#tate’s birthday week fanfic writing marathon thing

[sunflowerharrington]

hey, pretty stranger - k.walker x c.howard (birthday week day three two)

summary - Cassie meets Kit while she’s in Boston for the day, hoping to stay out of trouble with Maddy for at least 12 hours. And he restores her faith in men. To some extent… Also, Julia ice skates for the sake of storyline reasons and it’s something she and Cassie can bond over.

words - circa 2.3k

tags - language, fluff, mentions of violence, mentions of somebody wanting to murder someone else, daisies, one bed though neither sleep in the bed. half headcanons half descriptive writing, it’s the best i got right now.

notes - an imagine rather than a full blown oneshot. my first euphoria fic, please be nice! also, i don’t like cassie but i also don’t hate her. girlie just wants to be loved, man. these lines —— those ones, yeah, they’re the headcanon parts. also just realised asylum and euphoria were filmed a decade apart! damn…

giving credit where credit is due - divider credit goes to @bleedingthroughteeth and their meeting scene was inspired by this post by @mrs-march-ahs, i hope that’s okay lovey… and credit to rue bennett for being an amazing narrator who i basically stole her dialogue for the first paragraph :O

|not edited|

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It was her kryptonite; somebody who showed her any sort of attention or affection at first glance. Cassie Howard fell in love with every guy she ever dated, and that was known by everybody at East Highland Highschool when she went there and all over town. Whether these boys were smart or stupid, sweet or cruel, loving or cold, it didn’t matter. None of that mattered when Cassie was in a relationship, and she held onto the label of being somebody’s girlfriend like her life depended on it. She just never liked being alone. But that is what was wrong; they were boys, not men. And she was treated like a fucking whore. Cassie needed a gentleman to sweep her off her feet…

She should have known better, though, but who could blame her for wanting perfect love? But after being fucked over by too many people, she began to lose hope, taking to the internet to make herself feel like she was wanted. Therapy was suggested to her, but Cassie, she didn’t want to go. She thought she could figure her shit out on her own.

So when she travelled to Boston to get out of town and to do some retail therapy for her car, the only therapy she thought was worth being a thing, she wasn’t expecting anything to happen, at all. Normally, Cassie would be the one to make reckless, bad decisions when she got lost in her problems, but this time, she might have actually saved her own fucked up life.

She found herself wandering around random stores, in search of something to take her mind off all the shit happening back at home, and she found it, or rather, him. In a car sales place down the street from the mall, the last store she went into, hoping to pick up some new pieces for her car while she was in Boston for the day instead of waiting any longer and her car potentially exploding. Just like her relationships.

He was bent down behind the counter, doing something; Cassie couldn’t really tell what, but that didn’t matter. She leaned against one of the shelving units, watching the man clean up, running his fingers through his brunette hair to get it out of his way while he cleaned. He began to slowly look up, his brown eyes meeting hers, and she turned around quickly, inspecting the… empty shelf… hoping to go unnoticed by the man. She heard him chuckle slightly, before going straight back to work.

He grinned at her as he kept cleaning, and she smiled weakly, not turning to look back at him. Fuck no, she felt her heart begin to flutter faster at the sight of him and his goddamn smile. She couldn’t let herself fall for someone again, no, she’d break. And he hadn’t even said two words to her.

She flinched when she felt a strong hand tap her on the shoulder, spinning around to shove whoever it was onto the ground, almost knocking down one of the shelving units. Not just the products, the entire damn thing.

“Hey, didn’t mean to startle ya, Miss!” The man apologised profusely, holding his hands up as he got to his feet, picking up a blue steering wheel cover that fell to the ground with him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Cassie began helping him pick up the other items that had fallen to the ground. He brushed himself down after the fall, telling Cassie there’s no need to apologise and it was in self defence.

Cassie blinked at him in confusion, he wasn’t mad at her for pushing him? Or even looking at him the wrong way? What kind of sorcery...?

“You’re… You’re not mad at me for pushing you to the ground? I literally assaulted you and you’re fine with that? What the fuck—?!” She began shouting, only to stop herself mid sentence. “Sorry…” she sighed. “Bad day.”

He lifted his head to meet her eyes, mahogany meeting the ocean, the windows into each other’s souls; one broken and wanting to be loved and one wanting to give their all to somebody. The man watched as Cassie’s pupils began to dilate ever so slightly, and he was on the verge of heading into a deep trance he’d never want to ever leave before she looked away, glancing at the ground.

“Of course I’m not mad at ya,” he said, while putting a container of screws back up on the top shelf, his shirt lifting up a little, revealing soft, pale skin. “Always nice to see a woman able to protect herself. Wouldn’t wanna get in a fight with ya anytime soon,” he chuckled. God, just wait until he meets Maddy… If he ever does, hopefully not, for Cassie’s sake.

—— Cassie gave Kit a weak smile and apologised once more, and they parted ways. A few minutes later Cassie heads up to the till and pays for her stuff but Kit stops her, telling her again that it was alright. Cassie said she should do something for him to make up for it and so Kit asked her to ask him on a date, basically. So she did.

—— They went to a nearby park after Kit locked the store up for lunchtime, and Kit brought his ‘emergency date kit’ with him; A blanket and some snacks that he kept out the back of the store. (Snacks that go missing whenever his kids are around and when he’s not looking, hmm…)

—— Enough about kids for right now! Kit made Cassie a daisy flower crown, smoothing Cassie’s hair down before placing it on her head. He let his hand linger on her cheek and smiled at her, and her breath caught in her chest. Never had she thought that a man with some fucking respect would be so much more hot than ones who did not.

Cassie caught herself nervously giggling, as did Kit, and after their nervous laughter died down a little he asked her, “Can I kiss you, Cassie?” And she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

His lips gently hovered at hers as he leaned in, his nervous, shaky breath ghosting over her lips before he brushed his lips against them, pressing them against hers in a soft, sweet kiss. It was only two seconds or so but it was the best two seconds of Kit’s entire year, five years, eternity maybe? He hoped to God she wouldn’t leave him.

Cassie’s chest bursted with butterflies and she was just as happy as the day her dad got her her first pair of ice skates when he could afford lessons. When he kissed her it felt like she was floating on cloud nine itself, or taking a long stroll on the beach by herself with the wind fluttering through her hair and the sound of the calm ocean being the only sound to hear for miles.

As they both pulled away, the moment was ruined by Cassie’s phone pinging with a text telling her to not come home as shit was going down and Maddy would kill Cassie if she got within ten feet of her.

—— Kit noticed Cassie beginning to get upset and offered her a place to stay at his place for the night after she briefly explained the best she could through her sobs and tears.

—— She was a bit hesitant at first but felt a sense of trust with Kit, so he drove her there in his car, which smells like cedarwood and pine, where she meets the lesbian ICON, Lana Winters, who is just the absolute sweetest to Cassie. Lana was on her way out the door to collect Thomas from his friend’s house and Julia from her ice skating lessons.

—— Kit told Cassie he has kids but that if they make her uncomfortable he’ll ask Lana to take them out for a while or that they can sleep over in their friends’ houses. Cassie said to him that no it’s fine, but she doesn’t want to be around kids after having to get an abortion after McKay forced her to, but she won’t kick them out of their own house to be comfortable. After all, she doesn’t even live there.

—— Cassie obviously didn’t have pyjamas so Kit lent her one of his t-shirts. Kit slept on the couch and Cassie slept in his bed (not wanting to argue with Kit over sleeping arrangements), until memories from home came flooding back to her and so she went into the living room and asked Kit if she could have a hug, he obviously said yes and pulled her into his loving arms.

Kit looked down into her glassy, tear-filled eyes, her lips shaking as she tried to speak, but she couldn’t.

“Cassie…?”

Cassie choked on her tears, now streaming down her face, and Kit listened carefully as she tried to speak. “Nobody’s… Nobody’s ever been this nice to me before… K-Kit…”

Kit used his thumb to run under her eyes, collecting the fallen tears, stroking the side of her face with his knuckles. He then pulled her into a cuddle and could feel her melting in his touch, her poor battered and bruised body shaking as she sobbed violently into his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Kit.”

“There is absolutely no need to be sorry, suga’ plum. You’ve done nothing wrong,” he cooed, running his hand down her hair repeatedly, and swayed the both of them, twisting slightly both ways. “And even if something happened, you know you can always talk to me. I’m here, suga’, I’m here.”

Kit’s swaying eventually lulled Cassie to a calm, and the sweet nothings he whispered in her ear made her tear up inside even more. Why is he being so nice to me?; was one of the thoughts circling her mind in that moment. And she fully melted into the embrace, their bodies moulding perfectly together as if they had been made for each other, warmth radiating around them like a force field to keep out all the bad things and future events.

— He unwrapped Cassie from the embrace for a brief few seconds to move some of the pillows off the sofa. He lay with his back against the sofa board and scooted up against the back so there would be room for Cassie to lie in his arms.

— After lying down, Kit kissed her temple so soft it could have been imaginary, just barely touching her skin but touching enough to make her melt in his arms.

He brushed her blonde hair out of her face, leaving small kisses where her hair once lay at her temples. The smell of sandalwood mixed with his soft breathing put her to sleep almost instantly, and her dreams after that were filled with nothing but happiness, and the nice memories. All of the nice, happy things.

She didn’t mean to fall asleep next to him but she couldn’t help it, Kit was just so… calming, refreshing, and a hope that there were actually good guys out there. (You picked well this time, kid <3 )

Cassie awoke the next morning to quiet talking in the kitchen, though it was loud enough for her to hear and to wake her up from her slumber. She was surprised to find out that Kit didn’t want to use her for sex, in fact he too hated men AND women who used people for sex. Okay, feminist, okay! Instead, he said, “I just want somebody to love, y’know?”

“Someone like Cassie, you mean?” Lana chuckled. “From what you’ve been saying I think she’s a lovely woman. She’ll be good for you, Kit.”

“I already like her, Lana. ‘N I don’t wanna end up pushing her away or her thinkin’ I’m some freak ‘cause I’m a single dad of two kids. Beautiful kids at that, but I don’t know how she’ll be around ‘em and I don’t know how they’ll be ‘round her.”

Cassie felt very conflicted and confused by all this, she thought all men were assholes. At least the ones she had relationships with… Pretty much.

She stretched her arms, yawning as she got up, after having one of the best sleeps in a long time. She stood up and ran her hands through her hair to smooth it down, making her way into where she heard Kit and Lana talking.

Kit smiled when Cassie entered the kitchen in his shirt, she looked beautiful, like a goddess to him, saying that he hopes she’s hungry because he made fruit salad with help from Julia… While Lana watched Thomas practising football in the backyard from the kitchen table.

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After breakfast, Kit noticed Cassie beginning to sniffle, the bad memories flooding back into her mind again, disturbing her peace, so he led her out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom for some privacy. She asked him to stay with her a while and in an instant she was wrapped up into a bundle in his arms once again, breathing in his distinct scent of sandalwood and the strawberries from breakfast.

Cassie sighed, sitting up in the bed, tears slowly filling her still glassy eyes. “I’m gonna get called a slut when I get home… When they all find out I was at another man’s house” she sniffled, wiping her blotchy face with the back of her hand, blinking back her tears.

Kit’s hold around her tightened, and he pressed a sweet, soft kiss to her forehead. “If anyone calls ya anything other than a beautiful angel, imma beat them up, okay? Nobody is allowed to talk to ya that way.”

“But I—”

“Cassie,” he said, much more sternly this time. “Ya don’t deserve to be called a slut, you are not one, okay? And I will keep telling you that ‘till ya believe me. Even if it takes months, years, eternity, I’ll keep on telling ya that you're not a slut. Don’t let anyone tell ya that ya are, alright?”

She sniffled again, nodding with a sad smile. What did I do to deserve such a beautiful soul like Kit?, she thought to herself. Even more so at his next words; “And you can stay up here ‘s long as ya like. I’ve only got one bed but we could make it work. If ya want?”

“God, Kit,” she sighed, the small smile on her face growing and the tears rushing to escape her eyes. “Why are you so nice?”

“What can I say? Kindness costs nothing, ‘suga. And whoever those people are… we can forget them right now, ‘kay? Just us two right now, hm?”

“Just us,” she repeated back to him, and fell back into his embrace, never wanting to leave his arms for the rest of eternity.

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taglist - @sympathyforher, @xxlangdon, @unlivingdreams my lovelies <3

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