#tom x jessie | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

supernovafics · 1 year

Text

series masterlist | last part

pairing: modern!actor!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 8.1k words

warnings: explicit language, angst, fluff, smut (18+)

summary: it’s ten months of texts, phone calls, voicemails, anything to make it feel like everything isn’t too different. and for the most part, it works. until you and steve finally see each other again

EPILOGUE | ❝𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆❞

You: How’s New York so far?

Steve: Good aside from Tom trying to force me to do more press stuff than what we initially agreed on and I’ve only been here three days

You: I kinda miss that british man

Steve: That truly offends me</3

You: I’m sorry<3

You: Okay very very important question

You: Empire State of Mind or Welcome to New York?

Steve: ????

You: You’re in New York for the next month so one of them has to be your signature song (and yes this is coming from the person that has only been to New York a handful of times. shut up don’t mention it)

Steve: Can I say no to both of them?

You: No.

Steve: Okay then

Steve: The Taylor Swift one

You: Solid answer

You: Now I will start your morning right every day you’re there by sending you lyrics from that song :)

Steve: Oh god

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steve: What was the name of that show we watched for almost five hours at your place that one night?

You: It sincerely hurts me that you forgot the name of Brooklyn Nine-Nine….

Steve: Yes, that’s it! I was thinking about this one episode we watched of it but I couldn’t remember the name

You: Are you about to watch it without me? (if the answer is yes that hurts me even more)

Steve: Yes I was… But now no way I would never watch it without you

You: A true friend. Thank you

Steve: Oh wait I’m just now realizing how late it is where you are. How are you even talking to me right now?

You: Yeah, it’s 2am but I can’t sleep. First day of real filming tomorrow. First day being AD. And yes all the pre-production stuff me and Jessie have been doing since we got to Spain two weeks ago has been perfectly leading to this moment, but now it just feels so fucking real and even though I know I’m not gonna mess up or anything I’m still nervous

Steve: You’re gonna do great and actually I think it’s impossible for you not to be really good at what you do

You: Thank you

Steve: I would suggest that I call you and we watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine to take your mind off things but you should sleep

You: No actually can we do that? I’m wide awake right now and I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep anytime soon

You: Also fun fact: I’m actually able to function better when I’m running on barely three hours of sleep

Steve: That’s a huge lie but okay

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“… Please leave a message after the beep.”

You listened to the all-too familiar sound of the “beep” and then began speaking. “Okay, I know it’s like three in the morning in LA right now, so it completely makes sense why you didn’t answer. But, anyway, I just landed in London last night and now it’s morning and I’m at the coffee shop that you told me I should go to while I’m here.”

“It’s really, really great, and I hate how right you are about the tea being amazing, and it actually makes me change my mind about how much I dislike tea. Oh, also, I got my first ever British scone from here and it’s so good too. I think I’ll probably be spending every day at this place while I’m here for the next month.”

“And I know you raved a lot about the breakfast sandwiches here too, so I will try that tomorrow. I think you said that the bacon one was your favorite, but please confirm that because I can’t fully remember… Oh, wait, nevermind, it’s definitely the bacon because I do remember you saying that you miss it a lot.”

“I could bring you one back if you want? No, wait, actually, that wouldn’t make sense because even when I leave London, I’m still gonna be in Europe for three more months… Wait, I see that they sell coffee mugs here, though, so I could definitely bring you back that if you wanted me to? They have some cool options.”

“Alright, I think I’m just rambling at this point so let me shut up.” You let out a small laugh. “Okay, bye.”

Call Ended

You: *image attached*

You: Enjoy that picture of me being the most touristy tourist in the world :)

Steve: I can’t believe you’re doing the leaning tower of pisa pose thing

You: I had to. I couldn’t come here and not do it. It feels like tradition. A rite of passage, if you will

Steve: You’re such a dork

You: Joke’s on you because I fully take that as a compliment, so thank you

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The feeling of your phone vibrating in the back pocket of the jeans you were wearing surprised you because you thought you had turned it off for the day. And then seeing Steve’s name take over your phone screen further surprised you, but you didn’t hesitate to answer the call.

“Hi,” You said. You were on a break for the first time that day, so the timing of his call was actually kind of perfect. “This is a pretty nice surprise.”

“Hey, how’s it going?” It felt really good actually hearing his voice for the first time in what felt like forever.

“Pretty good. I never thought I’d actually find myself truly missing LA, but now I kinda can’t wait to be back there in three weeks,” You answered, saying what had been on your mind for a while at this point. “How’s Vancouver?”

“Nice so far. It’s actually been snowing a lot, but I like it.”

“I hope you've been doing all of the snow and Winter activities; making snow angels, sledding down hills. Y’know, all the stuff they do in children’s Christmas movies.”

You almost immediately heard Steve laugh at your words. “The apartment I’m staying at here has a balcony, and last night after it stopped snowing I made a really small snowman.”

You smiled. “I love that. Please send me a picture of it.”

“Okay.”

Things became quiet for a moment, and it was a silence that easily felt comfortable and you didn’t mind it at all. Simply knowing that Steve was on the other end of the call felt like enough.

“This is a random thought, but we never usually talk on the phone. Mainly because our time zones are insanely different, so the timing is never right, and we’re either leaving each other voicemails or just texting, which is fine. But it’s really nice hearing your voice. It’s just… really comforting.” You let out a soft breath. “Where I am right now and where I’ve been the past five-ish months have become my makeshift “homes,” but talking to you actually feels like home, in a way… And I know exactly how disgustingly cheesy that sounds. Don’t say anything about it, or I will end this call.”

Steve laughed a bit. “No, I agree with you. We’ve talked about feeling lonely before, but even though we haven’t seen each other in what feels like a really long time, whenever we text and especially when we talk on the phone, it’s hard to feel lonely. It’s like all of these miles between us don’t really matter, which is nice. You’re my “home” too.”

You were quiet for a second, fully taking in his words and smiling at how happy they made you feel. It was the kind of happiness where you also kind of felt like crying.

You loved what you had been doing currently with your job and you wouldn’t have changed any of it, but you also really wished that you could see Steve right then; you would’ve killed for a hug.

“Okay, I think I should go before I start crying,” You said, only slightly joking with your words. “Also, I only have ten more minutes of my break, and I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.”

You shook your head even though he couldn’t see you. “No, don’t be sorry. Like I said, I really like when we can actually talk to each other. I like hearing your voice.”

“I like hearing yours too,” He told you and somehow it was easy to hear the smile in his tone. “Okay, I’m gonna hang up now. Go eat something.”

“Aye, aye captain,” You said with a small laugh. “Talk to you soon.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You: I just watched the final cut of Fear of Lonesome with Jessie… Enjoy this picture of me currently bawling my eyes out at the ending

You: *image attached*

Steve: Sorry for making you cry?

You: It was worth it, honestly

Steve: You’re coming to the cast and crew screening next week right?

You: Of course. I will happily cry at this movie again :)

You: It’s kinda really fucked up how good of an actor you are

Steve: Thank you? At least I think that’s a compliment

You: It is<3

You: Anyway I’ll see you next week then

You: The first time in a really really long time. Holy shit

Steve: That feels a little weird to think about. But a good kind of weird

You: Yeah definitely the good kind

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It was a moment that was ten months in the making.

Ten months of texts, voicemails, and sporadic phone calls. Ten months of being so far apart from one another, but doing so much to make it feel like you weren’t.

It was all leading here— seeing Steve in person at the small theater in West Hollywood that had been rented out for the night’s occasion. And when you saw him, talking to random members of the cast and crew, it didn’t exactly feel real, which made you not say anything.

Until he saw you and your eyes met and small smiles were quickly shared. You gave him a small nod before you got pulled into a conversation with someone.

He looked a little different, hair grown out a bit more and there was something minorly different about his stance, but overall he was still your Steve. Well, not technically yours, but close enough. You then wondered if he thought you looked any different. You personally felt a bit different, in a good way; like you’d become better over the past ten months, and in some ways, more of yourself.

It was almost amusing how, most of the time, the time seemed to move slowly over the past ten months, but now it was suddenly moving so much faster.

Everyone left the lobby area and started making their way inside the room that the screening would be happening in since it was scheduled to start in five minutes, but you and Steve lingered back, walking toward each other until there were only a few beats of space between you two.

You smiled at him again. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He stepped forward to close the rest of the distance between you and pull you in for a hug, but you stepped back.

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m allowed to hug you. Y’know given that you’re an engaged man and all.” You tried to be completely serious with your words but it was hard not to laugh at least a little bit.

According to many celebrity news outlets, Steve and his female costar of the limited series he’d been filming in Vancouver for the past five months were dating. It was a rumor that started about two months into filming, and there had been no confirmations about the said relationship but there were also no hard denials, so the speculations continued. And then there were even a handful of news outlets that went quite insane with their headlines and said that the two were secretly engaged. You both had laughed about it then when you sent that article to him, because the rumors were hilariously ridiculous, and you couldn’t not joke about it now.

“Ha ha,” He said, voice deadpan. “I didn’t even get to tell you, but Tom suggested that me and Lily actually start fake dating because, in addition to all of this giving so much more press to the show, it could also help me. If I’m dating someone it will fully “kill off the asshole image.” I immediately vetoed that idea, though.”

Although the asshole narrative that surrounded Steve still existed— not as prominent as it once was but it still lingered whenever his name was brought up by the media— it was hard to see him like that anymore.

You let out a laugh. “Of course Tom would suggest that.”

“Yeah, he’s…” Steve trailed off with a quick shake of his head. “Anyway, c’mere.”

You walked into his open arms that time, pushing up on your toes to circle your arms around his neck as his wrapped around your waist. Your eyes fell shut as he held you tight and it was then that the time felt like it started to move slow again.

“I have something for you,” You told him after a moment, words getting somewhat lost in his neck but he was still able to hear you. “A little gift. It’s in my car, I’ll give it to you after.”

“I also have something for you,” Steve whispered, and you opened your eyes at that.

You pulled back from the hug, still smiling at him. “Great minds, hm?”

He nodded and matched your smile with one of his own. Seeing him right then still didn’t entirely feel real just yet, so you went quiet once again and the two of you simply looked at each other.

During the past ten months you and him had talked pretty much all of the time, but there was something different about this moment. Feelings that you thought you had successfully pushed far away rushed right back to the surface.

“We should head inside,” He said, breaking the silence and pulling you out of your thoughts, which you were grateful for because you really didn’t want to think right then, especially not about that.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You were the one that suggested Steve come back to your place and the small gift exchange happen there.

The screening felt as if it ended too soon and the inevitability of the night itself ending started to hang in the air. However, you couldn’t allow that to happen; you wanted this night to last as long as it could.

Steve agreed with your suggestion and thirty minutes after various goodbyes were said, the two of you were sitting on your couch as a frozen pizza that you’d just bought yesterday cooked in the oven because both of you were hungry.

You were already wearing the navy blue oversized crewneck he got you that had “Vancouver” embroidered in white across the front of it. It was comfortable and perfect, and a simple gift but also the best thing you’d received in a while.

“I hope you like this,” You said as you handed him the gift you’d gotten for him; a cream colored mug with the logo of a coffee shop in brown lettering on the side. “I know you said that you were okay with not getting a mug from that coffee shop in London, but I just really wanted to get you this one.”

Steve looked at the mug for a second and then at you, a smile on his face. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” You said and your fingers started mindlessly playing with the hem of your crewneck as you continued speaking. “I’ve missed you a lot this past year. I know we talked so often and everything, but being right here, in person, feels really nice.”

“I’ve missed you too,” He said softly before he placed the mug on the coffee table barely a few feet away and then met your eyes again. “There were so many times where I wanted to just drop everything and go see you. Rearrange plans or cancel some stupid press stuff and meet up with you. Even if it would only be for barely a day or whatever. I just always wanted to see you.”

You wanted to tell him how much you related to his words. You wanted to say how there were a countless amount of times where you had yearned to do the exact same thing. However, you couldn’t find the words to tell Steve any of that, so instead you only looked at him for a bit.

It was almost funny how many times you had become at a loss of words so far that night simply because of him. But it was as if the fact that you were suppressing so much made you unable to say pretty much anything. Because you were scared of where exactly your mind would go if you didn’t immediately shut down some of your thoughts that involved you and Steve, especially now that he was right here instead of thousands of miles away and no longer solely limited to the confines of your phone.

He was your friend. Best friend. And it had been so much easier to pretend that that was where you and him solely began and ended when you both were so far away from each other— when he wasn’t right in front of you and you weren’t so easily reminded of how close you two used to be in such a different way.

Those same revived feelings from earlier that night came right back again, and they practically increased tenfold because you found yourself wanting to kiss him so fucking badly. And, of course, there was a part of your mind that immediately told you just how bad of an idea that would be. However, at that moment, you became okay with all logical thinking being pushed out of the window.

In your mind it felt like you were moving in slow motion, scooting closer to him on the couch and sliding into his lap so that your legs were on either side of him, but in reality it was happening so much quicker. However, you stopped there before you did anything else.

You could see some confusion in his eyes and also something else that you couldn’t fully decipher, maybe he was contemplating things as much as you had been before you decided to take this sort of plunge.

That look was almost enough to wake you up and remind you of what had been agreed upon all those months ago, but it wasn’t enough to make you pull away from Steve. However, instead of sliding off of his lap or moving things further, you gave the metaphorical ball to him.

You let silence hang in the air as the two of you simply looked at each other and you gave him the opportunity to push you away. To tell you that there wasn’t any part of him that wanted this to happen. That he was so far past feeling anything like that toward you anymore. That he never even thought about it.

You would’ve been okay with any of those things happening because even though it would’ve hurt, it would actually make things a thousand times easier.

But, he didn’t do or say any of that. Instead, he closed the last bit of space between you two and slotted his lips against yours.

It was an immovable and obvious fact that you had missed him so much over the past ten months, but you now realized that you had missed this just as much. A soft kiss that almost immediately turned into something more with one of Steve’s hands coming up to cup your cheek and the other finding your hip to keep you steady. You couldn’t help but moan into his mouth when his tongue ran across your bottom lip making the kiss deeper, and your hands fisted themselves into his t-shirt to bring yourself impossibly closer to him.

For the time being, you effectively turned your mind off. You deliberately chose not to think about what this exactly meant or what it would come to mean. All you focused on in that moment was how fucking good doing this with Steve felt.

Your hands found the hem of your crewneck because you suddenly felt way too hot and you pulled away from Steve for a second so that you could slip it over your head, leaving you in just your black tank top and shorts.

You became so lost in the pure happiness of everything that was happening right then that you couldn’t hear anything except your heart pounding in your ears and the soft sounds Steve was managing to elicit from you due to the way he was squeezing your hips.

“The oven,” He mumbled against your lips, which slowly snapped you out of the haze you were in. “The oven is beeping.”

It was then that you heard the incessant noise; almost too loud and clear.

You abruptly pulled away from Steve and maneuvered off of his lap. “Oh, shit.”

He followed you into the kitchen as you opened up the oven and used a mitt to grab the circular pan the pizza was on and place it atop the stove.

“That was, um…” You trailed off not knowing exactly where you wanted to go with your words.

Steve shook his head. “It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“I don’t regret what just happened,” You blurted out. They were the words that pretty much mimicked what was said after the first time you two ever had sex. But, instead of those words first coming from Steve they were coming from you. “And I don’t really know what that means, and I kinda don’t wanna think about what it means right now. I kinda just don’t wanna think at all right now. Sometimes I feel like I think way too much when it comes to us.”

He was quiet for a second before he nodded at you. “Okay.”

His hands found your hips and you were softly pressed against the side of the kitchen counter. You two shared a look that felt as if it was saying a million things, none of which you particularly wanted to decipher right then.

Before things could stay silent for too long, before you accidentally let your mind fall down a spiraling rabbit hole, you nodded a bit and mimicked Steve’s previous word. “Okay.”

His hands came up to cup your face before he leaned in to kiss you again. You didn’t waste a second to push yourself onto the counter and Steve’s lips found your neck, roughly kissing and nipping at the skin. Your hands started playing with the hem of his t-shirt before circling in the loops of his jeans and pulling him flush against you. When you felt his hardness press against your inner thigh, you took in a sharp breath and let out a soft moan. You were completely certain that you would’ve let him pull off your shorts and underwear and do whatever he wanted to do to you against your kitchen counter if you weren’t reminded of something else.

“The pizza?” You mumbled, a bit unable to form the question coherently because all you could really focus on was the feeling of Steve’s mouth against you.

He pulled away from your neck and met your eyes. “We can eat it after.”

He didn’t have to specify further for you to know exactly what he meant. You smiled and pressed a quick kiss against his lips. “Yeah, after sounds perfect.”

It became a blur of movements after those words fell from your lips. His hands found the backs of your thighs and he picked you up— the abruptness of the action made you simultaneously yelp and laugh as your arms came up to circle around his neck. You were carried to your bedroom and softly placed down against the unmade bed. Clothes were quickly shed until there was nothing between you and him.

No words were said in these rushed moments where hands and mouths roamed almost everywhere on each other's bodies; the brief looks shared and breathy noises coming from both of you were enough.

It was as if one mind was being shared or a song that only you two knew the words to was playing and both of you were singing along. Your hands were in his hair, softly pulling because the groans he’d let out were probably the hottest thing you’d ever heard. And his middle finger softly teased your clit as he whispered the filthiest things in your ear because he knew just how much that would make you lose it.

It had been almost a year but neither of you forgot these little things about one another and it almost felt like second nature to be with each other in this way. There wasn’t a hint of nervousness or awkwardness, and maybe that was saying a lot more than you wanted to admit.

You were positive that if you fully thought about what was happening right then, your mind wouldn’t hesitate to yell at you that this was a bad idea; that it would only make things complicated, and start you both back at square one.

However, it would also tell you that the times in your life where you felt your happiest and most comfortable mainly consisted of moments with Steve, and that was something that felt as if it would never change.

Therefore, when he slipped inside you with a low groan that you caught with your mouth and proceeded to make you come faster than you had in such a long time, it was hard to feel anything but completely happy.

Your legs wrapped around him, coaxing him deeper inside of you and soft “pleases” fell from your lips begging him to come. And after a particularly hard thrust, he let out a loud “Fuck” and came inside of you, and you couldn’t do anything but moan at the feeling of his cum painting your walls.

The weight of him crushed you in the most comforting way possible, and you tilted your head upward a bit to meet his lips in a soft and lazy kiss. The two of you stayed just like that for a while, coming down from your highs and letting your racing hearts return to normal. Your head fell back against your pillow, eyes closing, but you didn’t feel tired.

“When those articles about you and Lily dating started coming out, I knew exactly how ridiculous the rumors were because I feel like we have the kind of… friendship where you’d tell me if you were dating someone… But, there was still a small part of me that believed it for a second, and it was actually so hard to not feel a little sad about it.” Your words came out quiet, and you actually had no idea why you had just said all of that— perhaps that confession did not make for the best post-sex pillow talk conversation. But, for some reason, you wanted to say it.

It was a thought that had weighed on you all those months ago, and you knew that you couldn’t tell that to him then because of what it implied. And you weren’t entirely sure why and what made this moment different from then.

Steve was quiet for a bit and his face was buried in your neck as he softly spoke. “I don’t really know what to say to that.”

“It’s okay,” You whispered back. “You don’t have to say anything. It was dumb of me to feel that way about it.”

He rolled off of you and the feel of his warmth against you was something that you missed almost immediately. For a second you thought that maybe you ruined this moment, whatever it was, but then he said something.

“What are you doing this weekend?” He asked, and you were grateful for the randomness of the subject change.

You let out a breath that you didn't know you’d been holding and turned on your side to face him. “For once, absolutely nothing. It’ll probably be the last time I actually have nothing to do before the documentary I’m helping out on starts filming in a month, and I have to do some pre-production stuff for it soon.”

Work was honestly the only thing in your life that felt completely certain, so it always felt easy to talk about.

“You should come to New York. I’m going tomorrow, and I'll be there until the premiere here for the movie next week. I have to do some press stuff and have a few meetings. A bunch of boring stuff, but you should come for the weekend,” Steve said, one hand finding your bare hip and softly rubbing the skin. “To make the boring stuff a lot less boring.”

You couldn’t help but smile at that, and you nodded at him, quickly deciding not to think too heavily about your answer. “Okay.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

It was a little surprising that it wasn’t surprising how easy things fell back into that old place with you and Steve. Back to what sort of resembled the “arrangement” that had started during filming a year ago where you two pretty much acted like you were in a relationship, but neither of you would say the words or wholeheartedly acknowledge that fact.

There was a lot that you two would eventually have to talk about, but you decided that that would be a bridge that you’d cross once you were hours away from getting on your flight back to California. And it was a flight that kept changing because you didn’t want to leave New York just yet; you didn’t want to leave Steve yet.

So, your weekend trip extended days upon days until Wednesday came and it was agreed upon that you’d just go back to Los Angeles Friday morning when Steve was heading back there as well because that was the same day as the movie premiere.

You had a little work to do during those first few weekdays you were there, but you found it easy to respond to emails and make the phone calls you needed to from the comfort of Steve’s apartment, which was smaller than his place in LA but of course still massive and had a great view of Central Park. The dining room area became your makeshift “work from home” spot with your laptop at the table at pretty much all times. And while you did that, Steve was off doing press stuff for the movie, or he was in meetings; the things aside from filming that came along with being a famous actor.

And then when the day would change into the evening and then night, you two were together, doing everything that you both had desperately missed doing. You two still knew each other’s bodies so well, and it was as if that fact was only further and further proven every night.

It was hard not to be close to each other when for so long, you hadn’t been able to be, and because of that, things became a little different this time around in comparison to what the “arrangement” had been. There were little touches and affections— holding hands while sitting as close as you possibly could on the couch or Steve kissing you goodbye before he’d leave the apartment— that hadn’t happened before because of the lines that had been metaphorically drawn, but they felt pretty blurred now.

A sort of routine quickly and almost effortlessly formed and it gave you that glimpse into what you and him could be if the circumstances were slightly different. And it was hard not to admit that you completely adored what this “what if” looked like.

“We need snacks.” Your words were random and abrupt and Steve only looked at you amusingly.

It was Wednesday night, days before things would inevitably change, and you weren’t completely sure what they’d change into— if they’d go back to the normal you had created with Steve where the two of you were friends and nothing more, or if things changed into something else entirely. You still completely avoided thinking about it all, and it was pretty damn nice living in this fantasy world.

The two of you were on the couch in his living room. Your legs were draped over his lap and a blanket covered you both.

One of Steve’s hands was absentmindedly rubbing your leg beneath the blanket as he spoke. “There’s some stuff in the pantry.”

“If we’re about to spend the entire night watching The Hunger Games movies we need more than just the chips to keep us alive.”

His eyebrows furrowed at your words. “Am I underestimating how long these movies are?”

“You definitely are,” You said with a small laugh and pressed a quick kiss against his lips. You then pulled off the blanket that had been draped over the both of you and stood up from the couch. “I’ll go to the convenience store down the street.”

Steve got up as well. “I’ll come too.”

You quickly shook your head. “No way. It’s kinda insane how the paparazzi seem way more ruthless here. I think they’re always camping outside the building.”

Over the past few days, you had come to the conclusion that it was lucky that Steve lived in an apartment building because whenever you would leave and come back, no one could ever know that you were there for him. And you knew just how big of a field day they would have if they did know, especially because of the dating rumors that were still circling about him and Lily.

“Yeah, way too many famous people live here,” Steve said as he followed you into his bedroom.

Your small suitcase, that had only been meant for a weekend trip and was packed as such, was a haphazard mess in the corner. You slipped off the shorts you were wearing and pulled on a black pair of leggings.

“And yet, I’ve still not run into Paul Rudd on the elevator since I’ve been here,” You jokingly said and expected Steve to laugh, but instead he bypassed your statement.

“Wait, it’s raining. You sure you’re gonna be okay out there?”

You smiled at his slightly concerned face. “Okay, I know I’ve been living in LA for a long time now, but don’t worry I have in fact experienced rain before.”

Steve shook his head at you but still couldn’t help but laugh a little at your words. “Hold on.”

He almost immediately walked away, heading into his closet, before you could ask him what he was doing, and then returned moments later with a hoodie and umbrella.

“I was already planning to steal a hoodie, but thanks for the umbrella,” You told him with a smile as you put on the plain black hoodie. “What kind of candy do you want me to get?”

“Skittles.”

“Solid answer,” You responded with a nod.

The two of you headed toward the front door and you put on your shoes that were next to it. Once you were done, Steve handed you the umbrella. He then pulled the hood of the hoodie over your head and then leaned in to press a kiss on your nose. “Don’t meet Paul Rudd on the elevator.”

You laughed a bit. “I’m sorry, but I really, really hope I do.”

You didn’t meet Paul Rudd on the elevator, and you told Steve that with an over dramatic sad sigh when you came back from the store twenty minutes later, a bag full of junk food in hand, before you both settled back on the couch.

The two of you were only able to fully watch the first two Hunger Games movies before falling asleep an hour into the third one, around two in the morning. You half-woke up when the credits were rolling and then lightly poked Steve awake so that you two could go to his actual bed for the rest of the night.

“This is how it would be, y’know,” Steve said in the morning, words slightly getting lost in your hair.

The two of you were cuddled in his bed, your back pressed against his front and one of his arms draped over your waist. You had just finished having a half-awake discussion about what to do for breakfast before he said that he had to leave soon for the final day of press interviews for the movie, but he told you about a bagel place nearby that you’d probably like. And then the conversation shifted to a pinky promise agreement that you and him would finish the final two Hunger Games movies that night.

Things became quiet after that, with both of you savoring the last few minutes you could spend in bed, and you found his hand, intertwining it with yours and pulling it up to kiss the back of it.

You almost shifted around to face Steve after he abruptly said his previous words, but you felt too comfortable in your current position to do so. “How what would be?”

“You and me if we decided to be something real.”

“Steve,” You said softly and then decided to shift around so that you were looking at him. His hair was a little disheveled and he looked pretty tired, but he also looked so cute. If he hadn’t just abruptly pushed open the door to the conversation that you knew needed to happen, you were certain that you would’ve kissed him right then.

“I’m just saying...” He said as his shoulders upturned in a small shrug. “Also, I’m slightly kidding. This week has been really good, and I’m glad we got to have it, but I know things will go back to… normal soon. And that’s okay.”

Hearing him say that— confirming that things would just go back to how they were, a friendship where you both seemed to just lie about what you really wanted and how you felt— made you get hit with the sudden realization that you hated the thought of going back to that.

However, for some reason, you couldn’t find the words to tell him that right then, so instead you nodded at what he had just said and plastered on a fake smile. You made your voice sound as light as possible. “Yeah.”

He left the apartment forty-minutes later and you left it twenty minutes after that, deciding to go to the bagel place he suggested because you were hungry and also because you didn’t want to be alone in his apartment with only your confusing and contradicting thoughts to keep you company.

However, somehow as you walked aimlessly around Central Park— your bag with your plain cream cheese bagel in one hand and iced coffee in the other— that was when it felt like the dam broke, and your mind started spiraling because it finally felt impossible to keep avoiding and pushing your thoughts away. You were finally facing the bridge that you had told yourself you’d eventually have to cross, and in your head, you could see that the end of it was leading in two completely different directions. And you knew the exact direction you wanted to go in.

Your friendship with Steve was supposed to be more than enough. That was what you had told yourself that night at the wrap party to convince yourself that you were completely okay with only having a friendship with him.

But now, after these past five days of getting that glimpse into what something more could look like, you knew that just being friends really wasn’t enough, and it never would be. And although a part of you still felt a little scared to risk it all, there was an even bigger part of you that didn’t want to give this up anymore.

You couldn’t give up how completely and irrevocably happy Steve made you in more ways than just friendship. It was a mixture of the butterflies you’d get in your stomach whenever he would pull you close to him to press a soft kiss against your forehead or cheek and the wide smile you’d get on your face when he’d come back to the apartment after being gone for hours. It was also how he would look at you so adoringly when you would ramble about work stuff and how he could easily manage to convince you to stay in bed for “five more minutes;” five minutes that would always turn into at least ten but you never cared.

Steve Harrington made you the happiest you’d ever been and you suddenly became tired of continuously avoiding that fact.

It was a series of quick but definitely long overdue actions that happened next.

You found yourself sitting on a park bench with the thought of eating your bagel or drinking more of your coffee long forgotten for the time being, and instead they simply sat next to you, because there was something else you needed to do at that moment. You pulled out your phone and went to Steve’s contact, pressing the call button before you could think twice about it.

It went straight to voicemail, just like you knew it would because he always kept it off during interviews, so you waited for the way too familiar “beep” sound and then started speaking.

“Hi,” Your voice came out softer than you expected it to, so you cleared your throat. “I knew that you weren’t gonna answer, and I’m kinda glad that you didn’t because I just want to get all of this out all at once. So, stay tuned for a very long-winded ramble from me.” You let out a small laugh. “Um, anyway, these past five days that I’ve been here in New York with you have been so good, like insanely good, and I’ve been avoiding thinking about what would happen after this and what would exactly change between us. And I was completely okay with not thinking about any of that because it made it easier to just live in the moment and be happy with what we’ve been doing. But then this morning, you said that it’s okay that things will go back to normal soon and that finally made me think about everything, and I realized that I don’t want us to go back to “normal.” I actually kind of hate the thought of doing so.”

You stopped for a moment, gaze becoming fixated on a group of friends that had blankets spread out in the grass and were having a picnic not that far away from you, and then you looked at a couple that was walking down one of the paths holding hands.

After taking a quick breath, you kept going. “You’re so important to me, and our friendship is so important to me too… But I love you. I’m in love with you. And because of that, I can’t just be your friend. I want more, I want us to be something real; and that’s pretty much exactly what you said that night at my apartment almost a year ago. I’m so sorry that it’s taken me this long to realize just how fucking great we are together.”

Your hand that wasn’t holding your phone to your ear began absentmindedly playing with the hem of the sweatshirt you were wearing; it was the Vancouver crewneck he got for you.

“I want us to have days like this past week forever. And I know that this week has kind of been a fluke because, for the first time in a really long time, our schedules worked out pretty well. But we can make this work. I know we can. I was an idiot to say that we don’t make sense before because we do. Yes, our lives pull us in pretty different directions most of the time, and it sucks, but it's okay because it doesn’t change how I feel about you, and it never will. And I think that's the most important thing. It's why I know we, us, can actually work.”

You leaned back against the wooden bench and let out a breath. “Okay, wow, I’m so surprised that I haven’t been cut off yet… I’m currently sitting on a park bench in Central Park, and I got a bagel and coffee from the place you mentioned. I haven’t tried the bagel yet, but the coffee’s pretty good…” You trailed off with a shake of your head and then laughed a bit. “I have no idea why I’m telling you that right now. Um, anyway, I’m gonna stop talking now, and I’ll see you back at the apartment later. Bye.”

When you ended the call and pocketed your phone away, you felt an immediate weight lift off of your shoulders and you let out a contented sigh that turned into a small laugh.

You waited for a second, though, waited for something that resembled dread or regret to suddenly hit you, but it never did. And that was what let you know that what you’d just done was fully the right thing to do.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Hours later, you still felt nothing but complete contentment with what you had done, leaving the minute and a half long voicemail that would, in fact, change everything. You wanted it to change everything.

After responding to a handful of work emails and then enduring an hour-long phone call with one of the Producer’s of the soon-to-be filming documentary, you were in the kitchen searching for some sort of a snack to eat. However, hearing the sound of the front door opening halted your rummaging.

“Hi,” You said, watching Steve enter the apartment and then close and lock the door behind him.

He met your eyes almost immediately. “I really loved that voicemail.”

You smiled at him, at how quickly he wanted to address the elephant in the room before it really even had a chance to enter. “Yeah?”

He didn’t hesitate to nod his head and he smiled back at you. “Yeah. I’m never deleting it.”

He looked so happy as he walked over to you where you were leaning against the kitchen island, and that look made your heart constrict in your chest.

“I love you,” It didn’t feel the tiniest bit scary to say the words right to him, they just felt so honest and undeniable. Your voice was soft and your arms came up to wrap around his neck, hands immediately finding home in the hair at the nape.

“Mm,” His eyes slipped shut as his arms circled around you, pulling you against him. “Say it again.”

Your mouth was right against his ear as you spoke. “I love you.”

He hummed again and then pulled back a bit, his nose brushed against yours and his lips did the same. It was all so teasing, like he wanted to take his absolute time with kissing you. However, now it didn’t have to be slow or drawn out because none of this was going to abruptly end; there was no expiration date apart of this like the arrangement you had a year ago.

“I love you too,” He said before finally slotting his lips against yours.

There was so much expressed in the soft kiss. It completely felt like the beginning of something new, something better, rather than simply a continuation of what you two had. The kiss was so certain and sure and it only further confirmed to you that everything happening was right and good and perfect. This was what you had wanted from the moment the two of you made that pinky promise during the wrap party; the one where you both said that you wouldn’t let your friendship end. Technically, it wasn’t being broken.

You pulled away when you started feeling lightheaded and you met Steve’s gaze as you allowed yourself to breathe for a bit. You were quiet for only a second.

“This will work,” You whispered.

Steve nodded and then pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Yeah, it will.”

The three simple words comforted you, they wrapped around you like a warm blanket, and you savored the feel of them. For the first time, probably ever, your overthinking mind felt sated; it couldn’t find anything wrong about this moment. You finally felt like you could breathe so goddamn easy because there was nothing to truly worry about, and you found yourself wanting to cry at that feeling, but you didn’t. Instead, you kissed Steve’s cheek and then his other one, and then his nose and forehead.

“This is random, but I’m really, really glad that I was forced to be your assistant.”

Steve laughed a bit at that. “Sometimes it doesn’t even really feel like that's where we started.” His hands found yours, intertwining them and giving them a light squeeze. “But, I’m so fucking glad that it was you.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

author’s note: i'm gonna miss these two<333 i hope yall enjoyed this series! its been a rollercoaster fr (a good one for the most part though lol) i might do lil blurbs for these two someday because i'm way too attached to them and i have some minor ideas of some things i'd wanna do involving them.... but that probably won't happen for a while because after somehow being able to put out chapters weekly for this i do in fact need a Break lmao but anyway thank you for reading and enjoying this series🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington smut #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington series #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things fic #stranger things fluff #stranger things imagine

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andydrysdalerogers · 4 months

Text

Love Lessons

Pairings: Sebastian Stan x Reader, Chris Evans, Scott Evans, Sebastian x Alejandra Onieva

Word Count: 3.1K

Summary: Being an associate producer was never the goal but the stepping stone to be a writer. So when you work for Jimmy Fallon, you never know what will happen. Or who you will meet...

Warnings: Language, Alcohol use

Song: Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield (performed by Mary Lambert)

Part 1 of 3

Banners by me! Dividers by @firefly-graphics

I don't consent to my work being copied or translated at all.

Love lesson #1: Meeting your potential soul mate can come from anywhere. You don’t really know. Whether it’s a chance meeting, a prearranged date or fate hitting you in the face. All you know is that it always comes from the place you least expect it. Always keep your eyes open.

Being an assistant is never a glamorous job. But it is the stepping stone to get to any producer, anchor or executive job. Everyone starts at the bottom. Including you. You are an assistant on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Fate had gotten you the call for an internship a couple of years ago. Destiny placed you in the way of your future and hard work had gotten you to be one of the show’s assistants. You rarely got star struck anymore but every once in a while, it did come. You are human after all.

Tonight, it was your job to have all of the guests comfortable before the taping. And you knew it would be a more difficult night as the men of Marvel were on the docket for the week. Monday, it had been Robert Downey Jr., who had to be one of the nicest humans you had ever met. Tuesday it had been Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd, who were complete sweethearts. Wednesday brought Chris Helmsworth, Paul Bethany and Benedict Cumberbatch, or the international contingent as you had called them. Thursday was Anthony Mackie and Tom Holland, which went as well as you thought.

But now it was Friday, and it was the final night of the week. You had a list of things that you needed to bring to the first guest room. You knocked but didn’t hear anything. You knocked again and thought you heard a muffled acknowledgement You entered. “Hello Mr. Stan! I have…oh I’m so sorry!” You had interrupted an intimate moment between him and a blonde.

“Oh, god, sorry, I thought you were Evans.” The man grabbed his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away the lipstick on his mouth.

“I’m so sorry. I was just bringing in the Evian that was requested.” You dropped the bottles of water into the fridge and headed back to the door. “Please let me know if you need anything else.” You spun around, your HC ponytail swinging around.

“I don’t have your name to call you.” Sebastian smiled in your direction as the blonde scowled. He took you in and absorbed the natural beauty you had in a simple white button down and black slacks. You had minimal makeup on, highlighting just your eyes. You were a stark contrast to the blonde next to him and it was a breath of fresh air.

“It’s YN, Mr. Stan.”

“YN, thank you for the waters. But please call me Sebastian. This is Alejandra, my girlfriend.” He pointed to the blonde, who gave you a pointed look. The look of fuck off and leave me and my man alone. Sebastian missed it, still captivated by you. “I don’t think you were here last time I was on the show.”

“No, I started about two years ago. I think you were here right before I joined.” You looked down. “Well, it’s nice to meet you both. If you’ll excuse me.” You head on out and let out a long breath.

“Cariño, why are you staring at the door?”

“No reason. She was nice.” Alejandra rolled her eyes. “What Ale?”

“Nothing Sebastian.” She went back to kissing his neck. He shrugged her off. “I don’t want to get lipstick on my collar.” In reality, he wanted to go after you, find out more about you. You were an enigma that he wanted to puzzle out. YN, the name of a mystery.

You headed to the other dressing room and knocked, waiting this time until you heard, “Come in.”

“Hi Chris,” you greeted. You had met Chris a couple of time, so you were way more comfortable with him.

“Hey YN!” He came over to give you a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

“I’ve got your waters and scotch as requested and… Eeekkkk!”

You screamed and dropped the glasses as none other than Scott Evans scared the pants off of you when he jumped from behind the door. He doubled over in laughter as he had gotten Chris and you in one go. You had dropped to your knees in fright and clutched at your chest.

“Scott! What the fuck man!” Chris yelled at his brother. Sometimes he wished that Scott and Jimmy were not as close friends as they were so maybe he wouldn’t have to had keep bringing him along every time.

Scott was still trying to breathe, “I’m sorry YNN. You both made it too easy.”

Sebastian, after hearing the commotion, ran to Chris’s room and looked around the corner and saw a sight that made him weak. It was you, on your knees, looking so seductive, your white button-down shirt basically see through from the dropped water and scotch, allowing a glimpse at the dark colored bra you wore underneath. He swallowed at the sight until he saw all of the glass and the liquid that covered you. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. This jackass scared the crap outta me,” you said pointing to Scott. Sebastian was shocked with the choice of words you used. You carefully got up with Sebastian and Christ helping you, so you didn’t get cut by the glass. Everyone was chuckling until they heard another voice scoff and say, “Pendeja.”

You froze, unbelieving what you were hearing. That didn’t stop Scott. He was fluent in Spanish and had a complete look of rage on his face. “What the fuck did you just call her?”

Alejandra paled when three male faces whipped towards her. She was speechless, unable to defend herself.

You got up and touched Scott’s arm to calm him, gave Chris a small smile and left the room. As you walked away, you turned back to see Sebastian looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him. You turned back and headed to your office and pray for a change of clothes, so you no longer smelled like scotch and humiliation.

Back in the dressing areas, Chris had called maintenance and they cleared the glass as Sebastian pulled Alejandra back into his dressing room. “What the fuck!”

“I’m sorry cariño, it slipped.”

“It slipped to call someone you don’t know an insulting name?”

“It… it wasn’t….”

“Don’t tell me it wasn’t Ale. Scott speaks Spanish and his face was what told me you said something derogatory. What did you call her?”

“I called her an idiot.” The voice was small and afraid.

“Really Ale, really? What the fuck for?”

“She made eyes at you, and I was upset.”

“A lot of women do Alejandra. Are you really that insecure in our relationship that you had to treat someone like that?”

“Cariño, I’m sorry.”

“Nah, forget it. Just go home Alejandra. You embarrassed me in front of my friends and in front of a perfect stranger.” He grabbed his bag and headed to Chris’s dressing room. He knocked on his door. “Can I hang in here for a while?”

“Sure Seb,” Chris replied as he sat with Scott.

Sebastian placed his bag in the corner and then sat of the opposite couch. “How the fuck did I end up with a bitch like Alejandra?” He dropped his head in his hands.

Chris cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the comment but knowing his friend needed him. “Did she tell you what she called YN?”

“Yeah, and the reason behind it. I mean this is the first time I’ve ever met this girl and all of a sudden Ale decided she needed to be a she-wolf.”

“You’ve never met YN?” Scott piped in.

“No, should, have I?”

“I mean, I thought…” Scott is stopped by Chris.

“He doesn’t come on the show as often as we do. I think this is the first time in a couple of years, right?”

“Yeah, I think so. She mentioned something about only being here recently.”

“For the last couple of years, yeah.” Chris is nervous suddenly but Sebastian chalks it up to his famous anxiety. They chat for a bit, waiting for the show to start.

You head back to Jimmy’s office, after changing into a black dress you happened to have, making sure that he is ready to go. “Hey Jimmy!”

“Hey YN! Ready for the last night of Men of Marvel week?”

“Kinda, all this testosterone is getting to me,” you said with a giggle.

“How are Chris, Scott and Sebastian?”

“Ready to roll, boss. Although Scott did scare me earlier.”

“Oh god, tell me we got that on camera.”

You sighed and pulled the flash drive from your pocket with the offending footage. The hallway had a camera and captured Scott jumping out and you falling. Jimmy plugs it in and views the tape. He laughs until he sees the confrontation with Alejandra. “What did she call you?”

“Pendeja. It means idiot or dumb ass in certain countries.” You look down at your hands. You knew what she said, and it hurt. She had never met you, didn’t know anything about you. And here she was, trying to make you feel insignificant.

“YNN, you know none of us think that way of you. This was an accident from a scare. You didn’t make a mistake.”

You wipe away an errant tear. “I know Jimmy. Thanks.”

“You know Chris and Scott would never think of you that way.”

“I know. I know.” You take a deep breath and square your shoulders. “You ready boss?”

“Oh, we all know you are more the boss than me,” he says. “Let me go say hi to the guys before we get started.” You grab his suit jacket and follow him to the dressing rooms. You’re surprised to see Sebastian in the Evans’s dressing room, but you didn’t say anything. Jimmy greeted everyone. “Scott, I know you are not in the Marvel universe, but you know we love you here at the Tonight Show.”

“Well if it wasn’t for YNN, I wouldn’t be here; she convinced Chris to bring me,” Scott replies, getting a chuckle from everyone else. You blush at the attention.

“Had I known I would be covered in scotch, I would have told Chris to leave you at home,” you say with a smirk, leave Scott with an open mouth and hard laughs from Jimmy, Sebastian and Chris.

Sebastian stands and asks, “um, YN, could I have a moment of your time.” You nod and head to the hallway. Sebastian pulls the door almost all the way closed and turns to face you. “I am sorry about Alejandra. Her comment was way out of line. She was rude and I just wanted to offer my apologies.”

“It’s ok Sebastian. Thank you for the apology. I’m used to snobs like her.” You play with the end of your ponytail. A nervous habit.

Sebastian gulped not sure how to convey his attraction. “It doesn’t excuse her behavior.” He slipped into Romannian. “Din tot sufletul, dragă, îmi cer scuze pentru ea.” (With all my heart, beautiful, I apologize for her.)

You look at him curiously. And reply, “Ar fi trebuit să alegi o femeie mai bună pentru ca inima ta să fie fericită.” (You should have picked a better woman for your heart to be happy.) He looked stunned and you continued. “It’s not a problem.”

You turned to head back into the dressing room, but Sebastian touches your arm. “I was wondering if I could buy you a drink after the show.”

You blush at the invitation. Sebastian Stan asking you for a drink is like the dream. However, you already had plans. “Oh, I would love to but I’m meeting someone after. Rain check?”

“Oh. Yeah sure. Here,” he took his phone out and gave it to you. You entered in your number and messaged yourself. “I live here in the city so whenever you have time.”

“Sure, I’ll text you.” You walked back into the room. Chris gave you a questioning look and you smiled and shook your head, letting him know you were ok.

You and Jimmy left the room and got ready for the show, stopping in the control room with the video, making sure it was edited to just show the scare. The show started and Jimmy did his thing, the monologue going off without a hitch. You waited for the cues, doing your thing. Sebastian came out first.

“Sebastian welcome back to the show. It’s been a couple of years.”

“Yes, thanks for having me. I wasn’t exactly sure if you’d have me back, considering the last time.”

“The last time… oh, yeah well.”

“C’mon man no need to be shy.”

“Not shy. Embarrassed maybe.”

“Now I’m hurt because we basically made out.” This drew out gasps and giggles from the crowd.

“We did not make out.”

“We did. I feel like we did. We should show them.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jimmy points to the director. “Let’s show them last time.”

And a video play of musical cups where Sebastian accidentally takes a drink of one of the beers before the music stopped and had to spit the drink back into the cup. When the music did stop, Jimmy landed with the cup. The crowd roared with laughter watching the exchange.

Sebastian and Jimmy laugh it off and chat for a few minutes. Chris joins Sebastian on stage.

“So, Chris, we heard a rumor.”

“Ok. Lots of rumors. But hit me with it.”

“You have a new lady in your life.” Jimmy smirks at him.

“You do? You can do that?” Sebastian questions, drawing a laugh from everyone.

Chris blushes. “Yeah, well if I had a girlfriend, I would say that she wouldn’t want her name out there. Because she’s probably a private person.”

“Ok,” Jimmy says. “That’s fair. So, is that a yes?”

Chris just shakes his head and laughs.

Sebastian interjects. “I’m sure if Chris had a girlfriend, he would have told me. As far as I know, it’s just him and Dodger. And me but I’m like another puppy.”

Jimmy laughs and Chris punches Seb’s arm. They show the scare video, and they introduce you as an assistant that Scott is friends with. Scott comes out to explain what happened.

“Did you mean to get YN as well?”

“No, that was a happy coincidence. She’s a great girl and we’ve stayed close since…” he swallows, like he’s nervous… “since Chris and I met her a couple of years ago.”

“That’s great. Well, thank you to Sebastian Stan, Chris and Scott Evans for stopping by…” The show is ending. You had already finished and were putting on your coat while watching the closing. You said bye to the crew and headed over to the bar.

Ordering a lemon drop martini, you sit, waiting and get a message

I’ll just be a few.

You sigh, knowing he would be late. You take a sip and look around the room.

Sebastian couldn’t believe his luck when he went to the bar Chris had suggested. He wanted Seb to meet someone and said he would be a few minutes. In looking around for a seat, he saw you sitting at the bar. You were elegant still in your black dress, a change from the white from earlier. Like two sides of you in one day. He approached you out of your line of sight. “Fancy seeing you here.”

You turn to see Sebastian next to you with a smile. “It’s not hard to find me. I’m here every Friday.”

He took a seat next to you. “So, you know Romanian?”

You smile softly. “Yes. My best friend was from Romania. She taught me since I loved linguistics so much.”

“You are a polyglot?”

“Yep, English, French, Spanish, German and Romanian.”

“So, you know what Ale said?”

“Perfectly. Just because I don’t look like, I don’t know, sophisticated and shit doesn’t mean she should assume that I am lower than her.”

“I kicked her out. I’m so sorry she treated you that way.”

“Like I said, I’m used to it.” You sip your drink, wishing you could forget the entire day.

“So, you’re waiting for your friend or were you lying?”

“I just got a message that they are running a few minutes late.”

“So, is it a boyfriend or a friend?”

You blush, “a boyfriend. He wanted me to meet one of his best friends tonight.” You chew your lip slightly, starting to feel nervous.

“Oh, so its new?”

“No, we just never went public really. We’ve been dating for about a year and a half.” You take a sip as you can feel your cheeks are rosy.

“Oh, how’d you meet?” Sebastian felt like he couldn’t just walk away since he was meeting Chris. But he didn’t want to stop talking to the enchanting creature in front of him.

“Well…”

“Hey beautiful.” Chris walked up and threw his arm around you and kissed you softly.

“Hey baby,” you reply as you look at Sebastian who looks like a fish. Scott comes up as well.

“Hey YNN! You started without me!” he pouts.

“I run on normal time not Evans’s time,” you tease. “You’re always late Scotty.”

Sebastian finally closes his mouth. He swallows, realizing his been hitting on his best friend’s girl. “You and Chris.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I met this one and we just wanted to keep things quiet. Didn’t want it to affect her job.”

“I was just asking how you met.”

“Well, I was out at a bar, The Kinckle Club for a blind date and he didn’t show. So after about an hour of waiting and two glasses of wine, I was going to head to my friend Jon’s for his birthday. Well, I literally ran into Chris in front of the bar. He helped me up and then I guess the rest is history. He said he knew Jon too and was supposed to go to his party as well, but we ended up talking all night that night. Never made it to Jon’s that day.”

“Best day to not meet up with you by the way,” he told Sebastian.

Sebastian thought back to when he would have invited Chris to Jon’s, and it hits him. He had stood up a date because he was too busy making moves on Alejandra, whom he met through Jon. The date was supposed to be on Jon’s birthday. The blind date was the date with you.

You hadn’t made the connection between the man who stood you up and himself. He mentally cursed himself the rest of the evening as he watched you interact with Chris.

Love lesson# 2: never standup a blind date. You never know if it’s your soul mate that you were destined to meet.

More lessons to come… Part 2 // Part 3

Taglist

Taglist:

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holly-mckenzie · 1 year

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STARSTRUCK (2021–2023)｜S03E01 directed by Rose Matafeo & Alice Snedden

#starstruck bbc #starstruck hbo #starstruckedit #tvedit #filmtv #filmtvcentral #filmtvdaily #filmtvedit #filmtvgifs #otpsource #tom kapoor #jessie marlow #jessie x tom #nikesh patel #rose matafeo #mine*#THEM CUDDLING!#tom doing her make up and tucking her in bed can be so personal!

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flickynightdarkness · 2 years

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Waves 1-18 Of My Comfort Characters List

Oggy & Olivia (Oggy & The Cockroaches)

Little Miss Sunshine & Little Miss Shy (Little Misses)

Mr Quiet & Mr. Scatterbrain (Mr Men Show)

Hello Kitty, My Melody & Cinnamoroll (Sanrio)

Jigglypuff, Hypno, Eevee, Pichu, Torchic, Jirachi, Manaphy, Darkrai, Alice, Alicia, Dwebble, Iris & Sylveon (Pokémon)

Atsuover, Rageminer, Dawko, Jaiden Animations, CookieSwirlC, Nicky Tate, WolfyChu, Rosanna Pansino, Ava Ryan (YouTubers)

Holly & Nanny Plum (Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom)

Shaggy (Scooby Doo)

Slinky Dog, Jessie, Trixie & Bonnie (Toy Story)

Kasane Teto, Kagamine Rin & Hatsune Miku (Vocaloids)

Bubble (BFDI)

Cake, X & Winner (BFB + TPOT)

Lightbulb, Paintbrush, Bow & MePad (Inanimate Insanity)

Sonic, Tails, Vector, Chip, Cream, Chao, Orbot, Cubot, Zavok, Zazz & Tails Doll (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Boo, Count Bleck & Tippi (Super Mario)

Dum Mee Mee (Shopkins)

Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa & Po (Teletubbies)

Oswald The Lucky Rabbit

Jack Skellington (Nightmare Before Christmas)

XR (Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command)

Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl (Steven Universe)

Giulia (Luca)

Wall-E & EVE (Wall-E)

Sunflower (Plants Vs Zombies)

Scarecrow & Mad Hatter (BTAS)

Scarecrow (TNBA)

Scarecrow (The Brave & The Bold)

Scarecrow (Arkham Asylum)

Scarecrow (Arkham Knight)

Scarecrow (Injustice 2)

Scarecrow & King Shark (Harley Quinn Series)

Scarecrow (Happy Halloween Scooby Doo)

Ragdoll (The Batman Series)

Question (DCAU)

Harley Quinn (MultiVersus)

SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Gary The Snail & Sandy Cheeks (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Moomimtroll, Moominmamma & Snorkmaiden (Moomin Series)

Numbuh 3/Kuki Sanban, Numbuh 5/Abigail Lincoln, Mushi Sanban, Numbuh 9/Maurice, Father/Benedict Wigglestein & Monty Uno/Numbuh 0 (Codename: Kids Next Door)

The Snatcher (A Hat In Time)

Poppet, Jeepers, Shishi, Sleepypaws, Baby Rox, Kissy, Captain Squirk & Dr. Strangeglove (Moshi Monsters)

Needlem0use & Luther Artwright (Needlem0use)

Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom & Flurry Heart (My Little Pony)

505 & White Hat (Villainous)

Odie (Garfield)

Humf

Lilo, Stitch & Angel (Lilo & Stitch)

Candy Cat & Bunzo Bunny (Poppy Playtime)

F, P & Y (Alphabet Lore)

Rover, Isabelle, Timmy Nook & Tommy Nook (Animal Crossing)

Boo (Monsters Inc)

Orbulon (Warioware)

ENA

Felix & King Candy (Wreck It Ralph)

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

Mio Mao

Edd, Matt, Tom & Tord (Eddsworld)

Tuffy & Tyke (Tom & Jerry)

Roy O'Brien (ROY Series)

Moon Knight (Marvel)

Mama (Cooking Mama)

PukeyHurlC (Grossery Gang)

Toriel, Napstablook, Sans & Papyrus (Undertale)

Jevil (Deltarune)

Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Hex, Tabi, Sunday, Sarvente, Nikusa, Annie, Garcello, Chris, Legacy Annie/Rascal & QT (Friday Night Funkin)

Soft! Boyfriend (FNF: Soft)

Red Guy, Duck Guy, Electracey, Bread Mother & Lesley (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)

Puss In Boots, Kitty Softpaws, Three Diablos & Perrito (Puss In Boots)

Korekiyo Shinguji (Danganronpa)

Dave Algebra Class

SCP-049/Plague Doctor & SCP-999/Tickle Monster (SCP)

Skid, Pump, Robert, Jaune & Streber (Spooky Month)

Shirousa & Kurousa (Sugar Bunnies)

Bingo & Snorky (Banana Splits)

Dr. Nefarious (Ratchet & Clank)

Grim Reaper (Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy)

Spot The Dog

Harry Hill, Robert Englund, Charles Martinet & Tom Kenny (Celebrities)

Slushi, Cofi & Bezel (Chikn Nuggit)

Foxy, Funtime Freddy & Sun (Five Nights At Freddy's)

Toothless (How To Train Your Dragon)

Gingy (Shrek)

Neo Cortex, Aku Aku, Dingodile, Lani-Loli & Kapuna-Wa (Crash Bandicoot)

Pipsqueak (The Lorax)

Secret History Tails (Mashed)

Lord X Hog & Curse (EXEs)

Majin Sonic

MX (Mario 85)

Eri, Tsuyu Asui & Ms Joke (My Hero Academia)

Suki (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sonic (Sonic The Hedgehog Movie)

Shuey Rhon Rhon (Beijing 2022 Paralympics Mascot)

Miraitowa & Someity (Tokyo 2020 Olympic Mascots)

Inky (Pac-Man)

Mirabel Madrigal & Pepa Madrigal (Encanto)

Meilin Lee & Abby Park (Turning Red)

Wanda (Fairly Oddparents)

Bender (Futurama)

Rayman

N (Murder Drones)

EteleD & Corrupt Mii (Wii Deleted You)

Taki (Friday Night Fever)

Unikitty (Unikitty Series)

Della Duck (Ducktales)

Hypno & Lost Silver/Gold (Pokepasta)

Shinto (FNF: Lullaby)

Pim (Smiling Friends)

Wednesday Addams (Wednesday Series)

Komasan (Yo-Kai Watch)

Sayori & Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Kirby & Meta Knight (Kirby)

Chudd Chudders & DangerGrid Of Doom (Skatoony)

Bendy (BATDR)

Boris & Sammy Lawrence (BATIM)

Tari & Meggy Spletzer (SMG4)

Zardy (Zardy's Maze)

Scar (Alien Vs Predator)

Mugman & Baroness Von Bon Bon (The Cuphead Show)

Charlie Morningstar, Angel Dust & Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)

Slender Man, Splendor Man & Lulu (Creepypasta)

Mario.EXE (Mario's Madness)

Blitzo, Moxxie & Colin (Helluva Boss)

Woolly & Tig

Sam (Trick R Treat)

Hank Anderson (Detroit: Become Human)

Mr. Shark (The Bad Guys)

Charles Calvin, Reginald Copperbottom, Right Hand Man & Dmitri Petrov (Henry Stickmin)

Grogu (The Mandalorian)

Hanazuki

Pusheen The Cat

Anya Forger (Spy X Family)

Slappy (Goosebumps)

Zoe Kusama (Criminal Case)

Flaky (Happy Tree Friends)

Pim (Smiling Friends)

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poledancingdinos · 1 year

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Soundtrack of Debauchery - Part 2

Pairing: Young!Syverson X OFC (Jessie) X Mike (Hellraiser)

Word Count: 11 591 words

Warnings: SMUT, Alcohol, Drug Use, Oral Sex (M and F receiving), Vaginal Fingering, Anal Fingering, Sex Toys, Vaginal Sex, Anal Sex, Threesome (F/M/M), Difficult Family Dynamics

Taglist: @raccoon-eyed-rebel @amberangel112 @utterlyhopeful-fics @marantha @kebabgirl67 @littleone65 @omgkatinka @luclittlepond @elizabetharegina @enchantedbytomandhenry @narnianaos @geralts-yenn @peaches1958 @avengersfan25 @sillyrabbit81 @lena-banena @mrsevans90 @confessionbrain-writings @eclecticfashionbookszipper

A/N: I am so excited about this. I didn't think I would write something longer than the first part but I had a lot more to say about these three.

Story Masterlist

Masterlist

Mikey was practically vibrating. He hadn’t seen Jessie in a month because of finals and he was going a little insane. All he wanted was to enjoy his three weeks of Christmas vacation in the company of his favorite girl.

Sy had gone back to base as usual and neither Mike nor Jessie had seen him since July. If things worked out, however, he would make it to Georgia during the week after Christmas. Mike and his mother had also been invited to spend their vacation with his aunt and uncle.

Apparently his mother had mentioned to them that she suspected Mike had a girlfriend because they had extended the invitation to Jessie without even knowing if he was really seeing anyone. He hadn’t mentioned it to her yet but he was planning to. He just didn’t know how to ask Jessie to spend her reunion with Sy with the parents of the two men who were secretly dating her at the same time.

It would do Jessie some good to spend some alone time with Sy. She was worried that maybe the chemistry they’d felt at the festival had been purely physical and that things would be different once they’d spent some time together outside of the excitement of it all. Well, she was mostly worried Sy wouldn’t feel the same. She was clearly crushing hard on Mike’s older cousin.

Mike and Jessie had both kept in touch with Sy while he was away. He would never admit it but Mike missed having his cousin around. Sy was the one person who had always stuck by his side no matter how badly he fucked up.

Mike’s mother was flying straight to Georgia but he was going to drive to Jessie’s first. If she agreed to go with him, then his plan was for them to do the last part of the drive together. The three of them still lived in three different states but at least Baltimore was on the way to Georgia. Actually, if Mike and Jessie spent a bit of time alone first, they could pick up Sy at his base and the three of them could drive to Georgia together for New Years. He liked that idea.

Jessie lived with Mel, Keith, Brody and Tom, who he had seen at the festival, in a three bedroom apartment off campus. It was a tight fit when he was around for the weekend but it was better than a tiny dorm room with a narrow single bed.

When Jessie buzzed him into the building, he ran up the steps two at a time until he reached her floor. She was waiting for him in the doorway and it was the sweetest sight he had ever seen.

Jessie had apparently gotten dressed up in anticipation of his arrival. Maybe dressed up wasn’t the right word. She was only wearing a sexy little apron and a babydoll.

“The guys better not be home. I don’t have the ability to fight for your honor the way Sy would.”

Jessie giggled, letting Mike walk her backwards into the apartment before shutting the door.

“Just you and me,” her hands slid up his leather covered arms and shoulders before tangling in the soft strands of his shaggy hair. She pulled him down to meet her lips in a hungry greeting.

“I don’t mean to fuck up your meal, Sweetcheeks,” he whispered as he kissed down her jaw, “but with you looking like this, I don’t think I can wait.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that I just put supper in the oven on a ninety minute timer.”

“Fuck, you are brilliant. You truly do think of everything.”

Feeling confident that he wouldn’t incur Jessie’s wrath for ruining the meal she worked so hard on, Mike grabbed her ass and lifted Jessie up.

“You look so fucking sexy, Babe. Will you let me take a picture?”

Jessie didn’t need to look up to know that they were heading to her bedroom. She had been the one to request the no sex in the common areas rule, it would be hypocritical of her to ignore it at the first opportunity.

“You wanna photograph me like one of your French girls, Mikey?”

She was gently deposited on the mattress and she stretched out. Mike took a step back, pulling his cell from his pocket.

“I want Sy to know what’s waiting for him if he makes it home during break.”

It was the first time Jessie was hearing about Sy possibly coming home but it immediately got her attention.

“I’ll give the details later, but Sy might get some leave time. You want to help motivate him to suck up to whoever is in charge?”

Jessie bit her lip, looking up at Mike through a hooded gaze. “What do I need to do?”

Mike unlocked his phone, pointing the camera at the gorgeous woman in front of him. “Just keep looking like sex on legs and you’ll have Sy going AWOL in no time.”

He snapped a few pictures, acting like he was putting into practice everything he’d learned in his elective photography class.

“Okay, now get on your knees and lose the apron.”

Jessie moved like a feline tracking its prey, crawling to the edge of the bed where she held herself up on her knees. Her eyes never left Mikey’s as she untied the apron behind her back then around her neck, letting it fall to the floor.

Mike groaned, filming without really looking at what he was doing. Why would he look at the screen when the real thing was only a few feet away?

“Look at you all wrapped up like the perfect Christmas gift. Anything you wanna say to Sy, Sweetcheeks?”

“I miss you,” she spoke into the lens, “I’d be really happy to see you but I’ll wait for you if you can’t come home yet.”

Mike gave Jessie a fond smile before quickly sending Sy a few of the pictures and the short video with strict instructions to look at everything once he was alone. He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it over the desk chair and putting his phone in the pocket.

“Just you and me now, Sweetcheeks,” he said, facing Jessie again. “Did you miss me too?”

“Fishing for a compliment, Mikey?”.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted, bridging the gap between them. His hands traveled over her ass and thighs, holding her tight against him. She, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I missed you, Mikey,” she said earnestly. “Want me to show you how much?”

Mikey nodded eagerly, letting Jessie pull away. While she worked on getting his pants off, Mike pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside. Jessie lowered herself down onto her stomach, licking her lips as she admired Mike’s cock which stood hard and proud against the light happy trail on his stomach.

She began by placing kisses up Mike’s inner thigh. She loved to tease him with how sensitive and responsive he was. He released a shuddering breath when she finally wrapped her luscious lips around the head of his dick.

Mike brushed the back of his fingers down Jessie’s cheek almost reverently as she worked her magic on his length. He couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was. Her pert ass was peeking out from below this sheer fabric of her babydoll, giving him visions of all the filthy things he wanted to do to it over their upcoming time together.

Jessie had one hand wrapped around his shaft, moving in time with her mouth but suddenly she snuck it between his legs and teased his balls.

“Oh fuck, do that again,” Mike gasped, tangling his fingers through Jessie’s hair.

Lost in the feeling, Mike’s hips moved almost of their own accord, thrusting forward and taking over the pace. He had just enough awareness left in him to drag her off his dick before he came down her throat.

“As much as I love that wicked mouth of Sweetcheeks, I’m not gonna make it much longer if you keep going.”

Jessie pushed her bottom lip out, making her displeasure known with an innocent little pout.

“Aw, don’t be like that, gorgeous, you’re gonna like what happens next.”

Mike leaned over, pulling open the bottom drawer of Jessie’s bedside table. He knew exactly what he was looking for and where to find it.

“Get on your knees. Face down, sweet cheeks up.”

The smirk came back to her lips and Jessie turned around, presenting her ass to Mikey with an enticing wiggle. She yelped when Mikey placed a sharp spank on her lace covered flesh. The fancy panties that she’d bought just for this occasion were soaked, leaving a dark patch on the powder pink fabric. Jessie could feel the wetness smearing on her inner thighs as Mikey slowly dragged them off.

“Which color do you want?”

“Red.”

Mike’s warm fingers trailed up the inside of her thigh until it reached her waiting core. He pushed two fingers inside and Jessie immediately clenched around them.

“Are you sure?” He was a little surprised by her answer and he needed to be certain that she wasn’t just saying what she thought he wanted to hear.

“Yes.”

Pulling his fingers from her wet heat, Mike slid up to Jessie’s puckered hole. With gentle pressure, he circled the tight ring of muscle, coating her in her juices. The bottle of lube clicked open and the coolness of the gel was added to the mix of sensations.

With his free hand, Mike worked open the felt pouch that contained the metal butt plug. It came in a set, each one having a different colored jewel on the end. He and Jessie had been using them for a few months. It had been her idea. She wanted to be able to take both Mike and Sy at the same time.

It would be their first time trying out the one with the red jewel. It was the biggest one of the set but at its thickest point was still not as wide as either man’s sizeable girth.

“Ready?”

Jessie folded her arms under her cheek, finding Mikey’s gaze over her shoulder.

“Ready,” she confirmed.

Mike started with one finger, easily slipping in with the abundant lube. He continued to work her open until he was able to add a second finger. Wanting to ensure the least amount of discomfort possible, Mike dipped the plug into her core, getting it nice and slick before adding more lube to the smooth metal.

“Breathe for me, Sweetcheeks.”

Jessie obeyed, taking a deep breath in and slowly letting it out. Mike withdrew his fingers, replacing them with the tapered tip of the plug. She clenched unintentionally from the contrast of the cool metal and she had to concentrate on relaxing her body.

With carefully controlled pressure, Mikey began to sink the plug into Jessie’s opening. She pressed back against it, helping him along.

When he began to feel more resistance, Mike paused, stroking a hand soothingly up and down Jessie’s back.

“You’re doing fucking amazing, keep breathing for me.”

He moved the plug out then back in again, slowly working more of it in with each thrust. Jessie’s whole body jerked a little when the last of the plug sank in but the sting faded quickly as the heavy plug settled within her.

“Sorry.” Mike quickly cleaned his fingers with a wet wipe. “Does it feel okay?” he asked, blanketing her body with his and placing gentle kisses across her shoulders and nape.

Jessie’s eyes fluttered open, her breath coming in pants. She tested the sensation by moving her hips against Mike’s pulsing manhood.

“Yes.” It felt more than okay though she didn’t quite know how to put it into words.

Mike wrapped an arm around her front, helping her upright. His hands were everywhere, roughly groping at her tits and thighs until Jessie snapped and pulled him down onto the bed.

She mounted him, rubbing her dripping folds over his shaft as she captured his lips in a feverish kiss. Her soft hand wrapped around the base and she was about to sink down on him when Mike’s panicked hands found her hips.

“Hold on, Sweetcheeks, still need to get a condom.”

Jessie’s eyes went wide, realizing what she’d been about to do.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

The box of condoms Mike had bought the last time he visited was already on the bed next to the lube. With the protection situation quickly rectified, Jessie finally impaled herself on Mike’s gorgeous cock.

“Jesus, I can feel the plug rubbing against me from inside.”

It was a good thing the both of them were equally worked up because neither of them was going to last. Jessie’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed and her mouth agape.

Mike couldn’t tear his eyes away as she worked toward her rapture. He helped her along, pinching and twisting her nipples before slipping a hand to her clit. Her body shuddered violently when she exploded around him, her walls pulsing and pulling him into his own rapture.

Jessie collapsed on top of Mike, pressing her face into his neck. He wrapped both arms possessively around her, nuzzling into her hair.

“What do you say to taking however much time we have left before your timer goes off to take a hot shower?”

“I think that might be a necessity at this point.”

Trailing his fingers down her spine, Mike gently cupped Jessie’s ass. “Tell me if it starts getting uncomfortable.”

“I will. I just wanna lay here a little longer.”

That was fine with Mike. The girls he used to hook up with always told him how different he was from their other booty calls because he used to stick around and cuddle after they’d finished. They thought it was to give him a better shot at a repeat visit but the truth was, he just needed the closeness.

Holding Jessie always felt different though. It not only satisfied the part of him that was touch starved, it satisfied the part of him that craved to be loved. He’d been biting his tongue whenever the words threatened to spill out, too afraid that if he said it first, she wouldn’t say it back. He didn’t think he would be able to handle that kind of rejection so, instead, he just held her a little tighter, hoping one day she would say the three little words he longed to hear.

Though she had initially been unsure about meeting Mike’s mother and Sy’s parents, Jessie did agree that if Sy got his leave, she would go with them to Georgia. On Christmas Eve, Sy called to say that he would be able to leave the base on the twenty-sixth, solidifying their plans.

Not wanting to waste any of Sy’s precious off time, Jessie and Mike slept through Christmas evening and hit the road before dawn.

At twelve o’clock on the dot, the two of them waited outside Sy’s base with breakfast sandwiches and coffees in hand. They were both pretty tired after the nine hour drive but Sy would be able to take over if ever Mike couldn’t make it through the last stretch.

There were a dozen other cars around with parents, siblings, husbands, wives and children eagerly awaiting their loved ones. Mike held Jessie as he leaned back against the hood of his car. Her leg had been bouncing up and down for the past hour. At first, Mike thought it was because she was getting restless from being cooped up in the car but he could tell now that it was the nerves of seeing Sy again after so long.

The first group of soldiers made their way out and the lot filled with excited chatter. Jessie studied each face as they came into view, searching for her man, but was disappointed to find that he was not amongst them.

“He’ll be here, don’t worry,” Mike whispered in her ear, squeezing her hip.

She tried to remain calm as the second, larger group came out. After a few of the men dispersed, she spotted one of the guys she’d seen that summer at the festival. Sure enough, Sy was not far behind.

She darted out of Mikey’s hold, sprinting towards him.

“Incoming!” Mike bellowed across the lot, immediately catching his cousin’s attention.

Sy grinned, dropping his pack and bracing himself as Jessie jumped into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist so tightly that it almost made it hard to breathe but, to Sy, that just meant that she was really there with him.

His lips found hers in a hungry kiss that was probably bordering on pornographic but he couldn’t care less about anyone seeing. It was his confirmation that Jessie still wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

When her lungs began to burn, Jessie reluctantly broke their kiss, gazing into Sy’s stunningly blue eyes. Someone beside them cursed, drawing both her and Sy’s attention. They turned their heads just in time to see Sy’s friend, Gabe, tearing a twenty dollar bill from someone’s hands.

“What is that about?” Jessie asked, turning her eyes back to Sy.

“They thought I was lyinʼ about ya goin’ out with both me and Mike. They thought it was my way of hidinʼ that you’d chosen him over me in the end.”

“And with a kiss like that you just won me twenty bucks,” Gabe beamed.

Jessie didnʼt recognize the other soldier so he hadn’t been at the festival that summer. If he had, heʼd have known she was equally crazy about both men.

“Come on, Nate,” Mike shouted from the car. “Youʼll have plenty of time to feel her up on the road. The faster we leave, the faster I can join in.”

Jessie giggled as Sy set her back onto the ground, picking up his bag and throwing an arm around Jessie’s shoulder.

“Bye, Gabe!”

“Nice to see you again, Jessie!”

When they finally parked outside Sy’s childhood home four hours later, the nerves found their way back to Jessie’s stomach.

“So umm, we need to talk about something before we go in,” Mike said as he shut off the car and turned to face Sy and Jessie who sat in the back seat. “Jessie got invited because my mom told your mom that she thought I had a girlfriend.”

Jessie and Sy both nodded. They already knew that.

“What do we tell them when we get inside? Do we tell them straight up that you’re dating the both of us and get it out of the way?”

“It’s what we did with my mom,” Jessie pointed out.

“Yes, but your mom also offered me a hit from her joint as soon as we walked through the door.”

Jessie’s mom was definitely unique, that was true. She was a gender studies professor who believed in female empowerment and embracing one’s sexuality. Her only question had been when could she meet Sy.

But she really wanted to make a good impression with Mike and Sy’s family and that didn’t involve being branded a whore from the moment she set foot in the house. What if they didn’t understand?

“Maybe it would be best if we didn’t tell them right now,” she eventually admitted, looking down at her shaking hands.

“It would probably be easier for them all to accept our relationship if they got to know you first,” Sy agreed though the words tasted awful as he said them. “If we tell them now they’ll make up this idea of who you are in their heads and it’ll be really hard to break it afterwards.”

“It sucks that my mom blabbed about us. This probably would have been easier if they got to know you as Sy’s girlfriend first.”

Jessie didn’t have time to ask him why before he was pushing his door open and climbing out of the car. Sy and Jessie did the same just as a man and two women came down the house’s front steps.

The older of the two women went straight for Sy, greeting him with a warm embrace. Mike on the other hand didn’t hug the woman who Jessie guessed was his mother. He said a quick hello then shook hands with Sy’s dad.

After releasing her son, Mrs. Syverson gave Mike an expectant look and he smiled sheepishly as he approached her.

“Hi Aunt B.”

Aunt B hugged Mike just as tight as she did Sy, albeit not as long, while Sy hugged both his dad and Mike’s mother.

“It’s good to see you two boys here together again,” Aunt B said before turning to Jessie. “I take it this is your mystery lady, Mike?”

Mike came to stand by Jessie’s side, taking her hand in his. “Yes. This is my girlfriend, Jessie. Jessie, these are Sy’s parents, Barbara and Robert, and this is my mother, Jill.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Jessie said with a shy smile.

“Welcome to our home, Jessie,” Sy’s mother said. “We are so very glad to have ya with us. Come on in!”

They hadnʼt even taken the bags out of the car but they seemed to think that it could wait until later.

“When we heard that Nate would be home today, we decided to delay our Christmas dinner. I know you boys are probably already starvin’. I made all your favorites.”

Though Jessie knew Sy was a military nickname, it was weird to hear his family refer to him by his given name. She made a mental note to ask him which one he wanted her to use.

The group made their way inside where a table of snacks had been set up in the living room. Mike immediately shoved a piece of cheese in his mouth but his mother slapped his hand away from the plate as he reached for another.

“Where are your manners? Offer your guest something to drink before you stuff your face.”

“I just got here, I don’t even know what there is to drink!”

Mr. Syverson shook his head, addressing Jessie himself. “We have white wine, beer, juice and soda in the fridge and Mike can show ya the liquor cabinet if ya want to make yourself a drink. Lord knows he raided it enough times as a kid.”

Sy was faster, walking over to said cabinet and shifting the bottles aside until he found his favorite bottle of whiskey and a bottle of spiced rum for Jessie. During their virtual dates, Sy had paid attention, learning a few of her likes, dislikes and habits. She drank rum and cokes as a cocktail but preferred wine with food. She always had a blanket nearby just in case she got cold or sometimes simply because she wanted to be cozy. His favorite thing he’d learned was that when she yawned, she made this sound—almost like a little squeak—that reminded him of a puppy.

Not wanting anyone to question why Sy already knew what she wanted to drink, Jessie dragged Mike to the fridge to get the bottle of coke. She could have gone alone but she felt uncomfortable serving herself. Mike grabbed a beer before guiding her to a cabinet to choose what size glass she wanted.

“Thank you,” Jessie whispered to Sy, setting the glasses on the table for him to fill.

“My pleasure, Sweetheart.”

Mrs. Syverson checked on the turkey in the oven, filling the room with the delicious aroma and making Jessie’s stomach grumble.

“See, we should have started with the food,” Mikey muttered under his breath. Jessie poked him in the ribs for his comment but leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Drinks in hand, the three of them returned to the living room where Mike and Jessie sat on the loveseat, and Sy took the folding chair that had been added to provide the missing seat.

“Did the drive go well, Mike?”

“Yeah, it was fine. There was no traffic at four in the morning so that definitely made getting out of the city less painful.”

“Why on Earth would ya have been on the road that early?” Mr. Syverson asked in a tone that made Jessie feel like a child being scolded. By the look on Mike’s face, it had the same effect on him and she felt the need to stand up for him.

“It made sense for us to pick up Sy on the way here and we didn’t want him to have to wait for us all day.”

“That’s very considerate of you, Jessie,” Aunt B said, shooting her husband a sideways glance. “We are very grateful that you two could pick him up. We hadnʼt seen him in almost a year since he moved to that base.”

Sy knew his mother hadnʼt been thrilled that he spent his summer leave with his army buddies instead of coming home. They’d grown used to him coming home on weekend leaves but that hadnʼt been possible since heʼd started Special Forces training.

“Ya know I would visit more if I could.”

“I know, dear. Itʼs not as if ya lived only twenty minutes away yet hadn’t stopped by in months.”

The not so subtle dig had very clearly been meant for Mike. Whenever he had a spare weekend where he wasnʼt working or studying, he was with Jessie. He hadn’t seen his mother in three months and apparently she had shared that fact with his aunt and uncle.

Mike had become so used to hiding his life from his mother that he didn’t really know how to share it with her anymore. It had been that way ever since the time his school had called his mother to say that they suspected he’d been smoking weed on school grounds. The only reason they hadn’t expelled him was because they couldn’t prove it because he’d dumped his stash. She’d looked so disappointed. Not wanting to ever see that look in her eyes again, he had stopped sharing things with her altogether. Good or bad.

“Iʼve been busier than usual this last semester.”

“I know, honey,” Jill reassured her son, patting Mike’s knee. “But it’s your final year, you’re almost done!”

“Have ya started lookin’ for jobs for after ya graduate?” Mr. Syverson asked, reaching to pile a few pieces of cheese and some vegetables on a little novelty napkin.

The house was not fully decorated for the holiday season but there was what looked like a handmade table runner under the plates of appetizers and various seasonal figurines on the fireplace mantle.

Next to a ceramic reindeer was a picture of two young boys who had to be Sy and Mike. They were standing on a pier each with their arm over the other’s shoulders and soaking wet from head to toe.

If she had to guess, Jessie would say Sy was around thirteen and Mike was around ten. There was no difficulty distinguishing between the two boys with Sy being a fair bit taller than Mike. And there was no mistaking that always perfectly ruffled head of hair for anyone else’s.

“I haven’t really thought about what I’m going to do once I graduate.”

“Why not? I’m sure most of the students graduatin’ next summer have already found their future employer.”

“Well, it’s hard to look for a job without knowing where I’m going to live after graduating.”

Jessie frowned, looking at Mike then at Sy. It was the first she had heard that Mike would be moving after graduation but Sy seemed unphased.

“Maybe havin’ a job lined up would fix that. Ya might not have the luxury of being picky. When it’s your first job, ya go where the work is, ya don’t wait until it finds you.”

The oven timer went off, saving Mike from having to come up with an answer to that statement. Seeing that he was a little frazzled, Jessie took Mikey’s hand as Jill, Barbara and Robert stood to help put the finishing touches on their meal.

Sy leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You didn’t tell her, did you?” he spoke in a low voice, glancing over to make sure his family in the kitchen couldn’t hear.

“Tell me what?”

Mike pulled Jessie into his side, placing a kiss on her temple. “I was going to ask you if you wanted us to get a place together after graduation but Rob let the cat out of the bag before I got anything really figured out.”

“In Baltimore?” Jessie didn’t want to assume anything but Mikey did say he wasn’t sure where he would be living.

“If that’s what you want. Or maybe somewhere a little further south that Sy could call home too.”

Mouth agape, Jessie looked to Sy for confirmation before she allowed herself to get too excited.

“I’ve been tellin’ him that I shouldn’t influence your decision about where to move because I could be shipped out at any time but he’s been pretty insistent that if that was what you wanted, he would do it.”

Mikey stood, holding his hand out to help Jessie from the couch.

“Let’s talk about that later. We still have an entire meal of awkward small talk ahead of us and we need to save our strength.”

Unfortunately, he was only half joking about needing strength. Jessie finished her drink and Sy exchanged her empty cup for a glass of white wine.

Sy’s parents sat on one side of the table with Jessie and Mike across from them. Once again, Sy was the odd one out, sitting at the end of the table across from his aunt. At least Jessie was between him and Mike which allowed Sy to brush their knees together under the table without anyone noticing.

Everyone’s plates were filled and they all eagerly dug into their meal.

“I’m glad we could all be here together, it’s been so long,” Jill said.

“It really has,” Aunt B agreed with a warm smile.

“And I’m really happy you could join us, Jessie. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet any of Mike’s girlfriends.”

“There’s no time to meet them when they change every other week.”

It was the truth but Mrs. Syverson still gave her husband a pointed look. Not everyone could be so lucky as to find the woman they wanted to marry on the first go.

“What about you, honey?” she asked, turning her attention to her son. “Has anyone caught your fancy?”

Sy froze halfway through a bite of turkey, his eyes finding Jessie for all of half a second before fixating on his food again. He took his time swallowing the food, putting a hand on her knee below the table before he answered his mother.

“You could say that.”

“I see the military hasn’t changed ya. It’s still like pullin’ worms, the pair of you,” Mrs. Syverson gestured to both boys with her fork.

“That’s because they got so used to covering for each other whenever they got in trouble,” Mr. Syverson said.

“Thick as thieves those two used to be,” his wife added more lightheartedly. She had a fond smile on her face, as if she was picturing them as two young troublemaking boys again.

They still are, Jessie thought.

“Mike mentioned that he used to spend most of his summers here with Sy.”

“Yes, well, as I’m sure you have guessed, Mike was an energetic little boy. At first we wanted to give Jill some time to breathe but then the boys got so attached to each other that we figured it would keep them both busy through the summer boredom.”

It wasn’t at all hard to imagine that Mike would have been a hard child to care for all alone. Mike had said his teachers wanted him to get checked for ADHD but they hadn’t had the money for the evaluation or for the expensive medication so nothing had ever come of it.

“I missed not having my baby with me but it did give me two months of night shifts every year which helped pay for his first year of college.”

Jill sounded so proud that she had been able to do that for her son. It must have been quite the sacrifice to have to choose between keeping her boy close and helping him pay for his future.

She remembered Mike mentioning that Mr. and Mrs. Syverson had contributed the remaining tuition money from his grandparents’ inheritance.

“So what do you do, dear? Are you in school with Mike?” Mrs. Syverson asked Jessie.

“Not exactly… I’m a double major in English and writing at Loyola university.”

“You live in Maryland?” Jill sounded shocked. At least it helped explain why she hadn’t met Jessie yet. “How did you and Mike even meet?”

“We met at a music festival in Virginia.”

The adults nodded. Well, technically they were all adults but judging by the looks on Mike and Sy’s faces, they felt the same way she did; like they were children sitting at the grown-ups table.

“So you like that headache inducin’ music too, I take it? That I don’t miss hearin’ around the house.”

“Yes, ma’am, I do,” Jessie confirmed with a small laugh.

“So the two of you have been together since July then? Must be getting serious.”

Mike groaned, “Mom, we’ve literally been on like six dates, could you hold off a little before you start picking china patterns?”

Sy struggled to hide his frustration that all the attention was on Mike and Jessie. To him, Jessie was as much his girlfriend as she was Mike’s. Just because he had fucked her in the last six month didn’t mean he was more of a boyfriend than Sy was.

Of course Sy wanted his parents to get to know Jessie. He wanted them to grow to care for her as much as he had, but he wanted them to do so as his girlfriend. He was damn proud to be with her and he didn’t like keeping her a dirty little secret.

He managed to hang on until the empty plates were cleared before he couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m a little beat from the drive, I think I’ll call it a night.”

A disappointed look fell over Jessie’s face as she gaped up at Sy. He couldn’t bring himself to meet her eye while he moved around to kiss his Mama goodnight. Jessie wasn’t the only one to be disappointed by the situation.

“I think we’ll follow you up,” Mike said, putting his hand on Jessie’s lower back and looking to her for a subtle nod of agreement. “We’ve been awake since way too early. I know where the sheets are, I’ll make up the bed.”

“No need. Mike you are sharin’ with Nathan, Jill is already set up in your room and Jessie will take the second guest bedroom down here.”

“What?” Mike’s head whipped to his uncle as he scoffed. “I’m not fifteen, you can’t tell me that I’m not allowed to share a room with my girlfriend.”

His uncle stayed firm, jabbing his finger down on the table.

“As long as you’re still under my roof, as far as Iʼm concerned, the same rules apply. No girls behind closed doors. I have no intention of watchin’ ya face the same choices my brother did and he was a year older than ya which proves that age has nothing to do with responsibility.”

“Pop—” Sy’s attempt to calmly placate his father was interrupted when Mike hastily stood from his chair.

“Don’t fucking compare me to him!” he growled.

“Mike! Language!”

Mike ignored his mother’s admonishment.

“And what the fuck do you mean having to face the same choice?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Jessie didn’t have a clue what was going on beyond the obvious “no sex under my roof” rule and her eyes went back and forth between Mike and his uncle as they stared each other down. Mike never talked about his dad and Jessie had never asked not wanting to reopen old wounds. By the direction of the current conversation, it seemed that her choice had been wise. Beside them, the two other women remained completely silent but Barbara put her hand over Jill’s on her lap.

“It’s nice to see you think so low of me that you actually believe I would hesitate for even a second about what to do.” To the untrained ear, the bite in his words might sound like anger but Jessie knew that was only to mask the hurt he was feeling.

“That’s because no matter how hard I tried, ya still turned out like him! Ya party all the time, you’ve slept with damn near half the girls in Nate’s year—yeah, I know about that—and from last I heard, ya barely show up to enough classes to scrape by. You’re a good kid Mike but ya make stupid decisions. Ya may not like to hear it but you’re just like your dad.”

Sy was furious. His father had gone over the line. Apparently he’d chosen that particular moment to give Mike some tough love. What he didn’t realize was that Jessie was the exact reason why Mike didn’t need that anymore. Mike wanted to be more responsible. He was trying really hard to be the kind of man he thought Jessie deserved. His cousin, who had never earned above a B in his entire academic career, had gotten an A on not one, but two midterms. Sy couldn’t be anything other than proud because he knew how much effort and work had been needed to get those grades.

Now, however, Mike was working hard on maintaining his last shred of self-control. His fists clenched so tightly at his sides that Sy was afraid he might draw his own blood but rather than lash out, Mike stormed out through the back door without another word.

“That was uncalled for,” Jill said quietly.

“You wouldn’t be sayin’ that if ya ended up a grandmother by age forty-five.”

“You don’t know that that would happen.”

“Ya don’t know that it wouldn’t.”

Jessie’s gaze fell to her lap where she was wringing the cloth napkin in her hands. Shame burned at her cheeks. Had she suddenly turned invisible? These people were debating what would happen if Mike got her pregnant as if she wasn’t there to hear it.

“I’m goin’ to go find Mike. Don’t expect any of us back tonight.”

Sy walked around the table, helping Jessie up and leading her towards the mudroom where Mike had escaped. Outside, Mike’s car was gone and that was the last straw. Jessie burst into tears.

“Fuck, Sweetheart, come here.”

Sy pulled Jessie against his chest, holding her close as she sobbed.

“Why did your dad say all those things to Mikey?”

“Because my dad never forgave Chris for abandoning his son. It don’t make anything he said right but in his mind, he was protectin’ ya from goin’ through the same shit aunt Jill did. Neither of us had tried to bring home a girl since we finished high school so I guess we both just assumed that old rule wouldn’t apply anymore.”

“What about you? Why were you so eager to go off to bed?”

With a sigh, he released Jessie, cupping her face so she looked up at him.

“I didn’t think it would be this hard to watch you and Mike together. The best I got in the last six months was a Skype call so I got a little jealous watchin’ him touch ya the way I’ve been wishin’ I could. And I kinda wished that my mama would’ve been tryin’ to get to know ya because she wanted to, not because she was bein’ polite to a guest.”

A wave of guilt washed over Jessie.

“We didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I’m so sorry.”

“I know, Sweetheart. Thank you.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead then another to her lips.

“What do we do now? Where would he go?”

Sy gave her a small smile, looking every bit as handsome as Jessie remembered in the evening light.

“I already know where he is. For now, we give him a bit of time to cool off, then you go show him that whatever you heard tonight didn’t change what you think of him.” Sy hesitated for a moment. “It didn’t, did it?”

“Of course not!”

“Good.” He gave a determined nod then took Jessie’s hand in his. “Now come on, I need your help with something, then we can go bring Mike home.”

The woods behind the creek hadn’t changed since the last time Mike had been there. It did seem that the newer generations had found a different place to hangout and get drunk because it was devoid of the normal empty beer cans. Or maybe teenagers had gotten better at clearing their trash in the last few years.

A big tree had fallen over years ago and it served as a bridge to cross over the water. It made the hideout more secluded but it was also a bitch to cross once the alcohol hit and everyone had to go home.

The rocks that they used to use to form their fire pit were still there and Mike rearranged them in a circle around the hole in the ground. He cleared the dead leaves and dug it out a little more before collecting some broken tree branches and taking some bark from a nearby Birch.

Building the base of his fire was almost meditative. It gave Mike something to think about besides how horribly dinner had ended. No matter how angry he had been, he shouldn’t have abandoned Jessie there. At least Sy was around to take care of her. Sharing seemed to have some advantages.

Mike took hold of the joint he had placed behind his ear before getting out of the car and lit it, taking a long drag. He held the smoke in his lungs until they burned before slowly letting it out and moving the lighter to the Birch bark. He fed small twigs to the flame, progressively adding bigger wood until he no longer needed to nurture the flame to keep it alight.

“Still a closet pyro I see.”

Mike whipped around at the sound of Sy’s voice. Jessie stood by his side, one hand in his and the other clutching his bicep.

“Are you okay?” she asked even if she knew he wasn’t.

“Don’t worry about it.” Mike turned back towards the fire, finishing off his joint before throwing the butt into the fire.

“Don’t do that,” Jessie pleaded, letting go of Sy to sit beside Mike and resting her head on his shoulder. “Don’t pretend like you aren’t hurt.”

“I’m sorry I bailed. I figured it was better to get out of there before I flipped over a table or something. Aunt B worked hard on her meal and she didn’t deserve for it to be sprayed all over the floor.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize for leaving. If you need to calm down and clear your head before you can talk things over then that’s what I want you to do.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he lied.

“Isn’t there?” Sy challenged, dropping down on Mike’s other side. “I know you, Mike. Fire is what ya do when your thoughts get too loud. So what are they yellin’ about?”

Mike closed his eyes, letting his head fall back. His thoughts were yelling about so many things. Useless, waste of space, unworthy. He was already working through twenty-one years worth of insecurities and twenty-one years worth of hatred and resentment for his father before his uncle said what he’d said.

Mike knew nothing about his dad except for the few breadcrumbs his uncle or his mother had dropped about him over the years which were by no means flattering. Those breadcrumbs could be summarized in three words: girls, drugs, crime.

“Maybe you’re better off with Sy.”

“What?” Sy and Jessie spoke simultaneously but with very different tones. Jessie sounded shocked, looking at Mike with wide eyes. Sy’s voice was a low, angry growl.

“I mean, everything Rob said was true. You deserve better than a fuck up like me.”

“You think that acting like a teenager when you’re in high school makes you a fuck up?” Sy asked, pulling Mike’s attention away from the look of pure hurt on Jessie’s face. “And what makes me more deserving of Jessie than you?”

“You’re the golden boy. Graduated early, free ride to college on a football scholarship, promptly moving up the ranks and now you’re Spec Ops.”

Sy stayed quiet for a long moment, taking in Mike’s words. He’d never known Mike felt that way about him. There might have been a time when they were kids where Mike followed him around trying to be like him but he’d just chalked that up to normal childhood behaviors. He never thought that Mike would be… what? Threatened? Insecure? Jealous? He didn’t really know but that sounded like the kind of conversation the two of them should have on their own.

“I was only the golden boy because I was better at not getting caught.” Sy gently shoved Mike’s head aside, earning him a fleeting smile from the younger man. “You know none of that makes me better than you though, right?”

Mike shrugged as pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around his legs and clasping his hands together. “Why shouldn’t it?”

“Because you’re your own person with your own skill set. You can’t compare yourself to me and pop should never have compared you to Chris because you’re not him either.”

Jessie nodded emphatically. “He’s right,” she said, putting a hand on Mike’s cheek but he didn’t dare turn his face to look at her.

“I love you both just the way you are, Mikey.”

That caused both men to fix their gaze on Jessie.

“You what?” Mikey spoke almost inaudibly.

Jessie pulled her hand away, scrambling to get her feet under her. “Nothing!”

Mikey didn’t let her escape, instead catching her wrist and drawing her back down to his lap.

“Say it again,” he whispered with his forehead pressed against hers.

Jessie’s breath hitched as she looked into Mike’s vulnerable eyes. She hadn’t meant to pick such a moment to make her admission but he needed to know exactly how she felt.

“I love you, Mike.”

She’d been thinking about it for a little while now but she hadn’t wanted to say it over the phone.

“I love you too, Gorgeous.”

Mike placed a tender kiss on her lips, holding Jessie close to his body. Mike would have loved to stay that way all night but he could sense Sy shifting awkwardly by his side.

He placed one more kiss on Jessie’s cheek before nudging her towards Sy who happily moved her to sit astride his lap.

“It’s okay if you need more time,” Sy said, as if that would make it hurt less if she didn’t say those three little words to him.

Jessie shook her head, wrapping her arms around Sy’s neck. “I don’t. I love you.”

“And I love you, Jessie.”

He took his time as he kissed her, making sure to convey just how much he loved and cared for Jessie.

“As much fun as we had the last time the three of us spent a night outdoors, I think our bed is calling our name.”

“I don’t think I can go back tonight, Sweetcheeks.” Mike didn’t want to make his girlfriend spend the night out in the cold with him but he wasn’t ready to face his uncle and there were no motels within an hour’s drive.

“Hmm… Well, I guess it’s a good thing that Sy and I have a surprise for you, then.”

Mike squinted suspiciously as Jessie and Sy shared a conspiratorial look.

Jessie drove Mike’s car through town, following Sy back to their home for the night. He was uncharacteristically quiet by her side but he kept a hand on her thigh the whole time which helped reassure her that though he was still lost to his thoughts, he was holding on to her rather than pushing her away.

“If the trailer is a-rocking…” Mikey said when the car came to a stop in front of the motorhome.

“Don’t come a-knocking,” Jessie finished. “I thought you might like this. It was Sy’s idea.”

“You know this isn’t much of a step up from the tent, right?”

“It has electricity, a tiny bathroom with running water, a king sized bed… How is it not a step up?”

“Wait seriously? A king bed?”

Jessie smiled, seeing her fun-loving and easygoing boyfriend slowly crawl his way out of the pit his sour mood had thrown him in.

“Come on. Sy’s waiting for us.”

Jessie pushed her door open but Mikey didn’t move. He looked down at his hands, fiddling with his old zippo lighter.

“I was supposed to give you guys a night alone.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way to make it up to him.”

Mike exhaled a slow breath, nodding once before following Jessie out of the car. After pulling their bags from the trunk, they made their way inside the trailer where Sy had already set out three beers on the dinette table. Sy took both their bags and brought them into the bedroom, while Mike pulled Jessie into his side, kissing her cheek before he guided her to take a seat on one side of the table while he sat on the other.

When Sy returned, he paused for a moment but followed Mike’s lead, sitting beside Jessie who snuggled into his side like a cat.

“How much did you smoke tonight?” he questioned as he studied the younger man.

He assumed by how buzzed Mike looked, that the joint he’d seen him finish was not his first but they’d only left him for forty-five minutes at most—just enough time for them to tow the trailer to the campsit then go find Mike. Sy hoped Mike hadn’t opted for chain smoking as a coping mechanism when he could have talked it out with either him or Jessie.

Mike’s eyelids drooped, partially concealing the redness behind them. “Just one joint.”

Sy was tempted to call bullshit but he didn’t want it to sound like an accusation instead of the concern he actually felt.

Mike seemed to already know what he was thinking though, not needing to hear the words aloud. “I haven’t been smoking much lately. I lost my tolerance,” he shrugged, leaning back into the corner of the bench and throwing his leg over the seat.

Sy suspected—as he did with most other changes in Mike’s life lately—that Jessie was the cause of his reduced consumption.

“So, Nate,” Mike said, changing the subject, “you never told us what you thought of that little early Christmas gift I sent you.”

“Meaning that video? Which I opened in a room filled with senior officers, thanks for the heads up by the way.”

Mikey had the audacity to look smug, causing Sy to roll his eyes while shaking his head. In his defense, he had said that Sy should open it while he was alone. Sy turned his attention to Jessie instead.

“Pink is sexy as hell on you, Sweetheart,” he whispered against her neck as he held her close.

“I’ll have to give you a live show sometime.”

Jessie’s eyes closed, her head tipping to the side to give Sy better access. If the table hadn’t been in the way, he would have pulled her onto his lap as he began kissing down her throat.

“Don’t need anything more than you, right here, to get me hard as fuckin’ steel.”

Mike watched with rapt attention as Sy slowly teased Jessie. His hands roamed over her breasts before moving downwards. Unfortunately, the table obscured his view of what he did once they reached the waistband of her pants but Jessie’s gasp told him all he needed to know.

“Missed that sound. I hear it in my dreams,” he confessed.

“Must make for damn good dreams,” Mike smirked, shifting in his seat.

Jessie’s breath hitched as Sy’s fingers circled her clit over her panties with just enough pressure to work her up without really giving her any satisfaction.

“Why are we talking about dreams when we could all have the real thing right here, right now?”

Neither man argued, moving to stand from the table. Sy pulled Jessie up, revealing her jeans which were wide open and the bright red panties below. Mikey had picked them out before they left but he’d been shooed out of the room before Jessie slipped them on and it had been driving him crazy not knowing how they looked on her and whether she’d worn a matching bra.

Sy tossed Jessie on her stomach on the bed and dexterously stripped her of her skinny jeans. Mike had been right, Jessie’s ass was to die for in those panties. It seemed Sy shared his opinion because he gave her a sharp spank and bit the meat of her juicy ass so hard there was no doubt she’d have a mark afterwards.

Jessie groaned with a mix of pleasure and sweet pain, reaching back to place a hand on Sy’s scruffy cheek. She tried to guide him to her center but instead, he moved away, kissing down the back of her legs. Once he reached one ankle, he flipped her onto her back and kissed back up the other leg.

Mike removed Jessie’s shirt—happy to find that she had indeed worn the matching bra—before settling on the bed with her between his legs and her head on his lap. The position gave him the perfect angle to play with her tits while Sy dragged the naughty red lace down her thighs.

“I’ve waited a long time to do this,” he said almost reverently before burying his head between her legs.

Jessie cried out and the sound made Mikey’s cock jerk in his pants. He reached down, undoing the zipper to relieve some of the pressure. Jessie’s hands frantically pulled at Sy’s shirt until he ripped the thin barrier over his head and his warm skin was bared to her.

Mike kept his eyes on Jessie’s face while she was hypnotized by the sight of Sy tongue fucking her cunt. Mike had always heard the gossip about Sy’s skills but seeing Jessie lost in the pleasure cemented that it wasn’t just a high school rumour. Did she look that blissed out when he was the one going down on her?

As if Jessie could read his thoughts, her hooded gaze found his and she pushed herself up on her elbow while pulling his head down to crush their lips together. The awkward spider-man position didn’t really allow them to deepen the kiss but he felt her feverish need all the same. Her need for him, not just Sy.

Mike moved down the bed, propping Jessie up with her back to his chest. He removed her bra and his shirt, and when she leaned against him again, skin touching skin, she let out a satisfied sigh. It was all too easy now to paint her neck in deep hickeys as he pinched her nipples.

“Think you can take us both tonight, Sweetcheeks?” Mike whispered too low for Sy to hear. He didn’t want to get his hopes up in case Jessie didn’t feel ready yet. Not that Sy would let deception show in front of Jessie—if he felt deception at all.

Jessie gave him an eager nod, earning her an appreciative groan. The bed dipped as Mikey climbed off, moving to riffle through Jessie’s bag. Her head fell to the side, watching him move. Why was it so hot when a man was shirtless with open jeans hanging low on his hips?

Sy curled his fingers into her G spot, pulling Jessie’s focus back to the man feasting between her thighs. They quivered from their position above Sy’s shoulders as her hips bucked upwards. Her hand flew down, cupping the back of his head and holding him in place.

“Right there.”

Sy opened his eyes, watching Jessie’s blissed expression. The hand that held her hips down moved to her breast, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. His own hips moved unconsciously against nothing, his neglected cock desperate for the slightest bit of relief.

“Come for him, Gorgeous. Give him what he wants,” Mike commanded. She could do nothing but comply, coming all over Sy’s face.

She lay boneless as the boys moved around her, stripping off their remaining clothing. Mike tossed the items he’d retrieved from her bag onto the bed before pushing his pants and boxers down.

“I thought you’d gotten an IUD,” Sy commented when he noticed the box of condoms beside Jessie.

“Mikey kept the mandatory condoms rule.”

Sy looked at Mike over his shoulder. The younger man looked almost guilty as he pulled his eyes away.

“You do what you want.”

He might have been satisfied with Jessie being on birth control but he didn’t mind the extra protection. Especially since he knew that the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy was a big sore spot for Mike.

“No, I’m good with that.”

It was almost imperceptible but Mike’s shoulders relaxed at Sy’s words, like all he’d needed was a little validation. It’s not like things would be easier if it were Sy getting Jessie pregnant. What if he got shipped out? It would still be Mike staying behind and taking care of Jessie. There was no doubt in Sy’s mind that that was exactly what Mike would do.

They both stalked towards Jessie, each stretching out on one side of her. Sy took Jessie’s lips while Mike kissed his way from her neck to her breasts. His fingers found her dripping folds, slick from both her earlier release and Sy’s enthusiastic pleasuring.

He gathered some of the moisture before his fingers dipped lower, finding her back entrance. When he gently pushed inside, Jessie gasped into Sy’s mouth. The hand that had been teasing Mike’s nape tightened around his wavy locks and he shifted to study her face for any signs of discomfort.

“Mike? Are ya doin’ what I think you’re doin’?”

The younger man pushed in deeper, looking up at Sy with a smirk when it caused Jessie to moan.

“Since you’ve been stuck with your hand since last summer, you get to choose. You want her hot pussy or her tight ass?”

Sy’s gaze darkened as he realized the implications of the choice being offered to him.

“Is that what you two have been up to while I was away?” he asked Jessie.

“Not yet. You want to be my first?”

The sound that rose from his chest was damn near animalistic. “As appealin’ as that invitation is, that’s not what I was thinkin’ about whenever I had a moment to myself. Besides, it looks like Mike has been doin’ the work, he should get to reap the rewards first.”

“Then get on your back, soldier.”

Amused, Sy did as he was told, laying on his back in the middle of the bed. Mike pulled away long enough for Jessie to straddle Sy’s waist and lock him in a fiery kiss. Jessie was thrilled for her hands to finally roam all over his body. He seemed to have the same idea because Jessie was sure his touch was going to leave its mark.

“This is gonna be cold, sorry.”

Mike was right, the gel was cold from the evening in the trunk of the car but her boyfriend’s hands were warm as he continued to work her open. Below them, Sy blindly reached for a condom, rolling it down his shaft. He placed his tip at her entrance and she eagerly lowered herself down until he was sheathed to the hilt.

It was Mike’s turn to suit up and add a coat of lubricant over the latex.

“Nate, hold her for me.”

For a moment Sy looked unsure, seeking confirmation from Jessie.

“I accidentally jerked forward once and it hurt more than all the other times combined.”

Jessie lowered herself down, bringing her chest flush against Sy’s and busied herself with sucking deep bruises into his collarbone. He wrapped his thick arms around her, holding her in place while the blunt head of Mike’s cock found her entrance.

“Tell Sy your safeword, Sweetcheeks.”

“Homesick,” she whispered, her nose brushing against his ear.

A hopeful warmth bloomed in Sy’s chest. Homesick. The name of the album on which their song was released? At least, what he considered to be their song. They’d never discussed it or anything. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but if he was right, she’d thought about him as much as he’d thought about her.

A hand moved into Jessie’s hair, pulling into a languid kiss. She melted into him and Mike took the opportunity to push inside her.

The first inch was easy enough but when he reached his full girth Jessie’s breath hitched.

“You’re doin’ so well, baby. You tell us when ya wanna keep goin’.”

“I’m good, it’s just… a lot.”

After adding a bit more lube, Mike continued to work his way deeper until he was fully inside Jessie. All three of them were breathing heavily, all three of them feeling like they were on a hairpin trigger.

It took a moment for Jessie to adjust to the feeling of being so completely and utterly filled but she eventually pushed herself up onto her hands and knees.

“Somebody please move.”

After a bit of shifting and adjusting, the three of them found a steady rhythm. Sy would pull out of her pussy as Mike plunged into her ass then they would switch. Together they worked Jessie until she was teetering over the edge but she forced the sensation away. If she was going to come, she wanted to do so as they both exploded inside her.

“Fuck, I can feel you clenching my cock, baby.”

“Are you close, Sweetcheeks? Do you like being full of the both of us? Are you gonna come for us?”

“Oh yeah, she loves it. Can’t you tell by the way her greedy little holes are trying to milk our cocks?”

The dirty talk was going to be the death of her. She couldn’t hold off any longer and she cried out their names as she shook between them. Sy groaned low and guttural while curse after curse fell from Mike’s lips, both of them following her over the edge.

Fingers dug into her hips with a bruising grip. She wasn’t sure if they were Mike or Sy’s or maybe even both. Her eyelids felt too heavy to lift as she melted further into Sy’s chest. The happy little bubble enveloping them was broken when the warm body at her back pulled away, letting the cool air hit her sweat-slicked skin.

Jessie whined, blindly reaching back but Mike was already out of reach.

“Don’t worry gorgeous, I’m just getting something to clean you up.”

Sy wrapped his thick arms around her, smoothing his hand up and down her back while Mike disposed of the condom and cleaned the excess lube from between Jessie’s cheeks. Once he was done, he handed Sy the shirt Jessie wore to bed every night—Sy’s shirt— while he found clean briefs for himself before crawling up the bed and pulling Jessie into his chest. Sy reluctantly sat up, taking his turn and cleaning himself up the same way Mike had.

Just then, Sy’s phone went off, a muffled ringing sounding from the back pocket of his jeans that were still on the floor. Checking the caller ID, Sy paused before sitting on the edge of the bed and accepting the call.

“Hi pop.”

His father ignored the greeting, getting straight to the point. “Telling Mike that he couldn’t sleep in the same room as his girlfriend was not an invitation for you to go off and let them use the trailer.”

“Why not? By your own definition ‘my roof, my rules’.” Sy’s grandparents had left the trailer to him in their will. They knew he liked camping but they figured that he deserved a decent bed instead of the hard ground after so many nights on army bunks.

“And what is your plan, Nathan? Are you just gonna sit outside and listen to them go at it all night?”

Sy’s father was speaking loud enough that the three of them could hear his words clearly. After sharing a silent exchange, Jessie and Mike both nodded at Sy.

“Actually, I’m going to enjoy an evening of catching up with my girl who I haven’t seen in six months.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying Jessie is your girlfriend not Mikeʼs?”

“No. Mike and I both met Jessie this summer, we both hit it off with her, and we are both dating her.”

“You’re being ridiculous, you can’t both be dating her.”

“We can and we are. Whatever you think of that…” Sy trailed off, looking between Jessie and Mike again. “We both love her. Whatever you think doesnʼt matter and it wonʼt change anything so if you don’t like it, donʼt bother sharinʼ your opinion.”

Syʼs father didn’t say anything for a long time before the dial tone informed Sy that he had hung up.

The silence weighed heavily around the trio until Mikeʼs phone buzzed in his bag. Against his better judgment, Mike picked it up, already knowing it was his mother. Sensing he wouldn’t have the mental clarity to repeat anything important, he answered it on speaker. If she was going to talk about the three of them then the three of them should hear.

“Hi mom.”

“Mike? Mike, where are you?”

He winced at the hint of panic in her voice.

“I’m with Nate and Jessie.” It wasn’t a location but it was as good as she was going to get. If they really wanted to track them down it wouldn’t be all that hard, they didn’t need any help.

She released a relieved sigh. “So they found you then? I wasn’t sure, all I heard from Rob was that Nate said you two were both dating Jessie.”

“They did, and we are.”

“Do you really love her?”

Mike locked eyes with Jessie. “I do.”

“Can you put Jessie on the phone, please?”

Jessie’s eyes went wide, waiting for Mike to tell her what to do. He took the phone off speaker and pushed it towards her.

“Jill?”

“Don’t break his heart, okay?”

Jessie was stunned, almost speechless as she clenched the phone in her hand. “What?”

Jill sniffed on the other end of the line. “If Mike says he loves you then he really means it. I haven’t heard those words from him since he was a kid. Don’t break his heart. You can’t just string him along because you need someone around while Sy is away.”

It would be stupid to make any sort of promise after only a few months. So much was going to change for them in the next year and so much was still uncertain. Despite that, she found herself speaking the words and meaning them with all her heart.

“I won’t,” she vowed.

“Rob is just scared. He loves them both like sons, he doesn’t want to watch another member of his family spiral down the rabbit hole. He’ll calm down. Me and Barbara are going to be at the diner tomorrow at nine. The boys will know the one. You three should join us for breakfast.”

“I’ll tell them.”

With a quick goodbye, Jessie handed the phone back to Mike.

“I think… I think she’s okay with us. Your moms want us to have breakfast with them tomorrow morning.”

“You can’t expect me to be anywhere earlier than noon,” Mike joked, attempting to hide his relief.

“We both know your stomach is going to be growling so loud that we will all be awake by seven,” Jessie teased, nudging Mike with her foot.

“I guess that means you’ll have to give me something to eat to tide me over.”

Jessie bit her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed and her smile grew. Sy drew Jessie back into his side, brushing his thumb over her arm while he placed a kiss to the side of her neck.

“Agreed, he gets cranky when he’s hungry. I should know, I used to have to drive him to the store whenever he had midnight munchies.”

Mike switched off the light and the three of them burrowed under the covers. She nestled into Mike’s chest with Sy pressed against her back and his leg tangled between hers. This felt right. Jessie couldn’t begin to imagine having to choose between the two men. Sy was all rugged and mysterious while Mike was outgoing and playful. They were two puzzle pieces that fit with her so perfectly. She needed both of them. They completed her in different ways and she was not going to let anyone make her feel ashamed of that.

Part 3

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