#steve’s a little confused but he’ll take the invite

[harringroveera]

Billy: It’s a threat. I’m threatening you

Steve: Doesn’t sound like one

#harringrove #steve’s a little confused but he’ll take the invite #billy hargrove #steve harrington #billy x steve #billy hargrove x steve harrington #incorrect harringrove quotes #harringroveera #incorrect billy hargrove quotes #incorrect steve harrington #harringrove textpost #steve x billy #harringrove edit #harringrove meme #steve harrington x billy hargrove #steve harrington meme #billy hargrove meme

[bigdumbbambieyes]

There’s a loud humming, kinda suction-y sound that wakes Steve abruptly.

Forcing his eyes open, he winces at the brightness that greets him, furrowing his brows and scrunching his nose as he automatically squeezes his eyes shut to save his retinas from the sudden assault.

Blinking to clear the fuzz in his eyes, he finally sees how his boyfriend is holding up his phone to watch a video of a fucking car being detailed.

And honestly, Steve’s so confused that he just watches the screen for a moment, watching how the man in the video sprays down the seats with soapy water before taking a brush attached to a drill to it. He vacuums it right up and yeah, sure, seeing the dirt lift off the seat is very satisfying, he’ll admit that much.

Still. It’s the middle of the fucking night because it’s dark outside and Steve went to bed just after midnight when his boyfriend text him that he’d be home late since Heather invited him out, and Billy’s watching a fucking car detailing video with his phone at regular daytime brightness and volume cranked.

And is he eating McDonald’s? Is that what he smells? Salty fries, definitely. Billy’s drunk in bed eating McDonald’s while watching a car detailing video, full volume, next to his peacefully sleeping boyfriend.

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” is all Steve can slur quietly without any real heat, turning onto his side to face away from his evil, chuckling boyfriend.

“Go back to sleep, princess,” Billy hums, his voice tired and soft and he puts a hand on Steve’s back just to touch him and yeah, sleep sounds so good.

He falls asleep easily, knowing his boyfriend is there and safe, and wakes up to find Billy passed out with a chicken nugget on his pillow, his phone at 1% from letting videos autoplay all night, and he’s drooling.

“Dumbass,” Steve mumbles fondly, pressing a kiss to Billy’s cheek and smiling at the sleepy little sounds the blond makes.

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #modern au #y’all this is based off personal experience #and very indulgent #so enjoy!!! #bambiwrites

[cowboythighs]

thinking of steve driving miles and miles out of town to the nearest adult store to covertly purchase some toys and videos and not realizing until after he’s skulked around the empty store for far longer than he needed to that the cashier was eddie ‘the freak’ munson.

he nearly drops everything to make a run for it, not exactly keen on being seen in a sex shop, but then Eddie’s looking right at him and the damage has already been done- if Eddie was going to ruin his reputation, Steve figured he might as well get something out of it.

So he takes his selection up to the counter and tries his hardest not to make eye contact- holds out hope that maybe Eddie didn’t recognize him. After all, it’s not like they really knew each other. His face burns as Eddie inspects each item he’s picked out.

“Is this for you or a friend?” Eddie asks holding up the bright pink ‘Rabbit Pearl’. When steve doesn’t manage an intelligible reply, Eddie clarifies “If this is for you-or anyone without a clit- I’m pretty sure I can find you something better.”

Before he can protest, Eddie’s stepping out from behind the counter expecting Steve to follow. Asking him about what he’s looking for in a vibrator like he’s selling Steve a car. holding up item after item, explaining pros and cons not even really waiting for Steve’s replies- just reading the expressions on Steve’s face as if that’s sufficient to determine what he’ll like. He asks Steve how much money he’s looking to spend and takes his shrug as an invitation to pick out a few more toys he thinks Steve will like.

“You really don’t need to do this” Steve manages to spit out while Eddie is bent over a selection of vhs tapes.

“It’s no problem, man,” Eddie waves him off. “My pleasure.”

And god if that doesn’t go right through Steve. Having someone (excitedly) picking out all the tools he’s going to use to get himself off later. It felt a little like being taken care of. He’s not used to it; it makes something burn hit in his gut. He’s embarrassed; he thinks he likes it.

When Eddie was satisfied with his selection he went back to the register, Steve trailing behind. nearly dying of embarrassment when Eddie slid one of the vibrators out of its package, popped batteries in, and handed it to Steve.

Eddie read the question on Steve’s confused face. “You have to make sure it works. No returns. Store policy.”

Steve wondered if it was really policy to make customers turn on vibrators in front of the clerk, or if Eddie just wanted to make him squirm. He didnt think he minded if it was the latter.

“Go on,” Eddie encouraged. “Turn it on.”

Steves hands shook with nerves, but he managed to turn the knob at the bottom of the toy and nearly dropped it as it buzzed to life.

“Right on.” Eddie took the toy back, turning it off and placing it back in its packaging. Hands Steve the next toy to test.

Eddie acts professional as he guides Steve through a selection of lubes and cleaners in a way that made it feel more like a doctor giving out a prescription; take this amount and apply liberally and let set for 60 seconds before washing clean to properly disinfect. It would almost be boring, if Steve wasn’t so turned on seeing the toys he was going to use to get off in Eddie’s big hands while he showed Steve the best way to clean them.

Finally (finally) Eddie rings Steve up and slips the receipt into a bag far more full than Steve had anticipated. He waves Steve off with a suggestive “Have a good night!” as Steve all but runs out of the store.

Back in his car, Steve’s heart felt like it was about to hammer out of his chest from the thrill of it all, but it was nothing compared to the pace it set when he noticed the phone number written on the back of his receipt with a note-

“if you have any questions give me a call, king steve ;)

-your friendly neighborhood freak xx”

#steddie #ns.fw #cowboythighs #ficlet #crossposted from my twt #but tweaked a little #grammar? editing? i don’t know her #anyways this is so old but tweaking it for tmblr has made me want to do a part 2 #i have Thoughts #but idk

[atmilliways]

Wrong On The Money (40)

part 40 of ?? | 1108 words | Teen+

Blackmail fic on Ao3 | on tumblr

Summary:

When Steve gets back from dropping off the kids, Eddie is waiting for him on the front porch.

40.

When Steve gets back from dropping off the kids, Eddie is waiting for him on the front porch. 

No, not waiting for him. He happens to be there, smoking with the porch light off, sprawled on the near end of the couch he and Wayne had salvaged from their trailer. His has his socked feet propped up on the bottom rung of the porch railing. but he gives a little wave as Steve walks up and drops them, an invitation to pass by and sit if he wants.

“So, how was your first foray into Dungeons & Dragons?” Eddie asks. He booms the name of the game in a low, dramatic voice that makes Steve have to smother a laugh. 

“Oh, uh,” Steve says a few beats too late, remembering that he’s supposed to answer. “Yeah, it was . . . kinda confusing? But also, uh, interesting.”

Eddie spins slowly to look at him, eyebrows reaching up towards his bangs. “Confusing . . . yet interesting. That’s some complex feedback, Harrington. Care to elaborate?”

“I don’t. . . .” Steve frowns. He feels like Eddie is making fun of him, big dumb jock who couldn’t get into college—except that doesn’t make sense coming from a three-times high school senior.

But also, Steve isn’t sure what elaborate means. Is it like explain?

He’s just going to try and blow past it. First step: slumping onto the empty end of the couch and putting up a hand, palm up. Second step: “Whatever. Can I bum one? I’ll pay you back.”

Eddie tsks around his cigarette. “What did we decide about owing, dude?” He knocks a stick out of a beat-up pack into Steve’s hand though, and offers his lighter. “I’ve got weed, too, if you’d rather have some of that. No charge. Because,” he continues before Steve can get a word in edgeways, “it’s more practical this way. You make lunch, I share smokes. . . . The barter system is a hell of a lot simpler than quantifying every little thing into cold hard currency.”

“Oh.” That does sound simpler. Steve blinks, takes the lighter, then hesitates. “I . . . kinda would, then. Long day, you know?”

Just like that, the cigarette and lighter are whisked away again. Eddie thumps his feet down onto the porch and leans forward, a tin in one hand now and rolling papers in the other. “Cool. You mind sharing? Don’t think there’s enough in here to roll two.”

“S-sure.” Luckily it’s dark enough to hide whatever Steve’s face is doing—he knows it’s something, probably something embarrassing. And now he’s watching and thinking way too much about Eddie’s lips, the way they purse around the last of his cigarette while he rolls the joint. The joint that he’ll touch to those same lips, then hand to Steve to do the same.

Jesus, he’d never had this problem while smoking with Tommy. Or smoking with pretty girls, for that matter, but that was different. He could’ve kissed those girls anywhere. With Eddie, he can only let himself look for rationed amounts of time, not wanting to be too obvious or get too . . . invested. Steve knows himself, knows he has a tendency to go all way too fast, and doesn’t have a good sense of where that line is. 

Maybe he shouldn’t be doing this, actually. Getting high with Eddie could be a bad idea, put him too far out there and offering too much of himself like he always does.

It’s already happening though. 

When the joint is ready, instead of handing it to him, Eddie glances up and cocks his head to one side. 

“Hey, you’ve got. . . .” He reaches, and just as Steve is about ready to demand if there’s a bug on him or something, Eddie pulls the joint out of his ear. “Tada!”

Surprised, Steve laughs and takes the joint when Eddie offers it to him with a flourish. “How did you do that?” (Again, he thanks the darkness for hiding the fact that both of his ears are now burning.)

“Picked up some sleight of hand as a kid,” Eddie says with a grin and a shrug, holding up his lighter but this time flicking it on for Steve to lean towards the flame. “For legal reasons I have to tell you that I wanted to be a magician when I grew up. Got a little more into that side of it after I moved in with Wayne, but only as a hobby. Now it's just something to entertain the kiddies with when I’m old and gray.”

It’s not just the lungful of smoke that’s making Steve feel warm on the inside, though that helps. Hanging out with Eddie, talking like they’re actually friends, feels. . . . 

It feels nice.

A while later, when the high’s had time to settle in, Eddie asks, “You did have a good time, though, right?”

Steve blinks at him. His eyes have had plenty of time to adjust to the dark, and he can actually see Eddie pretty well, he thinks. The long line of his neck and the faintly gleaming shapes of his rings for sure. “Yeah. It was. . . . Well, too nerdy to be cool. But I had more fun than I expected to.”

“Good.” Eddie stretches, and Steve doesn’t even notice his own head lolling to better follow the motion. “‘Specially since you did it for Will. I’m glad you got something out of it for yourself, too.”

The words make his head snap up. “Uh. Will?”

With a shrug, Eddie explains that oh yeah, kid’d walked in shy as hell and Steve had done nothing but build his confidence up all afternoon. Like it’s nothing, like it doesn’t completely floor Steve that he’d noticed. Why would Eddie notice? That was quick, adding Will to his collection of ‘sheepies’ already. 

Not that Steve is one to talk. He’d come out as bisexual to the kid not twelve hours ago, and that was something he’d only ever said out loud to Robin before. 

But Eddie is smiling at him, and that warm feeling is back, only it’s bigger now. Thick and syrupy and welling up and up and up, like the panic when he’d found Dustin cradling Eddie in the Upside Down only good, and. . . .Oh. He recognizes this feeling from the weeks before he’d first kissed Nancy, not quite in love yet but hopeful, always thinking maybe. Out of self preservation, he hasn’t let himself do that this time. He’d tried to clamp down on it hard, as though if he could starve it of oxygen the embers would die out—forgetting that love isn’t a fire, it’s a battlefield, and Eddie has been sneaking up behind him this entire time.

#we're almost there folks #steddie blackmail fic #steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things fic #get ready to linger on this night for a few more chapters

[hazardworld]

Steve and the very party holidays

Just thinking about Steve having a really shitty holiday experience as a kid: his parents/extended family is Catholic (dad: Irish-American/mom: French), so he got first communion and they went to the big holiday services, but that was about it.

Just little ol’ baby Steve sitting in mass for an hour or two, then going home for presents, most of which were trendy “boy toys” he didn’t really care for. Also, he could easily tell they were easily things his dad’s assistant knew were the most popular, not things he was actually interested in.

Every few years or so, his parents would have a party: either Christmas or New Years, but it was always fancy, and Steve had to wear itchy uncomfortable clothing, and try not to get distracted, and there was always way too much wine.

(Apparently, you never went to a Christmas party without bringing wine)

When Steve started middle school, they’d leave on Christmas Eve, tell him to go to mass (by the time he had the means to, he’d lost the belief in a god anyway), and to have a good time. Also, Santa wasn’t real, apparently.

So he learned how to cook and how to take care of himself and the house, and it was fine. It wasn’t great, but it could be far worse, so it was fine. He was lucky: he had a house with paid bills, he’d eventually get a car, and he had the means of feeding himself without worries. It wasn’t ideal, but yeah, he could live with it.

So imagine senior Steve, (forcibly) invited to Machiavelli family Christmas by Dustin (I could make a whole post on why my cultural headcannons are what they are but I’m italian american and i DEF see more IA hendersons then IA harringtons) who shows up dressed in that same, stupidly itchy clothing with wine, only to be told by Claudia that he’s much too formal. The wine is taken, and he’s handed a pair of Claudia’s (clean) sweatpants and a very soft green sweater with a santa hat on it.

It’s only once he’s in the backseat with Dustin that he realizes all their sweaters match, and 30 minutes later at the “family house” that apparently every branch of their family has their own different sweaters. Not only that, but Steve gets introduced not as Dustin’s babysitter, but as his brother.

Steve is confused, because aren’t Christmas parties supposed to be all stuffy and boring but also nerve wracking because everything’s too overwhelming but if Steve shows it he’ll get punished? 

Christmas parties aren’t laughter and coziness and friends and family all together (as the party continued, Steve met people and realized who was introduced as wouldn’t’ve mattered: everyone here, blood or not were treated like family).

Steve thinks it’s a one time thing, but he’s expected every year from then out: Dustin reported the Aunts agreed he was the best child-wrangler they’d ever seen, and Claudia said it was refreshing to have help bringing in her offerings for the large buffet. The next year it’s all the same but different, and Steve loves it.

Then comes Christmas 1986.

No one can leave Hawkins quite yet: the final gates have yet to close, though it should happen before the end of the new school year. For now, everyone’s stranded with what they can ship in or make themselves.

After the earthquake, Steve moved into the guest room of the Henderson’s place. They still used the mansion for party gatherings, but his parents made it clear they were never returning, and Steve had more happy memories with Dustin and Claudia then in the too-large expanse.

Once Max woke up, she moved in too: the government hush money was plenty enough to make Dustin’s bed into a bunk. Claudia even started calling them “her twins” after they formed a platonic codependency rivaling Steve and Robin’s.

The four of them spend Christmas together: Max gets her own sweater knit, and they even get some extra tinsel to wrap up her arm crutches and wheelchair for the days she needs them. 

There’s no Machiavelli family that year, but Claudia teaches Steve the family lasagna recipe, and they open gifts to the sounds of “Charlie Brown Christmas” in the background.

Steve doesn’t think it can really get much better.

The evening of December 26 is a whirlwind.

The four get to the mansion early to set up. Plus, Steve has to make his Ratatouille, and Claudia has to heat up Dustin’s baked ziti, as well as the 10 different side dishes she did not sign up to make but insisted on, anyway.

The party’s at 6, but both the Munsons and the Byers-Hopper’s show up at 5:45, saying they were there in case anyone needed help. They both bring latkes, but since Eddie’s a terrible cook (other than sandwiches, eggs, or freezer meals) his are burnt. Luckily, Joyce is kind, and says theirs can count for both.

Argyle (who stayed just long enough to be included in the mandatory staying in Hawkins notice) made homemade flautas, while Hopper and El brought Eggos, since that’s all they could agree upon making.

The rest of the group arrives after that, though slightly later. Robin claims this is her fault, since apparently she got to the store way too late. She brought kringle (If you don’t know what kringle is go to trader joe’s or racine wisconsin it’s so worth it). 

She also brought Max’s haggis: Max didn’t want anyone else in the house knowing what she was making, and Robin was the only one who let her use her parent’s kitchen to make it.

Lucas and Erica brought self-decorate-able christmas sweater speculaas cookies (that Lucas baked himself, thank you) and keep fighting over who gets to carry what. Erica said the tupperware is too warm, but she also doesn’t want the sticky frostings.

Nancy made things non-negotiable: since Mike wasn’t driving, he got the heavy crockpot of Swedish meatballs, while she got the casserole pan of shepherds pie.

Somehow, Murray also slipped in with risotto and various boozes. How? Steve didn’t really care, but it was wonderful getting to see his extended family, per se, coming together for the beauty of it all, and sharing each other’s cultures and traditions.

After food, everyone watches as Will and Eddie light the first Hanukkah candle (in 1986 Hanukkah started on dec 26!) together, and after that they all open their gifts to each other.

It’s a bit of a free-for-all after that: Dustin and Erica hopped up on sugar together is a nightmare, Argyle, Johnathan, and Will (apparently) got high while starfishing on the living room floor, Nancy found the wine cellar and started “taste testing,” Max and Mike started a hate-fueled tournament on Max’s new video game which Mike keeps trying to double the rounds for so he can win, and Robin and Eddie hopped up on sugar together is another nightmare. Steve’s only peace are the adults, plus Lucas and El who are quietly chatting and painting each other’s nails in the corner.

By the end of the evening, everyone saunters off the rooms, and Steve can’t be happier at the aftermath: the house that once encapsulated stuffy, sad, even disheartening memories now became somewhere where Steve could actually say his family had all been in.

And shit: Steve realized he had a family.

Wasn’t that a thought.

He was so fucking happy.

Fin.

(If any culture thing was wrong shout me out I wanna change it)

(also i wrote this at 4am sorry for typos and stuff)

#steve harrington #dustin henderson #claudia henderson #steve and dustin #steve and claudia #italian dustin henderson #italian claudia henderson #french steve harrington #max mayfield #max and dustin #scottsh max mayfield #the party #jewish eddie munson #jewish byers family #mexican argyle #indigenous argyle #even though it's not really mentioned #danish robin buckley #dutch lucas sinclair #dutch erica sinclair #swedish nancy wheeler #english mike wheeler #i didn't feel like making four separate tags for them #bilingual steve harrington #it's not mentioned at all but still #neurodivergent steve harrington #found family #steve and dustin brothers #eventual steddie #steve harrington fluff

[greenlikethesea]

friendsgiving excerpt, fair ithilien verse

i realized that i completely misadvertised this one -- it is not a fun fic, very very angsty, and is the catalyst for eddie leaving indiana and going to live with jonathan and argyle in LA for a few months before heading to san fran. here's a piece of writing i did that i'm quite proud of:

“There are only two doors on this fucking house,” Eddie starts.

Confusion flashes across Steve’s face, alarm, but he masks it quickly. He’s mean first, and fucking good at it when he feels indignant. Eddie wishes he didn’t know Steve so well. “I think I know the layout of my own house, Eddie.” 

“If you know the layout of your own house, Steve, riddle me this,” Eddie spits. “Say I’m in the backyard, smoking a cigarette, because no one gets to decide I quit except for me – am I going to go all the way to the front door to get back inside? A door that might be locked for all I know?”

Eddie can see Steve softening a little, the steel in his glare subsiding just a bit. “I suppose not.”

“So it makes the most sense for me to go in the back door, which is already open, because you opened it, I watched you do it,” Eddie continues. “But you and your wife seem to be having a tense conversation. And I don’t want to interrupt, or make noise, or disturb it. So that’s why I stayed put until the coast was clear. No offense, Steve, but I have more pressing matters on my mind than whatever you and your wife talk about when you’re alone.”

“Eddie,” Steve breathes. It’s so kind, and Eddie hates it. “Please, Eddie, I –”

Eddie laughs bitterly. “I don’t blame you for locking your front door, of course. Nice neighborhood like this, wouldn’t want anyone unsavory coming in. Take the trash out the back, you know how it goes.”

It’s fucking mean, a snarl from a wounded animal. He feels a pang of regret as Steve’s face falls, that beautiful face twisting in regret, any anger there now fled. But Eddie’s eyes hurt from keeping them anywhere but those two fucking moles on Steve’s neck, tantalizing and inviting above his crew neck collar. The skin there is probably soft from whatever expensive body wash he uses, a gift from Megan, maybe. Steve doesn’t drown himself in cologne anymore, but there’s something lingering – new clothes smell, or the air freshener that’s plugged into the kitchen outlet by the toaster oven. He wants to fist his hands in that crimson cashmere, wreck the collar from how hard he tugs it down, just to get his mouth on those two moles. Maul him, make a mess of that expanse of skin, so no one knows there are moles there by the time he’s done.

“How are you, Eddie?” Steve says. It’s impossibly quiet.

“I’m fine, Steve,” Eddie says, automatic. “I told you that before.”

“No, Eddie,” Steve says. He steps into Eddie’s space. “How are you, really?”

Unlike a lot of people, Eddie actually knows what it feels like to be eaten alive. He knows what it feels like to have some malevolent force not even wait until your heart stops beating to tear into your flesh. But this glass barrier between himself and everyone else, the long, endless days he spends at the trailer, or on the road, or dodging people’s phone calls – this barrier that he himself created? He’ll take the demobats over this any day. At least with those things, he could immediately identify what was causing him harm. Razor sharp fangs, tail like a whip designed to strangle prey, rough scales where skin is supposed to be – no wonder I feel like I’m going to die! But the vice grip of loneliness is harder to qualify, a pain so big that to speak it into existence would make it real. Inescapable. 

What does Eddie say to Steve? He doesn’t know how to talk about this emptiness that permeates every part of his existence. It would be so easy to rebuff him, to head back into the dining room with everyone else, where they’ve all no doubt dismantled the dessert table. But Steve’s looking at him like it’ll kill him if Eddie doesn’t tell him what’s wrong. And Eddie wants to believe it’s a lie. He wants so badly to convince himself that Steve doesn’t care about him, that now that he has a wife, he doesn’t need anyone else. Doesn’t need Eddie. But Eddie can see that this isn’t true. That Steve’s just the same as he’s always been, caring to a fault, big enough to see when he’s miscalculated, and that just makes the pain worse. 

“I’m…” he starts, but the words get caught in his throat. For the first time this entire conversation, he looks away from Steve. It’s too hard, too close –

#fair ithilien verse

[randomperson351]

Billy and Hopper HC

Summary: HC of Billy and Hopper bonding over their shared hatred of Mike dating Eleven after Billy has decided to unofficially adopt El as his little sister.

Note: Guess who’s back on their Billy shit! I don’t know when this is set, I’m too fucking confused. A bit of present and post-mall I guess? Just enjoy the ride.

Do not repost or rewrite any of my work. Minors and ageless blogs get blocked.

Masterlist         Asks

- Okay so first of all? Hopper has decided he loves the new protection Billy has suddenly shown over his daughter, especially where Mike is involved.

- Billy found out the two were still dating when he was bringing El home from playing at the arcades with Max and Mike was waiting in the cabin, sat on the sofa with Hop in his armchair next to him. The Chief had never seen the full extent of Hargrove’s glare until that night.

- He’d admit, at first this new obsession over keeping El close was weird to the older man, especially since he’d caught rumours along the way about Billy’s mean streak and history of violence that seemed to follow him since he moved here; but El seemed happy enough, and Max too, so he let it continue while keeping an eye on it.

- But that glare was all he needed to see. Hopper started noticing how Billy lingered when picking up or dropping off Eleven if Mike was around, how he wouldn’t take his eyes off of them and would make up some ridiculous excuse to go in El’s room as soon as the door closed further than 3 inches.

- He might not have been able to completely stop the two from hanging out privately, Billy knew he couldn’t and, more importantly, wouldn’t do anything unless he had a signal from the Chief; but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stop Max from hanging out with him.

- He point blank refuses to unlock Max’s car door if it’s just Mike waiting. She can pull and pull on the handle but Billy would just light a cigarette and recline his seat, basking in the sun coming in his windshield as he waited for someone else to arrive before releasing the locks.

- When Mike and Eleven break up? Boy, you know this man is gonna be petty as hell. Everyone (especially Eleven) expected him to blow up and try to rip the kid’s head off but no, instead he does little things that annoy the living shit out of Mike.

- Going to pick the girls up from the Byers’ house after a game of DnD (or girl time, in their case)? He’ll gently push Max and El out before him and close the door right in Mike’s face before he can react.

- The weekly get together was at the Wheeler’s house? Oh I’m sorry, Mrs Wheeler just happened to be opening the door as Billy was rebuttoning his shirt. And what’s this? He get’s invited inside to wait while the girls get ready? May aswell play with Holly for a bit and bounce her around the house in his arms, almost making her scream it down when his little sister’s announce they’re ready to go. Mike’s face red with frustration almost explodes when Karen invites him back anytime to come and see Holly, besides anyone can see how much she loves him. With a kiss to Holly’s little cheek and a disgustingly seductive smirk at his mum, Billy exits the house with a smug look in Mike’s direction.

- Lots of other things. Locking him in the car ‘accidently’, locking him out of the car ‘accidently’, bringing an umbrella for Max and El but oh shame, no room for you Mike. 

- Continues this far longer than what he probably should’ve been allowed to, Steve eventually steps in and tells Billy to cut it out. Not that he particularly meant it though.

- But then, they get back together. Billy and Jim looked as if they were gonna vom. When the first thing the two did was go into El’s room snickering to each other, the men sat heavily on the furniture and lit up a cigarette. 

- By the end of the night, when Billy has to leave to go home, he somehow managed to chainsmoke his way through an entire pack of Marlboro’s; and Hop wasn’t doing much better. Billy sat up and stretched his spine while Hopper got up to get himself another beer, patting Billy’s shoulder in a familial way as he passed as if to say, ‘yeah me too kid.’

- “Alright, I’m heading out, call if you need anything.” Billy stuck his head in El’s door and said his goodnights. 

“She won’t.” Mike perked up from his prone position on El’s bed while she read a magazine.

Billy’s stare hardened as he switched his attention to Mike. Before he could wind himself up too much, El stood up and shuffled over to him. 

“I will call you. Promise.” And then wrapped him in a hug. Billy hunkered himself around the girl pressed to him, hugging her close. 

“If you need someone to slash his tyres, I’m free for the rest of the night.” He whispers, making El giggle. 

“You’ll be the first person I call.”

- “So, you kill him yet?” Max asked as soon as he walked in.

“Nah, it would be too predictable. I’ll find somewhere to dump the body first.”

Max laughed as he ushered her to bed. 

He wasn’t really joking.

#randomperson351 #stranger things #Billy Hargrove #billy hargrove headcanon #protective!billy hargrove #good brother billy hargrove #little sister max #little sister eleven #billy and hopper are two tired dads #they bond over their hatred of mike #can you tell i don't like mike? #DO NOT REPOST

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

Hii! First of all, congrats on your 3.5k followers, you absolutely deserve this and much more. So here’s my request: character - Loki, place - the avengers tower (or avengers compound) and prompts

20. "Quick, kiss me!"

27. A: “Where have you been all my life?”

B: “Hiding from you”

Aww that's so sweet of you, dear, thank you so much :D

Be careful what you wish for [Loki Laufeyson x Reader]

Published: 4 September 2021 Word count: 1k Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Prompt: [Avengers compound/tower] More specifically I used the kitchen #20. "Quick, kiss me!" #27. Character A: “Where have you been all my life?” Character B: “Hiding from you”

Leaning against the kitchen counter beside you, Loki wore a mischievous grin across his face, watching you make a cup of tea. He didn’t say a word, nor did he show any indication of wanting to initiate a conversation. Instead, he stared at you with that shit-eating grin across his face.

“Stop it!” You groaned as you poured the steaming water in the cup. A silent chuckle left Loki’s lips, his stare unfaltering. Exhaling sharply, you turned towards the God of Mischief, glaring at him as intimidatingly as you could manage. “Stop it!”

“Now, why would I do that, love? You’re absolutely adorable when you’re pissed off,” his grin grew wider, knowingly taunting you. Sometimes he was a torn in your side that you just wanted to get rid of whilst other times he was the only person you could rely on, the one who listened to you regardless of what you had to say.

A heavy sigh left your lungs as you turned back to your tea. “You’re insufferable,” you groaned whilst taking a sip of the hot beverage.

“It seems you like to keep insufferable beings around then,” he chuckled, earning an eye roll from you. You couldn’t deny that even though he was annoying, you still liked to hang out with him and in all honesty, you even missed him when he wasn’t around.

Silent footsteps headed towards the kitchen, panic settling in the pit of your stomach. You knew who was about to enter the kitchen, his footsteps following you around most days like a loyal little puppy. “Oh no,” you whispered faintly, shoulders dropping as you anticipated his arrival.

“That’s an interesting reaction,” he arched his brow. “I thought you and that Parker kid were friends,” he added, curiosity hidden in his voice.

“He is a really good friend of mine, but that’s not the way he looks at me,” you shook your head as you remembered overhearing Peter’s conversation with Steve, asking for dating advice, more specifically, how to ask you out. “I don’t want to reject him, it feels cruel, but I want him to realise there won’t be anything between us,” a sharp exhale left your lungs as you rubbed the bridge of your nose. Peter’s steps halted as he talked to someone.

“Get a boyfriend. He’ll have to understand then,” he shrugged nonchalantly. You thought about it for a second, before a wide grin appeared across your face.

“You’re a genius,” you giggled with excitement, but instead of feeling honoured, Loki frowned as though he didn’t trust your words.

“Why do I have a feeling there’s more to that excitement than you let on?” He asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Because there is! You’ll be my boyfriend,” you chuckled as you clapped your hands together.

“Excuse you?” His eyes widened as though his whole life flashed in front of him.

“Obviously not my actual boyfriend. I just need to use you a little,” your explanation didn’t seem to help the situation, Loki still stared at you as though you grew a second head. “Just play along, please” you stepped closer, caging him against the counter. “Kiss me!” You instructed him, his eyes growing even wider if possible. “Quick, kiss me!” You pleaded desperately.

“What?” He asked incredulously.

“Please, my life depends on it,” you pleaded, but Loki just shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said, earning a contemplating look from you. A heavy sigh left your lungs as you stepped back.

“I guess you’re right. I’ll find another way,” you said as you wore a phony smile. Though you understood him, a part of you felt disappointed by the failure of your plan. Curiosity got the better of you. You wanted to know what it’d feel like to kiss the God of Mischief.

“Hey—,” you heard Peter’s voice from the entrance, but before you could reply, Loki’s arm sneaked around your waist, pulling you against his chest, his other hand curling around the back of your neck whilst he pressed his lips against yours as though his life depended on it.

You thought it’d be an innocent kiss, a peck on the lips, but as Loki licked across your bottom lip, you lost your self-control and grabbed his shirt, pulling him even closer to you. His scent made you feel intoxicated, his lips wiping any and all thoughts out of your mind, his tongue making your knees go weak. But before your legs could give in, Loki pulled away, both of you panting frantically, trying to regain the oxygen you didn’t even feel you needed whilst Loki made your mind go hazy and your body weak.

“Where have you been all my life?” He whispered against your lips, not letting you move away. His gaze was hungry, hungry for more, and even if for a second you thought it was nothing but an act, you couldn’t deny the look in his eyes mirroring your own.

A silent giggle left your lungs as you cupped his cheeks. “Well, it depends. For the first half of your life, I possibly wasn't even in existence. As for the second, I've been actively hiding from you,” you snickered at your own witty comment.

“Very smart,” he scoffed, shaking his head, his mischievous grin back on his face. “Perhaps I should kiss you again to stop you from talking nonsense.”

“What are you still waiting for then?” You asked with an inviting tone, the thought of Loki’s lips against yours sending a warm shiver through your body.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he said with a toned-down warning in his voice, but you couldn’t care. You wanted to feel his lips on yours again and before you knew it, you leaned forward and kissed him. His arms tightened around you in an instant, securing you against his body. Warnings or not, whatever that kiss brought out of you, you wanted to explore more of it and within seconds, Peter was forgotten.

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[ptergwen]

jingle your bells

w/c: 1.7k

warnings: mentions of drinking and a suggestive joke

summary: peter gets drunk at tony’s christmas party and confesses a thing or two

a/n: today’s the day yayyy merry christmas guys i hope you’ve gotten and gave some good stuff!! i hope you’re all staying safe too <3 this was requested as a headcanon but i put a twist on it because why not

━━━ ➳❥

your dad loves parties. hosting them, attending them, crashing them. he’s actually known for it.

this year, he’s throwing a little party for christmas. everyone at the compound is coming, but there’s someone you care about more than the rest. peter. he’s one of your favorite people and closest friends.

your crush, too.

these things can be a bit overwhelming, so the two of you always stick together. you’ll sometimes sneak upstairs to your room and binge movies with pajamas and all kinds of junk food. it’s your own party in a way. you two enjoy the time you don’t spend at the real ones more than anything.

thor and bruce are currently doing their own rendition of all i want for christmas. your dad made the mistake of setting up karaoke. you laugh along, natasha dragging them in every way possible. steve snaps to the beat. wanda is covering her face in second hand embarrassment. vision offers tips that he searched every possible database for.

sam and bucky took peter somewhere a while ago. that can never be good. he’ll probably come back covered in whipped cream or something stupid. those two never leave peter alone. it’s kind of sweet when you think about it.

“thank you! thank you very much, children,” thor grins as everyone applauds the performance. bruce takes a bow. “we’ll be here all night.” you shake your head at the two of them. they’re too funny. natasha shares a look with you. “boo, get off the stage!” bucky calls as he enters the room. sam and peter follow behind him.

peter is smiling like an idiot, not that his smile isn’t adorable. it just seems a bit off. you really have to find out what they did to him.

“uh, this is my stage,” thor scoffs and grabs the microphone off the stand. grimacing, bruce puts a hand on his shoulder. “let’s calm down, buddy.” “no, i think we should do another one. santa baby.” he points to natasha. “hit play for us, thanks.” she sighs and puts the song on through the speakers. you can’t win with thor.

you watch sam whisper something to peter, then bucky cackles. tony and pepper make their way in and sit down next to you on the couch.

“what’s going on in here?” pepper asks you, nudging your arm. you’re more concerned with what’s going on with peter. “a sing off. it was karaoke, but bucky riled thor up.” your dad clicks his tongue. “that absolute madman.”

“he’s not the only madman tonight,” your mom comments, widening her eyes at the sight in front of her. you furrow your eyebrows and follow her gaze. your mouth drops open.

peter is dancing around in front of them. he’s trying to hip bump bruce, who keeps inching closer to thor. sam and bucky are doubled over from the other side of the room. they ruined your poor peter.

thor chuckles and pats peter on the back. he happily accepts it very much like a puppy would. he’s wearing a headband with jingle bells on it and there’s a weird stain on his shirt.

“little spider has been drinking,” thor announces, peter’s cheeks glowing red. that makes sense. you immediately glare at sam and bucky. they raise their hands in defense. they’re still on the hook.

“god, i can smell him from here,” natasha agrees and waves her hand in the air. “they‘d be able to smell him from sokovia,” wanda mutters. “parker? are you shit-faced right now?” your dad speaks up, a look between concern and anger on his face. his giggling gives him away.

“it’s christmas. you’re drunk out of your mind on christmas. i can’t have that.” tony points upstairs, signaling for him to go. you’re pretty sure peter didn’t process a word of that. pepper rubs up and down tony’s arm with a frown. “oh, tony. don’t be a grinch.” he sighs and watches peter try to climb into steve’s lap.

“he needs to sleep this off, pep. kid hasn’t had a drop of alcohol before tonight.” it’s true. he’s big on not drinking until he’s old enough. you have to wonder what changed. “i’ll bring him to his room, dad. he shouldn’t go alone,” you offer, already getting to your feet. “thanks, y/n/n. look at you, making good choices.”

you walk up to steve and give him an apologetic smile. relief washes over his face. “he’s all yours,” he laughs out. “all yours,” peter repeats in a giggle. “mhm. let’s go, peter.” you take him by his arm and pull him away from steve.

he’s easy to drag along because of the state he’s in. he nuzzles his face into the side of your neck, your arm around his waist.

“you smell so good, y/n. sooo nice,” peter almost sings, sniffing you for good measure. “you don’t,” you deadpan. the two of you pass by sam and bucky on your way out. “you’re actually messed up for this,” you tell them under your breath, bucky gasping. “hey, miss stark. it was his idea!” sam yells out to you. you’re not in the mood to hear it.

peter cuddles into your side while you lead him up the stairs. his breath is hot on you and wreaks of expensive liquor from your dad’s cabinet. you never imagined you’d see him like this.

he’s still clinging onto you, so you open his door by pressing your back to it. “come on, pete. you have to lay down,” you tell him as nicely as you can. he stops walking in the middle of the room. “wait. lemme show you something.” he wiggles his eyebrows and shakes his head around. it makes the jingle bells on his head... jingle.

“did you like it?” peter asks and leans his head down to do it again. stifling a laugh, you grab his shoulders. “yeah, peter. i liked it. you can stop jingling your bells now.” “you should... should jingle my bells,” he slurs, smirking at you. you quickly take your hands off of him. “oh my god, you’re so drunk.”

he’s doing all the things you wish he would when he’s sober.

“are you mad at me?” peter pouts his lip out. “don’t be mad at me, y/n.” you press your own lips together and take a seat on his bed. he plops down next to you, pushing his head against your shoulder. “no, but i am mad at sam and bucky. i can’t believe they’d do this.” his face twists up in confusion. “and on christmas.”

“do what?” he wonders and settles his head on you. “let you drink?” you ask like it should be obvious. it should be. “no, no, no. they were helping me.” peter puffs some air out of his cheeks. that gives him the idea to blow into your ear. you flinch and push at his shoulder.

“peter, they gave you alcohol. it’s clearly not good for you.” “no, y/n.” he closes his eyes and lays his head on your shoulder again. “i got my own. they-“ he’s interrupted by a hiccup. you can’t help but laugh, pulling him closer. “‘scuse me. they helped me with something else.”

drunk peter is kind of cute. super cute, to be real.

“what was it?” you decide to entertain him, figuring he’ll say something ridiculous. “asking you out,” peter answers way too casually. you almost don’t believe him. then again, he’s pretty self aware at the moment. it’s probably because his powers give him a higher tolerance.

peter feels your heart speeding up next to him. he presses his head to it so he can hear. “you- are you serious?” you stammer, willing him to look up at you. “uh huh. i like you a lot.” a lazy smile takes over his face. “a lot a lot.” “peter...” he’s still going.

“i asked them for advice. it sucked. we were in the kitchen and i remembered your dad’s...” he pauses to think of the word. “stash. i thought drinking would make me loose.” he moves his body around for a visual.

you’re still shocked sam and bucky let him go through with it. it does sound like them, though. you’re more shocked peter likes you back and just admitted it.

sober peter would never admit any of that.

“you don’t have to change anything for me, pete. i like you, too.” you grin down at him. peter returns it and puckers his lips at you. “cool. does that mean i can get a kiss?” letting out a breath, you help him sit up again. he whines about it for all of ten seconds before yawning.

this isn’t exactly how you saw this moment going. peter is too shy to ever really initiate anything, and you never knew if he felt the same. you’re always trying to figure out each other’s boundaries. he has to debate with himself about little things like giving you his jacket or facetiming you at night.

he never wants to overstep. you never want to scare him off. having him drunkenly snuggle with you breaks all those boundaries. at least something finally does. the kiss will have to wait until whatever he drank leaves his system, which hopefully won’t be long. his powers are a possibility once again.

“it’s nap time for you,” you tell peter like he’s a kid. he protests like one, too. “but i’m not tired.” “yeah you are. you just yawned.” he opens his mouth to speak. you talk first. “lay down.” he’s caught off guard this time when you push at his chest. it makes him fall back on the pillows.

you giggle and take the jingle bells off his head. they can’t be comfortable. peter makes grabby hands for you. “come lay with me, baby,” he mumbles into the pillow his face is squished in. your heart flutters hearing him call you that. his arms do look inviting. they’re all ready to hold you.

too bad he’s on time out.

“i can’t. i’m supposed to be back downstairs already.” you unenthusiastically get up from the bed. peter groans, rolling onto his side. “i want christmas cuddles.” “you’ll get some after your nap,” you promise and poke his shoulder. “and a kiss.” he closes his eyes the literal second you say that.

you like this boy way too much.

#tom holland #peter parker #tom holland fluff #tom holland smut #tom holland fic #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker fic #peter parker fluff #peter parker smut #peter parker x stark!reader #tony stark #marvel #spiderman

[ghostofskywalker]

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson

Sam Wilson/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,185

Summary: When Bucky finally gets a girlfriend, you and Sam are desperate to meet her. He keeps her pretty far away from the compound, but when you finally get a chance to talk, she invites you out for a double date. There’s just one issue: she thinks you and Sam are together. 

this is a second gift for @saiyanprincessswanie​! i hope your recovery is going well and i’m still sending positive thoughts your way!! 

Sam Wilson Masterlist

Sam didn’t even bother knocking on your door, instead just opening it and walking in, waking you from the nap you were taking. “Where’s the fire?” you asked sleepily, sitting up in bed.

“Barnes has a girlfriend,” he said, and you weren’t sure if you had heard him right.

“Bucky has a girlfriend?” you asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yes!”

You stifled a yawn. “And how do you know?”

Sam smiled. “I heard him talking to Steve about going on a date a couple weeks ago, and he just let it slip that he has a girlfriend this morning.”

“We should meet her.”

“That’s what I said, but Bucky won’t let me anywhere near her,” Sam responded. “He thinks I’d scare her away.”

“If she’s dating Bucky, then nothing can scare her away,” you said. “He just doesn’t want to bring her around because he’s embarrassed by us.”

Sam laughed. “You’re right, he’s probably made her think he’s so cool and collected.”

“And he’s probably worried we’d tell her that he blew up the microwave last week,” you added.

“Exactly! We have to meet this girl, set the record straight.”

You had an idea. “If we get her to invite us out with them Bucky can’t say no, because he’ll have to admit why he doesn’t want us there.”

“But knowing him he probably won’t let her anywhere near the compound to even meet us in passing,” Sam said.

“Unless we do something about that,” you said.

But as it turned out, intervention wasn’t even necessary, because Bucky’s girlfriend actually stopped by the compound less than a week later. You were sitting on the couch with Sam and watching TV when an unfamiliar woman walked in. She looked confused, like she was in the wrong place, so you decided to get up. “Do you need help getting somewhere?” you asked kindly as you approached her.

She looked startled for a moment, but then nodded. “Yeah, I’m looking for Bucky Barnes, but this is kind of a surprise, so I couldn’t really ask him where he was. I wanted to stop by and say hello before I left for work.”

It was at that moment where you realized who this woman was, and a smile spread across your face. “I think he’s in a meeting right now,” you said. “But you’re welcome to wait here until he gets out.”

The woman looked a little nervous. “Are you sure? I can just try another day,” she said timidly.

“I’m serious, it’s no issue,” you insisted, knowing that this was likely the only chance you and Sam were going to get to talk to Bucky’s girlfriend by yourselves. “I’m Y/N,” you said, holding your hand out for her to shake. You nodded over towards the couch, where Sam was watching the two of you interact. “And that’s Sam.”

“I’m Dana,” she said, and you led her into the living room, where she sat on one of the chairs across from the couch. You returned to your place next to Sam and turned the TV off.

“You’re Bucky’s girlfriend, right?” Sam asked, and she nodded.

“We’ve wanted to meet you for a while,” you added.

Dana smiled. “I’ve wanted to meet his friends too,” she said.

“He’s keeping you from us, is he?” Sam asked, eyebrows raised. “What, is he worried we’d embarrass him?”

You and Dana laughed. “I don’t think so,” she said. “But I’d love to go on a double date with you guys one time, I think it would be fun!”

Double date? Did she think you and Sam were together? Sam was your best friend, and you would be lying if you said you didn’t wish you were together sometimes, but the relationship you had with him definitely wasn’t what she was implying. You didn’t even get a chance to respond and set the record straight though, because Bucky walked into the room. “What are you doing here?” he asked as Dana got up to give him a hug.

“I wanted to surprise you!” she said brightly. “I didn’t know where you were, but Y/N said I could wait until you got out of your meeting.”

“I was going to call you and see if you wanted to go to dinner tomorrow night,” he said.

“That works for me! And Sam and Y/N can come too!”

You could see Bucky pause as he took in her words. “What?”

“Yeah, I was just saying to Y/N how we should go on a double date!”

“Double date?”

“Yeah, silly!” Dana said. You could see Bucky wanted to say something, but he was cut off when Dana’s phone made a noise and she looked down to see what it was. “I have to leave for work now, but I’ll text you what time is good for me tomorrow, okay?”

Bucky nodded and pecked her on the cheek before she left. A few moments after the door closed behind her, he turned towards you and Sam with his eyebrows raised. “Double date?”

“What?” you asked.

“You’re not together,” Bucky said. “So how would this be a double date?”

“Look, she assumed we were together, so we didn’t lie to her,” Sam said.

“But you didn’t correct her?”

That’s when you jumped in. “We were about to, until you walked in.”

“Great, then I’ll tell her you two can’t come,” Bucky said, but stopped when you and Sam both gave him matching death glares. “What?”

“We told you that we wanted to meet your girlfriend,” you said. “So yes, we will be going to dinner with you two tomorrow night.”

Now Bucky was confused. “But you’re not together.”

Sam shook his head. “No, but we can pretend for one night,” he said, looking over at you. “Right?”

You nodded, even though you knew that pretending to be with Sam was probably going to cause you more pain, because you would be wishing the lies were true. “Yeah, it’ll be no problem,” you said instead. “And if you tell Dana that we’re not together before then, I’ll tell her that you blew up the microwave last week and send her the footage we have from when you got drunk off Thor’s Asgardian mead.”

Bucky’s eyes flashed. “You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe not,” you said. “But I could.”

“Fine,” Bucky sighed. “I’ll let you two idiots come along.”

“See? That wasn’t that difficult,” Sam said jokingly as Bucky turned and left the room.

Maybe it wasn’t that difficult for Bucky, but handling your feelings for Sam tomorrow night without ruining your friendship with him was going to be tough for you.

***

So far, the dinner was going well. The food was good, conversation flowed easily, and Bucky and Sam hadn’t killed each other yet, which was always a plus.

When Sam had arrived at your room before you left for the restaurant, he was wearing a suit. No one on the team really dressed up unless they absolutely had to, so this wasn’t a common sight to see, and damn, he looked good in it. You had to keep your jaw from dropping open when you opened the door to see him standing in the doorway, and it just amplified all your feelings for him. You desperately wished that you were going out with him by yourselves tonight, and that the relationship you had was real, not a lie to spend time with Bucky and his girlfriend.

You were worried that Dana would realize that you weren’t actually together, but so far she hadn’t. Probably because Sam was being extra affectionate with you, something that only made your feelings for him grow. He opened the car door for you, pulled out your chair at the restaurant, held your hand whenever he could and kissed you lightly on the cheek when you first met Bucky and Dana in the lobby of the compound. Your heart twisted every time he touched you, because you knew this was only for tonight.

“You haven’t told me much about you guys,” Dana said as the four of you were finishing up dinner. It was true, you had spent most of the time talking about her and Bucky, but you didn’t know how to respond to that. How could you tell someone that you hadn’t been telling her the truth so you could blackmail your friend into letting you meet his girlfriend?

“Us?” Sam asked. “Oh we’re boring, I promise.”

“You couldn’t tell it tonight, but they’re the most lovey-dovey couple I’ve ever seen,” Bucky said, a sly grin spreading over his face. This must be payback for tricking him into letting you two crash his date, and you didn’t like where it was going.

“Really?” Dana said. “Well you guys don’t have to be that way for me, it’s fine!”

You shook your head, not even wanting to look over at Sam. You just hoped he was keeping his cool through this. “Bucky is overexaggerating,” you laughed, shooting him a pointed look.

“They’re just being modest,” Bucky responded, and you had to keep yourself from getting up and hitting him.

Thankfully the subject was dropped before anything else happened, but you couldn’t stop thinking about what might have happened. If this were a movie, you might have grabbed Sam and kissed him to prove the fact that you were together, or maybe he would have done the same to you. But this was your life, and happy endings didn’t just fall into your lap, no matter how much you wished they would.

The world around you felt like it was closing in more every second you spent sitting at that table. You became acutely away of how close Sam was sitting to you, and how he would occasionally take your hand and give it a comforting squeeze. You couldn’t help but fall more for him every second, and it hurt.

When you finally got back to the tower, you shut yourself in your room, still in the clothes you wore to the restaurant. You stared at yourself in the mirror, still wishing that what you pretended to have with Sam Wilson was real.

A knock on your door jerked you away from your thoughts, and you didn’t move, intending to let whoever was at the door walk away, but no footsteps were heard. The person knocked again, and you sighed as you got up to open the door. You were surprised to see Sam on the other side. “Can we talk?” he asked.

Silently, you nodded and let him in. “What do you want to talk about?” you asked.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said. “Because at the restaurant you seemed distant.”

“I’m fine,” you said, not wanting to have to admit why you were acting that way.

“Y/N, I know you,” Sam said. “And I can tell why you’re lying to me, so please, are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay, because I’m in love with you,” you mumbled, and the words were already out of your mouth before you could take them back.

You looked up at Sam, desperately hoping that he hadn’t heard you, but you weren’t that lucky. “Are you serious?” he asked, taking a step closer to you.

You started to speak. “I’m sorry-”

But you couldn’t finish your sentence because he cut you off. “Y/N, please,” he said. “I need you to tell me if you meant it.”

Taking a deep breath, you nodded. “Yeah,” you said quietly. “I meant it.”

“Oh thank god,” Sam said, before closing the gap between you and placing his lips on yours. You kissed back immediately, your mind unable to think about anything but the man standing in front of you and how much you loved him. His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer to him, and the two of you finally broke apart for air, panting slightly. “I’ve been in love with you for so long Y/N,” Sam said. “Tonight was a special kind of torture, because I had to act like I had everything I wanted, but in reality we were going to get back here and go back to living as friends, and I just can’t live with that anymore.”

“It was like that for me too,” you said. “When Bucky said that we were a PDA couple I didn’t know if I wanted to strangle him or kiss you, but I didn’t do either. I didn’t think you felt that way about me.”

Sam leaned in and kissed you again, and it was just as perfect as the first time. “I thought the same about you,” he said. “I guess we’re both terrible at seeing what’s right in front of us then.”

You laughed as you leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m glad we got this straightened out then,” you said. “But I don’t think we should tell anyone right away.”

Sam nodded. “Bucky would be insufferable if he knew,” he said. “And besides, I want to keep you all to myself for a little while.”

- the end -

#sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson x y/n #sam wilson x you #sam wilson x female reader #sam wilson fanfiction #captain america x reader #falcon x reader #marvel #marvel x reader

[tiedyemillenialbullshit]

Nightmare

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Avenger Reader Word Count: 3,431 Summary: Your best friend finally comes to visit the compound after you join the Avengers. What starts out as a fun night out, quickly turns dire for you and Bucky. Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Feelings, Mentions of Alcohol and Drugs, PTSD/Nightmares, swearing

“AHHHH Y/N!!” You hear her before you see your best friend running towards you, not a care in the world that your entire team has also turned around to watch you two galavant towards each other like long lost sisters.

You catch Sarah in your arms and spin her around.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re FINALLY HERE! And you’re early! Holy shit like I can’t believe you’re finally here in New York!! Let me introduce you to the team!” You grab her arm after she starts to show hesitance in meeting the Avengers all at once.

“Are you sure they have time? I don’t want to be a bother,” she says sheepishly.

“Oh my god Sarah, I talk about you all the time! They’re just as excited to meet you, come on.” You both walk towards the team still staring at you both near the entrance to the compound doing a quick debrief of a not-so-successful mission the day before.

“Guys, this is Sarah. Sarah this is-“ she cuts you off. “I know who you guys all are. It’s so nice to meet you! I’ll stay out of the way, I promise.” Everyone grins and introduces themselves to your best friend.

Nat smiles at you both, “On the contrary, you’re coming out with us tonight! No if’s, and’s or but’s”

Sarah seems to suddenly catch a second wind from her long flight and lets out a squeal of excitement.

You’re the newest to the “official” team, even though Steve and Fury had been trying to recruit you for years. You didn’t like the idea of the world knowing about your skill set and preferred to live a quiet life back in California. Ever since moving here, you’ve felt like maybe you weren’t home yet. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, but you missed your little house hidden in the outskirts of the National Parks in California. You missed the sun, the familiar smell of your patch of paradise and the general sense of room back home. Most importantly, you missed Sarah.

You were reluctant to invite her out to New York at first, but now that things seemed to be going smoothly, you sent for her via a car and private jet thanks to one Mr. Tony Stark. He was more than happy to help you out given your fresh and maybe sometimes bumpy arrival to the Avengers.

As everyone filed inside to break away before the evening festivities, Bucky caught your arm.

After holding you back for a second he said, “Hey, I can totally hang back tonight if you’d rather just be with Sarah and the team.”

You realize what he’s getting at. He also has some lack of feeling settled at the compound. It was something you bonded over when you first arrived. You both had similar pasts, even though they were at the same time lightyears apart.

“Buck, no. I think we’re all going out to Bleaker’s tonight! What’s a better way to get to know the team than bowling, beer, smoking inside, beer, old arcade games, more beer and maybe dancing?!”

Bucky gives you a quick glare out the corner of his eye before wrapping his metal arm around your shoulders to lead you inside after everyone.

“Fiiiiiiine, but I can’t promise I’ll behave.” You giggle, but suddenly feel a couple sets of eyes on you.

“And what do we have here?,” Tony asks with a smirk across his mouth. Sarah seems to be in the middle of an engaging conversation with Steve, so you don’t seem to have an easy out of this encounter. Bucky quickly drops his arm and steps a foot away from you.

“Uh, nothing. Y/N just seemed like maybe she wasn’t feeling well.”

“But I’m fine so here we are - have you seen Sam? Nat? Wanda? I told them we should be ready in a few hours and I jus-“

“Oh for Christ’s sake guys, your secret is safe with me,” Tony winks at you knowingly. You decide to take that as the end of the conversation and rush over to join Sarah.

“So! You have muscles.” Sarah says clearly at a loss of words looking at Steve in a tight shirt.

You and Bucky share a giggle, but pull Sarah away and save her from further embarrassment.

“What the fuck did I just say?” Sarah is about as red as a tomato as you drag her upstairs away from the awkward encounter. Steve looked a little flustered as well, which you file away in the back of your brain.

“Who cares! Let’s catch up and get ready for tonight.” Sarah is your best friend for a reason. Even though it had been 6 months since you last saw each other, it was like it was yesterday. You two spend the next few hours catching up, gossiping about each other’s families, friends, ex-boyfriends, etc.

“So! How are we doing in the boi department?” You turn around and face Sarah at the inquisitive tone in her question.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m good, I’m… I’m doing great, I mean yeah I’m good. WHY?” You’re stuttering and you don’t even care it’s obvious you’re blushing.

“Oh, you know. I mean, I’ve only recently met a few super soldiers, but I do think I can tell the there’s a spark between one and someone else.” Sarah so wants you to spill the tea but you promised Bucky you’d keep it quiet.

“Let’s just say things are developing and whatever you’d like to take from that you may.” You both launch into a giggle fit of her guessing and you denying certain aspects of Bucky Barnes.

When Wanda wanders into your room a few hours later, she starts laughing at what she sees. “You know you two are wearing like the same thing, right?” Exchanging confused looks at each other, you reply with a “AND?!”

Sam follows in with a smirk of his own. You’re bracing for his jokes but instead says “damn, OKAY! Everyone’s looking sharp tonight. Y/N, have you seen our bionic man around? Is he coming? He better come out tonight or I swear to…”

After Sam leaves to go find Bucky, the three of you wander down to find Nat and start the evening off with a shot or two. You aren’t much of a drinker, so one is enough for you. You much rather enjoy the company of your friend Mary Jane.

The team is getting silly with each other in the kitchen and quickly the room is filled with people yelling at each other to pregame harder, laughing when Nat’s little sister challenges Sam to a chugging contest and wins.

You feel a large hand at the small of your back. You can smell his cologne and know who it is immediately.

“Well don’t you look dashing tonight Sargent Barnes.” You lean in on impulse but stop yourself just as the girls turn around to see who you’re talking to.

“I was just going to say the same thing to you, sweets.” He mumbles in your ear before removing his hand and walking over to Sam.

The alcohol decides to hit you then, leaving you feeling empty that he’s not standing next to you anymore. Neither of you had wanted to have the “conversation” but you knew you were head over heels for him.

“CABS ARE HERE” screams Sam.

“Sam. For the love of God, stop watching Jersey Shore.” Natasha jokes to him.

At the same time Steve screams, “I understood that reference!” Eye rolls are exchanged as you all make your way outside.

The atmosphere is buzzing and you’re so excited to not just be out with your team, but to also have the only bit of family you had with you as well. You finally felt at home, at peace, and were ready for a fun night out.

Bleaker’s is one of those hole-in-the-wall dive bars that from the outside seems like a hard pass, but once you’re in, there’s no other place you’d rather spend a Saturday night. It’s true it started as a bowling alley in the 60’s. That still remains. What’s newer is the arcade in the back, where the old salon used to be. Jimmy bought the space next door, blew out the wall and filled it with arcade games that sometimes work and sometimes eat your money.

After years of being regular patrons, he knows your team well. The minute you walk in, he starts up all your favorite drinks.

“Ah! My best customers! I had a feeling I’d be seeing Earth’s mightiest heroes tonight.” You line up at the bar for whatever Jimmy decides you’re drinking tonight.

“Ah yes, two vodka on the rocks for my little Russian assassins. Sam here’s your vodka red bull which I don’t think you need, but here we are. Steve! Your drink of choice: an Old Style. Wanda, a cosmo for my favorite witch. And who do we have here, Y/N?”

You’re already both in hysterics at the old man behind the bar giving everybody a hard time. “Jimmy, this is my best friend Sarah. She’s visiting from California for a few days.”

“And whatever the lady wants can be put on my tab…” Steve butts in. Sarah immediately turns red but says “well in that case I’ll have vodka soda with lime please!”

Bucky has come up behind you and now you’re both laughing and watching the two of them stare at each other like no one else is in the room.

“Oh no, what did you do Y/N?”

“Let it play out, he’s not completely tripping over his words yet, maybe he’ll finally land a good girl.” You hush to Bucky.

Jimmy stares as well in amusement. “And you two? Your usual?”

“Yes’sir!” You shout over the growing music. Jimmy hands you each a jack and Diet Coke. You tell yourself it’s okay because it’s diet, but you know that’s a bunch of bullshit.

The other great thing about Bleaker’s? The dance floor downstairs. You always joke around that it seems like a nightclub that never closes in Amsterdam or something, but you’re serious. It could be 3 pm and sunny and you’d never know. It’s in the basement, it's always dark and the music is almost always too loud.

Usually that would gross you all out, but the energy tonight is pushing you all downstairs.

You reach back and grab Bucky’s hand not really caring who sees. It’s been months of sneaking around and either everyone knows and is playing it off like they don't or you’re really good at hiding it. Regardless, you’re over hiding. Maybe showing a little PDA tonight will get him out of his shell.

Sarah and Steve are no where in sight, assuming they’re ahead of you, you follow the team downstairs.

Minutes turn into hours. Everyone is dancing, laughing, sweating, screaming the lyrics to every song, and for a little while you can forget you’re a group of superheroes, and can just be normal 30-something year-olds.

You mostly dance with Bucky and quickly realize he’s a better dancer than you thought he would be. Those moves from the 1940’s must still be relevant in some way today, because the way he's grinding up on you and not caring if anyone sees just does something to you.

You work the room, finding Sarah, Wanda, Nat, even Steve for a song before you realize you don't see Bucky. You give it a few minutes thinking maybe he is in the bathroom. After 15 minutes though, you grab Steve’s attention and motion for him to check the bathroom while you check outside.

You race to the alley where you find Jimmy on a smoke break. “Hey Jimmy, have you seen Bucky? I can’t find him.”

“Oh yeah, doll, he took off in a cab about a half hour ago. Looked real flustered, but I didn’t want to press.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. You thought you felt his mood shift about an hour ago, he was becoming stiff and quiet. You thought maybe he was just drinking a lot but now you’re realizing the loud music, strobe lights and base must have been triggering him.

“Ugh I’m such a bitch,” you huff as you send Steve a S.O.S text.

You: Hey, Jimmy said he just left. I'm sure he's heading home. I'm going to go find him.

Sire Captain Rogers: Go ahead. I think Sarah and I can find something to do while you find Buck. ;)

You: Yeah I’m sure you can.

You: BEHAVE. She’s my best friend.

Sire Captain Rogers: I know Y/N, don’t worry about us. Let me know when you find him.

You lock your phone and hop in a cab back to the compound.

No one is up or around when you enter through the front. The kitchen has been cleaned up, the dishes done. Probably thanks to THURSDAY, Tony’s beta bot for “cleaning up after you assholes trash the place.”

You smirk and head for the elevators. Heading straight to Bucky’s room, you can tell his light is on but something seems off. You don’t like to use your powers on friends or in the compound, but you close your eyes and reach out with your mind to find his aura. Your eyes snap open. You don’t sense him, you just see red.

Taking this as a good excuse to break into a friend’s room, you burst into the room to find it in disarray. Everything is toppled over, broken glass is on the floor, the bathroom light is on, but all you can see is his blood on the door and the floor. You’re panicked, trying to piece together what happened.

Again, you close your eyes and reach out for the familiar energy of Bucky. You find him in your room on the floor.

“What the fuck?,” you mumble and sprint up the stairs to your apartment. You shoot Steve a text on your way up.

You: Found him, looks like a bad one. I’ll let you know if I need you.

Sir Captain Rogers: Thanks Y/N. I’m just a call away, let me know if you need anything. Night.

Upon entering, you sense he’s in distress. His heart rate is elevated, he’s incredibly sweaty and is panting like a dog.

“Bucky? Buck, it’s me, it’s Y/N.”

Bucky stirs and jumps into a defensive standing position quicker than you can blink. You flip the lights on with a “BABE. Baaabe, it’s me. It’s okay, you’re safe. We’re in the compound. You had a nightmare.”

Bucky’s eyes are wide and alarmed, but you can tell the moment he recognizes you.

Rushing over to you, he takes you into a big hug. “Oh my god. What happened? Are you okay, did I hurt you?”

“No Bucky, no I just found you a minute ago. You had another bad one, what do you need me to do right now for you?”

Bucky stands back and rubs his swollen eyes. “I need to shower, can you help me?”

Typically, this is where it gets exciting, but you knew what he means. Water grounds him. He doesn’t feel like he’s falling in water. It helps him visualize the stress washing off of him.

You help him strip and get in the shower, but before you can even take his jeans off, he jumps in and pulls you in with him. You realize how desperate he is for whatever he’s feeling to pass and your heart sinks.

You’re both standing there, almost fully clothed holding each other. This is the worst you’ve seen him in a long time.

“I’m so sorry if I ruined your night, Y/N. The base sounded like the train, the lights looked like the machine they used on me, what the fuck.”

You aren’t sure what to do so you decide to sit on the ground and pull him down with you. You position yourself behind him so his back is in your chest. Even though he’s so much larger than you, he sinks down enough for you to reach over his shoulders and hold him.

“It’s okay Barnes, just breathe with me. You’re safe. You’re with me, and we’re home. Nobody is going to touch you. I’ve got you, you won’t fall.”

You take in deep breaths so he can match your breathing.

After about 45 minutes, the hot water is out in the tank. Bucky sits forward and turns towards you. You want him to lead right now, so you don’t say anything. Neither does he, but the look in his eyes are telling you something about tonight is different.

With a soft smile on your lips, you cup his cheek until he is really looking at you. “Hun, let’s go lay down, ya? Let me help get you dried off.” Bucky hates when you fuss over him, so when he doesn’t argue, you know to be extra gentle with him.

After getting him up and out of the shower, you think skin-to-skin contact doesn’t seem sexual right now, it feels intimate in a grounding sense, and you know that’s exactly what he needs right now. Bucky seems dazed, almost like he got hit too hard in the head. You yourself are of course a tad over-served, and are quickly realizing the adrenaline of this entire situation is rubbing off.

You get Bucky into bed and turn to make sure his phone is plugged in and that he has a glass of water, but he grabs your wrist before you can move away. “Just leave it, it’s fine.”

“Buck, just let me-“ he grabs your wrist harder.

“Y/N. Please just stay here. Please.”

The entire time you’ve been together, he’s done a lot of things but begging you for anything is not one of them. Suddenly the phone and whatever hell else you were doing doesn’t seem important anymore.

You climb into your usual spot next to him and decide maybe you’ll try to get him to open up. The moment the back of your head hits the pillow, Bucky is facing you. His pleading eyes seem like they want to tell you everything that’s going on in his head, but you know pushing him to talk will just make the nightmares come flooding back too soon.

Instead, you decide to lay on your back and pull him to lay on your chest.

“Just listen to my heart beat, Bucky.” You hear him take a deep breath and settle into your chest.

You start and stop yourself from trying to say something comforting. You’re terrified to say the wrong thing at such a crucial moment. Typically these bad episodes are reserved for a Steve house call. You realize as he’s settling into a comfortable position that he hasn’t asked you to call Steve yet. Bucky trusts you in a way you didn’t realize until now.

You don’t know when, but you start humming the first calming song that comes in your head.

I’ll be seeing you In all the old familiar places That this heart of mine embraces All day through

Bucky picks his head up to look at you. Oh fuck.

“Where did you hear that song?,” he says to you with shiny eyes.

“You sing it all the time when you’re concentrating. I looked it up and added it to my ‘bath time/relax’ playlist. I didn't know Billie Holliday was a favorite of yours."

Bucky was looking at you like maybe this was the first time he saw you, like really saw you. “My mom used to sing that around the house when she was missing my dad.”

“Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. I can hum a diff-“ you’re cut off with the most searing kiss Bucky has ever given you. He’s crying when he pulls back to look at you again. “Will you keep singing it?”

In that small cafe The park across the way The children's carousel That chestnut tree, the wishing well

By the time you finish the second verse, he has physically relaxed in your arms. You continue rubbing your hand up and down his back and shoulder, stopping to play with his long hair every once in a while.

I'll be seeing you In every lovely summer's day In every thing that's light and gay I'll always think of you that way

“I forgot how much I love hearing this song sung around me.” Bucky whispers so quietly you almost miss it.

I'll find you in the morning sun And when the night is new I'll be looking at the moon But I'll be seeing you…

You stop your caressing when you feel him sit up on one arm.

He leans down to kiss you but stops short to whisper “I love you Y/N.” You kiss him back and wrap your arms around his shoulders, and when you say “I love you too, Bucky,” you’ve never been more sure of something in your life.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #marvel fanfiction #bucky fluff #steve rogers

[holylulusworld]

Deafening Silence

Summary: Steve and you are falling apart. Can you save your marriage?

Pairing: Nomad!Steve x fem!Reader

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter (mentioned), Tony Stark

Warnings: angst, language, unrequited love?, arguments, you and Steve go through a rough patch in your relationship, regrets, a hint of fluff, pissed reader, sadness

A/N: Not Endgame compliant. No one died, everyone is still alive and kicking.

Divider by @firefly-graphics​

Another cold night awaits you. Once upon a time you and Steve were undefeatable and, to be honest, sickening in love. Now you lie on the edge of the bed, try to not get too close to your husband as he always finds an excuse to not hold you in his arms any longer.

Tears well up to your eyes hearing him snore lightly next to you. Wondering if he’s losing sleep lately too but the way he peacefully sleeps tells you, he’s not letting his mind run wild.

“No sleep for me again, I guess,” silently leaving the bed you grasp one of his shirts to press it to your nose. It’s the only time you can catch his scent, so you take what you get. “Sleep well, Stevie. You don’t seem to have problems falling asleep.”

As so often lately, you walk out of the bedroom to grab a snack or watch nonsense on TV to take your mind of the problems right in front of you. Somewhere on the line you and Steve lost your love, or you lost Steve. You haven’t found out yet.

All you know is that the deafening silence between you and your husband is breaking you every day more.

“Can’t find sleep?” Bucky asks, watching you sit on one of the chairs in the kitchen. Steve invited his friend to sleep a few weeks at your guestroom as his apartment got blown up by one of New Hydra’s goons.

“I just-“ you bite your tongue, shaking your head every so lightly. You like Bucky, he’s your friend, but you can’t talk about Steve with him. He’s your husband’s best friend and would side with Steve over anyone. “Sometimes I got problems to fall asleep, is all,” you lie poorly.

“What about Steve?” searching your face Bucky nods silently. He can see your red-rimmed eyes and hear your tiny sighs whenever Steve ignores your present. “Maybe you want hot cocoa? I can make you some, doll.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just sit here for a while, ya know,” playing with your wedding band you don’t meet Bucky’s gaze, fearing he’ll see through your lie. “I just got a lot of things going on right now. We are back, work with Tony and the others again. Maybe we just need time to adapt.”

“If I can help, tell me so,” offering a cracked smile you nod, knowing you can’t take Bucky up to his offer. “You’re my friend too. How about we watch a movie and talk a bit?”

“I appreciate your offer, but I’m not in the mood to talk, Bucky,” sadly you are too tired and emotionally exhausted to even talk about the thing weighing heavy on your heart.

“Y/N,” walking toward Bucky places one hand onto your shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “Just talk to him, doll. Steve loves you and-“ you huff. It’s the first reaction he gets from you making clear you are hurt. 

“I don’t want to talk about it, him,” voice cracking you watch Bucky rummage in your kitchen to prepare cocoa for you. 

“You went through a lot together over the last years,” Bucky begins, eyes drifting toward you slumped in your chair. “Ultron, the accords, me,” you laugh when Bucky gives you a wink. “I know, I’m the most charming event rocking the boat but then there was the war between the Avengers, Thanos, the blip, and after that-”

“Steve told me he thought about going back to Peggy for a split-second, that life back then was easier and more-“ you try to find the right words but fail. “All I got was that he’s still a man out of time and that he’s sorry for considering going back.”

“Well, shit-“ Bucky grumbles. “I didn’t know, I swear. Here I stand, believing I know everything about my friend,” you shrug, watching Bucky prepare two mugs. “Did he at least apologize?”

“He did, more than once and I forgave, but never forgot,” sniffing you look at Bucky. “Since then, he started to distance himself from me. I feel like he regrets coming back to me, Bucky.” gasping you realize you just revealed your thoughts.

“Doll...”

“Please don’t tell him. I know Steve is a good man, but sometimes I think it would be easier for me if he just does what he has on his mind for months – file for divorce.”

“Anything from Steve?” watching Bucky check his phone you sigh deeply. Steve disappeared this morning, out of the blue. “Why didn’t he tell us about his mission? He always told me about his missions, confidential or not.”

“I got nothing either, doll,” grumbling Bucky sit on the couch, scrolling through his contacts. “Shall I call Tony or Natasha? Maybe they can fill us in why Stevie just grabbed a bag and left without telling us about his mission.”

“No,” biting your lower lip you wreck your brain. Maybe Steve did tell you about his mission? Lately, you are too lost in thoughts and self-doubts and barely listen if Steve finally talks to you. “I have work to do at the new tower. I will ask Tony if he can tell me about Steve’s whereabouts.”

“Okay,” wondering again Bucky looks at his phone, shaking his head at Steve’s message from last night. 

“Steve is not on a mission?” gaping at Tony you try to hide you can hear your heart pounding in your ears. “I thought he went on a mission last night. Did I confuse the date?”

“There is no mission for Capsicle,” Tony snickers. “According to my information, he took a week off. Said something about sorting things out. Honestly, I didn’t listen.”

“O-okay,” you swallow thickly, force a smile on your lips hurting your face. “I got it wrong then. I finished my reports. You should check on the sidenotes about the bank accounts. Maybe E.D.I.T.H. can check on the accounts later.”

“Y/N, is everything alright? You look a little shaken up or something,” Tony watches you fiddle with your phone, knowing something must be off with you and your husband. “Do you need my help? You know that you can tell me anything.”

“It’s nothing, really,” the lie rolls easily off your tongue, you are used to lying to yourself for months so why not lying to your friends too. “I just need some time off, Tony.”

Aimlessly walking the streets of New York, you doubt your husband once again.

Tony said he’s not on a mission. All of your friends don’t know where he could be and Bucky, well he said Steve didn’t tell him anything.

“Where are you Steve?” looking at your phone you sigh deeply. “Fine, we will do it the hard way. E.D.I.T.H., please use the tracking app we put on Steve’s phone. I need to find Captain America. It’s an emergency.”

“Tracing Captain Rogers’ phone,” E.D.I.T.H. replies. “Captain Rogers’ phone is not far away. He’s at a café, P.J. Clarke’s on 55th and 3rd, agent Rogers. Can I help you with anything else?”

“No, thank you,” walking faster you grip your phone tightly. Why is Steve at a café at that time of the day? He never disappeared only to take a day off and sip coffee.

If a heart can shatter, yours does in the very moment you arrive at the café only to see Steve sit at a table with Sharon Carter.

You haven’t seen her for years, but you must admit, she looks great as always.

“Stevie,” you whisper, hands clutched tightly to your chest when Sharon places her hand onto Steve’s on the table and he doesn’t move his hand away. He smiles, even chuckles at something the woman says. “A Carter again, how pathetic. Fuck that. Fuck fighting for our love if you refuse to even try.”

Unbeknownst you saw him with Sharon your husband tries to ask his friend for advice. Missing your pained expression and the tears run down your face when you storm off.

“Doll! Fuck I was worried about you. Tony called, asked if you are okay. He said Steve is not on a mission and that he took a week off,” Bucky watches you storm into your and Steve’s apartment. “Y/N, something wrong?”

“Everything is wrong, Bucky. But from now on, I’ll take my life back in my hands,” you quip. “I would appreciate it if you could get me my ‘I hate early mornings mug’, I want to take it with me,” walking toward your bedroom you ignore Bucky follows you.

“What do you mean by taking it with you?” while you get two suitcases out, Bucky tries to make you talk to him. “Do you want to go on a mission? Why so many suitcases?”

“Oh, Stevie was busy to take a week off while I was worried about him,” you quip, opening your drawer to grab random clothes, tossing Steve’s onto the floor. “Imagine my surprise when I traced his phone only to find him with another Carter.”

“Sharon?” humming you neatly fold your clothes to place them into the first suitcase. “Did he-?”

“No, but I guess Steve is just not man enough to file for divorce to be with her,” glaring at Bucky you make your way back toward the wardrobe to grab more clothes. “While I tried to save our marriage, Steve sits in a café and allowed that woman touch his hand. He smiled at her Bucky. I didn’t get a smile from him for months.”

“Doll, you can’t just leave without talking to him,” Bucky tries to stop you, but you made up your mind. Before you met Steve, you were wild, feisty, and stubborn but he tamed you and your free spirit. “Wait, let me call him.”

“I tried to call him this morning and after I saw him with that woman,” slamming the first suitcase shut you glare at Bucky. “He didn’t answer. It was his last chance to explain things to me, Bucky. Now I’m done waiting for Steve to tell me it is over, we are over.”

“What’s that?” looking at a neatly folded letter on your bed Steve feels his chest tightening. Your wedding band lies abandoned on the letter, but you are nowhere to be found.

“She saw you with Sharon yesterday. I guess taking off a week to meet up with an old flame and ignoring your wife called you about ten times wasn’t the smartest plan,” Bucky shrugs. “I called you too.”

“I need time to figure things out,” Steve sits on the bed, pressing the wedding band in his hand to his chest. “We went through a rough patch and I didn’t know how to fix things between Y/N and me.”

“Not talking to her and getting all cozy with Sharon was a great idea,” gritting the words out Bucky watches his friend unfold the letter with shaking fingers. “Steve.”

“I-I just didn’t know if Y/N still wants me after I admitted that I was tempted to go back to Peggy. She was distant for a few weeks and then, she almost clang to me. As if Y/N tried to fake she forgave me,” reading the letter Steve sniffles silently. “Oh, god she wants to file for divorce.”

“What?” grasping for the letter Bucky reads the last lines you wrote.

‘As you aren’t man enough to tell me that you don’t love me anymore, I will tell you it’s over. You don’t have to be the bad guy, Captain. The papers will reach you soon. Have a great life with Sharon…’

“Do you know where she went, Bucky?” jumping up Steve looks for his keys, already grasping for his phone to call you back. “Buck!”

“She came here, packed two suitcases, and left. I tried to stop her, but she didn’t listen, Steve. I don’t think Y/N will call you back.”

“Then I’ll have to find her, no matter what…”

“A whole month!” Steve waltzes into your apartment, panting heavily. His hair longer again, a thick beard framing his face he wraps you in a hug. “I was so worried, doll. How could you just leave without a trace?”

“Didn’t think you would miss me, Steven,” using his full name on purpose, you smirk as Steve flinches. “I believed Sharon would soothe the pain and fill the tiny gap I left in your life.”

“Y/N,” mumbling your name Steve pecks your hair while his hands run up and down your back. “I swear, I’m not with Sharon and I don’t want her, doll. When you saw me with her, I gave her something Peggy left for me. It was the first step to give up my past.”

“You held hands, and you smiled at her, Steven. Don’t lie to me,” you push against his chest, try anything to break out of his embrace. “I’m not stupid nor blind.”

“She grasped for my hand as I gave her the medallion Peggy left me. I smiled as she thanked me, and we remembered the last days with Peggy. Y/N, please believe me there is nothing between me and Sharon,” Steve desperately tries to not let you slip out of his embrace, but you fight him with all your strength.

“That’s the reason you take a week off and instead of having dinner with me, you meet up with that woman. Your former girlfriend,” you growl, pushing against Steve’s chest. “I tried to fix us, and you just ran off.”

“I wanted to clear my mind,” Steve mumbles. “I was afraid you are still mad at me for admitting that I thought about going back in time for Peggy for a second. I’m bad at admitting my feelings. I was afraid to lose you and handled it the wrong way.”

“Pushing me away to keep me was a great plan,” you give up fighting Steve’s strength, hating he’s so much stronger than you are once again. “You hurt me and now you come here and want me to do what?”

“Please come home, doll,” pecking your forehead Steve mumbles apologies against your skin. “Your husband is an idiot when it comes to feelings. I love you, love you so much. We need to work on our marriage but please don’t give up on us.”

“Like you did months ago?” cursing under your breath you glare at Steve when he tries to kiss you. “Fixing things between us won’t be that easy, Steve. You hurt me with your behavior. If you want me to come back, you’ll have to do more than coming here and looking like the man I’ve missed.”

“I’ve missed you too, doll,” pecking your lips Steve slides his fingers through your hair. “Please come home and I’ll do anything you want me to do. Tell me how to fix us.”

“Maybe Bucky can give you advice,” you smirk, breaking out of Steve’s embrace to walk into your living room. “He’s a man who can talk with a woman.”

“When did Bucky talk to you? Doll?” while you check on your phone Steve starts to pace your living room. “Did he touch my girl?”

“Why would your best friend touch me, Stevie?” you coo. “I mean, Sharon only touched your hand, right. There is no reason for me to be mad. What if Bucky did the same or Tony? Maybe Sam hugged me a bit longer than necessary.”

“I will kill them,” Steve balls his hands into fists, stares daggers into the picture of you and the team. “Tell me who dared to touch my wife,” nostrils flaring, chest heaving up and down Steve points at the picture. 

“See,” you walk toward your husband, placing your hand onto his heart before you meet his gaze. “That’s how I felt when you let that woman touch you. You gave her my smile while you ignored me.”

“I didn’t ignore you; it was just-“ sighing Steve hangs his head low. “I get it, doll and I’m sorry. If you give me a chance to prove that I can be the man you deserve, I’ll try to do so every day from now on…”

All works Tags

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Steve Rogers/Chris Evans Tags

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#Deafening Silence #steve rogers #steve rogers angst #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve x reader #steve x y/n #steve x you #angst

[raineydays411]

The best of friends

Peter Parker x Stark!reader

Summary: The dreaded weekend has arrived. It goes as well as you expected, but you made some new friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First of all, let it be known that you tried oh so desperately to get out of this situation.

You tried to feign an illness, Bruce deemed you okay. You said you were supposed to be training with Steve, Bucky said he was on a mission. Hell, you even tried to get into trouble and be grounded, but your dad saw right through it. 

“Y/n, why don’t you wanna go with Peter and his friends?” He asks, slightly irritated but mostly worried. 

“Because...” You don’t answer the question. Instead opting to look around the common room and avoid eye contact. 

“Because what? You love hanging out with Peter.” Then he mumbles,” Maybe a little too much” 

You were going to defend yourself, but then you realized you had one more trick up your sleeve. 

“It’s just...I realized that I haven’t really spent time with you.” You look at your dad with big eyes,” Ever since I met Pete, we’ve been hanging out almost every weekend, we rarely have any father-daughter time” 

Tony’s face softens,” Well, you’re not wrong..” 

Yes! He took the bait!

“Oh what the hell, Spiderling can just come over next weeke--”

“Tony!” Oh no..

“Hey Pep, I was just planning a daddy- daughter day with Y/n”

She looked at you apologetically, “I’m sorry sweetie, but your dad seems to have forgotten that we have a meeting to attend”

God damnit. 

“I didn’t forget. I just don’t want to go.” He pouts as Pepper drags him away. He turns to you, “ Kid, just go with Peter today, we can spend some time together tomorrow or something, OW Pep I’m coming!!” 

You sigh, looking at the time and realizing that you had two hours to get ready. You slowly walk to your room, freading every step you take. On your way there you bump into Wanda. Literally.

“Oh sorry Wanda” You mutter, it’s still a little awkward between you two. 

“It’s okay.” She smiles,” Are you alright, you seem like you have a lot on your mind.” Ironic.

You sigh, and tell her about your plans with Peter and how he invited Liz and his friends.

“So, you’ve finally realized your feelings for the Spider boy.”  

You choke hearing her words,” Wh-what?! Who said anything about feelings?”

She looks at you with a bored face,” You do know I can basically read your mind right? Besides, I don’t have read your mind to see you like each other. It pretty obvious all on it’s own.”

You look down, “ I don’t know, you should have seen his face when he saw Liz...” 

It was silent for a second, then Wanda’s face grew a look of determination, “ Okay, then we’ll make him realize how much he likes you.” 

With those words, she pulled you along into your room. 

“When did she get so strong?” You thought to yourself, surprised at how easily she was able to maneuver your body.

Once you were in your room, she made for your closet.

“Boys are stupid” She said, going through all your clothes, “ They don’t realize they want something until someone else wants the same thing.” 

“So..where exactly are you going with this?” You ask cautiously. Then she pulls out an oversized t shirt, biker shirts, and some sneakers. 

“Everytime you see Peter, you’re bare faced and in sweats. And while there's nothing wrong with that, I know that you want Peter to recognize you was a potential partner, yes?”

You nod,” Yes, but what does dressing up have to do with anything?” 

Wanda rolls her eyes,” Right now, he sees you as a friend. His buddy that he sees only on the weekend, away from his ‘normal’ life. You want to break that notion.”

You nod along, everything she says is making sense. Even if Peter is a little touchy with you, it seems to be very subconscious. You want him to look at you the way he looks at Liz. You want that silly smile he gives her to be aimed at you. 

Besides, it has been a while since you got the chance to dress up. 

You smile at Wanda, “ You know, you’re really fun to hang out with.”

She blushes at your words,” It's nice to have a girl to hang out with. Put on your clothes then call me, I’ll help you with your make up.” Then she walks out of your room, softly closing the door. You never realized it before, but Wanda really does keep to herself and Pietro. She’ll talk to Vision or Steve every once in a while, but it's pretty rare. Maybe you both weren’t so different after all...

You smile as you change, your talk with Wanda helped ease your anxiety for the moments. You decide to do your hair in your favorite hairstyle. Then you picked out some necklaces, the gold meshing perfectly on your brown skin. Then you called Wanda back in.

“Beautiful, Parkers not going to know what hit him” She says with a smile, “I know you don’t wear much makeup on a regular day, so how about this?” 

She pulls up a picture on pinterest. You smile, she really looked up ‘black girl makeup’ on pinterest for you. 

“I love it. I have some falsies I use for galas in my makeup bag.” 

So you and Wanda spend the next thirty minutes doing your makeup. It really was fun. The two of you laughed and giggled at each other, sang along to the music playing in the background, and talked about anything and everything. 

When you were finally done, you stared at yourself in the mirror. It was weird. Sure, you’ve been dressed up before, but that was usually when you went to fancy dinner parties with your dad. This was a whole other thing.

“You’re missing something.” Wanda says looking at you, “ But I’m not too sure what it is...” Then, Pietro peaks his head in the door.

“Um Wanda, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you all ove-” “Pietro! You can’t just walk into a girls room without knocking!” “You’ve been in here for almost two hours how was I supposed to Kn--” 

You chuckle at the two siblings bickering. It kind of reminded you if you and your dad. For a forty year old man, he really could act like a child.

“Since you’re here, we need a boys opinion” Wanda says cutting off whatever you were thinking about.

“What for?” He asks skeptically, finally realizing that there was another person in the room with them.

“She’s missing something, yes?” She says, pulling you over to them. Your face burns as you feel Pietro's gaze on you. Looking for whatever Wanda claims that was missing.

“That shiny sticky stuff you put on your lips.” He says,” oh and try these” a burst of wind hits your face and blows back Wanda's hair as Pietro runs and comes back with a pair of tiny sunglasses. 

“Here.” He places them on your head, “You know, you’re actually really pretty.” 

Wanda laughs,” If it doesn’t work out with Peter, you can always date Pietro”

“That's not what I meant!” He says with a blush, “ Are you finally going on a date with the Spider boy?” 

You sigh,” No, he invited his crush and his friends to our shopping trip” 

Pietro shakes his head,” You should make him jealous.” 

Wanda rolls her eyes and you look at him in confusion,” What do you mean?”

“Men want things they can’t have. If you make him jealous, he’ll definitely pay attention to you.” Then his eyes widen, “ Hey! I can dress up like a teenager and--” “NO” 

Wanda yells shutting down that idea,” Y/n, don’t listen to my idiot brother.” She hands you the lip gloss,”Now, just make sure to show him what he’s missing, act the way you do when you were with me.” 

“Ms. Stark? Mr. Parker is waiting for you in the lobby.”

Wanda and Pietro with you to the elevator

“Good luck Y/n, remember what I said.” Wanda said with a wink.

Pietro smiled as the doors closed, but you could have sworn he smirked at the last minute. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh well” You think,” Okay, just be yourself, be yourself” 

The elevator doors open to reveal MJ and Ned sitting on the lobby chairs. They stand up at the sound of the doors opening.

“Finally, Peter kept-- woah” Ned’s eyes widened at seeing you. “H-hi” 

“Hi Ned” You say with a soft smile, “ Wheres Peter?” 

“He’s outside waiting for Liz’s mom to drop her off” Mj said with a scoff, “ Really, you’d think she’d be on time..”

“Oh..okay” You say, already Peter was ignoring you for Liz and the day barely started. “Well, let’s meet him outside” 

The three of you started to make your way outside when a gust of wind blew from the back.

“Ah Printsessa! I’m glad I caught you before you left” 

oh no...

“You forgot your purse on the counter. I’m sure you need it or this shopping trip” He says with a smirk, holding the small bag with his finger.

Ned and Mj were in shock. Either because they were starstruck or because they weren’t expecting to talk to one of the Avengers. 

“Hey guys! Liz is here!” Peter says walking into the building. ‘Oh hey Y/n” 

“Hey Pete” You say, annoyed that he was just greeting you. Not even with a hug. 

“Well!” Pietro saud loudly,” Here is your bag” 

As you went to grab the bag, Pietro raised it out of your reach. 

“Come on printsessa, I know you’re faster than that” He said in a teasing tone.

“Pietro! We have to go” You said with a laugh, confused on why he was acting like this.

“Okay okay” He goes to hand the purse to you,” You really do look beautiful, as always.” He says with a smile. “побачимось пізніше принцесою“ 

Then he pecks you on the forehead, winks at the group, and is gone with another burst of wind. 

“What was that?” Peter asks,” I didn’t know you were so close with Pietro.”

“Well him and Wanda helped me pick my outfit” You said with a shrug, “I didn’t even know I was close to Pietro like that”

“Well, your outfit is super cute” Liz said with a smile. 

“Damn I can’t even hate her, she's so nice” you think to yourself. 

‘Thank you” you said weakly, “ I honestly didn’t know I had clothes like this” 

“Neither did I” mumbled Peter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The five of you started the day by walking to some of the shops near the Tower. You,Mj, and ned ended up being left behind while Peter and Liz were in the front.

“Why did he invite us if he isn’t going to talk to us?” Mj mumbles to you and Ned.

“Aw come on Mj, Peter’s been trying to talk to Liz for like three years now.” Ned whispers back. 

“That doesn’t mean he has to ditch his friends” you say quietly, Mj agreeing with you.

“Exactly, this is Y/ns first time out with friends and he’s missing it for Liz.” 

“Why does everyone think I don’t have friends?” You say with a laugh,” I just don’t have any in the city.”

“Right” Mj says,” Either way, you don’t get out much.”

“That’s right! We should be having fun, not moping about Peter.” Ned adds, “Come on!” 

He pulls you and Mj into the store, dragging you through the aisles and making you both try on ridiculous stuff. It was really fun, you laughed as Ned draped a feather boa on an annoyed Mj. But then you noticed that Peter and Liz were standing way too close to each other. Peter ran a hand through his hair as Liz laughed at whatever he said. 

That cold feeling grew in your chest again. You watched as Peter awkwardly picked lint off of her hair as she smiled. 

“Hey! We should go to this carnival they’re having!” Ned yells, ruining their moment. 

“Way to go Ned” You think, satisfied at the outcome. 

“A carnival?” Peter asks, “ I don’t know Ned, it's pretty far from here..”

“Aw come one guys! It one sub stop away from here! “

“I’ve never been to a carnival before” You said, “It sounds fun”

“But Mr. Stark said not to go too far..”

“You know a carnival does sound fun” Liz says, then Peter softens and gets that stupid look on his face. 

“Okay fine” He says, “ We should get going.” 

“Of course he agrees with her” Mj mutters.

“No kidding” You whisper back.

The walk to the subway was awkward, you all waited quietly for the train to get there.

“So..I guess you’ve never been on a sub before huh?” Liz said, trying to make conversation.

‘The last time I was on one, my mother was leaving me with my dad.” You said blankly, watching the people around you scurry. You didn’t mean to be so rude. Really, it wasn’t her fault that Peter liked her, but you couldn’t help it. You just wanted to spend time with Peter alone. 

“Oh, I’m sorry I..I didn’t know” Liz said looking away. Peter looked in between you two, as if he didn’t know who to comfort. 

He chose Liz of course.

“Hey, it’s okay you didn’t mean to” He said rubbing her back. “ She knows that”

You and Mj simultaneously roll your eyes. She looks at you as if asking if you’re okay. You nod, appreciating the small gesture. 

The group gets on the subway. You see Peter go to sit down, one space free next to him. You see Liz talking to Ned about the carnival and Mj was already sitting somewhere else. So you took the chance to finally be alone with Peter. 

You sit down with a sigh, finally glad to be off your feet.

“Hey” You mutter to Peter, pulling out your lip gloss and mirror. 

“Hey! Gosh I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever” Peter says chuckling. He turns to look at you. “So, are you having fun? Are Ned and Mj being nice to you?”

“Yeah, they’re great.” You say, pouting in the mirror. From your peripheral, you can see Peter glance at your lips. You smile, and suddenly turn towards him. Your faces close together. 

“You look great..by the way..” He says lowly, “You look different..” 

“Well, I’m not in my pyjamas” You saw with a light laugh. Peter laughs along with you.

“That’s true, I never realized that we mainly hang out at the tower.” 

“Yeah, it’d be nice to hang out somewhere else” You say, hinting that you want to spend time alone with him. 

“Yeah..that would be nice” He whispers. He looks at you for a bit, examining your face. “Hey, umm, what was that with Pietro?” 

You look at him in surprise, “ What do you mean?”

He turns red, “ Well, it’s just that..it kind of looked like he was flirting with you.”

Wait..is he.. “Peter Parker, are you jealous?” you ask with a grin.

“What? N-no!” He stutters,”It’s just that he..he’s like old!” 

You laugh,” He’s twenty one, hardly that much older” 

“Yeah..but still” He says with a pout, “I don’t need anyone taking my best friend away.”

Your heart flutters, the thought of him not wanting to lose you made you grow hot. 

“Don’t worry web head, no one is going to take me away from you.” You say looking him in the eye. He smiles at you, taking your hand. 

“Good, and no one is--” “Hey Peter, we’re here!”

Liz. Of course.

Peter practically throws your hand back into your lap. 

“Oh awesome!” He says getting up from his spot and walking over to her.

Leaving you by yourself. Mj walks up to you.

“He’s an idiot.” She says knowingly, “Come on.” She grabs your hand, pulling you off the train and through the crowd. You let her, deflated at the fact that Peter put you second to Liz...again.

“Hey...I know you like Peter.” Mj says, “ But don’t let him get you down. You’re hot shit, if he can’t see that then fuck him.”

You look at her in shock, “I guess I have been pretty obvious huh?” 

“No kidding” Ned suddenly appears, “If looks could kill, Liz would be six feet under.” 

You sigh, “I’m sorry if I’m ruining your day, I just...I have no experience with this sort of thing.”

“But you’re a Stark...” Ned begins

“Yeah, but I’ve always been homeschooled, my first crush was on Steve and I was 7. This is different” You look at Peter, “ Peter was the first person my age I truly got to know. Not as Tony Stark's daughter, but as me.”

“Seeing him with Liz must be confusing. I’m sorry he’s so stupid” Mj says, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“Let’s go have fun.” Ned says, “ You shouldn’t let this situation bring you down.” 

You smile, deciding Ned was right. The three of you walk up to the entrance. The air smells like fried foods and candy. Screams of children on rides and laughter of couples on dates fills your ears. The bright lights shine as the setting sun lowers in the background. You’re amazed, only ever seeing stuff like this in movies.

“Come on guys!” Liz shouts waving you, Mj and Ned over to a ride. The Himalaya. It was a ride that went in circles, each round faster and faster. But the thing that caught your attention was the rock music that played in the background. 

“Sounds like the lab” You shout over the music, “Dad is always blasting music when I go down there.”

“Oh that’s true!” Peter shouts back, “ He let me pick the music once”

“Yeah and you picked some poppy trash” You teased, “ You trying to give my old man a heart attack Parker?” 

“I told you it was an accident!” 

“Oh sure”

“Next!” The attendant shouted. You started to make your way to the carts. Mj pulling Liz and Ned to go sit with her, she turned to you with a wink.  

“Guess it’s you and me” Peter says looking back at Liz.

“Don’t sound so excited” You mutter, about to make your way to the next cart when the attendant stopped you

“Hey, do you wanna pick the next song?” He asks handing you a book full of songs.

“Sure, umm number 79″ You say with a smile, the attendant looks at you with a grin

“You have taste, I’m impressed” 

“I get it from my dad” You   say, about to walk away when he stops you again 

“Your sunglasses might fall off, I’ll hold them for you” He says, taking them off your head.

You blush at his sudden closeness when you hear Peter shout

“ You coming Stark?” “Yeah I’m coming” 

You smile at the boy and run off to join your friend.

“Sorry, he let me pick the song” You say, settling into the seat next to Peter. 

“He was a little close don’t you think?” He says fiddling with the bar that serves as the seatbelt. 

“I don’t know, I guess”

The ride started slowly going forward. The first notes of “You shook me all night long” starting to play. You along with several older adults started cheering. As the ride started moving faster, you started laughing and loudly singing along. The fluttering feeling coming back as Peter watched you sing. With that smile you know is reserved only for you. A smile you’ve seen time and time again, when you’re falling asleep during movie nights, or when you win at a board game.

At that moment, as you watch the world blur around you, it was just you and Peter. Yelling AC/DC lyrics in his face while he looked at you in amusement. This was how it was meant to be. 

Then the song ends. And so does the ride. 

Once it stops, Peter hops out and goes to help Liz out of her seat.

You sigh, making your way up to the attendant to get your glasses. 

“Hey, thanks for holding them” You say taking your glasses, you smile at him and walk away. You catch up to the rest of your friends placing the glasses on your head.

“Y/n you have something on your glasses.” Ned points out. You reached out and felt  piece of paper on your glasses. You take it off, you see the attendant has written his number on a piece of paper and attached it to your glasses

“ Ohhh look at you” Ned says, “looks like the playboy has passed from your dad to you”

Everyone laughs, except Peter for some reason. You look at him in concern, but before you can say anything Liz pulls him away to ring toss booth.

“ Come on guys, I want one of those fried Oreos,”

So again you were separated from Peter. It seems like every time you had a chance to get close to him somebody was always butting in.

You sigh, “maybe it wasn’t meant to be, I mean if he wanted to..he would right??”

Lost in thought you watch as Ned and Mj argue over something about Shakespeare. You tune out as you continue to think about Peter in the situation you’re in. That’s when you heard your name being yelled

“ Hey Stark!!”

You turn around and to your surprise, you see a familiar face. 

“Am I dreaming or is that you Jason Todd??”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: fun fact there’s actually a ride called the Himalaya in an amusement park in my town. It basically does the same thing I described in the story it’s my favorite ride.



#peter parker x reader #peter parker x stark!reader #peter parker x black!reader #peter parker imagine #tony stark x teen!reader #tony stark x daughter!reader #marvel x reader #avengers x teen!reader #poc reader #marvel #reader insert #dc comics x reader #crossover #michelle jones #ned leeds

[you-are-so-much-better-than-that]

Season 1 Episode 3

Episode 3 starts with Fiona fucking Good Officer Tony in his backseat. Strong start.

In the last episode, Good Officer Tony shoots his shot with Fiona, inviting her to an awards benefit at a church ‘next Thursday’. So this episode starts the Thursday night. If we’re assuming the previous episode happened during Thanksgiving weekend, then we’re now solidly in December 2010 and this episode starts December 2nd.

Good for you Good Officer Tony.

We meet Mandy for the first time. Season 1 Mandy seems so much softer than seasons to come, but still really sad. This little girl gets eyed up by Kev and harassed by her teacher. There's always an atmosphere of underlying sadness and trauma that Shameless covers up with comedy.

Anyway, she’s at the Kash and Grab ‘thanking’ Ian for playing hero and saving her from creepy, greasy, porn mustache teacher.

Lip and Karen go on a date. Ian and Kash make out behind the Kash and Grab (ew), but before they can go off and do any more, Mandy interrupts them. Love her from the get go! They head to the Gallagher house, and then there’s an amazing Mandy/Mickey parallel that makes my heart sing.

Everytime a Milkovich calls Carl a shithead an angel gets its wings.

Ian breaks Mandy’s teenage heart when he pushes her off of him after she basically attacks his face. Fiona comes home in time to see Mandy storming out, saving her from an awkward conversation with Good Officer Tony.

Lip and Karen are snuggling and screaming under the tracks. I kinda love this scene.

The next morning, a very naked Kev can’t make toast because the Gallaghers have their toaster. I love their symbiotic relationship. Or is it more that Gallaghers are leeching off of them? The Gallaghers wake up to a cold house, and Fiona is just constantly picking up laundry from the hallway. Why do they all get undressed in the hallway and then leave it there when the laundry shoot is literally RIGHT THERE. If you’re gonna undress in the hallway, just throw it down the shoot. OR are they getting undressed in their rooms and then just throwing the dirty clothes out into the hall even though, again, the laundry shoot is right there!

Steve knocks on the door. Kev storms in wearing THE ROBE. Carl is melting action figures over Kev’s toaster. Kev, ever helpful, suggests Carl, the almost 9 year old, use a blow torch. Steve lost a bet to Ian and asks if Ian wants to see Philly on the 12th or Edmonton on the 27th, a Sunday and Monday, respectively. He chooses the Edmonton Oilers (🇨🇦). I googled to see if these games existed on any day in 2010 or 2011 in case I was off on dates. They weren’t. This is Shameless parallel world.

Anyway, Fiona realizes the gas bill wasn’t paid which is why it’s so cold. It was due November 30 as per original Calendar, so their power was cut off. They owe $587, which is steep. They’re a few months behind. Once more, never forget this show is about American poverty. It’s winter and they’ve cut off their heat. Gotta say though, I love the Fi and Kev relationship. He can tell she’s obviously stressed, but he compliments her oatmeal and she smiles.

Frank steals from his own kids. Tony admits he was a virgin until last night. And a lady is here for Aunt Ginger because her social security checks have been cashed in Chicago, but Fiona is confused because AuNt GiNgEr LiVeS iN wIsCoNsIn. Oh poor Fiona.

The dirtiest white boy in America (or at least the Southside) leads a group of similarly dirty Milkoviches in search for Ian. You know. To murder him, probably. Normal.

And in a moment of great foreshadowing: that dirty boy has no idea he’ll be spending the rest of his life screaming Ian’s name 😏

While Fiona yells at Frank about Aunt Ginger, Mickey and his goons have spray painted “Ian Gallagher is a Dead Man” all over the Southside. I wonder if it’s still there and Ian takes Mickey to visit it all nostalgic.

He spells his name right here, though.

Frank tries to get an old lady from the shelter to pose as Aunt Ginger. He is refused for something he did ‘last Christmas’, so he sneaks in. Steve is still chasing Fiona. Lip has just taken an SAT for some other kid and gets the shit beat out of him by Mickey. No good deed.

Things to note. Iggy is getting out of juvi, and Mickey says his mom is driving up to get him. So his mom is still alive here.

Lip comes home, once more interrupting Good Officer Tony trying so hard to get Fiona. Frank finally admits Aunt Ginger has been dead for 12 years, breaking Debbie’s heart. So they take Debbie to the old people pound to pick out an Aunt Ginger for them to foster temporarily.

Debbie and fake Aunt Ginger bond over old lady things. Steve tries again with Fiona. Ian and Lip have another iconic BROTHERS moment.

The next morning, Lip wakes up to find Ian and the Killing Bat missing. Lip goes to join Ian on his suicide mission, and we get another great BROTHERS moment. Instead of Mickey, Ian runs into Mandy and he confesses that he’s gay.

The lady from the government comes back and meets fake Aunt Ginger. The Gallaghers get away with it, and Fiona steals the social security cheque to pay the gas bill. And Frank admits Ginger is buried in the backyard. I hate this show.

Ian and Mandy bond over NSYNC, which feels like a dated reference. If they're 14/15 in 2010, and Nsync's final album Celebrity came out in 2001 (I know this because 12 year old me made my dad take me to the HMV at the mall to buy me the cd) then they were like 5. Anyway, she’s worried he thinks she’s ugly and is using being gay as an excuse. He assures her she’s beautiful, which is adorable, and when she’s still skeptical, he grabs her boob and puts her hand on his dick. He doesn’t get a boner, which convinces Mandy that he really is gay. He looks so bored.

Debbie has to return fake Aunt Ginger and breaks down crying. I’d say get this girl a puppy, but they couldn't afford to keep one alive.

Fiona is all dressed up and in front of Tony’s mom’s door, but instead chooses Steve, because that girl loves toxic men.

In conclusion, this episode begins a week after the previous, starting on Thursday December 2 and going through until Saturday December 4.

#shameless timeline #s1 #1x03

[jawabear]

1 of 10 (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Not my GIF (look at this man...)

A/N: so here’s that Bucky fic I’ve been talking about. This took me too long to write but I like it? I’m absolutely loving Falcon and The Winter Soldier! I’ve mentioned this before but Bucky Barnes is my all time favourite fictional character. This is set before the events of episode one but maybe like a week or so before. I hope you enjoy. Sorry for any mistakes. Stay safe.

Genre: fluff, angst

Warnings: fem!reader, tfatws spoilers, Bucky being awkward, nightmares, therapy, Bucky isn’t as smooth as he was in the 40s but he’s still cute

Summary: Bucky has ten contacts in his phone. One of which belongs the the girl he feels he has been searching for for 106 long years.

The times in which he found himself now were more than confusing. But that was the best way Bucky could think to describe them. For him though it seemed a lot worse than for others. For others, they had a gap of five years missing. For Bucky, he had far more than that.

From 1943 to 2023 there was a lot missing. He remembered it however. He remembered everything. The good, the bad, and the horrifying. What was meant by missing was that it wasn’t him who was living. He had missed out on living between those years. He had missed out on everything. And he knew, like the billions of others, he would never get those years back.

But now he was a civilian. Working to make amends from his past after being given a pardon. However, settling into his new easy life was proving far from that. It had been a few months now since the whole ordeal with saving the blipped half of humanity, Bucky included, and it had been a few months now since Steve went back in time and started a new life leaving him and Sam behind.

Sam. Right.

Sam was an avenger. More so than Bucky could ever be. So he was off doing his avenging work while Steve’s shield gathered dust in a wardrobe somewhere he was sure. Sam didn’t have it in him to take up the mantle of Captain America. He felt the shield belonged to someone else. It was Steve’s. It only ever could be.

More often than perhaps Bucky would like, he would get texts from Sam. Asking him how he was and telling him about missions he was going on. Bucky never replied. He didn’t know how to half the time and he didn’t want to.

He didn’t know how he was. He didn’t know if he was okay. He was forced to go see a therapist but all he did was lie to her.

“Have you had any nightmares recently?” She would ask him.

Bucky would think back to the night before their meeting and all the others as well. Each night he’d have to be faced with the horrors of his past. Every mission he carried out. Every person he carelessly killed.

“No” he would answer. And it wasn’t like he was wrong in his answer. The things he saw in his sleep were not nightmares they were memories. The nightmarish horrors he was were his reality, so when he said no in response to her question, he found it difficult to be accused of lying.

There were few things he could agree with her about. But the one thing he could see eye to eye with her about was the fact he was alone.

Sure, he had Sam. But only when Bucky wanted to acknowledge him which had not been often as of recently. And as his therapist so kindly pointed out he only had ten contacts on his phone. But in his defence, he still wasn’t used to the whole world of mobile communications and internet. So his phone was basically redundant to him. His mind was still in the 1940s where you’d find a date, what would now be classed as, the old fashioned way. By looking in person and talking. Not just texting or swiping left or right on an app.

Granted, Bucky did try his hand in online dating but it was far too much for him. It wasn’t only hard for him to figure out but also he saw too much of people he didn’t even know. The openness of the internet was something that was mind boggling to him. So that was thrown out of the window pretty quickly.

But what his therapist had failed to note was one name in his contacts. The name of his neighbour and quite possibly the one he wanted to end his loneliness with.

Back in his time, when he didn’t just have the looks of someone in their 20s, Bucky was in fact quite popular and good with the ladies. But the ladies, he found, of this new age were completely different to the ones of his time. Not that there was a problem, he just knew that he couldn’t used the same moves now as what he could back then.

He met (Y/N), his neighbour, as he was first moving in. After coming back, loosing Steve and getting a pardon, Bucky thought it be best to try and start a new. He did that by moving back to his old home of Brooklyn. His old apartment was obviously gone and with little money to his name he couldn’t afford the one that replaced it. It was far to big for him anyway. But he managed to find a smaller more affordable one and he much preferred it. If not only for the quieter location then the others in the building too.

(Y/N) was the first person he spoke too when back in Brooklyn. She was sweet and kind when introducing herself. She offered to help him move in but he really didn’t have that much stuff to use in making his new apartment more homely. And he had no food either. So (Y/N) did the neighbourly thing and invited him in for some food. A meal of sorts although she didn’t have much food either at the time. Even so, it was nice for him to be in company for once. And it was such warm company. They didn’t speak about much but he learnt a few things about her.

And now, on most Thursday evenings, he’ll find himself with her in her apartment eating a meal, sometimes she’ll cook, sometimes they’ll order take out, but he enjoys it regardless.

It was clear from the offset that she knew who he was. He frantically explained to her that he wasn’t what he used to be anymore and explained the terms of his pardon and how he’s making amends. But he needn’t have waste his breath on it. She didn’t seem to care about it. About who he used to be. She told him that she doesn’t live in peoples pasts and that she wanted to get to know him for who he is, not who he was. Those words meant a great deal to him. And from that moment on he had fallen for her.

Bucky sighed as he dragged himself up the stairs to his floor. He desperately wished there was some way of getting out of these therapy sessions. But he was tied to them. He couldn’t stop going to them even though he wanted too. But there, it wasn’t really like he had anything better to do. Nothing but either sitting at home in silence or walking around busy streets constantly looking over his shoulder. Those were his only other options.

As he walked to his apparent at the end of the hallway (Y/N)’s door opened and she walked out dressed for the outdoors, it was getting cold so it was smart of her to be wearing a warm coat. “(Y/N)” he called gently to her. She lifted her head after locking her door and gave him a warm smile.

“Hi James” She said, she always called him James rather than Bucky. He didn’t know why but he didn’t exactly mind. “How was your session today?” She had memorised the times at which he went to his therapy sessions. She probably knew he schedule better than he did.

Bucky shrugged “the usual” he told her making her laugh a little.

“That bad huh?”

“I guess” he said scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, I’m heading to the store to get some food if you wanted to talk on the way? Don’t feel you have to”

“No, that sounds good” he tried to smile but it was a little awkward, but she didn’t seem to say anything and just motioned her head for him to follow.

The shop wasn’t too far away so it was a quick walk. Bucky wasn’t the talkative type, not really anyway. Especially not to someone he didn’t like. And Dr Raynor was someone who he didn’t like. He was sure that deep down she was a lovely person but he didn’t like the fact she was insistent in getting him to admit his feelings. Although that was her job.

It wasn’t long until they arrived at the store “so what happened?” (Y/N) asked as she picked up a basket.

“Just the usual...she asked me if I had a nightmare-“

“Did you?” Bucky didn’t answer and just looked away from her. “James, you know that it’s her job to help you. And it’s in your best interest to let her”

“I know...but at the same time...I don’t see the point. These things are mandatory. So if I don’t want to go then I don’t see it being helpful”

“I can understand that” her eyes flicking between two boxes of cereal as she inwardly decried in which one to get, but her indecisive nature got the better of her so she opted to get both. Her indecisiveness, Bucky thought, was incredibly cute. It linked in with her kindness, on their Thursday evening meals together it takes ages just to decide what to have. “But still,” she continued, Bucky following her like a lost puppy “like you said, it’s mandatory. And there are people who would love to be in your position. Getting therapy I mean. So you should at least make the most of it while you can”

“I mean...yeah. I guess. But...I don’t know I just...well it’s easier to talk to someone like you then it is to talk to her” (Y/N) smiled at little at this as she finished putting on the last few items before making her way to the till.

Neither of them said much else. Expect for (Y/N) making light conversation with the cashier as she paid although both (Y/N) and Bucky knew that the cashier really didn’t want to be there. Luckily it didn’t take long for (Y/N) to bag her items and pay for them before they were both leaving the store.

It had gotten colder outside then when they left originally. (Y/N) shivered and pulled her coat around her a little more before they both began walking back to their apartment building.

“So what is it about me that makes you find it easier to talk?” She asked, she brushed her hair from her face as a sudden gust of wind blew it out of place when she turned to look at him.

“Well...” he muttered shoving his hands into his pockets “for one, you don’t sit there with a passive aggressive notebook ready to write shit about me” this made her laugh a little, she always found it funny when he’d talk about this notebook Dr Raynor had. She didn’t really know why he hated it so much, and she knew she shouldn’t have found it funny but he never stopped her from laughing about it, in fact often times he would join in thereby encouraging her.

“Yes, that is something better I guess. Although, I’m sure I could find a notebook if you wanted” she teased.

“Oh god. Please don’t” He said holding back a smile.

“Anything else?” She asked him.

Bucky thought for a moment. There were many things about her that made it easier for him to talk to her, but he couldn’t list them all. For one, that would be embarrassing, and two he didn’t think he’d have the breath to do it. “Well-“

He was cut off when he saw (Y/N)’s smile fall and her pace began to slow right down to a stop. Bucky stopped and looked at her “everything okay?” He asked her, his voice full of concern.

She turned sharply to the side so she was facing the road “y-yeah..” she stuttered nervously “just...my ex is walking this way and I really don’t want him to see me”

Bucky felt a strange feeling inside him. He didn’t even know she had been in a relationship. It must’ve been a recent thing right? Unless it was a really bad break up in the past, or this guy had done something to her to prompt her being so on edge. Bucky turned to try and scope out this guy but he didn’t have a clue what he was looking for. So he reached over to her and pulled up her hood on her hoodie that she wore under her coat and pulled her into his side so that her face was hidden from view.

“Tell me when he’s gone” Bucky muttered to her. She nodded her head and let him walk her along the path, she kept her eye on the path ahead as best she could while still covering her face. But she was now more focused on two things, his arm around her and his wonderful smell. Never did she think she’d ever get this close to him. She never thought he’d let her, but here she was attached to his side with his arm wrapped around her, holding her protectively against him.

And his smell. It was just as comforting as she dreamed it would be. A mix of his cologne and what she could only describe as Him. All she wanted to do now was to just melt into his strong and warm embrace and just stay there forever.

In all her daydreaming she didn’t notice that her ex had long since walked by and they had reached the entrance to their apartment building and she didn’t tell him he could let go or that it was safe for her to walk properly.

Bucky came to a stop and slowly slipped his arm from her “I mean...I take it he’s gone now right?” He said a little nervously. (Y/N) stood up straight and pushed the hood from her head and nodded quickly, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

“Yeah. Yes, right. Sorry. Yes. He’s gone. I um...I just wanted to make sure he didn’t suddenly turn around you know? That’s all” she said in an unconvincing tone. But Bucky himself was too flustered to actually care that she was flustered as well.

“Of course, that’s smart. Well we made it back” he said stepping up to the door and pushing it open for her. She nodded and thank you and quickly hopped inside the building, Bucky following after her.

The walk up the stairs was an awkward silence. They felt like teenagers after their first ever date. Who says something first? What do they even say? Luckily for them, this wasn’t a first date, and they weren’t teenagers. They were fully grown, mature adults. But that doesn’t mean adults can’t get flustered in the presence of their crush...right?

After what felt like hours, but was more like five painstaking minuets, they finally got to their floor and walked down the hall, both briefly forgetting that they lived right next to each other.

(Y/N) stopped at her door and placed her bag of food on the floor to fish out her keys from her pocket. “Uh...you want to come in?” She asked whilst fiddling around in her pocket to find the keys. “I know it’s not Thursday but we didn’t really talk as much as usual...” her voice seemed to trail off as she finally found her keys and put them in the key hole before unlocking the door. “You don’t have too..”

“I’d...like to...” he said in a soft voice with a gentle smile to try and put her at ease even though he too was freaking out inside. She smiled back and picked up her bag before walking inside her apartment, he did too.

They both made their way into her small kitchen and he made himself at home by sitting in his usual seat at her white kitchen table and she began to unpack the shopping “Do you want me to help?” He asked her as he went to stand up but she waved off his offer.

“No no, it’s fine. There’s only a few bits anyway” she told him as she began to pack each item away in its rightful place.

“So uh...” Bucky began quietly as he scraped his metal finger again the wood table. “This ex of yours...what’s the story there?”

Bucky was a little cautious of his words. He didn’t want to say anything to hurt or offend her but at the same time he wanted to know what about the guy made her so on edge earlier.

“Oh uh...” she muttered as she pulled two cups from her cupboard.

“You don’t need to tell me if you want want to. Sorry..”

“It’s fine” she assured him “nothing really happened I guess. It was just a bad break up. He didn’t really take it well and for a few weeks after that he just kept texting me and trying to call me. He came round to my place too to try and get me back. He never did know how to take no for an answer. But about a month ago he finally got the message and stopped all contact with me. Seeing him today...I was just worried that he’d try it all again”

“He sounds like a real asshole” Bucky said flatly making her laugh a little as she went about making some tea for the both of them. “But in his defence, if I lost a girl like you, I’d struggle with taking no for an answer as well”

(Y/N) let out a nervous laugh and almost dropped his tea cup from the shock of his comment but she was a little more used to his flirtatious nature that would sometimes make an appearance when they were in her apartment. After he told her about his boyish charms back in the 40s she noticed how he would often slip back into that era. It was cute to say the least.

She set down his tea in front of him and he flashed her a “thank you” smile before wrapping his fingers around it.

There was a brief silence in the room. She was greatly over thinking is earlier comment. But so was he. Maybe he shouldn’t have said it. He meant it though. But what if he had pushed the limit a little too far?

“What was the other reason?” She asked him, her finger nail scratching again the tea cup trying to avoid eye contact with him at all costs.

“Huh?” He questioned looking over the table to her.

“Earlier. You were going to give me another reason why I’m easier to talk to. What was it?”

Bucky’s muscles tensed as his fingers gripped the tea cup handle as he stared into the black tea she had made for him. “If I’m being honest...” he began slowly “I think...there are too many reasons why I find talking to you easier. But I guess one is that you don’t do it because you have to or it’s your job to. You do it out of kindness. And it’s...easier to talk to someone who’s listening because they want to. And yes, I get that Dr Raynor probably does want to help me but I also know that at the end of the day, it’s all for a pay check. But with you...you do it because you want to. Or at least...I think you want to”

“I do want to, James. I’ll always be around to ask if you’re okay. And to make you okay when you’re not. I care about you...”

“And...I care about you. Another reason I prefer talking to you is because...I like you...a lot. I just think you’re the most beautiful woman, and you have such a sweet and caring nature and a good heart that is wasted on me. But I can’t help but like you...” he couldn’t really believe he just said what he did. He wasn’t mean to tell her that. It was meant to stay a secret within him into the end of time. But there was a shift in atmosphere that just made it all slip out.

“You...you like me?” She asked, still not looking at him.

“Yeah...” he said. There was a little more confidence in his voice as he admitted his feelings towards her.

“I like you too..” she too held a little more confidence in her voice as she admitted her returned feelings. It felt...good. Especially since she knew he returned the feelings she had harboured for him since they met.

She stood abruptly and held her hand out to him. He looked at it and looked up at her again before taking her hand. She pulled him to his feet and a little close to her.

He smirked a little as he looked down at her “you want me to kiss you or something?” He said almost proudly.

“Yes..” she said “but first...I want to know something”

“What do you want to know?” He asked her. She squeezed his hand and dragged him out of her kitchen.

She lead him to her bedroom and noticed the worried expression on his face when he looked at her bed. This was what she wanted to know.

“You don’t have a bed in your apartment...” She told him quietly. (Y/N) turned her body so she was facing him completely, he cautiously lifted his hands to settle on her waist.

“I know...” he mumbled.

“Why?”

Bucky paused but he felt safe enough to give her an honest answer “I...I’m...scared. Of them”

“What is it about a bed that scares you?” She whispered, her fingers gently trailing down his cheeks. Bucky didn’t answer right away, for one he was to busy focusing of the beautiful touch of her hands, and for another, he didn’t really know the answer to her question. But he could take a guess.

“Because I...I don’t think I’ve slept in one since 1943. And I...after everything I’ve done...I don’t deserve to lie in such luxury...” his voice was quiet and barely audible, had it not been for the close proximity they were in, she probably wouldn’t have heard him.

“James...” she laid her forehead against his and he instinctively griped her waist a little tighter. The comfort and warmth she was bringing him was something he didn’t want to loose. She was someone he didn’t want to loose. He felt safer with no one but her. For once he actually felt...okay. But he felt he was holding her too tightly, but if he was she was wasn’t willing to tell him that.

“You know that you have no reason to be afraid. You are changing. You are becoming a good man. You do deserve to live in luxury, even if that starts with sleeping in a proper bed. Maybe it is scary for you...but...if you’ll allow me, I’ll help you face it”

“Please...” he whispered with a nod before pressing his lips to hers.

05/04/21

Taglist: @lunaserenade @phoenixhalliwell @slytherin4ever

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes fanfic #Sebastian Stan #tfatws #marvel #fluff #angst #fanfic

[argylemikewheeler]

July 1st, 1985

what the first ep of (my) s3 would look like if the main concept was: both Steve and Will are gay in 1985’s Summer of Love and the town’s enemy is a little more human; loving friendships, very confused adults, and Will Byers Actually Getting Help

“Harrington!”

“Yes, sir.” Steve looked up from his desk. He dropped his crossword and looked to be at attention; the police station’s phone wasn’t ringing, though, so there wasn’t really anything he should have been doing. Hopper stepped out of his office, angling himself toward the door rather than Steve’s desk island.

“Do you think you’ll be able to-- Harrington, what are you doing?” Hopper caught sight of the pocket thesaurus sitting on his desk (the last name written on the inside cover not belonging to Steve, of course). Hopper fixed his sunglasses on the edge of his nose, looking over them and down at Steve.

“I’m just, uh, working on my vocabulary.” Steve said. Hopper blinked twice, waiting. Steve wasn’t going to say the truth: he was dating-- well seeing someone-- way smarter than him. This wasn’t for joy or boredom. He was studying to impress. “It’s college prep, sir.”

“The crossword?” The chief evened his stare. “This your old man’s suggestion?” Of all the things Steve’s father was telling him to do with himself, he  wished  some of it was simply pecking at a crossword over a twelve hour shift.  Fucking off  and  being a better piece of shit son  just wasn’t feasible to accomplish in one summer.

“He swears by it.”

“Okay, well. Uh, moving on from that,” Hopper grabbed his hat from the coat rack. The topic of Steve’s father always made Hopper stiffen up; it was definitely the main reason Hopper gave Steve his job at the station, but it still created more questions. Steve knew Hopper and his father went to high school together, but he never asked his father about those years-- beyond his baseball glory stories. “I’ve got plans tonight and I need to head out early. Can you handle things on your own for a while. At least until the night shift comes in?”

“I’ll be fine.” Steve made sure not to acknowledge the crossword on his desk as he nodded. He was really good at his job, he was. He was also just, unfortunately, still a pretty shitty boyfriend and needed all the vocab help he could get. “What’s the pressing story?”

“I have dinner.” Hopper was already trying to walk out the door. “So  don’t  call me. For the love of God.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Chief. I--” Steve was sure it was the cool July wind that slammed the door on the last half of his sentence. Not Hopper. “won’t... Have a good time, I guess.”

The police station was empty: it was another boring and wonderfully quiet Monday in Hawkins. There’d been some calls to break up disturbances at city hall in the past few days, but somehow everyone just seemed to agree that Mondays-- the longest shift of Steve's whole week-- was the day everyone went about their quietest day.

There were a few officers milling in and out of the back lounge and front door, casting a quick glance to Steve as he muttered and threatened fourteen down and six across. Nancy had been helping close the gaps of his post-high school education-- without knowing just what for-- but had been picking up most hours at the Post to try and elbow her way into their good graces; it put his tutoring on hold. So here he was, groaning at some clues about classical artists he’d never heard of.

There were other reasons Steve was sure the other officers thought he was odd-- things he was  sure  his father had passed along in spitting rants-- but Steve didn’t mind. No one said anything to his face.

“Hey Flo! Is, uh, is Steve here?” The question was asked with the answer already in mind.

Steve sat up in his chair, twisting around to see down the hall to the back entrance to the station. There weren’t many parking spots to fill, but he knew a certain someone who preferred it to street parking.

“Jonathan?”

“Oh, I hear him. Thanks-- hey!” Jonathan hurried out from the hall, his camera bumping against his stomach and bag slapping against his leg in the same rhythm. He’d gotten a new haircut recently: semi-wonky bangs and a closer cut in the back. All thanks to Steve’s peer pressure and Mrs. Byers’s kitchen shears.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sorry to stop by your work like this--” he lowered his voice as he stopped at the corner of Steve’s desk. “I know we said we wouldn’t do that, but we got an extra muffin in the lunch order and I know you’re always starving after a Monday shift so.” Jonathan produced a folded brown paper bag from his satchel. “Here.”

“Oh, thanks.” Steve wanted to say so much more, but had to settle. No more. None of what they’d decided they wouldn’t say. Not until the summer had ended. They wanted to see if they lasted longer than the convenience of loose summer schedules.

“Won’t I see you, uh, later, though?” At eight, when Steve got sent home he always drove straight to Jonathan’s. Jonathan started late on Tuesdays and Steve had off; they had the time to waste. “Or is this your way of telling me to stay home?”

“No! No we’re still... hanging out.” Jonathan had gotten really good at cooking and treated Steve to weekly dinner. It was a nice gesture at first, but Steve started growing fond of the company. They both did around mid-June. “But, I think Mike’s going to be over so. Be  cool , alright? Keep it cool.”

“Cool, got it.” Steve leaned back in his chair. He moved his papers to leave a corner of his desk for Jonathan to sit on. No one was in the main office; it was a harmless invitation.

“I have to get going...” It sounded like an excuse, a dive for safety. “And I’m sure you have, um,  puzzles  to do?” Jonathan pretended not to be endeared. He tried, he really did. He  failed , but Steve pretended he didn’t notice.

“Don’t want to sit and help me figure out the title of Mozart’s last opera?” He patted the desk, daring to be more direct.

“I really have to go.” Jonathan was genuine, looking at his watch. “The Post only let me out early today because I have to go pick up Will from his doctor’s appointment.”

“Wait.” Steve put the cap back on his pen. “Isn’t Will’s therapy on Wednesday?”

“Yeah, but with Mom’s schedule and the store being all weird-- we had to move it to today. And you know we typically have a family night after-- so he feels okay, you know-- but we  can’t  . So,  that’s why Mike’s coming over. Hopefully they’ll be idiots and tire Will out and he’ll sleep okay.” Tension rose in Jonathan’s voice quickly, explaining his day as if going over a laundry list; never rehearsing it but having it memorized.

“I can stay home if you need time, Jonathan.”

“No, really. I want you to come over.” Jonathan sighed and placed his hand on the emptied spot on Steve’s desk. “Besides, you can’t break tradition after a little over  one month , then it was just a weird habit.”

Steve Harrington did not consider his summer fling a w  eird habit . If anything, it was the most sensical thing he’d done in a very long time. Even after getting rejected from all his colleges, and never hearing the end of his father’s lectures, 1985 had been very kind to him. And that was mostly due to Jonathan’s inherent nature to be the same.

“I’ll see you after eight.” Steve smiled and reached for his hand-- but averted to grab a piece of memo paper by the phone.

“I’m sorry to leave in a rush.” Jonathan hitched his bag up, checking his watch again. “I just, I really need to get going.”

“Don’t worry. The muffin is  more  than enough.” Steve said. “And seeing you wasn’t too bad either.”

“Slow day, huh?” Jonathan said. The corner of his mouth quirked with a flattered, embarrassed smile. Steve tried to act nonchalant, like he wasn’t so goddamn relieved to see a familiar and happy face. Especially  his  familiar and happy face. “Well, good thing I have another surprise for you.”

“You can barely fit your camera in that bag, what could you possibly-- hey!” Steve missed grabbing Jonathan’s arm as he walked away, heading for the front door. “Where are you going?” Jonathan kept walking, checking his watch the whole way. “Hello?”

“Delivered right on time.” Jonathan pushed the front door open to the station-- but was nearly knocked over as a green  dash  barreled through it.

"Steve! Steve! Steve!” The dash was suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders. “You got the job!”

“Henderson! Oh my god! You’re back!” In an unlikely impulse, Steve grabbed Dustin in a hug, taking advantage of the change of height. “Holy shit, I nearly forgot! First of the month!”

“See you, Steve.” Jonathan walked across the room to the back entrance again. His hand braced the back of Steve’s chair, brushing across his shoulders.

“O-Okay! Yeah, see you!” Steve sputtered, losing his reminded  cool  in an instant. “Bye.”

Dustin pulled away slowly. “What was that?” It looked like  everyone  was too smart for Steve.

“Nothing. He brought me a surprise lunch-- which was an  obvious decoy to the main event! You! How are you, buddy? How was camp?”

“Oh, it was fantastic. Steve, I  have  to show you all my inventions! Camp was the  best  four weeks  of  my  life .” Dustin hopped up onto the corner of his desk. His heels tapped against the empty metal drawers. He was jittery, nearly uncontainable, but still so composed-- if only to be focused all on Steve.

Steve held his hands out, letting him start. “Lay it on me, Henderson! I want to hear everything. I missed you like crazy.”

“Well, first, obviously. I have to tell you about my girlfriend--”

“Whoa! Whoa!  Girlfriend  ? That fast?” Steve hadn’t been expecting any of his dating advice to work. It had been coming from such a poor and confused part of himself, Steve figured it was destined to fail. Apparently, it was just  Steve  that was-- when flirting with women at least. “Damn, there’s something in you after all!”

“She’s  super  smart, Steve. I’ve never met any girl like her. She’s a genius and she’s so pretty. God, I miss her already-- and I  just  saw her.”

Steve looked over his shoulder. He knew the feeling. “That’s great, man. I mean, I’m super happy for you. Like, that’s  crazy . That’s freaking awesome.”

“So what about you? How are the ladies? I mean, you work for the  Chief  now. All the ladies you could need and more, am I right?”

Steve used to be really good at this part of the lie, but with Dustin it felt cheap. He didn’t need to lie to him, but that was the deal; no matter how much that person was Steve’s best and most beloved friend, their secret was a dead-bolt, vaulted secret.

“Eh, not too great. Only girl my own age I see-- besides Nancy, really-- is the night-shift girl, Robin. But she’s not really-- we’re just friends. She’s alright. Leaves me weird drawings in the memo pad.”

“Ooo, she sounds cool.” Dustin raised his eyebrows. “Do you know her from school?”

“Yeah, we didn’t really run in the same crowds but-- it’s not like that, man. It’s really not.” Steve started unwrapping his lunch. “It’s so not like that with Robin.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m not...  looking  at the moment.”

Steve had originally decided to not go looking for trouble. After he and Nancy split in the beginning of his senior year, he didn’t start looking for an immediate replacement. The illusion of thinking he was in love with Nancy-- capable of being in love with Nancy-- was a hard thing to have come crumbling down. Steve needed time to get his own bearings, to put his feet firmly on the ground, and have them lifted off when his father grabbed him by the lapels and--

Steve hadn’t gone looking for trouble. Hadn’t gone looking for love either. But somehow, both seemed to find him.

Jonathan was late. He usually wasn’t but Will was trying not to be worried. It was a different day than usual and he knew how awful Jonathan’s boss and co-workers were. Will tried not to be worried-- he wasn't. It was just that he had spent an hour talking about the night his father left their family; standing outside the doctor’s office was a bit nerve-wracking. It felt too familiar, even with all the talking and note-scribbling.

Finally, Jonathan’s car pulled into the lot. He was speeding, as much as his car  could  speed: he knew he was late, which made Will feel a little bit better. No one had forgotten him. It was just traffic or his bosses or maybe just hitting all the red lights. As Jonathan stopped in front of the curb and waved Will in, Will could see he was jittery-- he was  upset  that he was late. Will felt bad for counting the minutes.

Not that he did it out of impatience or anything. Will just formed the habit after getting his new watch. It matched Mike’s. Completely on accident, of course.

“Hey, buddy! Sorry I’m late. I was-- I had to run an errand really fast. How long were you waiting.” He moved his bag and threw it onto the backseat. Will would’ve held it on his lap.

“I wasn’t keeping track.” Will said, climbing into the passenger seat. Will wanted to ask if his bag had Jonathan’s camera in it. If everything was okay. He didn’t. It seemed like Jonathan had been in his therapy with Will, just as shaken up. “It’s okay. Thanks for getting me.”

Jonathan waited until Will put on his seat belt. “Of course. We’re always here to pick you up. Therapy is important; you have to go.”

Will laughed before he could stop himself. “You sound like Mom.”  Why?

“Because she’s right.” Therapy was still kind of weird to Will-- since  no one else  in his grade had to do it-- but he humored his family. It was helping, if he had to admit it. But it was still embarrassing sometimes.

His therapist, Dr. Bright--  Rose Marie, as she insisted on being called-- was a send-out from the Lab, but disguised within a private practice just outside of town. She was able to listen to Will talk about what he saw and felt during his time with the Mind Flayer without trying to commit him. Almost nothing was off limits. Almost nothing.

Will checked his watch again.

“Are you excited to see Mike tonight?” The question was pointed, but Will wasn’t sure why it made him nervous. “I mean, I feel like I haven’t seen him in a bit.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s always with El.”

Will was sure they  weren’t  dating. El was just on a year-long stint of self-discovery and, besides Max, Mike was the person she trusted the most to help make as many helpful mistakes as possible. He bought her books to read and new music to try. It was really sweet, seeing Mike take such big strides toward helping their friend. But there was also a part of Will that felt dejected:  his  sort of help had to be prescribed and couldn’t be replaced with a warm laugh from one Mike Wheeler.

Will was sick while his friends were growing.

“Is there something wrong?” Jonathan used to ask the question like Will was one trembling lip away from crying-- but this time, he asked it like Will had his hand on the door, seconds from jumping out. “Will, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “I’m fine. Just-- I talked a lot today and I’m tired.”

“Do you want to cancel with Mike--”

“No.” Will had been looking forward to having time with Mike--  just  Mike-- for a whole week. He wanted to sit on his floor with his best friend and be a kid again. Just for the night-- maybe draw some of Mike’s old campaigns or sketch out an idea for his own. He just wanted to remember something good about the past four years. After his hour with Dr. Bright, it all felt painful. Like his childhood naivety had been broken and every conversation he overheard in his house dripped with venom and disdain.

Will didn’t like picturing his house that way. It was a place that loved and raised him, a place he felt safe. He didn’t like thinking the conversations he heard being screamed through the walls were trapped in the drywall.

His arms felt heavy and his chest felt like it was made of metal-- he kept tasting it in his mouth. Will leaned back against the seat and reached for the radio. Jonathan turned it down before Will had even changed the station.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I just want to see Mike.” Will said, his mouth too honest and his mind shrouded in guilt. “I just want to see my friend.”

“Okay. Okay.” Jonathan nodded somewhat somberly. “I understand. Let’s go pick him up. He’s at his house right? Not El’s-- o-or The Sinclair’s or anything?”

“No. He’s at his.” Will crossed his arms and tried to find the loose string-- the thing that could uncoil Jonathan’s still-tightening anxiety. “Are you still dating Nancy?”

Jonathan turned to look at Will, nearly crashing the car. That was the wrong string. “What?”

“Nancy? Are you still dating her?”

“I was never dating Nancy.” Jonathan laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not dating Mike’s sister, don’t worry.” The clarification was strange and felt off-topic. Like Jonathan was trying to talk about something else.

“I thought you were. You guys hung out a lot during school.” Will heard her voice through the walls too. Always gentle, never yelling. Except when she was losing at playing cards. Then she shouted.

“She was helping me pass chemistry. That’s all.” Jonathan turned the radio up a little. Will checked his watch. “And then she helped me apply to the Post internship-- she’s great at writing papers, did you know that? A real wordsmith. Is Mike a writer too?”

He was, he  really  was. Grammatically, Will ran out of red pens trying to help, but creatively? Will envied Mike’s ability. “I don’t know. We don’t really talk about that kind of stuff like you two do… Since you two are dating.”

“We’re  not .” Jonathan laughed. Will took advantage of an upcoming stop sign to lean forward and look at his brother’s crimson face. “We’re not, Will, okay? We’re really not. I’d tell you.”

“You’d tell me?”

“Of course! I’d tell you if I… I had a girlfriend. Which I don’t!” He stayed at the stop sign for a bit too long. “Do you?”

There was an option to play dumb, to make Jonathan ask more directly:  do you have a girlfriend, Will ? but it sounded far more painful than being honest, than being as lonely as he was.

“No. I don’t.”

“And you’d tell me. If you were dating someone?” Jonathan looked at Will, hopeful but scarcely so. “You’ll tell me if anything big happens in your life?”

“Yeah.” There wouldn’t be anything happening at all that summer, that was for  damn sure . “Absolutely.”

Steve had about seventy percent of his puzzle done-- fifty of which was because Dustin was an unstoppable genius with no tolerance for Steve’s careful pace. It was just about quarter past seven, and Steve’s back was getting sore from sitting in his chair all day. He only liked sitting when it was in his car, on his way to the Byers's House, careful, of course, to obey all traffic laws.

Steve was packing his crosswords and pens up in the top drawer of his desk when something clattered the back door open. Steve grabbed a pen and whipped around in his seat, as if to wield it like a weapon.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hey dingus.” Luckily, Steve couldn’t even see Robin yet-- or rather, she couldn’t see him or his emphasized eye roll. She could hear him groan though. “Hey, shut up and quit whining. I’m sending you home early.”

Her head popped out from the hallway. Robin’s ponytail was high on her head, the hair flopping over and getting caught in her stringy bangs. She flung her backpack out from behind her and tossed it toward Steve. She wasn’t in her uniform yet, only wearing the buttoned up shirt-- unbuttoned and showing her torn and dyed shirt underneath. She was wearing jogging shorts, her knees torn up and covered with Band-Aids. They reminded Steve of the ones taped to his face after getting a plate smashed into his forehead. Deceivingly cheerful.

“What are you doing here early?” Steve stood and followed her, holding her backpack awkwardly in his hands. “You’re  never  early.” Eight on the dot. Every time.

“I figure you want to get out of here tonight.” She didn’t even stop to look at Steve as they walked into the back room. “Probably want to see your boyfriend.”

Her words weren’t sharp, but Steve still recoiled. He let his arms, and her bag, hang by his sides.

“Who? Jonathan?” The only way Jonathan and Robin had ever met was in the hallways of Hawkins High. She definitely never saw them interact at the station-- or on any of their nights together: they were always indoors. “He’s  not my boyfriend.”

“First off, I didn't even say a name." Shit. "Second, he came in the other day looking for you.” Robin started buttoning her shirt up, fixing the collar as she finally turned to see Steve. “He was really upset-- didn’t even know what time it was to know you weren’t working.”

“Upset?” Technically, it wasn’t Steve’s problem. It was the deal; they didn’t  have  to care about each other’s lives. It was just summer. It was just like any other summer.

“Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.” Robin sounded extremely sympathetic despite beginning to change her pants. Steve whipped around, covering his face. “You should go see him. Make sure he’s okay. Be a good boyfriend... shithead.”

“He’s  not--”

“Steve, I’m the last person you should be arguing with.” Robin laughed-- and it was only momentarily threatening. Until, of course, Steve realized what she meant.

Like all good secrets kept at Hawkins PD, Steve kept his mouth shut and nodded even if she wasn’t looking.

“Yes, sir--ma'am-- Robin.”

“So, are you going to go or what, dingus?” She tapped him on the shoulder. “Get out of here-- and tell me all about it Wednesday.”

Steve blinked at her, holding out her bag. As if it was enough thanks to give her back her own property. “Are we… friends, or something?”

“No, of course not.” She winked, slapping his arm. “Just looking out for one of my own.”

After picking Mike up from his house, they drove home in uncharacteristic chatter. Jonathan was the only one speaking, humming along to the radio. Will was exhausted beyond performative small talk; the type that had to be done between two best friends when a third party was present. Mike was great at just sitting with Will in silence, but Jonathan didn’t know that. Instead, the three of them passed around quiet jokes and laughter, answering questions about their friends for Jonathan’s upkeep of information.

Once they got in the house, Jonathan let them wander off into Will’s room as he started pulling pots out of the kitchen cabinets. He wouldn’t bother or pester them about any summer work, either. They would be left alone in their own coupled silence.

Mike was sitting cross-legged on Will’s floor, twisting one of Will's crayons between his fingers. Will needed new ones but he felt funny asking for them as a near-freshman in high school. He liked the glide of wax on paper compared to the scrape of colored pencils. Well, that and the fact he ruined half of his crayons the year prior making a full map of Hawkins in a fugue state and only had two crayons able to be used normally.

“You had doctor stuff today, right?”

Will was digging under his bed for his emptier sketch book. “Yeah. Therapy.  Doctor  doctor stuff was two weeks ago.”

“How was it?” Mike let his hand still and rest in his lap. “Like, what do you do in therapy? Just start talking?”

“Yeah, but it’s more than that. You have to think about stuff too. Doctors ask you questions, sometimes.” Will pulled back and drug his old drawing supplies along the carpet. He sat back on his heels and was able to see Mike over the top of the bed. He didn’t know Will was looking. “You have to have answers.”

“What do they ask about?” Mike kept looking at his hands, unaware of Will. “Upside down stuff?”

“Sometimes.” Will shuffled back around to Mike's side of the bed. He could feel the tiniest bit of rug burn starting. “She asked me about my dad today.”

Mike looked up, almost immediately. “Can she do that?”

“Why can’t she?” Will popped the lid on the retired Tupperware, now his art bin. “I talked about it.”

“I thought you didn’t like to.” Will had never said those words which meant Mike had gathered it from just observing him. “Did you… like talking about it?”

“Not really.” Will laughed. He found a few extra crayons, but of all the wrong colors. “She had this big speech afterward about learned helplessness that I… really didn’t like.” Will tried to keep laughing.

Mike put the crayon back in the bin. “Are you okay, Will?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the same old stuff.” Will shrugged. “Sometimes it just bothers me more than other days.”

Mike bit the inside of his cheek, picking at his words carefully. “You never talk about your dad, Will.”

“Why would I?”

“Because it bothers you. You can talk about anything you want-- I… I would listen.”

“You don’t have to listen to it just because it happened to me, you know. My therapist says you don’t have to experience things with me for them to be real.”

“But I want to know.” Mike looked insulted, almost crushed and collapsed as he sat back on his hands. “That’s your dad,” he said. “And you’re my friend.”

They sat in silence for a while. Mike went back to studying a new crayon, picking at the wrapper. Will felt something forming in his throat. A bubble that was hot, thick and sticky. Not vomit, but not impending tears either.

“I don’t get why he left.” Will said. “I don’t know what happened to our family.”

“Nothing happened. Maybe he just… wasn’t good at being your dad anymore.”

“But then why? What did I do?” Will didn’t want to ask Mike, make him feel responsible for answering, but Will was desperate to ask the universe again.

“Nothing.” Mike said. “I just think he…”

“He what? My dad got tired of me? Didn’t want to raise me?”

“Maybe he actually learned how to take a hint and knew he wasn’t good enough for you and Jonathan-- or your mom.” Mike wanted to be hopeful, to be positive, so badly. He ached, his smile tight and weak. He didn't have the answers, and who was Will to put him in the position to come up with them.

“So he gave up.” Will said.

“That’s not what I meant--”

“I know. I know… That’s just how it feels.” Will shrugged. He smiled at Mike, accepting his help and his warmth. It hurt knowing that Mike was wrong, but still. Will could always pretend a little longer. Anything for Mike.

“Hey! You monsters hungry?” Steve clapped his hands together before gently tapping the door. “Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

The door was open. Steve didn’t have to knock. He wanted to, just to prove he wasn’t  too  comfortable, but he also knew Mike was over. And knocking would announce his entrance rather than letting it just be something that just  was  . Rather than being  cool .

Awkwardly and with a lot of weird, throat-clearing fanfare, Steve opened the Byers’s front door and poked his head inside. Jonathan called him in from the kitchen without even needing to say hello, or being surprised by his walking in:  In here, Steve! Dinner’s almost done .

Steve walked through the living room carefully, as if he’d disturb it. There was a tape playing softly-- some band Steve’s never heard of, but didn’t hate. He’d grown to like the way that every song played in the Byers house was always moody and melancholy. The music was always the opposite of how he felt stepping into the kitchen.

Jonathan was at the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious. He had what looked to be tomato sauce stains on the front of his shirt-- where he wrapped his hand up to open the sauce jar. Steve was able to hide his smile as he shouldered off his uniform jacket and toed off his shoes, claiming a chair at the kitchen table.

“How was work?” Jonathan didn’t stop stirring. He moved like the stove was turned all the way up and he was afraid of burning the food. He spoke that way too.

“It was fine. Not a whole lot.” Steve didn’t want to have anything seem bigger than whatever upset Jonathan-- and seemed to still be upsetting him now. “How was your day?”

“Fine. Will and Mike are in the other room.” He was checking things off his list. Steve stepped up to Jonathan and stood even with him at the stove. He was making one-pot pasta. It really did smell fantastic. Steve was so hungry, even after his lunch.

“How was… the other things in your day? Develop any good pictures?” Steve covered how stupid he sounded by placing his hand on Jonathan’s lower back.

Jonathan stopped stirring and looked at him. Steve tried to keep cool, tried not to show his motives-- his attempt to calm something he couldn’t believe he’d missed spinning out of control, even if he didn’t know what it was. “Nancy walked into the dark room today-- she’s actually the one who gave me the muffin-- and she exposed the photos to light too early. So no, actually.”

Steve really was a bad boyfriend. Even when he wasn’t one yet-- or at all.

“Okay… how was. Everything else?”

“You don’t have to ask about my day, Steve. It’s okay.” Jonathan sighed and spoke evenly. “I’m just a little tired. Really. We don’t have to do the whole…  thing .”

The whole thing where Steve was explicit about how much he really cared about Jonathan and admitted he was sincerely and terrifyingly in love with Jonathan.

“I was asking because I was curious. Not out of obligation.” Steve clarified. His hand slid to rest on Jonathan’s hip. He moved closer, lips aiming to place a commitment-less kiss on his cheek.

“Steve! I said to keep it  cool .” Jonathan ducked back, placing a hand on Steve’s chest. “I don’t want Will to see us.”

“Your brother?” Steve was surprised; of all people Jonathan explicitly wanted to hide from Will seemed kind and forgiving-- not that there was anything  to  forgive, but it was something Steve often checked for. Steve was sure that one of Dustin’s friends would be… like Steve. Or like Jonathan-- maybe. All of them seemed prepared to deal with any of their friends suddenly being different. Far more prepared than Steve ever was.

“Yes. My brother.” Jonathan snapped, banging the spoon against the edge of the pot. “I don’t want him to learn I’m not dating Nancy but  instead  seeing her ex-boyfriend in the same day.” he whispered.

“Wait, what? He thinks you’re with Nancy?” Steve wasn’t sure where they went wrong. They were trying to  obscure  the truth, not lead everyone to a different reality. “D-Do you think Mike does too?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t want to ask and seem weird.” Jonathan sighed again. He sounded tense again. “I told Will I’d tell him if I was seeing anyone… And he promised me the same.”

Steve knew not to press the obvious question-- well   are  you seeing someone, Jonathan?  -- but also didn’t want to touch the obvious implication that Will  needed  to share a secret with Jonathan. Instead, he placed his hands into his pockets and turned to lean against the counter.

“Dinner smells really good, Byers.” There was another name that began with “B” that Steve wasn’t allowed to use, but always wanted to. Byers Byers Byers. Baby baby baby. “Thank you, again, for cooking for me-- for us.”

“You think I’m going to let you starve?” His stirring slowed; the stove cooled down. He nudged Steve’s arm with the spoon. “You coming home late and trying to cook? You mean half-drinking a beer and falling asleep face down on your bed in your uniform, half unbuttoned.”

“You picture that often, Byers?” Steve lifted an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Jonathan’s lips quirked into a smile again. “But, if you’d like a beer, I think there’s one in the fridge. No one in the house is going to touch it.”

“I can go ask Will if he wants it.”

“Shut up-- do you want it or not?”

“No.” Steve didn’t like drinking when they were together. He’d never really heard the full story about where Mr. Byers went, but he had a father of his own to make those blank spaces fill pretty fast. “But thanks. Don’t want the habit of needing a beer to forget how boring my job is.”

“I thought you liked your job?” Jonathan took a piece of pasta out of the pot and held it out for Steve to test.

He chewed and answered. “I do! It’s nice to have normal hours-- and I’m happy to help have replacements as Flo gets ready to retire but… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels  boring .”

“Would you rather be chasing down a four-legged monster without a face?” Jonathan let out a bubble of genuine laughter, playfully glaring at Steve.

“Frankly, yes! At least we’d all have something to do. I feel like I don’t see everyone anymore.”

“Then throw a party. Don’t wish for anything bad to happen.” Jonathan said firmly. “Let the record show my brother is a very strange magnet for all this… weird shit.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Steve said solemnly. He put his hand on Jonathan’s forearm. “I wish we were all safely doing something exciting. It felt nice to be needed, even if no one knew it was us.”

Jonathan put the spoon down on the counter and pivoted to be looking only at Steve. There was something resting just on the tip of his tongue, just under the surface of their conversation. It would’ve been a digression-- Steve could tell by Jonathan’s tense and furrowed brow-- but he would’ve listened.

“Jonathan?” Steve squeezed his arm, lifting his eyebrows. “What is it?”

“I--” He clenched his jaw, trying to swallow his words. “I think--” Steve knew there was no end to Jonathan’s sentence; merely starting it meant there was trust between them. A careful admission through omission. Steve knew Jonathan was looking at his shoes and wouldn’t be seen as he took in the secret flinches of Jonathan’s face. The crinkle by his left eye, the twitch of his mouth, double blinking--

They both jumped apart as the phone started ringing, practically shaking on the wall. Jonathan stepped away from Steve and left everything unsaid. Again.

Jonathan tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder as he turned to lean against the wall.

“Hello? This is--” His face changed sharply, his eyebrows furrowing. “I told you to stop bothering us. You’re lucky she’s not here to pick up the phone-- I don’t  care !” Jonathan cleared his throat and looked at Steve in a flash of uncertainty and anxiety. “I have the police here right now and if you don’t stop calling me I will send them to your house-- it’s not a threat if you’re the one bothering us. Stop. Calling.” He slammed the phone down and braced his weight against the wall with his other hand.

“Am I considered ‘the police’ now?” Steve said lightly. It was his way of letting Jonathan know he was listening, but not asking direct questions. “I’m not even allowed to have a badge.”

“It counts.” Jonathan said, letting his arms fall down by his sides. Steve stepped over and kept stirring dinner.

“Who was that?”

“No one. Can you go get the boys in the other room? Dinner’s ready.” Jonathan pushed Steve aside to hunch over the stove again.

“Sure.” Steve nodded, knowing he wasn’t seen. “Hey! You monsters hungry? Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

Dinner felt weird.

Will couldn’t help but feel like he and Mike had gotten into a fight. Talking about his dad made anything feel sticky, feel like it was violent or volatile. A second from snapping or tearing off, bouncing around the walls and echoing in Will's body. A small conversation between friends-- actually a little  understanding  between  best  friends-- felt like it had been a screaming match, all because it was cut off. There was no apology from Will. He didn't have the chance to tie it all up with an  I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, forget I said anything.

His plea sat heavy on his tongue as he talked to Steve-- who had arrived without notice-- and let Mike make him laugh so hard he nearly shot water out his nose. Will let it all happen under the tremor, the ache, of an apology. And maybe, if he was the best brother and friend he should’ve been, no problems or therapy, it would be enough of an apology.

He wasn't hungry and only ate half his serving of pasta, even though it was usually his favorite of Jonathan's recipes. He did apologize for that though, and it felt right to say aloud. Even if it was misdirected and no one heard it.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm so so sorry. Please come back--

Mike wasn’t tired, Will knew, but he still wanted to go to bed right after their horror movie ended. It was clear Mike hadn't been paying attention to the movie; the entire plot was that dreams were a new horror-scape for monsters to get teenagers. It wasn't too scary to Will; it just felt familiar. The villain looked different, more human, but Will knew what it felt like to dream while wide awake. To watch and be unable to do anything but scratch at the surface--

Convincing Will to get ready for bed, Mike said they’d have all day in the morning. He said that maybe he could convince his mom to let him stay over again if they don’t get all their fun in. Will knew Mike's mom probably would, if only because she felt bad for Will. But he would take the pity. A sleepover wasn't the worst thing to get from pity.

Will could still hear Mike fidgeting in his sleeping bag. He was rubbing his feet together like a cricket and twisting his wristwatch. The plastic scratched the sheer material of his sleeping bag rhythmically: back and forth. back and forth. backandforthbackandforth. It was like Mike was counting the ticks of his silent digital watch. Will began to play with his own watch, keeping it on in bed only because he'd noticed Mike hadn't removed it when they were brushing their teeth that night; apparently the watch was too good to part with.

Time though, was something Will wished he could separate himself from. He could hear the seconds scraping by now. Every moment he kept his friend awake and bored because Will was too weak or (rather and) too  everything  to stay up late again.

Therapy hadn’t even been that bad. Not really. Maybe it could be exhausting but it didn’t count because Will sat in the same spot for an hour. It wasn’t real work. It shouldn’t have counted. Will should’ve been able to hang out with his friend until sunrise, getting in trouble with his mom for being up so late. He should’ve still been a stupid, carefree kid, not a by-gone troubled teenager.

Maybe his dad had seen that from the beginning. Will's dad was always gambling, betting on baseball games he had these incredible "feelings" on. Sometimes he was wrong, but when he was right it was an amazing prediction; having the foresight no one else had. And maybe that was what it was, leaving them when he did. Maybe he saw Will wouldn’t be the second son he wanted after all. Maybe he knew of all the damage that would be done to him, the damage he would cause. Probably saw it from miles-- years-- away. And he left without a single warning to any of it.

What if his father had known? Could've known where he was when he came back into town two years ago? Not gone forever just in the lights. Just out of reach, just through the wall, Dad. What if he had known, been able to see, able to know, but wanted to leave Will Down there being possessed and enveloped and consumed and--

Will felt a chill scurry down his back. The feeling almost had legs. Too many. He felt ice cold, his body going blank-- not numb, but  blank -- for a second. He couldn’t feel his fingers, but could still feel every inch of his body, suddenly pulsing and seizing.

"Will?" Mike asked, sitting up. He gripped the end of the bed and pulled his face closer to Will's. He squinted in the darkness, feeling for Will’s hand. Will couldn’t answer, his jaw tense and breath rattling out of him. "Will, what’s wrong?"

After a (thankfully) non-awkward dinner, Steve and Jonathan washed all the dishes and let the boys watch whatever movie they wanted. Steve didn’t pay attention to what tape he put in the VRC. He was too busy thinking about the hands hidden in the warm soapy water in the kitchen sink. Neither Mike nor Will seemed too bothered by the  disgusting  amount of blood or the scary blade man on the TV. He felt no regret letting them go to bed right after the credits rolled. Jonathan had looked exhausted after putting the last dish away, and dozed off during the climax of the movie-- even slept through the high-pitched screaming.

They waited for the sound of Will’s door closing over before they got into bed.

Jonathan flopped onto his back, a pillow resting between his chest and crossed arms. Steve laid on his side, bracing his weight on his elbow. He poked at Jonathan's furrowed eyebrow lightly.

"What's the problem, Byers?"

"Nothing."

"You are not a really great liar, you do know that right?" That and Steve could still hear Robin's blasé recounting of Jonathan's distress.  Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.

Jonathan sighed and turned to look at Steve. He hated being called out. "It's about Will."

"What's wrong with Will? He seemed alright at dinner."

"Yeah, but," Another sigh. "Steve, I think my brother’s gay."

Steve's first response was swallowed and he nodded. "Okay. Okay. And, um, what's the issue with that?" He adjusted himself on the bed, hoping there was more subtlety in that.

"I can't talk to him about it. I mean," Jonathan smiled and reached to touch his face. "This is a very different thing than being fourteen and confused."

"Who says he's confused?"

"I don't mean with himself-- the rest of the world is so confusing, Steve. You see the news... I can't talk to him. I didn't grow up like that. And being with you is... Different. We dated girls before. Will... I don't know. I think he knows already."

"You think he's got feelings for--"

"Oh absolutely." Jonathan nodded, closing his eyes. "Oh, I'm so glad it's not just me who sees it."

"Hopefully Wheeler does too."

"Hey, keep your voice down, he's only a few rooms over ."

"Sorry. Sorry. Me and my big mouth " Steve rested his head on Jonathan's shoulder. "Shut me up, maybe."

"Not until my mom gets back." Jonathan said, rolling up onto his side too. "If I catch her when she comes in the door, she won't come into my room to say good night. I can't have you distracting me until then."

"Your mom is on a date. She's an adult and so are you." Steve kissed Jonathan's shoulder. "You are a working man who just finished a long day at work-- I think you can cuddle up with your boyf--" Steve choked on his own stupidity, feeling his face go red and charisma die on impact. "With me."

"I will. Once my mom is back." Jonathan kissed Steve, as if a parting promise. Only to backtrack on his words immediately. He tucked Steve’s hair back behind his ear, his hands trying not to hold his face. “No--  no . Steve, not until my mom gets back.”

“I can keep an ear out--” As Steve spoke, the power in his bedside lamp dimmed. The power hummed quietly before flickering back up. Jonathan tensed and pushed himself up in bed.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah, it was just the light, Byers. It’s windy out tonight, maybe a tree brushed a powerline.” Steve pushed Jonathan back down to his pillow-- and back into his own skin again. “It’s  nothing  . What if I turn out the light? Your mom won’t even  see  us in here.”

“No. No, I have to wait for her.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

“What!” Jonathan jerked upright again.

“I  meant  what if she’s at Hopper’s or something?” Steve shrugged. “She’s an adult.”

“Steve, that’s my  mom .” Jonathan hissed, swatting at the hand resting on his shoulder.

“I  meant  because she drove there on her own. If she had some wine, maybe she stayed somewhere and is being a smart, responsible parent.” Steve soothed. “Something you don’t have to be right now. You’re not Will’s parent and you aren’t your own. Lay down, will you?”

Jonathan was reluctant, but let Steve ease him back down again. He pulled the pillow tighter to his chest and sighed, his crossed arms sinking deeper. Steve laid down beside him, nose gently touching the end of his shoulder. As he breathed, his short exhales tickled Jonathan’s skin and got him giggling. It was Steve’s secret trick; something that always worked because Jonathan didn’t know it was a pattern-- didn’t know he was ticklish.

“Sorry I was weird today.” Jonathan said suddenly. He wasn’t even grinning.

“What?” They didn’t apologize. There was no need. “You’re worried about stuff-- it’s okay.”

“No, I like our dinners. And I was so uptight. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” Steve didn’t know what to do with the sentiment. “Apology accepted?”

Jonathan sighed again, blowing it out slowly between his pressed lips. “Lonnie called today.”

“L- your  dad ? Is that who was on the phone?” Steve wasn’t sure what came over him-- or his body-- as he placed an arm over Jonathan’s waist and pulled them together. There was something unspokenly intimate talking about abusive fathers while being nearly sutured together in bed, but Steve pretended he was just having problems hearing Jonathan correctly.

“Yeah.” Jonathan turned, his nose brushing Steve’s. “Said he wants custody of Will. He doesn’t trust Mom, he said.”

“How is he-- He can’t do that.”

“He’s going to try. I don't know where it came from. He still thinks he can win a case because the news says Will just  disappeared into the woods . Like he ran away from us or something.”

“Everyone knows that’s not true.”

“A court might not.” Jonathan sighed, ducking his head down. Steve resisted lifting his chin to hook it over Jonathan’s head, nestling him into his neck. He laid still, listening to his breathing and the gentle creaking of the house--

Jonathan's door was thrown open, both men sitting up quickly, ready to defend themselves and their actions. It was Mike, in his pajamas with his hair sticking out in wild curls. Will stood just behind him in the hallway looking far more awake. Stilted and untousled.

"Mike?"

"Jonathan, quick!"

"What is it?" Jonathan swung his legs around and motioned both boys to come in. "Will?" Mike pushed him into the center of the door frame, although he remained in the hallway, in the light. Will’s hand grabbed at the back of his neck. His face was blank and his eyes were distant.

"Something's wrong." Will said slowly, blinking to focus. "I feel him."

"Feel who?" Jonathan kneeled in front of Will, holding his shoulders. "Feel who, Will?"

"Dad."

#stonathan #jonathan byers x steve harrington #byeler #will byers x mike wheeler #byler #finally reposting in a way that isn't a random post with a link alksdja #prompts #my fics