#yeah i definitely improved so that's nice to see!
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
hyperlexichypatia · 3 days ago
Text
Yeah, that is definitely a more comforting and hopeful thing to believe. It's also one of the many, many, many contexts in which I, as a liberal socialist, think the dichotomy between "liberals" and "leftists" makes no goddamn sense, but that's a separate issue. Maybe. Perhaps. But sure. It is more comforting and hopeful to believe that a political movement that has all the appearances of being motivated by malice, hierarchy, and domination is actually just motivated by material conditions.
And there is undoubtedly significant truth to this. Polls absolutely show that prices and the economy were a major factor for Trump voters; they weren't looking at any policy positions other than "Biden is president and prices are high, when Trump was president prices were lower, ergo Trump." It's highly likely that if economic conditions were better under Biden, or if Biden-Harris had appeared to have a better strategy for addressing them, Harris might have won the election. That's true! I'm not disputing that!
But we're still talking about a few percentage points -- yes, a few percentage points that could've swung an election in a two-party, winner-take-all electoral system, but still, a few percentage points, not a cultural movement.
The ideological fascism represented by Trump&Co is a cultural movement that has been thriving in the U.S. for decades and is paralleled by similar right-wing, authoritarian, nationalist, and fascist movements around the world, in Europe and India and China and Japan and many, many other countries. It's happening in countries with universal healthcare, and countries without. It's happening in countries with higher GDPs and countries with lower GDPs. It is not connected solely to economic conditions.
Also, right-wing voting correlates positively with income. The people most victimized by economic problems are not making up the bulk of the shift to the right, no matter how many hand-wringing thinkpieces about "the white working class left behind by liberal elitists" get written (you'd think The Hillbilly Elegy Guy becoming Trump's VP would have permanently discredited that theory, but thinkpiece writers have never been able to read the room).
The relationship between the housing crisis and right-wing political movements is sometimes framed as though the phenomenon is "People unable to afford housing vote right-wing on the assumption that right-wing policies will improve their economic prospects," and while there are some instances of that, people who can't afford housing are not Trump's base. Trump's base are housed people who are angry that they see unhoused people panhandling outside their Nice Neighborhood and are angry that Those Damned Liberals won't round them up and put them in debtor's prisons or just shoot them.
And. Like. Again, as a liberal socialist, I think the government should, actually, be guaranteeing everyone housing and healthcare and food and education! Those are policies I support because I think they're the right thing to do anyway! So I would very much like to believe that these policies, that I already believed in for other reasons, would also have the side benefit of making people less bigoted and authoritarian and fascistic, and, I don't know, maybe it would help a little, but for how long?
Because there will always be ups and downs in material conditions, at least until we achieve full post-scarcity. I mean. I absolutely want to abolish capitalism and economic inequality, and want the effects of ups and downs in material conditions to be borne equally across the population rather than the hoarding of wealth we have now, but even in a socialist utopia, there will be shortages. There will be crises. There will be natural disasters. There will be outbreaks at the egg farms (yes even if there are regulations and proper procedures, sometimes these things just happen!), and there will be times when there are no eggs on the shelf. If humanity is going to get hold of our climate/energy crisis before we make the planet entirely unlivable, there will be gas shortages. There will be rationing. There will be reductions in energy and material resources used for leisure travel, and that is the absolute ideal, best-case scenario. And if people's response to being told "Sorry, there's no eggs today" or "Sorry, there's no gas today," or, heaven forfend but completely necessarily, "Sorry, only a limited number of people can own personal vehicles, you'll have to take the bus, oh, and the person sitting next to you on the bus might be queer or Black or Jewish or schizophrenic or another demographic you hate" is to become fascists, then humanity will flat-out not survive. As long as people's culturally ingrained default response to adversity is "Blame a despised minority group, identify as better and more deserving than someone else, divide people into in-group and out-group," fascist ideologies will continue to be a recurring social problem.
And. I mean. That doesn't mean I know the solution! I don't! Scolding does not work! There is some evidence that exposure and personal interactions with actual people one is bigoted against reduces bigotry, as does representation of counter-stereotypical examples, but these are far from foolproof! There was integration in Germany before the Holocaust. There was integration in the Balkans before the Bosnian genocide. "Integration" alone is not sufficient to prevent bigotry nor even to stop it from becoming genocidal. But neither are better material conditions or economic systems, not when Belgium kills disabled children and China is actively committing a genocide (that half the "leftists" on this site are active deniers of) and so is Turkey and I could absolutely keep going.
But not knowing the solution to the problem of authoritarian, bigoted, hierarchical ideology doesn't mean we can write that off as a problem!
I actually think the real solution has to be fundamentally changing education away from hierarchy and competition, changing the system of children beginning in toddlerhood having to "earn" a position of being "better" than other children, but I'm also aware that this is unlikely to happen unless guaranteed material living standards are established for adults, because parents will never support non-competitive education as long as they rationally believe that education must prepare their children to compete for an ever-shrinking number of possibilities for a decent quality of life, because material conditions aren't actually separate from egalitarian liberal values and framing them in opposition is false in the first place.
(I also think a more practical relevance of material conditions to combating authoritarian ideology is not in improving the material conditions of authoritarians to make them less authoritarian, but improving the material conditions of the victims of authoritarianism so that they can better free themselves from their authoritarian abusers. Less "If that domestic abuser had a guaranteed income, he wouldn't abuse his partner" and more "If his partner had a guaranteed income, she could afford to leave her abuser." But for some reason, that isn't acknowledged as much.)
So no, I don't "have the answers" for combating authoritarian, bigoted, hierarchical, fascistic cultural attitudes, but I certainly think acknowledging that they are the problem is better than assuming that bigoted authoritarianism is Just What Happens When High Grocery Prices or Just What Happens When Feminists Are Mean or whatever else. People choose, on purpose, to subscribe to bigoted, hierarchical ideologies. People choose, on purpose, to build a worldview and identity around being intrinsically superior to some other kinds of people. It's not inevitable, and I don't buy that it's unchangeable.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Source
510 notes · View notes
flipppyflopp · 2 days ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“No sleeping in, not even on my birthday. There’s too much to get done to waste the day in bed.” 🎉✨
Happy birthday to my twst oc, Arlen Nox! I decided to do my spin on the new birthday card theme for Arlen even though they haven’t released a Diasomnia character yet, so Arlen might not match Silver and the others when they come out. Trey and Floyd were big inspirations for Arlen’s card from his to his pajamas. Specifically for his pajamas I wanted to incorporate Kingdom Hearts elements since Arlen’s main inspiration is Riku, so I tied in some dream eater references.
If you swipe you can see how Arlen spent part of his birthday as well as what presents he received from his friends. Below you can read Arlen’s birthday vignette written in a similar style to the new birthday vignettes, which guest stars the character voted as Arlen’s duo partner on Instagram…Silver! I hope you all enjoy and if you have any questions about Arlen, feel free to leave them in my inbox! ✨
.✨✨✨.
Arlen: Alright, I should be able to take these back to my room before track practice.
Arlen: Wait a second…who’s that lying on the ground up ahead? Are they hurt?
Arlen: Oh, it’s just Silver. I don’t have time to waste…but I hate to leave him in case he’s in a hurry to get somewhere too.
Arlen: Silver? Wake up, Silver. Now’s not the time to be napping. Silver! SILVER!
Silver: Huh? What? Oh, Arlen, it’s you.
Arlen: Yeah, sorry about yelling in your ear. You were sleeping pretty soundly.
Silver: Sorry for the trouble I caused. I appreciate you taking the time to wake me up.
Arlen: It’s fine. I was just on my way back from the post office and saw you laying there on the side of the path.
Silver: Post office? Not many students go there with all the technology available today.
Arlen: Unfortunately, I’m not the best with technology, so I go there quite frequently. Today, I was picking up a card my stepparents sent me.
Silver: A card? Were they congratulating you about your performance in the recent track meet?
Arlen: No, they sent me a birthday card.
Silver: Birthday? I’m terribly sorry if I missed it. Happy-
Arlen: Slow down, Silver, my birthday’s not until tomorrow.
Silver: Really? I apologize for getting ahead of myself.
Arlen: Quit apologizing, birthdays aren’t a big deal anyways. Just another day of the year.
Silver: Oh? Are you not a fan of big celebrations on your birthday?
Arlen: Not really? I don’t know, I just don’t understand the need to get so worked up about them. All you’re doing is getting older, what’s there to really celebrate?
Silver: Hmm. I suppose people just like to celebrate that you lived another year, uplifting your growth and the memories you made in that short span of time.
Arlen: Sounds about right, I guess. The best part’s getting to eat cake.
Silver: Really? I thought you weren’t a fan of sweets?
Arlen: Just ice cream, it’s way too sugary for my tastes. I enjoy cakes and pies just fine.
Silver: That explains Malleus’s initial reaction to you…
Arlen: Huh?
Silver: It’s nothing, just…hold on a moment, I just got a text from Sebek.
Silver: Oh no, I was asleep longer than I thought. I must be getting to the Equestrian Club. Farewell, Arlen!
Arlen: Bye, Silver.
Arlen: Guess I’d better hurry on myself. Chatting with Silver’s nice, but I can’t be late to practice or else I’ll have to run extra laps.
.✨✨✨.
Arlen: There’s nothing like a hot shower after practice.
Arlen: Speaking of practice, I need to write down my new personal best. Can’t believe I managed to shave off four seconds today. Maybe it’s some early birthday luck.
Arlen: The next track meet isn’t for another month, so I’ve got plenty of time to cut down more time off my personal best. I wish I could shave off some more time from our relay record, it could definitely use some improvement.
Arlen: Competing individually comes easier to me than competing as a group. When it’s just me, I only have to worry about myself. When I’m competing with others, I not only worry about myself, but I have to worry about the other guys as well. It’s a lot of trusting one another, which doesn’t come easily…especially in a school like Night Raven College.
Arlen: Luckily, Jack and Deuce handle their share of the relay just fine. Although, I wonder if by becoming closer it would shave off time for our relay….hmmm. Maybe I’ll treat them to dinner tomorrow after practice, they’d enjoy that.
*Bzzt*
Arlen: My phone? Who could that be? Oh, Soren wants to FaceTime. Sure for just a couple minutes.
Soren: ARLEN! What took you so long? It took you like three rings instead of two! What-
Arlen: Slow down, Soren. I just got back from showering after practice. I’m a bit sore today.
Soren: Oh, I see! Must be trying to beat my time from the track meet last week.
Arlen: Yeah right, you’re the one trying to catch up to me. Speaking of which, you’re going to have to work harder, I just shaved off four more seconds.
Soren: WAIT WHAT?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! Kai won’t believe me when I tell him tomorrow.
Arlen: I could always send you a picture of my time as proof.
Soren: Ha ha, very funny. Laugh it up while you can, you’ll be eating my dust soon enough.
Arlen: As if.
Soren: Oh let me tell you what happened in class today! So I was sitting with Neige…
*Time Passes*
Soren: I couldn’t believe it when Chenya came out of alchemy lab with bright green hands.
Arlen: Well that’s what you get when you mix aloe and pixie dust.
*Knock*
Lilia: Arlen, it’s past lights out. Off to bed with you.
Arlen: My bad!
Arlen: Sorry, Soren, we’ll have to talk later.
Soren: That’s fine. But before you go, I’ve got one last thing to say to you.
Arlen: What?
Soren: Happy birthday, Arlen!
*Click*
Arlen: Huh? Is it really-
Arlen: We talked for that long!? So that’s why he kept flying through topics, just to get to midnight.
Arlen: Wait…
Arlen: Why was Lilia doing lights out checks so late!? What was he doing?!
Arlen: No use wasting time thinking about that. I’ve got to get to bed so I can get up early.
.✨✨✨.
Arlen: Time to start the day. It’s nice waking up early because the dorm bathroom is completely empty. Most people don’t get up at the crack of dawn like I do. Sometimes I run into Sebek or Malleus, which is quite the jump scare as Idia would say.
Arlen: Alright, quick shower then it’s time to head out.
Arlen: I don’t spend too much time on my appearance. Just combing my hair, brushing my teeth, the usual. No point spending extra time when it’ll just get messy from the wind later.
Arlen: Some guys go all out with makeup and hair products, but that’s just not my thing. Just some lotion will do just fine. Dry skin gets on my last nerve.
Arlen: Alright, next on my morning routine. Time to go get the feed from my room. I like being outside early, it’s a good way to clear my head. I feed the animals around the dorm while I’m at, might as well since I’m already out.
Arlen: I can see the birds waiting up in the rafters of the courtyard. They always wait up there, never getting close till I put the feed out…I hope they’ll grow to like me some day. Animals just don’t seem to like me, I get it though.
Arlen: Hmm?
Arlen: A little sparrow is hopping right in front of me? Want something to eat little guy?
Arlen: Huh? Another bird’s come down? A rabbit too? I haven’t even put down any food yet!?
???: Getting along with the animals, Arlen?
Arlen: Silver! That explains why the animals got closer than normal.
Silver: I’m sure they’re just finally coming around to you.
Arlen: As if.
Silver: You just gotta have more confidence in yourself. The animals can tell you’re nervous. Here.
Arlen: Huh? What are you doing with that bird? Silver, wait-
Silver: Just put your hand out like so and the bird will have a nice place to sit. Perfect.
Arlen: Silver, take it back before I hurt-
Silver: You’re fine, just breathe. See? It’s okay.
Arlen: …
Silver: Arlen? I’m sorry if I rushed you into-
Arlen: So what are you doing up so early? Doesn’t a sleepyhead like you snooze through the morning.
Silver: Usually, yes, but I had something important this morning.
Arlen: Really?
Silver: Arlen, happy birthday.
Arlen: Huh? Ha…ha ha ha!
Silver: What’s so funny?
Arlen: Something important? It’s just my birthday. You said that like it was the secret to saving the world from darkness or something.
Silver: It’s important to me. I wanted you to know your birthday mattered to me, so much so I wanted to be the first to say it.
Arlen: Really? That’s…really kind of you. Thank you, Silver.
Silver: You’re welcome, Arlen. I hope you don’t think that’s all I prepared, I also made some coffee cake in the kitchen for breakfast.
Arlen: Pulling out all the stops aren’t you.
Silver: Of course for a friend like you.
92 notes · View notes
spectraltenkai · 7 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Song: Waterfall
"All these flowers talk about are stars this, stars that."
"..."
"Ok, maybe I would like to see them too..."
Day 15 brings a redraw of a veryyyy old piece, I can't remember exactly when I drew this one last. 2021? 2022? Maybe 2021, hard to say. A mix of my fav from Undertale and favorite location :D listening to Waterfall on loop while making this brought over more nostalgia than I anticipated.
Oh and here's the original pic from a long while ago:
Tumblr media
I think I improved!
18 notes · View notes
toxooz · 1 year ago
Text
ALSOOOOOOO i Finally got to ride a skateboard at the skatepark with bf n friends for the first time ever yesterday and i feel so 👀👀👌👌👌💯💯💯 i managed to be able to balance and push around and stop without falling and it was fun tbh!! i can see getting muscle memory and improvement by doing it consistently 😤 i just hope this aint too short of a phase for everyone so i can hopefully get me own board soon 🙏
37 notes · View notes
nighttimealone · 2 months ago
Text
Cw: Nsfw (gym owner+ your personal trainer Simon)
Simon notices you the moment you step into the gym. nervous, pretty, looked entirely out of place. He greets you with a nod and a gruff “Hello” when you saunter to the counter and look up at him timidly. Gleaming doe eyes meeting his and a bit intimidated by his presence.
“I want…want to sign up for the course…” your voice comes out soft and quiet, still a bit scared by the wall of man in front of you. His lips curl upward slightly, though his schedule is pretty tight already, but he doesn’t mind squeezing time out just for a cute and beautiful girl like you.
“The only time I’m free now is 21:00.” Simon said, asking if you’re okay with it, and you agree without a doubt. This is the gym closest to your place, and has the highest rating among others, you don’t mind if the session will start a bit later in the night.
He’s a great personal trainer, like the what the comments say on the internet. He’s meticulous, knows how to effectively improve your stance. You’re not sure if it’s normal for personal trainers to stand this close when you’re squatting, so close that you can feel the heat radiating off him, his breath fanning on the nape of your neck. maybe he just wants to make sure you won’t accidentally hurt yourself, you think to yourself after few sessions with him.
Simon can’t forget the first session, you step into the gym with the sports bra and gym shorts, hair tied into a high bun that shows off your flawless neck, he wonders how smooth it will feel when he runs his fingers along it. His chest touches your rear when you’re lifting weights, “In case your grip slips.” He tells you when he sees the confusion in your eyes. His eyes glued on your hips when you just finished few reps of lying leg curls, ass cheeks so nice and supple, you breathe a bit fast as you keep lying on the training machine, unaware of him try not to form a boner from ogling at your moist lips and the contours of your body.
You’re a bit frustrated with the progress you made so far, asking him if you’re not working hard enough. Your slight pout is too adorable, and he resists the urge not to swipe his thumb over your bottom lip. “You’re doing alright, give your body some time to build muscles.” Simon reassures you, but he can still see the chagrin on your face. You’re stressed out, he can tell, and as your personal trainer, it’s his job to help his student unwind, yeah?
The disappointment and anxiety are thrown to the back of your mind when he sits on the bench in front of the mirror, two fingers deep inside you, twirling and pressing the gooey spots with you moaning on his lap.
“Look at the mirror, sweetheart, look how beautiful you look when your little pussy’s swallowing my fingers.” His other hand move to your chin, turn your head towards the mirror. You can see his smug smile even with that disposable mask on, his fingers shoved deep into your cunt, bring out your profuse juices when he drags his fingers out. The scene is too embarrassing, your cheeks flush with arousal and shyness when you shift your gaze away from the mirror.
“Look at the mirror, love.” His tongue clicks twice, tone firm without any space for you to reject, so you obediently look back, let out a high-pitched sweet whine as you watch how his cock sinks into your tight cunt, pussy lips pushed aside to fit his fat cock. “Fucking pussy so tight, so perfect…fuck…” He inhales deeply, landing a soft swat on your bum and makes you yelp at the comfortable sting.
He definitely didn’t choose to schedule your session this late, that no one will be in gym except you two, so he can bend you over every surfaces here and fuck you till you squirt all over the nearest wall. His hips never cease, shows you how much stamina and strength he has as the best personal trainer. Pinning you over the machine you did lying leg curls, the angle of the it allows your ass to arch up and let him drive his pierced cock deeper, each piercings knead and glide through your spots one by one every time he slams his hips back.
When your thighs’ twitching even harder than they were after your leg days, you looking up at him with dazed eyes, entirely blissed out from how many mind blowing orgasms he gave you, Simon lifts you up again, easily maneuver you to hook your knees over his elbows, he pushes his cum-drenched dick inside again, still rock hard and ready to wrench yet another release from your heavenly cunny. He walks you to the mirror again, every steps makes his hips bucks and cock thrust up in the force, and all you can do is moan and whimper. “too much, too much Simon…”
But He only huffs out a laughter at your words while he stops in front of the mirror, giving you the full view to the reflection—your fucked dumb expression, thighs spread widely and supported by his strong arms, pussy swollen and clit peaks out from the folds, yet your tight walls still massaging his cock nicely as if you’re trying to please him.
“So perfect, princess. look just right when you’re in my arms.” Simon presses a kiss to your shoulder, adjust his grip and let your weight help him to reach the deepest, the tip of his shaft rest against your cervix. “Let’s have the next round on the leg press machine, yeah? I know you hate doing leg press the most, maybe you’ll be more pliant the next time, because you know how I’ll make you soak that seat after the session ends, hmm?”
6K notes · View notes
mockerycrow · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
UNDER THE SURFACE (Ghost x GN!Reader)
ghost masterlist — ghost icon by @yumethefrostypanda concept post here!
authors note; this is not my best work tbh, i wish i could improve it somehow, but i’m hoping you guys will like it anyway. Pretty sure this is my longest singular post, too! 4.7k words :-)
[WARNINGS: angst, spiraling thoughts, near panic attack, hurt/comfort, inaccurate medical stuff, vague descriptions of physical violence, very brief mention of possible self harm.]
Tumblr media
YOU WERE USED to Simon being gone for long periods of time; you have been his roommate for two years now, nearly three. You know he’s military, it’s part of the reason why you were able to score being his roommate in the first place. At first, it was a very awkward arrangement. Simon himself wasn’t a very awkward person, no—he’s actually quite charismatic in his own way, a way that you could get along with. One of the reasons why the arrangement was strange at first was because you weren’t exactly able to get a one on one tour of the flat before agreeing, but you were a bit more trusting of this mysterious man because a mutual friend—Kate—sent you his contact information, considering you were looking for a new place to live since your lease was up.
Simon’s flat was void of any personality, really. Yes, you could tell by the way he organized everything that he had been in the military, probably for quite a while—but there weren’t any photos. No gaming systems; you discovered he did have a bookcase of quite a few books, but it was covered in a layer of dust. Despite this, when examining the books he owned, you could tell they were worn down—definitely loved. It made you smile a bit, seeing the different variety of books. A bit of personality, you think. Besides his room, it was like a completely furnished, no personality flat. You weren’t allowed in his room, not unless he gave you explicit permission, which you honored his boundaries. Simon was kind enough to offer you a space in his home—but you know he was quite weary of you, which was understandable. He helped you move in and you could tell he was watching you and your body language. Searching you for danger—but he slowly warmed up to you.
Another thing that you discovered that Simon was quite emotionally.. constipated. Over the first few months, you could tell he didn’t sleep as much as he probably should. He was always awake before you, and you would always find him in the kitchen, sipping on a hot cup of tea. After a few weeks of this routine—Simon rising much earlier than you, you figured maybe he couldn’t break the military’s strict routines.. Until one night you woke up from the sound of his heavy footsteps walking down the hall. You tensed in your bed and you sat up because Simon was silent as a ghost all the time. You didn’t even know if it was him at first, so in your half-asleep panicked state, you felt for your phone and you texted Simon’s contact, asking a messily texted “is that you walking around?” You blink your sleepiness away and wipe your eye as your phone vibrates with a “yeah. sorry.”
That was the first time you got some notion that Simon was thrown off guard from something, after another week of awakening from his noises, you began to realize that he was experiencing night terrors every couple of nights. His nightmares were never a thing you two discussed, exactly.. It was more of an unspoken rule to not talk about it. You would occasionally find yourself in the kitchen around the time you calculated when Simon would wake up—and you were right nearly every time—and you just.. coincidentally made him a cup of tea. To Simon’s pleasant surprise, you managed to get his tea right every single time. You’ve had your fair share of night terrors, so you knew how it could be sometimes. You wanted to do something nice for him, and he seemed flustered every time.
It took you a while to get used to him being gone for long periods of time. Simon appreciated that you never questioned too deeply into his career, even the times he would come home sporting a new injury, you were always willing to play doctor for him. Simon saw the concern in your eyes and sometimes he would share small stories of what happened, or maybe to get you to stop thinking about his injuries, a small story about his teammates. You slowly learned their names over the course of a year and a half, and you learned Simon’s rank as well. He is a lieutenant, and there’s a man called Captain Price, another man named Sergeant Kyle Garrick, and one more man named Sergeant John MacTavish, who Simon referred to as “Johnny” fondly.
It wasn’t common that Simon talked about work, which is the reason why it took about a year and a half to even get the information you did out of him. Over the time you’ve lived with him, you had decorated the flat to feel more comfortable and home-y. Simon only had a few requests, which you honored, and one of them was no pictures of him with his face showing. You shot him a curious and questioning look, but as always—you didn’t question him, and he was very thankful. You had gotten a few indoor plants as well that didn’t need much caring for and you wanted to liven up the place, y’know? You were okay with Simon not sharing much about his past or his work, because he was willing to listen to your little rambles about your interests and work. You were a bit hesitant, but Simon was very emotive and he never seemed annoyed or brushed you off.
Despite Simon’s reluctance to share anything of his own, he always heard you out if you needed to vent about something. He made sure you knew you could talk to him, even on days where you felt like you had no one to go to. You spent an entire night with him, just talking about anything and everything. It was the first real conversation you felt like you have had with anyone in such a long time. It was also the first night Simon really saw you. He watched as your eyebrows furrowed from uncomfortableness, the vulnerability being nearly too much to handle; something he could relate to on a personal level. So when you started showing these signs, he knew exactly when to change the subject. Simon quickly realized how to read you, and he somehow knew what you needed at different moments.
Simon flies into the airport late at night with a small duffel bag, tagged as a military bag. He sends you a quick “be home soon.” text. Simon doesn’t expect you to answer due to it being around 3 in the morning, and you indeed don’t answer him. He catches a taxi to your shared flat. Simon collects his things from the taxi before paying the driver and sending them off, and Simon lets out a slow breath as he takes in the achingly familiar sight of the place he lives in. He tugs the hood that remains sitting over his head closer to his face, which is covered by a black surgical mask. His hand tightens on the straps of the duffel bag before he approaches the flat building, taking out his keys as he approaches the elevator. Once Simon reaches the third floor, he wastes no time getting to the front door, and he isn’t sure why, but his heart is pounding inside of his chest.
Simon unlocks both the top lock and the doorknob to enter the flat—something he had taught you to do every single time. He pockets his keys as he enters and Simon pauses for a moment because he can’t put his finger on it, but something feels off the second he glanced inside. His eyes trail the living room which is clean, not one thing out of place. Simon takes a deep breath and he doesn’t brush off the weird feeling, because even when there’s no evidence something happened—he’s usually right. The blanket on the couch is perfectly folded and laid over the back cushions, the mini bookcase by the TV is dusted as always, your shoes.. Are not by the front door, but a different pair are..? These either are not your shoes, or they are new. You always warned Simon about bringing people over, and you definitely would’ve told him this time. The lamp is on in the living room, but it seems the lights are out everywhere else. Simon silently goes through his routine when he gets back late at night—taking his jacket off and hanging it up, he leaves his boots by the door, and he drops his keys into the dish.
Next step to his routine is to step into the kitchen and get a cup of actually good quality tea, unlike the shit the military provides him. He fills up the electric kettle and sets a timer on it, grabbing his favorite mug and the box of his favorite tea from the cabinets. Simon glances down the dark hall—he’s seeking for a sign of life from you because you’re usually getting up around this time to greet him. No matter what, you always seem to know when he returns—yet you aren’t leaving your room. There’s no light emitting from the hall nor underneath the doors, and fuck, it’s eating at him. Something is wrong—and what the fuck is it? Simon stands there for a moment, turning his head to watch the blue light blinking on the electric kettle. He watches it blink slowly as he tries to rack his brain for what could be wrong—maybe those shoes are someone else’s, but he could just have a stern conversation with you about it later. Maybe you came back from drinking with friends—no, if that was the case, he knows for a fact your belongings would be everywhere, maybe even a spilled glass of water in the kitchen. He’s had to clean that up a couple of times.
He raises his wrist and pulls up his sleeve a bit to look at his digital watch; it’s nearly 0400 now. Simon puts his hands on the counter, leaning his body weight against it. Did something happen at work, maybe that’s why it feels off? You’ve always had a commanding presence like he has, so maybe— “Fuck.” Simon hisses quietly, hooking a finger into the strap of his black face mask and he rips it off, tossing it without care onto the counter. He leans forward and checks the kettles timer for a second, and then he’s walking towards the hall. Simon passes by his room and he walks up to yours, and he tries to turn the doorknob to peak in to check on you, but—it’s locked? Simon lets out a harsh breath before trying the door again, and yeah, it’s locked. Simon swears under his breath and he knocks on the door, his stomach twisting and turning. Something is wrong, very very wrong, very fucking wrong—
You unlock the door and you open it just enough for you to peak out, and you use your phone flashlight to shine it in Simon’s face. He squints and puts his hand up, his voice rumbling in his chest. “Hey—you locked your door.” He points out quietly, and you’re just staring at him, your eyes wide and alert. Simon’s anxiety lessens, but your reaction doesn’t make it go away. “Y’alright?” Simon drawls out, his hand on the wood panel of the door. You let out a harsh breath and you let go of your phone, letting out a quiet, “Simon..” before you suddenly pull your door completely open, and you wrap your arms around his thick torso into a hug. Simon swears his heart jumps into his throat and then into his stomach, bouncing back into his chest because you hugged him. You two were never particularly touchy like that, maybe a fleeting touch here or two, usual drunken affection from you—but you barely ever hugged him like this, even when he returned from deployments. Your touch burns hot through his clothes, and he knows you wouldn’t touch him without asking, so when you do? He wraps an arm around you, his free arm resting on your shoulder. “Hey..” Simon breathes out, lost for words.
You don’t hold on long enough for the uncomfortable worry to creep up his spine just yet. You rip yourself away from him like he burned you, his hands falling to his sides. You offer a tight, weak smile—one that you could easily play off as a sign of fatigue. Simon’s breath stutters as he watches your hands linger near your chest in a subconscious defensive gesture, your fingers closing into a fist for a moment; as if you’re uncomfortable, almost overstimulated. Simon feels the way for the light switch and he flips it on, and your room looks normal—but you look.. off. You look a bit clammy, almost like you’re sick or bouncing off the walls with anxiety. His eyes flick to your fingers and the skin besides your thumbnail and your middle finger are picked to all hell, and you just.. don’t seem right. All of these.. signs, you’re showing are actually very subtle—he just notices everything about you. Simon knows what food you favor, what your favorite color is, what social situations what you tick, what makes you mad—he knows it all. “Three months went by slow,” You murmur, trying to start a conversation. Simon’s eyes narrow at you for a moment as he watches you back up to your bed; no, you don’t turn around, you back up. You don’t turn your back to Simon at all. Fuck. He watches you lift your mattress, causing him to lift an eyebrow. “They did,” Simon confirms. “What happened while I was gone?”
This wasn’t an unusual question for Simon to ask; but it had a completely different meaning to you this time. You feel your muscles tense as you grab something from under your mattress, and you put it back down. It glints from the overhead light in your bedroom—a.. pocket knife of some sort, a switchblade perhaps. Simon’s eyes narrow at how you pocket it oh so quickly into your pocket. “Nothing much,” You reply quickly, smoothing out your shirt. “Same old same old, work has been fine, uh..” You trail off for a moment, clearing your throat. “Look, let me take a shower—I’m sure you’re itching for something to eat, huh?” Simon watches you open your drawers and pick out some pants and a shirt. The knife comes to mind—why are you taking it with you? “I can make it myself.” Simon responds, his feet planted firmly where he had been standing the whole time. You shake your head and close the drawers once you collect your clothes.
“It’s tradition, Simon. I gotta.” You offer a stronger smile as you make your way towards the door, still avoiding showing your back towards him. Simon watches as you glance at your bedroom window before exiting your room, muttering a quiet “close the door when you leave”, which Simon obeys. He shuts the door with a click, and he watches you quickly scurry down the hall towards the bathroom. “Just let me shower first.” And with that, you step into the bathroom, close the door and you lock it before Simon can interject. He stands there for a moment, stunned. His chest tightens for a moment because you just felt so far away. You’ve created such unwanted distance—even as you’re not very touchy with him, you still bother him for every detail he’s willing to give up when he returns. You are constantly making jokes, inviting him into the kitchen when you’re about to make a welcome home meal—but this time? You were hiding in your room, locking your door, bringing a knife with you—in front of him. Did you think that could slip past him? Did something happen whilst he was gone, to cause you to bring it with you? Is it for self defense against something or someone?— Is it to use on yourself?
Simon feels his stomach turn at his thoughts. He shakes his head and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He walks past the bathroom, his footsteps stuttering for a moment in front of the door before he presses his lips into a thin line, returning to the kitchen to make himself some tea, the electric kettle had beeped long ago.
Tumblr media
The next late morning, not much was different. Simon only slept a few hours, three or four—as per usual, he still woke up before you. He threw on a pair of sweatpants, and a black hoodie. He made his tea, made you a cup of what you prefer to drink in the morning, and he made a light breakfast for you both. Despite being in the military for a while and relying on cooks as well as MRE’s to get through his days, Simon is a decent cook. He made himself some sausage and fried eggs, and he made a plate or a bowl of what you prefer to eat in the morning. Simon sighs for a moment as he glances at the time—around 1100, and you still haven’t emerged from your room which is odd, especially now that Simon just came back home. He takes a moment to look at his food, and he decides then and there he will drag you out if he has to. Simon scoops up his plate as well as your food, and he heads down the hall towards your room. With his hands full, Simon balances for a second as he gently kicks the door as a way to knock, and then he stands on both of his feet again. “Oi, wake up!” Simon shouts, leaning close to the door to listen for your movement.
It takes a good minute and when Simon is about to knock again; he hears your doorknob unlock and you peak out the door, your eyes wide and alert again, although it’s obvious you had just woken up. You seem to relax when your tired mind’s gears turn and you realize it’s just Simon. You open your door wider and you rub your eye, and he spots the knife in your hand, partially obscured by the door. “Mm, sorry. I overslept.” You say, your voice heavy with sleep, vibrating in your chest. Simon makes a noncommittal noise before holding out your food, which you stare at for a moment you take it, your lips twitching into a weak smile. “Thanks, Simon.” He waits a few seconds, and you nearly shut your door on him.
Thanks, Simon. That’s all??
“Can I eat in your room wit’you?” Simon gruffs out, feeling sudden determination from this weird act you have going on. You blink for a moment and then you nod. “Just give me a sec.” You murmur. You shut the door in his face and he hears you shuffling about, moving something—sounds like your mattress. Are you putting your knife away??—and then you open your door, gesturing for Simon to walk into your room. Surely you don’t think you can hide this type of thing from him of all people, right? Why are you hiding it from him?
Simon enters your room, and you close the door behind him. You never used to do that—“What happened?” Simon stares at you for an answer, watching your face contort in a bit of confusion. You don’t say anything at first, and when you were about to open your mouth, Simon speaks. “I mean this in the nicest way possible—do ya take me f’a wanker?” Your jaw drops for a moment, your eyebrows furrowing. “What? No, of course not, Simon. Nothing happened, I’m not sure why—“
“Don’t,” Simon interrupts, putting his plate of food on your dresser. “Something has happened, and you’re lyin’ to me. You’re jumpy, you’re carryin’ a blood knife around, lovie—don’t think you can get that past me—and you won’t turn your back on me.” His lips press into a line as he watches your shoulder hunch up a bit, in an all too familiar defensive, tense position. The pit in Simon’s stomach begins to grow as you avert your eyes from, too. “You are barely talkin’ when you bloody damn near talk my ear off when I come home—you said, ‘Thanks, Simon.’ Not an over the top reaction about me doing something for th’both of’us, not a invite in, and last night—you’ve been locking your door.” You put your food down near yourself, and Simon catches the way your fingers are trembling. “I.. I’m allowed to lock my door, Simon. You don’t need to question me.” You say, attempting to hold a steady voice which barely works, your voice nearly cracking on the last word. Your heart is racing out of your chest and all you want to do is bolt at the door; which Simon catches on to. You watch him as he slowly begins to step in front of the door. “You tell me everything—even how your damn showers go. Why won’t you tell me this?” He demands, and his heart is pounding against his ribcage, too.
He watches your face contort into several different emotions and feelings; panic, sadness, anger, relief—the whole nine yards. Simon walks towards you when you begin to sob, and you sit down on your bed to avoid collapsing. His chest tightens as he murmurs name, wondering if he went too far. You reach your hands for him and not for one second does Simon hesitate this time. He wraps his arms around you, sitting right next to you on your mattress, your thighs touching together. He reaches up and rubs the nape of your neck as you openly sob and shutter into the crook of his neck and in his arms. His skin burns from your heat seeping into his clothes, a lively warmth that burns so hot but he welcomes so much more than he remembers that he used to. Your tears are hot, burning his skin with every drop that slides onto his neck, but he welcomes the sensation. “It’s alright, lovie. Let it out.” Simon murmurs, one of his arms tugging your body closer to his. He holds you in almost protective stance, like someone is threatening to drag you away from his grasp. You grab at the back of his hoodie, your chest beginning to heave. “Mm, no, c’mere; look at me, yeah?” Simon beckons you, his voice smooth and soft—which is extremely rare. Simon cups your cheek and lifts your head from where it rests in the crook of his neck, his hand instantly getting covered in the wetness of your tears that are streaming down your cheeks. You inhale sharply as you try to look at Simon, your eyes unfocused and you try so hard to focus on his pretty brown eyes, but you can’t seem to get ahold of yourself. You let out a panicked sob as your hand now tug on the front of his hoodie, and his voice is so far away, but his hand is molding to the curve of your jaw, like it belongs there.
You shut your eyes for a moment and you let Simon move you around as he wants, which he ends up guiding your head to his chest, and his grip loosens some so you don’t feel trapped. It takes you a moment to catch your breath, to catch your bearings; you can hear a faint ringing sound that you didn’t notice before, but you do note it’s slowly fading away, and in fades is Simon’s voice. He’s murmuring praises—and oh, he’s laying against the headboard of your bed frame now, with you laying on his chest. You feel yourself trembling against him, and embarrassment hits you hard. You’re tense—you don’t want to talk about any of it at all, but you know Simon. He will push you until you snap, even if it’s in your best interest to tell him. You reach up and play with a hoodie string of his, listening to his soft breathing. You hesitate for a moment before your lips part. “It was a week after you left.” Simon’s heart skips a beat, which you hear—you vaguely find it amusing, but he’s silent to allow you to continue. One of his hands is on your back, his thumb moving back and forth. “I..” You swallow spit so you don’t croak, as you’re convinced you might sound pathetic. As if Simon would ever think of you that way. “I was walking home from the pub, y’know, the one only just a few blocks away? It was late at night, I think the police said it was around 2 am. I stayed until closing, I was with some of my friends, uh..” You trail off for a moment, trying to recall everything that happened. Your hand pauses, and Simon senses your state. He begins to rub your back full on, murmuring, “It’s alright. Go on, then.”
You let out a shaky breath before continuing. “I was absolutely wasted, and there was this guy—grabbed me and I tried to get out of his hold, but he ended up fucking stabbing me. Robbed me of my shit.” Your voice cracks and the silence is deafening. Simon feels his heart drop into his stomach. You got stabbed? “Fuckin’ hell.. Why didn’t you call me? Or at least let me know?” Simon’s voice treats carefully, knowing that you’re still freaking out by the way you’re incredibly tense against him. “I know how important your focus is when you’re gone,” You respond, your voice staying quiet as well. You don’t look at Simon’s face because you know that you’ll break once again. You pick at the fabric of his hoodie, seeking comfort in his warmth, despite how you usually aren’t like this with him. “I didn’t want to take your focus because I know you, Simon. You would’ve backed out of whatever you were trying to do to come and help me.” Simon presses his lips into a thin line, staying quiet because you both know that you’re correct. Simon would drop everything to come home to you, to help you. “The guy nicked my lung, was in the hospital for a while.” Simon’s hand stutters for a moment, the smooth pattern of his palm rubbing your back being interrupted from shock. “Jesus—“ Simon hisses, and he can’t help but tug you closer. “You should’ve told me anyway, lovie.”
You sniffle and you rub your face into his hoodie, a muffled noncommittal noise coming from the back of your throat. He doesn’t say anything further, nor do you. Simon lays there with you on top of him, one of his hands caressing your back, the other wrapped around your body, sometimes coming up to rub the back of your neck. You don’t mention the way he doesn’t seem to tell you to move, and he doesn’t mention how touchy you’re being. Simon doesn’t want this moment to end—one where you’re vulnerable and trusting with him, one where you’re alive and well. He can’t help but wonder if he ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell him something? Simon feels simmering, muffled anger in his stomach because you didn’t want to interrupt his work for being stabbed, nicking a vital organ no less—he makes a mental note to sit you down and make you promise to call him if an issue or an injury like that ever arises again. He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to push away what would happen if you didn’t do that—if that guy were to come back to try to finish the job and Simon wasn’t here, would you call him? Would you pick up your phone and dial his number? Would you text him? What if you got hurt again—would you call him?—Or would the hospital? He always imagined you’d be getting the call of his death, and not the other way around. Simon swears under his breath for a moment and opens his eyes; he doesn’t want to think about that anymore. He wants to stay in this moment with you—both himself and you alive. He glances down, your tear stained cheeks slowly drying, your eyelids closed. His fingers slide from the nape of your neck to the side, and he presses his fingers against your pulse.
Being here with you—he wants you to trust him, too; like he trusts you. That’s all he wants.
tag: @zzzennin
3K notes · View notes
chelseeebe · 11 months ago
Text
still into you
Tumblr media
after abruptly leaving hawkins (and you) seven years ago, eddie munson, ex-boyfriend turned rockstar, makes a grand return. how will things pan out when your lives couldn’t be further apart?
this has been in the drafts for god knows how long and you can definitely tell where my writing started to improve as i came back to it.. hope y’all enjoy anyway! this is so long good lord. also includes a bit of bestfriendism with stevie!
18+. mdni. smut. mentions of alcohol. eddie is a dickhead. no use of y/n!
read part two here.
‎��‧₊˚
‘you know he’s coming back next weekend?’ steve mutters, nodding towards you as you rip the sellotape from the brown box, beginning to stack the cans of soup.
‘is he? oh my god oh my god,’ feigning excitement with a straight face.
you’d already known he was coming back, you’d received the invitation just like everybody else. except, you’d swiftly put the gimmicky piece of paper into the trash and got on with your day. confused why everyone else seemed to be losing their goddamn minds over it.
he huffs quietly, helping you with the heavy tins, ‘are you gonna go?’ steve didn’t actually work in melvalds but came in on his breaks purely to chat and distract you from your work.
‘am i gonna go? hmm, let me think.. no.’
‘he wants to see you.. you should come,’ prodding his elbow into your side, collapsing the box into a flat piece of cardboard.
‘you spoke to him?’ ears perking up. you didn’t care if he’d mentioned you. no, really.
‘yeah.. he called a few weeks ago, y’know when the invitations got sent out,’ picking up the next box to start filling the shelf.
‘oh! it’s nice to know he called you and just hilarious to know i never got a phone call,’ getting frankly quite sick of hearing about eddie fucking munson and his grand return.
once upon a time, eddie had actually been your boyfriend. must’ve been 7 or so years ago by this point.. anyway, that was before he’d got his big break and decided that he was going to completely forget about hawkins.. and about you. you’d still been together after his first tiny tour, excitedly waiting for him to come home when he just.. never did.
he’d had the decency to at least call and tell you that he was breaking up with you.. we’re just in different places right now.. it’s not you.. i don’t want you to ruin your life waiting for me..
it was essentially a whole bunch of bullshit, because the very next month he was spotted with some bottle blonde model looking suspiciously close at some club he’d have absolutely hated the year prior. it was like a punch to the gut, flicking through the pages of the trashy magazine just knowing that you hadn’t been enough for this new lifestyle of his.
from then on, you’d decided to disengage with any and everything about him. turning the tv off when corroded coffin came on one of the morning talk shows, leaving the room at parties when one of his song’s inevitably came on and just completely blanking out of the conversation when his name was brought up. it was easier that way, saved your feelings and the awkward glances you’d get.
at some point things had become slightly more complicated and you’re not sure how exactly it had happened but you had wound up pregnant. and by jason carver no less. maybe it was your shared disdain for eddie that had brought you together. who knows?
but it had happened and now you had to deal with it. and although jason may come in a close second to world’s biggest assholes.. you had gained a beautiful daughter from it all and had become quite content with your single mom life.
people had come and gone, robin jetting off to some fancy college in california.. jonathan and nancy ending up in new york at some hot-shot newspaper.. the kids you’d sort of gathered had all gone off to various colleges, becoming adults themselves. all except for steve.
steve had stayed in hawkins like you, begrudgingly following his father’s footsteps, getting a job at his accounting firm. it was good money and kept his dad happy so he couldn’t fault it really. he’d even got his own place just down the street from your house and at some point you’d just accepted that he was probably your only friend in hawkins.
it had brought the two of you undeniably closer and maybe you’d even call him your best friend now. well, except for right now as he was beginning to piss you off with all this fussing over eddie.
‘you have to come.. it’s not just for him, everyone is going.. it’s a reunion,’ steve continues to pester you despite your efforts to shut him down.
‘steve, i’m not going and that’s that.’
he sighs, staring at you with a blank expression, ‘okay, well.. i’ll tell him it’s a maybe,’ checking his watch before frowning, ‘shit, i’m late.. i’ll see you later,’ throwing the empty cardboard to the floor before dashing off down the aisle, giving you an exaggerated wave as he disappears.
you just knew that he was not going to drop this until you agreed to go. but he could kick and scream as much as he liked, you had absolutely zero desire to go this flimsy reunion and even less desire to see eddie in the flesh.
-
it’s another dull week of stacking shelves and managing a team of absolute morons and before you know it, it’s the day before that fucking reunion and steve is still as incessant as ever that you must go.
‘my mom can look after ella.. please just come,’ he sounded like he was a second away from getting on his knees to actually beg you to go.
you’d started to just ignore him now, getting on with whatever you were doing, choosing to give him the silent treatment. he hated that.
‘you’re so annoying,’ he scoffs, still helping you unbox the bags of chips, ‘will you just come for five minutes.. you don’t even have to talk to eddie, it’s the first time we’ll all be together again.. puh-leaseee,’ breaking into a weird sort of sing-song tone.
you exhale through your nose, visibly frustrated by the man, ‘i’m going to ban you in a minute,’ raising your eyebrows, taking the same tone you used when ella was being a brat.
‘no you won’t,’ furrowing his brows, ‘what if i promise to stand in between you the whole night? i’ll beat him with a stick if he even tries to talk to you,’ completely serious with what he just said.
you chortle, covering your mouth as one of the elderly customers walks past, slightly bewildered by the noise that just escaped your mouth, ‘couldn’t you just beat him with a stick anyway?’
‘ehh.. not really, he is paying for the whole thing,’ straightening the bags of air he’d just placed on the shelf, ‘i mean, i could if you really want me to.’
you roll your eyes, of course he was. he’d rented the fanciest restaurant just outside of town for your gaggle of pals. any chance to flaunt the fact that he’d made it out of this hell hole and left the rest of you in the dirt.
‘i have a child, steve, i can’t just go out and leave her at home.. some of us aren’t free like you are,’ turning to face him with a stern hand on your hip.
‘i just told you my mom’ll look after her.. she hasn’t seen her in so long and.. and you can stay at mine and i’ll take you to her first thing in the morning,’ his eyes are round, glimmering in the harsh overhead lights.
‘i don’t have anything to wear,’ shrugging, you really didn’t. becoming a mother isn’t quite so glamorous and a lot of clothes you’d once fit into had become a little tight.
‘when d’you finish?’
narrowing your eyes at him, ‘two..’
‘great.. okay well, i’ll take a half-day and we can go shopping.. on me,’ wiggling his eyebrows at you. the thing about steve is that he believes that most problems can be solved by throwing money at it.
he wasn’t wrong, of course.
because you reluctantly agree to go shopping with him on the condition that you weren’t definitely going to this thing. you were just going to try on dresses. that was it.
-
you get a cab to the restaurant, there was no way in hell you were doing this sober nor did you want to subject steve to being sober for your sake. palms clammy as you clamber out of the vehicle, immediately regretting your decision.
no one would care if you didn’t go, right? you could quite easily just get back into the taxi and go home without forcing yourself to endure the night.
steve’s one step ahead of you, grabbing your hand so you can’t run away. throwing him an awful glare but you weren’t really mad, just annoyed that he’d succeeded in persuading you to come.
‘c’mon.. it won’t be so bad once you’re in there,’ smoothing down his fresh shirt as he begins to walk up the winding path, dragging you along behind him.
he’s wrong. it’s so much worse inside. the place was huge, extravagantly decorated and full of people you’d once regarded as your best friends, all too busy in their own conversations to notice you and steve walk in.
it wasn’t like you hadn’t heard from them, it had just been through occasional letters and christmas cards rather than seeing them face to face. robin would call sometimes, fill you in on whatever she had been up to and beg to speak to ella who absolutely loved it. you were sure they were on the same wavelength.
you look to steve with wary eyes, digging your fingertips into his hand, ‘we could just leave right now.. no one would even know,’ tugging gently on his arm.
‘hey,’ he whispers, ‘it’s okay.. look, robin’s coming over, we’ll say hi and see how you feel,’ using his spare hand to wave at the bubbly girl, dropping your hand to give her a hug.
‘oh my god,’ she rushes, ‘how are you? you look so good.. and i don’t mean you,’ pulling away from steve to throw her arms around you, her gentle hands rubbing on your back.
‘hah, it’s nice to see you too,’ steve rolls his eyes, grabbing two of the champagne flutes being ferried around by fancy waiters.
she pulls back, ‘i didn’t think you were coming.. how are you doing? how’s ella?’ the words falling out of her mouth at super speed, it was as if her mouth moved before her brain did.
‘i wasn’t gonna but i wanted to see you guys,’ you nod, taking the glass from steve’s outstretched hand and taking a lengthy sip, ‘i’m okay.. ella’s okay.. you’ll have to come and see her before you leave.’
‘i will i will! i literally landed like two hours ago and had to rush but i’m back until friday,’ her hands flying around as she spoke, ‘come and say hello..’ her arm intertwines with yours as she leans in closer to your ear, ‘he’s staring y’know..’
your eyes roll back on their own, not even wanting to search the room for him, ‘i’m not speaking to him so he can stare all he likes,’ straightening up as you approach the group robin had left.
nancy’s talking to max about something in incredible detail but is quite to stop when you approach, mouth in a small ‘o’ as she hugs you, ‘you came? i thought we were gonna miss you,’ grinning wide when she pulls back.
you give an overdramatic sigh, ‘of course i had to come.. you’d all miss me too much,’ waving to the rest of the group.
there are a lot of small pleasantries swapped, asking about their journey’s here and how they’d been.. standard small talk. but then el asks to see a picture of ella, ecstatic that their names were so similar. you’d come prepared, pulling the creased picture out of your bag.
they all gush and coo over her, it was a picture you’d snapped from her first day of kindergarten, cheesing with her pigtails and pink hair bobbles. passing it around the gathered group, still steadily sipping on the bitter champagne.
‘who’s that?’ eddie asks, you hadn’t noticed him sidle over to the crowd, stood peering over lucas’ shoulder at the photograph.
your eyes meet his, seeing his face for the first time in what felt like centuries. he looked older, obviously, still sporting the same long curls except now it actually looked as if it’d been styled. he’s in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, forearms now littered with tattoos and a nice looking watch. your heart just about stops beating when you realise you’ll now have to explain exactly who that is.
‘uh.. that’s ella,’ you nod, not quite meeting his eyes, ‘..my daughter,’ taking the photo from lucas’ hand, the atmosphere had quite suddenly shifted and people begin to scatter, starting their own conversations so they don’t have to bare witness to this one.
‘oh.. oh, right.. well, congratulations then,’ the shadow of a smile on his lips, could he feel how fucking awkward this was?
‘thank you,’ giving him a half nod, startled as steve’s hand brushes the small of your back. he’d seen that you were in conversation and had left dustin to fulfil his security guard promise.
‘it’s nice that you two found each other.. you have a beautiful daughter,’ still not fully committed to smiling but he was getting there.
your face contorts, immediately looking to steve before letting out a god awful cackle, ‘oh no.. she’s not steve’s,’ covering your mouth before another taunting laugh comes out.
steve is trying to stifle his grin but fails, reaching his hand out to shake eddie’s hand, ‘ah man, no ella’s not mine but she is beautiful, isn’t she? how are you?’
you’re eternally grateful that he he’s managed to sway the conversation and you aren’t forced to explain why or how you’d had a child with jason fucking carver. turning back to robin as you hear steve ramble on about work and corroded coffin’s new album, something you had absolutely no care about.
‘shall we get another drink?’ robin asks, eyeing the open bar and your empty glass.
‘please.’
the rest of the night is going.. relatively well. it’s kinda unsettling to watch the younger kids drink legally, getting more boisterous and loud as the night progresses. it’s nice, if not a little sad just thinking about how you weren’t really able to enjoy yourself at their age because you had a newborn.
you must’ve been deep in thought as you don’t even notice eddie creep up to the empty table, standing awkwardly besides your chair, ‘can we talk?’
your eyes shoot up to meet his, baffled by his presence, ‘what could we possibly have to talk about?’
he exhales through his nose, ‘uh.. a lot? we don’t have to do it here.. i have a room upstairs or.. outside?’
‘no,’ gripping onto your glass of wine, desperately trying to grab the attention of someone behind eddie to come and save you, ‘i don’t want to speak to you.’
he’s exasperated, clutching onto his beer with strained white knuckles. how were you ever supposed to move past this when you wouldn’t even give him the opportunity to explain himself. but that was exactly it. you didn’t care about any of the silly excuses you’re sure he’d conjured up, he did what he did and that was that.
‘i’m trying here..’ sounding exasperated, ‘how ‘bout dinner? sometime this week, on me,’ his voice is deeper now, raspier. you figure as a result of constant partying and chain smoking while on tour.
‘i have a child and a job.. i don’t have time for dinner with you on top of that,’ swallowing the rest of the sweet white wine, putting the empty glass back on the table with a forceful slam.
you make brief eye contact with will who was passing behind eddie and decide to take the opportunity to pounce, standing from your chair and rushing over the second he nears your table.
‘will.. hey,’ speeding to catch him up, mouthing a small save me, clinging to his arm as you move away from eddie who was stood deflated at the table.
will thankfully catches your drift, steering you towards the bar, ‘you okay? i was just about to leave..’ placing his empty glass onto the bar with a soft sigh.
‘what? no.. if i can’t go then you’re not allowed either,’ talking sternly to the boy even though he now towered above you and just about everybody else in here.
he screws up his face, looking over to the dance floor, ‘it’s just..’ sighing once again, ‘awful, isn’t it?’ following his gaze to an intoxicated mike performing an elaborate air guitar routine in the middle of the floor.
it wasn’t exactly the same, but you could empathise with the difficult situation and that foul feeling in your stomach that you were sure he could feel too. you could imagine that it wasn’t easy to see the man you’d once, or perhaps still loved after so long. in fact, you didn’t really need to imagine at all.
deciding it was better to change the subject, distract him from the unraveling scene on the dance floor, ‘d’you smoke?’
he looks around quickly, watching out for a listening jonathan, you assume before he nods quickly, ‘but no one can know,’ a hint of a smile creeping onto his face.
you return the devilish grin before hooking your arm in his, pulling him towards the door where you could get the hell away from annoying men and their long black hair.
-
it’s gone three by the time you get back to steve’s, genuinely having to coax him from the party and into the cab you’d shared with a belligerent dustin, making sure he had got home safely.
‘i wasn’t too mean, was i?’ snuggled up in steve’s blankets, facing each other in the low light of his room.
‘nooo, no you were on fire,’ he laughs, he was still tipsy and slightly reeking of booze as he lay next to you.
‘really? you’re sure?’ he was definitely just drunk and blabbing on but you’d take it.
‘yes.. it was perfect,’ he hiccups, interrupting his sentence, ‘buuut.. and i’m not the only one who said this so don’t kill me..’ kissing the back of his teeth, ‘you’re not gonna like what i have to say.’
‘what? what is it?’ prodding his shoulder with a quick jab. knowing eddie, he’d probably gone round the party whispering some bullshit about the two of you.
‘well..’ holding his hands in the air, ‘there’s still chemistry there.. y’know i could see it,’ raising his eyebrows, hands collapsing onto the blanket.
‘right, i’m going to sleep.. you’re drunk and just saying stupid shit now,’ rolling your eyes as you settle into the soft pillow, closing your eyes so you no longer had to entertain his idiotic nonsense.
he chortles, hiccuping mid-laugh which makes a horrid choking noise, ‘i’m not that drunk.. robin said it too,’ the lamp clicks off, darkening the room, ‘and dustin..’
‘go to sleep steve,’ unamused and tired.
‘okay okay.. goodnight,’ he calls, you can hear the smile in his voice as he turns to face the other way, taking that as your opportunity to rest your head on his back, nuzzling into the soft cotton t-shirt.
-
monday is particularly awful and you’re reminded exactly why you don’t drink often. two days on and you’re still exhausted, half-heartedly filling the shelves and just trying to make it to two o’clock.
in your tired state, one of the bottles of shampoo you were putting out, falls out of your hand and rolls off somewhere down the aisle. you sigh, a deep, fed-up, exhaustive sigh and get up to go and fetch it when the bottle appears before your face, a tattooed, ring-filled hand latched onto it.
‘carver? really?’ eddie frowns, watching you from above, eyebrows furrowed together.
you place the bottle onto it’s rightful spot on the shelf and choose to ignore him. if he’d come all the way down here just to piss you off about your poor life choices then he could get fucked.
‘when’d that happen?’
blanking him again as you continue to put stuff onto the shelves. this was the easiest way to guarantee that you weren’t going to get yourself fired for being rude to him.
‘you gonna ignore me? i just wanna know,’ still poking and prodding, he clearly wasn’t very good at picking up on context clues.
nothing.
‘fuck, can you just talk to me for five minutes?’ your silence was driving him crazy, aggravating him to no end.
‘i’m at work, so no,’ hurriedly trying to finish the stock you had so you had an excuse to rush out the back and away from him.
he was fortunate that it was a quiet monday, the store full of mostly older ladies who had no idea who he was. you sorta hoped that he’d get mobbed and would have to hurry off and leave you alone.
‘why jason? out of literally everyone else in this shithole you choose jason?’ screwing his face up in disgust.
you slam the box cutter down with a loud clatter, causing a few turned heads and raised eyebrows. fuck ‘em. if you had done what you’d really wanted to do, you’d be locked up forever.
‘i don’t know if you remember this but my boyfriend of like, two years ran away and never came home so yeah.. that kinda fucked with me a little and lucky for me, jason carver was there and also hated my ex’s guts.. so it was perfect, you know?’ staring flatly at him, you were not dealing with his shit today.
eddie scoffs, ‘so you had a kid with him? and now.. what? you play happy families just to spite me? is that it?’
‘yes eddie, i had a whole child just to piss you off.’
he gawps back at you, clearly also did not possess the ability to sense sarcasm.
‘no,’ scowling at him, ‘it was an accident and now he’s.. i dunno, coaching basketball at some school in ohio or some shit.. why don’t you go and bother him?’
‘so you’re not together?’
you can only roll your eyes in response, in sheer disbelief that he’d made such a fuss because he couldn’t just outright ask if you were single.
un-fucking-believable.
you’ve had just about enough of this conversation, pulling your little trolley back towards the swing doors that lead to the warehouse. at least he wasn’t allowed in there.
‘wait! wait..’ he grabs onto the other side of the trolley, stopping you from walking off, ‘have dinner with me tonight or.. tomorrow?’ eyes big and pleading.
‘now why would i do that?’
‘because i want to explain myself.. i need to.’
one of the younger shoppers notices who he is and begins trying to talk to him, coming over to where you two stood rather excitedly. eddie is kind enough to smile and give her a few polite words, eyes still latched onto yours despite the ecstatic woman beside him.
‘okay,’ honestly just wanting to get away from all this commotion, ‘tomorrow.’
his scowl subsides, replaced by a gleaming grin, ‘six o’clock.. pino’s, i’ll sort it, okay?’ already starting to walk away from the crazy woman.
‘right,’ you nod, pulling your trolley away and into the back warehouse, leaning against the concrete wall. the whole exchange was tiring, knocking whatever tiny bit of energy out of you.
were you actually gonna go?
absolutely fucking not.
-
by the time six rolls around the next night, you really had forgotten all about it. rushing to get ella her dinner after swimming lessons, already worrying about paying for yet another field trip she’d sprung on you earlier. you’d begun to wonder if they even taught in the classrooms anymore with the amount of permission slips she brought home.
she’s finally settled into bed, after much protesting and a lot of coaxing. you’re just about to finally relax on the couch when someone hammers on your front door. and if you weren’t already pissed off with ella’s whining, you were most definitely about to be with whichever mindless prick was banging on your door.
‘what do you want?’ you hiss, jerking the door open to reveal a pathetic looking eddie on the other side, face forlorn and dejected.
he’s in that white shirt again. it makes you sick to your stomach to admit that it really does look good on him. his arms now more defined, the cotton sticking to his muscles, briefly showcasing the new tattoos underneath. maybe he’d actually got off of his ass and did something other than smoke weed all day.
‘oh so you are alive, d’you forget about something?’ he’s snarling now, having conjured up some elaborate excuse in his head as to why you hadn’t showed, only to find you at home, seemingly with no care in the world.
‘oops,’ the corners of your mouth twitching into a smile, you hadn’t even actually meant to stand him up, you were just gonna call his hotel and cancel but the thought had just completely slipped your mind.
and even if it shouldn’t, it really did feel good. knowing he was the one sat waiting for you for once.
‘oops? i sat there for an hour waiting for you and then spent the last hour trying to convince dustin to give me your fucking address.. and all you can say is oops?’
you shrug, ‘feels pretty shitty to be forgotten about, doesn’t it?’ tilting your head, watching as his face falls. he’d been got.
‘okay.. okay, i get it, and i’m sorry.. there’s not a day that goes by that i don’t feel like shit for how i treated you,’ his head dips low, looking particularly sorry for himself.
and for a second you do too. not that he deserved it. quickly having to remind yourself exactly what he had done to you, which was not at all helped by the fact that he now had everything he’d ever wanted in life.
and you couldn’t fault your life. truly. but fuck did it sting sometimes, to know that your life had stagnated, stuck in the same shitty town you’d grown up in while he was on the other side of the country, more money than sense and a hoard of doting fans that would do absolutely anything he’d ask of them.
‘good,’ you bark, going to slam the door shut only for it to bang against his black boot wedged in the door, ‘if you don’t move your foot i’ll- i’ll call the police.’
‘no you won’t,’ his hand reaches out to grab onto the other side of the handle, he could’ve easily pushed his way in if he’d really wanted, ‘let’s talk.. like adults,’ begging you now, ‘please.’
you huff, this would end with you either letting him in or being forced to wake ella after you bashed his head into the doorframe. it was easier to just accept the first option and you’d find some bullshit to get him to leave later on.
opening the door wider to let him in, keeping your eyes square on the ground as he walks through, peering around at your home. probably comparing it to his mansion in the hollywood hills the pretentious fuck.
‘nice..’ he nods, leaning in to look at the photo of you and ella a few christmas’ ago, she was tiny then, sporting a miniature santa hat.
‘yeah well, she’s asleep upstairs so.. make it quick,’ you frown, closing the door behind him, watching as his eyes take in the cluttered room, smile fading when he catches sight of the singular picture you have up of jason and ella.
‘i can’t believe you chose to fuck jason of all people.. i mean, i’ve made some shitty decisions in my life but..’ he stops himself from going any further when he sees your face, if looks could kill, he’d be long gone by now.
‘did you come here for a reason? or are you here to talk about my life decisions.. because i really don’t want to hear it from you,’ crossing your arms over your chest, wanting him out of your house.
‘no.. no, shit- i’m sorry,’ he shuffles on his feet, banging his head, ‘i wanna talk.. properly.’
you roll your hand to motion for him to continue, ‘go on..’
he inhales, chewing on the inside of his cheek, trying to psyche himself up to actually say what he wanted to say. it wasn’t that he didn’t know what to say, he just couldn’t string it together to make sense.
‘i’m sorry for the way i treated you.. it wasn’t right and i know that now,’ his hand coming to rub the back of his clammy next, why was your house so fucking hot?
‘okay.. apology accepted, was that everything?’ you say flatly, glancing up the stairs to make sure ella wasn’t awake and out of her room.
his face falls, ‘can you just.. just let me explain,’ his adam apple bobbing as he swallows, ‘why don’t you sit down..’ motioning towards your ratty couch.
you relent your stern stature, hesitantly going to sit on the couch, trying to ensure that he couldn’t possibly sit next to you by sprawling your legs out onto the empty cushion. so he takes the seat furthest away, running his hands down his tight jeans. designer, no less.. the only person you knew stupid enough to spend thousands on designer jeans just to tear holes in them.
‘when i ended things with you, i wasn’t.. well, it was me, but i had my manager screaming in my ear that it’d never work and he could hook me up with some fuckin’ model.. it’d help the band.. so that’s what i did,’ and for once, he looked genuinely remorseful, fiddling with the loose threads on his expensive jeans.
‘so you sold out? that’s your excuse?’
his head shoots up, mouth hung open with absolute disgust all over his face, ‘i am not a sell out.’
which is incredibly refutable, you’d heard a snippet of one of their recent songs on the radio at work and it had sounded exactly like the commercial shit he used to rag on when you were together. not a touch on the corroded coffin you sat and watched practice for hours on end.
‘oh? so you didn’t break up with me to further your career? you just wanted to fuck hot models? which one is it ‘cause i’m a little confused here,’ completely losing it, springing up from your slouched position.
‘okay, yeah.. yeah i did, i broke up with you because i wanted to fuckin’ make something of my life.. and look at where i am and look at-,’
‘-don’t you dare finish that sentence,’ you snap, gritting your teeth together as you near his face, positively shaking with rage.
‘what’re you gonna do? you gonna hit me? do it,’ his chin tilted to match your elevated position, eyes glued to yours.
‘i should.’
his lips twitch into a smirk, ‘you won’t.’
and before your brain has the time to really process your next movements, he balls his fist into your t-shirt, causing your chest to collide into his as his lips smash into yours, knocking the air out of your lungs.
scrambling to find his shoulders for balance, sliding one hand onto his stubbly cheek. it’s all teeth and tongues, he’s ravenous and unrelenting, letting go of his grip on your shirt to place his hands on your hips, ‘move,’ mumbling against your lips as he attempts to manoeuvre you onto his lap while twisting around.
he slides down the couch, keeping a solid hold of your body as you find the right position. your legs are either side of his waist, sliding into the gap between his body and the couch sitting right on his crotch. wasting absolutely zero time in connecting your lips against, honestly not wanting to run the risk of him opening his mouth and ruining this.
his large hands find solace on your ass, creeping up to remove the oversized shirt you’d thrown on. you place your hand above his, restricting him from moving any further. it’s not that you were embarrassed- okay, maybe you were a little. but your body had changed since becoming a mom and eddie had become accustomed to gorgeous models and perfect women that he’d certainly not want to see your boring, frumpy mom body.
he groans in protest, trying again to lift the shirt further only for your fingernails to dig into his hand, ‘no,’ speaking into the filthy kiss.
eddie pulls away from the kiss, fingers coming to gently brush the hair from your face, ‘you can’t be serious? i’ve seen it all before,’ he grumbles, fingers itching to try lift it again.
‘not like this you haven’t.. i just.. want it on, okay?’
‘no- why won’t you let me take this off?’ fingers curling around the hem, already trying his luck with getting it up again.
you sigh, meeting his blown out eyes with your glossy ones, ‘i don’t even know what i’m doing.. fuck,’ attempting to climb off of his lap while the spare hand he has on your ass clamps you down, keeping you pressed to him.
‘hey.. hey, keep it on.. i don’t care,’ already trying to chase your lips, ‘i’m just saying, you don’t need to,’ the denim covering his growing erection starting to rub against your throbbing clit, the sparse material of your pajama shorts were not leaving much to the imagination.
‘jesus christ, just take it off,’ giving up in your protest, it was useless against eddie’s persistence.
you press your lips to his the second your shirt is off, there was no time to judge your body if he couldn’t see it. pulling at his jacket to get it off, the metal buttons digging into your now bare skin.
‘i didn’t.. i didn’t mean.. what i said..’ babbling through the kiss as he shimmies out of the jacket, landing on the floor with a soft thud.
‘shut up,’ you whine, running your hand along the length of his chest until you reach the hem of his black shirt, gripping your fingers around the fabric and lifting it slightly, exposing his midriff, the soft trail of hair ascending the skin.
his head jerks backwards, allowing you to tug the shirt off, finally allowing his eyes to wander to your chest. ‘holy shit,’ he remarks like he’d never seen a pair of tits before. it’s futile for him to pretend that he hadn’t seen some amazing boobs in his time so you scoff, rolling your eyes.
working your hand at his belt buckle, fiddling with the metal until it pops undone. he’s hard already and it makes you groan, brushing your hand over the raised denim. this week seriously must’ve been difficult if he was getting hard so easily over you.
it doesn’t ever occur to you how much of a mistake this was. and even if it did, you didn’t have much time to ponder on it as his hands are grabbing at your breasts, palming them as his lips suck at your jaw and down onto your neck softly. guaranteed to leave a lovely violet mark that the old ladies at work would certainly gasp at.
he’s helping you with his jeans, one hand gripping onto your waist to keep you steady as he lifts his hips from the couch and the other hurriedly yanking them down just enough to reveal his boxers. that’s the next port of call, fingers grabbing at the thin black cotton, pulling them down his thighs as his cock springs into action.
eddie’s lips are still on your neck while you mindlessly wrap your hand around his cock, pumping your fist as you shuffle upwards. his breath hitches in his throat, still peppering sloppy kisses to the sensitive skin.
‘oh god,’ he whines into your collarbone, feeling his eyelashes flutter against your jaw. for a man who had been painted as womaniser in the media, he sure was still just as pathetic as he used to be underneath you.
you’re a little annoyed that it’s you who’s taking control right now. after so many years of disrespect from his end, you think he at least owed it to you to take charge.
your hand grabs onto his shoulder, pulling his face from your neck, ‘be quiet, okay?’ sitting taller to position yourself comfortably, the harsh fabric of the couch grazing your knees.
he nods, sliding his hand up your waist and back to your hip, taking in the sight of you. you wouldn’t ever admit it aloud, but truthfully, you really did miss him sometimes. missed the way his pretty pink lips looked after being glued to yours or the way he gazed at you doing the most mundane tasks.
you cant your hips, sinking down onto his length slowly, biting down onto your bottom lip as his cock fills you to the hilt. his eyelids flicker, fingernails digging into your doughy hips. it’s been a little while since you’d done this so you have to take a second to become accustomed to the slight stretch. it’s good, in the most masochistic way.
your hands cling onto his shoulders, watching his slack jaw, tiny breaths escaping from his mouth as you attempt to move. painstakingly slow at first, knees beginning to shake as you try to remember what you should even be doing. your cheeks flushing, feeling so incredibly embarrassed. the man was fucking models and then you’re here, pitifully trying to ride him. it’s awful, you know it’s awful.
his arm comes to snake around your waist, taking matters into his own hands and flipping the two of you around, your back suddenly pressed into the couch. holy shit. you appreciate the initiative, wrapping your legs around his waist, readjusting your grip on his shoulders.
‘need you a little faster than that darling,’ large hands digging into the couch either side of your head. you’d feel utterly mortified if you weren’t thoroughly enjoying the sight of him looming over you, his hair falling beautifully into your face.
eddie starts slow at first, moving his hips slowly, obviously well versed. your mouth opens but no noise escapes, well aware that you weren’t the only ones in your house. instead you pant softly, desperate for his lips to grace yours again.
it’s not long before he’s quickening his pace, unable to contain himself when you feel so perfect around him. ‘i missed you- fuck, i’ve missed you so much,’ he groans, keeping his voice low despite wanting to start screaming.
you don’t reply, too fucked-out to even think about words. eyes drooping as his cock nudges against the soft spongy spot no one other than him had been able to reach.
the couch creaks beneath you, the old thing unable to keep up with his rutting hips, the top of your head knocking into the arm rest every time his hips collided with yours. your living room had never bore witness to such filth and as quiet as you were trying to be, the sounds are indistinguishable.
having to bite down onto your lip when his thumb meets your clit, legs tightening around his waist with every soft circle he draws around the sensitive bud. eddie was never bad in bed but holy shit, maybe money had done something right for him.
he sits up, soft sighs falling out of his lips as his hand disconnects from your clit, sliding toward your knee and positioning your leg onto his shoulder. your nails press into his forearm, willing yourself to stay quiet even now he’s seemingly trying to kill you.
and through it all, he’s smirking. relishing the way you’re writhing around, trying not to cum when he nudges against that sweet, spongy spot this position allowed.
his thumb finds your clit again, ‘holy shit sweetheart.. you gonna cum?’ grunting softly with every thrust.
you’re positively wrecked beneath him, face pressed into the couch cushion as your stomach flips. panting into the fabric, incoherent ramblings of eddie’s name and a bunch of curse words fill the room.
‘cum for me baby.. shit,’ struggling to keep his own pace as you tighten around him, leg trembling around his neck as your orgasm takes over. pleasure overtaking your limbs as your hips buck instinctively, thankfully muffled by the couch.
‘oh my god,’ you breathe, struggling to see straight when your eyes eventually reopen, gazing up at eddie above, certain he’s about to draw blood from his teeth digging in to his lip.
‘where.. where shall i- shit,’ he squeezes out, feeling his hips begin to stutter, eyes rolling to the back of his head. he’s just about quick enough to pull out, thick ropes of cum paint your thighs. narrowly avoiding the couch.
if you had the energy to get annoyed, you would’ve snapped, but in all honesty, your brain was still reeling and anger was the last thing you felt.
eddie reaches over, ever the gentleman and grabs his shirt to clean his mess. didn’t matter to him obviously, he had more than enough money to buy another.
and there it is. the bitterness filling your body again the second he’s no longer on top of you, or inside of you rather. you attempt to bite it down.
‘you wanna talk now?’ he asks, pulling his boxers back up to a more respectable position.
‘i’m tired eddie,’ and you are, on a school night like tonight you’d have been fast asleep by now.
he sighs, shoulders slumping over. even after you’d just had the most mind-altering sex, you couldn’t speak to him. ‘please,’ pleading with you almost, desperate for one more chance.
maybe it’s the exhaustion or maybe the dopamine still pumping through your brain but you concede, pulling your shirt back over your head before motioning for him to speak.
‘i don’t have any excuses, i’m just-,’ he sighs, turning on the couch to face you fully, ‘i’m sorry for hurting you, i was wrong and i know that,’ his eyes are dipped, peering at you from underneath his spindly lashes, ‘why d’you think i’ve avoided this place for so long?’
‘i don’t know? because you’re a pussy? because you’re too scared to face me?’ letting the words rattle off your tongue without much thought.
‘because i’m embarrassed,’ he corrects, without much offence, ‘because i’m ashamed and feel like i owe you more than some dick and a shitty apology.. i just didn’t know how i could ever make it up to you,’ half-moon eyes glossy in the low light.
your heart thumps in your chest, blood echoing through your ears. eddie munson, world renowned rockstar was sat on your couch, apologising for something you should’ve forgotten about a long time ago.
the years of hatred and avoidance come tumbling down in a millisecond. all you’d ever wanted was to hear him say sorry. to admit that he’d fucked you over for a life of fame and now you had it, you weren’t exactly sure what to even do with it.
‘okay.. now what? are you gonna make it up to me? because i want to believe you eddie, i do.. but you can’t just traipse in here and expect me to forgive you like that,’ the tears roll over, sliding down your warm cheeks.
he nods, grabbing onto your hands in a last ditch gesture to show his sincerity, ‘i’m going to.. i-i want to,’ he’s still nodding, bringing his face closer to yours, ‘tell me how, i’ll do anything,’ adam’s apple bobbing with every word.
‘stay here,’ your eyes are trained on him, ignoring the blurred vision, ‘not forever, just for now,’ lips pursed, ready to be broken once more.
you half-expect him to come out with some sorry excuse, tell you he had to get back to his hotel so he couldn’t possible stay here.
but he doesn’t.
eddie takes your hand, tugging it gently and with words you don’t register, babbles something about bed. so you follow him, allowing him to guide you to your room and slide in between the sheets next to you.
everything is so gentle, soft and pure. something you hadn’t felt in a long time.
-
‘hey.. sweetheart,’ eddie’s hand gently shakes your arm, whispering into your ear, ‘you awake?’
you squint in the dim light, feeling his hand descend onto your waist, chest pressed against your back, ‘i am now,’ you grumble, it was early.. early even by ella’s standards.
‘i gotta go.. you got work today?’ he asks, making no effort to actually get up and leave your bed though.
you nod into the pillow, rubbing your sleep heavy eyes. in your sleep hazed state, you shuffle, moving backwards against him.
‘okay.. shit- don’t do that,’ strained as you shift against him, unknowingly brushing against his cock, ‘i’ll be back.. after you..’ he’s losing it a little now, ‘after you finish..’ lips pressed to your ear.
you were moving deliberately now, just ever-so-slightly rocking your hips back and forth, you could feel him growing against your ass.
‘i can’t..’ he groans, grip tightening on your hip,
‘please,’ you breathe, reaching backwards to find his mop of curls, taking a fistful for leverage as his own hip’s thrust into your backside, his low growls only spurring you on.
you had been on your own for so long now, could he really blame you?
eddie doesn’t leave for another hour, creeping out of your house with his head low and a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
-
the key turns in your door as you’re loading the dishwasher. you’d given steve a spare for emergencies but it seemed to get used for anything but.
he slinks into the kitchen where you stand with your back to him, ‘hey,’ already knowing who it was.
‘well hello,’ announcing his presence, something about his tone of voice already seemed off, he sounded short, annoyed almost, ‘how have you been?’
‘i’m good..’ you spin to face him, puzzled by his strange demeanour, ‘how are you?’
he’s holding onto something behind his back but you can’t quite catch a glimpse, ‘actually.. i’m a little pissed off,’ you can tell he’s not completely serious by the hint of a smile on his face.
‘hmm? why’s that?’
he looks around the room expectedly, ‘oh i don’t know.. you don’t have anything to tell me, do you?’ shaking his head, still gripping onto this mystery object.
‘no..’ narrowing your eyes, determining whether he knew what you thought he knew.
he did, he one hundred percent did. holy fuck. he’d figured you out already. eddie had opened his big, stupid mouth and told dustin, who would’ve told steve and god knows who else. fucking moron.
‘no? soo..’ his pulls the magazine from behind his back, flipping it to the page he’d already saved, ‘this isn’t real then?’ shoving the glossy pages into your face, ‘because to me.. this looks an awful lot like eddie.. at this very house,’ he jabs his finger at the pixelated image, ‘and this little blob here.. that’s you, no?’
you’re utterly gobsmacked. mouth hung open in pure shock. because that most definitely was eddie.. and your house.. and you. you hadn’t seen anyone with a camera, hell, you hadn’t seen anyone on the street at all.
‘and correct me if i’m wrong, but is this not our friend eddie leaving your house the next morning?’ showing the next image of him leaving your house the day after, hair unruly and messed up, holding his denim jacket in his arms as he climbs into his car.
your mouth moves but no words come out, croaking as you struggle to meet steve’s eyes. completely speechless, there was no feasible excuse. you had been caught with your pants down. literally.
‘i can explain,’ waving your hands around while steve stands smug against the kitchen counter. ‘..no i can’t,’ shoulders slumped as you blink at your best friend, no you really couldn’t. suppose you could’ve come up with some lie about a look-a-like you’d been seeing but that would’ve made you look particularly strange.
‘were you ever gonna tell me?’ he’s almost hurt that you hadn’t ran to him to tell him immediately. this was true best friend gossip and you’d kept him from it.
‘i was! steve.. i don’t even know what happened- he came over to apologise and then we were arguing and then.. then we had sex and it’s not my fault..’ you’re trying, and failing, to contain your smile, flashing your cheeky grin to your best friend in the hopes he would let this slide.
‘i can’t believe you didn’t tell me!’ jutting his bottom lip out, ‘so, you’re getting back together?’ his eyes sceptical yet sparkling with a sense of hope. you’re grateful that all he seems to care about is the fact you lied. or actually, withheld the truth as you preferred it.
‘no.. well.. no, we had dinner together yesterday and he might’ve stayed over but no..’ shaking your head, ‘he’s leaving again soon and we both know what happened last time..’ you shrug, leaning back against the counter, ‘i guess i don’t hate him now, that’s good isn’t it?’
steve looks perplexed, ‘wait wait wait.. so you’re just.. screwing around? and then he leaves again, that’s it? what’s the point?’ taking a seat at the small kitchen table, fully engrossed in the conversation.
‘i dunno.. i guess that’s it?’ you hadn’t really thought about the fact that he’d be leaving again, in fact, you hadn’t really had time to think much at all about what was happening.
you’d just sort of acknowledged that at some point he’d go back to california and you’d stay here and whatever was happening would.. end? it wasn’t as if you were going to be super upset about it like you once were. lots of people fuck their ex’s.. this was fine.
because that’s what this is, right?
just sex with an ex?
‘that’s it?’ steve reiterates, looking completely flabbergasted that the woman who once left the room whenever eddie munson’s name was mentioned was now being so casual about this.
‘yeah,’ you shrug, not wanting to make a massive deal out of it though you could always rely on steve to be over dramatic on your behalf.
‘no,’ he straightens up in the chair, ‘all of this can’t be for nothing,’ sounding utterly exasperated, ‘you two obviously belong together so why don’t you go for it? i could see you living it up out in la.. big house, big car-,’
you cut him off before he can divulge into his delusions any further, ‘i think you’re getting ahead of yourself steve,’ shaking your head at his ludicrous attitude.
you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about it once or twice but it seemed silly to start imagining this crazy life together after all these years. he’d barely just made it into your good graces again, you were hardly going to run off to california with him. it was utter delusion.
‘okay okay..’ he scoffs, ‘but i still think you need to talk to him. i don’t want you getting hurt again, okay? just make sure that you’re both on the same page,’ nodding as he stands from his seat and begins to rummage through your cupboards for something to eat.
he was probably right and you knew it deep down. you weren’t keen on being the one to bring the conversation up, not after that first night. after you had sobbed in his arms in bed, letting him soothe you to sleep with a bunch of probable empty promises.
-
when eddie lets himself into your house a few hours later, steve’s eyebrows fly up his forehead but he doesn’t say a word. instead, he nods at the man, keeping his opinions to himself.
the pair of you resemble an old married couple, except you’re the grumpy old man with your wife cuddled into your side. your wife being steve that is.
‘oh.. is this uh, something that happens often?’ eddie asks, settling into the empty chair across from you. slightly miffed that steve was nestled into your side.
‘yup,’ you nod, smiling at him your chin resting on steve’s head. he hadn’t a reason to be jealous, you’d really rather poke your eyeballs out with a fork than do anything remotely sexual with steve.
‘right.. yeah okay,’ eddie says, looking perplexed but sitting back in the chair. if he was going to stick around then this would have to be something that he got used to. because you sure as hell weren’t going to stop being so close with steve for the guy that broke your heart at eighteen.
‘you want a drink?’ you ask, realising that you should probably be a good host even if it was only eddie.
‘yeah sure.’
you untangle yourself from steve and trundle off into the kitchen. steve takes this as the perfect opportunity to grill eddie on his intentions, sitting up straight and making sure that you were really gone before beginning his interrogation.
‘so.. you two?’
eddie shrugs, not wanting to get into it with steve after such a long day.
steve sighs, leaning toward eddie, ‘i’m gonna say this once.. but if you hurt her again, i will kill you,’ staring the other man down. contempt in his eyes. he was dead serious too.
‘i’m not- i’m not gonna hurt her,’ eddie sits up, praying that you’d hurry back with this damn drink.
‘i mean it eddie,’ raising his eyebrows, ‘you didn’t see how she was after you left.. i’m not going through that again, i’m not letting her go through that again.’
‘steve-,’ eddie blinks, stopping himself as you re-enter the room. hoping that you hadn’t heard their conversation, he’d only just got you to stop hating him. he wasn’t prepared to go back to that like, ever.
‘what’re you talking about?’ placing the bottle of beer in front of eddie and collapsing back into your spot on the couch.
‘football,’ steve answers quickly, groaning as he pushes himself off of the sofa, ‘i’m gonna head home, got work in the morning but i’ll see you tomorrow,’ he smiles, winking at you from above.
‘okay,’ you utter, sounding more like a question than a statement, watching carefully as he gathers his things without so much as a glance at eddie. you can only imagine what was actually said but that was truly none of your business.
you’d just grill eddie later to make sure steve hasn’t been too much of an asshole.
‘byee,’ you call out behind him, already eyeing a sheepish eddie. this’d probably be it. you’d known it was coming at some point, you just weren’t sure of when.
if steve’s sudden departure was anything to go off, you were probably right.
the door clicks shut and you turn your attention to eddie who was still sat on the solemn chair. oh god. maybe you had got a little used to having him around again and now to know that it’d all be coming to an abrupt end once again.. yeah you felt a tad shit.
‘what’d you say?’ you ask outright, it made zero sense to beat around the bush.
‘me?’ he looks almost offended, ‘i didn’t say shit.. didn’t get the chance to,’ but he’s smiling ever so slightly and your heart relaxes.
christ you were so stupid. letting him back into your life just to let him walk away a second time. perhaps you’d done something horrific in a past life to deserve this same fate twice.
‘so what did he say?’ you press, unsure of if your even wanted the answer.
eddie sighs before coming to collapse on the couch next to you, ‘it wasn’t important.. look, i wanna be honest with you,’ his hand comes to grab yours and you freeze, bracing yourself for what was inevitably going to come next. ‘you mean a lot to me and.. and i don’t want you to think that i don’t care or that i’m just leaving you again,’ his eyes are focussed on yours, full of what you hope is sincerity.
you don’t reply, instead you nod slightly and urge him to continue. this was it. the kicker. 
‘i’ve gotta go back to la next week,’ his grip tightens around your hand, ‘but i’m coming back as soon as i can, okay?’ he’s serious too and you’d like to believe him but if the past was anything to go by, you weren’t eager.
you nod silently. fuck this. once again, you were sat before eddie munson, listening to his plans to jet off to la. it felt like the cruelest case of deja-vu. if anything, you want to kick yourself for even allowing him to wiggle his way back into your heart. most people know better after the first time.
‘it’s three weeks.. maybe a month, but i’m coming back, i promise,’ he pleads, hanging his head low. he knows there’s absolutely nothing he could say to you that would make you believe him but he had to try.
you hum, frowning just a little before finally replying, ‘i’ve heard that before,’ not meaning to sound as snarky as you did, but it was true.
‘i’m serious, i’m not.. not gonna lose you again, i’ve learnt my lesson,’ his eyes are big and pleading and you’re thrown right back to being eighteen, listening to him convince you how going to la would be the best decision.
‘so.. what? you’re gonna come back to hawkins just to see me? i don’t-,’ you sigh, as much as you wanted to believe him, it just wasn’t plausible in your mind, ‘i just don’t understand, are we together or are you just coming back to fuck? you don’t have to, you know? i’ve made peace with it all and i’m fine.. you don’t have to lie to me anymore.’
if anyone was going to fuck this up, it would be you. that’s for certain.
‘what the fuck?’ he exclaims, genuinely flabbergasted, ‘this is me telling you that i’m serious about this.. about you,’ he takes your hand into his properly, scooting around to face you fully, ‘i love being here with you, and ella and there is nothing out in la worth more than this,’ you think he might just start crying, or you might. or perhaps both of you.
you sniff, not wanting to speak in fear of bursting into hysterics. it was all just so confusing and weird. you’d grown accustomed to eddie being on the other side of the country and now suddenly he was back in your life with what seemed like a a declaration of love. it was just too much to handle. and maybe you blame yourself a little, for not truly thinking about the implications of fucking your ex that had abandoned you years prior. but now it all just seemed to be hurtling in the most intense direction.
you were the one that had told him to stay after all. because really, you could’ve kicked him out, refused to ever even acknowledge him again. but you hadn’t.
‘are you telling me the truth?’ is all that you manage to squeak out. baring resemblance to a small child.
you really must’ve looked pathetic, eyes brimming with tears, bottom lip quivering as you hold in the implosion of emotions. it’s always scary being vulnerable with someone, let alone someone that once meant so much to you.
he still did. as much as you’re absolutely petrified to admit it, he’d weaselled his way back into your heart and now here you are, a mess of emotions and perplexing feelings that are too complicated to handle.
‘i promise you,’ he sighs, clearly fed up of your whining, ‘i’m coming back this time.’
and maybe you’re stupid. maybe you’re still hung up on some high school relationship that ended long ago but you can’t help it, you nod.
idiotically believing him because what else can you do after letting him into your home and your heart again.
2K notes · View notes
tvgirlie24 · 1 month ago
Text
Not Enough pt.3
Tumblr media
Things settle down between you and Alexia, but it doesn’t mean that everything is perfect now. You still have your own struggles to overcome and Alexia tries to help as much as she can. 
small angst, some fluff
part 2
Things got significantly easier after that encounter after the match, you wouldn’t say that everything was alright suddenly, you were still very hesitant around Alexia, but most of the tension was definitely gone, and you didn’t dread going to trainings as much as you used to. Though, you did have to remind Alexia that you were in fact okay and she didn’t need to ask you every other minute. As sweet as it was, it was getting a bit overwhelming at times, mostly because you were still getting used to the version of Alexia that didn’t hate you. 
Although, things have improved a lot in the past 2 weeks, you still struggled with your confidence out on the pitch, having a hard time with being comfortable in your shots and passes. So even though Alexia made a point of always telling you that you did a good job at the end of training, you knew it was far from the truth, constantly leaving training frustrated with your performance. You naively thought that if the situation with Alexia got resolved then maybe you would start doing better, but it seemed that Alexia did a lot more damage than you initially thought, a fact, which even Alexia noticed apparently. 
You could see Alexia approaching you, after yet another training session, where your performance was well below the average, to say the least, and you got scared momentarily. She hadn’t raised her voice around since that day, but you couldn’t help but think that this was it. She got fed up with how shitty you’ve been playing, and she was about to tell you off, tell you to get it together and start playing like you’re playing for Barça and not some low rated team. You supposed it was a bit unfair, she’s been nothing but nice to you these past 2 weeks, but some things are hard to get rid of. 
But when she got to you, she didn’t seem angry or as if she was about to scold you. She gave you a small smile and stopped you as you were in the process of putting away some of the equipment. She silently took some of the stuff from your hands, laying it back down on the ground and you looked up at her, slightly frowning, wordlessly asking her was she was doing.
“Hey so, uhm, I just wanted to ask you how you were doing? If you were okay?” She asked hesitantly, causing you to frown even more. You really didn’t understand what her point here was. “Alexia, I’ve told you before, I feel fine, you don’t need to keep asking me all the time.” 
“Sí, sí, I know, you feel okay, but I meant it more like, if you feel okay, uhh, mentally?” You could see she was really trying to be careful about how she worded her question, but that didn’t provide you with any more clarity. 
“I guess, yeah? Why are you asking?” 
“Uhm, vale, por favor, don’t think I’m trying to insult you, I’m not, prometo. It’s just that I see how you’re playing, and I know you can play much better. I’m not saying that you’re playing badly, it’s just that you’re making mistakes, no, no, not mistakes, uhh, choices you wouldn’t usually make, from how I’ve seen you play before and I just wondered-“
You couldn’t help but giggle a little, unintentionally interrupting her intense rambling. You could see what her point was now, and you found it a bit adorable how she was desperately trying not to insult you. While you did get to see her be a bit more carefree lately, you never imagined her being all shy and rambling, trying her hardest to be as nice to you as possible, it was still a very weird sight.
Though she just frowned at you, confused what you were laughing about. “¿Qué?”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re rambling, like, a lot.” You pointed out carefully, also not wanting to insult her. 
“Vale, lo siento, I just really don’t want this to come across the wrong way, and I know it’s not my place to ask, but I just wanted to check in on you.” She said, a lot more calmly than before.
You were about to reply but quickly stopped yourself. What were you supposed to tell her? 
Yeah, you know, I’m actually pretty insecure about my playing skills and it’s mostly because of you, because for weeks that I was here you kept telling me that everything I do is wrong, so now I’m having a hard time playing like I did before because I’m second guessing my every move, but no worries, all is good. 
Yeah no, you don’t want to say this, you know you could, hypothetically, but Alexia was desperately trying to fix everything between the two of you and the last thing you wanted was to make her feel guilty about something that she couldn’t change. You weren’t sure what to tell, so you settled for a little half-truth.
“I guess I just lost some confidence? The style of play is a bit different here and it’s just taking me some time to get used to. I know I haven’t been playing that well I promise I’m working on it it’s just that-“
“Yeah, no, I get it. I can see that you’re working very hard, I didn’t mean to imply that you’re not. I assume I’m also a reason why you aren’t as confident anymore?”
Now it was your turn to ramble. “No? Yes? Kind of? It’s not just you, I swear. There just has been a lot going on and a lot to adjust to, I guess it has taken a toll on my playing a lot more than I realized.”
“Hey, no, you don’t need to lie to me to save my ego, I’m not a kid, I should be able to take responsibility for my actions.” Alexia realizing that she was the root of your insecurities was, in a way, even worse then her being the reason for you passing out. And if she didn’t feel like a piece of shit before, she definitely felt like one now. It was humiliating for her, her whole career was built on empowering women in sports and yet, she was responsible for her own teammate feeling like she wasn’t a good player anymore, all because she was too stubborn and judgmental. 
She let out a breath, trying to figure out the right thing to say, although she realized there probably isn’t anything that she could say that would take away all the damage that she had caused. Still, she was determined to fix this in any way she could.
“I’m sorry, I know that a simple apology won’t fix this, that nothing I can say will fix this but I really am.” She stopped to think about what she could do to help you with this problem. She got an idea but wasn’t sure how on board you would be with it, aware that things still weren’t really perfect between you. 
“Maybe, if you wanted to, I could help you practice your shots? Maybe that could help you get a bit more confidence back, you know? You don’t have to do it with me of course! I would understand if you didn’t want to, I could ask Patri or maybe Aitana, I’m sure they would love to help, but still, it’s just an idea, you can say no if-“ 
While you were enjoying this new-found side of Alexia that apparently liked to ramble, you decided to interrupt her, for her own sake. 
“Alexia, breath.” She stopped and took a deep breath, anxiously looking down at you. 
You liked her idea, you really did, but you weren’t too sure about what it would be like to practice with her. You knew it would probably help, and that she was trying everything that she could to fix this, but you still had your doubts about her. But you did want to give her a chance, fully aware that things would never completely settle down between the two of you if you didn’t put in some work as well. So, while you weren’t totally convinced that it was a good idea you decided to agree. 
“Yeah, okay, I like that idea, I think it could really help if we practice together a bit.” You answered, maybe a bit hesitantly, which didn’t go unnoticed by Alexia. 
“¿Sí?” She asked hopefully. “Yes.” You answered a bit more confidently. 
“Vale, well, we could stay after training couple of times? If that works for you? Not for too long, maybe just half an hour?” 
You nodded, “yeah, that sounds good.” You agreed with a small smile. “We could start tomorrow?”
“Sí, perfecta.” She smiled and helped you put away the rest of the stuff. 
Although Alexia could tell that you weren’t really confident in your decision, she was glad that you agreed. It felt like a step forward, a small one, but a step nonetheless.
__________________________________________
You were a bit nervous about staying here with Alexia, to say the least. You haven’t had the chance to spend some time together without other people being there, except for when she found you crying after that match, but even that was only for a short amount of time. This would be the first time that you would actually hang out, and you were slightly freaking out. Would it be awkward? What are you going to talk about? Are you even going to talk about anything? Or are you just going to practice and that’s it? You were overthinking, a lot, and you were spaced out pretty much the entire day. The closer it got to the end of training the more nervous you got. What you didn’t know was that Alexia was freaking out just as much as you, maybe even more. She was aware that your relationship was on a shaky grounds, and she wanted this opportunity to help mend things between you two, but she was scared of the possibility of messing it up. 
Still, she approached you confidently, asking you if you wanted to take a small break and then get started to which you quickly agreed, retreating inside to cool down a little. After couple of minutes, you went back outside, seeing her set up some of the equipment so you went over to help her.
“No, don’t worry, I got it. Are you ready to start? Are you feel-“
“Alexia, I swear to God if you’re going to ask me if I feel okay, I’m going to stomp on your foot. I feel fine. If I don’t, I will tell you. I promise.” You said, trying to sound serious but you couldn’t stop a smile from forming on your face.
She laughed and nodded. “Okay, okay, I understand. So, can we start?” 
So, it turns out, that it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. Both of you were a bit awkward in the beginning, too careful to really enjoy yourself, but as time passed you both got a bit more comfortable and by the end both of you ended up joking around and laughing together. If anyone told you a month ago that you would be spending your free time practicing with Alexia and having fun, you would tell them that they’re out of their mind. But that’s how it was. You couldn’t remember the last time you had this much fun, since you could remember football was always something you were expected to do, sometimes even pushed to do, and you loved it, you really did, but sometimes it felt like a chore, something you had to do and that took most of the joy out of it. You really didn’t expect Alexia being the one to help you find some of that joy again.
“Bien, you’re already doing much better.” She said as she passed you and lightly squeezed your shoulder. You never could’ve guessed how nice Alexia’s praise would feel, and you gave her a shy smile. 
“Thank you for this, it really helped me. I haven’t had this much fun while playing in years, so I appreciate it.” You said softly and she gave you a confused look.
“Do you not enjoy playing?” She asked, hoping to understand where you’re coming from. 
“No, I do, it’s just that sometimes there are so many bad things going on that it’s hard to not pay attention to it. So, most of the time my love for playing is just kind of shadowed by all the things people say and think about me. I try not to care about it but it’s not always easy, every time I play I always think about being good, not really about having fun. Even my dad always told me that no matter what I do, I will never have fun if I want to be the best at it.” You shrugged, not really thinking of what you said as something deep, but Alexia gave you a sad look. 
You supposed it was different for her, sure she had to face her own hardships, but to her football was everything. She loved what she did and enjoyed it every minute of every day, while you often questioned why you were still even playing at all. If it weren’t for your dad you would’ve quit years ago, maybe you would’ve never even started at all, who knows.
“I’m sorry, I wish it wasn’t like that for you. I don’t think your dad is right though, you should always enjoy what you do. Sure, it won’t be easy, but you should still have fun, otherwise there’s no point in doing it.” She explained passionately and you could tell how much love she carried for football, how she truly believed what she was saying.
“I mean, you’re right, I know that, but it was never like that for me, but it’s okay, I’m used to it.” You dismissed, not really wanting to discuss it any further. 
Although Alexia didn’t continue the conversation, you could see that there was a deep frown on her face. It looked as though she couldn’t fathom feeling like you did and being so content with it. But she could sense that you didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she changed the topic.
“By the way, there’s going to be a teambuilding night tomorrow, at Patri’s house. I wasn’t sure if anyone let you know, you’re coming right?” 
“Oh, no, no one told me, thanks but I will probably pass.” You said sheepishly. 
“¿Por qué?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never been to one. What do you even do at teambuilding night?”
“You’ve never been to one?”
“Uhh, no. No one ever invited me.”
“You’re being serious? You never got invited to any? It’s teambuilding, the whole team is meant to be there.” 
“I mean I got invited once, back when I first started playing for my old club, but it was just out of politeness. I could tell that no one actually wanted me there, so I just didn’t go. No one ever asked why I wasn’t there, or to come again, so that pretty much just confirmed that they just asked me to not be assholes. I was never friends with any of my teammates, we were just friendly to each other, mostly for the sake of not having any drama within the team.” You explained, trying your hardest to seem nonchalant about it, while Alexia was completely speechless.
You supposed that was another difference between the two of you. She was a well-liked member of the team, respected and admired but still a favorite person to have around, meanwhile you were always an outcast. Never one to find a close friend in any team or to be invited to hang out. You always tried to act like it didn’t bother you, that you preferred to be on your own anyway, but deep inside you longed to have a team that liked you, to have someone to rely on and to have that kind of deep connection with someone. As much as you tried to pretend to be okay with it, you weren’t. No one liked to be an outcast. 
“Well, it’s not like that this time, I’m not inviting you just to be polite. So, por favor, come. I promise you will like it. We drink a little, play some games and talk about anything but football, it’s basically a small get together.” 
“I don’t know, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” 
“Just give it a try, I promise it’s going to be nice. You won’t regret it.” 
“Okay, okay, if you insist.” You agreed, knowing that Alexia probably wouldn’t let it go until she convinced you to go. 
“Perfecta.” She smiled and waved you goodbye as you both made your way to your cars.
__________________________________________
You thanked your Uber and got out of the car, slowly making your way to Patri’s house. You were ridiculously anxious, but the thing was that you couldn’t remember the last time you actually hung out with a large group of people. You were never a popular member of any of the teams you’ve played with but you also didn’t really have any friends when you used to go to school either. You were always on your own for most of your life so your social skills were understandably pretty rusty. Sure you saw the girls almost every day but it wasn’t a hang out, you were there to train but now you wouldn’t have football to focus on. You desperately hoped that you would be able to blend in, have a drink or two and then get out without anyone noticing.
You knocked on the door and not long after the door swung open with Mapi standing in the doorway, smiling brightly at you. “Hola chica! Vamos, come in!” She ushered you in and closed the door behind you. 
“Kitchen is on the left, grab anything you want, some girls are in the living room and some are outside in the garden, just go down the hall and turn right you won’t miss it.” She explained quickly and left, and you just stood there wondering what to do with yourself. The thought of walking in and everyone staring at you terrified you and you weren’t quite ready for that just yet. 
You went into the kitchen hoping to have a moment alone and to your luck no one was there. You sat down at one of the chairs and took a deep breath, wanting to calm down a little but you were failing miserably. After a couple of minutes, you heard footsteps and not long after you felt someone slightly shaking you by the shoulder. 
You looked up and saw Alexia who once again had a concerned frown on her face. “¿Estás bien?” She asked and you nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She raised her eyebrows, and you could tell she wasn’t convinced by your weak attempt at lying.
“Okay, I’m a little nervous, this is all so new to me, and it just freaks me out a little. I never went to any teambuildings or celebratory parties and I just don’t know what to expect.” You explained, not really understanding why you felt the need to explain yourself to Alexia, at the end of the day you didn’t owe her anything, but there was something about her than made you want to tell her.
“I understand but you have nothing to worry about, prometo. I know it’s all new and scary but all the girls are very nice and it doesn’t usually get too crazy when we have one of these nights.” She reassured you as sat down next to you. “We can just stay here for a while if you want to.” 
You appreciated her efforts but there probably wasn’t anything that she could say that would calm you down, this was just one of the things that you needed to get over with. So, after sitting for a short while you stood up and so did Alexia, offering you her hand to hold and against your better judgement you did. Her hand was warm and so much bigger than yours but so comforting to hold, it was a simple touch but it left you craving more. You shook your head, quickly getting rid of the ridiculous thoughts you were having. 
She’s your captain, get it together. 
You put on a brave face and walked in the direction of the living room, holding onto Alexia and praying that she wouldn’t let go. And she didn’t, even when you sat down she kept your hand in hers, silently providing you comfort when other girls would strike up conversation with you. 
You remained quiet for most of the night, though you were pretty content with that. You didn’t have anything to add to the conversation for the most part, but you were also just not as outspoken as your other teammates. Most of your anxiety was also gone and you had Alexia to thank that for. She stayed by your side and served as a calming presence to you throughout the whole night. You actually ended up enjoying yourself much more than you thought you would and you found yourself staying a lot longer than you initially planned to. 
Around midnight you stood up, claiming to be too tired to stay any longer and you bid everyone goodbye but as you were about to leave Alexia stopped you and asked, “hey, how are you getting home?”
“Oh, I was planning on taking Uber.”
“No, I can drive you.” 
“No, it’s fine, don’t worry, I-“
“Just let me give you a ride, por favor.”
You knew there was no point in trying to argue with her, so you agreed. “Fine, okay, thank you.” You smiled appreciatively and she returned the smile. 
She said goodbye to the girls that were still staying and you both made your way to her car, Alexia even opening and closing the door for you, a small gesture that left you blushing like a school girl. 
You didn’t talk in the car as comfortable silence settled between the two of you. Though there was one thing you longed to asked her. You desperately wanted to understand why she was being so nice to you suddenly, quite literally going out of her way to be kind to you and it confused you so much. You were afraid that you probably wouldn’t get a better chance to ask her than right now, so you decided to just bite the bullet and ask her. 
“Can I ask you something?”
She hummed in agreement and you took a deep breath.
“Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? Not that I mind, but I just don’t really understand it? You hated me and then out of nowhere you completely changed how you behaved and I just don’t get it.” 
She let out a breath, staying quiet for a while and you started to regret asking her anything. You were about to tell her to forget about it but she started talking first.
“I know it seems sudden, it kind of is, I understand. I guess that training when you fainted was a wake up call for me? I felt like I got slapped. I didn’t like you but that doesn’t mean I ever wanted to hurt you. And most of all I made a judgement about you without actually knowing you. I guess I was jealous of you, I worked my whole life for what I achieved and I felt like you got all of that with the whip of your fingers. I know now that it’s not true, and dios mío I am so ashamed of ever thinking it, but that’s what I thought. I felt like no one ever made you work for what you had and I didn’t want that for our team. I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am about it all, you did not deserve that, not from me and not from anyone else. I will do everything that I can to make it up to you, I promise.” She explained nervously, wanting you to understand how truly sorry she was about everything.
You were quiet for a while, this was probably the first time that anyone ever apologized for treating you badly, and you didn’t know what to say. You were still hurt by her actions, no doubt, but you couldn’t deny that she has done so much in the past few days to fix it. So, yeah maybe it would take you a bit more time to really be okay with everything that had happened, but you were already starting to forgive her little by little. 
You still haven’t said anything when Alexia parked in front of your home and she looked over at you, anxiously biting her lip.
 “Thank you for apologizing and for everything that you have done for me in the past few days, it all really means a lot to me.” You said sincerely as you undid your belt, and she gave you a small nod. 
With not having anything else to say you said goodbye and got out of her car, but as you were about to close the door you realized you wanted to say one last thing.
“And thank you for the ride.” You said with a slight giggle.
“No problem, see you tomorrow?” She asked with her soft smile.“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
You smiled and as you made your way inside you realized that suddenly you were very excited for tomorrow to come, not noticing that Alexia stayed in the driveway until you got inside safely. Coincidentally, she was just as excited for tomorrow as you, maybe even a little bit more.
__________________________________________
This was NOT meant to be this long but whatever, hope you liked it anyway🤗 2 more parts to go and the story is finished🥳
@marvelwomen-simp
373 notes · View notes
artificial-transmutations · 5 months ago
Text
Wrong bag, bro
Music blared from my headphones while I was running on the treadmill when I first saw the guy. It was obviously his first time in the gym, and after having gotten a short introduction, he looked around uncomfortably before approaching the weights. I sighed and stopped the treadmill. It was a good gym, at least judging from the equipment and the cost. The staff, however, was... improvable. It was clear that the new guy had no idea how to start and he would probably hurt himself like that.
"Sup? You're new here?" I said as I approached. He almost jumped when he heard my voice. I took a good look at him when he turned around. He wasn't very fit, at least compared to me. I mean, I'm no bodybuilder, too, but I do go to the gym a few times a week and try to stay in shape. The other guy was visibly unfit, with a small belly and no definition at all, but hey, we all have to start somewhere.
"Uhm. Yes. Actually, I wanted to lose a bit of weight. I'm Jonas. Do you work here?"
I chuckled. "Na, man. I'm Travis, and I just work *out* here. Why are you trying to get fit?"
Jonas seemed to be a bit embarrassed when he answered. "I... hope that will make dating easier. It's hard to find a boyfriend like... this."
He gestured down his body.
"Hey, you should do this for yourself, not for someone else. But yeah, I get what you mean. Chicks dig muscles, too."
The last part was probably unnecessary and somewhat spoiling the message, but I couldn't help it. It was a reflex to make clear I was straight. Really stupid, I know, but hey, that's just the straight genes talking.
Thankfully, Jonas took the hint and didn't hit on me as I showed him the ropes. He was mightily insecure, but a nice dude. After a while, he called it a day and we went to the locker room together. Having started early, I felt it was time to head home, too.
I took out my gym bag from my locker, as did Jonas, and got my soap out.
"Are you not going to shower?" I asked as Jonas just changed to his street shoes.
"Oh, eh, no, I'll shower at home." he said, and I understood. That guy was so self-conscious it would probably be hell for him to shower in a communal shower, so I just shrugged and said:
"Alright. See you around."
After the shower, I went to my gym bag to change into my street clothes but when I opened it, the contents seemed unfamiliar. Of course. Jonas had the same black gym bag as I did and must have grabbed the wrong one. That could happen. I just hoped I'd meet him again so we could swap back the bags. For now, it wasn't that much of a problem. I didn't have any valuables in there, and it seemed that Jonas had brought a towel as well, so I could just use his to dry myself.
What had been in there, however, were my street clothes. I mean, it wasn't a big deal, I could just wear my gym clothes until I got home, but somehow, I got curious and rummaged through the contents of the bag. There was something that immediately jumped into view and that was...
A pair of pink boxer briefs.
I mean seriously? How much gayer could it get?
I was just about to stuff it back into the back, when I hesitated. My gym compression shorts were soaked with sweat, and apparently, the boxer briefs seemed to be clean, I rationalized, but somehow, I *wanted* to put them on, for some weird reason. Well. I shrugged and just acted on the impulse, I mean, it was just a pair of underwear, right?
As it turned out, poor Jonas must have been not that well-endowed. The pair of boxer briefs was awfully tight and hugged my ass and my junk so firmly it was almost a second skin. I looked in the mirror and was a little surprised. My cock wasn't exactly small, but the underwear still didn't leave much to imagination either. But they were clean, and the fabric was quite pleasant to the touch, so I decided I would wear them until I got home.
Tumblr media
Man, Jonas was probably in for a surprise when he discovered my XXL jockstrap from my bag. And unlike his - sorry - faggy underwear, I had worn that thing for a day now, so it wasn't exactly clean. I mean, there wasn't any reason for him to put it on, but what if he was curious? Or what if he was a little pervert who liked to experience the smell of a real man?
I shook my head. Where had that thought come from? I quickly got dressed in the rest of *my* clothes and drove home. However, during the drive I couldn't quite shake the thought of how Jonas might just be sniffing my jock, jerking his pathetic little cock furiously while doing so. Man, I really had no idea what was wrong with me today. When I arrived at home, my cock was hard and leaking pre into Jonas tight little pink underwear. Looks like I needed to blow off some steam.
I put on some lesbian porn and fished out my cock and balls from its tight confines. I have to admit that jerking off while wearing Jonas' briefs was oddly exciting.
At first, my eyes were glued to the two chicks on the screen, but as I got close to shooting my load, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Images of Jonas, wearing my much too large jockstrap came immediately and unbidden, but it was too late. With a groan, I came all over my toned and defined upper body.
I needed a moment to recover after that before I could start cleaning up. I stuffed my junk back into the pink underwear without really thinking about it, but realized it wasn't quite as tight as before. Perhaps the fabric was adjusting to my bigger mass. I was just about done with wiping the cum off my chest when my phone dinged with a message from an unknown number:
Unknown number:
"Hey there, it's Jonas, from the gym today. It seems like I grabbed the wrong bag when I left, and I want to return it to you. Can you give me your address?"
I thought about it for a moment while I saved his name to my phone. He probably found my number on the lost and found card, and I was just to agree, when I stopped. There was no rational reason not to swap back the bags as soon as possible and I had no plans for today. But...
Travis:
"Sorry, man, I can't today. How about tomorrow? We can meet at the gym."
I seriously had no idea why I lied, but not-so-little Travis twitched in the underwear as I wrote the message.
Jonas:
"Sounds good. Sorry I took your bag, I only noticed when I got home."
Travis:
"Don't worry, there's nothing important in there. Just my sweaty jockstrap, haha."
What was I doing? Why would I chat with a near stranger about my underwear? I was interrupted by the answer from Jonas.
Jonas:
"Yeah, I have found that thing already."
I hesitated. My cock was straining against pink fabric again, even though I just jerked off a few minutes ago. I really shouldn't be that excited, and I really shouldn't lead the poor gay guy on, but I couldn't help it. My fingers typed all on their own.
Travis:
"I see. And what did you do with it?"
It took a while before the next answer came in, and I feared that I had alienated the guy.
Jonas:
"Well, I'm wearing it right now."
Ha! I knew it! That guy was a pervert after all. I looked down at the tight pink boxer briefs struggling to contain my erection, while a small patch of precum had formed at the tip of the tent. Takes one to know one, right?
Travis:
"That old thing? I'm sure it smells sweaty as hell right now. Can you show me?"
Almost instantly, Jonas sent a picture of himself, wearing only the jock. It was way too big and baggy on him, and I could see his whole body in all of its unfit glory.
Tumblr media
But somehow, it didn't look so bad. Absentmindedly, I squeezed my cock while looking at the picture. Then, with a mental "What the hell", I snapped a selfie for Jonas as well, of me wearing his pink boxer briefs. I didn't care to hide my boner, although it was less obvious than I thought. Might as well give him something to drool over, right?
After I had sent the picture, I looked at myself in the mirror some more. There was disappointingly little pump on my frame considering that I just came back from the gym. In fact, I looked even smaller than before I went to the gym. That couldn't be true, right?
But the bathroom scale confirmed. This was crazy! You didn't just lose five kilograms of body mass just like that. Especially, since my body mass was mostly muscles!
I took another look at the mirror, but it was true: my arms, my legs, even my chest. Everything looked less defined than before. And my chest was pretty smooth, too. I usually shave it, but since I have a high testosterone level or something, there's always a stubble remaining. Not so today. As I felt my chest with my hand, there was only smooth skin. What the hell was going on?
I looked back at my phone, and Jonas had answered again.
Jonas:
"Looks good on you, you should wear it more often! ;)"
Did he really think so? My heartbeat quickened on the praise from Jonas, and I could feel my cock reacting again. It must have gotten soft over the whole panicking, but reading this single line from Jonas was enough for it to strain against the tight underwear again.
Except... It wasn't *that* tight anymore. Sure, it was still a pair of boxer briefs and was supposed to cling to the skin, and it did, but before, my muscular ass, pelvis and of course, my large cock had filled it to the breaking point. Not so anymore. In fact, it fit pretty snugly, and although my cock was hard as a rock, the bulge it produced was much smaller than before.
My phone dinged with another message.
Jonas:
"Are you still there, Tray? You're still in for the gym later?"
Later? I thought we had said tomorrow! And why did he call me Tray? I quickly composed an answer.
Travis:
"Do we have to? I thought we'd said tomorrow."
The answer came immediately.
Jonas:
"Stop whining, Tray! I know you wane be big like I, so you must work hart!"
I cringed from the amount of spelling mistakes, but before I could answer, Jonas sent another Pic.
Tumblr media
Was that still the same guy as before?! Sure enough, he was wearing my jockstrap, and the face was similar, but boy was he *ripped*. His arms and legs looked like he basically lived in the gym, and his hairy chest was sitting heavily on his perfectly sculpted eight pack abs. He even had a tattoo!
I looked back to the mirror in distress. I was positively scrawny, and not just in comparison. *My* arms and legs looked like twigs from a tree that were about to break from a strong wind. And were Jonas had all that chest hair and stubble on his chin, I was totally hairless, except for my perfectly styled bleached blonde hair.
I started to hyperventilate and had to lean on the sink to not fall.
What the hell was happening here?!
The phone dinged again, and I picked it up.
Jonas:
"Excpext yu wantto let ur tongue work out insted Todays bitch canceled and I Ned so to worship my "
It was getting really difficult to read, but I got the gist of it. But that wasn't right, right? Jonas was gay, just as me, and... Hold on, I... No, Jonas. Jonas wasn't gay, he was bi. Of course, with that fuck stick inside his smelly jockstrap, he'd fuck everything that moves.
All by itself, my hand had entered my pink boxer briefs and was jerking like crazy. Luckily, there was enough room in the underwear, as it was a bit loose usually. Even with my delicate hands, I couldn't close my hand around my shaft, it was just too small for that. So, I jerked with two fingers until I could finally stop myself. My cock wasn't as important for the upcoming meeting as my beautiful ass and my eager tongue that would submissively lap up every drop of sweat from Jonas manly body, so he would reward me with that magnificent cock of his. But still, no need to spoil the fun.
Tray:
"I'm coming over right now, Sir!"
Tumblr media
I hope you enjoyed this little switchup! A few additional images can be found at my tip jar :)
661 notes · View notes
chaoticyumelikes · 9 months ago
Text
Sun Wukong and Macaque whith GN! Reader
In which you accidentally step on their tails😬
Tumblr media
Sun Wukong
You were just going to fetch something. Totally normal, innocent and completely unaware of your surroundings. When suddenly you hear a yelp!
You freeze and as if in slow motion, you look at your foot, then at a tail, your gaze follows the trail of the tail to its owner being none other than Sun Wukong who is bearing a heartbreaking expression of absolute betrayal and hurt in his eyes. Immediately you stepped off his tail!
Your apologies started as well as the poor monkey King caressed his hurt tail away from you. You begged his forgiveness but he pouts and turns his back to you.
You know his tail was sensitive so in your natural guilt you told him you'd do anything. His ears perked up at that "Anything?" he asked to which you replied "Of course".
If only you could see his smirk...
He turns to you teary-eyed as he says: "Cuddle with me? " and immediately you sit on the couch with him, cuddling him and giving him kisses. Overall comforting him.
If you try to move away he WILL use your guilt against you.
"Where are you going? I see, you just step on my tail and then leave me" you narrow your eyes at him but you relent and he happily welcomes you into his arms with grabby hands peppering your face with kisses and then nuzzling into you with the biggest smile on his face.
That's right, you are stuck with him the whole day. Everything that day, you do for him.
"Wow! We should make a holiday out of this day!" as soon as you turn to him with a suspicious look on your face he continues "As the day you mercilessly stepped on my poor poor tail" one hand dramatically set on his forehead as the other caresses his tail for emphasis.
You made him his favourite food and you watched his favorite show that has him as the main character till you pass out.
The next day comes and you watch over the training session with MK. You watch as they spar when MK accidentally hits Wukong on his tail. MK grimaces, apologizing to his master while Wukong just laughs.
"It's ok bud! It's sensitive but not THAT sensitive, see?" he then uses his tail as an improv chair to show himself off... that is until you appeared behind them, hands on your hips, fury in your eyes.
"Oh, I definitely see." The Monkey King, Sage Equal to Heaven froze, his expression one of horror. "Peaches ~~~" he tries but to no avail. You are fuming!
How dare he use your guilt against you! You were really worried for him. you storm away with a very apologetic King on your tail.
Let's just say the next day was your day cause there's no way this immortal monkey will rest until you forgive him.
Tumblr media
Macaque
When you step on his tail not only do you jump from his yell, he is genuinely crossed with you. He doesn't even let you apologise, he just pouts and goes into the shadows, leaving you there yelling "I'm sooorryyyyyy!
The day goes by with you trying to call him without success. Successive texts apologising were ignored.
You made his favourite food for dinner when he showed up. With teary eyes, you latch yourself onto him apologizing.
"Heeyyy! What are you talking about? Oh! Do you mean my tail? It's ok, it was an accident!"
"So you forgive meeee?" you ask him with big eyes.
"Sure" he chuckles "Wow! you made my favourite food! Today just keeps getting better! A whole day's nap and a great dinner!"
"Come again?"
"Yeah, I was upset and went to walk to let some steam and see if my tail was alright but then I forgave you, saw this nice tree and started writing my next play based on this event and took a nap till now- Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I tried to call you several times! I left you texts! I was worried!"
"What texts?" he goes to check his phone when his face got horrified at the number of missed calls and unbelievable number of unread texts. He looked at you sheepishly, his hand went to rub his neck "Caaaaaan you believe I had my cell on silent... ?...... Heh..... Silly me..... Heheh..? "
Now it was your turn to pout. You were worried about the very relationship and he was napping??? You turn your back on him, as you stomp into your shared room.
"Wait! I'm sorry alright? Where are you going?"
"NAPPING!"
...
"Sooo, does that mean you forgive me? Sugarplum? Come on!"
You quickly forgave him however since no doors can stop your shadow-wielding cute boyfriend into cuddling in an absolute apologetic mission.
791 notes · View notes
percyluvr · 3 months ago
Text
sam winchester x fem!witch!reader summary: you're unaware of your witchy heritage, or even the existence of the supernatural, until two hunters come waltzing into your life claiming that you and your mother are witches wc: 9802 warning: pre-bunker era supernatural, violence (not a lot but enough to warrant a warning, i think), not proofread dedicated to my only (i think) pjo + spn moot, skye
Tumblr media
“You’re up early, Sammy,” Dean says, looking into the doorway at his brother wiping sweat off his forehead. “And sweaty.”
“Yeah, I went for a jog. You should try it, it’s good for you. Plus, it’s nice outside.”
“Right, no thank you. Sleep is essential to keep looking this good.”
“Alright, man, if you say so,” Sam replies, disgust apparent on his face.
“Whatever. Listen to this,” Dean starts. “A middle-aged woman in Tupelo, Mississippi, was found dead last night with all of her teeth missing, and some freaky ass carving of some horned thing on her chest. Her husband came home and found her lying on the bathroom floor. Apparently she didn’t die until after she made it to the hospital, though, so whoever or whatever did this wanted it to be long and painful.”
“Huh. Sounds creepy.”
“Exactly. So what do you think? Our kind of gig?” Dean asks, fully knowing they were going to go find out either way.
“Yeah, definitely. Y’wanna head out now or get something to eat?”
“I’m hungry as hell. I need a burger before we deal with this.”
“I feel you. Well, not the burger part, but I’m definitely gonna need food before we head out.”
“Let’s hit the town then, see what there is to eat here,” Dean says, grabbing his jacket and shrugging it over his shoulders before walking out the door, Sam following after grabbing his laptop and jacket of his own.
****
After driving for a bit, they find a small, semi-trashy diner.
"I can't believe this is the only decent looking place in this whole town," Dean complains.
"I mean, what do you expect? We're in a town with a population below three thousand."
"Right. The food better be good or else I'll be pissed. Give me that menu," he grumpily demanded.
"Their salad looks good."
"Yeah, real funny. I'm gonna get that special edition deluxe baconator," Dean said excitedly, mood immediately improving at the sight of a greasy burger on the menu.
Sam makes a face, about to say something, but is interrupted by the waitress arriving at the table.
"You boys ready to order or do you need more time?" She asks, eyeing Dean.
"Oh, we're ready," Dean flirts.
Sam rolls his eyes. "I'll get the, uh, shake it up salad."
"Okay, and for you?" She asks Dean.
"I'll get that deluxe baconator."
"Got it, I'll be back in a sec."
She starts walking away, Dean eyeing her every step of the way.
"Seriously, dude?" Sam asks in disgust.
"Yeah, look at her, dude. Tell me you don't want a piece of that."
"Alright, man, enough. As soon as we finish we're getting right out of here, no flirting."
"Whatever. Don't be jealous you never get laid."
Sam rolls his eyes as the waitress walks over with a salad in one hand and Dean's burger in the other.
"Thank you," Dean says, giving her a wink. Sam sighs exasperatedly for what feels like the six hundredth time today.
"You've got to stop that."
"Stop what? I'm just appreciating the beauties of the world."
"Yeah, I'm ignoring you now. Eat your food so we can go."
"Who died and made you boss?" Dean mutters.
Sam ignores him, and proceeds to wolf down his salad.
"Little hungry there?" Dean asks.
"Last time I checked, I was the one that went for a three mile jog this morning, not you, so I'll eat all I want, thanks."
"Just asking, don't get your panties in a twist."
"Whatever, I'm done eating."
Dean wolfs down the rest of his greasy, and in Sam's opinion, disgusting burger, managing to nearly choke on it twice, then stands up and walks toward the counter. He turns around and mouths 'getting her number,' and raises his eyebrows twice at Sam, who just rolls his eyes in response.
Sam shakes his head and walks out to the Impala, assuming that Dean is flirting, with a side of paying for their breakfast.
He opens the shiny black door of his brother's 1967 Chevy Impala and sits down on the beige seat, looking out the window at the diner. Moments later, the door opens and Sam sees Dean’s smug smile and a small piece of paper being waved around in the air.
When Dean sits down in his car, he immediately looks at Sam. “And that is how it’s done by a true master of charm,” he boasts, putting the key in the ignition and shifting to reverse.
“Good for you. I can get girls’ numbers too, y’know. I’m not celibate, or whatever crap you call me.”
“Sure, Sammy. Whatever makes you feel better. But if you really think you can get a girl’s number instead of me, you’re mistaken. So, whoever gets the number of the hottest girl wins.”
“That’s stupid, I’m not doing that.”
“We’ll see.”
“No, we won’t see. I’m focusing on the case.”
Sam sees Dean smirk in response as they pull out of the parking lot. He clenches his jaw in annoyance.
****
Halfway on the way to Tupelo, Sam asks, “So what do you think we’re looking at here? ‘S not everyday we work a job like this.”
“Honestly? No idea. Not a big fan of the carving on the chest, either. Never seen a symbol like that before.” 
"Great," Sam grumbles, and for the rest of the car ride his thoughts were full of possibilities of what they could be hunting.
****
Four hours later, the Impala rolls into Tupelo, and the first building they see is a fairly decent looking motel, which they decide to spend the night in. After checking into the motel, they carry their bags into the room, immediately grabbing out their fake FBI badges and cheap costume suits.
After quickly changing, they head out to the Impala. “Ready to see every dentist’s nightmare?” Dean jokes.
“Actually, pretty sure that would be you. I can’t remember a day where you didn’t eat some kind of candy or tooth rotting food,” Sam says. “Or even brushed your teeth for that matter.”
“Dude, I brush my teeth.” Sam raises his eyebrow. “Sometimes.”
Sam scoffs. “Yeah, right. Your breath smells like a dead person.”
****
Dean parks the Impala in front of a white two-story house in some, as Dean says, stuffy suburban neighborhood. They get out of the car and walk over to the house, Sam knocking on the front door.
A man, the woman's husband, Sam assumes, opens the door.
“Mr. Feezerman, we'd like to talk to you about your wife,” Sam says, flashing his fake badge.
“Thank God the FBI is involved. The cops here have no idea what's going on. Come in,” Mr Feezerman says, gesturing for them to come in.
Dean sits down on the couch, leaving Sam standing next to it.
“Mr. Feezerman, do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Sam asks.
“Go right ahead. It’s upstairs, the second door on the left.”
“Thanks,” Sam says with a little nod of his head.
Upstairs in the bathroom, Sam searches through the drawers for a hex bag, but comes up empty. He moves onto checking the cabinet below the sink, but still nothing. He finally looks in the medicine cabinet and finds a small brown cloth tied together by a leather string.
"Damn it," he grumbles.
He grabs the bag and heads back downstairs after putting it in his pocket.
He reaches the bottom of the stairs and sees Dean turn to look at him. Sam gives him a nod indicating his search was successful.
"Alright, that's all, thank you, Mr. Feezerman," Dean says.
****
"Alright, so what are we thinking?" Dean asks.
"Well, based on the hex bag I found, I'm thinking witch. And not some beginner level witchcraft, either, dude. I'm talking ancient witchcraft, warts, wrinkles, and all."
"Awesome," Dean groans.
"Yeah. And I'm thinking it's not just one witch, either. Witches this strong usually form covens to protect themselves."
"Awesome times two," Dean says, furrowing his eyebrows and grimacing.
"Well, what did you get? She have any enemies?"
"Her husband said that her and some of the other prissy ladies were in some sort of book club or whatever he said, I wasn’t really listening. I was thinking about that waitress from before,” Dean says dreamily.
“Dude, focus.”
“Right, anyways. Apparently, he found out through some lady she was friends with that she was cheating on her husband with one of the other lady’s husbands. Say that five times fast.”
“Sounds complicated, but also like we have some clear suspects.”
“Right. The book club or wine club or whatever it is these trophy wives do with their free time.”
“Dude, chill with the ‘I hate cookie-cutter families’ thing.”
“My bad.”
“You wanna head to the morgue or talk to suspects?”
“I’ll go to the morgue, you talk to suspects. I can’t handle any more of these people.”
“Alright. Did you get any names or addresses?”
“Obviously. This isn’t my first hunt,” Dean says, rolling his eyes.
“Alright, man. Take me to the first house.”
****
When they reach the first house, Sam gets out of the car.
“Meet back here in 30?” Sam asks.
“Uhh, y’know what? I think I’ll come with.” 
“What happened to not being able to handle any more of these people today?”
“Well that is one cougar just begging to be tamed,” Dean says, eyeing up the woman sitting on the porch.
“Disgusting, seriously.”
“Don’t hate the player.”
“Shut up.”
They walk up the pathway and up the stairs. When they reach the porch, the blonde woman gets up from her spot on the swing.
“Hello, boys, how can I help you?” She asks.
“FBI, we have a few questions about Amelia Feezerman,” Dean says, holding up his fake badge.
“Oh, dear. Come inside, then,” she says, leading them inside to the living room.
“So, nice place you got here,” Sam says.
“Oh, thank you,” she says, and before she can continue, Sam hears the pitter-patter of feet on the floor. “Honey, the cookies look delicious. Hopefully you two like chocolate chocolate chip.”
“Oh, I’m not really a sugar pers-“ Sam starts to say, but when he sees the woman standing in front of him, he quickly changes his mind. “But it doesn’t hurt occasionally.”
“Good, it’d be a shame if these cookies went to waste,” you say, winking at him.
“Like mother like daughter, damn,” Dean says under his breath.
Sam elbows him. “Knock it off,” he hissed.
“Before you two leave, let me know how the cookies are,” you say, gaze lingering on Sam before you walk out of the living room and back into the kitchen.
“We will,” Sam says, making ‘goo-goo eyes’, as Dean later calls them, at you.
“Dude, go in there and talk to her, I’ll talk to the mom here,” Dean says lowly to Sam, who nods in response and follows you into the kitchen.
The unfamiliar sound of footsteps prompts you to turn around, surprised to see the, in your opinion, cuter agent following you into the kitchen.
“Hello, agent,” you say with a grin.
“Hey, I’m Sam,” he shyly responds.
“Well, Sam, what did you think of the cookies?” You ask eagerly.
“They were really good. I’m really a sweets type of person, but you surprised me,” he compliments, the crinkling of his eyes serving as an effect of the wide smile gracing his face. You think that his smile makes him at least five times cuter, but you decide to keep that to yourself, for now at least.
“Well, thank you. I’m glad to contribute to the conversion of you into a dessert lover,” you joke, earning another beautiful smile from him.
“So, I’m not exactly here to talk about your cookies, however delicious they may be,” he admits, albeit a bit nervously for someone in the FBI, you think.
You raise an eyebrow. “How can I help you, then?”
“Have you heard about the death of Amelia Feezerman?” Your eyes widen, and you nearly choke on the cookie you were eating.
“What? Oh my God, no, I had no idea.”
“Ah, so you wouldn’t happen to know anything about her death?” He questions.
“Um, no? Why would I know anything about that?” You wearily ask.
“We thought that maybe you would know if there was any reason that anyone would want to hurt her.”
“Well, I didn’t really know her all that well. I know that she was in some book club thing with my mom, but that’s about it,” you say, crossing your arms. “Actually, I did hear that she was getting it on with some of her friends’ husbands.”
“Yeah, we know that,” Sam begins, “wait, plural husbands?”
“Yep,” you say, popping the ‘p.’ “She’d get with anything that breathes.”
“I see. So do you think any of these women would want to get revenge on her for that?”
“Oh, definitely. Some of these women are vicious. Rich women are some of the craziest people I’ve ever met, so glad I’m only back for three months,” you snicker.
Sam laughs. “So, you in college, then?” 
“Yeah, I’m in my third year, just home for the summer,” you explained.
“Yeah? You enjoying college?”
“Partially, I mean sometimes I miss my mom, but then I remember that visiting her means having to come back here, and I’m over it immediately,” you sheepishly admit.
“Really? It doesn’t seem too bad here, other than the death,” he says.
“Yeah, well, I guess you haven’t seen how people really are here.”
“How do you mean?”
“I guess I just mean that people here are petty and would do anything to get back at anyone for the smallest stuff,” you say sadly. “Especially some of my mom’s friends.”
You take the look on Sam’s face as an incentive to continue, “her friends are like, money obsessed, and if any other woman gets close to their husbands, somehow they’re mysteriously gone within the month. It’s kind of freaky, to be honest.”
Sam clenches his jaw as Dean walks into the kitchen.
"You ready to go?"
"Uh, yeah, give me a second.”
Dean gives him a look, but nods and leaves the kitchen.
“Give me a call if you can think of anything else that might be relevant to the case,” Sam says, handing a card with his FBI phone number on it to you.
“Will do,” you say, winking at him.
****
“Alright, so, what do you got?” Dean asks.
“Well, apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened here. According to her, multiple women go missing every year, all women that have gotten too close to the husbands of these book club ladies.”
“So we’re looking at a coven full of snotty rich women?” Dean complains, shoulders sagging.
“Guess so.”
“Doesn’t seem so bad for you though, Sammy. Don’t think I didn’t see you laying down the nerdy charm in there,” he jokes.
“I wasn’t flirting,” Sam defends. “I was just getting information and she happened to be pretty and conversational.”
“Sure, Sammy, sure.”
****
Before heading back to the motel room, Sam and Dean decide to stop by a restaurant for dinner.
“Dude, don’t tell me you’re gonna get another salad. You need some real food.”
“Like what? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure what you eat wouldn’t be classified as ‘real food’ either.”
“It’d be closer to real food than the shit you eat. You eat rabbit food, I eat manly food,” Dean argues.
“‘Manly food?’ How is it manly? It’s just greasy and disgusting. You’re gonna get a clogged artery in like 3 months because of it.”
“Whatever, I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”
Sam shakes his head and goes back to looking at the menu.
Sam’s menu browsing is interrupted by a familiar voice. “Can I get you two started with a drink?” 
He looks up to find you looking somehow just as beautiful in a waitress uniform, looking at him with stars in your eyes and a grin gracing your features.
“Well, hello again, agent. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were stalking me,” you playfully say, earning a chuckle from Sam.
“Hey, again. And yeah, I’ll just have a water,” he says.
“Alright, but honestly, I’d get the strawberry lemonade. It’s way better.”
“If you say it’s good, then I’ll give it a try,” he says, smiling coyly.
“Good, so a strawberry lemonade for you,” you start, turning to Dean, “and for you?”
Dean orders his drink, and while they wait for you to return with their drinks, they look at the food on the menus, at least Sam does, until he realizes that Dean is looking at him over his menu with a smirk on his face.
“Dude, what’s up with you and the waitress?”
“Nothing,” Sam says hesitantly. “I mean, she’s pretty, but I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? If a hot girl is hitting on you, take that as a blessing. How long has it been since you’ve gotten laid?” Dean reminds him, and for once Sam thinks he’s right, only a little bit, though. It had been a while since he even flirted with a girl, and it really couldn’t hurt, could it?
However, his train of thought is interrupted by your presence at the table again. You place each drink in front of them, being extra careful with Sam’s. 
“So, are we ready to order?” You ask.
The boys order, and you jot it down on your notepad before walking away from their table. This time, Sam takes the time to watch the way your hips swing from side to side every time you take a step. All he can think is that you have the most graceful walk he has ever seen in his life, which he then thinks is a little weird, but it’s just like him to notice these small, weird, and typically brushed over details of people.
When you back out of the kitchen doors, a plate in each hand, Sam is still staring. He can’t help thinking how beautiful you are, and how cute the smirk you always seem to have on your face is.
You place the plates down on the table. “Let me know if I can get you anything else.” You give Sam a smile that could just as easily be for both him and Dean, but he chooses to believe it was just for him.
Dean smirks. “She’s one hell of a beauty. If you aren’t gonna do anything with that blessing, I will.”
Sam gives him a dramatic look of disgust, but otherwise ignores his comment in favor of eating his sandwich. 
After they finish, Dean heads out to the car, insisting that Sam goes and talks to you. 
He walks up to the counter, money in hand. “Hey.”
You give him a grin. “Hey, there. Enjoy the food?”
“Yeah, it was really good,” he says, sliding you a twenty dollar bill. “That enough?”
You nod. “So, I get off in two hours. If you care, that is.”
He smirks. “What makes you think that?”
“Well, if my charms are still working, I would assume that you care. I’m quite pretty, after all.”
“And humble,” he jokes, earning an, in his definitely not biased opinion, adorable giggle from you. “But, yeah. You’re right, I do care.”
“Good, then meet me at the bar across the street. And don’t be late, otherwise I might find another man willing to fall under my spell.” You lean on the counter and give his hand a pat.
“Well, we wouldn’t want that to happen, so I’ll be there.” He smiles and heads out the door, leaving you leaning your head into your palm, grinning like a teenage girl that just made plans with her first boyfriend.
**** 
When Dean sees Sam walking out the door with a smug smile on his face, he can’t help but don a smile of his own. 
Sam opens the car door, greeted by Dean’s all-knowing grin. “So, you got a date tonight?”
“It’s not a date, we’re just going to the bar after she gets off work.” 
“Well, whatever, we finally got you a lady. Make the most of it, but don’t have too much fun. Still have to get rid of these witches.” Sam finds Dean’s advice very out of character, because typically he would tell him to have the time of his life, but he’s too elated to make much out of it.
“I know, man.”
Dean pats him on the shoulder. “Let’s head to the bar, get you a head start to your night of fun. I’ll look into this witch coven.”
“Dude, since when do you want to do the research?” Sam questions.
“Ever since you started getting chicks instead of me.”
Sam rolls his eyes. “You were hitting on a waitress this morning.”
“Can’t do anything with her number now, so it doesn’t count.”
“You could call it.”
“Nah, not in the area. Not worth driving all the way back for a waitress.” Sam raises an eyebrow but decides not to say anything.
**** 
In the bar, Sam and Dean are sitting at a small round table. Sam is drinking a bottle of beer while sitting across from Dean, who for once for once is not trying to get laid, but is actually researching the case at hand.
“Alright, so get this. These moms meet up at your new girlfriend’s house every Tuesday and Thursday and are there until, like, four in the morning.”
“Where are you getting this information?” Sam asks, using his years of enduring Dean’s teasing to skilfully avoid giving into Dean’s provocation.
“Some noise complaints that have been filed over the past few years.”
“So these are for sure our witches, then,” Sam observes.
“Seems like it,” Dean agrees.
Sam finishes his second beer of the night and grabs one of the files in front of Dean. 
“Alright, so there are four witches in this coven,” Sam reads from the file.
“Do you think the chick you’re meeting is also in it?” Dean asks.
Sam rests his chin on his palm, giving it some thought. He knew that some witches were born with their abilities, and since your mother was a witch, it was likely that you were born as one, but that didn’t necessarily mean that you were in on the killing, or that you even knew that you had powers. He hoped that you weren’t, but he thinks that he also wouldn’t mind it too much if you were. He would never admit it to Dean, but he thought that if you were a witch, it might be pretty cool.
“I don’t think so, she seemed really concerned about the killings and disappearances,” he defends.
“You’re just saying that because you’ve got the hots for her.”
Sam makes a face. “Yes, I like her, but I’m serious. I don’t think she is.”
“Alright.” Dean puts his hands up as if to say ‘Sorry, please don’t kill me now.’ 
Sam sees you walk in the door, heading straight for the bar. After taking a few more sips out of his new bottle of beer, he gets up out of his chair. Dean gives him a ‘go get ‘em tiger’ look, which he gracefully ignores in favor of sitting on the stool next to you.
“Hey there, stranger,” you say, batting your eyelashes at him.
“Hey,” he says giddily, causing you to come to the realization that he’s already at least a bit drunk. 
“So you’re a happy drunk,” you observe.
“Whaaat? I’m not drunk,” he argues.
You give him a knowing smile, but indulge him anyway. “Alright, fine. How’s the case going?”
“‘S good, we have suspects now,” he boasts.
“Yeah? I assume that’s all thanks to your hard work here,” you tease.
He gives you a toothy grin. “You know it.”
The bartender comes over and you order some fruity drink that Sam doesn’t catch the name of. When you get it, Sam asks to try it, which you oblige, of course.
“Wow, that’s good. I want one, too.”
“It is, but is that really a good idea? How many beers have you had already?” You ask, furrowing your eyebrows.
“Two, but I started on my third.”
“Oh. Well, I guess you can have some more of mine, but don’t drink too much. It’s pretty strong, and we wouldn’t want your partner over there to have to deal with you being too drunk,” you tease.
He frowns. “Who cares what he thinks? He’s bossy,” he groans. “And annoying,” he adds for safe measures.
You give him a comforting smile and a pat on his arm, causing you to realize just how muscular it is, along with the rest of his body. You somehow didn’t notice before, but now that you have, it’s all that’s on your mind.
“Sounds like I’ll have to take you off his hands for the night then, huh?” 
He notices that your hand is still on his arm, causing a light pink to dust his cheeks. “Sounds like a plan.”
“So, once you’re done with this case, how long until you leave?”
“It depends. Could be a week, could be the same day we finish the case. For you, though, I’m sure I can arrange staying around for a bit longer,” he suggests.
“That sounds nice,” you admit.
“Good, I’ll work it out then,” he states. “You look beautiful, sorry for not saying it earlier.”
“Well, thank you.” You grin, slightly shocked at how bluntly he says it, but you’re definitely not complaining. Looking over Sam’s outfit, you can’t help notice how good he looks in jeans and a flannel. The way the sleeves of his flannel tighten around his arms doesn’t go unnoticed by you. Now that you’ve seen how he looks in the basic combination, you don’t think you’ll ever be able to think another man looks good in it. “You don’t look half bad yourself. Casual is your look, agent. Not to mention that shirt is doing wonders for your arms,” you compliment, causing a dark blush to appear on his face for the second time tonight.
“Thanks,” he mumbles in embarrassment, clearly not expecting you to have flirted back, and if he did, he definitely didn’t expect you to flirt so blatantly. He’s flustered, and so, he decides to shift the conversation topic off of himself. “So, where do you go to college?”
“Last year I transferred to Stanford, but I went to an in-state college that was far enough away from here before.”
Sam raises his eyebrows, giving you a small smile. “I went to Stanford, too.”
“Really?” You ask.
“Yeah, I was studying to be a lawyer. Until my brother came to my apartment and told me he needed my help looking for our dad, at least” he admits.
“You didn’t finish school?”
“No, but it turned out to be a good thing,” he says, his voice sounding like he was trying to convince not only you, but himself as well. You raise an eyebrow, but in hopes of not upsetting the cute puppy-eyed boy you’d met only hours earlier, ultimately decide against saying anything to contradict his statement. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to notice your hesitance to accept his statement.
“I’m glad. Although, I’m sure you could still finish school if you ever wanted to. It wouldn’t hurt to have a back-up plan,” you suggest, laughing internally at the fact that being a Stanford educated lawyer would be his ‘back-up plan.’
“I guess. But I don’t think I could let Dean work all by himself.” The crestfallen expression he has on his face after imagining leaving Dean, paired with his puppy dog eyes is almost too much for you to handle. 
You put your hand on his arm, rubbing your thumb across the flannel he was wearing. “You’re a good partner, Sam. He’s lucky to have you.”
A perplexed look flashes across his face until he realizes that you meant they were FBI partners, and he quickly recovers by giving you a small smile. You find yourself unable to think about anything but his gorgeous eyes, sweet smile, and silky hair, causing you to get that warm fuzzy feeling that all your friends describe when talking about their boyfriends, and you feel yourself returning a smile without even trying. It felt almost like a reflex, and you realized that you were developing a crush on the tall, sweet, doe-eyed man. This thought is even further confirmed after Sam puts his large hand over yours, curling his fingers around your significantly smaller ones, causing your heart-rate to pick up.
You don’t even notice the blush appear on your face until you hear Sam’s teasing voice. “Now who’s the one blushing?”
“It’s just the lighting, don’t get all cocky,” you try to defend, to no avail, though, since Sam’s mischievous grin does not falter after hearing your defense.
“If you say so,” Sam says, doing his best not to let a doubtful expression cross his face.
“I do,” you firmly state. A small lull of silence overcomes the conversation, and you search through your brain to search for a new topic to discuss. “You said you have a brother? What’s his name?”
“Uh, about that. Dean is my brother.” Your eyebrows lift slightly.
“No way. You guys are brothers and work together? That’s pretty cool,” you observe.
“Yeah, sometimes. Other times he’s a real dick, though.”
“I bet. But he seems pretty nice for the most part.”
“He’s a good guy, he just thinks he has to protect everyone, especially me. He doesn’t realize I can do things on my own. I mean I was in college without him and I did just fine.”
You nod sympathetically, understanding how complex family relationships can be. From there, the conversation flowed smoothly and you felt like you could tell Sam anything without any judgment, leading you to ask, “Would you, uh, want to come over to my house for the night? My mom isn’t going to be home tonight.” As you say it, you feel like you’re in high school all over again, and you start to regret the words as soon as your lips stop moving.
Sam’s eyes widen and he stays quiet, further fueling your regret. For those brief few seconds, your mind races and you worry if you came off too strong or if he simply isn’t interested in you past a drunk conversation and flirting. Luckily, he realizes the look on your face and saves you from any further anxiety. 
“Sure, that sounds good.” Once again, the infamous smile graces his features, cheeks puffing up causing his eyes to crinkle and because not only is his face beautiful, of course his eyes have to be, too. You swear, even if no one else in the whole world agrees, his eyes are so beautiful in that moment that they glimmer.
You beam at him and slip off your stool, grabbing his hand and leading him off to the door. He looks back at Dean to find him already smirking at him. Dean gives him a wink, and for what is probably the millionth time in his life, Sam completely ignores him, focusing on the way you’re eagerly dragging him out of the place and to your car.
****
The next morning, Sam wakes up in a room that is far too nice to be the hotel that he and Dean were staying at, even though they always got the best room. He quickly remembers the events of last night and smiles. Although, his smile fades when he looks next to him to find you nowhere in sight. He rubs his eyes, looking around the room at the posters and decorations that let him peer into a tiny part of your life without worrying if he was overstepping any boundaries. 
He gets out from under the blanket and slips off the side of the bed, walking over to your desk that holds a curious collection of trinkets and a book full of pictures. He’s in the middle of flipping through the book when he hears the creaking of a door opening, and his reflexes have him whipping his head to see where the noise came from. You let out a little giggle when you find his face looking like a little kid that just got caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. He tilts his head as if asking what you were laughing at, but you just shrug, a cheeky grin still on your face.
“Whatcha doin’ there, Sam?” 
For a moment, Sam is at a loss of words. “Uh, I was just….” He trails off.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Just wondering what you’re looking at.” Your words clearly ease his mind, as he picks up the open photobook and points at the picture he was looking at. You smile as you look at a highschool version of you with some of your friends at a festival. 
“It’s a cute picture. You dyed your hair, though. I almost didn’t realize you were in it at first.”
“Yeah, I figured since I was going to college I should switch it up a bit.”
You sit on the edge of the bed, watching as Sam continues to flip through the pages. You carefully watch his expression change as his eyes move around the pages looking at different moments of your life. He was glad to get even more of a glance into who you were. 
Eventually, he reaches the end of the book and closes it, setting it back down on its rightful place on your desk. He joins you on the bed, sitting an awkward distance away from you, causing you to let out a small chuckle.
“What?” He questions, his puppy-dog eyes in full effect again.
“You can come closer, y’know. I don’t bite,” you tease. He blushes, as even more memories of last night flood into his brain. You definitely bit, but apparently only during certain hours of the day.
He scoots closer to you until your shoulders are comfortably pressed together. You take advantage of the proximity and lean your head on his shoulder.
“So, any plans for today?” You ask him.
“Not really. Just stuff for the case. I should probably check my phone.” You nod, and Sam thinks that the divine beauty of the slight raise at the corners of your mouth is unrivaled by any other sight Sam has ever seen, and he has seen almost too much in his short life.
He reaches over to the table next to your bed, trying his best not to move away from you and disturb your peaceful state of simple existence. He turns on his phone, seeing a few texts from Dean with more details on the case. He turns his phone off and decides that it wouldn’t hurt to stay here with you for another hour. You’re surprised by the weight of his head resting on top of yours, but who are you to complain? 
****
Unfortunately, an hour can go by very fast when you’re, as they say, having fun. Watching Sam walk out of your house pulled on a part of your heart that you wish it hadn’t, knowing that Sam would soon be leaving your not so small town and you would more than likely never see him again. You don’t think you would be able to handle not seeing him again, even though the two of you have known each other for less than a mere day. With these thoughts swirling around in your brain, all you can do is give him a small wave when he turns around to look at you one last time before getting into his brother’s ‘67 Impala.
****
“Dude, tell me about your night. Was it the craziest sex you’ve ever had? Is she freaky? Waitresses always are, man.” Dean’s rambles fill Sam’s ears as soon as he closes the door to the old, black car.
“Really? You couldn’t even wait five seconds before you start with this?” Sam complains.
“You haven’t gotten laid in centuries, Sammy, excuse me if I want to know if my little brother had a good time.”
“Shut up.” 
As usual, Dean completely ignores Sam’s protests and continues asking graphic questions about the ‘hot witch waitress’ until they arrive at the house of one of the witches in the coven.
****
Dean knocks on the door of the white two-story house, and within seconds is met with the face of a standard looking middle-aged woman.
“Hello, ma’am, FBI,” Dean says, flashing his fake badge, actions in sync with that of his younger brother.
The woman’s eyes widen slightly, but she schools her face back into neutrality quite quickly. “Come on in.” She motions for them to step into the house.
Dean sits down on the large couch in the living room, leaving Sam to remain standing next to it. “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Sam asks.
“Of course, go right ahead. Up the stairs and two doors to the right.”
Sam gives her a grateful smile before he walks out of the living room and heads up the stairs. When he began his search, he had expected to find one hex bag, or maybe even zero, but what he hadn’t expected was three. He raised an eyebrow, assuming that all the others in the coven would have at least coordinated this better, but here he was, looking at three different hex bags.
He quickly grabs them before flushing the toilet to avoid suspicion or potential disgust on the woman’s part if she realized that he hadn’t flushed the toilet. 
Heading back down the stairs, he gives Dean a small nod to indicate his findings and to signal Dean to wrap up his investigation.
“You boys have a good day, good luck with your investigation,” the woman says, closing the door behind them as they walk down the stairs connected to the front porch.
“Dude, there were three hex bags in her bathroom,” Sam says, pulling the bags out of his pocket.
“I thought they only needed one? What’s the point of having more?” Dean inquired.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s more powerful or something.”
Dean made a sound of acknowledgement but said nothing in return. Sam took it as a cue to continue talking.
“So, I was thinking we just wait until a night that they meet up and then ambush.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Dean agreed.
****
Back at the hotel room, Sam is researching more for the case, just to be safe, while Dean is out grabbing something for them to eat. Sam assumes that he’s gone back to the restaurant you work at so he can grab another glance at you.
Sam is deep into a passage on witchly powers when his phone rings, he assumes it’s Dean, but the small screen shows an unknown number. His eyebrows raise, but he answers the phone nonetheless. 
“Hello? Sam?” A familiar, but shaky voice asks from the phone.
He says your name as if it were a question, to which you quickly say, “Yes, um, sorry to be calling this late but I think there’s someone in my house.”
Sam’s jaw clenches, his whole face tensing up before quickly relaxing again as he prepares to defend the woman that he now found lingering in every crevice of his mind.
“I’ll be there in 5 minutes. Just lock your door and stay in your room, alright?” 
“Okay. Please stay on the phone with me, I’m really scared,” you admit.
“Yeah, yeah, you got it,” he says, rushing out the door of the hotel room before realizing that Dean was still out getting food. “Shit,” he breathed. However, now he could finally reap the benefits of his daily morning runs.
“What?” 
“Nothing, just a slight change of plans. Just stay calm.” His voice was slightly strained and now sounded more like a moan than actual words, and if you weren’t so damn scared you might have found it sexy.
****
About seven minutes and lots of heavy breaths from Sam’s end of the phone later, Sam was at the front door of your house, gun full of witch-killing bullets ready in one hand, and his small phone in the other. 
“I’m here, you’ll be good if I get off the phone?” He asks, fully ready to somehow manage to find a way to stay on the phone while fighting if you need him to.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Do what you need to do, please,” you say, but he hears the fear in your voice.
“I’ll be done and up there as soon as possible, alright? Don’t worry.”
He hears a small sound of acknowledgement from the other end of the phone before he finally ends the call and goes into the house. He heads straight for the door to the basement that, luckily, he had found when he made his journey to the bathroom the first time he was over at your house. He opens the door and grabs a second gun out of his pocket for safe measures, especially since Dean was nowhere to be found despite Sam’s multiple texts.
He slowly creeps down the stairs, doing his best not to let his weight cause the stairs to creek. Fortunately, he makes it down soundlessly, but is now stuck with the task of creeping through the abnormally large basement without getting cornered by witches.
It takes a few minutes before he finally hears the loud chanting start back up again, and while he knows that he’s probably free to walk as loudly as he wants to, he still keeps up the stealth.
The chanting slowly gets louder, and Sam steadies his arms to shoot both guns. As soon as he sees two figures in the door frame, he pulls the trigger on both, not wanting to risk the chances of them performing some spell on him before he gets a chance to get them first.
Unfortunately, he’d forgotten that there was still a third member of the coven, and as soon as he turns around, he’s met with the face of your mother, as well as a book harshly hitting his head and rendering him unconscious. 
The next thing he knows, he’s tied up in the same room that he shot the two witches.
“You’re not FBI, you’re hunters,” your mother says, disgust obvious in her voice.
“Like you’re any better. You kill innocent people,” Sam grunts, starting to discreetly rub the rope he was tied up with against the chair to cut it.
“Innocent? Oh, please, no one in this world is innocent, especially not you, and even more so since you’ve involved yourself with my daughter,” she spat.
Sam grimaces. “Oh, yes, I know all about that.” She smirks.
Sam is about to speak, but is interrupted by your voice calling out for him. As your voice grows closer and closer, Sam realizes his progress on the rope is not as fast as he hoped, and if he didn’t hurry up, you’d be in the room before he was free. 
However, to his dismay, you enter the room before he can free his arms, and all that he can think about is how awful it would be to watch you die, especially by the hands of your own mother. The nauseating thought is interrupted by a loud smashing sound that Sam immediately recognizes as a bat to the head. His head shoots up and he sees you, eyebrows furrowed with your eyes glazes over as you realize what you’ve done. 
He finally manages to get the rope holding his hands behind his back cut as you sink down onto your knees and start sobbing. His first reaction is to run over and hold you, asking if you’re okay, but he isn’t sure if that’s what you would want, and there’s no way in hell that he would want to upset you even more.
He settles for walking over to you and kneeling down with one hand on your back rubbing what he hopes are soothing circles on it.
“It’s gonna be okay, I promise,” he comforts. “It’ll get better. Just know you had to do this, alright?”
“I know, Sam, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I didn’t even think about it, I just saw you tied up, and that was my first reaction. Am I insane?”
“Hey, hey, don’t say that. It’s fine, you’re fine.”
Finally, you turn towards him and collapse into his arms, and though he’s surprised, he catches you and holds you closely and firmly to his chest. The hand that was once on your back is now on your head, comfortingly playing with your hair, and the other is wrapped around your waist as you sob into his shoulder.
****
Hours later, you’ve finally calmed down, and you and Sam are in your living room sitting on your couch, along with Dean, the other FBI agent that had arrived while you were still sobbing, much to your later embarrassment. However, Sam had reassured you that it wasn’t embarrassing, and Dean definitely wouldn’t find it so.
After his reassurance, you could find no trace of embarrassment still lingering in your mind. It was surprising that someone you’d only met a few days ago was able to not only understand you like that, but also manage to diminish your insecurities so easily. You found yourself thinking about how much you and Sam seem to have in common and how easy it is to talk to him. 
You lean your head on his shoulder, and out of the corner of your eye you see a small smile on his face. He wraps his arm around your shoulder and brings you closer to him.
“Oh, get a room,” Dean grumbles in annoyance, but Sam knows that he’s just faking it. He knows Dean too well to not realize that he really is happy for him.
****
When you wake up the next day you feel a warm presence next to you in your bed. You quickly recognize the presence as Sam, leading you to snuggle closer, resting your head on his chest.
“Good morning,” Sam says groggily, his voice breaking you out of the peaceful trance you were in.
“Good morning,” you reply.
Sam gives your arm a small squeeze before sitting up. You mirror his actions, ready to start a conversation, but are interrupted by the loud sound of his phone.
He gives you an apologetic look and grabs his phone to presumably read a text.
“It’s Dean. He has a lead on the case,” he states, to your annoyance.
“That’s good, I think. Would it be wrong for me to ask if I could come with?”
Sam’s eyebrows raise at your unexpected request. He stays quiet for a few seconds before replying, “I won’t say no, but I also don’t want you to get hurt. So, I have to be honest with you.”
You tilt your head, encouraging him to continue.
“My brother and I aren’t FBI, we’re hunters.”
You furrow your eyebrows. “What?” 
Sam swallows as if to prepare for the words about to leave his mouth.
“Monsters are real. Vampires, ghosts, all of it. My brother and I hunt them.” As the words are leaving his mouth, Sam is suddenly hit with a wave of regret. What if you don’t believe him? What if you think he’s crazy and tell him to leave?
You, on the other hand, were thinking about how happy you were that Sam was comfortable enough with you to tell you about his real life. In the future, Sam would probably laugh about how vast the difference of what was going on in each of your minds, but now, he was taking your silence as negative.
When you saw the worry on Sam’s face, you immediately realized that you’d been sitting in complete silence since he’d admitted the truth about him and his brother. 
“Really?” The one simple word brought Sam joy and relief like no other moment in his life.
“You actually believe me?” He asks in disbelief.
“Yeah, I mean what reason do I have not to? It does sound kind of insane, but I also bashed my mom’s head in with a bat yesterday, so…” You trail off, realizing that once again you’d been using humor as a coping mechanism instead of dealing with your problems.
Sam clears his throat, now feeling very awkward. “Right… About that, are you sure you want to come with? You’ve already been through a lot.”
“It would probably help to get my mind off of it, even if more traumatizing shit ends up happening, too.”
He pursed his lips, deep in thought. “Yeah, alright. If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you.”
You smile. “Yeah, it is.”
**** 
Half an hour later, you’re sitting in the back seat of the infamous black Impala with some old rock song that Dean picked playing.
“Sam, are you sure about bringing her?” Dean asks lowly, as if you couldn’t hear him from your spot right behind him. 
“Yes, Dean. It’s not like we’re leaving her to fend for her own while we go together,” he says exasperatedly.
“If you say so.”
You clear your throat, prompting Sam to turn around and give you an apologetic smile. You return the smile, but the annoyance you feel towards Dean does not dissipate. If anything, you feel it even more so after Sam apologized instead of him.
You decide to ignore it and stay quiet for the rest of the drive.
A few minutes and one rock song later, the Impala pulls into a driveway that you recognize as one of your mom’s friend’s house. You furrow your eyebrows.
“Why are we here?”
Dean clicks his tongue. “You didn’t tell her?”
“Well, Dean, I’m sorry that I didn’t want to overwhelm her,” he sasses.
“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think? You brought her on a damn hunt.”
The air in the car suddenly felt awkward and you felt as though you shouldn’t be listening to their conversation. 
“I’m just gonna get out and let you two finish your discussion,” you said quickly before opening the door and walking over to the porch of the house.
As you walked up the stairs, the front door opened, and the face of your old best friend from high school appeared in the doorway. 
She called your name, a big smile adorning her face.
“Lily, hey!” You said, feigning excitement to see the girl after three years.
“It’s been so long! Come inside. My mom is downstairs,” she exclaims, ushering you into the house and nearly slamming the door shut once you’ve entered her house. As soon as you enter the house, a chill runs down your spine and you can’t help but feel nervous about what’s about to happen.
****
You’d been in the house for a few minutes before Sam and Dean had even realized you hadn’t been sitting on the porch the whole time they’d been arguing, and when Sam looked over to see what you were doing, a wave of panic rushed through his whole body.
“Dean, she’s gone.”
“What the hell? See, this is why we shouldn’t have even brought her with us.”
“Dude, whatever, it doesn’t matter, we gotta go find her right now.”
Sam quickly opened the passenger door and rushed out of the car and through the front door.
He opens the door, quickly checking the living room. Nothing. He checks the kitchen and the dining room. Nothing and nothing. He checks all the rooms on the first floor and the second floor, then goes back to the first floor to check again, when he hears Dean calling out to him.
“Sam? Come here, I found a door to a basement or somethin’,” he calls out.
Sam follows the sound of his brother’s gruff voice and finds a door he doesn’t know how he missed. He’s usually thorough about searching, but he finds himself extremely on-edge this time. He thinks it might somehow, maybe, have something to do with his not-so-subtle crush on you, and maybe the thought that losing you would be one of the worst things that has happened to him even though he’s barely known you for five days.
He quickly pushes the thought to the back of his mind, at least for now, in favor of pushing ahead of Dean and heading down the stairs into the basement.
His mind is now absent of any “lovey-dovey” thoughts of you, but chock full of thoughts about how you could be dead right now. He never should have let you get out of the car and go inside without him. If you were dead, it would be all his fault, and he would never be able to escape the guilt of having another death on his conscience. 
However, with all of these thoughts, the thought that you could actually hold your own against the witches had somehow never crossed his mind. It definitely should have, though, because when he finally reaches you, you’re standing over two feminine figures that are lying still on the ground. 
He sees your chest rising and falling as the iron tight grip you have on the knife in your hand begins to falter. The knife clatters onto the floor as you look over to see Sam.
“Sam,” you pant, and he immediately rushes over to you and takes your tired figure into his arms. He immediately feels blood that he isn’t sure of the origins beginning to soak into his jacket, but he can’t bring himself to care about that right now. The only thing he cares about is your safety, and preserving that safety for as long as he possibly can from here on out.
���Are you okay?” He whispers next to your ear.
“No, Sam, I killed my mom and then my best friend from high school and her mom in the span of not even twenty-four hours. I feel horrible.”
“You had to, okay? They were killing people. Maybe that doesn’t help you feel better right now, but eventually it will. Don’t beat yourself up over it, or you’ll end up hating yourself for the rest of your life. This is how it is to be a hunter, and I understand if after now you never want to do it again,” he rambles, trying to somehow make you feel better, which he knows is nearly impossible right now, but he can’t stop himself from trying. To him, it almost feels like someone is taking control of his body and making him do everything in his power to help you.
He realizes very quickly, though, that it’s not a person taking control of his body, but an emotion: love. The realization is scary for him, to say the least, especially because of his track record with girlfriends dying, but he thinks that he would be okay with overcoming this fear if it means you would be his.
A few seconds later, Dean walks into the room and finds himself met with the sight of your shorter figure being held, in his opinion, disgustingly lovingly by his brother. He’s happy that his brother has found someone that seems like a good person from what he can tell.
Dean whistles, eyebrows raising in approval at the sight of the two witches’ bodies behind your back. “Damn, and you didn’t even need my help. You’re getting better, Sammy.”
Sam shakes his head. “I didn’t do this. She did,” he replies, turning around and giving Dean a smug look. Dean gives him a look of annoyance at being proven wrong when it comes to your ability to fight, but ultimately decides to give it a rest, for today at least. He could tell you were shaken up, and he felt that he could sympathize, only a bit, though.
When he realizes that you had taken out the two witches on your own, he couldn’t help but feel impressed, and he confidently feels that you and Sam are right for each other. It’s funny that it isn’t your loving personality or quirky teasing that tells him that you’re right for Sam, but instead the fact that you can hold your own in a battle. That really is a more valuable asset in their lives than any regular person, so Dean is glad that his brother has been lucky enough to find someone like that.
****
Later that day, you’re all standing outside your house that now feels very empty without your mother. You never realized how much of a presence she really had until now, and admittedly, it makes you sad to think about, no matter how much you disliked her.
Unfortunately, it’s about to get a whole lot emptier with Sam and Dean ready to head out to their next case. However, Dean’s voice shakes you out of your thoughts, and his words shock you even more.
“Kid, how would you feel about joining us for a few more hunts, see how you feel? Who knows, maybe you’ll become a permanent member of our group here.” 
Sam gives him a look of pure astonishment, but all he receives in return is a smug look and a little shrug.
“Well, I don’t know. I don’t want to be a burden to you guys with all the teaching me how to hunt and all that.”
“I don’t think we’d have to do too much teaching. You’re a natural,” Sam compliments, causing a deep blush to appear on your cheeks.
“Alright, Sammy. We’re gonna have to work on all that flirting,” Dean teases. “I’ll admit, I do agree, though. That was impressive. I probably couldn’t have done that on my first hunt,” he admits.
His unexpected words of praise make you smile, and your annoyance from earlier fades away. Dean could be a pain in the ass from what you’ve learned, but he could also be nice. You figured he was usually a pain in the ass, though, but you figured that you would be able to learn how to deal with it, or at least ignore it like Sam seems to be able to do.
“Alright. To be honest, it was kind of exhilarating, but also scary. I think it could be something I could learn to love, though.”
Sam gives you a warm smile, and gestures for you to go over there to give him a hug, which you excitedly accept, falling into his larger frame as his long arms wrap around you.
Dean grumbles. “Really? Again?”
All you and Sam do in response is laugh, much to Dean’s annoyance.
a/n: would yall be interested in this being a series or something ?? idk i feel like that would be fun to do
tags: @kozumesphone
235 notes · View notes
shitsndgiggs · 4 months ago
Text
PLAYER AND THE PRESS - ARDA GÜLER
Arda getting distracted by a young journalist
Arda Güler x journalist! reader
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿
As I entered the buzzing press area after the thrilling Euro match between Turkey and Georgia, my heart pounded with a mix of excitement and nerves.
At just 19, I couldn't believe I was here, about to interview Arda Guler, the young prodigy who had just been awarded Player of the Match.
Clutching my notepad and recorder tightly, I scanned the room until I spotted him, surrounded by cameras and reporters, his youthful face beaming with joy and satisfaction.
I approached him tentatively, trying to appear confident despite my racing thoughts.
"Arda, congratulations on an incredible performance tonight!" I greeted him with a smile, extending my hand.
He turned to me, his eyes briefly flickering with something I couldn't quite place. "Thank you so much!" His handshake was warm, and his smile widened as he added, "It's really nice to meet you."
I felt a rush of warmth at his genuine demeanor. "The pleasure is mine," I replied, trying to hide my own nerves.
"You were exceptional out there. How does it feel to win tonight and receive the Player of the Match award in such a crucial game?"
Arda's gaze lingered on me for a moment longer than expected, and when he spoke, there was a slight hesitation in his voice. "Um, it feels amazing, honestly. The team worked so hard, and to contribute like that is just... yeah, amazing."
I nodded, noting his slight stumble over his words. "Who has been your biggest inspiration on your journey to becoming such a standout player at such a young age?"
He blinked, seeming momentarily lost in thought. "My family, definitely. They've always supported me," he answered, his eyes meeting mine again with a sincerity that made my heart skip a beat.
"And, uh, players like Messi and Ronaldo, of course. They're legends."
I scribbled down his response, trying to maintain my professionalism despite the unexpected flutters in my stomach. "Looking ahead, what are your goals for the future, both personally and for the national team?"
Arda paused, his brow furrowing as he seemed to gather his thoughts. "Well, personally, I want to keep improving, keep learning. And for the national team, we want to keep pushing, qualifying for major tournaments, making our fans proud."
As our interview progressed, I noticed Arda's charming smile and occasional moments of distraction, his eyes seeming to drift away momentarily before returning to meet mine with genuine warmth.
Wanting to explore his thoughts further, I asked, "Arda, in such a high-stakes match, how do you manage to stay focused and maintain your composure?"
He blinked, his gaze momentarily unfocused as if lost in contemplation. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
I repeated the question, noting the way his eyes lingered on mine as he gathered his thoughts. "Ah, staying focused... It's about trusting in the team, in our preparation. And also, just embracing the moment, you know?"
I nodded, jotting down his response. "Well, you certainly showed that tonight on the field."
"Thank you," he said again, his gaze lingering for a moment longer than necessary, as if he wanted to say more.
As I gathered my notes and prepared to leave, Arda hesitated for a split second before speaking again. "Hey, um, would you... maybe like to grab something to eat after this? I know a great place nearby."
Surprised yet pleasantly taken aback by his invitation, I couldn't hide my smile. "I'd love to," I replied, feeling a rush of excitement.
Arda's grin widened, his eyes sparkling with a mix of enthusiasm and relief. "Great! I'll, uh, I'll see you after then."
245 notes · View notes
reqxxyt · 1 year ago
Text
the minute i fell
Tumblr media
pairings: charles l. x f!reader
summary: in which Charles and Carlos make a bet to get with the photographer of Ferrari, a reserved introvert, but finally getting the chance to speak to her, Charles realizes he already lost.
warnings: i had no idea how to end this.. very rushed ending
wc: 2.1k
masterlist requests are open!
[unedited]
_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐
The duo sat on the paddock floor, laughing along as others passed them in the ferrari garage not taking into consideration of their conversation. 
“I’m telling you, I am amazing with the women” Charles claimed while Carlos gave him a non convinced look, not accepting his claim. A familiar figure caught Carlos’ eye ready to prove Charles wrong. 
“What about y/n?” Carlos said, a bit quieter as the two turned analyzing her movements as she was adjusting the camera settings, ready to pack and leave. Charles’ gaze longed as he was about to reject the proposal before he heard the spaniard next to him say “Or you could always prove yourself wrong” 
Charles competitive spirit flamed as he just nodded, turning his gaze away from the girl towards Carlos just nodding his head making the other just smirk, already loving the idea of how this would turn out.
It was well known in the garage that y/n didn’t like to be bothered, very quiet and reserved to others. Everyone at some point tried to be friendly towards her but her blunt responses would cause them to turn away, thinking she didn’t like them, didn’t like anyone. 
So when Charles got up he automatically crossed off all of his starter questions knowing it would only end the conversation in 2 seconds. On the other end, the girl was exhausted, having dealt with trying to capture the best moments of the weekend with a constant headache and jetlag. But the job overweight the cons everytime, she was only ever quiet because she was too focused on her job, not allowing anyone to interrupt her during her time. Yes, she already knew most saw her as rude, but she didn’t mind that, at least they stopped pretending to be nice the first week. 
“Capture all the good moments?” at first she thought Charles wasn’t speaking to her, still focused on tuning some camera settings until she heard him clear his throat in front of her finally making her look up. He waited for a proper response but all he received was a tight smile and a barely noticeable nod. The girl was about to gather her belongings, thinking the conversation was done but instead he kept talking to her, “Maybe I’ll get an early preview?”
“Yeah, maybe” she said simply, getting her tote bag and ready to walk out, but Charles didn’t seem to give up almost blocking her exit before she scurried next to him and squeezed outside. 
“What are you doing later tonight?” he ran up to her, catching up to her fast pace clearly catching the hint but refusing to give up this early after Carlos doubted him. Y/n simply shrugged mumbling a soft “don’t know” 
“What if-” he was interrupted with y/n turning and catching him off guard as she finally grew annoyed and said “What do you want, Charles? Seriously, do you find it entertaining to talk to someone who doesn’t want a conversation right now?”
Charles stood, stunned at her questions, finally gathering his thoughts after a couple of moments, commenting “This is the most you’ve spoken. Improvement” the corners of his lips twitch upwards as she sighed, growing more irritated that that was the portion he focused on more. Before he could say anything more on her ‘improvement’ she turned saying a simple “Goodnight” leaving Charles to think to himself while his teammate was trying not to laugh a few feet away seeing Charles’ failed attempt with front row seats. 
A couple of days later
Y/n would be lying if she said she didn’t hate the plan for today, it consisted of having to do a photoshoot with the two drivers. She was hoping to not have to interact with Charles but the way the past couple of days had gone he would definitely try something. 
She had finally finished adjusting the lighting on the scene, seeing the two drivers walk up to their designated areas and before she  could even wrap around the strap on my neck, she spotted Charles with messed up hair. The photographer looked around, hoping to find their hairdresser but found them nowhere near, with a heavy sigh she walked to Charles and trying to keep the most distance, leaned upwards and adjusted the strands that stuck out not daring to make eye contact or take a smell of his fresh cologne.
Charles tried his best to keep her in that same position, praying her gaze would lower to his own, thinking eye contact could help him with achieving this stupid bet he already began regretting and having doubts of his own, but he refused to accept defeat. Seeing her simply turn around after finishing made him internally frustrated, trying to come up with another idea while she was still here. 
After the first set, Charles subconcecially ran his hands through his hair, not realizing he had messed it up until he heard her steps forward him replacing his hand with her own as she ran through it, trying her best to fix his mess. In that moment, Charles felt his own heart speed up, realizing just how pretty the girl was from up close, with a focused gaze having her nose scrunch before leaning back down. This time, she glanced back at him, making direct eye contact but stepped back forcing herself away from him. 
“Fix your shirt Leclerc” she commented, waiting on him as she walked back to her original position. Charles looked down only seeing it tucked in slightly. His innocent smile grew with curious eyes as he asked 
“Why not fix it for me?” he immediately noticed the way her cheeks got pink, whether that be from the bright sun or his question he doesn’t want the answer to, wanting his own delusions to be the true meaning but she just glared at him, ignoring how the sun somehow made his eyes look perfect at the current angle. 
“That would be considered inappropriate” she said, looking back down, ready to take the next set right after he could fix it but she just looked up at him seeing his innocent smile. She turned to Carlos, asking him to fix it and he did with no obligation, she just smiled to herself afterwards before taking another couple of photos, checking them afterwards ready to take the final set at the next location. 
The two followed the girl to the next location with a safe enough distance where she couldn’t hear their whispered conversation. 
“No luck?” Carlos asked even though already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from him and finally admit to defeat but Charles only refused, saying “it’s only been a couple of days”
Carlos just hummed before the two finally caught back up to the girl, waiting for them by the two cars. She instructed them where to stand, giving them simple instructions thinking it shouldn’t be that difficult completely forgetting she was dealing with an irratating Charles today. He stood a couple of feet away from his position, 
“Can you scoot to the left a little, Charles?” she asked, trying her best to appear polite and surprisingly he did as he was told with no obligation. She took the first picture, making sure there was no odd glare anywhere before finally getting back down to take more shots. Taking the final picture, she concluded the day with a simple ‘perfect’. 
The girl was looking through them all, making some adjustments not appearing to notice the Monacan driver walking up to her, only managing to spook her with a simple greeting, only earning a glare right after. 
"Do you need something else" she asked, putting her camera down to face him and while the gesture may have meant little to the photographer it meant an advancement to Charles, making eye contact was his specialty. 
"Just making sure I look good" he said with his charming smile, she only nodded mumbling a barely audible "You always do" but Charles had heard, not so clear but he could make up the mumble, making his smirk grow just by a millimeter. 
"Is it too late for you to fix my hair" he asked with a hint of mischief in his tone but she only stared blankly, not the slightest amused, ready to walk away from the conversation but he grasped her wrist before she could take a step holding her back, sending a strange sensation to both. 
"Terrble joke" he apoligized, knowing he was giving her a hard time. He sighed, debating the options before finally admitting, "Truth is, me and Carlos had this bet going on for the past couple of days, now thinking about it, it was stupid. I won’t bother you again, just please don’t hate me"
"I already knew" she shrugged not appearing the slightest suuprised meanwhile Charles nearly had his whole jaw agape of the reveal. "I was waiting for when you would tell me"
"You knew? Since when?" he didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or stupid. Definetly both.
"The first day" she said ready turn now before saying "Don’t worry, I could never hate the prettiest driver"
The next day had been quite normal, considering Charles stopped bothering the girl, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The girl he couldn’t get, had started off as a bet where he would have her fall for him, turned to him falling for her. 
“Hey, Charles?” Her voice made his heart spike up, turning to see her with a small smile. “Mind helping me with something?” 
He nodded, waiting for her request as she fiddled with her ear, taking out a single earring. 
“I lost my earring earlier, mind helping me look of it?” he noticed her earring, one similar to another he had spotted not too far, a golden stud with diamond specs. He just nodded, observing it in her hand before replying with a simple sure. Without saying much else, he headed to the last place he saw it last with the girl trailing behind him. 
“I think I saw it earlier around here” he informed, starting the search with her. “I’ve never seen you wear jewelry before” he attempted to make a conversation and while the girl hesitated, she decided to reply with interest, “I don’t. Normally I am not allowed to, I only wear them on formal occasions really. But the one time I tried wearing it, i seemed to have lost it”
Charles only chuckled, searching the area with more detail. “It sure looks pretty, gift, I assume?” he wanted the conversation to last a lifetime, hearing her voice made him both comfortable and on suspense. 
“Yeah, my mother gave it to me. The only gift she gave me and I’ve lost it” her voice filled with sorrow and Charles immedietly filled terrible, ready to apoligize for even bringing it up but all she gave him was a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, I just need to find it is all” 
The search continued, lasting an hour before the girl gave a tired sigh, feeling her eyes trickled with water but she refused to cry, at least not in front of someone. She was ready to give up, clinging onto the one that she hasn’t lost yet hoping to anyone that could hear to allow her to find the gift. Meanwhile, Charles refused to give up not needing her frowned expression to be the appearance she gives him everyday because he couldn’t find her precious item. Not too long afterward, he finally spotted it, underneath a rug, he immediately grasped it letting out a soft yell, enough for her to hear him 
“Found it!” immediately, she went to him observing the earring before confirming it and thanking him, excitement struck her as she leaped forward grabbing the sides of his face pushing her lips to his. 
Charles arms fell to his sides, still needing time to react before closing her in his embrace wanting to deepen the kiss, eager for more, still ensuring to keep grasp of the earring. The kiss only lasted a minute before the girl finally brought herself back, bringing her hands to her sides, no longer looking at the earring but needing a positive reaction from the driver she as well was having a headache about the past couple of days. 
Seeing no reaction, she immediately grasped the earring thanking him silently but before she could turn away, he grabbed the sides of her face pulling her back in for another taste, she immediately melted in his arms, almost dropping the earring. After the two separated, their eyes wouldnt dare leave each other for a second, Charles lifting a corner of his mouth, feeling all types of adrenaline while the girl in his arms tried her best to calm down not sure if she was liking the rapid pace her heart was going. 
“Hope this isn’t part of your plan Leclerc” was all she could let out, with a shaky breath. Charles only smiled, reassuring her
“I lost the minute I started falling” 
2K notes · View notes
Text
Being in a relationship with Maki Zenin
Tumblr media
● Maki first met you during your first year of jujutsu high. At first, she didn't really care that you were new here, You tried to be friends with her, but she'll just brush you off, but later on, maki gave you a chance, you start to get closer and became an official couple.
● Always angry, when you first came here, she had major anger issues, she would yell or cuss people out, but with you, she was calmer with you, and she learned to control her emotions.
● Very overprotective over you, she doesn't like seeing getting hurt, she's like a bodyguard she'll watch over you or harm anyone that is a threat.
"Seriously, Maki, you didn't have to do that, I could've handled that curse myself." You told her as Maki rolled her eyes. "C'mon y/n you were so close to death, you know what could've happened to you." Maki told you sternly with an angry expression on her face, but deep down, she was concerned and afraid to lose you.
"It's OK, I can take care of myself, I promise you I can handle it." Y/n held her hand, rubbing on it to calm her down, as Maki looked at you less tensly. "Fine, but next time you're not careful, I'll kill that curse myself before it even thinks about touching you." Maki told you as you faced were close to each other.
● No one can get close to you, thanks to her. Maki is around you 24/7. No one was able to harm you since she was around, and no one would be able to mess with you.
● PDA, I feel like maki is definitely into pda, like light touching and waist holding would get flustered. When you do it in public, she's more into pda behind closed doors.
● You would sometimes steal her glasses to wear it yourself, maki doesn't allow no one to touch her glasses, but you were an exception, she'll act like she doesn't care that you wear her glasses, but in all honesty she finds you cute when you wear them.
● Maki is the type to prefer staying home, maki is more of a homebody she doesn't usually go out, she prefers her company at home with you, you make her feel more at home.
● tries to be less aggressive around you, maki isn't really the nice type towards everyone. When she first met you, she was aggressive asf, but when you started dating her, she toned it down a bit and became more chill now. Yeah, she gets mad here and there, but when you are around her, she'll calm down.
● You love picking outfits for maki, you don't see Maki wear anything besides her uniform, you love to take her shopping and finding outfits that look good on her, maki isn't really a big fan of the outfit choices but she loves seeing you happy, so she wears the outfits for your sake, but ends up liking some of the outfits.
● Maki can be very scary when someone insults you or threatens you. Maki goes 0 to 100 real quick when someone insults you. She is quick to pull a weapon or kill anyone that hurts your feelings.
● Maki is a big foodie, she's willing to try any food together, like she's mostly in love with street food she will take you anywhere that had the best street food.
● Maki acts like she doesn't really care for dates, but secretly gets excited when you take her on a date, your first date was a picnic at a park, she was so happy with you, she loved every single moment of it.
● Spending time traing together, at first you were horrible at training with Maki since you would always lose, but maki helps you as you improved each other's skills, and becoming better and tagging along with each other on missions.
● When you and maki became closer, you got to know her more. The reason for her harsh and cold exterior was only to hide her frustration from her family. Being mistreated all the time for being a woman and a non-sorcerer from the Zenin Clan, which drives her to get out of that clan.
● You listen to her vent about all her problems and listen attentively as she represses her anger and frustration, but she can't help but feel appreciated and see you make her feel.
● Your consideration is the reason why she fell for you. She loves you harder than before. She just felt appreciated and seen by how you're the only one who understands her and accepts her for who she is.
176 notes · View notes
junrenjun · 6 months ago
Text
Gone
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
alpha!wonwoo x beta!reader (mentioned ot13 x reader)
genre: angst, fluff (wow are we sensing a trend here?)
wc: 1897
warnings: mentions of arguments, implications of violence (jokingly), slightly suggestive at the end, polyamory
summary: wonwoo and the pack return to the apartment after practice to a sulking seungcheol and a missing y/n.
a/n: here's wonwoo's part! you can start to see some hints of reader and the pack's past, especially with wonwoo and seungcheol. enjoy :)
Tumblr media
Wonwoo was, to put it quite plainly, tired. Exhausted even. Today’s schedule had them learning two completely new dances and his brain kept getting them mixed up. Don’t get him wrong, he loves the performance unit and respects their choreographers, but they might have been a little in over their heads. 
As they finished the last hour of rehearsal, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the clock. He was counting down the minutes until he could go home and bask in the presence of his beta. Maybe it was due to the fact that Wonwoo’s rut was set to hit within the next few weeks, but he felt the need to be around you 24/7. To the point where you told him that he was becoming a “grade A clinger.” He couldn’t quite bring himself to care though, you were taking the affection in stride. It was a clear improvement from when he first integrated you into the pack. 
The alpha shook his head to bring him back to the present, right as the choreographers finally cleared the group to head home for the day. Wonwoo doesn’t think he’s ever packed his practice bag faster. Vernon seems to take notice of this. “You good bro?”
Wonwoo doesn’t even look up as he shoves a hoodie over his head. “Yeah, I just can’t wait to get home.”
He sees Vernon’s lips curl into a smirk from the corner of his eye. “So you can whisk y/n away to your room and keep her to yourself for the night? The rest of us would like a little time too. Nice sweatshirt by the way.”
A scent that is clearly not his own invades his senses. He looks down and curses. This hoodie is definitely not his. How did Mingyu’s sweatshirt even get into his bag in the first place? Remembering Vernon’s first comment, Wonwoo finally looks up at his packmate. “I don’t steal her.”
Vernon snorts and mumbles out a “whatever you say dude,” before turning on his heel to go bother Seungkwan. Shocker. Wonwoo resists the urge to roll his eyes. His packmate’s words start to take effect though because he’s pulling out his phone and texting you.
“You can tell me if my clinginess gets too much you know? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or steal you away from the rest of the pack.”
He sends the message before shoving his phone in his (Mingyu’s) pocket. The rest of the pack is slowly making their way to the door, so he follows suit. As they sluggishly head to the vans, he observes his mates. Junhui and Minghao are conversing in Mandarin, Vernon has his arm over Seungkwan’s shoulder and is attached to him like a leech, and Jeonghan is typing away on his phone.
He feels his own phone ping in his pocket and rushes to grab it, hoping you had responded. He deflates when he realizes it’s just Jeonghan, who must have been texting the group chat when he looked over.
“Getting Japanese for dinner. If you want something, say what you want now or forever hold your peace.”
The group chat instantly explodes with everyone’s orders. Wonwoo quickly sends what he wants but frowns when he realizes neither you nor Seungcheol have responded. He tries to brush it off but it’s difficult. He knows that your phone barely leaves your side. 
He purposefully climbs into the seat next to Jeonghan when they get into the van. The omega raises a questioning eyebrow at him. He knows that Wonwoo prefers sitting by Jun and Minghao on the way home after a long day. It is usually the quietest after all.
“What’s wrong?” Jeonghan finally questions.
Wonwoo bites his lip. He’s really questioning himself now that he has to voice his concerns out loud. Is he being overdramatic? Is this just him being a clingy alpha in almost pre-rut? Might as well just get it out he supposes. He knows the pack omega won’t make fun of him. “Have you heard from y/n? I texted her earlier and she hasn’t responded. And then you asked for everyone’s dinner orders and she and Cheol didn’t respond.”
The alpha perks up when Jeonghan responds. “I was kind of worried too. I texted him like 30 minutes ago asking what he wanted for dinner. Never responded so I just decided on the Japanese place he likes. I figured he was sleeping or something, I don’t know. It’s weird that y/n hasn’t responded yet though.”
The omega doesn’t even finish what he’s saying before Wonwoo is clicking your contact and calling you. The phone rings for what feels like an eternity. And then, he hears your voicemail greeting. Fuck, something is wrong. He can feel it.
Jeonghan feels Wonwoo’s uneasiness from his side. He reaches out and runs his hand through the alpha’s hair, murmuring something about how it’s only a few minutes until they get home and that they would figure it out together. Wonwoo isn’t sure he’s actually going to survive these next few minutes without imploding, though. 
After the longest 5 minutes of his life, Wonwoo yanks the van door open and races to the pack’s apartment. He’s slightly comforted by his pack omega’s presence hot on his heels. At least he knows he’s not a delusional, overbearing alpha for worrying like this. Jeonghan steps in front of him to unlock the front door and Wonwoo releases an audible whine. Your scent hits him like a truck and it smells like stress. You’re distressed and he’s not there to calm you down. What a horrible, terrible alpha his mind tells him.
He and Jeonghan step into the entrance, the rest of the pack finally catching up and throwing questioning shouts into the air. Wonwoo immediately goes to search for you when his mate throws his arm out to stop him. “She’s not here hyung.”
Wonwoo’s eyes practically bulge out of his skull. “What do you mean?”
The omega points to the shoe rack by the door. Your shoes are gone, and in their spot, sit your usual house slippers. Seungcheol’s, however, sit undisturbed. Jeonghan turns and heads straight for the pack alpha’s room, leaving Wonwoo to fend for himself when the pack immediately begins to question him. 
The alpha offers no response, sitting down at the kitchen table and sending a location request to your phone, hoping and praying you send something back. The others seem to take the hint and disperse until everything works out. He hears Jeonghan call out to him from Seungcheol’s room. “I don’t think he knows where y/n is at.”
Wonwoo sighs. “I just requested her location. I’m hoping that she has her phone on her and can respond. If not, I’m not sure what to do.”
Jeonghan responds. “Well she’s always on that damn phone, so hopefully she’ll send her location back soon enough.”
The scent of angry alpha lingering in the kitchen has Wonwoo freezing in his tracks as he catches a whiff. It’s not just angry alpha, it’s angry Seungcheol. Something definitely happened between you two. Knowing his stubborn pack alpha, some sort of argument. 
Wonwoo wanted to scream at Seungcheol. Let him hear every nasty word that comes to mind. But he couldn’t. Not when you were unaccounted for, and, based on the silence coming from his room, the alpha is already beating himself up over whatever happened.
The sound of a text notification rouses him from his thoughts. You had finally responded with your location. Wonwoo can’t help but slap himself on the forehead when he sees where you’re at. Of course you’re at the cafe that you first met him and Seungcheol at.
He’s quick to rush to the door, grabbing an extra coat as he knows you probably didn’t grab one for yourself. He forwards your location to Jeonghan and is taking the stairs two at a time down to the street level. 
The wind is bitterly cold, but at this point, Wonwoo doesn’t think he can really feel it. Though he does sigh in relief when he steps through the entrance of the cafe. Whether that be because of the warmth or because he’s spotted you near the back, at a table he remembers all too well. You’re lying your emotions out for him to see without even saying anything. 
He walks right up to you and hands you the coat (which he now mistakenly realizes is Seungcheol’s) without a word. You take it from him, putting it on regardless of the owner’s scent, and get up to leave. The silence is heavy as you walk back to the apartment. He’ll take your silence over your absence any day though.
Eventually, you slow down and give Wonwoo’s hand a squeeze to signal him to stop walking. He pulls you off to the side and out of the way of the other pedestrians. “What’s wrong?” he questions after a moment.
You look at him from between your lashes. His heart sinks a bit. “Why can’t I do the one thing my subgender was made to do?”
He’s taken aback. “What are you even talking about?”
You look away from him shamefully. “A beta is supposed to be the neutral party in a pack. Someone who can resolve problems or whatever. I feel like all I do is cause problems.”
This is odd coming from y/n “fuck subgender stereotypes” of the Choi pack, which is probably the most unconventional pack to walk this planet. You’re not one to care for comparing someone’s behavior to their designation. 
He sighs when he remembers that an argument between you and Seungcheol is most likely the reason this whole ordeal happened in the first place. “If Cheol made you feel like this I’m going to bash his skull in.”
Wonwoo could’ve caught the eye roll you gave him from a mile away. “That’s a great idea Woo. Murdering your pack alpha.”
Curse you for your defense mechanism being sarcasm. “I’m just saying. And the rest of the pack would probably back me up too.”
Another eye roll. He thinks your eyes are going to get permanently stuck if you keep that up. His sassy little beta, a small voice says in the back of his brain. Ok, his rut is definitely coming early if those are thoughts he’s getting while having a serious conversation.
While he’s trying to clear that thought from his head, you tug on his hand and starting leading him back to the apartment. You can feel his quizzical stare, so you turn around and say, “come on Woo, I’ve got a pack alpha to apologize to. Then maybe you won’t bash his skull in.”
It’s his turn to roll his eyes and groan. Yeah, you’re definitely the one causing problems like you claimed a minute ago. Damn, your sarcasm is really rubbing off on him. 
You turn around again and do a double take at the sweatshirt he has on. You look up with a practically shit eating grin. “Nice hoodie by the way.” He’s going to have to have a talk with you about planting his packmates' clothes in his bag. You’re probably doing it so he smells like pack. Little minx. Damn, he really needs to get laid because what is going on with these dirty thoughts.
218 notes · View notes
guiltycorp · 10 days ago
Text
finally playing through pathologic classic properly, currently on day 9 of haruspex route and i'm a little confused about fandom's perception of Daniil as a mean and arrogant asshole like yeah he is arrogant in that delusions of grandeur way traditional to his archetype... but among the three mcs he is the one proactively helping the other two in those first two routes? actually it felt like a nice surprise with how present he is in the haruspex route ngl and when he's desperately vying for friendship and cooperation with the haruspex it is the player character who always has at least one dialogue option that is like 'man shut up i dont care' Daniil says 'sorry' way more than the haruspex does, too, which i noted separately since he's so often seen as rude and selfish also he is the one revealing some of his personal motivations and feelings which Artemy never really does☝️ both of their interactions with secondary characters tend to be a little cold and imperious which im chalking up to the writing style of the game (like honestly, i really enjoy this style of dialogue but it could use some emotion and warmth - pathologic 2 was a definite improvement in this at least) but i mean it also makes sense? for the bachelor as the educated doctor with his own research lab and for the haruspex as the inheritor of the menkhu title, especially since he is much more sure of his place in the city compared to the second game they both dote on children though anyway this is just me rambling, i look forward to seeing how they both act in clara's route and if she is much different to them so far i like her here much more than in pathologic 2 just because she is really playing up that religious saint behavior, very culty vibes, i like that i wonder if snarky responses to regular citizens remain the same across all three... but yeah idk i feel like they are supposed to be more their 'true' selves when controlled by the player, or rather just the best versions of themselves in the game, but i really enjoy how their actions differ between playthroughs despite core characterization remaining the same, it's very revealing and it's so much more interesting this way rather than them making the exact same decisions in each playthrough
58 notes · View notes