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eddiernunson · 1 year ago

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The Splash of Rain on the Roof | Eddie Munson x f!Reader | 18+

Thank you to @forget-you-morelike-fuck-you for editing, always there for me, bestie.

Also to @bebe07011 for reading everything before I post and giving me feed back. Love ya.

Summary: you're best friends with Eddie Munson after moving to Hawkins, the new girl who ditches the cheerleaders for the Freaks. A year later, you've fallen head over heels for him, and you're convinced there's no way he has any interest in you. It finally seems confirmed when you find out (more or less) that he's into a fucking cheerleader. Your heart breaks.

Warnings: (idiots) best friends to lovers, dork!reader, virgin!eddie and virgin!reader (its cute, ok), kinda slow, no protection, creampie, praise/degradation, minor miscommunication trope, sleepy 5am writing, first I love yous

I have another one shot planned, it's about 3/4 done.

Word count: 11k

As any first day at Hawkins High in the middle of the semester goes, you had a fairly decent one. A cheerleader spotted you in her class and dragged you over to her table, a parade of jocks and cheerleaders surrounding it. You wondered if their insistence was genuine, and you let yourself believe it. Until their true colours were shown through a nasty gossip session.

For the most part, they all had kind things to say about one another. They encouraged each other and asked how your day was so far. Did it count as false advertising if fake friends show their real colours? If anything, you were grateful they were so quick about it. You barely had a chance to memorize their names when one of them broke out in an overdramatic bellow in disgust. Your interest piqued, nearly drowning in their dull conversations, no matter how polite.

You followed the curly haired boys’ line of sight across the cafeteria to a group of boys laughing louder than the rest of the school. They looked carefree and like they were enjoying themselves. You envied them. Your eyes switched back to your new supposed friends, afraid of what exactly was so worthy of their collective disgust.

Their immediate round of insults to the harmless group of boys left the worst taste in your mouth. After the three or four people had their say, you got up without another word.

“Wait! Where you going?” Called the girl who escorted you to the table.

“Anywhere but here.” You answered, having understood immediately what kind of group of people she associated herself with.

She had plenty more to say, but you didn’t hear another word. You were far too busy beelining for the gorgeous man who was at the head of said table. The moment you looked over to them, your vision tunneled. The complaints voiced by the table of Preps seemed to be an extension of their “freakiness”, or so they called it, which you deduced was just another word for “dork”.

Little did they know, you are also a dork.

So, the table you had just ditched watched in horror as you walked straight to the table and immediately sat down with them.

Turns out the gorgeous man was as kind as he was good-looking.

It’s been over a year since you started at Hawkins, over a year of friendship with Eddie Munson, said gorgeous man. What’s even worse, he’s better than you had expected him to be. As you settle into the Hellfire Club, adding your own adventurous characters, and contributing to inside jokes, you and Eddie end up closer than you had ever expected.

Unfortunate news is, he has you so far in the friend zone, you’re starting to wonder if even he knows you’re a girl. (With fantastic tits, which he never seems to even look at.)

You’ve spent plenty of nights in a pair of tiny shorts and an oversized top with no bra as you listen to music and smoke a joint with him, hoping over and over that he would just make a move because lord knows you weren’t gonna do it.

The pressure of his hand when it rests on your lower back, the way he curls your hair behind your ear, his breath down your neck when he hugs you, it all sets your skin on fire.

On one night you were terribly upset at your mom after having a fight with her, getting in your car to take the eight-minute drive to his house. You had arrived at his trailer uninvited plenty of times before, Eddie encouraged it once he realized the fights were a regular thing. Only this time, he wasn’t in the living-room watching a scary movie, or in his bedroom listening to records or making a new campaign.

He was in the shower.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He’s had plenty of showers while you were over. He’d be stupidly apologetic about it, but if you were to be honest with him, the smell of the body wash that lingered on him was too good to pass up. You grabbed a bag of chips and a soda from his fridge and a beer for him, figuring you’d meet him when he struts out in that low hanging towel. On your way to Eddie’s room, a noise like music hit your ears and the slick beer almost fell out of your hand.

“Uh, uh, oh shit…fuck—” You heard him, loud and clear, a noise you only imagined late at night in your own bedroom. You stood there frozen in the hallway, listening as he fucked his own fist. You listened as his breaths got faster, his whining higher pitched. But no sound could match the divine noise Eddie made as he finished. Your breath hitched then, drool pooling on your tongue as you pictured sticky white ropes all over the shower.

Your heart was beating wildly in your chest, your panties drenched just from listening to him. You wondered what would’ve happened if your hands were empty. When the shower turned off, your gut swooped, butterflies kicking in as you raced to look casual on his bed. You didn’t have much time to prepare, turning on some music and picking up one of his magazines. Shit, dirty magazine. You quickly adjusted to the next one over, featuring a Metal band on the cover.

As Eddie entered his room, you were laying on the bed looking casual as you could, hoping he didn’t pick up on your heavy breathing. If he did, he didn’t indicate it. As much as you tried, your breathing didn’t slow, your eyes zoned in on the droplets of water dripping down his bare chest, lingering on his treasure trail. He greeted you absentmindedly, picking up a pair of sweats.

That night, you could do nothing but stammer through your sentences, chalking it up to stress from the fight with your mom. He offered you to sleep over, a normal habit you’ve developed, but the itch to slip your fingers down your pants was too much. If you had to face your mom just to get it figured out, so be it.

A switch flipped in you that day, it went from being a schoolgirl crush into a want, no, a need for him.

God, you wish he’d just get a clue…or that’d you get the nerve to make a move.

Something better than this torture.

After the third pat on his hand, Eddie finally looked up, wondering why Josh can’t take the hint. “What, what?” He asked, already annoyed at his day as it was. Fucking history teacher…

“New girl.” Josh gestured towards the jock/cheerleader table.

Eddie blinked, questioning why the hell he should be interested in this. The insistence on not just Josh’s face, but the rest of the group convinced Eddie, switching his glance over to the table. You stuck out like a sore thumb, not exactly dressed in their prep uniform. From this single glance, he could tell you were uncomfortable. In any case, neither were most cheerleaders on their first days. Oh well, he figured you would assimilate soon enough. Shame, with how pretty you were.

Soon enough, Eddie’s mood lightened up, amused by the witty banter his friends were spitting back and forth. Something Gareth said ended up being ridiculously funny, a feat that he’s familiar with, and it breaks the entire group into loud laughter, something that obviously disrupts the cafeteria. Eddie didn’t care, and neither did any of the other members of Hellfire. If no one would give them any decency, why the hell would they owe anyone else any?

As always, the laughter invited even more scrutiny. Eddie knew the reaction of the table you sat at, firing off insults surrounding the word freak. If they could just get original content, that would be great, Eddie thought as he looked back down to his notebook of campaign notes. He was in the middle of deciding which book he might need to check out for reference when Josh tapped his hand again, far more aggressively.

“What?” He snapped, but caught wind of what was so urgent immediately.

There you were, walking as if you were strutting a runway to his table. He thought he must’ve had it confused for a second, but after assessing the reaction of your previous table, it couldn’t have been less wrong. Eddie leaned over to the table to his friends, teeth gritted. “Be normal.”

After about ten minutes of awkward conversation, as a last resort you had asked what Eddie was working on. “Oh, the campaign for DnD.”

“Wait, you play DnD?” You asked.

Eddie wasn’t sure if this question was negative or positive. “Yeah, we’re a Dungeons and Dragons club.” Gareth answered for him.

“Oh sweet!” The answer stunned all of them. “Can I join?”

“You play Dungeons and Dragons?” Josh asked incredulously.

“Yeah, my dad taught me.” You replied.

“Drama room, Friday night at 7. Don’t be late.” Eddie said, finally making eye contact with you.

He regretted it from the moment he did. The beauty he saw from afar was only intensified by a hundred. You looked at the table with intrigue, much more interest than you ever showed at the jocks table. Eddie couldn’t believe how wrong he was to assume you would just assimilate with them. You were too good for them.

Wait, you were too good for his club as well, what the hell were you doing there?

If Eddie had any current quarrels with the universe, it was that you just kept getting better and better as he got to know you. He was prepared for your level one basic dwarf when you showed up with a level 59 Warlock. You kicked his boss’s ass, carrying the weight of all your co-adventurers.

From there, Eddie swore he must’ve gotten hit in the head somehow, because life just isn’t good for him, never has been. But with you, life is worth tolerating. From the start, he had fallen for you, and he still would have even if you did only have a level one dwarf.

As luck would have it, you would never turn down an offer to hang out with him. The first time he offered, butterflies sat in his gut until he walked up to your locker and offered for you to watch a movie at his house with him. You accepted graciously, asking if he minded you’d watch horror. Internally, Eddie fell to his knees. Externally, he nodded, keeping his eyes on what he called the prettiest damn eyes he’s ever seen.

He felt lucky you accepted his displays of affection with him, leaning heavily into his hugs and letting his legs intertwine with yours. His hair would stand up, your skin setting his on fire.

Lately, though, he could swear something is out to get him. As you started getting more comfortable being at his house so often, you started wearing smaller clothing. First, it started off with a pair of sweats and a messy bun. That tore Eddie farther apart than it should have. It turned into braless shirts and tiny shorts, and Eddie stared at the curve of your ass, usually half hard as you laid on his bed.

The first night he ran to the bathroom to jerk off to the outline of your nipple, he felt like shit, yet he wanted nothing more to mouth at it, to mark it his.

Eddie is so sure you’re innocent of it all, unaware of his lust and feelings for you. It started as feelings, but the lust has started to take over to the point where Eddie has to jerk off before you get there. He knows you’re going to bend over too much as you “help” him with making meals. As of late, the tiny pair of shorts barely conceals the outline of your cunt, something that tugs what could only be described as a whimper out of him, has been becoming all too much.

Eddie realizes he’s gonna have to ask you out.

After yet another unsuccessful Saturday night over at Eddie’s house– well, successful in terms of getting you out of your house but unsuccessful in the sense that Eddie just doesn’t seem to see you as a fucking girl– you trade your books to prepare for another boring lecture, watching across the hall as Gareth and Eddie seem to be in humorous conversation, judging on the laughter alone.

Eddie is nodding, appearing to agree exuberantly with what Gareth is saying to him. Might as well kill some time before class starts. You walk over, backpack on one shoulder as the weight from all of your books bounces off the back of one of your thighs. Just as you’re about to interrupt their conversation, Eddie makes eye contact with you. As a reflex, you break into a smile at his dimples. However, Eddie says one last thing to Gareth before walking away from their conversation.

You try not to take it personal. There are several jokes in Hellfire you have learned a long time ago to not take personally. However, this felt personal. Eddie doesn’t usually take part in the jokes at your expense. The boys give you enough crap for him anyways, and he gives them crap, and you give Eddie crap. It’s a wonderful circle of crap, really.

As soon as you approach Gareth, now alone, he gives you a half smile, clearly trying to dissipate from the awkward situation. “Hey,” Gareth greets you, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning onto his locker to seem “casual.”

“What was that about?” You get straight to the point, nodding towards where Eddie had just walked away.

Gareth stutters through his words, adjusting his arms between crossed and placing his hand on his locker. Oh, Gareth, ever so graceful. “I-I-He-he-he just-uh—”

“Gareth!” You interrupt him, knowing he could continue his stammering for a while unless you stop it. “Just tell me!” You shove his shoulder, annoyed already. What reason could Eddie possibly have for taking off like that?

“We were just talking about the girl he likes, is all.” Gareth admits sheepishly, his eyes flicking everywhere but you.

“Oh,” you answer, feeling crestfallen. A girl? Eddie likes a girl? And hasn’t even had the audacity to tell you about it? Were you not his best friend? Maybe he’s your best friend, but you’re not his. You shake off that annoying voice of doubt in your head, knowing on some level it’s irrational. Then why didn’t he tell me anything? “Oh, he’s…never even mentioned a girl around me…”

Gareth knows exactly why you’re crestfallen, your crush on Eddie not the most exact unknown fact in your group of friends. “I don’t know, he doesn’t talk about it a whole lot…” Gareth trails off, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. It wasn’t exactly a lie; Eddie doesn’t talk about his crush on you. He barely mentions it. The only reason anyone in Hellfire knows anything…is because they have eyes.

“Oh. Alright.” You have to get out of this conversation before the tears that crept up behind your eyes make an appearance. “I’ll see you at lunch?” You don’t even wait for a response, already turned around towards a bathroom to get your shit together.

Gareth feels guilty as shit when he sees the way you shuffle off to the bathroom, your sniffles louder than you even realize. In fact, Eddie was just telling Gareth he was finally gaining the courage to ask you out. Unfortunately, your brain has already eliminated this idea altogether.

Eddie sits in his usual spot for the lunch period, a foot parked on the edge of the table as he leans back with his arms crossed, observing his friends arguing yet again. Doesn’t really matter what they’re arguing about, never really does. They could be arguing about which album of a certain artist is better, which class of character is better to play, or even which teacher sucks the most in the school.

They’re all pointless, and Eddie always has a final say in who wins the argument. Being the leader has its perks.

Even as he seems casual, he checks his watch occasionally because you’re still not there yet. He looks forward to your presence at the table, to the way you indulge in their idiotic fights, if only for a second. It never fails to amuse him. Usually, as of late, you’ve been picking a side just to piss off Mike, and he still hasn’t seemed to catch on yet.

Right now, Dustin and Mike are arguing over the stupidest thing yet, something not even worth mentioning. Lucas is trying to give his input that this isn’t worth fighting over, but they’re talking over him. Eddie wonders how long he’s going to let them hash it out for.

Gareth rolls his eyes as he watches Eddie’s face lights up as you finally make your way across the cafeteria to the table. You greet the entire table, letting your bag fall to the floor as you rest your chin on your hand.

Dustin immediately attempts to instigate you into the fight. “Hey, can you tell Mike that—”

“No offense, Dustin, but I really don’t care.” You interrupt him, sounding tired. The whole table but Eddie laughs at your answer.

This allows the table to segue into a different conversation, something that everyone can care about. Eddie takes the opportunity to lean in. “Are you not hungry?” He asks lowly, noting the lack of cafeteria tray you have today.

You can barely look him in those gorgeous brown eyes, your heart dropped to your gut the moment you heard he likes someone else. “Not really. Lost my appetite.”

His brows furrow, watching you avoid his eyes and sink into yourself. This was so unlike you. Usually, you’re much surer of yourself, an aura of confidence even he finds himself envious of at times. “Are you okay?” He asks again.

You shrug your shoulders, not committing to a yes or no answer. You finally lay your eyes on him, and he’s staring past you across the cafeteria, you follow his eyeline…directly to the cheerleader’s table. A realization hits you and somehow your heart drops even lower.

He likes a fucking cheerleader.

You should’ve known his type would be a girl who jumps up and down in a tiny skirt. Maybe you should’ve joined the cheer squad then. Then at least you would’ve had a damn chance.

Somehow, you don’t even have the appetite to sit next to him anymore. “Listen, I have to ask for help in my chemistry class, it’s kicking my ass. Um…”

Eddie is about to protest but you’ve already picked up your bag and started jogging out the large door of the cafeteria. In fact, you missed the rest of the school day to fucking wallow in this stupid heartache. Your mom doesn’t pay enough attention to the school's phone calls to begin with.

As you leave the cafeteria, Eddie gives a questioning look to his fellow Hellfire mates. Hell, if they know. Gareth knows, but they’ve made a collective agreement not to meddle, as much as it pained Dustin. Eddie was just gearing up the confidence to ask if you’d want to hang out that weekend, which is where he was planning on making his move for the first time. He didn't know what was upsetting you, but he figured it was something to do with your homelife, as it usually does.

However, he couldn’t have seen the next week coming.

As Eddie goes through the motions of barely making attendance and handing in assignments with maybe a paragraph of some bullshit he spewed, he usually has your pretty face to look forward to. In his second period, his leg bounces as he waits for you to sit next to him in your usual seat so he can have an opportunity to ask the damn question he’s been meaning to. He's in class on time for once, just to watch your pretty face as you walk to the back corner to sit with him. One benefit of repeating senior year is that he gets to have class with you now. If you could only see his face as it fell as you walked into the classroom and took the immediate seat right by the front door.

After an hour of over thinking, Eddie finally convinces himself you simply just weren’t in the mood for conversation. The way you avoid the Hellfire table when you walk into the cafeteria that day seems to prove that theory right. Until over the following week he sees you having conversations with other members of Hellfire. Alright, that hurts.

One day, he calls your name as you’re at your locker, and he catches your eye contact before you run towards the front door.

What the hell did he do wrong?

In your 7th or 8th day of narrowly avoiding Eddie, you end up having to walk home in a light drizzle. Usually you have your car, but your mom insisted on needing it for the day. On the occasion that she needed the car, usually you would grab a ride from Eddie. Right now, that just wasn’t an option.

You start to feel bad for the first time since your avoidance started. You saw how Eddie’s face fell every time you made eye contact and walked the other way. No matter how much you’ve wanted to talk to him, you just can't let your feelings go.

You just need distance. If you give yourself enough time, the idea of having to leave him so he can have date-night with another girl won’t send you into a mental spiral. If you give yourself enough time, you could stand the idea of listening to him gush about her. As of right now, there’s no possible way any of that sounds doable to you.

As you got up this morning, the weather was bright and sunny, warm on your skin. You wore a layered skirt and a tank top. Unfortunately, the rain was picking up slowly, and you’re sure it's going to be pouring by the time you get home, still another mile or two away.

You walk on the sidewalk, arms crossed over one another to prevent from shivering as much as you can, narrowly avoiding the splashing from tires as cars pass by. While the rain picks up, your ears barely pick up on a vehicle slowing down right by you.

“Get in!” You hear a voice, recognizing it off the bat.

You look up to face him, nice and dry in his van that he has pulled over right next to you. You can barely see him through the rain. You shake your head, continuing your walk home.

“Sweetheart, get in! You’re gonna get sick! It’s starting to thunder!” Eddie argues, driving slowly as you continue to walk.

“No, I’m fine!” You answer, your chattering teeth giving away your iron clad position.

“Oh, for fucks—” You think Eddie has given up, your eyes on the ground as you trudge forward, until you see his scuffed-up shoes in your direct eyeline. His firm hands land on the soft flesh of your shoulders, stopping you in your tracks. “Hey. What the fuck did I do?”

Your eyes look up to him in surprise. “Huh?”

“You’ve been avoiding me for the last week and a half!” He yells, mostly because the rain has picked up so goddamn much.

“I-I just need space.” You tell him, attempting to get out of his hold.

“Wait, what? Why?” Eddie asks. Your eyes blink rapidly as you peer up at him, his curly hair already soaked from the rain. “What do you mean, you need space?”

You gulp out of both tears and frustration. “I just need space, Eddie! I need some time… to get used to it.”

You might as well have been speaking in tongues. “Get used to what? What the hell are you talking about?”

The words bubble up in your thoughts and through your throat before you can stop them. “You made it extremely clear that you don’t see me as anything other than a friend, and now you have a crush on some girl!”

Eddie couldn’t register a single word you were saying. It made no sense to him. “What?”

“I have made a complete fool out of myself! I basically put myself on display just for you to look at some girl shaking her ass in a cheerleader uniform.” You chuckle, wiping some rain from your face as it drips cold down your cheeks. “Maybe I should’ve joined the squad, then I would’ve stood a chance.”

“Wait, wait.” Eddie is having trouble processing any of this. “Can you please go from the start, sweetheart?”

“Gareth told me you like someone.” You admit, your voice faltering. “After sending signals for God knows how long, I guess I finally realize I’ve been making a fool out of myself with you.” You sigh, giving him the saddest look he's ever seen from you. “I just need some time to get over you.”

The information finally all seems to add up for Eddie. “Wait, sweetheart, back up.” Eddie says a soft smile landing on his face as he understands. “You-you like me?”

“Uh, yeah?” You answer, the answer obvious.

“And you think I like some cheerleader?” Eddie asks, pulling you closer to him.

God, this is torture. “I mean, you do, don’t you?”

He laughs, loud and…joyful. “God, no.” He says, and you nearly melt at the half smirk now settled on his face.

It's your turn to be confused. “Huh?”

“The girl I like is you, you dumbass.”

Suddenly your heart is in your ears, and you can’t think passed that smile on his face. The glint in his eyes is new, the look in his eye driving you stupidly crazy. “Wait, Ed, don’t fuck with me here.”

The hands resting on your shoulders float up to the shine of your cheeks, framing your face. Rain is dripping off his bangs and he’s nearly struggling through it but doesn’t seem to care. Truth is, he does not. All he can see is the shine of your lips from the rain. “Baby, I’ve been wanting to kiss those lips since the moment I saw you.”

Your breath hitches, staring at those lips you’ve stared at so many times. “Then what's stopping you?”

Your lips meet in the middle, rain colliding with one side of your face as you tilt your head. He takes the lead right away, your skin on fire as you are barely able to believe that this is real, and that he’s really kissing you. Eddie nibbles on your bottom lip, you let out a small whimper in response. Your tongue eagerly reaches out to meet his, the collision feeling like velvet. Eddie’s hand spreads out on your face, his limber fingers something you’ve fantasized about several times.

You continue to make out in the rain, one of your hands finding their way in his soaked hair. One hand is placed on the small on your back, tugging your body right up against his. Another whimper escapes your mouth, Eddie opening his mouth and breathing heavily into yours in a knee-jerk reaction.

Eddie separates from you, placing his forehead against yours. “You wanna get in now?” A half chuckle passes his lips at the sheer stupidity of this major miscommunication.

“Please.”

Eddie opens the back door to his van, already a blanket and pillow on the floor thanks to his habits in his free time. As you climb in, you squeeze the water from your hair, suddenly realizing you’re actually quite cold. Eddie observes your shivering. “Cold, baby?”

“Freezing.” You admit, grabbing a blanket folded in the corner. He helps you get wrapped up, rubbing your arms quickly. “I don’t wanna stop kissing you, though.” Another admission comes out just as easily.

“You sure?” He asks, walking on his knees to meet you.

“Just kiss me.” You tell him grabbing him by the jacket.

He chuckles as he meets your lips, his face dipping down to meet yours again. You fall backwards to lie down, tugging on his jacket so he lands on you. He giggles as he lands on his forearm right next to your head, all teeth against your lips as he smiles into you. Your legs curl up around his torso, tugging him impossibly closer.

“You have no—” He sighs, kissing you in intervals. “…No idea how badly I’ve wanted to kiss these pretty lips of yours.”

Your heart flutters as you giggle into the kiss, the compliments he showers you in too much to believe. “Ed, I-I want you to touch me…” You sigh, the blanket slowly falling off your body.

“Uh, don’t know if you know this, but I…I’ve never…” Eddie stutters, sounding nervous.

You let out a small huff of laughter. “It…it’s okay, Eddie.” Your hands entangle into the wet curls on his head. “Neither have I.”

Eddie lets out an audible gulp from the simple implications. “I think we should get off the main road before we start getting too into it, baby.”

“Oh, ok.” You tell him, butterflies fluttering in your tummy.

He sits back up, a noticeable tent in his pants making you feel flustered. You thought you felt something against your thigh, but mentally, you couldn’t fathom that he was hard for you. He extends his hand out for you, you accept it gratefully as he helps you scoot back out of the back. The two of you scurry to your prospective seats, the rain now coming down so fast your hair is soaked from the mere seconds it took you to get there.

Eddie pushes his wet mop of a head of hair to the side as he laughs with you at the scenario you currently find yourselves in. As he starts the van, he gives you a cocky eyebrow raise, the heat from the air vents surprising you in a blast. His heavy foot placed on the gas pedal surprises you, your head swinging backwards at the force.

Without asking, you know exactly where Eddie is headed. The drive takes longer than average, your nerves racking sky high as his strong hand holds yours absentmindedly.

The rain continues its assault from the sky, a flash of lighting reflecting in the water as you pull up to the edge of Lovers’ Lake. As Eddie brakes, your head falls back onto the fabric covered headrest, eyes closing as you place his hand in yours in your lap. The heat of your arousal is radiating off you, your thumb absentmindedly smoothing over Eddie’s.

There’s nothing you’ve wanted more than to be sweaty with him on top of you, but now that it’s about to happen, the fact is nearly overwhelming. As you soak in the sound of the rain on the roof of the van, Eddie presses his hand where you have it on your upper thigh, putting pressure on it. An involuntary whimper escapes your throat, and as your lungs fill up with air Eddie leans in across the gap of the seats, a chuckle leaving those sweet lips as he nuzzles into your neck.

A sigh leaves your lips as you can feel his teeth start to nibble lightly, relaxing into it. He places his other arm over you, coming up to rub your torso as his tongue delicately laps along your jugular. “Ed…can we lie down?” You ask, your eyelids starting to feel heavy.

“You wanna climb, or you wanna get out?” On cue, a flash of lightning hits right on the lake. “Climb?”

“Climb.” You agree, giving him your sweetest smile.

“Ladies first?” Eddie asks, gesturing to the back.

You awkwardly place your knee on the middle console your hands having a rough landing on the blanket covered floor of the van as you start to crawl forward. Behind you, Eddie appreciates the view, how your pink, thin panties beautifully showcase the outline of your cunt, still soaked from the rain. Well the rain and your arousal, of course.

You turn around, one leg bent as you wait for Eddie to climb over. His hand moves to turn on the overhead light, then he slowly crawls his way to you, the look in his darkened eyes sending a thrill up your spine. By the time his body lines up with yours, you’re giggling out of nervousness, wondering where this energy came from.

He hovers over you, the wide smile on his face as he switches between your eyes sending your nerves up into the atmosphere. Your legs open for him, accepting him as he lays on top of you. His hair starts to fall over your face as he leans in, his mouth deliciously open as he kisses you some more.

“Ed.” You mumble, moving your hands to where they seem to favour, the collar of his leather jacket. “Take this off.”

He hums as he follows your order, sliding the jacket off his shoulders as he continues to kiss you. Well, his multi-tasking is a bit jagged, but you appreciate the effort, nonetheless. You admire his newly exposed arms sitting in his wet muscle shirt. He leans down to continue lapping at your neck again, adding more teeth to turn your neck purple, having stared at this part when you stretch out a kink or two from your neck.

You’re so turned on; you can feel it in your bones. “Eddie,” you whimper out, eyes closed as you give in to the way his tongue feels electric. “I need you to touch me, please.” You beg him, your pussy begging you for attention.

“Of course, baby,” Eddie gulps, and knowing him, you could hear his nerves.

“Hey,” you say, reaching out to hold his face. “I can help you, just reach out to touch me and I’ll tell you how to do it. I just need your fucking fingers on me, please.”

Eddie leans in, kissing gently along your jawline. “I know, maybe I just wanted to hear you beg.”

You roll your eyes, calling him out on his bluff. “Mmhmm. Just fucking touch me, Munson.”

Eddie’s hesitancy seemed to die right there, his unsteady fingers simply placed over the thin layer of your panties makes you gasp, just the light touch giving you some satisfaction. “You were saying?”

Eddie starts to lightly trace along the folds, noting how it dips right where your hole would be. Eddie can’t help but get harder as the heat from your pussy radiates. “Feels good…” you mutter, sighing lightly. “Just a little harder, please?”

“You want it harder, sweetheart?” He asks, you nod enthusiastically. “You sure?” You nod again, frustrated at his damn questions.

He puts pressure on his fingers, experimentally starting to circle them around. “Little higher, Ed.” You tell him as he just grazes your clit. He listens, moving his fingers a half of an inch higher and continuing. He moves his fingers just high enough, starting to circle perfectly on your clit. You moan out loud, letting out small gasps. “Right there, right there!”

“Oh my god.” Eddie mumbles to himself, watching your face crumple up as your legs fall more open. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you moan like this…fucking stunning.” Your moans grow louder, your thighs starting to tense. Eddie suddenly stops, and you whimper at the loss. You feel him start to move your panties aside. As soon as you realize what he’s doing, your head perks up, watching his face as he stares at your exposed pussy for the first time.

The heat in your pussy increases, tenfold, weeping just from his intense stare.

He doesn’t say anything for a minute, mouth half open and his eyes don’t even blink. “Eddie?” You ask, starting to feel self-conscious.

“Wow…” he mutters, eyes finally locking with yours. “I knew your pussy would be pretty, I didn’t know it would be this ravishing.”

You gulp, feeling more wanted than you knew you ever could.

His fingers trace gently along your folds, just feeling your pussy. As he hears a whimper from you, a note of your impatience, he suddenly turns his hand upside down starting to touch with more pressure. “Fuck, you’re so wet, baby.” He whispers. “All…all this for me?”

You’re wet for him more than he knows, but your mouth can’t even communicate it, your brain having gone dumb from his touch alone.

He licks his lips, starting to rub at your folds purposely. “Look at this pretty little cunt, oh my god…wonder…” he doesn’t finish his thought, but when his long digit makes its way in you, you can deduce what he was thinking. He slides it in and out slowly, the length of his finger reaching much farther than yours ever have.

Your breathing gains speed and depth, adding another finger and fucking you slow, yet perfect. “Eddie.” You moan, your slick dripping down your ass and onto the blanket. Eddie moves his fingers faster, looking at your face for your response. “F-faster!”

Eddie lets out a huff of laughter you don’t hear, too caught up in the pleasure. “Jus’ gonna…” He leans in, and his tongue flat against your clit yanks the first genuine moan out of you, the pleasure all encompassing.

“Just like that! Please, Eddie, so close, please!” You beg him, the orgasm sneaking on you as it hurtles toward you, just around the corner.

He switches up, still new to this whole thing, but he makes up for it by gripping onto the soft flesh of your thighs and starting to fuck his tongue into your weeping hole. His lips create a sort of suction around the length of your lips, and the heat that radiates into your thighs becomes too fucking much as your thighs close hard against his ears.

“Gonna…” it’s the only warning you can provide for him before your entire body tenses up, a primal moan leaving your lips. Eddie works you through your orgasm, holding your thighs held against his head and revelling in how you soak his lips. He’s pictured his nose against your pussy too many times to already be satisfied.

As you finally come down, Eddie is still fucking into you with his tongue, seemingly not giving up. You lift your head up, your thighs now loose as you peer at him. “Ed?” You ask, the sensitivity of your puffy lips causing your thighs to quiver a little bit. “Wh-what are you doing?”

His tongue leaves your cunt for only half a second. “’M not done yet.” It’s warbled, his hot breath right against you eliciting another whimper.

Your head falls hopelessly against the van floor, his thumb contacting your clit and tongue swirling against your walls, moaning into your pussy. As you’re still sensitive, the second orgasm starts brewing in your tummy quickly. “Eddie, it’s too much.” You say, attempting to squiggle your hips away from his relentless tongue. “Too-too much.”

“Mmm, ‘can do it.” He mumbles, doubling down on his pattern.

“Ed…Eddie!” You cum into his mouth, your torso involuntarily tensed as you raised, incoherent sounds leaving your lips as you wither beneath him.

As your thighs relax again, he licks a last few times, as if trying to collect all the slick covering your pussy. After one last time, he looks up to you, licking his lips as you recollect yourself. “Was that ok?” He asks, breathing heavily and sweating as if he just ran a marathon.

You give him a look of disbelief, eyes furrowing as you shake your head. “Was…was that okay?” You repeat back to him in astonishment. “Eddie that was…I-I it was… I don’t know who taught you to do that, but it wasn’t me, Jesus!”

He crawls up to you, smile on his face gloriously cocky. “Yeah?”

“Uh huh!” You confirm, your voice indicating that you’re stating the obvious.

“Been wanting to do that for a while,” he says, mouth just hovering over yours.

“What a coincidence, been wanting you to do that for a while.” You smirk, switching your glance between his hypnotising eyes and his glossy pink lips. He finally leans in for a kiss, tongue reaching out to meet yours in a dance of straight up pleasure. “Ed…” You whine, bunching up the wet muscle shirt he’s wearing in your fists.

“Hmm?” He asks, slowly kissing you.

“I wanna help you.” You sheepishly admit, feeling your cheeks heat up. “Please?”

“Help?” Eddie asks, feigning ignorance in the meaning of your request.

“I wanna suck your cock, please, Eddie.”

Eddie lets out a laugh in incredulity. “Holy shit, please.” It’s damn near a whine, music to your ears.

You giggle in response, finally the shoe on the other foot as you get to now hear those moans as a result of what you do to him, and not through his bathroom door. Experimentally, you reach down, feeling at the tent you’ve felt brush against your thigh as you made out with him. At the mere brush of your hand on the outline of his cock, he moans, and you bite your lip in anticipation.

One leg bends, using it to push and get him onto his back. You sit up, straddling him as you assess his astonished expression. As soon as you sit up, however, you notice the twitch of his cock right under your pussy. Your breath stutters at it, not realizing your bodies would line up this well. As if your brain knows what to do before even you do, your hips start rutting against him, alluring a moan in sync from the two of you.

“Oh my god,” Eddie whimpers, eyes rolling in the back of his head. If you could, you’d take a picture of him.

You giggle, attempting some ounce of self-discipline as you start to crawl down his body, already missing the twitch of his dick against your bare pussy. If just his dick against you feels this good, you wonder how great he would feel inside you, and you almost run out of patience.

No. You want this power: to be on your knees as he moans for you. Show some fucking discipline.

Your hands fumble as you undo the button on his jeans and Eddie lifts his hips as you move them down his legs. You want to tease him over his thin boxers, but the anticipation is too much, the need of the weight of what appears to be his thick cock on your tongue too great. You tug down his boxers, his cock popping out deliciously.

The look of pure lust you saw on Eddie is essentially copy and pasted onto you, your eyes darkening as you take in his length for the first time.

“Uh, baby?” He asks, watching as you’re stuck in some sort of trance.

“So pretty.” You mumble to the pink head, precum already pearling at the slit. Your tongue darts out, wanting a taste of the salt dressing it. You sigh in satisfaction, eyes closing as you wrap your hand around the base. Tentatively, you wrap your lips around the head, sucking gently.

“What a good mouth, oh my god.” He babbles, hands in his own hair in a haze.

If you could, you’d smile. Only knowing from a magazine with blowjob tips, you start to move your mouth up and down his length, barely able to take in half of it. Your mouth sucks harshly on him, moaning around him as slobber starts to gather at the base. As a way to get the spit off your hand, you rub it on to his cock almost in exact time as you continue sucking.

“Baby, baby, do that again.” He whines, his gasps audible. You follow his request immediately, moving your hand in tandem with your mouth. “Just like that, so good, thank-thank you.”

A sense of pride hits you, increasing your speed as his legs start to move aimlessly around under you. Your jaw starts to become sore, so you decide to experiment some more. You give one long lick from base to tip, chasing a vein that travels around his cock. At the skin around his base, you suck lightly, giggling as he lets out a deep moan. You recall one tip telling you not to neglect the balls, so you travel down to one, sucking on the ribbed skin empirically.

“Fuck—I—” Eddie stutters out between loud gasps of pleasure, eyes closed.

You lick under it, trying to get every inch of skin as your hand absentmindedly strokes him. Your tongue goes back for his now leakier tip, engulfing his cock to the furthest of the back of your throat you possibly can, your gag reflex choking on him.

“Choke on that fat cock, baby, fucking choke on it!”

His stern tone surprises you, yet still turns you on as you continue the choking, now on purpose. You slobber all over his cock, one hand travelling up to hold his hand.

“Fuck, baby, I’m so fucking close…” You double down on every action, his hand squeezing the life out of yours. “Gonna cum down your throat…fuck—”

Eddie lets out the greatest moan of all time, a salty thick substance shooting down your throat as you swallow it easily. You barely have a chance to taste it, too much coming too fast to keep track, attempting to swallow it all. His cock finally stops twitching in your mouth, and as your mouth leaves him, you leave a final sweet kiss on the bright red tip.

As you lift your head to assess him, you see the obvious way his chest breathes in and out, catching his breath. You bite your lip as his eyes stay closed, palm on his forehead as he recovers. “Oh my god.”

“Yeah?” You ask, having never given head before.

“Uh, yeah!” He says as if he’s stating the obvious, falling back on the blanket. “Mere.” He sits back up, grabbing you at the shirt and putting his lips on yours. You moan into his mouth, panting happily as his tongue makes contact with yours. “Fuck, did you swallow?” He asks, fabric of your thin tank top lifted by his hand on your bare skin.

“Mmhmm!” You confirm, giggling as he lets out a sigh of contentment.

Eddie lifts your shirt off, the light-yellow fabric see through from the rain. He throws it across the van, moving you onto your back with his hand supporting the small of it. As he lies down alongside you, mouth slowly moving against yours and a hand trails along your skin, setting it on fire, yet goosebumps appear on your skin in its wake. His hand reaches its destination, travelling under the wire of your bra and starting to play with your peaked nipple.

You whimper into his mouth as he plays with it, tugging on it and sending pleasure down your spine. Your hands leave from where they were stationed on his shoulders to your skirt, trying to move it down your hips. “No, no, let me.” Eddie laughs, his hand leaving your nipple and replacing your hands on your skirt.

He tugs both your skirt and panties down off your legs, moving down the length as he gets them off your feet. You giggle and take off your shoes with it, watching as Eddie finishes taking off his pants and shoes as well.

Eddie lands back between your legs, his eyes hungry, making you feel vulnerable. A single hand, ever ambitious, moves around your back to take your bra off. To your surprise, he takes it off single handedly, the bra snapping off your back as a cheshire grin of satisfaction makes its way onto Eddie's lips. Finally, you move your hands around his back to help him take off his muscle shirt, admiring as each tattoo is revealed, finally allowed to ogle him.

You bite your lip, admiring him in the low light of the van. Eddie falters for a second, gulping. “I…I don’t have a condom.” He admits sheepishly.

You giggle, smiling at him happily. “I don’t care about that, I just need you to fuck me, Ed.”

He smiles, leaning in for a sweet, lush kiss. “I…I have to tell you something.” He sighs, on all fours as he hovers over you.

Your stomach swoops nervously. “Um…okay.”

He lines himself up, the tip slight pressure against your hole. “Okay?”

You nod, now confused. Wasn’t he going to tell you someth-oh my god. He slowly enters you, the pain over taking the pleasure, but the feeling still phenomenal.

“So tight.” He grunts, arms still straight as he waits for you to adjust.

It starts to feel overwhelmingly better, Eddie pulsing inside you, you can feel every inch against your walls. “More.” You plead.

Eddie pushes in a bit more, a high whine leaving your lips. “You’re doing so well, baby, taking this big fat cock.”

“Cock feels…so good…” You sigh, eyes closing on their own accord. “Didn’t…didn’t you have something to say?”

He laughs, his cock twitching in tandem. “I do…”

“You’re inside me, and you’re still a tease?” You ask, humming as it turns to pleasure again. “More.”

Eddie pushes in a little bit more, licking his lips as he takes in your pleasure-stricken face. “A tease, eh?” He asks, wondering what you meant.

“Walking in with your chest still wet—” you whine, interrupting yourself, “the cut off sleeves you wear, mast-masturbating in the shower…more.”

“Just a little bit more baby.” You don’t know how he could be any deeper, you’re pretty sure he’s already at your cervix. “Wait…you heard me in the shower?”

You huff a breath of laughter, tightening around him. “Mmhmm. Sounded so fucking hot, I might’ve touched myself in your bed when I heard it.”

Eddie moves in a final time without your say-so, and you moan in surprise. “Sorry, baby, you just—you just took me by surprise. You touched yourself in my bed? When I was in the shower?”

“Only because I could hear you.” You admit, your legs wrapping around his hips, pulling him closer to you.

“You could hear me? I was so sure I was being quiet.” He admits, his breath hot against your skin as he lies directly against you.

“Not really.” You admit, biting your lip in embarrassment. “It was so fucking hot, Ed.”

Eddie sighs, peppering kisses against your skin. “Well, I was thinking of you and those thin pjs you wear, sweetheart, so I guess it was a mutual masturbation.”

“I wondered if that was working.” You admit, humour in your voice. Eddie shakes his head, everything suddenly making sense. He kisses you deeply, hips still stagnant as he allows you to get used to his girth.

“So, you had something you wanted to tell me, Eddie?” You ask, slowly caressing the side of his torso, lightly tracing the tattoos you come in contact with.

“Mmhm.” He hums, leaning down to kiss skin gently, any skin he could reach. “Thanks for remembering.”

You roll your eyes, starting to get antsy at his still hips. “Just tell me.”

“I’m telling you this, because it broke me to see your reaction after you thought I even liked someone else.” The heartache seems so far away now, especially since he’s currently balls deep inside you. “I don’t just like you, sweetheart.” He admits, his voice suddenly soft and sweet. “I’m in love with you. I have been in love with you for as long as I’ve known you, at least, I think…I don’t know. But I don’t want anyone else, never have, baby. I just. Want.” Unexpectedly, he lifts his lips, pulling a gasp. “You.” He bucks his hips once for emphasis, taking in the already fucked out look on your face as you take in everything he just gave you.

“Really?” You ask in a light whisper, breathing heavily. “You-you love me?”

“Mmhmm.” He affirms, his hips bucking out slowly yet again.

“I-I love you too, Ed.” You admit, your heart open and full, every part of you, full, as he slowly fucks into you.

The words take a minute to register, his hips stilling completely. It’s such a tease, the way his hips still after only mere seconds of starting their trek. You whimper as an answer, your hips lifting to silently request that he’d continue. “Ed?”

“Oh my god…” he mutters, slowly lapping his way down your neck. “I’m so crazy for you, baby, so fucking insane.”

“Can…you please move?” You request politely, legs tense at his hips as your cunt begs for more attention.

“Need this fat cock to fuck you good, don’t you, baby?” He manages out, voice with a hint of husk in it as he continues to kiss his way down your body. The dip of your collarbone, valley of your tits, biting at the areola, licking dirtily along the curve of your breast…as far as he could go without his cock leaving you. “Hmm? Just desperate for it, aren’t you?”

One side of you wants to ask him where he's come up with this, because it’s driving you absolutely wild. The other side doesn’t fucking care where he got it from, the pleasure from his delicate licks consuming you whole. At a loss for words, you nod your head.

He grunts as he bucks himself into you, this one harder than the last. “Oh? Can’t use your words, baby?”

You whine, feeling pathetic, and yet, ravishing in it. “I just want you to rail me, please, please, Eddie.”

“Yeah?” He asks, turning his lips into your neck again, muttering against your throat. “How bad?”

“Enough to think about you” you huff, heat floating to your cheeks, hesitant in saying it. Could he just…keep moving? Please?

His teeth graze your ear, nipping at it. “Wanna finish that sentence, love?” Eddie asks, his voice making your thighs clench together around his hips.

“Eddie, I've thought about you everytime I fucked my pussy with my fingers. I’ve thought about you fucking me more times than I can count.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you don’t know how many times I’ve fucked my fist praying one day it would be you…whimpering and whining for me.”

“Then turn me into a fucking mess, Ed. Please.”

Finally, his lips leave your throat and he looks at you, his grin manic as those adorable dimples finally give you that look you’ve been craving for what feels like eons at this point. His hips move into action, fucking you at a force that pulls feral grunts out of your mouth, sounds you didn’t even know you had the capability of making.

“Baby, your pussy is so tight, just pulling me in.” He grunts, one hand curling its way into your hair, pulling lightly at the roots.

“Eddie, your cock feels so fucking good. Fucking—keep going—oh my god.”

Eddie is torn between moaning, grunting, and thoughts that are never finished. His hand, nimble and huge, trails up and down your torso, your legs, touching every inch he can. Finally, two of his fingers make their way to your clit, rubbing it with fervour. Your pussy clenches around his length as he continually bucks into you, the mix of sensations too much, and yet, everything you’ve ever wanted from him.

“Eddie, can you please do something for me?” You ask, reaching out to hold his face with both hands and giving him a sweet kiss.

He sighs into your kiss, tongue connecting with yours, and you feel dizzy and high in pleasure. “Anything, angel.”

“Want you to call me a slut.”

He leans in for another kiss, much dirtier and much needier. His hips rut into yours desperately. “Yeah? Dunno if you’ve really earned it…” he comments, teasing you.

You don’t realize he’s egging you on, desperate for him in ways you didn’t think you could be. Your mind goes to the thing it was fixated on when Eddie once held your face, hands petting two fingers absentmindedly. You grab at the same two fingers, nimble and long, and place them in your mouth, sucking as you wrap your tongue around them.

Eddie’s mouth opens, jaw slack as his tongue pokes out. A shine appears in his eyes, glazing over as they fixate on your mouth. Your mind might’ve been tricking you, but you swear his dick twitches inside you. His hips have stopped…again. “Oh shit, my dirty little slut.”

You nod your head enthusiastically, rutting your hips up again, silently begging for more. You moan around him, eyes hooded, Eddie blurring in your vision from the steep want. Your teeth graze his fingers lightly, lapping your tongue over it when he whines. Around his fingers you choke, your mouth hot and wet. Your mouth leaves his fingers for a moment, light shining in the spit glazing your mouth. “Baby I need you to fuck me. Please, Ed. Please.”

“Listen to this little slut beg for it. Can you beg some more? Hm? See that pretty little mouth beg, just for me.” His low rumble only spurring you on further.

Eddie knows you love what that husky voice is saying as your pussy pulses around him. “Hmm. Eddie, please, please fuck me. Need that cock so fucking bad. You have no idea how much you turn me on, your rings, your arms, fuck, that pretty fucking mouth, those gorgeous eyes, oh my fucking god. I have needed you to fuck me for this last year, please, Ed, just rail me until I can’t think.”

Your chest is heaving, eyes slowly assessing Eddie’s reaction. A smile slowly creeps on his face, until it’s a smirk that sends a shiver right through you. Your eyes dart back and forth between his, anticipating his next move, biting your lip. The first thing he does is lean down to give you a kiss, that can simply be described as romantic. His tongue reaches out to connect with yours, gliding together in a dance that you don’t think you’ll ever get over.

Honestly, you think, if his kiss ever bores you, the person to your left better beat your ass for taking for granted how fantastic these lips are.

After a moment of just his lips on yours, lying together so unified, you aren’t sure where he stops and you begin. Slowly, his kisses move from your lips, down the dip of your neck, and he licks slowly up to your ear. “Hmm. Fuck you until you can’t think? Baby, I’m gonna fuck you stupid.”

A moan leaves your throat, a hint of a whimper. His lips curl up more against your ear, a light laugh huffing against it.

Then, his hips get to work.

Every goddamn time Eddie stopped, every time he made you beg for him to keep going, whether it be silent or verbal, he makes up for it tenfold as soon as his hips start moving. He pushes up, using his hands to lift his body up and start fucking you at a relentless pace. Slowly, you recognize an annoying squeak fades in the background, the sound of the axel against his differential from his hips bucking wonderfully.

Not a word leaves your throat, the only sounds are small gasps falling from your lips, faster and faster as the pleasure impossibly grows within you. It feels like an aura of heat, radiating from your full pussy, and throughout your body.

“Feel good, baby? Feel that fat cock fucking you, good and full?” He grunts out from between gritted teeth.

You nod, whines leaving your throat, one shock at a time.

His hand on your hip tightens, nails digging into the doughy skin of your ass. “Hey, slut. I asked you a fucking question.”

“So good…so good…so fucking good…so fucking good. Ed-Eddie…I—” You’re cut off by your own shout, the way he hits hard, and deep, impossibly harder.

“Look at my cock-drunk little slut, taking this cock so well.” He mutters, voice deep and gasping for air. “Fuck, feels so good.”

Your legs wrap around his hips, pulling him so his forehead lands on yours, harshly, but in a way that makes him grunt…almost…animalistic…

“Cum…cum in me…” it’s a struggle to get out, but once it does, you witness Eddie falter for just a second.

“R-really?”

“Please, please cum in me. Want it dripping out of me, please baby.”

His hand stutters in its movements, sliding up from your hips, to your neck, hands gently raising on the front. “Want me to cum in you?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Want me to claim you as yours?”

“Been…been yours since I sat down at—ah—your table, Ed.”

“That’s fucking right, you have, you’re all fucking—all fucking mine.”

His hip movements are a little more jagged, his breathing heavy and jagged. “Harder.”

He chuckles, hand tightening around your throat, a grunt leaving your throat at each fucking hit. “Fuck…gonna—”

He cuts himself off, his cum filling you up deliciously in spurts of hot, white, mess. You go over the edge with him, your orgasm hitting you in a way that will have you fucking skipping around the halls of the school. You whine his name, choked out past his ring-necklace wrapped around your neck.

His torso collapses on yours, covered in sweat in the thick of the van.

His hand leaves your neck, both wrapping themselves into your hair. You seem to finally catch your breath, almost gasping as his weight is the most comforting thing you’ve ever felt in your life. He’s laid on you several times before, but never this intimate, his breath mixing with yours, making you feel whole.

You giggle, a smile that takes over your face in every muscle, completely lighting up. As much as you try, you can’t hold it in. It floats down your face and into your body, every limb full of complete joy. Eddie twists his head into your neck, you feel the wide smile he makes, gorgeous laughter leaving his lips against you. His teeth nip at your neck, making you giggle harder, hands flying up to your face.

Eddie leans up his face to see yours, the lazy smile lopsided, a pretty shine in his eyes. It’s…new…and radiant. You giggle again as you look up at him, your hands landing on each side of his rosy, glowing, cheeks. His skin is hot and flushed, your thumbs slowly caressing his face.

He leans in for another kiss, gentle this time, making you feel all too dizzy. A sigh of utter contentment leaves your mouth, biting your lips anxiously. “Hi, love.” He mutters, a lithe finger moving a strand of hair that fell into your eye. “Doin’ good?”

You nod, shyly rubbing your head into his chest. “Very good.”

He laughs, tilting his head up to face the roof of the van, still sheltering you from the sturdy and never-ending rain. “Fuck, rain hasn’t stopped.”

“It’s pretty.” You comment, observing the pattern of the roof his van. “I love the sound.”

He hums, eyes raking you over as he leans into you. “Not as good as the sounds you make.”

You roll your eyes, hitting his arm gently. “Eddie.” You giggle, legs wrapping themselves around him. “What a line.”

His lips softly land on your cheek, giving you a final kiss. “Not a line, just the truth.” He whispers, hands now preparing himself to lift out of you.

“Wait.” You stop him, holding on to one of those strong arms of his. “I—I really don’t want you to leave yet, baby.”

A laugh escapes his throat, in utter disbelief if anything. “Oh, we have plenty of time for cock-warming, gorgeous, don’t you fucking worry.” He assures you. “I just thought we could go to my house, make out and watch a movie, ya know?”

“Mmhmm.” You answer, still moaning at the loss that was too much to handle. “I just wanted to…revel in it.”

“Oh, I love you so fucking much.” He sighs, grinning at you as he crawls to his clothes.

You lean up into your elbows, a symphony of giggles leaving your throat as he tosses your panties into your face. “Can we make out on your couch?”

“Whatever you want, baby.” Eddie tells you, curly hair that’s already frazzled from the humidity even crazier from the tryst. “Hell, you can ride me, let’s get out of his van before we both catch a cold.”

You put on the skirt he hands to you. “Both?”

“Yep.” He nods, also throwing his jacket. “You walked a mile in the pouring rain with no jacket on. You’re gonna be a mess this weekend.”

Nodding, you agree with him. “I mean I’ll be a mess either way, no?”

Eddie shakes his head as he puts on his shirt, giving you a look you’ve been dying for him to shoot you. As if he’s so lucky to have caught you.

He’s wrong, you’re the lucky one. The two of you finally finish getting dressed, meeting in the middle in your cold, wet clothes. You crawl into his arms, nuzzling his chest as he places a kiss on your damp hair. “C’mon, let’s figure out how far we can get into Halloween before ripping each other’s clothes off again.”

You giggle, climbing into the passenger seat. If it was up to you, the tape wouldn’t even make it into the VCR.

Your hand intertwines with his on the way there, your whole body relaxing into the fabric seats. He can’t keep his eyes on the road, glancing at you every five seconds. It’s hard to believe only twelve hours ago you were in bed cocooned because your heart was aching so badly.

Now your heart aches in a completely different way, and it’s from not being able to comprehend that you could love and be loved in return just as much.

The next morning, Wayne walks into his trailer to see clothes scattered along the hall. You didn’t even make it to the couch.

Thank you so much for reading! I love to read your comments, replies, and reblogs. As always, reblogging is the best way to support your fic writers on tumblr.

Taglist: @pinkcowracing @yourthebrokengirl @skrzydlak @thirddeadlysin @sammararaven @bebe07011 @prettylovley @josephquinnschesthair @forget-you-morelike-fuck-you @names-were-taken @oddussy420

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie munson x fem!reader #Eddie Munson friends to lovers

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scribblesofagoonerr · 8 months ago

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I'm not a loser!

Pairings: lia wälti x teen reader, caitlin foord x teen reader, awfc x teen reader

Massive thinks to @alotofpockets for her help with motivating me to write and put this out. Sorry it's taken a while, but I wasn't overly keen with how I wrote it & even now, I feel like it's not my best work.

I hope you like it though, and please let me know your thoughts of what you'd like to see happen in this mini fic series!

Things really hadn’t been going in your favour today at all, in fact it had been a completely terrible day at school and you didn’t realise that it was only about to get worse.

Since the day started, it had been horrible from the very minute that you woke up, overhearing the latest argument between your two mums’ on the phone as they fought about you, but you didn’t care to listen to any of the conversation; It always seemed to land back around on the same topic that you argued about, and that subject being you.

It seemed like your mood only worsened when your latest test was handed back to you, graded with a big fat F circled in red around it and it’s not like the disappointing look you received from your teacher helped matters either.

You were quick to shove the paper in the bottom of your backpack, at least then you could try and forget about it; The last thing you wanted was to see the disappointed looks from either of your mums, after you promised them that you would try and keep your head down.

But sometimes it was easier to say that then actually do it.

It’s not like you have ever been a troublemaker in school, but it’s been tough to keep on top of everything and now you’re finding yourself both in trouble at school and at home; You were currently grounded after the latest stunt that you pulled over the weekend with Kyra, which you didn’t find completely fair, but your mama seemed to think different, so what did you know?

The rest of the morning at school hadn’t exactly been great either, you’d somehow managed to land yourself with a break time detention for the forgotten piece of English homework that you were supposed to hand in, but it wasn’t meant like you did it on purpose when there’s added pressure from football games and training, not to mention the messy home life situation that you currently faced, so it's’ safe to say that your school work has now been slacking ever so slightly.

By the time that the bell for lunch went, you were more than ready to escape the classroom. However, when you were walking out of the classroom that’s when it all changed and you came face to face with your tormentor.

“Oi, Y/L/N!” You flinched at the familiar voice of your bully shouting at you from behind, just as you thought that you had been doing so well to avoid them only for you to turn a corner and see them.

You could say that life’s never really been the easiest roller coaster for you, your past homelife hadn’t exactly been fantastic and you’d never even felt true happiness until you found your home at your childhood dream club with a new family that welcomed you with open arms.

The day you signed your first ever professional contract, your life changed completely. When the opportunity arose for you to play for the Arsenal womens’ senior team, you couldn’t help but leap at the chance to play for your dream club, even if you were still quite young.

It was all you’d ever wanted to do.

Despite the rough start in your life, you’ve necessarily not been one of those types of kids to act out, you just get on with life without a single complaint, even with the challenges that you’ve faced in life.

Just like the current situation right now, your own personal tormentor.

You weren’t bothered at first when it was tolerable, it was just harmless name calling and sure, the names’ spilled were mean but you had enough sense just to ignore them but then it got worse and eventually the names turned into physical assault.

You just didn’t know what to do anymore.

“Oi, don’t ignore me, Y/L/N. I know you can hear me, you stupid twat” Your own personal bully continued to shout aloud to get your attention.

Mustering up all the courage that you had, you bit your bottom lip and spun around to face your bully although they were tall and had that slight advantage over you, “I… I wasn’t ignoring you. I just didn’t hear you” Your quick to lie and cover your tracks.

“Whatever” The older girl muttered, rolling her eyes before she continued to push you into a nearby locker, “Listen, stupid. The chemistry homework needs to be handed in today, do you have it or not?”

Your eyes widened in a sudden panic, you’d completely forgotten about it when you were so busy with football and trying to keep up with your own school work that you pushed your bullies’ to the back of the pile, and now you knew that you were gonna pay for it.

“Well, do you?” You pulled out of your thoughts by a sharp pinch on your bicep.

“Um, no… I forgot about it” You quietly admitted, although you knew it was an instant mistake right there and then.

“You forgot? Huh, you really must’ve been born stupid then” The bully spat venomously as they tower over you with a menacing look on their face, “Well, I guess we have a problem now then, don’t we?” they sneer at you.

A single second later, you hissed out loud in pain at the instant impact of being thrown directly into the locker behind you, you can’t help but flinch as an automatic response to the violence that is being directed towards you while you peer up with wide eyes as they tower over you with a venomous look in their eyes.

“You’re not going to fight back, you wuss? What a loser!” They taunt you before they throw you directly into the locker again, “Huh, no response, no defence. You really are a sad little lost orphan aren’t you” they continue to taunt.

You don’t know what it was inside of you but it was like something snapped. You couldn’t take it any longer of the harsh comments spewed or the violence, you didn’t have to put up with it either.

“I’m not… I’m not an orphan” Your usual calm approach to your bully has gone as you can’t help but growl at the older girl while clenching your fists tightly, “I’m not a loser either, I’m not— I’m not!”

“Oh, yeah? Prove it then, loser” They smirk, almost challenging you.

You couldn’t even explain the next few minutes even if you tried.

It was like you blacked out in a state of absolute rage, your fists flying at them as you remembered the self-defence that your mum had so helpfully taught you in case you ever needed it in a situation like this, and now it finally came in handy against them.

“I’m not… I’m not a loser!” You exclaimed loudly as you lifted your own fist up and swung it in the direction of their face, “I am not… I am not a loser!” You’d lost control of your anger like a flick of the switch, lashing out and throwing punches at your bully whos’ been endlessly taunting you for the better part of the last several months.

Even though you know you were bound to be in trouble for it, you couldn’t care less right now because punching your bully and sticking up for yourself was definitely worth it in the end.

And maybe this way, you’d be able to get the attention of both your mums’ in the same room, so that was another positive reason to punch the girl square in the face.

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Bye” Lia exhales a sigh as she ends the most recent phone call with your head teacher this week, having asked her to come down to the school after you’d landed yourself in trouble.

“What’s going on?” Leah looks at the older women confused as the trains alongside her in the gym.

Lia exhales a sigh and slips her phone into her pocket, “That was the school again. Y/N is in trouble” she explains to the blonde.

“Again?” Leah's eyebrows furrow, confused, “What happened this time?” she wonders.

“I don’t know, but I guess I’ll find out when I get down there” Lia mumbles, standing up from the bench that she was previously sitting on, “I seriously don’t know what’s been going on with her lately. It’s just one thing after another” she adds.

“I guess Y/N/N is having a rough time, maybe?” Leah comments that sounds more like a question, not used to your recent streak of wild behaviour compared to the calm girl you are usually.

“What’s going on with Y/N?” Caitlin overhears the conversation and the mention of your name, before she makes her way over to join the two women, “Is she okay? Has something happened?” she asks, confused.

Lia exhales a sigh as she has to face her ex-girlfriend and speak to her, “The school just called, Y/N is in trouble” she explains once more as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

“What? What happened?” The Australian woman frowns and digs into her own pockets, pulling her phone out to check for any missed calls from the school, “The school hasn’t phoned me about it” she mumbles, furrowing her eyebrow.

“Well there’s no point in phoning both of us when we’re at the same place most of the time, is there?” Lia remarks, not having the time nor energy to explain anything further.

Caitlin continues to frown and shake her head in disagreement, “I should still be kept in the loop with what’s going on. I hardly hear what’s happening with her at the minute” she states.

“You are told what’s going on Caitlin, I don’t keep things from you” Lia exhales a sigh as she tries to keep calm while talking to her ex-girlfriend, “What more do you want me to do?” she asks.

“Aye, that kid. What’d she do this time?” Katie joins in on the conversation, not sensing the seriousness of it all, “Bad mouth the teacher or get caught cheating on a test?” she jokes.

Lia purses her lips in annoyance with the Irish woman, “It’s not funny, Katie” she states, bluntly.

“Oh come on, so the kid gets into a bit of trouble every now and then. It’s not a big deal” Katie insists, rolling her eyes.

“You’re clearly not seeing the point of how serious this is then, Katie” Leah steps in as she can see Lia getting herself annoyed with Katie’s mock teasing, “This isn’t funny, you know Y/N/N and you know that she’s never usually like this at all!” she remarks.

Katie holds her hands up in mock surrender, “Relax, eh, Williamson, will ya? I’m only joking here, there’s no need to take the high ground about this now, is there?” she says and she can’t help but rile the blonde up.

Leah scoffs in disagreement with the brunette, “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if her behaviour as off lately was down to your antics when she’s around your house on the weekend, cos’ she certainly doesn’t act like this when she’s at Lia’s house” she remarks.

“My antics?” Katie fires back in disbelief.

“Y/N/N acting up isn’t anything to do with how she is at ours” Caitlin chips in and defends the pair of them, “I don’t know what is going on with Y/N/N but this isn’t something that’s neither mine or Katies’ fault” she tells them.

“Oh, really?” Leah scoffs and raises her eyebrows before she looks at the Swiss woman, “Do you want me to come down to the school with you?” she offers.

“Would you?” Lia glances at the blonde in appreciation.

“Of course, I would–” Leahs’ agreement is cut off.

“No way, absolutely not!” Caitlin interjects, very much in disagreement with that decision, “If anyones’ going down to the school with you then it should be me!” she states.

“Caitlin–” Lia begins to speak.

“No, I’m Y/N’s mum just as much as you are, Lia” The Aussie woman insists, not liking the idea of being pushed out of the picture, “We should go down to the school and deal with this together, as a family” she mumbles.

“We broke up Caitlin, we’re not a family anymore” Lia quietly tells her, shaking her head in disagreement, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go down to the school together, Caitlin. I will go with Leah and then I’ll just tell you what happens” she tells her.

“Why not? No offence, Leah but this hasn’t got anything to do with you!” Caitlin objects to the idea as she looks at the blonde.

“I’m going there to support Lia and that’s important right now” Leah explains to the Aussie woman.

Caitlin shakes her head completely in disagreement with the idea, “No, no– I should be there, Y/N is my daughter, not yours!” she points the finger at the blonde firmly before she looks at Lia, “Fine, if you don’t think we should both go down there then why don’t I just go down there? In fact I’ll take Katie, we’ll take her back to ours afterwards instead” she declares.

“Oh yeah, Y/N/N loves Coopurr!” Katie exclaims, in agreement with the suggestion.

“There we have it then. I’ll find out what’s been going on with Y/N/N and then we’ll go back to ours” Caitlin insists with the idea.

Lia shakes her head in disagreement, “Oh, and make it seem like I’m the bad cop when you bring her home?” she questions.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do here, Lia! I’m just trying to help you out here and be the parent that Y/N/N needs– She’s my kid too, you know?” Caitlin shouts back in response, earning the attention of a few girls in the gym, including their captain Kim.

“I’m not saying that she isn’t. I know she is but it’s easier to do it this way” Lia explains, avoiding the looks from the rest of the girls in the gym who look concerned.

“Is it? It just seems like you’re pushing me out of the picture!” Caitlin makes her feelings evidently clear.

“Caitlin has got a point, Lia. You can’t stop her from seeing Y/N/N like you’re trying to do that” Katie chips in, looking at the Swiss woman.

Lia turns to look at Katie in disbelief, “Stay out of this, Katie. This isn’t your argument to get involved in” she says as she begins to collect her stuff.

“Okay, alright, that’s enough. You’re all causing a scene in here” Kim speaks up loudly as she walks over to them as she overhears the conversation between the 4 adults in the gym, “What is going on?” she asks, glancing between them all.

“Y/N got into trouble at school” Lia begins to explain.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have known that unless I didn’t overhear Lia and Leah talking about it” Caitlin huffs and rolls her eyes.

“I told you, I was getting round to it” Lia fires back as she scowls at her ex-girlfriend.

“Yeah, right” Caitlin mutters in disagreement, “ “And now she won’t even let me come down to the school with her, when I have every right to do that!” she adds.

“It’s just better this way, Caitlin” Lia explains to her ex-girlfriend, exhaling a sigh.

“Caitlin has every right to be there for Y/N” Katie chips in defending her girlfriend.

“Why are you getting involved in this, Katie?” Leah questions the Irish women.

“Why are you getting so involved, Leah?” Katie fires back at the blonde.

“Seriously, Katie? You just seem to find this whole thing hilarious like it’s one big joke!” Leah mutters, shaking her head, “I’m right to want to be there for Lia in this” she adds.

Kim shakes her head in disbelief at the 4 of them acting like they are, “Alright, that’s enough. Okay?” Kim interjects in an authoritative tone of voice as she looks between the 2 exes, “Regardless of you all blaming each other, it’s not going to help you figure out what is going on with Y/N/N unless you work together” she tells them.

Lia’s facial expression softens in realisation, “You’re right, Kim. I didn’t think about it that way” she admits as she looks at her ex, “Look Caitlin, I’m not trying to push you away like you think I am. I just think it’ll be difficult for us to both be there, right now. I’m sorry and I know Y/N is your daughter and you do have every right to see her, just as I do but I would prefer to do this with Leah by my side instead, okay? I’ll text you and let you know what is said, but please understand I find it better to do this way” she tells the woman quietly, finding it hard enough to be in the room with her ex-girlfriend without dealing with anything else.

Without saying anything more, Lia and Leah left the gym as they quickly notified Jonas about the recent events, before they head out to the car to make the way down to your school to find out what trouble you’ve landed yourself in this time.

You knew the single minute that you raised your fist at the girl it would end up in dire consequences, however now finding yourself sitting outside the head teachers’ office with bruised and bloody knuckles, you remain hopeful that this latest stunt was something that both of your mums would be coming down to talk to the head teacher.

Although you still can’t help but wonder how it got so bad?

It wasn’t like you could talk to either of your mums though, because most of the time when you spent time with either of them, you didn’t really want to mention the other in case it brought up any sort of hurt feelings, but you needed them both together.

You didn’t really mean to get yourself in that much trouble today, in fact you’ve never really been one to cause many problems at school if you’re being honest, but you were just so sick of them pushing you around and calling you endless names that you finally had enough and lashed out.

As soon as you hear the sound of footsteps nearing you, you remain hopeful as you look up with eager eyes, hopeful to see your two mums together.

However, you’re severely disappointed when its’ your mama and Leah instead.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, you didn’t want Leah to be here with your mama; You wanted your mama and mum together, but why did that seem so impossible to do?

“Hi mama” You mumble, biting your bottom lip as you avoid the disapproving look on both of their faces, “Hi Leah” you acknowledge the presence of the blonde, whos’ stood there obnoxiously chewing gum.

“Hey kid” Leah greets you with a worried smile.

Lia exhales a sigh and shakes her head, “What have you done this time, Y/N/N?” she questions.

“It wasn't my fault” You try to defend yourself, picking at the skin around your nails.

“I find that one hard to believe Y/N. This is the third call I have had from your school this week” Lia reminds you, moving to sit beside you on the uncomfortable plastic chair, “Do you want to tell me what happened before I go in and speak to your head teacher?” she asks.

“Nope” You shake your head in disagreement.

Leah furrows her eyebrows and sits on the other empty chair, “What happened, kid? It’s not like you to be in this much trouble, or acting out in general” she tries to get answers out of you.

You shrug your shoulders carelessly and bite your bottom lip, “Dunno, is mum coming down as well?” you wonder, curiously as you look at Lia.

“No, Y/N/N. It’s just us– Is this why you’ve gotten yourself into trouble at school, so your mum and I would come down together?” Lia asks in realisation, putting the pieces together about it all.

“Maybe, sorta. I don’t know, cos’ it didn’t work anyways” You mumble, deflating your shoulders as you stand up to head into the office after the head teacher calls you all in; Leah and Lia share a look of confusion with another, finding it hard to understand why you would do that as they follow you in behind.

The result of your behaviour in school leads to you being suspended for the next 2 weeks, which your mama isn’t best pleased with at all if the silence is anything to go by as you trail behind them to the car.

Every time you have tried to talk, you're met with a stern look from the Swiss woman which makes you shut up pretty quickly.

“Mama?” You try your luck to get her a response.

Once again, you were met with complete silence on the car ride back apart from the faint sound of music playing.

“Okay, I know I messed up but how much longer am I going to receive the silent treatment for?” You huff aloud as you peer out the window as your mama drives out of the school car park.

Yet again, complete silence.

“Come on, seriously? The fight wasn’t even my fault in the first place!” You whine in protest, huffing and crossing your arms in the back of the car.

Leah clicks her tongue as she sits in the passenger seat, “You shouldn’t even be fighting in the first place, Y/N” she states sternly.

You resist the urge to roll your eyes and not snap back at the blonde, who you really don’t know why she’s even here, you wanted your mum instead, not her.

“I had my reasons to do it, Leah!” You mutter as you glance out of the window in the back of the car.

“Hey! Be nice” Lia glares at you to knock it off.

“What? I’m not doing anything!” You huff in annoyance and fight the urge to kick the back of her seat, “And I did have a good enough reason!” You still continue to insist.

“I don’t want to hear any of the excuses, Y/N” Lia exhales a sigh, shaking her head.

“But if you just let me explain–” You're cut off before you even have a proper chance to speak.

“Explain what, Y/N/N– How can I be so sure about what you’re telling me when you’ve been acting out like you have been for the last several weeks, huh?” Lia scolds you as she looks in the rear-view mirror, “I don’t know what has even gotten into you anymore, Y/F/N!” she states.

You kinda know that your mama does have a point in saying that, because despite your own rough upbringing with your biological parents, you’ve never really acted out or gotten into much trouble until recently, however with how its’ been the last several weeks, you can’t deny that you haven’t been acting out in an attempt to get the attention both of your mums together in the same room.

It just didn’t work this time round.

You just didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to control the anger any longer and you would end up lashing out like in the way that you did. No matter how many people tried to talk to you to figure out what was going on, nobody really understood what was going on right now.

You can’t help but scoff in response, “You won’t even hear my side of things though, at least I know that mum would take the time to listen to me. Why can’t I go and stay at her house instead?” The words slip out of your mouth without much realisation and it’s definitely loud enough for both women to hear.

“Y/N, your mama wants you to stay with her” Leah chips in.

“Why? And why are you even here when this has nothing to do with you?” You glare at the blonde, although you know it’s not her fault for what’s happening, but despite that you’re a stubborn teenager and refuse to admit when you’re in the wrong sometimes

“Y/N” Lia gasps in shock, “Don’t be rude, you don’t speak to people like that” she scolds you.

“It’s the truth though” You mumble and technically, you’re telling the truth about that one.

The Swiss woman shook her head in disagreement, “There’s no need to be so rude, okay? I won’t stand for it, so apologise please– And you know when it comes to you, that your mum and I are both on the same page” she tells you.

“Are you? Cos’ all you ever seem to do is fight these days” You remark snidefully.

“That’s not true, Y/N/N” Lia frowns at you.

“Yes it is, you guys always argue about me– I can’t even tell you how I feel, so I was only defending myself like how mum taught me to do” You explain to the older women.

“What!?” Lia exclaims in shock.

“Mum taught me self defence in case I ever needed to use it. Definitely showed them that today cos’ now they won’t mess with me again” You grin proudly to yourself.

“Are you… Of course she bloody did” Lia mutters, clenching her hands on the steering wheel.

“Calm down, Wally” Leah rests her hand on the older womens’ thigh.

“Mama, you’re clenching your fists. You might want to just chill out a bit” You note in concern as Lia looks angry and you realise you’re going in a different direction back home, “Where are we going?” you ask.

“Change of plan, Y/N. We’re going to see your mum after all” Lia states as she grips the steering wheel tighter.

#woso x reader #arsenal x reader #woso #woso fanfics #woso imagine #arsenal women x reader #lia wälti x reader #caitlin foord x reader #katie mccabe x reader #leah williamson x reader #arsenal wfc x reader

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samthestrangerthingsfan · 10 months ago

Text

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: frienemies-to-lovers, kinda mean!Eddie? shy!reader, swearing, a lil smoochin', mentions of lack of confidence and poor self image, cute nicknames

a/n: hi bb, will you be my valentine? I don't love writing mean!eddie but its okay because we can always fix him :)

Valentine’s Day.

A day which the Hawkins High elite are positively buzzing over the plethora of cheap red and pink decorations.

Cheerleaders swoon over poorly constructed cards from their popular boyfriends, while dozens of obnoxious mylar balloons take up way too much space in the already crowded hallways.

Beyond the 14th of February, the reason for all the excitement was the annual Hawkins High Valentine’s Day dance—of which you were head of the committee.

Was it because you were the only Senior to volunteer their time to coordinating it instead of attending it? Maybe, but at least it gave you a reason to show up to the dance without a date.

...and avoid looking like the pitiful wallflower you are.

You also knew you’d have no time to rush home and get ready after your last class, so here you are. Standing outside of the AV Club door, decked out in your new crushed-velvet dress. It's ruby red and dangerously short.

This was definitely out of your comfort zone. You typically preferred to be invisible. It’s easier that way; no one can hurt what they can’t see. Right?

But when this dress caught your eye in the mall shop window, it was the first time you could ever remember wanting to be seen. Wanting to try to look like the pretty girls who walk the halls everyday vying for the attention of others.

The dance gave you the perfect excuse. Sure, it’s not like you had a date or anyone asking you to go, but you felt so beautiful. The way the dress hugged your body made all the staring and whispering as you walked down the hallway so, so worth it.

“Hey—whoa…” Dustin’s voice dropped when he walked around the corner, arms full of equipment. “Y-you look fantastic!” He said proudly.

Dustin was your favorite Freshmen, always kind and happy to see you.

“Aw, thanks Dusty! You don’t think it’s too much?” You lifted your boot, inspecting it falsely.

Dustin smiled, “It’s too much for 6th period Spanish, but not for Valentine’s Day that’s for sure.”

He unlocked the door, and held it for you.

Dusting grabbed a pen and paper to write down what you’d need the AV Club’s help with after school.

With hands on your hips, you looked around the room. “Okay, so I definitely need the projector, and if you could set it up before—“

An annoying, loud, cocky voice cut you off. “Henderson! What the hell is takin’ you so long?”

Eddie fucking Munson.

You watched as he sauntered into the room, DIO jacket and all. He clapped Dustin on the shoulders before turning his gaze to you.

“Holy shit. That you, Mouse?”

Mouse. A nickname you loathed.

You’d made the mistake of sitting at the Hellfire table your Freshman year, and he’s never let let you live it down. Once Eddie saw just how shy you were, he made it his mission to get under your skin.

He'd plopped down into the seat next to you, assuming you were there to cause him and the guys trouble. “New girl’s trying to get in good with the freaks, hm?”

You jumped and began to frantically pack your belongings, “I-I…I didn’t know. I’m sorry, I’ll just go—"

When he realized you were nervous, he changed his tone. No longer was he on edge, but rather trying to make you laugh. Show you it's okay to give him a taste of his own medicine. “No no, little mouse. You’re not scurrying away that easily.”

Four years later, you’re both still here and Eddie’s been a thorn in your side ever since. You thought you'd be rid of him once he graduated, but he flunked--twice. Condemning you to another year full of his nonsense.

His obnoxious, overly-confident, doe-eyed nonsense.

“Munson.” You couldn’t help the eye roll. “Dustin and I are working on something so,” you flicked your hand toward the door. “Skedaddle.”

“Oof,” he teased. “You kiss your mother with that potty mouth?”

Eddie walked past Dustin, hands on his hips as he took you in. “Why, may I ask, are you dressed so fancy, princess? Hot date with a frog?”

Okay, guess we’re playing this game.

“The only frog I know is you, Munson.”

His hand flew to his heart. “You hear this, Henderson? Who knew Mouse could be such a brat?”

“If you’ll excuse me,” you attempt to sidestep him, but he blocks your path. Big brown eyes watching your every move. “Don’t you have anything better to do than push my buttons?” It’s a pitiful gripe. You know he enjoys this far too much.

“C’mon, sweetheart. If I didn’t talk to you, who the hell would?”

Ouch.

Something no doubt said in jest, but it hurt to realize just how right he was. You had tons of acquaintances, and you got along great with the teachers. As for friends, the well's a bit dry in that department.

You cleared away the tightness in you throat. “Yeah, I don’t have time for this. I’m actually contributing to society. How about you?” Your face was twisted into a sarcastic smile, attempting to hide the hurt.

Eddie on the other hand thought the two of you were simply playing your favorite game. Seeing just how flustered he could make you before you gave him a taste of his own medicine.

“Yeah, you’re a real Nancy Reagan.” He laughed, gesturing to your dress.

Your eyes honed in on him. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means,” he reached out, sweeping a piece of hair off of your cheek. “If you wanted a little attention, you didn’t have to do all this.”

This.

Said as if the word tasted rotten. Disgusted by what you’d considered to be you at your most beautiful.

I must look like a fucking fool.

The stinging in your eyes got stronger every second you stood in his presence. Your gaze locked onto the floor, following your feet as you left. “Bye, Dustin. I’ll see you later.”

Dustin protested, calling you back before turning his disappointed glare to Eddie.

“Dude…” he chided.

Eddie scoffed, “What? Henderson I was joking—she knows that, okay? That’s our whole thing.”

"Eddie, she was crying!"

Were you? No, no way. This is what the two of you do.

"No, she wasn't." He said unconvincingly. "You don't know her like I do, little buddy. She's a good girl, loves the cat-and-mouse of it all." Eddie wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or Dustin.

Eddie had a fuck of a time in O'Donnell's class, and now on top of all of that, he's late to set up Hellfire.

He moved a bit quicker down the hall, easy enough since most of the school left to get ready for the Desperate Dance. He intentionally always schedules DND on nights like this, that way he'd never have to be caught dead--

Eddie's stopped in his tracks at the sight of the trashcan at the end of the hall. He spots a familiar piece of red fabric hanging out of the bin.

He pulled it like a magician, revealing more and more of the velvet clothing until its fully removed,

A dress.

Your dress.

Why the fuck did you throw it in the trash? You we're the most confident Eddie had ever seen you while you wore this thing.

...and you looked drop dead gorgeous, but that's beside the point.

He heard your voice coming from the gym, and abandoned all thoughts of DND.

Eddie burst through the double doors, ignoring the frilly pink and red decorations for the dance. He weaved between the underclassmen carefully setting up the tables and backdrops to make his way over to you.

You, who now instead of being in your beautiful fucking dress, are in you school-supplied gym uniform. Your hair was pulled back, no longer falling in the perfectly natural way you had it earlier. Your makeup was gone--Eddie didn't mind that, he didn't think you needed it anyway.

But you'd never looked so small to him.

He called your name more gently than you've ever heard him speak. When you turned and saw your dress in his grip, you wanted to disappear.

Had he come to gloat?

"Why the hell was this in the trash?" he's not smirking, or sarcastic when he says it.

"Didn't like it." It's all the pain in your throat will let you get out.

You walk away from him, hurrying to find something else to do beside stand there and be made fun of by Eddie Munson.

"Bullshit," he calls after you, quick on your heels. "You don't wear a dress like this and look the way you look in it and just decide you don't like it."

You could feel the tears returning as soon as you stopped walking. "I don't know what you wanna hear," your back was to Eddie, but you felt his gaze regardless. "I just didn't like it...anymore, okay?"

The fake organization of the ribbons in front of you didn't deter him, he remained behind you in silence until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Did...did I say something? Earlier, in the AV Club." He spoke so softly, and with such sincerity, you'd never know it was Eddie talking to you.

You sniffled, angry at yourself for letting him hear how upset you were. "I don't know what you mean."

"Henderson," He's quick on your heels. "Henderson said you were crying when you left."

You don't--can't say anything. Trying desperately to will the tightness in your throat to go away and the tears to dry before they fall from your eyes. A small, shaking breath passes your lips.

"Please look at me, Mouse." His voice is hushed when he calls out to you.

You turn to him begrudgingly. Hoping if he saw the mess he made he'd leave well enough alone.

But when he sees your face, with red eyes and damp tear-stained cheeks, his heart falls into his stomach.

"Oh, oh sweetheart--"

You beat him to it. "I'm fine, Munson. Just...just give me the stupid thing, okay? I'm better off invisible, anyway."

"You've never been invisible to me." Eddie hands you the dress, and watches as you wring it between your hands. "I'm sorry, Mouse."

You scoff, "You didn't--"

"Yes I did," He says firmly. Eddie steps into you, closer than he's been before. "I made an asinine comment thinking we were playing our little game, but it's not a game if someone gets hurt, especially you."

Eddie swipes away the tear on your cheek with the pad of his thumb. "You looked beautiful. You're always beautiful, but that dress? Honey, I couldn't think straight. I'm a dumbass half the time, but I turned into a god damned Neanderthal when I saw you in that."

Your brain couldn't process what was happening. It almost sounded like Eddie...liked you?

"I thought," You looked down, embarrassed to even say it out loud. "I finally felt pretty, pretty enough to be seen and not just in the background."

Eddie's brow softens at your words, "Mouse, I see you. You're one of the only things I look for throughout the day. Always lookin' out for the pretty shy girl with the smile that makes me go weak in the knees."

You laugh at that. "I guess I always look for the obnoxious metal head that's way too good at getting under my skin."

Eddie chest rumbles with a laugh, too. "You're too good at calling me on my crap, what do you expect me to do?"

A comfortable silence falls between the two of you, and it has Eddie clearing his throat. "Can--can I give you a hug? Hate that I made my favorite girl cry."

The smile on your face speaks volumes, but you nod anyway.

When you're wrapped in Eddie's arms, his warmth seeps through your bones, relieving any tension or nerves. His scent invades your senses, warming your belly and heart. You melt into him completely.

Eddie can't believe how well you fit in his arms, like a damn puzzle piece if you asked him. He smells you shampoo, and memorizes the fragrance, filing it away in his mind as his new favorite smell.

When you pull back, he leans his forehead on yours. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I really am."

You nod, moving his head a bit as it rests on yours. "I know."

Eddie steps away, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Ya know, uh, if you're not busy, I'm running a DND campaign tonight. I'd love it if you sat in and maybe after...I don't know, maybe I could take you to Benny's?"

You smirked, eyes narrowing at him. "You asking me out, Munson?"

His eyes widened in sheer panic, "Oh--oh my God, I read this all wrong, huh? Please just forget--"

You're quick to ease his worry. "I'd love too."

Putting the dress on the table, you offer Eddie your hand. "Show me the way, Dungeon Master."

He takes it eagerly, but doesn't walk anywhere yet.

"Eddie?" You giggle.

"One second, princess. Damn knees turned to jelly again."

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson

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inmyheaddd · 7 months ago

Note

Omg would you do a Xander version of your Grayson childhood friends to lovers!? Your writing is so good!!!

xander hawthorne childhood friends to lovers

i literally love xander so much my absolute fav, thankyou sm for the requesttt this one is super dialogue heavy sorry about that 😭 will post a pt 2 of the after math, when ur actually together!!

wc: 3.6k

you two both went to the same school, you weren’t ever in the same class apart from 4th grade.

one time he was flying a paper airplane that exploded glitter (a very xander-like invention) around the class.

you were both following it with your eyes, and it ended up hitting you and landing at your feet. your arms, your school uniform, your legs, and your shoes were covered in glitter.

his head shot up, and he made eye contact with you, you both immediately started laughing.

“i’m really sorry,” he says in between laughs.

“it’s fine” you say with a small smile. “it’s no big deal.”

“well, i think you look very nice all glittery ” he says, sounding as honest as a 9 year old could get.

“thanks i think..” you say, unsure of what his words even meant. you ended up laughing anyway.

you never really talked much after that, but one year there was a robotics club in the 8th grade. you and xander were the only ones who attended.

naturally, with xanders outgoing personality, you two quickly broke the ice and were having great conversation.

“you know, i was trying to figure out how you looked so familiar, and i realised…” xander pauses for dramatic effect “you were the glitter girl of 4th grade!"

“the glitter girl?” you counter, with an eyebrow raised.

“yes!” he beamed, standing up from his seat next to you on the desk and demonstrating.

“little 9 year old me was standing here, flying my paper-glitter-gadget, and you were standing right about…” he says, taking a few steps forward. “here!”

you watch in silence with a smile threatening to tug at your lips, “coming back to you yet?” he says, looking at you with a classic xander smile—a contagious, expressive, all-consuming smile that makes anyone witnessing it feel like he practically invented the action.

“no..” you say as you rest your hand on your head “but keep going." you gesture your hands in a forward motion.

“alright, my fantastic-glitter-bomb-paper-gadget was flying up in the air, like this,” he says as he moves his hand in the air doing unnecessary but very xander-like spins and sound effects.

“wasn’t it called your flying glitter-paper-gadget?” “paper-glitter” he corrected as he stands up straight with one arm to his side and one pointing at you. “and yes, but i came up with a better name for it.”

“i don’t know if that’s better,” you mutter under your breath with a small laugh, looking down at your lap.

“what did you say?” he questions you playfully.

“nothing” you respond far too quickly for your liking.

“no no, what was that? don’t shy away now.”he repeats as he takes a step forward towards you and crouches down next to you.

“nothing!” you emphasize your answer, shaking your head at him with a small smile.

“you said something, go on,” he says with a smile as he tilts his head “i’m all ears, and eyes, and hands- i have all my 5 senses in tact. but that’s not the point, please, continue.” he rambles on.

you giggle; his way of speaking is unlike anyone you’ve known before, but you love it. you feel as if his brain is on a different wave length that everyone else needs to catch up on.

“i said that i don’t know if your new name is better, that’s all." you say, looking down at him slightly due to his crouched position.

“hm, paper-glitter-gadget it is then,” he says as he stands up and continues his demonstration.

“wait…” you say to yourself as he’s about to continue, “i think i do remember you!” you voice gradually gets louder.

“oh?” he asks as he turns around and pauses his demonstration, putting his hands down and walking towards you.

“youre the guy who exploded purple glitter all over me!” you exclaim with a finger pointing at him while you laugh.

“i was just getting to that part, actually, but yes!” he replies with a finger pointed at you and a small chuckle.

“i had glitter on me for months! im pretty sure i have glitter embedded in my dna now.”

“yeah well, what can i say, it’s like if i were elsa but a boy, and instead of ice powers.. i had glitter powers,” he says looking at you with a crooked smile.

“that’s not… you could’ve just said you had glitter powers” you say with a light chuckle

“where’s the fun in that?”

the rest of the afternoon went great, with xander’s witty and charming personality, and his unwavering ability to make you laugh.

every time you finished talking to him, you felt the immediate need to go back, just one more word, one more exchange. he had that effect on you.

he loved talking to someone who wasn’t the stereotypical rich, superficial, hobbiless person in heights country day. not to mention he found you extremely funny, and the way you responded to his banter made him want to speak to you for as long as he possibly could, which with his ability to talk, was forever.

you two would have sleepovers all the time

xander talked through movies all the time.

“i predict that that girl is actually the murderer; she’s much too quiet for my liking”

“xander, i love you, but please stop talking,” you say through a laugh as you turn your head toward him,

“shutting up now." surprisingly, he does actually shut up—not only because you told him to, but because you said, “i love you.”

he sits through the rest of the movie in silence, contemplating your words and running them over in his mind.

friendly? non friendly? spur of the moment?what even was that?

you on the other hand, were silently freaking out because you couldn’t believe you just said that.

“xander is smart enough to think it’s friendly, right?” you thought to yourself.

at the end of the movie, when the murderer was revealed, you tap him and point to the tv “look, you were right, she was the murderer after all,” you say quietly,

xander is not one to be caught off guard, but right now he was.

“what?” he murmurs as he looks at you, then at the tv, and back to you once he’s processed your words “oh,” he chuckles slightly “well, im just always right like that aren’t i?”

you laugh in response and shake your head, leaning back into your seat. “you’re crazy” you say, and he’s there sitting, silently hoping that “i love you” wasn’t so friendly.

the first day back in 11th grade, you, thea, rebecca, and xander all sat at a table together

thea said something along the lines of a compliment, and you smiled at her and said thanked her, returning a compliment back to her.

xander had an unreadable expression on his face, and thea turned his attention to him.

“relax, i’m not stealing your girlfriend.”

“um, we aren’t..” “we aren’t together,” you both say at the same time

thea snorts, but somehow it sounds like the most elegant thing coming from her.

“are you sure? i mean, by the way you look at each other, i would’ve thought you two were married with kids,” she says as he rests her hand on her chin and moves forward.

by this point, you’re sure your face is as red as your school tie right now, you look over to xander who’s simply smiling uncomfortable and says “thankyou thea, for your input, and your ability to make any situation ever awkward.”

“of course,” she says with a sweet smile, and she leans back and looks over at rebecca, who looks like she’s trying to hold in a laugh but still gives warning eyes to thea.

xander looks over at you, notices your flushed face, and mentally makes note of it.

ever since then, he’s always been “flirty” with you, and it drives you to the brink of insanity.

he does it partly because he finds it amusing and partly because he’s genuinely speaking his mind when he compliments you.

one time, you were late to school because you overestimated your time to get ready after you washed your hair.

you didn’t have time to straighten it or curl it how you usually would, so you decided to leave it as it was and call it a day.

your first period that day was a free one that you’d spend with xander.

you arrived at your designated spot, and he was already there, seemingly waiting for you with untouched scones on the table.

“hey, sorry i’m late” you say as you sit down next to him in the booth.

“it’s fine, i was just sitting here, looking at the scones, thinking how lucky i am to exist in a universe where these exist. can you imagine if-” he says as he tears his attention away from the scones and looks at you.

his eyebrows shoot up in amusement, and you pause the unpacking of your bag to look at him “what?”

“nothing” he replies, shaking his head with a smile.

“actually,” he suddenly starts speaking in a lower register and leans forward. “did you do something different to your hair?” he begins to twist some around his finger.

“um,” you say slightly nervously due to his closeness to you. you have been friends for ages and he still had this effect on you.

“i didn’t have time to style it today, i just left it alone.” you continue.

“hm, it looks good, i like it” he says before leaning back and retreating his hand. “you should do it like that more often,” he suggests pointing a finger at your hair.

a beat of silence passes before he continues, not before doing a once over on you, looking you up and down.

“anyway!” he says back in his louder, usual xander voice. “i was sitting here, and i thought- can you imagine if scones didn’t exist? it’s like, imagining if oxygen didn’t exist. i don’t think i’d even be alive honestly, i don’t want to think about what the world would be without them”

midway through his rambling, he looks over at you and notices you avoiding eye contact, your facial expressions and your reddened cheeks, telling him everything he needs to know. (your eyes were saying “what the fuck just happened?”)

he’s always trying to get you as flustered as possible, not in a mean fuckboy way but because he genuinely likes you and thinks you’re adorable.

one time you two were shopping for snacks as your movie night was that day, and an old lady came up to you guys and said you two looked so adorable, and that you two reminded her of her and her husband back in the day.

you wanted to cry on the spot, give her the biggest hug ever, and also disappear because you and xander were not together.

xander just played into it, wrapping his arms around your shoulder, and you instinctively leaned your head on his shoulder. “that’s the sweetest thing i’ve heard today, thank you,” he says in a real, genuine voice. no hint of playfulness.

as you looked at him and he looked down at you with the faintest of smiles, the world suddenly went silent and you came to a realization. you realized, you were totally head over heels for him. you jumped in head first, you were so far gone to the point of no return.

“yeah, we are lucky to have each other” you almost whisper, still looking at xander, then tearing your eyes away from him and looking back at the lady.

she snorts, “consider him to be the lucky one, young lady. although i won’t lie, he is quite handsome.”

you all start laughing, and the lady walks away, sending you her farewells.

“that lady was so sweet,” you say as you’re both standing at the self-checkout stands.

“i think the one thing we can take away from that conversation is that im ‘quite handsome.’” he replies as he pays for your snacks and carries the bags, looking at you with a wide grin on his face.

“okay xander,” you say as you roll your eyes playfully.

“so you don’t disagree?” you two are walking out of the store now, he looks down at you and raises an eyebrow.

“i think you’re forgetting she said you’re the lucky one,” you counter sarcastically as he opens the car door for you and you get in.

he shakes his head while smiling and looks at you, leaning his arms on the top of the car.

“you know, i actually wish i could forget something for once,” he tilts his head and looks away from you as if he’s made a new discovery. “too many things are happening in my mind. i never get a minute of silence up there!” he closes your door, and gets in the drivers seat.

around halfway through the drive back to your house, it started to rain.

“shit, it’s raining.”

“language” he warns, drawing out the end of the word, he squints his eyes and looks closer out the window and to his surprise, it is raining

“oh shit, it is raining!” he says through a surprised chuckle as he turns to look at you briefly, and then back to the road.

“hey, what about your language?”

he continues to rant on about the rain, and you look at him with a smile laughing here and there - but your mind is elsewhere. you are deathly afraid of thunderstorms, and you're afraid your night with xander is going to be ruined.

by now, the rain has rapidly increased in severity, and there's no doubt that there’s going to be thunder and lightning soon enough.

“this is gonna be so fun, we can do all sorts of things! i vote we should watch the scariest movies to ever walk this earth- actually, they don’t walk, they just exist. i vote we should watch the scariest movies to exist!” he says, smiling as he turns his head to look at you, one hand on the wheel and one resting on his own lap. his smile suddenly drops as he notices your unusual silence

“you’re awfully quiet; what’s wrong?”

you look out the window and then down at your lap, fiddling with your hands

“i don’t know, i just don’t really like the rain, heavy rain. it scares me. it’s stupid, just forget it." you wave a hand through the air and look back out the window

he reaches his hand over to yours and settles on your thigh, then switches his focus back and forthfrom you and the road, ultimately settling on you when he stops at a red light. “it’s not stupid. we can watch that one movie you love to make you forget about the rain? yeah? 10 things i like about you?” he says giving you an encouraging smile.

you try to bite back your own smile “okay… fine” you say looking at him, “and it’s 10 things i hate about you.” you say, raising your eyebrows

“you have things you hate about me? let alone 10 of them? i’m offended” he says, putting a hand to his chest in fake agony.

“eh, you’ll survive”

“honestly, i’m not so sure i will.” he says as he puts his hand back on the wheel when the light turns green, his other hand still staying next to yours on your thigh.

when you finally reach your house, you are both running out of the car in the rain to your front door.

when you finally reach it, you’re both panting and out of breath.

“oh my god,” you mutter under your breath.

“somebody open the door.” you groan while repeatedly ringing the doorbell and knocking, but it seems to be overpowered by the rain.

xander chuckles at your frustrated antics “don’t you have a key?”

“oh, right,” you say defeatedly as your arms fall back to your sides, and then you dig in your pockets to find them.

your hands fiddle with them as they are wet, and you can’t seem to hold it properly.

you look up at xander, your face asking him for help. “help please?” you ask as you raise your hand with the keys towards his

“anything for you,” he says half jokingly (100% true) as he takes the keys from your hands and unlocks the door.

you’re about to walk in but you notice xanders intense gaze and the fact that he’s simply standing there, unmoving.

you turn to look at him, and hes unsurprisingly already looking at you.

he takes a step forward and moves some of your wet hair out of your face.

“xander, what are you doing? we should get inside.”

he saw no point in beating around the bush. “i love you.”

“what?” you barely whisper, your face showing your shock.

“i love you, and im tired of pretending that i can just be friends with you. i can’t. it’s killing me every day,” he takes a deep breath in “from the day in 4th grade, to the robotics club, to hanging out with you everyday, i love you. everything about you, the way you feel for everyone, the way you smile, the way you say my name, the way you- the way you are. just you.” a small smile starts to spread across your face, unable to hide your emotions. “and every day im with you, i fall inlove with something new about you. like today, it’s the fact that you don’t like the rain, i don’t know why i love it, well i do- because it’s you. and that’s what runs through my mind 24/7. you” he finishes his long winded confession out of breath, sounding as genuine as ever.

you stay staring at him for a few moments with pure love and adoration in your eyes.

“now’s usually the part where you speak,” xander says as he gestures his hand for you to speak, still breathless. and for the first time in your 4ish years of being friends with him, you notice a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

“i-“ you were genuinely too stunned to speak “fuck it.” you mutter, as you lean in to kiss him.

your arms wrap around his neck, his around your waist, and you’re on your tiptoes. he notices and cranes his neck towards you, crouching down so you can stand normally.

his hands move away from your waist and towards your face and neck, and you shiver and pull away.

“what?” he asks looking like a deer in headlights.

“you’re hands are freezing” you say through a giggle,

“oh,” he says, and he starts to laugh. “we should probably get inside,” he continues.

“we probably should.”

“yeah, any second now”

“yep” you look into his eyes and notice a new sparkle in them.

neither of you move, just staring into each other's eyes until you hear a loud bang, your head whips in its direction, and you see lightning.

“okay, that’s our sign to actually get inside” you dryly chuckle as you grab xander’s hand and he follows you inside.

you spent the rest of your movie night cuddled up together, watching cheesy rom-coms on your couch.

you end up falling asleep halfway through the second movie.

he’s rambling on, and he suddenly cuts himself off, noticing your silence, and looks down at you.

when he notices you’re sleeping, he smiles to himself, switches off the tv, and carries you in bridal style to your bed.

halfway through the walk to your bed your eyes start to flutter open and you look up at him with furrowed eyebrows as you take in your surroundings. “xan? what happened to the movie?”

“you fell asleep,” he states matter-of-factly “it’s okay; we can continue another time” he says softly, not wanting to disturb your peace.

he places you on your bed and pulls the cover over you. he kisses your forehead and then stands to look at you for a moment, then begins to walk away.

you open your eyes slightly and prop yourself up on your elbows, then you see his retreating figure “where are you going?”

“oh, well you’re going to sleep, i figured you’d want your peace” he responds.

doesn’t he realize he’s your peace?

you shake your head “no, i want you." his eyebrows shoot up in amusement, and you mentally curse yourself for what you just said

“i mean, can you stay with me?”

you had the best sleep of your life that night cuddled with him. he held you like if he held you any looser you'd dissapear out of his arms.

and he stayed true to his word; you did finish the movie the next day.

a few days later, you were thinking about the confession he made, and you realized you never said anything back.

you decided to write a letter explaining your feelings - and all that you feel for him.

the letter ended up being two pages long.

you came to his house, gave it to him, and watched him read it with hopeful eyes.

he wanted to cry, laugh, and kiss you all at the same time.

he ultimately ended up settling on the last one.

you’re now laying on his bed, a vinyl playing frank oceans “blonde” in the background which you’ve both decided on as your album.

“does this mean we’re officially together now?” you ask, raising your head from his chest to look at him in the eye.

“we’ve been officially together since that day in 4th grade, you just didn’t know it yet”he says looking down at you with a sarcastic smile, which you laugh at and hit his chest playfully. “i love you” you say,

“i love you too.”

that letter you gave him is one of his prized possessions- his most prized possesion.

it’s pinned to his wall next to trophies and famous physicians and inventors he loves, and a picture of scones, which is a major sign that he’s a goner for you.

jameson teased him about it the first time he saw it.

jameson also had a black eye the next day!

everyone you know is so happy that you two are officially together, but not happier than you two.

thankyou so much for this requesttt, this was a super long one 😭😭 we all need a xander in our lives

#xander hawthorne x reader #xander hawthorne #grayson hawthorne #jameson hawthorne #the brothers hawthorne #the final gambit #the grandest game #the hawthorne legacy #the inheritance games #nash hawthorne #❦ jude writes

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dullgecko · 24 days ago

Note

Near the end of senior year, Riz gets a part time job at the library (because, much to everyone else’s dismay, apparently he somehow thinks he’s still not doing enough). A big part of his job is tidying up the kids sections because he’s young and short so he’s one of the only ones in the staff team who doesn’t have to destroy their knees to access the shelves.

He thought he’d hate working in the kids sections - when he was that age, the kids around him were really awful to him. But apparently some new kids cartoon has a goblin main character that most kids absolutely adore and Riz gets a little overwhelmed by how nice all of the kids are to him (although that is a pretty low bar, given his past experience). He ends up getting involved in some of the holiday workshops and activity days that the library runs and he finds that he’s able to let his guard down in a way that he still sometimes struggles to do even around his friends. There’s even one goblin couple with a tiny four year old that starts showing up more regularly once they realise Riz works there and he starts picking up occasional nights of baby sitting for them which he also loves.

One time Riz saw one of the Applebees kids reading in a corner for a couple of hours before carefully putting some books about gender and being trans back on the returns cart, before taking out some random Helio books presumably as a decoy to give them an excuse to come back. Riz very quickly decided that no he hadn’t seen that, that was none of his business (but also being very happy that they had somewhere that they could go to figure things out). He wasn’t surprised when, just under a year later, Mordred Manor had a few new additions.

Sometimes Riz had to branch out into other areas of the library. After the kids section, his next favourite was the nonfiction, although he wasn’t allowed to do some of the higher shelves (using a step ladder required a “working at heights” training session that the library didn’t want to pay for - a couple of the newer gnomes and halflings had the same problem and they all thought it was ridiculous).

His least favourite section was the romance section. He hated the genre and the titles and the book covers which didn’t help. But really the main problem was that someone kept moving the books into the wrong order which meant that if you were put in that section, you’d be there forever just trying to get it right again.

He only starts working at the library after dropping most of his after school clubs. He's still in the AV club with Adaine, and on the bloodrush team, but the other ones all get tossed. His schedule was way too busy and the inconsistancy of it all was literally giving him nosebleeds from stress. At least working at the library looks fantastic on his transcript AND has consistant hours AND gives him access to stuff he might need to research his cases AND he's getting PAID. It's a win win win win.

Riz had NO idea there was a popular kids show with a goblin main character at first so he was very surprised when about half a dozen tiny kids, over the course of a couple weeks, started greeting him in Ghukliak. It was a simplified version of a greeting, with none of the subtones a goblin could make, but almost no one spoke goblin at all so he got thrown for a bit of a loop.

He actually watched a few episodes on his crystal on his lunch break when he found out about it and it was good. Well researched, not racist, the goblin characters actually had proper traditional clothes rather than rags which was wild to him. The character even spoke actual Ghukliak rather than random grunts and clicks, and the accent they had was accurate to where their hoard was supposed to be from. There must be actual goblins on the team that created the show. Hells, they even had an episode where the goblin character went to visit relatives in the chaos mountains and they kept the location of the nest 'secret' even to the viewers. A+ writing.

The show is stupid popular, they have a whole shelf of kids books with characters from the show going on adventures. Riz gets asked by the head librarian to help set up little displays around goblin holidays that are featured in the show and the kids are always incredibly excited. Honestly, Riz finds it super cute. Kind of wishes the show was around when he was little though because the kids who watch it are super nice to the goblin children who come to the library as well.

He hosts middle-of-the-night reading hour in Ghukliak for goblin parents to bring their kids to because the young ones still havent quite managed to swap their sleep schedules from nocturnal to diurnal and its not healthy to force it. The parents will sometimes organise a night for Riz to babysit all at once, so sometimes he'll have four to five toddlers running around that he's looking after.

His mom only lets him work a couple of night shifts a week because his sleep schedule is already disgusting but at least the library is super quiet (not many nocternal residents in Elmville after all) so the head librarian lets him do his school/casework unless people need his help. Sometimes underclassmen would come by on nights he was working late and ask for help with their schoolwork if he wasn't super busy.

#fantasy high #riz gukgak

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romanceclub-confessionss · 3 months ago

Text

Confession:

i think it would be great if we got a sports story in the app. (but definitely not as if it was written by someone who doesn't know much about that sport) i think the author should have a history with the sport he will cover, or at least a close follower of it. but i think something can be done, just like sports anime (especially haikyu!! which is my favorite). of course, they cannot go into the technical part too much in order not to lose the general reader, but i guess now i want to read about the daily life, crises and ups and downs of an ordinary person. i love fantasy stories, but lately (of course, because the general audience wants this) the application has been filled with fantastic stories (i have no complaints about this, but personally, i started to get a little bored after a while) but oh my god, i hope this is going to be a sport. volleyball happens. in recent years, this sport has been on the rise around the world (at least that's what i see from me and my friends from different countries) and i think it would be great to parlay on this hype. of course, i would be very happy if the team, they did something like the players of a world-wide club or a high school volleyball team (and even if it was a high school drama… the teenager in me won't keep quiet, sorry lol). in the meantime, it wouldn't be bad if we saw character drawings inspired by a few legendary volleyball players from around the world.

omg, i asked for a lot of things, but of course i'm not insistent on them, i'm quite happy with where the current RC has gone, just wanted to write my thoughts. i realize my confession is long and i'm sorry for that !!<33

#romance club #rc #book idea

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creaturecomfxrts · 9 months ago

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Dipper and Mabel pines headcanons?

FINALLY getting around to answering these! since im better at them, heres some college age headcanons that apply just as much to how i view them in the show!

DIPPER PINES

transmasc. duh. of course

parents are INCREDIBLY supportive, super understanding. hes on hormone blockers in the show and starts HRT as soon as hes able, getting top surgery and bottom surgery in his early 20s

bisexual! ran into a guy junior year of highschool and went oh GOD. this is wendy 2.0 im going to die

NERD.

LOVES board games. so much. not just dungeons and dragons and monopoly im talkin everdell, wingspan, cascadia, catan. he loves a good think. he also loves dragging everyone else into playing them with him. he always wins. almost always, anyway

absolutely adores college and everything about it hes a little freak. totally ends up being the president of a few clubs, co creating some, etc. made an occult club AND a hiking club at his college

loves doodling, loves horror. his teachers? not so much. they try not to look at the weird ass creatures he draws on the margins of his very well written homework.

probably goes into something smart. like biochem. or um. stem. im (author) is a liberal arts major all i do is write gay fanfiction.

PSYCHOTIC ASS DORM ROOM. he barely decorated it like a classic college male but has a conspiracy board and thats it. which is full of strange shit hes seen outside of gravity falls. to be fair its very well documented and somewhat neat, just…. strange decor. he lives in a single (introvert)

COVERED in tattoos, but always abides by the suit rule (all tattoos need to be able to be covered by a suit to be professional. he knows this bc hes a neerrrrddd). he has really sick sleeves of runes and other occult like things hes found interesting. he has cipher related tattoos as well and also even got ford to design a few.

he has PROMINENT eye bags. he will never fix his sleep schedule

ended up working as a summer camp counselor for a while right outside if gravity falls! the kids loved him but he couldnt stand the heat and bugs all the time so he only did it for a summer or two

even after turning 21 he doesnt actually drink that much, hes a craft beer enjoyer and likes to make it himelf (Much later in life)

ALWAYS stays in touch with mabel. if anything happens in either of their lives you better BELIEVE theyre already on the phone with eachother

medical marijuana card holder

smokes to help eith his anxiety. it works WONDERS

coffee drinker but actually Does put cream and sugar is coffee. sometimes. other times hes too tired and just thugs it out

MABEL PINES

THE number one it girl ever

NUMBER ONE TRANS ALLY EVERRRRRR she loves her brother so much

pansexual!! she loves cool people, thats her motto

went to a fashion design school, is loving it despite drowning in work

began dying her hair in cool ways through highschool, now she always has some of her natural color present but goes a little crazy on the highlights

found out about huge dangley joke earrings. went absolutely crazy. has an entire space on her desk dedicated to her many many earrings. she has babies, knives, bags of doritos, aliens, glow in the dark ones, anything you could imagine.

fantastic at fashion design. stuggled a lot with the fancier stuff but her teachers were floored when they let her go wild on casual comfy wear. she excells in combining fashion and comfort in really exciting and colorful ways.

a party girl through and through, loves clubs, raves, concerts, anything!

video game lover as well, cracked at pvp games.

still boy crazy, just less so (has had like. 10 college boyfriends)

literally the sweetest friend ever. she loves hosting movie nights and tea parties (bc who wouldnt. theyre awesome)

tea drinker, loves floral teas with honey

HATES. black coffee. a starbucks frap girlie 4ever

has been scouted for modeing multiple times and only accepted when it was a commercial with puppies

love love loves making friendshio bracelets. knows all the patterns, all of her friends have a hefty amount of a bunch of different ones because she just keeps making them

anywwy, here you go! i love these two so much, i hope ive done them justice!

#dipper pines #mabel pines #headcanons #gravity falls #gravity falls headcanons #hcs #gravity falls dipper #gravity falls mabel #writing #writeblr

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forever-rogue · 2 years ago

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Hiii I love your writing this is my for time requesting I hope you like it

Shy!reader and Eddie have been dating for about a month. The reader only has one friend who goes with them everywhere. When meeting the hellfire club Gareth gets too friendly to the reader (or so Eddie thinks) Gareth and reader start talking outside of lunch and Eddie notices Gareth is getting flirty. Eddie gets jealous and pissed since Gareth knows the reader is his girlfriend why is he trying to get them. Eddie then stars being rude to Gareth,and more affectionate toward the reader. Eddie finds Gareth and reader talking on the side of the school and Eddie confronts them. They tell him that Gareth doesn’t like the reader he like their best friend and the whole reader as been giving Gareth tips on their best friend.

AN | A little angsty miscommunication? Say no more 🥰

Warnings | Language

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 2.1k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Eddie scowled as he watched you walk into the cafeteria and then promptly avoided him as you walked over to Gareth standing near the back of the room. Gareth had avoided him too, telling him that he had something that he needed to do during lunch. Eddie hadn’t realized that something involved you. The can he was holding was almost crushed in his hand as he kept his gaze trained on the two of you.

“Everything okay?” Dustin’s concerned tone caused him to snap back into attention as he looked at the younger boy. He finished off the can before turning to chuck it into the nearby bin before nodding.

“Everything is just fantastic, Dusty Bun,” he grimaced as he turned his face down towards his lunchbox, drumming his fingers against the cool metal.

“Are you sure-”

“I’m positive,” he insisted, his tone sharp and grating. Dustin held up his hands in defeat and said nothing further. He exchanged a look with Mike and Lucas and neither of them seemed to have the answer either.

Eddie would be fine, as soon as he found out why the two of you had been sneaking off together.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Hey princess,” Eddie’s face relaxed when he saw you walking towards him after school. There was that sweet smile he adored on your face as you lifted your hand up in a small wave. As soon as you were within grabbing distance, he reached for you and pulled you into a warm hug, “ready to go?”

“Actually,” uh oh. The look on your face made his stomach jolt, “I’ve got a project I’m working on, so I’m going to stay a little today. I’ll just walk home later.”

“Oh,” he frowned, his suspicions slowly creeping up again, “well, I can wait. I don’t have anything pressing. That way you don’t have to walk home.’

“‘s alright,” you promised, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “really. I don’t know when I’ll be done. I’ll let you know when I get home though, okay?”

“Are you sure?” his big brown eyes widened with worry but you nodded in response before leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. He knew there was no point in arguing; you might have been shy and reserved but still managed to be fierce in your own way, “okay…well, I’ll talk to you later then.”

“Later,” you took a step back, the expression on your face was enough to make him melt as he watched you go, “see you soon, Eddie Spaghetti.”

“Bye princess,” your entire face warmed up at his affection as you turned around to head back to your locker. A soft groan escaped his lips as he watched you go.

He leaned against his van, arms crossed over his chest in annoyance. Not at you - he couldn’t blame you for wanting to get work done. You were extremely smart and dedicated, it really wasn’t a big deal. He realistically probably should have come with you and done his own work. Eddie watched the path you had taken long enough until most students had dispersed and were gone.

He was just about to leave when he spotted a familiar figure walking out of the back of the school. Gareth. Interesting…Eddie was sure he’d told him that he was going to leave right after school. He was going to question it and decided that the boy was entitled to his privacy…until he heard a familiar laugh - your laugh.

You fell into step with the other boy, the two of you talking among yourselves with smiles on your faces. His heart constricted before it felt like it plummeted into his stomach. You lied to him. You’d straight up said a bold faced lie right to his face. It instantly made him wonder what else you’d lied to him about. He watched as the two of you made it into the secluded spot in the woods that he often did his deals in.

He could only wonder what the two of you were up to.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was late by the time his phone rang and Eddie was half tempted to ignore the call. But he could never do that to you; he knew if nothing else, you would show up at his house wondering if he was okay. With a reluctant little sigh, he answered the phone, “hello?”

“Hi Eddie,” your voice sounded the same as always, soft and sweet, practically dropping with honey, “sorry for calling so late. I got home and then got caught up with chores and stuff. I got home okay though…how was your afternoon, my love?”

“It was okay,” ugh. He couldn’t even be mad at you. You were too sweet…but that didn’t erase the worry that still settled in his stomach, “are you cheating on me?”

“I…Eddie, what?” you sounded so genuinely surprised that he was fairly certain that you weren’t just playing at the innocence. He swallowed the lump in his throat as you seemed to panic, “why on earth are you asking me that? I would never do that to you. I love you, Eddie.”

“I’m sorry,” he gnawed on the inside of his cheek, shaking his head at himself, “I didn’t mean…I know you’d never do that.”

“Did I do something? To make you even that?” you twirled the phone cord in your fingers as your heart sank. You heard him shuffling around on the other end before he sighed lightly, “Eddie?”

“No,” it was only a…half lie. There was something you had done, but you weren’t privy to the fact that he was aware. But he always didn’t truly think you’d cheated on him or anything. He knew you’d never do that, “sorry baby. Hey, it’s getting late, I’ll let you go so you can get to bed, okay?”

“Sorry for calling so late,” you almost whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he promised before hanging up the phone. You weren’t cheating on him, he believed that much. But he also believed that there was definitely something going on.

He was going to find out one way or another just exactly what it was. He would just have to pry it out of Gareth.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Eddie had been quiet for most of the day, which for anyone that had spent even a few minutes around him, was weird. Like really weird. But nobody said anything, almost as if they were afraid that he would explode if anyone stepped out of line. You weren’t sure what was going on with him either; he’d picked you up in the morning as he always did, gave you a kiss and even played your favorite mixtape. It all felt…off.

At lunch it all seemed to come to a head when Eddie strutted into the cafeteria and made a beeline for Gareth. He offered up a smile, but it was so tight that you were surprised his face didn’t crack, “Gareth, my friend. Come with me - we have a few things to talk about.”

You peeked over from where you were having lunch with your best friend Emma, drawn to his presence like a moth to a flame. Your face fell when he seemed to zone in on the other boy, a dangerously neutral expression on his face. Gareth stood up, mumbling something to the older boy before both cast a glance at your table. You swallowed thickly and offered up a small wave as Emma’s expression only changed into pure confusion.

“Wonder what’s going on with them,” she commented as the boys left the cafeteria. You shrugged and turned your attention back to your sandwich, “aren’t they best friends?”

“Mhmm,” you nodded, butterflies in your stomach as you wondered if he somehow had seen the two of you yesterday. Maybe that was why he’d asked you that question last night and why he was acting so strange.

You decided not to worry about it just yet and gave Emma a smile.

Outside, meanwhile, Eddie trekked over to a secluded spot with Gareth in tow. He stopped at one of the benches and turned around, a firm expression on his face.

“What’s wrong, Eddie?” his voice was pitched up a few octaves and he wished he could slink away. It was obvious that something was going on…

“I know something is going between you and my girlfriend-”

“Eddie!” both of them froze at the sound of your worried voice as you popped up from around the corner. You hadn’t been able to take it and had to go and see what was going on. What was it that they said? Curiosity killed the cat? Well today it might just have killed you.

“What are you doing here?” they echoed at the same, exchanging a look before they turned their attention back to you.

“Edward, listen-”

“So there is something going on between the two of you!” he snapped his fingers before he looked back and forth at the two of you. Your mouth dropped open in purpose as Gareth made a small sound.

“No, there’s not,” you pinched the bridge of your nose as you shook your head at the curly haired metalhead, “I can’t believe you’d even think that!”

“What was I supposed to think, huh?” he huffed, glaring at Gareth, “the two of you were sneaking around together and then lying to me about it!”

“What are you even talking about?”

“I saw you sneaking off together yesterday at lunch,” your face warmed up and Gareth turned bright red, “and then I know you lied to me after school. You weren’t going to go and study at all. The two of you were hanging out.”

“Eddie-”

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he huffed but the two of you remained silent. He hadn’t been wrong and neither of you were about to lie to him.

“Fine,” you sighed after a moment, “you aren’t wrong. We were hanging out-”

“Aha!”

“But it wasn't what you were thinking.”

“What?”

“I had asked her for help,” Gareth cut in and gave you a small smile, “because I really like Emma.”

“I knew it - I knew you like…oh,” Eddie’s cheeked pinked as he looked at you, standing there with eyebrows raised, and back at Gareth who seemed incredibly nervous, “you like Emma?”

“Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly, “and I was trying to figure out the best way to talk to her and maybe ask her out. So we’ve been working together to plan a little something. That was all.”

“Oh,” if there was ever a time Eddie wished the ground would open up and swallow him, it was right then and there, “so…there was nothing…between the two of you?”

“Of course not,” you threw your hands up in exasperation, “for someone so smart, you can be really dumb at times. I love you, Eddie. You and only you.”

“I feel dumb right now,” he groaned, “sorry man. I shouldn’t have just jumped to conclusions.”

“‘s alright,” Gareth insisted with a small smile, “and while I’ve got the chance, I’m going to try and talk to Emma!”

“Good luck,” you gave him a big thumbs up with a sweet smile as he ducked back towards the cafeteria. You turned your attention back to Eddie, “and you. Whatever am I going to do with you?”

“Tell me I’m an idiot?” he scratched at the back of his neck nervously, “and not break up with me?”

“You’re an idiot Eddie Munson,” you laughed softly, “but I’m never going to break up with you. You’re stuck with me for life. I hope you’re okay with that…not that you really have a choice.”

“Princess, I am more than okay with that,” he promised, reaching for your hand and bringing it to his lips so he could press a kiss to your knuckles, “you’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Not a chance,” you promised with a big grin, “but I mean it, Eddie. I love you. So much. It’s always going to be you and only for me.”

“I love you,” he felt like he could melt into a puddle then and there, “forever and ever and ever.”

“And then some more.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson one shot #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x you #joseph quinn x reader

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susandsnell · 2 months ago

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You watched Joker 2: How the Joker got his Groove Back? Do tell, because I’m not watching it lmaooooo

hi maggie i love u. so i was having a progressive mental breakdown trying to write this the last few days and today, I slipped forwards and fell backwards walking to the restroom from my own kitchen and fell onto my back and smacked my head on the floor really loudly (i'm okay for now dw), and i think the slapstick is a sign to answer this question, while subsequent looney tunes esque possible injuries an appropriate tone for this shitshow. I also think the fall damaged my brain less than this movie did, but I'm nothing if not a glutton for punishment when it comes to viewing experiences. let's go.

as a consummate disliker of the first film, my expectations were low, but holy fuck. i was pleased in the schadenfreude sense when we first got the announcement that the premise for the sequel was a musical with Lady Gaga as Harley with how alienating to the fanbase of the first this was, and when trailers emerged I was prematurely annoyed but cautiously optimistic for at least some good musical numbers and maybe some creative imagery.

well. this movie rips off The Room.

spoilers below the cut, trigger warning for mentioned but not graphically discussed police brutality/prison violence (physical + sexual), ableism, misogyny.

gott im himmel, what is there even to say.

so the opening is - actually good. having the rights to warner brothers, they open with the merrie melodies theme with Joker's face popping into frame and an old-school animated recap of the talkshow sequence from the first flick, which was actually a great idea...until the whole premise of the cartoon, and later, the legal defense, ends up being that either the Joker takes on a life of his own outside of Arthur or, as the defense will later posit, the Joker is a DID alter. This is not handled well, at all.

the movie is basically an ugly, dingy, confused, feverish bottle episode that makes me retroactively appreciate the first more for its pretty exciting third act and grounded Gotham City; our locations are a very very boring Arkham , and the courtroom drama as Arthur Fleck is brought to justice for his actions in the first movie. While incarcerated, he has both haters and fans in the prison population, including a young fanboy who is dared by the guards to kiss him, and who he kisses tenderly on the mouth early on, because quoth Todd Phillips, "the Joker is bisexual and stuff." diversity win!!!! this will matter later.

after several unhappy renditions of When The Saints Go Marching In, Arthur meets Harleen Quinzel, mercifully nicknamed 'Lee' in this version so we can easily dissociate her from our favourite harlequin. He finds her at Arkham Asylum glee club rehearsal, which is apparently a thing, and immediately put me in mind of Bialystock and Bloom putting on Prisoners of Love in Sing Sing, and she eagerly tells him she's a huge fan of the Joker as an abused child of poverty herself, and that she avidly watched the TV movie made about his exploits, which was fantastic. (This TV movie will come back later. It's possibly further self-flagellation on the part of Todd Phillips, which is amusing.)

anyway, the choir practice meet cute is important because it flimsily sets up the rest of the film being a musical. because he loves Lee, and she sings music, and therefore if Lee = an escape for Arthur, music is an escape for Arthur too! much thoughts! society. they also watch some old hollywood musicals together on their arkham dates. I don't know.

so regarding the musical numbers. the worst part is that they didn't let gaga sing properly in the movie??? like they made her and phoenix sing badly on purpose as ~character choices~ because it ~fits the characters~ and half the fantastic-looking performances from the leaks a few months ago were cut because musical movies are cockshy now about committing to the medium. instead we get bored white woman dancing from everyone, except for two good numbers, and breathy, off-key and off-rhythm jukebox renditions of everything from Sweet Charity to The Carpenters. a good 40% of the songs are arthur being questioned or something and just bursting into it while everyone looks bewildered, with only a handful of fantasy sequences, when the easiest thing to do given the courtroom drama setup would've been to just rip off Chicago and call it a day, would've been unoriginal but cogent, but instead we're treated to endless tedium and talented singers performing poorly. is there a way to blame this all on tom hooper? because i feel like this is all somehow tom hooper's fault.

this one will really piss you off - Harvey Dent is there and they did him filthy! he's prosecuting the case against Arthur Fleck, and they made him a smirky little twink and did fuck all with him except 'punchable on purpose' because he's The Man and The Man is keeping poor trod-upon Arthur Fleck down. but The Man pales in comparison to the true villain of this movie - women!!!!!

despite trying to deconstruct the incel following and give a middle finger to a lot of the nerdbros who wrongfully worshipped the first one, this movie is somehow a lot more overtly sexist than the first? every woman in this movie is Wronging arthur. his lawyer is an older woman who's going for the insanity defense with completely misrepresented DID (i'll cut her slack in that it's set in the 80s) but is apparently framed as condescending/exploiting his tragedy publicly when like, literally what is she supposed to do to try and get him acquitted for his crimes in the first movie, and it's not like she's trying to get famous for it (or is she? didn't come off from what I saw). she's genuinely being as empathetic as possible and still presented as condescending, and arthur fires her to self-represent in court -- dressed as the joker. more details about penny fleck being much more abusive than shown from the first movie are revisited to...i guess justify her murder more? zazie beetz is back as sophie to prove he didn't kill her but she's framed as deeply unsympathetic for believing arthur's abuser, penny, over him bc apparently she talked shit to the neighbours, when sophie has like, every reason to be afraid of this guy who was talking to her young child and broke into her apartment under the delusion they were together and then later that night going on a killing spree. and then her role in the story got added to the tv movie (which she reveals, to arthur's heartbreak, sucks) but the movie frames her as this judgmental ableist heartless meanie because she's not empathetic to the man who traumatized her and endangered her daughter.

this is juxtaposed to gary, arthur's clown temp agency coworker from the first film who he spared because of his kindness, who gets another one of the only good scenes in the film as he recounts how deeply witnessing arthur's murders broke him -- a sympathy not afforded to that stuck-up witch sophie. shoutout to leigh gill, it's the film's best and powerful performance....undercut by joaquin making the Choice that the joker, self-representing and cross-examining a witness, would spend a solid 20 minutes doing a Humble Southern Lawyer I do Declare bit that had me cringing out of my skin.

and then, of course, there's Lee. so basically they went the telltale batman route where it's subverted of the classic mad love dynamic -- she's the one playing him, but they did it worse because todd phillips doesn't really grasp like, character beyond Bad Things Happening Make People Do Bad Things and also Women Aren't People, so her sob story is false, her parents are rich and alive and she's a psychiatry Ph.D who voluntarily committed to arkham out of parasocial obsession with The Joker. this would be cool in the women's wrongs way if and i mean IF she had any coherent reason beyond "crazy bitches" and being a groupie of who he became on the talkshow.

and then for some reason the movie decides to wholesale lift plot points from The Room. Lee is allowed to see Arthur after one of his many drawn-out gratuitous beating scenes at the hands of Brendon Gleeson's Arkham guard Jackie Sullivan (kind of a Lyle Bolton type), whereupon she puts his clown makeup on and fucks him as the Joker, as you do. when she's 'released' (really, she leaves), she sees him in visitation to tell him she's pregnant with a little baby clown, which motivates him through the rest of the trial. it's of course clear and later revealed that she lied about the pregnancy. since the film is not interested in giving Lee any real motives beyond Crazy Flaky Bitches Am I Right (her transformation into Harley is never named and consists of clown cosplays worn to court), it's never really clear why she faked the pregnancy, which made me immediately think less of Roxie Hart and more Lisa from The Room saying "To make things interesting". like she already had him on the hook from what it seems, there didn't need to be a fake clown baby!!!!

if you've made it this far, here's where it goes from bad to "oh fuck off". please mind the trigger warnings I listed above.

after going on society rant part 2582342572473423995324324932592394293, Arthur shittalks the Arkham guards on TV. this results in Jackie et al not only beating him but -- non-graphically, but it is completely clear before and after the scene this was the intent -- SA'ing him. After which they murder an inmate sympathetic to Arthur for singing to him. none of this is engaged with meaningfully, none of this is textually addressed, none of this has any real narrative weight beyond Arthur being "broken" during his trial and flubbing the case, renouncing being the Joker. I don't have to say how unbelievably offensive just throwing this shit in is and handling it with about as much care as can be expected from the director of Hangover 2.

so Arthur flubs the case and Lee, along with the rest of his fanbase, storm out of the courthouse, disappointed, much in the way audiences are doing in theatres. but the stans camped outside the courthouse pull a Matt Reeves Riddler and plant carbombs around the perimeter, killing everyone in the jury, burning Harvey Dent's face (DO YOU GET IT???) and two cosplayer juggalos rescue Arthur and they drive off echoing the cop car scene in the first movie. but Arthur doesn't want to be the Joker anymore! he escapes the car and returns to the Joker steps, which the film has already returned to in fantasy lke 10 times. He finds Harley - Lee there, and she tells him coolly that she’s really disappointed he’s not the joker because she loves the joker and not Arthur. She does half a musical number while he begs her to stop singing which made me LOL because shrek and then the cops show up and arrest him and not her.

when we next see Arthur, he's in Arkham awaiting the electric chair. He gets called to go see a visitor and walks alone down a hall, somehow unsupervised on the way to visitation. That young, twinky inmate that kissed Arthur earlier in the movie and senpais him runs up and begs Arthur to let him tell him a joke. And it’s this longwinded bit of incoherence about a “psychopath and a killer clown who let him down walk in the bar, and the psychopath says what can I get you” but the punchline is, of course, “you get what you fucking deserve” and the fanboy shivs him in the gut repeatedly. It cuts to a dying fantasy of a parody sonny and Cher show with joker and Harley singing and finishing their act, then back to a lingering closeup on Arthur bleeding out alone in the Arkham corridor while the twink laughs hysterically, implying the next Joker riseth. Roll credits.

to quote my friend Peter, "having the new Joker play gay chicken with the old joker is cinema".

but all seriousness, save for a few goofy moments here or there or "oh my god, they're really doing this", the movie is boring as sin. which is quite the feat given it's a musical with Lady Gaga as Harley, but when it wasn't boring it was a shockingly offensive mishandling of serious issues that was also a pointless rehash of the events of the first film, not just as a middle finger to those who liked it, but a middle finger to people who like musicals, Batman, DC, and maybe even film as a whole.

just please, please, do yourself a favour and stream Harlequin (Lady Gaga's tie-in album) instead. Mother Monster ate.

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xreaderbooks · 1 year ago

Text

The Shadows of Our Love |12|

Chapter 12 | In the Shadow of Detention

Pair: Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Summary: After the events at the recent Crossed Wands match, Y/n and Sebastian are required to serve their time in detention.

Warnings: language (?), jealousy, mentions of violence

Word Count: 4.3k

Wattpad | Ao3 | Playlist

a/n: I listened to 'salamander eyes' from the fantastic beasts playlist for the last conversation in the common room which really added to the feelings i had while writing it. comment or message me to be tagged in future parts :)

Chapter 11 - Series Masterlist - Navi - Chapter 13

“The behavior displayed by you this evening, Ms. L/n, was indecorous.” Sharp began his speech, “This unsanctioned dueling club you children believe to be secretive, as it happens, is not. The faculty is well aware of the illicit activities being held and while we may turn a blind eye to the extracurricular activity; to be informed of a physical altercation and that there was bloodshed-”

You couldn’t help the sly smirk that happened upon your face, highly unintentional, your facial features didn’t comprehend the lecture you were getting from your professor who- frighteningly enough- was an ex-Auror.

“I’m glad you are amused, Ms. L/n because you are stripped of your Hogsmeade privileges,” His eyes zeroed in on you, “And every Saturday for the rest of the semester you will be in the detention room executing the tasks given to you.”

Your jaw dropped, and you glance at Garreth whose hand is shyly raised. Seeing him reminded you- there went your Hogsmeade group dates.

“Mr. Weasley,” Professor Sharp acknowledges the boy who is fraught at his declaration.

Garreth gulps, “Sir, surely the punishment isn’t meant for all of us.” Traitor, you thought.

Professor Sharps turns his attention to the rest of your classmates, he had you all standing in a row, with you in the middle- the main culprit. Sebastian to your left and Poppy to the left of him, Natty to your right and Garreth to hers, Nellie at the end.

“As for Mr. Weasley, Ms. Onai, Oggspire, and Sweeting, you are all to serve detention on Saturday. You will still be able to attend the Samhain feast, unlike Ms. L/n who will be allowed to have her first two meals and will be serving her detention for the entirety of the day.” He gives you a pointed look. “That is all, the four of you are dismissed.”

Natty squeezes your hand goodbye as she walks away without a word, surely her mother would not be happy with her. Nellie, Garreth, and Poppy all give you winces and sympathetic glances as they leave.

Now you were piqued, your once free Saturdays were now taken up with one more thing that you did not need to be busy with, permission to go to Hogsmeade was gone- when you were already banned from leaving school grounds for anything else- how exactly were you going to put an end to the Death Reapers or at least stop them from taking any more people, when you were on lockdown. To top it off, the Samhain feast was off the table, you didn’t get to enjoy it last year because you were out helping Sebastian at a time when you and he weren’t even on good terms.

You risked Sharp’s wrath to ask, “Excuse me, Professor, but what about him?” You send your thumb in the direction of the brunet next to you.

“Surely, sir, I am the victim here,” Sebastian tries to manipulate. Thankfully, your favorite teacher- despite the circumstances- was not convinced.

“Surely, Mr. Sallow, you are not.” You can almost see the glint in the man's eyes as he says, “You are to join, L/n, every Saturday in a place you are not unfamiliar with. Do not think that I am not aware of the warring tension you both share in classes, particularly in Professor Hecat’s class. We are tired, and so as an exercise, you will be partnered in each task that is given.”

As if you didn’t see him everywhere you exhaled. He was going to hate you even more than he already does, and you were going to replay the memory of your fists in his face every five minutes to keep your sanity. Being near each other every other second of the day will drive you both mad.

You and Sallow were going to tear each other apart.

~~~

You stabbed at your plate of breakfast for the fourth time making the fork scrape against the plate making those around you grimace.

This morning you received an owl instructing you that you will report to Madame Scribner for your assignment today. The chatter of excitement around you makes your mood worsen, everyone will be having a grand time in the village with their friends and ending the night with the feast while you’d be in the library.

“Chin up, Y/n/n, It won't be so bad. Sallow’s known to make his detentions lively.” Garreth slides into the bench across from you. You were in a sour mood this morning, barely getting any sleep with the dread that when you woke up it wouldn’t be an exciting day at all, you couldn’t help but pout.

“Not bloody likely,” You drop the fork and push the plate away, it disapparated into thin air. You let your head fall onto your forearm that was on the table, staring at your lap. “You lucky little wanker, you only get one-half day of detention and you’re paired up with Nellie.”

“And?”

“And that’s hardly a punishment at all!” You throw your hands up half in the air with exasperation.

“Who told you to go all mental on Sebastian,” Garreth chided.

You inhaled sharply, Garreth was getting close to being on the list of people on your bad side for today, “He deserved it and you bloody well know it.”

Garreth raises his hands in surrender, “Save your hostility for your true enemies and not your caring friend who’s trying to make you feel better.”

That didn’t help his case, you sent daggers through your eyes, and with that, he eased his way up from the Slytherin table and scurried away from you before you turned him into a flubberworm.

Ominis finds you leaving the great hall and makes a beeline toward where his wand leads him, “Mind if I escort you to your cell?”

You chuckle darkly, “Keep to your family fortune Ominis, jesting is not your forte.”

“I only wanted to warn you about Sebastian,” He walks at a leisurely pace, you held no complaints knowing you wanted to stall your sentence as long as possible. You both went down the steps and out to the courtyard where you caught a glimpse of the cool autumn weather that you no longer have the privilege of enjoying in Hogsmeade.

“I can imagine he’s feeling vengeful right about now.”

He halted and faced you, “You know him, he’s-”

“A complete tosser?” You knew you were being excessively rude with the interruptions and insults, however, you could not bring yourself to care with your overwhelming annoyance.

“Sensitive, Y/n, he’s sensitive.” Ominis sighed, “He has his issues but he feels, deeply. Lets his anger get the best of him so often you forget that.”

Sensitive was not a word you would use to describe Sebastian, as emotional as he can get with the people he cares about, it was obvious that you were not one of them. ‘Sensitive’ was the word he wanted to use to tell you that he was going through something else. It feels like lately everyone was giving you justifications for Sebastian's actions and it didn’t make you feel any better. You didn't feel the need to hold back on him if he wasn't holding back on you.

~~~

Madame Scribner informed you to meet her in front of the fireplace, she wasn’t present when you arrived, only the exact broad-shouldered lad you were cross with, leaning against the mantle twirling his wand.

“Aren’t you looking a little worse for wear,” Sebastian comments on your tired appearance. You took in his casual attire that was purposely disheveled and his face, you didn’t hold back the smile that graced your lips at the sight of him.

“Speak for yourself,” You didn’t need to motion for his bruised left eye and his swollen nose (that to your dismay only made him appear more rugged). “Did I do that? Looks like a herd of cattle stomped all over you.”

“Oh, this?” He pointed to his eye, “I wear this with pride.”

You quirked your brow in question, “And why is that?”

“I faced the great Y/n L/n and lived to tell the tale,” He wore a smug expression that made you want to rewind to yesterday and just strangle him.

“I’ll be sure not to hold back next time.”

“That is quite enough out of the pair of you.” Said the head librarian, Madame Scribner, a short stout woman who was of the more strict staff members of Hogwarts, had rounded a corner of a two-tier bookshelf. “Mr. Sallow, Ms. L/n, Professor Sharp has led you both into my care for the day and I shall have you both working with order. I have much to do and I’ve assigned you enough work, you should not have the time to bicker.”

“Now,” She waved as she began to walk. You and Sebastian followed the click of her heels to the second floor. “Your wands, if you may.” She held out her hand for the both of you to hand your only form of defense, you reluctantly turned yours in. “You are to sort scattered books onto their shelves, without magic. I've lifted the enchantments on the stacks so you will have no assistance. There are plenty of piles to keep you busy and should anyone need help, I trust that Mr. Sallow is well-versed within these walls.”

She pocketed both of your wands, both hands entwined in front of her, you can certainly say that you were intimidated by her sternness.

“I’ll be sure that all will be to your satisfaction, Madame Scribner,” Sebastian tells her, though, by her unimpressed stare, you could tell that she did not, in fact, trust him at all. She fixes her gaze on you as if expecting you to be the lead example.

You were sure to keep any reservations you had about working with Sebastian to yourself and manifested yourself to seem competent, if only so that she wouldn’t feel the need to check up on you or Sebastian. You would scurry away as quickly and as far away from Sallow as you could, when you did, you didn’t need the librarian to report you to Professor Sharp.

As soon as she felt satisfied with the lack of argument, she was off, leaving you, Sebastian, and stacks on stacks of books to sort. “Up for a little wager?” He spoke, fingering through the books.

You began to wonder if this was the fun Garreth spoke of.

“If I say that I'm in no mood for games?”

He shrugged, “I suppose that means we’re forced to work beside each other in agonizing silence so as not to disturb the many students in this acute learning environment.”

The library was empty, save for a handful of students that were either doing homework or studying. The sarcasm ran deep in his voice, it made you snort in an unladylike manner that had your hand flying to cover your face, solely on the fact that you didn’t want to laugh at any of his attempts at humor.

“Or,” He dared a step closer to tempt you, “We can work together without actually working together.”

“Please do be more vague,” Beginning to feel put out by his intimations.

“How about, the last person to finish sorting their books has to help the winner with the next assignment, pick up more of a load next time?”

“Working smarter not harder, I see.” It was a perfect solution, you didn’t have to be near each other, no bickering- no problem. The work will be done quicker this way.

“Always.”

“Fine,” You agreed.

And so the work began, Sebastian strolled over to the other side of the second floor. You started at the stained glass window section to the right of the spiral stairs. It was tedious work but you managed to gather all the books left on tables, the piles at the ends of the stacks, the ones left on the floor, and organized them into their separate sections to make it easier to sort them in their aisle.

That took two hours by how many there were, and as you stuffed them into their shelves you noticed how many of them were placed in the wrong section. So you gathered all the misplaced texts and added them to their appropriate pile, another hour passed.

As you made your last pile of books into sections on one of the large tables you noticed one that wasn’t included in the piles Madame Scribner had given you and Sebastian. It was an ancient looking one that didn’t look like it was supposed to be on the public side of the library. The book was black and the spine had intricate swirls which looked as if it was supposed to shape into skulls.

It was a book on the Dark Arts. You flipped through the pages, curious about what particular subject of dark magic it held; there were chapters and chapters of relics.

“Need any help?”

You were lost reading the pages from the book, Was Sebastian creeping around the restricted section again? If so, then why? And why would he read this so openly, surely he would have snuck it back into his dorm.

You would have seen if he was in your area, you flinch and shut the book quickly, feeling caught. “No,” You blushed and recalled the question. “No, I’m alright, thank you.”

The bright-eyed Hufflepuff boys' eyes flickered to your tight clutch on the dusty old book, “Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind easing the load.”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t either but I wouldn’t want to be caught by Madame Scribner, if anything I should be working with my assigned partner.” You continue your work, settling the books on their appropriate shelf. “Serving my time and all that.”

“Oh,” He searched around the area you both were standing. “Sebastian Sallow, is it? I saw you with him earlier.”

You nodded, lifting a heavy stack of books, and moved with them to the right section, you didn’t want to do two separate trips to carry books. You almost tripped over your feet, with a huff you grabbed a chair, balanced on the seat tiptoeing to reach the upper tier of the shelf.

Vaugh took pity on you, grabbed the book you were struggling with, and easily tucked it in with the rest. “I won’t tell if you won’t,” He winked waving his wand, his magic levitating one of the piles and sending them off to where they belong.

“Thanks,” You lifted the next pile to move on to the other side of the shelf- the next aisle.

“Where is he, anyhow?”

As if summoning the devil himself, Sebastian appeared from the exact place you were headed, “He’s right here.” To your surprise, he grabbed six of the twelve books you had in your arms.

“You can bugger off now, Vincent.” Sebastian purposefully said Vaughn's name incorrectly. You didn’t appreciate how rude he was being to the boy who had been nothing but helpful.

Vaughn shrugged and smiled at you, “Give me a shout if you need anything.”

Sebastian glared as the boy walked away, his features were full of distaste, “One can’t ever seem to be rid of him.”

You readjust your grip on the books that were now less heavy thanks to Sebastian, you set them down on the desk in front of the shelf before placing them in empty slots in alphabetical order of surname. “He’s not bothering anyone, he was just trying to be helpful.”

“I find him bothersome,” He copies your movements, he was already done with his work. You were suspicious as to how but then remembered that he had years of being in this library, especially with his coming here in his spare time, you’ve only been here for a school year and a few months.

He eyed the last book laid on the table, you had purposefully placed it on the bottom of the stack and snatched it as you saw him reaching for it. “You find the air around you to be bothersome.”

“Oh darling, you couldn’t be more wrong, you see I love breathing- and not to mention the fact that oxygen is transparent, something he is so obviously not.”

The pet name made your heart flutter despite the obvious sarcasm he spoke it with, but his cryptic words puzzled you.

He tilted his head at the way you clutched the book to your chest, “Taking a page out of my book, are we?”

“I can’t say I know what you mean,” You looked at the book front and back as if you weren’t reading its pages just minutes ago.

“Dangerous topic that one.”

“Is this one you’ve read?” In your search for a cure… you wanted to say. He met your eye and was blown back by the questions in them.

He took a step in your direction and slipped the book out of your hands swiftly, opening it up, flipping through the pages with his thumb so it made an arch then shutting it. “It goes deep into the Dark Arts, but you already knew that.”

“Musn’t let Scribner catch you with that,” He set the book down on the desk more in your direction.

“I’m not keeping it, I found it here.” You pointed to the opposite end of the table you both were standing by.

“It’s alright if you’re curious,” He arched a brow, “I wouldn’t blame you, I mean look at who you’re talking to.”

“Ah yes,” You exaggerate your remembrance. “Forgive me, Sebastian ‘Master of the Dark Arts’ Sallow.”

His expression darkened covering his former amusement at his catching you with a forbidden book. Sebastian recovered his mask with a light tone, “Calling me a Master is a flattery I did not expect to receive from you today.”

“It’s simply a fact, I suppose. You must know all there is about Dark magic.”

Sebastian lifted a brow at your insinuation, “So what if I do?”

“You might know if there is a spell, an enchantment of sorts to enhance your magic.” You hoped he wouldn’t ask any questions about what you wanted to know, you should have known better.

“The great Y/n L/n wants to enhance her magic?” His voice echoed in the near-empty library from how loud he was. You put a hand over his mouth and a finger to your lips, and your eyes widened in a warning.

You released him at the realization of how intrusively close you got to him, “I want to know if it would be possible for wizards to do it, in theory.”

“In theory, if certain wizards were participating in the Dark Arts that in itself would be able to ‘enhance their magic’, was that the answer you were looking for?.” He held your gaze with an inquisitive stare, he wanted to ask but asking would cross over the line of being friends. “May I ask the reason behind your sudden interest in the subject?” His curiosity got the better of him.

“You just did,” You took the book from the desk. “I do not plan to share any of my thoughts with you of all people.”

Sebastian tutted, “And we were getting on so well.”

“If we must be in each other's company, we should endeavor to be as plain and straightforward with each other as possible.”

“As you are being now?” He smirks.

“If you didn’t make it a habit to be a nosy parker, it would be easier.” You glance at his side of the library and back at him, changing the subject. “You win.”

“I do, though I wouldn’t say it was fair, I had an advantage.”

You wished he would just take the win and get on with his gloating, you would have to go through with your end of the deal next Saturday anyhow. “Yes, and I had help, we’ll call it even.”

His lips quirked in annoyance, “Right.” He took the book from you once more, “I’ll return this to its rightful place before Scribner ever notices it’s gone.” Sebastian stalked off before you could protest.

~~~

“May I walk you to your common room?” Vaughn stands by the mermaid fountain as if he were waiting for you. It was well past the hour of the Samhain feast and you were planning on going down to the kitchens to beg the house elves for food. He had his arm open for you to hook your arm to his, and so you did, with his kindness earlier it felt rude to not accept.

You were tired from running back and forth, doing all kinds of errands for Madame Scribner, once you were done sorting books she had you and Sebastian busy work. With what you did today, you didn’t have to miss the feast, you realized that that was the point of the punishment.

You and Sebastian were forced to sit by each other during lunch, and not allowed to talk to anyone else, which felt childish but this was a part of the ‘bonding’ exercise so that there are no other altercations as there was last night.

Sebastian was frustratingly well-behaved around you after your conversation about the book, with no back-handed remarks or comments that made you want to hex him. He was decently pleasant while you, on the other hand, were the one to avoid him in his every attempt to talk to you even if it was a question on what Scribner had assigned you to do. You were convinced he simply enjoyed watching you squirm as he neared you.

You were surprised by how normal it felt to be walking with a boy whom you barely knew in complete silence, not feeling at all odd.

“How was the feast?” You felt the silence growing.

“It went well, I don’t know you well enough but I believe you would have enjoyed it.” He then began to describe the food that was served, the desultory speech Professor Sharp had made at the beginning, and how the ghosts that haunted the halls popped out of the student's food to give them a scare.

A pang of jealousy hit your heart, you wished you would have been there to enjoy it, “I feel I would have as well.”

For the rest of the walk to the Slytherin common room, the halls were quiet as he talked to you about his day and asked you about yours. He was patient with your responses and didn’t force any topics you weren’t comfortable with. The conversation was pleasant and without expectation, something you felt you had lacked recently and were glad of the change.

“As I’ve said, I am aware that we are not well acquainted, but I would like to” He stuttered a little as he spoke. “Be acquainted with you- as friends.”

You both stopped in front of the stone wall entrance of your common room, you let your arm fall from his, and you giggled at his nervousness “We can be friends.”

“Perfect,” He grinned.

“Well then,” Vaughn lifted your right hand and bowed midway, placing a kiss on your knuckles. Without warning your mind wandered to your half-dead state from weeks ago, when unidentified lips brushed the back of your hand, it wasn’t Vaughn but the same gesture made your heart flutter. “I bid thee goodnight, dear Y/n.”

“Goodnight,” You whispered back. You watched him walk up the grand steps at the same time Sebastian was walking down. Vaughn gave him a friendly wave, which he ignored. You rolled your eyes at his discourteousness and spoke the password to the wall, causing the snake to slither into an arch.

You walk through the entrance, not daring to look back as you hear Sebastian's footsteps come from behind you. They were fast-paced and loud, you didn’t stop until you reached the bottom.

You turned to face him last minute almost getting a face full of his chest, you didn’t let the sudden shock at how close he was, show on your face. “Yes?”

“Dear, Y/n?” He mocked Vaughn.

You guffawed, “Words I never thought would come out of your mouth.”

You loosened the laces of your boots and slipped them off, it made you lose a couple of inches of your height. “What is the problem now, Sebastian?” You sit on the couch in front of the fireplace closest to the girl’s dormitory.

“There is no problem,” The tightness in his voice said otherwise. “Only wondering when exactly you became best mates with the new sixth year.”

“Just now actually,” You didn’t care for his tone but you were too exhausted to put up much of a fight. “There’s nothing wrong with befriending a new student, you would know. As a matter of fact, you might even say he’s my new charge.”

Daggers shot from his eyes, “You think you’re real clever, don’t you?”

You had quite enough of this, you sighed as you pushed yourself off the plush seating. “I don’t think I’m clever, darling, I just am.” You emphasized the name he off-handedly called you earlier. “Last I recalled you weren’t supposed to care who I spend my time with.”

“I don’t,” He hissed and hesitated before mentioning “He appears everywhere you are.”

“Something you and he have in common.”

“Although you and I are often in the same area, I can assure you that it is not intentional, and I do not stalk as he does.” The tension in your argument had dissolved as you let out an exasperated laugh at the memories of Sebastian indeed stalking across Hogwarts grounds, though not in the way he intended the word for Vaughn.

“You should see the way you, the ghosts as my witness.”

He lets out a breath, “I’ve had enough of ghosts, thank you.”

You remember Peeves following you and Sebastian into the depths of the restricted section, right as you both were about to enter the Athenaeum when Sebastian took the punishment of detention for the both of you. Pesky Peeves, you thought.

“As have I,” You took your boots from the floor and a step back in the direction of the girl’s dormitory, “If we’re all settled then.”

Sebastian nodded, “Yes.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” He responded in a tight tone, the collar of his shirt seemed to be choking him from his neck.

You stifled a smile as he stalked away to the boy’s side of the common room.

~~~

Chapter 13

taglist:

@vanivivs - @aqueennia - @wt-fxck - @therealppboy - @boysmedia- @stuffyownswrld - @maddsinthemoon - @dreamshot - @lostgirl-28 - @scrambled-eggs-y

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imberlae · 2 years ago

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#the fantastical after school writing club #manga #mangacap #manhwa #manhwacap #ch 14 #tae yeon kang #yong jin pi #imberlae #mood honestly

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roxygen22 · 7 months ago

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Still Here (Chapter 11)

Summary: Madison starts school, you find a job, and your family finds a new normal until Timothée calls you with bad news. You and Madison help him through his loss.

C/W: Death, funeral of a parent/grandparent

Catch up on previous chapters here.

Time flew by after that night as you and your family (including Timothée) found your new normal. Madison started school again and quickly acclimated to her new surroundings. She joined gardening and ukulele clubs and thrived socially and academically.

You stumbled upon a part-time job at the library as a grant writer. You visited frequently to get out of the house and use the wi-fi for job hunting (AKA away from your mother reading over your shoulder). One day, you spotted a flyer on their bulletin board and inquired. They needed help finding funding for more youth and adult programs, and you needed a job and enjoyed writing. It was also flexible enough that you could be available for Madison's school functions. Win-win.

In your excitement, you rushed over to Timothée's place. He stepped out of his workshop at the sound of wheels crunching the gravel. A broad grin painted his face when he saw you get out of the car.

"Hey, baby!" he called as he walked up to you. "This is an unusual time for a visit. Not that I'm complaining, of course." He gave you a quick peck of a kiss.

You set your hands on his shoulders. "Remember that night we were fighting about me leaving for school, and I said I have a lot to offer the world and can't do that from here?"

Timothée paled as his smile dropped, unsure what you were about to say next. "Yeah...?"

"I still have a lot to offer the world, but I finally figured out I can do that from here. For here." You clasped your hands and clapped as you jumped up and down slightly. "I got a job at the library as a grant writer!"

It took a brief moment for Timothée to catch up to what you were saying before he joined you in your excitement. "That's fantastic, babe!" He wrapped you in a nearly crushing hug and spun you around. You beamed up at him when he set you back down.

"It's wonderful to see you so happy," he added as he looked down into your eyes.

"I am happy. The happiest I have been in nearly a decade."

<><><><><>

Things were looking up as you got into the groove of your new job. You and Timothée fell into a rhythm of alternating family dinners with your respective parents and date nights for just the two of you. He was also very intentional about making time to hang out with Madison. Once they discovered their shared love of bowling after he introduced her to the sport, it became their "thing" every Tuesday evening, along with dinner at the diner...

...until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

It was odd for Timothée to call or text you during the work day. He was very respectful of giving you space to concentrate on your writing and didn't want to be a distraction. You answered immediately, knowing it must be important.

"Hey, Timmy, what's up?"

You heard him sniffle on the other end of the line. "My dad, he-" He couldn't finish before he was overtaken by sobs, but you knew what we has trying to say. You gasped slightly.

"Timmy, where are you?"

"H-home."

"Stay put. I will be right there." You packed up your things and told your boss you were leaving. You sped to the Chalamet's and went to Timothée's house first. It was dark inside, but that didn't prevent you from banging on the locked door. You were met with silence. Next, you ran over to his dad's house. Thankfully the door was unlocked, allowing you to quietly enter. You found Timothée in the living room curled up in his dad's favorite armchair. You sat on your knees in front of him and buried your fingers in his dark curls.

"Oh, Timmy..."

He looked at you, but his eyes were blank. His voice sounded so tiny as he explained, "Dad was tired, so he went to take a nap when I went out to the workshop. Not abnormal these days. But when I came back to check on him..." He interrupted himself by trying to clear the lump in his throat.

You looked up toward the bedrooms. "Is he..."

Timothée shook his head. "No, uh, he's not here. I called 9-1-1, just in case, but he was gone. The funeral home where he had already made arrangements picked him up. [Y/N], he looked so...peaceful. I hadn't seem him not in pain in years. H-he got his w-wish to die at home in his sleep." His face contorted as he was riddled with sobs once more. You pulled his head to your chest and rubbed soothing circles on his back. Once he calmed back down to an all but catatonic state, you laid his head back down on the armrest and stepped away to call your mother to ask her to pick up Madison from school.

"You should go get Madison," he stated plainly when you returned.

"My mom can go pick her up. I am not leaving you here alone, love."

"Alone," he repeated with a slightly terrified and downcast look.

"Hey now," you responded in a soothing tone as you sank back down to your knees. "Even in the moments when you may be physically by yourself, you are not alone, Timothée Hal Chalamet." You made sure his eyes connected with yours before you continued. "You're stuck with me, remember? You have people who love you and will help you through this." You kissed his forehead before he pushed himself upright into a seated position.

"Thank you," Timothée replied solemnly, almost too quietly for you to even hear.

"I can either stay here tonight, or you can come to our place. Mom already offered."

He nodded, contemplating the options. "I don't want to be here right now, but I'm also not quite ready to leave yet, either."

"I understand. Take your time." You stood and squeezed his shoulder as you walked by to the kitchen. Doing the dishes and taking out the trash seemed like a helpful way to keep yourself occupied while he mentally prepared for next steps. After a while, he joined you in the kitchen. He hugged you from behind and rested his chin on your shoulder as you dried the last of the plates.

"Thank you for dropping everything for me."

You leaned your ahead away from his slightly so you could turn your neck to look at him. "It was an easy decision. You needed me. I am here."

"Dad likes...liked...you a lot, you know." You turned your body all the way around to look at Timothée, though you struggled to hide your tears. "And he was absolutely besotted with Madison. Thank you for all the times you brought her over here for dinner. He enjoyed spending time with both of you. I think...I think he even thought of her as a grandchild by the end." You gave him a warm half-smile and nodded in agreement. "Can we go see her now? It's Tuesday."

You looked at your watch. "She should be home now." You walked with Timothée to his house so he could grab some clothes. He usually wanted to take his truck when the two of you went anywhere, but he relented to letting you drive your car this time.

As expected, your mother was already back from the school. She met the two of you on the porch and embraced Timothée. "I'm so sorry, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. [L/N]." He heard the screen door shut and looked up to see Madison standing by the porch swing, rubbing one arm with the opposite hand nervously. His face softened as he knelt down and held a hand out to her. Madison stepped forward and took it into her own.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm sorry that we can't go out like normal tonight."

"It's okay," the girl practically whispered. "Nana told me what happened." Her face crumpled as she started to cry. You stepped forward instinctually to comfort your daughter, but instead, she threw her arms around Timothée's neck. He quickly wrapped his arms around her in return. He looked up at you with fat tears welling in the corners of his eyes as he was overcome by a mix of emotions.

You placed a hand over your mouth to hold back your own surge of sobs at the display between your two loves. Your mother stepped to your side and draped her arm around your shoulders. Madison had not yet had to face the pain of losing a grandparent, and while he wasn't one by blood, she had grown close to Mr. Chalamet. This was a hurt you could not shield her from.

Madison pulled away, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I got your shoulder wet."

Timothée's lip trembled. "Never apologize for tears, okay?" He cupped her small cheek in his hand and wiped a fresh tear away with his thumb. He pulled her in for another hug, this time for his own comfort.

<><><><><>

The funeral was held a few days later. Timothée walked into your living room in his black suit. Under other circumstances, you would have commented on how handsome he looked. Instead, you stood and straightened his tie. He grabbed your hand and pressed it against his chest.

"Please sit with me when we get there," he said softly. "Both of you."

You nodded. "I will, but I will give Madison a choice. This is the first funeral she has ever attended. Let me go talk to her."

You found her sitting outside on the porch swing in her black dress. "Hey, sweetheart. You doing okay?" you asked as you sat beside her. She just nodded. "Timothée asked us to sit with him at the funeral. He is going to sit on the front row, which is usually where immediate family sits. I want to give you a choice. There are going to be a lot of big emotions in the room."

"I want to be with Timothée. He needs us," she stated like it was the obvious - and only - option.

You kissed her forehead and pulled her to you. "My sweet girl. So selfless. If at any point you get too overwhelmed, you can go find Nana and Pawpaw. Okay?"

<><><><><>

It was a beautiful celebration of life. The townspeople showed up en masse to pay their respects at both the funeral home and graveside service. Madison was a trooper and stayed by Timothée's side the entire time until everyone else had left the cemetery.

You pulled Madison aside and started toward the truck to give Timothée a moment of privacy before the casket was lowered. She followed you hesitantly but lost her will to comply when she heard him start crying. She spun and ran back to him, gingerly slipping her hand into his as they both faced the casket. He looked down, first at their clasped hands and then at Madison's face.

"I didn't want you to be alone."

Tears spilled out of Timothée's eyes as he smiled. "Thanks, kiddo." He dipped down and picked her up for a hug. She clung to him like a baby koala. He stood like that for a moment, staring at his father's coffin over his almost-daughter's shoulder, silently thanking him for showing him how to be a good dad.

<><><><><>

Chapter 12

Masterlist

Tag List:

@croatianprincess

@bluizh

@jindongdongie

@groovyqueer

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timetravellingkitty · 10 months ago

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you don’t talk about your fav books here? on the book nerd webbed site? Okay, top 5 books of all times, let’s go. Be generous and copious with the reviews

HELP WHAT'S WITH THE CALLOUT 😭😭 you're not even that wrong tho like I had this sideblog (that's inactive now rip) that was like "ooh books ooh dark academia look at meeee" but uh yeah. I haven't been reading much these days (don't ask I will cry) but I sometimes do talk about some or the other book I've read, I'm just a loser for not doing it enough but anyways. Favourite books

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour: like I mentioned, sad, raw, etc etc I finished reading this an hour before the new year (2023) so I just spent the rest of it just thinking about it?? I think it came to me at the perfect time cause this was 2 months after my grandmother died even tho I had a complicated relationship with her it really did help a lot

The Hunger Games: yes. This one. When I first read it I identified with Katniss so much cause she was what I saw myself as (no not smart and resourceful I'm still none of that but aloof, unlikable, brash, blunt and would do quite literally anything for their younger sibling). Honestly I think it helped shaped the reader I am today, it really got pre-teen me thinking more so yeah. I quite literally owe this series my life I have nothing but love for it

The Earthsea Cycle: THIS ONE IS FANTASTIC. So simple, so magical, so wonderful to read. Ged is a great protagonist, literally THE OG wizarding school series. Poetic resolution if you ask me

A Thousand Splendid Suns: idk maybe reading this at the tender age of 12 did something to me but who am I to complain this one's literally heartwrenching it's so engrossing IT'S ABOUT HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR, IT'S ABOUT RESILIENCE AFSJKLS. Mariam and Laila's relationship is one for the ages literal narrative foils idc idc I think about them all the time

Rebecca: I have no explanation for this one. It just makes me go feral okay the tension, the layers, the ominous and gothic atmosphere I'm a little in love the writing is nothing short of captivating

Honorable mentions go to the Riordanverse (This one was also pretty formational), Blackout (yes I rated this 4 stars. No I do not care this one called me single in 6 languages don't ask it's just. Very nice no rhyme or reason here chief), Pachinko, Parable of the Sower, The Kite Runner and Last Night at the Telegraph Club

#asks #cat!

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abarbaricyalp · 1 year ago

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sambucky + 12. babysitting together 👀 if you like!

Oh, fun! Since this came from this forced proximity list I did it a little different than going a Wilson Family route.

(That said, I do have several Wilson Family fics 💜)

I'm sorry this is so so so late. I forgot how to write. Or really even think

Waltz of the Bees

Sam wasn't even aware that the library could close in the middle of the afternoon.

This stupid project just kept getting better and better. Which was probably his fault because he'd said something stupid after getting paired with Bucky Barnes, like that it couldn't get any worse. This was the universe laughing at him over and over. They were a month away from graduating and Sam was going to be stuck working with Bucky for most of it.

True, they could just not try with this project. It's not like it was really going to affect their GPA and they were both already accepted into their colleges. (College. That's where this whole cruel joke had started. Bucky was going to the same school Sam was) But they were both categorically incapable of not trying. This whole weird tension between them was born out of their inability to not try.

Sam had transferred to this school at the beginning of sophomore year and the next three years were a battle between him and Bucky for top marks. Bucky scored a chemistry award over Sam. The baseball coach took Bucky away from pitching to put Sam in. Sam took the basketball team to the state quarterfinals. Bucky placed at state in the high jump. Sam created a robotics club and Bucky won a pretentious English scholarship. This teacher adored Bucky, that one thought Sam might've created the moon and its gravitational pull on the tides.

He and Bucky had managed to avoid each other for the most part. They didn't sit near each other in class and, other than during baseball season, their extracurriculars didn't overlap. And now, thanks to this awful Modern History project, they were tangled together for the last part of their high school careers.

Possibly the worst part was that Bucky was fine. Nice, even. He was studious and friendly. He actually put in his part of the work, which was kind of a double-edged sword since it meant they were both passionate about various decisions and both of them were bad at the 'kill your darlings' part of the creative process. They argued about little things constantly, but the project as a whole was looking fantastic. So Sam couldn't even hate the actual work.

What he could gripe about was that Bucky was nosy. He asked a thousand questions about Sam and committed all the answers to memory. Walking into the Barnes house, because the library was inexplicably closed, Sam wished he had the same habit because he knew nothing about Bucky's life.

Like the fact that he had five sisters.

Or the fact that not everyone called him Bucky.

Bucky's two older sisters and his mom called him Jamie, while his three younger sisters and dad called him Bucky. The two baby nieces just babbled and anything with a B or U sound was interpreted as Bucky's name.

There were a lot of people in Bucky's house. Sam had known plenty of big families but never in a context where he was sitting in the house with them. And there were so many girls.

Sam also learned Bucky wasn't allowed to have boys in his room and the suggestive reminder of that from one of his older sisters was enough to make him blush furiously and scowl at her as he elbowed Sam back out of the kitchen. And, oh, Sam hadn't known that about Bucky either.

"Alright, Jamie, we're heading out," Mrs. Barnes said. "The show should be over around nine and we're going to get dinner after. We'll bring you and Sam something back." She ruffled Bucky's hair and leaned over to kiss his head afterwards.

"The girls need to be in bed by--" his oldest sister started to say.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Bucky waved off. "And Sam probably won't be here by the time you all get back." He gave his second oldest sister a hug and wished her good luck, then pulled on his twin little sisters' braids. Rebecca, the sister Sam knew from school, had escaped a few minutes earlier, off to a friend's house. She'd also had waggly suggestive eyebrows for Bucky when she and Sam had passed earlier. Sam had no idea what that meant, but it brought out the same blush and scowl.

Everyone else filed out of the house and suddenly the bustling, too small space became far too large. Especially when the older niece suddenly shot across the room like a rocket as soon as the door was closed.

"Gus-Gus!" Bucky called, hurrying after her while Sam still tried to fathom how something so small could move so fast.

The baby was in a small rocker by the couch and she watched Sam with the same crazy blue eyes that Bucky had. Most of the Barneses had those eyes. Becca and Mr. Barnes were the only exceptions. Sam was pretty sure the odds of that happening, genetically speaking, must've been astronomically low and yet. Augusta, the toddler, also had dark eyes, but she didn't sit still long enough to let anyone know it.

"How are you this evening?" Sam asked the baby. She grinned at him and then giggled wildly, kicking her little legs hard enough to get the rocker started. "Well, I'm glad to hear it," Sam continued, which just made her laughter that much louder. "You don't happen to have any opinions on Mutant Rights do you?" When the baby just kept giggling and chewing on a teething ring, Sam sighed. "I thought not. It's too bad. You would have been an interesting interview source."

"You're not really getting to recruit my niece into our project are you?" Bucky asked from somewhere behind the couch.

"She volunteered. She was interested in it," Sam defended lightly.

Bucky reappeared on the right side of the couch, holding his older niece. "Sorry about this. I don't know if it's better to get everyone out of the house or worse to be forced into babysitting with me."

"I don't mind," Sam said honestly. "Down in Louisiana, my mama had an open-door policy. Anyone who needed a place to stay for a little while was welcome in our house. I've done plenty of babysitting."

Bucky sat beside Sam, keeping Augusta in his lap and offering his fingers up as captives for her attention. "Right," he agreed, even though there was no way he could've known that. "Still, thanks for coming over. I know some of your friends from the team were doing something tonight."

Sam barely kept a grimace off his face. "Trust me, I wasn't going to that either. I'm not driving to a field to drink shitty beer. Could've stayed in Louisiana and done that."

Bucky shot him an almost shy smile and then pulled open his laptop on the coffee table. He passed it off to Sam when he opened the project file again. For the past week, they'd been conducting interviews with people who'd been there to see Leshner and Xavier go head to head in debates. They’d been trying to transcribe them, but it was slow work between all their other commitments. Luckily, the rest of the project had come together on its own without the interview quotes, so they weren’t too far behind.

“Do you think we have any homo Superior classmates?” Bucky offered up while Sam was in the middle of parsing out a name.

“I dunno,” he said with a shrug. “It’s not my business.”

“You ever think you were one?”

“I thought I could talk to birds when I was a kid.”

He could feel Bucky staring at him and he let it marinate a bit. “What, like you understood them?”

“Yeah, like what they were singing about and everything. And they understood me. Mostly, I was a bored kid with a second story window,” he admitted. “But it was fun to pretend.”

Augusta squawked like a bird and then giggled to herself. Sam smiled at her and chirped back and she copied the noise. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It was just like that.”

Bucky ruffled Augusta’s dark hair and moved her to the other side of the couch again so he could sit closer to Sam. They fell into another productive silence, broken only by Bucky pointing out when Sam transcribed something incorrectly.

“It just…it would suck, don’t you think?” Bucky interrupted again. “To be a mutant and have to watch some of your dipshit classmates talk about the fight for your basic recognition and protection.”

Sam’s eyebrows rose slowly. “We do it with the Civil Rights movement every year,” he pointed out. “And in the debate classes, someone always has to argue against something that should be innate. Healthcare, marriage equality, taxes for the stupidly rich.”

Bucky’s mouth twisted and he sat back heavily. “It just sucks. Other people are talking about super soldiers and spy rings.”

“We’re not taking a side. We’re just delivering information. Besides, I’m not a dipshit, so we’ll be fine.”

Bucky snorted and pushed a hand through his hair. It was longer than he’d ever worn it and Sam wondered if he was going to cut it back to his normal pomp and fluff before graduation. He played with it now, as he thought or while he was waiting for Sam to finish talking so he could argue or as he stood in front of the vending machine and worked out how to shake a snack free.

“You have a homo Superior friend you’re trying to protect?” Sam asked to distract himself from Bucky’s hair.

“Nah,” Bucky said with a shake of his head. He released the lock of hair he had been crimping between his fingers. “With Xavier’s school being in New York, I think most of them just go there. I wonder about your old school.”

“Louisiana has its own schools,” Sam said. “It’s not like X and Magneto are the only ones out there. A kid I used to go to summer camp with was a mutant. He was pulled out of our school before seventh grade but he kept coming back to camp. He had, like, lava in his veins. We always made him get into the pool first to warm up the water. He ran so hot.”

Augusta mimed an explosion, making a bursting noise as she threw her arms wide. Bucky quickly reached out to steady the small lamp on the end table. When the toddler yanked on his shirt, he leaned over to listen as she babbled nonsense. Sam had not inherited his mother’s ability to understand babies. Old people, no problem. Lisps and stutters, easy. Listening to his dumbass friends after they’d caught a linedrive to the mouth and had more gauze than teeth in their gums, sure. But babies were something else. He just took in their facial expressions and went from there.

“A phoenix,” Bucky said with a nod. Which, how he got any semblance of a question from the girl was beyond Sam. But that was closer than the fact that Augusta knew enough about phoenixes to ask about them.

She jumped up from the couch, threw her arms wide like wings, made the explosion noise again, and then took off, shouting Feeeeeeeeenix over and over.

“She’s gonna think she can talk to birds for years now,” Bucky said to Sam. Sam couldn’t tell if he was exasperated or fond as he shot an exasperated/fond half glare to him before following after the toddler again.

“Your uncle is difficult to read,” Sam told the baby next to him. He’d expected her to have drifted off, but she was still wide eyed and attentive. She blinked at him and smiled softly. "Do you think so too or does he just do that for me?"

June blew a raspberry and then brought a teething toy to her mouth instead of giving him any more information. Sam sighed and turned back to the laptop in front of him. Bucky's computer was as chaotic as his backpack. Nothing was organized and there were five different sets of browser tabs open, all full of research and YouTube links and documents. He clicked away from the transcription page, fully intending to go back to their PowerPoint, but he got distracted by a tab in the far left corner called Compos'R. He clicked over to it before he could convince himself not to be nosy. Bucky had dug through his journal the other day anyway.

The website was a simple affair, like one of a half dozen Sam used for drafting essays. No frills, no distractions. But instead of writing, it was full of sheet music. Lines and lines of complicated notes and piano riffs. Sam used to sing in his daddy's church choir–the ability had left him when his voice dropped–but he never learned to play an instrument and he'd never seen hymns with music this intricate. The piece was called “English Class Tango,” which helped Sam find the beat of the notes.

He'd noticed a piano tucked away near a window in what he assumed was supposed to be a dining room but had been converted into a pseudo-office. He hadn't really thought about it, except to think that it was adding to the cluttered, claustrophobic feeling of the house. Now, he couldn't stop thinking about it. About Bucky curled over the keys, papers strewn around him as he tried a bar over and over again. He thought about Bucky in the sleep clothes he sometimes showed up to early Saturday practices in, playing the piano in the middle of the night. Did he ever get kicked out when someone had to take a meeting? Did he have to cherish stolen moments in a shared space? Or was he good enough that no one even minded him playing while they worked?

Down the side of the webpage, there were tabs to other songs. "Waltz With Bees (under the trees and sun)" and "Just A Little Peace" and "Junebug, 3am" and "Triumph in Red," which was a title Sam recognized. Not from Bucky or music. It's what the newspapers had called Sam after a run of games where he had made several spectacular plays. Why would Bucky name one of his songs after Sam's compliment?

He navigated to that sheet music. It was less complicated than the tango, but Sam could tell it would sound more voluminous. There was a play button at the top of the screen. It wasn’t necessarily sitting there pulsing and glowing and begging him to press it, but he did so anyway. Logically, Sam knew he and Bucky had had the volume up to help with the transcriptions, but he hadn’t expected the music to blare out like that. He scrambled to get the volume turned down, which he did just in time to hear Bucky shout out his name. But his voice was far away, down the other end of the house, maybe changing Augusta’s diaper or something. So Sam kept the music playing.

It was like something from a movie. The brash entrance bars were soon dialed back to a lilting, easy melody that Sam just knew in his bones. It was the wind and the sunshine and the butterflies of an early day warm up. It was the scrapping of the field and the sprinklers sputtering to life. And then the music got faster, the notes got more intense and heavy, the pounding adrenaline of a game getting started, the thrumming of a crowd. And that crack of a bat that had started the song. The sailing melodic rush of hope in the form of high keys as Sam ran back to the wall, glove outstretched, fighting to find the ball in the sunshine. The decrescendo of the out nestled in Sam’s glove.

“Wilson!” Bucky snapped again, closer this time.

Sam quickly paused the music and tried to get back to the tab with their transcription page. But he couldn’t do it with shaking fingers and, at the same time, June began to wail. Sam almost went to cover his ears but decided instead to reach out to the baby. She grabbed his hand but didn’t stop crying.

“Junebug,” Sam heard from behind him. And then, “Gus!” again and the patter of small feet and then bigger feet as Bucky retreated once more.

Sam looked back for the visual confirmation that he was alone in this and then just decided to pull June out of her seat. Babies liked to be held, right? She continued to cling onto Sam and even put her tiny, incredibly heavy, head on his shoulder but still kept crying.

“I don’t know what to do for you,” he apologized a little desperately. “I don’t know how to feed you or change you.” He wasn’t even sure which room was the nursery, though he imagined he could follow Augusta’s shrieking laughter.

June reached over Sam’s shoulder and Sam followed her gaze to the piano. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I don’t play piano and I don’t think Uncle Bucky would appreciate you crawling all over it without him.”

This just made June sob louder. Sam sat down on the couch and continued to gently bounce the baby on his shoulder as he looked at Bucky’s laptop again. He’d managed to click out of “Triumph in Red'' but the tab was still on Compos’R. He went to the waltz songbook and hit play. As soon as the notes were loud enough for June to hear them over her own crying, she settled down. It was a softer song. Again, Sam could practically hear the bees dancing around Bucky’s head in the shade of a tree on a sunny day. Or maybe Augusta’s head. Or Becca’s. Had Bucky watched Becca twirl aimlessly under a tree as she danced away from playful, sated bees?

He stood with June against his shoulder and began to turn in a simple waltz. His parents both believed that the only things someone really needed to know was how to properly eat spaghetti in company and how to dance at any function. Most of Sam’s childhood memories involved standing on his daddy’s feet while he held onto Sarah’s hands–her on their mama’s feet–while their parents danced together, explaining steps and beats to them. It had not been useful at junior high dances when no one else knew what they were doing, but Sam held his own at prom.

June was peacefully quiet. Her little fingers curled in Sam’s shirt as she clung to him and part of his collar wound up in her mouth, but he didn’t mind. So long as she wasn’t still crying.

It took three more turns for Sam to find Bucky standing in in the entryway, staring at Sam like Sam might’ve hung the moon just for him. Sam’s steps faltered a little and June seemed like she was taking in a breath to cry, so he righted himself, just made his waltz a little tighter so he could keep Bucky in his eyeline more often.

“I think she’s gonna be a dancer when she grows up,” he offered when Bucky didn’t speak after a few more bars.

“She likes music. She always has. It’s usually the only thing that calms her down. Other than food and a diaper change,” Bucky agreed. The moment of awe and adoration seemed to have passed and he came over to the other side of the couch to turn off his music. “What were you doing snooping around my things?” he asked and took June from Sam in the same moment, which staved off any impending meltdown.

"It's hardly snooping when you left me with your laptop. Why do you keep so much open anyway?"

Bucky made a face. "What am I supposed to do? Remember all the shit I wanted to look at?"

"You could save them as bookmarks."

"You actually use your bookmarks? If I'm not staring at the page, I don't remember it exists. It has to stay up."

Sam rolled his eyes and sat back in the couch while Bucky tried to juggle the laptop and his niece. The inequity between them didn't last long. Augusta came running up from the other side of the couch and crashed into Sam's legs.

"I dance!" she shouted. "I dance, I dance, I dance!"

Sam almost nudged her away with a suggestion she show them before he realized she meant she wanted to dance with him. So he scooped her up in a grand twirl and let her laugh herself breathless. The same kind of adoring look was on Bucky's face when Sam turned to look at him again. He took it as permission to keep spinning in wild circles with Augusta.

About the time that Augusta had laughed herself into exhaustion, June realized what was going on and voiced her own disagreement. Bucky tried to quiet her down by bouncing her on his hip or blowing raspberries on her shoulder or tickling her cheeks, but she wasn’t having any of it. She made grabby hands towards Sam and bawled louder when he didn’t immediately reach back for her.

Sam and Bucky looked at each other. Bucky looked apologetic but helpless and he held the baby further out to Sam. With a sigh, Sam put Augusta down on the couch, making a show out of her ‘crashing’ down, and bundled her up in a blanket. He took June then and cuddled her close before beginning to gently dance again. She settled instantly. Augusta finished digging her way out of the blanket and stood on the couch next to Bucky, peering at his laptop, which he’d picked up again. A few seconds later, the same song waltz began to play.

“I didn’t know you were a composer,” Sam said quietly over the baby’s head. “Or that you played piano at all.”

“Yeah, most people don’t, unless they go to church with us,” Bucky agreed. “I don’t talk about it a lot. Doesn’t have anything to do with school.”

“Yeah, but you’re really good,” Sam insisted. “I mean, is that what you want to do in college?”

Bucky shrugged, set aside his laptop, and picked up Augusta. She was nodding off again, the momentary rush of adrenaline wearing off. He picked up the same easy waltz Sam was doing and copied him on the other side of the living room. “I’ve thought about it. I don’t know.”

“You should,” Sam insisted. “At least as an extra-curricular or a minor or something.”

Bucky snorted. “A Fine Arts minor. I think that’s a lot of work for very little reward.”

Which, yeah, probably, Sam agreed to himself. How were there so many hidden depths to someone Sam had always figured was very…ken-doll like? Sisters and nicknames and a notable amount of empathy for people he didn’t know and a hidden talent and eyes that were way more expressive than Sam had ever given him credit for. Turns out, they weren’t just ridiculously blue.

“Is she out?” Bucky asked, nodding towards June. “We could probably get them both in bed at the same time.”

Sam nodded. He didn’t have to check. She’d gone from weighing almost nothing to being like a sack of potatoes a few minutes ago. He followed Bucky down the hall of the house, trying-not-trying to peek into the rooms to catch a glimpse of Bucky’s. Earlier this afternoon, he would’ve assumed it looked like a locker room, but now he wasn’t so sure. He felt like he wasn’t sure about anything to do with Bucky.

“Hey,” he said, putting June in the crib and pulling the blanket up to her waist. (But not near her face, he knew that was a rule, right?) “Which one of your sisters has the kids?”

“The oldest,” Bucky said. “April.”

“Right. Is that why she chose more month names? I mean, that’s not a pattern in your family right?”

“Definitely not,” Bucky agreed. “She was the only month name. But she always thought it would be so cute if her and her daughter had the same kind of name. She was going to go with Julia for a while, but she thought it wasn’t obvious enough. There’s always the next one.”

“Could always go with Jan,” Sam suggested. “And May obviously.”

“She didn’t want April and May,” Bucky explained. “Even though I thought it’d be hilarious.”

“But she’d be willing to do June, July, and August?”

Bucky shrugged as he turned on a castle shaped nightlight and turned off the overhead light. They stepped into the hallway and Bucky pulled the door three-quarters of the way shut. “You wanna sit in my room for a while? I mean, unless you wanted to put on the TV or something,” he offered.

“Your room sounds fine,” Sam said and hoped it didn’t sound as quick as it felt.

If it did, Bucky didn’t react. He opened a door at the end of the hall, closer to the living room again, and gestured inside while he went to get his laptop. In actuality, Sam wasn’t that far off in his assumption about Bucky’s room. It was fairly messy and he had clothes and pieces of uniform thrown all over and a baseball mitt crushing open the book they were supposed to be reading in English class. But there was a lot that Sam wasn’t expecting. A lot of books. A lot of journals. He had a whole pinboard full of scraps of paper with quotes or doodles on them. There were also a lot of blankets. More blankets than Sam could really start to count.

“I know the guys rag on you for always bringing a blanket on away-games, but do you have some kind of thyroid problem?” Sam asked when Bucky walked back in.

Bucky snorted again and threw himself across his bed. His music was still playing from his laptop, soft and quiet, the perfect background to his bedroom. “I just hate being cold,” he said.

“Sounds like you could use a phoenix yourself,” Sam joked.

“Unfortunately, I have you and you are no furnace.”

“Hey now!” Sam objected. He sat down on the corner of Bucky’s bed. The computer kept his attention for a few seconds before he was looking across all of Bucky’s things strewn around the room. He reached down for a very well loved beanie baby that seemed to be crawling under the bed. It was a white cat with floppy legs and long whiskers. Sam tossed it at Bucky and he ran his thumb over its head and back absently until he realized what he was doing and shoved it under his pillow. All these blankets and he only had one pillow on the whole bed.

“Anyway, I was thinking for our conclusion slides, we could talk about some younger activists,” Bucky said, turning the laptop to half face Sam. “I know we’re supposed to focus on the old guys, but their whole motive was building a better world for others. You know, however misguided they might have gone about it.”

“You’re very forgiving of these guys. I mean, you see a bunch of nuance that everyone has just reduced them down to facts in a book.”

Bucky looked up at Sam with a frown. “You do the same thing,” he muttered. “It’s not like I’m giving them much more grace than you.”

“No, I guess not,” Sam agreed. Though he mostly was thinking of them more critically because of this project. Other than that no one’s existence should be legislated and it was pretty damn rich for homo Sapiens to say that because some homo Superiors were violent it was a mark against all of them. “I guess I just didn’t expect you to put so much thought into this project.”

Bucky leaned back on his bed and leveled a stare on Sam. God, those eyes were unfair. Sam tried to not squirm. “Why’s that, Wilson?”

“I mean, you don’t have to. Neither of us do. You doing well is just gonna help me too.”

“So?” Bucky prodded.

“So I figured you’ve been trying to get a leg up on me for three years. I know you were the golden boy before I showed up and happened to be into all the same things you were.”

Bucky’s relaxed sprawl tensed suddenly and his obnoxious eyebrows creased down. “What?” he asked and sat up in an ungainly flail of limbs. “You think I was battling you?”

“I mean…yeah?” Sam said with his own frown forming. “I couldn’t turn in an assignment without you finding extra credit to add to yours.”

“And you thought that was me trying to one-up you?” Bucky asked again.

Sam threw an arm up in the air. It brought the corner of a deep blue blanket up too and he batted it off of his leg. “Yes! Obviously I did! Last year, when I was having that fantastic season and was a shoe in for All-State? You had the most phenomenal second half of a season ever. You qualified just based on six games!”

“I wasn’t trying to outshine you!” Bucky insisted. “I was trying to impress you!”

Sam came up short. The blanket somehow came over his leg again. “What?” he asked. He wasn’t even sure how the word came out because his brain was just static. Like the noise after a train runs into a wall, because that’s more or less what had happened in his brain. “What?” he repeated.

“Everything I’ve done since you moved in has been to make you notice me! I wanted you to think I was cool and talented. That I could keep up with you.” Bucky pushed his hands through his hair and stood jerkily. “Oh my God, no wonder you’ve hated me.”

“I wouldn’t say hate,” Sam defended. Just, kind of, like, really irritated by.

“I have been trying so hard to make you notice me and the whole time you were purposely looking the other way,” Bucky continued. “It’s been three years!”

Sam’s frown turned defensive. “That’s not my fault! You could’ve just talked to me! Maybe then I’d have known you have sisters you’re close with and you care about protecting people you don’t know and you’re always cold!”

Bucky flushed deeper red–which only made his eyes bluer, absurd–and he looked away from Sam. “I didn’t think I could,” he admitted. “You’re so cool and your friends are cool and you never looked at me.”

“My friends are idiots,” Sam said. “My best friend lives in Montana on a ranch and I get to see him, like, three times a year. He’s nothing like the people I hang out with at school.”

“You’ve never mentioned that.”

“And you’ve never mentioned that you play piano,” Sam retorted. He stood and took one step towards Bucky before taking two back.

Bucky crossed the distance between them. His eyes dropped from Sam’s face quickly. He reached for the middle of Sam’s shirt and curled his fingers in the material gently. “I think we kind of fucked this up.”

Sam tilted his head in acknowledgement even though Bucky couldn’t see him. He brought his fingers up to Bucky’s shoulder, just so he could get Bucky’s eyes on him again. “Maybe we could start over,” he suggested. “Hi, I’m Sam Wilson. I think we have a lot of common interests.”

Bucky’s mouth twitched into something that was almost a smile. “Hi, Sam. I’m Bucky. What things do we have in common? ‘Cause you seem a lot cooler than me. And hotter.”

Sam laughed. “Well, baseball,” he said. “We could go throw a ball around now and then if you wanted. And I know you’re good at mech-shop projects. I like circuitry stuff, which is just mech but smaller.”

“I dunno about that, Wilson,” Bucky teased. “But maybe I could watch you work a little. See what it was all about.”

“Could probably use your ridiculously long fingers for something,” Sam pointed out.

Bucky’s fingers tightened in Sam’s shirt. “Yeah, they’re good for a lot of thing,” he promised in a purr, which made Sam laugh again. “I can think of something else we have in common.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked.

“My nieces are obsessed with both of us. I’ll make music and you can dance.”

Sam dropped his arms around Bucky’s neck. “That sounds ideal,” he said. “I could teach you how to dance too,” he offered. “In case I’m ever not available.”

Bucky slid his arms around Sam’s waist. “Now, that sounds ideal,” he corrected in a sigh and pulled Sam closer. “I’m a very good student.”

Sam tried not to shiver. Failed miserably. “I know,” he breathed. “But I’ll still go slow.”

“That’s okay with me,” Bucky said. “I like being near you.”

“Especially when I’m looking at you?”

“Especially then,” Bucky agreed. He brought his eyes up to Sam’s face and grinned when Sam was already looking at him.

They, and the bees, waltzed.

#sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #writing #sambucky fanfic #the falcon and the winter soldier #i answer things #again i am so sorry about the delay on this

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