#steve’s mug is based off this set my grandparent’s used to have

[eddiethebrave]

secret admirer part twenty-three

861 words

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Eddie was so casual when he suggested his house for their meeting today. Yet, Steve isn’t even the one bringing him to his place, and he’s definitely freaked out - a not insignificant amount.

He follows closely behind Eddie’s van, and soon enough, they pull into Forest Hills Trailer Park. Steve has never been here before. He watches as Eddie climbs out of his van and bounds up the steps. Eddie unlocks the door and holds it open, waiting for Steve. The jock grabs his backpack and meets Eddie at the top of the stairs.

Eddie dips forward into some semblance of a bow, holding his arm out in welcome. Steve shakes his head in amusement and walks past him through the front door, which leads straight into the living room. 

Steve tries his best to subtly ogle in the space. What catches his attention immediately are the rows and rows of novelty mugs and baseball caps lining the walls. Behind him, Eddie shuts and locks the door before flopping onto the loveseat.

Eddie also looks around the space. If he’s anything like Steve, he’s trying to see his home with fresh eyes. Eddie meets Steve’s gaze. “Sorry about the mess. The maid took the week off,” he says, deadpan.

Steve cracks a smile and Eddie grins. With the tension broken, Steve feels comfortable enough to make his way to the loveseat as well, sitting on the opposite side. He unzips his bag and takes out his portrait, and Eddie opens his own bag to do the same. 

Steve bites his lip to tamp down his smile when he notices Eddie holding the pencil and eraser Steve gave him a week ago. 

They discard their bags onto the floor.

Steve pauses just as he’s about to unveil his art, side-eyeing Eddie enough to catch that the boy’s gaze is absolutely trained on what Steve’s doing. He turns his head to Eddie, and the boy looks away innocently. Steve doesn’t trust him one bit. 

He considers moving to the recliner in the corner, but that’s too far from Eddie (Steve doesn’t even bother attempting to convince himself he only wants to be close to him for practical, project-related reasons - he’s all too aware how smitten he is for this idiot). Instead, he turns sideways on the couch and sits criss-crossed, facing Eddie. The other teen freezes minutely before following Steve’s lead.

Soon enough, they get lost in their work. Steve tries his best to ignore the way their knees are pressed together, but the solid pressure is as distracting as it is comforting. 

He had thought that maybe now, with them alone and not in public, Eddie might finally want to acknowledge the notes, but this is okay too. It’s better, actually - Eddie is more comfortable now that he’s in his own space. As much as Steve adores Eddie’s usual persona, he loves to see him like this - with loose limbs and soft smiles. He has to admit, this is the easiest it’s ever been to capture Eddie’s likeness on paper.

An hour into their meeting, Eddie stands with a groan and stretches until his back pops. “Do you want something to drink? Coke? Water? Juice?” he asks expectantly as he makes his way to the small kitchen.

“Juice sounds good,” Steve calls and Eddie hums in confirmation. He comes back a minute later with two mugs. 

“Cider, your highness,” Eddie presents the drink, thankfully not dipping into another bow.

“Thanks, man.” Steve accepts the mug and holds it up to his face to get a good look at the art on it. It’s a rooster. The inside and top of the mug are a pretty yellow color. Steve kind of likes it. 

Eddie’s, on the other hand, is horrendous.

Eddie sees Steve looking at the mug and brings it to his mouth, making sure the face is on display and pointing at Steve. He keeps eye contact, his huge eyes peering over the orange ceramic ears looking silly. Still, the attention makes Steve break eye contact with warm cheeks.

Eddie takes one last pull from his mug before setting it on the coffee table. “Alright, break’s over. Back to work,” he declares.

Eddie i don’t know if you remember when i told you that i don’t read books outside of class, but i might’ve stretched the truth just a little bit  when I first noticed you, you always had your nose buried and a book i went to the library and found one that had made a couple appearances and knew and must be one you really liked because your name was on the log card like five times  and i gotta say, after reading it for myself, i don’t understand how you can read that shit all the time i’m pretty sure at least 50% was just made up words honestly, i don’t think i even know what it was about hey, maybe that’s why you read it so many times; you still don’t get it either ;)  p.s. maybe you have the right idea - i’ll have to give it another try  p.s.s. you looked real nice yesterday -H

twenty-four

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[floosies]

Series: La Munenca del Barrio

Warnings: NSFW, Blood, violence, smut, strong language, and drug use

Rocio Cruz lives in a Brooklyn block best known for its vibrant and ignored community. What she always ignored though was the underground scene in the borough, the evils that lay in it and its people. That all comes to an end when she’s introduced to those things she ignored.

(LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK: Hey guys, just curious. Should I tone it down on the amount of spanish? I don’t mind writing in both languages I just want to make sure you guys are enjoying reading it)

Chapter 7: It’s Okay (You Don’t Love Me Anymore)

Series Masterlist

Rocio noticed how happy her mama had been since the mail came a couple weeks ago. Steve had called her, letting her know the date was set for the hearing, but when she asked him if he had told her mom, he got quiet. Somehow she’d found out before he could tell her. In fact, when he called Maritza, she answered with joy and said she’d meet him at the court when the day came.

Steve was interested in finding who the hell found out something that only he and a couple selected few knew. This was supposed to be a secret project. To Rogers, Rafael was a man who represented lost morals. He was loyal and worked hard taking the long meticulous way instead of risking a fuck up with short cuts. Most of Steve’s men now were arrogant, just because they worked for him. They used violence over brains. This is why he needed Cruz back, he needed a man who knew the work and had the methods to do it right. 

When Steve was still new to all this, it was Rafael who showed a him how to shoot. If it hadn’t been for that man, Steve would never have become into the man he is now. So wasting no time, he planned a meeting with Maritza, making sure that it would be soon enough as the day after the call but with the discretion that neither Rocio or the younger kids were there.

She was kind, which was odd. The only other times he’d talked to her she always acted indifferent or upset. He didn’t understand how she could have birthed someone as kind and forgiving as Rocio. Or how Rafael ever saw her as some sort of angel. Nevertheless, he explained the situation to her.

Maritza felt betrayed somehow, knowing what she knew now, “what do you mean Quintero hasn’t worked for you in years?” She could see the stress on the young man’s face, “he sided with Federico. After Rafa got arrested, he started acting sketchy. After a while, I found out he was making plans to start a new base with the man who ratted us out.” She sat there for a second, trying to understand how her husband’s closest friends, the ones she knew for decades, suddenly could betray him.

With a quick scoff she spoke, “no me sorprende, i’m not surprised at all. You can’t trust anyone in that lifestyle.” Her eyes scanned his face, all he did was shrug. He couldn’t disagree with that statement, “you think I don’t know? Since I was kid people who worked with Blue Eyes wanted me dead. That’s not why i’m here though.” He paused taking a drink from the mug of coffee she’d given him. “I’m here because, we need to talk about what’s going to happen after he’s out.” 

Now she started looking like herself. She was mad, of course she was. Steve figured she probably daydreamed about getting the wealth back. Moving back to the nicer side of New York and having Rafael do something civil like, like working in an office or something. That’s not how any of that worked though, Steve was still in need of guidance whether he liked to admit it or not. With herself now angered at this she rose her voice, “so what exactly is going to happen when he get’s out? You’re going to cage him like some animal? He has children! He has me!” Of course he was expecting this from her, sighing he tried to reason with her. “Calmate, he’s going to be in safe house to protect him. Or did you forget what I just told you about Quintero? Someone wants him dead the minute he is out.” That shut her up. She hated when he had a point, “you know all this would never have happened if he just quit when I begged him too. He would have been here.” 

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing, that just pissed her off more though, “I didn’t hear you complaining when your wedding ended up being half a million. Or when Blue Eyes got you the apartment in Soho. You know he used to talk about how you never complained when he came dripping in blood. No complaints of blood on the carpets ,what did he say instead? Ella solo dice, ‘compramos otra’. So don’t try to act like you weren’t having the time of your life.” She had to rebuttal of course, “do you know what my family went-” he cut her off, “your family came begging me to do something about you when Rafael went in. Your father said he’d even take the money for you and get you out of his home. They had more common sense than you. If you’d been smart and taken the money you wouldn’t have been living like this. You could have given Rocio and the other two a good life.” There was silence after, but it wasn’t that kind of silence after you know you’re wrong. It’s the kind that’s left before a storm brews.

He fucked up, he mentioned her name. There was this unspoken rule, he was allowed to know about the kids but Rafael never mentioned their names. Not to Blue Eyes, not Steve, not even to any of his friends. When Steve called to make the meeting, he steered clear from mentioning Rocio’s name. Now he’d let it slip and Maritza was waiting to see what else he’d say. When he didn’t speak, she did. Fear came over her first, “how do you know her name?” He didn’t speak. Now came anger, “why do you know her name?” He still didn’t answer her. Then came frustration, “me vas a decir como chingados sabes el nombre de mi hija, ingrato!” As she uttered out that last word of that sentence she tried to lunge at him but it didn’t really work. He caught her before she could, “si te calmas Maritza, te voy a explicar.” So she tried to calm down. 

What was she supposed to think, her daughter was dating a narco. Steve never considered himself that kind of man, but everyone else did. They sat there, he’d never seen her this quiet looking, almost as if she was trying to decide something. Instead, she kicked him out. He knew Rocio wasn’t going to be safe after this, Maritza was the kind of women who believed in petty acts when she felt wronged. He wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Rocio waited for her siblings at the front of their school. She was happy, her client was an old friend from high school and she tipped generously. Even though her siblings were brats, she was gonna take them out to eat. It was a pretty chill afternoon, she was surprised her mama hadn’t called her to ask where they were. When she entered the apartment something felt off, then saw bags with her things in them, “mama we’re home.” Out of her room Maritza came with another bag of her daughter’s things. 

Maritza wasn’t looking at Rocio like her daughter at the moment, all she was seeing was anger and pettiness. Somewhere deep down she felt wrong for doing this but her pride always controlled her. “Angel, Marcos. Go to the room, pero ya.” The kids knew better than to argue with their angry mama. They sat in the room, they swear they heard something break and screams of pain coming from their older sister. Marcos looked out of the corner of the door frame to see his sister’s face bloody and covered in tears. His mama went back to hit her again, that’s when he went back inside the room. 

Steve picked up Rocio with no time to waste, he’d waited around with his men. What he didn’t expect to see was how swollen her right eye was. She didn’t talk at all the whole drive through. There wasn’t anything he could tell her, except that she was never going back to that place. He had his personal doctor come that very night to his home in Brooklyn. While his girl got fixed up he made some calls and had things arranged. The kids who didn’t deserve that kind of mother, would be watched over carefully. He personally called her grandparent’s, let them know what their daughter/daughter-in-law had done. Then asked his eyes and ears to let the neighborhood know what Maritza had done, the kind of woman she really was. 

Rocio didn’t really sleep that night, the pain was dull but still there. The doctor had given her the heaviest dose that was available but she still felt the pain of the beating she’d gotten. She never believed her mama was capable of that kind of violence but she just didn’t know her like she thought she did. As the silence continued to spread through the room where she waited for Steve to come to bed, her phone began sound off. Messages of apologies and encouragement, people linking her to social media posts with pictures of her face. She didn’t know how this got out to everyone but she figured he was behind it.