#it's so annoying... this summer was hell because for the whole time i lived with a perpetual sensation of *things* crawling on my skin

[changbinlov3r]

Unwritten | B.C. | Part 1

Pairing: Chan x afab!reader

Summary: the only thing your best friend ever asked was for you to not fall for her older brother, but what should you do when you come back home for the summer and he seems like the most irresistible man in the world?

Genre: nonidol!au, fluff, angst, smut

Words count: ± 12,710

Warnings: other than reader is fucking oblivious, there's none for this part but this fic WILL contain +18 themes so minors DO NOT INTERACT.

Don't forget to support my writing by ✨reblogging✨

A/N: Yeri and reader are 2 years younger than Chan and for the sake of context Chan is 21 in this fic.

A/N²: so I have been writing this fic for a few months ☠️ and the plan was to have one big ass chapter but you know me(my dad didn't give me love so I need validation) so I'm going to post this story in 2 parts 😚 I hope you guys like it 🫶🏻

When you were fourteen, you met your best friend. Yeri and you clicked right away, since then you knew you two were meant to be.

Yeri had transferred schools and you thought it was strange that she never mentioned any of her old friends but she could be shy about it so you never asked.

The first and only thing Yeri ever asked you was to not like her older brother. Christopher, nicknamed Chan, was the most popular boy in her school and that's how you found out why she never mentioned any of her friends.

Turns out people only befriended Yeri because of her brother and when he rejected one of her friends, who was pretty popular, the girl and her whole group of friends turned against Yeri and made her life a living hell.

That's how she ended up in your school and after Chan got into a fight because of the bullying situation with her friends, he decided to finish high school in an all boys academy.

He was 16 when you met him for the first time and at the time you didn't understand what people saw in him and to be fair he never gave you any reason to like him. So when Yeri asked you to not fall for him, you laughed promising that that would never happen. How could you ever like him? He makes his life's mission to annoy you, since the first moment he laid eyes on you he made you his target, he would find anything to make fun of you.

For example, the first time you drank alcohol. You and Yeri stole a bottle of whisky from her father's collection when you were 15, you got so intoxicated that you threw up a few hours later and ended up falling asleep right there on the toilet with your hair full of vomit.

Chan found you in the morning, if you didn't know him well you'd think he was worried as he shook you awake, but the moment he saw you opening your eyes, he took his phone out of his pocket and took a bunch of pictures of you, pictures that he would use to blackmail you later on.

He did take the blow for the stolen whisky, his father took his car for a whole month and that's how you ended up being basically his servant for that month. He would make you go to the convenience store with him, saying he wouldn't be able to bring things back home all by himself. He would use you as his personal clock, telling you to wake him the time he decided like a fucking alarm. He would make you watch his games and cheer for him, while Yeri would send you apologetic smiles while watching you go through that since it was her idea to steal her father's whisky. Chan wouldn't stop torturing you even after Yeri begged him.

However, when he got his car back, he stopped using you as his servant. He even started picking you and Yeri at school after class, you guessed that he felt guilty about all the things he put you through but he never apologized for it.

When you got into your dream university, you felt the happiest. Yours and Yeri’s family made a barbecue together to celebrate that the both of you got into the schools you two wanted but you were going to different universities.

Yeri got into the same university as her brother, he got a scholarship with their music program two years before the both of you and Yeri got in to study liberal arts. You, on the other hand, wanted to study History and you also landed a scholarship since your grades were always the best in school and you did a bunch of extra curricular activities that would look good on your register.

You and Yeri cried your eyes out when you both had to separate, it was the most heartbreaking moment of your life. Never for a moment since you met her did you imagine staying away from her for more than a day and now you would go basically six months without seeing each other — in the worst case scenario, a whole year. Why did you two have to go to schools that are basically across the country from each other?

“We'll facetime every day”, Yeri mumbles almost inaudibly because of her sobs.

“Yes, don't worry”, you smile, holding her by the shoulders while tears fell down from your eyes.

“Jezz, you're not dying, you're just going to different schools”, Chan roll his eyes, passing through to finish storing his sister's bags in the car.

“You're saying that because you'll have her all to yourself”, you roll your eyes, whipping your tears.

“And I should be happy about that because…?” He teases, making you want to punch him in the face.

“If you don't want to, then let's exchange places”, you fire back, feeling annoyed already.

“Unless you have studied 4 semesters of music and know how to produce and write songs, I don't think you can take my place”, he says, condescending.

“Fuck off, it mustn't be hard to just mix tracks and write words in a paper”, you say angrily. You know that's not what he does, Chan is very talented and it takes a whole lot of love for music to be as good as he is but you want to piss him off, so you said what you said.

“You just insulted a whole profession with a sentence, congratulations”, he huffs his eyes, “let's go before I tell dad who really stole his whisky”

“You're so childish, it's been years, when are you going to stop bringing that up?” Yeri huffs, letting go of your goodbye hug.

“Who knows”, he opens the driver's door, “maybe one day y/n will do something else that's gonna make me forget about that”, he winks at you, before giving you a smug smile and going into the car. For a moment there, just for a moment you felt a wave of heat on your lower stomach and maybe, just maybe you found Chan attractive? Nah, that's not possible, all the emotion of the moment must be messing with your head.

You give your last kiss on Yeri’s cheek and watch her entering the car, waving goodbye at you until the vehicle disappears at the end of the road.

The worst case scenario happened. One year was the time that you had to stay away from your best friend. On your first break, Yeri got stuck in her school preparing for a presentation they would do right when classes started again, she didn't go back home so she could get ready and she crushed it, they filmed the whole thing and she sent it to you, you never felt more proud of her than by seeing her doing what she loves.

On your second break from college your professor offered you a spot on his summer class that would help you on advanced subjects later. The seniors from your major told you he almost never offered that opportunity to anyone and him taking a freshman in was unheard of, so you dreadfully accepted.

Finally on your third break you two managed to free yourselves from the university shackles and got to go back home.

You're currently on a plane, so you're going to get home quicker and won't lose time with your best friend. You were so anxious last night before that you barely slept and forgot to put your phone to charge, so as soon as you got on the plane your phone died. At least you wouldn't have to bother putting it on airplane mode.

Your family is not the most affectionate and that's not bad, their way of showing love was always acts of service rather than physical touch or words of affirmation but when your parents see you, even though they went to visit you at school, both of them cry and hug you like they haven't seen you in years.

You appreciate being cherished by them, even though you never really care about how they showed they love for you, now you feel truly loved. When your parents feel like they are okay with letting you go, you drop your bags in your room and don't waste any more time, going to Yeri's house.

Will she cry when she sees you? She's such a cry baby, oh you miss her so much. You can't wait to stay awake the whole night talking to her about your college lives, even though you facetime almost everyday it can't even compare to gossiping face to face.

You knock on the door a few times, something you're not used to doing but after so long without going to visit it seems disrespectful to just barge in. No one answers though, but you hear the sounds of splashing in the backyard. You can't believe Yeri went to the pool first thing when she came home rather than go looking for you, but you decide to not hold that against her since it's so hot you feel like you could melt any time now.

You decide to go directly to the backyard to surprise her, so you open the side gate and walk slowly, careful to not make much noise while sneaking on her. What you didn't expect was to not find Yeri, but Hyunjin, Chan's friend there, laughing about something while scrolling on his phone.

He didn't take long to notice you, eyeing you up and down and smirking. He didn't have the time to say anything, though, since Chan came out of the water at that moment, splashing water on his friend. The first thing you noticed was how muscular he had gotten over this brief period of time you didn't see each other. The droplets of water run slowly on his skin and the smile he gives you when he sees you could positively melt you more than the hot weather.

“Hey”, he says, putting his hands on the pool's border, raising his body up to help himself out of the water. And the moment you see his whole body, you hiccup.

Oh my god, are you nervous? Why would you be nervous close to your best friend's annoying brother? For fuck sake, get your shit together, are you in need to get laid? It's been so long you slept with someone that now you are lusting over anyone?

“Hi”, you wave, shyly. It's easier said than done, you just can't move, you really are nervous.

“What's up with the glow up?” Hyunjin asks you, as always very rude.

“What's up with your face? Got uglier?” You fire back, making him laugh.

“You wish I'd give you a chance”, he rolls his eyes, “give up, I won't even give you the time of day”, he throws his hair to the side, scoffing.

You roll your eyes, huffing. That's just how your relationship with him works, Hyunjin doesn't have to do much to piss you off, he and Chan are the perfect best friends.

“Hm, where's Yeri?” You ask, avoiding looking at Chan, his body is distracting and you can't let him catch you eyeing him up. He kept getting closer while you talked with Hyunjin so his distance right now is not the safest for your sanity.

“What do you mean?” He frowns, “her flight got delayed because of a wind storm, she told me she texted you about it”

You sigh, there was no better moment for your phone to have died than right when your best friend needed to talk to you.

“My phone died when I got to the plane and I haven't had the time to charge it yet”, you start mumbling, “is she okay? When is she coming?”

“Yeah, she's okay”, Chan says, blinking a few times to assimilate the information you just gave him. “She'll be here tomorrow morning, probably”

“Okay”, you nod, calming down but frown immediately. “But why are you here?” You ask and he smirks, tilting his head to the side.

“I live here”

You huff, rolling your eyes.

“You know what I meant. Shouldn't you both have traveled together?”

“We would have if she didn't bomb in one of her classes, also, I finished mine earlier this year so I came back sooner”

“Ah, okay”, you nod, “I'll go back home, then. I'll come back when Yeri arrives”

Immediately after finishing your sentence, Chan steps close to you, as if he would hold you in place but he stops before doing anything.

“Why don't you stay a bit longer?” He asks. “It's hot, you can enjoy the pool while you're here”

You think about it for a moment, before shaking your head.

“I didn't even bring a swimsuit and I'd rather not stay in the same space as that guy”, you stick your tongue out to Hyunjin, who's paying attention to his phone.

“I'll drive you back home, then”, Chan says right away.

“There's no need”, you shake your head again, chuckling, “my house is barely twenty minutes away”

“But it's super hot today”, he points out, “I won't feel comfortable letting you go home walking”, he finishes and for the first time in your life, you don't wanna fight back. Actually, his serious tone made your face grow hotter.

“Alright”, you nod and he smiles, telling you to wait for him to change clothes and that he'll be back soon. He gives you the keys to his car, so you can turn on the AC while you wait for him.

As always, Chan's car is neat just like his personality. Everything is organized and there's no trash or dirt, you start the car, closing the doors so you can feel the cold air.

You hold your hair up, taking the scrunchie off of your wrist to tie your hair, but it falls on the floor, making you groan and bend down to look for it. You can't really see down the seat, so you just tap on the floor trying to feel the fabric of your scrunchie but what you find is much more interesting. A bra. You feel your whole face hot, throwing it back beneath the seat the moment you see what the piece of cloth you're holding is. Woah, who would have guessed that Chan has bitches? And even though you feel a weird feeling in your chest, you think that everyone has their own taste so of course someone would like him even though he's the most annoying man on earth.

You got curious though, is she pretty? The girl he's seeing. She's probably super pretty, he has always been popular, of course he won't accept someone that's less than pretty. You did see a girl on his Instagram account, maybe she's his girlfriend.

You're taken out of your thoughts with the sound of the driver's door opening. Chan enters the car, fastening his seatbelt while starting the car.

“It's been a while since we last saw each other”, he says, not taking his eyes off of the road.

“Right? Who'd guess Yeri and I would have so many things come up, I'm dying to see her”, you finish excitedly.

“I was actually talking about you and I”, he answers and you look at him, seeing the man chewing on his bottom lip.

“Oh?” You frown, why would he? You're not even friends, “I guess it has really been a long while”, you nod.

You stay silent, not really understanding the ambiance and why you swear there's some tension there.

“How about school? Are you seeing anyone?” He asks, trying to change the subject.

“Hm, it's cool, I like what I'm studying”, you fidget with your fingers, “and no, I'm not seeing anyone”, you sigh, “there's just not really anyone that caught my eye I guess”, you tell him and you swear you can see a faint smile on his lips but before you can ask him about his girlfriend, he parks in front of your house.

“We are here”, Chan turns to you. You didn't even notice you were arriving already.

“Thank you for the ride, Chan. I'll see you tomorrow”, you tell him, getting out of the car and waving goodbye to him before walking to your door.

You find your phone thrown on the top of your bed, charging him just to find almost a hundred calls and texts from Yeri, talking about the chaos, the whole flight confusion and saying sorry she wouldn't get to see you right now.

You facetime her, waiting a few seconds and in a moment her bright smile shows up on the screen.

“Girl, I thought your plane had crashed”, it's the first thing she says.

“And why don't I see puffy eyes and despair in your voice?” You ask, ironically, making her roll her eyes.

“I doubt you'd let yourself die that way”, she informs you, “anyways, why couldn't I reach out to you?”

“My phone died and I hurried to see you right when I got home”, you smile sheepishly.

“Oh, was Chris home?” She asks and you nod, “that's good, my parents are out of town until next week, you'd have been stuck outside if he wasn't there”

“Yeah”, you nod, remembering the scene of Chan slipping out of the pool, how his wet swim trunks hugged his thighs and the water drops falling from his hair on his plump lips.

“Are you listening?” You hear Yeri say in a higher pitch, she always does that to catch your attention. Your face turns hot in an instant, what are those gross thoughts? You're going crazy, that's the only answer possible.

“I dozed off, couldn't sleep well because I was so excited to see you”, you make something up that is not entirely a lie.

“Ow, you're so cute”, she squeals, “I was gonna surprise you but since I'm gonna be late I'll tell you now”, Yeri says.

“What's it?”

“I'm taking my boyfriend with me on this trip”, Yeri giggles, making you frown instantly.

“What boyfriend?”

“You know, Minhwan, the guy I have been talking about for months now?” She declares as if it's obvious.

“The one who left you on read for an entire week and then came after you at a party just because you were with another guy?” You ask, incredulous.

“Yeah, he said he was sorry about that”, she giggles.

“Girl”, that's the only thing you can say, you can't believe your best friend is settling for that.

“What about you? Any hot guys on the plane?” She asks, changing the subject before you can nag her about her choice in men.

“Nah, an old couple seated by my side and they tried to set me up with their grandson”

“Oh? Did they show you pics? Was he handsome?” Yeri asks, excitedly.

“He's 39”, you tell her, smiling painfully, “they told me he’s nice and has two kids”

“Well, babes, we both know you're better alone”, your friend tries to cheer you up and you nod, agreeing with her, even though at that moment the only thing going through your mind is this crazy thought about Chan: what if?

You cry like an idiot when Yeri arrives, you missed her so much and you didn't even notice how much until you saw her again.

“You look so pretty”, you tell her, making her spin around so you can have a look. “I see college made you hotter”, you give her a thumbs up.

“Look who's talking”, she giggles, “I'm going to have to be your bodyguard this summer, guys are going to line up to see you”

You laugh, rolling your eyes and before you can say anything else, someone clears their throat, making you look in their direction just to see Yeri’s boyfriend there.

“Oh! This is my boyfriend, Minhwa”, she introduces you two. He gives you a charming smile, while sticking his hand to you.

“Hey”, he says, waiting for you to shake it, while you stare at him.

You don't like him, he seems like bad news, but is forced to shake his hand when your friend elbows you and whispers “be nice”

“Yeah, hi”, you say, not trying to hide your dissatisfaction but shaking his hand anyways. Just on time a loud horn sounds behind you, rescuing you from the awkward conversation that was about to happen.

“Chris is here”, Yeri squeals, grabbing her bags on the floor and walking to the car to greet her brother, who's already scolding her as soon as she lets go of his hug.

You watch Minhwan walk behind her and wait to be acknowledged by Chan, who eyes him up and down and glances at you. You shrug, shaking your head and he takes a deep breath, while Yeri introduces the two.

The trip back to their house is quiet, Yeri and her boyfriend go on the backseat while she talks about the city and shows him things of our childhood. He doesn't look all that interested but also doesn't tell her to stop talking.

When Chan parks the car, the couple gets out first, while you close your eyes, leaning back on the passenger seat, taking a deep breath.

“I guess no one thought that's her type”, Chan says, watching you opening your eyes slowly and turning your head to look at him.

“I don't think he's anyone's type”, you whisper and Chan chuckles.

“So you don't like a man who ignores you and then acts like nothing happened?” He teases, tilting his head to the side, making you chuckle.

“No, I like a man who shows how much he likes me”, you inform him, but the way Chan looks at you has a meaning you’re not sure you understand. He bites his bottom lip, nodding.

“That's good to know”, he says before opening the door and getting out of the car.

You frown, the way he's acting since you met him again is so weird. You definitely don't understand him.

After unpacking and updating you on a bunch of things, Yeri invites you to go to the pool. The day is sunny and hot, as expected of a typical summer afternoon. Chan invited his friends too, so Minhwa is basically the only stranger to you all.

Your best friend makes you wear a bikini, something you're not used to. You always try to cover yourself with a shirt or at least a swimsuit, not really confident about your body, but she’s not having it today saying that except for Minhwa everyone there has known you for years. You end up giving in, wearing the piece of fabric she provided to you.

“Just a question: is this supposed to cover me?” You ask, really wondering.

“You’re such a prude sometimes”, Yeri rolls her eyes. “This shows just enough, don’t worry about it”, she comforts you, but you’re not sure if it works. ‘Just enough’ for her surely is not enough for you. You decide to suck it up anyways, she’s right, everyone there except her boyfriend knows you since you were a teen, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.

That’s what you thought, at least. You’re sure there’s nothing much to look at but then why do you feel Chan’s eyes burning a hole in your body? You didn’t do anything to make him mad, so you’re not sure why he’s staring at you so intensely.

You sit on one of the chairs after greeting everyone, watching as Yeri jumps in the pool with her boyfriend, giggling and kissing him. You may not like him but it’s good to see her this happy.

You close your eyes, laying down on the chair, the sun is burning your skin when something is thrown at you. You open your eyes, a frown on your face while you stare at a towel. Your eyes wander to the figure by your side, just to find Chan standing there.

“What’s this?” You ask, lifting the towel off you.

“That’s for you to cover yourself, that thing you’re wearing is not doing the job properly”, he says, pointing at your bikini.

“Excuse me?” You ask, shocked.

“You’re excused, now please, cover up”, he repeats, looking around. He avoids looking at you when you toss the towel back to him.

“Fuck off”, you say, closing your eyes again, hearing him huff. Why does he have to be an asshole about this? Are you that ugly he can't bear one afternoon looking at your body?

You think Chan is going to leave you alone now, when you hear his footsteps fading away but then the sound of something being dragged hits your ears and you open your eyes again to see Chan bringing the chair closer to you.

“If you’re not going to cooperate, I might as well stay here to bother you”, he grins, comfortably sitting.

“Are you for real?” You roll your eyes, you thought this childish urge he has to annoy you had disappeared but clearly you were wrong. He ignores you, scrolling on his phone while he hums some stupid song he must have come up with.

After some time, you go into the pool, joking around with Yeri and playing games with the others. Chan is still there when you go back, watching you. If you didn’t know better you’d think he’s eye fucking you by the way he’s staring and it's scary how the thought that you wouldn’t mind if he really was comes to you mind.

You sigh, these strange thoughts keep appearing in your mind, you have to get over this before someone starts to notice, worse, before he starts noticing. You sit on your chair, taking your sunscreen out of your bag, applying it on your arms and face, on your chest, stomach and legs. You can’t reach your back, though and everyone is too engrossed in their playing for you to call someone to help, except Chan. You look at him discreetly, thinking if that’s a good idea, maybe you should just call it a day and go inside.

“Do you need some help?” He asks before you get to make your decision.

“Hm”, you try thinking fast, now much more nervous than before, “yeah”, you give in.

Chan smirks, stretching his hand to you so you can give him the sunscreen tube. You turn your back to him, without saying anything, not really wanting to prolong this awkward situation.

You hear the sound of the lotion being splashed in his hand and then the sound of him brushing his hands to spread the product, you won’t ever admit it but you’re dying with the anticipation of his hands on your skin. His long, strong fingers brush against your shoulder blades, spreading the sunscreen gently, massaging it for longer than necessary but you’re not complaining about it.

You feel your cheeks grow hotter, his hands go down to your lower back, putting more lotion on the area and caressing your skin. You shouldn’t feel this excited about it, you know you shouldn’t but the heat you feel on your lower stomach is not something you can control.

You get goosebumps when you feel his breathing too close to your skin, making you shiver.

“Do you like it when I touch you?” He murmurs, making your eyes grow wide. You turn around fast looking at him just to find him staring right back at you, lips stuck between his teeth and the corners of his goddamn sexy mouth upturned in a cocky smile. Before you can even answer him, your phone rings, making you jump out of the chair to at least a meter away from the man.

You pick your phone up, listening to your mom's voice asking you what you want for dinner, saying you weren't answering her texts.

“I-I'll go home now and we can go grocery shopping”, you stutter, trying to recompose yourself, trying to make your heartbeat go back to normal.

She answers telling you to hurry up then, because it's almost time to make dinner. You don't even look back at Chan, you can't really, he must've misspoken, there's no way he asked you that with an ulterior motive, there's no way. But even though you're telling yourself that you can't control the heat radiating from your cheeks, from your whole body actually.

You collect your things, running to Yeri in the pool and telling her you're going home, then you hurry back inside to change and run back home, still embarrassingly flustered.

You feel distracted the whole trip to the grocery store, you talk with your mom automatically, not really paying attention to anything other than the memories of Chan's hands on your skin, burning every bit he touched.

You're debating with yourself which snacks you should buy for your sleepover with Yeri in the weekend when you hear your name being called.

“y/n? Oh my god, it's been ages”, Yuna, a classmate from your highschool times approaches you.

“Oh, hi!” You smile at her, she was always very nice with you and Yeri when you studied together. “It really has been a long time”, you nod.

“Are you on break? Your mom told mine that you went to that school you always dreamed about”, she asks excitedly.

“Yeah, I'm visiting”, you look around to see if you can find your mom, you don't want to believe that you got lost even though you're a grown up.

“You know what? My boyfriend is throwing a party this friday, why don't you come?” She smiles, “bring Yeri too, I miss her”, she says.

“Oh, yeah”, you nod, “I'll talk to her and let you know”

“You still have the same phone number?” Yuna asks.

“I do. You can text me the details”, you smile at her. “Oh, my mom is here”, you point at the older woman, pointing to the watch on her wrist for you to hurry up.

“Okay, see you!” Yuna waves goodbye to you and your mom while she walks away.

You go out with Yeri alone for the first time since you met after all this time. She left Minhwa with Chan and the other guys, meeting you in the mall after. You visit every store in there, buying clothes and trying weird things you would never spend money on but can have a good laugh at.

“Yuna? She's nice”, Yeri says, putting on orange pants.

“Yeah, she texted me the details yesterday”, you look at her choice of clothes disgustingly, like you're any better wearing a large shirt with tiger print on it.

“We should go”, she nods, taking the piece of fabric off. “And then Saturday we can do our little sleepover in my house”

“Okay, I'll tell her we'll be there”, you watch as she turns to look at you. “Hm… I meant to ask you before but didn't get the chance… How's it? To see Hyunjin after a while?” You ask, cautiously. You have been avoiding this subject since Yeri is dating someone else now, but you couldn't help but notice the few glances she still throws at her childhood love.

“Oh, I'm fine”, she smiles without looking in your eyes and you know she's lying.

Yeri liked Hyunjin for a long time, even though he never gave her any signs that he liked her back. So when she got into college, she promised she would do anything to forget him.

“Are you sure?” You press, not really wanting to force her to tell the truth but also trying to show that you care.

“Yeah”, she smiles at you and look into your eyes, “and even if I'm not, I'm sure I'll be fine soon”

You pout, walking to her and opening your arms for a hug.

“My poor baby, you went through a lot but everything will be fine”, you caress her back while she wraps her arms around your waist. “I love you and that's all that matters”, you say proudly, making her laugh.

“Shall we buy some clothes for the party?” She lifts her head to peek at you and you laugh.

“Anything for you”, you answer, sighing.

You definitely shouldn't let Yeri choose your clothes for any event. You should have already learned that but every time she'll ask with puppy eyes and you'll give in because you can't say no to your best friend. So even though her clothing tastes are a lot more extravagant than yours, you always have hope that she'll choose something modest. But that's never the case and this time is no different.

She chose a black dress that can barely cover your ass, it has a cleavage so low you're not sure your boobs won't just pop out of there if you move too hastily. You put on safety shorts just to be sure, you don't want anyone to have a peek at your panties and also a strapless bra to make sure they are safe and sound right there.

You still feel exposed, but with Yeri hyping you up the whole time she helps you get ready, you start thinking that you don't look so bad. You do your own makeup, too afraid of what she'll try on you and you leave your hair down, carrying a hair tie on your wrist just in case it gets too hot.

You, Yeri and Minhwa take an uber to the party. It's already possible to listen to the loud music when the car is turning on the corner, dropping you three a bit far from the house since even the street is crowded.

You didn't even know there was a house this big in your town, it has a big garden, three floors and a pool that's probably the size of your house.

“You came!” You hear a squeal as soon as you enter the door to the house. Yuna comes running in your direction, hugging Yeri. “Girl, it's been so long”

“We need to catch up”, your best friend says excitedly, turning to Minhwa and introducing him to Yuna.

“You didn't bring your boyfriend?” Yuna asks you, making you tilt your head in confusion.

“I don't have one”, you answer.

“Oh? Ah, I see”, she seems confused, looking like she's trying to remember something. “Don't worry I'll help you find someone nice today”, she grabs your hand reassuringly, pulling you three to the middle of the crowd before you can say you're not interested in her proposition.

You see some familiar faces along the way, some people that attended the same school as you and some friends of Chan. You managed to not think about him for a couple of hours, not letting his voice appear in your mind just to make you confused. You even avoided going to Yeri's house, inviting her to get ready at yours.

Yuna stops you all when she meets a group of people, she introduces you all to her boyfriend and his friends. There are some girls there, pretty girls that make you a bit uncomfortable. Because they are naturally pretty and you suddenly feel like you're trying too hard just to look decent.

You fidget unconformably on your tiny dress, feeling embarrassed now. Everyone is talking but you feel left out, maybe it’s just your overthinking.

“Hey”, you hear a masculine voice right next to you, making you turn around to look at the guy. He's cute, a bit taller than you.

“Hi”, you smile, waving at him awkwardly, not needed to say that you're not very good at flirting.

“Jihoon!” Yuna says, “I was going to introduce you to y/n tonight”, she smirks.

“I think I remember her from school”, he answers, eyeing you and then he laughs with your panicked face, you don't remember him at all. “It's okay if you don't remember me, I was always buried in books and I basically slept in the science club”

“Oh, yeah”, you nod, “maybe that's it, I don't think I ever visited the science club in high school”, you laugh, making him smile.

“Why don't you get something to drink together?” Yuna suggests, winking at you.

“Sure”, you nod, looking at him who just shrugs. “Sorry about that, apparently she really wants to set me up with someone”, you tell him when you start walking together.

“I don't mind”, he chuckles, “not if it's a pretty girl she's trying to set me up with”, he grins at you, making you blush.

He's someone comfortable to talk to, you two start sharing stories about your school years, teachers you both recall and weird things that happened. You chose a beer to drink, it helps you talk more freely. Jihoon tells you that he just got out of a long term relationship and that Yuna is only trying to help, making you laugh, telling him you never had a boyfriend so you're not sure why she's so set on finding someone for you.

After an hour or so goes by, you already drank more than you're supposed to, laughing too much at the not so funny jokes Jihoon is telling. When a song you like starts playing, you grab his hand, pulling him to the dancefloor with you. You do feel a bit more bold when you have a little too much to drink, so you put your arms around Jihoon’s neck, pressing your body against his. He doesn't waste time, wrapping your waist with his arms, resting his hands on your lower back. You start grinding on him, hips moving with the music playing in the background.

You two look at each other and laugh and you feel like you could definitely kiss him at that moment if it wasn't for the strong hold you feel on your wrist before you're yanked away from the man who looks extremely confused while you're dragged away.

You look at the person who's pulling you out of the house, you know that back too well for your own good.

“Chan?” You ask, even though you know it's him. “Let go of me”, you yell now, trying to stop him and get out of his grip. But he's too strong, he only releases you when you're far away from the house.

“What are you thinking?” He turns to you, face red in anger.

“That's something I should be asking”, you scowl, surprised with his reaction, you don't think you have ever seen Chan that mad.

“You were rubbing yourself on that guy in the middle of a party!” He grunts, “and what's that you're wearing?” He scowls, pointing at your clothes.

“It's a dress”, you say, sheepishly. The way he's looking at you makes you feel embarrassed.

“That shouldn't even be called clothing, it's just a piece of fabric”, Chan sighs, “did Yeri make you dress like that?” He asks, looking around to try and calm himself.

“She didn't make me do anything I didn't want to”, you tell him, crossing your arms in front of your chest. “I'm not a child, I can take care of myself”, you say. “And what's it to you if I was rubbing on some dude? I could be fucking him in the middle of the crowd and you still wouldn't have anything to do with it”, you spit it out, feeling mad out of nowhere. He should be worrying about his girlfriend, not his sister's best friend.

“Are you sure you're not a child?” He asks, sarcastically. “You sure act like one sometimes”

“Fuck you, Christopher”, you yell, feeling the blood boiling in your body. You're so mad at him, why is he acting like this all of a sudden? He has no right to treat you like this, even if he's Yeri's brother. You turn around, leaving him behind and walking to the opposite side of the party, a walk may calm you down, you need to go home anyways.

Except that you feel his presence right behind you, throwing glances at him for five minutes until you stop completely.

“Stop following me”, you say, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“I won't let you go home by yourself, look at the hour”, he scoffs.

“I would if someone hadn't dragged me out of the party”, you huff, “my phone is inside my purse and Yeri has it”, you tell him, making him feel guilty.

Chan didn't think it through, the moment he saw you in another guy's arms he saw red, he didn't want to cause a scene but also couldn't control himself.

“I'll go back there and pick it up for you”, he grumbles embarrassedly.

“You should have thought about it before you pulled me out of there like that”, you say angrily, “you're Yeri's brother, not mine. I don't need you to look out for me like you do to her”, you sigh. This whole situation makes you sober up so fast that your head hurts.

“It's not the same”, he murmurs, frowning, “y/n, I don't see you like a little sister”, he says like it's obvious. “The reason I take care of you is not the same reason why I take care of Yeri”

“Well, mister Bang, please enlighten me with the difference, then. Because I have no clue and it fucking sucks”, you tell him, sarcastically.

He opens his mouth to say something but his phone starts buzzing in his pocket, saving him from whatever stupid thing he was gonna confess to you.

“She’s with me”, he says, when he hears Yeri's panicked voice because you disappeared, “I'll take her home, take care of her things”, he says before hanging up.

“I don't need you to take me home”, you tell him as soon as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Let's not discuss this right now”, he sighs, “my car is nearby, listen to me just this once”, he pleads, making you huff.

“Fine”, you roll your eyes and say “lead the way”

The car ride back home is silent, you don't want to talk to Chan. He has been acting weird since you met each other again after so long and that makes you mad because you thought that now you both would be adults enough to stop annoying each other, but maybe you were wrong.

“You should stop meddling in my business”, you tell him as soon as he parks in front of your house. “Let's be mature from now on, I won't mess with you and you do the same for me”, you tell him but Chan doesn't answer, he just stares at you like he's analyzing something and you definitely don't like that. He smirks next, throwing you off.

“Don't wanna”, he shrugs, “I'm going to do whatever I want from now on”

You sigh, shaking your head, it's already time for you to stop trying to understand this guy.

“You should keep calling me Christopher though, I liked it”, he points out, amused, making you frown.

“Good night, Chan”, you huff, opening the door of the car and getting off. You don't look back while walking to your house, that man makes you so mad it's driving you insane.

The whole point of calling him Chan is because he doesn't like being called that, you're the only person who does and it's just to annoy him and you won't entertain his antics since he doesn't want to leave you alone.

You wake up with the sound of the door of your room being closed with too much strength, making you groan in annoyance, your head hurting like crazy. You open your eyes slowly, trying to get used to the light coming through the windows, just to find Yeri standing at the end of the bed, arms crossed and eyes narrowed while watching you.

“How could you disappear last night?” She says, “I was so scared when I couldn't find you and then I freaked out when that guy you were with told me someone dragged you out”

You rub your eyes, watching your friend scold you. You can't believe you're being lectured about something that's not even your fault. 'Go fight your brother', you want to tell her, but for some reason you feel like you shouldn't.

“I'm sorry, I was drunk”, it's not entirely a lie, you were indeed drunk but you don't need to tell her that that was not the reason for your disappearance.

“Well who was the person who dragged you out?” She asks, brushing off your apology.

“I don't remember”, you lie again, feeling mad at yourself. Why are you lying to your best friend? Why are you scared to tell her it was her brother the one that made a scene because you were dancing with Jihoon?

“Stay close to me next time, okay? I'll make sure no one's gonna hurt you”, she huffs, pouting.

“Okay, thank you”, you smile. “Is everything alright for our sleepover today?” You ask, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, Minhwa gave the idea of having a bonfire, tonight is supposed to be cold”, she says, talking about the things you should go buy, the snacks and the drinks.

“Oh, okay”, you nod, you didn't stop to think that her boyfriend would be with you two on your sleepover.

“I'll wait for you downstairs, hurry up and get ready”, she hushes you, clapping her hands.

You get up begrudgingly, dragging yourself out of the bed straight to the bathroom. Only a shower can help you feel better right now.

Your head is pounding and your stomach is hurting, you want to throw up and go back to sleep but you know Yeri won't leave you alone.

You don't know why Chan shows up on your mind when the hot water hits your skin, you feel your head more clear but your best friend's brother is intoxicating your brain.

You shake your head, like that's going to make you forget about his existence. You better distract yourself with other things so these thoughts won't show up when you're with Yeri.

After putting on some comfortable clothes, you go down, meeting your best friend there. She's talking to your parents about the things you're going to be doing for the day.

“I'll be back tomorrow”, you tell your mom, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Take care of her, old man”, you tell your dad, hugging him.

Both of them chuckle, knowing you do that just to annoy them.

“How did you end up with Chris yesterday, by the way?” Yeri asks, when you get out of the house.

“We just met by chance”, you say, still not feeling like it's right to tell her he was the one who made that scene the day before.

“Well”, she sighs, “don't you think he's acting weird lately? Did anything happen?” She presses, making your heart beat faster, as if you did something wrong.

“I don't know, maybe he broke up with his girlfriend or something”, you shrug.

“I don't think he has one, though”, she points out, making you snap your head to look at her.

“He doesn't?” You ask, shocked.

“At least he never told me about a girlfriend”, she says, making your heart skip a bit. What about that bra in his car? Is he just a player then? Maybe he fucks girls left and right and doesn't settle with just one person. Why does that thought make you feel worse than thinking he has a girlfriend?

It bothers you for the rest of the day, while you're grocery shopping, when you're on your trip to Yeri's house, when you start preparing things for the sleepover: why is Chan acting so weird lately? You thought he had a girlfriend so his behavior didn't mean anything to you until now. Now, there's a possibility that you have a chance with him and that scares you, not just because you think he may be a player who's going to seduce you and then pretend it never happened, but the fact that your promise to Yeri is not stopping you from lusting over her brother.

It's so weird having Minhwa with you two, you feel like you can't really let it all out because he's a stranger but you won't say that out loud since Yeri looks genuinely happy with his presence there. You all set the bonfire and are enjoying the night view while drinking some beers and talking. You two recall stories about your teenage years laughing about situations that made you two cry at that time. When you see your best friend rubbing her eyes and yawning, you know she's gonna call it a night. Yeri holds on for about one hour more until she tells you she's tired and wants to go to sleep. You're still full of energy so you tell her to go on first.

The temperature did drop, making you cover yourself with a blanket while you stare at the flames in the bonfire. The sound of the crickets in the distance makes you feel calm and the quiet of the night makes your mind go somewhere it shouldn't.

You have your thoughts interrupted by the one and only person guilty of those thoughts. You hear footsteps in the grass just to turn around and find Chan, walking towards you. He sits on the bench, right by your side, even though there are plenty of places he could sit on.

“Yeri already went to bed?” He asks, opening a can of beer and taking a sip.

“Yeah, she was tired”, you tell him. “Turns out she can't hold her liquor”, you joke.

“And you can?” He teases, making you roll your eyes.

“Yes, I do. I can go up to three or four bottles”, you brag, making him chuckle.

“I guess I won't find you sleeping in the bathroom again, then”, he says, making you turn around ready to argue, just to find him closer than you expected, more than you're used to.

“You should forget about that”, you whisper, trying to recompose yourself, forgetting your anger and just staring at his lips, looking down immediately.

“Should I?” He asks and you nod, feeling your cheeks grow hotter.

“Yeah, that was a long time ago”

“I guess you’re right”, he nods, tilting his head. “Maybe you should give me something else to think about”, Chan bites on his bottom lip, raising a brow in questioning.

“You have a suggestion?” You ask, chuckling, the atmosphere heavier at each second.

Chan stares at you for a moment, glancing from your eyes to your lips and then back to your eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks, making you smile amusedly, realizing he’s trying to prank you.

“Why would you want to kiss me?” You roll your eyes, making him frown.

“I wonder if you really don't know or are just pretending”, Chan says.

You feel your breath stuck in your throat, feeling your heart start beating faster and faster.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”, you start saying but he interrupts you.

“I like you, I have liked you for a long time”, he declares.

“You shouldn't joke about that”, you feel your whole face turn red, a burn in your chest.

“I'm not joking, y/n”, he says, making you stare at him.

There’s no way he likes you, it’s impossible, right?

Right?

Before you can even think properly, your lips crash into his. You put your hands on the back of his neck to pull him closer and deepen the kiss. Chan is confused for a moment but it doesn't take long for him to reciprocate your eagerness, brushing his tongue on yours. His hand slips to your hip, squeezing so hard you could feel his nails digging on the skin. His lips are so soft and welcoming, it feels like you never tried anything like it

“Can I ask you something?” Yeri's voice sounds so clear in your head it seems like she's right by your side, “can you please not fall for my brother?”

You put your hands on Chan's chest, pushing him away from you and standing up.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry” you plead, not sure if you're saying that to him or his sister. “I- this was a mistake”, you stumble back almost falling, making Chan stand up to help you but you shake your head, turning around and running out of the gate.

You run without stopping until you get home, you’re breathless and you want to throw up, the butterflies in your stomach are not strong enough to ease the guilt you’re feeling, you can't believe you kissed Chan, you broke your promise.

How can you look in Yeri’s eyes now? You’re so scared now, what if she never wants to see you again? The worst of all is that thinking about the kiss makes your heart flutter and the ghost of a smile grow instantly on your lips before you can get a hold of yourself. You can’t be like this, you can’t be attracted to Chan and you really can’t fall for him, even though you already suspect that this feeling goes beyond just attraction.

You avoid Yeri for a whole week, not trusting yourself to not blurt out everything that happened the moment you see her face. You cried for a while, heartbroken for breaking your promise but also for the feelings that now you have to bury, so you can keep your friendship.

You told her you were sick that's why you went back home that night rather than staying over. It’s not a lie, in your defense you feel sick to your stomach every time you think about seeing her and it’s even worse when you think about Chan. The thought of seeing him again makes you nervous and not the type of guilty nervousness that you should be feeling but the type where you feel your heart flutter. Why did he have to make a move? He could have just kept his feelings to himself, the same way you were trying to do before you two kissed. Chan can have any girl in the world, so why you? You’re pretty, there’s no denying it but there are a hundred more pretty girls he must have met that are not his sister’s best friend.

When Yeri shows up at your door, bringing snacks you want to scream, literally. She looks worried, asking how you’re feeling and inviting you to stay at her house so she can take care of you but you don’t want to step foot in her house ever again — or any place that her brother might be present, for that matter.

“Are you mad at me or something?” She asks, sulking. “Is it because of Minhwa? He’s kinda boring right?” She completes, nervously trying to find out what she did wrong to make you mad.

“I’m not mad”, you sigh, you didn’t want her to think she’s the one at fault when you’re the one who broke the promise you made to her. “I’m just not feeling well lately”, you tell her.

“But did something happen?” She enquiries.

“No, nothing much”, you lie once more, feeling tired from lying so much to your best friend in such a short period of time. “But what about Minhwa being boring?” You ask her, trying to change the subject, her eyes widen immediately. She wasn’t supposed to let that out but she was so nervous that she just blurted it out.

“Well, I may be tired of him already”, she bites on her bottom lip and fidgeting with her hands.

“Girl, I knew this was going to happen”, you shake your head, completely forgetting about all your problems, too involved in the juice. “You aren’t over Hyunjin and it shows!”

“Fuck off”, she sulks, crossing her arms. “You’re so mean to me, I’m going through a hard time”

“Babes, please, you put yourself in this situation when you started dating the guy who ghosted you for an entire week”, you throw it in her face.

“Woah, never thought my best friend would judge me like that”, she sighs dramatically.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes”, you pat her back, “If not me calling you out, then who?”

“You’re right but I won’t admit it”, she nods, tsking. “Wanna go buy ice cream?” She asks out of nowhere.

“Sure, let’s go”, you smile. Just a few minutes with her and you’re already feeling so much better, you don’t think you would ever trade your friendship for the world.

You walk back home with a bag of popsicles, the sun is so strong that you don't think the ice pops are going to arrive intact in your house.

You're listening to Yeri's rant about her soon to be ex boyfriend when you hear the sound of a horn. You close your eyes painfully, you know that sound too well. Your best friend turns around with a big smile on her lips but you don't want to do the same, although you see her smile disappearing in a moment.

“Hey, wanna a ride?” You hear Hyunjin’s voice behind you, forcing you to turn around. He's seated in the passenger's seat while Chan is in the driver's seat, staring at you like he could burn a hole in your body. You can't avoid feeling your cheeks growing hot, you just want to get out of there.

“Yeah, why not?” Yeri says, grabbing the bag from your hands and walking to the car.

“Actually I'm going to walk some more”, you say, making her turn to look at you.

“What? It's hot as hell, why do you want to walk?”

“I don't know, I just feel like it”, you shrug, seeing Chan chuckle inside the car.

“I can accompany you if you want to walk”, he raises a brow, “I wanted to stretch my legs anyway”

You huff, closing your eyes. There's no way out, right?

“I guess it wouldn't be good for me to overdo it since I'm not feeling well”, you say, stepping closer to the car while Yeri goes in.

The ride is silent on your part, you don't want to look at Chan but every time you give in to your curiosity and peek at him, he's staring at you through the rear-view mirror. Yeri talks about everything nervously avoiding looking at Hyunjin but you swear you can see him awkwardly fidgeting in his seat.

When the car stops in front of Yeri's house, you feel your whole body freeze.

“I'm going to take y/n home, I forgot I had to run an errand for dad”, Chan says, making instant panic grow in your body.

“There's no need, I can walk”, you tell him, opening the door of the car.

“Girl? You told me you were not feeling well, he's going that way anyways”, Yeri says, frowning. She's probably confused as to why you don't want to accept the ride. What if she starts suspecting you? What if she starts making questions you don't know how to answer? Chan stares at you with a raised brown, waiting for you to come up with another excuse but you are afraid your best friend is going to realize you're trying to avoid her brother. So you just nod, going into the car again, this time in the passenger seat in the front.

The car goes on quietly throughout the ride, you are fidgeting with your fingers, looking anxiously outside the window, praying that you get home soon. When Chan parks in front of your house, your first instinct is to open the door so you can run out of that situation, but that's when you realize the car is locked.

“Hm, can you let me go?” You murmur, not taking your eyes out of the window.

“Not until you look at me”, he tells you, voice more hoarse than you remember but you do it, you look at him just so he can let you go.

“Happy?” You ask, cheeks burning while you stare at him but the look in his face is the opposite of happiness, he seems hurt.

“Do you hate my feelings for you so much?” He asks, scowling. “If you can't stand the thought of me just say it, don't run away”

You sigh, he looks desperate, like he's going to break apart if you don't hold him right now.

“Chan- I-”, you have no words to tell him. “I made a promise to your sister, that I'd never fall for you”, you tell him, hoping he can understand you.

“What about me? You don't care a bit about me?”

“I do”, you sigh, “but what should I do? You want me to choose between you or Yeri? You know she's my best friend”

“I guess I'm nothing to you, then”, he unlocks the car, bending over you to open the door. “I'm sorry I made you stay”, he murmurs.

“You know that's not what I meant”, you try but he shakes his head.

“It's fine, I came on too strong. I guess I'm just tired of this unrequited love”, he sighs, smiling gently at you but you can see the sadness in his eyes.

Chan has been in love with you since he was 17, when he found you unconscious in the bathroom his heart stopped for a few seconds before he could move and try to wake you. He shook you awake, worriedly, smelling the scent of whisky coming from you, he couldn't believe you had drunk and was blacked out in his bathroom.

When you groaned, fluttering your eyes open he couldn't let you see his face so he just pulled his phone out of his pocket, taking pictures of your face while he chuckled to your rumbles, arguing with him.

Chan didn't accept that he liked you at first. He made you do his tasks for him, go to the store with him and have you cheer for him on his school games, he thought he could prove to himself that he didn't like you like that, but spending so much time with you only made him realize that it was not something small, he liked you for real.

You never looked at him twice but he was okay with that because you were never interested in anyone romantically, so Chan was able to keep his feelings to himself, hoping that one day you would look at him. When he went to college, he thought he would get over you but no one got him slightly interested, all he could think about was the day he would get to see you again when he went back home.

He didn't expect to find you in a relationship when he got back for his first break out of college, well, you never made it official but you were glued to that guy like you’d die if you stayed away from him for a second and it hurt Chan so much to watch you being in love with someone else.

It didn't last long, the guy turned out to be a huge asshole who was two-timing, that's why he never asked you to be his girlfriend. Chan spent so many nights awake in his bed, listening to your cries in Yeri's room, devastated because your first love didn't work out.

Well, Chan was also sad that his first love didn't feel the same about him either so he could understand your pain. When it was time for you to go to college on the other side of the country he hoped once more that he could forget you. Chan wished you'd find someone worth it in college and that the same happened to him so he could let go of his feelings for you.

However, he should have known that his feelings are much deeper than that. When you showed up in the pool that afternoon he honestly thought he was going to throw up. He hadn't seen you in a year and of course he didn't forget how beautiful you are, but there was something different about you and he couldn't quite understand what.

Chan caught you eyeing him up and even though that could mean nothing, he wished that for the first time you were seeing him like he wanted you to. So he started to make moves, nothing obvious, but most certainly provocative. He wanted you to feel charmed by him, he wanted you to pay attention to him.

All his hopes were shattered after you avoided him for an entire week. He really thought that you'd come around soon, that you'd give him a chance. He should have known that you'd never choose him over Yeri and he should be happy about that, right? You're loyal to his sister. But he really wanted you to be his, this time he really hoped you'd be his.

He tries not to bump into you when you're in his house and avoids doing anything with Yeri when she mentions you're coming too. Just like that two weeks go by without him seeing your face, it hurts like hell but he knows it's for the best. You made your decision and he should respect that, he should move on.

So when Hyunjin — who's aware of Chan's struggles with his feelings for you — suggests to set Chan up with a friend of his, the older man is hesitant but accepts in the end, it's not going to be good for him to just stay at home, moping sadly about you not returning his feelings.

She's pretty, he's not going to pretend she's not, but he can't help but to think she's not as pretty as you. She's nice and kind, he thinks that he could easily fall in love with her if you didn't already owe his heart.

He tries with all his might to not think about you, he tries to focus on her. How her hair falls down on her shoulder and how she laughs softly. But you stay there, in the back of his mind, reminding him that he's not going to forget you that easily.

“Why are you here alone?” You hear Yeri's voice in the corridor, making you walk out of her room to see with who she's talking to. Hyunjin is laying down on Chan's bed, scrolling on his phone.

“Waiting for your brother to get back”, he shrugs, not even looking at Yeri.

“Where did he go?” She asks, crossing her arms in front of her chest, trying to look confident, even though her cheeks are pink. She hates when Hyunjin acts so indifferent, it makes her nervous.

“He went on a date”, Hyunjin says and your eyes immediately go out of your best friend's face to him. Your heart starts beating so fast in your chest that you can hear it in your ears.

What does he mean “a date”? Chan told you he liked you so why would he go on a date?

“I didn't know he was seeing someone”, you thank Yeri for asking something and Hyunjin looks at you, not her.

“Well, the girl he likes is being an idiot so he just decided to move on”, he smirks, making your cheeks burn. So he knows about you and Chan? Not that there ever existed something between the two of you but he definitely knows that Chan likes you.

“I didn't even know he had his eyes on someone”, Yeri says, confused.

“Your brother is full of secrets, it seems”, Hyunjin sits on the bed, stretching out. “I'll go now, he just texted me saying he was not coming home for another two or three hours”, the man says, standing up and walking past you and Yeri, seizing the opportunity to bump into you.

You're confused too, just like Yeri. How could her brother say those things to you, tell you he likes you just for him to move on so easily? Of course you didn't want him to keep trying anything with you so why does your chest hurt so much right now? Why do you feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest?

“Y/n!” You hear Yeri's voice, a pitch higher than usual, which means it's not the first time she's trying to get your attention. “Are you listening?”

“Yes, of course”, you nod, paying attention to what she says next.

“I can't believe Chan liked someone this whole time, why did he not tell me?” She wonders and you nod, “maybe it was you, that's why he didn't tell me”, she laughs out loud, making you stare at her for a second. “I'm kidding babes, why does it look like you have seen a ghost?” She jokes, spinning on her heels and walking back to her room, whining about how much she's gonna pester her brother for not telling her about his crush.

You couldn't sleep, every time you closed your eyes Chan showed up with that damn smirk of his. You hate him, you really do, how could he do this to you? Cause all this turmoil of emotions inside you and then just replace you with the first pretty girl that showed up?

It's well past midnight and the man is not home yet, you know that just because you have been walking left and right — for the last hour and a half, in his living room. You were already going to stay over but you didn't plan to meet Chan and much less planned on confronting him about this little game he's playing.

So when the front door is opened and a visibly tired Chan enters the house, you cross your arms in front of your chest, trying to look intimidating but you're sure you look anything but that. He stops on his tracks when he sees you, blinking a few times before closing the door behind him.

“You're here”, he says, avoiding your eyes.

“How was your date?” You ask, raising your brows in annoyance.

“Hmm... how do you know about that?” He looks at you, frowning.

“Does it matter?” You scoff, feeling your cheeks burning. You know you have no right to be doing this but at the same time you can't help it, your chest is aching too much. “I just think it's funny how you confessed to me a few weeks ago and now you're going around dating whomever”

“I don't understand”, he scowls, walking to where you are. “You rejected me, so why does it bother you that I may be going on dates?”

“It doesn't”, you shrug, feeling caught in your own trap. “I just find it crazy ‘cause the way you confessed made it look like you were in love with me or shit but I guess I got it wrong”

“Well, I am in love with you”, he informs, “I have been for years, y/n. But you don't want me and I'm tired of waiting for you to look at me, okay? I'm trying to move on so I can be happy with someone who likes me”

You gulp, holding back on the strange urge to tell him that you like him in that way, that you want to be happy with him.

“I guess you're right”, you step back. You know you're wrong and you don't want to lose Yeri's friendship but at the same time it hurts so much to let go of him, of this feeling that you don't even know when it started.

“I'm glad we are on the same page”, he murmurs, moving past you to go up the stairs but you can't let him, you can't give up on this. It's the first time that you ever felt this way about someone, that you really are about to risk ruining your friendship, but you can't let him go, not this time and possibly not in the future.

So you grab his wrist, making him stop on his tracks. Chan turns around slowly, brows knit together in confusion.

“What if I asked you to not move on?” You feel your cheeks burn, not looking into his eyes at first but when he says nothing you're forced to lock eyes with him. “What if I asked you to keep liking me?”

You don't think you have ever seen someone's face glow up so fast, Chan went from confused and sad to surprised and shining in the split of a second. He steps closer to you, bringing his hands to cup your face.

“I'd tell you that you're the only one I want”, he leans in so close, you can feel his breath hitting in your skin. “I'd ask you to please give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me”

He waits a few seconds, giving you time to regret and run away but you don't, you close your eyes, waiting for him to kiss you and that's exactly what he does, soft lips touching yours gently, like you're going to break if he does anything hasty. Your hands go to the hem of his shirt, grabbing on the fabric to try and have some balance because your legs are about to give out.

You want to moan, honestly. He's so hot it's crazy, the way he's leaning over you, his body is not even touching yours but you can feel the warmth coming from his body, you can only imagine how good it must feel to be pressed against him.

You part the kiss to try and breath, but your face is so red with the impure thoughts you're having that you immediately take a few steps away from him, like you're going to jump his bones if you stay too close.

Chan groans, making you peek at him, even though you're still embarrassed about your crazy reaction to a simple kiss.

“Can you stop running away every time I kiss you?” He asks.

“I can assure you this time I'm not running away, I'm only trying to protect you from the pervert in me you just woke up”, you hiccup, why do you always say too much when you're nervous?

As expected of the tease Chan is, he raises a brow, stepping close to you.

“I'd like to get to know the pervert version of you, if you let me”, he grabs your hips, pulling you closer to him and pressing you against his body. You could die right now, you'd die happy. You can feel his muscular chest pressed on yours and he sneaks his hands lower until he reaches your ass, making you stay so close to him that you are sure you can feel something hard pressing against your stomach.

“Should I let you?” You try teasing him, feeling like an idiot for even trying but to your surprise it works, Chan grunts, kissing you again, this time more desperately like he would die if didn't feel your lips on his now.

Your kiss is interrupted by the sounds of a door closing upstairs, making you two pull away from each other, breathless. His face is red and his lips are puffy and you're no better than that.

You start fixing your hair and trying to look the most normal possible as you run to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When you come back, Yeri is coming down the stairs, grinning at Chan.

“I guess your date went well”, she teases, making him blush.

“I liked better what came after the date, actually”, he grins, eye siding you, making you choke on the water you're drinking to try and hide the mess on your face.

“Gross", Yeri says, disgusted. When she looks around, her eyes find you. "Oh, y/n, I came looking for you. You were not on the bedroom when I woke up”

“Yeah, I came down to get some water”, you lie.

“Are you okay? Your face is all red, do you have a fever?” She asks, worriedly, walking closer to you to put her hand on your forehead to compare your temperature with hers. “Hm, I don't think you have a fever”

“I'm sure it's just the hot weather”, you explain, “let's go back to sleep”

You push Yeri back to the stairs, going up with her and when you look behind to get one last look from Chan, he's smiling like an idiot, mouthing something like “I'll text you”, making you blush and shake your head, going up back to Yeri's room.

#stray kids #stray kids bangchan #skz bangchan #bangchan imagines #bangchan #skz x y/n #skz x you #skz x reader #bangchan x reader #bangchan x you #stray kids scenarios #skz imagines #stray kids imagines #skz scenarios #skz fluff #skz angst #skz #skz imagine #stray kids imagine #stray kids x y/n #stray kids x you #stray kids x reader

[theophagie-remade]

Extremely cringy that Symptoms get worse when they go ignored

#(--_--) #mytext #like. i'm not comfortable with playing guessing games but i've long made peace with the fact that clearly there's Something going on #now if only that Something would in turn make peace with the fact that we cannot afford therapy that'd be great -~- #it's so annoying... this summer was hell because for the whole time i lived with a perpetual sensation of *things* crawling on my skin #which i'm sure was the result of a bad mix of my entomophobia + having lots of skin exposed + generally worsening mental health #in fact ever since it got colder and i began wearing more covering stuff it has passed but every so often now i get this. terrible sensatio #my chest feels tight. my head gets super on edge as if there were something dangerous or to be scared of. my arms and hands start trembling #and my legs get super weak and it's hard to remain upright or walk or anything. it doesn't last long but it's very intense and i hate it #and then the whole. feeling like i'm not breathing thing is still coming and going. some days it's bad some days not so much #-_- and it suuucks. i do realise that it all points to some anxiety thing obviously but the thing is. idk. #again i personally don't feel comfortable with just naming things myself and what makes me even more reluctant is that these are mostly #recent developments. just things that have and are piling up on top of other things. so. idk. #what messes me up the most i think is the awareness that things that are routine for me aren't ''normal'' for most people #and i just wish it was like that for me too. idk. sometimes i get really... not jealous but bitter? about the fact that i ended up #having to deal with myself. and i hate how certain things are just part of my daily life despite how unhealthy they are #i think that getting used to the suicidal thoughts was the worst. i've never gotten close to trying anything and i don't Want want to #but they're so draining. i don't remember what it's like to go a day without my mind just going there on its own #and i hate the days when i just don't feel anything or nothing Good and all i can do is try to distract myself with any random thing #wack. i think that something i really struggle with... is that i don't know what to blame. on a rational level I Know that there is not #one ultimate answer but at the same time. idk. is my head just like that. is it some mental illness. is it the result of past experiences #and Things. is it my current situation #everything together most likely because people are Complex and there are no easy answers yeah yeah. but still. mmmh #i want a refund. tmi-ing over

[tanoraqui]

the thing is... JK Rowling did write the books. She certainly did write the books, which was the pivotal first step.

However, here is an incomplete list of people who meant more to my experience of reading and enjoying the Harry Potter books than JKR ever did:

My grandmother, who read them because she loved to read and because she wanted to understand what the hell her granddaughter - whom she'd recently moved 3,000 in part to live near - spent 90% of her time talking about; who passed away this past fall.

My other grandmother, who read them for more or less the same reason except without the cross-country move; who passed away in 2014. It was in her honor that I bought the current set of books I own.

The uncle-shaped family friend who always listened to me expound on my latest theories for the next book, and told me his own like an equal in intellectual debate

That one writer on Mugglenet's fanfiction archive who wrote a crack soap opera fic in which Professor McGonagall got pregnant from Crookshanks, and the children were cat-human hybrids whom they called "kiddens." That haunts me to this day.

Honestly, collectively every single person who wrote content, be it recordkeeping, fic, or analysis, for MuggleNet circa 2005-2008. Some people spent their internet-childhoods on Neopets or Club Penguin; I read every single page on MuggleNet.com.

The summer camp counselor who'd read HBP when I hadn't yet, and who responded to my positively tsundere attitude toward spoilers by telling me straight-faced that Harry started dating Luna [not Ginny]. A) The fucking audacity! she lied right to my annoying 10yo face! B) I got to experience the giddiness of finding out what happened twice, once then and again later when I read the book! Thank you, Natalie(?) from Y-Camp!

The two friends with whom I went to the DH midnight release party at my local secondhand bookstore, in closet cosplay. We were all in the first 5 people to get our books, and we promptly started reading them while standing outside the bookstore, in the light coming through the front window. 1 of them was parentally required to go to bed but the other and I stayed up all night reading, until we finished the books sometime mid-morning.

My dad, specifically when he (still) tells the story of having to make a "walk of shame" (his words) back to the bookstore the next afternoon, to ask if they had the broom we'd accidentally left behind.

The tourists from America, England, France and China who were all waiting in line at the Platform 9 3/4 overpriced photo op in King's Cross Station the same time I was, in the summer of 2013, which unironically made me feel more spiritually connected with humanity as a whole than possibly any other experience in my life. Like, this is embarrassing. It's a pure tourist trap. Yet people from LITERALLY all around the world had all made the same journey I had to be there, just because we all loved the same books. and that's...really special.

...you know? So, JKR is doing real harm to the trans community now, and will continue to do more and maybe even worse in the future; and I am so, so sympathetic and angry about that. I have no intention of giving her money or any other support ever again, nor of encouraging anyone else to do so.

But all her present vitriol is only drops in the lake of my warm memories. I don't let them give me a falsely rosy view of her, but nor will I let her poison them. And I encourage others to let themselves find the same balance, if they can.

#hp #i am...not going to tag this beyond that #it'll travel in the right circles if it's meant to #this is me

[captaincapsicle83]

At First Sight ○○ Bucky Barnes x reader

Pairings: Natasha x reader (platonic), Wanda x reader (platonic), Clinton x reader (platonic), Bucky x reader

Plot: Your roommates set you up on a date with their coworker, and you two hit it off right away. (Most of this story is silly little platonic fun, but I like it anyway).

(The little gif of him drinking water is funnier after you read the story)

“He has a cat.”

“Well, whoop-di-do,” You huff monotonously. Wanda scrunches up her nose at you, before sighing and shaking her head.

“I think you should go,” She says. You risk rolling your eyes, even though she could very well kill you, then and there.

“‘I think you should go’” You say, making your voice go higher, in a mocking tone. “If he’s so great, you go. I have a ton of work to do.”

Just last year, you landed a teaching position. It had been in May, and you were given hardly any time at all to prep. School started again in a week, and even though you’d been preparing loosely all summer, this week you were locked in.

So why the hell did Wanda need you to go on a stupid date?

“If you don’t go, there’s a good chance you’ll die alone,” She crosses her arms, eyebrows raised.

“You’re here, and so is Natasha,” You point out, finally putting your laptop to the side, and uncrossing your legs, stretching them out.

“What about when we go get married and have lives, and have jobs, and you just…die of boredom,” What was this a Sims game? Was she gonna lock you in a room with a radio next? Put the walls up around a pool?

“Clint’ll be here. Poor little shit’s never getting married. No one wants the little scrapper,” You pull your coffee mug to your lips. You must’ve left it idle longer than intended, because instead of warm, silky, and smooth, it was starkly cold, and felt thin beyond your lips.

“You want him?” Her eyes were annoyed, but her face was bemused.

“He’s low maintenance,” You shrug.

“Who?” Someone says, coming through the front door with an armload of groceries, and a red-haired friend behind them. While Clint had about ten plastic bags of things, Natasha sipped an iced coffee from a straw, looking awfully unbothered.

“Why does she still look homeless Wanda?” Nat questioned. “You said you were gonna drag her kicking and screaming.”

“We were getting there.”

Four people in one New York apartment, in upper Manhatten. It was expensive as high hell, but you all made it work.

So why am I gonna put my job on hold for something stupid as this-

You’re sitting on Wanda’s bed, Natasha’s fingers in your hair, Wanda in her closet, and Clint tasked with the job of “make-up artist”.

“I have my hobbies.”

You’re just about at the end of your rope with them, Wanda picking something out and Clint huffing and puffing that it doesn’t go with the look he’s going for, Natasha yelling at both of them like children. Finally, the timer that means, “We better be ready now or we’re gonna be late” sounds off. Wanda’s best idea today, the worst being, obviously…

Natasha and Wanda have tickets for an art gallery opening, so they’re both driving you, Clint tagging along for “moral support.” Groans were elicited.

Natasha was giving you a run down the whole way there.

“He’s a little quiet at first,” She says.

“Good thing you’re not,” Clint whispers to you.

“I don’t know if he’ll get there first, or not, but he’s got dark hair and will probably be wearing dark clothes, he does around the office all the time.”

“Emo bo-” Clint cuts himself off from his whisper, snapping to Natasha. “He works with us.”

“Yes.”

Silence…

“Well, who is it?” Clint asks, rather boisterously.

“…No.”

“No?” Clint, clearly offended, turns to you. “What’s his name?”

Your mouth opens, before shutting again, realizing no one had told you. You lean forward in the backseat.

“Who is it, Nat?”

“You’ll see.”

“No-” “Nuh-uh!” You and Clint both protest.

“I’ve been to your guys’ office I wanna know,” you say.

“Better pray it’s Steve,” Clint says.

“Oh, Natasha it better be Steve.”

Natasha turns around in the passenger seat, to face you and Clint in the back.

“Steve is engaged,” She starts.

“Yeah, so?” Clint says, and the car is quiet for a moment. When you make eye contact with Clint’s green eyes, the silence is cut by both of your laughter.

Unfortunately, this put a dent in the interrogation, and now you were outside of the diner. Your friends had told you good luck and left you here. You did notice Natasha whisper something to Clint as you got out, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. She covered his mouth and basically strangled him down when he tried to tell you.

Since they were gone…no one could force you to go in…

You couldn’t do that. Morally, you would feel horrible to just leave whoever this is sitting alone, waiting for you.

And the girls might evict you.

You walked through the doors of the diner. The diner was a cute little place, albeit a strange theme. It was based on Norse Mythology, called “Odin’s Sons.”

You were greeted by a blonde man, who was the hostess. You told him you were here to meet a date and he broke out into a smile. He said a man had arrived just a little while ago, here to wait for a date.

He led you to a table, where you were greeted by-

before

“I think you’ll like it,” Sam was saying. He was helping his friend, coworker, and roommate, get ready for a date Sam had set up for him.

“Who is she again?” Bucky asked, his voice strained.

“You don’t know her, but she’s Nat and Clint’s friend. She’s in some of the pictures on Clint’s stupid little desk of picture frames,” Bucky rolled his eyes at the mention of the pictures. Clint took many unauthorized pictures of Bucky himself (among others) and they ended up in frames. Clint claimed that, being an art major, and having taken many photography classes, he had the ultimate right.

As Sam described what you looked like, Bucky felt like he did sorta know who he was talking about. You came into the office sometimes, to bring whiny Clint and grateful Natasha food and coffee.

And you were probably the same girl Clint tortured and made fun of him for having a “crush” on.

Bucky arrived at the restaurant about half an hour before he was due. He wanted to be early and to have time to shake away all the nerves.

Well, maybe all was a bit much to ask. There were definitely a lot of nerves to cover.

He was greeted by Thor, the host who gave him a seat. A teenage boy with light brown hair and a bubbly personality brought him a glass of water and some bread. And another glass of water. And another. And a refill of bread.

“Thanks, Peter,” Bucky said again. No matter how many times the boy had to come back, he didn’t seem to stop smiling or being glad to get Bucky yet another glass of water.

As Thor came around the corner again, just as Peter was leaving, he was accompanied by the very girl Bucky had guessed it would be.

You were laughing, he could see, something Thor had said. Time felt like it was slowed as you met his eyes with yours. They seemed to sparkle with your joy, and his heart fluttered at the sight.

He hadn’t seen you so elegant before, but to him, you looked just as beautiful with or without. The makeup that defined your features seemed to have been applied with a steady hand. The dress you wore seemed to almost go with the makeup, and he wondered if it was planned or if you were just…perfect.

He had barely any time at all to gather his thoughts and put his ducks in a row before you sat across from him, smiling warmly. He smiled back, unable to say or do anything but sip his water.

“Hi,” You said. Your heart was pounding, and your heads were sweaty with nervousness. He set down his water glass that he had been holding since you came around the corner with Thor. He was barely finished saying hi back when the young waiter came to take your order.

He ordered first, and you quickly scanned the menu and picked something. The boy smiled warmly as he collected the menus from you, with the promise your food would be out soon.

“So,” The dark-haired man cleared his throat. You were entranced by the blue of his eyes as he said, “You…your name’s Y/n, right?”

“Hmm? Oh!” You realized you were basically questioning your own name, only a second too late. “Yeah, yeah, uh…Nat…asha, didn’t really tell me…your name.”

You decided on the long version of Nat’s name, taking a pause beforehand. You were grateful when the waiter, Peter, popped up out of nowhere with a drink you ordered, and more water for your date.

“It’s Bucky…Well, I mean, it’s James, but everyone calls me Bucky,” “Bucky” gave you a lopsided smile, which you returned.

Peter wasn’t lying when he said your food would be out right away. It seemed like you had barely taken the time to talk before your plates were in front of you.

“So you have…?”

“Three roommates,” you said, laughing a little.

“Oh god, and one of them’s Clint?” His face was twisted in genuine concern, which made you laugh a little harder. Bucky was hot and Bucky was funny and you could hardly take it.

“What about you?”

“It’s just me and Sam right now…and we have a cat,” He adds the last part after taking a sip of his drink.

“You don’t look like a cat person,” You shake your head, taking a bite of your food.

“If I wear clothes that haven’t immediately come out of the dryer, I look like a cat,” He says, and then seems to pull a white cat hair off of his black shirt.

“You need lighter clothes.”

“Not really my style.”

“You’re eternally a goth kid?”

He lets out a loud laugh at that, making you smile even harder.

~~~

“She was hot, and she was funny,” Bucky was saying to Sam. Sam was lying stretched out on the couch, Alpine laying pristinely on his chest, all her legs tucked under her fluffy body.

“That’s nice Bucky,” Sam says, only half paying attention. He coos at the cat, scratching her chin, “Isn’t that nice baby?”

“Okay, you’re not listening.”

“What makes you think that?”

~~~

You were laying on your couch, your feet in Clint’s lap as he prodded you with questions. Natasha shushed him, smacking him upside the head, as she handed you a drink. And by drink, that refers to an entire bottle of wine.

You were fiddling with the cork as you droned on about the date. About what Bucky looked like, and about what you talked about. More about what he looked like…

You let yourself trail off as Natasha and Clint shared a knowing look, and Wanda was smiling to herself as she played on her phone.

“What?” you ask, eyes full of innocence.

“Noth-” Wanda starts, but Clint cuts her off.

“You’re whipped,” he laughs.

You smile to yourself, shaking your head.

Maybe you were.

#bucky barnes #marvel #bucky barnes x reader #sam wilson #avengers x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #clint barton #marvel mcu #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff

[aloneinthehellfire]

Eight Months

Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Masterlist

Summary: Y/n went missing at the end of spring. A note was left explaining that after her father, Bob Newby, died, she just couldn’t bear to stay in Hawkins. The others were shocked but after gaining no leads on where she could be, they had to accept that she was gone. But when summer rolls in and Hawkins starts getting scary, Steve and Dustin find themselves venturing into a Russian base and uncover more secrets than they bargained for.

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: swearing, [flashbacks], kidnapping, witnessing murder, mentions of death, mentions of torture, mentions of bruises/blood, fluff and kind of angst?

[A/N: Another random thought at like 2am bc I have insomnia so enjoy. I also really enjoy writing season three fanfics.]

Eight Months [Masterlist]

Eight Months: A Surprise Reunion

[Part One]

The letter you had left in Mike Wheeler’s basement explained it all. They wouldn’t find it until after their festivities.

Your father, Bob Newby, had risked his life to save others. In your mind, and others, he was a hero.

When your mother left you both to fend for yourselves, Bob didn’t shy away from his fatherly duties. In fact, he rose to the occasion. Money was tight but he still made sure you grew up the best you could without a mother. And you soon came to realise you didn’t need one. Because he was all you needed.

When you were 17, your father had fallen in love. Joyce Byers captured his heart and you understood why; she was perfect for him. She welcomed you into her family, as did her sons, and despite the drastic change, you grew to love them all.

But, one fateful evening changed all of that. It had been innocent at first, your best friend Steve Harrington asking you to aid him in winning Nancy Wheeler back. Your heart broke at the request from years and years of hiding your feelings for him, but Nancy made him happy. And you wanted him to be happy.

Once Dustin had found you both and asked for your help, things only got worse. You were dragged into the world beneath Hawkins, learning things that should only be seen in your nightmares.

It led to your father losing his life after saving his family.

Joyce did her best, taking care of you like you were her own. But the thought of living in a town without your father was too much pain to bear. And the decision was made.

You were to move away from Hawkins and leave your goodbyes in a heartfelt letter addressed to the people you loved.

***

“Hey, assholes! Let us out!” Robin yelled, continuously thumping on the door as Steve paced the room wondering how the hell they were going to get out of here.

It all started with a secret Russian message. Translation, Dustin had said at the time. Steve should have listened to his instinct when it told him ‘translation’ would be more than he agreed to.

Now, he and his co worker Robin were trapped in a Russian base with no hope of escaping and the fear of torture on their minds.

Well, he was afraid at least. Robin, on the other hand, gave up on fear half an hour into the wait and was now trying every annoying tactic to get it over and done with.

“Cowards!” She called out when she had no response again, slumping against the wall beside her.

“Do you have to do that?” Steve asked, hands on hips, “You’re basically inviting them to torture us.”

“They don't have to take so long.” Robin said, quieter than she should have and Steve realised that the wait itself was torture for her.

“We’ll find a way out.” Steve said, nodding with such determination, Robin almost believed him.

But she knew better than to hope for miracles.

She pushed away from the wall, crossing the room and heading straight to the metal shelves at the back.

“What are you doing?” Steve followed her, frowning.

“This whole time we’ve been waiting, we could have actually seen if there was another door in this place.”

Steve stopped, pursing his lips. Robin noticed his sudden lack of movement, turning to meet her co worker’s face showing all kinds of disbelief.

“I’m not an expert on secret Russian bases but I know enough to assume that they wouldn’t lock prisoners in a room with an exit.” He stressed, pointing back the way they had walked.

Robin sighed, moving her head slightly to the right before her eyes caught something and she felt a smirk playing on her lips.

“Hm, yeah. You’re probably right.” She shrugged, looking directly to her right. “Oh, and what, pray tell, is that?”

She held her hand out and Steve craned his neck around the corner to see… another door. His breath hitched.

“Pure luck.” He grumbled as Robin let out a happy laugh, practically bouncing over to the door.

“So, dingus, it seems you know absolutely nothing about secret Russian-”

Robin’s victory was cut short when she swung open the door.

Steve frowned at her, shaking his head. “What?”

“Uh…” She stumbled over words, staring into the dark room with wide eyes.

“Let me guess, it’s a dead end?” Steve threw his hands up in exasperation, already stalking away from her. “See, I knew it. The Russians can’t be that stupid if they had a whole ass fancy elevator system and liquid that melts metal-”

“Steve.” Robin tried, her voice quiet.

“-and the fact that we needed to use vents to get in here instead of an actual door just proves-”

“Steve!” She yelled this time, raising her hand to a surrender.

“What?!” Steve turned, running a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“You should probably come see this.”

Robin said just as soon as he turned the corner again, a frown appearing on his face when he watched her disappear into the other room, enveloped by the shadows.

“Robin?” He called out in a whisper, poking his head around the door.

He squinted into the darkness before making out a shape further in, realising that Robin was crouched down on the floor. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, his heart raced.

She wasn’t alone.

Robin was knelt next to someone else, their body sat on the floor in the corner with their back against the wall, looking extremely scared of the girl in front of them.

“Hey.” Robin said soothingly, both hands held out, “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Steve took a few timid steps into the room, getting closer. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make out features on their face, eyes immediately drawn to the pair of red sneakers. He knew someone with red sneakers.

“Who are you?”

And he most definitely knew that voice.

Steve froze, all kinds of emotions bubbling inside as he reached Robin, looking over her shoulder and confirming his suspicions with a racing heart.

“Y/n?”

You whip your head up, meeting his eyes. As soon as recognition dawned on you, you sprung to your feet, shaking your head.

“Steve?” You cry and suddenly he’s pulling you into his arms, catching you in a tight hug. “What- what the hell are you doing here?”

“Me?” Steve let out a breathy laugh, releasing you and stepping back, “What about-”

All his words faded when he finally saw you within breathing distance, his breath caught in his throat.

The first thing he noticed was the healing scar; etched into your eyebrow and reaching half way up your forehead, burning red in the harsh light. Then, the various cuts on your cheek, your lip. The way your hair was tangled, some stray hairs clinging to your face. Bruises scattered across your jaw in a variety of colour, all presenting themselves as different ages. Finally, your teary eyes, the look of fear lingering as you stare back at him.

He stepped forward, cupping your cheek in his palm. The way you flinched slightly before softening under his touch didn’t go unnoticed to him.

“Y/n.” Steve’s head slowly shook side to side, eyes never leaving yours. “What happened?”

Driving away was meant to be the easy part. But that came to an untimely stop when your car broke down just outside the new building for the Starcourt Mall.

Hawkins had been working on building the mall for months, making sure it was ready to open for the summer. It was almost done but still not open to the public yet. You figured they wanted it to be perfect. It should be, considering the amount of money spent.

Stepping out of your car with a groan, you assess the damage. You hiss as smoke pours from your engine, fanning away the dirty air.

“Shit.” You mutter, glancing around you for some kind of miracle.

The drilling and digging noises from the construction site up ahead was clouding your senses to the point that if it hadn’t been for pure luck, you would have missed the figure turning a corner behind the white wall up ahead. You call out after them for help, only to be drowned out by the sounds around you. With a sigh, you slammed your hood shut and started to follow them.

The luck wasn’t as pure as you thought it would be.

Turning the corner, your eyes focus in on the man up ahead, a green uniform clinging to his body as he raised his arm. You frown, moving closer before you notice another figure on the floor, pleading.

Your heart almost stopped when you saw the gun pointing down at him.

The shot ripped through the air, the construction site proving a good distraction as you watched the pleading figure drop limply to the floor.

You couldn’t help the scream that escaped your lips.

The uniformed man caught your gaze and before you knew it, you were ambushed. Officers all around you spoke in a foreign language, raising their guns to you and you had no choice but to surrender, dropping to your knees before they dragged you away from the site and into a loading bay building.

The next few days were a blur, constant interrogation from a man you assumed was in charge.

“Who do you work for?”

That was all you were asked, the truth only earning punishments in the form of torture from men much bigger and much stronger than you. You didn’t know when they finally started believing you but soon, you were relieved from the pain and thrown into a room, only occasionally brought out when they needed information from you; the long nights of torture only led to you discussing the Upside Down, something they were very intrigued to know.

You didn’t understand why until it was too late.

They couldn’t let you go, not with the risk of you telling everyone what you had witnessed. In fact, they offered you a job so you didn’t prove as much as a burden. They weren’t too pleased when you spat the offer back in their faces, refusing to work for men trying to open another gate.

So, other than the occasional painful chit-chat about what lurks beneath Hawkins, you were confined to a dark room for what seemed like eternity.

Until one day, Steve showed up.

When you told him about what they did to you, Steve’s stomach dropped.

The day you left, he had seen you driving away in your car while he was in his own. Something in him wanted to follow you, to make sure you were okay. But, instead, he went home with the assumption that he'd just ask you about it the next day.

Finding the letter broke his heart, a pain bubbling inside when he realises he made a mistake.

And now, guilt. He could have saved you.

Regardless of when it happened, which he still struggled to figure out. After all, you can't have been down here too long, right?

“What the hell are you doing here?” You shook your head, searching Steve’s face with such intensity he was sure you were checking he wasn’t a figment of your imagination.

“It’s a long story.” Steve sighs, hands still holding your face.

“Um, hi.” The girl behind you spoke, giving a small wave, “I’m Robin.”

“Hi.” You reply with a small smile. “I’m-”

“Y/n.” She grinned, nodding, “Yeah. I know.”

Steve widened his eyes as a warning and Robin simply mocked zipping her lips shut. Let’s just say, Steve hadn’t been shy about telling his new found friend all about you. Just for her to continuously tell him that the reason he had such a problem with getting girls was because he never truly got over you.

“We cracked a secret Russian code and basically fell into this place.” Robin stated, “Like, literally. The elevator ride bruised me.”

“You came into the base?” You shake your head in confusion, “Why the hell would you-”

Your face drops into a smile and Steve’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Dustin?” You simply ask and Steve nods his head.

“As much as I love this reunion,” Robin interrupted, stepping forward, “we’re still stuck inside a scary building with no way out.”

“There is a way out.” You say quietly, stepping out of Steve’s gentle hold and hugging your torso. He frowns at your action, watching how you avoid his eyes.

“Really?” Robin’s face lit up, bounding over to you, “How?”

“You just need a keycard.” You say and her face falls. You notice, leaning back against the wall. “You guys did have a keycard when you broke in here, right?”

The silence was your answer and you sighed, rubbing your forehead.

“Okay,” You continue, starting to pace the room. “there’s always Plan B.”

“Plan B?” Steve raised his eyebrow and you shifted, taking a breath.

“Distraction.”

“Distraction?” Robin took her turn to query as Steve stood there, realisation already dawning on him.

“No, absolutely not.” He shakes his head profusely, stepping towards you.

“We can’t all leave.” You raise your chin slightly, showcasing your stubbornness. “The best I can do is get the both of you…”

As you look between them, you look taken-aback and Steve begins to internally panic. What were you thinking? Did you think something was going on between them?

“… what the hell are you wearing?”

“Oh.” Robin looked down, smirking, “We’re not actual sailors. We work at Scoops.”

“Scoops?” You raise an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the ice-cream place.” Robin nods, frowning when you still don’t understand “At the mall?”

You shake your head, “It opened?”

“Like, ages ago.” She laughed awkwardly, sharing a look with Steve. “Wait. How long have you been down here?”

“I don’t know.” You admit, shrugging. “You don’t really get much sunlight underground, you know?”

"When did you get back to Hawkins?" Steve questions, obviously oblivious to the situation.

"Get back?" You shake your head and he sighs, heart beating faster.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Steve frowns, and you whip your head up, twisting your face as you tried to recollect.

“Uh… it was…” You slowly start nodding, “The party thing? Or dance, I don’t know.”

Steve shrugged when Robin looked at him.

“Oh!” You suddenly say, remembering. “I was leaving a letter in the basement because I knew no one would be there. The kids were going to the Snow Ball at the middle school.”

“As in… winter-time?” Robin’s voice raises in pitch and you nod.

“Yeah?”

“Y/n…” Steve catches your eyes and your face falls as you see the concern spread across it. “That was eight months ago.”

“Eight-” You take a breath, shaking your head. “No, no. I- I can’t have been here for eight months. It’s not-”

Your hand flies to cover your mouth as you realise. Time really had slipped away.

“I’m so-” Steve runs to comfort you when a loud sound rings out from the front of the room, his eyes widening as Russian is yelled and echoed from the walls.

“What do they want?” Robin whispers, her hands shaking slightly.

“They said they want to speak to the boy.” You translate, slowly looking to Steve. Eight months is all it took for you to start understanding Russian.

“Stay here.” Steve says, ignoring your protests as he steps out into the open.

You and Robin try to run after him, watching in horror as he’s dragged away.

You knew all too well what room he was going to end up in.

to be continued...

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington one shot #steve #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things 3 #stranger things fanfic #the battle of starcourt #fanfic

[vctrvn-ls]

An Effort at Romance ☕️ | Kenny | ☕️

╔═*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═╗

warnings: language

wordcount: 1.3k

summary: a little short in which you tried to do a small romantic gesture that ended up flopping because of the weather

╚═*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═╝

It was a cold summer day in London.

About 15 degrees (celsius), but that's besides the point. The point was that you were standing at the bus stop, drenched and shivering.

There really was no point in standing under the bus shelter because you were already dripping wet, soaking, you swore you heard your socks squealching every time you moved your toes.

Anyway, why were you standing wet next to a bus stop and not dry inside an Uber?

Romance.

If you could call it that, more like failed romance, or an effort at it.

What you wanted to do was meet up with your boyfriend after work. His boxing gym was as he said "A ten minute walk down the street," which it wasn't. You ended up getting lost and as you picked up your phone it died right in your hands (tragic).

To make things worse it had started raining and now the only way to get home was by public transport.

Your mood was ruined. You felt angry, embarrassed and like a total loser, and you knew Kenny would laugh in your face for hours after finding out the whole story, he knew you hated the soppy lovebird things that would usually bring smiles to other couples when the gestures were done.

You were just a little…different (is what he guessed)

Fast forward two hours, it was 11:40pm and you were finally in the front yard of your house, walking down the little paved path that had streams of water running on it.

It was still raining, only now the wind was blowing like crazy. You saw that the lights in the living room as you struggled to open the door with slippery hands.

As the lock clicked you sighed and opened the door, stumbling in and closing it behind you.

You were so busy looking down at the puddle that you were creating under your feet, that you hadn't even noticed Kenny's presence.

You put your bag down and looked up "Oh my god!" You jolted, caught off guard by his appearance.

"Where the hell were you?" He walked over, pulling you into a rather aggressive hug. You furrowed your eyebrows, slowly putting your wet hands onto his back while listening to him talk behind you.

"I called you like a hundred times! I called your friends from work, even your boss!" He pulled away, revealing his worried expression, eyebrows knitted as he fixed his glasses like the adorable nerd he was.

"I-I-uuuhhh." You didn't know what to say. You were stunned by Kenny's reaction, you definitely weren't expecting him to worry out of all things.

"You're all wet now." You pointed to his grey sweater that now had and imprint of you.

"I don't care, where were you? I swear to god I almost lost my mind a-and the scary thing was that I didn't even know where to go to find you."

"Long story." You simply stated, giving him a crooked smile. Kenny rolled his eyes before hugging you again "Idiot." He mumbled.

You smiled to yourself, rubbing his back.

"You better tell me everything after you shower." He let you go.

"Yeah, yeah ok. You could…just join me." You grin suggestively, taking his hand.

"No." He said unenthusiastically.

"Wow that must've really fucked up your mind." You groaned, annoyed, before kicking off your shoes.

"I'm gonna make you something warm to drink before you get sick." He helped you take off your coat and blazer.

"Fine, fine. Throw these in the washing too."

He watched you slip out of your skirt and blouse right in front of him.

"Change your mind about the shower yet?" You smirked, seeing his eyes glued onto you.

"No." He took a sharp breathe in, fighting himself as he blinked and tore his eyes off of you, heading for the laundry.

"Hey Kenny I hope you don't mind me stealing your clothes," you say as you jog down the stairs and pull on his black Champion sweatshirt.

"No." You hear him call out from the kitchen as you hopped onto the couch "Wait which one?"

"Uuhhhh black crewneck." You respond, reaching for the remote.

"Yeah whatever." He walks in, and hands you a cup of tea.

"Ah," you take it "Thank you. How very British of you." You take a sip, noticing that he had changed too. "Did you load the laundry?" You ask.

"Yeah." He replies, not so confidently.

"Are you sure?"

He nods "So," he shuffles in his position, facing you "Tell me where you've been while I was here shitting bricks." He takes off his glasses and puts them down.

You chuckle "First of all that was very old-man of you."

"What?"

"Taking your glasses off like that, and second of all promise not to laugh and call me an idiot?"

"Uuhhh, yes?"

"Alright, so-"

Five minutes later the house rung with laughter as Kenny rolled around the couch holding onto his sides and howling.

You stared at him with an unamused expression painted on your face, remembering that he promised not to laugh.

Well at least he didn't call you an idiot.

"YOU IDIOT!" He yelped taking a breathe in.

Well there went the other promise.

"Oh fuck you." You crossed your eyebrows and turned to face the tv, folding your arms.

He wheezed beside you, holding on for dear life "I-I'm sorry," he covered his face "No it was really sweet of you." He moved over to you and engulfed you in a hug, tipping you over to the side.

"KEN!" You barked as you felt him falling backwards, with his arms still around you. You fell right onto him while he kept on laughing.

You were scared you had split his ribcage with your shoulder, but clearly he was fine.

"You idiot." He repeated, giving you a tight squeeze "But that was very sweet of you." He kissed your cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." You shook your head.

"What? You mad at me now?"

You didn't reply.

"Hm?" He gave you another smooch "Are you?" And another one "Babyyy," and one more.

You giggled as he sprinkled your face with kisses while you tried to wriggle out of his embrace.

"Ok, ok, ok," you panted "Stop, stop." He finally let you go and you sat up, fixing your damp hair and rolling your eyes as you noticed him staring at you.

"I love youuu," he sang.

You nodded "Uhuh."

"You have to say it back. The rules of this household." He stated making you chuckle.

"Oh well if it's the rules," you grin "I love you too."

He smiled, nodding in acceptance.

"So what do you wanna watch?" You turned to Kenny as the Netflix logo popped up on the screen.

“I don’t know. I’m kinda tired,” he shrugs.

“Tsk,” you tut, turning off the tv.

“Wha-I mean you can still watch something.”

“Nah but like,” you look up in a shy manner “I wanna spend time with you.”

Kenny genuinely smiles, tilting his head and feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside. Even if your efforts at a romantic gesture failed, he still felt wanted around you, despite you pretending to be all prickly.

“Cmere,” he spreads his arms out and you suppress a smile as you shuffle over to him, laying your back on his chest as he curls his arms around you from behind.

“How’d training go?” You look up.

He nods “Good.”

“Did you eat anything?”

He shook his head “You know I don’t eat after.”

You frown “So confusing, first you eat a lot then you don’t eat at all. You’re getting thinner by the day.”

He chuckled “You sound like mum.”

“Yeah cause she’s right!”

“Ok, ok. It’s complicated. There’s a period where I need to eat a lot and a period where I should be careful of what I’m eating. Doesn’t mean I don’t .”He says as a matter-of-fact-ly.

“Can’t wait for that to be over.”

“What? Whyyy? I look great.” He laughs.

“We can’t eat out, you’re always tired and sometimes your mood is so shit I’m scared to even talk to you.” You make a very valid point.

“Uuuhhh,” Kenny had no arguments against your statement.

“Exactly. Besides you know you always look good.”

He smiles, but sighs, laying his cheek on the top of your head.

“You gonna sleep right here?” You joke.

“Yeah maybe.” He grins.

“Oh, Ken.” You shake your head.

#beta squad #king kenny #youtube #niko omilana #aj shabeel #chunkz #sharky

[wowthatsextra]

Tsitp fandom annoys me sm... like I love Conrad but wtf are these jeremiah hate takes?

"He only fell for Belly when she turned pretty" 1. So did Conrad, didn’t he tell Cleveland the exact same thing? 😭 and 2. It's literally in the title, it was the summer that changed everything and 3. There's nothing wrong with that? They're, like, 17.

"Jere pursued Belly knowing Conrad is in love with her/tried to sabotage Belly and Conrad" Show me when he did that outside of the fireworks stunt (which was shitty, he put their lives in danger and lied about it, i won't defend that). He literally STAYED out of Belly and Conrad's way. "He's gonna break your heart/did you not see that coming because I sure did" Let the kid be angry at his brother for a betrayal 😭 And as much as I understand Conrad (I shut down and self-sabotage) he did break Belly's heart, didn’t he 😭

Whereas Conrad kept grilling and guilted him into an "approval" after Jere clearly didn’t want to ("i can't believe you came here asking me of this") and then twisted his words to Belly ("Jere's been on a high, he's been going on dates" and the audacity of "he's over it, but i can't get over you" when Jere was almost in tears the whole conversation). Like, Conrad was all like "She's scared of hurting you, Jere" with no "so am I" 💀 My man did not give a single fuck, he just wanted Belly, which makes sense for his 18yo brain, but stop accusing Jere of something he didn’t do 😭

"Jeremiah guilted Belly about his mother's cancer" He did say that "great timing, it's not like my mom has cancer or anything." so this isn’t unfounded. But he just found out Belly kind of cheated on him with his brother right after he found out his mom has cancer and his brother kept it from him 😭 let my guy have a one-line outburst, it's not like he manipulated Belly into anything. Plus, I'm sure Belly understood that considering she went ahead and told Conrad to go to hell DURING his mom's funeral 💀 (she was so funny for this)

And the worst part about this is a big part of the show is about Susannah's cancer and how losing her impacted the people who loved her. Conrad, Jeremiah and Belly are all lost and grieving and finding comfort in each other. It's okay that you don’t like a ship or a character but it's like Jere is not even allowed to have feelings, he's not allowed to struggle about her mom's cancer and death and complicated father and complicated brother and falling in love because if he does, he's standing in the way of a ship. And that's gross. (And same goes for Conrad AND Belly! I love that they're all messy and cheeky and making horrible decisions because it makes them feel more real to me.)

Look, there are valid criticisms of Jeremiah. It's clear that he's always been insecure of Conrad and in a one-sided competition with him and even though he truly loves Belly, part of the reason why he wants to be with her/be chosen by her is because he wants that one-up on his brother (*cough* Damon Salvatore *cough*). And that's an interesting conversation, and I'm loving Conrad and Jeremiah's dynamic this season, but the constant need to scrutinize EVERYTHING Jere does is... unhealthy? HE IS A GRIEVING TEENAGER. Let him have realistic emotions and reactions!

#tsitp #rant #the summer i turned pretty #jeremiah fisher #conrad fisher #belly conklin

[corneliaavenue-ao3]

Trust Him Like a Brother AO3

Ginny was excited that her mum met someone new after her dad died, but she did not realize that meant she would have to deal with Harry Potter being her new soon-to-be step-brother.

Written for Reputation Era of SeveralSunlitDaylights and for @takearisk-ao3 who supported me writing this shamelessly

if it makes you feel better, Harry and Ginny aren't step-siblings yet

July was unbearably hot. Unusually hot. And if Ginny were at the Burrow, she would go down to the pond, dip her toes into the water, and even, after assuring that no one was near her, strip off her clothes and take a dip.

But Ginny was not at the Burrow. Instead she was holed up in her brand new bedroom at her mum’s new fiance’s manor. 

The whole thing was ridiculous. 

Arthur Weasley died in an unfortunate accident that Ginny did not want to talk about when she was 11 years old. Molly Weasley had grieved for years, until she joined a widow support group where she happened to meet her brand new fiance.

Lily Potter.

Ginny hardly knew her because she was off at Hogwarts while her mum was going on dates with the tall, green-eyed, red-haired witch. And before she knew it, she received an owl from her mum that she was engaged, and they would move into the old Potter Manor instead of the Burrow during the summer. 

Don’t get it wrong, Ginny liked Lily. A lot really. She liked how she joked that this old Pureblood Manor was now owned by a bisexual, muggleborn witch. She liked how she worked so many puns into her conversations. She especially liked how Lily would make her mum smile.

What she didn’t love about Lily Potter was her barely of age son who lived in the bedroom next to hers. Who shared a bathroom with her. 

Harry. James. Potter.

Ugh. Ginny rolled her eyes at the thought of his name. 

Everything about him annoyed her. The way he insisted on racing her on his brand new Firebolt whenever she was taking a leisurely flight. They way he ruined her favorite Weird Sisters songs by belting them poorly in the shower. The way he stole her olives off her plate at dinner, even if she was not going to eat them in the first place. The way his bright, green eyes caught hers whenever his mum said something cheesy, yet hilarious. And the way his jaw line-

She was getting carried away, but he was infuriating.

Just to drive the point home how infuriating he is, Harry was currently ruining the Weird Sisters’ newesting single, Graveyard Shift, during his way too long of a shower. 

“Will you shut up?” Ginny yelled at the wall, banging on it to emphasize her point.

Harry’s voice only got louder. “I’m haunted by the way we kissed, stuck working the Graveyard Shift.”

“Fucking hell,” Ginny muttered under her breath. She probably would not have enough time to shower before they were supposed to meet her classmates at the Leaky Cauldron, so she cast a quick Scourgify on herself. 

“Do you not like my voice?” Someone asked. Harry leaned against her bathroom door frame, towel wrapped casually around his waist, his jet-black hair dripping beads of water down his face. 

Ginny cleared her throat, “I’m surprised the boys at Ilvermorny did not cast a permanent silencing charm on you to get you to shut up.”

“The boys at Ilvermorny didn’t have as big of a reaction to me as you do,” Harry said, smirking at her. “And I like getting a reaction out of you.” Harry shook his head, cascading water droplets all over her to emphasize his point.

“Stop-”

Her bedroom door sprung open with a thud. 

“Hey Ginny! Do you happen to have any spare perfume? I forgot to spray myself before leaving home and Ron said you might have some. Oh, hello!” Lavender Brown said all in one breath. Her eyes darted between Ginny and Harry who at least had the audacity to look somewhat embarrassed meeting someone in just a towel.

Ginny went over to her nightstand and directly handed Lavender her floral perfume, not trusting her to catch anything if she threw it at her.

“Thanks, Ginny!” Lavender said, spraying an obscene amount of perfume on herself. “Sorry for interrupting,” she said with a wink before closing the door behind her.

Ginny took a moment to stare up at the ceiling before braving to turn back to the half naked man standing in her bedroom. “Sorry about her.”

“Ron’s girlfriend, I assume?” Harry asked.

“Yes,” Ginny replied. “She is not too bad if you get to know her. She has calmed down a lot since when they first started dating. Mainly because she finally realized that Ron’s best friend, Hermione, was not actually trying to sleep with her man.”

Harry carted his fingers through his wet hair, “Actually, that is why I am in here. I was hoping you could help introduce me to everyone tonight. I really only know Ron, because of the whole soon-to-be-step-brother thing, and just a few of the other guys who are in the Auror training program with us.” 

“So you want me to babysit you all night long?” Ginny asked.

Harry let out a small laugh, “I’m older than you, shouldn’t I be the one babysitting you?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Go get dressed, Potter. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

In the kitchen, her mum and Lily were standing at the stove together, swaying to an old Celestina Warbeck song. The sweet sight was ruined by Ron and Lavender snogging around the corner. Ginny grabbed a dishrag off of the counter and threw it at Ron, hitting him square in the back of the head. 

“Do you two ever not do that?” Ginny asked. 

Ron ignored her, giving her the middle finger as he continued to suck on his girlfriend’s face. 

Harry bounded down the steps a few seconds later, “Ron, mate, you got to let the girl breathe.”

Ron detached himself from Lavender’s face with a gross squelch sound, “Fuck, man, not you too.”

“What can I say, Ginny is a bad influence,” Harry smiled over at her. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Let’s go. We are already late.” 

“Have fun tonight, everyone!” Lily Potter’s voice called from the kitchen. 

“And please send us a patronus if you need any help. I don’t want to have to pick anyone up from the Auror holding cell tonight,” Mum added. 

“But if you do, make sure it was because you did something funny!” Lily called back. Molly let out a shock gasp before breaking into a fit of giggles at her fiance’s joke.

Harry caught her eye and grinned. 

“Ew.” Ron said, “Let’s go before they flirt even more.”

The Leaky Cauldron was packed by the time they all arrived. The majority of Ron’s class was here and a good chunk of her class was present as well. 

“Hermione says she has a table in the back!” Lavender shouted over the music, grabbing Ron’s hand and dragging him behind her. Ginny followed closely behind, Harry kept a hand pressed into her back to not get washed away with the crowd.  

Ginny saw Luna first, although she was hard to miss, standing on top of a stool waving both hands at the four of them pushing their way through the crowd. Hermione sat next to her, hands gripping onto Luna’s legs preventing her from toppling over.

“Luna, please be careful,” Hermione begged, pulling her girlfriend carefully down. 

Luna ran around the table and crashed into Ginny, giving her a bone crushing hug. “So good to see you!” Luna shouted. She turned and immediately crushed Harry in a hug. 

“Oh, erm, Hi.” Harry stuttered.

Ginny laughed at Harry’s obvious discomfort. “This is Luna. My best friend, and Hermione’s girlfriend.”

Luna let go of Harry, she gave him a curious look before announcing, “Your head is full of nargles.” Luna turned to give Lavender and Ron their hugs.

Harry turned to Ginny, facing away from the strange blonde, “What’s a nargle?”

“Don’t ask,” Ginny replied, shaking her head at her friend’s creatures.

Hermione reached across the table to shake Harry’s hand, “I’m Hermione. Ron and Ginny have told me so much about you.”

Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny’s shoulder, pulling her flush against his body. “All nice things from Ginny, I’m sure.” 

Ginny elbowed Harry, pulling away from his warmth and ignoring the swoop in her gut. “I don’t know what she is talking about, I do not talk about you.”

“Whatever you say,” Harry teased, rubbing the spot that Ginny’s elbow hit. 

Hermione ignored both of them and continued on, “I heard you went to Ilvermorny, tell me all about it!”

The six of them discussed their life at school, and the differences between Hogwarts and the American school. Begrudgingly, Ginny admitted to herself how well Harry fit into the group.

“Quidditch at Ilvermorny is obviously more intense because we don’t just compete against the house teams, we also compete against the other American schools in the National Championship,” Harry stated smugly, taking a long drink of his butterbeer. 

“That is not true!” Ginny cried, smacking her hand on the table, sloshing her own drink in the process. “Ilvermorny Central only has two house teams that compete against each other so automatically you have a 50% chance of making the championship! Hogwarts you at least compete against three teams. And it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it matters how much you win or lose by to claim the Quidditch cup!”

Harry set his mug down, a grin dancing across his face, “So if the points are the only thing that matters, then the seeker must be the most important player on the pitch. Right?”

Ginny threw up her hands in frustration, “We are not having this argument again. I, alone, have scored more than 150 points in a game.”

Ron downed his drink in a gulp, “Well, I am going to go to the bathroom.” He stood abruptly, shifting his pants. 

Ginny took a deep breath and counted down from ten in her brain. 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6

Harry’s knees nudged her under the table.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

“I need to go to the bathroom too!” Lavender announced to the table, scurrying off after her boyfriend.

“Subtle!” Hermione called after her.

“Nothing was subtle about that. Did you see all of the nargles swarming around both of their heads? They almost had as many nargles floating around their heads as Harry and Ginny do,” Luna said in a sing-song voice.

“Luna!” Hermione cried, “You can’t use your mythical creatures to call out people like that!”

Luna swirled her Gillywater in her glass, “I am not calling anything out. I am just making careful observations that most witches and wizards would rather ignore,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“Do they always fight like this?” Harry asked, lips inches away from her ear. 

Ginny turned in her stool so her back was faced to Hermione and Luna, her knees pressed into Harry’s. She leaned forward so she was facing Harry head on. Nose inches from his nose. “This isn’t fighting for them. It’s foreplay,” Ginny said. 

They both turned back to the couple. One of Hermione’s hands was flying throughout the air as she was explaining the unlikely ability that Nargles existed in London during the summertime, while her other hand was creeping slowly up Luna’s thigh. Luna for her part just stared dreamingly at Hermione.

“I think we should continue this debate at home, Mione,” Luna said.

Hermione’s cheeks turned pink, “We probably should. See you two later. Say bye to Won-Won and Lav-Lav for us!” Hermione said, tugging Luna towards the door.

“Subtle!” Ginny called after them.

“Hey,” Harry said, knees pressed up against hers again, “Sorry for insinuating that I’m better at Quidditch than you.”

Ginny reached forward and grabbed Harry’s hand on the table, “Thank you,” she said dramatically, “because we both know I am better than you.”

She expected Harry to throw his head back and laugh at her, but he kept her gaze, eyes sparkling at her. His thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand. Ginny felt cornish pixies flutter in her stomach.

“I need a drink,” She said, standing immediately, making her way to the bar.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Her brain chanted at her. He is going to be your step brother in a month! She scolded herself.

But you aren’t related. Another part of her brain said. And there are many purebloods out their who have performed worse acts of incest than crushing on a soon-to-be stepsibling. 

“You look thirsty. Can I buy you a drink?” A voice said, breaking her out of her internal battle. A man with sandy hair, brown eyes, not too much taller than her leaned ever so casually against the bar. 

Ginny smiled at the stranger, “Yes, please.” He was a distraction. A perfect distraction from jet black hair, green eyes, and a toned abdomen that looked so brilliant in just a towel. 

“I’m Jacob,” the man said, passing her a glass full of some smokey pink drink.

“Ginny.”

“Well, Ginny,” Jacob said, smiling at her, “Cheers!”

Ginny clinked her glass with Jacob’s and took a sip. Warmth of the drink flooded her senses. Her insides ignited, and when she looked back up at Jacob he was haloed in a warm glow. 

He was more than the perfect distraction. Jacob was perfect.

She slowly brought her glass to her lips again to take another sip, but it was knocked out of her hands before she got the chance.

Harry stood next to her, eyes murderous. He was not looking at her, but rather he was glaring at Jacob. 

“Hey what the fuck, man!” Jacob cried out. His voice sounded so regal. Ginny swooned at the sound. 

Harry turned back to her, “Did you drink what he gave you?” He asked, voiced terrified.

“Yes,” She said, pushing past Harry, stepping closer to Jacob and his warmth. “Jacob is so sweet, and bought me a drink. So I drank it! He is so perfect.”

Harry stepped between her and Jacob, his back pressed against her. He lowered his head to look Jacob directly in the eye, “You better fuck off right now, and if you ever touch her again, it will be the last thing you ever do,” Harry said in a low voice.

Jacob got the hint and scurried off. Ginny tried to follow after him, but Harry grabbed her arm, pulling her close to his chest, “You’re coming with me.”

Ginny pulled her arm free from Harry’s grasp, “But I don’t want to!”

In one fluid motion, Harry swooped Ginny up and over his shoulder and carried her out of the bar. Her face smacked directly into his arse. 

“You. Are. An. Arse!” Ginny shouted, emphasizing each word.

“An arse that just saved yours,” Harry grunted, shifting Ginny’s weight.

"I already have six older brothers to be overprotective, I don't need another one!” Ginny shouted, kicking her legs against Harry, trying to break free. 

"Good thing I don't want you to treat me like a brother,” Harry retorted.

Ginny’s legs stilled, “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Harry replied shortly.

Ginny lifted her head so she wasn’t staring at Harry’s backside. Diagon Alley was empty at this time of night, the only lights coming from the Leaky Cauldron and the dim street lamps of Knockturn Alley. The sound of Harry’s footsteps on the cobblestone echoed through the night.  

Harry stopped, shifting Ginny so he could pull his wand out of his pocket. He tapped his wand in a pattern on the brick, unlocking the door.

“Why the fuck are we here?” Ginny asked.

“Because,” Harry grunted, carrying her through the door to Weasleys’ Wizards Wheezes, “That dickhead gave you a love potion that he likely got from your brothers. Which means, your brothers also likely have the antidote.”

Ginny wriggled, trying to break free from Harry’s grasp. “He did not give me a love potion! You’re just jealous because he has perfect sandy hair and warm brown eyes and all you have is night-black hair and stupidly, bright green eyes.” 

Suddenly, her world turned upside down as Harry threw her off his shoulder and onto the ground. 

“Stay.” 

Harry turned his back to her, heading over to the WonderWitch area of the store, searching for the love potion antidote that she did not need. Slowly, she got to her feet, planning to make a break for it back to Jacob. Her world came crashing back down as she landed face first on the filthy floor.

Her brothers really should mop.

Rope bound tightly around her ankles preventing her from running. She used her arms to pull herself up. Maybe she could hop to Jacob. Rope flew across the room, binding her hands together too. 

“Let me go!” Ginny shouted at Harry.

“Only after you drink this,” Harry replied, a tiny vial of liquid in his hands. Lover’s Antidote written in cursive font on the front. 

Ginny tightly closed her lips, shaking her head no. 

“Ginny, please,” Harry begged. 

She stuttered for a second, wanting to make Harry happy. Then she remembered that he wanted her to stop trying to go after Jacob and she did not like that. With her bound hands, she tried pushing herself up, but Harry was quicker than she was. He wrestled her down, straddled her hips, keeping her pressed to the ground.

“Open,” Harry said.

Ginny did, opening her mouth wide for him, tilting her chin and arching her back up. She didn’t understand why in this position, with Harry’s weight pressed into her, that she would listen to him. That she would forget about what's-his-name, and her only thoughts being Harry.

With shaking hands, Harry tipped the potion down her throat, and she swallowed. Slowly, her senses cooled, and her wit returned.

“That fucker love-potioned me.”

Harry choked out a sound, halfway between a sigh of relief and laughter. “Good to have you back, Gin,” Harry said, grinning down at her. 

Ginny smiled back up at him, shifting her hips underneath him, trying to find some relief under the weight of him. She stilled when she felt something very hard, that could not possibly be his wand, because that was secured firmly in his right hand. 

Harry’s eyes widened, but he did not move off of her.

Slowly, Ginny rocked her hips up to meet him, daring him to make the next move. Either off of her and pretend this never happened or to thrust back into her. He hesitated a moment, but then Harry placed his arms balanced on either side of her, and rocked back into Ginny.

A shaky breath escaped her lips at the friction. 

“So, do you tie up all of the girls you shag?” Ginny asked, big, brown eyes batting up at him. 

Harry’s hand moved to Ginny’s tied up hands, pinning them above her head. “Only the girls that misbehave.” Harry leaned forward, whispering in her ear. “Do you promise to behave, Gin?” Harry asked, thrusting into her again.

“Yes,” she breathed out.

“Good girl.” He twirled his wand, wordlessly untying the ropes from her wrists and ankles.

And then his lips crashed to hers. Hands exploring every inch of her body. His weight fully pressed on top of her now.

Her hands were shaking from holding back from him. She finally admitted to herself that she didn’t want him like a brother. She wanted him for so much more. And now she couldn’t hold back. Her hands were in his hair, and then under his shirt, and then undoing his belt. Needing every part of him.

Harry wasn’t careful with her. Leaving bruises along her jawline with his tongue. He found the hem of her shirt and yanked it off of her, uncaring if it ripped coming off. Hands immediately found the clasp of her bra, freeing her.

“Merlin, your tits are even better than I imagined,” Harry groaned, mouth licking down her sternum. 

Ginny arched herself into him as his tongue circled her nipple. “You dream about this often?” 

Harry came back up so his face was even with hers, “Every fucking day, Weasley.” 

His lips met hers once again. “I think about you when we fly together and the way your arse looks bent over the broom,” His hand grabbed her bum for emphasis.  “I think about you in the shower with me, your tits all sudsy with soap,” Harry said, kissing her breasts once again. “I think about you as I lie in my bed awake at night. Wondering how you taste,” he voiced, barely above a whisper. 

Excruciatingly slow, Harry pulled off her pants. He kissed the inside of her thigh, working his way back up before going over to the other thigh.

“Harry. Please,” Ginny moaned out.

“Anything for you,” Harry said, before diving in.

His tongue worked inside of her, hands tightly holding her hips in place. She felt warmth build as his tongue expertly worked on her clit. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” She chanted.

A long finger teased her entrance before plunging inside her. She needed him to finish her off, and she was so close to crossing that line. His fingers move quickly, pushing her closer to the edge, one she so desperately wants to be thrown over. He carried her up to the peak and pushed her over with one word.

“Come.” 

Suddenly, she was free-falling, tossed right over her edge into a blissful oblivion.

Harry worked his way back up to her, leaving a trail of kisses as he went. 

“Tasted better than I imagined,” he said into her lips.

Ginny pulled him into a crushing kiss. Heat pooling in her gut again. She pulled away, and stared into his green eyes, now dark with lust. 

“I need you.”

Harry stood to pull off his pants. Ginny crawled over to him, kneeling before his length. She kissed the inside of his thigh before licking the underside of his dick. She stood, meeting Harry in a fierce kiss. 

He picked her up in a fluid motion, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. He set her down on the front counter. It was cold on her arse, but she could not care because Harry was teasing her entrance with his penis. Gradually, he entered her, inch by inch, filling her up. 

“Fuck,” Harry cried out. 

Ginny agreed with her entire being. With every thrust, Ginny saw stars. A galaxy of constellations blurred her vision as she felt herself being pulled closer and closer to the edge again. 

“Fuck, you fuck good,” Ginny moaned. Her heels pulled him impossibly deeper inside her. Her hands wrapped around his strong shoulders and her fingernails leaving scratches down his back. 

Harry let out a string of curses under his breath. His thrusts picked up speed, and Ginny knew that she would crash in any second. Harry’s fingers found her clit again, and with the increased pressure and deep thrust, she was gone. Exploding like a star, she came hard.

With a few more thrusts, Harry followed her cue. 

Ginny smiled up at him, “Come here,” she said, pulling Harry’s face to kiss her breathless. Harry’s lips eagerly met hers. With time, the kisses turned more lazy before they finally pulled away.

“You’re so gorgeous,” Harry said, breathless above her.

Ginny let out an uncharacteristic giggle, “You’re amazing.”

Harry let out a laugh that made Ginny’s entire insides curl with pleasure. “Here,” Harry said, offering her shirt back. 

“Just so you know,” Ginny said, pulling her shirt over her head, “I realized, I’ve been thinking about this almost every day too.”

Harry nearly tripped pulling his pants back on, “Really?”

“Really,” Ginny reassured, sliding off of the counter. 

“So what should I call you now? My fuck-buddy? My boyfriend? My brother?” Ginny teased. 

Harry cringed, “Maybe not that last one.” He spun her around so she was facing him again.

“Definitely, not the last one,” Ginny said before kissing him again.

#hinny #severalsunlitdaylights #call it what you want #harry x ginny

[haolovre]

——stuck with u——

non idol! minghao x fem! reader

!!warning: this is the first time im writing on a platform so bare with me and hope its not cringe:)!!

|| fluff || words: 1k

ur roommate, junhui has this friend what seems to caught ur attention, minghao. one day junhui invites all of his friends over. but then-

I. too early for this madness?

“Y/NNN!!” he screamed as he barged in ur room. he floped on top of u as u were trying to sleep. “what do you want?” in an annoying tone as u still wanted to sleep. “mah friends are coming over in 5 minutes” this was the third time this week that jun’s friends were coming over. and today is wednesday… yes they came everyday-. you throw ur pillow at jun. “whywhywhy can’t u just go to there houses?” u said still wanted to sleep “because they want to see u” he pouted “i swear they like u more then me” you signed “finefine just don’t let them in my room when there her-“ as u get cut off by the doorbell. jun was sprinting to the door (how the hell didnt he fell idk) as u get up closes the door to get ready. as you thought jun bumped into something u were so wrong it was soonyoung and this actives ass running through the whole house from whatever was chasing him (i think it was seungkwam but idk man) u opened the door. and u shut it again. why? because soonyoung and seungkwam were wrestling on the carpet. dino just became jeonghan’s chair (even tho there were seats left) jun and minghao hyping up the fight. jihoon and hansol are just standing there dont know what to do. cheol trying to break the fight but kinda struggling as he’s laughing his as off. the rest were just laughing there asses off. yep ur asking urself how the hell does they have so much energy AT 9 AM.. well then u opened ur door again not looking at the scene in the living room. U make urself some breakfast (idk what u guys want just think its ur dream breakfast) as the situation calms down u sit down and have ur breakfast. u and hansol had a conversation about the fight what just happend. then poof everyones is at the dinner table arguing about what they want to do today (i swear they argue about everythingㅜㅜ) u guys settle with going to beach as it was a hot summer day. cheol was paying for everything as he wanted to keep everyone happy ( tank u sugar daddy cheol <3 we luv u) as ur getting ready going to the beach. someone ‘knocks’ on the door. u were surprised by who it was. what u saw was minghao on the ground. as he knocked on ur door but u didnt respond and he didnt had time to meditate he just got impatient and tried to knock down the door but then u opend the door so yehㅜㅜ “u oke?” as you thought he would be “yeah im fine” “jun said were going so hurry ur ass up” he smiled. u grabbed ur bag and followed minghao to the living room where everyone was waiting for u. seungkwam ran too u. “ i was so worried i heard a crash, u didnt get hurt right?” “nono im fine ask minghao about the fall” as u smiled to minghao, who was embarrassed. “aww thank god ur oke” as seungkwam was smiling like a mother. “alright lets go then!!” obviously mingyu coudnt wait to go to the beach. the cars were Divided as : cheol, minghao,jeonghan were driving seungkwam , y/n and soonyoung as dj, seungkwam mingyu, hansol, dokyeon were in cheol’s car. y/n,jihoon wonwoo were in minghaos car. and soonyoung, chan, jun were in jeonghans car. after a bumpy car trip of 20 minutes. u all arrived at the beach. I swear mingyu was in the water within 20 seconds and wonwoo and hansol were following him. as u see everyone in the water except one person. u didnt see minghao. but u swore u saw him going into the wate-. splash.. u turned and saw minghao with a bucket. with the shock u had u wristlet him to the grond. u on top of him. u swore u could have killed him if you could. after a bit u guys were tired and just layed in the sand lookin at the others.

II. unexpected.

as u and minghao discussed to go to the water dokyeom ask u guys to join volleyball. u guys went to the court. u were on joshua, mingyu,seungkwam,vernon,wonwoo and jeonghan. the rest were on the other team. u guys played for two hours. and ur team won!! (yes seungkwam carried) u and cheol decided to get icecream and fruit for everyone. cheol paid for everything (as he said that earlier) u guys came back too see soonyoung and Seungkwam discussing about the volleyball game. u guys gave everyone fruit and icecream as everyone looked dehydrated from the whole game. u caught someone looking at u, minghao. minghao was looking at u. but u just said to urself that he was daydreaming so u just think nothing about it. at the other hand minghao also turned away when u did, kinda flustered as u caught him staring at u. two weeks before he met u. as jun begged u too come with after ur break up with sunghoon (i love sunghoon so dw) u kinda had a depression fase and u didnt leave the room at all. but when minghao saw u. he fell in love with u. instantly. after a week u fell for minghao. you fell for him, you got deja vu as this is how much you loved sunghoon but u didnt care. now back too the present. everyone was discussing where to eat. “wait guys you know about the new place that openend up i heard it was really good” as u requested. everyone agreed. after 10 min everone arrived at the restaurant. it was a korean chinese restaurant. u guys went in and sat at a table. minghao excused himself too the toilet.everyone ordered what they wanted after minghao came back to the table. u felt something on ur thigh (we finally at a romance scene yayay) u see minghao’s hand on ur thigh and look at him smirking (kinda creepy but eh) he looked away as the food came to the table but his hand is stuck on ur thigh. as u all ate minghao whispered to meet him outside. u and minghao excused to get fresh air. everyone talking about what is going to happen. minghao waiting for u with a bouquet in his hand. “y/n, the most beautiful,kind, sweet person i ever met. i want u to mine forever, dear y/n will u be my girl friend?” he said. u,stunt in place, dont know what to say. “i-“ “its fine u dont feel the s-“ minghao got cut off as u kissed him on the lips, their soft, perfect match for urs. u pulled away “thats ur answer” u smirked. as u see a man so happy he could jump to the moon. smiling so hard. he gave u the bouquet. u guys walked to the restaurant again and everyone was shocked seeing u two holding hands. gasping at the scene “tadaa she’s mine now so keep distance” says minghao proudly.

#svt #seventeen #fluff #svt x reader #the8 #minghao #xu minghao #cheol #choi seungcheol #seventeen seungcheol #seungkwan #vernon #wen junhui #moon junhui #lee jihoon #woozi #dokyeom #dk #minghao x reader #svt fluff #non idol au #cu minghao au

[lunartadpole]

1 ¦ 2

inspired by this post :))

(Tell me baby, do you recognize me?)

Eddie graduates by the skin of his teeth - and with the help of some pity points from the higher ups at Hawkins High School, a makeshift apology for the town-wide manhunt for him - and he is left with the age old question that plagues most, if not all, graduates: what now?

He doesn't know what to do with himself, doesn't know what he's good at. Sure, there's music, he can play the guitar decently but he doesn't know where to take that. And that leaves him in a bit of a slump. His whole life Eddie has been tethered to this town, itching for some grand escape or for something to call him, begging him to chase it down. He's wanted to get the hell outta dodge for so long, he never actually thought he'd see the day where he'd just…go.

So he graduates. He hobbles off that stage, still in his crutches as his legs still aren't fully able to support his weight again, and it doesn't feel nearly as good as he dreamed of, though he guesses that once one looks death in the eye, fights off hoards of literal, real life monsters, menial things like finishing school with possibly the lowest grades imaginable matter less than one thought. And he stays, in Hawkins, just for another month or so. Just until inspiration hits.

He gets a job alongside Steve and Robin at Family Video, because if he wants out he's gonna need the money, and becomes a natural third to their duo. They work many shifts together, mostly mucking about to pass the hours; arguing about movies, laughing at annoying customers, gossiping about Steve's failure of a dating life. It's nice. Eddie finds something in that, friendship. Not that he didn't have friends before all this interdimensional mess, but there's a difference here at Family Video. 

There's a difference with Steve.

Eddie never thought he'd see the day where he actually liked Steve Harrington. But he soon discovered that they had a lot more in common than Eddie would have ever thought; and it's not that Steve suddenly likes D&D, or that Eddie gets a newfound appreciation of Basketball, it's that they're both adrift in the ocean of life, aimlessly floating with no direction, no plan on where to go. 

Eddie stays for another month. His friendship with Steve only grows when he invites both Eddie and Wayne to stay at his house. Prior to this they'd been living out of a motel half an hour outside of town, thanks to their humble trailer getting ripped in half when the earth split open. Eddie declines at first, but Steve is insistent. 

"It's not like I don't have the space," Steve shrugs. "Big house, gotta fill it with something. Why not you?" 

The Munsons move into Loch Nora. Wayne is icey at first, unsure about this whole arrangement and untrusting of the Harrington boy despite Eddie's insistence that Steve is not like his parents. But soon enough, Wayne and Steve hit it off and it's like they've been friendly for years. Eddie walks in on them, more often than not, watching football and screaming at Steve's state-of-the-art TV, sharing a beer and a smoke on Steve's porch. Wayne catches Eddie lingering in doorways, just watching, and flashes him a knowing smile. 

"He's one of the good ones, that boy," Wayne comments one night. They're watching Steve in the kitchen from the dining room while he cooks, in his absolute element. There are times where Eddie just, sits and watches Steve when he's preparing dinner; the concentration on the boys face, reading recipes written in feminine handwriting out of a battered notebook, and the utter joy when things go his way, is enough to bring a smile to Eddie's lips and a warm feeling through his body. 

Eddie felt that warmth then, watching Steve hum to a song he's been trying to remember for the past week, and it's been driving Eddie up the walls hearing that same poppy tune over and over - but it hasn't really. "Yeah," Eddie agrees with a nod, "He is." 

The summer breeze rolls in quicker than usual. 

Eddie spends his time in the blistering Hawkins heat in the pool, surrounded by his friends. He doesn't mind that, despite Robin's constant begging and his own teasing to show off Harrington's skill in the water that earned him the title of Captain of the Swim Team, Steve never gets in the water with them; he seems perfectly happy to lounge on the deck chairs with Nancy. Sometimes, when Eddie looks over at them, the two are staring off at the pool with some glazed over expression, the very same he has when he remembers the sound of Chrissy Cunningham's bones snapping. So he doesn't ask, knowing that Steve will tell when he's ready. 

When they're not in the pool, they're inside with the aircon blasted, watching movies, eating ice cream. Sometimes - read: very often - Steve opens his home to the kids, who eagerly accept under the pretense of continuing whatever campaign Eddie's been cooking up. Steve takes the gang on drives to anywhere and everywhere, and sometimes, late a night when everyone's gone off back to their own houses, he and Eddie will go on their own personal trips; down long, straight roads with the music - which they bicker excessively about - blasted up as high as the car will allow and the windows rolled down. Eddie sticks his head out the window like a dog and Steve will tell him just that. The feeling of wind on his face provides him that escape he longed for, reminds him where he wants to be, gone. 

But Hawkins in fall is beautiful, Eddie did always love watching the leaves change colour. The summer breeze disappears and is replaced with that wild, sharp chill that always made his muscles ease up. But something changes in Steve during the autumn. He quietens, and the nail studded bat makes it return beside the front door. Eddie never presses, instead buying candy in bulk and renting scary movie after scary movie for them to watch leading up to Halloween. Steve falls asleep during one of these movie nights, unconsciously tossing and turning until things almost get violent and he wakes in a cold sweat. Eddie is there to hold him, to wipe his tears while he opens up about everything; Barbra Holland, the pool, Nancy Wheeler and the word bullshit, the Russians. And Eddie just holds him while he melts in his arms, the heat of Steve's body only adding to that warm, fuzzy feeling churning in Eddie's stomach. He does something brave that night. 

Steve and Eddie share their first kiss watching Micheal Myers terrorise Jamie Lee Curtis. 

Halloween comes and goes. That chill in the air turns to a bite of frost. Eddie never did like going on long journeys in the cold weather. 

Winter is spent getting drunk and getting high. Because there's not much else to do. The town experienced a bad storm that year, leaving Steve and the Munsons locked in Loch Nora for a week and a bit. They build a snowman in the front yard, have snowball fights with Robin and Nancy and Jonathan. Steve makes a killer hot chocolate. 

He discovers that Christmas at the Harrington house is one of beauty when Steve puts up the decorations. Hundreds of Christmas lights light up the street at night, and don't even get Eddie started on the tree - huge and intricately decorated with at least a hundred ornaments, each with their own desiccated place. Steve hangs them up out of muscle memory, like he's done this a thousand times. It's during this time Wayne starts to get antsy about their living situation, concerned about what happens when Steve's parents come home for the holiday, but again Steve reassures them. 

"They're not coming this year, so don't worry about it." 

They worry about something else, but they never ask. 

When it gets too cold, Eddie steals Steve's sweaters, Steve curls into the warmth of Eddie's body at night and Wayne lights the fire so the boys can huddle around the fireplace. Eddie doesn't think he'll ever forget the sight of Steve's head resting in his lap, face tinted with the soft glow of the flame. Eddie runs a hand through the infamous hair, untangling any knots with his fingers. It's soft. Eddie doesn't think he'll forget that. Steve gets Eddie a new guitar for Christmas, the one he's been talking about all year; that almost makes Eddie ashamed of what he got Steve, a mixtape full of the songs they listened to on their night drives in summer, but that shame disappears when Steve's eyes light up brighter that any of the lights hanging on the tree. They kiss under conveniently placed mistletoe. The snow soon thaws and Eddie weaves crowns out of blooming flowers for his first boyfriend.

Seasons come and go. Days blend into weeks which blend into months. And the more time Eddie and Steve spend together, the less he thinks about leaving. The year ends with a kiss at a small gathering of friends. The spring season is in full bloom before he knows it, then summer, then fall, then winter, and through it all Steve is still at his side. There's an 'I love you' somewhere stowed in Eddie's chest, and he tries to find the bravery to say it to Steve any chance he gets - when he nurses Eddie back to health from a common cold, when he makes Eddie's coffee in the morning, when he holds Eddie close after a nightmare. Steve has told those three little words more times than Eddie can count, but he just…can't get the words out. They're in there though, waiting.

He thinks he's going to say it, the day he drives to the store to pick up some groceries, one December morning in '87. He has it planned, a quiet night in with Steve's favourite meal homemade by Eddie, treating his boy. Then, as he's scanning the aisle for the ingredients, he hears it. That all too familiar sound. Whispers. The hair on the back of his neck stands up, like someone's watching him, and sure enough when he turns there is. A small group of five, look to be around his age, sneering, mumbling amongst themselves. And suddenly it's March, 1986, and people he's never spoken too are demanding his arrest, calling him a murder. Suddenly it's Summer '86, and some punks trashed the front window of Family Video, the words hunt the freak painted over it. 

Suddenly, Eddie realises what fucking time it is and what time he's already lost. His skin begins to itch and a scowl finds its way on his face as he recalls his comfort over the past year, his complacency. He leaves the store without buying anything, racing down the road to Loch Nora desperate to get the fuck out of there as soon as he possible can. He doesn't care that he doesn't have anything to chase, doesn't care that he can't do anything yet, Eddie can't stay in this town anymore; not when the people still torment him, look at him like he's Satan himself and cower in fear. 

He throws his things in a bag, gathers the decent amount of money he's managed to save up, and just as he's about to leave he notices that the Christmas decorations are up again, that perfect fucking tree towering over him a constant reminder of the part of himself he willingly gave away. He thinks of Steve, bitterly, liar, and how they're not the same at all. Because Steve might be content with being lost in the ocean, no way out, no plan, no path. But Eddie will not fucking waste away in a town that hates him. 

He thinks of Steve, lovingly, darling, but it's not enough. It would never be enough. 

Eddie writes a note for Wayne and Wayne only. He's gone before the ice can thaw. 

December, 1891

Eddie Munson is walking home to his apartment when he sees Nancy Wheeler. 

He's got a good thing going on here in New York. Though it was rough at the start. He drove aimlessly for weeks, sleeping in any dingy motel he could afford, but after he found a severed finger underneath his pillow he decided that sleeping in his van was the safer, and cheaper, option. 

He camped out in Ohio for a month or three, working at a roadside dinner washing dishes. Then it was on to Kentucky, which lasted an extremely short while, before North Carolina for the summer. New York was never in the plan, not that he had one, but something so far away from small town Indianna sang his name and there he went. 

It was…different to say the least. Eddie had never seen so many people in his entire life, it was easy to get lost in the crowd. For the first four months, he was entirely alone, working three jobs of stocking shelves, wiping down tables and bartending at clubs just to get by. But that didn't bother him, not in the slightest. Because he may have been living out of his van, but at least here people didn't cower away from him. At least here there were others like him. Other 'freaks'.

It's not like Eddie didn't know there where other gay people in the world, but christ sometimes it hard to remember your not the only one when middle aged women are shielding their children from you, and dickheads in school carve those ugly words into your locker every morning. 

It was these others who let him crash on their couches when winter rolled around and the van became uninhabitable. Then eventually, it was these others who let him move in permanently. They were like him, in more ways than just the obvious. They too had nowhere else to go, no plan, no path, but desperate to find one. Lost in the ocean and trying to swim. 

Things started looking up at the beginning of 1989. All that time, alone in the back of a van, gave Eddie lots of time to thing; about what he was good at, what he wanted to do with himself. And, as it turned out, years of scrawling down D&D campaign ideas had paid off, because Eddie was quite the story teller. And after months of rejection letters and disappointments, one literary journal gave him a publishing deal.

He wrote short stories, mainly, fantasy ones of course. He wrote of dragons and monsters, of evil wizards and an unlikely band of heroes. He wrote of a prince, who was brave as he was kind; who loved his kids despite his insistence that they were nothing more than a nuisance in his life; who was handsome to boot and had hair like silk.

Who loved the local bard when the town roared he was a witch. 

…that story might be just for him. 

And sure, of course there were times he felt a tad homesick. He writes letters to Wayne from time to time, just so his Uncle knows he's okay, but he never gives his address for him to write back, he doesn't know why. Maybe he's scared that Wayne will come find him, drag him back to that shithole town, or maybe it's because he doesn't want a reminder of the town that hated him.

(Or maybe, Eddie doesn't want to know what's changed in his absence. Doesn't want to know how everyone is, how well they're doing without him. How a certain someone is doing without him.)

Which is why, when he sees Nancy Wheeler walking towards him, he freezes. 

Nancy hasn't changed since the day Eddie saw her last. Her hair may be a bit longer, a bit more unruly, but her eyes still have that curious glint to them, and her smile just shows her cunning intelligence. And she's still beautiful. 

"Eddie?" She says, disbelief flooding her tone. "Oh my god, is that you?" 

Dumbly, Eddie stands there, frozen among the crowd of people bustling to get to wherever it is they're going. Nancy fixes him with a look, taking the sight of it in and her the smile on her face grows. She runs forward and wraps him up in a hug, letting Eddie get a smell of her lavender perfume that also hasn't changed since '86. And just like that, all other concerns he had fade away. 

He hugs her back, burying his face in her curls. "Nance? Oh Jesus, what the hell are you doing here?!" 

When she pulls away her eyes are fiery. "I could ask you the same thing." She jabs his chest with a pointed finger. But her gaze momentarily softens. "It's so good to see you. Are you busy right now? I just got off work, I was gonna go for some coffee?" 

Eddie smiles, knowing damn well he's about to get the interrogation of his life. "I'd love that."

The coffee shop, at least, provides some much needed warmth from the winter weather. New York somehow gets far colder than Indianna during Christmas, and Eddie never did well in the cold. 

Nancy buys him a coffee. He can tell by the way she holds herself that she wants to demand where he's been and why he left, but she won't ask. Not yet. Eddie's grateful for that. 

"I live here now," she says instead, "Well, temporarily, so far. I got a paid internship at The Times as an investigative journalist. Hoping they give me the job soon." 

"That's incredible!" Eddie exclaims. "God, I wish I knew you were here. I would've let you buy me a coffee sooner." 

She stirs her tea with a spoon stiffly. "Yeah maybe you should've left a number before you took off. Or, well, anything."

And yeah. Okay. He deserves that. But ouch Wheeler.

He clears his throat. "So, uhm, is Jonathan here with you?"

"Uh, no." Nancy's eyes crinkle in a way where Eddie feels like he's missed out on something. "We broke up." 

"Shit, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have-" 

She silences him with a wave of her hand. "No, don't. It's fine. It happened a while ago, just after you left actually." She coughs. "I'm seeing someone else now. But hey, what about you? How have you been?" 

Eddie tells her about everything. About the severed finger in the motel, about sleeping in his van, about working three jobs, about his writing. He tells her more than he means too, things he hadn't even admitted to himself yet, but Nancy always brought that out in people. 

"I won't even lie, Nancy, I've been missing home so much." At this stage, they've been talking for two hours, the cafe is slowly emptying and the sun is slowly setting. "Like, the city is great, I fucking love it here, but I just…" he trails off, not knowing how to describe the gaping void in his chest when he thinks about Hawkins. 

They sit in silence for a bit. Then, Nancy says, "Yeah, we all miss you too. Especially the kids- sorry, not allowed to say kids anymore. Mike keeps busting my ass every time I call him that."

"Shit, yeah. What age are they now? Eighteen?" 

Nancy nods. Eddie leans back in his chair, feeling incredibly old. 

"It's true, you know. They miss you. A lot. Dustin tried to get Hopper to file a missing persons report. They thought you'd been kidnapped or something." 

Shame paints Eddie's cheeks pale. He never did think about the kids' reactions to him leaving without so much as a goodbye. 

Nancy huffs a laugh, "Mike took over your little club too. Though I think Erica does the whole game master thing."

Erica Sinclair, god he misses that little spitfire. 

"Lucas is captain for the Tigers as well. Oh and Joyce and Hopper? Yeah, they're married now." 

"No way!" 

"Uh-huh," Nancy's curls bounce as she nods. "Had their wedding in July last year. And Steve is-" 

Nancy Wheeler does something then that Eddie has never seen her do. She falters. She doesn't even try to hide the obvious hurt and hate she has for Eddie in that moment, her eyes glare daggers at him. He thinks she's about to rip him a new one, list off all the reasons he's a shitty person in alphabetical order, and leave him, alone forever. 

Instead,

"You should come back. For Christmas I mean" she says. "We've all been doing this thing now for the last couple years where we all get together, it's great really. I think everyone would love to see you." 

"Everyone?" he asks, hesitantly. A picture flashes in his mind: a boy's head in his lap, face illuminated by a flickering fire.

"Everyone." 

Later, when Eddie's packing his suitcase, he'll blame his decision on peer pressure and how he knew if he said no, Nancy would just continue to wear him down until he agreed. But deep down, he knows that it was because the thought of going back to Hawkins- no, back to his family , filled him with that familiar warmth he hadn't felt in years. 

"Yeah." he deflates into the chair. "OK, sure. It'll be fun." 

Nancy smirks. Never a good sign. 

#might do a p2 to this but idk yet??? #last christmas by wham! got me feeling shit #steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie ficlet #stranger things ficlet #Nancy Wheeler #Robin Buckley

[ofmermaidstories]

hi mermsie! i was wondering, would you ever write more about reader and merman bakugou? i know their story is "finished", but i wonder if there were any "behind-the-scenes" moments that wouldn't have fit in the fic? or if you ever had any thoughts about a random time they had together before the ending? i love that story so much, it's so magical! and i think about the beauty and wonder of having such a love with a magical merman ❤️🌊☀️

Anonymous said

hi, me again, about your merman bakugou! i had a thought— have you ever had any thoughts about bakugou finding a mermaid reader? i think he'd be so.....what the hell are you? lmao sorry for sending two asks, you don't have to answer! love you!

never be sorry about saying hello!!!! 🥺 no matter how many times. i love it. 😌 it makes me feel apart of things. 🥹 but you know, your ask made me kinda sit there and have a think. 🧐 mostly bc—everything i wanted to include in The Widening Sky, i included!!! 🥺 all the little moments they would’ve had would’ve been—just that, little moments. 🥺 Reader’s calves burning against the hot, wet rock she’s perched on, waiting for Bakugou to come back from some random errand. Or maybe… napping under the shade of the trees while he splashes about, annoyed that she’s wasting their time together by sleeping. Or paddling in the sea while Bakugou rolls around in the shallows like a bored seal pup.

one thing, though, that like, the fic didn’t have room for was what exactly Bakugou was getting up to, after Reader treks back through the scrub to Grandma’s house. Because Bakugou is first and foremost a warrior, right? like the whole reason they end up meeting is because he’s like, curled away licking at his wounds and fish-cursing lmao. and i’ve always thought that if he had people out there, in the ocean, that they wouldn’t…. stay in one place. humans are everywhere! we have eyes everywhere!! even in like, the waters around their island—it’s not really theirs. and especially not with whatever is polluting it, during the fic. so i think if there were others like Bakugou out there, they’d eventually inch further and further away, hide away on some abandoned stretch of shore along a island too tiny and too important for humans to have cameras or eyes on it. Leaving Bakugou—essentially the vanguard, out on a mission!!! so what i think Reader doesn’t realise, when she’s kicking off her sandals at Grandma’s door and brushing the sand off and getting dinner ready while the TV blares out behind her is that—Bakugou doesn’t just go back to some nice charming little seacave filled with like, seaglass that reflects watercolour lights on the walls. He doesn’t get to go to sleep on a bed of seaweed when Reader’s curling into her pillow, with the window open behind her. He’s out there in the dark, keeping watch for something in the water that shouldn’t be there. Maybe there’s a handful of others with him, all of them spread out. But the point is that he is very much embroiled in something beyond us, and that those like… golden, in-between hours we have with him are stolen, on both our parts. 🌅🌾

tbh, i haven’t given much thought to a reversal situation. 🧐 have you read @/smashboxgirl26’s hidden in the sand? i was thinking about it, after you sent your ask, and did the following doodle for it but like—i think she pulls off quite well the problem that i struggle with, in regards to making Reader the mermaid? like in Smashie’s fic, Bakugou’s returned to an island where he used to holiday as a kid—but it’s different now. He’s a pro hero for starters, and the summer-hours friend he had (you) is missing—gone. writing it from Bakugou’s POV is such a clever way of getting around the question of like, how do you have a mermaid reader-insert where you don’t have to like, write convincingly about them living in the ocean. because!!! idk about the rest of u but it seems like living in the ocean 24/7 would be very scary. and dark. dark!!! anyways my point is i admire how smashie does it. 😌 so highly recommend.

#ofmermaidstories-asks #the widening sky — fic #hiiii anon i love u toooo

[idiotlittleme]

I think the most annoying thing about living in the middle east is how much outside western-priviledged-idiots people try to "summarize" and / or "fix" our problems

You know this whole "middle east history in 3 minutes" videos? I HATE them.

Because no. You cannot summerize the history of all of the colonizations, wars, and overall atrosities that we had the pleasure of surviving since the fucking middle ages in fucking three minutes and to be honest it's kind of insulting that you are trying. And you know what? It just shows how little fuck you give on the people live here. Because there are kind of lot people out here. You cannot even mention all of the ethnic groups, religious minorities, cultures and sub-cultures of the middle east in three minutes, so to explain the story of each of them? Yeah right. Just shut up, it will be a better use of everyone's time.

Also the whole "general white dude(s) starting a new initiative to make peace in middle east" is THE WORST

Please can we have enough of this bullshit? I know you want a noble peace prize or just have a savior complex, and to be honest, I don't care. You clearly have enough racism, bigotry and discrimination going on in your own country, so why don't start there?

And at least if it were people who fucking tried. Who understood the amount of complexity of our cultural, political, postcolonial, social issues, then it would be at least a nice go. But no. It's always some fucking idiots who don't know shit. And it just makes everything worse for everyone here. But why would they care? It's not like they have to deal with the consequences, cause unlike most of us here - they get to fuck off as soon as things go bad.

And you know what? No. You can't know shit about what's going on here from watching the news for a couple of minutes or read one post on Instagram. SHIT HERE IS COMPLICATED. Want to know what the hell is going on? You need to actually engage. To read a lot, to hear a lot, to TRY to understand.

If we know all the shit on Hillery Clinton you can read a bit on Hammas and Benjamin Netanyahu before forming an opinion. (Hint: All sides are awful for local people living here & as human beings). But just repeating something you heard on some podcast 300 times on social media doesn't make you look smart. As least not to me.

Everything here is difficult. But this is my home. I just hope other people will stop setting it on fire because of their arrogance and ignorance.

#middle east #israel #palestine #western #western media #bullshit #war #local #rage #rant

[sapphos-darlings]

Who wants to talk about gender? Apparently everybody. That topic hasn't lost its shine in several years now. But who wants to talk about detransitioning? No one. So I will, again, with no memory whatsoever of what I spoke of the last time I opened my mouth about it.

It's been a couple years now since I dropped the label of trans man and started living as a woman, and it's been just about the easiest thing to do, which would have surprised the me that I was at 27 when I had to quit testosterone for the last time due to the health consequences I was getting from it. I was so worried about having to detransition - and I didn't even want to, but it was a what if in my mind, a scary thing that I felt might be inevitable for me, but having been "living" as a trans man for a decade and on hormones for half that time, it also felt insurmountable, the amount of things that I couldn't change anymore too large.

In reality, turns out that detransition, in my case, meant putting my energy into the things that actually benefited me. Transition just wasn't going my way in just about every way: the only place where I was successful was within my friend group, and in the sense that my family was accepting. They didn't always use the right pronouns, but at least they respected me and understood to the degree to which I could expect them to - my friends, on the other hand, have had much more difficulty adjusting to me now living as a woman than anything. The most complicated situations I've so far ran into with detransition are extremely minor, in comparison to the hell I was living through as a trans man - firstly, I sometimes have issues getting my parcels out of the mail service, because they need the signature and ID of the person who ordered them. Who is me, except they don't expect me to have the name that I do, because what they see is a woman, and who they expect is a man. Another is that, quite recently, an online friend of mine was introducing me to another friend of his, a man who is very straight, and had a whole sequence of apologising over difficulties with pronouns and identities, because it's all so very new to him. I realised later that he'd thought I was a trans woman, and that's why he was so flustered about my pronouns. We didn't even talk over voice chat - this was all in text. This same friend who made the introduction has defaulted to simply using the singular they as my pronoun, which is moderately aggravating, as I don't identify as nonbinary and don't use they as a singular pronoun. Minor inconveniences, but annoying.

Comparing this to the daily worry about passing, having to fuss over how many layers of clothes I would wear in order to hide my body, not being able to go outside during summer solely because there was no clothes that I could do so in, being afraid of questions, having my private life poked by strangers, breathing in my binder, introducing myself to new people, navigating the constant concern over how to express my identity, how they might take it, would it be awkward - now, I just walk out of the door in whatever outfit I may be in and that's the end of it. I have so much more energy and so little anxiety in comparison. It's wonderful.

There's the other side to this, too. My partner was distraught when I shaved my whiskers and my curly neck hair for the trip to the capital. I've come to realise that in this relationship, I'm thoroughly respected and loved for the creature that I am, with the sex characteristics that I have, and with the fluctuating presentation that I come with. Breasts are soft and nice to lay on, to hold; facial hair is fun to brush one's nose through, to kiss, to twirl around one's fingers. My partner found my first white hairs amongst there, too. There's no conflict there for them or for me; my body, with its characteristics, with its different voices used in different situation, are simply parts of me that are lovely to them. I feel at ease there and it very much brings together the way I feel about myself now in general, as I no longer have those issues with my body that I had before. I'm fine being the shape and size that I am. I'm fine having the vocal range that I have. I like the hair I'm growing, whether it be typical or atypical from a biological perspective.

There's a prevalent understanding of detransition as a second transition, where one goes from one sex to another and returns to the previous one, struggling to undo the "damage" this first transition caused. This isn't my experience at all. I spent a decade of my life desperately trying to pass as a man - I have zero interest in doing the same in reverse. What I wanted, through all of this, was to simply feel okay to be what I am, internally and externally. There are hundreds of factors at play in how I became what I am now, but I truly, finally, feel like I'm in a good place with all of that. I don't feel much inner conflict between my body and my view of what it should be, and I've stopped worrying about what it could be, because things that could be are infinite and things that are are very finite. It's so much nicer to not be pushing against reality every day, to wear a costume because the possibility of being discovered or undone by people I cannot predict is simply too horrifying to consider. It's amazing not to have to fear speaking, because I'll make people around me embarrassed and cause them to apologise over and over again, causing a never-ending awkwardness by simply existing, because they didn't read me right the first time. I've never hated anything quite as much as causing a scene, and I've finally stopped causing scenes by simply existing. And yet, I retain the things that made me feel more comfortable in my skin. Further, I am still loved and still accepted by the people who matter - among them a partner who is just as excited about the ways I don't fit into the model of a woman as they are about the ways that I do.

It's just nice to finally be comfortable and feel like I belong among other people, instead of being a ceaseless observer and judge of my own performance in a role I don't even want to be playing.

#detransition #no plot no point #mod sade

[msmargaretmurry]

"when summer" - Quinn/Brady

this is a futurefic. are u surprised.

technically, it is a futurefic spin on the new classic genre of "hughes bros lakehouse shenanigans." it is set like a decade in the future. brady and quinn are still close, they still call each other best friends, but they have had these whole adult lives mostly apart from each other: brady captaining ottawa into a force to be reckoned with in the east; quinn captaining vancouver to more middling success in the west. (quinn still isn't sure if staying was the right decision — he still gets jealous, sometimes, of jack and luke together in new jersey, without him — but he mostly doesn't regret it. he stayed and accepted the c because he wasn't sure he trusted anyone else to look after his teammates the way they should be looked after, and he still feels that way, even as age has started to wear him down.) brady got married. (quinn was there, obviously.) brady had a kid. (quinn mostly knows the kid through facetime.) brady got divorced. (quinn wasn't there, and it was several years ago now, but he still feels guilty for not being there.) the once-daily texting and weekly facetimes have long since become more sporadic; they get dinner every time they play each other, hang out when they're at nhl events together, but it's a rare occasion that they see each other away from hockey. it's been a few years since that happened at this point.

and then jack and quinn decide to sell the lakehouse. for non-dramatic reasons that i don't feel like figuring out; maybe they just found a place they like better, and something something property values, whatever. but they're selling. it's kind of bittersweet — they grew up in that house almost as much as they grew up in their parents' house, in a way, spending the past ten summers there as they turned from kids who thought they were so grown up into real adults. brady gets his kid for most of the summer, since he's so busy during the season, and he's telling quinn on the phone about how stir-crazy he's gonna go for the two weeks his ex-wife has the kid in early august, so quinn says, hey, why don't you come up here? help me pack, say goodbye to the lakehouse with me. i'll put you to work, keep you distracted.

ten years, and brady's never actually made it out to the lakehouse before. it feels weird, having a place in quinn's life that brady hasn't touched, but then it also feels weird when he gets there. he's out of place. quinn can't figure out why. they're still the same as they ever were, laughing and bickering and needling each other, wrestling over the tv remote, falling into companionable silences. but it's different. quinn can't put his finger on what.

it's a particularly hot summer that year. the humidity is thick, heavy. heavier than it's been in all of quinn's michigan summers. brady helps him sort through all the junk that's accumulated in the garage — keep, donate, toss — his t-shirt sticking to him in dark, sweaty patches. quinn has spent half his life not looking, and he shouldn't start now.

quinn never did settle down. well. he hates putting it like that; he feels plenty settled. he never found a partner. never committed to a long-term romantic relationship. he doesn't think there's anything particularly sad about it, like some people seem to. he has all the things that are most important to him. packing up the house with brady, though, he gets a little lost imagining that this is almost what it would feel like. someone with him doing the quiet, annoying, domestic tasks that it takes to keep life moving along. it's not the first time he's put thought he'd like to have brady like that, but it is the first time in years. he's spent the last decade not thinking that, and he shouldn't start again now.

except it's brady who kisses him, sitting out on the dock at sunset, two beers in, their feet dangling above the water. it's romantic as hell, except then brady sticks a hand down quinn's shorts, which is not romantic, but quinn's not complaining. he doesn't really care about romance anyway. they spend a lot of the rest of the time they should be packing having sex all over the lakehouse, and quinn keeps thinking maybe it's a good thing they're selling the place, so when he and brady snap out of this weird hot summer daze, he won't have to relive it every off-season.

but they are adults now, so instead of leaving things hanging and hurting each other, they actually do have the long hard conversation about what brady wants and what quinn wants and how they can fit those things into their lives, with teams on opposite sides of the continent, with a kid involved, with such different needs when it comes to relationships like this. but they'll figure it out.

#ask #writing meme #brady and quinn #why did this get so long lmao #they are NOT all gonna be this long #however i did just fully incept myself into wanting like 20k about demiromantic quinn and deeply romantic brady #figuring out how to make it work #hockey for ts

[rizaposting]

10 5 good things/things I'm proud of this year

Thank you to @aicasey for tagging me! ;w; I shortened it to 5 because hhhuuuuuuu it's been a year lmao

I successfully moved out of my apartment on my own. With the exception of one of my friends coming to help me move boxes down the stairs to a uhaul box for a few hours, I was completely on my own to plan, decide what I was going to do with my stuff, pack everything up, clean, get a permit, and all the other shlock that accompanies moving. It was extremely annoying and stressful but I did it! And I somehow got my full security deposit back so hell yeah.

Hot! Girl! Summer!!! Which is what me and my dear friends call it when I drive down to see them (regardless of gender or the time of year). We got together three times this past year! Which is great because we lived at minimum 4 hours apart but after I moved I DID drive 8 hours to see them so we could have Hot Girl Halloween and watch the FNAF movie together. I love them both so much :] I love them so much I would brave the Jersey Turnpike for them, even.

Over the summer I got into Berserk. I started by watching the 97 anime and was so enthralled that I read all 373 chapters that were available at the time in two weeks. I'd never had two hyperfixations at the same time before (FMA and Berserk) and I think it accelerated the speed at which my cells die. Berserk is currently on a kind of hiatus due to the circumstances of its production, so the hyperfixation has died down a lot, but I still cry and wail about Casca whenever I think of her on a regular basis, I love her so much. I've never binged through something so long in such a short period of time before hahaha.

Earlier this year, my beloved dnd group finished our first campaign! We started in ~February 2019 and ended ~Feb/March 2023 so it was almost exactly four years. It's the first long campaign I've ever finished, and it was so emotional and fulfilling and I LOVE those characters and the world so much!!! My character was Osirah Dirncath, a dragonborn paladin shunned from her templar order and exiled to what she was told was a war-torn wasteland, only to find out she'd been fed propaganda her whole life and the world outside her home was indeed thriving and beautiful and worth saving. She was a slippery lesbian lizard with crippling Catholic guilt who stayed kind and hopeful no matter what. She had to sacrifice her own patron god to kill The Devil, From Bible. She fell in love with our group's monk, Compassion, and in the epilogue they get married and have a baby together named "Mercy".

Maybe it's a bit of a cop out BUT my last one is going to be: producing more insane Rizaposting content (and art and writing!) and reaching out to other people who have similar brainworms. I had been putting off getting back onto tumblr, but it has been so neat getting to talk to more people. I'm always so self-conscious about things so it's nice to just... embrace being weird and silly and unwell, and just have fun with my creative endeavors. I'm looking forward to talking to more people and drawing more and writing more and posting more riza-ramblings in the new year. Gotta feed them leeches, babygirl!

This year was rather uneventful but still hard for me, mentally. It's nice to try to pull some positives from it haha. I'm not even going to say anything that could possibly jinx 2024, so all I'll say is that I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year's. We never do anything special, so I'll just be vibing with a cheap bottle of fruit wine.

I'm a bit late getting around to this, so I don't want to tag anyone and have them feel obligated to do anything last minute. If you've read this far and want to do it, I'm officially tagging you!!!

#crystal convos #tag meme #happy new year everyone thank you all for being so kind to me :]

[valleyfthdolls]

Ohh for a drabble, maybe one for the fnaf movie universe where the golden freddy kid (calling him Cassidy) and mike actually start to bond with each other, and Cass slowly opens up to Mike too, and gets a tad bit more friendly with Mike.

The building is cold. Even in the middle of summer, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria always manages to carry a frigid air. Michael Schmidt pulls his unzipped hoodie closer around his chest and huffs.

He's here for something. Again. He can't seem to tear himself away. Something exists within these walls. Not something that he wants, but something that wants him.

He's seen that little blonde boy again when he closes his eyes. That blonde boy he knows near nothing about. That boy who never explained himself to him. First he wanted Abby.

Now he wants Mike.

"Hey," Mike calls. "Uh, li... little boy?"

He has no idea how to address the kid. Christ. He sounds like a damn idiot.

"Hey, kid, I'm here," He says again, trying to sound less like an idiot than he feels. "You wanted to see me?"

A wail of pain echoes through the dilapidated halls. Something tells Mike it's not the voice of a child.

"Y- you wanted to see me," Mike repeats. His voice wavers with fear, and he clears his throat. "You wanted to see me. Didn't you? That's why you kept appearing in my dreams. Well, I-I'm here now."

The boy is shaking when he sees him. Fists clenched, jaw tight, he stares at Mike, trembling with suppressed tension, and his glare is piercing, violent. Mike prepares himself to run.

And yet, surprisingly, when he takes a step forward, the little boy flinches like he's the one in danger. He scurries back, positioning himself defensively.

"Woah, hey." Mike raises a hand. "I'm not gonna hurt you. You brought me here, and I need you to tell me why, okay?"

The boy scans him unsurely, then relaxes his stance.

Mike takes another step toward him, and then the boy sprints away.

"Come on, you-!" Mike huffs, not even sure what else to say, and begins to run after him.

For a second, he convinces himself he's dreaming. It's another version of the dream of Garret and Vanessa's father, the children's thoughts infiltrating his subconscious again. He'll run after the boy, and then he'll lose his footing somehow and be left back in reality with no idea what it means.

He does lose his footing when the boy comes to an abrupt stop, but surprisingly, manages to catch himself. The ice-cold wall is a good reminder that none of this is imaginary.

The door to the back room is open. The room that hosts that creepy Ella doll- the one that almost killed Abby. He still doesn’t understand how the kids could think this fate was worth condemning a friend to because they loved her.

Inside the room is the yellow rabbit suit. It twitches.

“This is…” Mike can’t even find words. It’s his brother’s murderer. Vanessa’s abusive father. The man who put all of these kids through this hell.

“He’s not dead,” The boy hisses.

“Huh?”

“He’s not. Dead.” He glares, annoyed. “Can’t you hear, dummy? He’s alive. Hit him. He’ll scream.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” The boy insists. “Hit him. He’ll feel it.”

Mike scans the room. He totally could. That man killed Garrett. Nearly took both of his sisters. Destroyed the lives of all of these children. And he got away with it for so fucking long. So long that Mike spent thirteen years reliving that moment desperately trying to understand his crime.

Mike could hit him- jam the broken broom into his stomach and hear him scream. Just like he had when he entered. That was… him, screaming in pain.

Instead, he turns away. Escapes. Runs. He's back in the dining area by the time the boy appears again.

“Have you just been… torturing him this whole time?” Mike asks.

“He deserves it,” The boy retorts. “He killed your brother. He destroyed everything.”

Mike scans the boy.

“Why are you still here? Isn’t it time to move on like your friends did?”

“They don’t get it,” He says finally. “They let themselves forget what they had. But you didn’t. So why do you want to move on anyway?”

Mike's eyes are still trained on him. This kid... scares the shit out of him. But he's a kid, and he's suffering. Mike owes him a little decency.

"Because there are things waiting for us if we move on."

"Maybe for you. You still have Abby. You have his daughter. But I have nothing. And I had a family too, you know." The kid scowls. "All of us did. So he should be punished."

Mike's gaze softens.

God, he wants to punish that man. He wants to tear into him. Make him fucking suffer for what he did to Garrett. But none of it will bring his brother back. He focuses on the child in front of him.

"Why are you showing me this?" He asks gently.

"Because I know you understand."

#fnaf movie #fnaf cassidy #mike schmidt #five nights at freddy's #fnaf fanfic #drabbles #writing requests #fic request #anonymous #~800 words #i was gonna have him tell mike his name in this fic which is why he's just 'the boy' sorry abt that