#oh god wait. i gotta give jean long hair

[emry-stars-art]

Hello! I just wanted to say your art is gorgeous and I love the attention to detail you give to your work! This royal au is scrumptious and I'm so grateful you shared it with us! Second, for Jean's role, I was wondering what you thought about making him a blacksmith? It would make him useful for Riko without having any power (not a guard, etc.)but also give a reason for Jeremy to seek him out (and get swept off his feet), perhaps once he's escaped and is in Palmetto. Feel free to ignore tho!😊

IGNORE THE MENTAL IMAGE OF BIG POWERFUL BLACKSMITH JEAN MOREAU? SAFE IN THE UNNAMED TROJAN KINGDOM, BULKING UP AND FEELING ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE WORK OF HIS HANDS??? I WILL NOT

I’ve been really invested in the idea of the “perfect court” now that we’re in a royal au, and since Kevin and Riko were both technically royalty, Nathaniel was/had the potential to be a noble, I think Jean should also be high end?? Like while at Evermore they all have different duties right, maybe Jean was an attendant to Riko or something. Whatever he was there, we know he wasn’t treated well. Probably not allowed to pursue his own interests, just like everyone else.

But Kevin and Nathaniel both escape, and they find new jobs that fulfill them. So Jean should as well!! He gets to the Trojan kingdom, probably with the help of Renee still (which is. A whole thing about politics and family lines in this au strangely enough) and he doesn’t have to be a noble anymore if he doesn’t want to. He’s probably already renounced his nobility in the way he left Evermore. I don’t doubt Jeremy, who I’m imagining as another prince because that’s the image my brain gave me, would hesitate to reinstate him as Trojan nobility if Jean asked (as long as it’s far enough down the timeline obviously). Instead, Jean kind of slides under the radar, and once he’s all settled he finds work in the smithy. And he really enjoys it! He feels stronger and healthier and he gets to make such amazing things, he doesn’t even have to make weapons if he doesn’t want to. The workers all choose their own specialties and jobs, filling in gaps as needed

Then one day the royal family or the prince is making rounds, coming to see how things are running, and Jeremy is kind of wondering if he’s seen this blacksmith before? Like he’s pretty sure that’s a familiar face, but he definitely would have remembered seeing someone like him around the kingdom before now, so he brushes it off.

(Really he’s seen Jean Moreau at summits and other large gatherings, only once or twice. Back when Jean was much less healthy and when he still tried to make himself smaller to fit into Riko’s shadow. So yes he recognizes the face; but this is a much different man than the person he saw across grand halls.)

And for my lovely jerejean enjoyers: if Jean ends up talking to or in close proximity of the prince, for whatever reason? Jeremy can definitely blame his red cheeks on the heat of the forges 💫

Sliding a couple process pics under the cut

(Find the royal au writing masterpost here 💕)

[lanadelnegan]

Hey, I love your writing it’s so good you truly are a phenomenal writer. Anyways, I was wondering if you could do a gym teacher negan x female reader. (She’s a senior about to graduate and she’s been flirting with her teacher and they both feel the same way for each other and one day he decides to break the tension and things just get steamy. Btw I literally adore that you use a daddy kink (you are so real for that). Thank you so much :)

omg thank you so so much!!! and god this sounds insanely hot. i'm such a whore for teacher negan.

Crush - Part 1

Gym Teacher Negan x Female Reader

read part two here

Warnings: 18+, nsfw, *reader is 18*, you catch Coach Negan masturbating, angst, teasing, flirting, sexual tension, teacher x student, part 2 will be 99% smut

Song inspo: Crush by Ethel Cain

"Ya gonna miss me when I graduate?" You ask, reaching for a piece of candy from the bowl on Negan's desk. Class started five minutes ago, but both of you have a tendency to be late.

Negan has been your gym teacher since junior year and the two of you have grown closer over the past two years than any teacher and student should. It's hard to fight the crush you've developed for him, considering his charming sense of humor, ridiculously good looks, and most importantly - how much attention he gives you.

His eyes trail away from his computer screen as he stands, coming around the desk beside you. "Is there a reason you're not in your gym clothes, miss y/l/n?"

"What? You don't like this?" You tease, looking down at your outfit. Your usual attire consists of some jeans and a t-shirt, but this is your last week of high school, so you decided to spice it up and wear a short blue sundress today.

Negan glances down at your body, letting his gaze linger on your breasts for a moment too long as he stands tall in front of you.

"It's a little inappropriate, wouldn't you say so? .... You tryna get some high school boy's attention?" His head tilts waiting for your answer.

"I wouldn't say boy." You take a bite of the unwrapped mini snickers bar in your hand before smirking at him.

"Oh?" His brows raise playfully. "A girl then?"

"No.. gym teacher." You say barely above a whisper as you smoothly lick some of the chocolate off your bottom lip. Your cheeks turn a light shade of pink at your own words.

You've become much bolder since you turned 18 last month, and you aren't missing the opportunity to spend every second flirting with Coach Negan before school is out.

The corner of his mouth raises into a knowing smirk as he stands closer to you, intoxicating you with the scent of his musky, sporty cologne.

"You want my attention, doll? Ya gotta try harder than that." He snatches the candy bar from your hand before popping it into his own mouth and leaving you standing alone in his office.

His loud voice from the gym echoes through the hallway as you make your way to the locker room, replaying his words in your head and changing into your tiniest pair of shorts.

You want my attention? Ya gotta try harder than that.

You tie your hair up in a high ponytail in the mirror, noting the way your oversized shirt and shorts barely cover your ass before giving yourself a pep talk.

"Y/l/n, nice of you to finally join us." He yells as you enter the gym.

You roll your eyes nonchalantly before finding your spot on the court and beginning your stretches.

Negan walks up and down the rows of students as you all stretch and music flows through the speakers of the gym. There's no denying he's the coolest P.E. teacher you've ever had. Not even counting his looks.

When he reaches your space, he makes a point to roam his eyes up and down your body as you stretch. You stare back at him, grinning at the effect you seem to have on him. You can't help but notice the way his dick bounces behind his gym shorts as he walks and you mentally thank the gods that he chose not to wear underwear today.

Your body bends side to side as you stretch, not taking your eyes off of him as he gets closer to you.

"You can do better than that." He whispers lowly.

You're not sure if he's referring to your stretching or his comment from earlier... Ya gotta try harder than that.

Either way, you take it as a challenge and bend over right as he's passing you, touching the tips of your fingers to your toes. Your head turns slightly behind you to see his reaction but he's not looking which only makes you groan with frustration.

"Lucky for you kids I happen to be in a fuckin' good mood today, so rest of class is free time. Just don't get too loud and make me regret it." Negan announces to the class and everyone spreads out, immediately finding their friend groups and beginning various activities.

Unfortunately for you, your only friends in that class are a small group of girls on the volleyball team, and they always play together during free time, leaving you to fend for yourself. You don't mind though because your favorite teacher always keeps you busy.

"Heads up." Negan tosses a basketball in your direction and you catch it easily. "Shoot with me?" He asks.

"Around the world or horse?" You ask, letting him choose which game to play.

"Horse, duh." He answers without hesitation.

"Okay, but let's make it interesting." You suggest and his head tilts curiously. "Every letter you get, I get to ask you a personal question. Like truth.. but with basketball." I explain and he nods his head in agreement.

"You mean.. I get to ask you the questions, since I'll be the one winning." He grins, taking the ball from your hand and shooting smoothly from the free throw line. The ball swishes the net with ease and you roll your eyes at his cocky smile.

"Anyone can make a free throw." You shoot the ball, hitting the rim as it bounces off.

"Apparently not anyone." He laughs and you give him the evil eye. "Oh, right! Question. Let's see, I'll start easy. Got any crushes at school?" He teases.

You giggle, watching him shoot from the next spot and miss.

"Yes." You answer simply.

He catches his rebound, passing you the ball. "Well, who is it?"

"Nope. That's two questions." You dismiss him, shooting and making it in the basket.

He nods his head sarcastically at your response. "That's how it's gonna be, huh?"

He lobs the ball in the air towards the basket, missing clearly on purpose and you look at him confused. "What the hell was that?"

He shrugs, widening his eyes playfully. "I missed. Ready for my question."

You giggle as you think of a question. "Do you have any crushes at school?"

"That would be highly inappropriate miss y/l/n."

"That's not an answer."

He chuckles before shooting and making it again. "...Yeah, I do."

Your cheeks burn at his answer, but you don't get your hopes up too much knowing it could be anyone, even another teacher.

The game continues back and forth as you and Negan ask each other questions. He shoots the final shot, missing and purposely letting you win.

"So, what's my final question, kid? Make it a good one."

"Do you ever.. think of me.. in that way?" You ask bravely, knowing you might not get another chance like this one.

"In what way?" He asks innocently, resting his hands on his hips.

You blush, not wanting to say it, so you don't. "Nothing, forget it."

He looks down at you with a more serious than playful expression now and you wish you could read his mind.

"Okay. If you say so." He shrugs, throwing the ball down and walking away towards the hall to his office. "I let you win by the way." He calls out before disappearing.

You mentally curse yourself for not asking him but it's too late, so you make your way back to the locker room, wanting to get dressed before everyone comes back in.

You change out of your sweaty clothes before slipping your dress on with nothing underneath since your sweat soaked through your panties and bra. You feel even more exposed than earlier considering your dress barely reaches three inches below your ass cheeks.

You study yourself in the mirror as his words echo in your mind again like a broken record.

You want my attention? Ya gotta try harder than that.

You don't want to miss out on another opportunity with him, knowing your time with him is running out, so you grab your things and saunter down the hall to his open office, stopping at the doorway before entering.

Negan's attention is focused on his computer screen as he speaks. "Can I help you, doll?"

You ignore his question, bravely walking over to him before shutting the door behind you and leaning your backpack against the wall. You join him on the other side of the room, standing before him as he sits in his chair looking up at you. Chills cover your body when your bare ass touches the surface of his cold wooden desk.

His brows scrunch at your sudden boldness as he moves his chair back slightly, allowing space between the two of you. "What are you doing, y/n?" He asks but it comes out as more of a warning.

"Getting your attention" You place your bare feet on each side of his thighs in the chair, spreading your legs in front of him and shuttering as the cool breeze brushes your exposed pussy. "Do you ever think about me... like this?" You ask, finishing your question from earlier.

The look on his face is unreadable as his eyes drop to your center.

"You wanna know what I think about, y/n?" His voice turns to a raspy whisper. "I think about how tight that little pussy must be...how those pretty lips would look wrapped around my cock." His dark, heavy eyes lift to meet yours and you've never seen them so blown with lust before. "What you'd sound like begging for me to fuck you. How sweet you probably taste.." His eyes drop to your pussy again as his top teeth cover his bottom lip. "And then.. I come to my damn senses and realize I can't fuckin' risk my whole career for some pussy."

Ouch. Your eyes water at his sudden change of words.

Your heart stings at the rejection as you cover yourself quickly and climb off his desk. The end of day bell rings just in time to dismiss you as you head for the door.

"Y/n, wait." He sighs.

But you keep walking, leaving him behind like he did to you earlier. That's the last time he's going to make you feel like a fucking idiot. You tell yourself, frustrated that you let his mixed signals get to you.

"Goddamn it. Some pussy? The hells wrong with me." Negan whispers to himself, sliding a frustrated hand down his face as he leans back in his chair.

He feels terrible for making you feel that way, but he reminds himself it was for your own good. He knows you're about to go off to college, and the last thing he wants is for you to go catching feelings for your someone you can't have.

As a consequence of his good intentions, his cock aches painfully in his shorts while he stares blankly at the empty desk you sat on only minutes ago.

The sounds of students dismissing for the day are long gone as he realizes he's finally alone.

Fuck it. He says to himself before opening his desk drawer and pumping some lotion in his hand. He pulls his heavy cock out of his shorts, immediately gripping it in his hand and stroking it desperately.

His head falls back against his chair as he groans out, imagining your legs spread open in front of him once again.

His hand works his cock up and down, focusing on the sensitive tip as his eyes shut tight. He gathers his leaking precum with his thumb, working circles around the tip, wishing it was your lips instead.

A deep groan escapes his throat as he reaches his climax, spraying his load all over his white t-shirt. "Fuuuck, y/n." His eyes drift open when he moans your name, instantly connecting with yours as you stand from the doorway, watching him get off to the thought of you.

"I forgot my backpack."

Part 2 here

[romana-after-dark]

Keep Cry'n

Joel Miller x reader

Join dark!Romana's tag list Dark!Romana's Masterlist

Shout out to the girlies in the Whorefully yours discord for encouraging my dark side lol

Summary: Joel kidnapps you, but can't even wait long eough to put his dick inside you to cum. (Reader is rather Little One coded but this is a completetly separate fic from The Wrong Way)

Warnings and Content: NON CON, DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT !!!!!! Hair pulling, kidnapping, masturbation, cumming on face, dirty and degrading talk, crying, dacryphilia, Joel is really psycho in this, maybe a lil off his rocker. Implied future abuse. Literally like so much crying.

DONT LIKE IT, DONT READ! If you do not wish to see rape on your feeds at all, i suggest blocking the tags such as non con, dddne, dead dove do not eat, and depending on preferences maybe dub con, yandere, or dark fics. No judgement if its not your thing!

*****************

Your head hurts. So bad. That was all you could think about as Joel dragged you off his house and up the porch by your hair with no regard for how you were supposed to keep up with his long stride. Scalp on fire, you scramble to stand but it seemed he would purposefully yank at you just to make you stumble. 

You can hear him smiling as he speaks, the outline of his cheeks giving away the wide grin if you can look up long enough to catch a glimpse. “Pretty fucking girl. Gonna make such a nice little toy.” 

He doesn’t care that you're crying. He doesn’t care that he took you away from everything you know. He doesn’t care that you are scared. He wants to use you.

Your hands are tied behind your back so you fall on your face when he trusts you onto the shitty mattress, dirt being inhaled into your lungs.

“Just gotta be good for a few days, pretty baby, ‘till I get tired of you and move onto the next shiny thing. Think you can manage that?”

Sobbing, you nod. You can do this. You can…

Your confidence wavers as he stands above you, palming himself and moaning. “Oooohhh fuck, such a pretty little baby, uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhuhuhuuuh” Joel sucks his breath in through his teeth, then shutters it out. “Get the fuck over here.” Joel reaches over and yanks on your hair again, pressing your face up against his jeans-clothes crotch. His musk was strong, the smell of his dick was sweaty and masculine and you could not help but feel just a little turned on. You couldn’t help it; it was biological, primal, evolutionary. 

With your hands still tied behind your back, you were helpless to the way Joel ground your face up against himself, his hard cock prominent despite the stiff material. Fingers entangled in your hair, Joel trust his hips up in your face as you sob, “Fuck baby, keep cry’n, I can feel your tears on my dick.” Joel pressed you tightly up against his crotch, your mouth pressed over the outline of his member and muffled your cries as they turned into attempts to scream. You wanted to bite but you knew better.

When he finally let go, allowing you to sit back on your haunches and breath, Joel unzipped his pants and thrust them and his tighty whitey’s down in one go, his massive cock hanging heavy between his legs. A sick man, Joel gripped your face in his large, rough hands to gather up the wetness before he fucked his fist. 

“God, I need to cum right fuck’n now” He grumbled to himself as he furiously pumped the extensive length. “Ain’t got time to- oh fu-u-u-ck, ain’t got time to fight your pants off.” Joel lets out a loud groan, bucking his hips as his breath shutters before looking down at your crying and shaking figure. “Oh fuck, you look so scared!” He has the audacity to chuckle, smiling at you as he gently nudges you with his boot just to see you cry more. He jerked harder and harder, his cock red and throbbing inches from your face. “There we go, fuuuuuck! Uh, uh, uuuhhhggg” Ropes of white began to spurt out of him, Joel grunting aggressively mixed with huffed out chuckles, a wide, joker-like grin on his face as his eyes sparkled with mischievous possibilities for the future.

Joel took his softening dick and wiped your tears and his cum with it. “Pretty little thing… goddamn… make’n me cum without even touching me, fucking fantastic.” 

You feel the wetness on your face, a mixture of fluids painting you up like a picture. 

Joel pushed you down onto the bed, not even bothering to pull up his pants as he pulled you on his naked body, sighing. He takes a knife out of his pocket, however, and cuts off your ties. Instinctively, you wrap your arms around him as you cry. You just wanted to be held, to feel touch and comfort and you didn’t care who it came from. “Oh god, princess…” He’s panting still, a crazy grin plastered upon his face as he stared up at the ceiling, laughing to himself. “Such pretty skin, such a pretty face…” Joel chuckled, long fingers massaging down your still-clothed body. 

“Gonna be a lot of fun playing with it.”

*******************

First dark! joel one shot ina while, woozers.

Love me my crazy man.

Got a cool ask today for a dark triple frontier Will Miller that I loooooove that I will be working on after a few other WIPS.

Also got an idea for a dark!joel sugar daddy yandere vibes fic, a dark!William Tell, and a dark!Nathan Bateman. I also plan to work on a short series (3 parts maybe?) of a darker ending to tww where Joel wins.

If you like this, click the link at the top to be added to my ongoing tag list!

@fandxmslxt69 @moriartyyouwhore @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction

@hereforthepedrofanfic @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin and maybe @toxicanonymity might enjoy.....

[ch0k3herwithaseaview]

@jegulus-microfic | feb 29 address | words 1881

hi, so this one is so fucking long, i don’t even know how it happened. anyways, hope you’ll enjoy it :3

first part | previous part

Reg

So

Will you be there tonight?

James looked at the message he received almost half an hour ago and for the hundredth time deleted his response.

‘Of course I’ll be there’ sounded too eager. ‘Yeah’ was out of question with it being too dry. ‘I’ll try to make it’ was just mean, like when you have a big event at school and your parents say that exact line, and you just feel like shit. So he sat there, on his couch, contemplating how to answer the man he apparently fancies. He thought the crush went away with them going separate ways after school, but oh well. With just one dinner, all the feelings came back, making him feel like a teenager again.

He deleted another answer when Regulus texted him again.

Reg

You know I can see you typing then changing your mind over and over again, right?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was his chance to keep this from getting any weirder.

James

yeah i know sorry about that

and answering the first question yes ill be there

:)

With that, he threw his phone as far away from himself as he could and went to have a crisis while taking a shower. And don’t get him wrong - he really wanted to be there, to see the art Regulus makes, but at the same time he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. He liked Reg, he wanted to get to know him again after all those years they haven’t talked. And yet, he was still afraid he would fuck it up somehow.

“No you won’t” he said to his reflection in the mirror. “You won’t, just pull yourself together. And don’t act weird, just… be who you are. If he doesn’t like it, back off.”

After that little motivational talk, James started to get ready properly. He did his skincare routine, tried to (and failed) tame the nest on his head, also known as hair, and went to the closet to find something suitable for the occasion. How does one even dress for opening?

Having no better option, James decided to do the most stupid thing he could do.

“What are you wearing tonight?” he asked without any greeting. On the other side he heard the most feral laughter ever and just groaned at it. “It’s not funny, I really don’t know!” the laughter became even more hysterical, so James just stood in the middle of his closet, waiting for Sirius to calm down.

“Oh god, this is too good” his best friend chuckled a little breathlessly. “Are you trying to impress my brother or what?”

“I’m not trying to impress anyone, I just… what should I wear? To not look like an idiot?” more giggles from Sirius.

“Yeah, well, me and Moony are going in our usual clothes, so maybe something in between?”

“You mean I should go as a slutty grandpa?” James grumbled. His bestie just barked another laugh at that.

“Yes, exactly! Hope I helped, gotta go, see you there” and the call ended.

It actually did help, to his surprise. He put on a maroon turtleneck, paired it with suit trousers and his favourite red converse. The entire outfit, although simple, seemed to emphasise his muscles, giving the exact result James was aiming for. He put three golden hoops in his ear and finally felt ready.

Grabbing the phone from the armchair it landed on, James check if Regulus sent any new messages - he did.

Reg

I’m glad.

Don’t overdress, it’s a casual event, nothing fancy.

Do you know where to go?

Should I send you the address?

?

Hello?

Are you alive?

James, it’s been more than an hour, are you alright?

James smiled at all of this, quickly replying with ‘yes everythings good the shower took longer than it should pls send the address’.

***

He arrived at a small local art gallery, where the opening took place. As soon as James got out of his car, Remus and Sirius spotted him, practically running in his direction. The shorter man, dressed in a silk shirt, unbuttoned halfway down his chest, and tight jeans (all black, of course), jumped into his arms, screaming excitedly, like he hasn’t seen him in a while (since yesterday). From behind, Sirius’ fiancé rolled his eyes, smirking at their antics.

“Fancy seeing you here, Prongs” Remus said cheekily, when the long-haired man came to his side. It was James’ turn to roll his eyes.

“Are we coming in or are we just gonna stand here and freeze?” Sirius asked, snuggling closer to Remus.

“You should’ve dressed accordingly to the weather. I’m feeling petty so - Moony, would you mind giving me a fag?” James chirped sweetly, batting his lashes at the taller man.

He didn’t give him the cigarette, what’s with his shivering partner, so they just walked in to the gallery.

James spotted Regulus immediately. He was wearing a dark green sweater with a white collar sticking out from under it, black trousers and low Docs. He looked innocent and hot at the same time. He could see the younger man noticing him, too, when his lips turned into a little smile.

“Hi, Little Star” Reg snorted at that, and that was all he had to do to get himself a wide grin from James.

“Hello, James. Thank you for coming” came the slightly amused answer. They scanned each other for a second. From up close Regulus looked even better, James thought.

“You look good, I mean, like, very good” Reg chuckled softly at that and the other man melted a little.

“You look good, too” younger man replied, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

Their moment was interrupted by Sirius barging in, saying how proud of his little brother he is, while ruffling Reg’s hair. Even though he didn’t like it, Regulus hasn’t voiced his displeasure. It was nice of him, really.

Not long after, some professor welcomed everyone from the middle of the room, talking about all the hard work his students put into this exhibition and how glad he was to see so many people coming to appreciate that work. Some ovations. Then they were free to admire the pieces. Most of them were paintings, but there were also sculptures and some photographs.

The theme of the exhibition was ‘love’, so the students presented how they perceived it - some in a cute way, whit elderly couples sitting on a bench or some places they loved, but there were also darker ones, presenting the topic as suffocating or painful. James felt sorry for all those people who suffered because of something that should have been beautiful.

When they finally reached Regulus’ pieces James felt something warm crawling inside his chest. He didn’t immediately understand them, since Reg created abstract art, but the longer he looked the more he could see. On the first one there were spots of paint that must’ve been two cuddled figures in the dark place, surrounded by a little light, just around them, like a halo. James thought it must represent how Regulus felt about his brother, what was confirmed as he spotted Sirius’ eyes glistening in the bright lights of the gallery.

The second one was brighter, like it was some kind of meadow maybe? There also were smudges of paint in different colours - some of them lighter others darker. Those probably were Regulus’ friends and James had an urge to comment on that one.

“That’s so cute. They must’ve loved it so much” he said, looking down at Regulus. “Where are they, by the way?”

“They will come later, when there’s not so many people so we can really discuss others works” the younger man replied simply. “We’ll probably just end up laughing at them, really” he added with a shrug.

At that James pretend to be outraged, gasping and putting a hand to his chest.

“Oh! Am I not worthy of laughing at other people’s art with you? Tell me how can I be granted this privilege, I’ll do anything!” He kept up his act, grabbing Regulus by the shoulders, bending his knees like a sufferer begging for water.

The younger of Black brother looked at him, trying real hard to not look amused, but his eyes were giving him away.

“You’re pathetic” he said, not even a little bite to it. To be honest he sounded a little like he was enjoying James’ antics.

“Yet, you like me so much you managed to rob your own brother of my number” James said it like he was plotting something. “And you wanted to rob me of my time, the audacity.”

“Please stop” the shorter man buried his face in his hands. “Don’t mention it ever again” he added, a little muffled by the hands. He had really nice hands, James noticed.

“Oh, I will not stop till the day I die.”

They moved to the third piece and- oh. James might not be the brightest person alive, but he knew what was on the last painting. It was similar to the other two they saw earlier, smudges of paint in different shades creating two figures. The figures were hugging, not like the first ones, but more like lovers trying to become one. One person was rather pale, contrasting with the other who looked tanned. Their hair was black and deep brown, respectively.

James looked at it with awe, felt the butterflies waking up in his stomach and flying freely all over his body. He looked at Regulus, but the other man hasn’t met his eyes, staring straight ahead at his work. James noticed he turned a pretty shade of reddish pink on every bit of his face. His own lips turned into a big fucking grin. He wanted to reach out, touch Regulus, hug him, anything really.

Unfortunately, from behind him came Sirius’ gasp and then excited “Oh my god, Reggie, you painted me and Moony? Oh, that is so lovely, can I have it later?”

James, Remus and Regulus looked at the man at the same time, each one with a deep frown, not believing how delusional Sirius is. As if they shared a brain cell, all three of them nodded in agreement to not lead him astray.

Regulus cleared his throat, and turning to his brother he said “Yes, that’s you and Remus, and no, you cannot take it.”

As the older turned to stare daggers at the younger, they just started bickering about who should have the painting, Remus and James looking at them with amusement.

After some time Regulus’ friends came and the three older man ushered to exit so the younger guys could have fun together. Just before they left, James approached Regulus one last time, cheeky smile on his lips.

“Sirius and Moony, huh?” it earned him an eye roll and a sheepish ‘shut up’. He just smiled wider and leaned down to whisper in Reg’s ear, feeling the black-haired man’s breath hitching “Text me when you get home.”

With that he walked backwards in the general direction of the exit, still looking at Regulus who looked positively stunned. James winked at him and Reg, after waking from the haze, flipped him off. James just chuckled at that loudly, turning to the door.

[katethetank]

Rating: 18+, minors gtfo Chapter Summary: Steve and Eddie go on their first date. We get a healthy dose of Wayne Munson as well! CW: Slight angst I suppose, illusions to Eddie's past sexcapades Tags: Alternate Universe - modern setting, Rock Star Eddie, Counselor Steve, Eddie is gay, Steve is bi, Wayne Munson, slow burn Word Count:3,192

Chapter 2<<Masterlist>>Chapter 4

For the first time in a long time, Eddie is nervous.

He paces the tiled floor over and over, thoughts spinning around Steve. If he would actually show up, if those ragtag kids he passed on his way out of The Dungeon told him who Eddie was. If that was enough to scare him off. Would he still want to go on this date? Would he treat Eddie differently now?

“Son, you gotta knock that off before you wear a damn trench in the floor!”

Wayne’s voice snaps him out of his pacing. He instead hops up on the metal counter of the diner kitchen and pulls at his hair. “I can’t help it, Wayne! I’m going out of my fucking mind here! What if he doesn’t show?”

Wayne grunts and tosses a towel over his shoulder. “Now stop all that. From what ya told me, he sounded plenty interested. Why’d ya think he asked you on this date in the first place? You need to calm down, and get the hell off my counter! That’s for glasses, not stubborn old asses.”

“Ha ha. You’re hilarious.” Eddie begrudgingly obeys and slides off to resume his pacing. “You don’t get it old man, he had no clue who I was. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve talked to someone who didn’t know me? Who wasn’t trying to blow smoke up my ass, or trying to get in my pants because I’m a musician? Someone who just treated me like a regular fucking person?”

“What am I, chopped liver?”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Obviously you don’t count! You’ll never hesitate to put me in my place.”

“And don’t you forget it kid,” Wayne grumbles under his breath. “Can’t imagine ya coulda done much to scare this fella off. Just wait and see, I’m sure he’ll show.”

Like he was able to manifest it out of thin air, the bell on the door dings. Eddie peeks out from the service window and his eyes land on none other than Steve. “Holy shit, he’s here. Fuck. Shit! What do I do?! OW!”

He was not expecting a smack upside the head.

“Ya get your ass out there and greet the boy! Got a booth for y’all towards the back. Don’t be an idiot, and get the hell outta my kitchen! Lunch rush ain’t over yet and you’re distractin’ me!”

Eddie takes a deep breath and pushes his way through the swinging doors. He comes around to the front and can’t help the way his smile starts to spread as Steve turns and meets his eyes. He looks sheepish with his hands tucked into the pockets of his sinfully tight jeans. “Hey Eddie.”

“Hey sweetheart. I uh…I got us a booth in the back, I hope that’s ok?”

Steve gives a small nod and follows Eddie across the black and white checkered tile floor to the more secluded corner of the diner. They slide into opposite sides of the red vinyl booth and before Eddie can say another word, Steve is rushing out an apology.

“Eddie, before this goes any further, I feel like I really need to apologize. I had no idea who you were when you came into the shop yesterday, and like an idiot I just went off about your music and I feel like such an ass. The kids tore me a new one last night, and I wasn’t even sure if you’d want me to come today, but I didn’t have your number or anything, so I had no way to reach you to apologize. I’m so sorry! I hope I didn’t come off as a complete dickhead, because I kinda used to be one, and I really don’t want to be that guy again.”

“Woah woah woah, Stevie, slow down! No need to apologize! I wasn’t offended. To be honest, it was actually kind of refreshing. There are very few people in my life who are willing to give it to me straight, so your unfiltered opinions were very much welcomed.”

Steve seems to deflate like a balloon, releasing a long sigh and sinking back into the cushioned booth. “Oh thank god. I’ve been going out of my mind since you left last night. All too often I suffer from foot-in-mouth disease, but that was a next level infection! You’re seriously not upset?”

“No honey, not at all. And I’m glad you came. To be honest, I was worried you weren’t gonna show up once you found out. I passed those kids of yours when I left  last night, and if their stunned faces were anything to go by, I figured they clocked me right away and it wouldn’t take them long to tell you.”

“Oh yeah, they barreled right in and were pretty much losing their minds! And then were absolutely mortified when I told them what happened.” The endearing blush creeps up on Steve’s cheeks again and Eddie is completely smitten. He wants to kiss it off his face. 

He leans forward and crosses his arms over the table top. “You’re cute when you blush, you know that?”

Steve ducks his head and then bashfully looks up at Eddie. Just above a whisper he asks, “You think I’m cute?..”

Eddie reaches across the table and takes Steve’s hand in his. God, he still can’t get over how big his mitts are. “Steve, if I haven’t made it obvious enough already, let me just tell you now: you’re the cutest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen. I still can’t believe you asked me out. I’m lucky to be here sweetheart.” 

“Damn. You really worked on your material since last night.”

Eddie barks out a laugh, this beautiful man in front of him totally taking him by surprise. “Not at all Stevie, just speaking the truth! Alright. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. What are you gonna get?”

Steve’s face lights up, “Oh the grilled cheese, it’s a must! Wayne makes it on sourdough, with like 3 different kinds of cheese and a buttload of crispy bacon. You can’t go wrong.”

Eddie can’t help the smile that blooms on his face. That was Wayne’s specialty when he was growing up. They didn’t always have the money for it, but it was Eddie’s favorite and Wayne would whip it up for special occasions. When opportunity knocked and Wayne was given a chance to quit the plant he was working at and start running the diner, Eddie insisted it become a staple on the menu.

Before Eddie can say another word, the kitchen door opens up and the man himself comes strolling out, placing a couple bottles of Coke on the table.

“Steve, good to see ya kid! Come back for the usual?”

Eddie looks on in mild horror and confusion as Steve jumps up out of his seat and wraps Wayne in a hug. 

“Wayne, good to see you too! You know I can’t stay away for long.”

Wayne lets go with a pat to Steve’s shoulder and turns on Eddie. “Son, why didn’t you tell me this is who you were meetin’?”

It’s Steve’s turn to look confused, asking Eddie, “Wait, how do you know Wayne?”

“How do you know Wayne??”

Steve sits back down in the booth and tells him, “I work nearby, and come in all the time for lunch breaks and stuff. Sometimes Wayne will have a game on and we’ll watch it together if it’s slow in here.”

Eddie is absolutely baffled. Not only is Steve already acquainted with his only flesh and blood family member, but Wayne has had unfettered access to Steve for who knows how long and never once made his existence known to Eddie. Selfish.

Wayne chimes in next. “Ed, don’t you remember me tellin’ ya about the kid from the community center coming’ in and gettin’ your sandwich all the time?”

Yeah he absofuckinglutely remembers that. Eddie turns to look at Wayne, squinting up at him, and replies, “Yeah of course I do old man. But you kept going on about this ‘kid from the community center’ like he was some wayward teen or some shit. Not a fully grown man who looks like a damn Calvin Klein model!”

Steve is now dissolving into a fit of giggles on the other side of the booth. “Wait wait, so how do you know Wayne?”

Eddie and Wayne answer at the same time.

“He’s my uncle.”

“He’s a pain in my ass.”

The pair sigh and scowl at each other before breaking into matching grins. Wayne pats Eddie on the head and tells them both, “Alright, I’ll get some food cooking for ya and it’ll be out quick.” Wayne takes his leave back to the kitchen and Eddie is left sitting there with his head spinning.

Small fucking world.

“He’s mentioned you, ya know,” Steve says.

“Oh yeah? And I’m sure it’s all been oh so flattering,” Eddie replies, thick with sarcasm.

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “He really loves you, you know? He can be a man of few words, and hasn’t really told me much, but he lights up when he talks about you. His ‘nephew out in California.’ living his dream. He’s really proud of you.”

Eddie softens at that. Wayne is the closest thing he has to a dad, and while they’re thick as thieves, they don’t really exchange soft sentiments with each other very often. It’s…really nice to hear.

Eddie clears his throat before he starts getting too choked up. “So. He mentioned the community center. I thought you worked The Dungeon with brats?”

Steve takes a long sip of his Coke and Eddie is not ashamed at all to watch his throat work, eyeing the moles on his neck like an appetizer. “Nah, I just help out there from time to time if they need someone to cover. I’m actually a counselor at the center and I run the LGBTQ youth group, coach a couple of the teams there, and assist with fundraising stuff.”

Well shit. 

Not only is Steve gorgeous, funny, kind, and delightfully bitchy, but he seems to be an honest to god good person. Eddie never stood a chance.

Steve goes on, telling him more about the work he does. “It’s mostly middle and high school kids. My favorite though is the preschool groups that come in! If I had to choose a different job I think I’d definitely go into early childhood development. You usually end the day covered in glitter or snot, but some days that’s better than managing grouchy teens and their raging hormones. It’s good though, the work I do. I had a lot of practice with The Party when I was in high school.” 

To Eddie’s confused look, he explains, “That’s what the kids at The Dungeon refer to themselves as - The Party. It’s from their nerd game I guess. I somehow managed to be the designated babysitter for all of them back in the day. Looked out for them, kept them out of trouble when I could, saved their asses a couple times…and how do they repay me? They call me ‘mom’ and never miss an opportunity to roast the shit out of me!”

They both laugh at that, and Eddie can’t believe this angel of a man has fallen in his orbit. 

“God, sorry, I’m kind of monopolizing the conversation aren’t I? Tell me more about you! Wayne said you live in L.A.?”

“Don’t apologize sweetheart, I could listen to you talk for hours! And uh, yeah. L.A. has kinda been home base for a few years now. It’s hard to really call a place home when you move around so much. When we’re not touring or recording or promoting, I bounce between here and the west coast. Try to get back to see Wayne as often as I can. Not only for his sake, but for mine. L.A. is great at all that, lots to do, lots to see, but it’s uh…it’s not genuine. Lot of plastic people and plastic smiles, you know? I can never really seem to get grounded out there. It helps coming back here and having Wayne take me down a peg or two,” he laughs.

“Damn right son, somebody’s gotta keep ya level.” Wayne interrupts Eddie’s minor spiraling with two plates of perfectly crispy grilled cheeses. Eddie’s with fries and Steve’s with a salad. Eddie didn’t even know there was salad. 

They eat their meals and learn a little bit more about each other. Likes and dislikes, surface level stuff. But it’s nice. Eddie hasn’t felt this comfortable around someone in a long time. Of course as soon as he saw Steve he was attracted to him, but now sitting here and getting to actually know him…Eddie finds that he really, really likes the guy. 

Their food is long gone, and they’re sitting as mirror images of each other: elbow propped up on the table, chin in hand, the opposite hands are playing with each other. Eddie strokes featherlight touches down the lines of Steve’s palm. Steve absently spins the rings around on Eddie’s fingers. 

Dare he say, it’s fucking cute as shit. The Eddie of years past would regularly have pretty boys dropping to their knees for him without a second thought, or bouncing on his lap like there was no tomorrow. But this quiet moment with Steve, speaking in soft voices, with soft touches, is the most intimate thing he’s experienced maybe ever. Quick fucks are great and all, but Eddie thinks he might like this more. He feels content and connected. He could get used to this.

“So. You’re taking off again tomorrow, right? Do you think you’ll be back in Indy anytime soon?” Steve looks so hopeful as he asks. God, Eddie would give him anything he asked for.

“Uh huh, we’ve got a meeting in L.A. tomorrow, a few more weeks left of the tour, and then things are kind of up in the air. The label wants us to get started on a new album, but the guys are kinda dragging their feet. And I get it. We’ve kinda been going nonstop for the last few years. Jeff’s got a couple kids he really needs to be there for, and Gareth and his fiancé wanted to lock down their wedding for this summer.”

Steve keeps his eyes drawn to Eddie’s fingers as he twirls another ring and quietly asks, “Do you…do you think you guys will take a break for a little while? I’m sure Wayne would be really happy to get to see more of you.”

He’s so sweet Eddie thinks his teeth are gonna rot out.

“It’s looking like that, yeah. Still gotta work things out with the label. Chrissy’s a total hardass though - that’s our manager and my best friend since high school. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but she’s a real ball breaker and can get them to agree to pretty much anything! So yeah, if that works out, it looks like I’ll have a lot more free time. To see Wayne. And maybe, you know…other people.” He gives Steve’s hand a squeeze and when those hazel eyes meet his, they both smile like a couple of idiots.

Steve lets go of Eddie’s hand (to which he immediately mourns the loss) and sits up straight, takes a deep breath, and blurts out, “I really want to see you again! This has honestly been the best date I’ve had in…forever, and I know I’d totally regret it if I didn’t ask you out again. So would you? Wanna go on another date?” 

He starts to falter a bit at the end there, like he’s bracing himself for rejection, and Eddie can’t have that. He reaches into his back pocket, pulls out his phone, unlocks it and brings up a new contact. He quirks an eyebrow at Steve and very smoothly says, “No.”

Before Steve can even have a chance to react, Eddie slides his phone across the table and continues, “…not until you give me your number.”

Grinning, Steve reaches into his pocket and does the same. They pick up each other’s phones and as Steve is typing in his info, Eddie first goes to the contact photo, opens the camera, and holds it up to his face. He’s now secured in Steve’s phone with his eyes crossed and tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth. He snickers to himself and he enters his number and saves himself as “🎸Eddie🎸” with the nickname “Your future husband.” Go big or go home, right?

They hand their phones back, and Eddie must have been so delighted with himself that he didn’t even see Steve take his own selfie. The new contact photo for ”☕️Steve☕️” is him with the biggest, toothiest, goofiest grin he’s ever seen. It’s fucking adorable. Eddie’s pretty sure that smile is so big he can see his wisdom teeth. 

From across the table he hears Steve snort and say, “Oh, well that’s fucking charming. This picture really brings out your eyes.”

“Prince Charming, that’s me!” Eddie replies while trying to bow. Sitting down. In a booth.

“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous,” Steve laughs. And if being ridiculous is what Eddie has to do to keep hearing that laugh, he’ll gladly make a fool out himself any day. “Well, you’ve got my number. Now what about that date?”

“As soon as the tour is done, I’d love to.”

“In the meantime…can I call you?”

“Oh honey,” Eddie purrs. “You can call me anything you want.”

“Awful!! Oh my god 0/10, that was the worst!” 

“Hey, I said I’d workshop it, didn’t I? I gotta try out the material!”

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “Yeah, I think it’s back to the drawing board with that one. Ah fuck, I should really get going. Eddie, this was amazing. I had a really great time. Let me just grab the check before I head out and -“

“Ah ah ah! No, your money is no good here!”

“Eddie, no, I asked you out, I can get it.”

Eddie shakes his head. “Nope. No. No way. Besides, do you really think Wayne is gonna let you pay knowing you took his loser nephew on a date here? Absolutely not. It’s covered sweetheart.”

Steve huffs, but accepts. They both scoot out of the booth and stand awkwardly in front of each other for a moment. It’s been forever since Eddie’s even been on a proper date, what’s the protocol here? A hug? A handshake? Polite nod and smile? Steve decides for him as he leans in and places a chaste kiss on Eddie’s cheek.

“Can’t wait for next time. I’ll call you soon Eds.”

And with that, he’s gone. Leaving Eddie standing there like a goon with his fingers brushing the spot Steve’s lips just touched like a teenage girl in a John Hughes movie. Eds. His heart does a stupid little flutter at the nickname. Nobody has ever called him that before.

He is, without question, completely and totally fucked.

Chapter 2<<Masterlist>>Chapter 4

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Comments are cool, let me know what you think! Taglist is open, I think I'm doing this right?!

@annachronisme @mrsjellymunson

[cielcreations]

Spectrum's Doll (VSAU Story)

Based off/Inspiration from the amazing @rhapsoddity and their Vigilante Sheriff AU as well as their Head Empty Sheriff AU! Their art and story is just *chef's kiss* Definitely check them and their stuff out, it's amazing and lovely and I just can't get over it.

Also, implied hermit/empireshipping in this story. Nothing too drastic, just characters mentioning how they were exes or how they like each other, but still, it's there.

Also, also, TRIGGER WARNING: Hypnosis/Mind Control. That's kinda the whole point of this story. Cool? Cool.

When Stratos asked Sheriff for help in finding Sausage, he didn't think he would have to make a trade, intentionally or not.

Sheriff tied the llama hybrid up, the man struggling the whole time.

"Are your informants really reliable? It just seems like no one is here." Stratos asked, "Well, besides Spectrum's minions."

"Yes, I'm sure my information is correct, my informants wouldn't give me false info or lie." Sheriff said. They may be pigeons, but they see everything. He thought. He put the llama hybrid against the wall, who continued to struggle.

"You won't get away with this." The man hissed.

"Hey, that's my line!" Sheriff teased, taking out a deputy's badge sticker and sticking it on his head, "Boop!"

Stratos rolled his eyes before he and Sheriff moved to the next room of the warehouse. It was dark, making the two already on edge. Suddenly, a single light flipped on, revealing Sausage.

"Sausage!" Stratos ran over.

"Wait, Stratos, be careful, I don't like this! It could be a trick!" Sheriff exclaimed, taking out another lasso.

"Oh, don't be uptight, it's Sausage, he wouldn't hurt-" Stratos stopped in his tracks as the brunette lifted his hand, a large vine nearly stabbing him but only brushing past his cheek, "-me..."

"What the-?!" Sheriff watched as Sausage began to fight Stratos, the hero dodging and yelling at the other to stop. He took out his grabbling hook, spinning it in his hand, "That's Sanctuary's power! How could Spectrum use it? Unless Sausage is- oh god, that would make sense, but then why-"

"Too many questions~" Someone whispered in his ear, hugging his arm and wrapping their arm around his shoulder, "Don't worry that pretty little head of yours~ Just sink deeper and listen to me~"

Sheriff blinked as the colors in the room began to blur. He groaned and pulled away from the person quickly. His vision was slightly clouded by a mix of colors, but he fought against it, seeing the colorful villain. He had teal hair with heterochromia eyes, one teal and one orange. He wore a simple black bodysuit with a chest window, black jeans, and a colorful jacket, his black mask covering his face.

"Woah man, take me to dinner first!" Sheriff laughed, trying to ground himself.

"Gladly!" The villain, Spectrum, smiled, "But I don't think this location is very fitting!"

The colors moved and Sheriff saw tables and chairs appear around them. He groaned, holding his head and focusing on Spectrum. If he did that, he could see the warehouse, he could hear Stratos's yelling and Sausage using his power. He needed to focus.

"I-I'm flattered, but one shouldn't mix work with play-!" He groaned.

Spectrum stepped forward, "Awwww, come on handsome, a little break wouldn't-" He gasped, stepping back to dodge one of Sheriff's punches, the dirty blonde dropping his lasso and grappling hook, "Oh, so you like it rough, huh?"

"Gotta keep you on your toes, don't I?" Sheriff chuckled, trying to punch him again.

Spectrum dodged. Sheriff couldn't tell if he was moving slower or if Spectrum was just that fast, but he kept trying to hit him. He focused on fighting Spectrum, the villain seeming to get more bored by the minute.

"You know, I'm surprised and impressed you managed to endure this for so long!" Spectrum cooed, stepping out of the way.

Sheriff panted, smirking, kind of proud of himself, "Yeah, well, I know villains like you prefer a show and I don't mind an audience!"

Spectrum again dodged, managing to get behind Sheriff, "That's cute, but we should really wrap this up." He kicked the dirty blonde in the back, Sheriff stumbling and falling to his knees, "I don't do this for everyone, but you're quite a special case!"

Spectrum moved in front of Sheriff, cupping his cheeks, "Now, do me a favor and scream."

Sheriff gasped as he was blinded by colors, a voice in his head telling him to give in, to let go, to relax, to let Spectrum in. He tried to resist it, he tried to think of things to ground himself. Norman, Flick, he two cats. Grian, his awesome brother when he's not being annoying. Sausage, Sausage still needs help! And Stratos needs him and-

"Stop thinking. You don't need to. Let me do all the work." Spectrum's voice rang in his head.

Tears formed in Sheriff's eyes as they fluttered. He tried to fight back, but the voices telling him to give in overtook him. He closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.

Spectrum groaned, holding his head as he looked down at the dirty blonde, Damn, why did I have to use so much power on him?! He thought. He stared down at the other and smiled, cooing as he wiped the tears away. Sheriff's blue eyes were glowing purple, a blank look on his face.

"Nothing but a cute little doll." He giggled before looking at Sausage and Stratos.

Spectrum smirked, picking Sheriff up bridal style before slipping out of the room. He blinked and laughed, seeing the llama hybrid still struggling in the ropes.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! Your arm candy is stronger than he looks!" The brunette hissed.

"Oh, I know, trust me, Owen." Scott walked over, using a knife to cut him loose, "Come on, I got what I want. The hypnosis on Sausage will wear off the farther I get away."

Owen looked at Sheriff in his arms, "Oh my god, you must've used a lot of power. There are no thoughts behind those eyes!"

"That's the point!" Spectrum chuckled, "He was really good at resisting, even tried to put up a fight. But when I finally got him to stop thinking, he finally was mine!"

The two continued chatting, slipping into the night, disappearing with Sheriff.

***

"Home sweet home, my doll!" Spectrum giggled as he placed the dirty blonde on his bed, Owen rolling his eyes.

"I'm stealing your bathroom for an hour." He grabbed his civilian clothes, walking to the door.

"That's fine! I'll be here!" Spectrum giggled as the brunette closed the door. He smiled, removing his mask and jacket, placing them on a chair.

"Yo, Scott, I heard Owen." His bedroom door open as his sibling came in, "How did- oh, you got him."

"Xornoth, this is Sheriff!" Scott exclaimed, making Sheriff turn to face his sibling, "Sheriff, say hi!"

Sheriff lifted his hand and waved a bit.

Xornoth rolled their eyes, "Whatever. Just keep an eye on him."

"I will! He's going to just be either arm candy or a doll!"

"Yeah, I get that, but you also let your toys wander, sometimes. Just keep him away from my stuff."

"I will, geeeeez!"

"You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I-"

"Scott." Xornoth looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Are you okay? Injured? Broken?"

Scott chuckled, "I'm fine, Xornoth. Head hurts a bit from using too much of my power, but I'm fine."

"Kay. Just making sure." Xornoth waved, "Alright, I'm going back to terrorizing 10 year olds."

"Have fun!" Scott called as they shut the door and left.

Scott then changed into some pajamas before facing Sheriff, who was still staring at where Xornoth once was. He chuckled, tilting his head to face him. He removed the dirty blonde's hat, vest, and scarf, placing them on a chair before opening his closet.

"What to put you in...?" He hummed, "Hmmm... I mean, I could leave you in boxers, what do you think?" He chuckled, laughing at his own joke.

"Mmmn-"

Scott turned and saw Sheriff's face was twisted.

"H-H-Huuuh-"

"Shhhhhhh~" Scott cooed, quickly closing the distance between them, holding the other's cheeks, "No thinking for you~ Just sit there looking pretty~"

Sheriff slipped easily, his face relaxing as he once again fell under Scott's control. Damn, even now, he's still trying to fight. I have to watch what I say and order of him if me asking what he thinks can bring him back. Scott turned back to the closet, deciding a clean white shirt was all Sheriff needed.

He unbuttoned the dirty blonde's shirt and widened his eyes. Winged... surgery scars...? He looked at Sheriff's back, eyes getting bigger, Small canary wings...?! Scott was in shock before he gently removed Sheriff's mask.

"Holy- Is that-?!" Scott cupped the dirty blonde's cheeks before smiling brightly, "Oh, my god! Jimmy Solidarity Gaming is Sheriff, aye?! That's so cool! No wonder I like you so much!" He then put the new white shirt on the dirty blonde, unbuttoning and removing his jeans, "We sure live in a small world, huh? That's crazy! I can't believe you became a vigilante! And a confident flirter too! I guess that's my doing, you're welcome everyone! I mean, I am sorry I have to take this handsome hunk off the streets, but he's miiiiiiine~!" Scott giggled. 

Owen walked out, sighing, "Alright, I'm done.

"Thank you so much for your hard work, Own! You're dismissed, minion!" Scott teased, playfully clapping his hands together, "That will be all!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going!" Owen laughed, waving as he left, "See ya tomorrow!"

"See ya!" Scott chuckled.

He smiled, looking at Solidarity's face, still blank. He gently laid the other down laying beside him.

"Cuddle me."

The dirty blonde did.

Scott smiled, "So handsome, doll. And all mine. Go ahead and sleep."

Solidarity's eyes fluttered closed and Scott smiled. He turned off the lights and fell asleep himself.

***

Stratos paced, biting his bottom lip, occasionally biting his nail anxiously, his whole body stiff.

"Stratos, please calm down..." Sanctuary tried.

"I-I just can't, I'm sorry!" Stratos groaned, "I-I mean, Sheriff helped me find you and now Spectrum has him! He's been missing for three weeks and-"

"Excuse me!" The two turned as two heroes came towards them, the avian placing down the brunette, "Stratos, Sanctuary, pleasure to see ya!"

"Hey, Hotguy, Cuteguy." Stratos smiled.

Sanctuary waved a bit, "Thanks again for the help, Hotguy!"

"Of course. Actually, speaking of help, um... Cuteguy?"

The dirty blonde seemed hesitant, nervous even, anxious? "...Um, well... I was wondering, do you guys happen to know someone in your civilian forms? His name is Jimmy or he sometimes goes by Solidarity?"

"Yeah, we do! Why?"

"He's missing."

"WHAT?!" The two yelled.

"Wait, wait, wait, how do you know this?!"

"Well, Solidarity is m-"

"What he means to say-" Hotguy interrupted, "-is that Cuteguy and Solidarity are really close in civilian form!"

"Uh, yeah, right!" Cuteguy exclaimed, "Anyways, I went to check on him two weeks ago cause he wasn't answering me and we had plans, but he wasn't there. I tried calling, texting, calling his and my friends, no one knew. I looked everywhere and his cats..." He sighed, "His cats kept meowing and whining at me. I fed and gave them water and they acted like they hadn't been fed in days. Which is just not Solidarity! He would never just disappear on me! And he loves those cats more than anything, he would put them over everything else in an instant! There's no way he would just abandon them!"

Sanctuary nodded, standing up, "Listen, we'll help you find Solidarity, but can you guys help us find Sheriff?"

"Sheriff? The vigilante?" Hotguy asked, "Isn't he, like, your archenemy, Stratos?"

Stratos looked away, "I owe him. He awas the one who helped me find Sanctuary, but... Spectrum took him while I got Sanctuary back. He's been missing for three weeks."

Cuteguy flapped his wings, beginning to fly, "Okay, so Solidarity and Sheriff, right? I'll do a sweep of the city again, just to make sure neither of them are hiding in plain sight and we just overlooked them."

"I'll come with." Stratos flew to stand (float?) beside him.

"Hotguy and I will ask if anyone has seen them and for details. We'll meet up in a couple hours."

The four split up and began searching.

As the sun began to set and the moon rose, the sky darkened. Stars shined in the night sky as the four met up once more, sharing what little information they had. No one has seen either of the men, and no one had any idea where they could possible be.

"Uggggh!" Cuteguy groaned, "Dammit!"

"Woah, calm down Cute-"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Hotguy!" The dirty blonde hissed, "Ti- Jimmy is missing and no one has seen him, he just poofed out of existence and I can't do anything about it."

"Actually, I know where he is."

The four turned and immediately became on edge.

"Hephaestus!" Stratos glared, "What're you doing here?!"

"Not here to fight!" The redhead exclaimed, "Temporary truce?"

"Yeah right-"

"I know where Sheriff and possible Solidarity is being held."

The four widened their eyes and looked at each other, before back at the redhead.

"And why should we trust you?!" Sanctuary exclaimed.

"Spectrum kidnapped you as part of his big plan, knowing Stratos would come for you. And Sheriff being Sheriff helped Stratos saved you, but Spectrum now has him. Right?"

"How do you know all this-"

"Doesn't matter, he took Sheriff and he also has Solidarity, but I don't exactly know where he's keeping him since I've only seen Spectrum lugging Sheriff around."

"If you know this, why ask us to help you?" Hotguy questioned.

Hephaestus looked away, "Well... truth is, me and Sheriff have some... history. We know each other in our civilian forms but our relationship is... complicated." He looked at them again, "But that doesn't matter. Spectrum has him deep under hypnosis and I won't be able to bring him back alone. Even if I could, I doubt he'd listen to me. I need your help to bring him back. And I can help you find Solidarity."

Cuteguy bit his bottom lip. He summoned an axe and pointed it at the other, "If you're lying, I will actually kill you."

"Noted. Now, come on, this way."

Hephaestus led the way, the four heroes following him, albeit from a bit of a distance. They arrived at a warehouse, the five standing on the roof and looking through the roof windows. The lights showed Spectrum, his orange clad sidekick, and a dirty blonde sitting on a box.

"Who-"

Hephaestus broke the window with his giant robot hands and fell through, glaring, "Spectrum, give Sheriff back."

"Hephaestus..." Spectrum glared, "I should have know you would find me eventually, you've always been obsessed with Sheriff."

"I'M OBSESSED?!" The redhead growled, pointing at the other, his giant robot hand doing the same, "You made a whole plan to kidnap a hero, just in case Sheriff would show up as support, and then kidnapped him instead so you can have some fake boyfriend!"

"Oh, he's not fake, he's my real boytoy!" He then looked at Sheriff, smirking, "Right, dollface?"

Sheriff merely nodded, blank face.

"Son of a-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Stratos yelled as the heroes stoof beside Hephaestus, "That's Sheriff?!"

The dirty blonde's hair was brushed back, a little diamond clip holding back his bangs. He wore a simple sleeveless black bodysuit with black arm bands, black jeans, purple boots, and a purple belt.

Hotguy drew his bow, Cuteguy summoning a weapin beside him, "You and your sidekick surrender now, Spectrum. It's five against two, you're outnumbered."

"You're right, we are outnumbered, but you're mistaken. It's five against three." Spectrum smirked, "Handsome, take care of Hephaestus and Stratos for me."

Sheriff stood and unlatched a black lasso from his belt, spinning it.

"Sheriff, listen to me, you don't-"

The dirty blonde interrupted Sanctuary by wrapping the lasso around Stratos and throwing him into Hephaestus.

"Sheriff, stop-!" Cuteguy called before he noticed the colors start to move. He groaned, closing his eyes as he flew up, "Hotguy, be careful!"

Hotguy seemed unaffected by the colors, smirking, letting his vex wings out, "Sorry, colorful man, doesn't affect me."

"That's fine, I got three of you distracted." Spectrum smirked, "Orange, take care of Sanctuary."

"You got it!" The llama hybrid snickered.

Spectrum took out a knife, Hotguy trying to shoot at him, trying to disorientate him. Spectrum easily dodged it and got close, trying to slash at the other. Cuteguy kicked Spectrum back, the colorful villain looking at the avian and trying to manipulate him. Cuteguy groaned and held his head, closing his eyes once more. It was a dance of Hotguy and Spectrum fighting with one another, Cuteguy trying to step in only to close his eyes to not get effected by the hypnosis. Orange and Sanctuary got in a heated fist fight, Orange also using a knife to cut the vines Sanctuary summoned.

Meanwhile, Sheriff was using his own weapons, trying to stop Stratos and Hephaestus, mainly trying to lasso one of them and then throwing them into the other. Hephaestus stayed back, knowing how dangerous his weapons could be and mainly acting as support as Stratos tried to grab Sheriff or dodged the dirty blonde's attacks. Stratos flew forward and pinned him down on the ground, the brunette staring into Sheriff's eyes.

"Sheriff, come on! Don't let Spectrum take over you! You're stronger than this! Come on, get out of your head!" Stratos yelled at him. 

Sheriff blinked, the glow in his eyes flicking.

"Sheriff?!" Hephaestus called, kneeling beside Stratos, "Come on, Sheriff! You're an idiot, but you're not weak! Come on!"

Sheriff groaned, eyes twitching as the glowing dimmed more, "N-Nnnngh-!"

Spectrum looked over and growled. He kicked Hotguy in the stomach, the hero groaning. He then threw him towards Cuteguy, both yelping as Spectrum ran over to the other two. He manipulated the colors, Stratos and Hephaestus groaning. Spectrum pulled Sheriff away from the two, the dirty blonde groaning.

"Nnngh, w-wha-"

"Shhhhhh~" Spectrum cooed, "Shhhh, shhhh, no thinking for you, dollface~ Calm down, slip deep again~"

Sheriff panted as he tried to fight a bit, but he easily gave in, face blank once more as he once again turned numb.

"You-!" Hephaestus growled, his eyes narrowing.

"He wants to stay with me, Hephaestus. Right, Sheriff?" Spectrum stood up, holding Sheriff's hand and standing him up.

Sheriff nodded.

"See? He wants me, not you."

"That's it!" Hephaestus held one of his arms up, pressing a couple buttons, "Stratos, cover your ears."

"Huh-"

Hephaestus pressed a button and, suddenly, a loud alarm began to blare. Everyone but Hephaestus and Sheriff covered their ears. Sanctuary, however, lifted some vines up and threw Orange against the wall. Spectrum yelled, glaring at the hero. He glared and looked at Sheriff. He pulled the dirty blonde towards him whispering in his ear. Sheriff's eyes glowed a bright purple as he fell to his knees, Spectrum running towards the brunette.

Hotguy groaned and drew his bow, ready to pin Spectrum to the wall. However, before he could let go, Sheriff used his lasso to take his bow.

Hephaestus stopped the blaring, "Sheriff-"

Spectrum helped his friend up, smirking, "Good boy, Sheriff! I'll be back for you later! Do whatever you need to do, kill them if you need to."

Sheriff stood up, protecting Spectrum and Orange. He panted, eyes glowing a bright purple, twitching as he gripped his lasso tightly.

"Sorry Sheriff, not dealing with this!" Sanctuary wrapped a vine around his leg and threw him against a wall. 

The man cried out in pain, eyes closing as he fell unconscious. Stratos flew over and picked the dirty blonde up.

"Great, we got Sheriff-" Cuteguy looked at Hephaestus, "-now where's T- Jimmy?"

Hephaestus went to say something but they heard police sirens. He cursed, "Fuck, I'll go after Spectrum and Orange and get him, but I gotta go!"

"WHAT?!" Cuteguy's wings flared up as the other climbed out the roof windows, "YOU'RE LEAVING?!"

"Listen, we may have a temporary truce, but police and villains don't mix. I'll get Solidarity, you help Sheriff!" He then left.

"YOU LITTLE-" Cuteguy went to fly after him.

"Cuteguy!" Hotguy grabbed him, "He's right! He helped us find Sheriff, but the police won't care. Besides, all four of us will get in trouble if it's found out we were working with a villain."

Cuteguy's wings slowed down as he landed, "....Right. I'll stay back, explain what happened to the police, you all help Sheriff."

"I'll help you." Sanctuary stood beside Cuteguy.

Stratos picked Hotguy up, "Alright, we're heading to headquarters. See ya both later."

Stratos flew to headquarters, the two going inside and heading to the medbay. They laid Sheriff down on the bed, a staff member healing his back. Hotguy knelt beside him, holding his head in his hands. His eyes began to glow a light blue, his vex wings extending as he tried to use his magic to break Sheriff out of it. He groaned, focusing as much as he could. Suddenly, he pulled back, groaning as he held his hands.

"Hotguy?"

"I-I can't break him out of it, it's not that easy. Every time I try, I just feel Spectrum's power trying to overtake mine."

Suddenly, Sheriff's eyes shot open. He screamed and went to punch Hotguy, Stratos catching him and pinning him down. Sheriff struggled, glaring, kicking and screaming.

"C-Calm down, calm down! F-Fuck, what is going on?!"

Hotguy widened his eyes, "Spectrum's last order was to kill us..."

Stratos widened his eyes, cursing, "Sorry Sheriff." He headbutted the other, Sheriff falling unconscious again.

Hotguy picked Sheriff up, "This is going to take a lot more focus, I need to go to another room."

"What?! But, Hotguy, what if-"

"I'll be fine, I just need peace and quiet and no distractions." Hotguy reassured, going into a different room he knew had no cameras.

He locked the door behind him before he laid Sheriff on the couch, kneeling beside him. He took a deep breath, taking off his glasses. He held the other's face, closing his eyes. Light blueish-grey marks appeared around his hands and eyes, his vex wings extending slightly. His eyes glowed a bright blue as he completely focused on the dirty blonde's mind. I should be able to reach in, weave some memories together and bring him back up. Hotguy thought.

He was inside Sheriff's mind, tugging and pulling memories of the vigilante messing with Stratos, the vigilante saving the day and catching the bad guys, the vigilante... talking to some pigeons? Oh, and there he was, helping Stratos find Sausage and then there he was, talking with Spectrum and fighting his control. Finding those seemed to break Spectrum's hold a bit, as he heard the dirty blonde groan. He ignored it, focusing more. He reached deeper into Sheriff's mind, pulling more memories up, these ones more specific.

Sheriff seeing a little girl crying. The girl was lost, she couldn't find her mom or dad. So, Sheriff picked her up, calmed her down, even bought her some ice cream, before helping her retrace her steps. The girl's mom and dad were extremely grateful, thanking the man profusely. He just smiled and reassured them it was no trouble.

Sheriff almost getting caught by Stratos after helping catch a bank robber. The brunette had grabbed Sheriff's wrist, attempting to get the dirty blonde to put them behind his back. Sheriff merely spun them around, telling Stratos he loved to dance and to just ask next time. That flustered the hero and he let go, allowing Sheriff to run and playfully wink.

Sheriff arriving home. In a... familiar home. Sheriff taking off his mask, hat, and scarf, setting them down on a familiar table... Sheriff walking down a familiar hallways, two familiar cats running over and greeting him. He picked the cats up, went into a familiar bedroom, and took out his phone. He sat on the familiar bed, turned on the camera, made it face him and-

JIMMY?! Hotguy gasped as he stared at the memory playing out, O-Oh my god, no wonder Sheriff and Solidarity went missing around the same time, they're the same person! Wait, fuck, Hephaestus says he knows who Sheriff is, meaning he knows that- Oh god, no wonder he ran! He wasn't going to reveal who Sheriff was! Oh god, what am I suppose to tell Cuteguy?! 'Hey, your missing brother? Turns out, he's a vigilante! In fact, he's Sheriff! So we found both, hurray!' Oh god, if Grian ever found out, he would kill Jim for doing something so dangerous! Hotguy groaned, shaking his head, Focus. Focus, it's okay. Just... focus.

***

Sheriff's eyes fluttered open, his head pounding, body aching. He groaned, looking around the room. He saw he was in some sort of office and-

Dollface~

He gasped, sitting up straight, looking around. 

"Hey, you're-" 

Sheriff stood and out his fists up, glaring.

"H-HEY! I come in peace!"

"Wh-What the?! Hotguy?! Where am I?! Where's Sp-" Sheriff stopped himself and shook his head, "Where's the villain?!"

Hotguy smiled kindly, sitting down and patting the seat beside him, "He's not here. It's just you and me. Sit."

"...Am I being arrested?"

"No, not at all. Just sit."

Sheriff hesitated, but did so.

"Listen, so..." Hotguy sighed, "Spectrum's grip on you was really, really, really strong."

"Yeah, I know." Sheriff hugged himself a bit, "I... I would try to fight it, but he would just... I don't know. I don't remember anything. I just remember his voice..."

Hotguy nodded, "Yeah, I know, I could tell. See, because Spectrum's grip on you was so tight, it wasn't as simple as me just challenging the power. I tried that, but his last order was to kill us, so when it didn't work, you woke up and tried to kill us."

"'Us?'"

"Cuteguy, Stratos, Sanctuary, Hephaestus, and I all found you, but Stratos and I took you back here." He explained, "Anyways, when I realized that didn't work, I had to go deeper into your head, root around, and pull you out. And, upon doing that, I... I saw your memories. Memories of you... without the mask."

Sheriff widened his eyes and stood up, stepping back, "Y-You-?!"

"Listen, it was the only other thing I could do and I don't feel good knowing, especially under these circumstances!" Hotguy stood up as well, "I don't want to expose your identity to more people, Solidarity, it's why I took you to a private room."

"Wait, you know me?" Sheriff asked, "Like, by name?"

"Yeah, um, soooooooo-" Hotguy removed his glasses, "I may or may not live with your brother...?"

The dirty blonde widened his eyes, "...HOLY SHIT!" He sat back down with the hero, "Scar? How could I not tell?!"

"Well, to be fair, we have tech in our masks and glasses that the hero industry made. It helps conceal our identities more. So, when I put my glasses on-" He put them back on, "-the tech makes it so your brain can't accurately pinpoint features. It confuses your brain, therein making it hard for people to recognize us!"

"Yeah, that makes sense, you look completely different with those on. Weird." He leaned back into the couch before widening his eyes, "Oh my god, how long was I gone?"

"Three weeks."

"OH MY GOD-" He quickly quieted down, looking at the brunette, "Please tell me Norman and Flick are okay?!"

"Grian and I took them in when looking for you." Scar reassured, "Cuteguy and I went looking for you, er, you as in Jimmy, and Stratos and Sanctuary were looking for Sheriff."

"Oh thank goodness." The dirty blonde sighed in relief before he seemed to realize something else, "Oh god, Grian and Pearl..."

"Yeeeeeeeah, they're freaking out... Don't worry, I didn't tell them!"

"Great! Now I gotta make up how I escaped Spectrum and make it look believable..." He sighed, "So, Cuteguy and Hotguy found Sheriff, but Grian and Scar are still looking for Solidarity, right?"

"Yeah. Listen, I could sneak you out and-"

"Nah, I got this. At least Pearl is safe from all this!"

Scar smiled awkwardly, "Hehe, yeah..."

***

The colorful villain growled, tapping his foot angrily.

"Sorry man, I was care-"

"Don't apologize, Owen, Sanctuary was playing dirty."

"Thanks for saving me, Scott. Even if it meant loosing your doll."

"You're my best friend, Owen. I can capture Sheriff again. I can't replace you."

The brunette smiled up at the other, "Softie."

"Alright, next time I'll leave you." The other teased.

Owen laughed, humming, "...You know his secret identity, right? Are you going to use that to your advantage?"

Spectrum chuckled darkly, "Oh Owen..." He smirked, eyes glowing as he manipulated the colors in front of them, "Scott is going to reconnect with an old friend and see how he's doing. Whatever happens after, I can't say."

Owen just laughed.

[strangerthings-01]

He never deserved you

This is a kind of a long fic but I've been gone so long I wanted to give a long and more detailed story lol. I can either do a part two or if anyone has any suggestions, my inbox is open!

Summary: For a couple of months, you had been dating Jason carver until you realized what a douche he was. You never realized ending things with him would help you fall for another. Someone you didn't expect.

Angst, cussing, mentions of smoking

🖤🖤

The 6 AM alarm that suddenly went off, blaring in your eyes jolted you out of your sleep reminding you that it was time to get ready for yet another day of school. You really needed to find a different alarm. Waking up terrified was not the best way to start your day but on the bright side, at least it woke you up. You groaned slightly and rubbed your eyes trying to get the sleep out of them before you turned on the lamp on your nightstand. You squinted at the bright light that filled the room as your eyes tried to adjust from the pitch black they were just in.

Removing the covers off your body, you stood up and grabbed the clothes that you placed on your desk chair the night before, thankful you didn’t have to dig through your drawers to find something. You yawned as you walked into the bathroom that connected to your bedroom and began to get ready.

The outfit was simple. Skinny jeans and a black sweater that fell off one side of your shoulder because of it being just a size bigger than what you’d normally wear. Or maybe it was just like that. Who knows? After placing your hair into a messy bun, you headed downstairs and was grateful when you saw your mom had already brewed some coffee and made you a cup. “Oh thank you. I’m so exhausted today.” Having enough time before you had to leave, you sat down in the kitchen chair across from your mom who was reading the daily paper.

She looked up and set the paper down, leaning her head on her hand. “You’re welcome. Did you not sleep?” You sipped on it and squinted your eyes in concentration. “No I did. I don’t know. Just one of those days I guess.” She nodded and cleared her throat, leaning back in her chair. “Feel that. Well hopefully that coffee will get you through the day. You’re almost done with junior year. Just a couple of more weeks to go. I want you to focus okay?”

You nodded and gave a quick smile. “I will I promise. Finals are the last week of school. I’ve been studying like crazy trying to prepare. I can’t wait for summer.” You rubbed the side of your head and sighed before standing up and washing the mug out then placing it in the sink. “I know the feeling. Just- please don’t let him distract you. Jason, I mean. Boys are not worth more than your future.”

You turned around and leaned on the counter and gave your mom a far off look. “I know that. And I know how you feel about Jason and before you saying anything-“ her mom had opened her mouth to say object. “I know. I’m going to end it soon with him. He’s being an ass lately and hasn’t been treating me right anyways.” She scrunched her eyes brows. “He isn’t hurting you is he? Cause I will-“

“No no! Of course not. I just- he just says things that make me feel unimportant and distant from everyone. I just don’t wanna deal with it. After him, I’m hoping to stay away from boys for a bit.” Your mom smiled. “Good. You deserve better and thank god you’re getting rid of him. I couldn’t stand him.” You laughed and pushed off the counter. “Oh I’m aware. Alright I gotta go. I don’t want to be late. I love you.” You grabbed your car keys from the bowl in the living room and your backpack from the coat hanger and headed out the door as she was saying it back.

You got into your car and started the engine, shivering at the slight cold that nipped at your body. It had been true though. Jason had been treating you like crap. Telling you to be quiet when you said something or dropping your hand when he was around Chrissy which really pissed you off. You knew it wasn’t Chrissy’s fault but it still got under your skin that he didn’t even try to be subtle that he had feelings for another girl. That was the main reason why you were ending it at school today.

You knew it wasn’t the best thing to do but being in a public space made you more comfortable than if you were alone. It was known he had anger issues and you truly didn’t want to risk it.

As you drove off down the rode to Hawkins high, a million thoughts hit your brain. How would you end it? Where would you do it? Empty classroom? No that’s stupid. Maybe the lunchroom? You didn’t want to embarrass him. That’s not who you were. By the lockers would be good. People were around but no one would be paying attention. Not really. More thoughts invaded your brain pulling you from the Jason subject.

You still needed to study for the history exam and you hadn’t even started the science study guide. There was so much going on and you had no idea how you were managing it all. You took a deep breath to calm down and reminded yourself to take it one day at a time. As soon as Jason was out of your life, it was one less thing to worry about and gave you more of an opportunity to focus on exams. It would be a good thing.

You pulled into the parking lot and parked in a random spot. There weren’t many cars that took up the lot seeing as most people walked from the town being so small. The only cars were a few students and the faculty.

You turned your engine off and grabbed your backpack as you made your way into school, nervous about how the day would go. Walking to your locker, you sighed of relief as you noticed Jason wasn’t there yet giving you time to mentally prepare. You opened your locker and put in what you didn’t need at the moment and then shut it. As soon as the latch connected, your friend Tara came up to you. “Hey do you have the notes for English? I’m way behind.” You chuckled and shook your head not even surprised. Tara wasn’t really one to pay attention so she was always asking for notes but she was your friend and she meant well so you typically didn’t mind. “Yeah I do. Hold on.” You opened the English folder that you had in your hand and pulled out a couple of papers with notes scattered all over. “Don’t lose these please.” Tara took them gently and smiled. “I won’t. I promise. Thank you . I owe you one, see you later.”

A couple minutes after she walked away, you felt hands wrap around your waist. “Hey babe.” Jason. You felt immediate annoyance and anxiousness. “Hey Jason.” You turned around and backed away from his embrace. He smiled and leaned down to kiss you but you turned your head so his lips made contact with your cheek instead. He furrowed his eyebrows and pulled his head away. “What was that?” You shoved your hands into your sweater and cleared your throat. “We need to talk…” He raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “Okay? About what? Should we go somewhere private?” You shook your head trying to prepare how you were going to say this. “This isn’t working out. I think we need to break up.” The words flew out before you lost the nerve to speak them. Your hand almost flew to your mouth as if you couldn’t believed you had said it but you forced them to stay in your pockets.

“Uhh I really hope you’re just fucking with me.” He laughed humorlessly. You cleared your throat and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. They weren’t. “No I’m being serious. I’m tired of the way you treat me and it’s clear you like Chrissy so consider it an out. It’s over.” You looked up at him to try to grasp what he was feeling. He stood there, mouth slightly open and eyebrows scrunched as if she had just told him the most absurd thing. You thought for a second he might actually be hurt and feeling something but no he burst out laughing and pointed at you. “You’re breaking up with me? No babe I’m breaking up with you.” You rolled your eyes and took your hands out of your pockets to fix the strays of your hair. “Honestly if that’s what you want to tell people, it genuinely doesn’t matter to me. As long as I’m away from you.” You began to walk away when he grabbed your wrist tightly and yanked you back so you were face to face. Did no one see that?

“Ow Jason let go.” He sneered at you keeping the grip on your wrist. “You think you’re cute but honey I could have anyone in this school I wanted. The amount of girls I have lined up…you mean nothing to me. All I wanted was the sex and you couldn’t even give me that you fucking tease. So good I’m glad we’re over. Good look finding anyone to be with you.”Your eyes prickled with tears but you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying. “Let me go Jason. You’re hurting me.” He pinned you against the locker and gripped your face with his other hand. As soon as he did, he was thrown off by someone and you immediately backed away from Jason.

“I could have sworn she told you to let her go, carver. Laying your hands on women. Not a good thing to do around me.” You looked up at the tall figure and it was none other than Eddie Munson. The one everyone called the freak of Hawkins high. You had only talked to him a couple of times in class but he was a pretty nice guy. Just struggled a bit to keep up like Tara or so people whispered. Rumors over him being held back spread like wildfire.

You were shocked he was defending you considering he really didn’t know you. You instinctively got behind him and he gave you a side glance, not moving. “You can mind your own business freak. We were just having a little moment. No one was hurting anyone so back off.”

Eddie chuckled and shook his head, his curls moving around. “Not what I saw but consider it a warning. For her sake. But next time, I won’t be so nice.” Jason laughed and put his hands up shaking them. “Oh wow I’m so scared. Fuck off Munson. Next time I won’t be so nice. You and that little bitch better watch your backs.” He stormed off, leaving you two in the hallway and a couple of people were staring and murmuring about the commotion. Of course now they notice once Eddie is invovled.

Eddie turned around and looked down at you. Rubbing your wrist, you looked up at him and looked into his eyes. You never noticed how pretty his eyes were. Or just how pretty he was. You and Eddie talked occasinoally in class but you never really became clos mainly because jason forbade it. “Are you okay?” He asked which pulled you from whatever trance you were just in.

You blinked a couple of times and looked around the hallway before meeting his eyes again, the eyes that were still focused on you. “I’m okay. I figured he would have had a reaction like that. Why-why did you help me? We barely know each other." Maybe it was a rude question to ask but really, why would he have all people help you? “I know a lot more about you than you would think. Why are you asking? It can’t be hard to believe that I would help you. Especially from someone like Jason.” He looked a little hurt but the look on his face went away as fast as it had come.

His words struck you in a way you couldn’t comprehend. What did he mean he knew about you? I mean yeah you’ve partnered up to do projects but it never turned into a friendship. Conversations didn’t happen often between you two. What could he possibly know. “No no. I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Forget I asked. Thank you for defending me.” Being flustered around Eddie Munson was definitely not on your list of things to expect for the year. “No problem sweetheart. If he bothers you again, don’t be afraid to tell me. You know where to find me.” He winked and walked off giving you no chance to respond. Did he mean at the hellfire club? Or the lunchroom? Or the several classes you shared? You let out a sharp breath and blinked a couple of times trying to make sense of everything when the loud shrilling bell sounded. “Crap I’m late. Munson.” You muttered and ran off towards your first class of the day.

🖤🖤

After school, you were grabbing your things from your locker when tara came up next to you and shut the locker causing you to jump and let out a gasp. "what the hell tara? I'm glad my hand wasn't still there." She gave a slight eyeroll and then a pointed look. "I made sure you were done. You did not tell me that you were breaking up with Jason. I would have thrown a goddamn party. And what the hell was that with eddie munson today? I have literally never seen you have a full conversation with him outside of a classroom? What's the tea miss girl because you nelgected to fill me in at all and-" You cut her off mid rant and laughed slightly, one at the jab at jason and two at the enthusiasm of wanting to know everything all the time.

"I didn't tell you about Jason because I had literally been trying to work up courage all week to end it and I didn't want to lose the confidence to do it. As for Eddie, Jason was being kind of aggresive and he defended me..." Tara's mouth dropped as she leaned against the lockers. "The freak of hawkins high defened a popular kid? Whaaaa? He must like you." She giggled and rubbed her hands together. You rolled your eyes and started walking down the hallway towards the exit, tara hot on your heels. "First, I am hardly popular. More by assoication and that's gone for sure. Second, don't call him that. He's actually really....sweet and he definitely doesn't like me." You pushed open one side of the double doors and walked out into the parking lot heading to your car. "Sweet? I'm sorry. Where exactly did your sense go? This is the guy who stands on top of tables and yells at people who look at him the wrong way."

You turned to face her as soon as you reached the drivers side of your car. "No he yells at Jason. Big difference. I just think he's misunderstood, that's all. So what? He defened me from my jerk ex boyfriend. I doubt we'll ever talk again. He was just being a decent person." Tara scoffed and crossed her arms. "So he didn't say anything else after he defended you? It just happened and what? He walked away?"

You weren't sure if you should tell her the other part just because you knew how it sounded and Tara would totally take it a whole different way but you did want another opinion. "I thanked him and he told me that I knew where to find him if Jason ever messed with me..." You avoided eye contact after the words came out and she squealed, grabbing your arm. And there it is and here we go. "He is so into you. Look he may not be someone I would date and he may be weird as fuck but he's hot as shit. I would support you. Much better than carver." She made a throw up motion. "Tara, I extremely doubt he is into me. We barely talk outside of class like you said. Where would he have had time to gain a crush on me?" Tara shrugged and went to say something when her attention got diverted to something across the parking lot. "Can we talk later? Josh is here. Love you bye." Before you even had the chance to respond, she was halfway across the parking lot to catch up with her boyfriend. Typical Tara.

As you were unlocking your car, you felt eyes on you and looked around to see if it is maybe just paranoia from the events this morning when you caught Eddie leaning against his own car smoking a ciggirate, glancing at you. You made eye contact with him for a couple of seconds before he slightly smirked, put out his cig on the ground using his boot to snuff it and drive off in his car. Flustered, you got in your own car and drove home trying to process the days events.

Why had he smirked at you? Was he judging or had Tara been right about him having feelings for you? But it didn't make sense because in order to like someone, you would have to know them. You knew nothing about eddie munson and he definitely knew nothing about you, or did he? You let out a heavy sigh and forced yourself to focus on the road.

As soon as you got home, you went straight to your room and started studying. You had already gotten rid of one boy, you certainly didn't need to think about another, especially from one interaction. What is wrong with you? Pulling out all of your notebooks, you were determined to distract your mind when you notcied your english notes weren't returned. Tara. You shook your head and gave a soft chuckle as you opened your history notes and started to go through them. History was your favorite subject so it wasn't difficult for you to remember lessons from it. You went through pretty fast and studied half of your science notes as well before you crashed from exhasution. Thoughts of school, eddie, and jason fled from your brain as sleep took over your body.

Thankfully your alarm was set to wake you up at the same time everyday on weekdays because you slept the rest of the day and through the night until it was time for school again. When you were fully awake, you turned off the alarm and noticed the lights had been turned off and a blanket was pulled over you seeing as you were on top of your comforter. Your mom must have come in late last night to check on you.

Your morning routine stayed the same and soon enough, you were back at school and in your first class. Anxiousness filled your body as you realized you would more than likely have to see Jason today. After his outburtst yesterday, you weren't sure if he would leave you alone or not. You could take Eddie up on his offer but the truth was you didn't need protection or help. You could handle yourself and if anything, it would be tara beating his ass.

Your name being called from the roster pulled you from your thoughts and you muttered a 'here'. First class was homeroom so it was more like a free period. Most teachers let you do whatever you wanted in homeroom as long as you didn't get too loud. But today the teacher wanted you to get in pairs to discuss finals and assignments so you were on the right track.

You suddenly remembered eddie was in this class and subtly turned your head to see if he was there and sure enough he was in the same seat. Before yesterday you typically wouldn't have cared where he was considering he was just like any other student but after what he did for you, it was like you wanted to know more about him. His eyes met yours and raised his eyebrows up. "Wanna be partners?" You flushed and stammered a bit before clearing your throat. "Uh yeah sure." You hadn't expected that, not this early and soon. But you would humor it. What's the worst that could happen? Just as you were about to move, he got up and sat in the chair next to you. He had nothing with him but a notebook and a pencil. You were slightly confsued as to where he kept all of his work but that wasn't really important right now.

Before talk about finals and school, you had something else you wanted to discuss with him. "I wanted to thank you again for yesterday. I don't know if you were the only one to notice but you were the only person who did something." He breathed out heavily but not out of annoyance or stress, it was more like he was thinking about what you said and the events that took place just yesterday morning. "It was really no problem. Just did what I knew was right."

For some reason, that comment upset you in a way. Almost as if what had happened wasn't important or just simply not enough to talk about. But maybe he just didn't know what to say so you changed the subject. "I did have a question though. What did you mean when you said you knew more about me than I thought you did?"m The question had been presenting itself in your brain since yesterday. He half smiled and cleared his throat, tapping his pencil on the desk. ""It means that I watch you or observe, yeah that's less creepy." The admittance shocked you. What was so interesting about you? "Word flies fast in this god forskaen school. Just so happens people talk good about you and we've talked a handful of times. Let's just say Carver never desevred you." You felt unsure on how to take that comment in considering it had been said with such respect and genuineness but also not something you expected from the "bad boy".

"Thank you. That means a lot." You decided to go with the simple but grateful response and tried to move on beofore the awkwardness set in. "Um, so did you want to compare notes ? I'm so stressed for the finals." He gave you a look you couldn't comprhend that laid between awe and humor. "You really are a good girl aren't you?" You blinked a couple of times trying to understand whre he was going with that question. "I'm not sure what you mean. I just want to pass. Don't you?" He sighed and leaned his head onto his hand. "Well of course but I'm too far behind. The finals would let me pass though if I got just a good enough grade but I doubt it." So the rumors were true. He really didn't do school work that often but why? There was another question that had always kept you curious. "Did you get held back?" The words left your lips before you could fully process it. Your hand instinctively went over your abrasive mouth. "I'm so sorry. I have no idea why I just said that." He chuckled and shrugged, leaning forward. "it's not a secret sweetheart. Yes I did. No reason to hide it. Is that a problem?"

You shook your head, mouth parting slightly before speaking. "No no! Of course not. It's honestly none of my business. Look, I have notes for every class to help me study for the finals. Did you maybe want me to help you study for the next couple of weeks so you have a chance to pass?" He stared at you, a puzzled look crossing his face. "you would do that? Won't your reputation be ruined?" The comment felt like a slap to the face and went a whole different direction from the conversation that was just had, the dissappointment flooding your body. "I don't have a reputation and even if I did, that went over a cliff the moment I ended it with my mentally abusive boyfriend, okay? If you don't want my help, you can just say that." The bell rung at that moment which was perfect timing to make an exit. You gathered your things and got up quickly, trying to leave the classroom before anything else could be said. Maybe Eddie Munson was just like people said after all. What had you said or done to provoke a response like that?

As you reached the doorway, you felt a hand wrap around your wrist causing you to look back. "wait. I'm sorry. That was me being a dick. I-" You pulled your wrist away. "You think?" He pulled you off to the side and looked down at you. "It came off the wrong way. I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you're a nice girl and people like you and well people don't like me" You sighed and looked at the ground for a couple of seconds before looking him in the eye. "I can make my own decisions and hang out with or help whoever I want. If people had a problem with that, not my issue." He pursed his lips and a look between embarrasment and awkwardness covered his features. "You're right. I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I would like your help."

He seemed like he was being sincere and giving him a second chance was something a lot of people neglected to do. Being treated the way he is would cause you to build a wall and that was something you could understand. "Okay fine. But say anything like that again, you can forget it." He gave a wry smile and nodded once. "Duly noted. So where should we meet? Your place?" You shook your head quickly. "No. My mom will question the hell out of you and I would rather not have to endure an iterrogation myself. Either a public place or your place?" You questioned, curiousity peeking at the edges indicating you were wanting to know where he lived.

“I live in a trailer park so not sure if you would want to be somewhere like that.” Confusion took over your features as you took in his words. Was he embarrassed about where he lived? “I’m not one to care or judge where people live? I don’t mind coming to yours.” He blinked and pulled his head back, surprised that you had no hesitation about it. “Oh okay. Well I guess you can come around, say 5?” You nodded and smiled with your lips. “Sounds good. I gotta get to class. Bye Eddie.” You left the room before he could respond and walked quickly to your next class trying to understand how everything was changing around you in just a day.

🖤🖤

The rest of the day went by pretty fast and the classrooms you shared with Eddie were spent talking about a bunch of random things. He was really easy to have a conversation with and it kept your attention. Plus he also happened to be funny and quick with his responses. It was a completely different story than the one people had been telling and it was refreshing to have someone listen to you, really listen to you.

After class, Eddie walked you to your car and stood with you for a couple of minutes just talking. Tara came up, eyes slightly widened as if she was trying to comprehend something. Eddie shifted uncomfortably and gave her a tight lipped smile. “I guess I’ll see you later?” You cursed yourself knowing she was going to question everything as soon as he walked away. “Yeah see you later.” No point in trying to hide it.

As soon as he left ear shot, Tara hit your arm. “Not gonna talk again huh? And see you later? What in the hell does that mean?” You deadpanned and crossed your arms. “You never gave my notes back.” She squinted her eyes in annoyance and grab the notes out of her backpack and handed them to you. “Don’t change the subject. Tell me everything.”

So you did. Every detail was shared including the study partner part and the entire time, Tara was squealing and dropping her jaw at the most mundane information. That’s who she was though. Excited about life and you couldn’t help but love her for it. “Okay that’s a lot to take in. I’m not against it though.” You adjusted your backpack on your shoulder and shifted to your other foot. “I’m so glad I have your approval.” She scoffed and waved her hand in the air, a dismissal. “You know what I mean. I’m glad you’re getting back out there though. Just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“Wow. Okay yeah no. Definitely not getting back out there. I’m just helping him study. I am not ready for another relationship.” You admitted. "I am literally just trying to help him get through the rest of the year." She groaned very dramatically and pretended to look intersted in her nails. "Yeah okay. We will just pretend that he doesn't have a massive crush on you and that I don't see you making eyes at him." You made strangly hands at her and made a sound through gritted teeth which got you a concerned look from people around you that were also lingering in the parking lot. "He doesn't have a crush on me and I don't make eyes at him. Yes he's attractive but I just got out of a very toxic relationship and I need to focus on school. Hence why I am helping him focus on school. If something happens to come from it, then it happens. Until then, he is my study partner and...a friend." The conversation didn't last much longer as both of you had to get home. It was getting close to 4 and you needed to be over eddie's place at 5.

Once you got home, you changed into some shorts and a V neck and the time flew by and soon enough you were back in your car headining over to the trailer park. You knew where it was considering Hawkins was a small town and you just so happened to pass it every once in a while. It took about 10 minutes to get there and soon enough, you parked and got out of the car looking around. Nervousness hit you as you saw a couple people outside staring at you, some giving you dirty looks. People like you who had it better than most weren't really welcome around this part of town.

You didn't blame them knowing how people treated the lower class but it still didn't settle the anxiousness creeping up. One guy jumped up and walked over to you, footsteps heavy and a beer bottle in his hand. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing around here? Looking for some trouble?" Your eyes widened and you took a small step back. "N-No of course not. My friend Eddie-" His sharp laugh cut you off. "Eddie Munson? Nah you better go on before trouble finds you." He closed in on you again when you saw Eddie running up and grabbing the mans shoulder. "Dan, it's okay. I invited her here. You okay?" He grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him, walking you away from the scene. "Sorry about him. He-he means well. Most people who come here to see me usually start shit."

Although you were still a little shaken up, you nodded and let him lead you into his trailer. "it's okay. I understand. He has a right to be catious." You looked around his place and it was actually really nice in here. Of course it was small but it was cozy and cleaned up well. You noticed the broom and dustpan out and the tied up trash bag and realized he must have been cleaning before you got here. How sweet.

He noticed you looking around and shifted on his feet uncomfortably not knowing what you were thinking. "Well thank you for understanding. It's not...the easiest living around these parts but it does its best. Sorry about the clutter and the smallness of it." He chuckled awkwardly while he fidgeted with one of his rings. "Don't apologize. I like it in here." You shrugged off your backpack and sat down on the couch and took in everything around you. He only had a couple of picutre frames up with him and what looked like his dad or maybe uncle? There were a couple of coasters scattered around and a couple of random objects. A dice, an empty glass, and a notebook. You felt the cushions shift and you looked over to see that he had sat next to you. "Thanks." He smiled softly. You nodded and pulled your backpack into your lap, digging some contents out. "Of course. Um I was thinking we could start with math since it's the hardest." He agreed and the studying started. It was rough at first because he was a lot further behind than you thought but he started to get the hang of it after about an hour of explaining different things. Between snack breaks and time outs, it was going pretty smoothly and he caught on really fast. You had him do a couple of test questions and when he got all but one right, you smiled and high fived him. "I bet that if we do it like this for the other subjects, you'll get a passing grade!"

Eddie's face lit up and he let out a gasp of air that sounded like relief. "I literally cannot thank you enough. I know we still have a ton to do and I know it's taking time away from you but I don't know if i even would have tried if you didn't offer." You gathered all of your things back into your backpack and zipped it up giving a soft smile. "It's really no problem. You helped me so I am returning the favour. I do have to get home though but I'm pretty much free all the time after school so we can do this whenever." He stood up with you and walked you to your car which you appreiacted greatly. "Be safe getting home." He opened your drivers door and shut it after you got in and said, "I will. Thank you." You drove home and thought about how tonight was the first night in a long time that you felt fully free and happy. The smiled that took over your face remained the rest of the car ride home.

🖤🖤

For the next couple of weeks, you helped Eddie study almost everyday after school until you were positive he was confident in all of the subjects. There were bumps in the road and frustrations in the air but you were patient with him and he was respectful towards you. After the first week and a half of doing this, you started feeling nervous around him which wasn’t something you were used to. He was just so nice and funny and definitely wasn’t bad to look at. You were a little scared of catching feelings considering everything that happened with Jason and also because it hadn’t been that long since the relationship was over. You had talked to Tara about it and for the first time, she actually gave advice that made sense.

She had said “how you feel about someone isn’t something you can control. There’s no time limits or expectations on how soon you can fall for someone. It just happens. I wouldn’t stress about it. You guys are becoming really good friends and if something happens, then it happens. Don’t force it but don’t push it away.”

It helped you think a lot on the situation and she was right. How you were starting to feel about Eddie wasn’t something you could control. Spending time with him and having real conversations had been what set the feelings off in the first place. You were skeptical about if he had feelings for you or not. The way he looked at you and the way he brushed you hair behind your ears. The way he defended you against Jason anytime he tried to make a comment.

It was Sunday and finals started tomorrow. You wanted to help Eddie go over everything one more time to make sure he was prepared. And maybe because you just wanted to see him. You had shown up at his trailed, unannounced. You hoped he wouldn’t be busy or upset but when you knocked and the door opened, he stood there with that beautiful smile on his face. “What are you doing here?” He stepped aside as you walked through the door. “I was wondering if you wanted to go over everything really quick one more time. Sorry I showed up with no warning. I guess I could have called your landline.” He shut the door and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh no it's okay. You're welcome here anytime. You know that. And I would actually really appreciate going over it one more time. My nerves are running high for tomorrow but I think I’ll pass.” You smiled and shrugged your jacket off, laying it across the back of his couch. “I know you will. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, Eddie Munson.”

He walked over and hovered over you, causing your stomach to flip. “Well you’re more thoughtful than you give yourself credit for. And also smarter.” He chuckled. You grinned and shoved his shoulder. “Oh hush.” Your cheeks turned slightly red and you watched as the smirk grew on his face. He sat down on the couch and his eyes followed you as you took a seat next to him. "I stayed up late the past few nights to make these flashcards so I'm really hoping they work." You chuckled and bit your lip. He smiled and cleared his throat, staring right at you. You tried to focus on the flashcards and the words written on them so you didn't stutter over your words.

You began using the flashcards and you had to admit, they were helping you too. It was actually really fun to go through them and it was def because you were doing it with eddie. It went back and fourth with one person asking the question and the other answering. For some unknown reason, both of you were cracking up at this ridiculousness of it all. You were answering most of them right and when you finally got one wrong, Eddie stood up and pointed. "Ha! You did not get that right!" You gasped and stood up alongside him and grabbed the card from his hand. "What? No way." You looked at the answer and pursed your lips. "I did in fact get that one wrong." He laughed and you flung the card at him. He scoffed and picked it up. "Sore loser."

"mmmm. Pretty sure I got more right than-" Your sentence got cut off as your scream replaced it when eddie suddenly picked you up and flung you over his shoulder. "what was that?" You hit his back and laughed. "Put me down right now!" He walked over to the couch and gently tossed your onto the cushions. You giggled and breathed out, the air blowing some of your hair away from your face. He stood above you, looking down. His smile faded slowly, the look on his face indicating he was deep in thought. "You okay?" You sat up pulling your knees to your chest to give him room to sit which he did. "yeah. I just uh- he never deserved you, you know?" Your lips parted and you shifted on the couch to where you were sitting directly next to him. "Who?" You knew who he was talking about but you wanted to hear him say it. "Jason. He never deserved anything about you and he's an idiot for not seeing the amazing girl that you are."

"That means a lot. Thank you but where is all this coming from?" He looked down at his rings and played with them for a second then let out a small laugh. He looked back up at you and shook his head. "Fuck it." He grabbed your face with both hands and kissed you. You were taken aback for a second but then reality set in and you kissed him back, making a sound of content. He carressed your cheeks with his thumbs and your hands went into his curls. After about a minute, you both pulled back to get some air. "Wow. That was not what I was expecting." Your fingers grazed over your lips still feeling his own against yours. "If you couldn't tell from that, I really like you. Not just because of all the help you've given me but just getting to know you has been incredible."

You raised your eyebrows. "And here I thought you knew so much about me from observations." He rolled his eyes and grinned. "You know what i mean, you little shit." You giggled and leaned into him causing him to lean back into the couch, your head on his chest. "I just mean the real you. Not the one from the narratives from other people. But I've always had a small crush on you so..." You looked up at him and your mouth dropped. "Oh my god. Tara was right. You were into me."

He had his arm draped over your shoulder, fingers barely touching your skin, a tingly feeling going down your arm. "Yeah yeah. Tara is also an observationist." A small smile was on his face. "Well I was stupid for not truly noticing you." He scrunched his eyebrows and licked his lips. "Nah. Jason had you wrapped around his finger. He was a controlling dick." You pulled your face up and kissed him softly. "None of that was real. That's clear to me now. I don't even think I had real feelings for him. I just thought I did because everyone wanted him and he went after me. You, however, I do have real feelings for."

"Well good because he's gonna be so livid." He laughed which caused you to laugh. "Oh fucking well. According to you, he lost a great girl." He played with your hair and made a sound of agreement. "A very great girl."

The rest of the night was spent just talking and laughing until it got dark and you had to head home for dinner. He had just walked you out to your car and you were standing next to the open drivers door. "I had a great time tonight. We got a lot done and killed two birds with one stone." He grinned and grabbed your wrist, this time you didn't pull away, and pulled you close to him before kissing you, even better than the first one. "Goodnight, sweetheart." You bit your lip and slid into the drivers seat. "Goodnight, Eddie." He shut your door and you drove off, seretonin filling your brain. You had fallen for a boy, the 'freak' of hawkins high. Your mom would flip but it was all worth it and you don't regret one single thing.

ahhhhhh. I had so much trouble writing an ending for this story lol. I have so many other ideas for a part two if that's something anyone would want! I am so sorry I have been gone for so long, I am trying to get back into writing and this is a start!

[stevesjockstrap]

Eddie Month Day 16 & Kinktober Day 19

@eddiemonth prompt: library & curious

Kinktober prompt: exhibitionism

read on ao3

MDNI - rated E - cw: sexual contact in a public area, they do not get caught

It was fucking study hall. Gods only knew Eddie had plenty to study. But if they’d wanted him to focus why had they sat fucking Steve Harrington across the tiny table from him? He kept shifting his long thick legs across into Eddie’s space, intertwining them with his. Or once he’d gotten Eddie’s attention, all the looking up from under his lashes at him or leaning forward so Eddie couldn’t help but stare down his shirt at the expanse of moles and hair and- 

Oh no, the fucking pen rubbing against his lips or his perfect white teeth peeking out to nibble on the cap. 

Just when he’d almost cracked and reached across to yank him over the table, Steve stood, dropping a folded up piece of paper on Eddie’s notebook as he did. Then he disappeared. 

Eddie blinked. What the fuck? He quickly opened the note and stared at it. Meet me. Row 52 with an arrow like he was a fucking imbecile. Eddie crinkled it up and shoved it in his pocket. What was Harrington playing at? If he didn’t know better…

He was across the room before he realized, heading back into the stacks, trying to quiet his ragged breathing. 

“Forty-six… forty-eight…” he mumbled. He turned quickly down the aisle then made himself slow down. This could be anything. This could be an attack for all he knew. 

But Steve was just propped against the shelves at the end, hands in his jeans pockets like this was the most normal thing he’d do today. Eddie stopped towards the middle of the aisle. Waiting. 

“Hey,” Steve said, keeping his voice low. 

“What do you want?” He responded. It sounded less confrontational than he’d wanted, more just confused. 

Steve’s eyebrow quirked, and a slow dirty smile spread across his face. “You.”

Eddie’s brain short circuited. He shut his mouth that was hanging open without his consent. He was compelled to quickly look around him, maybe either or both of their groups of friends would jump out to tell him April Fools or something. But it was October. 

Looking closer at Steve, he could now see uncertainty under the false bravado. The flush on his cheeks. The way he was holding himself stiffly. Speaking of stiff, with his hands in his pockets there was no extra room to hide the obvious. Could this be for real?

Eddie took a few steps forward. “Say that again.” 

Steve looked away from him, like he’d only had the strength to say it confidently the one time. 

“The answer is yes, but I want to hear you say it again.”  That got his attention. He pulled his hands from his pockets and reached for him. Eddie took the last remaining step and they leaned into each other. Eddie not letting their mouths brush, staying just out of reach. 

Finally, realizing Eddie wasn’t going to give in, he groaned. Eddie felt it rumble his own chest. “Want this. Want you, Eddie,” he breathed. Eddie surged forward, sliding his tongue across his bottom lip and pulling a groan from Steve. 

“Shhh, Stevie. Gotta be quiet.” He waited for Steve to nod at him before meeting his lips again. Steve was not quiet, but hopefully their low moans and huffed ragged breaths against each other was somehow lost to the tables on the other side of the library. 

He snuck a hand down to palm the budge in Steve’s tight jeans and quickly had to cover his mouth with his other hand. 

“Steve,” he warned again. “I don't have a good cover story for when someone finds me with my hands down your pants. Do you?” He groaned again behind his hand but shook his head. “Uh huh. So you have to be quiet. Unless you don’t want me to-“ he started pulling his hands away and chuckled quietly when Steve immediately shook his head again and grabbed his wrist. 

“No, no, want to. Please-”

Eddie kissed him again hard to shut him up. He bit into his bottom lip when his hands came up to tangle in his hair. Selfishly he hoped this wasn’t a one time deal. He desperately needed to do this again somewhere where Steve could make as much noise as he wanted. Somewhere he could spread him out and strip him naked and kiss every mole and freckle. Catalog everywhere that made him squirm. But he was getting ahead of himself. 

The snap popping open was loud in their quiet bubble, and they pulled back to stare at each other. Holding eye contact, Eddie slid his hand in to grab his cock. 

“Fuck, Harrington,” he breathed. “Big boy, huh?” 

Steve whined and flushed prettily, while Eddie couldn’t decide where he’d rather look, at his face or his perfect dick. There’s no way this could be a one time thing. 

“Gods, Stevie.” He leaned in to press him back into the stacks, breathing in his ear. “You’re dripping for me. You got a thing for libraries?”

Steve shook his head with a huff. “Just a thing for you, I think.” Then he covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes wide. 

“Oh really?” Eddie drawled. He was so unbelievably turned on. He snuck a hand down to readjust and Steve caught him, dropping his own hand from his mouth to cup him in his jeans. “God, Steve. You don’t have to. This is-“ but before he could get the words out, big but nimble fingers were already pushing his underwear down under his balls. He bit into his own lip to keep from shouting out as warm hands stroked him from root to tip. 

“This is so hot,” Steve breathed. 

They both smirked at each other before meeting in a heated kiss, Eddie pressing him back against the shelves, losing track of whose hand was where but rubbing and grinding together chasing their orgasms. 

He couldn’t control his mouth so he leaned in even closer, breathing words directly into his ear. “So hot, baby. Next time I’m getting my mouth on this big cock. There’s no way either of us could stay quiet for that. And I need to feel you come in my hand this time. C’mon Stevie.” 

Pulling back to take in the flushed cheeks and dark eyes, the precome still sliding out that he’d collect to ease his way. Steve whined when he pulled his cock out of his hands but moaned when he slid them together in his hands, getting the picture. They both groaned when Steve added his own hands around their lengths and squeezed around the heads. 

“Oh shit. So close, Stevie.” He forced himself to shut up. Bit into his lip again. Then had a better idea. Squirreling closer, he tucked his chin into Steve’s collar in his fucking polo shirt and grazed his teeth down his collar bone. 

“Holy shit. Eds- don’t stop-“ Steve gasped into his ear. Eddie was shocked when he kept talking. “Wanted this for so long. Oh- can’t wait to get to come down your throat, Eds. Or get your cock in my mouth.”

Eddie gasped and leaned back again, needing to see his face. His eyes were dark and wide and suddenly Eddie was coming, spurting in their intertwined fingers. Steve gasped as he watched, moving their hands and helping him through it. Just as Eddie started to get sensitive, Steve yelped and came.

Eddie was never going to get tired of this sight, Steve blissed out in his arms at his doing, his cock covered in their combined come. After a moment of soaking it all in, Eddie reached for his bandana in his back pocket and cleaned them up. They both whined as the material rubbed along their spent lengths. Eddie tucked them both back into their jeans. 

“Were you, uh, I’d understand, you know- I mean, if you didn’t want-“ Steve’s big eyes followed him as he tilted his head questioningly. 

“I’d like to do this again as soon as possible, baby,” he smirked. “As long as you’re agreeable,” he added. 

Steve nodded shyly and he wanted to eat him alive. A strange look suddenly marred his pretty face and Eddie steeled himself for the worst. “I, um, I have basketball practice tonight, so…”

Eddie kissed him, sweetly. Taking his time. He let his hands come up to cup the sides of his neck. When he leaned back he didn’t go far, settling their foreheads together. 

“I’ve always wanted to suck your dick in the communal showers, you know,” he panted. 

“Oh my god,” Steve breathed. Eddie kissed him again. 

@lighthousebeams

[narcolini]

in his shadow - pt. 4

ez reyes x oc: ava gomez (& bonus angel), 3072 words

for day 26 of whumpril, using alternative prompt: words that can’t be taken back

a/n: ahh i love making drama for the sake of drama, it’s so good for the soul

tagging: @cositapreciosa @drabbles-mc​ (let me know if u want to be tagged!)

previous part here

It’s been a week, well, a weekend and a day, and EZ still hasn’t heard from Ava. The last he saw of her, she was leaving the trailer, hair a mess, jacket and near-empty tequila bottle stuffed into her bag. It’d been good. Real fucking good. Nice, like they were dating, or something. Like there was a genuine connection between them. And then, nothing.

No text, no call.

He’s trying to be chilled about it. No biggie, because they aren’t dating, are they? They barely even know each other. Well, that’s a lie, even if it does make him feel better to think it. They’d gotten close fast enough to feel like he’s known her as long as the rest of the guys have. Longer, even. Maybe. He knows things she’s never told them. Heard the shit that goes on behind that doe-eyed expression, that endless look of kindness. It sits in her features even when she’s swearing, or chatting shit with liquor on her breath. Just endless, endless, kindness. Like she’d been drawn up by Disney or some shit.

‘The fuck you smiling about?’ Angel asks, lips tweaking like he’s in on it, catching his brother’s attention.

They’re parked up outside the sandwich place they can’t get enough of, waiting for the food coma to settle before they leave again. Angel’s reclined on his bike, head against the handle bars, EZ’s standing on the sidewalk, shoulder to the nearest pole.  

‘Nothing.’ EZ shrugs. ‘Just thinking.’

‘Bout what?’

‘You want a list or something? Stuff, things.’

Angel slides the shades up from his face, into his hair. He’s scrutinising him like he knows something, or is about to. Like he can read the thoughts in EZ’s head. ‘Did you get laid?’ he asks, uncertain of his guess until he sees EZ’s chin dip in response. ‘Ho—ly fuck. Little bro finally got his dick wet.’

‘Shut up, man.’

‘Who’s the lucky princess?’ He smirks. ‘I know her?’

EZ’s head shakes. He hates when Angel’s like this, hates even more when he’s right about it too. ‘I’m not telling you when you’re being a dick about it.’

He sits up, boots planting on the ground either side of his bike. ‘Shit, it’s that serious? Why am I only just hearing about it now?’

How does he answer that? Logically, he know’s it not serious, not by their standards. Not by Ava’s either, probably. But he has to physically stop himself from saying yes, because that’s the answer that tries to fly out. Yeah, kinda. Yeah, I hope so.

‘I don’t know,’ he says instead. ‘Maybe.’

‘Maybe?’ Angel’s teetering on a laugh, pure glee at his brothers uncertainty sitting behind his eyes. He could do this for hours. ‘You gotta give me a name, Romeo. Who’s got you all caught up like this?’

EZ sighs. He’s got two options, a long death, drawn out and real fucking annoying, or the short, merciful one. Sure to sting, but quicker to fade. ‘Well,’ he starts, hanging his thumbs in his jean pockets, ‘me and Ava have kind of…’

‘Kind of…’ Angel winds his head in EZ’s vision, trying to lure the rest of it out of him. ‘Started a bookclub, or what? The fuck is it, bro?’

‘We’ve been hanging out.’

He squints, then his eyes go wide. ‘Oh, come on, Ezekiel.’

‘There it is.’ He shouldn’t have said anything. Should’ve lied and said he was smiling about his fucking sandwich.

‘You slept with her?’ Angel’s voice pitches up, like he can’t believe it. ‘Damn, bro, it’s like you fucking hate happiness. My God.’

He’s shaking his head at him, but EZ’s no idea why. Honestly, he hasn’t a fucking clue. What was so bad about it? They’re both adults, they’re both single. He know’s Ava’s baggage as well as anyone, better even, than Angel himself. If anything, spending time with her had made him happier than he’s been in years. The first real good thing to happen since getting out.

‘The fuck does that mean, Angel?’

He ignores the question, muttering to himself, as he toys with the helmet in his lap. ‘That’s so fucked up, man.’

‘Why is it?’ EZ's back straightens, a defensive response. He’s starting to get irritated. ‘It was her idea.’

‘Yeah,’ Angel nods, ‘and now you’re all up in your feelings, falling in love with her, while she’s out, acting all new and sexy and shit, thanks to your dumbass self.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘What’s wrong with…’ He scoffs, looking up again. ‘You realise she’s about to go out and get a man that isn’t in a fucking MC now? Probably on Tinder already. You’re a rebound, boy-scout.’

EZ bristles, jaw clenching. He tries to shake it off afterwards, like Angel’s words are nothing at all, just noise without weight. It isn’t convincing, even he can tell that. He’s got a face like a scolded child. ‘You don’t know that,’ he says.

‘Don’t I?’ Angel laughs. ‘Been in this club way fucking longer than you, and I ain’t never seen a widow go for a Mayan twice.’

He’s right, EZ knows that. Even though he’s not seen it himself, he can recognise why. One death would put you off for good, but it isn’t like that, is it? Ava hadn’t used him as the jumping point for the return of her love life. Wouldn’t mess him about for the sake of messing about. And it wasn’t like he was in love with her, or falling, even. They were just hanging out. It was fun, mutually. It still is. It can be as simple as that, no matter what Angel puts into his head.

‘You spoken to her since?’ Angel asks.

He doesn’t answer, which says all Angel needs to hear. Tutting, laughing, head shaking like EZ is utterly clueless.

‘You’re full of shit, Angel,’ he snarks, pulling his own helmet from the seat of his bike. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Yeah, cause you’re the expert on women.’

I know her, he wants to say, clicking the strap under his chin. I know her, and you don’t, even with all the years you had to get there. Maybe it was rebound, maybe he’s the rebound, but so what, right? That doesn’t mean he’s fucked up, or ruined whatever they’d started. Ava had wanted someone to treat her like a normal fucking woman, and he’d done that, that’s all.

That’s all, isn’t it?

*

‘There’s someone out front for you, Ava.’

‘Really?’ She looks up from her work, hand mid-wipe over the leather seat. ‘I’ve not booked anyone in for the afternoon.’

Her colleague shrugs, not lingering long enough to explain beyond, ‘He said he’s here to see you.’

She only has a handful of male clients—eyebrows, botox, lip-filler—but none of them are due anytime soon. If one of them’s back already, then it can only be a bad thing. A complaint, maybe, a mistake on her part. God. She hates dealing with that. The guilt over it, no matter how small, is enough to knock her confidence for weeks. To make her doubt her qualifications entirely. She chucks the cloth on the side, peeling the gloves from her hands to toss them in the trash on the way past. It’ll be okay, really, she doesn’t have any clients that would hold it against her. I mean, she’s an aesthetician, not a robot. Mistakes happen. Bodies react in different ways, even if you’ve had the treatment before.

She rounds the corner, into the small shop front that acts as a greeting desk and waiting room all in one, and finds it’s not a client at all. It’s EZ, full leathers and helmet, standing dark against the blinding pink of the walls.

‘Oh,’ she can’t help but feel relieved, ‘it’s you.’

He smiles, looking shy from her reaction. ‘Yeah, hey.’

‘D’you need something?’ She pauses behind the desk, waiting as he dawdles forward. It’s obvious he isn’t comfortable here. He looks seconds from sprinting out the door, knocking fake palms trees and magazine stands on his way. ‘Did you call me?’

‘Nah, I figured I’d just stop buy. Speak to you in person.’ He puts his elbow on the desk in front of her, leaning like he’s comfortable. Or trying to be. ‘You got a minute?’

She has an entire afternoon, technically, but she also has a shit load of paperwork to catch up on. Expenses to list, lash in-fills to count. ‘Sure, I got a window.’ An hour, for him, is nothing.

She nods toward the back, inviting him to follow. They could talk here, sure, but he looks like he wants privacy. And, well, she doesn’t really want her colleagues to see them chatting in the first place. She’d got this job after Seb had died, unable to go back to her last one. So the shock of a man in a kutte, lingering in the middle of the shop, might send a gossip shockwave strong enough to unsettle her peace forever. The questions would never stop—and God knows, she doesn’t have the patience for that.

‘You been good?’ he asks, walking behind her.

‘Yeah, busy.’

‘Though I might’ve heard from you.’

She lets him into her room, and shuts the door behind. He looks just as out of place here, standing by the reclining seat, under the white lights, as he did out front. ‘I know,’ she sighs, ‘I haven’t had a minute to stop.’

He nods but doesn’t look convinced. It’s not like she’s lying, not like she has any reason too. They’d made up, she thought, more than made up. The last time they hung out, they’d ended the day on a high she’d never even imagined. Swollen lips, fresh spirit, an electricity under her skin that she’d forgotten the feeling of. She didn’t think they had any more catching up to do. Let’s call it even, he said, and then sweeten the deal on top of it.

‘Is something the matter?’ she asks, because he clearly isn’t going to start himself. He’s standing like he’s scared to move, one thigh against the leg-rest.

‘Nah.’ His head shakes, brow pinching. ‘Not really.’

‘But?’

He sighs, settling his hands on the edges of his cut, fists over his chest. ‘Honestly, Angel got in my head about something,’ he confesses. ‘Thought I could talk to you about it.’

Now it’s her turn to frown, because she never got the impression Angel had the ability. EZ’s the brainy one, the logical one. Angel surely had no way of twisting his thoughts away from himself.

‘Oh boy.’ She lets out a breath, moving to lean against the nearest counter. ‘Should I be worried?’

He smiles slightly, just enough to put it into the creases of his eyes. ‘Depends,’ he says, ‘on whether I’m a rebound or not.’

‘What?’

‘Angel thinks you’ve, I don’t know. Shit.’ He sighs. ‘Can we start that again?’

‘A rebound?’ How could he be, how could he or Angel even think that? For starters, it’s been three fucking years since Sebastian died. If he was a rebound, it was less of a bounce and more like a delayed crack, a skimmed stone that made one fucking ripple, way out into the bay. ‘As in, what? I used you to make myself feel better?’

He’s exhaling through his teeth, rubbing the back of his head. ‘That came out wrong, was trying to make a dumb joke, lighten the mood. Sorry.’

But it came from somewhere, out his lips like he’d been wondering it his whole way here. ‘No, go on. What did Angel think?’

‘You don’t want to know.’

‘Well someone’s gonna have to explain that rebound line, EZ.’

He looks like he wants the ground to eat him, whole and scrambling, but he carries on. To his credit, he carries on. ‘He thinks us sleeping together was a mistake.’

She doesn’t comment on the fact that telling Angel in the first place, is the real mistake, but from the looks of him he’s knows it already. Like he regrets it enough to make her overlook it, focusing on the next problem. ‘And that matters because…?'

‘Like I said, he got in my head about it.’

‘How?’

‘How what?’

‘How did he get in your fucking head?’ she stresses, almost laughing at the absurdity of it. They’re parroting each others words like they’re speaking a different language. ‘Angel thinks a lot of dumb shit, and you never take notice of that. Why does it matter now?’

Why is it any of his business? How can something like that even be a mistake, when it’s just fun, just two people enjoying themselves. If Angel’s said she’s using EZ as a rebound, to propel herself forward in some way, why would he care, why would he—

‘Oh my god,’ she breathes, ‘you believe him, don’t you? You think I’m using you?’

‘What?’ His face scrunches, disgust showing in the kiss of his teeth. ‘No, course not.’

‘Well, you believe something, EZ. What the fuck is it? A rebound or a mistake?’

‘Neither.’ His voice is sharper now, words hardening into annoyance. ‘I just want to know what the fuck the plan is from here,’ he says. ‘Cause, you know, I’ve not heard from you at all since it happened.’

‘So, naturally, I have to have been using you?’

If she’d known he’d be this concerned, this paranoid about five days of quiet, she’d have never bothered. Honestly, she’d have never let it get past kissing in the first place. Some people can’t do just sex—Hell, she used to be one of them—if she’d known that was the case with him, she’d have stopped that train long ago. Saved them both the stress.

‘You know,’ he says carefully, like he’s holding something back, ‘you know, I wouldn’t think that.’

She flaps her arms up. ‘You near enough said it yourself, EZ. The fuck am I meant to do? Read minds?’

He turns away, just for a moment, to take a breath big enough to lift his shoulders. She watches them go up, down, up again. When he’s facing her afterwards, he looks calmer. Not believably so, but in the conscious, put on like a mask, way. He’s trying, at least. She appreciates that, as much as it does nothing for the sourness in her stomach. The quiet anger beneath her ribcage.

‘Look, I just, really didn’t know what the fuck to think, okay?’

She nods. Carry on, keep digging.

‘Angel said all this shit, and I hadn’t heard from you.’ His voice lowers a fraction. ‘And I know the stuff with Seb is always gonna be there.’

‘Make your point, EZ.’ She tries to sound commanding, but it comes out too quiet, almost like a plea. The mention of Sebastian now, right now, in relation to whatever she’s started between them, is the last thing either of them need. It doesn’t help his argument in the way he thinks it does.

‘I don’t care,’ he says, ‘if this goes no where. I don’t care if we never fucking touch each other again.’ He’s closer now, eyes intense on hers. ‘But if your plan is to avoid me forever—’

She cuts him off. ‘When have I said that?’

He waits, searching her expression.

‘I’ve been busy,’ she says, for what feels like the hundredth time, true or not. ‘I didn’t think sex came with a contract, y’know? One fuck equals three texts a day.’

He laughs, but it’s dry as anything, stripped of all humour. ‘Come on, Ava. If you don’t wanna talk like adults, I don’t know why I’m even here.’

‘Yeah, me and you both.’ This wasn’t even an issue before Angel had spoken to him, wouldn’t be something worth talking about at all, if she’d just been allowed to come back to him in her time. Of her own accord. ‘I had no intentions of blowing you off, EZ,’ she says, putting it like an insult somehow. Too highly strung to use it as the mediator she intended it to be. ‘If anything, I was really fucking happy with, y’know, whatever we’ve got going on.’

It still works, though. Words tight, or not, they land all the same, softening EZ’s shoulders. Putting a lighter breath into his throat.

‘Yeah, sure,’ she continues, ‘I’m not planning on having a relationship any time soon—but that doesn’t mean I’m using you.’

‘I know.’

‘I wouldn’t do that.’

He sighs, repeating it. ‘I know.��

‘I should’ve text you,’ she admits. ‘But I didn’t think you’d be taking advice from Angel, of all people.’

He catches the slight smile she’s offering, doubling it himself, and partnering it with a half-laugh. ‘Shit,’ he says, ‘I might kill him, actually. Think that’s probably the best solution.’

‘That or sewing his mouth shut.’

He snorts, head twitching sideways with he force of it. ‘That’d solve half my fucking problems in one.’

‘Yeah,’ she agrees, ‘me too.’ Someone should’ve thought of that sooner. ‘So, are we good? No pressure and no panic either, right?’

He doesn’t want it to be just sex, doesn’t want that to signal the end of them hanging out at all, but she equally doesn’t want it to be a promise of anything more. If he can’t meet her in the middle, then a clean break is all they have left. Back to how it was, with her as the widow, and him as the prospect. Nothing more, nothing less. Two people with one foot in the ring.

But he nods, and she sighs like the alternative would’ve made her collapse.

‘I really gotta stop saying shit without thinking,’ he says, smiling faintly.

She mirrors him. ‘True, but I have to stop saying nothing at all. Keep forgetting you you aren’t as old and fucked up as me.’

‘Woah,’ he frowns, ‘old? Come on, you got at least ten years before retirement.’

She laughs, too caught off guard to be offended. She’s got six years on him, max, but it’s not worth fighting over it now. ‘I like how you’re fine with the fucked up part.’

‘Oh, you’re definitely wrong there too. Fucked up beyond imagination, really.’

‘Mhm,’ she nods, matching his tease, ‘keep going. Your chances of never touching me again are really starting to sky-rocket.’

[jacktorjoseph]

(OOC- My years of writing and performing I guess really paid off here then if I got ya brainstorming with your s/o in a positive way! Lol, but it’s all good! Work is work so it’d be crazy if I got upset over that! I’m grateful that you’re pulling out those peak role play years though just for this! It definitely makes me feel less anxious about how I did since it’s been awhile!)

*A brows quirks up as an amused smirk creeps onto my face.*

Oh! Was that Spanish? I’ve always admired people who were able to speak more than language. I’ve studied other languages before, but it’s definitely not at conversational levels! Having to learn words through classical music helps a bit. I don’t know what you said, but I’ll take your word for it!

*I wink, enjoying the almost melodic nature emanating from your voice as you spoke.*

And Hell? So I WASN’T dying in this heat from running around so much?

*I chuckle, transferring weight from one leg to the other. The frilly nature of my dress takes a life of its own as I accidentally line up with the fan. The white fabric billows softly.*

Well, that explains the labyrinth of hallways and the odd amount of standoffish people I tried to get help from! I thought I was in purgatory for a moment there!

*A corner of my lips tighten at your words.*

It’s a shame you had to experience that too though, thankfully those two restored some of your hope in humanity. You seem nice enough! Maybe they got black coffee with two sugars instead of three or something.

*I glance down at your glistening palm and remove the chokehold I have on my weathered black binder to grasp it gingerly. Under the studio lighting, my stone blue eyes seem to sparkle. My gaze meets yours and I give you a dazzling smile. It’s nice to finally meet a normal person in such a stressful situation! I don’t even notice your punk rocker look because of how relieved I feel and how hyper focused I am to find that damn audition. I do however note how your hand almost seems to engulf my own easily.*

I’m sure they just did it to cut costs. Gotta save funds to hire the best actors around after all, but it’s nice to meet you Joesph, I’m Victoria.

*A lopsided grin appears on my face and I shrug, tilting my head to the side playfully. My eyes instinctively dart to the side as I try to find any indication that the audition could be nearby I refocus on you.*

Or you could call me Tori it’s easier to remember. Honestly, as long as it’s not Vicky, you could call me Pee-wee Herman for all I care!

*I let out a small laugh.*

I was informed that I would be auditioning as a vocalist for the role of the sun and the moon. How that works, I’ll never know, but it’s supposed to be a small part and JESUS is it hot!!

*I finally take a moment to look you over to assess if you’re suffering as much as I am and the weather suddenly became the least hottest thing in this room. Holy HELL! HOW in the WORLD did I not notice such a perfect specimen in front of me!? The tattoos, the hair, the muscles, the piercings, THE MUSCLES!? Hopefully I’m only internally drooling at this man. It’s type of guy your mama warns you about, but it says a lot when they wind up being the kindest person you talked to all day. What really grabs my attention is the pair of black jeans laying on your chair. Instinctively, I glance down to see some VERY TIGHT fitted shorts and- Wait. Lead role? My eyes widen in panic and I let my hand slide out of yours, waving it defensively.*

Oh my god, I am SO sorry! I didn’t realize- shoot, I really shouldn’t have interrupted your script reading! Dammit Tori, you screwed up big time. Listen, I’ve been so worried about having to sing pop instead of musical theatre that I didn’t even-

*In an effort to readjust my disheveled appearance amidst my flurry of distress, I hadn’t felt the binder start to slip out of my arm until it falls to the floor with a loud SLAP! Unsecured pieces of sheet music spread across the floor in a heap as my face twists in anguish.*

SHOOT!

*I quickly kneel down in an unlady-like manner and start shuffling papers together. I shake my head and grit my teeth, trying to fight back the urge to scream in frustration. Tears sting my eyes as I ramble to myself.*

Goddammit! First it’s trying to change my outfit because it’s not “trendy” enough and looks like it belongs in 1882 and not 1982, then it’s throwing a random audition OUTSIDE of my field in a city I’ve never heard of an 8 hour flight away, THEN it’s getting completely lost with the majority not acknowledging your existence, and now THIS! Why am I even doing this? I never even wanted to do a tv show in the first place…

*I place both hands on the floor in a huff and give you an apologetic smile.*

Sorry, it’s been rough since the moment I flew down here. I shouldn’t really be venting with someone I just met, especially with someone in your position, but I think the stress got to me a bit.

*I laugh weakly before returning to the papers strewn about.*

-🧜🏻‍♀️

Oh well, I'm used to locals, sorry 'bout that doll, I basically just said they belong on the adult channels instead of a kids show.

He chuckles softly.

and yea, you ain't dying, just the lack of AC in this place

He looks at you, laughing a bit.

Honestly? Me being the nicest one here so far is strange, normally most new folks stay away from me because of how I look

He nods slightly.

Nice to meet ya 'Tori.

He watches as you become more disheveled at realizing he's the lead role, he squats down to help you pick up the sheets of music paper.

Calm down sugar, it's not like I'm the director, 'sides, Im more worried about the heat. We're supposed to be in makeup, wigs, costumes, someone's bound to have a heat stroke while filming

He soon nods and chuckles.

I get it, a lot of you non-locals seem to have a hard time around here, thankfully I am a local and don't gotta worry about it.

He gently hands you the papers he grabbed.

I'll put in a good word for ya with the locals, but, I can't say it'll do much, I ain't got the best reputation either, I mainly just made friends with the market workers and some local abuelas, tias, and some Madres (translation: grandmas, aunts, and mothers)

Though, the mamas will treat you nice and make sure their kids do, that's for sure

He smiles at you.

[superbfics]

Carol. CAROL. This is so so so so good oh my god. I was smiling like a damn idiot this entire fic!!!!!!!! I knew from the title I was like oh God, blink 182, take my heart it's yours. But OH it's so good. I loved Eddie with my whole fucking heart and then some. The relationships you came up with?! The banter? WHAT ARE YOU DOING GIVING THIS AWAY FOR FREE?!?!

Anyways. Idk if I'm even making sense, my smile is so wide it's blinding me. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. I'm yours. Teach me your ways you goddess. 🙏🏻💛

“Are you talking to a girrrrrl?” Gareth teases. Eddie let’s out a ‘tssss’ while he stands up and stretches, quirking a brow at his best friend.

“Is it a girl? You takin’ her out?” he asks again.

“Yeah G, it’s your mom,” he shrugs, “Night y’all.”

Oh my god these three. I love them. Want to marry them all 💛💛💛💛💛

Eddie’s too caught up in hiding his face, “Ugh, she’s cuuuute, Tati, what am I supposed to do?” 

“Show her what she’s been missing,” Tati shrugs, “Everyone needs an Eddie.” 

got you a guinness cause that’s what you said you liked on your profile. it looks like battery acid tbh. there’s a couple seats by the end of the bar, i’ll grab them. He looks up from his phone finally to see a blur of red start maneuvering over to the end of the bar. That’s you. Oh shit, that’s you. Oh shit, you’re – fuck. You have a fat fucking ass in those jeans. He swallows again, shaking the horny thoughts out of his head through the tendrils of his hair. Another deep breath through the nose, out of the water to the diving block just to dive again. He walks the length of the bar and hears his name, your voice in real life – not through a voice note or on your profile.

“Ed?” 

I AM GIDDY. BOY LOVING MY ASS IN THOSE JEANS?! GOODBYE.

“I’m a teacher,” he replies, knocking back the remainder of the Guinness in his glass.  

“I’m a teacher,” he replies, knocking back the remainder of the Guinness in his glass.  

@loveshotzz can confirm. I texted her immediately upon reading this line. I can't I can't I can't I can't I cannot Carol. Stop it. Stop it right now. Want him to take me against the bar right the fuck now gaahhhhddd.

He beams back at you when you nod, “Atta girl.” 

He doesn’t notice when your thighs clench. 

You miss the straw when you reach for it with your mouth, it slides over to the other side of the cup. You try again and miss, cheeks burning while Eddie looks at you continue to fuck up. His eyes glint mischievously while you hold in your frustrated laughter, “Stop looking at me.” 

“It’s fine, I’ll wait while you get your life figured out over there,” he jokes, checking ‘the time’ on his wrist, “Shouldn’t be too long until you finally get it.” 

Ooh, you like herrrr! I can tell! Look at your stupid face!” she laughs, pointing at him, bouncing on the cushions. 

“I’m gonna marry her, or she’s gonna absolutely fuckin’ ruin my life.” 

HE WENT BACK FOR THE KISS. YES BABY. YOU SO CUTE EDDIE I CAN'T CAROL I'M LOSING MY MIND. I WANNA RUIN HIM AND MARRY HIM STOP IT THIS - I - I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO THINGS TODAY AND NOW I GOTTA LAY IN BED AND STARE AT THE CEILING.

let's go, don't wait (e.m. x f!reader)

inspired by this prompt by @edsforehead - it's not exactly the same but i did my best! summary: modern!eddie's been single since 2020 and aside from getting his dick wet after weekend shows at the hideout, he hasn't been going out of his way for love until his friends make him. cw: 18+ for adult themes. alcohol use, swearing, some sexual themes. some discussions of bad parents. eddie had some sad parts of his childhood. all around this is a fluff piece so nothing too bad. (11k) eddie is 32, reader is 30. so older!reader i guess, idk. i already started writing the part two which is almost entirely smut.

Jingle. Click. Creak. “Mmmm.” Eddie knows that groan anywhere, the deep primal urging of a one Gareth Emerson and the giggles of his girlfriend, Tatianna Edwards. They stumble into the apartment, lips attached, hands grabbing and fisting each other’s layers from the cold. 

“Hi guys,” he calls out, his tone was as bored and annoyed as he hoped it would be. His eyes don’t leave the TV, transfixed on the screen while he watches another YouTube compilation of the best guitar solos of all time. He disagrees with most of them, but it’s enough to drone on in the background while he scrolls through his Twitter feed. He’s never even posted. Not once. Not even a picture on his profile. 

“Hi Ed,” Tati chirps, clicking the side table lights on. He can smell her Chloe perfume when she comes to give him a hug hello. Her arms wrap around him from behind the couch, cheeks touching, a few of her butterfly twists falling forward over his shoulder. 

“Did you stay in tonight?” she asks, pressing a glossy smooch to his cheek. “Sure did,” he huffs, arms crossing over hers in a semblance of an embrace. Her gold bracelets are cool against his skin, her gold rings match his silver ones. He thought when Tati entered the picture that he and Gareth would’ve started to drift apart. Instead, Tati became Eddie’s new best friend – Gare really took ‘date the girl version of Eddie’ to heart. They were two peas in a pod. “You should’ve come out, there were a lot of single girls there – you’re a good dancer, you coulda snagged one,” she sounds like a mother trying to set him up. Eddie tilts his head up and looks at her from below, her deep skin shimmering with the glitter fallout from her eye makeup. She always looks pretty with ease, even with her makeup smudged – like she meant to do that. 

“Oh, I’m sure,” he smiles tightly, but the look falls to something soft when Tati lets go and her almond shaped manicured nails rake gently over his scalp through his conditioned curls.  “You can’t just keep picking up girls from shows, dude,” Gareth chides playfully, coming around the couch to sit next to him, “They’re starting to get waaaay too young for you at the bars.”

“Yeah, perv,” Tatianna teases, ruffling his hair before curling up on the recliner closer to the TV.

“Can we please not talk about this again,” Eddie sighs, sinking further into the cushions. He presses on his eyes with the heels of his hands, “You do this every time you guys come back from a date.”

“We gotta get you on Hinge, or something,” Gareth says.

“Tinder at the very least,” Tatianna follows.

“Okay, I’m going to bed,” Eddie grunts when he gets up, a little dizzy at the speed before he finds his footing, “Don’t be too loud tonight.”

“Just trying to help!” Tati calls out, “You deserve to be too loud at night, too!”

Eddie sucks his teeth before he turns the corner to the hallway, disappearing for the night while his friends fell more in love. 

It feels like they’re disassembling a bomb. Eddie sulks in a seat at the kitchen table while Robin, Steve, Nancy, and Gareth chatter behind him. Jeff and his wife sit across from him with just as much excitement as the group opposite them. Eddie frowns, bangs too long over his eyes, hands sweating onto the back of his banged up stickered phone case.

“I think you should put the picture of the guitar last, it doesn’t have your face in it. I’d swipe past you,” Robin points at the screen in front of him while he tries to make sense of his Hinge profile. 

“Well you’re a whole lesbian Rob, so you’d swipe past me anyway,” Eddie’s clipped words make the group laugh instead of making them back off. His shoulders sink immediately. This was mortifying.

“She’s right though,” Steve pipes up, “They’ll think you’re some weirdo who's obsessed with his guitar if you — well, actually then maybe it’s fine…” 

“Why don’t you—” Jeff starts.

“You’re married and you’ve been with Alycia since 2014. Your opinions are void,” Eddie interrupts with a sigh. 

Jeff lets out a laugh from his broad smile, “Look, I’m just saying. Why don’t you focus on your answers to the questions rather than the pictures? Girls love stuff like that. You’re smart, you’re a good writer.” 

“Babe, they’re not gonna care about his answers if the first picture they see is of an out of focus guitar taken on an iPhone 4S,” Alycia cocks her head at Jeff, “Like, at least be honest with him.” 

“I know you’re squinting in that picture from Jeff’s wedding but maybe you can put that one first,” Nancy points to the screen and then scrolls down a little. It lands on a photo of Jeff and Eddie, both sweating from the night's activities. His dress shirt is unbuttoned half way down his chest, silver chains and tattoos on full display, tie tied around Jeff’s forehead like a makeshift Rambo. 

“Yeah, you look really good in it,” Robin agrees. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Tati shuffles into the kitchen, “I got in touch with the photographer from the show two weeks ago at Wraith Bar and he’s sending me some pictures.” 

“You can use the six pictures you’re tagged in from the last three years,” Tatianna scolds, “You look like a bum in them.” 

The group frowns and tosses glances at each other, it’s true. The more recent pictures they had of Eddie were far and few between. He was either blinking or off to the side, blurry or ducking out of frame. Every picture where he looks like himself was either from a show or had Chrissy in it, and he deleted all of those three years ago.

“Stop, you look so fine in these,” Tatianna squeals, “The girls are gonna love you.” Everyone but Eddie huddles around Tatianna to scroll through the pictures. Some of him mid shred with sweat pouring down his chest. Some of him screaming into the mic, hair wild and wet around his face. There was one, that he begrudgingly really liked, where his head leaned back into the light with a winning Munson smile. It was when he heard the opening drums to cover ‘The Immigrant Song’ as a gag – but not really a gag ‘cause he loves that song. It gets everyone at the bar pretty excited – even if they only know the song from School of Rock. 

Eventually, Eddie isn’t even holding his phone, it’s being passed between Tati, Steve, and Robin while he dictates his answers to stupid questions. By the time his profile is finished, his head is hidden in his mass of curls, resting his forehead on his forearms at the table. 

“Are we done now?” he asks into the space between his face and the woodgrain. Despite the winter air flowing through the kitchen window, he’s overheated with embarrassment. There are suddenly too many people around, too much talking, too much giggling at his expense. He tilts his head back up and takes a full breath through his nose and out through his mouth – “Oh shit! You matched with someone!” “How? I didn’t even look at anyone yet,” Eddie’s brows furrow while his head slowly comes to center. “Don’t worry about it, dingus,” Robin chides, “Just talk to her.” Eddie takes the phone and looks at her profile. Rachel, 27, Vet tech. She’s pretty, soft eyes, great smile. He swallows thickly before he goes to his ‘Matches’ and types three letters that felt like they took ten years to write: Hey.

The chats start fast and die faster, some flirty banter here and there before he’s too nervous or quickly bored. His heart squeezes every time he gets a notification, a buzz in his pocket, a reminder of a message. Some girls don’t want a relationship and that’s fine, that’s just not what he’s looking for. Some girls ask the big questions first and he can’t answer right away. Some girls just aren’t his type and he isn’t theirs either. 

The first date he goes on ends with her excusing herself to the bathroom before they even get to order dinner. She doesn’t come back — he’s not even sure what he did. It started off fine, she was pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes. Fun and easy conversation, a voice that sounded like powder puffs and sugar scented perfume. If he blurred his vision a little, she could’ve been Chris. But she wasn’t Chris. 

Maybe that’s why she left. Maybe she got the vibe that he was preoccupied with her looking like his ex. 

Maybe it was because he said, ‘You remind me so much of my ex-wife,’ before they got to order dinner. 

His second date wasn’t much better. He was proud of himself for not going for another Chrissy look alike, but it was clear that this new girl was on a hunt for a husband. 

“So are you planning on getting the tattoos removed?” she had asked, pursing her red lips. He was surprised at how well her lipstick stayed on after eating a pasta dish. Whenever he wears makeup for a show, it smudges before the lights come up. 

“Uh, no why?” he asked.

“Just y’know, thinking ahead — family photos and whatever,” she shrugged. His mouth had never run so dry in his life. The chicken alfredo turned in his stomach. 

The third ended up being a quickie in the bar bathroom only for her to leave right after and unmatch him without as much as a ‘Thanks for a good night!’ He at least wanted to be a gentleman about it. 

The fourth fizzled out and neither of them felt the connection. 

The fifth felt weird because they had talked so much on the app that they didn’t have anything left to talk about when they went out for drinks. 

A month had gone by and all he had to show for it was five bad dates and dozens of unanswered chats. Eddie was found sitting in his bed in the dark, only the light on his phone keeping him illuminated while he thumbs through Instagram. Another app that he has for no reason, he never posts, he never shares anything. He just scrolls.

He wonders if Chrissy’s on Hinge. Eddie’s stomach lurches at the thought of coming across her profile. All blonde and blue eyes, all sweet and spunky, all the right answers to her curated questions. Photos of her in the Maldives, in her friend’s weddings, of her in Chicago after she moved. His heart hammers, sweat collects on his bare chest, heating up the chain lying flat against it until it sticks. He quickly swipes out of Instagram to his home screen, a photo of Robin and Steve flipping him off from the stage after a Corroded Show during load out. He holds his thumb on the app until all the apps shake, thumb hovering over the ‘x’ on the corner to delete the Hinge for good. 

What’s another three years of being single? 

“Ed?” he hears Tati on the other side of the door, her soft knock following her voice, “I got Indian and I’m not gonna eat it all. Gare doesn’t want it, you want it?” 

“Yeah, sure,” he hums. She opens the door and sighs at the darkness. He squints as the light pools in from the hallway and sees her lean her shoulder against the door frame.

“Are you in here sulking?” she asks, one brow raising.

“Yeah, Tat, I’m in here sulking,” he groans, laying flat on his mattress, “I like to sulk. Let me sulk.” 

“Don’t sulk,” she puts on a pout and flicks his light on, leaving the containers of rice and chicken saag. He groans when the light stings his eyes, tossing a forearm over his face. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks, her voice falling into kindergarten teacher territory. She never realized her profession would come so handy living with two grown men, “Why’re you being such a baby in here?” 

“I think I’m gonna delete the app,” he murmurs, still hiding under the protection of his tattooed arm. The pressure feels good on his face, releasing the tension starting to brew behind his eyes. He hadn’t eaten since his lunch period at work, the hunger was starting to catch up to him. 

“Don’t delete it,” she shakes her head, crawling onto the end of his bed. She takes her twists out of her jumbo claw clip and readjusts to pull them all back away from her face. Tati eases his phone out of his hand and slides her glasses on, flinging his dead arm off his face to use his Face ID. He whines, face scrunching is disapproval.

“I told you to stop doing that,” Eddie complains, sitting up against his pillows before crawling out of bed to get the food waiting on his dresser, “Do you have any naan or…?” 

“Do I look like a food bank, Munson? Damn,” she tilts her head and he raises his brows in a silent ‘Well, do you?’

She sighs deeply, “Yes, I have extra naan but you can only have it if you don’t delete the app and eat with us in the living room.” 

“Those are two totally different asks, Tati,” Eddie huffs. 

“I don’t make the rules,” she shrugs before starting to laugh, “Actually, I totally do.” 

The phone buzzes in her hand and Tatianna’s grin only widens when she sees the notification, “You have a new like.” 

“Whatever,” he shrugs, face laced with disappointment and frustration, “It’s gonna be another dud. Why bother if there’s no point? Like, this can’t actually be how people meet each other —“ 

Tatianna opens her mouth to protest but Eddie interrupts his own thought before she can speak, “You and Gareth are the anomaly.” 

“What if the sixth time’s a charm? She looks really cute,” She smiles, teeth bright against her smile, cheekbones glistening where her moisturized skin hits the light. 

He rolls his neck and sighs while Tatianna continues to encourage him, “Just try. You owe yourself that. Chrissy wouldn’t—.”

“Fuck Chrissy, Tat,” Eddie’s voice raises slightly, suddenly defensive. His chest burns at the sound of her name, heat rising up through his neck to his face,  “I don’t really give a fuck what Chrissy would and wouldn’t want. ‘Cause if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have to be on these stupid fucking apps.” 

“Whew, tell me how you really feel Ed,” she says while she stands up off the bed to walk towards him.

“Look, I get you’re still mad about how things went down with Chris. I know you’re still hurting, but you’re denying yourself a chance to start over — just shoot this girl a message. She seems cool,” Tati speaks so gently to him that he soothes instantly. She offers his phone, still open on the new profile — he’s hesitant at first but he takes it from her to look at the screen. 

There you are. You are cute. Your profile is simple: your name, age thirty, your opening tagline ‘idk i’m just out here i guess’. He lets a puff of air out of his nose at the sentiment — ‘Same,’ he thinks. 

“Fine,” he says finally, “I’ll look through her stuff and I’ll message her. Are you happy?” 

“Thrilled,” she smiles, “So thrilled that I’ll even let you have the extra samosa.” 

He follows her out of the room with his phone and food in hand, looking at her fondly when she passes him a tinfoil covered piece of naan in the kitchen, “You’re my best fucking friend, dude.” 

“I thought I was your best friend?” Gareth pouts from the kitchen table, D&D notes littered in front of him. 

Eddie scrunches his nose, tilting his head while he considers, “You’re alright I guess.” 

When the food is done and he’s gotten a proper look at your profile he decides to bite the bullet — fingers shaking while he matches back with you. He doesn’t start with ‘hey’ this time because Robin and Steve said that was boring, so he tries something new: 

wild that you’re just ‘out here’, me too. 

…

…

…

lol, twin behavior. how’s your night?

Eddie’s heart hammers at the response. He’s surprised at the reaction, he hadn’t had that with any of his other chats, normally expecting them to die off after the first ‘Hey, how are you?’ pleasantry. But maybe this could be different, maybe this could be fun. 

scored some indian food from one of my roommates so it’s one of my better nights. 

ooh, i’m so jealous. i have buyers remorse from some baked ziti i ordered. should’ve just made it.

what did you get?

chicken saag, still jealous?

i’m more of a saag paneer girl but consider me over here seething.

Eddie grins into the phone, cheeks hot while he thinks about what to say back. He skims over your profile again, eyes stilling at a photo of you laughing on what looks like a cruise deck. The sun hits you like a golden streak across your eyes. The caption reads ‘the last time i felt a single shred of genuine happiness’, he huffs an airy giggle before going back to the chat. 

you’re funny, did you know that?

um ya, i’m the funniest person i know, actually. 🥰

that's crazy cause i’m the funniest person i know. and since now i know you, it’s looking like we gotta battle for who the funniest is.

Jesus fucking Christ Munson, why can’t you just be normal? Why can you just say ‘lol’ and call it a night? He frets. His leg bounces while he waits for your reply, food rolling in his stomach. The cool metal of his rings is welcomed on his warm cheeks while he leans against his hand on the arm of the couch. The few minutes he waits for the buzz of his phone feel like eternities. But there you are to save him from his embarrassment:

lmao okay. where did you wanna battle?

there’s a bar in the city that i think could host. you around tomornight?

tommorow night* sorry, fuck, i was trying so hard to be smooth with it.

TOMORROW***** FUCK. LET ME LOG OFF FOR ETERNITY REAL QUICK.

yiiiiikes! embarrassing. but this proves you actually might be funnier than me. i’m not a sore loser so i’ll go on a date with you if that’s what you’re asking.

do you drink? it doesn’t have to be a bar.

i do! where did you have in mind?

there’s a spot called little spoon saloon in the city if you’re familiar. sorta cozy.

oh yeah sounds great for a battle 🙄

but yeah i know it, that’s not too far from my place. maybe we’ve seen each other before and never known it. two ships passing in the night~*

does seven work for you? i know it’s a monday, so we can do earlier if you gotta be up early or something.

sevens fine :)

okay :)

:)

:)

see ya tomorrow! Eddie bites his lower lip, breathing steadily through his nose while he sends over his number. Anything to get out of looking at the app for at least another day, anything to spare him from potentially running into Chrissy’s profile despite her being in a different state. It was getting close to the holidays, she could be around at any moment. 

Before he can spiral, his phone buzzes again – this time a text from an unknown number. His grin widens, too caught up in the excitement bubbling in his chest to feel Tatianna’s stare from the recliner. hi, it's me. jsyk if you don't reach out by like, two tomorrow -- i'm considering it a cancellation and i do have a 50% cancellation fee. sorry! 

50%? stop selling yourself so short, kid. but don’t worry, i won’t cancel. no? you’re not scared to battle? i’m never scared of a battle. :) (A lie.) see you tomorrow. 

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Tatianna smiles, cheeks tight from being unable to hide her excitement. “Are you talking to a girrrrrl?” Gareth teases. Eddie let’s out a ‘tssss’ while he stands up and stretches, quirking a brow at his best friend. “Is it a girl? You takin’ her out?” he asks again. “Yeah G, it’s your mom,” he shrugs, “Night y’all.” “Ed,” Tati whines, “Come on.” Pink floats across his cheeks, itching his nose to hide his goofy smile behind his hand. “Yeah, it’s a girl. And yeah, I’m taking her on a date tomorrow,” he groans. Tatianna squeals, shimmying with giddiness while the recliner rocks with her. Eddie’s too caught up in hiding his face, “Ugh, she’s cuuuute, Tati, what am I supposed to do?” 

“Show her what she’s been missing,” Tati shrugs, “Everyone needs an Eddie.” 

Last night, Eddie fell asleep caught in a memory that became a dream. He’s eight years old at the YMCA, Wayne sitting in the stands watching him – this is maybe two weeks after his dad dropped him off before he got sent to prison. Wayne wanted to make sure his schedule stayed the same as it could, so Saturday swim lessons it was – today was diving off the block. Eddie had been dreading this lesson for a month, knowing that level 2.5 meant you had to at least try. In level two, they had you stand on the block just to get used to it. He could barely breathe for the ten seconds it was up there, tears stinging his eyes while his teacher encouraged him to come closer to the edge. Three of his classmates had already asked if they were allowed to jump off. It looked fun but it was just so high up. What if it hurts? What if he landed the wrong way? He was up soon, standing behind the block with the rest of the kids, shivering from being out of the water. He could dive off the edge of the pool just fine – in fact, his teacher said he was a great diver, especially for an eight year old. So it should be no problem to dive off the block, he just had to do the same thing he always does. Just higher. 

Gareth, before Gareth was his best friend, climbs up the block and puts his feet at the edge of the white plastic and metal. His teacher, Miss Tiffany, tells him to put his arms up and bend his knees and to dive at the whistle. The whistle blows and Gareth leaps – but he doesn’t dive smoothly into the water. 

“BELLY FLOP!” Jason Carver yells from the edge of the pool where all the kids who already dove sat. They start teasing him relentlessly, Miss Tiffany helping him out of the water to inspect his red belly. Tears well up in Gareth’s eyes, his mom leaning over the bannister from the seating area. “Are you okay, baby?” she asks. Gareth burns red with embarrassment, only encouraging the cackling kids to get crueler. 

Miss Tiffany puffs her whistle three times, “If you tease again, you’re not allowed to go to free swim. Do you understand me?” 

The group quiets, slowly kicking their feet in the water. “Alright Eddie, you’re up next!” 

He gulps, climbing up on the block slowly before standing to full height with his eyes closed. He takes a deep breath through his nose and out through his mouth, like his Uncle Wayne taught him to do when he was feeling nervous. When Eddie’s eyes opened, a chill ran through his chest – for some reason the block seemed higher than ever. 

“Ready Freddie?” Miss Tiffany asked, treading water in her red bathing suit. She grinned up at him, knowing that the phrase always made him giggle – but not today. 

“Arms up, knees bent,” she continues. Ed looks down at the water and the room spins, he can hear Jason and the class giggling. Hear the splashes from the kicks of their feet. 

The whistle blows. He doesn’t move. The whistle blows, again. He puts his arms down. “You okay, Eddie? You can do it! You’re a great diver!” she cheers. 

Eddie chews on his lower lip, thinking about the smack of the water when it hit Gareth’s stomach. The laughter. The teasing. The potential of the pain. The whistle blows again. Eddie climbs down off the block, sniffling when he makes it back to the pool deck, “I don’t want to Miss Tiffany.”  

“C’mon Ed, I know you can do it! Do you want me to save you for last?” she asks, her smile still bright and encouraging. Eddie sniffles again, eyes burning with tears while Jason and his friends start to tease him, too. “Swimming sucks,” he bites, stomping towards the boys room, grabbing his ratty towel off one of the benches on the way in. He’s only in the locker room for a few minutes before he hears the door open and Wayne’s apologetic voice talking to Miss Tiffany from the deck floor.

“He’s just goin’ through a lot right now,” Wayne says, his gruff voice rattling off the metal of the room. 

“Eddie?” Tiffany’s voice calls. 

“Come out here, son,” Wayne calls, “Y’know, if your decent.”  

Eddie sniffles back his tears again, shuffling over to the door while Miss Tiffany waits with his Uncle.

“Do you maybe wanna stay a little late today and we can practice diving off the block when class is over?” she offers, “I know it can be scary to do it in front of your classmates, but I want you to pass to level three!” 

“No thanks Miss Tiffany,” he mumbles to the tiles on the floor. 

“That’s okay Eddie, maybe we can try again next week. How’s that sound? I know you can do it,” she says softly. 

“Okay,” he murmurs before turning on his heel and moping back into the locker room. Wayne was waiting by the check in desk when Eddie emerged after changing, his ratty towel slung off his shoulder. 

“You okay?” Wayne asked.

“Yeah, can we just go home?” 

“Sure kid, was gonna stop and get us some lunch if you wanted,” Wayne’s eyes crinkle with his smile, “Wanna go to McDonalds?” 

Eddie returns the smile half heartedly, “Yeah.”

They walk to Wayne’s pick-up hand in hand, despite some parents thinking he’s ‘too old’ to be doing that. He needed the support, and his uncle was never one to make him feel like he didn’t have it. 

“So d’you wanna try again next week? Your starting form was great, buddy,” Wayne asks while Eddie puts his seatbelt on. Eddie considers it. Getting to the edge of the block and making Jason Carver eat his own words. Making him look like a loser for a change. 

But the words ring in his ear ‘BELLY FLOP!’ The relentless teasing if he didn’t do it this week and then messed up next week. He’d be a baby and a joke. 

“I don’t wanna do swimming anymore, Uncle Wayne,” he huffs.

“You sure?” his uncle frowns, putting the car into gear, “You’re really good, Ed. Y’could be on the swim team.” 

“I don’t wanna come back. I quit,” he repeats. He crosses his arms while they pull out of the parking lot, watching the rest of the kids pool out of the doors with smiles on.

Eddie wakes up to his alarm blaring, back in his 32 year old body. He swears that the air of his bedroom smells like chlorine.

Eddie made sure to text you at 1:59 PM like an asshole. 

still on for tonight? :)

so close to having to pay my cancellation fee. 

but yes, still on for tonight :) 

sorry, work’s been wild today. would’ve texted you sooner!

you’re off the hook…

for now. 😡

He likes your little attitude, he decides. That little hint of sass in your messages keeps him on his toes and it’s not lost on him that this is probably how you flirt. He wonders, selfishly, how easy you are to fluster. You both exchange a few back and forths before he’s finishing up work for the day and heading to Wheeler’s for a campaign chat. 

The texts completely drop off while he gets ready to see you. He takes an extra long time in the shower, using the tiniest squeeze of Tati’s curl cream when he comes out because it makes his hair look good. He scrubs his face raw before shaving, following up with the skin care routine he kept up with, even though Chrissy curated it for him. 

Once dressed, he stepped quietly out to the living room to grab his jacket in the closet and pull out his boots. 

“You used my curl cream, I see,” Tatianna crosses her arms. He blushes. 

“Don’t be mad, I just wanna look good,” he puts on a faux pout, eyes rounding while he slides the leather over arms.

“You look really good,” she smiles, “It’s gonna be great.” 

Eddie shoves his socked feet in his Docs, worn in from years of wear, and looks up at her, “I’m kind of excited.” 

“You should be! I don’t know, I just have a really good feeling about this one,” she smirks, “Text me at some point, let me know how it goes.” 

“It’s a better indicator if he doesn’t text you, Tati,” Gareth says, coming up behind her, “You look sharp, dude.” 

“Sharp?” Eddie rolls his eyes, “What’re you? Eighty?” 

Tatianna clicks on her phone to look at the time, “Can you get the fuck outta here? You’re gonna be late!” 

“I’m going, I’m going!” he laughs, arms up while he grabs his keys from the hook by the door, “Wish me luck, bye!” 

Eddie felt sick. Suddenly feeling like he was standing at the edge of the pool in ‘98.

When he got his keys in the ignition of his Honda Civic, a text came through immediately. He swallowed tightly, in some way expecting it to be you. In some way, expecting you to be canceling on him. 

Instead, it was Tatianna in the big group chat: 

here, we made a playlist for you

Eddie clicks on the Spotify link and laughs. First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182

And so on. The music automatically connects, the opening guitar ripping through his speakers. Eddie quickly types up a response on his phone before pulling out into the street. 

very creative, edwards.

someone in this house has to be. ‘In the car, I just can't wait, to pick you up on our very first date. Is it cool if I hold your hand? Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?’ He rolls his eyes as Mark and Tom serenade him in the car, laughing at the lyrics. It’d been a while since he’d listened to this album, let alone this song. While he won’t admit it to Gareth or his girlfriend, it was exactly what he needed before he got to the bar. 

‘Do you like my stupid hair? Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear? I'm just scared of what you think, you make me nervous so I really can't eat.’ “Let’s go, don’t wait, this night’s almost over,” he sings along, fingers tapping on his steering wheel while he waits at a red light. He’s on the fourth replay of the song by the time he pulls up. The ignition cuts off the lyrics before the chorus, he takes a big breath before opening the door. Just a couple minutes past seven, but he told you he was running a little late, so you wouldn’t be mad. His phone buzzes to Robin, Steve, and Jeff reacting to the playlist Tati sent. Alicia, Jeff, and Nancy sent him sweet good luck messages. Robin and Steve sent them a picture from a bar they were at, flipping him off. ‘Break a leg, dingus,’ came in her follow up voice memo. Eddie considers making this new picture his phone background. 

He swallows hard when he gets to the door, his bottom lip getting pulled between his teeth in apprehension. He nods to himself, “You got this, Munson.”  Another deep breath, he’s still ten, he’s still afraid to dive off the diving block. What if it hurts? What if he belly flops? 

‘What if you don’t? What if you dive this time?’ He thinks to himself. He opens the door to the bar, his ten year old self puts one foot on the diving block. The chatter of a few conversations at once is disorienting, so is the low light of the bar in comparison to the neon outside. The man at the entrance asks for his ID and he awkwardly fumbles for his wallet as if it’s not obvious he’s been old enough to drink for eleven years. “Here, man,” he says, somehow nervous he’ll get caught with a fake like he’s nineteen again. The security’s light flashes over his birthdate and he passes it back with a short and gruff thank you. Eddie takes a few steps before checking his phone to remind him what you said you’d be wearing.

in a red cut off sweatshirt, jeans that look like dickies – hard to miss! white airforces! i’m here, looking for you if you can’t spot me just approach the most off putting girl at the bar, it’s probably me :) 

He smiles into the light of his phone. You’re are funny. His phone lights up again, another text bubble added to your previous one. Eddie’s heart hammers in his chest when he looks at it, knowing you’re really only moments away. got you a guinness cause that’s what you said you liked on your profile. it looks like battery acid tbh. there’s a couple seats by the end of the bar, i’ll grab them. He looks up from his phone finally to see a blur of red start maneuvering over to the end of the bar. That’s you. Oh shit, that’s you. Oh shit, you’re – fuck. You have a fat fucking ass in those jeans. He swallows again, shaking the horny thoughts out of his head through the tendrils of his hair. Another deep breath through the nose, out of the water to the diving block just to dive again. He walks the length of the bar and hears his name, your voice in real life – not through a voice note or on your profile. “Ed?” 

Eddie catches your eye and his heart sinks and leaps so quickly he thinks he’s going into cardiac arrest. You’re real pretty, even more so when you grin at him from a few feet away. You wave him over and he does his best to walk confidently towards you, taking his jacket off while he does. He doesn’t know it, but the other girls at the bar are looking. He’s all broad shoulders and dark tattoos, two silver chains and understated rings. Full lips and doe eyes. Tatianna never told a lie, he was unmistakably handsome – he just didn’t know what to do with it. You toss your hair when you speak to the bartender from the end of the bar with a bright smile. The man puts two drinks in front of you and you leave cash in their wake. Eddie winces when he sees you pay, but tries to ignore the sting. In a way, it feels like he’s already losing – like he’s playing Sims with Robin and he’s not on track to get a gold reward on date night. You’re hot and you know it, but he can tell it’s like you just found out. Your eyes are flirty no matter what you’re looking at, you’re full bodied and it’s like you know it’s making him salivate. Eddie can’t help but be nervous when he takes a seat next to you, fingers immediately drumming on the bar top in front of him. “Guinness for you,” you say, sliding the pint glass in front of him. “Thanks,” he smiles, “You didn’t have to do that. I asked you out, you’re not supposed to be paying for me.” 

“I know, but – why don’t you get the next one and we’ll call it even?” you offer. He nods while he takes a sip, eyeing the lighter orangey liquid in your glass. “Did you get a cider?” he teases. 

“It’s a grapefruit beer, thank you,” your brows furrow at him while you take a sip. You have a good face, part of him wants to say that but it seems like a weird compliment. ‘Nice face.’ Like, what does that even mean? His tongue feels heavy, he can feel the sweat building under his curly bangs. “Weaksauce,” he laughs, scrunching his nose, “Grapefruit beer? Not for me, toots.” 

“Yeah, because you drink battery acid!” you tease back, “You’re a stout snob, huh?”

“Nah, just never heard of grapefruit beer. I always drink Guinness – or like, Miller light. Never really stray,” he shrugs. 

“You wanna try mine?” you ask, sliding the glass to him. 

“You sure?” he watches you nod and brings the beer to his lips. It’s tart, a little bubbly, hitting his tongue on the off beat from the stout before. It settles and then it’s sweet, he wonders if you’re the same. Eddie smacks his lips, “I don’t hate it.” 

“That’s such a stout snob thing for you to say,” you pull a face, bringing your drink back to sit in front of you. “I’d offer you a sip of mine but I know you don’t like it,” he smiles, “Wouldn’t want to ruin the taste of your dessert beer.” “Fuck off,” you shake your head and smile, taking another sip of your drink. The Guinness in his hand makes him feel less nervous, but not all the way – toeing the line of the end of the diving block but not scared to look down into the water. He can tell you’re nervous too by the way you pick at a hangnail on your thumb absentmindedly, the way you cross and uncross your legs. Eddie’s eyes linger for a moment at the way they spill over each other, squishing flat on the seat of the stool when you keep them uncrossed. He tries to discreetly follow the line of your thighs to your hips, up to your waist before getting ahead of himself and pulling his eyes away. 

“How was your day?” you ask. Not the question he was expecting. “My day?” he asks, brows raised while he tries to recollect anything before getting ready to see you. “Uh, my day was good. Yours?” You fucking dumbass, you couldn’t just spare one detail? She’s gonna think you’re an asshole. “It was fine,” you answer quietly. Your smile fades a little and he feels a panicked chill rush in his chest. “S-sorry, I should’ve elaborated. I sound like such a dick, sorry,” Eddie feels the heat creeping up on his cheeks, a clamminess starting up at his hairline, “I um, I went to work. Came home, went to a friend’s house for a minute and we talked about a campaign we’re putting together next weekend. I had some dinner, and then I started getting ready to see you and um – uh, now I’m here.” “Campaign? Are you a politician or somethin’?” you quirk a brow while you look him over. He feels insecure under your gaze, he hopes you like his tattoos.  

“No, no, it’s for Dungeons and Dragons.” Saying it outloud makes him feel like a loser, even though you don’t react like you think so. 

“Cool,” you smile. 

“Do you like, even know what that is?” Defensive already, waiting for you to make fun of him. Waiting for this to end up another mistake. Waiting to belly flop. 

“Yeah, I know what it is,” you answer quietly again, this time your shoulders, “Have some friends that play.” 

“Oh, cool. Cool,” Eddie nods, chest tightening, toying with his rings while you reach for your drink, “Um, I’m — yeah, sorry if that came off like, dickish. I didn’t mean to—.” 

“No, no, it’s okay,” you shake your head when you say it, almost like it’s rehearsed. Like you’re always ‘okay’-ing something. 

“Sometimes people think it’s weird when I tell them, I dunno,” he shrugs, still looking down at his rings, “If I’m being honest I haven’t been so great at this whole dating thing.” 

You smile again and he looks up in time to see it, his breath hitches. You’re very pretty. 

“If it makes you feel any better, I learned how to play Magic the Gathering twice to impress a boy. Two different ones,” you grimace, scrunching your nose, “Gross right?” 

“Oof, that’s rough,” he jokes, “Magic the Gathering? That’s like, way worse than D&D.”

“Well the difference between you and me, is that I don’t still play,” you bite back, cocking your head while you take another drink. “Didn’t impress those boys after all, huh?” he raises a brow and your mouth falls open in faux offense. 

“You’re so mean,” you gasp.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he drawls, “Should’ve put that in my profile.” 

“Oh, so you are mean?” you grin. 

“The meanest,” he grins back, teeth straight and shiny. Full lips pulled tight against them, “How was your day?” “I worked,” you shrug, “Not as exciting.” 

“What do you do?” he asks, turning towards you on the stool, leaning one arm on the bar. He relaxes into the seat, legs spreading wide while his free hand runs nervously over his thigh.

“I’m a personal assistant to a jewelry maker,” you let out a half chuckle through your nose, “It sounds fake when I say it out loud. But basically, I just keep her schedule and run errands and keep her shit in order. She’s an older woman and she’s not the most tech savvy in the world — great at what she does though, really eccentric but I feel like you gotta be when you work in the arts like that.” 

“That’s cool,” he says softly, watching you talk, “What kind of jewelry does she make?” 

“Oh you’ll love this, since you like D&D and stuff,” you start, your excitement is infectious, his heart thrums, “She makes fine jewelry for the most part, but also makes anodized chain mail jewelry and wearable pieces for theater and ren fairs on the side. I told you, eccentric.” 

“Oh, so she’s a little alchemist, huh?” he smirks. 

“Kinda, yeah,” you shrug, heat hitting your cheeks while he keeps his gaze on you, “It’s cool to watch the first few times, and then you get bored.” 

“I’m sure it’s the same for people who watch my band,” he laughs. You shake your head, a curve pulling from the corners of your lips while you finish your beer. 

“Alchemist,” you repeat with a playful roll of your eyes, “You’re such a nerd.” 

“What do you do for work?” he notices you fully turn when you ask, your knees toward him. He remembers Steve telling him once that it was always a good sign when they do that. Like Steve knows anything about body language and dating these days, he’s been platonically attached to Robin for years. His little guard dog. 

“I’m a teacher,” he replies, knocking back the remainder of the Guinness in his glass.  

“Hm,” you hum, looking him over suspiciously, “That’s surprising.” 

“I work at a performing arts school,” he rolls his eyes, “It’s 2023, I’m allowed to have tattoos.” “What do you teach?” you squint when you look him over a second time, “Actually, let me guess – drama?” 

“Music theory,” he corrects. 

“Ooh, big brain,” you joke, “That’s cool.” 

“Big brain? I don’t know about that, I just like music,” he shrugs, “It makes sense to me.” “When I was in high school everyone always talked about how hard music theory was – like, all the band kids,” you explain, there’s a sparkle starting to glint in your eye when you talk to him. “You were hanging out with the band kids?” he tosses a sarcastic knowing look before taking his glass in his hands, “And I’m a nerd? I dunno girl, it’s not looking good for you here...” “Even worse, I was dating one,” you grimace back. “Fuuuuck, you were really fighting for your life in 2009 huh?” Eddie laughs low, lower lip tucking in between his teeth to run his tongue over it. 

“2007, 2008 all the way to like, 2016,” you hide your face in one hand and he wishes you wouldn’t. 

“Damn, that’s a long time,” he observes, “You didn’t marry that guy?” 

You lift your head back up, and shake your head, “It was on and off for a long time, he’s not a fan favorite. It’s uh – it’s why I normally don’t date musicians. I almost didn’t match with you ‘cause of your first picture.” 

Fucking Tatianna. 

“Eek, sorry,” Eddie puts his hands up, “Should I go?” “Do you play bass?” you wince.

“I play a lot of instruments,” he chuckles, “I can play the bass. But I’m not like…a bass player, if you know what I mean.” 

“Oh, I know what you mean,” you breathe out a sigh of relief, “Made that mistake more than once.” “What’s your favorite instrument that you play?” you ask, it’s almost girlish. He ponders it while you cross your legs, the toe of your shoe barely brushing the back of his calf but he knows it's there. You rest your chin on your fist while you watch him think about it. His brown eyes glint in the reflection of the light overhead, plush lips parted while he runs his hands over his stubble. “I think I’d have to say…electric guitar? I’ve been playing that the longest,” he hopes you think that’s cool. “Is it the same one that’s in your pictures?” 

“The Warlock?” he asks with a grin, “Yeah, that’s my girl. Best relationship of my life, prob’ly the only lady who talks more than me.” 

“It’s really nice. I like the color.” 

“Thank you,” he says quietly, eyes darting to your knees where they sit between his, “Um, can I get you another drink? Do you want a beer or…?” 

“If I get a real drink will you stop making fun of my beer?” 

“I promise.” He slides off the stool, sad to see your close proximity to him fade away when he stands up. 

“They have food here, right? I’m sort of hungry, if that’s okay,” your voice gets sheepish when you ask. 

“Yeah, that’s okay. Did you eat dinner?” The words fall out of him too fondly. 

“I had like, a huge spinach salad,” you explain, “Might not have been enough.” 

Something tells him to press further before he buys you more liquor, lest this date go to the wayside too quickly, “Did you eat lunch?” 

“I worked through lunch.” 

“Did you eat breakfast?” 

“I had a smoothie,” you confess. 

“Okay, so before I get you a drink, why don’t I get you some chicken fingers or something?” he insists. You’re shy in your smile back to him, nodding along at his advice. Yes, you should eat more before you keep drinking with him. He doesn’t want you to think he’s just trying to get you tipsy, he’s never been that kind of guy – even when he’d bring home girls from the bar. (They’d at least be the same level of totally obliterated as he was.)

He beams back at you when you nod, “Atta girl.” 

He doesn’t notice when your thighs clench. 

The last chicken finger is eaten, the last fry of the basket he got for you to split crunched through. The conversation had lulled, not because you weren’t interesting – the nerves were getting to him, creeping up like vines along his chest. The look over the diving block at the water, it’s slow waves teasing him to jump. 

“So um,” you began, swallowing your final fry and wiping your hands on a napkin, “Since you’re a teacher, how was school today?” 

Eddie’s so used to this question that his response doesn’t change, always the same quote from the same movie. Forgetting he doesn’t know you like that, his mouth moves quicker than his desire to play things off cool.

“The worst day of my life, what do you think? Gosh!” Eddie sounds more like John Heder in 2004 than John Heder does now – but when he hears himself say it, he’s immediately embarrassed. Eddie opens his mouth to apologize, nervous you won’t understand but instead – you laugh. And what a sound that is for him to hear. 

“Oh, shit. I haven’t watched Napoleon Dynamite in years. Like, not since grade school.” Eddie laughs with you, “Sorry, sorry, that’s like my go-to reaction at home when my roommates ask me that. I should’ve said something more normal like, ‘It was fine. The kids can’t stop trying to take TikTok fancams of me.”

“Roommates? Fancams? You’re so hip, tell me more,” you enthuse. He puts a finger up to stop you at first, locking eyes with the bartender so he can finally order another round of drinks. 

“What kind of real drink do you want?” he asks. 

“Just a marg on the rocks, salt,” you shrug. 

“Psh, I said a real drink,” Eddie teases with a roll of the eyes, but they soften when you go to argue back, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” 

His toes inch towards the middle of the diving block.

“You’re cute when you’re mad,” he flirts. Eddie can see the heat hit your cheeks, the creep of a smile slowly curving upwards, you’re embarrassed. Nervous like he is. Maybe this is going just fine. 

When the drinks arrive he slides the margarita towards you and sips his own Jack and Coke slowly through the tiny bar straw. 

“Okay, so. I have two roommates. Gareth, who’s been my best friend since I was nine; and Tatianna who has been my best friend since I was twenty-nine,” he explains. 

“So why aren’t you dating Tatianna?” you challenge. You miss the straw when you reach for it with your mouth, it slides over to the other side of the cup. You try again and miss, cheeks burning while Eddie looks at you continue to fuck up. His eyes glint mischievously while you hold in your frustrated laughter, “Stop looking at me.” 

“It’s fine, I’ll wait while you get your life figured out over there,” he jokes, checking ‘the time’ on his wrist, “Shouldn’t be too long until you finally get it.” 

“You’re so annoying,” you grit out playfully while you capture the straw between your teeth, “Should’ve put that on your profile, too.”

“Anyway,” he continues, “I’m not dating Tatianna because Gare’s going to propose to her when they go on vacation in a few weeks.”

 “Oh! Yeah, that makes sense,” you nod, “Probably not a good idea to date your best friend’s almost wife.” 

“Yeah, definitely not well advised,” he shakes his head, pulling his hair up off of his neck for a minute before dropping it down, “Plus, her last name is Edwards and I dunno…don’t think I could live with myself if I was ‘Eddie Edwards’.”

You laugh again and he hoped you would. It’s a goofy laugh, you don’t try to sound cute when you do it. He knows you must be a loud laugher, if your small ones are any preview to what you could really do. You don’t sound like Chrissy. Her laugh was dainty, feathery. Like how they teach you to giggle in an etiquette class – all soft edges, all smooth lines. 

“You wanna take the girl’s last name?” you raise your brows, “Very forward thinking. Progressive.” 

“I don’t know, something about it’s kinda hot right?” he asks cock of his head, “Plus, my dad sucks so I don’t want to keep repping him by having his last name.” 

“Oh wow, my dad sucks, too,” you reply cheerily, “We have so much in common!” 

“What was it you said before? ‘Twin behavior’?” 

“Twin behavior, yes!” your hands meet both of his knees where he sits across from you, your tone is light and earnest, “You get me.”

Eddie takes in a hitch of breath, desperate to keep his cool when he feels your hands on him. It’s not even sexy but he could shoot straight to the moon if you asked him to. You use his knees as leverage to hop down from your stool, grabbing your drink before nudging him with your hip. 

“If we’re still battling though, there’s an air hockey table in the back room if you wanna play,” you offer. 

“Are you any good?” he wonders, hopping off the stool to follow you to the back. 

“I’m amazing,” you grin, “Actually won seventeen first place trophies in the intergalactic air hockey competition – of course I’m fucking bad at it, that’s why it’s fun to play.” 

Eddie laughs this time, it’s gruff and nicotine soaked. You’re already winning the battle for funniest person – you’re sharp with him and he’s starting to like it. He runs his hand over the side of the air hockey table in the empty back room, more and more pleased that he put this date together on a Monday. He slides a dollar into the machine so it whirs to life, the neon lights flicking on with a stutter. 

“This reminds me of birthday parties when I was a kid,” you muse to yourself, reaching for the hockey disc trapped in your goal, “Can you help me?” 

He nods, hand grazing your back to get you out of the way – you’re warm to the touch. If he was a braver man he would’ve pulled you into him but he’s not, instead squatting down to reach further into the goal where your game piece was. 

“Hm,” he murmurs, reaching further back and barely touching the top of it, “It’s in here, it’s just back there. I can get it, just –” he sucks his teeth like he did the night before, getting to his knees to try. Music plays over head, stuff the new crop of bar goers would consider oldies. You smile at the opening ‘Damn, shawty snappin’...’ of T-Pain’s ‘Buy U A Drank’, but even more surprised when you hear Eddie sing along softly to himself. 

“Snap ya fingers, do yuh step, you can do it all by yourself. Babygirl, what’s your name?” “Not you knowing the lyrics,” you laugh. 

“I was in highschool in 2007 of course, I know the lyrics,” he huffs, standing up, “I think it’s a bust for air hockey.” 

“That’s fine,” you shrug, “We tried.” 

“I know the club, close at three,” he lip syncs to himself before, turning his attention to you, “What’s the chances of you rollin’ with me?” 

You back and forth to each other in time with the lyrics before settling back down in your spot at bar. 

“You even know the Yung Joc part? Damn,” you laugh again, he loves it. 

“Why’re you so surprised? Is it the tattoos?” he asks. 

“Well yeah, you definitely give off a ‘loved Avenged Sevenfold’ in high school vibe,” you scooch your stool closer to his, your knees slotting between his open ones like a perfect puzzle. It’s not enough though, and he’s not sure if it’s himself or the Jack and Coke that encourages him, but he reaches for one of the legs of your stool to pull you closer. 

“Hey,” he says, your faces only a few inches apart. 

“Hey,” you respond. You catch his eyes flick briefly to your lips before they meet yours again. You can see the light smatter of freckles over his nose, long faded from the summer. 

“You’re right, I was really into Avenged Sevenfold when I was in highschool.” 

“I figured. I was into that whole scene thing, back then. All those singers that are mad at their dad’s and like, in retrospect, all hate women I guess,” you realize it as you speak. 

“I probably would’ve thought you were cute,” he guesses. 

“No, you would’ve called me a poser,” you correct, “Don’t lie.” 

He hesitates before nodding, “No, no, you’re right I definitely would’ve called you a poser. Did you like Fall Out Boy and all of that shit?” 

“Don’t shit on the music I liked,” you frown, “That’s not cool.” 

“I’m not, I’m not,” he assures, pulse speeding, “I promise, I’m not. I’m sorry.” You continue talking about music, high school, college, some ins and outs. Nothing too serious. Nothing too intense. But by now, Eddie’s feeling nice and if one thing’s for certain:

He wants to fucking kiss you. Toes at the edge of the diving block, Miss Tiffany’s whistle caught between her teeth. 

“So now that we’re three drinks in, can I ask you a personal question?” you ask, your eyes a little glassy. You’ve confessed that you’re tipsy, but aware, that if you have one more drink you won’t be – so Eddie already paid the tab. 

“What do you wanna know?” he asks.

“Why’re you,” you enunciate, implying he’s something, “On the apps? It’s hard to believe that someone like you would be single. Unless you have like, something deeply wrong with you, but you’ve been all green flags so far.” 

Your hand falls back to his knee and he eyes it before sliding his own hand down his thigh to lace your fingers with his. 

“You want the real story?” he asks, lifting your hand up of his knee to play with your fingers in both of his hands while he talks. His hands are warm and calloused on the fingertips, but the rest are soft. Lacing and unlacing, running his thumb up the lengths of your fingers, tracing your palm. 

“The real story.” 

“You gonna tell me why you’re on the apps after?” 

“Sure,” you nod. You look gentle, at ease. He eases in, too. 

“I got divorced in 2020,” he confesses. It feels like a weight off his chest to tell you, “Married my high school sweetheart, things were great for a long time, but y’know. People grow and – the pandemic was not kind to us.”

“Oh, I’m…I’m sorry to hear that,” you offer softly. 

“It’s okay,” he smiles tightly. “I guess I was both surprised and not surprised at all when she broke up with me. Almost relieved, I guess – that I didn’t have to play the part of her husband anymore. Not that she was a bad wife or anything, she was great she just – I don’t know,” he rambles, “And I don’t know, I just threw myself into work and my friends after. Girls after shows. Was too scared to like – go on dates incase it ended up like my marriage and –” 

He laughs, “My friends were tired of seeing me be so sad, I guess.” 

“You have such a solid support system,” you comment, “You mention your friends, like, every other sentence.” 

A beat. “I like that,” you nod and smile. He can’t get over how you look when you do that. 

“Why’re you on the apps?” he asks, your hand now cradled between the two of his, his fingers grazing your wrist. 

“I’m six months out of a six year long relationship,” you let out a breath through your nose and drop your shoulders a little, “Figured it was time to get back out there – enter my slut era.” 

“Oh yeah, you’re super slutty,” he teases, “That’s actually the first thing I thought when I saw you. ‘She’s in her slut era.’” “God, fuck offfff,” you giggle again. 

“But yeah, I ended it. I figure I should make that clear,” you say, “Just in case that’s like, a red flag for you. But I don’t know, we just weren’t growing in the same directions. Things felt done way before I left and I – I don’t know. I think I was just scared. I took some time for myself and now, here I am.” 

“It’s okay that you ended your relationship, it’s not a red flag,” Eddie’s voice soothes you when he says it, “If you told me you like, cheated on him and then hit him with your car then maybe yeah, I’d be a little concerned. But you’re an adult, you just know what you want better this time around.”

“Yeah,” you agree. Your eyes meet in a silent confirmation. His eyes flick to your lips for a second time before tucking his lower lip between his teeth again. 

BELLY FLOP! 

“You wanna head out? It’s getting a little late,” he offers. 

Your brows raise in surprise, “Uh, sure, yeah.” 

“Not that I don’t like spending time with you,” he assures, letting his fingers linger over your hand while he stands up, not wanting to lose contact just yet, “Just don’t want to keep you out too late.” 

“Oh yes!” you start with an old southern twang, “My daddy’ll be out there with his pistol if I don’t get home ‘fore sundown.”

“You’re funny,” he laughs, letting go over your hand to reach up and squeeze your cheeks affectionately. You both put on your jackets and head outside, both of you wincing in the cold of the winter air. 

“I’d really like to do this again, if you want,” a shy blush reaches his cheeks, meeting the pink from the cold. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” you’re just as shy in your response, “This was fun. You’re fun.” 

“Thank you,” he flushes deeper, trying to prolong the inevitable. What if he belly flops? What if it hurts? What if the kids make fun of him? 

“I’d offer to drive you home but I’ve had a few,” he says, hand reaching out to fall on your shoulder, “I feel good to drive but like, god forbid anything happens so – I’m happy to get you a car or pay for it for you.” 

“That’s really sweet, thanks. Let me just um,” you pull out your phone to get in Uber with a speed that impresses him, “It’s really not that pricey, I’m close-ish by.” 

“Still,” he says, “Just wanna be a gentleman y’know?” 

“You’re very gentlemanly,” you flirt. Eddie stiffens, nervous, palms clammy. 

“So um, I’ll see you soon?” he asks, opening his arms to give you a hug. 

“Yeah, for sure,” you nod while you let him engulf you. His scent is warm and spicy, mixed with tobacco. You guess either still smokes, or he used to, but he never got up to have a cigarette in the hours you were at the bar. Eddie let’s go and cups your cheek briefly before giving you a gentle but winning smile. His warm brown eyes linger for the last time on your lips, now they’re slightly parted, waiting for him. His toes curl over the edge of the diving block, his knees are bent, arms up over his head...I don’t want to Miss Tiffany. 

Swimming sucks.

“See ya.” 

You quirk your brow for a moment, having expected much more than a hug, “Oh, um…see ya.” 

He walks half way down the street to his car, heart thrumming in his chest in embarrassment. He should’ve just done it. FUCK. He should’ve just kissed you. 

But what if it hurts? What if she leaves? What if you can’t make it to level three? What if they laugh at you? 

He breathes heavily through his nose while tears threaten to well up in his eyes, staining his eyelashes. What if you don’t want to see him again after this? What if you change your mind? He sighs audibly when he turns the key, phone auto connecting to the speakers. He turns up the radio while the car revs to life, pulling on his seatbelt and putting the wheels into gear. He leans back in his seat to pull out of his spot only to see you still waiting for the car outside of the bar. 

Blink-182 blares through his speakers, hitting him straight in the chest.

‘Let’s go, don’t wait, this night’s almost over. Honest, let’s make,this night last forever. Forever. And ever. Let’s make this last forever.’ 

What if he did stay a little later after class? What if he got the chance to move on to level three? 

Fuck it, he thinks. He turns off the ignition, shaking out the sounds of Jason Carver and the kids laughing, the sounds of their feet kicking in the water. Just Miss Tiffany and her whistle. He gets out of the car, determined. You’re still there, head whipping around to see him coming towards you while you bounce on the balls of your feet in the cold. 

Arms up. Knees bent. “Ed? My car’s gonna be here in a sec–” Whistle. His hands reach out to your cold cheeks to pull you in before his full lips capture yours. His eyes flutter close at the contact, feeling your mouth react to his in time. Soft and needy, hydrated. You immediately know how to keep his pace while he separates and goes back in for more. Wet but not messy, passionate but not feverish. The smoothest dive he’d ever done in his life. Your hands escape your pockets, fingers sliding behind his neck to pull him closer, sliding through the nape of his hair. He breaks away for a moment to delicately push your hair out of your face and really look at you before pressing his lips to yours again. You only stop when your Uber beeps from across the street. 

“I wanted to do that all night,” he mumbles sheepishly. 

“I wanted you to do that all night, too,” you giggle, breathless and blushing, “Thank you.” 

“Thank you,” he says, running a hand over his face, “Let me know when you get home, okay?” 

“Okay,” you nod, hurrying across the street as the car honks again,  “Bye!” 

“I’ll put something together for next time!” he calls out. ‘Cause there will be a next time. 

Tatianna is leaning over the back of the couch with her chin in her hands when Eddie opens the door. Her cheshire cat grin matches his own. 

“So I didn’t hear from you all night,” she starts, her voice syrupy smooth, “So that means it must’ve went really well.” 

Eddie sighs dreamily, kicking off his boots at the entryway and hanging his jacket on one of the hooks by the door. 

“Ooh, you like herrrr! I can tell! Look at your stupid face!” she laughs, pointing at him, bouncing on the cushions. 

“Tati she’s…fuck,” he shakes his head in disbelief while he walks towards her, “There’s either two ways this could go.” 

“Yeah?” she asks, looking up at him, “And those are?” 

“I’m gonna marry her, or she’s gonna absolutely fuckin’ ruin my life.” 

“I like her already,” Tati grins, “Sit down, tell me everything.” 

“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec,” he grumbles, his phone buzzing in his pocket. He plops down onto the couch while Tati grabs two cups of tea from the kitchen that she made especially for the recap of his night. Gareth had been long asleep for an early morning at work tomorrow. 

Eddie takes out his phone, two unread text alerts lingering on his home page. He opens them, smiling stupidly into the screen.

i’m home :) you’re a really good kisser by the way. 

glad you made it home safe. you are too. :) but you started off pretty kissable so, that’s probably why. you’re making me blush over here, stop it. 

Eddie lets out a soft chuckle through his nose, clicking out of your text conversation to go back to his home screen. 

He deletes the apps.

[ssareids-coffee]

may have written some more perv!eddie as I am obsessed!!

(meant as a part 2 to this fic but can be read as a stand alone!)

content: kissing, heavy petting, unprotected sex, anal, choking, pussy eating, hair pulling (actual filth whoops)

ps- feel free to send me some asks and drabble concepts<3

your impossibly close to eachother yet somehow not touching. you can feel eddies breath hot against your skin, slowly making its way up your neck and too your mouth. he smells earthy, like weed and incense woven together in the most delicious way. finally touching you, he pulls your chin up so your making eye contact.

“do you want this?” he asked breathlessly “as i know if i start this i won’t be able to stop until you are absolutely ruined”

“i want you to ruin me eds” looking up at him through thick lashes as you hear him let out a quiet groan, he quickly crashes his lips onto yours. there was nothing innocent about this kiss, it was hot, fevered and consuming. he grabbed your denim clad hips and pulls you on top of him, pushing your covered core down onto his painfully hard cock through his jeans. one hand finds his hair as the other grabs a fistful of his hellfire shirt, finding yourself grinding down on him without even thinking about it. you both let out a moan, pulling away from the kiss and throwing your head back, giving him perfect access to your neck. eddie licks a stripe down your neck playfully biting it as you whimper.

“shit you sound so pretty” running his hand under your shirt and up your back.

“you just, fuck-“ grinding yourself down on him again to relieve some of the ache in your core “your better than i imagined” eddie froze- not only were you on his lap, grinding down on him but you thought of him? he is sure he must be dreaming.

“shit- you thought of me? baby you gotta tell me what you imagined ” pressing his lips to your neck again as he waits for a response.

“remember that shirt you left at mine? god- i put it on my pillow and humped it until i came. the whole time, i was picturing this with you” your filthy confession made eddie even harder (he didn’t know how that was possible), fingers finding the edge of your shirt and pulling it over your head. grabbing your hips he stood up, carrying you over to the wall next to his room before pushing you against it. slowly letting you down as he feverishly kissed you, leaving you straddling one of his thighs. one hand on the curve of your waist the other found the back of your bra and unhooked it, throwing it carelessly somewhere in his trailer.

“shit- look at these fucking tits, god knew they would be perfect” groaning as he grabbed them hungrily “wanted to touch them like this the minute you came back that summer with them”

“that long huh?” you smirk, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him so your mouth was right next to his ear “i touched myself thinking about you that night, the way you couldn’t take your eyes off me- shit, felt like you were gonna eat me alive”

“i would have” he replied quickly, throwing his t-shirt over his head and starting to fumble with the button of your shorts. as soon as he can he pulls them down your thighs, falling to his knees as he tears them off you. before he can even think he’s grazing his hand over your clothed clit, making you moan. eddie doesn’t know if he can stop looking at you, the way you were looking down at him- chest heaving with each breath, blown pupils, plump lips and flushed cheeks. he was drunk on you, the way you smelt, tasted and felt. needing more he reaches down to tear your pretty black panties off so he could finally see you.

"shit, eds i liked those pants- oh fuck!" before you had a chance to complain anymore he attached his lips to your clit, giving it an experimental suck.

"somehow you taste even better than I thought you would, even better than those panties smelt" he growled, quickly reattaching his mouth to you, eating your pussy like his life depended on it and god did it feel like it did. he was absolutely hooked on you, throwing one leg over his shoulder as his fingers ghosted your aching hole. thrusting two fingers inside you he tried to find your sweet spot, curling his fingers at a pace matching his tongue. his name is falling from your lips like a prayer as your pussy makes the most sinful noises, so wet that you are dripping down his chin. he knows your close when you start grinding on his face, incoherent noises coming from your mouth as your pussy flutters around his fingers.

"eds, fuck- gonna" waves of pleasure flow through your body as you ride out an intense orgasm. he removes his fingers from you, wiping your slick from his chin with the back of his hand as he uses the other to keep you standing on shaky legs.

"you look so pretty when you cum baby, shit- gotta be inside you" nodding furiously, you fumble with his jeans and help him shimmy them down his thighs to release his hard cock. he kisses you fiercely, slowly running his cock through your folds, pulling a loud moan from you both.

"eds, please-"

"come on baby, let me hear you beg" he smirks, gripping your hip so tightly you know there will be bruises.

"eds, please, need you to fill me up- shit I need you inside me" that was all he needed, swiftly pushing himself inside you. he starts fucking into you at a relentless pace, feverishly grabbing at any part of your body he could reach.

"please- choke me" you whimper, making eddies cock twitch inside you.

"my sweet girl really is filthy huh? begging to be choked" wrapping his ring clad fingers round your throat and squeezing, making your pussy clench around his cock desperately.

"yes, shit, like that" you cry out, nails scratching his shoulders as he continued his steady thrusts inside you. he quickly finds your g-spot, hitting it repeatedly leaving you shaking and screaming as your walls flutter around him.

"can feel you clenching round me, come on baby, cum for me yeah?" you cum quickly, fucking yourself onto his cock to ride it out as you gush round him.

"Jesus Christ you just squirted, need you to do that again" he groaned.

"eds- wait"

"shit, what's wring, do you want to stop?" stilling his movements as he waited for a response anxiously.

"no- god no, I just, ugh, I want you to fuck my ass" you whimper, making his breath catch in his throat as he relishes in your filthy confession.

"jesus christ, you really are fucking filthy- as if I could say no to that" he pulls out of you and turns you around, spitting on his cock as he slowly pushes it into your puckered hole.

"you are so. fucking. tight" he grunts, bottoming out inside your hole as you whimper. he starts fucking into you slowly, but when your moans only grow louder he picks up his pace again. wrapping a hand in your hair, he uses it to yank your head off the wall- arching your back and letting him inside you at a perfect angle. his other hand quickly finds your other hole, fingers slipping inside and matching the pace he is fucking you. the pleasure was almost too much, white hot and coursing through your veins as you neared another high. Eddie was not far behind, cock beginning to twitch in your ass as his thrusts became sloppier.

"shit, so close angel, need you to cum with me- fuck" he moans, leaning down and biting your shoulder. the pain mixes with the pleasure in the most delicious way, tipping you over the edge as you squirt round his fingers. eddie empties himself inside you with a shout, whispering filthy words and praises as he comes down from his high. he pulls out of you, helping you turn around so you were facing him again- pulling eddie in for a slow, sloppy kiss.

"you weren't joking when you said your filthy, fuck" he laughs breathlessly "never gotta fuck someone in the ass before and oh my god is it better than I imagined"

"baby, you haven't even seen how filthy I am" you smirk, pulling him into his bedroom on shaky legs.

"again? already?"

"I have more holes for you to cum in"

"your gonna kill me"

"you say that like you don't love it eds"

"your right, I do"

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 1. brb x oc

THIS FIC IS 18+ ONLY! MINORS PLS DNI!

a/n: * pulls up megaphone * Rooster was raised right by his mom and doesn't care about body types. The lack of plus size fics made me upset so I literally returned to Tumblr to create this blog and write this. This is the first time I'm writing for this fandom so... I HO PE YOU GUYS LIKE IT??? its been centuries SINCE I WROTE aNYTHING ( also god im not creative with titles, please forgive me )

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

c:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/

25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84

85/86/87/88/89/90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99/100/101/102

warnings: mentions of bullying, self doubt, aNGST, mutual pining, Rooster being a sweetheart.

“Hello!” Beatrice calls once she enters Hard Deck by the employee’s entrance, popping out her airpods to slide them inside her bag shoulder, “I’m not late, am I?” she calls to Penny who’s currently fixing the tables ahead of her.

“No, you are just on time!” she calls, her voice a bit muffled since Bea put her bag inside the little closet area for employees. She checked her appearance before going out on the mirror hanging on the wooden wall, pulling her dark brown hair up in a bun and fixing her Led Zeppelin shirt, wiping the dust off her jeans before finally walking out. Once she gets out, Penny is turning the lights on in the back area of the bar that leads to the beach. 

Meanwhile Beatrice grabs one of the bags of ice, carrying it to the ice machine behind the bar, plopping the cold cubes down the container, crumpling the plastic bag once it was empty to toss in the recycler. “I’m here, babes!” a voice calls, then a blonde head of hair shows up, “Hope you two didn’t do everything with me gone!”

“Just waiting for your presence,Michelle!” Penny calls, looking over her shoulder to press a kiss to her niece’s cheek, when she hugs her “Hi, honey, Bea is already here.”

“Bumblebea!” Bea smiles when the blonde comes over to the employees closet as well, removing her denim jacket to expose the low cut red tank top and jeans. “Need help?” Bea nods, pointing to the other bags of ice in the corner, “Friday night, tonight will be a long night huh?”

“Sure will.” Bea noted, the two of them dumping the rest of the ice “How was your date though? With the policeman?” the brunette asked, chuckling when the blonde girl rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“I swear, police officers are the clingiest guys.” Shells said, grabbing the empty bags from Bea’s hand to shove down the recycler, “He didn’t want to leave! I kept saying, ‘hey i gotta go to work,’ and he asked where I worked and I told him he didn’t need to worry about that.”

 The two of them then marched to the storage room area where Shells grabbed a box of handkerchiefs. “Then he said ‘oh it’s not a problem, I can take you’ and–and! Then he said ‘I like you a lot.’ Like!! We’ve only hooked up twice!...” she shakes her head, “I just told him it’d be better if we didn’t contact each other anymore and it was fun while it lasted.”

“He accepted that?”

“Course not, called me a bitch all the way out, I think I saw tears in his eyes before he left.” Shells shrugs, waiting on Bea to grab the recycled straws from the upper shelf, then turns off the light once her friend walks out “I swear, I’ll give up on Tinder like you did. It’s insane!”

Bea chuckles, opening the bag of straws to put them inside a glass, “I mean, you know my sister found her husband on Tinder.”

“Um, yeah, but he’s a handsome doctor from London with the body of a god and deep bronze skin. He’s like a beautiful statue!”

“I shouldn’t have never shown you their wedding picture.” Bea laughs, shaking her head with amusement. “and to think I just wanted to show you how pretty the location was.” the two of them looked at the clock, seeing they had little time before the bar opened for the public, so they had to finish everything up quickly.

Once they did and the bar opened, it exploded with people, the voices getting louder the more people entered. Music floated on the air, much to Bea’s delight as she hummed to herself with the songs. 

To think, just a few months ago she was looking for a job to help her with the bills and if it wasn’t for Shells and Penny, she’d never get it.

Beatrice is from a tight, traditional Italian family. While they are progressive in certain areas, most of her family doesn’t think women…should do much. If they have a job it should be a useful job, like banking or something like that, not Liberal arts. Which was what she always wanted to do, being a creative person since she was a child, she just wanted to work with what she liked.

But being the youngest of six siblings, the literal baby that had to stay home while her older siblings went out to live their lives out of state or even out of the country she had very little control in certain choices. Maybe it was the empty nest syndrome, with all her siblings gone from the house, her parents only had herself to… take care of in a way. It took years for her to actually go to her choice in college,juggling between work and long study hours, choosing to leave her job once she had enough money saved up to help herself once she got her place.

During college was when she met Michelle, or Shells, who took her to the Hard Deck a few times. It was distant from her job and her parents’ house and Beatrice loved it. She loved the atmosphere, she felt welcome by Penny and even if this was a Naval bar she didn’t feel like she was intruding in some way.

When Shells mentioned they needed one more person at the bar, Bea said yes immediately. Her parents weren’t happy with her choice, but they couldn’t stop her, especially since her own siblings supported it. So now she was here, working, happy, focusing on how she’d continue her career as an artist.

The bell rang, drinks were served, people were dancing. It was a nice night so far. Bea was washing one of the glasses when she heard a cacophony of voices that she heard a few times and her body heats up. She couldn’t help but just stare at him, he stood out of his group like a beautiful floral patterned thumb. With her eyes following him until they all sat down on their usual spot, Bea couldn’t help but bite her lower lip, feeling her cheeks warm up even more when he laughed at something.

“Ohhhhh, cock-a-doodle-doo huh?” Shells’ teasing voice snapped her out of her staring, Bea’s green eyes wide as saucers, seeing her friend’s teasing grin, “How long until you finally make a move?”

“I…I don’t know what you mean.” she continued washing the same glass, the squeaking sound of the sponge rubbing against it giving her some of a distraction.

“Bea, please,” Shells took the glass from her hand, then tilted her head, “You look at that man like he hangs up the moon every time he comes by.” but her friend then turned to the opposite side, focusing on checking the liquor bottles. Shells sighed, coming to her friend’s side and crossing her arms, the brunette trying too hard to keep her eyes on the label.

“This is a 1975, right?”

“Bea.”

“I can’t really see, the label is a bit faded–” the bottle disappears from her hand, Beatrice snapping her gaze to Shells, who holds the liquor under her crossed arms, her eyebrows going up to her hairline. Beatrice sighs defeatedly, “I…I don’t know what you want me to say.” she shrugs “He’s so…” she groans, covering her face with her hands, “He’s so…so hot,Shells. and he sings! and-and he’s funny and…he’s everything I’ve always wanted in a guy.”

“One more reason to go to him.” Shells whispers, “He’s single and handsome. You are single and gorgeous.” the blonde held her fingers up in a V position, before joining the two with a kissing sound, “Perfect match.”

Bea frowned, “It’s not that simple.” she murmured “I…I mean…look at me Shells.” she spread her arms to emphasize. But her friend just frowned, “Oh come on, like…look at me I’m not the type of girl who gets guys like that.”

She was a curvy gal, always had been. Normally, she wouldn’t mind it, but when it comes to guys, more especially when it comes to Rooster she just lost a good amount of confidence. He was literally adonis personified, just the most beautiful man she had ever seen. and she felt less than pretty when she remembered the type of girls that surrounded him or worked with him. 

“You know that’s not true.” Shells said with her voice low, a kind smile on her face, “You have as much chance as any girl out there.” Bea however scoffed, “You gotta believe in yourself Bea. You are gorgeous, any guy would be lucky to have you.”

The brunette’s eyes stung with unshed tears, the same eyes she clenched shut in hopes to hold them in. Memories of past relationships flooding her brain, bringing memories she wished to forget “Can we not talk about this anymore?” Shells is about to say something else but a customer calls for a refill, which Bea thanks every powerful being for, slapping on a smiling mask, “Coming right up!”

Shells only watches her friend go to the opposite side to serve one of the guys there, laughing when he says something to her - clearly drunk -  before walking away. Shells’ stare broke when she heard the bell ring, turning on to face the person. 

She immediately smiled wider, “Hi Bob.”

She likes Bob, she thought he not only was sweet he was also so smart. He knew he had a hard time with the group, especially Jake, but he was getting there. She leaned on her elbows, giving him a sweet smile, “What can I get you?”

The way his cheeks flushed and his eyes tried to look anywhere but the cleavage she put on display was so cute, “Oh, uh, just more beer?”

“Sure! Should I put it in your tab?”

“Yes,please.”

Shells went to the fridge to grab the beers, then paused, sending a look to where Beatrice was currently talking to two female customers. She then looked over her shoulder to Bob, who smiled at her, then past Bob to where his group was…a devilish thought showed up in her brain, “Why don’t you wait with the others? I’ll bring it to you.” 

“Oh, okay! I’ll be there then.”

With the beers on top of a tray, she sent one last look to her friend who was still busy, then sped her step maneuvering through the crowd until she reached them. “There you go, more fuel for the pilots.” she teased, making them laugh while switching the empty bottles with the full ones, throwing some quick looks to her brunette friend, “So,” she rested the empty tray on her hip, “What else can I get you?”

“Your number would be nice, sweetheart.” Jake was quick to say, sending her a wink with the bottle to his lips.

Shells chuckled, “I meant something achievable,Hangman.”

“I think we are all fine.” Phoenix says, “Thanks Shells.”

“Hey, not a problem. Oh, just letting you guys know, I’ll go on a break in a few minutes so if you guys need anything else, you can ask Bea.” She kept an eye on everyone, but especially Rooster. The way his eyes just snapped to her friend made her insides flip in triumph, the little smirk on her face hidden by her biting the inside her cheek, “She’ll gladly serve you.”

Rooster’s eyes finally left the brunette at the bar counter, meeting Shell’s knowing blue gaze only to clear his throat and look away again, “Well” she drawled, walking backwards, sending them a salute, “Enjoy the night!”

The moment Shells approached the bar, she ran to her aunt, whispering something in her ear. Both Penny and Shells looked in Beatrice’s direction, who was leaning down to pick something behind the bar, unaware of the scheming happening behind her back.

Once the time came for Shells to have her break, Penny kept an eye on Beatrice. It took just a few seconds for a known pilot to approach the bar, the bell rang and Beatrice turned around with a wide smile, a smile that faltered for a quick second before returning - albeit a lot milder than before - “Hi!” her voice was higher, so she cleared her throat, “Um,hi.”

“Hey.” Rooster replied, leaning his elbows over the counter, which made Bea suck in a hard breath once she saw the curve of his pecs underneath the white tank top, “Can you believe I came here to get more beer? Just three this time though.”

She couldn’t help but huff out a chuckle, covering her mouth with her hands then “Well, it is a bar.” she adds, “I would be surprised if you came here for groceries.”

When he laughed at her joke she almost felt like fainting, biting her lower lip hard with her head dipped, “I-I’ll go get it.” practically power walking towards the freezer where she stood for a few minutes, letting the cool air hit her cheeks as she tried to calm herself. She shook her head for a quick moment, grabbing the beers between her fingers and turning back around, almost letting out a yelp of surprise to see he was still looking at her “There you go.”

“Thanks.” but he didn’t leave, pointing his index finger at her “Bea, right?” she nods with a small smile, “It’s weird, I’ve seen you for a while and never got your name.”

Maybe because she chickened out every time he seemed to want something, ending up telling Shells to do it, “Oh, well,” she only gave him a weak shrug, then felt like her arms were too exposed, quickly lacing her hands behind her back to hide them the best she could, “I haven’t been here long.”

He hummed, a tiny smile on his face, “I’m Rooster.”

“I know,” she blinks when his eyebrows raise in amusement, “I-I mean, I heard Penny and Shells talking about you and heard your name being called around.” her face was so warm she felt like she was boiling. She hoped the light above her head hid her blush from his view. “I…is there anything else I can get you?”

“I don’t think so, no.” he looks back at his friends, seeing they are still chatting amongst each other. Then his eyes travel to the splotches of ink on her upper arms, the parts that weren’t hidden behind her. However before he could ask her about them, she snaps her head ahead when she sees someone on the table lifting their glass.

‘Sorry I–” she moves her own finger over his shoulder, “I gotta go get this.”

“Oh, oh no no, yeah, go ahead.” he smiled and her knees almost buckled just like that, “I’ll go back then.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They stood there for a bit longer, until Rooster shook his head, picking the beers with one of his hands “I’l see you around then,Bea.” he smiles then turns on his heel back to the other pilots. Bea just stood there, face flaming and eyes wide, then she cleared her throat walking out from behind the bar to the table.

Penny, who watched the entire ordeal, just smiled, sending Shells a quick text once no one was looking:

“It’s on.”

[blueicequeen19]

Patience is Virtue

Warnings: Stalker Rafe - but only kissing

She’s here.

Well, of course she is. She works here. This little hole in the wall diner on the Cut that absolutely reeks of greasy food and coffee but fuck. She’s here. So I am too.

I stir my now cold coffee as I watch her, pretending to look at the TV as she rings up another customer. Everyday is the same. She’s dressed in her uniform skirt and blouse, hair braided down past her shoulders, black rimmed glasses on her nose, and an innocent smile for everyone.

Except with me, her cheeks turn a bright pink. Every time I smile at her or she catches me looking, she smiles and blushes. That’s a good sign right? Has to be.

I gulp down the cold coffee so she’s forced to come back and refill my cup. I hate coffee. But I’ll drink as much as possible as slowly as possible if it means being in her presence. I can’t approach her outside of here because my father would kill me if he heard about it.

The legendary Kook King Ward Cameron can’t have his son lusting over a poor Pogue girl. One that had pale skin and long legs and tits the size of..

“Would you like a slice of apple pie?” I blink and she’s in front of me, smiling with those pink tinted cheeks and bright eyes. The apple pie is shit but so is the coffee.

“Yes, please.” I return the smile as she fills up my coffee mug.

“Big summer plans?” I ask, adding cream and sugar to my mug as she grabs my empty plate.

“You’re looking at it.” She smiles sheepishly, tucking some hair behind her ear. I glance at her ring finger again just to make sure there’s no one in the picture. She’s not from here so I don’t know a goddamn thing about her. No social media. No parents. Just her.

“All work and no play? That’s no fun.” I tease as she takes a slice of pie from the display case and hands it to me. The same pie that was in it yesterday.

“I know but I have to make money.” She sighs, giving me a small smile. Now I’ve made her uneasy and I don’t like that. I want her to be comfortable with me.

“I understand that. It’s hard paying bills.” I lie. What do I know about paying bills? But her eyes light up.

“Right? And rent is so expensive for a one bedroom apartment.” I’ve seen her apartment building. They should just burn it down and rebuild.

“Oh I know. And they don’t even cover utilities.” I scoff. She looks down at my untouched pie so I take a bite then wash it down with the coffee. She sighs as she scans the diner for needy customers then leans against the countertop, giving me a front row seat to her luscious tits.

“It’s gotta get better than this.” I immediately want to hold her. More than anything I want to know what she feels like but I’ll hold her while I find out. She looks so defeated and I can’t stand it.

“Are you doing anything tonight?” I ask without thinking. She seems startled but then blushes, trying to hide her smile.

“I usually just stay home. You’re welcome to come over though. I can make dinner. It’ll be a hell of a lot better than the stuff here.”

Well shit. That was easy.

I arrive at her apartment an hour before we agreed. I can’t help it. My body is itching to see how she lives. Where she sleeps. Where she showers. Where she touches herself. I palm my hard cock through my jeans, groaning as I let the image of her begging for my cock wash over me for a second. I was going to cum in my pants.

When it’s time to meet, I head upstairs to the second floor and find apartment three. I’ve already scoped out this building and she has a handy fire escape outside the bedroom. I can’t wait to watch her sleep from there.

I knock on the door and it quickly opens, revealing her bright smiling face. I can’t stop my eyes was trailing over her perfect face and body. It’s just dinner but she still looks cute in a little red sundress. And this is the first time I’ve seen her hair down. She’s stunning.

“Hi.” She beams.

“Hi.” I smile back, offering her the flowers I picked on the way over. Girls love that shit.

“Oh my god, these are beautiful! Did you pick them? I see these growing everywhere!” I follow her inside and quickly realize my one bedroom is bigger than her apartment. It’s spotless though and something she’s cooking smells amazing.

“Do you like them?” I ask, staring at her ass as she fills up a cup of water and places the flowers in it.

“I love them! Thank you! No one’s ever gotten me flowers before.” She faces me with a bright smile and sits the flowers in front of me. I suddenly wonder what she would look like flushed from my cock.

“You’re welcome. What are you cooking? It smells amazing.” She spins around to check whatever is simmering, showing me her ass again. My mouth is watering but not for the food.

“Shrimp Alfredo. Oh crap, you’re not allergic to seafood are you?” Her eyes nearly bug out as she faces me again and I laugh.

“No but that would be a terrible life.”

“About like being allergic to peanut butter. I’d die without Reese’s.” She’s so cute and relaxed when she’s in her own space.

“Those are my favorite too.” The first truth to come out of me. Although, Reese’s are tied with Hershey’s for me.

“I’ll have to make a peanut butter pie next time.” Her smile is bright and the conversation through dinner is amazing.

Now we’re sipping wine on the couch, her feet tucked underneath her with a blanket draped over her lap as she laughs. Her cheeks haven’t stopped glowing pink and my dick hadn’t gone down a fucking inch.

“This is nice. I don’t get to relax and have adult conversations very often.” She sighs, taking another sip of her whine.

“You don’t seem very trusting of others.”

“I’m not. You never know with people.” Don’t I know it?

“How did you know you could trust me?”

“You just seem.. safe. Good.” I place my hand on her exposed knee that’s popped out from under the throw. Her breathing hitches and my cock jerks.

“So this is a date?” I tease, earning me another wide smile.

“I suppose it is.”

“I think I’m ready for dessert now.” I can’t help the change in my voice as it drops lower, the carnal urge for her was too great. The way she kept licking her lips and looking at mine had my on the edge of insanity. I lean in before I can stop myself, ready to taste the whine on her tongue when her phone rings.

“Don’t answer that.” My voice is throaty, practically pleading. Our lips are almost touching. If I taste her now I won’t be able to stop. But if we stop I might actually die.

“I have to.” She whispers, her expression dropping as she bites her bottom lip. That bottom lip should be between my teeth. Not hers.

She pulls away, standing as she answers her phone with a hushed hello and goes into the tiny kitchen. I watch her as her features become disappointed but attentive. She nods a few times before hanging up and locking eyes with me.

“Something come up?” I ask as she flips the kitchen light off and slides her feet into her sandals.

“Yes. I have to go.” She grabs her car keys next as I also collect my things and slip my shoes on.

“Did something happen?” I follow her out into the hallway and watch as she locks the door then faces me.

“Yes but I’ll see you later.” She turns to walk away but I catch myself cupping her elbow. I couldn’t leave without kissing her. I couldn’t.

“Hold on. I need to do this.” I cup her face as I press my lips to hers. She stiffens for a fraction of a second before melting completely against me, her arms thrown around my neck. I press her back against her front door, tasting that sweetness on her tongue that has my head spinning. She moans and I press my hard cock against her soft stomach.

I can’t stop. Im so hungry for her. She grinds her pussy against me. Once. Twice. Then she’s tearing herself away, her body trembling with desire as she fights to catch her breath.

“What’s so important that you’re stopping?” I growl, sliding my hand up her thigh under her dress. She shudders violently against the door, whimpering.

“I have to go pick up my kid.”

And everything freezes.

[sunflowerharrington]

i wrote this as soon as i saw the post, i only had ten minutes to spare so it might be super bad. please excuse any grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes if there is any

You’ve Never Been To Heaven, Have You?

pairing - platonic steve harrington x afab!reader, billy hargrove x afab!reader

summary - the post above by @straksverliefd 💕

some content warnings - oral sex (female receiving), name calling, steve and billy don’t have a rivalry

notes - i had this ALL TYPED OUT AND MY CONNECTION WENT SO I HAD TO STARY AGAIN IT WAS SO GOOD THE FIRST TIME SND NOW ITS JUST MEDIOCRE HELP

taglist - @eddiebillysteve @quickiesgirl @will-byers-is-my-boyfriend @friendly-neighborhood-ghoul @sympathyforher @eddies-bat @taecube @sunnymunson-deactivated20220814 @wzrlds dm comment or ask me to be added or taken off for future updates on my fics 💕

word count - 957

The room began to spin as he lifted you up onto the counter, your wetness soaking the surface beneath you, his lips back on your neck all in one swift motion.

Steve pressed his ear to the kitchen door that had been shut, hearing your high pitched moans, and assuming you were in trouble he swung the door open and stepped into the room. But oh boy, he was so wrong.

“Fuck- Billy, fuck! Oh my god, fuck!” You screamed, your eyes squeezing shut as you approached your third orgasm of the night, the broad strips Billy takes at your pulsing core only broken by the sinful words he speaks to you.

Steve frowned as he watched, his feelings had been growing for you ever since you took El under your wing as your little sister, so seeing you a mess on his kitchen counter with another man’s head between your legs ignited a fire in his stomach.

“Looks like we have a guest,” Billy chuckled under his breath, his eyes locking with Steve’s as he licked one more strip up your folds, circling your clit painfully slowly with his tongue. “Hey, pretty boy. Wanna watch? I can give you some tips so you’ll actually get a bitch instead of pining over Nancy Wheeler for the rest of your pathetic little life.”

Steve contemplated for a moment, before slowly walking towards you and Billy, a tent forming in his jeans as he did so. Billy gestured for him to take a seat next to you on the counter, and so he did, kneading his fingers together in anticipation.

Your frazzled mind couldn’t comprehend the next words to leave Billy’s plush lips, too far gone, but something like; “So, first you gotta make sure she’s nice and wet. And look at that,” he said, pointing to your soaking folds. “She’s all ready. Just one look from me and her knees were already giving up on her.”

Steve nodded, his firm body of excitement taking space beside you, lifting your weak hands into his. Billy hummed, vibrating against your swollen clit, causing you to fly off the edge.

Steve watched wide-eyed as your face contorted in pure bliss, and he couldn’t help but begin to palm himself through his jeans.

“You like that? Such a dirty whore getting off while your best friend watches you,” Billy whispers in your ear, grazing your love between his teeth, one hand on the counter, knuckles white, and the other gripping Steve’s thigh.

“Wanna join, princess?” He asks, looking at Steve beneath his long, curly eyelashes, his stare full of pure lust. “I’m sure she wants you. Do you want Steve, darling?”

With a newfound confidence, Steve jumped off the counter and dropped to his knees in front of you as you nodded, wanting nothing more than a tongue inside you fucking you dumb.

Whether it was Steve’s or Billy’s, you didn’t really care.

“Wait,” Billy said sternly, lacing his fingers through Steve’s soft hair, gripping it and pulling him back. “Words, baby. We need verbal consent before we continue. Do you want Steve?”

“Yes!” You cried out, grabbing Steve’s head with your own hands, pushing his pretty face against your pussy as Billy let go.

“Now what do I do?” Steve asked, looking up at Billy, who just laughed.

“You seriously don’t know how to give head? I have so much to teach you, pretty boy. All of the ways to make my bitch fall apart within seconds.”

Your spine curled as Steve prodded at your entrance with the tip of his index finger, a moan escaping your lips. As Steve’s finger slipped inside, Billy grabbed both of your legs and spread them as wide as they could go, giving Steve more access to you.

“Don’t give her everything just yet, Harrington. She’s so pretty when she begs,” Billy stated, tucking some of your hair behind your ear. “Isn’t that right, babydoll?”

You nodded, wincing slightly as Steve licked one strip up your sensitive, swollen pussy, and he smirked at your actions. Your moans filled the room as his fingers thrust in and out of you, until they slipped out fully, leaving you pulsing around nothing and wanting more. Then you felt his tongue licking small strips between your folds, circling your clit, and nothing. Not even a hint of pleasure.

“I don’t think I’m doing it right,” Steve sighed, standing up. “I normally don’t give up on things but I think she’s gotten so used to how you please her that there’s no way I’ll make her come.”

“I think you’re right, Harrington. But also, never give up, yeah? And stop going after Nancy, she’s with that freak Jonlathan Byers. If girls aren’t doing the trick, I know a guy…”

“I’m good,” Steve replied, and with that, he left the room. “And stop fucking in my kitchen, please. Just because we’re technically roommates, Y/N, doesn’t mean you get to fuck every guy in Hawkins in our kitchen.”

Billy snickered from beside you, curling his arm around your waist. “With an attitude like that it’s gonna make her want to fuck guys all over your goddamn house. Maybe even in your bed. So if I were you I’d shut up and let her do what she wants.”

The kitchen door slammed shut, and Billy’s hand was already slowly creeping back up your leg, his lips attacking your neck with loving kisses, his fingers pushing past your entrance and into your blissful core.

He wanted you to be his, and only his. Even though he tried to play ‘teacher’ for the evening, he would never let another man touch you. Ever again.

“Now, let me worship you the correct way, doll.”

[strwbrrykss]

𝖉𝖗𝖞 𝖍𝖚𝖒𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖌 | 𝖊. 𝖒𝖚𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖓

{𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡} 𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑂𝑛𝑒: Dry Humping 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟: Eddie Munson 𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: THIS IS AN 18+/MDNI EVENT, language, brief mentions of female anatomy, dry humping (duh), Eddie ruins his last pair of clean jeans, hair pulling, hickies/marking, sub!Eddie, if I missed anything lmk!

[A/N: Day One let’s fucking go!!! I’m so excited for this event and I can’t wait to get into it! Across this event I will try and keep my descriptions vague to make it more inclusive to more readers, and it will be F!Reader, but if anyone wants a GN or NB!R version, don’t hesitate to drop me and ask! Please remember feedback is golden and reblogs go such a long way! Let me know what you think! - L]

                                                         -/-/-

“Babe?” Eddie’s voice, low and soft, caught your attention from the other end of his mattress. Your legs were tangled together, a cosy air around you with thanks to the heater just a foot or two away. Careful, you lowered your book to your lap and gave him your attention.

“Yeah?” His tongue poked out and ran along his bottom lip. Instead of replying, he began to crawl up the mattress to you, a devilish grin on his mouth as he leaned in for a kiss.

“Hmm... I’m not feelin’ it tonight, Eds,” you pouted with a sigh after giving him a peck on the lips.

“What’s the matter?” You shrugged, unable to place the feeling that had taken over your body.

“Just tired, I guess. S’it’s been a long week.” He hummed in agreement before you noticed a metaphorical light bulb go off over his head.

“What? What are you thinking about?”

“What if... Well, you wouldn’t have to do a lot of work -” he began, a sly grin twisting onto his sinfully pink lips.

“Go on,” you prompted slowly, dog-earring the page of your book and setting down on the nightstand.

“We wouldn’t even have to take our clothes off. Just let the friction do its thing.” And that was when it clicked into place what it was he was suggesting.

“I see. I think I might need a more... Hands-on demonstration,” you stated, warming up to the idea. His calf-brown eyes lit up and he eagerly pulled you towards him, letting your body fall back against the mattress.

“Well, we, uh... We’ve gotta get comfy first, that’s a big part of it,” he stated with a slightly too excited nod of his head.

“Of course,” you agreed, hitching your legs up around his waist just enough. The already obvious tent he was pitching fit against you just a little too perfectly. Eddie made himself comfortable on top of you, arms around your waist to keep you close and his temple against your collarbone. His hot breath fanned against the expose skin of your neck and made you shiver in anticipation. Fingers wound into his soft brown waves and your other hand found purchase between his shoulder blades for now.

“Now what?” you asked quietly, almost too scared to break the already building tension in the air.

“Well, now we just... Kinda -” Slowly, experimentally at first, Eddie began to rut his denim-clad hips against you, eliciting a small gasp. You let him find a rhythm and pace that he was comfortable with before starting to move your hips to match.

Heat crawled across your skin. Senses were alight with a burning need for more. Eddie’s breaths became shallow and ragged, a clear rosy burnish across his cheeks, neck and ears as he continued to rock his hips against yours for that delicious friction.

“Fuck - Oh my God...” he gasped when your legs squeezed a little tighter around his waist, bringing him even closer, despite how impossible that seemed.

“That’s it, Eds - Just a little more,” you praised as nails dug into his back and scratched against his scalp. A moan-turned-whimper left his parted lips before he tried to busy himself with leaving as many marks on your skin as possible.

“ - Feels good, Eddie. So fucking good.”

“Yeah?” he exhaled as teeth nipped at your earlobe. The neediness became more evident as he started to lose the rhythm he’d built. There was a dark stain growing on his jeans, caused by both of you without a doubt. Each harsh brush of denim against your aching cunt had you gasping for air. A slight sheen of sweat began to build across your brow and it looked to be the same for Eddie as he shamelessly continued in this filthy endeavour for pleasure.

“You’re such a good boy, Eddie. Always know how to make me f-feel good,” you encouraged in soft, breathless whispers. Teeth grazed your chin and jaw as he worked himself against you, lost in the overwhelming sensations.

“I - I’m gonna -”

“Do it, Eds. Make a mess and cum in your pants, hm?” you goaded without considering just how close he was. A brief moment passed before he stuttered and stopped. Mouth agape, eyes screwed shut, Eddie did as he was told. Each gentle rock against him and the now very evident dark stain on the crotch of his jeans overstimulated him. Left him a trembling, whimpering mess as he rushed out a string of curses and thank-you’s.

“Did you -” Eddie couldn’t even finish the question he wanted to ask, but you knew what he meant.

“Don’t worry, that was almost as good as getting to finish. But I’m not done with you yet, sweetheart.”

-/-/-

@wintersoldierbaby​​