#pre-epilogue fic

[jq37]

neme(sis)

Summary: The Rat Grinders actually fight the Bad Kids on the Hangman instead of just sending dragons and Adaine has to do some quick thinking.

"Adaine Abernant."

Adaine winced, clutching her head as Raulothim's Psychic Lance pierced her mind. It figured Oisin knew the spell. Raulothim was a dragon after all. She wondered if he learned it in class like her or if he'd come to school already familiar with the spell because of his dragon ancestor who was currently trying to swallow Gorgug, axe and all. She didn't wonder for too long though. There wasn't time.

"See what you can do with access to proper spell components?" Oisin called from the other side of the room, his tone mocking.

"That spell doesn't even have material components!" Adaine called back in spite of herself. Insulting her was one thing but getting basic spellcraft wrong while doing it? Unacceptable. She ignored his expression, smug from getting a rise out of her no doubt, and surveyed the battlefield. The Rat Grinders had caught them on their back foot. Things were going OK but they were playing defense. And no one was where they needed to be. Spellcasters too close to melee, fighters out of range. Only Gorgug was arguably in the right place but he was far too close to being dragon food for her liking. Fabian needed to be closer to the action, Riz needed cover, and she…

Adaine suppressed a smile, idea forming in her mind. She needed to be in punching distance.

"Scatter," she said, raising a hand. Five creatures: Gorgug, Riz, Fabian, Kristen…and Oisin.

Her party members didn't fight the spell, well used to the feeling of her magic working on them mid-battle and knowing that it never meant harm. As she moved them to more advantageous positions, she was hit with a flash of the future: Oisin resisting the spell. She reached out and nudged fate just a bit. Nearby, Ivy walked dangerously close to a breath weapon attack. Oisin startled, moved to grab her, and--pop. Suddenly, he was standing right next to Adaine who was already rearing her fist.

"Counterspell!" Oisin called, runes on his forearms glowing. The expression on his face was even more smug as the blue energy charging on her fist fizzled.

"Predictable," he said.

"Gullible," Adaine thought, halting her fist without following through on the punch and stomping her foot on the ground to activate the teleportation circle they were both now standing on. Because of course the boy with the empty house and unlimited funds would have a teleportation circle installed so he could have his friends over as often as possible. Teleportation via spell needed a willing creature but a Circle? That just needed proximity.

As the spell went off, she concentrated. The benefit of a teleportation circle was that it couldn't go wrong like a normal Teleport spell could. It wasn't supposed to anyway. But any magic could be tweaked if you pushed hard enough. She remembered winding up in the wrong room in the twisted version of Mordred inside Riz's briefcase and concentrated on that feeling. She was sure she was going to have a headache in the morning but that was more than a fair price. She wrenched control of the spell, just enough to force the circle to spit them out a little bit outside of the paired circle in Mordred. There was a flash of light and--forget having a headache tomorrow. Her head felt like it had been bashed in with a pickaxe the moment they landed on the floor of her bedroom. She didn't think she'd be able to get back up for a minute or two--she didn't even try. Oisin didn't seem to have that problem though. He got up and stood over her.

He smirked. "I thought the elven oracle was supposed to be more of a challenge. I knew we'd come out on top but I didn't think it'd be so easy." He raised his hands, readying a spell, but the sparks at his clawtips died as quickly as they were produced. He tried the spell again to the same result, too focused to notice the sudden subtle sheen to the patterns painted on her bedroom walls.

A Sending spell pinged in her mind. "Ten seconds, dear sister."

A smile played on Adaine's lips.

"What?" Oisin demanded.

"Just that you all have been so obsessed with being our nemeses this whole time. But that was never gonna happen with you and me. That position is already filled."

There was another flash of light and before it even cleared, Adaine felt the tingle of magic settling over her like a second skin. Her sister's abjurer's ward extending to cover her reflexively. Just beyond the ward, she could feel the temperature in the room start to drop--a side effect of the Cone of Cold that was about to erupt from Aelwyn's outstretched hands.

"You're familiar with my bitch of a sister, right?"

[losersimonriley]

Here’s. This

[h2jlm]

“And I just—for once, I just wanted you to need me as much as I need you.”

Chapter four of my everlark fic out now!!! Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading <3

[bookishjules]

just saw a post from a while ago that implied that jace and alec would have comforted isabelle with sibling cuddles after the events of cohf and idk i just.. like if you honestly think isabelle would allow that.. we must have read different books.

this is the girl who shut herself in her room after her brother died, refusing to talk to anyone. this is the girl who reached for distraction when the emotions got too deep. and add on top of that the fact her emotions after losing simon are tied to romantic love? something she's famously scared of in its own right? imagine how embarassed she would be.. giving her heart away after guarding it her whole life only to have it torn in two..

by receiving cuddles, she'd be admitting (to her brothers!) that she needed help. that she was weak. and while the boys are aware that izzy isnt a fortress, that intrinsic reaction doesn't just disappear for them. hugs and cuddles are a nice way of showing support and sympathy, but that's not natural for someone like isabelle, not when its her who would be on the receiving end

[direwombat]

shoutout to the dead by daylight soundtrack which is going to be the mvp of me working on the back half of the slasher au (ie, when syb and jacob start slashin' together as a team)

[just-absolutely-super]

Lan deserves lots of headpats after mmbn 3.

Megaman too, but I think Lan got emotional scarred thanks to his brother.

Listen, Lan gets major separation anxiety thanks to MMBN3, I will die on that hill

Like can you imagine how lost he felt without Megaman? How emotionally drained he must have been trying to accept his twin was gone forever and he should move on and fake a smile to let everyone know that yes, he's fine, he's gonna be fine, everything is fine!

But it's not fine

Can you imagine how much of a gross sobbing mess Lan ended up being when he saw Megaman again? He probably made Mega swear up and down to never do that to him again you hear! but he's gonna be a reckless idiot again of course he is

Mega probably let Lan do whatever he wanted for a couple days to make up for all the emotional turmoil he caused. If the copybot had been invented earlier there would definitely have been head pats and brother hugs

[gingernut1314]

The Water's Cold Embrace Masterlist

Content: Female reader x Slico, pre-Arcane season 1, will go into season 1 but much later, young Silco, Vander, Sevika, Felicia, Connol, & baby Viktor, Vi, Powder, Viktor's parents, canon typical descriptions of violence & death, reader has water manipulation powers, sex (further warning in individual part), drugs, smoking, revolution, unrequited love...or is it???, friends to lovers, slow burn, slight Arcane season 2/League of Legends spoiler (Janna, Felicia/Connol)

A/N: since season 2 came out I was reminded that I had some bits and pieces of this story I made while watching season 1 and thought, hey, now is a good time as any to put them out there into the world. I wanted to write for the characters pre-season 1 cause how fun would it be to write for all their interactions before everything went to complete shit? It's so much fun and thus this fic was born lol. I hope you all enjoy!

↞ to Masterlists | Request Rules | Blog Navigation ↠

Setlist: (Full Playlist)

Blood//Water

Love and War

Living in the Shadows

Snakes

Mermaids

The Angry River

Start a War

The Water's Cold Embrace:

Prologue:

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 1: The Winds of the Undercity {1.2K}

Act 1:

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 2: Turkey and Cheese {2.7K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 3: Sack of Potatoes {2.9K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 4: Just a Bedtime Story {3.7K}

Act 2:

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 5: Don't Jinx It {4.5K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 6: Bit of Friendly Banter {4.1K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 7: The Water's Embrace {5.9K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 8: Head On {7.6K}

Act 3:

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 9: Like Seahorses Do {8.9K}

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 10: -COMING SOON

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 11: -COMING SOON

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 12: -COMING SOON

Act 4: -COMING SOON

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 13: Wailing Sea Witch

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 14: ....

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 15: ...

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 16:

Epilogue: -COMING SOON

ᥫ᭡ Chapter 17: The Waters of Zuan

[unhappy-sometimes]

a 2024 reading retrospective

so. i read a lot of fics in 2024. here are some of my favorites.

before i get started, please note that these are not in any particular order and these are not all of my favorites!!!!!!!! i wanted to include so many more but i just wasn't able to! also please don't roast me for reading stuff from more than two years ago :(((

anyway, here we go!!

1. Air by Cantare

as always, @cantareincminor knocks it out of the park. i'm a sucker for alternate first meeting AUs and Air is one of the good ones!! i find that it can be hard to find authentic sounding banter between yor and twilight, but cantare manages it somehow! they have such great and natural sounding dialogue. it's just a one chapter fic, but maybe if we ask nicely enough, cantare will continue one day 😏

2. like the wild geese by anonymous_viscacha

okay in all honesty, i read this for the first time last week and i scrambled to add this one to the list. it's a short one shot about a shared lunch break between yor and loid, but it's so sweet and endearing that i just had to put it on. i love love love it when people let loid and yor catch up on the childhood they lost because they deserve it. i'm kinda obsessed with this fic right now.

3. what happens outside by aerequets

it's kinda unfair that @aerequets gets to be a great artist and author but here we are. i'm not complaining tho because what happens outside is a delightful read. i enjoy exploring post reveal pre relationship twiyor and this fic is perfect for that!! it's also just really cute and reading things from yor's perspective is super endearing.

4. chaos theory by sarsaparillia

so ngl this one scared me at first because i do NOT like major character death fics and this one really seems like it, but this fic was unexpectedly wholesome and has a happy ending!!! it's short but bittersweet so i can't really talk about it without spoiling it any more. go read it! it's short!

5. eventually i fall into you, you attack my heart by princessguard

i know this is a controversial (and somewhat ironic) take but i usually really don't like eden AUs but. this fic is proof that there are always exceptions to the rule. this one is a short little story about a serious student at eden and the weird girl he keeps meeting in trees. i don't know exactly why i love this one so much but it do. it's cute and the epilogue got me grinning like a fool.

6. like real people do by Puolain

once again another alternative meeting AU. i dunno, man, it's just so much fun to see twilight and yor having the chance to be real people and accidentally fall in love which each other. i eat that up every time. great work @loveroma!

7. I'll Be There in a Minute, Dear by fluffmelange

i was SO CLOSE to putting fluffmelange's "Leave No Trace of Yourself" here because that one is SO FUNNY but alas, this delightful fic barely won out in the end. you know what you should do? read both. fluffmelange is keeping us all fed with short and sweet fics that are so much fun to read. this one is a favorite simply because the premise is so goofy and simple but i could 100% see it being canon lol. we are in your capable hands @fluffmelange.

8. I've Been Throwing Bricks At Your Window Like There's No Better Way To Say Hello by thesmallestfishinthesea

this fic has such a silly and simply premise but i love it so so so much. it's about the three times yor forgets her keys (plus one extra time loid forgets!!!!) and it's so cute to have a view inside yor's (often frazzled) mind. i don't know what else to say other than READ IT RIGHT NOW!!! great work @smallest-fish-inthesea!

this is not all!! i really wanted to include the wonderful works of @whateversawesome, @briefhottubcoffee, @spencer-is-alive, luinel, and more (ao3 literally went out just as i was typing this UGH what awful timing) but i wanted to do something to give back to this awesome community. fun fact, today is my birthday and there's a tradition in my family where the birthday person gives presents to others. so this is my present to everyone!! thanks for everything you guys and here's to another great year!

oh oh oh one last thing, i tried to link everyone's tumblr if they have one, so if there's an author on here who has a tumblr that i didn't link, let me know and i'll link them.

okay! thanks everyone!

(ALSO DON'T MAKE FUN OF HOW DIFFERENT SOME OF THE DRAWING STYLES LOOK IN SOME OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS, I WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND THEY LOOK STUPID ALL PUT TOGETHER LEAVE ME ALONE😭😭😭😭😭😭)

[punkshort]

'the way we were' masterlist

18+, minors please do not interact, warnings/tags included for each chapter

Paring: Joel x F!Reader, pre-outbreak and post outbreak (no Y/N)

AU (I kept was the outbreak and common characters. Joel's backstory is different, and the way he finds Jackson is different. No Ellie... yet.)

Fic Summary: You worked for Joel and Tommy a few months before the outbreak. When the outbreak happens, you and Joel get stuck traveling the country and keeping each other safe. Neither of you spoke about the feelings you had for one another pre-outbreak, and in a post-apocalyptic world, it seems like survival should be your only focus. But feelings can't be ignored forever.

Fic tags: Explicit Smut (18+ MDNI), Smut, unprotected sex, creampie, oral sex (m and f), fingering, masturbation (m and f), Language, Themes of death/depression that can be graphic at times, Canon-Typical Violence, Alcohol Use, Age Difference (Reader is 10 years younger than Joel), slow burn, mutual pining, angst, trauma, SA referencing later but I will put a big warning on those chapters

Status: complete

Look What We've Become - sequel

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen - Extra Scene

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Epilogue

I think most of these could be read stand alone, I tried to add a brief backstory to these if it was necessary

Chronological Order:

Moving Day

The Contractor

All Yours

Listen

Three Days (part one)

Recovery (part two)

credit to @cafekitsune for the dividers

[goldsbitch]

masterlist

** personal favorites! the queen of typos is here - longer fics at the top, one shots below for legal and obvious reasons, this all just one big joke

Lestappen

**Twelve Grapes - prologue p1, p2, p3, p4, p5, p6, p7.1, p7.2, p8, p9.1, p9.2, p10, p11.1, p11.2

summary: Two girls spend their New Year's Eve chugging on grapes, wishing for the love of their life. But, luck apparently skips generations. Leclerc and Verstappen were sown into the universe before they were even born. somewhat friends to lovers, soulmate au vibes, slowburn, angst and fluff, smut later on

Lando Norris

**That one Christmas flight part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8 epilogue p1, epilogue p.2 (complete)

summary: Y/N and Lando Norris are seated next to each other on a long flight. Innocent little Christmas tradition that Y/N does every year brings them just a little too close. fluff, cheesy, meet cute, angst, slowburn and smut later on

///////////

Right? part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8 (complete)

summary: Y/N is a photographer for McLaren F1 team. Hard working, goal oriented professional who would never put her career in jeopardy for some stupid crush, right?

That is until a photoshoot gets out of hand and there is no way to go but forward. teasing, flirting, little smutty, work fling

///////////

Just don't talk p 2, p 3, p 4, p 5, p 6, p 7, p 8, p 9, p10, p 11, p 12

summary: Enemies to lovers on steroids. Lando can't stand Y/N, the first female driver in F1 in a long time. He also can't stand having her with her clothes on. enemies to lovers, fake dating

warnings: swear words, minors do not interact, just generally don't take this one too seriously, smut

Charles Leclerc

**I gave so many signs part 2 , part 3, part 4 (complete)

summary: First unrequited love is not the one to ever leave your mind. Y/N looks back at her missed connection with Charles Leclerc, from the time they were just teenagers and regrets having him slip away. Song fic. friends to lovers

one shots and short fics

LN -** My Name - pre-proposal fluff LN - BEEP - first evening in their own apartment fluff LN -**You texted... - making up after a fight, angst LN - The hair thing - fluff LN - Hypochondria , p2 , p3, p4- soulmate au, angst LN - short king - short blurb about a tiny height difference LN - **the last time I pick you up - moving apartments, nostalgia, smut LN - remember that - first time Lando nearly ends up sleeping on the couch, miscommunication LN - **Fire. - incident at McLaren sparks a confession, fluff and fun LN - **I'll drive - Lando is not a good passenger princess, fun LN - Four times I bumped into you and one time I fell - delayed meet cute, fluff LN - Open your eyes - best friends help each other out, insecure reader, light smut LN - ***monaco kiss.wav - Lando and Y/N end up recording anonymous smut song, nsfw

Norris Family Polaroids LN - Blink Once - Lando mixes up his twins, domestic, fluff, fun LN - Kiss with a fist - Lando's twin daughter kisses a boy! fun LN - Home is where Dad's car is - one of the girls runs away, fun

F1 grid - Light Roast Mosaic - coffee shop AUs blending into each other

CL - **Past Lives - soulmate au, romantic

OP - Ah... - soulmate au, words written on wrists

FC - Not on the menu - playboy Franco breaking hearts, smut and angst

[koushirouizumi]

{Also, Takeru AT SOME POINT eventually gets sent This}

M E: (*TAKES DEEP BREATH*) Someone: Hey, why do you ship something so unusual, you know it'll never be canon righ--- m E: YES, I love TAKEMIYA aka MIYAKERU, I GET IT OK, I love TAKEMIYA, TAKEMIYA is a Brightest F*cking Starshine CRACK-SHIP aka RARE PAIR in My Life since my childhood days in this fan base, I f*cking ADORE THEM (+UNTIL THE END OF TIME AND WHEN THIS SERIES IS TRULY 'OVER'), YES okay y E S, I love TAKEMIYA, I DO also love Takeru and Miyako SEPARATELY, but I also love them TOGETHER, HOW many times are We Gonna Go Through This, I F*CKING LOVE TAKEMIYA BECAUSE WHEN I WAS YOUNG ME I WROTE THEM INTO AN 02 O.C.s based fic once AND I NEVER GOT OVER THEM AND THIS WAS BEFORE I EVEN GOT TO SEE THE 02 FINALE, yes I KNOW what happens in it, I do NOT dismiss that ship, in fact, if anything, I think it makes Take+Miya even more hilarious when you involve poly-ship dynamics and Shenanigans involving that character AND others, anyway all you need to know about the Take+Miya I once wrote is they initially act like the "Love-Love {Rabu-Rabu} couple" trainer class in that other Monster battling franchise after temporarily getting together during in-between years or just like any of the generally mushy battle duos and it confuses the f*ck out of EVERYONE else how they even came to form that dynamic and its HILARIOUS, meanwhile once amicably broken up with Takeru on good terms Miyako is making eyes at a certain Someone Else from afar in between and that person is just like only partly Oblivious all the way up until "The Beginning" era and possibly a little beyond, meanwhile Takeru is realizing Takeru's Very Not Over Miyako but then Takeru's also having OTHER Realizations about Self-

[tossawary]

I've signed up for FTH 2025! I'll be offering fanfic, either an entirely new work or a remix of an old work (AU, prequel, sequel, alt POV, and so on), for SVSSS or any fandom I've created for before. For me, this covers both my AO3 works (including anything I've used for a fusion AU) and pretty much any fandom that I've blogged about here, posting either fic ideas or meta.

So, if there's some SVSSS fic idea I posted about here years ago but never wrote, or some particular rarepair you're hungry for, here's an opportunity to get me to write it for you! I'll keep people posted as to when the auction starts. In the meantime, here's a list of fics that I've written for previous fan events! ❤

Fandom Trumps Hate 2022

forgiveness for whose sake? (48k words) - SVSSS - A post-canon companion story / extended epilogue for "pride is not the word I'm looking for" full of alternate POVs.

love to the ones I've never met (82k words) - SVSSS - A companion story for "pride is not the word I'm looking for" in which the world of PINTWILF meets the in-progress world of SVSSS and causes more canon divergence.

hey, share the weight a little (70k words) - SVSSS - A pre-canon canon divergence story in which disciple Shang Qinghua becomes friends with and then falls in love with Yue Qingyuan.

Sit With Your Soul (61k words) - SVSSS - His Dark Materials AU. Shen Yuan transmigrates in as the original Shen Qingqiu's daemon.

Yuletide 2023 (also working off of a prompt from someone else, anonymously)

Legends That Live On (10k) - Nimona - A post-canon story in which Nimona, Ballister, and Ambrosius visit a cultural landmark / old graves together.

MXTX Remix 2021 (anonymously remixing someone else's story, of my own choice from their existing works)

this point of pale light (18k) - SVSSS - A space opera AU (partially "Star Wars" inspired) in which Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu share a body and face Shen Jiu's past. Liushen pre-slash.

MXTX Remix 2024

learning joy (12k) - SVSSS - AU in which Shen Yuan never read PIDW and doesn't know what's going on, but manages to become close to Luo Binghe anyway.

Moshang Big Bang 2023 (prompt was of my own choosing)

Servant to a Different King (151k) - SVSSS - Canon divergence in which Shang Qinghua became Tianlang-Jun's servant instead, helped save Su Xiyan, and now ten years later, the Demon Emperor is trying to play matchmaker for Moshang.

MXTX Big Bang 2021 (prompt was of my own choosing)

Catch a Falling Star (122k) - SVSSS - A "Stardust" AU in which Shen Yuan falls into the world of PIDW as a fallen star, but everything is already not following the plot. Bingliushen road trip.

Moshang Week 2020 (prompt was of my own choosing, no strict deadline)

it must follow, as the night the day (26k) - SVSSS - AU in which Shang Qinghua is a demon and Mobei-Jun is human, and they still stumble into a master-servant relationship.

Moshang Week 2021

Nothing to Me, Nothing to You (60k) - SVSSS - A "MDZS" AU for Moshang, in which teenage Mobei-Jun and Shang Qinghua meet at the Cloud Recesses during guest lectures.

[regulusrules]

Guide for: What Tags to Add to Your Fic

Do you guys have the same problem of how when you're about to post a fic and reach to the tags section you're like .. what r werds 🫠

It's also why some works don't get any visibility even though we're blessed by god almighty for no algorithm in ao3

And I kid you not, I found some of the best goddamn fics out there by sheer coincidence because they weren't tagged right and they remain overlooked because of this fact

So here's a small classified guide for you!

This post is solely based on observation, the ao3 tag search, and my own personal system for tagging! I am not, by any means or sorts, an ao3 fandom moderator, but someone who's read nearly 30 thousand of the fics out there and struggles to read the rest

General tags for any fic

For fic forms: Art - Fanart - Digital Art - Drabble - Short - Complete - One shot - 5+1 Things - Poetry - Podfic - Songfic - Text Fic - Prompt Fic - Case Fic - Ficlet - RPF

For plot: Fix-it - Pre-Canon - Canon Era - Post-Canon - Canon Compliant - Not Canon Compliant - Everybody Lives/Nobody dies - Everybody dies/Nobody lives - Alternate Universe: Modern / Canon Divergence / Historical / College / Fantasy / Soulmates / Royalty / Powers / No Powers / Roommates - Kid Fic - Sickfic - Future Fic - Reincarnation - Time Travel - Plot What Plot (PWP) - Epilogue What Epilogue (EWE) - Slow Build - Missing Scene - Flashbacks - Crossover - ANY triggering topic you are writing about (eg: death, rape, violence, suicide, etc)

For vibes: Hurt/Comfort - Comfort - Hurt No Comfort - Humour - Fluff - Domestic Fluff - Fluff and Angst - Angst - Light Angst - Heavy Angst - Angst with a Happy Ending - No Happy Ending - Happy Ending - Whump - Crack - Cute - Humour - Dark - Sweet

For relationships: Slow burn - Romance - First Kiss - No/Mild/Explicit Sexual Content - Specific kinks (eg: Praise Kink) - Smut - No Smut - Feels - Getting Together - First Time - Pre-Relationship - Developing Relationship - Established Relationship - Mutual Pining - Pining - Friends to Lovers - Enemies to Lovers - Friends With Benefits - Love Confessions - Unrequited Love - True Love - Forbidden Love - Falling in Love

For characters: POV (insert character name) - Pining (character) - Hurt (character) - Jealous (character) - Worried (character) - Protective (character) - Dark (character) - BAMF (character) - Possessive (character) - Caring (character) - Top/Bottom (character) - Good/Evil (character) - Oblivious (character) - Manipulative (character) - Soft (character) - (character) lives - (character) dies

For tropes: Christmas - Sharing a bed - Weddings - Jealousy - Misunderstandings - Secret Relationship - First Meetings - Scars - Aftercare - Arranged Marriage - Kidnapping - Blood - Blood and Injury - Injury - Magic - Panic Attacks - Amnesia - Bathing/Washing - Soul-Identifying Marks - Touch-Starved

[steddiesmuttyseptember]

WEEK FIVE MASTERLIST

FICS

no room for more by @steddieas-shegoes | Rated E | no cw | tags: established relationship, dom steve harrington, sub eddie munson, good boy eddie munson, anal fingering, anal sex, anal plug, double penetration, subspace, quiet sex

Insatiable Greed by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated E | no cw | tags: Fantasy AU; Werewolf Steve; Vampire Eddie; Imprisonment; Dubious consent; Collars; Angry sex; Oral sex; Anal Sex; Blood drinking; Coming untouched; Top Steve; Bottom Eddie

Silence Awakened by @griefabyss69 | Rated E | cw: Dubcon (Elaborated in author's note on ao3), Under-negotiated kink | tags: friends to lovers, gags, sensory deprivation, blindfolds, rope bondage, sex toys, anal sex, oral sex, humiliation, degradation, under-negotiated kink, spit kink

break your washing machine by @hawkinsbnbg | Rated E | no cw | tags: omegaverse, friends to lovers, omega Steve, alpha Eddie, degradations, pussy spanking, vaginal fingering, squirting, breeding kink, unsafe sex, knotting, graphic depictions of boxers sniffing and licking

All I can get by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Rated E | no cw | tags: Pre S4; Fuck buddies; Angry sex; Spanking; Dirty talk; Top Eddie, Power bottom Steve; They're in denial, your honor

Night Music by @v3llichor | Rated E | no cw | tags: Quiet Sex, Sneaking, trying to be stealthy, Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs With Teeth, Face-Fucking, Sleepovers, Biting, the children are not oblivious but they also don't hear or see anything specific, they're fine

Dessert by @dame-zoom-a-lot | Rated E | no cw | tags: impact play, gagging, mention of free use, Monster!Eddie Munson, MonsterFucker Steve Harrington, scratching + blood

Trust the Process by @thisapplepielife | Rated E | cw: soft dom/sub vibes | tags: Sub Steve Harrington, Dom Eddie Munson, Yeah He's Gagged, But It's Still Soft Around Here

slipped between these ribs of mine - epilogue by @thefreakandthehair | Rated E | no cw | tags: deepthroating, marriage proposal, finger sucking, facials

Never Too Much (Never Enough) by @runninriot | Rated E | no cw | tags: Dom Eddie Munson, Sub Steve Harrington, impact play, degradation kink, sexual content

Double stuffed by @steddie-island | Rated E | no cw | tags: t4t Steddie, transmasc Steve Harrington, transmasc Eddie Munson, double penetration, squirting, light degradation

[mollywog]

I was thinking about this Fic again today. This is definitely how I picture the Katniss and Haymitch dynamic: gloriously petty

"He expects me to be happy,” she blurts after bursting into his messy, stale and quiet living-room like a God-damn mini-blizzard she is.

He cracks one of his eyes open and glances up at her with a grimace.

“You don’t look happy, sweetheart,” he states the obvious.

“Not now,” she says impatiently, ignoring his sarcasm. “One day. Apparently, one day I’m going to be happy again and he’s willing to wait for that as long as it takes. Until then, he’s ready to just be there for me if I need him.”

She grinds out the words but somehow still manages to emulate the Boy’s mannerism well enough that Haymitch has to bite back the treacherous smile that threatens to slip on his face and destroy his sulky façade.

“Look, it’s not the boy’s fault that he’s an optimist,” he concedes, turning the last word in his mouth as if it was a name of a nasty disease. For a second their eyes meet in a shared look of distaste, “but it’s not the end of the world. And while, judging by your sour face, not very likely at the moment, technically it’s not entirely impossible that he might get his wish in some distant future.

Came across Not so easy in my Post Mockingjay/Pre-Epilogue phase. I really like Katniss and Haymitch’s canon dynamic and this feels like a very in-character dialogue between the two: it’s funny, sweet, and also a quick read (~2k words),

(Don’t let the tags deter you, I promise it’s Everlark)

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Forgotten Nest (Part 2) - Rooster

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw / Mitchell!OC (Cora)

Word Count: 4.4k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only

Warnings: Past Unplanned Teenage Pregnancy; Angst; Absent Father Figures; The 'He Didn't Know About the Pregnancy' Trope; Repeating Trauma Cycles; Crying; Carole Would Be Disappointed; Named Mitchell Daughter OC (Cora) and Named Mitchell-Bradshaw Son (Nickie)

Summary: The Daggers start preparing for the mission. Rooster does some searching. Nickie keeps another secret from his mom.

A.N. There are references to a previous unplanned teenage pregnancy (between two eighteen-year-olds) in this fic. There won't be any flashback scenes to the pregnancy, but the references are still there, so if that makes you uncomfortable, please do not read.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Epilogue

Master List

Maverick stepped out onto the tarmac with his helmet in hand. Bradley was a few paces ahead of him and Maverick picked up his pace to catch up to the younger aviator. After watching Bradley’s reaction to his arrival and his briefing, Maverick knew that Bradley was still holding tightly to the past. And that could only lead to issues.

In the air anyways.

“Bradley,” Maverick called out to him. Bradley didn’t pause or turn around, continuing on his way as if Maverick was just a stray bird flying through. “Bradley!” Still no response. Quickly getting to the end of his rope, Maverick barked out, “Lieutenant Bradshaw.”

That seemed to get Bradley to finally turn around. Rooster stood tall with his shoulders squared, looking like he was preparing to tell a crack head to fuck off more than talk with the man who helped raise him.  Maverick stopped in front of him, noting how Rooster’s jaw clenched and unclenched.

“Yes, sir,” Rooster returned mockingly.

“Let’s not do it like this,” Maverick sighed, causing Rooster to look away for a moment.

“You gonna wash me out?” Rooster asked, turning back to Maverick.

“That’ll be up to you. Not me,” Maverick replied calmly.

“Am I dismissed?” Rooster grunted out after a moment, itching to get into his cockpit already.

Maverick’s jaw ticked with annoyance. There was plenty more that he wanted to say to Bradley. Plenty more. But he couldn’t say any of that without giving away Nickie’s existence. And even though Maverick had his own opinions about the situation between his daughter and Rooster, Nickie was her son and it was her decision at the end of the day how she wanted to deal with Bradley. Not his.

“Keep your head on out there,” was all Maverick stated before Rooster stormed off.

Maverick watched Rooster walk off, his jaw ticking with annoyance yet again before he turned for his own plane. Climbing up into the cockpit, Maverick went through his pre-flight checks. Unzipping one of the pockets in his flight suit, Maverick pulled out a singular photo and quickly taped it to the side of his cockpit, out of the way of the dials.

Cora, dressed in her college graduation attire, beamed at the camera with Nickie, who was just about to turn six, perched on her hip with her cap on his head. Cora was holding her son like he was the prize, like he was her diploma. Ice and Sarah stood to one side of Cora and Nickie and Maverick stood to the other with Penny, who had Amelia in her arms, standing right beside him.

It was truly a moment of triumph for Cora—graduating college even though she had a baby on her own at eighteen. Maverick was so proud of her and it was all written in the tear tracks that were drying on his cheeks in the photo. He had been so worried that Cora would get stuck—through no fault of her own—and never go to college or any kind of training.

But she did it. Despite the odds, she did it.

Glancing over at where Rooster was preparing to take off for the training exercises, Maverick forced himself to steel his emotions. He wouldn’t let Bradley’s undoubtedly petty drama from close to seventeen years ago to influence him now. He had a mission and he had six aviators that he had to train to complete that mission.

But that reminder still stuck with him—if Bradley was any other guy on the planet, Maverick never would have shown him mercy. Not for what he did to Cora and Nickie.

~~~~~

Rooster sat out on the tarmac for another good fifteen minutes after Phoenix gave up on trying to snap some sense into him. He told her that he was fine, that he had it handled. And even though she didn’t look like she believed him, Phoenix left him be.

That was why their friendship worked so well—they knew when to leave each other alone. And right now, Rooster really needed to be alone with his thoughts.

He wasn’t expecting Maverick to be in Miramar. Not like this, at the very least. There was always a chance that Maverick would be in Miramar to see or be around Cora. Rooster had partially prepared himself to run into Maverick in the grocery store or on a drive around town. But on base? As his instructor? Rooster wasn’t prepared for that.

And what the hell was Maverick doing as an instructor at Top Gun? Didn’t they learn their lesson the first time around? It had Ice written all over it. Rooster would have bet every penny to his name that Ice was somehow involved in this scheme.

Focusing on his breathing to calm down, Rooster eventually picked himself up off the tarmac and started trudging for the locker room. It was empty when he arrived and Rooster wasted no time in stripping down, showering, and changing out of his flight suit.  Pulling out his wallet, Rooster slowly unfolded it and reached into one of the card holder slips.

He pulled out a simple piece of paper that looked like it had been ripped from a larger page. It came from one of the letters that Cora sent him years ago. Maybe seven or so after he left. He hadn’t kept the rest of the letter, which was just Cora begging for him to forgive Maverick and come back to Miramar, but he kept the end of it because of two important pieces of information.

Cora’s phone number. And her address.

Now, Rooster wasn’t sure if either of them were still accurate. She could have changed her number—he did, after all—and she could have easily moved. And his attempts to do research on Google didn’t really get him anywhere with either her address or her number.

Rooster wanted to try and verify them before he reached out, knowing that he had about half of a first impression to probably convince Cora to talk to him. And he was pretty sure that showing up at the wrong house or calling the wrong number wasn’t going to do him any favors.

Picking up his keys, Rooster closed the door to his locker and headed out of the locker room.

~~~~~

Nickie walked out of school late, having stayed late to try and get his pre-calc grade up a little bit more. Looking around for his mom’s car, Nickie paused when he heard the familiar hum of the Kawasaki. The mischievous smile that he definitely inherited from his grandfather quickly tugged at Nickie’s lips as he watched the Kawasaki roll around the corner.  

Maverick waved to Nickie and slowly came to a stop in front of him. Nickie walked quickly over to his grandfather, ignoring some of the incredulous looks thrown in his direction. Maverick set up the kickstand and slipped off the Kawasaki, turning to greet his grandson.

“I thought that Mom was supposed to pick me up,” Nickie stated, though he wasn’t complaining.

“Apparently, they’re running late over at the office with all their appointments,” Maverick replied, taking Nickie’s backpack from him. “And I had the time.”

“Does Mom know that you’re picking me up on your bike?” Nickie asked as Maverick securely strapped down his backpack.

“Well, she never specified which vehicle I had to pick you pu in,” Maverick returned jokingly. Tugging on the straps that secured Nickie’s backpack to test them, Maverick turned back to his grandson. “But you know the rule.”

Maverick held out a helmet to Nickie, who quickly took it and put it on without complaint. His mom ingrained in him from a very young age to never get on a bike without a helmet. Unfortunately, in Cora’s opinion, that teaching didn’t seem to move up generations. Maverick climbed on first and Nickie climbed on after him. Nickie held tight to and turned to see several students staring at him.

“Hey,” Nickie called, waving at them.

“Don’t even think about it,” Maverick warned his grandson, noting the girls that Nickie was waving at.

Maverick started the engine and shook his head before starting off down the road. Nickie clung to his grandfather as they drove along far slower than Maverick would go if he was by himself. It didn’t take long, however, for Nickie to realize that they weren’t heading home.

“Where are we going?” Nickie called over the wind.

“I need to make a pit stop on my way home,” Maverick yelled back to Nickie.

“Where?”

“The Hard Deck. I owe Penny some money!”

“I think that you owe her more than that!” Nickie shouted, causing Maverick to frown.

“Have you been listening in on your mom’s conversations again?”

“What!? I can’t hear you!?” Nickie yelled loudly, causing Maverick to chuckle and shake his head.

“Good answer.”

A quick ten minutes later and the two Mitchells pulled up to the Hard Deck. Maverick parked towards the front door and turned off the Kawasaki. Nickie got off first and pulled his helmet off. Running a hand through his short curls, which caused Maverick’s gut to tighten after watching Rooster do something similar that morning, Nickie moved to undo his backpack from the straps.

Maverick led the way inside the Hard Deck, which was left unlocked. Nickie broke off from his grandfather’s side to hang up his helmet on one of the hooks by the door. Maverick headed into the main area of the bar and smiled when he spotted the guard dog on duty.

“Hey, Theo,” Maverick called, bending down to greet the lazy dog. “You’ve gotten big.”

“Hey, Mav,” Amelia greeted him, causing Maverick to slowly stand up.

“Amelia?” he asked, taking off his sunglasses in disbelief.

“I know, I got big,” Amelia replied, already turning back to her homework.

“Hey, Amelia,” Nickie returned, walking into the room a couple seconds after his grandfather.

Amelia glanced up with surprise at the sound of Nickie’s voice. Nickie was a year ahead of Amelia and he was one of the first kids around her age that she met when her and her mom moved to Miramar from Hawaii after her parent’s divorce. Cora always told Nickie to look out for Amelia and that seemed to continue even though they were both nearing the end of high school.

“Hey, Nickie,” Amelia responded in a softer tone than she used with Mav. But as Maverick walked around the bar, Amelia quickly focused on her homework again. “Bar opens at five.”

“No, I just came by to pay off a debt I—”

“—Mom!” Amelia immediately called, causing Nickie to hide a smirk behind his hand.

“Hey, how’s your dad?” Maverick asked, trying to fill the silence.

Nickie, almost as a reflex, reached out and smacked his grandfather on the arm, earning an incredulous look from Maverick. When Nickie shot him a look that screamed ‘shut up before you get hurt,’ Maverick stared at his grandson with a confused expression.

“What?”

“With his wife. In Hawaii. Mom!” Amelia yelled louder than before, causing Nickie to wince, his point proven. Penny walked through the door to the back of the bar at her daughter’s annoyed call, causing Maverick and Nickie to turn around. “Mav says he owes you money.”

Maverick held out a wad of cash to Penny, who immediately tried to refuse it. And Nickie quietly wondered how his grandfather wracked up such a tab on a single night. He wouldn’t have disrespected a lady and certainly not the Navy. So, he must have left his phone, which Nickie set up for him, on the bar. Like Nickie’s mom warned him not to do.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Penny insisted, but Maverick held the money out to her again.

“I insist.”

Nickie shared a look with Amelia, who stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes as Penny instantly softened and took the wad of cash from Maverick. Nickie glanced up and around at the photos and memorabilia hung up round the bar, fighting a knowing smirk.

“Thank you, Captain. Consider your tab closed,” Penny stated, heading around the bar to deposit the money in the till.

“Captain? Still?” Amelia asked Maverick.

“She’s got you there,” Nickie replied, turning to his grandfather.

“A highly decorated captain,” Maverick stated, knowing that Amelia and Nickie were just teasing him.

“Finish up,” Penny told her daughter, leaning on the bar top and tapping the top of Amelia’s book. “We have to get the boat to the yard.”

“I can’t go,” Amelia replied, causing Penny to frown.

“What do you mean you can’t go?”

“Test tomorrow. I have to study. They only told us today,” Amelia explained, causing Penny to raise an eyebrow at her daughter.

“Mr. Lissette’s class?” Nickie guessed, causing Amelia to turn to him.

“How’d you know?”

“Because he did that at least fourteen times last year when I took his class,” Nickie replied, corroborating Amelia’s story to her mom.

“Well, I can’t sail her alone,” Penny continued, turning back to her daughter.

“Just use the engine.”

“Why’re we taking her to the yard?” Penny asked, shooting her daughter a look.

“To fix the engine,” the two Benjamin women recited together.

“We can help,” Maverick offered, volunteering himself and Nickie for service.

“But he’s grounded,” Penny stated, pointing over at Nickie, who winced in reply.

“You know about the ticket?” he asked, cracking his eyes open slowly.

“There’s not much in this town that I don’t know about,” Penny replied, straightening up.

“And your mom told her,” Amelia explained, causing Nickie to sigh.

“I’m never going to live that down,” Nickie whined, rubbing his face.

“Well, considering your driving instructor,” Penny drawled, glancing over at Maverick, “I’m surprised that it wasn’t worse.”

“I’m a great driver,” Maverick insisted, causing Penny to scoff teasingly.

“Mom can just pick me up after work,” Nickie offered, causing Maverick and Penny to turn to him. “And I know that she wouldn’t mind taking Amelia home.”

“Alright,” Penny stated, tapping her fingers on the bar top. Walking around the bar, Penny grabbed her keys and turned to Maverick. “Get moving, Sailor.” As Maverick turned to lead the way out of the bar, Penny turned to Nickie and Amelia. “Jimmy is in charge. And don’t forget Theo.”

“Mom, we’ll be fine,” Amelia insisted, already looking back down at her homework.

“Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do,” Maverick directed at Nickie. “And definitely don’t do anything that I would do.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Nickie replied, mock-saluting his grandfather.

Penny and Maverick headed out of the bar as Nickie walked over to where Amelia was sitting. Setting his bag down on the bar, Nickie pulled out his pre-calc textbook and started on the problems that he left off on with his math teacher just a few minutes earlier.

“You stayed late again?” Amelia asked, glancing over at his homework.

“Trying to get my grade up,” Nickie explained, copying one of the problems from the textbook.

“Is your mom grounding you for that too?”

“No, just the ticket,” Nickie sighed, turning to Amelia. “Does everyone know about it?”

“Well, your mom called my mom about the whole thing last night. She was wondering if a month was too harsh of a punishment, since you already paid it off yourself.”

“And?” Nickie pressed, hope building in his chest.

“My mom said that it was fair.”

Nickie let out a groan and slumped against the bar top, causing Amelia to laugh. Shifting in her seat, she turned to face Nickie fully on the bar stool and poked him on the shoulder.

“It’s your own fault. Everyone knows that cops like to hang out under that underpass.”

“I forgot,” Nickie sighed, shaking his head at himself. Forgetting his pre-calc homework for a moment, he turned to face Amelia. “My mom freaked out.”

“She’s probably worried that you’re turning into Mav,” Amelia stated before quickly trying to retract her sentence. Suddenly sheepishly, she stammered out, “I didn’t mean it like that, just that—”

“—No, no, I get it,” Nickie assured her, knowing that she meant no harm. Turning back to his textbook, Nickie picked up his pencil and started writing again. “And, hey, you have to protect your mom. I get it. Really, I do.”

“Is your mom still going out with that Neil guy?” Amelia asked curiously, causing Nickie to snort.

“No. I don’t know why she was with him in the first place.”

“My mom seemed to like him.”

“Your mom’s just nice,” Nickie brushed off, scribbling away at his homework. “He was boring as hell. And my mom might freak out about me or my granddad doing dangerous or stupid stuff, but she would have died of boredom if she stayed in that relationship.”

“Have you ever liked one of your mom’s boyfriends?”

“Of the three that I’ve met? Hard no,” Nickie stated, shaking his head. “Have you?”

Amelia glanced in the direction that Maverick and Penny left in, which caused Nickie to straighten up a bit more. Setting down his pencil, he turned to face Amelia.

“I’m sorry that he brought up your dad.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Amelia lied, waving her hand to the side, as if to dismiss Nickie’s concern. “Besides, Mav was there for more of my birthdays than my actual dad. I counted. So, I guess he’s entitled to a slip up.”

“Yeah, he does seem to be filling in a lot,” Nickie murmured, mostly to himself.

Amelia turned to Nickie with a confused expression when the door the Hard Deck opened again. Nickie instantly picked his head up and stood up from his chair when he spotted a stranger entering the bar. Theo had moved to sit in the sun, but he rolled over to stare at the new arrival.

Rooster slowly stepped into the Hard Deck, glancing around for Penny, when he spotted two teenagers sitting at the bar. Nickie walked around the bar a bit, eyeing up Rooster as if he was trying to discern the level of threat that Rooster posed to him and Amelia. Rooster stopped at the front of the bar, noticing Nickie’s defensive posture.

“Can we help you?” Nickie asked calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly. “Bar opens at five.”

“No, I know. I was just wondering if Penny was around,” Rooster explained quietly.

Rooster eyed Nickie curiously, feeling like he had seen the teenager somewhere before. Hell, Nickie was probably just a local kid that Rooster had seen on the boardwalk the day before. But Rooster wasn’t even convinced with his own explanation. Not really. There was just something that was scratching at the back of his head about the teenager.

Nickie viewed Rooster as nothing other than an intruder. Amelia clearly didn’t recognize Rooster, so he obviously wasn’t a close friend of Penny’s. Theo wasn’t reacting harshly to Rooster, but Nickie was also pretty sure that Theo only barked after the fact. And, well, his mom stuck it in his head very early on to always be aware of his surroundings and the people occupying them.

Amelia froze a bit in her seat, glancing in between Nickie and Rooster, and noting the similarities in their appearances. They had the same nose. And the same chin. Rooster was taller and far more built than the teenager, but Amelia didn’t doubt that Nickie would get there eventually. Their hair looked to be a similar texture. And hell, were their eyebrows also that similar?

“She’s not here. Jimmy’s here, though, if you have some kind of . . .” Nickie eyed Rooster suspiciously before meeting his gaze again, “. . . business question.”

“No, no,” Rooster replied, already backing away.

Well, there went that plan. Not that he was expecting Penny to give him a concrete answer. Not without getting to dump a drink on top of his head first, at least, since Rooster knew that Penny and Cora were still close to this day.

“Sorry to bother you.”

Nickie nodded firmly and watched as Rooster left the Hard Deck. Slowly sliding towards the door, Nickie subtly locked it before walking around to watch Rooster drive off. It took some time because Rooster kept staring back at the Hard Deck with an odd expression, he eventually hopped back into the Bronco and took off, heading in the direction of the naval base.

“Who the hell was that?” Nickie asked Amelia, who stared at him with a bit of disbelief.

“What?” she questioned, blinking rapidly.

“Did you know who that was?”

You mean the guy who looks freakishly similar to you?

That was what Amelia wanted to say. But then she remembered what her mom told her about Mitchell boys. Their heart was always in the right place. Their brain on the other hand . . . sometimes it wasn’t exactly where it should be.

“No, I don’t,” Amelia settled on, glancing between Nickie and the window again. “Do you?”

“No,” Nickie replied, as if it was obvious. “And who the hell has a mustache anymore?”

~~~~~

“Bye, Amelia!” Cora called, waving to the Benjamin girl as she hopped out of the car.

“Bye, Cora. Thanks for the ride!”

“Any time!”

Amelia shut the door behind her and grabbed Theo’s leash before heading inside her house. Cora waited until Amelia was safely inside with the door shut behind her before pulling away from the curb. It was a short drive between the Benjamins and the Mitchells even with the afternoon traffic.

“How was pre-calc extra help?” Cora questioned, turning onto the main road.

“It helped. He’s bumping up my grade on the last test, so I’m getting closer to an A.”

“And while I’m very happy about how seriously you’re taking your studies, don’t worry if you don’t get an A. Everyone says that pre-calc is difficult,” Cora assured her son, keeping her eyes trained on the road in front of her.

“I know, Mom. I just want to do well for my college apps,” Nickie stated, glancing out the window.

“Speaking of which, you need to give me a list of colleges that you want to see during Spring Break so that I can take the time off work and we can sign up for tours,” Cora replied, causing Nickie to subtly sink into his seat. “Especially if you wanted to see ones farther away.”

“Like the East Coast?” Nickie approached the subject, causing Cora to pause for a moment.

“If you want,” Cora replied softly, glancing over at Nickie. “What schools did you have in mind?”

“Nothing specific,” Nickie lied, staring out the window again. “There’s just a lot of good schools out there, you know.” 

“Okay,” Cora trailed off, raising an eyebrow at her son. “Well, you still have time. Just something to think about once in a while.”

“Yeah . . .” Nickie agreed, looking forward. Cora continued to drive down the road as Nickie slowly turned to look at his mom. “Sean asked me about the Surf Team again.”

“What about it?”

“Just about try outs are and everything,” Nickie stated, causing Cora to nod slowly. “Mom.”

“What?” Cora asked, shooting her son a look.

“You’re doing that thing where you pretend like you agree with me but you actually don’t but you don’t want to say it because you don’t want to play the bad guy all day,” Nickie complained, causing Cora to sigh. Slowly coming to a halt at the next light, Cora turned to Nickie as he continued. “Why can’t I join the surf team? You put me in surf lessons, remember?”

“I remember, Nickie,” Cora sighed, fiddling with her fingers.

“So, why do you always pull that face when I talk about the surf team?” Nickie asked as the light flashed green in front of them.

“I don’t pull a face,” Cora huffed, earning a groan from her son. “It’s just . . . Nickie, why are you so obsessed with being in the water lately? I mean, when you quit basketball that was one thing because—and I love you and support you, sweetie—but you weren’t the best at that.”

“Mom.”

“I mean, you had the height but none of the hand to eye coordination,” Cora continued, causing Nickie to pout and slump in his seat. “And soccer, well, you always seemed to just do that because your friends were doing it.”

“So?”

“But baseball?” Cora emphasized, turning to her son with a concerned expression. “Nickie, you love baseball. It’s been your favorite sport for forever.”

“I can like new things,” Nickie defended himself.

“I didn’t say that you couldn’t, but . . .” Cora pulled down a side street and came to a slow stop at the stop sign a couple hundred feet down the road. Glancing over at her son for a moment, Cora asked, “Is there something that you’re not telling me?”

“Mom, I just want to surf because I’m good at it,” Nickie half-lied, half-told the truth. He glanced out the window as Cora continued to drive them home. “I just don’t want to sit on JV as a junior.”

“There’s no shame in that. They only need so many catchers on varsity.”

“I know, but . . .” Nickie trailed off, trying to come up with something to appease his mom’s concern, “. . . but what if I can get a scholarship for it? Or for swimming or water polo and surfing helps me stay in shape for that?”

“Why are you worried about a scholarship?” Cora asked before growing more serious. Pulling into their driveway, Cora parked the car before turning to her son. “Nickie, you know how I feel about you worrying about money.”

“I know, Mom,” Nickie replied softly, guilt eating away at his gut.

“You just focus on being a kid for now, okay?” Cora stated, grabbing her son’s shoulder gently. “Please?”

“I will, Mom.”

“Good. You hungry?” Cora asked, reaching for her purse.

“Yeah,” Nickie murmured out, trying to not suffocate himself from how bad he felt for lying straight through his teeth to his mom.

“Alright. I think I’ll just make something simple tonight,” Cora stated, causing Nickie to nod.

They walked inside the house together and Nickie headed to his room. Setting his bag on the ground, Nickie squatted down and let out a breath. Slumping slightly, Nickie unzipped his backpack and pulled out his science textbook. He flipped through a few pages before pulling out a pamphlet that he got at lunch with ‘NAVY’ printed at the top of it.

If and when he ever told his mom the school that he wanted to attend . . . Nickie was starting to worry that it was going to kill her.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Epilogue

A.N. A special thank you to everyone who read and either commented or reblogged the first part! It's the most actual interaction I've had on a fic in a long time and it really motivated me to churn Part 2 out!

[Also, I forgot to put a note at the end of Part 1 about tagging, so I just tagged the peeps that asked, but if you want to be tagged in Part 3, just reply or reblog with a comment, but please have your age in your bio/pinned post or I won't tag you. Thanks again!]

Tags: @xoxabs88xox @eternallyvenus