#thanks for hanging with me and pleeeeease feel free to come write with me on discord cause I can handle that way better right now

[stillcominback]

🏝️🌞💗

[mikaa-mina]

At Garden’s Edge- ch8: A Day in the Life of a Newt(on Pulsifer)

The lights are too bright, and Newt can’t quite hear what the lady in front of him is saying over the cacophony of beeps. His head also feels quite.... strange. He’s pretty sure that it’s not supposed to feel like it’s floating half a foot above his neck while also feeling like it’s stuffed full of cotton.

Some of the beeping suddenly stops, making it so much quieter in the ER, and Newt can finally understand what the nurse is asking. He tells her he thinks he’s fine, only he managed to hit something in the middle of the road with his bike and that sent him sailing towards the curb, which his bike tire hit at the wrong angle, and that quite firmly ejected him from his seat. And actually, he’s not at all quite sure how he got here, or why he’s here.

The nurse comes closer before he realizes she’s holding a tablet to enter his information in. By the time he realizes, it’s too late.

There’s a sound much like a mosquito hitting a trap lamp with a bright Bzzt! and then tablet goes dark in her hands. Newt grimaces.

It snowballs from there.

She shushes his apologies and uses the flip hospital phone that they use now instead of chargers/beepers to call the nurse station and request a backup one. It, accordingly, powers off halfway through her phone call. She shakes it with a frown and grumbles about the board of offices being cheap with their equipment, turns a sunny smile on him, and brightly says “well, I’ll just take down the basics and get your vitals while we wait. Do you have records here?”

“Uh. Maybe?” probably, “Which hospital is this?”

“The Brugmansia Hospital.”

“Oh! Yeah. I was born here. Uh. I changed my name though. Still Pulsifer for the last name though, figure there’s probably not too many of them around,” he laughs nervously, overly conscious of how awkward he is and how unable he is to do anything about it.

She still smiles, ever professional, and jots down his information. “First name?”

“Oh! Right. Sorry. It’s Newton now. Newton Pulsifer.”

“Thank you Newton, now I’m just going to take your vitals now.”

“Oh- I, uh, don’t really think-”

It’s too late, she’s come up to take his temperature with their new wireless, laser thermometer and it promptly errors out. It continues to error out no matter how many times she restarts it. The heavy seed of dread in Newt’s stomach grows larger. This is exactly why he tries not to go to places like this.

“I’m sorry. Uh, do you happen to have something maybe not, uh, electrical?”

She gives him a funny look for that and he shrinks back.

“Well. Let me get your blood pressure and o2 readings.”

Newt looks dubiously at the machine setup she wheels over to him. Miraculously, it goes okay when she wraps the cuff around his upper arm, and even when it starts. Everything avalanches when she puts the wireless o2 reader on him. Immediately everything in his room fritzes out, the lights even flickering before coming back, but all of the machines are still down or in the emergency boot up system restart.

“Oh bugger,” he sighs under his breath, quietly enough that the nurse fretting over all the technology can’t hear how resigned and unsurprised he is.

The avalanche continues when a nearby nurse ducks in and his tablet powers itself off. The smartwatch he’s wearing starts having three different alarms go off on it, and then there’s some shouts of alarm from outside Newt’s room that he’s really not sure that he wants to know what they’re about.

There are four people in his room now, in varying states of bewilderment and frustration, trying to figure out why everything’s malfunctioning in his room while also trying to get it back up and working. No one’s listening to Newt when he tries to explain that if he could just leave, it’d get better, but then, he’s mostly used to being ignored at this point.

More and more people trickle into the room, Newt spots the tech support guy he wished to be, frowning and scratching his head as he looks at everything. And then he looks at Newt.

A quick mumble about using the loo and Newt escapes out of the room, IV still attached to the weird metal stand and his arm but at least they’re not electronically powered. Just good engineering and reliable gravity.

He figures if he can put enough distance between him, and the rest of all that technology crammed into one small spot, that everything will boot back up just fine. And if not, Newt could write out exactly how to fix it.

So he heads to the loo, because now that he’s made the excuse, he figures he might as well try and also he’s betting on there being a whole lot less fancy technology in there. If only he could actually find said loo. Or any loo, really.

He’s waylaid by a small girl about ten minutes into his wandering of the halls.

“Oh. Hullo there.”

The girl is missing three teeth, has brown hair, and is looking at Newt as if he’s the newest attraction in the city zoo. Under her stare, Newt almost feels like one.

“Wut’er you doing?”

“Er... looking for the loo.”

She looks at him, looks in the direction he was heading in, looks back at him and matter-of-fact-ly says, “you’re going the wrong way.”

He blinks at her, which she takes as permission for her to reach up and grab his hand and start pulling him in the other direction. Bewildered, he followed.

And thus began a brand new game called “Lead the Newt” which had a revolving cast of characters, all under the age of twelve, each insisting they knew where the loo was, and each hiding him from sight any time an adult employee came near.

This scavenger hunt of a game ended at, not a loo (which made Newt extremely grateful he didn’t actually need one), but at a recreational sort of room. There was an old tv in one corner, an open treasure chest filled with costumes and toys, and a few bookshelves. The floor was spongy beneath Newt’s feat and looking down left him staring at brightly colored interlocking foam mat puzzle pieces.

For some reason, all of the co-conspirators find him funny, and really the only tech he might fry in here is a rather old tv that looks like it’s been outdated so many times it can’t recall if it’s outdated or retro at this point, so all in all... This is probably the safest room for Newt to be in. And certainly more interesting than the loo.

And that’s how he finds himself, an hour later, dressed in a paper hat of some kind (its supposed to be a jester’s hat) leaning against his iv pole, making elaborate gestures with his free hand, and telling terrible terrible jokes to a kid in a paper crown and to the amusement of the other kids around him. It’s most certainly a bizarre scene, but no one has commented on it as of yet and due entirely for the fact that the secondary game they’re all playing is ‘Hide the Newt’ any time an adult wanders by. Closets, corners, and blankets have all been heavily featured by now in this game.

So Newt can hardly be blamed for jumping near out of his skin when, after telling a particularly bad punny joke, he hears an adult’s laughter. So he jumps, jerks, and tries to turn to face the voice all in one motion and ends up somehow practically hogtieing himself in his iv cord and going down.

He ended up in a heap of limbs, metal pole, and iv cord wrapped all around him, and his glasses hanging half off his face. “Oh bugger...”

There was a snickering above him from the adult voice and the children alternating between giggles at his fall and joyful cries of “Crow Crow!”, “Mister Crow!”, and “Miss Crow!”. As Newt struggled to untangle himself, with the help of a few kids who both made things worse and better in turns, the other children began pleading with the Crow? Crow?? to pleeeeease let them keep Newt.

The stranger is crouching down to the kid’s level by the time Newt gets mostly upright, and they look a lot like they’re trying very hard not to laugh. “Now. However did you magpies manage to steal a whole person?”

Laughter sounds and they’re throwing themselves at the redhead and the two bags they set down. As the majority are immediately distracted by the prospect of sweets and the passing out of them, the stranger turns to Newt and raises an eyebrow high above dark sunglasses and says, “well? How’d they manage to kidnap you?”

Before Newt can respond the kids answer with excuses that pile over one another ranging from “he just wandered in!” to the actually mostly truthful “he was lost so we were showing him around!”.

“Oh really now?” they seem to be biting back laughter as they continue, “he was lost so you decided to help him by keeping him here?”

Some of the kids looked abashed while others look outright proud of themselves and to Newt’s surprise the stranger threw back their head with a short bark of a laugh before grinning as if proud of them.

Just in case he was reading the situation wrong, he’d done that with people more than a few times, Newt tried pushing through his embarrassment and awkwardness with an “It’s, uh, alright. Really. It’s been kind of fun, actually.”

“Ah. Yeah, they really grow on you.” The Crow glanced at the kids with a mischievous look, “like a fungus.”

Groans and laughter sounded before all of a sudden a shushing and pointing as an adult was seen wandering their way. Before Newt could blink they had him hidden out of sight shoved in a closet between some coats, puppets, and something slightly sticky that he had no intention of exploring further.

He could hear the somewhat muffled conversation of the kids pleading with The Crow to keep their secret before a new adult voice joined the conversation. The voices dropped away a bit, except for the nervous kids right in front of the closet attempting to whisper between each other, before he can’t make anything out at all. He waits, nervousness beginning to creep in because just how long was he supposed to stay in the closet? Actually, about that, he’d really had enough of closets and hiding in them. Terribly stifling and awful and much better really to be out of them.

Eventually there’s the sound of foot falls coming closer and closer to the closet and for a moment Newt’s heart picks up, certain that he’s about to be found and get in trouble. Then the doors are opened and it’s the red headed stranger who jokes, “ready to come out of the closet?”

And Newt’s still full of nervousness and it expresses itself by making him immediately blurt out “already did that once really. Was sort of hoping to not have to do it again.”

There’s a pause where the red head stares at him and the realization that he’s said that out loud crashes over Newt who flushes hotly. “Oh gods, I said that out loud...” and then The Crow tilts their head back and laughs.

“Been there, done that!” They agree with a grin and reach in to pull Newt out. “C’mon, ‘parently they’ve been running a missing patient code for half an hour looking for you.”

Newt relaxed fractionally, “you figured all that out from the nurse in five minutes?”

“Nah. Heard about it when I snuck in through one of the back windows. ‘s right beside one of the break rooms.”

“Oh, okay, that makes- wait. Did you say window?”

But they were already talking to the kids, “Alright you mischievous little magpies, you had your fun but we need to get him back now.” A chorus of “awwwws” and “but!!but!!”s sounded off but The Crow continued on, “if he’s here, he probably needs some help to get better, and I’m sure once he’s feeling better he’ll come say hi again.” Here they glanced over at at Newt expectantly, so Newt nodded since it seemed expected, and then they continued, “alright, so say bye to...”

“Newt.”

The Crow stilled, tilted their head to the side and asked disbelievingly, “really?” as if they didn’t also have the name of an animal.

“Yeah.”

“Alright magpies, tell Newt bye.”

There’s goodbyes and promises to come back and right as they’re leaving the first girl that had caught Newt comes up to The Crow and, in a whisper so very loud she might as well be talking, says “you hafta be nice to him!”

“Oh do I now?”

She nodded furiously, “he doesn’t ree-lize his jokes are reeeeally bad!”

The Crow seemed to choke on something before spluttering into a laughter the kid shushed them for.

“Sorry, sorry,” they managed, fighting back their grin and not looking sorry in the least as they chanced a quick glance at Newt.

The girl frowned, “you’re not sorry at all!”

“I am, I am!”

She looked unimpressed but when bribed with an extra pastry she let it, and them, go.

They’re on their way back to the nurse’s station (Newt didn’t even know what room they put him in) when he breaks the silence to ask, “is your name really Crow?”

“To the kids, yes. You can call me Crowley.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you Crowley. Did you really come in through a window?”

Crowley grinned at him, “trade secret.”

[silentglassbreak]

I saw your prompts are open and I had to jump in! I love your writings for our boys, esp the fluff it makes me so soft when they’re soft💚 maybe something where they have kids and go SUPER HARD for Halloween and have really intricate family costumes that they work on, like all year and it’s just fluffy and everyone loves each other and is happy 🥺 you’re such a wonderful writer!! Thank you!!

Before we begin, I’d like to say a few things:

Firstly, thank you for requesting this. I had no idea how badly I needed to write this. It made my heart so happy to create this, and I sincerely hope it doesn’t disappoint. 🖤

Secondly, I know this one kind of goes off on some tangents, but I did my best to keep it on prompt as well as I could, but there was so much I needed to include, and so much I didn’t.

Third, let me know what we think of Riley? I kind of really loved writing her into a story with Billy and Steve, and am thinking of exploring her character more in the future. Feedback, please?

Fourth(isn’t this getting ridiculous?), I was chopping down a tree in my front yard when I got this, and literally s t o p p e d to start it. I did have to go back and finish the job, and it’s really okay, the tree was dead, but I’ve been working on this most of the night, and that’s how excited I was for this prompt.

Fifth(seriously, get on with it), I chose Hocus Pocus 150% for a real fucking reason. That movie is everything to me, and -fun fact- I’m actually named after a character in that movie! 😉 (No, my name is not Winifred)

Last(omg, rly?), if you would like a song rec for the story, I highly recommend Crystal by Stevie Nicks. It’s where I got the title, and honestly, it’s kind of the unofficial theme I’ve assigned to the Harringrove ship as a whole. If you’ve seen the movie Practical Magic, you’ll recognize it.

Now, shall we begin?

Like The Love That Had Finally Found Me

October 29, 1993 - Hawkins, IN

“Steve, you’re going to rip the fabric!” Nancy was nearly screaming at him from across the kitchen, coffee in one hand, spoon stirring in the other. “Do you want milk or half and half?” He was only somewhat listening to her by now, but he answered around the pins in his mouth, fingers working to sew the orange and yellow fringe onto the black velvet scarf.

“Uhm…” He finally tore his eyes away and looked up at the brunette girl standing in his kitchen. “Milk, please.” She nodded and poured the hot coffee into the rainbow mug that read ‘#1 Dad’. She wasn’t sure if Riley had picked it out for Steve or Billy, but either way, it made her smile to herself.

“You’re almost done. It’s going to look great,” she set the steaming cup down in front of him at the kitchen table. “unless you oversew and tear a hole in it.” Her hand came to gently rest on his. Her clear blue eyes shining up at him, he finally faltered, snipping the thread with his scissors and setting down the scarf.

He breathed a sigh that wore as tired as he felt. The last three and a half months had been absolute mayhem for him and Billy, causing the entire end of summer and beginning of fall to feel like a never ending shift. He regretted nothing.

Back in July, when Billy took their daughter to see Hocus Pocus for their regular Sunday Dad-Riley Movie Night, she came home starry eyed and as enthusiastic as a firework.

‘Daddy, that was the best movie ever! You have to come with Dad and I, to see it again next weekend! I want to be Dani Dennison for Halloween! And you can be Max, and Dad can be Billy the Zombie! That’s already his name. Did you know I’m the same age as Dani? She’s eight too! Can we get a black cat to be Binx? Please, Daddy, pleeeeease?!’

From that moment forward, Hocus Pocus had become Steve’s life. Billy was working full-time at the auto shop, so Steve had more free time to concentrate on the task at hand. And concentrate, oh he fucking did.

Steve Harrington’s life had become so much more than he had ever imagined. Eight years may be a long time to some, but for him, it was the fastest moving period of time he had ever lived for. One year after the Starcourt ‘burning’, Billy had officially recovered from his near-fatal injuries, and spontaneously confessed his feelings to Steve. It was an angry, awkward, embarrassing time for them, that led to almost a month of denial and avoidance from both Steve and Billy. In that three-week-five-day period, Billy had grown to understand that Steve needed time, and had not actually rejected him. It was a process, that Billy later decided was worth the wait.

The following six months led to the ultimate change, which was Billy finally leaving Neil Hargrove’s house and moving in with Chief Hopper as his ‘adopted’ son. Billy was almost nineteen, so they didn’t bother with the paperwork, but Hopper did bother to get to know Billy, work to understand him, and finally comfort him enough to make him feel at home.

Billy then found himself with two younger sisters, and when Hopper and Joyce married three months later, a younger brother, and a brother his own age. Steve was grateful he got to witness the change in Billy; the growth. He found himself falling for Billy harder every day, resistance dissolving a little each time he saw his toothy, devious grin.

Two years after the disaster, Steve confessed his feelings to Billy, all fast-talking and nerves frayed. Told him that he had never felt this way for anyone, let alone a boy. Told him he had been scared and weak and apologized about three hundred times for making him wait. Billy forgave him with a kiss, an embrace, and a promise that things would be different.

Billy kept his promise.

Six months later, Steve experienced tragedy in the form of his younger brother, Troy Harrington, and his wife, Angela, being fatally injured in a car accident. The loss was trying on Steve, Billy having to hold him too many nights while he sobbed and shook, asking him questions he just could answer like why? And how? And who the fuck let this happen? It took time, it took work, and it took strength to pull out of the dark place Steve had crawled into, but he managed.

Two months later, Steve was approached by Marlena Andowski, Social Services Case Worker handling case number 22496A, Riley Harrington. Riley was two years and seven months old when her parents passed, leaving her an orphan and sleeping at her Uncle’s Steve’s every night. Marlena had asked Steve if he would consider adopting Riley, and Steve said yes with no hesitation, signing paperwork, showing paystubs and rent receipts, taking drug tests, and toddler-proofing his small apartment for the long haul ahead.

It took about one day for Billy to fall head over heels in love with Riley, and only seven months for her to call him Daddy for the first time. Billy didn’t know how to feel at first, until her little hands tugged on his shirt and pointed to the pink stuffed frog at the grocery store, repeating herself, ‘Please, Daddy! Can I get the Frog?’ Steve knew when they walked in the door, stuffed toy clutched in tiny arms, glittery red nail polish on Billy’s fingers, that they were a family.

And then, almost five years later, Steve found himself sitting in the kitchen of the home Billy and him purchased, less than forty-eight hours before Halloween, sewing the last of his daughter’s costume together so that everything was just right.

Steve drank from his coffee mug hungrily, with still so much to do and a very long night ahead, when Riley came barreling into the living room, Nancy and Jonathan’s daughter Madison, in tow.

“Daddy?” Steve looked at her, eyes tired.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” Her smile was sweet, beaming bright as the sun.

“Can Maddie sleep over? We want to watch Jurassic Park, she hasn’t seen it yet.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Did Maddie ask her mother if that’s okay?” He eyed the small, light-brown haired girl standing behind Riley, who was turned toward Nancy.

“Mama, can I-“ Nancy put up a hand to stop her.

“Do you have homework this weekend?” Both girls shook their heads in unison. She smirked and looked to Steve. “It’s fine with me if it is with you.” He turned his gaze back to his own little girl, smiling now.

“Okay, Jurassic Park is in mine and your Dad’s room, be careful taking it out of the VCR.” The girls squealed and made a dash for the hallway when Steve called out. “Riles!” She turned her head to him, stopped in her tracks. “Lights out at eleven!” She grinned wide.

“Midnight?” He narrowed his stare and pursed his lips.

“Eleven-thirty, final offer.” She nodded her head and she was gone.

*

Billy opened the door with a loud thump. He really needed to fix the latch. Steve watched from the couch where he had The X-Files reruns playing, taking a break from his Halloween-related chores. Steve still had to finish cleaning the house, put up the decorations, and make the food for the party they were throwing in two days’ time, all while working mornings at Family Video; the back office work that came with owning a business. He did most of it from home, but he had to go in sometimes, if only to remind the teenagers he hired that they can’t make out in the workplace.

“Hey babe.” Billy’s voice was gruff, filled with exhaustion. Steve smiled at him, eyes watching Billy toe off his boots and pull his jacket off, hanging it on the rack near the door. “How’d the day go?” Keys and wallet dropped on the hall table, Billy made his way over to the kitchen.

“As to be expected.” Binx was purring softly in his lap, Steve’s hand idly stroking sleek, black fur. “Riley got her math test back, aced it, of course.” Billy snorted while he washed the grease from his hands.

“She better have. We studied for weeks for that damn test.” Steve turned the volume down on the television and picked up the cat laying in his lap, gently placing him aside on the cushions. He padded through the dining room and into the kitchen, moving for the fridge to grab a beer. He took a long pull and sighed on the exhale while setting another down on the counter next to Billy.

“We had spaghetti for dinner because it’s Friday.” Riley always wanted pasta on Fridays. Billy dried his hands on a dish towel before grabbing his beer. Steve noted his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “And I got her costume finished.” The last words came out triumphantly.

Billy nodded his head. “Right on. I’m excited to see it.” His gray t-shirt was oil-stained and dirty. The rugged look made Steve want to bounce up and down a little. He took another drink from his bottle.

“Mm, and Maddie’s sleeping over.” Billy looked at Steve, a smirk on his face. His feet moved him toward Steve until his face was close enough to touch.

“Ah, I see.” He set his beer down on the island, hands coming to run up and down Steve’s arms. “So, we won’t be seeing much of her tonight, then?” His eyes were dark.

It had been weeks since they had enough time alone to get their hands on each other, and Steve was so hungry. The smallest things were turning him on about Billy, to a point where he couldn’t watch him lick an ice cream cone without excusing himself. It was complete mania, and the thought of having him alone made Steve’s breathing cut short.

“I guess so.” His voice was low, eyes glancing over to the clock on the stove. Nine-thirty. He had two and a half hours before the girls had to be asleep. If they quietly excused themselves, maybe, just maybe, they could…

“Dad!” Their bodies pulled apart instantly, Riley’s voice filling their heads and clearing the thoughts they were both falling into.

“Hey, baby!” Billy stepped around Steve, arms opening for Riley to plunge into. He wrapped them around her in a bear-hug, bending down to meet her small frame. “How’s my girl?”

“Good! I got an A on my test!” He beamed at her, all teeth and pride.

“I heard! Great job, man!” He high-fived her. The moment made Steve’s heart tear in just a few places. Billy’s eyes were fixed on their daughter, chocolate brown hair falling down her back, pale skin, enormous brown eyes that always seemed to sparkle, purple striped pajamas and pink slippers.

“Hi Uncle Billy!” Maddie stood next to Riley, arms opened for a hug.

“Hey, kid, how you doin’?” He wrapped her in a hug as well, although, not as tight and protective. Those hugs were only for Riley.

“Great! I lost my last baby tooth yesterday!” She smiled as big as she could, showing a gap on the bottom row of her teeth. Billy leaned back, his face feigning something like disbelief.

“Nice! Did you put it under your pillow?” Her jaw dropped, eyes going wide.

“I FORGOT!” Riley was appalled as well, grabbing Madison’s hand.

“C’mon, you can put it under mine! The tooth fairy comes to my house too. Let’s go!” And they were running toward her room, Riley turning back to them for only a second. “Goodnight Dad! Goodnight Daddy! Love you!” Billy smiled after her.

“Love you too!” He echoed. Steve walked toward the hallway.

“Remember, you have to be asleep for the tooth fairy to come!” Steve called toward her door. When he saw it shut, he shrugged. “Well, Nancy’s going to owe me five bucks tomorrow.”

*

Midnight finally came, and Steve untangled himself from where he laid next to Billy on the couch. Steve pressed a kiss to the back of his hand and looked up into his eyes.

“I’m going to go check on the girls.” He stood and watched as Billy stretched out, shirt coming up to expose his stomach, a thin trail of hair leading down to his waistband. Steve could feel his mouth water before he tore himself away, making for the white door with the big green R painted on it. He pushed into the room and chuckled silently to himself when he saw the girls, arms everywhere and hair splayed over the pillows, Binx snoozing softly next to Riley’s head. He reached under Madison’s pillow, slipping the tooth out and sliding a five-dollar bill in its place. He snuck out of the room, leaving the door cracked just enough to allow Binx out if needed, and headed to the kitchen to put the tooth in a plastic bag.

While he was sneaking the baggie into his backpack sitting on the dining room table, he felt arms wrap around his middle. Billy’s voice was air rushing past his ear, making goosebumps rise on the back of his neck and a fire light in his belly.

“The girls asleep?” Steve smirked and turned his body toward Billy, lips coming to rest against his jawline.

“Like the dead.” Billy hummed in appreciation of the soft kisses Steve was leaving near his windpipe, hands reaching down to grab his ass, lifting him up, onto the wooden table. His face bent down, mouth finding Steve’s, hot and desperate. Steve’s arms were reaching the blonde hair, now falling loose over his shoulders. Billy’s hands were making work at the hem of Steve’s shirt, lifting it up over his head.

A hand came down to Billy’s chest, firmly stopping him from pulling at the waistband of Steve’s sweats.

“Let’s not do this here.” Billy nodded, panting. His fingers trailed down Steve’s chest, nails dragging against hot, needy skin.

“I need a shower.” Steve’s eyes were falling closed, the feeling of Billy’s hands making him crumble slowly. “Want to wash my hair?”

“Fuck yeah, I do.”

*

October 30, 1993 - Hawkins, IN

“Daddy, do you know where my Pacers sweater is?” Steve was standing at the stove, eggs sizzling in the pan, coffee brewing in the pot next to him. He was still only kind of awake, but Riley was frantically digging through the laundry basket on the table, bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

“I’m not sure, Riles. Did you check your closet?” He said around a yawn.

“And my drawers. It’s not here!”

“Maybe you left it in your Dad’s car?” She snapped and pointed at Steve.

“I did!” And she was running for the door. Always on the go, that one.

Steve heard the heavy footfall in the hallway that signaled Billy was awake. He mixed the cup of coffee quickly and held it out to his side, not even glancing when Billy slipped it out of his hand.

“Morning, sunshine.” Billy grunted to Steve in response, drinking the coffee before it was cool enough, not caring all the same. “How many eggs you want?”

“Three.” Steve looked at him then, waking a little more, only to admire him. Billy had no shirt on, sweats hanging low around his waist. His curls were everywhere, eyes barely open.

Riley strode toward them then, navy blue hoodie in hand, reaching for Billy.

“Here’s your keys dad.” She dropped them in his hand. Billy raised an eyebrow at Steve, who shrugged in response. “I’ll see you guys later!” Billy put a hand out in front of her.

“Where’s the fire, girl?” She wore a frustrated grimace.

“Nancy is here to pick up me and Maddie, I got to go!” She stood on her tiptoes and Billy bent his head down for her to place a small kiss on his cheek, then jogging over to Steve to do the same. “Bye, Daddy.”

When the front door shut, Billy looked to Steve.

“Where is our daughter going at nine in the morning on a Saturday?” Steve chuckled, plating the eggs.

“They’re going to El and Mike’s to help set up for the shower.” Billy scoffed as he moved over to the table.

“Who has a baby shower the day before Halloween?” He began devouring his eggs once Steve placed them in front of him. Steve paced himself slower, savoring the hot coffee in his hands.

“If they wait any longer they may not be able to have one before she pops.” Billy rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his coffee.

“Are we expected to attend?” His voice sounded of disdain. As domesticated as Billy was, baby showers weren’t really his forte.

“Nah, I don’t think so.” The blonde leaned against the kitchen counter, eyebrows wiggling at Steve.

“I’ve got you alone all day?” Steve laughed, walking over to the coffee pot to get another mug full.

“Jesus, didn’t you get enough of me last night?” Billy pressed his bare chest to Steve’s back, moving hair from his face, startling him.

“Never enough of you, pretty boy.”

*

Steve was feeling groggy, his day finally over, legs heavy as lead when he walked through the front door. He dropped his keys next to Billy’s, eyes scanning the living room for anyone. All he found was Binx, sitting on the back of the couch, pink tongue licking his paw.

“Hey buddy.” Steve reached over and picked up the cat, looking down into his yellow eyes. “Where is everyone?”

The house was dark, still as stone. The Halloween decorations him and Billy set up earlier in the day loomed, giving it an eerie atmosphere. Steve brushed it off and headed for the hallway, Binx in his arms. As he approached his bedroom, he heard the faint sounds of the television playing.

When he walked in, he could have dropped to his knees, smile spreading across his face. Riley and Billy laid on the bed, curled up together, sleeping soundly with small snores escaping. Billy’s arms were locked firmly around the small girl who had her hands tangled in his shirt, gripping it tightly. The blankets were haphazardly thrown around them, making a warm nest of quilt and pillows. The end of The Addams Family was playing on the television, credits starting to roll.

Steve heard a small meow from his hands, and he deposited Binx on the foot of the bed. He curled up, kneading the sheet gently with his claws by Billy’s feet.

After a few minutes to change, brush his teeth, and rinse the very long day off of his face, Steve crawled into bed next to them. He threw an arm over Riley, eliciting a louder snore out of Billy, feeling his breath on his own face. He tucked his daughter’s head under his chin, and shut his eyes.

Finding sleep wasn’t always easy for Steve, so he spent a lot of nights laying in bed searching for it, tossing and turning in the process.

But not tonight. Tonight, Steve faded into his dreams quickly to the smell of bubblegum shampoo and cherry Coke.

*

October 31, 1993 - Hawkins, IN

The house was buzzing with excitement, kids running around, people mingling in various rooms. Steve was looking for the extra plastic cups he bought from Melvald’s yesterday and where the fuck did he put them? The irritation was swelling, the people around him making his anxiety kick up. He huffed out a breath.

“You okay?” He turned to see Robin, prom dress on, red paint covering most of her body. He nodded his head and went back to his task, opening cabinets and drawers.

“Yeah, I just,” He slammed another cupboard, scratching his head under his sunglasses in frustration. “I can’t find the goddamn cups!” Robin took a step toward him, hand falling on his shoulder.

“Hey, take a breath.” He obeyed, finally taking a moment to appreciate her costume. He raised a brow.

“Carrie?” She smiled, putting her arms out and spinning slowly for full-effect.

“You like?” He nodded his head, snorting a laugh. “And who are you?” He looked down at his costume, which was easy to put together, given he dressed nearly the same way in high school.

“Max Dennison from Hocus Pocus.” She nodded in realization.

“And Riley is Dani?” He pointed at her.

“Bingo. Made the costume myself”

“Don’t they sell that costume at the store?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but Riley said it was all wrong.”

She smiled and looked to the living room where Billy was standing, drink in hand while talking to Joyce, pieces of fake, rotting flesh on his gray painted face, dark, mussed up wig on his head. She raised an eyebrow.

“And Billy is…” She trailed off.

“Billy the Zombie.” Steve said matter-of-factly. She chuckled and looked back at him.

“Love it.” Her eyes glanced to Gina, her girlfriend of three years now, fondness in her eyes. “You know, we did pretty good, Harrington. After everything that happened at Starcourt, I really wasn’t sure, but,” She looked back at him. “I’m proud of us.” He beamed, reaching an arm around her shoulders.

“Me too, Robs.”

*

“Riley! Riley! Riley!” Everyone in the house was chanting, Nancy avidly staring at her wristwatch.

“Ten more seconds!”

“C’mon Riles! You got this!” Billy was cheering from the side of the bucket where Riley’s head was submerged, pulling apples out with her teeth and hoisting them into the bowl next to it. Steve counted eight so far, and for only having one minute, he was thoroughly impressed.

“Time!” Nancy called out and Riley’s head popped up, one last apple in her mouth, and the house roared in excitement. Steve grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You did it! You beat Hopper!” Jim was standing behind him, towel around his neck and fake disappointment on his face.

“She must have cheated.” Billy clapped him on the shoulder and laughed.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Dad. It’s not easy, beating an eight year old at bobbing for apples.”

Steve laughed and helped Riley dry her face. Her grin was 1000 watts of sugar, and her hair was dripping onto her dress.

“Daddy, did I do a good job?” He rubbed her hair between the soft towel.

“You were great, baby. I’m so proud!” She lunged at him, arms wrapping his neck in a grip that would strangle him if she wasn’t so small. Her voice was quiet in his ear.

“Thank you so much, Daddy. This is the best Halloween ever.” He squeezed her, shutting his eyes and feeling the lump forming in his throat. He pulled her back and looked at her, face bright and eyes lit with everything he never knew he needed in his life.

“Thank you, Riles. For everything.”

[silverarmedassassin]

Day Six: A Christmas Date

Pairing: Bucky x Reader (College AU) Word Count: 4269 - sorry this one kind of got away from me whoops Summary: Bucky is desperate to find a date for his fraternity's Christmas party. You happen to stumble into the conversation at the wrong time. Or is it? 

A/N: And we’re back! I’ve had a really rough past couple of days and couldn’t get any writing done, so I’m going to be playing catch up for the next few days. I hope to have days 7, 8 and 9 all out by tomorrow evening, but we’ll see. I have tomorrow off so I’ll have plenty of time to write and edit what I already have written! Enjoy! 

2019 Christmas Masterlist 

“Come on Stevie. Peggy has to have at least one cute single friend she can hook me up with!”

Steve looks over the top of the espresso machine he’s working with and glares at Bucky. His best friend is currently sulking over his coffee at the pick-up counter as he complains about this week’s girl issues. “Buck, I’m working.”

“But Dot’s gonna be there with her new boyfriend! If I show up alone, I’m gonna look like a total loser!”

“You’re going to look like a loser no matter what you do,” your voice chimes in as you walk up next to Bucky at the counter. You smile at Steve as he starts to prepare your usual order, and Bucky grumbles into his coffee. “What’s this one crying about now?”

“His fraternity is hosting a Christmas party and he doesn’t have a date. Word is Dottie’s gonna be there and Bucky’s freaking out.”

“Ahh,” you hum as you lean on your elbows and look towards Bucky. “What happened to the girl - was it Misty? - that’s been hanging around the past few weeks?

He glares at you as he straightens up. “It was Mandy. And we wanted...different things.”

“Oh, so she wanted something serious and you just wanted to get your dick wet?”

Bucky nearly chokes on his coffee, and you’re sure you’re going to have to call an ambulance on Steve for how hard he’s laughing. You can’t help but chuckle yourself as he leans over the counter to fist bump you between his wheezing.

“You know Buck,” Steve says as he attempts to steady himself, “you should take Y/N!”

“What!?” you and Bucky exclaim at the same time. Bucky in a panic and you shocked that Steve would even drag you into the situation.

“Yea! She knows you’re a terrible date, and she can put up with your shit. Plus, there’d be no,” Steve wiggles his eyebrows then, “expectations at the end of the night. And she’s the only one in the group that’s single.”

You scoff and cross your arms. “What about Carol? She’s not seeing anyone.”

“Everyone knows Carol is gay. It’d be too unbelievable.” Steve shrugs his shoulders like his suggestion is the obvious answer.

Bucky was quiet throughout the entire exchange while he fought his own internal battle. On one hand, he’d been considering asking you to be his date. Not out of desperation, but because he truly wanted to spend time with you, show you off not just to Dot, but to everyone.

But on the other hand, the sensible, realistic hand, he knew you’d laugh in his face if he’d ask you. Not that you were cruel, it was just that your friendship hadn’t always been as carefree and easy as it was now. Plus, he didn’t want to use you of all people to rub in Dot’s face.

The party was in less than eight hours, however, and he was getting a little bit desperate. Maybe Steve bringing up the date could really save him.

Fuck it, Bucky thinks to himself, I’m just gonna ask her.

“Yea! Come on, Y/N, be my date!” He puts on his best pouty face and bats his ridiculously long eyelashes at you. “Pleeeeease? Can’t you pretend you don’t hate me for just one night? I’ll buy you your coffee for an entire week straight. Please!”

“Okay! Okay, okay, you’re making a scene,” you shush Bucky as his pleas grow louder, drawing the attention of those sitting closest to the counter. “I’ll go with you, just stop!”

Bucky stops pouting and gives you an exasperated look. “Wait, really? You’ll really go with me?” He tries not to let the excitement seep through his tone.

You shrug nonchalantly. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to a good party. Plus, I’m never going to pass up free alcohol.”

Bucky bites his lip in an attempt to hold back a smile, but his excitement is too much to contain. “Yes!” he says as he punches the air. “You don’t know how much you’re saving my ass, really I-”

He’s cut off when his phone starts to vibrate. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looks back to you and Steve. “Listen, I gotta run,” he says as he starts backing up towards the front door. “I’ll pick you up at your place at 5:30, okay?”

Before you can respond, Bucky is planting a chaste kiss to the side of your head and running out of the coffee shop. You sigh as you lean back and watch him through the shop’s windows.

“You know, if you could just keep it in his pants for more than a day, maybe he could find someone to commit it.”

Steve slides your drink over the counter towards you as his best friend disappears down the street towards campus. “Yea,” he says, turning his gaze on the back of your head. “But I think the girl he’s really interested in is too far out of reach for him.”

You turn and grab your coffee and shrug. “I better get going too. You have a job to do and I have a dress to go buy! Thanks, Stevie!”

You wave as you make your way towards the front door, and Steve just shakes his head. “They’re such idiots,” he says under his breath before turning his attention back to his work.

When 5:20 p.m. rolls around, you’re standing in front of the mirror in your room, twirling side to side so that you can examine your dark purple, crushed velvet dress. The skirt, as your roommate Natasha described it, is a nice flirty length, falling midthigh. Although not too revealing, the dress still revealed enough skin on top to be a little hazardous. With the neckline scooping to just above the valley of your breasts, and the back going down just as far, you felt

“Are you sure this is okay?” you ask as you examine your backside again.

Natasha, who is sprawled out on your bed, sighs and looks up from her chemistry textbook for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. “I told you, it’s perfect. You’re going to have every guy at that party begging on their knees for your attention.”

You make eye contact through the mirror but quickly avert your gaze. “Yeah, but what will Buc-”

“What will Bucky what?” Natasha interrupts you as she sits up fully. “It’s just Bucky. Since when does his opinion on what you do or wear matter?”

You bite your lip. She’s right, it is just Bucky. But that was the problem. You’re not sure when just Bucky started causing your stomach to do somersaults and your heart feel like it was going to explode in your chest.

It’s not like you hadn’t known Bucky for almost three years. It’s not like you had fallen for his devilishly handsome looks the moment he stepped foot into your freshman English class. Or his ridiculous charm when you accidentally ran into him in the dorm hallway one morning when you were running late for class. 

And it’s not like you’ve spent the last four years burying those feelings under every ounce of willpower you had. No, it’s just Bucky and his opinion doesn’t matter at all. 

Except it does.

A knock on your front door draws you from your thoughts and does nothing to calm the cage of butterflies that had been released in your tummy the second you’d agreed to go to this party.

Natasha jumps off the bed and out into the living room. “Coming!” she sing-songs as she makes her way to the front door. “What a gentleman, coming to meet the parents before he takes ya on a date.”

“Nat” you grumble as you grab your bag and phone from your dresser. With one final look in the mirror, you sigh and turn off the light. Here goes nothing.

As you emerge from the hall, Natasha has already ushered Bucky into the apartment. Your steps falter a little when you catch a glimpse of him. He’s wearing your favorite red Henley and dark jeans combo with his worn leather jacket thrown over the top.  

He catches your movement out of the corner of his eye and turns to look at you. A shy smile creeps across his face as he tunes whatever Natasha had been talking about with him out. She picks up on this, because she turns to look at you too.

“Oh goody!” she claps before pulling her phone from her back pocket. “Get together kids, I need to document this moment! It’s like you’re going to prom!”

“Nat,” you hiss as you make your way towards the door.

“Just one picture. We need to document the one and only time James Barnes has clean hair and looks like a right gentleman!”

One picture turns into five different staged photos, and before you know it Bucky is pulling at your arm to get you out the door. “I’m sorry Tasha, but we really have to go!”

“Be safe, kids! Use protection! I don’t any any grandbabies yet!!” Natasha calls after you, wheezing as she does so. You were going to kill her when you get home tonight.

You take a deep breath as Bucky pulls up in front of the massive fraternity house. The white colonial-style home, complete with columns and a beautiful front porch, was far too nice for a group of college-aged men to living, breaking and...doing god knows what.

“Nervous?” Bucky asks from the driver’s seat. He doesn’t dare rip his gaze from the line of cars in front of his.

“No,” you say far too quickly to be convincing. Why the hell were you so nervous?! “Are you?”

Bucky shrugs then and unbuckles his seatbelt. “First time seeing Dot since the breakup. It’s not my idea of a great party.” He turns to look at you then, a soft smile playing on his face. “But I’ve got a beautiful date to make me feel a little better.”

You roll your eyes and unbuckle your own belt. “Shut up,” you grumble as you shove the car door open. It’s like he knew exactly what to say to get under your skin and right to the butterflies.

Before you can even make it out of the car, Bucky is around to your side holding the door like the gentleman he isn’t. He sheepishly smiles when you give him a look and shrugs it off.

“Gotta make it look believable,” he says with a laugh.

As the two of you make your way to the front door, Bucky is stopped by a few of the guys. Fortunately, you know most of them since your group of friends spends a decent amount of time together, so no introductions are needed. A few of them do, however, side-eye you for a moment before patting Bucky on the back in a congratulatory manner. You try to brush it off as guys just being guys.

When you finally reach the far-too-grand front door, complete with an old-fashioned knocker, Bucky stops.

“Are you okay with me touching you?” he asks shyly.

“What?!”

“Not like...Y/N! I mean like, holding your hand, and dancing. You know, like boyfriend things.”

Please, you yell inside your head. Outwardly, you keep your calm.

“Get enough alcohol in me,” you say as you pat his scruffy cheek, “you can do whatever you’d like.”

If you’re going to make it believable, you might as well embrace the part, right?

Bucky practically chokes on his own tongue. “Right. Uh, shall we?” he says as he motions towards the door.

He guides you through the foyer and into the main room of the house where bodies were spilling out into the hall and into the smaller library and sitting rooms, hand firmly planted on your lower back. It seems like every other person you pass wants his attention, but he’s focused on getting the two of you into the heart of the party, probably to camouflage himself so Dot wouldn’t spot him.

“Hey. Bucky!” Christopher, who you know as the fraternity’s president, waves at Bucky from around a box of store-bought chicken. “I know you helped all day, but can you give me a hand with the rest of the food? It just got delivered.”

Bucky looks between you and Chris and sighs. “I’m really sorry,” he starts, shoulder dropping in defeat knowing he can’t possibly say no. He is one of the biggest and strongest of the brothers and was used to getting called upon to do the heavy lifting around the house.

“It’s fine,” you say waving him off. “I’m going to get a drink. Want your usual?”

He smiles at this and nods. “I’ll be back in five, promise!”

You watch him jog out the door Chris had just emerged from, and you turn to make your way to the kitchen. It was quieter, not as many bodies lingering around, so you decide you’ll camp out in there until Bucky comes back.

You’re just grabbing a beer for Bucky and wine cooler for yourself when a familiar voice calls your name.

“It is you!” Dot says when you turn around to see who was beckoning you. She hurries over and gives you a tight squeeze like it hadn’t been three months since she broke the heart of one of your best friends. Like she hadn’t destroyed the one person who’s happiness sometimes meant more to you than your own.

Taking one look at her, you suddenly feel very self-conscious. She’s an absolute vision in a deep evergreen dress that falls just above her knee. One thing you’d always loved about Dot was her effortless, vintage style. The dress screamed the 1940s and was something that would have made you look like you were in costume.

Her red hair was curled to perfection and framed her striking features perfectly. You were silly to think that Bucky would ever feel anything towards you when he had dated her for nearly four years. The encounter had you second-guessing why you’d even agreed to come to this party in the first place.

“How have you been? I miss seeing your smiling face every day!” Dot says cheerfully. In her typical energetic way, she doesn’t give you time to respond. “You look beautiful by the way! That color really suits you!”

“Not as beautiful as you,” a man you don’t recognize says as he walks up and wraps his arms around Dot’s middle.

“Oh hush,” she giggles as she leans into the kiss he plants on the side of her head. You shift your weight from side-to-side, uncomfortable with the exchange in front of you. It must catch Dot’s attention because she snaps out of the love bubble she had been in and looks back to you.

“Oh! I’m so rude! Y/N, this is Danny. Danny, Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Danny says as he extends one hand away from Dot to shake yours. You give a tight smile and return the gesture.

“Y/N and I ran in the same group for a while at the beginning of college. But, you know, life got in the way. It’s so nice to see you, though! I don’t think I ever saw you at one of these parties back when...” she just shrugs and decides not to finish the thought.

“Things change, I guess,” you awkwardly laugh.

Before things can get any more awkward, Bucky comes in through the door calling your name. He doesn’t see Dot and Danny at first, and so bounds over to you in two quick strides before wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

“I guess they do,” Dot says as she watches Bucky pull you closer into his side.

You want to preen at the obvious change in tone, an almost bitterness lacing her words now, but you know it’s just for show and she has nothing to actually be bitter about. This is the exact reason Bucky had even wanted you to come with him, and at least for his sake, it was working. Without thinking, you wrap an arm around his solid, broad middle.

“Dot!” Bucky exclaims in his smooth, confident tone you’d come to love. Bucky was nothing if not confident with the ladies, which is why he had a new one almost every week since the duo had broken up. He was also a great actor. You know for a fact that this confidence was just a front. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Surprise,” she says, pulling Danny’s arms a little tighter around her middle. Her gaze lingers on Bucky’s fingers as they start absentmindedly tracing shapes along your velvet-sleeved arm. “I didn’t know you two were...together.”

You can feel the rumble in his chest as he laughs. “Surprise!”

The tension in the room is so thick you could cut it with a dull knife. You look up at Danny who is glancing back and forth between Bucky and Dot, obviously not knowing what was going on. Unable to stand the awkward tension, you pat Bucky’s side gently to gain his attention.

“I’m, uh, gonna run to the restroom. Come find me when you’re done in here?”

Bucky glances at you and swallows hard. His eyes are pleading you to stay, but there’s nothing you can do to remedy the situation. Just like you’d told him on the way over, if he ever really wanted to let this go, he was going to have to talk to her sooner or later.

You take pity on him though and lean up to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be gone for just a few,” you whisper before releasing your grip on him and making towards the hallway.

When you emerge from the bathroom three minutes later, you can hear yelling over the music. As you make your way back towards the kitchen, you come to find that it was Bucky and Dot who was the source of the commotion.

Everyone has cleared out of the kitchen now, including Danny, so you choose to stay away. Deciding you’d rather not hang awkwardly around waiting for Bucky, and not feeling like striking up a conversation with anyone you know, you head out to the front porch. Luckily the weather has been mild this year, so you won’t freeze while you wait for Bucky to come to find you.

Ten minutes went by, then twenty, and you start getting a little antsy. There’s no way he was still in there talking with Dottie.

Despite the faux-date, you had been hoping to spend some time with Bucky. You thought that since he’d asked, begged you to come with that he would at least keep you on his arm while he made his rounds. But it was starting to look like that was not going to happen.

You check the time again and sigh, deciding that you’ll just call Natasha or even Clint to come to pick you up. You didn’t feel like wandering around the party by yourself, and you didn’t want to ask Bucky to leave in the middle just to take you home.

You shoot a quick text to Bucky to let him know what was going on, told him you weren’t feeling well and Natasha was coming to pick you up. It wasn’t completely a lie, just not the whole truth either. You call Nat and luckily she’s in the middle of a study break and agrees to come to get you in fifteen.

You wait for a text from Bucky, hoping it would be him telling you not to go, but it never comes. So when Natasha pulls up, you decide to leave the party, and hopefully your feelings for Bucky behind.

You’re awoken at 3:30 a.m. by your phone buzzing. You pointedly ignore it and turn over and try to go back to sleep. As soon as the call ends, another comes in immediately. You huff and roll back over, angrily yanking the phone from its place on your nightstand. Bucky Boy the caller id reads.

Before your tired brain can process what’s going on, the call ends and another immediately starts back up. “Hello?” you rasp into the phone, throat dry with disuse.

“Y/N!” Bucky slurs into the phone, obviously drunk. It startles you for a moment before you remember that he doesn’t need to drive anywhere since he lives at the frat house. “You left me at the party.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose and sigh, definitely not wanting to have this discussion with drunk Bucky, let alone sober Bucky. “I wasn’t feeling well so I came home.”

“But you looked so pretty and I didn’t even getta tell ya. I didn’t even getta dance with you!” You can hear him pouting through the phone and you can’t help but give a silent laugh.

“Buck, you’re drunk. Go to sleep.”

“No!” he shouts defiantly like a child. “Ya gotta listen to me, Y/N. Dottie...Dot, she tried to tell me that I didn’t really like you, that she could see through our facade. At first I got real mad, because that’s not what wasna sposed to happen. She was supposed to see us together, because it’s us, and get real jealous.

“But ya know what, Y/N, she was always jealous of you. ‘Cause you’re smart and caring, and funny and nice, and,” he stops to hiccup then. “And you’re jus so beautiful, ya know? She should be jealous of you because she’s not you and you’re you, ya know? And I know you’re gonna try and tell me I’m jus saying this ‘cause I’m drunk, but I’m not!”

Your head starts to spin a little as he continues talking. Every other word is slurred worse than before, which helps remind you of the fact that, yes, he is just saying this because he’s drunk. He’s drunk and upset about Dot so he’s projecting. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

“Ya know, I still remember that first day in English. I stumbled in half asleep and late and the seat next to you was the first one I saw. I hated it because it was in the front - I mean come on Y/N, who sits in the front of the classroom! - and vowed to never sit there again, but I did. I did every day for the rest of the semester and I’m so glad I did.

“You know why Dot doesn’t like you? Because I think she figured it all out before me. She broke up with me because she knew she wasn’t ever gonna live up to you. And I hate myself for only being able to tell you this while I’m drunk, but please, in the morning, make me say it again, okay? Because I like you and I think the feeling is mutual, but I’ve always been too scared to say something.

“And then stupid Dot came along and she was safe. I couldn’t ruin a friendship if there wasn’t one to begin with, so I settled. But I don’t wanna settle anymore, okay? So make me tell ya all of this again in the morning ‘cause I need to. You need to know.”

Tears start to drop down onto your cheeks, leaving salty trails as they do so. You’re not sure what to say, so you sit there and let him ramble on. You’d dreamt about this moment countless times before, Bucky confessing his feelings to you, but you never thought it would happen like this. Not when you’re half-awake with terrible bedhead and with Bucky three sheets to the wind. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but you’ll take it.

Bucky’s quiet a little too long then, and you can hear his breathing over the phone as slowed a little. “Bucky?” you ask quietly into the speaker, but you’re met with only his soft breaths. He must have fallen asleep. Good. A sniffle a little before letting out a deep breath. “Good night, Buck. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

In the morning. Hopefully, in the morning everything he had just confessed to you would still stand true. That you would be able to confess your own feelings and something good could finally come from it.

You hang up and shoot him a quick text before you can second guess it. Returning your phone to its charger on the nightstand, you roll over and feel the butterflies come back. In the morning.

You: Hey Buck. Drunk you had some interesting things to say tonight. He wanted me to make sober you retell me everything in the morning, so I’m holding you to it. How about breakfast? We can make it a date. A real one this time. 

[artificialqueens]

Sit back and watch the bed burn (Craquaria) - SamWhity

A/N: I originally planned to write this story following the timeline of my other oneshots but the plot somehow changed while I was writing it and this is the final result. I hope you’ll enjoy it. :) The title comes once again from a song by Florence + The Machine called “Kiss with a fist”

Summary: Just while the older one was turning to face her, their lips crashed. It was unexpected, messy and awkward but they couldn’t let go. They spent a couple of minutes like that, looking at each other, connected by the lips and afraid to ruin the strange magic of such a precious moment. Or: Miz Cracker checks on Aquaria after filming and end up taking big life decisions.

“Have you guys heard from Aquaria?”.

Yuhua’s question broke an otherwise comfortable silence, while the queen, Monét, Miz Cracker, Dusty and her husband were having brunch. Monét took a spoonful of guacamole and put it on her gluten-free toast, before answering.

“I tried to call her yesterday but she hasn’t answered or called me back”, she said, before frowning and adding: “Do you guys think she’s not okay?”.

Dusty’s husband took a sip of his Mimosa, before sighing.

“You haven’t heard it from me”, he started, causing the others to look at him perplexed, “but it seems that she’s not doing well, after the last days of filming. Susanne is kinda worried, actually. You know, Aquaria is like the baby of them all…” he finished his sentence with a snort.

Miz Cracker sighed, before setting her fork down and taking a sip of her coffee.

“I’ll ask Katelyn”, she claimed.

Her relationship with Aquaria was a delicate balance of affection, admiration and shade she sometimes still struggled to understand: knowing the younger one wasn’t feeling well and decided not to call her made her heart clench in an unexpected way.

They ate their food in silence, before Yuhua asked: “Should we check on her?”.

Dusty nodded, before adding: “Maybe we should”.

Monét took a piece of fruit, before mumbling: “It’s maybe best if we ask Katelyn to call her or whatever. We all know how defensive she can get”.

Despite her cocky attitude, everyone who knew Aquaria well enough was aware of her deep insecurities and of all the, sometimes unhealthy, ways she tried to cope with them. The young queen used to hang out with loud personalities and motherly figures in order to feel safe enough to be herself and, when put under a certain amount of pressure, she tended to push people out of her life. After coming back from filming, she immediately started working again and managed to always find an excuse when invited to meet up with the rest of her NYC season sisters. They all got to see her new photos, they heard all about her wonderful performances but they never got to see her for long enough to have an actual conversation with her. Only Monét, being her loving and bubbly self, managed to exchange a couple of words with her young friend, during a Frankie Sharp event, and all the other one said, before running away, was: “I know, I’m sorry. I actually have to go”.

Without a word, Cracker took her phone and typed a message to her best friend, before putting the device away and sipping on her coffee.

“And now we wait”, she sighed.

Miz Cracker, 11:30 am: Have you heard from Aquaria? Could you please check on her?

Katelyn’s answer came a couple of minutes later.

Katelyn, 11:33 am: I tried to call and got a message saying she’s not feeling 100%. Maybe flu.

A second message was sent right after the first.

Katelyn, 11:34 am: I don’t buy it. I can stop by, bringing soup or whatever.

“Katelyn is stopping by. I’ll keep you posted”, Cracker said, before turning to Monét in desperate need of a change of subject: “Now, how was the show yesterday?”.

Katelyn came back home soon after Cracker, carrying a plastic bag with a couple of now empty Tupperware containers. The girl seemed tired and worried, much to the other one’s despair.

“What happened?”, asked the queen, as soon as her best friend sat on the couch with her.

The blonde shrugged, before answering: “So, I stopped by with soup and stuff, right?”.

Miz Cracker nodded, waiting to hear the rest of the story.

“Aquaria looked tired, she said it was the flu but… “she suddenly stopped, trying to find the right words, before finishing her sentence: “I don’t know. I’m not totally sold. I think it has to do with the show and her anxiety. She said something to me…”.

“What? What did she say?” the queen asked, interrupting her friend.

“She said something about disappointing the people she loves and feeling bad about things” Katelyn tried to recall.

“Things?” Cracker asked, hesitant and somehow worried.

The other one shrugged, before adding: “Maybe you should go. Or Monét. Just don’t send Yuhua! She’s sweet and lovely and stuff but…”.

“Yeah, definitely not Yuhua” Miz Cracker agreed, before smiling softly and adding: “Thanks for stepping in, Kat”.

Katelyn smiled back, before murmuring: “You know I love her, we all do. Some more than others”, she teased, before getting up and asking: “How about a cup of tea?”.

The following day, Miz Cracker wrote a quick message to Aquaria letting her know she would have stopped by to check on her. Needles to say, the other one didn’t seem thrilled about it.

Aquaria, 10:47 am: It’s not necessary. It’s just some stupid flu.

The queen rolled her eyes, before typing a quick answer.

Miz Cracker, 10:47 am: Already on my way :D

She put her phone away, before taking her keys and exiting the building.

Her phone buzzed.

Aquaria, 10:48 am: I don’t want you to get sick! It’s maybe better if we postpone…

Cracker sighed, before typing an answer.

Miz Cracker, 10:49 am: Nonsense! I’ll see you in a few :D

She made her way to the subway station: the train was arriving in the exact moment when she reached the platform, she noticed. She mindlessly put her headphones on and started listening to some music.

Just like she expected,after unlocking her phone the queen found a series of messages from a certain other drag queen.

Aquaria, 10:53 am: I don’t mean to be rude but can we please postpone? Not feeling well :(

Aquaria, 10:53 am: Pleeeeease

Aquaria, 10:54 am: Are you purposefully ignoring me?

Aquaria, 10:54 am: Stop ignoring me, you hoe!

Aquaria, 10:55 am: I just got out of bed and look like crap. Please, let’s postpone

Aquaria, 10:55 am: Cracker, let’s meet with the others at the end of the week.. it’ll be fun, the NYC girls all together ;)

Aquaria, 10:56 am: I feel like you’re purposefully ignoring me and I don’t like it

Aquaria, 10:57 am: Crackeeeeer!

Miz Cracker chuckled, before sliding the phone in her pocket and exiting the train. It was a short walk to Aquaria’s apartment and the queen spent it listening to an old mix she never got to lip sync to. She rang the bell, waiting to be let in.

“Yes?” Aquaria’s voice was low and a little raspy.

“It’s me. Let me in, pretty please?” the other one asked, before adding: “Or I’ll send Yuhua to check on you”.

Needles to say, she was immediately let in.

“I love the power of those threats” she thought, pretty pleased with herself.

Cracker made her way to the elevator, pressed the button for the 23th floor and waited for the doors to close. She istinctively checked her reflection into the mirror, before sighing and mumbling: “It’s not about it, stupid”.

The doors opened with a “ding” and the queen quickly exited, before turning to the left directed to Aquaria’s apartment. She knocked, before hearing a muffled “It’s open”.

The place was cluttered but not as chaotic as one would have thought, Miz Cracker noticed. Before she could inspect any further, she was greeted by the other one.

“You shouldn’t have come”, she sighed, “What if you catch something?”

Without answering the question, the older one made her way to the sofa in the living room and patted the spot next to her.

“Come sit with me”, she said with a smile.

Aquaria sat next to her friend, looking at her nails like they were holding the secret of life itself.

“How are you feeling?”.

Cracker’s question let her lips before she could even realize it, so she just added: “I mean, for real. How are you really feeling?”.

The other one joined her on the couch, before sighing.

“I’m just tired, and sick and…” she couldn’t finish her sentence, interrupted by the older one’s voice singsonging a teasing “Cranky?”.

Aquaria scoffed, crossing her arms and pouting adorably.

“I’m not cranky”, she mumbled.

Miz Cracker smiled, before passing an arm around the younger one’s shoulders and engulfing her in a slightly awkward embrace. They remained in silence for a couple of minutes, each one lost in their thoughts, before Aquaria started talking.

“Do you ever think about how they are editing everything?” she asked, before bringing her hand to her mouth and starting to chew on her nails.

The other one took her hand in hers and sighed.

“Stop, you’ll bleed all over and nail glue burns”, she started, before tightening her grip, “You don’t have power on whatever they will decide to play, Aquaria. You can’t spend the rest of your life in this cluttered cave just because of something you can’t control”.

Aquaria pouted adorably, before muttering: “I’m actually sick, you dumb. And it’s not cluttered!”.

Cracker smiled, before continuing to speak: “Listen, you had a great run. Sure, you had your moments but you did good. And you should be proud of yourself, instead of stressing out about things you have no control over”.

The other one nodded, before snuggling into Miz’s embrace and sighing, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

“What if I fucked up? Sharon will be so mad…”.

Aquaria’s relationship with her drag mother was a sensible topic. Everybody knew it. Sharon was the younger one’s role model, inspiration and often even confidant: the pressure of making her proud sometimes kept her drag daughter from taking certain risks or trying certain things and it seemed like neither of them was aware of it. It was a delicate balance made of late phone calls, Skype hangouts and occasional meetings and Cracker couldn’t help but ask herself why Sharon hadn’t already called to check on her. Maybe she had, she thought, maybe the young queen just ignored her calls.

“Why don’t you call her?” the older one asked “I can wait here, if you want” she then offered.

“Would you really stay?” the surprise in Aquaria’s voice made the other queen smile.

“Of course”, she nodded.

With a sigh Aquaria got up and went to grab her phone, before sitting back on the sofa and biting her lips.

“Here we go”.

“Pumpkin! Are you okay? What happened?” Sharon’s voice shifted from excitement to worry in a matter of seconds, “Giovanni, talk to me”.

Cracker couldn’t hide a smile: typical Aquaria. The thought that she couldn’t open up even to her mentor made her feel a little bit better.

“I got home from filming”, the younger one’s voice broke the silence “I’m… I’m kinda…” she reached for the other one’s hand and squeezed it without even realizing it “I’m kinda freaking out” she then admitted, chewing on her lower lip.

Sharon sighed, before speaking.

“Listen”, she said “You can’t expect for everybody to like you or what you’ll put out there, it just doesn’t work like that. Just remember that you did your best, I know you did. And that we have your back. I mean, I’m an old alcoholic drag-queen but no one will come for my baby on my watch” she said, before yawning “Pumpkin I actually have to go. Skype later this evening?”.

Aquaria nodded, before answering: “Yeah, sure. Thanks for answering”.

The other one scoffed.

“Of course, you dummy! I’ll talk to you later, okay?”.

After finishing the phone call, the younger one snuggled back in that awkward but somehow comforting embrace and sighed.

“See? Everything is going to be fine. No need to segregate yourself”, Cracker smiled, before adding: “And now shower, miss thing! We’re going out!”.

The other one nodded, before reaching to hug Cracker one last time. Just while the older one was turning to face her, their lips crashed. It was unexpected, messy and awkward but they couldn’t let go. They spent a couple of minutes like that, looking at each other, connected by the lips and afraid to ruin the strange magic of such a precious moment.

The older one moved slightly and, before Aquaria could even think about what to say, she said: “Go take your shower, okay?”.

There was an affectionate softness in her voice that made Aquaria nod and got up without a word.

Alone in the room, Cracker sighed.

“Shit” she murmured, before taking her phone and ignoring the message from her boyfriend just to quickly write to Katelyn.

Miz Cracker, 11:58 am: I think I like her. A lot. Shit. Talk to you when I get back.

That same evening, after a long chat with Katelyn, just before he was heading to bed, Cracker found a message on her phone.

Sharon Needles, 11:37 pm: I don’t know what is going on between you and Aquaria. I actually don’t even know if there actually is something going on but still… thank you. She’s all over the place, right now. Having someone to lean on that isn’t a dumb club-kid with ego problems is a good thing for her.

A second text quickly followed the first one.

Sharon Needles, 11:41 pm: Having said that, hurt my baby and you’ll be dead in a ditch.

She smiled, before opening another conversation and typing a message.

Miz Cracker, 11:43 pm: I think we need to talk.

The answer came in pretty quickly.

Jason, 11:45 pm: Are you okay? What happened?

The queen sighed, before receiving a second text, this time from someone else.

Aquaria, 11:46 pm: Thanks for stopping by and putting up with my dumb self. I’m sorry for what happened, I didn’t mean to, I know you have a boyfriend and stuff. Please don’t be mad at me, or at yourself. Please don’t be mad at yourself, Maxwell. I promise I’ll keep my distance and stuff, okay? Just please don’t be mad.

“Shit”, he mumbled, before abandoning the idea of going to sleep and sitting on the couch with her phone in her hands. She somehow had to sort that mess out.

Miz Cracker, 11:47 pm: I’m not mad. I just need to process everything. But I’m not mad and I don’t want you to keep any kind of distance. Please don’t keep your distance. I’ll see you soon, okay? I kinda feel like we have to talk.

Miz Cracker, 11:48 pm: I think we need to talk. Something happened and I would really much love to talk to you in person. Please don’t freak out.

Aquaria, 11:48 pm: Okay. I’ll wait for you.

Cracker smiled, before noticing another string of texts.

Jason, 11:48 pm: Now I am freaking out.

Jason, 11:49 pm: Can’t you just tell me what happened?

Jason, 11:50 pm: Baby, are you okay?

Jason, 11:50 pm: I feel like I need to come over. Can I stop by?

Cracker sighed, before answering.

Miz Cracker, 11:51 pm: Okay. Please bring coffee.

It was definitely going to be a long night.

Jason left after two hours of recriminations, screaming and tears. Words like “how could you?” and “it’s all so fucked up!” were also said and the man left the apartment just in time for the neighbours to say: “Do you actually know that people are sleeping? Have some respect!” and them being greeted with a grunt that sounded a lot like “Fuck you”.

Needless to say, Miz Cracker was exhausted and sad. In the year they had dated it never occurred to her that she could have been the one ending things. Not because she couldn’t stop herself for falling for someone younger than her and so incredibly endearing without even knowing it. Not because she kissed Aquaria and suddenly realized there was so much more to their relationship that just admiration. Funnily enough, she was the last one to realize the actual nature of her feelings and even her room-mate, a big supporter of Jason, smiled sadly and nodded when she brought up the fact that she was thinking about breaking up with him.

“It was the honest thing to do”, she mumbled to herself, before turning to Katelyn and smiling apologetically: “Sorry again for the noise, Katelyn”.

The other one shrugged, before hugging her tightly and patting her back.

“It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?”, she asked, “It looks like we won’t be able to catch much sleep anyway”.

Cracker sighed.

“Not really. I kinda need to figure shit out. You should go to sleep, I need to make a call” she then moved to her room and closed the door.

Aquaria answered immediately.

“Are you okay?” she asked concerned, before mumbling: “Of course you’re not okay. Stupid question. I’m so sorry, I really am”.

The other one sighed, before deciding to bite the bullet.

“I need you to be honest with me. No bullshit.” she said, then added: “I broke up with Jason. I did it because I like you and I couldn’t be with him and still like you the way I do.”

“Okay” the younger one murmured.

“I feel like you like me too, and we both know what I mean with that” Cracker continued, not even noticing that she was raising her voice.

“I do”, Aquaria’s, on the contrary, lowered her voice.

“I know that you’re scared. Because of the show, because of this, because of things. I know it and I get it” Miz Cracker closed her eyes, before sighing and mumbling: “And I am too, but I thought… maybe we could be scared together?”.

Aquaria, laying in bed in her allegedly cluttered apartment, smiled. This was the Cracker she loved: this kind, humble and frankly adorable human being who was willing to trust her enough to share her fears with her. Maybe, she thought, they could make it work. Maybe they could really be scared together.

“I have a photo-shoot tomorrow. In front of the MET. Wanna meet up after that?” she asked softly, before adding: “I kinda feel like I want to tell you this in person…”.

“Tell me what?” the other one asked, slightly panicking.

“That I would love to be scared together with you. Because I like you a lot and…”.

Aquaria’s awkward speech was cut short by Miz Cracker.

“I’ll be there”, she said, before noticing how late it was and continuing: “Now go to bed, Aqua. We’ll talk later, okay?”.

A couple of minutes later, just when she thought she was finally falling asleep, the older one got a last message with an audio attached and, after listening to the track and reading the note, she couldn’t stop smiling.

Aquaria, 01:43 am: My mum used to listen to this song on repeat, when I was a kid. It says “because you’re special and I’ll take care of you”. Consider it your lullaby for the night. Yes, I’m dumb and corny and you can still run away from it.

Aquaria, 01:44 am: Please don’t run away, though.

She quickly typed an answer, before finally closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Miz Cracker, 01:44 am: I’m not going anywhere except to sleep. Goodnight, Giovanni.

A/N (2): Susanne is obviously Susanne Bartsch, club owner extraordinaire and creator of thos amazing lashes we all saw Aquaria, Milk and Hungry wearing. Here you can take a look at her Instagram. Also: I absolutely adore Yuhua but I needed someone to poke a little fun at and she was like the perfect (little) candidate. No bashing intended. Same goes for Cracker’s boyfriend, whose name I came up with. ;) The song Aquaria sends Cracker is an italian song called “La cura” by an incredible song-writer called Franco Battiato. It’s really beautiful and you can listen to it here.