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jade-jini · 4 months

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HI been thinking abt g!p loser yunjin getting emotional during sex 😭 can i request a somno one where she comes home drunk late at night, looking for reader only to see her asleep on their bed! yunny getting hard at the sight and emotional as she remembers their argument, she couldn’t help herself but touch her gf, soft “sorry’s” and “don’t leave me” leaving her mouth as she fucks reader 😖

TW: somno, angst, happy ending ig. Dubcon. Dacryphilia. Yunjin is insecure.

Can I give you g!p loser somno Yunjin? Yes. Is it from the same storyline as the previous posts? Hell no. That baby would never. That one is fluffy fluffy this is a completely different one ok? Ok 🤨. After clarifying that…😈

“Hey, a*hic*nother one, please…” Yunjin said, raising her empty glass, her vision not good enough to catch where the bartender actually was. The guy sighed as he dried a washed glass with a towel.

“Listen kid, we’re already closed. Why don’t you go home already?”

“Home?” Yunjin asked unconsciously, the memories of that day hitting once again.

——————————Flashback—————————

You guys were supposed to get home together after a long day. Yunjin was gonna pick you up after your last class of the day, the orange sky and sunlight hitting against her own hair as she waited for you. She had a nice flower in hand, excited to give it to you. Softly placing it near her nose to smell it one more time, she made herself blushed thinking about your smile once she saw you. However, you were not alone. Her smile dropped right away as she left the flower fall somewhere.

There you were, standing with a friend she very well recognized. It was this one girl from the women soccer team of the university. Yunjin knew her name, everybody knew her name. But she never liked using it, making it clear she did not like this person at all.

“She seems to like you a lot…” she murmured after the first time she saw you talking to Yeji.

“I like her too, she’s a good friend, and she’s friends with Yeojin already so it’s cool” you explained, apparently not getting the message right away.

“Hmmmm, not what I meant but whatever..” she said as her pout got bigger, letting go of your hand and crossing her arms in front of her chest. That’s when you finally noticed.

“Huh Yunjin, are you jealous?” You asked, trying to stop a giggle.

“Maybe? I mean she’s athletic and popular, and you’re so pretty, baby. Who wouldn’t want you? I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you decide you want to give her or somebody else a chance…”

“Omg shut up, that could never happen. I love you. You, Yunjin.” You told her, taking her hand and kissing her cheek. You didn’t have eyes for nobody else but Yunjin, so you didn’t wanna hear none of that nonsense.

“Yeah but still…” she murmured, and you simply sighed and continued walking hand in hand, trying to be extra sweet and clingy to your girl to distract her from those thoughts.

You thought it was cute the first couple times, but then her attitude started becoming more serious every time. It wasn’t your cute girlfriend being a little jealous and protective. It was like a completely different person taking over your sweet girl. You guys have already had more arguments about this situation. They were never too bad.

Until today.

“Oh, hi baby!” You greeted your girlfriend once she met you guys, smiling at her like you did every time, with love and excitement like it was the first time you saw her.

“Hi, Yunjinie.” Yeji tried, as always, to be on the good side of the taller girl. Yunjin just looked at her, nodding at her and humming. She looked back at you.

“Ready to go? Maybe we can go get something to eat at your favorite restaurant before getting home.” She asked while smiling at you only, not wanting to acknowledge the other girl’s presence more than necessary.

“Oh nice! Wanna join us before going home, Yeji?” You asked your friend, knowing she lived very close to your building. Yunjin’s smile left again, rolling her eyes.

“Oh! Actually-”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be today?” Yunjin murmured, a bored tone that she didn’t try to hide. In her mind, this was the least rude she could be towards Yeji.

“Huh Yunjin…” you warned her, a challenging tone growing in your throat and your eyes telling you weren’t gonna tolerate that.

“It’s ok, y/n.” Yeji said with an awkward laugh, trying to avoid yet another conflict. Unfortunately, she has been present before when your girlfriend showed clearly discomfort with her presence near you. “I can’t go anyways, Lia’s class must be almost done, and we have a date today so…” she commented, a slight blush appearing on the girl’s face. “Anyways, see you later.” The older girl said with a smile, waving her hand as she walked away quickly to go pick up her own girlfriend. You smiled and waved back at her, and once you turned back at Yunjin, her face was still showing she was upset. You shook your head, starting to walk. She followed you behind.

“What, you’re gonna leave me here now?” She asked as you didn’t give her a chance to walk beside you. You rolled your eyes.

“What the fuck, Yunjin?” You asked her as you slowed down a bit so she could catch up. “I’m tired of you being rude to every friend I have. First it was Chaeyoung and Yeojin and now-”

“Yeojin wouldn’t stop touching you! Am I supposed to be ok with that?!” She interrupted you, her voice getting a little louder and shaky.

“And now!” You interrupted her back, making her go quiet. “She barely looks me in the eye when you’re present ‘cause she knows you get easily jealous.” Yunjin scratched the back of her neck as she opened the car’s door for you. Once she got in the driver’s seat, she spoke again. Her voice changing to a sadder one.

“I’m just scared of losing you, y/n. You know that…” she said, as she started driving. You looked at her, examining her face. You could tell she was in distress about this. However, being insecure didn’t give her the right to treat your friends bad. You stayed quiet for a little while as she drove. Once you were walking to your apartment, you spoke again.

“I’ve told you Yeji has a girlfriend, yet you’re still treating her like this.” You heard her huff.

“Am I supposed to believe that?”

“Excuse me?” You looked at her with a frown, clearly offended.

“If she had a girlfriend she wouldn’t be stuck to your side all the fucking time.” Yunjin said, her voice getting deeper than normal. She was very upset, but so were you.

“Because she’s my friend, Yunjin! Friends spend time together! Why can’t you understand the concept of that?” You told her in the same tone, seriously tired of the constant fighting about such an insignificant thing as you hanging out with your friends.

“I don’t spend all the time stuck to my friends.” she remarked once you opened the door.

“Even if you did, I wouldn’t be making these scenes because I actually trust you. Do you even trust me?”

“It has nothing to do with that-”

“Do you even trust me, Huh Yunjin?!” You asked her again in a louder tone. You were not gonna let her evade this question. Yunjin didn’t like your tone nor the accusations. So instead of processing what she actually felt, she acted impulsively.

“No! I don’t trust you nor your fucking flirty friends! I’m tired of all this!” She yelled, her breathing becoming irregular.

You went quiet, feeling your heart hurt. The girl you loved didn’t trust you. You’ve done everything in your power to show her she’s your one and only. That nobody else comes even close to her in your heart. Yet her insecurities were hurting you both.

“Then go.” You said after you swallowed the lump in your throat, your eyes already getting watery.

“What…” she whispered, starting to panic as she felt her heart sink.

“Trust is the most important thing in a relationship, with honesty. If we don’t have that, we don’t have nothing.”

“Oh my god I am so sorry, y/n… I didn’t mean to say any of that.” She tried apologizing, the weight of her words hitting her. Hard. She fucked up.

“If you don’t even trust me, then why haven’t you left?” You asked her, feeling that even speaking was hard at the moment.

“I’m sorry. I’ll work on it. Please give me another chance, baby. Please.” Your girlfriend said, trying to hold your hands but you put them close to you avoiding this, such action breaking her heart a little more ‘cause you’ve never rejected her touch before.

“I’ve been patient and understanding but your jealousy just keeps getting worse. I need some time right now…”

“No! Please don’t.. please baby, don’t say that…” tears were threatening to come out already, her hands trembling at the idea of losing you.

“At least for tonight. I need to think about us, please go Yunjin.” You almost begged, voice getting softer due to the sadness taking over the anger now.

“y/n, please…”

“Just leave, Yunjin. I need some space today, please.” You said, not even looking at her. You couldn’t, because if you did you would ask her to stay and you actually needed some alone time to calm down. You heard her hesitate, but nevertheless her steps resonated in the now empty room.

————————End of flashback————————

“My home doesn’t want me at home…” Yunjin said as she began sobbing again. The bartender, weirded out, tried comforting her after calling a taxi for the young woman.

“Listen dude, I don’t know who hurt you, but you gotta go home. There’s a taxi outside ok? Just tell them where to go and I don’t know, get some makeup sex or something.”

“Makeup sex? Hmm..” the idea of it already causing an effect on her intoxicated mind. She quietly went home, with only the image of you in her thoughts, feeling her friend reacting to it.

“y/n? Baby are you h*hic*ome?” Yunjin asked once she stepped foot on the living room of your apartment, clumsily looking for you. “I-I’m sorry baby… please I l*hic*love you. Let me show you I love you.”

When she didn’t get a response, she made her way to your shared room. Her messy hair in front of her eyes making it a little extra complicated for her to see where she was going, but she wasn’t that messed up yet. Once she got to the bedroom, she found you deep in your sleep, looking beautiful as ever. She always thought you looked cute when sleeping, but tonight when she noticed how you were using nothing but her big shirt, the blanket barely covering your naked legs, cute wasn’t the word she’d use to describe you.

“God you’re so sexy, so perfect… I could never lose you…” she said as she got closer to the bed, falling sat next to you. The new weight made you move a bit, but it didn’t wake you up. “Please w-wake up, darling. I need you…” she whispered as she fixed her member, that was already getting hard by the view in front of her. Her other hand traveled to your thigh, caressing the skin as she slowly made her way to your ass. With the shirt going up a bit, she could see that you really were using nothing but her shirt.

“You knew I was c*hic*oming, Hmm?” She hummed, getting rid of her jacket and unbuttoning her pants to get her hand inside them, touching herself on top of her boxers. Soft groans escaping Yunjin’s lips as she felt her member getting harder and harder. She couldn’t help but put your shirt a little higher, leaving kisses on your stomach. Her lips slowly going up until she was kissing your chest, going from one nipple to the other. She was straight up moaning against your chest as she slowly sucked on them. With her dick already out of her pants, she needed to have you. She needed to prove to you she loved you always. As she made her way between your legs, she slowly started stroking her cock, licking her own lips before starting to eat you out. Yunjin could feel you softly moving under her, but you were a heavy sleeper. “So good.. tastes so good, baby.” She said as she made out with your pussy in such a messy but sensual way. The little whimpers coming from her as she stimulated both of you, and the little groans you’d let out in your sleep, were the only sounds Yunjin’s ears could catch. “P-please don’t leave.. if you do.. You’d break my heart..” the taller girl said, kissing your thighs, the idea of you actually leaving being an option got her sad again. As her eyes got watery, she fixed herself better between your legs, her member against your now very wet cunt, making sure to get herself wet too so she doesn’t hurt you. More soft sounds were coming from you, similar to the ones you do when awake. Yunjin’s clouded mind was thinking that maybe, if your body was reacting to her like this even when asleep, then you didn’t really want to leave. “Oh fuck…” she moaned as she slowly entered you. “Please don’t leave, I’m gonna miss this pussy too much…”

She started thrusting inside you slowly, sighing as your tight pussy grabbed around her so good every single time. She loved how well your bodies understood each other, and the thought of it being like this even when you’re not awake got her dick twisting inside you. This didn’t stop her from being sad though, knowing that after your argument that day, you probably wouldn’t have accepted this so easily.

“Please…” Yunjin whispered, her voice breaking in between pleads, tears threatening to fall “please d-don’t leave me.. I can be better than them.. p-promise..” she sobbed, the warmth of your body bringing both comfort and sadness, scared the next morning you’d be gone.

“What.. what the.. fuck? Hmmm.. Jen?” You murmured as her rougher actions slowly started to wake you up “w-what are you-”

“Please l-let me do it, if you’re gonna leave..” she said in between sobs “let me have you one last t*hic*ime..”

“W-who said I- fuck~ was gonna leave, baby?” You asked her, confused in between moans. Your hands automatically hugged her shoulders as you felt her cock reaching those spots inside you only Yunjin could ever get to know.

“I r-ruined it.. but please don’t go. I’m s-sorry, y/n. I love you…” she said, her moves now a little softer and slower. However you weren’t angry at her, how could you when she felt so good deep inside you, and her tears making her look so cute and pathetic, turning you on so much for some reason. You didn’t care to understand it though, your mind also getting clouded by desire for her.

“So cute when you cry. Do you feel sorry, baby?” You asked her, grabbing her face. She nodded eagerly, tears running down her face. “Why.. why are you sorry, tell me.”

“Hmmgh y/n.. I’m sorry for b-being mean, and jealous…” she dragged her words, but you were able to make out what she was saying. “S-sorry for not asking for permission first…” her sobs became more intense, but so did her thrusts inside you and you weren’t sure if her tears were more sadness or pleasure, probably a mix of both. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry y/n.. Hmm please…”

“Shhh, keep going baby, don’t you dare stop.” You threatened her, her teary eyes making your pussy clench around her cock, making your girlfriend moan loudly “such a fucking good cock, feels so good…”

“Hmmm fuck… you feel so good too, wanna be inside you forever…” she said as she pounded your pussy so good. Even when drunk, she knew what your face was saying, knowing she was hitting you in a spot you really like, getting you closer. “Like this, baby? D-does my cock feel good here?”

“So good… don’t you fucking stop.. Hmm fuck, baby!” You came intensely as her name kept coming from your mouth again and again, music for her ears. The sensation also making her moan, feeling herself too close.

“y/n, I’m gonna come…” she warned you, but you weren’t done with her punishment. You turned you guys around, holding her wrists against the mattress and riding her “oh god…” she moaned as she bit her lip. When you felt her dick inside you twisting, meaning her orgasm was just seconds away, you quickly got off her, ruining her orgasm as she finished untouched “Ahh! F-fuck.. nooo.. fuck!” She whimpered and cried as her cum ended on her thighs and some on her abs. “Why… that hurt, y/n..” she complained, hissing a bit when a cold wet towel made contact with her skin to clean her.

“That’s what you get for being a bad girl.” You told her, receiving a groan for her. When you turned around to see her, her eyes were still full of tears, a pout on her face. You simply laughed before holding her closer to you. “Don’t worry baby, tomorrow when you’re sober I’ll make sure to take care of you good.”

#kpop gg #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #le sserafim #le sserafim x reader #huh yunjin #le sserafim imagines #le sserafim scenarios #le sserafim x y/n #huh yunjin x reader #huh yunjin smut #g!p yunjin #g!p loser yunjin #tw: somnophilia #g!p yunjin x reader #le sserafim yunjin #le sserafim x fem reader #le sserafim smut

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les4elliewilliams · 2 months

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Ellie is away... // e.w

chapter 3 - 2004, Sophomore year college

a/n: part 3 (ik finally) took me forever for no reason at all, i didn't even think anyone was gonna see part one but anyways!!! (reblogs and comments are always appreciated:))) wc/cw: 1.4k. jesse being bullied;( , swearing, loser!ellie i guess?, no smut or anything but MDNI. summary: set in the early 2000s. everyone was obsessed with AIM messaging and when you left your hometown for college, leaving your friends behind, it was what you guys used to stay in touch. Ellie's one of your best friends, and when you left for college, she started dating Cat, the girl she had always claimed to dislike. It wasn't just the fact that she hadn't told you about it; you didn't like Cat. It wasn't a secret, and neither did Dina or Jesse. Deep down, you knew that she was just afraid of your reaction. Their relationship was far from perfect, and when you told her that she should've just broken up with her, it didn't go too well. However, her grudge obviously didn't last long, you were her best friend, after all, and she couldn't go without talking to you for too long, so she ended up apologizing for being a dick.

➥ part one, two, four

brickmaster signed in.

brickmaster: ohhh hey yn

ynshere: Ellssss hiiii

brickmaster: what's upp brickmaster: how's everything for you

ynshere: nothing much i was playing the sims lol ynshere: everything's fine. what about you?

brickmaster: it’s alright, just chilling in my dorm at the moment brickmaster: got any plans for the weekend?

ynshere: just hanging out with my friend Emma

brickmaster: sounds fun brickmaster: who’s Emma? ynshere: just a friend brickmaster: i don’t think you ever mentioned her before brickmaster: how did you two meet?

ynshere: just at some party, she spilled her drink all over my clothes lol

brickmaster: oh no your poor skirt and crop top

ynshere: oh stfu ynshere: what's with the way i dress now? ynshere: not pretty enough for you, Williams?

brickmaster: never said that ;) brickmaster: so? what is she like? brickmaster: is she cooler than me?

ynshere: aw c'mon you already know the answer to that

brickmaster: oh i know i know brickmaster: no one's as cool as me

ynshere: no, actually she is cooler than you

brickmaster: pffffttt as if brickmaster: i'm still hotter though

ynshere: is that what your gf tells you to make you feel less shitty about your looks?

brickmaster: ouch that hurt brickmaster: no more Cat by the way

ynshere: oh? ynshere: i'm sorry, i didn't know

brickmaster: well no dip, i just told you

ynshere: shut up, you know what i meant smartass ynshere: what happened? (If you don't mind me asking)

brickmaster: she was too much brickmaster: she was too controlling brickmaster: always telling me what to do, who to hang out with or who not to talk to

ynshere: mhm

brickmaster: don't. say. it.

ynshere: i told youu ynshere: yn’s always right ynshere: say it.

brickmaster: i'm so not gonna say it

ynshere: you make me wanna strangle you sometimes ynshere: but good, you deserved better anyways ynshere: i mean, i'm sorry but she was horrible to you

brickmaster: i know brickmaster: took me ages to realize it

ynshere: better later than never

brickmaster: you always say that brickmaster: you never change do you

ynshere: nop ynshere: i evolve if anything

brickmaster: i missed you

ynshere: me too El, so much.

brickmaster: i wish we could hang out like good ol' times

ynshere: ew now you are starting to sound like Joel

brickmaster: oh fuck off brickmaster: i'm being sweet for once and you're ewing me like that?...never again

ynshere: lol i'm just kidding dumbass ynshere: i wish we could hang out like we used to back in high school ynshere: i miss seeing your stupid face everyday

brickmaster: stupid? I think you meant pretty* brickmaster: or gorgeous* brickmaster: yeah that's more appropriate

ynshere: ..i'm going to log out

brickmaster: noooo stay please :( brickmaster: what would i do without you

ynshere: you're such a failure ynshere: Joel should've worn a condom that night

brickmaster: jokes on you... he did but there was a hole in it

ynshere:……

brickmaster: my mum told me that...i don't know what to believe

ynshere: Ellie.

brickmaster: what

ynshere: you're a lost cause.

brickmaster: gonna make me blush

ynshere: i don't think i've ever seen you blush before like actually

brickmaster: cause i don't blush brickmaster: i make ladies blush, never the other way around

ynshere: damn such an alpha ynshere: your parents must be so proud of you

brickmaster: nah they hate me

ynshere: yeah, i wonder why…

brickmaster: you know brickmaster: ever since Cat and i broke up things have been weird

ynshere: how so?

brickmaster: well we have the same group of friends so it's just awkward, you know? brickmaster: i feel really alone sometimes and i miss you really bad brickmaster: i miss having you around, being in the same classes and all that

ynshere: i know we can't see each other but i'm here for you ynshere: always. ynshere: you can call me or message me anytime i really don't mind, i love talking to you

brickmaster: thank you yn, it really means a lot to me brickmaster: it's just… i feel abandoned brickmaster: she made me look like the bad guy for breaking up with her, it feels like they don't want me around

ynshere: have you tried telling them about the whole thing?

brickmaster: yeah brickmaster: but they're all up Cat’s ass and it's annoying brickmaster: i feel betrayed in some sort of way

ynshere: i'm sorry Ellie ynshere: they sound like shitty friends ynshere: maybe it's time to get new friends?

brickmaster: i know they suck but they were the only friends i had

ynshere: i'm sure you'll make new friends ynshere: you'll meet better people ynshere: hang out, go to parties don't stay in your dorm all day

brickmaster: you're right brickmaster: but like what did i do wrong? brickmaster: it's clear that they’d rather be friends with Cat brickmaster: fuck i feel like crying right now

ynshere: baby :( ynshere: hey listen to me, you did nothing wrong. you are amazing

brickmaster: i'm sorry for dropping all this on you brickmaster: i understand it can be too much

ynshere: don't you dare apologize for feeling upset, Williams. ynshere: it's okay, really ynshere: i'm here for you. It's not too much, you're never too much.

brickmaster: you're the only one i can talk to freely without feeling judged brickmaster: well you and Dina of course, but i don't wanna annoy her with my shit

ynshere: oh Ellie ynshere: i know for a fact that Dina cares about you as much as i do ynshere: you're never a burden to us, understand? ynshere: glad you vented to me

brickmaster: thank you so much yn brickmaster: you have no idea how much this means to me brickmaster: can i tell you something

ynshere: of course

brickmaster: you know that party at Jesse’s? brickmaster: the one from two years ago

ynshere: yeah what about it?

brickmaster: i always wondered if things went differently brickmaster: like if me and Cat never happened brickmaster: i remember i had the whole night planned, i wanted to spend time with you alone

ynshere: you never told me that

brickmaster: well you left earlier than expected that night sooo

ynshere: you're making me regret getting drunk that night ynshere: i was so sick, i remember drinking too much

brickmaster: yeah lol you were fucking wasted brickmaster: i have an idea

ynshere: shoot ynshere: and it better not include putting a dinosaur toy in your microwave

brickmaster: lmao no i'm over that phase brickmaster: what if i came visit this weekend? brickmaster: i really miss you and i need a break from this fucking school anyways brickmaster: besides, we promised we would visit each other right?

ynshere: oh my god please do ynshere: i would LOVE to see your ugly ass face again

brickmaster: you miss this ugly face though ;)

ynshere: maybe

brickmaster: fuck i can't wait brickmaster: ooh shit what about your friend Emma?

ynshere: it's whatever i’ll tell her you're visiting, she’ll understand

brickmaster: you sure? brickmaster: you don't have to ditch her for me

ynshere: Ellie. be for fucking real. ynshere: i would ditch anyone for you

brickmaster: alright alright just making sure brickmaster: so what do you wanna do this weekend?

ynshere: don't know, just hang out in my dorm?

brickmaster: sounds good to me brickmaster: anything sounds better than rotting in my dorm all day brickmaster: wanna get drunk too? I could bring some alcohol if you want

ynshere: sure why not? ynshere: if we gotta catch up

brickmaster: we must do it the right way brickmaster: i like the way you think

ynshere: lol see you this weekend?

brickmaster: see you this weekend :)

ynshere: bye bye :))

brickmaster is away.

jessescool has signed in jessescool: yoo yn jessescool: how is it goin? ynshere: JESSE OH MY FUCKING GOD ynshere: MY MANNNNNNN jessescool: lol you feeling alright?

ynshere: Ellie's coming over this weekend :) jessescool: yn using a smiley face. odd

ynshere: shut up. ynshere: SHE'S COMING TO VISIT ynshere: IM SCREAMING

jessescool: about damn time you two got together

ynshere: we're not together ynshere: she's just coming to visit ynshere: we haven't seen each other in like forever

jessescool: will be soon jessescool: is she still dating Cat?

ynshere: she just told me she broke up ynshere: Cat was horrible to her

jessescool: i remember talking to Cat a few times back in high school jessescool: she was odd ynshere: you know what else is odd?

jessescool: what ynshere: your mom dropping you on your head as a baby

jessescool is typing... ynshere is away. jessescool: i'm tired of y'all

¡! daily click・palestine masterpost・do not buy any game from naughty dog, neil druckmann is a zionist・more daily clicks. ¡!

taglist: @readbydayana @onlinelesbo @tearouthearts @macaroni676 @diddiqueen @crxmxnzl-c0rpzes @amberputh @itsbecomeblue @benthoee

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ben-talks-art · 2 months

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Lin Beifong has no wins in Legend Of Korra

Something that always bothered me in regards to the way this series treated the character of Lin was the fact that it never felt like any of Lin's victories actually gave the feeling of being victories.

Maybe it's because it's been years since I watched this show, and I'm being selective in what I choose to remember, and I'm just unintentioanlly choosing to remember the bad over the good... but it feels like this series just felt a lot more comfortable dunking on Lin than actually trying to raise her up... And that kinda annoys me a little.

Lin is part of this character achetype that I like to call "The Antisocials", people who, because of personal events in their past, prefer to avoid or have trouble dealing with others. She's basically meant to be the "Zuko" of the team.

I really like this trope, and I really like to see the earth element getting some love, so I was really excited to see Lin getting her moments to shine and kick some ass in the series... Which... for some reason doesn't feel all that prevalent.

Now, don't get me wrong, when Lin needs to fight, she WILL fight, and she looks cool while doing it... But when it comes to her more memorable moments, her getting defeated sadly feels more frequent than her getting some victories.

Like... Let's take a moment to count her Ls:

She got dumped by Tenzin after another woman seduced him

A terrorist started to attack her city and kept getting away from her

She was unable to stop her men from getting captured and losing their powers

Eventually she herelf got captured and lost her bending

She's constantly getting mocked and looked down upon by other characters

Her own sister left a scar on her face while committing a crime and faced basically no consequences, only to years later have a life filled with success while Lin is all alone

Her own mother acts like she couldn't care less about her struggles

Neither of the two ever gave Lin a proper apology and instead just tried to pull an Mirabel from "Encanto" and tell her to get over it

She basically played no role in all of season 2

And when she tired to face her family about her problems she was simply treated as the one in the wrong

Now let's count her "wins:"

She allowed Tenzin's family to get away from Amon in season 1... At the cost of her getting captured... Only for the family itself to get caught later anyway

She saved Korra from falling, which allowed Amon to get away with her men

In season 3 she gets clobbered by the combustion woman so her sister can land the finishing blow

and In season 4 she tries to rescue her family, only to nearly fail and needing to be saved by her mother, who proceeds to give her the most bare-bones of moments of reconciliation, because God forbid we let our fan-favorite character from the first series show a little humility for her own daughter in her moment of weakness

It just felt like the show was afraid of ever letting Lin be a badass and giving her a real win moment.

It doesn't even need to be a battle win. She could have had a moment with Korra where she teaches her some life lesson, or teach her how to metal bend and listen to the earth, or she could have had some scenes where her actions save the day, like, how come she never gets to save her sister and mother but both of them end up saving her? Or even some character moments like her bonding with Mako, or Tenzin's kids or something... I don't think she even really interacts with anyone in a meaningfull way.

If you were to ask me who her best friend in the series was, I would have no idea what to say.

Her biggest "win" in the series was getting to wake up all happy after "solving" her personal demons, an act she achieved by... fighting her sister and venting out all her anger, I guess.

I don't know if it's just me but Lin's victories on the show all feel so shallow, as if they were telling us she was achieving things instead of actually feeling like she was. At times, she felt like the show's punching bag. Insted of being the Zuko of the story, she came more as the Squidward.

Someone who's there just to lose to the villains and make them look strong and making other characters look cool while they save her with her big lesson being that she needs to learn to be less grumpy.

Lin should be so easy to make cool! Like, you see her design, her powers and abilities, her personality, her verstility for several different types of action scenes and versatility for also different interactions with the rest of the cast...

But instead it felt like they were throwing darts at a wall trying to pick a different way to dunk on her every time, as if they were afraid of makiing her too cool.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being salty and petty because I wish more had been done with her and that's causing me to only focus on the negatives, making them look and sound a lot worse than they actually were, while also ignoring all the big positives about her time on the screen...

But sometimes it felt to me like the show was more interested in hyping up everyone else and giving them a moment to shine over Lin.

Like, again, her own sister got to take down one of the big members of the Red Lotus, and she basically becomes one of the main characters in season 4, while Toph gets to train and help heal Korra.

These two got to look so much cooler in just two seasons than Lin got to look in all 4, and I can't even fully enjoy them being cool because all I keep thinking when I look at them is "You two did Lin dirty."

If they had had an actual honest earned moment of reconciliation, I feel like I would be in heaven watching both of them kicking ass, cause again, I love the earth element, but instead I would just be "God, I wish this was Lin doing all this cool stuff instead."

I'm not exactly sure what the mindset was behind the way they wanted to handle her, not sure if there was studio interference, or mismanagement, or if Nickelodeon's meddling affected things, or what...

I'm just trying to say, I feel like Lin deserved better. I still like her character a lot but I can't help but feel even more could have been done with her.

#avatar #avatar the legend of korra #the legend of korra #lin beifong

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the-xolotl · 3 months

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Thundering Rain

Qí Yù | Rafayel x Reader

𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: You and Rafayel cozy up during a cold storm to enjoy each other’s company when you realize he got up for something but didn’t come back to cuddle you.

—• TAGS: Domestic fluff, kinda ooc Rafayel (? if you squint), no use of Y/N, use of the pet name my love, beta read (imagine that)

A thunderstorm had been raging outside for hours now and you are thankful, for once, about the harsh seasonal changes because not just did you enjoy the rain and the majestic flashing of light that occasionally lit up the otherwise dark gray sky, you didn’t have to go to work. You could enjoy a leisure day indoors, listening to the calming sound of the rain hitting the window and the deep thunder clapping after each rapid flash of light with a warm blanket and hot beverages.

It’s true you loved your job, loved the adrenaline of being a hunter, the thrill of battle, but it was nice to sit back and relax for a bit. And some reprieve was definitely due after these past few weeks, Linkon City had been seeing more and more Wanderers roaming inside the more civilian populated areas, your team along with some back ups had been dispatched as first responders almost every time; it’s been busy to say the least.

And Rafayel had definitely not appreciated your constant absence. You don’t blame him, you missed him too. Because your job wasn’t just turning monsters to dust and protecting innocent people; each attack meant a lot of paperwork, desk work, meetings. It meant time away from home and away from your already clingy, needy lover.

Who, speaking of, had suspiciously gotten up from cuddling you in the sofa and hadn’t come back.

The now cool spot behind you made you realize his absence. But as you were about to get up to look for the purple-head you heard his voice, “Stay where you are, how you are, for another 30 minutes…” Rafa trailed off.

He didn’t even ask politely yet you remained on your spot no questions asked and turned your head back to look outside the large, tall window that gave the perfect view to the backyard. “So that’s where you’ve been the whole time,” you chuckled softly, of course he was.

“Inspiration should never be wasted or ignored. The best master pieces ever created were in spontaneous bursts of creativity,” He stated as if it was the most honest to god truth. Yeah, alright.

Amused you simply retorted, “Is that a fact?”

“Most likely,” he shot back before taking a small pause, “Besides, you barely noticed after almost an entire hour I didn’t come back beside you.”

The last part sounded more begrudging, you didn’t have to look at him to know he’s pouting. You couldn’t help but giggle, “Yeah, my back was getting cold. That’s how I noticed you were still gone.” Rafa let out the most offended scoff, he didn’t even dignify with an answer.

The room falls silent again save for the rhythmic pattering of rain, it’s then you realize he’s actually concentrating and you can’t help the little leap your heart makes. “Are you painting me?”

“As I was coming back from the kitchen the scene and atmosphere looked perfect so I just had to capture it,” he explains, “I haven’t had the opportunity to play around with darker tones or paints in a while and I recently acquired some very high quality materials to produce stunning shades. Very rare finds, honestly.” The Lemurian continued on to explain how and where he’d manage to obtain them, of course pointedly mentioning that he needed something to do in your absence because it was just so so boring.

More than half an hour had past, that’s for sure, as you filled the time with more banter and teasing remarks.

“Rafa can I move now? I’m going to have neck pain and be stuck in this position forever if I don’t get up soon,” you whine loudly, “The painting won’t be needed to immortalize this moment then.” He only tsk’s at you, calling you over to see the painting.

“Holy shit you weren’t kidding, the pigments are so rich!” You know little to nothing about art, any scattered knowledge or artsy lingo has definitely come from listening to your boyfriend talk about art. You study the painting detail by detail, from top to bottom. He really does deserve the fame, not that you’re biased.

Rafayel smiles big like a satisfied cat (ironically) at your praise and expression of awe.

Though the more you steady the painting the more you realize the gloomy tempest going out outside was definitely not the focus of this piece like you had originally thought, despite the fact that the oversized window gave the perfect opportunity to capture it so.

Instead you realize most of the spotlight was you. Rafayel had clearly taken his time; each curve of your features was perfectly drawn and shaded, the way the light made light and dark contrasts against the little skin that was not covered by the quilt, the shine in your eyes that reflected the lighting that occasionally flashed and the hair that framed your face. The content of your expression clearly denoting how engrossed you’ve been on the weather outside, he even included the faintest curl of the corner of your lip. And you looked cozy as hell with the blanket all the way tucked up to your chest and your hands wrapped around the (then) steaming mug of coffee.

A heat crept up your cheeks and chest. Is this how he saw you? Is this what his eyes see when he looks at you? Truly? You must’ve had your thoughts written in your face because he breaks the long silence with in a soft voice, “You are the inspiration of the painting, my love,” circling back to one of his earlier comments. You turn to face him fully, meeting eyes as he was already looking at you, as soft smile that matched the softness of his voice spread across his lips.

“It’s going to be part of the next exhibit, on a very special spot.”

“I’m sorry what?” You lamely ask, astonished but still in a monotone.

Rafayel had the audacity to laugh in your face as he gave the cavas a few strokes with the brush to accentuate some shadows. “It’s not finished yet, of course. I will accept no less than perfection,” he says slowly, words as methodical as his painting technique, “Specially when it comes to you.”

If you weren’t blushing before you sure are now. You shove him gently when he takes the brush off the painting, attempting and failing to hide how much he managed to fluster you.

Another long pause passed, but this felt more intimate, watching him closely add some details, switch between different size brushes for finer details. Rafayel sure went into his own bubble when he worked, yet he is always somehow very aware of his surroundings. At least at the moment he was.

“Not a lot of people get the privilege to watch me like this, so up close, let alone live. Are you feeling how privileged you are?” The tone of playful arrogance brings you back and pops the bubble of comfortable silence. But it does make you giggle.

These little moments make you fall deeper in love with him.

⟢ A/N: feels kinda funny posting my writing for the first time in the internet tbh. i usually only write for my friends/myself so i hope you enjoy my lil rot. it’s been raining so much in my area it gives me a very cozy vibe.

—

⤷ dividers : cafekitsune ✰

#love and deepspace #rafayel #rafayel x reader #rafayel x you #qi yu x reader #qi yu #fanfic #writters on tumblr #fandom #domestic fluff #painting #oneshot #lnds #character x reader #romantic #romance #rain

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heartthrobin · 1 year

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amuse and romance me like you do

steve harrington x female!reader

wc: 12k

warnings: some swearing, idiots in love, jealous!Steve, slow burn(ish), they’re so in love it’s gross, neighbor!reader, Dustin Henderson being a little shit

an: i wrote this a while ago but i’m v proud of it :)

summary: you wanted to bring your videos back on time, you really did, but somehow the threat of a fine was worth it to see Steve Harrington's amused frown when you waltzed in late. besides, he was more than welcome to start fining you - but that meant he'd miss the feeling of how his body turned to goo when you gave him that little smirk, knowing you'd gotten away with it once again.

Summer in Hawkins was near unbeatable. The mornings were scorching, enough that the local pool was packed to capacity with screaming kids and nonchalant parents lounging close by - but by evening: Hawkins would cool to a warm breeze up over the roofs of suburbia.

It was almost six on one such balmy Thursday night, the wind slipping in through the open window as your mom's Toyota sped down the longest strip of road leading almost to the edge of town.

You loved Thursdays. Mondays and Thursday, actually.

They were the two nights you didn't work the evening shift and consequently the two nights Claudia Henderson attended bingo nights down at the diner on Maple.

She'd called you up, as she did every Monday and Thursday, just before five.

“Oh dear, won't you come watch Dusty Bun for the night? Just for a couple hours, I won't be late.”

She always was, but that didn't matter.

The Henderson's had lived next door for almost eight years, since Dustin was no taller than your knee.

"Of course Ms Henderson, I'll be there by six."

You'd agreed, like you did the week before and the week before that. You and Dustin were slowly making your way through the slasher horror section of the video store, promising to never mention it to his mother who would undoubtedly collapse in shock at the notion.

It's how you found yourself pulling with a loud screech and a lurch into the open parking spot right in front of Family Video.

The center parking lot was empty, spare for a red truck near the back of the lot that you were sure had been parked there for weeks.

There was a video store closer to your neighborhood, Mr Video, but going to find your flicks there would rob you of the opportunity to see Steve Harrington's exasperated expression when you slammed the video against the counter late, again.

You sold the bit by complaining that there wasn't as big a selection at Mr Video when anybody ever asked.

The copy you'd rented on Monday afternoon stared up at you from the passenger seat. A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy's Revenge.You grinned at it.

"Store policy, you need to bring the video back 48 hours after renting."

You were pushing it on hour 76.

Unfazed, and stomach sloshing with warm, soft excitement for your biweekly encounter with your favourite head of hair in Hawkins, you grabbed the movie off the seat and slid out the car.

The front door jingled behind you, alerting not only the woman standing in the sci-fi section near the window, but also the man behind the counter.

Steve looked up from where he was flipping through a three-month old TV guide, looking painfully bored.

When his eyes met yours, they flickered between expressions quickly before settling on unimpressed.

He leaned to push himself off the counter, glancing dramatically down at the watch over his wrist.

"Punctual, as always."

A grin slid over your lips, using the case of the movie in your hand to fan at the threads of sweat tickling down the side of your neck.

"Listen, I've got a real reason for bringing it late this time—"

He didn't offer you the chance to finish what you both knew was a lie. "And I'd love to hear it if I knew it wasn't bullshit."

You placed the video down onto the counter sliding it over to him, trying to look as nonchalant as possible while quietly soaking in the light freckles speckled over the bridge of his nose.

"What can I say, you know me too well, Harrington."

As was the curse of Hawkins High, you never knew Steve in your time there despite being the same age. He ruled blindly in his kingdom as King Steve while you gravitated in the outer-lying fields of friendship. It wasn't until his maroon BMW started to frequent the driveway between your place and the Henderson's that you were reminded - or in Steve's case, made aware of - each other's existence.

"A good thing too. I didn't have much of an idea where I was gonna go with that story anyways."

He rolled his eyes, but the curl of amusement at the edges of his lips was impossible to miss. A lick of pride bit at your beating heart.

"Right." He grabbed the video from the counter, dropping it into an unseen bin by his feet. "What're you and the little twerp watching tonight?"

Your chin fell into your hands, glancing over his shoulder at the Horror Section near the back of the store, not entirely ready to leave the desk for a proper look and risk losing the light waft of the Dior cologne drifting from over the countertop.

"We've finished the Elm Street stuff ..." you huffed, squinting to read the label off another bloody cover. "Sledgehammer?"

His nose crinkled at you, "Don't. It's shit."

Lifting your face from your hands, your head tilted up to meet his eyes. "Any suggestions then, Scorsese?"

A funny expression ghosted over his face and you watched as his bottom lip was sucked in between his teeth. You almost frowned.

"Well, uh," He fidgeted with a drawer behind the desk, "A new one came in this week, I thought you guys might—might like it so I held onto it for you."

His hand emerged with a blue and red cover on a video, setting it into the space between you - shrugging as far from nonchalantly as you'd ever seen from Steve Harrington.

Was he nervous?

Your hand closed over the copy and you tried to hide how your heart lurched when your fingers brushed over his.

"Slaughter High?" You eyed it, glancing periodically up between the cover and Steve's slowly but surely reddening face.

"I thought y—Dustin might like it."

He was right. It looked like the exact ratio of gore to cheesy plot-line that Dustin adored, that you mostly watched from behind your hands.

"Saving movies for us? This feels like a desperate attempt at gaining an invite to the exclusive Henderson Movie Night." You pressed lightly, watching as Steve's mood dissolved again into Mr Charisma.

"Please," he rolled his eyes, "if I wanted to be there I would. Besides, it takes only one little phone call to good old Claudia to end this whole little horror-fest of yours."

You gasped theatrically, pulling the film up to your chest, "you wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Setting your hands back on the counter you giggled softly, "You blackmail all the girls that come in here or is it just the pretty ones?"

Steve's cheeks rung red again, you loved the shade on him.

"Just the pretty ones." It was accompanied by that smile you were sure could win Nobel prizes.

A tight pang echoed in your chest.

It was easy to tease him, to pretend for even a minute that maybe he could look at you with the same fondness that forced your eyes over the smile at the corners of his mouth, or the rogue strands of hair that stuck to his forehead in the Indiana heat.

What wasn't quite as easy was forcing aside the nauseous gurgle in your stomach when you noticed how the prettiest girls from every corner of the state would come to lean over the Family Video countertop just as you were doing now, pop their bubblegum in his face and send their cherry lipgloss smiles just to melt him all over.

They were his type, of course.

King Steve had always loved the princesses.

The AC unit wheezed loudly somewhere behind you, forcing you back to where you stood.

Steve was watching you carefully.

You couldn't help noticed how close your hands rested by his on the desk. If you just stretched out your index finger, his would be in yours. You pulled them back slowly, grabbing the movie as you did.

"It looks good," you smiled, motioning to the movie. "I'm sure Dustin's gonna love it."

Steve nodded slowly, "Great. Don't forget to bring—"

But you had already turned on him, half a foot out the door and laughing loudly over your shoulder, "To bring it back on time, yeah yeah I will!"

The door shut loudly, the jingle of the bell against the hinge echoing in the space you'd left. He sighed loudly, forehead coming down against the counter.

"You're pathetic, you know that right?" Robin's voice washed over him from where she had no doubt been lurking in the staff room, following the interaction with her ear against the door.

Not lifting his head, but rather shifting it to offer her a side eye, he groaned: "thanks for the vote of confidence, Robs."

The smell of burnt popcorn hit your senses like a truck when you pulled the door open to the Henderson household. You coughed against your elbow.

"Dustin!"

The teen peeked his head into the hallway from the kitchen, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, I'm just ... sorting out the snacks."

You gave him a sharp look before tossing the video onto the couch, "If you burn down the house your mom is never gonna let me come by here again, you know that right?"

"Yeah, yeah stop being dramatic." He called from the kitchen as you flopped back against the couch. Your eyes found purchase on the blank yellow wall above the television.

The image of Steve in that cute little Family Video vest swirled around in your brain and you were suddenly plagued by the question of how he tasted. Those puffy pink lips, when they twisted into an amused frown. You were sure his kiss would be minty, or maybe sweet from the Twizzlers that were constantly in his hands—

"What you get?" You jumped when Dustin fell into the spot beside you, a tub of nearly black popcorn in his lap.

You eyed it wearily, slowly picking up the video and flashing it in his line of vision.

The teen grabbed it greedily, almost tipping the tub over his knees, raking over the cover. "Hey! This is brand new, I heard Lucas saying that people threw up in the cinema because it's so scary."

He turned to you, "How did you get it? Everyone's gonna want their hands on this."

"It was Steve actually." You leaned over him to reach the packet of Skittles he'd discarded by the arm of the couch, ripping it open. "When I got there he said he'd held it for us, that you'd like it."

Dustin's eyebrows tightened, "That's weird."

"I think it was sweet of him." You sunk further back in the couch, trying not to look too dreamy eyed when Dustin's curious gaze worked over you.

"Ew."

You punched him lightly in the shoulder, laughing. "It's not like that dipstick."

The growing darkness allowed for the disguise of your reddening cheeks.

"Now go put in the movie before I make us watch Golden Girls."

Dustin stood to slot the video into the machine, the television lighting up.

It carried on like that for weeks, well into July and past the end of the Summer break for the high schoolers.

Family Video wasn't as busy as it was with the kids back at school, the hours dragged between shifts with seemingly endless rounds of Crazy Eights and rewatches of whatever romantic 60's flick Robin had chosen that week.

But come Monday or Thursday, Steve would linger excitedly near the counter. Robin would tease him, "you need to pluck up the balls and just ask her out".

He'd roll his eyes at her.

"I've told you, it's not that easy."

It wasn't.

Girls came in every day, leaning indulgently over the counter with smiles to pursue him - and he loved it, don't get him wrong - but somehow twice a week you'd skip into the shop with that grin that made his words fold over each other and his heart feel like it was beating from his throat and he couldn't remember the names of a single one of the others who'd slid their numbers flirtatiously across the desk.

He wasn't sure he was ready for the destruction your rejection would subject him to.

So around five o' clock every Monday and Thursday, when your beat up Toyota screeched into the parking spot in front of the shop, he'd beg Robin to keep her mouth shut for just five minutes and she'd shrug, grinning like the cat who caught the canary before mumbling, "Whatever you say, Casanova."

The door would jingle and you'd come bouncing in with your tank tops and denim shorts or sometimes with a skirt flirting at the tops of your thighs - the image of which would keep Steve up at night - and you'd lean over the counter with the overdue video in your hand.

Except one day you're pushing the door open with your hip, cradling a suspicious pink box, with the video balancing on top.

Steve perked up, tossing aside the Rubik's cube he'd been pretending to be busy with in the moments between you parking the car and stepping into the shop.

You slid the video across the desk at him. The Hills Have Eyes.

"Hi." You grinned before peering over his shoulder, "Hey Robin."

Robin glanced back from where she was restocking the snack shelf. "Hey."

"You know I'm gonna have to start charging you late fees for these eventually, right?" He picked up the video, no substance to his threat at all.

"I know, I know. That's why—" you set the pink box carefully up on the counter, "I've brought a peace offering."

Steve's eyes met yours, eyebrow pinching in confusion. "What is it?"

You rolled your eyes and Steve couldn't help notice the length of your eyelashes, how they fanned at your cheeks: "Well there's only one way to find out, smarty pants."

He lifted the lid of the box, allowing the sugary sweet scent to fill his lungs. Five pink and white donuts stared brightly up at him.

His eyes widened in delight and a warmth flooded his stomach at the thought of you going out to buy pastries just for him.

Steve's silence seemed to make you nervous, because you began speaking quickly into the space: "They're from the Yellow Piglet, you know the diner on Maple? They're really good, I didn't know if you guys were allergic or—"

"No, no." He cut you off, feeling his cheeks warming. "They look delicious."

Robin had apparently heard the commotion, or perhaps sensed the arrival of food - Steve always had a suspicion that her nose was too good to be human - and appeared at his side.

"Donuts!" She beamed, "For us?"

You laughed. "Yep, both of you look like you're not being fed at home. Thought I might thicken you up."

Maybe it was his imagination, but Steve swore he felt your eyes warm over his biceps after you spoke. His eyes flickered unintentionally to your hips, unable to stop himself from wondering if it was the donuts that helped you fill out the sides of those shorts so nicely.

Robin grabbed a pink one out the box, diving into it before moaning around the mouthful - crumbs dripping over her vest.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to us at work."

She held it up to Steve, offering him a bite. He shook his head, but didn't miss how your gaze flickered between him and his colleague during the small interaction. Your shoulders deflated slightly and his stomach sank.

You coughed awkwardly, avoiding meeting his eyes again, "I'm glad you like them. I think they're worth at least another month's worth of late returns."

"A month? That's a bit generous isn't it?"

"Taste one and you'll change your mind, Harrington. I tried one in the car on the way here, couldn't resist."

His eyes found the two white sprinkles at the edge of your lips, evidence of your indulgence, and fleetingly wished he could suck them off.

Instead, he pulled out a heavily iced donut from the box and bit tentatively into it. Fuck. It really was good.

He tried to catch his sigh before it escaped him, he wasn't quick enough, but the amused smirk you sent him over the table was enough compensation for him to forget it.

"Fine," he mumbled around a mouthful. "A month."

"Great." You skipped past the desk over to the horror section, reaching up to the top shelf to grab The Hills Have Eyes II, while Steve's mouth watered around the donut over the stretch of thigh that peeked out from under your shorts as you reached. Allowing him to commit the image of the deep fold between your ass and thigh to memory.

That was before Robin dug her elbow into his side, meeting him with a stern look that said "you're being a fucking creep".

Before he could retort, you were back at the desk, flashing the cover at him. "I'll take this one."

He quickly typed in the name and you were on your way again, only the jingle of the door left behind and the light whiff of your perfume to plague Steve for the rest of the day.

Robin bumped his shoulder, starting on her second donut, "That one's a keeper, Harrington."

He couldn't help agree.

Besides Mondays and Thursdays, Steve also loved Saturdays. It was his one off day a week, also the day he'd take Dustin down to the Frozen Frenzy and buy him a tub of frozen yoghurt, allowing him to practically overfill the cup with toppings.

They'd drive from there to the park close to the Harrington household where they'd sit in Steve's car and he'd listen to Dustin ramble about how he hated his maths teacher or how Suzie was teaching him how to code on the computer while he sipped on a strawberry milkshake.

He was listening mostly attentively, eyes trained on the squirrel running up the side of a tree a few feet from the car, but perked up at the mention of your name.

"—she said there's a horror festival in Indianapolis in October and that we could go if I wanted. The guy who played Jason in Friday the 13th is apparently gonna be there."

Steve nodded as solemnly as he could manage, looking at the side of Dustin's face now.

"And... and you guys have fun together?"

Dustin scooped another mouthful of caramel yoghurt and sour worms into his mouth, nodding. "Yeah. She's the best: let's me stay up as late as I want, drives me wherever I wanna go. And she's funny."

Pulling out the straw to mix the remnants of milkshake at the bottom of his cup, Steve nodded again - trying to look casual when he opened his mouth again.

"Does she ever ... y'know, ask about me?"

Dustin's head whipped towards him. "Why?"

"What do you mean why, Henderson. She's ... she's cute I like her."

The curly hair atop Dustin's head trembled as he shook it, muttering vehemently "Oh no, no, no, you're not going for her."

"Why not!" Steve twisted in his seat to face the fifteen year old, "I treat girls well."

"Yeah," he scoffed, "for two and a half dates before you stop taking their calls. All you're gonna do is lead her on and then upset her when you get bored."

Steve's jaw slackened, taken aback by Dustin's scathing, yet mostly honest, review. "Jesus, tell me what you really think Henderson."

"Am I wrong?"

The straw of his milkshake became suddenly interesting again and Steve began to fiddle with it. "No, I mean not entirely, but I ... I wouldn't do that to her."

He could feel Dustin's heated gaze against the side of his neck, "I don't believe that."

"Listen, I ... I really like her, okay? I think she's cool." God, he never sounded this damn pathetic in high school. When did all of this get so difficult? "Just tell me, does she ever mention me?"

Dustin hesitated, "I don't know ... I guess she talks about you when she comes back from getting the movie every week. She said you're sweet."

Steve grinned, a familiar wave of confidence washing over him. "She thinks I'm sweet?"

"That's what I said."

He leaned back against the headrest, bringing his milkshake to slurp at it noisily. "Sweet. I can work with sweet."

That very same night, all the way across Hawkins: you were on the way back from work when your hand-me-down ride pulled to a spluttering stop just a couple miles from home.

Smoke billowed from underneath the hood and you knew better than to go prying beneath it.

After ten minutes of kicking furiously at the wheel and wiping away angry tears, you elected to walk half a mile to the nearest public phone, dropping in a quarter to ring up the mechanic two streets down from your neighborhood.

You didn't wait long. By the time you'd reached your car again and slid back into the driver's seat, turning up the evening radio, a tall white pick up truck pulled to a stop beside you.

Not that you'd been entirely sure what to expect of the man to step out the car, but you almost choked on thin air when the beast of a man climbed from the truck.

"Hi, I'm Ralph," he stuck a large, black-stained paw at you and you took it clumsily. "You must be ..."

You nodded, too embarrassed to attempt words just yet.

Ralph was tall, ginormous actually. He towered over you with big meaty shoulders covered in colorful ink and a thickset beard that wrapped over the borders of his face before dipping into the edges of the long mane of hair atop his head.

He smiled, with a brilliant white set of teeth too, before moving to work. He attached your pathetic car to the truck before offering you a lift home.

The car ride was short but Ralph was endearing, he asked what you did and sounded interested when you mentioned your job at the record store, you asked about his work as a mechanic and he laughed heartily at your dizzy attempts at jokes.

When the truck pulled to a park outside your house, he promised it would be sorted before Monday.

You thanked him, batting your eyelashes maybe a little heavily and offering a soft brush at his arm before beginning to move out the car.

He stopped you before the door shut, "Listen, I'd love to take you out sometime if you'd like. Maybe after you pick up the car, Monday night?"

Your eyes glossed dreamily, was this giant piece of smoking man meat really asking you out?

Wait.

Monday night?

Steve's freckled cheeks came sharply into the view of your mind's eye.

You couldn't do Monday, not when it's the only time you get to visit him—

The image of Steve was replaced by the gum popping, cherry lipgloss wearing blonde you'd seen him leave the local cinema with only a couple months ago.

Your stomach twisted nastily, but you fixed your face before Ralph could pick up on the inner turmoil.

"I'd love to."

Monday came quickly. Steve had spent the better part of the weekend working over what he was going to say when you came into the store. He picked out his favourite blue polo and spent an extra twenty minutes on his hair. He even slid a pack of gum into his pocket.

Robin teased and picked at him, but seemed glad at the prospect of a final end to all his pining.

"Thank god, maybe I can get a break from those pathetic googly eyes you have whenever she comes in here."

Nervousness ate at Steve all day, he tried to busy himself with packing away returns or alphabetizing the customers names on the computer but as the minutes ticked closer to five, he could feel the buzz on the surface of his skin.

"I don't know why I'm so worried about this." He muttered irritably over his shoulder at Robin who was sitting rewinding tapes on the floor, "I've asked out a thousand girls. Those all mostly went well."

"Yeah but you've never been scared that one of them was gonna say no."

Steve's knuckles tapped agitatedly at the counter. "Right. Whatever, but she's not gonna say no. I'm gonna woo her."

"Woo her?"

"Woo her."

As slowly as dripping honey, five o' clock arrived. Steve's eyes flickered between the door and the clock.

And just as slowly, it disappeared again.

Five. Half past. Ten to. Six thirty.

You'd never been this late. Twice a week for going on three or so months, at around five pm you'd step into Family Video. Into the view of Steve's googly eyes and churning stomach.

The sun was beginning to set over Hawkins, basking the little video store in an orange light that only served to make the yellow painted walls seem brighter.

Steve could feel Robin's little sympathetic glances at him from the back of the store and they were making his hair stand on end.

He chewed his bottom lip carefully, but there wasn't a rumble of even a single engine on the one road into the center.

After another ten minutes of tapping the counter loudly, he huffed and pulled the phone closer to him from down the desk. He slipped his wallet out from his back pocket where he kept a small list of important numbers, a list he'd been hoping to add yours to by the end of the day, and dialed up the number for the Henderson Household.

The phone rang six times before a resounding click echoed over the line and Dustin's unmistakable voice streamed through.

"Hello?"

"Dustin, it's Steve."

He could feel Robin's gaze on the back of his neck: "Oh. Hey Steve, what's up?"

"Listen, is— are you guys not having movie night tonight, because—"

"Oh, no we're not ... uhm, she's not here."

Something twisted nastily in Steve's stomach.

"What do you mean she's not there? Where is she?"

Robin approached him from behind, leaning up against the other side of the phone to try catch the snippets of conversation.

"She went out on a date, said I could stay home alone as long as I didn't tell my mom—"

"A-A date?" Steve choked and Robin gasped beside him, "a date!" she mouthed.

Steve could feel blood rushing to his brain and suddenly his fingertips were ice cold, the phone trembled for a second in his hand.

"Yeah."

He ran a tight hand through his hair, ruining in seconds the hairdo he'd spent almost an hour on that morning. He struggled for a words, "A date with who? How could you let her go on a date—!"

"She said it was a mechanic from I don't know, and what do you mean how could I? You didn't ask her out so what was I supposed to do!"

Steve barely registered the commiserative pat against his shoulder.

"Did she says what time she'll be back?"

"She's my babysitter, not the other way around. I don't know."

Steve sighed, dropping his forehead into his palm and pressing tightly against the sides of his forehead. "Thanks dipshit. Do you know what time they left?"

"Uh ... a big white pickup was parked outside at like three. I saw her get inside."

The tick of the clock pulled Steve's gaze towards it. Quarter past seven. Their shift ended at seven thirty.

"I'm coming over, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

The phone slammed back against the dial before Dustin could respond. He turned to Robin, who's eyes were wide in unease: like Steve was a wild animal that could attack at any moment.

"Come let's pack the last of this shit away, we're going to Dustin's."

The last of the videos were packed haphazardly onto the shelves, Robin wasn't even sure they were in alphabetical order and didn't dare mention when Steve put Sixteen Candles on the Sci-Fi shelf.

Within ten minutes she was thrown into the passenger seat of his BMW and Steve was screeching down Kilney Road towards Dustin's neighborhood.

It was dark by the time they pulled up. Steve marched up the driveway, barely attempting a knock before throwing the door open. Dustin leapt up from the couch where he'd been lazily channel surfing, the half finished pizza he'd bought with the money you'd left him sitting on the table.

Steve situated himself at the kitchen window, the one over the stove that looked directly onto your front yard.

"Steve, she could be still another couple hours." Dustin pressed, really just wanting to go lay back down on the couch.

"If she comes home at all." Robin quipped. It earned her a hard, hot glare.

"Jeez." She mumbled.

Dustin turned to look up at her, "I didn't know he liked her that much." He whispered.

"God, you have no idea," she sighed, "it's like watching a kicked puppy every time she leaves the store."

After a short-lived and futile attempt at consoling Steve to at least come sit on the couch, Dustin and Robin fell in front of the television.

The teen put on one of his old copy of The Fox and The Hound and Robin picked at the pepperoni on his forgotten pizza.

Steve sulked by the window. He periodically called back self-pitying remarks at them like "you could've at least told me you know, before I called!" every twenty or so minutes.

They generally ignored him.

"You think she'd make me a bridesmaid?" Robin asked Dustin offhandedly.

He shrugged, "She's cool. I'm sure if you asked nicely."

"Sweet."

The movie was drawing to a close near nine thirty - they could tell Steve had been watching from the doorframe of the kitchen when he gasped at the Fox being caught, but they didn't mention it - when the rumble of a truck echoed down the street outside the house.

"Henderson!"

Dustin and Robin perked up, leaping off the couch and skidding towards the kitchen where Steve was practically crawling over the stovetop.

A dirty white truck pulled up into the driveway outside your house before stilling.

"That's the one." Dustin whispered, leaning to turn off the kitchen light and avoid being spotted.

Steve was biting furiously at the insides of his cheeks, his eyes trained on the car.

The windows were tinted and despite the engine being off, there was no movement from the car. The lack of a visual was setting Steve on edge.

"You think they're making out?" Robin mumbled.

Steve didn't even look when he pinched her hard in the arm.

"Ow!"

"Hey, hey, look!" Dustin's forehead pressed against the window, forming round circles of mist against the glass.

The truck was big, but absolutely nothing compared to the man that stepped out of it.

"Holy shit."

Steve swore he felt the ground tremble when the man stepped out the car onto the pavement, tall as a house with enough muscles to rip down a billboard.

"What the fuck—" He squeaked.

The man was rounding the car, obviously to open your door. Oh, and he has manners too. Asshole, Steve though bitterly.

"He's fucking huge!" He turned to Robin, "How am I supposed to compete with Goliath!"

She spluttered, "I—"

"Look, there she is." Dustin was pressing a greasy finger to the glass.

Steve looked and almost wished he hadn't.

You walked beside the mountain man, smiling up at him in the prettiest little sundress Steve had ever seen. His knees buckled beneath him. It was short, hiding just the tops of your thighs, and covered in a green flower print that reached down to your wrists.

"Woah, she looks really pretty."

A heavy wave of self-pity sloshed around in the pit of his stomach, almost forcing up his lunch.

You looked pretty every day, beautiful, but the thought of you dressing up in a tiny little dress and the black eyeliner that he could make out all the across the yard for another man in a way he wished you would do for him was about to make him sick.

He'd probably dream about that dress for the next hundred nights. Maybe you had others, in different colours.

God knows what he'd do to you in one of them.

After the date he'd dreamed of taking you on, in the driver's seat of his car. He'd kiss you the way a girl as mettlesome as you is meant to be kissed, maybe pull you into his lap and run his hands all the way up those massive thighs, up past the edge of that dress—

"I don't know what to tell you Harrington. This isn't looking good for you, pal." Robin pulled him sharply out of his fantasies.

You and the mechanic neared your doorstep. Steve's heart clenched tightly in his chest. This would be around the time he himself would try for at least a soft peck.

"It's make or break now." Dustin whispered.

The pair stopped, your hand on the door as you looked up to meet the massive man's face.

Steve sucked in a sharp breath when he leaned his hairy face down closer to your level and thought he might faint when you pressed up onto your tippy toes to leave a kiss on his—

"Cheek!" Dustin yelped happily, "She kissed him on the cheek, that's good!"

Steve let out a long breath, a fraction of warm relief dripping into his bloodstream.

"Yeah, a cheek kiss is good." Robin nodded, arms supporting her against the stone countertop. "If she really liked him she would've kissed him properly."

Steve knew that Robin maybe wasn't the best person to offer any accurate commentary on a heterosexual encounter such as this, but he was too busy clinging to any sense of hope to bother mentioning it.

When he looked up again, the man was heading back towards his car and you'd already disappeared into the house. The three of them watched as the living room light flickered on in the distance.

Steve slid off the counter, dragging his feet towards the couch before falling back onto it - as if he'd just completed a half marathon.

Robin and Dustin squished in beside him.

"There's hope." Dustin said.

"Definitely hope." Robin concurred.

"Hope? Did you just see the same man I did? How am I supposed to compete with ..." he motioned vaguely over his shoulder, "he looks like a gladiator!"

"You just have to ask her out before their next date, if she even wants one!" Robin consoled, leaning over to begin picking at the abandoned pizza again.

"Yeah, he just took her on a date, he didn't propose to her. There's plenty of time."

Steve nodded slowly, allowing their wisdom to sink in - trying to ignore the fact that he was taking advice from a teen boy who's girlfriend lived across the country. "You're right ... there is hope."

An idea began to sink into his pretty little head.

The two on either side of him sighed gratefully. Dustin picked up the remote again, pressing play on the movie.

"Great. Now let's finish—"

"Invite me to your movie night." Steve turned to face Dustin, hands meeting the boy's shoulders.

"W-What?"

"Yeah, it's perfect! You invite me, I come over, then you make some excuse and then buzz off to Lucas' or something."

Robin looked affronted, cheeks full of dough, "We have work?"

"I'll call in sick." He waved vaguely at her. "Dealing with Keith is the least of my problems. Dustin?"

The teen's face twisted in consideration, "I... don't know how I feel about pawning my neighbor off on you."

"Come on, please?" Steve's tone dripped in sincerity, "I'll treat her well, I swear."

Dustin sucked in a breath, "Fine—"

All three of them jumped when the ring of the phone against the wall split into the room between them.

"That's probably her." Dustin remarked, climbing up off the couch again and quickly peeling the phone off the dial. "Hello?"

You sighed against the line, grateful that the poor boy was still alive.

"Dusty Bun," you teased, tugging unconsciously at the chain around your neck. "did you survive the night without me?"

He laughed a little against the line, "Yep. Everything is fine."

You smiled, a little bit sad that you'd missed out on your night with your favourite boy. "Hopefully not too fine, or I'll be out of a job."

"Right, sorry. What I meant to say was that it was barely survivable. You'll be here on Thursday, though, right?"

Leaning against the wall you nodded before remembering that he couldn't see you, "Of course. We need to finish Psycho."

Glancing out the window from your living room, you noticed the kitchen light off at the Henderson's. You plucked at the edge of your dress, the question scalding your tongue:

"Dustin, is Steve there?"

You'd recognize that maroon BMW anywhere, seen it already as Ralph pulled into your driveway.

You suspect that it was the reason you ducked to kiss his cheek when he was obviously intent on your lips.

"No!" Dustin choked against the other side of the line, "He's not—"

There was a scuffle on his side and you couldn't help grin, hushed voices echoed in the background and the phone rustled against what you could only assume was Dustin's shirt.

"Well, his car is parked in front of your house—"

"I mean yes." The boy's voice cut through the line again, "Steve and Robin are here, they came to check on me."

An uneasy feeling settled in your chest. Had Steve seen you and Ralph?

You shook the thought off firmly. Good, you hoped he saw you.

A part of you wanted to march over to Dustin's, to step in there looking as good as you did tonight. After you put effort into your hair and makeup, dressing a little bit up for the evening, and maybe parade a little bit in front of Steve but you knew it was only going to hurt the progress you'd made by accepting Ralph's date in the first place.

Steve Harrington was the King of Women in Hawkins and if he could have his pick of the princesses, you knew he wouldn't pick you.

You'd feel nothing less than sick to your stomach and end up crying into your pillow if you went in there and Steve didn't bat an eyelash in your direction.

"Okay good. Well then I don't need to come check on you, right? You should be heading to bed soon, there's school in the morning."

"Uhm, yeah I'll be fine—" He cut himself off with a groan, like he'd been hit. There was hushed murmurings before he returned to the line. "So, how was the date?"

Your mind flickered back over the evening, how Ralph came to pick you up, took you to a nice restaurant in town and made good conversation. Made you laugh.

He wasn't Steve, but then again, nobody was.

"It was good. Really good." You sighed against the line, from exhaustion or content you weren't sure. "I think I'm gonna see him again. He said he rides motorbikes, I told him how you said you'd like to try and he mentioned that he could take you for a spin whenever you want?"

"Ah, awesome!"

You giggled, "Yeah, I thought so too. You should get to bed, bud. I'll drop you at school in the morning if you like? To make up for my absence?"

"Sure."

Even biting your lip couldn't help the words that slipped, "Tell Steve I said goodnight. A-and Robin, tell them both."

"Will do. Night."

The phone clicked loudly against the dial and you pushed off the wall, beelining towards the stairs.

You took an extra long shower, hoping that Steve and Robin would leave in the time you were busy so you wouldn't be tempted to watch by the window from your room.

They did.

The shutters blocked the last of the light from the street when you dropped them against the pane, steeping the room in darkness.

You sighed loudly before sliding into bed, pulling a pillow closer to your chest.

The night had been nice, it really had. Ralph was sweet, he was doting and made noises at all the right parts in your stories. Yes, maybe he was a little boring, not many of his interests aligning with yours.

He spoke about cars and motorbikes and you tried to be interested, the fact that he was willing to entertain Dustin was attractive in its own right.

At the end of the night, before you climbed out the car, he'd asked if you wanted to go to a movie on Friday night. You'd agreed.

He wasn't Steve, but he was nice. And for God's sake you wanted to be treated nicely for a little bit. Was it so wrong to just want to be looked after? To hold someone's hand and have a warm body beside you when Winter inevitably crawls over Hawkins?

The thought was enough to let you close your eyes and slip off into sleep, allow you to pretend that Steve Harrington doesn't matter.

The days that followed were good. Ralph rang the next night, just to check up on you, your car was finally cooperating again and your shifts at the store had been as entertaining as they came.

You'd put Steve's existence firmly out of your mind until you pulled into Family Video at nearly five-fifteen on Thursday afternoon.

Hesitance rumbled through you. Your hand wavered on the door handle, but a tugging in your stomach gave away how excited you were to see him again. To be able to tease him over the counter.

Deciding that making it fast was the best course of action, you climbed from your car and slipped quickly through the entrance, the familiar light jingle pooling your chest in warmth.

Robin's big eyes glanced up at you from where she was examining the contents of a packet of gummy bears.

"Hey, you." She grinned.

You couldn't help how your eyes swept over the store, in desperate search of a moussed and quaffed head of brown hair.

"H-Hey Robs." You pulled your attention back to her.

"Well don't look so disappointed, it's just little old me today."

Passing the counter you offered up as genuine a chuckle as you could muster.

"I'm never disappointed when I see you, Robin," you called over your shoulder, glazing over the horror section to find Psycho II on the top right corner. You swore every time you came in looking for a movie it ended up being on the topmost shelf, always needing to ask Steve for help or just embarrassingly reach at it from your tippy toes.

"Where's your partner in crime?" You hoped you came off nonchalant as you turned back towards Robin, sliding the movie over to her.

The amusement dripping from her smirk was slightly unsettling. "Oh, he had other plans tonight. Ditched me."

A sharp sting plunged through your chest. There's only really one reason why he would abandon Robin in the shop alone.

"Let me guess, that little brunette I saw in here last week wooed him into taking her to see Pretty in Pink tonight?" There really wasn't another feasible reason for you to ask, Robin would likely probe and you shouldn't care, but you just had to know.

"Wooed him?" She laughed, taking you by surprise. "God, you guys are made for each other."

Your head nudged to the side, squinting. "W-What?"

She shrugged you off, "Never-mind, but to answer your question: yes, something like that."

Both ideas tugged at each other for the space at the front of your brain. What is Robin talking about? versus So Steve really is out with someone tonight?

Jealousy twisted hotly through your veins, as if you had any right with Ralph coming to fetch you for your second date in less than twenty-four hours.

In the couple seconds you'd been preoccupied by your thoughts, Robin had already rung up the movie - offering it back to you. "Here you go."

You smiled lightly, "Thanks Robin, I'll ... I'll see you around."

She nodded, smirk dripping in mischief. "Have fun with little Dusty Bun."

The drive back to your street was distracted. The thought of Steve making out with a girl in the back-most row of the cinema during the end credits was enough to almost make you miss the red light on the corner of Walnut and Oak.

Your head was so wrapped around your five minute interaction with Robin in the store that when you stopped at Dustin's house, you marched straight past Steve's car without even noting it's presence.

The cool air from the blasting air-conditioner blew straight past you when you opened the door.

"Dustin!" You called into the house, bouncing down the corridor, desperate to put Steve Harrington out of your mind: "Are you ready for Psycho?"

You began making obnoxious gestures, pretending to be stabbed by imaginary knives from different angles in the abdomen and faking loud grunts of pain.

You rounded the corner to where you could make out the curly topped head of your kid neighbor over the back of the couch.

"Oh, Norman, stop—!"

Staring up at you from the very same couch was just the man you'd intended on pretending didn't exist: Steve Harrington.

"Hey," he grinned at you, making to stand. You blinked down at him, lips frozen around your words.

For god sakes, did he have to make everything so hard by looking so fucking good?

His hair looked fluffy, like it had just been washed - not too much hairspray that it stood very tall, but rather so a couple strands were allowed to swoop down to hang over those warm brown eyes that were looking expectantly up at you and a dizzying yellow sweater that made his skin glow.

"Steve," you sighed. "Hi."

Dustin cleared his throat awkwardly, "I... I invited Steve to join our movie night, if that's fine?"

Steve grinned.

It took a couple seconds to process Dustin's response before you considered them playfully, "Sounds like Harrington is slowly working me out of a job here. Should I send in my application to Family Video now or later?"

Sooner or later you'd have to make peace with Steve's company. Ralph or no Ralph, Steve Harrington was high on the roster of Dustin Henderson's favourite people and if you intended on keeping your substitute little brother around, you were going to have to keep your feelings in your back pocket until they slipped quietly out of existence.

"Maybe wait 'till I resign." Steve chided, "I figure by the end of the week I'll be the full-time nanny here. Claudia already adores me."

You tossed the movie at Dustin, scoffing.

"Go put it in before I leave both of you to have your play-date alone. The nerve of you two ..."

He nodded, shifting off the couch towards the player.

A neat pile of snacks was waiting against the coffee table in front of the couch, you couldn't help notice all the favourites you'd usually pick when you stopped past Family Video.

You slid off your shoes before crashing against the edge of the couch, intentionally as far from Steve who had situated himself in the dead centre.

Dustin returned, taking the opposite end of the couch. You observed him curiously, noting the large gaps between each member on the couch - but said nothing on it.

"So this is what you're ditching work for, Harrington?" You mentioned absently, slowly turning Robin's words over in your mind as you reached for a bag of Twizzlers.

Yes, something like that.

"Yep. I couldn't turn down such a prestigious invitation." His hand dug deeper into the Doritos packet, "Wanted to see if you're actually watching the movies I give you, or you just come past to flirt with me."

A hot red blush raced up the sides of your neck over your cheeks, you didn't look at him - instead trying very hard to focus on the loading television screen. You pulled hard at the piece of your candy with your teeth, chewing slowly.

"In your dreams, Steven."

A shrill ring pierced through the room against the hum of the opening credits. Dustin jumped up quickly, "I should get that—"

Behind you, you heard the phone lift off the wall.

"Hello?"

There was quiet, you'd paused the movie while you waited for the call to end - only the loud munching of Steve's Doritos to distract you.

"Really?" Dustin sounded dramatically excited, your eyebrows pinched curiously at him. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be right over. Bye."

The phone was slammed haphazardly back against the wall, you looked at Dustin confused.

"What's happening?"

"It was Lucas, he said his mom just bought him the new Legend of Zelda. That I could come over and try it out."

You glanced slightly sad between him and the television, "What about the movie—?"

"You guys can keep watching. I'll watch it when I get home, I won't be late." Dustin's eyes clouded with an emotion you couldn't quite make out.

But your duty was to babysit him, not imprison him, so you nodded slowly, "O-Okay sure, have fun I guess."

Dustin was out the door quicker than you anticipated. He grabbed his backpack from his room and the door slammed behind him.

"Guess it's just us." The sound of Steve's voice startled you.

You turned to face him, nodding carefully. "Sure ... do you want to keep watching or, if you don't want to I can head—"

"No!" You jumped at the volume, he chuckled nervously and he reached a tentative hand to your arm. "Sorry, I mean, no ... I'd like to keep watching. With you. If you want to."

Starting to laugh, you shrugged at him, "Sure, but I have to warn you that I'm a really bad movie talker. It drives Dustin nuts."

He visibly eased, "I'm sure I can handle it. Robin's the same."

The movie was clicked back on and you chewed on a freshly opened pack of sour worms loudly.

You commented on the most obvious of moments, pleased when Steve giggled at you - also somewhat puzzled because you definitely knew you couldn't be that funny - and recoiled back into the couch when bloody guts would splatter across the screen.

"I mean, how dumb do you have to be!" You yelled obnoxiously at the television, as if the woman on the screen would turn from entering the obviously dangerous house.

"You know she can't hear you, right?"

Settling back against the couch, you huffed. "Whatever. She's going to die anyways."

The sun had long since disappeared out in the street, the neighborhood lit by the street lamps. Dustin must have been gone an hour already because cool evening was creeping in through the floorboards and the hair on your naked calves stood on end. Although, you couldn't entirely contribute that to the temperature when Steve was sitting less than a foot from you.

You side-eyed the tin of Pringles in his lap. "Can I have some?"

"Come get it."

The sentence pierced a hole in your chest and you felt momentarily breathless. Steve's smugness was radiating off of him in waves.

Trying to avoid meeting his face with your blushing one, you shifted over towards him. "Asshole." You mumbled, dipping your hand into the can before focusing back on the television.

"You're welcome." He nudged you with his elbow, making you suddenly aware of how close he was next to you - his thigh pressing hotly against yours.

A slash of metal splashed ruby red blood across the screen and you flinched back against him, giggling. "Dustin's gonna love this."

"Especially when he realizes they've shown boobs twice now."

You dug your index finger into his ribs under where his arms were folded over his chest. "You're so gross."

"Hey!" He winced from your prodding, "Breasts are one of the few great pleasures in life."

You looked back at the screen, pretending to be unbothered. "If you wanted to see boobs, Steve, you could've just asked."

The breath Steve sucked in was loud. A short silence followed it.

"W-What?"

You glanced up at him, working hard to hold down your smirk, "Why so shy, Stevie?"

It was Steve's turn to blush hot red over the bridge of his nose and up to the apples of his cheeks. The laughs slipped broken from your lips, you wheezed in breaths between them.

"I'm—I'm sorry, I'm just joking Harrington." Your head was tilted back again to match his gaze. He was smiling sheepishly.

"Was starting to get my hopes up there, it's not fair to tease people." His attempt at a counter-strike was weak and you brushed it off.

Your giggles softened, holding his gaze. "I'm sorry, but the look on your face was priceless."

Steve didn't reply, but his eyes were holding yours. Suddenly everything except him felt very far away. You'd never seen the spots on his cheeks from this up close before.

"You've got a nice laugh, has anyone ever told you that?" He whispered, as if divulging some secret.

Despite feeling very exposed with Steve's eyes raking over the edges of your face and down the length of your nose, you couldn't look away.

"You're the first."

A warm hand closed over the skin under your right ear and he sighed when your lips just barely brushed over his.

He tilted his head down to pull you against him when a shriek echoed from the television and you jumped back in fright.

Steve's heart sunk. You've got to be fucking kidding me.

You sat back: eyes wide and alternating between him and the screen.

"Uhm, sorry..." Steve coughed awkwardly and you shook your head, avoiding his gaze.

He glared up at the woman on screen as if she could actually feel his irritation towards her, but still felt a swelling pride in his chest that he'd gotten you so close against him, practically in his arms as he'd dreamt for weeks.

Somehow though, he swore he could feel you buzzing against him, that you wanted it as bad as he did.

Now, you were sliding back down to your original spot at the end of the couch - face bright red in the dim light of only the lamp across the room. "No, it's ... it's fine, I'm sorry." You were speaking more to your chest than to him.

The image of Ralph standing on your doorstep appeared in his mind like a blinding vision. How you'd dodged his lips, instead planting a kiss on his cheek.

You'd just done the same to him.

God, when is this movie gonna end ... Thoughts swirled around Steve's head. He folded his arms carefully.

Did this have something to do with the mechanic? Or did he really just stand no chance with the girl that's been plaguing his dreams since the day he met you?

The air between you was thick. Steve let it permeate while the movie played in the background. It brought him small joy to know the woman who'd screamed earlier and crushed his dream, had just been murdered.

You were quiet, but he could still feel your flickering gazes against the side of his face. He wondered if maybe you were reading his thoughts through the side of his head.

Curiosity nagged at him.

"I didn't see you in the store on Monday." He tried carefully, unable to ignore the itch anymore.

A smile curled at your lip and Steve was suddenly glad he decided to speak. You turned to meet his eye, "Did you miss me?"

"Desperately."

Your smirk stuttered, unsure about the honesty of the response. "Well, I skipped babysitting on Monday. I was out ... I-I went on a date."

"Oh, okay. That's ... nice?" Steve tried to sound as if it was the first time he was hearing this information. "I mean, was it? Was it nice?"

You nodded quickly, very quickly.

"It was nice. Very nice, actually. He's taking me to the movies tomorrow night."

Steve's stomach sank. He had less time than he thought. Maybe that's why his mouth began to run faster than his brain.

"You like him then?" He pressed, "Doesn't look much like your type though."

The words settled into the room. Your eyebrows pinched, turning in your seat to look at him. He could already read the questions forming in your head, biting down on the corner his lip and was slowly realizing that he'd said the wrong thing.

"M-my type?" You asked, "I don't— wait, when did you see him? When did you see Ralph?"

Ralph.

Steve stuttered, scrambling for a way to explain his story in a way that made sense without admitting that he'd been spying on them that night. "Robin and I saw him on Monday night, when we ... when we came around."

"So then you knew where I was on Monday? Why did you ask?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would be on a date ... I thought maybe he was a friend or something." The second he saw your face, he knew he'd only made it worse.

"Right, because I don't go on dates. I can't possibly." You seemed to be growing more offended the more you unwrapped his answers. "And my type? Since when do I have a type? What in your opinion is my type, Steve—"

"I don't know!" He was stumbling now, grasping at straws. "You went out with Jackson Gillespie in high school..."

"And what does that mean?"

Your face was red again, but this time you weren't blushing. The twist in your expression was dripping in hurt.

"Well compared to your Ralph they ... they look nothing alike!" Words were slipping from his lips like water through his hands, too fast for him to consider before they're gone. "He looks like you found him in the forest, like ... like a grizzly bear or something!"

"And who, in your high and mighty opinion, Steve, am I supposed to date?" You guffawed, not a single trace of humor dripping from your tone. "You get to run around with any Ms America lookalike in Hawkins because they're all in love with you, and I'm not allowed to go on one date with a very good looking man who actually shows interest in me!"

"Oh please," he was scoffing now and a little voice at the back of his mind was warning him that he definitely shouldn't be. "As if you don't see how men fall over themselves for you. You skip around town in your cute little skirts and your smart mouth—"

"Like who?" It felt like your eyes were burning a hole through his skull, he'd only just noticed the way your eyes were beginning to well up - fat pools of tears hanging onto your waterline. He felt sick. His tongue stuck immediately to the floor of his mouth. Like me!

"And even if that's true, which it's not, what do you expect me to do? Sit around and wait for them to find the balls to ask me out?"

The room was sweltering.

"Okay, wait—"

But it didn't stop you.

"The only person I was willing to wait for has his pick of any Barbie in the state of Indiana, and it will never be me. But I'm not waiting anymore. I can't be stupid forever."

A heavy tear had broken loose and was running down your cheek.

He squinted, wait. Were you talking about him?

The silence was broken by a wet sniff and the shuffle as you went to stand.

"I-I'm gonna wait for Dustin at home." You were whispering now, he barely caught it.

Steve called your name softly, but you didn't turn. Only the sound of the front door shutting remained after you fled.

Steve sat back against the couch, sighing loudly and running both hands through his hair.

How had the conversation gotten away from him so quickly? A pang of guilt resounded in his chest. He shouldn't have insulted the mechanic. Or implied that you don't go on dates. Honestly, he wished he'd just pulled you in to kiss you even after the interruption.

Maybe if he had, he'd be lying with you between his arms right then instead of occupying the couch alone after sending you home in tears.

The old bed frame creaked when you fell against it.

You tore open the sheets in darkness, the pursuit of light abandoned as you crawled beneath them. Pressing your face against the pillow did little in muting your gasping hiccups, you could still hear when Steve's car pulled out the driveway next door and raced off down the street.

Screwing your eyes shut, you worked to dissolve the image of Steve's confused face from your head.

After less than a half hour, the throbbing against the side of your head had grown to unbearable. You reached blindly in your bedside drawer, lifting out a rattling bottle of pain medicine and swallowing two tablets before crashing back against your mascara stained pillow.

Morning arrived hot after a long night of restless tossing.

You would've stayed in bed until the evening, but the sweltering heat forced you from the sheets and declared you face your reflection in the bathroom mirror.

The house creaked around you, empty and alone as it stood most days. Thoughts tormented you, embarrassment tore through you every time your mind wandered to the night before.

You couldn't believe that you'd lost your cool on Steve like that.

Nausea was a constant companion as you tried to move through your day. Sickened by how you allowed yourself to think there was a sliver of hope for reciprocation when he almost kissed you. Clearly you meant nothing more to Steve than any of the other girls who batted their eyelashes at him.

At some point in the afternoon, you phoned the Henderson house. Claudia answered and you stuttered your way through an excuse for calling.

"Dustin said he wasn't feeling well last night ... I just wanted to check if he's okay?"

"Oh, well he seemed fine this afternoon. He just left for Mike's house, I'll tell him you called."

It took a whole twenty minutes after you'd hung up with Dustin's mother, standing at the phone, that you decided to call up Ralph.

"Listen, I'm really not feeling well today ... yeah, could we do a rain check on the movie tonight?"

"Yes, of course. Maybe next week sometime?"

You couldn't see Ralph that day, not after what happened in the Henderson living room. Your forehead pressed against the wall beside the phone and you sighed loudly.

Dustin was going to be upset. You'd abandoned him to ride his bike to school and ruined what was a perfectly good friendship with someone he cared for deeply.

By almost seven o' clock, the time which Ralph was intending to pick you up, the couch had practically swallowed you whole.

The jingle from the television hummed against the rumble of the cars heading home, you watched only half-attentive - pajama clad legs splayed over the edge of the chair.

The first knock made you shift slightly, only partially sure you'd heard anything at all. But when a second rang through the corridors, louder, you were forced up from the couch.

You were sure it was Ralph. That he hadn't taken the hint, decided to come past anyways, and when your hand closed over the doorknob you were completely ready to feign a cough and kindly nudge him away.

What you weren't ready for, however, was to face Steve Harrington staring down at your across the doorframe.

Your breath caught in your chest, freezing over.

"Hey." He said softly.

Maybe it was your hopeful imagination, but his eyes looked tired: like he also hadn't slept at all. He was in his green Family Video vest and your gaze fell to the small bouquet of pink roses swinging at his side.

"Hey."

He noticed your gaze, lifting the flowers to look at them as if he'd only just noticed them. He dropped his arm back to his side.

"At work," his empty hand fidgeted against the side of his jeans, "they take off fifty cents from my salary for every movie that's returned late and isn't fined."

Your shoulders sank guiltily. "Oh."

Steve tried to ignore the way the look on your face made his head spin. He came on a mission. With a plan. And a pre-planned dialogue so he wouldn't fuck it up again this time.

"But I-I don't fine you, I've never charged you for a late movie ... you're the only person in the whole of Hawkins that I don't fine because of the —that fucking face you make when you know you've gotten away with it again. The way you smile, that full-of-shit smile, it makes me forget my own name."

"Steve—"

But even your eyelashes batting up at him couldn't pull him from his pre-rehearsed lines.

"And I lied. Last night. I knew you were on a date with Rick—"

"—Ralph—"

"Whatever. When you didn't show up at the shop, I phoned Dustin's house to ask where you were then he said you were on a date and I freaked out," The smile creeping up onto your face was only spurring him to keep talking.

"So Robin and I drove over and we were spying on you from his kitchen window."

A gap opened into the space that had gotten smaller since he'd started talking. He sucked in a deep breath.

"So," your voice was soft and lined in that smugness Steve loved so much. "What you're saying is that ... you were jealous? And spying on me?"

"Yes, because you make me crazy." He took another tentative step forward, hoping to inch the crevice between you and him to nothing. "And that guy is really scary looking so I'm really hoping he's not gonna be arriving soon to beat me up, because if I thought I was gonna lose you to some twig from the video store, I'd also kick my ass."

You fidgeted nervously, Steve couldn't help find it endearing, chewing on your bottom lip like you didn't know what to say - a rare phenomenon for your generally smart mouth.

You gestured towards the roses in his hand, "Those for me?"

He lifted them up, nodding slowly.

"Yes." Steve took your hand gently, passing them into your hold. "I came to ask if you wanted to go out on a date with me ... because I think I'm falling in love with you."

The smile curling at the edges of your lips and the way your eyes were twinkling made Steve wonder if he was even awake or if he'd dreamt you up.

"You're very chatty tonight, Steve. Can tell you've got lots on your mind."

He shifted his weight from his one foot to the other, his previous admission still hanging in the air. "Is that a bad thing?"

You shook your head.

"Not normally, but right now I wish you'd just shut up and kiss me."

Steve didn't need telling twice. He cupped your face between his palms, pulling you all the way against him so the roses crushed between your bodies - but he couldn't find the tiniest bit within him to care.

Your lips were warm. So warm. He concluded that the nights he'd lain awake imagining what they'd feel like came nothing close to the hint of spearmint and buttery popcorn against your tongue.

You whined softly against him, hand running up to curl into the hair at the base of his neck and Steve knew immediately that he wouldn't need another kiss from another faceless town girl for the rest of his life.

Still lapping softly at his bottom lip, you began to mumble against his mouth - eyes still screwed shut, Steve was pleased to note - "I'm sorry for losing my shit at you last night ... I was also jealous of all your little girlfriends from the video store. And I promise to make up for the money from the videos ... I'll pay for the first date."

His grip around your waist tightened.

"First off, any girl that's not you doesn't matter. Secondly, shut up about the money - if that's what it cost to get a date with you, then it was worth every cent."

You pulled off of his lips, blinking earnestly up at him. "And when you get bored of me, Harrington?"

He scoffed, a preposterous implication.

"That's not going to happen." His fingers curled between yours, tone twisting sarcastically: "I don't know if you heard me earlier - you might not have because you kind of haven't addressed it and it’s stressing me out - but I did say that I think I'm falling in love with you—"

"I think I'm falling in love with you too, Steven."

A grin overtook him, closing in to kiss you again. "You sure? Not just saying that so I'll shut up and kiss you again?"

Giggling, you nodded. "Pretty sure. Only love can make you look this attractive in a Family Video vest."

#steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington fanfiction #Steve harrington fic rec #Stranger things #Dustin Henderson #fic rec #fic recommendation

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sunnysidestories · 10 months

Text

Introductions Pt 2

Pt 1

Summary: Reader is a vigilante on young justice who goes to the same school as Walls. Only Wally doesn't know the readers identity, but she knows his. SLOW BURN

Wally West x Fem!Reader

"Hi, I'm Wally West. It's nice to meet you."

As his voice rang in my ears, and he seemed to look back at his book, my heart would begin to race. I sat there for a moment too long, so I quickly would pick up my own voice, even if it cracked. "I'm y/n l/n. It's nice to meet you too." He doesn't know. He can't know.

Wally would once again look back up from the textbook, his eyes seeming to scan along my face. "You're not new. I know you." shit. "Well, I just changed classes, not schools. I've been at Keystone my whole life. I'm just not the most popular person."

"Oh cool, I hope you like the advanced course. If you ever need any help I'll gladly give you my number. Science is one of the only things I seem to be good at." he genuinely doesn't know? I'm glad, at least this is my chance. Let's find out who Kid Flash is under all the spandex.

He's a nerd. He's a total nerd.

Often, before class, I would find myself in a conversation about the latest scientific fact, most of them being obscure. He seemed to always speak with his hands, a grin never leaving his face. I found out his uncle is a forensic chemist, which helps explain his passion for all things scientific. Even if he didn't outwardly say it, I could tell he meant a lot to him. But when the class would eventually begin, Wally would totally shut off the conversation, rarely continuing it over a note. He took the class very seriously.

He's not exactly how I would have expected him to be. Compared to how he is as Kid Flash, he's much more sporadic. He seems to always lead a conversation, which I don't always mind, but when he asked me about what I liked one time, he didn't interrupt. He let me rant for a while before I realized what I was doing, though he only encouraged me to go on with a smile.

...

"So that's why I've got to go to Central City for the week." Wally lied about some other excuse for a mission. It felt wrong knowing he's really going to fight crime. I have no room to talk, really. I'll be busy at Keystone myself. I wonder how much of it is actually a lie and how much is really fact.

"It's fine, I understand it's not your fault, but i'll miss you." Wally seemed to avoid eye contact almost if my comment had made him uncomfortable. I was telling the truth though, I would miss him. Even more than I would like to admit. I didn't pressure him about it further as the class went on.

But when it was time for us to take notes from the textbook, and the whole class was sent on their own, Wally would slide me a folded piece of notebook paper. He didn't even look at me, so if any outside eyes had seen the exchange, it would look as if he was returning something of mine. I would quietly open the slip to be greeted by Wally's hastily written writing.

Hey, text me the work I'll miss next week

My eyes scanned the page only to land on his number at the bottom. He could just get it from the teacher, but the fact he trusted me enough with his perfect grade was flattering. Wally's handwriting is another one of those things I didn't think would differ from note to note. Ones he had the time to write at home are always much neater, though his handwriting is much bigger than normal standards would accept, I don't mind. The notes he writes me at school are always messy, almost like he's trying to write faster than he can but doesn't want to use his speed, so in the end, it's just much slopper. If one didn't know Wally, they could rightfully assume the contrast between his writing could be the work of two different people.

Sure, but is it just for the notes right?

I would put in my own words under his before slipping it back to him. He would immediately slide it back into my hands. I didn't even think he wrote anything until I opened it again. This time, his handwriting was perfectly placed, almost as if it was typed.

Yes.

I tuck the paper in my jacket pocket, I'll put it in my drawer with the rest when I get home. I feel bad about throwing them away, so they sit in my bedside table, its not like anyone would ever go into my room and find them anyway. Sometimes, I like to read over them before I go on patrol. It reminds me of our conversation at the warehouse. One where I'm not as alone as I think I am.

Yet the nervous tapping of Wally's pencil brings me back to the class. He taps it ten times before flipping the pencil back over, continuing to write. No matter what, he seemed to always tap it ten times. In a way, it felt like he knew I zoned off. It was him bringing me back to everything. Even if it wasn't intentional. Wally fidgets a lot when he tries to focus or distract himself, the repetitive movements being a form of comfort.

...

It's Tuesday now, and I'm perched on top of a building in full gear. My phone sits in my hand with Wally's contact staring back at me. I need to text him the work from yesterday. I haven't even said hello yet. Hello is too formal, we are friends, a hey would fit better.

These past two days have been abnormally quiet. His empty seat in class is only a reminder of why he's really gone. I hope he's okay.

FLEETFEET

Hey, it's y/n. Here's the work from yesterday and today. Hope everything is okay in CC

2 attachments sent 11:20 pm

I would sit there for a bit, looking at the screen. Maybe he's already on some sort of mission. Why is texting so stressful? As soon as I started to shut off my phone, it would light back up with his reply.

FLEETFEET

2 attachments seen 11:27 pm

Hey y/n! Central City has

been pretty cool, my Uncle Barry

showed me around his work at Star Labs today. That place is surprisingly

really huge. Thanks for sending

the work.

Seen 11:27 pm

Sooooo wyd?

Seen 11:28 pm

Its almost midnight, he should really go to sleep. I should really start patrol. This really isn't a good idea.

Nothing much hbu? just watching

traffic go by. I swear I've seen three

crashes in the span of two

hours ppl r wild.

Seen 11:31 pm

Dude you should see it here.

Traffic is actually so slow it

makes me want

to scream. We sat at a

red light for 4 whole mins.

Seen 11:31 pm

Oh. My. God. 4 whole mins?!1!

How can they do that to you!

Don't they know who you are!!!

Seen 11:33 pm

The hottest guy alive thats who.

Seen 11:34

I couldn't help but laugh at his statement. Typing back a quick 'pls lol' before turning off my phone. It was getting too late I needed to start. I wish he was here, sometimes I could get a glance of the yellow and red highlight speeding by back home, on this road, about this time. He never worked late at night. That was more left up for the other heros, ones like me. I look to the streets, the dim lights from the lamps only shone back with a faint glow. No streak of color to be seen, but a part of me hoped it would still apear.

My night was full of stopping petty crimes, luckily I didn't have to go against any metahumans, but still like any other night everything would start to hurt after a certain threshold. Inbeetween threats I would find myself checking to see if Wally had kept our conversation going.

He did.

Until 4 am.

He was asking me mostly about myself, which was weird in a way. But in another, it made sense. The questions were more deep then anything since he already had asked the basic getting to know each other questions months ago. In the end, though, he stopped the conversation telling me to head to sleep, as I had school in the morning. Which was true. Even after patrol, I was still texting him from the comfort of my home, but I would eventually listen, heading to get some rest.

The week would continue the same as the night before. I was sending Wally the work and him dragging on our conversation throughout the night, but never long enough for the sun to rise the next day. On Saturday was when one of his messages caught me by surprise.

FLEETFEET

Are you free to call?

Seen 1:12 am

Before I could even protest how that could be a bad idea or how that might reveal who I was, his contact was flashing onto my screen along with his picture. I place the phone to my ear and answer it. I hoped the interstate couldn't be audible up from here.

"I told you shes not going to- hey! Hey..."

Wally's voice picks up on the other line, he seems to be in some sort of living room, as the hum of a television can be heard in the background as well as someone else having a conversation.

"Hey Walls? What's up?" My voice sounded strained from not speaking for hours, I hoped Wally couldn't tell. "Oh, um, I was just wondering about some of the work you sent me. Like you took the photos of the work perfectly okay, but in the background, I saw something." At the word something, his voice would slightly jump.

Did I leave my equipment in a photo? was my reflection shown? Was it something he wasn't supposed to see?

"Yeah It's-It's going to sound really stupid. What... what were those papers spread out on your bed?" Oh. Ohhhhh no. The notes, I left out his notes on my bed. I must have got some of them into the frame. I quickly opened out a chat to the last photo. There they were. Luckily, they were not in focus, so he couldn't really tell what they said, but still. There they were.

His voice would start up again after my second of silence. "Are they really swamping you with that much work?" "Yeah, yeah. My other class, a big final its uh its is coming up, so I was studying the notes." I let out a sigh of relief. "But that's not your handwriting? It actually kind of looks like-"

"Wally, I have to go. I'll see you Monday at school."

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

That was terrible. He would never let me live that down if I told him I was keeping such things. That even more was embarrassing, I have to explain why I had to go. And I have until Monday for these excuses. Which is technically tomorrow. Fun.

...

I was saved. I got called into a mission before school at Mt. Justice. Even though Wally would be there, y/n technically wouldn't. When I arrived, he was already in costume talking to Megan about something. He still did the thing with his hands while he spoke. Making his statements larger than life and thoroughly exaggerated. "I just don't know what to do. I trust her more than anything, I wish she would just tell me. It's not like im going to judge her. She knows that. I mean, you heard the conversation. "

His back was turned to me, so I couldn't see his face while he went on. Although I knew what he was talking about. "Hey Megan. Hey Wally." I waved at the two while I walked past them to the kitchen. "H/n! You're a girl. I need advice. What do I do when my friend is keeping stuff from me." I would stop and slowly turn around to his pleading gaze. "Walls, aren't you keeping stuff from her? You have to trust her in that sort of regard. Give her time to open up."

"Thats...Fair." Wally would drop himself back to normal as my words got through to him. "Besides, it took me a while to realize I trusted you." Both in and out of costume. I do. I trust him more than anything. More than anyone.

So I should have told him. He said he wasn't going to judge me, and I know he wouldn't have. I let my emotions get the better of me at the moment, If he asks again, I'll tell him the truth. No matter what.

...

The mission went by with a breeze, the biggest threat being now as Robin sent Wally falling towards me at full speed. I ended up catching the both of us before he could send us tumbling over a building. I held us there for a while, my arms wrapped around him in a hug. He just looked at me. His heightened breathing trailed my neck as he grasped onto my arms. He didn't admit it, but he was scared, I was too. Fifteen stories were a lot to fall from.

The other heroes, as well as criminals, paid us no attention, too occupied in their own fights, as I held Wally at the edge of the roof. One of my feet hanging halfway off. I was closer to falling than he was. My back was to the city.

"Hey, h/n." Was all he said as his face began to knowticablely regain too much color. "Hey West." Wally would move his head to rest in the crook of my neck as he tried to calm his rapid breathing. He told me late at night over text one time he was scared of heights.

As I started to try to move us back away from the edge, Wally would only plant himself in my hold even more. I needed to help him snap back into the situation. Before he messed up and tipped us over.

"Wally. You've never asked me who I am before." Trust. He needs to trust me. "Be...Bec..Cause! You're not comfortable... ye-yet." Inbeetween words, he would let out large audible gasping. "You won't judge me, right?" He shook his head side to side, keeping his eyes remained shut. I would let out a sigh of my own.

"I trust you. Kid Flash, I need you to trust me. Not only as h/n but as y/n. y/n l/n. The one who's going to get you off this roof. Back to the ground floor."

#wally west x reader #wally west #young justice x reader #young justice imagines #young justice #kid flash #kid flash x reader

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kyouka-supremacy · 7 months

Text

I was asked why I like Beast and why I prefer it over the main universe, so obviously I ended up with a 2k+ words essay on why Beast is great. Now I feel like it diverges too much from what the original ask was actually asking for, so I'm leaving it to its own post. Enjoy.

Why do you like Beast? So, first of all you MUST know that this is a question that could keep me talking for days to no end. I'm not kidding. Here there will be some disorganized rambles but trust me, if I had time to actually do so I'd keep going on forever.

Alternative universes are cool I love Beast. I think it starts off at a point when the bsd author was more experienced from having already worked with the main series for many years, and ultimately ended up making an alternative version of the work that is more mature and refined, while still maintaining bsd's core themes (and conservative worldviews at that lmao). Starting off, the “what if” concept is endlessly fascinating, pretty much the entire fandom culture is based on it. It IS unfailingly cool to see what could have happened if Akutagawa sided with the ada and Atsushi with the pm, it is extremely interesting to see what changes out of their personalities and on the other hand what stays the same, what is intrinsically them. About sskk, I find it really compelling how Beast tackles intimate aspects of their lives, pasts and traumas. The café scene is genuinely brilliant in the way it shows, completely unexpectedly and to the reader's full disbelief, them getting along in normal circumstances. Who could have predicted that! Of all things, Akutagawa and Atsushi getting along. But it happened, and nothing before had ever shown to that extent how similar they are, how much on the same page they are, how much they're meant to be– like yeah obviously I mean romantically, but even if you're not particularly into that, it displayed just how deeply connected they are. I'm forever grateful for that scene.

Beast Akutagawa is great But I think… More in general, I just really like Beast Akutagawa and Beast Atsushi, even better than their canon counterparts 😅 Again I do think at the point when they wrote Beast the author had already gathered a lot of experience from serializing bsd for at least five years, and ended up making characters that are more solid and compelling (although please don't get me wrong, I LOVE canon sskk and I believe canon Akutagawa's character arc in particular is amazing. It's just that at least to me Beast sskk is everything I could ever ask for.). I love Beast Akutagawa! It was so so capturing to see him grow outside of the pm. And especially it was infinitely interesting to see Akutagawa grow outside of Dazai. And don't get me wrong, I love the influence Dazai has on canon Akutagawa, I wouldn't have it any other way: it made Akutagawa who he is, and I love reading about his character. But I also found it wonderful and pleasantly refreshing to see how he would be if he had never undergone Dazai's training; I like this Akutagawa who's possibly even more immature and impulsive, wild and untamed than his canon counterpart. Beast is also the universe where Akutagawa gets his chance at being a good person - which is something he desperately strived for but never got to have in the main universe -, and in the end I am a little attached to Akutagawa, so I'm happy for him! His relationship with Oda and the whole ada are wonderful, I like getting to experience a universe where Akutagawa is loved and supported, unapologetically, for who he is.

Beast Atsushi is great Beast Atsushi is AMAZING. Like. Character molded appositely to my liking ahah. He's so cool! He's so tormented! He's sweet and cruel and utterly unstable! I love him so much. He truly is Atsushi at his full potential. I love this Atsushi who's biggest fear isn't the world, but rather himself. He's beautiful and horrible and deathly and kind. He killed his abuser to stop him from haunting his nightmares, but ended up turning those nightmares into his life. He takes his coffee with three sugars. He loves his little sister and would risk the safety of his organization and the boss he's endlessly loyal to for her. The only person who ever understood him is his most loathed enemy. He's one with death and indistinguishable from darkness. His laughter stops rain. He lives in perpetual physical pain due to a choker constantly piercing around his neck and yet even that is nothing compared to the damage of his psyche. He's so, so fucked up. He deserves the world. I LOVE HIM.

Beast Dazai is great Also, I really like Beast Dazai!!! He's always Dazai, but I think his character works out a lot better in Beast for the role he covers. In canon Dazai is this omniscient, all knowing figure, but he's also a protagonist, and him being so perfectly flawless doesn't go well in the long run. You've seen it in the last season 5 episode, it just gets boring after a while– it would be nice to see him face actual challenges and high stakes for once, but he's so overpowered, that never happens. In Beast, it's pretty much the same deal (author really loves Dazai lmao), but the fact that he isn't the protagonist and instead the main villain? I feel like from a storytelling standpoint, it works so much better!! I mean, his being omniscient works a lot better– he's not the one who the reader expects facing challenges and high stakes, the protagonist is. In addition, in Beast Dazai has almost universal knowledge due to his link to the Book, so that makes his being omniscient and even god-like a lot more feasible and easy to contemplate! I think that plot-wise it just works a lot better, there's an actual reason he's so overpowered, and that reason is explained, it's in the text. Oh and I LOVE his utter devotion to Oda. I know it's the same in canon, but still… There in Beast you can see it concretely, you can see it everywhere. That very universe exists how it is because of Dazai's love for Oda, because there's nothing he wouldn't do for him, because in the whole universe, in the whole multiverse, Oda's happiness is the only thing that matters to him. I think such strong feelings of love being put so explicitly is something simply wonderful to read, and makes Dazai infinitely more sympathetic than what he may be in canon. “But I do have one regret, Odasaku— I won't be able to read the novel you'll complete one day.” LIKE YEAH, SURE, ALRIGHT, JUST SHOOT ME TO THE HEAD ALREADY. That line alone is worth the whole novel, honestly. Oh and the thing about Oda harshly repudiating Dazai, the man who literally did everything for him, who dedicated his whole life for him… Man!!! That REALLY made me sympathize with Dazai in a way canon will never be able to. All those factors only contribute making Dazai's suicide in the end all the more emotional– which I believe works really well in the story, he is an enemy and he is a god and he had to die, but still makes for an extremely emotionally charged scene and a wonderful story climax. Imo Beast Dazai had to die so that canon Dazai could live (and, hopefully, find a reason to live!), and it's as bitter as it is beautiful.

The Beast ada dynamics are great And I love the ada in Beast!!! They feel infinitely more of a family than they do in canon. Kenji, Kunikida, Tanizaki, they all seem to love Akutagawa in a way that's hard to be found towards Atsushi in canon? The way they didn't falter to rescue Akutagawa even as he went, against all their advices and pleas, to a suicidal rampage was wonderful and heartwarming. They make it sound unbelievable that when Atsushi was (mind you, unwillingly) kidnapped their first response would be that it was an hassle and that he should have dealt with it on his own (this time I truly believe it was the author learning from their own mistakes, because seriously, who does that. It makes everyone instantly feel a thousand times less sympathetic). As people have said, the ada alone makes Beast feel like the “right” universe on the basis that in it they actually care about their members. All things considered, the ada treats Akutagawa as this kind of rabid murderous gremlin they just adopted who's going to bite everyone but that they still love no matter what, and it's super cute. Beast ada really is the bsd found family if there ever was one.

A cool plot The Beast storyline is just very compelling in general? The introduction chapter is amazing, I mean, The Heartless Cur is amazing. Again, Beast Akutagawa is such a great character, and the description of his struggle to find his own humanity, although in my opinion does fall weak in some points and has flaws, still treats a concept that's very interesting to ponder over nonetheless. I like how there's a series of more light-hearted chapters in the first half, it helps solidify the characters, and those chapters are really nice to read; not to mention having lighter chapters alternated with the strikingly more gloomy and violent pm Atsushi scenes makes the latter feel all the more frightening and disturbing, it's a great narrative choice. And the big crescendo of Akutagawa storming in the pm headquarters! His fight of physics and morals against Atsushi! Them telling each other they're nothing like the other when the reader knows the exact opposite is true! It's all very good, and again, Dazai's suicide makes for a perfect climax to the story.

Sometimes being a seinen can be good I like how Beast is a seinen way more than the main story is? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with shounen manga - which bsd seems to lean towards more often than not, with only occasionally tackling more adult concepts -, but at this specific time in my life those darker themes are just something I find more entertaining to read about. I feel like the gritty and often gruesome depictions, although maybe a little overused in the manga, really help emphasize the dark atmosphere of the manga and overall effectively convey the whole “beast” imaginary as wild / violent / unpleasant / animalistic.

It's got sskk in it And in general it's just… Compared to canon, Beast is very very sskk centered. It's significantly shorter than the canon manga, and in a way that helped focus on sskk specifically, because it only had space to narrate one story, which is sskk's. And I don't know what to tell you, I'm here for the sskk. Of course I like Beast best.

Beast Atsushi is great (cont.) Back to Beast Atsushi because he's everything, really. I love how when I went into Beast I was like “I mean, whatever Dazai is making of Atsushi under the pm, if can't possibly be any worse than the constant abuse Akutagawa had to experience 😊” AND I WAS PROVED WRONG. I mean, I think the fact alone that the author could come up with something worse is remarkable. Dazai's emotional manipulation and psychological torment is, I believe, the darkest facet of Dazai we ever witnessed, and it's extremely well executed. Beast Atsushi is so so unstable, so on the brim of mental breakdown and psychosis at every second. Him being made unable to let go of the past makes him live in a perpetual nightmare. And I feel like the way his character story is unwrapped is truly masterful, storytelling wise!!!! On the reader's first encounter with him, it's evident how deeply scarred and disturbed he is, but the reader can't tell why. That adds to the mystery and feeling of unsettling surrounding the character: his story is wrapped up by darkness and it's impossible to predict, just like he is– and it's deliciously unsettling, scary, to be unable to tell anything about what made him like he is except from guessing that it must have been something really bad. And yet even then /nothing/ could have prepared the reader to what his backstory really is? And when the traumatic event is finally unveiled, it's worse then any guess the reader could have made. Atsushi's back to the orphanage flashback passage is terrifying! He didn't undergo any harm, like it would have been easy to guess; on the contrary, his torment stems from having killed his abuser. But he did so at a point when he didn't represent a threat for him anymore, when he was proud of him, when he got close to resemble a father to his eyes; and all of this he realized too late; and now he lives in constant regret, constant terror of himself. It's great, really! And even then, Atsushi carries on with being. super cool lmao. Like yeah he's unstable and everything, he's wild and violent, but he's also still very kind. He's timid and blushes easily. He also feels a lot more mature than he does in canon, and it's nice to see. He's more confident and serious, and that's nice too. He REALLY is my favorite character.

Some pretty cool scenes are in it Moving on, Beast has some truly amazing scenes. The Heartless Cur is amazing and builds up such an awesome character, Atsushi's introduction is petrifying, the Kenji / Akutagawa conversation is as deeply moving as it is cathartic. I won't be talking about the sskk café scene. Akutagawa's whole assault to the pm headquarters is rich of emotional scenes. I already talked about Atsushi's flashback and Dazai's suicide being wonderful passages both from technical and emotional standpoints. And the manga ending is just so good!!!!!!! Like it truly is the perfect ending– the way it ties up with the main story! How it feels like ada Akutagawa's story has just begun, a conclusion but also hope for what's to come. The “out behind our company's building there are some people of low character hanging about”– I can't stress enough how emotional this line, a final and definite tie to the main story, makes me, how meaningful it is in its quality of being both an ending, and a beginning. The last page showing Akutagawa at the center of the ada, it just moves me so deeply to see him being the protagonist, surrounded by a crowd of people who love and support him, getting his own chance at a life in the light 😭😭😭 “I'm going to live as an agency member. I'll solve cases, rescue the weak, and prove that I'm not evil.” Crying my eyes out 😭😭😭😭😭😭 And don't get me started on when Akutagawa and Atsushi's voices mix up to speak as one; I could never hope to be able to express what that makes me feel.

Siblings dynamics are my jam I also love Beast because one of the main aspects that drives the plot is Ryuunosuke and Gin's relationship, and I /love/ siblings relationships, and I //love// Ryuunosuke and Gin's relationship. I don't think Gin's character was written well at all (because the author literally can't write female characters for the life of theirs), but eh, at least it reinforced the concept that Ryuunosuke loves Gin terribly and would be able to do anything for her. Atsushi and Kyouka's relationship, too, is to die for.

The designs and manga art style slay Besides, the character designs are beautiful???? Akutagawa's Beast outfit is my second favorite out of the whole franchise, it's just such a look™. I love in general how rabid and messy Akutagawa looks in Beast, he feels so much more free? And like, good for him. In my head Beast Atsushi is the most handsome man in the entire franchise and I don't think I can take criticism on this. I find cutting off his longer bang such a witty way to represent not only how this Atsushi is different from the one we know (after all, that's the most remarkable and eye-catching feature of his appearance!), but also to symbolize how the cut with his past at the orphanage was harsh and violent. Characters designs aside, Hoshikawa's art style is GORGEUS. It's hard and rough and messy, it's dark and unpolished and violent and beautiful and exactly everything Beast is. It's PERFECT for the story, it's like it was made to portray it.

Sskk is always great And that's just talking about the canon content but like. Beast means a Beast sskk. Which is basically new and improved sskk. And I like sskk. And I like every version of sskk but especially this version where they're even more violent and fucked up and madly in love with each other and evidently meant to be. So yeah.

And this is like, just the very tip of the iceberg of what I love about Beast. Humbling offering you this Beast love letter in hope we can all give this novel the appreciation it deserves (๑˃‌ᴗ˂‌)۶

#ryūnosuke akutagawa #atsushi nakajima #sskk #shin soukoku #osamu dazai #bsd ada #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd beast #bsd analysis #my analysis #mine

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herozdiary · 3 months

Text

Heaven

Simon x reader

This diary entry contains…This isn’t a full writing but instead a small Drabble or whatever on Simon’s love for you! | fluff | established relationship | mentions of depression | Simon is WHIPPED (he’s always gonna be whipped for you though 😜)

You were his safe place,heaven even in his eyes,You were an angel sent to protect him and show you how nice and beautiful the world can actually be.

You were complete opposites as you were more open and loud while Simon was more shut in and quiet.people saw you around campus and would wonder how Simon was able to pull you.

Simon didn’t know himself.Maybe you were just attracted to quiet loser kids who didn’t really do much in life.

He was in love with you.he loved the way your hair looked,The way you spoke,the way you dressed.Everything about you was perfect in his eyes.

He knew everything about you mostly.He knew your favorite food,Your favorite cuddling position,Everything.

He knew your favorite crayon and he knew the way you liked your bed to be made.he knew things that not even your closet friend knew.

It was like Simon knew you like the back of his hand.He was madly in love you with.Couldnt take his eyes off of you when your in his presence.

He once did a whole presentation on you for one of his classes and got the best grade in the class.He started to call you his good luck charm for this reason alone.

You were so admirable also.The way you did things were so pleasing to watch.He praised you like you just did the most amazing thing ever when you only got a 100% on your test.

He made you feel special,Lifted you up when you felt down.He knew a good thing or two to help get you back in the mood.

He knew that maybe cuddling in bed with you,Watching a scary movie if your up to watch it or he might let you do a face mask on him.He knew you had a thing for finding cool rocks and putting them in your “cool rock” jar so every time he went somewhere and saw a cool looking rock,he would pick it up,take it with him and bring it to you!He likes to think of it as his gift to you for being an amazing partner.

He loves teaching you how to make Swedish dishes,Guiding you through every step like his mom did.In the end you both try it and you notice how small tears fill Simon’s tired eyes as he makes a comment on how it tastes just like how his mom made it.

You listened to him,Cared for him and made sure he was okay.you would sit and listen to him ramble about his day,clinging onto every word he spoke.

You never forced Simon to tell you everything.If he wanted to tell you about something he would.You never pushed him into explaining everything to you as everything wasn’t meant for you to know.

You felt safe with Simon and he felt safe with you.you guys trusted each other,Looked out for each other and loved each other the best way you guys could.

Simon would tell Dr.Purnell about you,Explaining how being around you makes him feel better about himself and how your actively trying to help Simon get better.You made sure Simon was showered,had brushed his teeth and you even offered to wash his clothes.

He knew that you were an angel sent from heaven in that moment when you went over the instructions on how to get certain stains out of his favorite hoodie.

You are an angel sent from heaven in his eyes.

#cry of fear #cry of fear x reader #cry of fear x you #simon henriksson #simon henriksson x reader #character x you #video game x reader #x reader #x y/n #fluff

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mitsies · 1 year

Text

ALL FOR AN OREO SHAKE ! ; gojo satoru > both you and gojo forget your wallets on a day out. chaos ensues.

you've been in your fair share of awful situations.

once, you'd accidentally bottomed a bag of salty chip residue on your skinned knee as a child. even the memory makes your scars sting. another time, you had opened the door to the wrong car and got in, and neither you nor the driver had realised that you were in the wrong vehicle until you were 10 minutes out. that one had made for an awkward conversation.

but you think that this takes the cake. literally, too.

"you're kidding," you groan, dropping your head against the dainty white tablecloth, "you seriously forgot yours too?"

your best friend and classmate, gojo satoru, slumped in his seat across from you looking equally as distraught. "yeah. oh my god, this blows."

the both of you had been pining to try out a new dessert shop that had recently opened up a little ways away from your school. it was a fancy establishment, and quite busy too, meaning that you it was typically full unless you had a reservation. and today, months after the both of you had resolved to try the place out, was the first day they've had an opening since the shop had been established.

and it's just your luck that both of you had forgotten your wallets.

"how does this even happen?" gojo's hand drags down his face dramatically as he whines. you sigh.

"bad luck? good luck? divine intervention? we might've gotten, like, diabetes from that milkshake you wanted."

"it would've been the best diabetes of our lives," your companion laments. you glance up at him with narrowed eyes to make sure he's not actually crying because that was a real possibility with him.

he looks fully distraught, too, and truly on the verge of tears- until he feels something in his pocket. his face practically lights up as he pulls a crumpled piece of currency out of his pants pocket. it's just enough to cover the price of a singular drink.

he says something excited and jubilant but you're a little too caught up by his radiance to really process what he's saying. gojo satoru has been your best friend for far too long now, and you've loved him to pieces for almost every moment of that time. through everything bad, through the best, through times where you really shouldn't have, all of it. and all in a way that you shouldn't- a way that meant more than being just friends. but you'd never said a thing, and neither had he, and it had stayed that way forever.

"okay, cool," you resolve, "so you get your drink and i'll sit here."

"or we get a drink."

"not possible. we, as a collective, are too broke for 2 drinks."

"so why don't we just get one?"

gojo's always had this one expression that meant he had an idea. his grin twitched upwards more on the right side, to the point where his dimples peeked through the skin of his cheek, and his eyes, always bluer than blue, closed a little bit. in his youth, his cheeks had been chubby and rosy and plump and your mother liked to pinch them when she saw him. now, they were reduced to porcelain stretched over a sharp jawline and high cheekbones.

he was a good-looking guy, though you'd never say it out loud because god knows his ego didn't need that. which is probably why the waitress who came over when he waved tripped over her words so heavily when gojo had asked for, "a large oreo shake, please. 2 straws."

she twirled her hair after scribbling something down on her notepad and giggled: "oh, the shakes here are the best! you should so let me show you some more another time."

you frown. gojo grins. "i dunno. maybe."

"i'm usually on shift these times on thursdays and fridays, y'know."

"that's crazy," he informs the girl, who seemed to be about your age, 18-ish, "super wild."

you make a face at him. he notices and sticks his tongue out at you and gets that look, that stupid, stupid, look before he reaches out across the table and grabs your hand. "maybe me 'nd my partner should come back sometime."

you are absolutely, positively sure that you're grimacing right now. there's a hurricane of emotions swirling in the pit of your stomach as the waitress mutters something and darts away, evidently embarrassed.

"that was a fucking awful idea," you eventually manage to get out.

"sure it was, babe."

"..did you just— what did you just call me?"

he kicks your shins under the table. in a low voice, he whispers: "c'mon, play along! i don't want her to hit on me again."

you roll your eyes, feeling a surge of what should feel like relief but instead reads like disappointment instead: "i thought you liked the attention."

"yeah, but i like yours better."

the way he said that so effortlessly puts you at a loss for words again and you retract your hand and shield your face. "i hate you."

"no, no you don't. you love me."

"says who?"

"me."

you frown. "your word means nothing, dumbass."

"then why do you always listen to me?"

you don't really know how to reply. you don't think you can. he continues: "and you laugh at my jokes. and you hang out with me. and you help me with my homework when i don't want to. even when i'm shitty."

"oh," you say.

"you love me," he restates.

"i guess i do."

"good," he smiles as you sink into your seat with embarrassment, "because you're gonna have to take me to the hospital when i overdose on the sugar that's gonna be in this drink."

gojo doesn't say it, but it hangs in the air. the unspoken reciprocation, the hidden feelings beneath the flesh. it shines through in how he lets you have the first sip of the drink, and how he laughs when your face crinkles at the sheer sweetness. it shows in how he moves to wipe off the non-existent smudges on your lower lip, and how he calls you pretty when you smile at him, and how he sneaks candid photos when you're not looking.

gojo satoru likes you too. he's not about to speak it out loud, but he lets it be known in other ways. one day, when he's older, he'll tell you. but right now he's 17 with a big head and bigger plans- every single one of them involves you.

he thinks that around the same time next season, before the last year of high school ends, he'll say it. it'll work out then, he's sure— but right now, he's content with sharing a coma-inducing drink and pretending like he only wants you as a best friend, just for the time being.

✄ written for the mitsies 3k follower event using the prompts “sure it is, babe.” “..did you just— what did you just call me?” + everyone thinks you guys are dating— one day you both decide to play along

[⇥ 3K EVENT MASTERLIST] [⇥ 3K EVENT INFO]

#gojo satoru x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #gojou x reader #jujutsu kaisen gojou #satoru gojou #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #gojou satoru x reader #satoru x reader #satorugojo #jjk fluff #jjk #jujutsu kaisen gojo #gojo #jujutsu kaisen #mitsies 3k #reader insert

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pancreasman · 8 months

Text

I made more fankids…

And a rival and best friend for Artie…

More info under the cut

Y’all already know my Shadamy kids but Sunny is now a former G.U.N. agent. She quit. The reason why is a mystery.

We got some Knuxouge kids! Mirage, Warden, and Prickle. Mirage was meant to become the next guardian of the master emerald, but ended up passing it down to her little brother Warden who wanted it way more than her and became an actual G.U.N. agent like her mother. She takes after her mother in that way. She’s ultra tall and Warden is mad cause she was already taller than him at one year younger. Also she’s trans. Good for her. Warden is the “serious” one who is really dedicated to being the next guardian. He’s got the braincell of the three and is a short king. Prickle hates everyone and likes to be alone in nature. Despite Warden being the next guardian, Prickle is the most in tune with the emerald and angel island in general and often communicates with Tikal’s spirit. But nobody else can see, so for example, Rouge sees him talk to himself and is like “who tf is he talking to”

Tailsream kids! Lars, Specs, and Posy. L.A.R.S. stands for Laboratory Assistive Remedial Software. He is an ai that Tails made shortly before Specs was born to help him in the lab that turned out to be sentient. After specs was born, Lars dedicated himself to protecting her and being the perfect big brother. So Tails was like “Welp, I guess I have two children now.” and adopted him. They say he’s “15” just because that’s how he looks and acts. Specs is best girl. She’s very safety-minded and polite and she carries around a seemingly bottomless backpack full of anything you could ever possibly need. She’s called Specs after her glasses but also for how she would help Tails in his workshop and list of software “specs” for him. Posy is a little monster who revels in creating chaos, but she’s cute so she gets away with it. Also, she likes to drag Prickle around to act as her Guinea pig and he lets her because he’s too nice to say no.

The Silvaze Twins! They both live with their mother in the palace since they never know when the future will go to shit again, and Silver is usually there with them acting as Royal consort. Ember was born a few minutes before her brother, making her heir to the throne, which both are 100% fine with. Ember strives to be the best heir possible and takes her job very seriously. She loves to study and also practices fencing as neither she nor her brother inherited their parents psychic or pyrokinetic abilities. Her brother, Cinder, on the other hand, hates being in the palace and prefers to goof off most of the time. He’ll often try to cause trouble around the castle, which Ember will usually try to stop, except when he occasionally convinces her to join in. While Ember enjoys more classical studies, Cinder is fascinated by dimensional science and time travel and longs to explore all the countless dimensions out there.

Finally, some neighborhood kids. While Sunny’s main group is Mirage and Ember, Artie has these two weirdos. There’s his best friend Peppy, a reckless, energetic mouse who loves going on misadventures around town but is often betrayed by her own clumsiness. She and Artie are constantly arguing over who is the other’s sidekick and often have to save each other’s butts, but one thing’s for sure is these two idiots are inseparable. Spot, on the other hand, is the local delinquent and Artie’s official rival. Why? Idk, it doesn’t really matter. After all “all heroes have a rival” although this rivalry is often forgotten in favor of teaming up to get the job done or just to hang out. However, they still definitely hate each other and don’t like each other at all. They totally don’t enjoy the bantering or have a crush on the other at all. Pure rivals

Also, Sonic doesn’t have kids, he’s just the cool pseudo-uncle who visits a lot and babysits. And they all definitely have big family get-togethers and family dinners all the time. Because found family is the most important family of all. Anyway, thanks for reading imma go nap.

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pinkroseblooms · 3 months

Text

Options, Pt.2

Arajin/f!Reader/Marito

Summary: Marito and Arajin invite you to visit Siguma headquarters for a (not) date. wc: 1.9k A/N: warning for marito being a little shit and arajin being a simp. Enjoy!

“Welcome!” Marito extends his arms wide as if awaiting an embrace. “To Siguma headquarters!”

“How…colorful.” You glance at Arajin with wide eyes; he’s standing a little behind Marito, half heartedly imitating his pose. “Thank you for having me.”

You can’t tell what the building was originally meant to be at first. It’s not until you get a good look at the dilapidated stage on the opposite side of the room and the rusted, old basketball hoops on either end of the walls that you realize it’s a gymnasium.

“Huh.” You glance at the jungle gym lodged into the hardwood floor. “Is that from a park?”

“A daycare center!” Marito says proudly, taking you by the wrist to pull you around, pointing at the panda bear spring rider. “I thought the boys would get more use out of them than those snot nosed brats.”

“Um, would you like something to drink?” Arajin interjects meekly, holding out two bottles, one of water, another of tea. “I wasn��t sure what you wanted, so I grabbed a few different things. We have a place with snacks too if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks.” You chirp gratefully taking the chilled bottle of jasmine tea. “This is so cool Arajin, like a secret clubhouse. I always wanted to have a clubhouse as a kid; remember the time we tried to make a fortress with those old cardboard boxes?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Hey, what’re ya talking about?” Marito leans down to get in Arajin’s face. “I’ve never heard about this. Were you trying to become a gang leader or something?”

“No! It was just an average clubhouse.” Arajin explains. “It was until the rain came anyhow. It didn’t dawn on us that leaving out cardboard in a storm would basically destroy our secret fortress.”

“I don’t know if it was secret, seeing as how we made it in the backyard.” You add good naturedly. “But it was fun to make, wasn’t it?”

“Totally.”

Arajin smiles as you fill Marito in the details of some of your adventures; he doesn’t even mind too much when you mention Matakara, bringing up the idea of the three of you getting together sometime to hang out. There might be a way to get out of it, but the truth is, if you really wanted it, Arajin would make up an itinerary; with you there as a buffer, it could be bearable.

“There’s no reason to be awkward Arajin: Matakara’s still the best guy I know, I think it would be nice for us to catch up at the restaurant or something.” You propose gently. “Think it over, okay? For me?”

“ANYTHING!”

You blink. “Huh?”

“I mean, yeah, I’ll cook you anything you want; I’ll make you something really good, all your favorites!” Arajin says excitedly. “I’ll even make you roast duck.”

Marito watches silently as Arajin fusses and fawns; it’s actually pretty damn cute when he gets all riled up and eager to please. He invited you to join them fully expecting this reaction; after all, whatever he says, it’s painfully obvious Arajin’s been carrying around a torch for you for who knows how long. Again, Marito expected that: in fact he was counting in it. He wants you and Arajin to get closer again before they make any moves. Besides, the two of you look like adorable puppies in a pen, so innocently affectionate and tiptoeing around each other tentatively, always mindful of the line between friends and more.

“Ara-teen, we need to talk.” Marito interrupts the conversation with a sunny grin, now pulling Arajin away to the entrance door. “Be right back kitten! You just make yourself comfy, don’t miss us too much!”

Once they’re outside, Marito’s easy going smile switches to a cold glare; he looms over Arajin but doesn’t say anything.

“Are you mad?” Arajin glances at the slightly open doorway, even though it’s unlikely you’d overhear them. “I didn’t mean to leave you out of the conversation. We sort of got caught up reminiscing I guess.” There’s another beat of tense silence before Arajin slowly reaches for Marito’s hand at his side. “I’m sorry.”

“Why is she so dead set on getting together with you and Matakara?” Marito’s scowl dissolves into a pout but he squeezes Arajin’s hand, albeit a bit too hard, making the other boy wince. “It sounds like she thinks pretty highly of that Minato Kai scum.”

“Oh yeah that.” Arajin sighs heavily. “I don’t know. She’s been in touch with him this whole time I was away.” A look of panic crosses his face. “Wait, you don’t think they’re…dating?!”

“You’re the one who should know. Your ol’ buddy could have been working on her the past five years.” Marito muses crossly. “I sure as hell don’t want to lose out to anyone from Minato. Arajin, what’s the vibe you get from her?”

“Vibe?”

“Has she talked to you about me?”

“Not really.” Arajin tries to wrack his brain for all the instances since the first meeting between you and Marito where you might have mentioned his boyfriend. “She asks how you are, but that’s it.”

“How so?”

“I spilled the beans; she knows you’re the head of Siguma. She was worried about me getting involved with turf wars, but I told her I don’t fight anymore-”

“A shame, really.” Marito purrs, the tips of his fingers caress Arajin’s knuckles. “You throw a hell of a punch.”

“Marito, come on, not here.” Arajin glances again at the doorway, but you’re not peeking out to see what the hold up is. “Actually, she seemed scared when I told her about you.”

“I see.”

“Not like she's afraid of you!” Arajin adds hastily. “I meant she got kinda panicky when I told her about you getting into fights and stuff; I told her you’re crazy strong, but she always asks if you’re doing okay. I think she’s worried about you getting hurt.”

“She is? Worried about little ol’ me?” Marito’s razor sharp grin betrays the mock sympathetic tone of his voice. “Ara-teen, hit me.”

“Sure-what?!”

“Come on, just one good punch!” Marito undoes the rest of the buttons on his shirt until the fabric is pooled around his waist. “Give it to me.”

When Marito and Arajin finally return, they find you lying in a hammock, swinging slightly and humming to yourself. In Marito’s hammock.

“That’s my spot.”

You open your eyes; Marito’s face hovers above yours. He’s looking down at you, blocking the dim lights overhead and you can’t quite make out his expression. Carefully, you sit up, a hand to your mouth.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think…I didn’t realize.”

“Aw, no worries. It’s just…” Marito sighs, running a hand through his hair. “My stomach’s bothering me.”

“Please, lie down!” You practically leap down and rearrange the blankets over the wide net. “Arajin has stomach problems too, I bought something for indigestion-”

“Hey, don’t go around talking about that so loudly!” Arajin looks scandalized as you forage through your purse. “It doesn’t happen that often, you don’t need to carry around medicine.”

“Good idea.” Marito gives Arajin a sneaky grin over your shoulder. “Ain’t she a peach, Ara-teen? But actually, it’s not a stomach ache; ya see…”

Marito, looking almost shy, undoes his shirt to show you the newly forming bruise on his abs.

“Oh my gosh!” You stop going through your purse to examine the fairly minor injury; still you look as upset as if Marito has an open gash across his midsection. “What happened?”

“I got into a bit of an altercation this morning and it’s still a bit tender is all.” Marito lays back on the hammock with a thoughtful expression. “I have some ointment in the cabinet over there, but I don’t think I need it.”

“Jin-san, of course you should use it!”

Arajin watches, incredulous and a bit impressed as you march over to the cabinet, rummaging around until you find a first aid kit and the small container of ointment. Marito grins over at him smugly. “Watch and learn.” he mouths silently before you turn around with the supplies and a determined expression on your face.

“I can do it for you if it’s too painful to move; I used to help patch up Arajin and Matakara all the time when we were kids.”

“It wasn’t that often. You say it like I was getting beat up left and right.”

“Oh hush.”

Arajin mumbles a bit defensively but he looks transfixed as you dip your fingers into the small container and begin swiping the ointment over Marito’s bruise.

“Ah!”

“Sorry, did I press too hard?”

“You’re fine,” Marito hisses sharply as you slowly trace your fingers over his stomach. “The ointment was cold; I’m a bit sensitive there.”

“I’ll be gentle.” You still look a bit upset. “I’m sorry.”

“It was just a tickle.”

“No, cause you could be resting now.” You look up at Marito and Arajin with big, sad eyes. “Is it a bad time for me to be here? I can leave.”

Arajin grabs at his chest; he feels both horribly guilty and ready to keel over and die at how adorable you look. It doesn’t help that Marito is making faint, almost keening noises as you finish applying the ointment; he’s barely able to hold back a disappointed look when you retract your hand and put the cap back over the medicine. Arajin is half expecting his boyfriend to drag you into the hammock; he’s lost count of how many times Marito has done the same to him, effortlessly pulling him into his chest, locking his long legs around his own, effectively trapping Arajin on top of his body with a smile to charm the devil himself.

“Kitten, c’mere? Could you take a look at something?”

You stand next to Arajin, bending your head a bit to glance over Marito’s body. “What else hurts?”

“This.” Marito grabs your hand, placing the palm over his chest. “It’s aching. I think it’ll break.”

“Wha-what?”

“Don’t go yet.” Marito’s beseeching gaze flickers to Arajin’s stunned face. “We were really looking forward to you coming over. Ya can’t go now.”

“Um,” You look back at Arajin. “If it’s really no trouble…”

“Yes!” Arajin nods enthusiastically. “We even picked out special snacks and everything! Please don’t feel like you have to go!”

“Well, alright then. Thank you for having me. Jin-san?”

“Marito is fine. A friend of Ara-teen’s is a friend of mine after all.”

“Marito,” You smile softly. “Please take care of yourself properly when you get hurt: I know you’re a big tough guy and all, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you as much as Arajin.”

“Yeah…sure.” Marito nods, his tone considerably less playful. “Sorry to worry you.”

“Aw, what are friends for?” You grin and poke Arajin’s cheek. “That goes for you too.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Arajin’s eyes lock onto Marito’s; he recognizes the look in his eyes. He’s sure it’s not so different from the longing stare he has as you walk away to the old refrigerator Arajin had dumbly pointed out when you offered to grab them water.

“Has she always been so…?” Marito exhales slowly. “Come on man, she has to know what she’s doing.”

“Nope. Believe me,” Arajin smiles wearily. “She doesn’t have a clue.”

“Either way, if she is actually going with your buddy, you won’t have to think about competition because he’ll be dead meat.” Marito uses his free hand to reach up and pinch Arajin’s flushed cheek. “I’m all comfy and don’t wanna move; get me a kabob.”

“Okay, okay.”

“And feed me.”

“...okay.”

“Yahoo!” Marito wriggles back and forth excitedly in the hammock, apparently forgetting he’s supposed to be in pain. “I got Ara-teen and a little kitten all to myself today.”

“Just put your shirt back on.”

#bucchigiri?!#marito jin #marito jin x reader #arajin tomoshibi #arajin tomoshibi x reader #fem reader #x reader #reader insert #ao3 fanfic #marito x arajin x reader #marito x arajin

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jarviscockerssecrethusband · 23 days

Text

If most people were to be believed, nobody liked the poor fucks who peaked in high school. Unfortunately for Steve, he was one of that number.

Being rejected from college was embarrassing enough. Then there was losing his minimum wage job. Getting married too young. Rehab. Realising he was gay. Divorce. Rehab again. Only seeing the kids once a month. And of course finding out the morning before yet another job interview that there was more hair growing out his ass.

A too bitter coffee that tasted like laundry detergent didn’t help as he ran from the subway because his licence had been suspended. Neither did the bottom of the barrel cigarettes he’d had before walking into the building.

William Hargrove, head of a nation wide charity outreach programme for abused children. He needed some low level admin support and apparently Steve fit the bill perfectly. It was fine, Steve told himself. He’d just be another fat balding white guy who was only in it for the money. Steve knew his own generation well.

Billy was not like that. He was incredibly sweet and patient during the job interview, which apparently he always did himself, picked up on Steve’s dyslexia almost immediately and offered in office support and was unequivocally the most beautiful man Steve had ever seen.

Steve got hired. He started Monday. That would have been fantastic if not for the fact that Steve knew his only good suit had a tomato sauce stain on which refused to budge. Fuck his life.

Decades of porn had put Steve under the impression that crushes on a boss were fun, sexy affairs that led to coitus on the office table. Whoever came up with that fucking lie owed him a sincere handwritten apology. Crushes on a boss were not fun and were never reciprocated.

Billy was a very hands on boss. He’d go around to everyone’s desk, asking if they needed anything, organised staff basketball outings every week and was just genuinely the sweetest guy ever. Steve had read somewhere that Billy could have been a millionaire but refused to compromise on staff wages or any of his programmes. He tried not to get warm fuzzy feelings about that.

Shame smoking was not helping matters, especially not when Steve found out that a certain other person frequented his spot. He gave up smoking at work after that. Steve couldn’t come across as a complete disaster.

Miraculously, Steve was actually very good at his job. It was straightforward and repetitive and the special font on the computer meant that he could read it better. His co workers were all nice, well adjusted 20 somethings and they were surprisingly happy to involve a 58 year old in their shenanigans.

On the Billy front, Steve had finally managed to get out a full sentence without sounding like a teenage girl at a WHAM concert (the equivalent was One Direction now??????? Steve couldn’t keep up with teenagers) and generally Billy seemed to think he was competent. Not a particularly special employee but enough to talk about the game with over crappy office coffee.

Billy was also gay. Which was very cool and should not have given him as much completely unfounded hope as it would. It wasn’t the 80s anymore and they were very much not the only gays in the village. Practically every man who walked into his office started immediately drooling. Not that Steve could judge.

An official invitation to “basketball Fridays” was new. Steve had mostly waved it off in the past, because it would just be him against much younger men and his ego couldn’t handle that. Still, he decided to take it up. Just because Billy’s hair smelled like lavender.

It was just Billy when he got there. Basketball shorts were criminally good on his figure. Again, Steve couldn’t help but hope he’d suddenly be transported into a porn.

“Don’t mind a one on one game, just us old men?”

How could Steve pass that offer up? It was really too good to refuse.

One game turned into two into five and suddenly Steve was back to playing a game once a week. Sometimes it had practically the entire building, sometimes it was just the two of them. They’d exchanged numbers, just to discuss Steve’s love of Sixteen Candles. It was nice, having a friend who wasn’t Robin or Carol for once. Another guy. Another queer guy.

The next week Anthony told him to resign. He was kind of like a mini Jason Carver from back in high school, bar the religious trauma. Resign he’d said. For Billy’s sake. That had to be some sort of hr violation. Steve didn’t tell on him though. Billy cared too much about his employees for that.

Slowly, more and more people started saying it. Resign. For Billy. It felt like bordering on bullying. Some type of ageism. Still, Steve resolutely ignored it until it came from Gemma.

Gemma was Steve’s favourite. They had outrageously green hair, thrived off shitty horror movies and was the first person to not laugh at Steve for not knowing what Instagram was. They were a saint. But then they told him to resign too.

“Please Steve.” Their voice was as soft and gentle as ever, like waves cascading over the rocks. “You’ve got to quit. For Billy. Trust me.”

Bottom lip trembling but refusing to cry in front of anyone, Steve marched to Billy’s office and rapped sharply on the door. He stuck to the script, announced he was quitting “for Billy” and turned to walk out the door until Billy gently caught his hand.

“Steve”

Steve was going to miss hearing that voice every day.

“Do you even know why you’re resigning?”

This was even worse than the recurring nightmare of taking an exam naked.

“No?” He tried, voice sounding about as confident as a five year olds.

Billy cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Look I don’t know exactly what the team has been doing but I think why you’re resigning is because I can’t exactly ask you on a date as an employee?”

Ah. That was unexpected.

Thankfully Billy didn’t mind the stubborn tomato sauce stain when they got to the restaurant. Or Steve’s garlic breath when they kissed. And Steve found himself for the first time in a while, thinking that maybe being him wasn’t all that bad after all.

#billy hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #harringrove ficlet #I love disaster Steve ok

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loveinhawkins · 1 year

Text

Part 1 ao3

A series of notes passed during private study periods in Hawkins High School Library, circa January—May, 1985.

A sheet of paper hastily ripped from its notebook, folded over with a crease down the middle.

—Harrington, did you just turn down that girl?

—What are you talking about?

—Hey, you can’t blame a guy for being nosy. You were the one deciding to TALK in a SACRED LIBRARY.

—If you heard us, why are you asking?

—Okay, sound doesn’t travel that far.

—Why don’t YOU tell me what happened considering you know everything?

—Wow. Touchy.

—Fuck off.

—Sorry. Thought we were just joking around. Didn’t mean to be a dick.

—It’s fine.

—You sure?

—I wasn’t ‘turning her down.’ She’s on the Yearbook Committee. Asking for photos.

—Too many pin-ups to choose from?

—Baby photos.

—What’s the problem? Did you come out the womb holding hairspray?

—No.

—Table it or ditch it?

—?

—It’s something my uncle says. If he asks me about stuff I don’t wanna talk about, I can either table it for later or ditch it completely. But if something keeps coming up and I keep saying to ditch it, then it automatically becomes a table it for later.

—That’s smart.

—Yup.

—Table it.

—Okay.

—? Why do you keep scoring out stuff?

—Sorry sorry. I can only think of baby photos now.

—Not against them in general. Feel free to talk about yourself, Munson.

—Uh-huh. I could hear the sarcasm in how you wrote that.

—Ha. No, really. I don’t mind.

—Well, lucky for you, talking about myself is my favorite subject.

—Lucky me.

—I thought I’d lost literally all of my baby photos. When I lived with my dad, the house got flooded and all of them were hit. Water damage. I had to get my books spread out on a radiator so the pages would dry, and that kinda worked for some of them. Photos were goners, though.

—That’s awful.

—Hold your horses, cowboy. But then when I moved to my uncle’s—we’re at the trailer park in Forest Hills—I saw he had all these photos stacked on a bookcase, and I thought they were all really old, like from when he was a kid and stuff, and some of them were, but he had whole entire ALBUMS of me. Way more than my dad ever had.

—That’s cool.

—You’re so verbose, Harrington.

—I meant it. It’s just. I was just thinking.

—About?

—That’s not why I—I HAVE baby photos, that’s not the problem.

—Don’t sweat it, dude, you don’t need to tell me.

—It’s just. Rebecca, that’s who was talking to me, she kept going on about how everyone else has already sent in a baby photo or, you know, a photo from when they were a kid, and she was excited about it, it’s a whole new thing they’re doing for this year. They’re gonna do a special layout, old photos next to current ones, you know what I mean?

—Afraid I’ve never been privy to the wondrous goings-on of the Yearbook Committee.

—She said it’ll look weird if I’m the only one not doing it. But it’s—I don’t know. I know I could just pick any damn photo and send it in, it’d get the whole Committee off my back. But I think I’d feel weird at the thought of the whole year getting to see—god, this doesn’t even make sense, like I don’t mind them seeing at a photo of me NOW, but I don’t. I don’t like looking at old photos, I never have. I don’t know why. Guess I just don’t like looking back.

—Fuck what everyone else is doing. They’re YOUR photos. Forget the precious ‘layout.’

—Yeah, that’s sorta what I told her, minus the ‘fuck.’

—If it’ll shut them all up, you could send in one of mine. See who actually notices.

—No way.

—Yeah, I was just being stupid.

—No. Those are YOUR photos. Save them for your own Yearbook. Sounds like your uncle could fill the whole thing with pictures.

—Wouldn’t put it past him.

—Shit, is that the time? The bell’s gonna ring in five minutes. I’ve done NOTHING.

—The horror!

—I’m blaming you.

—Honored to be considered a distraction, Harrington.

A scrap of paper, hastily dropped into the pencil case of an unknowing Eddie Munson as the bell rang.

—Thanks.

#notes from hawkins high school library #epistolary fic #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #steddie #eddie and wayne munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #pre steddie

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cameronspecial · 9 months

Text

Thorn In My Side, Rose In My Hand (Part 7)

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 4.6K

Summary: After a frustrating argument with his dad, Rafe goes to seek comfort in Y/N’s arms. This leads to him finally asking for the moment he has been waiting for.

Masterlist

Y/N wakes up the next morning in the Camerons’ guest bedroom. She has a slight headache from the alcohol she drank the night before. She thinks about what almost happened with Rafe and is glad he pulled away. Now, being sober, she remembers what she saw at Midsummer and finds herself upset again. They never had a chance to talk about it. Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door being opened. Sarah comes in with a glass of water and Tylenol. Sarah being 14 meant that Rafe forces her to stay at a friend’s house whenever he throws a party. “Rafe told me to bring this up to you,” Sarah tells her as she hands over the things. Y/N takes the medicine, “Thanks.” “No problem. The boys are making breakfast downstairs,” Sarah informs as she walks towards the door. “And Y/N, I’m sorry about Wilson.”

After a few minutes of lying in bed, Y/N finally makes her way downstairs and greets everyone at breakfast. Everyone eats with pleasant conversation. Sarah needed to get to the Trembley’s house to babysit the kids, so Mason offered to drive her, which left Y/N and Rafe alone to do the dishes. “So what does last night mean for us?” Rafe asks, handing over a wet plate for her to dry. Y/N takes the plate and starts to dry it, “Rafe, I appreciate you waiting to kiss me, but I saw you with Elizabeth at Midsummer and I know you know how I feel about her. I know that the unconscious part of you chose her because it would hurt me. So I can’t be with you right now. I need some time.” “Okay, I get that. I’m sorry that it hurt you, I wasn’t trying to. I want to be honest and tell you we did end up kissing last night too. But we only ever made out, it never went further than that,” Rafe confesses. This eases Y/N’s mind a little, but she still needs time to figure things out, “I understand, thanks for telling me. Since we are done, I think I’m just gonna go to the beach for a bit.” She places the dish towel back onto the oven railing and heads to the guest bedroom to get her stuff.

She gets her stuff, heading back downstairs to say bye. “Can I borrow Sarah’s bike to go home? If she needs it any time soon, she can just text me and I’ll bring it over to her,” Y/N asks. Rafe looks over his shoulder at her from the sink, “Actually, hers is being tuned up at the store, so you can borrow mine. I’ll pick it up next time I come over. It should be around back near the pool.” Y/N nods her head. “Cool, thanks. See you later.”

———

Y/N got home safely and is now relaxing on the beach. She always tries to spend as much time here as she can during the summer because she feels at peace surrounded by water. She is relaxing on a water inflatable when Lacet finally makes her way to Y/N. “Look who is finally awake. It’s like three in the afternoon,” Y/N teases, shielding her eyes from the sun. Lacey groans, taking a sip from her coffee, “Shh, I still have a headache from last night. I never want to drink again.”

Y/N laughs at her friend’s misery, “I’ve heard that before. At least it sounded like you had fun last night.”

“You and I both know I like to pretend. This is totally tmi, but important to the story. I was on the toilet this morning because we both know that being hungover gives me the shits. But like I was looking at these recipes for different ways to make wellingtons and it got me thinking that we should have another girls’ dinner. Maybe tonight?”

“Oooh, I love that idea. I could go over some of my writing with you. I was able to write another chapter.”

“I cannot wait. I can make some mocktails for us. Because mama cannot do another hangover tonight. I’m gonna make a beef Wellington and a mushroom one.”

“Lol, I like the sound of that.”

“So, now that we have that out of the way. How are you feeling about Wilson?”

“I’m feeling better since last night. I mean I’m more hung up on the fact that he used me. Looking back on our relationship. I wasn’t really into him that much anyways. I think in a way, I was using him too.”

“Really? How so?”

“At first, I definitely do think that I liked him. But as I started to get to know him, I realized we weren’t good for each other and I should’ve ended it then. And yet, when I started to realize that maybe I didn’t hate Rafe, I pushed myself to be with Wilson because I didn’t want to admit it. We dated for a month, even though I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. I definitely don’t think that what I did was as bad as what he did because I did genuinely want to explore what we could be, but I wasn’t exactly perfect in the relationship either.”

“You are right. Using Wilson to ignore your feelings about Rafe wasn’t great. But at least, you recognize that. I bet you Wilson doesn’t even think he did anything wrong.”

“True. I just want to get past the whole thing though. And before you try to shift the conversation to Rafe. I’m really not ready to talk about where we are out right now. Maybe tonight after I’ve eaten some delicious wellingtons and mocktails.”

Lacey nods, knowing her friend just needs some time to process what she is feeling. The two girls spend most of their time in the water for the rest of the day. Only making their way to Lacey’s house when the sun started setting.

———

The next day, Y/N is picking up some groceries for her mom. She rounds the corner of the aisle and accidentally hits someone else’s cart. “I’m so sorry,” she begins until she sees who she hit. “Oh, Elizabeth. How are you?” Y/N tries to be polite with the other girl. They may be rivals, but they are mostly civil with each other. “I’m pretty good. I’m sorry to hear about the break up though. What Wilson did was totally a jackass move,” Elizabeth replies sincerely. “Thanks. How are things going with you and Rafe? I saw you guys at Midsummer and he told me about you guys during the party,” she says, hoping to see if Rafe and Elizabeth’s stories match up. Elizabeth’s face turns into a slight frown, “Nothing really happened. We just made out both times. Honestly, I’m pretty sure he was just using me to distract himself from you.”

This causes surprise to cross over Y/N’s face. “Why do you think that?” she inquires with her head slightly tilted to the side. “Well, at Midsummer, I stopped making out with him because he groaned your name when I played with his hair. Then at his party, we were making out, when all of a sudden his phone started ringing. With the way he shut down the party after the call and from the rumours I heard, I’m pretty sure he dropped everything to go pick you up. Anyways I gotta go. Bye.” Y/N calls out a goodbye as Elizabeth walks away.

Rafe told her the truth after all. What is more interesting to the girl is that Rafe seems to have done the same thing she has done. She finishes up her shopping and heads back home.

———

A week has passed since Y/N’s break up, which means that school is also bound to start up again in about two weeks. Rafe is sitting in the living room, watching some random show he isn’t really paying attention to. His focus is diverted to his dad as Ward walks into the room with a huff. “Tell me why I just got a call from Mr. Porter saying that if you don’t give his son a public apologize, then he will have no choice but to file a lawsuit against you for assault,” Ward gripes to his son. Rafe honestly thought nothing more would come from the punch because it had been a week since it happened. “He was an ass to Y/N. I had to make sure he knew what happens when he messes with her.” Ward runs his hand down his face, “God, I knew that girl would get you in trouble. I want you to give that public apology tomorrow morning. You are going to do exactly what Mr. Porter says because if you don’t, then I’m not gonna clean up your mess this time. Is this understood?” Rafe agrees with the statement. He knows Y/N would prefer he takes the peaceful way out of this situation.

He thinks the conversation is over, but his dad doesn’t get up from his seat on the couch. “I also want to know why I was sent a parent approval form from Marvin to sign, so you could start an internship with him,” Ward interrogates, his voice beginning to rise. Right, Rafe had forgotten to talk to his father about this before the paperwork was sent. “Well, Marvin and I were talking a few weeks ago about his law firm. He said he needed some extra help with some organizational stuff, so I offered to help,” Rafe begins to explain. “You wanted me to figure out how to do swim team, university work and an internship at Cameron’s Development, so I thought this would be a good trial run for university and Marvin thought the same. He said if I have any trouble with handling the internship and everything else, then it would be fine if I quit. Pre-law students are always looking to intern with him.”

Ward shakes his head in disapproval, “If you wanted to intern somewhere, you should’ve just come with me. I don’t understand why you would work at a law firm. It has nothing to do with development.” “I know you have this life plan for me, but I wanted to do something for myself once. I may have been given help from Marvin to get the job. But it’s something new though and I asked for myself. I want to be able to experience other things in life other than just the development company,” Rafe clarifies to his dad. “Whatever, I’ll sign the stupid paper, but I don’t understand why the fuck you would make that choice. Why can’t you just do as you are told?” Ward complains to his son, storming off toward his office. Rafe expected a screaming match to happen between the two of them, but this felt worse somehow.

Rafe keeps trying to do what his dad wants, but even when he thinks he has it figured out, he still disappoints his dad. Instead of feeling the normal anger that would normally radiate off of him after an argument with his dad, he feels this sadness that washes over him. His mom would always push him outside of his comfort zone and it was part of the reason why he offered to help Marvin. He thought his dad would understand that and be proud of him. But like always, Ward just wants to be able to control every aspect of Rafe’s life. Ward has this life plan for Rafe that he isn’t allowed to deviate from. Rafe knows Sarah doesn’t have to listen to what her dad plans for her life. He doesn’t understand why his dad puts all this pressure on him. Rafe feels like utter crap after that conversation and there is only one person, who he knows can make him feel better. She can be found in the Y/L/N residence.

———

Y/N sits outside in the gazebo, reading her book in the hanging basket. She lifts her eyes from the page when she hears a knock from the screened door. “Hey, Y/L/N. Care for some company?” Rafe interrupts as he slowly opens the door. She could see his watery eyes, looking like he is going to burst at any second, “Of course, what’s wrong?” She immediately wraps her arms around the boy and buries his head into her neck whilst leading him to sit on the loveseat. “Why does my dad insist on controlling my life? Why can’t I just do things for myself without him questioning everything?” Rafe cries, feeling safe to now let himself be vulnerable with the girl.

Y/N knows this is always a source of upset for him. Rafe’s relationship with Ward will never be anything like Mason and Marvin’s. “I don’t know why your dad is the way that he is. But I do know that you are not at fault for how he treats you. He has issues that he doesn’t realize he needs to fix and that is not on you,” she tries to comfort.

“I know. It’s just last time we were fighting about how I didn’t want to join the uni swim team because I wanted to focus on school and my internship. And he absolutely blew up about that. Now, I want to do a trial run to see if I can find a balance between school, work and swim team and my dad isn’t proud that I’m trying. It’s like one step forward and twenty back. I don’t know how much longer of this I can take.”

It pains Y/N to hear how much pain is in Rafe’s voice as he explains it to her, “Why didn’t you tell me things were getting this bad?”

“Last time it got this bad, you were avoiding me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. But I’m here now.”

“I know, thank you. You are the one person that could’ve made me feel better right now, honestly.”

“I’m glad I can return the favour.”

Rafe smiles, knowing she is referring to how he took care of her after Wilson broke her heart, “Right, how are we feeling after that?”

The look in Rafe’s eyes tells Y/N that he is really asking how she feels about him, “I’m actually feeling great considering we only broke up a week ago. I think my heart was always set on someone else.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, that someone is ready for more. If you are ready too, of course.”

“Really? Would he maybe want a kiss? I wouldn’t want to take advantage of his vulnerability,” she jokes as she strokes his hair.

“He absolutely wants a kiss.”

Rafe removes his head from where it is buried in her neck and pulls Y/N into a kiss. His lips passionately move against hers and after a few seconds, his tongue makes its way into her mouth. She feels butterflies in her stomach and she hears him groan as she gently tugs his hair. Rafe removes himself from her lips and starts attacking her neck with kisses. She lets out a soft moan when he reaches her soft spot just under her ear, which causes him to grin and start to suck on the spot. Eventually, the two pull away from each other because of Rafe. He places his forehead on hers and looks into her eyes. They both have a soft grin on their lips. “Would you want to go on a date with me the day after tomorrow?” he whispers to her. They may have just been kissing, but he still is fearful that she will say no. She gives Rafe a quick kiss before answering, “Of course. I would love to.”

———

The next morning, Rafe gets up earlier than usual to make his public apology to Wilson. It wasn’t very public seeing as he was just instructed to go to Wilson’s and the only people there are Wilson, his parents and all of his dinner guests from that night. However, the Porters still had to make a ridiculously big deal about this and have Rafe make his apology on a makeshift stage and podium. “I am sorry for assaulting you, Wilson. I was wrong for doing so. You are an amazing person and the fact that my dirty and violent hands touched you never should have happened,” Rafe reads off of the cards that one of Porter’s employees is holding up for him. The group claps and Rafe zones out as everyone bustles about around him.

Once he is allowed to leave, Rafe makes a mad dash to The Wreck to meet with Lacey to ask her for help with his and Y/N’s date tomorrow. “I hope you know that you are paying for whatever I order. And I plan to order a lot,” Lacey notifies him, not even looking up from the menu as he sits across from her. Rafe laughs at her antics, “I don’t expect anything less. But I need your help with something for Y/N and mine’s date tomorrow, please.” “And what exactly does that help entail?” Lacey replies; this time actually diverting her attention to the boy. “I just need you to cook some things for me. I’ll make you a list of the foods and then you can give me the bill after you get the stuff you need,” he answers. “Okay, I can do that. Especially if it’s for Y/N. Now, let’s order and then we can talk about this more. Mama is hungry.”

———

Rafe picks Y/N up at ten in the morning. He told her he had a whole day planned out for them and he knew she is an early bird anyway. He is wearing gray flannel on top of a gray T-shirt with some jeans. When Y/N opens the door, Rafe just pauses and admires her beauty. Her purple sweetheart neck raglan sleeve sweater shows her collarbones, which have a golden heart-shaped necklace resting between them. Her black pleated skirt rest just above her knees and this causes his eyes to follow down her legs to her white embroidered high-top converse. He knows she embroidered the flowers onto them herself. Her fingers are littered with rings and her double ear piercing both have hoops in them. Her hair twisted back behind her head with a claw clip. Rafe notices she is wearing some light makeup; god, he wants to smudge that pinkish-red lipstick.

Y/N smiles softly at him and gives a tiny wave, “Hey, are you okay?” Rafe snaps out of his trance. “Yeah, just soaking in how happy I am to finally be taking you out on a date. Are you ready to go?” he admits whilst holding his hand out to her. She nods her head and takes his hand as she places her brown purse across her body. They get into his car and he drives off to their first destination.

———

The massive grin on Y/N’s face, when she sees the sign for Outer Banks’ biggest independent bookstore, tells Rafe that he is on the right track for their date and this causes his heart to swell with pride. He holds open the door and she practically runs into the shop. They randomly walk around for a little bit to start. The conversation only begins after Y/N sees the Percy Jackson books. “Rafe, these are my absolutely favourite books. I owe my love of reading to Rick Riordan,” Y/N gushes to him. Rafe loves how passionate she is about the books and how she is not afraid to show it, “Really? How so?”

Y/N's heart leaps at the genuine interest that Rafe is showing, “When I was a kid, I had a hard time learning to read. So I hated doing it. My parents tried getting me to read so many different books. I never really felt seen with any of them. But with Percy, I felt a connection with his character because of his dyslexia. His sarcasm and jokes made him relatable to me and I fell in love with reading because of it.”

“I never knew that you could connect to a character on that level. The last book I remember reading is the Harry Potter series and I don’t think I really felt that way about any of the characters.”

“Yeah, it feels kinda magical when you can. It really helps you immerse yourself in the story. I’m actually thinking about starting a YA book club. Maybe, you can join and you’ll find your connection.”

“I would love to join. You really have interesting perspectives on books and I would love to learn more. Plus, I think it would be fun to have reading dates together.”

Y/N is surprised that Rafe actually likes her idea. The excitement she feels about being able to show him some of her favourite books grows. The rest of the time at the bookstore is spent with Rafe holding Y/N’s stack of books she wants to buy, listening to her point out the books she has read or wants to read. He finds it adorable and it reminds him of a little kid on a scavenger hunt. It takes a lot of convincing from Rafe to get Y/N to let him pay for all of her books. He asks her to take the books out to the car, saying he thinks he forgot something in the store. He quickly locates the Percy Jackson series and runs it up to the cash register to pay. Rafe knows he could probably borrow the books from Y/N, but he wants it to be a surprise that he is going to read them.

———

The next destination for their date is Rafe’s kitchen, where Y/N finds all the ingredients she needs to make chocolate chip cookies on the island. “I thought we could make cookies for dessert for dinner,” Rafe announces to her. Y/N looks at him with delight, “Okay, but only if you let me take the lead.” “I will always let you take the lead,” Rafe confesses with adoration in his eyes. This causes Y/N’s cheeks to heat up.

Y/N’s back is facing Rafe; she is concentrating on mixing the ingredients, so she doesn’t notice Rafe scooping some chocolate chips into his mouth from the bag. She turns around to ask him something when she sees his cheeks puffed like a chipmunk and giggles. “Are you eating some chocolate?” she laughs as he nods his head with a guilty look on his face. “You really are just like a child. Come here, please. I need you to help me place the balls on the pan. You roll the balls and I’ll place them.” Rafe listens to her order and scoops some of the dough into his hand and forms just about the smallest ball she has ever seen. This causes some more giggles to fall past her lips. “Those are too small and it looks more like a cube than a sphere. Here, let me help you,” she instructs, wrapping her arms around his to help guide him with making the next ball. She directs his hands to the ball and helps him take some cookie dough into his hands. She places her hands over his as she helps him make the motion to make the balls.

Y/N is not going to lie; she gets a little distracted by Rafe, who smells like the salty sea air and a hint of chlorine. She pauses for a second and this causes Rafe to look down at her to see if she is okay. He smiles when he notices she is admiring his smell. She snaps out of the daydream and continues to help him form a golf ball-sized dough ball. Now, knowing how to make the balls, Rafe continues on his own. Y/N places the pan in the oven when all the balls are formed and they go to watch Clueless as the cookies bake.

———

Dinner is served picnic style on the beach, watching the sunset. Battery-powered lanterns litter the sand around the picnic mat to create light. It illuminates the spread of sushi, pasta, cheeseburger sliders and mini tacos; all of Y/N’s favourite foods and all cooked by Lacey. The couple gorges themselves on the buffet before they cuddle together on the beach, sharing the cookies they made together. “When did you think you started to fall for me?” Y/N ponders, taking a bite from the cookie and then handing it over to Rafe.

“You are going to call me a liar. But I think I’ve been slowly falling for you since we were five. I remember thinking: ‘She is totally wrong about who won the race, but I love how she isn’t afraid to fight back in her own way.’ Also, I found it funny how long you could hold a grudge. How about you?”

“That is totally a lie and such a cliche. For me, it is probably when you took me to McDonald’s after my first date with Wilson. You knew what I needed and what I liked without me having to tell you. I really appreciated that. You also did a bunch of things that Wilson didn’t even do for me on our date and I kept thinking about that.”

“No, it can’t have been then. It was so recent.”

“Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. It’s when I knew for sure though that I had feelings for you. Maybe I started unconsciously falling for you way before then.”

“Good. Because I want the book of you and me to be a really long one. So your chapters have to start before that.”

“Okay, whatever you want.”

“You’re cold. My swim team sweater is in the basket for you.”

“How did you know I’m cold?”

“Caring for you is my sixth sense now.”

Y/N untangles herself from his arms and goes over to the basket to put on his hoodie. He loves to see her wearing his number and last name on his back. One day, it’s going to be hers too. She goes back into his arms to cuddle for a little bit. After a while, he notices she is growing tired and they pack up to go back to her house.

———

Rafe is parked outside of her house, waiting for her to get out of the car. She doesn’t move, but instead turns towards him, “Can you sleep over? I don’t really want this date to end.” He tiredly smiles at her and turns the car off. They get into her room and go around getting ready for bed in sync. The scene felt perfectly domestic as they brushed their teeth together. He gets into the bed first and lets his arms wrap around her when she lies beside him. She rests her head on his chest and her eyes flutter closed, “Goodnight, Rafe.” “Goodnight, my rose,” he whispers, placing a kiss on her forehead before falling asleep.

———

Marvin and Cassie Y/L/N find their daughter in bed the next morning in the arms of Rafe Cameron. They are not surprised by the sight and are glad the two have finally gotten together. “You owe me a book,” Cassie mumbles as she closes Y/N’s bedroom door and they walk downstairs. Marvin lightly grumbles, “They really couldn’t have waited a year. I thought they would finally realize it in university.”

“Not them. They were meant to be.”

Taglist: @itsalexwin @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @gillybear17 @terraeluce @f4ll-for-you

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