#summertime fluff

[superblysubpar]

I Was Next To You, And You Were Right There Next To Me:

a best friends to lovers story - steve harrington x fem!reader

steve & reader's playlist | summertime magic masterlist

9.7k words

warnings: see masterlist for general warnings about reader plus she's established as not a fan of camping in this chapter - PS if you don’t know what a koosh is you are too young to read this - 18+ only babes! | nothing too crazy this chapter - mentions of alcohol and drugs being used / illusions and talk of masturbation / slight graphic warning about injuries (descriptions of blood and scary things and what not - this part is kind of angsty and ends not so fun, it might get your heart beating so sorry...)

📻 Now Playing: Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) by Looking Glass

"...already almost 80 degrees out and only growing hotter, folks! I don't know about you but I cannot wait for Newby Waterpark to open on Monday! Hawkins' newly renovated downtown is sure to bring in..."

Radio nudged lower as you sigh, flopping onto your pile of clothes that lay atop your baby blue comforter. The familiar tick and spray of a sprinkler outside mingles with children's laughter, the wheels of skateboards and bikes kicking up gravel. The grind of a lawn mower wafts the fresh scent of the cut grass through your window. Yellow curtains flutter in the warm breeze and the lilacs from the Harrington's backyard linger in the air. 

The sun is just rising, those cotton candy pink and sherbert oranges breaking through the white puffs of clouds above the homes that line the already bustling neighborhood that sits along Cornwallis.  

Summer - the first official day of it.

Your last summer in Hawkins for the foreseeable future most likely, and you're spending it working. It is important, you know this, a summer job is needed to show future employers that you didn’t spend your summer sitting on your ass - that you had ambition and drive and all the buzzwords. But how are you having to make adult choices like this? What happened to carefree summers filled with melting popsicles and no schedule other than the movie theater’s? How does it all look the same but feel completely different?

The embroidered daisies on your comforter are frayed, older, and have lost a bit of their shimmer like the girl who resides beneath them every night. Your walls are littered with the past, with memories and reminders of what could have been and what happened instead. The light bulbs in your lamps are milky, dim with minimal use the last few years, posters of bands you no longer listen to illuminated by them. 

It's not all old and coated in a bittersweet taste only the past can leave in your mouth - some things are new. Like the clothes you are currently laying on, carried to and from your new home back to the childhood one you somehow seek to get away from and stay in until you die. Your bulletin board now littered with reminders for the summer, to do lists, a few Polaroids of the only reason you came back one more year. 

Like the boy can hear you thinking about him, you hear the familiar plink of something hitting your window. Sure enough, as the radio trills out the beginning notes of 'Brandy (You're A Fine Girl'), you loll your head to the side to find him with his arms folded on your windowsill, a perfect smile above the chin resting on them. 

"Well, well, well, would you look at what summer dragged in." Steve's grin only grows wider at the roll of your eyes. He clambers inside the open window, still all too broad of shoulders and clumsy limbs, never quite figuring out the best way to enter despite years of practice. He dusts his hands off on his jeans before they rest on his hips satisfied. 

Some things about Steve Harrington have never changed in the almost 20 years you've known each other. He's still got jeans, a shirt, and shoes that match perfectly - clothes that are in with the latest trends. Everything in the Harrington household wrinkle free of course, and smelling like the same laundry detergent that costs a dollar seventy five more per bottle, but Vivian Harrington insists is the best. He's got the same old watch on his left arm that his grandfather gave him, but the leather band is a little more worn, it fits snuggly on his tanned wrist now. Of course, there's the hair. The only difference with that being the way he learned how to style it, and you suppose it's darkened a bit over the years - caramel and honey to match his eyes. 

Steve squints at the walls of your bedroom in the low lamplight, remembering how he helped you tack up posters and frames years ago. His nose scrunches before his tongue sticks out on the right side as he reads something on your bulletin board. He turns his head to glance over his shoulder at you, large hands dragging over a few of the textbooks you brought home.

"Missed you, city girl." His lips twist up into the familiar smirk under the unfamiliar scruff of what appears to be a mustache he's trying to grow. 

Your favorite pillow squished under your arms as you roll to face him, kicking your legs up. You watch the way his eyebrows furrow but his lips twitch at your quiet, "Missed you too, small town boy." His chest aches a little from the way you say it, like you really did but somehow didn’t at the same time. 

Steve's always been a nickname guy, these one’s his newest favorite all because of an obsession you both have with Journey. He had insisted on changing the lyrics, that it was your song, it made total sense. Although, Buttercup might be his lasting favorite and most used - because of your favorite song and his favorite movie of course. 

He spins, resting himself against your desk, and raises his eyebrows at you as you both sit in not quite an uncomfortable silence. It’s never awkward exactly, this reunion between you and Steve, but there’s always something different when you come home now. 

When you were little, a mere few hours apart had you running towards each other shrieking about who missed who more, Steve lifting your toes off the ground in a hug without a second thought. Now, months apart, and it felt like the air stilled, like there were words hanging there for both of you to say or hear in the silence but neither of you did or could. Despite phone calls to each other as much as possible, the truth was, you both had lives apart from one another now. It always took a second for your gears to line back up, a little oil in the form of jokes and awkward small talk until it was the well running machine your friendship had always been again. 

Steve’s fingers tap at the wood underneath them as he clears his throat, a stray piece of hair falling across his forehead as he ducks his head, feeling silly for the question he asks, “Um, can we…hug?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” You scramble off of your bed, tripping a little on the pile of shoes you dumped out last night. 

He catches your fingers and rolls his eyes, “Why are you apologizing?”

Humming as you shrug your shoulders and his arms wrap around you. A hug from Steve was something you wish you could have kept bottled up, pulled out while away at school on the really bad days and held until everything felt right again. They were warm, safe, and reminded you of Steve sharing the last brownie in the tray with you no matter what, of holding hands on a roof while you wished on shooting stars, and they always seemed to turn the world back on its axis when you felt like it was all a little off kilter. Maybe you didn’t have a plan or any idea what the future held, but his arms around you always had a way of reassuring you it’d all be alright and work out in the end. 

Your palms wrap up and underneath, pressed just under his shoulder blades and his go over, enveloping you so your face lies against his chest. It’s easy, like riding a bike, and it’s always the first piece of the machine that starts working again - or maybe the only piece that never breaks. You inhale deeply, relaxing into the other part of Steve you wish you could bottle for rainy days. There’s something about the way he smells, like his toothpaste and expensive things like leather, but it’s more. Maybe it’s rain right before a sunset, or the woods you explored as kids, you’ve never been able to put your finger on it. It’s just Steve, and no other boy has ever come close to smelling as good. 

He clears his throat and you realize you’ve had your nose pressed between his pecs and your body heats up, letting your arms drop. Stepping backwards, you look anywhere but him as your fingers become restless, “Sorry, just missed you, smell good.”

Why the fuck did you just say that? Best friends don’t tell each other they smell good, Y/N.

Steve’s smile is cocky, but you don’t miss the way his cheeks turn a little pink as he quips, “I smell good?”

Rolling your eyes, you turn away from him to your closet, searching, thinking quickly on your feet. “I meant, your, uh, detergent,” looking over your shoulder and smiling, “You’ve got the good stuff over there, was thinking of stealing a bottle in August, Viv won’t mind right?”

Steve laughs a little as he flops onto your bed and your shoulders relax - crisis averted. The invisible line Steve and you had never crossed aside from that one kiss in middle school still drawn in the metaphorical sand. “No, no, I’m sure she’ll blame me or the housekeeper. Actually,” he tosses the pink and green ‘Koosh’ from your nightstand into the air as he continues, “She’ll probably think whoever’s sleeping with my dad took it.”

You spin, wincing and biting your bottom lip, “Shit, I didn’t want you to find out this way…”

“Oh, fuck off!” He tosses the neon toy at your head and you laugh, motioning for him to turn away as you hold up your swimsuit.

He sighs, hands over his eyes as he grumbles something about his dad, faltering when he hears clothes hitting the floor but recovering quickly. You roll your eyes - boys are too easy. 

Your summer uniform of a baggy shirt and jean shorts back over your swimsuit and you stand in front of him. Painted bright red toes tapping his shoe as you smile widely while you tease, “I mean, your dad’s not unattractive-”

Steve’s eyes shoot open as he sits up, voice hoarse, “Stop.”

Shrugging your shoulders and having too much fun at the way Steve’s ears turn red as you continue, “One time, he had on these pair of jeans, which is weird for your dad, you know? And I remember thinking: huh, Mr. Harrington’s butt looks-”

Steve’s hand is over your mouth, body on top of yours as he pulls you onto the bed and rolls. His lips fight a smile, twitching as his eyebrows furrow over his eyes that sparkle. Greens and golds shimmering in the morning sunlight as he leans in closer and whispers, “If you care about me at all you will never, ever finish that sentence.”

Raising your arms under him in surrender, Steve slowly removes his hand from your mouth, eyes watching you carefully. Steve’s warm, his weight against yours comforting and your mouth feels a little dry at the thoughts running through your head. Maybe this was a good time to tell him you weren’t coming back. That it was time to move - on, away - it was time to grow up and you wish he would with you. 

“Ohh, Dingus!” A voice sings from below your window. 

Steve winces as you frown and he gets up, rubbing the back of his neck, mouth opening to answer the question before it even leaves your mouth. 

“Steve, why is Robin here?”

He drops his head in defeat, fingers squeezing his neck as he sighs, “Okay, so I know, it’s your first day back, and we have our deal, but she had too much of this coconut cherry I don’t know what it was last night and well her parents are out of town and…” he keeps going and you sigh. 

You don’t dislike Robin, in fact, you really love her. Sure, you were a little jealous at first that it took Steve all of a month to find a new best friend when you left for early admission that summer. You hate that she was there for him and you weren’t. You hate that they all share a bond you’ll never know because they’ve been here in the hell hole of Hawkins, together, and you haven’t been. But, you’ve learned how to put yourself in a different category - you’re a different kind of friend, and that’s okay. You can share Steve. 

Except on your first day home. 

A rule you both made up in ‘86. The first day back for the summer was yours and Steve’s only. It’s catching up and eating too much junk food, laying by his pool and cooling off with movies before heading back outside to start it all over again. It’s stealing his mom’s good wine and ordering pizza. It was yours and no one else’s. 

At least, that’s how it used to be.

Steve’s finally finished whatever excuse he’s come up with and he stops, shoulders slumping, “You’re mad.”

Forcing a smile, you tuck your hands in your lap and shrug, “No.”

He groans, waggling his finger, and you have to cover your smile and he has to shake his head at the thought of how much he looks like his dad when he does it. “Don’t lie, I know you, Buttercup.”

Standing, you open your door and head down the hallway and shrug your shoulders. “I’ll get over it, of course Robin can hang out with us Steve.”

He starts to follow you out after clicking off your lamp, glancing at your bulletin board again and the picture of him, saying something about making it up to you. Waving him off, halfway down the stairs and looking back up at him as you grin. “Well, why don’t we call it even? You invited Robin to our hangout and I,” you blow out your breath and smile, “Well, Steven, I think your dad has a cute butt.”

Steve gasps but you’re already down the stairs as he chases after you and out the front door shouting something about please for the love of god take it back. Your gleeful, ‘never’ through a peal of laughter and a shouted ‘Hi Robin! Missed you!’ as you race towards his backyard is an image he wishes he could snap a picture of and keep forever. 

The radio still plays, the oldies station drifts out of your window and he glances up at it as he runs by, missing hearing it every day. 

📻 Now playing: Working For The Weekend by Loverboy

Murray stared at you unimpressed, a click of his tongue before the clack of his fingers returning to his keyboard, eyes moving to the screen as he mused, “You’re hungover.”

“I’m not.” A lie, a blatant lie. You didn’t think you’d ever been more hungover in your life to be honest. 

The alarm next to your bed had been slammed off by a large palm this morning, Steve grumbled from his diagonal position across your bed, something about how he couldn’t work, not today. Your bare foot kicked his shirtless and freckled shoulder, somehow your head ending up at the foot of the bed and his on your pillow all night. 

“Steve,” your tongue sat heavy in your mouth, thick and desperate for water. You smacked your lips together and whined, stars still blinking behind your eyes as you kept going, “You have to drive me, I don’t have a car.”

“I hate you,” he moaned, morose, like he was in physical pain - maybe he was. 

“I’m not the one who shoved whiskey down your throat all night!” You kicked at him again and he caught your ankle and hoisted it in the air without opening his eyes. Your yelp interrupted when something below your eyeline squeaked.

Tilting your head back in a grave mistake, you cursed, pushing yourself into an upright position, palms and fingers clinging to your comforter in search of stability since the room was spinning and Steve tugged on your foot with a whine that must have meant to stop moving and shaking the bed. The whiskey pusher in question curled up on your floor under a pile of your clothes instead of a blanket. 

Cups upon cups to your lips that tasted like peaches and cherries, Robin’s amazed and shocked voice still clear as day in your head as she shouted about how you couldn’t even taste the alcohol.

Steve and you had barely made it into the parking lot, clutching your clipboard and tugging on the strap of red spandex that dug into your shoulder. Ignoring the snickers and comments as the two of you practically fell out of the car together, hair unwashed and smelling of alcohol, exactly one minute early. 

Murray doesn’t believe you. You know it, he knows it, and the staff waiting just outside the door knows it. So he simply peers over his wire frames at you, handing over a clipboard and a scoff, “Okay, and I’m the mayor.”

You turn on your heel and his voice calls after your retreating form, just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Puke in the pool and Harrington and you get double shifts for the whole month!”

The too large for you raybans slide over your eyes as your face heats up at the whispers from the staff. Sandals clacking too loudly, swimsuit and athletic shorts too tight, your forehead dotted with sweat and expelling the alcoholic demons from your system before the sun has barely started its climb. This was all wrong and you clear your throat, determined to still turn the day around. 

“Good morning!” your voice squeaks and no one really stops talking. 

Steve’s eyebrows furrow at the crowd, mouth opening but you beat him to it, making sure everyone knows you’re in charge and not him - much to his dismay you’re sure. Repeating yourself a little louder, “I said, good morning!”

Everyone stops then and you go through logistics of lunch breaks and rules that all waterpark attendants need to follow, ending on, “Oh, and absolutely no making out in the supply closet.”

A girl you don’t recognize starts to raise her hand and you tack on, “Or the concession booth,” and it quickly drops. 

Steve starts to laugh, covering it with a cough into his fist as every employee glares at you. Tommy Hagan smirks like it’s a personal challenge, Andy rolls his eyes, Heidi blows a bright pink bubble of her gum and snaps it loudly as Carol scoffs. Rolling your shoulders back and letting the whispers of ‘pathetic’ and ‘jealous’ from the girls who peek at Steve bounce off of you. All another reason you didn’t want to come home again, the looming sign of ‘jealous best friend’ or ‘hey look at me I’m the third wheel!’ always above your head. 

“Alright! Assignments!”

Sheet flipping on the clipboard, you rattle off names and positions, staff talking amongst themselves until you tell them where to go, leaving in pairs. Andy argues with you about how he wanted the concession booth and your reply of that’s too damn bad earns a whistle from Carol and a wink from Tommy, mumbling something about ‘feisty’ as the two boys slink off to the obstacle course part of the park.

“Sinclair!” you shout and both teens step forward, smiling at you, “Both of you on slides.”

Their smiles drop immediately and Steve twists his lips up and you know he’s preparing to argue with you, to let you know that this pairing probably wasn’t a good idea from the way the two teen siblings glared at each other with disgust. 

“I wouldn’t-” Steve began and you interrupted.

“Harrington, I got it.”

“Right.”

Everyone left in the small circle lets out quiet oo’s, like he had just been told to go to the principal’s office. Rolling your eyes, you suppress your groan because of course he’s next on the list. 

“Harrington!”

His eyes sparkle and he stands up straighter, “Yeah, boss?”

Everyone’s lips twist and you recall your note he stared a little too long at on your bulletin board vowing to make him call you just that. 

Keeping your voice cool, you reply, “Lessons. Byers and-”

“I’m sorry, what?” Steve’s voice interrupts you again and you push his glasses into your hair, raising your eyebrows at him. 

“What now, Harrington?”

Steve steps forward, voice dropping as his eyebrows pinch together, “You’re not seriously putting me with kids all day long? Lessons? As in swimming lessons?”

Your clipboard drops to your side, hip cocking as your chin rises in a challenge, “As a matter of fact I am, do you have a problem with it?”

Steve narrows his eyes, raising his brows and hands, surrendering as he backs away, “No problem here ma’am.”

Steve heads off towards the pool, turning and miming how you were going to pay, finger pointing and then drawing a line over his throat as he shakes his head with a smile so you know he’d get over it eventually. You slide his sunglasses back over your eyes, newfound energy buzzing through you as you smile and keep going, “Right, where was I…Byers…”

Your body collapses onto the bench of one of the picnic tables. The sun is just breaking past its highest point, a layer of sweat glistens on your skin, your sandals new and unbroken and you kick them off, your arches relaxing into the hot cement. So far you’ve only had to put out small fires - a first aid kit delivered to the lazy river where a kid tried to belly flop into a tube and missed; an unfortunate cleaning incident in the kiddie pool that Steve was gonna make you pay for no doubt; an actual fire in the concession booth where Argyle tried a new snack invention out against Jonathan’s warning, and separating Lucas and Erica after she shoved him down one of the water slides headfirst. You hate that Steve was right. 

His voice pulls your attention, and you glance over at the deep end of the pool where he stands. He swipes water from his eyes and his teeth are almost as bright as the turquoise water reflecting the sun that ripples around his tanned and toned waist. He stares up at the six year old with yellow floaties wrapped around her arms where she fidgets near the edge of the pool. 

“Alright Bailey, so when I say three, you’re gonna jump.”

“Kay,” she shivers, unconvinced, pink ruffles on her swimsuit blowing in the breeze as she frowns at him. 

A line of a few more kids behind her wait their turn and Steve yells ‘three’ excitedly, holding his arms out. 

Bailey doesn’t move a muscle. 

A boy behind her groans, “Mr. Steve, she's not going to do it, she's too scared!”

Steve points at him, “Hey, I seem to remember someone being afraid of me taking my hand off of them to float by themselves Jack.” Steve wades over to the edge and smiles, “Bailey, you can wait to jump, but I bet you’re gonna have a blast once you do. I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

She pouts, eyes filling with tears and he reaches up and squeezes her hand, “Hey don’t worry, we have all summer. Watch some of the other kids try it, okay?”

Bailey nods and moves out of line as a flash of red fills your vision.

Murray towers above you, arm extended and dangling a can of coke that drips with condensation in front of your face. “I’m impressed, kid. You run a smooth ship,” he gestures with the can towards you, “For your hangover.”

Your fingers curl around the Coke, mouth parting to argue and he holds up his hand, “Spare me. If not for that then to soothe the heated lust you have for the Harrington boy.”

He starts to walk away, your nose wrinkling at his choice of words before you realize what they actually imply, shouting, “I don’t-”

“You do!” Murray’s arm waves, interrupting you as he disappears back towards the front offices.

“You don’t what?” a familiar voice says as it plops into the seat next to you. Your frown replaced by a wide smile. 

Eddie Munson sits with his head back, lips pulled over his teeth in a way that shows off his dimples, big brown eyes crinkling in the corners. He’s somehow still in jeans despite the heat, legs spread wide as he leans against the wood tabletop behind him. Pale arms revealing his tattoos in all their glory thanks to the roughly cut band tee draped across his form. He places a cigarette between his lips, lighter raised and you pluck it free, ignoring his scoff of protest. 

“You can’t smoke here!” Snagging the pack he had thrown onto the table and holding it away from him, “Besides, I thought you said you were quitting?”

He groans, “That was two years ago and before I started working with that prissy-”

“You’re in fucking love with her, admit it,” you roll your eyes, pushing Steve’s sunglasses onto your head as you give him a knowing look.

“I hate her,” he waves a hand, dismissive as his cheeks turn pink and he looks around the park.  

Your thumb swipes over the top of your Coke, wiping the condensation with a loud laugh, “Okay, I don’t believe that for one second, Eddie. I don’t understand why you can’t just-”

“Tell her how I feel? Well, sweetheart, I could ask you the same thing about a certain next door loverboy, couldn’t I?”

Your mouth clamps shut and he leans forward, face close to yours, “Not so easy being on the other side is it?”

A brown sack falls in front of the two of you, both of you looking up to see Robin disappearing towards Steve with a wave of her hand. Steve smiles at the two of you, water clinging to his body, chest hair curling and sticking to his skin, red swim trunks that contrast his bronzed skin - pulling on and highlighting certain things that make you have to look away.

Steve pushes a hand through his hair as he watches Eddie lean closer to you, a smile on both of your lips before yours falls. 

“For your drool,” Robin quips as a white and blue striped towel is shoved in his face. 

“M’not drooling,” Steve mumbles under his breath, pushing his face into the towel and trying to even his breathing. 

“I don’t understand you two.” She shakes her head, stealing a chip out of his lunch bag that he yanks from her with a pinched expression taking over his features. 

“There’s nothing to understand because-”

“She’s not staying in Hawkins and I am, I’ll only hold her back, Robs.” Robin finishes with him. 

He glares at her, unamused and she steals the bag of chips again, walking back out of the park, mumbling under her breath, “This is going to a long fucking summer.” She calls back over her shoulder, “Eddie! Break’s over!”

Eddie flips the sunglasses down on your eyes and nose as he stands, knocking Steve’s temple lightly with his knuckles as he passes. Steve and you watch your friends leave the park, and he sits in front of you, water dripping onto your feet as he steals your Pringles and you smile at each other. 

Blowing your breath out of your nose, you take a big bite of your sandwich. Steve shoves a handful in his mouth and speaks around the chips, “What’dhedotostopsmiling?”

PB and J thick in your mouth, you shove it into your cheek as you ask, “Wha?”

Steve shrugs, chewing and rolling his eyes as he gestures to his mouth too full to speak and you both start laughing around your bites of food, leaning into one another.  

Both of you relax, swallowing and breathing normally again. He clears his throat, taking a sip of your coke before he taps the table, “I said, what’d he do to make you stop smiling?”

“Oh,” your fingers pick at the crust on your sandwich as your brows furrow, “Uh, we were just talking about that girl he works with is all.”

Steve hums, “So…you’re jealous?”

“What?” you laugh around a sip of Coke, wiping at your lips, “Of her? No.”

Steve snaps a carrot between his teeth before frowning at it and grabbing another Pringle from your bag. He fiddles with the carrot as he replies, “She’s pretty,” he speaks around the singular chip easily this time, “We went on a date a few weeks ago.”

Your eyes roll as you mumble around the sweet bread that smells like honey, “Of course you did.”

Steve straightens, tone annoyed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shoulders rolling as you mirror his posture, “Just…you go on a lot of dates it seems s’all.”

It’s quiet for a bit before he nods once, fiddling with the paper bag, “It’s not like it was serious you know, just like, fun, you do remember how to do that right?”

Your eyes roll as he spins a cherry tomato and asks, “Have you even gone on any dates lately? Feel like you never really talk to me about it anymore.”

“Oh,” you swallow a grape and shrug, splashes in the pool louder, the sun above you hotter as you try to focus on anything other than him, “Um, not really, nobody really asks me?”

Steve scoffs, leveling you with a disbelieving look, “Honey, now I know that’s not true.”

“Yes it is!” you protest.

“Luke Bishop asked you out for New Year’s and you said-”

“Well, that’s different. That’s guys in Hawkins, I don’t want some small town…” your voice trails off as he purses his lips, realizing what you’re saying.  

Steve’s hot, he’s hungover, and he’s hurt and that’s the only reason he says, “Well, maybe you’ve got a stick up your ass because people in the city don’t know how to have a good time. Maybe you should try out the small town thing for the summer, have some fun - you used to like it.”

Your mouth drops open, “Um, first of all, you’re kind of being an ass. Second, are you seriously telling me I should hook up with guys all summer?”

“Yeah, guys. Multiple. All summer long. Go nuts.” He waves his hand nonchalantly. 

“Fine, maybe I will.” 

“Great, I hope you do.” He smiles, tight lipped and pulls the sunglasses off of your face and pushes them onto his, throwing a grape in his mouth. 

Steve doesn’t say anything more and neither do you. Does he really not see how you feel? Is that really what he wants? To see you with other people, to let you move away while he stays in the same town dating the same people, never growing, never changing, never leaving? 

Maybe it’s just those gears sticking, they need more oil, they need more time. 

He starts to stand and you grab his wrist, hating how your stomach feels and the look on his face, “Hey, can you take me to Rick’s Motors tonight? I’ll buy you a milkshake?” You bat your eyes and try to smile, making your tone light again. 

He stands, “Can’t, sorry, I have a date. I gotta go. The twelve year olds will start drowning each other by the diving boards if I don’t get over there.”

You watch the girls of the park, high schoolers, staff, and even the moms follow his retreating form like lions stalking their prey. His words ringing in your ears as a green monster battles with the whiskey in your stomach for the thing that’s making you more nauseous. 

Maybe Steve is right, and if he insists on dating the entire population of Hawkins instead of you, perhaps you could have some fun with someone else for the summer. 

📻 Now Playing: Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey 

Hoisting yourself up onto the windowsill, you hold your breath when you hear voices coming from his bedroom. 

Wait, not voices, singing, and a…sigh? Oh fuck, is that moan? Oh god, you are seriously not about to see your best friend having sex! You are seriously not hearing your best friend have sex! If this is karmic irony for telling him his dad’s butt is cute you take it back. 

Since Monday, Steve had been gone every night on different dates, like he had something to prove. Like he needed to fill his time with any person that wasn’t you.  

You knew it was silly, a summer Friday night, of course he had a date. He saw how you shrugged and said it’s fine at work though, squeezing your fingers before walking away. The machine was not a well-oiled one again yet, and you were determined to get it back on the right track. 

You had told Rick to fuck right off when he claimed he had no recollection of your deal made over winter break. Before he was hastily calling you sweet thing when you shoved the open envelope that was bursting with cash back into your bag and sighed, claiming to find someone else who’d want the money instead of him. 

A blanket on your front lawn as your parents cooked and relaxed inside, your brand new baby sitting in the driveway. As the sun turned from gold to orange and it dipped behind the houses though, you gave up waiting to show it off for Steve. 

The sky turned blush, then lilac, then the same color of your new car. As the moon started to outshine the fading sun, his maroon BMW finally pulled into his driveway and you grabbed your chucks by the laces and climbed out your window as quietly as you could. 

You had been sure you watched Steve walk into his house alone, but the sound of the groan mixed with Tears For Fears playing quietly made you doubt yourself completely. Your foot slides on a shingle, a quiet ‘fuck’ falls from your lips and a louder ‘Hello?’ comes from inside. 

Your shoulders hunch, your eyes squeeze tight as you cry out from your precarious position, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! I’m leaving, I-”

“What the hell are you doing?” His voice hisses, closer, and you peek one eye open. 

Steve’s eyebrows are furrowed together as he sees you balancing like you’re on a surfboard and not on the roof of his garage with one eye open. He’s half leaning out his window - shirtless, black boxers slung low on his hips, cheeks rosy and hair ruffled, oh god you totally interrupted sex. 

You look down at the roof, body hot as you try to scoot further away, “I- I wanted to hang out, but you’re busy, and-”

“I’m not busy.”

Your head whips up, taking in his appearance again and you tilt your head to the side, “You’re not?”

His expression turns confused, “What, no,” extending his hand out towards you, “Will you please come over to the window, I don’t trust your balance right now.”

You start to crawl towards him, thoughts running a mile a minute as your fingers lace with his and he pulls you through the window, grumbling, “You could have used the front door.”

“You never use the front door,” you stick out your tongue as your hands drop, fingers untangling themselves and he spins, heading to his closet. 

Steve’s sheets are rumpled, the radio playing quietly and his clothes leave a trail from the door to his bed. When you see the bottle of lube hastily shoved under the shirt by the nightstand you spin on him, “You weren’t busy?”

“Do I look like I was busy?” His head pops out of a yellow sweatshirt. 

He yanks on jeans, bouncing a little as he pulls them up his hips, eyebrows raised in your direction. You pretend to be interested in his dresser as you shrug. “Maybe just your hand.”

You whip your head over to look at him dramatically, his fingers stop on his zipper as his head shoots up, cheeks flushing darker and you gasp. “Oh my god, you were masturbating with your window open. Steve Harrington you dirty, dirty-”

His hand is over your mouth, his eyes are closed and his shoulders slump, “Please, please can we never speak of this again?”

You tap on his fingers and he peeks his eyes open to find you raising two fingers in a Scout’s honor, eyes sparkling above his hand as he lets you go. Your other fingers twisted behind your back to cover your tracks for lying because you absolutely plan on bringing it up again. 

It’s quiet, his stereo plays and he buttons his jeans, your bodies too close together. That stilled air is back again and you need to do something to break it so you whisper, “Do you want me to let you finish or are you good to go?”

He groans, hands sliding down his cheeks as he spins and leaves his room. Your feet are loud as you chase after him, skipping down the stairs, both of you jumping over the last two.  

“So it was a bad date, I take it? No, uh, happy ending?”

“I’m not hearing this, I’m not listening, this isn’t happening…” he sings to himself under his breath, heading out his front door. He stops in front of his car when you start to head back towards your house, “Where are you going?”

Spinning, you hold up your new set of keys and smile, “Oh, I thought I’d drive.”

Steve’s smile is brighter than the moon, but it does not last long when you barely make it to the woods that lead to Lover’s Lake and you quietly mumble something about the AC not working. 

“I hate to break it to you, Buttercup, but Rick sold you a fucking lemon,” Steve’s tone is clipped, annoyed you had gone car shopping without him and bought something because it was cute and your dream car - safety and properly functioning be damned. 

You hoist the Quick Mart bag into the air and crawl onto the hood, patting the spot next to you. Waiting until he sighs, scooting up the pale blue paint of the VW Bug, pretending to not be curious about what you have in the bag. 

“Well, if you keep talking about my baby like that I’m not gonna show you what Rick gave me for the AC not working…” 

“Better have been the keys to the lot cause the piece of shit he so-”

You pull a joint from your bra and he stops, glancing down into the open bag on your lap to see chocolate milk and gummy worms and he smiles, “Oh, fuck yeah!”

He reaches for the joint and you hold it above your head, eyes sparkling, palm on his chest. “Take it back.”

He drops his head back, looking up at the stars that slowly dot the sky, becoming brighter. He mumbles up to the heavens, “Your baby is not a lemon.”

“Thank you.” Ripping the bag of gummy worms open as he lights the joint. 

The gears are oiled, the smoke in your lungs and the looser inhibitions kick start the machine and soon you’re shooting chocolate milk out of your nose from laughing too hard and ripping gummy worms in half for wishes. 

Your head rolls, the cool blue metal beneath your cheek as you take in your best friend’s profile. His cheeks are hollowed as he inhales, dark scruff lining his jaw that’s more angular than it used to be, the slope of his nose fitting his face better. The curve of his fingers on hands that are a size that fits his body now, if not still big. Steve turned into a man somehow in the last few years, but as he passes the joint to you while ripping a gummy worm between his teeth, you see why it’s hard for him to move on, the boy you know from your childhood still there at his core. 

“Hey, Steve?” you whisper into the evening air, cicadas buzzing around you loudly, your summer mixtape playing out of your car’s open windows. Passing the burning paper back to him again.

“Yeah?” 

“So you masturbate fully naked, huh?”

He coughs around his inhale, head smacking the hood and you cackle, both of your sounds echoing across the lake. 

Steve groans, snuffing out the end of your fun as he sits up, “Well, that settles it. You’re definitely too high.”

You sit up as well, arms wrapping around his, “Oh, come on, Steve, Steven, Stevie,” he looks down his nose at you unamused as you tug on his bicep, “I’m your best friend, am I not?”

He sighs through his nose, thick fingers fiddling with the chocolate milk cap, “Yeah, of course.”

“So, as your best friend, I think I have a right to know.”

“No, you don’t. That’s not how this works.”

“Who says?”

“I say.” Steve flicks your temple and you blow out a raspberry. 

You lay back against the hood and stare up at the stars, finding The Big Dipper first before you search for answers in a greater world than you’ll ever know. 

Steve stares out at the lake, his knees drawn up and arms hanging over them. You wonder if he’s thinking the same things as you. That it’s all too big and there are too many unanswered questions. Maybe he needs a distraction, the weight to be lifted just like you do, just for one more summer. So you smile and push it further, the weed making you a little more bold. 

“I’m usually a shirt and panties gal myself.”

Steve’s breathing stops and you smirk, head tilted back as he lets out a breath that sounds shaky before looking back at you. 

You grin, hands resting on your stomach, as the heel of your converse drags on the hood, pulling your knees up. “Naked is a bold choice, why-”

He falls back against the hood again, hand grabbing yours and squeezing, “No more masturbation talk, I beg of you. I’d rather talk about my dad’s ass at this point.”

You lace your fingers through his and he rolls his eyes at your smile, both of you turning your attention back to the inky sky. 

It could be seconds, minutes, or hours that you sit there in silence, but it’s not the awkward, stilled kind anymore, it’s the kind you yearn for with other people. The kind of silence that’s simple and more powerful with the things unsaid than spoken. Your chests move in time together, slow breaths in and out, Steve’s thumb brushes against your skin in a way that has the high making every nerve in your body hone in on it. Steve starts singing along quietly to ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’. 

“What should I name her?” You pat the car with your other hand. 

“Stevie?” He smirks. 

“Ella? Doris?” 

It’s quiet for a second and then Steve turns his whole body, resting on his side, “How about just ‘Baby’?”

You mirror his position, smiling at the Dirty Dancing reference and agreeing, “It’s perfect.”

“For a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and onnn…”

Steve clears his throat and traces his fingers along the metal beneath him absentmindedly, “I know why you like that movie so much.”

You roll to your back again, avoiding his gaze, “Because Patrick Swazye is a total hottie, of course.”

He hums, “Mmm, well, sure, but it’s cause of the actual dirty dancing in the one scene.”

Your body heats up, hands and legs fidgeting and he leans over you, finger in your face, smug and gloating, “Aha!”

Swatting his finger away with a groan, “Shut up!”

“Oh, so you can bug me about masturbating, but I can’t tease you for liking a little sexy dancing in a movie? What’s that about honey, huh?” His fingers are on your waist, jabbing playfully and you wheeze for air, laughing. 

“I give, I give, I surrender!” Swatting at his shoulders until his fingers stop. 

You’re both breathless, Steve’s eyes in front of yours, blocking out all of the stars - there’s only him. His lips part, tongue licking over his top one as he glances down at yours, bodies warm against one another. 

He whispers your name and you think that maybe something bigger is going to happen. Maybe all of those stars that shot across the sky with a promise of wishes fulfilled are finally rewarding you. 

“Well what do we have here?”

Andy’s voice rings through the night and Steve and you scoot apart from each other, glancing up to see half of Newbys staff and more holding cases of various booze and boom boxes as they walk past you and down to the shore. 

“Hi, Steve,” a tall blonde wiggles her fingers at him as she passes and you hop off the hood. 

Robin and Eddie change the pitch of their voices as they steal both the candy and milk when they run by. Waggling their fingers at him mocking, “Hiii, Steeevvee.” 

Steve throws a pinecone at Eddie’s head with impressive aim in the dark and smirks when he yelps. 

Tommy passes by with Carol and he looks you up and down in a way that makes you feel slimy, “Is Princeton Princess gonna come remind everyone why even the wannabe King of Hawkins couldn’t get her?” He pouts, “Or is she still pretending she’s too good for all of us?”

“Fuck off, Hagan!” Steve and you moan while flipping him off in sync. 

The bodies of your peers all disappear, the sounds of guitars and bass are louder than the ones coming out of your car, and the ember’s of a bonfire match the woosh you hear as flames catch and logs are lit. 

The first summer bonfire.

“Who calls pong first?” a voice shouts. 

Steve sticks his tongue in his cheek as he looks at you, raising his eyebrows. A silent conversation of how you could go back home, or you could have some fun and forget that you have to work tomorrow. 

You race each other to the sandy beach and at some point his hand slips into yours and pulls you along faster as he screams, “We’re first! Move, Munson!”

📻 Now Playing: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

“Robin, please I’m begging you, literally anything else.”

She pauses from where she restocks the cassette shipment, eyes narrowing at the wall as she tilts her head, seeming to think over your request before looking at you seriously and tapping your nose. “No.”

You groan in frustration and grab the Red Vines off the counter and stalk towards the front door, her shout calling behind you, “Hey!”

“Sorry! Red Vines are for birthday girls who are willing to negotiate!”

Her co-worker’s laugh leaves the store with you while the bell chimes overhead as the door slams shut. The tough licorice candy is no match for your teeth as you growl into your bite and Steve hands over the cherry slurpee left over from the movie with raised eyebrows. 

“She didn’t go for it, huh?”

You kick a rock down the sidewalk before sitting on the curb with a huff. 

“You know, I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun…” he starts again.  

Your glare is white heat down his spine as you rip into another Red Vine. 

“Camping, Steve. Camping! It’s going to be like 80 out and there’s bugs and rocks and, and trees, and-”

He laughs, hands covering his face, “Oh my god, it’s barely outside of Hawkins and what happened to the girl who used to go worm hunting with me? The city has changed you, Buttercup.”

The slurpee sucks through the straw loudly, gaps in the red sugary drink making you hollow your cheeks more and Steve feels his own cheeks and ears turning the same color as his tongue. He pulls it away from you, “Alright, easy tiger, I think he’s had enough.”

Your forehead falls against his bicep with a moan. Steve wraps his arm around your waist and squeezes. “I promise, you’re gonna have a great time, you’re going to be begging to go on more trips just like it.”

That’s how you found yourself in the middle of an Indiana State Park on the last weekend in June - glaring at your best friend. 

Steve’s lip is between his teeth, baseball hat turned around as his fingers rub his temple and he looks down at the rough sketch of the map he had sworn was an exact copy of the one at the trailhead. 

And maybe it had been, four hours ago. Before you both sweat through your clothes, before his canteen leaked and made the sharpie and lined paper look like a monster.  

“We’re lost?” You venture, palm swatting at things that fly at your sweat soaked neck for the fifth time in less minutes. 

“No, no, not lost, we’re-” Steve squints as he looks at the two wood arrows pointing in opposite directions and back down to the soggy paper. 

Sitting on a boulder, another five minutes pass before Steve finally drops the useless map with a curse and looks at you apologetically, “Yeah, we’re lost.”

Your head falls into your hands, fingers ripping at your hair before he snaps his fingers. “Oh! The walkies, I’ll try to explain where we are and…” 

You hop up, scrambling pebbles and pinecones under your feet as adrenaline fills your veins for the first time in hours at the hope of getting back to the campsite. It wasn’t your bed, but it’s something. 

Steve turns the dial of the walkie and you wait for static, but nothing leaves the tiny speaker. He clicks it again and then shakes it violently in his hand, “You. Stupid. Piece. Of. Shit!”

“Steven,” your head looks up at the sky, a deep breath through your nose, “Are there batteries in that thing?”

It’s far too quiet and Steve fears for his life tonight. Not because you’re lost in the middle of the woods, but from the look you’re giving him. 

Your hands shove at his chest once, “Steve! I listened to you swear to Henderson that thing had fucking batteries in it-”

“I thought there were! He’s always getting on me about them, because I did it to him one time, the little twerp is such a-”

Shoving at his chest harder, you scream at him, “We’re gonna die in the fucking woods because you have a tough guy complex and have to make sure everyone knows you’re cooler than a seventeen year old and-” you break off into a sob and shove him harder than the first two times and he stumbles backwards a little. 

“Hey!” His fingers wrap around your wrists and your forehead falls into his chest and you start crying. Steve’s voice softens, “Hey, come on, stop, we’re gonna be fine. We’re like ten? Yeah ten miles away from camp. If we start back the way we came…we’ll…we’re gonna be fine.”

“Sorry,” you sniffle and wipe your nose into his shirt. 

His palms soothe up your spine and when you tilt your chin on his chest to peer up at him, he cradles your face. The pads of Steve’s thumbs are rough, but gentle in their movement as he swipes at your cheeks with a smile, “Nothing to be sorry for.” He leans down and kisses your forehead. 

Chapped lips that are still warm and soft against your skin. Steve inhales the smell of your shampoo, the salt on your skin as he presses a second and longer kiss to your hairline. Your eyes flutter closed and your fingers tangle in the hem of his shirt, getting closer to him.  

Both of you realizing what you just did at about the same time, you pull away and clear your throats, arms dropping to your sides. 

It’s been quiet for over an hour according to his watch, and the sun is causing the pine’s shadows to slant longer across the dirt trail. Broken up by golden light that sparkles and highlights moss and leaves that hold the morning’s dew still. You have to admit it’s pretty. It had been all day. And really, you had been having a pretty good time like Steve said you would, as much as you hated to admit he was right. 

Steve had made a birthday weekend mix, the few hours driving out of Hawkins town limit filled with wind whipping your hair and singing along loudly as the sky turned from navy to lavender to rose and gold. A lull of speaking and the dawn sun making you all lazy and sleepy until Bohemian Rhapsody had come on. You had leaned forward in between the seats, squealing and asking for it to be turned up. Steve, Robin, Eddie and you taking turns belting out specific parts down to the guitar solo. All of you screaming at the top of your lungs, “So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?” Bouncing with energy as you arrived at the State Park, everyone hopping out and setting up their tents. 

And the campsite was pretty, you missed it. Close to the lake that Steve promised would have a killer sunset over it tonight, you squinted up at the trees ahead of you, pretty sure you’d never make it back in time for it. Despite thinking you had all day for this specific hike, the sun rose and started to set faster than your legs could carry either of you. And that was before you were lost. 

📻 Now Playing: I’m On Fire by Bruce Springsteen

You need a distraction, and sure enough, your best friend always seems to know what you need before you do. 

“Do you remember,” Steve starts, eyes on the trail ahead of you, thumbs looped into the backpack straps over his shoulders, “When we met?”

Your smile cracks the dirt and sweat that clings to your face, before you laugh, “Yeah, I shoved Tommy’s face in the sand on the playground when he told me that girl’s couldn’t like dinosaurs and you tattled on me.” Your hip bumps his.

Steve looks over at you, “I stand by that, you were a menace on the blacktop, specifically tetherball when we got to middle school, but, no,” he shakes his head, “That’s not the first time we met.”

“It’s not?” You’re lost in recalling memories, sifting through smiles and laughs and even tears, too caught up in it all to see how Steve watches you out of the corner of his eye. How his gaze moves over your face and wishes he had an ounce of the drive and focus you do. 

“Give up?” He whispers and you look over at him and he smiles, “It was when you moved in. You were outside with chalk and asked me if I wanted to draw with you?”

“Oh yeah,” you smile down at your shoes but then look up at him, “Why are you bringing this up now?”

Steve looks at you seriously, “I think the shit we scribbled on your driveway twenty years ago was museum quality compared to the map I barely wrote down before leaving on this hike - before the water ruined it. We were doomed from the start.”

You laugh, shoving his shoulder, “I’m never going camping or hiking with you again!” 

Your laughter trails off as you keep walking, Steve rubs at his jaw and you wonder if he’s up for actual reminiscing as you hedge, “Remember the first party we went to?”

Steve swallows, humming a little, “Mhm.”

Your voice is quiet, but you laugh, “I remember I came over to your house because Jackie told Shelby that Tommy told Carol that a boy liked me and wanted to kiss me at the party.”

Steve rubs at his neck nodding, “Right, yeah, I remember…”

Your eyes are glued to your sneakers now, watching the pine needles scatter with each drag of your heel, “And I asked you if you would kiss me, so I knew how to do it.”

“Yeah, listen, Y/N,” Steve starts. Your head whips over to him at the use of your actual name, no longer looking at the path. He sees it all happening before it does, eyes widening as your foot hits the edge of the path and holds out his hand and grabs yours, “Wait, watch ou-!”

You’re all limbs as you slide and roll down the side of the hill, Steve cursing and your fingers squeeze his palm tightly. Something burns, something stings, something hurts and it feels like days that you’re moving and falling until you’re not. Your breath is heavy, eyelids fluttering as his hand slips from yours. 

“Oh, fuck,” Steve’s breath is knocked from his lungs. His palm presses into black earth and he looks up, laughing when he sees the yellow tent and Robin holding the walkie in her hand in the distance. Of course they were barely away from camp. They’d probably been walking in circles for all he knew. 

Robin’s hand over her eyes as she squints, “Steve?”

Steve laughs, holding his side, “Oh, Buttercup, you beautiful, wonderful, clumsy person. I don’t know how you just managed to…”

He falters when he looks around and doesn’t see you. Standing, as he calls out “Y/N?”

Steve hears your whimper and his heart stops when he sees your crumpled body, crimson staining your temple and soaking your pant leg. He scrambles, tripping over his sneakers, “Y/N! Robin, get the first aid kit!”

His fingers shake, unsure of where he should touch or grab or hold, “Hey, hey, Y/N, can you open your eyes, are you okay, can you talk, Y/N, babe, please say something.” 

A cough gets stuck in your throat and you moan at the pounding in your head, eyelids fluttering, “Babe’s a new one.”

Steve laughs through a sob and then taps at your cheeks when your eyes start to close again, “Hey, no, no, no, you gotta stay awake, I’m so sorry, no, honey, stay awake…”

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any love left - I hope you can share my writing and get it circulated. As a reminder, there is no tag list for this fic / series. 💛

#summertime magic #steve's story #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington series #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington angst #steve harrington smut #stranger things fanfic

[where-dreamers-go]

“Summertime” Leon S. Kennedy x Reader — Part Three

(A/N: Part one and two are up. We’re back with lifeguard Leon Kennedy! What happens after Reader and Leon’s date? Does Reader ever get his number? Does the Reader’s friend get to see the pairing they’ve been cheering for? Have you had water recently? The last part will be part four. Warnings: Mentions of sea creatures, fluff, romance, Leon being Leon with phrases, puns, and kissing. Word Count:  4,514 words)

~~~

Blue skies and happy vacationers made for a bright summer.

Thinking of the previous evening spent with a certain handsome lifeguard made the summer utterly delightful. It made getting out of bed in the morning easier.

You were happy; eager for a new day.

Within your wishes of the day, you hoped that Leon was also happy.

Being a lifeguard held huge responsibilities. Each day was different and Leon held his own while under pressure. He had dealt with people yelling in his face, rip tide, and lost children. That wasn’t including everything a lifeguard had to do either.

I hope today is a calm day for him, you thought. He definitely deserves it.

“Lifeguard duty again, I see.” Your friend stated from beside you.

The pair of you walked towards your preferred spot on the sandy beach. A little ways ahead of the lifeguard chair that was in clear view as you approached.

“Don’t be weird,” your friend added and zipped ahead.

“Sure, thanks.” You called after them. Shaking your head, you walked closer to the chair shaded by a red umbrella.

Sitting with an elevated view of the beach sat the very handsome man you had been crushing on for multiple vacations. One who happened to set out the lifeguard chair closer to the water and to where your friend always set up the towels. The larger lifeguard tower sat quietly behind it all, slightly off in the back, but not by much.

Just be casual. It’s fine.

“Hey Leon.” You grinned at him.

He leaned over the armrest and removed his sunglasses, a soft smile on his lips. “Hey you. Any adventures planned for today?”

“Might go swimming later.”

His smile widened. “Have fun. I’m here if you need me.”

“I appreciate that.” With a wave, you went to join your friend.

On the towels, your friend crossed their arms. “I’m going to need more salt in these chips to counteract you two and your sweetness.”

“Sure.” You stretched out on the towel, grinning unapologetically.

“I’m serious.”

“Oh, I know.” You chuckled and tilted your head back to take a peek at your favorite lifeguard.

Leon’s smile only grew upon meeting your gaze. After a tiny wave, he put his sunglasses back on.

Oh, that smile, you thought and brought your sights ahead of you once more.

What could that smile do to you?

If only you could see that smile of Leon’s more often.

***

Summertime held the perfect atmosphere for grilling, swimming, and sweet treats. Hot weather also brought a collection of clouds. Some of which caught attentive people’s notice.

Lunch time was around the corner and an offshore thunderstorm was quickly rolling in to meet it.

That’s a little too dark, you thought while eyeing the horizon.

Glancing over at Leon seat at his appointed chair, his gaze was focused on his phone. A rarity in his position. He nodded to himself before putting the device away.

Having locked with your gaze, Leon pointed out towards the water and said, “I’m going to start calling people in. The lightning is getting too close. You should get indoors for safety.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t need to tell you twice. You knew what lightning could do, especially the risk on a flat, sandy beach.

Together in record time, you and your friend packed up your belongings. The air around you had already felt different, charged and ready. The two of you scurried off of the long expanse of sand before the sky broke open into a downpour.

***

Much later, after thunderstorms and an early dinner, you headed to the gaming room. You were in dire need of entertainment. Checking the weather and hearing your friend repetitiously give critique on how you should talk to Leon more was enough to push you outdoors. The idea of playing in the arcade was rendered the preferable option.

Only a couple of minutes walk across wet concrete and various paths took up your time. Thunder still rolled in the distance, but the worst had passed, as you expected.

What you had not expected was to see Leon as you entered the gaming room. Well, his back, anyway; a clean white shirt and red swimming trunks. The man was leaning forward with full concentration over the pinball machine across from the main door.

Walking closer, you did your best not to startle him.

But who were you kidding? He was Leon.

“Checking on your high score?” Leon asked as you stepped up beside him.

“Maybe. Just curious.”

Risking a glance, Leon sent you a half-smile that weakened your knees.

How did you manage such strength the day before?

You shifted your weight from one foot to the other.

“I’m trying to put what I learned from you into practice.”

“And how’s that working out?” You watched the pinball ricochet through the middle section.

“I could use your professional guidance.”

“Yeah?” You peeked at his score, as his numbers had yet to put him in the top players.

Letting out a small grunt, Leon barely saved the pinball from dropping out of the game.

How should I do this? You thought, eyes flickering between his stance and the pinball itself.

“Would it help my case if I said, pretty, please?” Leon hit the side buttons repeatedly and unnecessarily. The newly placed pout on his lips made his attempts at pinball appear more desperate than initially seen.

“It wouldn’t help your timing,” you chuckled lightly and inched closer. “May I?” Your hands hovered over his on either side of the machine.

“Go for it.”

With most of your subconscious mind screaming, you proceeded to help Leon with his timing by placing your hands over his as he played. The small bit of logic in you hoped it would teach him to anticipate the pace of the game.

“Keeping the pinball in play for as long as possible,” you pressed his right fingers against the button, “is almost more important than getting the highest points on the board.”

“That sounds counterproductive.”

“I mean… If you’re only focused on getting the ball to those higher points, only, rather than keeping it in play, you’re going to lose out on more points in the long run.”

“Long term goals versus quick and big points. All right.”

As you two spoke, the pinball sped from one side of the board to the other. The traction leading it closer to following the loop towards the bottom.

“Okay. You can’t be too early because it’ll either fall in or you’ll be holding it there before trying to get the momentum back. It’s a tricky spot—so try avoiding that.”

The pinball was hit, its direction more favorable.

“Got it. Strategic not over zealous.”

“Exactly.” You kept your eyes trained on where the pinball traveled. A much more difficult task as Leon leaned closer to your level.

Goodness, you could smell him. It reminded you of vacation mornings and the baking aisle. Light and sweet backed with a quiet earthy scent. To be wrapped up in it for even an hour would be heavenly.

Focus. Focus. Fo— Crap.

Time ticked by without your attention on anything but the task set before you.

Spending one on one time teaching Leon ended up much more intimate than you imagined. He learned quick and not once did he downplay your own playing abilities.

The final pinball fell away. Lights and sounds ceased as a score was finalized.

Leon had gained a high score under your own. The illuminating numbers displayed for all to see.

Removing yourself from him quietly was a test of your composure. Your hands felt colder without his.

“Not bad.” He mused, eyeing the scoreboard. “Room for improvement, that’s for sure.”

Turning to you, Leon and yourself shared a smile as you gazed at each other. All warm and familiar.

“You did great.” You said softly.

“I had professional help.”

“Is it my turn?” A voice piped up from behind the two of you.

Startled, you both looked over to see a kid, no older than ten, waiting patiently and a tad confused at whatever he just witnessed.

“Oh!”

Apologizing to the kid, the pair of you quickly sidestepped away from the pinball machine.

“Oops,” you covered up a laugh. “Good game though.”

“Thanks.” Reflexively, Leon checked his watch and his eyebrows rose. “Ah. Didn’t realize it was that late. I should head home.”

“Oh. Get home safely, okay?”

“I will.” Leon’s smile was small, but incredibly sweet. “May I call you some time?”

Flutters erupted in your stomach.

It’s happening.

“If that’s alright?”

“Yes— It’s…it’s fine. Uh.” You dug out your phone and he did the same.

In a blur of numbers and bashful laughter, you both exchanged numbers and bid one another a good night.

***

The following day, clouds were building higher in the sky. Still blue and exceedingly warm. A promise for a fun summer day.

“Hey.”

You turned to see Leon jogging up to you. A minor interruption on your way back to the rented condo to give your friend their favorite snacks.

“Hey, Leon,” you greeted him happily.

“Hi…uh.” He pulled at his shirt. No lifeguard or safety symbol in sight. “Are you busy today?”

“I’m on vacation.”

“Right.” Leon rotated the watch on his wrist. “Are you all right with aquariums?”

“Sure. Depends on the aquarium, I guess.”

“Would you like to go with me as a date?”

You smiled.

“To the aquarium. There’s one in the town over. I can drive us there; it’s only about twenty minutes or so.”

“Today?” You asked.

“Yes. Today.”

“Right now?”

“Oh! We don’t have to go right now. Not if you don’t want to. We—”

“I’d love to.”

Leon’s shoulders visually relaxed.

“Let me just change shoes and we can go. If you’re ready?”

“I’m ready,” he said quickly. “I’ll wait here.”

You gave him another smile and discreetly rushed inside.

***

Your date had assured you that the aquarium was both a research and animal rehabilitation center. No catching creatures for show and profit. Only education and hopefully giving the animals better lives if they could not be released back into their home. A home so close.

Leon had picked you up and drove you out on about a twenty minute drive. The time spent in the vehicle held various music choices and comments of other people’s driving skills. It wasn’t necessarily awkward, just a new environment. Leon made it fun either way.

“So, which animals are you most excited to see?” He questioned after paying for your ticket.

“Sharks.”

“No hesitation.” He chuckled, walking beside you.

“Well, we can see the other animals too, obviously.”

“Yeah, but now I’m learning which is your favorite. All the shark’s teeth meant something, huh?”

Leon slipped his fingers along your palm and your hands effortlessly clasped together.

“It did.” You smiled to yourself. “And thank you again for helping.”

“Of course.”

Shades of blue and a wide spaced interior offered a calm atmosphere. Not crowded or loud. Out of the way, signs directed visitors towards specific exhibits and animals, colorfully spaced every so often. Nothing overwhelming to deter you from exploring.

Your date, delighted as he was to be in your company, eagerly and curiously walked with you towards a wall of thick glass. Beyond it, fish of all shapes and colors swam between their decorated environment.

“I heard they keep their octopi locked up pretty tight.”

“Octopuses.” You corrected.

He raised an eyebrow.

“It would be octopi if the word octopus was latin, but it’s not. It’s weird. I know. Sorry.”

“Knowing isn’t weird.” Leon gave your hand a squeeze. “Knowing is understanding more about the world.”

“And hopefully respecting it.”

“Yeah. Hopefully.”

In front of you both, a large fish with old scratch marks languidly swam by. Possibly an injury from propellers of a boat or netting. The fish was, without a doubt, not young and may have even been in a few scraps with others sea creatures.

The sea and the creatures within were a wonder. 

Swimming closer to the glass, the fish slowly passed.

“Okay,” you added. “That one was pretty big.”

“It could probably eat me whole.”

“No.” You hushed his outlandish thoughts.

“It could. You saw that thing, right?”

Walking along the tank, you said determinedly, “I’m not letting any fish eat you. Not on purpose and not on accident.”

At your words, Leon held himself higher and gave a satisfied look over to the fish. “Hear that? I’m off the menu. And not just because I’m on a date.”

You laugh came suddenly and short.

He’s a goof too, you thought while shaking your head in good humor.

Further inside the aquarium, after seemingly traveling through a tunnel with tanks on either side, you two spotted multiple pools in the center of an area. The small pools had numerous people gathered around them; even to the point of leaning against ‘Do Not Touch’ signs around the short exhibits.

Probably fish and stingrays, you thought. Not the delicate ones though.

“I’ve seen videos where fish keep circling back to get scratches.” You told your date as you two strolled passed.

“A dogfish?”

“No.” You bumped his arm lightly.

“A catfish?”

“Neither of those and I don’t remember what it was.”

Leon nodded and said in a serious tone, “Could definitely be related to a dogfish.”

Laughing quietly, you pulled him along towards the next exhibit of interest.

“Oh,” Leon exclaimed playfully. “I think I see where you want to go.”

“Hmm?” Following his line of sight gave way to a bright smile on your lips. “Oh, yeah.”

“Called it.”

Mutual delight added a skip to each step.

The pair of you headed toward an unobstructed view of another tank, taller than either of you could reach. Watery depths decorated with corals added more color to the shades of blue. One of the far sides were indistinguishable to its true distance as it kept a large environment for many fish; neither rectangular or perfectly round. An informational sign listed more than a dozen sea creatures in that tank alone.

Of all the fish, one caught your attention first. A hammerhead shark.

Hands intertwined, you and Leon observed the few visible hammerheads as they as almost swiveled through the water with their flattened head. It was peaceful. Everything there an ease to approach in order to learn and witness animals almost as if through a screen; close and mostly clear.

“When I was little, hammerheads were the first shark I liked.” You stated, wistfully thinking of a moment in your childhood. “No one ever told me they were scary or anything. I could just look at them without being fed terrifying tales.”

“Are they still your favorite?”

“I may be a little partial to great white sharks.”

“Movies didn’t scare you off?”

“Nope. I’ve watched too many nature documentaries for that.”

Softly, Leon’s thumb caressed the side of your hand. A soothing and comfortable gesture; touch that came naturally as if done a dozen times before.

“Nurse sharks are really nice too,” you said as you spotted one at the bottom of the tank. “They’re still cool even though people don’t get all crazy hype about them. They’re important too.”

“Important animals should be considered cool regardless. Or at least not badmouthed in groups. Do you know how many shark movies there are where the shark is the antagonist?”

“More every summer, I’m sure.”

“There’s always someone at the beach trying to scare people or asking if there are any sharks in the water.” Leon gestured widely with his free hand. “Technically, yeah, there are sharks in the water. It’s just a huge body of water. They’re likely not near shore depending on the time of day.”

“And time of year.”

“Yeah. I hope there’s not a new shark movie this year…”

“Nah. I think it’s romcoms and zombies.”

“Great.” Leon chuckled sarcastically.

Patting his bicep affectionately, you steered him around a curve of the tank to see more.

And more was seen amongst all blues and greens. Both of you enjoying the views full-heartedly. The large tank of sharks held true as a definite highlight.

Minutes turned into hours and comments lengthened into conversations. The pair of you went through almost every exhibit sharing facts about animals and memories of each other’s past.

A lovely date nearing its end.

Near one of the exits of the aquarium stood a well-lit gift shop. The two of you wandered into it with curious eyes. It was small, but stuffed full of merchandise.

You could easily be in there for half an hour glancing around.

Somewhere between souvenir cups and being distracted by detailed figurines, you did not see Leon’s movements. When you had peered over next, you found that Leon had disappeared from your side.

Huh. Where’d he go? You thought as you glanced around the shop. Did he find something?

Finally, you spotted him at the register being handed a bag.

He bought something. Okay… Not a big deal, but why’d he veer off so quickly?

Upon grabbing the bag, Leon turned away from the counter, eyes scanning the shop.

Raising a hand, you gave a tiny wave.

His bright smile greeted you once he found you. In a few strides, Leon returned to you with an air of excitement.

“Found something good?” You asked.

“I did. It’s for you.”

“What?”

Seeing your smile, Leon grabbed your hand and lead you out of the shop.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Wait ‘till you see it first.” Leon held open the bag for you to look inside.

Peering up at you was the grey and white face of a plush great white shark.

“Really?” You practically squealed in glee as you lifted the plush out of the confines of the bag.

“Yeah. All yours.”

“He needs a name.” You announced as you begun rotating the soft plush in your hands, checking every detail of cuteness.

Leon hummed in thought.

“Something that makes sense.”

He hummed again.

You turned the plushie at different angles before poking its nose.

“Finn.”

“Finn?” You looked to Leon with an approving smile. “That’s so cute.”

“Well, he is yours.”

“I love it. And I love him too.” You gave the plush a light hug. “But… I didn’t buy you anything.” You glanced back at the gift shop.

“Trust me, giving you Finn is better than anything in there.”

A bubbling warmth filled you, eased you and made you smile continuously.

How is Leon real?

***

Another hot summer day and window shopping was on the agenda. You and your friend went exploring the local shops to your hearts content. Options wide and catered to tourists. The perfect opportunity for your friend to ask a hundred questions about your date from the day before. At least your friend and your own curiosity for artisan goods could be satisfied more directly. Just the two of you. A normality during and outside of vacations.

Late in the evening, back in the rented condo, your phone alerted you of a text.

It was from Leon, asking if you’d be up for a swim in the pool later. The pool at the beach club had lights and usually people were gone by nine o’clock the latest.

You informed your friend before they could ask.

“Go with him.” Your friend urged.

“But it’s already late.”

“You stay up late. What’s the difference?”

“I’m inside when I stay up late.” You stated.

They fell back onto their bed.

Hugging your little shark plushie closer, you said, “I’m just….a creature of habit.”

“Do you want to go swimming with a fun, kind, and super fine with-and-without-a-shirt man that saves lives for a living?”

“Yes.” You answered quietly.

“Then what’s stopping you from answering the man? He’s into you.” They pointed to Finn and then the shark teeth. “Very into you.”

Taking a few deep breaths, you replied to Leon.

Sounds fun. I haven’t been able to use the pool yet. :)

Then it’s a date? (crossed fingers)

Yes, I’ll have to leave Finn here then.

Break the news to him gently. Don’t need him tearing up the room (fish)

I’ll do my best. :D See you later!

Can’t wait. ;)

“He sent a winking emoji,” you exclaimed.

Bolting upright, your friend squealed, “Show me! Oh my god!”

“There.” You turned your phone.

A little exchange of enthused exclaims later followed before you went to freshen up and change into a swimsuit.

***

Folded towel held in the crook of your arm, you found your favorite lifeguard standing beside the pool chairs.

“Hey you.” Leon’s smile was infectious.

“Hey.”

“You ready for a swim?” Tilting his head, Leon’s eyes held your gaze warmly.

“Yeah.” You set your towel on a lounge chair.

In one swift movement of flexed muscles, Leon had removed his shirt.

You swore that your brain malfunctioned for a whole five seconds.

Giving you a cheeky smile, Leon hopped into the pool. Water droplets sprinkled along the tile by the seating.

My brain really needs to catch up with me, you thought while regaining your sense of self amidst the small splash.

You knelt by the edge of the water as your date’s head breached the surface.

“Finn isn’t too mad at me for stealing time with you, is he?” Leon asked and shook his hair out of his eyes.

“A little, but I think he understands.”

Carefully, you slipped into the water. It was a comfortable temperature despite the late hour. You swam further out into the pool to join Leon.

“That’s a relief. Don’t need him bumping his nose into me when I least expect it.”

“Cant’ have that.” You smiled softly. “We’ll make it up to him.”

“How’s fish crackers and Jaws sound?”

“Fin-tastic.” The words left you before you could filter them out.

Bringing his hand up through the water, Leon splashed you. He laughed as soon as you retaliated. The two of you went back and forth until you were wiping water from your eyes.

Now is not the time for this. You internally scolded your eyes.

“Sorry about that. Does it sting?” Leon asked. His voice was incredibly close.

“I’m fine.” You opened your eyes, but squinted almost immediately.

Leon shook his head. “May I see?”

You nodded.

Gentle hands cradled your face as he inspected your eyes one at a time. His thumb prodding your skin only enough to nudge your eyelids to open more.

“They might get a little irritated from all the chlorine they put in here. You should rinse with some water when you get back to the room, but you’ll be alright.” His warm breath fanned over your face, sending a chill down your side. One of his thumbs rubbed across your cheek affectionately.

“Nothing serious?” You questioned quietly.

“No, you’re—” Leon’s voice caught in his throat as his gaze locked with your own.

The pool’s water settled. Sounds of the waves in the distance were mere whispers.

Leon’s hands remained in place as you lost yourself in the depths of his blue eyes. Neither of you shied away from the vulnerability.

How were you suppose to react when all you wanted was to know more?

Your attempts at steadying your breathing was near impossible.

Bravery had its moments and yours came as your fingertips ghosted over Leon’s biceps. His gaze flickered down to your lips. Just centimeters away from his own.

“Leon,” you whispered.

“May I?” He swallowed and added quietly, “Please?”

The questions melted your heart.

How could Leon be so….endearing?

Fingers curling around his arms, you answered softly, “Yes.”

Eyes fluttered shut as your lips were greeted by a light pressure. Tenderness seeped into your skin every second Leon kept you close. Everything else faded away.

All too soon or much later, you couldn’t tell, the kiss ended.

The beauty of it still shined in Leon’s eyes, more stunning than the night sky. His smile tickled every ounce of happiness into light. So genuine and sweet.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Leon asked softly.

“Like what?”

“Like…you discovered something. Like you’re looking at something for the first time.”

You ducked your head, smiling then. “In a way, I guess.”

“What?” He chuckled and lifted your head to look at him again. “You discovered that I don’t kiss weird?”

Grinning, you shook your head. “I’m happy with you.”

Steadily and all over, the humor on Leon fell away to reveal open gratefulness. Pure and fully content.

“I’m happy with you too. So happy.” Circling an arm around your waist, Leon brought you even closer. The warmth of your bodies very evident, arousing.

Something within you both clicked.

Lips met again, firmly and passionate in each minute movement. A series of affections on repeat between quick inhales for air.

A light bump to your back signaled that Leon had you both by the pool’s edge for support. One strong arm at the edge to keep you both afloat. His lips traveled along your jawline. Exciting and thorough. Your hands tangled into his wet hair and encouraged him to continue kissing down your neck.

You sighed blissfully. Letting one of your hands travel down his toned back.

At the junction between neck and shoulder, you felt his open-mouthed kiss slow. The warmth of Leon’s exhale raised chills down your back. He gave another kiss. Still the same spot, well heated from the intimacy.

But how much further would you two go? In a public pool, mind you.

“Leon.” You whispered.

In response, he hummed. A delightful vibration that made you almost change your mind.

“We should…slow down a little.”

Leon raised his head to see your face. “Are you okay?” His eyebrows knit together in concern.

“Yeah.” You breathed out. “Just…” Trailing off in words, you glanced around you at the few overhead pool lights and dark buildings.

He nodded.

Chills ran over your water droplet-covered skin as the night air touched you. A fair reminder of where you two were.

Ever the observant one, Leon nudged his forehead against yours and stated, “Why don’t we get you warm in a towel?”

You smiled and gave a small nod.

Taking ahold of your hips, Leon lifted you out of the pool to sit on its edge. He snuck in a kiss to your knee. It was healing nicely.

He’s so attentive, I might melt or…something.

Leon waited for you to stand before pulling himself out of the water. Another glorious view of his being.

After making sure your towel was securely around your form, Leon kissed your forehead.

“Let’s get you inside.”

The short distance walking you back to your rented condo was filled with lingering looks and one of his arms wrapped around you.

“Good night,” Leon kissed you on the lips tenderly.

“Good night.” You smiled as he bumped your nose affectionately and squeezed your hand one more time.

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful. coffee

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Leon Scott Kennedy Tags: @

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

#leon kennedy x reader #lifeguard! leon kennedy #lifeguard au #leon kennedy #leon scott kennedy #where dreamers go #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy fanfic #summertime lifeguard leon kennedy #leon kennedy lifeguard au

[violettaskies]

The One

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader // Eddie Munson x you

Genre: fluff, shy reader, cute crushes, first meeting

Notes: SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES // a small blurb from my very first fic ever, Every Summertime (completed story on ao3 as well) // if you do decide to read the entire completed story, thank you! but there are more content warnings there // this blurb is very sfw in comparison to the rest of the story lol // very small mentions of Eddie’s parents // hope you enjoy reading

-:-:-:-:-

When you were little, you never understood how friendship worked. An only kid, living in a trailer park that was far away from your other classmates, with a shy little voice – it all added up to you not making a close friend until you nearly reached middle school. Of course, you were still able to socialize during class and recess if necessary, or were given pity invites to a few birthday parties here and there; but, none of that compared to when your friendship with Eddie Munson began to blossom. Like you, he lived in Hawkins his entire life. However, he was moving from apartment to apartment until he was taken in by his Uncle Wayne.

Seeing him around school was one thing, but it was around the time you just turned nine when he moved to the trailer next to yours. Your parents wanted you to give a formal introduction to help grow your social skills, but seeing him so close in a personal setting was a bit daunting.

The boy who gave the teachers a hard time, but they still wanted to help the kid with big eyes and an ever-healing bruise or two on his arm. The boy who talked about rock music so loudly during the lunch break and would play air guitar on top of the tables. The boy who, no matter what, held the door open if there was a girl walking behind him, because that’s what a gentleman would do. That regardless of how his father treated women, he wasn’t going to continue that cycle. The boy who saw you didn’t have a partner in music class so he came up to you with a smile and asked if you could do him the honour of helping him play the recorder. The boy you harboured a crush on all throughout your elementary school days, Eddie Munson, moved right next door.

It was scary to say the least. At school, you could easily walk a little faster in the hallways with your head down if you were blushing and didn’t want him to see. Or maybe even try to sit a few seats away so you wouldn’t need to awkwardly interact with him. Now, he’s right next door and you couldn’t get your heart to stop leaping out of your chest.

The thing was, Eddie’s heart was doing the same thing when he noticed you were his neighour.

Nothing in his life was stagnant: from his parents, to his home, to his grades in school. He was lucky to make friends with the people he now calls his bandmates, which gave him a small sense of stability. But how was he going to make his pulse stable? He would never know.

Seeing you so close and yet so far made all the butterflies flutter in his stomach. You were the one who mainly kept to yourself during school, no matter how much the teachers tried to get you to keep participating in class discussions. The one who read books every lunch period to pass the time, and would sometimes lift your eyes from the novel if you sat next to a really talkative person; you would smile, and slowly get over your bouts of shyness – how he loved to see it. The one who, no matter what, would secretly share your packed lunch with the kids who couldn’t afford what was offered in the cafeteria. Since you knew what it was like to be ashamed of not having enough food, and you didn’t want anyone else to feel that way. The one who even did it for Eddie once when you sat next to each other coincidentally. Your eyes didn’t leave the book you were reading, when you lightly kicked him under the table and dropped half a sandwich and chips in a plastic bag onto his lap.

The one who has a heart of gold that he wanted to get to know better. The one who was always trying to make a friend, but was too scared to make the first move. The one who sat in the corner of music class with a recorder in your shaky hands when everyone partnered up around you. He knew that was when he was going to say thank you, by asking to be your partner and seeing you smile again. The one who he was head over heels for – you were his new neighbour. 

It only took about a week after Eddie settled in before you made formal introductions as each other’s nextdoor neighbours. Your parents were working and you wanted to savour the last bit of summer. So you decided to sit at the communal picnic tables with a red solo cup of lemonade and read the last few chapters of The Hobbit. As you were just about to turn the page, a large gust of wind made your book fly out of your hands.

“Ugh, of course,” you said to yourself in an exasperated tone while getting up to go find the book somewhere in the grass nearby. The area around you was clear, so you started to scan your eyes a little further until you landed on a figure in black jean shorts and oversized baseball tee, holding the book in his hands.

His eyes were wide when he looked at you, his smile even bigger, when he said: “no way! You’ve read The Hobbit? This and the Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favourite books ever. It looks like you’re almost done too.” The boy handed the book back to you and continued, “is this your first time reading it? Do you like the story too? How about,” he paused, “oh sorry, I keep talking too much.” The blush of embarrassment flooded his face which made you smile.

“No, it’s alright really. Thank you for grabbing my book. I was just doing a reread of Tolkein’s work this summer vacation, but wasn’t able to find my copy of The Hobbit until last week. Just my luck,” you said, looking between your feet, the book in your hands, and his eyes.

“The name’s Eddie Munson, by the way,” the boy spoke on. “You probably already know that by now since we’ve been going to school together for years. It’s a pleasure to meet you, neighbour,” his voice cracked as he spoke in the softest tone you’ve ever heard from him.

“Of course I remember your name, E-Eddie. But it is nice to meet you now as the boy next door.” You gave him your name in return, then gestured to the picnic tables before continuing, “I was just reading over there, but I feel like having lunch before finishing up the book. W-would you like to join me?” The words came out nervously as you remember parts of the little script your parents made you practice for when you wanted to make a friend.

“Well if you insist, mi’lady, I suggest you lead the way,” with a bow and wink he said, “to the kitchens?”

“Yes, to the kitchens,” you giggled as you grabbed his hand, a move you never would have done with others in your life. Then you led him to your trailer so that the two of you could make lunch and talk about all of the nerdy things you both enjoyed.

It was that summer when the two of you finally made a friend you could count on. The blossoming beginning of a life-long friendship. A friendship of mutual love and respect, always urging the other to grow, allowing the both of you to find your true selves in the midst of teenage angst.

He was the one who never forced you to talk, but would listen intently if you did; the one who told imaginary stories over the phone before bed, which helped you forget that your parents weren’t home often; the one who never failed to make you smile when you cried; the one who you would use your loudest voice for, if it would lead to his bullies to get off his back.

You were the one who never looked at him with disgust at school; the one whose smile had the power to overcome negative memories of his parents that clouded his mind; the one who held his hand to calm him down whenever he needed it most; the one who he would willingly climb the tallest mountain for if it meant he could hold your hand forever.

You were each other’s The One, but neither of you knew it just yet. 

-:-:-:-:-

#this is from my story Every Summertime on ao3 and it was honestly the first time I felt proud of a piece of writing lmao #Eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader fluff #Eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female character #my fic #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #writing #st fic #fluff #Eddie munson fluff #cute #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #Eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x best friend reader #eddie munson x y/n #no use of y/n #reader insert #eddie munson reader insert

[moo-blogging]

Nothing in my head but summertime Levi. Summertime with Levi is shopping at the farmers' market early in the morning. Levi would pick out the sweetest watermelons, freshest milk, and the loveliest flowers.

Levi would make popsicles out of watermelon, perfect for the hot weather in the afternoon. Sweet, cold watermelon juice bursts in your mouth as you take a big bite. The flesh is half frozen in ice but still managed to melt in your mouth, just the perfect texture for a popsicle.

Levi would pick out baskets of lemons from the lemon trees in the garden. He would wear a straw hat that we bought from a single mother year ago. One of her children insisted on putting a flower on his hat, and he still has the wilted dried flower on. In his thin tank top and faded shorts, Levi completes the garden.

Levi would make jars of lemonade, stocking up the fridge. The kitchen smells like lemon for two days. And he would make pudding too. Lots of pudding where he would share it with the children in the neighbourhood. You see, Levi loves kids.

And he loves you too. He makes sure you have fresh flowers in the house and on your straw hat whenever you are going out. Levi loves seeing you in your summer attire, so carefree so sweet. Sometimes he wishes that summer would never end.

#and you wish that he was real :( #it's so so so hot here #i'm practically melting #empty thoughts #just levi #levi fluff #summertime levi #levi ackerman

[finelinevogue]

Oh another summertime harry concept!! Maybe reader has younger siblings who are like still little kids or teenagers so they come to see her during their summer holidays and harry is stressing with wanting to make sure they like him and coming up with activities to do with them ahaha

YES!!

“Harrryyy!” Your five-year old brother, Teo, called.

You were sat on the decking, lounging on a sun bed with your swimsuit on and sun cream lathered over your body - thanks to Harry’s hands, watching Harry wade around in the swimming pool whilst Teo was climbing out of the pool, arms clad with Spiderman armbands, and running around the edge.

“Woah, little man, slow down! Before y’hurt yourself.” Harry put out his arms to get Teo’s attention and make him speed down to a walking pace. Harry went deeper into the pool, it rising up to his chest as he stood nearby where Teo was standing on the edge.

“Watch me, Harry. Watch!” Teo said excitedly, his hair sticking up every which way from being in the pool.

“Go on then, buddy.” Harry laughed and moved aside to watch Teo run and jump into the pool with a splash.

You sat up and put on your sunglasses to watch them better. Teo rose to the surface and Harry went over to him quickly to make sure he was alright clearing water from his eyes. Teo’s smile and excited laugh proved he was all good.

Laying back down and taking off your sunglasses, you breathed in the fresh summers air. It was a hot day and you were babysitting for your parents whilst they were at work. Teo was busy in the pool with Harry, whilst your sister was laying on the sun bed next to trying to also get a tan. Tia was Teo’s twin sister, but they couldn’t be more opposites. Teo was extroverted and crazy, whereas Tia was shy and quiet . You were a little bit of both.

You were all at Harry’s house, because it had the pool. Your siblings couldn’t get over the fact the pool was just Harry’s. It was a big pool, with a little water fountain half way down that Teo loved messing around under. You and Harry thought it was best to bring them to his back garden, rather than somewhere public and in the sweltering heat too.

“Y/N?” Tia asked you and you turned to face her, her little body sitting up on the sun bed.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a drink, please?” She asked politely, and it made you sit up and put your sunglasses back on.

“Course you can.” You slipped on your sliders and walked into the house, a large panel of bifold doors opened to allow anyone to step straight into the kitchen. The doors allowed the inside to feel like the out so nicely. They were often opened in summer and for parties Harry hosted.

You walked to the fridge and took out the jug of fresh lemonade that you’d all made together earlier. After adding the lemonade to four glasses of ice and mint leaves, you added him some striped straws and carried them on a tray outside.

“H, Teo! Come get a drink!” You shouted. You knew Harry probably wouldn’t need a drink, but Teo did considering he was small and would dehydrate easily and he wouldn’t leave the pool unless Harry did too.

They both came up to where you and Tia were already drinking. Tia was sat on a sun bed with you and then the two boys sat on their own together. Both of them were dripping wet, but it no doubt felt refreshing.

“Here.” You passed a glass to Teo and Harry helped him hold it properly before letting him do it on his own. Harry took his own drink and gave a few sips. “Having a good time Teo?”

“Yeah. I was showing Harry all my jumps.” He nodded excitedly and Harry looked at you smiling.

“Were you? What did you think of them H?” You asked Harry, sitting directly across from him.

“Little Teo here’s going to be in the Olympics. I’m sure of it. Winning lots of gold medals.” Harry nodded assured.

Teo celebrated by doing a weird little dance and everyone laughed, including Tia.

“How are you doing, Tia?” Harry asked, knowing your parents had extra encouraged him to speak to her to drive her out of her shell and comfort zone.

“Good. I was thirsty. A bit hot though.”

“Y’want to go in the pool with me?” Harry offered, putting his glass on the tray.

“Yes please!” She nodded happily and Harry smiled back at her.

“Okay, then you two go wash your hands carefully and then come back here. I need to put your armbands on before you go in, okay Tia?” You said and they both listened expertly.

Once they were gone, Harry motioned for you to come over to him. You did, straddling his waist and locking your arms around his neck. He kissed your chest and then your neck, leading towards your jaw.

“I’m too hot for you to get me horny.” You laughed, pushing his face off your body.

“Weren’t saying that last night, baby.” He chuckled, but doing as he was told. He’d hate to make you feel uncomfortable.

“There was air-con last night. It’s fucking boiling out here.”

“True, true. I’m kissing you later, though. A lot.” He threatened you with a good time.

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #ask finelinevogue #finelinevogue #harry blurb #harry styles concept #harry oneshot #summertime!harry #harry styles summer #harry styles blurbs #harry styles fluff

[tripleyeeet]

✒️ hello my dear! could i ask for a drabble inspired by this song where basically loki courts asgardian!reader with huge gifts and promises but they don't really need that, just his love? I just want something really sweet and happy. okay, love you, byeeee <3

first off, love you, hi <3

second, okay, i absolutely love httyd so when you requested this i only slightly screamed. that being said though, i really don't know if i did this justice??? ahhh i hope it's okay. i changed a couple of things to make it easier for my brain to write but hopefully you still like it???

also to anyone reading this, if you'd like your very own fic feel free to read this post and then send in a request!

-

WHO TOLD YOU?

PAIRINGS: Loki Laufeyson & Asgardian Female Reader

SUMMARY: There's always rumors circulating throughout the kingdom of Asgard, but what happens when one turns out to be about you?

WORD COUNT: 2,165

WARNINGS: Literally none???

-

There’s talk amongst the kingdom, as per usual. A rumour of sorts running through the land’s highest families. Like always, you’re completely unaware of who starts it. As well as who it goes through as it ultimately falls onto the ears of your cousin Mads who tells you about it during archery practice. 

As you move to pull back your bow, you notice how low his voice is. How his eyes slightly narrow into tight slits as they survey the area, making sure none of the maids are within hearing distance. “Odin’s finally pawning off the frost giant,” he whispers, just before you take your shot, making you momentarily slip and send the arrow flying way too low. 

Angrily, you curse under your breath as it happens, hearing your cousin snort and proceed to take his own, landing it perfectly in the centre circle of the dummy just fifty yards away.

“Cheater.”

  Ignoring your claims, he knocks his next arrow with ease. “It’s not my fault you’re blinded by love.” 

“I’m not blinded by love,” you scoff, your eyes rolling practically to the back of your head as you watch him take another near-perfect shot. “I’m just… surprised.”

“Why?”

You shrug your shoulders and look around. So far none of the help has suddenly appeared like they usually do, leaving you thankful as you knock your next arrow. “That Loki would agree to it.”

“Agree to it?” Mads laughs.

“What?”

“You and I both know it’s not a matter of agreeance. It’s a matter of peace.”

“Ah yes, the Odinson’s, a family known for their abundance of peace,” you mock, instantly feeling a twang of anxiety build in your chest once you realize what you’ve just said. “I mean, I uh—“

“Relax. I’m not going to storm the castle and tattle on you for insulting our beloved king,” he assures, watching as you look at the target in front of you, honing in on the centre, before taking a deep breath and pulling back the bow in one tight motion. 

“You can just do it yourself once you move in.”

Your arrow shoots directly into the ground a couple of feet in front of you. Again, you curse, this time much louder, drawing in the attention of Tora -your lady in waiting- who’s suddenly scurrying up the path with worry in her eyes. 

“I swear to—“

“Is everything alright, m’lady?” Tora, the living embodiment of fear itself, runs to your aid without question, causing you to sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose.

“Yes Tora,” you drone.  

“Are you sure? You seem awfully distressed. Can I get y—”

You open your mouth to respond but Mads beats you to the punch. “She’s fine, Tora. Just a tad ticked that I keep upstaging her archery skills.” 

If it wasn’t for the shock of the informational bomb he’d just dropped, you would’ve pounced on him then and there, elegance be damned. Instead, though, you merely just glare and listen to Tora as she lets out a sigh of relief before apologizing and taking her leave. 

“If I wasn’t required to uphold a certain standard in public you’d be on your ass right now.”

“I highly doubt that, princess.” 

Princess. Norns, you want to kill him. Right here, right now you want to pull back your arrow and pierce it right through his thick skull. 

“You know false gossip is frowned upon.”

“Yes, but who are we to say what’s true or false?” Ever the annoyance, he nudges your elbow with his, wiggling his brows in such a mocking way you feel your chest start to ache with uncertainty because there’s no way this information is real. Sure, the prospect of Loki being married off could be probable. He’s at that age where people are starting to question his marital status but he’s… Loki. Your friend. There’s no way they would’ve chosen you. 

“Who told you?”

“Who do you think told me?” he scoffs. 

Immediately, you feel like a fool for asking, already well aware that it was his sister, Freydis. 

“Where is she?”

Before Mads can even shrug you’re dropping your bow and racing to her quarters, feeling your heart begin to race as you run up the path, motioning for Tora to stay put. Reluctantly she does, giving you a nervous look as you tell her you’ll be back soon even though you’re not entirely sure. Freydis is often selective when it comes to information. Being one of the biggest keepers of it, she can be quite fickle regarding trust, especially with something as serious as the future of the king’s son.

It makes you nervous about what’s to come —thinking about the possible results. 

For example, if it is true, what do you even do? How do you process? It’s not as if you can, really. Arranged marriages like these, as you’ve often witnessed, tend to go from zero to one hundred at the drop of a hat, leaving both parties too exhausted to deal with the consequences beforehand. Plus, knowing Loki it’s not as if he’d be willing to share his thoughts on the matter. 

Considering he’s always been closed off, even throughout your constant years of friendship, he’d most likely just grin and bear it for publicity's sake. Play the part of the loving husband. Hold your hand, kiss your cheek —make sure the world knows you’re his and no one else’s. 

To the people you’d be the perfect couple, but to you?

There’s an inkling of pain that resides throughout your chest once you think about the alternative. That instead of you it’s perhaps some other woman being thrown recklessly into his chambers. Somehow it fills you with dread as you round the corner of the path, your mind moving at such high speeds trying to figure out how you should react that you don’t even process the body that’s crashing into you. 

At first, it hits you —knocks the air right out of your lungs as you fall prone— but then it hits you. Like a freight train, your innermost thoughts rush out of you as you look up to see Loki’s wide eyes staring at you from above. 

“Is it true?” 

He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just looks at you, settling on the vision of your dishevelled appearance before him. 

“Lo?” you ask again, feeling his hand extend to meet your own once he realizes you’re still on the ground. Without protest you take it, feeling the coolness of his skin mix with the heat of your own as he pulls up, asking if you’re alright. 

“I’m fine, thank you,” you say, watching him stand there, hands now at his sides. His fingers rub against each other nervously as he looks around the path, avoiding your gaze entirely. 

“Loki, is it—“

  “Yes.”

“Yes?”

He nods, finally making eye contact. “Who told you?”

You’re tempted to lie in case there are consequences but ultimately admit the truth. “Mads… but to be fair it was Freydis who was the first in our family to find out.” 

As expected, Loki shakes his head. “Course it was.”

“Obviously it’s a mystery as to how she found out,” you blurt out, your nerves suddenly becoming more apparent the longer you look at him. 

He’s wearing his nicest leathers today. The ones that hug his frame just right. Across his skin, he’s adorned himself in all his usual colours, dark greens with charcoal and hints of gold. Like usual his hair is pushed back behind his ears, dangling just beneath in a way that somehow seems different despite how standard it is for him. 

“You uh, you look nice today.” 

Your words throw him off for a moment, his face screwing up in confusion until he eventually looks down and realizes. “Oh, yes, right. Thank you. So do you.”

Like him, you look down to see your archery gear covered in dirt from the fall. “Only the best set of pants for my future, uh…”

“Husband?” he offers, a cautious grin plastered across his face. 

Just the sight fills you with a certain warmth you’re not entirely sure you’ve felt before. Your hands, already covered in sweat seem to double in perspiration the second you see the slight embarrassment in his eyes and the way he immediately searches your face for an approval you don’t know how to give. 

An approval you’re desperate to offer despite the circumstances. Despite you and him and this whole new arrangement, you have to navigate. It’s odd, really. Surreal. This idea that two people being forced to spend the rest of their lives together at the expense of someone else’s gain. 

It’s barbaric, isn’t it? 

You’ve always been the kind of person that agreed with the notion of freedom. That, regardless of an individual's nobility they should be able to choose the person they love over everything else. Things like shared resources and politics shouldn’t be a factor in one’s future marriage. 

And yet, the longer you stand there, thinking about it —this idea of you and him and everything that’s suddenly been thrust upon you— the less awful it sounds. Because despite everything, Loki as a whole is good. He’s kind and smart and albeit, a bit of a troublemaker but in your experience never at the expense of your happiness. In fact, he’s always treated you well. Respecting you in ways that other people hadn’t. Growing up, he never saw you as this woman being trained to wed a higher man to bring further respect to her family. He only saw you as you, a rarity nowadays. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“You just did,” he jokes.

You give him a half-happy, half-annoyed look once you realize that despite the awkwardness, everything between you is still okay. Still normal, in a way.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I mean, obviously your father’s pretty strict about arrangements but if you’re not comfortable —if you’ve got your eyes set on someone else I’m sure we could—“

He doesn’t interrupt you. Instead, he merely shakes his head and smirks, causing your words to fall to the back of your throat as you nervously swallow, watching him motion toward your hand. 

Without protest you offer it up, feeling your fingers twitch in the air until they’re being steadied by his own. 

“Honestly, I’m a bit irritated I didn’t get to be the bearer of bad news,” he tells you, and before you can even think of a clever response, you end up snorting and averting your gaze, feeling a wave of embarrassment as his thumb runs lightly along the base of your fingers. “I got all dressed up to tell you and everything.” 

As he speaks he takes a small step closer, watching the way your gaze continues to shift around the path, focusing on the grass or the trees or really, anything other than him. 

“I even skipped out on training with Thor and the others.” 

“That’s, uh, very… nice of you.”

You can feel his eyes boring holes into the side of your face. His pupils are impenetrable, staring at you like two black holes just waiting to pull you in. Desperately, you want to look at them —to memorize the way they dilate and constrict with every action and reaction. 

“I came to ask you something, if I may?”

This time you give in, noticing the slight growth of his eyes once yours make contact. Suddenly, they look lighter, filling his face with a newfound warmth as he pokes out his tongue to nervously lick his lips before clearing his throat. 

“If it’s alright, I’d like to do this. Properly.”

“Properly?”

“Yes, properly. And not because Odin said so or because it’s the right thing do to politically. No, I—I want to do this because slowly I’ve come to realize that it’s what I want. Th—that you’re one I want.”

You open your mouth to speak but pause, noticing his other hand come up into the air between you. In it, his sedir flickers for a moment before pulsing brightly, prompting you to scrunch up your face in confusion when, barely a second later, a small wooden box appears before his palm. 

It’s made of ash, you notice, leaning it to scan the etchings that overtake the top. It’s simple in design but beautiful nonetheless, its presence leaving you almost breathless as you glance back up to Loki who’s suddenly smiling again. 

“It’s not much,” he says. “To be fair, I probably should’ve waited and got you something a bit better but I promise if you say yes I’ll get you everything. A horse, a castle, the finest gowns with the softest fabrics you’ve ever touched, the most delicious—”

Before he can even finish you’re closing the space between the two of you, ignoring the box in his hand in order to squeeze him tight and tell him you could care less about the gifts. 

-

TAGGING: TAGGING: @lovelysizzlingbluebird, @just-someone11 , @linaax, @eleniblue, @infinitystoner, @ozymdias, @use-your-telescope, @liminalpebble, @freegardenbanananeck, @lokixryss, @violethaze, @simplyholl, @coldnique, @mischief2sarawr, @jasperthechaosgremlin (if you’d like to be added fill out this form)

#the big yeet #summer's summertime sleepover #loki laufeyson fan fic #loki fan fic #loki laufeyson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson x female reader #loki x you #loki x reader #loki x female reader #loki laufeyson fluff #loki fluff #summer writes

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Around the Corner

An Oliver Wood x Ravenclaw!Reader retelling of You’ve Got Mail (and In the Good Old Summertime and The Shop Around the Corner)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

#oliver wood #oliver wood fluff #oliver wood x reader #oliver wood fanfiction #oliver wood fanfic #oliver wood x ravenclaw!reader #harry potter #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #you've got mail #in the good old summertime #the shop around the corner

[awkwardchick87]

A/n - One of the 2 fics I wrote for the Summer Collab hosted by @buerriberry!!

After July,established relationship, fluff. Vash is the sweetest man in the entire world! Gn reader. Mostly 98/Trimax Vash coded, but Tristamp works too.

@enchantedforest-network

Wc - 890 

Placing your hand against your forehead to shade your eyes, you scan the street for that familiar red coat and blond hair before muttering under your breath, “where the hell are you Vash?” 

You had woken up to a hastily written note on the bedside table, “Gone out for supplies. I’ll be back soon” You waited for an hour or so, showering and taking your time to get ready for your day. You knew you would both have to move on from this little oasis soon for fear of someone recognizing Vash and trying to cash in on the bounty, so you tried to take advantage of the quiet moments. You started to get worried, after no sign of him after another hour. Sighing, you grabbed your jacket and made your way to the busy street. 

“Of course” you muttered under your breath, spotting the blond mop of hair walking out of a bakery, “Hey!” you called out to him.

His face lit up as he jogged across the street towards you, holding a bag of what you just knew was doughnuts. “Hey” he said back to you, “I was just about to come get you. I have a surprise” you could see the excitement behind his eyes. 

“Oh?” you asked curiously, “What kind of surprise?” narrowing your eyes.

He just laughed, grabbing your hand and dragging you down the street, away from the inn. 

Neither of you had had much time to check out the small town when you got into it so late last night. You figure that must have been what he was doing this morning while gathering supplies. Vash was leading you outside the town, turning a corner behind a cliff. You gasped, your eyes widening, “What.. What is this?” 

Lush grass was spread across the ground replacing the dry sand. There were some trees dotting the aland, and you could smell something that you could only describe as fresh. Leaning down, you rubbed your hand across the grass. 

Vash knelt down beside you, “There is a geo plant here. The townsfolk found it a while back and built the city a little further away to help protect it from getting destroyed. Kinda helps that its hidden behind the cliffs.” His smile was wide. 

“How did you find it?” You asked him, you couldn’t pry your eyes away from the ground. 

“Found this place a while back. Helped them out and they showed me this. I always wanted to bring someone here and show them though.” Vash looked towards you and grabbed your hand “You want to see your surprise?” He asked, pulling you up. 

“Wait, this isn’t the surprise?” you asked as he guided you both further into the small field. Coming around a corner, you spotted a blanket on the ground and a small basket. “What's this?” you asked, your face lighting up. 

“This is the best place to have a picnic!” Vash replied. “Rem used to set them up on the grass all the time for us before…” his voice trailed off. 

Raising your hand, you cupped his cheek, turning his face towards you and smiling at him, knowingly, “Thank you for sharing something like this with me, Vash.” 

He tilted his face into your hand, nuzzling it for a moment before gesturing for you to take a seat. “I hope you’re hungry! I grabbed a few snacks and brought them out here earlier. I only went back into town for you, and these” He held the bag with the doughnuts up before placing them on the blanket. 

Chuckling, you sat down on the blanket, reaching a hand into the basket, you pull out a sandwich. “So what do you do at a picnic?” you questioned Vash, unwrapping your sandwich before taking a bite. 

“Well we used to eat, talk and listen to stories..” Vash grabbed your wrist, bringing your hand with the sandwich to his face and stealing a bite before you could pull away, smirking at you playfully.

“Hey!” You jerked your hand away, chuckling, taking another bite of your own before holding it out for him, which he graciously took. 

Time seemed to stop for you both, just enjoying each other's company, sharing your food with each other. Your laughter rang through the clearing while Vash shared some of his light hearted and funnier stories of his adventures on Gunsmoke. 

The breeze flew through the trees, the sound of the leaves rustling was something you had never heard before and you loved it. It was almost like a small fluttering. You closed your eyes, laying down on the blanket and enjoying the sound. You heard Vash’s coat rustling. Cracking one eye open you spotted him leaning back, his knee propped up with one arm resting on top of it, the other one behind him for support. 

“We only have a couple of days here, so we need to make the most of it.” His voice was low, like he was convincing himself he needed to leave this place. 

Reaching a hand out, you tugged his arm, pulling him down to lay beside you, “We can enjoy our time here right now.” you turned and smiled at him, “This place really is amazing.”

Settling in beside you, his hand ran down your arm, threading his fingers through yours, humming his agreement. 

#~~trigun stuff #enchantedforestnetwork #🌱 Vash the stampede #🌱 vash the stampede fluff #🌱 reader:gn #🌱seedling #summertime collab

[martianbugsbunny]

Blue Skies Smiling At Me (A FrankenWolf Fic)

Well dearies I've got a new Frankenwolf fic for you! It's one of very few simple fluffy fics I've done in my life (what can I say, I thrive on the angst and the drama and the romance) so if it's maybe not quite like the rest of my fics there is a reason, I'm not just slacking. Anyway, I tried, and I think it turned out fun, so read on and enjoy!

Ruby settled in on her blanket on the sand, a cooler full of Coke on one side and a pile of books on the other. It had been a couple of weeks since anything catastrophic had happened to Storybrooke, and summer was in full swing with bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine, so a rather large portion of the town had decided to gather on the beach for an impromptu party.

Snow sat down next to Ruby, leaning back on her own blanket. “A moment to relax will be worth all the sand I’ll be sweeping out of my apartment for the next week,” she joked, putting on a pair of white cat-eyed sunglasses. “I might even take a nap.”

“How wild,” Ruby teased, opening her first book. She had a couple of hours to kill before Victor’s shift at the hospital ended, and a stack of unread romance novels a mile high. “I’ll nudge you if you start looking lobstery.”

Snow chuckled as she turned onto her stomach, nestling her head on her arms.

After a while the smell of barbecue filled the air. Ruby glanced up from the page she was reading (she was already halfway through her second book); the wolf in her was very interested in whatever meat was cooking. Over at the grill, Granny was bossing David around—it seemed hectic, but the large chunk of meat that was smoking away looked mouthwatering, so Ruby supposed it was a good enough system.

“Food’s ready!” Granny called. “Come and get it!”

Ruby waited only long enough to poke Snow awake (what kind of friend would let a friend miss out on good barbecue) before dashing across the sand to collect a paper plate for her own meal. A table was set out just past the grill with desserts, most of them from the diner, and Ruby piled her plate with both barbecue and a slice of chocolate pie before returning to her spot on the sand.

As she dug into her food, a pair of strong arms circled around her waist. “Hey good-looking, got a bite to spare?” Victor teased, his breath ghosting warmly over the shell of her ear. Ruby chuckled as he pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, then snatched a small chunk of the pork off her plate.

“Up for a swim later?” Ruby asked, pulling a bottle of Coke out of her cooler and handing it to Victor. “The bay is pretty calm today.”

“Hey, I didn’t buy this swimsuit just so you could look at me in it,” Victor said. “Maybe a little bit for that, but not completely.” His whole body shook as he laughed, and with his arms around her, so did Ruby’s. It was a red suit (she loved that he wore red for her) and it had a subtle darker crimson swirl pattern that matched the one on Ruby’s vintage-cut one piece.

“Help me finish this barbecue first,” Ruby said, offering him the plate. She scooted out of his embrace so he could eat, leaning back on her elbows and simply staring at him.

The warm summer breeze drifting across the beach ruffled the blond curls around the arms of his oversized sunglasses. He hadn’t been outside long enough yet for his skin to start turning red, but his face was a little bit flushed just from the heat. And best of all, he was looking back at her with what she knew was a mirror of the expression on her own face: pure adoration—and that was the most handsome expression she’d ever seen on him.

Ruby had cold soda, warm sand, blue skies, and the most wonderful husband in the world.

Life was good.

#ouat #once upon a time #ruby lucas #victor frankenstein #frankenwolf #victor x ruby #ruby x victor #snow white #David nolan #granny lucas #fic #beach fic #summertime #fluff #martianbugsbunny writes fic

[lnfours]

toms-gf summertime sleepover

hey everyone! to celebrate 9.2k, and to have a little fun this summer, im hosting a sleepover event!

what is a sleepover?

it’s where you guys send me asks of your choosing from the list below and i answer them! it’s a fun way of hanging out, writing things for you guys, and getting to know each other :)

before we get started, you can find the list of people i write for as well as my blog rules here!

here’s the list of things you can send in!

send in a 🐚 for an imagine request

send in a ☀️ for a song off of my playlist

send in a 🌊 for a moodboard

send in a 🕶️ and a question from this list for my honest answer

the sleepover starts right now (10:50am EST, july 8th) and will go on until 9:00pm EST tonight!

see you all soon <33

#sleepover #tom holland #peter parker #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #spider-man #spiderman #spider-man: homecoming #conrad fisher #conrad fisher x reader #send me stuff #summertime sleepover ☀️ #imagines #fluff #requests #taking requests #reblog #like #mcu #the summer i turned pretty #ethan nestor #nathan drake #uncharted #tasm peter

[superblysubpar]

How would people feel about part 1 of Steve's story for Summertime Magic being released tonight instead of tomorrow?

#summertime magic #steve's story #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fic #steve harrington series #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington smut #stranger things fanfic

[where-dreamers-go]

Leon Scott Kennedy Masterlist

Leon Kennedy Masterlist

Last updated: May 21, 2024

~~~

"Summertime" Leon S Kennedy x Reader -- Part One

"Summertime" Leon S Kennedy x Reader -- Part Two

"Summertime" Leon S Kennedy x Reader -- Part Three

"Summertime" Leon S Kennedy x Reader -- Part Four

"Cheesy" Leon Kennedy x Reader

. . .

#leon kennedy #leon kennedy masterlist #lifeguard! leon kennedy #leon scott kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy fluff #where dreamers go #resident evil fanfiction #leon s kennedy #blind date #summertime lifeguard leon kennedy

[enhalpy]

🧸

hiiii

#hey lily bae <33 #you give off rlly soft chill vibes #the best way to describe it is summertime-y ♡ #or spring sunshine just like yunjin says in the song 🤭 #help idk if this makes sense but this song is rlly cute & im such a sucker for ur fluff so i thought it was a great fit #also i just want to mention that i love ur personality <33 #ur so sweet & rlly funny 🫶 #i was having a hard time choosing btwn this & paper rings but i decided to go with this one bc ur literally yunjin 🫶 #lily! ☆ #fae’s mail! ♡

[finelinevogue]

going to the beach with harry to read and relax but all he wants to do is dig a hole or build something

alrighty

You were tanning well under the heat of the sun, laying on your towel on the beach as the waves rolled in.

The book that you were holding above your face was blocking out the sun, allowing you to continue to read your book without blinding yourself. The rest of your body was exposed as you wore a bikini to get a good summers tan.

Harry had suggested coming down to the beach for the day early this morning.

It was after a conversation about how you never took days out just for the two of you, but you deserved to, so it made Harry spontaneously organise this little excursion for the both of you.

The day has been filled with lots of love and laughter. Harry was now sporting crazy beach hair from the wind and sea salt. You hadn’t stopped ogling his body all day, no matter how objectifying it was, because he looked immaculately perfect.

You’d played football with each other, you running after the ball when Harry kicked it too hard. You had to put on Harry’s white over-shirt at one point because the sun became too hot on your back. Harry had given you a baseball cap too, to protect your head. It was funny playing football with Harry, since you had no clue what you were doing. He picked you up after tackling you one time, because you were so close to scoring.

“You’re cheating!” You laughed and screamed as he lifted you over his shoulder and continued to dribble the football until it went through the goal you should’ve been defending.

“It’s not cheating. I’m improvising.”

You’d had a picnic together, one that you’d put together from a Tesco’s express since this had been spontaneous after all. Harry had been cheesy enough to feed you some strawberries. Both of you had bought some little alcoholic cans so you could have a drink or two, loosening yourselves up and continuing to laugh and giggle like children at heart.

Now, you were peacefully reading as Harry had gone off somewhere himself. You thought he had gone down to the sea for a swim, but it turns out he hadn’t.

“Y/N! Help!” His voice screamed, making you sit up in confusion. You dropped your book and lost your page, not caring at the moment because Harry needed you.

“Harry?!” You shouted, kneeling to try and look out for where his voice was coming from.

“Y/N, baby!” Harry shouted.

You stood up and looked around further down the beach and back up again. You looked out to sea and then up at the dunes towards the car park. Then, only then, did you look just a few meters away and saw his head poking out of the sand. Only his head.

“What the fuck!” You jumped back in horror, scaring yourself as he creepily smiled at you from the confines of a small hole he’d dug. It was the fact it was just his head popping out of the surface that had made you loose your nerve, screaming like there were ants running up your body.

“Hey, baby.” He waved.

“Harry! What the actual fuck.” You streamed, holding a hand over your chest.

“I dug a hole.”

“Of course you did.” You rolled your eyes, putting your hands on your hips.

“And I got stuck.”

“Wait—”

“I’m joking. I’m joking.” Harry giggled, pushing himself up and out of his pit. If it hadn’t been for how mad and terrified you were, then you would’ve gawked at how his muscles moved when he pushed himself up.

“God, you’re such a dick.” You punched him in his arm.

“I’m sorry.” He laughed.

“I was fucking worried, y’dickhead.” You pouted and Harry came over to wrap his arms around your body. Your arms were fiercely folded over your own chest, not giving him the satisfaction of hugging him just yet.

“I’m alright, baby. Look, I’m not just a head.” He referred to how you’d only seen his head before.

“Dickhead.” You emphasised.

“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “Now, how can I make it up to you?”

“Kisses. Lots of kisses.” You tilted your head up in an angry pout and Harry could not get over how pretty you were.

“I can do that.” He smirked before pressing his lips onto yours.

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emilyhenrywrites 👀

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harryfan2 WHYA RE EMILY AND Y/N INTERACTING IM SO NERVOUS

harrystyles What’s a Gusrry?

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #ask finelinevogue #finelinevogue #harry blurb #harry styles concept #harry oneshot #harry styles summer #summertime!harry #harry styles blurbs #harry styles fluff #harry styles beach #gusrry #harry styles x gus everett

[delanuit]

[ rest ] i just need christine holding him w his head in her lap for reasons

word prompts — accepting.

all day long a fierce migraine has been building in Erik's head. still, he attempted to get through his work. there was maintenance to be done within the house and on the grounds — it had been some time since it had been occupied and Erik had taken it upon himself to see that it was fit for his partners' habitation.

he spent the morning sweating in the garden beneath the summer sun; a sensation at which he still marveled! to stand beneath the clear, harsh light of the sun! the afternoon was spent fixing pipes, replacing hinges, polishing surfaces. the evening would be devoted to composing.

now though, he finds Christine settled on the settee in the parlor, a book in her hands. he had bathed in cool water, but nothing had worked to dispel the pounding pain in his head. he lays himself down, settling his head in Christine's lap and blocking the light with his arm. inwardly, he thrills at the knowledge that this is allowed: this presumption, this casual touch.

“ what is it you're reading? ” he asks, voice low. it is a thinly veiled ploy to get her to read it to him; anything to hear the sweet music of her voice, the only thing he knows of that can soothe any pain.

#( your obedient servant o.g. ) asks #firstsorrow #v. ( talk of summertime ) #( THROWS FLUFF AT YOU ) #( little a fluff as a treat <3 )

[blackjackmagi83]

You Are My Heaven (1) - Sweep Me Off My Feet

-

Masterlist

AO3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: A short reader insert story of falling in love with pre-winter soldier James Barnes to post-Winter Soldier Bucky.

A fluffy tear jerker that’ll make you cringe or get butterflies and blush.

*Rewritten cause original was cringe (still kind of is)*

-

Note:

I can't even begin with how much I've rewritten this part of the story. I have come to the conclusion that I am awful at writing 2nd person and come to the decision to not write in that form again cause *cringe*🥲 I'm still not the happiest with this version and most likely in a short time with fix it up a bit better (Maybe) but I hope you all like this version!

I am working on fixing up the other parts so look out for that hopefully soon!

Playlist listed below along with the NEW story cover ♡

Hope you enjoy! ♡

Playlist:

Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley 

Until I Found You – Stephen Sanchez with Em Beihold

Put Your Head On My Shoulder – Paul Anka

Hold Me Tight – Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe Soundtrack)

-

1942 New York City, quite the place to be at this time. The raging war grew larger each day, waiting to swallow seas of people preparing to dive head first into it. It felt like the only thing that was on everyone's mind, the papers made sure it was at the very least. Pages upon pages of updates that weren’t classified to the public, detailing on what’s to come. It only grew the public's fear more. Mothers held their baby boys closer with each coming night, dreading the date when they got called for duty and most likely to their future graves. I almost could relate to the grieving mothers. A beloved baby sister who was trying to grasp the reality that my brother wasn't going to be coming home. A reality that I was nowhere near ready for, let alone accept.

My daze came to a halt at the feeling of getting my hip bumped by another, taking a moment to realize the bubbly woman beside me was deep in a conversation that I held no knowledge of the subject.

Great, I did it again…

My head turned towards her, attempting to connect the pieces of conversation my brain was able to catch. Something along the lines of a scandal at the salon and her mother fussing over the money she spent on the dress she had just bought for herself to wear tonight–I think–but nothing else seemed to fit together enough to fully comprehend. A wave of guilt washed over me at my terrible lack of focus tonight, further sinking when I caught the gleam of excitement as she spoke, still oblivious to my fogged state.

“--Who knows, maybe even let someone take my hands off you if you get my gist?” The beaming smile ceased at the sight of my furrowed brows, piecing together the puzzle of conversation that I had missed entirely, “You weren’t listening were you?”

My face pinched as I cringed, eyes apologetic towards the bouncing blonde, “I’m sorry–”

Her hands encased my arm in a firm hold, shaking it as if to rid of my clouded thoughts, “Get your head out of the clouds already, Y/N! With the way this war is going we only have so much time to enjoy such freedom and you are wasting it on daydreaming.”

Maria, one of the sweetest people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my young lifetime, was nothing but a stubborn, spitfire that is too passionate for her own good. So outgoing, never turning the spotlight down if it came her way but my most loyal friend since the two of us graduated highschool. Determined as a bull, she is the one who pulls me out of my comfort zone–more than I’d like sometimes–when she feels it’s needed, releasing the tension if pushed too far. A quality that was hard to find when befriending someone as shy as myself and I’ve never been more thankful.

“I wasn’t daydreaming.” Face flushing, I turned away from the pinned glare of green eyes, huffing under my breath with both annoyance and defeat, “Maria, you're lucky I even came out let alone having a man take me home tonight.”

Taking a man home was the last thing on my mind. Most men were preparing for war leaving only the memory of themselves in the form of soreness and hickies. Emotional connection wasn’t something many seeked during this time unless they sought after heartbreak purposely. Ignoring the sensitivity of my emotional state, even if I did go home with one, feeding into the temptation of lust, I would still be left with an emptiness that would never be filled. I rather sit and weep than deal with the emotional damage of loving someone romantically, knowing they wouldn’t return to me or lose their connection from months–maybe years–of distance and mental trauma of war. 

“The only plans I have after tonight are a cup of tea and a few chapters from my book.” I looped my arm through her right one, refusing to meet her eyes still, “Maybe I’ll even eat a cookie before bed, just to spice it up a bit since apparently I’m such a bore.”

I didn't have to look at her to know a smirk was growing on her lips, the corners cracking as they peeked upwards. Smugness radiated off her in heavy waves, her eyes glinting with mischief, “But the unplanned ones tend to be the best and rather surprising darling.”

Should’ve seen that one coming.

A blush dappled my cheeks, further entertaining Maria at my innocence, “I guess I’ll never know.”

I’ve had experiences with men but very little if I could even count it as anything. One of the first boys I went out with had taken advantage of the less than intimate kiss, decided to try his luck at running his hands down the curves of my backside but didn’t get a chance to go further due to your brother coming into my room. It’s safe to say receiving a black eye was no invitation for a second date.

Maria pinched my side, tugging me closer as the bar grew closer, “Never say never honey, you could meet the man of your dreams tonight.” 

For my sake, I beg to the heavens that I don't…

The bar doors swung open with a bang as the two of us entered, bodies painting the room with swinging dances, flirtatious chatter and an overall intoxicating presence that made my head spin the moment I stepped in. It was filled with mostly officers and women clinging onto their uniforms trying to hold onto their short summer romances. A few elderly lovers danced around them, sparkle in their eyes as if they had fallen in love with each other all over again. That's the kind of love I've always dreamt about, the most impossible love to find. 

Maria's grip tightened around my hand as she dragged me across the lacquered floor, bumping into surrounding bodies that looked to have the least bit of care in the world as they pounded glasses of liquor. My eyes wandered around the room catching the glints of light shining on the stage as I was pulled through, dazed by the haze from cigarette smoke and suffocation the packed room gave.

I tugged at her arm when we took a moment to stop, Maria peeking over shoulders in further search of an open table, “Why don’t we just head back? All the tables seem to be taken.” I felt claustrophobic the longer I stood pressed against so many bodies, the sour smell of booze and sweat was beginning to make me nauseous, “We can try again another night, preferably not on a Friday night?”

Maria was less than pleased by my escape attempt, scrunching her face sourly, “No way! You’ll never get out of that retrid room otherwise. Look, there’s a table right over there!” Maria pulled me further towards the back of the bar, squeezing past lingering hands and bantering, the empty table in question appearing as if out of thin air, “How perfect is this little spot? Nice and quiet, all while getting a good view of tonight’s selection.”

I couldn’t help but to breathe a laugh at her openness, pulling my dress underneath myself as I sat in the wooden seat, my hands immediately playing with the ends of hair that shifted onto my cheek. An anxious habit that I still struggled to get rid of. I wasn't used to dolling myself up,  showcasing myself into the light of curious eyes that surrounded me. I'm used to simple, blending into the crowds of New York with little fuss or worry of complications. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight, I didn’t like the attention of a thousand eyes on me, but when with Maria, that mindset gets twisted by those painted nails until all that remains is a whole new woman. Tonight was no exception. My hair is curled in brushed waves that tweaked up at the ends, the deep navy cocktail dress curving to my body without being overly tight. Maria even convinced me to wear makeup, showing me how to apply it since she is far more of an expert in the field than myself. When I appeared in front of the mirror, it was a stranger looking back at me. It felt overwhelming, looking back at the mature woman in the reflection, but the thrill of adrenaline that ran through my body had me excited for the night to come. 

Maria pinched at the back of my hand, gaining my mindless attention back once again, “Alright space cadet, I’m going to go and grab us some drinks. I expect that baby tush to be sitting right there when I get back–unless afterall someone catches your interest–”

“Just get the damn drinks already.” A snort flew from my lips as I shoved her towards the bar, the sound of her laughter fading as she drifted further away from earshot.

I followed Maria’s perky figure, quirking a brow when she was stopped by a few officers leaning against the bar beside her. With a dip in her hip, the flirtatious charm turned on, twirling the short blonde strands around her finger, eyes skimming their uniforms with low lashes and her lip tucked cheekily between her teeth. The men melted into a pool of lovestruck hormones that filled their imagination with visions of her beneath their bodies, hollering and smirking with their eyes still glued to her. It was so fascinating to observe, noting the ease of skill Maria flaunted all while being innocently inviting to the opposite sex. A trait–talent–I sometimes wish I obtained.

Maria sent a kiss to each swooning man, giving a little toast with the prized beer in her hands before she made her way back to the table, an extra sway to her hips, “God I love being a woman.” Maria released a relieved sigh, cheeks warm with joy, “I will never turn down free drinks by looking pretty.” The yeasty liquid spilled from the opened top as she handed the brown glass bottle, sitting herself in the chair across from me.

The liquid was pungent, hitting the back of my throat with a sharper taste than I expected, nearly making me cough it down. But the coolness of it made me numb away from the taste, savoring the relief of heat leaving my fevered body, “One of these days you’ll have to teach me your ways with flirting. You make it look as if it’s the easiest thing in the world.” 

Maria shook her head in disagreement, chuckling as she took another sip, “Absolutely not.”

My toe tapped at her shin playfully, “Oh, come on, I can’t be that hopeless?” Her head shook stubbornly again, mumbling ‘no’ repeatedly under her breath, “You’re the one who’s practically begging for me to have my panties around my ankles tonight. I can’t woo a guy if I’m fumbling over my words every other second.”

With a sigh, her head rolled to face me, “It’s simple Y/N, I’m selfish. If I teach you my ways you’ll never be home alone again or home at all for that matter. Even worse, you wouldn't spend any time with me! I’m not sure I could handle that. And don’t get me started on your brother who would put a target on my back if he found out you were anything but innocent. Sure be a hell of a sight to witness though.”

A heavy feeling sunk into an iron pit in my chest at the mention of my brother. I almost forgot about the deployment date but it was unavoidable, especially in a bar full of enthusiastic officers, ready to fight for their country. Avoiding it felt like a complete joke now, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, how stupid of me.”

Maria sighed as she took another sip from her beer, her thoughts morphing together something to fix her slipup, “Listen to me Y/N, I know you're struggling right now with your brother's deployment coming up but you need to keep living. Do you think he wants you drowning yourself in your room by yourself every night? No, he'd give you a shoe right in the tush and you know it! Now loosen up that frown, you're gonna get wrinkles.”

I knew she was right, but the panicked feeling only grew, settling like a diseased cell until it grew unmanageable. My cheek stung as back teeth nipped at the inside of my cheek, heartbeat drumming through my skull with quickening pulses that seemed to increase with each second passing. 

The first stage of a panic attack…

Dread joined the cluster of emotions at the thought of having an attack in full bar, my lungs clawing inside my chest in a panicked plea for more oxygen. I almost gave in, my breathing pitching into near hyperventilation until the warmth of a hand wrapped around the trembling digits of my own, forcing my glazed sight to meet Maria’s. It was a soft, reassuring gaze, her fingers rubbing tenderly against the back of my hand, distracting from the panicked breaths and desperation to run out the doors.

“Y/N, I need you to do your exercises.” She demonstrated, inhaling and exhaling the way I needed to, “Deep breath in, hold for four, blow it out for another four. Can you do that for me?”

I felt my head nodding, following her instructions, the subtle relief of my breathing and heart rate slowing following soon after. The unbearable drumming dissipated and the slight shake throughout my body settled into barely a hum. 

Her other hand cupped over our interlaced ones, radiating soothing heat up my arm, her eyes never leaving mine as I continued the exercise, “Good, now I want you to throw any thoughts you have out of that head of yours. I know it's not going to be easy, this will be your biggest challenge to overcome yet. Just remember you have people who will support you through it.”

I gave her a blank stare, both mentally drained and unamused by her words of wisdom, “How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?” A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, further distracting me from the episode that just occurred, “Seriously, it’s almost creepy.”

She let go of my hand, returning to its place on the bottle as she rocked backwards in her seat, a soft smile gracing her lips, “Because it’s what you have me for.” 

A comfortable silence grew between us, slowly sipping at the warming beer until there were only the sharp remnants remaining on the tip of my tongue. Maria barely touched hers, just holding it in her lap as her attention was more focused on those surrounding us, her body subconsciously swaying to the music from the band.

A loud smack quivered the table, sending a jolt through my heart at the sudden motion of her hand coming down against the table’s surface, “Alright I’ve had enough of this mopey, depressing gunk.” Her hand moved to reach out towards me, palm open with invite, “Come on honey, let's go show everyone how to actually dance.” 

Curls invaded my vision as my head shook, leaning away from the awaiting hand, “You know I don’t dance Maria.”

A humorless laugh flooded around me, the manicured hand slapping at the top of my exposed knee lightly, “What a load of bull that is! Come on Y/N, these boys don’t know what a fine woman they’re missing if you just sit around the whole night looking like a lost little puppy.”

Stubbornness laced my features, pushing away the empty bottle from between my fingers so I could cross them against my chest, “I most certainly can. Let’s call it, playing hard to get? Give ‘em a little surprise when they pull me to the floor.”

The blank, defeated stare shifted into one of triumph as her line of sight caught something behind me, raising her hands in mock surrender as she backed off, “If that’s how you wanna play honey then that’s fine, but I don’t think you’ll have to play for too long.”

“Elaborate please.”

She leaned forward until her mouth almost touched my ear, “An officer with the most intense blue eyes I’ve ever seen, hasn’t stopped looking at you since we sat down.” A finger pointed towards the culprit, chatting amongst a group against the wall beside the bar, “The tall one in the uniform in the middle there.”

She smirked as I launched my body around the chair, nearly making it fall over. My eyes scanned over the room, hunting for this mystery man that was spoken of but all I was met with was the classic brown and gold uniforms placed on nearly every man within a two foot vicinity. With a roll of my eyes, I met her awaiting ones, “Half this bar is filled with uniformed men, it’s a little hard to tell who from who.” 

Her gaze shifted behind me again, meeting mine with a mischievous glint, “Oh trust me, you can’t miss him. Look, he’s already making his way over here.”

“This joke is starting to get old–” I followed her line of sight, lazily skimming around until I caught the blue eyes she was referring to.

She wasn’t kidding… 

Six feet of muscles dressed in military attire with the most charming smile I've had the pleasure of seeing was walking my way, watching me as he walked against the crowd. My breaths held a firm hold within my throat as I held eye contact, unable to break away even when he stood only inches from where I sat.

“Good evening ladies.” He nodded his head respectfully towards Maria before his attention returned to me briefly, intimidating but welcoming, “I hope you don’t mind–”

“Maria Elkwoods, at your service sir.” She was practically glowing, radiating with both excitement and smugness. Her eyes shot to mine, clearly reading ‘I told you so’ .

A breathy chuckle passed his lips, jolting my heart into a quicker rhythm, “Maria, would you mind if I take the company of your gorgeous friend here for a moment?”

Maria didn’t need to hear another word, jumping from her seat as if it burned, “Please, I thought you’d never ask! And don’t feel the need to return her, she’s all yours for the night officer. Have fun you two.” She winked, leaving the two of us with our jaws slightly gaped and speechless, at least I was. 

The officer appeared amused rather than offended, shaking his head as another chuckle escaped him, “She’s quite something huh?”

“That’s an understatement.” I felt myself joining in the light laughter until our eyes met again, catching the words in my throat sharply as I watched him as if in slow motion take the open seat beside me.

Washes of light blue clashed with dark as the color got closer to his pupil creating an intense gaze that pinned me to the spot, intensely observant and calculating. I was already intimidated but something about his demeanor made my nerves settle into something manageable, allowing a shy smile to grace my features as I held his stare, “So, officer–”

“Sergeant James Barnes, but everyone likes to call me Bucky.” He reached his hand out, patiently waiting to take mine in polite greeting. 

I could tell my shyness was slightly amusing to him, certain my face was flushing as red as the stage lights currently, “Y/N Y/L/N, no fancy nickname though unfortunately. It’s a pleasure to meet you James.” The callused skin of his palms rubbed roughly against the softness of mine, tingling as my fingers danced against his in a light shake.

His hand radiated with a warmth that traveled up my arm, gently tugging my hand closer as he brought his lips against the top of it, letting them linger, “Y/N...The pleasure is all mine.”

A foreign feeling bubbled to the surface within me as I watched his lips move, my name rolling off his tongue like silk, embedding my attention fully on him to the point my eyes hurt from not moving them away. My hand was locked in a gentle hold between his still, letting his fingers rub mindlessly against my palm as he spoke, bringing the feeling close to exploding. I wanted to scream it out, all while bottling it back up to avoid something I was completely unprepared for.

“--I’m taking it you’re not much of a dancer?”

My shoulders shrugged lamely, too distracted by the tingles his touch was leaving to give a proper answer, “I suppose you could say that. More of the stay at home with a book kind of gal.”

He perked at my words, straightening his back and tilting his head with interest, "What’s your favorite book?”

Is there supposed to be an answer to that question? I don’t think there's an answer…

“Oh there's too many great ones to choose from, I honestly can’t say I have one. Do you enjoy casual reading?” I cringed internally at how badly I stumbled over the words, holding back the distaste I held for myself by focusing on the buttons that adorned his jacket.

“I’m not much of a reader these days anymore, but I could reread ‘The Hobbit’ a hundred times and I wouldn’t get tired of it. There’s just something about it that I can’t get enough of. Kind of a bit like with you right now. You just keep drawing me in and I haven’t spoken to you for more than five minutes.”

God he was charming.

There was no stopping the raging blush any longer, defeated by the smoothness of his compliments. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe when his gaze was so intensely on me, piercing into me until I cracked and turned away, internally gasping for air once my eyes shifted to a poster along the bar’s back wall.

This new sensation building within me hadn’t stopped, wanting the freedom of release and take over my senses, placing me in the back seat while it steered me through all it wanted to do. It scared me with a heart pumping acceleration of rebelliousness, addictive and never fully fulfilling. I reached for it subconsciously but went a little too late, the comforting heat that wrapped around my hand vanished as Bucky pulled away to lean back in the chair, resting them atop his lap.

I turned my gaze back to him, curious of his sudden retreat, my hand closing into a clammy ball against my side. His attention was towards the dance floor, drowning out his surroundings just as I had done moments ago. It gave me a moment to admire the details of him, taking in the velvet that constructed his hat and the wrinkle-free uniform that shaped the athleticism of his body perfectly. It made me wonder of the strength that laid beneath it, how the muscles of his back flexed– 

“What’re you thinking about?” My eyes pulled up to meet those blue crystals focused on my dragging stare, “It’s me right?” Bucky teased, his eyes almost twinkling with mischief. 

I felt myself match his cockiness, my body suddenly jittery, “I was just thinking that–” The feeling could no longer be contained anymore, rising to the surface with a chilling intensity and boldness. Years of watching Maria flaunt her skills had taken its mark on me from the shadows, remembering to lower my lashes in a low lidded gaze forcing my pupils to dilate from imaginative thoughts, bringing forth the target with increasing desire. Resting a hand beneath my chin while leaning forward to show equal curiosity and reveal another advantage that hung in a small opening at your breasts, “--you should take me out on the floor and swing me around till I can barely feel my legs.”

It came out as if I held no control, the flirtatious and slightly suggestive remark surprising not only myself but Bucky as well. My eyes moved towards his mouth, his teeth grazing his bottom lip as a smirk began to form. 

Scorching fire shot through my hand and soon after my body, in a mix of tingling anticipation and adrenaline, as it was pulled up to rest against his chest, “Shall we then?”

I felt everything let go as he spun my body around the dance floor, sweaty bodies flushing against us like a wall, never removing one of his hands from my waist. The atmosphere made me feel drunk, high even. An occurrence that held no explanation, but it was heaven. It felt as if I was internally melting, unfamiliar with the hotness running throughout my insides, feeding into the adrenaline that pumped heavily through me. The sound of the music pulsated through my ears until they rang, the instruments picking up into a lively jazz that flowed through my veins with its rhythm. It all clouded my senses with a thick curtain, becoming more dangerous as my vision remained lost, the only judgment of direction being the hands that curved up my spine as they dipped me towards the lacquered floor. The possibilities of those hands gave me a ravishing hunger, craving to feel them drape along the rest of my body with as much passion as this moment. It was the most intimate experience you ever felt.

“I thought you said you couldn’t dance?” His voice was morphed, dripping like honey through my ears.

A gasping laugh flowed from my lips, allowing his hand to twirl and pull me back against his chest, his heartbeat pounding against my own, “It’s no fun to give all your tricks away.”

Just as it rose, the music that made everyone’s veins pump with the beat of the trumpet and saxophone had ended with the bang of the drums, dropping the curtain along my senses into a clarity that made me dizzy. 

Reluctantly, I drew away from him, allowing a space the length of my arms to form between us, my legs shaking from fatigue with each step, “Well, I certainly will struggle walking to work tomorrow so I guess you’ve accomplished my wish Sergeant.” 

Bucky tugged back at my hand, stopping the distance I kept attempting to make from growing further, “Just that little jig and you’re already done? Come on gorgeous, the night has barely begun. I know you have more in you than that.” 

The lively jazz music had settled into a swayful piano and soulful tone from the singer, pulling the remaining couples closer in a dance of intimacy. My heart ached to join them but time was ticking and I wasn’t sure if I accepted, if I would ever leave from between his arms.

“I have to get up early James-'' I played with his fingers in an attempt to unravel them from between mine–with little success–remaining stubbornly intertwined, “Has anyone told you you’re annoyingly persistent?”

A playful smirk laced his lips as his head shook, “You don’t know the half of it darling.” His grip along my right hand loosened enough to slide down my arm, placing it to sit along the back of his neck, the other still interlaced with his left, “One more dance is all I’m asking for.”

The distance I had succeeded at making, shrunk as my body flushed against his chest, hearts connecting in equal beats as if they were bonded, “One more and you’ll have to carry me home.” Our eyes locked, hypnotized by the power they held so strongly when connected. 

I guess Maria was right…Maybe I did meet the man of my dreams tonight.  

His head dipped to nestled at the top of my curls, smiling against the frizzed strands that loosened from their hairsprayed hold, “I can accept that.”

My head moved to rest along the curve between his neck and shoulder, allowing my eyes to close as our bodies swayed in a small circular pattern. It was blissful and serene, breathing in the mixture of his natural scent and cologne, sending me further against him in relaxation, radiating an energy from each other that felt so wholesome. Was I dreaming? Floating along the floor like clouds, in a slow waltz with a man that looked at me like I’m the most beautiful woman in the room. 

I could live in this moment for the rest of my life…

“Could’ve fooled me with those moves you pulled before.” Bucky's lips were dangerously close to my ear, voice dripping like honey within it, “I never seen someone dance like that.”

I chuckled against his chest, shyly hiding my face within it, both reluctant to move from the comfort of it and because of the pink that returned to my cheeks, “You surprised me yourself you know.” The lights had dimmed, caging his sweat slicked face in an illuminating glow, meeting the intense blue orbs once more, trying desperately not to drown within the depths of them, “No one’s swept me off my feet quite like you have.”

Pearlescent teeth flashed down at me, soaking in my admiration, ”I guess we’re both full of surprises then Y/N.”

My cheeks twitched, the permanent smile plastered to my face aching but I couldn’t stop it even if I tried, “You don’t even know the half of it James.” 

Bucky pulled my body impossibly closer with a delicate squeeze against my back allowing me to fully wrap my arms around his neck, his forehead lowering until it rested along mine. I could feel the thin layer of sweat that built up on his brow, a bead slipping from under his hat every so often as his body began to cool, the scent of beer fanning my face in light waves as his lungs regained full breaths, “Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?”

There weren’t any hairs to twirl along the back of his neck, buzzed too short but I still rubbed the shortened hairs fondly, my voice grasping playfulness as a brow raised suspiciously, “And how many times have you used that line Sergeant Barnes?”

“Only as many as you want me to.”

Hesitantly, his nose nudged against the tip of mine, silently asking for permission. Our eyes locked, lids dazed with exhaustion and admiration, “And if I want something else?” There was no hesitation accepting his invite, barely letting each other's lips touch in an innocent kiss.

His breath fanned over the sensitive skin of my lips as they hovered centimeters apart, coated lightly with the lipstick I wore, “You can have as many of those as you want too.”

This must be what Maria always talked about when you find someone who sends butterflies to your belly. The kind of feelings that make you hungry for more of that person, wanting every touch and smile, their voice playing in your ear for days. Only images of them flooding your memory with reality and imaginative scenes. That is how I felt as Bucky looked down at me, holding me as if I was molded to him like a piece of art, the missing link to a puzzle he desperately sought for. 

Maybe this was the chance worth risking for…

The skin along his jaw was rough against my palms from freshly shaving, sliding them up to his cheeks to pull myself back to his lips, greedily craving them with a ravishing desire. Bucky mimicked my passion, fisting a hand deep into the curls at the back of my head while the other cradled my lower back. 

Intoxicating was the best way to describe it, dragging me further into the depths of the paradise that was James Barnes and I wanted so much more. It was a kiss that made me lose sensation of my surroundings, full of new desires that enthralled me to explore and discover the man beneath the uniform. 

My fingers danced along his jaw as I broke away, staring up at him with absolute certainty, “I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

-

Part 2

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