#while ed left me broke

[s4vageluvaff4ir]

Welcome home.

[powderpinkandsweeet]

Abby x Reader

Abby coming back from a trip and not having the energy to fuck you (nsfw, kinda mean Abby, sub reader that’s a lil bratty, masturbation, toy use, pussy slaps)

Abby was coming back from a trip, and you had told her that when she came back you would need her more than anything. She'd been gone for a long while now, and you were both growing desperate. As much as she wanted to fuck you, though, she was exhausted. Her arms felt like they were made of lead as they hung by her sides. She had been carrying heavy weapons and equipment for miles at a time, constantly on edge throughout her trip. She didn't know if she could hold herself above you with how weak her arms felt. Abby wanted nothing more than to give you what she knew you needed, but she worried that she was too tired and would practically fall asleep on top of you.

She opened the door to your home late at night, but you were there waiting for her reading under the dim light of a lamp. You caught her eye and a big grin broke out on your face. Abby smiled weakly and caught you in her arms as you raced toward her. You basked in the moment, finally feeling her strong arms wrapped around you in a warm embrace. You had missed her terribly, spending evenings and nights laid in her spot on the bed. When the sun would set for another night alone, you would hold her pillow tightly in your arms and hope that her lingering scent could provide you enough comfort to fall asleep.

You hummed in contentment as you felt Abby's broad palms stroke down your back and grip your hips. She leans away from your neck to look into your eyes. So quiet that you almost miss it, she murmurs "I missed you so much..." as she cups your cheek in her right hand.

You lean into the warmth of her touch with a soft sigh and your eyes close in contentment. You turn your head to kiss her palm, to which Abby laughs and smiles with pink cheeks.

Of course the sweet moment couldn't last long with how much you had missed her and her touch. You'd been patient long enough now. Your eyes open as you take Abby's thumb into your mouth. Her lips part as she takes in a surprised breath, entranced by the sight of you taking her thumb deep into your mouth. Abby's other fingers wrap around to grip you by the chin, pressing her thumb deeper into your throat and threatening to make you gag. Your eyes water as they gaze into Abby's.

Despite her arousal, Abby knows that she doesn't have the energy to give you what you really need. In a moment of clarity, Abby withdraws her thumb from your mouth with a sigh and swipes it on her pants to clean your drool from the digit. Wide-eyed, you look confused as Abby takes a step back and covers her eyes with her palm. "I don't think we should do this, baby. This trip knocked me on my ass and I don't want to leave you unsatisfied but I want to fuck you like you deserve," Abby explains as your eyebrows crease and your lips puff into a pout.

"But... it's been so long, and I miss you so much," you whine.

Abby shakes her head and sighs as she takes a step back, "I know, angel, but we can try tomorrow night. It's late and we both have places to be in the morning."

You look distraught as you whine "Tomorrow? But Abby please, it's been forever." You try to close the distance between you once more, taking a step forward and reaching for the hand that had left you behind. You pull it down and toward you, pressing Abby's fingers against the wet patch on your panties "See? I need your help, I can't do it like you can Abby." Her eyebrows twitch, but she holds firm and shakes her head with lips pressed tightly together.

Tears line your lashes as you continue to beg, gripping her wrist to hold it in place as you ground against her fingers.

She "tsk"-ed and easily pulled her wrist away from your panties, "baby, I'm exhausted and if you need it that bad you'll just have to do it yourself." She thought for sure this would make you give up, after all you were the true definition of pillow princess. You'd become used to Abby taking care of all your needs and no longer had to do it yourself, so she expected you to give up and go to bed. Instead, your face only soured more and with a "hmph, fine" you cross your arms and step away from her. You turn your back to her and march into your bedroom. Curiously, Abby follows. She eyes the cheeks of your ass poking out of your shorts while you rummage through her bedside drawer. Before she could catch up to you, a Hitachi wand and an 8" dildo were in your hands, and you scurried off into the en-suite bathroom. The door shut behind you with a slam and the click of the lock.

Abby's eyebrows furrowed as she approached the door. You wouldn't, would you? You had always complained that you couldn't make yourself feel like she could. She knocked on the hardwood of the door, "angel? What's going on in there?" but she heard only the shuffle of clothing in response. Abby jiggled the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "I'm serious, baby, I don't have time for this," she grumbled as her palm pressed to the door. Stubbornly, you didn't respond. She pressed her ear to the door in an attempt to hear better. She could hear very quiet pants, and repeated "schlick"s. Her eyes widened and she pulled at the handle again "baby, I didn't mean it when I said you'd have to do it alone. If you can be patient and wait, then I'll fuck you like you need tomorrow."

You groan in exasperation and slightly in pleasure "but I can't wait that long, Abby! It hurts and if you're not gonna help me then I'll do it myself" After you determine that you're sufficiently stretched out, Abby hears the suction cup on the bottom of the dildo. You must have suctioned it to the tile. "I got it Abby... I got it... I can do it I swear," and it's not long before Abby hears a long and high whine as the head of the dildo stretches the ring of your pussy. You let out a whimper as the wide head pops all the way in "fuck, it's too thick Abby. Your cock is so fucking big."

She bangs on the door and grits through her teeth "you better open this door right now or you're going to be in big trouble, you little brat." You knew what Abby was capable of, but the thought of being punished just got you more worked up. With continuous whimpers of Abby's name that only drove her crazy, you worked your way down the dildo's length until you sat flush with the tile.

A blissed out smile broke out onto your face, proudly proclaiming through pants "I did it, Abby... I told you so" before letting out a weak, cock-drunk giggle. The door jostled and creaked in its frame as Abby pushed and pulled it with all her might. You ground your hips in circles to stroke your g-spot, tiredly lifting your hips up and down the length of the thick cock inside you. You tried to mimic the movements Abby made when she was inside you but your thighs were already starting to burn. You couldn't help but slow down with a tired whimper.

Her voice came loudly through the ruckus, loud enough that you'd have worried the neighbors would hear if you were in your right mind "open the GODDAMN door!" Even when she was furious, Abby's voice never failed to make your pussy drip. Cock drunk and delirious, you giggled and let out through your moans two words that you would live to regret: "make me." The knocking on the door stopped for a moment, and its absence drew you from your reverie. You were startled by the sound of a loud "BANG" against the door that made you scream. Abby had given up on playing nice, bracing her heavy boot against the door and gripping the knob in her hand before pulling and pushing the knob loose in the frame. The door moved forward and back against the frame until you heard a "CRACK." The screws keeping the knob in place had ripped through the weak fibers of the door.

'I'm in danger' you thought as your eyes met Abby's furious gaze. She marched in before yanking you up off your knees by your armpits before slinging you over her shoulder. The obscene pop and the friction as you were pulled off the artificial cock made you shiver and whine at the emptiness. Upside-down and disoriented, you bounced on Abby's shoulder until you were roughly tossed onto the bed.

You scrambled backwards away from Abby, but you were yanked back to her by your ankle. "Spread 'em" she practically growls. Your thighs press together in slight fear but mostly excitement. Tentatively, you begin to spread your legs, but it isn't fast enough for Abby. She grips you by the knees before spreading them wide enough to fit her broad frame in between. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" Abby grumbled with cheeks flushed in anger.

Looking away in shame, you mumble "I was just doing what you said... to do it myself..."

"You should know that I'm the only one who can make you come," Abby said, "but you're too cock hungry to remember, aren't you? Too pathetic and needy that you had to go against me." She raised her palm above her head, before bringing it down sharply on your pussy.

Your yelp of "OW, fuck! Abby wait--" didn't deter her. She wound back again and slapped your wet folds again with a heavy hand. You instinctively jerked away from the sensation and let out a sob. "Baby, please I'm sorryyyy" you choked out.

"If you were really sorry you wouldn't have done it in the first place," Abby says and delivers three more hard hits with her open palm. The sound is so filthy, your dripping pussy practically splashing as she hits it and spreads droplets across your inner thighs. Tears bubbled up to the surface as the burn of pain added to the increasing heat of your arousal. You were already sensitive from how you'd fucked yourself, a confusing mix of feelings hurtling you toward your orgasm. Through heaving sobs, you would live to regret your choked out "close..."

You couldn't see Abby's sinister grin through the blur of your tears. She sped up her assault, delivering hard and fast slaps to your twitching pussy. Just as the fire in your core reached a fever pitch with a perfectly placed slap to your clit and a scream, the stimulation was gone. Like a bucket thrown on a fire, your orgasm quickly fizzled out. You tried to clamp your legs closed to get some sort of stimulation, but Abby held your thighs far apart. You sobbed out "Abby... no fair... please, please, please, it's not fair! Come back!"

"What isn't fair is that you touched something that belongs to me" Abby grumbles to you. You trembled in her grip as your orgasm continued to fade away. You wanted to continue begging, but you knew it would get you nowhere. When your sobbing turned to weeping, Abby laid beside you in the bed and pulled you onto her chest. "Good job, baby, you took your punishment so well. Relax and breathe for me, baby, we're all done" she murmured into your ear. Snuggled between Abby's breasts and wrapped tightly in her arms, you drifted off to sleep. Abby peeked down at your snoring face and cradling it in her hand. She placed a soft kiss on your forehead before relaxing into the pillows, lulled to sleep by the sound of your breaths and the rumble of your heartbeat.

[steddiealltheway]

“We shouldn’t do this,” Steve pants against Eddie’s lips, rushing to kiss him again as Eddie pins him further against his front door.

Eddie breaks the kiss with a hum, pressing another kiss against the corner of Steve’s lips and across the two moles of his face before kissing down his neck. “We really shouldn’t,” Eddie agrees, voice low before he softly bites at Steve’s neck.

Steve groans as his head thuds back against his front door. “This is such a bad idea,” he breathes out, closing his eyes as Eddie sucks a bruise into his neck.

“The worst,” Eddie says, pulling back with a wet smack to admire his work before pressing his thumb against the sore skin.

Steve bites his bottom lip and pulls his hands away from Eddie’s waist. “We should stop.”

Eddie nods and takes a few steps back away from him. “We should.”

Steve stares at him for a moment nodding. Really it’s for the best. There’s no way they’d work out. And Steve isn’t really one for flings anymore. He wants the real deal. And Eddie doesn’t want that. He’s sure of it. And if they were to cross this line any further, Steve wouldn’t be able to stop himself from crossing it again.

Steve’s eyes track down to where Eddie’s chest is heaving up and down as he stares at him, hair slightly wild from where Steve’s hands were before. Then, Eddie slowly wets his lips, and Steve’s done for.

They both move together as if an unstoppable force is controlling them, crashing their lips together as their hands roam freely, Steve’s hands smoothly gliding against Eddie as Eddie’s nails scratch over him. Steve can’t get enough of it.

Eddie pulls away and grabs Steve by the shoulders. “Wait, wait, wait. The kids. We can’t do this to them.”

Steve nods. “Of course we can’t. They’d freak out if they found out.”

“So we should stop.”

“Definitely.”

They both stare at each other, eyes searching the other’s to find some hint of reluctance and give. Eddie’s hands slowly slip down Steve’s arms as he pulls away from him again.

As soon as Eddie’s hands leave Steve’s body, Steve reaches out and latches onto them. He shrugs. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

Eddie’s eyes light up as he smiles, moving forward to kiss Steve again, but this time, Steve can feel him smiling into it. He practically melts when he realizes it, but quickly pulls away again. “Wait.”

Eddie fully stops and stares at him with no hint of frustration which warms Steve’s heart. Steve sighs and rests his forehead on Eddie’s shoulder. “We should stop while we can.”

Eddie tilts his head down and pressed a soft kiss against Steve’s head. “We should.”

Steve squeezes his arm and steps back, trying to even out his breathing as he walks Eddie to the door.

It’s a strange deja vu that accompanies the walk, mirroring how they ended up like this in the first place. Eddie had stayed behind to help Steve clean up after the kids left, and as Steve walked him to the door, they both lingered in their goodbyes. And then something broke between them, and Steve’s unsure who kissed who first.

But as Steve’s hand finds the door handle again, he finds himself hesitating. Eddie smiles shyly at him and pulls a strand of hair in front of his face. “I guess this is goodbye.”

Steve nods and pulls the door fully open this time. “Thank you for helping me clean up and… everything.”

Eddie chuckles and buries his hands in his pocket with a shrug. “Anytime.”

Steve swallows, wanting to take him up on his offer and turn anytime into right now. But he just steps back and says. “Goodbye, Eds.”

“Bye, Stevie,” Eddie says, walking through the door and offering him a slight wave.

Steve returns it before softly shutting the door. He thuds his head against it and takes a deep breath. It’s for the best.

But is it?

How are they going to navigate things from here? It’s not like Steve will be able to easily forget this; he’s always going to long for this. And the bruise isn’t going to fade in a day. Will it remain as a torturous reminder of what could’ve been?

Steve sighs. “Fuck this,” he says pulling the door open only to find Eddie on the other side, hand raised as if to knock.

Eddie hurriedly says, “I can’t just… we can’t. This is…” He steps through the doorway and cups Steve’s face. “I can’t pass up this opportunity. Not when I’ve waited forever for this.”

Steve’s brows furrow. “Waited forever?”

Eddie huffs out a humorless laugh. “Steve, I’ve liked you for so long, and I don’t care if you don’t want more. It’s pathetic, but I’ll take what I can get. And if that’s just friends with benefits then-”

“What?” Steve asks, overwhelming confused and rushing to catch up.

Eddie sighs and rests his forehead against Steve’s. “Just kiss me again please.”

Steve takes a small step back and watches as Eddie’s face falls. “No, no. It’s not… Eddie, you like me?”

Eddie shoves his hands in his pockets. “I won’t ever mention it again. Don’t worry. I should go.”

He turns to leave, and Steve rushes to grab his arm. “Stop. Wait.”

Eddie hesitantly turns to him with regret and embarrassment written all over his face.

“Eddie, I like you, too. I thought you would want this to only be a fling which is why I said it was a bad idea. I knew if I let myself cross that line with you, I could never go back.”

Eddie pauses and steps closer to him. “You’re serious?”

“Dead serious,” Steve states as he reaches out to grab Eddie’s hand, rubbing a thumb over his knuckles. “And I’d really like to kiss you again. Go on a date even. Maybe even fall in love or something,” Steve says with a laugh.

Eddie laughs and rushes forward, pulling Steve into a tight hug. “God, I never thought this was possible.”

“Me either,” Steve confesses, pulling Eddie in tighter.

They melt into the hug and slowly pull back, moving in naturally to kiss each other, sweetly and slowly now that they have all the time in the world. And they’re going to use it well.

[thewritetofreespeech]

Could I request Ichigo and Grimmjow learning that their s/o managed to survive a dangerous situation without a single scratch?

Ichigo watched the great stone wall collapse under its own weight, once the beam from the Sternritter had pierced it’s hull. It would have been pretty cool, if it didn’t mean that their defenses were down and last he knew [Y/N] was standing right there!

“[Y/N]!” He called out, even though he was all the way on the other side of the battlefield.

Ichigo cut through his opponent and sprinted over to the scene where the dust was settling. Frantically scanning the rumble for some sign of his partner, but woefully optimistic in hoping he wouldn’t find anything. “Phew! That was close!”

The Shinigami turned and saw [Y/N] a few yards away from him. Unscathed, perfectly fine, and examining the rumble like him with a much less panicked look. “[Y/N]! You’re alright! How did you avoid the attack??”

“Oh. Well for one I was more over there,” they pointed towards the spot that they had moved to in the fighting, “plus once I saw the wall start to come down I shunpo-ed it out of there.”

“Shunpo….”

“Yeah, Yoruichi has been training me. She said I’ve been getting pretty good. I thought I mentioned that?”

Ichigo wasn’t sure if they had or hadn’t right now. All he knew was that he was relieved they were ok.

He came up to them and gave them a hug. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” He told them. Before he let go and they went back to the fighting.

Grimmjow howled with laughter and glee as he cut through another one of these goons. Their bodies splitting open like they were made of paper. Or one of those pinata things from the human world with how they sprayed open when broke. What a time to be alive.

At first, he thought it had to be some kind of joke. Him? Fight for the shitty Shinigami? No way!

But apparently they had lost their idiotic minds, and rolled out the red carpet for him when he came to the Seireitei door. One he was all too happy to paint even redder with blood.

He’d do this little chore for them, then finally kill Kurosaki, and go back home to Hueco Mundo with [Y/N] as champions. This was the best day of his life.

In his hacking and slashing, Grimmjow looked up when he saw one of the buildings fall. Not uncommon in a fight. He thought it was stupid to have buildings that tall anyway. He grinned as he watched on of the Shinigami monuments fall, but then panned down and saw [Y/N] standing near where the rubble would fall. “Shit! [Y/N]!”

There was nothing to be done though. He was too far away. The building was falling to fast. Then by the time be got over there all that was left was rumble and dust. Grimmjow felt his heart stop, then come back to life beating furiously as he was now going to destroy now only these Quincy but everything here for taking his [Y/N] away.

The Arrancar turned to begin his killing spree, when suddenly a large piece of the rumble was dislodged and flew through the air. It barely missed him as he watched [Y/N] climb out of the hole they created. Dusting off their outfit while muttering, “this was brand new…”

Grimmjow watched in amazement but then grinned wildly as he saw that they were ok. Of course they were ok. How stupid of him to thinking a grubby old building would take out his [Y/N].

He scooped them up with one arm to pull them close, still with that grin. “I thought I lost you there for a second.”

“Who? Me?” They asked in amusement.

Grimmjow gave them a kiss before he let go and they both went back to the fighting. His spree might be on hold, but his ‘chore’ still wasn’t done. And Kurosaki was still out there somewhere.

[queers-gambit]

Pretty Boy Swag

prompt: your big ass family comes to town and hosts a town-wide family reunion. after they meet your boyfriend for the first time, your proximity is criticized, and when you try to fall back, Eddie's swift to your side again. -> or when someone else calls you clingy, you try to fall back but your man doesn't want that.

pairing: Eddie Munson x female!reader

fandom masterlist: Stranger Things

collection masterlist: Clingy Baby

word count: 6.2k+

note: AQPDO got me back on my Joe kick, Goddamnit

warnings: Eddie being the man we all want and deserve, kinda AU timeline (Eddie lives, Vecna still happened, and school is back in session? it confused me too, but fuck it we ball). shitty family members being judgmental. the fuck is this plot? idk her. there's insecurity, drama, anxiety, obviously some angst, but mostly hurt / comfort. drug use (it's Eddie, c'mon), kinda abrupt ending, author's lowkey a pyromaniac and advises you do not play with fire or gasoline.

The summer was soon to end, leaving behind a muggy, thick heat that broke several air conditioning units around town from power usage. Windows were left wide open for cross breezes, doors, too; and fans were cranked up high. There was a rather nasty storm on the way in, but luckily, with it, came the usual drop in temperature - just in time for the coming week's activities. The last week of summer before the dreaded school year began anew, but luckily, it was officially senior year.

Eddie jogged up the rickety porch stairs and opened the unlocked screen door that was close to rusting off its hinges; the front door open and an oscillating fan turned on to blow a breeze at Ed.

The door swung open without effort, banging loudly and making Wayne glance up, "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Unc."

"There's a sandwich in the fridge, if you're hungry," Wayne cleared his throat, smoking a cigarette at the tiny coffee table covered in stacks of bills.

"Thanks," Eddie mumbled. "Here," he dropped a small wad of bills to the table.

"The hell's this?" Wayne scoffed, glaring up at the kid - who shrugged.

"Should be enough for utilities and water, maybe a bit for groceries," Eddie answered, grabbing a beer from the fridge and sighing with a grunt as he dropped into the arm chair.

"You selling dope again?"

"It's consistent money."

"You know I don't like that shit, kid."

"Which is why you don't see it - you just get the cash."

Wayne scoffed in amusement and smirked, nodding while releasing a deep sigh. "All right, uh, thanks, kid. I appreciate this."

Eddie nodded, brows furrowing as his mind whirled from his excursion in town; musing, "Something's gotta be in the air."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. Tell you what, people are... Really in the market to buy this week. Everywhere I went was so crowded - I couldn't even get Goddamn cigarettes - "

"Watch your mouth, boy," Wayne reprimanded automatically. While he was all too used to Eddie's foul mouth, he still didn't like him using the Lord's name in vain. "It's all that, uh, anticipation," Wayne shrugged, dividing a few cash bills to an envelope, "got people all excited."

"Anticipation about what?"

"For the L/N Reunion."

"The what?"

Wayne looked up, offering a stale look, "L/N? Your girlfriend's family?"

Eddie sounded exasperated, "I know that - I'm asking what the hell you're talking about?"

"The L/N family, they've lived in these parts for generations. So, when they have these, like, uh, family reunions, it's an entire town-wide event. Everyone tries to go. I guess you must've been... Oh..." He shrugged, "8 or so last time they were all here. Whole place gets energized, they all participate; you know, it's a big cookout and shit."

"Right."

"It's usually a good time," Wayne assured, taking another drag. "And when it's not, it's because it's a really good time. They use the field out back behind Sullivan's old place?"

"No shit," Eddie chuckled, taking a slug.

"Uh-huh," Wayne hummed, the cig bobbing; ash dropping to dust the bills. "They get a bunch of tents and shit; catering, too - it's like a big carnival. Heard some might drive some caravan in." Eddie was briefly reminded of his adventures in the mobile home with Steve Harrington and Company, yet there was no time to dwell because Wayne was questioning, "Your girl didn't say anything to you 'bout this?"

Eddie's head slowly shook, "No, but she's comin' over tonight."

"I got work."

"I know."

Wayne chuckled, "Which reminds me, I grabbed you a box of condoms."

"Oh, Unc, no!" Eddie begged with a groan.

"You're too young for a baby, Eddie!"

"Doesn't mean buy me condoms, old man!"

"You could just say thank you!"

"I'm not thanking you for condoms!"

The screen door hit the frame in a startling bang, the thin metal slipping from your shocked grip. You stepped into the trailer home, giggling, "Whaaaat the hell did I just walk in on?"

"Oh, hi, baby," Eddie greeted in a grumble; one hand wiping his face, trying to hide his embarrassment, "so glad you heard that!"

"Hey, honey," Wayne followed, you stepping inside and depositing your usual purse by the door.

"Everyone okay?" You asked teasingly.

"Yeah, Eddie's bein' dramatic again," Wayne spoke casually. "Hey, I, uh, I heard about the Reunion. That's gotta be real excitin', 'uh?"

"Oh, God," you groaned lightly, Eddie straightening himself up to invite you onto his lap. "Honestly, Unc? I was hoping this might be the one place in town I could escape from talking about that."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't - "

"No, no, I only mean, it's been nonstop in my family," you pouted. "Everything's gotta be perfect, so there's this, like, palpable tension, which makes it a madhouse, you know, 'cause everyone's coming into town. It's peaceful here."

"They all stayin' at yours?" Eddie asked softly, acutely aware and in-tune with your tangible anxiety; deflating himself and his energy to better absorb yours.

"Yeah," you pouted.

"All of them?"

"Until the festivities kick off, then most are gonna camp."

Wayne frowned, "When was the last time you saw 'em all?"

You breathed deeply, mulling his words while Eddie took a swig of beer; fingers flexing to pet where he held your hip. "Years ago," you answered, "and while it's really nice to spend time with them all, it's just..." You trailed off, frowning.

"A li'l much?" Wayne supplied.

"In the simplest terms, oh yeah," you sighed deeply. "I'm really grateful to still have time with them, don't get me wrong, but Christ Alive. There's four people in my room, we have two cousins in the attic, there's an Auntie in my parent's room, another couple in the basement - it's an absolute mad house!"

Wayne nodded with sympathy, seeing the way you pouted and dropped into Eddie's chest under his chin. His brows instantly crinkled, collecting you closer into his chest in comfort; keeping you curled across his lap. Wayne glanced at the wad of bills Eddie had contributed and sighed, gathering up both paper and cash bills. As he cleaned up around him, Wayne spoke, "You can, uh, stay here, if you wanna."

"Huh?" You gaped, looking at Wayne in earnest shock. "No, no, no, it's not - I just meant to complain to get it off my chest, you know? I wasn't fishing for - "

"I know, honey, but I can physically feel your stress from here," he chuckled. "Tell you what, if you agree to make dinner, you can crash here for the week."

With a grin, you nodded, "Your bodies might go into shock, I'm gonna force y'all to eat vegetables."

Both men laughed in amusement, the tension melting as you were obviously relieved by the fact that you wouldn't have to stay at your family home for the duration of the Reunion. It loosened you up, the trio happy to indulge in witty, harmless banter before Wayne was filing the bills in a mucked-up manilla folder. He stood to get ready for work, leaving you and Eddie in the armchair.

"Can I ask a favor?" You whispered into his neck, slowly pressing open, languid kisses to the sensitive skin.

"Anything you want, baby."

"I should go pack an overnight bag."

"Want me to come, too?"

"No, no, I was gonna ask you to go grab us dinner while I was gone," you mused, smirking gently; his head tilting back and sighing through his nose. "Oh, don't - "

"No, no, baby, it's fine," he scoffed, "we've just been dating 4 years and I haven't met your family. Like the whole family."

You scoffed, "So?"

"Do you not, you know, like, want me to?"

"I think it's more really not wanting you to meet them, Eddie - it's different."

You tried to stand, but his arms were like vices; keeping you in place and speaking softly, "Baby, how? Don't you think it's time? Nothing - not even your family - is gonna make me love you less. Plus, like, isn't the whole town invited to this Reunion?"

"I mean..."

"Did you think we were gonna avoid each other the whole week?"

"I was kinda hoping we wouldn't even go, if I'm honest," you admitted sadly, "but I'm a really good girlfriend, so we're going 'cause I know who would be most inclined to buy whatever product you might have left."

"Wow, you're gonna bring me new customers? Your family, too, huh?"

"Who said anything about family?" You smirked.

"Baby," Eddie sighed, pinning you with the beginnings of his puppy dog eyes, "if you're embarrassed, you can just say that - "

"Of what? Of you?"

"Well, yeah, or of us."

"Eddie, that's the farthest thing from the truth!" Guilt sounded through your words, "Baby, I love you - but I know my family and I don't want them to, like, infect you."

"Not possible," he hummed, bringing you in close to press a kiss to your lips in reassurance.

Not wanting to dwell, you quickly changed the subject and whispered against his lips, "Will you please go pick up a pizza from Reggie's?"

Eddie's head reared back slightly, his expression morphing into confusion, "Reggie doesn't sell pizza, baby."

"He does for me, I'll call it in if you can pick it up. It's just in the opposite direction of my house."

"Baby gets what baby wants."

You scoffed a laugh, kissing him again and standing finally, offering your hand to him; helping yank Ed from his seat just as Wayne was reappearing. After calling Reggie, you all left at the same time, shuffling out into the parking lot together to bid Wayne goodbye; waving as he drove off. Then, Eddie swiftly huddled you into the backdoors of his van; holding your legs around his hips.

Shocked laughter racked your lungs, holding onto his shoulders as he nuzzled directly into your neck and balanced your weight in his arms. He breathed in deeply, you petting the back of his head, both feeling yourselves recharge; usually trying to refrain from these grand gestures of PDA in front of Wayne. "Missed you today," Eddie mumbled, lips tickling your ear, causing you to slightly squirm.

"We were apart all of, what? 4 hours?" You mused quietly with a grin.

"Too long," he whined.

"I know, pretty boy. Which is why we have to hurry up - the faster you go get dinner and I go home, the faster we can come back here. I'm thinking... Blunts and movies tonight?"

Ed lifted up, your chest feeling cold from his retracted heat; but his face was calculating, then agreeing, "Yeah, we gotta go, let's go, c'mon, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Max could hear your laughter from where she pet her neighbor's dog.

Honestly? The only thing missing from the Reunion were actual carnival game prizes - like stuffed animals, goldfish, novelty gags, sports team embroidered plush memorabilia.

There were caravans of RV's - both rented and owned - lined up with cars of all shapes, sizes, colors, and passenger capacity; Christmas lights strung up around them like spiderwebs. Patio tables were erected to host intimate groups of people while banquet tables were used to boast an array of foods and drinks. Different speakers were set out and connected, playing the same soundtracks - while others at other distances played different genres. The soft ground from previous rain had hardened from the amount of feet (of all sizes) stomping over the mud and grass. Solo cups dotted the area like stars splatter the sky.

Oh! There was also a clown missing! The Reunion did not hire a clown - unless you count Uncle David...

"You scared yet?" You asked, sitting in the open passenger seat of Eddie's van, the back doors wide open to host the attending party members. Eddie was leaning at the hinges beside you, facing the back of the van, quickly dropping his gaze onto you and straightening up.

Eddie shifted subtly, side-stepping so he stood in front of you for a semi-private conversation. "Oh, please, think I'm the scariest guy 'round these parts. Your family's harmless."

"Oh, uh-huh," you mused, scoffing a small chuckle before taking a lazy pull of your red solo cup; matching those scattered in the field. Don't worry, though, 'cause your cousins were Litter Bugs and would pick up any and everything they come across when clean-up commenced. It was a rule of the Reunion - leave the area better than you found it.

"You good, baby?" Eddie asked softly, trying to keep his voice quiet; which was easy, since Robin and Steve were cracking boisterous jokes to the group.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," you nodded, eyes glazed as you peered over Eddie's shoulder to survey the absolute (controlled) chaos your family entertained.

"Yeah, 'cause that's so convincing."

You sighed and leaned forward some; legs hooking around Eddie's and encouraging him forward so your chin rested on his sternum. "I promise, I'm okay," you whispered with a smile, "just a little overwhelmed."

He nodded, petting a loose strand of hair off your face. "You've not really seen your family much," he noted, "been hiding here with us the whole time."

"I'll... Get around to it."

"When?"

"Eddie," you sighed, pulling back to still look up at him - curse his gangly frame.

"C'mon, baby," he pouted, "come introduce me to your family. Huh? I think it's time, I'm excited."

You felt frozen for a moment before Dustin's voice was whining, "When's dinner? Whole field smells like good eats."

Eddie pinned you with a small 'told you so' look, chuckling as you groaned and nudged him back a little to slide from your seat. "All right," you announced to the group, "c'mon, let's go mix and mingle. Play nice and they'll feed you."

You didn't even hear the small chorus of chuckles as your ears blasted the hammering sound of your nervous heartbeat. You cleared your throat as the group grabbed their things, Steve and Eddie closing the van doors before congregating together to begin stalking across the mud. With the red solo cup in one hand, your other was snatched swiftly by Eddie - tugging playfully to jolt you into his side and secure his arm around your shoulders.

You could see Hopper and Uncle David laughing almost to the point of tears; both with beers in hand, several others dotting around them to share in mirth. Wayne was tearing into a bacon cheese burger with an ice cold beer and a table full of "uncles" - or family friends you just called "uncle". Joyce Byers was playing corn hole with that PI the Hollands hired, Murray Bauman, to find their daughter, Barbra, years ago when Will Byers first went missing, too. They were being cheered on by a sea of cousins - all heavily intoxicated and keeping score on a chalkboard. The Wheelers were seen playing a few table games; Holly happy to play with your aunt's Australian Shepard, Auggie, while her parents were distracted. The Sinclairs were dancing together under the strung Christmas lights, Erica accepting a gargantuan size cotton candy to share with a few friends. Well, honestly, with the way she was eyeing the sugary treat, you wouldn't be surprised if she inhaled it all by herself.

"Hey now, baby girl! Ova here!" You heard, glancing over automatically just to catch sight of your father waving you over to where he and his siblings stood with a few cousins, your mother, and a couple siblings.

"Baby," you mumbled, squeezing his hand. He instantly parted from Steve and followed you; both missing the looks exchanged amongst your family, a few perking their brows swiftly and others even rolling their eyes. "Hey, guys," you greeted kindly when you arrived around the patio table.

"There she is!"

You were happily received by your loved ones, exchanging pleasantries before automatically returning to Eddie's side. "Um, hey, guys, can I introduce you to my boyfriend, Eddie?" You made the proper introductions, holding his arm as he offered his dominant hand to shake as he greeted the family members he had begged you to meet.

"Got you this," your father purred, handing you a full plate of ribs and all accompanying fixings.

"And this, for Eddie," your mother handed you his plate carefully. "You know Cooper's cookin' goes first."

"Thank you, guys," your boyfriend appeared as if out of thin air over your shoulder, leaning in to peck your mother's cheek. He straightened up to shake your father's hand and take both plates from you as your sister stood from her seat.

"Here," she waved, letting you take her spot because it was the only place beside an open seat so you and Ed could sit together.

Darlene, some distant cousin, daughter of your Aunt Rebecca, scoffed, "What? You two have to sit right next to each other?"

You pulled a face, "Girl."

"It's no biggie," your sister instantly defended, "and it's Eddie's first time here, can't let him sit alone."

"Mhm," Darlene snickered, your hand subtly latching onto Eddie's thigh to give a comforting squeeze. He dropped a quick wink, leaning over to take a fork full of baked beans from your plate - humming obnoxiously when he ate it.

Before you knew it, a couple hours had passed, the sun setting, and the bonfire was being structured. In fact, your name had been hollered for aid, looking to Eddie out of habit. He smirked at you, petting the hand he held with his thumb, nodding slightly - not in permission, but in assurance. Before either could say something, your Aunt Rebecca mused (but really scolded), "Oh, Jesus Christ, you two! You're not gonna fall apart if you're not together 20 seconds, he'll be fine to hang while you get the fire goin', girl. Go!"

You bristled at her tone, but only minimally rolled your eyes at Eddie before pecking his lips as you stood from the chair you had been offered. "Be back, baby," you whispered, and as you straightened up, raised your voice, "don't listen to a single thing they say and don't let them bully you!"

Laughing over jeers, you offered your middle finger, slapped your hand into Cousin Allison's, then skipped towards the wooden teepee pyre. Turns out, all "adults" were too intoxicated to deal with the bonfire and your cousins all too nervous to use gasoline - hence why they needed help. So, you playfully pushed them back and fixed the structure; stuffed kindling in ideal places, sprinkled a responsible amount of gasoline, and with a piece of old newspaper, used a lighter to ignite the flame. Then, when it caught, you carefully used it to catch along the gas-soaked kindling. Once that initial contact was made, you dropped the paper and stepped back because, a moment later, the entire pyre caught flame with a small but defining whooshing sound.

The cousins cheered you on, amusement shared as Cousin Maxwell handed you a fresh solo cup as a reward. You blew past the praise, knowing they were just being dramatic for humor's sake; making your way back towards the group you had left - intent on making s'mores with Eddie. Except, Aunt Rebecca stood to meet you, just enough of a distance away that her words weren't overheard.

"So," she smiled, "he seems real nice."

"Hmm?" You took a sip of your drink.

"Your boyfriend."

"Oh," you nodded, "yeah, no, he's arguably the nicest guy I know."

"Even more than that Harrington fella?" She asked, eyeing your friend and twiddling her fingers flirtatiously. Steve smirked and waved back.

"Uh-huh. C'mon, Auntie," you nudged her, "your husband's right over there."

"He's fine," she scoffed.

"Well, all right - "

"Hang on," she halted you from leaving, seizing your arm. "I was just wondering, you know, how nice a boy can be with all them tattoos? I mean, only delinquents defile themselves like that."

You scoffed, "I seriously doubt inking your skin is an indication of kindness in a person - but that's a good one."

Rebecca halted your departure again by asking, "Well, how healthy do you think this is?"

"Be more specific, Auntie."

Her eyes rolled, "Your relationship, girl, pay attention."

You chose not to engage fully, just sighing, "It's the healthiest relationship I've ever known - not much thanks to you, since nobody in this family would know a healthy, functional relationship if it punched them in the face."

With a fake smile, you pulled your arm from her grip and only managed two steps before she was sneering, "You sure it's healthy the way you cling to him?"

"What was that?" You asked, slowly turning to face her.

"You're so clingy, it's actually concerning! David, Kyle, Bethany, Darlene, Casey, and Tom all agree with me, and not to mention, your mother told us that's normal behavior for you two - which is just a red flag, sweetie. You're lucky, though, 'cause when I was your age, my mama would've slapped me silly if I hung all over my boyfriend like that in front of her. You know it's distasteful, right, honey? Men don't like that - they don't want girls who are desperate for love that they claw onto them."

"I'm not clawing - "

"Whatever you're doing, sweetie," she mocked, "it's not a good look. I can smell your desperation - you do know, there's gonna be more boys later. This Eddie guy? He's not your end all, be all. First loves are fun, sure, but this is where you make your mistakes - so, take notes and then try not to do the same shit with your next man. Okay, pumpkin?" She patted your upper arm as if a child winning a sports participation trophy. "The kid is nice and all, but he's not gonna last, honey. Women in our family are prizes, you see, so, it takes a real stud to earn us - not some long-haired, tattooed punk. Don't embarrass this family anymore than you already have by thinking this is a sustainable relationship."

You slapped her hand away and stepped into her space, snarling, "You wanna try that again?"

Eddie glanced over and saw the two of you; needing a double take when he realized how tense the exchange looked. "Shit," he whispered, sitting up in attention while nudging Steve.

"Huh?" Eddie pointed, Steve turned, and after a beat, repeated, "Shit."

Rebecca stuttered and tried to explain, "I-I-I'm just saying - "

"Sounds like you're making pretty snap judgements about the man I love - based on what? His fucking appearance? Do you fucking hear yourself? Like, you're reprimanding me for dating when you're not even my parent. You need to take several steps back into your lane."

"I'm not reprimanding you for dating! Just for... For..."

"For dating Eddie?"

"For being so dangerously desperate!" She snapped. "Jesus, a kid like that? You don't have to cling too hard, he's lucky to just breathe your air! So, maybe loosen the reins, babe, it's not a good look to keep a man so... Beneath you so close and so tight."

Eddie launched from his chair in time to hear you laugh in response. "Yeah? Yeah? This comin' from the woman whose husband cheats on her more than he remembers their anniversary or her birthday? Is that what you mean by desperate?" You narrowed your eyes, "You're right - that is a real bad look. I mean, I've had years to watch you and decide, that's not what love is. That's not respect. Wow. Being desperate for love really is embarrassing, isn't it? Thanks for the advice, Auntie, but don't worry - first place for worst relationship is still steadfast yours. I mean, Eddie and I are actually compatible, you know? He and I actually like one another, mutually love another. Now, I know you're not used to that, so I guess I can excuse you mistaking 'love' for 'desperation' and being 'clingy' - "

"Baby, hey, hey, hey," Eddie caught you around the waist and pulled you back a few steps. "All good, it's all good - don't gotta argue, c'mon. Walk away, just walk away, c'mon, come with me." You scoffed in amusement while Rebecca looked close to tears, Eddie directing you in the opposite direction to force space. "What the hell was all that?" He asked in worry, arm slung around your neck as he checked over your shoulders to make sure you weren't being followed.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Didn't seem like it. C'mon, baby, what happened? Talk to me."

"When my family drinks, you know, they can just get a little mouthy."

"What'd she say?"

Insecurity exploded in your chest, freezing your tongue and heart, pumping icy shards through your body. You didn't want to worry nor upset Eddie by being honest, so you sighed, "Oh, just some dumb shit. She honestly sounded jealous... And bitter..."

"Ah, Uncle Paulie isn't giving it to her, huh?" He teased and you laughed, if only to not tip him off to the brewing storm of emotions threatening to take over.

"Guess not. Hey, uh," you glanced around, "you wanna get outta here?"

"What?" Eddie chuckled, "Baby, no, nah, c'mon, night's just starting. Fire's finally lit, and look," he pointed, "Dustin's challenging Mike to corn hole. And... Is that...?"

"Max and Lucas playing... Pong?"

"Looks like," Eddie smirked. "Think we're bad influences, baby."

"They're not even drinking - how much of an influence can we really be? Do they even pay attention, learn from us?" You teased, arms crossing across your chest in a light hold as Eddie tugged you a fraction closer to place a kiss on your temple. "Well, can we go back to the van and smoke? I left your hoodie in there and it's getting kinda chilly."

"Oh, you left it, huh?"

"Since I was the last in it? Yep."

Eddie chuckled and kept you under his arm all the way to his van, opening the backdoors and letting you climb in first. He shut the doors after himself and instantly rocked onto his back; you mimicking his position.

You both just stared at the ceiling for a moment; breathing together; existing as one. Then his head turned, yours did the same, meeting each other's eyes and without a single word exchanged, let your lips spread in matching smiles. Like two charged magnets, you both leaned in at the same time to let your lips meet in a sloppy meshing; playful, heated, and quick-tempo'd.

When Eddie pulled back, he whispered, "I love you."

After returning the sentiment, you both sat up to rest against the metal van walls and Eddie reached over to snag the wee box he used to store (some) of his drugs in. You breathed a sigh of relief while watching him, engaged in a new and distracting conversation - grateful he seemingly forgot about Aunt Rebecca's bullshit already.

Yet those words seemed to haunt you.

It's been about two weeks since the Reunion and you felt as if you were slowly losing whatever was left of your mind. School had officially started and with all your AP classes, you were already juggling several assignments.

Everywhere you went, everything you did - you second guessed the amount of energy, effort, and diligence you put forth into everything! School! Friends! Family! And you know who suffered the most? Eddie - of course he did! He was closest to you, of course he was on the frontlines; enduring some kind of silent attack.

You didn't know what to do - so, you did nothing! You avoided Eddie because you were afraid of being ridiculed like a bug under a microscope in biology class. It seemed reasonable; not wanting to dig a deeper grave, not wanting to give further room for judgmental assholes to feel comfortable enough to voice their opinions. It drove you insane, living in silence, in this empty space; going from joined at the hip to severed Siamese Twins.

"Hey," your mother perked up when you came through the front door, "what're you doing home?"

"Uh, I live here?"

She sat up from her lounging position, "No, I meant, it's Thursday - isn't Thursday date night with Eddie? You didn't go last week."

"Oh, uh, no, not this week, Ma, I've got this crazy essay I'm swamped with."

"Hm," she nodded slowly.

"What?"

"Hmm? No, no, nothing, it's nothing," she waved you off, and just before you could take a step, she continued, "it's just - last week, you said you had some big test to study for. And now you're blowing him off for an essay? Honey, school just started, you shouldn't be this stressed and upset so soon."

"What can I say, Ma? I'm not blowing him off, I'm focusing on school. You know, the thing you love yelling at me to do?"

"I'm happy you're buckled down, sweetie, I'm just not used to you being here so often. You know? Since you started dating Eddie, I feel like you're only really home some weekdays, and sometimes, I don't even see you! Now, you've been home and I'm just worried something might be, I don't know, wrong."

"The only thing wrong, Ma, is the amount of work I have to do."

She sighed and nodded, offering a tight-lipped smile; finally allowing you to make your escape. First, you stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and bag of trail mix, then, you made your way to your room; throwing your windows open, turning your stereo on a low volume, settling at your desk, and rolling a joint - but setting it aside for now. You unpacked your supplies, cracked your knuckles, and got to work handwriting ten pages on The Lord of the Flies.

There came a knock at your door, eyes cutting to your clock and noting you'd been working about an hour. Waving smoke from the freshly lit joint away your face, you plucked it from your lips, inhaled sharply, and called, "C'min!"

Eddie slipped in your room.

"What're you doing here?" You asked in shock, tilting your head back when he stood over you and accepting his kiss. The ends of his hair tickled your face from where he dangled himself over you.

"It's date night."

"Yeah, but I told you I had work, baby," you pouted at him, watching him set the paper bag he brought in front of you and taking the joint from your stalled hand.

"Mhm," he agreed while taking his pull, holding smoke in his lungs and still speaking, "which is why I brought it to you."

"Oh, yeah?" You chuckled, opening the bag and revealing your usual burger and fries order. "Eddie - "

"Eh?" He grinned, producing a milkshake from behind his back, "Ta-daaaa!"

"Oh, a man after my own heart!" You laughed, "You're literally perfect - thank you. This is really sweet."

He smirked and sat in the plush chair you left beside your desk just for him. "All right," he reached out to pick up the essay prompt as you ate a fry, "let's see here, uh... Lord of the Flies?"

"Yeah, it's about - "

"No, no, I know," he nodded, "I read it."

"You did?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I thought you didn't read anything except your D&D manual and Hard Rock Magazine?"

"Oh, ha-ha, don't forget Playboy," he mocked, you smirking. "All right, well, let's get crackin'."

"What?" You asked, watching him toss aside the paper prompt and pick up the novel.

"I'm helping you," he shrugged like it was common knowledge.

"You? You're gonna help me write this essay?" You laughed, handing him the half-eaten fry - which he accepted into his mouth without hesitation.

"Why is that funny?"

"You don't even do your own homework, baby!"

"Yeah, well, figured I'd help if it'll get done faster, you've been acting real funny."

"How?"

Eddie pinned you with a harsh look, "You've been distant."

You froze, knowing you're caught, but still responded, "Uh, no?"

"Uh, yes? Since the Reunion, I've barely seen you. And even when I do, it's at school. You don't come over, you don't invite me over, you canceled our date last week, tried to today, too. Baby, look, if something's wrong, you gotta tell me 'cause I can't fix shit if I don't know what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong - "

"Try again."

"Eddie."

"Are you serious right now?" He asked, his voice no longer light and lithe, playful nor silly. "You might have yourself convinced, princess, but I know you better than that. Something's up, something's wrong. Talk to me, please."

"Why does something have to be wrong? Why can't I just be, like, tired or stressed? Or both?" You avoided his eyes, taking the joint from him.

"If you really want me to believe that, answer when you started smoking with homework?" This made you pause, shrugging in embarrassment. Eddie scoffed gently, "Lemme guess? You're just stressed?"

"It's not a lie!"

"But you're not telling me the full truth!" He leaned forward in his seat, reaching for your hand, frowning deeply. "Baby, I just want to help you. Since the Reunion, you've been distant, and I think it's to do with whatever your aunt said."

Tears filled your eyes, mutely taking another long inhale; gently ashing the joint in the tray on your desk hosting several stubbed-out filters. Swallowing the saliva that had pooled in your mouth harshly, you coughed gently upon exhaling the smoke; tears pooling and slowly cascading down your cheeks. Eddie sat closer in worry - literally sitting in a balancing act on the edge of his seat.

"You're right," you squeaked, unable to look at him; fingers beginning to shake. "Y-You're right, and I'm sorry, I just - I didn't know what to do, how to feel - "

"That's why you gotta talk to me, baby, so we can figure shit out together. Right? I help you, you help me," he spoke gently, reaching out to caress the back of your head. He sighed, standing, ushering, "C'mere, c'mon, stand up for me. C'mere."

He lead you to your bed, letting you sit as he toed out of his shoes before joining you. He settled on his back and pulled you in tight to his side; your arms like a vice around his waist, resting on his chest that was dampening from your tears. He rubbed your back and shoulders, up to your head, down to your waist and hip. Eddie spoke softly, encouraging you to talk when ready.

"She scolded me, I guess," you whispered, "because according to her, several other family members think I'm too clingy."

"She said what!?"

"Eddie," you groaned, his voice loud under your ear.

"Sorry, sorry - I just - she said you were too clingy? What? Seriously? Like - Like with me?"

"Yeah. Said it wasn't a good look," you admitted, and then, Eddie just remained silent as you poured your heart out and admitted all that was said. It felt like a never ending cycle; confessing that you loved Eddie so effortlessly, you didn't think you were loving him 'wrong', but your Aunt Rebecca's words made you second guess your own emotions.

And it honestly angered Eddie. No, not (only) about you being upset - but the reason for you being upset. He wished he knew the night it happened, remembering hearing your response to Rebecca, understanding your words now. He wished he knew, he would've had a word or two for your aunt; angry that this woman successfully made you doubt yourself. Doubt the way you love Eddie.

"Hey," Eddie whispered, hand on your jaw to gently encourage your head up so your eyes met his. "Don't do this."

"Do what?"

"Pull away from me. Try to change, doubt yourself, do different. Baby, I love you - and no, you're not fucking clingy. And even if you are, I love it because I love you, and that means loving all of you, exactly the way you are. Fuck your aunt, fuck anyone who had something to say, their jealousy and bitterness and ineptitude are their problem, not ours. And anyone who makes it our issue can get bent." You were honestly shocked into silence, just staring up at Eddie in a daze of wonder. "What?" He asked.

"I'm just processing you using 'ineptitude' correctly," you teased in a whisper.

"Oh, you little - " He laughed, rolling onto you; fingers digging into your flesh and wiggling. Your laughter was loud and genuine, Eddie grinning in amusement before just staring down at you; gently petting hair off your forehead. "Listen to me. Hey? You listenin'?"

"Yes, Eddie," you chuckled.

"Don't ever pull away from me," he told you sternly. "I need you close to me, always. I don't care what anyone ever thinks or says - you're not a bother, not to me, never to me, so, please, for my sake, stay close. I'll fuckin' fall apart without you."

Overwhelmed by emotion, his sweet words, and how they instantly settled your anxiety, you didn't respond verbally. Your hand shot up to hook around the back of his neck and pull him down - but it's not like he resisted. Eddie let his mouth descend onto yours in a heated display of passion, his hips involuntarily rolling forward to roll his hips so his bulge ground into your clothed cunt. His tongue was hot, wet, sliding against yours in a raunchy pace that made your head spin until you were dizzy.

And in exactly 436 days, Aunt Rebecca, Cousin Darlene, and any other outspoken family members sat at home, bitter, while the rest of you (and the town) celebrated yours and Eddie's union of Holy Matrimony.

requesting rules and masterlist

Stranger Things masterlist

Clingy Baby collection masterlist

[cloveroctobers]

FIRST LOVE — Jimmy Holiday [October Prompts] 🧡

A/N: Finally got around to watching Rez Ball last night. Thank you to TikTok for putting me on! This is just a tiny little thing since the fandom doesn’t exist up here just like Rez Dogs (shockingly not shocked) and I thought it would be nice of me to feed the tag for those who are looking for some fics like I did right after I finished watching that beautiful film 🤩

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE & I’m using: 10. “Well…you grabbed my hand first.” + SCENARIOS — 13. Decorating for Halloween.

<- read my previous October anthology prompt here.

𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི

You had no business doing what you’re doing right now.

Which is exactly why you’re doing it with no parental supervision.

You’re outside using only a stool and one of the pillars that surrounded the front door to the stucco and block home as leverage to get on top of your house. You were on a mission and that mission was decorating for Halloween.

The goal was to cover the home with skeletons and spiders, almost as if it were an infestation taking over the home. The front stoop was already done with a stack of pumpkins that you DIY-ED into a tower on both sides of the door, that was easy part, but you were always up for a challenge to complete the exterior decor.

The closest thing to a ladder that you had was the stepping stool and you couldn’t “borrow” your next door neighbors anymore so you had to improvise. Already tossing a few of the skeletons in the bag up onto the home, the next task was pulling your body up and over.

You never had the best upper body strength so out of a panic, your lower half scrambled around knocking the stool over after you slipped trying to pull yourself up.

“Shit!” You exhaled, knowing that you’d have to drop yourself if you couldn’t push yourself all the up on your own. You just hoped you didn’t land the wrong way…again.

Of course you tried but your body didn’t want you to win today.

“Here,” a low voice called out as the scrapping of the stool was placed back where it once was.

Peeking only down at the stool, you placed your feet down one at a time before getting down, unknowingly taking the warm hand that helped you down the rest of the way.

Huffing you threw your head back as you sat on the stool, other hand going to block the autumn sun from your view just to peer up at some pretty hazel eyes.

“You alright?” There’s a small smile of amusement on his lips.

Jimmy Holiday.

Your heart was already racing but now the butterflies decided to start acting up too! And that’s when you realized your hand was still being held onto and you snatched it back.

“I had it.”

Jimmy folded his arms underneath his pits as he stated sarcastically, “Oh really? You would have broke some more bones if it wasn’t for me and you know it.”

Scoffing you don’t even bother to look down at the compression sleeve that covered your left knee, “First of all, I don’t need a savior Jimmy, thank you. Also, what the hell are you doing here anyway?”

Jimmy shrugs, “I was on my way to Dezbah and Bryson’s, I left something over at their spot last night and of course they’re too hungover to bring it to me so…And imagine on my way by I see: a bird? A plane? No, a whole person that looked a whole lot like you trying to get on top of their house.”

“Minding your business is free.” You sass with a flick of your hair behind you while Jimmy rolls his eyes up to the sky.

“So these are the things I get for helping you out?”

“Does that also mean holding my hand?” You argue, you knew you were being absolutely ridiculous right now but it was easier to be this way than to give in and tell the star basketball player that you wanted to kiss him right on his stupid mouth.

Jimmy furrowed his brows, “Well…you grabbed my hand first.”

Gagging you say, “I would never! I don’t know where anything on you has been.”

Jimmy smirked and lifted his chin, “yeah you did but keep being delusional and see how far that gets you.” He even kicked at your stool lightly, “It’s okay to say that you enjoy hand holding, arent girls into physical touch?”

“Please stop talking.” You mutter at that generalization, “I’m sure you can get that from any other girl who drooled over you at the party last night.”

That attitude of yours was something.

After the death of your shared friend, Nataanii Jackson the both of you grieved in different ways. Jimmy got more into basketball and you tried to distance yourself. Jimmy and Nataanii were childhood friends, whereas you moved to Chuska freshman year and met Nataanii first. At first you thought maybe he was just interacting with you because he had something to prove after becoming a warrior. You weren’t into the whole clique scene and found it hard making friends in the beginning, still highly upset that you left your small group back on another rez but you were thankful that Nataanii Jackson became a good friend of yours.

And with Nataanii came Jimmy.

The both of you often talked shit to each other and liked giving each other a hard time but underneath it all there was still love there. Then unfortunately that platonic love became something more…at least on your part.

“I think y’all would be cute,” Nataanii teased you one time at lunch during junior year, “I can see the wedding bells now and you should just tell him or I could do it for you? I make the perfect wingman.”

You almost choked on your apple juice as you watched the braided man glance over his shoulder where Jimmy was sitting with the rest of the team. There was a girl who squeezed herself right in between Jimmy and Levi, her hand running up and down Jimmy’s arm as she flirted with him and of course Jimmy was all smiles, just eating the attention right on up.

“Yo Jim—

Nataanii starts but you’re reaching over the table to yank on his collar, bringing his face closer to you so you can slap a hand right over his mouth, “Taanii no!”

You can feel him grinning underneath your hand but that doesn’t stop Jimmy making his way over to you two nonetheless.

“Why you worried about any of them anyway?”he quizzed you, eyes tightening.

Scoffing you quickly move your attention else where, picking at the loose thread from your compression sleeve, “please, far from worried.”

“You’re the one who disappeared and left early.”

“So?”

“So?” Jimmy pressed, “Why is it every time some other girls are around me, you’re nowhere to be found?”

It’s your turn to frown, “Do you want me to be sick watching them fall all over you, Jimmy? Is that going to feed your ego better or something?”

Jimmy blinks, “You know what I think? I think you’re a bad liar. Always have been.”

You snapped, “What exactly have I lied about?”

“You don’t have one of those corny guys you were talking to, to come help you with these decorations? I heard when I went off to recruitment camp, you were entertaining that lame ass dude who looks like Harry Potter.” He taunts.

Your eyes go wide.

“And who exactly did you hear that from? Your most reliable source? Bryson’s dumbass?” You get up from the stool, pulling it into place and start walking towards your front door, “Like I said, I don’t need anybody’s help, let alone some non existent guy you think I’m talking to.”

“Lies.” Jimmy coughed from behind you, which irritated you more.

Slamming the stool against the front door of the home, you ball your fist into your side, “Call me a liar one more time—

“What’s gonna happen? You and your crappy knee going to jump me or something?”

Poking your tongue into your cheek with a raise of your brow, you size him up and what did you do that for? Jimmy decided to grow his hair out for the two months he was at camp and if you weren’t so frustrated you may have completely folded.

So you shoved him, “I can still kick your scrawny ass.”

He laughs as if you didn’t, “Yeah? You’re just mad your lies caught up to you and Dez finally snitched on your ass but alright, you want to fight instead of acknowledging the truth, fine? Let’s go.”

That’s when Jimmy knew he had you because you stepped back and froze.

“What? What did she tell you?”

Jimmy shrugs trying to be coy, “That you got a crush and it ain’t on Harry Potter.”

“There is no—

You started but stopped as you bit down on your bottom lip before continuing, “I don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m getting tired of looking at your face so I’m gonna leave.”

With your back to Jimmy he decides to finally let the ball drop, “Stop being so mean and just admit that you’re in love with me already, damn.”

Deeply exhaling, you can feel your heartbeat in your ears now. Of course somebody close to you ratted you out. It was a miracle that Nataanii kept his mouth shut this long about your little crush that wasn’t so little. Yet it was Dezbah (who was most likely drunk at the time) who ratted you out. She figured it out long before you admitted it to Nataanii. And now you were ready to fight her (again.) regardless if she whooped your ass or not.

“I…”

Then you tried to book it to your front door but of course Jimmy caught you by the elbow. The guy was as tall as the street lights so surely he had the advantage.

“Nope. Not uh, stop running.” He demanded from behind you, gently pulling on you so that you’d finally face him.

He tilts your face up by the chin with his finger so you can meet his honey eyes. “…Would it be so bad if I said…I like you too?”

You laugh before covering your smile, “I’d call you a liar then.”

“I’m not,” Jimmy boldly said, “and to prove it…you should let me kiss you.”

Internally you definitely screamed but your eyes flicked to the lips you thought about way too often plenty of times before.

“How do I know you’re not just toying with me?”

Jimmy lightly shakes his head, “‘Cause I wouldn’t do that? I liked you the first moment I saw you up in the bleachers since Nataanii and I thought you wouldn’t take up his invitation to come to our practice, ‘Miss. I don’t do large crowds.’ You even rooted for me when we were still trying to get to know each other as friends and that meant a lot.” He says bringing up the memory where you skipped study hall to come to their practice which made you smile a bit before he continued, “Also my mom would probably beat my ass if she heard I broke somebody’s heart and vice versa, if my heart got broken. She doesn’t like to show it but she’s also a sucker for a good love story. So promise me you won’t break mine?”

Slowly feeling yourself nodding you say, “Okay.”

Cautiously he pinched at your chin again, guiding your face right to his. Jimmy stops just before your lips, feeling each of your breaths tickling the other while he admired how gorgeous you looked up close and personal. He even tried to tuck some hair out of the way behind your ear, taking his precious time and smiled as the hair poked right back out from your ear.

“Hurry up, scarecrow.” You mumble.

Which makes him smirk, “relax, you’re so bossy.”

“And you’re so irritating.”

Which makes him press his lips right to yours, shutting you up for good. In that moment you felt like your heart exploded as your lips moved together, noses brushing against each other. Jimmy’s lips were incredibly soft and he took his time, holding onto you with great care, even if there was a hint of static the moment your lips connected. That was enough urge to keep you two going and it felt like you could kiss him for hours.

You “hated” it.

Yet you can feel him smiling as you sighed against him just before he pulls back to get a look at you, with your eyes still closed.

“…anybody home?” He jokes.

You groan, moving to bury your head against his chest while he laughed, wrapping his arms around your shoulders. “Don’t worry,” he whispers, “that was better than I imagined too.”

It actually felt nice to finally experience this and maybe you should be thanking Dezbah, as soon as you got over your annoyance of her ratting you out.

“…where does this leave us now?”

“Well, I’d like to take you on a date sometime.” He says pulling you back to cradle your face, with a stupid smile on his own.

That made your stomach flip, “really?”

“Yeah…if you’re down?” He peers at you from underneath his eyelashes, making sure that you knew he was serious with how intently he stared into your eyes.

You breathe out a smile, “I guess that’ll be cool…as long as you don’t eat all my food.”

“I’m a gentleman.”

“Eh…so only now you’re a gentleman? Because I can’t tell you how many times you stole a lot of my food during lunch?”

He attempts to defend himself, “…That’s what friends are for?”

“Are we that anymore?”

“Nah. Something better,” He grins as you stood on your tippy toes to kiss his lips once more.

No longer a secret, Jimmy Holiday was now yours and he already loved having you in return.

He thinks.

“I told you I had it!” You say as Jimmy lifts you up on his shoulders to help you on top of the house.

Jimmy sucks his teeth, “Stop your yappin’ baby and just accept that this is boyfriend stuff, acts of service or whatever. This is my job.”

“Who said you’re my boyfriend?” You peek out from over the top of house, pointing the skeleton hand at the olive skinned boy.

Jimmy squints up at you, “oh I’m not? I guess I can go mind my business then.”

“…Don’t you dare leave me up here!” You call out at his back.

Jimmy smirks over his shoulder at you, “that’s what I thought.”

Then a middle finger is sent his way and he can’t help but to kiss his lips up at you.

❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི

Continue with my October anthology prompts here.

[queerweewoo]

“Shit.” 

Eddie mutters the curse under his breath when he can't seem to release the clasp on his St. Christopher chain.

He'd plopped himself down next to Buck after arriving home from dropping off his fourteen-year-old budding socialite at a friend's house, having already kicked off his boots and hooking an arm around Buck's still crossed-at-the-ankle legs, getting comfy with them resting over his lap—well, his lap and the arm of the sofa, because Buck has the longest pair of pins in the whole frickin world.

“Nope, I'm afraid shit can't possibly be the answer to seven down, Eddie, because even though it starts with an ‘S’, and the third letter is definitely an ‘I’, twelve across has got to be 'Skating', which would make the second letter a ‘K’,” Buck says with mock-seriousness as Eddie is still attempting to take off his chain. “And anyways, I don't really think the answer to the clue ‘Dermis’ could legitimately be shit, not by any stretch of the imagination; ‘Dermis’ sounds too… I dunno. Scientific? Medical?”

Eddie snorts his amusement at Buck, and Buck grins back at him with that particular twinkle in his eye that Eddie has come to think of as belonging to him.

He really tries his best not to be possessive over his best friend, knows he has no right to anything like that, but Eddie can't help being in love with Buck, no matter how much he wishes he wasn't.

Eddie's been fighting his desires his entire life, regardless of the fact he knows there isn't a damn thing wrong with being gay. But growing up in Texas, with a family as traditional as his own? It means Eddie hasn't ever felt entitled to getting the things he wants in life.

Buck must notice Eddie struggling, then, because he immediately drops his pen and the crossword puzzle book Eddie picked up for him yesterday at the newspaper stand near the firehouse, and is now swinging his legs off the sofa so he can scooch further up to Eddie, until he's almost on top of Eddie, and is saying, “Here, let me get that for you, Eds.”

Eddie freezes.

He knows he should shoo Buck away like he's supposed to, do the right thing, but ever since Buck started dating Tommy—and ever since Buck broke up with Tommy—Eddie's been pretty bad at being well-behaved around Buck.

Buck doesn't exactly make things easy, though. Never has, truth be told. He's always been a really tactile kind of guy, and right now his tactile nature is trying to murder Eddie, dead, dead, dead.

“Lemme just…” Buck's tongue is poking out of his mouth and resting against his bottom lip in concentration—and Eddie knows he should look away but can't—and then he's leaning right into Eddie's space, like he goddamn belongs there and, oh god, Eddie can't take this. He can't. He can't fucking breathe let alone act like this isn't bothering him, like it isn't turning him on like he's a horny teenager again, like this isn't everything he wants and has dreamed of. “Eds, just… lean forward a little would you, so I can—a little bit more, man, c'mon, don't be shy, I just need to…”

Buck really is on top of Eddie now, big arms wrapped around Eddie's head, musky cologne in Eddie's nostrils and warm breath in the shell of Eddie's super-sensitive ear and fuck, he's practically straddling Eddie now, right thigh pushed up against Eddie's junk, oh hell, and Eddie is panting softly and only about two seconds away from moaning his best friend's name like the pathetic hot mess that he is, Jesus fucking Christ.

“Got it,” Buck mutters, and just as he goes to lean back and pull away from Eddie, Eddie hears his internal monologue say: Yeah, I've got it real bad. 

Then something just—snaps inside of his brain before it's shutting down completely and his heart is in his throat as he finds himself whispering, “Screw it,” while he grabs onto both of Bucks biceps with purpose because he's terrified that if he doesn't, they might leave him forever.

“Wait,” he says. Pleads. 

Buck's right thigh is snug against Eddie's left one, the other still in Eddie's lap, his gorgeous face right there next to Eddie's, so close Eddie can almost feel the prickle of Buck's stubble.

“Eds?” Buck whispers, and his breath is mingling with Eddie's and Eddie hasn't prayed for a long, long time, but he's praying now; praying that he's not about to fuck up the best thing, bar Christopher, that has ever happened to him; praying for redemption; praying that Buck might want Eddie even just a fraction of the amount Eddie wants Buck.

His voice breaks when he says the only thing he can. “Don't go.”

Eddie wants this so, so badly, just this one thing, that's all he's asking for, and he's willing to beg for it if he has to—swears he'll never ask for anything again as long as he fucking lives.

“I'm not, Eds, I'm…” Buck trails off, frowning a little. He swallows audibly and licks at those sinful lips that are right fucking there and then says, “What, um—w-what exactly do you mean by 'don't go', Eddie?”

Eddie's heart is thumping so hard against his ribcage it feels as if it's going to burst right out of his chest, and Buck has to be able to feel it too because his solid chest is pressed up firmly against Eddie's, and Eddie can't believe he's doing this and seriously might just pass the fuck out any minute now—

“I don't…” Eddie shakes his head.

Fuck.

Is he really doing this?

“You don't know? Or you don't want me to go—like, as in go home?” Buck's asking. Eddie can't breathe. “Or do you mean, like, go, uh, g-go away from—from right here?” Buck swallows again and Eddie has never wanted anything more than to lick a long stripe up that prominent Adam's Apple of Buck's. “Do you mean don't go from this, Eds? From… from you.” And that last part doesn't sound like a question, it sounds like Buck gets it, and like he isn't horrified by the idea or amused by it or as if he's pitying or mocking Eddie.

Unbelievably, it actually sounds a little like Buck might just want Eddie, too.

Eddie screws his eyes shut, and all he can manage to say is, “Yeah, Buck. The last one.”

Buck is then slowly, gently, sliding his cheek up and down Eddie's, and Eddie finally knows exactly how it feels to have that stubble dragging against his own and there is no fucking way on Earth he could hold in the almost sob-like breath that leaves his lips as Buck's line themself up with Eddie's trembling mouth.

He's gripping Buck's arms so tightly he's scared he might leave bruises there but can feel Buck smiling as he says, “Can I, Eddie? Please?”

Is this really happening?

“Fuck yes,” Eddie urges, and then Buck is kissing him; slowly; gently, and with so much of something that feels like it could be love that Eddie wants to cry.

Then Buck's pulling away, yet not really away because it's only barely enough to let Eddie swallow the boulder-sized lump in his throat and try to catch his breath—only he doesn't quite manage to catch the tear that escapes the corner of his left eye. Somehow, though, that's okay, because Buck kisses that, too—and Eddie finds himself letting it all go, then, and smiling back at the man he's been in love with for almost six years as he cries, because he can finally feel all the colours of the rainbow on his face.

“Eddie, you have no fucking idea how long I've wanted to do that,” Buck chuckles, and Eddie leans in and tilts his own head back slightly and Buck's down a little to press lips against Buck's birthmark, smiling like a fool through his tears.

Buck puts his arms fully around Eddie's shoulders and hugs him, tight.

Eddie just breathes him in until he feels settled enough to look at Buck without welling up again.

“Skin,” Buck says then, bringing his hands to Eddie's face and holding it, brushing thumb pads along Eddie's cheeks and drying his tears because he wants to, and can. Eddie squints in slight confusion at the word, before Buck's revealing the meaning behind it, telling him, “Seven down, Eds, it just came to me: It was the word skin. Yours is—man, it's even smoother than I'd imagined. So, so beautiful. You're beautiful.”

“God, I fucking love you, Buck,” Eddie blurts, because he can't help it. “I'm—I'm in love with you, Evan, and I just—I'm sorry it's taken me so long to tell you that, taken me too long to get my shit together and pull my head out of my—”

“Beautiful, insanely perfect ass,” Buck laughs, and then he's kissing Eddie again, like they've been doing this forever, and Eddie's kissing him back and laughing, too.

“Stay,” Eddie begs between kisses. “Stay forever, Buck.”

Buck looks at Eddie like a man in love and says, “I'm in love with you too, Eds. So, yeah, sure, I can do forever,” he promises.

And Buck always keeps his promises. 

.

happy pride to my beautiful firefam 🌈

(unedited pls forgive me!)

[spideyanakin]

10 things i hate about you - chapter 6

eddie munson x harrington!reader

summary - a new rule strikes the Harrington household: if Steve wishes to date ever again, his sister needs to find a boyfriend first. As Steve becomes desperate and thinks of everything in his power to set her up, only one guy comes to mind that will take up a challenge such as that: Eddie Munson.

warnings - the moment you have all been dreading (I'm half sorry), mentions of death, eddie and his questionable dares, joyce buying christmas lights in april, some fluffy fluff, and ofc; a sprinkle of angst

word count - 8.8k

thank you to the amazing @inknopewetrust for proof reading most of this series <3

series masterlist

eddie munson masterlist

"Eds!" Gareth clapped his hands in front of his friend's face. 

“What?”

"You're sulking"

"I'm not sulking."

"Why are you sulking?" 

There was a pause, a short, challenging silence slithering between the trays of food and drinks before Eddie spoke again with solemn words;  "I think I'm in love with her." 

And just as the words left Eddie's lips; Gareth huffed loudly alongside two other Hellfire boys. Gareth sent a piercing glare towards his dungeon master–ripping a piece of white bread from his tray and throwing said piece towards Eddie’s face, making it land in his curls.

“Hey! What was that for?” Eddie swatted the bread away, watching with raised eyebrows as his three closest friends fished for something in their pockets; simultaneously pulling out twenty dollar bills. Eddie watched, eyebrows creasing to a frown as the three twenty dollar bills traveled across the table; right into Oliver’s hand.

"Did you have to say love?" Jeff whined.

"Yeah, the bet was lower at like, or really liked," Gareth gruffed, Oliver simply shrugged while Eddie stared—too dumbfounded to speak. The blonde guitarist counted his money before neatly folding it and placing it in his back pocket.

"I'm going to pretend like you guys haven't betted on me," Eddie said before poking his fork around his plate, attention focused on the carotte he was making dance across the paper. “Anyways, it’s not that bad, you guys should be happy for me!”

"Yes it's bad, terrible even!" Oliver dropped his can of mountain dew, drops spilling out from the harsh clatter of it against the table–and Eddie gulped when he made eye contact with the daggers in Oliver’s eyes.

Unfortunately, all his lost heart could do was look back at him like a lost puppy–big eyes pleading for help rather than judgment, and just for a moment–Oliver caved. 

A short sigh escaped the blonde’s lips, and he leaned back on his chair in thought. That action caused a new silence, one filled with short huffs and glances from the boys; right until Eddie broke it again.

"I know," he pushed his tray away before leaning back, imitating his guitarist, "I don't know what to do."

"Call the deal off?" Gareth suggested.

"Yeah, that's the most obvious thing, Gareth!" Eddie almost screamed. "One problem; Steve keeps handing me bills like he’s a fucking ATM machine. I have three hundred fucking dollars from him that I refuse to use!"

"I thought that's what you wanted, extra cash," Oliver’s voice was dry, and it almost made Eddie flinch.

"I don’t think I ever took the deal for the money…” He closed his eyes, sighing through his nose, “I think she kind of always fascinated me.”

“So, let me get this straight. Instead of just asking the girl out, you made a deal with her brother that he’d pay you to go out with her?”

“Kind of?” He winced at his own words. “I didn’t realise how fucked up this whole situation was!”

“As if we hadn’t warned you!” Olivier exclaimed, tone almost condescending which sent a new pang across Eddie’s chest. 

He didn’t want this. He didn’t need judgment from his best friends, his own internal turmoil was enough.

He was asking for help and Oliver was throwing hard cold judgment across his face like the iced daggers he’d write about for his campaigns.

He felt like Boromir. Tempted by the worst of forces–hypnotized by his mistakes, too enticed to step back–and now he was paying the consequences, as invisible arrows were shot right through his heart.

“Hey calm down Ol’,” Gareth defended, humming in the best soothing tone he could muster; “screaming at Eddie won’t make this any better for him.”

“Right, because he so understood when we told him this was a bad idea three weeks ago,” and with his words, the table fell silent.

Everyone looked at each, carefully assessing the situation and how to proceed. Would anyone dare to break the silence? Even Jeff wondered if he could chew his food and finish his lunch without all eyes turning to him.

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest in subconscious defense—gaze to the side and fixed on the back of a random blue cafeteria chair.

He truly didn’t know what to do. Everything in him wanted to cancel this stupid deal, tell you the truth and just hope that you wouldn’t hate him forever. 

Or maybe he could call the deal off and never say a thing—but he’d have to live with that secret for the rest of your relationship.

But thinking about the possibility that you could discover the deal on your own made him shiver. He knew that would hurt you the most, that you’d most, probably, definitely hate him for the rest of your days, and he could say goodbye to ever even being close to you again.  

“Hey boys,” your sweet voice broke the undeniable tension, and like a bee pulled towards honey; Eddie turned his full attention to you.

He didn’t know if you noticed the energy, but if you did you didn’t say anything. He did notice your shoulder tense as every eye around the table turned to you, an oldy intimidating silence slithering up your spine–but the second Eddie’s hand reached your waist, it dissolved into a content smile.

“What were you talking about, I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“Spring Fling.” 

“Our next performance.”

“A campaign.”

Eddie flinched, internally cringing at the multitude of answers that rang across the table at the same time.

“O-ok?” You raised an eyebrow, hand resting against Eddie’s shoulder–silently asking for clarification.

“Mainly, Spring Fling, babe,”

“Ah,” you squeezed his shoulder, already pouting before the next words came out of you, “will you be mad if I say no to going?”

“I get you for not wanting to go,” Oliver chimed before chugging the end of his mountain dew.

“Yeah, staying home too?” You asked.

“Oh no, I’m going, don’t know why though,” and as the words left his mouth, he eyed knowingly at Gareth. 

“See, Eddie! Olivier is going! Gareth is saved! We don’t have to go!” You squeezed his shoulder and Eddie gulped. This was not going to be easy.

“Y-yeah,” he could barely reply and Gareth shot him a quizzical look. 

Eddie was digging his grave right then and there. 

He really needed to break that damn deal.

~

“Hey Y/n,” Nancy caught up with you, ponytail bouncing as she ran the short distance between the cafeteria door and the lockers.

“What’s up?” You smiled once she was at your level, closing your locker and tightening the notebooks you were holding as you continued your way through the mass of students.

“Have you seen Barb?”

“No,” you frowned. “I haven’t seen her all day, actually, I was going to ask you. She didn’t have lunch with you?”

You watched her frown deepen, “no, she wasn’t there, I sat with Steve and his friends. I–um I haven’t seen her since yesterday at your place.”

“Oh, well I’m sure she’s fine, probably called in sick or something,” but your words didn’t soothe Nancy’s worries.

“I called her mom,” she averted her stare from yours.

“And?”

“She didn’t come home yesterday, or this morning.”

“Oh,” your heart sank down to your stomach, the uneasy feeling threatening to swallow you whole.

“Are you sure she left your place last night?”

“Yeah,” you matched her frown. “You don’t think-?”

“That she disappeared like Will?” 

“I don’t know… This whole situation just seems odd…” You looked around, maybe in search of something, just to be met with the mass of students that walked through the maze of hallways that was Hawkins High. No one seemed bothered; no one looked worried or stirred by what was silently unfolding in the city.

“Yeah…”

You brought your gaze back to Nancy, trying to hunt for a topic to change the subject–anything that could hook both your attentions elsewhere.

Then you saw it: the bright pink and yellow poster for Spring Fling. You huffed, ripping the poster from the wall and crumbling the paper, just to throw it in the nearest trash. An attempt at rebellion, maybe.

“Who the heck would go to that antiquated mating ritual.”

“I would!”

“Do you seriously want to get all dressed up so some rando with a boner dressed up in the first suit he found at Gap can feel you up while you’re forced to listen to a band that by definition ‘blows’?”

She scoffed, “the rando in question is your brother, may I add.”

“My brother?” You raised your eyebrows, “but I’m not going, he won’t be allowed to go.”

“You’re not?” She squeaked, eyes darting to your hands as you unfolded the wires of your walkman. “Steve told me you would. I think he assumed Eddie asked you.”

“Steve has no business assuming what I will or will not do, and Eddie has asked me, I told him no.”

“Why? I thought you liked Eddie.”

“Going with someone I like, still doesn’t change the fact that I find these gatherings dumb,” you accentuated your words by harshly placing your headphones around your neck, and locking your walkman onto your backpocket.

“Are you sure you won’t go? Just for me? Just so Steve will go, and by extension I will?” Her big blue eyes pleaded, lips forming into a pout, and for a split second you faltered, wondering if you could do this for your friend.

“I’ll see.”

“You are incorrigible,” she rolled her eyes, already knowing this meant no.

“Indeed I am,” you looked around, gaze flickering from the lockers to Nancy, “so do tell me, you and Steve last night, hm?” 

“Oh, shut up!” Her shriek made you giggle, and you would have continued teasing her if not for the hands that latched onto your waist, you jumped, shrieking before feeling yourself getting picked up into the air.

You immediately recognized the laugh that echoed in your ear, and Nancy’s smile gave the owner of those hands even more away.

“Eddie, let me down!” You giggled in echo with him, hands wrapping around his own before he dropped you back on your feet.

“Don’t you have a class to get to?” You mumbled as he pressed a kiss to your cheek.

“Mrs. Day called in sick, I have a free period.”

“Oh lucky,” you hummed, shoulders slumping at the anticipation of your next hour.

“Eddie?” Nancy spoke, making Eddie’s curls brush your cheek as he turned to face your friend. “Have you seen Barb by any chance?”

“Not since yesterday,” he shook his head and he sensed the way you tense up in his arms. “Everything ok?”

“We think she’s missing.”

“Missing? Like the Byers kid?”

“According to her mom, she didn’t come home last night, and skipping school isn’t like her,” Nancy bit her lip as she looked to the side.

“I mean, maybe she did. I’m not one to say that skipping school isn’t fun,” Eddie concluded, smirking slightly. He knew that this subject was reaching a dead end, and he sighed before turning his attention back to you. “What are you doing after school?”

“Nothing, why?”

“I found this new card game at the comics shop, and maybe if the game gets boring I can teach you D and D.”

“Are you asking me out on a game date?”

“Are you saying yes?” Instead of answering directly with words, you pressed a soft kiss to his lips, muttering your answer as you pulled away. 

“If you two will stop face fucking in the hallway, we’ve got class,” maybe it was jealousy that your brother wasn’t as sweet as Eddie picking at her stomach, or the stress from Barb stacking up, but she ripped her stare away from the two of you to stare at bright blue lockers on the other side.

“Sorry,” you giggled, slipping out of Eddie’s arms after stealing one last kiss. 

“I’ll see you after class, Eds.”

~

“What do you think they’re up to?” Your hand gripped Eddie’s a little tighter as you watched your brother and his friends laugh towards Johnathan. The poor Byers brother was being thrown around by the greedy hands of your idiot brother, the grim look on his face turned to disgust and anguish. You watched your brother, a loud chuckle ripping from his mouth. Your frown deepened as Tommy gave him one last push, Steve snatching pieces of paper from his grip.

Jonathan watched as Steve and Carol ripped to shreds the papers, they all laughed one last time; Tommy giving him a last cruel shove that almost made him trip before walking away. 

You took closer steps towards the parking–maybe in a quick attempt to help, but unfortunately, the group was walking right for the two of you, waltzing away from the mess they created towards god knows where.

“What did you do?” You grumbled as your path crossed your brothers, glancing behind his shoulder to spot Nancy jogging the distance between Johnathan and her group of new so-called friends. 

“You’ll never guess, the perv took pictures of us yesterday!” 

“What?”

“He was in the woods by our place, snapping pictures of us in the pool, even snapped shots of Nancy while she was changing.”

“Why?” You raised your eyebrows, squeezing Eddie’s hand.

“Caus’ he’s a perv?” Carol snickered, “and that’s all he’s found to do with his miserable life?” Tommy chuckled at his girlfriend’s words, and they disappeared behind you again, snickering as they left towards the field behind the High School building.

“Weird,” you muttered, watching Johnathan getting back into his car and leaving.

“You think he took my good profile?” Eddie, like always, pulled you out of your thoughts with a dumb joke, making you snort and playfully shove his shoulder. “What?” He offered a new laugh and you rolled your eyes.

“C’mon, let’s go try this new card game, I’ve had enough of this place for the day,” you tugged at his arm, dragging him further towards your car.

“Understandable,” he muttered, watching as you toyed with your car keys. “Hey, how about we pass by Melvald’s first? Grab some snacks and stuff.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” your hand brushed his as you parted ways to climb in the driver’s seat.

Apart from the Metallica blasting from the speakers; the ride was quiet, peaceful almost, as you bathed in each other’s presence. It was nice, seeing the streets of Hawkins with someone you liked by your side–it almost all seemed less… daunting. It was soothing, knowing you’d get to have careless laughter over junk food and a pack of cards, letting the week’s worries and Steve’s torment slip away for just a few hours. 

You almost smiled when the red writing of Melvald’s came to view, stomach already growling not with hunger, but envy for cookies and candies–anything that could be considered a bad excuse for a dinner. 

You parked next to a mattered brown truck, mud stains on its wheels and rusty doors. Eddie placed a hand in his hair as he exited your car, a poor excuse at trying to tame his curls, but you smiled when his hair stayed as wild–it suited him better.

Your hand found his as you walked into Melvald’s. The shop seemed pretty empty apart from a few stray heads bopping out of aisles. 

“Afternoon,” you smiled at the owner behind the counter, he nodded before you both headed for the cookie aisle, grabbing one of those cheap red plastic baskets on the way.

“What are your favorites?” You hummed playfully as you scanned the shelves.

“I’d say Oreos are good, or um,” he thought, fingers going over his lips in thought. “Chips Ahoy! I love Chips Ahoy” 

“The white chocolate fudge ones are the best,” you turned to Eddie and watched his face turn in pure horror. 

“What did you just say?”

“That the white chocolate fudge cookies are the best?”

“I think you hit your head too hard as a kid, sweetheart. The normal milk chocolate ones taste so much better.”

“Hey! That is so not true,” you pressed on.

“They’re so sweet,” he scrunched his nose, “makes you sick if you eat too much.”

“Whatever,” you rolled your eyes, jokingly vexed at his hatred for your favorite.

“Oh my god, I used to love these as a kid,” Eddie’s face lit up as his eyes crossed paths with the a small white cardboard box, big smiles drawn over it. 

“Says the guy who called White Fudge Chips Ahoy too sweet,” you narrowed your eyes as he picked up the pack of Giggles from a shelf.

“You don’t want to get them?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No, no. I still love these, put them in,” you grinned, raising the basket so he could dump them in next to the pack of Oreos.

“What else should we take?”

“Drinks?”

“Yeah,” 

In twenty minutes spent in the store, your basket was already full with enough food and drinks for the entire of Hellfire. Cans of coke laying against bright blue cookie packaging and other junk food that had caught your attention. Eddie had ended up carrying the basket when it got too heavy, and now it rested by his feet as you waited in line. 

A middle aged woman was in front of you–a toddler in her arms as she fumbled with the coins in her wallet. The baby’s small hands were fumbling with strands of her red hair–babbling something as he watched his mother pay for her groceries.

You were so enthralled in the scene–trying to see how much strength the toddler could tug on the women’s red locks with, that you hadn’t noticed the familiar face settling in the cue behind Eddie. She was almost hidden behind a pile of boxes that laid upon one of her hands, the other gripping the bar of a shopping cart, and you only recognised her by her anxious sigh as she tried to balance the boxes in her grip.

“Oh, hey Joyce,” you smiled, a gentle smile that bled with your compassion and she suddenly turned her attention to you. 

Eddie also turned his attention to her–immediately realizing who this was. He’d seen her behind the counter more times than he could count, and he was also eighty percent sure that Wayne briefly knew her from High School, remembering their short conversations from the hundreds of times he helped his uncle shop here.

“Oh! Y/n, I didn’t see you there!” She spoke, almost startled by your simple greeting. 

She looked tired, like she hadn’t properly slept in days. Her hair poking all over the place, and she was anxiously tapping her foot against the white floor of Melvalds. You assumed she was off work with everything going on, since she wasn’t standing behind the counter like usual.

But what really caught your attention was the amount of Christmas lights she had gathered. At least twelve boxes had been stuffed in the kart, leaving no room for the five others that she held in her free hand. You couldn’t begin to wonder why she had bought everything out of the clearance section, but your heart ached as you watched her gaze falter to the window for a split second before going back to you. She shifted her grip on the boxes, and a new huff left her lips before she handed you a tight smile.

“Is Johnathan with you?” You wondered, eyes briefly going across the aisle visible from your spot in the line.

She shook her head, “he’s probably home right now,” you nodded at her words and watched as her gaze flickered around again–as if she was suddenly comfortable. Maybe it was the mention of her son; maybe a conversation or two about Will that caused tension to seep between them, when in fact they should be sticking together.

Her gaze faltered, becoming softer as she took new acknowledgment of you again. She sent a smile to you and turned to Eddie who was yet to talk.

“This is Eddie, my boyfriend,” you watched the expression on her face change–impressed, slightly surprised maybe.

“Wayne’s nephew right?”

“In the flesh,” Eddie smiled, politely nodding.

“Also I wanted to tell you,” you spoke again, Joyce’s gaze dancing back to yours. “If you need anything from us, you have my number, Joyce.” Her whole face softened, gratitude seeping in through her eyes.

“Thank you, honey,”

~

Eddie’s trailer felt just as you left it the day before. A cozy haven for the loneliest of souls to find refuge on cold nights. But to your surprise, Eddie didn’t remove his shoes once he crossed the threshold–he even told you to wait for him by the entrance with the multitude of bags filled with the sweets you’d bought. 

You watched as the metalhead bounced across his living space, shedding his leather jacket on the living room chair after he had complained that the spring sun was suffocating him, before he disappeared to his room, and came back with a small blue and orange metal box. His card game.

“Follow me,” Eddie swept past you, grabbing the two shopping bags and jumping the small steps out of his trailer. You raised an eyebrow before following him through the grass patch around his trailer, passing through a laundry line that hosted a few band t-shirts that could only be Eddie’s, and tattered work jeans that you assumed were Wayne’s. 

You intently watched as you both faced a small, thin ladder that climbed up to the trailer’s roof. “Can you take one?” you nodded as he handed you one of the plastic bags.

Eddie stuffed the small card game in his back pocket–you silently questioned him, he could have simply just put it in the bag he was holding. But that didn’t stop him from anything, and you carefully observed as Eddie hummed a ‘follow me’, before starting to climb the rusty ladder. 

You landed on the roof with a huff, and noticed that Eddie had already settled himself on a far off corner, the plastic bag neatly placed next to his feet. 

“Nice view,” you noticed. Smiling as you gazed across the sea of trailers, each painted in their own uniqueness. it was far off from the white picket fence houses–a sea of odd shapes and colors, but it was all the most comforting, lively even. Smoke coming out of barbecue grills, laughter spilling out of small backyards and the light breeze making the bright colored laundry dance. 

“You like it?” He grinned as he admired you trot towards him. 

“I love it,” you settled beside him on the floor, dropping your bag next to the other one and started fishing inside of it for your well earned snacks.

Your hands settled for a pack of oreos, settling it in your lap as you wiggled yourself to be more comfortable. 

"This feels like that one Elton John song."

"Which one?" He raised a playful eyebrow.

"We sat on the roof," your soft voice hummed, slithering into the soft breeze and to Eddie’s ears.

“Kicked off the moss,” he hummed along with you, making a giggle escape your lips.

“You listen to Elton John?”

“On occasions,” he murmured, busying himself with the bag next to him to fish for a can of soda. 

“Wow, didn’t take you for the Elton John type.”

“I’m a man of many mysteries,” he dramatically sighed.

“Shut up,” you giggled, rolling your eyes before grabbing your own can of coke–popping it open before finally speaking again, “so, that game of yours?” 

“Yes!” 

Eddie grabbed the small box from his pocket, eyes sparkling as he opened it and placed the lid at his side. He took the cards in his hands and started mixing them. 

“So, rules are simple, I think.”

“You think?”

“I didn’t read the rules.”

“Eddie, you can’t play a game if you don’t know the rules,” you giggled, grabbing the box at his side and taking the paper out.

“The guy at the shop told me how to play it, I thought I’d remember.”

“You’re impossible,” you huffed, unfolding the little paper and scanning through the words. You raised an eyebrow, reading through the instructions, “ok, so,” you licked your lips in thought before looking at the cards in Eddie’s hands. “We have to start with the card that looks like the cross path thingy.”

“Ok,” Eddie listened before flipping through the cards and placing said card in between the two of you; right next to the oreo pack. 

“Wait, Eddie.”

“What?”

“It’s from three to eight players,” you giggled. “Eddie, we can’t play.”

“What?” His eyes widen, ripping the rule book from your hands. “Oh,” he hummed, realization hitting. “Well, this sucks.”

“Yeah, dumbass,” you giggled, grabbing a new oreo.

He sighed, placing the cards back in their box before dropping them at his side, sharing a gaze with you. 

“What should we do?”

“Dunno,”

~

The sun had started to set across the trailer park, and a tumble of giggles seemed to be the main theme of your afternoon. One lone cookie was left in the Chips Ahoy pack, and the stacks of plastic wrappers and cans were starting to pile up; a show of the evening slowly dying out into night. 

“Ok, ok,” you giggled, leaning closer to Eddie. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” you raised an eyebrow at his reply, a smirk dancing across your lips.

“I dare you to compliment your neighbor’s dinner,” your gaze traveled to the elderly couple eating in the garden beside Eddie’s trailer. They looked happy–a couple who danced through time together. You could faintly hear their conversation in the distance, but barely making out words, and if Eddie shouted just enough he could easily spring a conversation.

“That’s so stupid,” he grinned.

“I know,” you giggled back and Eddie rolled his eyes before turning around to face his neighbor’s garden. 

He took a second to observe. The barbecue grill on the opposite side was still smoking from its use, and he spotted the home made burgers on their plates. That would be easy to compliment. Plus, Eddie didn’t mind, Wayne was on good terms with them, maybe less so Eddie as he often bothered them when playing guitar. But if the odd comment could bring a good laugh out of the two of you, then Eddie would gladly plunge into your dare. 

“Hey! Mr. Carol!” The elder man turned from his grill as the call reached his ear. “Good job on the burgers! They smell amazing!” You had to place a hand over your mouth to stop the giggles from tumbling like a waterfall as you watched the poor man’s face twist in an awkward smile, both of his eyebrows raised to the sky as he watched his teenage neighbor send him a compliment from his trailer’s roof. 

“Thanks Eddie.” The man awkwardly replied and Eddie saluted him before turning back around to you.

“Happy?”

“He looked so confused.”

“He did, didn’t he?” Eddie smiled with you, grabbing another oreo, before mumbling with a mouthful, “truth or dare?”

“Dare,” you smiled, keeping your gaze on Eddie as you grabbed the last Chip’s Ahoy, crumpling the wrapper in your hands and throwing it to the side to join the pile. 

“I dare you to take off your top,” your eyes went wide at his request.

“And flash the whole trailer park?” You shrieked and a loud laugh tumbled from Eddie.

“Well, already you did it for me once,” he dramatically sighed, poking at your ribs, creating another laugh to leave you. 

“I did it to save your ass.” 

“I know, I'm only kidding,” he smirked. “I’ll keep that dare for another time,” he smiled, knocking at you before looking down at the oreo’s in between you, “I dare you to fill your mouth with as many oreos as you can.”

“and?”

“If you manage to put seven in without almost choking, you get a prize.”

“Why seven?”

“Because that’s my record.”

“That’s so stupid,” you noticed.

“C’mon, do your dare.”

You rolled your eyes, keeping eye contact as your hand traveled to the cookies. You grabbed one-easy. The next one slipping nicely against the second one. You couldn’t look at Eddie anymore, the look in his eyes was enough to make you laugh and want to spit out the whole thing. The next two managed to fit, somehow, and you could hear Eddie chuckling, your gaze focused on the blue wrapper in concentration. 

But when you reached for the fifth one, about to place it in your mouth–you caved. Making eye-contact with Eddie. He was laughing like an idiot; watching your chipmunk cheeks with a devilish spark in his eyes. But that look was fatal, and a laugh climbed right through you, causing you to spit everything out to the side. 

Eddie roared even more with laughter and you had to playfully slap his shoulder in order to keep yourself from laughing too.

“You lost, I’m so sorry,” he patted your shoulder, using his grip to bring you further towards him, kissing the side of your mouth.

“What was the prize?” You questioned, chewing the last bit of crumbs that were left in your mouth as you leaned against him. 

“A private concert,”

“As if you don’t willingly do them, all the time.” he shrugged at your comment, making you smile and remember your game, “Eddie.”

“Yes?”

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” 

“Tell me a secret,”

“Ok, I hate peas.”

“No,” you giggled, “tell me something real, something no one else knows,” you grabbed a twizzler, pointing to him with it once you had taken a good bite out of it.

“Ok,” he smirked, a mischievous glint passing by his gaze. The grip on your waist became tighter and he leaned even closer to you, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear with his free hand before kissing your cheek. “You’re sweet,” he pressed a new kiss to your other cheek “and sexy,” a new kiss to your lips, “and completely hot for me,” you gasped a laugh.

“You are amazingly self assured, as anyone else told you that?”

“I tell myself that every day, actually,” he chuckled before locking your lips into a new kiss, and suddenly an invisible sting pulled him back to the reality of the pact he had made with your brother. “Come to the dance with me tomorrow.”

“Is that a request or a command?” You attempted to joke, but he continued.

“Come on, go with me.”

“No.”

“Why not?” He breathed out a sigh, toying with your fingers.

“I told you already, it’s a stupid tradition.”

“C’mon, people won’t expect you to go.”

“Eddie, why are you pushing this? What’s in it for you?” Maybe you wouldn’t have asked, but Barb’s words suddenly came bouncing into your mind, like an unstoppable bouncy ball hitting the walls of your brain and shuddering through your spine. 

“Nothing, just the pleasure of your company.”

You paused at his words. Mind twirling in the multitude of possibilities. Eddie had been pushing this, but maybe that was just his attempt at trying to be a normal high school couple. 

Would Eddie really want this? Would Eddie really enjoy a gathering full of sweaty hormonal teenagers, with no alcohol, weed or anything else you could think of that he’d use for a good time, all that mixed with awful music? You couldn’t be sure, and you were getting anxious about an ulterior motive.

Barb had made it clear she didn’t trust Eddie, and your heart pinched at the thought. 

You sighed, eyes dancing across the setting sun as it reached further down the sky, casting yet a new glow of colors across the trailer park. 

Your grip on Eddie’s shoulder tightened; “It’s getting late,” you hummed, turning your gaze back to Eddie, “I should go.”

“Y/n-”

“No, it’s fine Eddie, don’t worry about it,” you gave him a tight smile. “Thanks for the evening,” you stood from his grip, dusting the crumbs from your jeans before nodding back to him, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

~

The next morning, you opened your locker, just for a bright neon pink paper to slip out of it, flying down just to land on your feet. 

You huffed, gladly stepping on it. It hadn’t even happened yet, and you already had enough of this stupid dance. 

You wanted to throw up, first Will, and now no one seemed to even blink twice about Barbara. Maybe if she had been some popular cheerleader, a Tammy Thompson, or a rising star like Chrissy Cunningham she would have the whole town at her feet trying to find her, caring for her. And a part of you wondered if anyone would even care if you would ever go missing yourself..

"Are they really still throwing Spring Fling when two students are missing?" You gazed at Eddie who was leaning against your neighboring locker, fumbling with his walkman. 

“Is Barb officially missing now?”

“Police thinks she ran away,” you angrily stuffed some books in your locker, Eddie noticing the stress lines forming on your forehead.

“Hey, I’m sorry about yesterday, I should have gotten the hint the first time you told me you didn’t want to go.”

“S’okay,” you hummed, keeping your hands fumbling with the contents of your locker as your gaze stayed focused on its insides. “I’m not mad at you, I’m just- I don’t understand why everyone is acting so calm. Nancy was balling her eyes out on the phone to me last night, assuring me that Barb was gone missing. She went on, telling me her car was still parked not far from mine and saying that she felt a creepy presence in my backyard,” you finally managed to neatly place the books like you wanted, and closed your locker door in a loud, angered thud. 

“Oh,”

“Yeah,” you chewed on your nails and Eddie didn’t know what to say, or what to even do with his own hands. “What if something bad has happened to them? And I mean bad, bad,” you rested your back against your locker. “I can’t imagine what it would do to Dustin, imagine Barb’s parents? I-, I feel desperate in this situation and I feel like I’m one of the only ones to actually care.” 

“We could try and play detective, if you want? I mean, D and D does make you pretty good at piecing things together,” he offered you a short smile and your heart warmed a bit at his words.

“Maybe.”

~

You didn’t understand Nancy. 

As much as you loved her, you couldn’t begin to piece her out. Last night, she was calling you crying about your missing friend, and now she was begging you for a distraction you weren’t willing to give out. 

“Please, please come,” she whined over the phone, and you eyed Steve as he walked across from the kitchen to the living room, giving you his biggest death glare as he did. 

“Nancy, you know my answer,” you groaned–wanting to slam your head onto the wall next to you. “Do you realize that two people are missing, and you’re ready to just forget all of that to go dancing with idiots?”

“Y/n, I think we both need this, we can continue searching tomorrow.”

Was this really the same Nancy you had chatted with the day before?

“You’re in a relationship now, you should understand this!” 

“Understand what exactly?”

“That I want to spend time with my boyfriend. The world is falling apart and I’m stuck home with my thoughts. Wouldn’t you ask the same thing if the roles were reversed? Wouldn’t you beg Steve and I to go to a Ren Fair or I don’t know a Metallica concert if you couldn’t?”

“Spring Fling is far from being a Metallica concert, Nancy,” you chuckled at the idiocy of her comparison.

“But what if Spring Fling is my Metallica concert?”

You fell silent over the line. Were you that selfish? Not letting your friend get that date with your brother and miss out on an event everyone wanted to go to. You sighed, rethinking your life one last time before sighing out; “Okay,” head falling against the wall by the telephone. “I’ll tell Steve to come pick you up.”

“Oh my god I love you!”

“Yeah, yeah, love you too, I’ll see you there,” and with those words you hung up, dread seeping into your bones once again. “Steve! Get fucking ready, you’re taking Nancy to that stupid dance!”

“I’m what now?” 

“You’re taking Nancy to Spring Fling,” his eyes widened, mouth agape.

“Oh my god, I love you,”

“Oh, shut up,” you rolled your eyes, watching Steve scurry away to the upstairs bathroom. You sighed before crossing the kitchen, eyeing for any one of your parents. 

“Hey darling,” as if she knew you had been searching for her, your mom’s soft voice echoed from the laundry room, through the corridor and right to you.

“Right here,” you hummed back, trotting to meet her there.

“Oh perfect,” she smiled, “could you bring this up? Half of this is Steve’s and then the other half is yours.”

“Are you obliging me to walk through the pits of tartarus?”

“If this means, entering your brother’s room to drop off his laundry, yes I am asking you.”

“Fine,” you hummed, grabbing the basket of folded laundry from your mother’s arms. “Also, Steve and I are getting ready to leave, we’re um- going to the spring fling thing.”

“Oh,” her eyes widened. “You’re going?”

“Yeah. Nancy convinced me.”

“Alright,” she let the shock seep through her. “I’ll let your father know.”

“Thanks,” you smiled before scurrying away, jumping up the steps–the quicker you got this done, the quicker you could get ready, and the quicker you were out of the house, the quicker you would be back. 

You dropped everything that was yours on top your bed–not bothering with putting it in your cupboard before waltzing towards Steve’s room. You could hear the stream of the shower, and if you were really careful, you could hear Steve faintly humming a Kate Bush song. You rolled your eyes before opening his door, ready to be met with the utter mess that you remembered his room to be–but to your surprise, it was neat and even smelt nice. 

You blinked in shock, taking in the well done bed, the freshly vacuum carpet and the organized shelves. Even the desk was neat, two pots of pencils stood proudly in the corner, while only a stray eraser felt out of place–sitting next to an opened agenda. His desk lamp illuminating his scruffy writing, creating a halo over the white lined page. 

Once the surprise was seeping in, you blinked; remembering your original mission. You dropped the basket on his bed, sighing before turning back around.

And that’s when you caught the writing across the white paper of Steve’s used notebook.

MONEY SPENT

March 30 - family video $6

April 2 - Maldev’s $2, lunch $5

April 5 - lunch $2

April 11 - Lunch $7, family video $3.

April 12 - Eddie $50

April 14 - Scoops Ahoy $6

April 15 - Eddie $100

The list went on–Eddie becoming a recurrence since ‘April 12’, the money only adding as the days went by. Your heart thumped in your chest–why in the world was Eddie’s name on Steve’s wannabe accountant list, and secondly, where in the world did Steve find this kind of money?

You wondered for a brief instant if Eddie had been dealing to your brother, but then you had only seen Steve high once, and it had been two days ago, at that wretched gathering.

Barb’s warning echoed in your head, and for a mere second you allowed yourself to feel the worst. Was this why Eddie had been bugging you to come to the dance with him?

You refused to make it make sense, but then April 12 had been the day Eddie had first tried to ask you out. 

Your breath suddenly caught in your throat, and you could feel your heart thumping in your ears. No. This couldn’t be happening. You couldn’t be sure of anything yet. 

Nonetheless, you didn’t have time to think about it. You were on the clock with a promise made to your best friend, and strolling out of Steve’s room, you noticed a frown on your face you hadn’t even realized was there.

You let out a shaky sigh as you entered your room, being met with your reflection in the mirror.

You had made Nancy a promise,

You’d have to confront either of the two after the dance.

~

“Eddie, there’s a girl outfront for you.”

“Huh?” He lifted the book from his eyes, dropping it on the coffee table before lazily sitting up, limbs cracking as he did. He looked at Wayne in question, not bothering to fix his pyjama shirt as he walked to the kitchen area and looked through the window.

His eyes weren’t failing him–indeed there you were, the window of your car rolled down and Eddie could see you all dolled up in a pretty dress he’d never bet he would ever see you wear. You looked straight at him through the window and honked, a signal for him to come over.

“What the fuck,” he muttered under his breath as his socked feet walked him to the front door. “Hey, what are you doing here?” Even though shock was seeping through him, he smiled at your sight.

“Get in loser, we’re going to the spring fling,” his mouth was wide, agape like a fish as he registered what was happening. He blinked, and stood there a second too long because you honked your car horn again. “C’mon! We don’t have all night!”

You watched as Eddie blinked again before shaking his head and scurrying back inside. You heard faint mumbling from the trailer and his running around. You even thought you heard a loud noise that was most probably Eddie falling as he tried to get the suit of his pants up. 

His hair was wild once he opened the door of the trailer again, but he was brushing it back with his fingers as he walked down the metallic steps and walked to you.

“Where did you get a tux last minute?” You grinned as he opened the passenger door, his slime had made all anxiety wash away from your body and you felt yourself melt a little further into your car seat, butterflies brushing the side of your stomach at the sight of him in a suit.

“Oh, you know, just something I had, laying around,” he shrugged, pretending to be brushing something off of his shoulder “Where’d you get the dress?”

“Oh you know just something I had, laying around,” that made him laugh, eyes intently scanning your figure as you started driving away.

“What made you change your mind?”

“Nancy wouldn’t stop bugging me about it, thought I’d take a break from being a heinous bitch, for a change,” you smiled, and your mind brought you back to the writing in Steve’s notebook an unsettling feeling tugging at your heartstrings as your gaze went back to the boy next to you. 

“Respectable,” he grinned, already opening your glove box for a cassette–fishing out a Black Sabbath mixtape he had made for you.

And for a golden second, as you watched him grin like an idiot over the cassette he had so carefully designed–your worries washed away.

Eddie had been so caring. He had come into your life, bulldozing everything you had trapped yourself in. He brought a new breath to your lungs and you felt yourself again, you felt whole again.

And maybe, just maybe you could let yourself believe that Eddie’s name on Steve’s notebook was something entirely different.

~

Spring fling was everything you had expected it to be. 

Bright colored balloons floating across the air, handwritten banners hanging from every corner, large tables with various beverages and food laying across it. Music was bursting out of large speakers lodged at every corner of the room–and not to mention almost the entirety of Hawkins High. 

Toto’s Hold The Line was ringing in your ears, and you felt your hand grip Eddie’s a little tighter as you walked past a group of cheerleaders, all giggling at something Cameron Ness had said. The star jock was wearing his best suit, a blue ruffled jacket that made all the girls cling to him like moths to a flame. Each of them were in close competition with your brother at the amount of hairspray they had, hairstyles more and more elaborate the more you stared. 

You did not feel in your place at all. 

It all felt intoxicating.

You spotted your brother, long gone into a conversation with some brunette jock named Jeremy. You looked at Nancy–she seemed so happy for once; a bright smile plastered on her face as she leaned against Steve���s navy vest. 

And maybe, just maybe the thought of your best friend getting to have a good time made it less hard to stand the suffocating gym.

“Wanna dance?” Eddie turned to you, a smile on the corner of lips, “while the music is still somewhat tolerable.” Eddie lifted his hand, silently asking for yours.

“Yes,” you slotted your hand in his–butterflies brushing the sides of your stomach as you marched towards the dance floor.

Maybe the evening wouldn’t be so bad.

~

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?” 

“Can you hold my drink, I need to go to the bathroom,” you smiled as Eddie was already offering his hand.

“Of course.” 

Eddie’s gaze traveled around the room, and an unsettling feeling crossed his stomach when his gaze met your brother’s. He was at a different spot this time, chatting with Nancy over a cup of punch.

This was it. 

This had to be his chance. 

He didn’t think twice before crossing the room, fingers brushing through his hair before speaking; “Hey, Harrington.”

“My man!” Steve cheered, and wrapped an arm around him. Eddie awkwardly nodded towards Nancy who had handed him a tight smile upon his arrival.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure,” Steve nodded and asked Nancy if she could hold his drink–to which she accepted and nodded them away.

Eddie noticed Steve was maybe more than a little tipsy as he walked beside Eddie, mumbling jokes and saying hi to everyone who crossed their way. He thought this would be a never ending nightmare, and it would probably be hours before he reached a quiet spot. And after torechous minutes of Steve greeting everyone who met his eyes as he was dragged through the mass of students, they finally reached the quiet corner next to the bleachers.

“So-”

"The deal is off."

“What?” Steve suddenly felt himself sober up. “Why?”

“Because I can’t continue like this.”

“But why? I thought you needed the money-”

“This isn’t about the money, Steve,” the name felt bitter in his mouth–maybe because he blamed him for his suffering, or maybe Eddie blamed himself–but right this minute the lines blurred in his mind and he felt his stomach bubble with a new kind of anger. “This is about your sister, it’s killing me to be doing this to her.”

“Why would you care?” Steve snorted, and Eddie almost took a step back at the cruelty he was witnessing first hand.

Did Steve really care so little about you? 

“Because I’m falling in love with her,” the words tumbled out of Eddie’s mouth faster than he could think, and he had to bite his lip once he realized his confession.

Steve’s mouth fell open wide, the room starting to spin—and this time it wasn’t the snuck in vodka that made him feel this way; but the way his plan was biting him back. 

“No, no, no. You can't be in love with her,” he felt the words leave faster than intended, his own interests getting the best of him. 

“Who are you to tell me what to feel or not feel, Harrington.” 

Steve blinked–stunned, “no, you’re right. But you can’t be falling for her! I never said you could actually date her, you’re going to be a bad influence!” 

“Excuse me? Says the guy who hand picked me.”

“Because you were the only one good for the job!”

“Exactly, and that’s why I’m putting an end to the whole thing.”

“She’s smarter than you give her credit for, you know? She’s going to figure it out soon enough, and it’s going to go all to shits. She might hate us both in all cases, but I’d rather her learn about this fiasco the right way.”  

“No-no, you can’t tell her anything! What about me? What about Nancy?” 

“Are you fucking serious right now?” 

“Look, I’ll pay you double, we continue the deal like it was, you continue to date her, and we can just forget this whole conversation happened, okay?”

“Did you not hear a word I just said?”

~

You sighed, fixing a strand of your hair as you looked at yourself in the mirror—smacking your lips together to spread the gloss you had just reapplied. 

You pushed the heavy bathroom door, sighing once it closed behind you–the school hallway staring back at you. You could faintly hear music playing from behind the closed doors, but murmurs from a nearby corridor caught your attention. 

“Did you hear?” Mr. Arnold fiddled with his hat, twisting the material between his fingers. 

“Hear what?” You recognised Mrs. Gilbert–the drama teacher, she was fixing the sleeve of her sparkling dress before a content smile appeared on her lips.

“They found him,” now they had your full attention. Head spiking up like a cat, and breath catching in your throat.

“The Byers boy?” She whispered, the smile getting whipped off her features. 

“Yes,” Mr. Arnold had a grim look in his eyes as he stared down at his shoes. “They found his body at Sattler Quarry about an hour ago… Poor kid drowned himself.” 

Your shoulders tensed and you felt your ears ring

No.

No, no, no, no, this couldn’t be happening.

Will, the shy boy you babysitted a few times. 

Will, the quiet one with a mind of gold and an ever growing imagination. The one who came up with creatures, monsters and wizards D and D magazines and Eddie’s campaigns could only be envious about.

Your body hit the back of the lockers, and you could only hope that Mrs. Gilbert and Mr. Arnold didn’t hear the thud that accompanied the movement. Head spinning and heart unstoppably racing as you tried to tame the buzz in your head. You couldn’t hear anything, an uncontrollable numbness hitting you as your fist clenched the material of your dress. 

Why?

Why had a boy full of life like Will had to meet his end in such a way?

What about Dustin? Did he already know? 

Your heart only shattered into more pieces as you thought of him. 

You had to tell Eddie.

You walked back into the gym, the air feeling stuffy again and the music barely hitting your numbbed ears. Seeing everyone so full of life made you sick to your stomach. All these people who didn’t even care that he had gone missing, and now they would wake up tomorrow morning with the news of his death, and move on with the rest of their lives as if nothing happened.

It didn’t take you long to find Eddie in the crowd. He was a few meters away from the door, in a corner talking to—your brother? 

He had a large frown on his features, and your brother was waving his hands around frantically like he did when he got frustrated. You watched as Eddie groaned, a hand flying up to his hair as he tried to reason whatever argument your brother had thrown. 

You moved faster than your mind registered, feet gliding over the polished ground of the gymnasium. Something in you wanted to save Eddie from presumingly a horrid conversation with the gremlin that you were cruelly related to. 

You were about to go through the last small group of people, you could clearly see them from your spot in between the dancing bodies—and Steve’s voice became clearer over the fading music.

“No-no you can’t tell her anything! What about me? What about Nancy?”  

What the fuck was that suppose to mean? 

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Look, I’ll pay you double, we continue the deal like it was, you continue to date her, and we can just forget this whole conversation happened, okay?”

You stopped in your tracks.

Steve’s writing suddenly became clear,

your worst assumptions were true.

Eddie was paid to date you,

And had been since the start. 

[littleoceanbabe]

not to be dramatic but ed “i’m unlovable” teach made me want to eat drywall. he didn’t just completely break because stede left him. he completely broke because he thought he wasn’t worthy of stede. he thought he wasn’t worthy of anyone. pardon me while i slip and fall off the side of the ship like lucius did

[meliciousmel13]

WOULD'VE COULD'VE SHOULD'VE

PT 1 I PT 2

i scare myself sometimes,

⇢ i almost took my life.

warnings: angst with no happy ending, mentions of suicide and ed. if these things make you uncomfortable please do not read!

wc: 1,517 - a little short for my liking but i cut off the parts that i didn't like.

SYNOPSIS: it's been two months since the two of you broke up. it's new years party and madison wanted to talk.

taglist: @guysimgay164, @madisonbeerssecretwife

an: first fic on here, r u proud of me

The new years party was loud, sounds of chatter and laughs and drinks clicking together.

people talking to other people and drinks served in plastic cups. The glass ones were too dangerous because you can’t trust drunk people with glass and expect it to not break within 1 minute of you handing it to them—that was just your fault.

the air was humid and the smell of sweat and beer filled your lungs. your shoes were sticking to the floor due to spilled beer and you couldn’t find your friends.

you were lost. fully lost. somehow you ended up in a hallway with white doors on either side, some were half open and some had weird noises coming from them. that was disgusting. you wanted to get out, find your friends and hopefully not run into her. or anyone you know.

you finally found the stairs down and the first thing you saw was one of your friends—Allison.

“hey al, you know where ari is? she has my purse and i have my phone in it.” you said, slightly pushing your tight dress below your ass—as if that would scare away the men who gawk shamelessly at any silver of skin.

“huh? no,” she shook her head and smiled softly, “but i think i saw her go to the kitchen, you should look there first.” she said, and you let out a small ‘thank you’ in return.

you walked to the kitchen, and you saw ariana luckily. but she was talking to her. why the hell was she talking to her? no no no. you repeat in your head, turning around and trying to not be found the energetically drunk girl, knowing that if you did she would be glad to invite you into the conversation with your ex.

but of course, that was to much to wish for. and god desired to be cruel. “y/n!” ariana yelled through the music and put down her drink, grabbing your purse and shoving it in your chest. you clutch it tightly, occasionally glancing at her and trying to pay attention to whatever nonsense the blonde was spouting. ariana was friends with both of you but after you and Madison broke up she started hanging out with you more.

“i’m so glad your here i literally didn’t know what to do with it because if i left it on the counter then someone might steal it but also if i just held it with me the whole time then i would have this like bad feeling i don’t know the word but-” ariana was interrupted by Madison walking over to you, with a small smile. you rolled your eyes, and cross your arms. the last thing you wanted was seeing her again. she broke up with you. not the other way around.

“hey.” Madison said—squeaked, her voice cracking and her lips going dry, she had that strawberry lip gloss on and you thought of all the times she would lend you her perfume whenever she went on tour because she knew how much you would miss her scent. when she personally striped all the food labels from the house because of your eating disorder. 4 years that she threw away. you didn’t want to miss her. you desperately didn’t but something inside you spurred when you saw her. you missed her. you didn’t wanna admit it to yourself but you did.

“hi.” you said, and completely change your position hoping that it would make her feel excluded and then she’ll get the hint and leave. but she doesn’t. she just stands there while ariana talks about anything and everything. she stood there and waited for 30 minutes until ariana was done, to finally talk to you.

“hey uh, do you wanna talk?” she said. and you wanted to run away. to never see her again—because that’s all you wanted. to never see her again. but she won’t leave you alone. maybe she wanted to explain herself? why she broke up with you for no reason over text while she was across the world.

it ruined you. first you were exited to see a text from her and then you broke down. your hands were shaking and you were hyperventilating. you couldn’t believe it. at first your thought it was a prank. you texted back ‘is this a joke?’ and she didn’t reply. she left you on delivered. you still remember the whole 2 weeks you were rotting in your apartment. the smell of left over pizza hut and junk food was still fresh in your brain.

you didn’t understand. why why why why why. your friends tried to help. really. they did. but you didn’t listen, no, you ignored them and continued dwelling on her until you thought that the world meant nothing if she wasn’t there with you. you tried to slit your wrists but Allison stopped you. she hugged you and made you food and slept in bed with you so you knew that someone was with you. but also so you didn’t attempt again.

she made you go out the house for the first time in 2 weeks and took care of you like no other. she knew how much Madison meant to you. she was your best friend. and she also contemplated flying to whatever city Madison was in just to punch her in the face. because let’s be real. the bitch really needed it.

in the 4th week you already recovered, but she still hunted your mind. every thought and second was dedicated of think of how much of a horrible girlfriend she was. you went to her favorite restaurant and you couldn’t handle it. the memories were too much to bear, your friends understood and drove to another restaurant. but you still remembered how you two would sit and eat in silence until one giggle is let out and then the waiter tells you to be a quiet.

i miss you. i miss you. i miss you. i miss- your thoughts were interrupted by your voice, and your brain shut up for a second. “no.” you answer, and you wanted to rip out your throat for saying no.

“5 minutes. please.” she said, and you gave her a chance. you walked outside without telling her to follow but she does anyway. the backyard was huge and there were only 3 people helping one person throw up in a bush. they left after a while to get the person some water.

“talk.” you crossed your arms, and waited for her to open her mouth. she didn’t. for what seemed like 20 seconds.

“i’m sorry.” she said, and you scoffed. looking away from her face to look at anything. anything else, because you didn’t want to cry in front of her. that would be pathetic and embarrassing—your throat was tightening up and you hoped the cold air would tell your eyes to stop. please. stop. don't cry.

you looked at her weirdly. as if saying ‘that’s it?’ and you swore you said it out loud because your head was screaming at you and you pictured all the moments of where you would shout and yell and push her. you could. if you wanted to. you could. you had the right to do so—she deserved it. but you couldn’t.

“i’m sorry that i broke up with you over text, i’m sorry i hurt you. i thought that when i went on tour that- that you’d get sick of me or forget about me-” she was crying now, and her voice was cracking.

“why would i get sick of you?” you asked.

“because-”

you cut her off. “why the hell would i get sick of you? i would’ve put in the effort. we could’ve face timed everyday, but no, you thought that the hard part was too hard so you just broke up with me? you should’ve actually tried, at least. and then maybe we would still be together!” the dam broke. all the anger pilled up in 2 months of confusion and resentment.

“y/n.” Madison moved her hand to touch your arm, reassuringly, probably what she was thinking, but it just made you even more mad. she touched you and you couldn’t stand it because you missed her.

“no! don’t fucking touch me Madison.” you said, and she flinched backing away from you. you hated that. that she was afraid of you.

you walk away and madison stood there, arms to her side and tears dry. her face was a mess. mascara smudges and eyes red. you hated to leave her there but if you ‘talked’ any longer then you would be the one in that position.

so you leave. the party. your friends. you called a cab and returned to your empty apartment.

the apartment that was once associated with joy and felicity. now it’s just an empty shell of what it once was. without her. without madison. you watched the fireworks alone that night. with your phone ringing and a miserable void in your heart.

[ladykailitha]

The Harrington Pattern Part 12

Hey all, this story will wrap up today, so next week it will go back to just one chapter a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and when Glitters wraps up, Sundays will go back to one a day as well.

A short chapter for the first of two, because this chapter got too long and needed to be cut down a tad and the next part fits better as a whole.

Eddie and Steve finally kiss and just giving Steve the loving crafting circle he needs.

TAG LIST IS CLOSED

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

****

Steve got to see where the cast ate their meals, where some of the cast stayed in large tents (for those that had traveled from out of state but couldn’t afford a hotel), he got to meet the people who sold the food to the tourists, and the people who cleaned up every night.

It was marvelous.

“So was the two events they were trying to schedule at the same time, the joust and your trick riding?” Steve asked after they left the cleaners.

Eddie grinned. “Close, the sword fighting and my trick riding. I told them that I would happily run over those bastards, but I didn’t think the horses would appreciate it.”

“I bet that got them to change their tune,” Steve said with a laugh.

“It sure did, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured.

Suddenly they found themselves utterly alone.

“Steve–” Eddie began, but Steve placed his fingers on his lips.

“Just wait,” he said softly. “There’s something I want to give you first.”

Eddie blinked at him. “You bought me a present?” he asked. Well technically he said, “Ym brut me apresemnt?” since Steve still had his fingers over his mouth.

Steve laughed and dug it out of his pocket. “It’s been on a little journey, one that nearly gave me a heart attack,” he murmured, “but Jeff was able to get it back to me in time.”

He handed the small pouch over to Eddie.

Eddie took it gingerly and rubbed it between his fingers as he looked at the small thing that Steve had made for him. But as small as the item itself was the giving of it, was massive.

“I remembered you telling me that your dice bag broke,” Steve mumbled, “and I really wanted to thank you for all your help this weekend. I don’t think I could of done it without you.”

Eddie looked up at Steve with glossy eyes. “It’s perfect, Stevie.”

“I plan on giving a bunch to Katie for her to sell while I make the bigger pieces,” Steve continued, “and Robin said that I should give the first one to you, because it’s special. And you deserve something really special, Eds. Because you’re special to me and I–”

Whatever else Steve was going to say got swallowed up by Eddie kissing him firmly on the lips.

He had just grabbed Steve by the face and locked their lips together.

Steve was stocked into stillness, but that didn’t last long as he pulled Eddie close to him and deepened the kiss.

Eddie let out a happy sigh as they parted for breath. “Wow, baby. You kiss like it might be your last.”

“Eh...” Steve said with a half shrug and a lopsided smile, “when you’ve faced more then one ends of the world, it very well could be.”

Eddie chuckled, pressing their heads together. “You’ve got me there, big boy.”

“Mhmm,” Steve said softly. “And I’ve got you here, too.” His arms tightened around Eddie’s waist, drawing them flush against each other.

Eddie swatted at him. “Sap.”

Steve kissed him again. “If I’m a sap, then you’re my tree.”

“That was corny even for you, honey,” he murmured, swatting at him at playfully.

Steve just laughed.

****

The end of the Renaissance Fair had come at last. There had been more then a few bumpy moments, but looking out at all the happy faces being lit up by fireworks, Steve was pleased with the results.

And next year was going to be even better, he had plans for helping the kids have quality costumes like Corroded Coffin boys had.

He might still have to do some altering instead of full on sewing all of the costumes, but he was really looking forward to it.

Katie had told him that he had several people offer her crazy money for the pouch he had accidentally dropped, so he promised her a dozen by the end of next week for her next Fair. In different sizes too.

Eddie had been the one to suggest that. Little coin purses, dice bags, and even handbag sized ones. Eddie was even going to help him find the right materials for it, ones that weren’t as expensive as the little dice bag Steve gave him.

Steve was really looking forward to it.

They hadn’t told the kids yet about their change in relationship. Not yet. They wanted to hold onto it for themselves a little longer.

Though, judging from the look that Will and Mike had sent him, Steve was pretty sure most of them had figured it out anyway.

So what started out with longing gazing into each others’ eyes, ended with holding hands under the cover of darkness as fireworks exploded overhead.

Steve had never been happier and he just knew more happiness was coming his way.

****

Steve was proven right when Claudia called him up the next morning.

“Good morning, Mrs. Henderson,” Steve murmured sleepily.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she said, “did I wake you?”

Steve looked blearily at the clock on the microwave. It was after ten in the morning.

“It’s fine,” he muttered, “I don’t usually sleep this late.”

“While that is certainly true,” Claudia agreed, “you also don’t normally spend three full days at a fair. Too much sun, too much fun, and too little sleep makes for a tired Steve. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Steve blushed. “Thanks, Mrs. Henderson. Was there something you needed?”

“Oh, yes!” she said brightly. “Are you free this afternoon, from around two to four?”

Steve looked over at his calendar and squinted. “Looks like it, unless the nuggets call for rides to wherever.”

Claudia chuckled. “I think they’re going to be just as tired as you and not want to go anywhere today.”

He laughed. “Yeah, probably.”

“So, me and couple of the other moms have a sewing circle every Sunday,” she explained. “And we were all wondering if you wanted to come and join us. We have punch and little treats and spend two hours working on whatever project we have going on while we fill each other in on what’s happening in our lives.”

“You gossip,” Steve accused, teasingly.

She giggled. “Gossip is such tawdry word.”

“Like your every day language wouldn’t make a sailor blush,” Steve said dryly.

“And how would you know that?” she asked, curiosity coloring her tone.

“Ma’am, your son has the worst language I’ve ever seen on a teenager,” Steve said, “and I’m damn sure he didn’t get it from his dad. Even when he was alive.”

Claudia’s giggle turned into a full on laugh. “All right, you’ve got me there, Steve. So you’ll come?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Fantastic!” she cried. “We meet at Joyce’s this week.”

“This week?” Steve asked, already plotting what to bring as a treat and which project he wanted to start.

“Yes,” Claudia explained. “We rotate every week so that one person isn’t stuck hosting every time. And if you come often enough, we’ll have it your place once in a while, as well.”

Steve frowned appreciatively. “Sounds good. I’ll see you later then.”

Claudia squealed in excitement. “I can’t wait. We’re going to teach you how to use a sewing machine!”

That really piqued Steve’s interest. “Oh yeah?”

“It was Karen Wheeler’s idea,” she explained. “Karen doesn’t sew like the rest of us, but she does cross-stitch while we all chat. Apparently Mike was telling her about all the sewing you did for him and his friends and that it was all by hand.”

Steve nodded, forgetting she couldn’t see him. “Yeah, my parents thought sewing was for girls, so I learned by hand.”

“Make sure to bring some examples of your work,” she said. “I want to blow Olive Peterson’s mind. She’s of the same mind as your parents, even though what she does, the knitting, was originally only for men.”

“I have these pouches I’ve decided to make and sell,” Steve said with a grin, “so I can bring those to work on and bring some of the work I did for the kids to show off.”

“That’s brilliant!” Claudia said. “I see you later!”

Steve said goodbye and hung up.

This just might be the thing he needed.

****

Part 13

Don't quote me on the knitting originally being for men thing, it was something I learned when I read a 12 Dancing Princesses retelling years and years ago. The soldier in the story knitted to keep awake at night.

Tag List: @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @carlyv @gregre369

@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach

@danili666 @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @wonderland-girl143-blog

@justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

@cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

@useless-nb-bisexual @thespaceantwhowrites @paintgonewrong @mogami13 @beelze-the-bubkiss

@croatoan-like-its-hot @retro-vagabond @sani-86 @pansexuality-activated @y4r3luv

@dauntlessdiva @vampire-eddie-brain-rot @lololol-1234 @nightmareglitter @cryptid-system CLOSED

[yeetwinchester2]

Skipping

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Summary: Y/N had been struggling with her ED lately, but the team doesn't know that. Sent on a mission, and her partner doesn't know that it's been two days since she's eaten.

Warnings: Eating Disorder(s), passing out, angst

---------------------------------------

"C'mon Steve! Seriously? What else do you want me to do? She's been on every mission with me! I'm tired of her!" Throwing his hands in the air out of frustration. Bucky has had a hatred for Y/N for as long as anyone can remember. She's a former Hyrda experiment such as himself, yet they're polar opposites. Bucky is harsh, brutal, dark, seemling always seeing the negative. Yet, Y/N is kind, caring, light, and always positive. Everyone liked her. except Bucky. But she never let that get in the way of things. She treated him just the same as she did everyone else.

"She's one of our best, and so are you. I'm sorry Buck, but you need to get over it. You can out up with her for just a little while longer. You know how these things go. We get the best of the best. That's you two. We need both of you for this one. We can't have either of you back out."

"Fine. But this is the last mission with her. After this, I'm done. I can't take it anymore. Just something about her I can't stand."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Go get ready. We leave in the morning. Carrier 0430 sharp. We leave at 0500."

‐----------------------------

The morning comes, 0430 and the team has met at the carrier. Everyone but Y/N. Which is odd, considering Y/N is almost always one of the first to arrive, prepared and full of energy. The first to notice was Nat. Once it was mentioned, Everyone followed suit with confusion.

0440 and she still hasn't shown up.

0445 and still no word from her.

0455. Nothing.

Just as they were about to call over the comms, she appears, running up to the carrier, duffle bag in hand. Immediately blurring out an apology.

"Sorry guys! I got caught up in something. But I'm here now and I've got everything, I'm good to go."

"You sure? We were getting worried." Clint said unsure of what had happened.

"Yeah, I'm good."

Everyone just brushed it off and assumed she must've slept in or missed her alarm or something of the sort. But Bucky could tell something wasn't right. He didn't know what or why, but he knew something was off. He didn't say anything, though. It's not his business, why should he care?

Steve stood, getting everyone's attention. He pulled a small map from his pocket and laid it out for the team to see. "Alright, I know we already went over the mission, but here's a recap. Nat and Clint will take the guards at the right rear entrance, me and Tony at the left rear. Y/N and Bucky will talk the center. The main objective is to retrieve the hard drive from their maim computer system. They're smart, which means this won't be easy. Stay with your partner. Watch out for each other. If you get separated, you get hurt. Six of us exiting the carrier, six of us returning, understood?"

"Aye Aye, Captain." Bucky joking saluted.

‐----------------------------

The mission went as expected, until it didn't. You and Bucky broke through the center entrance doors and took down the first set of guards without any problems. It was cold, and the alarms seemed louder than usual. Everything seemed fine, maybe feeling a little weaker than usual, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Bucky was busy with several guards on his own, while you were lucky enough to handle them one at a time. You only had one or two more to take down, Bucky had a few more. You began to feel weaker and weaker by the second. The last guard put up a tough fight, eventually winning against you. Fighting with all you had, but it wasn't enough. You took hit after hit, in the face, the gut, the side, until all you saw was black.

‐----------------------------

Bucky sent bullets through one guard after another until he no longer had anything to shoot with. So, he turned to his trusty knives and combat boots. Kicking, punching, and slashing all that comes his way. He was pleased with his completion of his portion of the mission, that is until he saw you on the ground, beat. He didn't hesitate to rush to your side. For a moment, forgetting how much he hated you.

"It's clear over here, but Y/N is down." He says over the coms, letting the rest of the team know his plan.

"On it. How bad is she?" replies Nat, her voice laced with concern.

"Not sure. I'm gonna take her back to the jet and do what I can from there." He brings your unconscious body up into his arms and carries you towards the exit and back into the jet.

‐----------------------------

You slowly try to open your eyes, bringing up a hand to block out the bright light hovering above you. Suddenly, it dissappears.

"Hey, hey, lay back down. Y/N, it's Bucky. You went down during the mission and we are in the jet. We need to figure out what happened with you. What hurts?"

"Nothing much right now, I'm fine. Just got a headache," you say, swinging your legs across the side of the bed, attempting to brush off the embarrassment. Hoping and praying that he doesn't try to investigate any further, knowing it'll be 10x more embarrassing than what he's already witnessed.

"What happened out there? I've never seen you go down that quick."

"The guy just got to me and he was stronger than I must've realized. I'm fine though. Just drop it, please." You didn't want to seem rude, but more importantly, you didn't want him knowing.

With perfect timing, Steve calls over the coms, "Good work, team. We're done here. See ya at the jet."

‐----------------------------

Everyone else boards the jet, each one asking some version of "you ok?" And you just nod with a smile and hid it all the best you can. God, you're starving. It been two days since you've had a meal. You knew it wasn't good for you. You would've eaten before the mission, but you felt fine before. More importantly, you looked fine, so there was no need.

You had struggled with an eating disorder for a few years now. It had calmed down and you had almost forgotten about it for a while. One bad instagram post from a model or the wrong word being said or one bad joke about your body. That's all it took to trigger your ED.

You had started living with the team while it was getting better, so you never told them about it. You worked out with them, ate with them, appeared healthy around them. But when you were alone, it was quite the opposite. Doing anything to keep yourself from eating, doing extra workouts to burn the calories. The team never found out, but it has been getting worse and you're worried some of the team may have noticed something was wrong. They've said you look tired, or maybe even smaller than usual. All that last comment did was encourage you even further. So, you kept going, letting it get worse. Skipping more meals, avoiding the team as much as possible, working out every chance you get.

‐----------------------------

You were sent the the med bay as soon as the jet touched the base. You were checked over and over. Turn out, you only had a concussion and broken nose. It could have, probably should have, been much worse. You have Bucky to thank for saving you. From the med bay, you were released and headed straight to your room.

You walk down the hall towards your room, the one just before Bucky's. You want to thank him, but now's not the time.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

this is is definitely a part 1. but I get on Tumblr like once every 6 months so who knows if there will ever be a part 2.

[steddieas-shegoes]

i'm a freak that is searching for redemption

for @subeddieweek day seven with the prompts subdrop and daddy kink and praise kink

rated e | 2,239 words | please check ao3 for tags

Day one:  ao3 | tumblr Day two: ao3 | tumblr Day three: ao3 | tumblr Day four: ao3 | tumblr Day five: ao3 | tumblr   Day six: ao3 | tumblr

⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

Steve dropped Eddie off at the trailer, only coming inside to make sure he got into a warm shower and had a snack.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning to bring you to school, okay?” Steve kissed his forehead as he gently guided him into the steamy shower. “I’ll leave a note for Wayne so he knows your van broke down.”

Eddie could only nod, still a bit out of it from their fun in the car.

He still felt unmoored, even with music playing softly in his room and a candle lit that smelled like the cologne Steve wore.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he woke up still wrapped in his towel, pillow soaked from his hair being wet, all he could think was how much he wished he hadn’t woken up yet.

Wayne used to call him his Melancholy Mule when he first came to live with him and spent mornings pouting in bed. He had no good reason, other than most of the shit that life had handed him, and Wayne was just trying to make light of a shitty situation. But he couldn’t help but wonder if he was having one of those days again.

He hadn’t in a while, not since Steve, maybe not since he’d failed high school the first time.

But his body felt heavy, his eyes drooping closed despite the nagging feeling that he needed to get up and get ready. His thoughts were all over the place, but nothing was connecting.

Steve.

He needed Steve.

A shiver went down his spine as he realized he was still alone.

Steve hadn’t come back for him. He’d left him here.

“Ed?” Wayne knocked on his bedroom door, opening it a crack and letting in some light from the hallway. “Steve’s here. You want me to let him in?”

Steve’s here? He didn’t leave?

“Steve?” Eddie’s voice was rough, rougher than it usually was in the morning.

There was a voice behind Wayne, and then the door opened more. Eddie’s eyes squeezed shut at the light entering his dark room, his body curling into itself.

“Eds? You okay?” Steve’s voice was right next to him, and when Eddie managed to open his eyes, he was kneeling next to Eddie’s bed. His hand covered Eddie’s cheek, thumb rubbing soothing patterns under his eye.

Eddie let out a small whimper and closed his eyes again.

He couldn’t understand what was wrong, had no idea why he didn’t even cheer up at the sight of Steve, but he knew he couldn’t possibly get out of this bed right now.

“Shit. Sweet boy, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you last night, not until you fell asleep at least. Did you sleep last night?” Steve was suddenly pushing him over on his bed, sliding into the spot Eddie had previously taken and wrapping him up in his arms.

Steve was warm.

His hands felt big against Eddie’s back, strong, like they could pull him from whatever depth he was drowning in right now.

“Eddie, baby, look at me.” Steve’s voice sounded worried. Eddie didn’t want that. He managed to open both of his eyes and look up at Steve. “That’s it. Love when you’re so good for me. Did you sleep last night?”

“Mhm. Can I sleep now?” Eddie was so tired. His whole body felt like it was being dragged through the mattress, right through the floor. His chest was heavy, almost like the last time he had a chest cold, but without the coughing.

“Can you tell me what you’re feeling first? Just so I can make sure I know how to help.”

Steve still sounded worried and Eddie didn’t want him to. He was fine, just tired. And maybe a little bit sad. He didn’t know why he was sad, but it would pass.

“Just wanna sleep. Can I skip school?” Eddie mumbled against Steve’s chest, listening to his heart beat as it lulled him into a comforting silence.

“Sure, baby. Wayne’s gonna go look at your van.”

“Mmkay.”

A voice in the back of Eddie’s head was telling him to try to stay awake and talk to Steve more, but he couldn’t quite keep his eyes open or form any more words.

***

“Thanks, Wayne.”

Steve’s soft voice filtered through Eddie’s dreams, causing his eyes to flutter until he was blinking open to sunlight coming in through his window. He always kept his curtains closed so someone must’ve opened them.

He was mad at that someone.

He groaned and turned his head further into Steve’s chest, his fingers curling into his shirt.

He smelled so good all the time. How did he always smell like he just got out of the shower?

“Hey, sweet boy. Feeling a little better after your nap?” Steve asked, one hand playing with his curls while the other played with the hem of his shirt.

“Yeah. Sorry I was out of it earlier. Must not have slept good,” Eddie started to pull away, but Steve’s arm tightened, pulling him close against him again.

“My fault,” Steve muttered under his breath. “Have you ever dropped like that before?”

“Dropped?” Eddie asked, finally pulling away to look up at Steve.

“I think you dropped after last night. It was my fault. I knew you were still a little floaty when I put you in the shower and then I left without checking in again. I’m so sorry, baby. You were so overwhelmed with everything that happened with the van and then what we did in the car, I should’ve stayed or taken you to my place,” Steve was running his hands up his sides. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”

Oh.

That’s what that feeling was.

He’d thought Steve left because he hadn’t done good. He hadn’t even realized until now that’s what the disappointment was in the shower and when he crawled into bed and when he woke up this morning.

“I didn’t?”

“No, sweet boy. You were perfect for me, you’re always perfect for me. Letting me have you whenever and wherever I want? God, you’re so amazing.” Steve kissed his forehead. “Do you need anything from me? Anything.”

“I…don’t know,” Eddie was feeling quite a bit better, still a little bit off, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Steve was clearly beating himself up over what happened, and his words were melting what was left of the ice in Eddie’s stomach. “Can you hold me for a while?”

“Of course, baby. All day if you want. Wayne took the van to the shop and they’re gonna take care of it. He’s gone to grab dinner and go to work.”

“What time is it?” Eddie couldn’t have possibly been out all day.

“Nearly five. You were tired, love.”

“But-”

“It’s okay,” Steve hushed him with a kiss to his lips. “You’re good.”

“Does Wayne…know?”

“He just thinks you’re having a bad day. Didn’t think you’d want me to tell him the details of our sex life,” Steve smirked. “I didn’t really want him to kill me either.”

“He knows you take care of me.”

“I didn’t last night.”

That tone was not one that Eddie wanted. That tone was beyond apologetic, bordering on self-hatred.

“You did. You made sure I took a shower. You had music playing so I wouldn’t feel so alone. A candle that smelled like you. You did what you thought was gonna work. It probably would have any other time.” Eddie kissed his chest, then his jaw. “You were good to me. You’re always good to me.”

Steve smiled at him before he kissed his lips, soft, but lingering.

“How long are you staying?” Eddie asked him.

“As long as you want me.”

“So…forever?” Eddie poked his cheek.

“Forever sounds good to me. You wanna get up and have something to eat?”

“Yeah.”

Steve helped him up and gave him a piggyback ride to the kitchen, smiling as Eddie giggled against his neck. He set him on the counter and started cooking some spaghetti, wanting something quick and easy, but still filling to make up for all of the meals Eddie had missed today.

He did everything but feed him by hand, which…hm, maybe they could do that sometime. Eddie liked when Steve got in the mood to take care of him like this, so it was worth a shot.

“Good?” Steve asked after they both had a bowl and a half.

“Good. Thanks for taking care of me,” Eddie nuzzled his neck, noticing that they hadn’t stopped touching the entire time.

“You know I love to,” Steve kissed his temple. “Bed?”

“Depends.”

“On if we’re gonna be naked.”

Steve snorted. “You sure you feel up for that?”

“I am dying to have you inside me again.” Eddie half-joked before looking at Steve seriously. “I feel empty without you inside me.”

“Eds, baby,” Steve leaned in to kiss him, hard and fast. “I would live inside you if I could.”

“You can live there part time. Like, right now. I won’t even charge rent or anything.”

They both laughed as Steve lifted him up in his arms and carried him towards his bedroom, smiling up at him and barely paying attention to where he was going. He knew the way like the back of his hand anyway.

It was more rushed than usual, but they weren’t playing right now. At least not yet.

Eddie could tell Steve needed this, needed to just have Eddie against him, touch him until he was writhing with pleasure. Eddie needed it too.

Having Steve kissing his tattoos, his moles on his chest, the scar on his thigh from when he cut himself trying to make his own sword as a kid, was like finally feeling sunshine after a rainstorm. He could feel himself shivering, but it wasn’t from the cold.

“You okay, baby?” Steve whispered against his skin, breath making goosebumps appear against him.

“So good, daddy.”

Steve paused, pulling away from him.

Eddie whined.

“Eddie, baby, look at me.” Steve’s tone was different now, not nearly as soft or calm. Eddie looked at him, of course. Whatever it was had to be serious. “Love, do you know what you just said?”

He wasn’t floating or anything, hadn’t really gone numb or thoughtless like he did when they played. They were just making out, getting a bit heated, but nothing like they had the night before.

“Um, no? I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”

“You called me daddy.”

Eddie sat up.

“I didn’t mean to. I-”

“Eds, baby, breathe.” Steve’s hands were solid against his shoulders, holding him down, keeping him tethered to their bubble of safety. “You’re okay. We’re okay.”

“But it’s weird, right? It’s different than what we do. And we didn’t ever talk about that and you shouldn’t have to-”

Steve’s lips against his shut him up quickly, but his mind still raced with apologies and excuses, things he could say to make sure Steve wouldn’t run from him.

“Sweet boy, nothing we do and nothing you could ever say is going to be weird to me. It just startled me a little.” Steve kissed the tip of his nose while his hands rubbed gentle circles into his upper arms. “You never mentioned that’s something you were into before.”

“I didn’t think it was something I was into,” Eddie admitted, cheeks red. “I’ve never been into it before.”

“Not even in porn?”

Eddie shook his head. “I didn’t really get it.”

“Do you wanna talk about why you said it?” Steve was always so careful and kind, patient when Eddie felt ready to explode.

“I just felt cared for.”

“More than usual?”

“I guess,” Eddie shrugged. “I wasn’t even floating or anything. I just knew you’d make sure I was okay and that you’ve been making sure I was okay all day.”

“Yeah. I’ll always take care of you, baby, you know that.” Steve pecked his lips. “Do you think you wanna call me that sometimes?”

Eddie didn’t really know. He certainly hadn’t put any thought into it before now, and he didn’t think Steve had either. And with how he was still coming off of his drop, and how stressed Steve had been this morning, maybe now wasn’t the time to dissect it.

“Maybe.” Eddie leaned his head forward, resting it against Steve’s broad chest. Steve’s arms wrapped around him, centering him. “Think I need to sleep on it.”

“Mkay, baby. Whenever you’re ready,” Steve kissed the top of his head. “You wanna keep going or just cuddle?”

Eddie knew it would feel good to keep going, but he could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones and muscles, and he knew that Steve was probably just as tired. Anything they did now would be born out of necessity, not because they wanted to work each other over.

“Cuddle.”

“You’re so good for me, baby.”

He let the words wash over him as Steve pulled him against his chest. They settled together, Steve’s fingers tracing patterns along Eddie’s back and sides until all he could focus on was being surrounded by Steve’s love.

“Love you so much, sweet boy,” Steve whispered as Eddie slowly drifted to sleep.

The next time he woke up, he’d smile and curl further into Steve’s side and he’d start his day feeling good.

He’d always feel good with Steve by his side.

[acowardinmordor]

Continuing from This, but definitely not resolving anything yet.

You Left Me, You Miss Me

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

----

Steve’s eyes watered and he pinched his lips tighter, restraining his reaction. But he didn’t break. He wouldn’t. Couldn’t. He refused. 

Robin crammed the next marshmallow into her cheek, barely managing to get her lips back together around the mass of sugar fluff, and kept the game going. 

First one to swallow, chew, laugh, or fail to fit the next marshmallow would lose. 

They hadn't decided what the winner was going to get, but neither of them were willing to lose. Even in stupid games they invented while exhausted and tipsy and giggly after midnight. 

He had Robin, and that made the rest of it easier to bear. 

Painless? No. 

But he didn’t spend his days wallowing in agony and crying into pillows. It ached the way a bruise did; a constant dull throb in the background, and only vivid if something smacked into it. He’d walked off worse. He carried deeper scars. He could grin and laugh and act like it was normal on the rare times he saw the others. 

And he could grin and laugh and be normal around Robin. 

She’d taken a gap year, and was planning to clear some gen ed credits at a community college in the spring, then make new choices. Steve was planning to follow her. 

That was what had them drinking and shoving marshmallows in their faces. She chose a place closer to Indianapolis, they’d called around and had a list of places they might be able to rent, and while any and all ice cream shops were forever banned, there were plenty of places where they could work. 

Steve nodded to acknowledge her successful marshmallowing, and reached for another of his own. 

It was the seventh. 

It was ambitious.

It did not go well. 

An hour later -- after a burst of giggling gave both of them utterly disgusting, half-choking, half-spitting marshmallow down themselves fits -- they changed into new pajamas, washed faces, drank water, and ate a few chips to chase off the sugar coating their tongues, they curled up in Steve’s bed. 

“We should drive up tomorrow,” Robin mumbled. 

“We have work. Birdie.”

“Ugh, fine. Thursday. We both have Thursday off.”

“Sure. Thursday."

"We’ll go find a place to live so we can get out of this town.”

“Anything’ll be better than here.”

“You sure you don’t want me to go over and--”

“Nah, it’s fine Robs. It happens. We’re gonna go live something better.”

“Damn right we… are…” She trailed off as she fell asleep, laying across his chest. 

It wasn’t the end of the world. He knew, in graphic detail, what that was like. This was life. This was kids growing up and finding friends that fit in better. This was all of them letting go of the desperate grip on each other that shared trauma had caused.

This was healing. 

Steve was a bit part in the movie of their lives. An extra who wandered in to keep them safe, sent on his way when the danger passed. It wasn’t their fault that they meant more to him than he did to them. The whole definition of who he was, and who he wanted to become changed because of them. They were everything for him, and he'd give everything to them.

He wished there was something he could give them, but the closest he could manage was departure.

He wasn’t mad at them, so he never let Robin see how it broke his heart. She’d have grabbed his bat and started hunting. She knew they weren’t inviting him around as much. She knew they were being distant. She knew that Steve tried at first, then stopped. She knew he was upset, she just didn’t - couldn’t - know how much. 

It wouldn’t do any good. 

And in a few weeks, top of the new year at the latest, they’d be living in Franklin, Indiana, assuming they didn’t decide last minute to move into the city itself. He would close the book on this part of his life, and start a new one. One where the guy he used to be wasn’t a permanent stain, and he could make friends without tragedy pushing them together.

He'd never find anyone else like Robin, but maybe he could have friends who would want to keep him, just because they liked him.

---

Part Three

there will be more. don't know when. and I'm so bad at Tag lists that I just don't do them anymore. sorry ducklings.

ps if someone has a suggested name so I can tag these blips of story, that'd be great.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

hello! here’s a ficlet prompt for you if you’re still taking them: I’d love to read something about ed and stede getting older together over the years and maybe having a little discussion about it 🥰

"Stede, love," Ed said, as gently as he could as he sat Stede's evening cup of hot chocolate on the side table next to him, "you've been really quiet all day."

Stede just hummed, looking down at the wonky pair of socks he was knitting, and Ed took a sip of his own cocoa, swinging his legs up onto the couch next to Stede, and contented himself to listen to the irritable clack of Stede's knitting needles for a while.

Getting things out of Stede could still be like pulling teeth, sometimes, and Ed knew he just had to wait it out and see if Stede wanted to talk. Just the same now as it used to be, even now that they'd gotten past the days where they could joke that Stede's hair was cinnamon-sugar to match Ed's salt-and-pepper, now that Stede was mostly sugar and Ed was mostly salt. Now that Stede had to wear those fussy little glasses almost all the time, and Ed couldn't stand to walk around without warm knitted socks on his feet, and -

"We had to stop and rest three times on the way to the market today," Stede said, then.

"Oh," Ed blinked. "Yeah, uh. We did."

And it had been nice. They'd sat and watched the ships flow in to the port for a while.

"It used to be," Stede said, "that we didn't have to stop and rest even once."

Ed blinked again. He supposed that was true -

"We're getting old, Ed," Stede said, and his voice broke.

"Aww, sweetheart," he said, gently taking Stede's knitting from his hands, rearranging them so Ed could toss his legs up into Stede's lap, and they could hold each other close. "We are, yeah. And is that a bad thing?"

Just meant things had to be different, was all. Ed needed to dress warmer and be even more careful of his knee. Stede was getting stiff hands. They needed more breaks, and liked their food a bit less adventurous, and Ed's hearing wasn't what it used to be. All that meant was more time to sit with each other, and help each other, and just be with each other as the hustle of life started to feel like it was getting slower every day.

Stede grumbled, sending the curl of hair over his forehead waving with a bitchy huff of an exhale. "It's not fair."

"Not fair."

"Not fair," Stede repeated. "It's not fair at all. We're getting old, Ed, and you don't know how much longer we've got left, and - it would only have been fair for time to slow down a bit, once we found each other."

"Not really sure that's -"

"I know that's not how it works, Ed," Stede snapped. "It's just not right, that I had to spend most of my life without you. It's not right I had to spend most of my life not getting to be myself. It's not fair, that I had to spend most of my life being miserable."

Ed sighed. Damn. That was...yeah. That did sting, when he put it like that. And there wasn't really anything Ed could do to change that - if they both lived to be a hundred, maybe?

But what were the odds of that?

"I'd do it all over again," he said, instead of trying to lean on empty promises. "All of it. Happily. Because I get to grow older with you."

Stede let his head flop dramatically back against the couch. That certainly hadn't changed over the years. "I mean. Yes. Me, too, obviously."

"Oh, obviously."

"Yes, obviously." Stede shushed Ed with a gentle flick to the tip of his nose, and they both smiled. "I suppose we at least got it right in the end, didn't we?"

Ed snuggled closer, resting his head on Stede's shoulder. "Yeah. We sure did."

"I just wish -"

"I know, babe. Me, too." Ed found one of Stede's hands, twining their fingers together. "I wish I'd have found you sooner, sure. But that doesn't take away from getting to have you now. Doesn't make the happiness go away."

"I've loved you since you were born, Ed," Stede said, his voice cracking with it.

Ed laughed, adoring, leaning up to kiss him. "Look at us. Couple of sappy old bastards."

Stede's smile was a proper smile, finally, as he wrapped his arms around Ed's chest to hold him just a bit closer. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

[deansapplepie]

Till THE DEAD do us part| Chapter 10

A/N: This story will take place in all the seasons, but it’s not exactly a rewriting cause I’d have to re-watch everything to use the exactly lines of the characters, also I think it’s better if I tell a side story without changing the main facts of the story.

This story has a Female Reader, but I don’t describe her appearance, so anyone can identify with her.

Chapter 9 Chapter 11

Masterlist

Chapter 10: I’d carry it proudly

Summary: Y/N and Daryl get in the woods to practice some archery. Daryl gets to know more about Y/N, but she also wants to know about him. Things get heated between them.

Warning: light swearing, mentions of violence, mentions of psychological abuse, past trauma, mentions of pregnancy, Rick being an annoying big bro, make out session, smut, kisses, fingering, dry humping, Daryl’s almost a sex educator in this one. Minors do not interact. 18+ (Let me know if I forgot anything)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Grimes!Reader (Rick’s Sister)

Word Count: 7,961

Extra notes: I proofread the text, but English is not my first language, so feel free to correct any mistakes, of course with love. ALSO, this is my first smut in English, so I hope it’s not too bad.

“Ready for yer crossbow lessons?” Daryl asked sitting by your side to have breakfast.

“I was born ready, babe.” You answered before shoving some eggs on your mouth. “But if I’m not good at it, the fault is gonna be on the teacher.”

“Let me guess, and if ya’re good is just ‘cause ya’re a pro on everything.” He answered, raising a brown and with a smirk on his face.

“Of course, I have my own merits.” You elbowed him playfully. “Where are we going to practice?”

“Thought ‘bout going into the woods and making some targets in different places and distances. Think it’ll be good to teach ya.” He said starting to eat.

“And how’s your wound? Do you think it’s safe to go?” You asked concern in your voice.

“It’s good, not as painful as befor’” he said, but he didn’t say it didn’t have pain at all. “ ‘sides that, we aren’t going on Nervous Nelly and I have ya to cover my back. I guess we’re jus’ fine.”

You finished eating and then went to prepare everything for leaving the farm to train, you changed your clothes and took your gun and knife to go. You left Luna with Carl and headed to Daryl’s camp, apparently he didn’t want to leave the place. He told you he didn’t want to be annoyed, you questioned how come you could be around and he didn’t had an answer he just grunted, or he didn’t had the courage to tell you he didn’t want you there too or you were the only one he tolerated.

He was ready and waiting for you when you arrived, after that you went in the direction of the woods, walking side by side. The weather was still a little bit warm, but it was starting to have a cold breeze, which means fall and winter were on their way. In the old world, you used to enjoy this seasons, but now you weren’t so sure about it, cause you didn’t know if you would have a roof to be when the really cold weather came.

“That day, did ya think I was going to beat Carol?” Daryl surprised you with a question, bringing you back from your thoughts.

“No, not at all. But I must confess you scared me a little. Beating women just doesn’t sounds like you. I’d never think that.” You said, your hand tentatively brushing on his while you two walked.

“Was… the bastard that hurt you like Ed?” Wow, you didn’t really see that coming. Did he thought your reaction had something to do with it? Did you look so angry that day that he thought it was related to past traumas? Well, maybe it was a little but either way, you think you’d not let he treat anyone that didn’t deserved like that, in the same way you’d not permit anyone to treat him like that.

“Not exactly…” You touched a tree while you were passing. “The psychological abuse? Yes, but he never laid a finger on me. The only time he tried was when we broke up, well, I broke up with him, but luck me we were at Rick’s for a family barbecue and Shane happened to be just passing by the living room. So you must imagine how it all ended.” You didn’t like to talk much about it, but with Daryl seemed just right… Like he’d not judge you or take the guys side how many misogynists men would do.

“I’m sure he deserved all the special treatment Shane gave him.” Even talking with you he observed everything around you, what made you impressed on how he could focus so perfectly on two things.

“You should see, he got worse than Ed.” You took a deep breath, you just wished you could forget everything about him, about that time and about all the words you used to hear from him.

“Nothing that he ever told ya is true.” He brushed his hand against your and caught your pinky on his.

“How could you know?” You observed the dried leaves you were stepping along the way.

“ ‘cause I know ya.” He simply said, for him it was enough and on his mind nothing would ever justify the abuse someone suffered, he could understand it better than anyone.

“He was a sick son of bitch.” You took a glance at your intertwined pinkies and couldn’t help but give a small smile.

“For sure, he had an incurable case of small dick.” You weren’t expecting this sassy remark, but stopping to think it really sounded like something Daryl would say. You couldn’t hold the laugh, he wasn’t completely wrong… Not that you had seen too many dicks in your life, Paul had been your first and only boyfriend being with him during the late high school years, college and a little bit after it, so his dick was the only one you had seen officially speaking, but you already watched porn and his were kind of small if you compared, not even medium to be honest. “By the laugh, I know I’m right.”

“Now, that you already made I confess my darkest secrets, I think it’s fair if you tell me something about you.” You said, you actually didn’t know what to ask, there was so many things you wanted to know about him, but you also didn’t want to pass the limits.

“I think it’s good here.” He stopped in front of a group of trees that conveniently were organized by mother nature transversally and would be perfect for the practice. “How about ya do yer best on our training and if ya do good, I answer whatever shit ya want to know.”

“Deal. Be prepared to answer me whatever I want.”

He got a hammer from his bag and some nails, with it he nailed four wood boards, one in which tree. He was really prepared for the lesson and got you impressed. After nailing the last wood board he came to you.

“First, let’s talk about position. Ya know how to shot a gun, a rifle too. It’s a bit similar.” He took his crossbow and handed it to you, then he positioned himself behind you. “Keep yer legs a bit apart from the other.” He signaled with his feet touching yours to show how it should be. “Now the posture, keep yer spine straight, shoulders to the back.” He placed a hand on your back and with the other hand he pushed one of your shoulders to show where it should be. His hands were so warm that you could feel it even with some layers of clothing. “Now, show me how ya hold a rifle.” You hold the crossbow just like if you were going to shoot a rifle. He covered your arms with his and put his hands on top of yours just positioning it a bit better. “Good, that’s it.” He said by your ear, his lips almost touching you, you could even feel his stubble, sending chills throughout all of your body. “Now if ya wanna have a good shot ya need to look here.” He pointed the middle of the weapon. “When ya see where ya wanna shoot, just press here. Just like a gun.”

“And now?” You asked, almost not breathing, aware of his presence and trying to remain like he said.

“Now you need to learn how to put an arrow in the bow.” He distanced himself from you and you almost cried for losing the contact.

“It can’t be hard, right?” You asked relaxing and pulling at the cord from the crossbow, it was very strong, you’d need to use some force to do it.

“If ya have strong arms it isn’t.” He said. “Gimme it here.”

He took the bow and showed you how you had to pull the cord and then the arrow. It looked so easy with him doing it, like it was nothing.

“Now, ya try.” He handed you the bow back.

You needed to use all your strength to do it, but you did and you didn’t complain in any moment even though you felt a light pain on your arm.

“Try to aim at the middle of the boards, the middle is the walker brain. Too much for the sides and it means the arrow missed.” He said, leaning on a tree that was behind you.

“Are you making unrealistic rules so I can’t ask you your deepest secrets later?” You questioned while positioning yourself to shoot for the first time.

“Nah, I just don’t want ya to be a shitty archer. Ya can thank me later.” He said unamused.

“Well, let’s start then.” It couldn’t be too different than a gun, right? He even said it himself.

You aimed at the first tree, the one that was closer. Daryl made the rule that you could just move to the others when you hit at least close to the middle of the board. You concentrated yourself, took a breath and shot it hitting the extreme left of the board, so the arrow fell a little after the tree. You huffed disappointed and went ahead to get the arrow back. When you turned back, you saw a smirk on Daryl’s face.

“What are you smirking about?” You asked him, you wanted to know what was so funny.

“Ya thought it would be super easy, didn’t ya?” He had a mocking smile on his lips and you wanted to punch him and at the same time kiss his handsome sexy lips.

“I didn’t. BUT I expected I would at least hit close since I aimed at the middle of the thing.” You protested, you were good at shooting and you knew it would take a lot of work from anyone that wanted to be an archer like Daryl.

You prepared the bow one more time to shoot again, honestly now you could get why Daryl’s arms were so muscular, pulling the cord everyday all day was a damn work out. You positioned yourself once again to aim at the target.

“I know ya said, ya didn’t like him like that. But, don’t ya think Shane like ya?” Daryl asked, trying to sound cool as it wasn’t a question running on his mind for a long period of time. First he had thought about it back at the quarry, while you two got close he would receive nasty looks from Shane, as if he hated him. Then he started to return the same looks, and still today he would receive the stares from Shane. When you told your story about your ex, he couldn’t help but question if Shane did what he did because you were like a little sister or because he liked you in a different way.

“Really? Now are you trying to make me lose my concentration?” You got out of position to look back at him.

“No, ya don’t have time to concentrate when there’s a walker coming. Go back to yer position, continue aiming at the target and answer ma question.” He answered gesturing with his hand for you to get back to the job.

“Bossy…” you murmured turning back to the target. “Now you owe me 2 questions.”

“Whatever.”

“No, he never looked at me like that, I guess.” You positioned your body in the correct way again. “I’m 6 years younger than them, or something like this, which means when they started to get into girls, I was still a kid. They babysat me and used the cute little sister card to impress the girls. So, nah.”

“But ya grew.” He gnawed his finger nervously praying that you didn’t look back. He listened to your heavy sigh, then you shot the target and were able to hit a little bit more on the inside, but still not close enough to the center.

“Well, in case you didn’t notice, he’s not exactly afraid of Rick. So if he wanted, he would have made a move.” You answered taking the arrow back from the board. “And, I’d have refused as I already told you before I never liked him like that.”

You were preparing once again the arrow to shoot, he said nothing. The same way he wished he should have kept his mouth shut back that day in the woods in the quarry. But once again he was relieved knowing not only you had no interest in Shane, but Shane had no interest in you.

“Is Daryl Dixon jealous?” You asked aiming at the target one more time and shoot hitting almost the middle of the target.

He took your success on hitting the target as an excuse to not answer your question, because he’d not admit he was indeed Jealous. “Congrats Pup, ya killed the walker. Now move to the next target.”

“And you are not answering my question.” You said while moving to be in front of the second target.

“I’ll answer when ya finish hitting the targets.” He answered grumpy as if he wasn’t the one making personal questions.

“You better do.” You said and shot an arrow on the second target.

You continued training with the bow, every time you changed for a target in a more distant tree it would get more difficult to hit the board and took more time from you to get close to the middle. From time to time Daryl would come to you and help to correct your posture. When you got to the last tree it was taking a little longer from you to hit the target, more because your arms were tired and sore from pulling the cord on the crossbow many times.

You had already lost count on how many shots you had on the fourth and last target. You could tell Daryl your arms were aching and that you wanted to stop, and you were sure he wouldn’t mind. But you didn’t want to give up and go back defeated, also you were expecting you could make some questions to him. There was so many things you wanted to know that you weren’t even sure what to ask. You decided to give yourself 5 chances to hit the board, if you didn’t succeed you’d give up and tell Daryl you’d try another day.

You shot one time, too high. Another one, too low. You tried a third time and it hit on the right side, not too distant from the border, but not exactly close to the middle. You took a deep breath, aimed at the target and shot hitting it almost in the middle. “YEAH!” You shouted jumping in excitement. “Did you see D.? I got it!”

You jumped at him letting the crossbow fall to the ground. You were so happy to achieve the goal that he couldn’t help but smile at you. When you threw yourself at him both of you lost the balance and fell to the ground, you on top of him. He let out a groan feeling pain in his still in recovery wound.

“Oh my gosh, D. I’m sorry. Are you ok?” You asked looking worriedly at him. “Let me check if the stitches are ok.”

He held your hand before you could put it under his shirt and lift it. “I’m ok. I don’t feel blood dripping from my injuries. Don’t need to check.” The move didn’t go unnoticed by you, but you knew about his boundaries, or some of them, you just didn’t know why.

Your knees were on each side of his hips and you didn’t want to waste one of your questions just to know if he was jealous or not. You knew he was, even if he’d never admit it out loud. You looked at his face and finished on his eyes. “You have no reason to be jealous, ‘cause I only have eyes for you and in all those years you’re the only one that made me feel like this, Daryl Dixon.” That wasn’t a love confession, but was really close to it. You didn’t want to scare him or to be rejected by him, but you wanted to reassure him, soothe him and make him feel secure.

The hold you had on him was out of this world, it scared him and comforted him at the same time. He tried to stay away, to push you away… and just like a magnet he was dragged back to you. He stopped fighting a long time ago, but sometimes the life he had before, who he was before, what he suffered… all of this came back to him, and having you saying this words to him, like he was special to someone, special to you, it made him never want to let go of you. He wanted to be selfish and feel that he deserved you, and that he was all the good things you told him.

He crushed his lips on yours, one hand on the back of your head pulling you closer to him. Your hands traveled on his shoulders and arms while you kissed fervently. His hands descended to your hips, fingers brushing on the skin under your shirt. You needed more, oh, you needed way more. You rolled your hips on his, searching for some friction your core aching to feel something, anything. You could feel his voluminous hard on, earning a groan from him, this time not a painful one. He bulked his hips on yours again as you did the same with him, his hands went to your butt grabbing and squeezing it, making a moan scape your lips and go into his. His tongue fighting for dominance with your, making a mess of lips, teeth, tongue and saliva.

A growl coming from your left startled you making you separate yourself from Daryl, that for the first time was ignoring everything around him and hadn’t listen to a damn thing. One second he looked confused at you for parting from him, the other he saw you picking the crossbow that was thrown on the ground, you pulled the cord, put the arrow, aimed at the walker and next second it was on the ground, dead with an arrow on its head.

“That was hot.” He looked at you in awe. He sat up and hands still on your butt. You put the crossbow aside, your arms around his neck. “Ya saved our asses.”

“Guess, Walkers are easier than trees or… I had a pretty good teacher.” You said, a mischievous smile on your face and he couldn’t resist but give a peck on your lips.

“We need to go. It’s clearly not safe here.” He was right. Very reluctantly he let go of your butt, you got up and extended your hand to help him up.

You retrieved the arrow from the walker’s skull and cleaned it. You caught everything you had brought and put in your bags to go back to the farm. On your way back, Daryl took your hand in his, cheeks blushing and all, but he tried to pass normality.

“Yer arms hurt, don’t they?” He asked squeezing your hand a little. You never complained, but he knew that you would feel it, you were not used to this kind of exercise. Also, he saw your pained face every time you’d prepare to shoot again, he didn’t say anything because he felt like he could discourage you if he did.

“A lot.” You confessed. “How did you know?”

“Ya’re not used to it, I knew it would hurt. Also, it was all written on yer face.” He said glancing at you for some seconds. “Ya never complained, ya’re gonna be a good archer.”

“Thanks.” You couldn’t stop smiling since your training spot. That was really a good day, you learned how to use a crossbow, you had a hot make out session with the man that controlled all your thoughts and you used a crossbow to kill a walker.

“When all the shit with the group that attacked in the city is over, maybe we can find a crossbow for ya in a hunting shop or something.” He suggested and you liked the idea very much. You wanted to train more, and having a silent weapon that could shoot a long distance was a good thing. You didn’t know till when you’d have ammo.

“It sounds perfect to me.” You said taking a glance at him, the smile that you couldn’t hide all over your face and hardening you grip on his hand.

You came back to the farm, hand in hand. You left Daryl on his camp, he said soon he’d join the others to help with whatever was needed. You went back to the house almost jumping in excitement, a smile still on your lips. Rick, Lori and Carol were on the porch, talking about something.

“Guess what” you announced once you were close enough. “I’m a pro with a crossbow. Even killed a walker with it.”

“Hope you killed it with an arrow and not throwing the crossbow on it.” Rick couldn’t resist but make funny of you, it was stronger than him… it was impregnated in his big bro genes in the same way his protection was.

“Haha, very funny.” You pretended not seeing the fun on his joke. “I killed it with an arrow, ask Daryl if you don’t believe me.”

“Talking about Daryl… We all saw you holding hands on your way back. Are you now official?” Carol couldn’t contain her curiosity, it was time for you to stop pinning on each other.

“We were holding hands.” You pathetically answered not actually answering the question and just repeating what she said. What should you say? You never put names on anything and you never talked about it. It was too early too.

“Yes, we saw Y/N. But that wasn’t what Carol asked.” Lori stated. “Did something else happened?”

“Stop! Nothing happened.” You replied defensively feeling your cheeks burn and blush run on your face.

“Y/N and Daryl under a tree kissing!” Rick singsonged.

“Shut up! What are you? Ten?” You gave him a light punch on his arm.

“Are you going to help with dinner today?” Lori asked rocking in the chair.

“Yes, with anything actually. Came here to see what you needed help with. Though, I would be eternally grateful if it was something that I didn’t need to move my arms a lot, cause they are hurting badly.” You threw yourself on one of the chairs.

“I’m not gonna ask what you did, because I’m afraid…” Rick was impossible annoying that day, always picking on you.

“Try shooting with a crossbow multiple times and then talk to me Rick. Why did you decide to be jerk today?” You threw the words at him.

Rick would be lying if he said he was calm, he wasn’t. After the attack on the city, the people he killed, his pregnant wife, his traitor best friend and now having to deal with the young man they brought with them from the city… He was far from good, so playing with you, like the old times, brought a sense of normalcy, just as if life wasn’t a shit anymore.

“No reason, I just like to pick on you.” He said before leaving and messing all your hair with his hands.

Later you helped with the dinner and also with the dishes when everybody finished it. There was no way of escaping doing activities with your arms, you needed them for almost everything. You were scrubbing the dishes when you felt a presence by your side, arms brushing on yours.

“What if ya wash and I dry?” Daryl asked.

“I’d appreciate it. Also, the company makes all the difference.” You answered washing some of the plates.

“Are ya going to my tent tonight?” He asked while he dried the plates.

“Do you want me to go?” You asked, you knew he wanted. The simple act of asking you was an indicator that he expected you to go, but you couldn’t just resist and make him talk.

“Yes, I sleep better when ya’re with me.” He blushed, he couldn’t see and he hoped you didn’t see but his face was pretty much red.

“So, I’m going. I also sleep better with you.” You answered while you washed the cutlery. “Just need to take my things on my tent.”

“Take what?” He asked, what would you need besides yourself?

“I’m not sleeping in jeans everyday. I need to wear something comfortable.” You said passing him the cutlery. “Maybe is good if take my sleeping bag too, what do you think?”

“Mine can fit both of us.” He said, he felt that if you had one more sleeping bag you would sleep more distant from him. Which he knew wasn’t true, because don’t matter how you slept, you always ended up hugging him.

“Ok, your tent your rules. I get it.” You answered in defeat. “But, I’ll still pick a change of clothes.”

When you finished with the dishes you said your ‘good nights’ to whoever was still around and went to your tent picking your change of clothes. He went first to his camp while you took your things and headed there too. Lori had asked you early why didn’t you simply disassembled your barrack and moved to his, but having your own tent was a security, if you needed you had it and besides that you could store your things in it.

When you got there he was finishing organizing his things. “Ya can go in, I’m going in a minute.” He said turning to face you and went back to finish what he was doing.

You entered his tent and looked around, everything screamed Daryl, you were getting so used to it that you started to think it was a little bit yours too. You had brought your beloved sleeping shorts and a comfortable oversized t-shirt. You decided to change while Daryl didn’t come. You unbuttoned your jeans and took it of, when you were finishing taking your legs out of it, Daryl entered and he could swear he almost had a heart attack.

“Wha’ are ya doing?” He asked voice high pitched a little in the end of the sentence, glued to his spot unable to think straight, he didn’t look away, but he didn’t move too.

“Changing my clothes?” You said uncertain, but tried to maintain your cool. You mean… you had slept together, but you didn’t sleep together in all the meanings of the word, just the basic meaning. So you hadn’t seen any parts from each other that you weren’t supposed to see. On the other hand, he had his hands on your butt just a few hours ago, so…

“And ya didn’t think ‘bout giving me a heads up?” He asked, trying hard not to look at your showing legs and what he could see of your ass, and failing to do so. He couldn’t take his eyes of you and you could feel his eyes burning on your skin.

“Didn’t think I needed to, besides that you had your hands on my butt earlier today, so what’s the difference on you looking at it?” You answered nonchalantly, wearing your shorts. “See, just covered my ass, but you can still see my legs.”

You took the hem of your shirt on your fingers and lifted it up, taking it out. Daryl couldn’t take his eyes off you, you had your bra on, but could he wish you didn’t? He turned around and finished closing the zipped door, when he turned back you were already wearing your comfortable shirt. You sat on his sleeping bag and looked at him.

“Aren’t you going to change to something more comfortable to sleep?” You asked, you weren’t expecting a show but, if you received it you’d not mind. He stayed in silence averting his eyes from yours. “Are you taking care of your wounds? I can help if you want.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry. Did I pass the limits?” You said, now truly concerned that maybe you should have given him a heads up about changing your clothes. You told him before, you could go slow, but maybe Rick was right… you were jumping from a plane with no parachute.

“No, it’s just…” he tried to find the words, but it was so, so difficult to talk about his feelings. He sat by your side, a little distant from you. “I… my body… it’s…”

“I already saw it before, you know? Not when Hershel was patching you up. One time, you thought nobody was looking and changed your shirt in the middle of the camp. I was looking. It wasn’t my intention, but I couldn’t help but stare, cause you’re the most handsome man I ever saw.” You honestly told him, you went to him, hugging him from behind, your palms on his stomach and your chin resting on his right shoulder.

“You can’t be serious…” he muttered.

“I am. Every single thing that is part of you, is special for me.” You kissed his neck and he sighed. It was a little overwhelming putting so many of your feelings on the table like this in just one day, when Daryl couldn’t really express what he felt. But you couldn’t resist the urge to reassure him about everything.

He didn’t know where he got the courage from, but he took your hands from his stomach and led them to the first button of his shirt. You asked if he really wanted that, and he just nodded. One by one, you opened all his buttons and them pulled it sliding through his arms. Looking at his scars close, was totally different than when he was far, at the same time your heart ached you couldn’t help but admire him, how handsome he was and mainly the man he had become after all the shit he probably went through to have those marks on his body.

You said nothing and he was so afraid you would regret the beautiful words you told him and that now you were disgusted by him, but those worries went away when your lips touched the other side of his neck, your hands went to his arms. Soon you descended your kisses to his shoulders and you caressed his sides. He closed his eyes and tried to forget everything else, how could a precious thing like you think he was worthy? How could you make he feel whole? You kissed every scar on his back, including the new one that was going to be there from the recent wound and at which kiss you’d take a deep sigh from him.

You moved to be in front of him and sat on his lap, one leg on each side of him. He also had scars on his chest and you kissed each of them. You ran your fingers on his hair and looked at his face. He looked at your eyes and he saw pure adoration, no disgust, no pity… just admiration and respect.

“What are you going to wear? Do you have any comfortable shirt?” You, poor little thing, were worried about what he would wear, when you had just kissed all of him provoking all kinds of emotions, from the purest of them to the dirtiest one and now he didn’t even want you wearing anything.

He put his big hands on your face, with one he caressed your cheek and the other he used to brush his thumb on your bottom lip. You were mesmerized, caught in the moment and couldn’t move, you were stuck on his baby blue eyes. In all his life, he could never have guessed that he would be so lucky in the middle of a fucking apocalypse. Yes, dead people were walking around pestering the world. Yes, his brother was god knows where. And yes, he still had to fight for his life, to have food on his plate and to survive. But, knowing you was never something he thought that could happen to him and for that he felt like the luckiest bastard in the world.

He brought his lips to yours tenderly, and just then you came out of the daze you were in and closed your eyes kissing him back. You put one hand on his nape tugging a little at his hair while your fingers massaged the place, your other arm was hanging lazily on his shoulder while your hand touched his back lightly. You kissed slowly, but passionately. He took his time to appreciate your lips, his tongue caressed your lips and you opened them compassionately just waiting to feel his tongue on yours. It was so deliciously electrifying that a moan left your lips, and you had just kissed. His hands descended from your face to your shoulders and soon he was cupping your breasts eliciting another moan from you and making your hips buck earning a groan from him. Your lips parted from each other gasping from air.

“If ya want me to stop…” Daryl started to say, but you didn’t let him finish afraid that he would stop.

“Don’t. Please…” You almost begged bringing his torso the closest you could to your body.

“Good, ‘cause this is gettin’ on ma way and I don’t wan’ it on ya anymore.” He tugged your shirt up taking it from you.

He took some seconds to admire what he had in front of him, the gorgeous woman he had in his arms, before his lips went to your jawline kissing, nibbling and licking. His lips went down your neck treating it with same attention he had given to your jaw, finally finding that spot, that sweet delicious spot… You let out another moan trusting your hips on his one more time, starting to move them against him craving for some contact, to feel more than you were already feeling. Your hands were everywhere on him, his shoulders, his chest, his abdomen and gods… you really wanted to take it a little more down. You felt his increasing bulge on his pants, and it was a wonderful sensation still wearing clothes, you couldn’t even imagine how it would be to feel him skin to skin, you full of him would probably be paradise.

He descended his lips to your shoulders sliding the straps of your bra down, his hands were on your lower abdomen, grabbing, squeezing and going down. His hand got to the waistband of your shorts and as if it was nothing it slided inside your shorts stopping covering your clothed pussy. You were so wet and he hadn’t even made you cum yet. “Ya’re so wet, baby. Is that all for me?” his voice was hoarse and husky and just the act of talking close to your ear made you feel that coil sensation on your lower stomach. You whined unable to bring words to your mouth, you just wanted to continue, for him to take you there and now, but that wasn’t Daryl’s plan. He wanted to do unspeakable things with you, but everything had it’s own time and a right way of happening,

“Yes, Daryl… please gimme more.” You pleaded your voice low just as if you couldn’t breath.

“Shhh… it’s ok, baby. I got ya.” He said slipping his hand inside your panties and now running his fingers on your impossibly wet folds.

He took your lips again on his while his thumb started to caress and make pressure on your clit, making you whimper and moan. He was loving eliciting all those sweet little sounds from you and all the reactions he was causing too. How many times have he daydreamed about having you like this? You were just at his mercy and taking everything he gave you. He slipped one finger inside you and you let out a gasp with the new contact, the wonderful sensation. He moved his finger inside you while his thumb still caressed your bundle of nerves, your walls contracting on his finger.

You broke the kiss, giving him a peck on his lips and descending your lips to his neck and shoulders, while he pumped his finger in and out of you. When you find his spot he groaned, knowing you had found it you sucked it, nibbled it… you wanted him to feel as good as he was making you feel. He added another finger and continued to move, now more slowly as he felt your walls restraining his fingers. “So tight… baby, it must be heaven bein’ inside ya.” You cried out with the addition of another finger, gripping his arms firmly. The tingling sensation escalated so quickly to a new feeling you had never experienced before, a coil building in your lower stomach sending jolts of pleasure to your core making you clench around his fingers. “Oh, Daryl… I… what’s…” You couldn’t make a coherent thought or word come from your lips, you felt like you exploded not being able to control your body that shivered, shaked and clenched around Daryl.

His other arm encircled your body bringing you closer to him while you descended from your high, your face buried on his neck. “Ya did so good for me… Good girl… yes, baby…” he whispered while he caressed your back, his fingers still inside you waiting for you. “Ya good?”

“What was that?” You brought your face from his neck and looked at his face in awe. “I never felt so good.”

“I thought ya weren’t a virgin.” He looked confused, you already dated someone for years, so…?

“I’m not… but sex was just nice? Not like I was exploding and the world was falling apart around me.” You confessed, you never understood what was all the buzz about sex. Well, until now that you experienced it with Daryl, not the whole thing but…

“The son of a bitch never gave ya an orgasm?” He was incredulous, it wasn’t fair that in your whole life you had never experienced it. ‘Oh, so that’s how an orgasm should feel’, you thought. “Unbelievable.”

“C-can you do it again?” You asked shamelessly. You wanted, no, you NEEDED to feel that again.

He took his fingers from your pussy and lifted them to his mouth proving your juices, now he couldn’t help himself but imagine how it would be to have his face buried between your thighs. He hummed in approval licking your juices from his fingers. “Most delicious thin’ I ever tasted”, He kissed you again and now you could taste a bit of yourself from his mouth, and you never imagined how it would turn you on doing so. “Gonna take care of ya, but first let’s take yer shorts off. We don’t wanna do a mess on them.” He said, but by the way things were down there, he imagined it was already messy, well at least it probably wasn’t like your panties.

He helped you taking of your shorts and you sat again on his lap, your hand went to his waistband and you started to fight with his belt when his hands stopped your hands. “No, princess. Not today.” You looked at him confused, like what were you supposed to do if you didn’t take his pants off?

“Why?” You pouted without even noticing. “How are you going to relieve yourself too?”

“We dun have condoms baby.” He didn’t want to risk you getting pregnant, one baby on the way was enough for your group. Did he want desperately to have his cock inside you? Yes, he’d sell his soul for this, but in this world he needed to think with his brain even when he was thinking with his dick. “We’re gonna feel good in another way, ok?”

You just nodded, you trusted him so you knew he was telling the truth. You weren’t a virgin, but right now you felt just like one knowing nothing about sex, when in reality you did know something, you just didn’t know how pleasurable it really could be until some minutes ago.

You kissed him again sucking on his lips, both your hands on his hair, his hands on your back going down till he could feel your butt with no cloth between his hands and you. He grabbed your ass taking a moan from you that moved your hips against him, feeling his crotch on your sensitive and throbbing heat. “That’s it, baby. Move jus’ like that.” He praised you, encouraged you. His hands reluctantly left your butt and went to your back opening your bra, he finished sliding it from your arms.

“This is not fair…” you said while he cupped your breasts as you straddled him. “I’m almost naked and you’re all dressed.”

“Life’s not fair sweet thing…” he kissed your collarbone and soon his mouth was around your left nipple while his other hand played with your other one.

You couldn’t argue with him, in fact you didn’t even want to, you just wanted that he continued doing his thing and sending you to the edge. In few seconds, you were a moaning mess. Now both of you bucking your hips against each other, his lips moving to give the same attention to your other breast. His name escaped from your lips uncountable times while both of you chased your highs, the coil on you lower abdomen building every minute that passed. He already feeling like he’s going to erupt like a volcano on each trust from your hips and every little sound that came from your mouth. One of his hands tangled on your hair and the other travelled between your spine and your thigh. “Come on, baby. Like that… cum with me…” he looked in your eyes and you guided your hand between both of you until you found your clit circling it, pressing it… searching for the same explosion you felt earlier. “D… Daryl…” you whined, your walls clenching around nothing while you continued moving against him squirming from the tsunami of sensations that came from your core and spread throughout your body. Following you Daryl trusted his hips aimlessly on yours while the volcano inside him erupted consuming all of him.

He hugged you, one hand on your nape while the other was on your lower back. Panting and waiting for both of you to come down your highs. You kissed his shoulder before looking in his eyes, your hand caressing his cheek. He observed you, one of your hands still shoved between your legs, he took your pulse taking your hand from your panties and sucked your fingers to clean them from you. “Was it good for you?” You asked now both of your hand on his face, fingers drawing his cheek bones, his nose and his lips.

“More than good.” He hold both your pulses and kissed the inside of them. “What about we clean to sleep, hm?” You nodded at him. He took your shirt from the floor and helped you putting it on. “It’s getting cold, it’s better if ya cover yerself, but bras are prohibited in this tent from now on.” You couldn’t resist but giggle. He laid you down before going to his things and look for something. “Gonna change yer panties, kay? Ya can wear one of ma boxers.” He helped you out of your panties and right after it slided his boxers on you. “Now, I’m gonna change.”

You laid on your side head resting on your arm looking at him admiring the incredible man in front of you. “Am I getting a show?” You asked a naughty smile on your face.

“Nah, better not. Gotta keep some mystery for nex’ time.” He said turning his back to you and taking off his pants.

“Can I look at your cute butt at least?” You asked grinning. He didn’t even answer, just got out of his boxers letting his beautiful round cute ass on display for you, while he put on clean boxers and sweat pants. “Thanks, now I have the image of it to visualize when I’m not with you.”

He wore a shirt and laid with you on his sleeping bag, he hugged you from behind spooning you, his head on your shoulder. You hold his hand intertwining your fingers with his and getting cozy.

“In the end, I didn’t get to ask you anything.” You remembered of your deal for him to tell you something about him if you did good on your training.

“Ya can ask now.” Nuzzling at your neck.

“Why didn’t you want me to take your pants?” In fact you wanted to ask it in another way, but right at that moment you felt a little shy of asking it so bluntly.”It doesn’t count as a question.” You completed fast, before he thought you were throwing away one of your questions.

“I told ya, we dun have condoms. We can’t risk gettin’ ya pregnant.” He should have seen that coming, but well... “In case you dunno pulling out isn’t an effective contraceptive option.”

“I don’t care…” you said clearly not thinking straight he could see.

“Ya’re making no sense woman. Ya’re probably still high from yer orgasm.” He couldn’t help but snort a little at your behavior. “One baby Grimes on the way is enough.”

“Baby Dixon. If it was yours, it wouldn’t be a Grimes.” You said, and he was a little relieved you had your back to him, because he was blushing as hell at thought of impregnating you with a baby Dixon.

“Think it’s better if we sleep. We had a long day.” He tried changing the subject and fighting the urge to break the moment, to push himself away from you. He didn’t want this, but his nature, his inner voices told him to do so, and this time he wouldn’t listen to them.

“I’d carry it proudly, you know?” You said pressing your back against him, trying to be closer, but it was already impossible, since both of you were already too much close in this embrace. You took his hand that was intertwined with yours and took it to your mouth kissing the back of it. “Good night… you still owe me my questions.”

“Night, sweetheart.” He closed his eyes, hiding his face on your neck while both of you drifted to sleep.

Taglist: @milopenne @isakyakiisak @sunnybunnyy2 @royaltysuite @isakyakiisak @milopenne

@royaltysuite

Wanna be added to my taglist? Just tell me.