#but he is also a scared little brother who is doing his goddamn BEST to avoid the painful retribution he knows kristoph had for him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dwonfilm · 2 months

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“Come hell or high water.” | Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Looming over the Winchesters and [Y/N] is the war between heaven and hell. Dean will ultimately be faced with a choice he’d never be able to make. What will happen?

This will be a multi-part story, not necessarily set in a specific season but around 4-5 would be the best fit.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Mentions: Sam Winchester, Castiel, Micheal and Lucifer, Bobby Singer

Warnings: none, will provide for each chapter as they’re written.

Part I:

Michael and Lucifer had both been impatient, each showing up at various times and places—both wanting the same thing; more or less. Each wanted their designated Winchester brother to simply say yes.

Three days earlier.

Sam, Dean and [Y/N] were sat in their shared motel room in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sam was on his laptop, browsing for cases on different news websites. [Y/N] was flipping through the local newspaper to see if anything stuck out in the reports there, but she wasn’t having much luck. Dean was.. well, in true Dean fashion he was chowing down on a burger that he’d brought back from the local diner. “Your food is gonna get cold, or I’m gonna eat it, the entire world isn’t gonna fall apart if you two take a damn break.” Dean spoke, mouth half full of chewed food. Sam sighed and looked over to [Y/N] who finally closed the newspaper. “Fine, you’re right.” He spoke up, closing the laptop that had been in front of him for at least two hours. Turning his attention towards [Y/N] Dean would clear his throat (after having swallowed the mouthful of food) and gently squeezed her shoulder. “C’mon sweetheart you haven’t eaten today.” She’d sigh knowing her boyfriend was right, placing her hand on top of Dean’s and giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Alright, alright. This goddamn newsprint is giving me a headache anyway.” [Y/N] folded the newspaper back up and tossed it onto the table. Grabbing the brown paper bag, she pulled out what would be Sam’s usual and handed it over to the younger brother. She pulled out her own food and carefully unwrapped the burger, quickly picking it up and taking a big bite. Now that everyone was a little more focused on the food, Dean would continue to eat himself.

“I dunno man, everything I’ve seen has been completely normal. It’s like all the evil in the world has gone radio silent.” Taking a bite of his burger, the younger of the Winchester brother was clearly frustrated. “That’s what scares me, when things tend to be normal on the crime side.. it’s never a good sign.” [Y/N] replied, tucking a loose strand of [Y/H/C] hair behind her right ear. “There’s gotta be something, I’m sure we’ll find it but there’s no use finding anything if we aren’t fit to do the job.” Dean spoke up again, verbally nudging the two most important people in his life to continue eating. “All the sons of bitches can’t have just ran into hiding.“ He’d conclude, grabbing the bottle of beer he’d set aside and taking a swig. “It’s just weird, Dean. Normally it doesn’t take us so long to find something to at least check out. There’s nothing online at all that’s raising even a little suspicion.” Sam answered, looking extremely concerned when he locked eyes with his brother. Dean’s eyes were sympathetic and truthfully—he was worried too. Everything both Sam and [Y/N] were saying was true but he also couldn’t afford to let them see any hint of the fear his heart carried. Not only because it made things more real but he was too busy anchoring them, keeping them from spiralling because then they’d be no good to anyone once evil rears its ugly head. [Y/N] finished chewing another bite of food before adding another thought. “I haven’t seen anything local either I mean, that was the third paper I’ve scoured from front to back and everything just seems.. normal. It’s weird.” It took the chiming in of the eldest Winchester to calm the noise of the impending chaos again. “Hey, look, we’ll just take a break and see if anything comes down the pipeline. Right now I need you two to eat before I start force feeding you.” Sam and [Y/N] both looked at each other before chuckling softly and for the first time in the last couple of hours, the stress of it all faded away. Dean was the first to finish his food (no surprise there) and so he silently asked to use Sam’s laptop, the younger brother nodding as he continued to eat. [Y/N] had finished her food, not realizing how hungry she’d actually been. Of course Dean knew because he knew her like the back of his hand, which was why he’d been pushing her especially to eat since he brought it back to the room. She smiled to herself for a moment as her gaze moved to where Dean sat, scrolling on the computer. Those strikingly beautiful green eyes scanning the screen to see if he could find anything to ease the worries of the trio. Sam was of course the final person to finish his food and when he had, [Y/N] began to grab the garbage that had become scattered across the small table in their room. She stuffed everything back into the brown paper bag it came in before throwing it into the trash can. Rubbing at his temples, Sam slowly pushed himself up from his seat. “I’m gonna shower. Let me know if you guys find anything yeah?” He spoke, walking over to his bed and grabbing the go bag with his clothes in it. He saunters towards the bathroom and closes the door, both [Y/N] and Dean heard the door lock. Dean’s eyes moved to look up at his girlfriend with an expression that seemed exhausted. Noticing this, [Y/N] approached the table again, this time taking the chair closest to her green eyed baby. Leaning her head onto his shoulder, he managed a half smile with his gaze moving from the laptop screen to his beautiful lady. Her [Y/H/C] locks framing her face perfectly, not to mention her [Y/E/C] eyes that always brought his soul some peace. Everything about their world was utter chaos with something even worse looming overhead, yet just by looking into her eyes he’d find a calm like he’d never known.

[Y/N] had met the Winchesters as a child, her father one of the many hunters that John had worked with in the hunt for the yellow eyed demon. Unfortunately her father met a cruel fate at the hands of a shifter and that left her alone in the world. Naturally, via the connection, Bobby Singer would end up taking [Y/N] into his home and that’s where she’d spend time with Sam and Dean. Years on end would see them meeting a handful of times and enjoying various activities and days with Bobby while John hunted. Of course when John and Bobby had their big blow up fight, [Y/N] went a while without hearing from the brothers. Dean had gotten in touch a couple years later and kept in touch through texts mostly, which was surprising but [Y/N] wasn’t complaining. Sam would email every once and awhile but it was very sporadic. Which [Y/N] learned years later was because Sam had left hunting and gone to Stanford—basically ignoring the hunting life and everything supernatural. It was actually during this time where Dean and [Y/N] would begin doing hunts together. Off and on of course, sometimes very rarely with John but usually just the two of them. Often times these cases required them to, as they called it, ‘bend the truth’. This involved posing as different forms of authority to gain access to information that they normally wouldn’t have. Many times, both Dean and [Y/N] had to pose as a young couple in love. Newlyweds or happily engaged—various forms of in love, gaining them favor amongst the community or with other authority figures. This went on for months, both seemingly having feelings show themselves but it went undiscussed. Dean wasn’t about flirting with women to get further on a case, which of course [Y/N] hated but she could never really say that. It caused a little tension at times until finally it came to a head on a hunt for witch.

“Dean, will you just stop and listen to me?!” [Y/N] yelled as she followed the man into their shared motel room. Dean remained silent, anger written across his features. [Y/N] huffed out a breath of frustration and ran her hand through her [Y/H/C] hair and looking toward the eldest Winchester boy. “Dean.” She tried speaking again, yet he still ignored her and aggressively unzipped his go bag. Sifting through its contents he was looking for something, growing more irritated when he couldn’t find it. “What are you looking for?” [Y/N] asked, there was more silence for a second before he finally spoke. “Credit card.” Straight to the point and with a tone that had [Y/N]’s eyes rolling. “You told me to put it in my bag because your wallet needed to get fixed.” She replied, dipping her hand into her bag she’d pull her wallet out and slipping the card into her hand. She’d slowly walk over to Dean and tossed the card onto the bed. This time it was his turn to sigh before turning towards [Y/N]. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I lost my temper, what you do is none of my business.” He said, which seemed genuine for the most part. “I just am lost, I don’t react like that when you flirt with a girl to get information or a bump in the line to meet with someone.” She spoke, though she mumbled under her breath. “Even though I want to..” Dean heard her and felt a sense of confusion wash over him. “Why would you.. [Y/N] why would you want to get mad over that?” Dean’s eyes had found themselves locked onto [Y/N]’s, waiting for her to answer. Throwing her hands up in frustration [Y/N] shouted. “For the exact same reason that you got mad today and punched the receptionist in the face, Dean! You and I obviously have feelings for one another but we don’t talk about them so we just circle the never ending drain of getting jealous and sad and mad in secret and letting it build up!” Immediately after the words had left her mouth she gasped and covered it with her hands. Dean was just as shocked as [Y/N] seemed to be, frozen just staring in her eyes. Moments later after pure silence, Dean turned around and drug his hand across his face. “Dean..” [Y/N] spoke, her tone much softer than it was moments ago. She took a step forward and slowly placed a hand on his shoulder, lightly gripping it. Dean turned with a quickness and crashed his lips against [Y/N]’s while his hand came up to cup her face. Naturally she was stunned, but began to kiss him back.

Ever since that day, due to some kind of truth hex, Dean and [Y/N] had been inseparable. It was the one good thing in Dean’s eyes that came from dealing with a witch. Moving his finger along the touchpad of the laptop, he’d close the website he was on and look up another. There had to be something somewhere.. there just had to be. “Should I get back on the papers?” [Y/N]’s voice broke the longstanding silence that had hovered over them. Dean pulled another half smile before turning and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “No sweetheart, it’s alright. I don’t think there’s anything in ‘em. You’d have found something by now if there was.” His gaze again fixated on the computer, scrolling through masses of crimes being reported. He was about to scroll again, but something caught his eye and he needed to reread the blurb. “Wait a minute..” he spoke in a soft tone, causing [Y/N] to sit up. “Did you find something?” She asked, looking at the screen now too. “Not sure, maybe.” He replied, clicking a link that brought up a fuller article. “Well I’ll be damned.. this one might be vamps. Animal attacks, puncture marks on the necks.. hell there’s nothing else remotely sticking out so I think it’s worth the drive.” Dean added, the lock on the bathroom door clicking open and soon enough the younger Winchester came back into the main room. Steam came flowing from the bathroom as Sam continued to dry his hair. “Hey Sammy, think we got something.” [Y/N] spoke with a soft tone and there was a look of relief on his face. “Wha.. where?” Sam asked, looking at his brother. “Tucson.” Dean answered, turning the laptop around so that his younger brother could look at the article himself. Now [Y/N] was the one pushing herself from her seat. “Hopefully you didn’t use all the shampoo and the hot water.” She joked, making her way to the bathroom in order to shower.

After everyone had showered and changed into their pyjamas, the trio had settled down for the evening. It didn’t take long for quiet snores to be heard from Sam’s bed, his back turned towards the couple who were sharing the other bed. “I’m glad we found a case, but I still don’t have a good feeling about this..” [Y/N] spoke, keeping her tone on the quieter side as to not wake up the younger Winchester. She was snuggled into Dean’s side with her arm draped across his lower abdomen and her head on his chest. Dean pressed a kiss to her temple before sighing in a low manner himself. “I don’t either, it’s bugging me but we can’t just ignore the situation on feelings.” He spoke, his own tone mirroring hers in keeping on that quieter side and both sighed. “It just feels like this case fell into our laps and it feels like it’s a trap, but I can’t pinpoint from who or why.” She aimlessly began drawing shapes on the end of Dean’s T-shirt and he could see that his off feeling wasn’t as strong as the one that [Y/N] was having—she only drew shapes in that manner to calm her mind down. “Hey [Y/N/N], something’s really bugging you about this.. what is it?” He asked, gently turning her chin upward so [Y/N] would meet his gaze. [Y/E/C] hues met the beautiful green eyes that Dean had, searching them for something. “I wish I knew. Dean, it just feels.. too easy. There was nothing for what? Two days? Now all of a sudden there’s one solitary case and we’re supposed to believe this isn’t a set up? It’s not making sense. I know we can’t just ignore a possible case, but it just feels like something is going on and nothing good.” [Y/N] sighed again, knowing that so many things were up in the air right now and so many things couldn’t be resolved in quick manner. “Maybe we’ll pray to Cas tomorrow, either before we leave or while we’re driving. See if he knows anything.” Dean offered, squeezing [Y/N] and bringing her closer to his body. “Yeah, okay. Sounds good.” She replied, snuggling into her boyfriend and slowly closing her eyes. Dean himself would adjust the covers and slowly close his eyes. “Goodnight, D.” [Y/N] whispered. “Goodnight, [Y/N/N].” He whispered back.

#dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #dean winchester #supernatural #fanfic #Dean Winchester imagines #spn #spn imagines

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moonlightsolo · 2 years

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your nerd.

summary: your little brother, dustin henderson, forces you to sub in for a game of d&d. you can’t help but take a liking to the president of hellfire club- but it seems, that your best friend, steve harrington, feels the opposite.

wc: 9.5k

pairing: eddie munson x henderson!reader

warnings: major szn 4 spoilers, mild language, so much angst, jealous!steve, heavy smooching, suggestiveness, mentions of death & if you squint hard enough there’s a sprinkle of steve x reader.

note: yeah, 9k. its mental illness luv. (also when you see ~ it's a time skip) gif is @gayshipsandanxiety :)

“come on! you have to!” your little brother dustin is begging on his knees inside the classroom of your journalism club. his hands are folded in a praying position as he stares up at you with puppy dog eyes.

“i already told you no, dustin. now leave me alone! i’m busy.” you continue working on your project in journalism class, scribbling notes on the margin of your paper.

“you don’t get it, you have to do this for me. you have no choice or else your brother is going to get his ass kicked!” he hops up from his position, hand slapping over the papers that are scattered on your desk.

your head snaps towards him, “who’s going to kick your ass?” your voice is stone cold, pure coldness written on your features.

there’s no way in hell you’d let anyone put a finger on your brother.

“eddie!” he exasperates, throwing his hands up in the air like you should have known the answer to your own question.

“eddie?” you scoff, “eddie who?”

“eddie goddamn munson.”

your glance over at your friend nancy sitting beside you, “munson? the freak?” she almost chuckles as she continues to move articles around for the hawkins newspaper.

all you can do is groan, knowing you’re not going to be able to get out of this one.

“fine, but only this one time.” you hold up your pointer finger in his face to emphasize it, “only this once...” you sigh in defeat as you clean up all your papers, organizing everything back into your backpack.

you can’t wait to graduate this year so you don’t have to deal with this shit anymore.

“thank you, jesus!” dustin shouts to the ceiling, making the other students in the class shush him.

once your backpack is slung on one shoulder, your brother snatches your wrist and tugs you out of the classroom. your feet fail to keep up with him, stumbling through the corridors from his fast pace. “slow down, dude!” you scold him.

“no i can’t. we’re so late!” he curses under his breath as he drags you to the empty part of the school. mike wheeler is waiting outside of a classroom door, rocking back and forth on his heels nervously and looking at his watch.

when he spots you both, his lanky arms fly up into the air dramatically. god, he looks so nervous. who’s this eddie guy they’re so scared of?

“what took you guys so long?! never mind- who cares. let’s just get in there before we’re in deeper shit.” mike goes to grab the handle of the door, but you pause his movements.

“i swear if this shit is lame, i’m walking out.” you threaten and squint your eyes, pointing at them both. dustin just rolls his eyes at you.

they’re both silent as they swing the door open, the sound of rock music filling your ears.

“finally! do do do dooo!!” someone plays a fake trumpet with their mouth, “they hath arriiiiiiived!” the music is reduced to a lower volume. you recognize the song as ‘detroit rock city’ by kiss.

you look around at the cluttered area with wide eyes. it looks like the theater kids storage closet. numerous amounts of props and multi-colored lights scatter the ceiling and stand tall from the floor. it’s almost too overstimulating for your brain.

you stare at the long table down the center of the room with scattered dungeons and dragons game pieces on the surface. a hellfire club emblem hanging behind it on the wall and a throne at the end of the table. this is nerds heaven right here.

there’s a few punk-esque club members are standing to the side talking, their eyes immediately drawn to you as you walk in.

a wild haired man appears from behind an object, his dark doe like eyes take in the people standing in front of him.

“isthis that eddie guy you’re so worried about?” you almost snort out a laugh. you’re slightly bent down to be able to whisper to dustin who elbows your side in response.

the president of the club doesn’t entirely react until he sits in the carved chair, folding his ring adorned hands in front of him with a dramatic sigh.

“absolutely not.” he stares you down with an amused look, as if you being here is a joke.

“you asked for a sub, we delivered.” dustin gestures to you with a close lipped smile.

“this is hellfire club, not cheerleading practice.” eddie snickers evilly at his little joke.

“i’m not a cheerleader, you dip shit.” frustration bubbles inside your chest from this extremely mistaken man. you attempt to control your temper by taking a deep breath through your nose.

dustin and mike tense up from your insult, both of them taking in a sharp breath. “my, my… miss priss speaks!” he exclaims to his minions who are now standing behind him, his eyes widening in excitement. one of them chuckles.

eddie flies up from his seat, hands hitting the table with a bang. he slithers out from behind the table and arrogantly saunters towards you. with an evident smug look on his face. you can feel the heat traveling up your neck to settle on your cheeks as he grows closer.

“and what’s your name, spirit fingers?” he stops in front of you, staring you down.

the way the dim lights highlight his face and how close he is to you makes you choke up.

wait, he’s actually really cute.

“y/n… y/n henderson.” you clear your throat as you stand up straight, staring right back at him with the same fervor.

he cackles, “so this is your infamous sister, huh?” he glances over at dustin who swallows nervously.

“wow. you’re sooo smart.” your tilt your head with a little puff of laughter. a few of his pals laugh at your comment, which makes eddie’s head dart towards them. their laughter quickly stops.

eddie quickly reciprocates the attitude, “what’s your class and level? level one, dwarf?” he emphasizes the last word with a sneer.

the sound of giggling from behind him makes your blood boil. you’re glad dustin and mike know to keep their mouths shut or else you’d make their life a living hell.

“actually, my name is lady phae. and i’m a chaotic good, half-elf rogue, level sixteen.” eddie’s face drops as you begin to name of your rankings, his buddies share worried glances.

“and i will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri- and i’ll laugh as i watch them die a slow, agonizing death.” you continue to stare him down in the eyes, your heart slamming against your ribs from the adrenaline coursing through you.

“so, are we going to do this or are we going to keep chit-chatting? or should i just leave..?” you go to turn towards the door, turning your attention towards the exit.

eddie’s hand reaches out to grip your wrist, urging you to stop; the coldness of his rings burn into your skin. his frizzy head cocks to the side, looking at you with an emotionless face. his dark eyes glance between both of your eyes and your lips. the sight makes the collar of your shirt feel too tight around your neck.

a cocky grin slowly pulls up on the corner of his plush mouth. one that you wish to… no stop. don’t think like that!

he continues to hold eye contact with you. making it seem like you two are the only ones in the room right now.

“welcome to hellfire.” his speaks to you lowly from his close proximity. his hand outstretches for you to shake which you gladly take with a proud smile. the spark appears once again when his skin touches yours. his eyes shoot down to your hands before pulling away just as quick.

the team gathers around the table as eddie takes a seat in his throne behind a big book. he dramatically tells the story of lord vecna, revealing he’s alive. everyone around the table panics, except for you. truly, you have no idea what’s going on in their storyline.

mike slams his hands on the table, and dustin rubs his hands over his face stressfully. every single one of their eyes are full of horror like they’ve seen a ghost.

“but vecna lives!” eddie slams the character down on a tiny handmade throne.

you can’t help but let your eyes roam up his now naked arms arms, admiring his tattoos. he takes a long glimpse at you, it seems as if he sensed your eyes on him.

he can’t help but smile slightly, hiding behind the book so nobody notices his flushed face.

the game continues on and your team decides to fight to the death. the intense game continues, your team members make some good hits and mostly some really unfortunate ones.

your squad is picked off one by one, now being left with only two players. you’re all forced to make a decision. to attempt to defeat vecna- only 15 hit points left and 12 hit points between yours and dustin’s character.

with one truly badass line, dustin decides the fate for his team, “let’s kill the son of a bitch.”

eddie tosses the d20 to dustin, who rolls it on the table. your breathing stops as you peek over his shoulder, watching with wide eyes as it stops. it’s an eleven. “that’s… a… miss!” eddie madly shakes his head with a cheshire cat grin on his face.

“no!” you wail, gripping your little brothers shoulder as you drop your head down to look at your feet.

now, it’s all up to you. eddie retrieves the dice to toss it to you, “good luck, princess.”

the nickname sends a shiver down your spine, giving him a nervous look. you shake the die in your hand, taking a deep shaky breath before releasing it onto the table.

everyone intensely stares, watching it roll and twirl on all of it’s sides. it seems as if everyone stopped breathing in this moment, like the earth spinning on it’s axis has halted.

the dice rolls to a stop, “it’s a twenty! a crit hit!” you holler as your team members leap into a giant group hug with you in the center. everyone around you high fives, fist bumps, chest bumps, and hugs.

you bend down slightly, hands on your knees since you can finally breathe normally. you stare at the notorious d20 sitting dormant on the table.

in your peripheral vision, you notice eddie looking at you with some sort of proud smile on his face. you can’t help but reciprocate the same look towards him.

once the club room is cleaned from all the mountain dew cans, and game pieces slightly put away; it’s finally time to leave. you’re thankful that most of the basketball game traffic has died down.

your arm is slung over dustin’s shoulder as you walk down the hallway towards the exit, “that was a great game, d.” you breathe out triumphantly.

“you should come play with us more. i can get eddie to make you one of these awesome t-shirts?!” dustin pulls on the end of his hellfire club shirt. he looks up at you with anticipation in his eyes, hoping you’ll agree.

“yeah, i’d love that.” you bring your brother in for a side hug, squeezing his shoulder.

an arm suddenly swings behind your neck, now resting on your shoulders. “that was such a great game, huh?” eddie leans forward to look at dustin with a grin.

the heavy feeling of eddie’s leather jacket against the back of your neck makes you nervous. he smells like worn out cologne with a slight hint of weed.

“i was just telling her that she needs to come back to play again. you should make her a shirt, ed.” dustin’s eyebrows raise with excitement from the possibility of his older sister joining his club.

“she did play good today. i guess it seems like she deserves it.” he smirks, and you can’t help but try to ignore the heat in your cheeks. all three of you make your way to the parking lot together, his arm still slung over your shoulder. his scent is captivating, hypnotizing you.

when you spot your ride, you raise your hand to wave with a smile. steve harrington, your second best friend from your brother. dustin waves as well, and eddie joins to playfully wave with a derpy smile. through the windshield, you notice steve’s face screw up in confusion. now realizing who’s arm is around you.

“hey man, i’ll see you next week.” dustin does a little secret handshake with him before walking over to the parked bmw and hopping in the back.

eddie slides his arm off of you slowly, letting his hand linger on your shoulder for a moment before dropping to his side. he takes a dramatic step to stand in front you. a sigh falls from his lips with a disappointed look.

“you, unfortunately, exceeded my expectations today, henderson.” you go to respond but he continues, “you’re welcome back… any time.” he clears his throat, “just so you know.” he quickly adds as he scuffs the bottom of one of his boots against the concrete anxiously.

his words make your heart soar, a giddy smile appearing on your lips. you reach behind you to pull a pen out of the side pocket of your bag. the movement makes his eyes lift from his feet.

“hand, please.” you hold out your free hand with a one-sided grin.

“you better not shank me with that.” he eyes you as he hesitatingly lays his hand in your palm. the size difference almost makes you laugh.

you continue by rolling his sleeve up slightly past his watch, scribbling down your ten digit phone number. “for whenever my hellfire shirt is ready or if you have any other questions.” you play it cool before folding the leather back down.

“yeah.. for the uh- hellfire shirt, sure…” he mutters breathily, his voice slightly wavering.

“then i’ll see you around, munson.” you beam before turning on your heel to head towards steve and your brother. you hop into the passenger seat, backpack swung between your legs. some pop song is playing quietly in the background.

“what was that all about?” steve questions, his eyes looking over your face for any sort of reaction.

“oh, it was nothing. i’m joining the club dustin’s in, so i gave eddie my number. he’s technically the president of it.”

“he is the president.” dustin comments from behind you.

you click your seatbelt in before finally making eye contact with harrington. he’s just staring at you, as if he’s trying to read your mind.

“what?” you laugh nervously, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“oh, it’s nothing.” he mocks you before turning the music back up and reversing out of the parking lot.

“it’s grief-stricken day today in hawkins. a student has been found brutally murdered right here in this mobile home park…”

it’s the next day, you’re sitting on the couch with dustin and your mom. the horrific breaking news story interrupting the new episode of perfect strangers. it sickens you to think someone could be capable of taking another persons life.

suddenly, the door bell rings. dustin shoots up to get it, quickly inviting the person inside. it’s max mayfield. you instantly perk up when dustin motions for you to follow them into his bedroom.

“chrissy cunningham?” you hear dustin ask in disbelief, “you’re sure it was chrissy?” you shut the door behind you as you listen to the conversation silently. your eyes are wide as you look between the two teenagers, leaning back against the door.

“yes, she was in her cheerleader outfit. the same thing she was in when i saw her with eddie.”

“wait, wait, wait. eddie?” your face scrunches up in confusion. there’s no way that boy could hurt anyone.

they ignore you, “did you tell this to the cops?” dustin questions again.

“excuse me! earth to dustin and max! you’re saying eddie did this?”

they both turn their heads to look at you.

“i guarantee you eddie is suspect number one right now.” max nods.

“that’s crazy. eddie didn’t do this. no way.” dustin argues.

“well, we can’t rule it out.” max counteracts.

“yes, we can.” dustin says quite surely, shaking his head in disbelief as he paces.

“he’s right. eddie wouldn’t hurt a fly. he’s a very kind person, he’s not like what everyone thinks. he’s not a freak, and definitely not a murderer.” you mumble as your mind races through every possible scenario.

“you don’t know him like i do, max. when we got to high school, lucas made all his sports friends. mike and me? i mean, no one was nice to us. no one except eddie.”

dustin’s confession brings tears to your eyes. you wish you could go back in time and make sure that he was never bullied.

then max compares eddie to ted bundy which sends dustin into another spiral.

“guys! guys! just… shut up! we don’t have time for this. there’s only one person that actually knows what the hell happened and that’s eddie. we need to find him. so let’s go.” you whip dustin’s bedroom door open to march out towards the front, grabbing your keys from the hook; the two kiddos in tow.

of course, not without your mothers worried protests, “we’ll be extra careful, i promise!thanks mom! we love you bye!” dustin yells and slams the front door shut. all three of you scurry to your car and you hop in the drivers seat.

“have you told anyone else about this?” you ask, turning the key in the ignition for the engine to ignite.

“no, i can’t find lucas or nancy, and mike’s in-.”

“california.” dustin finishes her sentence.

“shit.” you breathe out with a shake of your head. there’s only one person you know who would be able to help.

“we need to go see steve.” you reverse your car out of the driveway with a screech from your tires. speedily making a bee-line towards family video.

with a ding of the overheard bell, the three of you scramble into the store- dustin and max leading the way.

the news is playing on the tv and you can’t help but stop in your tracks, heart beating fast against your chest. there’s no way eddie did this. you have to clear his name- whatever it takes.

dustin continues talking to steve, sternly asking him how many phones he has. the sound of people shouting makes your head whip towards the commotion.

dustin shoves his backpack over the counter, completely disregarding the things in front of it. he hops over, his feet kicking tapes to the ground.

steve and robin are shouting at him as he sits down on the chair in front of the computer.

“what the hell is wrong with this damn, kid?” you mutter under you breath. shuffling around to the other side to find an easier way to get in. instead of parkour-ing over the counter, like he just did.

“i’m setting up base of operations here.” dustin continues to type in a frenzy, eyes looking over the keyboard.

you start to help clean up his mess, picking up all the loose papers scattered everywhere. steve and your annoying little brother continue to banter.

“hey, thanks.” robin puffs out an annoyed breath, bending down to help you organize everything. “he’s on a roll today.“ you stand up, hands resting on your hips as you watch dustin.

he’s scribbling down eddie’s friends phone numbers on a handheld white board. “it’s our busiest day. it’s a saturday!” robin groans into the air, putting everything back into place.

you stack papers on the counter, hitting the bottom so they’d fall evenly. someone slides in behind you, hand resting on your lower back. the smell of fresh shampoo and mint.

“want me to strangle him or you want to?” steve grumbles as he organizes some things back into place next to you.

“we can take turns?” you chirp, turning around to look at what dustin is doing.

“can you fill them in while i do this?” dustin scoffs as if you’re doing nothing, “fill us in on what?” robin snaps, obviously at her wits end.

together, you and max explain what’s going on. how she saw chrissy with eddie together last night at his trailer, and how chrissy is the student who got murdered. max explains that her lights started flickering, like how it did when the mind flayer was around. robin and steve look skeptical, but you reassure them that eddie would never do that.

the look steve gives you is unavoidable, glaring at you with a look you can’t quite decipher.

robin opts to help call some of the numbers dustin found to ask around about eddie. while steve continues with his sale tactics on the floor, selling movies to customers. you’re sitting on the counter, kicking your legs back and forth as you watch them do their sleuthing.

you’re more of a beat up monsters kind of girl instead of a detective. max hangs up her phone, “hey guys, i might have a lead.”

“seriously?” you perk up, hopping off the counter to get closer.

“apparently, eddie gets his drugs from some guy named reefer rick? and sometimes eddie crashes there.”

“that’s sounds promising. where does this reefer rick guy live?” robin moves forward slightly, eyes squinting like a true crime investigator.

“see, that’s the thing. no one knows. he’s more of a… legend.”

your eyes continuously look between them.

“what about a last name?” dustin joins.

“bet the cops know a last name.” steve mumbles as he organizes the film case in the front.

“the cops?” you ask, taking a few steps towards him where he’s now leaning on the counter.

“the cops… really, steve? that’s your suggestion?” dustin mocks steve with annoyance written across his features.

“i mean at this point, i think they should be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.” he tries to recover but just digs himself deeper into a hole.

“you think eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” you question.

“woah! i believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit.” his words make you turn your head to glance at max, who looks just as confused as you are.

“i just, you know… i don’t think we can rule it out.” he rubs his hands together nervously, eyeing everyone standing in front of him.

“that’s exactly what they’re trying to do, steve.” you scoff and furrow your eyebrows at him.

dustin and robin go to town against steve. ridiculing him for trying to find a girlfriend and sell movies to babes instead of finding eddie.

suddenly amidst their arguing, robin sits down at the computer. “maybe we don’t need a last name.” she pulls up family video’s database, typing in the name rick.

it pulls up twelve rick’s, “that’s a lot of rick’s.” you comment, peeking over robins shoulder as steve slides in beside you.

robin begins to click on each of them, narrowing it down by the kind of movies each rick has rented. you all vote to pass on the ones that don’t fit the drug dealer persona.

until you reach, rick lipton. with multiple cheech and chong movies in his history, and he also lives on 2121 holland road- which is in the middle of no where.

“total stoner.” you laugh along with them, “but that address is out by lover’s lake. perfect place to hide.” you point out, raising your eyebrows as if you cracked the case.

“let’s go. i’ll drive.” you snatch your keys from the counter. steve swaps his work vest for his jacket before running behind you. everyone follows in a line as robin officially switches the open sign to closed and locks the door.

you hop in the drivers seat, steve slides in the passenger seat next to you, and robin squishes herself in the back seat with the children.

the engine of your car revs to life, before you quickly pull out of the parking lot and towards lovers lake. you can’t help but admire the sunset, but going out to the lake at night sounds absolutely terrifying.

by the time you arrive, night has fallen over hawkins. you slowly get out of your car, eyes carefully taking in your surroundings. the forest around the house creaks with the wind and branches snap.

“come on. i got you.” steve motions for you to follow him, reaching his hand out to hold yours. once your fingers wrap around his, steve’s thumb rubs gentle circles into your skin. it’s actually not that weird for you guys to hold hands. especially if one of you is scared.

robin, max, and dustin are already at the house with flashlights calling out for reefer rick and ringing the door bell.

you steal steve’s flashlight from his hand, looking inside one of the windows for any sign of life. “come on, eddie. we’re trying to help you.” you breathe out under your breath.

behind your back, you can’t see how steve’s head turns toward you when you say that. he slowly eases his hand out of yours when you go to tag along with max.

“hey guys?” you beckon for the rest of them to follow when you see the boathouse light is on. all the flashlights point towards it as skeptical glances are shared amongst the group.

“let’s go check it out… i guess.” you breathe out wearily before max takes the lead to go investigate.

everyone is silent as she walks through the door first, her flashlight moving around the entire muggy shed.

“wow, this isn’t creepy at all.” you scoff sarcastically, sticking by steve’s side. his hand is on your lower back, leading you forward.

“what a dump.” steve grabs your flashlight to angle it up at the ceiling. the sound of the dark rustling water freaks you out even more.

out of curiosity, you pull away from your safety net called steve to walk with your brother. “are you scared?” you whisper in his ear, making the boy jump.

“no. not at all actually.” he brushes off what just happened, slightly clearing his throat.

steve grabs an oar from the wall, reaching over the hole in floor to jab the tarp covered boat. the sound makes you jump, “what are you doing?!” dustin whisper yells at him.

steve continues to violently stab the oar into the boat, “he might be in here.”

“then take the tarp off!” dustin exclaims, throwing his hand up to gesture to the boat.

“seriously, just take it off? what are you trying to do? hurt him?” you almost laugh at the scene unfolding in front of you.

“if you’re both so brave, why don’t you just take the tarp off?” steve makes a very valid point, making you shut up.

you shrug in agreement and continue walking with dustin, looking around at every crevice for any sort of clue. the floorboard creaks under your feet, making it even more eerie if that was even possible.

“hey, look over here.” max nods at a pile of wrappers and half empty drinks sitting on top of a table, “someone was here.”

“maybe he heard us. got spooked and ran?” robin suggests. “don’t worry! steve will get him with his oar!” dustin proclaims to the group with pure sarcasm, as steve continues to hit the tarp.

“i know you’re being funny, henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times,” another harsh jab at the boat before stopping to argue with your brother, “personally, i don’t find it funny in the slight—!”

something tall emerges from inside the boat, tossing the tarp over their head as it lunges at steve.

“what the shit! fuck! oh my god!” your voice cracks as you screech, hands covering your eyes as you stumble back into the wooden table.

“wait! wait! wait! wait! wait!” steve begs as he’s slammed roughly against the metal wall of the shack, a broken bottle being pressed against his jugular.

“whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! eddie! eddie stop!” dustin calls out to him, urging him to calm down.

you stay glued to the table as you watch the hectic scene unfold through your fingers, pure panic running through your veins.

oh my god, steve. please don’t get hurt.

“eddie! eddie!” dustin shouts powerfully at him to get his attention. eddie’s eyes dart from steve’s throat to the trio and then to you.

when you finally make eye contact, you realize just how scared he truly is. the wild look in his eyes makes your heart fall, you need to find out what really happened.

“it’s me! it’s dustin!” he breathes out heavily, “this is steve!” he reaches his hand out to make a movement towards his hostage.

“he’s not gonna hurt you. right, steve?” dustin asks him.

“right. yeah.” steve huffs out, craning his neck as far away as possible from the sharp end of weapon.

“steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” dustin makes a suggestion. steve’s hand releases the wooden stick, moving slightly to do so.

eddie quickly tightens his grip to make sure he doesn’t move, earning a stresses grunt from steve when he’s slammed back into the wall.

“he’s cool, he’s cool!” dustin reassures him once again.

“what’re you doing here?” eddie mutters out, his voice hushed and face screwed up with worry. you can see his body shaking with fear from all the way across the room.

“we’re looking for you.” dustin points both his hands at eddie.

“we’re here to help.” robin adds to try and help the situation.

“eddie, these are my friends… you know robin from band,” he gestures to robin who plays an invisible trumpet in her hands, “this is my friend max. the one who never wants to play d&d.” dustin moves over to the red headed girl who raises her hand to slightly wave.

“and my sister. you know my sister!”

“eddie.” you speak softly, carefully slipping past dustin, max and robin.

“eddie… it’s going to be okay. we’re on your side.” you confirm, stopping just about an arms length away.

“we are on your side! i swear on our mother.” dustin exclaims and you nod fervently in agreement. everyone else in your gang also swears. “yeah.. yeah. dustin’s mom.” steve chokes out.

eddie’s hand that’s holding the bottle is shaking terribly as he internally battles whether or not to let steve go. his face softens slightly, keeping stern eyes on harrington as he backs away from him.

“ah- jesus…” steve hisses out, stumbling away from him and towards you.

“oh my god, steve… are you okay?” you breathe out, his trembling body envelops yours for comfort. all he can do is nod. your arms wrap around his broad back, holding onto him. your eyes peek over his shoulder staring directly at eddie.

munson’s expression slightly changes for a split second as he watches you embrace steve. before turning to look in the black water, taking a deep shaky breath. he presses his back against the wall, sliding down as he stares off into the nothingness of lovers lake.

steve’s arms unravel from around your waist to sit down on top of an upside down bucket. he breathes heavily, your hand comfortingly rests on top of steve’s head for a moment before pulling away.

your feet drag you towards dustin, who’s trying to gently coax the truth out of him. you bend down to come face to face with eddie, your hand reaches out to rest on his knee for comfort.

he instinctively jumps from your touch, making you pull away with a soft apology. “it’s okay.” he whispers, his fearful eyes look over your features before turning away.

“we just want to know what happened… can you tell us?” your voice is delicate, as if you spoke too loudly it would shatter anything around you.

eddie let’s out a pitiful sniffle, “you won’t believe me.” his voice quivers as he attempts to swallow back his emotions.

“try us.” max urges him.

it takes him a moment to start talking. he explains everything from the beginning. how he met chrissy in the woods near the school. right before the club meeting for a drug deal, then chrissy wanted something stronger so he brought her back to his place after the game.

“her body… just like, lifted up into the air and uh…” he shudders before continuing, “and she just like hung there.. in the air.” he takes a deep shaky breath before continuing.

eddie’s eyes are glassy as he holds back tears, “and her bones.. uh, she..” his face screws up in pain as he relives the moment in his head.

“her bones started to snap.”

your eyes blow wide, an uncomfortable shiver fluttering down your spine. he goes into detail about how her eyes were sucked out from the inside.

“i…i didn’t know what to do… so i… i ran away.” he spaces out again, staring at the splintering wood floor. everyone in your group is silent as they attempt to think about the information just given to them, “you all think i’m crazy, right?”

“no, we don’t think you’re crazy.” dustin shakes his head.

“don’t bullshit me, man!” his voice raises, “i know how this sounds.” his eyes dart around the room for some sort of solace.

“we’re not bullshitting you.” max affirms.

“we believe you.” you nod with a sad, yet reassuring smile.

dustin takes a deep breath, glancing at you for approval and you nod. he starts by mentioning the ‘curse’ of hawkins, “like ghosts?” eddie asks.

“worse than ghosts.” you mutter as flashbacks of the past few years replays in your mind. demogorgon, the demo-dogs, the mind flayer, and now this even scarier, grotesque monster is murdering students in cold blood.

“who’s vecna?” you hear steve question from behind you making you snap back to reality.

your eyes rapidly blink as you come to. attempting to regulate your breathing but still keeping your troubles to yourself. but it seems as if someone has already noticed.

ed is staring at you with concern laced through his features. a slight crinkle between his eyebrows as he watches you.

steve begins to pace, the floor creaking under his pristine sneakers. “okay so vecna… is this spell caster, wizard guy, right? he can… hurt people without even standing beside them?”

“he could be phasing through dimensions? like from the upside down to our world?” dustin suggests, which actually makes a lot of sense.

as they continue their theories within the group, you scoot closer to eddie who keeps a watchful eye on you. “i’m really sorry this is happening. i promise, we will try to do as much as we can to clear your name.”

a small chuckle falls from his lips, “i can’t believe this is happening. like what the hell are they talking about? dimensions and ‘the upside down’?” he makes quotation marks with his fingers in air, shaking his head in disbelief.

“there’s so much to explain, eddie. too much.” you gulp and look down at your lap, “i’ll tell you, but… just not tonight. you need to let your brain rest before i load more crazy shit into it.”

suddenly, his arms are flung around you. wrapping snugly around your neck as eddie pulls you into his chest. you gladly accept it by letting your arms snake around his torso underneath his leather jacket.

his skin is blissfully warm against your fingertips- the heat seeping through his hellfire club shirt. your eyes flutter shut as you sit there in a comfortable embrace with eddie. his breathing shudders in your ear.

you definitely expected him to smell bad from being stuck in a humid lake house all day, but he’s smells quite nice. a bit sweaty, but in a good way.

the silence from the others feels suffocating, making you pull away to look back at them. all four of them are staring at you two, making eddie’s arms drop down to rest on his knees. he clears his throat awkwardly, totally avoiding eye contact with them at all costs.

“what i was saying… is that we should probably get going since it’s late. your mom is probably scared shitless from not knowing where you’re both at.” steve mumbles, a bit too passive aggressive for your liking.

you turn towards eddie, who catches your eyes for a moment. it’s almost as if he’s silently pleading you not to leave him alone tonight.

you stand up with a loud sigh, pulling your keys out of your back pocket. “you guys go ahead.” you toss them to steve, the metal jingles as they fly through the air. his hands instinctively catch them before they could hit his face.

“what?!” steve steps forward, “are you kidding?”

“no, steve. i’m not kidding. he just went through some really terrible shit and i don’t want to leave him alone.” you grimace from his tone.

steve goes to argue with you, his entire face wrinkled with worry, but dustin stops him with a hand on his chest, “come on. the lady has spoken. you can’t change her mind.”

“no, screw that!” he moves past dustin, “i’m not leaving you here with this vecna creep on the loose. i don’t want to find you tomorrow morning with your eyes plucked out or some shit.” he lowers his voice during the last sentence so eddie couldn’t hear.

“nothing is going to happen, steve. now leave.. please just go home, get some rest and tomorrow morning come back with a change of clothes for me and some food.” you pat his upper arm with a smile.

he stares at you in shock, unable to find anything to say in that brain of his.

“come on! let’s go.” dustin grumbles impatiently, yanking on steve’s arm to get him to move, but he stays cemented for a moment.

“last chance…” he breathes out, extending his hand for you to take. you sigh with a shake of your head, pursing your lips in annoyance.

“dustin! cover for me, alright?” you lean to the side to look at your brother. he nods with a thumbs up.

steve can’t help but roll his eyes in defeat. as he’s dragged out of the boathouse by your little brother, leaving you behind with eddie munson. everyone else waves to you both as they slip outside of the door.

once the door clicks shut, you turn around to finally look at eddie. he’s standing up now, leaning on the table adorned with all of his wrappers.

“you know, you didn’t have to do that.” he mumbles as he looks down at his boots, refusing to make eye contact with you.

“well, you didn’t protest when i said i was going to.” you shrug nonchalantly, walking up to rest against the table next to him.

“your boyfriend seemed really upset.” he snickers, picking at his nails.

“my boyfriend?” you snort, “who? steve?”

he shrugs in response with a shitty little grin.

“no, no… he’s not my boyfriend whatsoever. first of all, he’s the ex of one of my best friends. second, he’s not my type and he is also a grade-a asshole sometimes-.”

“sometimes? he hit me with that oar so many times, i can feel still it in my ribs.” he jokes around with a little laugh.

“yeah, he was hitting it really hard. sorry ‘bout that.” you almost laugh, but you look down at your shoes.

“he’s not your type though?” eddie hums inquisitively as if he’s urging you to reveal a secret.

“not my type. super nice, a total sweetheart, but he’s like a big brother to me.”

“ouch. a brother?” he cackles, slightly moving in closer to you, “so what is your type then?”

“mmm…” you tap your chin in thought, “not so clean cut. definitely funny. i really would enjoy someone who is as crazy as me.” you laugh with a nervous shrug, “i dunno…”

eddie smiles at your response, eyeing how you shyly react to his question.

“so who’s getting the couch tonight? me or you?” he playfully asks, pushing himself up from the table as he walks around to look for anything to make a makeshift bed.

he pulls the tarp off of the boat, laying it down on the wooden floor, “for the splinters.”

eddie rummages through the dinghy for anything else, but all that’s in there is empty beer bottles and fishing equipment.

“so, it seems like we’re sleeping on the lap of luxury tonight, princess.” he plops down on the floor.

there’s that damn nickname again.

“mm.. sounds perfect to me.” you follow him down on the blue tarp, laying back with your arms behind your head. your shirt slightly lifts up from you stretching, exposing your midriff. his eyes can’t help but trail over your body, before quickly looking away.

he lays down next to you, letting out a small sigh as he stares at the dark ceiling. you turn onto your side with a yawn, now facing him.

from this angle, the moonlight is streaming in through the window and casting a perfect shadow over his profile.

“you’re pretty, you know that?”

his head turns toward you with his eyebrows raised, “i’m pretty?” he almost laughs, which makes an embarrassed flush settle across your features.

“sorry, that was weird…” you mumble, completely averting his eyes.

eddie doesn’t know what to say. he’s speechless. he just got called pretty by the most beautiful girl in hawkins. before he could respond, you’re talking again.

“goodnight, eddie.” you turn around so your back was facing him.

his breath shudders when he releases it, blinking dumbly from what just happened. “goodnight.” he whispers, before attempting to close his eyes and sleep.

after a few hours of being half asleep, the plastic rustles beside him, making his eyes shoot open from the sound. he sucks in a sharp breath when he sees somebody laying next to him, then he realizes it’s just you.

“hey, you okay?” you look back at him, before turning your body to face him.

“yeah. yeah, i’m fine.” he huffs out, his chest heaving.

it seems as if his heart stops when your hand moves to rest on his arm, “i’m sorry for scaring you, i just can’t get comfortable.”

“oh- i could only imagine why.” he chuckles dryly which makes you laugh.

he sits up to pull his vest and leather jacket off. you watch with wide eyes as he strips down to his hellfire shirt- almost hoping he’s going shirtless, but you’re left slightly disappointed.

“here.” he rolls his leather jacket into a ball, “kinda like a pillow. not sure if it’ll help but-.”

you grab the wad of leather with a thankful smile, “i appreciate it.” although, you’d rather use him as a pillow.

“yeah, no problem.” he smiles before laying on his denim vest, “you’re the one who decided to stay here with me, so it’s the least i can do.”

you turn on your side towards him, leather jacket under your head comfortably. “eddie?”

“yeah?” he answers almost immediately, his eyes gazing right into yours. “can… i just- like…” you struggle to get the words out.

“anything you want.” he answers before you could finish.

your face lights up as you experimentally scoot towards him, moving his arm away from his side so you could fit snugly against him. you hook your head under his chin and wrap an arm around his waist. one of your legs angle up to slide between his which makes his breathing pick up.

“you can touch me, ed.” you mumble sleepily, giving him permission to put his arm around you. his arm comfortably finds a position in the nook where your hip meets your waist.

“comfy?” you ask, looking up at him with a comforting look.

“very much.” he squeezes your side to pull you in even closer, if that was humanly possible.

“hey. my number is still on your arm.” you point out, poking the smudged spot with your pointer finger.

eddie’s breath hitches from the soft touch, “i was actually planning on calling you that night… i just never got around to it.” he confesses.

oh god, you have to kiss him. it’s now or never.

“hey… can i… uh- kiss you?” he mumbles nervously before you got the chance, you can hear his heart thumping against your ear.

“please.” you beg, sitting up slightly to hover your lips above his. he crashes forward, closing the space between you both. his hand slides against your jaw and combs through your hair.

at first, the kiss is uncoordinated, a bit too much teeth and excitement. you pull back to breathe, before going in with a more soft approach. eddie presses his mouth into yours, moving his lips against yours expertly. he props himself up on the elbow of the arm attached to your waist.

“oh my god.” you breathe out in pure shock from how good of a kisser he is, “you’re amazing.” you gasp as one of your hands card through his soft hair.

the compliment makes him chuckle deeply against your lips, making your stomach do flip flops. his mouth opens wide to deepen the kiss, his tongue pressing against yours. he continues to lean forward until your back is flush with the tarp and he’s hovering over you.

eddie pulls away for a moment, your hand gently grips the root of his hair in protest. earning a soft groan from him, “just.. wanted to make sure you’re okay… before i keep going.” he breathes out faintly into the night air.

“no, it’s perfect. please, don’t stop.”

with a cocky laugh, he pounces forward to continue kissing you, his hands carefully roam amongst your sides. one of his knees slots itself between your legs to open them so he can fit between.

your legs impulsively wrap around his hips, pulling him flush against you. he grunts into the kiss from the contact, “eddie…” you breathe out, making him pull back to look at you.

but you push his head down to smoosh your lips back together, “don’t stop…” you say between kissing him, “you… can… touch… me.”

“touch you?”

you hum in response, wrapping your hand around his wrist to move it from your side and up to your chest. he finally catches on as he blindly tugs at your shirt to pull it up slightly. his cool hand slips under your top, traveling up your torso. his hand rests right under your bra, against your ribs. i

“god, eddie…” you mewl out desperately, fingernails pressing into the muscles of his back.

“i’ve been wanting to do this since i met you.” he mumbles against your lips. now making you pull back from it to look at him.

the sight above you is for sore eyes. his wild hair is framing his face, lips swollen and raw from kissing you hungrily. he timidly smiles at you from overhead, leaning down to peck your lips once more. his hand under your top slides down to your waist, savoring the feeling of your skin on his.

your hand cups his jaw, rubbing soft circles into his skin, just admiring his beauty. “what’s on your mind, sweetheart?” he swoops down to graze his lips down your neck.

“mm, i just can’t believe i’m here right now. making out with the eddie munson- in a drug dealers shed on lovers lake.”

he chuckles against you, his fingers playing with your waistband of your jeans. “i can’t believe that you’re here. y/n henderson is underneath me right now. the princess of hawkins high, vice president of the journalism club. bleh.” he jokingly sticks his tongue out in disgust. he pulls back to sit up on his knees, leaning back on his heels.

eddie’s hands rest on your hips, rubbing your hipbones with his thumbs as he marvels at your body. “i’m going to be honest… i really thought you were just like every other girl. spoiled and a total bitch.” he ignores how you roll your eyes, “i always noticed you in the cafeteria or in the hallways and you refused to even look at me.” he lowly laughs, shaking his head. your lips pout in response, feeling guilt tug at your heart.

“the people you hang around with, they don’t like me. they call me a freak, and a nerd- that i’m a low life.”

“oh eddie…” you shake your head, sitting up to grab his face to force him to look at you, “you’re not what they say you are. you’re not a freak and most definitely not a low life. maybe a little bit of a nerd-,” his face scrunches up as he laughs at your comment, “but hey… so am i!” you roll your eyes playfully.

“my nerd, yeah?” he leans forward, his lips ghosting against yours with his infamous grin on his lips. the sound of being his makes butterflies flutter in your belly.

“yeah, your nerd.” you look up into his eyes, your own satiated with pure desire for him. the space between your mouths seals as he deeply kisses you, resuming what was happening earlier.

his hands gently push you back down, your back flush against the cool surface of the tarp. continuing to kiss you, tongue flattening against yours. his breath hitches when the crescent of your nails dig into his back. his hands move to the hem of your shirt, bunching it up on your waist to pull it off.

“you gotta be kidding me…” someone’s voice sounds from the other side of the boathouse. eddie’s vaults away from you, stumbling to his feet to face the intruder.

your eyes fly open, chest constricting with fear as you sit up from your position. instantly catching eyes with who’s standing at the door.

“steve?!” you shout, quickly pulling yourself up on your feet to march up to him. betrayal is written across his features as you try to push him outside. he’s staring at you with an almost disgusted look.

“you seriously wanted to stay here just so you could hook up with him. you realize that he’s on the run from the cops, right?”

“steve, get the fuck out.” you talk through your teeth as you push on his chest gently to try and get him to move. he doesn’t budge.

eddie is standing in the corner with wide eyes, watching everything unfold in front of him.

steve’s hand wraps around your wrist, his strength obviously overpowering you to pull you outside, “i just want to talk to you, please.” he begs softly.

you struggle for a second, grunting as you attempt to free yourself. “i don’t want to fucking talk! i can’t believe you right now!” you shriek, emotion evident in your voice.

“can’t believe me? i never realized you could be capable of doing something this low. do you realize how fucking worried i was about you? i had to come back to make sure you were okay, but i find you sucking faces with him! i’m just trying to keep you safe!” steve motions towards eddie standing at the doorframe as he shouts at you.

ed takes a step outside to follow you both, “she doesn’t want to talk to you. let go of her, man.” his voice is stern, staring at steve like he did when he had him against the wall.

“stay out of this.“ steve points sternly at eddie, “we’re leaving, y/n. come on.”

“i don’t need you to keep me safe, steve! i’m not your fucking girlfriend!” you yank your hand away from his loosened grip, fury burning in your eyes.

steve’s face drops from your words, his tough persona faltering as he takes a step back. “wow… really? you’re gonna go there?” he chuckles, standing there with his hands on his hips, “fine. don’t fucking count on me to be there for you anymore, y/n. i’m done.” he turns on his heel to head back towards your car he drove here.

your heart drops at his last words, panic running through your veins. no, you can’t lose your best friend.

“y/n?” eddie calls out for you, wildly looking between you and steve. his notices how your bottom lip is quivering, tears evidently flowing down your cheeks. “c‘mere…” he comes up to you, wrapping his arms around your frame.

your hands are on your face, trying to hide your emotions as you sob into his chest. eddie cradles the back of your head to comfort you, “it’s okay.“ he mumbles as he leads you back inside.

eddie helps you lay back down on the floor with him, your tears soaking through his shirt as he holds you until you fall sleep.

the next morning, you wake up with every muscle aching in your body. the bright light from outside sears your eyes as if you’re a vampire. you hiss as you roll over, absentmindedly holding his leather jacket to your chest.

“morning, sweetheart.” his gravelly voice mumbles, farther away from you than you expected.

your eyes shoot open to see him sitting at the edge where the boat is hanging. his legs dangling over the water.

“how long have you been awake?” your sleep ridden voice mutters, squinting at him.

“uh… about an hour or so.” he shrugs, giving you a little one-sided smile.

“what time is it?” you yawn, pulling yourself up so you’re sitting on your butt. you rub at your eyes tiredly, “like eight-thirty.” he replies after looking at his watch.

“jesus.” you breathe out and your stomach grumbles angrily. the sound of car doors shutting makes your head perk up, anxiety instantly settling in your chest.

eddie scrambles to his feet to look out the windows to make sure it wasn’t the cops. his chest heaves as he pants, dropping his head when he sees no one.

the metal door to the shack slams open, making you and eddie jump. “jesus christ!” he shouts, fists going up in defensive mode.

all four of them come strolling in, “delivery service!” dustin exclaims with a toothy grin. you can’t help but look at steve, your eyes desperately calling out for him to look at you.

dustin strolls in with the three of them following, steve keeps his head down as he leans against one of the wooden poles. he’s so close to you, but refuses to look up from his feet.

“i brought some cereal, juice boxes, and yoo-hoo! and some clothes for you.” robin takes that as a cue to throw a plastic bag at your face. which you thankfully catch before it could slam into your nose.

“cereal?” eddie perks up, walking straight to dustin who’s unloading the groceries. he grabs a box of honeycomb, ripping the top of the box open and then the bag inside. he savagely sticks his hand inside to shovel it into his mouth.

he offers the box to you and you dig your hand into the food. slowly eating piece by piece out of your palm.

“some reason, harrington’s got a stick up his ass this morning, so don’t even try talking to him.” dustin points out.

steve just rolls his eyes and grumbles something under his breath, making the tension in the room even worse. “example number one.” dustin sighs.

“dustin… just stop.” you lecture, making everyone’s eyes turn to you. even steve’s. “if he’s in a bad mood, then so be it. you always have an attitude and we never comment on it.”

robin stifles a giggle into her hand, and max shrugs in agreement. your brother stares at you with confusion screwed up on his face, “okay then?” you’re not one to let up on making fun of steve, but right now is just not the time.

eddie is standing above your seating position, continuously lowering the box for you to take some more cereal to eat. he taps the top of your head each time before giving it to you.

“did you guys sleep okay?” robin changes the subject with a slightly nervous smile.

you look up at eddie who looks down at you with a smile, “yeah, i think we slept okay.” he answers with his mouth full. robin nods awkwardly as the tension continues to build.

you break the silence, “steve, can i talk to you? outside?” harrington straightens up, clearing his throat as he glances around at everyone who’s staring.

he nods and gestures to the door with his head for you to follow him. eddie grabs your upper arm, swallowing his food before talking. “if you need anything…”

“i know.” you give him a curt nod and a grateful smile before following steve outside. he continues walking for a moment until you’re far enough away from the flimsy walls of the boathouse.

“steve.” “y/n.” you both say each other’s names at the same time. “you first.” he motions for you to continue with flushed cheeks.

“steve…” you take a deep breath, “i’m sorry about last night- truly i am. i didn’t want you to walk in on… that. it wasn’t my intention whatsoever and what i said to you, just wasn’t right at all. i don’t want to lose you, steve. you’re my best friend.” your voice chokes up from the lump growing in your throat.

steve sighs, biting his lip as he watches you get upset. all he wants to do is pull you into his arms and tell you everything is alright.

“i’m sorry too. i should have never have crossed that line.” he shakes his head, “i should’ve trusted you. and i should have never put my hands on you and tried to force you to do something you didn’t want to. i.. i just want to keep you safe. i want to protect you from anything that could possibly put you in harms way… you’re the best thing that’s happened to me throughout all this monster bullshit.” his voice is shaky and he sniffles.

“aaaand, i’ve also had a really big crush on you for a while, and i’m pretty sure everyone knew it.” he chuckles in disbelief, “but i don’t want to ruin what we have. it’s somethin’ special. i don’t want to lose you either.”

you’re fully crying by now, sniffling and wiping your tears and snot on your sleeve. “i’m sorry i’m dumb. i never even noticed you had a crush on me.” you wetly laugh through your crying.

“i’m way too deep in the friendzone. that’s why.” he jokes around, stuffing his hands in his front pockets. “so are we cool?” he asks softly, almost afraid of your answer.

“yes, harrington. we’re cool.” you grin happily, sniffling loudly again.

“come here.” he opens his arms, which you gladly step forward to hug him. relief floods through your body, “i really thought i lost my monster killing sidekick.”

“never.” he shakes his head before pulling away. “let’s go back inside, yeah?”

you nod in agreement, leading the way back to the door. you both slip through the door, making the conversation going on inside halt to silence.

“everything good now?” dustin asks instantaneously.

“just dandy.” you slap steve on the back with a grin before walking over to eddie. he instinctively pulls you into his side, your arms loop around his waist. his jaw crunches down on cereal, the sound reverberating through his body.

“woah, did we miss something?” robin asks with a shocked look on her face.

eddie swallows, slyly looking down at you with a presumptuous grin. “yeah… definitely something.” he leans down to peck your nose, making your face scrunch up. his hand squeezes your hip amusingly.

“wow, we leave you guys alone for one goddamn night.” dustin looks like he’s about to vomit from the sight, his mouth in a frown as he stares blankly.

“i wouldn’t take it back for the world.” you whisper up to him, wishing you could kiss him right now. he chuckles, taking a piece of cereal from his palm, holding it up to your lips to feed you.

you know deep down in your heart, that you'd do anything to keep eddie safe. even if it comes down to putting yourself in harms way.

tags: @cheyenne-dunn-universe @they-adore-shay @eddie-munsons-girlfriend @sapphireplums @daffodil0darling

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dairy-farmer · 6 months

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In the UK the Public Schools (extremely prestigious private schools) had a system called fagging, in which young students would act as servants for the upper years. It was rife with sexual abuse.

Tim becoming the pet of the Wayne family at Gotham College, an extremely expensive public school in England. They’re in the same House, and Dick is head of his house, and he sees this kid join and just decides ‘he is mine now’ — and so Tim becomes his personal valet, he had to spend every moment outside of class with Dick, serving his every whim.

Can’t think do much more detail, just Tim being the free use boy of the Wayne family at this school, all of them using him — and when Dick graduates he’s still used by Jason, and when Damian joins and Tim’s one of the upper years now, he’s still Damian’s pet to be used however he wants.

Also maybe Bruce is headmaster? His sons bring Tim for them all to use at the same time?

👀👀👀👀!!!!!!!!

i LOVE the idea of dick having singled tim out, that he'd seen him along with all the other sweet and pretty cheeked new students and decided in that moment to make him his. more than a few other boys in dick's year had their sights set on tim but being head boy and the adopted son of the headmaster meant no one tried challenging him for the sweet boy that looked like a trembling rabbit as he stood beside his bed with red eyes, staring forlornly down at his trunk full of clothes.

by breakfast the next morning dick has learned everything there is to learn about the sweet boy picking at his breakfast. it's apparently his first time in a boarding school, his parents were businesspeople and his father had political aspirations that had been steadily growing over the past few years. all alone, no siblings, and having to make new friends at an entirely new school. no wonder he was such a trembling little thing. dick could see the misery that painted his sweet face all the way from his end of the table.

the poor thing. all alone. scared. far away from home. he looked like he could use a friend. a friend like dick.

dick is right.

the boy leaps at the opportunity to have dick's company. and his protection because a few of the other boys that were interested couldn't help pinching and cornering the boy- he was just too sweet. or at least that's what they said and dick had to admit- for once, those other boys were right.

tim is a soft, plush in all the right places. dick doesn't even mind kissing him on the mouth because tim tastes like candy. the best surprise of dick's life had to be when he worked tim's pants off and was greeted by a pink, peachy little cunt. dick didn't even try to hold back, shushing tim's whimpers and kissing his soft cheeks as he grunted and fucked deep into the hot, welcoming seam of tim. tim doesn't hold grudges and forgives dick easily when he apologizes to tim for his roughness but doesn't swear to not do it again.

not only is tim a nice fuck, he's obedient. he carries dick's books for him, follows him class to class like he's a honey bee and dick is a flower. he hangs onto dick's every word, believes everything he says.

you don't find a boy like tim everyday so dick is absolutely unwilling to lose him. even when he's set to graduate soon, dick is not willing to let a gem like tim get tossed away. he may want to come back to see him and that tight little cunt afterall.

thankfully dick has a brother. he's two years younger and in a different house because he and jason would fight like cats and dogs much to bruce's exasperation.

dick decides to introduce jason and tim to each other because its like adopting out a pet. you can't just dump it out on a stranger or else they'll start scurrying back to the original owner. acting out. peeing on the goddamn carpet and shit.

luckily for dick the meeting goes smoothly and he whistles, happy sipping on a can of contraband soda his sweet younger brother deals out of his dorm while watching timmy whine and arch and gasp under jason who is holding tight to his hips and fucking him with every bit of effort he has stored in his body.

dick goes away to university. of course. but he always makes time to return to his old school to visit dear old daddy, jason, and tim who is one of the small number of students who lives at the school even during breaks.

dick tracks tim down to the headmaster's office and is greeted by the sight of tim, laid out on the desk he's been yelled at across from endless times. bruce doesn't seem to notice or care dick's presence, too focused on fucking his cock into tim's wet hole, slamming into him with thick, wet, 'slaps' and playing with his little baby tits by squishing them in his hands.

oh sweet timmy doesn't look the slightest bit different. his head is hanging off the side of the desk, mouth open and gasping as he gets sharply fucked. he's making little whispers and moans that dick quiets up when he presses his cock to the open mouth, rubbing the head against tim's wet, twitching tongue.

when jason finally graduates their relationship has vastly improved. to the point they can both travel in the same car back to the school to visit bruce and their youngest brother.

their youngest brother who may very well be the most possessive of them all. tim is head boy this year (leaving your pussy open for the headmaster and his sons tends to earn you some privileges) and damian is just a puny little kid attending his first year at a boarding school.

its almost a comical sight. a teenager so much smaller and weaker than tim frantically fucking into his wet, twitching cunt. if damian weren't bruce's son he might very well be in tim's position.

but it seemd like poor sweet timmy would always be on the bottom of the hierarchy. not that he seemed to mind.

tim's hips arched and pressed back against damian, moaning as damian shot off in him again.

teenagers. tim was lucky damian came like a million time in two minutes because barely a few mintes later damian was cumming again, panting and squeezing both of tim's reddened little tits in his palms.

tim's pretty pussy just twitched around damian's cock, swallowing every bit of his load while dick and jason watched, each of them palming their own cocks because it had been too long since they'd fucked their sweet timmy.

their lovely timmy. their beloved little pet.

#answered asks #asks #anonymous #dicktim #jaytim #damitim #brutim

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powderblueblood · 4 months

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Hiya hiya!! I am a massive fucking fan of your writing it is so stimulating for my little distracted brain. On the topic of hai I would LOVE to know more about Lacy's part-time gig at The Bookstore!!!! How often does she work there? Does Lacy get to set up displays and recommend books? Do Eddie or Ronnie ever hang out with Lacy there? (And subsequently does Ivana threaten to perma-ban them from The Bookstore for being so goddamn loud and distracting her best employee???) I am so fucking curious and would love to see it explored a little more 🧡

LEE!!!! thank you so much for your kind kind words and THANK YOU for giving me an excuse to touch upon one of my favorite little elements of the hellfire & ice universe-- THEE BOOKSTORE

i'll be the first to admit that i don't know a goddamn thing about the TARDIS but what i do know is that it's bigger on the inside. same logic applies to the bookstore. place is an intricate network of atriums and ventricles separated by bookcases that are so overstuffed, they seem like they're going to keel over like dominoes any second. it smells like warm and dust and it's always semi-dark in there, with lamps seemingly having sprung from the ground in the most strategic of places. wall sconces sprout from the woodwork, supported by dodgy, illegal wiring. you take your life in your hands any time you walk in there, essentially. but you'd never know it! because it's serene and it's peaceful until--

lacy starts working there. and for some reason, it seems that lacy, eddie, ronnie and chaos are a package deal. eddie and ronnie use the darkened corners of the bookstore to the full extent of their danger, playing endless games of 'who can scare lacy by hiding in the world history section' which has earned more than one heavy biography of ferdinand magellan being aimed at eddie munson's head.

one even made contact, and eddie insisted that lacy stand there holding an ice cream sandwich to his 'poor brutalized' head because he 'couldn't move his arms' due to the 'concussion'.

ivana, the owner, our beloved ivana, hates these kids. even if eddie is convinced that she's trying to take him as her next controversially young husband-- her fifth. ivana hates them, but never actually follows through on her threatened lifetime bans because ivana also occasionally drinks at the hideout.

a moment for ivana: ivana is so, so fucking cool. ivana used to sell fetish mags in brown paper bags back in the 50s. ivana once lived in new york, and according to legend, threw an olive at norman mailer (eddie: "who?" lacy: "don't worry about it") and it bounced off his head and into andy warhol's drink. ivana is approximately four hundred years old with a platinum blonde beehive, a list of lovers longer than mae west's, a voice like a cement truck and she will never die.

lacy wants to be exactly like her when she grows up-- only, not living in indiana, of course.

ivana has lacy on weekends and some evenings; basically, if her spidey sense tingles and she figures that girl could use something to do. lacy, inflicted with the pathological need to be the best at fucking everything, is a good worker and the best kind of salesperson a place like that could have.

which is to say that she's kind of snooty and derisive of people's pedestrian tastes. it oscillates from customers storming out to customers buying whatever she tells them to, in some misguided attempt to impress her.

precocious and pretentious eighteen year olds have this effect on people. many such cases.

one person it does not have any effect on is eddie munson.

he watches lacy put like, painstaking effort into her staff pick of the week! (she always fights for three) or her display of russian literature ranked by themes of romanticism v nihilism! (the brothers karamazov sits on the top of the display like an angel on a christmas tree)... and then he fucks with it. swaps out a room of one's own with are you there god? it's me, margaret, even if that does prompt lacy giving eddie a keynote speech on the importance of judy blume's forever.

"... and yeah, it's about as thrilling as a slice of wonderbread, but that book is probably why i'm on the pill."

this seems to give eddie pause. "... you're on the pill?"

"what's that look?"

"no, uh-- no, just. good. decision. smart, responsible decision-making. good to... know."

#powder room talk #bastardstevie #THE BOOKSTORE!!! THE BOOKSTORE!!!!!#THANK U LEE <3 #hai brainrot #eddie munson x reader #l. doevski by powder

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nerves-nebula · 10 months

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I am violent and ill.

My anger drives me so greatly it makes my stomach churn and I grow nauseous.

I am sick and it fuels a fire that sits in my guts and gives me a desire to rip and break and scream.

I am broken in a way that he can’t even see as useful.

Leo is studious.

Raph is caring.

Donnie is quiet.

I am a mistake.

(Does he even remember saying that?)

I cannot be what he wants me to be and it burns inside me and I can’t let it out or I will die.

Will I die?

When will I die?

Donnie is ill.

His illness makes him silent, makes him cry. He buries his face in books and screens and underneath blankets. He sobs with his whole body yet makes no sound. His soul is ripped open and his skin is carved through and I help him bandage the wounds.

I am not ill like Donnie.

Raph is ill.

His illness eats at his stomach and yet refuses food. He forces himself to care for us even as he suffers. He buries himself in the feeling of hunger and pain until his stomach devours his mind and he loses his ability to remember the pain.

I am not ill like Raph.

Leo is ill.

He doesn’t know it. He doesn’t recognize the signs. The way he pushed himself past his limits, snaps and breaks things that immediately he regrets. He sinks into himself and gains a blank look in his eyes that speaks to the pain he feels.

I am not ill like Raph.

Splinter is ill.

I am ill like Splinter.

I am ill like a man who forces his problems onto the innocent. He breaks and shouts and regrets nothing. He hurts my brothers, hurts me, and he scoffs.

I want to hurt him like he hurts us.

I want to kill him.

I want to feel his blood on my hands and the thought doesn’t even scare me.

It should scare me.

I should be scared to hurt the man who raised me.

He gave me nunchucks.

“An inelegant and ridiculous weapon for an inelegant and ridiculous child.” He said.

I want to take the chain and wrap it around his throat.

I want to take the ends and slam them into his skull.

I am sick.

I am sick and it only makes me angrier.

I am sick and it only makes me angrier and that anger makes me sick.

I want to kill him.

I splash paint on a canvas, shoving my hands into the buckets, forgoing brushes altogether.

My hands are stained with the pigments.

Blues and purples and reds.

My claws chip and crack.

Greens and browns and yellows.

Blood does not dry red.

It stains and turns brown as it cloys and thickens.

Then black as it gathers the dust and dirt of the world around it.

I sew the canvas closed where my nails break through. The hole will never heal, will always been seen, and I want to break it further.

Reds and browns and blacks.

I want to rip and shred with my claws, their edges jagged and broken. I want to see what color he bleeds. I want to know if its red. I want to watch it clump and turn brown and black against stark white canvas.

I am violent and ill.

I am my father’s son.

I need a nap.

——

Having a bad mental health day means I have inspiration to write angst for the babies.

I’d love to do more Mikey studies for this universe. He’s complex and broken and I love him.

-Monster Anon 🐗

VERY RELATABLE also GODDAMN. At this point why dont YOU just write the iteration haha. I love making Mikey the angriest one tbh. Everyone thinks its raph cause raph has resting bitch face, and cause Raph snaps in anger a lot, but the one with the bubbling hatred underneath his skin is our beautiful little goldfish boy <3

loved all the descriptions of violence tbh. reminds me of how furious i would get back when i lived with my family, especially with my brother. if im still honest i kind of regret not stabbing him, but i know it was for the best that I didn't. oh well!

#nnstuff #ask #teenage mutant neglected turtles #neglected fic #tmnt mikey

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sitchski · 2 years

Text

you and joseph have to film a steamy scene together, making you think about him like crazy… just not innocently.

joseph quinn, black!fem reader, grinding

word count: 1.6k

author’s note: first time writing a joseph oneshot! i really liked this one tho and i hope y’all do too <3

you were just a little frantic. infact, scratch that. you were majorly frantic, okay? and you honestly shouldn't be. so why were you?

you were an actress! and joseph was your co-star, who played your love interest. you just needed to brace yourself and get it over with.

you breathed out, admiring your outfit. atleast you looked good. pastel yellow was the colour scheme — a push up bra with underwear a little more suggestive than the bra itself. the robe had very big fluffy cuffs that made it that extra bit playful. your makeup was done simple like you were going to bed but, those eyelash extensions weren't budging. the wig you had laid was long, black and wavy. again, simple.

the show loved by many, star, had just been given a reboot. and your character was new as was joseph's. he played harley; the younger brother of a certain xander mcpherson, the hustler/heartthrob. while you played kenadee howard, a budding artist trying to make it big just like the girls in the cast.

and ofcourse, your two characters begin to have something together. leading to the scene you two were just about to film: your first ever sex scene.

now while sex scenes didn't actually involve any sex, you were still unbelievably nervous. i mean, so far you had only ever filmed kisses and things. stuff you'd never had to act so necessarily vulnerable for.

now all of a sudden, you're half-naked. waiting to get called on set to make out with a man you're good friends with. who just so happens to be insanely attractive. God.

three taps were heard at your door. “knock knock.”

the homely british accent peaked past the wooden barrier getting you to smile. you tied up the robe, before letting him know he was safe to enter.

he came in hesitantly. he kept a respectful distance, which you thought was so sweet of him. however, you caught the way he eyed you in a way that you had never really seen from him before.

the silence was too loud for you not to break it. you chuckled, “too much?”

this got him to snap out of his trance, shaking his head a little bit as his eyes widened from the realisation of what he had been doing.

“oh- no. not at all. you look great. i- i was just wanting to see if you're okay,” he started as he scratched his head. you both eyed eachother for a moment in the mirror, the awkwardness running through the room like a current.

you turned your head to look at him, teasingly answering back, “will you be?”

he chuckled at your remark. his eyes darted to the floor and you noticed you had made him bashful. “well, you're in that. so i don't know if i will be.”

—

“so things are gonna start out slow. okay? then i need a very passionate, almost rough, kind of physicality between you two. think y'all can do that for me?” the director asked you both.

stood side by side but not even daring to make eye contact with eachother. most likely because you were scared. but again, you didn't need to be! you're an actress — a job that required you to step out of your comfort zone.

so why on earth were you so goddamn nervous?

feeling a hand press against the small of your back, you turned to see joseph. “just let me know if you feel uncomfortable at any point, and i'll stop. okay?”

his breath fanning against your face as your faces were only inches apart didn't help this whole nervousness thing. he flashed you a small smile which you reciprocated quickly. rather than just stare into his eyes — which were also nervous like yours — and make things more awkward.

“you're the best, jo',” you thanked him along with pressing a kiss against his slightly reddened cheek.

soon enough, the set is fully situated and your robe was removed and placed on the end of the bed in the apartment used for filming. you get in the bed and shut your eyes, waiting for action to be called.

when it was, you got into character. you were no longer y/n, you were kenadee. and kenadee had an unexpected visitor at the door.

the constant banging of your front door had your eyes open up, disturbed from your sleep. you groggily sat up, reaching for your robe to put on once you had stood up.

the banging still continued as you walked to the door. “alright, alright. i heard you. goddamn...” you muttered under your breath as you tied the robe.

when you opened the door, your face turned to one of shock. then, confusion. joseph, who was playing harley, was at the door. in a black shirt, black jeans and black leather boots. with a single silver chain hanging loosely around his neck and few silver rings adorned his fingers.

“harley? what- i- why—” the only thing you could do was stutter at him. he appeared distressed, tired, afflicted.

he leaned closer to you, hand resting against the doorframe. “is it cool if... if i come in?” he asked, his character really shining through with the new american accent that he put on.

you sighed, shutting your eyes and moved out the way so he can step in the room. even the way he walked in was hasty, like he was antsy about getting something done. acquiring something he was in search for.

“you got a good reason as to why you showed up here in the middle of the night?” you asked. but you weren’t met with an answer. at first.

joseph’s- harley’s eyes were trailing on your- kenadee’s body. they raked over your figure; how the robe accidentally rode up due to the thickness of your thighs. you didn’t want to believe the way he stared was real, but then he did it numerous times. with those brown eyes turning into burning red embers of lust.

“harley. i’m askin’ you sum. you can’t be bothered to hit me up all week and now you come runnin’ up in here—”

your speech was cut off by the abrupt but impactful way joseph placed his lips onto yours. cupping your face in his hands, feeling the coolness of his rings graze your cheeks.

he kissed you hard. hungrily. cutting off his own air by trying to breathe in as much of yours as he could muster. after a couple kisses, you broke off the kiss but still stayed held by him.

“you can kick me out in the morning if you still decide you hate me. but kenny, i can’t-” he breathed out harshly, eyes dancing frantically over your face as he shook his head. “i need you.”

confused, bewildered, you stared at him puzzled. kenadee, your character, had been needing to hear that from harley, joseph’s character, for the longest. you see, harley was brute. didn’t care much for feelings but sure as hell cared for feeling on something, the feeling of being in something. so for your character to hear this from him, finally, was a big step.

“i need you.”

without a second wasted, you kissed him back. tongues grazing your lips and eventually, prodding at eachother as you slipped off the robe and let it drop to a pool on the floor.

you made sure to catch the little ‘oh my god’ he let out under his breath when he caught sight of your body. and you could’ve sworn that was in his natural accent. not his american one he catered to for the show.

it was brushed off because he was now leading you to the bed, kicking his boots off as he lied you down. things got rougher at that point, his hand wrapped around your neck as he tongued your mouth, your hands gripping and tearing at his shirt wanting it to come off.

all the while his clothed bulge rutted against you. now you didn’t know if he was told to do this or not, but he wasn’t being told to stop. and you weren’t complaining. you found yourself getting wetter and wetter.

it only intensified as he offed his shirt; his naked torso exposed to you. the thumping you felt inbetween your legs quickened at the sight of his body, the chain still clung to his chest just attracted you even more to him for some reason.

he kissed you once. hard. then his lips attached themselves to your neck, sucking on your flesh intensely. you hummed at the elating feeling while his hand intertwined with yours — a mixture of endearment and also wanting to pin you down.

he came back up to kiss you on the lips once more, but not before swiping his thumb down your bottom lip. his way of teasing you. gazing into eachother’s eyes was a dangerous thing you were doing to yourself. as you knew it was making you feel and think in a manner that would most likely result in you hurting yourself.

not that it didn’t feel insanely good.

“and cut! guys that was beautiful. the chemistry. just- ugh! i love y’all. okay we’re gonna take five. guys, again, phenomenal job.”

even though the director had yelled out cut, you didn’t want to move. seemingly, neither did he. since his hands was still holding yours and holding your face, thumb sat slightly under your lip.

“you okay?” you inquired, still panting from the intoxicating scene the two of you had just filmed. his wholesome smile he always gave you had differentiated, shifted. it was lopsided, the crinkles from it only showing on one side of his face.

he was smirking.

“are you?”

#joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie my beloved #eddie munson x black!reader #joseph quinn x black!reader #joseph quinn stranger things #eddie munson #bwwmromance #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x y/n #love a black woman from infinity to infinityyyy

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romanarose · 1 year

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Leather and Lace chapter 6:

Santiago "Pope" Garcia X Fem!OC

Fic Masterlist

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Chapter summary: Benny and Laci spend the day together to get a surprise for Santi. Santi is jealous. Laci and Santi spend a special moment together.

A/N: I hope y'all know I stayed up waaaaaaaayyy past my bedtime writing this for you. Stay tuned, cuz the next chapter is angsty and then we can start getting into smut. Just a lil smut. As a treat.

Anyway I need y'all to read My Brother's Keeper by @frankiesbadlanding bc it might be the best goddamn piece of frankie fanfiction I've ever read in my LIFE and I'm OBSESSED!!

Also please read Sunshine State By @brewsterispunkk bc its gotta be the goddamn cutest benny miller fic i've ever read its got my fucking heart bro <3

WARNINGS!!!: This whole fic has mentions of rape and abuse, but this chapter has more of that in the beginning, negative self-talk, brief references to smut, and santi kiiinnnnnnddaaaaa being a bit of an ass, showing some bad behaviors.

This chapter will alternate POV's, mostly between Laci and Benny bc I wanted to give Laci a voice and I wanted Benny's outside perspective, but it will have some Santi closer to the end for narrative reasons.

Okay I'm done talking.

****************

They played friends with the boys, roommates at home, lovers at night.

With the guys, they pretended to just be friends. No one bought it for a second, but they pretended. During the day, they played roommates, taking turns cooking for each other and cleaning, going to appointments. At night? At night, they kissed. Laci often wondered why it remained just kissing. It was odd, she had never met a man who didn’t jump at the oppretunity to fuck her, not one that was interested in her anyway. If they weren’t interested, a different story. If they were? Well, they expected sex. Sometimes, whether she wanted it or not.

Her time before Pope found her wasn’t the first time she had been raped, and she always figured it wouldn’t be her last. She had practically resigned herself to that fact.

But Santi didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know any of that. Santiago Garcia deserved a version of her without all of that. It was one thing that he had to deal with her non-verbal episodes. Oh Santi, sweet, sweet, Santiago… So patient, so kind, so gentle. When she first saw him that day in the basement, him and Frankie, she had been scared shitless, avoiding eye contact with them, and Benny when he came down. Laci had assumed they were just the next round of men to either hurt her or take her to more men who would. Or both. Santi had insisted he was there to help her, but she couldn’t trust his word, she knew nothing about him. But when she had stood up, when he had caught her and she got a good look in his beautiful brown eyes… She couldn’t help but trust him, just a little.

It was Ben she had first spoken to. She didn’t know why, particularly, but he put her at ease. That was his nature. From the beginning he had treated her with a sense of normalcy he wasn’t used to. He was careful, for sure, but she supposed he didn’t have the intensity Santiago did. Laci felt more at ease with him. Even as she grew to trust Santi, her nervousness had a different source. The way she felt about him was insurmountable, incapable of description. And yet, she couldn’t get a read on him… Why, when they kissed, would he keep his hands so innocently on her back or her hair? Why, when she tentatively slipped tongue in his mouth, did he not open up, why did he not return the action? He had never wanted her to feel obligated to do anything, she knew that. He easily could’ve taken advantage of her situation from the very beginning, but the whole first few days he hadn’t so much stared at her breasts. It was clear he was attracted to her. Sometimes, while they kissed, he’d adjust their placement when she felt him hardening with her on top of him. Had wanted her, that much was obvious. So why had they only kissed? She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted him. Well, she wanted him, that was for sure. He was beautiful and he was kind… but the though of sex made her chest tense, the thought of everything done to her made her sick. Santi didn’t deserve that version of her. He deserved someone that would fuck him.

No matter Santi’s patience, no matter how much he insisted he just wanted to help, a part of her brain told her no, no men don’t do that, people don’t do that, people don’t just help. He wanted something, he had to want her and it was just his decency that he was taking his time. Santi would get tired of this, he’d get tired of playing house with no sex, and he’d either kick her out or force her. Laci couldn’t see Santi being like that, but she’d been wrong before. That’s how she got here.

And that’s why things were easier with Benny. Benny and her had no sexual tension, no questions about what the future was, what they were. They were friends. When her and Santi had made back to the motel, Benny had clearly been crying when he saw Santiago safe, and had been shot. And yet, once he saw her, all that was out of his mind, he was back to himself, getting her clothes and setting her up with a shower that she desperately needed. And right now, she could sit on the couch watching Always Sunny in Philadelphia with him while Santi worked on the kitchen sink that had decided not to drain anymore.

“I swear, I usually win!” Benny was defending the reminisce of a black eye he had from the last bar fight he had gotten in.

“I’m sure you do, Ben” Laci assured him, lying.

Ben winced “I’m just better at fighting when… I’m sober, that’s all”

“And yet…” she started.

“And yet what, Laci?” Benny gestured for her to continue. Santi crawled out from under the kitchen sink “And yet, most of your fights are when you’re drunk, not in the ring.”

Laci grinned at Santi, looking particularly attractive in a white tank top covered in dirt and the gross mess of kitchen plumbing, then turned to a mock offended Ben.

“Wow, is that what you were going to say?”

Laci sheepishly tried to hide a smile and shrugged, giving away that yes, this was exactly what she was thinking.

“Wooooooooooooooooow” Benny drawled out. “Guess you’ll just have to come the fight tomorrow and see me in action!”

Laci’s face lit up. She hopped up on the couch, leaning over the back. “Can I?” She called excited to the man who had re-tangled himself in the sink pipes.

Ben scoffed. “You don’t have to ask his permission.”

She turned to him briefly. “If he’s driving me, I probably should.”

“I’ll drive you!”

Laci gave him a look, then turned back to Santi, taking a moment to admire the bit of skin that showed from his shirt riding up. “Hey Santi?” She called for him, hesitantly. She never wanted to put him out, but he hadn’t gone to a fight since she came into his life, maybe he’d like to go.

Santi crawled out from under the cabinet. That was the thing about Santiago, she always had his full attention. “Yes?” He sounded eager. That was another thing about Santi, he was always so ready to do whatever she asked. Another reason he deserved more than her, she asked for so much.

“Benny asked if we could go to his fight tomorrow?”

Brow furrowed, Santi whipped sweat from his forehead as he sat up. “You wanna go to that? Why?”

She shrugged. “I wanna see Benny get beat up.”

“Hey!”

Santi seemed to almost glare as he glanced at Ben, then softening when he turned to Laci. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, a lot of not good people there.” Back to Ben. “What are you trying to bring her to a place like that for?”

Ben raised his hands defensively “She’s my friend! I want you both there, you haven't been in ages” Since I came around, keeping you from your life Laci thought.

Santi shook his head.

“Fine. Ben said definitely. “I’ll take her then.”

Santiago stood up, giving him the irritated look she only saw him use on the guys, never her. He put a hand on his hip. “And you’re going to keep an eye on her while you fight?” The question was rhetorical.

“Keep an eye- Pope, I think she’ll be fine.”

“And that is why you’re not taking her, thinking you can leave a girl alone with that group of people!”

“Will and Frankie will be there, and you could be too if you weren’t being such an old man.”

Sant shook his head. “She’s not going.”

“It’s her choice, not yours.”

Laci suddenly felt their eyes on her, waiting for an answer. She didn’t want to disappoint Benny, she wanted to see him fight, she wanted to do something different. But Santi was everything to her, her whole world. She looked at Santi, suddenly closing up. Great. Her words were lost on her again. Laci shook her head at him, making a little wave and squinted face. ‘Nah, nevermind’ She knew Santi would understand what she was saying.

Santi looked at Ben “See? She doesn’t really want to go”

Ben groaned loudly, looking at Laci. She just shrugged.

“Fine. Whatever. Come on, she should get going.” Ben stood up motioning to Laci, who followed him to put her shoes on. Converse. Actual converse, not the knock off’s Laci tried to get. Actual converse Santi had insisted on when he saw her eyeing them.

Santi suddenly looked nervous, quickly washing his hands. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive? I can put this off until evening?” He nodded at the plumbing he was not doing well on, then looked at Laci, almost pleading. Laci and Ben were going to the mall by themselves for a particular reason , a reason that banked on Santi not being there. He kept trying to invite himself along. This was the first time Laci had gone anywhere without Santi. At most, she occasionally watched Rosie alone, but that was always under the watchful eye of Frankies in-home security cameras.

Laci tapped Benny, signaling him to take over.

“We’re good Santi, we don’t want to be here when you explode sewage all over the house.”

“I’m not gonna-”

“She’ll be fine, Santi” Ben insisted.

Santi sighed. “Fine, have fun on whatever mysterious mission you refuse to tell me about.” He grumbled more to himself than anything.

Laci gave a little wave and a smile, and Santi waved back before they headed out the door.

When they got to the mall, Benny noticed how much Laci tensed up. Maybe the reason she was always attached at Pope’s hip wasn’t entirely his possessive nature. He reached a hand out, open palmed. Laci looked at him questioningly, but when he smiled, she took his hand.

That was the thing about Benny. It was so much easier. Nothing was loaded, nothing had to be read into.

It’s just them.

Ben guided her to the antique store. Last week, Laci had texted Benny asking if he could help her get something to surprise Santi. It took some convincing for Santi to let them go alone. Benny and her couldn’t come up with a good reason as to why Santi couldn’t come; Laci didn’t really want to lie anyway. So they told him it was a secret. Laci wandered through the busy store, hand tightly gasped to Benny’s as she searched. It had to be perfect. It had to be perfect because he was perfect. He did everything for her without complaint. It had to be perfect.

“There it is”

After Laci made the purchase, Benny bought them Panda Express at the food court.

“Fuck, I gotta piss” Benny complained as finished Laci’s left overs and threw away their trash. Laci scampered after him as he headed to the bathroom, grabbing his arm before he went in. “I don’t think you wanna come in here, honey” he laughed, but Lace looked at him wide-eyed, gripping his arm. “Oh come on Lace, you’ll be okay for one minute, I swear”

She continued silently pleading with him, eyes glancing to the busy mall and back to him. ‘Don’t leave me’ her eyes begged.

Benny softened. “Look, I know Santi treats you like a child, but I promise you are not as delicate as he seems to think. If you really, truely, do not want to be out here alone, I won’t go. But…” He looked at her pale blue eyes, nervous, but thinking. “But I think you can do it, and I think it’ll be a big step towards things being normal.”

Benny watched her think for a moment, smiling softly at her so she knew it was up to her. He had to piss so fucking badly, but if she really couldn’t be alone, he’d wait. Slowly, he felt her let go of him, step back, and nod.

Laci waited outside. Eyes watching all the feet that passed by. Back to normal… how was she supposed to go back to normal after everything that had happened? How was she supposed to go about her normal life again? Would that mean leaving Santi? Did getting better mean he’d leave her? Would she even see Will, Ben, and Frankie again? Rosie? Or was she just their charity case?

Ben emerged from the bathroom, immediately being tackled by Laci despite her being a foot shorter than him.

“Oh god, are you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her, assuring her he was there, she was okay. “Everything alright?”

She peeped her head up from his chest, grinning. “I did it!” She half laughed.

“You sure did!” Benny lifted her up, swinging her around as she laughed. “Great job!”

“Benny?” Laci asked as he set her down.

“Yeah?”

“Did you wash your hands?”

As they walked out to the car, Ben didn’t want today to end, not when Laci had been making such big steps. When Ben had mentioned to Will he was taking her to the mall without Santi, Will had started in on him about how now is not the time for this and Laci isn’t someone he should be getting involved with like that, and how Ben knows Santi and her have something going on. It took some convincing for Will to realize they were just friends, and jesus, Ben doesn’t only think with his dick, he thinks with his head too. Laci needed a friend, especially with how Pope is. Ben loved Santi with his whole heart, he respected him, even had crush on him back in the day.

But Santi was intense. He was a lot. First and foremost, Santi was a protector. And right now, his focus was solely on Laci, and that focus was single minded. Laci would do anything she thought Santi wanted. Santiago Garcia was the kind of person to make you want to be your best self for him. Ben knew better than most how, when that intense gaze was focused on you, you were practically powerless. You wanted his approval, you wanted to make him smile, you wanted him to love you, whichever version you could put forth.

“We can go anywhere, do whatever you want, or just go home and see if Santi flooded the house yet.”

Sam smiled nervously, but replied. “Could we maybe… theres this park near home with a patch of woods, maybe we could go there?”

He laughed “What, Santi not taking you to parks?”

“He does! Well…” she shuffled her feet. “We walk around on the path, he doesn’t like me going off it, climbing around… I thought maybe we could explore a bit?”

Ben wanted to lecture her, tell her that she didn’t need Santi’s permission, didn’t need his okay to do anything. But he lectured her enough for the day. He wanted her to have fun.

When Laci and Ben finally walked into the house that evening, it had started to get dark. Ben was holding a decorated paper bag, both of them sopping wet and covered in scratches.

“Oh my god, Laci” Santi hung up the phone, speed walking around the count and took her into a strangling hug. “Jesus, where have you been? Why are you soaked?”

Laci tried to speak, but words failed her, as they usually did in these moments.

Words did not fail Benjamin Miller.

“Relax, Pope, she’s fine.” He insisted.

Santi’s soft, worried face turned to Ben, hardening. Ben knew what was coming.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” He continued to hold Laci’s arms, pulling himself back to skan her. Scraps covered her arms and legs, nothing bad but Ben knew damn well this would send Santi into a fit. When Santi zero’d in on someone, he really zero’d in.

“I didn’t do anything, we went to the park and explored, and we fell in the water… and fell down a few other things.”

“What?” Sant’s confused, annoyed glance went back and forth between Laci and Ben. “Why?”

Benny leaned in for emphasis. “Because she wanted to, Santi. And you don’t let her”

With that, Santi let go of Lace, walking over to Ben. “I don’t let her? I have been worried about her the last 3 goddamn hours, you were going to the mall and back, you couldn’t tell me you were going somewhere? I was just on the phone with your goddamn brother asking if he heard from you because I didn’t know where you two were!”

“Jesus Christ, Pope! You’re acting like she’s your daughter who broke curfew, she is a 29 year old woman!” Ben gestured towards Laci, glancing at her, checking in. She was standing there nervously, mouth closed tight. Benny hoped she’d speak up, call Santi out, but he also knew it took years before Ben stood up to him.

“Excuse me?” Despite the hight difference, Santi sized up to Ben.

“Fuck, Santiago, you treat her like one of Fatimas’s porcelain dolls, I know you have a bunch of unprocessed feelings about-”

“Don’t talk about her.” Santiago’s voice was deadly calm. Ben knew better.

He raised his hands defensively “You’re right, you’re right. I’m just saying, she’s not as fragile as you think she is” Ben continued to glance at Laci whenever he mentioned her, trying to coax her into the conversation. Santi was single mindedly on Ben.

“Why does everyone say that? I don’t think she’s fragile, I’m just trying to help her.”

“You’re not helping her if you’re keeping her dependent on you.”

Santi blinked back at that “I’m not-”

“She about near had a panic attack when I went to the bathroom, man.”

Santi’s eyes widened. “You left her alone at the mall?”

Ben groaned “Santi, it’s fine, I was gone for one minute…. And then another minute when I went back to wash my hands.” Ben’s eyes met Laci’s, catching a small smile on her face.

Santi scrubbed his face. “Jesus Ben, that’s how people get sex trafficked!”

“That’s not-”

“I think I know how people get sex trafficked, Santiago.” Laci’s voice broke through the boys argument, louder and more irritated than either man had heard her.

Santi turned around, mouth slightly agape. He moved to talk, but Laci put a hand up. She was shaking, but fought to keep her words.

“Can you” She made sure to point at Santi, not Ben. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here?”

She watched a mix of emotions flit through her face. “I’m sorry, Laci.”

Ben watched her, hoping she’d say more.

“It’s okay, Santi. I’m sorry we didn’t text you, when I fell in the creek, Ben tried to help and fell in, both our phones got waterlogged.” She suddenly looked really guilty. “I’m sorry, Ben says it’ll be okay but if it’s broke I’ll pay you back-”

“I’ll pay for it if it’s broken, Pope.” Ben interjected.

Santi shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m sorry for overreacting” Santi looked over to Benny as well, as good an apology as Ben ever got.

“Alright, I think ima head out.” Ben looked at Laci to make sure she was okay, then started to leave. “Oh, almost left with this.” He handed the bag to Laci, then walked out with a wave.

When the door closed, Santi and Laci’s eyes met, Laci with crossed arms.

Santi’s eyes glanced at the bag. “That what you’re mysterious trip about?”

Laci softened. “Feels kinda silly to give it to you now, after Benny’s doll comment.”

Laci saw Santi look at her with… wonder? He seemed mesmerized. “You got me something? H-how?”

She smiled, as the tension in her leaving. “Here” she handed the bag to him.

Carefully, Santiago took the bag, hands shaking. When was the last time someone bought him a gift? He pulled out a porcelain dolls, dressed up in beautiful Victorian dress, complete with a hat and umbrella. “Lace… how did… how did you get this?”

Laci was rocking on her feet, wringing her hands, taking in his reaction. “Frankie always paid me when I baby sat, I told him not to but he insisted, so I saved up and got you this, to go with the others!”

Santi, for once, was speechless. He stared at the doll, feeling his eyes watering.

Laci watched him, his face almost blank. She couldn’t read it, she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. For all his ability to read her, she could not read him. Did she cross a boundary? Should she have been saving the money to move out and stop bothering Santiago? Was it wrong to buy him something to put with his dead sisters items?

“Sorry, I probably should’ve asked about it, is this wrong-” anything else Laci was about to ramble on was cut off but Santiago settling the doll on the counter and wrapping her up in a hug. It wasn’t like the hug when she came through the door, it wasn’t possessive. She didn’t know what it was, but she never wanted him to stop.

Santiago woke up his house alarm system going off, every nerve in his body suddenly alight. Laci. Laci. Protect Laci. Grabbing the gun in his bedside drawer, Santi burst through the door, first scanning the front door. Nothing. He turned to his left to see the sliding glass door leading to the patio, and a figure in the door. “HANDS UP” He pointed the gun at the person in the door.

She screamed.

Laci screamed.

Keeping the gun out until he was sure they were safe. “Laci? What’s going on?”

But Laci was standing there, hands up, eyes clenched shut.

Laci, despite the loud alarm, heard Santi run over to her. She flinched when he touched her. What was he saying? Was he talking to her? Logically, he knew he wouldn’t hurt her, he’d never hurt her, but her body didn’t know that. She was frozen. As Santi checked the surrounding area, making sure there was no impending danger, Laci tried to focus on her breathing. It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. You’re okay, it’s just Santi, Santi wouldn’t hurt you, you’re safe with him, safe, safe, safe…

The alarms turned off, and Laci felt his strong arms wrap around her shaking body. She clung to him, clung to him with everything in her. Was he talking to her? She didn’t bother listening until she calmed down. Finally, she heard him.

“Lace? What’s going on? You alright, Muñecita?” He stroked her hair gently, an extra bit of comfort, calming her.

She nodded.

He sighed, ever so slightly, knowing this meant he wasn’t going to be able to get a word out of her.

“Did you need something outside?”

She shook her head.

“Did you just want to go outside?”

She nodded. She needed air. The fight, even though it didn’t concern her as much as it did Benny, as well as the big steps of leaving Santi and being left alone had left her shaken. When Santi didn’t come out to watch tv with her, the room had become stifling and lonely, so big and so small at the same time. She was happier outside, in nature. That’s why she explored with Ben, much to Santi’s chagrin.

“Here, honey, let’s step outside then, get some air?”

She nodded against his chest where he held her close. He knew her so well.

Laci slowly opened her eyes to be greeted with a softly smiling Santiago, his beautiful face so close to her like so many times before. His eyes alone comforted her.

“Hey pretty girl” He spoke gently, letting go briefly to grab a throw blanket he wrapped around her, taking her outside to the bare deck. “Sorry, I promise I’ll order some furniture tomorrow. You can pick it out, whatever you want” That’s another thing about him. It was his house, his home she was intruding on, and yet he apologized to her for not having patio furniture. “Can we sit on the floor?”

Laci nodded. Santi helped her sit, laying her down so her head laid on his lap. She felt his hands in her hair, fingers gently stroking her cheek. For a man who had seen and done so much, he had never been anything but gentle with her. For most of her teen and adult life, Laci had chosen men who were loud, exciting, boisterous, much like her brother. They weren’t always bad, loud men weren’t always the ones to hurt her. Her brother was as extraverted as they came and he was everything to her. Benny was her best friend. But Santi? Santi had a calming quality, something she needed. Something she cherished. Something she never wanted to be without. She’d do whatever it took to keep him.

Santiago watched her, watched her carefully. He had scared her really bad, he knew that. He knew he was a dick today. Benny had been getting him more and more riled up lately, and although Santi would like to blame it on Ben just being more annoying, he knew that was just rationalizing it. He was jealous. Plain old jealous. Jealous of the time Laci and Benny spent together, jealous at how relaxed Laci seemed to be around him, jealous over how much Laci talked to him. She seemed to freeze up less with him around. Did she like him? He was almost certain Benny wanted her, well, who wouldn’t. Look at her. Ben was a good guy. Santi knew Ben wouldn’t just want to have sex with her; he could get that anywhere. If Laci wanted to be with him… so be it.

But damn if Santiago didn’t want her to stay. Stay with him forever, really. Right now, under the moon, she was damn near ethereal. He thought of their song, oh how fitting it had become.

You in the moonlight, with your sleepy eyes

Could you ever love a man like me?

Could she ever love a man like him? He was broken, he was a disaster, he was rough around the edges in a way Benny was not. He’d change. He’d do better, he’d be better, whatever she needed him to be.

Laci looked up at him. She needed something. He brushed a wisp of hair from her face. “What is it Muñecita?”

Laci held one hand out, palm out, and waved another hand over it. Sign language for music.

“You wanna listen to something? Yeah, let me grab my phone-” He standed to get up, but felt Laci’s grip on his thigh as she shook her head.

Stay

“What… what you want? I’m sorry, I don’t have my phone on me…”

Laci fully rolled over, back of her head on Pope’s thick thigh. She reached a hand up and tapped his lips.

Sing

Santo let out a nervous puff of hair. “You want me to sing? I’m not really… I’m not a good singer…”

But she looked at him pleadingly, begging him… how could he say no.

“Okay, okay Lace, but I warned you.” Santi winked, kissing her nose. ‘What do you want to hear? Leather and Lace?”

She shook her head.

“Uhhh, Songbird?” Her favorite Fleetwood Mac song.

Another no, she frowned.

“A Bob Dylan song?”

Another no, she was growing frustrated, her legs fidgeting. She was trying so hard to talk, she wanted so badly to just tell him…

“Hey, hey Lace it’s okay, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out… is there a clue you can give me?”

Laci though for a moment. Then, she reached for his wrist, pointing at his watched.

“Oh. Tanto?”

Laci nodded, smiling. It was a song that was obviously so important to him, but she hadn’t heard it yet.

“I can sing that… I only know the Spanish, is that okay?”

She nodded. Santi stroked her face, playing with her hair.

Tú dices que: soy imposible de descifrar

Callada, reservada y temperamental

Que te encantaría que me expresa un poco más

Y hablar de sentimientos a mí no se me da

Pero lo voy a intentar

Santiago combed back her hair away from her face, scanning over her features. His eyes fell over the scar on her forehead. He thought of when he first found her, her forehead bleeding and dried blood on her face. It always upset him to think of everything she endured, and he had to bite back the anger that sss inside him.

Te amo tanto

Tanto que me siento tonta

Tonta que me duela tanto cuando tú no estás

Te amo tanto

Y para que imagines cuanto

Cuenta todas las estrellas y súmale una más

He was everything to her, her whole word. She knew that even when she no longer needed him for a place to stay and for the things he provided, she’d need him for him. Santiago Garcia was her center of gravity, the only thing keeping her grounded and sane. She wanted this forever. The days with Benny, Will, Frankie and him. The nights alone in his arms.

Soy reservado no lo tomes personal

Tanta cursilería, me suele incomodar

Si me quedó sin palabras no es intencional, ja

¿Cómo expresar algo que yo no sé explicar?

Pero lo voy a intentar

His eyes were drawn back to hers, finding them glued to him. He was damn near transfixed. Pope could not imagine a more perfect moment, he wanted nothing more than for this night to last forever, just them. He’s doing her every song he knew. Laci and her sleepy eyes, only open to look at him. Santiago had neer been in love before, but he was starting to think this was it. She was everything he could ever want, and she was laying with him, of all people

Te amo tanto

Tanto que me siento tonto

Tonto que me duela tanto cuando tú no estás

Te amo tanto

Y para que imagines cuanto

Cuenta todas las estrellas

Y súmale una más, ja, y súmale una más

Laci was engrossed in his eyes. Beautiful and brown, she felt she could be content looking at them for the rest of her life, nothing else. Still, she scanned over his features on his beautiful face. Strong jaw, large nose, thick curly hair with a hint of gray from all the stress he had seen. His face with lines that carried every horrific thing he had witnessed. Perfect. He was perfect. And he was singing to her, his beautiful voice in his native tongue. Perfect.

Te amo tanto

Tanto que no sé explicarlo

Tanto que hasta yo me espanto

Solo de pensar

Santiago wasn’t a religious man, but tonight, he looked up at the sky, all the stars sparkling at him. He thanked God for bringing him to her, thanked God that it was in time, thanked him that she was alive. He thanked Him that the scar is the worst of her physical scars, and that she was coming along so well, adjusting as well as one could expect. He thanked God for her.

Te amo tanto

Tanto que me siento tonto

Tonto que me duela tanto cuando tú no estás

Te amo tanto

Y para que imagines cuanto

Cuenta todas las estrellas

Y súmale una más, ja, y súmale una más

Laci wanted to kiss him, she wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to feel him move inside her. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, like this, with him, with him… Only Santiago. She wanted to tell him she loved him. Laci wanted to scream at the top her lungs that she loved him and god, did he love her? She opened her mouth.

Santi looked at her patiently. “Yes, Muncecita.”

She tried. She tried to get it out. I love you! I love you! I love you! But nothing happened. Words couldn’t find their way to her lips. Her eyes were fighting to stay open.

Santiago kissed her forehead, prompting her eyes closed, and they didn’t open.

“It’s okay Lace, go to sleep. I’ll be right here.”

When Santiago felt her breathing slow and her snoring start, he carefully scooped her up, carrying her inside the house and to her bed, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist and arms around his neck. Cradling her head, he laid her down on the pillow. With one more kiss on her cheek, he whispered.

“Goodnight, Lacina, I love you”

*******************

THANKS FOR READING!! reblogs help a lot, comments mean the world!!!

Spotify playlist: if anyone has songs you think fit, comment it send an ask!

I would take the handful of you who are passionate about this story that a hundred likes. The fact y'all get so excited and leave such nice comments means the world to me

If you'd like to join the tag list, let me know!!!!

@littlenosoul @bensolosbluesaber @milkymoon2483 @gogh-with-the-flow @itspdameronthings @trinkets01 @p0edameronswife @welcometostayingawake @spxctorsslxt @username21mk

#santiago pope garcia #benny miller #benjamin benny miller #santiago garcia x reader #santi garcia fanction #santiago garcia #oscar isaac #triple frontier #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier fanfiction

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curuxavermella · 1 year

Text

Alright demon attendant pals buckle the fuck up: lesson 11 just dropped and I was losing my mind the entire goddamn time because of s o l o m o n.

Previousy on me, losing my shit over this game: (lessons 1 to 10)

ALRIGHT LET'S GO

I can't believe Belphie came straight for our throat AGAIN (Diavolo seemed to want to stop him THANK GOD) and Lucifer was reeeally pissed off, but understandably so if we get in his shoes. Solomon rescues our ass from this bunch of demons and whisks us away. I wished we could've talked it out, but you know, bit of extra angst doesn't hurt. Especially if we get to see Thirteen BECAUSE YES SOLOMON TAKES US TO THE REAPER'S CAVE AND I WAS DYING TO SEE HER AGAIN. AND WE DO. MY GIRL.

I also thought they'd give her Reaper clothes since, well RAD soesn't exist (yet) but. Lol. My dreams were dashed. They did address the issue of why she was wearing it to excuse the lack of a new design, which made me lose my shit laughing. Okay fine, I'll drop it for now, Solmare, BUT MY GIRL DESERVES MORE CLOTHES. I WILL BE WAITING.

Also the casual drop that she has a sister named Candy. Now I wanna meet her.

Anyways I digress, I love Solomon and I said I trusted him with my life. Until now, because this fucker dropped this shit on me and I legit had to put my phone down for a couple of seconds.

Son of a bitch. You kitchen-destroyer menace. You death-chef bastard. You can't ask THIS of me. Out of ANYTHING you could've asked mc, this fucker pulled the worst one. I'm so mad because I refuse to lose trust in Solomon in Nightbringer despite this story bombs being dropped on me, but this combined with something else later in ch11 makes me want to be wary. But I also don't want to, because despite all story hints, I don't believe for a second they'd hurt mc, so I'm grabbing every bull thrown at me by the HORNS and every single one of you WILL BE SAFE by the end of this story OR SO HELP ME.

Speaking of horns. The demon bros follow us, obviously, except for Beel (who we knocked out in lesson 10), Belphie (who stayed behind with Beel obvs and also he wouldn't come to help us because he's hurt and angry and the Lilith wound is still fresh I get it Belphie I DO—but DAMN it STINGS) and Satan who already had stayed back at the House and my boy is missing this whole party. I legit yelled when I heard Mammon's scream in the Reaper's Cave.

I loved how Asmo, Levi and Mammon came to warn us that Lucifer was coming, because they're worried and I love them so much I COULD KISS THEM. I kinda wish the Mammon turned into Little. D gag didn't last for the rest of the lesson though. Asmo himself ways it makes this thing less serious. Oh well. I hope he gets turned back soon bc shit went down later and we need EXTRA HANDS ON DECK.

and finally I got the option that I wanted: that we wanted to talk to him. Or we can defer to Solomon. If my eyes keep narrowing at him I might as well close them and fall asleep. Anyways hell no, Sol dear, sorry.

So when he appears down we go. Everyone's worried sick. Solomon reminds us about siding with humanity if things go down bad and while I adore my fav sorcerer, I refuse to fight the demon brothers, so my choice was made in case they made me pick a side (and I was scared they'd make me choose lol). Anyways Solomon and Lucifer looked about ready to rip each other apart, but Lucifer held him in place and I was. Not expecting that. I thought Solomon would be able to fend him off at least a little bit, but I was wrong.

Obviously his target is us. Not Solomon. Oh boy.

I love this man so much. He's obviously wary of us because we have power over them and he sees it as a threat to his family, so I can't hold his anger against him even as he froze Solomon on the spot (not literally but, well, I bet he would have) and kinda. Tried to attack us. Oops. However, he doesn't know us, and he's doing what he thinks it's best to protect his family. I kinda get his point even if I don't agree with it, and it kinds reminds me of the Belphie situation in the og one: he's doing what he thinks is best, but he Fucks Up because we've been nothing but helpful and well, he's probably seen we've been helping his brothers. They defend you, too, but Lucifer is Not Having it for the moment.

Here has a choice that I love, if you pardon my Luci brainrot for a bit:

If we choose that one it doesn't clarify what we mean, but we gain points with him, because we know. He's hurt. Plus we have the ring, and again there's the fact that we have power over them, that they gave us, yeah, but they don't know about it. He's probably freaked out, at least a little bit.

Anyways I love Thirteen for busting our asses free and throwing us a Grimoire, which can be used to control demons, apparently, and if it was mentioned in the og I forgot about it. Oops. Well, I love that our only option is to give Luci the grimoire as a gesture of good faith because they're our demon family and just like Luci, we're doing our damn hardest to protect all of them.

If you say "I love all of you", you get points with Mammon, Asmo and Levi. If you choose that you want to protect them, you gain points with Luci instead. I need a second-

And this is when shit goes down for me because SOLOMON LOOKED SO DISAPPOINTED WHEN YOU HAND OUT THE GRIMOIRE????? And Thirteen did say he wanted it... because the Grimoire allows control over the demons. Sol is not making it easy for me here in this damn game.

(edit: also apparently it's. it's the goddamn Grimoire that's over Lilith's tomb in the og game, the one Luke finds when they go down to the Catacombs. Holy shit.)

And with the previous "siding with humanity" dialogue it's just. Alarm bells all over, non-stop. I don't know if we get different choices if we lean on Solomon too much, or if MC is following their own path in this mess so it doesn't matter what we choose before. Do we have a choice? Or MC has their own path that they will follow, which is protecting their family? Mind you, my mc's family is all of them: Demons and Purgatory Hall, so before choosing a side they'd stop this "war" from happening. I think this is what mc will choose, if it comes down to it. Perhaps this is what Nightbringer wants? But no demons/angels/humans war happened in the future where we come from, so it wouldn't make sense unless it will happen after our future time, where we can't stop it for some reason, and the only way is to send us to the past so we fix this mess before it happens.

Can you imagine? Barbatos sent us to the past because we can save everyone. I'd say Solomon followed without Barbatos knowing, but... I'm not so sure. My trust compass is going nuts, and I don't want to. I want to trust Solomon. I hope after the Grimoire thing he lets it go, because he has to know mc better than that: he has to know mc would choose their family over everything else in a heartbeat, and if there's a choice to stop this war-mess from happening, they will do it, even at their own peril. Maybe Solomon is trying to stop us from fucking dying because we'll end up choosing that option, who knows? It's an scenario that could fit. If the demon family was the cause of mc's death I think Solomon would burn down the House of Lamentation without a second thought to spare if it mean saving mc. Which is a problem.

There is an extra tidbit before the demons show up in the Reaper's Cave, where Thirteen tells us a bit more of Solomon lore, with a sprinkle of Barbatos.

I'd think Barb and Sol were working together, honestly. Even if Barbatos hates his guts now for some reason lol. If Solomon had done something grave, I think Barnatos would be way less lenient with him. As far as I can tell, he's just annoyed at the moment, so... no world-threatening betrayals, hopefully?

Back to the present with Luci and the present brothers. We give them the Grimoire, and then we fuck up.

Solomon tried to make us promise to aid humanity before, but both Thirteen and MC stopped in their tracks. Thirteen said "it's against the rules". If it's in the og, I forgot about it o(-< but by their reaction, it doesn't sound good. While doing this draft, I saw someone (edit: it was "still a morosexual help", bless them I love their om comments because I tend to ramble and miss points and reading their stuff help me keep in track of little things I missed!) say it might be because it's a bind. So, well, shit.

And we get a cliffhanger with that line as the end, because screw us, that's why. Who's responsible for these two cliffhangers in a goddamn row. I just want to fucking TALK. I started this lesson at 2:30am when I saw the notification and it's almost 6am now and the energy I gained doing this has died down.

The writing sure feels like it's gone up a notch. I'm living for it, honestly. Can't wait for Lesson 12 and see how we screwed up. If it's a bind, well, we'll roll with it lol.

aaand TO LESSON 12 WE GO

#Anne plays obey me! nightbringer #long post #saving this just like the other post for posterity so i can look back to it!!#nightbringer spoilers #obey me!#obey me! nightbringer

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tartrazeen · 6 months

Text

Things I appreciate in the FNaF movie as I go, but under the cut so I don't spoil things for people:

(update: watched the whole thing, excellent movie for fans, pretty fun movie for those who are new to the franchise, will be best experienced back-to-back once all the movies are out, may finally be the thing that causes MatPat's head to pop)

1. The cold open's Chekhov's Loose Screw

2. The very charming 16-bit snatch-and-grabs that Golden Bonny super casually pulled off

3. The Dream Theory book

4. The absolute mockery of the canonicity of any theory and how it "depends on what you believe" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Loved that

5. Mike's PTSD-fuelled fountain tackle

6. The very slight room for hope I have that Matthew Lillard is somehow Phone Guy but as an employment centre guy

7. The fact that they are not gonna say Mike's last name lmaooooooo

8. The obvious Evil Inspiration mood switch from Matthew Lillard as soon as he gets to Mike's last name

9. The fact that they're only barely pretending that Abby isn't actually seeing real ghosts

10. The slight possibility that Garrett is gonna be the Puppet rather than Golden Freddy

11. The suspicious hint that pictures are the most canon thing out of all the evidence we have in the series so far 👀

12. The fact that none of the letters in the sign are burnt out

13. The fact that oh my god YES Matthew Lillard is covering Phone Guy's role, but is obviously also gonna be Purple Guy, CONFIRMING ONE OF MATPAT'S ORIGINAL THEORIES RETROACTIVELY LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

14. How little Training Lady blinks

15. The training tape that ABSOLUTELY has freeze frame lore bits in it

16. baby bb :3

17. The static in the speaker gearing up to be the IT'S ME hallucination

18. Omg the five kids in the dream - is this actually proving me right about the brother being the Puppet?!

19. is that fucking matpat

20. IS THAT FUCKING MATPAT

21. DO YOU KNOW HOW SCARED I GODDAMN WAS THAT HE WASN'T GONNA BE REFERENCED IN THIS MOVIE LIKE SOME WEIRD SNUB BECAUSE NO ONE WAS TALKING ABOUT IT AND THIS GUY HAD A GODDAMN ROLE IN IT THE WHOLE TIME

22. DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

23. THIS MOVIE GETS A FREE PASS ON LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE THAT CAN HAPPEN NOW 💖😍💖😍💖😍💖😍💖😍💖😍💖

24. Also that interrupted the thing I like being that my dumb ass only now realized that "I wish somebody would buy me a ring" wasn't a reference I missed, just her saying she had a crush on Mike lmao

25. The black crying tears :3

26. 🤔 The interesting but satisfying choice to write IT'S ME in the mirror instead

27. The real possibility that they're going to make Vanessa a legit twist villain this time to make up for Security Breach

28. Bonny's eyes opening first 👀

29. Casual use of the word 'golden' to mean good lmao

30. Fuckin' Chica's stare at the other guy, narrowing her eyes like that LMAOOOOOOOOO

31. The kids havin' a little giggle on the phone

32. LMAOOOOOOO THE LOADING OF THE CUPCAKE INTO THE VENT

33. Foxy sticking to that Sixth Night in FNaF 1 from Help Wanted insta-trigger

34. The Bite of Whatever-Year-This-Is 😍

35. Vanessa's very creepy over-familarity

36. The description of Mike's family dinners matching the dinner scene in the Security Breach basement

37. Chekhov's Electric Guitar Riff

38. Abby putting a hit on Mike with the robots by scribbling his face out lol

39. The pharmacist 🤣💖

40. The actual legit deal the kids are trying to make, which is WAY more story than this series has ever had

41. This movie have the backbone to show actual on-screen violence - like, legit and genuine and soooo overdue violene, FINALLY

42. The screw paying off 👏🏽

43. The set up for Abby to actually become Baby 👀

44. The hope she'll call him the Purple Guy

45. Ahhahahahahhaha the disappointment that she didn't looooool oh well, I guess they're making that part of Security Breach canon somehow? Vanessa being his daughter? Okay

46. The genuine hope that Matthew Lillard is actually just Phone Guy, which would be amazing, because I really hope Springtrap doesn't reveal who's inside until the third movie

Edit: goddammit nvm

47. Sweet performance though, this is legit the voice Afton should've always had, not that weird British thing

48. How pissed Golden Freddy's ghost looks LOLOLOLOLOLLOLOL just closing that door

49. 👀 surprisingly bad-ass end credits song

50. 🤔 the odd realization that I'm not sure that was five nights

51. >:3 bb

In conclusion:

- shockingly good!

- I can't believe there was an actual story!

- Springtrap really said "hi i'm here too but i left the car running so chop chop on this scene plz"

- The "Come Find Me" spelled at the end of credits was good 👀

- Soooooooooo incredibly excited to have MatPat slam through this and have his head exploding juggling movie-verse, book-verse, and game-verse. I think we can actually break him, you guys!! :D

#fnaf movie #fnaf movie spoilers #spoilers #five nights at freddy's #talkin' tartra

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minervadashwood · 2 years

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Scars and Stitches, Ch. 2 Scars and Stitches

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x PlusSize Reader (she/her)

Era: Season 1-Season 4, Longfic that follows the series with a few alterations.

Summary: Long since recovered from childhood abuse and neglect, you, a librarian, are sheltering in place with your best friend, Morgan Jones, when you meet Rick Grimes. You go with Rick to Atlanta. After everything in the city goes to shit, you are determined to help Daryl rescue his brother, and in doing so you find a kindred spirit who makes your new life bearable. Lots of fluff, UST, and eventually RST.

Warnings: Language, violence, mentions of past abuse, Shane Walsh being awful, and mentions of drug addiction.

Reader Info: Aside from being plus size, the reader's appearance is totally left to your imagination. However, she does have a backstory to explain her unique skill set and affinity for redneck bad boys.

Themes: found family, demisexuality, self acceptance, the power of hugs, romance, love, and happy endings.

Likes, replies, and reblogs are very much appreciated.

Series Navigation: AO3 | FFN | One | Two | Three | Four | Five |

(I am also looking to commission some fanart for this story, so if you or anyone you know is interested, just DM me!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Summary: Things in Atlanta do not go as you hoped. Warnings: Typical season 1 violence and racism

Scars and stitches always fade/ and only strengthen me. – Guster

In Atlanta, Rick didn’t look to you for any help until it was time to cut up the two walkers. You managed to carve your way through the bodies, even though you joined Glenn a few times in barfing up your lunch.

Later, if anyone on that truck to the quarry camp realized you were crying, they didn’t say so. You cried for Merle and yourself, for Morgan and Duane, for your little brother and the world in general. Leaving Morgan had been a mistake that you couldn’t take back. Now, you were relying on the protection of strangers with no clue how to take care of yourself in this new world order.

After a while, the crying stopped, and you were left numb and tired, dreading the moment when Rick would have to tell Merle’s brother what happened.

Daryl saw red. The rage and pain made him blind and deaf to anything else.

Not Merle. That sorry, sad fuck who raised him. The only person in the world who gave a shit, even if it was only half the time.

And they left him on the roof to die.

His knife was out, swinging wildly at anyone who got too near. Even when someone body slammed him, causing Daryl to lose his breath, it was all clouded by the crushing emptiness of a world without his brother. Something was in his eyes, blood or sweat, he didn’t know, and then he was in a chokehold, breathless and panicked. He forced himself to hone on the physical sensations: the bruising pressure of Shane’s hold on him, the solid feel of the earth under him, the horrified shouts of the women and children.

“You best let me go!”

“Not until you calm down, Daryl.”

He hated Shane and the cop’s need to be right every second of the goddamed day.

“You’re scaring the whole camp. Just take a few deep breaths and let’s talk this out.”

Shane could fuck himself.

Despite his fury, Daryl took one deep breath then another, scowling at everyone gawking back at him. The kids hiding behind their mother’s legs, the new guy holding up pacifying hands, and you, the new girl, bloodied hand over your chest as you cried silently.

Fuck.

He willed himself to relax. Shane released him, and Deputy Do-good, Rick, reached out to help Daryl off the ground.

From the steps of the camper Lori was saying Rick would go back. And then all those fuckers who left Merle for walker bait started lining up to be in the goddamn rescue party.

Swiping at wetness on his brow and cheeks, Daryl swung his crossbow over his shoulder, and took his knife back from Rick. “We’re wastin’ daylight. Let’s go.”

Rick shook his head and said, “Now Daryl, it’s too late to go back today. We need to wait until tomorrow, give the herd time to disperse and head out there when we have plenty of daylight to see what we’re doing.”

Daryl was on the verge of losing it again, but he put his knife away and stared at the ground, nodding.

“Okay, okay. Good,” Rick said, relieved. “Go see Morgan about your forehead. She’s the other new person in the group. Then we’ll figure out just how to get to that roof tomorrow and bring Merle back.”

Daryl glanced at you, but just as quickly looked back at the ground, not wanting to meet your eyes or anyone else’s. Instead, he studied his hands, where blood was smeared from wiping at his forehead.

Later, you were sitting at a picnic table, dazed by all the violence that had happened, both in Atlanta and the camp, when a thin woman with very short hair approached you.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Carol.”

It took you a moment to gather your wits. “Morgan. Well, that’s my last name.”

“Do you go by that or something else?”

You shrugged, indifferent, but told her your first name all the same. You didn’t mind them using your last name, but things could become confusing when Morgan and Duane got there in a few days.

While you ruminated, Carol had rallied a few of the other women to the cause of getting you settled in. Jacqui found you a change of clothes, and someone else found you a spare sleeping bag and pillow. Andrea and Amy took you to a private swimming hole to wash up. Even Lori gave you an extra pair of socks.

It was unnerving having everyone fuss over you, but it wasn’t before long you realized why they were so attentive.

One child had poison ivy, another mosquito bites. There was a small girl who wouldn’t quit sucking her thumb, and her overly worried mother insisted you do something about it. An older gentleman had a hangnail and heartburn.

Initially you were overwhelmed. But these people had just welcomed you as one of their own; you tried to help them as best you could.

After about an hour, the bombardment ended, but you still had one more patient to see.

It was time to meet Merle’s brother.

Like Merle, Daryl reminded you of the people you grew up with: the ragged flannel, the scent of pine and cigarettes, the grudge against a world they were convinced had it out for them.

You approached his tent slowly, carrying a red backpack the camp had collaboratively filled with first aid supplies and a random assortment of OTC pill bottles.

“Daryl?” you called.

A moment later, he opened the tent just enough to poke his head out.

“What?”

You told him your name and held up the backpack as explanation. “Rick wanted me to look you over. That okay?”

He stared for a long moment, unnerving you.

“You got that doctor-patient confidentiality?” he asked, squinting at you.

“Not a doctor, but not a blabbermouth, either.”

After a few silent seconds, Daryl’s head disappeared, and he unzipped the door completely.

Taking that as a clear, if reticent, invitation, you stepped in. Despite his glowering, you were curious what had him so secretive.

You were short enough—or the tent was tall enough—for you to stand up straight. That wasn’t the case with Daryl, however, and he stood, stoop-shouldered, watching you.

Amidst that greasy hair and unkempt beard were the bluest eyes you’d ever seen.

Trying not to stare, you said, “Show me wear it hurts?”

Daryl scoffed at you, then replied, “’s not what Rick told you about. It’s my back. But I ain’t lettin’ you look ‘less you promise you won’t say nothin.’”

Mild panic set in. “Was it a walker?”

“No,” he said. “It was Merle.”

Relieved, you nodded in understanding. It was normal where you came from. Hell, you and your little brother’d had a few fistfights of your own. He usually won, though.

“Promise I won’t say anything,” you said. “But it might be better for you to kneel down. You’re a bit taller than me.”

He nodded, and you zipped the tent closed to give him some privacy. When you turned around, Daryl was kneeling in the center of the tent, and you noticed a locked tackle box off to the side. You tucked that knowledge away for later.

Opting not to take his shirt all the way off, Daryl just lifted it overhead while keeping the sleeves on.

You saw that his back was littered with scars that had obviously been inflicted to cause pain. However, the scars were old, long since healed over. They should have been stitched up but clearly never were. Someone had hurt him badly, and he never got proper care for the resulting injuries. Refusing to let yourself think any more about what was clearly far in the past, you focused on the more recent wound: a series of lacerations in the shape of brass knuckles. By the look of the deep cuts, this had happened in the last few days.

Remembering your promise, you suppressed all the other questions you had and simply asked, “You okay if I put in some stitches?”

Daryl took a moment before answering, “Alright.”

“It’ll hurt a bit,” you warned, but you got the sense a few needle pricks were nothing to Daryl Dixon.

You went to work on the wound. Stitches were a generous word for what you managed with needle and thread, but he said nothing about the pain as you worked.

When you finished stitching and covered the stitches with a bandage, Daryl put his shirt back on. You handed him a few ibuprofen, and he downed them dry.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Anytime,” you said and left the tent, images of clear blue eyes dancing in your mind.

Just before sunset, you and Rick walked up a small rise to try to contact Morgan. You thought for sure your friend would answer—in fact the hope of hearing his voice had kept you sane throughout the day.

But as many times as Rick tried, there was never another voice on the walkie-talkie.

“Sorry about today,” Rick said, turning off the radio and helping you up from the ground. “Didn’t expect the day to go like it did. I was hoping for something better.”

You nodded, unable to suppress the memories of all the walkers’ mouths and teeth that had gotten too close to you. “Me too, but you had no way of knowing.

Neither of us did.”

The two of you began the walk back to camp.

Rick said, “I found my family, but that doesn’t mean I won’t still look after you. I brought you out here, so I’m responsible for what happens to you.”

“Rick,” you said, nearly overwhelmed by his kindness. “You don’t owe me anything. You have your family to look after now.”

He shook his head. “You and Morgan took me in, so I do owe you. But this isn’t about who owes who what. This is about looking out for each other. This is about holding on to what’s good and right in a world that’s gone bad.”

What Rick said gave you a measure of hope. “I think I understand what you’re saying,” you told him.

“I’m sure you’ll find your own place here. If it’s not helping the other women or looking after our bumps and bruises, you’ll figure it out.”

By then you were back to camp, and with a comforting squeeze on your shoulder, Rick went to see his family.

Everyone here seemed to have their little niche, and despite the medical concerns you’d tended to that day, you were no match for a serious injury like a gunshot or any other surgical emergency. You just had to hope there was truth to what Rick said, even if you had trouble believing it about yourself.

You looked around the camp, trying to understand this new community you’d been dropped into, when your gaze settled on the small fire flickering almost fifty yards away. Where Daryl sat. Alone.

Merle.

How could you have forgotten about Merle?

___

Thanks for reading! -min

Next Chapter

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #twd #twd fanfic #plus size fanfic #mdop #minerva writes #10 chapters already on ao3 #i'll be posting them here until i get caught up #regular updates #every monday and thursday #dd/xm #plus size #plus size reader #scars and stitches

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