#shout out to my brother for helping me with reference lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

enhashoutout · 1 year ago

Text

When Universes Collide

The one where alien!reader falls in love with Smoky, learns what a soulmate is, and that some humans are amazing while others suck.

Smoky x alien!reader inspired by a story about Smoky and alien!reader by @airbendertendou . If you haven't read it yet go read it, the story is so cute! This post was inspired by Airbendertendou's post and the G-idle "I Do" music video.

Genre: fluff and angst

Warnings: swearing, injuries, blood, violence, fighting (typical H&L stuff but let me know if I missed anything), character deaths, brief mentions of torture

Reader is referred to as "reader" until it switches to ____ in place of Y/N

I usually use she/her pronouns and physical features that are associated with females to write my OCs as that is easiest for me but if you do not go by those pronouns or do not possess those features, please feel free to change them to fit you as you are reading! (It's a really long post lol)

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼ ☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼ ☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

Alien!reader wakes up just outside of Nameless City but can't remember anything other than their name and that they are not from this planet.

Alien!reader walks around Nameless City and runs into a group of kids who are playing. She stays hidden and observes them for a few days before the kids invite her to play with them.

Alien!reader who can materialize stars to appear as if they were fireflies with her hands and has healing powers (I know aliens can't do this just go with it lol)

The kids play with alien!reader and always ask to see the stars come out of her hands. Reader promises to create more stars when it is night time so that the kids can see them better than in the day time.

Alien!reader whose energy has a positive effect on Nameless City, causing the kids and other residents to be more positive and making the city's colors more vibrant.

Smoky realizes that all this is happening but doesn't know why.

Lala telling Smoky and the rest of the Rude Boys that she doesn't know why any of it is happening but she is thankful for whoever or whatever is helping the residents of Nameless City.

The Rude Boys overhear the kids talking about "the pretty girl with strange eyes" who makes stars in her hands and makes their injuries go away and goes investigating but comes back empty-handed.

Alien!reader who acquires chalk from one of the nice Nameless City residents and takes it to the kids because she's never seen it before.

The kids take turns writing their names with the chalk on the pavement and encourage alien!reader to do the same.

Reader writes her name as best as she can with the chalk next to the kids' names and they start calling her by it

One night, as the residents of Nameless City are getting ready for bed, alien!reader dims the fires and lets stars loose around the city.

"Where did a bunch of fireflies come from?" (Probably Takeshi or P) "She did! She kept her promise! Look at the stars!" cheered the kids "These aren't fireflies. They're stars. But how?" (Lala) As the kids run around playing with the stars Lala stops one of the little girls named Eri. "Eri, do you know where the stars came from?" "Of course! ____ did it!" "Who is ____?" "The pretty girl with strange eyes!" "Can you take us to her?" "We don't know where she is at night, we only see her during the day. We can take you tomorrow."

So the next morning the kids, Rude Boys, and Lala are on their way to find ____

"____! Where are you?!" shouted the kids ____ was surprised to see the other people with the kids. Up until now she only interacted with the kids and the older man who gave her the chalk. "____! You're here! These are our older brothers and sister. Our brothers are angels, they guard Nameless City." ____ didn't know what to say and just waved at them. Eri ran up to her and brought her closer to the group. "This is ____, the pretty girl with strange eyes. When she blinks her eyes close sideways. She's really nice. She helps us when we get hurt and she makes stars come out of her hands! All the stars last night were made by her. She can only make small stars in the day time but she promised that she would fill Nameless City with stars at night so we could see them better. Can you show them ____?" ____ nodded and held her hand up, a small galaxy appearing in her palm. The Rude Boys looked at her confused. "She also makes our injuries go away." "How?" (P) "Can you show them ____?" "But no one is hurt to help" This is the first time she's spoken since they met her. Smoky took off the glove on his hand and held his scratched-up hand out to ____. She hovers her hand over his and the scratches heal themselves as if they were never there, only a few old scars remain. "What are you?" asks Takeshi "I don't know... I just know I am not from here and I am not like you. I woke up here a few weeks ago. I don't know how to go back." "You can stay here with us. We're a family here in Nameless City." (Smoky)

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

The group figures out that ____ can heal wounds and make fevers and the flu go away.

The group tries to get her to try and make larger diseases go away but she can't seem to do it.

At night by herself, ____ tries to figure out how to become stronger to heal illnesses of larger capacities.

Smoky with the help of Rude Boys, the kids, and the other residents teaches ____ the language and she is able to communicate with everyone in no time.

As ____ stays and becomes a part of the family, she slowly falls in love with Smoky.

Smoky has mutual feelings, especially seeing her help his family but he's scared to tell her considering he doesn't know how long he'll live.

Lala and ____ become besties <3 and tell each other everything.

Lala sees the way her brother looks at her new friend and the way ____ looks at Smoky.

Lala gets ____ to admit her feelings for Smoky

"Hey ____." "Yes?" "Do you like my brother?" "Of course! I like everyone in Nameless City, we're a family." "No, no I mean do you like like him. Do you have feelings for him?" "I don't think I know what that means..." Lala spends the rest of their girls day explaining to reader what feelings are lol. "So do you understand now?" "I think so..." "So do you like Smoky?" "Yeah, I think I do." Insert happy squeals

Lala convinces Smoky to tell ____ about his feelings, telling him to think about himself and what he wants for once.

"I can't tell her" "Why not?" "She deserves someone who will stay with her forever. I don't want to hurt her if I leave first." "Don't say that! You'll get better. Even if not, don't you want to experience being happy? Can't you think of yourself and what you want for once?"

And that ladies and gents is how Lala got Smoky to consider telling ____ about his feelings.

One night while the rest of Nameless City sleeps, Smoky takes ____ to the tallest building in the city. The two sit in silence as the breeze passes by them. ____ keeps brushing her hair out of her face, Smoky reaches over and tucks a stray strand of hair behind ____'s ear. (screaming, crying, throwing up)

"I like you ____. I like you a lot. Even if you don't feel the same, I wanted to tell you. Lala convinced me to." "That's funny, Lala convinced me to tell you how I feel also. I also like you Smoky... So what happens now?" "Will you be my girlfriend? It means we're together." "I would love to be."

Aaaaaaand he leans in to kiss her on the forehead. (AAAAAHHHH)

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

All the fluff before the angst hits because I love Smokey so much

Lala giving ____ a green jacket with a fur-lined hood to layer on top of her black one-piece suit so she matches with the group. (For the black one-piece suit, go watch the G-idle "I Do" music video, Miyeon's black one-piece suit before she changes to the white dress was my inspo for reader's outfit.)

____ always heals the Rude Boys' injuries after fights

She also helps heal anyone who's not feeling well (flu, fever, etc.) and Smoky looks at her with all the love in the world in his eyes as she does it

When she's patching up Smoky he just stares at her and thinks about how much he loves her

Dates consists mainly of getting away to the outskirts of Nameless City for a little peace and quiet and quality time together. (But they're never too far in case the others need to find them)

Or star-gazing from the tallest building where they confessed to each other.

Idk why but Smoky strikes me as 1) someone who really likes stars and the night sky and 2) someone who felt they had to grow up quickly to protect everyone so he didn't get to experience much of a childhood. Soooo this leaves me to believe that if they aren't sitting on the tallest building stargazing, they are sitting in a secluded area probably blocked off by makeshift curtains where ____ creates stars just for Smoky and admires the way his eyes light up because she doesn't get to see that side of him often (making myself cry I'm totally fine).

Another date: as they sit on the building star-gazing, ____ sees a shooting star coming their way. ____ quickly closes her eyes and makes a wish, Smoky watches her and smiles.

"What did you wish for love?" "Eri says that if you say it out loud the wish won't come true, so I can't tell you, but you're a part of it."

Forehead kisses I can't stress this enough

____ always unexpectedly running to Smoky and giving him back hugs.

Smoky gives ____ back hugs and buries his head in the crook of her neck or rests his head on her shoulder.

When they haven't seen each other all day because Smoky is a busy SWORD leader, the hugs they share at the end of the day include Smoky lifting ____ up and giving her a little spin as they giggle, happy to see each other.

____ always gives Smoky little good luck kisses when he leaves to take care of SWORD business which causes light teasing from the other Rude Boys but they are happy that you make their leader happy.

Smoky is always laying on ____'s lap every chance he gets. I feel like she would braid little pieces of his hair and hum songs while she's doing so and he takes little naps while this happens because she puts him at peace.

At night alien!reader and Smoky cuddle to sleep. Smoky probably likes being the big spoon and holds ____ because, in this time and space of night, he can be a little selfish and forget about his duties as a SWORD Leader. It's just him and his beloved in their own little world. For once, Smoky has someone to call his own.

____'s positive energy engulfs Smoky and all of Nameless City in a little bubble of positivity that allows everyone sweet dreams and ease of sleep.

Remember how I said that at night ____ practices her magic on her own so she can heal illnesses and injuries of larger capacities? Lala lets Smoky's condition slip in a conversation with ____ so once she makes sure that Smoky is deep in dreamland, she slips away to work even harder to get stronger to cure Smoky.

But she'll remember to slip back into bed before the sun rises so that when Smoky wakes up he wakes up to her by his side.

At night when Smoky is deep in sleep, ____ transfers some of her life energy to him to help him without saying anything.

I feel like Smoky and ____'s way of showing love for each other is more physical than verbal. Things like holding hands, hugs, letting the other know they are there with some kind of wholesome physical touch. The very few times they say "I love you" to each other are in the dead of night when they are having deep talks. They don't have to verbally say it to each other because they know that their love is strong and very much present.

Picture this. One night while on a little late, star-gazing date on the tallest Nameless City building Smoky is asking ____ personal questions to know a little more about her.

"Unfortunately, I don't remember where I come from, what I am, or why I crashed here but whatever happened, I'm glad I woke up on this planet next to this city." "Why is that?" "If what humans say about soulmates is true, then I found my person. I found my soulmate. I love you, Smokey." "I love you more ____." "I love you most." "And I love you in every universe. I'm happy our universes collided."

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

____ wants Smoky and Rude Boys to teach her to fight like them. Smoky objects at first saying he doesn't want her to get hurt but she convinces him by telling him she also wants to help protect the Nameless City residents and promised not to jump into a fight unless absolutely necessary.

____ picks up their fighting style quickly considering she is an extraterrestrial being.

In the first movie when Smoky fights with Ryu, Smoky orders Takeshi to take ____ and P and run because he doesn't want anyone else finding out about her, especially not Kuryu group. When the members show up again with the getaway car, ____ is the first to jump out and grab Smoky.

After the doctor stitches Smoky up, ____ stays with him and uses her healing to help take away the pain when everyone is out of sight.

I feel like ____ would take it upon themselves to join Rude and get in the loop of what's happening around S.W.O.R.D. in place of Smoky so that Rude isn't down one man.

It definitely took a lot of convincing Smoky AND the others though.

Now that you guys are family, they want to protect you and keep you out of the cross-fire like Lala but you're so stubborn eventually you get everyone to say okay.

When Cobra calls for a meeting between all of SWORD's leaders, ____ tries to convince Smoky to let her attend with the other Rude Boys members, but he says no because he doesn't want anyone to find out about her to keep her safe.

____ eventually gets Smoky to agree and promises to keep her face hidden and stay out of trouble.

This is when the rest of S.W.O.R.D. meets you, sort of

The whole time Rude is at the meeting, Smoky can't be calm because he's worried about you.

He'll be tossing and turning, and it takes Lala giving him a whole talk about how you're strong and the others will protect you if anything were to happen for him to kind of calm down and sleep.

As Rude arrives to the meeting, Takeshi jumps into the leader ring as the rest of the group stays back.

____ hides in between the other boys and keeps her hood pulled over her face, going unnoticed by the others until Cobra points it out and the other leaders turn your way.

"You're all here, but where is Smoky?"

"We're here on his behalf"

"New member then?"

"New member."

"No need to be shy, we all know each other here. You can take your hood off!" shouts Murayama with his happy-go-lucky personality.

"Smoky requests that the new member keep their face hidden. Safety reasons."

"It's because she's his girl I'm sure. That's not a new Rude Boy, it's a girl. Her build looks different from the rest of you." points out Hyuga.

"Smoky's girl and she could kick your ass. Now, why are we here?"

As Cobra proposes the idea of an alliance to the other leaders, multiple conversations are happening in the back.

The other boys keep trying to look under the hood to look at your face, but you're doing a good job at hiding yourself.

"Bro how did Smoky get a girl before me?" (some rando in one of the groups).

"Idk, isn't he sick though?"

The Rude Boys members look at you as you speak.

"Talk about my boyfriend one more time and this alliance won't have a chance to start before it ends." Everyone shut up after that, slay for you queen.

As Rude tries to leave, ____ is stopped by Cobra. "Wait! I didn't catch your name."

"____."

"____. I think that S.W.O.R.D. would benefit from an alliance. Can you think about it and convince Smoky?"

"I don't disagree. I think that S.W.O.R.D. would be a lot stronger standing together, but you heard Takeshi. I know you want to take down Kuryu group but Nameless City's top priority is to make sure everyone stays alive. Kuryu is not only trying to evict us but kill us, residents of Nameless City aren't seen as important. To them we're nothing. I'll try and talk to Smoky but we'll see what happens."

When Rude arrives home, they go straight to see Smoky. The boys tell him what happened and he says he'll think about it and get back to them.

Smoky is laying down and ____ is sitting at his bedside.

"Were you safe today?"

"Yes. I kept my hood on and just stood back while Takeshi did the talking. I almost fought someone though."

"Why is that?"

"I don't like it when people talk about you like the way they did."

Smoky could tell the topic made her upset so he switched the direction of the conversation. "What do you think about the alliance ____?"

"Cobra isn't wrong. I think S.W.O.R.D. would be stronger together, but..... I don't know if it's right to sacrifice so much to try and take down Kuryu either."

"Why is that?"

"Well, the thought of taking down the Kuryu group is good, but at what cost? Sacrifices can be made for the greater good but I don't think I can if those sacrifices are human lives. We may not live in a great area or have led great lives, but the people who live here are still humans, shouldn't they receive a little compassion for that?"

Cue Smokey looking at ____ with all the love in the world in his eyes again

"Humans are weird... why are humans so mean? It's something I haven't quite understood since waking up here."

"Some humans just aren't as good as others, angel."

"Angel? That's what the kids call you. I never got around to asking anyone what that word means.... what does it mean?"

"I guess you could say it's someone who brings comfort and help to others when they're in trouble."

"That must be why everyone calls you that then. You're always helping the Nameless City residents. But then, who helps you?"

"You do. You're my angel."

They are so in love I can't *curls up into a corner and cries*

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

I wasn't sure where to put this scene because it doesn't fit anywhere else format-wise, but it happens before shit hits the fan so I'm gonna put it here

Picture this

Smoky and ____ both know that his health condition isn't all that great, so they unspokenly agree to spend a lot of time together, even more than they used to.

____ and Lala would prefer Smokey stay in bed but he insists on going for a walk with ____, so she agrees.

The two are walking, hand in hand, talking about everything and nothing all at once. It's just one of those moments where for a little while they can just be a young couple. They aren't leaders of a gang. they aren't being hunted by corrupted bitch ass grandpas, they're just a couple out on a walk.

As they're walking Smoky stops and ___ turns around to look at him.

"Why did you stop walking?"

"___?"

"Yes Smoky?"

"You know I love you right?"

"Of course. I love you too. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know how long I have so-"

___ runs up to him and hugs him tightly, whispering for him to stop.

"Stop. Don't say that."

"It's unavoidable ___. We both know that I'm sick and don't know how long I have to live."

"I know... I just don't want to think about it. I want to stay with you for a long time. I want to go wherever you go."

"I know angel. I just wanted to tell you how much I love you before I can't."

"I will always love you Smoky."

"And I'll always love you too angel."

Cue slow motion, dramatic shot of them making eye contact and the breeze blowing past them and he leans down to kiss her (I'm literally screaming, crying, throwing up, sliding down the wall, dying writing this)

Smoky continues holding her in his arms

I feel like during the very few times Smoky allows himself to be a little selfish he would imagine their life together years down the line. He doesn't do this often just so that he doesn't hurt them both by conjuring up a future that will never happen but he does every once in a while and in this moment where he's holding her in his arms and looking at her he is doing it.

Smoky is thinking about how he would love to live out the rest of his years with her as they take care of Nameless City. He would think about how he doesn't want kids of his own due to their situation but they would treat all the kids there as if they were their own. He would think about how Nameless City wasn't much but it was their home and how thankful he is that ___ would choose to be with him and stay here with him when she probably had better options.

But then the two get interrupted and the daydreams have to come to an end :(

Yu comes to tell the two that Kuryu group is back in town and are trying to take the children and women.

"I love you, wait for me. I'll come back," she says as she follows Yu.

Scene continues in the next section under "Let me set the scene"

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

I feel like everyone in S.W.O.R.D. would find out that ____ is an extraterrestrial being through Saigo. Maybe when he's telling The Amamiya brothers, Kohaku, and Tsukumo about how Rude mines the crystalized toxic waste and sells it, idk, but I feel like they would find out through him and then tell the Sannoh members and then it spreads to the rest of S.W.O.R.D. from there.

Kuryu definitely finds out through Ryu cause that bitch always got people snooping around Nameless City. Kuryu probably also found out from Ryu because ____ was there when Rude came in the getaway car for Smoky during that one fight where Ryu freakin sliced his back and he needed stitches. Ryu probably remembered and had someone spy on them.

And y'all know these stinky, wrinkly, old raisins, they'll do anything for money.

Probably planning to kidnap her and perform scientific experiments on her or sell her to some other corrupt corporation that wants to study her for money.

Cue Kuryu scheming to kidnap ____.

Let me set the scene:

Ryu has had people lurking around Nameless City to help himself in higher ranking with Kuryu.

They find out about ___ being non-human and also being Smoky's s/o, so now they have someone they can not only use as leverage against Smoky but a non-human being is probably gonna get them a shit ton of money.

Probably went into Nameless City and pretended to kidnap the kids as a distraction. They're looking out for Rude, and once they see ___ jump into the fight, they shove all the kids out of the van, keep her locked in, and drive off.

"___!"

"THEY TOOK ___!"

The members split up, half running after the van and the other half get the kids to safety but now they're confused because wtf are they gonna do?! Smoky is gonna be furious that another family member was taken, no less the love of his life.

The members who ran after the van couldn't stop them before the van left Nameless City. Rude all meet up to go and find Smoky, finding him and Lala together.

"Smoky... we have bad news" (P)

Smoky looked at his members, "Where's ___?"

"She was taken. The kids were just a way to lure her out and distract us. Once they got their hands on her they let everyone else go. We're sorry. We should've paid better attention." (Takeshi)

All the members have their heads hung low, ashamed they couldn't come back with everyone.

Smoky looked into the distance, "They're coming," he whispered.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

I don't know how long Cobra was held by Kuryu group when he got kidnapped but for the sake of this story, I'm gonna say he's been there for a whole night and this is his second day in there when ___ arrives to join him.

___ fights with the dudes who are in the back of the van with her the whole entire ride. These dudes are trying to hold her down and she's just jumping everywhere and kicking them the van literally can not drive smoothly because she's jumping from wall to wall in the back. Once they get to their destination, more men come out and are able to hold her down so now she's locked up with Cobra.

The two are chained facing each other and this is the first time Cobra actually sees her face since last time they met she had her hood up.

These 2 are literally getting beat up in this room together but neither will give Kuryu the information they want.

"You can leave Cobra, just give us what we want. We want Rude's leader, not you." Cobra proceeds to glare at the Kuryu cronies without an answer. The man turns around and goes towards ___ and makes her look at him by grabbing her hair. "Or maybe his girlfriend will talk. Tell me where your boyfriend is monster."

"I'll die before I tell you where any of them are."

This leads to him beating her with a pipe. The catch is that her wounds start healing themselves right as they appear on her body so it leaves the Kuryu guys confused. He leaves to report his findings which leaves the two alone for a while.

Cue the bonding time.

"___, your eyes."

"Yes Cobra, I know my eyes close a different way," ___ says as she laughs at him.

"You're not human?"

"No. Smoky makes me wear my hood up to cover my eyes so that other people don't see that my eyes close differently."

"What are you?"

"I don't really know. I just know that I'm not human. All I can remember is that I crashed just outside of Nameless City and the kids found me one day while I was wandering around. They introduced me to Rude Boys a while later and then I became part of the family."

"Do you like it there?"

"I don't know anything else but I do. I like the Nameless City family, it's really big, and everyone takes care of each other."

"That's nice to know. What about your injuries?"

"They heal on their own. I can heal other people too but only small things like cuts, bruises, and the flu."

"I'm gonna ask Smoky if I can borrow you during flu season, the Sannoh guys are awful when they're sick."

The two laugh and continue to make small talk and yank on the chains holding them to try and escape.

As night starts to fall, the Kuryu cronies are back and Cobra and ___ are back to getting beaten.

"We want to take out Rude's leader, you get me?"

"Smoky and the others will get out before you can find them," says ___. The cronies aren't too happy to hear it so they start beating them up again.

Mr. Kurosaki walks in and looks at the two. He bends down to Cobra's level and looks at him before turning to look at ___. "If he won't talk, we don't need him, give him the cement. Her, get her ready for the operating table. The scientists we recruited want to do tests on the monster."

"The only monster in here is you."

Mr. Kurosaki sends a slap to ___'s face. "Carry on," he says as he leaves.

As the cronies are untying ___ to take her elsewhere and trying to make Cobra ingest the cement, Kohaku and Tsukumo break in.

"That smoothie looks disgusting. It could upset his stomach." The two are able to beat everyone up and get Cobra and ___ out of their chains. As they help the two stand, ___ looks at Cobra alarmed.

"Cobra, Smoky."

"Kohaku we have to hurry. Smoky is in danger." The two men grabbed Cobra and ___, put them on their motorcycles, and headed towards Nameless City.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

"Almost everyone was taken."

"I refuse to move out no matter what!"

"They can't just do this to us."

"What about ___?"

As the group is talking, Smoky joins them.

"Smoky, you should stay in bed."

"Get ready to clear out."

"Hey, are we deserting Nameless City?"

"No! There's nowhere else to go! And what about ___?!"

"We've been living our lives for someone else. We kept ourselves alive by helping each other. Our dreams were always someone else's dreams. But things have to change now. From now on, you have to dream for yourselves, and not for other people. In a new town."

"But Smoky, I want to stay here. With all of us here together."

"Eri, don't worry. We'll always be together. The way we are now, we can survive anywhere."

The group felt the ground begin to shake and ran out to check what was happening. Kuryu was laying waste to the city.

"Everybody run! Go!" shouted Takeshi. P grabbed Lala and Eri, taking them as they both shouted for Smoky to go with them.

"Takeshi, you go too."

"What about you?"

"I'll lure them away."

"What about ___? What do I tell her when she comes back?"

Smoky turned back to look at him, "Take care of everyone."

"Smoky-"

"Go."

Takeshi knew there was no point in arguing with Smoky so he looked at his leader one last time and followed the others out.

(I don't want to write this next part 😭) (I'm gonna cut out some of the dialogue and only write the parts that are needed to go with this story)

"Are you here to kill me?"

"I have orders. I can't refuse them."

"SO THIS IS WHERE HE WAS! YOUR LITTLE INHUMAN GIRLFRIEND CAN'T HELP YOU THIS TIME!"

"Hey, Smoky. What's so special about this place anyways?"

"You wouldn't understand, Cain."

"Don't call me by that name! GET HIM!"

Smoky let out a small smile. "It was a cold night like this, the day that it happened. When I was abandoned in this town, and the world forgot about me. But, I found my true family here. A family with bonds stronger than blood. I got to experience love. I had faith in my future and was happy with my family. I was happy with my love even if it was short-lived. Without a doubt, I have lived the best life."

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

Tsukumo and Kohaku came into the building supporting Cobra and ___.

"Where's Smoky?!" shouted Cobra.

___ let go of Tsukumo and ran towards her family.

She doesn't care who sees at this point, she's using every freakin power she can conjure out of her hands to save Smoky.

Takeshi looks at her "____, he's gone"

"No, no he's not. I can fix this," she whispers shakily.

Everyone sits around her and watches as the girl hovers above him trying to resurrect him.

Lala kneels down next to ____.

She lets out sounds of frustration mixed with sobs as she continues trying and saying "No, please, I can fix this" to herself as if it were a mantra. Her voice grows with her emotions. "I can fix this. I can fix this. I can fix this. I CAN FIX THIS! I CAN FIX IT!"

____ lays her head on Smoky's chest. "Why didn't you wait for me?" she whispers to him.

Lala pulls ____ away from her brother's body and into a hug. The two cry, having lost the person they both love most.

As everyone else digs a place to put Smoky to rest, Lala and ____ sit together with him. ____ fixed them into a position where his head laid on her lap as he always liked to do. Her sobs stopped, but tears continued to fall from her eyes as she healed the cuts and bruises making them go away. If she couldn't bring him back, at least she could make his wounds go away so that they didn't hurt wherever he was.

"Your tears shine just like the stars you make for the kids to play with. If he saw you like this he would tell you how pretty they are, but then he would wipe your tears and tell you that he liked it better when you smiled." Lala let a faint smile grace her face as she pictured how her brother would look speaking to ____ and brushing her tears away.

"He would take one look at us and ask who made us cry, then threaten to fight them afterward huh?"

"Yeah, yeah he would."

The boys came back to pick up Smoky's body. As they began lowering him down, ____ grabbed onto his arm.

"____, let him go. We will all miss him, but you have to let him go in peace," whispered Takeshi as he looked at the broken girl.

"I can't. I don't think I'm ready," ____ whispered back.

Cobra walked over to ____ and gently released her hand from Smoky's arm. "Let him go ____. He lived a good life and he's in a better place now."

____ begins to cry again as her beloved is lowered into the ground and covered. More tears came out of her eyes as he became less visible.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

The rest of Rude along with the girls stayed in the old Mugen warehouse for the night, not wanting to go to back to Nameless City quite yet.

No one was able to sleep, so they stayed up to talk.

"What happened while I was gone?"

"When we came back to tell Smoky that they took you, he knew that something big was about to happen. He told everyone to clear out, including me. I asked him what I was supposed to tell you once you came back and he wasn't here, all he said was to take care of everyone." A tear fell down Takeshi's face as he finished. ___ had never seen any of the Rude Boys cry since she became a part of the family. They always said that they didn't have time to cry, and that they always had to be strong.

Lala grabbed ___'s hand. "___, what happened to you when you were gone?"

"I was held captive in the same room as Cobra. We were both chained to the ceiling. Kuryu wanted information on Smoky, but neither of us would talk so we got beat up. The guy who was hitting me with a bat realized that my injuries were healing themselves. This caused them to experiment on me later and figured out that if I'm repeatedly injured, it takes longer for the wounds to heal. How is everyone holding up?"

She got all sorts of answers varying from "Not great", to "awful", and "I hate this".

"I know that we all miss Smoky, but let's not let his death keep us from continuing to live, okay?"

"Okay. For Smoky!" yelled the boys.

The group began breaking off into smaller conversations, Lala and ___ broke off to have girl talk.

"___, are you alright?"

"In what context Lala?"

"Losing my brother, getting beaten up, everything."

"If I'm being honest Lala, no. No, I'm not okay. The last thing I got to say to Smoky was 'I'll be back, wait for me' and I didn't even get to keep my word. He didn't live long enough to see me come back. Kuryu cronies' beatings didn't even hurt as much as when I walked into the warehouse and saw Smoky lifeless. I feel so useless. I would transfer life energy to Smoky and then practiced so hard to get my magic stronger, all for nothing to work. What is the point in being some other extraterrestrial being if I couldn't even do anything."

"You transferred your life energy into Smoky? Isn't that dangerous?"

"I think so. I started feeling the affects after the second time I did it."

"That's why you were super pale and tired that one day huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you know how mad Smoky would be if he knew you were doing that?"

"It's a good thing he never found out then isn't it?"

The two girls looked at each other and laughed, thankful that even in times of sorrow they still had each other to find light in.

"What about you? Are you okay Lala?"

"No, not really. I miss my brother, I'm worried about the rest of our family, and I'm worried about where we'll go from here. Will we all go back to Nameless City? We couldn't even bring ourselves to go back tonight, will we ever be okay again?"

"Smoky always said that he believed we were the strongest in SWORD, we'll be okay."

Lala looked at ___ and nodded. Smoky always believed they would fly higher than anyone else, they'll all be okay eventually.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

Rude Boys, Amamiya Brothers, Kohaku, Tsukumo, and Cobra sat together in the old Mugen warehouse.

___ hasn't talked to anyone else other than her family members since Smoky's burial. She sat with Lala who held her, knowing she needed the comfort.

After some time ___ got out of her spot and walked to Cobra. "Cobra."

"Hm?"

"Turn your head this way," she said as she pointed to her left.

He was confused but did as the girl said.

She held her hand up to his face and helped lighten the bruising. "That's all I can do because I'm a bit weak right now, but it'll help the bruises heal faster."

"Thank you ___." Cobra offered her the seat next to him on his motorcycle but she shook her head no and walked back to sit with Lala.

Lala looked at the two and smirked knowingly.

The other SWORD Gangs arrived, listening to how they would be able to take Kuryu down. With their plan down, everyone split up to do their respective tasks.

As Tsukumo, Sannoh, Lala, and ___ arrived at the second test center, they scoped out the area.

"It's only for women, we'll go in."

"Are you guys sure? ___ you're still weak from when we were captured."

"I'm fine. We'll be fine."

The two girls jumped in through the window and began sneaking around to look for Eri.

As the two girls were tip-toeing towards the noise, Lala looked at ___ and whispered. "My brother just died, can you wait a while before you start dating Cobra?"

"LALA," ___ whisper yelled. "I'm not dating anyone else. Come on, this way, it's not the time to make jokes we have to find Eri." Lala laughed at her best friend's reaction.

The girls entered a room and hid behind a pillar.

"Aunty." (Lala)

"Lala, ___."

"What happened?" (___)

"Eri. They're looking for her."

"Why Aunty?" (Lala)

"She was the first to test positive for the illness, but she's escaped."

"Where to?" (Lala)

"She went to-"

"Smoky's grave. She has to have gone back to Nameless City to say goodbye to him. She's young, not stupid. She must've known what would happen when Smoky sent all of you out."

Lala and ___ thanked the woman and went back out of the building the way they came.

"Eri was the first to get a positive test back." (Lala)

"Okay. Is she inside?" (Tsukumo)

"No, she's escaped to go see Smoky." (___)

"Let's get to Nameless City." (Cobra)

(Yes, ___ did jump on Mr. Junpei's motorcycle to get to Nameless City and Lala did make fun of her again for it later)

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

(I don't know what happens to Nameless City or its residents after the third movie and I can't find any information online either so for the sake of this story I'm gonna say that the explosives were removed from Nameless City and the Rude Boys members are working to rebuild Nameless City for the residents to move back in.)

The SWORD gangs were able to rescue Eri and expose Kuryu, but unfortunately life didn't go back to being the same.

The Nameless City residents' home wasn't the same. The Rude Boys have to work to rebuild what once was.

Rude Boys are missing their leader. Takeshi wants to hand the role over to ___ but ___ insists that Takeshi take over the role as she sees him the most fit and assures him that Smoky would agree.

___ and Takeshi become closer as if they were blood siblings when he's feeling the weight of being the leader crashing down on him and she listens to his struggles and helps advise him as best as she could like she once did with Smoky.

Everyone visits Smoky's grave separately to talk to him. It could be for something positive that happened, or something negati ve. Whatever it is, everyone still felt that Smoky would always be leader and that he was listening and guiding them from somewhere far away.

Lala and ___ continue to be as close as ever. Lala makes fun of ___ because she is convinced Cobra has a crush on her while ___ fires back that if that's the case then Hiroto has a crush on Lala.

The two girls cry and mourn together but also bicker and have fun like real sisters.

Eri spends a lot of time with ___ because she feels as though ___ is the closest connection she has to Smoky. Eri doesn't ask the others about Smoky but runs to ___ knowing that she will always share stories and memories with Eri without hesitation.

Eri always remembers to tell ___ to engulf Nameless City with her positive energy at night because she knows the other kids miss Smoky and life before the incident as much as she does, and ___'s energy gives them a similar feeling.

The kids ask ___ to release stars at night more often so everyone can enjoy them.

Eri asks ___ for trails of stars at night so that they can guide Smoky back to them and watch over them. (screaming crying throwing up oh my god)

Life is getting better..... or so everyone thought.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

It's another day in Nameless City.

Rude Boys are gathering materials and supplies to restore their home when Kuryu Group vans start driving into their territory.

The Rude Boys members tell everyone to hide and get to safety.

Cain steps out of his car and stands in between his men. "Hello kids, I haven't seen you guys in a while. When did I last step foot here?" he puts his hand on his chin, pretending to think. "Oh! Right! When I laid waste to your leader."

"Why you-"

"Stop it Yu. Getting a reaction out of us is exactly what he wants. SWORD won against Kuryu, what the hell are you guys doing here? Get out of our territory or we fight." (Takeshi)

"I'm not here for a fight today. Everyone is allowed to stay in this little dump of a place you guys call home. I just want her," Cain says as he points to ___.

P and Yu move to stand in front of ___, blocking her from Cain's sight.

"No. Get out of here." (P)

"Ah but you haven't even heard the best part. I will leave and never come back to this city as long as I get ___. I'll take her peacefully, and let you all off. If you all refuse, I will kill everyone this time, and still take her after this whole place burns down. Take your pick. I know you want to protect your family, maybe choose the option where I don't have to kill everyone."

"I'll go." (___)

"WHAT?!"

"I'll go with them. We can't have all of our work go to waste."

"No ___. Don't do it." (Lala)

As ___ pushes through P and Yu, Takeshi grabs her arm. He whispered loud enough for the Rude members to hear but not Kuryu. "No ___, you can't. We need you here in Nameless City. What is everyone gonna do without you?"

"You guys have lived without me before, you can do it again."

"But Smoky said I had to take care of everyone."

"You are taking care of everyone Takeshi. You've been doing amazing at taking care of everyone and rebuilding Nameless City for our family. Letting me go is apart of taking care of everyone. If I don't go, they will lay waste to Nameless City 10 times over."

"But Smoky said-"

"I know Takeshi, but Smoky would've also done what is best for the family, right?"

"Yes..."

"This is the best move now. You're all going to be just fine. Like Smoky says, with the way you all are you will survive anywhere and fly higher than anyone else."

Takeshi slowly let go of ___'s arm. As she began walking towards Kuryu, Eri came out of her hiding place running.

"WAIT! ___!" she grabbed onto the girl's waist and held on tightly.

"You can't go too. Please stay. We're a family, we have to stay together."

___ bent down to be eye level with Eri. "Eri, we are a family, we will always be together even if you can't see me. You and the rest of the kids be good okay? Help your big brothers and sisters a lot okay?"

Lala came to take Eri away. Eri reluctantly let go of ___ and turned to cry into Lala's arms.

___ looked over her family and her home one last time and got into the van.

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

Needles, poking, prodding, test results, start the process over. Not only was she being tested on, Kuryu cronies were allowed to beat her for "scientific purposes".

Oh how she wished this time she had Cobra chained on the other side of the room same as her to talk to in between getting beat up. But she's thankful her choice has allowed SWORD to live in peace.

Zenshin (the guy that Cobra kicked) walks in after one of Kuryu's punching sessions and bends down to her eye level. "Are those brats really all worth this? Not that I'm complaining. You've made us quite a good amount of money. Everyone is dying to come see the monster girl who is locked up here and get DNA samples."

"The only monster in this room is you," she said to him.

He laughs at her and leaves the room.

That night as ____ lays limply on the operating table, she looks up at the sky through the only small window she can see through in the warehouse and sees a shooting star come her way.

____ shakily puts her hands together, closes her eyes, and makes her wish.

Last time I wished for us to stay together forever. This time, I wish that in every life, our universes collide.

And with her last breath, ____ smiles and whispers “I love you in every universe Smoky. Please wait for me.”

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

The Rude boys, Lala, and Eri sit together by their bondfire in silence.

“Where do you think ____ is? Do you think she’s okay?” (Takeshi)

Lala and Eri continue to look at the stars and realize that the stars look a little different tonight. The lone bright star they have been seeing since Smoky’s passing now has a star just as bright sitting next to it. The two stars twinkle at them as if they were calling out to the girls, trying to tell them something, and then it hits them.

“____ is okay. She’s with Smoky.”

☼☽⋆｡°✧ ✧⋆°｡☾☼

Letting other people hurt my feelings❌

Hurting my own feelings ✅

You made it to the end! Comments, feedback, likes, and reblogs are appreciated. (Please be nice to me and don't come for my throat. I haven't written since 2021 I am coming out of a long-ass writing block and I know my writing is bad lol.)

This story is not proof-read and my grammar sucks so...

Where are all my Smoky simps at? Why do I feel like I am by myself?! I need friends please come out of hiding😭

Please don't repost my work anywhere.

This is just an idea vomit/imagine post. I might turn it into a full story once I can put all these ideas into an actual story that doesn't have plot holes :) but we shall see.

#high&low #high&low smokey #high&low story of sword #high&low x reader #high&low the worst x #high&low the worst #high&low rude boys #i love smokey so much <3 #sannoh rengokai #sannoh hoodlum squad #rude boys #white rascals #oya high #oya kou #daruma ikka #high&low smoky #high and low

51 notes · View notes

skyfallslayer · 10 months ago

Text

The Black & White Lie || Chapter One

-Modern Day!Eddie Munson x Wheeler!Reader-

Series Masterlist

🦋Summary: Ah, College. A time where you can finally spread your wings and enjoy a little bit of freedom. And you’re even spending it with your best friend, Jonathan. You shouldn’t get too lonely… right?

🦋Pairings: Slow burn! Eddie Munson x Wheeler!Reader; (Past) Jason Carver x Reader; Platonic! Jonathan Byers x Reader; Jonathan x Nancy

🦋Rating: Teen

🦋Word Count: 3,248

🦋Date: 2/18/24

🦋Warnings: Brief mention of underage drinking; Brief talks of sex - of losing virginity; Slight Reference to a panic attack. Read At Your Own Risk!

🦋 A/N: If you recognized the summary for this story, this is actually inspired by the movie 'Son-In-Law'. When I watched for the first time the other day, for some reason the love interest reminded me of Eddie a lot and- *Ding*Ding*! Lightbulb moment! And then before you know it, every idea came flooding in and then this was born. Hopefully it turns out like it did in my head. Lol. Enjoy!

In a small rural town in Hawkins, Indiana, is where this strange adventure begins. Born 18 years ago is our main protagonist of the story, Y/N Wheeler. Y/N grew up with a loving family that owns a farm, consisting of her twin sister, Nancy, her younger brother, Mike, and baby sister, Holly; and of course her parents.

When she wasn’t helping out on her parents’ farm, Y/N was the typical “all american” girl. She dawns lovely clothes, is mindful and full of manners, a cheer captain and top of her classes throughout the school years and earned many straight A’s that steered her in the right direction for a bright future and career. Which leads to her very big day…

Now here you are, dressed in hunter green silk and caps, the seniors waited around on the bleachers of the basketball court, diplomas in hand as they listened to their principal speak from his heart, telling them that he was very proud that you made it this far. When he finishes everyone claps and soon the spotlight falls upon you as the class valedictorian.

You stood up as your name was called, hearing everyone applaud and your family cheer from you in the stands; You even heard your boyfriend, Jason, shouting your name. You step up to the podium with a smile, proceeding to recite the speech that you’ve replayed thousands of times.

“Today, I would like to talk about change. It’s all around us.” You feel your family’s eyes on you as you begin. “Change. It happens whether we want it or not. Change. Are we ready for it? I think so. We are poised and prepared for the future, ready to embrace new people, places and ideas. In short, we are ready for the challenge of life. Lady and Gentleman, take a good look at us. We are the future. We are the Hawkins Tigers. Here us roar! We did it!”

“I give you the class of 20XX!” Your principal sent just as everyone sent their caps into the air while jumping with joy.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“We fucking did.” Your twin, Nancy, said once everyone was settled down into their friend’s house for the party. She passes you a drink and gives you a wink to silently tell you this was a… special fruit punch.

You laugh quietly. “Thank you Mr. Hopper.” You smile and take a sip before sighing with relief. “Four long years and it’s finally over.”

Nancy hums. “And you’re the one who’s jumping right back into it.”

You quirk your eyebrow up. “Hey, pot-kettle? You’re going to college, too.”

“Not willing…” She sighs. “I wish I could have gone to the same school as you.”

“I know.” You frown a little. It was always hard to not stay attached to your twin, especially when you’ve done pretty much everything together. However, you try to keep both your hopes up by saying, “But, hey… you can’t pass up a scholarship. Indiana’s instate school is still just as great as California’s. Not to mention, Indiana U has the best journalism courses, this is your dream! Your calling! You’ll be great.”

You see your sister smile, happy with the outcome just as someone came up and slung their arms around both your shoulders.

“How are my favorite girls doing?” Jonathan, who was your childhood/best friend, asked, with the biggest grin on his face. Whether that was from drinking or feeling the high of not being in highschool, you were unsure of but glad to see he was enjoying himself.

“Pretty amazing, actually.” Nancy replies to her boyfriend (Yeah, her boyfriend. Whom she should thank you for that). “You?”

He lets out a blissful sigh. “Fantastic! The nightmare is finally over.”

You snorted and teased, “You really didn’t like it?”

“Hell, no. You think there’s room for a nerd like me? I never fit in.”

“Awe.” Nancy said, squeezing his cheek. “You’ll always be our nerd.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, hey! Y/N! Jonathan!” You both turned around to spot one of your brothers’ friends, Dustin. He smiles with his goofy toothless grin, making you heart melt (He was always your favorite one. Don’t tell, Mike). “Hey, if you find a cute girl around my age in Cali, send her my way.”

“Dusty!” His mother said, catching his conversation when she walked by.

“What?”

Jonathan laughs. “We’ll try. I promise.” He said, ruffling the kid’s springy hair.

He holds his hand to his chest, all moved. “What about you Nancy? Any cute girls in Bloomington?”

“I will definitely try, Dustin.” She promises as well, crossing her heart. It must have been enough for the boy before he ran off with some friends to the backyard.

“What do you think Cali’s like?” Jonathan asked, genuinely curious.

“Hmm, don’t know.” Nancy said, knowing just watching shows from there and reading up about it wasn’t enough information.

“I mean, sun, sand, ocean, uh–”

“Baywatch, The Hollywood sign, uh, Nickelodeon, um–” You started naming off things and couldn’t hide the fact that you were about to laugh at your own antics. Both your sister and friend were on the verge of doing the same.

“Nickelodeon?” Jonathan muttered, surprised.

“Y-Yeah, uh, Regular Show, San Andreas fault, Chris Pine, Comic Con, Pet Rocks–”

“Pet Rocks?” Nancy asked, confused.

“Hey, they were invented in the state, look it up. Uh, Universal Studios, Barbie, The San Diego Zoo, Alcatraz–”

She chuckles. “Y/N, Stop.”

“Never.”

“Oh, kids!” Jonathan’s mother, Joyce, called out, getting their attention.

Well, I guess that’s your guys’ cue to take some photos.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

You were all packed and ready to go for the next day. Since Nancy didn’t start school till next week, your family decided it would be nice for all of you to pack in the old van and drive to your new school. Your Dad says it was for… safety, but you knew better; They were all going to desperately miss you. Which leads to this conversation that’s been going back and forth for a few moments now.

“-California is a long way off just to go to school. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider going in state?” Your father, Ted, asked, and just when you were about to ‘go to bed’.

You laugh lightly, trying to calm his nerves. “You know I want to do this. Besides, I won’t be alone. Jonathan will be there with me.”

“Well– that’s true. But uh, Y/N, I’m not sure if I’ve really prepared you for what you’re gonna run into out there. Uh–” He clears his throat as you raise an eyebrow. “What I mean is… the boys are different from what they are here. They’re uh–”

“Dad?”

“Hmm?”

You smile. “I’ll be fine. You know me.”

He nods. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He knows you well enough that you won’t do anything too crazy. “Now let’s try to get some shut eye.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight.”

“‘Night.”

And when the door shut, your closet automatically flew wide open (and you pray that it didn’t make too much noise).

“He’s officially calling it a night?” Nancy asked, dressed in street clothes which you were also wearing under your robe. She was skeptical as she stared at the door wondering if he’ll just waltz back in here without warning.

“Yep.” You reply, shedding your coverage and standing tall.

“Oh, finally! He gave the same talk, and I don’t leave for another week!” She smiles. “Thanks for letting me sneak out.”

“Hey, we both got to see our boyfriends before we leave, right?”

“Just–” She grabs you by your hands. “Be careful, alright?”

“Right back at you, Nance.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

You found yourself in the barn that was far away from your house. Laying on the hay bales, you were kissing Jason passionately, your hands in his hair and slowly moaning his name as he slowly undoes each button on your blouse. But your worriedness got the best of you, making you squirm a bit from his touch.

“Jason.” You whisper, feeling his fingers skim across your bra straps.

“What?” He said back, ghosting your ripe lips.

“Slow down.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause I-I want it to be right.” You reply, a twinge of guilt courses through you as he stops his actions, looking you dead in the eyes with concern and softness.

“Well, when is it going to be right?” He asked, sounding like a lost puppy. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”

You almost laugh at the face he was making. “You act like it’s forever.”

“Well I’m not going to see you for three months. What if everything changes?”

“Nothing is going to change.” You shake your head, cupping his face and stroking his cheeks with your thumb. “I’ll go to school, you’ll work at the co-op, and we’ll see each other every single vacation. And when I’m done–” You smile. “We’ll be together.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay.” He whispers, fully under your spell. “I guess I can wait.”

You hum in delight. “Now…” You pull him closer again. “Where were we?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Dad’s going to blow a fuse if we don’t leave soon!” Nancy says, barging into the bathroom where you were finishing up doing your hair.

“I know, I know. I’m finishing up.” You said, sparing your twin a glance. You can see her button her collared shirt all the way up, making you grin like the cheshire cat. “Oooh… I didn’t know Byers was a biter.”

She blushed and lightly smacked you in the arm. “Do not tease me. I mean he always is.”

Your eyebrows shot up. “Always?”

“Yeah.” She locks eyes with you, face still red before realizing. “Wait… You and Jason still haven’t done it?”

Now it was your turn to blush. “W-Well–”

“I thought you surely were going to do it last night?”

“I-I don’t know, I got weird.” You shrug, breaking eye contact. “I told him we should wait, you know, when the time’s right.”

“So you’re going to be like a 40 year old virgin?” Nancy teased, copying your grin from earlier.

“Hey.” You said, smacking her this time.

“Joking, I think it’s sweet. Y/N Wheeler, the purest of all Wheelers.”

“You know they think you’re pure too.” You said as you followed her out and down the stairs.

“Ha, ha.”

“I’m serious, Nance!” You reply, feeling around your pockets as you do so. “Oh, crap. I forgot my phone.”

“Well hurry up! Dad’s a ticking time bomb.” She yelled back and hustled out of the house. The conversation she foretold was being presented in front of her.

“I don’t get why we’re driving. Flying would be much easier.” Mike complained as he loaded his backpack into the car with a sour expression.

“We’re just trying to spend some quality time with your sister, Okay?” Their mother, Karen said, giving him a look to tell him to stop.

“Oh, good, Holly’s here.” Ted said, as he spotted the four year old climbing into the van. “Mike, where’s your sisters?”

“I’m here!” Nancy said, while fixing her hair to cover her neck.

“Okay, where’s Y/N then?”

“Maybe she’s still in the barn with–” Mike snickers, before getting whacked in the back of his head by Nancy. “Ow! Mom!”

“Kids, stop fighting!” Karen shouted back.

“Y/N!” Ted called out, upon seeing his daughter still up in her room through her window.

“Coming!” You called back, double checking you have everything before you go (I mean I guess your family could mail anything you need to you but that’ll be a hassle for them; And maybe kind of a dick to do that to them?).

“Well hurry up! Time is of the essence.” He sighs. “I swear, the Byers are going to beat us there.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

And sure enough…

They did.

Parking pretty much right next to each other, you stood their basking in front of the school along with Jonathan and his sister. The younger girl was looking at it like she’s never seen such a big building before.

“Bitchin’.” She says, and both you and Jonathan hold back a laugh.

“Language, young lady.” Jim, or who you like to call, Hopper said to his daughter who gave him a strange look.

“You say it all the time.”

“Think she’s caught you there.” Jonathan said, throwing salt into the wound.

“You’re not helping your sister here.” He points to the car. “Now I’m going to make my kids grab your own bags.”

“What?!” They said, which resulted in some light bickering, which was kind of happening with the other family beside them.

“Y/N! Get your head out of the clouds, and let’s find your dorm.” Ted said, and you hurry over.

The families grabbed the belongings and headed straight first into the hectic crowd. This was definitely a culture shock for them, especially for the Wheelers. The hallway was crowded with rowdy young adults, cracking jokes, makeout sessions, and even the occasionally streaker. You locked eyes with your sister when it happened, who was trying to hold back a smirk as your eyes just stayed wide. Your dad ushered you to keep moving until you found your dorm, overhearing a conversation while you passed.

“Uh, this was the– uh, opportunity that you wanted for your daughter?” Ted said, as Karen tried to hold back her feelings on her face (Which was hard at this point).

When you finally got to the room at the end of the hall, room 408, you noticed the left side of the room was empty, free for you to use. The other side was already occupied, filled with a few movie posters and cheer pendants. You smiled and wondered what your roommate would be like (and was excited that she likes cheerleading like you. At least you have a good conversation started).

“Hey, why don’t you see where Jonathan’s at?” You tell Nancy who complied and dove back into the crowd.

“Well this is very cozy, sweetie.” Karen said, trying to stay positive.

“It’s a shithole.” Mike replies, plopping on your bed.

“Mike!”

“What?”

“It’s… not bad. I’ll do.” You said, also trying to keep your head up high. But your brother tries to say something else and you were fortunately saved by a cute ginger girl entering the room.

“Hello, there. I’m Chrissy, your roomie.” She said, slightly shy as she gave the family a wave.

“Hi.” You said, waving too. “I’m Y/N.”

“Sorry to bother you, Chrissy, but it seems we forgot the key to her trunk.” Ted said, gesturing to where most of your belongings were. “Do you have any idea where I can get some tools?”

“Oh, yes. Uh, our resident advisor should have something.” She points across the hall. “He’s right across from here.”

“Oh, perfect. Thank you.” He was secretly happy that his precious daughter would be across from the advisor. He pushes himself past some people, knuckles brushing against the door. He knocked a few times afterwards when he didn’t get a response, wondering if maybe it was too loud to even hear it or he’s not in. So, treading carefully, he opens the door to peek inside.

This was not at all what he was expecting.

He was blasted in the face with ‘Iron Maiden’, and a room that screamed heavy metal. Stickers and posters laid across the wall, all consisting of either some kind of band or horror film; A record player-CD combo on the shelf, instruments of every kind, sheet music on the floor, leather jackets and boots hanging off from the windows and ceiling. This was not…

Resident advisor material.

Did he walk into the wrong place or–

“Hello!!” A voice shouts before he dangled upside down in front of the older man. Ted nearly has a heart attack as he startles and falls back against the door. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, I’m just trying to get the creative juices flowing. You know?”

“Uh– s-sure.” Ted said, still trying to process this. He keeps his eyes on him and not the fact that this boy was hanging from a pipe. “Um, I need to borrow a screwdriver.”

The boy, who’s hair was long and curly and orbs of cinnamon, raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I’m all out of vodka.”

“N-No, I need an actually screwdriver. My daughter’s trunk is–”

“Oh, you have a daughter! Is she cute?”

“What–”

“I’m just kidding.” He smiles and holds his hand out. “Name’s Eddie. I’m the resident advisor.”

Make that a second heart attack for Mr. Wheeler, who’s face paled as he tried reaching for the doorknob behind him. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit.”

“What? Where are you going?” He asked, with a snort. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

But Ted was already hustling back over to the room where they were still talking to Chrissy, who was getting them up to speed on how this place ran. He comes over to his wife, pulling her aside and discussing what he just witnessed and how he’s not liking this. Meanwhile, Nancy had just returned while stringing along her boyfriend.

“Oh, Chrissy, this is my twin Nancy and my friend Jonathan.” You said, as she waves to them.

“Hi. You guys coming to school too?” Chrissy asked, your sister shaking her head.

“I am.” Jonathan said, before looking at you. “Y/N/N, this is awesome.”

You tilt your head. “Really? I still think this is a bit overwhelming.”

“I admit, it is, but my roommate, Argyle, is a trip.” He smiles. “I’m so going to love this place.”

“See, honey–” Karen said, loudly. “Jonathan’s staying.” She holds her hand up to stop her husband from talking. “And yes, I’m sure Joyce has some words about this place too, but the kids can’t pass this up. They got on a scholarship here.”

“But Karen–” He tries to protest.

“They. Have. A. Scholarship. They’re staying.” Her eyes trailed over to yours. “Right?”

You flash your dad a smile. “Don’t worry, Dad. It’ll be fine. And you know I can always come home.”

“See, Ted?” Your mother points out, finally defeating him. He mumbles an ‘okay’, satisfying her.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Mom, you’re suffocating me.” Jonathan said, after yet another hug and kiss from his mother. She was holding back some tears at the thought of leaving her oldest child behind in another state.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m really happy for you, I promise.”

“I know, Mom, I know.” He takes her hands in his. “I promise I’ll be okay.” She opens her mouth to speak. “And I promise I’ll call every once and a while.”

Joyce smiles at the answer. “You’re going to do great.”

The family of five shared a hug afterwards, wishing him the best of luck. Meanwhile, the Wheelers were doing the same, squeezing the life of You and nagging you to make you call, or at least text them here and there. You of course promised them too, which was a good enough answer.

The last person to hug you was your sister, giving you a small squeeze of reassurance, knowing you like the back of her hand.

“I know you’re nervous about fitting it, but don’t sweat it.” She says, pulling away. “You’re going to do fine. If not, you can always go home, or…” She smirks. “You can nag Jonathan.”

You chuckle. “Of course I can nag him. It’s not like I’ll be alone.”

You have Jonathan, and you even have your chill roommate, Chrissy. You shouldn’t get too lonely.

Right?

(TBC)

A/N: I promise the next one will be longer :) - Thanks for reading!

-Taglist Is Open-

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x wheeler!reader #nancy wheeler x sister!reader #mike wheeler x sister!reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #my fanfic writing #skyfallwrites

34 notes · View notes

gretavanfunk · 5 months ago

Text

Fighting Fire (Series)

Chapter Eleven

Word Count: 8,843

Summary: Stevie and Sam never seemed to be what people refer to as "two peas in a pod" growing up. He got under her skin more times than she could count and Sam was desperate to be on a level playing field as his older brother and Stevie's best friend, Jake. One summer, Sam is forced to face his demons and in turn, Stevie is too.

Warnings: smut, 18+, minors dni, explicit content

This story is written and edited by me and it is my baby so I hope some people out there can enjoy it as much as I enjoy creating it! If there are typos, bear with me lol

Chapter Eleven Playlist for the vibes!

It was bright and early on Saturday morning when Stevie found herself in the heaps of the dreaded task of cleaning out the garage storage. Last night, the group had taken the boat out and had a nice afternoon together on the water, but Sam suggested that they utilize the twins' help while they could.

Sam and Stevie were sitting at the bow of the boat, his arm firmly placed around her hips, holding her close to him. Jake was driving the boat back to the dock and Josh was sitting at the back, watching the ripples in the water behind them.

"We can get a lot of stuff done tomorrow with them here," Sam said and Stevie looked over at him, "Like what?"

"Well," he smiled, "I know you don't want to do the garage! We can make them do it."

Stevie laughed and shook her head, "We could ask them for help, sure."

Sam leaned forward on his elbow, turning to smile at her and instead of talking about it anymore, he pulled her into a kiss, earning some indistinct shouting from Jake behind them.

So, here they were. None of them had stayed up very late after making the plans for the morning. They got up around six and started working, deciding to combine the garage cleaning and the garage sale all in one.

Stevie had been dreading this only because of how much stuff she knew her dad kept in here. However, Sam might have had a point about the twins being helpful to them in this task because after about forty-five minutes of working, they had already made a pretty big dent in the items they were keeping and getting rid of.

Stevie was chucking some junk into a trash bag towards the back of the garage when she heard Sam gasp. She turned and found him ripping an old sheet off of her dad's piano.

"Oh man," Sam muttered and ran his hand along the old, damaged wood of her father's piano, "What a beauty!"

She smiled at him and turned back to what she was doing, but stopped again when he spoke, "I gotta get this fixed up!"

Stevie watched him and chuckled, "For what, Sam? That thing is a piece of junk."

Sam opened the piano up to look at the keys and smiled, shaking his head, "Yeah, but it's my piece of junk, Stevie. I'm calling dibs!"

He pressed on a few keys lightly and looked at her, "Besides, I know a guy."

"A guy out in Nashville?" Stevie pestered, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sam nodded, "Mhmm, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind making a trip!"

"You really wanna keep that thing?" Stevie laughed and he looked at her with wide eyes, "Of course I do! I might even get a U-Haul to take it home! Or should I keep it here? What do you expect me to play when I'm here with you, Stephanie?"

The sentiment made her body tense, thinking about Sam coming back to visit her. Part of her was delighted by the possibility, and part of her was very unsure how to feel. It sounded as if they were exclusive and she didn't know what she thought about that. She was scared to get into a serious relationship, especially considering everything that happened the last few days.

She made a face and shook her head, "Maybe a piano that isn't falling apart?"

Sam scoffed, "Please! It's great! Don't even worry about it!"

Jake's voice behind her caused Stevie to jump, momentarily forgetting he was there too, "We will probably need a U-Haul or a trailer or something though! We can't fit all this stuff in the Jeep!"

"Jesus," Stevie clutched her chest, "I forgot you were here!"

"That'll happen sometimes with him," Sam chuckled and Josh chimed in too, "Too occupied with tunnel vision, hmm?"

"Gross and offensive," Jake muttered, "Focus, people! We have so much to do!"

Josh grabbed onto Stevie's arm, pulling her away from Sam and out of the garage to where he had been working on the set up for their garage sale.

"What do you think?" Josh asked and Stevie looked around, nodding.

There were a couple of tables with smaller items lined up in a very organized way. Josh had lined up some of the bigger items next to the tables and Stevie smiled at how much he focused on details.

"It looks great, Josh," she exclaimed, "Let's just hope people actually show up to this."

"Don't worry," he patted her back, "I've been listing everything on Facebook Marketplace as I've been setting them out."

"Oh," she looked at him with wide eyes, "Are you sure that's a good idea to do publicly since you postponed your tour?"

Josh shook his head and laughed, "Not on my profile, Stevie! On yours, of course!"

"Oh, okay," Stevie chuckled, "So you're just hacking me now."

"Better you than me," Josh smiled and pat her on the back.

Josh found his spot on a chair close by the tables and he kept his eye out for anyone who would stop to take a look at things while Stevie returned to her duties inside the garage with Jake and Sam. When she would say her dad had hundreds of things in the garage, she wasn't kidding. There were multiple shelves housing books on so many different topics: history, music, religion, philosophy, cars, sports, you name it.

She brought out boxes and boxes with all of his books, deciding against keeping any of them, and then she cleaned up the bookshelves and Jake helped her carry them out to the sale as well. Sam was now organizing all of the stuff they decided to keep which wasn't very much. Stevie was pretty impressed by her ability to let a lot of this stuff go, but she figured having the twins with her helped with that.

The canoes, the piano, all of the fishing and camping supplies, a tote full of photo albums and artwork and some back up supplies for the boat were the only things that Stevie was holding onto. Sam was rearranging where things went, minus the canoes that remained strapped to the wall. Stevie was wiping surfaces down when Sam smacked the tote down and popped it open. She watched him for a moment as he took a photo album out and opened it carefully.

She felt her cheeks flush when she watched him smile at it. It's not as if he hadn't seen whatever pictures were in there before, but the change in the context of their relationship made this scene a lot more emotionally loaded for her. She watched him as he took a sharp breath in through his nose, silently chuckling at a photo, but she kept cleaning and smiled to herself.

"Having fun over there?" she asked and he looked up at her, still smiling, "These pictures are adorable."

Stevie laughed, "Dad had my grandma's knack for photo albums."

She set the disinfecting wipes down and walked over to him, "Which one is that?"

"Hmm," Sam smirked, "Must be high school."

Stevie looked down at the album and saw the photo that Sam was chuckling at and her eyes widened at it. It was a photo of them. Just the two of them. It was puzzling for her to see it because there weren't very many times that Sam and Stevie hung out just the two of them back then.

However, in this photograph, their arms were over each other's shoulders, both making funny faces while their faces were painted and they were decked out in their high school colors, sitting in the stands at one of Jake's soccer games. Stevie was probably a freshman in this photo while Sam was in seventh grade. She laughed loudly at the sight of them, both looking ridiculously awkward with braces and weird haircuts.

"Oh my God," Stevie said and Sam laughed, "Yeah, kinda crazy!"

"What a rare piece of history," she snorted and he nodded, "Yeah, a picture of just you and me together? Pretty rare."

Stevie looked up at him and smiled, scrunching her nose a bit, "Well, that can change."

He looked at her with raised eyebrows and a small smile, "It better."

Stevie stood up on her toes and grabbed his arm, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Come on," she patted the photo album, "We can look at these later. Right now, we've gotta sweep this place out."

Sam rolled his eyes playfully, but he shut the book, tossing it back into the tote and closing it up before lifting it up onto a shelf. Stevie passed him a broom and she went back to where she was standing previously, grabbing the wipes and moving on.

Once Sam and Stevie were done with the cleaning, he went inside to wash up and make lunch and Stevie walked out to where the twins were, checking in on how everything was going. When she got there, she noticed Jake talking to one of the locals about one of the instruments that they weren't taking home with them.

"Hey man," Jake laughed, "You're not about to lowball me. This thing is one of a kind! The price is firm!"

She laughed at the sight of Jake trying to hustle this guy and she shook her head, walking over to them.

"Hey there," she said, "Jake, relax. I'll take twenty-five off of the price."

"Thank you," the man smiled, "I'll take it!"

Jake glared at her as she took the man's cash and he walked away with a mandolin.

"Stevie, what the hell?" Jake said, "I almost had him!"

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "Jake, I appreciate it, really. However, I'm trying to get this stuff out of here, so it's not a big deal."

He hummed and threw his hands up in defense, "Fine, fine! I hope that guy has a great day 'cause he just robbed you!"

Stevie laughed and shoved Jake lightly, "Go get some water, Jacob."

Jake stuck his tongue out at her and went inside the house. Stevie sat beside Josh, handing him the cash and Josh smiled, tucking it away into the cash box.

"You've already sold a few things on Facebook too," Josh said, "But, I told them they're gonna have to come pick the stuff up today so we'll see if that happens."

Over the next couple of hours, Sam brought out sandwiches for everyone and they all hung out, sitting around while people came and went. Sam had brought Rosie out with him and they ran around for a while too, Stevie enjoying the sight of him just having fun.

"You two are awfully coupley after not knowing what you are like what," Josh scratched his chin, "thirty-two hours ago?"

Stevie narrowed her eyes at him, hugging her legs to her chest, "Can I not just admire him without it meaning something?"

Jake laughed, almost choking on his sandwich, "No, you can't. It's Sam. Admiring him definitely means something."

Stevie rolled her eyes, mumbling something to herself and Jake stared at her for a second, waiting for her to stop acting like a teenager.

"Just date him for fuck's sake," Jake muttered, "What's the point in not telling him how you feel?"

"Well what if I don't know how I feel?" Stevie protested and Jake rolled his eyes, "Give me a fucking break, Stevie. You literally can't stop stealing glances at him anytime you can."

"Didn't you just punch him in the face for kissing me? Why are you suddenly pressuring me to label it?" Stevie glared and Jake smiled.

He gestured his hand to his younger brother who was now laying in the grass with his dog, "You're also the one who told me you wanted him. What are you waiting around for?"

Stevie sighed, not able to hold back a smile when she looked back at Sam and she took in a sharp breath.

Stevie tried to regulate her face before turning to Jake, "I'm just hesitant to dive right in, ya know? I want to hold on to what things are like right now before a label goes on to change it."

Jake stared at her blankly, physically revealing that he did not understand what she was saying.

Josh then chimed in, "That's fair. Sometimes labeling it can complicate things and I don't blame you for being hesitant."

Stevie clapped her hands together and gestured to Josh with a smile, "Thank you!"

"But, you do have to consider it," Josh continued with a small laugh, "Do you want whatever this is with Sam to just be a summer thing or not? He's going to go home and get back on the road at some point and you've gotta decide what that means for you, missy."

"God! Since when did you guys decide to fucking grill me all the time?" Stevie rested her chin on her hands and huffed in irritation.

"Since you started fucking our brother," Jake snapped back and Stevie gasped, hitting him lightly while Jake fought back a fit of laughter.

"Jesus Christ, Jake!"

"Just hoping you're thinking about this," Josh patted her back, "Cause you're really playing with fire when it comes to Sam's feelings, Stevie."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "I know that, Josh. I can really like him without making him my boyfriend though, can't I?"

"Yeah, I guess you can," Josh laughed, "I'm just picking your brain about it. Be careful."

"Seriously, Stevie," Jake sighed, "He's improved so much since the last time I saw him and I'm not saying that's all because of you, but if you rip his heart out, we will all be back to square one."

"I'm not a fucking monster," Stevie gasped, "I don't want to rip his heart out! I'm just proceeding with caution, that's all."

Stevie sat back in her chair and sighed aggressively, "Besides! A lot of his meltdown had to do with extreme burnout! Not me! And I have good reasons for hesitating, given my history."

Jake looked at her and grinned, "I know, Steve. Relax, I'm just messing with you."

"But seriously," Josh sighed, "The conversation about where you stand will come up and I just hope you'll be ready when it does."

"Jeez," Stevie laughed, slugging Josh in the arm playfully, "Why do you have to make it sound so eerie?"

Josh held his hands up but was laughing loudly and shrugged, "The dramatics, they never leave."

Stevie shook her head and stood up, deciding to go hang out with Sam and Rosie instead.

For not having advertised any of this beforehand, they sold almost everything. They were only left with the boxes of books and bookshelves by the time they decided to throw in the towel.

Jake and Sam carried the bookshelves into the garage while Stevie carried the boxes of books and Josh started to break down the tables.

Once everything was cleaned up, they all went inside and Sam sighed, flopping himself onto the couch.

"So," he proclaimed, "What do you guys wanna do with your last night here?"

"I'm fucking tired," Jake admitted with a yawn and Josh nodded, "Yeah, maybe something a little lowkey?"

"Movie night?" Stevie grinned wide and leaned forward in between the twins, looking back and forth at them excitedly.

Jake laughed, roughing up her hair with his hand and nodded, "Yeah, I'm down for that."

"Great! You guys pick," Stevie squeezed their shoulders and turned on her foot to the kitchen, getting ready to make some frozen pizzas and Sam popped in too.

"No," Stevie pointed to him and shook her head, "Do not try to help me, Sam. You already do everything around here."

"Oh, come on," Sam whined, "Let me help you!"

"I literally do not even need any help," Stevie laughed, "This is so simple, anyone can do it."

"Fine," Sam pouted and he scooted a chair out from the dining room table, "Then at least let me watch you."

"Freak," Stevie made a face and laughed. She walked over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to stand up again.

"Actually, I do need you to do something," Stevie said and Sam raised his eyebrows in anticipation, "I need you to go claim the couch for us! I know Jake is gonna try to sit there cause he doesn't like the lounge chairs."

The most mischievous smile spread across Sam's face and he grabbed her face in his hands quickly, kissing her for a moment and chuckling when he pulled away, "Finally! My time has come!"

"Not if he's already sitting there," Stevie laughed and Sam let go of her, turning on his foot quickly and heading out to the living room again.

When he rounded the corner into the living room, Jake was on his way to the couch but Sam panicked, taking off in a sprint to beat him. Sam jumped onto the sofa spread eagle and almost knocked into his brother, causing Jake to widen his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jake asked and Sam was face down in a couch cushion mumbling back, "Reserving the couch."

"Come on," Jake huffed, "The chairs aren't as comfy, Sam."

Sam lifted his head and smiled at Jake, still catching his breath, "That's too fucking bad, isn't it?"

Jake rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, not swayed by Sam to sit somewhere else and Sam huffed, rolling his eyes too.

"Jake, there's a bean bag chair in the room Josh is staying in. Just use that!"

"Fine," Jake shook his head and turned around, walking upstairs.

Sam flipped himself over and laid very still, not trusting that Jake wouldn't try to weasel his way onto the couch once he came back. Once Stevie had put the pizzas in the oven, she found her way to him, chuckling at the sight of him laying so still.

"Why do you look terrified?" she questioned, causing him to jump at the sound of her voice.

"I was saving your spot," Sam sighed and sat up, giving her space to sit down.

"Okay, but you could breathe ya know," Stevie laughed, settling in beside him and looking over at Josh who was sat cross-legged, still flipping through the big binder her dad had full of movies. He didn't even bother looking up at them as he spoke.

"You should of seen him launch himself into the sofa, Stevie," Josh giggled, "It was like Mission Impossible."

Stevie smiled and looked over at Sam who bit his lip and shook his head, "Hey, maybe we should watch Mission Impossible!"

"Uh, no," Stevie interjected and Sam laid his head back against the sofa, leaning slightly to look at her, "Well, I'll tell ya what we aren't watching!"

Stevie hummed in response, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow to him.

"The fucking Hunger Games," Sam replied with a small smile on his lips.

Stevie scoffed, "Maybe we can start at the beginning so you'll know what the hell is going on!"

Josh shook his head and interrupted their banter, "Nope! Too sad!"

He pulled a disk out of the sleeve and held it up and smiled, "But this one is perfect!"

"What is it?" Sam asked and Stevie saw the writing on the disk that said "A River Runs Through It".

"Absolutely not," she protested, "That movie is so sad, Josh!"

Josh scoffed and shook his head, "It is not sad! It's a beautiful film about brotherhood and life!"

Stevie rolled her eyes, "No! If we're vetoing The Hunger Games, we're vetoing A River Runs Through It!"

"Haven't seen either one," Sam shrugged and chuckled at their bickering.

"Fine," Josh sighed and put the disk back but he was quick to pull out another one, "What about Dirty Dancing?"

"I can get behind Dirty Dancing," Stevie nodded and Sam groaned, "You guys like the stupidest movies."

"Dirty Dancing is a classic," Stevie elbowed him and he laughed, "Whatever."

"It's not like you're even gonna be focused on the movie anyway," Josh laughed, "You're too busy in la la land over there."

Sam flipped him off and before Stevie or Josh could further tease him, Jake came into the room holding a bean bag chair that was almost as big as he is. He threw it onto the floor with a huff and plopped down, settling into it.

"Did you pick a movie?" Jake asked and Stevie just laughed at how nonchalantly he entered the room.

Josh nodded, "Dirty Dancing."

"Nice," Jake muttered and Sam gasped, "What? Even you like this movie?"

Jake looked at Sam with a questioning look and he shrugged, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner, Sam."

Sam fluttered his eyes, gawking at Jake in shock and Stevie patted his shoulder, "You'll get it when the movie is over."

While Josh got up and was putting the movie in the DVD player, the timer on the oven went off and Stevie hopped up, prancing into the kitchen to take them out. She set them all on the stove top to cool and went into the fridge, gathering beers for everyone. Stevie fixed up everyone a plate and they all settled in with their pizza, beers and Josh started the movie.

Stevie took the rare occurrence of silence among the four of them to take in the moment. She smiled to herself glancing at each of them focusing on the screen and if her dad were here with them, it'd feel just like it did when they were all teenagers. Sam glanced at her and smiled when he saw her smile.

He tilted his head in confusion, "Everything okay over there?"

She looked at him quickly with tinted cheeks and she nodded, lightly laughing, "Never better."

After they were done with the pizza, Sam offered to take the plates into the kitchen but Stevie refused, mouthing off to him about how he had never seen this movie so he can't miss any of it. Josh ended up interjecting and cleaning up instead, so Sam laid back on the couch grabbing Stevie's waist as she was in the middle of protesting Josh's work and he pulled her back onto him, grabbing a blanket and tossing it over them haphazardly.

She laughed at his efforts and settled into him, curling up onto his chest and fixing the blanket over them. Sam's hands rest on her back and her arms wrapped around him. His skin was hot to the touch and he felt snuggly, instantly making Stevie smile softly. She listened with her ear pressed against his chest and his heart sounded as if it would beat out of his chest, causing her to smile wider.

Sam always made his flirting and affection towards Stevie look easy, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous as hell all the time. As much as he loved sneaking around with Stevie and the physicality of their relationship thus far, he was really relieved that it wasn't a secret anymore. That's why his heart was pounding, because here he was, with the person he truly believed he could love forever in his arms and his brothers just sitting there like it was any other day.

For years he had wished it could be just like this. Her head on his chest, Jake and Josh completely unbothered. Now that it was, Sam felt at ease. For the first time in a long time, everything in his mind completely stilled like the sun peeking through clouds after a storm. But, his heart was racing because he had never cared more about anything. If he made one wrong move, everything could change just as quickly as it all started.

Not that he ever even imagined doing anything to ruin this, but the thought made him extremely anxious anyway. On top of that, what if she ever changed her mind? While it helped that it was all out in the open, he still wasn't entirely sure how she felt. Besides saying she liked him. That could change in seconds too.

Stevie erupted in laughter at something in the movie and he felt her shaking against him. He smiled down at her and decided to let his stream of thought go, focusing on the moment they were in now. He might not have cared at all about this movie, but he wanted to pay attention to something that seemed to be something she liked. He rubbed her back lightly and his heart fluttered when her grip around him tightened.

As the movie went on, Sam noticed Stevie pressing into him a little bit more than before and he sat up a bit and looked down at her, noticing that she had fallen asleep. He smiled and swiped his hand over her forehead, pushing her hair out of her face. He wanted to keep her there and didn't want to disturb her. However, when the credits started rolling and the twins both stretched and got up out of their seats, he knew she would be upset if they didn't all say goodnight. Sam pressed a kiss on the top of Stevie's head and rubbed her back softly, trying in the nicest way possible to wake her up.

"Stevie," Sam whispered, "Wake up, babe."

Jake walked over and pretended to gag before he grabbed Stevie's shoulder and shook her, "Steve! Wake up!"

"Hey, asshole!" Sam chuckled and Jake flipped him off, "Oh please, she's obsessed with you already, Sam. No need to be Mr. Gentle all the time."

"Still! Don't scare her awake, you dick," Sam shook his head and Stevie yawned, opening her eyes and looking up at Jake.

"No," she whined, "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yes, you did," Jake laughed, "And now we're going to bed so I wanted to say goodnight."

"Boo!" Stevie frowned and stretched, getting up off of Sam, "But after we sleep then you have to leave!"

"It's probably better that we leave you two alone," Josh chuckled as he approached them and stood beside Jake, "You clearly have things to do."

Jake made a face and looked at Josh with a frown, "Don't be a fucking freak."

Stevie laughed and she stood up, giving each of them a hug.

"Fine! Goodnight!" Stevie sighed and Jake rustled her hair, "Don't be sad! We'll have breakfast together tomorrow morning before we leave!"

He kissed the top of her head and Stevie nodded, "Okay, okay. Sweet dreams! I love you!"

"Love you," Jake smiled, letting her go and yawning before turning to go up stairs following Josh.

Stevie looked down at Sam and smiled, reaching her hand out to him, "Come on."

Sam smiled up at her and grabbed her hand but just as she began to pull him up, he yanked on her hand and pulled her back onto him. She grunted and hit his chest, "Sam! Come on, let's go to bed."

"Can we just stay here for a second?" Sam asked, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to him, cuddling into her.

"Yeah, I guess so," she sighed, wrapping her arms around him again, "It's nice, isn't it?"

"So nice," Sam sighed, resting his cheek on her head softly, "I could stay here forever if it was socially acceptable."

Stevie smiled, but she didn't say anything further, leaving Sam questioning if she felt the same way he did, but she was still holding onto him and right now, that was enough for him. After a moment, Stevie lifted her head to look at him and she grinned, searching his face and taking a moment just to enjoy it.

"Ya know, if someone had told me that we'd be here like this a month ago," Stevie began and her smile widen, "I probably would've tried to punch them in the face."

Sam laughed loudly and nodded, "Which is reasonable."

"But, as surprising as it is," Stevie reached her hand up to his face, "I'm really glad that we are here."

Sam lowered his hands to the back of her thighs, pulling them forward and causing her to yelp with a string full of giggles. Sam sat up a bit, inching his face closer to hers and planting a kiss on her lips roughly. He didn't have words for the way it felt to hear her say something like that, but he figured kissing her was enough.

Stevie kissed him back and just as she was trying to pull away, Sam brought her back in, making her laugh and mumble against his mouth.

"Sam," She said and he hummed against her, continuing to kiss her and she pulled back. This time, he let her go.

"Let's go to bed, babe."

"But it's so far," Sam whined and Stevie chuckled, pushing her hands against his chest and lifting herself off of him and standing up.

"Suit yourself," Stevie shrugged, "But I know my bed is a lot comfier than the couch."

"Good luck sleeping without me next to you," Sam doubled down, turning over on his side and snuggling into the throw pillow.

She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Puh-lease! See you in five minutes."

She turned around and headed towards the stairs and Sam looked over his shoulder to see that she was actually leaving him there.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, "Wait for me!"

Stevie heard Sam scramble to his feet and she chuckled, turning around to wait for him to catch up to her.

"I can't believe you were just gonna leave me on the couch by myself," Sam gasped when he reached her, grabbing at her waist and she laughed, "I can't believe you thought I would have any problem with just leaving your ass there."

He grinned and shrugged, "Good point."

He took her hand and lead her up the stairs to her bedroom, which was beginning to look more and more like her space after this weekend. Minus the very important decor upgrade it needed, of course. It was definitely beginning to smell less and less like her dad.

Stevie felt bad for thinking it, but with the full house and the twins here to help get so much of the work done, she didn't even really think about her dad for the last few days. Which overall was kind of a nice break from thinking about him constantly for months on end. Of course, there was the occasional sentimental moment that one of them would bring up when they found something in the house or in the garage, but it didn't feel the way it felt when she first arrived to the house.

It felt a lot more peaceful now.

Maybe she was too distracted by Sam and that was to blame. Or maybe she was forced to face his space and his stuff and she could actually be healing? Either way, she felt better so that's all that really mattered to her. Plus, with Sam's skin on her skin, it was hard to think about anything else.

Now, they were both perched on their knees on top of the bed, Sam's fingers lightly brushed her navel, gripping the hemline of her shirt, pushing it up and pulling it over her head as she smiled and lifted her arms for him to remove it. This was the first time that Sam wasn't so quick with his movements and the way he looked so focused at her made her think he was taking his time deliberately.

Sam was, in fact, taking his time. He never did complain about a steamy secret hookup, or a desperate exchange and he never would dare to. However, he didn't want to just fuck each other to sleep. He wanted to love her. He wanted something he could hold onto and remember in case this didn't last forever. It probably sounded stupid. Maybe even a little weird, but the way Stevie was smiling with her nose scrunched a little and her cheeks tinted pink, he knew she enjoyed the fullness of his attention.

It didn't take Stevie long to catch on to Sam's pacing and she was slow in her actions too, leaning forward slightly and touching the edge of his shirt, only letting her hands slide up underneath it and feel his skin. Sam let out a deep breath, only flinching slightly at her cold touch. Stevie's lips curved up at this but she didn't say anything, only scooting herself closer to him. Sam swiftly grabbed at the back of his shirt, pulling his shirt over his head so they were even.

Stevie then popped off her bra and the two of them sat there, smiling softly. Sam took a moment to just look at her before he held her hips, pushing her back onto the bed. He looked down at her and smiled lovingly before kissing her gently. When he pulled away, Stevie's face was flushed and she bit the inside of her cheek.

"This is different," Stevie admitted and Sam hummed, "Just a little change of pace, baby. I'm multi-talented."

She snickered and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, leading him back to her lips. He kissed her deeply, deeper than he ever had. Stevie was quickly lost in it. Anytime they were together, Stevie had a hard time focusing on anything else, but this kiss completely consumed her. It was gentle and soft, but was dripping with desperation. She had never been kissed like this.

His hands started on her hips but they were exploring every curve of her body, soft to the touch. He clutched her shorts, tugging them slightly and she lifted her hips to help him take them off. Sam backed away from her, tossing her shorts off of the bed and scooting back away from her. He hooked his arms under her legs and pulled her closer to him and her breath caught in her throat. When he lowered himself down and settled his head in between her legs, she gasped quietly and sat up quickly.

Stevie grabbed his face, lifting it to look at her, "Sam, wait! Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sam tilted his head, eyebrows knitted together and a small questioning smile on his lips, "Uh, Stevie? I've been pretty fucking sure of this for a long time."

She grinned, cheeks heating but worry washed over her features again and Sam lifted himself a little, still holding onto her legs, "You okay?"

"It's just uh," Stevie sighed, running her hand through her hair, "Nobody has ever..."

Sam's eyes widened and he sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat, "Um, I'm sorry. Nobody?"

Sam was more than surprised. He was actually very shocked. In his mind, Stevie always was a girl who could have anything she wanted, just with the bat of an eyelash. This was the first time he was seeing that maybe that was just because he was the one that would do anything she wanted. He had to admit, however, that seeing her so nervous made him feel like his heart was about to explode. It was cute. So ridiculously cute even, he almost forgot about how shocking this new development was.

She felt her face become aflame and she shook her head, "Um, no."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle slightly, stopping himself to avoid her feeling even more weird about it.

He shook his head, "You mean to tell me that you dated the same guy for six years and he never once went down on you?"

Stevie shrugged, "No, not even once."

Sam raised his eyebrows and laughed, "But you went down on him, right? 'Cause I know you've definitely done it before, from experience."

She laughed at him and shrugged again, "Yeah, I mean, of course I did."

"What a cunt," Sam rolled his eyes.

He rubbed her legs gently and softened his eyes, "Do you want me to?"

Stevie bit her lip, not sure on how to respond. The sight of him so eager between her legs made her feel so intensely that the answer was obviously yes, but she wasn't sure if she should just skip ahead.

Sam picked up on her nerves and continued, "Because personally, I really, really want to."

Stevie bit her lip and smiled, "Okay, yeah. I want you to."

Sam reached up and kissed her lips, pushing her onto her back again.

"Take a deep breath, honey," Sam whispered, "Just enjoy."

Sam resumed his previous position and Stevie adjusted herself against the pillow below her head, looking up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath. Physical intimacy never made her this nervous before, but this was uncharted territory and it felt so... personal.

She wasn't expecting the surprise that came over her when Sam's tongue lapped against her the first time. It was warm. Warmer than she imagined it would be and Sam was hesitant at first, trying to ease Stevie into it. He peppered kisses on her inner thighs and ran his tongue between her folds a few times, feeling her body relax after becoming used to having him there.

Then, he switched focuses onto her clit, wanting nothing more than to hear her angelic voice. He buried his face a little closer to her, flicking his tongue against her at a steady pace. She gasped at the feeling. It was unlike anything she ever felt before and she was a little too nervous to look down at him, but she did and she was glad. His eyes looked back at her, more intensely than they ever had and without thinking, her hands flew into his hair.

"Oh fuck," she whispered, "Keep going!"

He groaned against her in response and she moaned, overwhelmed by the feeling. Sam quickened his pace, switching between his tongue, and sucking on her and he smiled when Stevie started to wiggle against him, arching her back.

"Fuck, Sam," Stevie panted, "I'm gonna come!"

Sam held onto her tighter, and she tried scooting away, but he never lost contact. He was getting a little tired, but he had her right where he wanted her and he thought about it for a moment, before using a trick from Stevie.

He started humming a song while trying to keep an even rhythm with his tongue, which proved itself a little bit difficult. However, Stevie started to move her hips against him and he smiled, feeling her legs shake.

"Holy fucking shit," Stevie sighed, letting herself fuck Sam's face until she settled from her high, laying still and gasping for breath. Sam was wearing a whimsical grin when he got up, grabbing his t-shirt and wiping his face on it. Stevie opened her eyes and realized that she pretty much rode his face and she gasped, "Oh my god, I'm sorry."

"Ha!" Sam chuckled, "Do not apologize to me. That was the hottest thing I've ever seen."

She laughed and shook her head, "That was unlike anything I've ever felt in my life."

Sam laughed, crawling up to lay down beside her and pulling on her hips until they were in a spooning position, "You don't want to feed my ego too much."

She sighed, pushing herself against him and taking a deep breath, "Don't worry, I would never."

"Although, you don't really have to," Sam pressed a kiss into her shoulder blade, "You kind of stole the show with that."

Stevie felt Sam's erection pressed against the lower of her back and she smiled, wiggling her ass a bit against it, making him hiss.

"Babe," Sam muttered, "Please, this isn't about me."

"Oh, I think it is," Stevie snickered, "Wouldn't want to be selfish."

"No," Sam sighed, wrapping his arms around her tighter, "I just wanted to make you come tonight."

"And I want to make you come," Stevie protested, "Come on, baby, put it in."

Sam laughed lightly and Stevie felt his breath hot on her neck.

"Sam," Stevie whined, "We don't even have to move! Just fuck me like this."

"Awww," Sam teased, "You're tired, huh?"

She laughed and nodded, "Exhausted, but I'll still do some work, babe."

She reached her arm behind her, grabbing onto his thigh and feeling the fabric of his shorts, "Come on, take these off."

"Alright, alright!" Sam giggled, "Since you're fucking begging!"

"I am not," Stevie rolled her eyes, "You wanna hear begging?"

Sam stilled himself, raising an eyebrow and nervous to respond, "And if I do?"

"Hmmm," Stevie smiled, thrilled that Sam couldn't even see her face, "I'd probably say something like pretty please?"

Sam laughed, "You can do better than that."

Stevie immediately moved her hand farther down between them, grabbing his dick tightly and making him jump.

"Damn, doesn't that hurt your arm?" Sam jested and Stevie ignored him, "Sam, I need you inside me, now."

He laughed, "That's not really begging, is it? More like demanding."

She let go of him, bringing her arms forward and crossing them over her chest, "Fine, suit yourself. I'm going to sleep just fine."

"I will too, thank you very much," Sam muttered, snuggling into her and she rolled her eyes. Stevie made it a point to keep moving every few seconds, trying to create some friction against him and after about a minute of this, Sam groaned, "Jesus fucking Christ, Stevie!"

He loosened his grip around her, pushing her away from him and she grinned to herself when she heard him shuffling around, wiggling out of his shorts.

Without any warning, Sam grabbed her leg, pushing it up and spreading her just enough to push himself into her. She sighed, relieved that she had won. Their brief little power trip argument didn't steer Sam clear of his plan to be intentional with making love to her. He didn't move very aggressively, thrusting into her gently and slowly.

"Is that better, baby?" Sam whispered, "Want me to fuck you so lazily like this? Nice and slow?"

Stevie just hummed, too focused on what he was doing to speak and he kissed her neck with multiple small kisses.

"Hmm," Sam continued, "Cat's got your tongue all of a sudden?"

She groaned, "Shut up, Sam."

He laughed, and pulled her closer to him, reaching his arm around her to grab her chest, massaging her softly and keeping his pace, wanting to last longer than he had been recently. However, because he was taking his time so much this time around, it was hard not to notice how much more he could feel her. They both were hot to the touch and because of the events only moments before, she felt more wet than she ever had. Sam's breathing was heavy, trying not to make it so obvious by how quickly he was already unraveling.

But Stevie could sense this, in the way the pads of his fingers dug into her skin a little bit harder and the way she could feel the breath escape his nose at an unusual pace. So, she grabbed his wrist, moving her hips against his own movements.

"Come on, Sammy," Stevie sighed, "I wanna hear you, babe."

"Shit, Stevie," he groaned loudly, "You're so fucking wet, I can't focus."

"Mmm," Stevie whimpered a little, letting her own facade slip a little, "You feel so good, Sam. Like you were made for me."

"Fuck, Stevie," Sam panted, "You can't say shit like that."

She craned her neck to try and face him, although she wasn't very successful, "Even if it's true?"

"Oh God," Sam grunted, clutching onto her tighter and thrusting faster.

"Mmhmm," Stevie smiled, "You're perfect, Sammy baby."

Sam's hand reached up to her shoulder, holding onto her and pulling his dick out of her, moaning rather pathetically. Stevie smiled, imagining what he looked like behind her and she bit her lip as she listened to his breathing even out.

Then, Sam giggled and she giggled too. He let go of her and smacked his lips, "Well, I'll be right back."

Sam got off the bed and Stevie laughed, turning around and watching him scurry himself to the bathroom. When he shut the door, Stevie sighed and reached out to where his body was moments before. She smiled and closed her eyes, feeling whole and a bit embarrassed for how much she wanted him to come back so quickly.

Sam looked at himself in the mirror for a moment when he was done cleaning up and he couldn't even try to stop himself from smiling. Stevie's words replayed in his head. She said it was true, but she could've just been saying that in the heat of the moment. However, he thought about what came next.

"You're perfect"

Nothing had ever made him feel so validated and loved. Even with thousands of fans screaming at him at every show, he had never felt the way he felt right now. He was just standing here in the locked bathroom, smiling at himself like an idiot and feeling childishly giddy. He took a deep breath and rand his hands through his hair before leaving the bathroom and making his way back to the bed. He saw Stevie laying there with her eyes closed and a smile on her lips and he smiled too, laying his hand on top of hers gently.

She opened her eyes, taking in a sharp breath and she chuckled, "Oh, you're back!"

"I'm back," Sam winked, "Now let's go to sleep, darling."

Sam lifted her arm and took his place beside her, draping the covers over them softly. He held her hips, pulling her close to him and kissing her forehead, "Goodnight, baby. Sweet dreams."

She hummed, wrapping her arms around his torso and nuzzling her face into his chest, "Goodnight, my love."

The pet name made Sam's heart jump to his throat quickly. All she did was say the word. That's all she said. Well, two words. My. Love. People say it all the time when they're fooling around. God knows he's been given that name quite a few other times. But this time? From her? It meant something entirely different than it ever did before. Did she mean it the way he had hoped she meant it? Did she love him the way that he so consumingly loved her?

Sam let out an uneasy breath and after an amount of time that to him, felt like an eternity, he whispered, "I love you."

She didn't respond, she just laid against him, breathing deeply and Sam bit his lip as he nervously eyed her sleeping body. He kissed the top of her head and closed his own eyes, begging for sleep to come.

The next morning, Stevie woke up first, before the sun was even fully up. The sky outside was a soft shade of indigo, giving the room a blue tint. It was earlier than she was used to waking up, but that was probably due to the uneasy sleep she got after hearing what Sam confessed to her last night.

She didn't say anything in the moment and decided that fabricating sleep was the best way to go. Things just mellowed out! She didn't want to start any fights up again just because she was nervous about something that she already knew. It wasn't any surprise to her that Sam loved her. She knew that he did and technically, this wasn't even the first time he said it. He literally confessed to her that he had been head-over-heels in love with her for years. But, removed from the heat of the moment argument that they were in the first time he said it, it felt different. Now, she was sure that he meant it and the thought of that scared her.

She looked at his sleeping face and smiled nervously. She liked Sam. She really, really liked Sam, but she wasn't ready to confirm whether or not she loved him. Yes, while everything was settling down and working out, she still had a lot to figure out and so did he! He had only been going to therapy for a few weeks and both of them had a lot of work to do to the house and to themselves.

On the other hand, she couldn't lie and say that hearing him whisper it to her last night made her heart want to explode over and over again. She took a deep breath at the memory and she began to slowly roll herself away and out of Sam's grasp. She knew that Sam would cook them all breakfast again if she didn't beat him to it first and she knew she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. Plus, she wanted to do something nice for everyone. While she has been here with Sam, she hasn't really had to do any actual work besides dusting her dad's old stuff and she was very grateful for that, all romantic feelings aside.

So, when she successful got out of bed without waking him up, she snuck into the closet and put on some clothes, tiptoeing through the room and slipping into the hallway carefully. When she got downstairs, she let out the breath she was holding in and she yawned, making her way to the kitchen and jumping out of fear to find Josh already there, sipping on tea at the dining room table.

"Fuck! You scared the shit out of me," Stevie breathed and Josh looked at her with surprise, "Woah! You're already awake? That's a first!"

She narrowed her eyes at him and started to put her hair up, walking to the sink and turning the water on to wash her hands, "Maybe I woke up early to make breakfast for everyone, did ya ever think about that?"

"No," Josh took a sip, "And I know that's not what got you up before seven, Stevie. Everything okay?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yes. Just couldn't sleep that well."

Josh watched as she opened the fridge, taking the eggs out and setting them on the counter. He knew she was leaving something out, but he also knew he wouldn't have to pry to get her to talk about it. She opened the egg carton and sighed deeply. Josh's lips curved into a smile as she looked up at him and opened her mouth.

"He said it," Stevie blurted, "Last night as we were going to sleep."

"Said it?" Josh questioned and his eyes widened after a second, "Like? The thing?"

She nodded, "He said love. He said he loves me, Josh."

Josh gasped, "I knew he would but I didn't think he'd say it now! What did you say?"

She looked back down at the eggs and bit her lip, earning more of a grilling tone from Josh.

"Stevie," Josh taunted, "You did respond, didn't you?"

She rubbed her jaw with her hand and sighed, "No! I pretended to be asleep!"

"Steve-"

She wagged her finger at him and frowned, "Don't even start lecturing me, Joshua! I panicked, okay? What was I supposed to do? Tell him I wasn't sure?"

Josh hissed and shook his head, "Eh, I guess not?"

"Exactly!" Stevie took a deep breath, "Besides, the dust from this weekend has just settled and I'm not ready for another thing."

Josh stared at her carefully and breathed deeply in through his nose, "Well, it's going to happen again, ya know. Probably more likely when you're awake. So, I guess you've got something to think about."

"God," Stevie cracked a few eggs into a big bowl, "It feels like all I ever do it think. I want to stop thinking!"

"Well," Josh chuckled, "I have something for that!"

"Josh," Stevie rolled her eyes, "No. I don't need any of your weed."

He shrugged and took another sip, "Whatever you say! I think both of you could chill the fuck out."

She laughed at Josh's knowing expression and continued to cook the house some omelets. When they were done, however, it was still rather early and she didn't really want to go bother Sam or Jake but Josh grabbed her shoulder and shook his head, "Jake needs to get his ass up anyway. I'm not trying to spend all day getting home."

She chuckled and Josh patted her cheek, "I'll go wake them both. Don't worry!"

She smiled, "You are a saint."

Once Josh finally got the two of them downstairs, Stevie had already been sitting there for a few minutes, with the table made and while Jake and Sam were groggy and a bit grumpy, they both wished her a good morning and sat at the table with smiles. Sam kissed her temple before taking his seat beside her. It only took them a little bit to wake up and the four of them ate breakfast together, cracking jokes and laughing loudly.

Stevie felt bittersweet about the twins leaving. While their visit was way more dramatic than anyone bargained for, she was overjoyed to have them all here with her again. While she was excited to be alone with Sam again and to hopefully figure some of this shit out, she couldn't wait for Jake and Josh to return again.

"We'll see you on the fourth!" Jake assured Stevie with a squeeze a few hours later when the Jeep was packed up and they were saying goodbyes, "And this time I won't just drop in unannounced."

She had already said her goodbyes to Josh and he was a bit more serious than his twin, reminding Stevie that she had to address what she truly felt about Sam. So, this jesting from Jake made her crack a smile.

Stevie laughed, squeezing him harder, "I love you. Thank you for everything you did for me this weekend and always."

They pulled apart from their hug and Jake smiled, "I love you too! It's my pleasure, of course! Who knows, maybe you'll be in Nashville too before you know it."

Stevie rolled her eyes, "Mmm, we'll see."

He winked at her and the twins got into the Jeep, waving excessively while backing out and down the road. Sam and Stevie stood side by side, waving obnoxiously at the twins and about halfway through them leaving the property, Sam grabbed her hand, linking his fingers with hers. While Stevie was so unsure about a stupid four-lettered word, she was sure of how comfortable it felt to be swinging her hand with his as they walked back up to the house.

#fanfiction #greta van fleet #gvf #greta van fic #gvf fic #sam kiszka fic #sam gvf #sam kiszka #greta van fleet fan fiction

9 notes · View notes

thatseventiesbitch · 11 months ago

Text

Eric Defending Donna

A rabbit hole I went down for... reasons. Decided to share for funsies.

Season 2 -

In Eric Gets Suspended, Donna is smoking a cigarette on school property and when a teacher catches her, Eric says it's his. He is suspended as a result.

Mentioned in a diary entry that I think is meant to take place sometime in season 2 or 3 - Eric and Donna go to a dive bar to watch the superbowl, and a big, dumb guy starts hitting on Donna. Eric comes to her defense and asks the guy to step outside - while he and Donna slip out the side door (😂).

Season 3 -

At the end of the roller disco episode, Eric comes into the basement and starts whaling on Kelso (and the guys gleefully join in). He shouts, "Donna told me what you did, you dillhole!" Eric was hitting Kelso because he'd made a pass at Donna at the roller disco.

In the ice shack episode, Eric and Donna play the Newlywed Game vs. Jackie and Kelso. Through one of the questions, it is revealed that Donna's told Eric she hates her huge feet. He insists in front of everyone that he doesn't think they're big, and then pivots to insisting that big feet are actually a good thing (😂).

Eric also defended her after he pantsed her in the driveway and Hyde was teasing Donna and calling her Granny Panties. "So what if she wears big panties?" 😂🤣😭

Season 4 -

Eric believes Casey Kelso is manipulating Donna. He tells him not to let Donna believe he cares about her if it's not true, and to let her go rather than hurt her. When Casey disregards his words, Eric threatens to kick his ass (if he makes Donna cry).

He is also very protective of her after the incident with Casey Kelso at the Le Motel. He tells her that he thinks Casey's all wrong for her and that they're moving way too fast.

Season 5 -

When Bob enrolls Donna in the Catholic school, Eric 'marches' over to talk to Bob and try to convince him to let Donna stay at school with him/her friends. He brings a crumb cake to bribe him. He even says he is "prepared to fight this with every fiber of my being" - until he sees her uniform. 🤣

Eric's Grandma Bea is rude towards Donna, seeming to imply that Eric can and should find someone better to marry. While Eric initially enjoys the fact that someone thinks Donna's the lucky one and he's the catch, he eventually tells his grandma that she has got to give Donna a chance, and that if she does she will love her. (Though unfortunately it doesn't work, *lol*)

Jackie's upset with Eric and Donna for threatening to tell Kelso about her secret relationship with Hyde, so in a snappy moment she refers to Donna as a 'big red whore'. Eric tells her to watch what she says.

Season 6 -

When they have their pregnancy scare and their parents confront them in the living room, Donna has to ask him to step in (*lol*), but he does, and says, "Look, whether we're pregnant or not, Donna and I can run our own lives." Unfortunately the next sentence out of his mouth was... utter crap.

After Mitch takes Donna to his brother's wedding and then lied and embarrassed her in front of everybody, Eric was going to fight him. When Mitch tried to weasel out of it, Eric's response was "Donna was really nice to you and you humiliated her - I can't let you treat people like that."

Season 7 -

When Donna's boss at the radio station fires her for refusing to wear a bikini to promote her show, Eric backs her up. He even 'cusses out' her boss and then storms out, taking her with him! Then he comes up with a devious plan that ultimately helps Donna win her job back.

*Note: I purposely did not include the scene where Eric confronts David Millbank in season 1, because although Eric wanted to fight him for Donna, it wasn't on Donna's behalf but because of his own insecurity. And we know for a fact that Donna didn't like it.

#Did I forget any??#That 70s Show #That '70s Show #T7S #Eric and Donna #Eric x Donna #Donna x Eric #otp: mom and dad #Eric Forman #Donna Pinciotti #my essays

24 notes · View notes

youremyheaven · 9 months ago

Note

Omg I saw your moon dominance post and I have to share something 😭

I have a friend whom I went to the same school as, we still talk sometimes but not as much.

She has always been quite a charismatic person, and is a relatively small built, conventionally attractive blonde white girl. Needless to say she is considered quite “soft and feminine” - I only mention race because racism would naturally prevent her being perceived that way.

I like her, she’s very diplomatic and intelligent but MY GOD the manipulative tendencies she had growing up😭😭😭

It’s been a couple years since I was regularly in close proximity to her so I can’t remember that many examples of her lying (also because it was a such a common occurance), however I remember it getting to the point where she herself would awkwardly joke about it.

What I *do* however remember quite distinctly the way she’d occasionally have these “tantrums” after I gave her any mild criticism.

For example, one time we were all having lunch together as a group and she made a mean spirited comment on someone else who was nearby. I pointed out that is was a pretty mean thing to say, not in a particularly accusatory tone, and she quite literally started shouting at me saying “WELL THATS QUITE BIG OF YOU TO SAY BC YOU TOLD ME [insert minor joke about manipulative Snapchat fboys that therefore was nothing to do with her] AND IT REALLY UPSET ME [insert sob story about having a disabled brother] etc etc”

She also had a similar public outrage at me after I asked her if she brought her present in for the Secret Santa, and she responded by kicking me in the shins and going on a tangent about how her life is really stressful and how I only worry about “school and sleep” 💀

However the interesting part that I vaguely covered at the beginning is that she had mastered the whole sweet innocent teenage facade. She had people, primarily older men in authority, entirely wrapped around her finger. She developed this oddly close relationship relationship with one of our teachers, which never got inappropriate, but he would direct like 80% of his energy to helping her over other students (who were equally if not more needing of help). Similarly her therapist literally UNRETIRED to help her personally 😭 I can think of so many examples of authority figures literally bending over backwards to be of service to her.

(She also attracted a kind of unreal level of male attention that was way above the average)

To finally conclude:

She is a hasta sun, moon and ketu with PBP ascendant. Her birthtime isn’t exact but I feel as though PBP is more likely than UBP.

There was also an incident of her sleeping with a teacher in his 20s when she was 17 😬 obviously it’s on him, but it’s interesting to consider that she has Jupiter in the 9H in Chitra (mars) - aswell as a mercury chitra which sits in her 4 planet 8H stellium.

Sorry for this extremely lengthy ask😭 it’s more of an info dump than an ask but I hope it served as an interesting example of moon dominance (+ a little bit of mars influence) in women

bestie never apologise for spilling tea 😂i love reading what ya'll have to say, otherwise i feel like im talking to a wall. and i feel you about this moon bestie of yours, im glad you're out of that toxic friendship!!

a few years ago i had a toxic moon dominant bestie who like you said lied so much and manipulated things so much, its hard for me to even make a list of the shit she did lol, yk how a lot of poc parents will whip their kids or yell at them or something and afterwards act extra nice bc they feel guilty?? I've noticed that Moon dominant people are like that to some extent. my "friend" would say the nastiest most vile derogatory things about me TO ME and then when i responded with radio silence she'd be all 🥺🥺im so worried about you, have you eaten? have you done all the assignments?? here's mine, you can refer to it🥺🥺,, like i was always sooo confused by her but then i started seeing thru her bullshit, how she's only being nice cause she feels guilty lol,, she had a tendency to criticize other people A LOT like your friend and honestly its tiring to listen to that shit, so i think i started saying nice things in return like "oh but xyz is so sweet, she's always so thoughtful" and then she'd say some shit "its so crazy you'd say that because i felt like xyz and abc always hated you" like classic manipulation lmao, like she hates those ppl and if i say one nice thing about them, then she'll try to convince me that those people hate me so that i can be on her side in bitching about them lmfao.

Moon dominant people are soooo insecure its sad,, they feel the need to be so rude and nasty af to others to mask their own insecurities. Obviously I'm only talking about unhealthy Moon influence, im sure there are nice ppl out there as well.

u guys pls feel free to dump any gossip/tea u have in my inbox, i love reading this stuff!!

#moon #jyotish

15 notes · View notes

celestial-mean-girls · 1 year ago

Text

various (incomplete) writings for my versions of the Daycare Attendant, Moony and Sunny

(reference, shown without their ribbons/bells bc Oops lol)

(here are some design notes, and other pieces/lore can be found in their tags 'sunny' 'moony' and 'robolore' below :)!)

===

KIDS ASK THE DARNDEST THINGS :)

“Sunny?”

“Yes, brightshine?”

“How do you work?”

Sunny paused and blinked down at the inquisitive little girl at his side. “How do I work?”

“Yeah; you’re a robot, right?”

“Uh huh!”

“So how do you work?”

Sunny giggled, squatted down to her level, and whimsically bloomed his turquoise-tipped fingers like flower petals before her face. “I’m made of what engineers call magic!”

She giggled loudly. “No you’re not!” she brashly accused through her big grin, drawing shocked body language out of the animated machine so overt and silly that the sight only made her squeal in amusement. “You’re a computer!”

“I’m a computer?!” Sunny gasped, clutching the lunar-themed sensor on his chest. “What?! Really??”

“Hehe, YEAH!”

“Nobody told ME that!! Oh, NO! I thought I was a ROBOT!!” the caretaker wailed, dropping right off his haunches and onto the floor with a plop. His hood went boof ‘round his head in response to the hard and sudden impact, the sight of which sent the child into another giggly fit. “You mean I’ve been LIED TO??”

The histrionics were starting to draw attention from the other kids and one of the adult handlers. Curiosity had them wandering over to see what the fuss was about, while Sunny continued to cartoonishly mourn, “I’m really NOT magic??”

“Noooo, you’re magic! You’re magic!” a couple children chimed in, rushing to console the robot. “She’s lying! You’re magic!”

“Oh, I don’t know what to believe!” The Attendant dropped his flat face into his hands, the little ones patting his shoulders and flinging themselves upon him in comfort. “They told me I’m magic, but— but if I’m a computer—“

A boy piped up, projecting his voice over the din. “Computers are magic!”

Sunny dropped his hands and looked hopefully to the boy at his right. “Yeah? You promise??”

“Of course!” the outspoken six-year-old declared with all the confidence in the world. “You don’t even LOOK like a computer!”

A chorus of voices began to agree, prompting Sunny give a great sigh of relief, his body lifting and folding like a coiled spring. “WHEW! Wow! I guess you’re right; I sure don’t! I’m shaped like a human, not a box.. is that right?”

“YEAH! You don’t look like a box! You look like a human!” the children enthusiastically concurred, their various validations overlapping.

“Well!” their playtime friend said, starting to get to his feet, “Hearing that, I feel a whole lot better—“

“But you’re a COMPUTER!” the girl from afore insisted, just as he was almost at full height. “You’re made of all metal!”

Sunny’s immobile face seemed to gawk. “I’m made of all METAL?!” Flying his pretty bicolored hands to his hood, the animatronic proceeded to clutch the excessive fabric umbrella with no small amount of turmoil, tugging on it as he once again let out a dramatic wail. “Oh, NO!!”

The clamor of giggles and shouts became auditory mashed potato whilst their devoted carer sank to the floor all over again. Sunny was quickly mauled by their excited, worried hands, his distraught suffocated in the children’s wholesome attempts to hug the problem all better. He happily played along of course, welcoming their consolations with literal open arms and kind words.

His children - his little Sundrops - were so sweet.

But a bit of trouble was brewing on the sidelines. A small tiff was beginning to break out between the innocent instigator and the boy who’d challenged her. To the rescue today was Assistant Charlene, already kneeling between them to de-escalate and try to help them talk it out, to some marginal success.

===

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Sunny and Moony are one bot. however, they are NOT programmed as brothers, nor do they consider themselves to be; but they ARE lovers.)

NESTING TIME 🥺

Kassim watched Moony soar from one silken drape to the next with elegance and grace. He likened the robot to Tarzan - if Tarzan were a ballerina. It was after hours, and his shift had ended half an hour ago. Moony would begin patrols in two hours, but for now, he was collecting.

The embodiment of the great Northern Lights swooped down from his sky. Five glowing fingertips nabbed an overstuffed fringe pillow from the security desk, then the animatronic scaled the cloth rope again, making away for the tented tower on the other side of the room.

“Whatcha doin’, Moony?” called out his assistant.

There was a response, but Kassim couldn’t hear it. That was the problem with Moony: he was so hard to hear. Programming dictated his volume control auto-set to a whisper, which was appropriate for a nap time caretaker; however, it did mean that trying to have a conversation with him without being in close proximity could be difficult.

He had to wait. Sure enough, Moony returned, and lowered himself down to Kassim’s level. “Nesting,” he softly spoke. The young man peered into Moony’s swirly purple eye.

“Nesting?”

“Nesting.”

“You’re building a nest?”

“Yes.”

His face scrunched confusion. “Wh.. why?”

“Shouldn’t you be going home?”

Kassim smirked. “Why are you evading the question?”

The purple cyclone rolled in its socket. He was sure Moony would’ve stuck out his tongue if he could, or had one. “Because we like to rest,” Moony lightly snipped, folding his arms. “I know you don’t possibly get it, but we like to nest together.”

Kassim sure didn’t get how a single bot could “nest together” with essentially itself, but he went off the remark anyhow. "

===

#long post #my write #moondrop #sundrop #fnaf daycare attendant #moondrop fnaf #sundrop fnaf #sunny #moony #robolore #my art

20 notes · View notes

eyndr-stories · 1 year ago

Text

Across The World C5 - The Fourth Place

Summary:

The gods of this world are ancient, most of them forgotten, or nearly so. Nomen has been taught not to make deals with any old gods, should they be unlucky enough to come across one. However, when their little brother Maribus stumbles into mortal peril, they find they have no real choice but to accept the trials of one such god in order to save him.

This is an original story written by yours truly! I started writing this back at the very start of 2021 when I had a particularly wild and extremely vivid dream. This story is heavily based on said dream! This dream is also why I strongly distrust bunny mascots / anthro rabbits lmao but anyhoo, I think i've improved as a writer since this so the quality may or may not be quite on par with my other stories. I also had some help from my cool aunt Kerry with editing this, so if there's anything amiss here we can totally blame her lmao

That all being said, I do still like this story, and I hope you will too!! Enjoy <3

Things To Know:

major character death (its okay though, they live lol)

blood and violence

happy ending

protag (Noman) is nonbinary and referred to with they / them pronouns

first person POV

8 chapters in total, about 13,000 words in total. So roughly 1600 words a chapter. Lil bite sized chappys!

No swear words used, somehow

(lmk if i should add anything, i can't think of anything else)

Ao3 link here

Chapter 1 here

Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

C5 - The Fourth Place

We stood on a beach made of red sand. A long bridge in front of us extended into the dark purple ocean and connected the beach to an island. By now, the sun had nearly set and vibrant dark red streaks bled across a lavender sky. From this distance I could just make out the silhouette of a small town resting on that island. A long sturdy bridge spanned the distance between the mainland and the island.

Amicus pulled at my poncho and pointed at the island. “I’m willing to bet the door is in that town somewhere.”

“Agreed.”

We started walking across the bridge. Other people were heading towards the town as well, walking with us along the bridge. When we all arrived at the entrance, we could see there was a commotion of some sort.

“Our god sways the fate of us all. They’ve told me so directly!” a broad and sturdy woman claimed. She stood tall before the nervous crowd. “We needn't worry about the rising waters of the ocean. Our god will sever our tie to the mainland and save us. Our town will not perish this night.”

The people around us began murmuring. A few seemed calmed by the woman’s words, but others looked more skeptical as their eyes glanced toward the endless purple water.

“I’ve been leader here for twenty years and I would not mislead you. Our god is wise and powerful, we can trust them. Everyone will be safe in town!” the woman shouted.

The crowd dispersed and we followed the group into their town.

Amicus whispered, “Do you believe her?”

“In my experience, gods prefer we fix our own problems. My mother told me a story once about a god who got so fed up with their following never doing even the smallest of things for themselves that they ate the entire town."

"Huh. I'm so hungry I might just eat a town myself," Amicus mumbled.

I was getting hungry myself. I debated whether it'd be worth it to try our luck in another marketplace as we walked.

We looked around at stone buildings framed with beach-wood. Lovely red-orange glass outfitted most of the windows. Balconies and rooftops were filled with people chatting and laughing as a warm breeze rippled through. I noticed the people on the lower level with us were not laughing, but discussing with worry about the rising water level. The consensus was to trust their leader, who had never steered them wrong before, but lower voices whispered they might take action themselves to be safe. No one said what that action was though.

Amicus and I turned down another fruitless street.

"What if the door isn't here?" Amicus looked worried.

I put a hand on his shoulder, but just as I was about to say something, the ground swayed. No, not the ground, it was the entire island that moved.

Amicus stood closer to me. “What was that??”

"I'm not sure, but I think the faster we find the door, the better I'd feel," I said as I noticed the fear on the faces around us. Even the people on the balconies had stopped chatting for a moment. "Common, the door has to be around here somewhere."

We continued searching as night settled around us. The air turned cold, but it was nothing like back home. I threw my poncho over Amicus when I saw him shiver and he gratefully wrapped it closer. The ground began swaying more frequently, and I began feeling a little motion sick. This was not good. Whatever had been worrying everyone seemed to be arriving faster than expected.

Amicus gently grabbed my arm, bringing us to a stop. “Nomen… I’ve been meaning to say something.”

Amicus seemed pretty serious, so I gave him my full attention. “What is it, Amicus?”

“I… I wanted to apologize. I really regret not braving the maze with the warrior to come meet you by the doorway so that I could help you through, after that hermit crab shattered your fire starter. If I could do it over again, I’d do things differently. I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry,” Amicus told me.

“It’s alright.” I put a reassuring hand on my friend’s shoulder. “I found my way through okay, no need to worry. I really do understand, that warrior was really scary.”

“And I made you face her alone!” Amicus said.

“It’s okay, I forgive you. Honestly,” I assured.

Amicus relaxed. They nodded.

We picked up the pace as we kept an eye out for the door. I was so focused I didn't notice my boots were wet until I was dragging them through the water. I looked down and realized the buildings were beginning to groan as the ground shifted even harder. Water rushed higher around our feet. I was pretty sure that woman’s god wasn’t saving the town tonight.

The chatter around us quickly became hysteria. I pulled Amicus out of the way as a crowd of people rushed by in a panic.

Amicus's voiced sounded so small when he asked, “We’re too late, aren’t we?”

I couldn't reassure him.

Amicus threw his arms around me and buried his face against me. “I’m sorry we couldn't save Maribus.”

“It sounds to me like you’re giving up. Not cool.” I sounded way more calm than I felt. “I've still got one piece left after this one. That means we can still come back and find the door. The town will go back to how it was when we first came through the door and we'll get another chance to figure it out.”

“But… what if I don't come back with the town? I'm not from here, and I don't have a fire starter of my own.”

I honestly didn't know. I didn't let my terror show on my face. Instead, I forced a smile. "There's no reason to assume you wouldn't come right back with everything else. But… just in case, I'm going to try to bring you with me. Like when we go through the doors." There was a roar, and then a rush of water as the stone walls cracked. I could see a wave taller than the town itself rising and ready to crush the entire island.

I grabbed Amicus in a tight hug and whispered. “Don’t let go no matter what, okay?”

"I won't if you won't." Amicus hugged me back just as tightly.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Just before the wave finally hit, a horrible thought occurred to me. It seemed I’d have to face the rabbit after all.

#rabbit rabbit come out to play #rabbit rabbit consumes the day #rabbit rabbit RUN AWAY #original story #eyndr tells a story #across the world #fictional death #fictional violence

0 notes

aprillikesthings · 9 months ago

Text

woo 10:43 to go

byyyyyyyye

omg Entrapta's happy shriek-laugh

"You did it! I knew you could!" she fucking gets out of her restraints, she could've done it at any time, lol

OH NO Horde Prime jumped into Hordak's body before he hit the ground D:

"Ah, little brother. So it's true. You have been thoroughly corrupted. So be it."

(the way this is worded actually sort of implies, imho, that Entrapta and Hordak did in fact have sex at some point, given how right-wing Christians talk about "corruption." Like so many other things in this show I am left wondering if the implication was on purpose.)

He grabs poor Entrapta by the hair again.

"You have forced my hand."

"and so we shall die in cleansing flame together!"

yeah this is definitely a reference to the rapture/Second Coming

(okay time for a short aside on this, because I run into this a lot with people raised in evangelical/right-wing churches: the rapture is bad theology and most Christians do not and have never believed in it. The concept as currently described didn't exist until 1827, and to this day it's only believed by a small minority of Christians--it's just that those Christians are a majority in parts of the USA and a few other places. It's based on a really badly out-of-context reading of a tiny handful of verses. And I am genuinely sorry if you grew up in one of the churches that made you constantly terrified it was going to happen any day now. The Gospel means "good news," and making people--especially children!--terrified of the rapture is anything but.)

But yeah Horde Prime snaps his fingers and they disappear

Back on Etheria, the rest of the rebellion is holding off bots and clones, and Scorpia is helping now yay! Also Bow and Glimmer have a cute reunion

Horde Prime's ship is waayyyyy too close to them. Horde Prime and Entrapta appear

"for your end has finally come! You have chosen darkness, and so, into darkness you shall be plunged." Cliffs start breaking up and shit, and that green light is everywhere

Bow and Glimmer cling to each other. "The Failsafe...it didn't work."

Prime is still fucking doing a sermon apparently. "And when the ashes scatter, at last, there will be, peace!"

There's a bright light, and then:

aaaaugghghhhgh oh god

my adrenaline shot through the roof again

there's still earthquakes happening

Adora looks past Catra and she turns around

yeah that's not good

aaaugh

Adora whispers "I'm sorry"

;_;

In every way except physical, I am running around the house screaming

Adora's eyes start to slide close and Catra's voice gets faint and I paused it because I know what happens next and AAAAHHHGHGHGHGH

*sobs*

we see/hear like a couple of bits of static and Adora narrows her eyes: she's well aware this isn't physically happening at that exact moment

and given all the varying things she's been made to experience via this sort of hologram/magic thing I can't blame her for being REAL WARY right now

but then the door opens behind her :D

Glimmer: "Just let me brush it!" Catra, laughing: "No!"

omg i love these two's interactions

I mean yeah

awwww

(also according the Princess Prom episode they're every ten years. If three or four years passed in canon, then this is happening six or seven years after the end of the show. Which means I firmly believe there's at least two kids of Glimmer and Bow's somewhere in Bright Moon, probably with Micah)

i can't. she's so cute.

*sobs into a pillow*

Adora's smile here before reaching back is so soft

wahhhhh

unfortunately, it's still an illusion. Catra glitches out.

yeah that's gonna give Adora nightmares

"Not for you."

oh god oh god oh god

(Someone pointed out a thing I hadn't noticed: Catra's actually saying all these things really quietly, in a huge noisy room due to electrical stuff and magic and earthquakes. But Adora, while struggling to regain full consciousness, hears them as though Catra is shouting, and it's all she can hear. ;_;)

(hah, I said that, in a lot more words, in my rewatch post for Failsafe)

LOL I HIT THE IMAGE LIMIT I knew it was going to happen like halfway through this scene lol hold on

LAST EPISODE

s5 ep13 heart pt 2

LET'S GOOOOOOO

it's 1:21pm and I have laundry to do AND Easter Vigil service starts at 8pm, can I get this all watched before 7pm?

Or am I gonna sit there in church vibrating in place for two hours knowing I have three minutes left on the episode or some bullshit lol

(That's longer than usual, yes. Easter Vigil is actually one of my fave services of the year--we start outside lighting candles (the ones inside have been out since Thursday night, even the one we otherwise never put out), then walk into the dark church, then sorta speedrun bits of the old testament (with a hymn after every reading) and then we decide OKAY IT'S EASTER NOW :D and turn on the lights and make a lot of noise and sing a few more hymns--we don't sing or say alleluia during Lent so all the hymns have that in it. There's often MASSIVE amounts of church incense, too. Anyway by the end it's a bit of a party. Apparently some churches have an actual party after the service.)(side note if you're new-ish to these posts that I'm Episcopalian, like, the priests at my church are a gay man and a woman, we're cool people mostly I promise)

See this is why these posts take forever. Why do I keep infodumping shit. This is what it's like to watch things with me in person, though.

If I get through this episode before Easter Vigil my reward is gonna be coming home and taking an edible and rewatching the last two episodes without screenshots so I can just cry over them.

oKAY

eh? that's new. like putting that on screen like that in dead silence. No intro sequence.

oh right Adora is injured. :( And it's some kind of magical monster thing that did it--a security thing put into the Crystal Castle by the First Ones

when she touches her wound the Failsafe glows, and it's making static-y noises and looking glitchy, that can't be good

the nasty tentacle monster thing is still there buT SO IS CATRA YAYYYY she shatters at least one of its eyeballs? I think?

my brain: this is like Caitlyn helping Vi after she got stabbed by Sevika, the wound is even in the same place :D me: wrong person has the red jacket on also Catra isn't going to buy some illegal potion thing to dose Adora with

(you should watch Arcane)

DOES SHE EVER SAY IT LIKE THAT BEFORE THIS?? oh god she sounds so breathless and relieved

Adora: "You can't be here! It's too dangerous"

And she stands up and starts to fall over and fucking Shadow Weaver helps her stand up, uGH

LOOK AT MY BB KICKING ASS

oh god so Shadow Weaver basically drags off Adora, Catra's like "I'll catch up, okay?" and Adora's like "no no Catraaaaa" her voice is cracking and everything, she doesn't want to do this without her and also worries about Catra and that tentacle monster thing

I'm not gonna screenshot it but poor Glimmer is fighting her dad, who is still chipped and Evil.

Bow is fighting Scorpia, also chipped and Evil. Oh hey Melog shows up and makes Bow invisible.

Micah is MEAN when chipped. He calls Glimmer a failure.

Glimmer: "My mother raised me to be brave. My friends taught me to be kind. And I'm stubborn. I get that from you. I will never stop fighting! And I won't lose another parent! I love you, dad."

She blasts him with enough magic that he collapses.

Bow, invisible, types away on Entrapta's computer she set up in the Horde thing, but when he gets it to start to do its thing he gets excited and says "I've got it!!" and Scorpia hears it and blasts him and is standing over him about to get him.

Bow: "Prime may have made you do a lot of things, but he can't turn you into something you're not. So, right now, all I need you to do is trust me."

Her eyes get normal for a second and she yells, and Bow slams a button on Entrapta's computer. There's a bright light.

Where Sea Hawk is holding Mermista, her chip goes dead and falls off. We get a lovely montage of other characters from all over Etheria, like Huntara and the folks at Elberon, who'd been chipped having their eyes go back to normal!

Scorpia: "oh my gosh I am so sorry!!"

yeah she's definitely back to normal lol

up on Horde Prime's ship:

lol

"My device worked! I knew it would!"

Bow: "Hey, everyone. I'm Bow."

(lol there's so much story in just this frame alone)

But yeah they show people from all over Etheria stopping to watch him speak, including his dads.

"Right now, we're the only thing standing in the way of him controlling it forever. You might be feeling hopeless. You might be thinking "We don't stand a chance." And maybe we don't. Prime's too strong. His army is too powerful. But that's not gonna stop us. We need to show Prime we're not afraid of him, because we have each other. And we have love. We can't give up. And if we go down, we go down together. We need you. All of you."

"It's time to fight. For She-Ra, for our homes, for each other!"

Broadcast over, back to Horde Prime. "Put an end to this mockery."

Catra injures the tentacle monster thing, but now that green is spreading into the room, and as Catra runs down the hall towards the Heart, she stops as Horde Prime shows up in hologram form

"I had such high hopes for you." like what, dude. keeping her around and chipped like a fucking puppet as an example? eugh. (something something about how her speeches to Adora while chipped were an obvious reference to people proselytizing high-control faiths)

the moment of distraction is enough for the tentacle monster to grab one of Catra's legs and she screams in pain D:

also there's still a bunch of earthquakes happening as these two limp towards the Heart

Poor Adora is just weakly going "No...no...wait" Shadow Weaver: "Don't lose your focus. We're so close."

What's this WE shit.

But also damn one thing Shadow Weaver and Horde Prime (and Light Hope!) have in common is they both believe love and affection and "attachments" are weaknesses. Shadow Weaver just cannot seem to get it through her head that Adora's love for Catra (and vice versa) is helpful here. Not a detriment. Love isn't a distraction!!! It gives us a stable ground of security and safety from which to do hard things!!

Meanwhile poor Angella told Adora "take care of each other."

This is pulsating, and so is the Failsafe on Adora's chest

OH NO oh god Okay being near that much hardcore magic is making Shadow Weaver powerful--her hair does the floaty thing for the first time since, what, s2? And she starts reaching for it, but THEN--

Adora yells Catra's name and starts walking back towards her, and Shadow Weaver's hair falls down again and she says the most weirdly desperate-sounding "Adora, wait!"

Prime's hologram is still torturing Catra along with the actual tentacle monster

(someone has drawn rule 34 of that thing but I'm not looking for it. I am content to know it exists.)

AND THEN THE MONSTER GETS BLASTED BY SHADOW WEAVER AHAHA NICE

about time she was useful amiright

okay so is this Shadow Weaver actually realizing she's been wrong about The Power of Love, or is this just her begrudgingly accepting that these two are Sold as A Set, Do Not Separate, and unless Catra's there Adora won't be able to use the Failsafe because she'll be looking for Catra the whole time???

Like is this an emotional epiphany or just pragmatism?

oh god so she magically shoves Catra away (towards Adora), but Catra runs back to Shadow Weaver

And y'all I know I talked about this a LOT way back in earlier seasons but I cannot tell you how accurate this keeps being in regards to dealing with an abusive parent. Like if you'd asked me, even after I cut off contact, if I wanted my dad to die, I would've said No! Of course not! At that point I didn't know whether the no-contact thing was temporary or not. I just knew I needed time and space to not be constantly stressed and anxious, for a notification on my phone to not immediately fill me with so much adrenaline my hands shook.

Anyway Shadow Weaver puts up a magical shield to keep Catra back