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echantedtoon · 1 year ago

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Love Doesn't Do Encores Ch36 Welcome To Spikemuth

(Here's a pic of the motorcycle if anyone needs a visual. Is there anything specific people want to do in Spikemuth with or without Piers? Also my noticfications have been acting wonky lately so if anyone wasn't informed of the last chapter getting posted I apologize. Also, what names shall we have for the other shiny pokemon. You can see what kind of shiny pokemon the reader has back in Ch27 titled Christmas With Piers.)

You left on the evening train. Just a few hours after Victor left and chatting to everyone to pass the time before you did leave. After all you made sure you had packed everything. Paid for the ticket to Hammerlocke. And had been sure to pay Mrs. L for your extra time there before you left and made sure the basement room she rented to you was cleaned before you left. And bought enough travel food to last yourself until you reach Hammerlocke. There wasn't any lose ends to take care of before you left besides to say good bye to everyone. You were excited to be heading to Spikemuth!..But also a little scared to be traveling by yourself and sad to be leaving the place you made friends with, but this was a great chance to benefit yourself. If you were going to live in this world from now on you had to make a living for yourself. Besides. You could always come back and visit Postwick. It was all just a train ride away. Around four o'clock the evening train rumbled into the station and with the ticket you purchased from the station master, you slid it into the small slot while picking up Silver into your arms to pass through the gate, and into the train car you went. Smiling sadly and waving goodbye to them until the announcer sounded over the speakers for any last passengers to board before they left. With one last good bye you turned into the car and walked inside. Getting seated into one of the many bright colorful seats and the train pulled away from the station. Leaving everyone behind. But it was ok. Everything was going to be ok.

You were going home.

CHIRP!! You looked over towards the source of the loud noise and found yourself face to face with a familiar face as Silver made it his mission to climb on top of the table and just sit there looking out the window as he just plopped himself down. Still wearing that hoodie you bought for him so long ago. You couldn't help but chuckle which made him look at you.

"I'm sorry," you apologized even though you weren't sorry in the slightest. "You just look adorable wearing that." CHIRP!! He frowned and gave an annoyed look your way. Oops. You forget these guys could understand human language. "Hey. I didn't mean it like that. You really do look nice in that. But if you ever evolve again it'll be too small for you." He frowned more before just flopping on his stomach facing the window and you chuckled at him before reaching over to pat him on the head. "Alright buddy. You go ahead and rest. We'll be home soon."

At least you weren't traveling alone this time. As one day turned into two then three then four then an entire week and more. On your way to Hammerlocke you'd find yourself trying to talk with Silver every so often, which was more lively than you thought. You could read him pretty well as he responded with facial expressions, sounds, nods and shakes of his head, and gestures with his small pink hands. Often using it to wake you up or pointing to your backpack to indicate he wanted food. Which you happily gave to him. Watching him gulp down the food you gave him like no tomorrow making you chuckle. You couldn't remember how many days had passed, too busy looking out the window or playing with Silver but you made sure to listen to the announcer every time he gave an update to where you would be stopping but none were the stop you were looking for. It was during one night you had woken up early in the morning to Silver trying to rummage through your luggage looking for food. Making your groggy self annoyed shooing him off your pack. And then once you knew he wouldn't do it again, tried to lean back in the seat and tried to go back to sleep-

"Attention Passengers! We will be arriving in Hammerlocke within fifthteen minutes!"

You went from groggy to semi awake faster than Silver could use water gun. Blinking in your stupor, you looked out the window. The sky was still dark but the new sun in the morning was starting to come up over the edge of the horizon. Letting you know that the morning was indeed coming and your stop was coming in FIFTHTEEN MINUTES!! Jumping up, you quickly began gathering up your things and securing them in your bag before snatching up Silver in your arms as he gave a noise as you stood by waiting patiently looking out the window as the train wheezed and slowed until it completely stopped and you stood up. Making your way to the exit doors that had opened.

"Attention Passengers! We have now arrived in Hammerlocke! The morning train leaving Hammerlocke Station will depart in fifthteen minutes! Please exit or enter the train within that time. That's all!"

You made your way out of the gates and into the familiar Hammerlocke Station you've been to so many times beforehand. Smiling as you could finally properly stretch your legs for a moment, looking around and seeing the familiar curry side cafe tucked away in the corner of the station you all had eaten before and then letting out an embarrassed sigh when your stomach rumbled. You did want something other than travel foods that tasted bland and dried for too long. But you doubted you had enough money in your pockets leftover to buy anything for yourself let alone Silver so you two would have to stick to the leftover travel foods for now. Silver was placed down and he followed you out from the station where you stopped resting your hands on your backpack straps and looked around. More of the sky was lighter and already there was a few people running around. Mostly a bunch of parents with their children, backpacks on their backs escorting their little ones towards the Hammerlocke school up the road. And some others looking like they were heading on their way to work. A typical start to many peoples' days. ..But now you had only one other problem. What were you supposed to do now? You were sure Sonia would've called Piers to let him know you were coming like you asked her and you had come to Hammerlocke like he had asked you to do, but....What now? Now that you were here should you just wait? But how long would that take? Was Piers already here somewhere? If so where? ...Maybe you should try finding Raihan and seeing if he knew where Piers was? You really didn't want to do that last one but considering the two were friends, that would probably be your best bet right now. Plus he owed you one for helping to save his stadium from those two thieves. With a sigh, you turned your body and motioned to Silver to follow you towards the draw bridge leading towards the gym.

"Follow me, Sil. Let's see if we can't find anyone around here to help us."

Silver chirped and followed you as you began stepping towards the stadium. As you walked you took in the sight of Hammerlocke by yourself since it was the first time coming here by yourself, it actually seemed a lot more peaceful now which was good. You liked the peace after going through so much hectic events happened in the last year and a half. You approached the corner where you'd find the turn off for the stadium right by the resident pokemon center and was about to turn to walk to the stadium's entrance but you were stopped by one loud voice.

"Hey, Sassy!," someone called out and your body froze on instinct. There was only ONE person's who's voice caught you're attention that THAT could belong to. And as you turned your head, you confirmed your fears as none other than Raihan him was already walking out from the gym's entrance towards you. Hand up in the air waving towards you. "I thought I saw a beautiful lady and her drizzle. Was wondering when you would show up!"

"Oh really?," you asked back crossing your arms and giving a groan. "Don't tell me that Piers-"

"Asked me to look out for you when you got here?," he asked interrupting you with that usual smirk on his face. "Haha! Pretty much! But I really wasn't expecting you this early. Lucky for you huh?"

"tch. Unbelievable." You pointed at him as he stopped in front of you. "What are you even doing out this early in the morning? I thought someone like you would be too busy to stay in Hammerlocke for so long."

As if to answer you his hand just pointed straight up. "I'm staying here until my stadium's roof is completely fixed. It's taking longer than usual due to the Chairwoman running all over the place trying to fix things and get them ready by next year." He sighed rubbing his head. "Things here are really a hot spot for bad guy operations lately."

"Why don't you just have Sordward and Shielbert pay for the repairs and speed it up a little bit?"

He turned to you and blinked. "What?"

"The guys with the weird hair that broke in," you said gesturing to your head, "They're super rich and the Chairwoman's already making them pay for repairs and renovations in order to make them pay for what they did. And they must've caused some damage to your roof. It wouldn't hurt them at all to just have them pay for the fix ups to pay you back."

Raihan stared at you for a moment humming..before smiling widely. "Hey! That's not a bad idea. You're a smart cookie."

You shrugged. "Eh. I'm just pointing out the most obvious solution." Before you looked around the place for any flashes of black and white. "So where is Piers? I'm supposed to be meeting him here before I head to Spikemuth."

"Oh he'll be here," he assured you, "But not until around noon. With how Piers drives it usually takes him a little bit to get places."

"..Wait. Piers is driving?"

"Yeah. He said something about you not liking to fly so he's driving his way here instead. Pretty sweet huh? Piers doesn't do this for everyone y'know."

"I didn't know he had a car."

"Motorcycle actually."

"Still. I could've just walked by way there. It's not that far from Hammerlocke."

"True, but Piers considers you a friend at this point." he smiled a knowing look at you which you didn't get at first. "And Piers is always down to help those he cares about."

Well that was news to you as you blinked surprised. "We're...friends?"

"Of course! Piers doesn't really say he's friends with anyone even if you are but he'll let you know you're friends through actions. He's an actions speak louder than words kinda guy most of the time." And as if a lightbulb went off in his head, he smiled and pointed his hand to the left. "Hey. Since Piers asked me to be a good host how about I treat you and you're little friend to breakfast? He's not going to show up until later anyways."

At the mention of food your stomach grumbled again and you gave an embarrassed face to his chuckle. Well...He DID owe you one so you'd be knocking out his owed favor and getting some grub at the same time. And he was actually the one who offered so it wouldn't hurt to accept this. After a moment of thinking it over you nodded but shot him a warning look.

"Alright but don't try anything. I have Silver and I'm not afraid to use him."

"Trust me. I know that."

Reluctantly you allowed Raihan to guide you on over towards that cafe you ate the last time you were there. The same one where you had pulled the hood over Raihan's face...You chuckled at the memory but decided it was best not to pull something like that again. Unless..of course. He tried to pull something again. Hopefully he wouldn't along the way he was stopped by one or two people who he allowed to take pictures with him before continuing on your way. Good to know he was still popular. As soon as you two got into the restaurant and sat down the older man behind the counter greeted him like an old friend before you two placed the orders, having him disappear into the back to prepare said food for the both of you and Silver who was plopped into the seat next to you. Leaving the three of you alone to wait for him to come back with your food. Until he looked to you with a smile and decided to break the ice with a question.

"So how was the trip over here? From what I've gathered you seem to travel a whole lot."

You blinked surprised at the seemingly normal question but still rose a brow. "It was alright but I don't want to make a habit out of it. A bit chilly though."

He nodded. "Well it is nearing the fall months right around now. Seems time flies when you're helping to save Galar huh? Oh hey. That's right." He pointed leaning back in his chair. "You were always traveling with your friends right? So would this be the first time you traveled alone?"

You shook your head. "No. I came here alone last year during Mr. Rose's main event remember? And I have gone places by myself before even before I met you guys." Ah yes. Jobs, runs to the store, walking to school- You shook your head. "But what about you? How are you holding up with everything that's happened in Hammerlocke?"

This time it was his turn to look surprised and you blinked when the usually smiling man actually groaned. "It's been-..Well-.." He made a rolling motion with one of his hands. "It's had it's ups and downs. Mostly a temporary hit to my credibility as a gym leader and good person."

"Wait..Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Being the person's who's gym not only harbored that-...'thing' the Chairman tried to bring back but also was subjugated to two attacks and the fact I failed to keep one out..Uh." A hand reached up to rub his face with a sigh. "I should count myself lucky Lee vouched for me and me obviously being proven innocent by the police. Really scared about what might've happened to my trainers y'know."

This time you were surprised this guy was thinking about the welfare of the trainers he was basically raising, but considering that he has indicated he cared for them before their wasn't really a surprise there he was worried about them first.

You nodded. "Yeah. I can get that..How are they anyways?"

"Huh? Oh. They're fine. Right now they're off at school with a whole bunch of other kids. Y'know it is a school day."

"Ah yeah. So um....Which one of them is your actual successor?"

"Sebastian! His sisters are more into traveling and wanting to start their own businesses. Which I fully support! But speaking of which I heard your friends got some pretty sweet positions too." he smiled. "From Gym Challengers endorsed by the Champion to Heroes and now to being full on trained by gym leaders and the prodigy of a famous professor." He huffed a chuckle. "Those three are something else. I bet Sonia's going to have a field day with her next book."

"Next book?"

He nodded. "Her first one nearly sold out so her second one about the other incident should also do really well. I'm surprised you didn't already get a copy."

You blinked but shook your head. "No. But I'll have to grab a few and have her sign them for me. I bet they'd be a great pass time to read."

Your two's conversation was cut short when the food was brought out and your empty stomach made all your attention turn to the food placed down in front of you. Digging into the delicious waffles along with Silver who also seemed preoccupied with his own food to notice Raihan. In the end you considered things even between you and Raihan for now at least. You weren't sure if another big bad guy was going to swoop in and try to start trouble and surprisingly...the rest of the conversations between you two were actually nice. Mostly about domestic things like how everyone was doing and what your hobbies were. Which you were happy to comply to keep the friendly atmosphere going. Surprising to find out more about Raihan's daily life and how he took the incidents that happened. Before you knew it the food was gone and paid for. The dishes taken and you two both continued to talk and talk as Silver bored sat there. Eventually another round of food was had after a couple hours and you declined his second offer of buying you lunch. You had enough money left for you and Silver for lunch and you decided you didn't want to owe anyone anymore favors, especially Raihan. Although you had come to an understanding that be was actually a decent guy ..when he wasn't flirting with you or being smug at least. By now it must've been near noon time. You were taking a moment to eat through your lunch when a familiar ring tone sounded out and you paused when an orange blur suddenly shot up from one of Raihan's pockets. A rotomi phone. The pokemon inside the phone floated up towards Raihan who smiled at it when it spoke in a robotic like voice.

"Incoming phone call from Emo Softy. Would you like to Accept Call or Decline Call?"

"Accept Call."

"Emo Softy?," you asked at the same time making his smile turn to you.

"Well yeah. I have nicknames for all my friends, Sassy. Don't you?"

Well..you kinda did. But a voice picked up through the other side of the line. "It's 'bout time ya picked up." A calm, bored sounding voice. And you both instantly knew who that was.

Raihan only smiled and said to the phone, "What? It was only a few seconds since you called me first. Don't I at least get a little credit on my end?"

A groan answered him. "Jus' where are ya? 'M already here at the stadium."

"Oh. We're not there. We're at that cafe we ate at for your birthday that one year remember? The one that sold the pokemon safe cake you gave your obstagoon."

There was a slight pause. "...We?"

"Yeah." Raihan smiled at you. And as you weren't looking Silver reached over and grabbed your plate, quietly sliding it over towards him to eat while you weren't paying attention. "We. Me, Sassy, and her little bodyguard. We're having lunch. You should come over and join us actually. This plate has great food."

Again another pause before the voice cleared his throat on the other side before saying, "M' on my way." Before hanging up.

Raihan gave a few chuckles before the phone zipped back to his jacket pocket. "Well it looks like we're going to have a guest soon."

Piers. Piers!! Piers was coming to see you. An excited feeling fluttered in your chest but that must've been from the thought of seeing someone who considered you a friend again. You fork came back down- Clink! Your f/c eyes blinked back to the table your fork connected with realizing your plate was no longer there before your eyes trailed over to Silver who shoveled the last of the lunch YOU paid for YOURSELF into his mouth. Making you scowl and Raihan laugh.

"Silver!"

Unsurprisingly he didn't see the problem with taking your food and you were left sitting there with only half the plate eaten. Although your attention to the window soon made you forget all about your stolen lunch and Raihan as you all just waited anxiously. Or just you really. And you instantly perked up as a man slightly slouched over with long black and white spikey hair appeared briskly walking past the store window. PIERS!! You felt your lips smile widely in happiness as the punk opened the door and stepped right in the little bell over the door ringing out. And he instantly stopped in the doorway once he stepped into the door. Because he instantly saw you and vise versa. Not waiting for anyone else to happen, you jumped up from your seat startling Silver who blinked at you and you waved at him.

"Piers!"

..A tiny smile speared across his face. "'Bunny! Yer here!...I mean." He cleared his throat hand reaching up to grab his choker before he walked in more. "'S good to see ya again."

You smiled brightly at him as Raihan looked between you two with a knowing look. "Same here. I'm happy to see you too. Man. It's been so long since I've been able to see you again. How are you?"

He hummed that small smile still on his face as he did so. "'M fine. 'Course I was jus' not sure if you'd be 'ere or not. I wasn't sure if I came here too early or too late. Seems we're both lucky huh?"

You nodded. "Yeah. Seems my luck is always getting better with you around. You're like a walking good luck charm!"

Piers blinked at your words before his eyes darted to the right suddenly interested in the ceiling, and a slight pink hue lit up on his cheeks. "Uh huh....*ahem* W-Well are ya ready ta go?"

"Oh already?" So soon? He nodded and you shrugged. "Sure. Just give me a second to grab something real quick."

You went to grab your back pack and Raihan stood up with a sigh. "Well I guess it was fun while this lasted. I'll walk you two out."

Silver shuffled off the seat after you and after Raihan tossed a few bills on the table for the tip, the lot of you made your way back out the cafe with you smiling brightly like a child who just got free candy between the two guys. Raihan gave one look over to Piers who glanced at you but once he caught Raihan's gaze, the dragon man wagged his brows at him making the punk scowl silently back at him. The three of you walked all the way to where you remembered the way back to Spikemuth from when you all traveled there last year. Travel all the way down Route Eight until you reached the fork in the road that branched off into the rest of Route Eight and Route Nine. Then travel down Route Nine until you reach Route Nine Tunnel which marked the halfway point to Spikemuth, then go through a small forested area and boom! You'd reach Spikemuth. Upon reaching the exit out of Hammerlocke, you paused seeing what Piers walked over to. A motorcycle! I mean..Raihan had told you he had one but you were actually expecting to see one. It was a model unknown to you but it was dripped out in the classic magenta, white, and black colors Piers usually associated himself with. A magenta traveling bag strapped near the front that must've belonged to him, and a small white helmet and goggle set with a hot pink stripe on the back was hung on the handlebars which Piers instantly grabbed once he got near it. You slowed your steps approaching the bike wide eyed admiring it as Piers placed the helmet on his head securing the straps and throwing the goggles. You only really blinked when something was held up towards you which turned out to be another helmet than was tan. You slowly took it from him.

"'Ere," Piers said pointing at it. "I had an' extra for Marnie, but you'd need if you're gonna ride with me. " He paused.."You have ridden one of these 'fore right?"

You shook your head no. "Not really. I've ridden a bicycle before but never a motorcycle." You then placed the helmet over your own head and reached to attach the straps around your own chin.

Piers hummed. "Well..Jus' hop on and hang on tight to me. It'll take a few days to get there but it'll be faster than walking." He then looked at Silver and pointed. "An' he'll need to ride in a pokeball. There's not enough room for three of us."

Well that was understandable. It took a few minutes of convincing and Silver whining and clinging to your arm but you managed to get him back in his pokeball and secured him safely in your backpack. In the mean time Raihan walked right over to Piers who gave him a look.

"....Thanks for helpin' out."

"It's no biggy," he said waving a hand before smiling widely. "But if you gotta know her favorite hobbies is reading, literally anything involving music, going on walks, and she dabbles in cooking. Her favorite food is the sweet instant noodle curry and the sweet cheese one too. She hates people flirting with her out right if you don't get to know he-"

"What are you talking about?," Piers asked interrupting Raihan in his tyrade as you busied yourself with putting Silver away and climbing onto the back of his bike carefully.

Raigan smirked. "Oh. Just something to help you become better friends...Or if you ever decide to hang out again."

Piers opened his mouth ready to tell Raihan to come off it but he froze eyes suddenly blown wide and Raihan blinked for a moment confused as to why Piers suddenly looked like he saw a ghost but soon found out when he noticed that two arms were wrapped around his middle. Causing the punk to flush a slightly deeper shade of pink as you..Well you did exactly as Piers advised and what people usually did when riding the person driving the motorcycle. You made sure the helment was on securely before hopping onto the back seat and wrapped your arms around Piers in order to keep from falling off. Oblivious to the blush across Piers's face as you smiled at him.

"I think I'm ready so you can start the thing."

Piers took a moment to process what you said before he cleared his throat and his hands grabbed onto the handles. "R-Right. *ahem*" With one leg he pushed the motorcycle in an upright position from it's parked form ignoring the smirk Raihan was boring into him before twisting the handle and the engine purred to life. Your arms on instinct tightening just a bit more around him and with one kick off the motorcycle took off down the road. "Hang on. O-Ok." ..Although not as fast as you expected him to go. You both indeed take off. Down the dirt path. ...Well it was certainly faster than you could walk and it was faster than you could even run actually. Certainly faster than Silver could run too. But not as fast as a car or anything like that. If you'd have to compare the speed to something, it would be a scorbunny jogging pleasantly down the path.

But who were you to complain? You both left Hammerlocke behind and the visual of Raihan waving good bye to the two of you and you would've waved back if you weren't too scared of falling off being this was your first time on a motorcycle and while it WAS better than flying, not having the comfort of walls between you and a crash and the lack of a seat belt made you a bit nervous. You watched back as Hammerlocke slowly got smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared other than a small visual of it looking as if it was a small toy castle. After a moment you turned back around the scenery as it passed. Silently the two of you road for what seemed like a long moment before you looked back to him curious.

....

.......

Well you decided to ask him.

"Hey." You weren't sure if he could hear you at first over the wind and engine but he tilted his head slightly indicating he was listening to you. "Why don't we go a little faster?"

"Cuz my motto 's safety first," he replied back loudly for you to hear him. "An' this is your first time ridin' with me like this. I ain't taking any chances with you 'gain." He mumbled a last part to himseld. "Arceus knows you don't deserve any more trouble."

"Oh. ....How long will it take us to reach Spikemuth like this?"

"About three and a half days," he answered back, "But I'm plannin' on driving all night tonight so it should be shortened to a day n' a half. Hope ya don't mind but I don't like the idea of leaving Marnie all alone for too long."

Oh. Well that was completely understandable. "No it's fine. Honestly I'm sure I can pull an all nighter." You've done so before a couple times when you were studying for a test or did a night shift at a job your mother badgered you to do. "But will you be ok?"

He seemed to pause for a moment again..and you didn't see it but he blinked as if the question was foriegn to him. "Wot?"

You were oblivious to his face so again asked, "Are you going to be alright driving all night? I don't want you hurting yourself if you become too exhausted."

He didn't answer at first but eventually regained himself and nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. You jus' make sure ta just hang on and d-don't let go. I don't want you gettin' hurt anymore."

"Same here. I don't ever want to see you with a hurt arm let alone anything else again."

..He nervously gulped. "R-Right."

The next two and half days were pretty bland. Night soon fell upon the two of you but as Piers had said he kept driving. Half because he wanted to get back to Spikemuth and Marnie and half because he wanted an excuse to ignore the thoughts that made his heart pound in his chest for reasons he'd rather not contemplate. Switching a switch on his motorbike to make the front light turn on so he could see in the dark night as you stayed up to cling to him. You were tired of course but it was easier to stay away knowing you could fall off the bike and you definitely didn't want to end up in the hospital again. So through the night you drove on and on. The moon rising and falling as the night went on. Sometime during the middle of the night you both passed the fork in the road where Piers turned onto Route Nine and continued until the sun came up and he continued onwards still. You were so tired yawning every ten minutes or so, but you somehow were able to just stay awake blinking your tired eyes.

"Are you alright there?", he asked you a few hours into riding the second day...before he totally froze upon feeling something soft smooshing against his back and it took him a solid moment to realize your face was laid against his shoulder as you tried to keep yourself awake. Resulting in pink again rushing to his cheeks.

You nodded with another small yawn and blink head against his shoulder. "Y-Yeah. Just a bit..tired. Y'know?"

" W-W-Well...*ahem* Just stay awake for a lil longer. We'll be able to sleep tonight. Kay?"

You nodded still leaned against him and thus he continued to drive. By the midday of the day you both came upon something and you blinked your tired eyes up and behind you as the world blackened for just a few seconds before it was gone. Looking behind you, you realized what it was. A tunnel like bridge and it took you're tired brain a few seconds to realize something. That was the Route Nine Tunnel. That means you two were more than half way to Spikemuth already. That was a good sign. So again you two continued on with you leaning into him more as the day passed and eventually the sky started to darkened and the sunset started to form on the horizon. It was then that Piers began to slow down the bike even more and you blinked tilting your head up as he completely stopped, parking the bike, and reaching up to pull the helmet off himself as you slowly removed yourself from himself and the bike as well.

"We'll rest here for the night 'n travel the rest 'o the way in the mornin'," he commented looking over at the quickly setting sun. "With any luck we'll be there by tomorrow."

"Mm hm." you yawned again half stumbling have fumbling to get off the bike and reach towards your pack in order to reach your sleeping bag. You were just so tired that you just wanted to sleep.

The night was a blur. Somehow you managed to fish out your sleeping bag and crawl into it, completely falling asleep as soon as your head had hit the ground. Leaving Piers to look at you for a moment before sighing and shaking his head before also retiring for the night. You were awoken the next morning by light in your eyes and noises coming from somewhere near you.

"Hey. You."

when you opened your eyes blinking it took a moment of you yawning, rubbing your eyes, and letting your brain catch up to you before you were able to sit up and realize what was going on. Piers was already up and already to go. Already with the helmet and goggles on and currently strapping his travel bag back onto the front. But he did take notice enough of you stirring to talk to you.

"So you're finally awake."

You blinked and yawned again before stretching. "Y-Yeah. Man. What time is it?"

"Still early. Around eight in the mornin' I think." He turned to you before nodding over towards the bike. "C'mon. We're almost there. I'll help ya pack up."

After repacking everything back up and letting you wake up enough to put the helmet back on your head properly Piers was just about to hop back on the bike before something was shoved at him making him blink. It was a hand, your hand, holding out a piece of travel jerky to him. And he looked over to you who smiled while already chowing down on a piece of your own.

"Here. Breakfast." You said placing the small food into his palm. "You're probably hungry after all that driving. I don't have a lot but you can have that until you get back home." He blinked raising a brow between you and the food..before opening his mouth. "Dude. Don't try to give it back." You interrupted him making him lean his head taken aback as you pointed your free hand at him. "I know for a fact you didn't eat anything yesterday and you certainly didn't even eat anything this morning. You need to eat something even if it's just that. I'm not taking no for an answer about that."

"But I-''

"Piers." You narrowed your eyes at him. "I am NOT getting on that back until you eat that. Seriously, you need to take care of yourself dude." You smiled at him and he paused seeing it. "And I don't want to see you getting hurt ok?"

Piers just stood there staring at your smile. Your words slowly sinking into him conflicting emotions going through his mind. ..Until he eventually just said, "Thanks."

You two did eventually get back onto the bike and start to drive back again now more awake and less hungry than before although you did keep your promise and refuse to get back onto the bike until he at least ate the food you had given him. Long story short the two of you did reach Spikemuth. Through the woods and eventually out the other side as he slowed down the bike even more as he approached and you turned your head over his shoulder to look at the new restored town. And your eyes widened at what you saw. The high crumbling walls looked like someone knocked them down and slapped a brand new brick wall around the city as you two approached and with Piers slowing down more you saw even more improvement writing into town. It all looked brand new-ish! No trash was anywhere. The buildings looked normal and while not brand new looking was better than the worn out look they had before. The signs and broken lamp posts was no longer broken. But what really surprised you was the amount of people walking around that wasn't Team Yell. There was ACTUALLY a decent amount of regular looking people walking around the streets of all ages. From an elderly couple to a couple people and their children. As you two passed a couple of people also clearly noticed Piers and either pointed or waved at him as you passed. Well it looked like Piers was still well known to some people. You smiled as you admired the place which looked like now any other Surburban neighborhood. Already you felt a good vibe come off this place. The ride coming slower and slower until you blinked as you both once again came to a complete stop in front of the gym stadium. He must've felt your confusion because he answered you.

"Marn-marn's waitin' for me here." He said before reaching his hands up to remove the helmet from his head. Shaking to where his ponytails shifted about before looking behind him at you. "The friend I told ya 'bout who's rentin' her house works for me as well. Ruby's the one who usually takes care of the garage with R.J. an' Benjamin. ...And the one who keeps everyone in check when I'm not here." he mumbled that last part to himself before shaking his head and carefully placing the helmet on one of the handles. "C'mon. I'll introduce ya."

You blinked at Piers but quickly made to remove your helmet and follow after the lanky man who calmly walked up to the gym's giant exposed entrance letting you both see the inside easily and even more as you two walked up the street and right into it. Piers stopping first his blue eyes pointing towards one corner and you blinked following his gaze over to said corner and also paused. Because standing there was Marnie, with her back towards the both of you talking to a woman decked out in Team Yell attire and the two of them were staring at a phone the woman held as they seemed to be talking about something, but Piers interrupted the two with a smile and a small tune as he stepped forward and sung something out.

"'M coming home.~" Both ladies jumped and instantly snapped their heads up and around to Piers who smiled and held his arms out in a gesture. "Tell the world I'm comin' home.~"

Marnie's reaction was instant. "Piers!" And you watched as the younger of the two siblings ran up to her big brother to let the both of them embrace in a hug. Which made you smile. "What took ya so long?" Marnie demanded face buried in her brother's chest from the hug. "You're travelin' and gone from home so much lately."

"I know. An' I'm sorry about that," he assured her with a couple pats to her back. "But I made a promise ta someone to help 'em out an' y'know I always keep my promises. Like I also promise I'm not going anywhere for a good while, Marn-Marn." He turned his head over towards you and Marnie eventually followed his gaze landing on you. "Ya remember Leon's mate, right?"

Marnie looked at you slowly pulling away from her brother's hug and blinked at you but nodded. "Oh yeah. You're my big brother's new friend." She curiously turned her eyes up towards Piers raising a brow. "So you're the gal he went ta help? ...Hm. He seems to like helpin' you out a lot."

Piers gave her a look but you just smiled and nodded. "Well he's a really nice guy that's for sure. I bet he's a great big brother too."

"Hmm..Well you're not wrong about that."

Piers cleared his throat gaining your attention and motioning over for the woman who was previously chatting to Marnie to come over. "A-Anyways since you two already know each other." He quickly changed the topic pointing between you and the woman. "Y/n, this 's Ruby. Ruby this is the gal I told ya 'bout."

The woman blinked over to you and you noticed she had yellow eyes and some of the hair dye Team Yell used had started to fade revealing some faint red hair underneath. She looked you up and down for a moment before smiling. "Oh. You're the woman interested in the room for rent."

You nodded. "Y-Yeah. Piers said you were looking for a new tenant."

Ruby nodded back. "He said some good things about you, and I trust Piers's judgement so I'd be happy to go over the lease contract with you. But unfortunately I'm still on shift and don't get off until five. I'd be happy to go over everything with you then though."

You held up your hands understanding. "That's alright. I can wait. It'd probably be best for me to look around the town anyways. And this might be a good chance to go job hunting anyways."

Piers blinked. "Already? Ya just got here."

You nodded at him. "Yeah but it'd be better to get situated as soon as possible. You mentioned you knew some places around here who were hiring?"

Piers still blinked but Marnie answered you. "There's that new cafe a few blocks away from here." She said pointing out the gym. "It was converted by the new owner of the ol' ice cream shop. Heard it was lookin' for new waitresses."

Hey! That wasn't too far from the gym actually! Smiling you turned and waved at them. "Well then that's where I'm heading! I'll be back around five so I can talk to Ruby about that lease."

''W-Wait. Do ya even know where you're goin'?," Piers asked holding out a hand and called after your form. "Don't you even need a ride there?"

You shook your head. "No. It's just three blocks to the right from the gym. I remember that from the last time I was here." You waved. "Thanks for the ride Piers! I owe you one!"

He stood there for a moment hand outstretched before slowly returning his hand to his side silently as Marnie looked between where you had disappeared and her brother for a moment seeming to see something he didn't before asking.

"If ya want to ask her out there's no shame in it."

"M-MARNIE!!"

You smiled walking through the familiar streets of Spikemuth. The brighter atmosphere and other people walking around put a smile on your face at the peaceful atmosphere. You were right. Piers was a great gym leader because if this is was how it was like when he was in charge, then Piers must be doing a good job looking after his town. It was incredible at home much the town had changed since your last visit. As you passed different homes and a few small businesses, you eventually came to the small cafe that was once the run down ice cream shop. Repainted, repaired, and reopened with a 'Now Hiring' sign in one of the windows. Perfect! Smiling you walked right up to the door and opened it. A small bell went off above you echoing out throughout the small cafe you walked into. Making you blink and look around. It looked like any other generic restaurant you've eaten at. About as big as the cafe in Hammerlocke but a bit bigger, with a couple tables and booths lined up on the opposite wall and by the windows with black and white tiled flooring and a couple lights and ceiling fans above you. There was a bar counter with a couple stools and a cash register sat upon the very end. Behind the counter was a shelf with bottles of drinks, soda cans, and instant noodles packages with a coffee pot right next to the shelf. A pair of double doors was by the counter which you guessed must've lead to the kitchen and back rooms. Seemed like a nice place to work.

"Hello?," you called out when no one answered the bell.

What answered you was a clatter from the back kitchen making you jump and turn towards the double doors as footsteps approached. You watched as the double doors swung open and an older woman maybe mid forties in a professional chef outfit with the white sleeves rolled up and apron around her waist. Her light pink hair was already starting to lightly grey in some places, she smiled when she saw you.

"Welcome!," she greeted in a slightly higher pitched voice. "Sorry if I didn't hear you come in. I was in the back putting away some stock. What can I get for you?"

"Actually." Your hand pointed over towards the sign in the big window. "I'm here for the job opening?"

She seemed to instantly beam at this with a large smile. "You are?" You nodded and she huffed a chuckle. "Well hallelujah. That old sign's been hanging there for months now and no one's answered the call." She gestured to herself. "The name's Barbara. And you are?"

"Y/n," you said extending your hand to her to shake hers. "What job position are you looking for?"

She roughly shook yours. She seemed strong for her age. "Basically a helper around here of sorts. Someone to man the register, take orders, clean up the tables. The whole works. You have any job experiences doing those things?"

You nodded your head. "I worked at a cafe once as a summer job when I was seventeen." You answered truthfully.

"You're hired!"

You blinked....."Wait. Just like ..that?"

She nodded. "Yep! Been waiting for someone to start working and you're the first in months to show interest." You blinked when she pointed at you. "You start first thing Friday morning. Be here by six sharp and I'll run you through everything you need to know."

"Actually if you have time, you can go ahead and show me right now. I don't have anywhere to be until five anyways."

Barbara blinked looking surprised for a moment before she smiled widely again and slapped your shoulder making you wince. "Ha! I like you already! Sure. Follow me and I'll show you were everything is and what you'll be doing!"

And she did. Showed you the kitchen which looked like your standard cafe kitchen with a grill, fryer, sink, dishwasher, oven, and a large place for dishes to be put away. The back room where the food, cleaning supply closest, and other thing like extra napkins and to go boxes were. Before leaning you back to the front to show you something you didn't notice at first glance. A small open space in the wall leading from behind the cash register to the kitchen and right next to it was a small bell.

"After you bring us an order the food will be placed here and the bell will be rung to let you know to take it. When a table's done eating just bring the dishes to the back for us to take care of."

"Us?," you asked blinking and Barbara nodded.

"Yep! I work here with my son. He's my dishwasher, stock storer, and delivery boy. You just haven't met him yet because he's out making a couple deliveries." She then pointed towards the front of the cafe. "I do the cooking and making sure we're kept up in stock. The duties you'll be in charge of is just making sure the customers are happy getting their food, cleaning tables, and manning the front here. But there's a few rules I have to go over with you." You nodded. Of course. All businesses had dos and don'ts and rules. "Number one, if anyone tries ordering an alcoholic drink you always, ALWAYS check their IDs first and foremost. I don't care how old they look or who they are. If you don't see a number over twenty one on that card then it ain't happening, and I have a rule only two alcoholic drinks per a customer. If they don't like that then they can take their business somewhere else." Ok. That was actually responsible. "Number two, the only one who counts the money at the end of the day is me and only me. My register automatically counts every transaction and calculates how much money should be in there at the end of the day. So I always know if someone tries to sneak any money from it." Ok. Out of the blue but still understandable. "And lastly, I have a three strike rule. I'm pretty understanding if you're late sometimes or you break a plate on accident because things happen, but I also have a limit. You get three strikes and you're fired. I run a tight schedule around here and I'm no push over. Understand all that?"

Ok. Well that sounded pretty reasonable to you. So you nodded yes to her.

"Good. You start first thing Friday morning. Make sure you're here bright and early."

You again nodded. Looks like things were finally starting to look up for you.

-SMALL TIME SKIP-

Well, you were finally back at the gym. After talking a little more to Barbara, you still had a couple hours to kill so you took the opportunity to walk a little more around town and familiarize yourself with your new town. Finding a few other small businesses, a small park, and a lot of other houses you weren't able to see before for the brief time you were here last year. Of course there was a considerable amount of houses with 'For Sale' or 'For Rent' signs hanging up in their windows but you expected that from what Piers had told you. Entering one random thrift store you were able to see the time thanks to a clock on their wall and made it back to the gym in time to find Piers and Marnie gone and some Team Yell grunts around cleaning up after the day was getting to a close. One being Ruby who after greeting you motioned for you to follow her which you did. Surprisingly the place she lead you was just up the street from the gym itself. The house a generic two story building on the outside and when you were let in, the inside was genuinely like any other house. Actually it looked a lot like Mrs. L's house. Generic furniture matching the specific room they were in. Example being the living room having a television and a few chairs on a white rug. Ruby naming the rooms pointing as them as you passed them.

"-and in there's the kitchen. Your room will be upstairs on the second floor and you'll be sharing space with me and Pearl."

"Pearl?"

She nodded. "She's our other room mate but she's not here right now because she usually works the late shifts at her job. But you'll probably meet her tomorrow since it's her day off. Follow me." You followed her into the living room where she went over to a small table with one or two drawers. Going over to it, she reached into one drawer, and a moment later pulled out a piece of paper before turning around and holding it out to you. "Here. It's the leasing contract. It has all the rules and stuff. You'll have to sign it."

You took it from her and began reading it. It looked like an official legal document. Stating the typical rules involving any damages caused by tenants and liabilites.

"I have a few rules of my own since I do own the house," Ruby continued as you read over the paper. "I don't mind if you have people over but I'd like a heads up first and strangers can't stay overnight without my say so. Same with your pokemon. I don't mind if you let them run around but any damages they cause is coming out of your deposit." Ok. Makes sense so far. "Speaking of which. The room just itself is a hundred fifty but you'll also be contributing for water, electric, and wifi so I'll expect two hundred fifty each month. If you can't make payments for any reason you better let me know so we can work something out." Again, fair enough, and that's still a good price. "But..that's also where the problem lies."

At this you blinked looking up at her, her expression more serious. "Problem?"

She nodded. "You see when Pearl started renting I had her give me a seven hundred dollars for a security deposit, but from what Piers told me you didn't have that kind of money to just hand me. So usually I would refuse until I can get that....Buut. Since my boss spoke really highly of you and I trust his judgement, I'm willing to work something out. He has a good judgement of character."

You ..blinked. "He...did?"

Ruby nodded again. "But that doesn't mean I won't let you off that easily either. He said you were a hard worker so here's what I thought up. You won't have to pay the two fifty this month or next month." You nearly sighed in relief. "Instead you'll pay four hundred this month and three hundred the next." You felt your eyes widen and your hand nearly dropped the paper. "I'm not finished." She said seeing your expression. "That'll pay for your deposit, then when the second month's over we can start you on the regular payment. But in exchange for not charging the regular rent with the deposit costs, you'll be helping me out and doing chores around here for me for those two months. Does that sound fair to you?"

.....Actually that did. Because it was almost the same situation with Mrs. L only a little more expensive. Oi vey you'd be having to save up a bit more.

You nodded. "Y-Yeah. That sounds great!"

Ruby smiled. "Well then when you're finished reading the paper you can sign it and we can get you settled in."

You did sign the paper after rereading it carefully and finding nothing wrong with it smiling before Ruby took it from you and made you follow her upstairs where she continued to list off a few more rules of hers.

"You're welcome to the kitchen but everyone washes their own dishes and cleans their own messes. That also applies for any other messes you make around the house. But I have one very, VERY important rule." She stressed. "Everyone supplies their own stuff. Room furniture, hygiene products, food- You get the picture. And everyone stays OUT of the other's rooms. As long as you don't give me any reasons to search then we won't have a problem. Your stuff is yours. Our stuff is ours. Respect each others' privacy and boundaries."

"That's not a problem!," you confirmed and she nodded.

"Good. Then we're going to get along just fine then." She stopped in front of a door and out of her pocket she pulled out a key. "Here. Your own bathroom is through the door on the left inside." You reached for it but paused when she pulled away slight with a raised brow. "Don't lose your key. I have a spare if you need it but I can't replace it if you keep losing it." you nodded and she dropped it in your hand. "Oh. One more thing. You'll have to renew your lease at the end of the year if you want to continue living here next year too. You won't have to renew the deposit either if you don't cause any damages."

You again nodded and thanked Ruby for everything. Eventually her taking her leave letting you unlock the door with your new room key and opening the door to a...completely empty room. ...Well she did say you supplied your own furniture which was fair enough, and it's not like you weren't used to a sleeping bag by now anyhow. Closing the door you sighed looking around the empty place. ..Well. Wasn't too different from your old basement room, just less like Postwick. And of course without anyone you recognized...Hey. That's right. You hadn't let Silver back out of his pokeball yet. Oh crap! He was gonna be a little cranky but hey. You'd feel better with a familiar face lying around. Smiling you took your pack off and placed it on the floor. Opening it and rummaging around until your hands found a pokemon ball. With a smile and a small toss of your hand, the ball opened, and a bright flash of white light appeared letting a pokemon out...Only...It wasn't the one you expected. Instead of a shiny greyish water type pokemon instead someone in a flash of white and pink and spikey looking appeared. And a sound that you could only describe as something between a raccoon and dog growl sounded out. Your smile dropped. And you were staring at something that was absolutely not Silver. ...But a zigzagoon. A SHINY GALARIAN zigzagoon to be more precise. The small creature yawned in a downward dog style stretching out it's body as if it had just awoken from a nap before shaking it's head and blinking.

....What the-

THIS WASN'T YOUR POKEMON!! You dropped the current pokemon ball you were holding in shock just staring at the thing. Before you suddenly moved. Hands shoving themselves back into the bad and moving things only to discover five other poke balls. And your eyes widened again. .....Ok. ONE of these was clearly Silver and he was yours. But where in the heck did the other five come from!? Did Gloria sneak them into your bag as a going away present of her own like she gave Hop and her other rivals? But why didn't she tell you then? You were about to seriously go right up to Ruby and ask to borrow a phone to confront her. When a sudden thought struck you. One from last year. With a poke poacher and small pokemon in cages. And someone accidentally delivering you shinies in your coat and with nothing else to do with them at the moment, put them in pokeballs and away to keep them safe and hidden....At least until now. You slowly looked over wide eyed to the panting zigzagoon who tilted it's head at you.

".......Uh oh."

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon swsh #love doesn't do encores #reader x piers #pokemon piers x reader #pokemon piers #piers x reader

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emptyperspectiv · 2 months ago

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I love having a "chronic" illness, and I say that loosely because of my acid reflux and migraines.

God, I love how much I love the colder seasons, but I hate how much pain they put my body through with the constant flares of almost every couple weeks of when the temps go just low enough both my head and stomach have a hissy fit enough for me to be curled up in a ball.

It's nice that I haven't really talked about it in a while, but every year when this time hits, it REALLY seems to hit harder. This is the 3rd migraine flare in 3 weeks, it's been like one almost every week (which is really annoying, lol). Then my stomach been kinda wonky for about a month since the weather's been getting colder, it's been harder to stomach food unless it's just snacking on things (which is fine but eating an actual meal would be kinda nice). Then the joint pain, which is a whole other issue on its own, but I've been managing despite it.

Anyways, I swear it's not just a pity party. The medication I'm taking for my migraines has been kinda helping. It's just mildly irritating that they've been happening more frequently with it being cold out again. Plus, I'm gonna be extra exhausted tomorrow since it all wears down on me (the migraines love to mess with the acid reflux even more on top of what it's already doing, so that's always nice). Hopefully, I'll be able to grit my teeth and bear being able to take notes through my morning meeting, then processing timecards and posting overtime and other things until I'm done for the day without falling asleep or getting frustrated while running on about 15-20% of a person battery.

Anywho, I'm off to sleep before I actually start getting too nauseous for my own good, plus my eyes are starting to really get irritated from being awake longer than they'd like to be.

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music-for-them-asses · 2 years ago

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I'd do anything to have a functional digestive system, except eat healthier and exercise more

#personal #ibs problems #actuallyirritable #my stomach has been wonky all week help

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familyvideostevie · 2 years ago

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𝟭𝟮 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀: 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻

day eleven: secret santa with steve | fluff, friends to lovers, 1.8k 12 days of christmas masterlist

Steve opens his front door and his smile makes your face feel hot immediately. It's getting really tedious, being in love with him, And the holidays haven't made it any better -- everything you do together as friends feels like a date and you've dodged so much mistletoe you never want to see a sprig again.

"Am I the last one?" you ask him as he gives you a brief hug and takes your coat. Your gift is hidden in a bag dangling from your fingers.

"Yeah, but I've only just got them all to sit down, so you're just in time." This is your first year participating in the Secret Santa exchange with everyone else, and you're a little nervous, not in the least because it's his name that you drew. And in addition to the holidays exacerbating your feelings for Steve ,your friends haven't been a great help, either. Everyone has been teasing you about it for months and on days when you're feeling optimistic you're pretty sure Steve is getting the same treatment. You allow yourself to consider that he likes you, too. But most days the thought of confessing to him and being rejected and losing your friendship is too much, so you keep your mouth shut and swallow your affection.

"How did you manage that?" you ask. He purses his lips and runs a hand through his hair. The sleeves of his sweater are a little too long for him, the cuffs dangling to the edges of his fingers. You want to hug him again.

"Promised them hot chocolate after it's over." You laugh and Steve beams like you've given him a gift. "Which you're going to help with," he adds, trying to sound stern. You scoff and make your way into the living room where the rest of your friends are in a wonky circle. Small bags and wrapped packages are piled in the center, each addressed to someone in the room. You shuffle them around and try to bury yours in the pile without showing it too much.

"You took forever," Mike says. "Eddie won't stop guessing who has him." The metalhead shrugs from his place on the couch, unbothered.

"Not my fault you're easy to rile up, Wheeler." Steve appears behind you, letting his hand rest on the small of your back for just a moment before you head to a spot on the floor next to Robin. She eyes you and you refuse to meet her gaze.

"How are we doing this?" Nancy asks.

"Someone starts and opens theirs and then guesses who gave it to them," Will says. "And when they get it right that person goes next."

Max is eyeing a very round package on the edge of the pile with a furrow in her brows. "Who goes first?"

"Steve," Robin says, a little too innocently. "Host goes first." Everyone titters a little but no one objects.

"Uh, sure," he says. He digs through the pile in the middle before pulling out a square wrapped in blue paper with his name on it. "I think it's a baseball," he says, getting laughs and groans.

"That was terrible, Harrington," Eddie says. "Truly awful."

"Bite me, Munson," Steve shoots back, taking his package and plopping on the couch across the circle from you.

"Not my job," Eddie mumbles. The kids dissolve into giggles and you suddenly find your fingernails fascinating as Steve opens his present carefully, sliding his fingers underneath the taped seams to avoid tearing the paper. You didn't know he'd be so careful with it, so methodical. It makes your stomach flutter.

"Oh, shit," he says when he sees what it is. "No way!"

"Well, are you gonna show us?" Max asks. Why is she looking at you like that? She's going to give you away! Steve holds up the now-unwrapped album: Bruce Springsteen Live: 1975-1985. It's more a box than a sleeve, considering it's got five LPs inside.

Jonathan whistles. "Didn't that just come out?" he asks. Steve nods, eyes raking over the cover as he turns it over with careful hands.

"Those are impossible to get," Eddie adds. "Record shop has been sold out for weeks."

Eddie is right. You had to beg the guy at the store to save one for you over a month ago. It cost more than you'd like to admit but you knew that Steve would love it and you were right. The look on his face is worth every penny. And then he looks up and right at you. You have no idea how he can tell you got it for him, but he's right.

"You," he says. His tone makes you feel hot all over. The room seems to hold its breath and then you nod and everyone cheers.

"Got it in one," Lucas says. "Wonder how he did that." Max elbows him.

"Your turn," Robin says. You stand and dig in the pile for yourself until you find a soft package wrapped in green plaid with a kind of droopy white ribbon bow. You hold it up as you settled back into your spot and everyone oohs and awws appropriately.

As soon as you tear the paper you feel your throat grow thick.

"What is it?" El asks. You rip off the rest of the paper and inhale sharply as you realize what you're holding.

"It's my scarf," you say quietly. Well, it's a newer version of the scarf that you wear all the time but lost a few weeks ago.

Steve is the only person you told that you lost it.

"Don't you have one just like that?" Dustin asks. "Kinda lame to get another."

"No," you say, clearing your throat so your voice sounds less hoarse. "No, I used to. But I lost it."

"It's pretty," Nancy said kindly. "Do you want to guess?"

You don't hesitate. "Steve," you say. You finally look at him and see that he's leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, watching you intensely. He blinks a few times and then rubs the back of his neck. Is it blushing?

"Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I'm glad you like it--"

"Crazy how you guys got each other, right?" Lucas says. Max elbows him again. "Who goes now?"

You realize then that it's been rigged. You and Steve were supposed to get each other so that your friends could see what you'd do, could watch this embarrassment play out in front of them. But they aren't cruel, so the only reason they'd do that was if they thought you both needed some nudging. So, that must mean...

You wish you could say that you pay attention to how the rest of the exchange goes. But you don't, not really. You just stroke your scarf and try not to stare too hard at Steve and fail for the most part. Your stomach feels full of butterflies and you can't believe he figured out how to find a scarf that looks exactly the same and you want to kiss him so badly you wonder how much longer you can bear not telling him so.

Lucky for you the opportunity to do so arrives quickly. All the presents are exchanged and everyone is toying with their new items and gossiping, so when Steve stands to say he's going to start the hot chocolate, no one even blinks. And when you stand to go with him to the kitchen to help, no one says a word.

And then you're in the kitchen, alone.

You don't help much, instead hopping up to sit on the counter and watching as Steve pulls out a huge sauce pan and pours milk into it, setting it on the stove so that it'll warm up.

"So," he says, turning to you once he's done and crossing his arms. "Thank you for the records. It's too much, but--"

"It's not too much," you interrupt him. "I know you've wanted them ever since it was announced they'd be doing the collection."

"You kept the secret pretty well," he says. "I don't even remember telling you that." He steps forwards and you move your knees so that he can stand in the v of your legs. His gaze is so intense you swallow.

"You kept yours pretty well, too," you say, softer. Your hands tug on the hem of your sweater. You're starting to get worried that you'll reach out and touch him if you don't keep them occupied. "The scarf, Steve--"

"Is such a good color for you," he says. "I know you loved the other one." You hum and look away from him. "So, we're good at keeping secrets. Got any others you want to spill?"

He steps even closer, his hips hitting the counter and your knees brushing his belt. He keeps his arms crosses, still, but he's so close you can see his pupils dilate. You look down at your own hands. "Cause I've got one," he says. "I think it was rigged."

"You do?"

"I do," he says. Laughter trickles in from the other room but Steve doesn't move.

"Why?" Your words sound more like breath than anything else, but Steve understands. He always does.

"I can think of a few reasons," he says softly. Then there's a slight pressure on your chin and you realize he's guiding it up with the knuckle of his pointer finger. "Can't you?"

"Yeah," you admit. He doesn't move his hand, keeping it touching your face, and you feel him put the other one on your knee. You cover it with one of your own and it's his turn to gasp a little. But he quickly recovers and smiles softly, eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Wanna share with the class?" The Harrington charm is softer than it once was, and it worms its way into your heart and makes you feel like a million bucks because it's directed at you.

"You don't want to guess?" you say lightly. Steve is leaning forward now, inching closer and closer, but he's doing it so slowly.

"I don't think I have to," he says. "Do I?"

"Steve," you breathe. His hand moves from your chin to cup your jaw, thumb running over the corner of your mouth and up your cheek. You close your eyes and gently squeeze his hand.

"Okay," he says softly. And then he's kissing you. He's kissing you right there in his kitchen, your knees digging into his hips, milk boiling on the stove, and everyone you love in the next room. He's kissing you and kissing you and kissing you and you clutch at his arm with your free hand and he pulls back a little before touching his forehead to yours.

"Milk's probably ready," you say, eyes still closed. You feel his huff on your skin.

"Just a second." His nose rubs against yours. "I'm enjoying my gift." A laugh bubbles out of you at his shameless flirting and you pull him in for a hug, burying your face in his neck.

"They're gonna be smug," you say. You feel his chest rumble.

"Not as smug as me," he says. "I've got you."

thank you for reading <3 reblog, send feedback, masterlist here!

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic

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courageous-she · 4 years ago

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Needing You- Charlie Gillespie

Charlie x female reader

Summary: You’re having a rough day and go to your best friend for some comfort

Word Count: 3037

Author’s Note: I haven’t really written in a while but became a SIMP for this boy after watching JATP. Here’s something I thought up while I should have been working at work. Also the formatting may have gotten a little wonky so sorry for that. Um anyway, hope you enjoy!

You: Hey, are you home? Charlie: Yeah, why, what’s up? You: Can we hang out? I don’t really want to be alone rn Charlie: Sure thing! I can come over? You: Actually, can I come over? I don’t feel like being in my apartment rn Charlie: Of course, doors unlocked <3

You locked your phone, resting it on your chest and letting out a long sigh. Life had just been hitting too hard lately, so you texted Charlie hoping he’d be able to distract you and take your mind off of things. You simply needed some quality time with your best friend and to not think about everything going on in your life right now. Luckily, Charlie was always down to hang out and was always flexible on what the two of you would do.

You lifted your head just enough from your starfish position on your bed to glance over your outfit. You’d changed into your comfy clothes when you got home a few hours ago. These would be fine, Charlie has seen you in worse clothes, and probably in an overall worse state than this. Shrugging, you stood from your bed and grabbed your keys, making your way over to the bus stop at the end of your street.

Quietly opening the door to Charlie and Owen’s apartment, you carefully left your shoes at the door. You looked up and noticed Owen and Jeremy sitting on the couch in the small apartment living room. “Hey, Y/N” Owen and Jeremy said at the same time, both giving a quick nod of the head. You waved back, making your way down the hallway to Charlie’s room. It wasn’t odd for you to come over to the boy’s apartment, so Owen and Jeremy didn’t question it. Owen was more used to your frequent visits than Jeremy because Owen actually lived there, but both boys knew how close you and Charlie are so it would be odd if you didn’t show up at some point during the week.

Charlie’s door was open a crack, a low light creeping out into the hallway. You pushed the door open just enough to slide your body through, and closed it when you were all the way inside.

“Hey” Charlie said softly, sitting up slightly in his bed and closing his laptop. Instead of responding, you pulled the covers back on his bed and slid under. Charlie watched you, slightly confused, but lifted his arm for you when you began to crawl under it resting your head on his chest. His arm around you hugged you closer, while his other hand came around to rest on top of yours that was resting on his stomach.

“Y/N? Is everything okay?” he asked, voice soft. You shook your head ‘no’ on his chest. “Do you want to talk about it?” Again, you shook your head. Charlie’s chest rose up before he let out a long sigh. It wasn’t often you got like this, but when you did it always broke Charlie a little inside. “What can I do to help?” “Is it okay if we just lay here for a while?” you finally said.

“Yeah, ‘course it is. Want me to put on a movie for background noise or somethin’?” Charlie asked, leaning over slightly to grab his tv remote. You simply nodded a ‘yes’ against his chest, knowing he would just choose a movie for the two of you.

Charlie ended up choosing “Onward”, a Disney movie was bound to put a smile on your face, he thought. The two of you silently watched the movie, staying in relatively the same position. As the movie was coming to a close, tears began to make their way down your face, landing on Charlie’s shirt. He looked down when he began to feel the wet spot on his chest. Moving so he could see your face better, Charlie smirked at your current state.

“Are you crying?” Charlie asked, the goofy smirk not leaving his face. You lifted your head from his chest, glancing between his smirking expression and the puddle on his chest.

“What? He never got to meet his dad! After all that!!” you said, pouting out your bottom lip so you didn’t start sobbing. Charlie chuckled before sitting back and pulling you back into him.

“Haven’t you seen this before? You knew this was coming” he replied while turning his attention back to the screen.

“Just because I’ve seen it already doesn’t make it any less sad, Char.” But he could tell by the tone in your voice that you weren’t talking about the movie anymore. He grabbed the remote, stopping the end credits. You started to sit up, wiping the remnants of tears from your face.

“Are you ready to talk about it?” he asked, voice soft and understanding. You hugged your knees to your chest, resting your head on your knees facing your friend sitting next to you.

“Everything is just so overwhelming right now. It’s like nothing can go my way and just keeps piling on top of me. I feel like I’m drowning and I’m so over it.” There was a comfortable silence between the two of you for a moment “I hate feeling like this” you whispered. Charlie put his hand on your back, rubbing small circles.

“Hey, hey, look at me” he said. Your eyes remained fixed on a random spot of his bed. “Y/N, please” he whispered. You shifted your gaze so that your eyes met his. “I know that things might be really tough right now, but I know you, and I know how hard you work, and I know that you will get through this. You have the weekend to forget about things and relax for a bit too, I’m here to get your mind off of the stress.”

You smiled at his reassuring words; he always knew what to say. You moved so that you could rest your head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Char, don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I don’t know, probably die or something” he said casually. You punched his shoulder jokingly and laughing at the boy next to you. “You hungry? We can order some food”

“I didn’t bring my wallet with me” you said, remembering that you’d only grabbed your keys on your way out.

“Don’t worry about that, it was on me anyway.” Charlie said, scrolling through UberEats on his phone for something to order. “What are you feeling?”

“Char, I’m not letting you pay! At least let me Venmo you?” you asked, already beginning to feel guilty at the fact that he offered to pay.

“Y/N” he said, putting his phone down and turning to face you, “You’re not paying,” he placed both hands on your cheeks, squishing them slightly, “Do not. Worry. About it.”

“But Charlie,” you replied, turning your body to face him straight on, “I. Feel. Bad” you mimicked his position, placing both hands on his cheeks and squishing them. And there the two of you were, hands on each other’s cheeks, squishing them. That was until you heard Charlie’s bedroom door slowly creak open.

“Hey guys, Jer and I were just wondering if you wanted to order food?” Owen asked, walking in while looking down at his phone. When he looked up and noticed the way you two were positioned, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Uh, I’m sorry, did I walk in on something?” he asked concerned, but slightly amused.

“Perfect timing Owen!” Charlie said, taking his hands off your cheeks and grabbing his phone again, “Y/N and I were just having the same conversation”

“I was thinking maybe Chinese?” Owen asked, resuming his scrolling on his phone. You and Charlie looked at each other, an unsure look on your face.

“Eh, not really feelin’ it” Charlie replied, going back to his phone for food inspiration.

“I was kind of craving pasta from that Italian place down the street” you said.

“Pomodoro?” Charlie asked, and immediately he looked at Owen and they gave each other the same look. “Yes!” They both said at the same time.

“I’ll go ask Jer what he wants, text me your orders.” Owen replied, leaving the room. But before Owen asked Jeremy what he wanted to eat, he explained in detail what he saw when he walked in on you and Charlie. The two boys grinned at each other, knowing how the two of you felt about the other, and knowing that neither of you would say anything to the other.

When the food arrived, the four of you sat in the small living room eating, joking, and watching a variety of YouTube videos. You loved hanging out with the guys, it was always entertaining and you definitely got a workout from how much you laughed.

After everyone had finished eating, the four of you decided to put on a movie. You sat next to Charlie on the smaller couch, leaning into his side, while Owen laid out on the bigger couch and Jeremy had a spot on the floor with some pillows.

You’re not sure how long into the movie you made it, but eventually you fell asleep on Charlie’s shoulder. He hadn’t noticed you fell asleep until Owen brought it up.

“Hey man, she out?” he asked, leaning up on the couch. Jeremy looked over too, noticing your sleeping figure resting against Charlie. Charlie glanced down at you, brushing your hair away from your face.

“Yeah, she must’a fell asleep” he said, eyes resting on you a little longer before turning to look at Owen. Owen smirked and looked at Jeremy, who matched his smirk before the two boys looked back at Charlie. “What’s the look for?” he asked confused.

“Oh, come on, Charlie!” Jeremy said, “You are head over heels for her!” he whisper shouted.

“And you have been since day one” Owen added.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Charlie whisper shouted back. The boys couldn’t see but underneath the blanket, Charlie was pulling you closer to him. He felt like he had to protect you despite there really being nothing to protect you from.

“Don’t avoid it Charlie, it’s so obvious” Owen retorted.

“The only question is, when are you finally going to tell her?” Jeremy asked.

As Charlie was forming his response, his felt you shift next to him. All three boys shifted their gaze to you, hoping you hadn’t heard what they were talking about. You shifted so that your face was resting in the crook of Charlie’s neck. He shivered at the feeling of your breath on his skin.

“Char?” you asked, too sleepy to open your eyes. Charlie squeezed your side to let you know he was there.

“What’s up? You alright?” he asked.

“ ‘m fine. What time is it?”

“Uh, it’s about 12:30”

“Shit!” you said, quickly sitting up from your comfortable position and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, “The last bus leaves in 30 minutes, I gotta go!” You started to stand up from the couch, but Charlie grabbed your hips, sitting you back down on the couch.

“Chill, Y/N! I’m not letting you get on a bus in the middle of the night! You can sleep in my bed, I’ll take the couch tonight” Charlie said, trying to calm you down. Jeremy coughed from the other side of the room, giving Charlie a look. Jeremy was crashing on the couch considering that he didn’t actually live there and had planned to spend the night. Charlie shot back a ‘not now’ look, returning his focus on you.

“I can’t take your bed. I’ll take the couch” you said, not wanting to put your friend out any more than you had tonight.

“Well, actually, I-I’m supposed to be sleeping on the couch” Jeremy finally spoke up. Charlie shot him a look, causing Jeremy to shrug and shy back out of the conversation.

“Then I’ll take the floor, but I’m not taking your bed” You said, bundling the blanket that was piled next to you.

“Y/N, you are not sleeping on the damn floor. Either you sleep in my bed or we’re both sleeping on the floor. End of story” Charlie said, a little more stern this time.

“Well with that logic, why don’t we both just sleep in the bed?” you asked, shrugging. Charlie’s eyes went wide. Owen and Jeremy’s heads quickly turned their attention to you, smirks threatening to appear on their faces.

“I-I mean, if-if you’re cool with that, yeah we could do that” Charlie stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn’t expected you to offer to share a bed with him, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to pass this opportunity up.

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t cool with it, but now that we’ve settled that, I’m tired. Goodnight boys!” you said, standing up and waving.

“ ‘night!” Owen and Jeremy replied, waving as you made your way back to Charlie’s room. What you didn’t see was the two boys silently cheering Charlie on as he slowly stood and made his way to his room.

You were already tucked away when he made it, closing the door softly behind him. He made his way through the dark and found his way to bed. He slipped in next to you, laying awkwardly on his back, not exactly knowing how to sleep next to you. He turned his head to look at you. Your back was facing him, breathing slow. He figured that you’d already fallen asleep given how tired you were, so he got comfortable and eventually fell asleep.

Charlie woke with a start when he heard you start to cry out in your sleep. He couldn’t make out what you were saying but he knew that you were having a nightmare. He immediately pulled your back close to his chest, arms wrapping around you. His cheek was pressed against yours as he whispered in your ear. “Hey, hey, you’re alright, I’m here, you’re okay” You woke up, heart racing, and hands grasping Charlie’s arms that wrapped around your middle. He loosened them enough for you to turn around and face him.

“What would I do without you?” you asked, cuddling closer into his chest, eyes closing in comfort. Charlie took a deep breath, he felt like now was the time to tell you. Tell you how he really felt, how much he wanted to never be without you.

“Y/N?” he whispered?

“Yeah, Char?”

“Can I tell you something?” He was trying to keep his nerves down, knowing you’d be able to feel him shaking.

“Of course, you can tell me anything.” You replied, shifting to lean slightly over him. He mimicked your position, the two of you leaning to face the other. “I like you. Um, like more than a friend kind of like you. And I don’t want this to ruin what we have so if you don’t feel the same way that’s- that’s cool we can forget I said this.” Charlie rambled. You were taken aback by the sudden out poor of emotional truth. Charlie was beginning to accept that you didn’t feel the same way until you made a move. You leaned in and kissed Charlie, all of the bottled-up feelings coming to the surface.

“I like you too, Char,” you whispered, hand cupping the side of his face, “God, I’ve liked you since the day we met” you laughed, remembering your first encounter on set with Charlie. Charlie sighed from relief from next to you.

“I was so scared you didn’t feel the same…”

“How could I not, Charlie? I literally couldn’t survive without you.” You spoke. A smile crept its way onto Charlie’s face before he leaned in for another kiss, deeper and more passionate than the first. The two of you spent much of the rest of the night like that, moving between sleep and giggly sleepy kisses. The next morning, the two of you slept in a little later than normal, and laid in bed cuddled up watching TikToks, sneaking kisses in between. It was a kind of bliss you didn’t think you’d ever experience. Both of your heads turned when a short knock was made against the door.

“Are you guys dead in there?” Owen asked through the door. The two of you chuckled from the bed.

“We’re fine Owen!” Charlie shouted.

“Are you sure? It’s like noon-thirty and I haven’t heard anything from either of you?” Owen shouted back. You laughed at the boys, moving to get out of the bed and answer the door. Charlie pouted at the lack of you next to him. You opened the door to see a concerned looking Owen.

“Good morning, Owen” you smiled.

“Did I interrupt something?” he asked, noticing Charlie’s lack of shirt and a messy bed.

“No, you didn’t. We were just getting up to grab some breakfast” you replied.

“Oh, well I was going to ask if you guys wanted some waffles? Jeremy and I just made some” he said, still looking between you and Charlie, attempting to put the pieces together on what happened when the two of you went to bed last night.

“I’d love some waffles! Let me just grab my sweatshirt and I’ll be right there!”

Owen nodded, leaving the room. You turned to look for your sweatshirt somewhere on the floor. Feeling two arms wrap around your waist, you giggled, placing your arms over Charlie’s.

“You know you don’t have to go out there.” He said, lips hovering just over your ear.

“No, I don’t have to.” You said, “But we need to eat.”

“There’s something right here I could eat.” Charlie replied. You spun around quickly in his arms, slapping him lightly on the upper arm.

“Charlie!” You couldn’t believe how quickly he responded with that!

“What!? It’s true!” he winked at you.

“Well too bad because that is currently not on the menu. I want waffles!” you said before breaking free of his grasp, grabbing your sweatshirt and skipping out of the room to the kitchen. Charlie was left standing in his room, mouth agape, but laughing at how you handled that. What would he do without you?

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 3 years ago

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Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch36 Welcome To Spikemuth