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namfinessed · 10 months

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we keep this love - j.jk

genre: fluff, angst (5k, lots of pining and f2l)

summary: jungkook loves you too much to tell you. jungkook loves you too much to not tell you. he hopes the photographs he takes everytime he tries to confess, will give him courage, he hopes they hold enough of his love to give him the push he needs.

masterlist

jungkook swears that today is it, today is finally the day he will tell you how he feels. he’s going to let his sweet best friend in the whole world know that his heart has always belonged to them…

but his feet haven’t laid still since he’s made this decision, his hands keep fiddling with the camera that he holds, and he feels this inane urge to just tell you, to finally end his suffering. nevertheless, jungkook can’t help but feel that this would end any kind of relationship with you.

“i think i should tilt my head to the right.” your voice hangs over his shoulder and jungkook glances at the photos he’s taken of you so far, a smile threatens to go wild on his face.

something that would definitely catch your attention.

so instead, jungkook coughs and clears his throat.

when you had asked jungkook to take your profile photos for a resume, he had agreed so eagerly that it made you laugh in endearment, but you never really knew why he had been so quick.

and well, if it was jungkook’s way, he wouldn’t take a photo of anything else so his agreement came swifter than the wind.

“i think you look just fine.” he replies with his heartbeat in his ears. he thinks you look perfect; he’s always thought you looked like the person that people dream of.

you just tutted at him, “you have to give me constructive criticism if you want my photos to turn out well, jungkook.”

there is nothing to fix, you always look the most beautiful and i am seconds away from falling to my knees for you.

jungkook just stares at his camera with pursed lips, he couldn’t say that to you, you would run away, you would never talk to him, you would never look at him again. jungkook would rather dig his own grave than let any of that happen.

he flips through the photos again, trying to look for anything to tell you to fix, but jungkook doesn’t see a single flaw, his heart actually sings to him with each photo that his eyes catch.

“jungkook.” you call out to him as you step in front of the light but he’s lost in his world, he’s lost in worlds where you love him and a world where you may no longer love him.

would his heart ever heal from worlds as cruel as those?

“jungkook!” you call out again, your eyebrows furrowing as you look at his hung head.

jungkook felt that having him choose between these two worlds was too harsh of the universe.

one was a world that was familiar, a world where you would always come to him when you need a friend and a world where you hold him tight as friends do, but his heart would remain heavy with words stuck in his throat. the other was a world where his heart would soar with relief, but you would no longer be around him.

“jungkook, are you here?” your fingers snap in front of his eyes and your voice is no longer a distant thought.

you are standing right in front of him with arms crossed across your chest, your sweet scent wafts around him, your eyes are concerned but radiant as always, and everything about your very existence breaks jungkook with how full he feels, from how your very existence seems to fill his purpose.

he panics and his throat runs dry as the words he wants to say dangle from the tip of his tongue but he can’t let them out, they have no place in this world tonight.

“smile!” jungkook exclaims uncharacteristically loudly as he raises his camera and your eyes snap open at his voice, looking at the camera involuntarily.

he clicks a picture.

jungkook lowers the camera with a deep breath.

that was close, that was too close.

he’s only brought to reality when you slap his arm, “why would you even do that?” you grin up at him, finding great amusement in his actions as you always do, and jungkook, not knowing what else to do, shrugs his shoulders and lets out a tight laugh.

“okay okay, we have to get these today so, please focus jungkook.” you brush past his arm, your hands tracing his biceps and your touch makes him fall within himself, he’s lucky that you get back under the lights.

he is trying.

god knows he is trying to focus but someone was just being too distracting.

nevertheless, jungkook sighs and lifts his camera.

another day, when he isn’t feeling as cowardly, he will tell you.

he will tell you about every piece of his heart that aches for you.

jungkook’s always been the quiet kind when it came to love.

he was never one for the dramatics, for loud professions with tears, for love that movies can be made about, his love for people was always as gentle but ever-present as rain beating the windows.

consistent, louder when need be, silent when need be but always there, always making its presence known.

he stared out at his apartment as the city hid itself under gusts of clouds and a deep sense of yearning brewed in his chest, what he wouldn’t give to have you in his arms right now, what he wouldn’t give to brush your hair as you fall asleep.

“here they are!” your bright voice breaks through, two mugs of hot chocolate were held with a clumsy grip in both your hands. jungkook darts up, hurrying to take the mug from you before you, knowing your nature, spill it all over his carpet.

you sheepishly hand it over to him, “that was one time, jungkook.”

“and it took me a week to clean it up” he teasingly reminded you as he settled down on the couch, the movie you both decided to watch was a sad one. jungkook insisted on a happier movie, knowing how easily you cried but you stood firm on your decision.

two hours later, the credits rolled in and jungkook was wiping the tears that collected around your jaw as you wiped away at your eyes. he held back his laughter as another light sob came from you because he had told you this would happen, but as always, you were too stubborn to listen to him.

but jungkook is alright with that, he is alright with everything when it’s about you.

“next time, we’ll watch boss baby, okay?” jungkook suggests softly, his hands ever so lightly brushing your skin and you nodded without a word.

jungkook had never thought of how much he loved comforting you, he wishes he could destroy any pain that could come upon you but he wishes more that you will never forget that he will be with you through every pain.

as you calm down and start gossiping about your co-workers with a glass of wine at your feet, jungkook is overcome again with the need to tell you that a simple night like this with you, is what he wants for the rest of his life.

he wonders if he could type it and show it to you.

yeah, that would work.

that way, he wouldn’t have to worry about stuttering in the middle, or forgetting words that he absolutely has to say, he doesn’t have to gather the courage to let his voice be completely bare for you.

he starts typing as you scroll through your phone with your still-puffy eyes. he knows that usually if you’ve cried this much, you weren’t too far away from tucking in for the night so if anything goes too badly, hopefully, you will just sleep it off and jungkook will have to deal with reality tomorrow.

jungkook types, erases, types, erases, types, erases, and soon, gets frustrated at himself for ever thinking this was a good idea.

why was it so hard to put his feelings into words? why was saying anything else so easy, but saying this, something so important to him, so hard?

maybe he should just go simple, and say just enough words to get his point across but that feels too impersonal.

for all that he’s ever wanted to say to you, he can’t go the simple way, he can’t say just enough, it’s everything or nothing.

then he starts typing again, the world dissolves around him as he focuses solely on words that sound right to him, words that he wants you to hear.

jungkook checks what he reads, one time, two times, three times before his own words start sounding embarrassing to him. he sighs heavily, turning to see you snoring with your head knocked back on the sofa.

he hides his chuckle behind his palm as his eyes soften around their edges to watch you.

you look cute.

you look very cute.

you always have, jungkook reminds himself that there was never a day when he didn’t think you looked cute.

he reaches for his phone, maybe he could tell you while you’re asleep, that way, it would be out in the world and not in his heart anymore, that way, he would never have to deal with the consequences.

jungkook clears his throat, his hands growing clammy under his phone as he turns towards you and prepares himself, his heart blooms with the relief that it will soon feel, “i have never-“

felt my heart so light and heavy.

felt my eyes so desperate to see something.

felt my body dance so much on the inside.

felt that i could burst from the love i feel.

maybe jungkook was more dramatic than he let on.

he feels the rush of confessing in his head, his chest, his feet, the tips of his fingers, all of it fills with the same numbing sensation, only in the best way possible. jungkook’s going to say everything today.

then.

as if nothing could ever align with him.

you stir in your sleep and jungkook’s jaw locks close.

he is too frozen to move his body or phone when you slowly open your eyes to take in your surroundings.

“what are you doing?” a yawn follows as you stare at the way his body is angled toward you. jungkook’s mouth opens and closes instantly.

you sit up with a groan and roll your neck around to relieve the tension gathered there as you wait for him to answer.

“nothing, i was just going to-“ jungkook did say he was going to tell you today, right?

but the way you look at him, with sleepy eyes and lax body, the way you trust him enough to be around him at your most vulnerable hits at jungkook’s heart.

“yeah?”

just telling you something that could’ve changed everything.

“just taking a photo of you when you were sleeping, you looked ridiculous” he forces himself to joke and the glare you throw him has him sweating under his thin t-shirt.

please buy my act, please don’t question anything.

“everyone looks ridiculous when they sleep, jungkook.” you argue with him, as expected of you and jungkook’s shoulders relax.

“not me, i look like a true angel.” he feigns a dreamy look on his face that has you fighting back laughter, and pushing on his arm.

you looked beautiful.

jungkook raises his phone and takes a photo of you.

“hey, not cool, man, there’s still drool on my face” you reach for the phone in his hand to delete the photo but jungkook jumps up and runs away with the phone clutched in his hands.

you scream and run after him, soon, you’re both chasing each other around the entire apartment with you getting close many times, but if jungkook couldn’t get his confession, jungkook would keep this photo.

“okay okay, i give up but if you show it to anyone, i will kill you.”

a happy death for jungkook, really.

you lay down on the wooden floor, heaving to let your lungs catch up on all the running you did, and jungkook lays down beside you, he doesn’t feel any of the exertion you do.

perks of being fit and whatnot.

“i’m going to show it to everyone.” he hums as he looks at the photo and pulls it away just when you lunge for it again. he snickers when you fall down, defeated.

“i’ll kill you.”

“sure, you will.”

you smile while shaking your head at him, “you are impossible.”

jungkook wants to argue, you are the impossible one, you are making things so hard for him right now, you have tilted his world on its axis overnight randomly and have the audacity to still be his friend while he’s dying with his love for you.

but jungkook doesn’t actually mind all that.

he does mind that he might never tell you how he feels.

but if your smile was anything to go by, he will save this until he can’t bear it anymore, until his chest completely burns away, jungkook will save what you have.

he just hopes he has enough time to keep the flames away.

jungkook must have some hidden interest in torturing himself because why would he agree to come shopping with you, for a date with someone else?

“this might be the one” you sing as you step out of the dressing room. jungkook grunts in his seat, he had been feeling extremely uneasy in the stomach since you mentioned your date with a co-worker.

how great could the guy even be?

would he ever know everything about you like jungkook did?

would he try to count stars in your eyes like jungkook did?

would he love you as much as jungkook did?

but jungkook knew he couldn’t say anything, he was the coward who always took two steps forward and ten steps backward whenever he wanted to tell you he loved you more than anyone else. he’s tried so many more times now and he sees no other way to tell you.

“what do you think?” your voice continued in the sweet tone that he wants to always hear. “it’s good.” jungkook mumbled, not looking away from his phone.

“you’re not even looking” you glare at him and he continues to scroll. you huff loudly, hands coming up to rest on your hips, jungkook was acting weird. he was never indifferent when you took him shopping, in fact, he always had a compliment for every look you picked out.

it felt strange to you that he wasn’t even looking at you today.

you hated that he wasn’t looking at you, that his attention wasn’t intently fixed on you.

“jungkook, look up right now or i’m ditching you for the rest of today” your warning seems to stir something in the moody man as he sighs, putting his phone away and looking up at you.

a smile beams on your face as his attention shifts back to you.

jungkook’s mouth runs dry.

“how does it look?” you do a little twirl in your dress and wait for his response with eager eyes. jungkook feels like he’s floating and being punched in the gut, all at once.

jungkook’s entire face flushed when he saw the dress.

you looked gorgeous.

there’s zero doubt about that in his head.

but did you have to wear it to a date with someone that was not him?

“it’s..” jungkook starts, but finds it hard to finish his sentence.

should he say it’s ugly, to make sure that you never wear it to that date?

should he say it’s perfect, because it isn’t your fault or your date’s fault that he’s dishonest?

“you should get it.” he regretfully admits, he would beat himself up forever if you didn’t get the dress because he’s some selfish asshole.

“really?” you grin widely, your hands gliding down the fabric of your dress and jungkook wishes he could smile too, he wishes he was the one you got the dress for, he wishes that he was just a little braver.

“yeah, i’m just gonna go to the washroom for a second” he gets up from his seat and you nod at him, turning back to admire yourself in the mirror.

he doesn’t want to leave you before he fully dictates you, in that dress, into his memory.

jungkook stares at you from where he’s stood.

a mixture of dread and longing fill him.

what if he never gets to tell you?

someday, he’ll be helping you get ready for a wedding with someone else.

he knows he’s getting ahead of himself, but jungkook feels pathetic.

he knows everything about you.

he counts the stars in your eyes.

he loves you.

he loves you so much that he would rather suffer like this than ever let you know that his heart bleeds for you.

but all of that is useless.

none of that knowledge, none of the counting, none of the affection, gave him you.

and he’s the sole one to blame.

he was right in the middle of losing something forever.

you catch jungkook’s eye in the mirror. he was unmoving, his eyes didn’t blink as a hollowness filled them and concern grows quickly in you.

“jungkook, everything okay bud?” you say softly, turning sideways to look at him with hands reaching to him, and jungkook instinctively steps back.

he can’t have you near him. he doesn’t deserve your comfort.

he’s your friend and he’s lying to you.

a flash of hurt crosses your eyes as you fold your hands back to your body.

jungkook can already feel it all slipping away from him.

all the control he’s had, all the patience he’s had, dissolves around him.

“i-i was just wondering if you wanted me to take a picture to show you what it looks like” he’s lying to you again but the defeat he feels is greater than the guilt.

your head tilts at him in confusion.

something was wrong.

jungkook wasn’t telling you something.

but jungkook always told you everything, didn’t he? what could possibly trouble him so much that he had to keep it from you?

“okay, you can take a picture” you reason to yourself that jungkook wouldn’t hide anything intentionally, he will come around and tell you eventually.

maybe he needed space.

you stand awkwardly in your place with arms spreading the skirt of the dress as jungkook pulls out his phone and takes the picture with a gulp.

you watch as he stares at his screen for a few minutes before exiting the store without another word.

he never showed you what it looked like.

you had a feeling he wasn’t coming back.

and you were right.

jungkook stared at the prints of photos laid in front of him.

this was his last chance.

he was burning away and he was running out of time.

after this, he wouldn’t try again, he will force himself to see you as the friend you are.

when he left the store, he was hit with images of you on a date, looking pretty for someone else, smiling at someone else’s jokes, and listening to someone else’s stories and it made him nauseous.

what jungkook would tell you today, would be totally unfair to you. but he couldn’t go on another day with the weight that his heart buried him under.

jungkook’s foot wouldn’t stop tapping against the floor as he watched the clock with hopeful eyes, he’s never felt so nervous before, he doesn’t think he’s ever dreaded anything this much.

the door clicks.

jungkook’s chest squeezed continuously as he got up from where he was sitting, he was going to power through, he had to.

“jungkook?” you call out after you notice his sneakers near your doorway and you hear his hum in reply. you walk into your living room and see him standing with hands fumbling next to your coffee table. you give him a small smile and his face melts with the tiniest bit of relief.

it’s okay, as long as you still smile at him, be it the smallest or biggest smile, as long as you smile at him after everything, he will be okay.

“i was going to call you” you admit and his eyebrows arch up in question, “you looked a bit down today, just wanted to check up on my best friend” you try to sound cheery as you squeeze his upper arm and walk by him to sit on the couch.

god bless your heart.

why did you have to remind him every single day of the reasons he’s so madly fallen for you?

“what is all this?” you notice the photos of yourself sprawled out on the table, from the many times you have been around jungkook over the past few months.

all of them were random, none of them had any coherence whatsoever except for your face being central in all of them.

you picked apart the photographs, trying to remember when exactly they were taken. your heart quickens when you realize it’s all the times that you thought jungkook looked like he was going to say something, only to swallow the words later.

“jungkook? what are all these photos?” jungkook couldn’t deny it anymore, he no longer had any excuses, the evidence of his love was dangling between your fingers.

his heart sank as he knew this was going to be the time that he’s both longed for and agitated over.

“i wanted to ask you something” he says, unsurely, slowly with jitters crawling on his nerves. you hold your breath as you nod for him to continue, looking up from the photos to give him a soft smile to encourage him, even if you were as confused as ever.

jungkook’s world gets heavier around him, air suddenly becomes too thick for his words to get to you, at least the words that have etched onto his body but never left him.

“don’t go on another date with someone else” jungkook’s eyes glisten as he forces his eyes to look at you. he needed to see what you felt, what you thought, and if you were going to hate him forever or not.

he was laying his heart for you to gather or stomp on tonight and he had nowhere to run to save himself.

“please.” he chokes out as his heart pivots in his chest and jungkook’s legs start to weaken beneath him.

why did it feel like his life would change in every possible way after this?

your eyes widen as you, for the first time, see the yearning that was drowning in jungkook, see the desperation that wrapped his body in a tight rope.

“those photos, they are from all from days that i was moments away from telling you” jungkook’s eyes fall away from you, he wasn’t brave enough to see your face for the rest of what he was going to say.

“telling me what?” you sound so understanding, so encouraging, so soft, so much of everything he wants to keep forever.

“i love you.” the world sheds some of its weight, he doesn’t look at you still, if he does, his world will never be light again. but jungkook also feels this strange giddy joy forcing his cheeks to rise is relief.

now that he’s said it, he never wants to stop.

“and i’ve been too much of a coward to tell you this. i love you, i wish i knew when exactly it happened but i don’t remember and the only explanation i have is that maybe i have always loved you and it just came in clarity to me now.” your entire form dissolves into the couch as you watch your best friend of years struggle to put his love into words.

his love for you.

you feel your heartbeat in your ear but something brims in you, something that fills you with a warmth that you didn’t know you craved.

something that makes you feel like jungkook isn’t alone in this paradox of emotions he’s feeling.

“whether you choose someone else or not, it is up to you, i will never come in the way of that but i can’t breathe for another second with my heart feeling like it will crawl out of my body just to reach you, i can’t go another day wishing that you were mine, i can’t go on like this. i love you and i am afraid that if i don’t tell you now, i never will. it’s killing me knowing that you’re right next to me and knowing i can’t give you all of me.” jungkook rambles, he closes his eyes and rambles, he hopes he’s making sense, he hopes you don’t hate him, he hopes that you will have him. jungkook feels light as a cloud as his heart finally flies free.

he looks at the photos, he remembers how tightly his heart took over him every single time he wanted to relieve himself from the weight of his love and jungkook knows he wouldn't last another day without you claiming him completely.

“please take me, please take all of me.” as he says that, you feel a tug so strong on your chest that it topples your heart over. you never knew jungkook’s feelings were so beautiful, you never knew he felt so much because of you.

but you knew a couple things for sure now.

“i won’t go on another date.” you stare at the photos as you give him his answer that leaves you with no hesitation, no doubt at all. jungkook’s words had you on top of the world, if he saw you even half as beautiful as you were in his pictures, you knew that you had nothing to worry about.

jungkook’s head snaps up as you get up from the couch to walk over to him, his throat closes up when your familiar scent wraps his rope tighter around him.

if you come this close and not fall into his arms, jungkook will never forgive you.

“i won’t go on another date that’s not with you. i can’t believe i never realized it before but hearing it from you made it the clearest thing in my head.” your hand reached out to rest on his chest, the soft t-shirt he wore wrinkled under your touch, and jungkook feels he could fall to his knees. “maybe, as you said, it’s always been there and i kept fooling myself to think otherwise.”

“but i don’t want to be a fool anymore. i just want you to take me too.” reality was spinning jungkook’s head, looking at you say those words, eyes with too many stars for him to count, was feeling too good to be true to jungkook.

he had thought og a hundred other ways this could’ve gone, he expected to lose his friend forever but he wasn’t and that was the craziest thing to jungkook.

“are you serious right now?” he didn’t mean for it to sound funny but you burst out laughing, leaning your head on his chest as your shoulders shook. “no jungkook, i like to confess my undying love to people for fun.” he rolls his eyes with the widest grin ever as he lifts your head for you to look at him.

undying love.

all for him.

in that minute, jungkook was the luckiest man in the world.

but he wants to hear the words to be sure, he wanted his heart to finally hear it from you. and he never had to ask you to say it.

“i love you, jungkook, so much.” he wants to do a little dance, and break into song, throw the biggest party known to mankind because fuck him but the girl he loves, loves him back.

(that too, so much!)

but for now, he will settle for quickly gathering you in his arms and spinning you around as your laughter fills the room. he will settle for your smile that he now sees is the widest it’s ever been.

jungkook only knows how to be a good friend to you but he knows he’s going to try his best to be the best love you’ve ever experienced.

his rain-like love pattered around him as your words drowned in the noises.

it had never been so loud, yet so quiet but as always, jungkook’s love for you remained suspended around you.

from now on, it would always drown you two.

a happy death for jungkook, really.

#bts #bts fluff #bts imagines #bts angst #jungkook smut #bts smut #bts scenarios #jeon jungkook #jungkook fluff #jungkook fic #jungkook fic recs #jungkook imagine #jungkook one shots #jungkook masterlist #namfinessed #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #jungkook angst #jungkook one shot

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fanfictilltheend · 5 months

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❤️‍🔥Violent Heart my VERY DARK Stepdad!Mechanic!Convict Joel x Reader story snippet (preview) ❤️‍🔥

Hey!! You guys voted on which WIP you wanted a snippet from and you voted for this one: Violent Heart my VERY DARK no apocalypse slowburn Stepdad!Mechanic!Convict!Joel x Reader fic!! (Who likes the header I made???? thoughts??? thots???)

Part 1 of the story snippet // Part 2 of the story snippet // header/mood board with original image credits (please read all warnings for each part!)

Context for this snippet: Joel is Y/N's new stepfather and they're sitting on the couch talking. Y/N is a child (about 8).

WARNINGS: afab!you, mention of sarah dying, cancer mention, joel tears, hurt/comfort, use of Y/N, please use your best judgement and take care of yourself!!

“Joel?” she asks a little cautiously, breaking him from his thoughts. “Can I ask you something?”

“‘Course, kiddo,” he says as gently as he knows how.

“Who’s Sarah?”

His heart stops. His blood runs cold.

“What? How did you–”

“You were talking. In your sleep yesterday,” she says, shrinking away a little and Joel feels sorry for scaring her again. “When we were watching Dexter. Well, you fell asleep right before. You were snoring and all, but you were also talking and mumbling that name. You sounded sad and scared.”

Joel should definitely not have allowed her to watch that! But that is hardly the point right now.

His heart squeezes so tight it burns. What was there to say about Sarah – the entire reason his life had had any purpose? His perfect babygirl? The light of his life?

He could lie. So easily too and Y/N would never know. He could say nothing at all. Hasn’t even told Erica about her yet. Hardly ever speaks to anyone about her these days.

And yet…

“She was my daughter,” he hears himself say softly. “She…got sick. Died of leukemia a while back. She was twelve.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the wallet he was just thinking about. Inside is a tiny school photo of Sarah – the last one she ever took. It’s faded a little, but she’s still smiling so big she could block out the sun. He shows it to Y/N.

“I’m sorry, Joel,” she says and she really does look sorry.

Not the way his co-workers and customers say it – almost as a reflex – to fill the void in the conversation. Her eyes are shimmering.

“Nothin’ to do about it now,” he shrugs, running his thumb over the photo paper, softened with age. “But she was so damn special. My whole world.”

He has learned to repress the tears, not to show weakness, that is not hard. Not anymore. But the anger that broils up inside him – the injustice of it all – how he was unable to help her. Unable to save her. He feels almost like a child again, powerless in an unforgiving, unrelenting world. He wants to fight back!

He is so angry he begins to shake and his hands clench into fists.

He wants to flip over the fucking coffee table – fling it across the room! He wants to punch in the glass of the flickering TV screen until his fist is broken! He wants to–He wants–

He just wants his babygirl back...

A sob, small and foreign rises in his throat, but he pushes it down.

He thinks Y/N knows though. Can see the vulnerability in his eyes.

She reaches out a small hand and touches his fist, pushes it down gently into the soft fabric of the couch so he’ll stop shaking. It doesn’t entirely work, but he thinks he appreciates the effort.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing to say,” she begins a bit skittishly, still not entirely trusting the hulking, raging man above her. “But I think I would have liked to have been her friend.”

And for the first time since Sarah died, Joel sobs.

Y/N pops up from the couch and Joel’s heart cries out louder in his chest for her to come back, don’t leave me too as he tries to suck the tears back in. It doesn’t work though and liquid gushes down his cheeks. He doesn’t think he can take the rejection, the loss of her. But thankfully, she returns just as quickly as she went with a handful of tissues stuffed into her small fist.

“Here, Joel,” she offers. “Here. Don’t cry.”

Joel does cry though. He’s ashamed he’s broken down in front of this literal child, and he doesn’t let out much noise, but he doesn’t take the tissues either. He can’t.

She’s so sweet though, or maybe it’s because she is truly afraid of him now, of his wrath, he’ll never really know, but she frowns and reaches out a little hand, the one with the scar on the middle finger, and tries to wipe up the tears.

The paper of the tissue tickles his cheeks.

“Shouldn’t havta…” he tries.

“Didn’t mean to make you…” she answers.

A pause.

“You didn’t, honey. That was all me,” he assures her finally.

She lets out a sigh of relief and soaks up the last of the salt water from his face, brushes the tissue gently against his nose. It tickles, causes him to snort. He smirks a little.

She smiles back shyly, she can’t help it, he can tell.

“You know,” he says thoughtfully after a few moments of silence, sighing deeply. “I reckon she would’ve wanted to be your friend too…”

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slafkovskys · 1 year

Note

Could you do Juraj Slafkovsky and 'you got me flowers'

warnings: teasing, a little bit suggestive, hints of daddy issues + forbidden romance?

“you know that your dad is not going to be happy that you’re wearing that,” hallie mumbles as you step out of the car, having to pull your dress down so that it would cover more of your thighs.

you flip your hair over your shoulder and reach in to grab your bag before sending a smile to your driver, intertwining your fingers with hallie’s as you walk towards the entrance, “well then maybe he should stop sending me as a representative to these things then if he’s just going to chew me out.”

“will you let me find a husband first, at least?” she rolls her eyes as you’re ushered through the door without even having your identification or invitation checked. steve, the man at the door, had worked at the arena since before you could properly walk. though he was supposed to do it for everyone, he never checked you for anything.

you got away with a lot because of him.

the concourse was already crowded with donors and players alike, all here for one purpose. raise money for whatever charity your father had chosen to support this season. he had given you the spiel and you had notes on your phone that you really needed to look at before-

“y/n, there you are! i’ve been looking all over for you.”

katerina’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard in the most respectful way possible as she makes her way toward you. the woman had become what you could only describe as a handler for you at these events. her job was simple: make sure you say the right things, act like you know what you’re doing, and make the family look good.

simple.

she gives you a once over, “you couldn’t have found a dress that had both arms and a few more inches at the bottom?”

“you couldn’t find a better attitude?” the words spill out of your mouth before you can stop them and hallie turns her head to stifle a giggle at your bluntness. you huff and nod your head, “what do you need from me?”

she wipes the scowl off of her face before clearing her throat, “we need you to take some pictures with some of the bigger donors first. then, we’ll have you walk around and look at some of the things that are up for auction.”

“cool,” you mumble before turning your head towards your best friend, “i’ll find you later. don’t do anything that i wouldn’t do.”

“good thing that’s a short list,” she winks before you part ways.

you follow katerina down to the main part of the arena that had been cleared of ice and instead was lined with booths and an area set up for your photo op. you sigh as you hand off your bag, faking a smile as you make your way down the line of businessmen and women who you were meant to entertain for the next couple of hours at least.

katerina grins as you shake their hands, “this is y/n, geoff’s daughter. she’s here on his behalf tonight.”

that’s all you ever seemed to be at these things, geoff’s daughter. you ached to be more than just the offspring of the man who owned a sports franchise and that’s why you tried so hard to stay away from anything related to the team. that was until a few months ago when you bumped into him in the hallway and now you almost made it your mission to be involved in all things canadiens just for an excuse to be in his presence.

even now as you stand in the middle of a group of powerful people, fake smile turned on, your eyes search the room for him. it doesn’t take long to find juraj, parked at a booth with kaiden and he’s already watching you. under his gaze, you’re suddenly shy and you shift your weight from foot to foot, trying to balance yourself in your high heels.

god, you hated how nervous he made you.

once your photo op was over, you tell katerina that you need to use the restroom before she starts parading you around. she huffs before telling you to hurry.

you have no intentions of doing so.

you spot hallie leaning against the wall, talking to some rookie who had just been called up from laval earlier in the week. you can tell her laugh is fake and so is the hand she rests on his jersey. you lock eyes with juraj once again and you don’t have to say a word, you know that he’ll follow you wherever.

no one dares stop you as you make your way through the bench that had been blocked off for the event and down the hallway towards the locker room. when you hear his footsteps behind you, maybe you smirk and start to swing your hips a little bit just for the dramatic effect of it all. you barely step your high-heeled foot into the room before an arm wraps around your waist and he’s using his weight to force you two the rest of the way inside. his breath is hot against your ear, “not nice.”

“i’m sorry,” you turn in his arms and pout your lips. you use your hand to run your fingers through his hair before smoothing down his tie, “i’m glad that you chose the red. it looks good on you.”

“look,” he holds his arm up so that you could see his sleeves, “matching.”

you smile softly as you ran your finger over the cuff links you had bought him right around the time your two-month anniversary had come and gone. conveniently, you had a bracelet that matched the links and conveniently, you were wearing it at that moment. it was something so subtle, yet so powerful to you. “yeah, juraj, we’re matching.”

“i got you something. present,” he mumbles as he attempts to pull away. you grip his lapels because how dare he try and pull away when you rarely get to be this close with so many people around and he chuckles, smoothing a hand over your hair when you frown, “is in pocket. have to get, anjel.”

you watch as he reaches for the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulls something out, something wrapped delicately in paper. he hands it over to you with a warning to be careful and your curiosity is piqued as you start to unwrap the object. once you see what it is, you look up at him with gentle eyes, “you got me flowers?”

“don’t know how to say in english, but are forever,” he waves his hand around, “no water, no sun. just forever.”

“i love them,” you grin and press your lips to his, savoring the moment between the two of you, but keeping a careful ear just in case someone should decide to come looking for you. you start to trail your lips down his neck and his breath hitches, “you know what?”

“what?”

“you should come and sit with me in the owner’s suite tomorrow night,” you mumble against his jaw and he inhales sharply.

“but your dad-”

“won’t be there. he’s on a trip out of the country, gone for another week. why do you think i’m here?” you smirk as you gently run your manicured fingers along the back of his neck, “doesn’t it sound fun, láska? me, you, alone in a suite, where no one can see or hear us? besides, why would you want to sit with kaiden and arber if you don’t have to?”

“wifi and gully less dangerous,” he sighs as he squeezes your hips and that’s when you know that you’ve got him right where you want him. “you will get me in trouble.”

“hm, we’ll see,” you press a kiss to the side of his mouth before pulling away, smoothing out his suit once again, “i’ll see you tonight, right?”

“can’t leave until late,” he explains with a sad look. “will stay up for me?”

“if you’re good,” and with a wink, you disconnect yourself from him and make your way out of the locker room. you didn’t bother telling him about the stain your lipstick had left on his skin before you left. no, he had to learn that from kaiden while you watched from across the room as he frantically tries to rub it away.

katerina snaps her fingers in front of your face and your smile fades at her angry expression. your attention shifts from your blushing boyfriend to the annoyed woman in front of you who would no doubt be reporting your ‘unruly’ behavior to your father at some point in the next 24 hours. you blink, “what were you saying?”

#juraj slafkovský #concepts

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ggidolsmuts · 1 year

Text

Special Treatment - Jang Yeeun

"Fucking health insurance..." you mutter under your breath. A physical is usually guaranteed to be covered, why is it so hard to find a doctor that's in-network?! The ones available are either too far away or completely booked. You scroll and scroll and scroll the portal, looking for available doctors in your area. The only one that fits your needs is an unrated one, seemingly fresh out of medical school. Well, you needed to get a physical done before your coverage rolls over, so you bite the bullet and book an appointment with Doctor Jang Yeeun.

3 months later you show up at her practice, which is thankfully very clean and in a nice part of town. The receptionist checks you in with a sweet smile, and a short while later you are waved in by the nurse. Nervously you confirm your name and date of birth while she takes your height and weight. You can't help but get a whiff of the nurse's perfume as she leans in to put the blood pressure cuff on you.

"Hmm, reading's a little high." The nurse frowns. “Let's try that again.” White coat syndrome is a real thing, but you had a higher pressure for other reasons—frankly, the nurse was hot, the perfect combination of pretty and cute. Another frown adorns her doll-like face when she takes the second reading.

"Any history of high blood pressure or heart disease in the family?"

"No."

"Do you smoke?"

"No."

"Drink?"

"Socially."

"Are you sexually active?"

"Sometimes."

She makes a note of your answers before turning to the computer.

"Okay, so you're just here for the physical?"

"Yes."

The nurse responds with a wordless note, guiding you to the examination chair. Her hand dances across your body.

"Do you feel this?" She presses a finger into your palm, and you nod.

"Close your eyes, how many fingers do I have on your back?"

"Three."

"Mmhmm, keep your knee relaxed." She taps it with a reflex hammer, and you body responds accordingly.

"Good, anything you want to bring up, anything feel off?"

"No. But umm, shouldn't the doctor be doing all of this?" you ask the nurse carefully.

"I am the doctor." You look at her previously flipped nametag, and indeed, it says Jang Yeeun on it. You looked her up on the clinic website, but wow, that photo does not do her justice.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't see the coat, so I assumed—"

"Does this look better?" Yeeun laughs and throws the stereotypical doctor's coat over her petite frame.

"Yes, much like a doctor now, I'm so sorry."

"No problem, we're shorthanded, so I handle both the doctor and nurse duties here."

"I see, that's amazing. For such a pretty doctor to do all of this is really—" you blush and stop yourself, realizing what you said too late.

"A pretty doctor hmm?" Yeeun eyes you intently, a thousand mischievous thoughts running through her head. He's cute, should I...? The truth is, Yeeun has been running herself on fumes the past few months, managing and maintaining her own practice. It doesn't give her time for meeting people, and as a result she's been dry, for lack of a better word.

"Umm... Sorry, that slipped out."

"No, we should analyze, why did that slip out?"

"Sorry, I just thought you are really good looking, and—"

"Thank you. Now, just to clarify, you are sexually active yes? Are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm trying to figure out if you're sexually frustrated since you said that, which I might add, is highly inappropriate."

"I'm sorry, m-maybe, I'm trying to do no-nut November."

"Now why would you do that? It serves no purpose."

"Does it not?"

"Mmhmm, it's quite bad, you can't be going around spouting such comments at any pretty lady you see."

"Not just any, you're just really—" Yeeun interrupts you again.

"Ah ah ah, enough. You need special treatment, please come by my place as soon as possible."

"Um sure, yes of course. Will this be covered by my insurance?"

"Oh no need, we offer it free-of-charge, you will receive a message later today with the details."

Later that night Yeeun lounges in her recliner, debating on what message she should send you. If she didn't want to violate every professional rule about her job, the "place" she sends you to would just be her clinic again, and she'd do some simple placebo treatments for you. But the idle finger she traces between her legs does the thinking for her—she absolutely wanted you to violate her, and so she sends you a different location, the place she's in right now. She gathers her willpower and pulls her finger away from her body, typing out the message and sending it off to you. She breathes deeply and heavily as she tries to fall asleep—she is already looking forward to tomorrow.

Gulping, a few days later, you knock at the door, nervous about not being actually in a doctor's office for this "special treatment".

"Doctor Jang, I'm here."

"Welcome, please come in." Yeeun's dressed in her casual wear instead of looking like a medical professional, but your heart is beating rapidly anyways. Yeeun wears a simple but tightly fitted t-shirt and shorts, and the head below the belt thought that she looked simply delicious.

"Go through the door there, please strip to your underwear and put on the gown." You follow the doctor's instructions obediently.

"You can leave your clothes on the table, please, take a seat on the recliner and close your eyes, try to relax." Yeeun disappears from your view. "So, are you still doing no-nut November?"

"Umm yeah." You can't see Yeeun, but you can hear her step all around you.

"Have you failed? Did you masturbate since we last met?"

"What? No, it has only been a few days."

"Oh, that's no good, it is not good to be pent up." A finger traces your right forearm, and softly Yeeun mutters. "I can feel your muscles, makes me want to feel it working me over..."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, I mean, you should be exercising, to work off that testosterone. Have you been doing more exercise then? At least masturbation works this arm muscle here."

"Oh, umm, no, no extra exercise."

"That's no good at all! That can be very harmful to you!" Yeeun claims with a mock scandalized tone. Your gown is pulled open.

"Doctor?"

"Shh, I need to examine you, make sure there are no symptoms from lack of masturbation." Her finger traces your jawline dangerously, and going by her actions so far you were willing to let her dictate how far things were going to go tonight—Yeeun would be a wonderful reason to fail your "goal". But as she glides her nail down your neck, a tiny part of you wonders if she brought you here to kill you instead of fuck you. With your eyes closed, you focus and hear Yeeun's self-muttering all the more clearly, and it eliminates all doubt.

"What a nice strong jaw, makes me want to sit on it..."

"Doctor?"

"Shhh." Her hair tickles your chest—she's very near you. Brazenly her hands travel down your chest and stomach, and you reflexively suck your tummy in, and in response she pokes you with a laugh.

"No need to put on airs, I'm your doctor, remember?" Her whisper is a little higher pitched, teasing you. "It's quite firm regardless, not a six-pack, but something I wouldn't mind grinding on either. Now for something to ride on..."

You were hard before, and as Yeeun's fingers reaches your boxers you get extra sensitive, suddenly noticing the friction of the fabric against your shaft. But all she does is pull on them briefly before moving on. You gasp and buck your hip in response.

"Patience, my patient, the examination needs to be finished." Both your thighs are squeezed, and her hair tickles them, indicating where exactly her head is. Tension floods your body as her warm breath is on your thighs, seeming to move inwards. With a giggle she defuses you, her hands moving down to your calves and feet instead.

Unbeknownst to you Yeeun is soaking wet, her face already red at the scent between your legs—gods she wanted it so bad! But she denies both of you immediate gratification, knowing that the end result will be utterly explosive if she does it. Her hands massaging your calves and lightly touching your feet are just delaying the inevitable, working herself up to cross the next line.

You choke on your breath, gripping the recliner tightly as you feel her fingers on your boxers again.

"Lift your hips please." You almost rocket off the cushion to obey her. In an instant she has pulled them past your knees, and you hurriedly kick them off. Her hair tickles your cheeks once more, and you can't help but moan when you feel her lips pull on your earlobe.

"So hard, so thick, makes me want to fuck you over and over again."

"P-Please, please doctor!"

"It is time for your treatment, keep your eyes closed." Your cock jumps as she drifts her hand down your body, almost touching it. "You should not be denying yourself during an arbitrary month, you should orgasm often, orgasm freely as your needs dictate."

Suddenly you feel her hair tickle your thighs.

"You should cum for me."

You shout loudly into the room when her mouth envelopes your shaft, and a single lick of her tongue is enough to make you spew your pent up load down her throat. With one hand planted on the recliner, the other hand finds her head, and your hips buck off the cushion, trying to stuff your cock straight through Yeeun's face as you shoot rope after rope of cum into her. Yeeun's buried in your crotch, her nose inhaling your arousal, and she is dizzy with heat, either from her own burning need, or from the hot liquid you just put into her. Her hand massages your balls, and Yeeun shudders as you continue throbbing and feeding her rich semen—it makes its way through her body quickly, and every drop of cum you give her makes her produce her own slick, soaking through her panties.

You rest on the recliner, euphorically drained, too tired to even react when she release you with a pop, some cum leaking out the side of her lips. Absentmindedly she feels herself up in front of you while she waits, a hand drifting all over her midriff.

"Do you want me to help you?" you ask when you've finally gotten your wits about you.

"We should focus on your treatment, please go to the bedroom for step two." Yeeun heads in first, disappearing into the bathroom. She splashes herself with water, looking in the mirror at her blushing face. The line had been crossed, she had touched you, put you in her mouth and let you blow—and yet she can't wait to put you in her elsewhere. Yeeun touches herself—her nipples were hard and swollen, and she's sopping wet between her legs, she needed to get off now. She exits the bathroom and finds you sitting on the bed, almost obedient, waiting for her instructions.

"Now then, with your first orgasm out of the way, I need to make sure your arm muscles haven't atrophied."

Your eyes widen as Yeeun unbuttons her shorts, revealing to you black panties with a large and darker wet spot. She sits next to you, placing your hand on a delicious thigh.

"Please touch me, work your arm out as much as you can." Yeeun gasps as you move it swiftly, but not in towards her dripping core, but up to the hem of her underwear.

"Are you sure?" you ask, reveling in how fit Yeeun kept herself—her tummy's flat and very toned, and it twitched slightly in response to your touch. Yeeun nods hastily, her hand covering yours, trying to push you down further.

"Yes, ah, ahh!" Airily Yeeun whines as you immediately slip underneath her underwear, her heat almost overwhelming as you place your palm between her legs. You run two fingers along her labia, and they are instantly coated in slick. Daringly you cup and lift her just like that, pulling her petite frame into your lap, your other arm wrapped around her midriff. Now she's situated between your legs, and Yeeun forces your thighs open as she spreads her legs for you.

"Please show me how to workout, doctor?" Yeeun obliges and places a hand over yours, tensing as she pushes two of your fingers into her. Her back arches in response, and your free hand grabs at her clothed chest, pinning her back against your chest. Your palm grinds against her nipple roughly, and Yeeun bites her lower lip to stifle her moan. You are treated to the sight of her tummy twitching and undulating against you as you follow Yeeun's fingers into her.

"J-Just like that." Yeeun makes to lift her hand and leave you to it, but you are faster.

"No, let's workout together."

"Fuck!" Yeeun cries out as she is stuffed with four fingers for the first time. Her own fingers feel long and thin inside her, a sensation not too foreign to her. But stacked on top of those are your fingers, each seemingly way thicker, firmly pressing her own fingers into her snug walls. In her high arousal she bucks mindlessly against your hands, fucking it like a dildo, except it is one that could separate and push her open, then twist and seemingly screw inside her. Her own fingers are touching places she never thought to touch, places that she pulled away from normally due to how sensitive just getting close to them made her feel. Except now, your fingers are manipulating her, giving both of you an arm workout as you fingerfuck Yeeun with both sets of fingers.

Wait! Too much! Yeeun shouts in her mind, but all that comes out is a low groan. Her free hand scrabbles for your arm, urging you to stop moving, but imperiously you keep going, pumping your arm up and down as you sought to find her g-spot. Yeeun's world begins to go white, her body growing numb as it concentrates on the bubbling cauldron boiling between her legs. You push Yeeun on, both your fingers and hers ever so close to where you wanted to touch, where she needed to be touched. Her entire body tenses involuntarily when her fingerpad brushes against it, and you go in for the kill.

"Ohhhh! Oh nngh— God, oh fuck! Ohhhhh yessss..." Yeeun releases her first unreserved and satisfied moan of the night as you push your fingers against her g-spot repeatedly, fingerblasting her. A jet of juice sprays against her own palm, and you force it to splash back onto herself as you pump fingers viciously into her, the sound getting lewder and sloppier by the second.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Yeeun stays rigid as her body continues to produce more slick, as if your fingers are poking holes in the dam of pleasure she has built up over her dry spell, and all of it is leaking out uncontrollably. Loud moans accompany every burst of squirt, and she can feel her own palm getting splashed with every orgasmic flash of white in her head. Over and over she goes over the edge until it is finally dulled by overstimulation, her body only able to twitch, unable to squirt anymore. You pull your fingers out, and when you flick your hand droplets of her girlcum are flung on to the bed.

"Good?" you ask her, holding your shining fingers to her face. Yeeun nods and takes your fingers in her mouth. Her tongue cleans them before she pulls you in for a fevered kiss, sticking her tongue down your throat, making sure you can taste her want. You grab her own slick hand and draw it across your jaw and neck, much like she did earlier.

"What did you say before doctor, this makes you want to sit on it?"

"Yes, give me a moment though—" she tries to get off you, but you hold her still.

"No, I want to taste this—" you take her fingers and suck them clean, "straight from the source. Either you sit on me, or I am pinning you to the bed and devouring you right now."

"Fine, fine, lie down, I need to evaluate your neck and jaw muscles."

"Good excuse doctor." You lie down obediently. Yeeun turns around and crawls on top of you, her legs shaky on the mattress. She pushes herself up and down your stomach, smearing it in her juices, and she fires you a smile—right, she wanted to grind on you.

"Breathe in please." You suck your stomach in, and Yeeun moves a little higher, dragging herself over your ribs, the bumps sending shivers up her spine. She grates herself on you, shredding the last of her inhibitions, turning them into a light glean on your torso.

"What happened to not putting on airs in front of you?" you joke as you have to exhale and catch your breath. "There's another way you can feel good doctor, without me having to suck my stomach in."

"Good, I need this so bad tonight." You hook her knees and pull her up your body. The heat on your chest grows, and Yeeun pants heavily on top of you. With your hands on her ass you push her towards you, and she grabs your hair, pulling your head off the bed. Soon you are forced to breathe through your nose, taking in oxygen and her scent as she rides your face, your tongue slurping her like the last bit of soup in a bowl. The bowl is self-filling though, and over and again you drink from Yeeun, each lick on her slit ending with a flick on her clit—it makes her leak even more, coating your chin.

"Hrghk!" Yeeun ignore your grunts and pulls you further in between her legs. If the presidential jet is Air Force One, your face is her Cloud Nine as she bounces up and down, back and forth over your mouth. Your hands are large and grabby on her ass, and part of her wonders if she should let you take over for part of the night, have you pin her down and devour her like you mentioned... her eyes disappear into her head when your tongue wraps around her pearl of a clit. Maybe later.

"Ah fuck, yes! I'm going to cum, I'm going to cum on your face!" Her fingers tug even more urgently on your hair, and her grinding becomes frantic and wild. The resulting act is half her fucking your face, and half you tonguefucking her. You grab her ass almost painfully to try and control Yeeun, but it only serves to drive her arousal higher, and there is no stopping the pleasure shooting up her spine. With a loud cry Yeeun climaxes on top of you, her pussy desperately trying to grab at your tongue, lewd squelching noises filling your ears.

Yeeun falls off you, and you take a moment to take everything in—you are drenched in slick, you're sweating, your face is red, you're gasping for breath, and yet you haven't done a damn thing to your bombshell of a doctor. Yeeun has no plans of letting up though, and she clambers on top of you before you could get the upper hand.

"How about you take a rest doctor?"

"No, I want to ride this cock, need to feel this in me." She has already lined herself up with you, and her guiding hand is already grasping you.

"So fucking needy—" you grunt in pleasure as you slip into Yeeun for the first time. You thought you were drenched in her slick already, but your cock feels like it's submerged in a pool of her juices, and somehow it is the tightest pool you've ever been in. The pool grows and deepens inch by inch, until Yeeun is sitting on your waist. She takes off her t-shirt and bra, and you get a peek at her breasts before she leans on top of you, kissing your neck.

"Damn doctor, you're a little nympho aren't you?"

"You would be too if you haven't gotten laid in so long, now shut up and let me ride, you can take over later." The prospect of finally fucking Yeeun shuts you up, and you focus your energies on holding your orgasm back. It is relatively easy at first, but as Yeeun picks up the pace the warmth of her body on yours becomes hot and slick, just like her pussy wrapped around you. You shut your eyes tightly, wishing you could plug your ears from her erotic moans.

Yeeun smiles at your closed eyes, knowing that she was getting to you just as much as you were getting to her. She throws her head back, closing her own eyes and focusing on the pleasure she's taking from you. God I can’t stop riding him! Her body's taut and her pussy's tight, clenching down on you whenever she falls on your lap. Yeeun wants nothing more than to have your cock permanently in her, and she grinds down on your groin demandingly, trying to make the two of you joined at the cock and pussy. The heat between two of you grows with the friction, and Yeeun's fallen on top of you.

"Fuck I'm going to cum, I'm going to cum all over you!" she screeches, and when Yeeun orgasms, she really does cum all over you, giving your cock and crotch a fresh coat of slick. She gasps and groans into your neck, each contraction of her pussy around you forcing both air and juice out of her. You bite your lip and curl your toes, desperately trying to hold on and not blow in or with Yeeun.

"That was so good... Oh, you're bleeding, let me put some pressure on it." Yeeun leans in for a firm kiss, the light sting of your lip bite overpowered by the softness of her lips and the sweet taste of her lip gloss. She breaks the kiss with a smirk. "Haven't cum yet? Good, I'll keep my word then, you can do what you want, just don't cum in me."

Without a further word you roll Yeeun off you, and she's a little disappointed when you get on top of her in the missionary position. She's less disappointed where you put her legs on your shoulders, cooing in delight as you slide back into her. With the help of gravity you get even deeper and feel even bigger inside her, and she's already quickening to her next peak. You examine Yeeun's depths thoroughly with your cock, an invasive search that leaves her breathless in joy. Her body is pliable, bending to your weight, and no problems with her reflexes are observed—when you pull out, she lifts her hips best she can, yearning for the next thrust of your cock; when you push in, Yeeun tightens around you immediately, her ankles hooked around your neck.

"Yes!" Yeeun moans shamelessly—she was so right to let you do this to her! The pressure you're exerting on her entire body is nothing like she would get if she's the one in command. The bed creaks under your pounding, and Yeeun bounces powerlessly on the bed, sprung up by the bedsprings when you pull back, only to be slapped down at the hips by your next downward slam.

This feels so wrong but so good! She's violated all professional conduct tonight, and now you're taking her to task, punishing her with overwhelming pleasure. Yeeun screams in climax right before your own orgasm hits you, and your load splatters all over her twitching body as she thrashes about underneath. She threatens to pull the sheets off the bed in the throes of pleasure, but you grab her attention by leaning forward, pushing down on her legs. She looks up at you, eyes unfocused, still lost in ecstasy—a whimper escapes her as you lean even further on her, almost snapping her in two at the hips, but she inches her head up, and you reward her by gently pushing her legs off your shoulders and kissing the pain away.

"Oh fuck, it feels so warm..." Yeeun sneaks a hand down her body, smearing and spreading your cum all over her skin. Her tummy's now shining with your seed, and a second wind takes you.

"You admit you're a nympho doctor?" You're already flipping her on her front, and Yeeun reacts accordingly, pushing herself to her knees.

Fuck yes! "Only if the sex is good," she mumbles into the pillow, still catching her breath.

"And is the sex good?" Is he hard aga- nngh! You're already feeding her pussy with cock, and she pushes her hips even higher.

"Yes, fuck yes!" Yeeun cries into the pillow, her arms already tired from pulling on the sheets so much. She's sore, sensitive, and delirious, mostly fucked out of her mind. But she wanted more, wanted you to fuck her again, wanted you to fuck another orgasm into her. You give her just that, and with a sound that is as unintelligible as a doctor's handwriting she clenches around you again. The jolts of pleasure you give her as you fuck her through her orgasm become hammers on her nerves—her body reacts for her, spreading her knees and dropping her hips low on the bed, away from you.

But like an ambulance chaser your hips follow her down, and you easily drill Yeeun's prone form into the bed. One hand presses down on her back, and the other goes round to her face, and you hook her by the mouth with two fingers, twisting her head around to face you. Her tongue flicks against your fingers, and you pull them out to smear her cheeks with her own spit.

"Please, please cum for me already," Yeeun begs, drooling from where you had hooked her, it was too much, far beyond what she had expected! You are just about at your limit too, and with a few rapid ruts into her overfucked pussy you pull out, lodging your cock between her butt cheeks and thrusting forward, shooting your load all over her flawless back. Yeeun hisses, the thick white fluid scalding red hot lava on her skin. She moans in relief when it quickly cools, and when your cock throbs and slowly gets smaller on her lower back, indicating the end of the night. You knock the breath out of Yeeun when you collapse on top of her, kissing her sweaty neck.

"Too much for the nympho doctor?"

"Mmhmm, fuck that was too good."

"Are we done with treatment then?"

"Yes, no problems with your lack of masturbation. Might need you to come back in for another round of treatment sometime." Yeeun cranes her neck to look at you.

"I'd like that." You capture her lips passionately, two people thoroughly satisfied.

But the talk after you're all cleaned up is awkward.

"You know I can't be your doctor anymore right, this is a huge violation."

"Of course, I understand. You're losing my business then, I get sick very easily." Yeeun scoffs in response before walking you to the door.

"Please, my business will be fine. But I won't be, give me your number."

"You already have it no, from my records?"

"Yeah but it feels wrong to use that." You oblige and type your number in, and she calls you back. "Good, I'll contact you for your next treatment— Wait! Don’t save my number as that!” Yeeun winces as you save her number as "Doctor Jang". She takes your phone away from you before slipping it back into your hand with a kiss and a wink.

"I'll let you know when to come over, and bring some clothes to change into next time."

You look down at your phone on the way home. Her contact name says "Nympho Yeeun" instead—and already she's sending you a text for when you should come over next. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but a lay a day keeps your balls drained, and your nympho doctor Jang Yeeun will make sure of that.

A/N: Took my time writing this one, Yeeun is gorgeous. It might read a little similar to the Woohee story, but hope it’s different enough. Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the medical references!

#smut #jang yeeun #CLC

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bubbleguppyyy · 4 months

Text

Encapsulated in Time: Pt. 3

Bucky x fem! reader

~ Surpriseee ~

Story Synopsis: Bucky knew something was missing from his memories. Something important, something special. He had tried everything to try and recover what it was, but he never could grasp anything. However, he never expected to find those missing memories in a file and an old box of videotapes.

Bucky sat on the floor next to his bed, his back resting against the side of it. Sleep refused to come to him. Very likely because of all the memories of you rushing through his head.

He turned and rubbed his face into the side of the mattress, trying to find some sort of comfortable position. He had been trying to sleep for hours now and he was starting to think he should just get ready for the day.

There was a sliver of moonlight shining through his blackout curtains, illuminating a picture of you he put on his bookshelf. Only your eyes and hair were highlighted.

Bucky always thought you had beautiful eyes. He could stare into them forever. The emotions and love they always held for anything and everything was truly a wonder.

He traces your temple with his eyes to the top of your head. He always loved how much shorter you were to him. He would always rest his arm on your head because you would get this adorable aggravated face and look up at him to tell him off. Ruffling your hair was another fun thing to do.

As Bucky stared more at the picture, a sudden realization came to him. He sat up quickly, scrambling to grab the photo. It’s the one of you and him sitting on a balcony somewhere, you smiling brightly while he simply stared at you.

He held the frame close to his face. Running his finger over your forehead.

He had realized that he didn’t remember where he shot you. He was supposed to shoot you in the middle of your forehead, killing you instantly. Except, he never received that order. You didn’t say execute, you just said “shoot.”

Hydra had programmed him to correlate simple words with actions. Shoot just meant to take a shot, it didn’t matter where. Execute meant to make sure there was a kill.

Had you done that on purpose? Did you bleed out in pain just because he took an order wrong?

Bucky whipped around, searching his room for his phone. He had thrown it early after the Avengers wouldn’t leave him alone.

He found it behind his dresser after having searched every other inch of his room.

His hands were shaking as he picked it up, barely typing the code in. Flipping through his contacts, he pondered what to say. When he came across the name he was looking for, he paused.

Did he really want to know?

He tapped the contact and waited, holding his breath.

“Barnes, you better have a damn good explanation as to why you’re calling me at this hour.”

Bucky wanted to laugh at Fury’s tone but he was barely holding it together.

“I apologize, sir, but what I need to know is very important. It could not wait until morning.”

Fury sighed from the other end, mumbling that Tony was rubbing off on Bucky.

“What is it?”

A lump formed in Bucky’s throat. He was scared, terrified even. If the answer to his question was what he thought it was, it could change the course of everything.

“Wa- was her body ever recovered and if so, where was she shot?”

Fury went silent, no sound of breathing or anything. Bucky strained his enhanced hearing but nothing came through. He started to think Fury thought he was crazy for asking that, or maybe he hung up.

Then, he heard the clacking of a keyboard. Bucky let out a breath he didn’t realize was being held. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he waited for the director to say something.

5 minutes later, Fury finally speaks up.

“I have a request for the files to be pulled but they won’t be here until the morning, Barnes. Try to get some rest and I will call you the moment I know.”

Bucky simply said okay and gave his goodbye, hanging up immediately.

He tossed his phone onto his bed, watching it bounce around for a second. Looking over at the old box, Bucky decided that he wasn’t going to get any sleep.

Next thing Bucky knew, he had gone through half of the tapes in the common room. He couldn’t stop playing them, wanting to remember every song thing about you. Who you were, how you two met, why you chose him.

Your voice was engraved in his mind, creating a haze in his eyes. He was on a video he had taken of you as you got ready for the day. He could see part of himself in the mirror behind you, recorded in his hand.

You were swiping lipstick on when you caught his eyes through the mirror. He could’ve sworn the smile you gave him stopped his breathing. You turned to look at him, your eyes shining with love.

“How come you never let me take videos of you. I want to remember you as well, James.”

He huffed behind the camera, making you giggle. You turned back around and spritzed perfume on. Bucky remembers the exact scent you always used. A mix of almond, cocoa, and vanilla. He called you delectable, like a sweet treat.

The sound of his phone ringing snapped him out of his reverie. The contact on the screen caused his mood to drop. He looked out the window, noticing that it was early morning. He clicked accept.

“Is the Captain around?”

Bucky scrunched his face in confusion. Why would Steve need to be present for this? Of course, Stev decided that was the right moment to go on his run.

He saw Bucky and immediately got ready to ask what he was doing but Bucky just silenced him with a look, beckoning him over.

“Alright, he’s here. Now, what did you find, Fury?”

Steve sat next to him on the couch, giving Bucky a confused look. Bucky just shook his head at him, giving a look that said “I’ll explain later.”

“I hope you’re sitting down, because what I’m about to tell you might make you drop.”

#bucky x reader #fanfic #bucky x you #the avengers #marvel #bucky barnes #angst #bucky fanfic #romance #drama #part 3

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night-dark-woods · 19 days

Note

I want to start adding text descriptions to stuff i reblog, do you have any advice? is there a guide or something you use, the style of your IDs is very nice.

hey! thats great that you want to start writing IDs. I've reblogged guides before and ill tag this post with the tag they're in (image descriptions) so its easy to browse!

in addition to those other resources, here's some guidelines i personally keep in mind, & what i structure different IDs like.

for text transcripts: source & type of image, author, date if possible. here are some pretend/template IDs:

ID. a twitter screenshot from user @.[username] dated [date] that reads: "[tweet]." End ID.

i put the period after the @ symbol so it doesnt try to tag a nonexistent (or unrelated) user on this site, and a screenreader will just pause there briefly.

ID. a photo of a page from the book [name] by [author]. text reads: [transcript]. End ID.

if the OP cited the author/book/source, you can just do "Transcript: [text]. End transcript."

for actual images:

type of image is really important!

photograph, edited photograph, reaction image, edited reaction image, painting, digital painting, digital drawing, etc. you should always put what kind of image it is.

keep in mind the purpose of the image!

if its an art piece or a photo of one, its good to describe the medium, style, colors, and subject.

if it's a reaction image or other meme, you don't have to describe the surroundings in loving detail. the "point" of the image is enough.

if its a photograph, it might also be an art piece, or from the news, or someone sharing their pet. the amount and kind of detail again depends on the point of the image.

don't make judgements or assumptions!

dont describe things as badly drawn or badly photographed- and on the flip side, dont describe things as cute or beautiful. describe whats in the image, not how it makes you feel. if you love a certain part of how a photograph is framed, or how the light is painted in a piece of art, say that specifically. "beautiful" means nothing! do you mean realistic? vibrantly colored? "cute" means nothing! do you mean in a cartoony style? or that the subject matter is a cat, which many people find cute? be specific!

dont make statements about the gender or race of the people in the photo or art piece, especially if it's real people (like a news photo) unless you know those things as a fact (celebrities, fictional characters, people you know personally, people where it is mentioned in the article the photo is from). you can just describe things like hair length, skin tone, etc. exceptions to this rule imo are stock photos- eg if im captioning my favorite stock photo of all time, cyber woman with corn, i am going to describe it as "a stock photo of a white woman in a futuristic silver and black wraparound visor, wearing a silver bodysuit and cradling an ear of corn near her face and smiling slightly."

here are some example descriptions, all from images i have on my phone.

ID. a photo of two cats laying head to head on someones outstretched legs, which are under a blanket. one cat is an orange tabby, and the other is a gray and white splotched tabby. End ID.

the point of this image is my cats- im not going to spend time describing the blanket, the couch, the stuff you can see in the background, bc it's not relevant to the image, and adds nothing.

ID. a photo taken through a rainy window at twilight, with the camera focused on the raindrops on the glass, so the lights in the houses across the street are out of focus. the lights reflect on the wet pavement in a warm yellow glow. End ID.

i took this the other night bc i thought it looked cool how blurry it was- id consider this more of an "art" photo, so im describing the aspects of the framing etc that make it that- i wasnt just trying to show how rainy it was, but to take a photo in an interesting way, so those traits are "worth" describing.

ID. a photo of an acrylic painting done on a cardboard packing envelope of a city street at sunset, all the building windows reflecting gold. there are purple fluffy clouds in the sky, lit from below with peach and gold. the USPS tracking number barcode is still visible in the gap between houses at the end of the street. the brush strokes are very visible, the perspective is wonky, and the orange underpainting is visible at the edges. End ID.

this is a new ID for something i painted and already posted and i dont feel like getting the old ID. medium, style, and specific details i think are important are included. the perspective being wonky is a bit of a value judgement i wouldn't make about Other people's art, but it's my own and i think its an important detail so!

ID. an edited catcrumb comic, showing a simple mspaint illustration of a cat happily sorting things into piles with the caption, "sort sort. i love to arbitrarily sort." the cat has been colored in gray and its ears have been colored like homestuck troll horns, and the sorting piles replaced with some classpect symbols. End ID.

this is a good example of a edited image- its important to give (to some degree) a sense of what the original image was, say that its edited, and describe the changes. i dont need to list the classpect symbols i put on there, bc its not relevant to the message of the image- it would do nothing but make the ID longer.

oh- and to cap off the post- here is cyber woman with corn:

ID. a stock photo of a white woman in a futuristic silver and black wraparound visor, wearing a silver bodysuit and cradling an ear of corn near her face and smiling slightly. End ID.

#asks #anonymous #image descriptions #i hope this helps!#long post

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slashersteve · 1 year

Text

ii. fall

part two to confetti ✦ previous part ✦ series masterlist ✦ archive link

pairing: Single Dad!Steve Harrington/Female Reader

summary: Autumn was your favorite season, and spending it in Hawkins made you enjoy it even more when you spend most of it with Steve and Cassie.

warnings/extra tags: cursing, girl dad steve, fluffy, fall activities ive had to study because im a clown, moms are still in love with steve, its literally just steve and reader being all heart eyes for any little thing fall edition, mentions of steve's dumb parents, steve is a good daddy, surprise character appearance, beta read, edited by me so that's fun

note: I think this is the longest part because I love fall and wanted to put everything in it akljslkajsa thanks for waiting, and enjoy more Steve and Cassie ♥️

✦✦✦

October’s first school event would be the annual bake sale. You learned it was a long lasting tradition of the schools, and that it was an event that helped fund a lot of the winter activities for Hawkins Elementary, and maybe even some field trips for the following year, depending on how successful it was.

Now though, you were free from studying, and made your own money, and you were going to make at least something.

“I usually just keep it simple like cookies or something,” Heidi told you during your shared lunch break, “The baker on main street comes, and trust me, he goes all out and gets the highest sales.”

“Is it a competition?” you questioned as you ate your homemade sandwich and flipped through a magazine that was always left in the office lounge. Heidi chuckled into her salad.

“No, no,” she said, “Between you and me, he’s a bit of a show off when it comes to it, which makes sense because he’s good at what he does, right?”

You honestly couldn’t say you’ve visited the baker’s yet, you didn’t even know his name, so who were you to say if his baked goods were actually good or not.

“Anyway, cookies are the easiest way to go, brownies are also simple, cupcakes and muffins are a little more complicated but it’s not a whole cake at least, right?” Heidi chuckled to herself, and it made you chuckle too because of how glad she was that the office wasn't doing a cake walk, “I guess it depends on how good of a baker you are, but like I said, our baker goes above and beyond so it doesn’t really matter.”

You hummed with interest before your eyes settled back onto the magazine, catching a photo of some delicious looking cookies covered in light brown sugar. They were apple cinnamon sugar cookies, according to the recipe title, and Heidi saw your eyes peak with interest and she leaned over to look at them too.

“Oh those would be good, you should make those,” Heidi told you with a nod, “I can taste them already.”

So, you found yourself at the grocery market right after your work day ended, a basket in one hand and the recipe you cut out of the magazine with a pair of scissors from your desk in the other as you scoured the market for the proper ingredients.

All purpose flour. Check. Cinnamon. Check. Baking soda. Check.

There was still more, like the cream of tartar and the actual apples for example as the recipe called for grated apples so ‘there would be pieces of apple in every bite.’

You were looking down at the magazine cutout as you were walking, admittingly not paying much attention to where you were walking or who you were dangerously close to colliding with, not until a familiar voice spoke up.

“Dee’s mom is going to make a cake,” the high-pitched voice of Cassie Harrington echoed across the aisle, “She said it was going to be like..three cakes on top of each other.”

“What? That doesn’t sound right,” Steve Harrington’s voice replied back to her, and you were stopping in your tracks and looking up to see the back of Steve’s head as he was leaning over a shopping cart to look at his daughter. She was holding onto the side of the cart while she carried three cake mixes in one arm, just barely as one looked like it was slipping from her grasp.

“That’s what Dee told me, so we need to make a cake too,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

You just sort of stood there, feeling a bit of anxiety flush through you because you hadn’t seen nor talked to Steve since Back to School Night a few weeks prior…you never received a phone call from him, but to be fair, you hadn’t called him either.

You felt a bit guilty for not calling him, having been so busy yourself.

“Cass, they’re making a cake because they’re part of the cake-walk though, and we’re not,” Steve tried to explain to her, but she wasn’t having it, wanting to bake a cake rather than just bringing store bought cookies, some of which were currently resting in the cart on top of other groceries.

“But you didn’t make these cookies,” Cassie pouted, turning to look at her dad. It was then that Cassie had seen you, her eyes landing on yours until she recognized you before they flickered down to the basket you were holding.

She was suddenly pointing at you, and you took a step back quickly to put some space between you and her dad as she said, “Look! She’s baking something!”

Steve was turning his head, his brows furrowed in confusion before his eyes too landed on you. He blinked a couple of times at the sight of you, and you offered a smile as you said, “So, you’re going for store-bought cookies?”

After a second or two, you watched Steve laugh breathlessly and nod, “Yeah. I’m not much of a baker, to be honest. Never have been.”

“But you made us those other cookies last time,” Cassie cut in, and Steve looked down at her.

“Those were pre-made, all I had to do was pop them in the oven,” Steve reminded her, and she huffed, still hugging the cake mix boxes to herself as she looked back at you. Her eyes grew curious then, and she asked you what it was you were baking.

You held up the magazine cut-out, amused by the fact that Cassie was desperately trying to make her dad make literally anything homemade for this bakesale.

“Something called apple cinnamon sugar cookies, bit of a mouthful,” you told her, holding out the cutout to show her. She leaned in a bit, examining it until her eyes lit up and she hummed as she practically melted on the spot at the sight of the cookies. Steve leaned over to look at it too.

“God, those do look really good,” he said quietly to himself, making you smile as you dropped your hand back to side just as Cassie turned to look at her dad and say, “We can make that too! Please! The stuff is all there!”

She gestured to your hand that held the cutout, and you waved it in Steve’s face. He scoffed at you, though it was more out of amusement than anything else before he took it from you to actually look at the recipe itself.

Cassie was giddy standing beside the cart, hugging the boxes of cake-mix tighter to herself as she awaited for her dad to finish reading through the recipe. His features contorted slightly and he said, “What the hell is a cream of tartar?”

This made you laugh, and you said, “My thoughts exactly, I was actually just looking for it.”

His contorted expression vanished as he laughed too, and held the cut-out for you to take back, and looked at his daughter with an apologetic look, “I want to say that seems easy enough, but…god I just don’t think I have the time to actually make these.”

Her face fell, and it was probably the saddest you’ve ever seen Cassie Harrington who was always so smiley and had half of an attitude whenever she came around the office still to give you food she didn’t want.

“But…but she could help us,” Cassie said, now turning that sad look of hers toward you. It made you pause, not remembering the last time a kid has ever tried the ‘sad puppy dog’ look on you. The kids you used to babysit all the time did it with you whenever they wanted to stay up later or have another sweet. You’d grown immune to that, but there was something about Cassie specifically looking like that that made you feel bad…like she probably wanted you to.

Steve gave Cassie a raised brow and said, “Don’t give her that look.”

Her eyes turned into a small glare, pointing to her dad and he gave her one back until it became a staring contest between the two. You just sort of stood there, looking between them now with a half-curious and half-amused expression as they just stared at each other and you could tell this was something that happened often between the two.

Steve’s eyes squinted, then so did Cassie’s, and she even tilted her head upwards as if to show him she wasn’t going to back down. Steve’s look then turned pointed, and her jaw tightened, and he raised both brows and then Cassie was letting out a defeated breath.

“Fine, we’ll use…those dumb cookies,” she said, muttering the last part toward the storebought cookies in the cart. She then turned away to set the cake mix boxes back onto the shelf, still finding it in her to be polite enough to do so.

Steve turned toward you with a sigh, “Sorry about that.”

You met his brown eyes then, and shook your head as you said, “Don’t apologize…you know though…if you need help I can help.”

You made sure to say that low enough so that Cassie couldn’t hear and you noticed Steve’s demeanor grew slightly soft at your offer, his eyes flickering downward for a moment before he pursed his lips together and shook his head.

“No, no it’s alright,” he replied, resting a hand back on the handle of the shopping cart, “She’ll live, I’ll just make her breakfast for dinner tonight.”

“Breakfast for dinner?”

He nodded, “Yeah, baking? No way. And I don’t mean to brag, but I can make a pretty good pancake.”

That made you smile for some reason, feeling like you were learning more and more about Steve Harrington despite the fact you too only really talked in moments like this where you just so happened to run into each other.

“I love pancakes,” you said, then felt a little silly even saying that as he didn’t need to know that, but he was smirking softly as he leaned onto the cart slightly and replied to you, “Maybe one day I can make you some.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, the tone he said it in being borderline flirtatious but you didn’t want to look too much into that, rather just laughing and started to step backwards to make your leave so that you could finish finding the right items and he could finish his grocery shopping with Cass.

“I look forward to whenever that happens then,” you stated, “I’ll let you guys finish your grocery trip…” You gestured to the both of them, but Cassie was suddenly returning to herself.

“Wait!” she said, “Can I help you find the rest of the stuff? Daddy, can I help her?”

She asked the both of you at once, hope returning to her eyes, and Steve seemed unsure, not because of you though but in case Cass tried to get you to buy her something because she’s done it before with Mrs. K and Karen Wheeler before, coming back to him with a candy he told her she didn’t need.

“Uh, I just need to find this cream of tartar, and some apples,” you said as you looked at the cutout quickly. That’s when Cassie suddenly got another idea the moment you said apples.

“Oh! Does that mean you’re going apple picking?”

You tilted your head at the mention of that…apple picking. It was pretty self-explanatory, but the idea of it had never really crossed your mind.

“I…no I was just going to buy them here,” you replied to her, not knowing that there was even an apple picking event here in Hawkins anyway. Cassie looked suddenly disgusted, and when you looked at Steve, so did he. You blinked at them, and asked them what was wrong with buying apples here, growing slightly amused again at how their expressions matched exactly.

“Is there something like…wrong with them here?” you questioned them both.

“Not exactly, but the apples from the apple farm a town over are way better, trust me,” Steve told you, “They have this apple picking event every fall, you pay for however many baskets you want, and then you…you know pick apples and take them home.”

“Yeah, we’re going tomorrow!” Cassie cut in again excitedly, before she grabbed her dad’s arm and said, “She can come with us!”

Steve was looking at Cassie again, a slight flush over his cheeks as he told her she had to stop trying to tell people to go places with them without asking them first because she can make someone uncomfortable real quick, and Cassie looked absolutely done with her dad’s attitude in this store.

Then he turned to you again, brown eyes finding yours as he asked, “Have you been apple-picking before?”

“No,” you replied after giving it little thought, “Not many apple farms in the city, you know, unless you want to drive a couple hours out…store-bought apples were definitely closer and less of a hassle.”

“Ah, right, you’re from the city,” Steve pointed at you, “I mean…if you would like to go with us, or you know just be there at the same time, that’ll be totally okay. Plus, I think it’s an experience everyone should have at least once.”

A small grin was returning to your face, knowing that Steve was inviting you properly for Cass, who looked up at you with wide eyes that matched Steve’s almost identically.

“I…I would actually love to go,” you said genuinely, watching as Steve’s eyes lit up like Cassie’s might, “I mean, you said it’s something I should experience at least once, so…yeah…yeah I’ll go.”

“Great!” Steve blurted out before his cheeks grew flushed, and Cassie was giddy again, “You want to meet there, I can give you the directions?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you guys there, just…call me tonight to tell me more details, maybe?” you said, working that in almost professionally. At the mention of calling, Steve’s cheeks became even more flushed because like you when he had seen you he felt guilty that he’d forgotten to call you as well, having been, per usual, very busy with Cass and his three different jobs.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, and you smiled with a content nod.

“Good,” you said, “I look forward to it then, I’m gonna go and find that cream of tartar now and I’ll see you two tomorrow?”

Both of them nodded, and you both said a final see you later before you were stepping backwards, leaving one last longing stare at Steve Harrington before turning around with a large smile on your lips, looking forward to apple picking with the both of them.

✧ ✧ ✧

The apple orchards were just simply beautiful to you as you sat on the tractor that took you and the other apple pickers in your group around the entire farm before they would stop at the orchards and allow time for you and everyone else to fill up your baskets.

“We have to get all the red ones,” Cassie Harrington was sitting beside you, the basket she had looked comically big in her lap compared to the same basket that was sitting in yours.

“There’s a lot of those ones, I don’t think they’re going to run out,” you replied to her as you looked out into the distance at the rows and rows of apple trees.

It was a nice day, clear skies and a light wind that felt nice against your skin every time a breeze passed by.

Beside Cassie was Steve, and he wasn’t looking at the orchards like you and Cassie were, but he was looking at… well you. The sun shined down on you in a very specific way, and it made the color of your eyes more visible. His chest sort of tightened and he had to carefully release a soft hitch of his breath.

He would admit to himself that he had been nervous when he called you the night before, using a quick break in order to do so from the phone in the employee lounge at the market he worked the night shift at. He knew it was late, but he also knew you were expecting that call.

You had sounded very sleepy on the phone, but there wasn’t an ounce of irritation in your voice either which surprised Steve because of the hour, like you were looking forward to the call…like you might’ve been looking forward to a call since you’ve exchanged numbers. He beat himself up for a moment or two, wishing he didn’t do that to you, but knowing that it was really something he couldn’t help.

“You do this every year?” you asked Cassie, tearing Steve from his thoughts. He looked at his daughter now, her hair in two braids that he had done just before they got on the tractor because she changed her mind about the pony tail and clips she had him style her hair in that morning…clips that were currently in the pocket of his jacket.

“Only last year,” Cassie replied to you, “My daddy barely discovered it last year through my friend Delilah and her mom.”

You were nodding along to Cassie, and not in the way people typically nodded along to children when they spoke to them, you actually seemed genuinely interested in holding this conversation with her and it made Steve feel slightly warm.

“Sounds like it could be a nice tradition though,” you said with a small smile as you looked back to the orchards. Cassie was nodding.

“Yeah, I like it! The apples are super good, so that means your cookies are going to be super good too!” she claimed, which made you chuckle in response.

“I hope you’re right, like your dad here, I’m actually not the best baker,” you admitted, your eyes finding Steve’s that were already on yours. He blinked softly, realizing he’s been mentioned as you chuckled again and said, “But I’m willing to try, especially if these are as good as you say they are.”

“They are,” Cassie said confidently, grasping the basket between her hands just as the tractor came to a stop. Steve knew what she was going to do and caught her hand before she could hop off and start running like it was some kind of competition of who could pick the most apples.

“Hey! Hey! Let’s help her pick some before you go getting into a fight with another kid for an apple you want,” Steve told her, and she was starting to nod in agreement with him and even apologized before all three of you got off together.

Cassie held the basket in one hand now while the other was in her dad’s, and you trailed beside them holding your own as you gazed at all the apples, wondering if there was some kind of trick to finding the best ones.

Some of the trees were taller than the others, so they had ladders, and others were small enough so that a kid like Cassie could pick some of her own as well. You did stay together for the most part, Cassie pointing out apples for you to get, and some for Steve to grab that were too high for her.

After you had a good few, Steve let Cassie run off to find some of her own, leaving just you and him. You wandered over to one of the trees nobody had been picking at, and before Steve knew it you were suddenly on a ladder.

He stared up at you, feeling this sudden regretful feeling come over him that he’d been feeling since your teasing comment the day prior about him calling you for details.

“Hey so,” Steve started from below you, “I wanted to apologize for not calling you.”

You were reaching for a particularly large apple that was further into the tree, your fingers just barely grazing it and you were going to reply to Steve when a dramatic gasp had cut you off.

“You didn’t call her!?” Cassie called, the gasp coming from her.

Steve looked away from you, and toward Cassie who was standing there with a basket half-full of apples. Steve stared at her for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed by her blurting that out, others had looked over, but fortunately you seemed more preoccupied with still getting that giant apple off of the tree.

In fact, you grumbled, going up another step on the ladder, while Steve walked over to Cassie.

“Are these all the apples you got?” Steve asked, and she shrugged as she looked down at them too, and told him that these kids were more mean this year than last year. It made Steve shake his head, and rest his hands on his hips before she asked him if she could sit down and listen to her music.

“You’re done already?” he questioned, and she nodded. It was just as well, she did have an early morning today like he did so he told her she could sit in the tractor and listen while he filled the rest of the basket up. She grinned and nodded, already putting the walkman headphones over her ears before running toward the tractor.

“Uh, Steve-”

He was turning toward you, seeing you on the top of the ladder and he stared for a moment before realizing you were holding onto the actual tree for dear life.

“Could you hold me steady?” you asked, turning your head to look back at him and Steve was nodding, quickly walking back toward you as he rolled his sleeves up and went behind you.

“Uh- where do you want me to hold you?” he asked, not wanting to hold you anywhere that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable for you. You told him to just place his hands on the back of your thighs, and he sucked in a breath before nodding.

He carefully held you still, feeling the denim of your jeans underneath his palms as you were finally steady enough to lean forward and successfully wrap your hands around the apple you really wanted.

“Got it!” you said, before you started to climb down. Steve helped you do that too until you were on your feet. You got a bit of vertigo though being on the ground again, your head feeling slightly dizzy that if it hadn’t been for Steve grasping your shoulders you might’ve almost embarrassingly lost your balance.

When you came to, you were met with the concerned face of Steve, his brown eyes flickering over you to see if you were okay. You held up the apple though and said, “I think I like doing this, it’s pretty fun.”

“I can see that, you worked really hard to get that apple,” Steve commented, eying the apple that was a pretty impressive size, “Damn, no wonder you climbed so high to get that one.”

You clicked your tongue, and said, “I’m having a lot of fun, thanks for inviting me.”

“Yeah, no problem, Cass is really enjoying you being here too, before she ran off is all,” Steve said, turning his head where Cass was sitting on the tractor with the headphones placed over her ears and her head nodding back and forth to whatever song she was jamming to.

“Also, you don’t have to apologize for not calling, I mean, I didn’t call you either,” you told him, finally responding to his apology that Steve had accepted went unheard when Cassie interrupted. Steve stared at you for a moment, and let out a quiet breath.

“Still…I don’t know, as the guy I feel like it’s my obligation to call the girl first,” Steve admitted, as in his experience with women in the past it was always him calling first, whether it’s after a date, a good morning call- things he would do before Cassie came into his life and he stopped everything to be the father she deserved.

“Well, that would make sense if we were romantically involved, which we aren’t…” you said, hearing your own voice grow a little soft at the idea of it. In fact, you kind of batted your eyelashes at Steve, just slightly, and if he noticed, which he did, he didn’t tease you..

“That’s true…but…to be honest, I probably still wouldn’t have,” Steve said, suddenly cringing at his own behavior that he was acutely aware of, but no matter how guilty he might’ve felt he still hadn’t changed it yet. A smile that mirrored his came onto your lips and you laughed quietly.

“You know, I’ve never really been a high maintenance friend, Steve,” you said, trying that out instead and Steve looked genuinely surprised by the term. It wasn’t like he didn’t have friends, in fact he even had a best friend who wasn’t very high maintenance either since she moved to New York over a year ago, a single phone call every once in a while and visit usually sufficed, but the idea that he found a friend in you, that you even started to consider him as one, made Steve’s brain a little buzzed.

He guessed he hadn’t made a new friend in a while now, and he was glad that it was you.

“Huh…I guess we are friends,” Steve said, moreso to himself. Your smile grew wider and you nodded.

“I would say so,” you replied, then held up your full basket of apples, “And I think that friends should help each other bake cookies for the bake sale on Monday.”

He glanced down at the apples, wondering how you managed to find the biggest ones in the orchard and was impressed all at once. He rested his hands onto his hips, lifting his eyes back up to meet yours and you were giving him an expectant look, like you weren’t going to take no for an answer and Steve honestly liked that.

Something else brewed up inside of him, something not so warm but rather hot, and he had to cool down by sucking in a tight breath before saying, “Oh, Cass is going to jump for joy.”

You laughed, that look on your face all but vanishing and being replaced with amusement, and the heat only got stronger. Steve’s eyes lingered onto your lips, longer than the other times he’d been with you, and the foggy part in his brain wondered just what would happen if he just leaned in and kissed you.

Of course, he wasn’t going to because above all he was still a gentleman and was aware that just because you make a woman laugh doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be snogged, but Steve still wondered how your lips would feel against his.

It was lucky, then, when Cass was calling out to him and taking his and your attention off of each other before you had more time to notice his slightly heated gaze. His father instinct kicked in almost immediately when he heard Cassie’s cry of distress.

Steve was turning around, eyes growing concerned and brows pulling inward as his eyes found his daughter dashing toward him with her walkman and headphones in each hand. Tears prickled at the corner of her brown eyes.

“It’s not playing!” she cried as she got to her dad, “It just stopped! I didn’t do anything!”

Steve grew slightly relieved that it was just the walkman acting up, as his first thought had been that she was somehow hurt.

Beside him, you were frowning because of Cassie’s clear distress and sadness over the walkman suddenly breaking on her, as you’ve been there before yourself. She held it up to Steve, her lips quivering and tears fully pouring from her eyes.

Steve took them from her, eying them for only a moment before sighing, as if he knew one day these things would just break on her. It was an older model, you observed, and Steve all but gave them a quick look over before tossing them into his half full basket of apples on the floor beside his feet and resting his eyes back on his little girl.

“Hey, don’t cry, alright, these things were old, I’ve had them since I was in high school,” he told Cassie softly.

“I know, but-but I wanted to listen to music,” Cassie cried, “And now I can’t!”

A sympathetic smile was on Steve’s lips as he knelt down in front of his upset daughter and wiped her tears away with his thumb, “There’s worst things to happen, and these can be replaced, alright?”

Cassie sniffled, “But how will I listen to my music?”

“Well there’s the radio in the car, the stereo at home…” Steve listed off, “It’ll be okay, I can get you a new one, ones that won’t skip over tracks so that you have to hit it.”

Cassie’s eyes showed more light in them at the idea of that, “Really?”

Steve nodded, “Yes, really- but it’s totally okay to cry about it, I think I might cry too. I’ve been through a lot with this guy.”

Cassie giggled, and Steve’s smile turned warm, happy to make his little girl smile again after mourning the loss of her walkman. Steve kissed her head affectionately and said, “I have good news though, we are going to bake cookies for the bake sale.”

Her face lit up completely, her cheeks still tear stricken but her eyes were brighter now.

“We’re going to bake a cake?” Cassie asked, hopeful and Steve winced.

“No, no! Not a cake, I already told you we don’t have to…I was thinking more like…” Steve looked over at you, and you stared for a second before saying, “Chocolate chip cookies?”

Steve snapped his finger, “Yeah! We’re going to do that…it’s not a cake, but it’s still baking.”

Cassie was still excited, nodding up at her dad and saying, “We’re going to bake! Let’s go home and start now!”

This made Steve laugh, and Cassie was trying to pick up the basket to bring back to the tractor that would take you back to the farm. Meanwhile, Steve looked back at you and you were smiling again, thinking to yourself that no wonder everyone (the mothers of Hawkins really) were so enamored with him. The way he comforted Cass, how soft his voice became…you realized you couldn’t be more attracted to a man.

And now, you are going to have him in your house.

✧ ✧ ✧

Your entire house smelled like a bakery. The smell of cinnamon was strong, mixed with the sweet pleasant scent of chocolate. Music was playing out of the stereo in your living room, music chosen specifically by Cassie Harrington when you told her the day prior that she could listen to anything she decided to bring or anything you had too.

Steve was standing beside you, wearing a cupcake apron with frills that matched Cassie’s, a pair she chose when she and her dad went to the market the morning of with a list of ingredients you relayed to him over the phone the night before. Your second late night phone call.

Cassie was busy taste testing one cookie from each batch before she’d package them away in these clear bags that had fall leaf designs all over it, complimenting your apple cinnamon cookies after devouring one. She was making you laugh a lot this afternoon, and so was Steve.

“Okay, okay Cass, you’re going to get a tummy ache,” Steve told his daughter after she ate her fifth chocolate chip cookie. She pouted at him, claiming that she wouldn’t, but Steve wasn’t buying it.

“I’ll set some aside for you, Cassie,” you chimed in as you were grating more apples for yet another batch of your cookies while Steve was stirring chocolate chips into the mixture he was working on in one of your many mixing bowls.

“But how will we know it’s not poisoned?”

“Cass nobody’s poisoning anything- what- why would you think we’d put poison in these?” Steve asked, practically horrified by his daughter’s choice of words and Cassie sighed and replied, “That’s what Dustin says we have to do! I’m helping!”

Yet again, you were laughing while Steve just stared at his daughter practically dumbfounded before he said, “It’s not poisoned, and I think the mixtape you brought is about to end, so you’ll have to change it.”

Cassie turned her head, recognizing the final song on it as she listened to it all the time and was going to go change it (or start it over) but not before sneaking another cookie. Steve huffed, turning his attention back to the mixing bowl.

“So how’s the broken walkman situation?” you asked Steve suddenly. He let out a deep sigh, as if hating to be reminded of that, “Sorry for bringing it up.”

“No, no- I was honestly waiting for them to just break, I was just hoping it would be closer to Christmas,” he said, wiping his face with the hand that was covered in flour. You glanced at Steve, your eyes instantly going to the flour that was suddenly decorating his cheek. He didn’t seem to notice, too focused on getting the right consistency of the cookie dough…in fact he was actually covered with various stains, on his forehead, his arms, and his neck. Your eyes lingered there for a bit before you forced your eyes back to what you were doing.

“No back ups? I remember having a back up,” you joked.

“That was the back-up,” he replied quickly, “It’s alright- she’ll be fine until Christmas…hopefully, honestly I might have to see if Mrs. K has one. Sometimes she has random things for Cass.”

You tilted your head gently, and asked him who Mrs. K was, as you feel like he had mentioned her before. Steve was quiet for a second, as if confused you didn’t know who she was until he remembered you barely moved here in the summer.

“Oh she’s my neighbor, nice older woman, probably the nicest person in this town really, she gives me and Cassie a lot of things like vegetables from her garden, or random casseroles and sometimes just these bulks of snacks.”

You hummed with interest, thinking that to be kind of sweet. As Steve began to mess with the finished dough, he laughed and continued to say, “It’s kind of nice honestly, because my parents moved out of this place years ago, like maybe a year after Cass was born and I barely hear from them- so it’s almost like she’s Cassie’s unofficial grandparent.”

Though you didn’t know much about Steve yet, you thought it was safe to assume that Steve shared no relationship to his parents, and you didn’t know what to say about it, feeling like if you asked anything he’d tell you to leave it alone.

“I used to have someone like that,” you said rather than that, making Steve look back at you. Now you were the one looking away, too focused on finishing the next and final batch of cookies, “My fifth grade teacher, and probably the only person I think my dad might’ve dated.”

It was odd bringing that up, but like Steve had done with you, you were word vomiting too and immediately felt embarrassed. Steve didn’t seem to think so though, instead asking you to tell him more about it.

“She was just super nice, and I could tell he liked her a lot,” you said vaguely, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking about your dad because it had been a while since you’ve talked to someone about him, considering he was the only family you had left before his passing, “The point is, it’s good to have people willing to help like that.” You chuckled then smiled weakly.

To be honest, you hadn’t thought of your dad since you moved here, not as often as you would’ve liked… you hadn't even got around to putting photos of you and him around the house. A part of you felt…sad that you hadn’t, like you didn’t know if you were mourning him enough anymore. Steve had noticed your expression turn grim, how the smile that followed your soft chuckle suddenly turned into a frown.

“I didn’t mean to pry, I’m sorry,” Steve said, realizing that it was a touchy subject for you. You quickly shook your head.

“No, no it’s alright, it’s been a while…I mean the grief doesn’t really go away, but…I just hadn’t talked about him with anyone in a long time,” you admitted to Steve.

“I mean, I really like talking to you, about anything so if you’d like to talk about him, or anything else again…well you have my number.”

You looked at Steve again, feeling touched by his statement, forgetting that you probably weren’t going to see him for a few weeks following this unless things changed in his schedule, but the gesture felt nice. You nodded softly at him, and said almost breathlessly “Okay.”

Steve winked at you before he turned his attention back on his dough, then he grabbed a separate spoon and brought it up to his lips to taste before asking you, “Is this good? It looks good, it tastes good, but is it good?”

The spoon he was holding was turned to you, wanting you to validate it before rolling them into balls and putting them in the oven.

You didn’t mind, really, parting your lips and taking a bite of the dough off of the spoon he held. He stared at you, brown eyes resting onto your lips for a few seconds too long before lifting them to meet your eyes. You hummed at the sweet taste flooding your mouth, and nodded, “You’re kind of a natural at baking, you know that?”

A grin spread across his lips, “You’re just saying that, it’s not as good as yours. Mine’s just basic chocolate chip, anyone can make it.”

“Making bad chocolate chip cookies are possible- and you managed to make really good ones on the first try, I’m pretty impressed,” you said, half paying attention to the sound of Cassie diving through your various cassette tapes, something you said she could do if she wanted. You never really listened to music anymore, unless you were cleaning.

You could feel Steve’s eyes still on you, seeing him in your peripherals and pretending you couldn’t, even as your cheeks started to heat up and you said randomly, “I kind of wish we went with M&M cookies for you…same concept…more colorful and exciting.”

Steve paused, “Are those your favorite or something?”

“Oh yeah, something about them really hits the spot,” you joked. Steve half-grinned, as if he learned something even more interesting about you and he glanced at it before he took a double take.

“Wait, look at me real quick,” Steve told you, and you did, seeing his eyes zero in on your cheek before he pointed and said, “You got a little something right there.”

You blinked, and he laughed as he grabbed one of the clean dish towels to wipe whatever it was off of your cheek. Your body burst with warmth when he held the fabric to your left cheek. You also felt bad because he was covered in flour head to toe and you didn’t tell him even once. He’d have to take a shower to get it all off probably, but this didn’t change the fact that he was practically holding your face in his large hand.

Heat plummeted throughout you, and you found that you didn’t want to move away, and maybe he didn’t either, as even after he successfully wiped your cheek he didn’t move away. No, he stayed this close to you, so close that your nose caught a whiff of his suddenly familiar cologne that had been masked by the smell of cookies after a while. It was enough to make your mind fog up, just a little, and your breath hitched softly…something that Steve caught.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked you, a teasing element lingering underneath his tone. His eyes lifted to meet yours, and you swallowed thickly, unsure what was going on, and your nerves made you say, “You got something too…uh…well everywhere.”

Steve’s eyes furrowed as your eyes flickered at his entire face, breaking whatever trance he’d entered, and you could see his cheeks turn a little pink underneath the flour. God, did you want him to break out of it? Because he was moving away from you then, and you felt slight disappointment…wondering if something would’ve happened if you didn’t say anything.

“Everywhere? How?” Steve asked you, now bringing the towel to his face. You gestured to his cheek, then his neck, and his arms and his eyes grew wide. Just then Abba’s “Mamma Mia” started to blast through the speakers, and Cassie was back in the kitchen and wiping her brow like finding the right cassette really tired her out.

“Okay! I’m back to try more cookies,” she announced. You laughed quietly, and told Steve where the bathroom was before turning to Cass and telling her, “After this final batch you can test one, but first put on some gloves and help me roll the dough into the sugar.”

Steve was just about to go to the restroom to clean up a bit, but found himself taking a bit of a moment to take in the sight before him. Cassie was now sitting on the stool on her knees right beside you, too big of plastic gloves on her smaller hands, watching you roll the dough into the sugar, then doing one of her own.

Something swelled up into his chest, something he didn’t quite understand, but he did recognize the warm feeling of happiness seeing Cass with you. There was just something about it, Steve thought, that made a soft grin grow onto his lips…especially when you praised Cassie when she showed you the little ball of dough covered in sugar and cinnamon.

It was Cassie’s bright smile too that made Steve think for a moment…where did you come from and how come you’re barely in his life now?

✧ ✧ ✧

“Enjoy!” you stated happily as you handed over what felt like the 100th bag of cookies from the faculty’s booth. The woman grinned at you before she handed the cookies to her son and began to take off, giving you time to add more bags of cookies onto the table.

Beside you, Heidi was counting the money you made so far and placing the bills into a tin box.

“These cookies are a hit, I’m glad you went with them- they’re super good too,” Heidi said as she picked up her half eaten cookie and shoved the rest into her mouth, “Yup, delicious. You have to make these for the Holiday office Christmas Party in December, god I think I’ll pay you.”

That made you chuckle as you went around to fix the sign the other members had worked all weekend on that said ‘Front Office’ and had poorly drawn cookies all over it.

As you did so, there was suddenly a burst of laughter from behind you. You lifted your head up, turning your head toward one of the booths that was across from yours, but more down the line. Women and their kids all surrounded this one table, so much that you were unable to see who’s table it was…that’s if you didn’t know because he’d been here early to set up along with you and others.

Heidi leaned over the cookies, having heard the commotion too and she laughed out loud, “So, Steve Harrington baking was all it took to take that baker down a notch.”

She was looking over at the other booth, the town’s baker having only a handful of customers while Steve’s booth was surrounded by a crowd who might as well been waving cash over their heads. It was almost comedic how the simple fact that Steve Harrington baked cookies rather than brought store bought ones caused such a commotion.

He was standing behind the table handing out the bags of chocolate chip cookies while Cassie was sitting on a clear space on the table taking the cash with the help of one of the other parents working the booth. They were both wearing the matching cupcake aprons again, something that did not go unnoticed by the mom’s either.

“These are absolutely fabulous, Steve,” you heard one of them compliment him, “It makes me wonder what other skills you’re hiding from us.” There was a giggle after that almost resembled one of a high school girl talking to the football captain and you were sure you could hear the eye roll of the woman’s husband somewhere around here. You laughed while shaking your head and fixed some of the cookie bags to look more presentable before placing more smaller samples onto the tray.

At the booth, Steve was slightly overwhelmed but Cass was doing a good job keeping everyone at bay.

“There’s a line!” she told the crowd, “One at a time please!”

Compliments continued to be thrown Steve’s way, and with flushed cheeks he was thanking them and being professional and handing them their bags when a woman asked him for the recipe. Steve looked up at her, and laughed nervously, “Well it’s not my recipe- I had a little- well a lot of help from a friend.”

“A friend you say? I’d love to meet them and get the recipe then,” she said cheekily before she took the bags from him and moved on. Steve smiled at the next customer, but behind them was a parting of the crowd finally and Steve’s eyes caught you in front of your booth.

You were holding the tray of apple cinnamon cookies, one of the husband’s of one of the women over here standing beside you as he tried one. He said something to you after, making you grin up at him in a friendly manner and Steve realized he hadn’t listened to a word the lady in front of him said.

“Daddy! She said she wanted 2 bags!” Cassie tore him from his eyes on you just as your eyes found Steve’s. He cleared his throat lightly, smiling at the woman and grabbing two bags of cookies and holding it out for her.

She thanked him, and Steve’s eyes found yours again, finding that you were looking at him already. You waved at him, and Steve smiled softly and waved back at you.

From where you stood, Heidi had caught the small interaction between you and Steve, raising both of her brows with interest. Her eyes rested onto your face, recognizing the expression of warmth written all over your features, right down to your wide smile and eyes that seemed to have lit up.

She leaned on the table, and hummed with pure interest.

“So…you and Steve?” Heidi asked, and to you this question had seemingly come out of nowhere as you returned to the seat beside her in the shade. Though it was a cool autumn day, it was still pretty hot when you stood directly in the sun like you just were.

“What about Steve?” you questioned her as you settled into your chair, Heidi shrugged.

“Are you and him…getting to know each other more?” she asked you another question, and by now you were used to this, used to Heidi not getting to the point of something and speaking to you like everything that you talked about was gossip or something. You just stared at her, watching her eyebrows wiggle suggestively.

“Heidi, please, we’re both adults here,” you said, wanting to beg her to stop talking like this and she could only giggle like a high schooler.

“Oh come on, you can tell me.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” you said, and Heidi sighed at your stubbornness to admit anything. You chalked it up to maybe this town was so small that any gossip was the holy grail to her, or maybe the odd obsession every married woman seemed to have with Steve Harrington. It could be either, honestly.

Still, you knew you were lying because maybe there was something to tell because afterall you don’t think anyone’s ever looked at you like he did, if anyone’s ever made you laugh and smile so much. The thought of Steve made your stomach twist pleasantly, and your chest to warm up like your oven when you helped each other bake all of those cookies the mom’s were currently salivating over.

Jokingly, you told yourself that if you looked at him and he was already looking at you, maybe there was something there, something that would be worth telling somebody else about.

And when you snuck a glance, you were pleased to see that he was. Heat raised to your cheeks, and you allowed yourself this small moment of vindication, as silly as it sounded.

“I’ll be damned,” Mrs. Abi’s voice broke you from your moment of warmth and you looked up to see her standing there with her arms resting on her waist as she stared at the crowd Steve’s booth brewed up, “I think we’ll all be getting raises next year, and all we had to do was get Mr. Harrington to bake a couple of cookies.”

The joke made the other faculty at your booth including Heidi laugh, and another office member, who you distinctly remembered seeing go over once or twice, stated, “He had a lot of help I hear from somebody.”

“Well, whoever convinced him and helped out- I’m grateful because look at this crowd,” Mrs. Abi said, still entirely impressed by how something as simple as Hawkins’ favorite Dad baking chocolate chip cookies could ring up this much business.

You elected to stay quiet, dropping your eyes to the cookies before you as Mrs. Abi continued to admire the amount of people here. Still, you smiled to yourself, knowing that it was you and liking that you were the only one who knew, like those moments with Steve and Cassie were yours to keep and only yours. It made you feel special, in a way.

Suddenly, somebody was tapping your arm. It captured your attention, and everyone else sitting at the booth’s attention. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see it was Cassie Harrington, well mostly everyone as Cassie would visit you on occasion to give you part of her lunch.

She held out a bag of cookies to you, and said, “My daddy said to give you these. They’re for you and you only!”

You blinked, and took the bag of cookies from her. Cassie didn’t give you a moment to respond, flashing you a bright smile before she was turning and pushing her way through the crowd. You looked at the bag of brightly colored cookies.

There was a little note attached to the tie around the bag of cookies, different from the rest of the bags, in fact they were different from the cookies you spent hours helping him bake entirely.

‘Thanks for the help. You deserve these :) - Steve’

The bag was filled with smaller, homemade M&M cookies, the colors of the candy vibrant against the cookie part. Did he seriously make these cookies for you? When did he have the time to do so? Did he make time? So many questions rang through your head and you had forgotten that you weren’t alone.

In fact, the entire faculty, Mrs. Abi included, was just staring at you as you gawked at the bag of cookies Cassie had just given you in front of everyone. It seemed they had gotten their answer as to who helped Steve bake all those cookies.

“Nothing to tell,” Heidi muttered beside you, repeating your words from before. You cleared your throat, and placed the cookies inside of your purse that was underneath your chair, trying not to let them see how the gesture was affecting you further.

And later, when you would take a bite out of one of the cookies, your thoughts were filled with Steve Harrington until you would go to bed that night and even then, he still plagued you in your dreams. You weren’t complaining though…not one bit.

✧ ✧ ✧

If Steve was anything, it was self aware. He knew he wasn’t the most punctual when it came to any relationships outside of the one he had with his daughter, but with Halloween and then Cassie suddenly getting the flu, life had just been a hassle.

He’d been meaning to call you again, or maybe visit you in the office (except he thought that would be odd if he didn’t have an excuse to be there other than he just wanted to see you) to ask if you enjoyed those cookies he and Cass had baked for you but then he also got sick while taking care of Cass.

He wasn’t a six year old though, so he managed better than she did, but it did take him out for a day or so. When he thought about you, he tried to remind himself of your declaration that you weren’t a high maintenance friend, basically that you understand him vanishing for weeks on end, but that didn’t change the fact that he did feel bad that after basically a whole weekend spent together he kind of just vanished and relied on Cassie to stay interacting with you.

The doctor’s note in his pocket came at a good moment, one that he had to deliver to the office himself so that her past few absences would be excused, and he thought that maybe you’d be keen on having some lunch with him today.

Although, when he entered the school’s front office he was met with an empty desk.

His eyes danced around the office, disappointment brewing in his chest that maybe you were out sick too or something until he heard you say his name. He snapped his head to the side, seeing that you were actually next to him, he just hadn’t seen you.

“Oh, god I didn’t even see you,” Steve said, feeling stupid for not, but you just laughed and waved him off because it really wasn’t a big deal, “I have a doctor’s note for Cassie.”

Steve dug his hand into the pocket of the sweats he was wearing, and scowled when he couldn’t find it, now afraid it had slipped out of his pocket outside on this very windy day, “Shit, I thought I did. Give me a second.”

He wasn’t looking at you, but if he had he would’ve definitely noticed your suddenly flustered expression, and how you were desperately trying to keep your eyes anywhere but on his lower half. He dug his hands into the other pocket, pleased to feel the paper there instead.

“Ah, there you are,” Steve muttered to himself, something Max might’ve said was very ‘dad’ of him to say. He held it out for you to take, and you did, walking over to your desk while Steve finally noticed that you were actually decorating the front part of the office with autumn leaves.

Various colored leaves decorated the wall, meant to look like they were being blown in the wind, but there was a lot more on the floor. He wasn’t sure if that was part of the decor, not until he noticed there were a few pieces of tape missing leaves.

“Oh,” Steve said, bending over to pick them up. He started to stick them to the wall for you without really thinking, but then the door was being opened again, causing a breeze to fly in so all the ones he had just stuck on had fallen again.

He realized then that probably happened to you when he walked in, and he cringed, feeling bad about that. He looked over at you when he heard you ask the person, another parent, who had just walked in what you could help them with. Your eyes glanced over at Steve and he waved a leaf at you, catching the amusement to flash over your eyes as you looked back at the parent.

“I unfortunately don’t have a copy of the permission slip, but they are going to be sent home with the students today…if not come back and I will be sure to have extra copies…”

Your voice trailed off as you returned to typing on your computer, surely trying to continue inputting Cassie’s doctor’s note into the system. Meanwhile, Steve just waited and watched you, slightly intrigued with you working and realizing that you were just very busy too.

After a moment, the parent had turned to leave, smiling at Steve as they pushed through the door, the wind causing more leaves to fall off the wall. Steve picked those up too, and when he turned back to you, he saw you were smiling with your eyes on the computer screen.

“Are the fifth graders going to that museum out of town already?” Steve asked, having practically memorized the schedule they had all been handed at Back to School Night, the one with all the events on it (and your number) despite him needing only to worry about first grade events. He honestly couldn’t wait until Cass’s first field trip in the spring because he was going to be a chaperone. It would be her first field trip too.

“Yeah, at the end of the week,” you replied to him, eyes moving to the doctor’s note, “You don’t have to pick those up by the way…they keep falling anyways.”

He looked down at the leaves, then said, “Well I mean, leaves do tend to fall in fall.” He walked over to you, placing them onto the front of your desk as you continued to type away on the computer and you laughed lightly at his lame joke as you pressed enter on the keyboard with a loud clack!

“Alright, Cassie’s absences have been excused, is there anything else I could help you with, Steve?” you asked, finally looking at him. Steve thought, then shook his head.

“Nope, well…I don’t need help, just have another question.” You tilted your head at him, urging him to ask you what he wanted, and he said with a soft clearing of throat, “Did you go to lunch already?”

You seemed genuinely surprised by that question, eyes flashing to the clock on your desk before looking back at him and replying in a suddenly quiet voice, “Not yet, in about 20 minutes actually…why?”

Steve leaned both hands on your desk, getting slightly closer to you, “Well I haven’t had lunch yet, Cass is still sick and Karen agreed to watch her while I run some errands, so…” he knocked on the wooden surface of your desk, almost nervously before he said, “Want to go get something to eat?”

You said yes quite fast.

That’s how Steve found himself with you in his car, meals done and low music playing on the radio as you two well…you just talked.

You had asked him about Cassie, he told you she was doing much better, and then he was telling you about how his Halloween was.

Cassie had decided, very last minute, that instead of being a regular fairy she wanted to actually be Tinkerbell. It wouldn’t have been a serious problem if the dress he got her was already green (it was blue), so he had to spend one of his entire lunch breaks finding a dress before he had to end up making it himself with a bunch of material from the only fabric store in Hawkins.

“Wait a minute…you made her costume?”

You were shocked, Steve could tell by the way you said it and stared at him with wide eyes and he felt a little embarrassed, “Yeah, took me two whole days. It was bad huh, you can be honest, Cass said she loved it, but I think she was just being nice- she doesn’t want to break her dad's heart.”

“Steve, she talked my ear off about how much she loved her costume,” you told him, genuine surprise still written all over your face, “Every time I learn something more about you the more I like you.”

Your words made Steve pause for a second, and he turned his head over to you, watching as you took a sip of soda then grinned at him.

Steve half-smiled at you as he moved to take a sip of his drink as well, “Did you not like me before or something? I really thought we had something with the apple picking, the baking…I even made you cookies, which…were they any good?”

“Oh the cookies,” you said, your hand flying over your chest as you sighed, “They were delicious, thank you for that.”

Steve smiled and nodded at you, and you added, “And I liked you before, just…now I like you more. You bake and you sew, and you love your daughter so much. What’s not to like?”

You were looking at him softly, and Steve felt a bit flustered underneath your gaze. It didn’t feel like when the other women in town would compliment or praise him for what he thought was the bare minimum, where he felt as if they were nothing but empty praise. No, yours felt genuine.

“Well…I didn’t really bake until I met you, so…feel free to take credit for that quality,” he said, jokingly and you chuckled, “And I’m glad somebody thinks me being able to sew is good. Remember those kids I told you about? They break my leg about it all the time, especially Henderson.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, like me sewing is weirder than him building a whole radio when he was 13.”

“Wait he built a whole radio? Huh…”

Steve nodded, “Still shows off about it too, he told me one time what spectacular thing I did when I was 13 and I couldn’t say because I was already getting dates at that age.”

His statement, as ridiculous and silly as it was, made you almost choke on what was left of your drink. He turned quickly to you as you coughed, and was worried until he heard cackling coming from you and saw your pretty smile again.

You shifted in your spot, coughing lightly a few more times before you said, “And you’re funny? God, Steve.”

His cheeks turned a slight pink, proud that he had made you laugh, but concerned with the fact that you had choked on your drink because of it.

“Everyone except you and Cass would disagree with that statement, but it’s nice to hear every once in a while…” especially if it was the pretty city girl Steve was growing very fond of calling him funny, he didn’t say that part out loud though. Nope, that felt too forward in a lunch between friends even though it was incredibly true.

Steve stayed staring at you, before he asked what it was that you did at 13, because he realized he’d been talking about himself the entire time and he wanted to know more about you, of course, having really gotten a few glimpses into your life. You hummed in thought.

“I wasn’t building radios, definitely not getting dates like you Mr. Popular,” you teased, then continued to think with your face scrunched up before you hummed again, and finally said, “I was really big on roller disco.”

“Wait…wait seriously?”

Out of all the things Steve might’ve thought, you liking roller disco had not been one of them, and he found it cute the way you became flustered now as you nodded slowly.

“Yeah, well…just disco in general, I was home alone a lot with nothing to do so I just learned a lot dance moves, and the roller rink was down the block, I was really good…god I can’t believe I’m admitting this to somebody,” you said, clearly embarrassed but Steve didn’t think it was something you should be embarrassed about and felt bad if he was making you think he was judging you in any way.

“That’s pretty…I honestly would’ve never guessed it,” Steve decided on saying, before he thought of something, “Now that I think of it…Cassie’s music taste has been a bit disco-y lately ever since we were at your place baking…”

This made you laugh in disbelief.

“No way,” you said with a shake of your head and Steve nodded, “That’s funny, I’m a little less embarrassed now.”

“Yeah…god now I know who the culprit is,” he laughed, “Don’t be embarrassed…though how long was that your interest though? I just want to know, I’ve never met a disco dancer before.” He grinned cheekily at the title he’d given and you scoffed, though your eyes held warmth in them still.

“Oh the interest definitely went past 13, up until my college years really, I was in a club and everything, it was really the only fun thing I did.”

Steve laughed with the shake of his head, still shocked by this information. So, you were a disco girl…he stupidly wondered if you two might’ve been friends if you knew each other in High School, but he quickly shut that down, remembering how he actually was in high school and knew you wouldn’t be friends with him most likely.

What mattered really was that he knew you now, and you knew him now, and like what you had told him…the more he was getting to know you really, the more he was liking you…or maybe it was something deeper with how his stomach churned pleasantly being in this car with you on this windy, fall afternoon just talking, making you laugh joyfully…he remembered having a lot of dates that went exactly like this back in High School, though it would be night time or you both would’ve been half way to Skull Rock by now.

Still, it felt nice sitting here with you, it felt nice when you were with him and Cass apple-picking too, and at your place as well, baking cookies and enjoying each other’s company.

All good things must come to an end though, and Steve hated how time flew by when you were having a good time, but you had to get back to work and Steve had to grocery shop for the week then go pick up Cassie from Karen Wheeler’s house. You still talked though as he drove you back to the school, your elbow leaning on the car’s door, hand resting above your head as you spoke and laughed.

He stopped the car in front of the office, and you thanked him for a fun lunch, and Steve’s eyes had caught the post for the food pantry event the Hawkins School District were holding for Thanksgiving the following week. His eyes rested on the poorly drawn turkey and an idea flashed in his mind.

“Hey, sorry, one last question,” Steve called to you before you could climb fully out of his car. You turned to him with a curious look, and he said, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?”

“Nothing, I don’t really celebrate it,” you told him that pretty fast, indicating that someone has probably asked you before and that was how you answered.

Steve began to absent-mindly run his hands over the steering wheel, deciding just to ask you if you wanted to join him and Cassie.

“If you’re up for it, me and Cass join the Henderson family. It’s just…them too, Dustin and his mom. I know she’ll enjoy having an extra person there.”

You were quiet for a bit, eyes moving to his moving hands, and Steve was about to tell you that you didn’t have to if you didn’t want to, but you were speaking before he could even open his mouth.

“That sounds fun actually…I guess that means I’m going to meet the little genius who built a whole radio at 13,” you said, referring to the prior conversation. Steve was grinning now, relieved and happy that you said yes and he chuckled and replied, “Yeah, honestly, I think you’d like him. He’s a cool kid.”

“Alright, guess I’ll be seeing you sooner than I thought,” you said cheekily, and Steve scoffed at you but smiled afterwards.

With a promise to call you sometime before then to give you the address, Steve was off to the market with butterflies fluttering in his stomach the entire time and when he ran into some familiar faces, they wondered what had him so joyful.

✧ ✧ ✧

You had made the joke to yourself that you felt like Steve when he tried to bring store bought cookies to the bakesale before you got your hands on him and convinced him to let you help him bake. The reason for this was because you had run out of time to make anything, but didn’t want to show up empty handed so you bought a pumpkin pie, and then a cheese tray and showed up just on time at the Henderson home; nothing homemade like you initially wanted but truth be told you didn’t really know how to make any traditional Thanksgiving supper.

They were already there, Steve’s car parked in front of yours, and the door was open, so you poked your head inside, looking around for anyone familiar…basically just Steve and Cassie, but instead you had been met with a young couple sitting on the couch. The girl was shorter, dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail with wispy bangs framing her face, and the boy, well you could only see his curly hair since his back was to you as they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.

“Oh Dusty Bun, latin has never been your strong suit and it’s okay to admit it,” the girl told the boy, and he huffed in response, “A genius can’t be good at everything.”

“That’s not true,” ‘Dusty-bun’ replied to her, “You’re good at everything.”

And she smiled, clearly keen on the compliment. You entered the house a little more, ready to announce your arrival when the girl saw you first. Your eyes locked with each other’s and she blinked a few times before saying, “Oh, hi?”

The boy snapped his head around quickly, blue eyes finding yours instantly, and when he didn’t recognize you in the span of a second he was saying, “Uh, sorry, I think you’re at the wrong house.”

You furrowed your brows, knowing for sure that wasn’t true because you recognized Steve’s car, and you said, assuming Dusty Bun was a nickname for Dustin, “Oh, I don’t think I am, you’re Dustin Henderson, right?”

He nodded at you, and you told him your name and ended with, “Steve invited me, he probably just forgot to tell you.”

This seemed to genuinely surprise Dustin, both of his eyebrows raising in disbelief as he looked at you, and then all he could say was, “Wait- wait- are you telling me Steve invited you?”

“Hey, don’t be rude,” the girl said, slightly tapping Dustin’s arm but he shrugged her off as he said he wasn’t being rude before he said, “I’m just surprised! Steve invited a girl to have dinner with us, is that not insane to you?”

The girl opened her mouth to say something, maybe along the lines of trying to defend Steve before it went slack, and she replied, “...I admit it is a little surprising considering…well you know.”

You stared at them, wondering what that even meant but decided not to question that in favor of asking awkwardly if they could just find Steve for you and tell him you’ve arrived. Dustin gave you another nod, and you expected him to get up rather than just turning his head and shouting the last thing you expected for him to shout, “Hey Steve! Your girlfriend’s here! Why didn’t you tell me you had one!”

Following Dustin’s yell there was a crash from a room to the right of you, then a feminine shout of surprise followed by the familiar voice of Steve saying, “My bad! I’ll clean that up- don’t worry-” And then, Steve was in the room. He was wearing a nice polo shirt that was tight around his arms, and chest, over that was the same cupcake apron that matched Cassie’s. You supposed he was getting a lot of use out of it since buying it.

There was also pink dusted on his cheeks as he told Dustin, “I can’t believe you just shouted that- she’s not my girlfriend, Henderson. Way to make it awkward- and hi, you’re here.” He was looking at you when he said that, his pretty brown eyes resting on you, and a smile, more shy than usual because of Dustin’s assumption, tugging at his lips.

“You said 4,” you told Steve, a smile crawling its way onto your lips too. You stayed smiling at each other for a beat or two before you lifted the items you bought and asked, “So, where can I put these?”

Steve waved you over toward him, “Right this way actually here-” He held his hands out, taking the pumpkin pie and cheese platter off of your hands, and you felt his fingers lightly drag against yours. He was really warm, which made sense as the kitchen you followed him into was drastically warmer than the living space and the colder fall temperature outside.

“Sorry about Dustin, I hope he didn't make you uncomfortable,” Steve said, apologizing on his behalf but you could only wave that off with a shake of your head.

“In his shoes, I’d probably think so too,” you admitted before you laughed nervously, afraid that had come off weird, but Steve let out a breathless laugh then nodded in agreement with you.

There was a woman in the kitchen, Claudia Henderson you presumed, and she was wiping down whatever Steve had dropped. His face fell and he said, “You didn’t have to do that-”

“It’s no problem, Steve! It wasn’t that bad of a spill,” she told him as she tossed the paper towel pieces she used into the trash, and Steve looked like he was going to say something else when her eyes landed on you and she was saying, “Is this her, Steve? Wow, aren’t you the pretty one?”

You felt your cheek heats up, not expecting the compliment, and Steve’s eyes widened as she continued to say, “I’m so glad he’s finally found someone else, you know it was so hard-”

“Wait, no it’s not-”

“I’m just his friend,” you cut Steve off, Claudia paused before her expression turned shocked and then regretful. Her hands even flew over her mouth like she’d just cursed at you in an accident or something.

“Oh, oh I’m sorry, I just assumed when he told me he was inviting a woman over that meant-” she gestured between you two before she laughed nervously, “Either way, I’m glad he’s invited a friend, thank you for joining us.”

Her smile was kind, and despite the confusion from everyone you’ve encountered so far, you felt at ease standing in this pleasant smelling kitchen, and you said, “No thank you for having me! Now that I’m here, is there anything I can do to help?”

Your eyes danced around the kitchen now, having never seen a kitchen so full with food before and you felt something odd in your chest, something you couldn’t quite describe, but Claudia’s claim that you didn’t have to make you ignore it and set it aside.

“I pulled a Steve and brought only store bought items, please let me at least do something,” you said, poking at Steve and he huffed beside you.

“Hey, you say that like there’s something wrong with that,” Steve said as he placed the pumpkin pie on what looked like the dessert portion of the kitchen counter, and placed the cheese platter onto a table with other appetizers to snack on before dinner.

He was actually opening it before throwing a cube of cheddar cheddar and a ritz cracker into his mouth.

Claudia had laughed at you both before saying that if you weren’t going to take no for an answer you could help prepare the ham. Your eyes landed on the thick piece of ham resting in a pan as you shrugged off the coat you were wearing to reveal a nice burgundy turtleneck underneath.

That feeling started to linger over you again as you realized you didn’t know what to even start with, having never prepared or baked a ham before- not even on Christmas when it appeared to be the most popular. Claudia didn’t seem to take notice of your sudden hesitation, but Steve did.

He was back beside you and he said, “I’ll help, she’s taught me everything I know.”

Claudia hummed, as if proud of her teaching Steve how to prepare a ham, and you gave him a curt nod before you went to wash your hands and Steve grabbed the things from a bag he must’ve brought of the things he would need.

As you started to pour pineapple juice into a measuring cup per Steve’s orders, you suddenly realized there was somebody missing, a vital person, and you said, “Wait a minute- where’s Cassie?”

Like you managed to summon the girl with the utter of her name, Dustin was entering the kitchen holding Cassie and grunting as he claimed she was heavy. He didn’t put her down though, not when she was very clearly half-awake, her eyes squinted and various strands poking out of her french-braided hair.

She still managed to ask, “Is the food ready, yet?”

Steve was walking toward Dustin, taking her from him, and as he pushed a few strands of her hair out of her face he said, “Not yet, sleepyhead, in about an hour, but look who’s here.”

He turned around, and Cassie looked very closely at everyone in the room before she finally realized there was an extra person. Her being on the verge of falling asleep had vanished the moment she saw you, and you waved both hands at her eagerly.

“I was waiting for you! I thought my daddy lied about you coming!” Cassie said, quite loudly. You laughed, head tilting back slightly.

“Why do you keep thinking that I’m lying? I never lie to you,” Steve said with a shake of his head, and Cassie turned to look at her dad as he placed her hair behind her ear.

“You said the food will be ready when I wake up, but it’s not,” she stated.

“Ha!” Dustin laughed from where he stood next to the cheese platter you had brought, placing pieces of it onto a decorative plastic plate, “She got you there.”

Steve gave him a look, but sighed as he said, “Yeah she did…how about you go and play with Dustin and Suzy and then it’ll be done.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot I wanted to give her a lot of my old edition D&D books, and other old toys,” Dustin said, turning around to look at Steve and Cassie.

“Dude, come on…”

“What? They’re Steve of Approved, plus if I start teaching her now, she’ll definitely keep the Hellfire Club going when she gets to high school, and that’s important,” Dustin said, clearly having a plan, and Steve could only shake his head as Cassie seemed excited about the word Hellfire and club.

“Hellfire Club?” you asked, and all eyes turned to you.

“Oh, it’s a Dungeon and Dragons club, do you play?” Dustin asked you, and you shook your head.

“No, but…I’ve always wanted to, just never got the chance,” you admitted, remembering there being a club like when you were in high school too and wondering how one might play the roleplaying game, “It looks fun though, I’d like to learn one day.”

Dustin snapped his fingers, “See, that already makes you cooler than Steve”

“Am I just going to be made fun of the entire time? Well yeah, that’s how I know it’s Thanksgiving,” Steve answered his own question with a scoff, making you smile sheepishly at him until he was smiling again as he said, “I’ve played a few times, not really my thing, but…I mean if you want to play I know a guy who could teach you. He’s a bit insane, but if I’m there you’ll be fine.”

“Oh so you’re ‘not girlfriend’ is interested in playing and suddenly you’re willing to hang out with Eddie and playing too?”

Dustin was giving Steve a knowing look, one of which had you suppressing a grin, especially when you saw Steve’s eyes get wide with shock that he’d say. He was probably regretting inviting you now.

“How is Eddie anyway? I haven’t seen him around in a while,” Claudia chimed in before Steve could properly respond and Dustin replied, “He’s always out of town lately, I know because I called before I even got here to see if he wanted to start planning a campaign for us to play.”

Claudia hummed in response, and you watched Steve give Dustin a look, one of which Dustin shrugged at him before smiling menacingly.

“Come on, Cass, let’s go,” Dustin said, and Steve placed Cassie down. She eagerly followed after Dustin, waving a good-bye to you before disappearing back into the living room.

Steve was back by your side, helping you with the ham again and he muttered, “Sorry again.”

In all honesty you weren’t bothered by the comments, Steve actually seemed more bothered than you were, his cheeks haven’t stopped being flushed since they started. You gently grasped his forearm, making him look at you.

“Stop apologizing, I can handle being mistaken for your girlfriend,” you said teasingly, to which Steve turned even more pink, “Plus, I’m having a good time, so let’s finish this ham before Cass comes back asking why it isn’t ready yet.”

Steve laughed and agreed with you as you worked together to get it done.

Another hour had passed, you were more comfortable, and that weird feeling in your stomach had started to gently subside, up until dinner itself was ready to be served. Dustin, Suzy, and Cass were more than happy to set the table, then as you sat having the said dinner, you stayed quiet the whole time just watching.

Steve was sitting at the end of the table, Claudia at the other end, Dustin and Suzy were sitting across from you, and you were sitting next to Cassie, just a seat away from where Steve was sitting. It was, what you believed to be, your first big family dinner.

As you’ve said, it was really only you and your dad growing up, and when you told Steve you never celebrated when he first invited you, you meant it. Your dad and you would go out to eat the following day, but it was still just the two of you and as you watched them interact, laughing and teasing each other, retelling stories you’ve never heard before, and Dustin going on about how his year at University was going, you realized that empty feeling you were feeling was one you always tended to feel around the holidays.

Maybe you were feeling it a little bit more since you really had no family left, and seeing them just made you think about it more, made you think about how lonely you actually felt, a loneliness you’ve always felt.

After dinner, Claudia had offered to make cocoa and coffee for everyone as you let your stomachs settle before dessert and everyone had agreed. She shooed you all out of the kitchen though, keen on letting you guys enjoy each other’s company so you were gathered in the living room, the television playing and Dustin continuing his D&D lesson for Cassie, and you actually.

You couldn’t shake the feeling though, and had excused yourself for a bit. You hadn’t noticed that Steve wasn’t even in the room when you snuck outside to gather yourself.

Steve had actually gone to the bathroom, mostly to fix his hair and when he came back, the living room was actually just empty. He figured the beverages were ready and waltzed into the kitchen, seeing that he was right.

Suzy was helping Claudia pour them into various mugs and Dustin and Cassie were standing by the dessert counter, taking advantage of their backs being turned to them.

“What are you doing?” Steve questioned as he walked closer. They both looked at Steve with wide eyes, their lips covered in crumbs of one of the apple pastries Claudia had made.

Dustin wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said, “We’re checking it for poison, duh.”

Steve’s face deadpanned, having heard that just weeks before from Cassie herself. Deciding it really wasn’t that big a deal, Steve looked around the kitchen, trying to find you, but only seeing the people he originally saw when he first walked in. He asked where you went, and Cassie, with a mouth full of pastry, told him that you had gone outside and Dustin backed her up.

So, Steve went outside too, not without taking two mugs of coffee; one for you and one for him.

You were sitting on the bench, arms crossed over your chest and staring at nothing in deep thought. You didn’t seem to hear Steve coming outside, not until he cleared his throat and held the mug out for you to take. You visibly snapped out of your thoughts and turned to look at the mug then at Steve, muttering a soft thank you as you took it from him.

“I just needed a bit of air,” you told him as you held the mug with both hands, enjoying the warmth it radiated.

Steve nodded, and took a sip of his before he sat down beside you, guessing what it was that was bothering you because he had been in the same position as you before. He just kind of sensed it and recognized it, especially when he observed how quiet you were during dinner.

“I know it’s overwhelming,” Steve suddenly said, “Sorry, I just assumed, and maybe I should’ve…I don’t know eased you better into having a big family dinner like this.”

You blinked, and looked at him. He looked thoughtful as he continued to speak.

“I’ve mentioned my oh so great parents once or twice, but…yeah I never had any of this,” Steve gestured around with his mug, “Not until I was well out of high school, not until Cassie was born really…I had her mom, but that’s…” he made a face at that, and you tilted your head, this being the first time he’s mentioned her in any context and you thought maybe the comments of surprise Steve invited somebody had to do with her.

“Anyway though, I get it- I was overwhelmed the first time too, and I still kind of am- but knowing that I can give Cassie these experiences I didn’t have growing up makes it worth it,” he finished with a sip of his coffee, eyes soft as he too stared at nothing, thinking of Cassie back inside enjoying the Holiday with the Henderson family.

You didn’t have a daughter, not like Steve, but you could imagine if you did you would try your best to do the same. It made your heart swell with how much of a genuinely good person and dad he was, and you just wondered what more this guy could do that would make you like him even more.

“It feels like something I never knew I needed,” you said, laughing weakly and Steve joined you with that weak laugh.

“Oh yeah, it feels weird huh…but also good.”

“Yeah…yeah it feels really good,” you agreed, turning your body toward him.

Steve returned your gaze, seeing something in it that made him swallow very thickly. It had been a while, yes, but when Steve said he was getting dates at 13 he meant it. He knew what it was like when someone liked him, it was almost like second nature and he prided himself once in being able to know when the right time was to kiss a woman.

He called it ‘electricity.’ Stupid to say as an adult, but true when he was a high schooler. There was electricity between you, and with a soft flutter of your eyelashes, Steve knew they were ‘kiss me’ eyes.

And so, he was slowly starting to lean in…catching your lips parting and your eyes flickering down to his lips. You were leaning in too, but then, the door was being slammed open.

“We’re having pie now, come on!” Cassie called, poking her head out the door, startling you and Steve. He sucked in a tight breath, leaning away from you as he looked at Cassie who remained in her place, just staring at the both of you like she knew something you both didn’t or something.

“We’ll be in right now,” Steve told her, and she slowly disappeared back into the house, making you laugh. Steve turned back to you, trying to steady his breath at what almost happened out here and feeling guilty for whatever reason.

He wondered what you were thinking, but you were already moving to stand and he tilted his head upward to look at you, trying to see if he could read you, but you didn’t really give him a chance. You rather smiled at him like always, not giving any sign that you knew he was going to kiss you, which relieved him…but also disappointed him. Did he imagine you leaning in too? Was he being a creep?

If he was, you weren’t acting like it and rather held your hand out and said, “Well, let’s go enjoy some dessert.”

The rest of the night was filled with more fun, and Steve liked how you were looking less melancholy, talking with Suzy and Dustin (You did actually bring the radio up and Dustin would not shut up). Steve remained on the couch, Cassie laying on it with her head resting on his lap and he figured they should head home soon when he noticed Cassie was actually falling asleep.

Then, you were standing up, announcing that it was late and you should go. Steve gently moved Cassie, telling her that you were leaving and she opened her sleepy eyes to say bye to you before shutting them again.

You told everyone a good night, thanking them for letting you join them, and then Steve walked you out. It was on the porch, you turned to Steve and leaned in to give you a chaste on the cheek, catching Steve off guard.

“Thank you for everything Steve,” you told him, the tone of your voice very soft that Steve almost didn’t hear you over the fasting beating of his own heart from the feeling of your lips touching his cheek, even if it was just for less than a second.

“You’re…you’re welcome,” he said, voice breathless. You stepped backwards, telling him good night and Steve watched you, a million thoughts running through his mind until he noticed you snap your fingers. Steve furrowed his brows, wondering why you did that before you were leaning into your car and grabbing a paper bag.

Then, you were walking back to him, and held it out for him to take.

“What’s this?” Steve asked you as he took it.

“Just a gift for Cassie,” you told him, looking between him and the bag almost eagerly.

Steve looked into the paper bag, having to squint his eyes to see what it was. When he realized what he was looking at, his eyes widened and he was looking at you. There was a walk-man in there.

“Is this- wait- you didn’t buy this did you?”

“No!” you said, “It was actually mine, but I never use it.”

Steve’s gaze remained on yours, jaw slightly agape at the gift you’d just given him to give to Cassie, “Are you…sure?”

You were nodding, “Yeah, it just sort of sits in my dresser and I know Cassie will use it all the time. Oh, I even…” You reached out, digging into the bag for a moment before you wrapped your hands around what you were looking for, “I made this for her, since you said she was enjoying disco lately I thought I might as well introduce her to my favorite ones and others too I think you might enjoy.”

Steve looked at the mixtape in your hands, and those butterflies went insane in his stomach, actually rising up into his extremely warm chest. He thought maybe he was feeling light headed by your incredibly nice gesture, Cassie was going to be so damn happy.

“You might want to listen to it first,” you continued after Steve was still silently staring at you, “You know…make sure it gets a Steve of Approval.”

That made him laugh, the disbelief leaving his face for amusement before his expression was warm again as he said, “No…no I trust you…god thank you so much, she’s going to be happy.”

You were nodding again, dropping the tape back into the bag and putting your hands into your coat pockets, “So I guess I’ll see you soon?”

Steve held the bag against him, and he nodded, “Yeah, yeah see you soon.”

And then, you were off.

Steve stayed standing there, up until you were pulling out of the driveway and waving at him from your car.

“...fuck,” Steve cursed at himself for some reason, but saying it just felt right and necessary. He liked you, a lot, and he hadn’t felt this way in such a long time. And because of that…Steve wasn’t quite sure how he was going to proceed with this, or if he should considering his luck with women in the past.

Yet, as he watched your car disappear and felt this pleasant buzz in his mind with thoughts full of you…he knew that he should. The only thing was…he hoped to god he would see you soon.

#i had it all planned out in sections good lord this took a while to write but i DID it and i love it so much #honesty...take your time reading it it's so long alksjalksja #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington x female reader #reader insert #female reader #stranger things #single dad steve au #confetti series #lys writes again

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theresawtf · 2 months

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sunghoon drabble

600+ words

summary/warnings- sunghoon has a camera, the reader hates it. (thats about it tbh) implied relationship. the reader is giving bimbo activity. fluff with a suggestive ending 🚶🏻‍♀️(i miss my man sm) i saw an edit and could not get over it till i wrote abt it. not edited (edited on 02/27/2024)

part two

*click*

him and that stupid camera. always pulling it out instead of focusing on you, at some point you would think he would notice? well technically he already did, he just liked seeing you get annoyed and pouty whenever he took pictures of the ‘scenery’ instead of his undivided attention on you. but what you didnt know is that it was all of you.

he also has an entire folder dedicated to photos of you pouting and when i tell you, he ADORES these photos (how could he not)! he would go as far as purposely annoying you to get to take cute photos, doing anything to get his undivided attention on you. he’s so completely lost in your presence or in his words “to have him so obsessed with you and only you?” (whatever that means) doing anything and everything under the sun to be closer to you.

this time he asked you to come see him on tour and sightseeing with him on his days off, so you did! you guys got to meet up and go visit so many places and things but once the free day ended and you both had to leave.

you were settling in the hotel room with him and once again you find him pulling out his camera.

“do you ever NOT have that thing?” you finally asked putting emphasis on the not but it came out harsher that you expected.

“can a guy not be obsessed with his really hot girlfriend or is that a crime?” he continues to adjust the lense and takes a picture while you are brushing your hair for the night.

“you can be obsessed with me and still not have the camera out” you said finishing up your hair and attempting to plucking the camera from his hands to which he quickly moves and chuckles at the attempt as his free hand cling to your hip.

*click*

“you know you’re cute when you’re mad?” he says quickly after snapping another picture this time the photo turned out slightly blurry.

“im not mad!!” you exclaimed trying to stop the pictures from being taken. to which sunghoon takes this time to flip you both, to where you are underneath him.

“even if you were, youre still cute.” he began leaving gentle kisses along your jaw and neck gaining your cute sounds from the action. you began to run your fingers through his hair and tugging when the pressure kept building up, gaining the confidence he left you with little purple love marks and decided that he wanted to remember this as well, slowly pulling out of your grasp he pulled out his camera again to get a picture of the artwork he’d left on his lovely gf.

*click*

you unintentionally pressed your thighs together at the thought of him getting pictures of you in this vulnerable state he leaned in to give you that much needed friction your body desperately wanted and rubbed soft circles on your hips as he continued to take pictures. he chuckled finding the perfect one and deciding it had to be his lockscreen.

“you should get irritated at me more often over this thing.” his behavior was no surprise to you, he was always quick to bicker with you to get a cute reaction from you, you were settling this one way and thats getting the camera away from him and actually enjoying your boyfriend for what little time you had before your flight.

“give me the camera hoonie.”you tried to hold up whatever ground you could but you were struggling under his firm touch.

*click*

he chuckled taking another picture as he acknowledged how cute it was under his breath.

he handed it over with ease, not giving much of a fight for it. he was putty in your hands especially with that nickname. he watches you inspect the camera especially the photos and videos in it. given you’ve never actually gotten a chance to look at it with how much you hate it, the camera only had things that had to do with you. of course it was all you, no one else but you and him. and from the looks of it, it’s a lot.

you genuinely didn’t think that it would actually be all of you, but considering he only ever took it out when you were around, you found none of the other members unless you were also there. there was one particular photo with do doing sunghoons make up while the other boys were watching in the dorm. it truly was only you on his mind

you look back up at him after further inspection, he has the upmost adoration in his eyes. “done?” he questioned, hoping you wouldnt delete anything bc he really does love all the photos and videos of you guys. but of course you being stubborn shook your head. too many memories of time you stayed over and special days he’ll only want to remember because of you. besides how else is he suppose to stay obsessed with you?

“you know I’ll be leaving soon and you’ll still have to go on tour without me…” you say as you click through the camera finding the video setting. “we can make a different kind of video for when im gone since you like me so much.”

the end

authors notes- yall happy little rachas?

#enha fluff #enha x reader #sunghooncomehomepls #sunghoon #enhypen sunghoon #enhypen fic #theresawtf thoughts #imissmymanfrfr

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pyrriax · 2 months

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for once, i'm here with something a little different!

my gift for @cowboyjeremiah for the @mcyt-valentines exchange is this playlist :D

apologies for the delay with your gift! i had a fic planned (and am including what i have written here, while planning to get it out and properly gifted to you as soon as possible) but got hit with pain & life, so i'll do my best to explain the major concepts!

Warm candlelight all around soaks the room in its gentle glow, even as the spring sun begins to set outside. Everything is covered in the swirl of soft pink and white, cherry petals collecting in every crevice and making hiding places out of spots nobody thinks to look. And just outside the window stands someone who Branzy hasn't seen in months. Clown is back, after so long away, off in the Fray, off fighting and returning only blood soaked and staining the ground in crimson and gold. None his own, no blood daring to pour from the cracks on his mask. He's still as pristine as the day he left, perfect in a way that Branzy's sure should worry him, the truth of welcoming in this lost dog baring its teeth. An ugly, perfect grin, all full of teeth, sharp and ready to snap. Yet, there's no growl, no snarl, silence speaks of something trained, someone fine tuned and sharpened to a point. Dangerous, in a way that only proves that he's alive, that they're both alive, alive as can be. It comes easily, comes almost naturally, to welcome in the danger because really, is that not all he knows? Or, rather, all he'd like to know? Stain the pristine white and perfect purples with dark crimson, sully the perfection that he's always known with the imperfection of the outside world. Welcome home a bloody soldier, and happily tend to his wounds, because what is he if not trapped here with the purpose to serve? [...]

so, welcome to the seraphim au. where branzy is a god (a seraph) and clown is... human? (not really, he isn't. he's a machine, something made to replace seraphs in battle)

a lot of the thought going on here is "what would happen if you flipped the power of their dynamic, while keeping them relatively similar?"

an example of a seraph, though this isn't... how branzy looks? he strays far more human, purely because of how attached he is to clown.

the playlist's main focus is the general vibe of the world, especially the choices of songs (but especially with the artists, you'll notice a few which focus on religious topics, and especially have hymn-like qualities.) and especially its focusing on the concept of clown and branzy's dynamic.

but, overall, the changing of seasons and the ruining of imagery which is traditionally seen as something soft is the main focus. a god often viewed as benevolent is drawn toward the violence and blood of the world, finding solace in clown's stories. it's a parallel to clown trapping branzy in the end, even if it's vague about it!

there's also. this piece?

Finally sitting down to rest and just sitting in silence with Branzy. They haven't seen each other in a long while, yet they settle in regardless, Branzy handing Clown a letter, carefully penned and addressed to him, looking away when Clown looks at him for clarification Branzy is embarrassed, having handed Clown such a bold show of heart, a love letter. Something that's so open and real to him, it's no different from an xray, of a photo of his ribcage, handing him his beating, bleeding heart. It's love, it's truth, it's him.

i think we need more victorian era shows of love in the world, give somebody an xray

#haunted ecosystem #haunted bookshelf #au: seraphim #hopefully this made sense!!#apparition sketchbook #something something its a soft love story that spirals out into blood.#Spotify

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heckyeahponyscans · 10 months

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The Jinxie Games

Thoughts on G5 MLP Make Your Mark Ch. 4, Episode 3

This episode has three subplots: Hitch competing in the Forest Critter Field Day event, Pipp and Zipp discovering their mom is dating Alphabittle, and Misty attempting to find something in the Brighthouse that she can take home to appease Opaline.

The latter two plotlines are pretty good, the first one drags and I think they should've moved it into the background more. Maybe have Pipp and Zipp find out about Queen Haven's date earlier and try to scuttle it, but then see that their mom is truly happy and have a change of heart?

Anyway, I feel very vindicated in having shipped Queen Haven and Alphabittle as far back as the original G5 movie. They just had that vibe.

Even though Misty spent most of the episode in one place, rifling through the Mane 5's belongings, this was a really good episode for her, first exhibiting her bitterness and jealousy at the main cast ("Ohhh, we're so HAPPY, we all have cutie marks and we get to live with our best friends!"), which helps the audience understand why a fundamentally nice pony keeps spying on / trying to steal from the other ponies, and then coming to a turning point when Misty finds that Sunny has included a picture of her, Misty, in her journal.

Misty's VA is so good; the gasp she gives when Misty finds the picture tells you everything you need to know. The foundations of her world have been shaken.

Later, Misty has a chance to kidnap Sparky--Opaline's main objective--and instead she leaves him at the Brighthouse, purposely disobeying Opaline's orders even though she knows she'll be in trouble.

Here's Misty, nervous because Opaline just called bellowed for her, metaphorically stuck between the two pictures: a childhood picture of Opaline and the photo of herself with the Mane 5.

Even though I do think this episode, and some others, have parts that drag, I do think Misty's story being spread out across the entire season is genius. It lets us really see what Misty's going through, the toxic push-and-pull of serving Opaline. There's no way her story would be as impactful if it was condensed into one or two episodes; we would get an info-dump of facts, but we wouldn't feel the weight of her burden

Random notes on this episode:

Queen Haven sending Zipp a text that just said "Don't" was extremely funny

the Forest Critter Field Day occurs every 4th purple moon

there's reference to bits as currency (Hitch mentions "flipping a bit" to see who goes first in a game)

When Hitch and Izzy initially explain what Forest Critter Field Day is, Pipp is zoning out on her phone

Queen Haven postponing brunch to "a time that's more inconvenient to you both" is the funniest bit of the episode

"Unicorns didn't have access to their magic for many thousands of moons." As previously noted, a moon seems to be the equivalent of a year. How many thousands is "many"? It's got to be 3000 minimum, right? Assuming Skye Silver is correct about this information, that is.

Speaking of Sky Silver and Dazzle (the reporters), one thing G5 does much better than G4 is parody. G4 is leaning towards Looney Tunes in its style of humor (slapstick, pianos dropping on people, Pinkie Pie leaping out of mirrors, etc) and whenever they tried to do parody on top of that already exaggerated humor it was juuust terrible. With Sky and Dazzle, they don't do anything specifically "comedic" but their performances are just over-the-top enough to be funny. Like the way they do scripted lines to "each other", but they're turned towards the camera because it's actually for the TV audience's benefit . . . Man, that is the kind of humor G5 should harness more.

I assume this ZBS special is based on a real life show about the British Royal family or something, because the ponies look so dour . . . lmk if this is the case, I don't watch TV anymore except cartoons based on Hasbro properties.

literally a wedding ring chilling in the background there, nice touch

Nice to see Hitch isn't the only non-unicorn contestant, Windy is there too. The purple unicorn, Elderflower, was mentioned in a previous episode as being the oldest and wisest unicorn in Bridlewood.

Once again Sparky shows some kind of earth or plant magic

"This is what every sport looks like to me." Same Pipp, same.

#My Little Pony #G5 #Make Your Mark #spoilers #The Jinxie Games #Hitch Trailblazer #Pipp Petals #Queen Haven #Alphabittle #Misty Brightdawn #Zipp Storm #Sparky Sparkeroni

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schrijverr · 11 months

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A Behind the Scenes of: Corroded Coffin Pt. 2

This time with Eddie as special guest, Jonathan and Eddie give an insight into Corroded Coffin just after they made it big, with a cameo of Steve.

(You don't need to read part 1 to get this, but here is the link)

On AO3.

Ships: Steddie, Jargancy

Warnings: homophobia mention

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hi, I’m Jonathan Byers, the main photographer and editor of A Collection of Queer Photography. And today Eddie is here with me to continue looking at Corroded Coffin photos from the book,” Jonathan starts the video.

“Hello everyone,” Eddie greets the camera with a big grin, used to being in the position. He waves excitedly, his bracelets jingling happily. He looks very much like a comfortable old rocker with chains around his necks, fingers filled with rings and an old band shirt, his hair cascading down his shoulders. Eddie takes the book and flips it open on the page with the first tab as he exclaims: “Let’s rock ‘n roll.”

“Yes, let’s,” Jonathan agrees, looking fondly amused.

“Should I read the title and year, has that been the vibe?” Eddie asks.

“We have been trying that, yeah,” Jonathan says.

“Alrighty, so the first one is A Promise To Return taken in ‘92,” Eddie says. “It’s when we first went on tour, which was very exciting and terrifying.”

On screen a photo appears of Eddie on the lowest step of the tour bus, leaning out and giving Steve a kiss. They’re clinging to each other, neither of them wanting to let go. The way they’re dressed contrasting each other.

“This is a sweet photo,” Eddie says. “I know it’s cliché and overdone, but it is. I fucking missed Stevie so much when I was away, despite the fact that I was living the dream.”

“I think you can also see this here,” Jonathan says. “I really like that you’re in the bus and Steve’s on the ground, it kind of creates this separation, like you’re stepping in a new world and Steve can’t come with you. He knows he should let you go and say goodbye, but he can’t help but cling to you and keep you close, even if it’s only for a second. Same goes for you.”

Eddie studies the photo again as he nods to himself. “Huh,” he comments. “You always have stories in your photos. We’ve worked together a lot, but I always manage to forget the thought you put into these. It’s amazing, man. Like you can see it and you’d know if it wasn’t there, but it’s subtle.”

“It’s not really that deep,” Jonathan blushes, waving away the compliment.

“Yeah it is,” Eddie says as Argyle adds: “Let the man compliment you, buttercup.”

“Alright, alright,” Jonathan grins as he rolls his eyes. Then he moves on: “Next to it we have Hope of a Wave Back, which doesn’t have the band in it really, but I feel like it fits.”

“It fits,” Eddie agrees.

Hope of a Wave Back appears on screen. It’s of Robin and Steve from the back, both waving at the back of the tour bus. The windows are tinted, so you can’t see what’s going on inside. Steve is looking a little dejected seen in the slope of his shoulders, Robin has a comforting arm around his waist.

“For the record, I was waving back like an idiot, while Gareth and Jeff tried to open the window,” Eddie says. “Those tour bus windows are difficult to open and we didn’t manage to figure it out until the third city.”

Jonathan snorts and you can hear Argyle giggles as well. Eddie pouts, but he does look upset as he defends himself: “Those windows are difficult on purpose, I swear.”

“Sure, dude,” Jonathan grins, before turning back to the photo and saying: “But it did work out to make a pretty sad photo to represent the not knowing that comes with long distance. So, you’re forgiven.”

“How gracious,” Eddie snorts. “But I do like this one. Robin is the absolute best, I can’t imagine her not being there. It’s weird sometimes how much she and Steve overlap. Remember when their appendixes burst on the same day? Like what the fuck.”

“That was a little creepy, yeah,” Jonathan agrees.

“It was weird shit, babe, you can say it,” Argyle adds from behind the camera.

“Really weird shit,” Eddie repeats as he flips the page to the next tab, at the page he lights up and exclaims: “Ahh, when Stevie and Rob and you flew out to come see us in Indy. That was one of the best nights of my life. The difference between Robs and Stevie here is hilarious.”

On screen appears 5:00 AM Flight, which is of an excited Steve coming out of the front door with a suitcase. He seems to be vibrating out of his skin. Next to the door is Robin leaning against the wall, her own bag at her feet. She looks like she is about ten seconds from passing out and wondering why the hell she is doing this to herself.

“Steve was a little bit more excited about the early hour,” Jonathan agrees with a fond amused look.

“Yeah, that’s because he’s insane and sometimes goes running that earlier,” Eddie says, the most sappy, in love look on his face.

“But we’re talking about the band, so let’s talk about this one,” Jonathan points at the next page.

“Stevie is basically part of the band,” Eddie pouts, but dutifully reads: “The Corroded Coffin Cheer Squad taken in ‘92.”

The photo that appears is taken at the concert from behind Lucas, Max, Robin and Steve. They’re in a set off area, a chair has been set down for Max, who can’t stand for that long. All of them are cheering. Behind their silhouettes is Corroded Coffin. Eddie is screaming at the crowd, looking alive. Chris and Jeff are sharing a microphone and Gareth is throwing water over himself, having lost his shirt.

“I love taking photos at concert from the audience’s perspective,” Jonathan comments. “It shows a band at their best in a sense and this one is special, because the audience are people that you know personally, which adds a layer. Bands performing often isn’t their private selves, but it’s more them than at an interview or some shoot.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees. “For me, my musics are filled with personal stuff, they mean a lot to me and the boys and I always made sure our shows were something we could be proud of. You lay a lot more bear at a show than people realize. It’s nice to get to share that.”

His voice gets a little bit softer and he adds: “I’m glad Steve got to come to a few of our big shows and see it. That I got to share it with him. My baby is so brave, you know. He’s been through so much, we always knew he couldn’t travel with us, but when he could come and see, those shows were the best.”

“I think you can see your delight in this one,” Jonathan points. “Spotted Steve in the Crowd, there honestly isn’t another way to describe your expression.”

Eddie cackles at that, head thrown back as a new image appears of Eddie on the center of the stage. He is wearing leather pants with chains hanging off it and his cuff belt. He doesn’t have a shirt on, but he is wearing a cut off army jacket. He has gotten more tattoos over the years, which cover some of his scars. His fingers are around his guitar as he plays, however he isn’t singing, instead grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling from under his sweaty hair.

“What can I say, I missed him,” Eddie shrugs, twinkle in his eyes. “And I was going to make him my fiance. Let me be gay in peace.”

“I have been witness to you being gay for years,” Jonathan rolls his eyes. “I’ve let you be horny for your man in peace for many years. Know how I suffered.”

“You willingly photographed us being horny on multiple occasions,” Eddie shoots back.

Jonathan flushes and ducks into himself as he pouts and mumbles something about them being aesthetically pretty and photogenic.

“And he had a brief crush on you,” Argyle adds without shame from behind the camera.

“Argyle!” Jonathan exclaims, not that upset, but more surprised.

Eddie has a delighted grin on his face as he prods Jonathan and asks: “Really? Did you? When? How long? Oh my god, this is hilarious. Why didn’t you say?”

“Because it was fucking embarrassing and it only lasted about a month or two before it blew over,” Jonathan wails, a little embarrassed. “Just drop it.”

“Okay, okay, but I am going to tell Stevie when he gets here,” Eddie gives in.

“Of course you do,” Jonathan rolls his eyes, but doesn’t sound that upset as he snatches the book out of Eddie’s hands and flips to the next page.

On screen a photo series appears of behind stage at the concert, telling a story from left to right. First they’re all big to cover everything, but they’re shrunken down on screen so that you can still see Jonathan and Eddie.

The most left photograph is of Eddie, taken from behind Steve, so his polo wearing back is in it as well. Eddie is yelling, practically glowing with happiness, having just spotted Steve. He is already handing his guitar to a stage hand in favor of paying attention to Steve.

In the one next to it Eddie is running towards Steve, by the looks of it he is sprinting. Steve is doing much the same. It is very dramatic, but also cute.

The set continues with a photograph of Eddie flying through the air as if he is literally launching himself at Steve. Though it seems like Steve doesn’t mind, he has stopped running to widen his stance and brace himself.

It ends with an image of both of them sprawled on the ground, Eddie on top of Steve. Eddie has a hand on the back of Steve’s head to protect him from smacking is against the floor. His knees are on either side of Steve, who has wrapped both his arms around Eddie’s waist. They’re making out heavily. In the background you can see Jeff rolling his eyes.

“This is Reunion a photo series taken right after the show,” Jonathan says.

“I was so happy to see him,” Eddie coos, taking the book back from Jonathan to smile at the photos, then he suddenly asks: “Is this why people think we’re dramatic?”

“What?” Jonathan choke-laughs.

“People have been calling us dramatic online, which is pretty fair all things considered, but I feel like this is mild for us, but it has been cited to me many times in my replies,” Eddie explains.

“Eddie,” Jonathan says in a tone that screams, I love you, but… “You and Steve are two of the most dramatic people I know. You literally tackled him.”

“He knew I was coming,” Eddie defends himself.

“That makes it worse,” Jonathan informs him with a sympathetic look.

Eddie looks over to Argyle, who explains: “That means you did this often enough he saw it coming, making it doubly dramatic, bro.”

“But it’s not the most dramatic thing, we do worse,” Eddie says.

“Not helping yourself,” Jonathan says.

“Just accept it, man,” Argyle agrees.

“Fine, but if this is dramatic, I’m scared for every interview I’ve done where I told people I do worse,” Eddie tells them.

“Don’t be, it gives you character,” Jonathan assures him, before turning back to the photo series and saying: “What I really love is how excited you two look and your hand on the back of Steve’s head. It’s again a small detail, but even caught up in the moment, you remember to think about stuff like that. Those things really speak to me.”

Eddie puffs up proudly in a subconscious manner as he says: “Of course, I’m not going to let him get hurt in a way that he doesn’t want to.”

“We know, Eddie,” Jonathan tells him, patting his shoulder. “I also like Jeff being done with your shit, that says a lot about the band as a whole I think.”

“He looks fond,” Eddie argues.

“Sure he does,” Jonathan replies, obviously not agreeing with Eddie, but not saying it as he flips the page, telling the audience: “The series technically continues on the next page, but it deserved its own special place.”

“Totally agree,” Eddie grins, eyes lovingly trailing over the image.

In the photo, Eddie is still sweaty from the show and Steve’s hair is messed up from the make out session on the floor they just had. Steve has scrambled upright after the rather dramatic greeting, however Eddie is still on the floor, though now on one knee with a box in his hand. In the box a ring glitters. Nothing fancy, but very classy. Something you’d get for your high school sweetheart. Eddie is grinning softly and hopefully, while Steve has both hands clasped over his mouth, eyes watering, as if he can’t believe this is really happening.

“He Said Yes is the title,” Jonathan says, when it starts to look like Eddie isn’t going to say anything.

After a moment, Eddie speaks up in a chocked up voice: “I sometimes still can’t believe it you know. He’s just the best person on fucking earth and he agreed to spend the rest of his life together with me. We have a house. Kids. Family. We’re actually married. Like it’s so crazy and I love him so much.”

“You need a tissue, brocacho?” Argyle asks from behind the camera, Jonathan awkwardly patting Eddie on the back.

There is a cut to Eddie dabbing away tears with a tissue as he grins to the camera and says: “Sorry about that people, I just love my husband very much. Bagging him is my greatest accomplishment in life, honestly.”

“Of course it is,” Jonathan snorts, before saying: “You did propose in the most Eddie-like way possible.”

“Steve liked my proposal,” Eddie sniffs. “He says it was romantic.”

“Didn’t you plan on proposing under the stars after a shower?” Argyle asks.

“It was a heat of the moment thing,” Eddie shrugs. “He just looked to beautiful and I couldn’t resist, alright. Look at him here. In his stupid little polo and fluffy hair, I’m weak for him. Weak, I tell you.”

“It was pretty romantic,” Jonathan gives in. “I like how hopeful you look. Like despite the fact there was no way Steve was going to say no, you still were worried about it. The second Steve needed to get himself together nearly killed you, but you’re not so nervous that you’re unable to stop grinning.”

“God, I nearly shit myself,” Eddie laughs. “I was trailer trash and Steve seemed untouchable for so many years, but he’s also Stevie, my baby, the guy I cleaned the trailer with and who drove me to gigs when my van broke down, who braided my hair because he was bored and turns into a backpack whenever he can.”

“Yeah, you needn’t have worried for a second,” Jonathan says as he flips the page and asks: “You are probably dying to talk about this one, right?”

“Our wedding!” Eddie exclaims. “Let’s wait until Steve and Nancy come back from their shopping trip, Stevie loves talking about our wedding.”

“You sure he would want to?” Jonathan asks.

“Like 99% and if he doesn’t we can record it anyways and I’ll tell you all about it in as much detail as you’d like,” Eddie promises with a big grin.

“Alright,” Jonathan agrees easily and flips further. He says: “Page 152 and 153 are the last pages I want to talk about, since other Corroded Coffin photos aren’t taken by me. Maybe we’ll figure something else out if people are really curious. But these are when I took behind the scenes photos for one of their albums, but the ones that didn’t make the cut.”

“First one is Hard at Work taken in ‘93,” Eddie says.

On screen a photo appears of Gareth lounging on the studio couch, tapping his drumsticks together. Eddie is sitting on the back of the couch, pencil in his mouth and notebook in his lap. His hair is up in a bun and he is dressed in a tank top and ripped jeans, no shoes.

“I want to defend us and say that lounging around is a big part of our writing process,” Eddie says. “We wrote some good lyrics on that couch. But most of it was written late at night when I couldn’t sleep or when we’re hanging out outside the studio.”

“It was a little too casual for what the label wanted,” Jonathan agrees. “But admittedly a more accurate representation of the writing process. Page 152 is entirely the writing process.”

“Next one is Jotting Down Notes,” Eddie moves onto the next photo. It is of Jeff with his guitar in his lap. He is leaning over it to write down some notes. He’s dressed in a Corroded Coffin shirt. His hair is longer now and twisted into locks.

“You all were so excited about having merch,” Jonathan recalls fondly.

“Yeah, we were,” Eddie agrees, a little nostalgic. “Jeff once broke his guitar when writing down notes, because he’s a fucking idiot. I love him so much.”

“Didn’t he nearly break his guitar here too?” Jonathan asks.

“Probably,” Eddie laughs. “Jeff tries to be very professional and like he’s above all of our bullshit, but that’s his celebrity persona, don’t let him fool you. He’s as much a dork and an idiot as the rest of us. He just hides it better.”

Jonathan laughs a little at that, before Eddie moves on, reading: “Getting Inspiration.”

The photo is of Chris and Eddie smoking a joint in the alley behind the studio. They’re hunched over, as if trying to hide what they’re doing, but they’re not very successful at it.

Eddie looks into the camera. “To all the young fans and old fans, who have asked me what some of our lyrics mean. If we have avoided answering for this long, it’s probably because they don’t, we were just high when we wrote them. I have explained in detail when a song was a metaphor for me sucking my husband’s dick, I’m not going to shy away from any other topics. Please don’t do this me.”

Both Argyle and Jonathan have started cackling throughout Eddie’s little spiel. Argyle giggles: “I liked your nonsense songs, they speak to me.”

“Thank you, Argyle,” Eddie grins.

Jonathan now addresses the audience: “This one wasn’t allowed to be published for obvious reasons. Somehow despite all the hard drug scandals, they didn’t want this picture out there.”

“Very rude honestly,” Eddie laughs, before moving onto the next one: “This is on the next page the first one, named Booth Buddies.”

It is is of the entire band around a microphone, headphones on their heads. They’re doing the backup vocals. It’s a small booth and they all have their arms wrapped around each other, so they can’t fall over.

“That was fun,” Eddie recalls with a big grin. “We nearly fell like twenty times, but we got to screaming backing vocals. It turned out great.”

“Yeah, I really like this photo. You all look so happy and carefree,” Jonathan says with a smile, before that falls away. “The label didn’t want to use this one, because they thought it was too intimate and would fan unwanted rumors.”

“AKA, they thought it looked gay,” Eddie frowns. “Which it wasn’t. Me and Gar are, the photo isn’t. It’s practically a crime to like your friends, honestly. I appreciated the opportunities they gave us, but man was I glad to be rid of them.”

“We all were,” Jonathan says. “Like this one of Robs, they wanted to use it to create media buzz, but Robin didn’t want it.”

“That was the worst,” Eddie says.

On screen a photo appears taken from the other side of the glass from the recording booth. Eddie is leaning over all the buttons, grinning wildly. Through the glass you can see Robin, trumpet to her lips.

“I never figured out why they didn’t end up using it anyway,” Jonathan says.

“Uhm, me- me, Stevie and Chris might have broken in after you told us and destroyed the copy they had of it,” Eddie confesses.

Jonathan’s eyes go wide as he exclaims: “You what!” before the video cuts.

When they get back, it seems like nothing has happened at all. Jonathan just says: “This one we named Chirping Bird, because Robin is also a bird and she’s making music with a brass instrument, so using air.”

“A lot of fans thought she was my wife, because we credited Robin Munson on the CD,” Eddie laughs. “She extorted so many free shit out of me under the guise of me having to be a good husband, which is so rude, since she never does that with Steve and he was her husband.”

“Steve didn’t need to be extorted,” Jonathan points out.

“True,” Eddie snorts.

“I also like that you’re in the directing booth here. You look so thrilled and pleased with it all. I think it shows your friendship as well as your dedication to music,” Jonathan says.

“It does,” Eddie agrees. “I like it too. We didn’t really keep with the order of the page, which one do we do next.”

“Gareth on the Drums?” Jonathan suggest and Eddie nods.

The photo is of Gareth behind his drums, surrounded by microphones as he goes nuts on his drum set. It is clearly not the first take, because his gray shirt is soaked in sweat, but he’s grinning despite the exertion.

“Gar hated that drum solo,” Eddie says. “He wrote it himself, but doing it was harder than expected. It took him so long to get it right. He collapsed on the ground when he finally got it.”

“He did,” Jonathan says. “The one used instead was when he took his shirt off a little later. Fan service and all that, but I liked the one with the shirt too.”

“It’s a good photo, he looks very hot,” Eddie winks, very happy with his pun, before clapping his hands and excitedly saying: “Let’s talk about my baby now.”

“Yeah, yeah, the other one is Surprise Visit,” Jonathan says. “Steve came with Robin to record her stuff, which was very well received.”

“It was great,” Eddie grins happily.

Surprise Visit is of the same couch in the studio. The entire band is sitting around it, but the focus is on Steve, who is sitting on Eddie’s lap, Eddie’s tattooed arms around him. Both of them are grinning, as the others look fondly amused.

Before either one can say anything there is some noise in the background. Jonathan smiles at whatever is happening, while Eddie exclaims: “Sweetheart, baby, come here,” as he makes grabby hands. “We were just talking about you.”

Steve’s voice is muffled as he replies: “Oh you’re doing that YouTube thingy right. Only saying good things about me, I hope.”

“Of course,” Eddie promises, tugging Steve into frame and onto his lap so he can plant multiple kisses right on his face.

At the gesture Steve giggles, kisses back, before he peers into the book and smiles: “Ahw, I loved coming to see you work.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asks, a little breathless. It’s unclear if it’s awe or from the kisses.

“Yeah,” Steve smiles. “You’re very hot when you’re concentrated and passionate and you know I love it when you sing.”

“Flatter me more,” Eddie laughs. “Wanna join us?”

“I can?” Steve asks.

“Jup,” Eddie tells him, punctuating the sentence with a kiss on Steve’s nose. “We wanted to talk about our wedding day after, care for an opportunity to do so without Jonathan being able to tell you to shut up?”

“Hell yeah, you know I do,” Steve grins.

It cuts and now Steve is sitting next to Eddie, close enough so they can share his mic. Jonathan says: “What I like about this photo is how effortlessly Steve is taken into the crowd. More casually dressed, their styles still aren’t compatible, but not as glaringly obvious. And Steve is quite literally embraced as he is. I think that’s neat.”

“On his little throne,” Eddie grins, kissing Steve’s cheek.

“Your thighs are comfortable and that couch was gross,” Steve comments.

“It was a pretty gross couch,” Eddie says, pulling a face.

“Totally,” Jonathan agrees as well, before flipping ahead to the next tab. “This is Corroded Coffin at the Writing Table in 1994.”

The photo is of Corroded Coffin. They’re working on lyrics, sitting around the table at the Munson apartment. Gareth is chewing on his pen, while Eddie and Jeff both have a lollipop in their mouths. A nicotine patch is visible on Eddie’s arm and Gareth’s neck.

“Oef, when I quit smoking,” Eddie says, recognizing it. “That was a rough time. Jeff and Gareth tried too, but it’s just so hard. I don’t blame them for starting again. Though Jeff is trying to quit again, so that’s good.”

“You were all very grumpy,” Steve recalls fondly, pinching Eddie’s side. “But I am glad you quit.”

“I’m glad you were there with me to get me through,” Eddie replies looking sappily into Steve’s eyes, as next to them Jonathan looks to where Argyle must be, looking the every bit the part of third wheel.

Jonathan clears his throat and only Steve has the decency to look apologetic, while Eddie goes on as if nothing is wrong and says; “We were all quite miserable. The album we made was quite a drag, honestly. Weirdly very nice to listen to when you’re high, but like, bad mood high.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Steve giggles.

“But you love me?” Eddie asks.

“Of course,” Steve tells him.

“Love you too.”

Jonathan doesn’t even bother with a smooth transition, instead he clears his throat and says: “I like that it’s less forced. You guys have become good at making any place homey, but it’s more casual, everyone is less aware of the fact that there’s a camera.”

“It’s always nicer when we get to come together in our own home,” Eddie agrees. “I think we wrote better songs then too.”

“I also liked it when you stayed home to write,” Steve says, hooking his chin over Eddie’s shoulder as Eddie’s hand naturally drifts up to pet the top of his head.

Jonathan moves onto the last tab in the book, flipping the page as he says: “This is a bit of a long title, but it fits. It’s called Europe Tour (If They Manage to Drag the Front Man There).”

The photo that appears on screen is of Eddie being pulled away by Gareth, hand reaching for Steve, who is reaching back, while Robin holds his other hand and Dustin has a hand on Steve’s shoulder. It kind of looks like a dramatic Baroque painting. The ones not pulling Eddie or holding Steve are waving.

“One plus side of your dramatics is that it makes for great pictures,” Jonathan says.

“We’re not that dramatic,” Steve frowns.

“Council has decided otherwise. Sorry, baby,” Eddie informs him.

“Homophobia,” Steve pouts, before saying: “But I do like this photo. I was very excited for you, but fuck did I not want you to go.”

“I didn’t want to go either,” Eddie tells him, leaning his head against Steve. “Jonny boy here captured that very well.”

“It was kind of hard to miss,” Jonathan snorts. “But it is a very good visual. I love photos that tell a story and this one sure does tell a story.”

“It does, I had a bruise on my shoulder from where Gar pulled on me,” Eddie says.

“Robs left nail indents on my hand,” Steve laughs.

“God, why are you two like this,” Jonathan asks no one in particular as he face palms.

“Any more or was this all?” Eddie asks, checking the side of the book for more tabs.

“That was it for now, since there’s only the Europe tour from the Corroded Coffin career and I didn’t go there,” Jonathan explains. “I was planning on doing this solo and I can’t really talk about where I wasn’t at.”

“And this video is already pretty long,” Argyle tells them from behind the camera.

“Then we’re stopping this one and doing our wedding next,” Eddie grins excitedly as Steve lets out a small cheer, the two of them high fiving.

Next to them, Jonathan looks a little like he’s regretting his life choices as he signs off: “That is a behind the scene of the photos about Corroded Coffin. Thank you so much for being here Eddie and Steve.”

“Was a pleasure,” Eddie grins. Then waves at the camera, Steve following his example, as Eddie says: “Bye everybody! Don’t forget to give Jon here some love and shit, he’s great.”

“Thanks,” Jonathan says, before also saying goodbye.

A/N:

I will be doing the steddie wedding after, but it might take some time, please be patient :D

#rr writing #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #eddie lives au #st post season 4 #robin buckley #jonathan byers #corroded coffin #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #argyle stranger things #famous eddie munson #platonic stobin #a collection of queer photography by jonathan byers #a behind the scenes by jonathan byers

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