and turned to him. “A little quiz then, since we're still so close.”

Aegon looked a little worried but quickly converted it into a cocky smile.

“What's my first class?” You questioned him.

“Human anatomy.”

“Good for you. Which lunch period do I have?”

“Second.”

“Nope, third. It sucks,” you took a breath. “What sport do I play?”

“Oh, easy! You play lacrosse!”

Your face dropped and you ignored his answer. “Who was the last person I dated?”

“Um… was it Jason?”

“No, Aegon. I haven't dated anyone.”

“That was a trick question!”

“No, it wasn't. And lacrosse? Aegon, we played on the same football team for years! You haven't been paying attention!” Your voice got louder and louder. “Ever since you started high school I've been thrown aside so you could get high and drunk with your friends and then make out with whichever girls are desperate enough!”

He stared at you with a blank face before a knowing grin spread across it. “You're just jealous.”

“Ha! Jealous of what?”

“Jealous of all those girls. We’ve been friends for years and we’ve never kissed. You’re jealous that I do this with a bunch of other girls and not you.”

“Aeg. What the actual fuck? You think we’re only friends because I want to get in your pants? You know that’s not true.”

“Hm. A shame then. You’re hot as fuck.” He licked his lips as he looked you up and down.

You rolled your eyes. “You’re deflecting, Aeg.”

“I’m not deflecting anything.” His eyes hardened. “Fine, if you’re not jealous of those girls who get way more attention from me than you ever did, then you’re jealous that other people are better than you in every way possible. And that they're better for me than you ever were.”

You stared at him. “You did not just say that.”

When Aegon was staring back at you, you could've sworn you saw some regret but if there was he threw that expression away. Just like what he did to you.

“Okay. Fine. I'll see you whenever, Aegon.” You turned on your heel and left him behind. 

Tears threatened to spill as you walked away but you kept them in. You hoped Aegon would come to his senses and follow you but he didn't. When you were a good distance away you turned around. He was still there. Standing and staring at the direction you went. You weren't sure if he could see you but you flipped him off before turning around again and continuing your way home.

When you got home, the first thing you did was text Helaena and Aemond and ask them to meet you at your place. When they asked what was wrong all you said was Aegon and they came sprinting over.

“Babe, what's wrong?” Helaena wiped away your tears then gently wrapped her arms around you.

“He's an asshole, you know that,” Aemond stated.

Helaena broke away from the hug ever so slightly so you could look at her. “Tell us what he did, sweetie.”

After a few more broken sobs, you were able to catch your breath. “He left me. He told me there were people than me out there, better for him. I've supported him all these years, I've never knocked him down. Why the fuck would he do this? What did I do? I want to fix it so badly,” your voice broke.

“Sweetie, you did nothing, I promise.”

“Yeah,” joined Aemond. “You did nothing wrong. He's being a dick and thinking with it. You don't have to fix anything.”

“But I want to,” you insisted. “I don't know what I'd do without him.”

Helaena looked at you with soft eyes and took you hand in hers. “In all the years I've known you, I've seen you at your happiest with Aegon. Are you two chaotic? In your own special way.” She laughed. “As for Aegon, I don't know what he's thinking. He's stupid. His true smiles are when he's with you, I've seen it over and over again.”

“Whatever he's trying to do, it'll bite him in the ass,” Aemond chimed in.

You forced yourself to laugh. “I hope so. Fuck, I'm so frustrated with him but I miss him so badly.”

“Love is rough, sweetie,” Helaena shrugged.

It took a moment for what she said to sink into your head. “Love?”

“Yes, girl. Love.”

“Someone should tell him that so he'll stop being a dick.”

Aemond sat down. “You know he'd deny it. He's scared of things like that. Instead he's gonna get high, drink, and maybe fuck his way into oblivion.”

“Great, just what I wanted to hear.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Give him some time,” Helaena suggested. 

“How much time?” You were exhausted already.

“As long as you can endure it. He'll be worth it in the end.”

Despite the harsh tension between the two of you, you still walked to school together every morning. Something was always tugging at you to go to Aegon. You assumed the same must go for him since he hasn't said anything about walking together. Walking together was like a sign of peace, that your friendship wasn’t completely gone. It was a comfortable silence, walking with him, but it always broke as soon as you arrived at school.

“Ahhhh! Aegon!” A girl ran past you and took Aegon into her arms. It was Cassandra. “It's the last day! Never have to come back to this shit hole again,” she laughed.

“Hey, Cassandra. Hell yeah, I'm ready to get out of here.”

“And who's this?” She turned to you.

Cassandra knew who you were, or she should have. 

“Don't mind me, I'm just walking. Not doing anything, really.”

“This is… you know her,” he gestures to you. He acted like he rarely spoke to you.

Cassandra gave you one quick look over. “Nope. Never seen her in my life.” Her eyes widened, “Oh, my gods, Aegon, are you dating her?”

“No! I'm not dating her, that would be weird,” he laughed. 

Aegon and Cassandra walked a bit away from you. You just stood there and watched them; it was all you could do.

“If you're not dating her then,” Cassandra leaned into him. “Maybe you'll go out with me?”

You rolled your eyes, of course she’d ask to be his girlfriend. She just wanted to get into his pants. She's been trying to get with him this whole year.

“How's this for an answer?” Aegon swept her into his arms and captured her in a deep kiss. 

They almost didn't stop. The kiss kept deepening and deepening until they were practically sucking each other's souls out. His hands were tight around her waist and wedged a knee between her legs. When you heard a small moan you knew you had to leave but something glued you to the spot. All you could do was stare at them as your heart broke.

Aegon leaned down and whispered something in her ear that you couldn't hear but whatever it was made her blush and giggle. You were about to walk away when Aegon smacked her ass and gave her one last kiss. Without ever looking at you, Aegon went into the building holding Cassandra’s hand.

You were numb the rest of the day. And the next. And the next. It seemed never ending. With no school to attend, you mainly just stayed home in your bedroom. You killed time with various activities; watching tv, playing video games, talking to Helaena and Aemond. They invited you over, and you accepted once, but you kept running into Aegon, who wouldn’t look at you. Since then you insisted that Helaena and Aemond hang out at your place instead.

Once he started dating Cassandra, almost everything changed. Almost. While he avoided you, you could still feel his burning gaze on you when he thought you wouldn’t catch him. You refused to react. He never hung out with you anymore. Communication ended as well. No calls, no texts, no other social media messages. Aegon, however, was still very active on social media. He was constantly posting pictures of him and Cassandra doing whatever it is that couples do. You should’ve blocked her, but Cassandra posted frequently about how lucky she was to be with Aegon. It made you sick.

“Listen to this Hel,” you put on a high pitched voice, “‘Getting that golden hour light with my golden boy!’ and then there’s a kissy emoji and the hot n’ thirsty emoji. Ugh, I want to barf.”

Helaena picked up a new thread; she was cross stitching. “I don’t know what you’re expecting, of course she’s gonna post that kind of couple-y stuff. I bet if you stopped looking at it you wouldn’t feel as sick, either.”

“I want to stop looking but -”

“- But you can’t.” Aemond walked in and plopped down in a chair. “You can’t explain it but you find yourself wanting to see everything he’s doing.”

You turned to Aemond. “Yeah…that’s exactly what I want.”

“You’re gonna end up torturing yourself until those two break up.”

“And until you two make up,” Helaena pointed out.

“He has to apologize first.” You crossed your arms.

“As he should,” Helaena nodded. “But you might have to start that conversation.”

“Ugh, why do I have to be the bigger person?”

“Don’t think of it as being the bigger person but more like you’re egging on a dog to do something.”

“Lovely.”

Whenever Cregan Stark wanted to throw a party, he’d throw a big ass party. This one was no different. It was a “goodbye to summer” party at his house, parents were gone, of course. Although at this point his parents probably supplied him with the money willingly since he’ll throw it anyway.

You walked into the party. It was just as you thought it would be; loud and dark. Pulling your dress down you were thinking of all the creative ways you could get back at Helaena and Aemond, if their plan fails, of course. If it’s successful you’ll owe them a life debt.

All around you were couples making out here and there, people dancing on the main floor, and others in the kitchen drinking whatever concoction was made for the night. Then there were the party-goers like you; reluctantly walking around but trying to pretend they’re having a good time. You were out here on a mission, though. Aegon had been avoiding you all summer and you were going to confront him about it.

Music pounded so loudly you could feel it in your bones. People were touching you no matter where you went; there wasn’t a lot of room. Some guy would come up from behind and try to grind on you but you were quick to push them away and flip them off. Some would laugh at you and move on and others would get pissed and yell a bit. Either way you just kept on walking. Then you found Cregan.

“Hey! Um, have you seen Aegon?” you yelled over the music.

Cregan turned to you. “Who are you?” He scrunched his eyes to get a better look at you, as though you were blurry. “Oh, I know you. You’re the girl that follows Aegon around. He’s upstairs. I’m sure if you’d want to join them they’d be happy to let you in on the action.” He winked.

Your heart plummeted. For some reason it didn’t cross your mind that he’d be with Cassandra at a party. But you steeled your nerves and went upstairs anyway.

“Aegon?” you timidly called out.

No one responded to you specifically but you heard his name again. But you didn’t say it.

You stood outside the door, not knowing what to do. There was some giggling before the door opened and Cassandra appeared.

“Were you there the entire time? Fucking weirdo!” Cassandra turned to him.

You could see Aegon behind Cassandra.

He shrugged. “Who is it anyway?”

“Um,” she looked you over. “Oh, it’s that one girl that follows you all the time.”

“I do not follow him all the time,” you sneered.

Cassandra cocked her head and put a hand on her hip. “Then why were you snooping?”

You clenched your hands. “I was looking for Aegon, hoping to talk to him but I found he was busy.”

“And yet you stayed.” Cassandra pouted. “You poor, poor thing. It’s never going to happen. Anyway,” she turned to face Aegon briefly. “I’ll see you downstairs, baby.”

As Cassandra left she made sure to hit you with her shoulder. Ignoring her, you held your ground and waited for Aegon to come out of the room. Of course, he came out shirtless. When he locked eyes with you he just stared. Nothing was said. He almost looked guilty.

The words came out before you could stop them. “Glad to see you’re still thinking with your dick.”

“Glad to see you're not as much of a prude as I thought you were.” He leaned against the door frame. “If you wanted me so badly you could’ve joined us. But I don’t think you’re one to share.”

“No, I’m not,” you said with gritted teeth.

“Let me guess, you wanted to talk?” He was taunting you.

“Yes, actually,” you stepped closer to him. “You’ve been ignoring me all summer. Why?”

“Because I have a girlfriend. Next question.”

“That’s not an answer, Aeg. You know that. You’ve been avoiding me.”

“What, like you haven’t been avoiding me?” There was anger in his eyes. “You’re never at the house anymore, you don’t text or anything. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“Friendship is a two way street, you know that.”

“Oh friends, are we? Didn’t know we were still friends.”

You ran a hand down your face. “Yes, we are. I know I got mad at you, but I just - you know - fuck.”

Aegon looked down at you. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He turned to go back into the room.

“Do you really want to stay with Cassandra?” you blurted out.

He stopped in his tracks. “What? Of course I don’t really want to stay with her, she’s just fun before I leave.”

“She’s just fun.”

“Yeah, so? She thinks of me as just fun, too. It’s not that deep.”

For a while the two of you stood there in silence. It was almost as comfortable as it used to be. Almost. Despite the silence you barely heard Aegon.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

You just looked at him.

“I said I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I pushed you away and I’m sorry.”

“Is that it?” You were hoping for more.

“Do you want more?”

“Well, there’s more to say.”

“Then you say it!” He threw his hands up in the air.

“No, you know what’s missing!”

“No, I don’t!”

“Aegon, please, say more, say the rest. It can’t just be me. I know - I mean, you have to feel it too, right?”

Aegon’s eyes widened. “No. I’m not gonna say that. I’m with Cassandra, you know that.”

“You just said it was only for fun.” Tears began to gather in your eyes. 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t care for her. Or you.”

You grabbed his hands. “Aegon, tell me you feel it too, please. There’s a tug between us, there always has been. Why won’t you say it?”

He gently pulled his hands away from yours. “Because I don’t feel anything. I’m sorry. You’re just a friend.”

“Don't say that, please.”

“Do you want me to lie?” 

A tear rolled down your cheek. “Fine,” you sniffled and wiped away that singular tear. “Let's just forget this ever happened, okay? I'll leave you alone.”

As you turned to leave it was Aegon’s turn to stop you. Closing his hand around your wrist, he pulled you back. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it instead.

“Yeah, figured.” You nodded. “Goodbye, Aegon.”

Not really caring about anything, you walked back to Helaena's house. While walking, you were constantly pulling your dress down. It was a stupid decision, a stupid thought, to think that you could win Aegon over. Despite his denial, you still believed there was something between you two. There always has been. Maybe he was just too scared to acknowledge it.

[solstices-dreams]

𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐠 𝐝𝐫.

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫. ᝰ.ᐟ

— 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞.

kaz faulkner, district 10, victor of the 68th games

I was born July 19th, 62 ADD (which means the year of the 62nd games) in district 10. I grew up my twin brother, little sister and father who’s an apothecary. It was intended that I would learn his trade and later take it on. But I was chosen for the 68th games and those plans were interrupted. I look like me in my OR just with longer hair and older, also more muscles ig?

— ᴍʏ ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ :

I won the 68th hunger games at age 16. My mentor was Brie Gibson who I became friends with afterwards. The arena was split into four sections: a swamp, a forest, a meadow, and a maze. Each had their corresponding mutts. The forest had a bear, the meadow had bunnies, and the swamp had tracker jackers. The maze didn’t have one because the idea was to have the two final contestents fight in the maze as it shifted.

My district partner was Luke Barret. His older brother is a victor but he wasn’t mentoring during that time.

psst, want more info on luke barret? ->◟ [ click here … ]ヾ

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲.

— 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Eiran Faulkner

48 years of age, he/him, apothecary/doctor

As a doctor, he always smells like hand soap and vaguely the hint of black coffee. I learned my patience from him and how to stay calm under pressure. He’s softspoken but firm in reprimanding people. We’ve always been a close knit family, especially because of my mother’s abscence.

what he reminds me of : coffee beans, glass bottles, bandaids for scraped knees, white hand soap

— 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Celeste Faulkner

??? years of age, she/her, unknown occupation

presumed to be deceased. She was originally born in district 8 but at the time of her disappearance she resided and was counted in the district 10 census. She was 26 at the time of her disappearence. I just dont want a mom 😋

what she reminds me of : embriodery hoops, colorful soap, footprints in the sand, dishtowels, egg timers

— 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Asher Faulkner

23 years of age, he/him, rancher

My twin brother. He and I are opposites but we have a similar sense of humour. He’s an early bird while I’m a night owl. The brawn to my brains, the loud to my quiet. We balance each other out. He’s more quick tempered and physical than me and more likely to punch someone defending me. He goes by “Ash” and when we were kids “Ashie.”

what he reminds me of : scuffed shoes, biking in a forest, bug spray, worn out jeans, skateboards, worn wood railings, the smell of boiling pasta

— 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. Mabel Faulkner

19 years of age, she/her, no occupation

Mabel is my youngest sister, she’s quiet and reserved. She gets along well with Posey Barret. Since I became a victor she became the one who worked with my dad more. She can’t stomach blood and guts but can handle sick calls so I still do some of the medical work with my dad. Her family nickname is “May” which started with my dad.

During growing season, she’s the type to eat food straight from the vine. She makes up for it though, as she waters the plants and she owns chickens! Chickens that are actually kind of vicious and only like her.

what she reminds me of : daisies, sidewalk chalk, buttercups, kittens, the sound of music, batty penderwick

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭.

I’m from district 10 which is livestock. It’s in Texas and Mexico. These aren’t 100% accurate photos but it’s the closest to what I believe. Plus the victor’s village is further away from the main town in my mind.

— 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞.

I live in District 10. The victor village is actually a vast field as a few of the victors still keeps cattle or crops. I live between Noah Barret and Brie Gibson with my family. There is a lake located near my home and there are a couple raised garden beds that are growing crops. We also have chickens, a cow, and a horse that we hitch up to ride to town. It’s two floors and mostly wood and stone but it’s cozy.

Here’s some vague blueprints of the house …

[tojiscumdumpster]

CHAPTER ELEVEN- TOJI

⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀✧ summary page

 Life has really been fucking with me these last six weeks. Work’s hell. The apartment we live in went up by four hundred dollars. And to make matters worse, Megumi and I have been rockier than ever. 

 That’s the thing that’s bothering me the most.

 It’s over simple shit, too. 

 I try my best to be a laid back parent and only go full on dad mode when needed, but I think the kid has taken advantage of that. All I ask is three things from Megumi:

 Don’t get into fights, and if you do, don’t get caught. 

 School night curfew is eight. Weekends are eleven.

 And lastly, tell me your whereabouts.

 But what does he do instead? Miss curfew. Leave the house without telling me where he’s going, and now he’s on a two week-suspension from school since he got into a fight. 

 Grant it the fight was justify because some kids were fucking with him and talking shit about his lack of English, but shit, Megumi. 

 At least he won. 

 One side of me was saying that’s my boy, and the other side had to ground him. 

 Let’s just say he wasn’t too happy with me after that. 

 I’m surprised he actually listened to me, though. But with him listening, I’ve been getting the silent treatment, no eating meals together, and been avoided like I’m the plague. 

 Parenting is not a walk in the park, I know that. Especially when you’re a single parent. When times like this hit, I think of my late wife more than ever. 

 With her death anniversary right around the corner, I can’t help but miss her and wish she was by my side. 

 I can’t do this shit alone. I was not raised in a loving environment, and considering the fact that my old man was an abusive drunk that used me as his punching bag, I damn sure don’t know what the fuck it feels like to have a father. 

 A mom? Don’t know either. Old man wasn’t faithful and was sleeping around with different women, so my mom could be dead or alive. Who knows? 

 My late wife knew all of this, not the severity, but she knew I had a shitty family. Yet she managed to see something good in a motherfucker like me, to the point we had a kid together.

 A kid that fucking hates me. And I’m the only one to blame. 

 God, maybe I should listen to Kong for once. I’m forty-two. Shit, maybe it is time to settle down and look for a housewife. Someone who’s willing to help raise a fifteen-year-old boy. 

 No, what the fuck am I saying? Since when do I listen to that fucker?

 Never. I trust him, though. Hell, do I really have a choice since he helped me take care of Megumi when I was going through my episodes in the early years of my wife’s death? 

 But my kid is my responsibility. Getting a woman involved isn’t going to help my relationship with Megumi. That’s some shit I need to fix myself. 

 Kong and I have one unorthodox ass relationship, but he’s the only bastard I actually consider a friend, and I know he means well. 

 He is Megumi’s godfather after all. Besides, the last thing I want to do is to ever make Megumi feel like I’m trying to replace his mom. Far from it. 

 Maybe loneliness is just catching up to my old ass.m, and the only woman I think of breaking me from my no relationship rule is Y/N. 

 Y/N fucking L /N. 

 That woman drives me insane in more ways than one. 

 After our first date over a month ago, we’ve been talking nonstop. Texting. Calling. Casual dates every now and there when time allows us. If I’m being real, Y/N is the only reason why I haven’t ripped my fucking hair out. 

 People would usually turn to alcohol to depend on the burning sensation it gives you to get drunk when feeling stressed. But me? Y/N is who I get drunk off of. Her energy is fucking addicting, and the reassurance she gives me… who know I needed so much of it. 

Like any other man, I don’t turn to anyone to help with my problems. I’m a prideful motherfucker who has the ego the size of a galaxy. However, I don’t have to be the way around Y/N. I sound sappy as shit, I know. 

 Guess that’s what happens when you become vulnerable. 

 The only reason why I haven’t had sex with her yet.

 I know myself. When I was younger, I only saw sex as a way to make extra cash when I was struggling after I got disowned by the Zen’in. The older I got, sex became more meaningless to me. I can be balls deep in pussy, no matter how good it is, and have no type of feelings attached. Me making a woman come or them making me come doesn’t mean I’ll start buying them roses and shit. 

 It wouldn’t be the same with Y/N. 

 Not saying I’m on the verge of falling in love with her, let alone loving her. But seeing how much we talk, how jealous I fucking get, especially after figuring out she works at the same school as her ex-fiancé, I don’t want any other fucker to even breathe the same air as her.

 Not even myself, but I’ll still be selfish enough to do it.

 That’s the thing about Y/N. I feel myself growing more selfish when it comes to her. I want her time and energy to only be for me. She’s mine without her knowing and I’m planning on keeping it that way. I can admit that’s probably a dick move, but I can’t find myself falling in love again. 

At least, I’m forcing myself not to.

 Hearing her moan my name. Seeing her face when she comes. Knowing what it feels to have that sweet, tight, warm fucking pussy clench around my fingers. I’ll become a starved and possessive man the moment she’s like that around my dick. 

 I’ll catch feelings.

 I’ll want her above me, beneath me, all over me twenty-four-seven. I’m not an easy lover. I can admit to that.

 But that won’t stop me from…

 No, I won’t say that.

 It’s strong. Whatever emotion I feel about Y/N, and I can’t help but think it has something to do with her being so damn familiar. The more I talk to her, the more I know who she is. Maybe in another lifetime I’ve loved her before. 

 Even saying that in my head sounds crazy as shit. The dreams about her aren't helping, either.

 “Get a hold of yourself, Fushiguro,” I mutter to myself. I look at the time to see it’s eleven thirty. “She should be on her free hour right now.” 

 Maybe a phone call wouldn’t hurt.

 “I’m busy,” I grunt.

 I couldn’t even call Y/N before Kong called me to fucking be clingy. He claims he only calls me to check on the kid, but Megumi has his own phone. 

 “Mad because I’m not your girlfriend? Sorry, I had you first, Fushiguro.” I hear him puffing out smoke from his cigarette. “Be grateful you have a fucking friend to check on you, you fucking jackass.”

 I chuckle, sarcastically saying, “Awe, I consider myself very lucky.”

 “Fuck you.”

 “Sorry, not interested,” I replied. And this is what I mean by unorthodox friendship. “Assuming you got some information for me?” After that Zen’in fuck purchased the club ownership last month, I had Kong do some digging for me.

 All the bullshit he was spewing about Naobito forcing everyone in that family who doesn’t have a kid, to have one, and taking interest in finding Megumi, I couldn’t take shit like that lightly.

 Not when my kid is potentially involved.

 Knowing how those Zen’ins’ get down, they always find a way to get what they want. Even if it results in blood.

 “I found some files about that Naoya shitface you told me about… Looks like he’s the real deal,” he says.

 “Meaning?”

 “Meaning he is your cousin. Looks like your old man’s brother had some unwanted kids of his own.”

 “Having kids in the family just to leave them dry is a fucking ritual in that shitty ass family.” I get up from bed and go to the kitchen to grab a ginger ale. “What else you find out?”

 “Zen'in owns half of the real estate in Tokyo,” he tells me, clicking his tongue. “Those bastards keep growing and growing by the minute. So if what this Naoya is saying is true, I can only imagine Naobito is doing this to have the city fear the name Zen’in, even after he’s six feet under.”

 I scoff. “For an ego stroker? So what the fuck does this have to do with my kid?”

 “How the hell am I supposed to know?”

  Over my dead fucking body if they think they could come even twenty feet near Megumi. I have no problem going back to that violent lifestyle that I’m trying to escape when it comes to protecting my kid.

 Actually, I’m hoping that they do because I’ve been itching for a stress relief and permanently getting rid of those Zen’in fucks just might be the way to do it.

 Maybe I should pay them a visit on my trip to Japan in a few months.

 I run my hand through my hair and sigh. “Alright. Keep me posted.” An incoming call comes through and I see Y/N’s name flashing my screen. “Gotta go.”

 “Your girlfriend’s callin-” I disconnected our line before he finished his bullshit to answer Y/N.

 “I’m so close to fucking pulling these braids out and choking my boss with them.” Ha, that’s a funny way to say hello.

 “I’m trying to wrap my head around why hearing you threaten to kill someone is turning me on?” I tease.

 She lets out a soft breath. “I’m sorry, big guy. Work is being a pain in my ass right now.”

 “I see that. You cursed twice. That’s something expected from me.”

 “Well, it’s kind of inevitable when you’re a high school teacher,” she argues. “And actually, no. I expect four curse words in under a minute from you. So I think my two words will be alright.”

 I smile while walking back to my room and close the door behind me. “Talk to me, sweets. What’s going on?”

 “Other than finding out that my name was unknowingly submitted to take part in the state’s teachers summit, nothing really.”

“Is it that bad?” 

 “No. It’s actually a good opportunity to voice your concerns as a teacher to the school board, but quite frankly, I’m tired of going. Only one teacher is selected every year to represent each school in the county and it’s always me.”

 “And what is this summit shit? Why do they need teacher representatives?” I hear her smile through the phone when she explains the summit, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of me cursing already. “Probably this isn’t what you want to hear, but I can see why you’re always chosen. You speak your mind well, and I can see the passion you have when it comes to your students.”

 “Well, yeah, but every teacher should be that way,” she counters. “And the summit this year is four hours away from us, so they made it a weekend convention. A weekend, Toji?” 

 I arch my brow. “And who submitted your name?” Her silence tells me my answer. “You sure this fucker isn’t trying to win you back? Abusing his power as your boss to get you to himself for the weekend seems like a man move I probably would’ve done, too.”

 “You would?” she incredulously asks.

 “When it comes to you? Absolutely. Zero questions asked.” I can almost guarantee the silence from her again is because she’s blushing, something I find fucking adorable about her. “You there, Miss L/N?”

 “Toji, I’m at work,” she answers.

 “Admitting that your mind is in the gutter?”

 “I-uh, no. Just reminding you to get your head out of it.”

 I tip my head back and laugh. “Cute. So when’s the summit?”

 “In three months.”

 “And you can’t pull out?”

 “Unfortunately, no. Unless I can prove that it’s due to a medical or family emergency, I’m out of luck.” No doubt in my mind that her ex pulled this shit intentionally. I mean, I get it. If I lost someone like Y/N as my fiancée, I would be going through hell and back until she was mine again. 

 But too bad for this fucker that isn’t the case anymore, and I don’t tread lightly when it comes to people fucking with what’s mine.

 Mine, that’s exactly what Y/N is.

 “I’m way too hungry for this crap,” she says, pulling me from my possessive musings. 

 “And you didn’t eat because?”

 “Someone kept me up last night on the phone, so I overslept and couldn’t get a decent breakfast before work this morning.” 

 I chuckle, remembering our two a.m. conversations that turned into her masturbating while I was talking her through it. “I’m sure that person is sorry.”

 “Doubt it.”

  I look at the time again to see it’s noon. “What time is your free hour over?” 

 “One. Why?”

 “Grab lunch with me.”

 She playfully hums to consider my last minute invitation. “I guess I can squeeze you in.”

 “Squeeze me in?” I mock her response while laughing. “Appreciate it, Miss L/N.”

 “I’m sure you can find a way to show me your appreciation.”

 I smirk. “Forgot you were at work?”

 “Whatever, Mr. Fushiguro. Text me the address and I’ll meet you there.”

 “Alright, alright. I’ll see you,” is the last thing I say before disconnecting the call.

 Smiling to myself like a fucking lovesick idiot knowing that I’m about to see Y/N has me surprised myself. Like I said earlier, this woman drives me insane.

 And I think I’ll grow to not mind it.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER | NEXT CHAPTER

no discussion question this chapter. but would love to hear your thoughts ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[bubblegump-1-nk]

When You Know You Know

pairing: Theo Nott x female!reader

summary: you and Theo are just best friends…. well that’s at least what you both tell everyone, so, your friends decide to give you two a push

- once again another Theo Nott friends to lovers… are we surprised? But this time there’s no cheating involved so!!!! Also, heavily implied Slytherin reader but never fully said Slytherin reader. Also sorry this is so long but I just didn’t know when it would be a good time to end it and I didn’t want to make multiple parts!!

~~~

You sat in the library staring absently at your potions textbook. You had been rereading the same paragraph for at least five minutes, trying to find the answer for question number 3 on your potions homework. Everything you read seemed to be unable to enter into your head. You leaned back in your chair with an exasperated huff. Theo looked up from his herbology homework to look at you in your annoyed state.

“What’s the problem this time princepessa?” He asked, locking eyes with you as he used the playful nickname he gave you in second year when you refused to do your herbology homework because it required you pulling worms out of dirt. Although, now he used it just so he could have an excuse of calling you a pet name.

You playfully rolled your eyes at the nickname and plopped your chair back on all fours with a loud thump that led Madame Pince to send you a pointed glance.

“I literally have no idea how to do this stupid homework.” You said, putting your head down on your arms that were resting on the table, and turning to look at Theo.

“You should’ve said something, I finished that a while ago.” He informed you, a small smile playing at his lips as he chuckled at your annoyed expression. “Here copy it.” He said, as he leaned down to grab it from his satchel and then handing it to you.

“Merlin you’re a life saver, Teddy.” You said grabbing the paper and immediately beginning to copy it down.

Theo and you had known each other since you were kids, since your parents were best friends. You don’t remember exactly when you started seeing him in a more-than-a-friend way, but what you did know for sure: you had to push down those feelings and pretend like they didn’t exist because Theo didn’t feel the same way about you and you wouldn’t ruin your perfectly perfect friendship over something so silly. Although, of course Theo liked you back, how could he not? You were perfect, but you had no way of knowing this since he also refused to tell you for the same reasons you had.

It was getting late, the candlelight now not enough to properly illuminate your homework. You had finished copying down Theo’s potions work and got about halfway through your Astronomy assignment when you both decided to call it quits and head to bed.

“Well I’d say that’s about the most productive we’ve ever been together.” He says, leaning down to grab your satchel to carry it for you.

“I’m surprised we got any work done at all.” You said, and you both chuckled. “Studying” between the two of you usually ended up in hour long gossip and snacking sessions.

You two walked back to the Slytherin common room, conversing on your way. When you entered through the portrait hole you found your friend group sitting on the plush, green couch by the fire. Enzo, Pansy, Draco, Mattheo, and Blaise all looked up at you two as you made your way towards them.

“Well look who finally decided to show up.” Draco said, grabbing a toffee from the coffee table.

“Sorry that we are intellectuals and actually want to succeed in life, Draco.” You said, sarcastically.

This caused a laugh from the group, and even more so when Draco said, “I wouldn’t call private make out sessions intellectual.”

Both you and Theo’s face flushed red.

“Just because you don’t get any play doesn’t mean you have to fantasize about others.” Said Theo, smacking Draco over the head as he passed him to sit down on the couch next to Enzo.

“So you admit it? You two were making out?” Asked Enzo, trying to pry your feelings out of you two.

“What? No. You lot are insufferable.” You said, plopping down next to Theo, his arm instinctively going to rest behind you on the couch.

“Oh, but you love us.” Said Pansy, making kissing faces.

You gave a sarcastically annoyed grunt which caused chuckles from the group.

“Anyway, what’s the move for this weekend?” Mattheo asks, since Friday was tomorrow and Mattheo couldn’t stand not getting drunk and/or high with his friends at least once on the weekend.

“Oh right!” You said, remembering what someone had told you as you were walking to lunch with Hermione Granger. All heads turned to you expectantly. “Cedric invited me to some Hufflepuff party tomorrow. It starts at 7 and I’m sure it would be no problem getting you guys in.” You said. Theo tensed behind you.

“Cedric? As in Cedric Diggory?” Theo asked, staring at the fire. You uttered a conformation as you reached for one of Draco’s toffees, quickly enough that he didn’t have the chance to snatch it out of your hand.

Theo rolled his eyes, “that guys a prick.” The others gave each other knowing looks that went unnoticed by you and Theo.

“Well then don’t go.” You said simply. The room tensed.

“Well of course I’m gonna go, I was just stating a fact.” He responded.

“A fact? And what proof have you got that Cedric Diggory is a prick?” You asked, eyeing Theo.

There was silence.

“Alright prick or not, I don’t give a fuck. Hufflepuffs have the good weed and I’m gonna get some.” Said Blaise, breaking the silence.

The room lightened, and you all began talking normally again. But that whole conversation was still playing in your head, was it possible Theo had been jealous? No definitely not, just being his usual protective self you decided (spoiler he was actually very jealous).

—-

You and Pansy had said goodnight and went up to your shared dorm about 10 minutes ago. You were now washing your face as Pansy sat on her bed painting her nails.

“So, what’s going on with you and Cedric?” Asked Pansy.

You peeped out from the bathroom, confused at the question. “Me and Cedric?”

“Well, he invited you to a party didn’t he?”

“Oh. I mean, yeah, but we were partnered up for a project in ghoul studies so we’re sorta friends.” You say, dismissing the topic and going back to moisturizing your face.

Pansy scoffed.

“What?” You asked, peeping out again.

“Nothing. It’s just that you have a certain quality of,” she paused thinking of the right word, “Of being oblivious to people’s feelings about you.”

You raised your eyebrows at her, confused as to what she was referring to. “What do you mean?”

“Well Cedric obviously thinks your fit, he wouldn’t just invite anyone in a younger year than him to his party.”

“One time is hardly enough for you to say I’m oblivious of people’s feelings.”

Pansy let out a chuckle. “Well, I forgot to mention the other boy.”

“Huh?” You questioned.

“You know, the one who’s name starts with a T and ends in a heodore.”

Pansy would always bring Theo up to you, and how it was “so obvious he was in love with you”. But you wouldn’t have any of it. He was your best friend, and that’s just how he acted. You had accepted that his love for you was solely platonic, but Pansy hadn’t.

“Pansy please just drop it. You shouldn’t be feeding me delusions.” You say, slightly annoyed.

“I-.” She began, but you quickly cut her off with a tut, letting her know this conversation was over.

—

You made your way towards the Slytherin table for lunch to meet up with your friends. You had had ghoul studies, an elective class, right before lunch so you were happy to see them since none of them were in your same class.

“Good news, Cedric said it was alright if you all came, as long as you brought at least 3 bottles of fire whiskey.” You said, sitting down between Theo and Pansy.

“Thanks, y/n you’re a lifesaver. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to stay in tonight.” Mattheo says.

“Hmm, maybe you could have worked on your alcoholism.” Said Draco, taking a bite of his turkey. Mattheo slapped him on the head as a result for his comment, making him choke on the food. You all broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Here I made you a plate.” Says Theo, handing you a plate full of your favorite foods.

“Ugh, thanks Teddy, you’re the best.” You said, taking the plate and earning a smile from Theo.

Pansy made suggestive eyes at you and you gave her a stern look.

“Oh Teddy won’t you make me a plate?” Mattheo said, jokingly.

“Don’t you fucking call me that.” Theo said, making a face at Mattheo.

“Oh, right! I forgot only precious y/n could call you that.” Said Enzo.

“All of you can stay mad that I’m clearly his best friend.” You say, causing the boys to laugh.

Pansy looked at you again, and this time you returned her gaze. Maybe it was a little suspicious that you were the only one he allowed to call him Teddy.

——

“Y/n you better hurry!” Called Pansy.

You were getting ready for Cedric’s party, but you had overestimated the amount of time you had and now found yourself rushing.

“I’m hurrying.” You called back. Pansy, Theo, and Blaise we’re all waiting for you at the end of the stairs. The other three boys had left earlier, impatient and ready to get drunk.

Another 10 minutes had passed.

“If you don’t get down here in 1 minute, I’m sending up the giant to take you.” Pansy called up, referring to Theo and his 6 foot 3 frame (🤤).

“No! Please don’t send him up here I’m terrified of him.” You joked, running around trying to find some socks.

You were putting on your earrings when you heard Theo’s footsteps, and he soon entered the room.

You yelped when you saw him.

“No, please! Have mercy!” You said, running behind your bed to block him as you tried to finish putting your earrings in.

“Pansy said to show no mercy. Sorry principessa.”

He quickly made his way over to you and before you could react he trapped you and threw you over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

“Theo!” You yelped, gripping onto his shirt.

“This is what happens to late people.” He said, and began carrying you down the stairs.

“Let’s go!” He said cheerily when he reached the bottom of the stairs, still carrying you and not hearing your protests.

“Thanks a lot, Pansy.” You said jokingly, which caused her and Blaise to laugh.

Theo carried you all the way to the Hufflepuff party, which thankfully wasn’t too far since hanging upside down wasn’t your preferred mode of travel.

You four entered quickly after having your names checked at the entrance and found yourself in a room full of people and alcohol.

Theo put you down finally, and opened his mouth to say something when Cedric appeared at your side.

“Y/n! I’m so glad you could make it!” Cedric said, giving you a hug.

“Yeah, thanks for inviting us!” You responded, hugging him back.

“You too, Theo.” Cedric said after you two broke apart from the quick hug.

Theo offered him a straight smile in response.

“Do you want something to drink?” Diggory asked you.

“Yes please.” You said, enthusiastically, ready to start getting some alcohol in your system.

“Here, follow me.” He said, leading you towards a table of drinks.

You looked back at Theo, motioning for him to follow but he just looked at you and mouthed “I’m not going anywhere with that prick” which caused you to giggle. You kept looking towards him to make sure he wasn’t alone, and you finally focused solely on Cedric when he headed for the huddle your friends had created.

—-

“What’s gotten into you?” Mattheo asked as Theo reached them.

“Nothing.” He said bitterly, grabbing a bottle of fire whiskey that stood on the table next to them and took a long swig from it.

“So ever dramatic.” Said Pansy, causing a sound of annoyance from Theo.

“Here have some. It’ll loosen you up.” Said Blaise, passing Theo a joint.

“Thanks mate.”

—-

You were standing with Cedric’s friends, who he had introduced you to, and listening intently to a story Hannah Abbot was telling.

“…and he reached to grab her by the arm to stop her from leaving but Klaus punched him square in the nose before he had the chance!”

The group erupted in gasps and exclamations of disbelief at the story, and the Cedric leaned down to whisper in your ear, “wanna go dance?”

You instinctively looked towards Theo, who you had strategically placed in your line of vision when you went to stand with the group. You saw him sitting next to a blonde, his hand on her thigh, as they chattered away. You heart sank.

“Yeah, let’s go.” You responded, taking his hand and allowing him to lead you towards the mass of moving bodies.

—-

“Yeah, I don’t know, I guess I just like the lake.” The blonde next to Theo said, and he chuckled wryly.

He had seen you with Cedric, laughing, standing close together. He had wanted to go up to you and break you two apart but he advised himself against it. That’s when the girl, Cassandra, initiated conversation with him and he allowed her to stay since being with her would hopefully patch the hole in his heart. It didn’t. He understood though, guys were practically always throwing themselves at you, and with all your options why in Merlin would you choose him? Unfortunately, he didn’t know you thought the exact same of him.

He watched you and Cedric like a hawk, and suddenly he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Sorry, er, I’ll be right back.” Theo said, standing up and leaving the girl by herself.

He walked past the drink table, grabbing a bottle of fire whiskey, and then made his way to an open window.

——

You had been dancing with Diggory for about 10 minutes, and you had been looking at Theo for about 7 of them. You wished it was Theo you were dancing with, but he was too busy with his blonde (you hadn’t seen him leave her, since you decided it would be better to stop looking their way to stop torturing yourself), but she seemed nice enough and he seemed happy to be with her (spoiler: he wasn’t) so, in return you should be happy for him, right?

——

“What’s your problem?” Pansy asks, coming up to Theo in his little make shift cave.

“Nothing.”

It was silent for a moment.

“Would it possibly have something to do with a certain y/h/c, y/e/c, (your house), girl?” She asked.

Theo looked at Pansy with a deep sadness in his eyes.

“She’s busy with Cedric.”

Another moment of silence.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be.” Pansy finally replied.

“What?” Theo asked, eyebrows arching.

“Maybe she’d rather be busy with someone else.” She said, hoping he would understand.

“Right, and who might that be?” Theo said angrily, the last thing he wanted to hear right now was not about how you had at least two confirmed men you would pick before him.

“You, you idiot! She’s fucking in love with you!” Pansy blurted out, exhausted with his idiotic attitude.

Theo stared at Pansy, slowly blinking. “What.” He finally asked.

“She’s in love with you. She thinks about you every waking moment. It’s always been you, Theo.” She explained.

Theo stood there, awestruck. This could not be happening right now. This must be some sort of sick joke.

“B-but Cedric.” He managed to babble out.

“She doesn’t fucking like Cedric. She likes you!” She said, pointing to Theo’s chest, hard.

He stood there, once again, just blinking.

“Well? Go get her!” Pansy said.

“R-right!” Theo said, making his way towards you, pushing the bottle into Pansy’s chest to rid himself of it.

“Fucking idiot.” Pansy called after him.

—-

You felt a hand slither around your waist and soon you were turned around, facing Theo.

“Is it true?” He blurted out, before you could get a word out. The music was loud and there were people pressing up against you two and the lights were annoyingly bright but when you looked into his eyes it was only you and him.

“What’s true?” You asked, taken aback.

He didn’t say anything for a second, and in that second your heart dropped. There’s no way Pansy told him how you felt…right?

“What… what you feel towards me. Is it true?”

“I-I.” You were at a loss for words, your jaw opening and closing with no sound coming out.

Suddenly Theo dipped down, his lips crashing onto yours. You didn’t kiss back for a split second because this couldn’t be real could it? The boy you’ve loved for years is here, and he’s kissing you, and he probably loves you back. But you quickly gathered your thoughts, and realized that it was real, and so you kissed back.

The kiss was hungry but gentle, strong and passionate. Your tongues soon began roaming each others mouths, and your hands explored each others bodies. You finally broke apart for air, after what felt like far too short (but was actually a very long time, enough time for all of your friends to notice.)

Theo’s large hands cupped your face, and you placed yours on top of his.

“After all this time…” He said, trailing off as he looked deep into your eyes.

“After all this time.” You responded.

“Merlin we wasted so many days. If only I wasn’t such a git and just told you how I felt.” Theo rambled.

“Better late than never. And now we have so many days ahead.” You responded, happy to finally be with the boy you loved.

“Fucking finally!” Yelled a voice, causing both of you to turn your heads. Enzo.

“Merlin you both are such idiots, it was so obvious!” Said Blaise, you and Theo slowly walked out of the crowd and made your way towards them.

“You all knew?” You asked. Theo was now positioned behind you, his arms around your waist, your hands on his arms. He was kissing your cheeks, your jawline, anywhere.

“Of course we knew! We just thought it would be better to let you two figure it out on your own, but we couldn’t stand to see you both sulking around whenever one of you was with someone else, so we intervened.” Explained Pansy. You gave her a smile.

“Yeah, but I can and will use a time turner to stop us from doing that if we have to see you two being so gross.” Said Draco, making a gagging sound at you and Theo’s pda.

“Shove off, Malfoy.” Theo said, dipping down to kiss you, passionately which earned Theo a plastic cup to the head which Draco had thrown. Theo flipped him off and Draco made a smug face.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” You said, noticing Mattheo sliding some galleons into Cedric’s hand.

“Y/n, it was actually my pleasure to do this, you’re very lovely.” Cedric said, pocketing his galleons, and quickly leaving after seeing Theo’s killer gaze.

“What?” You called out after him, and then turned to face Mattheo and the group when Diggory walked away without answering your question.

“Well…” Pansy started. You gave her a look that urged her to keep going.

“We realized you two were too pussy to say anything so we decided to pay our little friend Cedric here to make Theo jealous so he would finally admit his feelings to you.” Mattheo responded.

“But for once he was using good morals I didn’t even know he had, and pulled all that ‘I just want her to be happy’ bullshit so we sent Pansy in to rip off the bandaid.” Draco said.

“You lot are making it sound like you were in the middle of a war.” You responded, still grabbing firmly onto Theo’s arms, scared that this was somehow a dream and if you let go he would leave you for good.

“It was war! It was painful to see you two be so heart broken and oblivious all the time.” Pansy said.

“Well, as much as I’m grateful for all of you, I want to go spend some time with my girl. Good night.” Theo said, leading you two out of the common room after you said your good nights.

“Have fun! But not too much fun!” Mattheo hollered out after y’all, and Theo flipped him off.

You two walked in the dark, deserted hallways, hand in hand, hip to hip.

“So, your girl huh?” You asked.

Theo hesitated for a moment, scared he read this all wrong, until he saw the smile playing at your lips.

“Right, I have to ask. Y/n, can I pretty please be your boyfriend.” Theo asked, teasingly.

“Hmm..” you said, pretending to think about it. “Yes.” You said, and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll buy you some flowers and gifts tomorrow, but I came empty handed to this party, as you can see.” He said, causing you to giggle. Your beauty in the moonlight overthrew him, and the fact that he could now call you his, and kiss you whenever he wanted practically sent him into cardiac arrest with how happy he was.

“I love you.” Theo said, kissing the top of your head.

“I love you.” You said, and kissed him on the lips, something that you knew you would never get enough of.

[spiteless-xo]

╰┈➤ finally, a night alone (e) - tbaw. ⋙ an alternate version of eren and reader's last night together before visiting the kirsteins

why was it deleted. literally so much of the story changed so this chapter doesn't fit anymore with what's going on. what changed. eren, jean, reader, and pieck were all sharing a room together. also there was no mental-health subplot and reader was actually good at her job! pieck wasn't so bitchy. eren is a little meaner during sex. ft. fem!reader, eren, jean, pieck. cw. unedited, fem!reader, explicit language, explicit sexual content (mutual masturbation, blowjob, dirty talk, thigh riding, edging, fingering, creampie, squirting), degradation (whore, bitch). 6,300 words.

Please remember that this scene was deleted for a reason and that nothing that happens here occurs in the actual story posted on AO3. This is just fun bonus content for people who are interested in reading more.

context. none needed? eren makes a promise to you at some point prior to this chapter that he wants to wait for the weekend to have sex with you.

In the evenings, Eren and Jean go to the gym together while you and Pieck stay up at the hotel, separately watching Netflix shows on your laptops before bed. You had joined the two boys at the gym for the first day, deciding that a little non-sexual cardio wouldn’t hurt. You realized the error of your choice almost immediately when Eren and Jean both pulled off their shirts as they did their exercises.

Although they didn’t get along, the two tolerated each other’s presence. At the gym, it was more like competitive cooperation. Each boy challenging the other to lift more, work harder, sweat more. You had to leave after a quick 10-minute run because you were getting so hot watching them work out. Since then, you haven't been back. 

You and Eren have been keeping a distance from one another for once. It’s difficult to find opportunities to be alone and he seems to be serious about his promise to wait until the weekend, so you find it easier to just ignore him completely, but in the mornings when you go into the shower after him it’s intoxicating. You’ve definitely touched yourself there to thoughts of him, surrounded by the thick scent of his vanilla cologne. You wonder if he ever does the same.

On Friday afternoon, it’s hard to focus on work when the excitement of the weekend looms near. Petra and Oluo are satisfied with the amount of work everyone has completed so far, so they are allowing you all to take this weekend off from work. As a result, there is more chatter in the boardroom than there has been all week.

“We should all do something together this weekend,” Pieck suggests, clapping her hands.

“We’ve been working together all week and you want us to spend more time together?” Eren asks with a scoff.

Petra sighs, “You kids can go do something this weekend if you want. Oluo and I still have a lot to work on still for some other clients.” Petra and Oluo have been ghosts of their typical selves. You get the impression that, while your workload is heavy, theirs is even worse.

“I actually kind of want to go visit my mom while we’re here,” Jean says sheepishly. You forgot he grew up here in Trost.

Pieck looks between you and Eren, “I guess it’ll just be the three of us then!”

You meet Eren’s eyes and watch as they darken under your gaze. His eyes trail down slowly from your mouth to your chest before slowly climbing back to meet your eyes. He runs his tongue along his bottom lip seductively, the corners of his lips turning up into a smirk. You purse your lips as you feel a heat pooling between your legs. Finally, your chance to be alone together.

“... Or not,” Pieck says quietly, interrupting your eyefucking with Eren.

Jean clears his throat, “Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me to see my mom.”

You turn away from Eren to look over at Jean, noticing that he’s staring at you expectantly. “Me?”

“Yeah,” he says, smiling. “We’ve been friends for years and she’s never met you, she always gives me a hard time about it.”

Your heart swells with happiness, he talked about you to his mom? “Yeah, totally! I would love to,” you say, grinning.

You turn back to Eren to give him an apologetic look but see his eyes narrowed a Jean, biting his cheek. “You really wanna hang out with him this weekend?” he asks.

Yes, desperately. But you don’t say that. “We can leave sometime tomorrow maybe?” you suggest, turning back to Jean.

He shrugs, “Yeah, that’ll work. I can get her to come pick us up in the morning.”

“Then we’ll have tonight together,” Pieck says happily. “What if we bought some drinks and played games?”

“That… actually sounds kind of fun,” you say, surprising yourself. After a tough week of only working, eating, and sleeping, a fun distraction with your coworkers could be nice.

“Ok, enough chatter,” Petra says sharply. “We can clock out in three hours, try and stay somewhat focused until then.”

The four of you all turn back to your computers, but you have a hard time staying on task. Jean talked about you to his mom! Jean wants you to meet her! It looks like your jealousy tactic with Eren is working.

---

Since it’s Pieck’s idea, she volunteers to go pick up food and alcohol for the evening when you all get back to the room, borrowing the keys to one of the rental cars from Oluo. “Does anyone want to come with me?”

“Jean does,” Eren says quickly, shooting a look his way. “Right?”

Jean holds his hands up defensively, “You didn’t have to volunteer me, I would’ve gone anyway.” He looks over at you, “Any special requests?”

“Wine?” you suggest, setting your work bag down to flop onto the bed. “And maybe pizza or something easy for food?”

Pieck nods, locking arms with Jean much to your disdain. “You got it! See you guys later, we’ll be back in…” she looks down at the watch, “Probably an hour or so?”

Eren crawls onto the bed and overtop of you, caging you between his arms. “Take your time,” he says, eyes locked on yours. You’re not happy about Pieck and Jean running off alone together, but the ache between your thighs when Eren’s eyes meet yours overrides your jealousy.

You hear Pieck squeak in surprise before she drags Jean out of the room, the room door slamming shut behind them. You keep your eyes on Eren as he drinks in your body, already breathing hard.

“Are you sure you want to go hang out with Jean this weekend?” he asks, leaning down to kiss your neck. “We could have sooo much fun together.”

You hum in response, tilting your head to lengthen your neck for Eren. He starts to unbutton your blouse, mouth trailing lower to the tops of your breasts. “Are you jealous?” you ask as he pulls down your bra to expose your nipple.

At this, he pinches your nipple gently, causing you to arch your back up into him. “What did you say?” he dares as he reaches his hand behind your back to undo your bra completely.

“I said,” you pause, smirking down at him as he looks up at you, mouth hovering over the sensitive nub. “Are you jealous?” you repeat.

He closes his mouth around your nipple, teeth gently digging into the soft skin as you gasp. With one hand, he pushes your open blouse and bra off your shoulders, tossing them off to the side and leaving you topless in front of him. “Brat,” he says as he moves his mouth from one nipple to the other.

You reach your hands down to tangle in his hair, pulling it free from his half-up do and allowing his dark strands to fall down on your chest as he tongues your nipple. You mewl and gasp at his touch as his hands grip around your waist tightly, his large hands enveloping you completely.

“You haven’t been fucked properly in a while,” he says, voice slow and deep. “You must’ve forgotten how good I am to you.”

“You think you’re good?” you challenge. He lifts his head up to yours, eyes dark and half-lidded.

“Let’s see if you can keep this attitude up.”

You bite down on your lip to stop from moaning as his tongue moves along your neck while his one hand works on unbuttoning your work pants. His hand slides down across your underwear, palming at your clit. You gasp from the touch of his warm hand against your clothed pussy — you did forget how good he was to you. His hand is so much bigger and warmer than yours, you can’t wait to have him inside of you.

Eren sits up on his knees to pull off your pants and underwear completely, leaving you naked on the bed below him. He undoes his tie slowly before working on his dress shirt, looking down at you with predatory eyes.

You lower your hands to grab at your breasts, pinching and pulling at your nipples as he removes his shirt. You can see the imprint of his dick straining against his work pants as he starts to work on his belt, pulling it completely free from his pants before unbuttoning and unzipping them to alleviate some of the strain. 

You drag a hand down your stomach to play with yourself, fingers trailing up and down along your slit, spreading the wetness across your folds. Eren reaches down into his underwear, pulling his cock free to stroke it infront of you. 

“Keep going,” he says. “If you’re so fucking good at it, why don’t you make yourself cum for me.”

You lick your lower lip, eyes darkening as you look up at Eren. “Sure, I’ve been doing this all week.” You use your finger to swirl some of your wetness over your clit before you start to rub at it gently, gasping softly as you feel heat pooling in your core. 

Eren’s eyebrows raise in surprise at your words, still lazily stroking himself as he watches your hand. “Oh yeah? When?”

“In the shower,” you say, voice breathy as you dip a finger down to tease at your hole. “When I go in after you.”

“Really,” Eren says, his voice almost a growl as he watches you slowly slide a single finger inside of yourself. “Tell me more.”

“I think -- about you,” you say, voice stuttering as you start to pump your finger in and out of your wet cunt. With your other hand you keep squeezing and pinching your nipple, eyes fixed on Eren’s thick cock, heavy in his hand. “I think about… your cock inside of me,” you continue, “Filling me up, fucking me good,” you gasp as you slide a second finger inside of yourself.

Your fingers are small and thin and they don’t stretch you out the way Eren’s do, but you keep fucking yourself, mouth falling open as you gasp in pleasure. You watch the tendons in Eren’s hand flex as he grips himself harder, but still maintains a slow pace while he watches you.

Watching Eren jerking himself off while he watches you touch yourself is hotter than you could imagine. His eyes trail down from your flushed face to your heaving chest before settling down to watch your fingers pump in and out of your wet heat. He’s breathing hard above you, muscles tense as he slowly strokes his length, swirling his leaking precum around his tip. 

You can get yourself off quickly -- a practiced skill from sneaking orgasms in the morning all week, so you can already feel the coil tightening in your chest as you play with yourself. You reach a hand up towards Eren’s abs, running your nails down them as your fingers continue to work you toward an orgasm. “Eren,” you gasp, hips bucking up into your hand. Your eyes shut and your head falls back against the pillow, fingers pumping harder into your cunt as your heel grinds against your clit. “Eren — feels so good —“

You picture Eren’s cock buried inside of you, fucking deep into you as he pants and sweats on top of you. You imagine his mouth sucking around your nipple as his fingers swirl around your clit, egging you on as your orgasm builds.

The real Eren leans down over your body, one hand pressed against the mattress while the other pumps along the length of his cock. He presses his open mouth against your neck and shoulder, leaving a trail of sloppy wet kisses. “Cum for me, baby,” he growls. 

His deep voice vibrates straight into your core, sending shockwaves of pleasure through your body as you lose yourself in an orgasm. You gasp out his name, arching your back up into him while your pussy clenches rhythmically against your fingers. 

He groans into your neck as you shake against him, “Good girl.” His words make you whimper, pulling your slick fingers from your cunt to rub against your sensitive clit. Eyes opening, you’re met with Eren’s flushed face, biting his lip hard from watching you orgasm to the thought of him. “I can’t believe you cum all over your fingers like this every morning when we’re all just sitting right outside.”

Removing his hand from his cock, he wraps your legs around his waist, lifting you up off the bed with him. “Since you like thinking about me in the shower, why don’t I fuck you in there?” he says, kicking off his pants as he carries you with him into the bathroom. 

You grab hard at his back, nails digging into his shoulder blades as you suck and kiss along his neck. Eren sets you down on the counter in the bathroom, hands roaming up your thighs as he ravages your neck. “I missed your body,” he groans, teeth sinking into the soft skin of your shoulder.

“I missed you too,” you admit, feeling a burn of embarrassment despite having just masturbated in front of him. “Eren, let me taste you,” you pull his face away from your shoulder by his chin, looking deeply into his eyes.

“Ok,” he says with a shuddering breath, stepping away from you just enough for you to hop off the counter.

You grab his hips and guide him to lean back on the counter while you get down on your knees in front of him. He pulls your hair back with a shaky hand, his thick, dripping cock aching and desperate to be swallowed.

Looking up at him, you wrap your hand around his length, licking your lips. “I missed you so much, Eren,” you whine, hand gliding along his cock, thumb swirling across his slit to smear his precum across his head.

He exhales heavily, biting his lip as he watches you. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you respond, pressing a soft kiss on the head of his cock. “Did you miss me?”

“I missed you so fucking much, baby.”

It feels like the two of you haven’t seen each other in months when really you’ve been no less than six feet apart from one another all week -- but it was torture. You suffered through watching him get dressed: thick thighs straining against the stretch of his dress pants (wishing you could grind your clit against the firm muscle) and fingers working expertly on his tie each morning (imagining those fingers buried deep inside of you). Anytime the two of you even so much as brushed past each other in the office, you could feel desire pooling in your core. You were so grateful for Pieck’s suggestion today to go get food and drinks.

You press your tongue flat against the base of his cock, trailing up to his head before swirling your tongue around his tip. You watch as he hisses a sharp intake of breath, one hand clutched desperately onto the counter as you wrap your lips around him.

You take him into your mouth, slowly, at first. Pushing him in slightly and then pulling back before taking slightly more of him again, trying to coat his cock in your saliva. His grip on your hair tightens when you flick your tongue across his head before lowering yourself further along his length.

“Yeah, babe -- you’re so good, so fucking good,” he whines, voice high and airy.

When you and Eren fuck it’s always a battle of dominance, you love to piss him off and he loves turning you into a sobbing, drooling mess. But when you’re on your knees for him with his cock in your mouth, you can easily turn this arrogant asshole desperate and needy and you love it.

You finally take his full length down your throat, eyes watering as you press your nose into the small bundle of dark curls at the base of his cock. Eren is breathing hard above you, eyes wide as you flatten your tongue along his length. “Fuck, you’re so pretty,” he sighs, thumbing away the tear that falls from your eye.

After you finish showing off, you pull off of him completely, his cock achingly hard and glistening from your spit. “Do you like that?” you ask, smirking as you stroke along his length.

“I love it, babe,” he says, “I love -- ahh, fuck,” you cut him off by taking his cock into your mouth again, working on it rhythmically with your mouth and hand. His hand grips your hair tighter as his hips start to buck into your mouth.

Your cheeks hollow around his cock as you suck his length, tonguing his tip with every pass as you twist your wrist in time with your mouth. Eren throws his head back, moaning out your name as you suck his dick. “Such a good girl,” he pants, “You’re so fucking good to me.”

The praise eggs you on. Clenching your thighs together to tame the heat burning in your core, you let your tongue lay flat against the bottom of his cock as your head bobs on his length. He groans in approval, hips bucking gently into your mouth. “Yes, yes, yes, fuck.”

He’s gritting his teeth now, staring down at you as his hips buck harder into your mouth, the head of his cock pushing into your throat with every movement -- he’s close, you can tell -- but he doesn’t want to cum, he’s still holding back.

You use the salvia building around his base to work your hand along his cock, moving your hand and your mouth in time with one another as you pull him closer to the edge.

“Fuck, you’re gonna make me cum,” he whimpers, no conviction behind his voice as you throat his cock. “You gotta stop, you gotta -- fuck.”

Whimpering and whining like a needy mess, Eren bites his lip hard. You stare up at him with wide, innocent eyes, daring him to cum. Do it. Cum in my throat. You can see in his eyes that he wants to -- but you know he also wants to fuck you.

With a strangled moan, he jerks your head back by the hair, pulling you completely off of him and letting his cock slap up against his stomach, hard, heavy, and red. He grips the swollen head of his cock tightly as his chest heaves, body almost trembling from the sensation. “I said stop,” he gasps, “I was so close.”

You pout, upset that you weren’t able to make him unravel in your mouth. You wanted to taste him so badly. “You never let me swallow,” you whine.

Eren’s too exhausted to give you a snarky comment back, still reeling from your mouth on him. “No,” he says, “I don’t.” He pulls you up to your feet, his mouth crashing against yours. Wrapping both arms around your waist, he spins the two of you around until your ass is pressed against the edge of the counter. He squeezes you hard against his body and you can feel his cock throbbing against your stomach. “I’m gonna make you regret that,” he says against your lips. 

Eren kisses you like he can’t get enough. His lips move hard against yours, his tongue snaking out from his mouth to play with yours as you try to devour him. He nudges his thigh between your legs and presses it against your soaking pussy. You moan into his mouth, unable to stop your hips from grinding down onto the strong muscle of his thigh, just like you imagined.

“What else do you think about,” he asks, hands trailing down from your waist to your hips to help you grind harder against him. “When you’re thinking about me?”

Looking up into his eyes you can see how much it excites him that you told him that. That you make yourself cum to thoughts of him every morning — he’s obsessed. You want to laugh but when his hands roll your hips against his thigh you moan instead. 

“Fuck —“

“Tell me, I wanna know.”

You grab his biceps for stability as you grind down on him, his cock still leaking precum and leaving a mess on your stomach. “Your hands,” you gasp, “All over me — touching me — inside of me.”

His fingers dig harder into your skin as you speak, a glint shining in his eyes. He can tell your arousal is making it difficult for you to speak, so he helps you. “Yeah? You like it when I grab you?”

“Yes, Eren!”

“Like it when I fuck you with my fingers? Stretch that pretty little pussy out and make you squeeze and cum all over my hand?”

Your hips build speed against his thigh, coating it in your slick wetness as you chase an orgasm. “Eren, yes — fuck.”

“Tell me more,” he commands, slowing your grinding by grabbing your hips tightly in his hands. “Use your words, baby.”

Your face is hot and you can’t tell if it’s from your growing arousal or your embarrassment as you say, “I think about your head between my thighs… and your mouth on my pussy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and your tongue on my clit —“ It’s definitely from embarrassment, you realize, as you duck your gaze away from Eren’s amused smirk. He’s loving this. You love to tease him but you’ve never been so vulgar before, he’s usually the one whispering lewd things in your ear when he stuffs you with his cock. “I think about the way you eat me out, and how quickly you can make me cum on your tongue.”

Like a reward, his hands move your hips faster back and forth on his leg. Your nails dig hard into his arms as you feel your orgasm rapidly building from the sensation.

“Fuck — Eren, that feels so good,” you whine, throwing your head back and letting him move your hips against his leg. 

“Yeah? You like grinding on my leg like a lil whore?” He presses his thigh against you harder and you let out a deep, gutteral groan.

“Yes, Eren!”

“You’re such a needy little bitch,” he growls, “Can’t even wait for my cock, have to grind you clit on my thigh.”

You just let out a strangled moan in response. He is right, you are needy little bitch.

“You’re making such a fuckin mess of my leg,” he says, leaning down to lick and suck on your neck. “Are you close?”

“‘M right there, baby —“

You can feel him smirk against you skin for a moment before he says, “Good.” Eren holds your hips still and removes the pressure of his thigh against your leg, leaving you shocked and aching. 

“Fuck you,” you whine. You try to reach a hand between your legs to finish yourself off but he grabs your wrist before you can make contact. 

“Not yet, babe,” he tsks, “I’m not finished with you.” Grabbing the backs of your thighs, he lifts you up onto the counter, legs spread wide. He brushes his fingers against your dripping cunt, moving softly against your folds and teasing your hole.

You lean back on the counter, shoulders pressed against the mirror as you watch Eren’s eyes hungrily dance across your body. He is going to punish you for trying to make him cum earlier — he is going to tease you and edge you until you can’t take it anymore and you are so fucking excited.

“Look at you, you’re dripping,” he laughs, deep from his chest as his fingers ghost against your pussy. “I love how fuckin messy you get.” You can’t control the way your hips move with his hand, desperate to have him inside of you. Your pussy clenches around nothing, so swollen and needy to be fucked. 

He slides one finger inside of you at first. It goes in easily from the slickness of your cunt, and you already feel some relief. You gasp out a breathy moan as you grind your hips down into his hand for more stimulation. 

“So fuckin needy,” he whispers. Eren holds your hips down with his other hand while he moves his finger in and out of your pussy. Slowly, so agonizingly slow, you’re whining and desperate for more. “I love it when you’re so fucked out like this for me,” he groans, teasing your entrance before pushing another finger inside of you. 

His two fingers are so much thicker than yours and it feels so good. You whimper as he moves his fingers slowly, scissoring them inside of you but never quite hitting you where you need him most.

You try to grind your hips down onto his hand for more stimulation but his hold on you is too strong. “You can’t even fuckin control yourself around me -- you want me so bad, don’t you?”

“Yes, Eren -- please!” you’re practically crying.

“Baby, you’re so wet. I bet I could --” you feel another finger press gently against your entrance before sliding inside of you. You shudder at the feeling of three of Eren’s thick fingers pumping in your pussy. “Such a good girl,” he sigh, throwing his head back and letting his eyes fall shut as he enjoys the feeling of you squeezing around his fingers.

You can hear the slick wet sucking sounds of your pussy clenching around his digits as he fingers you. It feels so good to be stretched out like this, but it’s nothing compared to his cock. You bite your lip and moan as he grinds the heel of his hand into your clit.

“Please,” you sigh, no weight to your voice as he lazily finger fucks you. 

“Mhmm?” he hums, slowly beginning to curl his fingers up inside of you, just brushing your sweet spot. “Right there?” he asks when you gasp and twitch at his touch. “Is that the spot?”

“Eren!” You’re going to lose your mind. It feels like he’s been teasing you for hours and when he looks down at you, you can tell from the look on his face that he isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. “Eren, fuck me — please!”

He bites his lip, breathing hard as he picks up his pace. You’re already clenching hard around his fingers, lewd, wet noises bouncing off the walls of the bathroom as your pussy leaks from your arousal all over the bathroom counter. 

“Yeah, baby,” he growls, “Keep saying my name like that and maybe I’ll let you cum.”

You instantly start chanting his name like a prayer, “Eren — Eren — Eren!” and he picks up his pace, thumb swirling over your clit as he fucks you with his fingers. 

“You like that?”

“Yes — fuck, Eren!”

“Are you gonna cum, baby? All over my hand?”

“So close, so fucking close, Eren!”

He pulls his fingers out from inside of you and you almost cry.

“No, Eren! Baby, please — please, I wanna cum so bad,” you’re practically sobbing as his hands reach for your wrists, already anticipating you to try to finish yourself off. Your pussy is clenching around nothing, desperately needing to be filled and satisfied. You’re so horny you’re practically shaking.

“Not yet,” he says, chest heaving from arousal. His thick, hard cock is pressed against your thigh and you think if you move your hips just right you might be able to slide him in. You dig your knees into his sides and roll your hips, only managing to ghost his head across your pussy. 

Eren quirks an eyebrow in amusement. “You’re so fucking needy.”

“Eren, please — I can’t take it anymore,” you whine. “Please, baby, I want your cock — I need you to fuck me, Eren,” your words are choppy and slurred, so fucking cock drunk for him that you can hardly think. 

Your desperation must stir something inside of him because he grabs your thighs, lifting you up off the counter and back onto your feet before spinning you around to face the mirror, his achingly hard cock pressed against your ass.

“Please, Eren,” you bend forward, hands bracing yourself against the mirror. “Please!” You’re almost in pain from how horny you are, so desperate for release and he’s still teasing you. You bounce your hips back against his, jerking his dick off with your thighs and finding pleasure in the way his cock rubs against your clit. You could cum just from this, you think, if he’d let you.

The head of his cock catches against your entrance and you squeeze hard around him, trying to suck him inside of you and fill you up. He groans loudly behind you, his eyes catching yours in the reflection of the mirror.

“You’re lucky I’m fucking needy too,” he growls, slowly pushing his hips forward and burying his cock inside of you. 

It’s intense -- so intense. After edging you and teasing you for so long, the feeling of his cock filling you has you gasping and crying out. You almost collapse forward into the mirror but Eren tugs on your hair with his hand, keeping your head upright and facing the mirror.

“Does that feel good?” his voice is just a rumble down your spine.

All you can do is nod in response as he starts to grind his hips against your ass. Every slight movement causing you to whine and shudder as his thick, hard cock massages against the walls of your cunt. You are already so close and he’s barely moving inside of you. 

“Fuck, I wish you could see the way your pussy’s grabbing my cock right now,” he says, eyes dark as he looks down. “You’re so fucking wet, baby, so fuckin wet.” Eren’s face is flushed, dark strands of hair sticking to his forehead from the sweat. You don’t want to take your eyes off of him but it feels too good.

You can’t wait anymore, you need to cum. You thrust your hips back into his, fucking yourself on his cock to find your release. He grips you harder as your ass bounces against his hips, his dark green eyes focusing up on yours in the mirror.

“Fuck, such a good girl,” he moans as you squeeze around him. He pulls you by the hair until your shoulder blades are touching his chest, moving his hand from your hip to swirl around your clit. Fuck. “Fuck yourself on my cock, baby, lemme feel you cum.”

It all happens so suddenly. One moment you’re on the edge and gasping and the next you’re exploding in pleasure. Every nerve ending feels like it’s on fire as you cum around Eren’s cock, clenching and squeezing him as wetness coats your thighs. You legs tremble beneath you and your eyes roll back into your head -- fuck, you’re crying from how good it feels.

You can feel Eren’s cock twitching inside of you as he fucks his cum deep inside of you. He presses his face into the crook of your neck, whimpering and whining out your name as your pussy milks his cock for every drop of his release.

When he finally stops moving he lets go of your hair and you almost collapse -- you can’t feel your legs. You fall forward onto the counter, legs still shaking as he pulls himself out of you. You’re both breathing hard and shaky.

Eren spreads you open with his thumbs to watch his cum and your own silky wetness slide down your thighs. You can see him smiling in the reflection of the mirror in satisfaction before he spanks you.

“Hey,” you whine weakly, your voice just a whisper from how hoarse your throat is -- a combination of deep throating Eren and your screaming moans.

“How are you doing, babe?”

“I think I blacked out for a minute there,” you confess.

“You made quite the mess,” he says, looking down at the puddle between your legs.

“Shut the fuck up,” you say, voice soft and breathy. You close your eyes, “I need a nap.”

---

The four of you sit on pillows on the floor while you share a box of pizza and a bottle of wine. The hotel room doesn’t have any cups, surprisingly, so rather than call the front desk and ask for some, you all decide to pass around the bottle. It doesn’t take long to finish two of the bottles, with all of you buzzing from the alcohol by the time Jean opens the third.

“So, how did you meet everyone, and what was your first impression?” Pieck asks around a mouthful of pizza. You are playing the Question Game, each person got to ask a question to someone in the group, and they had to answer or chug the wine.

“Well, I met you through Jean when we started working at Titan together,” you say, gesturing toward Pieck. “A mutual friend, Sasha, introduced me to Jean because we were in the same program together and…” you pause, thinking. “I don’t actually remember how we met,” you say, looking over at Eren.

Eren takes a drink from the wine bottle and cocks a brow. “Really?”

You shrug. “I’ve always known who you were because of the hockey team, but I don’t remember ever actually meeting you, y’know? I think the first time we talked was at the bar that one night.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he says, passing you the bottle, but his tone is off.

“And what about first impressions?” Pieck presses as you take a sip.

“Oh, right! Um…” you tap on your chin in thought as you pass the bottle to Jean with your other hand. “Pieck, I thought you seemed nice, but really quiet until we played that drinking game together at the icebreaker.”

“And Jean…” You normally wouldn’t be so bold, but the burn of liquid courage in your stomach spurs you into saying, “I thought you were really cute when I first met you… until I realized you were dating Pieck,” you add quickly.

Pieck giggles as Jean looks away with a shy smile. “Oh, I didn’t know,” he says quietly, taking a sip from the bottle.

“What about me?” Eren asks, nudging you gently.

“Eren…” you pause for a moment as you look over at him. Eren looks at you and it almost seems like he’s a little nervous, but you think you’re just imagining things from the alcohol. “I wondered what it was about you that made all the girls at school go so crazy over you.

“And?” Eren asks, smirking. “Did you figure it out?”

“Yeah,” you say with a smile. “You’re just a fuck boy.”

“Well, you nailed it,” Jean laughs, sharp and cruel.

“She nailed me, actually,” Eren corrects, placing a possessive hand on your thigh as he flips off Jean. Jean rolls his eyes, “Ok, my turn.” Eren looks around the room, trying to decide who to question. “Pieck, would you trade beds with me?”

“This isn’t truth or dare -- you have to ask a question,” Jean says quickly as a heat grows across your chest.

“Was that not a question?” Eren asks, feigning confusion. “I thought I said, would you trade beds with me? That sounds like a question to me,” he turns to you, “Wouldn’t you agree?” You nod but keep your eyes down and away from Eren in embarrassment. He gives you a soft, comforting squeeze on your thigh before leaning into your ear, whispering, “If that’s ok.”

You nod again. “Totally ok.”

“Sure,” Pieck says with a bright smile. She turns to Jean, “Just no funny business, ok? Pock will flip out,” she says.

“Who’s Pock?” you ask, looking up at Pieck in confusion. That wasn’t the name of anyone you were familiar with from Titan.

When she looks over at you, her smile is almost impossibly brighter as she says, “He’s my boyfriend.”

You purse your lips in shock, eyes darting towards Jean but he masks his expression by taking a long drink from the bottle. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” you say.

“Yeah, we actually live together,” she says happily. You can almost feel Jean crumbling next to her -- did he not know either? “We’ve been together for a couple of years now.”

Even Eren can sense the subtle shift in Jean’s attitude and he tries to move on. “Ok, whose turn is it next?”

Jean finishes the bottle and stands up abruptly. “I think we should all get to bed now. We’re out of alcohol and it’s late.” He nods towards you, “And we’re leaving tomorrow.”

Eren blows a raspberry at Jean. “You’re such a buzz-kill.” He wraps his arms around you and nuzzles his face into your neck, inhaling deeply against your skin. “But, that’s ok. We can go to bed.”

You’re almost giddy with excitement as you and Eren crawl into bed together. Although the two of you were sleeping together, you had never actually slept together outside of little naps in the back of his car. Your bodies mold together effortlessly with Eren’s arms wrapping you tight against his chest and your legs tangling against one another. Despite his solid, muscular build, he is a good cuddler and the perfect temperature.

You nuzzle your face into his chest as Jean and Pieck shuffle behind you in their shared bed. You can feel Eren’s laugh deep in his chest before he says, “They’re building a pillow wall.”

You giggle against his skin, pressing a soft kiss to the hollow in his neck. “How silly.”

He strokes the back of your head gently as your eyes flutter shut, the weight of the alcohol making you drowsy. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, Eren.”

[rusted-fairy-wings]

IT'S FINISHED GUYS

Alrighty, guys, here's my day-late Lloyd birthday one shot I whipped up as quick as I could. It's set mid season 2 because I wanted it to be lol. hope y'all enjoy it because I enjoyed writing it! (~2.5k words).

Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon had never particularly cared for birthdays. He hadn’t had one horrible one that had changed it all, he hadn’t had one spectacular one that made it all worth it, he simply hadn’t had much of a birthday at all. Darkley’s didn’t celebrate such things; birthdays had been largely ignored since they didn’t contribute to the ultimate goal of villainy. Besides, it wasn’t like Lloyd had any friends there to celebrate with anyways. Acts of kindness were seen as acts of weakness and therefore few and far between. He knew his father would have tried to celebrate if he could, but being trapped in the Underworld and turning more evil each day made any sort of quality time difficult. And of course, Lloyd didn’t even remember his mother and had only started to get to know her recently. So, needless to say, Lloyd’s birthdays over the years had never mattered much; he spent them alone because it was the only way he ever had.

Unsurprisingly then, he didn’t bring up the meaning of September 22nd to the other ninja when the day came. Besides, Lloyd wasn’t even sure exactly how old he was turning. It would’ve been his tenth birthday, but now… he wasn’t exactly sure what age he was. So no point in celebrating anyways. Only his mother and maybe his Uncle Wu knew the meaning of today, and so far Lloyd hadn’t seen either of them. 

Lloyd had been sitting at the table in the Bounty as he was contemplating all this, staring off into space. He flinched slightly when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, Kid, I’m going into the city to run an errand. Wanna come?”

Lloyd glanced up at Kai and said, “Thanks, Kai, but maybe I should stay in today.”

Kai’s dimples showed when a slight frown tugged at his lips. Lloyd shrugged at the fire ninja who had become an older brother to him. 

“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun. Let’s go. You don’t have a choice, we’re going.”

“Hey, why’d you even bother asking if you’re gonna make me go?” Lloyd protested. “Besides, I don’t have to listen to you.”

“Pretty sure you do actually. I’m older and cooler. C’mon, you’ll have fun.”

And looking at Kai’s earnest, prideful grin, Lloyd couldn’t help but agree to follow his older brother. As they left, Kai told Cole they were leaving, and next thing Lloyd knew, they’d left the Bounty behind.

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

“Finally,” Jay groaned after Cole had spread the news of Lloyd and Kai’s departure. “That took forever with Lloyd sleeping in so late today.”

Zane and Cole stood side by side in the kitchen, largely ignoring Jay in favor of pouring over a recipe book. 

Nya replied, glancing up from the box of decorations she’d set on the table, “What matters is Kai got him out of here. Cole, Zane, how's it going?”

“Just trying to determine the cake flavor Lloyd would most prefer.”

“I’m telling ya, chocolate!”

“Cole, that’s the flavor you would most prefer,” Zane answered icily.

Nya interjected, “Well, what’s the sweetest one?”

Cole argued, “It’s cake, they're all sweet.”

“We could ask Misako what he’d like,” Zane offered.

Nya protested, “Like she’d know! We’ve practically known Lloyd longer than she has!”

The two ninja and samurai continued to bicker on like this for a while as Jay sat unusually quiet.

“Oh I know!” Jay interrupted suddenly, standing up from the table he and Nya were seated at and walking to Cole and Zane. “Bake him the one with all those colorful sprinkles in the middle! Oh and we can put pieces of candy on top!”

Zane, Cole, and Nya all shared a look. 

Cole muttered, “Can’t believe Jay had the best idea.”

“Hey!” Jay whined. “ I have great ideas!”

Nya, moving to stand next to Jay, said, “Aw, lay off him. We need to get started, we only have a few hours before they’ll be back.”

Zane and Cole kicked Nya and Jay back out of the kitchen since neither of them were trustworthy when it came to making anything more than toast. Instead, as Cole and Zane got started, Jay and Nya began to sort through and put up the meager decorations they had.

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

Wu and Misako sat quietly in the Bounty. Misako’s hands were steady, her movements precise as she wrapped the gifts from the ninja, Wu, and her. The steadiness of her hands masked the trembling within.

But Wu knew her well enough to see right through this.

“You are worried, aren’t you?” He said after a while.

Misako sighed and answered, “Of course I am. I haven’t spent a birthday with him since the first couple. I haven’t been the best mother as the ninja have made abundantly clear, especially Kai.”

“They are… protective. Do not take it to heart if some of them are still warming up to you. You telling them what today was is a step in the right direction. And your son has forgiven you.”

“I know… but all those years apart. I wonder if he and I will ever be close.”

“Only time will tell, Misako,” Wu reassured her, his gift wrapping as precise as his sister-in-law’s. “For now, know that things are better than before.”

Misako nodded, and they both fell silent once again. 

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

Kai and Lloyd wandered the streets of Ninjago City, and Kai couldn’t help but grin. It had been a while since just the two of them had spent quality time together with all the life-threatening adventures eating up their time. 

“So, what do you need to pick up from town?” The younger of the two asked.

“Hair gel,” Kai answered quickly, just as he had practiced… also it was true. 

Lloyd laughed, rolling his eyes as Kai rebutted, “Hey, hair this great takes effort you know!”

“Yeah, we’ve all seen how many hours you spend on it in the bathroom,” Lloyd teased. 

“What can I say? I’ve got priorities. Someone on this team has gotta have great hair.”

The two walked to the general store, grabbing from the shelf the biggest container of Kai’s usual hair gel brand they could find. 

“Hey, you know while we’re here, Kid,” Kai offered. “You should look around! Need anything?”

Lloyd shrugged and said, “I don’t need much, I mean—”

Kai had not so subtly been leading them to the candy aisle after grabbing the gel and asked, “Nothing at all? You sure? My treat.”

Now growing suspicious but unable to resist, Lloyd grabbed a bag of suckers and a bag of gummy candy. Smiling smugly at the delight on his younger brother’s face, Kai paid for the hair gel and the treats.

“So, back to the Bounty?” Lloyd asked, popping a gummy into his mouth and then offering the bag to Kai. 

“Well, we’re already here. Might as well stay and enjoy the city while it’s not being attacked, right? How about we go to the arcade?” Kai said as he took a piece of candy for himself.

“You suck at video games though.”

“Hey! Sorry I don’t spend the hours Jay does on gaming to get good at ‘em. I can still enjoy it!”

With a mischievous grin that reminded Kai of his brother’s youth, Lloyd teased, “Oh, that’s right, you spend those hours on your hair!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kai answered, ruffling Lloyd’s hair affectionately. “Let’s go, alright?”

Unsurprisingly, Lloyd was better than Kai at pretty much everything they played, the younger of the two gloating the whole time. As Kai looked at his younger brother, beaming with pride, moving from game to game with childlike wonder, laughing at Kai’s many mishaps, Kai couldn’t help but be happy too. He knew Lloyd’s life hadn’t been easy. He’d been the one to comfort Lloyd when he awoke him in the middle of the night due to nightmares. He’d hugged him while he cried. He’d looked after him when Lloyd didn’t have anywhere else to turn to. Kai knew better than anyone how hard it was for Lloyd to maintain his hope and sense of optimism. But he’d be there to fan the flames and to keep that hope alive. 

In moments like these, the fire ninja practically glowed with pride. Because something about seeing his little brother this happy fulfilled him like few things ever had or maybe ever would.

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

Grinning ear to ear, Lloyd walked side by side with Kai to where the Bounty was anchored. 

As they came upon it, Kai said smugly, “See, told you we’d have fun. Aren’t you glad you ran errands with me?”

“Yeah… I am. Thanks, Kai. I probably would’ve stayed inside the whole day if you hadn’t forced me out. Sometimes… even though it doesn’t always bother me, today’s hard. It usually is fine, but I guess it was affecting me more than I realized.”

Kai slowed his climb into the Bounty, asking slowly, “Today’s hard, huh?”

“I mean, it’s a little lonely usually. But I’m really glad you spent the day with me, Kai, even if I didn’t tell you that today mattered.”

Kai and Lloyd now stood outside the door to the kitchen and dining area of the Bounty, the ship unusually quiet.

“Lloyd, I know what day it is. And I assumed with everything you told me about how you grew up before we took you in that it hasn’t been the best. But I—we—were hoping to make this one a good one.”

“Wait—you knew? And what do you mean ‘we?’”

Kai opened the door, and Lloyd’s eyes widened at the table laden with gifts Misako and Wu had wrapped, the horribly crooked decorations Jay and Nya had put up, and the lopsided cake Cole and Zane had baked and decorated. His breath caught when he saw them all there: Zane, Jay, Cole, Nya, Misako and his Uncle Wu—his family.

In a way that was clearly rehearsed but still horribly out of sync, everyone gave a slightly mis-timed, “Happy birthday!”

Cole stepped forward, showing Lloyd the cake he and Zane had worked so hard on. Lloyd didn’t miss the flour still on Zane’s shirt or the smear of frosting on Cole’s jeans.

“My apologies that the letters are smushed,” Zane said as Lloyd took in the sight of the barely frosted cake with its crooked “happy birthday Lloyd!” that he could barely make out. “I made the mistake of letting Cole do it.”

“I think it looks great, and hello, all cakes look good!”

Lloyd looked at Kai, who set his hand on the younger ninja’s shoulder as his green eyes welled with tears.

“You did… all of this? For me? I didn’t even tell you it was today!”

“Misako told us,” Nya answered as Lloyd looked at the mother he barely knew.

Misako nodded and said, “You deserve to have at least one be special, and I knew your friends would want to make that happen.”

Nya added, “Hope you don’t mind all the sneaking around we did to surprise you.”

His arm now around Lloyd’s shoulder as tears began to trickle down the green ninja’s face, Kai reassured, “We love you, Kid.”

Lloyd hugged Kai tightly and then looked at his family.

“Thank you all… this is the nicest thing I think anyone’s ever done for me.”

“That’s because for once, Kai’s right,” Jay said with a grin. “We love ya! Now are you gonna open your gifts or what? We spent good money on those!”

Lloyd laughed, wiping his eyes as Kai led him to sit at the table. He opened comics and candy and clothes and knick-knacks. Each one was so thoughtful—the comics were all ones he’d mentioned liking, the candy his favorite flavors, the clothes just his size and style, the knick-knacks similar to what he’d described wanting to decorate his space in the Bounty with ages ago. His favorite gift by far though was one his mother presented, a framed picture of everyone present at the celebration. When Lloyd opened the frame, he saw the back of the photo had been signed by everyone and was covered with kind words. 

Kai lit candles on a cake that tasted much better than it looked. Admittedly, when Lloyd blew out the candles, he did make a wish—he wished his father were there too. It would’ve been the only thing that made the day perfect. But he was surrounded by such love and warmth, his father’s absence only truly bothered him at that moment. 

He celebrated and laughed with the others for many hours, but at the end of the night, Wu presented one last gift: a letter that Lloyd quickly tore open.

My dear son,

I know that destiny has torn us apart. I know that I am not with you. I know that one day—someday soon even—we will fight. This is all undeniable. 

But that day is not today. I’m sorry I cannot be by your side. The evil inside me grows stronger every day, and I don’t want you hurt if things were to get violent between me and the others. Instead, I offer you this letter.

I love you, Son. Happy birthday. Know that September 22nd ten years ago was the greatest day of my life. 

-Your father

“How did you get this?” Lloyd whispered, clutching it tightly. 

Wu answered, “Worry not about that. What matters is that my brother is still there despite the venom. And that is the man who wanted you to see that.”

Lloyd nodded, at a loss for words as he held the letter close to his chest. 

Kai ruffled Lloyd’s blonde hair, saying, “We all love you, Kid. Things aren’t perfect, but hey, as long as they’re better than before, right?”

Lloyd couldn’t help but smile as he took in the sight of his loved ones and said, “Way better than before. Nobody’s ever done anything like this for me.”

Nya smiled and said, “Well, you’re family now. That’s what we do for each other.”

The celebration ran a little longer, but soon people began to head to bed, to rest. 

And as he went to bed himself, Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon thought that maybe he did care for birthdays. He hadn’t had one horrible one, but he had one spectacular one that made it all worth it. He had friends—a family—to celebrate with, who made it all worth it. Acts of kindness were no longer a sign of weakness in his life. His birthday did matter, and he knew he would never spend another alone. Even as their destined battle drew nearer, his father had tried to celebrate in the way he could. His mother had returned and shared the day with the others to make this all possible. So, needless to say, Lloyd’s birthday did matter, and he wouldn’t spend another alone.