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musings-of-a-rose · 1 year

Text

Then and Now

Pairing: Tommy Miller x f!reader

Word Count: 4500+

Rating: Fluff mostly, except for one minor scene, but I'm leaving my regular blog warning here…Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story.

Notes: thanks to @marvelousmermaid for the prompt and photo inspo! I've been dying to write Tommy and fluff sounds perfect!

Please excuse any typos as I'm writing this from my phone, which I hate doing.

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Main Masterlist

Tommy Miller Masterlist

This had been the work week from hell. Anything that could go wrong or take the most time possible, did. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement.

I jam the keys in the ignition to my car, flipping off my place of work, immensely grateful I have the next few days in a row off. My cell rings and I groan, assuming it would be work trying to drag me back in because apparently I'm the only one who knows anything. A quick glance at the screen shows me I'm right.

"Look, I'm off the clock. I'm taking my HR approved time off so figure it out or I'll see you in 3 days."

I hang up the phone, putting the car into drive and pulling out to the main road. I must have blanked out because the next thing I know, I'm parked in front of my boyfriend Tommy's house.

I sit there for a couple minutes, completely puzzled by my arrival here before a soft knock at my window causes me to jump.

"Sorry, honey! I was just checkin' on you."

My head turns and I meet his eyes, deep brown and full of concern and love. My entire body relaxes when I see his face and, embarrassingly, I feel tears start to make their way down my cheeks. I hadn't seen him in nearly 2 weeks, a work trip for him butted right up against a week from hell for me.

I open my door and he's there, kneeling in front of me, his large hands on my thighs, slowly rubbing them up and down in a comforting manner.

"Honey, what's wrong?" His eyes are wide and worried.

I shake my head, willing the tears to stop as I wipe at the ones already fallen. "Nothing. Just a hard week."

"You wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head. "Not really."

He nods, rubbing his thumbs into my thighs. "Well let me know if you change your mind."

"Yeah. Ok."

We sit like that for a few more seconds before he speaks again.

"You're staying for dinner."

It's not a question but also not a strict command. It's then I realize how bizarre this must seem to him, my showing up unannounced at his house in tears.

"Shit, Tommy I'm sorry. I just.. I had a really long week and I blanked out and ended up here. I can g-"

"Don't you dare say go. Come on, honey. Let's get you inside."

One look into his eyes and he has me, those puppy eyes overriding any feeling I have where I don't want to be a burden. I nod and he smiles wide, standing with a groan as he extends his hand to me. I take it, allowing myself to be pulled up and out of the car. Pure instinct takes over and I nuzzle right into his large chest, feeling his arms close around me, hands rubbing my back.

"How's a bath sound?"

"Yes please." Tommy has one of those giant soaking tubs where I can fit my entire body and my boobs under the water at the same time. I told him once if he ever broke up with me, I was taking the tub.

A quick kiss to the top of my head and Tommy leads me inside, tossing my bag on the entryway table as he guides me to his room. He sits me on the edge of the bed, cupping my face with his large, warm hands.

"I'll be right back, honey. Just gonna pour you that bath, ok?"

"Ok."

I hear the water turn on and Tommy returns, kneeling in front of me again, helping me take off my clothes. It's not sexual but tender, Tommy taking great care to make sure I know this is for me and he expects nothing.

He helps me into the tub, a nice warm bubble bath with the special soap I had left there. He helps me settle and stands there a moment, a stray curl falling forward towards his eyes.

"I'm gonna whip us up a couple of steaks. Please don't drown."

I smile up at him. "With the promise of a world famous Tommy Miller steak? Not a chance I'd miss that."

He flashes me that smile, lighting up the bathroom. "I'll come back and check on you."

The bath helps to calm me, all the aches slowly leaching out of my body, the tension headache I'd been nursing all week with pain meds completely disappears. Once the water starts to cool, I get out, wrapping myself in one of his towels. It smells like him, wood and cologne and something distinctly him. I pull the towel a little tighter and head into the bedroom, pausing when I remember I have no clean clothes. Then I see them on the bed, one of his shirts and a pair of boxers laid out for me. Smiling, I pull them on, tossing the towel into the hamper before heading downstairs.

He's standing just outside on the deck, his back to the sliding door as he concentrates on grilling. I slide open the door and walk up behind him. Without turning, he addresses me.

"How was the bath?"

"Relaxing. Thank you. And thanks for the clothes."

"As much as I'd love to see you walk around naked, I thought you'd appreciate something to cover up with."

He glances towards me and does a double take, his eyes roaming across my body, or what he can see of it under his shirt. His pupils get wider and his eyes darker, swallowing hard.

"You-you look good in my clothes."

"You should see yourself in them." I run my hand down his back, holding it at his lower back. He shivers for a moment and then shakes his head.

"As much as I'd love to get in them with you, I want you to relax. This is about you, not me."

"Well what if I want you to?"

He lets out a dark chuckle. "Raincheck? I can see how hard you've been workin' and I know you're hungry."

I've never had a man turn down sex before. But it's not rejection - he's trying to take care of me how he can.

Before I can reply, he's taking the steaks off the grill, setting one each on a plate where vegetable skewers already sit. Everything looks mouth wateringly delicious.

"I may not be able to cook much of anything, but I can grill up a steak and veggies."

"Fuck yes you can."

Idle chatter while we eat, Tommy telling me about this asshole contractor him and Joel are forced to work with.

"It's only until the end of the month, right?" I ask.

"We're hoping we can drop him come October, yeah. September is going to drag on though. I don't know how Joel will make it another 2 weeks."

"Isn't his birthday soon?"

He nods. "Yeah. Sarah's got something planned I'm sure."

—----

The next morning, I wake to the smell of coffee and bacon, faint sounds of Tommy in the kitchen gently bringing me awake. I'm pleasantly sore, Tommy having spent some time between my thighs after I nearly begged him to, saying it would help me relax. And it did.

I stretch, feeling the soreness and remembering the night when a quiet knock raps on the door.

"You awake, honey?"

"I aaaammm," I yawn.

I hear him chuckle and when he opens the door, I see that smile I love so much.

"Mornin' honey." Tommy enters the room carrying a tray of food, eggs and bacon with a mug of coffee and a flower set on the side.

I sit up. "What's all this?"

Tommy walks over and sets the tray down over my lap, that smile stretching wider as he takes my face in. "I made you breakfast in bed. Bacon, extra crispy, scrambled eggs with Pico de Gallo, and coffee the way you like."

I pick up the flower, smiling. "Is this from outside?"

He laughs nervously. "It…is. It's a weed I'm sorry."

I laugh, touching his hand that was leaning on the bed. "I love it, Tommy. All of this smells amazing. You're joining me, right?"

"If you want me to."

"I always do."

Tommy sits on the bed next to me, eyes bright and wide as he watches me take a few bites.

"Is it good?"

"Delicious," I say with my mouth full of food.

There's my favorite smile again as he slaps his thigh. "Good. I wanted to make sure you had a good breakfast in you."

I cock my head to the side. "You sound like you're preparing me for something. Do we have plans for the day?"

He tries to hide his smile, instantly looking guilty. "Maybe."

"Tommy Miller, what do you have planned?" I can't hide the smile from my voice so I shove more food in my mouth to compensate.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

"I have no clean clothes."

A large hand comes up to rub at the back of his neck. "Actually…." He gets up and walks to his closet, disappearing inside. I hear some rummaging and he remerges with a bag, handing it out to me. I take it and Tommy removes the finished tray of food so I have room. Opening the bag, I pull out a beautiful sundress, a floral leafy pattern embroidered onto the outside.

"Oh Tommy! This is…" I'm speechless.

"Do you like it? I wasn't sure but I know you like plants and I thought that color would look good on you."

His eyes are wide and round, like a puppy seeking approval. I set the dress down and cup his face, making sure he looks at me.

"It's beautiful, Tommy. Absolutely perfect. Thank you."

I pull him to me and kiss him, deepening it the longer it lasts. Soft moans between us,, Tommy pushing me onto my back, his body hovering over mine. I wrap my legs around his hips and he grunts, grinding into me once before breaking the kiss, pressing his forehead to mine.

"As much as I want to take you right now, we're on a schedule."

I raise an eyebrow as he pulls his head from mine. "Tommy Miller following a schedule? This must be serious."

He smiles gently, tucking hair behind my ear. "I just want things to be perfect for you. I know I'm not the easiest at times."

I brush a stray curl from his forehead. "You are perfect to me. I wish you wouldn't doubt yourself so much."

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"I ask myself that same question every day."

—----

An hour later and we're on the road, mysterious bags loaded up into the back of his truck. I ask him repeatedly where we're going but he just gives me that same impish smile and says it's a surprise.

We pulled into the parking lot for the Blanton Art Museum, which I had been dying to check out but never made the time in the 10 years since I moved to Austin.

"You remembered?"

Tommy parks the truck and shifts in his seat to look at me. "Of course, honey. Ready to go in?"

"Absolutely."

We spent the next few hours roaming the museum, Tommy not paying the slightest attention to any of the actual artwork as he was too busy taking in my face. When I asked him what he was looking at, he said "The most beautiful piece in this place." I rolled my eyes but smiled, continuing on our way.

Lunch was street tacos from a food truck, one of Tommy's favorite spots that he'd constantly talk about. And for good reason - they were delicious.

We get back in his truck, starting to drive out of the city.

"We got a couple hours ahead of us, honey. You need a stop?"

"Not now. Where are we going?"

His lips curve up at the edges ever so slightly. "It's a surprise."

"It's a good thing I trust you, Tommy Miller, or a girl might get worried."

He laughs, chest and shoulders shaking with it. "Oh you should always be worried about me."

A couple hours later, he turns off onto a nearly hidden dirt drive, winding its way through trees and bramble. And then it clears, opening up to a beautiful cabin style house with a lake that I can see through the trees lining the back yard.

The house was exactly what Tommy had been talking about with me for months on end, asking my opinions on everything from architecture to the paint on the walls. It's like he reached in my brain and made it real.

"Tommy, this is…beautiful! Do the clients love it?"

His eyebrows pinch together. "Clients?"

"Yeah. Didn't you build this for someone?"

He's quiet a moment, studying me. "I did."

"And they're just letting you use it?"

"They won't mind. Come on! Time for a tour."

He offers me his hand getting out of the truck and I take it, loving the way his skin immediately warms mine. He doesn't drop my hand, using it instead to pull me to him and giving me a gentle kiss.

"I love you, honey."

"I love you too."

He leads me inside, his hand never leaving mine as he starts the tour. The house has 4 bedrooms and bathrooms, 2 offices, a large garage, beautiful windows that open to the outside all along the back wall of the open kitchen and living room, with a dining area. The entire place is furnished and absolutely breathing taking.

"Tommy, this is… you've really outdone yourself!"

He walks up behind me, having dropped my hand to let me explore the house. He wraps his arms around me, kissing my cheek.

"You like it?"

"Uh, yeah! You sure the owners won't mind we're here?"

"They're good. I promise. Now wait here a moment while I unload the truck."

I nod, eyes still sweeping over the beautiful brick fireplace in the living room. Tommy takes a few trips to bring in the mysterious bags, setting some at the edge of the hallway that leads to some bedrooms and the rest in the kitchen. He closes the front door behind him when he's done and starts to take things out of the bags in the kitchen. Lots of food, fresh veggies and meats, and..a picnic basket. He puts the food away and turns back to me, grabbing the basket.

"Hungry? I have a place I wanna show you out back. And I.. I made us a…well, a picnic." He holds up the basket, a slight pink settling on his cheeks like he's embarrassed about it.

"You made me a picnic?"

"It's… not much but I thought it would be nice. If you don't want to, that's fine-"

I grab his shirt and pull him down to me, my lips pressed against his as I squeeze his shirt tighter. "It's perfect."

"Ok well you better stop with that or we'll never eat."

"Well if that's the case-"

He puts his finger over my lips to prevent me from kissing him, mock shock on his face.

"Are you trying to take advantage of me, miss?"

"I most certainly am."

His demeanor shifts, a dark lust settling in his already dark eyes. "Save it for later."

That voice was commanding and it send a shiver of anticipation through me.

He leads me out back where a nice patio and firepit sit, past the small in ground pool and through the trees at the back. You can see the lake clearly once you pass the trees, a little dock jutting out into the quiet lake.

He spreads out a flannel blanket and sets the basket down, offering me his hand to help me sit. Once I do, he sets up the picnic, which turns out to be a beautiful board of meats and cheeses, grapes and crackers. A bottle of wine and 2 glasses are unloaded as well, the cork popping when Tommy opens it and pours a glass each.

We talk about the house and he tells me it was important to the owners that it was self sufficient. They have generators that use the power of the river a quarter mile away, a greenhouse, and 2 cellars, one specification for growing root vegetables. I perk up at that as I've always wanted my own garden and to be self sufficient.

He explains they're waiting on chickens and such and that a barn will be built on the property to house all of the animals.

"They appreciated my point of view as a veteran too. Said I would know what is really needed for survival."

"Were they preppers or something?"

Tommy shakes his head. "Not exactly. Just wanted some place where they didn't have to worry about an electric bill I suppose."

"Wouldn't that be nice?"

"You'd live out here?"

I look around, sighing slightly. "I think I would. Especially if I had the right people with me."

The more we chat, the more nervous Tommy becomes, wiping his sweaty palms against his jeans and stuttering a lot, which is not like him.

"Tommy… you ok?"

"What? Oh. Yeah I'm… great. More than great really."

"Are you sure? Because you look like you might throw up."

He chuckles, slightly nervous. "I love you, so much, honey. You know that, right?"

"I do…"

"Then that will make this a little easier."

He sits up, shifting his weight to his good knee as he kneels in front of me. Reaching in his pocket, he pulls out a small, black box.

"I have loved you since the moment I met you. You never judge me for anythin' and always let me be me. You've stuck with me through the nightmares and the good times. You're always there for me. And I hope you'll always let me be there for you too."

He opens the box where a beautiful ring sits, exactly my style.

"Will you marry me?"

Tears cloud my vision as I nod instantly, eyes shifting from his to the ring and back.

"I need a verbal confirmation, honey."

"Oh sorry, YES!"

The widest smile I've ever seen spreads across his face, and yet his eyes still contain doubt, as if he wasn't worthy of love. "You will?"

"You've had me since the moment I saw you, Tommy. I love you."

He takes my hand and slides the ring on gently. I pull him to me, laying back as my fingers pick at the edge of his shirt, finding skin there. He grunts, holding himself above me, kissing me deeply as if I would change my mind if he didn't.

"Oh there's one more thing, honey."

"There's more??"

"Remember how I told you the owners of the house wouldn't mind if we used it?"

"Yeah…"

"Well…that's because I..well we, are the owners. If you'd like?"

"You mean…we would own this place?"

"Only if you want to."

I plant my hands on either side of his face, bringing him down to kiss me. "What did I do to deserve you, Tommy Miller?"

"Must have been something bad."

He smirks as I smack him playfully. "I would love this house."

"Then it's ours."

—----

We had planned for a spring wedding here at our house, only wanting family and a handful of close friends to attend.

Of course that all changed just a couple weeks after Tommy had proposed. When the world went to shit.

I was at the cabin, bringing some boxes of stuff and more foods. I had the brilliant idea to start canning, so I brought along what I had made so far, along with other odds and ends. We had decided I would move in with Tommy at his place in the city and we would come to the cabin when we had time off.

It's very remote, so I didn't think anything of it when I couldn't find a TV station broadcasting anything. I just grabbed my book and headed off to bed.

A few hours later, I hear the door downstairs fly open and voices float up to me. Instantly I recognize Tommy's voice, but that's not the one I'm listening to.

It's Joel. The sounds he's making are unrecognizable, virtually inhuman. I have never heard someone make those sounds before then. They dug into me, pulling at every fiber of my being and I lunged from the bed, practically running downstairs, taking them 2 at a time.

Joel and Tommy are in the living room, both on the ground, crumbled into each other. Tommy is holding Joel, rocking back and forth and saying things to him that I can't discern. Tears are streaming down both their faces and I realize they're both covered in blood, Joel bleeding more from his side as if he'd been shot and it had missed.

It's then I realize Sarah is missing.

—----

20 years has passed since that day. We've been through so much shit, but so has everyone. Joel eventually left us to do his own thing, and Tommy and I eventually found a place called Jackson in Wyoming and settled down. We did get married there, with mountains as our backdrop instead of our lake house.

It had been a long week, the crops were being harvested and we were behind on preparing for the winter ahead. Tommy and I both had been working our hands raw to get Jackson ready for the season, barely having time for each other due to exhaustion.

A couple more weeks pass in this manner before a day off. Maria, who ran Jackson, insisted I take a day, as I was always the first to show up and the last to leave. And, as she lovingly said, "You're not getting any younger."

Light shines in through the window, the curtains blowing in the cool, early fall breeze let in by the propped window. Yawning, I stretch, hand automatically moving to Tommy, except my hand lands on an empty bed.

Sitting up, I rub my eyes, looking down at the empty space. Just then I hear clanging in the kitchen, followed by swearing. I hear his footsteps on the hard floors, our bedroom door being pushed open with a gentle nudge of his hip.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry honey."

"You didn't. Everything ok?"

"All good. Although we may be down a pan."

I chuckle and he moves towards the bed, a tray full of food in his hands.

"What's all this?" I ask, mouth watering slightly.

"You've been workin' so hard and I know your shoulder has been acting up. I wanted you to relax today."

"Tommy. You didn't need to do this."

"I know. And yet, here I am."

He smiles, curls falling forward as he sets the tray across my lap. It's got bacon and eggs, little tomatoes and onions cut up and added in.

"This looks delicious, Tommy. Thank you."

"Welcome, honey." He leans forward to kiss me, mustache tickling my lips.

"You're joining me?" I ask and he nods.

"If that's ok?"

I pull him closer, fingers clutching at his shirt. He chuckles as he scoots closer to me.

"Ok ok I get the hint."

We finish breakfast and lay in bed, tray put aside, and check in with each other. It's something we try to do at least weekly, wanting to be involved in each other's lives but also to make sure we have time for each other. You'd think there would be a ton of time in the apocalypse, but it's hard when survival is on the line.

"Ok time to get dressed, honey."

"Well that's a first - trying to get me in clothes and not out of them."

He smiles like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I'd love to have you out of them but we're expected somewhere."

I cuddle further into his chest. "Can't we just stay here instead?"

A rumble vibrates his chest and he hugs me tighter. "I want to, honey, but we're on a schedule."

"Isn't it our day off?"

He kisses the top of my head. "Just come on."

Groaning, I get up and dressed, Tommy dressing as well. He offers me his arm as we walk out of our home, walking me down several streets until we arrive at the school.

"What are we doing here?" I ask.

He pulls me inside and I gasp. The entire school had been transformed into an art gallery, pictures painted and drawn by the students of Jackson. Little messages to us both are pinned next to each of them, explaining what the pictures were about. I'm absolutely speechless.

"Did…did you do this, Tommy?"

He nods. "I did. I know you miss the art galleries and now we have one."

"I… I don't know what to say."

"I love you, honey." He kisses me and we spend more time looking at the pictures before heading out. But he turns away from our home and heads towards the barns on the top of the main hill.

We arrive at the stables and he hitches a horse to a cart, extending a hand to help me up. He loads a couple of baskets into the back before jumping up himself, grabbing the reigns and leading the horse out of the barn.

"It's pointless to ask where we're going, isn't it?"

He nods. "You'll see soon."

An hour or so later, we appear at the lake, a secluded area that we've been to before. It's always gorgeous here and even more so now that some of the trees have decided to start fall a little early.

He helps me down from the cart and grabs the baskets, spreading out the picnic before motioning to me to sit. It's simple sandwiches and veggies, but he's also somehow managed to get a piece of chocolate and my eyes grow wide.

"Where did you score that?"

"Traded with the last caravan that came through."

"Tommy, this…this was a perfect day. Thank you."

We eat in silence for a few moments.

"Do you know why I chose today?"

I wrack my brain. "Honestly I've been going non stop, I couldn't even tell you the date."

He cups my face with one of his large, warm hands. "You have been. Which is part of the reason for this day. But also… I proposed to you on this day, so many years ago, before…" He gestures around.

"Oh, Tommy." I can't help the tears forming in my eyes. "I'm so sorry I didn't realize what day it was-"

He puts a finger to my lips. "None of that. I just wanted to do somethin' special. I love you, honey. I'm so grateful that we've made it together and I love spending my life with you."

The tears fall now and he uses his thumbs to brush them from my cheeks. Pulling me to him, he kisses me before gently pushing me back into the blanket. I nuzzle into his chest and he holds me to him as we watch the sunset, somehow together after the end of the world.

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage!(It is not required in any way!)

—---

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weekend-whip · 11 months

Note

My brain has been starved of aftershock, finalfrontier, another ship content as of late. Give me your brain rot.

Welp, since it's the last day of May (here), and tomorrow begins Pride, I'll tell you that I've been filter feeding on an Aftershock mermaid au :V

Jesse is one-fourth mermaid—his mom is a half-mermaid, and his father is full human. He's still trying to figure out what scenario led them to get together, but he's not ever gonna ask.

Non-full mermaids can switch between having a tail or not by the "get wet get fins/get dry get legs" rule. Touching water will initiate a transformation; the speed of the transformation differs by individual/situation.

Jesse prefers to be on land, but mainly stays in the ocean due to his sister—an attack by fishermen caused her great injury, to the point that it's easier for her to remain as a mermaid than a human, so Jesse sticks around to keep her safe and protected and all that jazz.

He's also something of a siren, and loves to sing—not to lure anyone to their doom, just that he likes the sound of his own voice. However, he always makes sure he's absolutely alone when he does sing, because...well, he can't have some unsuspecting human catch wind of his irresistible notes. Bad times all around.

...this doesn't stop local ocean artist/musician Cole from overhearing Jesse one day, leading to him to constantly coming back to the beach to sketch Jesse singing on his little rock in the sun. Cole wants to talk to the mermaid, but like, you can't just talk to a mermaid.

Time passes and on a foggy morning, Jesse sings while a ship he can't see is passing by, with Miranda swimming not too far away. The ship turns out to be a fishing boat, and after hearing Jesse sing, manages to snare Miranda and Jesse in their net. Cole, just chilling on the beach when he suddenly can't hear Jesse anymore, realizes something's wrong and heads out to investigate.

He manages to free both mermaids without incident (haven't decided if there's a confrontation or it's a stealth mission) but either way Jesse goes feral over protecting Mira until Cole demonstrates he means no harm by freeing her from the net, followed by freeing Jesse too. Miranda reveals that they can at least understand one another and Jesse drags her away.

Couple days later, Jesse brings up some treasures and flowers from the ocean to thank Cole for the rescue with, and they finally start to talk and whatnot. Jesse reveals that he can turn human, and Cole...does not react as surprised as Jesse expected, but he's also okay with it (guess he's just that chill), so it's all good.

After that they have a bunch of "dates", with Cole showing Jesse some of the stuff he's missing on land, and Jesse telling Cole about oceanlife + making him some awesome seafood meals...however, Cole refuses to swim with Jesse. Jesse can't figure out why.

So yeah they get closer and Cole reveals that he first became aware of Jesse when he heard him sing, which freaks Jesse out because he think he's "hypnotized" Cole into loving him and proceeds to try and get away from him.

They meet again later, with Jesse explaining what he thinks must have happened...and Cole insisting that it can't be true. Jesse protests this until Cole grabs Jesse and jumps off the pier with him in his arms, plunging them both into the water.

...turns out Cole's been half-mermaid the whole time too, which is why he found none of this bizarre + how he handled the fishermen so easily + why he was always at the ocean to begin with yet never wanted to swim + he was immune to Jesse's song in the first place, confirming that he really did fall in love with Jesse for Jesse

Cole then dumps his whole lore about his mermaid mom being killed by poachers and how his dad tried to use his mermaid-ness to get into show business, driving Cole away from both his dad and the ocean. There's a whole thing here but I'm keeping it to myself in case I do write this one day ahahaaaa

But anyway, they're all happy that they can be together with no issue and they swim around and kiss and then maybe there's a sequel hook with Cole readjusting back to the ocean or something.

......haven't really thought about anyone else for obvious reasons lmao but I have very strongly decided that Jay is a blue octopus with yellow rings, and Jamie is a yellow octopus with blue rings. People get them mixed up and proceed to regret it.

Olivia, of course, is a shark. Haven't decided which Shark. Bridget is her annoyed narwhal sidekick.

Kai and Nya are also half-mer; Kai has a shark tail, Nya a dolphin tail. Have not decided what their situation would be; I just don't want go with the obvious routes :P

Zane, in a twist of irony, is a full human. He's Cole's confidant for Cole's life on land, and believes in Cole's "mermaid tales" because he's met one himself (Pixal).

idk what Lloyd's doing but he's probably some wildly poisonous form of half-fish. Even if he can transform there's always something creature-y about him snksnksnk

#legacyverse #the ninja legacy whip #cole brookstone #oc: jesse marvell #aftershockshipping #oc x canon #cole x oc #mermay #k1ng boo #asks from nice people #i've actually written a few smatterings of scenes and doodled a sketch #which is a lot for something i had on a whim #so yes i blame the brainrot

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infitsovermisfits · 2 years

Text

What's Shakin' Baby? (2) - Eddie Munson x GN! Reader

AN: i wanted to finish this before my birthday (4 days ago now) and instead i broke my glasses ;-; happy birthday to me ig. ANYWAYS it's finished now- it took me so long and i really apologise for that ;-; I'm a perfectionist and it takes me a while to write these... I mean, look at the size. It's also difficult for me to work when I'm burnt out and tired all the time, and considering i stayed up till 7am to write this (dw I'm sleeping as soon as i post this) then yeah. That starts to take its toll eventually. I'll say that I had a lot of fun writing this- i understand not everyone likes fluff but to those i say ok? go read something else there's a multitude of fics I'm sure you'll find what u like :) PERSONALLY i liked Dustin and Eddie's friendship in s4 and it's clear Gaten and Joe have great chemistry... But hear me out: Eddie and Max. Do u really think Eddie saw Max moping around, all sad around the trailer park and just didn't do anything about it? Nah. Sarcastic little sister and Goofy older Brother? Ya. We were truly robbed of Max finding someone like Eddie to confide him and realise could be a good sibling to her that doesn't yell at her and make her afraid. (arcade idea stolen (with permission) from @intergalacticaquarium if you, like me, think Eddie and Max should have had a friend/siblings dynamic in s4, I encourage u to read their fics about them. They are v wholesome.)

WARNINGS: gender neutral reader, reader is 20, L O N G and slow burn forgive me i got v carried away, reader smokes, fluff, tooth-rotting fluff at the end, i promice, mentions of billy being a bad older brother to Max, Max opening up a bit about Billy trauma, Eddie being an amazing older brother to Max (along w yn ofc), eating food, negative self-talk, slight angst at the end, brain empty, no more thoughts, lmk if i missed something

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | MASTERLIST

15,915 words (holy shit i know)

The following day, you found you were driving back home from your trip into town with Eddie, blasting one of his mixtapes and singing along happily. As suspected, there wasn't anything interesting in the various stores and boutiques that had opened up since Starcourt shut down, but you still had a delightful day. You almost forgot how fun Eddie was to just... Be around. Even if he hated following you through the stores, his comments on the people in the store or the mannequins or the stupid slogans on the shirts made it difficult to not burst out laughing in the middle of the otherwise silent store. You did eventually have to drag him out so you wouldn't get kicked out when you flicked your gaze over and he was shifting the mannequin's hand around to be a middle finger. He finally pulled you into a Goodwill- the best decision you had made that day because apparently, you hit a jackpot- someone retired a bunch of Metal merchandise and it's probably the most quiet Eddie has been while sober and conscious in years. You both meticulously searched through the numerous Metal band t-shirts (some of which neither you, or Eddie had heard of, surprisingly), unsown patches he could add to his battle vest and various band pins. Eddie kept mumbling to himself about 'how lucky he got' as well as 'how someone could ever give this up'?

Collectively, you spent almost two hours sifting through all the clothes there and eventually buying close to ten things each. You stopped by a McDonald's to eat something, sitting in his car and talking about some bizarre thing that had crossed Eddie's mind at that moment, and as you drove home, you excitedly pointed at the Palace Arcade,

"Holy shit! That place is still open!?" You grinned eagerly, trying to turn your head to look over your shoulder at the passing building,

"Uhuh. If you came here a couple of weeks earlier, I would have taken you," he said playfully,

"What? Why not now?" You frowned, looking back at him,

"Cause school's out for summer. It's gonna be crowded as fuck with stupid kids stealing all the good prizes," He pouted, and you lit up at his comment,

"Aww," You grinned, "I'm sure we can just find your disappearing ink somewhere else out of town-"

"No, no, no," He grinned, "Buying something is not the same as winning it in an arcade after busting your ass on Tetris for an hour," You laughed softly at his comment,

"You played Tetris for an hour and all you could get was disappearing ink?" You grinned. At first you thought it was a joke- you remembered Eddie's whole phase with with the ink, realising he could draw whatever he wanted, wherever and no one would see it. He grafitied a lot of rooms in Hawkins with stupid messages and crude drawings, not to mention his room was full of glowing drawings under the black light he brought... You quickly realised he wasn't joking about spending an hour on one game and your eyes widened, "No-"

"Babe-" He said quickly,

"Eddie-" You said in a warning tone,

"Babe-" He repeated, his eyes widening and a grin spreading across his lips,

"Are you telling me you played Tetris for an hour... And all you could afford was disappearing ink?" You asked, mouth opening in shock,

"I'm not answering that," He huffed, "I don't like your tone,"

"How bad are you at Tetris?" You laughed, "It's a simple game, how-"

"Okay, well," He smiled, "Now you're just being mean-" He commented on your laughter,

"Eddie-" You managed breathlessly,

"It's a hard game!" He protested,

"This is like the rubik's cube all over again," You teased once you calmed down a little,

"It is not! Do not disrespect the cube like that"" He whined,

"The cube!!" You said amused, laughing,

"Can you stop making fun of me, babe?" He cast you a glance with a bright grin on his face,

"I'm not making fun of you; you're just funny, Eds," You grinned, shaking your head, "I'm simply reminiscing on that week that you locked yourself away in your room, almost losing your mind over that thing," You said,

"Yeah. And then a possum tried to kill me and cursed it," He said playfully,

The possum incident occurred in early autumn a few years ago. Before he disappeared for the week, Eddie picked up a new strain of weed from Rick. He talked your ear off about how it was real, authentic shit, grown in pristine conditions, and supposed to be better than anything he had ever sold or tried before. He'd been so excited to 'test' the product that he left his bedroom window open while he was greened out and a possum snuck in during the night. He didn't realise at first, but when he discovered it... It was safe to say that nothing could beat that phone call- hearing Eddie screaming about the 'demonic' marsupial hiding away in his closet and crudely describing it as a 'screaming rat that wants to eat him' was confusing at first. When you pulled the receiver from your ear, you almost collapsed laughing as you could hear him yelling from his trailer. It took you a while to collect yourself before you arrived in his home- Wayne was already there, attempting to usher the terrified creature into an empty laundry basket with a broom, while Eddie stood on his bed and rambled about 'demons' and 'cursed cubes'. Seeing you made him yell at you for laughing at the scene, and once you calmed, you moved your focus to help Wayne. You felt bad for the older man, considering he usually slept during the day for his shifts at the Plant, and who reprimanded Eddie about closing his windows at night so creatures don't find their way inside,

"It didn't try to kill you, Eddie," You told him as he parked his van outside his trailer, "It was more scared of you than you were of it," You pat his shoulder as you unbuckled the seatbelt and got out, heading for the back of the van to collect your bags,

"Why'd it have its mouth open then?" He grinned, opening the back for you,

"Because that's what they do," You reminded him, "They don't have thumbs, or spikes or knives, so they open their mouthes to be all scary," You explained, smiling as he rolled his eyes. You cast a glance at the bags, "Damn... We gotta wash all of these," You mumbled as you grabbed yours, which had been set on the right,

"Possums are terrifying," He muttered under his breath as he walked back to his trailer,

"Yeah, yeah," You rolled your eyes, "Hey, meet me at mine in like, ten minutes," You said, "I got watermelon in my fridge," You smiled,

"Yeah, I know. I was there when you bought it," He said with a grin, "Save me a beer," He said, before disappearing into his trailer.

A while later, you'd set the clothes you bought in the washer, opened the beer for him and got busy cutting up the watermelon. Eddie quickly entered announcing himself with a cheerful 'Hey baby!' the thick smell of cigarettes fluttering through the air behind him. Glancing up to give him a small smile, you noted he was shirtless, yet still wearing the same pair of dark jeans he had on before. He hated shorts, so he opted to find the jeans with the largest rips and holes in them instead. It surprised you when he walked up behind you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pressing a kiss to the back of your head. As you tried to feed him a chunk of the fruit, he playfully moved out of the way, grabbing the beer and mentioning that he was smoking, so he couldn't eat. You rolled your eyes, before telling him you should go sit outside, considering your AC was busted and it was cooler there than inside. There was a thin layer of sweat on your forehead, and you didn't want to stay inside longer than you had to. You eyed the spider etched into his right shoulder- how dare he not mention he got a new tattoo?

"You're staring," He said in a sing-songy tone, distracted by fishing out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pockets, causing you to blush and glance away from him,

"Shut up, Eds," You said with a small smile, following him outside and sitting in one of the seats you had on the porch, before grabbing a watermelon slice to eat. You gladly accepted the cigarette he offered, leaning over so he could light it for you and inhaling deeply,

"You dig the new ink?" He asked playfully, sliding a notebook you hadn't noticed he brought along off the table into his lap and flicking through the pages. You eyed him; the cigarette tucked between his teeth and plump lips, his brows drawn together slightly as he focused on the contents of the pages; big brown eyes darting over the words scribbled inside, "Drew it myself," He said, lifting the book up to show you the spider,

"Holy shit, Eds, it looks so cool!" You grinned, taking a bite of the melon,

"Thanks!" He said proudly, picking up the pencil that had fallen from between the pages and flicking to a half-empty page, "Took me forever deciding where I wanted it," He mumbled,

"It looks good where it is, babe," You told him, giving him a small smile and eating some more of your watermelon slice, "Oh- Hey Max!" You called, seeing her approach from the entrance to the trailer park on her skateboard. Considering she didn't look up at your loud yell, you guessed she must have her headphones on, "You think she's still super into Kate Bush?" You glanced over at Eddie,

"Probably," He murmured, the word muffled by the cigarette between his lips. His gaze flicked up to you, then Max in the distance, and then settled back to the notebook he was busy scribbling away in,

"Mh," You hummed. You took another drag before straightening and raising a free hand to wave at her as she approached. Seeing you, she effortlessly stepped off the board, walking a few steps and picking it up, before pulling the headphones off of her head and letting them sit around her neck. She came to a stop before the steps up to your trailer, glancing between you and Eddie,

"What?" She asked sharply,

"You having a good day, Red?" You heard Eddie ask,

"It... Was fine," She said, a little confused by his question,

"Anything fun happen?" You asked, leaning your elbows on your knees and letting your head rest in your hands, smiling at her, "Oh- you want some watermelon? I just cut it up- it's from the fridge so it's nice and cold," You offered, glancing behind you and picking the bowl up from the table, extending it out to her

"No," She shuffled in place a little,

"Damn... That's a shame," You said, setting the bowl back in its place, "Well, if you want any, you know who to ask," You told her, "Are you more into smoothies, by any chance?" You asked, "I have a blender and crazy experience making thick juice," You offered, smiling at the sight of the corners of her lips involuntarily lifting. She turned on her heel to walk to her neighbouring trailer,

"C'mon, Red," Eddie chimed in, "Their smoothies are a work of art- and that's coming from me," He called after her,

"Whatever," You heard her mutter before she quickly climbed the steps and entered the trailer,

"Damn," You sighed, leaning back in your chair and finishing the cigarette, stumping it out in the recently emptied ashtray,

"I could hear it from here," You heard Eddie chuckle to himself. You turned your body to look at him, leaning an arm on the table,

"Kate Bush?" You asked,

"Good, old Katie," He grinned. You gave him a playful glare,

"If you dare disrespect her, Eddie, I swear-"

"Wh- Disrespect?" He set the pencil between the pages of his book and closed it, setting it on the table, "When did I ever say anything disrespectful about Kate Bush, babe?" He said defensively, though there was an amused look on his face,

"You didn't, but I know how riled up you can get," You grinned, finishing your clice and setting the rind back into the bowl, "About what constitutes as 'real' music," You mimed air quotes before grabbing another slice,

"I would never say a bad thing about Kate Bush though, babe," He said, "Promice. Hand on heart; cross it and everything," He said, drawing a finger in two lines over the ink on his chest,

"Good," You raised your brows, "Cause she's like... Crazy amazing,"

"I know," He grinned, "I was the one who introduced you to her," He smiled,

"Cause the song came on the radio," You teased,

"In my car," He said with a smirk,

"Whatever," You rolled your eyes, sitting back in your chair and biting into the watermelon, quickly licking the juice that spilled onto your fingers. It was delightfully cold, thanks to you putting it in the fridge as soon as you got home from the grocery store earlier today. You only wished you could buy some stronger alcohol, or make a cocktail...

"Hey... Come here," Eddie mumbled, catching your attention. Once your eyes were on him, he removed the cigarette from of his mouth and tapped his leg with his free hand, shifting his legs so they were spread slightly wider apart,

"Why?" You asked, though you set your slice into the bowl and stood up without much hesitation. His smile simply widened as you approached him, carefully sitting in his lap and wrapping your arms around his neck. He hummed pleasantly, wrapping an arm around your middle to pull you closer,

"Missed you," He said simply, before tucking the cigarette back between his lips to take a drag,

"We spent the entire day together, babe," You reminded him, pulling the cigarette out of his lips and placing it between your own as he tilted his head back to exhale the smoke up into the air,

"Mhhm, and you dragged me around all these stupid stores and didn't let me have fun," He grinned, leaning forward to press a kiss to your cheek and taking his cigarette back,

"You almost got us kicked out, again," You grinned,

"I was just helping the mannequins express their feelings," He said with a nonchalant shrug. Your eyes flicked down to his neck, smiling and allowing your hand to gently caress the soft skin, "They've probably been stuck there for years in those awful shirts. I could sense a lot of anger coming from those plastic things," He said,

"You're a true hero, Eds," You smiled, "For mannequins all across America," You grinned,

"I work one store at a time," He said with a small smile. You laughed as he took another drag, "Can't believe we scored gold in that Goodwill," He said proudly,

"I know, right?" You grinned, "I finally got my own Pantera shirt," You said excitedly,

"I wonder who gave all of those shirts away," He muttered curiously,

"Someone cool?" You said, shifting a hand to play with strands of his hair, running your fingers through,

"Or someone lame," He suggested, glancing at the movements of your hands as your fingers began to carefully braid his hair, "In any case, we lucked out. You're like a good luck charm," He said with a proud smile,

"Me?" You asked amused, grinning as he moved his hand to touch yours, pulling your fingers away from his hair and pressing a kiss to the back of them,

"You," He murmured, brown, doe eyes meeting yours. He set the cigarette in the ashtray, letting both his hands wrap around you,

"Bet if you went to the store earlier without me you would have found those shirts anyways," You mumbled, rolling your eyes,

"Nah," He said, "But they'll make good replacements for all the shirts you stole from me," He said playfully, causing you to laugh,

"Maybe this is my way of giving them back to you," You joked,

"That's a really stupid way of giving me back my stuff, babe," He said, "Making me pay for my own stuff?"

"Eddie I'm j-"

"I know," He laughed, "I just like to tease you," He smirked, leaning back in his chair with a small sigh, "So! We have the rest of this wonderful day together. What do you suggest we do?" He asked, watching you expectantly. It was only the beginning of summer- the days would grow longer and hotter, and you'd be forced to get the AC fixed so you could seek comfort in the coolness of your home. That meant you couldn't really hang out in there. Eddie's trailer was always an option but it felt a little strange just inviting yourself there- besides, Wayne worked nights at the Plant, which meant he had to sleep all day. You couldn't play the TV too loud or yell or listen to loud music... You let your mind run as you leaned over Eddie, pulling the fruit bowl closer so you could munch on a slice as you thought. You'd already been and raided the nearby stores, and Hawkins was a shithole with nothing interesting ever happening here. The only thing left was...

"What about the arcade?" You said, raising your brows, "You can win me a teddy bear," You smiled,

"How romantic," He grinned, "But be warned, it will take me like... Six hours on Tetris to get enough tickets to afford one of those," He said, causing you to laugh,

"Damn- does the arcade even let people stay that late? Especially if they're awful at the game they're playing," You teased,

"Fine- you're not getting anything from me," He huffed playfully,

"Eddie- no!! Play anything but Tetris," You plead, grinning,

"Fine, fine. I'm pretty good at Pinball," He said, arms leaving you momentarily so he could stretch them above his head,

"You can't win tickets with Pinball. Also- pinball is the lamest game you can play at an arcade," You said, holding the slice out for him to take a bite of,

"Hold on-" He said surprised, gently moving your hand out of the way, "What did you just say?"

"Pinball is the lamest?" He opened his mouth in shock, and you smirked, moving the slice against his lips so he was forced to take a bite of the pink fruit, "What are you? An old man?" You grinned,

"Old men aren't the only ones who play pinball, babe!" He protested, yelping softly as some of the juice spilt out of his lips and down his chin. You laughed as he reached a hand to wipe his face and smirked, swallowing the food in his mouth and grabbing the slice from your hands,

"Yes, they are!" You laughed, shaking your head and getting off of his lap, "Oh my God- Eddie," You managed between laughter, having to lean your hand on the side of your trailer, "I have never met anyone who goes to an arcade thinking 'I'm going to play pinball', what the fuck?" You laughed,

"Listen- okay, okay. Since you think this is so fuckin' funny-" He said standing and following you as you stumbled inside your open front door, hardly breathing through your laughter, "-You haven't been here in a year, and, like, a bunch of the good machines broke down," He rambled,

"So it's the machine's fault you're horrible at the games," You grinned as you stepped into the warmer home, "Not your horrible game skills?" It was only a few degrees difference, though the change felt astronomical,

"Yeah- it is," He said, groaning as he followed you, feeling the warmth against his skin, "Shit- what's up with your AC?" He asked, watching as you removed the mass of black from the washer,

"Broken," You huffed, grabbing the basket and heading back outside,

"Why didn't you ask Wayne to fix it for you?" He frowned, walking to the broken machine and tapping it,

"He's asleep, right?" You said, glancing over at him, "I don't wanna wake him and waste his time," You sighed,

"Babe, your house is unliveable. I'll get him to fix it for you-"

"Don't we have plans to go to the arcade?" You asked, trying to quickly change the topic as you moved outside to the now empty line you shared with Max, beginning to hang up the wet shirts,

"Yeah, but-" He tried, following you quickly,

"Do you think Max'll wanna come with us?" You asked, glancing from her trailer, then back over your shoulder to see him standing on your porch and watching you. With a dejected sigh, he moved to sit down, his legs hanging over the edge of the porch, "Do kids nowadays even play arcade games anymore?" You asked more yourself as you got back to your task, running a hand over the wet, upside down 'Pantera' print,

"Of course they like arcade games," he said with a huff, "Everyone likes arcade games,"

"Good," You smiled, "I have faith in the new generation once again. And maybe she plays games that aren't Pinball or Tetris," You teased, "Maybe she's actually good," You added, "Maybe-"

"I swear to God if you make fun of me again..." You heard him say in a mock threatening tone,

"You'll what?" You grinned, setting the empty basket down and looking at him. A large grin spread over his face and he quickly hopped off the porch, "Oh no- Eddie, no-" You yelped as he suddenly grabbed you, picking you up and spinning you around and cackling, "Put me down!" You laughed loudly,

"You take everything you said back or I throw you in the dirt!" He said playfully,

"How about I don't!" You grinned, grabbing at his hands. He laughed again, setting you down but still holding on to you tightly. He opened his mouth again to say something, although-

"Gross," You heard from nearby, causing your head to look in the direction of the voice,

"Oh, hey Max!" You grinned at the red-headed girl now standing nearby in the shade between the two mobile homes. Eddie loosened his hold on you, letting you brush off your clothes and gather yourself, "We were just looking for you-"

"Why?" She asked,

"Well, uh... Eddie and I are planning on going to the arcade later and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us," You offered with a pleasant smile. She watched you with a frown, glancing between your faces, before narrowing her eyes,

"What's in it for you, huh?" She asked sceptically,

"Nothing...? We're just going to have fun and play games. Maybe get some milkshakes later or something?" You offered, glancing over at Eddie,

"C'mon, Red," Eddie piped up, moving to stand next to you, "It'll be fun; we used to go to the Palace all the time-" He gestured between you,

"Didn't we call it 'Our Palace' at some point?" You grinned, glancing back at him,

"Hell yeah," He grinned, "God, I used to kill on those pinball machines," He gave you a look, while you laughed at his statement, "Christ," He mumbled, rolling his eyes at your reaction, though smiled fondly at your laughter,

"Don't mind him- we played games other than Pinball," You assured her, "Have you ever been there, Max?" You asked the girl, and watched her cast her gaze downwards momentarily,

"Yeah... I used to go a lot, actually. It was the first place I'd go to when I first came here from California," She said, "I stopped going a few years ago... Cause of school? Haven't really been there since," She admitted,

"All the more reason for you to come with us!" You said eagerly, "Please? We promise we'll never bother you again," You plead, putting your hands together to emphasise your point. She glanced back at you and sighed,

"Fine," You both grinned happily, "I'll have to ask my mom,"

"That's fine- you be ready by 6," You told her eagerly, before grabbing Eddie's hand and dragging him back to your trailer,

"See you later, Red!" He called after her, laughing slightly as you dragged him inside your trailer.

It took a while for you to get ready. You had brought in the rest of your watermelon inside so the flies and wasps wouldn't gather around the fruit, eating the slices and trying to get Eddie to eat them with you, before cleaning your hands and changing into your outfit for the evening. Eddie left at your request to get ready himself, allowing you to freshen up and get ready in peace. Once you were finished, you walked out to meet up with Eddie and Max. Coincidentally, you walked out of your trailer at the same time as her, giving her a small nod and mentioning that Eddie was going to be your ride to the arcade. Once you locked your trailer, you joined her in the short walk over to his, lighting up a cigarette on your way there. Max had also changed and was holding a blue zip-up jacket for later in the evening, when the temperature would inevitably drop. Her hair, which had previously been braided, was out in loose waves and framing her pale face. She glanced at Eddie's trailer as you stopped, leaning against his van. You could faintly hear Black Sabbath playing from his open bedroom window,

"He's late," Max pointed out,

"He is... As usual," You let her know, "But he's our ride, so we gotta wait," You said with a sigh, "He's probably fixing up his hair- it usually takes a while, he's got a lot of it," You joked, smiling softly as she let out a quiet, breathy laugh,

"Yeah. Right," She nodded, eyeing the cigarette in your hand,

"Speaking of hair," You gestured to her, "Where's your Anne of Green Gable's schtick?" You asked,

"Didn't seem fitting for an arcade," She mumbled,

"Course," You smiled, "You excited to try any of the games there?" You asked,

"Excited?" She smiled slightly, "Do I look like a kid to you?"

"Well, you seemed eager to go," You shrugged, "I'm excited. I'm sure Eddie is too- oh! And if you're any good, you could teach him how to play Tetris!" You grinned,

"He doesn't know how to play Tetris?" She asked, blinking her wide eyes in surprise, "But it's so easy...!" She said, and you laughed softly, nodding,

"I know, right?" You smiled, glancing over her "He excels at DnD though... That might be the only game he's good at. As annoying it is watching him play the games and loose them, it's pretty funny," You grinned,

"Sure," She smiled slightly, glancing around in silence,

"I think your hair's cool, Max," You told her, "Pretty colour and all that," You said with a nod,

"What about my hair?" Eddie asked, walking out of the trailer and meeting you at the foot of the stairs,

"Not yours," You said, rolling your eyes, "Max's," You gestured to the girl. Eddie glanced over at her and nodded his head in a silent hello, before plucking the cigarette from your lips and taking a drag as he twirled his car keys in his hand. He was wearing a Metalica shirt under his leather jacket,

"Nice hair, Red," He complimented, "Now are you two ready for the greatest night of your lives?" He asked, glancing between you with a grin,

"In Hawkins?" You smirked, grabbing your cigarette back from his hands, "Never," You winked. Your grin widened at the way he looked at you after your wink,

"Right- not grand enough for you, Your Majesty?" He waved his hand in a mock bow, grabbing the door handle to the passenger side and pulling it open for you. With a grin, you stood a little taller,

"No. It never is," You said in a fancy tone, "Now take me to my Palace, your highness," You said playfully,

"Jesus fucking Christ you are both awful," Max muttered, shaking her head,

"You wanna be called your highness too, Red?" Eddie asked with a smirk,

"I was promised a ride to the arcade," She said, "My mom gave me a 9 pm curfew, so..."

"Right- and we're losing daylight," Eddie clicked his fingers in understanding. He walked over to the back door, opening it and gesturing for her, "M'lady, your chariot awaits," He said dramatically, smiling at her. With another eye roll and a 'whatever' muttered under her breath, Max climbed into the back. You shut the door after her and climbed into the passenger seat, while Eddie moved around to the drivers side, and you drove off into town,

"Did you eat dinner yet, Red?" You asked, busy shuffling through the tapes you found in the car,

"Huh?" She asked, "Oh uh... Yeah," She said quietly,

"Is that a lie?" Eddie asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to see her face. You did the same, watching her blink, before quickly glancing out of the window,

"...No," She said in an unconvincingly way,

"Well I haven't," You chimed in, "But I'm not hungry right now," You said quickly, seeing Max glare at you through the mirror, "We should go buy pizza after we finish up at the arcade," You glanced over at Eddie,

"Hell yeah, we can stop by a Pizza hut and get those breadsticks you like," He grinned, giving you a knowing look,

"Nice- sound good to you Max?" You turned your head to look over your shoulder at her. A small, involuntary smile spread on her thin lips, though she quickly turned her head to try to hide it from you,

"Sure... Sounds good," She confirmed, glancing down at her feet and shuffling them slightly. With a satisfied smile, you looked back to the tapes you had left discarded in your lap, continuing to flip through and listening to the gentle clatter of plastic against plastic,

"Here," Eddie mumbled beside you, reaching over and opening the glove compartment. Thankfully, you were at a red stop light. Curiously, you watched his hand as he shuffled through the stuff thrown there carelessly. Your eyes focused on his rings, faintly glittering in the light from outside. You always had a fondness for them, loving the way they looked against his rough hands, and how cold they felt compared to the warmth of his skin. He finally pulled a tape out, and you glanced over the cover, "Put this one in," He said softly,

"'Kill 'Em All'," You read, sliding the tape out of the cover and looking it over, "Is this new?"

"Nope. I just lost it," He said, smiling once you set the tape in and placed the others back, "And then found it again when I was cleaning my van a few days ago. Hey, Max, you good with loud music?" He asked as 'Hit The Lights' started blaring loudly from the speakers,

"Yeah," She said softly. You expected another annoyed 'whatever' but the girl just kept silent, looking out of the window,

"Good- loud is good," Eddie smirked, giving you a glance and winking back teasingly,

"Hah- yeah," You grinned as the heavy guitar riffs came in and you turned the music back up. The ride into town wasn't too long, though by the time you arrived at the arcade, your hair was all messed up, considering you had rolled the windows down and spent the majority of the ride nodding your head to the music and laughing along with Eddie. Max was silent the whole time, only staring out of the window at the houses zooming past the van. Her hair covered her face so you couldn't see her expression, though it didn't appear she minded the loud music, or the way the car shook at your limited dancing, or your screaming along to the lyrics. You hopped out of the parked vehicle, glancing at the spinning 'Palace Arcade' sign, then flicking your gaze to the building. The lights were already lit, though the sun's light drowned them out so you couldn't appreciate the bright colours they'd usually cast across the parking lot. Outwardly, it was still the same as you remembered when you were there last year, and since you drove by it earlier today,

"Ready?" Eddie asked, coming to stand beside you, hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket and a small smile set on his lips as he watched you, "Also, is this our..." he trailed off, shuffling his boots against the gravel bellow, "Uh... How do..."

"Our...?" You looked at him expectantly. He opened his mouth, but the words fell short and he found himself unable to look at you. You narrowed your eyes, before realising, "Like our first date?" You asked, "As a couple?" He smiled at your words,

"Uh... Yeah," He nodded, "My first date with you," He said fondly, "I should have taken a camera," He huffed,

"We can always take a picture after," You nodded to the building, before walking forward so you could stand in front of him, "I'm looking forward to this date with you, Munson," You said, watching the grin forming on his face,

"I'll make it worth your while, babe," He said, walking forward to press a kiss to your forehead. You hummed pleasantly, before glancing back to his van,

"I love going out on dates and babysitting," You said playfully, "Speaking of-" You knocked on the back window, causing Max to jump, startled. She hadn't moved since you parked, appearing distracted. She gave you a confused look, before you pointed to the arcade behind you, "We're here!" You said, opening the door for her. She slid over, considering she was on the other side, and hopped out, looking at the building before her, "Hey, are you okay-"

"I'm fine," She said quickly, giving you a stern look. You held your hands up in surrender,

"Just making sure. We can always uh... Do something else," You offered,

"No, I just..." She sighed, glancing in the car as Eddie locked it, "I left my jacket in there," She told him,

"Oh, that's fine. It's warm now anyways and we'll come back," He gave her a reassuring smile, "You'll get your precious jacket back soon. Now come on! Let's play games," He said excitedly, eagerly walking over to you and grabbing your hand, pulling you towards the arcade.

Inside, it still looked the same, aside from a few new machines you were excited to try. You glanced over your shoulder to make sure Max was still following along, motioning for her to join you at an ATM to exchange the ten dollars you had brought along for quarters, one by one. Once you all had your money, you followed Eddie as he made a beeline to a machine,

"Pong?" Max asked as he slipped the change into the machine,

"Yeah! We used to play this all the time," Eddie said, glancing over at you with a wide grin, "You ever play?" He asked Max,

"Have I ever played Pong?" She asked with a slight smile, moving to stand next to him, "I heard you can't even play Tetris," You laughed as Eddie cast you a glare,

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm not losing to a child," He said, determination clear in his tone,

Eddie did, in fact, lose to Max. Badly. And when he started getting low on quarters and playfully frustrated, he insisted you tag in. She was good- really good. Normally, losing a few rounds would hurt your ego, but considering how much she was smiling and laughing now was worth the shame of losing to a freshman. She eventually pulled you away, bored of her near-constant victories to play air hockey,

"I'm with Max!" You said quickly, moving to stand next to her,

"Two against one? That's not fair!" Eddie whined,

"Fine- you play against her and I'll be the ref," You said, searching through your pockets for a dollar,

"And let her beat me again?" Eddie protested, "Hell no,"

"What is it, Munson? Are you afraid to lose to a child again?" You teased, leaning your hands on the side of the table,

"Yeah, Munson," You heard Max say besides you, handing you a dollar that you could put into the machine, "Looser buys us all candy?" She offered. He smirked, moving his hand out for her to shake,

"You're dead, Red," He grinned playfully, taking his spot at the end of the table and watching the rather intense game.

Eddie graciously bought you all a bunch of Nerds, Pop Rocks, Pixie Stix and Fun Dip. Max mentioned something about wanting to play Dig Dug and disappeared off down the aisles to find it, sneakily stealing the full bag of candy with her while Eddie distracted you with his annoyed mumblings of losing two games to a freshman,

"Aw man, my candy necklaces," You pouted when you noticed she was gone,

"C'mon- I wanna show you something," Eddie grinned, grabbing your hand and pulling you to another game,

"But what if she eats all of our candy?" You asked with a soft smile,

"First of all, I don't think it's humanly possible to eat that much candy at once without your teeth falling out," He said, casting you a glance,

"This is coming from the same Eddie Munson who won't eat his fruits and veggies?" You teased,

"Shut up," He rolled his eyes with a smirk, "Anyways," He glanced up at the name of one of the machines, before gesturing to it,

"Centipede?" You read the writing at the top, "This one's new, right?" You asked, not recognising it. Eddie nodded,

"Go ahead," He motioned for the machine,

"I don't know how to play it, Eds," You said, "Don't wanna waste my precious quarters on a game I'm not gonna be good at,"

"Then let me show you," He prompted,

"You and your history of being awful at games?" You asked playfully, digging through your pockets for some change,

"Babe," He whined, "Come on, please?" He smiled. With a sigh, you moved forward, placing your quarter in and straightening up. It surprised you a little as he moved up behind you, putting his hands over yours and resting his chin on your shoulder, "Here, like this," He said softly, considering he was so close to your ear,

"Okay," You started the game, eyes darting over the screen as he started it, "Woah- why does it split up like that? What?" You laughed softly as you shot at the bug. Eddie moved his hands over yours so his fingers pressed against yours on the buttons. You'd played games together multiple times- Eddie behind you with a gentle hold on to your hands, occasionally fighting for control over the buttons and laughing as you playfully yelled at him to get off because you were going to get a 'Game Over' and waste your money. All in good spirits of course. You revelled in the closeness of him in this sort-of hug. Now you were finally together as a couple, it felt different. The gentle kisses he'd press to your cheek and neck, or simply blowing cold air onto your skin, grinning as it caused you to shiver, were incredibly distracting, but you couldn't deny that it felt nice, and beautifully intimate,

"Damn, you've been making fun of how bad I am at Tetris when you can't even play Centipede," He smirked, pressing another kiss to your cheek before letting go of you, standing to the side, grinning proudly,

"If you weren't distracting me, Eddie, I might have won," You huffed, "Or at least get a high score," You huffed, glancing at the flashing 'Game Over' screen. You glanced down at the names next to the high scores, noticing 'Mad Max' filling some of the bottom slots- could that potentially be your red-headed companion, blissfully distracted by you and Eddie and eagerly tapping away at the buttons on Dig Dug? Glancing up higher, through the less familiar names, your eyes widened at the top two, "No-"

"Yes," Eddie grinned beside you,

"No," You repeated, jaw-dropping at the two names at the top, "You beat Henderson at this!?" Your eyes widened, glancing over at him smiling proudly,

"Kid's got a vendetta against me because I kicked his ass on here," He said, "I wanted to see how you would do," He said,

"You just distracted me the whole time, Eds! I had no chance!"

"Uh- I helped?" He said, "And now you can't make fun of me for being bad at games," He grinned, "Here, watch me, it's honestly really simple," He playfully pushed your arm so you'd step out the way,

"And here I thought your gaming talents ended at DnD," You teased, folding your arms and watching him straighten up, hair bouncing once he placed his own quarter into the machine,

"I'll let this one slide, but if you offend me one more time," He held up his finger in mock warning,

"You'll what?" You challenged, grinning, "Huh? Huh? What're you gonna do Munson?" You grinned, moving to stand very close to him. He only smiled down at you, soft eyes flicking over your face, and making you momentarily forget your playful conflict. He quickly broke the eye contact, glancing at the screen, then looking at you with a slight glare,

"I'll make you walk all the way home," He settled, smirking proudly and starting the game, quickly tapping the buttons,

"Oh, yeah?" You asked, looking over his shoulder at the screen. He clearly knew what he was doing, fully focused on the screen. Leaning closer to his ear, your grinned, "Make me," You hissed, quickly moving away and smirking at the way his eyes widened and he looked at you quickly. You were already walking away towards Max, though you glanced back and blew a playful kiss at him, "You better win that game now, babe!" You called back to him, watching him shake his head and grin, glancing back at the screen, "How's it going Max?" You asked, looking over her at the screen, "Holy shit- you're on round six!?" You said proudly,

"Yeah," She murmured, concentrating hard,

"How are you so good at Dig Dug?" You marvelled, staring at the screen and then glancing down at Max's hands as she expertly played the level,

"Got a lot of practice back in California," She mumbled, blue eyes darting around the screen in full concentration, "They have the same machine up there. And I spent a lot of time here when I first came to Hawkins," She said, a small smile appearing on her lips as the screen flashed brightly, indicating she passed the level,

"Nice, Max!" You grinned, lifting a hand up for her to high-five, "Max... MADMAX? You've had the top high scores on this game for years now," You smiled as her hand slapped against your own, "That's real talent kid," You complimented,

"It's a simple game," She shrugged, though the smile didn't leave her lips. She ended up scoring sixty-eight thousand points and you grinned, feeling like a kid at the sight of all the tickets pouring out of the machine, "Damn," she hissed, standing back as the screen displayed 'Game Over',

"What?" You asked with a small smile,

"I got third place," She said with a small frown, "I used to be way better," She glanced at the high scores that both displayed MADMAX,

"Are you hearing yourself?" Eddie spoke up, grinning. He had quietly joined you a few moments ago, holding a bunch of tickets he won at Centipede, "You got third place-" He leaned over to tap the screen, "-And first, and second. You're the entire podium!"

"Still. I should have done better," She said, glancing around at the other machines,

"Meh- I say you did great," Eddie grinned, reaching over and ruffling her hair, "C'mon!" He eagerly scooped up her tickets, swiftly moving to another machine, "Let me show you how it's done!" He said, stopping at the Pacman machine and shoving the tickets into your arms,

"Eddie's awful at Pacman," You whispered to Max, earning a small laugh from her that caused you both to lighten up as he started playing, "He always loses, but he likes the noises,"

"Babe, stop throwing me under the bus like this- Max, I'm great-" The telltale sound of Pacman dying came from the machine, "The fuck!?" He exclaimed, causing you to laugh as he smacked at the console,

"Eddie, don't break it!" You quickly grabbed at his arm, smirking, "My turn," You pushed him away with the tickets and focused on the game as the next round started, "See, what you're doing wrong is you're going after the power-ups first; you only go after 'em if the ghosts are chasing you," You muttered, "Max, get over here to watch the pro," You grinned, standing aside so she could watch you,

"Pro?" Eddie asked amused, "You got on the leaderboard once, babe. Humble yourself," You gasped at that,

"Excuse me, how many times have you been on the leaderboard, Munson?" You challenged,

"Well, on Centipede and Dragon's Lair-"

"I don't give a shit about those- I'm talking about Pacman," You smirked, "How many times have you beaten the first level of Pacman, Munson? Huh?" You teased, managing to kill one of the ghosts with the immunity buff,

"Damn- you can't even get over the first Pacman level, Eddie?" You heard Max ask from beside you,

"The game's hard!" He protested, though you could hear the smile in his voice. He stood behind you, an arm snaking around your waist and his head resting on your shoulder as he watched your movements,

"Get the cherries!!" Max chimed in, from the side. She sounded so happy- and when you completed the level, your small audience erupted into eager cheers, Eddie gripping your shoulders and shaking them slightly,

"Max- you do this level now. We'll take turns!" You said eagerly, ushering her to take your place and grinning as she started playing, "Eds, you can watch," You teased, turning to see him looking mock offended,

"Wh- Why!?" He whined,

"Uh- you cost us one of your lives," Max chimed in, "You're not touching this game again," She said playfully,

"Hear that Munson?" You smirked, glancing back at the screen to watch Max play,

"Well, I'm the one holding all of your tickets," He said, indicating to the large mass of tickets he held, "I can easily go cash these in for a bunch of sticky hands and worms on strings," He teased,

"You wouldn't have those if it wasn't for our skills!" Max grinned,

"She has a point, Eds," You grinned, "That'd be stealing," You said, to which he huffed and rolled his eyes,

"So no disappearing ink?" He pouted at you,

"Why are you so hung up on the disappearing ink?" You asked with a wide smile,

"Because it's cool!" He grinned, "And you can only see it with a black light!" He grinned. You made a face, sticking your tongue out,

"Yuk- I don't want to go near you with a black light-" You muttered,

"Shit!!" Max cursed as Pacman's death sound effect played from the machine. She hit it with her hand, wincing at the impact. With a small frown, you walked over to her as 'Game Over' flashed across the screen,

"Hey," You said, "It's fine! I'm kinda tired from all these games. Why don't we cash in our tickets and go... Eat pizza?" You suggested, glancing from Eddie to Max,

"Sure," She sighed, and you gently touched her shoulder walking to the prize counter and looking over all the things on display. From puzzles to gimmicky items stacking the shelves behind a clerk, and plushies hanging from the ceiling on strings, you let out a small sigh, eyes settling on a lava lamp momentarily, before rolling your eyes at the 'grand prize- 10,000 tickets!' scrawled underneath it,

"You ever get one of those?" You asked Max, pointing to the assortment of large teddy bears, dragons and various other stuffed toys,

"No... I doubt we'll be able to afford any of them," She shrugged, "Usually I could only afford the candy," She sighed,

"Me too. I did get a mug one time though. With Kermit the Frog on it," You smiled, "Spent a lot of time on solo pong though... Not too much fun playing it by yourself," You said, "I still have it. I drink hot cocoa out of it every winter," You smiled softly,

"You?" Max asked amused, "You like the muppets?" She smiled softly,

"What can I say? I have a soft spot for that funky little green guy," You grinned, clicking your fingers, "Too bad we can't afford any of the cool toys," You huffed,

"Whoever told you that?" Eddie grinned, appearing out of nowhere, "Let's get these counted," He gestured to the large ball of tickets. It seemed to have doubled in the few moments he was away from you, and when he placed them on the counter for the employee to count, you noticed two sticks of unopened tickets in his back pockets. How he managed to get those was a mystery to you. Catching you staring, he gave you a wink, "I'm gonna head to the bathroom. You guys pick out a good prize," He said playfully, walking behind the machines, away from the employee's view and pulling the two wads of tickets out, unfurling them to try make it look like they came from the machines,

"Where the hell did he get those?" Max hissed to you, eyes widened mouth agape as she looked from him to you,

"Eddie... Has his ways..." Was all you could say, stumped as to where he even found them, "I sort of figured it's best not to question things like this by now," You told her, glancing at the tickets. He promptly returned with another ball of unfurled tickets and a proud smirk on his face as the employee sent him a glare, considering they had to count more tickets. You heard him briefly mention he forgot them and attempted to distract the employee in hopes that'd get you more tickets. You moved to the side with Max, glancing at the prizes that were worth thousands, "Got your eye on anything, Red?" You asked, leaning your elbows on the glass counter, "Perhaps a Carebear?" You suggested,

"What about that?" She pointed,

"You're talking about the Popples?" You smiled, "I always loved those- my family could never afford them but I always thought they were so cute," You said,

"What even are they?" She smiled,

"Don't know, and I don't think I care. They just look cute for kids," You shrugged, "Which one d'you want?"

"What?" She asked, her smile faltering,

"What?" You mimicked, moving one of your arms so it was leaning on the counter, "I asked you to pick one," You nodded to the toys,

"Are... You sure?" She frowned, "They're your tickets..." She said, brows knitting together,

"You won more games than me," You winked, "C'mon Red, just-"

"But what about you?" She asked quickly,

"What about me?" You smiled, "C'mon, Red. This is for you- you deserve a reward for wrecking a super Senior and a college student at arcade games," You rolled your eyes. She was still looking at you with a confused look. You glanced back at the plushies, "Fine. Get a Care Bear instead," You prompted,

"But do you-"

"C'mon Red!" You groaned, "Look how sad Funshine Bear looks!" You pointed to the smiling yellow bear, "It's begging for you to take them home!" You grinned. She looked at you with wide eyes, still searching your face, as if she was looking for any hint of a lie, or... Some other emotions. She quickly looked back at the high-end prizes,

"We've got a good nine 'k' built up; that means thousand," Eddie grinned at you,

"Proud of you for learning that one, babe," You smirked, patting his chest gently, "You can get so much disappearing ink with that," You teased,

"Well now I'm not gonna get any," He pouted playfully,

"So what are you getting?" The tired employee said, glancing between the three of you. You looked at Max expectantly,

"Care bear; care bear," You quietly chanted at her confused face. She smiled slightly, rolling her eyes and looking back at the prizes,

"Can I get the... One of the Popples?" She asked softly, moving to place her hands on the counter, pointing out the one she wanted to the employee,

"You still have three thousand left," They said, placing the toy in front of Max and removing the price tag. It took you a while to choose through the various smaller prizes, trying to spend all your tickets so you had zero left. Your purchases included: three sticky hands for each of you; a few string worms for Eddie; matching space-themed keyrings for Eddie and you; disappearing ink; a bunch of temporary tattoos; and finally, more candy. You soon left, climbing into the van and speeding away. You grinned, throwing Pez pellets from a shitty dispenser at Eddie as he attempted to catch them in his mouth while he drove you to Pizza Hut.

Eddie brought up that you should probably share the pizza and then asked about the toppings you would both like. Max was mostly quiet, and you were fine with most things... That was until he jokingly brought up getting pineapple or banana. Even Max joined your fierce protests against them. You ended up getting half just cheese and half with toppings you mutually agreed on with Max, considering how iffy Eddie could be with certain ingredients,

"This'd be so good if it was Hawaiian," Eddie smirked at you over a mouthful of pizza,

"Eddie, you're very close to losing your speaking privileges," You grinned as he threw his head back and laughed, "Why are you so insistent on getting pineapple and banana on our pizza? You want to watch the world burn that bad?" You asked,

"You are correct, my dear," He smirked,

"That poor worker at the arcade wasn't enough for you?" You smiled at him,

"They counted wrong. And if they didn't want me to find their extra tickets, they should have hidden them better," He shrugged, "Besides, you know I'm only kidding about the fruits, right?"

"I knew you were joking," you gave him a sceptical look, before glancing over at Max, "He hates fruits," you let her know,

"Really?" You nodded with a small hum,

"Yeah, he does," You smiled, "I work at Sam's Smoothie Shack and I basically have to force him to drink the smoothies I make," You said, before glancing over at him, "Speaking of you hating fruits," You glared at him, "If we did get pineapple or banana, you wouldn't even eat it,"

"Nope," He smirked,

"So why would..." You trailed off, confused,

"Just to piss you off," He grinned,

"Eddie that'd be such a waste," You huffed, rolling your eyes as he laughed again,

"But it would be funny!" He said,

"Whatever," You smiled, looking over at Max, "Hey why aren't you eating?" You asked,

"Oh, I... I can have more?" She asked uncertainly. You looked at her, incredulously,

"Of course you can!" You smiled, "You think we can eat this whole thing just by ourselves?" You said, gesturing to the partially eaten pizza,

"Well..." Eddie said, before wincing your name as you kicked him under the table,

"Max, eat as much pizza as you want. We can even ask for a to-go box if you wanna take this home and reheat it later," You smiled at her, "It's no good cold, so get to eating," You reassured her, before your attention quickly snapped to Eddie, "You too- I don't want to hear any more about your weird pizza combos," You said, tapping Eddie's hand as he reached for another slice,

"Speaking of-" He smirked, "What if we put the pizza in a blender?" He smirked as you groaned his name in protest, "What? You expect me to drink mushy, blendy raspberries but not blended pizza?" He grinned, starting up yet another playful, bickering session between the three of you. At least Max was having a good time.

When you left, the sun had almost set, only a sliver of orange left, sitting far on the horizon The sky was primarily filled with a wonderful dark blue and speckled with bright stars. You remembered learning that most of them were likely suns at the centre of other galaxies, likely filled with their own solar systems, full of their own people or aliens... But most of them were likely dead, the visuals of them exploding into novas or supernovas taking light years to reach the earth and your gaze. But who cared if they were all dead? As long as you could see them, they were real, right?

You hummed along to the quiet music, the same Metallica tape playing quietly now as you stared out at the darkened houses and streets of Hawkins. The city was so much more peaceful at night, when the inhabitants were sleeping and the streets were relatively empty, safe for the occasional fox or cat that darted across the street. When you were younger, you thought the darkness was scary; some unseen monster hiding away in the shadows. Now, it just felt serene and calm- a small, anxious, part of you maybe still believed there were monsters lurking away somewhere, but with Eddie at your side... Actually, he probably wouldn't do a lot to scare them away. He'd likely run away. But he'd run away with you so... Technically, you were in safe hands?

"What's on your mind?" He asked softly, his hand coming to rest on your leg, gently moving over your knee. You sighed, shifting to lean back in your seat and stretching your arms above your head,

"Hawkins... How quiet it is," You said softly, glancing over at him to see him smile, "You,"

"Me?" He asked surprised

"You," You grinned softly at the feigned disbelief on his face, "I had fun on our first official date, Eds,"

"I'm glad," He smiled, gently squeezing your leg, patting it, then putting his hand back on the gear shift, "Mine or yours?" He asked,

"Mine- I gotta collect my laundry before someone steals my Pantera shirt," You sighed,

"Already so attached?" He asked, smiling softly as he put his leg back on your knee. You placed your hand over his, skimming your fingers over his rings,

"Mhm," You smiled,

"Aw," He cooed, smiling softly, "By the way, I asked Wayne if he could fix up your AC," He said,

"Wh- Eddie," You said with a small frown, "You... Didn't need to," You said,

"Mmmh, I kinda did," He said, giving you a look. As you looked away, getting ready to protest again, he said your name to try and get your attention back on him, "I've known you the better part of my life, and I know that you're just gonna leave it broken and complain about it never being fixed," He said softly, "I wanted to do something nice for you," He glanced over at you. You couldn't stop the small smile that found its way onto your lips,

"Remind me to pay Wayne back for his kindness," You sighed, leaning back in your seat,

"I won't," He said with a small smile, "Besides, if you want me hanging around you all summer, you better have that thing fixed because earlier today?" He huffed, "I thought I was gonna die!" He said dramatically,

"Uhuh. Yeah," You smiled at him. With a sigh, you cast a glance in the rearview mirror, catching sight of Max in the reflection, "You good, Red?" You asked softly, turning your head to look at the girl in the back. She was staring out of the window blankly, eyes shutting slowly with the gentle lulling of the van. You smiled to yourself, "Max," You prompted, making her sit up and look at you,

"Yeah?" She hummed tiredly,

"Are you alright?" You asked again,

"Uhuh... Yeah," She nodded, fiddling with a hairband around her wrist. Her jacket was draped over her legs, as if it was a blanket,

"Beating us at arcade games tired you out this much, huh?" She smiled at your words,

"Maybe," She mumbled, leaning her head back against the seat and turning her head back to the window. You shifted back so you were sitting straight in your seat with a small smile, glancing at Eddie. He was already looking at you with an affectionate smile, but averted his gaze back to the road when you caught him staring.

The rest of the drive was quiet; the usual loud music turned down so you could only faintly hear it. It was peaceful: you humming along to the melodies; Eddie's fingers tapping along to the beat; the road stretching out into the darkness before you. All too quickly, he was pulling up in front of the Munson trailer at Forest Hills, and the sound of the three doors opening echoed into the quiet,

"You good going home by yourself, Max?" Eddie asked, walking around to stand next to you,

"Yeah- make sure you don't forget your jacket or your prize," You smiled, leaning your back against the van and glancing at Max as she walked in front of you,

"Right," She looked over them, before looking up at you, "Can you hold this? I want to put my jacket on," Eddie quickly moved forward, taking the plush from her as she thanked him. He looked over the Popple's face, handing it back to her,

"Cute," He commented, setting his hands in his jean pockets,

"Are you sure you don't want it?" She asked, holding the creature in her hands and looking it over with a small frown, "I mean, isn't this like a couple thing to do? Win prizes at arcades for each other?" She glanced between you,

"Mmh- but you can also get them for friends," Eddie said. You felt him tapping your shoulder, and when you looked at him, he was holding a lit cigarette out for you to take, "It's yours to keep, kid," He smiled in reassurance,

"Oh!" She looked over the stuffed animal again, blinking and with a look of bewilderment on her face, "Uhm... Thanks, Eddie," She nodded her head to him, then thanked you quietly, "Tonight was... Was good," She said,

"No problem- I'm glad you had a good evening," You said, taking hold of Eddie's hand once he locked the van, "Ready to go home now?" You asked, nodding towards the two trailers,

"Sure," She said quietly, still staring at the toy, transfixed. She followed after you silently. The night was pleasant, a soft breeze blowing through your hair and sending a chill across your skin. At your shivering, Eddie took the cigarette from your lips and held out his jacket,

"You'll be cold," You said with a frown,

"You'll be warm," He said with a smile, causing you to roll your eyes and take the jacket from him. It was warm from his body heat, and the smell of cheap cologne and weed filled your senses- the comforting smells of home, "See? You look better in my clothes anyway," He said, moving an arm around your shoulders with a smile,

"How cute, Eds," You said, taking the cigarette back from him and placing it between your lips to take a drag. You finally made it to your trailer, picking up the laundry basket you had left behind and quickly taking down the shirts, folding them as you stacked them in the basket. Glancing over you saw Eddie sitting on the top step of your trailers porch, quietly talking with Max as he smoked your cigarette,

"You got a name for the little guy?" He asked, nodding to the plushie in her hands,

"A name?" She asked quietly,

"You never named your stuffed animals as a kid?" He asked, raising his brows,

"No..." She said,

"Well, I think he deserves a name," He pointed to it, "How about... Frederik... Frederik the First," He smiled, "He strikes me as a... Thing with an 'F' name," He said,

"Why the first?" She asked,

"First one to get a name from you. And it rhymes," He explained,

"It's alliteration..." She said quietly,

"That's the one with the letters being the same?" He asked, taking a drag as she nodded, "'F' and 'F'. Huh... Well, if you don't like Frederik the First, give him a different one... Or her!" He smiled, moving his arms out. She regarded the toy for a moment, thinking,

"Francis the... Fast," She said, glancing up at him for approval,

"Cause he's fast?" He smiled,

"Well yeah... She kinda looks like a rabbit I had back home in California," She said, moving a hand to touch the soft fur on the Popple's face, "She wasn't called Francis, she was called Hoppy,"

"That's cute," Eddie said, nodding, "Predictable for a rabbit but what can you say?" He shrugged, "Did she like hopping?"

"Mhm," She hummed softly, smiling at the fond memory, "Yeah she... She was great... And then she ran away," She frowned softly, "My stepbrother... He forgot to close her cage... I cried for weeks hoping she would come back," She said with a small frown, "But she never did..."

"Well," He sighed, "Things like that happen," Eddie nodded, "I had a puppy that ran away," He sighed sadly,

"Really?" She asked,

"Mhm. My dad got super drunk and left the door open. I was, like, eight?" He put a hand on his chest, "My first heartbreak," He said dramatically, leaning backwards on his arm, "Sometimes I still think I can hear Lucky barking for me to let him back in," He sniffled as you approached, setting the basket by your front door with a small laugh,

"Eddie, you better not let anything that's whining under your window inside," You smiled, taking a seat next to him. Eddie moved an arm around your waist, drawing you closer to him, "Last time you freaked out over a possum," You reminded him,

"I'm smart- I won't let a possum back inside, babe," He shifted his head to kiss your cheek reassuringly before his gaze travelled back to Max. She had gone quiet, still staring at the toy in her hands, "Are you sure you're okay, Max?" Eddie asked, the worry clear in his tone as he watched the girl standing before you. She glanced up, and from the faint light, you could see faint tear tracks were staining her face. She quickly whipped it dry, a look of anger crossing her face, before it quickly faded. She opted to look away from you both instead. You let the tense silence hang in the air, glancing at Eddie and meeting his concerned gaze as you both figure out what was best to say to her. Slowly, she moved to sit down on the bottom step,

"Metalica... The Four Horsemen... Billy liked those songs," She mumbled, more to herself. She drew the toy close to her chest, hugging it,

"Billy "The Asshole" Hargreeves listened to Metalica?" Eddie muttered in disbelief; you shoved his shoulder slightly at the comment, "What!? Is it so hard to believe that waste of space gave them the time of day?" Eddie said with a frown,

"Eds, he was her brother," You hissed, glancing at Max, "Sorry h-"

"No, it's fine. Billy was... An asshole," She sighed, rubbing her clothed arms with a small frown, "The music just reminded me of him... And the way that things used to be when he was still around," She said softly. You remained silent, letting her talk. Somewhere deep down, you felt she needed this- to talk to someone, "They weren't great... I mean, he drove me to the arcade, but he never went inside like you did. Sometimes he got out of the car to talk to a girl. He never went inside to play games with me..." You heard a small sniffle, "He never won me prizes, or let me keep them... We were never close, but I still cared for him... And maybe that was my fault,"

"Your fault?" Eddie asked softly. She shook her head,

"That... We weren't close," She sighed. Did she want to say something else? "He was my step brother. He barely tolerated me in California. He hated that we were related. I thought if we moved to Hawkins things would be okay... But then they weren't," You frowned softly, brows drawing together, confused,

"H-" Eddie started, but you quickly tapped his chest with your free hand, drawing his attention,

"Shh," You hissed quietly. In the dim, moonlight, you might have seen the twinkle of fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, had she not moved her head to look downwards and pick at the fraying material of her shorts,

"Today was one of the best days I've had in a while," She admitted, and though you couldn't see her face, you could tell she had a slight smile on her lips from how her tone shifted, "And all you guys did was play games and ate food with me," She said quietly,

"Well, sometimes that's all you need," Eddie smiled, leaning forward to ruffle her hair, "Eat food and play games with your friends. You let us know anytime when you want to go back down there and kick ass at Dig Dug again. Or Pacman," He glanced over at you,

"Mhm," You confirmed, "We're always here for you, Max," You said, reaching a hand over to place it on her shoulder, "Us... 'Trailer Trash' gotta stick together, right?" You gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back with a small nod, whipping her face again,

"Sure..." She stood slowly, looking at the plush in her hands, shaking slightly,

"You have a goodnight," Eddie wished,

"You guys too," She said, waving a hand. You watched as she walked the short distance to her own trailer, waving once again as she noticed you watching her, before unlocking the door and disappearing inside,

"I hope she's doing okay," You mumbled softly, letting out a sigh and rubbing a hand over your face,

"She's okay for now," Eddie murmured beside you. You felt a gentle kiss being pressed to the side of your head, "We did what we could... Come on- it's getting cold, even for me now," He said, moving his hand to rub your arm. With a grimace, you stood and grabbed the laundry basket, while he stubbed his cigarette out,

"I just wish we could do more for her... Do you think it's too much if I bring over lunch tomorrow? Or breakfast?" You frowned, glancing over as he stood up, throwing the butt of his stubbed cigarette into the darkness,

"How about you just invite her if you run into her?" He suggested. Glancing up at him, you saw him offering a hand out for you to take, "We let her know today she has us if she needs us. And she has her mom to take care of her," Gently sliding your soft hand into his rougher one, you let him pull you towards your front door got your keys out,

"Yeah, but if she's anything like mine was..." You trailed off with a long sigh, "But you're right. At least we made sure today was a good day for her," You smiled softly to yourself as you entered your home. A soft sigh left your lips at the coolness inside- you'd have to bake Wayne cookies or something as a thank you present, "We can go to the arcade some other time again," You said, "Since she said she liked it,"

"We'll go whenever you want, babe," he said from behind you, entering after you and locking the door behind him, "Where's that camera of yours?" He asked, walking around,

"It's up on that shelf-" You pointed it out for him, "I brought it all the way back down to Hawkins with me. It should still have some film. You want a beer?" You asked as you headed for the kitchen, sliding the jacket off of your shoulders and setting it on the back of one of the dining chairs,

"Nah- not really," He said, approaching you with the camera and turning on the kitchen light,

"Oh?" You murmured surprised, turning and leaning your arms back against the kitchen counter, watching him curiously,

"Not thirsty," He said with a wink. There it was again. You grinned, moving so you were standing next to him, illuminated by the overhead kitchen light. He held the camera up, snapping a picture of the two of you together, smiling into the lens. As it instantly printed, he grabbed it, shaking it and setting it off to the side to develop "Kiss me on the cheek?"

"Why?" You asked with a smile

"For the picture," He smiled holding the camera up again as you placed a hand on his shoulder to get closer,

"Is one for me and one for you?" You asked in an amused tone, standing on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek,

"Mhm," He hummed, snapping another picture and shaking that one out too, "We'll have these ready by tomorrow," He said, setting the camera down next to them and looking at you,

"That's good. I'll look at them before work," You smiled,

"Work," He sighed, moving closer to you and setting a hand behind you on the counter to prop himself up as he leaned down to kiss your cheek, "Do you have to go?" He asked with a small pout,

"Unfortunately," You smiled at him, "You can always come and visit me though- you're my most valued customer, Eds. Even though you never buy anything," You said playfully, setting a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezing it,

"Right," He said with a frown, hanging his head so his hair bounced. You reached a hand up to gently play with the ends of his loose curls, "God... I..." He groaned softly, moving and beginning to pace slowly across your kitchen,

"What's up, Eds?" You asked, folding your arms and shifting to lean back against the counter, watching him,

"I don't know," He said, his hands moving to rub over his face and eyes, "I guess just... I've been thinking about... Things a lot," He said with a frown, "Mostly you being so far away from me in Franklin... I mean... We're the same age and I'm still in... Fucking high school..." He muttered to himself angrily,

"Hey, Eddie," You said softly, gently putting a hand on his wrist, "You know that's not-"

"But that's the thing- it is my fault," He said quickly, exasperated, "I mean, I'd love to graduate and leave with you, but I just fucking can't get through this year," He huffed, "The first time I failed it... I never cared about... Education or whatever and then... It was all so serious in Senior year... With graduation and with college," He sighed,

"Yeah, that... Was stressful," You frowned softly, remembering back to two years ago. How stressed you had been the whole time about passing all your classes, actually getting into Franklin college, and applying for financial aid. Since he failed, you graciously delayed your plans of leaving for a year- not fully ready to accept being so far from Eddie for such a long time, and not trusting yourself to survive that long without him... But when he flunked the next year too, you knew you couldn't wait for him any longer... You had to live your life and... Do something. And although your separation was heartbreaking, you vowed to come back the following summer. And here you were, and here he was in your kitchen... "But we got through it right, Munson?" You tried assuring him, "Here, come on, it's been a long day we can talk about this tomorrow," You said softly, moving through the kitchen to walk to your bedroom,

"I didn't want to graduate that first year," He suddenly admitted. You froze, glancing at him,

"What?" You asked in surprise,

"The first time. I guess I failed on purpose- missed O'Donnell's final because I knew there was no way in hell I'd pass it so I just... Didn't show up," He sighed, shoulders sagging. He crossed your room, sitting heavily in your desk chair, "I never told you because of how embarrassing it was, and you were already mad at me-"

"No, I was never mad-"

"You were pissed off, babe," He said quickly, pointing at you, "I could see it... Sence it... You fucking... You could have left me that first year- You should have-"

"Wait, Eddie, hold on, cause yesterday you were pissed that I left without you," You frowned,

"Yeah, and at myself that I didn't just go with you," He sighed, "All because I was afraid about moving on with my life... Seeing Wayne so disappointed I failed wasn't the same as seeing you," He frowned, sitting heavily in your desk chair, "You were walking around so sad everywhere... Because of me," He said,

"No, Eds, it wasn't because of you," You said quickly,

"Don't bullshit me," He said in a sharper tone than intended, wincing himself, "Shit, sorry," He muttered. With a frown, you walked over to him, kneeling on the ground before him and reaching out a hand to place on top of his,

"Eddie," you said softly, "I know how hard school is for you. Even now. But I never looked down on you for failing. I never felt angry staying here. Annoyed maybe, but never angry at you," You said softly, squeezing his fingers and feeling the cool metal of his rings pressing against your skin, "I just... Wish you could leave with me already," You sighed, "See how much better the world is outside of Hawkins..."

"Yeah, and I'm trying," He said in an exasperated way, "You have to believe me I'm-"

"Good," You said quickly, cutting off anything else he might have wanted to say, "Because I miss you a lot," You moved his hand and pressed a kiss to the backs of his fingers gently, as he had done to your before, "And I can't wait to have you annoy me every day of my life again," You smiled softly, standing and moving to your nightstand so you could set your alarm clock to four am.

Eddie went quiet at your statement, seemingly moved by your tender gesture. He was leaned back in your swivelling chair, moving side to side slightly with his hands clasped together and a faraway look in his eyes. He was playing with his rings, having slid the metal pig's head a little further up his skin so it was loose, twisting it around his digit. His legs were spread apart widely; he had removed his shoes at your front door. There was a deep frown set on his face, corners of his plump lips downturned, and his brown eyes missing their usual Munson spark,

"Okay..." You sighed, sitting on your bed far enough so you could lean your head back against the wall and letting the heavy silence surround you momentarily. You glanced over at him, thinking for a moment, before smiling to yourself, "You... Remember when we were younger? And we'd make all these plans about our futures?"

"Yeah, but we... We were kids, man," He frowned, running a hand over his face, "Kids don't think about money and bills and... College and graduation," He rambled,

"Plans are plans, Eddie," You said softly, giving him a small smile, "Besides... It was always our future. Never my future, or your future. Ours. We always wanted to be together, no matter what came our way," You reminded him,

"And you still want that...?" He asked, the uncertainty clear in his voice. It always broke you how hard Eddie was on himself, how disbelieving he was that you wanted him to stick around. If only he knew just how much he meant to you,

"Are you kidding me?" You smiled at him, "Of course I do... Come here," You said, even moving a hand to pat your leg, the same as he had done to you earlier today. That made him smile, along with your reassurance. With a sigh, he stood up and walked over to you,

"You mean it?" He asked sheepishly, placing a knee on your bed before sitting down, half on, half off,

"Yes, Eddie," You said, reaching a hand out and grasping his tightly, "God, what I would give to just... Leave with you right now. Get you out of Hawkins for good," You smiled at him warmly, "Drive out somewhere, find a cute little place-"

"Why don't we?" He asked hopefully, "Like- like right now?" He offered, his smile returning to his lips as he looked at you eagerly. Truthfully, there was nothing you wanted to do more right now... Though realistically, it was near impossible,

"Well, I can't exactly have long-term guests staying in my dorm room..." You sighed,

"But you came back here to make money for next year, right?" He asked; you nodded your head, "So you can move out?" You nodded again,

"But the thing is with my rent here, I'll have t-"

"Move in here with me," He blurted out, and your hand relaxed in his, eyes blinking in disbelief,

"What...?" You whispered. It felt like every emotion flooded your brain and your veins at once, circling through your body and making your heart race and your stomach drop,

"Just- Wayne'll understand, he loves you!" He said excitedly, grabbing both of your hands in his, and shifting closer to you on the bed, "That way you won't be paying rent here; you'll be keeping all your money, staying with me, which is a great bonus, personally speaking," He rambled with a bright smile, making you let out a small, surprised laugh, "And you just gotta focus on work-"

"Eddie, you realise I would never-" He frowned at your words, "-stay free of charge right?" You finished quickly, his expression relaxing, "If your uncle even let me stay, I'd at least help him out with the rent and paying for utilities- I could also get a second job and-"

"But you're not... Saying no?" He asked, "If I talked to my uncle and he said yes, you'd move in with us?" He asked hopefully, eyes full of longing and hope. You smiled softly. His eagerness had caused him to shift closer so he was mere inches from your face,

"I'm not saying anything until you talk to your uncle about this," You said, a smile spreading across your lips, "I know how impulsive you can be, Eds. I don't want to finalise anything just yet," You stated, "But... I'm not going to decline or pass up on an offer like that," You barely even finished your sentence and he was already grinning wide and wrapping his arms around your middle. He laughed in delight, leaning on you so you were forced to lay back on your bed with him on top of you, nuzzling his face into your neck eagerly,

"You mean I'll get to wake up to you every morning for the rest of my life?" The proposition didn't sound too bad. You couldn't deny that the times Eddie had stayed overnight at your trailer had always left you feeling happier and significantly more well-rested. Though you were not a morning person, waking up to the sight of him in your kitchen, humming along to himself between drags of a cigarette in just his checkered pyjama pants while he made coffee was an image you had burned into your mind, and made you want to leave the warmth of your bed. The memories of waking up in the middle of the night, tangled in one another arms on the couch with the TV static glittering against your face, forcing you to press your face further into his neck and feeling his lips ghost over your forehead were your personal favourites. Going to sleepovers and leaving wearing his clothes because you purposefully forgot to bring something to sleep in, and were too drunk or stoned to walk across the park to your home, eventually forming a collection of black band shirts that you'd find yourself wearing when your heart ached for him in the middle of the night, crying against the cotton that so faintly clung to his smell... You wouldn't need them anymore... You'd wake up to him every day...

"Only if-" You started, though quickly stopped due to his groan of disagreement,

"Indulge me, babe," He muttered into your neck, lips ghosting over your skin causing you to shudder, sighing as his warm breath fanned against your flesh. Lifting a hand up to stroke through his hair, you smiled softly, shutting your eyes and letting your mind run, "What would our lives look like if we lived together?" He asked you,

"We'd wake up like this," You started, feeling his lips moving into a grin at your words, "You'd wake up first. You always do, Eds..." Your brow furrowed and you opened your eyes, "Wait... Does that mean every time I'd fall asleep on you-"

"I never wanted to wake you up," He mumbled. His voice was delightfully low next to your ear, "You always hated getting woken up by anyone... It's a good thing you're so cute. I'd be pissed off if anyone else used me as a personal pillow," You laughed softly at that,

"I... Wow..." You hummed. You couldn't even count the number of times you had unintentionally fallen asleep on him- on his couch, in the movie theatre, in the forest when you got too drunk or high... And he always...

"Mhm- it's wild how long it took you to realise I was in love with you," He sighed again, "Continue, please. I was enjoying myself," He said, "We wake up..." He started for you again,

"You worm your way out of my arms eventually," You smile softly, "You go to the kitchen to make us coffee. It takes me a while to realise you're not there... I get up-"

"Oh, be realistic, sweetheart," He chastises, causing you to laugh,

"I thought it was our fantasy?" You smiled,

"Yeah, but come on," He laughed, "Don't be unrealistic," He said playfully,

"Fine. I lay in bed until you bring me coffee... We get to drink it together... I'm probably wearing one of your shirts- the AC/DC one's my favourite-"

"Oh yeah, do you have it by the way?" He asked, "I've been looking for it everywhere,"

"Uh... Yeah," You admitted, embarrassed, "I took it with me... To remember you by," He smiled again, and he pressed another kiss to your skin,

"Damn, babe, am I really that forgettable?" He says playfully,

"Of course you're not, Eddie!" You say quickly, "I just... It gets lonely out there without you, you know?" You said with a small sigh,

"You can keep it," He grinned, "The shirt. It looks better on you anyway. Keep going," He murmured again,

"Right... So... We drink our coffee in bed... I'll probably tell you about some wild dream I had- or you will. And we'll laugh about that," You smiled, letting your eyes open slightly to watch your fingers as they gently separated the strands of messy curls, "And then... We'll smoke something?"

"It's your day off work?" He hums,

"Mhm. No work that day," You smile, "Maybe it's a weekend? We'll either go outside and enjoy how cold it still is, or just open the window and lay back in bed," You mutter as you watch your hands delicately working through his hair, avoiding pulling on the knots, "Maybe you have your guitar and you're playing something for me?" You smile, "I'm laying in bed... Or on your lap,"

"What song?" He whispers,

"I don't know," You match his quiet tone,

"Oh c'mon, babe," He says normally, kissing your neck again, "What song do you want me to play?"

"I can pick any song?" You smile,

"Anything in the entire world," He murmurs, "For you, I'd learn any song,"

"Romantic," You mumbled, humming, "Could you play me 'Rip Her to Shreds'?" You grinned,

"Blondie? Really?" He asked amused as he sat up to look at you, placing his chin on your chest,

"Hey! You said any song," You smirked, moving your hand to play with the hair framing his face, "Maybe you could throw in 'A Shark in Jets clothing'?" You asked,

"What is it with you and Debbie Harry?" He grinned,

"Have you seen- Have you heard Debbie Harry? She's amazing!" You grinned,

"Mhm," He hummed half-heartedly, before moving his head to the side so he could lay on your chest, "I'll play you the Shark one- I always liked that one better,"

"You listened to Blondie for me?" You smiled affectionately,

"You left the tape at mine," He said, "Though I can't say I'm tempted to steal your Debbie poster," He grinned, sitting up and looking across your room at it,

"I used to lay awake at night and just stare at her," You sighed playfully, eyes scanning over it, "She's just so beautiful," You breathed,

"I'm getting jealous over here, baby," He said playfully, causing you to laugh "Why didn't you take her to Franklin with you?" He asked curiously,

"I guess I just forgot..." You sighed, "And she looks better up here," You smiled to yourself,

"Or... You secretly came back for her, and not me," He said playfully,

"Bingo, Munson," You said playfully. You let your eyes fall shut tiredly as he moved off of you, laying next to you. His arms remained wrapped around you, but he pulled your body closer to his chest, "Today was a good day," You murmured,

"It was?" He asked,

"Mhm," You hummed, opening an eye to look at him, "Because of you," You gently touched the tip of your finger to his nose, grinning as he wrinkled his nose,

"Cause of me?" He asked softly,

"Mhm," He smiled at that, "You always make my days better, Eds..." You said softly, setting a hand on your cheek and leaning forward to gently kiss him, "I love that we can kiss now," You grinned, quickly kissing him again,

"Mhm," He hummed against your lips, "You have no clue how long I've wanted to do that," He sighed, leaning his head back on your pillows and shutting his eyes,

"How long, Eds?" You smiled,

"Mmmh," He hummed, opening his eyes and looking up, thinking, "So... You remember in junior year-"

"Here we go," You rolled your eyes,

"Let me speak, babe," He smiled,

"Oh, sorry, do go on," You smiled, reaching out and beginning to play with his hair again,

"Mh... In junior year, we skipped Phys Ed together to smoke behind the gym. It was your first time, and you started coughing like crazy," He smiled,

"Ugh- I still remember how bad it burned my throat," You commented,

"Uhuh- and look how far you've come," He grinned, "Anyways- we both went back inside to change. You got dressed first, as usual. Some Seniors had apparently seen me stealing their cigarettes and decided to beat the shit out of me for it," You winced softly at the memory. It was outside- he was already changed into his Hellfire shirt and ripped black jeans, but by the time you got there, the white fabric was speckled with his blood,

"Shit, I remember," You frowned, the images of him being punched, then thrown to the ground, body curled and arms raised to try and protect his face as he got kicked flashing through your head,

"Yeah..." He muttered, absentmindedly reaching a hand up to touch a small, faint white scar stretching from the bottom of his lip down to his chin, left as a reminder of the incident, "Thought they'd kill me until you came and saved me," He glanced over at you. He poked at your downturned lips with his finger gently, but you quickly grabbed his hand, interlocking your fingers,

"I don't like that memory," You frowned at him. His face bloomed into a soft smile, and he moved your hand to press a delicate kiss to your fingers,

"Well I do," He said softly, "Because when they saw you, they ran. And then... God, they probably kicked me in the head too hard because I thought you were my guardian angel," He closed his eyes, setting your joint hands on his chest, "You were so worried for me," He smiled, teasingly,

"Because I thought they were going to kill you," You said sternly, watching him unamused. He kissed your hand again, just to watch your expression soften slightly at the gesture,

"You picked me up off the floor and skipped sixth period just to take care of me," He said softly, glancing up again in remembrance, "You had this look on your face... Your eyes were shining so much, I thought you were going to cry for me. You babied me a lot- you said I could have a concussion and I should go to the nurse," He smiled,

"That's not a happy memory, Eddie," You said softly, moving your face closer to him,

"No... It's not," He agreed softly, "But do you know why I realised I was in love with you then?" He asked softly,

"...No," You admitted softly,

"Would you like to?" He asked with a smile, the curve of his lips widening as you nodded, "I realised that someone, someone in all of Hawkins, cared about me," He said with a gentle sigh,

"You have Wayne-" You tried to say quickly,

"I know," He said quickly, "But family caring about you is different to friends- or lovers," He spoke softly. He let go of your hand, and moved it to slide against your cheek, "See, you could have left me there. Pretended you never saw, pretended to be confused or worried about my black eye and split lip next period... But you went out of your way to make sure I was okay- I think I remember you mumbling something about covering my hospital bill if I actually had a concussion," He smirked as you looked away with a blush,

"Of course, I care about you, Eddie," You said softly, frowning,

"Yeah... I know now... And I realised then that you really did that day," He said softly, "And I also realised," He said softly, sliding his hand down to your chin and tilting your head with his fingers so your eyes locked, "That I was in love with you," He murmured before his lips touched yours, sealing his words.

The kiss was slow, and gentle, years of yearning and affection pouring into one another. It was beautiful, not sad or interrupted like the first one you shared yesterday, and you could feel warmth flowing from your chest across your whole body. It really felt like you would be floating away, if he wasn't holding you down, pressing you closer against him, one hand running up and down your arm whilst his other kept a gentle hold on your face. Your own hands roamed from his neck down to his chest, feeling his heart beating against your gentle fingertips. You smirked against his lips as you traced a heart with your fingers, sighing as you felt him pressing his tongue against your lips in a silent ask for permission.

Though you didn't go further tonight, you went to sleep knowing you were with someone you loved and trusted completely, and that he'd still be there by the time you regained consciousness made you feel safe, above all else. And knowing he wanted some sort of future where you were there for him, and he'd be there for you made you feel elated. You knew it was rare to find someone you could happily call your 'soulmate' in this world- but Eddie was your person. Your soulmate. Yours...

#eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie my beloved #eddie x reader #stranger things season four #stranger things season 4 #stranger things #stranger things 4 spoilers #stranger things spoilers #st4 #stranger things 4 #joe quinn #joesph quinn

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lessthanpure · 6 months

Text

Making the Best of it Chapter 5

Fandom: Baseball RPF

Pairing: Pete Alonso/OFC

Others: Jeff McNeil

Summary: A bad day. Then a better one. Then someone else has a bad day.

Word count: 3412

Notes: So this is a little different than the other chapters. A new character gets a chance to shine! Let me know what you think.

AO3 Link

Sloane has an awful day at work. Someone texts and she sighs before she reads it. Pete. 'Do you want to come over tonight?'

'I had a shitty day. Might not be good company.'

'Do you want to talk about it?'

Sloane debates. 'Sure. I could vent.'

'We can talk on the phone or you could come over. Your choice.'

'I'll come over.'

Sloane gets ready and goes.

Pete lets her in, concern on his face. He stands aside to let her in. He sits on the couch. "So. 'Bad day' as in ‘one thing sucked really bad and it ruined the day' or 'bad day' as in 'everything sucks’,'" he asks.

"Ugh. Everything sucks."

"Do you want me to just listen or provide commentary on everyone that sucks?"

Sloane laughs. "Commentary would be appreciated."

"Go for it."

She flops onto the couch next to him and puts her feet in his lap. He puts his hand gently on her ankles and waits. "God, just fucking," she starts. "There's this asshole at work. Devon. Thinks he knows best just because he's an Alpha."

"I hate those types."

"So do I. And he's been there for two years less than I have. I outrank him and he still tries to tell me how to do my job."

"Ugh," Pete remarks.

"And my boss does next to nothing about it. He does say that I know how to do my job so kudos to him, but he isn't in every meeting. And when he isn't there, Devon tries to take over every conversation, even about things he doesn't even work on! He has no idea what he's talking about over half the time but he acts like every word out of his mouth is gospel or something."

Pete nods, commiserating. "Sounds like a grade A asshole."

"He really is. And then he had the audacity to bring up that I wasn't at work for two months!"

"Wait, when you were healing," Pete asks.

"Yep. And obviously I didn't tell him any of my business, but he whined on and on about how I shouldn't have gotten that much time off. I did every bit of the work I missed and he still complained." She growls. "And then he had the balls to ask if it was 'that time of the month' for me."

"He does know that's super inappropriate, right," Pete raises an eyebrow.

"Obviously not. But I have a couple of guy friends who are in his department, he apparently will brag about how many Omegas he's had sex with in their Heats. According to him, he's God's gift to Omegas." Pete snorts. "I know, right?!"

Pete looks at her. "Sounds like it was a really rough day."

"That's not even the worst of it," Sloane admits in a sigh. "I have this asshole ex that cheated on me. He messaged me on Instagram, saying he wanted to 'catch up' and 'reminisce.' I blocked him, of course. Thought I did it ages ago but I guess I didn't."

"Wow. Today really sucked for you, then." Pete doesn't sound jealous, which pleases Sloane. She hates when guys get uppity if their partners even mention their exes.

"Yeah," she huffs. She sits against the arm of the couch.

"This may not be the best time to bring this up," Pete says, and she looks at him. "But do you want to go steady?"

"You mean be boyfriend and girlfriend and exclusive," Sloane asks. Pete nods. "Yes."

"Good," Pete smiles. There's a huge crack of thunder and they look out the window.

"Aw, crap," Sloane whines when she sees the downpour. "That's gonna suck to go home in."

"Did you drive?"

"LIRR. But I still have to brave the rain to get on the subway." Sloane’s phone makes a noise and she gets it out of her pocket. She checks it. "Fuck!"

"What?"

Sloane sighs and drops her phone, covering her face. "My LIRR line is down. Limb fell on the tracks."

"Stay here tonight," Pete offers. "I'm sure it'll be cleared in the morning."

"That's sweet of you, Pete. But I don't have any clothes."

"You can sleep in some of mine. Wear today's clothes when you leave."

"You just want me in your clothes," she teases.

"That's only part of it," he smiles. "You can stay if you want."

Sloane smiles and nods. "I do. Thanks."

They watch TV for a bit and then go to bed. Pete hands her some shorts and a shirsey. She changes into them. She gets in bed after she brushes her teeth with a spare toothbrush. Pete brushes his teeth, too, then comes into his room. He rumbles at her back, and she looks over her shoulder at him. "Don't think I didn't see the name, sir," she teases.

Pete chuckles and gets in. He noses the back of her neck and she relaxes with a sigh. “Sleep well,” he says.

“You too.”

They go to sleep.

Sloane wakes up to Pete’s alarm. He silences it. “Shit, sorry. Didn’t realize I didn’t cancel it,” he says.

“No worries,” Sloane sits up, stretching. “I have to get up anyway.” She checks her phone- her LIRR line is clear.

She gets ready, dropping Pete’s clothes in his laundry. Pete smiles and kisses her. He tastes like toothpaste, which makes her giggle. She brushes her own teeth and he watches her, eyes soft. She steals another kiss when she’s done. There’s a strong knocking on the front door. Pete frowns and gestures for her to wait there.

Pete goes to the door, confused. “Who is it,” he calls through it.

“Jeff.”

Pete opens it, seeing his best friend. “Hey.”

“Sorry man, this was closer,” Jeff slides past him. “I really gotta take a piss.” Jeff heads straight for the guest bathroom.

Pete rolls his eyes and closes the front door. He goes back to Sloane, who is getting the last of her things together. “Talk to you later,” Pete murmurs and kisses her.

“Talk later.”

“Thanks, man, I really needed- oh,” Jeff says, appearing in his doorway. “Sorry, I didn’t realize Sloane spent the night.”

“Hey, Jeff. I was just leaving.” Sloane goes to step away but Pete pulls her back and kisses her. She kisses back and then pulls away. “I gotta go. Bye, boys!” She leaves the apartment. Pete looks at Jeff’s red face, amused.

“Shit man, I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”

“You didn’t,” Pete shrugs.

“But I could have.”

“You didn’t,” Pete repeats. “You need anything else?”

“No. No, I’m good.”

“Alright.” Pete lets him out and then hops in the shower.

Sloane has a better day. She texts Pete. ‘Thanks for last night. I really needed that.’ She sends it.

Pete is in the shower after practice and Jeff is already done and changed. Pete’s phone makes a noise and Jeff leans over to tell him who’s texting like he always does. He means to read just the name, but the whole text comes up on screen. He feels his face burn instantly. “Pete, Sloane texted!” They’re the last two there.

“In a sec,” Pete calls back. He comes out shortly in a towel. Jeff hands him his phone. Pete smiles at the screen and texts back. “Thanks for letting me know, I wouldn’t have seen it for a while,” Pete says, putting it down.

“No problem,” Jeff says too-quickly.

“What’s up with you,” Pete asks, starting to pull on his clothes.

“Nothing.”

“You saw the text, didn’t you,” Pete laughs. Jeff is relieved he isn’t pissed.

“I tried to just read the name,” Jeff defends himself.

“No worries. Thanks again.” Pete is now dressed and puts his duffle bag on his shoulder. “Later, man.”

Jeff manages to forget the text for the rest of the day. He goes home. As soon as he’s in the door, the text pops into his head. Thanks for last night. I really needed that. Jeff drops onto his couch, hardening. He glares at his lap. That’s his best friend’s girlfriend, he shouldn’t think about her all warm and on her back. He shakes his head violently to clear it. He must be too horny. Yeah, that’s it. He goes to his room and surfs his favorite porn website. The fact that the Omega in the video he chooses looks kind of like Sloane doesn’t make it to his thinking head. He strips and touches himself to the sounds coming out from his speakers.

“Oh God, right there,” the Omega gasps. Jeff closes his eyes.

"Come on," the Omega urges. Jeff pushes her onto the bed on her back. He slots between her thighs, kissing her. He slides down her body and his tongue finds slick. The Omega whines, pulling his hair. He lets her guide him. How he loves Omegas that aren't shy about what they want. She drapes her legs over his shoulders and pulls him in. He makes her cum twice on his tongue before he lets himself take his pants and boxer briefs off. She purrs when she sees him and Alpha pride washes over him.

He gets inside of her and fucks her. She moans the entire time and he sets his teeth into her tan shoulder. He bites down gently and she chirps. The sound practically makes him knot, but he holds it back. She puts her mouth to his ear. "I want you, Jeff. I've always wanted you. Knot me."

"Not yet." He makes her cum on his cock and rocks into her until he knots. "Sloane," he groans.

Jeff’s eyes fly open, but not in time to stop himself from cumming. He stares at his ceiling, panting. He calms down and glares at his laptop screen like it’s to blame. He huffs and cleans up, closing the video with an irritated click. He jumps in the shower and tries to forget the fact that he jerked off to the idea of fucking his best friend’s girlfriend. And it almost works.

Jeff is having cereal the next morning when his phone chimes. He grabs it. Pete. His hand pauses but he takes the spoonful and chews. ‘Hey, man. You want to hang out with me and Sloane today? She claims she can kick our asses at Guitar Hero.’

‘Maybe another time,’ Jeff replies. When I can look either of you in the eye.

Jeff finishes his breakfast. ‘Aw, come on. I know you don’t have anything concrete,’ Pete texts. Jeff is about to text back ‘how do you know’ when a second text comes in. ‘She’s asking for you.’

“Fuck,” Jeff says loudly because he gets kind of hard from the idea. He resolves to pick someone up tonight. Preferably someone who doesn’t look like his best friend’s girlfriend.

‘Fine,’ he texts back, kind of hating himself.

‘Sweet. Come by around two.’

‘Sure.’

Jeff works out at home for a few hours before he distracts himself with cleaning. The time rolls around and Jeff grabs his keys, heading to Pete’s apartment. He gets buzzed up and walks up the stairs to work out some excess energy. He knocks. Sloane answers the door. “Hey, Jeff,” she smiles. Jeff’s breath catches. “So glad you could make it!”

“Well, I couldn’t let my Guitar Hero skills be bad-mouthed,” he replies. She stands aside and lets him in. He tries not to stare at her ass when she walks past him. She goes to sit on the couch but Pete pulls her into his lap where he’s sitting in his armchair.

“Pete, you have company,” Sloane laughs, squirming.

“It’s just Jeff,” Pete replies, kissing her jaw. Sloane rolls her eyes at Jeff and pulls away.

“Still company.”

Pete chuckles and lets her get off his lap. “It’s cool,” Jeff shrugs, sitting on the farthest point on the couch he can and still see the screen enough to where he can play. “I mean, you two are a couple. It’s fine.”

They play Guitar Hero until Sloane has beaten them both five times. Jeff has an excuse- he’s watching Sloane’s fingers and imagining them on his body. Pete might be thinking of the same thing.

“Now do you believe me,” Sloane asks, looking at Jeff.

“Yes.”

“And all that skill goes to waste,” she teases. Jeff feels his face heat up. Damn his tendency to blush. “I’m just kidding, Jeff.”

“I know.”

“Come on, you pick the next game,” Sloane offers. Jeff gets up and looks at Pete’s game shelf. He picks up HALO. “I love HALO,” Sloane smiles like he had just given her chocolate. Then the image of him licking chocolate syrup from her skin comes into his head. Jeff looks away. “Hey, you ok,” Sloane asks, voice concerned.

“Fine. I have a little headache, probably from staring at a screen for that long. I should head home,” Jeff lies.

“Not even one game,” Pete asks. Shit, Jeff almost forgot about him.

“Nah, it hurts.”

“Ok. Feel better. It was great seeing you,” Sloane says.

“I will. And it was good seeing you, too.” He stands. Pete does too and they do their handshake before Jeff cuts his losses and tries not to run away. He sits in his car and curses himself out. This has to stop.

“Did Jeff seem a little weird to you,” Pete asks when Jeff is gone and far enough away.

“Maybe. I don’t know him as well as you do, though,” Sloane says. She settles in his lap, curling into his chest.

“True,” Pete says as he wraps his arms around her.

“Maybe you should ask him what’s up at your next one-on-one hangout session.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

They kiss softly. Sloane turns on his lap, settling over him. She puts one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek and kisses him deeper. They slide their tongues against each other’s, panting quietly. Pete presses kisses down the side of her throat, making her whimper.

“Wanna go to bed,” Pete asks quietly between kisses.

“Yeah,” Sloane breathes. She gets up and leads Pete to his room. She falls onto the bed and he follows her, bracing himself over her. They kiss heatedly and Pete gently touches the bottom of her shirt. She sits up and puts her arms over her head. He pulls off her shirt and licks the join of her neck and shoulder. “Can you knot me?” Pete stills.

He pulls back, eyes dark. “Are you sure?”

“Green,” she smiles. Pete laughs lightly.

“Green,” he agrees. They undress each other and Pete takes out a knotting condom, putting it on the bedside table. They kiss heatedly for a bit, until Sloane is squirming with impatience. Pete pulls back enough for her to see his teasing smile and slinks down her body. He eats her out and she bucks into his mouth, hands buried in his short hair. He makes her cum three times until she’s pulling at his shoulders desperately. “Tell me what you want.” She shivers at Pete’s voice- it’s deeper than normal and has a growl threaded through it.

“Your knot,” Sloane moans.

Pete shudders and nods, crawling back up. She helps him with his clothes and he grabs the condom, rolling it down his length. He stares into her eyes.

“I’m sure,” she smiles. She touches the back of his head. “I’m sure.”

He nods and steadies himself as he enters her slowly. She moans quietly and he sinks in halfway before pulling back out until only the head is inside. He slides back in, trying to keep his movements slow and easy. They might have had sex before, but he’s still a lot to take. Sloane moans again and puts her hand on his back, curling it and urging him on. Pete shudders at the feeling of her nails and sinks in to the hilt. He stays still even as he wants to rail her, letting her adjust. “Pete, move,” Sloane says, voice breathy.

“You sure?”

“Green.”

Pete nods and pulls out halfway and pushing in a little harder. Sloane wraps her legs around his hips and pulls him down, kissing him. He growls and shoves in harder than he planned, making her gasp. He pulls away from her mouth, about to ask her the color.

“Green, green Pete, fuck .” Pete laughs in relief and rests foreheads with her, fucking into her. She makes pleased noises and he growls lightly. He inhales when that makes more wetness drip out of her. He growls again and angle her hips up, fucking her harder. “Fuck, Pete!”

He buries his face into her neck and growls and makes other Alpha noises of pleasure. Sloane cums and he snarls, instincts kicking in. He pulls her up more and starts to stretch her more with his cock, angling for the spot that is sure to make her whimper. He snakes a hand down and rubs her clit, and she whimpers and cums again.

Sloane whimpers and moans, addicted to how Pete makes her feel. He’s strong and capable and he’s such a good Alpha. “Pete,” she whimpers.

“Sloane,” Pete snarls back. She shudders at the lust in his voice, like it wasn’t enough to smell it. Pete’s strokes start to shorten, and she knows that sign. “Sloane, I’m gonna-”

“Yeah, yeah, want it,” Sloane babbles, clawing at his back. “Inside, Alpha, inside.”

Pete snarls and shoves his knot in, shuddering as he cums. He pants as he comes down, tasting slick and cum and sandalwood and vanilla and arousal smoothing down his tongue and palate. He hums as he listens to Sloane’s heartbeat slow down and gently lies on her. She strokes down his back, nosing into his hair. “Good,” he murmurs the question.

“Great. You?”

“Fantastic.”

They both laugh quietly. Pete lifts his head and kisses Sloane again. She hums and they kiss leisurely but passionately. He starts to rock subconsciously, and Sloane doesn’t help matters- she tightens her legs on his hips.

Sloane hums as Pete starts to try to fuck his cum into her. It’s Alpha instincts- shove that cum inside, make sure it doesn’t slip out, give it the best chance to take. It alway feels incredible, but Pete’s huge cock and solid knot makes it better. She gently bites his lip and he growls. She feels it in her tongue. She pulls her mouth away and chirps back. “Fuck, love when you do that,” Pete says. Sloane warms.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s sexy.”

Sloane looks away and Pete strokes her jaw, guiding her face back. “I love all your noises,” he admits. “Love your moans, your chirps, your purrs,” he details, nosing down her neck. He licks the sweat from her skin. “Love your scent, love your taste,” he continues. “Fuck, I’m addicted to you,” he growls, rocking into her. He plants his palms on the bed beside her shoulders and pants as he moves.

“Fuck, Pete ,” Sloane moans, arching to get a good angle. Pete groans and shudders as he cums again and Sloane moans quietly as she feels it. She’s only been with one Alpha who could cum multiple times- it’s a recessive gene- and it was addicting then. It’s indescribable with Pete. She whimpers and gently pushes at his shoulder.

Pete slides his hands to her back and rolls onto his back, looking up at Sloane, concerned. “Fuck, Sloane, did I-”

Sloane braces her hands on his stomach and rocks on his knot. He groans through his teeth, all concerns of having hurt her vanishing. He pants and hitches his hips up. He strokes her clit with his thumb and she shudders and moans through another orgasm, her wetness seeping out of her and slicking his lap. He pants. “Fuck, Sloane .”

Sloane hums and lays on him, adjusting only slightly. They fit together well. He wraps his arms around her and settles.

Forty minutes later, Pete’s knot deflates and Sloane climbs off of him with obvious reluctance. He smiles as he takes off the condom, admiring his Omega stretched out on his bed. She chirps at him. He chuckles as he ties off the condom, getting up and tossing it. He sets a shower to hot and leans against the doorpost. Sloane gets up and comes past him, getting on her tiptoes and pulling his head. He leans down and she presses a lingering kiss to his cheek. She laughs and gets in his shower. He smiles and follows her.

#pete alonso imagine #new york mets rpf #new york mets imagine #baseball imagine #baseball rpf #alpha beta omega dynamics #a/b/o dynamics #my fics

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virarosea · 3 years

Text

Guess who got invited to go train with an Aikido master for a couple of days this week

I DID AND IM SJSDFKLJDHSDHJKL 🥺

#[ooc]#I don't even do Aikido but fuck I'm not turning the opportunity down #it's such an honor #so anyway I'll be absent a bit this week because he's in Texas and I'm NOT #so I'm gonna drive over and stay a couple of days which means I'll be away from my pc #I'll try to get my laptop functioning again but I can't promise anything #I'll leave monday and stay through tuesday then come back wednesday I think #it's very spur of the moment but he leaves for japan in like a week so this is the only time we can meet

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elenaaadaniels · 2 years

Text

Chapter Four: Weakling

Part 5

Warning: Small injury, some cursing, Din being fluffing cute.

___________________________________ I wonder what it's like to be loved by you

- 𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘺 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴 ___________________________________

Nadia carefully unwrapped the gauze wrap around her arm seeing her wound was fairly healed from the last time she had seen it. The bacta spray worked wonders and she threw out the wrap no longer needing it. It had been five days since they saved the child from Nevarro. They simply floated in space trying to find a better planet after the next to be safe. The ship shook violent and Nadia frowned only to see the child had flicked a button causing Din to quickly grab him away.

" And now you are going to sit with me." She said taking the child from Din so he could focus on driving the Razor Crest." You just like touching anything, don't you?"

" Sorgan." Din spoke causing her to look over to him." Looks like there's no star port, no industrial centers, no population density. Real backwater skug hole. Which means it's perfect for us."

She nodded her head," It sounds like a great place."

" You ready to lay low and stretch your legs for a couple of months, you little whomp rat?" Din teased playing with the child's hand while Nadia faked a gasp.

" Hey, we can call him a whomp rat, but not to his face." She said covering one of his large ears.

Din shook his head turning back to the controls," Nobody's gonna find us here." He said when she nodded her head.

" I trust you."

The words were simple, but some how it made Din beam with pride that she said it. She trusted him. A bounty hunter. Of all things she had every right to not trust him, but she did and it made him happy to know it. He drove down to the planet of Sorgan seeing how it was mostly green with a few patches of blue for swamps. When they entered the atmosphere, Nadia's eyes widen at the greenery the planet had to offer. Trees grew everywhere with wild animals running down below and small parts of water appearing.

" Wow." She gasped amazed how every planet they went to was so different from the next.

Din landed the Razor Crest on perfect land making sure it wasn't going to cave in by the weak marshes before turning off all the engines and power.

" Listen. Nadia and I are gonna go out there and I'm gonna look around." He spoke to the child who stared up at them with big eyes." It shouldn't take too long. Now, don't touch anything. I'll find us some lodging, then I'll come back for you. You stay right here. You stay. Don't move. You understand?"

The child simply cooed causing Din to give him two thumbs up.

" Great." He said opening the back door and climbing down the ladder with Nadia.

" Are you sure he's going to be okay here alone?" She worried looking back up the ladder.

" We're not going to take that long." Din answered passing her a blaster." Here, I want you to carry this."

She frowned," I thought Soren was peaceful."

" This is for just in case." He said walking down to punch the ramp button.

She walked by his side watching the ramp in the back open and slowly let down the ramp they would need to walk down. A coo was heard by her side and she frowned along with Din turning to see by his right leg, was the child smiling up at him.

Din sighed shaking his head," Oh, what the hell? Come on."

She smiled at the child walking after Din down the ramp and looking to the planet of Sorgan around her. The forest unfolded in front of her. The ground is surprisingly springy under her feet and she turned away from Din and look up into the canopy of trees ahead of them.

Din studied the screen on his wrist unit and looks up to scan the perimeter. "The atmosphere here is safe to breathe," He explains. "The planet supports a variety of life forms suitable for consumption. It's an ideal environment for human inhabitation."

"And for the kid?"

He pointed behind her, " You tell me."

Nadia turned around in time to see the child toddling off towards the forest. A cool breeze whispers through the trees and fluffs the gray hairs on his wrinkled head. He glances back at Din, as if waiting for permission, and Din returns his look with a nod. The kid sets off into the forest with the two of them in tow.

"Who lives here?" She asked walking by Din's side while keeping an eye on the child,"Just farmers?"

Din shakes his head. "Krill farmers, but also foragers, spotchka brewers, people looking for a hideout. There isn't much industry here, but it's a good place to survive by your own means."

The child laughs loudly running straight to a a bush in excitement. Rattling one of the bushes, kaleidoscope of butterflies came flying out surprising the three. Nadia stood in awe having the butterflies flutter all around her in different colors that amazed her mind. She held her hands out in amazement having some land on her skin while some landed in her hair giving her a giggle or two. Din stared at her beauty captivated by the nature around her, her eyes sparkled that he couldn't help, but to just stare at him. One by one the butterflies left and once they did, she realized he hadn't move an inch, just continued to stare.

" What?"

" Nothing." He coughed turning red.

She looked back to the butterflies in the distance," What was that?"

" A butterfly." He answered tilting his head slowly and walking down the path again.

They didn't walk much further until they came to a small little village that had amazing smells. Nadia wasn't hungry, but she could tell the child was with the way his little feet picked up when smelling all the food from inside. Din walked in first with her and the child close behind seeing the small little diner was safe with people simply staring at the sight of a Mandalorian. Din knew Nadia didn't pick up on it. How could she? He did, however, noticing a woman by the end of the diner with a tattoo of a shock trooper. He carefully kept his eye on the woman taking a seat at one of the tables helping the child into his own seat.

" Welcome, travelers." A woman greeted wiping her hands on her apron." Can I interest you in anything?"

" Bone broth, for the little one."

" Oh, well, you're in luck. I just took down a grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest you in a porringer of broth as well?" She questioned.

Din looked over to Nadia, who shook her head causing him to look back at the woman with the same answer.

" Just the one."

" Very well." The woman said about to walk away when Din stopped her.

" That one over there." He said nudging his head over to the shock trooper." When did she arrive?"

" I've seen her here for the last week or so."

" What's her business here?"

" Business? Oh, well, there's not much business in Sorgan, so I can't say." The woman said, when Din threw a couple of more credits onto the table for her to take as bait." She doesn't strike me as a log runner. Well, thank you, sir. I will get that broth to you as soon as possible, and I will throw in a flagon of spotchka just for good measure. I will be right back with that."

Nadia smiled to the woman as she left and once out of sight, she turned to Din confused.

" Why did you ask her about the woman?"

" Because..." He explained when he turned back to the shock trooper, noticing she was gone.

He stood up instantly almost hitting the table with his beskar looking around the diner for any sight of her.

" Keep an eye on the kid."

" What?" Nadia questioned already on her feet too, following him." No, I'm coming with you."

She noticed the same woman about to cook the broth and pointed over to the kid that sat at the table clueless.

" Keep an eye on the kid."

The woman was confused, but both gave her no chance to protest or speak leaving the diner in a hurry. Once outside, the coast was clear. Nadia could see no signs of the woman, but she knew behind his helmet, Din could, so she followed right behind him through the huts of the small town until he stop abruptly. She opened her mouth about to ask what happened when, from the corner of her eye, she noticed the woman about to collide with them.

" Mando!" She yelled getting a sharp kick right to her lip that sent her barreling backwards until she fell to the ground.

The pain was instant and she hissed in pain touching her lip and feeling blood. Din became alert dodging a punch quickly before punching the shock trooper in the side surprising her. All Nadia could make out was that they were both strong throwing punches and kicks back and forth like it was nothing. When the shock trooper threw Din to the ground, Nadia quickly sprung to her feet and punched the shock troopers back to distract her, but it didn't last long before she was on the ground.

The air was knocked from her lungs and she groaned at the pain while Din and her went at it again. In a blink of an eye, they both pulled their blasters panting from the fight, but sipping caught their attention. All three turned to their side seeing the child drinking his broth watching the fight with amusement.

" You want some soup?" Din asked causing Nadia to stare at him like a mad man.

" Seriously?"

Apparently, he was getting off the ground along with the shock trooper and Nadia back into the small little diner like nothing had happened. The shock trooper did the same thing, introducing herself as Cara Dune to the two. Nadia wasn't the same. She sat grumpily in her seat only some ice to her lip that was throbbing like crazy.

" Let me see." Din said moving Nadia's hand that was holding the ice seeing the corner of her lip was tinted red with a small cut swelled up.

" Things swelling up like a balloon." Cara commented getting a pout from Nadia.

" Yeah, thanks."

Cara laughed looking over to Din," Saw most of my action mopping up after Endor. Mostly Ex-Imperial Warlords." She said continuing with her introduction." They wanted it fast and quiet. They'd send us in on the drop ships. No support, just us. Then when the Imps were gone, the politics started. We were peacekeepers, protecting delegates, suppressing riots. Not what I signed up for."

Din nodded," How'd you end up here?"

" Let's just call it an early retirement." She taking a drink of her soup." Look, I knew you were Guild. I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard."

" Yeah, that's what I figured."

" Well, this has been a real treat." She teased punching Nadia's arm lightly." but unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first."

With that Cara walked away with her soup and out of the diner without another word or warning.

Din turned to the child," Well, looks like this planet's taken."

" Just like that?" Nadia questioned baffled." We get taken down by her and we just have to leave?"

Din nodded his head already getting out of his seat." We don't want to overstep or have people track her and lead to us or the other way around. Keep putting ice." He said lightly bumping her side to go.

" So what now?" She grumbled getting up and following the two back to the ship.

Din didn't have an answer. He was sure Sorgan would be a nice planet for them to stay at for a while, but he was wrong and now he had no idea where their next planet would lead them to. All he knew when we went back to the ship was he had to fix the ship a bit before they departed. It gave him time to think while Nadia stayed inside with the child taking care of him and her lip. Placing bacta on it, he could tell it was slowly healing and he could guess it was healed by now since hours had passed and the sun had set. Once the child was asleep, Nadia heated the soup they got from the diner and came down the ramp to give it to Din.

" Hey, you haven't eaten all day." She said smiling at him.

" I'm not hungry." He said, but she gave him a look that told him she wasn't going to leave until he had some.

Placing his tools down, he grabbed the soup from her hand and stirred it a bit before tilting his helmet a bit up to be able to drink. Quickly, Nadia turned away from him staring up at the sky that it caused him to laugh out how fast she had done it.

" I didn't take my helmet completely off."

" Just a precaution." She replied.

Since she looked at the sky to distract herself, she got immerse with how the Sorgan sky looked at night. There were zero clouds in sight giving a beautiful sight to the stars in the sky. She couldn't believe how many stars there were out there lighting up the galaxy like a beautiful painting. Din stared at her and the way her eyes lit up with the stars. She was amazed that it made her glow like the stars were bouncing right off of her. He never seen someone look so beautiful simply looking at the sky. Nadia felt eyes on her and turned to him growing self conscious.

" What?"

Din blushed under his helmet," Nothing." He lied setting down the soup to get back to work.

" It has to be something." She pressed.

Din knew he couldn't get out of this one. He could walk around the ship to get back to work, but she would follow him and he knew this.

" It's just the way your eyes light up when you look at the things around you." He admitted truthfully beating around the bush on how he found her beautiful when doing so.

" It's cause I never seen them before." She explained looking back to the sky." Clouds covered Arvala-7. I never seen the stars like this before. It sparkles the sky and lights it up."

It made Din happy that she was finally getting to see the world. That he was seeing her simple reactions to the little stuff like a butterfly or the night sky. He didn't know why it made him happy, but it just did and he was content with it. A light moved from the shadows and the two turned to see men on a wagon wheel right towards them more scared to approach then they should have been.

" Stay behind me." Din warned placing his tools down and walking over to the wagon.

" Excuse me, sir." The one man called nervously.

" There something I can help you with?"

" Uh, yeah. Raiders."

" We have money." The other one blurted out more confidently.

Din partly ignored them going back to fixing the ship," So, you think I'm some kinda mercenary?"

" You are a Mandalorian, right?"

" Or at least wearing Mandalorian armor. That is Mandalorian armor, right?"

" Yeah, you're right." Nadia said causing the two men to smile.

" See? I told you." The one quiet man whispered to his friend following after Din." Sir, I've read a lot about your people...Tribe. If half of what I read is true..."

" We have money." The confident one repeated.

" How much?"

" Everything we have, sir. Our whole harvest was stolen"

" Krill." The one corrected." We're krill farmers.

" We brew spotchka. Our whole village chipped in."

Nadia smiled at the two men seeing they were determined for the Mandalorian's help that even through nerves, they were brave and wanted to help protect their village. Din on the other hand looked down to the small pouch and shook his head.

" It's not enough."

" Mando." Nadia remarked sternly seeing how dismissive he was being.

" Are you sure? You don't even know what the job is."

" I know it's not enough. Good luck." Din bedded continuing to walk away from the two men while Nadia followed feeling guilty.

" This is everything we have. We'll give you more after the next harvest." The man promised, but Din pressed the ramp button causing the doors to hiss so Nadia and him could board.

" Come on." Din spoke to her already getting onto the ramp.

She lightly nodded turning to the two men giving a light smile wishing there was something she could do to help, but Din was the captain of this journey and given they were on the run, maybe he knew best to get off the planet.

" Took us the whole day to get here" The one man spoke in defeat." Now we have to ride back with no protection to the middle of nowhere."

Din's ears perked up instantly," Where do you live?"

" On a farm. Weren't you listening?"

" Now's not the time to sass him." Nadia warned lightly seeing something they said had grabbed his attention.

The man repeated himself more nicely," We're farmers."

" In the middle of nowhere?" Din quoted earning some nods." You have lodging?"

" Yeah. Absolutely." One answered causing Din to nod his head.

" Good. Come up and help." He said heading back into the ships vessels, but the three did not move wondering what had happened.

" What does that mean?" The one asked causing Nadia to smile.

" You might just have a deal."

While packing the wagon with the things Din, Nadia, and the child would need, she learned the two farmers names were Caben and Stoke who were sent by the rest of their village to ask for help. The way they spoke about their village made her excited to go learning they were peaceful people that hunted for fish in the marshes and made great spotchka. Nadia placed the sleeping child in the corner of the wagon seeing Din make his way over to Stoke.

" I'm gonna need one more thing. Give me those credits."

Stoke nodded his head giving the bag to the Mandalorian, who nodded his head back heading out to the woods. Nadia frowned quickly jogging over to him and following wherever he was going.

" Where are you going?"

" Getting backup." He answered.

It didn't take long before she smelled a small fire and laid her eyes on Cara Dune sleeping on the floor. Din threw the credits onto the ground causing Cara to instantly raise her blaster in alarm.

" Ready for round two?" Din asked causing Nadia to shake her head.

" Seriously?"

" She's strong."

" Yeah, I know. Have you seen my lip?" Nadia said pointing to where it was a faint red still.

Cara laughed getting off the floor and grabbing the credits," Come on. We're going to have fun." She said messing with Nadia's hair.

Din lightly smirked at the face Nadia had made lightly bumping her arm for them to follow. Caben and Stoke set the coordinates back to their village while the four sat in the back of the wagon debriefing Cara about the plans they had when reaching the village.

"So, we're basically running off a band of Raiders for lunch money?"

" They're quartering us in the middle of nowhere. Last I checked, that's a pretty square deal for somebody in your position." Din offered." Worst case scenario, you tune up your blaster. Best case, we're a deterrent. I can't imagine there's anything living in these trees that an ex-shock trooper couldn't handle."

Cara nodded looking over to Nadia," How did you end up with him?"

" What?" She stuttered out.

" How did a weakling like you end up with a Mandalorian?"

" I'm not a weakling." Nadia defended hurt by what Cara said." And my name is Lexie."

" Please. Your hit back there felt like a love tap." Cara teased.

" She's my helper. Takes care of the kid." Din interjected seeing the smirk on Cara's face.

" And you?"

Din nodded," Yeah."

Nadia smiled lightly hearing she helped him, but Cara had took it a different way.

" Didn't take you as the freaky type, weakling."

" Not like that." The two had said at the same time turning red.

" And I'm not a weakling." Nadia repeated.

Cara rolled her eyes getting comfortable," Whatever. Goodnight weakling."

It was easy to say Nadia hated her new nickname and disliked their new companion even more. Din lightly elbowed her side for comfort.

" Ignore her."

" Going to be hard." She muttered crossing her arms over her chest." Weakling isn't exactly a good name.

" You had my back when we first met her."

" I got knocked down." She reminded.

" But you got back up." Din pointed out seeing the smile slowly grow on her face." Takes guts."

She knew Din was just saying things to get her to feel better, but she also knew he wouldn't have done it for nothing. He mean't his words and it made her feel good inside that he saw her as a companion and a helper. With a smile on her face, she got comfortable herself on the wagon ignoring Cara's words.

" You're welcome."

#din djarin fluff #din djarin imagine #din djarin x female oc #din djarin x original character #din dijarin fanfiction #din djarin #din djarin series #fiction #din djarin x reader #pedro pascal #my writing #mando and grogu #mando x original female character #the mandalorian #the book of boba fett #mando x oc #the mandolorian x reader

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everafterkeiji · 3 years

Text

𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐓. 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐊𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒

PAIRINGS: Haikyuu boys x fem! reader

GENRE: angst, pining, teasing, spicy level at 1?

A/N: i am hooked, captivated, jealous, and many more emotions🤨 this was honestly a little random but no complaints

⟡𝐀𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐔's offhanded comments on an essay he didn't participate in was a bloodbath waiting to happen. Though you understood that he was in a tight schedule regarding practice and matches was a tough schedule to keep up with, the expression on his face when he sees the score ignites the rage that was kept tight when you stayed up just to pinch in to replace their mistakes and their unwillingness to cooperate that had you pulled out of calmness.

"Wipe that shit expression off of you, Miya. Maybe if you were there we could've done better but no." You huffed, while there's a chuckle from the blonde as he takes the paper from your hands, a punch to your efforts, while he waves it around before towering over you with eyes glancing to your lips before it goes straight to your eyes before he spoke,

"If you wanted the best, then I'm all yours to take."

⟡𝐊𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐘𝐀𝐌𝐀 would go overboard majority of their practice so at those moments—you never know what to do seeing that you weren't on good terms anyway. He'd be too focused and frustrated to be communicated with while Hinata's drive to progress himself always mixes with the setters competitiveness then it leads to late practices making you stay until they finally leave.

"You two— c'mon I have to lock up. Get going already." Hinata smiles at you softly sharing his intents to stay a little longer while you shook your head. He gave out a defeated sigh while you walked to the storage room to make sure everything was placed to where it was but when you expected silence, it never came. The sound of heavy impacting echoes through the gym while you rolled your eyes to walk out and see the setter all alone.

"Kageyama, go home." You were down to the remaining ounce of energy you had left. You could only roll your eyes as you held the ball he was meant to hold as he blinks at you.

"I'm not gonna say it again. Let's go home already." He turns the other way around whispering, "Just one more." making you hold onto his wrist as he turns to you surprised but held a glare in secret. "Stop being so stubborn." Kageyama scoffs before holding onto your hand on his wrist, a slight tug while you leaned forward because of his actions.

"And stop trying to make me go home with you." You pushed him slightly with raised eyebrows, a fluster in your cheeks as you tried to pull away.

"Idiot- that's not what I mean!" You argued while his hand remained on yours as you both stared each other down. "It's not like I meant it that way either." Tobio said before letting go of your arm, walking away with his own heated cheeks while grabbing his bag and ending the day with one more glance to you.

"I'm going now, if you're going to come with me—then I'll see which of the choices you did mean."

⟡ 𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐔 doesn't like the way your personality mirrored his twin. A duplicate of another duplicate. He saw how well you and the blonde had bonded and brought a migraine to his head, realizing that the annoyance he gets from his twin has doubled when it came to you but he does deny that there's an ounce of envy seeing that you were never that close to him and always favored Atsumu.

And now that you were in their residence, the laughter from you and the setter ticks him off as if he was a thirdwheeler in every situation—god, even in their house.

"Oi, do you mind? I think my controller is in Samu's room can you get it for me?" Atsumu asks while you shrugged before knocking over to Osamu's door. You figured that he didn't like you as much and you kept your distance but at times, you can definitely feel that the distance that had grown to a state that even you were confused in how it got that far.

You casually enter in, glancing at Osamu who was only busy on his phone but shares a stare to you when you wander around.

"What're ye looking for?" He asks, while you responded saying it was the controller. He stands up with a groan, noticing how messy the other side of the room was as you began to pick up a few shirts while Osamu cocks an eyebrow.

"Ain't no touching that, I'll clean it myself." He suggests but you continued nonetheless thinking that this may reduce whatever tension was there. Right at the moment where you reached for the jersey at the stairs of their bunk bed, Osamu had grabbed your wrist making you wide eyed before looking at him.

"I said I can do it." He says in which you followed with, "I just wanted to help you and Tsumu." He rolls his eyes but the proximity of you two is alarming especially when his hand was still wrapped around yours.

"Atsumu this, Atsumu that—can't you worry about me?" He jokes at first but there's warmth to your cheeks alike to his own, but he leans forward, a smirk to his lips. "Only you?" You asked before he spoke again,

"Only me and no one else, doll."

⟡𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐒𝐀's bad start during mornings never get along with your rants along with Iwaizumi to help maintain the health of MSBY. Whenever Iwaizumi would be off to observe a different team, you'd be the subsitute. All of the things he's said to them—you'll be there to remind them all over again. In which repetitiveness irks him knowing they've been told before.

"We've been through the same routine. Today's not any special." Kiyoomi suggests, though you get how irritating it can be to act like a broken record—you knew Iwaizumi would do the same thing you were doing.

"And if we go through it like every other day, then we'll finish fast." You argued as Atsumu sends you a chuckle before leaning on his teammate.

"Not with all that yapping." Sakusa whispers making you scoff while Hinata and Bokuto share a worried glance.

"You've got something to say to me, Kiyoomi?" You asked, edging him on because you weren't entirely at fault. You were strictly just following Iwaizumi's orders.

The MSBY player then takes a few steps forward before lowering his mask and with a threat of a stare to look down on you.

"Why don't we stop talking and I'll show you a better routine?"

Atsumu rolls his eyes but rather entertained at the vanter unfolding in front of the entire team.

"Like you'll ever find a way to shut me up." You bragged but there's a chuckle from him before he leans forward—a close vicinity where his lips linger on your ears as a cold voice welcomes you.

"I'd like to see you try and stop me then."

⟡𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐀 is the person that throws distanced glares when it came to you. Ever since the aggravating Atsumu teased you two as a perfect couple that he quickly declined followed by an unnecessary sentence saying you were impossible to date. You understood that you were never friends to even label it but since you were with the twins, you and Rintaro never hit it off the way you did with the Miyas'.

So even as you sat a few seats away from at the local bus, it irks you that this banter goes on even outside school. Looking away, there's a hand to your waist making you glare instantly at the man beside you while he only gives an appalling glance to your attire that made your blood boil as you struggled to move away from him.

"Get the fuck off me." You ordered him but he acts nonchalant. The moment you were about to raise a hand to show some defense, another hand travels to your waist while the previous hand around you was removed.

Gasping you turned to Suna who radiated a heated energy while the man scoffs knowing it was a facade to act like you were together.

"Hey now—if you don't believe she's my girl, then why don't you watch?" Rintaro threats as his lips lingered around your neck while you stood frozen. The destructive and taunting stare he gave to the man caused the bastard to move away not long before Suna had the chance to push him to the other side, cocking a smirk while he pulls you to his body.

"Thank you." You said, while he only shrugs in response, still cautious of the jealousy that lingers the mans eye.

"Seems like you'll be mine for the rest of the night."

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hoodieofholland · 3 years

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Prove you something // Mob!Tom Smut

Summary: you get jealous over a meeting Tom have with another woman without your knowledge, and he has to prove you something.

Pairing: mob!tom x reader

Word count: ~4.5K

Warnings: smut (18+), fingering (f.), oral (f.), language.

A/n: I’m a sucker for mob!Tom, judge me, but these last contents we’ve been receiving for the past month are the blame. here we go again, enjoy.

Masterlist

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

As a mob, Tom had to deal with a lot of different people throughout his busy day. You were used to the meetings all the time, even when it was past afternoon, hiting the midnight. Patiently, you'd wait your turn to share some good time with your boyfriend, unless he wanted you to stay for the day, besides him, in the conference room.

Today was slightly different. Tom was held for hours in the conference room, talking business, while you distracted yourself with some other work. But by the time it was around 7p.m., you were bored enough to walk up the place, wanting to know when he'd be over.

Wearing your favorite pyjamas, you walked through the silent house, and just as approaching the conference room, you heard an unusual type of voice.

"Listen, Tom, I'm not here to discuss the shitty situation..."

It got your attention, made you stop in your tracks to hear better, all because it was a female voice. Normally, Tom would always meet with men, them being the mob leaders around London. Not a woman.

You tried to sneak around and see if there were another voice in the room, but as soon as you put your ear to the door's thick wood, Harrison came up behind your figure, making you jump.

"Holy shit!" You screamed in whispers. "Jesus, Harrison, you scared the hell out of me!"

Harrison didn't make any effort to cover his laughter, making you shush him.

"Sneaking around, uh?" He teased through laughters. "You know what Tom says about listening behind closed doors. Someday it might come back to you".

Trying to contain your madness, you cross your arms around your chest and snort. "It's meant for you guys, you idiot. He's not talking about his girlfriend".

"Are you really sure?", still holding his teasing smile, he tilts his head a little. Eyeing the door again, he pouted. "Why didn't he invite you tonight, then?"

"Said it was some small business and wouldn't take that long". You shrugged, though you knew it was bullshit. Tom had already been inside that fucking room for what seemed forever. It wasn't any small business talk, for what it matters.

"I can tell you that there's not small talking inside there" he pointed his chin in the room's direction. "Melissa is right there".

A little confused, but still not wanting to give your feelings away, you stay cool with your voice. "Who is Melissa?"

Harrison’s eyes narrowed and you can tell he had no idea you didn’t know about a single thing that was going on inside there.

“Melissa. The majoriest woman in this whole fucking city. She’s, like, the only female mobster leader in England”. The emphasis in his voice made you feel the message he wanted to deliver. You felt even somewhat a little weak, as if the weight of the presence of that woman could be sensed in your lungs.

Harrison quirked a brow, waiting for your answer, but you didn’t say nothing. Why was Tom lying to you? Why he didn’t want you to know that this woman was right inside the room with him?

“Is he alone there?” You questioned Haz, who shakes his head negatively.

“No, I was there a couple of minutes ago. Just grabbing a cup of tea”. He lifted the mug on his hand. “There’s also her guard or something. The chick is a bit... ugh”

You felt the weight again. “What the fuck does ugh means?!”

Harrison was about to explain, but seeing your exasperated reaction, he just smiled teasingly again. “I think someone is jealous”.

You puffed your cheeks out in frustration, wanting to tug on your hair, or maybe on Harrison’s.

“You’re being ridiculous” you tried your best to sound neutral about the fact that your boyfriend was inside a not very large room with a woman you didn’t know nothing about, but it was getting harder as Harrison seemed like having some fun torturing you.

“Don’t worry, y/n, that’s not what I meant” he chuckled softly and gave you a apologetic smile. “It’s just business, that’s all. You know Tom is far from being suspicious”.

You knew that very well, and if you were being honest, that was not your concern. That didn’t make you less jealous, though. Tom was the most faithful man you knew, not only with you, but with his mates. He could do anything for you and he surely had already proved that you’re the only woman in his life.

Anyways, the thought of that powerful woman inside the fucking room was driving you mad.

“I wanna go inside”, you stated, already turning on your heels. Harrison was quick to grab your wrist, trying to stop you from entering the room.

“Y/n, what the fuck, he doesn’t want to-“

But you were too fast. Yanking the door open, you hear a slight gasp coming from Harrison and the entire room goes silent.

The first thing you notice is Tom, who were crudely interrupted by you. He looked tense with the conversation, eyes heavy, shoulders rigid. His elbow was supported by the large desk in front of his chair, while he seemed to gesticulate with his hand whilst talking to the woman, Melissa. His gaze was directed on you, a questioning look on his features, which didn’t softened like it always did when he talked to you.

“Sorry, I told her-“ Harrison was quick to say, but Tom interrupted him.

“What took you so long?” Ignoring your presence, without changing a single word with you, Tom averted his eyes to Harrison, who came out behind you and sat back at his chair.

“She wanted to come” he answered quietly, unsure of what to say.

Tom looked at you once more, face serious, as he seemed to calculate what say next.

“Why don’t you go wait in the living room, y/n?”

You open your mouth, just to close it again immediately. You didn’t recognize the way Tom was talking to you, almost harshly.

"What, Thomas? You don't enjoy a good woman's company? C'mon, let the girl sit with us" Melissa, who you just had the worry to look at said, putting her long polished nails over her chin. She eyed you up and down before speaking again. "What a beautiful girl you have, by the way. You didn't tell me she was all of that".

Tom closed his eyes briefly, jaw clenching, as he sighed heavily in frustration. You knew he was getting mad, and though you still didn't know why, you made up your mind.

"I'm fine, gonna wait in the room. Sorry for-"

"It's alright", he shook his head and looked back to Melissa. "It was good talking to you, but I need time to figure it out before we decide anything", Tom stood up from his chair and waited until the woman did the same. "I'm going to have a talk with my men and then I call you back".

Melissa smiled, but you could see very clearly that it was nothing but a false smile. "I'll keep in touch".

Tom just nodded once and waited for Melissa to walk out of the room, guided by Harrison, who was equally tense as he made his way to the door. Before she exited the room, Melissa had an eye on you again, a tiny smile making its presence on her face.

You shivered, too aware of the dangerous and power Harrison told you she held, clear in the way she wasn't afraid to show she was staring at you.

When the doors were closed, you couldn't lift your gaze from the floor. However, it was possible to see Tom by the corner of your eyes and the way he was supporting both of his hands on the desk, staring so intently at you that you bet he could see your goosebumps.

"Now that you have my attention", he started, voice deep. "Won't you say what was so important that you couldn't wait 'til I was over?"

You didn't say anything, neither looked at him, frozen on your spot.

"I'm talking to you".

His stern act had you conflicted. He would always use it in bed with you, but never got so mad at something that you did. Something that you didn't even know what was all about.

"You were taking too long, so I wanted to see if everything was alright", you answered, keeping your voice loud and clear enough, not wanting to give him the impression that you were intimidated by his words.

Tom snorted. "That's bullshit. I've already been out until later than this and you stayed in our room".

You roll your eyes, voice cheating you as the irritation consumes your thoughts. "Well, in these nights you weren't with a girl inside here".

Tom's face changed and a brow arched as a trace of a smirk made its way to his face. You had lost your though posture and you knew it.

"Are you jealous?" He chuckles, incredulous, "Really?"

You snort, unfolding your arms. Looking relaxed is the last thing you seem to be able to do right now, but also you didn't want to sound so immature being jealous over nothing.

"No, I am not. I'm just mad that... that you didn't tell me who you were meeting with." You corrected him, though you were too aware it was pretty much a lie. With an unwanted whine, you continue "And why you didn't let me in this time? You see, you just left a whole amount of suspicious things to my imagination."

Tom narrows his eyes, a mix of curiosity and confusion evident on his face.

"You don't actually believe it yourself, do you?" He questioned, a suspicious tone in his voice. A bit ashamed, you glanced down and nodded two times.

"I mean, Harrison just told me she's the biggest woman in London, or some shit like that" you shrugged involuntarily and felt tired, as you started to realise how silly you must be sounding.

It was pretty obvious to you that none of that should matter. Actually, it never did. Tom never turned his head to another woman but you, since you met. He never talked about any other girl than you, and you could tell he bragged about how much of a "lucky motherfucker" he was, as Harrison started complaining about Tom's random rambling just the other day.

Tom had done nothing but adored you since the first time he called you darling. And now you were overreacting because of a common meeting of his.

Tom sighed heavily and offered you his hand. Looking at it for one second, you reach for him, and he brings you closer. "That's probably my fault".

You tilt your head, not understanding his point. Tom sits down back on his chair e mention for you to take a seat on his thigh.

"Don't get me wrong, darling. I let you come to meetings only if I'm one hundred percent sure there's no harm on that. When I'm with friends, not my enemies" he caress two slender fingers through your cheek and you almost close your eyes in please, if it wasn't for his deep stare, full of concern and comprehension. "That woman is nothing but trouble for me and my men. She doesn't like us, I don't like her, but, apparently, one of my man messed up with one of her best one, so I was trying to settle everything down before one of us start a fucking fight about it. Obviously, she hates me and every single one of my mates, and that's why I didn't want you here today. My most important job is to keep you safe, y/n. I've already dragged you too far into this mess, I can't expose you even more."

By the look in his eyes, anyone could tell how Tom meant it. He worried about you and your protection had become a topic of discussions too much for your liking.

He shifts his position, making it more comfortable for you, hand resting in your cheek. His expression earned an even more stern look, almost in pain as he looked deeper in your eyes.

"Do you really think that you should worry about Melissa?" He asks, voice low and soft.

You didn't answer right away. Instead, you tugged at his white plain shirt's collar, breathing slowly as you tried to manifest more of your composure than before.

"A little" you confess, shrugging slightly as if it wasn't that big of a deal. But for Tom, it surely was.

"Darling... why would you be jealous over that woman?" The pad of his index finger touched in the slightest move your bottom lip, tracing delicate paths over it. "Why would you ever be jealous over any woman? You know I love you". He looked up once again, a brow arching as he seemed to doubt his own conviction. "Don't you know?"

You shake your head yes and bite your lip. "Of course I do".

"Then why did you have something in your imagination?"

You sigh quietly. "Yeah, it was silly", taking his free hand and in yours, you play with his fingers, trying to hide your embarrassment. "I'm sorry-"

"It's alright, love", he gives you a small yet sweet smile. "You see, I get jealous all the time. Much more than you do. Think it's fair enough".

You giggle. "Yes, you do. I hate that and did the same. Sorry".

Tom shakes his head and brings his face closer to yours, planting a soft kiss in the corner of your mouth. "What a silly little girl you are. How would you ever think I'd ever have eyes for another girl, when I've got the prettiest with me?"

You release a breathe, your grip at Tom's shirt stronger, pulling him closer. "You'd be really dumb if you did, yeah."

Tom smiles in your mouth and you do as well. "Guess I haven't been showing my girl how much I appreciate her properly lately" he whispers, heading his lips along your jaw, to chase a soft spot on your neck. "Tell me, love, would you like to feel it?" His low and seductive words sent a shiver right through your spine, making you release a quiet moan in anticipation.

"Do you want to feel how much I adore you?" He breaths in your neck, smelling your sweet scent, as carefully grabs your thighs to get you to straddle his lap. "How much I adore your pretty little moans and whines? Those wonderful sounds you make just for me?"

You nod yes, adjusting your position on Tom's lap, rubbing against his crotch on accident and feeling he grunt with the contact.

"Use your words, my love. Need to hear you". He insists, running both his hands to your ass, grabbing each cheek firmly. When you whine a timid 'yes', he smirks against your smooth skin. "Always so eager for me", with precise movements, he guides your hips to meet his, creating a perfect friction between both of you. You could feel his hard against your pulsing center, claiming for more.

Tom lets out a struggled sigh, as if he was holding himself back when feeling your center pressing against him. "See? Only you can make me this hard".

You gulp, trying to catch your breath as your hands make its way to his trousers, but Tom is quick to deny it and stop you. "No, pretty girl. As much as I'm aching to feel you right now, I need to prove you something" he smirks playfully. His right hand releases your bum and goes to your front, making a smooth path in his way to your breast. He put your hard nipples between two fingers, pulling it softly. You moan and move your hips over his lap. Tom's jaw tenses up. "Fuck, darling". He presses his hand firmly on your hip to settle you down, as you smile apologetic.

"Need you, Tom". You whine, arching your back so you were even closer to him.

"Yeah?" He smirks, hand going back to work, sliding inside your pyjamas' short. Tom's brows arch in surprise. "No panties?"

You bite your lip. "When I came down here, I was thinking that maybe we could do something. After you were done".

He chuckled a bit, his cocky smile showing off. "So you were planning on getting fucked in my office?" You only nod once, feeling your center pulse and your cheek heat up. "You dirty, dirty girl".

Tom reaches your pulsing core, a single digit sliding through your wet folds. "God, baby, you're so wet". You moan, letting your weight loose on top of Tom, whose strong arms could handle it. "I barely touched you".

"Stop teasing me, Tom" you claim, eyes closed, as you feel he was threatening to enter two fingers inside you, but collecting them all together again.

"Darling, I think you shouldn't have a word about anything today" he says calmly. "After all, you interrupted my meeting, messed my work up. All because you couldn't wait to get fucked. Do you think you were good, y/n?"

You swallow hard, voice trembling. "N-no".

Tom smiles satisfied. "Yes. Now, though you don't deserve any of that, I'm a man of my word, and I said I was going to show you what my girl is worth of". He gesticulates briefly and you have to take a few seconds to understand he wants you to get up.

You do so, waiting until he gets up too. Confused, you stare at him, who cups your face, kissing the tip of your nose.

"I want you to sit in my chair". He murmurs and you can't help the surprise in your face.

"Why's that?" You frown and he only gestures his head to the chair again. With no other choice, you find yourself doing as you were told.

It was a strange feeling, the soft material of his chair against the bare skin of your exposed leg, where your thin shorts couldn't reach. Strange, because nobody would ever sit on Tom's chair. It wasn't exactly a rule, but everyone did better than risking taking what was his, and that being the biggest and most imposing chair in the conference room, only he could sit there. And maybe that's what entertained him that moment, the sight of you in a place that held so much power as that chair.

It took a good few seconds for you to relax there, and Tom didn't take his eyes from you the whole time. Staring, he would lick his lips, arms crossed over his chest, making his muscular arms very visible for you.

"You know, you could do this. I can picture you sitting here, making demands", he says, as if he was deep in thoughts moments ago, approaching you with hungry eyes. He puts his hands over the chairs' arm rest and lean in you, smiling.

You feel your heart race and try to correct your breathing. "Really?" You arch a brow incredulously. "Don't think I could be so tough".

"You learn this with time, darling", he reassures you, "But I think we'd have to manage who'd be in charge from time to time. I can share it with you, but not give it all. Would you like that?" You knew that by this time he wasn't talking about the mob.

With a charming smile, Tom gets down on both knees and puts his hands in yours. "Yeah, I think", you say in a whisper, too concentrated in his actions to say otherwise or anything else.

"Mmm. You're such a delicate angel", he opens your legs slowly, grabbing the back of your knee to pull you in to him. You gasp in surprise, holding the arm rest to keep yourself steady. "I imagine how you'd look like taking control. Perfect, I know".

It was a sight to see, a powerful man like Tom on his knees, a position you never thought you'd see him at. He looked like he was at your mercy, under your control, just as if he was there to please you, though he still did take the command.

"Tom, please", you whine, not giving a care about sounding desperate anymore.

"Patient, my love. Wanna take my sweet time with you", he pats your leg so you can lift your hips to help him take off your shorts. "Cause that's what I appreciate doing with you. Take every single part of you, make you mine. Slowly". He brings you closer and you pant when he kisses the inner of your thigh, eyes never leaving yours. "Take care of my girl, as she deserves".

You feel yourself growing anxious as you tried to stay still when he brought his lips up to your core. "You smell so good, love. Can't wait to taste it". His lips make no hurry to reach your folds, hot breath hitting your aching center. He looks up at you, wicked smile, as his mouth hover you, teasing.

By this time, you’re already dripping, walls clenching around nothing for the expectation. Finally, you felt Tom's lips connecting with your pussy lips, skillful tongue smoothly licking your arousal, spreading it all over your core.

He put his tongue inside of you, tasting it, adoring the way you'd roll your eyes back with pleasure. "Sweet as fucking candy". He murmurs with his mouth against you, causing vibrations all over your cunt.

You moan when he flicks his tongue over your bud, and tug at his hair. The reaction comes right away and Tom moans against you, putting one of his fingers inside you, but not deep enough, waiting for you to adjust as your walls stretched deliciously. "Can feel you swallowing my finger, baby. You want me?”

"Tom", you whine, arching your back as Tom pushes his fingers deeper inside you. "Please. Gimme more".

"You want more, sweet girl?" Tom smirks, entering you as much as he could, adding a second finger to your pulsing core. You felt the cold of his silver ring against your hot skin, causing you to have goosebumps. Feeling you clench around him, Tom started fingering you, hands precisely moving to stuff you in the most raving way. He took his pace, fast enough to the sound of your wetness fill up the room.

He laps your bud once again, repeatedly, catching it between his lips once in a while and sucking, making you release a loud moan.

You tugged harder in his curls and that's when he realized you were close. "My beautiful girl is close? Can feel you clenching, baby."

You nod once, trying to catch your breath as your hips rock against his fingers. Tom took them out and you almost pulled his hair for that, but he soon replaced it with his firm tongue. "C'mon, darling, fuck yourself on my tongue".

You did so, not caring about your messed movements or your loud noises. Tom was right there, holding you hip down with one hand to keep you steady and stimulating your clit with his thumb with another. It was the most beautiful sight you could have and you were on the verge of your edge.

"You're- fuck, so fucking hot, Tom" you cry out, head falling back. "Shit! 'M close"

Tom started to fuck his tongue inside you again. Your toes curl, your belly burns and your heart couldn't beat faster. Tom grabbed the back of your legs and abruptly brought you closer to his face, keeping his tongue firm and thumb working on your bud. He replaced it with his two wet fingers for a moment, just to speak to you and coax your orgasm. “Look at you, baby, so, so beautiful when you’re coming. Fuck, wish they all could see what a pretty and dirty girl I’ve got right here, angel”.

You moan and Tom can tell you’re about to lose it, putting his tongue back to work. "That's it, love, cum on my tongue, make a sweet mess on my face".

You couldn't hold back anymore. Your whole body felt like sparkles, as you tightened your grip on Tom's hair, chest panting, muscles rigid, voice coming out as the loudest moan of your night. It’s all about you now, what you feel. Tom is right there, holding you, controlling your body squirming with his strong hands.

Tom helps you ride out your orgasm, tongue and fingers never leaving you. His noise bumped into your clit as he seemed to enjoy licking your juices, face still lost between your legs. But when you finally saw him again, you thought you could have another orgasm just from the look on his face.

"Fuck", you pant, still trying to catch your breath. "You're- you're all covered-"

Before you could even finish, Tom got up from his knees and took your face in between his hands, capturing your lips on his. The kiss was messy, clashing tongues and teeth, but it was all pleasure. You could taste yourself, take what Tom had left on his lips. It was sweet - a mix of both of you.

"You're a fucking mess right now" you tell him, a slight giggle coming out of your dry throat, wiping some of the wetness from his chin.

"I know", he smiles back at you, pecking your lips once more. He catches the fingers you used to clean his face and leads it to him mouth, sucking on them gently. "Proudly. Who else in this fucking world can have the pleasure of being a mess with your cum, eh?"

You shove his shoulders playfully and spin the chair. "Well, I think I could truly run things here. Feel very powerful now".

Tom puts his hand on the back of the chair to stop it from moving. "That's because you had me between your legs just a few seconds ago, love", he smirks "But I think we can manage that".

You get up from the chair and put your hands on the collar of his shirt, gripping it between your fingers. "Good", you look up at him, smiling devilishly. "First thing, though, I remember you were here to prove me something".

"Oh, darling" he chuckled darkly. "We surely are not finished yet".

#Tom Holland #tom holland kink #tom holland blurbs #Tom x reader #mob!tom #mob!tom x reader #hoodie of holland smut #Tom holland smut

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years

Text

"Weird Secret Friends" *Chapter 2*

Part 1

Part 3

Y'all IDK what it is about this story but I can just write and write and write. This one ended up being 11 pages [on a google doc] And I only stopped because it's 2:15 am.

I hope you guys like this, but I just want to clarify: This isn't a Barisi fic. I'm sorry, if you're looking for that, just...this isn't it. I mean they do interact and it'll be fun, but they will not be ending up together.

That being said, enjoy this new chapter! I'm debating on how pathetic enamored Sonny is, I don't think I'm gonna go that deep. No worries, people.

As always let me know if you want to be added/deleted off the tag list!! <3

Tag List

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@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

-------

"Y/N, I'm so happy for you and Barba. You make the cutest couple," Sonny beamed at you while you were wrapped in Rafael's arms, huge smiles on all of your faces.

"Thank you Sonny, that means so much." You gave him a warm hug.

"Yeah….and you'll make the cutest couple in HELL!" All of a sudden Sonny pushed both you and Rafael off a cliff.

You were falling to your death when you woke up to your professor glaring at you.

"Have a nice nap, Miss Y/N?" He scowled at you.

"Um," You cleared your throat and straightened up at your desk. "Yes sir,"

"Good," he huffed as he headed to the front of the classroom once more. "Maybe now we can continue without your snoring,"

You heard the students around you snicker at his comments as You sunk lower into your desk and waited for class to end. It had been a long train ride home and then a drive to your apartment last night, you hadn't gotten home until around 2 am and had this 8 am class. As soon as the professor dismissed your class you booked it out of the class and out into the parking lot of your community college.

"Ugh, could this day get any--" before you could even finish your thought you got your answer. Your phone beeped with a text from Rafael:

RAFA: Hey killer, how's the bullshit county? 😉

That was the nice thing, then just as you were about to text him back your phone lit up.

SONNY BOI CALLING

"Shit!" You hissed to no one. "How does he know?!"

"Ahem….Heyyy, cuz," You answered it with your best nonchalant voice. That of course sounded totally chalant.

"Hey sunshine," His voice sounded relaxed, thank God.

"What's up?" You tried keeping your tone light as you neared your car.

"Well y'know I was just thinkin, I feel real bad about standing you up last night,"

"Oh, Son it's no big deal really," the fact that he felt guilty about anything made you feel even more guilty.

"No, I know you have a busy schedule and it takes a lot to get into the City and I just blew you off," He kept on with the guilt train.

"You didn't blow me off Son you had work. I get that--" You unlocked your car and got in, starting it so your windows would thaw. And your whole body.

"Well I wanna make it up to you," He cut you off.

"Oh?" your voice fell short. This couldn't be good.

"Yeah, my boss-- well he's not really My boss but Mr. Barba--"

Oh shit. Barba? Was Barba having a party? Why wouldn't He tell you that? Wait why WOULD he tell you that? Stupid. Wait, what was Sonny saying?

".... birthday, so you could be like my date," you caught the tail end of his invite.

"Birthday?" You repeated like a parrot. It was Barba's birthday? Oh god. You were really trying not to focus on how old he was. Don't ask. For the love of god don't say it Sonny.

"Yeah don't worry you don't need to get him anything, I got it covered," Sonny assured you.

Well, that was one way you could figure out just how much your cousin cared about his "idol". The more expensive the gift, the stronger the feelings were. You wondered whether you should ask him now or wait for the surprise. Maybe you should ask now, then his answer should tell you what you'd be getting into.

*So what did you get this 'non boss' of yours?" You asked slyly.

"Oh," now Sonny's voice dropped. "Well I, I don't wanna say,"

Fuck.

Don't panic. Do not panic.

"Oh come on Sonny," you did your best to keep a joking tone. "What am I gonna do, tell him?"

Should you joke about it? Hidden in plain sight, right?

"No I guess not, it's not like you know him,"

Whew.

"It's just kinda embarrassing…."

Oh god.

"O-Oh?" You tried to stay calm. "Why's that? Is it a gag gift?"

Please be a gag gift.

"Actually it's a new briefcase," He replied.

"Oh why is that embarrassing you goof?” You gave him a hard time. What was that in the emotional baggage department? Pun intended.

"I mean, it's more expensive than the one I own," You could hear the shrug in his voice.

Fuck. Don't ask why. Don't ask. But if you don't ask, that will be even more suspicious wouldn't it?

"Oh Son," You asked softly. "Why would you do that?"

"Well the one he has is as old as dirt, I think it's probably the first one he ever bought. I wanted him to look snazzy in court." He replied with a super eager tone.

"That's sweet," you were pounding your steering wheel in frustration. Say it.

"Seems like a lot of work for a mentor though," You closed your eyes mentally killing yourself.

"Yeah well," he laughed uncomfortably.

Say it.

"Sonny…” You didn’t want to do this.

“Yeah?” He was oblivious.

“You know you can always talk to me,”

“Yeah of course,” He assured you.

“About anything,” You scrunched your nose.

“Yeah I know, sunshine,” He half laughed.

“ANYTHING,” You reiterated

There was a long awkward pause.

“...Sonny?” You made sure he hadn’t hung up on you.

“Yeah, I'm here,” He replied softly.

“So?” You waited for the bomb to drop.

So…. He sighed. "I just want him to like me,"

Dammit.

"....Yeah," You nodded, cursing yourself.

"Yeah, its stupid. I'm stupid." He laughed again.

“You're not stupid,” you laid your head on the steering wheel in shame.” I mean the heart wants what it wants right?”

“What?! Oh my god, Y/N,” He scoffed. “I'm not gay,”

“….Sonny it's 2021,” you shook your head. “Sexuality is a spectrum,”

Right well. He laughed defensively. "I'm on the p in the v scale,"

“Ugh, Sonny,” you made a face.

“Sorry sunshine,” He apologized. “I just...why would you even think that?!”

“Uh…” You paused.

Maybe he wasn't fully aware that he had romantic feelings for Rafael. If you started pointing out the signs, he might realize it. But then you'd have a cousin going through gay panic AND then finding out it doesn't matter anyway.

"No reason," You lied.

"I just want him to like him so he'll give me a good recommendation once I graduate Fordham Law,"

"Oh" you smacked your head. "Duh. Right. Of course,"

That was completely legitimate. Maybe you had been misreading this whole thing. Now you just had the whole overprotective Gotti side of Sonny to worry about.

"Well I guess I could spend the weekend in the city," You shrugged as you pulled out of the parking lot.

“Absolutely!” He exclaimed. “My couch is always open,”

Not exactly where you were thinking of sleeping, but you weren't blowing your cover over the phone. Wait, maybe you should. Then he couldn't kill you over the phone. Wait, he's presumably at work right now. You didn't know how closely he worked with Barba, but you figured it would be a hell of a lot easier for Sonny to get to him before you could stop him from killing Rafael.

"Sure sounds good. I'll see you then cuz,” You smiled and hung up the phone.

------

Friday arrived, and you once again found yourself standing outside Forlini's. You debated heavily whether to go in or not, but you told yourself you were going to wait for Sonny outside this time, no more risking a sexy bar rendezvous.

You hadn’t really responded to Rafael’s texts the last few days, and you certainly didn’t tell him you were coming. Maybe you should have told him. You grabbed your phone to text him when you heard a familiar voice behind you:

“Y/N?”

You spun around to see Rafael dressed to the 9’s, smiling at you. He smelled delicious, mixed with the food aroma wafting out of the restaurant and the smell of freshly fallen snow in New York City.

“...Happy Birthday, Counselor,” You bit your lip nervously.

“W-What are you doing here?” He stared at you as if he thought he was dreaming.

“Sonny invited me,” You nervously smiled.

“Seriously?” He laughed.

“Seriously,” You nodded with a laugh as well.

“Did-- did you say anything to him?” He asked you worriedly.

“Are you insane?!” You hit him. “No!”

“So why did he invite you here?” He asked.

“He said it was to make up for ditching me the other night,” You shrugged.

“...The irony,” He smirked.

“Mmm,” You nodded with an amused smile.

“Well this is a very happy birthday indeed,” He smiled, pulling you closer into his coat similar to the night you had met.

“....Just don’t ask which one it is,” He warned you while staring at your lips deviously.

“Deal,” You nodded in agreement before he pulled you into a hungry kiss.

“DUDE!!” You snapped back before his lips were on yours for more than a millisecond. “Are you nuts?! Sonny’s gonna be here any second!”

“It’s my birthday, carino,” He made a pouty face. “Don’t yell at me,”

“Oh lord,” You rolled your eyes. “Alright, man child,”

He was about to go for another sneaky kiss when you both heard a voice from behind you.

“....Sunshine?”

“Oh!” You jumped ten feet away from Rafael when you turned to see Sonny standing there with a huge gift bag, staring slack jawed at the two of you. “Sonny! I um, we--”

“I was teaching your cousin a lesson in New York safety,” Rafael talked over you, his face completely stone. God he was a good liar.

“Excuse me, counselor?” Sonny raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two of you. You just stared in speechlessness.

“She was standing on this curb holding her bag out for any miscreant on these streets to just wrestle away from her, I was just demonstrating how,” He gestured to your open purse.

“Barba I really think this ain’t that kinda neighborhood,” Sonny half laughed.

“...You never know,” Rafael shrugged. “Now let’s all get inside, I’m sure everyone is anxious to start celebrating me,”

You and Sonny both rolled your eyes with smiles; too similar of smiles, you noticed. Thankfully, he did not. You both followed Rafael back to a private room where a bunch of fancy dressed people were mingling with drinks in their hands while two long empty tables stood in the middle of the room. They all stopped and clapped when Rafael walked in.

“Oh, for me?” He feigned surprise and humility.

“Yeah right Barba,” A woman laughed sarcastically. “You’re the one who invited us here,”

“Touche, Rita,” Rafael smirked as he began making the rounds around the table greeting everyone.

“So are we allowed to eat now, I’m starving,” An older man asked.

“And I’ve got a son waiting,” A red headed woman chimed in.

“Right, right,” Rafael nodded as people began to take seats. “Sorry everyone, you know I love to make a dramatic entrance,”

“Oh trust me we know, Barba,” Another man called. “Your catwalks into the courtroom prove that. I think we have a montage of them,”

“Ha Ha,” Rafael rolled his eyes, then turned to you and Sonny.

“Sonny,” He put a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you sit next to me?”

“R-Really, counselor?” You saw Sonny’s eyes light up like Christmas tree lights.

Fuck. You knew he was only asking him so that you would sit next to him as well. And while you loved the idea, you knew how much this was toying with Sonny’s feelings.

“A-Are you sure, about that Mr. Barba?” You gave him a look.

“Absolutely, Miss-- I didn’t catch your name?” He played it so cool.

“Y/N,” You held out your hand as you re-introduced yourself.

“Right, well--” He shook your hand then turned his attention to Sonny who was still beaming like a kid on Christmas. “I don’t know how much Carisi has told you, but he is quite the promising mentee of mine,”

“....R-Really, Rafael?” Sonny blinked in disbelief, causing Rafael’s smile to falter for a moment. Sonny had never called him “Rafael” before, it was always “Barba”. Shit, maybe he had given him too much praise.

“I mean, you know, for a lap dog,” He quickly added with a snarky tone and a smirk.

“Mr. Barba!” You tried not to raise your voice at the birthday boy. “That is my cousin you’re talking ab---”

“No, no it’s fine Y/N-- th-that’s how we work isn’t it, counselor? He just gives me jabs, I know he doesn’t mean it,” Sonny laughed nervously, staring at the floor. He knew not to get too comfortable with Barba, why did he even try it?

“Indeed,” Rafael nodded in agreement. “But, I still request you sit by me-- at least I know you don't poison my food. Which is more than I can say for many of my esteemed ‘guests’,” He eyed the tables of people before him.

“Then why invite them to your party?” You quirked an eyebrow.

“I get that Jersey doesn’t have the social classes of Manhattan, Miss Y/N,” He smirked. “But here, you’ve got to do things to keep up appearances,”

“Oh do you?” You practically growled.

“Yes,” He nodded while a waiter brought him a glass of scotch. “Even if you don’t like someone, if they serve a purpose for you than you do what you must to keep in their good graces,”

“Oh is that so? So you’re only kind to people who can ‘serve’ you?” You crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes at him.

What kind of Danny Zuko bullshit was this?! This was an entirely different Rafael Barba you had met the other night. He was kind, flirty, endearing. This new Barba was snarky and condescending, and you were not amused at all.

“Y/N, chill,” Sonny hissed at you. “This is just how Barba is, he’s harmless,”

“Yeah well you might not mind being his doormat Sonny, but I sure as hell won’t be,” You angrily stomped off.

“Oh my god,” Sonny muttered, wondering if he should run after you or not. “Barba, I am so so sorry about her,”

“It’s fine, Carisi,” He watched you stomping away, trying to hide the guilt in his voice. He was just trying his best to throw Sonny off the trail. He may have overcompensated just a tad.

“I-I should go check on her, She’s just a kid--”

“No, allow me,” Rafael put a hand to Sonny’s chest. “It was my faux paux, I should apologize to her myself. I was being a bit of an ass,”

“Yeah but that’s just you, Barba,” Sonny chuckled, trying not to blush at Rafael’s hand on his chest.

“True, but I forget not everyone knows me as well as you do, Carisi,” And now he was trying to be extra nice to Sonny to get on his good side, while cluelessly egging on his feelings.

“That is very true,” Sonny laughed even more nervously. “I’ll uh, I’ll take a seat and get our drinks ordered,”

“Excellent,” Rafael smiled at him, probably one of five times in the entire time they’d known each other. He gave Sonny one more pat on the back before walking after where you had stomped off to.

He found you right before you hit the front door, his hand catching yours before it could grab the handle. You turned and scoffed at him, your scowl still present after stomping off.

“Oh, come to appease me, counselor? How can I be of service to you?” You snapped.

“Please, Y/N,” He gave you apologetic eyes as he pulled you closer to him. “I’m sorry, I just-- I didn’t want Carisi to think anything was off. He already caught us being handsy, I had to make it look like we disliked each other,” He explained.

“Oh I think you’ve done that above and beyond, jackass,” You huffed. “First I’m too stupid to not get robbed in the city, and then I’m too uncultured to understand ‘high society’ manipulative bullshit?”

“I’m sorry, I may have gone a little over--” He started.

“But that wasn’t even an act, was it?” You interjected angrily.

“What do you mean?” He asked you curiously.

“Your line of you having ‘use’ of a person? I assume that is why you have a room full of powerful people you dislike as opposed to a room full of sycophants?” Yeah, you might just go to community college but you knew big words too.

“I mean, that is how it works--”

“Jesus Christ,” You shook your head with a laugh. “You know I understood for about half a second why my cousin is so infatuated by you, but I am losing that belief real quick,” You turned and started to walk away again.

“Y/N come on,” He grabbed both of your arms this time and pulled you close into him, your noses almost touching.

“Look I’m-- I’m sorry, that I’m---this,” He gestured to himself.

“But that’s just how I have to be in their world,” He gestured back towards the room. “I’m telling you, it’s a room full of sharks. If I show weakness or misstep in decorum, I’m nothing but chum to those people,”

“The guy you met the other night, that’s the real me,” He put a hand to your cheek. “I never get to be that guy, not in public. That’s why I was so attracted to you,” He put his other hand on your waist.

“I don’t have to be ‘Rafael Barba, the snarky ADA with a silver tongue,’ I can just be…’Rafa’,” He gave you an earnestly sad smile.

“I’m sorry,” You blinked in confusion. “I know I’m not helping myself but what exactly is the ‘ADA’?”

Your question brought that familiar amused grin and a laugh. “See, this is what I’m talking about,”

“Oh yeah I know, the ignorant girl you can placate--”

“No,” He put a finger on your lips. “The earnest, normal, gorgeous girl,” He kissed your forehead. “I’m sure if we took a poll in here right now the majority of the room would be with you, not knowing what an ADA is,”

“Which still doesn’t answer the question,” You pointed out.

“I…” He tried to think of a way to explain his role in the Manhattan judicial system. “Well, the DA of the county is like-- the King of Lawyers in that section. Or queen, as my boss is Rita,” He shook his head with a laugh. Oh Rita Calhoun, the stories he could tell about her.

“So, you’re her king?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Eh, I’d say Prince but she’d probably say Jester if she heard this metaphor to be honest with you,”

“Mmm I like that,” You finally let yourself smile at him.

“A Prince?” He grinned.

“The Jester,” You gave him a tongued smile, settling against his chest.

“Well, I’ll gladly take that title if it makes you happy,” He kissed your forehead. “I’d do anything to make you happy right now,”

You looked into his green eyes, they were now their usual sparkling green hue, and you remembered very quickly how you had gotten yourself in this mess in the first place. He really was a sweet, charming, gorgeous guy. And then you remembered those were probably all the reasons Sonny fell for him too.

“Ahem.” You straightened up and stepped out of his grasp. “Well, what would make me happy right now is getting back to my cousin,”

“Oh,” Rafael’s eyes softened into a sad gaze.

“Rafael, I think he really likes you,” You bit your lip with guilt. “And you toying with him just now isn’t helping!”

“Toying with him?” Rafael’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion? “I wasn’t toying with--”

“Sit by me, Carisi? You’re important to me, Carisi?” You imitated his questions in a mocking tone.

“I had to ask him that so you would--” He started to explain, but you already knew.

“I know!” You stopped him. “I know, that’s why it’s so fucked!” You put your hands over your face.

“Carino…” Rafael walked over and pulled your hands from your face and held them.

“I’m hurting him every second that I stand here with you, and I--” You bit your lip trying not to cry. “I’m still doing it! I can’t walk away!”

“So don’t,” He squeezed your hands with an even sadder look.

“This is just--” You broke free from his grasp once again and wiped your eyelids. “We need to get back before Sonny comes after you,”

“....So where does this conversation leave us, then?” He asked you cautiously.

“I don’t…” You gazed into his puppy dog emerald eyes. “I don’t know, I don’t want to think about it right now, okay?”

“Fair enough,” He put his hands down in concession. “...But we really need to--”

“Yeah, I know,” You nodded softly as you walked back to the private room, Rafael trailing behind you.

All you could think on the way back was how in God’s name were you going to make it through the rest of the night.

#rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba fanfiction #rafael barba imagine'#sonny carisi #law and order svu #weird secret friends

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