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stevie-petey · 3 days

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episode two: the mall rats

Steve lazily drapes an arm over you, which Dustin narrows his eyes at. “Yeah, I mean. Sure. It’s not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the ladies.” “Ugh,” you scoff in disgust at Steve’s words and shrug his arm off of you before scooting away from him. Sometimes you forget how much of an idiot he can be. That he used to wear the crown of King Steve. You turn slightly away from him and finish eating your ice cream, annoyed and slightly hurt, though you know you have no right to be. It’s not like you’re with Steve, anyways.

Summary: dreams you weird, billy is a hitchhiker, and hopper flirts with joyce in front of you (youre not sure which is scarier), somehow robin knows russian and has genius ears, you get caught in an awkward breakup showdown, and you shamefully are shocked when you discover that hawkins is anything but normal. you would think youd be a pro at this already, but at least steve is hot and really good at sneaking through windows.

Rating: general, some swearing

Warnings: swearing, allusions to violence, fem!reader, use of y/n

Words: 13.2k

Before you swing in: hello !!! new chapter, i am so sorry for the wait :/ the end of the semester has been killer and ive been super busy with my lab job (i present at a conference friday ... pray for me). heres chapter 2, she somehow ended up being 13k words but lets ignore that for my own sanity !

There are dandelions all around you.

Their puffs of white surround you as the seeds dance in the air and settle atop of your head and tickle your cheek. They’re soft, reminiscent of the snow that encases you every winter in Hawkins and the days you used to chase Jonathan around in his backyard.

You’re barefoot in a field that you can’t quite place. The grass below you skims against your ankles as the dandelion seeds float towards the tops of the green. It’s a familiar landscape, something tells you that you’ve been here before, and the thought is almost reassuring to you.

The sun is warm against you and there’s someone in the distance. You open your mouth to call out to them, they feel as familiar as the landscape before you does, but when you try to speak, the dandelion seeds begin to swarm into your mouth. The puffs of white seem to turn into daggers in your throat as they cut your tongue and slice inside you as you struggle to breathe.

You try to scream, but nothing comes out. The dandelions now draw blood as they continue their malicious attack on you. You claw at your mouth and cower in the field, trying to flee from what’s attacking you, but the dandelions only follow as you try to call after the figure you saw in the distance.

Stumbling blindly through the grass, panic stricken and longing for the person who had once been at the top of the hill, your foot catches on a root and suddenly you’re falling. This time, you do scream, and the dandelion seeds spill from your mouth as you fall into an endless abyss.

“Y/N!” Your eyes fly open and your body shoots from your bed; you almost head butt Dustin in the process. He flinches back, startled by your violent reaction, and he puts his hands up in surrender and backs away. “Geesh, I was just trying to wake you up.”

It takes you a few moments to process that you are, in fact, awake. Your heartbeat is still pounding rapidly in your throat. You can still feel the dandelion seeds on your tongue and the millions of little cuts they left behind.

Dustin stares at you with slight concern in his eyes and you clear your throat, trying to rid the memory of your dream. That’s all it was. A dream.

Clearing your throat again, you try to calm yourself down. “Why are you in my room?”

“Like I said, I was trying to wake you up.” Your brother says as if you’re an idiot.

“But why?”

“Did you bang your head or something last night?” He gives you an odd look and you glare at him. “Cerebro caught a Russian code, remember? You promised we’d see Steve today to talk about it!”

You rub your eyes, exhausted. It’s taking longer than usual for your mind to wake up and process everything. “I know, I know… What time is it?”

“Eight, now get up and go get pretty for Steve so we can discuss how to become American heroes.” Dustin crosses his arms, silently daring you to argue.

“There was so much wrong with that sentence,” you groan, but reluctantly throw your blankets off of you and start pulling out random shorts and a t-shirt to wear. “You’re lucky it’s the weekend and I don’t work today.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Dustin mocks you, tossing you a white t-shirt and removing the red one from your hands. “Steve likes you in white, now hurry up.”

Your mouth drops in shock, but your brother simply rolls his eyes at you and leaves your room so that you can get dressed.

“How does he even know that?” You whisper to yourself, now alone in your room.

–

Dustin bikes ahead of you as you make your way to Joyce’s store in Downtown Hawkins. He had complained when you told him that you needed to make a pitstop there before going to the mall.

“I haven’t seen Steve in a month!”

“And Mrs. Byers is close to losing her job at Melvald’s, so you can wait the extra five minute detour it takes to deliver her muffins to cheer her up.”

Your brother had tried to argue some more, but you simply shoved a fresh baked muffin in his mouth and began to bike away.

Now, as the two of you head towards Downtown, the early morning air fills your lungs and slowly wakes you up. It’s quiet, Hawkins isn’t quite awake yet in the early hour. Only the bees buzzing past your ear seem to be lively.

You watch Dustin up ahead and briefly marvel at how much bigger he seems to have gotten in the month he was away at camp. He looks older, more mature, no longer the baby brother your mom brought home fourteen years ago.

As you’re lost in your reminiscence, you almost miss the figure that stumbles along the side of the road.

“Dustin!” You yell at the boy, weary of whoever is up ahead. “Stop!”

He hears the fear in your voice and screeches his bike to a halt. Turning around, he checks to make sure you’re okay. “Did something happen?”

You stop next to him and discreetly point at the figure a few yards away. It seems to be a boy, maybe a teen your age, but he’s walking as if he’s in immense pain. “You see that?”

“Yeah,” Dustin squints and also seems unnerved by the person’s appearance. “Think it’s anything dangerous?”

“I don’t know…” Something feels familiar about the person. Their hair, the way it’s styled, reminds you of someone. You squint as well, your eyes catch on the person’s leather jacket and the expensive brand, there’s a faint outline of cigarettes in the pocket, and the sight fills your nose with the smoke that once choked you last winter. “I think it’s Billy.”

“Why is he walking on the side of the road?” Dustin makes a face. “I know he has a car, the bastard almost ran me and the party over on Halloween.”

You tuck a piece of hair behind your ear and try to understand why you feel this tug within you to get closer to the teen. Billy is cruel, he is horrible, and the bruises he left on your neck took weeks to fully fade away. Yet there’s a concern within you as you watch him stumble, as if in some daze, and it's this worry that solidifies your decision. “Stay here.”

“What–” Dustin turns and sees that you’ve gotten back on your bike and are now pedaling towards Billy. “Y/N! Are you insane?”

“Stay here!” You order, not really understanding why you’re doing this either. “Just… Wait for my signal!”

Dustin curses, not at all liking this plan, but he listens. He tightens his grip on his bike’s handlebar and makes sure you never leave his line of sight in case you need him for backup.

As you approach Billy, you make sure to circle widely around him so that he sees you coming, before finally facing in front of him. You brake a few feet away from him, incredibly nervous for how he may react. You haven’t spoken to him since last winter, he had kept his promise to Max to leave you alone.

Billy barely seems to register that you’re in front of him. He stops as if he’s in a trance and blinks slowly at you. You notice the cut on his forehead, how there’s still fresh blood dripping from it, and something within you wants to tend to the wound. Then you notice the grime that covers his face and his jacket, and you begin to worry even more.

As you’re eying his disheveled appearance, Billy opens his mouth, and the action looks as if it takes all the energy within him to do so. “S–sweetheart?”

“Are you okay?” You ignore the nickname he gave you that makes your skin crawl. You’re more worried about his appearance. He’s sweating like crazy, almost as if he’s on drugs, and he’s paler than normal. His California tan is gone, his eyes are glazed over, he looks as if he isn’t really here with you right now.

It scares you. You’ve never seen him like this.

“‘M fine,” Billy slurs. He seems… off. More drawn into himself now, less sure of himself. Scared, even. It’s a strange sight to see: Billy Hargrove, alone and frightened, in the early morning of June. “I… I’m fine.”

His slurred words aren’t reassuring, and a part of you wants to offer him a ride on your bike. You assume he’s heading to the local pool to lifeguard, you know it’s where he spends most of his days, but you have Dustin with you and you’re still nervous around Billy.

The wounds he gave you may have healed, but some nights, when the nightmares are really bad, you wake up to his hands around your throat.

It feels wrong just leaving Billy like this, though. He’s still human, Max has slowly opened up to you about her abusive stepdad and the way he punches her brother. You know that Billy’s actions come from his hurt, but you don’t think you’re ready yet to forgive him. Not now, at least.

Reluctantly, you sigh and wave your hand to indicate to Dustin that he’s fine to start biking over. Billy doesn’t seem like a threat right now in his current state. When you see your brother start to pedal closer, you look back at Billy. “Listen, I know we aren’t… friends.”

Billy stares blankly at you, and you really hope that he can understand what you’re saying right now.

“But if you need anyone to talk to, about anything, come find me, okay?” You tell him, hesitantly placing a hand on his arm as you speak. However, when your skin makes contact with his, you flinch at how cold he is.

Before you can say anything else, Dustin finally catches up and brakes softly next to you. He looks nervously between you and Billy. “So… Uh. Ready to go, Y/N?”

“Yeah…” You pull away from Billy, your fingers almost numb from his cold skin, and spare him one last glance as you start to bike away. “Remember what I said, okay?”

Billy doesn’t say anything.

You and Dustin leave him stranded on the side of the road.

Neither one of you talk about this.

–

As usual, Downtown Hawkins is deserted when you and Dustin arrive at Melvald’s. The only two cars parked in front of the rundown store belong to Joyce and Hopper.

You hop off your bike and park it in the bike rack before carefully untying the container of muffins from the back. Dustin is slumped on top of his bike, silently complaining, and you wave a stern finger at him. “Wait here, okay? This will only take five minutes, I promise.”

“I’m telling Steve that you’re cheating on him with Mrs. Byers.”

“Not cheating if we aren’t together,” you quip, before opening the door to the store.

When you step inside the store, you’re greeted with Hopper obnoxiously yelling and jumping around as Joyce laughs and claps for him. Curious, you carefully side step the grown man and make your way over to the woman.

“Y/N!” Joyce lights up even more when she sees you, and then lets out a small cheer when she sees that you’re holding one of your signature baked goods containers. “Are those for me?”

“Always, Mrs. Byers.” You grin at her and set the container down. “They’re the muffins you really liked last week, thought I’d bake a special batch just for you.”

Hopper now joins you at the store’s counter in front of Joyce. He’s practically vibrating with his excited energy, so much so that he even smiles at you and claps a hand behind your back. “Kid, it’s like you knew we’d be celebrating a monumental occasion today.”

“What, did Jonathan finally wash his bedsheets?”

Joyce shakes her head and Hopper claps again, now grasping your shoulders and shakes you around. “No, even better! I got Mike out of my house!”

Through Joyce, you had learned all about Hopper’s utter disdain of Mike’s relationship with El. He has spent every day at their cabin since getting together, and even you have had to pry the girl away from Mike a few times to hang out with her. It’s hard bonding with El when Mike is breathing down your neck.

You’re all for young love, you think they’re adorable together, but christ. You understand Hopper’s frustration.

“Actually,” you’re still being shaken by the man. “That does sound better. How’d ya do it?”

Hearing your question, Hopper thankfully stops shaking your shoulders and now happily points at Joyce. “It was all her. I’m the puppet, she’s the master. Joyce gave me a brilliant script to say to the kid.”

“So you remembered everything?” Joyce asks, now unwrapping one of your muffins with glee.

“Yeah… well,” Hopper pauses. “I mean, I had to improvise a little bit, you know?”

You wince. “Oh, that’s never good.”

He glares at you but continues to explain. “It turns out that getting to Mike was the key.”

His words only make you wince again, and you look at Joyce. She meets your eye and the two of you silently agree that something doesn’t sound right here. She questions Hopper further. “And you didn’t yell at him?”

Hopper hesitates, which you expected. “I’ll… tell you everything over dinner.”

“Okay!” You step in between the adults and wave your arms out, preventing whatever else is about to be said. “I’m still here, let’s remember that.”

The chief glares at you again and narrows his eyes. “You’re right, you are still here. Why are you still here?”

“Because Mrs. Byers loves me and I baked her delicious muffins.” You deadpan, which Joyce chuckles at. “And while I’m sure whatever she told you to say to Mike was lovely, I have my doubts that you actually listened.”

“She’s got a point, Hop.” Joyce voices.

Hopper sighs at you both. “Okay, maybe I said some things, haven’t told El the whole truth, but what else was I supposed to do?”

“Not lie to kids?” Crossing your arms, you make a face at the man.

“Easy for you to say, little miss Hawkins’ sweetheart.” Hopper scoffs at you. “Got any better advice?”

You roll your eyes at his words. You understand that the man is still grappling with being a father again, he’s never been one to handle feelings any better, so you spare him some pity and try to be honest with him, say what he needs to hear. “Look, all I’m saying is that the best thing my deadbeat father ever did was teach me kindness, and it broke my heart when he was dishonest in the end. Just, don’t be that way with El, okay?”

Hopper is quiet as your words hang in the air.

Joyce is quiet as well, looking between you and the chief with a fondness in her eyes. It’s not often she sees someone render Hopper speechless, and she knows that it’s one of the many things she loves the most about your relationship with him. Though she would never tell you this, she thinks that Hopper secretly has his own fondness for you as well.

When the silence stretches for an uncomfortably long amount of time, you clear your throat and change the subject. “Well! This was fun, happy we did this.”

Hopper snorts, relieved you’re moving on as well. “Get lost, kid.”

“Gladly.” You turn back to Joyce and press a swift kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Byers!”

Joyce says goodbye as well, and when you’ve left the store, she faces Hopper with a slight smirk. “She’s a good kid, Hop.”

“She is,” he agrees, looking down at his shoes. He will never admit this to anyone else, but to Joyce he knows his words are safe. “She’s the best of ‘em.”

–

When you finally get to the mall, Dustin basically dumps his bike in a spot next to a disgruntled older couple and runs before you can even slow down. He’s so lost in his excitement to see Steve as he runs towards Scoops and leaves you to deal with his bike and the couple alone, which you groan at.

“He acts like it’s been a year,” you grumble, finally hopping off your own bike to grab Dustin’s and secure them both to a nearby rack. After mumbling a quick apology to the couple your brother practically threw a bike at, you run after him inside.

By the time you catch up, Dustin has just entered Scoops and is talking to Robin. You approach, curious to see how this event will unfold. Robin hasn’t met your brother yet, and you have a feeling that his abrasive nature will either make her his biggest fan or absolutely hate him.

It’s the Henderson charm, really.

“I’m Dustin,” your brother introduces himself as you come to stand next to him. When he notices your arrival, he motions towards you and winks at Robin. “I’m sure Y/N has told you all about me.”

Robin raises her eyebrows at the kid, and you try to cover a giggle with a cough. “I’m Robin. I’m sure Y/N has told you a lot about me.”

“I probably have,” shrug, knowing you always talk about the people you love. When Robin and Dustin both look at you with confused faces, you quickly clarify, “I’ve talked about you both, I mean.”

“Can we cut the chit chat?” Dustin asks, now annoyed by how long this conversation is taking. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Robin, but uh. Is he here?”

“Is who here?” Robin looks over at you for help, but before you can prepare her for the inevitable storm of Steve’s bizarre and endearing friendship with Dustin, the older teen’s body comes crashing through the backdoor and his sneakers squeak loudly against the tile.

“Hendersons!” Steve raises his arms in the air in greeting, an ecstatic smile on his face when he sees both you and Dustin standing in Scoops Ahoy. You and your brother start to laugh as Steve now dances around, cheering and gleeful. “You’re both here! Little Henderson is back!”

“I’m back!” Dustin cheers. “And you got the job!”

Steve is beaming and his smile is probably one of the happiest you’ve seen cross his pretty face. He had complained about missing Dustin the entire month he had been gone, moaning and groaning about how he was bored at your house now that he didn’t have Dustin to shoo away.

“I got the job!” Steve mimes playing the trumpet before he starts his intricate and dumb handshake with Dustin.

It’s a complicated process, with fist bumps and pretend lightsaber death. They had come up with it during a particularly boring snow day at your house. You watched as they thought up the handshake while you made cocoa for everyone, heart swelling as Steve was so patient with your brother and encouraged his nerdy little habits.

It had taken them almost the entire day to create what they deemed “the perfect handshake”, and as they go through it once more in Scoops Ahoy, you feel the same swelling in your chest as you did the very first time you saw them come up with the handshake.

While you gaze fondly at Dustin and Steve, Robin stands next to you and watches in horror. As Steve pretends to spew his guts everywhere, the girl leans over to you and says, “Is this what you deal with every day?”

“Yeah,” you can’t help but smile softly at the two boys. You missed seeing them together, more than you thought you had.

Robin sees the dreamy look in your eyes as you stare at Steve and she gags. Unhappy with how this day is looking, she turns to him. “How many children are you friends with?”

Steve’s smile falls and he sighs in defeat. Wordlessly he points at Robin as he looks at Dustin and raises his eyebrows in an exasperated manner. He’s had to deal with Robin’s teasing all summer, and Dustin seems to catch onto what he’s trying to tell him, so he quickly changes the subject. “Sorry we got here so late, man. Y/N insisted on gossiping with Mrs. Byers before coming here.”

“I spoke with her for five minutes.” You roll your eyes at him.

“Yeah, five minutes too long.”

“Your breath reeks.”

“You have a pimple on your chin.”

You gasp and quickly cover your face. “I do not–”

“This is fascinating,” Robin whispers as she looks between you and Dustin. “It’s like there’s two Y/Ns.”

Steve, having heard Robin, laughs. His smile had returned to his face as he watched you interact with your brother. “They’re reunited for one day and are already at each other’s throats.”

“Got a month of insults to catch up on,” you flick Steve, who winces and rubs his nose, offended.

Dustin suddenly straightens up. “Speaking of catching up…” He looks at you and tries to subtly motion over at Steve, mouthing “Russians!”, and being everything but discrete.

Steve frowns, unsure what’s happening, but you’re too busy worrying about revealing anything to Robin; she’s scarily good at reading people. Looking wearily at her, you clear your throat and tug at Dustin’s shirt. “C’mon, why don’t we get some ice cream and tell Steve about what you built at camp?”

Again Steve frowns. He had been hoping to share a sundae with you, not talk about boring science stuff with your brother. “Why do I wanna hear about some weird nerd tech–”

“Because you promised me free ice cream last night, when we called.” You interrupt, silently pleading with him to catch onto what you’re saying. “Remember?”

Something shifts within Steve’s eyes and his carefree expression now darkens. He remembers the fear in your voice last night over the phone, how you had asked him to tell you stories to fall asleep to. Clearing his throat, Steve nods and plays along. “Oh, how could I forget? Take Dustin to your booth and I’ll whip up some sundaes.”

You smile at him, thankful as always for how attuned to you he is, before you say a quick goodbye to Robin and tug your brother over to where you normally sit. Once you’re sure Robin isn’t listening, you yank at the boy. “Real subtle back there, doofus.”

“Oh, like Robin would know what Russians could mean.” Dustin grumbles as he slides into your designated booth. His hand catches on something in the seat and he tugs at it, pulling out an old Captain America comic. Holding it up, he narrows his eyes at you. “You really made a home here, huh?”

“Sure did,” you prop your feet up and dig out the Spider-Man comic you had been reading a few days ago. “The ice cream is surprisingly good here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the ice cream is the reason you’re always here.” Dustin doesn’t even want to imagine how many hours you’ve spent in this cheesy ice cream parlor ogling over Steve. Maybe it’s a good thing he was gone most of the summer.

You flip to the last page you left off on and ignore Dustin’s insinuation. “Hey, free ice cream is free ice cream.”

“Can’t argue with you there.” Steve arrives and places down two giant sundaes onto the table. He slides next to you into the booth with a grand flourish. “Tada!”

Dustin wastes no time digging into his ice cream, making obnoxious noises as he shoves the food into his mouth. You cringe, disgusted that you’re related to him, but Steve kisses your cheek when the kid isn’t looking, and you can’t help but smile. Sneaking your own kiss to his cheek, you thank him. “You’re getting really good at whipping up sundaes, Steve.”

He preens at your praise. “It’s all in the forearms, ya know?” He makes a show out of rolling up his sleeves to show off his arms, which you giggle at with a slight flush on your face. Despite working inside all day, Steve has a nice sun kissed tan, which compliments how long his hair has gotten this summer.

Between his short Scoops Ahoy shorts and his hair streaked with sunlight, summer looks good on Steve.

In between bites of his ice cream, Dustin lifts his head up. “Quit talking about Steve’s arms and flirting in front of me, it’s gross.”

You fling a banana peel at him. “You’re the one too busy devouring his food to talk about anything else.”

“So you admit you’re flirting with me.” Steve teases, winking at you.

Dustin covers his eyes in disgust, forgetting about his ice cream entirely. “Seriously, stop it! You’re my sister, how would you feel if I flirted with Suzie in front of you?”

“I would–” You try to think of a response, but ultimately you deflate, unable to come up with anything. Frustratingly, you realize that the kid has a point; you’d be incredibly grossed out as well. “I would hate it.” You sigh, accepting defeat.

“Who’s Suzie?” Steve asks.

“Dustin’s girlfriend.” You say, popping a cherry into your mouth as you eagerly await the teen’s reaction to the girlfriend news.

As expected, Steve’s jaw drops and turns to your brother. No way the little twerp got a girlfriend before him this summer. “Girlfriend? Since when?”

“Met her at camp,” Dustin smirks at him, proud he’s surprised Steve. “She’s super hot, too. Hotter than Phoebe Cates.”

You roll your eyes at his insistence of referencing Suzie’s appearance, but Steve seems interested, although in disbelief as well. “No, no way. Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No.”

“Why is Phoebe Cates the gold standard?” You ask, unsure when she became everyone’s dream woman. All things considered, she’s incredibly attractive, but it’s weird that every boy you’ve spoken to about this universally finds her attractive. Steve finds her attractive, which you’re choosing not to think about because you don’t look anything like her.

Steve hears the slight bitterness in your tone and shuffles closer to you in the booth. Meanwhile, Dustin takes another bite out of his sundae and nods at him. “Mhm, she’s brilliant, too. She doesn’t even care that my real pearls are still coming in.”

“That’s great, Dustin!” You say, happy that your brother has found a girl who accepts him as he is. It’s sweet, really.

“I know, right?” He sits up straighter in the booth and smiles even wider. “She says kissing is better without teeth.”

You and Steve share a horrified look. Neither of you can believe what you’ve just heard, and you think a part of you died inside. Suddenly, the delicious sundae you’d been eating now turns to cement in your stomach at the thought of your little brother kissing a girl who enjoys his lack of teeth. “Oh, that’s… Yeah.”

“Wow!” Steve tries to mask his own horror and disgust, leaning even closer to you now to try and ground you as well. “Yeah, that’s… That’s great! Proud of you, man. That’s–That’s kinda romantic?”

Dustin basks in Steve’s praise and your disgust slowly melts away. Your brother genuinely seems happy to be with Suzie and even happier to tell Steve about it all. He won’t admit it, but you know he idolizes the teen. Steve’s word is like an oath to him, not even you have this much influence over the boy. If it were anyone else, you’d be offended and hurt, but seeing Steve flash Dustin a wink, you couldn’t have chosen anyone better for your brother to admire.

“So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?” Dustin motions towards his half-eaten sundae before turning to you. “How much ice cream have you had this summer?”

“A lot,” you shrug, taking another bite of your own sundae.

Steve lazily drapes an arm over you, which Dustin narrows his eyes at. “Yeah, I mean. Sure. It’s not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the ladies.”

“Ugh,” you scoff in disgust at Steve’s words and shrug his arm off of you before scooting away from him. Sometimes you forget how much of an idiot he can be. That he used to wear the crown of King Steve. You turn slightly away from him and finish eating your ice cream, annoyed and slightly hurt, though you know you have no right to be.

It’s not like you’re with Steve, anyways.

Robin, from across the parlor, sees your sudden annoyance at Steve and calls out to him, “Yeah, and how’s that working out for you?”

“Ignore her,” Steve groans, not having the energy to deal with Robin’s quips and your anger being directed at him. He turns to you and lowers his voice. “I was kidding, Y/N. You know that–”

“Robin seems cool,” Dustin interrupts, not at all wanting to witness a lover’s feud between you and Steve. He left you two alone for a month, he thought he’d come back to you guys being an old married couple. Instead, he still has to suffer through your weird in between chaos.

You jump at the chance to gush about Robin, all while avoiding Steve’s pleading eyes. “She’s amazing. Genuinely one of the coolest people I know.”

“She’s not.” Steve corrects you, shaking his head. You roll your eyes at him and flick his ear, but as your hand lowers, he catches it with his and intertwines your fingers with a practiced ease. The action makes you blush and look away, still not ready to forgive him just yet. Steve sees the blush and feels your fingers tighten around his and he feels as if he can breathe again. There’s hope, at least. “So, where are the other knuckleheads?”

Dustin sighs. “They ditched me yesterday.”

“No,” Steve can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Y/N, did they really?”

“They… Kinda did.” You wince, absentmindedly placing your other hand on top of the one Steve is holding. He smiles softly at the action, momentarily forgetting about what you've just told him.

“My first day back! Can you believe that shit?” Dustin’s hurt from last night returns, which only makes you feel worse.

Steve leans forward now, invested and equally as offended as the boy. “Seriously?”

“I swear to god,” Dustin pauses to take another bite of ice cream. “They’re gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don’t get to share in my glory.”

You drop your head onto the table and groan. “Is this really how you’re going to segue into the Russian thing?”

“You’re my sister. Why would you expect anything less of me?”

“Touche.” You lift your head back up and continue eating your ice cream. It’s the only thing keeping you going right now. Steve has learned how to make your sundaes perfect, adding the peach ice cream you adore with just the right amount of whipped cream.

Meanwhile, Steve has a confused look on his face as he looks between you and Dustin. “Glory? Russians? Did I miss something?”

Dustin smiles mischievously and lowers his voice as he slides closer to the teen. You roll your eyes at his antics, knowing that the conversation that’s about to unfold will only give you another headache. You missed Steve and Dustin being together, but you didn’t miss the way they seemed to double in stupidity when together.

Looking around to make sure he won’t be heard, Dustin begins to explain. “So, last night, as Y/N and I were trying to get in contact with Suzie…” He pauses, sees that Scoops Ahoy is now filling with more customers, and lowers his voice even more to an almost inaudible whisper and covers his mouth.

You and Steve both lean forward, unable to hear him. The teen asks Dustin to repeat himself while you sit there with slight amazement. You know what Dustin is trying to say, you’re more just surprised the kid can be so quiet. It’s a goddamn miracle, honestly.

Dustin inhales deeply and again tries to discreetly inform Steve of the Russian code, but his whispers are still too low to hear. Taking a final bite of your ice cream, you click your tongue at your brother. “You’re really killing it there, buddy.”

“Dude, just speak louder.” Steve’s curious interest is now more of an annoyance.

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication!” Dustin all but shouts, which causes you to practically throw yourself over the table to cover his mouth.

“Jesus fuck!” You look around and see everyone’s eyes on you, and with your hand still clamped firmly over your brother’s mouth, you clear your throat and laugh nervously. “I mean, haha. Pardon me.” The customers give you a weird look but turn away, though Robin continues to stare at you.

Steve gently removes your hand from Dustin’s mouth and once again intertwines his fingers with yours. “Jeez, okay. Yeah. That’s what I thought you said.”

“Did you have to yell?” You sneer at Dustin, still looking around nervously to make sure no one is paying too much attention to the three of you. While Hawkin’s Lab was overrun by Demodogs and every scientist within it died, you’re still terrified that they still have allies watching your every move.

Not that you think the Lab is responsible for Russians, but… Better safe than sorry.

Dustin rolls his eyes at you. “Your boyfriend is the one who couldn’t hear me.”

You’re about to correct him when Steve waves the boy off and goes back to the main topic. “What does any of that mean, though? The Russian code and whatever.”

“It means that we can never catch a break–”

“It means, Steve,” Dustin sends you a dirty look. “That we could be heroes. True American heroes.”

Steve seems into the idea and you want to scream. You hate the way Dustin is explaining all of this. “This could mean danger, guys.”

Dustin rolls his eyes at you and Steve smiles wearily. “I don’t know, Y/N. It doesn’t seem so bad, ya know? We’ve fought Demodogs, how bad could some Russians be?”

You cross your arms and narrow your eyes. “The Demodogs were created by shifty government facilities. Why are we assuming Russia doesn’t have their own?”

“But… American heroes.” Steve looks heartbreakingly pathetic as he says this, and you realize now that his fixation on being seen as some hero stems from the hurt he still feels over his father. He hadn’t turned into who had expected to become, something that you know his father reminds him of every time he comes back from some business trip. You wish you could convince Steve that he’s more than what his father could ever expect him to be, but you know he wouldn’t listen.

With Steve’s pleading eyes looking at you, lost and hopeless, you can’t argue with him. Sighing, you accept that this is something he has to take part in, if only to rebuild his crumbling confidence. “Tell him what you’re thinking, Dustin.”

“Gladly.” Your brother wastes no time diving in, once more eager and excited to have the attention on him, and it’s only now that you realize he’s doing this for the same reason Steve is: they both feel abandoned and hurt. “We need your help.”

“With what?”

Dustin digs through his backpack and takes out the Russian dictionary he made you steal from work. He holds it up and shows it to Steve. “Translation.”

Steve’s eyes widen and he grabs the book to inspect it. There’s a new spark in his eyes, one that died the day his father told him he wouldn’t attend his graduation. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” you exhale and slump in your seat. There’s no going back now. “I just want you both to know that I hate this plan and your excitement over it, but if I don’t help then you guys will somehow end up in a Russian gulag, and that would just be on me.”

Steve shares a look with Dustin, whose sigh reflects your own. “Glad you have faith in us, Y/N.”

–

It’s Steve's idea to work on the translation in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy, and neither you or Dustin argue. Technically, he’s the only one who has any real responsibilities today with work and all, so it makes sense to stay at Scoops and hide out there.

Dustin sits at the table next to you as he replays the tape recording over and over again. Steve paces the room and eats a banana, claiming he needed “brain food” to focus on the complex Russian language. You sit with your head in your hands, trying desperately to hold onto the bizarre language that floats around the room.

After his tenth time replaying the code, Dustin pauses the recording and looks at you and Steve. “So, what do you guys think?”

“It sounded familiar.” Steve shoves a piece of banana into his mouth. You cringe at the obscene amount of food he tries to chew at once. Seeing your disgust, Steve waves the banana in your face and asks with a mouthful of food, “Wan sum?”

“It’s like you want me to hate you today,” you slap the banana away, which he chuckles at.

Dustin gets both of your attention again with slight annoyance. He didn’t miss the weird flirting between the two of you at all. “Guys, focus. What do you mean the recording sounds familiar?”

“The music,” Steve still speaks with his mouth full. “The music right there at the end.”

“Why are you listening to the music, Steve?” Dustin exclaims, exasperated.

As your brother berates Steve for his lack of Russian translating, you sit up in your seat processing what he’s just previously said. While you hadn’t thought much of it before, now that Steve has pointed it out, the music does sound familiar. You swear you’ve heard it somewhere before, but you can’t remember where or when. It’s a hazy memory, distant in your mind, yet right in front of you. It’s incredibly frustrating.

“I think Steve is onto something,” you say, but the two boys are too busy fighting to hear you.

“I’m trying to listen to the Russian but there’s music–”

Suddenly the back door swings open and Robin appears. She looks agitated after having to man the cash register all by herself while Steve hides out in the breakroom. “Alright, babysitting time is over. You need to get in there.” When she sees that you’ve erased her whiteboard and replaced her “you suck” columns with the Russian alphabet, her agitation only increases. “Hey, my board! That was important data, shitbirds.”

You get up from the table and walk up to the girl, feeling bad. While you aren’t sure what exactly her “you suck” column and tallies were for, it had been her creation that you had erased without thinking to ask. Plus, you really don’t want her seeing the Russian dictionary on the table. “I’m sorry, Robin–”

“Not you, Y/N. You’re not a shitbird,” she points over to Steve and Dustin. “Those two are shitbirds.”

“I guarantee you, what we’re doing is way more important than your data.” Dustin interjects, a smug look on his face that makes you want to scream. He isn’t at all helping the situation.

Robin begins to walk over to the boys and you reluctantly follow. “Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?”

Dustin’s jaw drops and Steve almost chokes on his banana. Seeing their stunned reactions of Robin having figured out what you’ve been doing, you sigh in disappointment. They’re such idiots sometimes. They wrote Russian on the whiteboard, out in the open, and have been playing the recording out loud, full volume, on repeat.

Of course Robin caught onto what you were doing.

Which only makes your nervous body tense up even more. You hate that you have to lie to her, you’ve become really close with her during your visits to Scoops, but you don’t want to drag her into anything dangerous. You’re not sure what exactly any of this Russian code means, but Robin has been nothing but kind to you this summer, you truly care about her, and it would kill you if something were to happen because of you.

So, despite knowing how smart Robin is, you try to think of a cover story. “We were just interested in the language. Ya know, a summer hobby.”

“I can hear everything, Y/N.” Robin sees right through your lies. “Your idiotic brother and boyfriend are both extremely loud.”

“Steve isn’t my boyfriend–”

“You three think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape and you’re trying to translate, but haven’t figured out a word because you didn’t realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do.”

You, Steve, and Dustin all look at one another in varying degrees of awe and despair.

Robin, seeing your stunned faces, smiles. “Sound about right?”

“How could you not know about the Russian alphabet, Y/N?” Dustin angrily whispers at you as if somehow it’s your responsibility to know the ins-and-outs of the language.

“Why would I–you know what, no.” You ignore your brother and turn to Robin, trying to alleviate the situation and prevent her from finding out anything else. She’s too fucking smart, it’s both admirable and aggravating. “Look, whatever you think you heard–”

Suddenly Robin lunges for the Russian dictionary on the table, but Steve’s quick reflexes enable him to grab the book before she can. “Woah! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I wanna hear it.” She juts her chin out in defiance, though you see the slightly hurt expression she tries to mask. She hates that you’re purposely excluding her and taking Steve’s side in this.

You wish you could tell her the truth.

“Why?” You ask in unison alongside Steve and Dustin.

“Because maybe I can help. I’m fluent in four languages, ya know.”

Dustin perks up, now more open to the idea of Robin’s involvement. “Russian?”

“Ou-yay are-yay umb-day.”

Steve and Dustin gasp, believing that they’ve just heard Robin say something in Russian, but you know better. One summer, when the party had been especially nosy and insisted on following you and Jonathan around, the two of you had learned pig latin in order to communicate without the twerps eavesdropping.

Learning against the table, you smirk at Robin. “Osay ouyay owknay igpay atinlay.”

“Holy shit!” Dustin gasps and Steve almost falls over with how quickly he looks at you in shock. Both boys stare at you in awe and you almost feel bad for their tiny little brains.

Robin can’t help but smile at you, you somehow always manage to surprise her. “Impressive, Y/N. Didn’t think you knew pig latin either.”

“That was pig latin?” Steve scrunches his face and hits your brother with his banana peel. “Idiot.”

“Steve, please don’t hit my brother with banana peels,” you pinch the bridge of your nose. It’s only noon and you’re already exhausted from today’s events. “But yes, that was pig latin.”

Dustin shoves Steve away from him and focuses on you again. “When did you learn pig latin?”

“The summer you and the party decided to stalk me and Jonathan.” You shrug, though you smile fondly at the memory. It had been a good summer, just the two of you holed up in your room as you quizzed each other on the bizarre language.

Steve, seeing your fondness at the memory, frowns. He doesn’t like the uncomfortable heat that he feels ignite within his stomach at the thought of you still being so fond over Jonathan. He trusts you, he trusts what you have, but he will never feel equal to him.

Robin notices Steve’s brewing insecurity and quickly changes the subject. She doesn’t have time for the usual hormonal drama between the two of you. All she wants right now is to decipher the Russian so that she can catch a break from Erica and her demanding need to try every free sample ever. “Back to the main point: I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I’ve been in band for twelve years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me.”

You bite your lip. Truthfully, Robin has the highest chance of unraveling whatever the hell is in the recording. You’re horrible with languages, high school Spanish had nearly killed you, and Steve and Dustin stand no better chance. “Robin…”

“Come on,” she begs. “It’s Steve's turn to sling ice cream and my turn to translate.”

Steve and Dustin turn to you, unanimously agreeing that you’re the leader in this situation; whatever call you make, they’ll listen. Robin sees the conflict on your face and tries one last time. “I don’t even want credit. I’m just bored and wanna hang out with you.”

Your head spins. Robin’s pleading eyes are hard to fight against and you realize that she already knows more than you’d want her to; she’s already a part of it all, whether you like it or not. Sighing, you give in. “Fine, but only if you promise not to ask any questions about whatever we may find.”

“What would I even question?” She asks, unsure why your tone is more foreboding than accepting.

You share a look with Steve and Dustin. The three of you know just how quickly something simple can spiral into chaos in Hawkins. “Just… promise me, okay?”

Robin extends her hand, just happy to finally have something better to do. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

After you shake her hand, she tosses her ice cream scoop to Steve and he hands her the Russian dictionary. Seeing the exchange sends a slight shiver down your spine. You don’t like how much it feels like you’ve just signed Robin’s life away.

–

True to her word, Robin’s ears are little geniuses.

With her helping, you and Dustin are able to speed through the translating as Steve works the register. You’re tasked with writing down the letters that Dustin calls from the whiteboard as Robin listens to the tape over and over again.

“Weird ‘r’ with a hook!” Your brother declares for the last letter.

You write it down and can’t help but frown at the message you’ve seemingly deciphered. Showing the writing to Robin, you ask what she thinks. “Are you sure it was that weird ‘r’ sound?”

“I’m positive,” she says. “C’mon, let’s go tell Steve.”

“Are we sure–” You try to ask her again, but Robin has already made her way to the sliding window and gets Steve’s attention.

“We’ve got our first sentence!”

You make your way over and lean against the window as well. Steve, holding two ice cream cones, seems excited by the news. “Oh, seriously?”

“It’s a hesitant first sentence.” You butt in, still unsure if it’s even correct.

Robin rolls her eyes at you. “Ignore her, I’m right.” Then, clearing her throat, she does an impressive Russian accent. “‘The week is long’.”

Steve’s shoulders slump, clearly having expected something better. “Well that’s thrilling.”

“Told you it was a hesitant first sentence.” Then you turn to Robin. “Nice accent, by the way.”

“Why thank you,” she tips her hat at you before focusing back on Steve. “And I know it isn’t thrilling, but it’s progress!”

And with that, Robin spins around and goes back to the table in the breakroom, eager to decipher more of the code. You’re about to kiss Steve’s cheek and say goodbye, but then your eyes land on a familiar red-haired girl and her friend standing in front of the register. You look down at the ice cream in Steve’s hands and note the familiar order you’ve come to memorize since the mall opened.

“Max? El?” You lean further out the window, pleasantly surprised to see them. “What are you guys doing here? Where’s the rest of the party?”

The girls wave at you and giggle, and you realize now that you’ve never actually seen them alone together before. Normally they’re with Lucas or MIke, so it’s a bit jarring to see them getting along so well without the boys. Jarring, but also very lovely.

“We don’t need those idiots.” Max responds, which makes El giggle even more.

Steve whistles, impressed by Max’s bluntness, and hands them their ice cream. They begin to eat the treat before a thought occurs to him. “Wait a second, are you even allowed to be here?”

You walk through the breakroom and come out the main doors to join Steve at the register. While you’re happy to see Max and El getting along, Steve has a point. Why is El here in such a public space? When you had asked Hopper last month if you could take El to Steve’s graduation, it had taken a whole debate and a fresh batch of cookies in order to convince the old man to let her come.

El is still technically forbidden from being seen in public, and yet here she is: running around Starcourt with Max.

You put your hands on the counter and lean towards the girls. They take a few steps back, now knowing that you’re onto them. “Max, El, what are you up to?”

Their eyes widen while you narrow yours, daring them to lie. Then, quickly glancing at one another, they turn around and run out of Scoops Ahoy, leaving you alone with Steve. You both stand there, dumbfounded.

“I thought I only ever had to worry about the boys.” You whisper, horrified. “The girls were supposed to be the ones I could trust.”

Steve rubs your shoulders and kisses your cheek. “You’re gonna go after them, aren’t you?”

You drop your head and sigh. “Yeah, I am.”

“I’ll tell Robin you had a babysitting emergency.” He presses a kiss to your neck now, which you shiver at, before gently shoving you out from behind the counter. “Good luck, angel.”

Steve’s kisses give you the energy you need to run after Max and El. They’re surprisingly fast as they giggle and trade ice cream cones to share. You call after them as you dodge random people in the mall, but your calls are in vain. They ignore you and continue to skip happily away from you.

“Guys!” When you finally catch up to them, they’re outside standing in front of the bike rack. “Why are you in front of the bikes–oh.”

You see Mike, Lucas, and Will unlocking their bikes from the rack as they bicker over something. Faintly you hear Mike and Lucas arguing about splitting money while Will is silent.

There’s a tension between the girls and boys that you now take note of. Normally El would have already been wrapped around Mike’s arms, but she remains by your side as Max approaches the boys. “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise?”

When Mike sees El, he drops his bike in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“Shopping.” El says as she glares at the boy.

You’ve never seen her so cold towards someone. It’s kind of frightening, honestly. “Oh, Wheeler, what did you do?”

“What did I do? No, what did you do? You’re the one who is letting her walk around Starcourt where everyone can see her!” Mike shrieks, always finding ways to blame you for his own problems.

You scoff. “Hey, I’ve only known about this for like, a second longer than you have.”

“Sure, likely story.”

“Have you ever considered not pissing off your girlfriend?”

“Have you ever considered getting a better boyfriend than Harrington?”

“Okay–”

Max steps in between you and Mike, annoyed. “Both of you shut up!” She waves her hand over El’s outfit and tries to turn the conversation around. “This is El’s new style. What do you think?”

“I think she looks nice–”

Mike cuts you off. “What’s wrong with you? You know she’s not allowed to be here.”

“What is she, your little pet?”

El clenches her jaw. “Yeah. Am I your pet?”

“What? No!” Mike denies, equally as confused as you are.

You’re not quite sure how you ended up in this situation.

“Then why do you treat me like garbage?” El questions the boy.

You frown at this and subtly step towards Lucas, desperately hoping for some clarification. “Did I miss something?”

“It’s a long story.” He sighs, and you now realize that Max must be angry with him, too.

El continues to interrogate Mike, and you almost feel bad for the boy. “You said Nana was sick.”

“She is! She is sick.” Mike lies through his teeth. You think about what Hopper told you earlier, how he had said some things to get Mike away from El, and you suppose now that it had involved some type of lie about the kid’s grandma.

Then Mike shoves at Lucas to get him to play along as well. Reluctantly he echoes his friend, though you know he’s aware that he’s only making this worse for himself. “She’s super sick, that’s why we’re here, actually.”

Mike is quick to follow along. “Yeah, we’re shopping! Not for us, but for her, for Nana.”

You catch Will’s eyes, who has remained silent this entire time, and he shakes his head at you in disappointment. You look back at Mike and Lucas now, unamused. “Nana isn’t sick, is she?”

“She is! But…” Mike fumbles over his words now. “We’re also here to get a gift for El. We just–we couldn’t find anything that suited her and I only have like, $3.50, so it’s hard.”

“It’s expensive… Had we known you were at the mall we would’ve asked you for money.” Lucas mumbles, which you flick his forehead at. “Ow, Y/N!”

El looks between Lucas and Mike, her eyes showing her hurt. “You lie.” When neither boy says anything, her hurt only grows and her voice wavers with tears. “Why do you lie?”

Again, El’s words are met with silence. Mike looks down, too ashamed to meet her eyes, and you shift uncomfortably, feeling even worse for the kid. You hadn’t expected to witness an awkward relationship feud today, and it wasn’t all entirely his fault. You know that Hopper played a role in this.

Later, when you have the time, you’re definitely going to yell at the police chief about this.

As the silence drags on, the local bus that drives everyone in Hawkins to Starcourt now arrives in the parking lot. Hearing its brakes hiss, El looks behind her and seems to make up her mind about something. Her face is stony as she approaches Mike and her words are laced with venom. “I dump your ass.”

You and Max gasp, though yours is more from shock and Max is more from being impressed.

Mike’s face falls and El whips around and begins walking towards the bus. Max follows, waving goodbye to you, and you’re left to deal with the unfortunate outcome of this bizarre situation.

Laughing nervously, you awkwardly pat Mike’s back. “You’ll… Uh, fix this, right?”

Mike slaps your hand away and marches back towards his bike. His shoulders droop and he looks tired from all he’s had to deal with today. Lucas doesn’t look any better and silently follows after his friend. Will is the only one who remains, and he drops his head to your chest and groans. “I just wanted to play DnD today.”

“I know, little bee.” You scratch his head and try to console him. “But sometimes life gets in the way. Right now Mike and Lucas need you, do you think you could help them?”

Will looks up at you. “I don’t know… Maybe, I guess.”

“Do what you can,” you kiss his forehead, wishing you could do more for him. All he’s wanted to do all summer is be a kid again, but his peers are growing older and leaving him behind. It isn’t anyone’s fault. “I gotta go, buddy. But I promise you and I will do something this week, just the two of us, okay?”

He nods, content with this, and you ruffle his hair before heading back inside to Scoops.

–

Hours later, you, Steve, Dustin, and Robin all uncover the rest of the Russian code.

You stand with your back against Steve’s chest as he has his arms draped loosely over you. Robin and Dustin stand to your left as you all face the whiteboard that has the message written on it, reading it out loud.

“‘The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west’.”

There’s a pause as you all take in the bizarre message. You’re extremely doubtful that it’s right. The order of the words is too abstract to possibly be purposeful. It just doesn’t make any sense.

“Are we sure this is right?” You ask the group, knowing no one else will utter the doubt that settles over the room. Steve tightens his arms around you and shrugs.

“It has to be.” Dustin mumbles, though even he looks unsure.

Robin sighs. “Well, whether or not we’re right, dingus and I have to close up shop.”

Steve groans but reluctantly lets go of you so that he can help Robin with closing. While the two teens wash the ice cream scoopers and put away the remaining ice cream, you sit with Dustin at one of the booths.

“Maybe it’s a code?”

“Dustin, we just translated a foreign language. Thinking it’s a code seems like a cop-out, honestly.” You rest your head in your hands and watch Steve count the money in the register. Feeling your eyes on him, he looks up and winks at you. Blushing, you look back at your brother. “We probably just translated it wrong.”

“My ears are right! We didn’t translate anything wrong!” Robin shouts from across the store.

Dustin perks up. “See? We have to assume we’re onto something.”

You bite your lip, still unsure, but leave the topic alone for now. There’s no point arguing with Dustin and Robin because it’s not like any of you can just ask a native Russian speaker who is correct. If it somehow ends up being a hidden code, then you’ll apologize to Robin’s ears later.

It’s quiet in the parlor after that, but when Steve and Robin have finished closing and he pulls the gate down to lock up the store before you all go home, Steve can’t help but bring the subject up again. “I mean–it’s just, it can’t be right.”

“It’s right.” Robin affirms once more, and Dustin nods at her appreciatively.

“Honesty, I think it’s great news.”

Steve walks next to you as the four of you slowly head towards the mall’s exit. It’s late, you’re tired from your long day of translating the Russian language, and you’re ready to go to bed. Then, as if somehow knowing the exhaustion that weighs upon you, you feel Steve slip his hand into yours. His fingers are warm and the touch soothes you as he gently guides the two of you.

“How is this great news?” Steve asks your brother. “I mean, so much for being American heroes. It’s total nonsense.”

“The goal isn’t to be American heroes, dummy.” You chide, tugging at your hands to make sure he looks at you and listens. “We aren’t still going to follow this, are we?”

Dustin rolls his eyes at you both. “It’s not nonsense, it’s too specific and obviously a code. And yes we’re going to keep following this. We’re onto something, I can feel it!”

“All I feel right now is a crippling migraine forming,” you groan, rubbing at your temples.

Steve kisses your head in concern, feeling bad that he’s kept you out so late. However, he also really, really would love to become someone important. Someone worthy of his dad’s favor, so he follows after Dustin, curious despite it all. “What do you mean a code?”

“Like a super secret spy code.”

“That’s a total stretch.”

You snort. “That’s what I said, but no. Why should we ever listen to Y/N? It’s not like she’s always right in the end.”

Robin winces, afraid to annoy you further, but she can’t help but agree with Dustin. “I don’t know, is it really a stretch?”

“No, please don’t tell me you believe my brother.” You’re betrayed, hurt even, that Robin would succumb to Dustin’s fantasies.

Normally you’re all for believing your brother, but Russians in Hawkins leaving a hidden code in a radio frequency that can be accessed by the public? You may have fought alternate dimension monsters and you may know a girl with mind control powers, but even this feels far fetched.

“Listen, just for kicks, let’s entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What’d you think they were gonna say, ‘fire the warhead at noon’?” Robin raises her eyebrows at you.

“Well… no.” You slump your shoulders, knowing that she has a point. “But–”

“Just admit we’re right, Y/N.” Dustin says, annoyed.

Robin turns to you and almost groans when she sees your hand intertwined with Steve’s. Her voice falters for a moment at the sight, but she clears her throat and carries on with the conversation. “And my translation is correct. I know that for sure, so… ‘the silver cat feeds’. Why would anyone talk like that unless they’re trying to mask the meaning of their message?”

Dustin is next to her now, hanging onto her every word as you and Steve lag behind. “Exactly!”

“It is a weird phrase,” you mumble under your breath, and Steve can’t help but chuckle at how endearing you are when you try to play the reasonable role. It’s never any use, you’re everything that hope and optimism embodies; it’s adorable.

Robin sees that you’re close to giving in and begins to ramble now. “Why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?” Again Dustin agrees with everything she says and Steve shrugs his shoulders while all you do is sigh in defeat. Looking at your brother, Robin concludes, “Guess that confirms your suspicions.”

“Evil Russians.”

“Okay, no.” You step between them now. “What if they’re just, like, really shy Russians who want some privacy? Why do we always jump to the evil conclusion?”

Dustin shoulders you to get you to shut up, and you shove him back, starting a small spat between the two of you. He hits your shoulder, you hit his stomach, and Steve watches with amusement while Robin stares in horror.

“Do we stop them?” She asks the teen.

Steve shakes his head. “I’ve learned that it’s best to just let them fight it out. It’s been a month, they’re behind on their fist fighting schedule.”

“I heard that!” You quickly say to him before yanking Dustin’s shirt to get him off of your back.

Seeing your struggle, Robin forces your brother off of you and holds him by his arms so that he doesn’t jump on you again. Dustin complains, but quickly shuts up at what Robin says. “Focus! I’m trying to tell you that I agree with you, this is totally evil Russians.”

Dustin stops struggling against her, now elated at the idea of defeating evil foreigners. “So how do we crack it?”

You were scared that Robin and Dustin wouldn’t get along, but as you watch them bounce schemes off of one another and plan an evil Russian take down, you’re now terrified of the friendship brewing between them. It’s worse than Steve with Dustin; Robin is just as cunning as your brother is.

She thinks for a moment. “I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges.”

“Have we ever considered a game plan for after poking our noses where they don’t belong?” Dustin and Robin both glare at you and you hold your hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“Ignore her, Robin. She likes to pretend she’s the rational one in these types of situations.” Dustin whispers to her, which you roll your eyes at. Steve kisses your cheek as a way to console you as your brother continues to speak. “Anyways, maybe the ‘silver cat’ is a meeting place?”

“Or a person.” Robin theorizes.

“Or a weapon.”

As the two of them come up with insane theories about what the code could mean, you notice that Steve is no longer by your side. Turning around, you find him stopped at one of the carousel horses meant for little kids. He’s bent over it, examining it. You frown, unsure what he’s doing, and walk over to him.

Resting a hand against his back, you lean down next to him. “Can I ask what we’re looking at here, honey?” He’s mumbling under his breath and digging through his pockets for something. Now you’re starting to get concerned. “Steve?”

“I need–do you have a quarter?”

“No?” You’re even more concerned now. Placing the back of your hand against his forehead, you check his temperature. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Sure you’re tall enough for that ride?” Robin quips as she and Dustin now join.

“Quarter!” Steve demands, nearly falling over as he tries to catch the one that she tosses him. When he catches it he quickly pushes the coin into the machine’s slot, bringing it to life. Music begins to play as the horse moves back and forth. It’s ominous, almost, in the mall’s dim lighting with no one else around.

Steve listens intently to the music, his face concentrated as if trying to understand something. As the music continues to play, you can’t help but feel that it sounds familiar. It reminds you of something, maybe a distant memory that you can’t quite recall. Wanting to understand more, you lean in close to the machine as well and mirror Steve’s actions. “The music…”

“They’ve both lost it,” Dustin mumbles when he sees that you’re also now analyzing a stupid carousel horse.

“Y/N, you helping little Stevie up onto the ride?” Robin laughs at her own joke, but you swat at her to shush her.

As the song plays once more, it finally clicks. Your mind flashes back to your conversation with him earlier in the break room as you kept replaying the Russian recording over and over again. It’s the same song. With a gasp, you throw your arms around Steve’s neck and begin kissing his face over and over again. “You’re a genius!”

Steve leans into your kisses and smiles at the praise, relieved that you don’t think he’s some idiot. Though his heart is beating wildly, he clears his throat and shrugs as if it isn’t a big deal. “I have my moments.”

“Care to share with the class, dinguses?”

Robin’s voice startles you, having momentarily forgotten where you were. Blushing, you pull away from Steve and clear your throat as well and act as if you weren’t just drowning the boy in kisses. “Listen to the song, guys.”

The seriousness of your tone causes Dustin to finally listen to the music as well. It only takes him a few seconds to piece together what you and Steve already have. “Holy shit. The music.”

“The music.” You confirm with pride, still incredibly amazed that Steve managed to remember such a small yet crucial detail. Since coming to befriend him, you’ve come to admire just how perceptive he is. Sure, he may not be a math whiz, but his emotional and creative intelligence leaves you in awe every time you see it. He’s smarter than anyone gives him credit for.

You wish his father saw this intelligence within him. Honestly, you wish more people did.

Dustin yanks his backpack off of his shoulder and starts rustling through it as he searches for something. When he finds his tape recorder, he starts to play the Russian transmission again. Hearing the audio and carousel play simultaneously side by side, it only confirms what Steve has long since figured out: it’s the same song.

Not being able to help yourself, you again kiss Steve’s cheek, giddy and proud of him. “You’re brilliant.”

He preens while Robin scrunches her nose, unsure why you’re all over the guy because of some song. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s the exact same song on the recording.” Dustin explains to her.

“Maybe they have horses like this in Russia?”

You nod at her. “Maybe? We should look into who produces these machines, it could be our new lead.”

Steve shakes his head. “‘Indiana Flyer’? I don’t… I don’t think so.”

Something seems to shift within his voice and his face now twists with slight fear. He looks as if he’s realized something awful, and you feel your own joy from earlier vanish. A chill runs through you, the same awful feeling of dread that once overwhelmed you when Will originally disappeared now courses through you again.

“What is it?” You softly ask Steve, already bracing yourself for the worst.

He frowns at the apprehension in your voice and the worried crease between his brows makes you want to smooth away the concern. You know he doesn’t want to scare you, that he’s always trying to make things easier for you, so you tilt your head at him and nod slightly; you want him to tell you. Seeing your unspoken permission, he sighs. “This code, it… didn’t come from Russia. It came from here.”

You, Robin, and Dustin all look at one another. Fear settles over the group, you can feel its heavy weight like an old, familiar friend.

“Why does everything happen in Hawkins?” You say to no one in particular, still trying to process what this all means.

Dustin sighs and Steve drops his head.

Somehow, you always end up here.

–

Steve offers to drive you and Dustin home after seeing how shaken up you are by the latest Russian revelation. Tired and exhausted and terrified as usual, you accept.

It takes some trial and error, but eventually he and your brother manage to fit your bikes in the back of the BMW.

The drive to your house is filled with awkward banter between Steve and Dustin. You sit quietly in the passenger seat as the two boys try to make light of the situation, but not even their jokes can lessen the fear that creeps into the car; none of you are sure what to make of all of this.

When Steve pulls up to your house, all that you’ve managed to do the entire car ride is make a mental note to call Jonathan about everything later. It’s not your best plan, you wish that there was more you could do, but at the very least you know that he and Nancy can help.

Dustin scrambles out of the car, desperate to escape the tension within it. “See you tomorrow, Steve!” He calls behind him before slamming the car door shut.

You snort softly at your brother, finally moving to unbuckle your own seatbelt, before Steve places his hand on yours and stops you. He’s noticed how quiet you’ve been the entire car ride and the way your eyes have clouded over with fear. He hates it. “Do me a favor?”

“Yes?” You blink at him, unsure what he could want at this hour. It’s late and your mom expects you home soon.

“Leave your window unlocked for me.” He winks at you, trying to play coy, but you see the genuine concern for you hidden beneath his actions.

You can’t help but smile; it feels as if you can breathe again. “Steve Harrington, why should I leave my window unlocked for you?”

Your smile sends a warmth through Steve’s chest as relief washes over him. He’s doing something right. He’s gotten you to smile. “Because I’m planning on sneaking in after I park my car a few blocks down so your mom won’t see me.”

Though you know what he had been implying, hearing him say the words out loud causes a wild blush to burn across your cheeks and your stomach to swoop. Steve has never done this before, sneaking into your room like some lovestruck teenager late at night, it’s been the one boundary neither of you have crossed before.

“I suppose I can do that.” You say with an air of indifference, which Steve rolls his eyes at. “Strictly friendly, of course.”

“Oh, of course.”

You giggle, finally unbuckling your seatbelt, and you exit the car after kissing the boy’s cheek. His face is warm against your lips and you’re coming to memorize the way your nose presses against the indent of his cheek bones.

When you get inside, your mom is knitting on the couch while Tews sits in her lap. She greets you with a smile and you compliment the scarf she’s making. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect for this winter, mom.”

She thanks you and wishes you a good night, noticing the bags underneath your eyes with slight concern. Inside your room, you quickly clear away the scattered pieces of paper on your desk and arrange your bedding so that it isn't strewn across the room. Steve has been in your room a million times now, and yet you can’t help but feel like tonight is different for some reason.

True to his word, within ten minutes Steve is knocking on your window. Hearing the quiet way his knuckles rap against the glass makes your heart jump in your stomach. Your body practically buzzes as you go to open the window, eager to have him close to you.

“Took you long enough,” you tease, opening the window wide enough for him to crawl through.

Steve pulls himself up with ease, his biceps strain against his Scoops Ahoy uniform, and you’ve never been more thankful for corporate policy. “Sorry, angel. Came here as fast as I could.”

You tug at his shirt and the two of you are falling into your bed. He lands on you with a soft thud and your body has long since become accustomed to his weight. As his body settles upon yours, it feels like coming home. You exhale deeply, wrapping your arms around his body, and Steve nuzzles his face into your neck and presses a gentle kiss there.

Everything swirling violently within your head now stills. The constant onslaught of worries and doubts finally quiets, and you know that despite it all, at least you have Steve.

“We’ll figure it out, ya know.” Steve’s lips move against the skin of your neck as he speaks, making you shiver slightly at the sensation.

“I know,” you start to play with his hair, needing something to do with your hands as you speak. “But… How many times are we going to keep doing this? Be the only people in Hawkins aware of what’s going on?”

Steve is silent for a few moments, allowing your words to sink in. He rolls them around in his head, he knows that the question isn’t one that comes from doubt of what he and the others are capable of. You don’t lack faith, you lack the willingness to constantly place the ones you love at risk. It just isn’t in your nature.

“As many times as needed.” He pauses again, unsure how to express to you his certainty that you’re capable of so much with all the love within you. If there’s anyone in this shitty town who is a real American hero, it’s you. “I mean, after everything we’ve been through these last two years, measly Russians are no big deal. We’ve fought worse monsters than Communism.”

You laugh, he always somehow gets you to laugh, and the sound is as angelic to Steve as your eyes are to him. He tightens his arms around you and relishes in the way your body presses against his, how he can feel your body move with every inhale of your laugh.

Then, slowly, your laughter dies down. Reality settles upon you once more and you want to believe Steve, you do, and you try to reassure yourself that he’s right… but something feels off about this. You can’t exactly articulate what it is, but there's this haze of uncertainty that you’ve never quite felt before; a vulnerability that leaves you feeling cold in his arms.

Sensing your fear rising up again, Steve tries to distract you by changing the subject. “Speaking of monsters, I recruited the little heathens to help with your birthday gift.”

The change of subject works. You raise your head and look at the teen. “You mean the party? You got them to help with a gift for me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Y/N.” Steve butts his head against your chin playfull. “I can make them listen to me… sometimes.”

You stare at him, knowing he’s full of shit. “Go on, tell me all about how you got them to listen to you.”

He tries to hold your gaze, refusing to back down, but he cracks after only a few seconds. “Okay, fine. It took a lot of pleading and I now owe a bunch of pre-teens money.”

A loud, full body laugh escapes your lips, and Steve laughs with you. The two of you hold one another and feel each other laugh, chests rising with glee. For a moment you feel okay again, forgetting everything else for now. You’re carefree in this moment, feeling like a little kid again, something only Steve can do to you.

When your laughs die down, you and Steve quietly lay together. No other words manage to find their way in the dark of your room, all that needs to be said has been laid to rest. His warm breaths hit the base of your neck as your nails scratch against his scalp. While you feel safe in his arms, there’s still so much that needs to be said.

Staring at the ceiling of your room, you see faint threads and strings and lines that you thought you put to rest that night in Jonathan’s room this winter. Now, they’re back again, only this time it’s a different boy within your arms. Something akin to doubt creeps in.

Steve already has all of you, you told him you’d wait, but what if you’ve missed your chance again with him like you did with Jonathan? When June began, Steve promised that you had all summer together. He calls you angel and tells you stories to fall asleep to on the phone, and yet the threads that glow above you taunt you.

You love him, you do, but you’re terrified that whatever the two of you uncover with the Russians will somehow pry you apart.

Just like Will’s disappearance had pried Jonathan away from you two years ago.

July looms over you and summer is going by faster than you thought it would. The promise of summer, one that usually leaves the nostalgic taste of honey on your tongue, now threatens to choke you.

As if having a mind of their own, your arms tighten even more around Steve, almost as if somehow you can shield what the two of you have from the dangers within Hawkins.

You hope it’s enough.

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#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things rewrite #slowburn #angst #nya #m's writing #this one foreshadows loooooads #like so much #i feel so sneaky

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alotofpockets · 2 days

Text

Roommates | Kyra Cooney-Cross x Gorry!Reader & Katrina Gorry x Sister!Reader

Where you start dating your sister's bestfriend after she becomes your roommate.

Woso masterlist | Words: 1.8k

-----

"You're still going to pick up Kyra from the airport and drive her to her introduction at the Arsenal training grounds, right?" Your sister has asked you this question at least ten times now. Her Matilda's teammates, and one of her closest friends Kyra Cooney-Cross was making the move from Australia to the UK, just like you had done two years ago, and your sister had asked you to look out for her there.

"Yes Mini, don't worry. I will pick up Kyra and drive her to London Colney. You can go to sleep and stop worrying, I promise I've got her."

Katrina seemed to finally relax a bit, "Okay, text me when she gets there? I told her to do that too, but she'll probably be too tired from the flight to remember.” Your sister loved Kyra like family, and it was sweet to see how similarly she cared for Kyra as she does for you.

“I will text you when I see her at the airport, now please go to sleep.” You laughed at the slightly annoyed sigh that escaped her mouth. “Thank you again, and goodnight.” You hung up the phone after wishing Katrina a good night as well.

You finish your workday, and run some errands, before you head home. You made a funny poster to welcome Kyra to London before you head to bed for an early wake up call to head to the airport.

When you saw Kyra walk down the gate hall, she looked exhausted from the long flight, a feeling you knew all too well yourself. She was wearing a pair of sweats and a hoodie, combined with a messy bun. When she laid eyes on your poster her face lit up. Welcome to London, my favourite Tillie!

"Oh we're so showing Mini your sign." She greets you with a hug. “Yeah, let's send her a picture. I promised I'd text her when you landed.” The two of you pose together with the sign, while someone next to you takes your picture.

“Are you hungry?” You ask while you take half of her bags. “I ate on the plane, but am in desperate need of a coffee.” In the coffee shop you catch up for a bit over coffee, and breakfast for you, before Kyra gets a call. She walks out of the shop to take the call, while you scroll on your phone.

“What’s wrong?” The panicked look on her face as she walked back in immediately grabbing your attention. “That was the landlord of my apartment, he just let me know that he accidentally double signed. In other words, I don’t have a place to stay anymore.” Without a second thought you had a solution for her problem. “I’ve got a spare room that I never use. It’s yours if you want it.”

The following week you helped Kyra get settled and went with her for her introduction meeting at Arsenal. Initially you would just drop her off and pick her up later in the day, but she had insisted you’d join her. Together you got the Arsenal tour, and you sat to the side for all her video and picture moments. All in all, it ended up being a fun day.

The two of you had gotten close quickly over the days that passed, sure you had known each other already, but now living together brought you on a whole new level of friendship.

Tomorrow would be Kyra's first training session at Arsenal, as well as meeting the team for the first time. Besides her Aussie teammates Steph and Caitlin, she didn't know anyone more than a familiar face. You had known she was nervous, but you didn't realise just how much until she knocked on your bedroom door.

“Hey Ky, what's up?” The usual smile the girl was wearing was replaced by a frown. “Were you homesick when you first moved here?” You had been so adamant that she was just nervous, that you hadn't taken the move to another continent into consideration. “Yeah, I did. Come here.” Patting the spot on your bed besides you, you offered her a place to sit.

You talked for a while before you both fell asleep. The next day you drove Kyra to her first practice with Arsenal. You were just going to drop her off, but when you saw Caitlin get out of her car, you had to go say hi. You knew all of the Tillies from the many times you had met them in the family and friends hall after matches.

“Y/n, hi, what are you doing here?” She greeted you with a quick hug. You point back to your car where Kyra appeared from behind the trunk. “Ky has been staying with me.”

On queue Kyra appears beside you, and drops her bags to hug Caitlin tight. While the two of them embrace, another player walks up to greet you. You knew it was Katie, but as far as you remembered you had never properly met. “Hi, I'm Katie, nice to meet you.” She extends her hand. “Y/n, nice to meet you too.”

Katie inspects you, trying to figure out where she knew you from, until it finally clicked. “Oh you're Gorry’s little sister, aren’t you?” Kyra stepped out of her hug with Caitlin to defend you. “She's her own person you know.” It was really sweet, but you really didn't mind. “It's fine Ky, I am.” You rolled your eyes at her defensiveness, but behind that facade you secretly loved how she stuck up for you.

From then on Caitin and Katie picked up Kyra for practice, since you basically lived on the route to the training centre.

Kyra joined you in your room on more days than not over the next few weeks, and you would be lying to yourself if you didn’t enjoy the moments you spent together. You were quickly falling for her, and every part of you hoped that she felt the same way.

Then one morning you woke up with Kyra cuddled into your side, and her leg draped over yours. You lift your hand to gently play with her hair, she hums with enjoyment and cuddles further into your side. “Good morning to you too.” You were like a deer in headlights, caught by the fact that she had, unbeknownst to you already been awake. “Don’t stop.”

You release the breath you were holding and continue. You must have laid there for another hour before you got out of bed. “Can I maybe take you out for breakfast?” The way her eyes lit up at your question was enough for you to realise that she did indeed feel the same way. “I would love that.”

The two of you had been together ever since, just keeping it to yourselves to enjoy your time together away from prying eyes. Which is why you were stressed since your sister had called that she was coming to visit with her family, because she was meeting with the West Ham United team. You had offered your home as a place for them to stay while she had her meeting, and while her and Clara would be looking at homes for their family.

“Relax babe, we never changed my room back to a guest room, so they won’t notice a thing if we act like just friends for a couple days.” Kyra tried reassuring you. You had talked about telling her, but ultimately you decided that you weren’t ready to tell her yet, and Kyra was fine with that.

Kyra offered Mini and Clara her room, while she took the couch, and your niece Harper was overjoyed to be having a sleepover in your room for a couple of days. It was nice having your family around, and you were excited to have them closer after the move as well.

Mini and Clara were out house hunting while you and Kyra spent some time with Harper. Harper insisted on some painting, and you could not stop laughing when the girl had started painting Kyra instead of her paper. While Harper was dancing and singing her little heart out to Frozen, you cleaned Kyra’s face. When you were done you placed a quick kiss on her lips. “All done.”

Meanwhile a few blocks over Mini’s mind was on something besides house hunting. “I think they’re together.” She stated to Clare, who was busy inspecting the kitchen of the place they were currently in. “Who?”

“Y/n and Kyra.” This got Clara’s attention. “What makes you think that?” Mini went on and on about how Kyra’s room looked like it hadn’t been touched in weeks, that you looked so comfortable together, the glances she had noticed between the two of you, and just the general vibe when the two of you were in a shared space. “Well, if they are, what would you think of that?” Mini thought for a moment before ultimately deciding that she thought the two of you would be cute together and good for each other.

Mini had not expected to get answers to her question on if the two of you were together or not, but when she put Harper to bed, her little girl snitched on you right away. “Did you have fun today?” The girl nodded her head enthusiastically before telling her mom all about the things that you had done today and finished her story with, “Oh and Auntie and Kywa was kissing.” Mini smiled to herself. “Oh did they now, sweetheart? I am glad you had a good day. Sweet dreams.”

The next morning you head out to breakfast all together, before your sister and her family fly back for a couple more months. “This place is great, y/n. Where did you find it?” You’re glad that they are enjoying the food just as much as you do. “I took Kyra here when she was all settled in.” You were soaking in all the time with your little niece as much as you could, so you were helping her colour in her drawing while you were speaking to the adults at the table.

“Oh, did you go here for your first date?” Since you were so focussed on the colouring you didn’t think before speaking. “Yeah- oh.” Your head shot up at your older sister, though you relax when you see the proud smirk on her face. “You knew?”

Mini points to Harper, “We’ve got ourselves a little snitch on our hands, she saw you two kiss yesterday. I did also have a feeling already.” You felt relieved now that your sister knew, because she was the person you were most scared of telling, with Kyra being one of her best friends and all.

You drove Mini, Clara, and Harper to the airport with Kyra, where you said your temporary goodbye’s. Knowing that they would be back in two months to move to London. You couldn’t wait to have your family close again.

-----

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dixons-sunshine · 3 days

Note

hii, i just saw a post with a few daryl headcanons, and one of them were about how attentive he would be his partner in general (like her mannerisms or habits), and i think he would really pay attention to some really specific things about her and everyone including reader would be like ¿¿¿¿¿, 😂so i was just thinking if maybe you could write something about that? i love your writtings!!

Observe | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: Daryl Dixon is an extremely observant guy. He notices things that people normally wouldn't pick up on. That didn't change when the two of you got together. In fact, it increased by a tenfold.

Or, four different scenarios where the archer shows he knows more about you than you think.

Genre: Fluff, smut.

Era: Prison, season 4; Alexandria, pre Saviour arc.

Warnings: Swearing, oral (f receiving), mentions of unprotected p in v.

Word count: 1.8k.

A/n: I'm so close to being done with a young!Daryl fic, but my mind is struggling to work towards the ending, so I wrote this instead. By the way, I suck at writing smut, so I'm so sorry if it's bad. However, I hope you like this!

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

“Zach, please, I beg of you, just shut up,” you laughed, settling back against the passenger seat of the car with your legs propped up on the dashboard.

The eighteen year old laughed at you, propping his head up against your seat. “Come on, one more.”

“Zach, don't,” you warned him, sending him a mocking glare.

Daryl watched the interaction in amusement. The run the three of you had gone on went relatively smoothly, and the teenager had taken it upon himself to celebrate the victory by reading jokes from a book he had found, albeit they were rather terrible. However, even he had to admit that the horribleness of the jokes made them rather funny, and Zach used that to his advantage.

“What did one toilet say to the other?” Zach asked, laughing at the joke from his book.

“Zach—” you started warningly, but Zach cut you off.

“You appear to be a bit flushed!” Zach finished, laughing loudly at the lame joke.

You let out an audible groan, rolling your eyes at him. However, Daryl could instantly tell that you did find the joke rather funny. The subtle changes in your facial expression gave it all away.

“That was terrible,” you told him with a shake of your head, folding your arms over your chest.

“You thought it was funny, though,” Zach pointed out, flipping to the next page in the book.

“Do you see me laughing?”

“Nah, but tha' ain't necessary,” Daryl piped in, talking for the first time since Zach had started his onslaught of terrible jokes. “Ya did find it funny. Yer nose slightly scrunches when ya think somethin' is amusin'. And yer eyes crinkle at the corners, too. Plus ya mouth slightly twitches up into a smile before disappearin'.”

The car got immensely silent after that. The only sound that could be heard was the rumble of the engine as the car descended back towards the prison. You were staring at Daryl in surprise, but he could see the way your mouth slightly twitched up into a small smile. It made Daryl's face heat up, and he ducked his head.

“Well,” Zach started, clearing his throat and shutting the book again. “Aren't you just an observant lover, Daryl?”

“Shut up, kid,” Daryl mumbled, his knuckles tightening around the steering wheel.

“No, it's cute! Who would've thought that a guy like you would pick up on something like that? You know, Beth—”

As Zach yammered on, Daryl's eyes drifted back to you. You were holding your knees up to your chest and resting your chin on them, but your head was turned towards him. You were staring at him with a lovesick smile, and he felt his heart start pounding against his ribcage. He wished that he could just reach out and hold one of your hands in his own. However, he wasn't big on public displays of affection, and Zach would tease him relentlessly if he did so in the teenager's presence, so he opted instead to send you a small smile.

Luckily, later that night when you were both on watch duty, he could hold you in his arms to his heart's content.

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

“I'm telling you, that Spencer guy is such a fucking jerk,” you started, walking into your Alexandrian home with Daryl, Michonne and Rick hot om your tail.

Rick nodded in agreement. “Yeah. He is a real asshole. I don't know how the people here put up with him.”

Michonne practically flopped herself down on the couch, kicking off her boots that came clad with the constable uniform. “He's Deanna's son. He's practically royalty here. That means he's untouchable.”

Rick was eyeing the loveseat couch, ready to fall down and just relax, but Daryl's hand gripping his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. Rick sent the archer a confused look, but Daryl wasn't even watching the former sherrif—he was watching you. Rick followed his gaze and saw you sit on the couch, bringing your legs up to rest on the plush seat. You leaned your back against the back of the couch as you listened to Michonne talk about her day, adding your own comments every now and again.

“She's been doin' tha' everyday since we got here,” Daryl offered a quiet explanation when Rick sent him another look. “She rarely sits on any couch 'sides tha' one. Tha's her favourite spot.”

“Did she tell you that?” Rick asked, glancing in your direction.

“Nah,” Daryl replied, shaking his head. “I can see it on her face every time she has to sit on any other couch. She prefers the loveseat.”

Rick sent the archer a teasing smile, lightly patting him on the shoulder. “I didn't even notice that. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you did, though. When you're not hunting or going on runs, you're watching her. It's really cute.”

Daryl scoffed and shrugged the man's hand from his shoulder. “I dun' always watch her. S'jus' somethin' I picked up on. Ain't gotta read into it or anythin'.”

“You don't need to be ashamed of admitting you know little things about the person you love, Daryl,” Rick assured him, giving him another light pat on the back. “Knowing things like that just shows that you care.”

Daryl looked back over at you again, your melodic laughter filling the air when Michonne said something funny. Daryl could feel his heart swell with love, and he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

Rick chuckled and nudged Daryl. “C'mon, you lovestruck fool. Let's relax.”

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

Daryl walked back into the community, a slight skip in his step, something extremely uncommon for the otherwise serious archer. He had a string of rabbits over his shoulder, and he couldn't wait to skin them and make some stew with them for you. From all of the animals he's ever brought back from his hunts, he had noticed that you seemed to have a huge liking for rabbit. Today he had managed to find a few rabbits, and he intended to surprise you.

When he got to the porch of the house, he sat down in his usual spot and began the skinning process. His hands made quick work of skinning his kills, and in no time at all, he was done. When he was sure that he had cleaned up the blood to ensure that Carol didn't bite his head off again for messing up the porch, he made his way inside and into the kitchen.

However, Daryl stopped in his tracks when he saw you already in the kitchen.

Perking up when you saw your partner, you sent him a smile. “Hey, Dar! You're back.”

Daryl nodded. “Yeah, uh... Wasn't much to find out there 'cept, uh, rabbit.”

Daryl's lips twitched up into a small smile when he saw how you visibly perked up at the mere mention of something you enjoyed. He admired the way a smile lit up your face, your eyes crinkling slightly.

“Rabbit?”

“Yeah,” Daryl confirmed, holding up the skinned animal. “Wanted to surprise ya with some rabbit stew. S'why I came home earlier. But yer already home and stuff, so tha' kinda fell through the rug.”

You stepped forward and embraced the man in a hug, and Daryl returned it after a few moments, careful to keep the meat away from you. He felt the way you nuzzled your face against his chest, and he smiled.

“It doesn't matter. Thank you anyways,” you told him, withdrawing from the hug. “How about you bring that and we'll make some rabbit stew together?”

Daryl nodded. “Alrigh'. Sounds like a good plan to me.”

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

“Daryl, oh my god!” Your moans filled the room, your back arching off the bed as you tightly gripped onto Daryl's hair.

Daryl hummed against your core as his tongue licked another stripe from your clit down to your entrance, matching the pace of his fingers that were thrusting into you. His mouth latched onto your clit and started sucking, successfully coaxing moans from you that were downright sinful. Your grip on his hair tightened as you practically shoved his head deeper against you.

After a few moments, your grip on his hair loosened. You instead opted to grip onto the sheets beneath you, your hands clenching into fists before unclenching again, the only sounds from you being garbled words that Daryl couldn't understand and high-pitched moans. Daryl smirked against your pussy, and started speeding up the pace.

Daryl knew those signs meant that you were close to unraveling. Whether he was eating you out like a starved man or he was stuffed deep inside of you, it didn't matter. You always did that when the coil in your stomach was close to snapping. It's something that didn't even register in your mind, the haze of pleasure evaporating any and all thoughts from your head.

Not too long after, you finally came undone. Daryl didn't ease up, licking up every drop that came gushing from your core. When he was done, he lifted his head, and you could see the way your slick was dripping from his face. You couldn't see the blues of his eyes anymore, his pupils blown wide with lust.

Daryl clambered upwards and caught your lips in a passionate kiss. You moaned at the taste of you in his mouth and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, your nails lightly digging into his skin. Daryl smirked against your lips, before pulling away and gazing into your eyes.

“Think ya can handle another one, sunshine?”

You didn't give him a verbal response, but Daryl didn't need one. The way you licked your lips and tightened your hold against him was enough. He leaned down for another quick kiss before quickly making work of removing his pants, not missing the way your eyes followed his hands as they freed his cock from his jeans. He also didn't miss the way you swallowed deeply.

“Dun' worry, peach,” Daryl voiced, finally removing his jeans and rejoining you on the bed again. “I know what ya need. I can see it.”

Yeah, it was safe to say that Daryl Dixon was the most observant guy ever.

289 notes · View notes

hannieehaee · 2 days

Note

idk if anyone has requested or mentioned this yet, but have u ever thought of sub hoshi??? also i love ur work, it’s absolutely incredible🤧 i love it sm😖💐

18+ / mdi

content: sub!hoshi, softdom!reader, afab reader, smut, edging, handjob, oral (m receiving), penetrative sex, mentions of crying, etc.

wc: 1139

a/n: amazing concept, anon. not proofread btw sorry for any mistakes</3

masterlist

"w-why are you being so mean to me?", cried the boy as he hissed in sensitivity.

his complaints did not prevent your fingers from slowly running up and down his chest, gracing the nipples you'd just spent twenty minutes sucking and biting into.

"just let me go, i'll be good, i promise!", he whined as he pulled at the restraints you'd used to tie each of his built arms to the bed frame.

"i can't do that, soonie. you asked for this, remember?", you pouted mockingly at the desperate boy.

you knew soonyoung to be quite experimental in bed. he was really down to do anything at least once, which was something that kept your sex life quite interesting throughout the duration of your relationship. for instance, a few weeks ago he had insisted on testing out bondage, choosing to try it on you as he tortured you for hours on end. after the fact, he had insisted on your own usage of it, begging you tie him up and have your way with him.

and so you did it. again and again, and he kept coming back for more, insisting you play with him time after time as he begged for your touch, trapped and unable to touch you back.

it quickly became a staple in your sex life, with the strong boy becoming a weak mess under you any time the mood struck for him to lay back and allow you to do with him as you wished. you'd still switch roles every so often, but soonyoung had grown addicted to you having your way with him as of late.

even now as he begged for you to let go, you knew that no part of him actually wanted the torture to stop. that furrow of his brows and the heavy puffs of air he was letting out were all you needed to know he was deep into the torturous pleasure you were giving him.

"want more ... want you to touch me ..." he pleaded despite one of your hands already being on his chest and the other wrapped around his cock.

but that was the crux of soonyoung's problem. the feather-like touches you kept giving him kept making him grow dizzier by the second. you'd get him there in the slowest way possible, only to take your hands off him and play with yourself as he watched.

he'd beg and plead at you to let him go, to stop being so mean to him, but deep down you knew his cries demanded for you to continue, to take him to a point where his sobs would become pathetic and uncontrollable, forcing you to finally let him have his finish.

you'd only edged him three times thus far, playing with his cock and rubbing at his sensitive nipples while you fed off his pretty whines. you'd also edged yourself along with him, not allowing yourself to cum even once as you forced him to watch you without a single lick of gratification.

"touch you? but i am touching you, baby. see?", you squeezed his cock a little harder, "is this not enough?"

"need more, just ... want you, please."

"want me? what do you want, soonie? want me to touch myself again?-"

"no! no, please. need to touch you. just ... it's been long enough, just take off th- fuck ...," he groaned when your mouth suddenly went down to lick at the tip of his cock, interrupting his pleas.

"but soonie ... want your cock so bad," you breathed as you kitten licked at his tip, occasionally slipping it into your mouth as your hands continued to jerk at it.

the slamming of the headboard could be heard from the way soonyoung pulled at his restraints in attempt to free himself. groans of desperation accompanied the sounds of the headboard, with soonyoung clearly growing more frustrated than usual.

"baby, just ... let me have you, i- i'll be good, i promise. i've been so good for you, just n-need to feel you," he cried.

you only tortured him for a few more moments before finally pulling away, granting him with a sweet kiss before beginning to undo his restraints. not wanting to run the risk of him accidentally injuring himself (knowing that the promise of some pussy would likely have him taking such risk), you decided to finally give into him.

the sight of the boy under you was absolutely pathetic. tears stained his cheeks and his eyebrows remained furrowed, a permanent pout attached to his lips. his hands were delicate as they dug into your hips, silently begging for you to please sit on his cock. his hiccuped pleas for your cunt made you coo at him, finally giving in to him and sinking down on his blushing cock.

"a-ah, fuck, thank you thank you thank you thank you," he chanted breathily, "feel so fucking good ... finally," he sighed, eyes rolling back.

"been so good, soonie. deserve to feel so so good," you whined back, immediately speeding up and bouncing up and down his cock, not caring about how sensitive the two of you were after over an hour of edging.

"i-it's so good, so fucking good ...", he cried as tears began pouring down his face. his hips attempted to weakly hump against your own despite the immense sensitivity he was feeling, "'m gonna cum, fuck. can i cum? please, i need- i need to cum."

"cum, soonie, just wanna make you feel good," you nodded frantically, "been so good for me ... cum with me, baby. i'll cum too, i- i'll cum," you moaned.

the tightrope inside you snapped, leading soonyoung to wail out your name surrounded by pathetic cries of 'sorry' and 'thank you' as his stomach caved in and brought him to his orgasm.

"so g-good. always make me feel so fucking good," he kept repeating while his hips lost control, filling you up without a care in the world.

once your orgasm subsided, you let yourself fall against his chest, kissing at his chest and neck as his own orgasm simmered down. his hands were still digging into your hips and ass, groaning endlessly at every bit of physical contact you gave him. his pretty gasps hiccuped between his groans, creating a choir of noises as his load filled you up in a seemingly endless manner.

when he finally made it to the other side, balls empty and out of energy, he caught his breath by breathing into your neck, holding you against him without minding your weight atop his own.

more thank you's were shared in whispers, kisses being exchanged as you took care of each other in the most intimate of ways, his cock still buried deep inside you. you fell asleep like this, entirely too relaxed and content as you held each other to sleep.

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munsonsmixtapes · 2 days

Note

Could you do one where the f reader and Eddie Munson are friends and she’s Henderson’s sister. Plus sized and wearing big glasses. A book worm but with a bunch of ear piercings. They end up playing truth or dare and they end up sleeping together after and a confession of long hidden feelings?

Thank you so much for the request, lovely!!

Eddie x fem!plus size!reader

cw: MDNI 18+ smut, (p in v), brief mention of fatphobia

The sun shone into Eddie’s bedroom, giving you the perfect light to read your book. Your best friend, Eddie was laying on your stomach, playing his Game Boy, the only noise that could be heard throughout the room coming from the thing as a part of whatever game he was playing.

You looked down at him in admiration, loving the way his tongue was sticking out a bit, a cute little thing he did when he was focusing on something. Part of you wanted to tell you how you really felt about him, but you couldn’t risk ruining your friendship. You didn’t have many friends and you really couldn’t lose the best one you ever had.

Eddie turned to face you, his game being thrown to the side. You glanced at him, seeing the look of mischief of his face then pushed your glasses further up through bridge of your nose before turning back to your book, not in the mood for his games.

“Y/n,” he whined. “Pay attention to me.” He buried his face into your stomach and you moved your free hand to his hair, giving his head a little scratch, hoping that would help.

“I will once I finish this chapter.” Eddie couldn’t wait that long. He was growing bored of his game and needed something to else to do.

“How good can it be?” He scoffed and you just rolled your eyes.

“Really good.” Sasha and Wren were just about to duel and you had to know if they were going to put their differences aside and finally kiss.

“Let me see that.” He grabbed the book from you and read a few words before taking your bookmark to keep your place then set it aside. “Boring.” He feigned a yawn then snuggled into your shoulder.

“Oh no, you’re not going to interrupt my reading then fall asleep.” You pushed him off of you then sat up. Eddie then moved to sit in front of you, his eyes locking on yours.

“How about we play a game, then?”

“We can go to the arcade.” You didn’t like the idea of going anywhere, but maybe Eddie would win you a prize. That made it seem worth it.

“Or we can play something right here,” he smirked and you didn’t like what he was up to. The mischievous look appeared on his face again and you leaned away, not wanting got get dragged into whatever he was planning.

“We should play truth or dare.” That was worse than what you were expecting. You didn’t actually think that people played that game, that it was something that only happened in movies.

“What are you, twelve?” You scoffed. The game just seemed so juvenile whenever you had seen it play out.

“C’mon, y/n, let’s just play.” You thought for a second and didn’t see what it would hurt. It was just a little game.

“Fine,” you rolled your eyes. “Let’s play.”

“Okay, you get the first question.” You didn’t like that. It didn’t give you much time to think of anything even though a lot of things were coming to mind. A lot of inappropriate things you shouldn’t have been thinking about when it came to your best friend.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.” That caught you off guard. You were expecting him to pick dare since he was always willing to do something crazy.

“Truth?” Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Just ask me a question, y/n,” he rolled his eyes. Nothing was coming to mind but your feelings for him and how badly you wanted him. You were feeling so pathetic.

“Who was your first kiss?” That seemed like a safe thing to ask even though you already knew the answer.

“Dana Stewart when I was thirteen.” You hated that you were jealous and wished you had a time machine to go back in time and take Dana’s place. Maybe then, you’d be Eddie’s girlfriend instead of being stuck in the friend zone.

Maybe it was because Dustin was your little brother and Eddie thought it would have been weird to date you because they were so close. Or maybe he just had no interest in you romantically whatsoever. That had to be it. If he was interested, he would have asked you out by now. And then you’d be snuggled up in his arms instead of playing this stupid game.

“My turn,” he smirked and this one seemed sweeter than the other one. “Truth or dare, sweetheart?” He let out a sigh as he leaned back onto the mattress.

“Truth,” you replied, curious as to what he was going to ask. Probably something ridiculous.

“Since we’re on the subject of kissing, how would you feel about kissing…me?” Your eyes widened and your brain short circuited at the words that come out of his mouth. You never thought the day would come, that it would only ever happen in your dreams.

Okay, so maybe Eddie had suggested this whole game just so he could kiss you because he had been too afraid to just go for it and plant one on you just because he wanted to. Your silence made him realize just how much of a line had crossed by even asking.

You shook your head, trying to get the words out of your head. You needed him to repeat himself in order to be sure that you were just imagining things.

“Sorry, what?” You asked and Eddie just chuckled, licking his lips before speaking again.

“I asked how you would feel about kissing me,” he repeated, leaning closer to you, his face only inches from yours. He wanted to kiss you? You never thought you’d see the day. You were sure that was only ever going to do that in your dreams.

“I think I’d pretty into it,” you nodded and Eddie fought a smile that was trying to come out on his face. He slowly leaned forward, pressing his hands to your cheeks, leaning forward even more, his lips ghosting over yours.

“This is okay, right? I’m not making you uncomfortable?” He whispered. You were always Eddie’s number one priority and he’d hate himself if he had ever made you feel uncomfortable or hurt you in any way. He loved you and he wanted to protect you, even if it was from himself.

He pushed some hair behind one of your ears, revealing your many piercings, more memories that you had made together. He had been there for you for every single one and he’d be there for you for many more.

“Not at all. Just kiss me, please.” Your words came out desperate and that made Eddie’s dick harder a little.

“Well, since you said please,” he smirked and finally placed his mouth on yours, his lips slotting between yours. They moved together in sync while your hands rested on his chest. The kiss was soft and sweet and nothing like you had imagined, considering the details he had given you about the girls he hooked up with, but you liked that you were getting that side of him.

Eddie pulled away before you were ready and pressed his forehead to yours, his brown doe eyes pouring into yours. His thumbs stroked your cheeks and a smile kicked up at the corner of his mouth.

“Was that good enough for you?” He asked, even though it was very much not good enough for him. He had just a little taste and was already growing addicted to the feeling of your lips on his.

“I’m not sure, I think I need a bit more.” As soon as the words left your mouth, Eddie’s lips were on yours again, this time rougher. This was what you had imagined; him taking whatever he wanted from you while you were there, pliant to his every touch.

His hands moved from your cheeks down to your waist, trying to pull you closer despite the fact that the both of you were sitting with your legs crossed. You pulled away and uncrossed your legs before climbing into Eddie’s lap, wrapping your legs around his waist.

Your lips were on his once again and his tongue swiped along your bottom lip and you opened up just enough to let him slide it inside. It swirled around your own tongue and his hands slowly moved to the bottom of your shirt, wanting to move underneath it, but he was unsure.

“God,” he practically moaned. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“You have?” Your eyes widened at his confession.

“Of course I have,” he licked his lips again. “Been wanting to kiss you since I found that you love Lord of the Rings, doll.” That was over a year ago. He had wanted to kiss you that long and you had no idea? You wondered why he hadn’t just gone for it because you definitely would have let him.

“I guess I should tell you that I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time too.”

“Aww, l/n, do you have a crush on me?” He winked and you just blushed. “Oh my god, that’s so cute.” He laughed and you just covered your face with your hands.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Eddie grabbed onto your wrists and pulled your hands away. “Need to see your pretty face, doll. Sorry, I guess I should have told you that I have a crush on you too.” Your brain short circuited at that. All of your fantasies were actually coming true. The man of your dreams could actually be yours.

“You like me?” Your face lit up and Eddie thought it was the cutest thing.

“So much,” he pressed a kiss to your lips. “Like, you have no idea.” Another one.

“Does that mean you…wanna be my boyfriend.” Eddie just let out a laugh at that and you weren’t sure what that meant.

“Y/n, of course I want to be your boyfriend. In fact, I’d be honored.” His hands moved up and down your hips reassuringly.

“So does that mean that I’m your girlfriend?”

“Sure does,” he winked. “If you want to be.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anything else, Eds.” You threw your arms around him with so much force that he fell back onto the mattress, you landing on top of him.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, sweetheart.” You had straddled him without even thinking and were now very aware of what it looked like you were trying to do.

“Oh, I’m planning on finishing,” you smirked before pressing your lips to his in a messy kiss, catching his top lip between your two. You licked into his mouth, swirling your tongue around his as your hands trailed down his stomach and up his shirt, wanting to touch any inch of skin you could find. It was soft and warm and you loved the way it felt underneath your hands.

“Can I remove this?” You asked, moving your hands back to the bottom of his shirt.

“Please do.” Eddie leaned forward and held his arms up so you could take his shirt off with ease and you let it fall to the floor before reaching for the bottom of the hoodie, but hesitated once you realized that Eddie was going to see your body.

The confidence that you had just a few seconds ago immediately disappeared when you thought about the fact that you weren’t skinny. Sure, Eddie knew that you were fat, but it was going to be very different seeing you naked.

You weren’t the usual kind of girl he slept with. You had seen the girls that he had left with at parties and most of them definitely didn’t look like you. There were a slim few that did, but that didn’t exactly make you feel better.

You had been with too many people that saw you as toy that they could use then throw away when they were done. The kind of people who would sleep with you just to make themselves seem inclusive. The kind of people who would only claim you in the bedroom but would swear you to secrecy as soon as you left because they were ashamed to let anyone know that they actually slept with a fat girl. And you were done with that bullshit.

But Eddie wasn’t like that, not in the slightest. He was sweet and caring and you knew he would never judge you for what your body looked like. Even if he didn’t like the way you looked, he would have at least been a gentleman about it.

You closed your eyes and slowly removed your hoodie and set it beside you, hearing nothing but a gasp come from Eddie’s lips as he caught sight of your body.

“Fuck,” he said, his voice low and raspy. Your eyes widened then formed into a glare, putting your hands on your hips.

“Excuse me,” you asked in a confused tone. That was definitely not what you were expecting to hear. You weren’t exactly sure what your reaction should have been considering no one had ever responded that way to seeing your body.

“Fuck,” he repeated, more emphasis this time. Eddie leaned up from the bed then looked you up and down, taking his time to admire every inch of you. He knew that you were beautiful, but seeing you with almost no clothing on made you even more so. He loved your curves and the stretch marks that he so desperately wanted to run his fingers over.

“Doll-” he cut himself off, trying to find the right words, everything he was going to say getting jumbled up in his brain. “You’re a knockout.”

“You’re just saying that.” He was just being nice, you were sure of it. That was just who he was. He was a gentleman and everything he was saying was just because he didn’t want to hurt your feelings.

“No, no. You’re-fuck-you’re amazing.”

“Eddie, you don’t have to lie to me.”

“I may be a lot of things, sweetheart, but a liar isn’t one of them. And I’d be happy to show you just how fucking gorgeous I think you are.” As soon as the words left his mouth, you pushed him down on the bed, pinning him there as you pressed a bruising kiss to his lips.

“Then show me.” You pressed your lips to his again and his hand moved down to the waistband of your sweatpants, pulling them down to your thighs. You got them down the rest of the way and they fell to the floor. Eddie’s hands went to your ass as you unbuttoned his pants before moving off of him so he had more ease removing them.

Once he had them off, he reached for a condom and set it aside and removed his underwear then grabbed the condom and removed it from the pocket and rolled it onto his dick.

Eddie pressed his lips to yours, his hands moving to your back as he slowly lowered you to the mattress. His pressed open mouthed kisses to your skin, making his way to your neck. He gave the spot a gentle peck, another one to your jaw.

“Gonna make some pretty sounds for me?” He asked in a whisper, his lips right by your ears.

“Mhm,” you nodded and he pulled back to look at you. He hooked his finger under your chin and forced you to look into his eyes.

“Use your words,” he commanded and you couldn’t help but comply.

“Yes,” you nodded and he moved his lips back to your ear.

“That’s what I like to hear, princess,” he whispered before bringing your earlobe between his teeth, giving it the gentlest bite, causing you to let out a squeal.

He slowly moved himself down on top of you and took your hands in his and pressed a kiss to your lips before slowly trailing some back down your neck and to your shoulders. He found your first stretch mark and ran one of his fingers over it, hating that such a small mark made her feel so bad about yourself. If Eddie was being honest, he loved seeing them on people. It gave them character. He pressed a few kisses to the mark before moving on to her chest, moving his way to your other arm, pressing even more kisses to the other mark.

His lips moved further down your body until he got to her hips. He looked up at you and could see that your eyes were closed.

“Can I move these,” he asked, referring to your underwear and your eyes shot open as you nodded enthusiastically.

“Please do,” you urged and he moved them down just enough to where he could see the stretch marks across your stomach and at your hips. Those ones were more prominent than the others, more red.

“These are pretty,” he ran the fingers of both of his hands along the marks on your stomach, moving them down to your hips in a feather light touch.

“Really?”

“Beautiful,” he corrected, pressing a kiss to each one. He removed your underwear completely and let out a dramatic gasp at how wet you were.

“Sweetheart, is this all for me?”

“Well, it’s certainly not for me.”

“Well, I’m honored,” he grinned. “How about I reward you for being such a good girl today?” You liked that idea a lot and nodded eagerly.

He lined himself up with your pussy and grabbed onto your hips before pounded into you, causing you to let out a moan. “Oh, making your pretty sounds just like you promised, I see.”

“Oh, Eddie,” you moaned as he continued, his movements rough and hard just like you liked it. “Right there, baby, yeah.”

Eddie kept going, pumping his cock in and out of your cunt as you let out the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard and he made some of his own at the pleasure he was experiencing. You liked the way he sounded and knew that his moans would live in your head forever and maybe if everything went well, you’d be able to hear them whenever you wanted.

“Look at you,” he continued to pound into you. “Taking my cock so well, baby girl.” He leaned down and pressed a filthy kiss to your lips, his tongue slipping into your mouth as he did so, the thing roaming around as if he was looking for something as his hand moved to your tit, giving it a squeeze. He then began to massage your nipple with the pad of his thumb, just enough to make it hard, eliciting another moan from you. Once he got what he wanted, he leaned back up and pumped his dick in and out of you, the fastest and hardest he could.

“Oh, Eddie,” you moaned, gripping at his sheets. “Shit, so good.” He took that as an invitation to continue to fuck you the same way he had been, loving how wild it was driving you.

“Got one more in you, sweetheart?” He asked, pausing to see what your response was.

“One more, baby. And make it your best.”

After one more big thrust and your loudest moan yet, Eddie pulled out and got rid of the condom before helping you clean yourself up, being nothing but complimentary to you the entire time, telling you how good you did and how beautiful you were. It made you feel nothing but warm inside, making you feel special for once.

The two of you got under the covers, not even bothering to change into pajamas and Eddie pulling you to him, one hand resting on your back and the other smoothing the hair at the back of your head. He pressed a lingering kiss to your forehead then pulled back to look at you, your eyes meeting his.

“I love you.” The words came out so suddenly, but he meant every single one of them. He really did love you and had for a long time. He felt it anytime he was around you, his heart filling up with warmth. Now that he had actually said it, he really believed it, finally accepting that that was what he had been feeling for you all along.

You froze at his words, your eyes widening once again. He loved you? Not only did he want to be your boyfriend, but he also loved you? Your dreams really had come true.

And you loved him too. You loved him with every single part of you and had wanted to tell him for so long, but the words always got stuck in your throat. Now that he had said them first, you definitely didn’t think it was hard anymore.

“I love you too, Eds,” you replied and he pulled you into a kiss, this one deeper and sweeter than the others, as if he was pouring all the love he had for into it. Once he pulled away, you buried your face into his neck, letting sleep claim you, wondering what you were going to dream about now since you finally had everything you could have ever wished for right there in your arms.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x plus size reader #eddie munson x henderson!reader

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spicyclover · 2 days

Text

In a haze

Summary : In the car, there are millions of thoughts that pass one after the other. The brain accumulates and releases at hundredths of a second all the information we need to be good drivers. However, sometimes it happens that the information never comes back and we are lost in this infinite mist.

Request

Hope you’ll enjoy it. Let me know in the comment section.

Thank you! :)

Lots of love, xxx Spicy Clover

WARNING : mention of crash | lose of consciousness

The humidity is at its peak. Singapore is really one of the most physical races. The overwhelming and stifling heat prevents the brain from accumulating air properly. I already regret leaving the refrigerated hospitality to join the garage. I meet some fans on my way and I stop to take some pictures.

I am quickly escorted out of the crowd. I run to join the others to start the parade. I regroup with the two Ferraris and Max who discuss qualifications. I am P8. I could have had more, but a moment of distraction made me lose seconds in a corner. I smile at Charles and shake Carlos’s hand. I'm sweating in my team gear, it's really the worst. The Ferraris boys are not better, Charles is red as a tomato and Carlos look like he's going faint any second.

In the distance, I see Daniel. He is in a corner, his headphones on his ears. He has his face of concentration. He's cute, makes him look more serious. Since the beginning of the year, he hasn’t smiled as much. He’s not the same as before. He gradually realizes that his days are numbered in this sport and it scares him. I understand that feeling. I am the only woman on the grid and at my first mistake, I have a horde of men wanting to replace me with their macho and sexist criticism. Daniel raises his head and crosses my eyes. A smile expands on my lips and he seems to relax.

With the parade over, I return to the garage for the final preparations. I visualize the race in my head. I review the turns, the areas of acceleration, the areas of deceleration. I calculate the pressure of my tires and I look at the temperature one last time during the race. Filling my brain with all this information helps me not to be overwhelmed by pressure. I relativize and focus on the fact by what can happen.

It’s already time to get in the car. As always, the pressure goes up and I feel like my head is going to explode. I get in the car. I put my helmet on. When the helmet goes on my head, I no longer calculate what’s around me. Everything around me gets foggy and only my car counts. I hear my engineer in my ear and listen to the instructions.

The journalists and the teams leave the track. The crowd is on fire. I allow myself to look around. Oscar is on my right at P7. Lando is P6 ahead of me. Behind me is Daniel P10. The light turns red and the formation round begins. Max starts the pace. I warm up my tires and check my brakes one last time. I barely have time to think that the finish line is in front of me again. I install the single-seater in my starting lines and I prepare myself.

One. My pulse begin to quicken. Two. I'll move faster and faster, the fan roaring beside me. Three. My thoughts begin to wash away in a cloud of wind and dust. Four. The crowd thunders. Five.

My hands release the brake and I press the accelerator. The first corner comes quickly. I find my line among all the cars and I concentrate. The first few cars slow down and I’m right behind. I start turning the wheel. The next few seconds freeze in time. My brain tries to interpret what is happening before my eyes, but I can’t. I feel the back of my car rising in the air. In a straight perpendicular line, all I see is black and white asphalt. I let go of the steering wheel and the barrels start. My body is wandered from left to right in the car and I try to maintain myself. All this happens in seconds before I crash into the security fence.

I hear his laugh. I look up and he is in front of me, his smile bigger than the sun. I chuckle before I tongue him. I get up and start running to the ocean. He rushes after me. I peek behind me and he’s already behind.

"It’s not fair," I said, with a sulky pout. "You’re faster than me." He grabs my face in his gigantic hands and kisses me. I try to resist, but these kisses are magical that I can’t keep acting. I surrender to these lips.

"I am a high performance athlete, athletes speed." I laugh and I push him away a little. He loses balance and leads me to his fall. The fine sand is quickly encountered and my eyes get lost in his. I remove some rebellious streaks from his face. He meddles his fingers between my hair and he passes them behind my ears. "You’re beautiful." I pouffe before I kiss his lips again to silence him.

I’m back in the car. I fainted. Oh no, I lost consciousness. My vision is blurry and my ears are ringing. I try to straighten my head to look around, but I can’t. I feel like my heart is in my brain. It’s pounding and I can barely breathe. I feel a hand on my shoulder, but I can’t react. Gradually my vision darkened again.

"I don’t want us to hide anymore," whispers Daniel.

The night is cool and we’re in our hotel room in Los Angeles. This is the first time that we meet after weeks of meeting at the bend of an evening or a race. We have been living in this secret relationship for a few months now and I must admit that it is happiness. I like to find it even for a few moments, but it is true that with each separation, they become harder. I smile as I relax my head.

"We have no choice." I say, slowly fading away in my sleep.

And it’s true, we are stuck in this spiral of PR. Being the only woman on the track, I have to be attractive to the male fans. A girl in a relationship is not interesting. I hate every day since this phrase came out of my manager’s mouth. What do I give a shit about male fans? I’m not there for them, or thanks to them. I long to make a big finger in all this, but the more I think about the consequence and the more it scares me.

I am transported out of my car, I distinguish the lights of paramedics who check the dilation of my pupils. I blink and red and white flashes pass in front of my eyes. The ambulance. My helmet was removed. I don’t remember much. They talk to me, but I can’t tell the words. Everything is confusing. Yet, this hand I know. It’s his. Daniel. My eyes are frantically searching around me and I finally see him. He too has crashed. I don’t have time to think more than the paramedic pulls it out of my hand and takes me in the ambulance to the nearest hospital.

The hours that follow are a perpetual blur. I get lost in the dozens of exams and questions I am asked. I answer as best I can, but I get tired and I ask him to be beside me. I whisper his name between my lips. Many hours have passed. My senses come back little by little and I hear again the noises that surround me. I hear the beep of the machines, I hear the nurses who pass by the door of my room. I hear the television on, but I can’t understand the words. Most importantly, I hear his voice. He’s there with me. I painfully open my eyes. In the first place, everything is blurred. I can only see the light, but very quickly my vision clears and I can look at his face.

"I am so sorry, my love. I am terribly sorry." He whispers repeatedly, my hand in his.

"Hey, stranger." I say in a hoarse voice. I feel like I’ve been smoking for forty years with that voice.

"Y/n!" He cries while looking up. "You are awake."

"You didn’t think you’d get rid of me like that." I said with a laugh. I try to move to get up, but my body hurts. I moan and Daniel looks at me worried. "What happened?"

"We crashed into each other… I ran into you by accident. The car behind me didn’t brake and I was right in your corner. You rolled, I thought I’d lose you." He chokes a sob before he takes over." You landed in the safety gate and the race was paused for a long time. I… I couldn’t… I couldn’t go on without knowing if you were okay." He caresses my hair tenderly. I feel the pain in his voice and it hurts me.

"You disqualified yourself for me?"

"For you? Always." I smile and reach for him. I grab the top of his neck and our lips meet. Our kiss lasts a few minutes. We enjoy the present moment and the presence of the other. "Just to let you know, but I may have told everyone about our relationship and the media is crazy about it."

"What?" I write to myself as I step aside. What did he do? He didn’t… Oh no!

"We’ll talk later." He kisses me again with a smile. "You need to rest and heal."

"Dan…" I try to argue, but he won’t let me continue.

#daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x you #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo imagine #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #car crash

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starfxkr · 3 days

Note

i wanna sit at trailerpark!jj’s feet and ask him to slap me 🥺

*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡*ੈ✩‧₊₊˚⊹♡

you knew you'd been bad, jj had made that abundantly clear on the drive home.

"i don't know what the fuck got into you tonight little girl, but that was not fuckin cool. fuckin embarrassing me like that, jesus christ." he didn't even look at you while he drove, didn't slide you closer with his hand on your thigh, just smoked his cigarette and let the soft rock play on the radio in a tense silence.

you thought it'd be a good idea to not pay attention to him the whole night--at least until you had something combative and bitchy to say. every kiss was rebuffed with a visible look of disgust and all his friends noticed. in all honesty, you don't know what had gotten into you, or at least you did you just didn't want to admit it. one of his old flings was there, and despite the two of you having a very solid 6 months, you couldn't help the rush of memories you got. of walking in to see them cozied on the couch together, the intrusive images of you imagining them fucking had soured your mood.

despite him still opening the door for you and giving you his customary pat on the head when you entered the home he was stoney--opening a beer and sitting in his recliner without sparing you a glance.

normally you'd sit on the couch, tucked under his arm watching reruns of old sitcoms until you got sleepy or horny or both. you didn't like this at all. so you sat at his feet, kneeling in front of him hoping he'd look at you.

he didn't. not even when you reached for his belt, which caused him to just swat you away like a naught kitten and you wanted to cry.

"i know you're mad at me...i'm sorry, please look at me." you begged in a watery voice, nuzzling your cheek against his knee but still no response, "please papa i'm sorry."

jj just settled into the seat more, clearing his throat and looking right above you before taking another swig of his beer.

the tears were starting to fall now, and you grew more desperate, "you can do whatever you want just don't be mad! i'll let you do whatever, you can put it in my ass again, or--um--you can fuck my face if you like? i'll even let you smack me and i promise i won't cry this time please just look at me--"

crack!

you didn't see that coming, even though logically you should have--his fingers were flexing with each passing moment in your peripheral. but when he did it you paused, eyes wide in shock as he finally stared down at you with a troubled look on his face.

"you want another one?"

you sniffle, nodding your head as you held back tears and he repeated the action, cradling your sore cheek immediately after. teach shuddery breath he let out made you whimper, subconsciously grinding your panty-covered clit against the worn leather of his boots.

jj gave you 4 more in quick succession, the cool metal of his rings soothing the ache when he finishes, rubbing his palm against the sore flesh, slipping his thumb between your lips and letting out a soft groan when you begin to suck on it.

"you were a really bad girl tonight sweet pea." his voice sounds strained, like he's barely holding on.

"i know..."

"you wanna tell me why?"

shamefully, you shake your head no, not wanting to divulge your inner thoughts.

"we can't work on this if you don't talk to me."

despite yourself you start to cry and with a sigh he leans down to lift you into his lap, shushing you until you begin to calm.

"that woman was there...and i just...i kept imagining you fucking her."

"aw c'mon sugar, i know i wasn't no good, but that whole situation is done, it's me n you now."

you dont respond just burrowing yourself deeper in him and letting his comforting smell surround you.

the two of you just sit there in silence, and he knows he has a lot of making up to do.

#✨.txt #jj maybank prompt #trailer park!jj

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corazondebeskar-reads · 3 days

Text

you know you never stood a chance - deleted scene: "hey, sister"

you know you never stood a chance series

deleted scene: hey, sister

series masterlist

Joel Miller x f!reader

Words: 4.6k

Summary: you and joel try to patch things up with ellie before the baby comes. this takes place before the epilogue but I recommend reading the epilogue first!

Note: posting this now as part of Moth & Birdee's Mother's Day Fic Challenge! This is the final deleted scene for the series. (also if the first bit seems familiar, I posted a snippet during febuwhump).

Warnings: established relationship, technically spoilers for tlou pt 2 but no one goes golfing, terrible communication, makeup sex instead of communicating, p in v, two idiots at the end of the world, fluff, brief Tommy & Maria cameos, baby used as a plot device, vague descriptions of childbirth (nothing graphic in any way), vague depictions of breastfeeding, pregnancy, postpartum depression, family trouble, joel and ellie aren't speaking, estranged family dynamics

also on ao3

dividers by @saradika-graphics

Joel has the nerve to look sheepish when you storm into the house, door smacking against the drywall. You fumble when you try to grab for the edge of it, eventually grasping and slamming it closed.

“You lied to me,” you said, low and dangerous, heart thrumming with all you’ve been told. You clasp at your chest for a moment, sure that your hand will come back red.

You let the accusation hang, daring him to grab it and throw it aside.

But he doesn’t. He can’t. He knows he’s been flayed and left open to burn.

“I lied to everybody,” he says after minutes have crept by.

“You lied to me,” you snarl. The corner of your lip jerks, an involuntary sneer. You’d trained yourself to do it in the dingy mirror of your first Boston apartment, holding the other side down until you looked as nasty and tough as the rest of them.

It worked. It was just a twitch now, unstoppable, popping up when you needed it, whether or not you wanted it.

Oh, but you do right now. You want it. You want him to see the way you’re rethinking this whole fucking situation.

“I had to,” he says.

“Oh, fuck off. I trusted you.”

“I never asked ya to,” he snaps. There he goes. There’s the Joel you know and thought you loved.

The fight slips from your fists, unfurling and folding over your chest instead. “You’re right. You didn’t.”

He doesn’t stop you when you go upstairs, but oh, does he wish he had when you come back down a few minutes later. His brain almost doesn’t put it together; the sight of your backpack straps so incongruous with your life here in Jackson.

“What—” he starts, but you don’t let him finish.

“Don’t. I’ll come back by in a few days. And you can think about if it was fuckin’ worth it, Joel.”

“Worth it to save her life?”

“For fucks sake, Joel, I’m not mad you did it! Jesus, is that what you think of me?”

You had been trying to keep quiet before, but that’s dead and buried. He raises his voice to match.

“How the hell am I supposed to know what you’re thinkin’?”

“You’re supposed to talk to me, Joel! You’re supposed to tell me shit. You tell me when there’s chili at the hall, you tell me when Tommy has a stomachache, but you can’t fuckin’ tell me how close it came? Can’t tell me what you had to do to save that girl? To bring her home?”

It’s too late. He’s shut down; you can see it. “I ain’t sorry. About any of it,” he says, and it’s clear and crisp, but you feel like it filters in from across town, something too distant to be sure what you heard.

But you know.

“Figure out if it was worth it to lose both of us,” you snarl before you can stop. And it does exactly what you meant it to. It whips across his face like a snowball packed with ice.

His own sneer twitches to meet yours. You think you might burst if you stay there too long, held perfectly still between him and the door. Might spill more words you don’t want to watch him hear, might throw and shatter the vase on the foyer table, might break down into tears.

Part of you wants to break, to give in, to try to pull the confession from him and pray he didn’t mean it. That he wants you to trust him. That he is sorry.

But you leave, and when you hear the door slam after you’re down the road, you don’t turn back.

You don’t cry until he opens the door, brows knitted together in confusion.

“What’re you doin’ here this late?”

But your lip trembles. “Tommy—” you start, and it breaks into a crackling, shaky breath. “Did you know?”

Tommy pulls you in for a hug. “Shit,” he says quietly. “No. Just this morning, too. C’mon."

You’re reading in bed when you hear them.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. She seemed awfully upset, and I think she’s already asleep.” Tommy’s voice carries easily up the stairs. He’s not a quiet kind of man.

“Jus’ let me talk to her for a minute,” Joel says.

You hold your place in the book with a finger shut between the pages, waiting to see who wins this round. It’s a toss-up, really, for who’ll crack. They’re both stubborn as all hell.

“I mean it, Joel,” Tommy says firmly but kindly. “She was cryin’ all evening and she just finally fell asleep.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Joel says. “Fine.”

You hear the slow creak of the door and heave a shaky sigh, unable to tell the difference between the relief and disappointment.

He had come looking for you. You hadn’t expected that, not really.

But of course, you don’t get to go Miller-free for the night. Tommy knocks shortly after.

“Hey,” he gives a weak half-smile. “So, how much of that did you hear?”

“All of it,” you admit.

“He seemed pretty upset,” Tommy says. He sits on the edge of the bed.

“Good,” you mutter, scowling.

“I just—look, I don’t want you to think I’m pickin’ teams. But y’all worked hard for what you’ve got. It’d be a shame if ya walked away from it.”

You sigh and lean back against the headboard. “I know. But he really hurt me this time. I trusted him.”

Tommy sighs. “I hear ya. I didn’t know, either. He really didn’t tell anybody. I think he was plannin’ on takin’ it to the grave.”

You know, because you know Joel. You know he didn’t want to put you in a hard place between him and Ellie. Didn’t want to ask you to shoulder his decision. And you know you’re going to forgive him. Maybe not today. But it’s already settling in your bones.

Joel meets you in the foyer. He must have heard you coming up the porch. You slip in and shut the door before just… standing there. Just as you had three days ago.

“Sweetheart,” Joel starts, and with it, takes all your resolve.

You sniffle.

“Don’t cry,” he pleads, but it just tips the tears over the crest of your eyes anyway.

You let him fold you into his arms, one hand cupping the back of your head to hold you against his chest. Your fingers twine into the soft green flannel, the lingering cinnamon and wood smoke as soothing as ever.

But as soon as you’ve pulled it together, you extract yourself. “We’re going to have to talk about it,” you say to the button on his breast pocket.

He tilts your chin up with two curled fingers. “I know. You gotta promise you’re gonna hear me out this time.”

You nod and before you can speak, he’s kissing you, one hand soft against your cheek.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, ya hear me?” he murmurs against your lips. “Don’t run away.”

“Don’t you do that to me again,” you retort, but there’s little fire behind it as you lean up to kiss him again.

He’s sweet from the honey he puts in your tea. He always tastes it before he gives it to you.

“Hang on, how’d you know I was coming home?”

He grimaces. “Didn’t.”

“But—“

“Shut up.” It’s not sharp, but embarrassed. His cheeks are a little flushed.

You can’t help the fond smile. “What a sap you are, Miller.”

He kisses you again, unable to stay parted for long. “M’serious,” he murmurs. “Don’t run away. Y’can be mad at me all you want, but do it here.”

“I am mad,” you say quietly.

“I know,” he says, pulling your head against his chest and holding it there under his wide palm. “I deserve it.”

“Yeah,” you nod, but there’s no heat behind it. “You’re an ass.”

“M’your ass.”

“No, this is my ass,” you wiggle a little.

“Now see, that’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart,” he gives it a hard smack, squeezing with his wide palm. “This is all mine. Said so yourself.”

It’s as if you blew out a candle, the way his eyes have gone dark and encompassing. You can’t help but moan a little, and his lips quirk up at the corner.

“Right?” he prompts, backing you over to the couch.

“Uh-huh,” you squeak as he lies you down, tugging your sweatpants down as he goes.

His fingers slide down and cup over your cunt, pushing your body close between his legs. “And this greedy little pussy is mine.” He wastes no time in pressing inside you, giving you no room or breath to adjust to his cock.

His hand slides back up to brush along the side of your breast. “Pretty tits just for me,” he murmurs in your ear, tweaking a nipple to hear you whine. His voice has gone low and rich, his Texas twang a little thicker.

His thumb rests on your lower lip. “Perfect, eager mouth.” He pulls his thumb away right as you try to suck on it and replaces it with his lips, tongue dipping in to taste you.

“Hmm? Anyone home?” he taunts.

The sound you make is more like a strangled balloon than an actual word, and he chuckles.

“See? I know what you need, sweetheart. All of you is mine,” he murmurs against your lips, pulling out torturously slow and pressing back in until your hips are flush.

“Fuck, Joel, please,” you whine. You want to be mad that he’s distracted you from being mad, but, well… it’s working.

The thick emotions of it all don’t leave so easily. Your throat is clogged with it, his breath is heavy with it, and the way he works at your clit is an apology on repeat.

Until it isn’t anymore. Until it’s less “I’m sorry” and more desperation. You’re writhing a little beneath him, the ache at a breaking point, pleading for him to push you over the edge he’s brought you to again and again and again.

“No,” he pants. “Not until you promise. Promise you won’t leave.”

“I’m not,” you nearly sob. “Joel.”

It’s the way you cry his name. He can’t keep pushing you; he pulls all the way out and drops to his knees on the living room floor, burying his face in your cunt with all the fervor he’s been fucking into you.

He goes straight for your clit, three fingers in your cunt, and wrings you dry over and over before he relents and plunges his cock back in you to the hilt, setting a punishing pace, though you aren’t sure which one of you is being punished by it.

Maybe both, but in reality, neither, since he comes deep inside you moments later.

It’s not the first time, but it is rare for him to slip up that way. Still, you think nothing of it, given how low the chances are.

Lulu is born in the peak of July. It’s hotter than hell and you’re glad that Ellie had gone with the other kids on the trip to the lake. It had been the reason you stayed behind, originally planning to go along with Maria and Alé.

Joel hadn’t wanted you to go at all. It wasn’t far and even though you weren’t due for another month, he didn’t like it.

The due date was kind of made up, though. It was really up to you and Joel counting on your fingers to see if you remembered the last time you had a period.

Not that your period was very consistent to begin with.

His eyebrows had climbed higher and higher as you went back a week at a time to see if either of you could associate an event with it, like if he had fucked you in the ass for a few days or something.

He had, but really, that wasn’t a great predictor, since he was still coming home from patrol riled up the way he used to in Boston. For the sake of your poor, well-loved cunt, you mixed it up a lot.

You waited another four weeks before going to see Alice at the clinic.

After she confirmed what you frankly already knew, you tried to talk to Ellie.

The first time you visited the shed, you almost chickened out, rocking back and forth on your heels while you waited outside. She cracked the door open, mouth twisted until she saw you.

“Hey!” She gave you a hug, and you held her as long as she allowed (which wasn’t long; she was a teenager, after all). “Wanna come in?”

“Sure, kiddo, I’d love to see what you’ve done with the place.”

She beams and lets you in, shutting the door behind her to keep out the late autumn breeze.

You’re not sure what you were expecting. You had feared something bare and cold, where she’d be lonely all winter. But the space is all Ellie. You look over, and she’s clearly bracing herself for your judgment.

“This is so cool,” you tell her, and she lights up. You drink in her toothy, genuine grin, and decide this is not the time.

“You think so?” she says.

“Kiddo, I would have killed to have a place like this when I was your age. I had a treehouse, but that was nothing compared to this. Where’d you get all this stuff?”

“I traded around town for it; you know I’ve been—” and she stops, smile gone. “Well. I guess you don’t know. I’ve been doing some jobs after school in exchange for cool stuff.”

She’s guarded again, maybe expecting you to tell her off or nag at her for not telling you.

“That’s great, kiddo. That was a clever idea. What kind of stuff have you been doing?”

You end up on the couch while she sits on her bed across the room. You don’t think the space is intentional, but you don’t want to cross it in case it is.

She tells you about babysitting and cleaning, helping other residents with their jobs in the gardens and the stables. She shows you some of her prizes as she goes, gushing over a thick astronomy textbook. It’s beyond your knowledge level, but she’s clearly been devouring every word. Its real value, she says, is that it was printed in 2003 for some college. But the textbooks they had in the QZ were from 2001.

“Did you know that after we discovered all the moons the other planets have—like did you know Jupiter has fifty moons? They told us it was 38—and then people were getting confused about our moon being the moon, so they started calling it Luna in all these research papers. It's all so fucking cool.”

“That’s incredible, Ell. I’m so proud of you.”

It’s the wrong thing to say. Sometimes, you forget she’s still a teenager.

“Yeah, it’s whatever,” she says, shifting uncomfortably. “Did you need something?”

“No. Just wanted to see you,” you lie.

It’s the wrong thing again.

“Did Joel make you come here?”

“He doesn’t even know I’m here.” That, at least, is the truth.

“Okay,” she says.

“I—” you start, not knowing what you’re going to say, but hoping your runaway tongue will do patchwork here. But she doesn’t let you get that far.

“Hey, so, I was actually going out when you got here, so.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry to have kept you.” You believe her about as much as she believed you a minute ago, but you’re not going to push. You get up, and she lets you give her a hug, but it’s not returned very enthusiastically this time. “It was nice to see you, kiddo.”

“Yeah, um, see you later.”

When she shuts the door behind you, it feels uncomfortably final.

You don’t try again for another month, when you have the excuse of Christmas to give you gumption.

When you knock, she’s slow to open. Her face is unreadable, and she crosses her arms over her chest.

“What?” she says.

You nearly shove the bundle in your arms at her. “Merry Christmas. I know it’s early, but it’s supposed to be real cold this week, and—”

Anything else you were about to word vomit catches in your throat while she opens the gift. You’re terrified she’ll reject it, reject you. You’ve been working on it for a while. Since before the fight, even, worried about her in that damn shed all winter.

This quilt is patchwork blues, different shades and patterns. Over top you’ve cut out and stitched the galaxy together for her. It’s maybe childish, but you don’t think she ever had a chance for many childish things. And it’s not nice, not like the ones they used to sell at Pottery Barn when you were a kid that your parents could never afford.

“You made this for me?” she says.

“Yeah, kiddo, of course. Sorry it’s not quite accurate, I—”

Her hug knocks the breath from you for a moment, but you hold her to you and try not to cry. It doesn’t last long, and you can see the way her conflicting feelings are making her uncomfortable. But she surprises you.

“Wanna come in?” she says.

“Oh, um. Maybe later, I’m-um, I’m on my way to dinner at Tommy’s. Do you, um. Do you want to come with us?”

The scowl is back. “You mean with you and Joel.” His name was a dirty word spat from her mouth.

“Well, yeah. We miss you, kiddo. I miss having everybody together.”

“He put you up to this.” It’s harsh and she knows it, sees the way you blink against the offense.

“I’m capable of doing things of my own accord. Is it so hard to believe that I want to see you?”

“Sorry,” she mumbles.

“S’ok,” you say glumly. “I knew it was a long shot, I just—“ and you’re mortified to find tears burning at your waterlines, “just thought I’d ask anyway. M’sorry.” You had intended to ask, and Joel knew. You just wanted to tell her so badly.

You hug again before you leave, but you have to hide in the half bath when you get to Tommy and Maria’s to weep.

Joel slips in after a few minutes. He wraps you up in his arms while you try to smother the sounds of your broken heart.

“I know, darlin’,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

You tell Tommy and Maria after dinner. Tommy picks you up and swings you around in a hug, which makes Alé giggle.

You go home first, exhausted. Joel tries to insist on going with you, but you know he needs some time with Tommy. As much as he’s trying to share Sarah with you, this is a whole different rodeo.

The light is on in the shed when you get home. You hover on the porch, wobbling between your split instincts. In the end, you go to bed.

Winter passes quietly. The layers help keep your secret, but you know it’ll be harder come spring. When Maria tells you that Ellie stopped by to wish Alé an early happy birthday because she wasn’t coming to the party, you cracked again.

You pound on the door of the shed. She answers, guarded as always, and clearly surprised to find you there.

“Can I come in?” you blurt.

“Sure, yeah,” she says, and though she hesitates, she steps back to let you through.

It’s not a frigid day, as you head into spring, but you stay layered up in your winter gear. Your bump isn’t big by any means, but it’s unmistakably there. It could be passed off as weight gain, but Ellie isn’t stupid, and you aren’t about to insult her by pretending.

“Alé’s going to miss you at her party.”

Ellie shuts the door of the shed, but hovers there, arms crossed. “She’s turning three. She won’t remember.”

“You’re her family; you should be there.”

“You want her to see us fighting?”

“Ellie, please. Just come over, come have dinner. We can talk. All three of us.”

“No,” she snaps. “If all you’re going to do when you come over is try to get me to talk to Joel, stop coming.”

“I just want our family together.”

“I’m not coming over there to get lectured and have you do nothing but side with him like always. You’re too damn scared of him leaving again that you never side with me. Guess what? I can leave, too. Get out.”

“No, Ellie—”

“Just get out.”

“It’s not about him, just please give us a chance—”

She opens the door and stands there, not looking at you.

You hesitate when you reach her, but she flinches back, so you just go home.

When Lulu is born, the sun rages at the apex of the horizon. Joel sends one of the neighbors for Alice, and busies himself getting everything ready while you pace the length of the upstairs hall and breathe through the pain.

He’s filling the tub when he finds you with your elbows against the wall, head down, and teeth gritted. In an instant, he’s at your side, rubbing his hand over your lower back.

“I’ve got you, darlin’,” he says, as he always does. “What do you need?”

“Just you,” you whimper. “Need you with me.”

“Okay, sweetheart, I got ya.”

It’s far too soon to push, but he helps you into the tub anyway, hoping the cool water will help since you’re flushed and sweaty. He climbs in behind you, perched on the edge with arms wrapping around the top of your chest above your breasts. His lips press up and down your neck, and he takes a rag to wipe the sweat from your face.

That’s how Alice finds you, and she nods at Joel approvingly before telling you she’ll be in and out to check on you.

Between contractions, you slump back against Joel. Alice dropped water bottles off and he coaxes you to sip while you can.

When the time comes, you’re exhausted. You can tell Alice is worried that you won’t have the strength.

Joel isn’t, though. “You’re tough,” he murmurs. “You just hold onto me and do what you need to do.”

It hurts. There’s no way around that. You push back against his chest, arching and screaming while he holds you tight. When each break comes, it’s too short. Your head flops back onto his shoulder, and he wipes you down with the cold rag again.

“You’re doing great. Fuckin’ incredible. Just a little more, baby, I promise.”

After, Joel helps you stand on shaking legs just long enough to get dry. Once you’re safely seated on the bed, feeling absolutely ridiculous in what was more or less a heavily lined cloth diaper, he helped you into one of his flannels, leaving it unbuttoned so you could nurse the baby.

The day is a blur. You’re not sure what time she was born and you’re not sure how long it is before Tommy shows up. You’ve been mostly asleep, rousing when Alice brings the baby in to eat. She’s an absolute miracle, watching over little Luna while you and Joel sleep.

“Getting rest today is critical to your success in the coming weeks,” she had said.

You sleep even better once Tommy’s there. Maria stayed back with Alé, just for today. They were coming over first thing in the morning at your insistence. But Tommy came to help with the baby and stay the night once Alice went home, as you had done for them.

It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Alice. But knowing Tommy had Luna made you feel safer than anyone, other than you and Joel.

You might have slept better still if not for the specters haunting the room.

The next time you wake, the sun has set. You can hear her cries from downstairs, and sure enough, Tommy brings her in moments later.

“Look, Lulu, your mama is up and ready for you.”

You take her into your arms and get her latched before it registers. “What did you call her?”

“Lulu! Ain’t it sweet?”

No, you think, but he has his biggest, dopiest grin on. You settle on a noncommittal hum, which you would regret later when he takes it as enthusiasm.

You go to say something, but it dies when it finally clicks that you’re alone in the bed.

“Where’s Joel?”

“He, uh—”

“Tommy.”

“He went to try to talk to Ellie. They all just got back.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, I tried to stop him—”

“No, it’s okay,” you say, closing your eyes tight for a moment. When you gently cradle Luna against your shoulder to burp her, you take a deep breath against her tiny, downy head. “He should. It’s good.”

“He didn’t need to leave you alone. I told him to wait until she got back.”

“I’m glad he didn’t. She deserves to know right away. Hell, we both tried to tell her before, but…”

The silence sits like the river in the winter—a thin, false calm on the surface. After you latch Luna on the other side and get settled, Tommy sits on the bed beside you and lets you rest your head on his shoulder.

That’s how Joel finds you when he gets back. Luna’s gone back to sleep, cradled in your arms, and Tommy’s thrown his arm around your shoulder while you cry.

“It’s normal,” he had said. “That’s what Alice told us after Alé was born. Baby blues, she called ‘em. And I think you got a real reason to be sad, anyway.”

You look up, blinking away stray tears, when Joel comes in the room. The look on his face tells you everything you need to know.

“She took one look at me and took off with Dina. I tried to call out and tell her it was real important, but she wasn’t hearin’ it,” he says once he’s crossed the room to you. He presses a kiss to you and Luna’s foreheads.

“What about me?” Tommy grumbles playfully, and Joel gives him a little kiss, too.

They both laugh. You wish you could. You think you would have. It’s right there, sitting at the bottom of your diaphragm. But it doesn’t rise, doesn’t bubble up. Instead, it goes cold and sinks down where you can’t reach.

Joel and Tommy exchange a look.

“What?” you say.

Joel just shakes his head and lifts Luna from your arms to place her in the crib. “Let’s get some sleep, sweetheart.”

“I’ll be just across the hall,” Tommy says, tipping his head and shutting the door quietly behind him.

Joel slips under the covers and wraps you up in his arms. It eases a heavy sigh from your lungs, one that trembles on the air in its own wake.

He kisses your head and tucks you in close, trailing off into soft snores. But you can’t follow. Your heavy eyes blink slow, that brief darkness the only barrier between your gaze and the crib.

Your chest is tight. It’s like icicles are forming inside your lungs. It’s a testament to how tired Joel is that he doesn’t wake when you slip out of his grasp.

The soft knit socks from Mrs. Davies muffle your shuffle across the floor. You tug the throw pillow and crocheted blanket from the armchair. The crib sits low to the ground, so you lower yourself beside it, wrapped in the itchy pastel, and watch the rise and fall of her little chest.

You don’t sleep.

*title from "Hey Brother" by Avicii

#mothandbirdmothersdaychallenge #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x f!reader #the last of us fic #joel miller smut #tlou fanfic #fic: you know you never stood a chance #fic: never stood a chance

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callsignfoxy · 2 days

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Blue-collar!Simon who goes to the same restaurant every day for lunch, ordering the same thing, but today he takes note of you, the new server, and you strike up a conversation.

Fem!reader POV Word Count: 1079

"___, is it? Uh, thanks for gettin' this out to me so quickly," he grunts as his eyes meet yours.

You intended to turn away to attend another table when you heard him speak and met his gaze. Oh, so he does know how to talk, you thought humorously, turning more of your attention onto him. The first time you met the large man sitting in the booth was a couple of days prior, and you had tried your best to do your waitress thing.

Flashing your bright smile that usually did well. Even commenting on the weather and trying to make conversation. He gave his order, and then all you received in response were short nods, a few grunts, and barely veiled annoyance. You backed off, assuming he just wanted to enjoy his meal alone. No harm.

Then, after yesterday, you had a sneaking suspicion that he may be the kind to order the same thing every day. After asking around, the other servers confirmed your theory. You took a risk today, and hopefully, it'd pay off. You may not want to do the waitress thing forever, but you were damn good at your job when it came to grumpy customers.

Smiling brightly, you tucked a loose piece of hair behind your ear that had fallen out of your updo. "Yep, that would be me, and don't mention it. I figured that might be what you were ordering, so I thought, 'Why not?'" You chuckled. He nodded in response, and you really couldn't help yourself. "But, you know my name now; how about yours?" You inquired, trying to make small talk.

Simon leaned back into the booth, taking you in more before responding. "Simon," he stated simply, his voice like gravel. It softened slightly as he added, "Was a damn clever move, puttin' in the order early." His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, suggesting a slight smile you couldn't see behind his black mask. "You always this attentive with your tables?"

"Ah well, when you work in the business for a while, you pick up a thing or two," you explained with a self-assured smile while pouring his tea into a mug. You took him in for a beat; his light-wash jeans were covered in concrete dust, and his white t-shirt had multiple oil stains, among others. The black mask was odd, but plenty of people wear masks out and about these days. Your eyes trailed subtly to his forearm tattoos, but you didn't linger. "You part of that crew building that new skyscraper down the way?" You asked curiously.

"Aye, that's us," he confirmed, the pride in his profession evident even through the stoic delivery. "Construction site manager for that project. It's been a right sod to keep on schedule with all the weather we've been havin'." His hand gestured vaguely to the window beside him, where the rain was still coming down in buckets.

"Should be a right monster of a building once it's done, though. Can see it from miles away," he added, a bit of admiration and pride twinkling in his eyes.

"Sounds like quite the task, being a manager of such a large project and team," you commented, raising your eyebrows. You'd held a manager position at your last serving job and even just that was a lot. You couldn't imagine the enormous undertaking of managing a whole skyscraper project.

"Like herdin' cats most of the time, but... bigger and a lot more swearing involved," he chuckled softly. When you joined him, it was like he realized he'd let the sound out and then cleared his throat. "But yeah, bloody nightmare somedays, but it's what I do," he finished.

"An' the rain?" you asked, gesturing to the window with your carafe. Simon rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated huff.

"The rain," he said glancing back out at the storm, "sure doesn't make the job any easier, but gives me an excuse to come here and get out of the wet for a bit." His eyes landed back on to you, the brown in them a little warmer than when he first came in.

You smiled, seeing that his shoulders relaxed slightly more. That alone was a job well done for you. "Well, glad to provide a little bit of respite," you said good naturedly. "I'll quit talkin' off your ear off though, and let you get back to your meal. Just call me out if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll be back with the check," You nodded with the tea carafe and turned away to attend your other tables in your section.

Simon, for his part, watched you turn, feeling your presence wane like a warmth he hadn't realized he was basking in for the moment. He tore his gaze away from you, the reality of his solitude trickling back in as he dug into the meal that had completely gone unnoticed until now.

"All done here?" You said, picking up his plate a little while later. "Just the check or would like some tea for the road?" You asked.

"Jus' the check, thanks," he said with decisiveness. It was your turn to nod as you fished the check out of your apron to place it on the table. You watched as Simon pulled his wallet out and placed the notes on top of the slip, not missing the extra he had added. he shifted out the booth and stood gazing down at you. "Thanks for the quick service, keep the change," he said in a gruff but appreciative tone.

"Just don' my job. The cook makes it real easy though. She whips up meals faster than you can blink," you joked with a chuckle. "So, Mr. Simon, same time, same meal tomorrow?" You beamed, returning his gaze.

Simon gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Same time, same meal." With that he headed towards the door, his footsteps echoing softly against the diner's linoleum floor. You watched him go, with a small smile, feeling a sense of accomplishment. Maybe there was more to Simon than just grunts and nods after all.

As you continued your work day, the interaction with Simon would pop up when your mind wasn't occupied, and you couldn't help but be curious about the masked construction worker that had graced your section. It was a curiosity that had you looking forward to tomorrow. Same time, same meal.

I'm thinking of doing more tandem POV going forward because I know that man had some thoughts. Would that be confusing? Idk, anyways, hope y'all enjoyed 😘

#cod #call of duty #simon ghost riley #mw2 #call of duty mw2 #cod simon riley #cod fanfic #ghost call of duty #ghost simon riley #simon riley x reader #simon riley cod #simon riley #simon riley x you #simon ghost x reader #ghost cod #ghost mw2 #cod ghost

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archiveikemen · 1 day

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『Love Sparks From A Mean Lie』 Collection Event

Ellis Twilight

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection. I do not own any of the original content. Please support CYBIRD by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Warnings and FAQ

Kate: … Haa…

Ellis: Nn… a little more…

Our lips finally parted, albeit reluctantly.

I loved kissing Ellis, but I also loved the moment when our lips parted.

It made me happy seeing the affectionate look in his eyes as he gazed at me.

Kate: … Ah.

Ellis: What’s wrong?

Kate: You smell like cigarette smoke…

Kate: Fufu. Must’ve rubbed off on you from Jude.

Ellis: …

Ellis’ twilight coloured eyes flickered like a flame in the wind for a split second, but it was so brief that I thought I could've been mistaken…

Ellis: Can we… continue?

Our lips met again, the slight feeling of unease pushed to the back of my head.

…

Victor: … Come, let's go through again the plan for today's mission.

Victor: Jude, Ellis, Kate, the three of you will be attending a social party.

Victor: Our target for this mission is a noble who has been suspected for involvement in smuggling dangerous goods.

Victor: Jude will propose a business deal and observe the target’s response.

Victor: In the meantime, Ellis and Kate will keep an eye on the surroundings to make sure there are no suspicious activities.

Kate: Understood.

Ellis: Got it.

Victor: Jude, let’s discuss the deal you’ll propose to the target. We need to make it sound real!

While Victor and Jude went on with their talk, Ellis approached me quietly.

Ellis: … Hey, Kate.

Kate: What's the matter? Ah… is it about the mission?

Ellis: Nope. Not that…

Ellis: Just wanted to tell you that the underwear I’m wearing today is incredibly sexy.

Kate: …

Kate: … HUH!?

(Ellis’ underwear is… s-sexy…?)

Unable to comprehend what he just said, for a moment it felt like any thoughts I had just got flung into the void.

Ellis: Fufu, look at you frozen. You’re so cute.

Ellis had an innocent smile on his face, like a little boy who successfully played a prank.

(I didn't hear that wrong…)

Kate: Um…

Victor: Ellis. Can we go through the weapons you’ll be carrying for the mission?

Ellis: Okay, got it.

Ellis: … Remember what I said, Kate.

Ellis: When I come home from the mission, I’ll show you what I’m wearing.

Without being able to confirm what he really meant by that statement…

Ellis went to check weapons with Victor.

(W-What is “sexy underwear!? I’ve never seen such a thing before…)

(Doesn’t Ellis always wear regular underwear…?)

Kate: U-Uhh… Jude. Has Ellis bought any strange things recently?

I asked Jude who had just finished talking to Victor, and he gave me a puzzled look.

Jude: Strange things…?

Jude: Ahh, yeah he did. He bought something pretty damn strange.

(“Strange”... so he DID buy sexy underwear!?)

(... What is men’s sexy underwear?)

And so the mission began, and it went without a hitch…

All I could think of was Ellis’ underwear.

…

Even after we returned to the castle, my head was still full of Ellis.

(I want to ask Ellis about the true meaning of what he said and clear this up quickly, but…)

(He went to see Victor to report on the mission, so I can’t do that until he gets back.)

Kate: *sigh*...

Liam: Kate. The tea I carefully poured for you has gone cold, you know?

Kate: Oh… you’re right.

I drank the cup of cold tea in one go when Liam pointed that out.

Kate: Sorry, I got too carried away thinking about underwear…

Liam: Underwear…?

Harrison: … Is that something we should be hearing?

Kate: Ah, not my underwear!

(It’s pointless fretting about this alone… I should ask the two of them for advice.)

Kate: Generally speaking… what does it mean when someone buys bold underwear?

Liam: You mean something like underwear set aside for special occasions?

Harrison: … I have now decided that I’m disengaging myself from this conversation.

Liam: Hmm. It could also be to spice up their bedroom life with their lover, I guess?

Kate: Bedroom…

Liam: There could be other reasons too, of course; like buying it just because it’s cute or it gets them in the mood.

Liam: Ellis doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to care about such things, so he must've bought it for you.

Harrison: … He’s probably up to his usual “it’s for Kate’s happiness” shenanigans again.

Kate: Eh!? I-I never said it was Ellis’ underwear…

Harrison: If it isn’t about you, then it must be about Ellis.

Liam: Yeah. … It’s a whole other problem altogether if you’re talking about someone else’s underwear.

(It was that obvious…)

…

(To spice up our bedroom life… huh.)

(... Does that mean he’s unsatisfied with our current situation?)

Kate: … Okay then.

I made a decision and headed to my bedroom.

…

Ellis: Kate, I’m back.

Kate: Ellis…! Welcome back!

The man who had been running through my mind all day returned.

Kate: Um… about what you said earlier today…

Ellis: Fufu… were you curious about it the whole time?

Ellis noticed my fidgeting and laughed in amusement.

Ellis: … Okay. Want to check it out yourself?

Ellis removed his belt and guided my hand to his pants.

Kate: …

My heart was racing at the thought of finally seeing what he meant by “sexy underwear”.

— Or so I thought.

What I saw when I pulled down Ellis’ pants was none other than a pair of the ordinary underwear he has always worn.

Kate: … Isn’t this your usual underwear?

Ellis: Yup. I was lying about the sexy underwear.

Kate: What!? Why would you…

Ellis: Remember when we were making out last night, you mentioned that Jude’s scent rubbed off on me?

Kate: I did, but…

Ellis: … I don’t like it. I don't like it that your mind shifted to Jude even for just a moment.

Ellis: That’s why… I wanted to get “revenge” for that by making sure I’m all you can think of today.

He was indeed all I could think of today, just like he intended.

Kate: … I see. I’m sorry.

Ellis: Don’t apologise, okay? It’s my fault for being so narrow-minded. Also…

Ellis: … I’m sorry for giving you false hope about seeing my underwear, Kate.

Ellis: I didn’t expect to see you get that disappointed when you pulled down my pants to see my usual underwear…

Kate: T-That’s not the case! Apart from being surprised because I’ve been curious about it for a while, I promise there’s no deeper meaning to it…

Kate: It’s because even Jude said you bought something strange recently…!

Ellis: I bought something strange recently…? … Oh.

Ellis: Al said he wanted that, so I was only buying it on his behalf… that should be what Jude was referring to.

(I misunderstood…!)

Ellis: … I’m sorry for lying to you. Do you forgive me?

Kate: I forgive you. … But can you leave my room for a bit?

Ellis: … Are you angry at me?

Kate: Not at all! It’s just… there was a misunderstanding…

Ellis: Misunderstanding?

Kate: … I thought that the reason why you bought sexy underwear was because you were unsatisfied with our bedroom life.

Kate: So…

Kate: … I-I put on that kind of lingerie too. … S-Sexy lingerie. Now I want to change back to my normal underwear.

Ellis: … You’re wearing it now?

Kate: Y-Yes…

Ellis: I want to see it. Show me.

Ellis forcefully pushed me onto the bed.

Ellis: … Since it’s something you prepared just for me, I want to appreciate it properly.

When he said that in such an endearing way, it made me feel like I had no choice but to give in.

That “thing” I prepared was perfectly effective…

My heart was once again filled with joy from the sweet feelings of love that sparked from a lie.

#ikemen villains #ikemen series #cybird ikemen #otome #cybird otome #ikevil translations #ellis twilight #ikevil collection event #aikm translation

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leonsbimbogf · 2 days

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Your a real life fantasy

🔪 Ghostface! Miguel O’Hara x bsf!reader 🔪

A/n: my old acc mentioned this but my lazy ass never finished it ☹️ but Miguel’s ur bsf in here dw. BTW GUYS THERE IS A PART 2 THERE IS GONNA BE A PART 2!!

Cw/trigger warning: self masturbation, shitty ending u alr know😔 n this man is FERAL for u

You two were in your room as Miguel was sitting in your bed, while your laying down bored out of your mind. The summer heat beams in the room causing you to change into less, but simple. He notices your bare thighs and instantly looked away. He didn’t have a problem when you wore revealing stuff cause you trusted him and he trusted you, hell you two were best friends for 10 years. You rolled over while looking at your phone before you break the silence.

“Miguel m’ bored…dance or something I dunno” you whine out as you suggest him dancing as a joke, he doesn’t admit it but he likes it when you whine. It’s cute.

“Like I’m supposed to shove a stick up my ass and do a magic trick” Miguel snaps back playfully.

“Haha so funny..” you say sarcastically but suddenly you see a photo on instagram that makes you giggle like a maniac.

It was a guy with a fucking ghost-face mask.

Miguel takes a peak at your phone before snickering with you, it was hysterical how bubbly you got when you saw someone with a mask. He turns to you before asking still holding chuckles back.

“Don’t tell me you have a mask kink or some shit?” he said with his eyebrow raising, he was dead serious.

Were you serious?

You nod your head before covering your face in embarrassment still laughing. He feigns a chuckle while his mind was going in all different ways. Clearly as the day go by and he goes home he thinks about what happened in the past. His blood rushes to his cock as he thinks of you. He shrugs when the fact of him being alone reminds him. He takes down his pants and instantly starts jerking his cock. He opens his phone with the free hand and goes to both of your chats and scrolls back. He checks out the photos you send him and groans. Suddenly, scaring him a text message pops up.

Y/n: I miss you :( hang out at my house tmw?

He shakes a bit from how you all of a sudden texts him while he’s jerking his cock to you. He responds before turning off his phone

Annoying spidey: after i do parole ofc.

He tugs at his cock again letting out a sharp sigh. the thought of you is overbearing, what it would be like if you rode his cock or how your lips would look sucking his cock.

“Fuck mamas…yeah? Wanna moan all on my cock?” He speaks to himself as he keeps tugging at his thick cock.

“God that pussy must be a dream..” he says again imagining your puffy lips hugging around his cock. Moments later thick ropes of cum leaves his cock as his head flies back in pleasure.

God he fucking loves you.

Sweat drips down the back of his neck, as some tiny hairs sticks to his forehead, Panting with his soft cock going limp and laying down on his thighs. He pulls back up his pants before picking back up his phone. He checks his notifications to see a message from you.

Y/n: I have so much to tell you I’m coming in 5.

And here’s to my taglist🥂: @monstera02 @muchosbesitos @yougavemeyourheartyouknow @lazyjellyfish300 @yournextbimbogf @blahblahblahblueslol

If you would like to be in the taglist js dm me, that’s all🫶!

#miguel o'hara #tumblr fyp #x reader #atsv miguel #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel spiderverse #miguel o'hara smut #spiderman 2099 #foryopage #miguel atsv #spider man: across the spider verse #Ghostface! au #bbsf!miguel #miguel smut #miguel o’hara blurb #smut blurb #taglist

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scmg11 · 1 day

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HAILEE STEINFELD x READER

BODYGUARD

A/N: HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! HOW ARE YOU?

As I got swiped away by inspiration and already wrote 8 chapters for my new book, I wanted to surprise you. So I finished proofreading this a new chapter for you!

Let me know what you guys think.

Sending you so much love ❤️

Summary: Y/N got assigned as Hailee's new bodyguard but Hailee is not so happy about it.

Warnings: just a little bit of description for harassment, but it will be gone quickly.

Word count: 21840 words.

The sound of feet covered in combat boots echoing around in the small, empty hallway was the only sound filling the silence around, creating a calming melody to the girl’s ears as she sauntered to a closed door, stopping in front of it and knocking gently, patiently waiting for permission to enter in the office.

"Come in."

The girl opened the door right after and smiled warmly at the person sat behind the big, glass desk in the middle of the room, "good morning."

"What’s it with this formal shit, Y/N!"

"Oh my bad. Hello bitch, how are you doing?" Y/N smiled cheekily at her boss but also her longtime best friend, sitting on one of the two armchair placed right in front of the desk and crossed her left leg over her right, bent over one and looked at her friend expectantly, waiting for a witty remark.

"I would say ‘that’s better’ but I’m not so sure now." Y/N chuckled at her best friend rolling her eyes and winked at her teasingly, "anyway, I don’t want to take too much of your time up. Let’s get to the point and discuss why I called you here today."

"Alright, what is it?" Y/N looked expectantly at Clara, who was now leaning with her elbows on the desk and with her hands linked together, slipping ‘business face’ on.

"I know you got back from your last job about two weeks ago, but I have a new client and requested the best bodyguard I have. I would be a fool not giving you this job."

"Hm, the best bodyguard here. Flattery. A lot of it." Y/N teased with a proud smile, puffing out her chest, before deflating after a snort left her lips when Clara rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her best friend’s antics, "anyway, of course I will take the job, you know I get bored easily at home after a few days off. So who is this new client? A snotty young prince? A dumb heiress? Uh-oh! I know! A stuck-up model with a big God Complex? Ah they are my favorite. Their head is full of themselves, it makes me laugh every single time. Especially when they are male models."

"None of them actually. Luckily I would say." Y/N sighed out in relief at that before both shuddered loudly as they thought over enduring months and months of working with those kind of clients. A fucking tough job. "It’s an actress. She is also a singer and she is starting a tour soon. You will have to follow her around on tour and a few events she is invited to. If you do a good job, which I’m sure you will, more than perfectly, they will have you around her a lot. She is gaining fans quickly and her parents want her safe."

"Sounds good. Easy. Do I know her?" Y/N nodded gently at the job offer and got instantly excited hearing she have to follow the actress around tour. She is always happy with traveling around the world to discover new, amazing places.

"I don’t know. I’ve seen a couple of her movies, maybe you did too. She is Hailee Steinfeld."

"Oh yeah, I remember her. I listened to one of her songs yesterday on the radio. She has a beautiful voice and that song was such a bop."

"Oh great!"

"When am I starting?" Y/N asked in excitement, always wanting to work since she loved her job dearly. She doesn’t know exactly who her new client is, she just knew her name and her voice when she sang, but she will have time to do a small research about her. She always liked to be fully prepared for a body guarding job.

"Well, if you are ready, they would like for you to start now."

"What, now as in now?" Y/N asked in disbelief, her eyes widening in shock as she realized what her best friend just said.

"Yeah, it was kinda fast." Y/N snorted at that as she shook her head in amusement.

"That’s an understatement Clar. But I will accept. How much time do I have to get ready for her tour?"

"2 weeks I think. She is finishing a movie and then she is off for tour. You can meet her today. Her mom called me this morning asking me if it was okay to join them today."

"Sure, no problem. Are we still up for drinks tonight right?"

"Are you kidding me? I’ve been holed up here for the entire week. I need a break."

"Hm, when you say break you actually mean a good fuck right?" Y/N teased her best friend, who looked at her in fake outrage as she placed her hand on her chest feigning taking offense from Y/N’s words.

"Excuse me?!"

"Don’t act so innocent all of a sudden. I’m the one that has to be your wingwoman."

"Go before I decide to fire you as my wingwoman and as a bodyguard."

Y/N chuckled as she sat up and walked around the desk to give her best friend a big, warm hug before promising to pick her up at 7 for their usual Friday night full of drinks. As Y/N exited the building and climbed into her car, her phone dinged with a text message her best friend sent her with all the information she needed about her new job and the location Hailee was actually in right now to go there and meet her. She put the address in her GPS and drove away into the busy streets of LA.

"Name please?" Y/N lifted her sunglasses up her head and looked at the security guard outside the set Hailee was filming in, smiling at him politely.

"Hi, Y/N Y/L/N. I am Miss Steinfeld’s new bodyguard. My agency should’ve already sent all the information needed."

"Ah yes. Here you are. You can park right beside Miss Steinfeld’s trailer. You have to turn left, then right, then right again and you should find it right away. Her name is on the door." Y/N listened carefully to the guard’s directions after he lifted the automatic barrier and let her enter the set’s parking lot. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you so much. Have a nice day!" Y/N followed the guard’s directions and drove through the set’s parking lot, stopping a few minutes later when she saw a trailer parked in the middle of a deserted part of the parking lot with just 2 cars parked near it. Y/N parked her car right beside a a black Porsche and exited the vehicle, locking it before making her way towards the entrance of the trailer to read once again the name on its door and to make sure it was actually Hailee’s trailer.

"Mom, I already told you that I didn’t need a bodyguard. I don’t want one!"

"Haiz please, listen to me. You are going on tour soon and for the first part of it we can’t be there with you. You are gaining fans fast and we are worried about your safety."

"Yeah, you could’ve tied me to my tour bus or you could’ve locked me into my room. It’s the same, right mom?" Y/N listens to two voices argue, loud enough for her to hear it but just quiet enough to not let everyone around them hear them. She didn’t peer around the trailer to watch who was arguing to avoid being caught eavesdropping, but from what she could hear, she assumed she pretty much was the subject of the argument between Hailee and her mother.

"Haiz, I know you are saying this because you are angry at me and your dad for making this decision without asking you for your opinion, but trust me it was a decision made for your own good."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Thanks." Y/N was debating in her mind if she should make her presence known or not, fearing she would get caught by someone, especially from Hailee or her mother.

"Excuse me Miss Steinfeld, but we are ready to shoot again." Y/N sighed out loud when she heard someone approach the two women and quickly ran to her car when she heard footsteps approach where she was leaning on the other trailer’s side.

"Thank you Simon. I will be there in 5 minutes."

Y/N had just the time to close her door quietly before two figures rounded the corner from the back of the trailer, taking just a second to look at them before opening her car door and feigning arriving just in that moment as she adjusted her leather jacket before closing her car door and locking the vehicle again, feeling a pair of eyes watching her movements. "Hm, hello?" Y/N spoke up tentatively, feeling a little bit uneasy at the two pair of eyes staring at them.

"Hi dear, can we help you?" The shorter of the two women asked in a gentle and soft voice, smiling politely at her as she approached them, while the taller one stayed in silence, standing beside the shorter woman with a rigid stance, her arms crossed and her face stoic with her eyebrows furrowed angrily.

"Yes, hi. I am looking for Miss Hailee Steinfeld."

"She is right here." The shorter woman pointed to the taller one with a smile just as Y/N stopped in front of them. "I’m Cheri, her mom."

"Oh, nice to meet you Mrs. Steinfeld, Miss Steinfeld, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I was assigned to you to be your new bodyguard." Y/N stretched her arm over to shake Cheri’s hand first before doing the same with a reluctant Hailee.

"Oh dear, there’s no need for these formalities, just call me Cheri!" Y/N returned Cheri’s warm smile and nodded softly at her request, "anyway, welcome! I’m afraid we don’t have much time to discuss things since Hailee needs to go back on set, but you can stay with me until she finishes for the day."

"That would be great!"

And they were off, walking towards the set with Cheri talking excitedly to Y/N, telling her how excited she is Y/N was assigned to Hailee as her new bodyguard, how much she admired her for doing such a difficult and sometimes dangerous job, and Y/N listened with rapt attention and with slight amusement at the woman’s enthusiasm but she couldn’t help but notice Hailee stayed quiet the entire walk towards the set with her jaw set and her nostrils flared a bit as she stared with furrowed eyebrows ahead of her. "We’ll wait here sweety, then we will discuss everything after you’re done for the day."

"Okay, see you later."

After about three hours Hailee joined them back where she left, her face conveying her tiredness but Y/N could still see in her eyes she was still slightly mad at her mom for hiring a bodyguard she apparently didn’t want from what Y/N gathered when she eavesdropped Hailee’s and Cheri’s argument earlier that day.

"I already ordered burgers baby. They should be here soon." Cheri told her daughter as she approached them and when Cheri’s hand caressed Hailee’s bicep, Y/N watched as a bit of her anger slipped away and got replaced by a loving glint.

"Thanks, shall we go?"

Y/N couldn’t help but notice a small change in Hailee’s behavior compared to the one before shooting back on set. Maybe she cooled off a bit or maybe she had time to think over her mother’s words during filming, but Y/N was glad that she actually came around her mother’s decision, decision she found truly heartwarming. "How was shooting, honey?"

"It was good. A little bit stressing towards the end of it since Nelly couldn’t remember the right line and she had some troubles getting it right, but it was fun as always."

"Oh I’m so sorry for her. She must be exhausted."

"Yeah, she came back from another set three days ago. She has so many projects going on right now."

Y/N didn’t know who Hailee and Cheri were talking about but she assumed they were talking about one of Hailee’s co-star. "Y/N, dear, have you already worked for another actress or actor before?" Cheri asked Y/N with a small smile as they approached Hailee’s trailer in the set’s parking lot.

"Yes, I have. Quite a few. I started my body guarding job with an actress actually. I remember being so anxious and so nervous all the time. But with time you develop more confidence, you become more confident, you learn how to control your emotions and act rationally and logically. You have to be strategic when needed and you must have a clear mind when a dangerous situation unfolds before you so you can protect your client."

"Oh wow!" Cheri exclaimed, her eyes shining with curiosity that Y/N found extremely cute but she couldn’t help but notice Hailee scoffing under her breath as she rolled her eyes, now being the one curious about the actress’ reaction to her words.

"Anyway, it becomes ‘easier’ with time, even though there is nothing easy in this job." Y/N clarified with a small smile directed at Cheri, since the singer wasn’t exactly paying attention to her as she fished her iPhone out of her pocket and started texting someone.

"Oh I’m sure. Y/N, I know how much you’ve worked with your agency and how much of an hard worker you are, that’s why I specifically asked for you. I know Clara. She is one of my dearest friend’s niece. I asked her to assign Hailee one of her best bodyguards and she immediately told me your name and everything you’ve done during your time in her agency."

"Yeah, we pretty much funded it together. We started together."

"For how long have you known her?" Y/N watched as sheer curiosity glistened in Cheri’s eyes and felt her chest flutter at how comforting her attitude is. She couldn’t help tilting upward her lips when she noticed Hailee had her eyes still on her phone but she stopped typing away on it, clearly interested in the conversation going on between Y/N and Cheri as she tried to listen carefully even if she was acting disinterested. They arrived at the trailer and settled in, Y/N sitting on a loveseat, while Hailee and Cheri sat on the couch in front of Y/N.

"We met in college. She was my roommate."

"Oh that’s wonderful dear! I’m so glad Clara assigned you-." Cheri got interrupted when a knock on Hailee’s trailer’s door echoed around the makeshift living room, "it must be the delivery guy with our order. One second, I’ll be right back."

"Yeah, sure." Y/N awkwardly looked around the room with her hands entwined, not really knowing what to say now that she is alone with Hailee, but trying to find something to say since she will be her bodyguard from now on and they will need to start some kind of civil relationship between them. "How was your day on set?"

"Good." Y/N had a feeling that that one word answer will be the only thing that will leave Hailee’s mouth and sighed out softly. The singer’s tone wasn’t exactly harsh or conveyed hostility, but it held a dryness in them that told Y/N she was still pretty mad at her mother or even Y/N herself for this situation. Not that Y/N had a say in all of this. She was just doing her job.

"Okay! Here I am!" Cheri came back a minute later, carrying two dark paper bags full of their food and Y/N immediately sat up to go help Cheri, feeling Hailee’s eyes on her in the process but paying no mind to it. "Oh thank you, dear."

"You’re welcome." Y/N smiled widely at Cheri, who grinned back at her with sweetness seeping out of her every pore before they settled everything on the kitchen table, with surprisingly Hailee’s help, who got up a minute after Y/N.

"Let’s dig in. I’m starving." Hailee stated, making her mother chuckle with a fond smile on her lips and gestured to Y/N to eat before joining them.

"Have you got everything, honey? Did you pack everything?"

"Yes, mom!" Hailee laughed good-naturedly at her mother’s anxiety as she made her check her suitcases 4 times and go over the list she made of things she had to pack at least 10 times to make sure she packed everything with her before making her finally close her suitcases to bring them down to put them in her tour bus. "I literally have the list memorized by now." Hailee smiled lovingly at her mother as she checked the list for the umpteenth time before meeting her eyes and nodding at her.

"Okay, yeah. You’re right. Sorry. I- I’m just a bit stressed. You’re going on tour and I want to make sure you have everything with you."

"I know mom. I got everything. I checked everything before closing all my suitcases." Hailee smiled warmly at her mother before chuckling softly under her breath with fondness swirling around her brown irises when she watched her mother fold the piece of paper with the list on it and nod gently at her.

"Good! That’s good. Hm, alright it seems you’re ready to go. Oh no! It’s getting late!" Cheri took a look on the watch on her wrist and placed her right hand on her cheek in shock when she looked at the time. They were running a bit late.

"Yeah, we need to go." Hailee hugged her mother before doing the same with her father and her brother then walked in her tour bus and closing the door, making sure to lock it before making her way further into the bus to settle everything down. She felt the bus start moving and sighed out contentedly.

"Hi." Y/N had to swallow the soft snort that was ready to come out of her mouth when Hailee jumped up in fright with a small squeal at Y/N’s voice echoing around the silent bus.

"Oh shit. Fuck! You scared me."

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t know how to make my presence known without scaring you, I guess I didn’t do a good job." Y/N chuckling softly while scratching the back of her head, the grimacing to try to convey her regret for scaring the singer.

"Well- don’t worry. I guess it’s definitely better than doing a sudden loud noise or something like that."

"Yeah, I guess." Y/N chuckled softly under her breath, emitting another soft chuckle then let a small smile adorn her lips as she looked at Hailee for a few seconds before focusing on her hands in her lap, feeling slightly awkward being in a room alone with Hailee since they had never been alone again since when first meeting almost 10 days prior.

"Hm, what are you doing here?" Hailee asked as she played with her fingers, wringing them gently as she tried to focus her gaze on anything but Y/N, clearly feeling the awkwardness between them. It’s not that they started off on a wrong foot, but Hailee still strongly believes she doesn’t need a bodyguard while on tour and she hadn’t acknowledged Y/N, just the bare minimum.

"Your mom told me to stay here with you." Y/N answered with a serious, business-like tone. She had always been a professional at work and had never, not even once let her emotions show or let them control her, but since Hailee had never been friendly with her, always acting annoyed by Y/N’s presence, almost like she blamed Y/N for being there to protect her when she was just doing her job, she decided to build a wall between them and act just with Hailee just like Hailee is acting with her.

"Oh, yeah right. To protect me." Hailee stressed the word ‘protect’ out with a sarcastic tilt in her tone and Y/N felt annoyance bubble in the pit of her stomach, but she tried to swallow her comeback down to prevent starting an argument with her new client.

"Yeah." Y/N trailed off for a few seconds to collect her thoughts and try to not sound annoyed as she felt to Hailee, "that’s what I do. It’s my job."

"I don’t doubt that, trust me. It’s just that, like I’ve been trying to say for the past 10 days, I don’t need protection!"

"Yeah, I heard you. Your mother heard you. Your father heard you. But they are still worried. Fans can get crazy. They are all amazing, but sometimes meeting your idol makes you go a little crazy. Trust me, I met a lot of them. A few of them were pretty crazy."

"But not my fans."

"I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that fans can be a lot sometimes, especially after waiting for you for an entire day at a venue or at the airport. They are loyal, passionate, loving. And that can get too much sometimes."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Y/N resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Hailee dismissed her as she wasn’t paying attention anymore with a wave of her hand and rummaged around the kitchen for a mug. "I’m just changing a few things from now on. When we’re stopping for a break in about an hour, you’re gonna leave me alone. I don’t need a babysitter."

"I’m not a babysitter." Y/N countered back with a strong but still polite tone, crossing her arms and staring at Hailee hard.

"Yeah sure, but I still want to be left alone. I do not agree with my mother’s choice of giving me a bodyguard, but I have to accept it in some way. But what I don’t accept is you staying here when you can easily stay with the crew on the other bus. I want my privacy."

"Okay well. I will go on the other bus as you wish." Y/N gave in dryly, not wanting to keep discussing this subject, stood up right after and, without sparing Hailee another look, walked into the driver’s cabin and asked him to pull over and let her walk out of the bus. Thankfully he stopped immediately after her request, communicating what he was doing to the other driver and without even saying anything else to Hailee, she walked out of the bus and got on the other one.

"Yeah, yeah, totally. Oh, yes, we just got here." Hailee opened her tour bus’ door as soon as it stopped, finally arriving in Phoenix, the first city that will start Hailee’s worldwide tour. "Yeah, I am getting off of the bus right now and I’ll go in the venue for the soundcheck."

Hailee stopped in her tracks on the last step to get off the tour bus when she came face to face with Y/N, already waiting for her with her arms crossed and stoic face to accompany her in the venue. "Hi."

"Yeah no, sorry mom. Line got interrupted for a second." Hailee ignored Y/N and visibly rolled her eyes, letting out a huff through her nose as she descended the last step off the tour bus and walked away from Y/N, huffing out again when she heard over her mother’s voice through her iPhone’s loudspeaker steps following her, annoyed about Y/N following her around. "Okay, I will. I need to go now. Okay, bye mom. Love you."

Hailee waited for her mom to say ‘I love you’ back before hanging up the phone. "Are we ready to start our first soundcheck for the first date of this tour?!"

"Hell yeah!" Hailee high-fived her guitarist before doing the same with the drummer, joining her at her sides then walking inside the venue. Hailee took a second to sweep her eyes all over the place, taking it in and smiling widely when she imagined the venue being completely filled with her fans that night. "Hm, I missed this so much." Hailee stated out loud, letting out a sigh as she soaked up in the feeling of finally being back on tour.

"Hey, Y/N! It’s nice to see you again." Y/N smirked smugly when Hailee furrowed her brows and turned her head around in confusion when her drummer said ‘hi’ to Y/N, Hailee then noticed the smug grin on Y/N’s face and rolled her eyes in annoyance before turning back around and walking towards the stage.

"Hey Mick. How is it going? Everything already set up?" Y/N asked enthusiastically at the young man smiling back at her, who walked into step with her as she walked behind Hailee, now a few feet from them. "Excited for tonight?"

"Oh yes! Everything is set up. I’m so thrilled for tonight. I can’t believe it’s sold out on the first night already." The brown eyed young man looked at the stage with a big, bright smile before looking at Y/N again, "so everything is going good. Great even."

"Cool. Are we ready for the soundcheck? Can I go get my in-ear monitors in?" Hailee butted in the conversation and asked just as enthusiastically, eyeing the stage some more before focusing her attention back on her drummer.

"Oh yes! I have them already. Go get ready."

"M’kay, ready for soundcheck in 5 minutes, Mick."

"Okay!"

"Are you ready?" Hailee’s makeup artist asked in a soft voice as she applied the last touches of makeup on the singer backstage, Hailee nodding gently as she stared ahead of her after taking a deep breath, making the makeup artist smile warmly at her.

"I’m a bit nervous." Hailee admitted as she bit on her bottom lip anxiously, watching from her position in the backstage the lights on stage changing colors while the music in the background became louder and louder each passing second, signaling and warning her she only had about 10 seconds before going on stage, the beats of the drums reverberating through her ribcage, filling her up with adrenaline.

"You’re gonna do great." Y/N shouted over Hailee’s fans loud screams and smiled encouragingly at her, shocked to see a small grin directed back at her after the singer moved her focus from the stage to her, meeting her gaze briefly then returning her eyes back on stage, taking one last deep breath before running on stage, saying ‘hi’ to her fans that erupted in the loudest collective scream yet.

"Hello everybody! How are you?" Hailee laughed into the mic when her fans screamed louder and shook her head fondly before continuing, "I can see you’re doing great! Let’s get this show started, shall we?"

Y/N had to admit the concert was amazing. The fans were crazy for Hailee and Hailee put one hell of a show for them. Y/N had travelled a lot and she had seen a lot of concerts when she was a singer’s bodyguard and she had seen a lot of crazy fans, a lot of them were crazy, but she had never seen so much love being directed at a singer with that intensity, with so much warmth. It was endearing, truly. "WOHO! HOW WAS THAT?!"

"You did amazing. Congratulations."

Hailee turned around to stare back at Y/N, still not expecting her acting so nicely after treating her so poorly. "Thank you!"

Y/N smiled warmly at Hailee but the brown haired girl just reciprocated with a tight lipped smile before turning towards her dancers engulfing her in a big group hug, "hey, great show!"

Mick high-fived Y/N enthusiastically and giggled alongside her while bumping their shoulders together, watching as the dancers surrounding Hailee now started jumping up and down with her in the middle and screaming at the top of their lungs. "And it’s just the beginning."

"Do you think it will get crazier?" Y/N asked with an incredulous voice, watching Mick nod with widened eyes. "Really?!"

"Yes! Hailee’s fans are the best. They are so passionate about her! It’s amazing."

"I saw them during the concert. I still have to ‘encounter’ them in other occasions but I can see they are passionate." Y/N admitted as she watched Hailee interact with her dancers as she smiled widely, "I guess I will need to be extra careful, right?"

"Eh, not that much. They are respectful. Most of them at least. She had almost zero encounters with ‘batshit crazy’ fans."

"That’s good to know. I had a quite a few with that kind of fans and trust me, it’s not a pretty sight to witness."

"Oh I’m sure." Mick snorted under his breath before shaking his head softly, "but I’m sure it’s fun and exciting, am I right?"

"In some way yeah. But I guess when you need to protect your client, you are worried too. Even if there isn’t too much danger."

"Oh yeah, right." Mick seemed to ask something else, but he never got the chance because Jasmine, one of the dancers, came sauntering towards them with a big grin and interrupted them.

"GUYS! GET READY! WE’RE GOING TO PARTY!"

"What?" Y/N snorted when Mick asked that question with his eyebrows furrowed and a confused expression on his face.

"You heard me. We are going to celebrate the first concert of the tour!"

"You already planned everything, didn’t you?" Mick asked with a mischievous grin on his lips as he crossed his arms and looked at Jasmine knowingly.

"Well, yeah! C’mon, we’ve known each other for years!" Y/N watched as Mick chuckled with a small nod as Jasmine circled her arm around his shoulders and side-hugged him tightly.

"Fair enough. Anyway, I’m always in when there is alcohol involved."

"Y/N, are you in?" Jasmine asked with a smile, rolling a strand of hair around her index finger and looking at the Y/H/C girl expectantly.

"I kinda have to." Y/N replied with a snort, "you guys kinda have to be friends with me, because wherever Hailee goes, I go too. But I’m glad you invited me, so I don’t feel like I’m crushing on you guys’ night."

Mick and Jasmine laughed at her joke and both punched her shoulders as they shook their heads, "you sound like a jealous girlfriend."

Y/N snorted out loud at Mick’s joke before flipping him off, making him laugh harder alongside Jasmine. "C’mon you two, let’s get drunk!"

"I know! But at least I got free alcohol!" Jasmine laughed care-freely as she sipped on her drink, moving her head to the beat of the song playing in the club while eyeing her friends in the vip area dancing.

"We got free alcohol. Thank you Jaz!" Mick leaned over the table and high-fived Jasmine then doing the same with Y/N, who was only paying half attention to what they were saying as she tried to keep her gaze focused on Hailee dancing with a few of her dancers on the dance floor not too far from them. "Dude you now look like a jealous girlfriend. Chill. She is with us. She is safe."

"Stop harassing her Mick. She is doing her job." Jasmine leaned over the table to slap Mick’s shoulder before sitting back on her chair and patting Y/N’s hand gently, drawing her full attention. "Don’t listen to him Y/N."

"Oh trust me, I’m not. And I never will." Y/N joked with a mischievous smile directed at Mick, making him gasp with an offended face, his mouth opened in an O shape and his eyebrows drawn together, but she purposefully ignored him and focused her attention on Jasmine instead. "I just- I don’t want to be too oppressive. She doesn’t want me here. But her mom does. I want her to trust her mom is right. I am not her enemy. Nor are her fans. But sometimes things get crazy and I am here to protect her if it will ever happen."

"Don’t worry Y/N. She will come around eventually." Jasmine assured Y/N with a warm smile.

"Yeah, she will. I am sure of that." Mick caught Y/N’s attention by laying a hand on the Y/H/C girl and patting it gently.

"Thank you guys." Y/N smiled in appreciation at her friends, who just lifted their drinks and winked at her with small grins of their own.

"I need a drink." Y/N snorted under her breath when another dancer, Tess, walked at their table and sat unceremoniously down on the chair beside her, a bit sweaty and out of breath. "Can you go get me one Mick?"

"Sure. For 200 dollars."

"What?! C’mon! You came here to sit three songs ago! I need to rest." Tess argued as she groaned at Mick’s mischievous expression.

"Not my fault. You could’ve joined me then and you could’ve rested enough to get a drink." Mick countered back with mirth glowing in his eyes. Despite his words, Y/N saw Mick gripping the chair’s armrests, a clear sign he is ready to get up, and that gesture made Y/N smile fondly as she witnessed the drummer mess around a little bit with Tess.

"Ugh, you’re an asshole." Tess flipped him off before sending him a kiss when he got up from his chair right after. "Love you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Mick waved Tess off before walking towards the small group still dancing and talked to Luke and Mark quickly, before walking towards the VIP area’s bar. He probably asked his friends to get drinks for everyone and not too long after everyone joined the table when Mick, Luke and Mark brought shots and drinks. Everyone except Hailee. Y/N was ready to sit up and join her to keep an eye on her closely, but Tess passed her a shot and made her cheer with everyone else. Then another. When the third one arrived in a very short time, Y/N declined it since she was technically working and that made her senses go back on alert, chancing a look at Hailee, expecting her to dance with the few people dancing on the dance floor, but she was met with uncomfortable eyes that were clearly asking for help. With a lightning-fast movement she sat up from her chair and strode towards the dance floor.

"C’mon, let me buy you a drink babe."

"Do not call me babe. I said no. Thank you." Hailee talked slowly but with a firm voice, her tone a bit lower and full of anger and annoyance.

"Then let’s dance a bit before getting that drink. I promise I will make worth your while."

Y/N wanted to punch that douchebag’s face repeatedly when she heard the conversation going on as she got closer to Hailee and a small curly, dark brown haired boy, watching as he ogled Hailee with his brown eyes. "Is there a problem here?"

"No. Bye."

Y/N had to restrain herself when the boy answered before Hailee could, not even moving his eyes from her chest before meeting Hailee’s gaze with a disgusting flirty smile, "where were we? Oh yeah, we were about to dance. Or we could skip the dance and the drink and get right to the good part."

"Like a said no. A million times no."

"But-."

"You heard her. No." Y/N interrupted him as she crossed her arms under her chest and approached Hailee slightly, noticing how she leaned a bit over her as she tried to move away from the boy.

"Who are you?" Y/N had to physically restrain herself from punching repeatedly this douchebag’s smug face by closing her hands into tight fists, feeling her short nails sink deep into her palm and creating a grounding stinging, and by taking a deep, calming breath but it proved to be a really difficult task when the douchebag’s face twisted in disgust, "go find another girl to hit on, she is not interested."

Y/N’s patience was becoming thinner by the second and closed her eyes for a second to stop from head-butting hard this jerk, before opening her Y/E/C eyes again and focusing her cold gaze on him, "the only person I want to hit, hard, right now it’s you. Don’t test my patience. I’m here to tell you to go fuck yourself."

"Nice try, but I’m not going anywhere. Not without her at least." Hailee frowned in disgust when the boy winked at her in something that he may have considered seductive before focusing his gaze back on Y/N. "So why don’t you go bother someone else?"

"Did I stutter? Go. Fuck. Yourself."

"Listen-."

"No you listen for once. I said no. NO. A million times no. I guess you don’t take a no for an answer but I don’t care. I said no. I’m not going anywhere with you. And apologize to her since she had been nice enough to not beating the shit out of you."

"Oh I got it now. You two are together. It’s fine. We can arrange something." Y/N and Hailee facepalmed right away as they stared dumbly at him for a few seconds but they sighed loudly when they noticed he was actually serious.

"We’re not together. I am her friend."

Hailee was glad Y/N didn’t use the word ‘bodyguard’ since this jerk seemed to be so dense and dumb that he would’ve thought about some kinky role play shit he would’ve wanted to join. "We are her friends and we tell you to go nicely. Don’t let me repeat myself or the word ‘nicely’ won’t be used again."

Hailee turned her head around and smiled warmly at Jasmine and Mick behind her mimicking Y/N’s pose and watching the boy with a withering glare, "ugh fine, you bitch were too fucking haughty and snob to fuck."

The boy turned around with a scoff and went to walk away, but Y/N stopped him right after, "oh hey! You forgot something."

"What?" The boy didn’t have time to turn fully around before Y/N’s fist collided with his cheek hard and made him fall down on the floor with a grunt that almost got covered by the cheers and loud wolf whistles from her friends as they cheered Y/N on.

"There. Now you can go to hell asshole."

After about an hour, Y/N walked out of the club, following Hailee closely as she talked animatedly with two of her dancers about something Y/N wasn’t exactly paying attention to. "You don’t have to worry about that, we will blame Pete for that."

"Hey!" Y/N smiled softly at the boy in question protesting, lowering her head down and watching her feet move on the concrete for a few moments before looking up ahead again.

"Don’t worry, we won’t do that." Hailee was quick to reassure with a calming, comforting tone but her innocent expression then broke into a mischievous smile a second later, "maybe."

"I hate you two!" Pete put his hands on Hailee’s and Lorna’s shoulders, walking respectively on his left and on his right side, and pushed them to the side, making them stumble in their steps.

"That’s our stop. We’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Haiz." Lorna and Pete hugged Hailee tightly, doing the same with everyone that wasn’t on the bus they were staying in then walked in their bus.

"I’ll join you guys in a second. I will walk Hailee to her bus."

"Okay." Jasmine lifted her thumb up and nodded at her after she hugged Hailee goodnight and walked alongside her friends to their bus.

"Hm, I need to walk you back to your bus then I’ll leave you alone." Y/N told Hailee in an awkward stance and shrugged softly.

"Okay." Hailee nodded and started walking the few steps towards her tour bus, hearing Y/N catch up with her not even a second later.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Y/N didn’t believe Hailee not even for a second, she saw her bite on her bottom lip and fidget with her hands nervously since they left the club not too long ago, making Y/N ask if Hailee was okay.

"Are you sure? You seem a little bit- lost? Deep in thought. I just want to make sure you are okay."

"I am just a little bit shaken by what happened." Hailee finally admitted after a few seconds of silence, causing Y/N’s heart to clench at her quiet voice.

"I am so sorry." Y/N apologized with a regretful expression on her face and looked at Hailee with remorse clear in her Y/E/C eyes, "I shouldn’t have sat down at the table. I should’ve been right beside you so he wouldn’t have approached you in the first place." Y/N looked down at her feet for a few seconds in shame before looking back into Hailee’s brown irises when she felt them on her, finding nothing but fondness in those mesmerizing irises.

"Y/N, it’s not your fault. I actually really appreciated you giving me space and not staying glued to me all night long. I might not wanted and I might still not want you here since I don’t think getting a bodyguard was necessary but I understand my mother’s worries and I respect your job. And you did an amazing job. You came at the right time and helped me out and I’m grateful for that. Stop beating yourself up. You did nothing wrong."

"I know, but I should’ve arrived earlier. I should’ve stopped him before he could’ve approached you. I was distracted and I shouldn’t have been distracted. Not when I am working."

Hailee smiled tenderly at her before placing a hand on her right shoulder and caressed it softly in a comforting manner. "It’s okay. You need to have some fun too!"

"I don’t. Not when I’m working." Y/N countered back with her eyebrows furrowed and shook her head in denial, "my priority is your safety and I can’t protect you if I am distracted. It won’t happen again."

"Okay, stop. Hold on. Let me open the door and we can keep talking." Hailee rummaged in her purse to find the tour bus’ keys and opened the door, then signaled for Y/N to enter, but the girl shook her head and signaled her to go in first. Hailee rolled her eyes good-naturedly and shook her head with a small smile before she realized Y/N wasn’t going to give in and walked in first.

"Wow, what a mess!" Y/N said out loud and widened eyes comically as she took in the place, full of clothes scattered all over the living room’s floor and couches.

"Yeah sorry, I was trying to unpack a few things."

"All of this is a bit more than a few things." Y/N joked as she looked at Hailee comically and the girl shrugged shyly.

"Anyway, we started on a wrong foot. Especially because of me. Let’s start over. I will try to be more polite to you if you will try to have fun when needed."

"Oh I didn’t realize this was a negotiation." Y/N cracked another joke, smiling mischievously at Hailee while shaking her index finger to point at Hailee and herself, the singer scoffing with another good-naturedly roll of her eyes. "Anyway, I will try. But your safety has to come first."

"Deal."

"Ugh, Y/N relax. You don’t need to walk me back every night to my trailer, especially when it’s 10 feet away from the entrance!"

"I am sorry, but this is the protocol. It’s my job to be sure you are safe in your trailer."

"Yeah, okay, but no one is around. My fans are on the other side of the venue."

"I still will walk you back in your trailer." Hailee huffed out a small laugh as she fished her keys from her stage pants she stashed in there after grabbing them on the counter in her changing room before walking out of the venue and unlocked her tour bus door. "I-."

"Like every other night for the past month, no. You don’t need to check the bus. It was locked."

"Okay." Y/N sighed dejectedly, scratching her forehead in frustration at Hailee’s stubbornness as she looked the singer in her eyes, "you did great tonight by the way."

"Thank you." Hailee smiled widely at the compliment, adrenaline still pumping hard in her veins at how wonderful the concert was that night. The crowd was ecstatic and the atmosphere was amazing.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Y/N."

Y/N could hear Hailee’s name being screamed by the ecstatic crowd from the backstage and couldn’t help but smile at how passionate Hailee’s fans were and how much love they showed her, "okay, all set. You can go on stage now."

"What’s up everybody!" Y/N smiled widely when Hailee run up on stage and the whole crowd erupted in a loud scream of excitement at her sight, "wow, I see you are happy to see me!"

No matter how many times she saw it, Y/N was still stunned how much loved Hailee was by her fans. She had travelled a lot and she had been pretty famous singer’s bodyguard before, and even if Hailee’s fans weren’t that much compared to the singers’ fans Y/N had worked for, she could see the real passion, affection and love they had for Hailee. A lot of really famous singers have also a lot of ‘occasional’ fans in the crowd that are there at their concert just to watch them live, but with Hailee’s fans Y/N could see every single one of them would go to every single one of Hailee’s shows, they weren’t just occasional fans. "WOHO! WHAT A GREAT SHOW!"

"Fuck you Mick! You will make me go deaf one of these days."

"Nah, you’ll be just fine." Mick waved her off and snickered as he circled his arm around Y/N’s shoulders and hugged her closer for a moment before pulling away.

A few seconds later a body crashed into her back as it crawled over it, giving her just a few seconds to react and grab the person’s thighs to prevent them to fall on the ground, "Y/N! I missed you!"

"Jaz we saw each other 2 hours ago!"

"I know! But I still missed you!" Y/N smiled warmly at her friend as she hugged her tightly and shook her head before putting her down gently.

"Oh yeah! I’m gonna change quickly. I wanna say ‘hi’ to them." Y/N heard Hailee speak to her manager not too far from her and watched curiously as she run to the hallway that led to the dressing rooms, already knowing she was talking about going to say ‘hi’ to her fans waiting outside the arena. She followed her and waited patiently outside her dressing room as Hailee finished changing from her stage clothes and walked her to her fans when she finished, watching with fondness in her eyes Hailee talk to her fans, signing their pictures of her and taking selfies with them. It was calm for almost 10 minutes until a fight started not too far away from them, a few rows back, between a few Hailee’s fans. A few screams could be heard and Y/N, waiting patiently a few feet behind Hailee until then, immediately jumped into action and went to take Hailee away from the scene, since the arena’s guards already got it covered, but the singer walked forward to try to calm everyone down slipping from Y/N’s grasp. Y/N saw from the corner of her eyes as she walked again towards Hailee, a girl crashing into another girl holding a beer and accidentally breaking the bottle onto the barrier on her left, before another girl crashed onto her side and made her stumble forward, dangerously close to Hailee, as she walked a few steps forward to try to help and calm everyone down. "Guys, please let’s just-."

"Hailee!" Y/N got in front of Hailee’s just in time. The Y/H/C girl grabbed the singer’s forearm and pulled her behind her back as she got in front of her a second before the broken bottle got pushed into her lower stomach while the girl holding the bottle fell down on the floor right in front of Y/N’s feet. Y/N grunted in pain when she felt a big piece of glass embed in her skin and flesh, while the rest fell down on the floor and crashed into pieces, but the Y/H/C girl pushed the pain away to protect Hailee and moved her away from the hassle. "We need to go."

"Oh shit- Y/N!"

"We need to go now. I need to escort you away to a safe place."

"B-but we need to look at that-."

"I’ll be fine." Y/N gritted through her teeth as she ignored the excruciating pain and grunted out loud when she pushed Hailee towards the direction of her tour bus.

"Y/N we seriously need to call someone." Y/N grunted back in protest as she kept pushing Hailee towards the bus and signaled for her to open the door as she looked around for anymore treats. "Y/N, please. You’re bleeding."

"I will check it as soon as I am sure you are safe and now-." Y/N trailed off as she closed the door behind her and locked the door. "Now you are." Y/N sighed out loud as she laid her back on the closed door for just a moment before she pushed past the pain for a few more seconds to check the entire bus to be completely sure Hailee was safe.

"Okay, now please, stop here and let me check." Hailee leaned her hands on Y/N’s shoulders when she joined her back on the living area and pushed down gently to let her lay her butt on the small table behind her. "Oh fuck. It looks bad." Hailee stated, examining the big red spot on Y/N’s white t-shirt with a worried expression on her face.

"Can you- l-lift the shirt?"

"I don’t know." Y/N grunted in pain when Hailee just grazed the hem of Y/N’s shirt and stopped her movements right away.

"Fuck." Y/N hissed out loud and retracted her body abruptly from Hailee’s grasp, "sorry, just- be careful."

"I am." Hailee replied softly with a small smile, "I think we should let it be checked." Hailee repeated as she looked once again at the blood stained patch on Y/N’s white shirt, biting her bottom lip nervously. A few seconds later she felt the bus move and instinctively looked at the closed door separating the living area from the driving cabin at the front of the bus with her eyebrows furrowed together. "No, no, no! We should stop."

"No, it’s okay. It’s important that we get away from that chaos. We can handle it. Wait, let me rephrase that. I can handle it. I don’t want to bother you too much. I will go into the bathroom and as soon as we are far away I will go into my bus." Y/N announced as she lifted herself off the table with another pained grunt and limped a few steps towards the bathroom to check herself the damage that broken bottle did to her, but a gentle hand on her right bicep stopped her in her tracks.

"You can’t be serious Y/N. I will help you." Y/N smiled in appreciation at the soft tone Hailee used and nodded gently at her, who nodded back with a small grin of her own, "okay, now stay put. I don’t want to hurt you if you move."

"Yeah, okay." Y/N let herself be lead by Hailee back towards the table, making her sit back down on the table and slowly but more firmly this time, lifted Y/N’s t-shirt to assess Y/N’s injury, carefully slipping the shirt away from the glass before pulling it up under her chest.

"Oh shit." Y/N gasped out loud when she felt the cold air hit her hot skin and chanced a glance down her lower stomach.

"Oh shit." Y/N repeated Hailee’s words and stared at the big piece of green glass embedded into her skin. "Fuck."

"Sorry!" Hailee grimaced in apology as she tentatively grazed the piece of glass to assess the damage.

"Don’t worry." Y/N said through gritted teeth as she tried to subdue the stinging sensation in her lower stomach, "it has to be taken out."

"Wait- do you want me to-? No! No way." Hailee asked when she moved her eyes away from Y/N’s injury and found her Y/E/C eyes staring at her expectantly.

"Hailee please, we still need to drive for a bit more and I am starting to feel dizzy. So we need to take this out and stop me from bleeding out. I would have done it myself but I don’t have enough energy in me to pull it out neatly, I would cause more unnecessary damage. So please, I know I am asking too much, but you are my greatest option right now."

"Geez, talk about ‘no pressure’." Hailee joked and made Y/N chuckle airily under her breath as she smiled fondly at the singer.

"Yeah." Y/N shook her head and looked at Hailee amusedly, "sorry but it is what it is."

"No I got it." Y/N smiled fondly at Hailee and nodded once before letting her continue, "I just don’t want to screw it up. And I don’t want to hurt you."

"Don’t worry, you won’t. You will do great. I will guide you through it all."

"Why do I feel like it’s not your first time being this heavily injured?"

"Because it’s not. I liked to get into a lot of trouble in high school." Hailee smiled mischievously down at her but in her eyes Y/N could see worry and apprehension as she stared into her brown irises.

"Hm, why am I not surprised?" Y/N snorted under her breath and blushed slightly under Hailee’s gaze, "anyway, we should probably focus. I seriously need to take this shit out, you look a little pale."

"Yeah, yeah. It also hurts like a bitch. So we should hurry."

"Okay-." Hailee took a big, deep breath to ground herself and closed her eyes to focus, a few seconds passing before she opened them once again and with her index finger and thumb took a solid hold of the big, broken bottle’s piece. She stared at the glass a couple of seconds, took another deep breath then looked into Y/N’s eyes firmly, "on three. One, two, THREE!"

Y/N groaned out loud, trying not to scream too loudly at the searing pain in her abdomen and closed her eyes shut hard, "ow! Fuck, fuck, fucking shit!" Y/N felt dizzy and hold onto the table’s edge hard to prevent herself to fall on the ground. "Sorry for cursing. It won’t happen again." Y/N murmured quietly after she gained some consciousness, her head spinning slightly and feeling a little bit weak.

"Are you serious right now?" Hailee asked incredulously as she walked to the trash can and dumped the broken bottle’s piece into it and walked back to Y/N to assess her injury. "You were in pain. Hell, you are still in so much pain. There is no need to apologize."

"I know, but I’m still working right now, so I should try to at least be well behaved." Y/N tried to reason with seriousness but the small smile that Hailee sent her way broke her deep serious frown into a big grin of her own as they both chuckled under their breaths.

"I don’t care. You are not working right now. You are a friend that got hurt and I am taking care of you."

"I should consider myself lucky, shouldn’t I?"

"Oh yeah, very lucky actually!" Hailee replied with a serious face as she nodded once before breaking her serious façade with another grin, her hands still lifting Y/N’s shirt up some more to prevent the shirt’s fabric to stick onto Y/N’s deep cut on her lower abdomen, "I will take care of you really good, you’ll see!" Hailee winked playfully before looking down on Y/N’s cut to see if there was any small pieces of glass left that she didn’t take out earlier, luckily there weren’t. When she moved her eyes once again back on Y/N’s face she was met with a small blush on Y/N’s face and a big, mischievous and cheeky grin on her lips. "What?" When Y/N just kept staring at her knowingly, Hailee thought about what she had said and immediately blushed furiously as she fumbled over her words to try to clarify, "NOT LIKE THAT! Y/N!" Hailee slapped gently Y/N’s shoulder, who chuckled softly under her breath.

"Hey! You are the dirty-minded here, you should hit yourself! And I’m injured, I’m in a lot of pain right now, it’s not fair hitting me!" Y/N caressed her left shoulder where Hailee slapped her and chuckled under her breath at their banter.

"Not enough to stop you from being the only dirty-minded here!" Hailee countered back before lifting a challenging eyebrow up when Y/N opened her mouth to try to counter her back. She smirked triumphantly when Y/N shut her mouth and grunted out childishly.

"It’s not my fault, you said it like it was meant to be dirty!" Y/N replied a few moments later and pouted softly, trying to play her trump card and make Hailee relent and say she was the one dirty-minded between them, but it only blackmailed when Hailee smirked cheekily.

"Well, this only proves you are the dirty-minded here. Because even if I decided to specifically say those words with a dirty meaning, I covered it all up with an innocent look and I made it sound innocent. You were the one that caught the dirty meaning behind that phrase. But it wasn’t the case anyway, because I didn’t realize what I said only after you pointed them out, you horndog."

"Ugh, fine you won. Now please, tell me if I need stitches because I seriously need to disinfect the cut before it could get infected."

"Oh yeah! Wait-uhm- how do I know you don’t need stitches?" Hailee asked with an insecure voice, her eyes now back analyzing the cut intensely while her eyebrows were cutely furrowed together in concentration.

"Check the central portion of the cut. How distant are the two flaps of skin?"

"Hm, I think not too much. Maybe just a tad bit of a quarter of an inch."

"Okay, that’s a good thing. You don’t need to patch me up-." Y/N trailed off as she thought over what Hailee said while she tried to see the cut’s damage for herself too.

"Yeah- wait, hold the fuck up. I would’ve had to patch you up? Are you insane?" Hailee asked incredulously and stared at Y/N like she just grew two heads, who simply chuckled in amusement as she shook her head good-naturedly.

"No, I’m Y/N."

"I-hm." Hailee opened her mouth to prepare herself to counter Y/N’s words back, but as soon as her brain registered Y/N’s witty joke, she closed her mouth shut and looked at Y/N unamused. Y/N then chuckled softly under her breath and shook her head, but didn’t add anything else, wanting to hear what Hailee would counter back, excited for their new teasing and bickering dynamic. "Wow Y/N, that was really mature of you, I must admit. Very, very mature."

"What can I say? I’m a book full of surprises and plot twists." Y/N replied with nonchalance, shrugging and smiling innocently at Hailee.

"Unbelievable." Hailee shook her head good-naturedly and rolled her eyes in amusement as she walked to the cabinet where she knew there was the first aid kit and joined Y/N again. She place the bag beside Y/N and grabbed a cotton wool, soaked it with hydrogen peroxide and lifted it to Y/N’s cut. "Okay, this will hurt a little."

"OHW! OWH! OWH! FUCKFUCKSHIT!"

"Almost done, stay put!"

"I’m trying!"

"Not enough!" Y/N grunted at Hailee’s reprimand and tried to stay as still as the excruciating pain on the left side of her lower stomach allowed her to, closing her eyes shut as Hailee cleaned her cut. "Almost done."

"Finally, ugh it hurts so much, shit."

Hailee then stopped altogether when her eyes moved up from the cut just an fraction of second and got met with Y/N’s defined abs, every muscle standing out due to Y/N contracting them from the pain. "Uhm-." Hailee opened and closed her mouth like a damned dumb fish, slapping herself on the forehead in her mind for not getting a grip on herself at the sight of just defined abs and a well-defined body, her hand frozen on the cut.

"Hailee please, hurry- fuck! Ohw, ohw, ohw!"

"Oh, shit! Sorry!" Hailee apologized as she lifted the cotton wool from the ugly cut after she started pressing on it too much without notice in her distracted state and cursed herself under her breath for hurting Y/N more than necessary due to her being an- horndog? A stupid? "Here, done!"

"Uh, fucking finally. Okay, it is starting to subside." Y/N started to breath evenly back a few seconds later Hailee stopped mending her injury and relaxed her previously contracted abdomen when she could just feel a light and small stinging sensation from her lower stomach cut.

"We need to put an antiseptic cream on it otherwise it will get infected." Hailee pointed out as she walked towards the bathroom and opened her medicine cabinet, finding the aforementioned cream after rummaging a bit in the cabinet. "Wow, I need to thank my mom for thinking about everything. She packed a whole pharmacy in my medicine bag."

"A big thank you to Mama Steinfeld." Y/N breathed out as she nodded oxygen Hailee before chuckling softly under her breath with her as Hailee approached Y/N back and opened the bandages.

"Ugh, it looks ugly. Does it hurt a lot?"

"Not as much as before but it still hurts." Y/N explained with a shrug as she looked down at her injury too.

"Okay good. This will sting a bit but it will get it better." Y/N nodded and gritted her teeth to prepare herself for the stinging, flinching just a bit when Hailee’s delicate hand applied the antiseptic cream on Y/N’s cut with a cotton swab.

"Do you want me to blow on it just a bit?" Hailee did all her best to refrain her face to break into a big grin and tried to keep a serious face as she asked the question and it got even more difficult when Y/N looked down at her incredulously but she kept applying the cream not looking at Y/N, fearing she would crack and laugh out loud if she looked into Y/N’s incredulous eyes.

"How old do you think I am?"

"I don’t know, 5 years old?" Hailee then cracked as she looked at Y/N with her bottom lip trapped under her teeth to prevent her smile to broaden but as soon as she met Y/N’s eyes she bursted out laughing.

"Ha-ha very funny." Y/N rolled her eyes good-naturedly and snorted under her breath, her heart fluttering alongside her stomach at the cute laugh Hailee was emitting for her own joke.

"I know, I am hilarious."

"Debatable." Y/N countered back jokingly, "ohw, hey!"

"Sorry!" Hailee smiled apologetically but Y/N saw through that and rolled her eyes at her pushing on her cut at her mocking words.

"Thanks." Y/N breathed out gently as soon as Hailee stopped applying the antiseptic cream and smiled in appreciation for her care and patience.

"Okay, time to patch you up and we’re done!"

"Finally!" Y/N exclaimed out loud, amusing Hailee to no end as she wrapped the bandage around Y/N’s lower stomach. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Hailee smiled affectionately at Y/N after placing the other unused bandages back into the emergency kit and looked at her in gratitude, "I actually should be the one thanking you. Not the way around."

"I was just doing my job."

"You almost got hurt badly for it." Y/N shook her head with a soft smile and lifted her hand up in protest.

"It’s nothing. I’ve been worse injured." Y/N admitted with a mix of shyness and resolution, trying to make Hailee stop feeling bad for her.

PART 2

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princncess · 3 days

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Your captor finishes the meal you made her, and instructs you to clean the dishes. She lazily gestures with the taser in her hand, her weapon of choice, toward the sink. You stand up and start collecting her dishes, bringing them back to the sink. She doesn’t move from her seat. Stepping close to her makes you nervous, but she just watches you calmly. You turn on the water and pick up a plate to start washing it, and-

You feel her footstep behind you, and before you can startle, her left arm is around your chest, groping you, and you feel the hard plastic of the taser jamming sharply into your hip. You tense up and grip the plate tightly, frozen in place.

Softly in your ear, she says “Go ahead and start cleaning now, little love.”

“Please don’t tase me right now…”

“Mmm, why’s that?” She shifts a little, nestling you in her arms a bit tighter.

“I don’t want to drop a plate, and the taser might make me.” You try not to show any fear that might entice her to hurt you.

Her voice immediately drops to a stern, harsh tone, much louder but still just as close to your ear. “If you break one of my dishes, I will fucking kill you.” She grabs you much tighter, and you hear and feel the taser’s safety click off. You make a barely contained whine and twitch as if she really had pressed the button.

You speak in a much higher, more whimpering voice, taking quick shallow breaths. “Well then, please don’t tase me, because I don’t want to die-” You gulp and take a few more quick breaths, and try to shift your voice to a less pitiful and more “nervously trying to appear as best buds with someone who wants you dead” tone. “I don’t think you want me to die either- right? You want to keep me around and not have me get all gross and rotten- plus I couldn’t do chores for you if I was dead, and if you kept me around after that, I’d be another chore for you, right? Like, keeping my corpse-” the thought of yourself as a corpse, and the fact that you’re talking about it as a very real possibility stops you in your tracks for a moment. You gulp again. “Like keeping my corpse from getting messy, or spraying perfume on it for the smell, or… Stuff like that…” Your voice is shaky. Your head hangs down. You don’t dare look back at her face, because the tear rolling down yours would have her excited and pushing you to the floor, plate be damned. You wait for a response.

“Eh, I guess you’ve convinced me. Carry on.” She doesn’t turn the safety back on. Your hand shakes as you reach for the dish soap, and you start scrubbing the plate in your hand. It’s finished and you move to put it on the drying rack, but freeze for just a moment, thinking fast. If the only reason she’s not tasing you is because you’ll drop a dish, what happens when you aren’t holding one? Time resumes, and you grab another dirty dish before putting the clean plate down. Did she just exhale? Was she thinking the same thing as you?

You’ve repeated the process a few more times, with her hand on you the whole time and without ever forgetting about the taser. Now you’re holding a plate with just silverware left to wash. Nobody cares about dropped silverware, you probably shouldn’t put down this plate. You figure out a way to hold the silverware with the plate hand, and scrub it with the other, and you repeat this process for the rest of the silverware. You figure whatever ran off the silverware might have dirtied the plate again, so you wash it once more. You hope she lets go and finds something else to do now that your task is done. You still hold the last plate as everything else is drying.

“Okay, I finished…”

“Thank you, darling,” she says with a squeeze from her hand. “Go ahead and put down the plate now.”

You don’t move. She says again, in that same sweet tone, “Go on.”

“I can’t…”

“How come, little lady?” Saccharine. She has to have been thinking the same thing as you this whole time. No point in playing a game at this point.

“I know what happens when I put it down…”

“Aww, I’m sure you do, clever doll.” Her voice loses some of its comforting sweetness. “Put it down.”

“Please-”

Her voice switches all the way again. “Put it down. Now.”

You reluctantly slide the plate between the bars of the drying rack. You shut your eyes tight. You bring your arms back to your body, wrapped around your own stomach, comforting and bracing yourself.

#princncess writing #this isn’t gender neutral btw reader gets called “lady”#considered writing the scene where she either tases you or lets go without doing anything #but i think that this being the end point is best #because the important part isn’t really about what happens at the end #the story isn’t about that #it’s about that fear and desperately delaying the inevitable

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coltermorning · 3 days

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Of Love and Loss Ch. 14 (RDR2 Fanfic, Arthur Morgan x F!Reader, 18+)

Summary: Another day in town reveals a deep-seated lack of worth within Arthur that you do your best to distract him from.

Author’s Notes: I’ve decided on a relative timeline for this story—about three years before the events of the game, hence Arthur’s age mentioned in this chapter. More alcohol consumption in this chapter. Chapter fourteen of this one. More notes at the end.

Tags: Arthur Morgan x reader, high honor Arthur Morgan, minor character death, loss of parents, blood and injury, grief/mourning, survivor guilt, strangers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut, graphic depictions of violence

AO3 Link

Of Love and Loss

Fourteen: A Good Day’s Mischief

Word count: 5057

Still ain’t told me her name. Considering her drunken state last night, I doubt she remembers any promises well enough to keep them. Still, I was hoping to get it out of her while her judgement remained so poor. Now she’s back to herself—defiant and stubborn as she ever was.

You and Arthur had done all you’d set out to do, freshly laundered clothes in hand, horse and mule checked on, and bellies full. You could get used to a life like this. Especially the way the two of you walked side by side, quiet for all that had passed between you the night prior. Simply happy to be together. He may not have wanted you in the same way you wanted him, but after being held by him all through the night, feeling so protected and cared for, you didn’t care. That closeness was unlike anything, something you craved deep in your bones. You prayed you weren’t too obvious about that need, especially as you walked beside him now where you would normally follow along. But he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he kept that mild satisfaction on his face and walked on. It was all you could do not to smile like an idiot at his happiness—at knowing you were the one who put it there.

The two of you trudged up the creaking hotel steps and inside, Arthur nodding at the hotel owner just as he had the day before. It filled you with such a sense of familiarity you could hardly stand it.

Upon reaching the room, you immediately held out your hand for Arthur to give you his shirt.

“Let me sew that up, get this thread back to the hotel worker.”

Something passed over his expression you couldn’t place, but he did as you asked. And you were soon sewing the small separation shut with the same swiftness as before, glad his shirt was also blue so that the thread matched.

You finished and looked up to find him watching your hands.

“You’re good at that,” he said.

You passed the shirt over to him, tucking the needle and thread in your pocket. “I had lots of practice.”

He smiled—a soft, genuine thing compared to his usual smirk. It made him more handsome than any haircut could.

“Let me get this back downstairs,” you told him, patting your pocket. “Be right back.” And, when you headed for the door without a word of protest from him, you turned. “What, no quip about me being careful?” His gaze was on his shirt, his thumb running over the newly threaded mend. But when he caught you staring, he tossed it aside and cleared his throat.

“I thought that was implied.” All haughtiness returned.

You just grinned and left the room, nerves rearing at that same sense of familiarity that came from spending time with him. It was a dangerous thing to be so happy about—something that wouldn’t last.

Items returned, you reentered the bedroom to find Arthur looking out the window and smoking. His coat was once again shed, those broad shoulders on display. You had to keep yourself from staring.

He turned and offered you his cigarette.

“Never again,” you said, holding up your hand in refusal.

He chuckled. “Come on. It weren’t that bad.”

“Tell that to my lungs.”

The light in his eyes as they held on yours was deceiving. Partially because their genuineness reminded you of when he had kissed you, and you were filled with a hope you knew to be false because of it.

“You…wanna go back to the saloon?” he asked, voice careful like he realized what that look did to you.

“Maybe,” you said just as soft. “What else could we do while we’re in town?”

You thought you caught a tinge of red crossing his face before he turned back to the window, looking down to the street below. “There’s plenty of mischief for an outlaw to get into around these parts.”

Surprised, you pondered what that could possibly entail. “An outlaw, huh?”

He just lifted the cigarette to his lips again, not responding.

“As eager as I may be to see a bit of this world, I believe that’s where my sense of adventure ends.”

He looked at you then, a smirk lighting his eyes. “Please, do enlighten me on what you think I’m suggesting.”

“I, uh…” Truth be told, you had no idea. You’d thought he meant mischief beyond the arms of the law. For the both of you. “I guess I don’t know.”

He was really smiling then.

“What?”

“It’s a wonder we get along,” he said on a chuckle, smoke puffing out as he did.

“Do we?”

“Good point.” He leaned back against the window frame, one hand landing on his gun belt. Something about that relaxed grace of his made you want things you didn’t know how to want. He went on. “It’s just strange. Me, an outlaw, and you, skittish as a wild horse, not even knowing what that word means.”

“I know what it means.”

“Do you?”

“Outside of the law. Getting by on…thievery at best.”

“And at worst?”

Even though a small smile remained on his face, you could tell he cared about your answer. It was a loaded gun, that question. This circling conversation the pair of you never could seem to rid yourselves of.

He held your stare, and you held it right back. “That violence you showed me when those two men tried raiding our camp. What it could have turned into.”

“And what’s that?”

He wanted you to say it. Like he wanted you to fully understand—to hate him for it.

You stared at him a long time. Then, “I’m not scared of you, Arthur.” He made to laugh that off, so you pushed. “You’ve been awfully good to me for someone who wants to think himself so evil.”

That finally made him crack. He looked to his boots and let out the last of his laugh, smoke trailing in its wake. “Evil ain’t the right word.”

“What then?” You didn’t know you wanted to know him so badly until that very moment.

He turned back to the window and stood there a long time. It was only when you thought he wouldn’t answer that you heard his voice, deep yet small.

“Undeserving.”

The word tore through you. It was said with such sadness, such honesty, that you felt your chest cave knowing he wore that burden so heavily. Thinking himself truly beyond saving.

You could have consoled him in so many ways—namely by saying a worthless person wouldn’t worry themselves over whether they deserved good things. But you found yourself unable to get it out, unable to say a word. You just watched him in front of that window, smoke billowing up like old wounds finally brought forth—veiled and, consequently, impossible to staunch. It killed you to see that in him. It had you rethinking everything, every moment spent with him. You had been taking and taking and taking, never once thinking of his needs. So you vowed, right then and there, to begin.

“Let’s go, get out of here for a while.”

“Where?” he asked without facing you.

“Anywhere.”

He finished his cigarette, the stub short and burning in the noonday light.

“On one condition,” you amended.

He turned then, face clouded with something you couldn’t decipher.

“That you enjoy yourself.” He made to answer, but you interrupted. “And don’t lie and say you’ve been doing that already because you haven’t. Not while you’ve been so busy watching my back every second.”

He didn’t deny it.

“When’s the last time you quit worrying about everyone else? Did something for yourself?”

He let out a flat laugh. “Been a while.”

“Exactly. So come on and show me a good time, and stop babying me.”

“That ain’t-”

“Save it.” You opened the door and motioned for him to go ahead of you as dramatically as you could.

He rolled his eyes and made a big show of being annoyed, but you did know that much about him—all that gruffness was only that: show. So he gave in like you knew he would and was out the door in seconds.

You let Arthur lead the way this time, vowing to go where he went, to keep out of trouble. He must have really taken your word for it, for he soon walked straight into a saloon you hadn’t noticed before that was behind the hotel. It was…far from the likes of the Red Horse. Very far. But you were glad to see that Arthur wasn’t watching you for once, catering to you. Instead, he stepped up to the small, dingy bar and ordered a drink with a certain lightness in his step. He ordered you one too, but after seeing the state of the place, you didn’t feel like drinking from the dingy glasses he was handed. You gave him yours, and he only shrugged and started drinking both, propping himself against the bar top.

You took the time to note your surroundings—the piano player who kept missing notes not because of a lack of talent but because of a lack of keys. The few seedy-looking men who were already looking at you. You were immensely glad you hadn’t changed back into your own clothes, as their eyes hardly lingered on you any longer than they did Arthur. But the pair of you were strangers here, and with the way most of them huddled together in watchful silence, you could tell they frequented the place enough to call it their own. You and Arthur couldn’t say the same. And you felt the weight of their stares as a result of that long after turning away.

Arthur didn’t seem to mind the saloon’s company. In fact, if it weren’t for your being with him, you would be willing to bet he fit in around places like this. He seemed comfortable, less watchful, less shifty. It took you all of a heartbeat to decipher why, and the reason behind it both alarmed and saddened you—he was among like-minded people here. All shabby clothes and unkempt hair, guns on most patrons’ hips. You were willing to bet Arthur wasn’t the only man in the room who frequently found himself on the opposite side of the law. But more than that, it seemed he hadn’t enjoyed the company of the Red Horse as much because he felt he would never belong with those people. The more you looked around, the more you realized how abysmal Arthur’s self-worth was. He was worth ten of every man here. You didn’t even have to know them to know it—you could see it in their beady eyes. None of them would have helped you off that cliff bottom, but Arthur had. And you let him go on enjoying himself because of it, knowing any attempt to convince him of that worth would be futile. It would just anger him, and that was the opposite of the point of coming here. You instead thought of ways to help him keep his mind off things and grinned when an idea hit you.

“So.”

He turned to you. “Aww, don’t give me that look.”

“What look?”

“That one. Pure mischief if I ever seen it.”

“Isn’t that the point?” you asked, grin never fading. “You said it yourself. Plenty of mischief to get up to around here.”

He swigged down the rest of his drink and set it on the bar top, already waving at the bartender for another. “What did you have in mind?”

“You remember that little question game we played? With the gin?”

“Sure,” he said, not quite meeting your eye. Of course he did. It was hard to forget when the end result had been that kiss.

“I’ve got questions.”

“Here we go,” he muttered.

“I wasn’t properly…prepared last time. It was unfair from the start.”

“I let you ask me just as many questions as I asked you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but the caliber of questions was, well, tipped in your favor.”

“That so?” he asked, turning to you. The smug look on his face had you trying your best not to think of where the last game had led, because it was already getting difficult to resist wanting that again.

“They were,” you said simply.

“Well, fire away then.” He lowered his voice so only you could hear. “You already know enough to get me hanged. How much worse could you throw at me?”

You didn’t know enough to get the man hanged, for Christ’s sake, but you banished the thought before your confidence could be shaken. Instead, you started simple—with exactly the same thing he had.

“What’s something you never told anyone? Your deepest, darkest secret?”

“Deepest and darkest, huh?” he said, tilting his head back in thought and amusement.

You gave him time to think it over, knowing better than to tease him when you had the upper hand. He would just quit, and where would the fun be in that?

Whether from liquid courage or from genuinely wanting to enjoy himself, he relented.

“I don’t like the cold.”

“What? That’s not an answer,” you chided.

“It’s plenty answer,” he said with a grin, knowing it was anything but.

You were a breath away from arguing when you caught the way he was looking at you, just waiting for you to do exactly that. So you clamped your mouth shut and rerouted. “I meant something more along the lines of downright humiliating like my answer was, but…I’ll allow it.”

“You didn’t say humiliating. You said something no one else knows about me. Living with that gang of misfits every second of every day, you learn everything there is to know about each other.”

“That’s…more like it,” you admitted. Then, “Well, why the cold then? I like it.”

“Oh, and I’m not allowed to have an opinion?” he teased.

You glared. He just tilted his head back and laughed, and it was better than any answer he could have given you.

“Fine,” he said on a sigh. “It’s because it’s miserable. Heat can be bearable. It’s never painful, but the cold…”

“Yeah, I can see that,” you said, feigning understanding. Then, because he deserved some hassling in return, “It’s hard on the weak-willed.”

He scoffed and bumped his shoulder into yours in retaliation, and all you could do was laugh into your hand, trying to hide the feminine sound from the surrounding crowd.

“My turn,” he said. “And you got two, so I get two, and don’t even try to wiggle out of that.”

You rolled your eyes but didn’t protest.

“You ever daydream about kissing the postman?”

You could feel your face burn at that one, trying to answer fast enough to cover your embarrassment. “What kind of question is that? Why do you keep bringing that up?”

“I ain’t never brought it up since you did,” he countered.

Maybe not, but he always aimed these questions right where you were most guarded. Or most clueless, more like.

You groaned your frustration and were about to blurt denial before you realized that would be a lie—you’d never kissed anyone before Arthur, and you couldn’t deny that childish curiosity that had you imagining a hundred different scenarios with that stupid postman at the ripe age of fourteen. Maybe even thirteen.

Your hesitation was your biggest mistake. Arthur’s shit-eating grin had already taken hold. “Knew it.”

“There’s nothing to know,” you hissed, trying to keep from a yell. Lucky there was the sound of a piano currently filling the saloon, or this whole conversation would be on display for the patrons.

“Can’t lie,” he teased. “Those are the rules.”

“I haven’t even said-”

“Next question,” he interrupted. “Since you want to play dirty.”

“I wasn’t playing-”

“Did you imagine him your age in said daydreams, or were you kissing a forty-year-old man?”

“You’re terrible,” you said. “Absolutely awful.”

“So…that a yes?” he asked over a wicked grin.

“No.” He gave you a knowing look, and you immediately shut it down. “No. He was…like he always looked. Not forty, for Christ’s sake.”

“Thirty-nine?”

You swatted him. He laughed. “What then?”

“I don’t know,” you said, exasperated. “How old are you? He looked about like you do.”

You realized your mistake the moment the words left your mouth. Especially when Arthur’s expression turned from amusement to smugness.

“Like me, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“No?” His grin had turned feral.

“He looked your age.”

“Sure.” He dropped it, but you knew by the look on his face the conversation was far from over. Meanwhile, it was likely your face would soon burn away with how red you knew it to be.

“I’m thirty-three,” he said, interrupting your embarrassment.

“He was around that.”

He nodded. Then, “Well, as fine a question as asking my age is, it’s my turn again.”

“Excuse me?” You said it loud enough for Arthur to shush you.

“Pipe down with all that. Lest you want these fine folks knowing you’re a lady.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

“What?”

“Lady. That’s the second time.”

“That’s what you are, ain’t it?”

“Woman,” you corrected.

“Woman. Lady. Same thing.”

You leaned over the bar, facing away from him. He was too amused with you to let it lie. “What, you got a problem with it?”

“No. It’s…not terrible. Just don’t expect me to go calling you gentleman.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, nameless.” You whipped around at the nickname, and he winked at you before lifting his glass to his lips. Goddamn him for it. This was the Arthur you couldn’t stand being around since that kiss. The one who had led to that kiss. And all you wanted was for it to happen again.

You tore your eyes away from him and tried to think of a question that would justify why you were suddenly wracked with nerves and dead silent because of it.

“How ‘bout this,” he said, his smile so wide you knew it would be an awful question. “Have you ever…” His voice trailed when his eyes met the door. Yours followed, and you immediately knew why his focus had become so sharp—in walked the man from the night prior, the one who had lost so much money playing poker. Bowler hat, greasy manner, and all.

“And, like his father, he’ll come to regret that,” he was saying to one of the men he was with the night before. Well, slurring would be more accurate. His red-tinged face and bloodshot eyes gave him away for a drunk if his speech didn’t.

“Mr. Lawrence,” the bartender called over to him. “Nice to see you in.”

“Ah, Mr. Begley,” the man—Lawrence—responded. He leaned over to his friend, either not bothering to lower his voice or unaware of its loudness as he said, “Can’t very well say it’s a pleasure in this dump, can I?”

His friend chuckled in response, but all you could do was glare. Your distaste must have been obvious enough for Arthur to lean into you and whisper, “Eyes forward, there.”

You did as he asked, not needing to draw attention to yourself now.

You were grateful when the man and his friend settled on the opposite side of Arthur, though not even a minute passed before he was drawing Arthur’s attention.

“A new face, have we? Haven’t seen you here before.”

Arthur kept his eyes forward as he said, “Never been here before.”

“A newcomer then. Staying or passing through?”

“Just passing through.”

“You and your…ah…”

Lawrence leaned past Arthur to look at you.

“My friend,” Arthur answered, though it only resulted in a raised eyebrow from the man. It was obvious enough to anyone looking closely you were a woman. But if he realized, he didn’t say anything.

“Yes. Well, the name’s George Lawrence. Brother to the notorious James Lawrence.” The description dripped with disdain for the latter, though you had no clue who he was referring to.

“Who?” Arthur asked, and you had to rein in a smile at the way he blatantly snubbed the man, offering up no name of his own.

This really got the man’s attention, and his friend’s too. “You don’t know? Oh dear, what filthy little rock have you been living under?” When Arthur still didn’t take the bait, Lawrence kept on. “The shootist? Recently appointed town marshal?”

“Here?”

The man scoffed a laugh. “Yes, here.”

“Well, if he’s as friendly as you, maybe I’ll go pay him a visit,” Arthur jeered.

Lawrence’s eyes narrowed with disgust, his oily nose crinkling up with it. He looked Arthur up and down. “And you are?”

“Arthur Callahan.” You were surprised Arthur even offered that much, though he still wouldn’t meet the man’s eye, too busy leaning over the bar top and trying to ignore him.

“And you?”

Lawrence’s eyes had fallen on you, and you blurted the first name that came to you to keep Arthur held back as he turned toward the man in offense. “Frances Smith.”

Lawrence’s eyes narrowed as Arthur whipped around, surprise lining his gaze—he didn’t realize the name was fake. You just shook your head at him.

“Well. I hope the two of you enjoy yourselves in our humble town. Though I do suggest sticking to the back streets. That’s where the other…what do you call it? Cowmen tend to reside.”

Never in your life had you heard that word said with such disdain, and it drew Arthur’s attention like a gunshot. “Excuse me?” he grimaced, voice dangerously low.

“I don’t believe I stuttered.”

That did it. Arthur stood to his full height, towering over the smaller man, and swept into his space so quickly that Lawrence stumbled back onto his friend’s foot.

“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to,” Arthur threatened, “but I ain’t like these other townies, scared of some marshal brother of yours. So I’d suggest you get lost before you find yourself with a few less teeth.”

The whole saloon had stopped to stare—even the piano player. It was dead silent as Lawrence answered with a slight slur in his voice, “I would think twice about the crowd you find yourself in before you threaten a fight.”

Arthur looked around as you did, finding many glaring patrons. But they weren’t glaring at the two of you. Rather, it seemed they had caught just enough of the conversation for Lawrence to offend the whole lot of them too. Arthur must have noticed this, as he looked back to Lawrence and, without hesitation, yanked him forward and head butted him right in the nose. A crack rent the air, Lawrence went crumpling to the floor, and his friend could only shout his shock and try to help him back to his feet, both too drunk to do much of anything else.

A few of the patrons laughed, one exclaiming, “That’ll show him, the sorry bastard.”

Lawrence finally reached his feet with a bloodied nose, straightening his jacket with whatever dignity he had left. And, seeing no one would come to his aid, he just glared at Arthur and cursed under his breath as he stepped past him.

“Come on, Higgins. I think it best my dear brother hears about this.”

With that, he left. You and Arthur watched him until the doors snapped shut behind him and his friend.

“As satisfying as that was,” the bartender said, drawing your attention. “I would be careful with that one.”

Arthur pushed his glass back toward the man for him to refill it, tossing another coin down. “Slimy bastard like that deserves worse.”

“Perhaps.” The bartender waited until the room resumed its careful conversation, most men eyeing Arthur now. The rickety piano started back up when the bartender leaned in close over the bar. “He wasn’t exaggerating about his brother. They say he’s the quickest draw anyone’s laid eyes on in years. And, newly appointed town marshal to boot. You would do well to remain in his good graces.”

“If he’s anything like his sorry excuse for a sibling, I don’t care to be,” Arthur muttered.

“He’s not. He’s likable enough. You get on his bad side, and you’ll find the whole town against you.”

Arthur noted this but didn’t answer, so you did. “How on earth did a man like that wind up with a brother like George?”

The bartender really looked at you then, likely just now realizing your gender. But you appreciated his kindness as he only tipped his hat to you and explained. “They say George has lived in his brother’s shadow too long. Not as talented, not as favorable. And his nasty gambling and drinking habits make for a sour man indeed. Too much money and too little entertainment. I would steer clear of both men.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Arthur said, cutting you off before you could respond. You looked to find him glaring at you, likely because you had drawn so much attention to yourself twice now.

The bartender took the hint and his leave, letting you and Arthur be.

“We need to get going, Frances.”

You couldn’t help your smile. “Is that what you’re upset about? You did just crack a man’s nose with your skull, you know.”

He didn’t acknowledge that. “All this time, you wouldn’t tell me your name, and you dole it out to the first bastard to walk through that door and ask it?”

“Maybe he was nicer about it than you were.”

“He wasn’t.” Arthur’s scowl tickled you—like a pouting child. You pointed to his drink.

“Finish that, and let’s go.” He raised an eyebrow at you. “Unless you want the big bad marshal to come knocking.”

He scoffed and threw his drink back, slamming it on the bar top. “Thanks,” he offered the bartender, tossing him another coin for his discretion and his advice before ushering you out. You could only smile at how disgruntled Arthur remained, letting him lead you on.

Frances. Goddamn Frances.

Arthur lead you back to the hotel, too spooked to go anywhere else despite the early afternoon hour. He hadn’t had his head on straight in that saloon—shouldn’t have taken you there in the first place. But he had to admit, you had a way of making him forget his logic. It had even been fun for a while. Until it wasn’t. Now he had the attention of one of the most powerful men in town which never lead to anything good. He was suddenly considering that putting an end to this little stay wasn’t such a bad idea. It had been nice while it lasted, even if it had only lasted two days.

After locking you both inside the hotel room, Arthur dug through his satchel for a cigarette, finding he only had one left. He would need to get to a store soon. Maybe in the next town.

“So,” you said, that playful lilt still in your voice despite what had gone down back in that saloon. “Mr. Callahan, was it?”

He shook his head as he lit a match. “Fake name.” You laughed lowly, and it drew his attention. As did the way you settled on the bed. “What?”

“Nothing.”

He let you drop it, still too jittery to pick a fight with you.

“I didn’t know any better, and I’d say you’re jealous.”

He didn’t take the bait. “Am I?”

“You must be if that’s how you react to me giving my name out.”

He eyed you, taking a long drag. “I ain’t jealous.”

“No?”

“No.” Then, because he couldn’t resist, “It just don’t make much sense. You, protecting your precious name from me all this time only to-” He caught your eye and the grin underneath them. And simultaneously realized himself a fool. “That ain’t your name, is it?”

You smiled wide, and he scoffed.

You laughed loudly, the sound so pure it made his chest tighten. “No, Mr. Callahan, it’s not.”

“Well, you don’t get to know my name, then. How’s that?”

You shrugged. “Fine. Arthur’s all I need.”

“You’re something else,” he said, ears burning for the way you kept outsmarting him.

With this, you just smiled and shed your hat, lying back on the bed. He wanted to join you on it. Knew he wasn’t strong enough not to. But if he was going to keep any gentlemanly manner about him, he couldn’t do it now. He couldn’t lay beside you while that alcohol ran through his blood so thick and that laugh of yours made him want to take your mouth to his. If he did, the night would end in a way he was torn between wanting desperately and knowing he would regret the moment it happened. There would be no happy ending for you and him. Just as there hadn’t been with Mary. Just as there hadn’t been with Eliza and the boy…

He couldn’t dwell on that now. Not while he still had you—someone kind enough to brave the world for him, as you had tonight in that shit hole of a saloon. It meant more to him than he could say. You were right that he never took time for himself. Mainly because when he did, it always ended badly, and there wasn’t anyone with him now with enough knowhow to get him out of a tight like that. In fact, the thought of you just trying put a smile on his face. Smart or no, you were no outlaw. He was willing to bet your experience with the law ran nigh on none, good or bad. But his experience wasn’t exactly something to be proud of, so he went back to looking out the window and trying to empty his head with that lone cigarette, passing the time in hopes you would fall asleep and his blood would cool. After a while, both came like a caring respite, and he crawled into that bed a second time with you, repeating to himself that it was only for comfort. And only for a little while longer.

_________

End Notes: My apologies if your name happens to be Frances Smith 😂 just pretend she said some other name that isn’t yours if so!

tag list: @nayomi247 @ultraporcelainpig @photo1030 @spiritcatcherxo @calcarius445

#arthur morgan #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x female reader #high honor arthur morgan #rdr2 arthur morgan #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 #fanfic #writing

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