#man people at school next year are gonna be so shocked when they see me and i am here for it

[steddieas-shegoes]

love confessions in line

Another stupid little thing because I’m in the car and bored. It’s not edited or really anything much beyond just putting these boys in love in situations.

Rated t | tags: love confessions, established relationship, robin being so fed up with them

————————

“Why do we have to be here so early? My dinner hasn’t even digested properly yet,” Robin complained.

And, okay. It was cold and there were a lot of people standing in line outside of the only Walmart carrying the very specific guitar amp Eddie wanted. He’d called every Walmart in Indiana. Multiple times.

But he had to go all out for Christmas this year. Eddie had already said he’d gotten Steve something he’ll never outdo, never even believe. Obviously, that meant Steve had to do better than the Metallica hoodie that was stashed in his closet for the last four months.

“It’ll be worth it. There’s hardly anyone in line ahead of us and if we go straight to the electronics in the back—“

“You mean where everyone is going?” Robin interrupted, folding her arms across her chest.

Steve sighed.

“Yeah, well. I’ll run. It’ll be fine. I doubt anyone else here is interested in a guitar amp.”

As if the words ‘guitar amp’ were magic, someone who looked a lot like Eddie walked up to one of the security officers standing by the front doors.

Robin noticed at the same time as him.

“Is that…?”

“It can’t be. He said he was going fishing with Wayne in the morning and didn’t wanna end up stuck in crowds shopping,” Steve said.

But then the man turned back to the line.

“Steve?” Eddie yelled, eyes going wide when he realized Steve and Robin were there.

“Uh.”

“Um.”

“I thought you guys were going to Indy for this!” Eddie smiled as he walked up to them. “I don’t think this store will have what you’re lookin’ for.”

Steve panicked. There’s only one thing Eddie could be here for. He could go anywhere else. He could have stayed in Hawkins for that matter.

“Uh. Just wanted a change of scenery.”

Eddie’s brows furrowed as his smile fell slightly.

“O…kay. Well, I’ve got an amp to buy so I guess we’re all in this together now.”

Steve ignored Robin’s snort and mumbling.

Eddie glanced over at her with a questioning face.

“You two are unbelievable. Truly.”

“What? Why?” Eddie asked, genuinely curious.

His finger traced along the back of Steve’s hand subtly, out of sight of the people behind them in line.

“I.” Steve sighed.

Oh well. Maybe he could just try to get concert tickets the next time Ozzy came to Chicago.

“I was gonna get the amp for you for Christmas. I’ve been planning it for weeks,” Steve said, looking down at the ground.

Eddie was surprisingly quiet.

Absolutely no response.

After a full minute, Steve made eye contact with him.

He had tears building in his eyes and Steve felt himself start to tear up, too.

“You were?” Eddie choked out. “But this is-“

“The only place selling it on sale in the state, yeah.”

Robin was grumbling to herself again, but neither of them were paying attention anymore.

“How did you even know?” Eddie asked after a deep, calming breath.

“You mentioned it last month after a gig. Said you needed a new one anyways and this was top of the line or something. That a lot of the bands you like were switching to this kind for studio recording or whatever because of the…crisp? Sound? And then when no one else was selling it at all, I had to call around the Walmarts to see who had it on sale because $300 is a lot of money, Eds, and I wish I could afford that, but I don’t really have that lying around after paying for school and rent so when this place finally said they’d have it for $100, I made Robin promise to come with me since you’d be busy. And I guess you’re not that busy, but. I needed to do my best to get it.”

Eddie’s smile grew the longer Steve rambled. Robin was already walking away, probably back to Steve’s car, halfway through his speech.

“I love you.”

Steve’s jaw dropped in shock.

They’d been saying it in every way except this way for months, nearly a year, really.

It started as Steve taking care of Eddie when everyone else was busy taking care of the Upside Down.

It kept going as Steve was the one listening to Eddie slowly pick the guitar back up, working through the crying about his fingers not working right or his arm getting tired too quickly.

And then five months ago, Steve kissed him.

Took the plunge and kissed him.

They’d done everything together since. They’d become boyfriends. They came out to their group, together, always together.

And now, in a Walmart parking lot during the busiest shopping day of the year, Eddie was telling Steve he loved him.

“Because of the amp?” Steve asked, hesitant.

Eddie knew what he was really asking.

Because I’m buying you something nice?

“No, sweetheart. Because you listen to me. You know what makes me happy. You’re doing something for me that no one else would have even bothered to try to do.” Eddie laughed. “I have never wanted to kiss you as much as I want to right now.”

“Not even that time I wore a crop top and your boxers?”

Eddie groaned. “That was an outlier. You know how that affected me.”

“Oh, I sure do,” Steve smirked. “Too bad we’re in public.”

“The doors open in an hour right?” Eddie asked, checking his watch.

“Yep.”

“And then you have to take Robin to her parent’s house?”

“Probably should.”

“And then what?” Eddie asked, already knowing exactly what.

“And then I’ll come to the trailer and I’ll walk right to your room and hopefully-“ Steve cut himself off to whisper the next part. “You’ll be naked.”

Eddie’s brows raised. “You want me naked? What about Wayne being home?”

“Wayne’s been sleeping with ear plugs for months now. Can’t hear a thing,” Steve pats Eddie’s blushing cheek. “Said he didn’t need to hear what his nephew got up to.”

“We really should just move my stuff into your new place,” Eddie suggested for the fifth time in as many days.

Steve wasn’t opposed at all.

In fact, he’d planned on asking him to move in once he got more settled.

But.

“Wayne wanted another Christmas with you at home, baby. He won’t say it, but when I brought up you moving in with me, I thought he was actually gonna cry.”

“Yeah, yeah. With this new amp, he’ll change his mind.”

“What makes you think you get this amp before Christmas?” Steve put his hands on his hips.

“Because now I know you’re getting it!”

“Uh-huh. And it’s getting wrapped with your other gift to be opened on Christmas morning. No early gifts on my watch.”

“Steeeeeeve. Please! I could use it at our show next week!”

Steve shook his head. “Your amp works fine. Christmas is only a month from now.”

“You’re getting revenge on me,” Eddie pouted.

“Revenge for what?” Steve snorted.

“You know what.”

Steve did. He felt his cheeks and neck heat up with a blush.

“Fine. Yes. Maybe it’s a little bit revenge.”

Eddie huffed, but didn’t argue further.

“You know I love you, too, right?” Steve whispered.

And Eddie forgot about everything else except the way Steve was looking at him, like he needed Eddie to understand how much he loved him.

“Yeah, sweetheart. I do.”

———————

Three days later, Steve set the amp up in the second bedroom of his rented house.

When Eddie came over, he pushed him into the room and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“You can play it here, but I’m still wrapping it up for Christmas and you aren’t allowed to bring it to shows until after. Okay?”

Eddie was bouncing on his toes and squeezing Steve’s hands so hard he was losing feeling.

“Okay! Thank you, thank you! I love you! Thank you!”

Eddie smacked a kiss on Steve’s cheek before pulling away and running to the amp.

“You need your guitar, honey,” Steve laughed.

“Right!” Eddie ran from the room to grab his guitar from his van.

Steve shook his head, but couldn’t help his fond smile as the front door banged open.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #drabble #Black Friday is a curse but if you think I’m not gonna write these idiots in the situation #robin buckley

[stars4gojo]

Invisible string

Dad!Gojo x Fem!reader // Young Megumi and Tsumiki mentioned at the end // fluff angst if you squint, found family trope // 1k words

(Not proofread pls don’t kill me for any spelling or grammar mistakes)

Megumi is yet again in another fight but refuses to open up about this one leaving you and Gojo confused and worried

One single thread of gold tied me to you

More of my work 🤍

You’re sitting in the teachers lounge at Jujutsu high alongside Shoko, who’s drinking her daily dose of caffeine while you go through your paperwork.

You pay no mind when Gojo flops on the couch next to you whining loudly to grab your attention. 

You ignore it the first time, you let it slide the second but now it’s the third time and you’re slowly losing your patience.

“You’re just really gonna leave me hanging like this?” Gojo asks raising his blindfold from one eye so he can see you clearly. 

You let out a deep sigh as you turn towards him giving him a deadpanned look. 

“I’m busy right now Satoru.” You replied as you went back to finishing up paperwork. 

“Too busy for me? Your strong, beautiful, handsome boyfriend?” Gojo asked and you could almost hear the pout forming on his lips. 

Shoko let out a little chuckle, “You sure he’s good mopping around like that?” She asked in amusement.

“Let him be, he’s probably gonna complain about Megumi again.” You replied as if you were used to his antics.

“Megumi..?” Shoko questioned as she pondered to herself you just shook your head in response with a smile tugging on your lips at your friend’s forgetfulness. 

“Ah! The Zenin child?” Shoko asked as she snapped her fingers and you only hummed in response.

“So Gojo what about the Zenin?” Shoko asked now turning her attention towards your sulky man child. 

“Well I’m glad you asked Shoko, unlike some people here.” Gojo replied, suddenly energetic - putting emphasis on the word some. 

“He has a great technique and potential but he’s just, so ugh what’s the word for it..” Gojo started as he thought about his word choices.

“Satoru if you’re here to complain to us about how you’re getting bullied by a 7 year old we don’t wanna hear about it.” You replied while a little chuckle escaped your mouth.

Gojo squinted his eyes at you as he continued, “Well you wouldn’t know how it feels! Cause as soon as you’re there he’s all rainbows and unicorns and suddenly wants to eat all of his vegetables and wants to brush his teeth on time.” He rolled his eyes.

You got up from your seat making way to the couch, holding his face in your hands.

“I’m sorry Toru.” You said as his eyes lit up. “Is there anything I can help with?” You added.

“You two make me sick” Shoko spoke under her breath as she got up making her way out of the room. 

“Megumi got in a fight again in school and he’s refusing to do any training today.” Gojo said with a sigh.

“He got into another WHAT?” Satoru i told you to contact me when this happens. Did you get called into school? God please help me if you told him to use cursed energy when he gets into fight again because I will NOT be holding back.” You spoke fast, clearly distressed.

“Relax y/n I spoke to the teacher and I did not tell him to tuck his thumb this time or use cursed energy.” He said and you could only sign in relief. 

“It’s just that he…he’s not sharing why he fought in the first place.” Gojo started speaking as his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

“Well usually, he says that they were bullies but this time his mouth his shut couldn’t even get him to open up during a froyo session.” Gojo added.

“So please just talk to him? You always seem to know what to say and he likes you more anyways.” Gojo asked and your heart melted a little at his sincerity. 

“Ok, I’ll pick him up from school tomorrow and I’ll speak to him. You don’t worry about it you big baby.” You replied as you pinched his cheeks. 

So, this is how you found yourself picking up Megumi from school and he was more than shocked to see you waving at exactly pickup time - Gojo almost always runs late or sends Ijichi to pick him up instead.

“Hi Megumi how was school.” You asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

“You’re not at work today?” Megumi asked as he put his eyebrows up in question.

“Well I wanted to talk to you Megumi, why’d you get into a fight yesterday hm?” You asked softly, being extra cautious.

“I told him not to tell you, I knew you’d be mad.” Megumi huffed out.

“Mad? Gumi I’m not mad at all i just wanna know why it happened so I can help you.” You replied looking at him through the rear-view mirror. 

“Well they were saying mean things.” He huffed again folding his arms to his chest. 

“Were they saying mean things to someone else? Or was it about you Megumi? You need to tell me so I can help you.” You asked gently.

“It was nothing you need to worry about.” Megumi harshly spoke back and you could only frown in response.

“I won’t be mad.” You added.

“They said mean things about me.” He replied after a minute of silence.

“What did they say Megumi?” You asked again.

“They said I don’t have a real dad or mom and that their moms tell them to not hang out with me cause you and Gojo are weird.” He said avoiding eye contact, embarrassed about getting worked up over something like this.

You gave him a tight lipped smile in response, not knowing where to start.

“You don’t have say anything I don’t have a mom or dad but it’s okay cause I’ve got you guys.” He said, almost murmuring as a light blush formed on his already rosy cheeks.

“You’re right Megumi, you don’t have a mom or dad but you have me and Gojo. You know we love you and Tsumiki a lot so next time someone says anything about you or our family you go straight to a teacher or tell me or Gojo and we will figure it out hm?” You asked turning around for a second to give him a reassuring smile as he nodded in response.

“Right, you do know that you owe Satoru an apology for yesterday? Skipping out on lessons and being mean to him.” You questioned while raising one eyebrow.

“Yeah yeah I’ll do that.” He spoke putting his head down in shame as you could only giggle.

To be fair those parents were not wrong, Gojo definitely gave everyone the wrong impression from his immature humour and Megumi’s dad did walk out on him but, that’s okay because your little, slightly dysfunctional family is now his home and forever. 

#gojo satoru #gojo x reader #gojo x you #gojo satoru x reader #gojou satoru x reader #gojo saturo #jjk gojo #jjk fluff #jjk headcanons #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #megumi fushiguro #megumi x reader #jujustu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen scenarios #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen icons #jujutsu kaisen incorrect quotes #jjk imagines #jjk scenarios #gojo scenario #gojo imagine #gojo icons

[thegreatstoryteller]

The Great Shift: Reunion

The Great Shift is a well known event that had swapped over 90% of the world’s population! However, after the initial fallout and chaos, a few years later people began to acclimate to their lives. Though there were still moments where people were confronted with just how much they’ve changed.

“Ok Ned Nuno. No one is gonna remember you as Ned the know it all. It’s been years. People are mature and have their own lives.” Ned said to himself in the mirror. 

The young man looked back at his model like reflection. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe it was him. Only a few years ago he was looking at his own bespectacled face with his receding hairline. Sure he’s what some would call cute and charming. He always had a knack for intelligent conversation. After college he embraced his intelligence even more and had the luxury to travel as he got older... but he couldn’t deny that his former body wasn’t turning any heads romantically. They’d haver to notice the 5 foot tall waifish man for that to happen. 

But now... that was no longer the case. All those years ago he was traveling at an airport when the Great Shift happened. One moment he was departing his plane, the next he was in a boarding area waiting to be seated!

Needless to say it was a shock. He’d gone from a smaller and dark skinned to a clearly white and very in shape young man! He later found that this guy was named Connor Duval and was  just 21 years old at the time! Still in college too. And... well those first few days he certainly had a lot to learn about his new form. 

However he couldn’t reminisce any further. He needed to get ready for his school’s 10 year reunion. He wasn’t the same timid nerd that people would pick on. He was braver! He’d seen the world! And wasn’t afraid!

- One ride to the school later -

“Ok. I’m afraid! Jackie! Are you here yet? I know this is the 2nd message I left for you on your phone, but I don’t want to be the only one here I know! You were always my best friend and I’m sorry I’m so nervous and-” Ned was pacing nervously outside of the building he once learned at, waiting to go in with his friend.

“Easy there poindexter. Your bestie is back.” A deep voice says spooking  Ned as he jumps.

“J-Jackie?” Ned asks nervously seeing the towering muscular figure beside him.

“In the flesh. I though I told you that I shifted into that big Ukrainian construction worker? I mean all the better for it right? None of your old bullies ever messed with you when you butch lesbian bestie was at your side.” Jackie said with a flex.

“I know. I know. You were always so open and brave with yourself It’s honestly inspiring. I’m sorry i was so shocked. I’m just nervous and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. I hope your girlfriend is taking it ok.” Ned offers sympathetically.

“Yeah she loves it. She swapped into this bi goddess of a woman and works out with me a lot. Good thing too! I’m still only attracted to women and I have the best one sucking me off every night!” Jackie bragged. Previously her normal crude humor always let out a laugh from Ned, but now Ned trembled a bit as Jackie sounded just like those macho straight guys that bullied him.

“Aren’t you a little under dressed without um... a shirt?” Ned asks.

“Ha! Well you know. I thought about going nude. But I did pack a polo so i can be decent. Aren’t you over dressed Ned?”

“What!? I  couldn’t decide what to wear! I just chose one of my body’s outfits that still fits...” Ned blushes in his nice suit. Sure he was a 6 foot tall model with abs, but his indecision in outfits was ever present.

“Neverminded that anymore. Let’s get in there! You’re a tenured professor for Pete’s sake. And I’m a well known LGBT author. We got a lot to talk about.”

Jackie pulled Ned in with his surprising strength and they began to hear the music and mingling. Inside they were given name tags and soon saw the crowds of people that none of them recognized! One of the perks of the shift was that no one was ever mad when they didn’t recognize one another. In this case though Jackie and Ned’s eyes zeroed in on a few key people.

Stacy Skarsgaard was always known as the head cheerleader and total B. Her platinum blond hair and perky breasts getting her through life and landing her a cushy secretary job somewhere in the city, from what Jackie had heard. Now once again, as she was so many other times, she was blasted drunk and taking her top off. Only this time it revealed a powerful dark skinned chest with curly black hairs. Her perfectly shaved face saying, “And like. I”m already on my 4th husband and he totally worships me. Takes care of the kids and still tops me like a champ. Like. I totally see why gay guys do it all the time. I can’t stop. Any more martinis?”

Jackie snorts. “Where was that open mindedness when she tried to get student council to take down the LGBT Support Club? Freaking hypocrite. Their eyes then drifted to three men chest bumping and laughing.

“Are those guys Chad, Thad, and Grad?” Ned asks surprised. “Weren’t they... like the biggest guys on the football team?” Ned recalled the days when those beefy fat bodies would pound through the halls and shove him against lockers.

“Oh yeah. I heard they were working as assistant coaches at some college and ended up swapping with their respective school’s freshman swim team. They... certainly lost a lot of that freshmen 15 that we saw them with in university.” Jackie laughed admiring how they both towered over their former bullies, though Ned once again felt insecure about how much their abs looked better than his. Those three guys kept messing around but in different ways. Instead of belching and arm wrestling they were doing some handstands and showing how flexible they were. 

“Ok. Ned. Stop sulking and start catching up. You wanted to prove to yourself you could stand up to your past. Now is your chance. Next person to walk through that door is gonna be a new person you have to say Hi to ok?” Jackie commanded.

Ned gulped and looked at the door nervously and was in awe of who stepped in.

“Paul Bailey?” Ned said astonished. He’d recognize that familiar leather jacket anywhere.... he could still smell it as the closeted athlete wrapped his arms around him all those years ago under the bleachers after a big game. Neither have them had mentioned the night since, but that hadn’t stopped Ned from cherishing that memory.... as well as stalking him occasionally on social media seeing who he swapped with. 

Ned hadn’t realized he’d been staring that long as Paul immediately saw him and walked over. “Holy... Ned? Is that you. Wow you sure changed.” The man joked. His voice was different... but still so deep and smooth Ned nearly swooned.

“H-hey Paul. Guess we all have since the switch. You’re um... looking good.” Ned admitted, blushing. He missed his previous heritage that made these embarrassing actions less noticeable with his former darker skin. 

“Thanks. I guess I traded in my older pasty body for a new more bronze kind. I wasn’t expecting to swap with an Asian bodybuilder, but hey I was at the airport. Right or wrong place depending who you ask for the shift.” 

“Really? I was at the airport too when I shifted. It was kinda funny. I’d been traveling a lot since I got tenure as a professor, but the first thing I did when I shifted was trip. I guess no amount of travelling prepares you for suddenly having size 14 feet.” Ned laughs.

“Really? They do look big... dang. Those are like twice the size of your old ones.” Paul laughs too!

“Y-you remembered me that well?” The nerd felt touched.

“Of course,” Paul replied as it was his turn to blush. “Though hey! I got you beat with these size 17 wide feet. With these heavy muscle I nearly took out an entire cart of luggage.”

The two continued to laugh, comparing bodies, stories, and catching up. Jackie suddenly took her leave to be ogled by all of the female attendants.

Ned and Paul were having a great time walking around, having fun, and enjoying each other’s company.

Ned didn’t know that their bodies had met previously. That Connor was on the way to visit his boyfriend at the time... that miles away their original bodies were holding hands and laughing too... Ned couldn’t know that Paul had also been secretly keeping up with Ned after feeling bad about kissing and never calling...

But there are some things a know it all doesn’t know. Maybe it’ll be fun for him to start learning again. This time with someone both old/new.

#body swap #thegreatshift #The Great Shift #Great Shift #thegreatstoryteller #race change #racial change #height change #gender change #female to male

[introspectivememories]

at the center of gotham, lies its oldest public hospital — gotham general. it’s staff are kind and compassionate, if a little intolerant of bullshit. the city may not care about the crimes that occur in it but the people certainly do. gotham’s emergency services are renowned throughout the nation as one of the best. 

the ER nurses at gotham general love to gossip and their latest is about how their ever-reliable EMT bernard dowd, who'll rush into burning buildings if he thinks he can save one more person, who smiles so brightly and brings them cupcakes on his days off but has such sad eyes, seems so lonely. they determinedly decide to find a date for him. maybe dr. zacharia thomas, their latest trauma surgeon? yes, yes! he's only a few years older, bernard knows him, they get along, and most importantly, he's got a stable job. he'll be perfect for their bernard!

and then, literally only days after they decide to set up dr. zacharia and bernard on a date, head trauma nurse marissa santos comes running in with a copy of gotham daily, clutched in her hand.

"look! look! nakita mo ba ang balita?" she whisper-yells, "did you see the news?!"

instantly they're all crowding around her, trying to see the paper. covering the front page is a blurry photo of a black-haired man engaged in a passionate game of tonsil-hockey with someone who is unmistakably their youngest EMT. he's still wearing his uniform for christ's sake! in the largest font known to man, "WAYNE'S NEW PARAMOUR?" is written at the top.

"he's dating the wayne ceo!" marissa gushes excitedly.

"isn't he a little too old for bernard?" someone pipes up from the back.

"not the father, you idiot! the son! timothy!"

that's way better than their candidate. everyone is stoked. by nightfall, everyone in the ER knows that bernard dowd is dating timothy drake-wayne, the youngest ceo wayne enterprises has ever had.

when bear stops by, at around 2 in the morning, dropping of the last patient from his shift, he's immediately accosted by the nurses.

"whoa! hey!" he exclaims as they lead him to the nurse's station and sit him down in a chair, "what's going on?"

marissa slams the paper down in front of him, "spill."

bernard groans and turns cherry red, "oh my god tita. don't you guys have patients to attend to?"

"already taken care of." nurse gu says.

"what about mr. gomez, the one with third degree burns that just came in?" bernard tries desperately.

"dr. zacharia is already on it." dr. esperanza responds, "so spill."

their youngest tries one last time, "how do you even know if that's me?"

"there are like 10 blonde people in the EMT department and considering all of them are older than you and none of them seem to have the three ear piercings that kid in this picture does, we're gonna have to assume it's you." dr. farah nasim, one half of the head of the ER, says.

bernard turns on her with a betrayed look.

"sorry kid," she snorts, "also, you're still wearing your uniform in the photo. it says 'dowd' on the shoulder."

"im too old to be bossed around like this." he mutters before sighing, "alright what'd'ya want to know?"

"tell us everything!" marissa says, "how did you two meet?"

"we were friends in high school and we fell out of touch after junior year. he hit me up on insta 6 months ago and we reconnected."

"oh my god!! they're high school sweethearts!" nurse gu squeals, "that's so cute!"

"tell us more! who asked who out?"

"okay well, technically he asked me out but he didn't know he was asking me out. but we went on this date at this restaurant and it got attacked by some villain and red robin, but he was going by robin at the time, rescued. so i told robin, 'hey if i make it out of this, tell tim drake, i would've liked to finish our date'. and then, tim, shows up at my door the next day and says 'i don't know what this feeling i get when i'm near you is, but i'd like to find out'. and the rest is history."

"bernard, what the hell?" dr. esperanza says shocked, "that's the most rom-com-esque story i've ever heard."

"what?" bernard blushes, "no it's not."

"bear," esperanza says slowly, "he showed up at your door and said 'i don't know what this feeling i get when i'm near you is, but i want to find out.' that is something straight out of the notebook."

"no, no! he's such a dork!" bernard assures them frantically, "he does this thing, when he laughs too hard, he snorts and it sets him off again and it just keeps going. and you should've seen him in high school, the biggest skater boy to ever exist. he's teaching me..."

and bernard goes on and on for the next 15 minutes, trailing off only when he notices them all smiling at him.

"what?" he says shyly.

"you're in love with him, aren't you?" dr. farah says.

bernard chokes, "what?! no! ...maybe?"

everyone shares a look between each other. marissa steps forward, "well on behalf of the gotham general ER staff, i can assure you, we all approve."

"thank you?"

"bring him around sometime!" nurse gu says, "we'd all like to meet him."

"why? so you can give him the shovel talk?"

"of course!" dr. farah says, smiling widely, "he’s dating our youngest! we have to threaten him!"

bernard's voice is suspiciously wet when says a few moments later, "thanks guys."

and so on it goes for the next few months until marissa comes back after her break, deathly pale. everyone worries but she refuses to tell anyone what's wrong. and then a few weeks later, nurse gu goes on his break and comes back shocked. and then a month later, dr. zacharia comes back from a quick step outside, lips sealed shut.

and on it goes until there is one glaring truth the gotham general ER night staff cannot ignore:

bernard dowd is dating red robin. open relationship or cheating, to be determined.

a year after the news about tim drake and bernard had been released, and half a year after the, what the staff has taken to calling it, Red Robin Scandal™ began, dr. farah calls a night staff meeting.

the staff meeting is boring as usual until the end when dr. farah opens the conversation to the staff to voice their concerns.

"are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" dr. esperanza asks.

"i think bernard might be cheating on his boyfriend!" marissa blurts out before slapping her hands over her mouth, horrified.

“oh thank god.” esperanza sighs.

"wait you saw them too?" nurse gu asks.

"in the narrow walkway," dr. zacharia starts.

"between the ER and jacobson building." dr. esperanza finishes.

"exactly!" marissa says.

"i caught them in the parking lot once." dr. farah admits, mouth pressed into a grim line, "they were pressed up against the fence in the back — y'know where the light doesn't shine? — kissing each other like they'd just come back from world war 2."

"ay, how could that boy be so stupid?" marissa sighs, "getting caught up with a vigilante?"

"maybe it's like polyamory?" esperanza says, ever hopeful.

"whatever it is," farah says, "he should know better than to get involved with those people. we have to talk to him."

they pull bernard into an unused conference room, just the 5 of them, 3 weeks later.

"hey, hey!" bernard exclaims as they shove him into a chair, "what's going on?"

nobody speaks.

"guys?"

"are you cheating on tim drake?"

"what?"

"are you cheating on tim drake?" marissa repeats.

"no! why would you think that?"

"everyone on the night staff has caught you kissing red robin at least once. wanna try that again?" farah says.

bernard sighs, "is that what this is about? doc, i swear to god, i'm not cheating on tim."

"so he knows?" zacharia asks.

"yes zach, tim knows about me and red robin."

"and he's okay with it?"

"yes. tim doesn't mind me dating both of them." bernard says, a smile playing on his lips.

nobody speaks for a while.

"so..." bernard breaks the silence first, "are we good here? do you approve?"

"no." esperanza says, "we don't approve."

"what?"

"he's no good for you." nurse gu says.

"you don't even know him." bernard says incredulously.

"oh and you do?" zacharia says scathingly, "he's a vigilante bear. how much do you really know?"

"more than you zach!"

pleadingly bernard turns toward farah, "c'mon doc, you don't agree do you?"

"you know, when you first started dating tim drake, i had my reservations. rich people and all that. but i figured with all that money, if you ever got roped into rich people problems, tim's money would help out. you'd be taken care of and he clearly loves you, so i didn't mind too much."

"but this..." farah trails off, "i can't accept this."

turning towards marissa, "tita, please."

"don't do that, bear. wag kang tanga. it's not good to be with him."

"he loves me! is that not enough?" bernard near-yells, "i thought that's what you wanted. someone who loves me!"

"enough to quit being a vigilante?" esperanza asks.

"quit being a vigilante? are you guys hearing yourself?" bernard asks angrily, "he saves the city on a near-nightly basis and you want me to ask him to give it all up because what? he's dating me?"

"so let him save the city without you." nurse gu says, "why does he need to drag you into it?"

"he's not dragging me into anything! i am a full consenting adult! i chose him! what’s so different about what he and i do anyway?"

“well for one, our job is legal. and two, there are safety measures put in place so that you don’t get hurt. so that your coworkers don’t get hurt. your man walks into the joker’s lair with an inch of kevlar and a prayer on his lips.” zacharia says.

nurse gu sighs, "look. nobody here is mad at him for saving the city. everyone here knows somebody who has been saved by the bats. but the deal is that they save the city and they don't drag anybody else into it."

"the bats, whoever they are? they chose that life. for whatever reason, they chose that life and all the dangers that go with it. you’re not stupid bear, don’t get involved with whatever he has going on. pick literally anyone else.” farah says.

“you need a third person that badly? take zach! the ER was planning on setting you up with him before we found out about tim, anyway.”

“what?” zacharia says, rounding on nurse gu.

“you know what?” bernard says, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, “ i don’t have to explain myself to you guys.”

“you can’t marry him.” marissa says.

“who said anything about marriage? i’m 22!”

“you clearly love tim. you two seem like you’re going to last a while and if you love red robin they way you love tim, them somewhere along those years of being together then you’re going to start thinking of marriage. what then? how are you going to explain red robin to the people you love?”

“we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“look, bernard,” farah says gently, “we’re not doing this cause we don’t want you to be happy. you mean a lot to me, i think of you as my son. we just-”

“you’re not my mom.” bernard snaps out, “you’re not my mom, you’re not my aunt, my uncle, my brother. you guys aren’t anything to me!”

he turns and walks away.

“farah do something.” marissa hisses.

“let him go. he said he’s an adult right? then let him make his choices.”

“but,” she says, raising her voice so bernard can hear her, “if anything goes wrong, and i mean anything at all, i hope he knows that adults don’t have to do everything by themselves. that they can ask people for help.”

bernard’s hands still on the doorknob. “thank you.” he says voice rough, “nothing will happen, but thank you for the offer.” and he walks out the door.

bernard dowd, is 22 year old EMT that has too much heart and not enough brain. he’ll rush into burning buildings if he thinks he has even a minute chance of saving someone. he’s kind and he’s sweet and more importantly, he’s dating timothy drake-wayne, ceo of wayne enterprises.

if you ask the ER night staff at gotham general, after a lot of prodding, they might tell you that bernard dowd was one of the youngest EMTs to ever join the gotham county emergency medical services. they might tell you that bernard dowd has been wondering if he should become an AEMT or a paramedic. they might tell you that as the major receiver for all patients, bernard saw them all the time and imprinted on them like a baby duck. and if you’re really close they might, tell you the ER’s biggest secret: bernard dowd is dating both timothy drake-wayne and red robin. or they might just let you walk in on them making out behind the ER. whatever comes first really.

(if you get close enough to a certain group of people on the ER night staff, they’ll tell you that bernard dowd has two hands and he uses them to hold onto his boyfriends. 

they’ll tell you that tim drake is a nice boy and they’re a little worried about their bernard fitting into the circles a wayne walks in, but he’s a nice boy who clearly loves bernard, so they’re not too worried.

they’ll tell you that that red robin character is no good for their bernard and has no business getting so close to their youngest. that red robin is going to get bernard into trouble one day, the kind of trouble that you don’t come back from.

and if you get really close to them, they’ll tell you over lunch breaks and muttered whispers, that both boys are going to break their youngest’s heart. and that if they had to pick, red robin will do it first. that their bernard loves a little too deeply and that they're worried that it’ll break bernard.

but they’re not too worried, they say. because bernard has them and if that bastard red robin breaks his heart, then they’ll pick up the pieces, they’ll sew him back together if they have to. after all, bernard stitches up half of gotham every night, this is the least they could do.)

#oh my god #what the fuck is this? #literally wrote this in a fugue state #this is not proofread #this is my ugliest first draft #my dumbest version if you will #why is this 2k #anyway #nurse gu's legal name is nurse gu #esperanza is gorgeous. like drop dead gorgeous. the best damn anesthesiologist you've ever seen. the yin to zacharia's yang. #farah is the smartest woman you will ever know and can give ten backhanded compliments w/o the other person realizing #marissa santos is filipino. bc filipinos are the backbone of our nursing industry #also she will cut a bitch. gives bear a plate of lumpia every week. is the reason bear is passable in tagalog #zacharia is your everyday indian. he is my sweet boy #he would've formed a crush on bear if he thought about for more than two seconds but alas #he is married to the job #also they mean well and they do raise some serious point but bc tim is also red robin it kinda... falls flat? #tagging time #tim drake #bernard dowd #timbern #dc #what should this be called #concerned friends try to save man afflicted by love au

[mercedesvince]

Hihi I’m kinda new to requesting and I didn’t know if yours was still open or not. But you are doing the people’s work cause I can’t find x male readers anywhere 😭

Can you do a Kenny x male Reader where the reader remembers Kenny’s deaths but because no one talks about it, reader doesnt say anything

Then one night, somehow Reader bumps into Mysterion (not knowing he’s kenny) and asks him to look over Kenny to keep him from dying every day?

Thank youuu 🫶

Kenny McCormick x Male Reader

“Can You Just Watch Over Him?”

Getting out of bed had never been this hard. Your alarm had gone off nearly 20 minutes ago, you knew you were gonna have to rush to get to school, but that didn’t matter right now. You couldn’t get over it. Your best friend in the whole world, Kenny McCormick, was gone. Dead. Some aliens who had also taken Kyle’s little brother had killed him.

The snow made a small crunch sound as you took steps towards your everyday bus stop. You reached your stop, only to be met with a.. pleasant surprise? “Kenny..?” you said, shock clearly evident on your face. “What’s up dude?” he muffled out. “What- Wait wait but you—“ you couldn’t even get your words out. Were you dreaming? No way Kenny’s here. He died. He literally fully died yesterday. “Hey [name] what’s up man?” Stan said. They all continued to carry out the conversation. So casually, did they not remember? No way, Stan and Kyle had to remember, no way Cartman wouldn’t bring it up. “Hey [name], are you alright dude?” Kenny asked you, with his muffled voice. Still in a phase of shock, you looked at all of them, they were all so nonchalant, so chill. “Yeah… yeah, yeah i’m fine,” you answered.

——————————————————————————

You walked your way out of the mall next to Stan, laughing at some joke he had made. You both had landed a job in retail together a few months ago, and as of recently your manager had been pairing you guys up for the closing shift.

Originally, you had asked Kenny to come into the job interview with you, not only because he was your best friend (and you may or may not have grown a thing for him in the last couple years), but because you wanted to keep a closer eye on him. You would continuously go out of your way to keep him safe, and prevent as many as his deaths as possible. He ended up turning you down though, something about how he was busy. He didn’t give too many details, but you didn’t push on it, figuring if it was something he wanted you to know he’d tell you. But Stan didn’t need to know he was your second option.

“Alright man, i’ll see you tomorrow,” “Yeah, goodnight [name], i’ll see you tomorrow.” Parting your ways with Stan, you pulled your phone out, shooting your parents a quick text that you were heading home. Putting your phone in your pockets, you kept your hands in them, making your way home.

However, your walk was interrupted when you suddenly felt a pull on your arm jerking you into a small alleyway. Immediately you felt your back slam against a wall, “Give me your wallet!” You hadn’t even processed what was happening, but in a second of your fight or flight response activating, you threw a kick at the guy in front of you. Catching him off guard you used your chance to escape and run up a fire escape a few feet away from you. you managed to run up a flight of stairs before the same man grabbed your feet, causing you to trip. In a panic you tried to wriggle your way out, ignoring the pain from falling on the stairs. You tried to kick the man with your free leg, but he just wouldn’t let go, dragging you down the stairs toward him, that is until he was suddenly pulled over the railing.

Still feeling the adrenaline and panic in your body you listened to your flight response and ran up the fire escape as quickly as possible. You only stopped to catch your breath at the very top of the building. Taking a minute to get your thoughts together you leaned on a small brick fence on the roof.

You had managed to calm down for the most part, that is until you heard a voice behind. You jolted up and immediately spun around, getting ready to make a run for it. “Hey, relax, i’m just making sure you’re okay,” You focused on the person in front of you, recognizing who it was after a second. The famous hero, Mysterion. “Oh my god,” was all you could get out. “I asked if you were okay, but looking at you know I don’t think you are”. You had heard about him on the news before, I mean which South Park resident hasn’t? “Your Mysterion,” you stated. Obviously. “You’re hurt” he responded. Adrenaline still rushing through your body, you hadn’t realized the stinging feeling on your lower face. Suddenly becoming self aware, you reached up to your face and looked at your hand, blood. “Oh my god,” You repeated. “Let me help you,” you looked up again to the hero, unable to say anything but a small ‘okay’.

——————————————————————————

The hero that saved you had gone to go get some supplies to help with a cut that had appeared on your chin. After he came back he began to clean up the wound, finally placing a small bandaid on it.

“Thanks again dude, you probably saved my life,” Mysterion looked up to meet your eyes, “It’s my job,” you thought for a second. “You mean it’s your job to keep the people of South Park safe?” the both of you just continued making eye contact.

“Yes.”

“Can I ask you a favor then?”

Mysterion looked suprised, not expecting you to ask such a question. “Go ahead”.

“I have this friend, his names Kenny McCormick,” you had turned away at this point, unable to see the uneasiness in Mysterion at the mention of the name. “He’s like, my best friend in the world, but he’s always getting himself into danger. I don’t know how he does it, but he keeps getting himself hurt, damn, even killed,” Mysterion’s eyes shot wide open. No. There’s no way you knew. How did you know? How did you remember? “but he always comes back. I try to look out for him, but it’s like the world’s against him. I know this might be weird to ask and stuff cause I don’t know you and you don’t owe me anything,” you took a pause, and turned to look at Mysterion. “but could you look out for him? You’re the town’s hero, and you protect and save people and I know you’re busy, but could you just check in on him every now and then? I mean I know he’ll be okay, he always is in the end, but know one around us ever seems to remember and seeing your friend get continuously killed over and over again, it just, I don’t know, tears you apart.” you took a small inhale. “I can’t imagine it’s not painful for him either”.

Mysterion was taken aback, because he WAS Kenny McCormick, and ironically enough, he had spent the last few weeks watching over YOU. Making sure you got from school to you job and from you job to your home safe. All because you were his best friend. All these years, since elementary, he had been watching over you as Mysterion, only to find out that you had tried to do the same thing. Except you didn’t do it with a superhero alter ego, you didn’t do it as a way to also protect the people of South Park. You did it as his best friend, simply trying to keep him from pain.

The biggest shock of all however, came from the fact that you knew, you remembered, every single one of his deaths. Why didn’t you ever say anything?

“I know it sounds crazy, but i’m not lying,” Mysterion stared at you for a second, “Well, why didn’t you ever tell him you remember?” Truth is you had thought about bringing it up to him, but what if he didn’t want you to know? What if it upset him if he knew? Would he feel guilty? Would he be mad at you for not doing anything to stop it? “I don’t know,” was the answer you chose to respond with. There was silence between you two for a minute, before Mysterion broke it. “I’ll keep an extra watch on him,” was all he said, he began to walk off. “Thank you!” you yelled. He could hear the joy in your voice. You saw Mysterion walk down the fire escape, but when you went to follow him he was no longer there, you made your way home, unaware of the fact that you were still being followed by the hero.

Kenny kept thinking about you even after he saw you enter your house. All this time you knew? How much did this affect you? Him constantly dying has bothered him so much, but to know that you might share the same pain as him? Again the thought plagued in his head, as to why you never told him. Maybe he’ll talk about it with you, as Kenny this time.

When you finally laid down in bed, you thought back to your conversation with Mysterion, but as you went over your words with him, you started thinking. Why didn’t he doubt you? How did you immediately know who Kenny was? He had asked you why you never told Kenny you knew about his deaths, but… you never mentioned that Kenny was unaware of you knowing.

#south park #south park x male reader #south park x reader #kenny mccormick #kenny x male reader #x male reader #kenny mcormick x reader #kenny mccormick x male reader

[ladykailitha]

In the Midnight Hour Part 2

I had a hard time deciding what to put next, as I’m supposed to be doing this in no particular order and went with this one. I’m actually decently far into this one. But keep forgetting to put more up.

Part 1

*

“Back again, Munson?” Steve asked, opening up his window again. “Pretty soon it’ll be too hot to leave this closed.”

Eddie grinned. “Leaving the window open for little ole me?”

Steve scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.”

“That’s how you know it’s me!” Eddie said with glee.

Steve rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Well...” Eddie said, sitting on the roof cross-legged. “You see last night made me realize that I don’t know you very well and I’d like to.”

Steve blinked. “Yeah, okay. What do you want to know?”

“I figure twenty questions, ten each, I ask you a question and you can ask me one in return,” Eddie said. “And a veto of three questions you don’t want to answer. Like battle plans or dirty secrets.”

Steve laughed. He crawled out of the window to sit on the roof next to Eddie. “All right, shoot.”

Eddie gulped, he hadn’t thought that Steve would come out and sit with him. He knew he wasn’t going to be invited in, but this was new. As much as he loathed to admit it, Veckie might be right about Steve having a crush on him.

“I’ll start off with a low ball,” Eddie said. “What’s your favorite color?”

Steve blinked at him for a moment. “I don’t really have one.”

“Oh come on,” Eddie teased. “Everyone has a favorite color.”

Steve shrugged. “I look best in blue, but yellow and red make me happy. Can I have more than one?”

Eddie grinned. “Sure. So blue, yellow and red. Got it. And to save you from wasting a question on it, my favorite color is red.”

Steve’s answering smile was open and free. “Not black?”

Eddie laughed. “Black is style choice, baby. Besides red and black are great combo.”

“If you say so, man.” Steve chewed his lip. “How long have you lived in Hawkins?”

“What makes you think I’m not a lifer, sweetheart?” Eddie teased.

Steve shrugged. “Your uncle Wayne’s accent is a tip off, but there are other things like the phrases you use and the way you stand. I know you project this otherness, but I always thought that you just exaggerated the parts of you that people made of to protect yourself.”

Eddie blinked. “Are you sure you’re the stupid one?”

Steve huffed out a laugh, raising a eyebrow. “You’ve met most of the people I hang out with. Geniuses the lot of them.”

“But you see people,” Eddie said with a frown.

“I’ve gotten better about it,” Steve said with a shrug. “But I still make mistakes like I did with you.” He paused for a second. “Are you gonna veto that one?”

Eddie blinked. “Oh! Your question. No. I’ll answer it. Twelve years.”

“Your dad taught an eight year old how to hotwire a car?” Steve asked stunned.

Eddie laughed. “Tsk tsk tsk, Stevie. That’s another question. I get to ask one first.”

Steve’s mouth slammed shut. “Sorry.”

Eddie bumped their shoulders together. “I’ve seen my dad on and off over the last few years. He never stays for long and I’m always glad when he leaves.” He twisted his rings fitfully. “But this means I get to ask two questions!”

Steve scoffed and shook his head. “Sure, shoot.”

“Was all this...” he waved at Hawkins at large, “the reason for your fall from grace at school?”

Steve picked at a loose thread on his sweat pants. “Yeah. It made me see that class politics and school rivalries were just so meaningless. After seeing literal hell, there is nothing they can say or do to me that I haven’t seen worse of.”

“Is Vecna the worse thing you’ve seen?” Eddie asked, not daring to look up.

Steve bumped his shoulder into Eddie’s. “No. And you can tell your boss that to his face for me.”

Eddie looked up in shock. “He’s not the worst?!”

Steve let out a bitter laugh. “I have seen far worse things than him, let me tell you. And most of them were human.”

Eddie’s heart clenched. This is why he was asking these questions. Steve and those kids had obviously seen too much, but he always felt like he was only scratching the surface of what they’d gone through when they talked.

“My turn,” Steve continued. “I know you like a lot of bands, but which one is your favorite?”

Back on safer ground, Eddie thought bitterly. He had pushed too far too soon. He had to pace this better. “Metalica. They’re the ones I was I playing as a distraction.”

“Master of Puppets, right?” Steve asked.

Eddie nodded. “They’re why I grew my hair out.”

Steve reached over and brush his fingers over the long curls. “I like it.”

Eddie could feel his face get hot. He abruptly stood up. “I think that’s all for today.”

Steve stared up at him in shock. “I thought we were doing twenty questions. We only got to six!”

Eddie grinned and leaned close. “I never said that it would all in one night, big boy. I’m gonna leaving you hanging a bit, keep the mystery of me up.”

And with that he took off into night.

Steve sat on his roof watching the little black speck that was Eddie Munson disappear over the horizon.

He looked at his hand in shock. “That felt real,” he whispered into the darkness. He brought his fingers to his nose and breathed in the scent.

“Oh shit.”

*

Eddie landed in his lair knowing that Vecna was waiting for him.

“Veckie!” he greeted with a grin, throwing his arms wide. “You said you wanted to know more about Harrington, right?”

“You are wasting time!” Vecna screamed.

Eddie cocked his and shoved his hands in his back pockets. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. If I had got all the information tonight, he would have gone running off to his friends and tipped them off. Now, if I draw it piece by piece, he still thinks I’m a nightmare and not real and you get what you want.”

“The longer this draws out the longer they have to plan,” Vecna pointed out.

Eddie got really close and said, “Their plans already have plans. I don’t know what they’re waiting for but if they wanted you gone, you will be.”

“You have such faith in them despite them leaving you to die,” Vecna sneered.

“They didn’t leave me to die,” Eddie grinned. “I was dead. You were the hot shot that brought back, darlin’.”

“I’m starting to regret that,” Vecna snarled.

“So do it, asshole,” Eddie snapped back. “Go ahead. Pull the god damn plug. I know you want to. So do it.”

Vecna vanished, leaving behind a smug Eddie. But the conversation left him hungry and angry. It was time to hunt.

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11  Part 12  Part 13

Tag List: @swimmingbirdrunningrock

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #vampire eddie #ladykailtiha writes

[moonchildreads]

small town

Chapter 23 - Cum on Feel the Noize

IN THIS CHAPTER: Yearbook messages, unlikely friendships, and Corroded Coffin puts on a show [13.8k]

WARNINGS: mentions of dead parents (eddie's mom), child neglect (not very graphic, eddie as kid), underaged drinking (no one gets drunk), low self-worth

A/N: i know. i promise you, i know. but i did say i was never gonna abandon this fic, so if you didn't believe me, that's on you, buddy. blame my job for my two month absence - three new people joined my team and one of those left last week, it's been hectic. this is an extra long chapter as a sorry for making you wait for so long. i hope you are all okay and still interested in my dumb little story, we have a lot more to go before we say goodbye. <3 (btw lemme know if you wanna be added to the taglist!)

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

Girls, rock your boys We’ll get wild, wild, wild

Monday, June 9th - 1986

The last Monday before graduation was Kyle Foster’s most anticipated day of the year; not because it meant that school attendance was officially an afterthought for most of the school’s population, but because it was the day the overpriced yearbooks he had been working on all these months were ready to be picked up, their pages waiting to be filled with doodles in colorful pens and silly stickers. He was particularly proud of this year’s edition, with its green leatherette hardback cover and bright photos printed in glossy paper, everything on them carefully arranged by the Yearbook Club with evident care and love for their craft. For a few hours, Kyle got to feel like he was hot shit. Teachers congratulated him and his fellow club members for their wonderful work, people he’d never talked to before in his life asked him to sign their yearbooks, and the basketball team kept patting his back in the hallways in between classes to thank him for the double spread with pictures of them lifting their championship trophy. Life was good, but even though he was enjoying his surely short-lived popularity, there was only one person Kyle was particularly looking forward to seeing. As faith would have it, he found that exact guy leaning against his locker waiting for him between third and fourth period, a yearbook under his arm and a piece of minty gum in his mouth.

“Hey, man,” Eddie greeted, pulling him into a bro-ey side hug that didn’t suit his personality in the slightest. “Nice work.”

“What’s up, Munson? Heard you’re finally leaving this place.”

“Yeah, about damn time,” the tall metalhead laughed, and Kyle thought he’d never seen him carry himself with such levity before. “Wanted to thank you, y’know? I mean, I know I kinda bribed you to do it but you came through for us and went above and beyond with the design and everything, so, thank you.”

“Ah, it was nothing, dude. Couldn’t ruin the yearbook by giving your club a shitty spread,” Kyle downplayed his work, but they both knew he had enjoyed the secret assignment.

“Well, then. Would the artist care to sign his masterpiece?” Eddie joked, extending his yearbook to Kyle with a jet black pen tucked into it.

Kyle nodded, surprised by the request, and went straight to the blank pages at the back. From what he could see, no one had signed it yet. He realized then this was Eddie giving him a definitive olive branch, whatever feud they’d had over his little debt more than ready to be buried in the sand and thoroughly forgotten. He quickly penned a generic “have a good summer!” message at the top corner, slowing down while writing his name when he felt Eddie’s hand slip something into his front jean pocket. Ah, there it is, Kyle thought, smiling to himself as the weight of the small weed baggie Eddie had promised in exchange for his rule breaking could be felt through the rough fabric. He gave the book back to his newest acquaintance before opening his messenger bag and retrieving his own, shocking Eddie with his silent offering. Kyle was not only accepting his olive branch but returning the gesture, and so Eddie signed his name in a little unoccupied corner, adding a smiley face with devil horns under it for good measure.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Foster,” he said genuinely, tucking his trusty pen into his back pocket.

“Likewise, Munson.”

“We look so fucking badass,” Gareth said, eyes stuck to himself holding a knight’s helmet under his arm in the Hellfire section of the yearbook.

“I know, right?” Jeff said, giddy. “Kinda wanna get it framed. You think they’ll give us copies if we ask?”

The Hellfire Club was enjoying a peaceful lunch outside, the day still perfectly warm despite the constant clouds that perpetually obscured the sky over Hawkins, Indiana. The older boys were doodling on each other’s yearbooks, laughing about bad portraits and accidental funny faces belonging to classmates, while Dustin and Mike quietly muttered to one another at the head of the picnic table. They looked like they were arguing about something important but no one else seemed to have noticed - if they did, they were giving them space to resolve it on their own. Pretending like she wasn’t eavesdropping while she wrote a heartfelt message in Donny’s yearbook, Dottie listened carefully, worried about Dustin who seemed to be particularly distraught at Mike’s disinterest in cooperating with him.

“I’m just saying, aren’t you tired of acting like you’re still upset with him?” Dustin asked.

“I’m not acting, I am pissed off,” Mike huffed. “I don’t get why you aren’t. He cut us off and he’s never coming back, get it through your head.”

“Well, maybe he feels like we cut him off. Have you even tried talking to him since Spring break?”

“No, why would I?”

“Mike,” Dustin was nearing his breaking point.

“What? Did you?”

“Yes!” he threw his hands in the air. “I called him the next day because I’m not an asshole!”

“If you talked to him, why isn’t he here then, huh?” Mike asked, icy. “Why is he still hanging out with them?”

“I said I called him, not that I talked to him,” Dustin grumbled. “He wasn’t home, he… he was at a party with the jocks- Look, all I’m saying is that I feel like shit, okay? I think we’re all being idiots right now and we should talk about it. This is just like what happened when we found El and-”

“This is nothing like what happened with El. He was just scared-”

“We were twelve, Mike. We didn’t know what we were doing, maybe- maybe he was right and we should have been scared! And maybe he shouldn’t have to be the one to always apologize first!”

“He ditched us!”

“Oh, grow up,” Dustin said, getting up from the bench with his yearbook in hand and hurrying to catch up with a redheaded girl who looked about his age.

Dottie watched how Mike gathered his things and disappeared into the cafeteria without saying goodbye, giving off moody teenager vibes to anyone who dared to cross his path. Meanwhile, Dustin was now animatedly chatting with his mystery friend near the doors - the girl he was talking to was signing his book and rolling her eyes at something he was saying, a shy but still clearly fond smile on her face. Dottie felt like she’d seen her before somewhere, but never talking to Dustin. She seemed nice, if a little sassy. I guess that’s why she’s friends with Dustin, she thought.

“Really? You got him a sweater? In June?” Jeff’s laughter brought back her attention to the table: she quickly doodled a little daisy next to her name at the bottom of her message and gave the yearbook back to Donny.

“He’s always wearing sweaters at the office, okay? And also, it’s not like he’s gonna grow two sizes before Winter starts,” Gareth defended himself. “It’s still gonna fit him in a couple of months.”

“What are we talking about?” Dottie asked, leaning her head onto Eddie’s shoulder as he stole one of her apple slices.

“Father’s Day. Gareth got his Dad a wool sweater.”

“It was on sale!”

“What did you get for your dad, then?” she asked Jeff.

“New slippers. His old ones were falling apart.”

“Very thoughtful. You?” she turned to Donny.

“Nothing yet. I kinda wanna get my Dad a funny shirt but I haven’t seen any good ones around. D’you think it’s too late to get one printed?” he asked at large.

“Oh, Eddie bought a cute one the other day!” Dottie said conversationally, looking up at the long haired boy from her place on his shoulder. “They had a bunch of graphic shirts at that store near Melvald’s, right?”

“On Mulberry? Sweet, what did you get?” Donny asked, munching on some grapes.

“Found this ugly thing with a brown Care Bear at the front that says World’s Best Grandma,” Eddie said, half a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “Thought it was funny.”

“You’re gonna get your teeth kicked in if you wear a Care Bears shirt in public, dude,” Gareth snickered.

“Well, good thing I’m not gonna be the one wearing it then.”

Father’s Day was historically somewhat of a weird day for Eddie. When he was a little kid and still hadn’t developed a mouth filter, other moms at the park or strangers at a store would sometimes see him wandering around unsupervised, think he was lost, and ask him where his Mom was; he’d always reply with a simple “oh, no, my Mom is dead”, like the answer wasn’t absolutely devastating to hear coming from someone who hadn’t learned how to tie his own shoes yet. Like clockwork, they’d all sputter out an awkward apology, feeling sorry about unknowingly asking a young child about something so painful like losing a parent at such a tender age. A couple of times some of them went so far as to offer to buy him a snack, as if that could distract him from the tragedy of his Mom’s untimely death and, in turn, make themselves feel better about being nosy. Eddie, however, didn’t mind the questions. He liked telling people that Maureen was dead, because he learned very quickly that those were the only times people saw him as someone to take care of; just a little innocent boy having to grow up without the woman who’d loved him most, instead of shunning him as soon they inevitably found out he was Wyatt Munson’s devil spawn.

Another thing Eddie learned very early on, was that his Dad didn’t care about Father’s Day, mainly because most of the time he didn’t even care to acknowledge he had a son unless it was useful to him. And so, after the second year in a row Wyatt threw into the trash can the crafts Eddie had done for him at school without so much as looking at them, the drawings stayed in his backpack and the treats the teachers gave to all their kiddos to gift to the most important men in their lives got hidden in an old shoe box underneath his bed. There they waited until the older man passed out on his couch with a beer in his hand, and the littlest Munson got to eat them in secret without anyone calling him a pig for smearing chocolate all over his face and fingers. No, Father’s Day had always been a weird day for Eddie - at least until he moved in with Wayne.

The first Father’s Day Wayne and Eddie spent together came after almost eight months of living together. There had been a Halloween, a Thanksgiving, a Christmas, Eddie’s 9th birthday, and a Mother’s Day spent along with Grandma before that, but Eddie’s little stomach still churned with the thought of Wayne dismissing him on a special occasion like Father’s Day. He quietly waited in bed after the sun rose, ears perked up for any noise coming from the living room but the minutes ticked by and Wayne didn’t get up, busy catching up on some much needed sleep after a long week at the plant. The youngest Munson impatiently crept along the hallway until he reached his Uncle’s side, kneeling on the carpet next to his fold-out bed and observing his chest go up and down with each breath he took.

“Uncle Wayne,” Eddie whispered, but the older man didn’t so much as flinch. “Uncle Wayne,” he tried a little louder, softly shaking his arm.

“Huh?” Wayne opened his eyes, startled to find his nephew’s tiny fingers wrapped around his forearm. “What’s going on? You okay, Ed?”

“Mhm,” he nodded, wild curls bobbing along with the movement. “I- I made something. At school.”

“Yeah? What d’you got there?”

Eddie lifted a piece of paper, the sun filtering through the moth-eaten curtains helping Wayne read along. Happy Father’s Day, said the handmade card written by a teacher and decorated by his nephew, each letter colored inside with a different crayon. Wayne’s heart sank when he realized he’d forgotten what day it was. He didn’t even know which hole Wyatt was currently being kept in, but he guessed he could call his Ma and ask her about it if Eddie wanted to pay his Dad a visit. Or at the very least, he could take the kid to the post office to mail his shitty excuse of a father a letter he most likely didn’t give a damn about. Wyatt hadn’t called once since he’d gotten himself locked up, and Wayne tried not to think too much about Eddie stiffening up whenever the phone rang when he first moved into the trailer with him. He didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to have jackshit to do with his little brother anymore but he’d do it anyway even if he knew it was a bad idea, because Wayne Munson would have walked barefoot to the end of the world if it made Eddie happy, and God only knew that that boy deserved a small mercy for once.

Wayne peeled the card open curiously and felt his chest tighten up when he saw how wrong he’d been. Inside there was a crude drawing of two figures, one bigger than the other one: it was him and Eddie, standing on bright green grass, a big yellow sun with a smiley face at the upper left corner of the page, and a tree with juicy red apples to the right side. The figures were holding hands and Wayne was wearing a trucker hat - the same blue one that was resting on the kitchen counter next to his keys. At the bottom right of the card, written with the nicest calligraphy Wayne had seen from his nephew yet, was a simple I love you in purple crayon.

“You drew this for me?” Wayne asked, trying to get his emotions together.

“D’you like it? Miss Mullins gave us Hershey’s Kisses too,” he lifted a little paper bag that looked like it had been squished in transit. “I’m sorry I ate one without asking. I wanted to know what they tasted like, but I can buy you more! I have money left over from my birthday-”

“That’s okay, Ed. You can have as many as you want if you brush your teeth after,” the eldest Munson sat up tiredly and pulled his boy from the floor into a hug. “Thank you for the card. You’re very good at drawing, y’know that?”

“Miss Mullins says I’m good at art and music,” Eddie beamed. “And sometimes Math too but I get distracted. She says my reading’s not very good though.”

“You’re a smart boy, just keep practicin’ and you’ll get better,” Wayne said, feeling his nephew’s body sink into his arms the longer he held him. “Hey, how ‘bout you go get ready while I take a shower, huh? We can go get pancakes at Benny’s.”

“Really? Can I get whipped cream on mine? And chocolate chips?”

“You can get whatever you want, boy. Go on, go get dressed,” the older man ushered him down the hallway towards what used to be his bedroom and locked himself in the bathroom for a little privacy.

Wayne cried in the shower that day, much like he’d done after Thanksgiving dinner, when Eddie said he was thankful he got to live with him, even if it was just for a little bit. He got Wyatt to sign away his parental rights before Christmas came around after that. Wayne stuck the card to the fridge door with a carrot shaped magnet and drove himself and his nephew to Benny’s where Eddie ordered chocolate chip banana pancakes that Wayne ended up eating half of after the 9-year-old’s tummy became too full to keep going. Upon returning home, they spent the rest of the day watching cartoons and practicing Eddie’s reading during the commercials. When the littlest Munson fell asleep on the couch after the sun had set, his energy finally depleted, Wayne helped him put on his pajamas and tucked him to bed, stopping to kiss his curly head before he retreated back to the living room for a nightcap.

“Good night, son,” he’d said, turning off the lights, and for once, Eddie didn’t go to sleep wishing he was Wayne’s, because he knew he was and Wayne knew it too.

“You got Wayne a World’s Best Grandma shirt for Father’s Day?” Donny said, amused. “He’s gonna think you knocked someone up.”

“Of course not,” Eddie scoffed at him like he’d just said the stupidest thing ever. “He’d think I knocked someone up if it said World’s Best Grandpa, but it doesn’t say that, does it? Therefore, funny shirt.”

“You were there with him and you let him buy it?” Jeff looked at Dottie, whose cheeks felt like they were burning upon remembering Wayne’s resigned attempt at a Birds and The Bees talk two weekends prior.

“I… I thought it was funny too,” she admitted sheepishly.

“You two are spending way too much time together,” Gareth shook his head. “When did you even go shopping?”

“Last week after band practice,” Dottie said, mischief in her eyes. “Don’t tell my Dad if you see him because I told him I was at yours all afternoon so he wouldn’t snoop around and find his gift.”

“What did you get him?” Donny asked.

“A bunch of candy and a book. The guy at the store recommended it, he said it was pretty new. It’s called Ender’s Game, I think?”

“Oh, I read that one,” Jeff said, frowning.

“What, is it bad?”

“No, I think your Dad might like it," he shrugged. "But you know me, I don't like military shit.”

“How could we forget about you being Mr. Pacifist,” Gareth poked fun at him goodnaturedly and Jeff shoved him gently in return.

“Hey, speaking of band practice,” Eddie said, lips curling upwards as he leaned into Dottie’s personal space. “You think your Dad's gonna let you come to The Hideout tomorrow?”

“On a school night? Keep dreaming.”

“Oh, come on, no one’s even taking attendance anymore,” he pressed on.

“I’m pretty sure Mr. Russell took a nap in class today,” Gareth said, spreading a rumor he’d heard about the old Algebra teacher.

“He did. I was there, I heard him snore,” Donny nodded.

“There you go, darling. Not even the teachers give a shit anymore. So, what do you say?" Eddie batted his eyelashes dramatically.

"You know I wanna go, I just don't think he's gonna let me. Can't you wait one more week? He promised I won’t have a curfew anymore after graduation," she bargained.

"You say that like you don’t already know we’re gonna ask you to come next week too," Gareth said, grinning. “Besides, what kind of manager are you if you don’t come to all our shows?”

“Wasn’t aware I had signed any official contracts. Do I get health insurance?” Dottie joked.

“You get one box of kiddie bandages and we’ll drive you to the hospital if and only if any bones stick out,” Donny said.

“Wow, what a deal. I’m in,” she laughed.

“You’re gonna come then?” they all looked at her expectantly.

“Alright, fine, I’ll ask him. But if he says no you aren’t allowed to be mad at me because it’s definitely not my fault,” she finally relented.

“If he locks you up we’ll help you escape the tower, princess, don’t worry about it,” Eddie said, his breath ghosting the side of her head, and she shivered in anticipation for the new adventure that was to come.

James working past the time Hawkins High School let its students out had proven to be heaven-sent to the new couple looking for places to hang out without any prying eyes around. Eddie and Dottie were lying on her bed, hiding away from the world in her room, the radio on at a low volume playing Top 40 hits. Van Halen’s Why Can’t This Be Love was setting the perfect mood for Eddie to kiss his not-yet-girlfriend stupid - their movements still shy and exploring, neither of them rushing to get ahead of themselves. In recent days, they had progressed from chaste and giggly pecks to something much more slow and romantic, making the most of their moments alone to make each other feel comfortable and loved. Eddie hovered over her, tummy pressed against Dottie’s while supporting most of his weight on his elbows, his hands free to gently caress her cheekbones and jaw between kisses, stopping every so often to look at her dazed smile if only to will himself to believe that the girl he was so in love with was as equally smitten with him as he was with her.

Dottie let her fingers wander up his arms, one of her hands tangling in his unruly hair and occasionally pushing stray curls behind his ears to get a glimpse of those deep chocolate colored eyes she adored so much. Her other arm sneaked into his t-shirt sleeve, nails drawing barely-there patterns on the back of his shoulder, making him hum like the stray cats at the trailer park when they let him pet them after being fed. The delicate white curtains swayed calmly, brushing against the pillows in the windowsill, the gentle breeze outside rustling the leaves in nearby trees. Everything felt so peaceful, warm, and cozy. She felt like she could spend an entire lifetime like this, with the boy that had swept her off her feet so thoroughly that she almost felt like she was floating whenever he was around.

“What are you thinkin’ about?” Eddie asked in a soft voice, index finger brushing down the slope of her nose.

“You.”

“Me?”

“Mhm,” she smiled, fondly. “You’re so pretty.”

“You’re pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous even,” he lifted his eyebrows and pouted, making her giggle at his antics. “I wanted to play a song for you tomorrow but the guys said it didn’t fit with the rest of the setlist.”

“Which song was it?”

“Nope,” he shook his head, curls tickling her. “I’m not telling you. We’ll play it in Indy.”

“I have to wait a whole month? That’s so rude!”

“It’ll be worth it, you’ll see,” he muttered, leaning down to kiss her again, and she accepted his love eagerly.

The low rumble of a car pulling into the driveway burst their cozy bubble, Eddie groaning as his head fell forward onto Dottie’s shoulder, making her snort loudly. He scrambled off her bed and dropped himself on her desk chair, fingers dancing on top of her scented Mr. Sketch markers before settling on the brown one and lifting it up to his nose to smell the cinnamon embedded in the ink. She watched him with an oddly enamored smile on her face, like him sniffing her stationery supplies was the most charming thing she’d seen him do yet. He twirled a marker between his fingers before drumming with it once on her yearbook resting unassumingly on her desk.

“Can I draw something for you in here?” he asked, tapping the hardcover again with the cap of the marker.

“Can I write something sappy in yours in exchange?”

“Knock yourself out, darling,” Eddie smiled, pulling his yearbook out of his ratty backpack and tossing it onto her bed where it made a soft thud upon colliding with her comforter.

When James climbed up the stairs to greet his daughter after a long day at work, he found both teens deeply engrossed in their tasks: Eddie’s long hair was draped like a curtain obscuring his sketch from view as he worked steadily with his chewed up pencil while Dottie was lying on her front decorating a corner of a page with her colorful pens. James leaned onto the door frame when she looked up, gifting him the same smile she used to give him as a toddler when he picked her up from daycare.

“Yearbooks are out?” the eldest Burke asked, nodding towards the book in her hands.

“Yeah! Ed’s drawing in mine but look, we got a full page!” Dottie said, rising onto her knees to show him Hellfire’s spread.

James sat at the foot of her bed, glancing at the glossy pictures in front of him. He couldn’t recall Dottie being so excited about a yearbook before, but he supposed she’d never really been a part of any club at her old school and this was an important first for her. There was Dustin front and center, arms and legs bent like a lifeless puppet being held by strings, Erica’s hand poised in the air as if she was the one controlling him while Mike and Gareth lifted her up in a  princess-like manner, a tiara glinting on her head and a school flag draping down her back. Jeff and Donny scowled at each other dramatically, engaged in a lethal fight that Jeff was clearly winning, his sword pressed to the middle of Donny’s golden scepter. But it was his own daughter and the boy that kept smelling markers before he put them to paper a few feet away from him that really caught his attention.

Eddie lounged on his throne with a fake skull in his hand, rings twinkling in the room’s moody light, and legs spread out like he was a despot king about to order someone’s head to be cut off. Dottie stared at the camera with a mischievous smirk, hands cradled around a crystal orb, looking like she knew something no one else did and was more than ready to drop a cryptic riddle that would ruin your entire life. They were playing characters, just like everyone else in the picture: Mike was the loyal knight, Dustin was the terrifying jester, Erica was the bratty princess. Except Eddie’s arm was curled around Dottie like she was his most prized possession, devotion noticeable in his seemingly innocent posture. He might have been the one sitting on the throne and she on the chair’s arm as his trusty advisor, but it was very much clear to anyone that stopped to truly look at them that even though he was the King, she had him wrapped around her finger. It shouldn’t have been a surprise - after all, since 1953 the song did say God save the Queen, not the King.

“It looks super cool, right?” Dottie asked, eyes shining. “Jeff wants to ask the Yearbook Club if we can get copies, I’d love to put one on my corkboard.”

“That sounds great, honey! It’s very theatrical,” James agreed, scanning down the list of names: Edward Munson - Chapter Leader, Donatello Andrea Vitale - Treasurer, Jeffrey Thomas Patton - Secretary… “Who’s Lucas?”

“Huh?”

“Lucas Charles Sinclair?” he asked. “His name is on the list but I don’t see him in the photo.”

“Oh, that’s Erica’s brother. He was in the club before I joined, right, Ed?”

“Yeah,” Eddie said, lips tight. “He, uh- he quit before Spring break. Conflicting schedules.”

“Ah, that’s a bummer,” James nodded, knowing first hand how scheduling was the greatest enemy of a D&D party. “Why isn’t Erica on the list though?”

“She’s still in middle school so she’s not, like, entirely allowed to be in the club actually?” Dottie grimaced. “But Eddie thought she should at least be in the picture. I mean, I’m there and she’s known these guys for longer than I do.”

“She only joined a couple of weeks before you did,” Eddie shrugged. “But a member is a member, no matter when they joined.”

“Spoken like a true leader,” James smiled, flipping the pages to find the senior portraits.

He reached the B section and immediately found his daughter, her red knitted sweater barely visible, the picture cutting off just below her shoulders. She was smiling in it, yes, but she didn’t really look happy. She seemed nervous, perhaps even a bit apprehensive. Her eyes were dull despite the bright lights behind the camera, and the little dimple below the right corner of her lip that she’d inherited from her Mom was nowhere to be found. In comparison with the wicked witch that had been staring at him in the Hellfire Club’s group photo, this girl looked like a shell of herself. Empty. Lost. Scared. Two months had passed between the two pictures, and one more since the last one had been taken, and James realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her glow as much as she did every day now. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he looked at her and wondered why he hadn’t done anything to prevent her light from dimming so much right in front of him. Bitterly, he realized the proper question wasn’t why he hadn’t done anything, but instead why hadn’t he ever noticed it had been dimmed in the first place up until that moment.

“I’m so proud of you, honey,” he muttered, pulling her into a hug and letting out a heavy sigh courtesy of his own inadequacies as a parent.

“You’re not gonna cry, are you? Because you’re gonna make me cry if you cry,” she said in a joking manner, tears already threatening to climb up to the surface.

“You’re just really big now and it sneaks up on me sometimes, that’s all. I’m getting emotional in my old age,” he laughed, turning back the pages to Hellfire Dottie - the happier Dottie. “Your hair looks really pretty like this.”

“Yeah. Feels more me, I think,” Dottie agreed. “I need to get the ends trimmed before graduation, though.”

“If it keeps getting shorter I’m afraid you’re gonna end up bald soon.”

“I’ll go to a salon this time, promise,” she laughed.

“Still can’t believe you just-” James did a cutting gesture with his index and middle fingers. “-went to town on it.”

“Wait, what? You chopped off your own hair? When?” Eddie asked curiously, reminding them both that he was listening to their conversation.

“I thought you knew about this!” Dottie said. “I had really long hair back in New York.”

“It reached the top of her jeans,” James added.

“No way! Why did you cut it?”

“I just needed a fresh start, y’know? New school, new haircut. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she shrugged.

“Honey, you snipped it all off at the first gas station we stopped at on our way from New York. Almost gave me a heart attack when you came out of that bathroom.”

“You’re kidding,” Eddie stared at her in disbelief.

“Nope,” said James. “Had to take her to a hairdresser to even it out as soon as we got here.”

“In my defense, it didn’t look that bad. It was just… very layered,” Dottie said.

“You’re lucky you chickened out and didn’t cut it shorter or you’d be looking like a boy right now.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, I’m not a hair stylist. I’ll stay away from scissors and let the pros handle it next time,” she rolled her eyes at her Dad.

“Well, I’m gonna go get a shower,” James announced, returning Eddie’s yearbook to his daughter. “You staying for dinner, Ed?”

“No, thank you, sir, Wayne’s waiting for me. Just gotta finish this drawing and I’ll be out of your hair for the night,” Eddie said, lifting the book in his hands as if to demonstrate he wasn’t just wasting time.

“You’re never a bother, kid. You can stay as long as you’d like.”

“T-thank you, sir,” he said in a small voice when James walked past him and ruffled his hair affectionately as he left.

“Dad? Wait, hold up-”

Dottie launched herself into the hallway and caught up to her Dad when he was halfway through his bedroom door. She nervously looked up at him and James lifted an eyebrow, curious.

“Would it be okay if I went to The Hideout to see the guys play tomorrow?” she asked, chewing on her own lip.

“Honey, it’s a school night-”

“I know but the teachers aren’t even taking attendance anymore. And I swear I’m not gonna skip the next day! Please, I’ll be back before midnight.”

“Dot-”

“You know Jeff’s dad wouldn’t let him do it if he was coming back home at 3 am every week on school nights. Please let me go? I really, really, really wanna see them play.”

“Would you be riding with Eddie?” James sighed.

“Yeah, he’s Gareth’s ride. His drum kit doesn’t fit in Donny’s car.”

“Okay, you can go-”

“Thank you!”

“-but! You gotta be back by midnight, okay?” he said, stern. “I don’t care if the teachers aren’t doing their jobs anymore, school’s not out until Friday. You’re not on holiday yet.”

“I know, I won’t break the curfew, I promise-”

“And you can’t drink any alcohol either. If I have to pick you up from the station for any reason, you’re grounded until September.”

“I won’t drink a drop, Dad, I swear. I just wanna see the guys play,” she pleaded with doe eyes.

“Fine. You can go,” James finally relented.

“Thank you!” Dottie shrieked, hugging her Dad and shaking him in her excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you-”

“Alright, alright, calm down. Just be careful, okay? And call-”

“Call you if anything happens. I know. Thank you,” she kissed his cheek and ran back into her bedroom where James heard Eddie scream “fuck yeah!”, followed by a loud thump and bright laughter.

That night after dinner, Dottie sat on her windowsill looking at the inside of her wardrobe, mentally putting together an outfit that wouldn’t make her stand out like a sore thumb in the dingy bar. Jeans and sneakers are fine, Eddie had said when she asked him about it, but she knew the guys dressed up for their gigs, and she wanted to fit in. Maybe she should have asked her soon-to-be-boyfriend to lend her one of his band t-shirts, but then again, Eddie had a tendency to get grabby whenever she wore his clothes lately, even if it was just a borrowed sweatshirt when she got cold during a movie night. It was better to be lowkey about this; they were already pushing it a lot lately with the secret daily hangouts and the doing errands together thing. Borrowing his clothes in such a public event like his own band’s gig was as big a declaration of love as they came.

Yes, it was best to keep this under wraps, for the sake of all their friendships with the rest of the boys. She’d wear her own clothes to her very first Corroded Coffin show, and she’d be extra careful with her yearbook when she gave it to her friends at The Weekly Streak to sign. No one had to know that Eddie had drawn a very realistic looking arrangement of daisies on a corner of a page, along with an incredibly telling message that would be hard to explain if anyone read it. However, nothing was stopping her from letting the words he’d written in his usual chicken scratch form behind her eyelids as she let sleep take her under, a perpetual lovesick smile tattooed on her face.Thank you for believing in me, darling, he’d said. I love you now and always. Your Endearing Eddie.

Tuesday, June 10th - 1986

If there was anyone in Hawkins who had bad timing when it came to scheduling business transactions that happened outdoors, it was Eddie Munson. He was in such a hurry to sell most of his stash before he was due to start his first ever real job at Thatcher Tires the following week that he’d failed to account for the permanent drizzle that haunted Hawkins most of the time, and thus, had to move from his preferred selling spot in the woods to the back of the East classroom wing, his back pressed to the warm brick to shield himself from the droplets falling from the sky.

While he was busy earning much wanted cash so he could take his still-not-official-girlfriend out on a date to celebrate their graduation, Dottie and Gareth were lounging in his van, side door cracked open to let some of the day’s heat out. The almost empty parking lot looked menacing surrounded by a thick haze, a moderate breeze directing the drops of water to hit the van’s windshield in a comforting rhythm. Gareth was, as usual, being a menace. He was going through Eddie’s tapes, exchanging their cases to mess with his friend, and never letting a song reach the end before he was skipping forward to the next one. Dottie would have complained about it if she wasn’t so concentrated on her knitting, the summer baby blanket she was working on spread out over her legs. She was in the middle of calculating if the soft cotton yarn she had left was enough to finish the row she was currently knitting when Gareth turned around in the passenger seat to catch her attention.

“You excited about tonight?” he asked, glancing at the songlist at the back of a mixtape.

“Yeah, it should be fun! Though I’m not sure what I’m gonna wear yet,” she put down her needles and stretched in her seat. “Eddie said sneakers and jeans were fine, but I don’t wanna look lost, y’know.”

“Pick the oldest, shittiest clothes you have and you’ll fit in just fine. Most of the drunks in there go after work, it’s always a lot of plaid, jeans, and dirt.”

“You’re not selling this to me very well.”

“I don’t have to,” he grinned. “Eddie says jump, you jump.”

“No, I don’t-”

“Hey, there you are!”

She was about to tell Gareth off when Chrissy appeared from the mist, shielding herself from the rain by holding her cheer cardigan above her head. Immediately, Dottie slid the van door open a bit more so she could climb in, moving all her knitting supplies to her lap so the strawberry blonde girl could sit next to her. Gareth looked at both girls awkwardly and muttered a quick hello before turning in his seat again and busying himself back with the mixtapes.

“I didn’t know you knitted,” Chrissy said, thumbing the corner of the blanket. “This is so pretty.”

“Thank you,” Dottie smiled. “It’s a gift for my Aunt, she’s having a baby in a couple of months.”

“Aw, that’s sweet! Let me guess, a girl?” she said, pointing at the baby pink yarn.

“How could you tell?” Dottie said with good natured sarcasm. “Her name’s gonna be Rose so… pink for Rosie! It’s not very original but I’m hoping she still likes it even though she’ll be born in the middle of summer.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it. I used mine until I was in preschool, there’s no age limit for a good blankie,” Chrissy said, kindly. “I wish I could do creative stuff like this, it looks fun. I tried to learn to sew when I was younger but my Mom’s so not a good teacher. She made me cry once because I forgot to put the presser foot down.”

“I could teach you a few things if you want,” Dottie offered. “I’m not an expert, but my Aunt is, like, the most perfectionist person on the planet and she taught me everything I know so…”

“You’d do that?”

“Do what, teach you?” the blonde nodded in response. “Of course! We’re friends! And it’s a great skill to have, it comes in handy more than you think.”

“We’re friends?” Chrissy asked, eyes suddenly shiny.

“After everything you’ve done for- Chrissy, of course we’re friends,” Dottie said, grabbing the other girl’s hand.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she breathed out, a quiet laugh escaping her lips. “I feel so much better about asking you to sign my yearbook now, I didn’t know if I was being weird or not.”

“For future reference, we like weird here,” the brunette said in a stage whisper, leaning down to get her own yearbook out of her backpack. “Besides, I kinda wanted to ask you to sign mine too so we’re even.”

The girls exchanged books and quickly got to signing, aware that Gareth was pretending like he wasn’t in the same vehicle as them. He didn’t want to turn up the music and rudely drown their conversation, so he distracted himself by drumming on Eddie’s dashboard with two pens, wondering what on Earth had Chrissy done for Dottie that made her so thankful towards the cheerleader. Dottie grabbed her nicest black pen and found an empty space under Eddie’s message. He’d written Don’t be a stranger, Chrissy the Cheery (and thank you for the advice! See you at the wedding) next to a crude drawing in blue ink of a girl with a ponytail lifting one pompon and doing devil horns with the other hand.

After thinking about what she wanted to say to the cheerful blonde, Dottie settled on a nice simple message that was cryptic enough should anyone else read it, but also something that conveyed just how truly grateful she was for this new found friendship. Have a fantastic summer!, the note opened. Thank you for everything. Call me whenever! At the end, right next to her name and a little daisy, she wrote down her phone number. The word everything was underlined twice. When she gave it back to her rightful owner and saw the message Chrissy had written on pink ink on her yearbook, she let out a girly giggle. It was so lovely to get to know you, have a good summer! Let’s hang out soon, it read. Below, Chrissy had also written down her phone number. Both teens looked at each other with a knowing grin and hugged, not paying any attention to the metalhead who’d put them on each other’s path hopping onto the driver’s seat of his van, hair damp from the rain.

“Aw, aren’t you two cute,” Eddie said, grinning. “Did she sign it?”

“We both did,” Chrissy said, returning the smile. “How were the sales?”

“Great! I’m selling my last bit on Thursday and then I’m keeping the rest for myself. A man’s gotta have his vices.”

“What a shame,” the blonde shook her head. “Hawkins is losing its nicest dealer to the workforce.”

“I’m the only dealer you know, sweetheart.”

“Because you’re the nicest one, keep up! I’m gonna have to buy from sleazy dudes now, ugh,” she said while she gathered her things to leave.

“You should have enough to last you until you leave for your pre-season with what I sold you today,” he frowned, concerned that every time Chrissy bought from him, the amounts she asked for kept increasing.

“Yeah, maybe,” she said and shrugged, sliding the door van open and hopping off. “See you around, guys!”

The three of them watched her jog towards the school with her cardigan draped over her head again, her petite figure losing definition in the haze. Eddie clicked on his seatbelt - a habit he’d picked up since he started driving Dottie around - and pulled out of the school’s parking lot, winking once at the girl on his backseat when he put his hand on Gareth’s headrest to reverse into the open road. Dottie rolled her eyes at him, picking up her knitting needles once again. Gareth stared at the school building until it disappeared from sight before he turned to his friends.

“I still can’t believe Chrissy Cunningham is not only super nice to us freaks, but also smokes weed,” he said, making both of the other teens laugh.

James Burke did not think that moving to the town he had grown up in as a quiet wallflower would result in an exponential growth in his daughter’s social life, but truth be told, he wasn’t exactly upset about it. Before packing up her whole life and facing the Big Drive to Hawkins, Dottie had never once gone out for the night on a weekday, much less during the school year. But James had agreed to it, and Dottie had promised to be home before midnight, which brought them to the living room where the tired father sat in his armchair and amusedly watched his daughter pace the entirety of the room swinging her arms around with each step she took.

“You’re gonna burn a hole in the carpet, honey.”

“Good. This carpet gives me allergies.”

James chuckled, following her with his eyes as she padded her way to the window once more and peered outside yet again despite knowing that she would hear Eddie’s van first before seeing it, as per usual. She sighed dramatically and resumed her pacing, glancing at the clock on the wall anxiously. Mildly embarrassed upon noticing that her friends were still perfectly on schedule, she took a few deep breaths and tried to get her emotions in control before their arrival.

“You know you can call me if you get there and want to leave, right?”

“I know, Dad,” she rolled her eyes at him. “Stop offering to pick me up from places, you know Eddie’s gonna drive me back whenever I ask.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t exactly comfort me as much as you think it does, honey. That van looks like it’s gonna die on him at any second.”

“Oh, come on,” Dottie argued. “He loves that van, he takes good care of it.”

“The fumes that come out of that thing say otherwise, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since he’s gonna be a mechanic and all now.”

And speak of the devil, thought James, as the aforementioned smoky van appeared down the street while playing loud metal music. Dottie hurried to grab her keys and a jacket, ready to bolt out of the door and get to the damn dive bar already, but her Dad insisted on walking with her outside to say hi. Eddie and Gareth waved at them as they approached, lowering the music so they could greet the older man properly.

“Good evening, boys,” James said, hands on his hips in a typical Dad pose but with a friendly smile on his face. “How are we feeling? Excited for the show?”

“Hell yeah!” Gareth said, grinning. “We’re gonna kill it, the setlist is awesome tonight.”

“You let him add an Anthrax song to it, didn’t you?” Dottie laughed knowingly, sliding the side door open and climbing in.

“We’re closing with Metal Thrashing Mad,” Gareth looked at her with an expression of triumph.

“Sounds like it’s gonna be a riot,” James chuckled and turned to his daughter. “Have fun, but don’t get into too much trouble. Midnight, okay?”

“I’ll get back here by 11, sir, I promise,” Eddie said, nodding once.

“Midnight’s okay, Ed,” the eldest Burke said, putting his trust in the young man’s hands; Eddie nodded again in understanding. “Have a good show!”

The man patted the side of the van as a goodbye and headed back inside, privately enjoying how much he could make Eddie squirm with just a few well placed words. He liked Eddie, he really did - he was polite, unapologetically himself, resourceful, kind. He loved his friends and wore his heart on his sleeve. And he loved Dottie, that much was clear to literally everyone that surrounded the teens. James didn’t know what the situation was like between them at the moment, but he could tell something had shifted based on recent interactions he’d witnessed. In his opinion, there seemed to be some sort of deeper connection between them since that fateful party they had gone to just a handful of days earlier, but James had to admit, albeit a little reluctantly, that even though he had been on the lookout for signs of a romantic relationship developing, not a lot had truly changed.

Eddie and Dottie had always been unusually close even upon first meeting, that was an undeniable fact about their friendship. It was hard to pinpoint if anything romantic had blossomed between them when Eddie had been calling her darling since the very first moment he laid eyes on her, or when Dottie gravitated towards him at any given moment, even in rooms filled with other people. Their hugs, while always having lasted longer than a regular friendly hug, were chaste and innocent, their main purpose always to comfort and to reassure. Eddie’s hands always stayed above her waist, not even so much as accidentally dropping to her hips in James’ presence, and any compromising position he’d found them in was at best playful, certainly never inappropriate.

It wasn’t that James was particularly concerned with the nature of the teens’ relationship; after all, he had been a teen himself once, he wasn’t an idiot. If anything was bound to happen, they weren’t going to ask for his permission beforehand. No, his worries were more about the knowledge that Dottie and Eddie dating while having the same group of friends could make a potential fall out incredibly painful for both of them, and the poor man was just desperately trying to protect his daughter as best as he could. He already felt like he had failed her once, he couldn’t let her down again. And yet, despite being cognizant of the dangers ahead, James found himself trusting Eddie because if Dottie trusted him, how could he not trust that his daughter knew better than her own Dad did about the matters of her heart?

“Okay, be honest, guys. How do I look?” Dottie asked, shoving half her body between the front seats so they could look at her better at the first stop sign.

“You look gorgeous, princess,” said Eddie.

“Like a toddler,” said Gareth, at the same time.

“Gareth, what the fuck,” Eddie deadpanned, swatting at his friend’s chest.

“What? She’s lucky they don’t ask for IDs,” he said, doubling down.

“You don’t tell a girl she looks like a toddler when she dresses up, you asshat,” Eddie said. “See, this is why you can’t get a girlfriend, you know nothing about women.”

“How would you know any better, you don’t have a girlfriend either!” Gareth retorted, making Eddie snort. If he only knew…

“You two bicker like an old married couple, did you know that?” Dottie said, settling back on her seat.

“That’s because we are,” Eddie joked, grabbing Gareth’s hand and giving him a kiss on the knuckles, making his friend yank his arm out of his grasp while the older boy laughed loudly.

Everyone was in good spirits as they journeyed to The Hideout, but whether she wanted them to or not, Gareth’s words made Dottie pause. Both boys had told her dark, casual clothes would be okay when she’d asked them for advice, so she’d gone with a striped dark blue and white t-shirt and black jean overalls, her trusty Reeboks matching Eddie’s keeping her feet comfortable. She glanced at both of her friends through the rearview mirror and compared her clothes to theirs, but that would never be a fair fight: they were dressed for the stage, not to be a spectator like she was. Gareth was wearing a loose shirt with the sleeves cut out, leather bracelets with spikes decorating each wrist along with his usual rings perched on his fingers. He had a flannel tied at his hip and his jeans were incredibly distressed, something that his Mom hadn’t been too happy about when she found out he’d ripped them himself on their driveway with a sharp rock. Eddie sat next to him, tapping on the steering wheel lightly as they talked about the setlist, looking like a vision straight out of his wildest rockstar dreams in acid wash denim and chains. Admittedly, his eyeliner did look terribly smudged, but he more than made up for it with enthusiasm and a giddy grin etched permanently into his features.

There was no comparison and there would never be one. Dottie simply didn’t fit in. They were undiscovered rockstars, masters of their craft who had poured blood, sweat and tears into a yet unfulfilled dream, and she was just the high school friend who was lucky enough to meet them before they blew up. She tried to be excited for them, to join in on the fun, but all she could think about was how Eddie was destined for bigger things than to be chained to an elementary school teacher and the white picket fence she had always dreamed of when she was living in a tiny apartment with her Dad back in New York.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Eddie pulled into The Hideout’s parking lot next to Donny’s car, Gareth excitedly hollering out of the co-pilot’s window to get their friends’ attention. Donny took one last drag of his cigarette before throwing it to the side, and hurried to meet them along with Jeff, hugs and pats on their backs exchanged before immediately busying themselves unloading both vehicles. Dottie was quick to mask her discomfort by helping out; a task that forced her to stay focused was always a welcome distraction for her worried brain. The boys chatted loudly, their tired grunts filling the eerily empty parking lot as they moved heavy amps and Gareth’s drum kit into the bar through a service door to the side of the building, leaving Dottie to trail behind them carrying cables and drumsticks.

“Hey, you okay?” Jeff asked, taking a mic stand from her hands, back pressed to the metal service door to keep it open.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m just nervous,” she lied, her smile failing to reach her eyes. “Never been to a place like this before.”

“No one here bites, I promise,” he nudged her shoulder. “And if they do, we’ll fight them for you. You’re with the band, you’re a VIP now.”

“My heroes,” she said, pretending to swoon.

The small exchange might have gone unnoticed had Eddie not become finely attuned to the girl’s emotions even when she wasn’t sharing them out loud. Something wasn’t right, he was sure of it, and he was determined to find out what it was before their set started. He wanted her to enjoy this, to see him doing one of the things he loved most, to let her into a space that up until now had been sacred for him. The Hideout’s little stage wasn’t the Madison Square Garden, but with her in the crowd, he felt like it was the most important show he’d ever play in his entire life.

“I really like your shirt,” Dottie was telling Donny about his Iron Maiden tee, holding his bass for him as he searched for a pedal that had gotten lost in the back of his car. “The black makes your eyes pop out.”

“But I need my eyes,” he whined jokingly.

“You know what I mean, dumbass,” she laughed, softly hitting his leg with her sneaker.

“I was gonna wear something else actually but I couldn’t find it,” he said, frowning at his car’s messy floor. “I have this Halloween shirt- aha!”

“Did you find it?”

“Yep, it was under the mat,” he climbed out of the car and pulled his pants up higher. “My ass wasn’t showing, was it?”

“I would never let you show your ass in public,” Dottie said, giving him back his bass. “We got everything? What do we do now?”

“Yeah, we just need to set up and-”

“Hey man, can you start without us?” Eddie asked, sitting on the back of his open van and patting his pockets for his cigarettes. “Need her help with something.”

“Uh- yeah, sure,” Donny said, looking at both of them suspiciously and noticing how Dottie appeared to be as equally confused as he was. “Don’t take too long.”

Donny hoisted his bass case over his shoulder and disappeared into the building, throwing one last look at them for good measure. While Eddie busied himself lighting up a cig, Dottie shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. What on Earth could Eddie want her help with right now? Was he… was he going to tell her to leave? Had he realized this was no place for her and didn’t want anyone to see she was with them? Or with him?

“Come ‘ere,” Eddie said, widening his legs so she could stand between them. “You gonna tell me what’s going on or do I gotta tickle it out of you?”

“You know I don’t like tickles.”

“Then I guess you’re gonna have to spill, don’t you, princess?” he flicked some of his ash to the side and wrapped an arm around her hips to bring her closer. “What is it, huh? My eyeliner’s that bad you can’t even look at me?”

“No,” she muttered, lips curling into a resigned pout. “You look pretty.”

“I look like shit. People might confuse me with a raccoon.”

“A pretty raccoon,” the right corner of her mouth lifted into a tentative smile and he took that as a win.

“If it’s not my eyeliner, what’s bothering you then? You wanna go home? ‘Cause I’ll drive you back right now if you want me to, just say the word.”

“No, no,” she quickly shook her head, curls bouncing around but her eyes were still stuck to his knees. “I wanna see you play.”

“Baby, I know something’s upsetting you. Talk to me, come on. We’ve been good at that lately,” he pleaded, thumb sneaking into the side of her overalls and under her shirt to rub comforting circles on her skin.

“It’s just-,” Dottie huffed, crossing her arms and curling on herself. “I feel weird, okay? I look like an idiot.”

“What are you talking about?” Eddie frowned.

“Ed, I’m wearing overalls.”

“And?”

“What do you mean, and? You look like a fucking rockstar and I’m some random toddler following you around. I don’t fit in, Gareth’s right.”

“Okay, first of all, fuck Gareth,” she opened her mouth to argue but he beat her to it. “No, no, fuck Gareth. He doesn’t know shit about fashion, never trust anything he says, okay? He used to wear polos every day before he met me, you knew that? He can’t judge anyone. And I love your overalls. You look adorable in them.”

“But I don’t want to look adorable!” Dottie stomped on the ground, which only furthered his point. “You look so badass, why couldn’t I look like that?”

“You wanna look badass? I’ll give you any of my shirts next time, I promise,” Eddie pulled her closer until she uncrossed her arms and rested them on his shoulders. “But don’t listen to that dumbass. I love how you dress. I really fuckin’ do, babe.”

“Yeah? The toddler thing gets you going?” she asked, melting under his earnest eyes.

“Nah, that’s all you, darling,” he stretched himself up to kiss her gently. “You get me going. And you always fit in with me, alright?”

“Okay.”

“Nope, come on, you gotta say it.”

“Eddie.”

“I’m waiting,” he sang.

“You’re insufferable sometimes,” she rolled her eyes, but this time her smile was much more genuine. “Fine. I fit in with you.”

“Always.”

“Always.”

“Good,” he took one last drag of his cigarette and threw it away, lifting himself up to close the van doors and direct into the bar. “We’re gonna talk about this later though. I know you’re still thinking about it.”

“It’s scary how much you know me,” she mused, leaning onto his side for courage as they walked to the front door.

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t pay attention to you?” he said, opening the door to let her in.

Boyfriend. He had called himself her boyfriend. They hadn’t discussed what they were yet; Eddie was adamant about asking her out properly on Graduation Day but it felt good to hear that he knew what he meant to her. That he wanted the same thing she did, even if her anxious heart got in the way sometimes. Dottie was so sure he’d get bored of her once he realized how truly boring she was, but failed to consider that in all their months together as friends, Eddie had learned to love their differences and cherished them deeply. Why would he want someone who was just like him? He was an idiot in his opinion, he’d hate it if she was equally impulsive, messy and brash as he was. She was soft where he was rough, logical where he was a dreamer, practical where he was ignorant. And in turn Eddie felt capable where she was inexperienced, bold where she was shy, and calm where she was nervous. Two puzzle pieces that are cut the exact same way never fit, and Eddie was confident in the knowledge that they were alike, yet different where it mattered the most. It was just a matter of time until she got to see things like he did, and he’d be damned if he didn’t help her get there faster.

“Dave! What’s up?” Eddie hollered as he approached the bar, a bald man with a bushy beard greeted him with a big smile.

“Hey, Ed! The guys told me the big news, I’m proud of you, kid,” Dave said, putting down his rag and a glass to pat Eddie’s back over the counter. “You brought a new friend today?”

“Thanks, man. Yeah, this is Dottie,” he introduced them. “Dot, Dave, he’s the owner - Dave, Dot. Treat her right, okay? She’s our manager.”

“No shit,” Dave laughed. “How did that happen?”

“I got them a gig in Indy next month and they offered me the job,” Dottie said, slipping onto a bar stool next to Eddie. “We should talk business sometime.”

“That’s my girl,” Eddie beamed, squeezing her hand before walking backwards to the stage. “Give her anything she wants, I’ll cover her tab!”

“So, you’re Eddie’s girl, huh,” Dave said, eyes glinting.

“I guess I am,” Dottie smiled, before her expression dropped in realization. “Could you- We’re not, like- The guys-”

“Secret’s safe with me, doll,” he winked at her. “I knew something was up when Ed started adding ballads to their setlist. Now, what’s your poison? On the house.”

“Would root beer be an acceptable choice?” she asked, cheeks burning under her skin.

“Depends. You want ice cream with it?” he threw his rag over his shoulder.

“I’ll never say no to a little vanilla.”

“Attagirl. I can see why he likes you,” Dave said, and disappeared down the kitchen door in search of a scoop of ice cream.

Dottie turned around in her stool to look at her friends happily setting up for their show, palpable excitement coursing through their veins. Gareth was hunched over his drum kit, tightening and loosening the skin until it was perfect while he heard the story Donny was retelling, Eddie laughing loudly and Jeff cringing while uncoiling a cable. They looked happy, barely controlled energy bouncing around the room much to everyone’s amusement. Two older men sat in a corner of the bar, mugs filled with frothy beer and a bowl of peanuts shared between them - they lifted up their drinks and smiled at her in acknowledgement when she glanced their way. Dave was funny, charming and a little bit kooky, all the right ingredients for a good bartender. He kept Dottie busy by telling her stories about every regular that was in the bar, and introduced her to the two men as “the boys’ boss, so no funny business with her”. Rudy and B.B. ate it up, calling her bosslady in all further interactions, asking her about their friendship with Corroded Coffin and telling her silly stories they had collected about her friends over their years as The Hideout’s only band with a permanent slot.

It was clear to Dottie that this was a family built on routine and comradery. They had nicknames for each other, knew about beverage preferences and medical conditions, asked about parents, wives and children. B.B. was all too glad to have someone new to show off the pictures he kept in his wallet, his five grandchildren looking up at Dot from the glossy paper as he shared names and little anecdotes about them proudly. When it was time for Corroded Coffin to finally start playing, everyone paid attention and even cheered when the first few notes of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid began. Dottie sang along to every single word that came out of Jeff’s mic, thinking about that very first time she’d seen them play in Gareth’s garage. This felt equally warm, homey, and handcrafted. A labor of love.

Corroded Coffin was a sight that begged to be seen. They were loud and unapologetic; they crooned to the outcasts, the freaks, the weirdos. Lee with his prosthetic leg and handlebar mustache, Rudy with his white hair and beer belly, Shonda with her leather vest and scary-looking motorbike parked outside. These drunkards were their very first fans, and they enjoyed the Tuesday night gig as much as anyone could enjoy first row seats to a Metallica show in a big arena. During a water break between songs, Lee asked for a Judas Priest song and the boys indulged him, Gareth immediately launching into a complex beat that made him break one of his drumsticks in half at the end. He looked the happiest Dottie had ever seen him.

The half hour show came to a close, and Corroded Coffin said their goodbyes with pure elation and sweat dripping down their faces. Dottie wanted to help them load everything back into the cars, but Shonda kept her busy and glued to her stool talking about New York and the best food places she had encountered on her travels. If Dottie recognized some of the mentioned spots as known queer hangouts she’d always wanted to go to but couldn’t because she was underage, she said nothing, but the knowledge only endeared the older lady more to her. When the guys had finished putting everything away, they surrounded Dottie at the bar and Dave presented them with a beer each. Yes, it was illegal to serve alcohol to minors, but no one cared. They’d earned those fair and square, and what was the big issue with a little toast between friends to the Hellfire Class of ‘86 who would be graduating in just a few short days?

“Since when do you go dry after a show, Ed?” Dave said, grabbing the bottle Eddie had pushed back into his hand.

“I’m driving her around tonight,” Eddie said, nodding towards Dottie who was lost in conversation with Jeff. “Her Dad might kill me if we get pulled over and I’m drunk, and I actually like being alive.”

“She’s got you whipped,” B.B. commented, making the rest of the older men laugh while Eddie’s ears burned red at the light teasing.

“Good for her. Someone had to do it at some point,” Rudy said, lifting his frothy beer to his lips, and truth be told, Eddie was more than happy to admit they were right.

Dottie was not expecting Eddie to pull over halfway between her house and Gareth’s after dropping him and his drum kit off, but it soon became clear that he wasn’t about to let her go to bed without talking about what had happened earlier. He was still a little jittery from the show, adrenaline starting to run off now that they were surrounded by the quiet of the night in a deserted street, truly alone for the first time all day. After reaching to click her seatbelt off, he helped her crawl sideways onto his lap, resting her weight half on him and half on the driver’s door, legs draped over the center console and stretching towards the co-pilot’s seat. Despite the fact that he’d just played a 30 minute set and still felt a little bit damp with sweat from his performance, he took the time to bask in the sense of calm that washed over him. This is the best part of my day, he thought, lazily pressing kisses to the side of her head as she played with his rings, a dazed smile on her face.

“I fuckin’ love you,” he whispered, pushing her hair behind her ear and making her squirm in delight when he pressed another kiss to her temple.

“I love you too. You’re my favorite rockstar,” she muttered back, nosing his cheek.

“You had a good time?”

“The best. Everyone was so nice.”

“They better be,” he said dramatically, lifting his hand into a menacing fist. “Or else I’d have to kill them.”

“Stop,” she laughed, arms wrapping around him. “I’m sorry if I worried you earlier. I was being silly and got too into my own head.”

“You gonna tell me what that was about? And don’t say it was about your overalls, because I know it wasn’t,” he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles gently.

“I don’t know, I guess… I was just thinking about the future, and-”

“Uh-oh. Is this it? Are you breaking up with me? Shit, I knew that old dog Rudy was gonna take you away from me.”

“Shut up,” Dottie slapped his chest lightly as she laughed and he pretended to be in excruciating pain, slumping against his seat. “I… I was just wondering if there’s gonna be a place for me, y’know? In your future? And I got upset thinking that maybe there wouldn’t be.”

“Why would you think that?” Eddie asked, uncharacteristically serious.

“I mean… I dunno,” she admitted. “You’re gonna be a huge rockstar and I’m just, like… your boring high school sweetheart that wants to become a teacher. Is that really what you want for your life?”

“Yes. I want you.”

“Eddie, I’m being serious.”

“Yeah, me too,” his hand came up to hold her face. “I’m not gonna become a rockstar, Dot. That ship sailed a long time ago.”

“You’re only twenty-”

“It’s not about my age. Jeff’s leaving Hawkins and he’s gonna be a fancy businessman with a- a fuckin’ pacifist non-profit org or whatever people do in West Virginia,” she snorted at his words and he continued. “Gareth’s probably gonna become the greatest studio percussionist in the world for all we know, and Donny has his family’s restaurant to take care of. We’re all going separate ways, and I don’t wanna do the rockstar thing without them. Like, that’s my band, y’know? I’m not gonna go solo, it’s all of us or no one.”

“I get that, I do but… I just don’t want to be the reason you give up on your dreams,” she admitted. “You’re gonna resent me if you do, and I don’t want you to wake up one day and realize that you are unhappy and you hate me.”

“I could never hate you and I’m not giving up on anything because of you, darling, I promise. Is it really that hard to believe that I want a normal, peaceful life with you?” he shrugged.

“But you hate normal.”

“No, I don’t. I thought I did but… I can’t be hanging onto a maybe forever, babe. I can’t do that to Wayne. I want to help him out, have a good job so I can pay for things around the house, move out before I turn 30. Give him back his goddamn bedroom, for fuck’s sake,” Eddie scoffed bitterly, thinking about his poor Uncle’s back after years of sleeping on that shitty fold-out bed. “I want to make his life easier. He deserves that much.”

“But you could help him out even more if you became a rockstar. You could- you could buy him a big house, and he wouldn’t have to work anymore, he could just retire,” Dottie pressed on. “Didn’t you want to get out of Hawkins? Travel the world?”

“Yeah, but I think I’d miss you too much if I was away on the road all the time. I’m already suffering about you going to Michigan and that’s only three hours away. I can’t get on a tour bus and not see you for eight months, you know I’ll die if you don’t kiss me regularly,” he joked.

“What makes you think I wouldn’t be right there with you on the tour bus if you asked?” she joked back but her voice was so, so earnest.

“Darling, I could never do that to you. I could never ask you to give up on a full ride scholarship for me, fuck. You earned that shit, you have to go and get your degree so I can brag about how smart you are to everyone I talk to.”

“But who’s gonna keep the groupies away from you if I’m not there?” she whispered dramatically.

“I’ll chase them out, let the guys have all of them. Got the best and only groupie I need right here,” he squeezed her to make the remnants of her insecurities go away before kissing her forehead.

“I’m not a groupie though, I’m your manager,” Dottie reminded him. “I’ll have you know, Dave and I are gonna discuss business soon.”

“Yeah? You gonna look out for us? Read all our contracts before we sign them?” Eddie played along, smirking up at her.

“I’ll get you moved from Tuesdays to Thursdays, you’ll see.”

“God, you’re so hot when you know what you want.”

“Eddie!”

“What, my girl is the smartest manager in the world and I can’t find that hot? Fuckin’ sue me then,” he laughed and leaned in to kiss her, feeling incredibly lucky about the fact that she chased his lips for more when he pulled away. “I’m being serious, though. I know you don’t believe me when I say I don’t want that rockstar shit anymore, and this is way too brave of me considering we haven’t even gone on our first official date yet, but… I dunno. I kinda really like the idea of coming back home after a long day at work and getting to hold you like this. I used to think having a normal life was so lame because I never had it and now it’s all I can think about.”

Eddie had told himself throughout his whole childhood that he didn’t want to live like his classmates. He didn’t want to have family dinners every night like they did, because it meant he would have had to eat vegetables like broccoli and carrots instead of whatever unhealthy snack he could make for himself while his Dad was out of the house for the night. He didn’t want to have perfect attendance at school, because he liked whenever he could sleep in until late before “going on an adventure” on Wyatt’s Good Days. He liked spending his summers with his Grandma, stuffing his face full of ice cream and pie, and he liked when Wayne had a few days off from his job as a trucker and returned to Hawkins bringing dumb trinkets he had probably bought at a gas station on his way home, but felt like treasures to the youngest Munson. Eddie had told himself he didn’t want anything more than what he had throughout his childhood, because Wyatt said whining was for pussies and for girls, and his son wasn’t either of those things, are you?

It wasn’t until Eddie moved in with Wayne that he found out he really liked carrots because they were unexpectedly sweet and that he didn’t like grapefruit because it was bitter. He didn’t skip a single day of school for a month and his teacher put a gold star next to his name on the wall. His clothes were now always clean, and he didn’t have to wash ketchup stains in the school’s bathroom anymore to hide them from his Dad because his shirt would be hanging from the clothesline the next day like the offending red splat had never been there in the first place. Eddie thought that living in a real house was bullshit, because he lived in a trailer now and the trailer park was fun. He could feed and pet the strays and go to the playground whenever he wanted, and the people who lived there said hi to him when they saw him collecting flat rocks to skip at the lake when Wayne took him fishing on weekends, and sometimes the old lady next door would give him a bite of watermelon if he asked nicely.

But now Eddie was 20, and he wasn’t scared of admitting he wanted more. He wanted a water heater that didn’t randomly die on him, and a bedroom without mold stains, and Wayne to have the privacy he so very much deserved after 12 years of sleeping in the living room. He wanted a garage like Gareth’s, a backyard like Jeff’s, and a loud but loving family like Donny’s. And whenever he thought about those things lately, he always ended up dreaming about lying on a big comfy couch after a hot shower with his sleepy girlfriend pressed to his side and the decadent smell of a roast cooking away in the oven. No rush, no worries. Just love.

“I think about it too,” Dottie said quietly, jostling him out of his cozy fantasy.

“You do?” he asked, surprised.

“I never had a house until we moved here, I’ve always lived in small apartments before. And it’s not like that’s a bad thing, because it isn’t! I’m really grateful I always had a roof over my head. But I used to dream a lot about having a house like my grandparents when I was younger, and… I don’t know. When I think about it now you are there too. I know, I know it’s a lot, we haven’t even, like, talked about-”

“No, no, that-,” Eddie said, an unfamiliar warmth spreading in his chest. “That sounds really nice, darling. Tell me more? About our future house?”

“Well… it changes all the time. When I see something I like, I add it so it’s always different,” she said, cheeks warm at his soft gaze. “Like, it didn’t have a front porch until I met you, but now I know I definitely want one.”

“Why did you add a porch when you met me?”

“Because you have one! I love it when we sit outside when it’s rainy, it feels really peaceful. And also I think it’s really cute that Wayne waits for you there sometimes. I… I kinda wanna do that.”

“You wanna wait for me to come home on our front porch?” Eddie asked, grip tightening around her waist.

“Mhm,” she buried her head on his neck, closing her eyes like she could see themselves in the future. “We should get a swing, I can make cushions for it. And plant fruit trees in the backyard.”

“We could set up the basement to host D&D nights,” he continued. “And a dog. We should definitely get a dog.”

“Yes. A big dog.”

“A big black dog, and we can name him Ozzy,” he smiled.

“Aw, I wanted to name him Bilbo,” she pouted.

“You can’t name a black dog Bilbo, that’s a name for a brown dog,” Eddie argued.

“We can have two dogs then, one black and one brown.”

“That’s too much, we need space for the kids.”

“K-kids?” Dottie lifted her head and stared at him like he’d just grown two heads.

“I thought you wanted kids?” he was confused.

“I do, I just… I didn’t think you wanted kids,” she admitted. “And we’re still so young, it feels strange to talk about that.”

“I mean, I definitely don’t want kids right now but maybe in like… five years-”

“Ten,” she said, in a tone that left no room to argue.

“Ten years sounds great. We could have kids in ten years, right? I’m not gonna be a loser by then.”

“Eddie, you’re not a loser,” she frowned.

“Wait until after graduation to make big statements like that, babe.”

“You’re not a loser. You’re the best rockstar mechanic in the world and Ozzy, the kids and I love you.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, wiping his face with his hand. “Princess, you can’t shit like that or I’m gonna ask you to marry me before our first date.”

“Ed?” Dottie said nervously; his hand fell from his face to her thighs and he looked at her. “Are we… are we moving too fast? We haven’t even been on a real date and we’re already talking about, like, marriage and living together-”

“We’re just goofin’ around, babe,” he said, grabbing her hand. “We don’t have to do anything until we’re ready. You gotta go to Michigan first and get your degree, and I have to move out of Wayne’s, we have time. I’m just, uh, putting my cards on the table early so you can yell at me if I start being stupid. That alright with you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s alright with me,” she smiled back at him.

“Besides, everyone at The Hideout knows you’re my girl now. That’s bigger than marriage - if we break up they’ll take your side.”

“Am I?”

“Huh?”

“Am I your girl?” Dottie asked, knowing the answer but still wanting to hear it from his lips.

“You know you are,” he pulled her into a kiss before singing softly. “My girl, talkin’ ‘bout my girl… my girl!”

“You’re so silly,” she giggled, noses bumping in the dark.

“But I’m your silly. You’re mine and I’m yours, okay? So no more getting upset at whatever bullshit Gareth says. I’ll kick his ass.”

“It’s not his fault. My brain just hates me sometimes.”

“I’ll fight your brain,” he said, making her giggle again. “You’re It for me, darling. We fit in together. It’s just that easy.”

“Easy,” she repeated.

Eddie had told himself a lot of lies growing up, but the biggest one was that he didn’t want a normal, quiet life, because that was lame and he wasn’t going to conform to the system like everyone else did. He understood now that maybe, just maybe, having the most regular, happy, love-filled life he could get with his high school sweetheart turned elementary school teacher and a big black dog named Ozzy, in a house with a swing on the front porch, enough rooms for children that didn’t exist yet, and a basement where he could DM as many campaigns as he could think of, would probably be the biggest act of defiance he could do in the eyes of a town who thought he would never be deserving of the common luxuries everyone else got to have without having to fight for them.

taglist: @munsonology @kurdtbean @every1lovesanunderdog @eg-dr3amer3

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x ofc #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fic #stranger things 4 #stranger things #hellfire club #corroded coffin #eddie munson #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #chrissy cunningham #wayne munson #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

[nctsplug02]

hi may i request something?? basically mr and mrs jeong are invited to this fancy dinner but mrs jeong got jealous of this one girl because the girl and mr jeong were really chatting it up so mrs jeong just left 😭

THANK YOU!! ❤️

[7:54pm]

genre: fluff, kind of angst and suggestive

warnings: butt touching, mrs jeong get jealous, flirting, mentions of ex-girlfriend, mentions of perverted men, fingering, kissing, dirty talking, dick touching and car sex

you and jaehyun were billionaires.

you and him both owned multiple companies and buildings.

since you and him were very big and popular, you and him were constantly invited to parties, events, birthday parties, fancy eat out dinners— which was the case now.

jaehyuns high school girlfriend owns a company and today, they hit their five year anniversary of being somewhat successful. it shocked you when receiving an invitation from her for you and jaehyun to come to her dinner party.

being polite; you and jaehyun show up.

once there, there were groups of people just talking and soft music playing in the back until it stops.

tap. tap.

someone clears their throat and starts speaking into the mic. “hello, hello.” jaehyun tightens his grip on your waist as you both turn to the stage.

his ex was in a beautiful tight sequenced red dress. it had a slit on both sides of long legs and it was a floor length dress. her hair was parted to the right and the left side was clipped back with a beautiful ruby clip. her heals sparkled in red gems. her dark wine lipstick matted down on her plumped lips.

“wow,” you say with admire in your tone.

“hello, everyone. thank you for all those who could make it. tonight is gonna be a great night, especially with everyone looking amazing!” everyone cheers as yun-mi praises them.

as the cheers and claps quiet down, she giggles into the mic and tucks her hair back. “tonight’s night is based on my companies fifth year anniversary!” they cheer and clap again. “i couldn’t have done this without all my amazing workers! you all have done such an amazing job! thank you to everyone who helped build our amazing company. so, everyone, let’s head to the dinner tables and let’s begin our feasting! i want everyone to have a great night tonight and i want everyone to eat well!” everyone cheers and claps while she heads off stage.

you look up at jaehyun who had a slight smile on his face.

had she cause that smile to be on his face?

you look down with a weird feeling in your chest.

“let’s go find our seats, yeah?” he suggests and you nod. you and jaehyun walk around until yun-mi calls you both over.

“jaehyun! mrs jeong! your guys seats are here.” there were assigned seatings and you were assigned to sit across from jaehyun— while she, was sat next to jaehyun.

and you were sat next to her perverted husband.

“main courses are coming.” yun-mi announces and fixes her hair. as the waiters and waitresses come around, delivering the plates of food. jaehyun and yun-mi were quick to converse.

you picked at your food that sat on your plate. “are you gonna eat your mashed potatoes?” you side-eye the man who was still munching on his food. “oh, no im not.” you scoot your plate to him and he takes it without hesitation.

you sigh, looking forward to see your husband laughing and cackling with yun-mi as they crack jokes together and as they catch up.

you suck in your cheeks as she leans towards him and touches his arm while biting her lip and giving him her siren eyes.

you catch a glance at a waiter who carried a tray of shot glasses and margaritas. you sit up and hold your hand up. “excuse me— i, thank you.” you softly laugh while taking off two shot glasses and two margaritas.

you look forward to see jaehyun still laughing at yun-mi’s jokes but staring down your drinks. you roll your eyes, picking up a shot glass and downing it. jaehyuns eyes follow as you take the shot with nothing but a sour face afterwards. he bites his lips and raises an eyebrow.

after two more glasses of margaritas, jaehyun and yun-mi were still talking and laughing together.

you let out a deep sigh and you slam your hands on the table, pushing your chair back and standing up. your action catches jaehyun and yun-mi’s attention.

“sorry, sorry,” you stumble, laughing at yourself. “this is, this is my song.” you point to the ceiling as a groovy music plays.

everyone gathers on the dance floor and you stare jaehyun down after looking back at the dance floor. your lip twitches into a smirk as you push yourself off the table and strut towards the dance floor.

“i’ll be..” jaehyun sees old perverted men stare at your ass as you strut pass their tables and stands up. “i’ll be back.” he fixes his blazer and chases after you.

he finds you through the crowded crowd and pulls you when seeing you swaying your hips and running your fingers through your hair.

“cmon,” you fix yourself and you see jaehyun. “no.” you state firmly, yanking your hand from his hold. “y/n, no. we’re gonna go home.” you push him when he tries to grab your hand away. “i said no. go back and talk to.. i forgot her name. wasn’t it.. lucy? no, maybe— i don’t care! just go talk to her.” people started to stare but you could care less.

you knew how you felt.

anger.

jealousy.

he sighs and grabs you by the waist. he tosses you over his shoulder and holds your dress down as your dress slides up a bit. “jae, put me down!” he smiles and nods at people who stare.

you huff and cross your arms, allowing him to carry you outside to the car. “i wanna be put down, jae.” you say firmly. “you can be put down in the car.” you roll your eyes and hear him unlock the car. “you can be put down in the car. let’s go home,” you mimic his voice in a whiney tone. “oh, shut up.” you finish, scoffing.

he opens the passenger side and plops you in your seat. “put your seatbelt on, baby.” you sit up straight with your arms still crossed. “baby,” you continue to ignore him. “alright, fine.” he sighs and slides the seatbelt over your abdomen and crossed arms.

he gets in on his side and drives off. “would you like to talk this out in the car or at home?” he asks and you continue to stare out the window. “y/n,” you don’t like his stern voice. “answer me, baby.”

“no, i won’t talk to you.” he smiles a bit at your stubbornness.

“and why won’t you talk to me?” you cross your legs.

“because you flirted with yun-mi in front of me and didn’t talk to me the whole time we had dinner. therefore, i won’t talk to you.”

his smile grows at your last sentence. “how did i flirt with her?”

you inhale through your nose. “you let her touch your arm, your thighs and your hands. you made jokes with her and you kept leaning on her when you guys were laughing. i had to sit with her husband and watch as my husband flirted with his ex-girlfriend. i’m so mad at you. i won’t talk to you. ever again.” he wants to laugh at the sentence you constantly repeat.

“baby,” he reaches over and places a hand on your thigh but you push his hand off. “no, thank you.” you say.

you gasp when he swerves to the side of the road. “jaehyun, what the hell are you doing?!” you sit up in your seat. arms uncrossed. legs uncrossed.

he shuts the engine off and unbuckles himself, he pushes his chair back and reclines it back just a bit. he looks at you and pats his lap.

“what.” you shrug.

“come sit.” he pats his lap again.

“no.” you deadpan and cross your arms again before plopping yourself in your seat.

he sighs and sits up. your face is turned to him. “i said come sit.” his hold on your jaw is firm— your lips are squished together.

when he lets go of your jaw, you process his tone, his words. you press your lips together before getting up and climbing over and sitting on his lap. your dress riding up your thighs.

“don’t look down, look at me.” you huff and bring your eyes up to his. “i’m sorry for making you upset. i didn’t realize that i made you upset and that i flirted with.. yun-mi. i’m sorry.” you chew the inside of your cheek.

he cups your face and presses his lips on yours. “forgive me?” you blew your cheeks until they create little bubbles. “maybe.” he kisses your lips again. “forgive me, now?” you look to the side. “i don’t know.” you shrug and he softly laughs.

he holds your hips and pulls you into a hug. “i don’t forgive you.” you whisper into his neck. “yeah? i know what’ll make you forgive me.” he rolls up your dress and pushes your panties to the side.

“jae,” you whine when he brushes his fingers against your clit. “don’t tease me, right now!” you squeeze his neck and he slides his fingers right into you.

you gasp, pushing your hips down. “oh, jae.” you moan, bouncing your hips softly.

jaehyun kisses your neck and thrusts his fingers while you moan and whine. you moan a bit louder when he yanks your dress too down. the straps snapping at his strength.

“does it feel good, baby?” you nod, whining and grinding your hips. he uses his other hand and uses it to squeeze your ass.

“y—yeah.. but,” but? “i want your.. dick..” you admit shyly and he sighs. “you’re being greedy.” he slowly pulls his fingers out of you, making you whine like a bitch in heat. “you’re gonna take what i give you, got it?” you nod. “say it.” you whimper as his fingers tease your hole. “i—i understand.” he slips his fingers in again making you whine.

you moan and jerk forward as he delivers a spank on your ass. “cmon, baby. ride my fingers.” he takes your breast into his mouth and stares up at you as you whine and bite your lip.

he rubs your clit and that sets you off. your legs quiver and your stomach hitches. “oh, my god. oh, my god.” you gasp repeatedly. your feet flies up and hits the wheel.

“keep going, baby.” you shake your head. “cumming— i’m cumming!” you cry out.

his fingers rubbing your clit and thrusting into your pussy. your arousal drips onto the seat and jaehyun groans, biting his lip with a satisfied grin on his lips.

you yank his hair as you cum all around his fingers. your eyes roll to the back of your skull and your body twitches at his touch.

he pulls his fingers out and stares at them before using them to spank your pussy. “h—hey!” you hiss and yell at the second slap he delivered. “y—you’re mean!” you whine, pulling away from him and pushing his body.

he laughs at heaves. “am i forgiven?” you squint and sigh. “possibly.. i’d prefer your.. dick.” you say rubbing his bulge that stayed hard under you. “oh, you’re spoiled and greedy.” he shakes his head.

“shut up,” you roll your eyes and plop yourself back into your seat. “i’m tired.” you reach down and you slide your panties off, tossing it in the back while jaehyuns eyes follow.

“ready to go home and see our baby girl?” you nod with a smile until it drops. “and our babysitter, jen.” you add and jaehyun tilts his head side to side. “screw her.” he starts the engine and swerves back onto the road.

#ash talks #nct smut #nctsplug02 #nct scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop smut #kpop fluff #nct 127 #anon #nct imagines #jung jaehyun imagines #nct jaehyun #jaehyun fluff #jeong jaehyun fluff #jaehyun angst #jaehyun smut #nct dilf #nct dad au #jen the babysitter

[twisted-broth]

You can pick to do vice leaders or the president's but how would they feel with their crush calling their relationship an "in direct-direct relationship" meaning that the crush knows their in a realtionship but they don't?

Trey

He’s really not the type to cause any kind of scene so he won’t say anything in the moment but will come talk to you later

Is honestly a little sad because he wanted to be the one to ask you out but he was too scared

Cater has been teasing him constantly for his crush so he’s just gonna have a field day once he hears that you basically just gave up and told Trey that you’re dating

Trey still bakes you something special and follows the queens rules to properly ask you out

He’s also the type to clarify exactly what day you started dating so that he can fully celebrate your anniversary

He also apologizes for being a bit of a coward and frustrating you

Ruggie

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE’RE DATING???”

He is so genuinely mad that he could have been flaunting around his relationship this whole time

He’s really grumbly because he wanted to formally ask you out but we all knew he wasn’t gonna be able to

Of course the next day at school he has his arm around your waist like you’ve been dating for years

However he’s still super embarrassed whenever people bring up his crush on you

“Oh so you finally asked him out? I thought you were too much of a pussy.” -Leona, probably

And he will get very defensive and mention that yes, he definitely did ask you out and there was no weird lack of communication where you already assumed you were dating. Nope, that did not happen

He can boast about being the big man in the relationship but once you’re all of a sudden giving him a peck on the lips before leaving for class, he just melts

Jade

Jade will absolutely find a way to spin this into embarrassing you

You would be sitting in the Mostro Lounge with Ace and say something along the lines of: “Jade and I have the kind of relationship where we’re dating but he’s just totally oblivious.”

Jade overhears this and would die before he let anybody believe he was oblivious to anything

So he sneaks up behind you with a drink and presses an uncharacteristically gentle kiss to your temple

“Here’s your drink, my love. On me, of course.”

Your jaw drops as he shoots you a knowing smile and leaves

Ace is absolutely wheezing

Jamil

“Excuse me?”

He is very much not pleased that you said something like that in front of another person

He might even go so far as to hypnotize the other person to forget they even saw the two of you

It’s pretty scary to see Jamil like actually mad and when he pulled you into a supply closet you actually thought you were about to die

He’s mainly upset that you embarrassed him and goes off on some tangent about his reputation as his cheeks steadily flush darker

“So does this mean you don’t want to be my boyfriend?”

“Of course I want to be your boyfriend! I mean… just give a guy a little warning next time, yeah?”

And would it really be a supply closet confession without a steamy make out session at the end?

Rook

Y’know in cartoons when the character hears something shocking and it quick pans to their face with the glass shattering sound? That’s Rook

He is dev👏a👏sta👏ted👏 (devastated)

He dramatically flies down from whatever rafter he was spying from and gets down on one knee and clutches your hand

“Mon amour!! How could I have been so blind?? To think that the cause of chouchou’s suffering was none other than moi! How disgraceful!”

If you ever shed a tear because of Rook, he promises to compensate with ten kisses per tear. No exceptions

To make up for it, he makes it very obvious to the entire school that the two of you are dating

He shows his affection by shooting arrows with attached love poems right past your face. You’ve gotten used to it but Ace and Deuce have not

You also tend to arrive to class with flowers waiting on your desk. Or in your bag. Or taped to your friends backs

Lilia

Dude he is straight up in the same boat as you

I think that one day he’ll just show up with flowers and chocolates and be confused why you forgot your one month anniversary

“Why are you confused? You said we were dating, didn’t you?”

It’s a very difficult conversation to explain that yes, you figured you guys were dating but you didn’t think that he saw it that way

Also you made that offhand comment like two weeks ago so why the hell is he celebrating your one month anniversary?

It all somehow boils down to being Kalim and Caters fault but that’s not surprising

Your relationship from that point is only slightly less weird than it was before

#x reader #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst #trey clover #trey clover x reader #ruggie bucchi x reader #ruggie bucchi #jade leech x reader #Jade leech #rook hunt #rook hunt x reader #jamil viper x reader #Jamil viper #lilia vanrouge #lilia vanrouge x reader

[here2bbtstrash]

HI! I wanted to say I love your idol joonie one shot I enjoyed reading it it was amazing. If only the OC can be invited on tour and ride him backstage before he starts the show.

five minutes (explicit)

genre: smutty lil drabble!! and me popping my request cherry >:)

pairing: namjoon x reader

summary: your fuckbuddy has a graduation gift for you, but he might have overestimated your self-control.

this is a companion fic to my oneshot park and ride! read that one first if you want to get all the references, or don't, i'm not your mom

word count: 2.6k

contains: explicit sexual content~*~ idol verse, fuckbuddies, semi-public sex (aka a quickie in the green room), fingering, unprotected sex, dick-riding, dirty talk, squirting, a 3 second blowjob, joon's dick is still Very Big, ft. tiny cameos from JK and yoongi

A/N: remember when i said i would write this later, i LIED, i'm a LIAR, i wrote it NOW because i really liked the idea (and i was super bored while traveling). ask and you shall receive anon, i hope this is what you were looking for!!!! 💜

this is also on AO3!

~*~

You’re enjoying a quiet Friday night in, basking in the glow of not having to stress about homework for the first time in two years, when a familiar number pops up on your phone.

“So, how does it feel to be done with grad school?” You’re surprised to hear him ask. Maybe the bar is in hell, but his own schedule is busy enough, you didn’t think he’d have the brain space to remember yours, too. “I know you worked hard for it. I’m proud of you.”

“Yep, I finally got my stupid piece of paper.” You say dryly. “Maybe now I can actually get paid enough to get a new car.”

You swear you can hear him smile on the other end of the phone. “Pretty soon you won’t even need me anymore.”

“I thought we discussed last time that I keep you around for one specific reason.” You can’t help yourself. “A very big reason.”

Namjoon laughs softly. “Well, maybe this will help my case. I got you a graduation present.”

Now he’s surprised you twice in under a minute. “I– what?”

“Did you know we have a stop on this tour that’s right by you?”

You do know. The tickets had sold out in approximately four seconds, if your Twitter feed was any indication. You didn’t even try for one; you’re so broke you’d only be able to afford nosebleeds at best anyway, and the thought of being that close but that far from him makes your heart sink in a way you can’t quite understand.

“So I’ve heard. Am I gonna be your Uber driver again?”

“I probably won’t be able to get away, unfortunately.” He says, and you nod, leaning back against the cushions of your couch. Hearing that phrase never sucks any less, but you’re used to it. He’s a busy guy. Sex is nowhere near the top of the priorities list.

“But,” he continues, “I did get you a ticket, if you want it.”

The revelation shocks you, and your stomach turns a little. Better seats would be great, especially for free, but you have other reasons for not being an avid concert-goer.

Namjoon is an incredible performer, they all are, but the thought of standing in a massive crowd where people next to you are loudly obsessing over his thighs and his chest has never sounded particularly appealing. It’s not jealousy; you understand as well as anyone that he’s an attractive man, it’s just… it’s weird.

“Joon,” you start, with no idea how you’re supposed to phrase this. Who turns down a free ticket to a BTS concert?

“It’d be backstage in VIP, okay? I promise, the screaming isn’t so bad there.” Backstage? Your head swims. He pauses for a second, but can clearly tell you’re not convinced, and his tone softens. “I hated the thought of being so close to you and not doing anything about it. I really just want to see you, even if we can’t…” he clears his throat with a half-laugh. “You know, go for a drive.”

You absolutely do not feel like a VIP, but your heart jumps at the thought of seeing him before you can tell it not to.

“Okay,” you say. “I’ll be there.”

He can only chat for a few more minutes before he’s pulled away for the next thing on his schedule. After you hang up, you slide entirely off your couch and onto the floor in a daze, wondering what the hell you just agreed to.

~*~

It turns out attending a concert as a VIP guest is not that far off from your well-worn hotel ritual. You go through the familiar motions, flashing various people your ID and the badge around your neck, and you receive a security escort through the network of hallways that lead into the heart of the stadium.

At security’s direction, you hang a left, past a room where you see racks upon racks of clothes ready and waiting for quick changes, and you’re so distracted that you nearly collide into Jungkook. His eyes widen. “Oh, hi!”

You’ve met most of the members in passing– it’s sort of hard not to– but you’ve always had a particular soft spot for JK. It might have something to do with the time he voluntarily sexiled himself to Taehyung and Jimin’s room for a night so that Namjoon could invite you over. A true friend.

“Hi, Jungkook,” you say with a nervous smile.

“It’s good to see you! Namjoon said you were coming. He’s in the green room if you’re looking for him.” He gestures to a door at the end of the hallway, and you thank him as your pulse starts to race.

You gently push the door open and peek in. Namjoon is sitting alone at a chair in front of the vanity mirror, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his legs. He has headphones on, and his fingers are steepled, pressed to his lips. He’s clearly deep in thought, and a feeling washes over you like you shouldn’t be here, like maybe you should just turn around.

But then he glances over and sees you standing there, and his whole face lights up, those killer dimples on full display.

He slips his headphones off as you step inside; you can’t close the distance between the two of you fast enough. You loop your arms around his neck and he wraps his around your waist, and then you squeak as your feet leave the ground when he fully picks you up.

“Hi,” he says against your ear with a laugh, and when your feet make contact with the floor again, you push up on your tiptoes to kiss him.

Butterflies flutter in your stomach at the feeling of his lips on yours, his hands at the small of your back. Kissing Namjoon standing up doesn’t happen often, and it’s enough to give you a head rush.

His lips linger on yours as his hands travel gently downwards, and then he makes a noise of surprise against your mouth and pulls away.

“Oh my god,” he groans softly, pinching the fabric of your new favorite skirt between his fingers. “You did this on purpose.”

You can’t hide your wicked smile. “It’s possible. You did say you liked it, if I recall correctly.”

You lose your composure as his hands slip under your skirt to grab your ass. You inhale sharply, thankful that you’re alone. Namjoon’s mouth drops to your neck. “God, I wish we had more time,” he groans against your skin.

You should behave. The fact that you can see him and touch him should be more than enough, and you should just be grateful. But he really does make you insatiable. “I can be quick if you can,” you murmur against his ear.

His life-ruiningly big dick hardens against your thigh; you can feel every inch of it straining against the fabric of his pants, and you shift to grind your core against him.

“Fuck,” he hisses. Arousal floods through you at the notion of how close he is, the fact that only a few layers of clothes separate him from where you need him most. You’re already soaked, ready for all of him.

You hear a grunt and a shifting sound from behind you and nearly jump out of your skin, quickly leaping back to put some space between you and Namjoon. When you turn towards the source, you realize that you completely missed Yoongi, asleep on the green room couch.

Namjoon winces when you whip your head back to glare accusingly at him. “Sorry. I totally forgot he was there.”

You fix him in your gaze for a second, but you’re honestly too horny to stay mad. “To be fair, you were distracted.”

“Still am,” he grunts, running a hand over the front of his pants. You can only imagine the internet-wide panic that would ensue if he went out onstage this hard. The dick print blogs would have a field day. You’re frozen in place, ridiculously turned on but also starting to feel guilty for putting him in this predicament.

Namjoon crosses to the sofa, one hand slipping into his pants to tuck his erection into his waistband.

“Hyung,” he whispers, giving the couch a light kick.

Yoongi grunts again, but doesn’t move, eyes still closed.

“Hyung, I need the room for a minute.”

At this, he finally cracks an eye open. “Hmm?”

“Can you nap somewhere backstage?”

Yoongi squints at both of you as he slowly sits up. He looks pissed– although he kind of always looks like that, so maybe that’s just his face– but seems to realize he can get back to sleep faster if he doesn’t waste time on an argument.

He yawns as he shuffles out of the room, turning over his shoulder in the open doorway. “Just so you know, you’ve got like, five minutes.” Then he slams the door behind him.

Namjoon doesn’t waste even a second, instantly pulling you to him and finding your lips with his, tongue sweeping into your mouth. You let him guide you backwards until you’re pressed up against the green room door, and you hear the lock click.

His lips move to your neck again, his hands sliding up your thighs. “Can you do five minutes, baby?”

“Y-yes,” your answer turns into a whine as his hand brushes over your panties, and you spread your legs to give him more room. He pulls the fabric of your underwear to the side, and when he slips two fingers into your cunt, you both groan: you at the pleasure, and him at how little resistance there is when he pushes in.

“Fuck, you really want me, huh?” Namjoon practically growls into your ear, and you whimper open-mouthed as he curls his fingers inside you. He shifts and you can feel him pressed hard against your thigh, and your knees nearly buckle. “You want to take all of this?”

“God, yes.” You think you’ll die if you don’t.

He hesitates for just a second, clearly weighing some option in his head. Then he groans in your ear again. “Will you ride me, baby?”

You can’t even speak, but when he sees you nod, it’s enough. Pressing you up against the door, he lifts your legs to wrap around his waist, and then his hands move to cup your ass and pull you to him. He lifts you up and carries you like that across the room, his still-clothed erection grinding into your core. Your desire is almost painful now, you want him so bad.

He settles on the couch with you in his lap, and you lean forward on your knees so that he can fumble to undo his belt and pull his pants and boxers down.

There’s no time for the teasing you’re both so fond of, but you don’t feel like you could last a single second longer without him inside you. When you pull your panties to the side again so you can sink down on him, it’s fucking perfect, and you can’t hold back a moan of relief.

“Shit, baby,” Namjoon groans. His head drops against the couch and his hand is already on your clit in steady circles. The urgency just makes everything hotter.

You rock up and down along his length, and you’re so fucking wet that he easily bottoms out inside you, hitting the spot that makes you squeeze your eyes shut and gasp. Your arousal coils tight inside you, the pressure already building.

Namjoon’s fingers work you expertly, and he knows your mind just as well as your body. He knows the fastest way to get you to come is with his words, and he doesn’t hold back, his hips starting to rock up into you.

“You take my cock so well, baby, fuck. This tight little pussy was made just for me, huh?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” you whine with every thrust.

“Mine to have whenever I want, wherever I want. Always so fucking wet and ready for me, so desperate to take it all like a good girl.”

You whimper loudly in agreement. His cock, his hands, his voice, it’s all too much. He can feel your walls start to flutter and that only makes him thrust and circle his fingers faster, and your moans are nearly sobs now.

“That’s it, baby. Soak yourself for me. I want to feel you come all over my cock.”

“Oh, fuck!” You cry out as the pressure inside you swells and bursts, and you can feel the rush of fluid as it splashes over him and the couch beneath you.

Namjoon groans beneath you at the feeling, and you thank god he has the awareness and the strength to lift you up off of him, because it fully escaped you that he never put a condom on.

He strokes himself fast and hard, clearly just shy of his own end, and even now, you still can’t get enough. You drop to your knees on the floor and practically shove his legs apart so you can take him in your mouth, your cunt still quivering from the aftershocks of your orgasm.

“Holy shit,” he gasps as you bob up and down, sloppy and fast. When you swallow him down, gagging slightly, his hips buck against your mouth, and you take it all with a whimper as he comes down your throat.

You make sure to work every drop out of him before you pull off, sitting back on your heels and wiping at your mouth. You watch Namjoon as he collapses against the couch, breathing heavy and smiling wide. He runs a hand through his hair and looks down at you, clearly still trying to recover.

“You,” he says with a gasp, “are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

You beam at the compliment, and you stand up on shaking legs, reaching down to awkwardly adjust your underwear back in place. At his request, you circle around him to assess the damage as he pulls his pants up. 

It occurs to you only in hindsight that attempting a mess-free quickie with a girl who squirts is quite the lofty goal, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of it on his clothes. The couch cushion, however, was not so lucky. You both giggle at the wet spot as he wraps his arms around you and presses a kiss to the top of your head.

“I think we’re at five,” you murmur, but he tilts your jaw up anyway, his lips finding yours for one more kiss.

He reluctantly walks you towards the door. “I gotta go get my mic, but if you head backstage to the left, there’s a spot where you can watch the show.” He presses his lips to your forehead one more time. “I’ll make it a good one for you.”

You laugh as he opens the door. “I’ll be watching, so you better not fuck up the choreo!”

For the second time tonight, you nearly run face-first into Jungkook. “Ah, sorry! Is my phone in here?” He shoves past you both and lets out a sigh of relief as he retrieves it from the vanity counter.

You give Namjoon a final smile and then head towards backstage, but you’re still in earshot to hear Jungkook ask, “What happened to the couch? Hyung, did you spill something?”

You press your hand to your mouth to hold the laughter in.

The show is even better than you thought it would be, and though you might just be imagining it, you swear Namjoon’s hip thrusts are a little more enthusiastic than usual.

A/N: i wrote this in like 30 minutes (so it is quite literally a quickie on a quickie) so if this is slightly lower quality than my usual, don't roast me!!! but i had so much fun revisiting these two!! hope you enjoyed, would love a comment or review if you did 💜 and i'm always tentatively open to requests, tho i have very little control over what will spark the muse lol. ALSO I SWEAR TO GOD THE ACTUAL NEXT THING I POST WILL BE LDOMLT 🙈 thanks for reading!!!!!

#namjoon smut #namjoon x reader #namjoon x y/n #bts smut #bts x reader #fic request #anonymous #five minutes

[shuuuuush]

💙 for darkest because he is the loml 🫶 maybe just some highlights from a footasylum video w him and some of the other common people. would prefer if it wasn’t like OVERLY romantic because that gives me the ick but just like kinda cute …. I FEEL SO WEIRD REQUESTING THIS BUT YK WHATEVER and u also know how i look now so if u want those details may make it easier ??? IDK …

SOMETIMES U GOTTA LEAVE UR COMFORT ZONE GUYS !!! BUT IF U DONT WANNA WRITE THIS THEN HMU IN MESSAGES AND ILL UNDERSTAND !!! 😭😭

DONT WORRY OFC ILL WRITE THIS FOR YOU GIRL ❤️

So sorry this took so long to post 😭 I hope you like it 🫶

Laughter With You | Darkest Man

"Home school is back!" Sharky spoke, as he raised his hands in the air, earning a cheer from all the others there, you, Darkest, Harry, and Filly. "Yes, this is the show where fully grown adults take on school children at maths, science, and history. Plus a bonus round of English for our special guest."

"Yes, I know this sounds unfair, but when you find out who the contestants are for this season, you'll realise that the kids actually have an advantage." Sharky grinned as he looked around to the others, a shocked look on their faces, offended at what he just said, mumbling that what he said was rude although a smile on their faces peaked through.

"So do you guys wanna introduce yourselves?" You laughed, clasping your hands together as you glanced around the room.

This was a new season of home schooled and you got invited on for a special first video. Normally, there would be 3 people battling this 6 year old, named Timmy, but they decided that since it was the first video back for the season, they let you join in for the extra round. (Darkest also may or may not have begged for you to be in a video together to the producers)

Filly started to speak first since he was already at the table with little Timmy starting off, "Hello everyone, I'm Yung Filly, and I like to say a little slogan that goes like yeahh man!"

Harry, Darkest, and you were all sitting on the famous homeschooled couch, going in order to introduce yourselves to the camera.

Harry spoke next, the camera turning to him, "Yeah, uh, my name's HP like the sauce, Harry Pinero, but today I am Quincu Osafia."

"Hello, my name is Darkest Man, aka darkest of men and I, uh, decorate traffic lights."

Everyone laughed, including you suddenly clutching onto Darkest's arm as you laughed. It was so random, but it did make the video all the more funnier, saying the same thing all the time would have been boring.

"Hey there, I'm Allygater, aka Ally and the special guest for today's video!" You raised your hands, as everyone shouted a welcome to you, and you bowed, saying thank you, not forgetting of course to point to the young boy, Timmy, and introducing himself as the other special guest but an opponent on today's video.

The first subject was maths, Filly up against Timmy, and everyone beating him up about how he's definitely not going to win this one.

----

During the middle of Filly's subject, someone's phone began to ring, all turning your heads as you see Harry bending to grab his phone.

Sharky going over to reach and take Harry's phone, "I'm gonna have to confiscate your phone, no phones in the classroom."

Harry protested and repeatedly kept saying, "It's my son." A chuckle came from out of you, looking over at Darkest as he had the exact same thought as you.

"Wait, how have you got a son in school?" You spoke, causing everyone to laugh too, earning a look from Harry as he grudgingly handed his phone to Sharky.

"Wait, wait, what year is this, Mr. Sharky?" You asked, trying to hold in your laughter, as you glanced around at everyone's faces, them doing the same.

"This is Year 2."

That's when you couldn't hold it in anymore. You burst out laughing as you clutched onto your stomach, Filly saying, "Year 2, and you got yute already?" That definitely did not make it any better as you laughed your heart out, tears forming slightly as everyone made it worse by adding more comments onto it.

"Imagine being like, sorry sir, I have to go pick up my son." Harry put on the funniest baby voice ever that got you all cracking up.

"Who picked you up from school then?" Darkest added, As he saw the look on your face, he laughed harder, grabbing your hand as you both laughed together.

----

Darkest smiled as he watched you try and help the kid, with answers against Filly, sneakily coughing and then saying the answer, to which Sharky pretended not to notice.

Both you and Darkest ended up helping the kid at times with the answers to the questions. Despite Filly shouting, "That's cheating," it made it more funnier to do so.

"The answer is," you coughed, "The 80s," coughing again.

"No no Ally it's," coughs even louder, "Harry Pineros time," followed by another cough.

Your eyes widened as you stifled a laugh, Harry sending a glare between the both of you as you just violated his age for what seemed like the 10th time this whole video.

----

It was now science, Darkest's turn. Sharky introduced him, saying that both Filly and Harry have lost against a six year old, but Darkest has the chance to steal the win.

You cheered, whooping, "You got this!"

Darkest's cheeks turned a small pink, a bashful smile appearing on his face as he said, "Aw, thanks babe."

You raised a brow, "Not you, the kid."

A cough choked out of Filly next to you as he started laughing, yelling, "Ain't no way, she just did that to you, bruva!"

Harry and Sharky follow suit with laughter. After hearing what you said, Harry shaked his head with a laugh as he kept repeating over, "Absolute violation. Absolute Violation."

Darkest slumping over, putting his head on the table with a dejected look, although you knew it was fake, you still couldn't help but let a small frown on your face.

"Sorry, love you though, it was too funny to resist." You apologised, sending an apologetic smile Darkest's way. Earning an eye roll from him, making the rest of you all laugh.

----

"Ok, so, how am I doing so far? What's the score?" Darkest asked Sharky, turning to him.

"It is... 3-3" Sharky responded, a shocked look appearing as he raised his brows. "If you get this next point, you win."

"Wow, babe, I thought you were dumb. But now I guess you're only a little bit dumb." You smirked, Darkest gasped, placing a hand on his chest, taking "offence."

"How could my own girlfriend call me dumb?See Timmy, a great example of why you should never date."

Now it was your turn to be shocked, scoffing as your mouth was left agape, slowing reaching over to cover your mouth with your hand.

Shaking your head as you slowly said, "You. Did. Not."

"Ohh couple scrap!" Harry said, clutching onto Filly's arm as he laughed.

"Not in my classroom anyways, take your couple problems and go." Sharky pointed towards the outer set, the camera crew waving towards you both.

"How are you lot in year 2 and are dating already? Mental." Filly chuckled, remembering what you said earlier about this class being "year 2."

----

You were up next, the other three grown ass men not winning against the six year old. This was going to be interesting, the subject was English. And even though you were from Norway, you were going to ace this.

Darkest wouldn't be able to say anything afterwards when I win. You thought to yourself, a shit eating grin arising.

"Now your question is, how do you spell Asylum?" Sharky asked, looking back down at his notes to make sure he got it right in his head too.

"Wow, fits perfectly for this video." Darkest admitted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the sofa.

"And why is that?" You asked, looking down at your board as you wrote.

"Because you're a lunatic." He spoke, plain and simple, gazing straight into your blue eyes. If you looked hard enough, you'd see his gaze soften just by glancing your way.

Harry put a hand on his friend's shoulder, whispering, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's why you feel in love with her, though, right? You're one as well."

"Aww, that's cute though, innit? I like seeing interactions like these." Filly giggled, watching the both of you.

"I thought he was gonna say because this is on Footasylum, didn't expect that, though." Sharky said as he put down his cards to turn to you and Timmy, as you buzzed first.

Turning to show your board, Sharky looked at you and then his cards, nodding his head, "That is correct!"

You bowed, "See? I can spell."

"Good job." Timmy said in the cutest voice. All of you turned to say, "Aww," you side hugged the little man, saying, "He is so cute, honestly."

You could guess that when you looked up, Darkest's brows furrowed, watching the scene in front of him. Yes, he thought it was cute too, but maybe he was a little bit jealous.

As if reading his mind, "Watch out, Darkest, Timmy's gonna steal your gyal." Filly laughed as he saw Darkest's reaction, earning a smack from the guy.

"HE'S SIX YEARS OLD HE AIN'T STEALING NOTHING."

You smiled, letting go of Timmy, and sitting upright properly. Darkest being jealous was something you definitely didn't know you'd see today but it was cute in a way.

You ended up giving the win to Timmy. Even though Darkest chewed you out for it, he gave you the longest hug afterwards, and you wouldn't have it any other way right now.🫶

Requested by: @allygatcr

#marly's 100 followers celebration #Fic for Ally #darkest man #darkest x ally

[zxmickeyzx]

Mumbattan Ch.5

Barista! Pavitr x Artist! Miles

Miles came into the cafe for some chai tea, to see his friend Gwen on her shift and make some art while relaxing in the cafe. Instead he got some Barista who looked very annoyed when he tried to order and then became very passionate about ranting to him about how people say chai tea instead of just saying chai. Miles didn't mind him lecturing him on it though.

At least it was from someone so cute.

First ~ Prev ~ Masterlist ~ Next

The customer who he learned was named Miles from Gwen, did not show up the very next day again much to Pavitrs disappointment. After the talk with his Maya Auntie, he wanted to make sure he apologized properly, but it had been about two weeks since he last saw him. He thought back to their last interaction and didn't remember anything he did or say to warrant him not come back again. Hopefully he did not cause another misunderstanding and he was just overthinking it as usual. 

The cafe was less busy at the moment, as it was the middle of the day most people were either working or in school at the moment. So he took advantage of this moment to just stare into space. Honestly it was not his fault, he was cleaning but he was just so bored. He hated slow days. Maybe he could call one of his friends to keep him company, while he did enjoy Ben's company at a certain point he needed a break from the man and his dramatic flair and Gwen wouldn't come until much later. Gayatri was here earlier but she left as soon as her shift was done. ‘Hmph Traitor’ 

While lost in his train of thought he didn’t hear his name being called.

“PAVITR!” 

He jumped and froze a bit outta shock, he turned to see who called his name with such urgency. Turns out that person was Gwen. She looked frustrated with him at the moment.

“Oh! Hi Gwen!” He beams a smile at her, but she gives him a frustrated sigh in response. 

“Pav, are you okay? I have been trying to get your attention for a bit.” She gave him a bit of a concerned look. He just shook his head in disagreement. 

“No, I'm okay. I am just so bored. Are you clocking in now? I thought you worked later.” Maybe he got the times wrong. 

“Hm no. I am not working yet, Ben is covering my shift for a bit longer, said he needed the cash. I will work later though.I start when the rush starts later at around 3. You’ll be working with Ben til then?”

He groans. More Ben. 

“Don't worry I heard that Lyla is taking over more shifts when she comes back.”

“Lyla is coming back?! I thought she quit because of school?” He said in disbelief.

Gwen chuckles. “Yeah, but remember she was going to come back when her mister as TA was over. Mr. O’hara is a hard ass.” 

Lyla used to work at the cafe when she was 16 until her 2nd year in college when she became a TA for her class. Apparently Mr. O'hara, who he has heard so much about, is very strict and hard to please. It takes an extreme amount of effort to pass his classes. Before her no one wanted to deal with him, many of his former TA’s would quit within a week so it was surprising that she was his TA for a whole year. She actually recommended that they hire Gwen.

“I am excited to see her again. I missed her so much!” Pavitr really meant it, they barely saw her when she was TA but when they did it was always a joy. 

“Yeah, it’s gonna be great to work with her.” Gwen then looks around the cafe. “Hey Pav, since it's slow, why don't you take a break and hang out with us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah, me and Miles.” She points in the direction of where Miles was sitting. It seemed that he was lost in whatever he was writing, or was it drawing. He couldn't really tell. 

“Oh, um, I wouldn’t want to intrude! Besides, I am still working, never know when it needs to be all hands on deck.”

“Fine. But can you make me my usual and Miles some Chai. I swear he is addicted to it. What did you put in it to make him crave it all the time? Drugs?” She jokes.

“Of course not! I am just that good.” He smiles. “Anything you want to eat with it?” 

“You know what, can I get some strawberry cheesecake and for miles, get him two croissants buttered and toasted. I’ll pay for it now.” He nods. 

“I’ll bring it over to you guys when the order is done then.” Gwen hands him cash, and tells him thanks before walking back to where her friend was. As she seats down he goes to the coffee bar and gets started on the order. At least now he had something to do that wasn't just recleaning everything to look busy. As he started to focus on making the order, a certain someone was using him as a reference for his art studies. 

Miles was mesmerized by the way Pavitr moved while making their orders. The sun seemed to always hit him with the right lighting. His hair was so majestic, so dark and lucious, and his eyes were so bright and beautiful it pulled you in. He wanted to capture it in his art. Even though they were quick sketches, he was pretty satisfied with where the art direction was going. He was so focused he didn't notice Gwen calling him. 

“MILES!”

He jumped a bit and looked up to see Gwen just staring at him. 

“Oh! Hi Gwen, "he smiles. She gives him a sigh.

“What is up with you and Pav today?” She sits down next to him. “So what's got you all hyper focused?” She leans to look at what he is drawing in his sketchbook. A bad habit that he just accepted over the years that she will forever be nosy and can never control her curiosity.  She looks at his sketches and then at him with a raised eyebrow. “Pav?”

He looks away from her for a bit and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. He’s just so mesmerizing, I had to draw him. You don't think he would mind right?”

Gwen chuckles. “I don't think he will mind once he sees the work when you’re finished with it. Are you sure it's only cause he is mesmerizing?” Miles, knowing what she was implying, shakes his head. 

“It ain't like that. I just thought he would be nice to draw ya know.” He turns back to continue drawing Pavitr. 

“Yeah right. Just like how you drew me before in high school cause I was nice to draw.” She teases. 

“That was different. I just met him, plus I didnt even introduce myself. He doesn't even know my name.”

“He does. I’ve talked about you to him before.” She mentions nonchalantly.

“That doesn't count, I have not introduced myself as anything other than the customer you corrected the other day.” He looks at Pavitr making the drinks to see what new position he was in to quickly sketch. “Anyway. When does your shift start?”

“In about an hour and a half. So I get to bug you more!” She lightly punches his shoulders. He just rolls his eyes and smiles. Gwen is one of his best friends, every just flows so naturally when they are together. They just vibe. He sometimes sees her as an annoying sibling that likes to bother him from time to time. His father could attest to that, calling her an emo leech who liked to come over and eat. Even though he wouldn't say it out loud he was very fond of her, like a reluctant uncle who has an honorary niece he had no say in. 

About 15 minutes later, he started to try and add more details to the quick sketches he made of the barista while Gwen was talking to him about how her band were prepping to do more shows and the difficulty to get everyone's times synced up.

“Yeah, our lead guitarist is also very inconsistent even though he usually has the most time out of all of us. Though I will say, I do enjoy being a part of this band more than the last one.” 

“That's great you finally found one that suits you. I know you’ve been looking for one ever since I met you.” 

“Yeah, now if only we can sync up so I can play more. Margo said she could help us with our scheduling problem. I believe in her, if anyone can help us organize our messy style it's her.”

Margo was a computer science major, and was practically a tech wiz. She was also extremely detail oriented and particular with her things. It was really funny because Ganke was the opposite of her while also being a tech wiz. They would always group up together even though they clash with how they do things. If you ask them why they always partner up they’ll tell you that it's convenient because they have so many classes in common.  

“Thank Pav!” He hears Gwen say, taking him out of his train of thoughts. He looks up from his sketchbook to see Pavitr places their order in front of them giving them a smile that rivals the sun.

“No problem! I hope you guys enjoy!” 

“We will!” Gwen grabs her drink and takes a sip. “Pav, I don't think I have properly introduced you to my friend. Pav this is Miles, he’s been my best friend since sophomore year in high school. Miles this Pav the chai activist.” She teases. 

Pavitr hesitates to respond but Miles does not. 

“Hey man, it's nice to finally properly be introduced to you. I realized I never gave you my name before, sorry ‘bout that.”  He gives him a small smile. 

“That's no problem! I know our first meeting wasn’t the best, sorry about that.” Pavitr rubs his neck a bit nervously. 

Miles gives him a small chuckle. “Its no problem man. Like I said before I didn't mind being corrected. At least I won't be sayin ‘Tea Tea’ anymore. Feel free to tell me any other things I may be sayin wrong.”

“Well people like to say ‘naan bread’ which is the same as saying ‘bread bread’.” Miles groans in response.

“Youre kiddin! I've been saying ‘bread bread’ this entire time?!” 

Pavitr laughs and relaxes, he finally apologizes and it seems he really was worried for no reason. Miles was very respectful and liked to lighten the mood. He can see why Gwen liked to hang out with him a lot. 

“Well now you know.” He teases. He sees Miles take a sip of the chai he had just made.

“Man, this really hits the spot. You know your stuff.”

Pavitr’s skin turns a bit redder at the compliment. “Thanks.” 

Just then a group of teenagers walked into the cafe which caused Pavitr to sigh. He was just getting to know Miles but he guesses the conversation would be cut short for another time. 

“Looks like duty calls for me. I guess we have to cut this conversation short.” He pouted a bit.

“Don’t worry Pav, we can always talk later when I work on shift. Plus Miles will be coming here more often. He said he likes the cafe vibes. I think he is really here cause I’m so awesome he can't handle not havin our vibe sessions as much.” She jokes.

“Yeah right. I’m glad I don't have to see your face as often. Plus who said I am coming for you, if anything it's Pavitr’s Chai that’s bringing me in here.” Miles jokes back to switch Gwen just rolls her eyes. 

“Sure buddy, whatever you say. I know you love me.”

Pavitr chuckles as he walks away. “Well I’ll talk to you guys later! Enjoy your stay Miles!”

“Hey! What about me?” Gwen shouts a bit to him.

“You're gonna be working later!” He responds before arriving at the coffee bar.

Gwen groans. “He’s right. I do love working here even if not all the customers are great.”

“At least you have me here to keep you company. You can’t get rid of me easily.” Miles gives her a pat on the shoulder. 

“Yeah you're right. Are you gonna stay the whole time? You know I can go home by myself.” Miles just shakes his head.

“My parents would kill me if I don't walk you back late. I know you can handle yourself but you're like my sister I gotta make sure you get home safe.”

“Yeah, thanks Miles. I appreciate it.”

“It's no problem!” He goes back to continue his art trying to capture Pavitrs essence on paper. Gwen peeks again to see his process. 

“You sure you're drawing Pavitr just for reference?” She teases.

“Oh shut up!”

Prev ~ Next

Tagged List:

@ar1-thecat, @marrz-sucks, @amaterasusanowo, @l3m0n4d3-st4nd @aesthetichoney2111

#across the spiderverse fanfiction #chaiflower #goldenflower #miles morales fanfiction #atsv fanfiction #fanfiction #pavitr x miles #miles x pavitr #spiderverse #pavitr prabhakar #miles molares #Mumbattan Cafe

[jaxieus]

ive written this three times but tumblr keeps messing up and undoing all the writing i did :'(

but i wont let it discourage me! ive got a lot to say about the art i made even though its messy sketches on mspain(t) XD

i had been feeling burnt out and decided to draw comfort characters ( some that ive not drawn in a long time or have acknowledged but never drew before) and the carebears is a franchise thats been with me for so long i made a whole painting for class about it!

i made a list and with utter shock i realized that i basically bacame my owm worts enemy! the list grew so much (and is still growing :')) and i only drew a few characters so far

i know ill render these soon but the others will take a while

(but im really concerned about how im gonna tag this without being obnoxious 🥲)

i have like alot to say about these characters i drew because they mean so much to me and i never really could delve into them at school.

theres more i want to say and its under the cut! :D

so this is gonna get a lil personal but hopefully not too much to the point its boring ,:)

the first character i want to talk about is Ursula. i remember when i was younger being increadibly infatuated with her. i would draw her whenever i could. on chalkboards, the wall, i made paper cut-out of her and digitally drew her on ms paint! she was the first character that a had a desire to be close to in a way. a character albeit evil felt comforting and till this day make me tear up from how beautiful her design is! Ursula was the first female character i felt a strong aesthetic attraction to. (im just kinda a sucker for powerful women)

so i made sure to stay true to her design by keeping her body type and tentacles. basically just switching her hands and head to the carebears design (im still deciding whether or not to keep her hair)

second has to be Rosalina. she really made me accept and realize that i did have an attraction to the same sex ':) i loved playing as her in smash bros, listening/watching her story in galaxy. i never really 'got' the whole thing but reflecting and growing as a person did make me realize that not just fictional men look great but women too!

her design is based on the carebear cousins because the main thing was the mane! you dont really see a bear with a long loc covering its eye so having her different from the others i think gives good variety

third King Candy. oka y i recently feel back inlove with him! mostly because of @/ blackthewolf17's drawings of him!! and that made me rewatch the movie and wow! i remember liking his character a while back but i never really appreciated his as a villain! watching the movie and seeing the art made me remember the discussions i had with my fam about liking him and them not really understanding. (its kinda a running theme with a lot of the characters i like)

i wanted the characters the pop out and look recognizable. i kept the crown and collar. his belly badge is a paper covering his original badge! this one shows the crown and a few bits of candy. (leaning into the fact that he doesnt belong)

next is NME SalesGuy for Four. (such a clever name) this dude is literally a character that i was shocked by his stature! i mean what did i expect? falling for a dude that exudes tall energy but is literally a short king! this dude was there during some cool family times while watching right back at ya!

while looking for references, i found i cb comic and i loved how their legs looked. it wasnt bent like the originals on the cards and i thought they looked really goofy! so i went with that with the design becasue he just doesnt really fit with everyone elses stlye

fifth Rick Sanchez. man, this old man. has been with me through a lot. i saw a poster if the show before it premiered and two years after, i watched it and ive obsessed over him so much i made people watch Rick and Morty so i could talk with them about it. R&M really got me back onto tumblr because it was my entire personality since the show was at its peak and after. (old men tsk tsk) i made OCs Self inserts and played the mobile game. i literally memorized episodes to recite as i went to sleep. and analyzed frames of my fave episode to get better at animation!

i gave Rick clothes because i wanted him to have some flair. iconic elements of him is his tousled hair, coat and alcohol. (hes drinking 'happy juice')

Sixth is Coach Brunt. a girlboss of a villain! she took care of and orphan and made her feel like she was her own! shes determined, strong, fierce, fit, has a great voice, money, and kind. what more could a girl ask for?? this was another character that i had seen while watching CS with the fam. (still havent completed it tho)

i did break the rule and give her a tuft of hair also ':/ but i like her BB i gave her.

its a paw punching a heart (maybe too violent)

Seventh is Johan liebert. i really loved this dude. the series just made me think more about human nature and nurture. i met some cool people becasue of this dude. Johan in a way made me cope with the problems that happened in my life. he really was the character that i also found out i was ace+aro. i just loved drawing him. filling pages of my sketchbook and centering english papers based around him and the lessons i learned from seeing the bad in his character and how people might turnout to be similar and how it can be a problem. (idk if it made sense, but i learned to appreciate humanity more and not be so headstrong and become blinded by my views. but also learning that its good for people to know whats coming for the people that wronged you)

Johans BB is painted on white, so you wouldnt be able to see what he is all about :)

theres is so much already but eighth is Senpai. this Fker is my worst enemy, just like all the characters i drew soo much of this guy that i thought i was gonna go crazy, there was a pang in my chest when the drawings looked like trash. he was the character that made me want to get better at art and engage more with people. i made a fnf OC to be this dudes father. (it was some of the most wholesome thing i ever drew)

Senpai has a more basic design. he also has his identifying elements like the backpack and mic

ninth is Saul. my bbg. it started with the character but sadlt turned into a full obsession over Bob Odenkirk and finding all of his shows and movies that he directed of acted in. thankfully im not deep into it anymore. but when i regularly used instagram, you could see the decent into madness for him. i made animations and really detailed fanart. if Sen got me to draw my fave better, Bob made me attempt to perfect it.

his design sadly is my weakest. i wanted to add some fake hair on him. but im sure you can see that i got lazy. a few weeks ago i made versions of the BRBA&BCS cast as Geronimo Stilton characters and (sad excusee) but i didnt want to put more into the design because i became drained from looking at the growing list D;<

his BB is based on themis :)

tenth is Big Jack Horner. i love this man. i ironically said "he was the hottest character in the movie" on my third watch and man i actually believed it on the way out of the theatre. i wanted to see if anyone liked him like i did and to my surprise people did! this dude has such a great bod, voice, attitude and like many of the characters i like i ask, "is there any proof of death? i dont think so".

i havent drawn him in months and i dont like that i havents so he was the first bear i drew. his BB is a pie but i think ill add his insignia or have him draw on it like Oopsie bear to fit his situation.

like maybe something silly like a frowning face on his BB

im going to put eleven and twelve together because both play a similar role. my two men of science. ive only recently started to like Medic and Scudworth. these two bring such a great jot to me just like all to kooky men i like as well.

sadly, they both look the same, the only thing differentiating them is the glasses. i love their voices and design.

i ahve yet to give Scudsy his own BB tho.

last thing i want to say is why i chose carebears as the main style.

the franchise has been with me since i can even remember or at least before i could comprehend what it was. i remember seeining either oopsie or good luck bear plush at a carnival and i really wanted it but it was closing and i mean it was probably bigger than me so i couldnt get it and it became an obsession of mine! i loved green and a already had a few at home whats one more? so i tried to drop hints at my mom. well as good as a 5-7 yr old could do with drawings.

theres a lot more to say but i might go one for so long it wont fit here!

this was very long and if you read it thank you very much! im glad i got to comfortably speak my mind (well write it) in my own way that did have structure but felt more personal and less embarrassing that my english teacher asking me to write something about myself and my life. or my Art teacher saying i have the freedom to create something but then talk about it with in a time span because im not the only one that has something good to say about their art.

im not sure if all of it was understandable and might've been really unnecessary but im glad either way.

#fanart #illustration #jack horner #jax23 #sketches #bob odenkirk #ursula #nme salesman #king candy #saul goodman #senpai fanart #fnf senpai #johan #principal scudworth #cinnamon j scudworth #tf2 medic #coach brunt #rick and morty #rick sanchez #care bears #long post #sorry to anyone who reads this #but i feel so passionate about this #ms paint #my art #johan liebert

[xxwhiskeyxx]

It’s All Because I Fell

Mountain and Reader have been friends for the last 3 years but have had feelings for the last 2 years (Mount) and 1 year (Reader), but the problem is that both believe that the other have a crush on different people. Mountain thinks Reader likes Swiss and Reader thinks Mountain likes Sister Harlow, both want the other to be happy so neither reveal their feelings. But the other ghouls and Harlow are getting annoyed by their longing sighs of how much they love each other and how much they talk about they talk about the other. So Swiss and Harlow come up with a plan to get these lovebirds together. ALSO, READER IS AFAB BUT IS REFERED TO AS THEY/THEM BECAUSE I’M A FOLLOWER AND IM INDULGING MYSELF

9k words

First Chapter: Mountain loves his Squirrel

Narrators POV: (Wednesday)

The sound of an alarm blaring through a room shocked (Y/N) from their dreams, groaning they roll over and shove their face into their pillow, hating the world and its societal expectations of making people work. Until they realized that today they are in the gardens with Harlow and Mountain, gathering and readying the crops for the soon-approaching summer. (Y/N) rolls out of bed and stretches with a groan when suddenly there is a knock at their door, “Who is it?”, (Y/N) asks as they stumble to the small bathroom attached to their courters, “It’s me, ya sexy bitch,” calls Harlow before she lets herself in knowing (Y/N) won’t care if she watches them get dressed since this has been their routine since they became friends in high school. In fact, (Y/N) was the one who got Harlow to join after they found out their favorite band in high school was in fact an actual band made of ghouls and that Papa Emeritus was in fact the head of the Church of Emeritus. “Can you grab my habit from the closest please LowLow?”, (Y/N) called from the bathroom, slightly garbled as they brushed their teeth, Harlow called back a yes as she grabbed one of the habits that (Y/N) used for gardening, the skirt and sleeves were slightly longer and had permanent stains and small holes due to the years of it being dragged through the literal mud and working in the beautiful, expansive garden that was Papa Primos pride and joy. (Y/N) finally emerged, drying their face as they tossed the towel into the basket. “Are you excited to work with your mannn,” Harlow teased, “I heard Primo say that he wants you two to work on getting the apples and peaches from the trees, since your the best climber and Mountain for..obvious reasons.” “Harlow! He is not “my man”, we both know he likes you, he’s always watching you at meal times and he asks you for help whenever we’re outside..” (Y/N) trails off, looking away slightly saddened by the thought as they dressed, making sure to pull on leggings underneath their habit as they would be climbing today and slipping on their combat boots. Harlow rolls thier eyes, (Y/N) thinks Mountain is looking at her because if their always next to each other, he is staring at the oblivious and insecure dumbass that is their best friend and he askes Harlow to help because he gets too nervous around (Y/N), especially when they have to be close when picking and tending the same section/plants. “Come on, your moving slower than Nihil at this point, we’re gonna be late. Also I will tell you this for the thousandth time, He likes YOU not me dumbass!” Harlow rolls her eyes as she pulls (Y/N) out of their room, sunshine pouring through the windows of the abby, frost still cripsing the grass and windows as they run towards the gardens, laughing and giggling between each other.

Mountains POV:

I hear the approach giggles of Harlow and (Y/N) before I see them, I stand up from the tomato plant I was fixing after it had gotten battered by the winds of last night small storm. Turning towards the sound, I set my gaze onto (Y/N), taking in their beauty as the morning sun settles on their laughing face. ‘I wish that I could tell them, but it’s useless compared to Swiss; I’m quiet, hes the people person, I prefer to be alone with just Rain and (Y/N), he knows how to make people laugh and draw in a crowd, he also isn’t 8 feet tall when unglamored and could possibly hurt them.’ “Mou…Mount? MOUNTAIN!?” I’m drawn out of my thoughts by (Y/N) shaking my arm and Harlow yelling my name, “You good buddy? Seems like you were lost in ya head for a mintue there.” (Y/N) teased as Harlow makes her way over to Primo to get her instructions for the day since he had to leave before she could get hers yesterday. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine, just a little tired after having to calm Dew’s tantrum last night.” I groan out, rubbing my face at the memory, “Oh no what happened”, (Y/N) laughs, knowing how hot the gremlins temper runs, especially after doing his least favorite chore of cleaning the animal pens that the Ministry kept and doing the kitchen inventory, let alone back to back on the same day. “Swiss and Aether were teasing him about stinking and being bad at counting because he was complaining about inventory taking so long cause he had to keep recounting after missing a jar or bag, had to drag him off Aether while Rain was trying to calm him with his ability cause I had to focus on keeping him from killing the other idiots. We were holed up in Rains room just holding him, and then..ya know how Dew gets after he gets mad.” I flush at the memory of the needy fire ghoul whining for more as Rain and I ruined him. (Y/N) also blushes at the described pairing, having had to help out Dew after a temper tantrum when Mountain was away due to Dew’s habit of basically turning into a puppy when (Y/N) is around, they have him practically eating out of their hand when it comes to calming him down, its like watching a miracle at work whenever they get called to help calm the resident gremlin. “So, you ready to get the apples and stuff from the trees?” I ask as we walk to where the baskets are kept, “Yeah, I love having an excuse to climb the trees without Sister getting onto me for not having shoes on and acting “Heathen like”, which we literally live in a church dedicated to worshipping Satan? Isn’t it good I’m a heath?”, we laugh together as we reroute towards the small orchard in the corner of the garden. Which while it is small, only about 20 trees, it’ll still take us till around noon to get even halfway done. We make small talk, this is one of the times I am grateful for having to wear the mask as it help hide the blush they brought to my cheeks as we make our way over. Stopping at the first tree, I decide they can have it, “Do you want a boost to branches closer to the top?”, I look down to gage their reaction being in my half-glamored state I am only 7’3 but have my tail, claws, and horns, which is of course hidden by my mask. We have to wear them outside of the ghoul dorms, even around siblings that know/have permission to know what we look like because others who don’t may see. Not everyone is keen to seeing fangs, horns, and grey skin in the face even though they know we’re here, stupid rule I know, but we gotta keep sister happy, thankfully she didn’t mind if we wore our older maskes as she understood that it was hard to see through the bug masks so I was wearing the last eras silver mask as it was easier to breath in and wasn’t suffocating. “Nah, it’s not to far up, I can make it myself. Thanks though, Mounty.” They decline with a small smile as they take off their shoes and are almost instantly up the tree, like a squirrel. I chuckle to myself, watching them shimmy and scamper across the branches with the rodents they mirror, before turning to the next tree and unglamoring fully to give myself extra height to make it easier to gather the fruit between the branches without having to climb till I have to check the tops.

Timeskip

By noon we had finished 9 trees each, I had just finished up my 9th tree when I heard the bell tolling calling siblings and ghouls alike to lunch. I turn and go to find (Y/N), walking towards the line of trees they had been working on when I had last looked. Looking up into the branches, I see no hint of their black habit, while also trying to accidentally look up the skirt of their assigned uniform, when all of a sudden, I hear rustling from above me, and before I could look up, I feel a thunk on my head and hear a familiar giggle. Glancing for what had hit me, I spy an apple before I peer into the branches above for the source of the giggle, I catch a glimpse of (Y/N) sitting on a branch, about 6 feet above me, covering their mouth to hide their laughter and holding a second apple. But before they could throw it, I see them wobble and loose their balance on the branch. My eyes widen as they sudden fall, “(Y/N)!”, they scream as I try to get under them to catch them. They land solidly ontop of me, knocking us to the ground from the force.

(Y/N) POV

I had finished the last of the apples from this tree when I heard the lunch bell toiling from the church, I lowered my basket to the ground as I looked up searching for Mountain. I see him setting his basket down when I get a sneaky idea, quietly and quickly climbing back up the tree with two small apples I wait for him to come looking for me since he never leaves without making sure both me and Harlow go to lunch with him as I had a habit of sometimes skipping lunch to finish my work. I make it a couple feet up and settle on a branch, since I had to make sure I wasn’t at eye level to make sure my plan works, I felt a little unstable because this branch was slightly thinner but I haven’t fallen yet so I just shift my weight and grip the branch a little tigher with my legs. I wait for him to walk under the tree before dropping the apple, giggling at the cartoonish thunk of the apple and the surpised confusion on his face as he looked up. I go to drop the second apple but I guess I leaned to far to the side but I wouldn’t know because all of a sudden I felt myself slipping and before I could right myself, I was plummeting to the ground and a scream escapes my throat. I hear Mountain scream my name as I feel arms suddenly grapple me and we’re sent to the ground. We both groan as the air was knocked from our lungs as we hit the ground, I come to my sense a bit faster than Mountain and without thinking of the position we were in, I scramble up and cup his face, “Mount are you okay?!”, I ask scared I hurt him, “Am I okay?! Are you okay?!”, he sits up and copies my movement, checking me all over for any sign of injury. This is when I realize our compromising position, I was straddling his lap with our faces inches apart, my face flushes bright red all the way to the tips of my ears. He seems to realize it as well after he determined I didn’t seem harmed. “Ye..yeah I’m okay, just a little star..startled, might ha..have a bruise or two later..,” I stutter out as I watch the exposed part of his grey face and top of his chest where it peaks out of his slightly unbuttoned shirt flush a dark green, his forest green eyes wide through the silver mask. We were so close I could make out the flecks of gold and brown in each one, our hands not moving from their places as we sit frozen in place, I see his eyes seemingly flick down to my lips and it looked as if he was contemplating something when we heard the concerned shout from Harlow and Primo. I scramble off of Mountain as the shouts got closer and rush towards them with a slight limp that I chose to ignore, too embarressed to turn to check if the tall ghoul was following, “Over here!”, I call as I reach Harlow. She just about throws herself at me, I grunt in pain at the sudden added weight to my injured leg, the ginger girl pulls back from the hug, holding onto my shoulders, “What happened, we heard you scream?!”, Primo had caught up by now, “I was trying to pull a prank on Mountain by dropping apples on his head but I lost my balance and fell, he caught me but I think I landed wrong on my leg but I didn’t feel it until I got up.” I say, skipping over the moment that was held between me and the Earth Ghoul just moments before. “That is surprising that you fell little one, you are are our resident squirrel,” Primo teased as a way to help me feel better, “Never thought I would live to see the day you managed to fall, always scurrying along those branches like you belong in them.” I let out a small laugh, “Neither did I, but I guess I just chose the wrong branch today.” I wince after finishing the sentence as I accidentally leaned on my injured leg, “Harlow you go check on Mountain, I will take our injured squirrel to the infirmary to ensure nothing to broken.” Harlow clearly could tell I was tense and embarrassed about something and wanted to be the one to take me but simply nodded, knowing that there is no use arguing with the eldest Emeritus brother, and took off towards where Mountain was still sitting. “Now my dear, lets get you checked up and some food into you, I know you and Sister Harlow came out without eating again.” Primo offered his arm to me as we made our way to the church, slightly slower than usual due to my injured leg. But as we made our way to the church, I couldn’t help but be slightly sadden by the fact that Mountain would be taken care of by the one who he clearly had feelings for.

Timeskip

I had left the infirmary after they checked me out, I had a sprained ankle due to how I fell on my leg. All they could do for me is tell me is take the day off tomorrow and ice my ankle tonight, and, of course, be more careful when climbing next time since they knew I wouldn’t stop climbing. They had called Swiss to help me back to my room and to make sure I didn’t try to go back out and stubbornly keep trying to help in the garden since I had a tendancy to push myself to make sure I help Primo as much as possible and assist in keeping the gardens in the best shape possible, even if it went against me. We were currently in his room since it was closest to the medical wing, he had grabbed a bag of ice from the nurse to place on my leg after I layed down on his bed, we were curled up together watching South Park, Swiss’ mask being long discarded on his desk. We had started it one night when we were high as kites with Mountain and Dew for shits and giggles, but we deicded it was now our show to just throw on whenever we were hanging out because we could ignore it or watch it, but we always made sure to yell out, “You killed Kenny, You bastards!”, in time with Stan and Kyle, even if it interrupted conversation even to the annoyance or confusion of others in the room. I was lazily playing with Swiss’ claws and fingers, knowing not to mess with his tail which was wrapped around my waist contently flicking every so often, and staring at the screen as he scrolled through some random social media site with his free hand. “Swiss..”, all I get is a half minded hum of acknowledgement, “Am I stupid for liking him?”, I mumble, looking away from the screen and blinking my eyes to discourage the tears that want to fall. We had spotted Harlow and Mountain hugging in the hallway as we were making our way to the ghoul dorms, “Thank you for making sure I was okay, I’ll be fine nothings broken.”, was all I had heard before Swiss pulled me away, knowing I would be upset. This is part of the reason he had turned on the stupid adult cartoon, as it had slowly become a comfort show for us that we watched whenever one of us had a bad day and just wanted to spend time with each other, sometimes with addition of the other ghouls, mostly Dew, Harlow, and Sunshine and sometimes Mount or Rain since they didn’t care much for the show but enjoyed it enough that they’ll watch it with us in a ghoul pile, Aether and the other two Ghoulettes prefer to not watch it and usually request for a different show whenever they join. “Oh sweetheart no, he’s the idiot for not realizing the best person he could ever have is pining for him like a schoolgirl,” Swiss teases me while trying to comfort me, I laugh weakly and half-heartedly slap his chest, “I do not pine for him you ass!”, “Yeah yeah, says the one who stares longingly after him like a puppy and always jumps for the chance to have a smoke sesh if I suggest inviting him.” he retorts, grabbing my hand to defend himself from any more attacks before tilting my chin up, so I am looking him in the eye, “But seriously, he’s the dumbass here. I love Harlow to death, but you are the most beautiful, caring, selfless, stubborn, smartest…what’s another nice thing,” he pauses for a moment to think before looking at me with the most sincere look I have ever seen him give me, “(Y/N), Your the closest thing to a fallen angel in this Abbey, anyone would be lucky to have you. Hell I’d snatch yo-”, he was cut off by a sudden knock at the door, “Who is it?”, he calls, “It’s me”, I tense at Mountains voice, he almost sounds…sad? ‘Why would he be sad?’, I wonder to myself as Swiss gets up and opens the door, I try to make myself as small as possible as to not be noticed by the lanky ghoul who was talking to Swiss. They talk for a mintue before Swiss bids him goodbye and shuts the door, turning around revealing my combat boots, ‘Fuck I had left them in my hurry to get away, I should’ve grabbed instead of making him bring them to me..’, I’m quickly knocked out of thought when Swiss jumps back on the bed, “He said that you forgot your boots after you fell, apparently he cleaned them for you since they got covered in leaves and looked like you had walked through mud this morning.” he says, handing the now shiny, almost new looking boots to me as my eyes widen noticing a small squirrel embroidery on the side of each boot, not big enough to be noticeable but also simple enough that I could clean the boots without worrying about ruining it. I haven’t felt the need to polish them in awhile cause of how often I wear them in the gardens since they are so comfortable and have a steel toe, which helps when I drop sharp tools and heavy rocks onto my feet when I’m working in the flower garden, why did he do that? “Earth to (Y/N), you there space cadet?”, Swiss is waving his hand in front of my face, I glance up to him, “I’m sorry, was just thinking about how their just going to get dirty as soon as I’m back in the garden, he didn’t have to do that.” I babble out nervously, Swiss just rolls his eyes as a grin spreads across his face, “So Sweetness, you staying here for tonight or do you wanna go back to your room?”, he questions as he lies out across my lap, not unlike a cat who clearly doesn’t want the person to move, I chuckle and brush the curls that had fallen onto his forehead back as I contemplate,”Hmmm so my choices are either go back to my cold, boring dorm with a tiny bathroom or stay here with a my warm best friend who clearly doesn’t want me to leave and has a much bigger, nicer bathroom? I wonder what my choice shall be.” I mockingly tap my chin in fake thought before I sprawl backwards and make myself comfortable as I set the boots on the floor next to the bed and text Harlow to get her ass to Swiss room to get the tea. Just because Mountain loves her and not me doesn’t mean she’s not one of my best friends, I wanna fill her in about what happened in case Mountain didn’t, which of course he didn’t why would he, and to see what happened when she helped him.

Mountains POV:

Harlow had helped me back inside after (Y/N) had ran off, ‘I am such a fucking idiot, what was I thinking.” I say to myself as I walk back to my room after Harlow gave me a hug as I thanked her for checking on me, going into my bathroom once I closed my door and removed the silver mask from my head. Plopping the forgotten boots in the shower before hosing off the caked on mud and polishing up the boots as a peace offering, hoping that this would possibly help the awkwardness of what happened today, a slight peace-offering if you will. I know that they are in Swiss’ room since I heard South Park playing as I was walking past the multi-ghouls door and heard them do the iconic Kenny death sayings, chuckling softly to myself as I usually do whenever I catch them doing that, even if it makes the my heart twinge a bit at the thought that they are growing closer. I made my way over the Swiss’ room once he finished his project, the squirrel had been an after thought but thought that (Y/N) would enjoy it as it had become their unofficial nickname, Aether had even teased that if (Y/N) was a Ghoul that it would be their name. But before I went to knock, I heard Swiss talking to (Y/N), feeling a tad nosy for once I listen in, “You are the most beautiful, caring, selfless, stubborn, smartest…what’s another nice thing,” there is a slight pause and I hold my breath with a sinking feeling in my gut to what I expect him to say, “(Y/N), Your the closest thing to a fallen angel in this Abbey, anyone would be lucky to have you. Hell I’d snatch yo-”, unable to continue listening I quickly knock on the door, clutching the boots in my shaking hands as I hear them stop and Swiss call, “Who is it?”, “It’s me..”, I can hear some shuffling which I’m sure is Swiss getting off the bed and traversing the mess of his room, South Park still droning in the background as he opens the door with a surprised look, I hold out the boots, mumbling, “(Y/N) left these in the orchard today after they fell, I noticed they were dirty and thought I’d clean the boots for them so they wouldn’t have worry about it with their leg messed up..”, Swiss smiles up at me, “Thanks man, I’m sure they’ll appreciate the gesture. They told me everything that happened, I know Harlow checked you but you good?” he questions with a slight grin, knowing I have feelings for (Y/N) which I flush at the underlying question he is hinting at, “Ye..yeah! I’m fine, no..nothing happened. I’m sure (Y/N) told you how I stared at them and creeped them out,” I laugh nervously, “Dude you need to grow some even bigger balls, if thats possible, and tell them, they are fucking in love with you dumbass.” He playfully punches my arm as I flush even brighter, I glance over his head and see (Y/N) curled up in his bed and while they look comfy, they smell..nervous? I quickly look back to Swiss to see nonchalant but thinking, ‘Why would they be nervous, probably cause I interrupted the love confession she has been waiting for, I don’t know what Swiss means it’s so obvious they love him, why the hell would they like a 8 foot freak..’, I quickly lock away that intrusive thought before I can spiral, I don’t need that right now, I focus back as Swiss is saying bye. To which I reply and walk the few feet down the hall to my room before I shut myself inside it, leaning against the door with a sigh as I rub down my face. I turn on the small tv and flip to a random music channel to listen to while I read and decompress for the rest of the night, if I spend anymore time thinking about this I will just spiral and that is never good.

Timeskip: 2 days later (Friday)

Harlows POV:

Okay I’m officially tired of these two being so god damn oblivious, I text Swiss to meet me in the library after I finished a second awkward day in the gardens with Mountain and (Y/N), they would nervously laugh and try to talk before either leaving awkward silence or turning to me for my input. “Swissy we need to get these two dumbasses together before we die from an overdose of Pining from both sides, (Y/N) keeps talking about what they think I think Mountain was thinking when they almost kissed 2 days ago, or the Squirrel he embroidered into their boots, which by the way is so adorable!” I rant to the smilely ghoul who groans in agreement, earning a hush from the librarian who he gives a sheepish smile of apology before turning back to me, “Your telling me, Mount has been either locked in his listening to he insisted is not angsty folks music about past loves and other sappy shit or he’s in the common room sighing and talking about how he’s an idiot for what happened after I got him to crack and tell me what happened, which of course I already knew from (Y/N)!”, he finished his rant with a dramatic face rub that pulls the bottoms of his eyes down slightly revel the whites of his glamored eyes, the normally black sclara hidden behind the glamore, the head librarian didn’t care if the ghouls had their masks on or not since she has been amongst the clergy for so many years, even longer than Imperator, seeing so many ghouls faces throughout the years that she doesn’t care and says that “Everyone has the right to be comfortable when reading and researching,” and Seestor knows better than to arguement wiht the old woman, so she just had a sign that warned siblings that they could possibly see unmasked ghouls so tread lightly be put outside the library. “I say the only way to make them believe what we have been telling them is to force it to happen,” I say as I think of a plan, “I heavily doubt we could get either to actually confess to the other, they refuse to believe the other likes them. Mount is convinced (Y/N) likes me and (Y/N) thinks Mount likes you!”, Swiss exclaims, earning another hush from the librarian, giving him the ‘I’m watching you’ look as he gives another sheepish apologetic smile before trying to think of a way to achieve their goal. “I know, I have an idea but I don’t know if it would work,” I say after a few minutes of thinking, “Well spit it out woman?”, Swiss says leaning forward excitedly, “Well what if we threw a party and forced the two in a closet for seven minutes in heaven? I’ve seen it work in movies and in fanfics I’ve read, it’s dumb but it could work!” I suggest, “I’m not sure but it could be worth a sho-, OW”, Swiss is cut off from his agreement by the head librarian smacking him on the head with a thick book, “You two are terrible at matchmaking, I have seen those two, the Giant Earth ghoul and the little gremlin who is always climbing my shelves to reach the books they can’t reach even though I have told them a thousand times to use the step stools and ladders,” she rolls her eyes, “If I can tell anything about them from what they’ve checked out and my experience as a mother and grandmother, they would absolutely not “confess” to each other in whatever enclosed space you shove them, they would sit there awkwardly till it was done.”, Her russian accent acentuating shame filled stare at how they expected their two awkward friends to suddenly profess their love like their in some fanfiction written by a whatever-teen year old on the internet at 3am, in a closet during a party of all places. “You said that they each think the other likes one of you right? What me and a friend did in our younger days to have a little drama and fun, was get details about the person one of us like and see if they liked us back, if they did then we had the other “confess”, she makes quotation marks with her fingers for the word confess, “to the person while the other was around the corner, then whenever the person would, usually of course unless they were a prick and just wanted a hook-up, apologize and say they actually had feelings for the one who was waiting around the corner, we’d come out with a big todo about if they really mean it and botabing, ya gotcha man.” She finished her story was a small smirk at the memories, “You two need to decide between the two of you whose gonna be the “confessor”,”she makes the quotation marks again, “And whose going to bring the other person to listen, of course you gotta make it seem believable so set up a place where you would easily hide and can hear, I’d suggest the courtyard at around 10pm, as theres a lot of shadows to hide in and not many siblings muddling about, and it is also quite beautiful at night, perfect for love confessions. That is if you wanna take the advice of an old lady.” She finishes with a wink and smirk as she goes to return to her desk but stops short, “That is if you wanna take the advice of an old lady.“ before returning to her desk as the the ghoul and girl sit with their mouths dropped comically in shock, they look at each other and back at the librarian before they begin to conspire using the head librarians advice.

Timeskip to just before 10pm

Narrators POV:

The conniving duo had perfected their plan about 2 hours after the head librarian gave her advice, they decided that Harlow would be the one to “confess” Mountain, knowing that even though it was fake, he’d be more easily convinced than (Y/N) since they would believe Swiss was just doing it as a joke or a way to make them feel better. Harlow have a note to Mountain saying to meet her in the courtyard at 10pm, knowing the ghouls punctuality was only rivaled by Papa Primo and Copia, while Swiss would get (Y/N) to follow him saying they were gonna snag snacks from the kitchen and have a small party in his room with just the two of them to make them feel better after a shitty week, the shortcut to which just so happens conviently cross through the courtyard, they would hopefully get there right as Harlow is finishing her fake confession so (Y/N) would hear Mountain say he actually loved them. Harlow had just texted Swiss that she was in the courtyard and she could hear what she believed to be Mountain coming so they should start coming. But they couldn’t plan forwhat happened next.

Readers POV:

Swiss had texted me earlier to come to his room around 9:45 because he had surprise for me, I had finished my chores earlier than normal since Primo, even when I insisted that my leg did indeed feel better and was no longer hurting me, didn’t have me working on as much stuff as I typically did. He insists that I have been working so hard and I deserve a little break to ensure I don’t irritate my ankle, I guess the old Papa was scared by what happened more than he let on. Today, I was instructed to simply tend to the small flower beds; weeding, water, adding fertilizer, and the like. Then making sure the greenhouse plants, including the sick ones Primo and Mountain healed for the people of the Abbey, had enough water and if they seemed well enough to call the number on the small piece of paper attached to their respected pot and ensure the owner was returned their greenery. It was simple work that didn’t involve much heavy lifting other than the bags of fertizlier but Mountain always seemed to appear right as I was about to move the heavy bags of plant food and insisted to help, hauling the bag wherever I directed, sometimes to try and ease the awkwardness that had grown from the incident, I would jokingly fully instruct him how to hold, carry, and set down the bag, I once led him basically all the way around the garden before looping back to the bed of Tulips and Dragonsnaps near the greenhouse we started. To which the large earth ghoul playfully growled and chased me until he easily grabbed me, flipped his mask off his face, and proceeded to rub his sweaty face on my shoulders and face as I giggled and pushed his face away by his horns until he relented. It felt like everything had gone back to normal. Even though I still had strong feelings for him, I had accepted that he loved Harlow and I appreciated our friendship and would take what I was given, no matter if it hurt. I texted Swiss back a thumbs up to acknowledge that I’d seen his text and checked the time, it was about 6:30, so I had time to run back to my dorm. Once I had reached my door and gotten inside, I decided to take a quick shower to wash the sweat that belonged to both me and Mountain off myself and change my clothes, taking my time in the shower, I had put my phone on charge and connected it to the small waterproof speaker I kept in my shower so I could listen to music, using my fancy body wash, the one I use when I feel like pampering myself because it smelled amazing and was kinda pricy, before washing my hair and falling into my urge to shave, I usually don’t care about body hair but I also love the feeling of smooth legs. By the time I finished my shower it was around 8, I guess I really took my time, I decided to wear some comfy black shorts and a oversized t-shirt I had gotten from Aether the last time we had a impromptu sleepover in his room with Swiss and Dew after a night of drinking, the Quintessence ghoul had offered one of his shirts after Dew had stolen mine in a game of strip poker and was drunkenly cuddling and refused to give it back because he apparently “missed me and my scent is comforting”, I can’t say no to the whiny fire ghoul especially when he says such adorable things so he still has possession over my shirt, though I suspect it will be returned to me within the next few days when my smell has finally been replaced with the fire ghouls. I comb through my wet hair, leaving it smooth, before blow drying as I hate the feeling of wet hair on my face and neck, once it was dry I just brushed it back and looked at myself in the mirror, gazing over my (color) (length) hair, (color) eyes, and (skintone) skin, unconsciously comparing myself to Harlow. Her long silky red hair is something that has caught the eye of many clergy members, her fox-like brown eyes that always held a hint of mischief, and her pale, ivory skin that shines like sunlight on snow, though she used to have horrible acne back in high school when we originally met. She was always the one boys and girls alike went after, I was the one they would sometimes use to get to her, always asking if she was single or what her number is. Always the friend left ignored by others no matter how much Harlow tried to include me, ignoring people as they attempted to woo her but refused to tolerate them ignoring or using her best friend. That is the reason I love her but I still feel so plain and boring next to her, she is like a goddess among men. ‘No wonder Mountain fell for her’, I sigh as I check my phone, “Shit!”, in my self-loathing time seemed have sped by and it is 9:30, it only takes about 5 minutes to get to Swiss’ and he won’t care if I’m late, but he seemed kinda adamant that I be there by 9:45, so I slip some socks and slides so I don’t have to walk on the cold wood that covered the abbey floor and cause I have no clue what Swiss has planned, knowing him a surprise could be anything from a him giving me a Magic Mike esc lap dance because I was sad someone said something rude to me, to him having seemingly raided a liquor store of its entire stock and is throwing a ghoul party, or as simple as just he had grabbed some cool snacks on tour that he wanted to try with me. Though the best surprise so far had been when he had somehow tied down Dew and coaxed him into being our good boy for a night, I am no virgin, but of the ghouls I’ve slept with only Swiss, Rain, and Dew, the last two started cause of my involvement in calming Dew but every so often Rain will come knocking on my door asking for help with his heat and that leads to either one of two Rains, Top Rain who doesn’t stop until your crying and legitmently can’t cum anymore or Soft, Bottom Rain who cries for Mommy to use him and break him, both of which are always fun. Okay (Y/N), lets not get horny. I make it to Swiss’ door by 9:42 and knock on his door, I hear him curse and fall over something before he finally opens the door, shirtless and chest heaving as he ushers me inside. I take in his appearance, black joggers with blue socks that are covered in little smiling suns, obviously a gift from the sunny ghoulette down the hall. “You good man? You look like you just saw your mom naked or something,” I laugh at Swiss’ frazzled state as he is searching for a shirt, I eye a red muscle tee that he frequently wears during the summer months on weekends when we go to the beach or lake or sometimes just lounging in the ghoul den. I grab it and give a quick sniff test as you can never know with Swiss, I have to help organize his room again since it’s been a few months since the last deep clean we did, “Swissy here,”, is the only warning he gets before the red tee is launched at him and promptly gets stuck on his horns. I laugh even harder as he grabs it off and flips me the bird as he pulls it, “Now, you told me to be here at 9:45, what’s the surpise?”, I ask as he checks his phone after it went off, “Who is it?”,”Jus Dew telling me that him and Aeth managed to convince that brother whose been flirting with Aeth for the last week to a threesome,” (Slight narrator check in: This isn’t a lie, Dew did actually text him this earlier but the text he just checked was actually from Harlow. That is all, keep reading whores <3), “Cool, he’s cute but he ain’t gonna be walking for the next few days,” I laugh, “Now the surprise dumbass,”, “Oh yeah, we’re doing a sleepover and raiding the kitchen for snacks before doing an all night movie marathon and possibly finishing South Park for the 2nd time if you want. Now move it Squirrel, move that tail!” He says as he just about drags me down the hall, using the shortcut we’ve used for years at this point. As we neared the court yard to sneak into the hallway that leads to the back entrence of the kitchens I start hearing voices, as we get closer I recognize it to be Harlows but I can’t exactly understand what she’s saying yet till suddenly Swiss pulls me close to him, pushing his finger to his mouth to signal to be quiet, I nod and we peek around the corner, this is when my heart drops cold to my stomach. Harlow is….confessing her love to Mountain. I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I choke out a sob, trying hard to be silent but it’s clear Mountain heard it as his head perks up from where it looked like he was adamantly watching Harlow. I can’t stand to continue hearing this and I don’t care if they hear me, I allow the tears to flow and sobs erupt from my throat. Swiss is panicking, trying to shush me and hug me but I push away from him, trying to run when I suddenly hear Mountains voice, “(Y/N)?...”, I freeze and see that Harlow and Mountain had moved slightly and can clearly see us, I break out of Swiss’ hold and run. I don’t know where, but I have to get away from this. I thought I could handle this but turns out I can’t. I slowly stop running after what feels like hours but in reality was only a few minutes, I’m in the garden. The moon is shining down on me as tears continue to fall down my cheeks, I make my face through the flower garden to the large Oak tree that I always love to climb up and sit in on my days off and weekends, reading by myself with earbuds playing music or talking with the ghouls and Harlow as we just laze around for the day in the warm sun surronded by flowers and nature. I climb to my favorite spot, a little nook of two branches the split off just from the trunk that form a perfect little nest almost, where I then sit curled in on myself and let the tears flow. ‘I never thought it would actually happen…but I guess this is what is going to be the normal, I’ll apologize tomorrow and congradulate them. Their perfect for each other..’

Mountains POV

Harlow had asked me to meet her in the courtyard at 10 tonight, I wonder why. We’re friends but she’s never singled me out personally like this other than asking for help in the gardens or sometimes in the library if we’re in there at the same time to reach books on the top shelves. Life had just seemed to get back to normal too, (Y/N) and I had joked around like we usually do, they forced me around damn near entire flower portion of the garden till they revealed the spot the fertilzer was going was right next to where we started, those bags aren’t too heavy but their awkward, especially because they had insisted that I had to carry it like a toddler? As soon as they brought us back to where we started and said, “Oh actually it was right here all along,”,with a shit-eating grin, I dropped the fertilizer with a playful growl and they immediately took off. I let them get a little ahead before I followed, almost immediatly catching them due to my much longer legs and decided their deserved punishment was me rubbing the sweat that had collected on my face under my mask from carryinf the heavy bag so far all over their face and shoulders as they pushed me away giggling, hands on my unglamored large, ram-like horns as a grip. It felt normal and I thought everything was going to become like it was, I don’t care if Swiss askes them out or at least I don’t think I do? I had been in the middle of thinking about this when Harlow had come up to me and handed me a note before scurrying away, I opened the note with a raised brow of confusion but figured maybe it was just something about (Y/N)? I know she’s heard me talking with Swiss about (Y/N) and I figure maybe she knows something is going on between them and wants me to know so I don’t have to see it without warning. What I certainly didn’t expect was her to…confess her love for me? It was weird and I was standing there awkwardly waiting for her to finish when I heard quiet footsteps approaching, I assumed it was probably siblings or possibly Dew sneaking to the kitchen and were about to hear a rejection when I suddenly heard a sob, a sob that very much so sounded like (Y/N). Harlow had heard it too and we peeked around the corner, I see Swiss trying to seemingly comfort a crying (Y/N) who was squirming in his grasp, “(Y/N)?..”, but before I could say anything they broke free and were running away. I was about to go after them when Harlow stopped me with a hand on my wrist, “I’m so sorry big guy, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go.”, this both intrigued me and infuriated me, why was she stopping me from trying to go after (Y/N). “Mount before you go after them we just want you to know that what Harlow was saying wasn’t true, the head librarian gave us an idea of how to show you two that we were telling the truth and you truly loved one another, but all what was supposed to happen was we get here right as Harlow finished and you’d of course tell her sorry but you love (Y/N) blah blah blah, happy couple, we’re the bestest friends ever, The End. I am so sorry buddy, go show them the truth.”, what Swiss didn’t think I’d notice is the smell of sadness and slightly jealously coming off of him, but we’d deal with that later. (Y/N) is my priority now. I take after the way they ran, following their scent to the gardens, towards the tree that they always love.

Readers POV:

I have no clue how long I have been here, just letting myself cry when all of a sudden I hear rapid footsteps approaching. I quickly try to silence my tears as they get closer, it’s Mountain? Why is he here? Shouldn’t he be with Harlow, I mean she just confessed to him shouldn’t they be celebrating, I expected Swiss to come after me but not Mount. He’s looking around, looks like he’s trying to catch my scent again. I know how powerful those ghoul noses are, their better than bloodhounds if Dew’s ability to sniff out whenever someone’s horny and where Cirrus tries to hide the takis whenever she buys them for herself has proven anything. I knew he’d find me eventually, probably knows where I am now and is either letting me have a chance to come out myself or give me a moment to calm down. But he looks more…frantic, almost scared for someone who has just gotten in a relationship, he eventually stops in front of my tree, “(Y/N)? I know your up there, can you please come down so we can talk,”, he sounds..desperate. “Ye..yeah gimme a minute,” I sniffle as I slowly lower myself to the ground but before I could even reach the grass I am pulled into a tight hug by the Earth ghoul, his head tucked into my neck as he mumbles out apology after apology, begging for my forgiveness for not believing Swiss and Harlow, for letting his self-doubt keep him from seeing the truth. All I can do is hug him back in shock, ‘What the hell is he on about, Harlow just confessed to him that she loved him, isn’t that what he wanted?’, “Mount? Mounty, hey calm down. Why are you sorry?”, I ask as I quietly shush him now apologetic babbling, “I heard Harlow, I thought you loved her? Why are you here?”, I question as the tall ghoul lifting his head from where he had been almost seemingly trying to bury himself, kneeling so he could be closer to eye level with me as I hold his shoulders, not realizing the tears I had been shedding were still slowly dripping down my cheeks, “You sho..should be with her right now, not me…’, I choke out, not looking him in the face as the new group of tears fall down my cheeks, I go to try to coax him into believing I was fine and to return to his new partner but all words die in my throat as I feel his thumbs gently wipe the wetness from under my eyes as he took a shuddering but deep breath, seeming to be trying to steady himself and choose his words, “I don’t love Harlow…her and Swiss had teamed up to try and get me to confess to who I truly loved by having her fake confess to me cause they knew I’d tell the truth of who I love while Swiss brought you to listen…they apparently didn’t think that hearing the one you love being confessed to would make you react like this.” he finished and took another deep breath as he cupped my face as he continued to brush the tears away, a soft smile on his face,”Even while crying your still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I freeze in his grip, my eyes meeting his for the first time since the incident two days ago, those vibrant forest green eyes, the soft light of the moon and lights that lines the pathway of the garden lighting up the flecks of pure gold and caramel brown in them even more so than before, but this time they have tears in the corners of them. “Wh..Wha-”, I’m cut off by the earth ghoul in front of me, “(Y/N) I don’t love Harlow, I love you. Swiss and Harlow have been telling me for the two years that if I just told you the truth, that you’d accept me. That you returned the feelings, I refused to believe them because I saw how you were with Swiss, you two got close so fast and easily, you seemed to connect so much more, he was the one you mainly turned to for comfort after a bad day, you two have sleepovers all the time, he’d invite me over because he knew I liked you but I was convinced that you would never possibly look at me as anything more than a friend. I’m an 8 foot tall ghoul who doesn’t like to talk to people outside of my pack, you, Harlow, and the Papas, my favorite pass times are reading about music, plants, and animals, being outside, and playing drums. I’m quiet and awkward and boring. Who I am to compare to everything Swiss is, charismatic, funny, the life of the party, always knows what to say, and is overall a much safer than me. I’m so much bigger and stronger than you, that I am always scared I will unintentionally hurt you when I touch you. But none of changes the fact that I love you.” He finishes his rant, face flushed and eyes full of fear of my reaction to his words as the tears he was holding finally fall, “Mou..Mount I..,” I stutter trying to find the words to even begin to compare to the speech he just gave me, but I ground myself with a deep, shuttering breath, “Mountain I can’t even begin to compare to what you just said. That is the most heartfelt thing anyone has ever said to me, but I’d like to revise a little of what you said,” I slowly start as I mirror his actions from before of cupping his face but instead, gently kiss the tears falling from his eyes, he leans heavily into the touch as his forehead leans against mine for a moment before I pull back to continue, “You are not just an 8 foot tall Earth ghoul and your not boring, far from it in fact. We have had some of the deepest discussions I’ve ever had from a conversation that started as drums as cool, how long have you been playing that turned into how the drums are the key part of any band and how the entire concept of bands probably wouldn’t exist if drums hadn’t been invented, not to mention how your eyes light up when you talk about plants and their different qualities, hell you’ve fucking made the most amazing teas and best weed I have ever tasted just with a few samples of different plants and mixing blends together. You are easily one of the most caring ghouls I know, outside of Aether and Rain who are equally tied, you are always there for your pack, me, the papas, and Harlow whenever we need you, be it we’re sick or just need an ear to listen or someone who can reach the top shelf because someone thought it was funny to put all of the coffee mugs on top of the fridge, doesn’t matter what it was you were there. You are also funny as hell and have the comedic timing of a god, I’ve never laughed harder than when Copia slipped and fell off the fake stage during practise one day and after a solid couple seconds of pure silence, you did that stupid drum thing. I swear Dew and Cumulus peed themselves from laughter,” I take a couple seconds to stop the laughter than followed the memory even as Mount chuckled too, “I’m also gonna knock that stupid thought that you’ll hurt me straight out of your head, yes your a lot taller than me and I know very much so that ghouls are much stronger than humans, believe me I’ve fallen into bed with Dew and Rain enough to realize just how much strength ghouls have,” there is a quiet growl that emanates from deep in his chest at the mention of my sexual encounters with his pack members, “let’s just say I’m into that shit and leave it at that for now, that’s a conversation for another time. What I mean with everything I’ve just said, is I love you too. And now that we both know this, what d-”, I’m cut off as Mountain leans forward and presses his lips to mine, his hands cupping the back of my head and wrap around my waist as mine slide into his thick, wavy brown hair. It desperate with a hint of need and so much love I feel like I’m going to explode. Even while kneeling he is equal if not slightly taller than me in height but this is comfortable, his tongue slides teasingly across my lower lip and I open willingly for him, letting the wet muscles fight for dominance that for now I allow him to win as he tastes every corner of my mouth he can. His fingers threading into my hair and his grip on my waist tightens as he slowly leans back and sits down, tugging me into his lap and we return to the position that caused this mess in the first place. Once we finally seperate, he tucks his face into my neck, chest vibrating with a deep purr of contentment when I hear Swiss and Harlow finally coming to find us. The purr quickly switching to a low growl of warning as Swiss approaches, I run my fingers through his hair and down his neck, drawing a shiver from the taller male, “Relax he’s not gonna take me away,” I whisper to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead before turning to look at them, “Well…I guess you guys were right..” I give a nervous laugh as the now obviously territorial, and if what I’m guessing is poking me is correct, turn on ghoul below lets out a slightly louder growl even as Swiss holds up his hands in surrender with a sheepish grin and Harlow lets out a loud cackeling laugh, “I told you it would work!”, she cries between laughs even with the death glare I know my ghoul has fixed her with…my ghoul, that feels good to finally say. “You two are adorable,” Swiss teases as he takes a picture, “Send me that!”, I demand before I yelp as Mountain suddenly stands, his hand moving to under my thigh and he secures me against him with the arm around my waist, “Yeah, I just finally got the person I’ve been loving for the last two years, if you knock on my door it better me an emergency or Papa absolutely needs me, even then tell him I’m unavailable.”, is all Mountain says as he begins to walk towards the ghoul dorms, Swiss is howling with laughter with Harlow but it is quickly silenced with a yelp when Mount stops for a moment to turn to them and with a flick of his wrist, Swiss is tied in ivy and moss and Harlow is knocked off her feet by a tree root that shoots out and swipes her feet. “Your mine for the rest of week little one, Papa will understand. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want too, but I am curious to know about that size kink you hinted at early,” Mountain purrs into my ear as my face turns into a tomato. I am so not walking for the next month

Masterlist | Chapter 2

#mountain x reader #mountain ghoul #nameless ghoul x reader #ghost band #ghost band x reader #ghost bc x reader #nameless ghoul #nameless ghouls x reader #mutual pining

[bexfangirlforlife]

Notes of my first rewatch of Tatort Saarbrücken episode Die Kälte der Erde:

gonna pay attention to the actual case now (update I did. Still not much focus on that in my notes)

why is them sitting in the car feeling so domestic?

I still think that the doctor is too shocked over seeing beer drinking people in the ER, as if that doesn't happen more often.

the giggling/laughing when they don't get the couch through the door

oh yeah Esther and that one girl from the bar definitely had something. Also the post that said "the barkeeper knows it/something" so true

that "Hallo, Mama." is funny

it's not the first time, but that scene in the house made me think that in comparision to the little bit of young Adam we saw in the first episode, adult Adam does seem to have some unhingedness from his father (hate to say it)

I knew I recognised the doctor from somewhere, he was the ghost mentor of Jonas in Anna und die Liebe and he played the pimp in two episodes of the second Doctor's Diary season

they (Adam, Leo &Pia) pretend like being a Fußballfan is something really rare... guys we're in germany. It's not that uncommon!

"heyyy Saarbrücken" - german tumblr once a year

Adam's "same", love it

still lowkey wish they would have danced together at the party ngl

the bridge scene aka divorce part 1

Leo: "sprich mit mir!" I've been often frustrated with Adam not really talking to Leo. Though with the info we get later in the episode, that Adam tried to tell people that he was abused by his father, it does make even more sense that he wouldn't talk to anyone, because nobody believed him back then, why would anyone listen now? (Obviously it's different, but the man never got proper therapy, so how would he know?)

so we have Leo/Notizbuch, Adam/Sporttasche and Pia/sleep deprivation. So what is it for Esther? It's not alloud to be people, so is it Esther/Fußball? Or is it something else?

"Ich kann aber besser schlafen, wenn ich weiß, dass dir nichts passiert." would make me insane in itself, but the tone of voice Vladi is delivering it in makes this line another level. (I swear I've heard that exact tone in conversations between Boris and Tobias aka canon couple Toris from sdl)

"Tiger"-"Miau" I'll never get over it

Personal Funfact: the standard radio station my dad and I would listen to, when he drove me to school had a singing competion with this one song every morning for weeks back in the day. We still nod to each other whenever the song comes up somewhere.

"Ist das dein Partner? Ihr passt gut zusammen" still insane insane insane insane insane

Ok yeah I really need Adam going crazy worrying about Leo because Boris uses him as Adam's pressure point to be a big plot point in the next one now please.

What is Adam's plan with the money though? Like what is he planning to do with it?

"Dann leg das Gartenwerkzeug weg du Vogel" it's the pause before Vogel that makes this truly hilarious

Alina's attitude and look constantly remind me of the kid in Systemsprenger

"Wir stecken da jetzt auch mit drin" ... Foreshadowing?

The hospital scene aka divorce part 2

Adam's face after Leo says "Du weißt ich würde mit dir bis ans Ende der Welt gehen, aber nicht auf diesem Weg." still kills me

"Ich bin da. Ich war immer da." fbrjfjdhsbs

"Adam Schürk, der Mittelpunkt der Welt." - "Deiner Welt vielleicht." Enter Leo's teary eyed look killing me. And the yes nod. Pleeaassee...

"Leo, pass auf dich auf. Wenn ihr ein Paar wärt, dann würde man sagen ihr habt ne toxische Beziehung." Love Leo's reaction to this

Why did you keep the knife?

The cliffhanger aka divorce part 3

The guilty look on Adam's face. He knows he fucked up, he knows and he didn't wanna. Please I can't.

THE END

I have to rewatch all the episodes close to each other (it's been a year/over a year), but I right now I'd say this is my fave out of the four, just because of the amount of insane stuff (and I don't mean in the sense like we had in hds, with the whole frosh and stick thingy) and the amount of Adam/Leo scenes we got.

#tatort saarbrücken #dkde #die kälte der erde #rewatch #personal #spatort #long post #(i'm sorry. but i didn't wanna use the read more)

[elidoesntbreathwee]

Steve and Eddie die, Eddie first then a month later, Steve does too. Theyre reborn in Indianapolis, Indiana, and for 17 years they have no clue who they were in their past life or that they new each other. They have new names, of course, Everett and Scott. They live their lives like normal people, something they rarely got in their previous life. Normal parents, normal school, normal life. No alternant dimensions or near death experiences. (they go to the same school but its a REALLY big school) the first time they talk is when they were assigned seats next to each other at graduation and they become friends. They go on a graduation road trip and travel to small town Hawkins, Indiana.

They mess around for the first few days and do random shit, like normal people their age would. Then, one day, one of their last days there, they stop by an abandoned school called "Hawkins High School". They walk in the doors and explore some. They look through the abandoned classrooms, and empty janitorial closets. All they really see is broken desks and chairs and a lot of cobwebs. When they walk into the gym, though, they both stand in shock for a moment.

"Hawkins High? How? I- I'm dead though."

"Eddie?"

"Steve?"

"Wow! You sure look different" Steve, who looks nothing like himself, smiled

"I missed you so fucking much, Steve, like, holy shit!"

"Me too, man, me too"

"Steve, i don't know how long whatever this is is gonna last, so before we go back to normal, I gotta tell you something" Eddie takes a deep breath, and Steve walks closer to him, faces almost touching.

"Yeah?"

"Steve, I love you." Steve smiled and then kissed him.

When they pulled away, they went back to their own minds. They weren't Eddie and Steve anymore, they were once again Everett and Scott. Why wouldn't they be? But they had a feeling that something happened while they were spaced out. How else could they have moved if something hadn't happened?

"Scott."

"Hm?"

"You feel it too right?"

"Yeah, I do." Scott looked around "What do you think happened? Possessed or...?"

"Nah, I feel like i was something else." Everett and Scott went to sit in the middle of the gym. Sitting next to each other, trying to think of what could've happened.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Everett?" Scott broke the silent thinking with his question.

"I mean, ya can't rule it out, right?"

"What if- No, never mind. It's dumb"

"No, no, tell me, man. I won't judge." Everett got up all in Scott's face, trying to convince him to tell him what his idea was.

"Fine." Scott took a deep breath. "What if our past selves knew each other, and they went to this school or something, and when we came in here we briefly got our memories from then back for a little bit and... oh god, im rambling, sorry"

"No, it's ok, Scott. To be fair, your prolly onto something with that."

"Maybe..."

"What do you think we did? Like, when we got our memories back."

They thought about it for a few minuets. Scott had a tense face, very obviously deep in thought.

"Heh, what if we kissed or something." Everett laughed quietly.

"DUDE! I- I-" Scott blushed and bit his lip too keep form saying something embarrassing.

Everett chuckled at Scott. "Even if it happened, Scott, it wouldn't have technically been us. It would've been past us, y'know?"

"Yeah, but still. I- I just... I dont know...I- I kinda wish it..." He mumbled the last part of his sentence quietly.

"What?" Everett's hearing wasn't the best, so there was no way in hell he could here what Scott had said.

"Listen. Just- promise you won't get mad or something, ok?"

"Yeah, of course I won't get mad. Promise."

"I- I kinda wish... that it was really us who, y'know, if it happened at all." Scott was really nervous, messing with his hands, and biting his lip.

"Oh." Everett was wide-eyed and a faint blush was brushed over his cheeks.

"Y-yeah..."

"I- I wouldn't be... like, against it"

"Can I-" Scott leaned closer to Everett

"Yeah. Yeah, you can." Scott kissed him, and Everett leaned in to kiss him back.

Steve and Eddie may have died, but whether they're in heaven, or hell, an everlasting emptiness, or if they're completely new people, they'll always be together.

-

HELLO!! I hope you like this! im tryna make up for being MIA so long lol. A like would be super awesome, and a reblog would be SOOO appreciated :)

Hope u have an awesome day/night :D

ALSO sorry that most of the story is dialog, i hope u could pick up what i was putting down regardless :)

#steddie #steve #eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #st #fic #steddie fic #ficlet #steddie ficlet #steveddie #steve x eddie #stranger things fic