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#gonna read after dnd

wall-e-gorl · 9 months

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This is Goop, they/ae! my dnd group is gonna do a masks campaign when life gets busier in the fall instead of trying to keep our pirate campaign on track, so we're gonna pause that and play some silly little guys doing some silly little superhero stuff!

goop is an Outsider, an alien who has density control powers and telepathy! Ae have been sent to earth to observe, and theyve been here longer than they should, been seen way more then ae should, and have become too attached and doesnt want to go home. they like it here! Goop has befriended/mutually adopted some guy who owns a kinda run down arcade, which is space themed and the sign out front is exactly where they park their spaceship when they arent using it. Ae talks in 3rd person, doesnt have a great subconsious grasp on their density (hence the gaseous floaty bits) and they talk in 3rd person! They dont eat normal food, they LOVE jello and various powder packets, and what they eat does influence what color they are! Ae is also always like. slightly damp?

#my art #goop is goop #we've been having fun making our guys the past few days #we arent going to stop our dnd pirates yet but we gotta be prepared for the masks game!#i dont know how to play masks yet. im gonna spend some time reading about it later. ive heard lots of good things #oh and the ship isnt as big as i drew it #its smaller i just didnt fix it after i decided that it was as big as a store roadside sign

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lightblueminecraftorchid · 10 months

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(Context: I am Level 1 autistic and sometimes experience verbal shutdowns)

Things I appreciate someone doing if I’m upset and cannot talk:

- only asking one question at a time

- asking yes/no or binary questions instead of vague ones (Ex: “do you need space?” instead of “what do you need?”)

- being okay with not receiving an answer at all, and moving on (or rephrasing questions if necessary)

- accepting gesture, sign language, and/or AAC without pointing it out as unusual or joking about it

- offering comfort items or distractions, and allowing me to choose whether or not to use them myself

- treating me with respect and not talking down to me; there is a difference between being gentle and treating me like a child

- not assuming that I will regain speech as soon as I feel better

- letting me joke around and participate in conversations without speaking, even when I look happy and calm

- choosing communal activities that are low-key and don’t rely on verbal speech, such as watching a show, painting, or looking at memes together

- understanding if I need space, and leaving me be if I walk away from a conversation or leave suddenly

- letting me use comfort items and stim, even if it looks weird to you

- understanding that saying words =/= having full speech again; I usually regain echolalia before being able to generate my own sentences

#this is not a vague post this is a thank you #to everyone who has been patient with me when I’ve had a verbal shutdown #because I have time and again been met with incredible kindness and understanding as an adult #from my dnd groups. from close friends. from club members. from classmates.#the vast majority of people have been kind and patient and have let me calm down and communicate in the ways I can at my own pace #like in DND last year when I shut down after a tense fight because I was scared a character was gonna die #I couldn’t talk when we split up the loot after. so the DM read off the loot one by one and had us raise hands to claim it.#no teasing. no pointing it out. just smoothly running with it.#or when I was at my friends house and wound up crying in the middle of a convo and shutting down #and they gave me space to calm down and let me sign/text to talk. gave me a plushie and showed me Pinterest boards for dnd characters #no judgement. no pressure. just hanging out and calming down until I was okay. I was eventually able to tell jokes with sign and text.#or when I was in theatre and my prof saw I wasn’t okay and asked if I needed to go home. and then told me to go home when I couldn’t respond #and the autism club members who didn’t act awkward or rude about me being quiet while they chatted about movies. and patiently waited for me #to sign or get a couple words out so I could participate in the conversation.#or my classmates in the bio lab that night who treated me like normal and compared notes with me and let me type answers to their questions #to everyone who has been patient with me: thank you. I love you. it means more than I can express.

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unkreativstermensch · 7 months

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"Still super jealous as hell by the way.“

"Okay, now, can you…get outta my face?“ Steve annoyedly swats a hand at Eddie’s chest and ducks out of his space.

Eddie sighs and shakes his head. "Why are you-" He purses his lips, thinks. "You don’t…you still don’t like me very much, do you?"

At that Steve stops walking, huffs out an annoyed breath and presses his eyes closed. He turns to Eddie, looks at him with an expression Eddie can’t read and says, "No, Eddie. No, I don’t."

Eddie just watches him for a second, not sure what to do, studies his face, the furrow between his brows, the clear discomfort in his expression.

He scoffs. Getting a little angry. "Jesus, man,“ he says. "You just can’t get over it, huh? And here I was rambling on about how you were actually a good dude after all, but…no, turns out Steve Harrington is still just as much stuck in his stupid high school mindset as I would have thought.“

Steve just looks more annoyed now, a slight shift in his eyebrow and…he looks…frustrated? A little? How does that make sense?

"You,“ Steve says, voice low, but not because of the monsters, Eddie knows that much, "are unbelievable.“

Eddie blinks. "What?“

"Eddie, you’re the one who can’t get over it,“ Steve accuses him. "You always talk about that non-conformist shit and how people should just stop with the categories and drawers and labels but, dude, you’ve never judged people that way yourself! I have been saved in your brain as this dumb idiot jock ever since you’ve known me and…“ Steve huffs out an unbelieving breath. "And Eddie, I don’t know what to tell you…but you’ve never been nice to me. Ever. And when Lucas made the basketball team, which is amazing, by the way, you weren’t proud of him or supported him for that incredible achievement like you should have if he’s really one of your 'little sheep‘.“ He draws quotation marks in the air. "You punished him for it. You said you can’t make Hellfire? Fuck you. I’m just gonna have the most important part of the campaign without you, because you know what, you don’t deserve us anymore now that you’ve joined the dark side. Now that you’ve taken up a…a jock game. Because god forbid, somebody could actually ever enjoy playing sports.“

Eddie can’t follow. His mind’s lagging behind, still stuck on Steve apparently knowing DnD terms and saying he was never nice to him and-

Steve takes another step back.

"Eddie, for as long as I can remember you hated me. And yeah, sure, I was stupid and I did some stupid things, but…“ he shrugs one sided. "But I don’t think I deserve to be treated that way. I think I at least deserved a chance. And you never gave me one.“

Eddie blinks. "What do you mean I never gave you a chance, I-"

"Biology, sophomore year,“ Steve interrupts him. "We were assigned lab partners. I tried to really…put all of it aside, tried to get to know you, because actually, Eddie, you know what? I was sort of obsessed with you. Because you were so…loud and so unashamedly yourself, I admired you so much. You didn’t care about anything and you stood up for yourself and that’s something I’ve never been able to do, my whole life. I…“ Steve looks down, sighs a little. "I let people push me around because it’s the only way I feel like I can be of use. But you…you made me believe that maybe actually I…could do it, you know? Like, tell Tommy H. off or something…“ He looks so hurt. Eddie kind of wants to die. "But you…you acted like it was the worst thing ever, getting partnered with me. You didn’t even look at me. You…never gave me a chance, Eddie. So…sorry if one 'you’re actually a good dude, Harrington' doesn’t make me forget all of that, make up for it. Because I’m not so sure I believe you.“

Oh.

Oh no.

Eddie fucked up.

#Steve is so wrong about what made eddie act like that #my boy had a crush #a bad one #steddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson

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justgowithitplease · 4 months

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Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, and Tim Drake HCs!!

Dick Grayson:

When I tell you this man would not leave you alone while drunk....

One glass of whiskey and he's fine

Two glasses? You will be stuck to him for the next hour or so

When in public he always has his Arms around your waist, shoulders, hips,

really anything that qualifies as being able to hug you in public without it seeming too weird

expect random wing-dings (his version of the batarang) stuck in the wall next to the bedroom light switch

He's too lazy to get up from cuddling you so he uses his horrible wonderful ranged weapon skills to shut the lights off

Has definitely tazed himself in the balls at least 10 times

Cannot spell 'indubitably' for the life of him, Too many vowels

Failed history as a child and now has a vendetta against George Washington

Spells the British way on 'accident' (totally not to spite George Washington)

Has definitely snorted an entire pixie stick for a quarter

Y'know that scene in ELF where buddy's in the shower and he's to tall for it? That's him

Has accidentally braked his motorcycle too hard and flipped

Corner of the mouth kisses are a must

Would rather stay in than go out for date night

Why get dressed up in uncomfortable clothes and pay for overpriced food when he could cook some reasonably priced and tasting food and wear sweatpants and a hoodie

Has made it a rule that there will be no children in the house

Made this rule purely against Damian

Also has a rule against pets

Which is why he complained for, like, three days after you got your cat, Bacon (see another fic!!)

About a week after, he had fixed his sleeping position so the cat wouldn't be crushed if it slept between you two

Speaking of which, if that man falls asleep, he will not move

Man sleeps like a stack of bricks on leveled concrete

A bit sensitive about his scars, but has learned to love them

Has an allergy to kiwi

Gets flashbacks frequently, and you're one of the only things that can get him to calm down

This man is more whipped than the cream on top of pumpkin pie

DnD and MtG nerd

made a pure crab deck based on the three-card landfall and got smacked by Damian

No other option

Poor sleep deprived man has drunken soy sauce instead of his coffee while trying to cook for you

Has alligator rolled in his sleep then gotten up, just to trip and hit his head

Hates thick sweaters

This man absolutely refuses to fall asleep if you're not home (not like he's gonna sleep anyways)

Secretly loves telanovelas

Speaks Spanish, Dutch, Russian, and Arabic

Wanted to be an astronaut when he was a kid

has slide-on slippers, cannot handle the ones that go around his heel

The only blankets on his bed are weighted blankets

All the covers are purple or taupe

Has a state information book he reads on road trips

Dresses like Eddy Burback/Ted Nivison or Mr. Rogers in his civilian life

No inbetween

#dick grayson x reader #jason todd x reader #tim drake x reader #batfam x reader #jason todd #tim drake headcanon #dick grayson

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steddieas-shegoes · 1 month

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hiii not sure if you’re still taking requests but

no upside down au where teen single dad steve approaches eddie after hellfire bc every parenting stuff keeps mentioning how reading to babies is super important for their development but his dyslexia makes reading so hard let alone be expressive w it too and the kids keep mentioning how eddie is amazing on dnd. eddie is skeptical cause how come no ones has heard of king steve’s one year old ? but he accepts when steve offers paying but after seeing steve w his baby and understanding how he changed he refuses the money and cue them slowly falling in love and becoming a family <333

Sorry this took *checks watch* like 9 months to finish! I kinda took some creative turns, but it's done!

read on ao3

rated t | 5,182 words | no cw | tags: mostly fluff, single parent steve, not canon compliant, mutual pining, getting together, love confessions

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Early August 1985

“Steve, it’s not like he’s gonna fuckin’ bite, dude,” Dustin said from the passenger seat.

“Language.”

“She’s not even awake,” Dustin whisper yelled. “I promise he’s cool. The worst he’ll say is no. It’s not like he’s gonna bully you.”

“No one else knows I’m asking him this, right?” Steve was suddenly worried that all the kids knew about Steve’s learning disability and they’d think he was actually stupid and-

“No, it’s just me. But if you don’t hurry up and go in before everyone else gets here, they’ll find out.”

Steve glanced in the backseat, smiling to himself at his sleeping daughter. She’d been out for nearly the entire drive from his house to Dustin’s to the high school, so she’d probably be waking up within the next 20 minutes and she’d be ready to stretch her legs.

She was a squirmy thing from the moment she figured out how to scoot around the floor, and it only got worse when she learned to walk at 11 months. The only time she was still and staying out of trouble was when she was asleep.

“If she starts crying, just sit back there with her. She just likes having company,” Steve reminded him as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Yep. I’ve literally babysat for you before. I can handle her for 5 minutes.”

“Attitude.” Steve shook his head and opened the door, getting out and only closing the door most of the way so it wouldn’t wake her up.

Eddie always showed up 30 minutes early for Hellfire Club to set up according to Dustin. He took this club very seriously, even as a third year senior. He kept it running all summer so that incoming freshmen would have time to get acquainted with his style of DMing or whatever.

Steve respected the dedication, though he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that dedication were put into his homework, he would’ve graduated in May with Steve.

But Steve couldn’t actually judge. Not with the fact that he was pretty close to not graduating himself. He had a pretty good reason, but still.

The auditorium door closed loudly behind him, making him jump and clench his jaw painfully.

“Door’s broken. You gotta hold it while it closes so it doesn’t slam,” a voice said from the door to the backstage area.

Steve squinted through the semi-darkness and felt his stomach turn. Eddie.

“I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had to open it. Figured they would have fixed it by now,” Steve replied, walking closer to the guy he needed to talk to.

“No shit! Is that King Steve? In the flesh?” Eddie’s dramatics were endearing, even if it was slightly annoying that he pulled out the stupid high school nickname he’d lost well before he graduated.

“Yeah,” Steve sighed. This wasn’t gonna go well.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of your precious kiddos have made it yet. It’s still early.”

Steve nodded. “One of them’s sitting in my car in the parking lot. Um, Henderson? He’s an incoming freshman.”

“Ah. Dustin’s got a place in Hellfire if you’re worried. I don’t turn anyone away who wants to be here.”

“No, no, that’s not it.” Steve needed to just spit it out. “He said you’re like, great at storytelling or whatever. Like you’re the best DM he’s ever seen and he knows I could use those skills for something.”

“Oh? What could Steve Harrington need DM skills for?”

“My daughter.”

The silence following his confession was louder than the door slamming only a minute ago.

He probably could’ve revealed his motives a little better, work up to the fact that he even had a daughter maybe. Very few people actually knew, and he had to keep it that way until he could leave his parent’s house.

“Your…daughter.”

“Yes. She’s just turned one and the doctors said reading to her is like, super important for learning words and helping her learn how to have an imagination and stuff. And I do read to her!” Steve suddenly felt worried that Eddie would think he was a bad parent. “I try to. But I’m, well, Nancy says it’s dyslexia? So words are kinda hard and it gives me a headache if I try to read for more than a few minutes and I’m so busy focusing on the words I don’t think I’m making it very fun for her-“

“Woah. Steve. Slow down.” Eddie braced his hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeezed. “I didn’t even know you had a daughter. Does anyone know you have a daughter?”

“The kids do, yeah. My parents do because they kinda helped cover it all up and made sure I still graduated so I didn’t embarrass them or whatever.” Steve looked down at the floor, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn’t really want to go through the whole thing with this guy. “Robin Buckley knows? She’s my best friend. The Byers and Wheelers, Hopper. Some teachers know but were sworn to secrecy.”

“Huh.”

Steve looked up to see Eddie stepping closer to him, soft smile on his face.

“So what do you need me for exactly?”

“Dustin said you’re really good at telling stories and I figured maybe you would be willing to read to her? Not every day, like I can work with your schedule or whatever. Evening would be best for me, but it’s not really a big deal if it has to be other times. She comes to work with me so if it had to be during the day, you could sit in the office or something, I dunno.” Steve shrugged. He hated asking for help. But Dustin insisted Eddie was actually a good guy and would keep his secret. No one who saw her at work assumed Steve Harrington was a single parent at 18. That would just be absurd. “I just don’t want her to miss out.”

Eddie’s hand drifted down his arm, holding his hand for a moment before he stepped back.

“My schedule is kinda random. But I’m sure we can work something out.”

Steve’s shoulders fell as his body relaxed. “Yeah? I can pay you. Not much. My parents mostly cut me off.” Steve was scrambling. “I can give you gas money and stuff for having to come to us. And like, food? I can cook.”

Eddie’s eyes were intense, watching his every move, making him nervous.

“How ‘bout a free trial? I’ll do it for a couple weeks and then we can see about payment.”

Steve nodded eagerly. “Yeah, yeah. Cool.” Jesus, he was embarrassing. What happened to his charm? “Would you be able to start soon?”

“Normally, I’d say I can come by after Hellfire, but I have an…appointment right after tonight. I can come by tomorrow?”

Steve smiled. “Tomorrow’s good. I work until five.”

“I can be at your house by seven.”

“Great! I have plenty of books. Right now, she’s really into Old Macdonald, but I think it’s just because it sorta sounds like her name and we get to make silly noises,” Steve smiled to himself, not seeing the way Eddie was smiling too. “I think she’ll probably like whatever you read to her, though.”

“What’s her name?”

“Mackenzie. Robin read it in a book and said it meant fire-born or something? It sounded cool. We call her Mac or Kenzie for short so she hears Macdonald and thinks we’re giving her another nickname,” Steve laughed. “Anyway, I better get back to the car. If she’s awake and Dustin has to deal with her crying for too long, he gets an attitude.”

“Mackenzie. I like it.” Eddie nodded once. “See you tomorrow, Stevie.”

Steve agreed and waved, turning around to leave. By the time he realized Eddie’s nickname for him, Eddie was already backstage.

****

Steve was nervous.

He nearly burnt the chicken he was cooking for dinner just from getting distracted by thoughts of Eddie being in his home.

He didn’t even know why. Maybe it was the fact that he’d always thought Eddie was kinda rough around the edges and was surprised he’d agreed so easily. Maybe it was bringing someone new into the small group he’d had around for a couple years. Maybe it was the way Eddie’s hand on his shoulder seemed to leave a permanent mark despite being one of the softest touches he’d felt from another adult in a while.

Mackenzie was in her high chair already, eating some of the noodles he’d made as a side. She’d been practicing using a fork, so quite a few had fallen on the floor, but Steve still smiled and told her she did a great job any time she managed to get one to her mouth.

The doorbell rang and Steve felt his heart stop.

“Daddy!” Mackenzie squealed when the bell rang. She knew that usually meant Hopper was here. Everyone else just came inside on their own. “Hop!”

“No, baby, not Hop. Not tonight. It’s my friend, Eddie. He’s gonna tell you a fun story, okay?” Steve ran his hands through her hair as he walked by to get the door.

When he opened the door, Eddie was standing there with a handful of books, a box of crayons, and what looked like a hairbow.

“I’m here to entertain the princess!” Eddie exclaimed. “Lead me to her highness!”

Steve couldn’t hide the grin on his face if he wanted to. “She’s currently trying to stab noodles to death. I’m sure you’ll be entertained.”

“Ah, they must have wronged her. I’ll assist,” Eddie made his way past Steve, walking towards the kitchen.

Steve knew he’d been to a couple of the parties he threw to sell, but had no idea he remembered the layout of his house. Maybe he had one of those picture minds.

As Steve entered the kitchen, he noticed that Eddie had set down the pile of books on the counter before he sat down in front of Mackenzie.

There were a few books he recognized: an ABC book that he was pretty sure he’d had when he was a kid but had since lost, a book of fairy tales with Rapunzel on the cover, something by Beatrix Potter, and a couple of coloring books that featured princesses and dragons and horses.

“She isn’t really old enough to color, is she?” Steve asked, interrupting what must have been a very amusing conversation of mostly babbling. “I don’t have any coloring stuff.”

“Coloring with skill? No. She definitely doesn’t have the motor skills to color in the lines or even use the right colors for the right things. But it does help her learn how to hold a crayon. My uncle couldn’t really afford much when I was a baby, so for every Christmas until I was in school he would get me new crayons and coloring books. I don’t really remember how I did, but I do remember having fun.” Eddie turned back to Mackenzie. “And sometimes it’s fun to just make a mess, right?”

Mackenzie clapped her hands together, sending the toddler fork she’d been using to the floor with a noodle attached to it. Steve wordlessly grabbed one of her spoons from the drawer and gave it to her, kissing the top of her head before he knelt down to pick up the fork.

Eddie watched silently, something soft about the way he didn’t interrupt anything even though he could’ve kept talking.

“I made chicken and pasta. It’s probably not my best work, but I made enough for you if you haven’t eaten yet,” Steve offered as he walked to the stove to start plating the food for himself.

“I wouldn’t turn it down. Wayne’s not exactly known for serving five star meals,” Eddie joked. “He believes in the power of fried bologna and cheese sandwiches with a bag of chips.”

Steve grimaced. “Okay, well I made enough for you to bring home some leftovers too.”

“You don’t have to-”

“You’re taking home leftovers.”

Steve turned to see Eddie’s widened eyes and open mouth that slowly formed into a smile.

“I guess I’m taking home some leftovers.” He turned to Mackenzie and tickled her neck. “Your daddy is pushy isn’t he?”

Steve blushed, but continued making up a plate for Eddie.

As they sat and ate, Eddie talked about all of his favorite books for little kids, and how he remembered sneaking into the library after school for years because he knew he didn’t wanna go home. He talked about the first time a teacher wrote a positive letter home, an English teacher who said his fictional essay was the best in the class and he should consider writing as a career. He even talked about his plans for the school year campaigns, but made Steve swear not to mention anything to the kids.

“I’ll know if you tell them,” Eddie winked.

Steve believed him.

When they were done, Steve grabbed Mackenzie from her chair.

“I’m gonna give her a quick bath if you wanna bring all that stuff to her room. Second floor, third door on the right. It’s a little messy right now. Someone decided to pull all her toys from her box yesterday and I haven’t had time to clean it up,” Steve tickled Mackenzie’s side, making her giggle and turn her head into his shoulder.

“You need me to clean this up?” Eddie asked, gesturing to the table.

“Nah, I’ll do it while you read to her.”

Despite his efforts, bath time was never truly quick. Mackenzie loved to splash around and play with her toys, and if he tried to wash her hair too quickly, she would be grumpy for the rest of the night. He definitely didn’t want that for Eddie.

He set a timer for 10 minutes and tried to explain to a very excited Mackenzie that when the timer went off, it would be time to wash her hair and get out.

“You wanna have time to play with Eddie, so we can’t play for too long in the water.”

She didn’t seem to pay any attention to him, already too busy making her rubber duck fight with her mermaid Barbie.

He observed while she played, bringing in the rubber car she liked to pretend to drive on the side of the tub.

When the timer went off, she let him wash her hair without a fuss, and he quickly wrapped her up in a towel to get her into pajamas.

Eddie was waiting in her room when he got there, coloring books spread out on the floor. He smiled up at them from where he sat, legs crossed, hands in his lap.

“Squeaky clean?” He asked, waving at Mackenzie.

“Definitely lacking noodles in places noodles shouldn’t be at least,” Steve said, making his way to her changing table to get her dressed. “She must be pretty excited about you being here. Usually bath time takes at least 30 minutes and I have to bribe her with chocolate milk to get out.”

“She knows we’re gonna have a lot of fun. I think I’m gonna read Goodnight Moon first. That’s one of my favorites.”

“She’ll love that,” he said as he buttoned the snaps of her onesie.

As soon as he set her on the floor next to Eddie, she reached for a coloring book with a mermaid on it.

“Daddy! Muh!”

“Yeah, baby, it’s a mermaid! Just like your doll in the bath.” Steve pointed to the fish next to the mermaid. “And that’s a fish. Fish swim in the ocean.”

He felt Eddie’s eyes on him while he pointed to some other sea creatures and told Mackenzie what they were.

Eventually, he looked over at Eddie, blushing at the soft smile on his face. “What?”

“You’re a really good dad, Steve.”

“Oh. Uh. Thanks,” Steve felt heat flood his body.

It’s not that no one had ever said that to him. Robin had told him plenty of times, Joyce had whispered it to him when no one else was paying attention, even Hopper had given him a handshake and said he was doing a good job once. But hearing it from Eddie, in this situation, when he’d been feeling like such a failure lately, was enough to make him want to cry.

He had to get out of this room.

“I should go clean up and leave you to it.”

“Sure, yeah. We’ll be right here.”

Steve booked it out of the room, rushing down the stairs to try to get busy with cleaning before his brain settled on crying over a compliment.

But the table was cleared. The high chair was wiped down. When he turned to the sink, the dishes were stacked up to dry in the rack. The counters were wiped, the dish towel had been put back on the handle of the oven to dry, and leftovers had been put in a container to finish cooling down.

Steve let the tears fall.

Fuck it, if Eddie was going to be this nice, he could have a little cry.

He walked quietly to the bathroom to put all the bath toys in the basket, but stopped outside Mackenzie’s bedroom when he heard giggling.

He’d closed the door halfway, just so she wouldn’t get too distracted if he walked by the room, but he couldn’t help looking in.

He felt like crying again when he saw Mackenzie sitting on Eddie’s lap, pointing at something in the book.

“Where’s the moon?” Eddie asked.

“Moo!” Mackenzie said, smacking at a place in the book.

“There’s the moon! Good job, little one.” Mackenzie leaned back against Eddie’s chest. “And where’s the…toys?”

She pointed again, but slightly less enthusiastically. Steve could see her energy dropping quickly.

He watched as Eddie told her she did a good job again and then continued reading.

Her eyes drooped more with every page. Eddie’s voice got closer to a whisper with every sentence.

Steve fell just a little bit more with every second that passed.

*****

October 1985

Eddie came every day. Despite the fact that Steve insisted he didn’t need to, that he didn’t want to ruin his schedule, Eddie showed up like clockwork at seven every single evening.

Steve learned to expect him, always made enough dinner for all of them to enjoy before Mackenzie had her bath and then got to read with Steve.

Every night, Eddie would clean up while she took a bath, and every night, he’d let her pick a page to color while he read something to her, switching to a bedtime story when she started crawling into his lap.

Steve would watch them often, laying down on the carpet and smiling as he listened to Eddie use different voices for characters, asking her questions so she was involved, and whispering when she started to drift off.

Other times, he’d try to get something done he’d been putting off, like cleaning the bathroom or folding laundry.

Eddie never accepted payment.

Steve tried bringing it up once school started, certain that this time spent here could’ve been better spent on homework or a part-time job that paid better than what Steve could offer. Eddie just shook his head and insisted that other than Hellfire every Thursday, he would be there for free.

They got to know each other over dinner, and Steve found that he was right to have butterflies every time Eddie smiled at him, every time he would touch his hand as he walked by to say hi to Mackenzie.

“Halloween costume ideas?” Eddie asked with his mouth full. Steve had given up long ago on trying to get him to wait until he was done chewing. It wasn’t that big of a deal. “What did this little miss go as last year?”

“Oh. She was a bumblebee.” Steve smiled at the memory. “Cutest costume I saw all night.”

“I bet.” Eddie took a sip of his water. “And you?”

“Oh, I didn’t dress up.”

“What? Why not?” Eddie sounded genuinely upset.

“Just got away from me, I guess? By the time I thought about it, nothing good was left at the store,” Steve shrugged, unbothered. He’d never been that into Halloween. His focus was making sure Mackenzie had fun.

“And no one offered to help you make something?” Eddie was no longer eating and Mackenzie had turned her attention to him when his tone became serious.

“I didn’t ask.”

“But no one offered.” Eddie stood up and walked over to his backpack. “Okay, we’ve gotta plan. Did you already pick something for her?”

He came back holding a notebook and a pencil, brows set in a straight line. Steve had never seen him look so serious.

“I had a few ideas, but I wanted to let her pick something at the store,” Steve said.

“Lay them on me.”

They discussed costumes for the next 30 minutes, but after only 10, Mackenzie whined to get out of her chair. Eddie wordlessly stood up and picked her up, setting her in his lap and letting her poke and prod at him and his notebook.

Steve watched them both, accepting for the first time that this wasn’t just a crush that was gonna go away.

He’d fallen completely head over heels for Eddie, and he had no clue what to do about it.

*****

November 1985

Steve was the only one who had space to host Thanksgiving.

He became manic a week before, realizing that his work schedule would not allow him to have much time to clean unless he did it at night. The problem was that he would get a migraine if he didn’t sleep.

“So let’s work on it together. I can come right after school. Cancel Hellfire this week,” Eddie offered.

“But you already won’t have it next week because of Thanksgiving. I can’t ask you to-”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering. If I’m gonna be eating here, I should probably help clean up at least.”

So they worked on a little at a time.

Eddie wasn’t always helpful, getting distracted by some of the smallest things. But his company was appreciated all the same.

“You could invite Wayne, ya know,” Steve offered while he dusted the shelves in the living room. “Plenty of room and food.”

“Thanks, but he always works Thanksgiving day for the double pay. We usually do something the day after,” Eddie answered while he cleaned up all of Mackenzie’s toys.

“If he decides not to work, just let him know.”

“Will do, Stevie.”

He didn’t just help clean, he helped him do the shopping, too.

“I know it’s way harder with a baby, so if you give me a list, I can handle the shopping,” Eddie said while Steve plated their dinners.

“You don’t-”

“Have to, I know. But I can and will.” Eddie’s hand brushed against Steve’s lower back. “Let me help.”

Steve could barely resist the shiver that took over his entire body.

“Okay. Sure.”

Some of the brands were wrong, and he forgot the apples for the apple pie, but Steve still felt immense relief knowing that he had someone to help.

And without it, Thanksgiving would’ve been a disaster.

It was still a bit of a mess, but that was mostly because the kid’s table turned into a food fight that Max started and Mackenzie, of course, continued, until everyone was involved.

But the picture Jonathan took would get framed and hang up near the fireplace in the living room anyway.

******

December 1985

“I cannot believe you waited until Christmas Eve to wrap gifts. That’s not what parents actually do, is it?” Eddie asked as he fought with the tape dispenser for the fifth time in less than an hour.

“I don’t know if I’m the best judge of what parents do. Mine weren’t around much and probably didn’t even wrap my gifts themselves.” Steve took the tape from him, pulled some loose from the roll, and handed it back. “But I kinda always pictured it like this.”

Robin made him swear he’d talk to Eddie about his feelings before the end of the year. The end of the year was soon, real soon.

What better shot did he have than while Mackenzie was asleep and they were wrapping presents together?

“You pictured last minute wrapping with bribed help in your living room?” Eddie asked, amusement in his tone.

“Not exactly,” Steve huffed out a laugh. “More like spoiling my kid with someone I care about.”

Steve watched Eddie’s hands freeze against the clothes box full of new finger puppets they’d both gotten her. He looked over and felt his stomach swoop as Eddie’s eyes found his.

“Stevie-” Eddie set the box down and turned to face Steve.

“Wait, I just. Before you break my heart, hear me out.” Steve already felt his world shrinking, his heart rabbiting in his chest at the thought of losing Eddie entirely. “I’ve spent a lot of time with you for months. Like, more than almost anyone else. I’ve watched you with Kenzie, and how much she loves you and always asks for ‘Ed’ even when it’s way before when you’re gonna be here. You make me smile and laugh and that’s not always easy to do these days. You helped me when you didn’t have to, when you had absolutely no reason to trust that King Steve was a better person. You’re there for all the other kids even though you’re trying to get through school for real this time. I didn’t really plan a big speech, sorry. This is just rambling, I’m doing what Robin does.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie placed his hand on the side of Steve’s neck. “I get what you’re saying.”

“You do?”

“I think so.” Eddie stepped in closer. “But I think you might just be lonely.”

It stung. It wasn’t inaccurate, but it still hurt to think Eddie thought so little of him.

“I think I know how I feel.”

Eddie’s hand dropped from his neck and he took a step back. “I don’t wanna argue, Stevie. I just think you might need to separate yourself from the situation. I’m just always around, ya know?”

“You’re always around because I want you around!” Steve was just a bit too loud, but he knew Mackenzie was a heavy sleeper. “When you aren’t here, I check the clock to know when you will be. I get excited to leave work now because I’m not coming home to do the same thing I always did before. I get to see you and hear about your day and talk to you about mine and see you with my daughter, who probably loves you as much as I do.”

“You…love me?”

“Yes. I do. And I promise it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I still want you here, reading to Kenzie. But I know how I feel. I know why I feel the way I do. You can’t tell me how to feel.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to.” Eddie sighed. “I’m just kinda surprised. Didn’t expect you to be into guys, let alone me. I’m not exactly good boyfriend material. Or stepparent material, either.”

“Oh, fuck that. You’re more her other parent than her mom ever was. She gave her to me the moment she had her and wished me luck before her entire family moved across the country.” Steve felt tears in his eyes. “I trust you. I want you around. I love you.”

Eddie swallowed, eyes pointed towards the carpet.

A minute passed, two. It was rapidly approaching awkward when finally Eddie spoke.

“But I’m so bad at wrapping presents.”

Steve snorted, but felt relief wash over him. “I can do the wrapping. This Christmas, next Christmas, as many Christmases as you’ll stay.”

“All of them?”

“Sounds good to me.” Steve leaned in slowly, let his hands grasp at the front of Eddie’s shirt to pull him closer. “How many Christmases do kids usually believe in Santa?”

“I dunno. I stopped believing when I caught my dad stealing the two presents under our tree when I was four.” Eddie let his hands fall to Steve’s hips. “But something tells me the little princess will be a believer for a while. Better get used to me ripping holes in the paper and using too much tape.”

“Think I can handle it.”

Every time Steve had pictured kissing Eddie before this, he’d thought it would be like any other first kiss, maybe a little awkward since it was his first with a guy.

Instead, it was soft, sweet, slow, perfect. He’d kissed a lot of girls in high school, had kissed them well. Not all of them were great, but even a less than good kiss was still decent.

This was more than any other kiss he’d ever had.

Eddie held him like he would never let go, like this kiss would last forever.

It couldn’t, but that’s how it felt.

When they finally pulled apart, Steve rested his head on Eddie’s shoulder.

“You wanna stay tonight? We can both do the Santa gifts with Kenzie before all the kids bother us,” Steve asked.

“I should call Wayne. I told him I’d be home by midnight.”

“He can come over in the morning, too,” Steve said. “If you want.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for Wayne? He can be a little…gruff.”

“I’m not worried,” Steve kissed Eddie’s cheek. “Hopper’s basically my dad. Plus, Mac’s got a way of breaking the tough old men down.”

“Bets?”

Steve pulled away and started wrapping another present before he got too distracted. “I give it ten minutes.”

“Oh, how generous. I’m giving it five.”

They both laughed as Eddie decided he’d be more help putting already wrapped presents in her stocking and under the tree and making sure everything was put away when Steve was done.

And for the first time, Eddie stayed the night, holding Steve against his chest while they slept.

They both cried when Mackenzie opened her presents excitedly. She was too little to do it herself last year, so seeing her tear through the paper and find joy in throwing it around the room was like a dream come true for Steve.

Eddie admitted he felt like he was intruding for some of it, but Steve quickly reminded him that he was the first person she toddled over to with her new set of princess books and said “Ed, read.”

She sat in his lap right then, even though she still had quite a few presents to open, and he read every single book to her, making her giggle with his high-pitched voices for the princesses and silly accent for the prince.

By the time the kids were coming through the front door, Steve was rushing to shush them, pointing at the couch where Eddie was passed out with Mackenzie curled up against his side.

Steve was never happier than in this moment.

Until the next one, and the one after that.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #anon request #fluff #domestic fluff #single parent steve harrington #getting together #love confessions

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tainted-liquor · 7 months

Text

'Boys blowin' up my phone...ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ ft. 42Miles

...˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

ingredients: salt, tears, and a speck of sugar.

tw's: unrequited love-ish?, cussing, reader has pretty priveledge

a/n: girl's girl reader! She's here for her girls n we love that

Throughout your life, you've always kept a reputation as a pretty girl. From a pretty baby to a girl that looked like she came straight out of Pinterest. Your hair was always flawless, in your natural 4c curls or in some pretty box braids with beads. From the moment you opened your eyes and spoke your mind, you had everyone falling at your pretty little heels. Admittedly you found it partially disgusting, watching boys and men treat you like an ancient beauty and shunning other girls to bring you up. You fucking hated it.

After all, the word 'ugly' is just a bullshit concept invented by white men with an opinion. Nobody is ugly, they just aren't confined to the Euro-centric beauty standard. And who fucking needs approval from them? So your contacts stayed full, and you left almost every boy on read or delivered. To say your phone was an atomic bomb was an understatement, you picked up the habit of just...not coming off of DND!

You spent all your time with your girls, spending all your time giving them the love and care that everyone should be giving them. You cheered them on, held them when they cried, kept them in check when necessary, and doted on them just like a loving sister. Beauty meant nothing to you, and you never wanted someone to hate you based on the false 'pretty girl' title you held. You simply didn't care about the boys in B.V.A, because they all lacked common sense. All except Miles.

Now, the reason you liked him was probably stupid. You knew that good and well. You liked him because he stayed out of your face, and was one of the few who didn't talk about or make comments on any of the girls at your school. In fact, he didn't talk at all, that's why you like him so much. You've had a couple conversations with him here and there, with him nodding briefly and giving short little statements in response to yours.

"Aight, I'm gonna go to my dorm" He nodded, waving bye as he put his hoodie back over his head, walking in the direction opposite of you. And fuck, did it crush your heart. It wasn't like he was ignoring, avoiding, or ducking you. You heard through the grapevine that he just isn't into anyone, and isn't looking for a relationship at the moment. Which was fine.

But sometimes you'd wish he'd walk up to you, start a conversation, and ask to hang out. Just the two of you in the school library, walking through the many bookshelves and talking about whatever came to mind. You had three classes together, watching as he always passed you by and sat at the back of the class to doodle in his sketchbook. He never spared you a second glance, keeping his eyes glued to the ceiling or his sketchbook as you pretended to glance at your friends in the back, watching him through your peripheral. It pushed you to tears every time you returned to your dorm, mascara cascading down your face every time you thought of how he behaved as though you were invisible.

It started to hurt. He was all that plagued your mind as you digested how jaw-droppingly gorgeous he was. When the bell rang and signified it was lunch time, you grabbed your things as quickly as possible as you went to place your bag in your locker. You wanted to grab a little croissant sandwich at a nearby coffee shop to clear your head, but unbeknownst to you, it was raining. You flung open the school's dark oak double doors to see a vicious downpour, immediately feeling somber as you sighed to yourself. Well fuck you can't have shit, can you?

"Fuck." You muttered, getting ready to go back to your dorm and skip lunch. You weren't even hungry anymore as you trudged back to your shared space, plunging your face into your pillow as you sighed deeply. You scrolled through your phone, ignoring the 8+ messages you had on Instagram, viewing Miles' story, and being bombarded by Magnolia by Playboi Carti immediately. He was sitting at a cafe table, looking down at his phone while Ganke kicked his feet up on the table, a comic book resting on his face. You did nothing but like the story before powering off your phone and drifting off to sleep.

You accidentally skipped the rest of your classes for the day, but it was fine considering you only had Jewelry, creative writing, and a free. Your roommate/best friend had been chilling at her desk, doing her pre-calc homework as you heard the faintest bit of bass coming from her AirPods. You assumed she couldn't hear you, so you fell back on your bed and posted new selfies to your story. "Lila, what song should I choose?" You asked as soon as you heard the bass die out. "Uhm...Focus by HER. By the way, where you been girl? I had to go to jewelry alone" Lila asked as she looked up to the top of your shared bunk bed. "My bad, I wasn't feelin' too good so I took a nap!" You chirped as you rubbed your eyes.

"Ah, that's aight. Hope you feelin' better. By the way, I found this in the back of 7th period" She muttered, pulling a crumpled-up piece of paper from off of her desk and extending her arm straight up and back so you could grab the sheet. You held the form, immediately locking eyes with a perfect drawing of yourself. You were sitting on the lockers, knees to chest with your lavender-purple beats. "Damn, who drew this? They're good" You gasped, snapping a picture to post later. "No clue. But girl move over I gotta tell you about what happened with me and Kazir" Lila giggled as she powered off her computer, turning on the salt lamp and climbing up to your bunk.

Taglist

@ashsostrange @chessbox @faeriesoiree333 @janaeby @fivestardior @an1bara @bachirasegoist @milesnanana77 @niaurluv

#atsv #across the spiderverse #into the spiderverse #miles morales #miles morales x reader #earth 42 miles x reader #earth 42 miles #e42 miles x black!reader #e42 miles

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fillinforlater · 7 months

Text

Monday of Appreciation: Part 101

Hello everyone, Smite here!

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Monday of Appreciation!

My first MoA post was posted on the 20th of September 2021, two years. Time really flies, huh? I don't want this to be just another MoA 100 post, but I really gotta thank you all, especially because Part 100 received so much love, God, it made me so happy <3 It was a kinda cathartic moment, the series had an epic peak... all thanks to you.

I definitely also want to thank all the writers, without whom this all wouldn't exist. My way of thanking you all is by... featuring a FUCKTON of stories below. Even if you are not featured (first of all, I'm sorry lol), I still appreciate your work and comradery in the bunker. Y'all are amazing <3

LET'S GET TO IT!!!

No. 1: @dnd-writes: Way of Water ft. Eunbi

Ah yes, Waterbomb Eunbi. The event that captured us all. The idea with the backup dancer is straight forward, nice, but the greatest thing about this is the watersports. Waterbomb, watersports... you get it? Just read it.

No.2: @leafostuff: No Names Needed ft. Sheon (Billlie)

Thanks to Leafo for spreading the good word of Sheon and her... goddamn midriff. No more reasons needed, appreciate this girl already, ugh.

No. 3: @iznsfw: The Devil's Telephone ft. Yujin

Everything IZ touches skips the part where it turns to gold. Fuck gold, IZ just creates diamondtic-masterpieces. I was thrilled to learn about this fic and when I read it... IZ did it again! This portrayal of Yujin is everything. What are we to your might!

No. 4: @idyllicidols: Cheat Day ft. Wonyoung

Wonyoung gangbang with her fans? I bet you all are already foaming at your mouth. Go on. Read it. Leave some love for this talented writer after getting your loads off the screen.

No. 5: @rvp32: Whisper of Uncontrollable Desire ft. Chaewon

Let me tell you, rvp is great! They don't hold back, they go all out, they try A/B/O, they like futa (please write futa!) and they have a Gaeul series. This one fucking sent me <3

No. 6: @existslikepristin: Not Summer Yet ft. Jeongyeon

Thx ELP for the nice message on Part 100! Thanks also for giving us these crazy pieces again and again (well, this one isn't too crazy for your standards, but you get me). This felt really intimate, liked it!

No. 7: @dreamcatchers-husband: The City of Love and Secrets ft. Sejeong

You better learn French for this fic. But fr, now I wanna go to Paris and marry a beautiful girl before :floshed: filling her up because she truly is mine now ahhhhh

No. 8: @capslocked: SERENDIPITY ft. Eunbi

Caps, Caps, Caps, Caps, Caps, what am I gonna do with you? Your fics are ALWAYS in my to read list and when I get to them... yeah, takes more than one attempt... more like five. Fuck you, I love you.

No. 9: @ggidolsmuts: Sin, Hormones and the Starlet's Boyfriend ft. Yunjin, Somi

HOLY FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK, that was so FUCKING hot, I caaaaan't stop meeeeee, this is so good, I need more of this. Yeah, basically every ddeun fic makes me go like this. What a fucking legend, man.

No. 10: @smuttysabina: A Pervert Bred by Perverts only Breeds more Perverts ft. E:U (Everglow)

As you can see, the title is quite elaborate on what happens in this fic. A bunch of perverts, a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of cum to breed and in the end everyone is happy. You too, you filthy pervert?

No. 11: @writingsomesin-amber: Puppies' New Toy Part 3 ft. LSFM, Xiaoting

FUTA, the best kind of futa. The one with Alphas, with Kazuha (who always has a HUGE cock), with boundless sex that's just horny nonsense. This is what I want to read. Thank you for writing it!

No. 12: @co-reborn: [PPV] BG SEX PERFECT PINK HAIR KOREAN COLLEGE GIRL RIDES AND GETS CREAMPIED - Full Ver ($30).mp4 ft. Jiheon

This is a sequel to probably the best porn focused smut to ever exist. Thank you, c.o, for creating this, for making it a universe and for dropping another Jiheon smut. She hot, you hot <3

No. 13: @pfxhk: Staircase: Prepotent Pleasure ft. Yuqi

Kaaajin <3 finally another Yuqi fic and a very good one at that. I want her hot lips wrapped around me too now.

No. 14: @rosiesmuts: After Dark ft. Rose

Rose little fuck doll. Her pics lately have been mind-fucking or sth like that, I dunno, just sex. Oh, and I know a lot of good things happen late at night.

No. 15: @akkaweo-akkaweo: Treatment ft. Jinsoul

That's the treatment wr allll want from our dear Jinsoul. Her gorgeous visuals have really stunned me since she joined Modhaus. Now paint that pretty face.

No. 16: @mode-lfy: Jinni (SMUT) ft. Jinni (ex-NMIXX)

Sooooo... when does Jinni unzip my pants, first thing in the morning finally come back?

Edit: SHE ACTUALLY IS?!?! LFG!

No. 17: @worldsover: link in bio top 0.1% creator ft. Jiheon

This one is the follow-up to c.o's [PVV], so we got a whole-ass universe with pornstar!Jiheon now. What a blessing, and it leaves us with no doubt that Jihron would reach that 0.1% if she'd show her cute face and bubble butt on cam... when tho???

No. 18: @allthekingssmut: She's Rough And Coarse And Gets Everywhere ft. Heejin

Star Wars is already a win in my book, pair it with hotness everywhere (the sun, a mechanic, her face) and it only gets better and better. The release to all the fucking tension between those two is EPIC. Great fic!

No. 19: @writerpeach: Overindulgent ft. Wonyoung

To say I have over-indluged in this fic would be a massive understatement. When Peach let's loose and pours out tens of thousands of words of unpure smut, we know we got ourselves a massive hit, no matter the idol. To make it even better, Wonyoung.

No. 20: @okaylikesmomo: Kampfyre Part 1 - Vocals ft. Winter

Just one word: vocal training. Wait, that is two words! So Imma a need okay to write a second part to this, because Winter has not been trained enough (imo).

No. 21: @pupyuj: Magic Words ft. Wonyoung (fem!reader)

More love to female reader fics! Especially thise one, with this sweet and spicy Wony that makes girls' legs weak and mine too xD Thank you for this great story and hot smut!

No. 22: @usedpidemo: Parasailing ft. Yuri, Minju

This story feels so nostalgic, so oddly familiar. Like I was there throughout it all and feel entitled to the release at the end. This fic has me gliding, high on their two perfect bodies.

No. 23: @summersault31: Concerto Pt. 1 ft. IU

Blowjobs under the table while tempting another woman into your sinful lifestyle... this combines a clichee with a hook that has you begging: Summer, where is Part 2?

No. 24: @midnightdancingsol: I swear, the Bear Poked Me! ft. futa!Minji x Danielle

Now for the futa appreciation. I think Sol is perfect for this, especially because the mere thought of Minji fucking Dani with her... HUGE COCK... so big and... were was I? Oh yeah, Hanni is also in this.

No. 25: @maemisnippets: You're Mine, Cheeks ft. Chaehyun (fluff)

In between 29 smuts, there is this one short fluff by our dear Maems. Well deserved, I must say. Keep it up, qt, always fun bits to read.

No. 26: @mintwithchoco: [CYMX-461] ft. Choerry, Jinsoul

Monopoly can be so much fun, if you are willing to strike some questionable deals to further your chances of winning and everyone's chances to have a good time. Bathtub sex?

No. 27: @nichuuu: Where our blue is ft. Rei

A beautiful story, it truly made me fall in love with Rei, her strive and determination, her failure, her rise---and the insane, drawn-out fucking at the end. Where our blue is has it all and I have to congratulate @nichuuu: In between all these great writers, this story really stuck out to me!

No. 28: @svndaysaweek: Niche ft. Hanni

Cute little Hanni in need of her step-brother, because she is so deeply in love with him... this was so adorable and sweet at the start and then went into an excessive smut part that fried my brain.

No. 29: @sinswithpleasure: You Can Watch, But You Can't Touch [At Least, Not Yet] ft. Mina, Sana, Momo

I. Would. Not. Last. There is no shame in me saying this, but I just couldn't, with these three hotties right in front of me. Blast it all over their bodies, hng.

No. 30: @xiakato: Ella Baila Sola ft. Xiaoting

Hm, maybe Xiaoting should dance alone, I'm not really good at it though my Just Dance scores would beg to differ.

Hey, if you read all of that, you're fucking awesome. I appreciate you, and hope, you have a great week ahead. Until the next MoA, goodbye!

#mondayofappreciation #kpop smut #female idol smut #girl group smut #male reader insert

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benedictscanvas · 10 months

Note

If you’re still taking requests, I have an idea that’s been PLAGUING me in the best way possible: Jamie meets reader and she doesn’t know him at first and then maybe a few dates later she’s like “omg you were on that shitty reality show” like she does not pay attention to football at all idk I just thought it would be cute 🩵🩵 I absolutely adore your writing 😊

i love it when an idea is plaguing. thank you for being so lovely in your request, i appreciate it and you so very much <3 ALSO i ended up playing dnd unexpectedly yesterday, so another drabble tonight and then a new chapter of be still, my foolish heart tomorrow!! | 1.4k words, tw language

You're sat in the Crown and Anchor for what will now be your sixth date. Jamie swears that it's your seventh, and that your first date was actually when the two of you stood on the doorstep of your house for three hours before you finally realised how long you'd been chatting.

You'd been assembling a swing in the garden out front of your house and Jamie happened to be walking by. He stopped to ask if you needed any help and that was it. It was eleven o'clock when he finally went on his way with your number written on a piece of paper that he clutched in his fist.

But it couldn't be a date, you'd say, because he hadn't kissed you when he left. Realistically, you just enjoyed the scrunched up face he made when you playfully argued with him about it, but he didn't need to know that yet.

You were meeting his friends for the first time. It felt early, but Jamie insisted how fun they were and that after you'd met them, the two of you would be able to hang out way more because you could come and visit him at work. You weren't sure why you'd have to meet them here first, but he said it would all make sense.

Nothing about this made sense, because you were currently the only ones in the pub, stuffed into a corner booth. Jamie's thigh brushed yours as he jiggled it, seemingly as full of nervous energy as you.

"Why is no one else here, Jamie?" you whispered, lest the woman behind the bar who looked not to be messed with heard you, "Is something going on?"

"Oh, I jus' booked it out," he says nonchalantly. You gape at him. It had always been clear he had some money, but never this much. Your first thought was the fact that he'd only ever been to your house, never you to his. Granted, it had only been three times so far anyway, but still.

"Are you like...rich-rich?" you ask tentatively, then carry on talking before he can answer, "That sounds terrible, oh god, you don't have to answer that. I don't care either way, you know, I just like-"

"Y/N, babe," he interrupts you, squeezing you into his side, "I know what y' getting at. I'm pretty loaded, I'm not gonna lie, but I didn't want y' to know until I was sure about ya."

Jamie was sure about you? That was news to you. You were a little nervous about how early it was to be sure, but it wasn't as if you weren't sold on him too. You were practically besotted with the man really, even if you were hesitant to tell him.

As if he could read the surprise on your face, he opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted-

"Hey! We're not late, are we?"

There were a few men congregating at the doorway, and the woman at the bar waved them in, greeting them like they were old friends. There were far more people than you'd expected, around ten men and two women crowding into the pub. There was no way all of you would fit around this corner booth.

You crammed any anxiety to the bottom of your stomach and stood up to greet everyone.

"Hi! I'm Y/N, it's so lovely to meet all of you!"

"What the fuck guys?"

Jamie's interjection cut your introductions short, just as you were about to hug the man closest to you who was beaming until Jamie spoke up and ruined his mood.

"I invited Isaac, Colin and Keeley. What are you all doing here?"

They had the decency to look a little sheepish. So that was why Jamie hadn't warned you that there would be 12 of them.

"We all wanted to come and meet the girl you've been droning on about for weeks, bruv," one man chimed in, "We tried drawing straws but it just turned into a huge fucking argument. So here we are. Trust me, mate, like 30 of us wanted to come, so count yourself lucky."

"I didn't fuckin' invite 30 of ya!" he exclaimed, winding a protective hand around your waist. Rather than being intimidated, you now felt incredibly touched that Jamie had been talking about you enough that his friends wanted to meet you so badly, "Did you lot even think about how overwhelming y' might be? Fuckin' idiots."

"Oi! We're on our best fucking behaviour, Tartt. Stop moping and introduce us, you prick."

Okay, so that was definitely Roy. You'd heard at least a little bit about him, that he was sort of a friend/mentor of Jamie's but quite...harsh. That definitely wasn't the word Jamie had used, but it worked.

"Okay! Fuckin' hell, right then..."

And he went around the group. They all pulled chair up to the few tables surrounding yours but didn't crowd you too much. There was Isaac, the one who'd explained things when they came in, Colin and Keeley, of course, who you fell in love with instantly. One group who sat slightly separately were Rebecca, Roy, Ted and Beard who all seemed significantly older than Jamie to be his mates, but you didn't want to question it when everyone was being so nice.

"So, we haven't seen you, so that must mean you've been watching this one on the telly, right?"

Rebecca gestures to Jamie with a warm smile, but when you turn to him, confused, he looks like a deer in the headlights.

"On the telly? In what?"

Rebecca looks suitably shocked now, staring from Jamie to you and back to Jamie.

"She doesn't...?"

Jamie hangs his head and you're left even more confused. You're left staring at the side of his face until it hits you: you'd never connected the dots before but now Rebecca had mentioned TV and you were looking right at him...

"Oh my god!" you exclaim suddenly, making everyone around the table jump, even though the younger lads weren't paying any attention, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

He looks thoroughly guilty.

"Look, Y/N, I jus' wanted to get to know y' without-"

You weren't finished though, still babbling away to yourself as you stared at him, imagining him as he was when you'd seen him through the screen.

"I mean, it wouldn't have changed anything! Not once you'd helped me, but I suppose if I'd realised maybe I would have been more wary of you. You were terrible on that show! All my friends hated you, and I guess I did too, although I still had a bit of a crush, I can't lie-"

You trailed off when you saw the expressions on everyone's faces. The silence was only broken when Roy burst into loud laughter, throwing his head back in a way you guessed was rare for him.

"You know me...from reality TV?" Jamie said, enunciating every syllable and looking at you in terror. You smiled at him easily, reaching up to push a stray hair back from his face.

"Can't believe I didn't realise it, but yeah. Changes nothing for me, you know. It was a couple years ago right? No more dating shows on the horizon for you?"

If you'd realised this immediately, yes you would have been more on your guard. But you didn't, he was clearly very ashamed of his time on there and you were already falling for him and how fucking nice he was to you. Like every move he made was deliberate. It actually made a lot of sense now, if he had a past to make up for.

It took him a few moments of processing, but he was able to pull you into a side and plant a long, lingering kiss on your forehead eventually.

"No more dating shows," he said, full of relief, "Also, I'm a Premier League footballer, since you've taken that one so well."

Your eyes nearly bug out of your head.

"You're a what?!"

Roy's laugh echoes long into your night, as do the laughs of the rest of Jamie's friends, or teammates as you quickly come to know them. Jamie's more relaxed than he's ever been with you and yeah, you can get why he was sure about this now.

#jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt #ted lasso x reader #ted lasso #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt fluff #jamie tartt x you #jamie tartt oneshot #busy week drabbles!#like real people queue

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robynrocksforbrains · 10 months

Text

I love you ×9

Ok so I am probably not the first person to notice this or point it out since I've only been a byler for like six months... BUT I did maybe go a little crazy about this. So I'm gonna talk about it.

So a few days ago I was thinking about the mlvn endgame argument "well Mike said 'I love you' nine times". And like, first of all, saying "I love you" doesn't undo a year's worth of deliberate lying and miscommunication. That's not how relationships work. Their issues are still very much real and very much not going anywhere because they're not even TRYING to do anything about them. But also... I was thinking: why nine times? Why that number specifically? Was it just random? Is there maybe anything to indicate that nine is significant? Is there maybe a scene in the first episode of s4 that tells us how we should react to the monologue?

So, the DND basketball montage. Great stuff. Amazing foreshadowing. Everyone loved it.

I got to thinking about it. Decided I needed to know what Mike's roll was. I kinda spiraled about it on twitter because I could not see it clearly and I couldn't tell if it was an eight or nine. Desperate times called for desperate measures so I recorded my tablet with my phone and found the perfect frame.

IT'S A NINE

CLEAR AS DAY! IT'S A NINE! GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!

Anyway, I don't know how DND works. I don't know why this roll evoked the reaction it did from the party - most significantly, Mike's very disgruntled reaction (I don't mean The Party™ I just mean literally the party that is playing this campaign) I genuinely don't know what the fuck is going on in this game. But what I do know is they wanted us to associate this roll with failure. That's why it corresponds with a missed basket in the basketball game. That's why Eddie gets this ooo that sucks for you guys look on his face. That's why we hear a chorus of "nooo" from the party. That's why Mike says "no no no" and looks extremely upset. I don't know anything about DND, but I can read context clues.

So I'm not going to try to understand what's going on in the game, I'm just gonna go off what I think they wanted us to subconsciously pick up on.

So they show us all of this. They associate Mike with the number nine in the first episode and then that number shows up AGAIN in the last episode.

The monologue cannot be associated with anything but failure. Whether that be mlvns failing relationship, or their very real failure to save Max (at least before El revived her), and their failure to save Hawkins. The monologue does not stand apart from that. It is completely interwoven with these failures. If you have average media literacy, you know that. Even before I was aware of just how important byler is to this entire story, before I was aware that they've been setting up byler endgame since day one, you would never catch me thinking that the monologue was supposed to be received positively by the audience. You would never catch me saying mlvns love saved the world. (Although that's because I genuinely forgot about mlvn a few weeks after I watched s4). I think I received the monologue in the way it was intended to be received. I didn't fully understand it, or why they would execute it the way they did, but I still received it in the way I believe it was intended to be.

So I know the general agreement among bylers is that the monologue kinda sealed the deal for mlvn bones. Like I'm not saying anything new really. But I genuinely do think that Mike's roll in episode one, the reactions to it, and the missed shot it corresponds with were meant to foreshadow the monologue and how they wanted the audience to receive it.

This is fiction, everything means something. Everything is thought of. The timer (and maybe scores, I genuinely can't remember) in the basketball game had significance. Other rolls in the DND game had significance. Why would that be any different for Mike? Especially when his roll was a nine and that number shows up for him again when he says "I love you" nine times. And both of these things are associated with failure.

Not that we need any other reason to interpret the monologue as a less than good thing. It's just the way that it is, it's pretty easy to figure out how they wanted us to take it. But they still did give us a hint. I think it's really cool.

#byler #byler endgame #will byers #mike wheeler #anti mileven #mileven bones #mike's monologue #i hate the concept of cornplating because now every time I notice something I fear I'm just cornplating #but whatever #if this is a stretch it's not a big one #i think it makes sense

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hellfireclubmember · 2 years

Text

Pretty Girl

a/n: Okay, I haven't written a legit fanfic in years so I'm so nervous publishing this. Any feedback would be appreciated. Also I was thinking of making a part 2, lmk if any one would like me to

warnings: none, just fluff, maybe annoying mutual pining. also probably a few mistakes. I didn't thoroughly proof read this

word count: 1.9k

summary: Dustin can't stop talking about the sub he got to fill in for Lucas, making Steve want to smash his head into a wall. That is, of course, until he sees you.

PART 2 HERE PART 3 HERE

disclaimer: reader is 18 and a senior in high school

Steve was losing his mind. He loved Dustin Henderson as if he were his little brother, but he might just strangle him at this very moment. First, he would not stop talking about Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson and now he won’t shut up about the substitute they had to bring into their little nerd club to play their little nerd game.

“… she’s just so cool! She had no idea how to play, Mike and I gave her a quick lesson before the session and then she goes and lands a crit hit on the most powerful dark wizard of all time!” Dustin was so impressed he couldn’t see that Steve wasn’t even really paying attention anymore, choosing to stack the new releases in alphabetical order instead. “She’s so pretty too” Dustin sighed “and nice.”

“Is Dustin still talking about that girl he forced to play Dungeons and Dragons?” In walked Robin from the back room. She sat down behind the counter. “Hasn’t stopped.” Were the first words Steve had said in the last twelve minutes.

“I did not force her!”

Dustin had found you sitting alone at the very back of the library whilst writing an essay for your English class. You were one of the maybe four students that were in there. Most of your peers excited for the basketball game that day after school. Dustin had realized he had seen you before and almost all the times he had seen you, you were alone. The boy figured asking you would be a win-win; this way you could maybe gain some more friends and he wouldn’t have to die. He rushed towards you, rambling about hellfire and getting his ass kicked by Eddie before he knew it you were agreeing to help. In all honesty, it wasn’t very easy for you to agree. Your stomach twisting at the thought of being in a room full of people you didn’t know but saying no to this boy somehow seemed worse; like killing a unicorn or something.

After agreeing, Mike and Dustin sat with you in the library and helped you create a character sheet, explaining the basics of DND in the short period of time before the session. You were never really expecting to have fun. In fact, you were fully expecting for your character to die immediately. When she didn’t you started to pay more attention. The excitement around you fueling your own. It was nice to be a part of something, surrounded by people that loved something so much made you feel warm and happy. You had never felt so at ease, comfortable doing something out of your comfort zone.

“Yeah? So, cornering (y/n) in the school library the way Steve does every female customer was the ethical thing to do?” Robin said.

“Dude! I don’t corner anyone.” Steve looked up indignantly from the VHS tapes at Robin.

Robin rolled her eyes and continued her scolding. “You know she was gonna say yes, she’s the nicest person I know. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say the word no.”

Steve was listening to them argue about whether Dustin dragged you to the nerd meeting or not when he heard the door to the video store open. His eyes landed on you walking through the door. The prettiest girl he’s ever seen walking into the fluorescent lit store. Lips parted as you tried catching your breath from the bike ride there. Steve felt like he forgot how to act like a human being, not even being able to execute his usual greeting or offer a charming smile. He watched you look around the store. Pretty eyes scanning until they landed on something behind Steve. You raised your hand to give a small wave. A wave he almost returned had Dustin not spoken up.

“(y/n). hey!” Dustin said as he walked over to the front of the register, right beside Steve. He had his eyes fixed on you, stare unwavering as you made your way toward Dustin and himself. Your eyes flicked over to Steve, acknowledging him with the cutest smile he had ever seen. Steve was never this awestruck by something as simple as a smile but he wished he could tattoo your smile to the inside of his eyelids so he could never forget it.

“Hi (y/n).” Robin was the next person to greet you.

“Hi Robin, I didn’t know you worked here.” He finally heard you speak and Steve never thought a voice could be so sweet.

“You know me, never one to brag.” A small giggle escaped your lips and if he thought your voice was sweet your laugh was like cotton candy; soft and pillowy. He couldn’t help but want to make you laugh for the rest of his life. Robin watched Steve look at you with the dumbest look she’s ever seen on his face, which is saying a lot. She genuinely had to bite back a laugh. “You know the hair, right?” Robin nodded her head towards Steve. That was his queue he had to get rid of the heart eyes and turn on the charm. You looked up at him which is when it finally clicked. He recognized you from his time at Hawkins High. Remembered you walking the halls alone with your head down most of the time. He never thought too much about you back then, which right now he regretted greatly, distracted with his douchebag friends and his relationship with Nancy to ever really notice most people.

“Yeah, I remember Steve.” You nodded your head. “Hello.” The hint of another smile on your lips. He so desperately had to hold himself back from hugging you. He wanted to be close to you, to hold you. Steve really didn’t understand what had gotten over him. Sure, he had liked girls before but being this whipped so immediately was definitely new to him.

“Hi, sweetheart.” He tried licking moisture back onto his lips, but his mouth was dry. He leaned back onto the counter and smiled. Trying his best to be as smooth as possible. He didn’t want to look at Robin or Dustin, mostly because that meant having to look away from you but also because he knew the look on their faces right now would be one of disgust.

The skin on your face started feeling incredibly warm. You had never spoken to Steve when he was in school, to be fair you hadn’t spoken to many people but speaking to King Steve seemed an impossible task. He was like art at the museums you liked to frequent, beautiful but untouchable.

Dustin removed his gaze from Steve whilst shaking his head and placed it back on you. “What are you doing here?” He asked. Right, you came here for something. What was that something? The brief interaction with Steve was enough to make you slightly lightheaded. You started nipping at the inside of cheek, rummaging through your head.

“Oh, I accidentally took your DND notebook yesterday. It said return if found and then your address was inside, which by the way I think is an awful idea. There are weird people out there, Dustin. You have to be more careful.” Steve and Dustin making eye contact, both thinking about the irony of telling Dustin to be safe. You reached for his notebook inside your messenger bag. “When I got to your house your mom said you might be here.” You took a few steps, offering him his journal. Now close enough to be able to smell Steve’s cologne, your gaze drifted for a second up to his face and he was looking down at you. The second your eyes met, he smiled, making you look away abruptly. He was making you way more nervous than usual. Your hands were getting clammy, and your breath was a little shaky. Steve Harrington was so beautiful. You always knew this but you had never had the honor of being this close to him.

“Dude, this is like the second time you’ve saved my life!” Dustin grabbed the notebook with a wide smile. You let out a small laugh. This kid’s smile was infectious, no matter the situation, if Dustin smiled you smiled. Those are the rules.

“Trying my best.” You closed your bag whilst taking a few steps back. Trying to make some distance between you and Steve, hoping to any God he couldn’t see your shaky hands. “Right. I’ll just get going then.” As the words left your mouth Steve started to panic. He can’t just let you leave. He had only said two words to you. His brain going on over drive trying to think of ways to get you to stay even a little longer. He looked outside at your bike and then at the dark clouds in the sky. It was definitely going to start raining soon.

“Wait!” He said this a little louder than anticipated. He cleared his throat as you turned your head to look at him. He smiled softly as he looks at your eyes again. He thinks he could look at your eyes all day. “You just got here; you should hang around with us. It’s for sure going to start raining soon. I can’t let a pretty girl get caught riding her bike in the rain.” Dustin snickered and Steve elbowed his shoulder immediately to get him to shut up. The taller boy watched as your eyes widened slightly at the use of the word pretty. You were so cute it was driving him crazy.

“Yeah, dingus is right. You should stay, besides tonight’s movie night. You can join us at Steve’s house. We’re gonna pig out on junk and watch horror movies. Steve is going to drive us all home after, he’s our trusty chauffeur.” Steve looked at Robin as she spoke, and he swears he could’ve planted a kiss on her forehead right then and there. Robin looked at him for a second with a small smirk on her face.

You fiddled with the strap of your bag as you thought about it. It would really suck to be caught in the rain, besides this could be fun right? You said yes to DND and that was fun. Doing things you wouldn’t normally do seemed to be working for you so why stop now? Of course, this had nothing to do with the way your heart raced when Steve looked at you or the way you really wanted to be in his presence longer or how pink and shiny his lips looked or how you wondered what his hand would feel like holding your hand.

“I would really like that.” You smiled at Robin and then turned to look at Steve. “If that’s okay with all of you.” This was directed more at Steve than it was to Dustin. There was a moment of silence as Steve stared at your pretty face, a smile adorning his features making him look like a lovesick puppy. It was Dustin’s turn to elbow the idiot to his left. That was enough to break the trance.

“Of course it’s okay with us. Right Dustin?” He glared at the boy that just assaulted him.

Dustin nodded his head. “It’d be an honor to have you at our movie night, (y/n).” Steve reached over to pat his younger friend on the shoulder.

“It’s set then.” He said, more excited for it to reach closing time than he has ever been.

#stranger things fluff #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson #robin buckley #stranger things #billy hargrove #billy hargove x reader

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ultralightpoe · 4 months

Text

Full House llll l -Eddie Munson

Authors Note: And with this final chapter we say goodbye to the Munson family. Thank you to everyone who has read this series.

Warnings: angst, mentions of ptsd and fear of suicide but not a lot.

Word Count: 10,129

Part One HERE - Part Two HERE - Part Three HERE - Part Four HERE - Part Five HERE -

(Thanks for the gif @spookynebula )

Enjoy! -Warning. This chapter had mentions of depression and ptsd. Reader hints at suicide-

It was insane how fast things escalated that night.

Friday nights had become somewhat of a massive tradition in the entire group, since that was the one night that EVERYONE had off. It became a family dinner/ game night all around.

Everyone brought over plates of food, the kids all got to spend time together and the DnD party got a night to catch up on their campaign. Anyone who didn’t want to play got some time to relax with friends.

Tonight was an extra special night because everyone was celebrating Dustin and Erica’s son, Luke’s birthday.

So the second you all got home from all the activities and clubs and meetings everyone got cracking and starting setting up. Ziggy cleaned the downstairs living room that became the kids play room with the help of Halen.

You helped clean up the living room before leaving Eddie and Ozzy to set up their DND tables for their respective campaigns as you went to start the food.

By 7, an hour earlier than her normal time, Motley comes in with a smile that has you on edge immediately.

It’s not that she was a bad kid, you loved your daughter more than the world itself, you just didn’t like her current path. And you had gotten used to the coming in and stomping straight into her room so this smile told you something was up.

“Hey ma!” She smiles, moving forward to kiss your cheek.

“Hi angel.” You mumble, making a kiss noise back as you focus on the food. “We’re doing chicken Alfredo tonight for everyone so-“

“I was actually hoping I could go to Samantha’s for a movie night.” She smiles, watching you pause and then look at her.

“Again?” It had been a year since she had attended one of these family dinners since her and Samantha did movie nights. “Wait, I thought you were mad at Samantha for something. When I was doing laundry you were on the phone talking about her.”

“You were eavesdropping?!”

“No, I was doing your laundry and you were talking loudly!” You snap. “And I’m gonna have to say no to the movie night because it’s Luke’s birthday. A special event.”

“And next week it will be Uncle Jonathan’s birthday and after that Sara’s birthday-“ a small smile spreads across your face at the mention of Sara, the cute toddler girl Mike and El had brought into the world. She was so sweet and reminded you of your kids back then.

“That’s the thing about birthdays. They happen every year?” You mumble, confused on why you have to explain this as she curses under her breath.

“I just mean it’s always something with this family.”

“Okay. I already said no so suck it up buttercup.” You snap, turning back to the food.

Eddie comes into the kitchen with an excited smile when he sees Motley home, and you already know what’s coming.

“Hey Metalhead. You wanna see how cool I am?”

“Sure.” She snaps, rolling her eyes at him.

“People say I’m magic, cause I always have a few Twix up my sleeve.” Just as he says it he makes the Twix candy bar slide down into his awaited palm with such excitement.

“Wow dad.” She sighs. “This is an all time low.”

“Oh! Twix!” Halen snatches it and dashes to go fine his best friend.

“You eat today?” Eddie asks Motley, trying not to let her mood get at him. “We have snacks set up already-“

“Why do you constantly feel the need to ask me if I’ve eaten?!” She snaps.

“What?! I just want to make sure my daughter actually eats instead of that dieting smell a carrot bullshit!”

“UGH! Just leave me alone! This house sucks!” She stomps downstairs and Eddie turns to you.

“What’d I do now?”

“I actually told her no to something before you came in so it was me.” You explain, using the spoon to pull out a noodle and move to feed it to him.

And before you know it everything is packed with people.

Steve and Nancy came in a bundle of hugs, Eddie making a tall joke to their tallest son which makes Vinny laugh nervously as he moves out of the way for his three younger brothers to come in.

Vinny takes his spot at Ozzys table, getting his dice ready as two of his brothers join him while the third dashes to follow Ziggy to go play with Zeppelin.

Steve takes a seat at Ozzys table as well, since he wanted to play but didn’t really know how he was playing Ozzys campaign to learn the basics of the game.

Jonathan and his son arrive soon enough, Halen snatching his friend and they dash upstairs to play video games as Jonathan takes a seat on the couch where you Nancy and Robin always sit and talk shit about anyone and anything.

Eddie tries to call Motley up for dinner but she doesn’t answer so he just shrugs and starts his campaign, missing the pointed eye roll Vinny had.

“He prefers to be called Vince now.” Nancy explains over her wine. “And Steve found not one but 4 little notes from girls or guys asking him out. All unanswered and just shoved into his desk drawer.”

“I still can’t believe you’re raising a valedictorian. Any idea on where he’s applying to colleges?” Jonathan asks.

“Oh come on. The kid is tall, attractive, has amazing grades and an all around good student. Not to mention the star baseball player for the team. It doesn't matter where he’s applying because they are all going to be reaching out to him.” Robin scoffs, making Nancy smile.

You hear a bunch of groans coming from Ozzys table and look over to see your son smiling just like his dad as the table is panicking on what to do.

When you look over at Eddie you see he is already smiling from ear to ear as he watches before the sound of Zeppelin barking in the back yard pulls your attention.

“What was that?” Mike asks, trying to look out the window.

“Probably just heard a car door. Dogs on about everything lately.” Eddie sighs, focusing back up on the game.

Then some more time passes and he begins to get to get more and more anxious. Motley hadn’t eaten so she should come up.

“Hey Zig?” He calls. “Send your sister up please!”

There’s a slight rustle downstairs and he hears Ziggy knock before swinging the door open. His first sign of trouble is when he doesn’t hear Motley immediately scream at her sister to get out of her room.

But he thinks that maybe she managed to fall asleep, she did come from cheer practice after all.

That is until Ziggy dashes upstairs and Eddie is met with her wide eyes that makes everything fall into a panic for him.

“What’s up?”

“She’s not there.”

“She’s not where?”

“She’s not in her room-“ Eddie is zipping out of his chair to zoom downstairs and check for himself, barging into her room to find it empty. “You’ve gotta be kidding me-“

He moved to see that she had somehow shimmied out of the small window she had and he gets pissed.

How long has she been doing that?!

He storms back upstairs, snatching the phone angrily as you come closer, watching him dial Perez' number and wait.

“Hello, this is Eddie Munson. I just need to make sure my daughter got to you house safely-“ he stops, heart thundering in his rib cage at the man’s response as you keep peering at him. “What do you mean she’s not there?”

Vinny is watching you both, an annoyed look on his face as everyone’s mood immediately drops, once again for Motley. She ruined everything these days.

“She’s at a party.” He sighs. “Her boyfriend Aaron and his best friend Henry are throwing a huge rager tonight.”

“I thought she wanted to go to Samantha’s?” He asks you, confused since that’s what you told him earlier.

“Her and Samantha haven’t actually been friends for months. Samantha is too nerdy now.” Vinny explains and Steve sighs.

“Vin, why didn’t you say anything?”

“She’s not my business. I try to stay far away from her these days-“

“Why?” You ask, getting defensive of your daughter.

“Because they make everyone’s lives miserable. They just constantly bully Mickey about his stuttering. Samantha is bullied about her weight and all they do is walk through the halls making everyone miserable. And she just lets it happen with a laugh. She thinks it’s great.”

Your heart breaks, imagining all the things he is saying as Eddie is losing patience.

“The party's address. Where is it?” He snaps, moving to grab his keys.

“Eds..” you mumble, reaching out to stop him but the second he has the address he is out the front door.

So you, and everyone else, wait.

Sending all the kids including your twins down stairs to watch a movie as the adults and teens sit around and wait for Eddie’s car to emerge again.

And when they do you already know it’s gonna be bad based on the way they both slam the doors.

He’s yelling before they even make it to the front door.

“I’m sick of this bullshit with you!” He shouts. “When’s it gonna stop, huh?!”

“Fuck off!” She screams back, obviously crying. “You just ruined my life!”

“No Motley, I just helped it!” He yells, opening the door. “I can’t fucking believe you.”

“Why do you care so much?!” She screams as they both come into view. “IT WAS JUST A PARTY!”

“YOU WERE DRINKING AND SMOKING!” He screams back, both red in the face. “I HAD TO PULL THAT FUCK OFF OF YOU! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED MOTLEY?!

“Right. So you’re the hero once again right? You barge in and take control over everything and now everyone is gonna say what a wonderful guy you were and how my mom is so lucky she found you.” She sneers, tears streaming down her face and makes her eyeliner stain her cheeks. “Thank god for Eddie fucking Munson. My family was fine before she met you! We were fine without you!”

“I don’t know what you’re on about but you’re on thin ice tonight.” He warns.

“Just fucking say it! Say I remind you of my dad! That’s why you hate me right?!” She snaps and his eyes widen.

“Motley- you don’t. Wait-“ your husband tries, you see the panic on his face as he realizes that this situation was spinning out far too quickly.

Meanwhile Eddie felt like he couldn’t breathe. He had just found his daughter half asleep with some jock on top of her at a party and he was freaked the fuck out. He was mad and stressed and scared but the feeling he was getting as she glared at him made him go cold.

He had his tiffs with her, these days all he could seem to do was irritate her but this was something entirely different.

“I’m Billys kid right? That’s all I am to you? I look and act like him! That’s all you see! Right?!”

“You’ve had a lot to drink.” Eddie sighs, rubbing his face. “Maybe you should go get some rest.”

“You talk all this bullshit about how it’s the people that raise us and not the ones we’re made from. But you know what I think? I think you’re lying because you know that’s not true. I’ll always be like Billy and you will always be like Alan.” She continues and Eddie feels something cold in his chest, a cracking feeling as his ears start ringing. He hears you shuffle closer already trying to diffuse the situation but neither of them look at you.

When he doesn’t respond she keeps going, like a feral animal backed into a corner.

“You think I haven’t heard the stories?! Huh?! Alan Munson arrested for drug abuse and manslaughter. Eddie Munson, the schools fucking freak that sold drugs and killed Chrissy Cunningham.”

“I am nothing like him-“ Eddie snaps, skin hot and fists clenched. Alan was an abuser, who had hit Eddie more than he hugged him. Eddie had never hit you, or the kids. He had never killed anyone, not even Chrissy and sure he sold drugs but he always made sure everyone was safe when using them.

Is that how she saw him?

“You’re just like him! Nothing but a low life fucking freak. You can take your cheap fucking necklace back, freak.” She sobs, tearing off the necklace he made her and chucking it at his chest. Some of the chain hits his cheek at how hard she threw it, and it falls to the floor beneath him with a clank.

And just like that he’s back to nothing. All the hard work he’s done to run from his name and all the hard work he’s put into supporting people is gone. She’s right. He’s nothing but a freak. Always has been and always will be.

Her face falls from one of pure anger to shock and sadness as she watches him. He doesn’t know what he looks like but by your devasted face it can’t be great.

“I’m going to bed.” He announces, voice sounding bland and empty, kicking his mothers ring away from his feet and moving upstairs without another word.

“W-wait dad-“ she gasps out, sobering up a bit. “Please just-“

He doesn’t hear. Or he just blatantly ignores her as the bedroom door slams harshly.

“No. No no no.” She sobs, falling to her knees to try and find where the ring had gone after Eddie kicked it. Her fingers grasp around the chain, sobbing harder when she sees it snapped and broken.

Ziggy comes into view then, eyes wide as she watches her sister scramble across the floor.

“Ziggy. You need to go downstairs-“ you try and control the situation, moving your daughter to head back only to find that all of the kids were standing in the kitchen and had heard everything.

“I think it’s time we go.” Steve mumbles, not looking at Motley as everyone begins to grab their kids and make their way out.

She can’t breathe, she can’t breathe and she can’t find the ring.

“Z-zig- help me p-please. I can’t find it.” She sobs, reaching her arm under the couch to try and feel for it.

Ziggy doesn’t move to help her sister, and you can only watch with tears streaming down your face as your oldest breaks down.

“Ididntmeanit!” She sobs. “Pleasebelieveme-“

“I think everyone needs to go to bed.” You state calmly. “Motley we will discuss all of this in the morning once we’ve all had room to breathe. Okay?”

She nods, still violently sobbing as Ziggy walks away from her and storms downstairs. Halen has tears streaming down his own face as Ozzy grabs his arm to lead him upstairs, hearing nothing but silence coming from their parents room.

You shuffle away too, trying not to look at her and trying not to cry. You had no clue what to do right now.

She searches for a couple minutes before realizing the point was mute since she couldn’t actually see from her eyes anymore with how hard she was crying and finally she gave up, shuffling downstairs.

At first she walks to her room, but the second she hits the door she realizes she doesn’t want to be alone so she moves closer to Ziggys door and knocks softly.

Back when you first moved in, Motley and Ziggy were terrified to sleep in the basement, both so sure ghosts were real. Motley often let Ziggy in her room so they could sleep together.

Now it was her knocking on her baby sister's door, chest aching as it opens a bit. “C-can I sleep with you Zig? I-I don’t want to-“

“Why do you have to ruin everything?!” Ziggy cries, shoving Motley away. “Why do you have to chase him away?!”

“Zig-“ Motley sobs but her sister doesn’t hear her.

“You ruin everything! And he’s gonna leave because of you!” And then the door is slammed in her face once more.

So Motley shuffles to the couch, curling into the cushions as she sobs. Eddie’s face stuck in her mind.

She had never seen him look so…. Broken and empty. She did that.

And he had never walked away from a fight with her.

“I want dad…” she sobs, shoving her face into the pillow to sob. “I’m sorry dad.”

You were going to be sick.

Never before had you seen such silence from your husband.

By the time you made it to the room he was just sitting on the bench in front of your bed, just staring at the wall.

“Eddie?” You mumble, moving closer to him and try to rub his cheek. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He just shakes his head no. Not actually looking at you as he brings his hand up to pull yours away from him.

There’s a crater in your chest as your husband pushes your hand away, this gaping hole just gushing out blood as you try and figure out how to fix this. But before you can think of something he stands and walks past you to go into the bathroom, locking the door and turning the shower on.

You’ve thankfully passed out by the time Eddie gets the courage to leave the bathroom, he can’t look at you right now.

He’s a coward.

A freak.

We were fine without you.

She thought he was Alan. She probably heard everyone at school making fun of her dad.

Nothing but a low life fucking freak.

Freak. Freak. Freak freakfreakfreak.

“You’re nothing Edward. You hear me boy?” Alan calls, watching Eddie dash to his room to hide.

Later that evening his mother would give Eddie a buzz cut, the hair being the thing that got him in trouble in the first place.

He could do nothing but stare into the mirror as she did so, looking at the deep purple bruise that covered most his cheek as she worked on his hair.

Nothing.

He didn’t mean to stay awake all night, sitting there staring at a wall. But he somehow managed to.

So he unplugs his alarm clock before it can wake you, shuffling around to get dressed silently. He was used to doing chores on the weekends, for the yard or the family cars.

Today he chose to head out for a bit. Leaving a tiny kiss on your forehead as he grabbed his wallet and keys before heading out.

Motley wakes up to the front door closing, her neck aching from the spot on the couch she had slept on and her head blaring from crying so much last night.

It takes her a moment to get up, shuffling upstairs half asleep until she is in the main part of the house, when she sees no one there she shuffled up the stairs to sneak into your room.

Her heart plummets when she sees it’s only you, her anxiety and guilt heightening as she crawls into bed to lay with you, pulling the blanket close as you turn to cuddle your daughter.

“I’m sorry mommy.” She cries.

“I know.” You mumble, still half asleep as you keep her close.

Soon enough the boys wake up, dashing downstairs, and you have to get up to go feed everyone. Motley stays close to you, sitting at the table awkwardly as you get the twins set up with cereal.

They don’t look at her. Neither of them even look near her as they eat silently which upsets her more.

“Have you decided what song you’re going to do for your performance, Oz?” She tries to break the tension, watching her brother shrug.

“Dad and I were going over some stuff. Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs again, spinning his cereal around the bowl as you go downstairs to grab Zeppelin for his daily walk and wake up Ziggy.

You rush Zeppelin out, the older dog excited as he is every morning and the second you leave the front door Ziggy emerges from downstairs.

“Morning Zig.” Motley tries to smile, stomach clenching when her sister ignores her.

“Hey Zig? Can I borrow your charcoal markers?” Halen asks, excited to see his sister. “I have this really cool idea to take my Halloween mask and make it look like the words are-“

Motley zones out watching all three of her siblings talk excitedly amongst each other. It had been a family tradition for as long as she’s known to have breakfast together on Saturday, just the 6 of them. A tradition she’s blatantly ignored in favor of spending time with her friends.

“I have a new eyeliner, Zig, if you want to try it?” Motley offers, once again trying to break the tension.

“I’m good.” Ziggys is quick to shut her down, moving to clean up her mess. “Remember guys. Dads birthday is coming up and we all gotta keep it a surprise what we got.”

“Right.” Ozzy smiles, tossing his bowl in the sink before dashing off while Ziggy rushes downstairs.

Halen is the only one left and Motley turns to him. “What’d we get dad?”

“I don’t know what you got him. But we all chipped our allowance in for something.” Halen mumbles, hands clenched.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me? I would have-“

“Why does it matter? He’s not your dad right?” Her brother mumbles out, getting up to slam his bowl in the sink as well. He stomps off soon after that, and soon enough the sound was mixed with the sounds of Ozzy practicing cello and Halen dashing around for his project. Ziggy playing music in her room.

“DADS HOME!” Halen yells excitedly, dashing down the stairs to come into the kitchen where you were preparing lunch. “I saw him pull in.”

“Good.” You smile, some of the anxiety easing as the kids collect at the table around where Motley was sitting and doing homework. “We’re going to eat lunch together. No fighting guys.”

The front door opens and shuts and Motley stands up awkwardly, both of you waiting for Eddie to enter.

When he does you are silent, eyes wide as he blinks at you slowly. “Y-your hair?”

It was cut, short. There were still some curls at the top of his head but the rest was gone.

“I….. yeah I thought I needed a change.” He mumbles, reaching a hand up to pull through it awkwardly. “Thought the mop head was a little outdated.”

I didn’t want to look like a freak. You know that’s what he meant even if he didn’t say it.

“Dad. I am so sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean any of it and I can’t believe-“ Motley begins, wiping her cheeks as some fresh tears roll down her face.

“Hey hey hey.” Eddie stops her. “It’s fine. Okay? No hurt feelings Motley. You had some stress and needed to get it out. I get it.”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t mean any of it dad.”

“I know.” He nods. “I’m not upset at you Motley.”

And that was settled. But he doesn’t move forward to hug her, he doesn’t even touch her, instead he shuffles to sit down and look at the others staring at him.

“Does it look bad?” He asks as they all blink at him and his new hair. Immediately after he asks they all rush out to tell him no and that it looks good.

Motley takes a seat again and so do you, everyone beginning to eat silently.

Eddie had said it was fine, but everyone at the table knew it wasn’t.

Eddie didn’t try to crack any cheesy jokes or pull you into an embarrassing kiss that would make them all gag. He didn’t ask about their plans or if they all wanted to hang out. Eddie ate in silence. And the silence was the loudest part of the meal.

Things remained tense for the rest of the weekend and by the time Motley had to go to school she was tired and stressed.

Her bad was still shut down, he tried not to be but he was. And things were just so…..wrong now.

This morning was awkward enough. She had told Aaron she didn’t want a ride, and she really didn’t want her dad seeing him in general.

But he left early for work and you had assumed she already had a ride so you took the rest of the kids, which left her to walk to school.

She showed up drenched from the rain, bumping into Samantha by the door and dashing to the bathroom quickly.

By the time she gets out first period is already over and the hallways were already packed with people moving for their next class.

She just wanted to cry. She was cold and soaked and missed her dad.

She broke her dad.

“Motley! Hey!” Aaron calls, and she tenses, casting him a look before dashing down the hall and bumping into Vince harshly.

He manages to catch her as her heeled boots slip, hauling her easily into an empty classroom the second he sees the tears rushing down her her cheeks. He closes the door and pulls the blinds of the window down.

“Just take a moment.”

“I have to get to class.” She sniffles.

“It’s biology with Fitz. He barely takes attendance and we’ll be fine.” He tries to joke. “Just take a breather.”

“I can’t! I can’t catch my breath at all.” She snaps, and he moves closer to wipe at her eyes as she sobs before she is latching herself onto him with her face pressed into his chest as she sobs. “I’m sorry Vinny.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snitched on you like that.” He mumbles.

“No. No. It actually was for the better.” She moves to sit down after breaking from the hug, sliding against the door and sitting with her back to it.

He follows and they are side by side.

“I’m thankful my dad showed up.” She admits. “There was a split second where I was so fucking happy he was there actually. I saw him when he tore Aaron off of me and I knew I’d be safe.”

“Did Aaron….?”

“Oh. It’s….. I was just too out of it.” She mumbles, trying to get comfortable.

He moves slowly, unzipping her boot slowly to take it off and doing it to the other so it was easier to sit without the heels.

“Then what happened?”

“I…. Saw the look on my dads face when he dragged me out of there. And I just felt like….. Billy.” She admits, swiping the tears. “I remembered what you said and-“

“I lied.” Vince blurts. “Motley you had to have known that I lied. Your dad would never say that.”

“You lied?”

“I lied. I was trying to hurt you because you…. I was being a dick.”

She sniffles quickly, laughing a little. “Vinny.”

“I’m sorry Motley.”

“Oh my god.” She laughs and he can only blink at her from guilt. “I spent the past year bullying you with my friends and you’ve been holding back your punches.”

“I just….there is no excuse.” He mumbles but she just keeps laughing with tears still springing down her face.

“Don’t feel bad. I was…. Out of control and you ended up saving my ass.” She rushes out. “And then I just completely destroyed my life after.”

“You didn’t. I’m sure this can all be fixed.” He sighs. “Your dad is one of the…. Best.”

“He is.”

“And he forgives my dad after years of king Steve’s bullshit.” He mumbles. “Now they are best frie-“

Before he can finish his sentence her lips are on his. Warm and soft.

He can taste the salt from her tears, and his heart is beating through his rib cage as the girl he’s been dreaming about for years finally kisses him.

But then he pulls back, blinking at her. “Sorry.” He blurts out.

“Why are you sorry? I kissed you.” She blushes.

“Motley.” He begins, not really knowing what to say. “You’re beautiful.”

“I know.” She smiles, laying her head on his shoulder. “You are too.”

Family dinner was quiet, and Eddie spent most his time pushing the food around on his plate and everyone ate in silence.

Motley leans over, elbow pressing into his as she whispers. “Have you eaten today?”

A tiny smile breaks out, and Motley can’t tell if it’s real or fake. So she leans back and keeps pushing around her own food.

“I think I’m gonna drop out of the concert.” Ozzy blurts, pulling Eddie’s attention quickly.

“Why?”

“I’m just…. Not really feeling it.” Her little brother mumbles, shrugging.

Everyone turns to Eddie, waiting for him to talk Ozzy into it. This is what he did. A problem arose and Eddie was there to make them all feel better. He would talk Ozzy into the concert, get rid of all the anxiety and stress he was carrying about it.

But it didn’t come.

“Okay well….. just let your teacher know yeah?” He mumbles, picking up his plate to clean it before heading out of the room quickly.

“I hate you.” Ziggy snaps at Motley, storming off.

“EW! Absolutely not!” Motley snaps, slapping Vinny’s hand away which makes him laugh. “I refuse!”

“Go fish. Go fish!” He laughs, waving the card in her face again.

“No! I refuse!”

“That’s the point of the game!”

Motley and Vinny had been eating lunch together in the abandoned science classroom everyday for the past week. They did homework together and played card games. He told her about his mom and dads most recent fight where Steve had managed to break their bedroom door handle and trap them both in the room on accident.

“No it’s not. I win.” She mumbles, shaking her head as he groans out. “Which means I deserve a victory kiss.”

Whenever she won he had to kiss her. And whenever he won she had to kiss him. Oh how miserable life was.

He smiles, leaning forward to kiss her lips nervously which makes her giggle. When he pulls back he scratches the back of his neck. “So… the Sadie Hawkins Hawkins dance is coming up.”

“Yes. I hear them announce it every morning.” She teases. “Who you gonna ask?”

“Oh ha ha.” He scoffs right as the bell rings. “I have practice after school. You good to get home?”

“I’ll be good.” She smiles, watching as he stands up and heads out.

It was weird seeing Eddie like this, so bland and empty. It really scared you.

He had never shut down like this before, and you were getting to the point where you had begun to hide all the sharp objects and pills.

Today he sat on the bed, well more or less laid on the bed splayed out as he watched the ceiling fan turn slowly. It had been 2 weeks since that fight with Motley, and he had nightmares anytime he managed to fall asleep which wasn’t often.

You knew what he was dreaming about of course, between his father, Chrissy or Wayne’s passing he always woke up calling one of their names in a panic.

“Hey Eds?” You call, trying to get his attention. “Do you wanna try sleeping? I can lay with you.”

“No.” He mumbles out, not moving as the bed dios while you curl into his side.

“You need sleep.” You murmur, kissing his shoulder, taking your hand to rub circles on his stomach.

“I just need…..” What did he need? You’d give him anything.

“She didn’t mean it.” You whisper, tears beginning to burn your eyes.

“I know.” He whispers back. “I just can’t shake it.”

“Maybe, we should look into some therapy.” Your whisper, watching as he finally switches to lay on his side facing you pushing until it’s his forehead against your chest.

“If I start dreaming about them-“

“I’ll wake you up.” You promise.

Eddie’s first therapy session falls on a Monday, so you drop the kids off at all their clubs before taking him and waiting in the car as he spends the next 2 hours in the session.

You catch up on some of your book and when he gets back in the car you are happy to note that he seems a little better. Not a lot but he’s not too empty.

“You haven’t eaten in a minute. Want to go get a burger?” You ask and he shrugs. “You wanna wait for the kids to eat?”

“I just want to sleep.” He answers truthfully and you smile, because at least he was answering. So you turn down the radio and drive to pick up all the kids from their clubs.

First are the boys, Halen still in his karate outfit and Ozzy without his cello. When you ask he simply mutters since he didn’t need to practice he was gonna leave it there tonight.

Eddie closes his eyes like he is in pain when Ozzy says that, but no one says anything.

Next is Ziggy, but you are shocked to find both sisters standing together outside of Ziggys school.

“Motley? Why aren’t you at practice?”

“They end at 5.” She answers.

“Then why did you keep coming home at 8?”

She looks guilty as she shrugs, looking between you and Eddie as he keeps his eyes shut. “I’m sorry.”

“Jesus.” You grunt, feeling like a crap mother.

Later that night you knock on her door, and when she lets you in you shut the door, sitting her on her bed so you could have a long conversation about sex and boys.

It was a little too late as you had come to find out. But she ended up telling you everything.

Friday rolled around and it was DND night, but no one set up any campaign tables and no one bothered to get excited.

Eddie helped you in the kitchen and Motley tried asking about any ideas he had for another campaign.

“Have you ever done a dragon one?”

“Yes.”

“Well maybe you can do a futuristic one then?”

“I actually think I’m done for a bit.” He shrugs. “It’s a game meant for kids.”

He shuffles off to the garage to grab the drinks for tonight as Motley looks at you.

“Hey mom?” Ziggy asks, coming up the stairs. “I have this project I’m doing and it smells really bad cause of the paint. Do you think dad will let me work in the garage?”

“I don’t care. Go for it.” Eddie snaps, walking in with the sodas. “Have at it. Take what you want.”

He drops the drinks by the coolers before walking up the stairs.

“He hates us.” Ziggy mumbles. “He hates us now.”

“He doesn’t hate you. Enough of that.” You snap. “You two have absolutely no clue what he’s been through or what he’s done to be where he is now. You throw Chrissy in his face and his father in his face and all he ever does is try to cheer you guys up constantly.”

They both blink at you.

“He’s upset. He’s gonna be upset from his trauma and it shouldn’t constantly be about you two. Have you bothered to ask if he’s okay ever?” You snap, irritable. “Go clean something.”

They disperse quickly and you turn back to keep cooking, slamming everything as you go.

“You okay?” Eddie asks, leaning against the door.

“No I’m not.” You snap. “I’m so sick of everything. When did this get so hard and - and you’re listening to me complain again. Even when I’m stressed about you carrying all our burdens I still give you more.” You laugh bitterly.

“I don’t mind taking in your guys’ burdens.” He sighs, moving closer.

“This isn’t working.” You snap. “None of this is working.”

“I know.” He sighs.

“I think it’s time we take a look at the next step here.” You mumble, turning away from him. “Because I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

“I don’t think I can either.” He whispers.

“Then….” You can’t even put it into words, what are you saying? “I need to finish cooking.”

He doesn’t say anything, just merely disappears again.

“Divorce?” Robin scoffs. “You find out your daughter is a slut and this is where you end up?”

“No. Not divorce. We just need another strategy.” You mumble, not looking in the direction that Eddie was sitting in. “It’s like playing tug of war through a brick wall. Whenever either of us begins to make movement the other just hits the brick at full speed.”

Tonight’s ‘family dinner’ was extremely different. It felt more like an awkward party than a family dinner.

Motley sat on the stairs with Vinny, pretending to study as Ziggy sat in the corner sketching.

No dnd, no fun conversations. Your family was truly beginning to crumble under pressure.

“And I feel like absolute crap because how did I now see that my daughter had a sex life?”

“I hear that Aaron kid is a jackass.” Robin sneers.

“From Jonathan. His photography teacher.” Nancy clarifies.

“What great intel.” You sneer and she sighs, rollling her eyes.

You spend the rest of the night talking about Robins most recent girlfriend, and why it ended. By the time you said goodnight to everyone you truly thought you knew too much about her love life.

You wave off her car, being the last to leave, and you shut the door before pressing your forehead to it with a sigh.

When you turn around you are surprised to find Eddie standing there waiting for you and the kids still in sight watching you.

“Goodnight everyone.” You mumble, locking the door and moving to start picking everything up.

“I’m craving donuts.” Eddie blurts, making everyone look at him. “When’s the last time we had an actual Munson meal?”

“What?” Ozzy laughs. “We had dinner together yester-“

“No no. I mean an actual Munson meal.” Eddie shakes his head.

Ziggy catches on then, a smile spreading on her face as Motley soon gets it.

“Guys, I’m tired so maybe we should-“ you don’t get to finish your sentence because Eddie is there, pulling you to the kitchen with the kids to prep for Munson dinner.

A little while later you are all sat on the floor, knees connecting all of you together as you pass around the snacks and laugh.

Homemade donuts and ham wrapped around cheese sticks. Sliced apples and peanut butter with grapes. Any snack you could think of was in the center of the circle.

You all had pillows and blankets, and there was a cartoon playing in the background as Ziggy told you guys the story of how her math teacher broke his foot by dancing in class.

You’re laughing too hard, tears streaming down your face as you try to breathe in while she imitates his crying.

“Stop!” Motley cries. “He did the same dance thing when I had him!”

“Do the dance one more time.” Eddie laughs. “I gotta see it.”

So Ziggy does, looking like an absolute fool as she does but everyone is still laughing and having fun.

Halen catches you up on his drama club, and how he got the old grandma as a roll. “It’s not funny!”

“Its not!” Ozzy laughs. “But your costume is!”

“Wait. Tell them about your concert!” Halen mumbles to which Ozzy shakes his head quickly.

“What’s going on with the concert?” Eddie asks, leaning to snatch an apple slice out of your hand.

“I…. They….. well they gave my solo up before I quit.” He admits.

“What? Why would they do that?” You mumble, worry striking you. “Ozzy,”

“They said I lacked control.” He blushes.

“That’s not fair. You’re the best in that group.” Eddie snaps.

“Every parent says that about their kid.” Ozzy groans.

“Well yeah but I’m not just saying that because you are my kid.” He mumbles. “You’re fucking amazing Ozzy. And if they think you’re not then we need to look for another program.”

“But-“

“Dads right, Ozzy. You play better than any of them.” Motley mumbles.

“We’ll look for another program. Rather than the school.” You nod, and he shrugs with a small smile playing on his lips.

“What’s going on with you?” Eddie asks. “How is life at school, you know after I….”

“Life is better.” She cuts him off. “I actually…. I spend all my free time with Vince now and-“

She starts blushing, and Eddie and yourself are shocked by this image. It had been forever since you saw your daughter with no makeup and in her cheesiest pajamas.

“Well I like all my makeup and outfits but there is no stress of how I look around him so I get to have more fun with it all. You know?” She’s getting redder and redder now. “And the Sadie Hawkins is coming up and Iwastryingtofigurrouthowtoaskhim.”

She mumbles the last part out but everyone heard it, excitement jumping through the group.

“Oooo. Motley and Vincent sitting in a tree-“ a pillow hits Ziggy in the face as Ozzy and Eddie are already talking over each other with ideas.

“How about you write it on a baseball?” Halen asks, and everyone stops at his idea before Motley lights up.

“That would be very sweet.” You smile.

“I don’t have a baseball though.”

“That’s easy. Send Zeppelin outside for 5 minutes and he’ll find one.” Eddie teases.

“I have paint for it!”

“Then we have a plan.”

Eddie sighs, shifting a bit as he tried to conjure up what he needs to say. “I think we’ve been failing as a family lately.”

“How so?”

“When’s the last time we’ve actually talked? Actually sat down together and talked about life? We have all been so caught up lately that we haven’t made time for our best team and that needs to change.”

“How so?”

“I propose that we do family dinners like this from now on. Actually talk. Actually take time for each other and tell eachother everything.” He sighs. “But in order for that then there has to be complete honesty. And I have not given you guys that.”

It’s silent as everyone stares back. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something.

It takes you a minute to register it. It’s a bat tooth.

“Who wants the truth about Chrissy Cunningham and my scars?”

It’s around 3 am when you wake up, confused and groggy.

Somehow everyone had managed to cuddle together on the couch, everyone connected somehow. You were all merged as one, sleeping in a pile, with Halen snoring loudly.

You blink a couple times, wondering what had woken you up, so you sit up, making Halen stir a bit and try your best to sneak out.

You limp to the sound that had been waking you up, tense from the awkward position you had been sleeping before you shuffle to open the window and look out at what was outside.

A small laugh escapes you when you realize that you had left Zeppelin out and he was whining. “I am so sorry baby boy.” You coo, shuffling to the door quickly to let him in. He dashes to the couch to crawl his way into the pile.

You catch Eddie staring at you, trapped underneath all the kids as he nods his head for you to come back. So you do. Finding your spot and falling asleep with your family once more.

“Would you just take a breath?” Eddie laughs, watching his oldest daughter rush around in a flurry of panic.

He is standing in the center of the living room, doing his best to help her as she struggles to find her shoe.

“Dad I can’t find it..” she mumbles. “He’s gonna be here any minute and I-“

“Just sit down a moment.” He mumbles, moving her to sit before he starts looking. He instantly finds, throwing it at her to catch easily before shuffling back to the kitchen to find you sitting with Ziggy as she shows you her most recent project.

“How’s it going in there?” You ask, looking up at him for a second.

“Found her shoe. I came to get you for pictures.” And within a moment you are up, kissing Ziggys head and dashing to find your camera for the photos.

Eddie shuffles closer, snatching a chip from her bag as he looks at the oil painting. “Jesus. Did a teenage mutant ninja turtle possess you?”

“Huh?”

“You know? Micheal Angelo, Donatello-“

“Oh my god dad.” She groans as he picks up the painting.

“This is really good. You're gonna submit it for something?” He asks.

“My art teacher says I should compete in this art show thing.” Ziggy mumbles, watching him look at the painting. “That one is called lifeline.”

An extravagant oil painting with a blurry faced female holding a leather jacket. And when he tilts the photo he realizes that she had hidden bats into the jacket, using another paint so if it moved in the light you might be able to see the bats she had hidden. His bats. His tattoo but with them in a purplish paint hidden just the same were 4 birds.

“You’re really talented.” He mumbles, fingers tracing over the birds.

“Yeah yeah.” She blushes, snatching the painting back and shoving him away.

“HES HERE!” Motley screams from the other room and Ziggy moves to go into the living room to watch Vinny park the car and take a moment to prep himself.

He fixes his jacket and Motley is inside making sure all her makeup is set and perfect as he walks up the pathway.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Be cool.” She warns you and Eddie, trying to breathe.

“We’re cool. You’re the one over there hyperventilating.” Eddie teases and she snatches a pillow to throw at him.

The knock sounds at the door and Motley rushes to answer, tripping unceremoniously so Eddie has to catch her before she breaks an ankle.

He helps her stand straight and moves to answer the door himself.

“Vincent.”

“Mr. Munson.” He smiles, already blushing.

“Is there going to be drinking?”

“No sir.”

“Smoking?”

“No sir.”

“Sex?”

“N-no sir.”

“You know I can kick your ass if you hurt her. Right?”

“My dad said the same thing.”

“That he can kick your ass?”

“No. That you could.” And Eddie can’t help but laugh, letting Motley pass.

It’s another 30 minutes of you taking pictures and him giving her a corsage before they are taking off in his car, Motley smiling from ear to ear.

“Wait…” Eddie mumbles, looking at you with panic. “Something is wrong.”

“What’s that?”

“She’s leaving and I don’t feel that punching feeling in my gut.” He murmurs, looking genuinely confused. “I don’t feel the need to follow her and make sure she makes it there.”

“Yeah. Well if I trust anyone to protect my daughter it would be Harringtons kid.” You laugh. “Because we all know she will be the one throwing the punches and he will back her up.”

There was a nervousness in her stomach that she hadn’t gotten before, a blush on her cheeks as she does her best not to seem like she is going insane with panic.

“I’m…. shit- sorry. I am really nervous.” He mumbles after messing with the radio awkwardly.

“I’m nervous too.” Motley admits, smiling at him.

“You? Nervous? What for? I am the one dating way above my natural league here.” He mumbles. Before she can respond he is pulling into the school parking lot. The Sadie Hawkins Dance. Hawkins High School went all out.

There are balloon gates leading into the front doors and streamers covering the door itself. She kept a firm hold on his arm as they went to get the tickets, ignoring the way Aaron and his friends snicker when they see the both of them together.

“Drinks first?”

“Lead the way.” Motley smiles.

Eddie lays on the couch, reading the eragon book that Ozzy and Halen wouldn’t shut up about, with your head on his lap as you doze off.

You had spent the morning helping your daughter get ready, and now you were tired. So he offered to help you fall asleep, and you had taken the chance, letting him play with your hair as you closed your eyes. He made it seem like he was doing you some huge favor, but truth was you were doing him a favor.

Laying on the couch with you was his favorite thing, well laying with you in general. Gone were the days of having to jump all over each other, now you both were getting to the part in life where you just needed to be near each other. You rooted Eddie to this earth and he needed you like a hurricane needed wind.

He would be nothing without you or the kids. Would still be a freak, spiraling into the unknown but you had given him everything he never knew he needed.

Soon enough he found himself dropping the book on the floor, focusing on you, doing his best to memorize all your features the best he could as you slept peacefully.

He understood Ziggys painting now. Lifeline. You were his lifeline.

By the end of the night Motley and Vinny sat side by side on her front porch, laughing loudly as they shared a gallon of icecream they had stolen from the fridge.

Her feet ached so she had taken off her heels and when he walked her to the door (he was very serious about Eddies curfew) but he hadn’t been ready to say goodnight yet so they decided on hanging out on the porch. She was technically home so her curfew was fulfilled.

“Oh my gosh, Mr. Fitz tried to dance when the YMCA came on!” She giggles. “Smacked Margaret right in the face.”

“WHACK!” He laughs, imitating the slap.

“That poor girl definitely left with a bruise.”

“And Aaron left with a bruised ego.”

“HE DID!” Motley cackles loudly before covering her mouth when she realizes someone might hear her.

“I should get going.” Vinny mumbles, watching her. “But I…. I have something for you.”

“Yeah?”

“I…. well I found this the other night at DnD night…” He murmurs, digging into his pocket to pull out a chain with a really familiar necklace linked to it.

“Oh my god.” Motley gasps, dropping her spoon. “Vinny-”

“I should have given it to you immediately but then I had this idea to- that was wrong wasn’t it? I should have just given it to you I am so sorry-” She leans forward quickly, kissing him before he could keep rambling.

“That was the sweetest thing you could have ever done.” She whispers before hearing a thump from inside and pulling her attention to the door.

“Goodnight.” He murmurs.

“Goodnight.” She answers back, he kisses her again at the door before making sure she gets in without a problem and then walks to his car.

Eddie is shuffling to the couch, eyes wide when he meets his daughters eyes. “I was not spying. I went to grab a blanket for your mother and I.”

Motley smiles, moving to hug him.

“Did you have fun?” He asks, kissing the top of her head.

“So much fun. He was the perfect gentleman.” She whispers. “Goodnight dad.”

“Goodnight metalhead.” She moves to walk away and he calls out once more. “Your mother and I’s first date ended on the kitchen floor of that apartment you guys used to live in.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She had to get home to relieve the babysitter and I never wanted to let her go.” He smiles.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” She smiles back before moving to go down the stairs.

Time passes, quicker than Eddie would like, and yet as slow as they can be.

He wants so badly to see his kids grow up and yet he just isn’t ready to let them go, he wants to see every second.

Motley and Vinny go to prom together, and Steve and Nancy all get drunk with you and Eddie that night after you say bye to them.

Soon enough he was saying goodbye to his firstborn daughter as her and her nerdy boyfriend drove off to college. He cried, so did you. Steve sobbed.

Ziggy grew into this very hippie lifestyle, most of her clothes looked like they came from Steve Nicks closet and she smelled of incense more than anything. She focused on art, excelling at it truthfully, and as she went through high school Eddie found that he didn’t need to be as worried about boys taking advantage of one of his babies since she seemed absolutely disgusted by them.

She came out to him in her sophomore year, he had been sitting with her in the garage, helping her staple a new canvas that was bigger than his car. She had been panicking all day about something, even Zeppelin had been feeding off her energy and whining.

But then she blurts it out, a quick and simple “I like girls.”

He stops, unplugging the staple gun to turn and look at her, watching her face pinch with anxiety.

“You got a girlfriend?” He asks. She shakes her head no and he nods. “You got a crush on someone?”

There was a nod on that one and he smiled. “Well any girl that gets ya will be a lucky son of a gun. And I mean that, because you are a very freaking special Ziggy. Always have been.”

She hugs him tightly, crying into his chest that night.

Zeppelin passes away two months later, and Eddie finds himself with the grief of losing a child. He tells the kids that it was time, time for him to move on and find Wayne. He is completely devastated by it, but he tries to keep a brave face for Ziggy since she just lost her oldest best friend.

He keeps his collar on the fireplace right next to Wayne's ashes and a photo of all of them at the park..

Once the boys hit freshman year their biggest fight starts…. Over another boy. Well more specifically Ozzy makes a friend and Halen gets mad that he never sees his twin anymore.

The fight led to physical blows, and soon enough Eddie had to move Ozzy into Waynes old room just to get them to chill out.

Ziggy graduates, barely (his poor sweet baby), and gets accepted into an art school so he has to say bye to yet another child. He had a gaping hole in his chest.

When everyone comes back for Christmas that year it's a time for shock. Eddie’s two biggest shocks? The hole in his son's face and the ring on his daughter's finger.

Ozzy looked different with his new piercing, a new punk grunge look that Eddie tried to support. He really did. But the piercing looked so infected and gross.

“Did you do that in the bathroom with one of your moms earrings?” He teases, trying not to laugh straight in sons face.

“Yes?” Ozzy answers which makes everyone laugh.

“Next time just let me take you to get it pierced.”

For the boys’ 16th birthday Eddie takes them to get a tattoo. They chose something silly, shocker. Eddie however added 5 bird silhouettes by his bats to symbolize the 5 most important people in his life.

The day Vinny and Motley get married he walks her down the aisle, kissing her head once they reach the end and handing her off to Vinny. They get married with a red piece of yarn, just like you and Eddie had.

They move into an apartment in Hawkins, and have a baby girl soon enough and Eddie is ecstatic to be a grandfather. He is at the hospital the day she is born, and once everyone is allowed into the room they rush to see the new baby while he rushes to see Motley. Kissing her head and wiping the hair out of her face as she cries happily. (I saw a tiktok where it said ‘everyone went to see my baby and my dad immediately went to see his baby and immediately thought of Eddie)

He gets to hold the baby girl first, which makes Steve complain loudly but Vinny decided that Motley pushed her out so she got to decide who in the family held her first.

For the boys’ highschool graduation Ziggy comes home and everyone takes a picture with them in their matching cap and gown.

Ziggy in her fleetwood mac outfit, smiling from ear to ear as she hugs Halen close. Halen had decided on a buzz cut that suited him well, with one ear pierced. He smiled, arms linked with Ozzy who was a spitting image of Eddie. Motley hugged Ozzy tight, and the picture had caught the moment she realized her baby brother had a snake bite piercing, everyone laughing as she cursed out at him.

Baby Stevie sat on Eddie's hip, smiling happily at her grandfather as he cooed at her. It had been a constant running joke on whether Stevie was named after Steve or if Motley had just been following the rock theme.

We all know the answer.

Ozzy went to New York after graduation while Halen ended up getting into a college in michigan.

The very first you and Eddie have in your empty house is spent on the kitchen floor, eating macaroni and cheese straight from the pot as you both cry softly.

It seemed like neither of you could decide whether you wanted to be upset or happy for your kids.

It became a habit with you two, to sit on the floor to eat side by side just as you always used to.

Stevie’s first Munson dinner happened the weekend of her first birthday.

Everyone had come home for it, including all her aunts and uncles, and had chosen to stay in the house just like old times. This time with the addition of Vinny, who seemed so excited to be there in general.

“Alright, you know the rules.” Eddie smiles at everyone, knees pressed to your own and Motleys. “I want to hear everything.”

Stevie giggles in the center of the circle, tearing apart the muffin she had been given before marching over to where her uncle Ozzy was sitting and plopping herself in his lap which makes everyone laugh.

Ziggy tells them about her classes at the art school, and all the paintings she had been selling. She talks about a new girlfriend and jokes about the time she got trapped in her bathroom for an entire day until her girlfriend came home from work. She talks about struggling with being so far away from the family all the time.

Halen talks about his classes, complaining very loudly about his grades before moving on to complain about his dorm mate that never stopped jacking off which makes Eddie laugh. He talks about wanting to drop out, and what he would do after. Eddie is quick to let him know they had his back no matter what, even if he wanted to sell all his stuff and go traveling around the world.

Ozzy goes on a rant about the girl that lives across the hall. He rants about how he hates her hair and her choice in music, and how his roommate is constantly checking her out. He says she is the most annoying person on the planet and Eddie risks a knowing look with you. Smiles on both your faces as he continues to rant. By the time he is done he looks around the group as everyone holds in their laughter. “What?”

“You’re just…. So oblivious.” Vinny mumbles which makes Ozzy flip him off.

“Says you!” Ozzy snaps. “You chased after my sister for years you whiny little-”

“Cuss in front of my granddaughter and I will end your life.” Eddie mumbles quickly which makes Ozzy roll his eyes while smiling.

Motley just tells stories about things that have happened with Stevie, which everyone loves.

Eddie catches them up on his therapy sessions, and you catch the kids up on your health. The family close together once more.

Eddie Munson was home, and he would have it no other way.

-And with that we say goodbye to the Munson family. I do have more Eddie works coming out. Let me know if you would like to be tagged and I truly hope you all liked the story. -

Taglist:: (lmk if you want to be removed)

@dontcrydaddy @valentine-ger @mariamayhemrsmunson @hippiefairy02 @alyisdead @thehuntresswolf @username199945 @peaches-roses-sins @bl1ssfulbaby @friendly-neighborhood-boricua @avenjames-anderson @nodont1 @bethanyzed @caseyqdilla @zooboomanfu @hazydespair @costellation-hunter @vanessav03 @r-a-d-i-0-n-0-w-h-e-r-e @kidd3ath @katzarantos @peaches-roses-sins @friendly-neighborhood-boricua @ilovetaquitosmmmm @emilyshortcake @jjsbongwater @morgthemagpie

#eddie #munson #eddie munson #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson imagines #eddie munson fanart #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things fanart #stranger things fan #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x reader #stranger things 4 #stranger things fic

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