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fiflowers · 3 years

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Chase Davenport Fluff Alphabet

A: activities (what do you do together?)

Chase absolutely LOVES to do just about anything with you. He’s so mesmerized and captivated by you, anything that makes you happy, he’ll do. It makes him really happy if you do the things he’s interested in, too. (I.E. watching his favorite tv shows, letting him ramble on about science, read with him, etc.)

B: Beauty (what does he find the most beautiful about you?)

Again, he thinks you’re so beautiful, everywhere. If he had to choose, he would probably say your hair. He loves running his fingers through it and playing with it when he’s bored. He loves when you let him try to braid it after you taught him.

C: comfort (how would he help you after a panic attack?)

Chase is most definitely an expert when it comes to panic attacks. He would make sure you can breathe and would stay by your side the entire time. He would know when to give you space but he would whisper supportive mantras to try and help. Afterwards, he would watch your favorite movie with you to calm you down while eating your favorite dessert.

D: Dreams (how does he picture your future together?)

Chase isn’t big on the future. He likes to stay in the moment, making sure everything’s okay. He doesn’t know where the future will take him, but he knows he wants you apart of it. He pictures eventually marrying you and possibly having a kid or two.

E: Equal (is he dominant, possessive? Or rather passive?)

Chase is very passive aggressive with you when he’s mad. He feels bad to flat out yell at you, so he’ll throw slight digs until you ask him what’s wrong. (Slightly nsfw, in the bedroom, he’s very dominant and likes to have control. He is mission leader, after all.)

F: fight (how would you fight with them? Would he easily forgive you?)

Chase hates fighting with you. It does happen, and it’ll usually build up over time. You guys will end up blowing up at one another, and then need a day or two to cool off. After Bree talks some sense into him, he apologizes after a day or two.

G: gratitude (how grateful is he? Is he grateful for the things you’ve done for him?)

Chase is very grateful for every experience he’s had. He is grateful for his bionics, his family, and his students. He knows how much you’ve done and sacrificed for him, and he’ll do anything to show it to you.

H: hugs (how does he hug you?)

Chase is big on hugs. He likes you wrap his arms around your waist and kiss your neck, or he just simply likes to hold you close after a mission if it startled him.

I: inspiration (how have you inspired chase? How has he inspired you?)

When Chase is with you, he tends to be more laid back. He’s more open to rebellious tendencies and it makes him feel like a total badass. When you’re with Chase, he encourages you to try harder in school, and it eventually really pays off.

J: jealousy (does he get jealous easily? How does he deal with it?)

Chase is a very jealous person. He tries to hide it, but every so often he’ll kiss you a little harder to remind you that you’re his. Sometimes if he can’t control himself, spike may come out to play.

K: kisses (what was your first kiss? Is he a good kisser?)

You and Chase’s first kiss felt out of a fairytale. You got caught in the rain after Leo abandoned the two of you during study hall. After a deep conversation on the walk home, he knew he couldn’t let this opportunity slip past him. He looked deep into your eyes and pulled you in for a long, passionate kiss. To answer if he’s a good kisser, he very much is. He knows what you like and he’s good at giving it to you.

L: love confession (how did he confess his love for you?)

After your first kiss, there was so much tension between the two of you. It was left untouched for so long, until Chase couldn’t hold back. He eventually confessed his love while yelling at you in the lab, leaving both of you shocked. It luckily all worked out, as you told him you loved him, too.

M: marriage (does he want to get married? How would he propose and how would the wedding be?)

You are the only person Chase sees a future with. You’re it for him, so he wants everything to be special. He’s propose on an isolated part of the bionic island during sunset. At the wedding, he’d rather have it small with your immediate families and closest friends.

N: nicknames (what does he call you?)

Babe, baby, love, darling, (your regular nickname,) your actual name

O: on cloud nine (how does chase act when he’s in love?)

Chase is the biggest dork when he’s in love, which means that’s the main side of him you’ve seen. He’s very giggly and blushes a lot. His siblings pretend it’s extremely annoying and tease him, but they’re secretly really happy for him.

P: PDA

Chase is very shy about your relationship. He often gets teased by his siblings that he actually managed to find a girlfriend, and it makes him slightly insecure so he’s rather show his love and affection in private. He does enjoy to sneak small kisses or hug you in public.

Q: quirk (what’s a random trait about him that’s beneficial for your relationship?)

Chase is very smart, obviously. He always knows the right thing to say and when to say it.

R: Romance (is he the romantic type? Is he cliché or creative?)

A perfect mix of both. He’s very creative while still staying traditional. He’s very romantic and enjoys small frequent gestures over random big ones.

S: spike (how does spike treat you?)

Spike is surprisingly very kind to you. He claims to respect women- especially you. You’re also one of the only people that can calm him back down to chase. Afterwards, he feels terrible and asks if you’re okay.

T: thrill (does he try new things in your relationship, or rather stick to a routine?)

Chase enjoys having a routine, although sometimes life just throws curveballs. He tries to keep things the same with you, because it’s one of the thing stable and secure things he has.

U: understanding? (Is he empathetic? Does he understand you well?)

Chase is very empathetic. He likes to make sure you’re always okay. He can read you like a book and usually can figure out pretty quickly when something is wrong.

V: value (how much does he value your relationship?)

Your relation is one of Chase’s top priorities. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he would give up everything if it meant he could have you.

W: wildcard (random thing in your relationship)

You’re the apple of Chase’s eye. His family loves you, and he loves you even more. He’s grateful that you’ve stuck around and never given up on him, even with his crazy life and secret.

X: xoxo (is he affectionate? Does he enjoy kisses/cuddles?)

Very much. He’s often shy and doesn’t like to directly ask for them, so he’ll send you discreet signals and hope you get the memo. You always do, and it puts a smile on his face.

Y: yearning (how does he cope when he misses you?)

Chase misses you a lot. Sometimes he’s on a mission and randomly thinks about you. One day he got up and went to the store, and bought one of those couple touch bracelets that vibrate whenever one thinks of the other. (Spoiler alert- he uses it A LOT.)

Z: zeal (is he willing to go great lengths for your relationship?)

Duh! Chase trusts you with his life. After you’ve supported him through so much, it’s only fair if he does the same. If you ever need him, he’ll drop just about anything to be there. He doesn’t ever want to loose you and the thought sends chills down his spine.

A/N: I hope this was good! I haven’t written anything like this before, so if you have any suggestions please lmk. Look forward to more lab rats content in the future, along with many more. I accept requests for just about anything! (Well, for the fandoms I am apart of.) <3

#chase davenport #lab rats #lab rats x reader #davenport x reader #chasedavenportxreader #reader insert #disney #fluff alphabet

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cosmiclatte28 · 4 years

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Comfort (Yuta x you)

a/n : WAIST has gotten a lot of love! Thank you everyone..and this is just another scenario similar to that one. Sorry for being away and unable to post stories as frequent as before, I was caught up with hws and tests. plus my finals are coming.

So, here is another domestic Yuta... to the Yuta fanfic lovers out there I know @yutahoes @ailoveyuta @2-3-t-i

It's stressful. February is the shortest month of the year, yet it is the most frustrating one, at least for you.

Midterm has just ended and you're drained to the point where you've been lacking sleeps just to finish reading all the chapters, stay awake with coffees to concentrate on the test, and totally holding your scream back when the test ended and the score was not satisfying.

You were even more tired when the materials you read during your sleeping schedule did not make it to the questions.

You thought once the paper is turned over, you can just fly home and jump on your bed to sleep.

No, you have to finish some more labs, homework’s, and finals are coming!

You have been laying down on the sofa, face down on your belly. You did not hear it when the door clicks, and your boyfriend comes to visit you.

"Oh? Nani?" Yuta asks to himself when he steps into the not so tidy room. He knows this small studio room you rent by heart. He always love how you're able to keep the small area clean and tidy the room well to make it spacious. But not today, he's surprised to find your scattered papers and books on the dining table and the study table. Your laptop is still on, and the living room table is messy with some clothes.

Yuta walks silently to the pantry, checking on your trash and refrigerator to check if you've been eating well or not.

His guess was right, you did not eat properly. His eyes scan through the highlighted textbook pages and your neat notes. Yuta sighs as he calmly puts his phone down and begins sorting your notes and piling them up into one stack.

He sees you on the sofa, looking lifeless. You must be asleep, or else you'd already bombarded him with the story of your hectic week.

Yuta just smile when he remembers how he used to work hard like you back then in high school days. Right now, he is an idol and his training is different than yours. He didn't have papers this much, but he is also working as hard as regular students.

Yuta continues his journey to the living room, cleaning up the mess you made and gets on his knee to watch you sleep.

He pushes your hairs away and gasps when his fingers touch your moist warm cheeks and wet eyelashes.

You're crying in your sleep? Or you cried yourself to sleep?

He glances to the clock, it's past dinner already, somewhere around nine. Appropriate for bedtime considering you must've lacked sleep for the last week.

"(Y/n)~" Yuta softly whispers into your ear, then leans in to kiss your head slowly to wake you up.

You stir in your sleep and blink several times before peeking through your hairs to find your boyfriend already looking at you.

You yawn "Ah Yuta- you're-" you pause yawning again "-here."

You try to push yourself from laying down, but there's not much energy from you and you remain slumped on the chair.

Yuta just gives you a small smile before hoisting you up, so you're seated on the sofa properly.

He sits next to you, and you automatically lean to his side.

"How long have you been here?" Your question is still slurred, just like when people get up from sleep.

"Thirty minutes? You're deep asleep on the sofa. Didn't I tell you to sleep on the bed. You'll get sick if you sleep here." He rubs his hand lovingly through your long hair.

You snuggle closer to him and just hum.

Your emotion lately hasn’t been great, something super melancholy is running in your body. Was it the lack of sleep? Homesickness? Missing Yuta? Or just the pressure of performing well in class?

Yuta senses how the atmosphere is down. He regularly comes here to visit you to recharge himself by listening to your lively rants and gossips. It's something new to find you-the battery- to be this sad.

Yuta takes the queue that this is his time to take care of you.

"Are you okay?" He starts by asking you the simple question you always ask him.

You shake your head. Your body is already facing him, one of your leg is folded on the sofa while the other is dangling on the edge. Your arms have already hugged his slightly toned arm and your cheek is on his shoulder.

Yuta clicks his tongue and gently pulls you up his lap. You make yourself comfortable straddling him and lean your face to his chest.

Your small petite figure makes it super easy to fit fully into Yuta's body and you feel yourself calm down as you listen to his calm steady heartbeats.

"Mind to share?" He rakes his fingers through your hair while his other hand is secured around the small of your back. Just resting there to tell you, he is here, and you are safe with him.

You stay silent and remain frozen. You want to share, but you don’t know what’s making you feel this way.

Your eyes focus on the tiny fleece on Yuta’s sweater and your hand fumble with his soft sweater.

You lean into his warm embrace, exhaling all of your tension away and fall completely limp to him.

“I don’t know what is bothering me. Everything just-“ you pause, trying to find the right words, “pile up and suddenly I burst into tears and slept.” You pout, your finger begins to trace random lines on Yuta’s back when you feel his thumb starts grazing over your bare waist. Ah Yuta and his habit, you may be honest and admit you miss this feeling.

“Well, that was you not realizing you’re holding your emotion back too much because you’re too focused on something else.” The Japanese man in his calm deep voice whispers into your ear.

You hum once again and feel soft kisses on your shoulder.

Yuta knows he cannot get things out of your heart if you’re not willing to tell him, or like what you admit… you just don’t know which one is affecting you.

So, he sticks to his one and only way of comforting you, by staying with you and letting you know he is here for you.

His big hand moves from only holding your waist to hugging it and he brings his other free hand to your neck. Gently he pulls you closer to his warmth, you melt yourself into Yuta, into your comfort, your safe place, your home.

Inhaling his scent can already help you breathe better.

Feeling his touch makes you sure he is here and he won’t leave you.

Melting into his body, makes you smile at how perfectly fitting both of you are.

Having Yuta for yourself is like winning the lottery and you’re more than glad to exchange everything in this world for you to be with him again.

You just need Yuta, hugging you, tracing circles on your waist, breathing next to your ear, letting you listen to his heart beat, and kissing your shoulder bit by bit to make yourself feel better and ready.

Yes, ready for a new day, a new chance, a new page.

“Thank you for coming tonight.” you finally broke the comfortable silence.

You pull yourself away from his warmth, thinking that he must feel numb already keeping your body on top of his for almost an hour.

You’re like a koala hugging a tree for dear life!

Yuta smiles and you feel the night is no longer gloomy, not when you have your starry man here with you. He pushes your hair back to your ear and pecks your lips “You could always call me anytime! I’ll find my way back to you.”

You nod “I know, you’re one call away.” You smile, this time it is nothing forced. It’s a natural smile that always appear when you talk about Yuta.

He suddenly wraps your arms around his shoulder and places your legs over his waist. With one swift, he has you in the air hanging on his body.

“Now that you’re smiling already, your body is cold but your face is warm. You’ve skipped meals!” he scolds you as he walks to the kitchen with you on his body. You feel like a little kid getting scolded by their mother.

You blush “How am I warm and cold at the same time?”

He gets flustered at that question but shrugs it off “Your face is warm, I don’t want you to fall sick just because I let you sleep without a proper meal. Your fingertips are cold. How could you skip meals?” he puts you down on the chair and goes to check your food supply.

“Great, you just have eggs and oh ramen.” He picks up two packages and starts boiling the water.

“I’ll bring you to a proper meal tomorrow morning. No rejection or refutation, you need to be healthy despite being so engrossed in studying.”

You nod “Okay mom-“ you teasingly joke with him.

He giggles “You’re glad I am not your real mom, or I’d already whip you for not eating properly.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind… please accompany me to do grocery shopping tomorrow.” You glance to the empty kitchen racks. You usually have some snacks or popcorns ready, some booster drinks and fun candies. It’s all gone during test prep and you’re too tired to restock them, but now that you have Yuta who can help you carry the things up to the room… you might as well use his help right?

“I love you, Yuta.” You suddenly back hug him and press your cheek into his back. He was way taller, you cannot lean your chin on his shoulder, so this is cute enough.

Your eyes cannot leave how his strong body, but pretty figure looks perfect in an apron, cooking ramen.

He puts the fork down and turns his body to face you. He cups your face and kisses you softly “I love you too, now don’t go too hard on yourself okay? Always know that you have me and I will always be here for you (Y/n)~”

You nod “I am also always here for you, Yuta!”

end

thank you! cheer up and hold on :D tomorrow will be better :D

have a nice day/night

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aellynera · 3 years

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The Best Years of Your Life (Reeves x Reader)

THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE

(hey hey, this is my other submission for @wasicskosgirl and her 800 follower celebration! and yes, you read that right - it’s REEVES. i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it! CONGRATS Amanda!!)

Word Count: um like 6200ish oops it was supposed to be a blurb

Summary: They say the best years of your life happen in high school, but what do they know?

Warnings: Some language. Female reader implied but no pronouns/description. Teenage angst. Adult wistfulness. Mostly fluffy tho. No promises about proofreading. Frog murder.

with the prompt - “Like what you see?”

It all started back in high school. Sometimes you wonder how often people say that, and if it’s really true or they’re just falsely remembering how things happened because high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life.

But in this case, it’s true. Because high school is when you met Reeves.

Sophomore Year. High School. A Friday.

It was the third day of sophomore year, fourth period on a Friday morning, your last before the lunch break. Biology class was maybe the one you were least looking forward to, not exclusively because of the required frog dissection, but pretty damn close. Gross. And you never understood why the school year didn’t just start on a Monday, but you were new here in San Diego. Maybe they just did things differently.

It was bad enough being the new kid. It was worse when you walked into class halfway through the lecture, even if it wasn’t your fault. The timing of the move was weird, and you’d spent most of the first two days, and this morning, doing placement tests and talking to your counselor.

And now you were being called out in front of the entire class.

“Ah, there you are,” your teacher announced as you walked in the door. “Everyone, this is our new student, please make them feel welcome. You can sit over there.”

Your eyes followed as she motioned to the empty seat at the lab table in the back of the room. Suddenly you weren’t sure if your face felt hot because of embarrassment or because of the boy in the other chair.

Dark, curly hair cut close on the sides but longer on the top. Deep brown eyes framed by long, long lashes. Full, plush lips curling up into his cheek on one side. A nose that, okay, maybe might be a bit oversized but for some reason worked on his handsome face and--

Well, shit. Definitely not the embarrassment.

You shuffled your way to your seat and slid into it with your head down. A few students watched you curiously but soon turned their attention back to the lesson. You tried your best to focus on what was going on, to not look to your left at the distraction next to you.

You weren’t very successful.

By now you thought you’d sneaked enough covert glances to know that we was wearing a leather jacket, had a small diamond stud earring in his left ear, a bunch of silver-studded brown suede wrap bracelets around both wrists, a silver ring on his right index finger, and oddly precise handwriting as he took notes. In between relevant facts the teacher was sharing, he was doodling tiny music notes in the margins of his notebook.

And he totally caught you looking.

“Like what you see?” he leaned over and whispered.

Your mouth felt drier than the Sahara but also somehow so moist you were afraid you might have actually drooled on yourself. You should have opened your mouth to respond but your brain refused to make the connection. Probably for the best.

At least, at first. When it finally caught up to you, the only response your brain could provide was, “Maybe?”

Now would be the perfect time for the floor to swallow you whole.

He just winked at you and his attention went back to the doodles around his notes.

You shifted your gaze back to your own notebook, but you don’t know if anything else of importance was said, and don’t remember writing anything down. The bell ringing sharply pulled you back to reality and you hastily shoved your books in your backpack, ready to escape.

Just as you were about to leave, a voice called out. “Hey, sorry about earlier. If I freaked you out or anything.”

You looked up. He was smiling at you, a little shyly. You bit your lip, your brain and mouth still refusing to connect.

He stuck his hand out. “I’m Reeves. You’re new here?”

“Um…” you smacked yourself internally. This was ridiculous, you weren’t really shy, you knew how to have a conversation, he was just introducing himself. You were going to have a serious conversation with your brain later about proper communication techniques.

It felt like hours had passed, but you finally pulled yourself together enough to respond. “Yeah. My- my dad got transferred for work, we moved here like a week ago. He literally dragged the family across the country. I’m originally from New York City.”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! I always wanted to go to New York City!”

You found yourself smiling back.

“Do you...wanna sit with me at lunch?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe you could tell me a little about the city? And...about you, since we’re gonna have to commit heinous acts of violence on an amphibian together? I’d like to know who’s wielding a scalpel next to me.”

The giggle that escaped your throat could not be contained. This boy - Reeves - was adorable. “Oh. Okay, yeah. I’d really like that.”

The Present.

Poor Lenny the Frog never stood a chance. Then again, neither did you.

To be fair, Lenny was already dead when you and Reeves got your hands on him. Well, when you got your hands on him, because for the full first half of that specific class period, Reeves refused to touch him and nearly turned as green as Lenny once was. That’s when he insisted on naming your cadaver, because somehow giving it a name made it easier to deal with.

You were pretty sure Reeves was nuts.

By the middle of sophomore year, you were dead too, but not for the same reasons.

By the middle of sophomore year, you weren’t sure how you were still alive, because every time he looked over at you and gave you a sly smile during class, gave you that look, you felt your heart go taut and you forgot how to breathe and certainly, rightfully, should have been dead.

Your friend Alexis stuck her head into your bathroom. “Hey, we’re just waiting on Vanessa, and then we’re good to go. Drinks first? The show doesn’t start until 8 so we have time.”

You glanced up from your makeup and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Alexis grinned. “Aaaaaah I’m so glad you agreed to go out tonight! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Oh, it’s gonna be something,” you muttered, going back to your eyeliner.

Alexis had been the first one to see the concert announcement about a week ago. A benefit show at one of the clubs down in Greenwich Village, some punk revival thing (for charity) with a bunch of different singers and musicians. Not normally your scene, but Alexis scanned through the names and suddenly remembered you’d known Reeves in high school. You said yes, he was in your class, and you’d been lab partners once. Vanessa squealed in excitement and Alexis announced you were going to the show. There was never any actual agreement.

Because of course Reeves was going to be there. And of course, you had to be too.

Junior Year. The Parking Lot. A Tuesday.

“I’m just saying, it was a ridiculous foul, and it should never have been called,” Reeves groused as you walked out of the gym.

“We also should have made like twenty more of our own foul shots,” you pointed out.

The Lake Howell Silverhawks had fallen to their arch-rivals in a somewhat glorious fashion. You didn’t even like basketball that much. But that didn’t really matter. The games were just an excuse to go out for burgers before and hang out with your friends during.

It was definitely an excuse to hang out with Reeves.

Junior year, you were both disappointed to find you didn’t have any classes together, but you still almost always ate lunch together. He’d come over to your house to study during the week and sometimes just to chill out on the weekends. Over the past year, he’d shown you all around the city and taken you to his favorite places. You told him all about New York, how you missed it and one day you’d go back, and all the famous sites and which ones were tourist traps that he was only allowed to visit the very first time and then never again.

You spent so much time together, even your mother liked to tease you about why he wasn’t your boyfriend.

It took a while for you to find the words to tell her it was because he was someone else’s.

As much as you liked to pretend she didn’t change anything, Randie Rustenberg changed everything. It was gradual, like a creeping vine of ivy, and she slowly took him over. There was no malice; it was just one of those things that happened. Reeves spent less time with you, his best friend, and more time with Randie, his girlfriend.

The girlfriend you desperately wished was you, because ever since that first biology class you’d had the biggest, stupidest crush on him.

Eventually you had a boyfriend of your own. Theo was a nice guy, he really was. Polite, friendly, had a good sense of humor, liked your family. And your family loved him. Your mother was so happy that you had a boyfriend, she seemed to forget to ask how Reeves was and if you’d seen him lately.

Of course you saw him. You saw him every day, in the cafeteria, at his locker, passing by in the halls. Sometimes you could find him playing the grand piano on the stage in the empty auditorium. Yes, if your mother bothered to ask, you saw Reeves all the time. Now it was just always with her.

Except this week. It was a break of sorts, no classes, just some sports and other school activities. Randie was on some trip with her parents for some kind of church function, and Theo was fishing with his dad on some lake up north. He’d told you where, but you honestly couldn’t be bothered to recall. So when a bunch of your friends and a bunch of his friends all said everyone was going to the basketball game, there was no debate.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

Sometime during the game, your friends wandered off to the snack bar and never ventured back. His friends started a game of hacky-sack under the bleachers. And you found yourself pretending to understand all the finer points about hoops strategy, cheering and yelling along with Reeves and having a great time, just like you used to.

“Where’d you park?” he asked as you left the gym and headed out into the sea of cars. You vaguely pointed in the direction of yours and he grinned. “Oh, good, I’m that way too. Come on, I’ll walk you.”

The faint glow emitted by the lampposts in the parking lot bounced off his curls and his eyes, when you could catch a glimpse, were bright beneath them.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

The walk wasn’t very far, but it felt like it was over in a second. You hadn’t said anything on the way, just soaked in the comfort of walking next to him as he kept commenting on the game.

He was waving his hands everywhere, looking at them as he talked as if his hand motions would make things make any more sense to you, in the middle of saying something about your center and how they needed to get better about blocking out when you finally spoke.

“Oh, shit.”

Reeves looked up at you. “What, you don’t agree?”

You dropped your bag on the ground and rolled your eyes. “No, my car is locked and I left my keys inside.” You pointed to the passenger seat. Your keys stared back at you derisively.

You both stared back at them for a moment, then he grinned. “Hang on, I got you.” He held up one finger and trotted off to his car, coming back a minute later with something in his hand. “This should take care of it.”

You took a step back. “Reeves? Um. Okay, why do you have a coat hanger in your car.”

He rolled his eyes back at you. “For emergencies, duh.” He quickly twisted the hanger into a hook shape and went to your passenger side window.

“And why do you know how to break into a car with said coat hanger?”

“Like I told you,” his tongue poked out between his teeth as he worked, “for emergencies. You think I haven’t locked my own keys in my car once or six times?”

“Did Randie teach you how to do this?” The words were out of your mouth before you could think. She probably had. She might have been churchy when required, but she was also responsible for about half of Reeves’s stints in detention (the other half just being him making the wrong joke at the wrong time and pissing a teacher off.)

Thank god he didn’t seem to hear you as he kept working at the lock. Finally you heard a *click* and he pumped a fist into the air with a little “yessss!”

And then you’re not really sure what happened. You bent down to pick up your bag and then you were standing up and Reeves’s face was literally about three inches away from yours and for the eight thousandth time since you’d know him, you forgot how to breathe.

Neither of you said anything for what felt like days. You just stared at each other under the dim halo of the parking lot lights.

“Here you go.” He took your hand and dropped your keys into it.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

“Like what you see?” the corners of his mouth quirked up, just the slightest little bit.

“...Maybe.”

And the staring recommenced. Were you two getting closer? Physically closer, you meant, of course you were close, you’d always been close. Well, at one time you were really close but then Randie Restenberg happened and it wasn’t fair that she got to know what those lips felt like and did he always smell this good or--

“Yo, Reeves!” A pickup truck full of guys skidded to a stop behind your car and one of his friends - Jake? Jack? you barely remembered your own name right now - stuck his head out the window. “Fight to the death ping pong tourney at Matt’s house! You in?”

Reeves bit his lip and closed his eyes for a second before he pulled back with a soft “I’m sorry” before turning to his friends. “Um, yeah, sure. Sounds brutal. I’ll meet you there.”

The pickup sped off, tires screeching out of the parking lot. Reeves turned back to you, but you’d already gotten into your now unlocked car and started the engine.

You rolled down the window a fraction and gave him a weak smile. “Hey, um. Thanks for saving my butt. Now go kick theirs at ping pong, yeah?” Your face felt so hot, and for once you were grateful for the dim lights in the lot.

“You could, um, come along if- if you want.”

“Nah, I’m...I’m tired, I’m just gonna...um, head home. But I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?”

Reeves looked like he was about to say something else, but he didn’t. He just stepped onto the curb in front of your car, smiled, and raised his hand in a little wave as he watched you drive off.

The Present.

A series of shrieks and the slamming of the door told you Vanessa had finally arrived. It sounded like they were jumping up and down on the tile just inside your front door, which was ridiculous since you’d all just seen each other the day before. But typical.

You smoothed a pinkie under your eye, checked your makeup one final time, and went into the living room.

“Oh, you look hot,” Vanessa gushed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and plopped down on your couch. “Who are you trying to impress tonight?”

“Reeves, of course,” Alexis laughed, leaning on the kitchen counter. She sorted anything she might need from her big purse into a little evening bag as she talked. “You know we go to all his shows. And you know they went to high school together.”

You snorted. “That was a long time ago. I’m not even sure he’d remember me.”

Vanessa waggled her eyebrows. “You’re probably right, No offense, honey, but no one was that hot back in high school.”

He was, your brain supplied. Very helpful. You smiled wanly.

Vanessa continued. “But you were friends, right? You’ve never really talked about it. God, it must be so cool now to think that you were friends with Reeves back when he was an awkward high school teenager.”

“Reeves was never awkward,” you laugh. “It was kind of unfair.”

“But you totally had a crush on him,” Alexis offered.

Had? What do you mean, had? Oh my god, shut up, brain.

A pillow flew in your direction and you ducked as Vanessa giggled and Alexis rolled her eyes. “Come on, tell us something about him,” Vanessa goaded. “Wait. Was he, like, your prom date? That’s your secret! You totally went to prom with Reeves and you never told us!”

Senior Year. Prom. A Saturday.

The night was not supposed to go this way.

It was supposed to be limousines and corsages and dinner with dates and friends. It was supposed to be endless pictures while your mother told you how gorgeous you looked and how handsome he was and your father gave a thinly-veiled shovel talk about how he knew what happens on prom night and what would really happen if that actually happened. It was supposed to be punch and cookies and balloons. It was supposed to be dancing closer than the chaperones were comfortable with and kissing with tongue when they weren’t looking.

It was supposed to be the best night of your life. It was supposed to be fun.

Nowhere in your weeks of dreaming of this night did it involve sitting on a bench in the girls’ locker room, knees pulled up to your chest, while the party carried on in the gym just beyond.

It definitely didn’t involve crying.

The bass beats of the deejay and the harmony of laughter temporarily got louder as the locker room door opened, and then faded back into a muted thumping as the door closed again a second later. You could hear footsteps headed in your direction but before you could unfold yourself and wipe your tears away, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, there you are!”

Being able to find the words to describe how he looked in his tux, his curls slightly tamed by some gel, the blue rose (of course it would be an off color, why would he pick something standard?) pinned to his lapel, his lopsided grin… Finding the words was nearly impossible.

Of course he would show up now. Because your night wasn’t already crappy enough and half the reason you were sitting there weeping instead of out there dancing was standing right in front of you.

You realized that wasn’t fair. It was probably more like, twenty-five percent of the reason, and it wasn’t his fault. But that didn’t make it any better.

“Why are you in the girls’ locker room, Reeves?” you sniffled.

He furrowed his eyebrows and his nose scrunched up in concern as he took in your mascara-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. “One of your friends said you came in here like half an hour ago and nobody’s seen you since. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Clearly not.” He sat down next to you. “Wanna talk about it?”

A deep, shaky sign left your chest. You didn’t really want to talk about how, earlier in the evening, you’d excused yourself to use the restroom and come back to the gym to find Theo dancing with...you didn’t remember her name, nor did you care. You didn’t mind that he was dancing with another girl, in theory, but it was another matter entirely when his hands were on her ass and she was sucking a deep purple mark into his neck. And he was laughing.

A short, vicious argument ensued in the coat room after you’d cut in and dragged him off by the elbow. And it turned out that he’d been seeing whats-her-name for months, somehow, behind your back while pretending that everything was perfect with you. When he was supposedly visiting his grandparents? He was with her. When he had to work an extra shift? He was with her. When he got off the phone with you, saying he needed to get to bed early? He was calling her.

Prom wasn’t supposed to involve a very public break-up.

And things didn’t get any better when, deciding you needed something to drink, you went back into the gym and immediately saw Reeves and Randie, dancing cheek to cheek, arms snugly wrapped around each other as a soft, romantic song wafted through the air. Because of course he was with her. She was his girlfriend and Reeves wasn’t a detestable cheating asshole.

There was always another her.

You couldn’t handle it.

So you took off to somewhere almost guaranteed to be empty. You figured the locker room wasn’t really the kind of place kids would want to make out, and you were right. It was blessedly empty. Until now.

But you couldn’t tell him the second part, so you just went with the first. His eyes got wide as you blubbered through the sordid details of Theo being a complete and utter twat. Another quivery sob half-burst from you and Reeves got up. He grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to you as he sat back down.

“Thanks,” you hiccuped.

“I never liked him,” Reeves announced.

You found yourself choking on a huff of air. “What? Yes you did! Everybody loved him. That’s what makes it extra shitty.”

“Did you?”

“What?”

Reeves cocked his head and looked at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. “Did you love him?”

Your mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Why did you always seem to forget how to make words when Reeves asked you questions?

“What?”

He shrugged. “Everyone else loved him. Did you?”

You used every last ounce of willpower you had to not jump up on that bench and shout that of course you didn’t love Theo, you idiot, because I love you.

That would not make this night any easier.

The next thing you knew, Reeves put an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest, hugging you soundly. He rested his cheek on the top of your head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re better off without him.”

You dabbed at your eyes. Nope, still couldn’t make words.

Minutes, hours, days. You had no idea how long you stayed like that, pressed to him and feeling him breathe beneath you. You no longer had any idea how long it had even been since everything crashed around you and he’d come to try and help you pick up the pieces. You just listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, as the muffled music and joyful shouts of classmates went on past the closed door.

Finally he spoke again. “Hey, you wanna get one of those complimentary pictures?”

“What?” Oh, great. You were finally able to answer his question but you could still only come up with that one word? Stupid brain.

“Well, I…” he sat up straight and, after the briefest look into your eyes, he glanced away. Was he blushing? You weren’t sure. “I always kind of...I kind of thought we’d have a prom picture together. I mean, I just figured, y’know, we’d go with a bunch of friends, but I always hoped I’d get a picture with my best friend.”

The sniffles were back in an instant. Damn him. “Reeves, I...you really want to get a picture now? I look horrible, I can’t get a picture taken like this!”

He took the paper towel from your hand and gently dabbed at your cheeks. “You couldn’t look horrible if you tried. Come on, it’ll be fun. And just think how excited your mom will be when she gets a copy of it.”

Despite your best efforts, you had to laugh. “Okay.”

You headed to the photo area after you washed your face, Reeves helped you wipe off the stray streaks of mascara, and you reapplied just a bit of makeup to make yourself feel better. You were never sure what Reeves said to the photographer before the shots, but he seemed quite happy to take multiples. Reeves stayed pressed against your back with his arms down around your waist, hands clasped together in front of you, for each and every one.

At some point between the second and third shot, he leaned just a little closer into you and you suddenly felt his breath against your ear. “Like what you see?”

For maybe the first time that entire night, your face broke into a genuine smile. “Maybe.”

For a few minutes, your night was absolutely perfect.

The Present.

It was the greatest date that never was.

“No, Reeves was not my prom date,” you told your friends with a shake of your head.

You left out most of the other details, partly because you didn’t want to answer eight hundred questions from Vanessa and partly because, well, you just wanted those moments for yourself.

After the pictures, Reeves had asked if you would like to dance. Until then you didn’t realize it was possible for eyebrows to shoot that far up a person’s forehead, but yours were up for the challenge. You’d mumbled something about if Randie would mind, because you were sure she absolutely would, but he brushed it off. Randie had gone off with her friends when he came to find you, and he really wanted to dance with you, just one dance with his frog murder accomplice. And he said that with a straight face and a twinkle in his eye and there was no way you could refuse.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

One dance turned into two, and then several, until the girlfriend in question finally did show back up and Reeves was pulled away, leaving you with a soft smile and a mouthed “sorry”.

Definitely the greatest never-date.

After prom, life returned to what vaguely resembled normal. Your love life sucked and Reeves still had a girlfriend that wasn’t you, and you didn’t see him much. To be fair, the end of senior year and graduation did creep up pretty fast so there wasn’t a lot of time anyway. Graduation was there before you knew it; he cheered for you and you cheered for him as you each walked across the stage. You made brief appearances at each others’ graduation parties and talked a bit and then, once again before you knew what happened next, it was time to leave for college.

You went back to New York. Reeves stayed on the west coast.

And over the years, like so many other people before you and after you, you just fell out of touch.

“And anyway,” you asserted, “we were just kind of friends. Yeah, like I told Alexis before, we were lab partners sophomore year, and we hung out sometimes, but that was it. Really.”

Alexis snorted and Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Mmmhmm.”

You threw the pillow back at her. “Mmmhmm.”

“All right, you two,” Alexis chided. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Somehow, you managed to get down to Greenwich Village without further interrogation and minimal shenanigans.

The Present. One Hour Later. Another Saturday Night.

The bar inside the club was pretty packed. Granted, it was a Saturday night down in The Village, so it wasn’t too uncommon, but you were honestly surprised that this many people showed up for a punk retrospective.

There were a few other relatively big-name acts you recognized on the bill, and a fair number of people were wearing t-shirts with Reeves’s most recent album cover on the front. There were even a few that had shirts with his face on it, which was frankly kind of weird.

“Looks like you’re not his only number one fan,” Vanessa smirked.

“I just enjoy his music,” you said off-handedly as you tried to flag down a bartender. “But anyway, tonight isn’t even about him. We’re just here to support charity, right?”

Alexis pretended to agree with you. “Right.”

You glared at both of them before turning your attention back to the bar. Yes, you came to every one of his shows in the area. When you had time. When you could take the night off. When you could rearrange your schedule and switch shifts at the last minute and promise favors to be able to attend them. When you maybe once or twice just called out sick because nothing else worked. So what.

They were really starting to get on your nerves.

The bartender finally noticed you and took your order, and you looked around the club again while you waited.

Lots of people, ranging from just-allowed-to-buy-booze to mid-sixties businessmen. A few folks that looked to currently be in their golden years but were clearly once punks in their prime. Many people in black and chains and mohawks and neon hair and piercings, to the point where you honestly couldn’t tell who was a performer and who was a patron.

The one person you were looking for was the one that you couldn’t pick out of the crowd.

“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” Vanessa’s voice shouted from somewhere behind your shoulder.

“Vanessa, you’re getting a little weird about this,” you called back as you grabbed your drink and turned around.

“Like what you see?”

Eyes wide and mouth slightly hanging open, you almost dropped your full glass.

Vaguely, nearby, you heard the sound of glass shattering and shot a glance to your left. Alexis really had dropped her drink, and Vanessa was clutching onto her arm for dear life. She was holding her glass at a slightly odd angle and the contents were dripping onto one of her shoes.

The crowd silently pulsed backwards as one, clearing out around the four of you for a respectable distance. Several people watched curiously; surprisingly, they just stood back and stared instead of trying to get involved.

Reason Number One why you really couldn’t blame them: Reeves stood there, right in front of you. Literally less than two feet away, looking right at you. His mouth pulled up into his familiar lopsided grin, his hair still dark but shot through with strands of silver, curly on the top and shorter on the sides. His nose with the little dent, perfect on his face under those dark, luminous brown eyes and...holy shit, was he wearing eyeliner? He was wearing eyeliner.

Reason Number Two why you really couldn’t blame them: Leather pants. Under his old, faded t-shirt and black leather jacket (you were used to seeing him in brown, but you had to admit the black looked good) he was wearing leather pants.

Reason Number Three why you really couldn’t blame them: Quite simply, Reeves was standing in the middle of a bar in New York City and he was talking to you.

You blinked once, then twice. You may have blinked more times but all you could think about was the fact that, after all these years, your brain still couldn’t make words when Reeves asked you a question.

That same old question.

Suddenly you were grinning back, completely ignoring your friends and their dumbfounded squawking and sputtering next to you. You were smiling because even though your brain couldn’t make full sentences of words, it could pull one particular word out of the void and let it come out past your lips.

“Maybe.”

Reeves grinned fully now, his eyes lighting up and the crinkles at the corners deepening.

Someone - maybe Vanessa, maybe a total stranger, you couldn’t be sure - might have swooned from the sidelines.

“Always told you I wanted to come to New York,” he said.

“Always told you I’d go back.”

And the next thing you knew, the next thing that made any sense anywhere in your mind, was that Reeves had stepped forward, wrapped his arms around you, and placed the softest, sweetest, most heart-achingly gentle kiss on your lips.

You pulled away in a daze, felt the heat rising in your cheeks, as you heard a muffled choking sound halfway behind you. Definitely Vanessa.

Alexis and Vanessa’s eyes, already bugging out of their faces, nearly fell out of their sockets when Reeves turned to address them.

“Hey, ladies. I’ll come talk to you after the show, but for now, I just need to borrow your friend for a few minutes, okay?”

There were somehow still more bizarre, mostly inhuman noises that came out of your friends and even later, when they’d deny ever acting like that in front of a famous rock star (and rolled their eyes at you when you corrected them that he was a musician, not a rock star), it wouldn’t matter because you weren’t paying a single bit of attention to them them anyway.

You only had eyes for one person.

He took your hand and pulled you past the bar, into a little room in the back; the office, presumably. The second you were both inside, he wrapped his arms around your waist and looked you in the eyes. He just stared for a few minutes, or maybe hours, you weren’t sure.

It really didn’t matter.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he whispered.

“Third day of school, fourth period biology class, sophomore year?”

Reeves smiled softly. “The second you walked in that door.”

“Why didn’t you?” you tilted your head to look at him. Okay, to gaze into his eyes. You tilted your head to gaze into his eyes and your subconscious hoped to any gods that would listen that you did not have actual hearts or stars in your pupils.

Not that it really mattered.

His arms never left you but he gave a little shrug. “Never seemed to be the right time. And then I had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “And I ended up with that lame excuse for a boyfriend. But do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that?”

“When you couldn’t stop staring at me when you sat down at the lab table next to me?”

“Hmmm, maybe. But definitely when you told the teacher we had to have a funeral for Lenny.”

“Hey, Lenny was a fuckin’ hero,” Reeves batted his eyes at you innocently. “He performed a brave and great service to his country.”

“I am oddly happy you’re still an idiot,” you giggled.

“I’m ecstatic that you kept coming to all my shows in the city.”

You pulled back slightly and looked at the ceiling. “You noticed?”

Reeves gave you that look. That look he always gave you, when you were teenagers, when you said something either completely ridiculous or completely profound. That look he gave you when he thought you might not be looking, even though you were always looking. That look that said he always had your back and you were his best friend. That look that you thought you’d be lucky to see one more time but probably never would.

That look.

“Of course I noticed. I thought about having security make you stay back, but that’s just...no. You always looked happy, and I don’t know...I just didn’t want to intrude, I guess? Just always wondered why you never stuck around after the shows, never stayed to talk to me, never came knocking on the dressing room door.”

You thought about that for a minute. You really did try, but you couldn’t come up with a decent answer. You were happy. Just seeing him was enough, you told yourself. Just hearing him sing was enough, just being in the same room with him, just being near. Just like it was back in high school.

Only it wasn’t high school anymore, and now that he’d finally, finally - after years of would’ve and should’ve and maybes - kissed you, you knew enough wasn’t going to be, well, enough.

So that’s what you told him.

And Reeves pulled you close, leaned in closer, and kissed you again.

You pulled apart, breathless again, and rested your foreheads together.

After minutes, or maybe days, or maybe hours, and definitely years - it didn’t really matter - Reeves was there. You were there. And for once, you were really there together.

“Like what you see?”

“...definitely.”

The Future. Any Day. Every Day.

You always thought, and your friends always said, that the best years of your life happened in high school. And to a certain extent, that was true and you believed in that notion for a very long time.

But ever since that night, that one glorious night in a Manhattan bar, you realized you were wrong.

The best years of your life were still happening.

~end~

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thedanceronthestreets · 4 years

Text

PEDRO PASCAL GQ GERMANY - OCTOBER 2020

Original text by Esma Annemon Dil

Fotos by Doug Inglish

Styling by Simon Robins

Translated by @thedanceronthestreets

Intro: A broken tooth could almost have been the reason for our meeting with Pedro Pascal to be cancelled - and with that our conversation about roots, his new movie and times of change.

Interview: It is almost eery how empty the streets of Los Angeles are under the gleaming sun. While Europe is finding its "new normal", people in L. A. are cutting their own hair even without being neurotics. Many of them have not seen their friends in half a year. The pandemic is out of control. So are the reactions to the situation. Inviting someone to a "distance drink" in the backyard can lead to the same consternation as proposing a relationship partner exchange.

All the more of a surprise was Pedro Pascal's immediate confirmation. To the drink, not the partner exchange. He is one of the winners this year - and if Corona had not forced the movie industry to go on a holiday, he probably would not have had the time for this drink. After "Game of Thrones", the series in which his head was squished, followed 2015 the leading role in "Narcos" as a DEA agent on the hunt for Pablo Escobar, and now the leap onto the big Hollywood screen. As of 1. October the Chilean will appear in the blockbuster "Wonder Woman 1984". Furthermore, the second season of the "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian" will start in October with him as the main character - unfortunately underneath the helmet. But we all seem to be under the same helmet in 2020. It is this man we want to meet, who worked as a waiter in New York a couple of years ago. Whose parents are political refugees that settled in Texas, and one day their son decided to walk into a drama club in high school.

And then the cancellation. While we were preparing the house and garden for Pedro's drink and fashion shoot, which isn't an easy task under L. A.'s restrictions, his management called in with terrible news: Pedro has - no, not Corona - had to receive emergency surgery due to a sore tooth and is now lying in bed with a swollen cheek, making talking or shooting impossible. The sun shines onto empty streets. And our empty garden.

A few days later, he stands in front of the door anyway, no huge bulge in his face, but stitches in his gum. No limousine service that dropped him off, he arrived in his own car and picked up his makeup artist on the way. He helps her to carry in all the equipment and states first and foremost: "I've got time today!" What a star! It does not seem like we are about to ask him how he managed to become a Hollywood sensation, but rather him asking us that question. Pedro Pascal! So, what kind of star is he then?

Pedro Pascal: Sorry for ruining your plans. The operation was a total emergency.

GQ: Really? We were wondering whether the swelling was the result of a secret trip to the plastic surgeon. Apparently, because of the quarantine in Hollywood, their schedules are packed.

Sorry to disappoint you. A few days before our appointment I raced to the hospital with a tooth fracture and the worst pain I've ever felt - a hospital where the severe Corona cases are treated. I was unable to contact any dentists! Right before I parked, a specialist called back. I'll spare you the details of the surgery, gruesome. The pain was excruciating despite the 10 anaesthetic shots. The doctor said I wasn't the only one going through this, a lot of people grind their teeth at night thanks to stress.

What are you most afraid of at the moment?

The way the government is handling the pandemic scares me more than the virus itself. The lack of intelligent crisis management is a moral disgrace. The leadership crisis makes orphans out of all of us - we're left to fend for ourselves.

How have you spent the last few months?

With frozen pizza in jogging trousers in Venice Beach. I live in a rear building that's in the garden belonging to a family. In reality there are enough good takeout restaurants around that area, but for some reason I like salami pizza from the supermarket.

That doesn't exactly sound like the movie star lifestyle. What does it feel like to be forced from top speed to zero?

Considering the things happening in this world, my own state really isn't the top priority. But I would have to lie, if I said I wasn't disappointed. The entire cast and crew of "Wonder Woman 1984" put so much heart and soul into the production. We had so much fun on set. I had hoped to carry this feeling of exuberance around the globe to the openings of this movie.

You are part of a political, socialist family that fled the Pinochet regime in Chile. What do you remember from back then?

My sister and I were born in Chile, but I was only nine months old when we claimed asylum in Denmark. From there, we moved to San Antonio in Texas, where my dad worked as a doctor in a hospital.

Texas isn't exactly considered to be socialist utopia. How well did you settle in?

San Antonio isn't a cowboy city but rather very diverse with large Asian, Afro-American and Latino communities. In my memory it's a romantic place, culturally inclusive. The cultural shock only hit when we moved to Orange County in California later. Suddenly, the environment was white, preppy and conservative.

How were you welcomed in California?

To this day I'm ashamed when I think about how I let my classmates call me Peter without correcting them. I'm Pedro. Even without growing up in Chile, the country and language are part of me. I was quite unhappy in that place. At least I was able to switch schools and visit one in Long Beach, where I felt more comfortable. With its theatre programme, I found my path.

Could you visit your family's homeland as a child?

Yes, after my parents ended up on a list of expats that were permitted to re-enter the country. First, there was a big family gathering, then me and my sister were parked at some relatives' place for a few months while my parents returned to Texas. They probably needed a break from us. They'd had us at a very young age, had a vibrant social life, and my mother was doing her doctorate in psychology.

Was your mother a typical young psychologist that tested her knowledge at home?

You mean whether I was her lab rat? Absolutely. I can remember weird sessions camouflaged as games, where someone would watch my reactions to different toys. Even though I couldn't have been older than 6, I knew what was happening. My favourite thing was to be asked about my dreams. That was always a great opportunity to make up fantastic stories.

Was that your first performance?

Definitely! My strong imagination alarmed my mother, because I'd rather live in my fantasy world than in real life. I didn't like school. I ended up in the "problematic kid" category. At some point the subjects got more interesting and my grades improved. So many children are unnecessarily diagnosed with learning disabilities without considering that school can be daunting. Why is it acceptable to be bored out of your mind in class, when there are more stimulating ways to convey knowledge?

With everything happening in the world this summer: Do you believe that social hierarchy structures are genuinely being reconsidered?

Hopefully. After the lockdown my first contact with people was at the Black Lives Matter protest. The atmosphere was peaceful and hopeful until the police got involved and provoked violence. At least during these times we can't avoid problems or distract ourselves from them as easily as we usually do. It seems that the pandemic provided us with a new sense of clarity: we don't want to go on like this.

The trailer of "Wonder Woman 1984" represents the optimism of the 80s. That almost makes one feel nostalgic nowadays.

That holds true. It's two hours of happiness. Patty Jenkins, the director, managed to make a movie full of positive messages. We shot in Washington, D. C., then in London and Spain - which now sounds like a different time.

Do you miss travelling?

I've only now realised what a privilege it is to just pack up your things and fly anywhere. With an American passport you can travel freely. And that's why the small radius we live in now is kind of absurd. Over the last few years I often retreated in between takes, because I was always on the road and overstimulated. Friends complained about how comfortable I had become. We all took social interactions for granted and realise now how reliant we are on human connection. Now, I wistfully think about all the party and dinner invitations I declined in the past.

In L. A., people spend more time indoors or in nature than in other metropolises. Could this city become your safe haven after New York City?

My true home is my friends. Ever since I was young I've lived the life of a nomad and haven't set roots anywhere. Until recently, my physical home was a place for arriving and leaving and hence I didn't want to overcomplicate living by owning lots of things. The opposite actually: Without having read Marie Kondo's book, I got rid of all the stuff that was unnecessary and lived a very minimalistic lifestyle.

Is there something you collect or could never say goodbye to?

Books! I still own the literature I read during my teen and university years. Recently I found a box of old theatre scripts and materials back from my uni days at NYU. I can't separate from art either, same as lamps or old pictures. Furniture and clothes are no problem though, they can be chucked.

Do you remember any roles that were defined by their costumes?

Yes, "Game of Thrones" comes to mind immediately. During that time I first understood what it means, as an actor, to be supported by a look. I owe that to costume designer Michele Clapton. She developed these very feminine robes and brocade cloaks for my role that looked very masculine when I wore them. I felt sexy in them. And very important were of course Lindy Hemming's power suits and Jan Sewell's blond hair for the tycoon villain Maxwell Lord in "Wonder Woman 1984". Relating to the style, I couldn't really see myself in the role since the shapes and colours of the 80s don't really fit my body. My type is the 70s.

Do you adopt such inspirations into your private closet?

At this point in time, I'll choose any comfortable outfit over a cool look. Sometimes I mourn the days when I defined myself with fashion. It's a bit mad when I think about how, in the 90s as a teenager, I would go to raves; a proper club kid with crazy outfits: overalls, chute trousers, soccer shirts and a top hat like in "The cat in the hat knows a lot about that!" by Dr Seuss. Later in NYC I was part of a group that placed immense value on wearing a certain style. The fact that I only walk around in joggers nowadays is actually unacceptable!

Normally, actors who work on comic screen adaptations become bodybuilders and eat ten boiled chicken breasts per day. You don't?

My body wouldn't be able to handle that. I find it difficult enough to maintain a minimum level of fitness. As of your mid 40s, you suddenly need a lot more discipline. Until the tooth incident happened, I worked out a couple of times a week with a trainer to keep the quarantine body in shape.

What would annoy you the most, if you were your own roommate?

I can be very bossy. I have to gather all my goodwill not to force my movie choice on to everyone else. When I want something, I'm not passive aggressive about it, I attack head on. Also, I can get caught up in tunnel vision: When i feel down, I can't imagine that I'm ever going to feel better again. I have difficulty with seeing the bigger picture when experiencing problems or emotions. Method acting really wouldn't be my thing. That's why I try to only work on projects that feel good and where people encourage and lift each other up.

While you were trying on the outfits you pointed out a lack of self-esteem. How does that coincide with your career?

Isn't it interesting how traits and circumstances go hand in hand? Self-esteem comes from the inside, but it's also influenced by what society believes. We use critical stares from the outside against ourselves. I lived in New York for 20 years, I studied there and worked as a waiter up until my mid 30s, because I couldn't live off acting. It was always so close. The disappointment of always just barely missing a perfect part or opportunity is exhausting. When is the right time to stop trying and what's plan b? That's not just a question actors ask themselves, but anybody who struggles to earn a livelihood - unrelated to how much potential they have or how close their dream may seem. We are beginning to see now how our narrow definition of success is destroying our communities. At the same time, it's becoming obvious that, until this day, your family background and skin colour determine your chances of living a dignified existence.

What are the positives of becoming a leading man later in life?

I have the feeling that I've got control over my life - without the pressure of having to accept projects or be a social media personality. That surely also has to do with the fact that I'm a man. Women are surely pressured to appear quirky at any age.

Life is always a management of risks - especially at this time. For what would you risk losing something?

Usually, if you don't play the game you're not going to win anything. That applies to friendship, love, work, creativity. Anything that really means something to me, is worth the risk.

Wonder woman 1984 will appear in cinemas 01.10. The 800 million dollar earning DC comic franchise is moving into the New York 80s with its sequel. It looks spectacular - only Pedro Pascal with blond hair in a three piece Wall Street suit looks better.

#pedro pascal #gq germany #Gq

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iliumheightnights · 4 years

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Let Me Make You Proud [2] | Tony Stark x Son!Reader

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Tony Stark & Son!Reader

Part 1

Summary: After leaving his old life behind, (M/N) Stark carves out his new life. He thinks about all of the memories he left behind and makes his own new family. However sometimes destiny intervenes.

A nine year old (M/N) Stark stood behind a curtain looking out into the audience. It was his first big concert and he was excited for a Solo he had.The chair reserved for his father was empty. He scanned the audience for his father, he promised he would come to this one. (M/N) had been so excited when his father told him he would be there. As he reached the back of the crowd he realized his father wasn’t there...yet. He could just be running late.

The teacher called for all the students to get into position and (M/N) hesitantly got to his spot. The curtain drew back and the kids started their concert. He couldn’t help but frown a little at all of the parents and guardians there, supporting their kids. He looked over at the chair again hoping to see his father, but it was still empty.

The concert was going swimmingly. The other students were having a great time, (M/N) on the other hand wasn’t. It was getting closer and closer to his solo and his dad still wasn’t there. Eventually the time had arrived, he walked to the front of the stage and began his solo. Looking into the audience his heart fell as his eyes found the empty chair. The eyes of all the other parents were like daggers staring into him. He could feel tears building up in his eyes, and he began to shake. The ending couldn’t come soon enough.

The concert had come to an end. (M/N) sat on the edge of the stage watching kid after kid leave with their parents. “(M/N) are you alright?” Looking he saw his teacher sitting next to him. (M/N) only nodded and looked at the seat with his father’s name on it. She followed his line of sight and immediately understood. She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry (M/N). I know you were really excited for him to see you perform. I don’t know if it means anything but I thought you did splendid.” He smiled at her. “Thank you Miss.” The two stayed on the stage for half an hour with most students already leaving. Yet no one had come to get him yet and his teacher’s face had become one of worry and frustration. “(M/N) I’m going to call your parent’s and make sure everything is alright okay?” She stood up and walked away a bit before calling.

(M/N) could tell by her voice that she was frustrated but not at him. She never got mad at him, always his dad. After a bit she hung up with a huff and walked back over to him with a smile on her face, he knew it was a front. She sat back on the stage next to him “So I called and Happy should be here soon for you.” Of course he would. The teacher tried to pass the time with him talking about the concert and how well he and everyone did and that she would love to have him perform a solo again.

After another fifteen minutes, Happy finally arrived. He walked in with a smile on his face as he approached the two. “Ready to go kid?” (M/N) didn’t say anything as he jumped off the stage and started to walk to the car. “Hey what’s wrong kid? Not happy to see me?” (M/N) could already hear the teacher start her rant to him and knew he shouldn’t be there to hear it. He stepped outside and got into the car. He didn’t have to wait long before Happy got into the driver’s seat and began to drive them home. “I heard you did really good in the concert.” (M/N) wasn’t in the mood to talk, he watched the city lights fly by outside his window. “I’m sorry buddy. I forgot and your dad got really busy.” The boy didn’t move, only kept watching out the window.

Once they arrived back at the tower (M/N) slowly made his way back in. His big night had been ruined. This wasn’t the first time his dad did something like this, but it still hurt. Wanting to see his dad he took the elevator to the lab. He could see his dad through the glass, he was slunched over his table, asleep. He took note of all the blueprints and machine parts surrounding his dad. It was in that moment that he realized his dad loved working more than him, and if he wanted his dad’s love he’d have to change. That was the moment he stopped being (M/N) Stark.

…

(M/N) was snapped out of his thoughts by a tugging at his pants. Looking down he saw PRYSM looking up at him. “What are you doing?” Ah PRYSM, so pure, so innocent. “I was just thinking.” He looked back up at the school across the street. The same one he went to in what seemed like a lifetime ago. “OOOOOHHHHH. What are you thinking about?” (M/N) motioned for PRYSM to follow him and started walking again. “Just thinking about my past.”

It had been roughly two years since he had left the tower and the avengers behind. He missed them, he missed Clint and Wanda. He even missed his dad. When he had first left the tower Tony had freaked and tried everything to find him. He flew around the city in his suit, so did Rhodey. He heard people say they saw spiderman looking as well but he wasn’t so certain about that. Then his dad made a television appearance begging him to come home and that he was sorry. The comments from people after that made him furious. He probably just wants attention. I’d leave too if he was my dad. That boy probably had too much on his shoulders. People blamed both him and his father. The last thing that his dad did was offer a cash reward for anyone who brought him back home. That caused him tons of problems, he had to watch over his back even more. It was like he had a target on his back. Eventually his dad pulled that down and people didn’t care about him again. Like usual.

He hadn’t talked to Clint for a long time. They talked for a bit after (M/N) left, he wanted to keep him involved. But as he started to travel the world and discover new things he started to drift away. They still kept in contact, talking every now and again but it was clear there was a rift. He hadn’t talked to Wanda, he wanted to but didn’t want to. He knew she was furious at him, he could feel it.

“So then I was like there is no way you could make that basket but then he did! It was crazy! I’m telling you (M/N) the kids basketball games get intense! You should come next time.” How could someone NOT love PRYSM. They just get excited over everything. The two continued to walk through the streets of New York, gaining attention from people seeing a robot just roll down the street. Eventually the two made their way to a warehouse which (M/N) converted into his current home. “You know I’m not really into going and watching sports P. I’d rather much go to the zoo.” He said while taking off his coat. The robot’s eyes widened. “We should TOTALLY go. I LOVE the zoo!”

“Did I hear zoo!?” (M/N) turned to see a person rush from the kitchen. “We going to the zoo? I’m so down!”

“Calm down Doreen. No one’s going to the zoo.”

“WHY NOT!?” Both Doreen and PRYSM shouted.

“What’s going on?” All three turned to look at the new person entering the building.

“Thank god. Kamala please tell them we aren’t going to the zoo.” (M/N) tried beginning with her.

“Why not? I love the zoo.”

“Ha! That’s Three against one. We’re going to the zoo. Everyone get your shit!”

(M/N) couldn’t fight against it. He was outmanned and outgunned. To be fair...he also wanted to go to the zoo. That’s how he found himself with his friends making their way to the zoo. Walking through Central Park this time of year was always nice. He looked over at Doreen and Kamala. He remembered the first time he met them. They were trying to ‘rescue’ him, since they saw his dad’s tv appearance and thought he was missing. It was hilarious Miss Marvel and Squirrel Girl, the heroes he never knew he needed. After explaining everything he remembered Doreen directly stating “We’re your family now.” and they’ve been friends ever since. He was lucky to have them.

“That’s it. I need some tunes, PRYSM can you play something? Please?” Doreen basically shouted and Tippy-Toe nodded in approval. Damn he loved that squirrel. “I sure can!” PRYSM started to playing music and Kamala and Doreen both shouted in excitement and started walking to the beat.

“I be Spike'd out, I could trip a referee” Doreen sang followed by Kamala singing. “Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from-”

“Hit it (M/N)!” Doreen shouted at him.

He couldn’t help the wide smile that came to his face as he started to sing. “New york! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There’s nothing you can’t do!” Doreen and Kamala joined in with him. “Now you’re in New York! These streets will make you feel brand new!” They started to dance as they made their way down the path. People watching them go, some laughing, some recording, but they didn’t care. In that moment it was just them having one hell of a time. (M/N) had started to sing again around his friends, he started being himself again. Away from his father’s shadow he began to bloom.

…

Back in the tower, Tony sat on (M/N)’s bed. The room hadn’t really been touched in the two years his son had been gone. Dust had started to gather on many of the picture frames and collectibles. It was a constant reminder of how much a failure of a father he was. He realized just how distant and cold he had been. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy found him many times asleep on that bed with red and puffy eyes.

He held one of (M/N)’s sketch books in his hands. Opening the book he started to flip through the sketches. The book had started out with character and designs for stories he had been thinking of. But as Tony continued to flip through the book it became less and less creative designs and more blueprints for machines and inventions. Tony hated this, he hated that he made his kid give up the things he loved to do just so he could feel loved by his own dad.

He could feel tears streaming down his face as his hands started to shake. It had been two years and he missed his son so much. He just wanted to hold him again, to try and fix things. Tony’s relationship with Peter was...Strained. He couldn’t look at Peter without feeling guilt and regret. Peter tried his best to make him feel better but it didn’t help. Not until (M/N) was back.

“He always did love to draw.” Tony looked up at the voice. Clint stood in the doorway looking at him. “He wouldn’t want you to waste away in this room ya know?” He looked back down at the sketch book, running his hands over the creative designs. “I just- I don’t know what to do. I want to talk to him. I want to apologize. I miss him so much. He’s been out there for two years, I have no idea where he is or if he’s okay and it keeps me up at night.” Clint gave him a sympathetic smile before walking into the room and over to the glass windows looking out into the city. “He’s okay. He’s a lot stronger than you think he is.” Tony could only nod at that, he might not have had a good relationship with his son but Clint did. If he says he’ll be okay, he’s okay. “Still I just wish I knew where he was.” Clint didn’t look back at Tony and debated on saying anything. “The last time I talked with him he was in London.” Tony’s head snapped up and Clint could feel his eyes burning into the back of his skull. “You talked to him? When? Why didn’t you tell me?” Tony stood up and made his way to Clint who turned to face him directly. “Yes, I have. Last time I talked with him was four months ago, he said something about coming back to New York. And I didn’t tell you because he wanted his space. He didn’t want you coming after him.” Tony couldn’t decide if he was happy his son could be back in New York or angry that Clint didn’t tell him about him.

“Do you think he’s ba-” Before the two could continue their conversation Steve bursted into the room. “Get your gear. We have a problem.”

…

The seal enclosure always was (M/N)’s favorite part of the zoo. Doreen and PRYSM practically ran away once they entered the zoo. He and Kamala sat down on a bench looking directly at the seals. He could feel Kamala looking at him. “What is it?” He turned to look at her,she looked like she was hesitating to say anything. “I was just wondering. You’ve been back in New York for months now. So why haven’t you tried talking with your dad again? He obviously wants to see you again. He wouldn’t have made that tv appearance if he hadn’t.”

“I still can’t believe he plays that even after two years.”

“It’s because he means it (M/N). I think-”

The two were interrupted as a figure was thrown through the air and crashed into the seal enclosure. (M/N) recognized who it was immediately. “Peter?” People started running out of the zoo in a panic. Through the crowd he saw them, the avengers. They were pushing past people towards Peter. “What’s going on!” he saw Doreen and PRYSM run towards them. “We don’t know!” Kamala started to say before a ship was above the zoo. A blue woman with a staff on top. (M/N) knew who it was. “Hala.”

“Who!” Yelled the other three.

“She’s a kree who tried kidnapping metahumans years ago. Guess she’s back for round two.”

(M/N) then heard a sound he hadn’t heard in years. He would know the sound of the repulsors anywhere. He looked up and watched as his dad flew over his head, firing on Hala’s ship. It couldn’t breach it’s shield’s however. Hala pointed her spear and fired a laser cutting through anything it touched. The avengers scrambled out of the way.

“OH. MY. GOSH! Guys this is our time! We gotta help them!” Doreen shouted.

“Absolutely” Kamala agreed. “What about you (M/N)?”

He watched as Hala fired on the avengers. His family. No one fucked with his family. “Damn right I am.”

“I...I’m just gonna...be over here.” PRSYM rolled out of sight faster than ever.

“Oh this is gonna be so fucking awesome!” Doreen shouted.

The three broke up and went in different directions. Hoping they could perhaps distract her enough. (M/N) let his powers engulf his body in a flash, putting him in the suit he made in case things like this happened. He had used his powers here and there but didn’t rely on them. Hala fired again making some rubble fall, Steve pushed Clint out of the way but before they could stand back up she pointed at them and fired. (M/N) quickly jumped in front of them and put up a barrier blocking them from the ray. “(M/N)?” he looked back and smiled at the men who looked both relieved and shocked that he was standing there with them. “Hey Clint,Steve. Long time no see.” (M/N) turned back to the barrier, pulled back his arms and pushed sending the ray back at Hala, causing an explosion. “Get her staff!”

While the avengers were shocked he was there, they knew it wasn’t the time for a reunion. Everyone sprang into action, each trying to reach Hala. Having to doge moving lazer fire wasn’t as easy as they made it look on tv. Kamala and Doreen got close before they were through back by Hala. Tony,Rhodey and Sam tried getting her from the sky but she wasn’t making it easy.

When (M/N) saw his chance he took it. He used his powers to launch himself into the air. He had almost reached her when she turned around and fired her staff directly at him. He formed a barrier blocking the brunt of the attack, however trying to fly and block was a lot for someone who wasn’t trained. He couldn’t hold it any longer and his barrier exploded pushing him to the ground. Before he could hit the ground he felt strong arms surround him. Looking up he was greeted by piercing the white eyes of the spiderman mask. “(M/N)! Are you alright!” (M/N) let out a laugh and patted the side of his face. “Never better spiderboy. Never better.” Peter sat him down on the ground “Look (M/N) I’m-” He held a hand up to Peter’s face. “Now is REALLY not a good time for this. Now get your ass in gear and get that staff!” Peter watched (M/N) run off. “Damn that was kind of hot.”

“I wonder how good Iron Man’s armor really is!” Hala fired her staff and hit Tony square in the chest. This caused his suit to power down and sent it falling to the ground. (M/N) watched in horror as the suit came falling down. “DAD!” Using his powers he rushed over and launched once more into the air, grabbing his father. “God you’re suit is so freaking heavy!” as the ground came closer, He brought his knees up and kicked them out using his powers to cushion their landing. (M/N) was out of breath and fell on top of his dad’s suit. “Can you hear me? You okay in there?” With the power off it was hard to hear but he heard it. “I’m alright. I’m glad to see you kid.” (M/N) couldn’t help the smile. “Glad to be back.”

“ENOUGH!” (M/N) turned to see Hala bring her staff up. “I SHALL HAVE MY ARMY!” She brought her staff down and the portals began to open up around all the avengers. He watched as one after another was sucked up. “(M/N)!” He watched Kamala and Doreen get sucked up too. “Oh. Can’t forget the father and son!” He could feel tears building up, he lost his friends. Letting his anger out he created another barrier around his father and him. Hala’s portals couldn’t reach them. “So be it. I’ll be back. I’ll always come back.” With that Hala disappeared back into her ship before it took off into the atmosphere.

He brought down the barrier and stared up at the sky. He fell onto his hands and let out a scream. His cries echoed through the ruined zoo. He felt a strong grip on his shoulder, He looked up into the face of his dad. “(M/N)...” The two looked at each other for a bit before (M/N) fell into Tony’s arms. Hugging him. “I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t save them.”

Tony pulled back and stood up, bringing (M/N) up with him. He shook his head. “This isn’t your fault. None of this is your fault. If you weren’t here I probably would have been taken too. We’ll find them.” (M/N)’s face became serious before he nodded his head. “We’re gonna find them. And we’re gonna get them back. And we’re gonna kick some ass.” Tony smiled at his son. His son was right in front of him and he had grown so much.

“Yes we will!” Both men looked down and saw PRYSM looking up at them. “Hi Mr.Stark it’s nice to see you again.”

Tony let out a laugh before becoming serious. “How are we going to find them. And we’ll need more help.”

(M/N) smirked and held up his phone. “I got close enough to throw a tracker on her ship. I got their location right here. As for the help...I know a person.”

Twenty minutes later the three of them stood outside a garage door. (M/N) looked at his dad. “Before you say anything...I thought it was only fair I had one too.” He laughed at his dad’s face when it scrunched up into a confused look. Moving back to the garage He knocked once,paused and then knocked three times. “What exactly are we doing here?” Tony asked his son. “Getting help.” The garage opened and the three came face to face with a pink tipped blonde haired girl.

“Hey,Gwen. I need your help.”

A/N: Hope you guys liked part 2! I loved introducing some of my favorite marvel girls. As you can probably guess there will be a part 3 coming.

#marvel #marvel imagines #marvel imagine #marvel x male reader #marvel x male!reader #tony stark #tony stark x male reader #tony stark x male!reader #tony stark x reader #tony stark x son!reader #tony stark x stark reader #tony stark x stark!reader #tony stark x son reader #x male reader #x male!reader #x reader #male!reader #male reader insert

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bethhxrmon · 4 years

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passed down like folksongs, chapter fifteen- steve x reader

[gif credit to @flyingrichardgrayson]

chapter fifteen- time, mystical time, cutting me open and healing me fine

series summary: Living in Hawkins was never easy for anyone. However, it becomes ten times more difficult than usual when you catch feelings for one Steve Harrington. What should be a simple schoolgirl crush ends up being complicated by your step-brother, Tommy Hagan, and the mysterious goings on in the town of Hawkins. [masterlist]

pairing: steve harrington x female! hagan! reader

chapter summary: With all of the events of the Upside Down behind them, Steve finally finds it in himself to open up about the past.

warnings: swearing, hurt/comfort, fluff

word count: 3.5k

a/n: Wooo!!! Technically what I would consider the last chapter!!! Because of that, I will be uploading the epilogue tomorrow, so hopefully one of those will get to go in the steeb tag (also bc classes started up again and I don’t wanna upload in the middle of a school day okay)

~*~*~*~

It was towards the end of July when the official funeral for your step-dad was held. There had been a service for all those who were killed in the fire a week before. One you ended up getting dragged into. Not that it was bad, Steve went with you. Though, it was clear he was just as keen to be there as you were.

Though, being at an actual funeral felt somehow worse. Steve kind of felt he had been to the worst one already when he went to Billy Hargrove’s a couple of days ago. He specifically told you that you shouldn't go. That he was mostly there to watch out for the kids. It was understandable. You remembered that Hargrove had a step-sister and if Steve felt like he could be helpful, you didn’t want to intrude. Especially when you wouldn’t have known anyone all that well.

Steve also insisted on going to your step-dad’s funeral when the time came as well. Not because he thought you needed him the way you needed someone at Barb’s funeral, but because he didn’t want you to be there alone. While you would have had your mom, she was so busy dealing with all the serious arrangements that you wouldn’t have wanted to give her any stress.

The only thing she let you handle were the flower arrangements. Most of which was dark red, almost black roses and assortments of white flowers. You never knew what sorts of things he liked. In all fairness, he never bothered to tell you much.

You tried to ask Tommy, just to see if grief changed him any. It only made him angrier. Your working theory was that he was convinced his dad left everything to your mom instead of him. Which was a possibility, but you knew that he’d turn out fine. He was leaving for college and with his dad gone, you were pretty sure that you were never going to see him much again after the funeral. That only made you look forward to it that much more.

All you wanted was for him to no longer be in your life. After all the things he did and comments he made and how much he came in between you and all the things you wanted to say and do, you probably should have wanted more. Maybe it would have made sense for you to have wished he had been the one to die in the fire, but you didn’t. He was so close to being gone and you could only be glad for that.

After all, had he not gotten his dad to vouch for him, you were pretty sure he would have been staying in Hawkins like Steve. Though, you were glad Steve was staying for a while. It meant there was time for both of you. No, you were never going to get him walking up to you at your locker or have him hold your hand as he walked you to class, but that was okay. What mattered was that you had him now and it made all the difference in the world to you.

With how nice it was outside, the actual burial was taking a long time as people talked to each other, trying to console your mom for her loss. It made you want to roll your eyes out of your head.

“You know, like, a month ago all these people were still calling my mom a cheating slut behind her back,” you said, leaning up against a tree.

Steve nodded, “Yeah, I know.”

“What, were your parents saying that?”

“Uh, yeah, they did… not that I really hear them talk much,” he sighed, “But, my mom always worries that my old man’s gonna divorce her for some younger woman like Tommy’s dad did.”

You nodded, “That makes sense… I just wish people wouldn’t be so damn nice about it now. It’s so fake and patronizing. And all for some guy who wasn’t even that great anyway.”

“Do you wanna get out of here for a bit?”

“Steve, I should at least stay-”

“Not out, out. Just maybe to someone else’s grave?” he took your hand, “Come on, I think you could use a few minutes somewhere else.”

You were pretty sure you knew where he was going with this, so you went ahead and followed Steve through the cemetery. It was pretty this time of year with many trees giving shade. Families still left all sorts of flowers on graves and the grass was well-kept.

Sure enough, Steve led you right to where Barb’s headstone was. The grave was relatively well-kept, though the Hollands ended up moving to the next town over. Enough for a fresh start, but also close to where their daughter was.

“I really hope ghosts are real,” you said softly.

Steve nodded, “I’m sure they are.”

“Well, if they are… I really hope Barb’s doing okay. I- I still think about her a lot. The things I said and the things I wish I’d said instead had I known I was never gonna see her again,” you took a shaky breath, “I don’t think I’m ever going to feel like I’m actually over it.”

He wrapped an arm around you, “I know what you mean.”

“How? Sorry, I- I just… I never really thought you missed her all that much.”

“I guess it’s not that I miss her. Well, not in the same way you do. It’s more in the way I really wish I didn’t have that party. And how I miss being able to look at my pool and just see a pool. Instead, all I think about is her and whatever she must’ve gone through.”

You leaned into Steve, “Did she disappear there?”

“Probably… no one really knows how it all happened.”

Every day it felt like Steve was getting closer and closer to telling you what happened. He would let odd and end details in. Though, none of it was enough for you to figure out what happened. It was enough at this point that you were pretty sure it was worse than whatever chemical leak the lab got accused of.

Still, no matter how curious you got or how badly you wanted to know everything, you weren’t going to make Steve say anything that he didn’t want to. It was enough that you knew he was going to tell you. Or that if he never told you, it wasn’t because he was trying to dupe you. It was because he simply couldn’t bring himself to talk about every awful thing that had ever happened within the last couple of years.

“Oh, um, I think I forgot to leave this at your stepdad’s grave,” Steve said, pulling out a white chrysanthemum from the inside of his suit jacket.

You felt him press it into your hands, “Oh, did you want me to leave it here?”

“Whatever you want. You could put it in my hair if you’d like,” he suggested, grinning.

You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as you knelt down and set the flower at Barb’s grave. Hopefully, she somehow knew that you still cared about her after all this time. That while it didn’t sting to the same degree, you knew that most of the damage could never be fixed. Not really.

“Is it okay if I tell you what happened to Barb?” Steve asked, sitting down on the grass.

You moved over to sit next to him, “Of course, if- if you’re ready, I wanna know.”

“Okay, well, I just don’t want you to get mad at me for not telling you when I knew. ‘Cause I’ve known a lot longer than you have and I’ve beaten myself up over it every day, but I really thought that telling you the truth was going to get you hurt,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I- I know it’s stupid, but I was told I couldn’t tell you. Technically, I’m still not supposed to, but you saw what happened at the mall and… it’s all connected and you deserve to know.”

You held his hand, “Well, you’re telling me now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re right, I am. Um, do you remember how Will Byers disappeared around the same time?” Steve asked.

He explained everything that he knew about the Demogorgon. At least, that was the name the kids gave it. How it went between dimensions and hunted people. It was attracted to blood and Barb had just the luck of cutting herself at his party. Something that he never thought would have been a big deal. He never even invited her, Nancy just insisted she come. In hindsight, Steve still didn’t get it, but it didn’t matter because she ended up getting killed either way.

No one knew if she died due to exposure to the other dimension or if she was eaten. Well, if anyone knew, they never told Steve about it. In all fairness, at the time he only cared about not getting into trouble for that said stupid party. He hadn’t realized how bad things truly had been.

Steve even tried to explain why he had cut you off so many times at that time. Right when you needed someone the most, he knew he couldn’t be around you when you were that hurt by what happened to Barb. It would have only made him more guilty.

“I know I shouldn’t have said those things, and you were smart for not wanting anything to do with me at the time,” Steve said.

You frowned, “You were grieving too. I never thought about that… I mean, you were still a total asshole, but I thought you were just doing it because you could. Because you wanted to just hurt me even more. I- I’m so glad that I was wrong about all of that.”

“I’m still so sorry that I said those things. That I told you she wasn’t going to come back. I knew she was dead and- well, hearing you talk about her like she just went on a road trip was hard to hear.”

You nodded slowly, “Yeah, I never really thought about that.”

“Of course you didn’t. I’d be surprised if you put all the clues together on your own. I- I wanted to tell you, just so you know. I felt awful about never telling you what happened. Like, when I saw you biking all the way out-”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“Well, I um… I didn’t think you’d believe me,” he said, shrugging, “Plus, if I didn’t let you do some sort of digging, I figured you’d just try the whole thing again and- I couldn’t leave you on the side of the road like that in the first place.”

“I mean, I guess you’re right,” you admitted, squeezing his hand.

In all fairness, you wouldn’t have believed almost anything that Steve told you. Though, it made a lot more sense. That entire first year after Barb went missing made sense. How Nancy and Jonathan seemed to both be aware of something completely unknown to you, that wasn’t you going crazy. You noticed all those weird things because there were weird things happening around you.

You took a look at the watch Steve wore, “We should probably get back, or I should anyways.”

“I’ll go with,” he replied as he got up, helping you off the grass, “I heard there was supposed to be some really good food after all this funeral stuff.”

You laughed as you got up and walked back to where everyone else was. No one seemed to notice that the two of you had been gone for a while. It seemed like people really had been shaken by this happening to someone they knew. Though, most of the town was in that boat. Around thirty people had been killed by whatever happened that night. You just knew it was a lot more complicated than some fire.

The funeral eventually ended and time continued to press onward. It was getting to be August once more and it was a lot better than the first time you tried to be with Steve. He was a lot more open, even if he didn’t explain himself completely. That wasn’t what you wanted. What you wanted was for him to know that he could trust you and that you cared about him.

Some nights, the strange monster would haunt your dreams and it would force you awake in the middle of the night. Steve wasn’t always there when you woke up, but he was always ready to answer the phone. Then, he would sneak up into your room and hold you close until you officially calmed down.

While you didn’t mention it, you thought it was stupid of you to be so hung up over something you saw. Something that didn’t even feel real. Steve was the one who dealt with all that. It made sense for him to be so shaken up about it. Though, you knew he would have insisted that you had every right to be scared of that thing. You would have been an idiot to not be scared of that sort of thing.

One morning, you were in the garden, watering some red tulips when Steve came in. He tended to pop in whenever. While the summer was nearing an end, you saw a lot more of him than you had before. Sometimes it was with the kids or with Robin, but he was getting paid rather nicely after losing his job since the place burned to the ground.

You two got plenty of time alone, but you were used to that. What you weren’t used to was him holding your hands in front of the kids he watched while Dustin would make some comment about it. While it was a quick way to make your face heat up and look at the floor, it also meant that Steve cared about you enough to show you to other people. That was more than you ever expected in the past.

“So… before everything at the mall, did you ever see anything weird that you couldn’t explain?” he asked, leaning on one of the tables inside your greenhouse.

You shrugged, “I don’t know, what constitutes weird?”

“Uh, let’s say something you saw once and then never again. Something you always had questions about but never got an answer that made sense, those types of things.”

You stood there and looked around, trying to think of something. The last couple of years had been so odd and you never expected to get a serious answer to your questions. Yet Steve was right there, always more than happy to offer an explanation at this point.

“Oh! I got it, back around last Halloween, when all the farmers lost their crops, everything I had planted in the ground just went rotten. Our new tree died and it was from some weird, slimy fungus. I think it was from some slugs I caught on a couple of plants, but they were really odd slugs too.”

Steve looked at you, “Wait, you saw actual slugs? Were they normal and you just didn’t recognize them or… what?”

“Well, I don’t know, they didn’t have the right coloring and they were hiding in some of the shadiest, darkest parts of the greenhouse which made it so hard to find them and throw them out,” you explained, “Wait, why do you ask?”

Steve took a deep breath, “You’ll wanna sit down for this one. I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

You went out of the greenhouse and sat on the lawn. Steve sat next to you and began to explain what happened all those months ago.

While you were busy wondering what could have been if Steve had decided to get back with you before that point, he had been learning about how those slugs were actually monsters. That the rot in the ground was from that other dimension. You had been a mere few feet away from tunnels that ran throughout the entirety of Hawkins.

Every time you picked up a slug and threw it out into the lawn, those things were going to molt into things similar to the Demogorgon creature that Steve described at the funeral. You had been so close to such a terrible fate this entire time and you never would have guessed it.

“So… you’re saying I’m really lucky to be alive right now?” you asked.

Steve nodded slowly, “Yeah, uh, I guess I am. I- I guess I knew about the whole thing with your plants, but I didn’t really connect it all until now.”

“Makes sense why you were with all those kids now,” you said.

At least, you were able to understand why Steve would be the one watching all those kids while Will was possessed by something from that different dimension. You just could barely believe that it happened twice. Well, technically three times, but you didn’t know much about the events of that summer.

To try and make up for such a jarring conversation, Steve got you lunch at the diner you liked so much. It just felt so surreal that you could have ended up exactly like Barb. Only, you weren’t so sure you would’ve had as many people out looking for you. Steve probably would have tried to do something, but he probably would’ve figured out what happened to you.

At least you wouldn’t have had some poor girl on a wild goose chase that she set up for herself just to try and find you. There was something mildly assuring about that. Though, if nothing else, hearing that finally got you to feel like you truly were lucky to still be around.

Time continued to pass by and you stayed with Steve. He was so good to you and you did everything you could to make him happy. School started and he was starting to look for another job with Robin as it became clear he wasn’t going to be getting whatever severance pay he had gotten for forever.

All the finances that dealt with your step-dad’s passing were still being sorted out. Though, it seemed more and more like everything was going to go to your mom. He never had a will in place, no matter how hard Tommy tried to insist they keep looking. At this point, you were sure he was just trying to delay the inevitable. Not that you thought your mom was going to cut him off. Though, you mainly hoped that just because it would keep him out of Hawkins.

The leaves on the trees were starting to turn orange, red, and gold in the park that you walked through with Steve. You had just gotten out of school and you wanted to see him. It had only been a day, but you had spent a lot of that day seeing other dumb couples getting to see each other the whole time.

“Hey, I think it’s about time I told you why I was so late to your party,” Steve said as he pulled you over to a park bench.

You nodded, “Okay. Is this the last thing of all the stuff that I’m technically not supposed to know?”

“Yeah, I think this is it. And if anything else happens, I swear I’ll tell you the first moment I think anything is going on,” he squeezed your hand, “It’s funny, because I was actually really close to telling you about this one before any of the crazy stuff happened.”

Steve finally explained everything with the Russian code that Dustin found that summer. How it all led to the Russian Base in the mall that had been spoken about on the news. The reason you didn’t see him at work was because he had been stuck down there, getting tortured by Russians. All the while the Mind Flayer that pulled the strings a year ago came back for more.

Your step-dad had both been killed by the monster and was the monster all at once. It made a lot more sense once Steve explained what happened in full, but it did make you feel sorry for him. Mostly because you couldn't imagine what being killed like that must have felt like.

“So, that thing I saw that night, that was a bunch of melted up people?” you asked, furrowing your brow.

Steve nodded, “Yeah, it’s pretty gross to think about, but that’s how it happened. It’s all over this time, though. At least, I think so.”

“Hey, I’m sure it is. Whatever gate existed before is closed now and no American or Russian is gonna be able to change that again. It’s over,” you insisted.

At least, you hoped it was. You couldn’t blame Steve for being skeptical about it after the same thing happened three times. Still, you had been around through all of that one way or another. You weren’t planning on leaving now that you knew the full story.

taglist: @flyingrichardgrayson @stonersteve @scooprtroopr @insideafictionaluniverse @l0ve-0f-my-life

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #folklore fic

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hearteyesbowen · 5 years

Text

start of something new ☆ ricky bowen

what’s worse: accidentally auditioning for a play you didn’t want to be in, or falling in love with the lead actor in it?

warnings: fluff

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

It’s not that you hated school musicals, but you hated High School Musical. You never understood how they could break out into song and dance, or how everyone knows the choreography, or why Troy is so indecisive, or why Gabriella keeps having to leave somewhere every movie. The whole concept of that movie was so odd to you.

Nonetheless, you had to watch those movies for your friends, constantly. You’re best friends, Nini and Kourtney, became part of the cast and crew for your high school’s own production of the show. While they begged you to come along and audition for one of the parts or to help with costumes, you always said no. You did, however, help Kourtney buy fabrics and play the piano for Nini when she practiced her songs. You didn’t have any creativity in you to try and actually design costumes, and you definitely didn’t want to sing in front of a bunch of kids you barely notice in a school day. The only other kid you knew there was EJ Caswell, Nini’s boyfriend, and Ricky Bowen, Nini’s gorgeous ex-boyfriend.

You and Ricky were lab partners for chemistry class. He usually didn’t get the lecture and would always ask you for help with the class work or homework, but he was really sweet and funny. You developed a small crush for him a long time ago, but you never told anyone. Nini and Ricky began to date sophomore year, so out of respect for your best friend you got over your feelings for him and became more than happy for the two. They only dated for a month, ending on good terms after realizing they didn’t like each other in that way, but as friends only. Nini soon found EJ, you couldn’t deny developing those feelings again for Ricky. But you wouldn’t break girl code with Nini, so you shut out your crush once more.

“Come on, Y/N. Just come with us and you can see how fun it is.” Kourtney begged, using both arms to drag you across the halls and in front of the theatre door.

Nini was behind you, pushing your back tiredly. “You’re going to have so much fun! Maybe we can get you a part!”

“As what? The trash can?” You screamed, fighting back at your two friends. “I don’t want to spend my after school still at school! And Kourtney I swear if you keep digging your nails into my arm I will kick you.”

“Try me.” Kourtney warned.

You let out a loud whine and finally pull Kourtney’s strong grip on your arms out. You fixed your scrunched up sleeves on your sweater and held up your hands in defeat, hoping they would stop pushing and dragging you.

“I’ll go one time, and if I hate it then you both owe me.” You gave in.

They squealed in joy and grabbed at your arm again, rushing you both into the doors to the theatre. Nini opened the door so Kourtney can push you in. However, they didn’t realize that someone inside was already by the door. You were roughly pushed into a hard body, causing you both to fall. You landed on top of them, and heard a loud groan in pain. It took you a minute to get past your instant headache so you could look up and see who it was.

“Y/N, are you ok-oh no.” You heard Nini worry.

You placed your hands on both sides of the body you fell on and pushed yourself up, at the same time, feeling their hands at your waist. You were met with Ricky. His face was extremely close to you, so much so that your noses touched.

“I guess I can say that you fell for me, huh?” Ricky joked, pain clear in his voice.

“Sorry about that, Ricky. My friends are absolutely crazy.” You apologized.

You got up from the floor, offering a hand to Ricky. He took your offer, nearly pulling you onto the ground again with his strength. He rubbed the back of his head to where he landed.

“It’s fine, there’s no way I can be mad at you anyways.” He smiled. “Are you ok?” He moved his hand to the back of your head, rubbing in circular motions to soothe the pain.

You closed your eyes in peace, earning a chuckle from Ricky, “Yeah, I should be fine.”

“I’m really sorry, Y/N.” Kourtney yelled, running to you with Nini trailing behind her. “I’m also really sorry about that, Ricky.”

“All good, as long as Y/N’s fine then I’ll be ok.” Ricky said, looking at you with a grin. You shot him a quick smile. You looked back at your friends who gave you a confused, yet cheeky glance. You eyed them to stop making them act weird about you two.

“We’re going to go, I have to help Kourtney dress up Nini as Gabriella. See you around, sorry about falling on you again.” You rushed, dragging your best friends away from the now baffled Ricky.

You brought them to the costume rack that held all of the clothes you remember seeing Kourtney designing. The theatre was almost full, but everyone’s attention was mainly set on Carlos teaching them about the first dance number. You tried your best to hide yourself from Ricky, who you were afraid you would be foolish in front of again. Your two friends glanced at each other in confusion as to why you were being so nervous. They noticed you fiddling with your phone, almost dropping it as you grabbed it from your back pocket.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Kourtney asked, giggling at your panicking.

“I totally embarrassed myself in front of Ricky!” You whined.

Nini smirked at you, “So you do like Ricky.”

Your eyes widened in fear, and you were at a loss for words. You couldn’t just tell your best friend that you may or may not like her ex, especially after you told yourself you wouldn’t like him again.

“No, you’re crazy.” You denied, massaging your head from the pain earlier.

“Y/N, tell me the truth. Do you like Ricky? Because I won’t get mad if you do.” She replied, holding onto your shoulders.

You let out a sigh in defeat, rubbing your temples, “I didn’t want to, I fought with myself to try and get rid of that thought of him for you. I’m the worst friend ever.”

“Hey, don’t ever think that. Look, I have EJ now, and we’re really happy together. And Ricky and I are friends. So if you like Ricky, then I’ll be happy for you. Besides, I always did think of you two together at one point when we were in middle school.” Nini smiled, bringing you into a tight hug.

“But isn’t that weird to date your best friend’s ex boyfriend? Like that’s just wrong.” You argued.

“Ricky and I were just confused sophomores trying to figure out if we really did like each other or if listening to those stupid fortune tellers was a good idea. You could barely call that a relationship. I want you to be happy, Y/N. And if it’s with Ricky then let it be with Ricky.”

“Thank you, but I’m not going to try and ask out Ricky.” You said, looking down at your phone.

“Why not? You know how those boys are, if you don’t do anything then nothing will happen.” Kourtney argued.

“Then I guess nothing will happen, it’s just a crush. I’ll get over it in like a week.” You lied, stuffing your hands in the back pockets of your jeans.

You heard the squeak of the theatre door opening, revealing the drama teacher, Miss Jenn. You had never formally met her, but you always heard great things about her from Kourtney and Nini. Apparently she was an extra from the original movie, but you wouldn’t know.

She strutted into the room confidently, holding a large stack of papers stapled together that you assumed was the script for the musical. She walked up to Ricky and began talking to him, so you turned away. You didn’t want to seem like you were staring, although her voice was loud enough for you to hear across the school.

“Is Ashlyn here? Ricky needs help learning ‘Start of Something New.’” Miss Jenn asked loudly, causing everyone to avert their attention to the two. You saw Ricky’s uncomfortable face, making you giggle to yourself.

“Ashlyn has a dentist appointment today, she won’t make it.” EJ answered.

“What about Seb?”

“He’s learning choreography with Carlos.” Gina replied.

“Does anyone else know how to play the piano?” Miss Jenn helplessly looked around for anyone who knew.

You now regretted coming with your friends to their rehearsal, because you knew exactly what was coming up next.

Nini and Kourtney jumped up, raising their hands and screaming for Miss Jenn’s attention. They furiously pointed at you, and you hid your face in your hands so no one would see you.

“Y/N knows how to play the piano! She’s so amazing at it!” Nini exclaimed, pushing you towards the teacher.

“Is this true?” She pondered, removing your hands from your face.

“I’m not that good.” You answered, shaking your head. You couldn’t help but look at Ricky who gave you a small grin.

“She’s lying. She learned how to play Mozart’s pieces when she was in the second grade!” Nini and Kourtney held your shoulders as they continued to talk about you. “And she has a beautiful voice.”

Miss Jenn raised her eyebrows at their claims of you, and she pointed to Ricky as if she were asking you to help him.

You tried to defend yourself, “I can play a little, but I don’t sing.”

“Liar.” Kourtney blurted out.

You let out a large exhale, closing your eyes and rolling your head back to the ceiling. Why did you have to have such supportive friends? You looked back down and opened your eyes, nodding to Miss Jenn and walking with Ricky to the piano. As you both walked together, you could hear the screeching from your best friends.

“Apologies for having to work with me, you didn’t seem to excited.” Ricky said nervously.

He pulled the piano bench back for the two of you, ushering you to sit down first. You sat down and waved your hands, “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just not that confident about playing in front of a lot of people. Theatre isn’t really my thing.”

“I didn’t think it was mine too, but you might be surprised once you get involved in it.” He chimed.

You looked down at your hands and smiled, feeling heat rise to your cheeks. You cracked your knuckles and your neck aimlessly, something you tend to do before playing. Ricky laughed at your actions, attempting to do the same.

“Have you warmed up?” You questioned, quickly playing different scales to get you ready to read the music he placed in front of you.

“Yeah, I’m all set. Do you know this song?” He asked, turning the page to show the music, which so happened to be the only song you liked from the movie. You quickly skimmed over the notes, playing along small parts.

“This is the only thing I like from that movie.” You confessed, quickly learning the music.

“You didn’t like the movie?”

“Nope, now focus, you need to learn this song for your play.” You laughed, nudging his shoulders.

Ricky chuckled, and watched as your fingers glides across the keys seamlessly. He was amazed at how beautifully you played the piano, learning and playing the song at the same time. You took a small glimpse at Ricky, smiling and gesturing your head to the music sheets.

“Living in my own world, didn’t understand

that anything can happen, when you take a chance.”

He sang, looking at you for approval. You nodded at him and eyed him to keep singing.

“Can you sing Gabriella’s part? Nini’s busy right now and they sound really proud of your voice, although you don’t seem to be.” He smiled politely.

“I can’t sing.” You denied.

“That’s a lie, because I remember I accidentally walked in on you freshman year playing and singing to Adele. You were right here, alone, and singing your heart out.” Josh countered.

Your eyebrows furrowed as you slightly tilted your head, “Stalker, much?” You giggled.

Ricky’s face instantly grew red as he realized what he confessed to. His hand went to scratch the back of his neck. “Yeah, that does sound pretty stalker-ish, my bad. But I know you can sing, plus you owe me one for falling on me. So start at the chorus.”

You laughed, gazing at the music before reaching for the keys and building up the song from the verse to the chorus. You cleared your throat, getting your voice ready to sing with Ricky.

“This could be the start of something new

It feels so right to be here with you, oh.

And now, lookin' in your eyes

I feel in my heart the start of something new.”

You let the notes from the piano ring out, allowing you to take in your small duet. You stared down at your hands, biting your lip to hold back the smile forming. You gazed up at Ricky, who already stared down at you. He had an adoring smile, breathing out softly.

“Beautiful.” He whispered.

You felt yourself blush, so you moved your head a little to the side to hide the flushed color forming in your cheeks. Ricky’s hand softly pushed your cheek to look back at him. He scooted next to you even more so that no space was left between you two. He hesitantly leaned in, you instinctively doing the same. Both your eyes closed as your faces grew more near.

“You could play Kelsi!” Miss Jenn’s voice erupted in your ears from the other side of the stage.

You and Ricky jumped at her scream, bumping your foreheads together. You both let out a soft laugh from the moment. He mumbled ‘sorry’ to you as he rubbed your arm soothingly. Then the clicking of Miss Jenn’s heels rushing towards you burned your ears.

You turned around in your seat so you could face her. The moment she was up to you, she grabbed your shoulders, bringing you up from the bench and shook you.

“You would play a perfect Kelsi! You have such an amazing voice, and no one auditioned for her.” Miss Jenn screamed excitedly. Nini and Kourtney popped their heads up from behind the costume rack giving you a thumbs up. “Please say you will take her part. We would love to have a talent like you in our production.”

“I’m not sure if I can do that. I’ve never even talked in front of my class.” You acknowledged, pulling Miss Jenn’s hands from your shoulders as politely as you could.

Ricky stood up from the bench and next to you, placing his arm on your lower back. “You know, I’ve never thought about being in a play either, and now I’m playing Troy. You should give it a shot.”

You smiled up at Ricky, almost saying yes on the spot as you knew you got to be with him more.

“Just think about it, alright sweetheart?” Miss Jenn asked sweetly. You nodded your head and she walked back to Carlos.

Nini and Kourtney called your name repeatedly, waving you to come over to them. You looked back at Ricky, who noticed them as well. He pulled your arm so you could stand closer to him.

“Before you go, I wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow. I want to hang out more together.” He spoke lowly, hoping no one around you would listen.

“That would be nice.” You respond, sending a smile before walking back to your friends.

Once you reached the front of the costume rack, they both popped out from between the costumes, climbing through the rack and in front of you. They jumped up excitedly as they heard the offer from their teacher.

“Are you going to say yes?” Nini held your hands, giving you a hopeful smile.

“You know I can barely sing in front of you guys. Now I’ll have to sing and play the piano in front of the whole school and more?” You complained.

Kourtney eyed you, “Do you really want to spend the rest of your high school years doing nothing? Have you ever even joined a club?”

“I joined marching band freshman year, that was fun.” You replied, scrunching your nose up at the memory.

“You played the clarinet for half a year because some flute player threatened to fight you after she thought you hooked up with her boyfriend. Have you done anything else that hasn’t almost gotten you killed?” Kourtney sassed.

You gave a large sigh, scratching the back of your head. If you were to join the play, you could be with your best friends even longer than usual, but you would have to sing in front of a bunch of people. But your friends were still right, you should put yourself out there and do something, besides almost getting into fights with jealous flute players.

“I’ll do it, but don’t expect this to be a regular thing.” You warned.

Kourtney and Nini screamed in excitement, pulling you into a group hug. They started to jump up and down, gaining looks from the other theatre kids. Nini was the first to pull away, bringing you in front of her.

“Now let’s talk about that moment you and Ricky had right now!” She squealed.

You pinched your nose in embarrassment, “I thought no one saw that.”

“Girl, everyone couldn’t help but watch you two.” Kourtney giggled.

“Can we save this conversation for later? I want to go home now and finish my work so I can sleep in earlier.”

“We’ll make it quick!” Nini exclaimed.

“Did he tell you anything?” Kourtney wondered enthusiastically.

“He told me he wanted to hang out tomorrow.” Kourtney and Nini awed at his invitation.

“I’m so happy for you, Y/N. Now go home and do your homework, we’ll facetime you later.” Nini brought you into a warm hug. You smiled at her and went to hug Kourtney too before you grabbed your backpack and left the auditorium.

➢➣ ➢➣

You closed your laptop after finishing your essay for english. You lazily cleaned up your desk of all your school supplies. You had just finished calling Kourtney and Nini again after explaining the details of what happened with Ricky. The night was still young, enough for you to put in a little practice time. Might as well get ready for the play.

You yawned, stretching your arms and back once you stood up from your chair that you had been sitting at for more than two hours. You moved to the other corner of your room where your keyboard was. It was placed right next to your balcony door, which was purposely there so you could play while looking out at the nature below you, or the tree that covered your view. You closed the curtains, though, you didn’t want anyone to watch you in your room late at night.

You sat back down, cracking your back again of the discomfort from earlier. The sheet music Miss Jenn has given you before you left was already on the stand: “What I’ve Been Looking For.”

“This song is weird.” You mumbled to yourself.

You spent the next 15 minutes playing along to the music. It didn’t take long for you to master it. Curiosity overtook you; what would it be like if you sang it?

“It’s hard to believe

that I couldn’t see,

you were always there beside me-”

The sound of a tiny pebble hitting your balcony window startled you. You stopped playing, listening closer for a few seconds to see if you were crazy. You shook it off, playing the notes again. You were disrupted again by another rock. Now you were sure someone was there.

You stood up and hastily walked to the glass door. You unveiled the curtain, but you didn’t see anyone through the glass. You unlocked the door and slid it open. No one was on the streets or the sidewalks.

“Y/N!” Someone from directly below the balcony whispered loudly.

You look over and see none other than Ricky Bowen. You sighed in relief, happy that it wasn’t a robber. His guitar was strapped behind him and he had the biggest smile on his face.

“Are you crazy? What are you doing here so late?” You whispered, smiling at how insane he was.

“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you. Can I come up?” He asked.

“How? I can’t let you in through the front door, my parents will see you.”

“I can climb trees too, you know.” He laughed.

You smiled while nodding. He instantly started to climb the tree that stood tall enough to reach you. It didn’t take him long until he stood in front of you. You felt instant déjà vu when you remember how similar this moment was to the original High School Musical.

“I couldn’t think of something original to do without disrupting your parents, so I saw you had a tree and decided to be totally cliche instead.” Ricky laughed.

“You missed me that much, huh?” You teased.

He stepped directly in front of you, “You have no idea.”

You giggled, leaning up to his face. He smiled widely at you, staring between your eyes and your lips. You inched closer to his lips, Ricky doing the same. Why not tease him a bit first? You moved your head to the side of his and kissed his cheek.

Ricky rolled his eyes playfully, then gasped. You raised an eyebrow, wondering what sparked in his brain. His hand reached inside his denim jacket and pulled out a singular red rose. Your heart melted at the gesture. You took the flower and held it to your chest.

You grabbed Ricky’s hand and led him to the inside of your room. He looked around interestingly at the inside.

“What?” You laughed.

“Your room is nice. I hope I can be on here more often.” He sent you a wink.

He witnessed the music on your piano, making him smile. It didn’t take long until he also noticed the guitar hidden behind one of your dressers. He took off his own guitar that was still strapped behind him and set it down next to your bed.

“I didn’t know you played.” Ricky pointed to your hidden instrument and picked it up.

You smiled as he saw it, “Not as much as you do, I barely know how to play it anymore.” You took it way from his hands and set it next by your nightstand.

You sat down in the center of your bed cross-legged. You patted the empty space in front of you for Ricky to sit. He gladly sat down next to you.

“I came here for a reason, and it’s because I wanted to sing you something.” He picked up his guitar again and put it on his lap. “I’ll try and sing quietly.”

You clapped your hands excitedly. Ricky blushed as you watched him fumble with his fingers, feeling more nervous to play in front of you.

“When we’re underneath the lights

my heart’s no longer broken.

For a moment,

just for a moment.

When we’re singin’ side by side

there’s so much left unspoken.

For a moment,

just for a moment.”

Ricky strummed the remainder of the song, smiling to himself. You couldn’t help but tear up at the music. He looked up as he finished playing to see your flushed face. He quickly took off the guitar and placed it beside you on your bed.

“That was beautiful, Ricky.” You gushed.

Ricky moved in front of you, holding onto your hand. “Nothing is as beautiful as you.”

Ricky placed his lips at yours, finally kissing you after hours of anticipation. He left his other hand at your neck, and you held the same hand. You kissed back hungrily, and Ricky took note of this.

He pushed you back against your headboard, his legs in between yours. You tangled your hands in his hair. Ricky placed his hands on either side of your body. You couldn’t have been more happier than you were now. Everything felt so right.

“Y/N? Are you ok? Are you talking to someone?” Your mother’s voice from downstairs interrupted you and Ricky.

You pushed Ricky off of your body and smoothed out your bed. He quietly got up and tried to grab his guitar, making his way to the balcony.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just watching some tv.” You yelled, motioning Ricky out the door.

You secretly opened the window, letting Ricky step out. You both silently laughed. He was about to climb back down until you grabbed his arm to pull him back to you.

You pulled from his neck down to you, reconnecting your lips. It was quick, but still gentle. He pulled away, a dazed look in his eyes. You smiled at his reaction.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful.” Ricky whispered, pecking your lips once more.

“See you tomorrow.” You waved at him before he sneakily climbed back down the tree.

You locked the door again and closed the curtain before your mother opened the door. She inspected the room, anticipating a person on your bed or hiding in your closet. She only grinned once she saw your guitar out from hiding.

“Since when did you start playing guitar again?” She wondered.

“I just really, really like the guitar a lot more now.”

A/N - this one is a more fluffy story , i really like it though lol hope u guys like it !! love y’all xx

#ricky bowen imagine #ricky bowen x reader #ricky bowen #ricky bowen blurbs #ricky bowen fluff #ricky bowen angst #ricky bowen oneshot #joshua bassett x reader #joshua bassett imagine #joshua bassett #joshua bassett oneshot #joshua bassett blurbs #joshua bassett fluff #joshua bassett angst #hsmtmts imagine #hsmtmts

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whosemorales · 3 years

Text

Heartbeat

IMPORTANT INFO Post Civil War and Spider-Man Homecoming. Infinity War and Endgame never ever happened cause no one needs that much sadness in their life. None of these one-shots are related unless it says otherwise. And I don't know when I'm going to post but I will try and make it weekly. I don't take requests, but you are free to comment.

Peter couldn't keep the smile off his face all day. It was Friday the last day of school for the week, but that wasn't why Peter was excited, he was excited because he was spending the entire weekend at the Avengers Tower.

Ever since he stopped the Vulture from stealing Mr Starks plane, he spent more and more time with Mr Stark and had grown a lot closer to him. He had met the Avengers a few weeks ago after the accords were sorted out they were welcomed back to the tower, it had been a bit awkward at first but they all grew closer and upon meeting Peter they absolutely adored him.

Peter was currently in his last class of the day, history, the only subject he didn't have with Ned, and he was bored. Don't get him wrong he loved history but they were learning about WW2 and Peter already knew heaps about it (courtesy of Steve and Bucky). So he decided to occupy himself with designing new Web formula, one that would be stronger than anything he's had before, hopefully, strong enough to hold down the hulk.

*20 minutes later*

Peter was writing down the last few equations in his book when the bell suddenly rang through the classroom, causing him to wince due to his heightened hearing, quickly grabbing his stuff he made his way out of the classroom and into the crowded halls of the school.

He met up with Ned on the way to his locker and they both started to talk about the new lego set Ned's mum had just bought him. While Ned was talking Peter was grabbing the books he would need and shoving them into his bag.

"What up losers." Both boys turned to see MJ standing there, but she wasn't looking at them; she still had her nose in her book.

"Oh hey MJ." Peter and Ned said at the same time, laughing the two boys grabbed their stuff and the three made their way out of the school. They spoke outside for a little while until a black Audi pulled up out the front.

"That's Happy I gotta go, bye guys!" Peter yelled as he walked over to the car.

"Hey Happy." Peter greeted as he tossed his bag onto the back seat and climbed in.

"Hey, Pete."

As Happy pulled onto the main road Peter began to ramble on about his day and the amount of homework the teachers had given them.

About an hour later they pulled into the back entrance of the tower to avoid the paparazzi.

Hopping out of the car Peter called out a quick 'goodbye' to Happy before getting into the elevator. When the doors closed Friday's voice rang through the speakers.

"Hello Peter, how was school?" The AI asked.

"It was good Friday. Could you please take me to whatever floor Mr Stark is on.?" Peter questioned.

"Of course Peter, Boss is currently on the Penthouse floor with the avengers. Would you like me to inform him of your arrival?" Friday questioned.

"Yes please." With that, the elevator started to make its way to the penthouse floor.

When the elevator stopped Peter thanked Friday and made his way out, he dropped his bag on the kitchen counter and walked into the main living area. Peter saw that all the avengers were watching TV (Everyone except Thor who is in Asgard with Loki). Steve, Sam and Bucky were all sharing the couch closest to the window, Tony, Bruce, Rhodey and Nat were on the middle couch directly in front of the TV and Wanda and Vision were sharing a chair together. Mr Stark was the first to notice Peters presence.

"Oh, hey kid, how was school?" Mr Stark asked.

"It was good but boring I already knew most of the stuff they were teaching anyway, but I did get time to design a new formula for my webs," Peter announced taking a seat on one of the empty chairs.

"Well if you want we can go down to the lab and start working on them." Mr Stark offered.

"Really!! That would be awesome Mr Stark!"

The billion air sighed. "Kid how many times do I have to tell you, it's Tony, Mr Stark makes me feel old."

"I know," Peter smirked, "But I'm going to keep calling Mr Stark because you won't stop calling me kid."

"Touché."

The others laughed at the duo's interaction. They were going to turn back to the TV when Fridays voice stopped them.

"Boss Miss Potts would like me to inform you of her arrival."

"Peppers back?" Peter chimed in, a wide smile taking over his features. Pepper had recently been on a trip to Tokyo to help strengthen the company.

"How come you call her Pepper but me Mr Stark!" Tony grumbled, Peter just rolled his eyes making the others laugh. Just then the elevator dinged drawing everyone's attention. Now Peters hearing is amazing meaning that he can hear things that not even Steve or Bucky could, so when Pepper walked out of the elevator he was confused when he heard two heartbeats.

"Hey everyone." Pepper greeted, receiving numerous hi's and hello's from everyone in the room, everyone except Peter that is, who was still trying to figure out what he had just heard.

"Um, Pete you wanna so hi?" Wanda asked, looking at the boy with furrowed eyebrows.

"What? Oh yeah um hi Pepper how was Tokyo?" Peter smiled deciding to ignore what had just happened.

"Tokyo was amazing but the people well they were draining," Pepper laughed, "What have you guys been up to?" Pepper asked taking a seat next to Tony.

"Not much," Natasha replied.

"Miss Potts," Fridays voice rang through the room, " Miss Pierce would like me to inform you that she finished all the paperwork you asked for and she also needs your signature for one of the documents."

"Who the hell is Miss Pierce?" Tony wondered aloud.

Pepper rolled her eyes, "She's the new assistant I told you I was hiring her name is Freya Pierce." As soon as Peter heard her name he got a tingly feeling in the back of his neck. Something wasn't right.

"Tell her to take it to my office and I'll meet her there please Fri," Pepper answered, getting up from her seat.

"Um, Pepper could I come with you?" Peter asked quickly.

"Of course." Pepper smiled.

The two made their way over to the elevator and got in, as soon as the doors closed Peter frowned he could still hear the sound of three heartbeats and then his brain suddenly clicked, Pepper was pregnant.

"Um, Pepper? This is going to be a really weird question but are you pregnant?" Peter asked sheepishly.

Peppers eyes went wide, "H-How did you know?"

"Heightened hearing." Peter shrugged.

Pepper facepalmed, "Of course I totally forgot about that, it was supposed to be a surprise I was going to tell everyone at dinner."

"I won't tell anyone, " Peter assured, a smile slowly growing on his face, "Is it a girl or a boy?"

Pepper laughed, "It's a girl."

"Yes!" Peter triumphed.

Then the elevator dinged cutting off Peters celebrations and he remembered why he was really here, the doors opened to show the hall leading to Peppers office, standing out the front was a young girl round about Peters age, she had brown curls that descended past her shoulders, she was wearing black jeans, black boots and grey shirt with a black leather jacket, in her hands was the paperwork Peter assumed Friday was talking about.

"Thank you so much, Freya, come in here and I'll sign the documents." Pepper gestured to her office. Opening the door the three of them walked inside, as soon as the door closed Peters spider-sense went haywire.

"Just place them on the desk please Katherine." Pepper smiled, Freya nodded and walked over to the desk placing them on the edge.

Freya stood back giving Pepper room to sign the documents, Peter kept his eyes on her the whole time making himself ready for whatever she was planing. A sudden grunt from Pepper made him whip his head around, Pepper had just cut her finger on the paper, but a few seconds was all Freya needed, realising his mistake Peter quickly turned back around only to be face to face with a gun barrel.

"There, all done." Pepper smiled, oblivious to the gun being pointed at Peter.

"Um, Pepper."

"Yes, hun?" Peter would normally smile or blush slightly but now wasn't really the time.

"You might want to turn around." Turning around Pepper gasped in surprise, she slowly put her hands up.

Freya smirked. "It's been wonderful working for you Miss Potts it really has, but I'm afraid I won't be able to make it in tomorrow," she fake pouted. God Peter really hated this woman, he slowly put his hands behind his back preparing to shoot his Web shooters only to realise that they weren't on his wrists. Crap! That might be a problem.

"What are you doing?" Pepper asked.

"I'm getting my revenge," she answered.

"Revenge for what? We haven't done anything."

Freya let out a bitter laugh. "Because I used to have a family, a loving caring family and then our village was attacked with the same weapons that were made in this very tower. I watched my entire family get killed with one blast of a bomb, the only reason I survived was because my mother and father shielded me from the blast, but I didn't get away unscathed," She took off her jacket to reveal burn marks covering her skin, shrugging her jacket back on Freya then turned to Peter.

"And you, not scared? Trying to act brave by not putting your hands up?"

Peter just shrugged. "Not the first time someone's held a gun at me. And quite frankly you're just being dumb I mean seriously, you pull a gun on Miss Potts and don't think that she would have some way of contacting all the avengers with just a push of a button." Peter asked raising his eyebrows, but he was only buying time and praying to the gods that Friday had alerted the avengers.

Freya's facade faltered but she quickly replaced it with a smirk.

"It doesn't matter whether or not they get me, it's whether or not they save her on time." Freya suddenly turned the gun on Pepper and fired. Peter silently thanked the gods for his enhanced reflexes as he jumped in front of her not wanting to hurt her or the baby by pushing her out of the way.

Peter felt the bullet pierce his skin and embed its self in his flesh, he let out a cry and dropped to his knees but still stayed in front of Pepper ready to protect her again if Freya decided to fire another bullet.

Freya was shocked but decided not to dwell on it turning around she ran as fast as she could trying to make it out before the avengers got there.

"Friday call the avengers now!" Pepper yelled as she ran to help Peter, who was still on his knees trying to stop the blood flow with his hands.

"Are you ok? Is the baby ok?" Peter asked looking over at Pepper with worry.

"I'm fine Pete I'm not the one who just got shot."

"Sorry." Peter winced, as Pepper pressed a towel on the open wound.

"What are you sorry for?" Pepper asked trying to put enough pressure on at the same time.

"I'm getting blood everywhere."

Pepper sighed this kid was too good for his own good. "Pete right now that is the least of my problems."

"I'm fine, it's just a bullet wound, I've had way worse trust me." Peter laughed slightly but stopped when he saw the expression on Pepper's face.

"What-" Pepper stopped herself, "That's a question for another day right now I need to get you to the med-bay."

Pepper put Peters arm over her shoulder and hers under his and started to lift him up. Peter winced a couple of times until he was standing up fully straight, or a straight as you could be when half of your body is leaning in the other direction.

"Friday tell Bruce to set up the med-bay," Pepper called out as she helped Peter make his way to the door.

"Bruce is currently in the med bay setting up and the rest of the Avengers are on their way," Friday responded, as if on cue the elevator opened up and the avengers ran out decked in full gear. Peter would have laughed if it wasn't for the pain in his side and the fact he was starting to see two of everything.

"What the hell happened?!" Tony exclaimed as he grabbed Peters other arm to help with the weight.

"We don't Have time for that right now, we need to get him to the med-bay he's losing a lot of blood."

Clint ran over and took Peppers place and helped Tony take Peter to the med bay all the while trying to keep the young spiderling awake.

When they got to the med-bay they quickly but carefully placed Peter down on the bed that Bruce set up, Peter winced at the movement and bit his lip to keep himself from crying out. Bruce quickly ushered everyone out of the way and began to take the bullet out before his enhanced healing covered it. Unfortunately one of the downsides to having an enhanced metabolism is that it eats through the sedatives way too quickly, meaning that Peter had to be awake while Bruce took the bullet out. Bruce was halfway through taking the bullet out when Peter finally passed out. *******

The others were anxiously waiting outside the room, praying that Peter would be alright. Bucky, Steve, Wanda, Rhodey, Sam and Pepper were sitting on the chairs out the front of the med-bay Vision was floating close to Wanda and Tony was pacing back and forth running his hand through his hair over and over again.

"What happened?" Tony asked suddenly stopping and turning to Pepper.

Pepper sighed and began to tell them exactly what happened.

"-And then I heard the gunfire and I closed my eyes waiting for the bullet to hit me but instead I heard Peter cry out and when I opened my eyes he was in front of me with a bullet wound in his side, and then Freya ran so I tried to stop the bleeding and helped him up and that's when you guys came in."

"Well Freya didn't get very far, security stopped her before she could get out," Sam smirked.

"Of course the kid would try and save you, but why didn't he push you out of the way," Tony asked, "I mean if he pushed you out of the way then you both would have gotten out unscathed and Peter would have been able to catch her, so why did he stand in front of you?" Tony asked mainly to himself.

"I-I don't know." Pepper cursed herself for stuttering.

Tony frowned slightly. "Pep why did he jump in front of you?" he asked again this time to Pepper.

The others were listening in closely for her answer.

"I don't know," Pepper repeated.

"Tony just leave it and come sit down." Rhodey pipped up gesturing to the seat beside him.

"NO! No, I will not just leave it my kid is in there with a bullet wound that he wouldn't have got if he had just pushed Pepper out of the way so why didn't he?" Tony demanded.

"BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT!" Pepper finally yelled.

Everyone went silent, their eyes grew wide and small smiles started to form on their faces.

"What?" Tony asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm pregnant," Pepper repeated with a soft smile. Before Pepper could even register what was happening she was being enveloped in a hug, Tony held her tight his face nuzzled into her neck and pepper could have sworn she felt something wet fall onto her shoulder. When Tony finally let go he brought Pepper in for a passionate kiss.

When they pulled away Tony frowned. "Wait how did Peter know, did you tell him before me." He gasped bring his hand up to his heart in mock hurt, making the others laugh.

"No, it's because of his enhanced hearing, when we were in the elevator he asked me, I was shocked at how he knew but then he told me it's because he could hear a second heartbeat."

"Wow, that kid really is something," Bucky said.

"Yeah, he sure is." Bruce agreed, startling everyone as he came out of the med-bay.

"Bruce, how is he?" Tony asked quickly praying to gods it didn't hit anything important and that Peter was going to be ok.

"He's fine," Bruce assured, "Actually he's better than fine, his system I-I've never seen anything like it before. I mean Steve's and Bucky's is good but Peter's is amazing the way it works is fascinating. Normally when Steve or Bucky get shot it takes a little while to heal, but Peters system is working at a phenomenal speed, meaning when he wakes up he might feel a bit sore but it will only feel like a bruise." Bruce explained.

Everyone was shocked, they knew Peters healing was good but they didn't know it was that good.

"Can we go in?" Tony question, Bruce gave him a nod and Pepper and he rushed in.

When they got to Peters bed they saw the bandage wrapped around his waist and the heart monitors finger clip attached to his finger, the monitor was beeping in a steady rhythm, indicating that Peters heart rate was normal.

They both took a seat on either side of Peter and took his hand making sure that they would be the first ones he would see when he woke up. They sat in the med-bay for half an hour before the little spider started to wake up.

"Mmhm." Peter moaned trying to open his eyes, but once they did open he regretted it because a bright light blinded him. He waited a couple of seconds before opening them again.

"What happened?" Peter mumbled, but he suddenly sat bolt upright scaring the daylights out of Pepper and Tony, "Is Pepper OK! Is the baby OK!" He asked quickly looking around still waiting for his eyes to adjust properly.

Tony and Pepper laughed softly. "She's fine kiddo, and so is the baby," Tony answered.

"Oh, hey Mr Stark," Peter waved slightly before his eyes went as wide as dinner plates, "OMG! I just told him about the baby! I promised I wouldn't tell because you were going to tell them all at dinner. I am a despicable human being." Peter gasped, putting his face in his hands.

Pepper laughed, "Pete it's fine I already told him."

"Oh thank the gods." Peter sighed.

Just then the vent swung open and Clint fell out.

"Ow." He groaned, but a smile quickly took over his face when he saw that Peter was awake.

Getting off the floor he gave Peter a hug ruffling his hair making Peter growl. Soon all the avengers were in the med-bay they all gave Peter a hug, glad that he was ok. And Peter loved it he loved them and sure they were a very dysfunctional family but they were his dysfunctional family.

"So Pepper, what are you going to name the baby?" Natasha asked.

"WAIT YOU PREGNANT!!!" Bruce yelled.

#irondad #spiderson #spiderman #avengers #avengers tower #marvel #mcu #fluff

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ecto-american · 4 years

Text

If Found Please Return to Danny Phantom

Phic Phight Oneshot for @imperfection-at-itsfinest: When Jack manages to get his hands on Danny Phantom's ghost hunting logbook, an investigation reveals some information about ghosts and the infamous specter himself that a scientific study would never cover.

Read on FFN and AO3

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It would be wrong of him to read it.

Jack kept staring at the book in his hands. It resembled a diary, the front design being colorless but a pressed design. The moon with stars, with no words, and the diary itself felt unusually thin. There was no lock, as if it was almost inviting him to just read it. Jack had, in fact, already opened to the first page, and the first words greeted him. In a standard font read: If Found, Please Return to: and the name scrawled, in surprisingly tidy handwriting, was the name Danny Phantom.

What an absolute find. It was pure dumb luck. He had seen Phantom drop it, but Jack had went looking for it in hopes that the ghost teen had dropped one of the stolen Fenton gadgets. Only to recover...this book that he had taken home and into the privacy of his lab for study.

The idea of Phantom keeping a diary was kinda funny. He never struck Jack as the type to write down his deepest darkest secrets or teenage embarrassments in a book. That would imply that the ghost had some kind of emotions. They didn’t. They were blobs of ectoplasmic energy.

So it should be okay for him to read, right? Why was he so hesitant? Well...it was an invasion of privacy. But it was fine. Phantom dropped it in the park. Phantom was a menace to society. There was likely evidence in this journal that could explain all of the ghost boy’s terrible deeds, that could prove that he truly was evil. This diary could change everything.

...Jack had children though, and he knew both were avidly creative. Scrapbooking, drawing, painting, writing. They were stress outlets for his girls, and he wouldn’t ever dare dream of invading their privacy like that. So he couldn’t. He shouldn’t. Phantom deserved privacy, right?

“Jack? Are you coming to dinner?” Maddie’s voice snapped him from his thought process. She hadn’t made a noise as she came down the stairs. But Maddie was a much better stealth hunter than him.

“Yes, yes! Sorry, I was distracted,” Jack apologized. He set the book down on the table. Maddie rose an eyebrow at him.

“Did you get a new ectobiology book?” she asked. His eyes glanced to the book, and he shook his head no. Maddie came over to him, studying the book cover. Of course, it didn’t resemble any of the scientific texts that they owned.

“I don’t know how to explain it…” Jack said slowly. He held it out to her. Maddie accepted it.

“This looks like it belongs to the kids,” she stated. She opened the first page, and Jack saw her eyes widen. Her breath hitched, and she looked up to him “Jack...where did you...get this?”

“He dropped it during a fight,” he replied. “I thought it was Fenton tech, but…”

Her eyes sparkled, and she shut the book. A wide grin had appeared, and she threw her arms around her husband.

“Oh Jack! This could teach us so much! If this really is a journal or some kind of diary, then he may have recorded motivations! Thoughts! We can really get into how Phantom thinks and a raw, honest, firsthand account from Phantom himself! This changes everything!”

She was right. She was absolutely right, and he hugged her back. They were scientists first and foremost, and this journal could fill in so many missing blanks about ghosts. It was a starting off point. Jack’s mind raced with all the things they could possibly learn. Just from a simple peek of the book. That was worth more than the invasion of privacy of a ghost that caused so much havoc, destruction and pain.

“We should look at it right now!” he exclaimed. Maddie pulled away with a small frown.

“After dinner,” she reminded him. “I finally got everybody corralled upstairs for a family dinner. It’s nearly impossible to get either of the girls at the same time.”

“Oh, right!” Jack nearly slapped his forehead. Yes, they were scientists first and foremost, but before even that, they were Mom and Dad. “First thing after dinner.”

“First thing after dinner,” she agreed with a smile.

Upstairs, he saw that Jazz was already serving herself. Chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. His youngest was pouring iced tea into glasses for everybody.

“Hey Ghost-kateers!” Jack greeted cheerfully with a grin. Both kids groaned in embarrassment. Perfect.

“Daaad!” his youngest complained, a whine hitching as she put the pitcher of ice tea back. “I told you, if I’m going to be some kind of ye olde soldier type, I wanna be a knight, like at the renaissance fair.”

“Ah, but if you’re a ghost-kateer, you can get an anti-ghost musket!” Jack teased. As he walked past her to get his own food, he playfully ruffled her pixie-cut hair. She waved his hand away.

“But as a ghost knight, I can get a cool sword!” she protested. Jack shook his head in fake disappointment.

“Never bring to a ghost sword to a ghost musket fight, baby boo,” her dad replied.

“Can’t shoot what you can’t see!” she shot back with a grin. Jack had to hand it to her, and he just chuckled.

“Can we please have a ghost free dinner?” Jazz scowled.

“Yes, yes, let’s save ghosts for after dinner,” Maddie agreed. Jazz shot her a grateful look, and Jack focused on getting his serving of dinner from the stove. His youngest pushed her sleeves up, exhaling. Jack stole a look at her and frowned. She had some sweat collected on her forehead.

“Honey if you're hot, you can just take your sweatshirt off,” he told her. She shook her head no.

“No, I'm fine,” she insisted. Jack was skeptical.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Mhm!”

Jack shrugged a bit. She was always insisting on wearing a hoodie, no matter the weather. If she got hot enough, she’d take it off. No need to force it. He got his food and took his seat.

“How's school going?” Maddie questioned. Jazz lit up a bit, and her sister flinched. She raised a suspicious eyebrow at her youngest.

“I managed to get a B on my chemistry test,” the youngest spoke up with a forced smile.

“That’s excellent!” Maddie’s demeanor shifted as she smiled warmly. “Keep it up!”

“Yeah!” The youngest seemed to visibly relax. “Sam’s been helping me study.”

“That’s good, I always studied better when V-man or your mom helped me,” Jack nodded at her as he cut up his chicken.

“Oh it’s true, I used to help your father study for all of our shared classes,” Maddie confirmed. “Otherwise he’d get so distracted.”

“Yeah, Sam just explains it super well,” their daughter agreed. “Tucker’s been going over math with me a bit, which helps some.”

“Well if you need a tutor, just let us know, and we’ll help you arrange one,” Maddie smiled. “What about you, Jazz?”

“Pretty good,” she replied. “Mr. Lancer asked if I wanted to be his TA this summer, which I really do. It’ll look good on a college application, and I might even get paid!”

“Have you been narrowing down where you might wanna go?” Jack asked. Jazz eagerly nodded.

“Yeah! Oxford is my number one choice, but I also would love to go to Yale or Stanford. I’ve been talking with the college counselor about what else might look good on an application for them that I can do over the summer. I wrote them down in my planner notebook earlier-”

“Hey, that kinda reminds me,” her sister interrupted. “Have you guys seen one of my notebooks? I think I lost it,” she asked them. Jack stared at her. The reminder of the notebook he actually had found. Maddie seemed unbothered by the question. This wasn’t unusual, for the parents to have to play “where’s my stuff?” with the kids.

“What notebook?” Jazz asked hesitantly.

“My important one,” came the reply. Jazz frowned lightly.

“Sorry, princess, haven’t seen any notebooks laying around,” Jack replied. He saw the briefest of a cringe cross his youngest’s features. “Did you leave it at school?” Her shoulders slumped.

“I don’t think so?” she said hesitantly. “I’ll have to check tomorrow. I was so sure I had it earlier…” Her voice trailed off before she forced a smile. “If you see it, let me know!” She picked up a forkful of chicken, only to freeze. The clattering made Jack glance up curiously as she was turning her attention to Maddie. “Can I be excused? I have some homework to get done.”

Maddie let out a soft sigh. So much for family dinner.

“Of course, just make sure you come back down before you go to bed to get your chores done,” Maddie nodded at her. The young Fenton snapped to her feet with a thanks, fully abandoning her dinner as she went to the stairs. Jazz stared after her sister, craning her neck to track her movements before hurriedly shoveling more mashed potatoes in her mouth.

“Uh, I’m not that hungry, and I totally forgot to do this online assignment,” Jazz spoke, standing up, taking hers and her sister’s plate. She was already walking away before either parent could truly give permission. “I’ll put our plates up and clean up in a bit!”

“A-alright?” Jack hesitated, watching his other child put the plates on the counter before rushing up as well. Another child down. They seemed to grow up so fast.

“Least they’re doing homework,” Maddie sighed lightly, shaking her head before taking a drink of her tea. “Oh well. Might as well take their lead and eat in the lab?”

“Please,” Jack agreed. He stood up, taking his plate. “I’m dying to see what Phantom has to say.”

January 10

Skulker: 1; captured

Ectopuss: 1; captured

Box Ghost: 8; captured

Ember: Fought; got away

Fenton Thermos: half-full

Fenton Fisher: untangled

January 11

Vultures: 1; got away

Cujo: 1; played fetch and he went back to the GZ

Fenton Thermos: Full

Ghost Bazooka: overheated and doesn’t shoot anymore, take apart and fix it

January 12

Skulker: 2; got away

Box Ghost: 3; captured

Sidney: 2; got away

Fenton Fisher: tangled, untangle asap

January 13

Skulker: 1; captured

Box Ghost: 4; got away

Fenton Thermos: damaged, won’t suck up ghosts

I met a new ghost today named Desiree. She got away, but it allowed me to discover a new ghost power. Ghost ray.

Maddie furrowed her brow as she studied the words. She stood at the table, her dinner half-forgotten as she thought on the words.

“It sounds like a record,” Jack mused, and he ate another spoonful of peas. Maddie nodded in agreement.

“I think we found Phantom’s logbook,” she agreed. “I’m assuming these are the ghosts he’s fought. And he seems to be recording his powers too. This is huge, we can match up what we know about his powers and what he’s claiming.”

“And he’s recording the status of our equipment.” Jack frowned. “Why would he care?”

“Yeah, he made note that he was going to fix the Fenton Bazooka too,” Maddie pointed out. The scientist flipped through the pages, only to stop at a page, staring curiously. Maddie laid the journal on the table, pressing the spine so that the pages stayed open. She read the page aloud to Jack.

December 19

I hate my life. I hate this existence. I look in the mirror and wonder why it has to be this way. Why am I the one cursed to be this freak? Why is everything about me and my body wrong? For once, I wish something about me was normal, that somebody about me could be right. If Desiree wasn’t such an unreliable asshole with wishes, I’d give everything I have to wish that life could, for once, allow me to be a normal teenage boy.

Jack listened to her in a stumped silence. This couldn’t have been a pre-death thought process of a moody teenager. It was written too recently, and the words hit a sorrowful chord to him. He didn’t intend to, but he quickly began to feel sorry for Phantom. He was very young. It couldn’t have been easy to lose everything at that age. His daughter was his age. Jack cleared his throat.

“It’s not just a log then?” Jack questioned. Maddie shook her head, flipping the pages back.

“No, I think it’s a mix. There’s still records of ghosts and FentonWorks equipment,” she replied. Using a leg, she pulled a wheeled chair to her to sit in. She leaned back, and she pulled the journal to her. After a moment of flipping through and scanning pages, she settled on a page about a third of the way through. “It seems like this is when he began to record things other than just ghosts.”

“What’s it say?” Jack wondered. Maddie read aloud the next few entries as Jack silently continued to eat.

April 4

I only fought this shitty panther today, and he still got away. I’m such a fucking idiot. I can’t believe he got away. I was too slow. All I do is fuck up. There’s ghostly activity happening around the school, and I just can’t figure it out. I feel like I can’t stop them anymore. I don’t know what’s going on, why I suddenly suck so much. I honestly probably just always sucked, and now it’s starting to hit me. [scribbles] and [scribbles] were trying to make me feel better, but I fucked up. It was only one ghost today, and I couldn’t catch them. It destroyed an entire store, and it’s my fault.

April 8

No ghosts today, surprisingly. But [scribbles] has been acting weird lately. The other day she poked and prodded me at dinner. No clue what that’s about. She also tried to give me this speech that I can talk to her about anything, and that she’d love me no matter what. That makes me think she found my binder. I’m honestly kinda freaking out. I knew I shouldn’t have left it out like that. She’s such a nosy know it all.

“Phantom must keep more records than just this,” Maddie lightly mused. “He has an entire binder full of information that somebody discovered.”

“Maybe on other ghosts?” Jack theorized. “He’s recording his fights, he must be also recording information about them.” Maddie’s eyes lit up.

“That makes so much sense,” she agreed. “He probably keeps so many kinds of things written down and logged. I wonder where he’s keeping it? Obviously paper, which is a bit odd. I figured a teenager would move to the digital age…” Maddie paused.

“Maybe he’s older than we think he is?” Jack suggested. “He could have died fifty years ago, and just be more comfortable with writing things down.”

“Oh, that’s true,” Maddie mused. She put down the notebook to take a long sip of her drink. Jack picked it up to observe the page she read.

“Phantom has neat handwriting,” he noted. “He’s not fighting ghosts when he writes these.” Jack’s eyes scanned the words. “...I wonder who he’s scribbled out.”

“Allies?” Maddie shrugged. “He probably went back and blacked out some of the names. Privacy. Especially if this isn’t the first time he’s lost this.”

It made the most logical sense. Jack skipped the purely log entries to one that had more written, and he read it aloud to his wife.

April 10

She was feeding on us. Spectra, the Casper High “psychologist” was feeding on emotions, like some kind of emotional vampire but she’s a ghost. It’s so scary. I saw her do it. She asked [scribbles] and [scribbles] about their lives. What made them unhappy, and why. And when they left, I saw her absorb? I guess how I’d describe it? She absorbed the energy into her skin and it just seemed to instantly revive her, and it made her happy. When she did it to me, I could just look in her eyes and know that she enjoyed every minute of my misery. I managed to stop her, with [scribbles] helping me. It was weird. She didn’t seem afraid of me. I don’t know why.

Spectra: 2; captured

“Ghosts can feed off of energy!” Maddie exclaimed. “Human energy! We always suspected it, but this is confirming something!” Jack glanced up at her excitedly. It was the first real, true ghostly discovery that Phantom was revealing to them.

April 13

All I do is fuck up lately. Because of me, this ghost dog just absolutely has been causing havoc on this girl’s life. She blames me. And I don’t blame her. I ruined her entire life. She lost her house because of me. I didn’t mean to. I tried to stop the dog, but he just won’t respond to anything I say. I can’t capture him. I’ve been trying. I’ve been just calling the dog Cujo. After the Stephen King book, because damn is this dog giving me one fucking nightmare of a time.

Cujo: 3, got away

April 16

[scribbles] kissed me. It was to force me to change back, and it worked, but she kissed me. It was great. She smelled like lavender. I don’t think my heart’s ever beaten so fast. Afterwards she clarified to me that it was just a fake-out make-out. It didn’t feel like it. I don’t want it to be. But she’s my best friend, and I can’t lose her. So I agreed, and when I came home I cried. My dad caught me, and I pretended it was just girl problems, even though that excuse made me feel even worse. He got me some ice cream, and we watched Star Trek together. It didn’t really help that much, if I’m being honest.

Anyway, apparently Cujo’s trained. He knows his commands. [scribbles] thinks it’s because he was a guard dog when he was alive for Axion Labs. For a guard dog, he’s such a playful puppy though, he loves his squeaky toy. And [scribbles] became a hunter specifically to kick my ass. It’s my lucky month. But I deserve it. Will there ever be a day where I actually can do more good than bad?

Skulker: 1; captured

[Scribbles]: 1 Red Huntress

Cujo: 1, got away

“Phantom has a family?” Maddie wondered. She chewed on her food as she thought. Jack shrugged, an odd, unsettled feeling hitting him as he put the book down for a moment. He used his spoon to push around his peas.

“I mean, we all do,” Jack reminded her. “Just...I didn’t think Phantom still talked to his family. After his death. Or did such...non-ghost things with them.” Watching Star Trek with his dad? Jack did that with his own kids all the time. It was his and his youngest daughter’s favorite show to watch together. Jazz typically preferred documentary series, and Maddie was too bothered by scientific inaccuracies to really enjoy science fiction. So it was always “their thing” and knowing that Phantom did it too was...too human.

“Yeah, I didn’t...really expect him to still be haunting them,” Maddie said. Jack could tell that this was disturbing her a little.

“But ghosts can retain their memories from life it seems,” Jack spoke up. Maddie stared at him. “The dog remembers commands from his life as a guard dog. What extent, I’m not sure.” Maddie hummed curiously.

Jack picked the book up again, skipping through more boring logs to other words.

April 29

Ember: 2; captured

Fenton Thermos: full, empty

The past few weeks have been terrible. I have definitely come to the conclusion that I really am developing a crush on [scribbles]. Or maybe I always had one, I dunno. Is this really just an effect from Ember’s supposed spell? Does ghostly mind control really last? I think I always knew that I liked her though. I mean, ever since I told her that [scribbles], she’s been so supportive. She even cut my hair for me, which really pissed my parents off, but they ended up admitting that I looked better with my hair short anyway. Almost like it’s meant to be, huh? Ha. [scribbles] is also one of the only two people who know my deeper secret. She’s been so supportive through that too. She calls me Danny, and every time she refers to me as that, it makes my heart go crazy.

But would she even like me? Would she even wanna be with somebody like me? I don’t think I’d be her type. Some other friends I met at this local support group have complained about the struggles of dating. The stories are depressing, and it makes me worried that while [scribbles] will always love and accept me as a friend, that she’d never be able to love me as a boyfriend. I hate my life.

“Aw, Phantom has a little girlfriend,” Jack half-joked, only for goosebumps to raise and an odd chill run down his spine. He looked to Maddie for her opinion, and her face was scrunched up.

“That’s a bit creepy,” she commented. “He’s pretending to be human.”

“I dunno, Mads,” Jack shrugged. He re-read the ghostly teen’s internal conflicts. “Why would he pretend to be human in a journal that nobody’s meant to read?”

“He has to be sharing it with his allies,” she argued. “Those people he’s been scribbling out. Phantom has to be pretending for them. To keep them around. He even mentioned ghostly mind control.”

She pushed her mostly-finished plate from herself, motioning for Jack to hand over the journal. He complied, and Maddie flipped through it. She stopped, and she set the journal down on the table once more. Leaning over, she studied the spine. A finger ran along the inner spine, and she frowned.

“Pages are missing,” she noticed. Jack pushed his plate out of the way to lean over as well.

Indeed, the top of the diary revealed that it was meant to be a normal, full diary. Now that Maddie pointed it out, it looked like well over a fourth of the diary had missing pages. Jack squinted, pulling his hood over his eyes. He used his googles to better examine.

“They weren’t ripped out, like in a ghost fight,” Jack told her. He pointed to what remained of a page, a barely noticeable strip. “It was carefully cut out.” Maddie narrowed her eyes to get a better look.

“You’re right,” she mused. “Phantom did this purposefully. Probably to hide stuff from his allies.”

“But why hide some stuff and not others?” Jack wondered aloud. “Clearly this girlfriend figure is an ally, but he can’t be...sharing this with her, right?” Maddie pulled back from the notebook to lean in her chair with a heavy sigh.

“...I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t think he would. But he’s also a ghost, they do weird things.” Jack didn’t know how to reply, and so he continued to read.

May 16

The past few days have been so full of drama. Walker ruined my life. He absolutely ruined it. He set out to make me the most hated person in Amity Park out of pure spite, and he succeeded. I’m public enemy number one. I can never win. For a while now, I had debated telling my parents, because I so desperately want their support, but they were part of the news coverage calling me a disgusting, evil ghost. I ended up crying yesterday. I don’t think they’ll ever truly love me if they knew. I also failed Wulf. Another failure on my plate. I’m just waiting for it to all crash down on me.

Walker: 1; sent to the GZ

Wulf: 1; sent to the GZ

Walker’s goons: at least 14, all captured

Fenton Thermos: overflowingly full

“Oh this is just becoming nonsense,” Maddie complained. “He’s lying. We were there, Jack! We saw him attack us.”

“I know, I know, he did, yeah, he did,” Jack tried to gather his thoughts. “But why would he lie in this? I don’t think anybody was meant to read this?” Jack flipped through the pages. The further he flipped through in, the more he could tell that some sections had more carefully cut out papers than others. Why was Phantom cutting out? What was he hiding? Why was he hiding it?

“He meant for somebody to read this,” Maddie lightly argued.

“Yeah, it seems like it, but…,” Jack trailed off. He shook his head a bit, flipping back to where they had left off. “I dunno.”

“Hold on a second,” Maddie urged him, standing up. “Let me get something to write with, we should take some notes.”

“We can just use the scanner to make a copy of the journal afterwards, and we can further analyze it afterwards,” Jack suggested. Maddie thought on this, and she nodded, but she still reached for some scrap paper and a pen.

“Good idea, we should probably read through it fully first anyway,” she agreed. “But I still want to jot down some thoughts.”

“Of course, of course,” Jack replied. He knew that’s how she thought and processed information best, and it was always from her notes that he could visualize his own theories properly. He took a drink of tea before he continued reading the next true entry.

May 24

My entire relationship with my other crush (not [scribbles]) was a lie. She was being overshadowed by Kitty the entire time. This was my first real girlfriend, and it was all fake. I had assumed I was so lucky. I found a girl who knew and was okay with both of my biggest secrets. When I got home I ended up just going straight to my room. [scribbles] brought me dinner, but I didn’t feel like eating. Is this what life is going to be for me? I don’t want it to be like this. The only good thing is that [scribbles] doesn’t know either secret alongside our brief relationship.

Least Kitty and Johnny seem happy again. For now at least. I swear, they’re always breaking up and getting back together.

Kitty: 1; sent back to the GZ

Johnny 13: 1; sent back to the GZ

Shadow: 1; sent back to the GZ

Jack could lightly hear Maddie taking notes on her scrap paper, the pen scratching at the surface. He didn’t comment on it, silently flipping to the next page, and he continued to read.

August 19

I was forced to really face the reality of how much I fucked up [scribbles] life. I hate it. I’d do anything to take it back. It makes me wonder if I should just retire. Am I even really doing anything to help? Am I just a nuisance? Everybody thinks that.

Rationally I know I can’t. I’m the only one who can properly deal with the ghosts, who has the power and abilities to fight back without getting killed. I have to do what I can, but I just wish I could do it without making so many mistakes. [scribbles] said that it’ll be okay, and that it gets better, but it sure doesn’t fucking feel like it.

Skulker: 3; finished

Red Huntress: 2; temporary truce?

“He’s so full of...emotion for a ghost,” Maddie finally spoke up.

Jack glanced at the paper she had in front of her. There was some notes of what they had been learning so far, and there were emotions written in all caps with a line under, and a list of various emotions. Emotions Phantom seemed to be displaying. Guilty, despair, loneliness, self-hatred, self-doubt. Despite the few entries, it was already quite a list.

“It’s not just him either,” Maddie continued. Jack rose an eyebrow at her. She didn’t immediately reply, fingers on her lips as she stared down at the journal. “He’s giving emotions to other ghosts too.”

Jack stared down blankly at the journal in his hands.

“Where?”

Maddie began to write, and as she wrote, it clicked. Spectra’s joy in hurting others. Kitty and Johnny’s relationship. Walker’s spite. Cujo being a playful puppy. According to Phantom, and against what they knew as scientists, ghosts were experiencing a wide variety of emotions and for different reasons. It was weird.

Jack continued to read.

October 17

I don’t know what happened the past few days. It’s this weird blur. According to [scribbles] and [scribbles] I did a lot of bad things under Freakshow’s control. [scribbles] hugged me and told me that it was nothing that we couldn’t fix, but I doubt that. Why does this keep happening to me? I don’t want to hurt people. I want to be a good person, and I want to help Amity Park, but I don’t know what keeps happening. Everything’s a fog, and I’m exhausted.

Freakshow: 1; arrested by APPD

Circus ghosts: freed from Freakshow’s control, went back to the GZ

Replace Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, print out another sticker to put on it

“Freakshow...that was the weird circus guy,” Jack interrupted himself. Maddie nodded.

“Yeah, and if Phantom’s right...he could control the ghosts,” she mused. “So there’s a way for humans to take control of ghosts...That’s something to look into. If we can control the ghosts into staying away, it’d be such a massive scientific breakthrough.”

“We should look into Freakshow more, and see if we can talk to him!” Jack agreed. “Maybe he’ll share something with us.” Maddie smiled softly.

“I doubt that,” she replied gently. “But there’s no harm in trying. What else does it say?”

November 8

I have to fight Pariah Dark. I’m terrified. I don’t think I’ll live through it. How can I live through fighting the actual ghost king? I may never see my family again, and I can’t even tell them what happened to me if I die. I’ve been debating telling [scribbles] that I like her, but I don’t think I could bring myself to do it.

What happens if I die? I have no clue. I’m scared to find out. I can’t die now. I have to make it back. I’ll go missing, and I won’t even be declared dead as my parents’ son. Nobody will know who to really look for. I have to come back. Maybe if I succeed, and people like me again after this, I can tell my family everything.

November 10

I couldn’t tell them. My parents still despise part of me, despite what I’ve done. I know they love me, cause my mom’s already been fussing over me like crazy because of my injuries. [scribbles] said she cried when they couldn’t find me, and that my dad had gone out looking for me all over the city, even in the dangerous parts. They of course love me, but do they really love me unconditionally?

Jack felt his voice trailing off as he hit the end. He coughed lightly, and he took a long drink. Maddie stared off into nothing. The only thing he could think of was his own search for his baby girl. He wasn’t alone, bumping into several other parents desperately looking for their missing children, and several children who got separated from their parents. The entire day was somber and frightening, and Maddie had spent the entire day glued to the phone. In case she called them.

It was all...too real, and Jack flipped past more logs. He couldn’t help but begin to take note of how every single day had a log of ghost fighting activities, even if Phantom didn’t write down his feelings every day. This was so much more than the ghost hunting duo ever expected, more attacks than they were recording.

His eyes rested only for a moment on December 19, and he decided to just skip it. They had already read it earlier. No need to refresh those memories. More logs, and more missing pages, and he came upon another one.

March 26

I ripped out a lot of pages, more than I intended. I can’t risk anybody finding out what happened, but also other pages revealed too much, so I kept them tucked away where nobody could ever find them. I’d burn them, but I don’t want to lose the ghost hunting data. It’s okay now. I fixed the problem and assured that everything’s going to be fine. Possibly better. I made the right choice this time, and now I know that one day, I will grow a sick beard.

I know somebody knows my secrets now. All of them. She had known for months but wanted me to tell her. She asked me if I had a name, and ever since I told her that it was Danny, she’s been calling me that whenever she can. It made me cry the first time. It’s so great to have her know everything now. She loves me no matter what. I couldn’t ask for a better person. Even though she found out because I’m an idiot. This entire thing also made me realize how important it is to keep those secrets, and how poorly I’ve been keeping them.

I didn’t ever mean for this to turn into a diary. I wanted to keep track of ghost fights. But it honestly helps with both the dysphoria and the stresses of being a ghost. I just went back and scribbled out names. Just in case. In the future I need to be more vague.

But this is also the end for one secret. If things go wrong then well. I don’t know. I’ll make it up as I go along. But I know that this is who I am, and that I’m hitting a point where I need help to just be me.

Him: 1; captured for good

Skulker: 2; captured

Desiree: 1; captured

Ectopusses: 1; captured

Cujo: 1, sent back to the GZ

Fenton Thermos: full

Fenton Anti-Creep Stick: destroyed, get new bat and sticker to put on it

Also learned a new ghost power: Ghostly wail. A scream that can just absolutely fuck somebody’s day up. I have to use it sparingly though.

Jack closed the journal, and he set it flat on the table. His mind was blank, and he couldn’t read Maddie. She continued to stare at the closed book, hand in pen but almost unsure as to what to even jot down as a note. He leaned in his seat, finishing his drink. Maddie exhaled deeply, dropping her pen in favor of stretching.

Neither said a word. Jack knew that this journal was not any kind of trick. It was too raw and emotional to be anything more than the thoughts of a teenage ghost. He regretted reading it. It held some interesting information, and he was sure if he dug deeper, that he would find more. But as it stood, his own intense guilt was settling as he knew that he just took too personal a look into the private emotional afterlife of Phantom.

“This is a lot to take in,” Maddie finally spoke. Jack only nodded.

The basement door opened, and they heard dual pairs of footsteps hop downstairs. Jack instantly brightened, and he turned in his chair to smile as his kids soon came into view.

“Hey, is this a bad time?” Jazz asked. She glanced between them, and Jack immediately shook his head no.

“No, no,” Maddie replied quickly. Jack saw her push the journal and her notes, along with her pen and a few spare lab tools, carelessly into a drawer to help assure the Fenton kids that they weren’t interrupting anything. “What’s up, sweetie?”

“Well, I have something that I wanna talk about,” their youngest spoke slowly. Jack noticed that she had finally taken off her hoodie, and that while she wore her normal tomboy attire, that something was a bit off about her. He couldn’t place it. Jazz stood close to her, an arm full of books clutched to her chest, though he couldn’t make out any titles. “It’s something important, and I don’t really want to put it off any longer.”

“Is something wrong? Are you in trouble?” Jack asked. His daughter shook her head no.

“Oh, no!” she said. “It’s just…”

She took a deep breath, and soon, their son began to explain.

#phics #my phics #phic phight #team ghost

227 notes · View notes

captainjimothycarter · 4 years

Note

Prompt: Peter Parker mourning Tony is going through his things and accidentally transports himself back in time. But he also just so happens to bump into Steve...whose now married to Peggy

Your ideas <3. Please be kind, I’ve only written Peter for some RPs and they’re not great, so…

Where was he? Or when was he should be the question, Peter supposed. He didn’t know what happened. Pepper had asked him if he wanted to go through some of Mr. Stark’s things to keep and Peter had agreed. That’s what he’d been doing when his hand had touched a strange device and it vibrated to life, latching around his wrist. It refused to let go no matter how much he had tugged it. He’d just been about to scream for help when his voice was ripped from him and Peter found himself. Here.

Where was here?

He stuck out like a sore thumb in his jeans and hoodie, but luckily no one looked at him too much in this alleyway.

The air quality was cleaner, almost. And there were people in suits, hundreds crowded on the street. He watched a woman wearing a red hat, the color sticking out amongst the sea of dark-colored suits. His best guess? Back in time or another reality. A newspaper he’d passed said June 1951.

The year sent a shiver down his spine. He was back in time. Holy shit. He time traveled. Now, how the hell was he to get back?

The weird watch around his wrist lit up white and Peter bit his lip, figuring no harm could be done before hitting it. He found his outfit changed to something of a suit. It felt stiff and rigid and really itchy but it was a good cover.

Right, time to figure out where the hell he was.

It wasn’t like Peter was following the woman in the red hat. They were just going to the same place. She looked vaguely familiar like he’s seen her face somewhere. An article, a textbook. A photo. Maybe she was some scientist or someone who shaped history. He couldn’t place it.

When she turned to go into a diner, Peter’s stomach grumbled. He’d forgotten to eat this morning, too caught up in his mind to focus. His eyes followed her as she watched her bend down to kiss a man dressed in a green button-up. She smiled brightly at him and Peter saw the ring on her finger. He laughed at something she said and cupped her face lovingly. Normally PDA made him sick but something about this…softness made his heartache.

Maybe it was a look in their eyes that told the young teenager that these two had suffered so much and were lucky to be together. Maybe he was a soldier in the war.

Peter sighed and figured he needed to go elsewhere, maybe a library, maybe…somewhere with a lab. That would be a hard thing to find. He had to figure out about this thing on his wrist. He turned but something told him not to. Told him to turn back. He’d heard the front door open but hadn’t looked. He was still hidden in the alley.

The last he expected was to turn around and find himself face-to-face with Captain America. Steve. Steve Rogers in the flesh.

He’d known Steve had gone back in time, Bucky had told him.

He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry when Steve smiled at him and enveloped the scared teenager in his arms.

“Hey, hey,” he breathed as Peter hugged him tightly, a little too tight given Steve’s hitched breath. He combed his fingers through his hair. “Peter, what are you doing here? Did someone send you?”

There it was. The question made Peter breakdown even worse and through a terrible amount of tears and sobs, he managed to tell Steve everything. About how he was in Tony’s things, how this stupid bracelet wrapped around him, how he couldn’t get back. How he was scared. And his stomach growling just made it worse.

“Come on,” Steve sighed, shaking his head. “No use thinking on an empty stomach. Just keep your head down, if anyone asks you’re my nephew. Pegs and I will take you home to figure this out, okay? I’ll answer your questions later.”

Knowing Peter, there were questions.

Peggy raised an eyebrow when Steve brought Peter back inside and let him sit beside him. Steve ordered a large breakfast platter for the boy, looking back at Peggy’s poised face. Peter was trying not to stare too much.

“You’re Director Carter,” he whispered in awe. That caused Peggy to smile. “I-I read about you! In textbooks and did projects about you! The stuff-“

He stopped when Steve cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at him. Peter looked a bit sheepish and shrugged.

“Sorry…”

“it’s perfectly alright, Peter,” Peggy mused, patting the boy’s hand. “Steve has explained some things to me but nothing about another visitor. I suppose its another mystery to figure out. I’ll call into work, I can do it from home. You two can’t be left alone to this.”

No one questioned Peter or his huge appetite. Or why Steve was holding him close to his side as they got a cab home rather than risked walking.

Peter was confused about seeing Bucky at the Rogers-Carter home. He was in the back, tending to the garden, his left sleeve tied into a knot. “I rescued him,” Steve explained, earning a slap to his shoulder from Peggy. “We rescued him, I wasn’t cutting you out, Pegs, geez.”

He sat Peter down and got him some water, sitting across from him with Peggy beside him. Bucky had come in and looked startled at the young boy. “Did…you two…adopt while I was gone? I thought you were just meeting for breakfast? Why aren’t you at work?”

“Anyone tell you that you’re too nosy?” Peggy teased, leaning back into her seat, the phone cradled in her ear as she dialed a number. “Steve, it seems found a friend from his…future. We’re trying to figure out the rest. I’m working now, excuse me.”

While Peggy spoke to someone named Phillips and Devin on the phone, Peter looked around the home. It was warm. Homey. Loving. Filled with bits of life. A total difference from the one time he’s been in Steve’s apartment. There was evidence of these two lives together from photos to trinkets, to Steve’s jacket over the back of the couch, Peggy’s heels on the floor. He couldn’t decide if Bucky lived here or not. The man looked different. Happier. Much happier. Even if he was confused at the concept of Peter. Fuck, he was confused too.

“You two married?” The question came out in almost awe to Steve. He looked excitably happy at the rings. Peggy, for her sake, covered the receiver end to just laugh.

“We did,” Steve mused, giving a smile. “Maybe not the most…safest of weddings but it was one fitting for us.”

Peter wanted to question more but couldn’t. Not when Peggy was done with the phone call and Bucky was sitting in the recliner. They asked what happened again. And Peter told them everything, showing them the watch that wouldn’t come off.

Odd. It didn’t look like what they’d use to time travel earlier. Peter even knew that. It was something much older, making Steve wonder if Tony had fucked around with the idea of time travel beforehand. Maybe. He wouldn’t put it past him.

“We have to call Howard,” Peggy sighed. “The last I want this man to do is know about time travel but we have no choice. It looks like his work, not the work of your friend, Steve.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. Howard Stark? As in Tony’s father? The inventor and father of so many branches of science? Steve just laughed at how giddy the boy was. Like father, like son.

Howard didn’t exactly buy the nephew's story Steve tried to give him. He was a terrible liar. Plus, Peter looked nothing like him. In the end, they told Howard everything from Steve’s time travel to Peter’s. Even Peter learned some new things he didn’t know before the situation.

The man just sat back in his chair, rubbing at his jawline. His eyes falling to the boy’s wrist. “Right. We’ll talk about that later, Stevie but for now let’s help your friend out. Pegs, for now, I suggest you return to work like normal after tomorrow. Can’t let anyone know somethings wrong. Peter, was it? You’ll need to stay inside but it's fine. The house is secure and Steve and Buck can stay with you. Just don’t let them corrupt you.”

Bucky’s yelling could be heard from where he was taking a shower, Howard smirking as he bent back over Peter’s wrist.

There was something catatonic about working with Howard Stark. Howard didn’t know about Tony whatsoever and Steve never told him and warned Peter not to tell the man. Peter didn’t know much about Tony and Howard’s relationship but he could guess it wasn’t the healthiest by how Tony sometimes spoke of him. Like he was annoyed Peter worshipped him. He got the feeling that Steve was going to change that by how he’d look when they spoke.

Steve had changed lots. He was a married man but he was still Captain America. He told Peter that he was Grant Rogers in public and yes, it weirdly worked because people didn’t pay attention. The beard sometimes helped. He loved Peggy with all his heart and Peter saw how devoted he was to her and his best friend. They had a system.

Every morning Steve would wake up first and work out in the garage, sometimes jogging around the neighborhood. Sometimes Bucky joined. Peggy never did, she was not a morning person. Steve would make her coffee and breakfast unless it was a Tuesday and Thursday because then she met someone named Angie at the diner. For lunch, Steve would fix her something at the house and bring it to her. The rest of the day was spent fixing things around the house. He told Peter he bought it as a fixer-upper to give himself something to do in between Shield's work. He worked at Shield as strategic. He admitted he couldn’t go back to being Cap and Peter saw just how tired he was. The same tired he saw on Tony’s eyes when he passed.

Their routine worked around Peter. He got to join Steve in making dinner or lunch, learning how to cook on old technology, or just cook in general. He talked to Steve about everything, from Ned to MJ to school and how he missed them and he wondered if they knew he was gone. He got to help Bucky in the garden lots. He said gardening helped him out lots, to keep calm. He even met Bucky’s sister and her kids when they’d come over for Sunday dinner.

He got to watch Peggy and Steve work together as a couple, dancing in the evenings when Peter would read by the light. He’d watch them spar when neither could sleep, listen through the wall about nightmares and talking about their day, and how the war still haunted them, mistakes made, and decisions they wished they could change. Most of all he listened to how they loved one another. Yes, they bickered sometimes, especially if Peggy was exhausted, Steve was….a safe place and sometimes that came out as she could snap and get upset. The same went with Steve with Peggy but in the end, they’d always worked it out. Most of all, he got to watch them be Director Carter and Agent Rogers. Steve had started to work from home to take care of Peter and watch over Howard while he worked on the device.

Steve got a call from Peggy one evening when she was an hour overdue for dinner and mentioned an 084 in Florida. Steve was on the phone at once, calling in agents, and going through plans. Peter got to help by bringing him the paperwork, setting up another phone line with Bucky’s help [he guessed the man lived here now?] so Peggy could talk to Steve privately. This 084 situation lasted well over three hours before Peggy came home at 3 am and found Peter asleep Steve’s chest, the blonde still holding the phone, an arm curled protectively around Peter.

Yes, she took a photo.

The device took well over three months to figure out what exactly it was and how to reverse the effects of time travel. Howard went into some detailed explanation that only Peter seemed to understand because Steve just looked as confused. They had one more night together, one last dinner, and Peter thanking the Rogers-Carter family for everything.

“I’ll tell them you’re okay,” Peter said once they were outside in the beautiful garden he helped plant. “That you’re happy and Bucky’s happy too.”

“Thank you, Peter,” Steve sighed, pulling the kid close and hugging him tightly. “You’re gonna do great things. I can’t wait to see them. He loved you, you know?”

There was no doubt who Steve was talking about. Peter’s eyes grew misty and he nodded, patting the hand Steve held to his face. “Yeah, I know. It…hurts sometimes but he’s not hurting now. And working with his dad…it somehow helped. You promise you’ll…look out for them? My parents?”

Steve smiled. “Of course. I don’t go back on a promise. It won’t affect your timeline, but…the one here? He’ll have an amazing life with his whole family.”

The hug meant everything to Peter. It was one last round of hugs and goodbyes between the hero and the found family. Howard even showed up to wave goodbye as Peter set the time into the watch and hit it.

And just like that, he was back in Tony’s old bedroom, kneeling on the floor, with his hands in a box. No time had passed. It was still evening, still Manhattan.

Yet, Peter felt changed somehow, almost older in spirit. He touched the watch and gently pulled it off to throw it inside, making good on that promise to destroy it. He touched his pocket where Steve had given him his compass.

To keep him on the right path, always make the right choice, even if it was the most difficult one.

#Steggy AU #Steggy #Endgame AU #StevePeggy #Peter Parker #Its the son Steve will have #Or never have?#Heartwarming sad in a way #nonny prompt #Steggy Prompt #this is 2k #wtffff

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drawlfoy · 4 years

Text

The Wonders of Ohio P.4

masterlist - find parts 1, 2, and 3 here

request guidelines

did you miss me :P

pairing: draco x reader

requested: by prepubescent me

summary: american high school student y/n y/l/n’s senior year gets turned upside down when her family hosts a british exchange student that’s clearly keeping some secrets.

warnings: language and drug use mentions

a/n: hi everyone...i know that this has been a long time coming but. here she is. i finally finished this after the draft sat for over 6 months...here she is though! i’m excited weeee

tags tags tags

word count: 2k

music recs: hate candidate by BLOODHYPE, archie, marry me by alvvays

“No, no,” Y/N interrupted, gently pushing Draco’s hands away from his locker. “It’s right to the number, left past the next number once, and right straight to the last number. You twist it right to reset it...no, like this...”

“This is pathetic, I don’t even need to put anything in a box in the wall,” Draco snarled, his gray eyes flaming.

“It’s really not that deep,” she said, snorting at his attitude. “Do they not have locks in England?”

Instead of answering, he huffed dramatically and scowled. “Open it up for me, will you? It’s not worth my time to learn.”

“You’re going to be here for a whole year, you know.” Y/N’s remark contradicted with her actions as she reapproached the locker and twisted out the combination. “But how can I say no to you, ever the gentlemen?”

She held out a hand out expectantly as he stared at her, his eyes full of confusion.

“Your phone,” she said.

“My...my what?”

“I know, it’s weird, but they prohibit phones in orientation. Something about bonding or whatever. Just give it here, and we’ll keep it in here. If it goes off in any of the activities they’ll take it from you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, okay, I respect that attitude.” Y/N smirked, patting him on the shoulder as he flinched away from her. “Just don’t be mad at me when they confiscate it until 2.”

He stared at her for a few seconds longer before clearing his throat and nodding.

<^>

The speeches at the beginning were always the longest part--the unnecessary dramatization of the importance of high school, the faux motivation mantras, the “love yourself” bits ironically being performed by some of the most insufferable members of the ASB--and Y/N was ready to get it over with, Draco seemed to feel the same way, as every time she looked at him, he looked another shade of uninterested.

She tried poking fun at the performances a couple times to see his reaction, and surprisingly enough, it was slightly well received.

“You see the redhead down there?” she whispered to him, gesturing towards the current speaker with her chin. He gave her a tight nod in response. “That’s Heather, our ASB president. She’s a total tool. Spews all this ‘vaping in the bathrooms isn’t cool!’ shit but one time I walked in on her doing lines in the performance wing bathrooms. She’s crazy, I’m telling you.”

Draco seemed amused at this, resting his cheek in his palm and watching her intently. “Lines?”

“Cocaine.”

“Cocaine?”

“You know what? I’m gonna quit while we’re ahead. I don’t want to be the one to corrupt you.”

Draco scoffed. “You’re worried about corrupting me?”

“Well, yeah,” she said. “I’m not the one who doesn’t know what cocaine is.”

He sniffed at this, turning his attention back to Heather’s mind-numbing anti-bullying presentation that was clearly put together moments before. Silence ensued for the next few moments before Draco sucked in a breath and turned to look at her. “What’s an ASB?”

“Oh, you should be so glad that you have to ask that,” Y/N stage whispered. “It’s student government. It’s an acronym for something. I never cared enough to remember it. The elections are super corrupt--it’s basically a popularity contest. They don’t do anything either...I don’t even know why it exists anyways.”

“So I take it you’re not popular?”

“By choice, I’ll have you know,” Y/N pointed out. “I just made friends with the people I had stuff in common with. We all just happened to not be big fans of putting vodka in our Hydroflasks and the like...What I mean by that is that we aren’t big partiers.” She was quick to clarify when she saw the confusion on Draco’s face.

He didn’t seem to understand any more of what she had said, or at least didn’t show any interest in it, scooting away a few inches from her and turning his head back to Heather’s speech.

The presentation ended within another 10 minutes, much to Y/N’s delight. One had been enough for her--two orientations was pushing it.

Maybe that’s why all the ASB kids are so awful she thought to herself as they made they way to Draco’s first class on the schedule. If I had to be here every year, I’d probably be a grade A rat as well.

“How’d they put you in AP Physics C?” Y/N asked him as they walked into the science lab. “I’m in your same period...and I had to take two years of physics before that to be qualified to take it. Did you take a Physics A level or something? Is that what they call it?”

Draco blinked twice. “Er...sure. My professors told me that I was skilled in Arithmancy, if that’s what you mean..?”

“Arithmancy? Is that just a fancy word for math?” she pressed. “I thought you guys just called it maths.”

“You could say so.”

Before she could push for any more answers, someone behind them cleared their throat. Y/N spun around, her face lighting up when she saw who it was.

“Mr. Whitacre!” she exclaimed.

“Y/N, my least favorite student,” he greeted, a cheeky smile concealed by a rather bushy black beard. “I’m surprised they haven’t kicked you out of orientation. Haven’t you head? This is supposed to be an event for new students...not jaded old souls such as yourself.”

“Oh, you know me.” She rested one of her hands on a lab table, raising an eyebrow. “I just couldn’t stay away from the thrilling suggestion of physics.”

“Sure. And you are...”

Draco just stared at him for a few seconds with a disgusted expression until Y/N elbowed him in the side, hard. “You’ll have to excuse Draco. He’s still going through jet lag. Aren’t you, Draco?”

Y/N sent him a death glare until he wiped the expression off his face and uttered an awkward, “Er, yeah.”

The rest of orientation was just as uncomfortable and unnatural as Draco’s introduction to Mr. Whitacre. Y/N was surprised to see that they had a very similar schedule as Draco seemed entirely clueless to what the subjects even were. She mentioned her concerns to him briefly, but he seemed entirely unbothered.

“It can’t be any harder than school back home,” he told her in his prim and proper voice, prompting a small smile to grow across Y/N’s face.

“Oh, I’m sure,” she said, her voice hardly containing her sarcasm.

The rest of the morning was spent toiling around each of the empty classrooms and memorizing room numbers so Draco wouldn’t be lost come Thursday morning. Y/N wasn’t having an entirely terrible time, as, much to her surprise, Draco wasn’t a complete dickwad. There were moments where he actually had something interesting or worthy to say, and when he didn’t look like he just stepped in something disgusting, she enjoyed the walks between classes. By the end of 5th period, she had concluded that Draco could make absolutely anything sound beautiful in his accent.For once, they were both being entirely civil to each other, and Y/N found herself wishing that the school day went on a bit longer. At least...until the walk to French.

“Excuse me,” a voice carried over Y/N’s as she was in the middle of telling Draco some particularly hot gossip from last year. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

Heather stood to their left, leaning coolly on the wall of lockers, her right shoulder just subtly dropped in their direction.

“Hey Heather,” Y/N greeted. “This is Draco. He’s our exchange student this year.”

“Hello.” Draco’s voice was stiffer than usual.

She smiled, her lips stretching out over perfectly straight white teeth. “Hi Draco! Listen, I know it can be hard here at first, especially if you haven’t grown up around here, but I swear we’re all super friendly.” She held out her hand, smiling even wider. Y/N hardly managed to hold back a laugh as Draco took it and limply shook it like one would fondle a dead fish.

Heather’s face remained just as cheery. “I just want to say that, as ASB president, it’s my job to make sure you feel like you fit in. Let me give you my snapchat, so if you ever need anything, I’m just one snap away.”

“Oookay, thank you Heather,” Y/N interrupted, wrapping her fingers around Draco’s sleeve and pulling. “I’ll give it to him tonight if he wants it. We have to find French now.” She couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she swore that she could see Draco send her a slightly grateful look.

“AP French? Quelle coïncidence! I’m headed there too.”

No matter how briskly she dragged Draco along, Heather was able to catch up and chatter away, asking him about life in the UK and how he found Americans. She couldn’t help but allow a little smirk when he answered, telling her “a little annoying, quite frankly.”

French was even more insufferable than she was expecting it to be. The strict teacher, M. Smith (despite being more American than everyone in the room, yes, he did insist on being called Monsieur), coupled with the weird, forlorn glances Heather kept sending Draco made Y/N feel crushingly uncomfortable. With the way that Draco was fidgeting, she could guess that he felt the same way.

Suddenly, 2 couldn’t come soon enough.

<^>

“So, what’d you think?” Y/N asked as they made their way back to Y/N’s car. She toyed with her lanyard, turning and twisting the keys until they couldn’t twist anymore.

Draco stepped over to the passenger side door, waiting for her to press unlock. “Your friend Heather is very friendly.”

“She’s not my friend, Draco, I already told you that.”

“She certainly comes up to talk to you a lot for someone who isn’t your friend.”

She shifted into drive and began pulling out of the parking lot. “It’s an American thing. And plus, she wouldn’t be talking to me if I didn’t have a pretty boy with an accent living with me.”

Draco froze up, sending her a weird sideways look.

“Don’t be so overdramatic, kiddo,” she continued. “American girls go crazy for British accents. Trust me. There’s going to be so many girls throwing themselves at you come tomorrow that you won’t even know what to do with yourself.”

Y/N tried to keep the bitterness from creeping into her tone as she told Draco this. It wasn’t like she liked him or anything--no way--it was just frustrating to know that the moment he stepped foot on the school grounds tomorrow, he would be snapped up into a flurry of admirers. These few days had felt like she was keeping a delicate, sophisticated secret in the guest room in the hall over, but it was time for her to snap out of it.

“The feeling certainly isn’t mutual,” he finally said. Y/N could see that his head was rested against the window as he looked out into the trees as they passed by a particularly wooded area. “American accents give me a migraine.”

“Funny, me too.”

“But you have one.”

“Your point? Pass me the Advil.”

“The...the what?”

Y/N sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep herself from bursting out into a cackle. “Paracetamol, maybe? I think that’s the British version.”

“Er...I’m sorry?” Draco had moved his head from its resting place on the window to send her a confused look.

“Forget about it.”

The drive back was silent for the rest of the way. Upon arriving, Draco made a beeline for his room and made no indication of wanting to come back out, so Y/N spent the rest of the evening ironing out her physics problem sets and getting her backpack ready for school.

My last first day she thought to herself as she zipped her binders and pencil pouch up, a hint of nostalgia threatening to choke her up for a moment.

The entire situation felt eerie and strange. All her life, she’d been waiting to get out of school so she could go to college and meet new friends and have her fun life experiences, and now it was all beginning to happen. She tried to imagine how Draco must’ve been feeling in that moment and could hardly manage to come up with anything she could relate to. He’d been uprooted from his home, his family, his life, all to move to fucking Ohio of all places to finish out school. Y/N would feel a twinge of pity if he wasn’t such a prick.

Which, by the way, now that she really thought of it, was perhaps becoming overshadowed by all the little things she noticed about him. Obviously, he was very pretty, but there was something else just magnetizing about him that she’d never seen before in a person. The way in which he carried himself, the regal manner he spoke in, the delicate and practiced motions of his hands whenever he did anything menial--it all added up to paint Draco as the picture of elegance. She came to the realization that she’d never met anyone quite like him before as she was getting into bed and turning her lights off. He seemed so incredibly detached from reality, but decidedly so, that she couldn’t help but feel fascinated with it all.

And he was all hers to figure out for the next 9 months.

final a/n: huhhhh isn’t that funny that i actually came out with a different fic than i said i would? i think i want to do that quarantine thing a little bit later and make it a series. i’ve planned that i want to finish mirror, mirror in the coming weeks and then transfer to writing the “one shot” that was scheduled to be posted today as a series as well as this. exciting stuff to come!

#draco x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco imagine #draco malfoy imagine #draco #draco malfoy #draco x you #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x y/n #draco x oc #draco malfoy x oc

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anna-justice · 4 years

Text

Lost or Found - 5

Summary: As Jay, Hailey, Kim, Adam and Kevin start their junior year in the wake of a tragic summer, the past year of their lives comes back to haunt them. If you enjoyed Pretty Little Liars, this is for you! *UPSTEAD/BURZEK High School AU

...

5 - Wicked Game

...

The following days after the bonfire, the group didn’t really see much of each other. They were focused on watching out for the people they loved most. Hailey called both of her brothers everyday, Jay never let his mom out of his sight and Kevin spent every waking moment playing with his sister. Adam checked up on Kim multiple times a day, while she let her world revolve around her sister. The rest of summer went by fast in their state of panic, which is how they found themselves all huddled around Jay’s truck.

They all had a false sense of security, they hadn’t gotten any more texts since the last one. Hailey thought that Nadia knew that they knew it was her, so she was laying low, but Jay, he wasn’t entirely convinced. Nadia was the perfect person to throw off the scent. But, they had all decided to have a normal first day of school, for their sanity.

Kim spotted Nadia across the courtyard, seated on a bench surrounded by lots of people. Nadia gave her a small smile and waved, Kim returned the favor. She wasn’t sure how much she believed Hailey’s theory, she was always so nice, she wasn’t capable of kidnapping someone. Kim turned back to her friends, hoping no one noticed their encounter, she was a big fan of “innocent until proven guilty.”

The life was sucked out of them all when Jay pulled Erin’s phone out of his pocket, they had a text. So much for a normal first day of school.

Blocked ID: Round 1, golden boy, time for you to lose a few flakes...tell everyone what really happened before Nadia left, and I mean everyone.

“What do they mean, Jay?” Kim asked. “What happened?”

Jay took a deep breath, the last thing he wanted to do was ruin Nadia’s life, but it came down to her or his mom. His mom wins everytime. He sees her sitting on a bench near the school, unfortunately in the middle of a crowd. He takes a few steps away before Hailey calls him back. “Jay! You don’t have to do this!”

“I can’t risk it, it’s my mom.” He stalks across the pavement towards her. “Hey Nadia.”

“Hi Jay!” She says excitedly, “It’s been a while-”

He cuts her off, “You know Mr. Sampson doesn’t work here anymore, right?”

Nadia’s jaw drops, “I’m not sure why that matters…”

“Yeah you are.” Jay fights the lump in his throat and stands his ground. “He’s the teacher that got fired, for sleeping with you.” Everyone around them gasps, and Nadia looks like she’s been stabbed in the chest.

“What-”

“Erin told me everything. And now everyone else knows too.” He turned on his heel and booked it towards the truck. It went just how he hoped, quick and painful, there was no avoiding the betrayal. The next text was sent before her first tear hit the pavement.

Blocked ID: Bravo, your mommy is safe, for now.

His friends all had the same exact look on their faces, utter shock. Jay grabbed his backpack from the bed and raced towards the school. “Jay,” Hailey sighed. She gave an apologetic look to the 3 stunned people in front of her and then hurried after him.

Hailey knew that he couldn’t escape her, they had first block together. They were the first two people in the classroom , she slid into the seat next to him. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It wasn’t my business to tell.” He responds quietly, the guilt clearly eating him up. Hailey just nodded, knowing he definitely didn’t want to talk about it. She was dealing with her own inner emotions, she realized now that no one's secret was safe, especially her own.

…

Third block rolled around and Hailey strolled into phycology, she looked around for Kevin but instead she found a seating chart taped to the whiteboard. She internally groaned, she was sixteen years old. No one needed to tell her where to sit. Unfortunately, Atwater and Upton were nowhere close to each other in the alphabet, so Hailey found herself all the way across the classroom from her only friend.

She slid in her seat next to a boy with very bright blue eyes. “I’m Kelly,” He said, “Severide, call me Severide.”

She gave him a small smile before introducing herself, “Hailey.”

“Nice to meet you Hailey.” He said, his smile lingering a little too long. Hailey felt a slight blush reach her cheeks and turned to face the front of the room.

As soon as the bell rang a voice came over the intercom. “Jay Halstead, report to the principal’s office. Jay Halstead, report to the principal’s office.”

Hailey put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. That definitely wasn’t good.

…

Jay found himself sitting across from Mr. Kelton, their principal, not five minutes later. He had a very unpleasant look on his face and Jay was prepared for the lecture of the century, which he deserved. “Well, Mr. Halstead, I never thought we would be in this position.” Jay didn’t either, he was always a good kid, he didn’t belong there. “The allegations you made against Ms. Decotis were very serious, would you care to explain yourself?”

Jay took a deep breath, he couldn’t exactly tell him that he was forced to expose Nadia by a crazy stalker/possible murderer who kidnapped his girlfriend and, might possibly be Nadia. “Sir, I want to sincerely apologize for my actions this morning. It’s been a rough few months, with the Erin stuff, and seeing Nadia was really hard for some reason. She wasn’t here to bear the pain with the rest of us and I just got so mad that she showed up now.” Jay gave him a weak smile, and continued to talk out of his ass. “Erin told that Mr. Sampson and Nadia had an affair, I don’t even know if it’s true.”

Mr. Kelton nodded, “Son, I understand that the past few months have been difficult, but we do not tolerate harassment in this building. You need to formally apologize to Ms. Decotis and I expect to see you in detention the next three Thursdays.”

Jay let out a breath of relief, he was expecting much worse. “Of course and it won’t happen again.”

“I will hold you to that young man, get back to class.” Jay hurried out of the office. He was mortified and felt terrible. There was no way that Nadia was threatening them, he refused to believe it. The rumor he started could ruin everything for her, no one would risk that.

…

Hailey found herself seated at a lab table with Adam and Kim AP Chem, her last class of the day. The teacher was going on and on about lab safety and she was pretty sure that Adam was currently looking up the ingredients of a molotov cocktail instead of taking notes.

She still hadn’t talked to Jay about his visit to Kelton’s office and it was eating her up inside. He was definitely in trouble, there was only so much having an assumed dead girlfriend could get you out of.

Hailey looked up from doodling on her paper to see a red headed boy staring at her, she avoided his gaze by whispering to Kim about it. Kim chuckled under her breath. “That’s Kevin Hadley, he's harmless.”

Adam looked up like he missed something, but Kim shrugged him off. It was obvious that he wasn’t paying attention to anything other than his stupid secret prank plan.

The class dragged on for forever, and when the final bell rang, Hailey felt like crying. She bid goodbye to Adam and Kim and leaned against a set of lockers to text Jay, since he was her ride home. Suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. “I’m Kevin.” He said, leaning against the metal next to her.

“Hi.” She said briefly, returning her focus to her phone.

“Listen,” He said, taking a step toward her. “My buddy is throwing a party tonight, kind of a back to school bash if you will, you should come with me.”

Hailey’s head popped up, for someone so harmless, he was very forward. “Sorry, I have plans.” She said and made a move to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Hailey stepped backward, feeling very uncomfortable with how close he was to her.

Before she could respond she heard a voice come from behind her. “I’m pretty sure she already said no.” She turned around to find Severide standing his ground behind her.

“Mind your own business man, we were just talking.” Kevin spit back, taking another step forward. Hailey quickly removed herself from in between the two boys and stood behind her new friend.

Severide stepped up to face him, “Walk away Hadley.” Hailey froze, she would recognize that low growl anywhere. He turned to look at her, “You good Hailey?” He asked and Hailey feigned confidence, pretending she wasn’t completely terrified. The person that strangled her was no longer a figure in the dark, it was Kelly Severide.

…

A/N: I’m thinking there will be some confusion about their school day, I’m trying to make this story as realistic to real high school as possible (since it hasn’t been that long since I was there myself), so that includes homework, not skipping school and definitely no free periods. That being said, I’ve structured their day the same way mine was. Four classes a day, every other day, eight in total. So sometimes they will have one class in the morning and in another chapter it could be a different one, it’s called an A-B Schedule. Anyway, just wanted to clear that up! Thanks for reading!

#jay halstead #hailey upton #upstead #upstead au #kim burgess #adam ruzek #burzek #burzek au #kevin atwater #erin lindsay #nadia decotis #kelly severide #chicago pd #chicago pd au #one chicago #chicago fire

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hoboal87 · 4 years

Text

Elastic Heart Chapter One

Characters: Y/N Y/L/N, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, John Winchester, OFCs

Pairing(s): None

Summary: Y/N Y/L/N sees a familiar set of eyes in the crowd, and remembers the first time she saw them and how they changed her life.

Word Count: 4300+

Warnings: Show level violence, cursing, pre-Stanford era Winchesters

Notes: Series will be mostly canon compliant, taking place during season 8/9. Also, for purposes of this fic Sam was born in '84 instead of '83.

Please give a comment or reblog and let me know what you think!

Elastic Heart Masterlist

Chapter One - Senior Year

“Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N”

I don’t hear my name being called, I’m in my own world, looking out into the crowd for a set of familiar eyes. I spot them three rows back and smile. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them, and I miss the days where I would see those eyes nearly every day.

Life as a nursing student consists of going to class, lab work, interning at a hospital, and occasionally sleeping. I’ve spent the past two years doing nothing but that. I’ve always been one to do things early, but this was the one thing that, for once, I was on par with my peers. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. From the first time I saw those eyes, they altered my life, sending me down a path that I never planned to be on. Taking longer than we had thought, but eventually, I got back on track.

Finish school and get my fresh start. That had been my goal for the past two years. Move on, with or without those eyes in my life. I wanted them, but I knew that logically, it couldn’t happen. Our lives were too different, especially now. I lost my chance of having them with me always; now, I could only cherish the holidays and long weekends that allowed us to be together.

“Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N,” the announcer’s voice contains a bit of urgency this time, drawing my attention. I step across the stage, shaking my supervisor’s hand, and receive my metaphorical diploma. I look back out into the audience and connect with those eyes again, wide and filled with joy. I take my seat and think back to the first time I saw them and how they changed my life forever.

Fall, 2002

This was it, the first day of my senior year. This is the year I will prove to everyone that I am no longer a kid. This is the year, mom and dad will see that I can act like an adult and make ‘good choices’ but, I’m determined to have just a little fun.

For the last two years, mom and dad have insisted that I take extra courses and go to summer school to ensure I graduate not only with good grades but early. I’ll graduate in the spring and be off to college in the fall. All I really want is to wait, take a year or two, experience life outside of my parents’ house.

I make the point to do as many high school activities as I can. Activities that they discouraged me from doing for the last two years; choir, volleyball, anything that will get me out of the house but still considered a school activity. I joined the decorating committee, wanting to participate in homecoming as much as possible. I know as long as I do nothing life-altering, I’m gonna be free in May.

“Be mindful of your grades, Y/N,” dad said, reading over all the consent forms, “if they slip, you will need to cut these extracurricular activities.”

“They won’t slip, dad.” I roll my eyes. “It’s my last year, let me have a bit of fun, please?”

“Your average drops below an A, and I’m pulling you out of each one of these clubs, understood?”

“Yes, sir.” I mull over telling him the other part of my plan. “I was… thinking about getting a job.” I look down, not wanting to make eye contact. “Something part-time?”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea, Y/N,” mom enters the room, “You’re going to be so busy already, tell her Rob.”

“Your mother has a point, and if they accept you to all these clubs, when will you even have time?”

“I may not even end up in the choir or the volleyball team,” I argue, “and if I don’t I’ll have a free period every day, I can talk to the counselor about making it my last class and—it’s my Senior Year, please, don’t you guys think I deserve a little more credit than this? I should get to experience a little bit of independence, don’t you think? I’m gonna be away at college in a year, I’m probably gonna have some on-campus job, I need to learn how to balance between the two.” I catch my breath, hoping that they will agree.

“Fine,” dad sighs heavily, “the same deal goes. Your grades slip, no more working. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes!” I throw my arms around him, “Thank you!”

“Maybe you could get a job at the clinic,” mom chimes in, “get some experience in the field?”

“I don’t think anyone wants a sixteen-year-old working at the clinic, Sarah. Maybe at the drugstore, though?”

“Yeah,” I sit on the couch, “maybe.”

I discreetly start looking at apartments that could be for rent after graduation. I look on the outskirts of town and find a garage apartment that a very sweet older lady agrees to rent to me if it is still unoccupied over the summer. Finding a job gets put on the back burner as the school year moves into full swing. It turns out I can’t sing, and I suck at volleyball, but the coach offers me the position of manager, allowing me to still participate with the team at pep rallies and travel with them on away games. As the season comes to a close, and with Thanksgiving break around the corner, I decide it’s time to actively look for a job.

The trouble is finding someone willing to hire a 16-year-old high school student with no experience. I try some local retail stores, but I know that mom and dad will never go for the hours they want me to work. I walk into Joe’s Burgers, my favorite place to get some dinner and continue looking through the classifieds.

“Hey, Y/N/N,” I look over and wave to the man behind the counter.

“Hey, Dan, can I get a Bacon—"

“Your usual?” he cuts me off, smiling.

“Yes, please,” I look down sheepishly, handing him the exact amount of money without being told the total.

“Whatcha got there?” he nods towards the paper that’s now on the counter as he hands me my receipt.

“Oh, I’m just looking for a job,” I tuck the paper under my arms. “Need to earn some money so I can get outta this town after graduation.”

“What’s wrong with the town,” his face grows serious, “I’ve lived here my whole life.”

“Shit—I mean, n-nothing. Fuck."

“Y/N/N!” Dan bursts into laughter, “I’m just messing with you! You think you’re the first person who hates living here? We’re a small-ass town in the middle of nowhere.”

“You’re such a jerk,” I say, relieved, “I’ll be in my spot, okay?” He tries to contain his laughter as I walk away, making my way to my usual table. I flip through the pages, seeing nothing that would really work for me.

“You know Joe has been talking about hiring another cashier,” Dan says, bringing my food over, “and you’re practically here all the time anyway, you may as well make some money while you’re at it. You want me to talk to him?”

“Really? Do you think he’d hire me? I can’t stay late on week-nights because of school, mom and dad would kill me.”

“Yeah, we need someone to work the register, Jana can’t do it all herself. Whaddya think?”

“Oh, my god Dan, that would be amazing!” I get up and throw my arms around him to give him a hug. I watch as Dan walks to the back of the restaurant, after a few minutes he returns, giving me the thumbs-up. Before I leave, he gives me paperwork to fill out and a uniform, telling me to return the next day for training.

For three days, I train, working with Jana on the register. She is a few years older than me, with absolutely no filter. She always has me hunched over, laughing at something she has said or done. The lunches are busier than usual with the break. On Friday, she decides it’s time to leave me on my own, ‘best way to learn,’ she quips.

I’ve never been a social butterfly, and the thought of having to deal with customers on my own genuinely terrifies me for a few moments. After giving myself a small pep talk, I turn around to see three large men waiting for me.

The shortest of the three looks at me, and leans over the counter, “I’m here, what are your other two wishes?” he asks, flashing me a wink.

“I’m sorry?” I can’t believe this guy is serious.

“My brother and I were wondering,” he gestures to the tallest of the three, “if it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

“W-what?” I feel the heat pooling in my cheeks.

“Dean, knock it off, we’re here to work.” the older man behind him smacks him upside his head, and I have to stifle my laughter. He offers a sympathetic smile toward me.

“Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?” I shot back; it was the only thing I could think of, albeit an awful comeback.

“It’s okay, just blink if you want me,” I stare straight into those green eyes for a solid 10 seconds before turning away.

“Dean, leave the girl alone, how old are you doll?” he asks, turning to me.

“Sixteen,” I say, watching as he rolls his eyes at the other two.

“See, are you trying to go to jail, son?” he says, looking at me apologetically “I’m sorry my sons are two walking hormones.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” the tall one huffs. Green-eyes shrugs and rubs the back of his head.

“Don’t even Sam, I heard you when we walked in.” Their dad grabs them by the shirts and drags them both to stand in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes, this man grabbing his two grown sons like they were pre-teens, “Now apologize to…” he looks at my name tag, “… Y/N.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, didn’t mean to offend you,” Green-eyes says insincerely.

“That’s fine, it’s part of the job, learning to deal with frat boys who love to mess with townies,” I smile back curtly.

“What the fu—” green-eyes is clearly trying to contain his anger, but his dad chuckles at the remark, and his brother can hardly control himself.

“Yeah, frat boy, don’t mess with the townie,” the younger one laughs, pushing his shaggy brown hair away from his face, revealing gleaming hazel eyes flecked with hints of green and blue surrounded by dark full lashes.

“Listen, Y/N,” green-eyes looks at my name tag again, “we ain’t no frat boys, in fact, we’re here becau—”

“All right, Dean, that’s enough.” His dad gives him a stern look that is clearly a silent conversation. “Since we’re off to such a wonderful start, let’s start over, yeah?”

I nod politely. These guys are clearly passing through and will be gone in a matter of hours or days, but Joe wants us to make all people, even the ones we’ll probably never see again, feel welcome.

“I’m John, you already know Dean,” he reaches his hand out towards the tall one, “and this is Sam. We’re actually looking into the recent animal-related deaths,” he says, producing a Fish and Wildlife Badge. I study it for a moment before handing it back. “We’re interviewing some of the local business owners and residents in the area of the attacks. Have you heard or seen anything usual, smelled anything weird, anything that comes to mind?”

“Oh.” I look at the three men; here I was being a bitch to the people trying to help. “Um, I just started working here a few days ago, animal attacks?” I look back up to John, who nods. “The only animals around here are coyotes, but even they’re pretty rare. I haven’t heard anything, but I keep to myself. Joe might know something, he’s the owner and knows everything about everyone.” I offer a smile.

“Is Joe in today?” John asks. His grey eyes hold so much pain as he looks at me.

“Um… yeah. He may have a few minutes now that we’ve slowed down. I can see if he can come talk to you?”

“That’d be great, thanks, Y/N.”

“Please, Y/N/N,” I say, blushing, covering my nametag, “No one really calls me Y/N.”

“Y/N/N,” he repeats, “I’d really like to speak with Joe if it’s not a problem.”

“Yeah, shit. Let me go get him,” I say, walking towards the back. “Hey Jana, I’m gonna go get Joe. Watch the register?”

“I got it,” she hollers back.

“Dude! She’s 16!” I hear who I assume is Sam whispering loudly. “Shut up! How was I supposed to know that?!”

“Dean, she’s obviously not 18. Stick to girls your own age,” John responds. “Sammy—.”

I can no longer hear the men as I reach the door to Joe’s office. Jana and Dan had both told me that his door usually stayed open, today it was not only closed, but it was locked as well. I knock, waiting for him to answer. He looks a little frazzled when he opens the door, but smiles at me, “Hey, Y/N/N, what’s up?”

“There’s a guy from Fish and Wildlife; he’s looking into the recent animal attacks? He’s asking about strange occurrences or something? I don’t know, but I know you pay attention to that kind of stuff, so he wants to talk to you.”

“I—shit, yeah, let him know I’ll be out in a few minutes,” he straightens his shirt and closes the door behind him.

I nod and head back to the front of the building. I watch as the boys and their father seem to be in deep discussion. Turning away when I realize Dean has caught me staring. I gather their food, and as I walk towards their table, I can hear that for some reason, I am the current topic of discussion, specifically, my age.

“Actually, I’ll be 17 in a month,” I quip, dropping their food, unsure of why I am engaging with this odd group of men.

“Huh?” Dean looks at me curiously.

“Well, for some reason the two of you are overly concerned with my age, I’ll be 17 next month.”

“Still illegal, Dean,” Sam smirks.

“Yeah, but right up your alley, Sammy,” Dean winks at him.

“Boys, stop treating this girl like she’s a piece of meat,” their father doesn’t even look up from his plate.

I can’t help myself, I’m usually not this brazen, but something about these outsiders coming in, I have to say it, “Well, here in the Great State of Texas the age of consent is 17, it’s not technically illegal,” and before I can stop myself I wink at Dean.

“Oh, Y/N, you are killing me here,” he says, bringing his hand to his chest. “Unfortunately, I’m gonna have to pass, but Sammy here,” Dean grabs Sam by the shoulders, “may be able to help you out.”

Sam blushes furiously; it’s actually adorable. I can feel the heat coming up in my own cheeks, and know if I stay any longer, they will see it very clearly.

“Joe’ll be out in a few minutes,” I say, turning to go back to the register. I walk away, adding a little sway in my hips as I know the younger men are watching. “Lemme know if there’s anything else I can get you,” I shoot another wink, this time in Sam’s direction.

“Thanks, Y/N/N.” John’s baritone voice carries through the restaurant.

I watch Joe take a seat with the three men, the younger boys listening and observing their father very carefully. I watch John grab something—a fork?— out of his pocket and discreetly place it in front of Joe. Why would he do such a thing? Joe and the men continue to speak for 10 minutes until the dinner rush starts, and Joe excuses himself.

The three men finish their burgers and leave the restaurant; concern etched on their faces as they have a heated conversation.

Throughout the dinner rush, I notice that Sam is stationed outside of the building. It looks as though he’s watching somebody. But every time I look up, his position has changed. After it grows dark, I can no longer see him outside; I realize I shouldn’t let him occupy my mind. Jana and I work furiously until a few hours later when we finally close.

“First day on your own,” Jana says, letting her hair down and hopping onto the counter. “You did good Y/N/N, only a couple mistakes.”

“Thanks, it’s not always gonna be like that, right?” I say, sighing, mimicking her actions with my own hair.

“Nah, I mean, the Friday and Saturdays will be, but unless it’s a school break, the nights are not usually too crazy,” she reassures me.

“Thank God,” I laugh, “what about the customers? Did you see those guys earlier? The ones talking to Joe?” I ask, hoping that she doesn’t pick up on the fact that I am blushing at the mention of the men.

“Oh, you mean the green-eyed one who was clearly hitting on you?” She smirks at me, “With the older guy and the really tall guy?”

“Yeah… you have an excellent memory…” I laugh, “he was so cheesy. ‘Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’” I mock him. “I mean, he can’t think girls really fall for that? Even the tall one knew it was a bad line.” I blushed a little, thinking about them.

“Oh my god, you like him, green-eyes.” She gasps, “You wanna jump his bones,” she sang mockingly at me, “you love him!”

“Shut up,” I threw my apron at her playfully, “I do not want to jump his bones. Besides, I’m jailbait. He’s at least 21 or so.” Jana raises her eyebrow at me. “He basically told me he couldn’t.”

“So… you’re saying you would if he was younger?” she giggles.

“Jana! No! He’s not my type. He’s way too cocky—he probably thinks he’s God’s Gift to Women,” I mock him again.

“What about the tall one? He was gorgeous,” she offers, “And the dad? He’s hot, like I will so call him Daddy. Let him just—."

“That’s way too much information, Jana. Anyway, if green-eyes is too old, how on earth is the dad not even more wrong?”

“That’s what makes it so hot… like, the wrongness of it…” she says mock fanning herself. “Okay, so clearly, the giant is the one you’re gonna have to do. You can just climb on top—" she says, moving her whole body onto the counter, “and take him for a ride.”

“Jesus, Jana.” I try to suppress my embarrassed laughter. But I blush furiously at the thought of Sam, especially with the image that Jana just planted in my head. I cover my face with my hands as I try to compose myself.

“Oh my god, you are so red!” Jana laughs, “It’s the giant! He’s the one you lo-ove!”

“I don’t even know him! They’re just passing through. You know the type, no one actually moves here. Not for real, at least. They’ll be gone in a week.”

“Y/N/N, that’s why it’s perfect. Hook up, get all that pent-up frustration out of your system, and then you’ll go your separate ways,” she offers. “Wham-bam-thank you-ma’am.”

“I’m really not into that one-night stand stuff,” I say, “I mean, what’s the point?”

“Come on, Y/N/N, that’s the point. Sometimes you just need a release. It’s not like you’re gonna fall in love with some guy you just met and hook-up with once. I mean, you’ve hooked up with guys before, right?”

I shrug my shoulders.

“Oh, my God. Y/N/N, you’re not a virgin, are you?” she whispers so that Dan and Joe won’t hear. I nod, I didn’t have a problem with my own virginity, but other people did. I know I have plenty of time. And with how busy mom and dad keep me, I have no time for boys. “Oh, okay, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know. Besides, mom and dad don’t even like the thought of me dating; they’d make the guy ask for permission. It’s not that I would ever have time for it anyway. Either way, it’ll happen whenever it happens, and it will probably not be great the first time,” I laugh, trying to break the serious look on Jana’s face. “I have very low expectations, especially if he’s never done anything either. Most boys my age don’t know what they’re doing anyway.”

“Not to be all romantic or whatever, but you know it doesn’t have to be like that. Your first time doesn’t have to suck. It can be really nice if you get the right person.”

“I figure it will either be awesome or okay,” I laugh, “hope it’s awesome, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Okay, I’m gonna have one more mom moment with you, and then we can leave, okay?” she grows slightly serious, and I nod my head. “Bring condoms.” I choke out a laugh. “I’m serious. Don’t count on the guy to do it. And don’t trust the ‘pull-out’ method. Dudes always think they can time it right, and half the time…” she makes a gesture I don’t quite understand, I look at her confused. “Inside. Or at least not all the way out. And I’m sure getting pregnant isn’t a part of your grand plan.” She smiles softly. “If you ever need someone to talk about this stuff with, you can come to me, okay?”

“Thank you, if and when the day ever comes, I’ll be sure to tell you.” She raises her eyebrow. “I swear. Don’t count on it being anytime soon, though.”

Jana finishes counting the tips, and I count the register. We grab our bags, say goodbye to Dan, who’s still closing down, and Joe, who’s in the office looking at receipts.

Jana and I live about a block away from each other, and close enough to the restaurant that neither of us bothered driving. Every week it’s getting colder, and I know by the first week of December it will be too cold to walk home at night. But until then, Jana and I walk together, her house off of the main road that leads to mine.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you all the way home?” Jana asks as we reach her street.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Then you’ll have to walk back by yourself.”

“Yeah, but I’m prepared.” She pulls mace and a small knife that’s attached to her keychain out. “If someone or something tries to get me, stab stab.”

“Jesus, Jana,” I laugh out of shock. “No, I’ll be fine, how about tomorrow before work I get me one of those and then I’ll be prepared as well.”

“Fine, but call me when you get home,” she jots a number down and waves goodbye, “I’m serious Y/N/N, call me. If you don’t, I will call your parents.”

“I will,” I yell, turning back to head home.

I feel that I’m being followed. Paranoid, I know. I swear I can hear footsteps behind me, but every time I turn around, there’s nothing there. Freaking Jana, this is her fault. I’ve never had issues walking home at night before, but now I’m hearing things that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t put “I’m prepared,” in my head, now feeling like a taunt. I’m less than 5 minutes away from my house; what could possibly happen?

I hear a growling, something inhuman; it grows louder as I try to will myself to move faster. I turn the corner, and that’s when it happens, someone, something, jumps out of nowhere and starts running towards me. I try to run, but my legs won’t move, “fuck.”

I hear yelling, but I still can’t move, the creature is getting closer to me, and I get a good look at it. Claws, it has fucking claws. Its eyes are yellow, and its teeth are huge. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a werewolf. But werewolves don’t exist. This must be the creature that John was looking for.

‘It’s some kind of rare species of bear,’ I tell myself, ‘a bear.’

It’s only about a foot away from me; it looks like something out of a horror movie. It’s on its hind legs, unnatural noises leave its body, and before I can even move, it's swiping at me. All I can do is close my eyes and pray it doesn't kill me. A loud bang forces my eyes open, I stand there, still unable to move. I look up to see a set of familiar eyes before me, ones I hadn’t expected to see ever again. Sam.

Chapter 2

#sam x reader #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fic #Elastic Heart #Elastic Heart 1

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amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines · 5 years

Text

Jughead//Forsythe Pendleton Jones III

Request: Would you write/can I request a Jughead/Reader where you meet when goes to Southside high and hook-up but you both assume once Southside high closes you're going to Greendale/Centerville but you end up at Riverdale high instead

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones III.” Toni interrupts the conversation you’re having and stops in the middle of the corridor abruptly.

“Huh?” You ask, a boy a few feet away from you asks the same thing and the two of you make eye contact for a few seconds.

“Uh...Its Jughead actually.” The boy replies annoyed while gathering up his things.

“I’m Toni Topaz.” Toni introduces herself. “And this...” She points to you. “Is Y/n Y/l/n. I was supposed to give you the full animatronic tour of Southside High, but...”

“But, some of the robots went insane and started killing the guests.” You interrupt and Toni laughs.

“Like we could afford robots in the first place. So, we’ll just wing it.” She finishes. “Y/n, you coming with?”

“Hmmm.” You think for second. “I was supposed to meet Sweet Pea by the old Chemistry lab so we could cover up the fact that we were the ones that blew it up. But, I suppose he can do it himself, there’s a much cuter boy here.” You wink at Jughead and he blushes softly.

“Ignore her. She’s flirts with everyone.”

“I flirt with everyone that’s cute.” You argue and she rolls her eyes.

“Anywayyyy.” She changes the subject. “The classrooms don’t have Wi-Fi...” She starts to explain while the three of you walk down the stairs.

“Bathroom stalls don’t have doors, so if you need to go, you’d get more privacy doing it in the corridor.” You add and he grimaces.

“What about the school paper? The Red and Black?” He asks and you and Toni share a look.

“Yeah, it no longer exists. Censorship? Budget cuts?...”

“The fact that someone printed a dick pic on the front page.” You giggle.

“Take your pick.” Toni sighs.

“Mr Phillips was so pissed.” You laugh.

“Mr Phillips?”

“English teacher. He used to run the Red and Black.” You reply.

“Oh.”

“To your right. You’ll find a glimpse of jingle-jangle being consumed in its natural habitat.” Toni looks beside her once you reach the bottom of the stairs. Jughead starts to break away from the group but you grab his arm, pulling him back.

“Don’t get too close. They’re like horses. And they will bite.” You warn.

“Jingle-Jangle?” He asks.

“Wait.” You and Toni say at the same time.

“You don’t know what jingle-jangle is?” You ask and he shakes his head, continuing to stare at the group of teenagers.

“This place is crawling with it. Its a highly addictive, total gutter drug.” She explains.

“So, lets not touch that.”

“Jingle-jangle. Fascinating.” Jughead mumbles. You soon approach the cafeteria and Jughead looks...overwhelmed to say the least.

“Here in the cafeteria, Ghoulies sit over there.” Toni points to a table and he looks at the two of you confused. “They're a rival gang.

“They’re also drug dealers, street racers. And there are some rumors of cannibalism.” You add. “Don’t ask.”

“Weird Tim sits over there.” Toni points to the corner of the cafe. “And we sit over there. With the Serpents.” She points to the table with the loudest students.

“Y/l/n!” Sweet Pea shouts. “Where were you?!”

“Joining a rival gang and plotting against you.” You shout back making him chuckle.

“You could never plot against me! You loveeee me.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“You’re a Southside Serpent?” He asks and you and Toni just stare at him for a few seconds.

“Did you not notice my jacket?” You reply and he shakes his head.

“And why do you think I volunteered to give you the tour?” Toni adds. “Come on.” She nods her head towards the Serpents. You smile at him before sitting beside Sweet Pea.

“Actually, I’m gonna sit alone.” Jughead says and the conversation at the table stops. “Just, you know, finish my book and brood.”

“More like get beat up.” Sweet Pea mutters and you all laugh quietly.

“The only person that sits alone is weird Tim.” You tell him.

“I’m confused.” Toni crosses her arms and looks him up and down. “Aren’t you Serpent by blood? The son of FP Jones?”

“Yeah? So, I self identify as a loner, not a pack animal.” He replies and the laughing grows louder.

“He’s definitely gonna get beat up.” Sweet Pea whispers and you hit him.

“I’m just gonna put my head down and try and get through this, okay?” He continues while turning around.

“Hey!” You call after him and he looks at you, mildly annoyed. “You wanna get through this, you should hang with the Serpents.”

“If the Ghoulies get a whiff that you’re alone and vulnerable...” Toni interrupts.

“They’ll make you their bitch faster than you can say American History X.” You finish.

“I think I’ll be fine.” He grumbles making you roll your eyes. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Don’t go into Mrs Johnson’s class alone.” You reply and he raises an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t need to know that story.” Toni says. “Have fun. Don’t get killed.” She smiles at him sarcastically and he huffs before walking away.

---------

The last class of the day eventually rolls around and it is definitely the worst one out of all of them. Since lunchtime, you haven’t seen Jughead and you’re starting to worry about him. However he walks into your English class, 5 minutes before it starts and quietly sits down.

“Fahrenheit 451...” Mr Phillips has been droning on for the best part of half an hour and you, as well as the majority of the class have almost fallen asleep. “By one of my favourite authors, Ray Bradbury.” He continues talking as he walks to the front of the classroom. Your eyes follow him, quickly landing on the back of Jughead’s head. He was frantically writing in his notebook making you shake your head. “Lets start with the title. Can anyone tell me its significance?”

“What!” Sweet Pea shouts from beside you. “Damn it!” He kicks the wall behind him and shoves your desk as he storms past you.

“What the fuck Sweet Pea!” You shout after him. Jughead looks between his retreating figure and you and frowns slightly.

“Are you okay?” He leans back in his chair.

“Fine.” You shake your head. “He has anger issues.” You explain. “As well as a shit ton of others. He’ll text me in a minute to apologize.” You add, just as you tell him your phone buzzes in your pocket and you pull it out. “See.”

“People.” Mr Phillips speaks over you, and Jughead looks back towards the front of the room. “There’s a burning book on the cover.” He prompts and Jughead looks around. You know exactly what he’s going to do, and it’s not going to end well for him.

“Don’t fucking answer.” You mutter. “Don’t say anything.”

“Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper burns.” He answers and you sigh loudly. Everyone in the class is now looking at him, even the students who weren’t paying attention in the first place, and you can practically hear the brass knuckles and knives being pulled from pockets. “It was a pleasure to burn.” He quotes and you groan.

“Indeed.” Mr Phillips points to him. “Thank you, Mr...Jones. And welcome to hell.” People start throwing stuff at him and you sigh before standing up.

“Hey! Mark!” You shout towards a boy near the back. “Stop throwing things at the new kid or so help me God I will tell every single person in this school about the time you tried to fight me and ended up pissing yourself.” You smirk and he looks at the floor. People quietly laugh around you and you send him a sarcastic smile as he sinks in his chair.

“Thank you.” He mumbles and you smile softly at him.

“Miss Y/l/n, sit down. You can stay after class. And if you have Sweet Pea’s number, tell him he’s joining you too.”

“What the fuck! I didn’t do anything!” You argue.

“Sit down!” He shouts and you roll your eyes before sitting down. The bell rings soon after and everyone moves quickly to get out. You’re one of the first to stand up, grabbing your bag and trying to sneak out, but you don’t get very far. “Y/n.” Mr Philips sighs and you mutter angrily to yourself as you make your way back to your seat.

“I’ll see you at the Wyrm later.” Toni mumbles as she walks past you.

“Sorry.” Jughead mouths and you shrug. “Uh...hi? Mr Phillips?” He says anxiously.

“What the hell are you doing?” You mumble to yourself before watching the interaction.

“Mr Jones.” He replies.

“Mr Jones.” You say in a mocking tone and he sends you a glare.

“Y/n was telling me that you used to advise the school paper.”

“I wouldn’t listen to everything that Y/n says.” He mumbles and you flip him off.

“I was wondering what happened.” Jughead continues.

“Drugs and gangs...” He looks towards you and you stand up, ready to defend yourself. “Came to Southside High.”

“Excuse m-”

“Trying to get students interested in anything like the school paper was an exercise in futility.” He interrupts.

“I’m interested.” Jughead says quickly. “And I have experience. When I was at Riverdale High, I wrote for the Blue and Gold.” He explains. “I’ll put in the work.”

“Your articles online?” Mr Phillips asks.

“Mm-hm.”

“I’ll take a look, let you know.”

“Thanks.” He smiles awkwardly and starts to walk out.

“Wait up Jones!” You call after him.

“Miss y/l/n, you have detention remember.”

“Sorry sir.” You grab your bag quickly and make your way towards Jughead. “I have gangs to affiliate with and drugs to deal.” You say sarcastically before walking out, Jughead following after you.

“Is he always like that?” He asks, quickly catching up with you.

“Yep.” You nod. “How was your first day?”

“Could have been better.” He shrugs.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the Wyrm.”

---------

The next few days go by quite quickly considering its Southside High. You and Jughead hang out a few times, and you’ve already saved his ass from Ghoulies, and a few Serpents a fair few times.

He’s also somehow dragged you into helping him with the Red and Black. Toni would take pictures, and you and Jughead would write the articles. Much to Mr Phillips dismay, however that made you want to do it even more.

“It’ll be great!” Jughead says enthusiastically and open the curtains in the old classroom. Dust flies around the room and you almost cough up a lung as you walk around the room, making him laugh. He turns and looks around the room. “Its no New York Times.”

“But, hey, kudos on finding your safe space, snowflake.” You tease. “Toni said she’s gonna join us later. Serpent business apparently.”

“Thats fine. I don’t mind it being us for a while.” He says quietly and you send him a shy smile. He looks you up and down and is about to say something when the door opens.

“Y/l/n.” Sweet Pea greets you, a few other Serpents follow behind him and they all send Jughead angry looks. “Lets bounce.” You turn around and cross your arms. “Jones, wanna come with? We’re going to the quarry.”

“Uh, I don’t have my beach bod yet.” He replies sarcastically making you giggle.

“What?” You’ll ask for help from the Serpents. You’ll get one to protect you.” He points towards you.

“Here we go.” You mutter.

“But you won’t hang with us?” He asks, crossing his arms. “Don’t come crawling to us, hat in hand, when some Ghoulie decides to earn his stripes by taking out FP Jones’ kid.”

“Duly noted. Thank you, Sweet Pea. I appreciate what you and the Serpents have done for me and my dad. I do. But I’m done. Okay? No more favors coming your way.” Jughead replies and Sweet Pea’s expression darkens. He cracks his knuckles and starts walking towards him.

“Hey, hey. He made up his mind okay?” You stand in between them and push Sweet Pea back. “Take the hint, Sweet Pea. He’s just not that into you.”

“Fine.” He pushes you off him and turns around.

“Catch you later, Jones.” You tell Jughead and his face drops at the sight of you leaving. “I’ll have a think for some articles. And tell Toni I said hey.” You send him a kind smile before following Sweet Pea and the other serpents out the room.

---------

The next day, you, Sweet Pea and Toni are sat at the lunch table when a familiar Serpent makes his way towards you.

“This is why we told you not to climb the tree, Sweet Pea.” You and Toni laugh, making Sweet Pea roll his eyes. The laughter dies down when you notice Jughead standing beside you. Sweet Pea glares at him, Toni looks at him expectantly and you send him a warm smile. He returns the smile, completely ignoring Sweet Pea and points to the empty seat beside you.

“Is this seat taken?” He asks and you shake your head, moving your bag to the floor. Toni and Sweet Pea look at him before continuing their conversation.

“Don’t worry.” You nudge him. “You’ll get the hang of it. And I’m always around.”

---------

“Jughead!! Thank god you’re here!” You greet him anxiously before dragging him towards the table.

“What?” He asks, looking at the laptop in front of Sweet Pea. Toni was on one side of him and Fangs was on the other, a few other Serpents were gathered around looking annoyed. “I assume we’re not looking at cute cat videos?” He looks around confused and you shake your head.

“We will find you.” He hears a familiar voice come out the speakers of the laptop and his eyes widen.

“Check this out.” Sweet Pea turns the laptop around to face you and Jughead. “Some sick-in-the-head Northsider posted a crazy-ass video, and we were just talking.”

“About what?” Jughead asks nervously.

“Do you know him?” You whisper to Jughead and he nods ever so slightly.

“Fogarty wants to earn his Serpent stripes.” Sweet Pea smacks Fangs’ back. “I say, bring us that Northsiders head and you’re in.” He continues and a few Serpents cheer.

“I’m down with that.”

“Boys.” You warn.

“No, guys. No.”

“What, Jones?” Toni asks.

“I know this guy. He’s a football player and no threat to any of you. Its kind of a lame target.”

“Jughead?” You whisper.

“You wanna prove something?” He asks. “Why don’t you go after the Black Hood?”

“Why would we do that?” Sweet Pea laughs. “The black hood’s targeting Nothsiders, who do nothing but blame us for everything wrong with this town. We’re sick of it! The Black Hood’s doing our work for us.”

“Sweet Pea!” You warn.

“He’s a hero.” He adds. Jughead looks at him and you place a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on. We have a paper to work on.” You guide him away, towards the Red and Black room. Once inside you sit down and pull a notebook from your bag. “So, I’ve been thinking. We could run an article about th-”

“This is fucking stupid.” He interrupts you and pushes a few things off a table.

“Jughead?”

“I fucking hate it here.” He huffs, sitting beside you.

“Its not that bad.” You try to make him feel better and he raises an eyebrow. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t think I will.” He sighs. “I miss the Northside.”

“I know. But you’ll be okay. You’ll get the hang of it. Plus...I quite like you being here.” You turn to face him, but he’s already looking at you.

“You’re the only good thing about this damn place.” He tucks a piece of hair behind your ear making you blush. “You don’t deserve to be stuck here.” He adds, his hand cupping your cheek. You lean in, his breath fanning across your face and your nose brushes against his.

“Y/n!” Sweet Pea shouts, kicking the door open. You and Jughead jump apart from each other, and you stand up quickly. “Fogarty wants us to show him the blind spots around here.”

“Coming.” You smile at him. “See you later Jughead.” You wave.

“Yeah, see you.”

---------

“And thats why if you’re gonna get high at school, make sure that weird Tim isn’t around.”

“Right. I’ll keep that in mind.” Two weeks had flown by and Jughead is finally starting to get used to life at Southside High. He stopped answering in class by the end of the first week, he doesn’t talk to anyone apart from the Serpents, and he’s figured out how to avoid weird Tim. The two of you are currently on your way to Maths when a red-headed boy approaches you.

“Jug! Jug!” He shouts and Jughead looks at him wide-eyed. “We gotta go, right now.”

“Archie, what are you doing here?” He asks annoyed. “Betty ask you to throw salt in the wound?” He adds spitefully and you look at him confused. You knew he was dating a girl, and you were quite thankful that you found that out before you continued where you left off in the Red and Black classroom.

“Mayor McCoy’s about to raid Southside High.” He interrupts him.

“What!?” You ask panicked, Archie looks you up and down before focusing his attention back on Jughead. “I need to text Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs!” You pull your phone out.

“We gotta get you out of here right now.” Archie continues and grabs Jughead’s coat. “Come on.” He finishes and the front doors open.

“Shit.” You mutter as Mayor McCoy and Sheriff Keller burst through the door with police dogs. Archie starts pulling Jughead through the crowd towards the back door and you look at him.

“Wait.” Jughead pushes Archie off. “Come on.” He grabs your arm and pulls you with him.

“But Toni and Sweet Pea.” You reply.

“Its too late.” He shakes his head and you looks behind you. Sweet Pea was being pushed against a locker and Toni was being arrested in the middle of the corridor. “You can come back to my trailer.”

---------

“Here.” Jughead hands you a mug with hot chocolate in and you smile gratefully at him.

“Thanks.” You smile and blow on the steam. You wrap the blanket further around you and Jughead sits beside you on the sofa.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” He asks and you nod. Ten minutes into the movie you turn your attention back to Jughead who is staring intently at the screen. You couldn’t get what he had said about Betty out of your head, so you decide to ask him.

“What did you mean about Betty?” You ask, placing your cup on the coffee table.

He sighs and places his mug beside yours. “She broke up with me a few days ago.”

“Sorry.” You sigh. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know why?”

“I dunno. It was kind of a blur.” He shrugs and you nod.

“Sorry.”

“Its fine.” He replies, a sad smile on his face. “Its for the best anyway. I kinda like someone else.”

“Ooooo.” You tease, nudging him slightly. Your heart rate picks up at the thought of it possibly being you. “Who is it?” You ask. You look up at him to see him already looking at you. His fingers brush the hair out of your face, the way they did the first time, and he slowly leans in. You were sick of waiting so long, you’d liked him since you met him, so you decide to close the gap between the two of you quickly. He kisses back instantly, his hands going to your waist.

“Do you wanna continue this in my room?” He asks, pulling away from you.

“Yes.” You nod quickly and stand up. Jughead grabs your hand and pulls you towards his room.

---------

A month later, you and Jughead have been hooking up practically everyday and some Serpents were happier than others about it. Everything had been great. However a spanner had just been thrown into the works and everything was starting to fall apart.

News that Southside High was closing down had quickly travelled around and you had just been told were you were going.

“Wow, Jones, props to you. Its very Lovecraftian.” Toni teases Jughead. They’re sat on the steps at the front of the school, while you stand beside them, leaning over the side. You’ve been distracted all day after being told where you were going. “Which I’m sure was the intention. But I gotta ask you, did you write this on a typewriter?”

“Err...Yeah. I wanted to get into Lovecraft’s headspace.”

“So, it wasn’t like Y/n bought you a typewriter for your birthday or anything weird like that?” She asks and Jughead snatches the paper back from her.

“No comment.” He mutters.

“Did you?” Toni asks. “Y/n?” She says and you shake your head, looking at her.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Yea-”

“WOOOO!” The front door opens quickly and you have to jump back to avoid being hit. Sweet Pea and Fangs walk out, followed by some other Serpents all being very loud.

“Whats up with you two?” Toni asks.

“You know how Southside High is being closed down?” Sweet Pea asks and they both nod. “We just found out where we’re going.”

“Where?” Jughead asks.

“Same as the rest of the Serpents. Riverdale High.” Fangs smiles.

“Think of all those Northside heads to knock.” Sweet Pea punches Fangs lightly and they started to play fight making you roll your eyes.

“Great.” Toni mumbles. “School full of stuck up Northsiders.” She sighs.

“You’re the lucky ones.” You interrupt, gaining the attention of the gang.

“What do you mean?” Jughead asks and stands beside you.

You sigh and look at the ground. “Because there are so many students, Serpents and Ghoulies are being split. Serpents are going to Riverdale, Ghoulies are going to Centreville.”

“And?” Fangs asks.

“And the remaining of each, as well as weird Tim and the rest of the randoms are going to Greendale. Guess which one I’m going to?”

“You’re going to Greendale?” Jughead asks quietly, wrapping his arms around you. You nod and he sighs, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Thats fucking bull.” Sweet Pea mutters angrily.

“Calm down Sweet Pea. You’ll always have Fangs to keep you warm on a cold night.” You tease, trying to lighten the mood.

“You staying at school overnight now?”

“You never know....”

“What do you mean?” Toni asks.

“I might have to move.”

“What? You can’t move.” Jughead shakes his head frantically.

“We’ll leave you two alone.” Toni stands up and starts to walking towards her bike. Sweet Pea and Fangs give you a quick hug before following Toni.

“We can make this work.” Jughead cups your cheeks.

“How. We’re gonna be going to different schools, I might even have to move. And you’re going to school with your ex. Its never gonna work.” You say, tears flowing down your cheeks. “And I thought I finally had something good in my life.” You mumble and he hugs you tightly.

“Y/n y/l/n. You’re the best thing in my life and I’m not gonna let that go just because we’re going to different schools. So what if I’m going to school with Betty. She’s in my past, you’re my present and hopefully my future?”

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” You pull away from him slightly and he nods. “You have awful timing.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes?” You reply before kissing him.

“You could be on the other side of the world and I’d do anything to see you. I’ll follow you anywhere and everywhere.”

“Okay.”

“Its gonna be okay.” He reassures you, pulling you into a tight hug. “Everything’s gonna be okay.” He adds, you have a feeling he’s trying to convince himself too, but you decide not to ruin the moment.

---------

“Friends! Welcome to Riverdale High.” Veronica greets the Serpents enthusiastically, but Jughead isn’t feeling very thrilled about being back at Riverdale. When he first started Southside High, he would have done anything to be back at here. But now he is here, he’d do anything to be wherever you are. “Jughead.” She looks towards the beanie clad boy and he glances at her. “Nice to see you bac-”

“Sorry I’m late!” You shout, pushing through the mass of serpents until you’re at the front, standing beside Jughead. “Weird Tim flashed the fucking bus driver again.”

“Y/n!” Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea greet you happily, all squeezing you tightly.

“What are you doing here?” Jughead asks shocked and pulls you into a tight hug. “Are you coming here?”

“No, I’m here for a school trip.” You reply sarcastically. “Of course I am. I was transferred here.”

“How?” He asks and kisses you.

“Just a slight incident involving a few students and some fireworks. They transferred me here.” You reply happily.

“Nice!” Sweet Pea laughs and high-fives you.

“We’re glad you’re back. It didn’t feel the same without you.” Fangs adds.

“Plus, Jughead was moping so much we thought his face was gonna be permanently stuck in a frown.” Toni teases and Jughead rolls his eyes making you laugh.

“Awwwww.” You tease and kiss his cheek. “Were you really that upset?” You ask and he nods.

“Of course. I love you.”

“You love me?”

“...yeah.” He whispers, a blush appearing on his face and you laugh softly. “I’ve loved you since the day I met you. You were so kind and sweet. A ray of sunshine in the dark of Southside High.” He rambles and you kiss him sweetly.

“I still think its gross.” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes.

“Shut up Sweet Pea.” Fangs nudges him.

“But I suppose if you make her happy.”

“He does.” You nod. “You have no idea.”

#jughead #jughead imagine #jughead x reader #jughead x you #jughead jones #jughead jones imagine #jughead jones x reader #jughead jones x you #riverdale #riverdale imagine

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