#I wonder if she’ll be coming back next season

[stevie-petey]

episode eight: the gate

“Drop me and die.” Your knuckles are white as they clutch the rope, your body shaking with exhaustion as you try to ease your way down without further injuring your ribs.  Steve laughs and tightens his grip on your waist, steadying you as you finally inch the rest of the way down and land with a gentle thud onto the ground. “Like I’d ever dream of letting you go.” This time, you know it’s his words that cause you to shiver, not the exhaustion and pain.

Summary: you encourage nancy to take your place (everyone is shocked), you and steve are the newest babysitters in town, billy ruins things as always, tunnels are weird when youre concussed, you remind jonathan of an old promise, and when the snowball comes you make your own promise with steve that you know you can keep.

Rating: general, although very violent

Warnings: use of y/n, fem!reader, intense violence and blood, weapons, monsters, probably more im forgetting

Words: 20.1k (no one speak to me)

Before you swing in: this is it ,,, the final episode of season two <3 this chapter was both the easiest and hardest one ive ever written. there are scenes in here that i put so much into, and im so proud of where everything landed. handling so many relationships and dynamics was so incredibly difficult, but i adore where they ended up. i hope you guys do, too :)

-

“Eleven,”

“Mike.”

The two kids embrace, Mike holding desperately onto El as if he’s afraid she’ll disappear again any second, and she’s holding onto him just as tightly as their tears mix together. 

You watch them with a hand over your heart, your own tears spilling over. You can’t believe this is real, that El is standing in Mike’s arms alive and real.

The way they cling to each other brings more tears to your eyes. It’s obvious to everyone how much they love one another. You think about the endless batches of brownies you baked for Mike, how many nights you spent in his basement standing watch, looking for any sign of grief, in case he needed you there to remind him that it’s okay to cry. 

“Is that…?” Max asks Lucas, and he nods. 

“She’s back.” You exhale, feeling Dustin’s fingers slip between yours. He knows how much you missed El, he’s spent just as many nights keeping watch over you, reminding you to cry as well. 

Mike pulls away, his eyes shining with tears. “I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for–”

“353 days.” El finishes for him, you’ve never heard so much emotion in her voice. “I heard.”

You think about the nights you found Mike huddled underneath the fort he once built for El in his basement, clutching the radio to his chest, passed out from exhaustion. You never mentioned it to the boy, knowing he’d simply deny and tell you it was nothing, but hearing El confirm what you already knew still hurts. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were there?” 

You look around the room now, wondering the same as Mike, and then your eyes land on Hopper. While everyone looks surprised or confused at El’s reappearance, Hopper’s face is one of resignation. 

Everything clicks. 

He knew.

Hopper sees that you’ve pieced it together and steps forward. “Because I wouldn’t let her.”

You step forward as well so that you’re next to Mike, knowing that this will only upset him more. “You knew.”

“What the hell is this?” The chief ignores you, now speaking only to El. “Where’ve you been?”

“Where have you been?” El’s eyes darken, but she immediately melts when Hopper pulls her into a hug. By watching their body language, you can tell that they love each other dearly, and distantly you remember hearing about the daughter Hopper once had. 

Though you’re angry he hid El from you, you’re thankful they found one another in the end. You’ve never seen Hopper so tender with someone, and El seems to feel safe within his embrace, far from the skittish girl you found in the woods last year. 

“You’ve been hiding her!” Lost in your thoughts, you momentarily forget about Mike, who launches himself at Hopper and punches the man’s chest. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!”

Hopper flinches away. “Hey–”

“Mike,” you grab his shoulders, knowing his anger will only do more harm than good, but he struggles against you as he tries to continue hitting the man. “We can all talk about this–”

“Let’s talk,” Hopper grabs at Mike’s shirt, finally forcing the kid to stop. Then, looking directly at you, he adds. “Alone.”

You look at Mike, silently asking him what he needs from you. You know the two of them need to settle their differences, that he feels Hopper’s betrayal the deepest and you trust him to make his own choices. However, with one headshake from him, you would prevent Mike from being alone with Hopper in a heartbeat. 

Mike knows this, he doesn’t have to even have to ask what you mean when you gently nod your chin at him. Taking a deep breath, the boy sighs and nods at you, indicating that he’ll talk with the cop. 

You let go of Mike and gently push him towards Hopper. “He’s all yours, but try not to kill him, please? I unfortunately like the kid.”

Hopper doesn’t play into your words and promptly grabs the back of Mike’s hoodie and marches him towards Will’s room. The door closes behind them, leaving you to deal with El.

Her nose is bleeding and she looks upset having Mike taken from her, there’s an exhaustion behind her eyes that you’re all too familiar with. You wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into you. “C’mere, sweetheart.”

El leans into the kiss you press upon her cheek and closes her eyes, relishing in the tenderness after the night she’s had. “Missed you.”

“And I missed you.” You place another kiss on her head. “The hairstyle suits you, by the way.”

This seems to lighten the girl up a bit, who giggles and quietly thanks you as she wraps her arms fully around you now, securing you into a hug. You allow her all the time she needs to collect herself. 

When you hear Mike’s heartbroken screams at Hopper, calling him a liar, you squeeze your arms tighter around El. “They’ll be fine,” you promise her, feeling the need to reassure her of this, though hearing Mike’s screams breaks your heart.

You understand why Hopper hid El, it wasn’t safe for anyone to know about her being alive, but Mike spent the entire year grieving for her. He lost a year of his childhood mourning the loss of a close friend, of someone he loves, and it isn’t fair to expect him to accept this. 

El nods at your reassurance before you’re suddenly shoved away from her. 

“You’re hogging the former dead girl, Y/N!” Dustin exclaims as he engulfs El into a hug. 

Lucas flashes you an apologetic smile before hugging the girl as well, focusing his attention on her. “We missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She responds, squeezing both boys tight. 

“We talked about you pretty much every day.” Dustin pulls away before pointing at you. “Y/N usually just cried.”

You elbow your brother, causing him to wince. “You say that like I don’t normally cry over things.”

Dustin opens his mouth to argue, but suddenly El’s fingers are pinching at his lips as she pries his jaw open. Your brother looks at you in alarm, and you’re too stunned to do anything besides watch in bewilderment. 

“Teeth.” El finally says,

You giggle, while Dustin simply stares at her as if she’s insane. “What?”

“You have teeth.”

Dustin breaks into a smile. “Oh, you like these pearls?”

When he makes an obscure purring sound with his mouth, you scoff at your brother and roll your eyes alongside Lucas. “Please, never do that ever again.”

“Eleven?” Max now approaches with a warm smile on her face, the most open you’ve ever seen the girl, and extends her hand for El to shake. “Hey, um. I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

El looks at you and tilts her head, which you assume means she’s unsure what to do, so you step in. “Max is a friend, sweetheart.”

She eyes Max’s hand, looks up at her again, before bypassing the girl completely and going straight into Joyce’s arms.

You frown, confused by El’s unusual dismissiveness, and look over at Max. Her head is ducked down, embarrassed, and you make a mental note to remind yourself later to ask El what happened. Max is a good girl, they deserve to be friends and you know they’d get along if given the chance.

Joyce cradles El’s head and greets her with tears, and the girl responds the same. After they’ve hugged, El pulls away, her tears now ones of worry. “Can I see him?”

Joyce’s eyes flash to you, and the two of you seem to realize the same thing: it’s no coincidence that El arrived when she did. You think about what Dustin and the kids deciphered in morse code, Will’s hidden message. 

Close the gate. 

El is the only person you know can do it. 

“Go take her to him,” you tell Joyce. “I’ll catch everyone else up.”

The woman nods, her eyes appreciative, before gently guiding El towards Will’s room. 

“I’m assuming I’m ‘everyone’.” Steve says as soon as Joyce and El have left. 

You laugh, finally rejoining his side. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Alright, catch me up then. Who was the girl and why does she have a bloody nose problem?”

“Her name is Eleven, or El. Besides the Demogorgon, and Demodogs, did we ever discuss El?”

Nancy speaks up from the corner, timid. “I, uh… Didn’t tell Steve a lot. We kinda just, we–we didn’t ever really–”

“I never let Nancy explain, and I was too afraid to ask.” Steve kindly saves Nancy, and something both you and Jonathan take note of. 

“Well,” you clap your hands, dispelling away any remaining tension for both your sake and the kids’ sakes. “El has these powers, she can make things move with her mind, and when she uses them she gets nose bleeds.”

Steve stares at you. “Okay…”

“Mhm. It’s just as insane as it sounds. Remember the whole Upside Down story Dustin and I told you about yesterday? Well, she can travel there and has a connection to it. With her mind. Somehow. I don’t actually know the logistics of it.”

“You’re doing great, bug.” Jonathan’s voice drips with sarcasm, but Dustin hits his chest to shut him up. 

“Thanks, Dustin. Anyways, El has these insane powers and she’s the sweetest, softest person I’ve ever met. We…” your voice trails off now, still getting used to the fact that she’s alive. “We thought we lost her last year, when she killed the Demogorgon and helped bring Will back.”

“But she’s alive.” Steve concludes. 

You nod, a natural smile spreading across your face. “She is.”

“If you say she’s the sweetest person you’ve ever met, then I definitely believe you.”

Steve’s words make you blush, the pure and honest way he says them, and both Dustin and Jonathan cringe. The two boys share a look, both for once on the same page in a long time, and make gagging motions. 

You see this and flick both of their heads. “I know where you both sleep.”

Both boys stick their tongue out at you, and for a moment everything feels normal. Jonathan and Dustin are teasing you, Jonathan’s eyes are lit up, and your brother is carefree again. 

Then Joyce returns to the living room with El and the mood becomes somber again. 

They stand over the kitchen table, El stares down at the piece of paper with the “close gate” on it, and Joyce asks the question you’ve all been wondering. “You opened this gate before, right?”

“Yes,” the girl responds as you and everyone else now join her and Joyce. 

“Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?”

El looks between you and Joyce, her gaze stony and resigned. You wonder what else she’s gone through to put such a void within her; like all the other kids, she no longer has a sweet naivety to her.

Then, slowly, El nods. 

– 

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown. A lot.” Everyone stands in the kitchen, circling around Hopper as he explains exactly what the gate now is. “I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

You grab Dustin’s shirt and yank harshly at it. “Don’t you dare–”

“Demodogs.”

Hopper looks at him, sighing. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Please just ignore him.” You plead with the officer, knowing he’s already in a bitchy mood. 

Dustin doesn’t pick up on the anger, though. “I said, uh… Demodogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs.”

“Oh my god,” you groan, rubbing at your temples. You’ve heard this explanation of the word play a million times within the last twenty-four hours. If you have to hear Dustin explain what Demodog means one more time, you think you may murder the kid.

Dustin, unfortunately, continues. “You put them together… it sounds pretty badass–”

“How is this important right now?” Hopper snaps at the boy, which only makes you more annoyed. 

You put your hand up at the old man, closing your fingers together to mimic a mouth being shut. “One more aggressive comment to the thirteen year old and I will show you that Nancy isn’t the only one who can shoot a gun.”

“Uh, Y/N…” Jonathan nervously mumbles, unsure what Hopper’s reaction may be. 

However, the chief simply raises an eyebrow at you, stares you down for a few seconds, before finally seeming to decide that he’s impressed with your bold comment. “I’ll make sure to remember that.”

“I can do it.” El suddenly voices from the other end of the table.

“You’re not hearing me.” Hopper’s shoulders slump. You can tell by his now defeated stance that he has yet to win an argument against El, something that you’re incredibly proud of her for. 

“I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem.” Mike speaks up, looking around the table to ensure everyone is listening. “If the brain dies, the body dies.”

Max frowns. “I thought that was the whole point.”

“It is, but if we’re really right about this…”

“Will,” you breathe out quietly with dread, understanding where Mike is going with this.

Mike continues explaining. “I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer’s army–”

“Will’s a part of that army.” Lucas finishes as he looks over at you, now knowing why you’ve just exhaled the boy’s name with grief. 

“Closing the gate will kill him.” 

Jonathan tenses at Mike’s words, and you place your hand against the back of his neck in a grounding manner. You can feel his rapid heartbeat against your hand, even from this position, and you play with his hair to try and soothe him. 

He’s terrified of what may happen to his little brother, once again struck with pure terror that he could lose him. You’re not sure how many more times Jonathan can grieve his brother without losing a piece of himself.

Steve, standing on your other side, sees the way your fingers intertwine in Jonathan’s hair. The same way they did earlier with his own hair as you hugged him.

He frowns, looking away. 

Everyone else falls silent as well, Mike’s words hang in the air. Your gaze shifts to Joyce, who has a deep frown on her face, and before you ask her what she’s thinking, she stands up from the table. “Follow me.”

No one says anything as you all follow the woman to Jonathan’s room, where Will lays motionless on top of the bed you’ve slept in for years. His body is stiff, the hospital gown swallows him, and the sight disturbs you. 

You walk over to the boy and kneel next to the bed. It’s in your nature to take care of Will, you do this without even thinking about it. Stroking his forehead, you place a kiss against it as you watch his mom in the doorway.

“He likes it cold.” Joyce mumbles, eying the open window in the room. 

“What?” Asks Hopper, standing behind the woman. 

Joyce looks over at her son now. “It’s what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold.” Then, as her voice grows stronger, she walks over to the window and slams it shut. “We keep giving it what it wants.”

Nancy and Jonathan walk over to you now, the girl remains standing while Jonathan kneels down next to you. The two of you take turns caressing Will’s forehead as Nancy starts to speak. “If this thing is a virus, and Will’s the host, then…”

“Then we need to make the host uninhabitable.” 

You turn to Jonathan, not at all liking what he’s saying. “What does that even mean? He’s a kid, how do you make a child’s body uninhabitable?”

“He likes it cold.” Nancy says, as if that explains everything. 

“But–”

Joyce clenches her jaw and spits out, “We need to burn it out of him.”

Everything about what Joyce has said makes your stomach twist. You look down at Will’s body, at how small he still is despite a year of trying to get him to recover, and his pale skin is almost translucent in the bedroom’s lighting. 

You hate everything about what’s happening, but you hate the way Will looks lifeless even more. 

If making his body uninhabitable can save him, then you have to try; you’ll simply be there to pick up the pieces when it’s done, as you always are. 

The kids begin planning now.

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.” Mike says. 

“Yeah, somewhere far away.” Dustin adds on. 

“Last I checked, none of us have a hidden hut in the woods.” You say, at a loss for where else to possibly take Will. Then, Hopper clears his throat and shifts his weight. “Oh, no fucking way. You would have a hidden hut in the woods.”

“It’s a cabin.” Hopper corrects with annoyance, though there’s a slight glint in his eye as he looks at you. “Joyce and Jonathan will take Will there.”

“Well, go show them the cabin, then.”

Jonathan grabs your hand. “You’re not coming with?”

As if there’s a string tugging at the back of your head, you turn around and catch Steve’s eye. He’s standing in the doorway, eyes alert yet sad, and you know with everything within you that you can’t leave him behind. 

Not when he was shaking in your arms only twenty minutes prior. 

Steve doesn’t want to be alone, especially not when you’d be leaving him behind with Nancy after it’s become clear that she’s with Jonathan now. 

Now, as Jonathan’s open and expecting eyes stare into yours, you do something you’ve never done before. Something you’ve needed to do ever since you were twelve and grabbed the boy’s hand on the Wheeler’s porch that fateful night.

You let go of Jonathan. 

“I can’t,” you tell him, the words of denial feeling foreign on your tongue. You’ve never told him no before, never left him behind, but saying the words isn’t as difficult as you once feared. “I’ll stay with the kids, I’m better with them anyways.”

Jonathan watches you, his eyes trace over your face again and again as if drinking it in for the very last time. When he seems to find what he’s looking for, he takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah, okay.”

His understanding of everything you don’t say almost makes you take it all back, but you don’t. Instead, you squeeze his hand and nod towards Nancy. “Why don’t you take Nance?”

Something shifts when you say this, you know Jonathan feels it as well. There’s an ease within the shift, almost akin to a soft exhale in December’s cold. It parts you with a gentle farewell, strokes your cheek as it departs, and you can faintly see its outline as it floats away. 

A thread, one that has tugged within your chest in a painful ache since last year, finally loosens. 

Nancy looks at you, her eyes wide. “Me?”

“Mhm,” you nod at the girl, a kind smile on your face. 

It’s a monumental shift, you’re willingly encouraging Nancy to be next to Jonathan’s side rather than you. It’s an exchange of powers, trusting her to take care of the boy you love so dearly. 

For once, it doesn’t feel like you’re tearing off a piece of yourself. Instead, you’re simply sharing the weight of it, of this trust, rather than losing it.

“I… I think I’ll stay here.” Nancy finally says, looking away in shame.

You don’t blame her, you know she carries a weight of guilt within her for things she couldn’t control. There’s a lot you want to say to her, a lot you have to say to her, but for now you simply nod at her, understanding. “Then I’m happy you’re here.”

And you mean it.

Steve, still quietly standing in the doorway, sees everything. He felt the shift, too.

– 

“You should go with him.” Steve picks up a spare heater, he and Nancy have been sent outside to retrieve whatever they could find from the Byers’ yard. 

The shift weighs heavily upon him. Your words ring in his ears. 

Nancy spares Steve a glance. “What?”

“With Jonathan.” He bends down to dig through some old Christmas lights, and seeing them reminds him of you. Everything reminds him of you. “Y/N’s right. You should go with him.”

“No, I–” Nancy scoffs, uncomfortable. “I’m not just gonna leave Mike.”

Steve thinks about you, about how you’re always the one who stays. “No one’s leaving anyone.” He walks over to Nancy and helps her with a radiator she’s struggling with. “I may be a shitty boyfriend, but… I realized I’m actually a pretty damn good friend and babysitter.”

Though he never says your name, Nancy can feel it hang over the two of them. The unspoken confession that it’s because of you that Steve now accepts what has happened between them. It strikes her then, how different he is now. How differently you and the girl came to know Steve.

Nancy stares at him, her eyes are filled with more remorse than he’s ever seen from the girl. It hurts, seeing her so upset, and he wishes that things could’ve been different. He recognizes now that they didn’t stand a chance, though he’s happy they tried anyways. It was always going to end like this between them.

Steve doesn’t hold any anger towards her, he doesn’t hate her, because he still loves her. 

How could you possibly fault the person you love for finding their own love?

“Steve…” His name comes through as an apology.

“It’s okay, Nance.” Steve means it, he gives her the same blessing that you did. She’s allowed to be happy, you both want her to be happy, and you have each other to lean on now. “Y/N and I will be okay.”

He leaves Nancy standing there.

– 

You’re waiting to say goodbye to El, standing patiently behind Mike as the two of them make promises about coming back. It’s sweet, watching them, until they slowly start to lean in for what you fear is a kiss, so you intervene. 

“Hate to ruin the moment, but I’d like to say goodbye to El, too.”

Mike glares at you. “Couldn’t wait five seconds?”

“A five second kiss is shameful, Wheeler.”

El giggles softly and pulls you into a hug. “I will be careful.”

You kiss her cheek. “Come back this time, okay?”

“I will.” 

Hopper calls the girl over to get in the car so they can leave, and you quickly run over to Jonathan’s car before he can get in. 

When he sees you approaching, he extends his arms out and pulls you in as he always does. No words are needed, he simply holds you so that you’re chest to chest and he can feel every breath you take. “I’ll come home to you.”

You bury your face in his neck, inhale the scent you’ve come to associate with your childhood and warm, sunny days. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

The words ease between the two of you, finally warm after months of being cold. 

Nancy then appears, and when you notice her you break away from Jonathan. “I see you’re joining?”

“I am.” She nods. “Seems I have you to thank.”

You smile and grab her hand. Your grip is firm, but sincere. “Don’t make me regret it, okay?”

Your words are teasing, but Nancy senses the undertones of a warning. Jonathan is your best friend, she has always known this, and she knows how much weight has gone into your trust for her. Nancy understands that you’re giving her something precious to you, and she will forever be indebted for it. 

“I won’t.” She promises. “And good luck with Steve and the kids.”

“Oh, I’ll need it.” You laugh, and any remaining tension that has hung over you and Nancy finally disappears. 

Once Jonathan and Nancy get into the car, you stand on the porch with Steve and everyone else as you watch the cars drive away. 

– 

 You poke around the Byers’ kitchen for some food; your stomach has been rumbling for hours and you’re sure the kids are hungry, too. However, like usual, you come up with nothing. As you dig through a cabinet, Dustin walks into the kitchen and starts clearing out the fridge. 

“What are you doing?” You ask, knowing that this can’t be for anything good. 

Dustin doesn’t answer, continuing to carelessly throw racks of food onto the floor.

“Hey, stop!” As you walk over, Steve suddenly comes rushing in, holding a very dead, and very disgusting, Demodog. 

“Is this really necessary?”

“Absolutely not.” 

Dustin groans at you. “C’mon, Y/N! This is absolutely necessary, it’s a groundbreaking scientific discovery.”

“It is a dead creature, from an alternate universe–” 

“We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog–”

“Oh, so now it’s not a dog after you’ve stated a million times that it’s a Demodog–”

Steve steps in between you and Dustin. “Alright, alright, enough!” He begins to shove the Demodog into the fridge before you can stop him. “But Dustin, you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright?”

“You both are idiots,” you mumble, watching as Steve and Dustin pathetically try to make the giant Demodog fit into the fridge. “I’m leaving.”

You’re seriously starting to regret their friendship. 

However, you know when to pick your battles, and as you watch the two boys try to maneuver the body into the fridge, you know that this is not a cause worth fighting for. 

Instead, you exit the kitchen and instruct the rest of the kids to start cleaning the house. It’s a mess, glass shattered everywhere from the dead Demodog and papers thrown haphazardly around during the morse decoding. 

The mess will only add more unneeded stress to Joyce’s life, so as Lucas and Max groan at you for making them do work, you stand your ground and shove a broom into their hands. 

“You suck, you know.” Lucas grumbles, but Max hits his shoulder and holds the dust pan as he sweeps.

As they get to work on the shattered glass, you figure it’s best that you call your mom before you forget again. You know she’s probably worried sick about you and Dustin for disappearing so suddenly without a word. 

However, when you walk over to the wall where the phone normally is, it’s gone. 

“Hey, uh. Where did the phone go?” You ask Dustin, who has finally left the kitchen. “I need to call mom.”

“Oh, Nancy threw it when it rang. She went kinda berserk.”

You look towards where Dustin is pointing and see the phone, in fact disconnected, on the ground across the room. The sight makes you snort. “Guess she really likes throwing phones, huh?”

Your brother doesn’t understand the joke. “What?”

“Nevermind,” you shake your head. There’s no use explaining to the boy about a quick, five second moment from last year. Nancy had done the exact same thing when Steve had tried to call the cops when the Demogorgon originally attacked you. 

Dustin mumbles something about your blood loss making you delusional, but you ignore him and begin sweeping the hallway. You order him to help, and soon the two of you are cleaning the Byers’ home. 

You’ve just finished sweeping when you notice Mike pacing around the room. He’s anxious, that much is obvious, and whenever he begins to pace: trouble soon follows. He’s brewing up a plan, you can feel it. 

After the fifth time the boy has paced the room, Lucas has finally had enough. “Mike, would you just stop already?”

“You weren’t in there, okay Lucas?” Mike stops pacing. “That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demodogs–oomph!” Dustin corrects, only to be cut off by your hand clamping over his mouth. 

“Say it again, I dare you.” You warn him before turning towards Mike. “Look, I know it’s nerve wracking, but all we can do right now is trust El’s abilities and wait.”

Lucas nods. “Yeah, the chief will also take care of her.”

“Like she needs protection.” Max quips from the floor, dustpan still in hand.

You feel a hand place itself on the small of your back. The weight of the palm is starting to become familiar to you, the length of the fingers and the way they splay across the span of your back are slowly becoming recognizable. 

Without turning, you know that Steve has joined you. 

“Listen, dude,” he says in a placating voice to Mike. “A coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. Alright?”

You wince. While you’re impressed that Steve is trying to intervene and reason with Mike, you know immediately that his approach will fail. Trying to reason with the kid using a sport analogy is like trying to explain magic to a mathematician. 

“Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game.” Mike rolls his eyes, which you expected. “And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”

“RIght! So–so my point… My point is…” Steve stumbles over his words and Mike’s unwavering insistence. When he can’t think of a better response, he lets out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, we’re on the bench, so–uh, there’s nothing we can do.”

You pity Steve, honestly. It takes years of careful analyzing and strategic planning in order to prepare yourself for an argument against Mike Wheeler. 

Patting his shoulder, step in to help. “What I’m sure Steve means is that while we may be benched, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep the homefront secure.”

“That’s not how sports work, Y/N.” Steve whispers obscenely loud, but quickly shuts up when you glare at him.

“Stupid sports analogy aside, there’s nothing we can do besides keep watch here and wait for everyone to return.” Even though you know you’re saying the right thing, that it’s best you follow Hopper’s order of staying put, even you don’t believe the words you’re saying. “We may not be able to help right now, but later, I promise we will be the best damn homefront ever.”

Dustin clears his throat. “That’s not entirely true.”

You turn to him and a sigh escapes you when you see the plan already forming behind his eyes. “I can’t argue with you, can I?”

“Nope.”

“Great, go on then. Share with the class what you’re thinking.”

“I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind.” Dustin begins. “When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

Lucas thinks about this. “So if we get their attention…”  

“Maybe we can draw them away from the lab.” Max concludes, and you take a second to marvel at how seamlessly she’s integrated herself into the party.

However, you then remember what Lucas said. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘get their attention’? Why do those words scare me so much?”

Mike talks over you. “We can clear a path to the gate.”

You have a multitude of questions and Steve seems to be thinking exactly what you are when he loudly exclaims, “Yeah, and then we all die!”

“That’s one point of view.”

“Dustin, that’s quite literally the only way to look at it.” You flick his hat and he swats your hand away.

Steve points at you, nodding in agreement. “That’s a fact.”

“Thanks, Steve–” Mike’s body slams into yours as he runs past you. “Christ, Wheeler!”

“I got it!” The boy shrieks, running out of the room as he wordlessly instructs everyone to follow. He kneels in front of the fridge and points wildly at one of the pictures Will has drawn. “This is where the chief dug his hole, this is our way into the tunnel.”

“Into? What do you mean into?”

Mike shoves past you again and runs into the living room. “Here, right here.” He stands in the middle, where all the pictures have interlocked together to form a center. “This is like a hub. So, you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire…”

“Fire?” You shriek as Steve quickly follows with, “Oh, yeah that’s a no!”

Dustin, however, is on board with what Mike is planning. “The mind flayer would call away his army.”

“They’d all come to stop us!” Lucas waves his arms madly at you, as if saying this will get you to agree to the plan that’s forming.

You throw your hands up in surrender. “Look, I recognize that we could maybe do something–”

“Hey!” Steve looks astonished that you’re even considering this. 

“I mean, if we can help then I don’t see why we can’t just–”

Mike shakes your arm now, deciding that your hesitation is an agreement. “We then can circle back to the exit! By the time they realize we’re gone–”

“El would be at the gate!” Max now also is looking at you. “C’mon, Y/N. You have to admit that it’s a solid plan.”

You bite your lip. It is. That’s the problem with the Wheelers. They come up with these insanely dangerous and insane plans, yet they’re also always brilliant. You know it’s risky, Hopper could barely even explain the tunnels to you without shaking in fear, but… Who’s to say that the Demodogs won’t simply go after Will and Jonathan at the cabin? Or kill Hopper and El before they even reach the lab.

It’s obvious you can’t just sit here and wait. 

El has to close the gate, that much is certain, and because of this: you have to help her. You have to help everyone, keep them safe. 

“It’s a solid plan,” you finally breathe out, and all the kids start to cheer.

“I knew you were my favorite sister!”

“Dustin, I’m your only sister–”

“Hey! Hey–” Steve pushes himself in between you and the kids, clapping his hands to break up any further conversations. “Hey! This is not happening.”

Mike tries to argue, “But–”

“No, no, no!” Steve places his hands on his hips like a disgruntled father. “No buts. I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

You don’t like the way Steve is speaking to the kids, commanding them as if he’s their parent. “Hey, no. We aren’t doing that.”

“Doing what?” He looks at you, eyes wide as he quickly gathers that he’s upset you. The fight in his voice is gone, replaced with quiet guilt.

“We don’t ever command the kids, not like that, anyways.” You step away from them and pull Steve aside with you to give the two of you some privacy. “Look, I know you promised Nance you’d take care of them, but I also promised Jonathan. We have to help, Steve.”

His face twists with confliction, and the two of you are caught between what Nancy wants and what Jonathan wants. They both want the kids to be safe, but they have different viewpoints of how they expect you and Steve to do so.

Nancy wants to keep her brother out of it, Jonathan wants to save his brother’s life. 

“Y/N…” Steve breathes out, begging you to change your mind. 

The confliction on his face hurts to look at, you hate that you’ve made him feel this way, but you can only shake your head at him. “I’m sorry, but we’re doing this.”

“Yes!” Mike rushes over to you and surprises you with a hug. “This is why I keep you around!”

“Okay, no.” You push the kid away and hold him by the shoulders to ensure he listens to you. “That doesn’t mean I think we should all go down into the tunnels. I’ll go, and Steve will stay here with you guys–”

“What? No! You’re not going down there by yourself, Y/N.” Steve doesn���t understand how you would expect him to ever let you do that. “We’re all on the bench, okay? We’re waiting for the starting team to do their job.”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game.” Mike groans in annoyance before focusing his attention back to you. “And no one in the party gets left behind. If you go, we all go.”

The sincerity in Mike’s voice warms you. He’s defending you, protecting you how you’ve always protected him, and you’ve never been more impressed with his bravery; it’s because of this, his bravery and admiration for you, that you know you have to go into the tunnels alone. 

It would kill you if Mike got hurt, if any of the kids got hurt. 

Steve sees the way your eyes shine at Mike’s words and his stomach twists. He knows he can’t change your mind about going alone, he knows you’d never, ever let anyone get hurt. That you’d lay down your life for these kids and those you love. 

The bloodied cloth wrapped around your rib cage reminds Steve that he’s a part of it all now. You have laid down your life for him.

And he’s never, ever going to let you get hurt because of him again. 

Steve steps forward and gently grabs your arm, he needs you to understand how much your selflessness terrifies him in this moment. “Y/N–”

The revving of an engine cuts him off. 

It’s a familiar sound. You’ve heard this car before. The sound of it has seared itself into your memories. The hair on your arms stands up, and within seconds Max is at the window, looking out in fear. 

“It’s my brother.” Max’s voice is terrified. Not even in the junkyard, when Demodogs had been raining down on you and the kids, had you heard such terror in the girl’s voice. “He can’t know I’m here.”

You’re at her side in a heartbeat, tugging her away from the window. You’ve seen the way Billy acts around Max, you remember the harshness he displayed in the parking lot. The same harshness that left bruises on your waist when he had you pinned against the wall on Halloween. “I won’t let him touch you.”

Your words have a bite to them. Max hears the oath within them, she has never believed anyone when they’ve told her this. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

“He won’t.” You promise her, trying to control the pure rage you feel because of her brother. He can do whatever the fuck he wants with you, but he’s hurt Max for the last time. 

Steve watches your exchange with Max and feels his hands clench into fists. Anger fizzes through his body. As you console the girl, your eyes meet his and he nods. With one simple head movement, the two of you have silently agreed to do whatever it takes to ensure that Billy never hurts Max ever again. 

–

“Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?”

You’re standing behind Steve. 

Billy hasn’t seen you yet. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” Steve’s hand tightens around your arm as he guides you further behind him. He doesn’t like that you’re here with him. He hates the way Billy’s eyes roam over your body without any shame. 

But you insisted on coming outside, and Steve has never been able to tell you no. 

You step out from behind Steve and force your hands to rest by your side in nonchalance. “God, I was hoping you’d be allergic to milk.”

Billy raises his eyebrows when he sees you; you’ve surprised him. “Why, it’s always a pleasure seeing you, sweetheart.”

Steve’s clenched fists only tighten when he hears Billy’s nickname for you. He hates the implications behind it, the way he says it with such sickly sweetness that leaves Steve’s stomach feeling raw. 

He can’t imagine how you feel whenever you hear it, and it only makes Steve hate Billy more. 

“It’s never a pleasure for me.” You cross your arms as Billy now stands in front of you and Steve.

The teen laughs darkly and eyes Steve up and down. “What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing… Amigo.” His voice carries an air of indifference, but you know that tomorrow there will be indentations in Steve’s palms from his fingernails. 

“Looking for my stepsister.” Billy lights a cigarette and smirks at you. “A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

Billy smirks at Steve’s words and motions over to you. “Yeah, but this little lady does.”

“Max isn’t here.” You say, forcing your anger down to play along with Steve’s indifference. “Have you checked the quarry? A lot of kids like to hang out there.”

Smoke surrounds you as Billy responds, “Don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Henderson.”

With every dodged question, you’re only angering the teen more. If you and Steve keep this up, you’ll only make everything harder to manage. You try to think of something to distract Billy, but all you know about him is that he’s a sleazy pig with a cigarette addiction. 

Then, it hits you. 

His weird fascination with you. 

If you use it against him, maybe you can get him away from the Byers’ house long enough for Steve and the kids to leave. 

You step closer to Billy, ignoring every part of you that screams in rejection. You’re covered in blood and your hair is probably a mess, but you bat your eyelashes anyways and quirk your head up at Billy with an innocent smile. “I could show you, if you want.”

Just as you hoped, your sudden interest in him catches Billy’s attention. He presses his chest against yours and looks down at you, a pleased smile on his face. “And what would you be showing me, sweetheart?”

“The quarry, silly.” You giggle, trying not to gag at the reek of cigarette smoke. “It’s secluded… No one really goes down there. It’s, well–this is embarrassing.”

You duck your head down and act as if you’re blushing. Billy takes the bait and uses his fingers to lift your head up to look at him again. “Go on, tell me.”

You make a show of biting your lip. “Well, it’s where every teen in Hawkins goes to… Be alone.”

Billy’s eyes darken again, even more interested in what you have to say. He leans down, his lips inches from yours, and you know you have him right where you want him. 

Please, you think. I just want to protect the kids.

His breath fans across your face and he’s about to agree, to have you lead him away and forget all about his bitch of a sister, when Steve roughly pushes him away from you. 

“Max isn’t here, man.” He spits out, his once controlled anger now spilling over the edge. 

You want to scream at him, you almost had Billy. He was seconds away from agreeing, and the stupid idiot pushes him away from you? 

Billy looks between you and Steve and lets out a low chuckle. “Sorry, Harrington. Forgot that she’s yours.”

Steve moves as if to hit him but you quickly grab at his jacket, stopping him. Billy sees this and laughs again. 

“You know, I don’t know… This whole situation, Harrington.” He shrugs, exhales more smoke. “I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” 

You’re silent, hand still clutching Steve’s jacket. 

Billy exhales more smoke. “My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you in a stranger’s house, alongside Y/N Henderson, the town’s darling, all bloodied and bruised. And you lie to me about it.”

From an outsider’s perspective, you hate how much Billy makes sense. 

To anyone else, this would look incredibly incriminating against Steve.

Yet, Steve still tries to deny it all. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?”

“I’m assuming he was.” You voice, looking nervously at Billy as he seems to grow more and more volatile. 

“I don’t know what you don’t understand about what Y/N and I have told you. Max isn’t here.”

Billy leans in close to Steve and points with his cigarette towards the house. “Then who is that?”

You and Steve turn, and your heart drops when you see Max and the boys all quickly duck their heads out of the window.

“Shit,” you breathe out, knowing it’s over.

You really hate those kids sometimes.

“Listen,” Steve tries to make up some excuse, but Billy roughly shoves him to the ground.

“I told you to plant your feet.” Bully sneers as he looms over him. You try to help Steve up, but you’re pushed aside as Billy then stomps on Steve’s ankle with a sickening crunch that makes your own wounded ankle sting.

As he storms towards the house, you quickly help Steve up, He pushes you away. “I’ll be fine, go help the kids!”

“But–”

You can’t just leave Steve while he’s hurt, but every time you try to help him up, he bats your hand away.

“Go!”

From inside the house, you hear the kids start to scream, and you reluctantly leave Steve behind and run inside. When you enter, Billy already has Lucas pinned against the wall as all the kids scream at him to let the boy go. Lucas is hitting at the teen’s chest desperately, but nothing is working. 

“Stay away from her.” Billy spits in the boy’s face, who is paralyzed with fear.

“Lucas!” You all but throw yourself onto Billy’s back as you begin hitting and pulling his hair. Anything you can think of, you try, but it’s no use. With Billy’s size and build, you’re nothing but a fucking bug to him. 

“I said get off of me!” Lucas kneels Billy in the groin, sending you and the teen flying back, but at least he’s let go of Lucas. 

You let go of Billy and place yourself between him and the boy, your breath comes out ragged. You don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. All your mind can think of right now is protecting the kids, but in the midst of screaming and exhaustion and blood loss, you can’t think of anything. 

Billy tries to get to Lucas again, his teeth bared with fury. “You’re so dead, Sinclair. So dead!” 

In your exhaustion and fear, you call out for the only person you can think of. “Steve!”

He’s at your side in a heartbeat, quickly looking at you to make sure you’re okay, before he flings Billy away from you and Lucas. “No, you are!”

Steve’s punch lands perfectly, with a precision far from his pathetic punches thrown last year against Jonathan. It’s incredibly hot.

Billy begins to laugh in a manic manner that frightens you, but all of his attention is now on Steve, so you use this opportunity to drag Lucas over to the rest of the kids and make sure everyone is okay. 

You trust that Steve has everything else handled, but you make sure to keep an eye on him anyways while you take care of the kids. 

“Are you okay?” You check Lucas over for any injuries, who numbly nods as he’s still in shock, while Billy screams something about always wanting to meet King Steve. 

“Get out.” Despite Steve’s leveled voice, his tone is vicious. 

Billy swings again, but Steve manages to duck just in time before he lands yet another punch to the boy’s face. 

“Yes!” Dustin shouts with glee, but you remember the fight from last year. How Steve had lost miserably against Jonathan. A boy half of Billy’s size. 

While you’re impressed with Steve’s fighting improvement, you’re not sure how longer he’ll be able to keep this up. When more punches land on Billy and all he does is laugh menacingly, you know you don’t have a lot of time left.

You’re fucking terrified. 

The kids are still cheering Steve on when you turn to them, panicked. “You guys need to leave. Now.”

“What? But Steve’s winning!” Dustin says as Steve’s fist connects with Billy’s jaw. 

The sound makes you feel sick. 

You’re pleading now, terror clawing at your throat as you do so; your words slur together. “Leave, sneak out, and–and go through the front door and hide. Get help, okay? Just, go and find someone while Steve and I handle this–”

The sound of glass breaking against Steve’s head alerts you that your time is up. 

Billy hadn't been fighting back before. But now? He’s angrier than you’ve ever seen him. 

As Steve stumbles back in pain, you try pleading with the kids again. You don’t want them to see any more of this, of what might be about to happen. This isn’t just some fight between two teen boys. You know Billy better than that. 

He’s out for fucking blood. 

“Dustin, take everyone outside now!”

“We can’t just leave you!” Mike shouts and the others all nod. 

You want to cry. “We don’t have time for this, just–”

“Shit!” Dustin knocks against you as he dodges a punch meant for Steve. 

Steve crashes into the Byers’ bookshelf and you’re practically shoving the kids out of the door so that you can go and help, but they refuse to leave you and Steve behind. 

Billy has Steve by his jacket. “No one tells me what to do.”

With a sickening thud, he bashes his head into Steve’s and sends him flying to the ground. 

“Steve!” There’s blood pooling from his head and you’re gripped by fear so intense that you’re afraid you’ll pass out any second. 

Billy is relentless, now standing over Steve as he lands punch after punch. Every time his fists slam against Steve’s face, you feel them land against yours as well. Billy’s screaming like a fucking maniac and none of the kids are listening to you and Steve is getting bloodier by the second.

You’re torn. 

Dustin and the kids are staring at you, eyes wide with fear, and the front door is open; you could take the kids and run, but Steve is lying motionless on the ground.

It’s either him or the kids.

And yet it’s the easiest decision you’ve made all night.

“Get off of him!” You throw yourself onto Billy’s back for the second time tonight. 

You yank at his hair and try to scratch his face, but within seconds Billy throws you over his shoulder. “You demented bitch.”

Your head catches on the edge of a coffee table and you land with a thud on the ground. Almost immediately you feel blood drip from your eyebrow and you groan. Fuck. Definitely another concussion, but when you look over at Steve, he looks worse than you feel, and you force yourself to get up. 

Billy watches as you pathetically try to stand, and he laughs with cruelty. “What, want some more, sweetheart?”

More blood drips down your face and you feel the scratches on your rib cage re-open. Every bone in your body aches, but you pull out your switchblade and extend its knives. Your fingers skim over the engraving on its handle, reminding you to use the weapon with love. 

“This is your last chance.” You clutch at your side, hoping you look more intimidating than you feel. “Leave my family alone.”

Billy sees your knives and laughs at you. “Am I expected to believe that you’d actually hurt me?”

Your grip tightens around your switchblade. No one ever believes that you could be so cruel, so vicious. Billy is looking at you as if you’re some pathetic little girl, as if you haven’t killed Demodogs and Demogorgons. He’s looking at you as if you aren’t the sole reason everyone you know and love is alive.

You were once told to use the switchblade with love, that there was never any room for love when it came to violence. 

Now, as the kids are screaming at you to run and the pool of blood around Steve continues to grow, the onslaught of love that is always within you overtakes the fear. 

“I warned you.” With one quick movement, you swat at Billy and cut deeply into his shoulder.

He lets out an enraged scream and instinctively his fist goes flying. Pain erupts in your left eye and you know that you’ll have the worst time ever trying to explain to your mom later how you got a black eye. 

“Fuck!” You groan, dodging every other punch that Billy throws your way as he starts to approach you. With one eye quickly swelling up and the other blinded by blood, you do your best to stumble away from Billy, but it’s no use. 

Your foot catches on the carpet and almost as quickly as you fall, Billy is right there to wrap his hands around your throat and squeeze. You inhale sharply and panic overtakes you as you claw at his hands, drawing blood from him as well, but his fingers only tighten. 

“Y/N!” Dustin’s vocal chords strain from how loud he screams your name.

Billy seems to get a kick out of hearing your brother plead for your life, and he squeezes even tighter as you flail. “Not so tough now, are you?”

You struggle to free yourself, to do anything, but you can’t. 

For the first time since Will went missing, you truly believe that you’re about to die.

Steve is practically dead on the ground below you, he’s bleeding so much from his head that you’re terrified he’ll never wake up, and the kids are defenseless as they scream with tears in their eyes. 

Your baby brother is about to watch you die. 

Spots begin to form in your vision and it’s getting harder and harder to move your limbs. To make them do as you command. 

You know it’s your brain shutting down from the lack of oxygen. 

I hope Jonathan doesn’t blame himself.

Your world fades to black. 

Billy screams.

And you feel your body drop to the ground.

– 

The first time you wake up, it’s to Dustin huffing as he tugs at your arm. “God, you’re heavier than you look.”

You promptly pass back out. 

The second time, it’s dark outside and you register that you’re cold, but your eyes sting and you’re out again.

You wake up a few more times, always in a daze, and never more for a few seconds at a time, before the feeling that you’re moving wakes you up for good. 

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dark, your left eye barely even opens, and the pounding in your head is blinding in itself. Blinking a few times, you look down and finally notice that Steve is sprawled on your lap. You’re in the backseat of someone’s car. 

Your head is resting against someone’s shoulder. When you try to lift it to see who it is, you feel someone gently guide your head back down. “Shh, it’s okay. Don’t move too fast, alright? Don’t want you yacking on us.”

“Dustin?” You immediately regret trying to speak. Your voice comes out hoarse and raw and the pain is so intense that it only makes your head pound more.

“Right here, sis. Try not to speak, you sound like a frog.”

You try to sit up again, forgetting that Steve is sprawled on top of you, and your movements cause him to wake up. When his eyes manage to blink open, he tilts his head at you and mumbles, “Nancy?”

“Wha–” Again your voice cracks and you feel so delirious. Are you Nancy?

Steve attempts to wipe away the blood on his face but Dustin stops him with a gentle chiding. “No, don’t touch it.”

Steve brings a shaky hand up to your face and carefully rests it against your cheek. “You’re… You’re bleeding.”

Dustin puts the hand down. “Hey, buddy. Y/N is bleeding, good job. You’re bleeding, too. It’s okay though, you put up a good fight. I mean, he kicked your ass but you put up a good fight.”

Your brother’s words ring in your ears. He’s saying so much and you’re trying to swallow down the vomit that threatens to spill out. 

“Okay, you’re gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai.” A voice rings out, one different from Dustin’s. 

Was that Lucas?

“What’s going on?” Steve slurs, trying to process everything happening. He blearily looks back up at you. “Who’s driving?”

“Not me,” you manage to croak out.

A beat of silence passes. 

Then, at the same time, you and Steve realize: Max is the one driving. 

You’re more awake now and you try to say more, but your throat has swollen shut from speaking and it feels like it’s on fire. 

Thankfully, Steve is here to say everything you can’t. “Oh my god!”

“Just relax, she’s driven before.” Dustin reassures, slapping your hand away when you try to reach over to the driver’s side. 

“Yeah, in a parking lot.” Mike says, and you notice he’s also here now. 

“That counts.”

You want to scream at Max to pull over and demand the keys from her, but your bruised throat prevents you while your bleeding rib cage traps you in. While you can’t say anything, all Steve can say is, “Oh my god.”

“They were gonna leave you guys behind–”

“Oh my god.”

“But I promised that you’d be cool, okay?” Again Dustin slaps your hand away and all but shoves his leg over you so that you remain seated. 

Max then presses down on the gas pedal and the car increases its speed, which only makes the entire situation worse. 

Steve, rightfully, freaks out. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s going on? Stop the car, slow down!”

You twist in your seat and blindly grab at Steve’s hand, both thanking him for voicing all that you can’t and also to try and prevent the poor boy from passing out again. 

“I told you he’d freak out! At least Y/N shut up!” Mike shouts over at Dustin. 

While you’re flattered that you’re officially cooler than Steve in Mike’s eyes, if you had a functioning throat right now, you’d be letting out some very choice words. 

“Stop the car!” Steve screams again, but the little rainbow bandaids on his cheek take away from his commanding nature. 

You hope that Dustin at least chose some pretty bandaids for your face. 

“Everybody shut up! I’m trying to focus!” Again, Max doesn’t at all help the situation at hand. 

“Wait, that’s Mount Sinai. Make a left!” Lucas points to where Max needs to go and you wonder why they trusted the girl, who just moved to Hawkins a week ago, to know where to go. 

“What?”

“Make a left!” Lucas screams, and Max quickly yanks the car to the left.

You, Steve, and the kids all scream as she hits what you hope is a mailbox. As the car jerks, you topple onto Steve and let out a painful, weird mix of a croak and shriek as the car continues to turn. Dustin tries to steady himself against you as he screams and Steve fully grabs your waist and uses you to shield himself from danger.

What a hero. 

Then, you almost go flying out of the windshield as Max suddenly stops the car. 

“Hello!” Steve exclaims, gripping you tightly still. 

Dustin giggles. “Whoa!”

“Incredible,” Mike breathes out. 

Meanwhile, you think your heart fell out of your ass about five blocks ago. 

“I told you. Zoomer.” Max smirks with pride. 

“She terrifies me,” you whisper, and Steve nods in agreement. 

The kids begin getting out of the car and seem to have some unspoken plan being set into motion. Dustin pats your shoulder before leaving you behind with Steve as the others go towards the trunk. 

Not knowing what the fuck is happening, you kick Steve so that he falls off of you and onto the grass so that you can follow after your brother. When you get out the car, you march over towards where all the kids are standing and silently demand an explanation. 

Mike notices you first. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

You refrain from shoving his face in the mud and point towards the goggles he’s holding. He sighs and hands it to you while Dustin ties a bandana around your neck and Max grabs a gallon of gasoline. 

Seems like they’re sticking to the plan from earlier, then.

When Steve realizes this, as he is gripping onto the car for dear life, he whines. “Oh, no. Guys.”

Everyone ignores him and he continues to try to stop what’s happening. You hobble over to him, a new wave of nausea and pain washing over you, and lean against him helplessly. There’s no use trying to explain to him that the party won’t listen. For now, you simply relish in his presence and enjoy how he feels against you. 

“We are not going down there right now!” Steve, though gentle to not jostle you around too much, waves his hands in the air as he screams at Max. “I made myself clear. There is no chance we’re going to that hole, alright?”

Similar to last year, Steve begins to spiral in his fear. He wraps his arms around you and places you against the car before he runs over to Dustin and throws that backpack that’s in the kid’s hands. “This is not happening!”

You slowly walk over and grab the thrown backpack, hoping that Dustin can reason with the teen. 

“Steve, you’re upset. I get it, but the bottom line is that a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance.” When you join Dustin’s side, he helps you put the goggles on and brings your bandana up over your mouth. “Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So keep us safe.”

He hands Steve the backpack you retrieved. 

Steve looks between you and your brother. You both look absolutely ridiculous in your get up, and he knows he has no other choice but to agree. His eyes meet yours and he silently asks if you’re sure about this, he will always look to you for the answers. 

You nod, hoping that the small head shift is conveying what you physically cannot say.

I’m here, the kids need us, and I need you with me.

Steve hears it, sighs, and grabs the backpack from your hands. 

“Well, let’s get going.” He motions for you and Dustin to lead the way. 

– 

“I got you,” Steve’s voice is soft as his hands graze your waist. He’s standing below you, already having jumped into the tunnels so that he can help you climb down the rope safely. You’re not sure if it’s his touch, or the way his voice drips with promises to protect you, or the simple fact that you’re bleeding and bruised that makes your body weak. 

“Drop me and die.” Your knuckles are white as they clutch the rope, your body shaking with exhaustion as you try to ease your way down without further injuring your ribs. 

Steve laughs and tightens his grip on your waist, steadying you as you finally inch the rest of the way down and land with a gentle thud onto the ground. “Like I’d ever dream of letting you go.”

This time, you know it’s his words that cause you to shiver, not the exhaustion and pain. 

“Ahem.”

Turning around, you see Dustin glaring at you and Steve while Lucas is stifling laughs. You roll your eyes at them and step away so that you aren’t standing so close to Steve, and he seems to think the same and distances himself as well. 

“Holy shit,” Steve breathes out, now finally examining the tunnels. 

It takes your breath away as well. The tunnels are terrifying, but oddly kind of cool. There’s a dim light within them, almost ghostly, and yet it’s beautiful in a way that you can’t quite describe. Small particles float through the air, and you reach your hand out to feel them against your skin. It tickles, akin to snowflakes, and the reminder makes you yearn for winter again. 

Mike’s flashlight distracts you as he shines it towards a random section of the tunnel. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

“You’re pretty sure, or you’re certain?” Dustin asks, doubtful. 

“I’m 100% sure, just follow me and you’ll know.”

As soon as Mike’s declaration of leading leaves his lips, you and Steve share and look and immediately stumble towards the boy. 

Like hell you’re letting him lead. He’s a child, and he’s also incredibly horrible at navigating. Last time you let him guide the way, you ended up finding El in the middle of the woods. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Steve flashes his light at Mike. “I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“Any of you little shits die down here, I’m getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?” Steve takes the map from Mike’s hands and then looks over at you. “I guide, you take the rear?”

You nod. “Good luck.”

Steve smiles, his sarcastic bravado now gone, before he suddenly clears his throat once more and shouts. “From here on out, I’m leading the way while Y/N makes sure none of you idiots get lost. Come on.”

The kids groan and roll their eyes at him, but they fall into line and do as they’re told. 

Dustin walks in front of you and offers you his hand. He knows the uneven terrain will only increase the chances of your ankle acting up. “How’s the ankle?”

“Hurts,” you rasp, accepting his hand as you hobble along. He hums and helps you navigate, the goggles covering his nose makes him sound nasally. “Did I put up a good fight at least?”

Your throat strains to get all the words out, but Dustin seems to understand what you’ve said and laughs. “Yeah, you did a much better job than Steve–What the hell?”

Dustin stops walking and suddenly looks up. Unsure what he’s seen, you look up as well and gasp. Above you rests a giant flower-bud looking thing, except it’s pulsing in a very concerning and gross way and is the size of a car. When it starts to expand even larger, you realize before your brother does what it’s about to do; you tug at his hand and try to run away, but Dustin doesn’t move.

Then, in one grand blow, the bud explodes and releases what you can only imagine are pollen spores, and they spray all over Dustin. “Shit!” He falls to the ground, screaming and rolling around as if he’s just been shot, and all you can do is stand there and silently wait for him to calm down enough for you to talk to him. “Help! Y/N, help!”

You motion to your throat, but Dustin gags and scrambles to stand up before promptly falling back down again in his haste. 

Steve and the others have now joined and everyone is crowding over your brother with worry. “Dustin? What happened?”

“Pollen.” You croak, and Steve looks even more confused now. 

“It’s in my mouth!” Dustin spits onto the ground and coughs, wheezing every few breaths. “Some of it got on my mouth. Shit!”

Mike points his flashlight at you. “Any more useful insight from Kermit the frog?”

You glare at him, although the nickname is funny and you hate that it’s clever. You clear your throat, cringe at the sting it sends down your body, and respond, “Rose-bud thing. Exploded. He’s fine.”

Everyone tilts their head at you, not at all understanding what you’re trying to say, and you groan. It’s incredibly frustrating that Billy left you unable to say a goddamn thing without immeasurable pain. You honestly would’ve preferred that he stab you or something, because your intelligence and wit are so crucial to who you are as a person. 

Plus the whole Kermit the frog thing kind of sucks, regardless of how funny it will be later. 

“I’m fine.” Dustin gasps out. “As Y/N said, a rose-bud thing sprayed me.”

“You guys serious?” Max shakes her head, at a loss for why she’s even here. 

“Very funny, man.” Steve looks at you and teases, “And Y/N, I expected more from you.”

You give him the finger. “Dustin, not me.”

“Mhm,” he’s starting to walk away again, resuming his leader position through the tunnels, but he sends you a wink. “C’mon, Hendersons.”

The rest of the kids follow after him while you help Dustin up and wipe him off. He’s a mess, and he’s clearly still frightened, but he seems reassured by your presence and begins to calm down. When he’s ready, you and Dustin follow.

The tunnels are long, windy, and incredibly disturbing to be in. You can’t believe that something this intricate and vast has been laying underneath Hawkins for god knows how long. The ground beneath your feet is squishy and it takes both Dustin’s hand and immense concentration to not trip. 

Steve leads, his flashlight serving as a beacon to focus on despite the pounding in your head. The bandana tied over your nose only makes the ringing in your ears worse, but you’ll leave inhaling mysterious Upside Down particles to your brother. 

After a few minutes of walking, you’re starting to fear that the poorly drawn map from Mike really is just a poorly drawn map. Then, Steve stops. “Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub.”

You flick your flashlight around and your eyes widen. It’s huge. In the center lies a mound of what you hope is just mud, but you see a bone or two stick out from it and look away. To your left, there’s easily five or six more tunnels, each varying in width and height, and to your right is the same. 

Seeing how vast the tunnel system is, you’re thankful for Mike’s genius little brain. 

“Let’s drench it!” Except the vigor in his voice frightens you and you consider that he may be the world’s next mad scientist. 

However, a plan is a plan and you’ve already made it this far, so you set to work on spraying the area with gasoline. Between you, Steve, and the kids, within minutes you’ve created the world’s most flammable labyrinth. 

When you’re done, Steve guides the kids back towards the exit and you make sure everyone’s behind the two of you. He kneels, flicks out his lighter, and turns to everyone. “Alright, you guys ready?”

“Ready,” Max and Lucas say.

Dustin tightens his hand around yours, preparing to help you run as fast as you can with your ankle. “Light her up.”

Steve flicks his lighter open. “I am in such deep shit.”

“Together.” You nudge him with your shoe, and even though his face is hidden, you know he smiles. 

He takes a deep breath, winds his arm back, and flings the lighter into the center of the hub. 

Immediately everything bursts into flames. In the blaze, the strange roots that had been lying dormant on the ground now come to life as they flail against the heat. They twist and whip around, writhing in pain. The tunnels themselves almost seem to come to life as it writhes in pain. 

“Go, go, go!” Steve yells, pushing everyone back to start running. 

You stay behind with him, making sure all the kids have started to run before you finally let Dustin tug you along as well. The boy is screaming, hopping and dodging roots as best as he can while squealing, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

Steve takes the lead now, having somehow memorized the way out. “Let’s go!”

You’re disoriented. Dustin’s hand is gripping yours so harshly and it’s taking everything within you to keep up, but your ankle throbs and your left eye has only continued to swell from the punch earlier. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to follow along, and in your disorientation you lose track of Mike. 

When he falls, everything within you snaps back into focus. You tear your hand from Dustin’s and you’re at Mike’s side in a heartbeat, but already the roots have started to wrap around his leg; he screams. “Help! Y/N, help me!”

Your hands shake as you reach for your switchblade, adrenaline runs through you so violently that you feel lightheaded. Mike’s screams are the only thing keeping you grounded right now. As he panics, you roughly grab his shirt and force him back before you start to hack at the root with your knives. 

“Pull him back!” Steve instructs the kids, who have now joined. “Y/N, watch out!”

You have just enough time to cut through one root before dodging Steve’s bat as he hits at the other. It takes a few swings, but with one final blow, you and the kids are able to pull Mike free and help him stand back up. 

“You good?” Lucas pants, patting MIke’s shoulders for any injuries while Dustin asks, “You okay?”

You pull Mike into you and quickly hug him, damning whatever time constraint you currently have against you. Your hands are still shaking, which Mike feels, and he gives you a quick pat before pulling away. “Glad you care, but–”

“We gotta go!” Steve steps between you two, bat still in hand, when a growl erupts from behind him. 

Dustin shoves everyone behind him before you can stop him. He’s recognized the growl before you have. “Dart.”

The Demodog growls again. He’s bigger than ever before, now practically fully grown. His growth distracts you long enough to miss Dustin slowly starting to approach him. When you do, you immediately try to stop him. 

“Dustin–” Fear overtakes you.

“Steve, hold her back.” He orders. “Just trust me, okay?”

Steve’s arms wrap around you and you try to fight back. “No–”

“Y/N,” he whispers into your ear, keeping an eye on your brother as well. “If you freak out now, Dustin will get hurt.”

He’s right, you know he’s right, but your brother is only a foot away from Dart now and he’s now smaller than the creature. One wrong move, and he’s dead.

Dustin kneels in front of Dart and you feel your heart drop. You don’t dare breathe as he takes off his goggles and mask and leans in closer to the creature. “Hey, it’s me. It’s just your friend, it’s Dustin.”

Dart slowly inches forward as Dustin continues to talk. “You remember me? Will you let us pass?”

This time, Dart’s entire mouth opens as he snarls at Dustin.

Again you struggle in Steve’s arms, but he only tightens his hold on you as you watch your baby brother, terrified, face off against the Demodog. 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Dustin lowers his voice, unwavering against Dart’s malice. “I’m sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchy thing to do. I blame Y/N, she’s always the one who makes me do the right thing.”

The little shit has you scared out of your fucking mind, and yet he has the nerve to somehow make this your fault.

If he gets out of this alive, you’re never, ever letting him go again. 

Dustin reaches into his backpack, eyes never leaving Dart. “You hungry?

“He’s insane,” Lucas whispers in awe. Both you and Steve tell him to shut up, scared that any noise will cause Dart to attack.

“I’ve got our favorite.” Dustin waves the candy in front of Dart’s face. “See? Nougat.”

As soon as the Demodog sees the candy bar, his demeanor shifts and he happily approaches Dustin. Within seconds, your brother has managed to re-tame his weird Upside Down pet, and for a brief second you feel bad that Dustin can’t keep him. 

“Look at that. Yummy!” He places the candy on the ground as a peace offering and he starts to motion behind him, waving for you and everyone else to start moving. “Eat up, buddy.”

Steve guides Lucas, Max, and Mike past Dart and through the tunnel that was previously blocked by him, but you stay behind. Your knives are drawn; you’re not leaving your brother’s side. 

“There’s plenty,” Dustin coos to the creature, placing down one last candy bar before standing up. When he sees that you’re still there, he grabs your hand and starts to walk away with you. Feeling his hand, warm and alive against yours, is enough to calm you down enough to follow. Before the two of you leave, however, Dustin turns around one last time to look at Dart, a sad smile on his face. “Goodbye, buddy.”

Dart doesn’t show any reaction, too busy devouring the candy he’s been given, and you gently tug Dustin along to safety, albeit with some guilt. He really loved that little lizard thing. 

As soon as the two of you are out of danger, you pull Dustin into a bone crushing hug. “You’re stupid.”

“Stupid brave,” he mumbles against you, though his arms are tight against your waist. He had been scared, too. 

You snort and pull your bandana down so you can kiss the top of Dustin’s head. “Just stupid.” 

“Guys, we gotta go.” Steve whispers, feeling bad for interrupting your moment with the kid. He can still feel the way your body shook in his arms, how he could hear your terrified heartbeat as he held you back. He felt horrible for doing it, but he promised Nancy he’d keep the kids safe, and Steve knows that she also wanted him to protect you, too.

At Steve’s urgent whisper, you reluctantly nod and pull away from Dustin. With one last shoulder squeeze, you pat his back and tug at his hand to start running. As you run, the ground trembles beneath your feet. You’re the first one to fall, Max and Lucas not far behind. “Fuck!” 

Steve has your hand within his in seconds and he gently pulls you up. His face is obscured from the goggles and banana, yet you can see the concern when he looks at you. When he stands you back up, he pulls you close and whispers, “You okay?”

You nod, about to tell him to keep running, when you hear the first screech of the Demodogs. 

“What was that?” Max inches towards your side, now long familiar with what the screeches mean. 

As if almost in response to the girl, more screeches follow as they echo through the tunnels. Only this time, there’s more of them; more than you’d even want to imagine. The hair on your arms stands up as the screeching continues. You know that if you don’t run now, none of you will stand a chance. 

“They’re coming.” Mike realizes. “Run! Run, let’s go!”

You snatch Dustin’s hand and practically throw the kid forward with how harshly you begin running. Lucas and Max run past, while Mike follows after Steve. Your footsteps fall harshly against the tunnel’s earthy ground and it takes everything within you to keep going. When you round the corner and see the rope, you almost sob with relief. 

“Kids first!” You shout, damning whatever further damage it’ll do to your vocal chords.

Steve understands immediately and kneels beneath the rope to give the kids a boost up while you hold the rope taught and help lift them. Max is the first up, both you and Steve more so throwing her rather than helping her.

“C’mon!” Steve encourages her, and with one final shove from you, she makes it over the edge and is safe. 

Everything happens so fast, it’s a blur as you help Lucas start to climb out, then Mike, and as you’re hauling Dustin up next, you hear the Demodogs drawing near. 

“Oh, shit!” Steve hears them as soon as you do and he grabs for his bat and starts to place himself in front of you and Dustin, but you stop him. 

“No!” You yank him back and then grab your brother, shoving him underneath the rope. The shadows of the Demodogs cast against the wall, you know you only have seconds before they’re here. “Throw him up!”

Dustin realizes what you’re about to do. “Y/N, no–”

But Steve already has a grip on him. “You’re going home.”

“No!” Dustin screams and tries to stay behind, wriggling and thrashing, but with Steve’s help, you’re able to lift him to safety before the first Demodog appears. Dustin, now safely above ground, sees this too. His heart stops. “Y/N!”

“Steve! Y/N! Climb up!” The kids begin to shout now, urging you and the teen to get out of the tunnels, fear alive in their voices. 

You look up at them, see their faces alive with youth, and then turn to Steve. He seems to be thinking the same thing as you. You’ve both run out of time. He nods, you do as well, and together you’ve accepted your fate. Steve draws his bat as you raise your knives. 

“Y/N!” Dustin’s voice rings through clearer than the other’s, the despair evident. You close your eyes for a second, wishing that there was more you could’ve done, but at least he’s safe.

Jonathan will take care of him, Nancy will, too. 

He won’t be alone, and you have Steve with you, who is holding your hand as if it contains all the secrets of the world.

It’ll be okay. 

You open your eyes. 

The Demodogs, miraculously, start to run right past you and Steve. They weave between you two, not at all paying any attention. You stand as still as possible, not wanting to wake them from whatever trance they seem to be in. 

However, one particularly large Demodog crashes against your leg and sends you into Steve’s side, who wraps his arms around you with a fierce protectiveness. You duck your head down, unaware just how desperately you’d been craving his presence, and he buries you further against him as the monsters continue to run. 

The two of you cower, curling into one another, steadying the other, waiting for something to happen. Steve has his feet firmly planted and stands his ground as more monsters run past, and without him you would’ve fallen minutes ago, trampled by the creatures. 

When you can’t hear any more Demodogs, you slowly lift your head from Steve’s chest and look around. 

They’re gone. Each and every one of them has left. 

You’re still in Steve’s arms, your chests are pressed tightly together and you’ve never been this close to him before. When you look up at him, you can feel his breath against your skin. There’s an odd look in his eyes, he’s studying your face as if seeing it for the first time, and his gaze makes something deep within you stir. 

“Thank you,” you whisper, needing to say something. He’s once again saved your life, and your eyes can’t seem to leave his. 

His fingers dig into your side, it’s the only way he can respond. The sensation causes you to shiver and your eyes slowly drift down to his lips. They’re a lovely shade of pink, flush and full. You wonder what they’d taste like, if he’s wondered the same about you. 

Steve stares down at you and feels every breath you take, the rise and fall of your chest matching his. The two of you stand like this for a moment, hearts beating together as you cling to one another, until Dustin clears his throat. 

“Ahem,” he draws your attention. “There are kids here, ya know.”

Lucas, Max, and Mike all snicker when you frantically pull away from Steve in embarrassment. Both of your faces are red, the air between you still hangs with something you’re not quite sure how to name. 

“We’re coming.” Steve mumbles to your brother before turning to you. “Ready?”

You take a deep breath and nod, your nerves still shaky from being so close to him prior. When you’re ready, you grab onto the rope and feel Steve’s always gentle hands grip your waist. You’re slow climbing up, being the most injured out of everyone, but he’s patient with you and murmurs encouragement as you climb. 

Once you’re safely up, you help the kids with Steve. The moment his feet touch solid land, he lets out a low whistle and claps his hands. “Well, I’d say that went well–”

Suddenly, Billy’s headlights begin to shine obnoxiously bright. The light increases in its intensity, glowing brighter and brighter, so much so that you and everyone else have to shield your eyes. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the lights shut off. 

It’s quiet. No one says anything, unsure of what’s just happened, but you know.

“El,” you whisper, somehow knowing it’s her. Mike nods, understanding as well. 

She did it. 

She closed the gate. 

You pull the kids into you, dragging them all in your arms in a giant hug. All you feel right now is disbelief. The plan worked. You’re all somehow still alive. 

Steve stands behind you, his chest firm against your back, and you allow yourself to gently lean against him. To accept all that he’s silently providing you; there’s no point in fighting it any more. He’s here, offering you anything you need from him, and you’re exhausted from pretending that you don’t see it. 

After a few moments of silence, you finally release the kids and nudge them towards the car. 

It’s time to go home. 

– 

“So what exactly did you guys do with Billy?” Steve’s driving and you’re in the passenger seat, waves of exhaustion crashing upon you. From the rearview mirror, Steve sees Lucas, Dustin, and Mike all turn to Max slowly. He frowns. “Why are you all looking at her?”

Max shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “I handled it.”

“She sedated him and we left him on the floor at Will’s.” Dustin fills in the information that Max opted to omit, which she elbows him for. 

Steve blinks, turns to you, and asks, “You heard that too, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Cool.”

When you get to Jonathan’s, Billy is sitting hunched over on the porch, waiting. He looks rough, his eyes bleary and his hair matted. When you see him, you feel your throat constrict in pain and a sense of panic builds within you. You look towards Steve, see his bruised cheek, then notice the way Max squirms in the backseat being near Billy, and the panic is replaced with anger. 

He’s caused enough pain and turmoil to those you love. 

Steve parks the car and turns in his seat so that he’s facing everyone. “Alright, we all see that Billy is awake, so you guys stay here while I go and–”

“We.” You correct, swallowing down the pain you feel. 

Steve inhales and looks as if he wants to argue, but he just shakes his head and continues. “Okay, we go and talk to the guy.”

“I want to come.” Max says, though she still refuses to look in Billy’s direction. 

You rest a hand on her leg. You understand what she’s asking for, to handle her brother herself, take her life into her own hands. Max is a brave kid, she’s shown you that much tonight, and while you trust her to make the right decision, you’re still hesitant. “Are you sure?”

She thinks for a second before nodding. Her eyes harden and she juts her jaw out. She’s made up her mind, and you get a kick out of seeing the fire within her. Max Mayfield is an incredible young girl, and you’re honored to know that she trusts you. “I’m sure.”

“Then let’s go.”

You, Steve, and Max walk side by side towards Billy, though you make sure to place the girl slightly behind you in case her brother tries anything. 

When Billy notices you approach, he lifts his head up and waves lazily at the three of you. “Back already?” His words slur together and his eyes are glossy; the sedative must still be wearing off. 

Max steps forward. “Take me home.” 

Billy eyes her, looks between you and Steve, and then sighs. “Fine. Any other demands?”

The girl shakes her head. “I’ll wait in the car.”

And then she’s gone, leaving you and Steve alone with Billy. 

He eyes you, sees the bruises on your neck, and a languid smile drawls across his face. “Seems I left a mark, sweetheart.”

Steve steps forward, but you put your hand out and stop him. You appreciate him, you do, but this is something you have to do yourself. You swallow again, feeling the tender flesh within your throat constrict, and try to make your words come out as neutral as possible. “Seems I did, too.”

Billy looks down at his shoulder, the wound from your knife is still bleeding. “So you did.”

Lucas and the other boys stand off to the side now, having left the car alone for Max. When Billy notices them staring, he sighs and wipes his hands off on his jeans and slowly gets up. “Well, my bitch of a sister awaits.”

As Billy leaves, Mike runs up the steps and unlocks the front door. “Y/N, think you could make those cookies again? I’m starving.”

You glare at him and Steve laughs. “I’m not sure she can even walk up the steps, dude.”

“Yeah, look at her.” Dustin waves his hands in front of you. “She looks like a zombie.”

Lucas makes zombie sounds and pretends to eat Dustin’s brains before Mike joins in. The three of them chase each other into the house, screaming “brains” and “die” as they mess around, leaving you and Steve alone outside. 

He steps in front of you, his back towards you and he crouches down. “Care for a ride?”

You want to argue, but it’s becoming harder and harder to keep your eyes open. It’d be a miracle if you even manage up the first step on the porch. Hesitantly, you place your hands on Steve’s shoulders and jump onto his back.

“Atta girl,” he laughs, standing back up so that he can carry you inside and join the boys. You wrap your arms around his neck and nuzzle your face as you close your eyes. You’re seconds away from falling asleep. Steve seems to sense this and slows down his footsteps so as to not disturb you. 

He navigates the home, remembering where to go from his time here last year. You’re warm against him and Steve’s fingers draw lazy circles onto your ankles. The boys are in the kitchen, scurrying around for any food, and Steve relishes in this small moment with you.

You’re placed down into a soft bed and the smell of Jonathan overwhelms you; you open your eyes and realize that Steve has taken you to the boy’s room. The bed is warm beneath you, the scent soothes your wounds. 

“Jonathan’s?” You ask, confused as to why Steve would take you here.

“Figured it’s where you sleep when you’re here.” He shrugs, as if it’s no big deal, before grabbing the blankets and tucking you in. His movements are careful and he makes sure your head is resting on a pillow and that he takes off your shoes. 

The gentleness of his touch soothes you. You’ve never let anyone take care of you like this before. You let him play with your hair, wrap the blanket around you so that you won’t get cold, and when he finally seems pleased with his work, he flicks your nose and smiles. “Get some sleep, dork.”

“Everyone is safe?”

His eyes melt. “They are. They’ll be home soon. In the meantime, I’ll rustle up some grub for those heathens outside while you sleep. Doctor’s orders.”

You giggle and grab his hand to bring to your lips. They linger against his knuckles, you inhale and breathe in his scent, and Steve’s breath hitches at the touch. “Thank you,” you whisper against his skin before placing another kiss. 

There’s such a lovely buzz within your chest, holding Steve’s hand fills you with this syrupy warmth like honey, and you’ve never felt it before. It drips down your skin and into your bones, healing wounds both old and new with its kisses. 

Steve squeezes your hand with his. He feels it, too. You both do. 

–

A body slides in next to yours, rousing you from your sleep. A hand wraps around your waist and the fingers, long and lithe and familiar, skim your skin lazily. The sensation almost lulls you back to sleep, you know whose touch this is, whose body lays next to yours. 

You open your arms and engulf Jonathan into a hug. His body lays atop of yours, reminiscent of the night a few days ago when he snuck into your room before he left with Nancy. Your body has long since come to anticipate his weight against yours, it’s become accustomed to how he lands upon you. 

“What time is it?” You rasp, stroking Jonathan’s hair with your fingers as he breathes steadily against you. You’re not sure how long you’ve been asleep, but the pain in your throat has lessened, your voice is slowly returning to normal.

“Early morning,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss against your shoulder. “Steve took Dustin home, no one wanted to wake you. Apparently you had a rough night.”

You laugh, then wince at the pain it draws from your throat and ribs. “You could say that.”

Jonathan places another kiss upon your skin, this time against the base of your throat. He litters kisses up and down your neck, his breath tickling as he does so. “I’m sorry,” he says in between each kiss, as if his words will make the bruises fade faster. 

Rather than respond, knowing nothing you can say will make him believe that none of this is Jonathan’s fault, you simply hum at his kisses and lean into them. “Will?”

“He’s okay, he’s safe. Mom is with him now.”

You hum again, relishing in the knowledge that Will is okay and that Jonathan is once again here with you. The house is quiet, everyone else asleep, and the two of you lay like this for a while. No more words are said, Jonathan presses kisses against your skin as your fingers interlock through his hair and you run your hand up and down his back. 

Somehow, you know this will be the last time you ever have him like this. 

Just the two of you, uncrossed in any boundaries. Skin against skin, kisses to wounds and fingers intertwined. You hope that your body never forgets the weight of his. You hope that it will always anticipate his impact, welcoming it after a long day. Jonathan’s touch will soon become ghosts lingering on your skin, and selfishly you never want this moment to end. 

Uncrossed boundaries, threads and strings and lines. 

They’re here. You can see them now, they almost glow faintly within Jonathan’s room, the same room in which you grew up in. 

“Bee?” You whisper, nudging him gently to get his attention. He lifts his head from your neck and looks at you, eyes open and listening. “We have to talk about it.”

The early morning light streams through the curtain and illuminates Jonathan’s face. His eyes are a mixture of browns and reds and ambers and you try to remember what they look like now, before the words are said and nothing will ever be the same again. 

“I’m scared,” he admits. You’ve made him into who he is today, with all of his quirks and humor and love. Jonathan doesn’t know who he would be without you, and he’s terrified that he’ll say the wrong thing and lose you forever.

“I know,” you stroke his cheek. “I am, too.”

“I don’t want to–I can’t lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me, Jonathan Byers.” You’re firm in your words, now grasping at his face with your hands. “We’re connected, remember? String theory, you and me.”

Jonathan has tears in his eyes. “But I slept with Nancy.”

His confession only makes you sigh. “I know, bee.”

“I–I think… I think this time it’ll turn into something more. I… I think I love her, bug.” His voice cracks, terrified of his own words. He recognizes now, far too late, all that he’s missed. “But bug… I know there’s–that there’s some things we should’ve talked about. A long time ago… but I just…”

“I know,” you know everything he’s trying to tell you. There’s no hurt in your voice, only resignation, but you knew this would happen eventually. “We missed our chance a while ago.”

“Did we ever really have a chance?” He asks, thinking back to the day the two of you met. How easily you accepted him into your life, the role you unknowingly assigned to him as your best friend. How, for years, he’d been so in love with you but terrified it’d scare you away. 

You play with his fingers, thinking for a moment. “I’d like to think that we did. I think we just… We missed each other, along the way.”

He smiles, bittersweet and somber. “We would’ve been something great, huh?”

“You’re my person,” you tell him, a certain sadness creeping into your voice. It’s the truth. No one will ever know you like he does, no one can unravel you the way he can. The love you have for Jonathan is unyielding, it transcends everything else you’ve ever felt. “Of course we would’ve been something great.”

“And now?”

You bite your lip, unsure. “Now we just… We let go.”

Jonathan tightens his arms and presses himself further against you. “I’m never letting you go, Y/N Henderson.”

You feel tears beginning to form in your eyes, both from grief and acceptance. “You don’t have to, but we have to let go of our claim to one another. You’re Nancy’s, now. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. To anyone.”

“And you’re Steve’s?” He asks, hesitant to bring the boy up. While you watched Jonathan fall in love with Nancy, he’s watched you fall for Steve. 

“I think I could really love him,” you admit, breathless. “I think I’ve already started to fall for him.”

Jonathan’s heart twists at the breathlessness in your voice, though he knows he’ll have to get used to this. To no longer being the reason for your bashfulness. It’ll take time, but he knows in the end that it’s for the better. “You deserve to go for it, bug.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” he playfully pokes your side. “Nancy fucked up with him, and I fucked up with you. The two of you deserve better than us, and I… I want you to be happy, you know that.”

“I know, but…” you turn to him now, needing him to understand all that you still don’t know how to voice yourself. “Remember our pinky promise from last year?”

Jonathan wiggles his pinky at you, unsure where you’re going with this. “I do.”

“We’ll always stay like this, right? You and me?” You know it’s selfish to ask, to expect everything to stay the same between you, but losing Jonathan would be the one thing you’d never recover from. He’s in your bones, now. He’s grown up alongside you, patched up your wounds as a child and now holds your hands through the nightmares you face together. 

It doesn’t matter how you and Jonathan end, whether you’re lovers in this universe or simply the best of friends. Regardless of what’s happened, he’s the most important person in your life. He always will be.

Jonathan presses a kiss upon your forehead, his lips warm. “Always, and I’ll always love you the most, bug.”

“I’ll always love you the most, bee.” The words come easily to you, an exhale after being inhaled so long ago. 

The world stills. Then, as slow as the sun rises after a harsh winter’s night, the strings and lines finally settle between you two.

“Let’s go to bed.” Jonathan whispers, wanting to hold onto you for at least a few more hours. 

In the late morning hours the two of you will wake up, and it will be the last time you do so in each other’s arms. 

– 

When Jonathan drops you off at home the next day, your mom freaks when she sees you. Dustin had tried to prepare her, making up some lie about how you’d fallen down at the Byers’ house and that’s why you couldn’t come home for a few days. However, your mom still had a heart attack when you walked through the front door with a split head, black eye, bruised neck, and a bloodied side. 

“My baby!” She took you into her arms and immediately set her eyes on Jonathan. “What, did you have a bear in the house or something?”

Jonathan looked over at Dustin with a helpless look on his face and your brother had sighed. He figured he’d have to be the one to take over. “Like I said, mom. Y/N just got really into our campaign and fell. She’s fine, I mean, look at her!”

You did your best to appear very fine and healthy, despite your concussion forming a horrendous headache. You forced a smile on your face, all teeth. “All fine and dandy, mom.”

Claudia Henderson hadn’t bought it.

You were placed under house arrest for two weeks. 

During these two weeks, you were only allowed to leave the house to either go to work (somehow Mrs. Waters still hasn’t fired you despite missing three days of work), and go to school. It wasn’t so bad, though. You had needed the rest, and Nancy visited you a few days into your house arrest.

You’re not sure when she officially began her relationship with Jonathan, but the first time she came to see you, she had brought a giant basket full of baked goods and comics she had asked Jonathan about. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Nance.” You had informed the girl when you saw her struggling to carry the basket. 

“I stole your boyfriend, it’s the least I could do.” You stared at her, eyes so wide that your black eye almost fully opened, and Nancy had let out a loud laugh. You’d never heard her laugh so openly before, and it was a beautiful sight. “It was a joke, Y/N. It’s okay to laugh.”

“Ha, ha, Wheeler.” You took the basket from her and inspected its contents. There were more comics than you could count and the muffins smelled delicious. “This is a good haul.”

Nancy had smiled, relieved that she’d done something right. She had bugged Jonathan all day yesterday, anxious to do something nice for you because she felt this crippling need to make you like her. He had reassured her a million times that you did already like her, but Nancy has never been the best at making friends, and she knows the history between you and her is tense. 

“You really like it?”

“I love it, dude.” You saw the way Nancy’s body relaxed, as if she had been terrified you’d burn the basket in front of her face. It’s only then that you realized why she was there. “You and Jonathan finally seal the deal?”

Nancy blushed, still unused to how well you perceive others. “We did.”

“Took you guys long enough!” You squealed and threw your arms around her, elated for your friends. Sure, it still stung a bit, but Nancy was trying, so you were too. “But can I say just one thing, and then we’ll bury the hatchet for good?”

“Of course, Y/N.” Nancy said, though you felt her body tense underneath your hold. She had been bracing for impact, and it broke your heart to imagine how she was feeling in that moment. 

You grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. “I’m happy for you two, I really am, okay? You know my history with Jonathan, and I’m sure he’s told you everything, but I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“I’m listening,” she whispered, gripping your hand tightly. 

“If anything, and I mean anything, bothers you about my relationship with him, I need you to tell me. Don’t let anything simmer, don’t swallow down any hurt. I need you to know that I will always respect your guys’ relationship, and if you ever feel that I don’t, please tell me.”

Nancy, to your surprise, had laughed. “That’s it? Geesh, Y/N. I was expecting you to threaten me with your knives or something. I understand your connection with Jonathan, I know what I agreed to.” She paused, and then added with a sly smirk, “Besides, I know you wouldn’t cross any boundaries because you’ve spent practically all year pining after Steve.”

“I did not!” You gaped at her, shocked that she would say such a thing, and Nancy laughed so hard that it took both you and her another ten minutes to say anything else. It was lovely, laughing alongside the girl you once held so much resentment over. Now there you were, rib cage aching with glee.

And that’s how Nancy Wheeler became your best friend.  

After that, things seemed to settle down during the month that followed the events of Hawkin’s Lab. 

While you healed your wounds at home, Jonathan and Nancy came to visit you whenever they could. It was weird, at first, being in the same room as them now that they were together, but within minutes the three of you formed your own dynamic. You and Nancy teased Jonathan while he simply shook his head at the two of you and did whatever you asked. 

It was a good dynamic, really. 

A week into house arrest, your mom let you finally return to work.

Of course, on your first day back, Steve was standing inside of Bookstrordinary, waiting for you. 

Seeing him there, hair messy and smile warm, felt like coming home. 

“Back so soon?” You had teased, walking slowly up to him. 

His smile widened and he grabbed your hand and tugged you closer, impatient with how long it was taking you to come to him. “Like I could wait any longer.”

“I stack and you sort?”

“Let’s get to work, Henderson.” He winked and spun you around, causing you to giggle, a sound he’d come to adore, and the two of you set off to work. 

Steve becomes a regular at Bookstrorindary again, and one day you come home from school to find him sitting at your kitchen table with Dustin and your mom. They were eating an after school snack together, chatting as if they were old friends. Your mom was even blushing as Steve charmed her. It was a disorienting sight, to say the least. 

“Is this going to be a thing now?” You’d asked, setting your backpack down to grab your own snack and join. 

“I invited him.” Dustin said with a mouth full of apples. “He’s cool, and mom likes him, so. Yeah.”

Your mom pinched Steve’s cheek and giggled. “He’s just so charming!”

Steve sent you a wink, basking in your mother’s praise, and in that moment, seeing him with the two people you loved most in this world, you knew.

It hit you like a warm, soft summer breeze. It swirled around you, kissed your skin the way only the sun can do, and you could almost smell the fresh summer honey that your dad used to buy for your birthday. The feeling was serene, it felt as easy as exhaling.

You were in love with Steve Harrington. 

Only this time, the realization made you smile; you accepted it with open arms. You walked over to him and ruffled his hair before sitting next to him at the table. Biting your own apple, you winked at your mom, agreeing with what she had said. “He is indeed very charming.”

Dustin gagged while Steve draped an arm across your chair and stole your apple. “That I am, Y/N.”

Maybe love wasn’t so bad after all.

The following week, both Steve and Nancy asked you to attend Barb’s funeral, and of course you went. 

It was a small service, and Jonathan held Nancy’s hand throughout all of it. While it hurt to see her cry, you can’t help but think about how incredible Nancy is. She’s the reason that Barb is even getting a funeral in the first place, having brilliantly exposed Hawkin’s Lab and giving her friend the justice she deserves. 

Steve stood next to you, stoic and guilty, and after the service ended you had to pull him aside and remind him that none of it had been his fault. He listened, but you know he hadn’t necessarily heard you.

It’s similar to how you feel with Will, and how Jonathan feels with you, and Nancy with Barb. 

You all hold a heavy weight within you, of guilt and shame and despair. There’s nothing that specifically can be done to lessen it. All you can do is allow the ones you love to carry the weight with you, to share it and accept the help that they offer. 

Time can’t heal all wounds, you recognize this now, so you do things for those you love and see the good that’s still there, even if it’s hard sometimes. 

And that’s what you do.

You start stopping by Hopper’s cabin to see El.

He hated it at first, but when you showed up one day with a box of nail polish and comics, El had been so overjoyed that he simply sighed and let you in. 

You teach the girl how to read, having her say words out loud as you paint her nails, and it’s lovely. It’s rare to get the girl all to yourself, so spending time with her is always the favorite part of your day. Plus, she starts to get really into Spider-Man, so you’ve done your job as an avid fan. 

As for Will and the boys, you start to make it a point to partake in their DnD campaigns whenever possible. While it’s hard balancing work, school, El, and the party, you don’t regret it for a single second. It’s exhausting, but a good kind of exhaustion. One that leaves your bones aching in a rewarding way at the end of the day.

You’ll never tell Jonathan this, but he had been right a few months ago. You’d been burning yourself out, running away from everything you didn’t want to confront, from your feelings to your crippling worry for the kids. You’re not sure how much you had left in you, looking back now.

You had been drowning for a long, long time. 

But as you pick up Dustin and Will from Mike’s, Jonathan by your side as always, your nails painted a messy shade of blue thanks to El, and Steve waiting for you back at your house, you’re finally able to breathe. 

– 

It somehow takes you the entire day to get Dustin ready for the Snowball. 

He’s running around the house, frantically trying to find his bowtie that he’s misplaced, and you’re currently digging through the endless supply of hairspray that Steve dropped off yesterday. There’s so much hair products within the bag that he delivered, and it actually scares you a little. 

No way this much chemicals can be good for a kid. 

“Did you find the bowtie?” You yell from the bathroom, finally managing to open the bottle of hairspray that Steve specifically told you to use first. 

“Yes!” Dustin runs back into the bathroom and throws the piece of fabric at you. “Quick, put it on while I spray my hair!” 

You roll your eyes at him but do as he asks, securing his bowtie to his baby blue button shirt. However, as he sprays his hair, he almost blinds you in the process. “Christ, Dustin! That’s practically a weapon.”

He continues to spray. “You’re the one who insisted on helping me get ready.”

“I wanted you to look handsome,” you coo at him, straightening his bowtie one final time before stepping back and admiring your handiwork. “All done, and look at you!”

Dustin sprays even more product into his hair and tries to shove you out of the bathroom, but he secretly preens. “Am I really handsome?”

You admire him and you can’t believe how grown up he is now. He’s grown another three inches since last month and with the way he’s styled his hair, he looks like a teenager. Your heart stings a bit, seeing him no longer look like the little brother you know and love. He’s changing, growing up. “The handsomest.”

He smiles at you. “Thanks, Y/N. Now go get dressed while I finish my hair. Steve will be here any minute!”

You salute him and run to your room. Nancy had asked you to chaperon alongside her at the dance, and you figured it’d be fun watching Dustin and the party failing miserably with prepubescent girls, so you agreed. However, because it somehow took five hours helping your brother get ready, you run around your room in a hurry.

You’ve just finished applying some mascara when the doorbell rings, and your heart skips a beat.

“Y/N, Steve is here!” Your mother calls, a slight glee in her voice. She’s quickly come to adore the boy, something that Steve milks whenever he can. He’s incredibly proud of it, honestly. 

You run to the door and open it, Dustin is still spraying his hair to death in the bathroom. 

When Steve sees you, he forgets how to speak. You’re dressed in a soft white dress and you’ve pinned the front two pieces of your hair back. You’ve dotted your lips with a berry-red lipstick and your cheeks look more flushed than usual. 

You see the blush that immediately forms on Steve’s cheeks and you giggle, suddenly shy. It’s awkward, but a nice awkward between you two. “Hey.”

“H–hi.” His voice squeaks and he clears his throat. “I–I mean, hey. You, uh… You look. Wow. I mean, not wow, but also wow–”

“Dude,” Dustin now joins and looks disappointedly at Steve. “Get it together, man.”

He pats his chest and starts heading towards the car, and you can’t help but snort. “He’s so lovely, isn’t he?”

Steve holds out his arm for you to take, the momentary awkwardness now gone. “The Henderson charm is a fascinating thing.”

During the car ride, the closer Steve gets to the school, the more you see Dustin fidget in the back seat. He had been so excited earlier, but now you notice the doubt in his eyes and the way he keeps patting his hair, unsure. 

You tap Steve’s hand to get his attention. When he looks over, you motion towards the backseat and he realizes what you’re trying to tell him. He nods, and the two of you silently agree to give the kid a pep talk once you get to the school. 

“Alright, buddy. Here we are.” Steve parks the car and tries to give Dustin a reassuring smile, but your brother looks out the window and exhales nervously. “Remember, once you get in there…”

“Pretend like I don’t care.”

You interrupt. “Okay, no. I thought we abandoned that idea last month.”

“Technically you abandoned it, I didn’t.” Dustin responds, and Steve shrugs his shoulders at you. 

“Dustin, I really want you to be yourself, okay?” You turn to face the kid. “What did I tell you last month, huh?”

“That we Hendersons are charming people.” He grumbles. 

“Exactly, and I meant that. Use your charm, buddy.”

Dustin isn’t listening, instead he tries to look at himself in the rearview mirror to once again fix his hair. Steve sees this and stops him. “Hey, listen to your sister, alright? You look great, okay?”

“Such a handsome lad.”

Steve puts his hand up to stop you. “Okay, ignore her and listen to me. Now, you’re gonna go in there…”

Dustin nods. “Yeah.”

“Look like a million bucks.”

“Yeah!”

“And you’re gonna slay ‘em dead.”

“Like a lion.”

You cringe. “I’m not at all liking this language use in relation to women.”

Dustin purrs, just to spite you, but now Steve cringes and shakes his head, “Yeah, don’t do that, okay?”

“Okay.” Dustin deflates, but when Steve offers him his hand to shake, his face lights back up and he accepts it. 

Steve winks at the kid. “Good luck.”

“You got this!” You shout as Dustin exits the car. He gives you a thumbs up and starts to walk towards the school, leaving just you and Steve alone in the car. 

With Dustin gone, a tension creeps within the car. You look over at Steve and he catches your eye, and your stomach flutters. You can’t deny that there’s nothing there, and it’s… it’s nice, honestly. 

You don’t feel the same fear you did with Jonathan. You can look at Steve and admire his beauty and all you feel is warmth. His smile doesn’t hurt you, and the way he’s looking at you so unabashedly no longer scares you. 

“You look beautiful, Y/N.” Steve says, his voice honest and dripping with honey. 

You blush, and he wants to kiss the pretty red until it colors his own lips as well. “Thank you.”

There’s more you both want to say, but for now you simply enjoy each other’s presence. It’s too soon, you know this. He’s still in love with Nancy, and you don’t blame him. Instead, you bask in his gaze and he admires how lovely you are. How lovely you always are.

He feels it, too. He knows what you’re thinking, and for once he feels comfortable with where he is. You’re here, next to him, expecting nothing but what you know he’s ready to give you. 

You press a kiss to his cheek, and Steve’s heart aches. “Drive home safe, okay?”

As you pull away, he catches your arm and stops you. You look up, confused, and Steve’s gaze softens. He doesn’t know how else to say it, how else to ask you to stay. “Be patient with me, okay?”

You don’t have to ask what he means; you know. 

Whatever he needs, you’ll give it to him. You place a hand on his face and stroke his cheek, he leans against the touch and closes his eyes. This is the easiest promise you’ve ever made. “Take all the time you need, I’ll be here.”

The words cause Steve to sigh, you’re too good for him. You’re everything lovely and beautiful and kind, and Steve can’t believe how lucky he is to know you, to have you in his life the way no one else does. That you’ll wait for him, trusting him with your heart, and he can’t believe that you’re real.

“You’re an angel.” He breathes out, feeling everything constrict within his chest when you smile. 

“And you’re sweet honey.” You press one last kiss to Steve’s face and get out of the car. No other words are needed. 

Steve watches you as you leave, your kiss still burning his face, the same burning warmth he’s come to love about you. He watches as you walk up to Nancy inside the school and she hands you a drink, the two of you laughing. You both look so different standing side by side. 

A girl Steve loves and the girl he knows that in time he’ll come to love more than anything else. 

He’s already falling for you, he thinks he has been ever since he first saw you all those years ago when you were twelve and he was thirteen. He’s falling for you, but he won’t rush it. It wouldn’t be fair to you, not after everything you’ve been through. 

So Steve admires you, he watches the way your hair dances as you laugh and the way the kids around you smile in admiration. He forgets that Nancy is even there, his eyes only on you, and for the first time in a long time, Steve smiles a real smile. 

Your kiss on his cheek lingers, and he presses his fingers to it and feels his body warm. You’ll be waiting for him, and that’s more than enough for now.

Take your time, I’ll be here.

And Steve believes you.

[END OF SEASON 2]

-

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[bonny-kookoo]

Taehyung/Jungkook

Crowded | Drabble #1

In which you're gone on heat-leave, and Jungkook is grumpy about it.

Tags/Warnings: Wolf!Jungkook, Tiger!Taehyung, Fox!Reader, Mutual (secret) pining, romance, fluff, slight angst, mention of heat but everything's SFW

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♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

“Wait, where’s-” Jungkook asks, only finding Taehyung on the couch of their shared apartment.  

“She left this morning for her hotel stay.” The tiger hybrid replies, watching how Jungkook’s wolf tail slowly lowers down, falling limp behind him as he shows his disappointment.  

“Oh.” He simply says, having forgotten that it’s this time of the year again, when you’ll be gone a lot due to your heat. It happens every year, but that doesn’t mean that Jungkook likes it- especially because he considers you part of his admittedly kind of odd pack.  

He gets upset when Taehyung is gone for more than a day as well.  

You’ve all been living together for a few years now, since rent prices have been rising, and you all had simultaneously started struggling paying for your own apartments around the same time. This, and the long-term friendship you’ve all had, resulted in the decision to simply move in together, with Jungkook’s original apartment becoming the new home for everyone.  

And to him, it had always been heaven- except for times like these. 

Taehyung knows of the crush his best friend has on you, mostly because he himself has the same feelings for you as well. It’s not as complicated between the two guys as one might think though, minus that they don’t know what your own emotional connection to them as of yet. It’s not that easy, after all- if you don’t have any feelings for either of them, you might feel too weird to continue living with them, and that’s just something they’d like to avoid.  

Then again, the moment you find that special someone that’s not them, you’ll leave as well.  

So what to do?  

“Can’t she just.. Stay here?” Jungkook huffs, sitting down next to Taehyung who’s been watching TV on his day off. “I don’t like it when she’s gone so long..”  

“She texted and said she’ll be back tomorrow, Kook.” Taehyung sighs. “And you know very well why she can’t be here.” The tiger hybrid reminds his friend, who just continues sulking on the couch.  

He especially is very much affected by your yearly heat every time- and while he can most certainly control himself, and poses no danger to you at all, he still can’t deny the effect you have on him. It’s one of the main reasons he feels so strongly about you not being here right now- his instincts yelling at him to keep you close and in sight during such a vulnerable time.  

But you’re not his mate, and he’s not your partner. He has to accept your decisions.  

Much to his surprise however, the door opens to reveal you back already- bag in hand and everything. Your more than annoyed expression immediately tells that something must’ve happened for you to come back home way earlier than you said you would.  

“What happened?” Taehyung wonders instantly, a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder keeping the tail-wagging wolf down on the couch until you’ve revealed why you’re back already.  

“I don’t know!” You whine. “But I couldn’t stay at all.” You complain, throwing your bag into your room before you walk into the open kitchen to grab a bottle of water. “Don’t worry, I’ve taken surpressors and basically bathed in scent-blocker.” You motion towards Taehyung holding Jungkook- and the second the tiger hybrid lets go of his friend, Jungkook is right at your side, hugging you from behind while you drink your water.  

To everyone else, this must look like he’s some touch-starved boyfriend. But to you, this is normal. Jungkook is always like this, especially during your mating season.  

And he’s also a wolf- a known kind of hybrid that just has a strong pack-mentality. It’s why Taehyung is a lot more independent compared to him- as a tiger hybrid, he’s more laid back and offers you a lot more freedom. At first, you actually thought he didn’t really like you- but after a thorough talk, you now know that he really does deeply care about you and Jungkook. He was just a little worried to overstep boundaries- that was it.  

But nowadays, boundaries just don’t seem to exist amongst the three of you.  

From Jungkook’s need for physical contact, to Taehyungs casual forms of bonding whenever you want something quiet- sometimes, you wonder if this is all still just a very good friendship. But right now, you don’t really care. Right now, you’re just happy to be back home and with your two best friends.  

“We can look for another hotel you can stay at?” Taehyung asks, a bit nervous at the sight of Jungkook shamelessly sniffing your neck, while his arms are wrapped around you. He knows that Jungkook can control himself, and he trusts him too- but his own instincts still make him a bit uneasy since he doesn’t know how you’ll react during such a time like this.  

After all, this would potentially be the first time you’ll spend your entire mating season at home, and not away from them. And that alone will most likely be a gigantic challenge for both of the hybrid men in this household.  

“No, I don’t know..” You whine to yourself, putting the bottle of water down on the kitchen counter. “I..” You’re quiet now, just staring ahead, and Jungkook perks up at that, looking over your shoulder to check on you.  

“You..?” He asks, wondering what you’re not saying out loud.  

“The.. You know, doctors there said I might..” you sigh, carefully removing Jungkook’s arms from you to put some distance between you and him, and Jungkook stares at you now like a kicked puppy, confused. And it alarms Taehyung too, who stays at a distance, but walks closer anyways. “They said because I live with you both, and have been for some time, I might’ve gotten..” You sigh, crossing your arms. “Instinctually.. Attached.” You mumble.  

It’s quiet for a moment. Jungkook is visibly caught off guard, looking over helplessly at Taehyung who’s just as lost as the wolf.  

Instinctually attached, basically is just a fancy way of saying that your body has started to believe that both Jungkook and Taehyung are your mates, and therefore your permanent partners- in every way, including the more intimate aspects. This is usually what you want to happen in a relationship- but in a mere friendship, this is basically the worst thing that could occur. 

Because this means that your body basically won’t accept anyone else as your heat partner whatsoever unless you’re confronted with flat out rejection. Which is what you expected to happen now- 

But they’re both oddly quiet, nervously looking around instead.  

And that makes you nervous in turn.  

“I mean.. What do you think about that?” Jungkook wonders, while Taehyung’s ears snap towards you as if to hear your answer better.  

“I.. Don't know?” You answer. “I really need you both to.. You know, reject me though. Otherwise we might be facing some issues.” You chuckle dryly, looking down nervously.  

“We can’t.” Taehyung simply answers, both Jungkook and you instantly looking at him. “What? You know even if we did, it wouldn’t change a thing because we wouldn’t mean it.” Taehyung says to Jungkook who’d been shaking his head in a bit of panic.  

“What?” You respond, confused.  

“I.. Well, what Taehyung is hinting at..” Jungkook rubs his neck nervously. “.. is that we both like you.” 

“Which would explain your situation.” Taehyung says, before he walks closer. “And what would explain this even better-” He says, his own tail rising behind him. “-Would be, that the feeling is mutual.”  

You stare at him, ears pinned back, having both of them wait for your answer. And you know you can’t lie. Because Taehyung is right.  

The rejection has to be mutual, and it has to be sincere.  

And you can’t do that.  

Because it would be a lie.  

And the second your body loses all tension, visibly admitting to your own emotional connection to them, Jungkook is right there, hugging you close to reassure you. “Why didn’t you say anything?” He wonders, and you just shrug.  

“Cause I thought it would be weird.” You confess. “And it would ruin our friendship.” You whine.  

“It doesn’t, I promise.” Taehyung reassures as well, now also at your side. “We’ve always been a pretty odd pack after all. Why not evolve into a pretty odd couple?” He shrugs, making you look at him wide eyed.  

“Wait, are you serious?” You ask, confused- But with the way Taehyung smiles, and Jungkook’s tail keeps wagging against one of the kitchen chairs, you don’t actually need a verbal response.  

And you know, they’re not just saying it because of your heat. Because it’s pretty clear to you now, in hindsight, that they’ve been very much openly hinting at it for a good year now.  

You’ve just blinded yourself with some made up excuses as to why it can’t be true.  

“At least you’re back home now.!” Jungkook sighs in bliss, holding you close again.  

“True, if not, he would’ve been yapping into my ear the entire weekend.” the tiger hybrid jokes, making Jungkook huff a bit embarrassed.  

“Well, you won’t have to miss me too much.” You giggle. “Just maybe a little bit when I have to you know, put my room on lockdown.” You say.  

“I mean, we could always help?” Jungkook shamelessly asks, causing Taehyung to shake his head.  

“Shut up you horny dog-” He scolds, but you but into it right away.  

“Won’t it be too fast?” You worry. “I mean.. I don’t know. Like, sure, I love you guys but, we probably should take it easy..” You drift off, looking at both the hybrids in question staring at you with eyes wide. “What?” You wonder, before Jungkook hides his face in the crook of your neck.  

“We love you too.!” He happily whines into your skin, tail wagging again, and even Taehyung can’t help but blush quite visibly, having to hide his face behind his head. And in that moment, one thing is for sure; you’ve always been an odd pack, and you’re already a pretty odd couple as well.  

But you already wouldn’t have it any other way. 

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook imagine #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook imagine #bts jungkook imagine #hybrid imagine #bts jungkook fanfic #bts taehyung imagine #bts taehyung imagines #kim taehyung imagine #kim taehyung x reader

[lqveharrington]

Sleepy | A.P.

Summary: Gorgons, having a head full of snakes, turn out to be extremely tired and clingy during cold seasons.

A/N: we need more fics of my fav gorgon, and if we don’t have any, i take matters into my own hands :)

Warnings: (not proof read) Use of Y/N L/N, use of she/her, cursing, ajax being soft and adorable, mainly fluffy fluff, reader is a witch, xavier and wednesday are dating, lmk if i missed any !!

Pairing: Ajax Petropolus x fem!reader

Word Count: 2k+

————

Every winter, snakes brumate over the winter. They stop eating as the temperature drops, their metabolism slows down, and they look for an underground place to hide from surface temperature changes. Which seems perfectly normal for a snake to do once the season changes.

But when your boyfriend and a fourth of Nevermore’s population happen to have a head full of snakes for hair, it becomes more complicated.

During winter, Nevermore’s community of gorgons get drained easily or just exhausted in general from their genetics, so they had an exception for sleeping in class and their lack of being active.

But what you noticed with Ajax was that he was more clingy to you than usual. He would find any possible way to be close to you. You were eating with your friends? He would take the seat next to you and wrap his arm around you, head buried in your neck. When you took notes, he’d have his hand in yours, head resting on your shoulder. In Jericho despite the weather being absolutely freezing? He would stay by your side and order a hot chocolate from the Weathervane for you both to share.

You let him do what he wanted amid winter, never minding the extra close proximity. You quite liked his clinginess.

“Jax?” You murmur, his head resting on your shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“M’just tired, don’t worry.” He gave a soft response, not wanting to bother your conversation with Enid.

“Are you sure? We can go back to your dorm if you’d like.” Your brow creased as you rub circles into his hand that held yours. “I can just tell Enid, she’ll understand.”

He let out a small sigh, “I… You’re having fun with them, I don’t want to—“

“Babe, you’re gonna pass out sooner or later, and I would rather have you pass out in your bed than in a lounging area.” You interrupt the gorgon, catching his eyes full of love and exhaustion. “And you are not leaving on your own.”

For a few seconds, Ajax just stared at you, wondering how fucking lucky it was that you wanted to date him of all people. And in those few seconds, you had just finished explaining to Enid why you had to go, giving her a small smile.

“Let’s go,” You nudged his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts. “The comfort of your bed awaits!”

The trek to his dorm wasn’t as bad compared to when he had to sneak into your dorm. Polonius Hall was rarely checked upon by the hall master who was instructed to ensure the strict rules were being taken seriously. You did have trouble pulling him up the stairs from the common room to his room, the more tired he was, the more it seemed he was intoxicated. Which he wasn’t.

Finally getting to his room, you took the keys from his pocket, and— You forgot which was the right key.

You poke his cheek, earning a hum. “Which is the key?”

“The one with the snakes.” He mumbled, pointing in no particular direction.

Silently thanking him for decorating all his keys with different designs, you unlock his door, quickly taking him to his bed.

“Wait, aren’t you a witch? You couldn’t use your witchy powers to open my door?” Ajax sat slouched on the bed, pretending to use his hands to make the door move.

“I didn’t want to— That’s not the point right now, go get changed.” You try using an authoritative voice, but only hear a whine and a tired chuckle come from your beloved’s mouth. “What?”

“Nothing, you’re just cute.” He stood sluggishly and kissed your nose before heading to his closet. “η όμορφη κοπέλα μου είναι τόσο αξιολάτρευτη.” He said in a sing-song voice, his words confusing you.

“Babe, you know I don’t understand Greek.” You pout jokingly, leaning against his dresser. “What’d you say?”

He tapped his cheek first. You rolled your eyes at him, giving him a small peck. “Happy?”

“Of course.” Ajax grinned lazily and started to hum, completely ignoring your previous question.

“Jax.”

“Mhm?”

“You were— What the fuck?” You take your phone out of your back pocket, Enid’s name dragging across the screen. “Hello?”

“Hi! I know you’re like, very busy right now and you just left, but this is kinda an emergency and we need you. Like, now.” She spoke fast and it sounded like she was pacing.

“Uhm, alright, I’ll be there in a few.” You quickly ended the call and met the eyes of a curious gorgon. “Enid has an emergency—“

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” He reassured you, wrapping his arms around your torso. “Need to take a shower anyway.”

“You’re lucky I removed that mirror from your bathroom, A.” You cup his jaw, bringing him down so you could pepper his face with kisses. “It’ll be quick, then I’ll come back here.”

Separating from Ajax, you flash a small smile toward the tired male and then turn to leave, not before he wrapped his hand around your wrist, making you look back at him.

“I love you.”

Your smile gets slightly wider, “I love you too, Jax.”

Quickly parting from him, you speed walk to where Enid was, trying to figure out along the way what could have been the emergency.

— — —

“Oh my gosh, thank god you’re here!” Enid rushed over and grabbed your arm, pulling you toward the situation. “Look.”

“It’s a hat.”

“No, not that!” She turned your head toward Wednesday. “That.”

You blink once. Twice. “Wednesday, are you okay?”

“I’m absolutely splendid.” Her mouth twitched a bit.

“But you’re…”

“Smiling!” Enid shoved a mirror in front of her face, peeking behind. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

You glance at the girl’s phone, watching as Xavier’s contact pops up. “Did you go on a date with Thorpe, Wednesday?”

“No.” She spun around and shoved her phone inside a drawer, silently cursing her own stupidity. “Why would I ever willingly hang out with that—“

“She’s blushing! You’re blushing!” Enid jumped up and down, squealing at the usually pale Addams. “Wednesday has a boyfriend!”

“I do not!” She cleared her throat, pulling the monotone face again. “I don’t have a particular interest in this conversation you brought me in.”

“You like Xavier, there’s no denying it.” Enid happily says, clapping her hands together. “My blog must know!”

“Don’t, E.” You wring your hands. “You don’t want another Ajax and Y/N situation.”

She froze, “Right, sorry about that. Uh, I promise not to speak about it until you let me.”

“Good. Or I’d have you six feet under.” Wednesday almost grinned. “Now why aren’t you with your boyfriend?”

“Because Enid said this was an emergency.”

The werewolf threw a small glare toward you, “I mean, it kinda was? She was smiling so hard! It should be concerning!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m happy for you Wednesday. I hope he treats you right.” You give her a minute smile. “If not, Enid will full-on wolf out on the school’s resident tortured artist.”

“Yep.” Enid flashed a toothy smile. “I can terrify the shit out of him.”

“With your colorful nails? Of course.” The pigtailed girl sarcastically remarked.

You let out a small laugh, trying to avoid the pillow being thrown at you. “Enid!”

“What?” She threw another one at you, soon laughing along. “You’re laughing at my nails!”

“I’m not!” You defend yourself, deflecting the pillow with a flick of your wrist, red encasing the soft cushion.

“You so were! And that’s cheating!”

“How?” You throw the pillow back.

“You’re using your powers!”

Wednesday shook her head at the two of you, “Y/N.”

“Yeah?” You turn to her, but not before Enid threw one last pillow at your face, causing you to glare at the blonde.

“So you came here because smiling was an emergency?” She had an eyebrow raised, arms crossed. “I’m sure Ajax has been missing you since you left him alone approximately eighteen minutes and fifty-six seconds ago.”

“It hasn’t been over five minutes.” Your eyes flicker up to the clock on Enid’s side table, seeing it had indeed almost been twenty whole minutes.

“Your journey to Enid and I’s dorm from the boy’s dormitory takes way longer than you think it does, even with your speed walking.”

“How did you—? You know what? I probably won’t get a straight answer.” You check the clock again, biting the inside of your cheek. Taking your phone out, you check your messages, seeing that Ajax has indeed texted you. “Shit, uh, I have to go.” You awkwardly point to the door with your thumb, looking between the both of the girls.

“Okey-Dokey, it’s no biggie.” Enid grinned at you, her roommate rolling her eyes at the words she chose. “We all know how Ajax is during this season. Very clingy.”

You flash her a grateful smile, giving her a quick hug and Wednesday a nod. Leaving Ophelia hall, you take a sharp right, bumping into your hall master, Miss Thornhill.

“Oh! Miss L/N, I didn’t think you’d be out of your dorm at this hour. You know it’s past the times you’re allowed to go out.” She gave an off smile, one that gave you the creeps.

“I…” Your answer died on your tongue, racking your brain for anything that would avoid getting both you and Ajax in trouble. “Ajax… He has my… My textbook for your class! Yeah, he wanted to use mine because he totally forgot where he put his and—”

She put her hand up, indicating for you to stop. “I know you and Mister Petropolus are a thing, Y/N. I also know that gorgons have difficulty processing stuff during cold seasons. So if you really need to go over to him, I’ll give you permission. As long as you both are not caught, all right?”

“Yes, of course.” You silently thank her for having some sort of favorite.

“And no funny business either.”

Too late for that. You nod, knowing she’ll figure out the lie within your words.

“Good, now off you go.” Thornhill dismissed you, missing the way you let out a breath and cursed at not paying attention.

And this time, you recorded the time it took from Ophelia Hall to Ajax’s dorm, which turned out to be eleven minutes. Though Nevermore was big, you didn’t know it was that big of a school. Entering Polonius Hall’s common room, you heavily sighed, hands running through your hair. You didn’t think you’d be tired from everything that happened within the last hour.

Quietly, you pushed open your boyfriend’s door, finding him sleeping on his bed, showered, and changed into his plaid pajama pants and a band tee, a different beanie snug on his head. Though some of his snakes were already out, snoring as well. You tugged your converse off and changed into one of his shirts, trying not to make loads of noise. Wincing when you knocked the cup of pens and pencils over while putting some of his stuff away.

Taking in the way he was positioned on the bed, you opted to sleep on top of the covers, staying as far away from him. It was only to not disturb his slumber, but you knew when you felt the bed shift you had woken him up.

“Baby, what’re you doing?” His voice was raspy from sleep.

“Trying not to wake you up.” You reply.

Ajax lifted the blanket up, letting you slide underneath it and into his embrace. “I think you failed.”

“Go back to bed, ’m sorry.” You feel the warmth emitting from his body, legs immediately intertwining with his.

“η όμορφη κοπέλα μου είναι τόσο αξιολάτρευτη.” He said again, kissing your forehead. You hum, fatigue taking over your body. “My beautiful girlfriend is so adorable.”

“Is that what that means?’

“Mhm.” He put his head on top of yours. “Also, don’t worry. I couldn’t sleep without my beautiful girlfriend with me.”

“Go to sleep, my love.” You peck his collarbone. “You can flirt with me in the morning.”

————

© lqveharrington — all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms.

#wednesday #ajax petropolus x reader #ajax x you #ajax wednesday #ajax #ajax petropolus #ajax x reader #ajax petropolus fluff #ajax petropolus angst #ajax petropolus x you #ajax petropolus x reader fluff #georgie farmer #georgie farmer x reader #august’s works 🫧

[koishiro]

001 — 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ — 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : megumi fushiguro x afab!reader

“C’mon she’ll love it!”

Nobara comforts her friend on the edge of his bed as he scrolls through your instagram page on his phone.

His two friends sat cross-legged on his bed as a never-ending stream of vibrant colours and countless pictures of your cat flashed by.

Over the course of a week the continuous reminder of Valentine’s Day followed Megumi like a persistent shadow. Not because he didn’t appreciate or love his girlfriend, but because of how bad he expressed the feelings that came along with being in a relationship. He and everyone around him knew he wasn’t exactly the most emotional or expressive person there was and the obnoxiously vibrant posters and hanging garlands around school didn’t exactly help.

Nobara wasn’t stupid, quickly catching on to his somber demeanor, recognizing the season and the pops of red and pink scattered throughout the hallways and she quickly connected the dots, a plan already starting to form in her head.

Thursday evening rolled around and unbeknownst to Megumi, his friends spontaneously showed up at his place and now here he sat, with Nobara taking the lead in ‘giving him advice’ on what to gift you to help express his true feelings while Megumi continued to scroll through your Instagram desperately trying to form some sort of idea for the ‘perfect gift’ for you.

"She's absolutely obsessed with cats, you know this! Imagine how perfect it would be to have an apron filled with adorable little tabby cats!" Megumi couldn't help but sigh, feeling like this whole thing was a complete waste of time. Valentine's Day was just around the corner, and he still hadn't thought of a gift for his own girlfriend. He couldn't help but wonder if he was failing as a boyfriend.

“Oh I know!” both Nobara and Megumi's heads snapped towards their pink haired friend with an audible crack.

“How about a personalized mug with your face? I remember seeing ones that say 'best boyfriend ever' somewhere before!" Yuji chimed in, eager to help.

He was doomed.

A delightful surprise awaited the boy as he walked through the school doors the next morning, hearing his girlfriend's sweet voice calling out, "Megs!" His ears perked up, eagerly soaking in the sound that resonated through the hallway.

There stood his pretty girl, wearing a perfect blend of pink with subtle hints of red, all brought together with bows, frills, and lace.

A smile unconsciously crept onto his face until his eyes gravitated towards the small neatly wrapped gift adorned with a bow was clasped tightly between your hands, held closely to your chest.

Skipping towards the boy adorned in his usual black attire, you quickly abandoned your bag by his locker as your arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug.

Just the scent of your perfume was enough for him to forget the looming thoughts not too far behind.

You weren’t expecting much to come out of today, the usual really. Your mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of your gift, waiting till the end of the day to finally give it to your boyfriend.

But what did stand out was how affectionate he seemed to be - unusually so. The entire day consisted of back hugs, kisses to your cheek and the constant feeling of his eyes fixed on you through class.

And It wasn’t till the end of the day when you were both comfortable in your pyjamas and settling in your bed surrounding by a myriad of sweets and chocolate that your gift lying amongst them was picked up and placed on his lap.

“Go on! Open it!” He found it cute how excited you were, so excited in fact that you could barely sit still - squirming in your spot as you not so patiently waited on him.

Pulling on the ends of the bow, soon followed by the wrapping paper decorated with small cartoon dogs, revealed a small black box. Megumi’s gaze flitted between yours and the box a few times before lifting the lid to reveal the contents.

“You can’t be serious…”, inside laid a neatly placed bracelet. A dainty silver thing that held a small clear charm.

“It lights up when I touch mine!” To prove your point you swiftly pulled up the sleeve of your top, revealing your own bracelet - an exact copy. You placed a light kiss to your charm, watching as his lit up with a small white hue.

“I know you don’t like obnoxiously big or cheesy presents so I thought this would be small enough yet still shows how much I love you.”

Megumi couldn’t ask for anything more. His girlfriend, the only person he’s ever laid his heart so openly to before gifted him the most precious thing he’s now ever owned.

And also the most annoying. Because he already knew how it worked.

With that thought in mind he leaned back towards his pillow, his hand nestling beneath in search of a specific box, he soon placed his own wrapped present on your lap.

“Go on, open it.”

Not wasting any time, you quickly tore the paper and uncovered the box that lay beneath. Your newly manicured nails lifting the lid to show your own bracelet with its own clear charm.

Whipping your head towards Megumi you were faced with his neutral face, clearly not amused.

“Apparently I still suck at this gift giving thing,” after long hours of gruelling internet searches and YouTube videos, Megumi finally thought he’d found the one gift worth giving. A gift he could check up on you with — something not many people would’ve thought of.

But of course his very own girlfriend had the same thought. But the laughter that soon sliced through the silence cracked a smile on the poor boys face.

Leaning to place a kiss on his cheek followed by you making yourself comfortable on his lap, you managed to cackle out, “Well I think it’s endearing,” this led to Megumi raising his eyebrow in a ‘go on’ motion.

With a smile you continued, “well we both shared the same thought which I think is cute in itself especially since it’s long distance bracelets”

“When you put it like that, I guess it’s not so bad.” He mumbled out, a pink tint colouring his cheeks as his fingers busied themselves fiddling with the ends of your shorts. You reached for the second bracelet, adding it to your wrist to accompany the other before sliding Megumi’s pair on his wrist.

Kissing your bracelet and watching as his lit up, a lazy smile planted itself on your face, “makes you even cuter.”

#‧₊˚🖇️ #𝑩𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑴𝑶𝑶𝑵! #˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ 𝒋𝒖𝒋𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒖 𝒌𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒏 #divider by ( @muruffin ) #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk x you #jjk x y/n #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk scenarios #jjk fluff #jujutsu kaisen fluff #megumi fluff #fushiguro megumi #megumi imagine #jjk megumi #megumi fushiguro x reader #jujutsu megumi #megumi x reader #jujutsu kaisen megumi #megumi fushiguro #megumi x you #megumi x y/n #jjk fushiguro #fushiguro fluff #fushiguro x reader #jujutsu kaisen fushiguro #fushiguro x y/n #jjk oneshot

[darlingmbappe]

Family Man | Kylian Mbappé x Fem Reader

Summary: Your husband is feeling a bit nervous about staying home alone with your daughter for the first time. When you ease his worries, he thanks you the best way he can, but then surprises you with a big request.

Warnings: SMUT! Oral (female receiving), romantic sex, breeding kink, Kylian being a simp kinda, cussing, not checked for spelling/grammar errors. Let me know if I missed anything! — English is not my first language —

“Charlotte is finally down.” Kylian sighed from the doorway of your bedroom, trudging over to his side of the bed.

You smiled up from your novel as you watched him crawl on top of the comforter, laying his head on your arm and cuddling at your side. “She’s a piece of work, that girl.” You chuckle.

Kylian breaks out a grin, thinking about his wonderful three year old baby girl. “Wonder who she got it from…”

“Ha!” You set your book down on your lap, tilting your head down to look at him. “You’re joking. Kylian, You’re the biggest piece of work there is.”

He chucked into your shoulder and flipped on his stomach to be face to face with you, heavy leg comfortably draped over your thigh. “But you love us both.”

“So much.” You leaned over and kiss him sweetly, setting aside the now bookmarked novel on your nightstand. “Don’t know how I put up with you, though.”

“Well, you’re gonna get a little break from us this week.” He spoke and glances over at your packed suitcase sitting by the door. You sensed the tinge of nervousness in his sentence and put a reassuring hand on the back of his head.

“I’ll only be gone a week, Ky.” You comfort, tracing the structure of his brow bones gently with your forefinger. He leans into your touch, humming softly before burying his head in your neck. Clearly somethings on his mind.

“I know. It’s just…” he turns, wrapping an insecure arm around your waist to hold you closer, “I’ve never been alone with her for that long. Not for a week straight.” You scratched his back softly, allowing him to melt into you more. “I mean, what if she gets bored and I run out of things to do? Or what if she doesn’t like the activities I have planned for us? What if she breaks a leg or something on my watch?”

“Baby…” you coo, grabbing his chin between your thumb and knuckle so he’s look up at you. His big brown eyes showed his apprehensiveness, almost begging for you not to leave in the morning. “You know you’re an amazing dad, right?” He nods sheepishly, but you understood where this insecurity came from.

When Charlotte was born, it was at the beginning of the season. He did his best to take as many days off as he could, wanting nothing more than to be with you and his newborn baby girl. Though his efforts were much appreciated, you were still left alone with her many times, sometimes for days on end. It’s was through no fault of his own and you knew that, always reassuring him that you understood his responsibilities as a major world renowned athlete. Of course you’d love for him to be there with both of you 24/7, but it’s not something you would ever hold against him.

He was deep in thought and you could practically hear him overthinking the next seven days, coming up with every worst-case-scenario possible. “I was nervous the first time I was alone with Char, too.” You said softly. “It’s scary, I get it. But, I know you two will have the best time. Whatever you have planned, she’ll love it because she’ll get to do it with you.”

His lips curled up, staring back in adoration. “You think?”

You nod enthusiastically. “Of course. She’s so excited to be with just you. When I told her, it actually kind of hurt how happy she was.”

This made Kylians whole face break out in a wrinkled smile. “Yeah?”

Of course he loved that, his competitive nature trumping his sense of humility. “Oh yeah.” You grin. “She’s dying for some alone time with daddy.”

“And you?”

You furrow your brows. “Me?”

“Mhm.” He shifts to hover over you lazily. “You need some alone time with daddy?” The smirk he gave you sent a rush through your body.

Your arms wrap around his neck as he puts his legs on either side of you, nudging your nose with his. God, this man just has a way about him. The way he looks at you consistently makes your stomach erupt in butterflies, even after all these years.

“Cheeky, cheeky boy.” You tusk, leaning up only slightly, teasing a kiss on his wanting lips. “What does daddy have to offer?”

“Whatever you want. I’m yours.” He touched his forehead to yours, you slowly lifted your chin to touch your lips to his.

Starting off gently, he breathed in deep through his nose, savoring this moment. Having a toddler, it’s hard to find time to be intimate when they’re always around. Always.

But, it kind of makes the sex way hotter… way more anticipated.

He pokes his tongue in and you opened up immediately, suddenly desperate for some action. He began moving his hips over the thick duvet you laid under, giving himself some relief, but you needed that layer gone. You began tugging at it desperately, Kylian got the hint. He sat up, tossing aside the blanket and stared down at your sleep attire, humming to himself and licking his lips.

“You’re so sexy.” He grumbled, now looking at you with nothing except love and lust. Your hardened nipples poked through your white scrunched up shirt, displaying your lower half for Kylians pleasure. The pink cotton panties you wore had a little rose engraved on the front, sending your husbands brain into a spiral as he started crawling down your body involuntarily. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

He made it down to where you needed him, a gentle touch on you thighs opening your legs. You didn’t need much coercion from him, knowing the usual rhythm of this sort of thing. Being with him for so long meant you knew each other patterns and needs.

“I get a goodbye gift?” You teased once he situated himself between your legs, big hands moving your knees upward toward your chest.

Instead of responding, he placed a meaningful kiss to your covered core, looking up at you, wanting to watch every reaction he persuaded out of you. He stiffened his tongue, poking at your clit methodically before biting the fabric and clipping his thumbs underneath the seams. Slowly, he slid them over your legs, his eyes glued to how your pussy reveled himself to him, already glistening.

“I already told you, bébé. I’ll give you whatever you want.” He mumbled in a trance, only looking up when you whined at his lack of movement. “You gotta tell me, bébé. What do you want?”

“Don’t be a dick.” You poked with a pouty giggle, jutting your needy hips toward his mouth. He splayed his hands over your middle, holding you down. “Just eat me out, Mbappé.”

“Always so bossy.” He jeered, but lined his mouth up anyways, purposely blowing out a sigh on your pulsing core before flattening his tongue on you. Your eyes rolled back, keeping your moan quiet with a hard lips bite as he continued to work his muscle, lapping up and down, focusing on the bundle of nerves at the peak.

“Always taste so sweet, bébé.” He praised, dragging his fingers down your hips, feeling the goosebumps he’s creating on your soft familiar skin. The feeling of his lips moving against your cunt made you grip the sheets until your knuckles turned white.

You looked down at your husband between your legs, eyes closed, seemingly hypnotized and focused solely on pleasuring you.

Without warning, he poked his tongue in and out of your needy hole, making you gasp at the sensation. “Shit, oh god.” You gasp. A quick hand made it’s way behind his head, pressing him further into you. He stuck it in as far as it would go out of his mouth, circling and wiggling around, feeling your pulsating walls. He moved a hand from your hip and dragged his forefinger agonizingly slowly on your clit.

“Let me show you how much I’ll miss you.” He muffled, the vibration of his voice making you moan out.

“Please.” You begged, watching him with hooded eyes. His finger dipped lower and lower, tapping on your sensitive nub to make you jolt. It made him laugh, obsessed with the sight of you squirming under his touch.

He teased his middle finger in before inserting two inside of you. Kylian was always one for foreplay, eager to make it the best experience for the both of you. That’s so hot.

You were a moaning mess, hot and bothered as he curled his fingers up, his mouth attached to your pussy like a man starved. His eyes were now wide open and gazing up at you, your chest heaving, your back arching, your quiet moans singing in his ears like a melody. It was all too much for him as he began humping the bed in desperation. Getting to see what he can turn you into could have made him cum on the spot, but he wanted to cum inside of you. He needed to cum inside of you.

You whimpered when he detached his mouth, wiping his glistening face with the back of his hand. “You’re fucking amazing, mon amour. I love you so much.”

You’d gone off the pill years ago before you got pregnant with Charlotte and hadn’t gone back, relying on condoms and quick reflexes. You’d talked about having more kids in the future, but not recently enough to prepare you for what your husband said next.

“Let me put another baby in you.”

Your breathing was heavy, but it stopped for a moment out of shock. The look on his face was completely serious as he crawled up on top of you, lifting your shirt enough to reveal your boobs, tweaking your nipples between his fingers.

You swallowed the noises threatening to spill out of you throat, staring into the eyes of the man you’ve adored for so many years — the eyes that were practically heart shaped whenever he caught even a glance at you.

“Let me get you pregnant.” He repeated and dipped his head in your neck, trailing a soft path of kisses upward until he reached your mouth, lingering there a little longer. He leaned into your ear, giving it the gentlest bite before whispering. “Remember how I couldn’t keep my hands off of you?” His hands roamed down to your stomach, caressing it like he used to do. “You looked so fucking hot with my baby inside of you.”

You couldnt help but smile, feeling your heart beat faster for him. “What about the mood swings?” He kissed behind your ear.

“Don’t mind them.” He kissed your jaw.

“My feet swell pretty bad.”

He kissed your cheek. “I give great foot rubs.”

“Cravings?”

“I’ll get you anything you want.” He placed the last kiss on the corner of your mouth, pulling back to stare into your eyes, wiping away any stray hairs that fell onto your face.

You sighed up at him. “You think we’re ready?”

He finally landed his kiss on your lips, breathing you in like you were a drug. “I know I am. So, what do you say, bébé?”

Kylian was the worlds best dad and even had three Father’s Day mugs to prove it. He was attentive and loving and caring and wanted nothing but the absolute best for his family. For your family.

“Let’s make a baby.” As soon as those words left your lips he kissed you deeply. You both smiled into the kiss, attempting to pucker but failing, eventually just giggling into each other, hugging tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”He hummed, standing up and shedding his joggers and boxers, revealing the main attraction.

God, the way you salivated at the sight of him was almost embarrassing. You’d worried about what marriage would do to your sex life, especially after having a baby, but Kylian always made you feel so sexy. He flirted with you constantly, found every possible way to make you squirm. You found that the longer your with him, the more things you discover about him that make you adore him more. Want him more.

You adjusted yourself as he slotted above you, your legs wrapped around his middle as you traced his collarbone. The shift from how the night started to now made your head spin. You couldn’t believe that you’d decided to start trying again out of the blue like this, but knew in your heart that you wanted this too.

He lined himself up, prodding you open slowly to let you adjust to his massive size.

“Oh, fuck Kylian.” You breathe, grabbing his face sweetly as your eyebrows knit together. He loved the faces you made when he was inside you — missionary being his favorite position.

He moved his hips until he was all the way in, waiting for your cue for him to continue. It didn’t take long, it never did. When you nodded at him, he began thrusting, his pace slow as if every movement was personal and meaningful. You loved the stretch he gave you, feeling every ridge, every curve.

This type of sex is Kylians favorite. Sure, he’ll take you roughly, spank you until he can see a mark. He loved the feeling of having his hand wrapped around your throat, or thrusting into you with such speed and force that it makes your legs wobble the next day. But something about the steady pace, the perfect rhythm, the eye contact, holding your hand, getting to kiss you like it would transfer the love he kept in his heart to yours... getting to take you in piece by piece was the most thrilling thing he’s found in his lifetime. Having the pleasure of holding your hand, listening to your whimpers and quiet “ah, ah”s was like a drug. He was undeniably addicted to you. Obsessed with every inch of your being. He couldn’t think of a more personal way to show the woman he loved how much he means to him. No amount of money could buy this type of intimacy.

“You’re so beautiful.” He mumbles, reaching down to intertwine your hands, in need of feeling more of you. “I can’t imagine my life without you.” Your heart was melting at his words, his dilated pupils absorbing every inch of your face. His rhythm was hypnotic. Your needs begged for him to go faster, harder, to take you roughly… but your heart outweighed those thoughts. Though slow, it was the most romantic sex you’ve had in a while. “Cant believe I got you. I can’t believe I get to love you forever.”

He spoke sweetly, his breath fanning your face with his words and pants. The knot in your stomach tightened, making you squeeze your legs around his middle. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” You whimpered, somehow forming coherent sentences through the intense pleasure. “I love you, Kylian.”

He slotted his face in your neck, breathing heavier than before, hoping your skin would muffle the sinful moan that erupted from his mouth. His thrusts kept the same speed, but faltered slightly. “God, bébé. I’m gonna cum.”

You hugged him tightly against you. “Me too.” The feeling of his pelvic bone continuously rubbing against your clit and the slight tug and push of his member inside of you was consuming your every sense. “Fuck, Kylian.”

You dig your teeth into the skin of his shoulder or else you’d have screamed in pleasure, waking up the innocent little toddler just a few rooms down. The knot popped, making your toes curl, the bliss of it all creating spots in your vision. You came hard as Kylians thrusts continued at a slightly faster pace.

He kissed your cheek, seeking his own release — it didn’t take long to find it upon feeling your walls quivering around him. “Ah, dieu.” He moaned. “I’m cumming.” He panted, hissing and squeezing your hand as he looked into your hooded eyes. He bit his lip hard to keep quiet, breathing harshly through his flared nostrils.

He came down, his arms giving way as he laid on top of you to catch his breath. He hugged you so close, kissing your lips sweetly. He lifted himself to stop crushing you, matching your smile before he began to slowly thrust again.

“Shit, Ky!” You whisper yell, gasping at the overstimulation.

He hissed but continued his movements. “Gotta make sure it sticks, bébé.”

After three more thrusts, he stops and pulls out of you gently, laying his exhausted body next to you. He dipped his hand down and held yours, bringing it to his face to kiss it and kept it held at his lips. He looked at you as if you were a queen, a goddess.

“You think Char will be happy if we give her a baby brother or sister?” You wonder, laying on your back because you read that staying there for fifteen minutes after sex heightens your chances of getting pregnant.

“I don’t know… eventually. I think she loves being spoiled.” He grinned. It was true, Charlotte squealed every-time Kylian got home with something for her. Whether it was cupcake or a a tiny Tiffany necklace, she loved getting gifts.

“And who’s fault is that?”

Kylian made a guilty whatever face. His favorite thing in the world was getting to spoil his petite princesse.

Kylian places your hand on his chest, just above his heart. The stare he gave you was weakening, dibilitating, so full of raw emotion. You felt it thumping under your palm, knowing he meant that his heart was in your hands. You leaned over and snuggled into his side, kissing his cheek and keeping your hand on his heart. His heart rate picked up instantly, earning an earth shattering, lovey dovey grin from you.

Whatever the future holds, the family you’ve created with Kylian stands on strong pillars of love and loyalty. Having someone who you can trust blindly is the key to a life full of wonderful moments, and Kylian takes on that role with pride — absolutely devoted to creating the happiest life for his two princesses. You and Charlotte really are the luckiest girls alive… and with the possible addition of another family member, you might just get even luckier.

A/N: wrote this between classes today to give y’all a little something because my school is nearing midterms so I gotta crack down with studying. Thanks for reading! Also I didn’t spell check or grammar check this very thoroughly so I apologize for any mistakes <3

#kylian mbappe #kylian mbappe smut #kylian mbappe angst #kylian mbappe fluff #kylian mbappé x reader #kylian imagines #kylian mbappé imagine #kylian x reader #kylian mbappe imagine #dad kylian #dad!kylian #neymar jr imagine #neymar #neymar angst #neymar smut #soccer imagine #futbol imagines #football imagine #psg imagine #psg

[agendabymooner]

dadventures with the schuminis: rock it, minnie! || ms47 scenario (1)

dad!mick schumacher (x ofc) centric

EXTENSION TO THE LITTLE SCHUMINIS

Summary: A series in which Mick Schumacher tackles the challenges and moments of being a father to his little carbon copies with his father Michael Schumacher (alongside his in-law Sebastian Vettel, who continues to deny that he was a grandfather while accepting his role as the Schumacher kids’ Opa).

Scenario summary: With Minna’s first birthday coming up, Mick struggles to find the perfect gift that she’ll learn to cherish forever. Thankfully, Michael still knows how to make Gina’s old rocking horse and Sebastian knew how to operate the electric sander. AND Michael and Sebastian are insufferable as in-laws.

Content warning: dad!Mick Schumacher, grandpa!Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel being competitive as grandparents, Seb denying he’s a grandpa, terms of endearment, fluff, mentions of pregnancy, Mick making a dirty joke, brief German translations, mentions of grandma!OFC (Bel Vettel) spoiling Minna

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Mick Schumacher knew that his off days were numbered. He hated that he had to count his days and immediately head back to the road and race. 

But he did what he had to do for the sake of giving his daughter a better future— whether it had something to do with their financial situation (they were rich as hell) or her desire to follow Mick’s footsteps to become a racer (Mick was praying to god she didn’t want to be a racer), he persisted on staying and racing for the season for the sake of his family. 

Regardless of his limited days off, he did what he could do and participated in the event planning for his firstborn's first birthday celebration. His wife, Barbie, insisted that she and Gina were handling it well, but he wanted to do something special alongside them. 

And so Barbie and Gina assigned him to find his daughter a special gift for the celebration. “Something that would mean to her in the long run,” his sister said. 

His face paled a little when she said that. It was so cryptic and vague. It was just vague. 

He thought about the theme of the party at first. Minna Elisa’s first birthday party was running with the farm theme.

When it was first suggested by Gina, Mick almost snorted to ridicule the thought. “We already grew up around them,” he said, “I don’t think Minna would appreciate that. Why can’t it be just horses?” 

Then Barbie and Mick’s mother Corinna agreed to Gina’s idea. After all, Minnie was already showing a great interest in animals! Specifically horses.

Horses. 

RIGHT! Mick almost yelled and stood up, looking for his old photo albums. He skimmed through the pages and wondered what his and Gina’s rooms looked like before in Texas. The Schumacher siblings loved their home in Texas— especially their rooms. Mick’s room was converted to be Kimi and Stefan Vettel’s guest rooms but they remained with the same theme of western style and horses. 

Then, just as he browsed through his pictures with Gina in her bedroom, his eyes immediately zeroed in on the pink and blue wooden rocking horse that his baby self sat on while Gina stood next to the boy. 

He knew what he wanted to get his little girl now.

And so the first thing he did was phone his parents. He called Corinna’s phone, but it was Michael who had answered the call.

“Mick?” 

“Oh, hey Dad, is mom there?” Mick nearly facepalmed. This was literally Corinna’s phone he had called.

“Am I that boring to you, Mickie?” Michael scoffed, making Mick roll his eyes. “I can hear your eyes rolling from here. Seriously, is there anything I can help with? Your mom is out at the back right now.”

“Yes, actually,” Mick cleared his throat and stared at the picture of him and Gina as he continued, “I saw this photo of me and Gina in the ranch— her room actually. Gina had this wooden rocking horse and I’m wondering if we still have it there. I’m hoping to ask Gina if I can get it and restore it as a gift for Minnie’s birthday?” 

“Oh. That pink and blue one?”

“Yup, that one.”

“Gina broke it when she was five and we had it thrown out,” Michael almost sighed at the memory.

Mick winced when he learned the news. “Why- ugh Gina.”

“We told her that she can’t ride it anymore but she was persistent,” Michael chuckled. “Why would you restore it when you can just buy one?”

“Because it would mean a lot more if Minna got the same one her Aunt Gina has,” Mick murmured. “She’ll see it in the pictures and be like ‘Wow this was my Auntie G’s!” 

“Huh,” Michael let out a hum. “That’s… that’s very thoughtful, Mick. But sadly we don’t have it in Texas, anymore.” 

Mick let out a sigh of defeat. He could just always get Minna a new one, but it would mean a lot if his daughter got something from their childhood that she would enjoy as well. 

Michael had a different thought, however. 

The 7-time world champion had spoken up again after hearing absolutely nothing from his son, “It was something that I made from scratch, Mick.” 

Mick’s eyes quirked at the sound of this as he asked, “You made it?” 

“Ralf and I did,” Michael replied, referring to Mick’s uncle as Michael continued, “I still remember what it looks like and if you’d like, we can make it. Though I doubt that you’d have time to—“

“NO, NO, NO!” Mick panicked, wincing at the volume of his voice as he looked back at the entryway of the living room. Barbie would kill him if his tone woke the baby up. Then he began speaking as quietly as possible, “I’m not busy on my next off— surely it won’t take us long to make it right?”

“You have to rest for the—“

“—Dad, I’m begging you right now please help me,” Mick pleaded desperately. “I have a doubleheader after my next off and I wouldn’t have time in the future like Dad please.”

Michael immediately interrupted Mick, “Mick for the love of god, stop freaking out—“

“—Sorry,” Mick muttered. “Didn’t mean to freak out. ‘S just… I haven’t done anything for Minnie’s birthday and this is her first birthday. My first kid’s first birthday. I’m already missing out on most of her life and I can’t even do anything for her first birthday? What kind of a father would I be?”

Michael understood. He understood fully what Mick felt and he wouldn’t deny that. He was a father as well, and he rarely saw Gina and Mick during the season— he had often labelled himself as a shitty father for it. It was only fair that Michael understood how Mick felt now that he, too, was a father. 

But instead of expressing his empathy outright, Michael only sighed and spoke, “Lassen Sie uns morgen mit klaren Köpfen beginnen.” Let’s start with clear minds tomorrow.

“Was meinst du, Dad?” What do you mean, Dad? Mick asked. 

“We’ll plan out what to do in two weeks then start,” Michael told his son through the phone and instructed, “It’ll take us a while to figure it out so I need you to clear your brain and sleep it off. Don’t get too stressed, Mickie. ‘s not good for you— Minnie’s a baby but she can feel stress when it’s nearby.” 

“Okay,” Mick cleared his throat, now determined to stay sane for a little while. “I’ll do that.”

“Don’t get too antsy about not being able to do anything,” Michael reassured him. “Everyone around you already knows you’re doing more than you think.” 

“Alright,” Mick murmured softly, “th- thanks dad. Say hi to mom for me, yeah?”

“You guys~” Barbie had walked into the deck of their home, her face offering her husband Mick and father-in-law Michael a puzzled look. 

“You two have been here for hours,” Barbie told them as if she was worried. She had been hearing some strange noise at the deck earlier today alongside the murmuring. Knowing Mick and Michael, she assumed that they were just relaxing at the back. 

Yet here she was, looking at them with a baffled look as she watched Mick’s hand pull away from the half-cut lumber and electric saw.

“No we’re not,” Michael quipped, “we’ve been here for two.” 

“Hours,” Barbie emphasized. “Minna just—“ 

“Da! Da!” Corinna had followed suit and walked out with eleven-month-old Minna in her arms, grinning as the baby continued to babble happily.

“Yeah, what Minna said,” Barbie murmured, stepping back as she said, “she just woke up from her nap.”

“Aw, is that right, meine kleine Minnie?” My little Minnie. Michael cooed, arms extending to reach for his granddaughter as he carried Minna in his arms. He grinned heavily as he began to move around with the little girl. “Did you have a good nap, liebe?”

“Pip!” Minna shrieked, only knowing that word alongside ‘Ma’ and ‘Da.’ “Pip!”

“Is that a yes or a no?” Michael hummed before pressing a kiss on the little one’s chubby cheek. “I assume it’s a yes.”

“Oh definitely a yes,” Barbie chuckled, “I know what Mick looks like waking up from a nap— she's definitely a Schumacher who had a good nap.” 

Mick groaned playfully, earning a giggle from Barbie. 

“By the way,” Barbie brought up, “Seb is coming over with Kimi and Stefan.” 

“Oh great, look, Dad, Seb’s helping us,” Mick looked at Michael. 

“What’re you two doing anyways?” Corinna asked, her eyes looking at the scattered tools and piled-up lumber. Barbie found herself looking as well, curious eyes now trained at the cans of paint as she looked back at the father-son duo. 

“Stuff,” Mick shrugged nonchalantly.

“Wow aren’t you specific,” Corinna muttered.

“It’s for Minnie’s birthday,” Michael waved off the two women, “don’t worry about it. It’ll be done by the end of the day.”

“Minnie’s birthday is in four weeks,” Mick continued, “I wanted to make something for her so… yeah.”

“You don’t even know how to make something wood-related, Mick,” Barbie replied with a raised brow.

Mick then murmured, “I’ll show you something wood-related— ow, Mom!” Corinna smacked Mick on the back of his head and glared at him, gesturing back to Minna. 

Michael snorted aloud, making Minna laugh at the sound. 

“That’s your child in front of you, Mick,” Barbie warned with a cheeky grin. “Careful with your words now, yeah?” 

Mick only rolled his eyes. It wasn’t as if Minna could understand that easily. 

“Besides,” Barbie continued, “shouldn’t you be talking to Seb about… lumber stuff? He’s made an impressive apiary before.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Michael scoffed and waved off the offer, “I’ve made this before. It’s nothing I can’t do. Sebastian’s never done this— he wouldn’t be that good without any instruction.”

Corinna and Barbie traded looks. If there was something that the Schumachers and Vettels knew, it was that Sebastian was good at a lot of things— so the fact that Michael was underestimating his woodworking skills? That definitely wouldn’t sit right with Seb especially if he’s heard of it.

Sebastian Vettel wasn’t usually like this, but when Corinna brought up Michael’s comments about his skills the 4-time world champion couldn’t help but lean against the deck railing with a smirk. In his hand was a bottle of beer, watching the Schumacher men struggle with sanding the wood surfaces that they’ve cut. Or rather, they didn’t know how to operate the electric sander. 

Mick groaned, “Seb— some help please?” He turned to look at the driver, who kept leaning against the railing with a cheeky smile.

“I would but Michael said I can’t be good without ins—“

“Oh come on, have a laugh, Seb,” Michael looked at Sebastian in annoyance, making the man finally cave in and laugh. “Just come help— this is your granddaughter’s gift too—“

“No, don’t call Minnie that,” Sebastian interrupted Michael and shook his head. “Don’t call her my granddaughter.”

“Is she not?” Mick raised a brow. He was merely teasing. After all, Sebastian proudly called himself Barbie’s (foster) father — therefore he was a proud Opa to the little Minna Schumacher. 

Seb just refused to be called a grandfather. He wasn’t that old yet. Fernando Alonso was literally older than him! He sometimes denied that he was a grandfather— but he wouldn’t ever deny Minnie the right to call him Opa.

“Step away,” Sebastian said, now handling the sander as he started it. “You should’ve called me earlier today— I would’ve gone and done all of this.”

“Dad said he could do it, that's why I thought we didn’t need some help,” Mick reasoned.

Sebastian gave his mentor Michael a look and said, “Minna’s not just your granddaughter, Michael. Learn to share responsibilities. I have to spoil her too.”

Michael rolled his eyes, “Just sand the whole thing so we can paint it.”

Minna Schumacher’s first birthday party was anything but simple. The little one had charmed people with her signature Schumacher grin and had giggled at almost anything. 

But it wasn’t just her adorable and charming being that turned the environment of the party up a notch. Her little heart-studded cowboy boots gathered the attention of most guests as she slowly walked and stomped around the venue, smiling up at whoever she came across as her mother Barbie assisted her. 

“Oh my, is that my Minnie baby?” Barbie grinned at her mother Bel Vettel as the little one excitedly stomped her feet down. Minna immediately sped up her steps and leaned forward to be reached by Bel. 

The older woman, despite not looking the part, took Minna in her arms and hoisted the baby up with a light grunt. Bel grinned and squealed at Minna, “You are such a big girl now, Minnie! Whatever will Oma do about it?!” 

“Oma,” Minna babbled repeatedly before putting her little hands over Bel’s cheeks. The baby continued to babble as Bel nodded along. 

Bel then looked over at her daughter and smiled, “And you? I’ve heard you’re feeling sick lately.” 

Barbie rolled her eyes playfully, “It’s hard to keep things a secret in this family, huh?” 

Bel chuckled, “You know that we’re only worried. Are you okay though, Barbie? Corinna said—“

“Nina!” Bel and Barbie chuckled at Minna’s excited expression. 

Bel then continued, “She said that you’re feeling ill— or at least Mick’s been telling her.”

“Mm, yeah,” Barbie hummed, reaching to fix Minna’s pigtails as she continued, “I’ve been throwing up and all that… I think I know—“

“—I knew it,” Bel squealed, bouncing Minna in joy as she cooed at the baby, “Minna’s gonna be a big sis huh? Are you?” 

Barbie chuckled happily, “I have a hunch. Let’s just not tell Mick or the others yet, if that’s okay. I don’t want them to get their hopes up.”

“Yeah, of course,” Bel grinned, pressing kisses on Minna’s face. “I’ve got more babies to spoil— and I thought Stefan and Kimi’s gonna be the only kids I’ll be able to spoil!” 

“I still can’t believe you got her a bag,” Barbie rolled her eyes, making Bel giggle as Barbie continued, “She won’t be able to use that for a while, Bel. She's only a year old.”

“Yeah, but she’s my Minnie baby,” Bel pouted dramatically. “You know I wouldn’t pass up the chance to spoil my little Minnie, no, Bebe?” Bel grinned at the toddler as Minna replied with a laugh.

“Bel,” Barbie sighed, “you got her a Hermes.”

“Only the best from Oma Bel,” the older woman grinned, making Barbie sigh again.

Barbie then said, “Only the best for Minna— I feel like I’ve heard everyone say that.” 

“Of course,” Bel quipped, “everyone wants to be Minna’s favourite. But it seems like her Da and Pippa will win that title sometime soon.” 

They both looked over where the wooden rocking horse was. It was majestic— the handiwork that Mick and Michael made for the little girl. 

It was similar to the one that Mick showed Barbie. But instead of the pastel blue and pink, the rocking horse was painted with the colours of Michael Schumacher’s racing suit back when he won his first world championship— the Benetton blue and yellow accentuated in the wooden horse while his driver number was painted on the sides of the horse.

Barbie chuckled softly, “Don’t say that out loud— Seb might hear. You know that he wants to be Minna’s favourite grandpa no matter how much he refuses to get called one.” 

On the other side of the room, the birthday girl’s dad Mick, and her grandfathers Michael and Sebastian (who still called himself ‘Opa’ rather than ‘Grandpa’) stood as they looked over where the wooden horse was. 

“I’m surprised that it turned out well,” Mick mumbled. Sebastian and Michael hummed in agreement. “Minnie wouldn’t stop going to it since she found it.”

“Well that’s good,” Michael joked, “otherwise I wasted hours of my time for nothing.”

“This was an eye-opener for me, you know?” Mick told the two, making the older men shoot him a puzzled look as he continued with a grin, “Who would’ve thought that it’ll take being Minnie’s grandpa for you to fight over the little things?” 

Sebastian scoffed and Michael rolled his eyes.

Sebastian then grinned, “Had I known that Michael was going to be this insufferable as an in-law, I simply wouldn’t have let you date Barbie—“

Michael’s eyes widened and he looked at Sebastian with a baffled look, making Sebastian and Mick laugh aloud. 

“Oh you two,” Michael muttered. “It’s no wonder why I’m Minna’s favourite.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep lying to yourself, Michael.”

“Yeah, whatever, Dad.”

♡ moony’s reminder 🅶 (general): @hiraethrhapsody @avaleineandafryingpan @topguncultleader

#formula one imagine #f1 imagine #formula one fic #formula one fanfiction #formula one fluff #f1 fluff #mick schumacher fanfic #mick schumacher imagine #mick schumacher fanfiction #mick schumacher #michael schumacher #ms47 #f1 fanfiction #formula one dad

[positivexcellence]

‘Walker’: Jared Padalecki on ‘Hot & Heavy’ Cordell and Geri, What’s Next With The Jackal

Finally! You’re back. It’s been forever! And we’re still looking for The Jackal?

Jared Padalecki: Yeah. We had a little five-month time lapse just to allow for all the strike stuff, but it’s still the same storyline. We pick up in the same storyline, for sure, with some time passed. Obviously, Cordell and Geri [Odette Annable] are a little more, um, advanced, than they were. [Laughs] Stella’s [Violet Brinson] back to college, and Augie’s [Kale Culley] back to nearing the end of high school. But The Jackal has reared its ugly head once again, and we got to go figure out what’s going on.

And you’ve been going without Cassie for five months, so it’s you and Trey, which is a pretty cool partnership.

Super cool. Yeah, Cassie was on our FBI task force, and she comes back to let us know what she’s been up to and to kind of say, “Hey, there’s something we might need your help on.” We all love her and miss her and are wondering where she stands. Is she going to stay or go? But Trey and James and Walker have been running amuck in her absence. [Laughs]

And how is her return going to change things? She comes back a little different, too.

She does. She’s had a little different experience and has had a taste of what might be available to her. And she has a different set of expectations. Obviously, she’s welcomed back with open arms from our other characters, but it’s sort of like, “Okay, well, we don’t know where she stands.” We want to be respectful of what she wants and what she needs to do, and we all secretly hope that she’s going to stick around.

And we’ve got a full-blown relationship going on with Geri and Cordi. They’re living together. How’s that going?

Yeah, I think it’s going well. They seem to be hot and heavy, and I’m glad that nothing happened in the five months between the wedding and Episode 401 to kind of sideline that. But that’s not to say that something won’t sideline that within Season 4. [Laughs]

Of course! Because he’s taking on this case, dealing with a serial killer, and I’ve watched enough TV and movies to know that when the good guys take on a serial killer, serial killers tend to target the people their pursuers love most.

You’re too good at this, Damian. [Laughs]

So this is putting a target on a lot of people?

Oh, yeah.

And how will Geri factor into this? Because you can’t just have her hanging out at the house. What is she going to get to do?

Well, good point. She has some stuff of her own going on this season that she needs to care of. And let’s just say that Walker has never been the best about admitting what is going on in his head. Probably something that the astute writers have noticed about [me] and just weaved into Cordell. [Laughs] But we certainly see Geri as sort of a grounding force and guiding light who is trying to figure out things like, “Well, these characters seem to be different, and this person isn’t really responding the way I expected or when I expected.” So we kind of see her as the lighthouse that’s saying, “Hey, you seem to have stuff going on.” Meanwhile, she’s also juggling kind of new responsibilities with Augie and Stella. Stella’s an adult and Augie’s almost an adult, so she’s not overbearing by any means, and she’ll always be “Aunt Geri” to some degree, but she’s taken on a lot and is doing it very well.

We see Stella relying on Liam (Keegan Allen) during all the trauma that she’s dealing with following the home invasion. Will Geri help out with that? Because I feel like Stella definitely at this point needs a mom.

Yes, she does. And Stella has a great arc this season. Let’s just say that many times this season, people accuse Stella of being just like her father. [Laughs] Oh, yeah. Stella is great at keeping secrets as well and keeping struggles to herself. So just like Walker has a tough time reaching out for help, we think Stella may have unfortunately learned that from her dad.

And how is Walker going to handle the fact that his daughter has been counting on Liam with all this stuff that’s been going on and he hasn’t been brought into the loop?

I think he understands more. Unlike prior seasons, I think Walker understands that his daughter’s now an adult, even though he doesn’t like it. It’s new for him. He spent 18 years with his daughter as his child, and now he’s kind of a year or two in to his daughter being an adult and able to make her own decisions. She needs to be responsible, and so I think Walker gives Stella a little leeway, hoping that she’ll remain the kind of stalwart that she’s always been. And then I think he realizes that maybe even though she’s surrounded by friends and family who are there for whatever she needs, that maybe she has a little bit too much Cordell Walker inside of her.

And Augie going into the military? This is a big step for a young man, and as much as a father would want his son to follow in those footsteps, it’s also like, this is a very dangerous line that he wants to get involved with.

For sure. Augie is coming into his own and has some ideas. He’s always been the kid who wanted to grow up a little bit too fast. And frankly, with the passing of his mom and his father being a Texas ranger who’s been abducted and had the house broken into and kind of always been in danger, I think he grew up long before the prospect of turning 18. But he wants to prove that he is an adult in his own right and that he has these ideas about how to secure his future. So Walker is trying to walk that line between, “I know you’ve been through a lot, you’ve been through more than most 70 year olds have been through,” and “Let’s tap the brakes, buddy.” And this is not disrespectful. This is my job as a dad, but I think also Walker finds that, because his profession is in law enforcement, sometimes he can come across a bit more harsh than he intends to.

Understandable, since it’s his kid! I will say, at the beginning of the season, this is probably the happiest we’ve seen Cordi. He’s eating a massive amount of steak. He’s in love again. He has put the ghost of his late wife to rest. The kids are growing up, he’s kind of reclaiming his own life again. Can he have this all, can he be happy?

Oh, Damian, you know TV better than that! Hell no. [Laughs]

He can have a lot sometimes and some a lot of times, but one of the things that [showrunner] Anna Fricke and I talked about from the get-go was trying to make sure that this version of Walker was more similar to life than just a TV version of a [person]. We never sought out to go like, “Well, it’s the end of episode, I roundhouse kicked somebody and now everything’s okay. Let’s all high-five!” This is more like, “Well, what did I miss while trying to get the bad guy? Oh, I missed my daughter’s graduation. Oh, I missed her birthday. I missed this. Oh, I didn’t call back my live-in partner that I was supposed to.”

And so there’s no pure win and there is no pure loss. So I think with Walker, though happy now, his life happens in seasons and not like TV seasons. Walker’s had some hard times and now is an easy time, but life is difficult, and Walker finds that out.

Still, it’s nice to see him getting to enjoy being the hero he is more than usual. Especially with Captain James. This season, the drama is his and Cordi gets to be there for him and support him.

Yeah. That is very true, and it’s great. Yeah, I agree all around. I think Walker is going to find out who he is in good times, which he hasn’t had a whole lot of chance to explore yet. And as with anything, if you haven’t had a lot of experience, you might not be as good at it as you would’ve hoped. We’ve all seen that Walker can be great in times of struggle. He’s had some reps in the gym as far as that arena goes. But let’s see who he is when there’s no bad guy to chase right now — especially when that bad guy might be strengthening themselves in preparation for when the Rangers come after them.

Before you go, was there anything that you’ve gotten to do this season that you just are so excited for people to see?

Big time. We’ve had a lot of fun, fun stuff. There’s something, unfortunately it’s the finale, so I can’t talk about it—I’ll call you privately [Laughs]—but I will say, in the first episode, we have a really fun sequence. We got to do a car-chase sequence in the back of a big rig.

And funny behind-the-scenes fact that no one knows about: During the Longhorns playoff game on New Year’s Day, I was walking around barefoot, my brother and his kids were over, and they were all playing and stupidly, I grabbed a piece of pizza and tried to run back to the couch to watch the game and I kicked my coffee table on accident! So I had a broken toe for the first three episodes and before shooting that sequence and for a couple episodes after, I would have to ice my foot, throw a sock on real fast, shove it into my cowboy boot, and run around park garages and throw myself around. Yeah, so that was fun. [Laughs] We laughed about it afterwards, but it was just hard to get the boot on and off.

They couldn’t shoot around the boot?!

I didn’t want to complain. We’d all been out of work for nine months because of the strike and everything. So I was like, I got it. I’m not going to complain about this. The show finally can go on, and I’m going to go like “Ouch, my toe hurts”? No, thank you! [Laughs]

TVInsider

#jared padalecki #walker

[justauthoring]

Shadow of Yourself [4/18]

Prompt: “You’ve changed, Eli. I barely even know who you are right now.”

A/N: the much anticipated start of season two :) please let me know what you think of this chapter!

Based off of: Cobra Kai 02x01, 02x02, and 02x03 Warnings: none really. Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x F!Reader

Tag List: @moonydrafts - @ashwhowrites - @traveleraroundsworld - @truly-abysmal - @likecherriesinthespring - @hollxe1 - @asonofpeter - @scarlett-verse - @musically-ambiguous - @kayda1 - @moon-zoons - @dwcode​ - @day-dreamsinthedark​ - @leilani788​ - @silvermagnolias​ - @hawkinsavclub​

TIME TO DECIDE:

“Hey, mom—!”

“Hey sweetie, I just called to say I’m gonna be gone for at least another week.”

Shoulders falling, the excitement that you had felt seconds prior at the sight of your mom calling you dwindles into nothing. Her words hit you like a slap across the face — but somehow, you’re not surprised.

How could you be? This was nothing new.

“Oh?” You call out, forcing back your own hurt as you nod. “Did you make a break?”

“Yeah,” your mom laughs from the other end of the call. Her voice is slightly scratchy through reception and you honestly can’t remember the last time you actually heard her voice — in front of you, not through a cellphone. “This could do wonders for the company. And honey, it could take more than a week.”

More than a week.

“You’ve already been gone for two months.” You remind, fiddling with your bedsheets, biting your lip.

“I know, baby. I know,” your mom sighs from the other end. “Look, I promise you we can do something fun when I’m back okay? Whatever you want.”

“Okay, sure,” you shrug though she can’t see you.

You know it’s an empty promise anyway.

She’ll come home, be home for a day and then leave for another two months right after. It’s the same thing every single time, and every time she promises you the same thing. You know it, you expect it and yet you can’t help but get your hopes up every time she promises you.

“How are Eli and Demetri doing? Are they keeping you company?”

Stomach twisting at the sound of Eli’s name, your lips part. Your mom doesn’t know anything. Nothing about Miguel or how karate has seemingly taken over your school. She doesn’t know about Eli, how the two of you kissed, how he changed, how he broke your heart…

You want to tell her, you just haven’t had the chance.

“Actually, things have been—”

Your mothers name is called faintly from the other end, loud enough to cut you off and suddenly you hear your mom yelling back. There’s a pause of silence and then you hear her breathing next to the speaker again. “I gotta go, I’m sorry. Please make sure the next payment goes through. I love you, bye!”

“I love—“

She’s already hung up before you’re able to finish the words.

Sighing, you let your phone fall, collapsing against your bed as you stare up at your ceiling. You and your mother used to spend all this time together, practically inseparable — when your father died, she had to find ways to make money and that meant, prioritizing money and work over you.

You knew why she did it and you knew she loved you — didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt.

It’s why when you found Eli and Demetri and were able to make your first real friends, you’d clung to them so desperately. You don’t think they really knew it, but they became your whole world. When you’d go home to an empty house everyday, it was okay because you knew you’d get to see them the next.

And Eli… he’d come over plenty of times. Or you’d go to his. You’d do whatever, it didn’t matter — just as long as you didn’t have to go home to an empty house or walk through school alone.

Even if you were bullied. Even if you were losers.

Now Eli was Hawk and you didn’t even know who he was anymore.

Clearly none of it — you — weren’t enough for him.

The sound of your phone ringing interrupts you from your thoughts. Your first thought is your mom and you jump at the chance at being able to talk to her, only to be confused when you read Sam’s contact name instead.

Slowly moving to answer the phone, you frown; “Sam?”

“Hey!” She calls, voice slightly breathless, clearly nervous. “I just called to check in on you. You’ve seemed kind of distant at school and… well, I thought you could use a friend.”

Your lips part, touched that she’d have thought of you.

“Did you maybe wanna hang?”

Swallowing thickly, you’re unable to hide the smile that curls onto your lips. “Okay, yeah… yeah, I’d love that.”

-

“I didn’t know…”

Laughing lightly, you shrug your shoulders, swaying slightly on Sam’s bed. “It’s not your fault,” you shake your head. “I didn’t tell you. And honestly, I haven’t even really told anyone.”

Sam pauses, pursing her lips in thought. “He just started making out with Moon?”

Biting your lip, you nod; “I didn’t even think we broke up. Or I guess, I said we never really started dating… but, I mean I thought I’d made it clear how I felt about him.” Fiddling with the hem of your shirt, you glance down at your lap, feeling the hurt flood through you all over again. “I just thought he cared about me more than that.”

Reaching forward, Sam sets her hand on your own. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

You turn to her in surprise, touched by how genuine she sounds.

Honestly, you’d been apprehensive about making friends with Sam. You thought she was some popular girl and for as long as you’ve known her, she’s never said anything bad about Yasmine and instead stood there and watched. She’d laughed at things Yasmine had said. She’d even let Yasmine bully her own best friend.

You knew she felt horrible about that and you’ve seen her and Aisha rekindling. But then everything had happened at that party and you thought she wouldn’t want to talk to you because you were still Miguel’s friend and it was clear she didn’t want to talk to him.

And you still stood by Miguel — of course you did — but it felt nice that the one female friend you’d made still wanted to be your friend.

“The worst part is Moon is really nice,” you sigh, “so I can’t even be mad at her.”

Sam snorts, “yeah, Moon has that effect on people.”

“She keeps inviting me to go out with the both of them. Demetri too. Apparently they’re going to play beach volleyball and they keep asking me to join them.” Miguel had asked you too, but you make sure to leave his name out — knowing that Sam’s still hurt by him.

“Are you going to?”

“No,” you frown. “I can barely stand to look at him.” You admit while Sam nods, breathing deeply before deflating in defeat. “I seriously hate karate.”

Letting out a giggle, Sam shakes her head; “yeah, I used to too.”

Raising a brow, you tilt your head; “used to?”

“Well, yeah,” she shrugs. “I felt like karate ruined Miguel and I, but I realized it was really just Cobra Kai that did. Then, my dad opened back up the dojo he trained in as a kid, Miyagi-Do, and it’s really helped me learn a lot about myself and bring me some inner peace.”

Nodding slowly, you shrug. Then, you see this look wash over her, her eyes twinkling and you have a feeling you know where she’s going with this before she even finishes.

“You should join!”

Letting out a huff, you teeter on your spot on her bed, shaking your head. “I dunno… I mean, karate is what started all this. It’s what changed Eli.”

“No, no, that was Cobra Kai!”

Meeting Sams eye, you pause. You guess she’s right, in one way. You don’t know anything about Miyagi-Do but it was when Eli joined Cobra Kai that everything changed. That he changed.

“I think it would really help you,” Sam tries to convince you, voice desperate. “My dad teaches that karate is for defence only and—“

Her bedroom door suddenly swings open, making you jump in surprise as you turn around only to see who you assume is Sam’s dad. You’ve also seen his Larusso Auto adverts all over town.

He pauses at the sight of you, lips parting; “oh, sorry, I didn’t realize Sam had a friend over.”

Offering a small smile and a wave, you nod; “my names Y/N, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Larusso.”

He eases at your polite greeting, body shifting as his eyes turn to Sam. She’s smiling wide at the sight of her dad, “dad, Y/N and I were just talking about her possibly joining Miyagi-Do.”

Eyes widening, you tense as Sam practically throws you under the bus.

Before you can even argue, Mr. Larusso is stepping towards you, a hopeful smile on his face. “That’s—That’s wonderful! We’d be happy to have you, Y/N. Everybody is welcome.”

Thrown off slightly, you nod, “I-I don’t really have the money to join, though, so—”

“Lessons are completely free,” he offers, shaking his hands out before him, grinning. “No need for you to pay.”

Brows raising, you pause at that. That was… oddly nice of him to offer.

“She’s not completely decided yet, dad.” Sam reminds, noticing the look on your face as she turns to face her father. “I think it’d be great if she did though.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Mr. Larusso laughs, “nonetheless, take your time deciding. There’s always a spot open for you.”

You nod, swallowing thickly, unable to find the words to respond as you simply turn back to Sam. She eyes you briefly before turning to her dad, who informs her that he was originally coming in to tell her that dinner was going to be later tonight cause there was stuff him and her mom had to get done at work.

Sam nods, before saying goodbye to her dad, leaving the both of you alone once again.

You instantly turn to her; “I hate you.”

She just laughs, shrugging her shoulders. “I just think it’d really help you is all.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You roll your eyes, “I’ll think about it, okay?”

And that’s all she really wants to hear.

-

“You’re sure you won’t come?”

“Miguel…”

Letting out a sigh, Miguel’s shoulders fall; “I still don’t even know what happened between you and Hawk. Neither of you will tell me.”

Shutting your locker door gently, you shrug; “it’s nothing worth telling.”

“It clearly is. Since you refuse to be anywhere near him.” Miguel eyes you and you feel yourself growing uncomfortable — it wasn’t that you didn’t trust Miguel, you just didn’t want to pit him against you and Eli. You knew the two of them were close, especially now that they were in the same dojo and you didn’t want to make things awkward.

Or make him feel like he had to choose.

But, as you move to walk away, Miguel’s reflexes are quicker and he easily blocks your path. You huff as he does, hands falling by your sides as you glance up at him.

“You can’t act like it’s nothing.” He argues, “besides, I know he did something.”

“How do you know it was him?”

“Because you refuse to hang with us anymore and he’s with Moon.”

Damn him and his ability to be a decent guy and listen to you…

“We had a fight,” you explain, glancing at something to your left, to distract yourself — to make it not so obvious how much it hurts. “The night of the party, I guess we broke up? And before I knew it, I turned around to see him making out with Moon.”

Miguel’s eyes widen; “the night I got drunk?”

“Yeah,” you shrug, not sure why it’s such a big deal.

“You took care of me, drunk, when all that was happening?”

“Of course,” you say without hesitation. “You’re my friend and I had to make sure you were okay.”

Miguel’s face falls, a softened look washing through his eyes as he glances down at you. You flush slightly at the look, not having expected such a heartfelt reaction to something you felt like was natural for friends to do.

“I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. “I didn’t realize he hurt you like that.”

“It doesn’t matter,” lies, “if he’s happy, then that’s all that matters.”

Unfortunately, that was true.

Miguel just shakes his head and the two of you head off to class together — thankfully chatting about a different subject. But as you walk, you catch sight of Hawk, just across the hall, who moves to greet Miguel before he sees you next to him.

He falters, hand awkwardly falling next to his side, and you find yourself unable to pull your gaze away from his, that familiar pang echoing in your chest.

Then Moon runs up behind him, grabbing him in a tight hug as she laughs and instantly your eyes are flickering back to Miguel, quickly plastering a smile on your face at whatever he’s saying when he turns to you in response.

You don’t notice the pair of eyes that follow you.

-

A rapid knocking on your window startles you awake.

You wake with a gasp, heart feeling like it might leap out of your throat as you sit up, trying to focus on where the sounds coming from. It takes you a moment to realize where, until you turn your head towards your window and see a familiar pair of eyes staring back at you.

“Eli?” You question softly, confused.

You get up, pulling your sheets off of you as you move towards your window. You fumble with the lock for a moment before it clicks open and you slowly slide it up, feeling the cool night air drift across your body.

“What are you doing here?”

Eli doesn’t respond right away, he crawls through your window and it isn’t until he’s fully stood in front of you do you see what’s wrong.

There’s a large bruise across his left eye glaring back at you.

“Oh my God, Eli! What happened?”

“Me and Demetri were walking back from the comic book store when we ran into Kyler and his friends.” Eli explains, speaking for the first time. His voice is low and raspy and he starkly avoids your gaze, keeping his own trained on his feet. “They said hi.”

“Where’s Demetri? Is he—“

“He’s fine,” Eli assures, “he called his mom.”

Nodding as you feel a bit of your worry fade, you shake your head. “Why didn’t you call your mom?”

“I wanted to see you,” Eli admits softly, finally flickering his gaze up to meet your own.

“O-Oh,” you flush, fumbling for your words briefly before you shake your head, snapping yourself out of your own stupor as you see his bruise once again. “Here, sit on the bed. I’ll get a warm clothe.”

He listens without fault and you quickly rush out of your room, racing down the stairs to your kitchen, grabbing what you need before racing back up. Eli’s still in the same spot as you left him, only he’s glancing around, obviously taking in your room. He’s been over before, but only in the living room with Demetri when they’d come over for a movie night. He’s never been in your room or given the opportunity to glance around.

You blush m when you notice him eyeing one of your superhero posters on the wall, chuckling softly to himself.

He turns to you at the sound of your footsteps and slowly you make your way over to him, softly dabbing the warmth clothe over the bruise. He winces slightly but otherwise doesn’t say anything.

It isn’t until you pull the clothe back to yourself that he speaks; “where’s your mom?”

“Still gone for her business trip,” you explain, unable to fight the frown that grows on your lips. “She wasn’t supposed to return yesterday.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Eli doesn’t respond to that and a pause of silence washes over the two of you. He’s glancing around once again and you realize that you’re still blushing, butterflies fluttering in your stomach as you shift on your bed. It felt weird to have him in your room, but, you also liked it.

Liked being this close to him. Just the two of you.

“Does your eye feel okay?”

“Better than it did,” Eli smiles.

You nod, and then Eli shifts.

“I should probably get back—“

“You could stay if you wanted!” The words leave your lips before you’re able to process just what it is you’re asking. At the wide eyed, surprised look Eli sends you, you flush deeper, avoiding his gaze as you fiddle with your pajama pants. “I-I mean, if you wanted to.”

The truth was you just didn’t want to be alone, again, in your empty house like you always were. And.. you wanted Eli specifically to stay. You wanted to be with him.

“Is that okay?”

Shrugging, you turn to him; “my moms not home.” Then, adding, you admit; “and I’d—I’d like the company.”

A moment later, Eli nods; “okay.”

You sit up with hope; “okay?”

“Yeah,” he assures, “I’ll just tell my mom I spent the night at Demetri’s.”

“Okay,” then, pausing, you continue; “thank you, Eli.”

He flushes at that, pressing a hand to his face as he tries to hide himself. “Of-Of course, anything for you.”

A few minutes later the both of you are moving to go back to bed. He offers to sleep on the ground but you just shake your head, pulling your sheets back to signal him. He listens after a moment of hesitance, a deep blush on both of your cheeks.

The second he’s settled, the two of you are facing each other, the only sound being your breaths.

“Good night, Eli,” you whisper, voice barely audible. “Thank you for staying.”

“Good night,” he whispers back, voice slightly shaky. “Thank you for taking care of me. Like you always do.”

You just smile, letting your eyes slowly flutter shut. You fall asleep with ease, a weight lifted off your shoulders at the feeling of another, the warmth in your heart easing you to sleep.

Eli doesn’t fall asleep straight away. He can’t.

Instead, his looks at you, peacefully asleep, without a worry in the world and a small smile on your face — and thinks you’re the most beautiful girl he’s sure he’s ever seen.

-

“You came!”

With a light laugh, you make your way over to Sam. She’s stood off to the side from the rest of the festival, under one of the Larusso Auto tents that they had set up.

It takes you a moment to register whose stood beside her, but the second he turns to face you at the sound of Sam’s voice, you blink in recognition — Robby. Otherwise known as the boy that Miguel got jealous of with Sam at the party that night.

It seemed they were closer then you thought.

“Of course,” you shrug, falling to a stop in front of them. “You asked me to.”

Sam just grins widely, but then pauses as she notices both you and Robby glancing at one another. “Y/N, this is Robby. Robby, this is—”

“I remember,” Robby cuts in. “We met briefly the night of that party down at the beach.” He pauses briefly, before adding. “Miguel’s friend.”

There’s a certain judgement to his voice as he says Miguel’s name, your eyes narrowing briefly before you push it aside. To be fair, Miguel had been drunk that night and had attacked without thought all because he was jealous and upset.

In all honesty, Robby hadn’t really done anything to deserve that. You understood Miguel’s feelings and his rash thinking — but, Robby and Sam hadn’t really been doing anything.

“Yeah,” you nod, putting your hands into the pockets of your jeans. There’s an moment of awkward silence and you know you’re not wanted. “Anyways, I’ll leave you to it, Sam,” your eyes flicker to her whose watching apprehensively. “I’ll make sure to watch you guys though later tonight.”

You send a soft smile and a wave before moving to walk off.

“That was rude, Robby.” Sam turns to him, a frown on her lips. “Y/N’s really nice. And it’s not her fault that Miguel did what he did. She was just being a good friend to him.”

He just shrugs.

Sighing, Sam shakes her head. “Well, I’m trying to get her to join Miyago-Do with us. So be nice.”

-

“Coming up next, do I have a treat for you! Please direct your attention to the Larusso Auto booth for a presentation from Miyagi-Do Karate.”

Shifting yourself around, you eye the booth with curiosity. Sam had practically begged you to come tonight for the sole purpose of getting to see a sneak peek of just really what Miyagi-Do was about. She hasn’t given up on trying to get you to join.

And honestly, you don’t think she ever will.

She promised you it’d be worth it and that what you saw tonight would change your mind about not wanting to join any karate dojos.

Traditional Japanese music starts playing from their speakers and standing on the booth, you see Robby, Sam and her father darkened by the lights to give off a shadowed effect. Everyone falls silent as their performance starts, shifting from different karate positions in a slow and dedication persision.

Once they land a pose with the beat of the music, a series of claps echo.

The lights turn on and Mr. Larusso has a bo in his hands, he does a few tricks with it before Sam and Robby begin to circle around him.

They attack simultaneously, showing off a few cool moves that are impressive. At this point, you know what karate looks like and have had a taste of it watching Miguel, Hawk and the rest of Cobra Kai fight in the All Valley tournament. You’d also seen a bit of Miyagi-Do from Robby, but he was much more proficient in the art now.

The moves were so different than Cobra Kai. So… calm and precise but still effective.

Honestly, when Sam had asked you to watch her this evening, you thought you’d feel much of the same that you do about Cobra Kai and karate in general. You were, quite honestly, sick of it — having lost one of you best friends and the boy you loved to it.

Karate had done nothing but ruin your life and even though Sam kept asking you, you had no intention of joining.

But this? This was different. Felt different. This was calm, peaceful, but still interesting and striking. You felt yourself unable to look away as you watched their performance, enthralled by what you were seeing.

By how much of an opposite it was to Cobra Kai. Less aggressive, less about beating your opponent and more about being able to defend yourself. Protect yourself. It wasn’t karate necessarily aimed to look amazing or cool, but it was still as fascinating — the way all three of them moved… you’d never seen anything like it.

“Now time for the Grand Finale.” Mr. Larusso announces, bowing slightly.

Robby and Sam walk off stage, Mr. Larusso walking off briefly to push on a cart. On it was ice slabs placed vertically in slots.

But just before he’s finished rolling the cart onto the stage, the lights suddenly cut out and the familiar chanting of “Cobra Kai” echoes, pulling yours and everyone’s attention behind you as you see, of course Miguel and Hawk up front and leading the line, the entirety of the Cobra Kai dojo marching in.

Effectively interrupting Mr. Larusso and Miyago-Do’s performance.

It with ease catches the attention of everyone, the entire crowd shifts back over to the main stage where Miguel, Hawk and the rest of the students begin to compete against one another to show off their skills, then moving to other demonstrations of their skills and strengths. Like breaking boards and doing flips.

The complete opposite to Sam’s performance. Rock music blared while lights flashed, the whole performance targeted towards gaining attention. People, especially kids your age, were a lot more likely to want to watch a performance like that then Sam’s.

Purely because it looked more ‘bad*ss’.

You watch with a frown, still hovering near Miyagi-Do.

Then, Miguel’s Sensei walks up at the end, five slabs of concrete lined up horizontally. He calls out for his students to ‘light it up’, and for added effect, they add flames to the top of the first slab of concrete.

He, of course, breaks all of them with ease.

When the crowd starts chanting Cobra Kai, you manage the courage to look to your left. Sam and Robby look devastated, their moment to show off their moves and their dojo interrupted by Cobra Kai, but it’s Mr. Larusso who looks the most upset. A look of defeat in his eyes as he watches Cobra Kai steal all the glory and attention.

It’s heartbreaking.

You know what you have to do. You’d made your decision the second you’d seen the way all of them moved. It felt impossible to avoid karate now, not when it was so clearly taking over your life in different ways one by one -- and in the end, wasn’t it better to join it when you made the decision to? When you wanted to?

As who assume is Sam’s mom walks up and pulls Mr. Larusso off the stage with an arm around his shoulder, you step up in turn, stopping in front of Sam and Robby.

“Okay,” you say after a moment, pulling Sam’s eyes on you as Robby blinks at you. “I’ll do it. I’ll join Miyagi-Do.”

Sam’s eyes widen as hope floods her gaze.

“You might’ve not been able to get anybody else, but… you got me.”

#cobra kai #cobra kai x reader #cobra kai imagine #cobra kai x you #cobra kai season 5 #cobra kai series #cobra kai hawk #eli moskowitz imagine #eli moskowitz x reader #eli moskowitz #hawk x reader #hawk imagine #jacob bertrand #robby keene imagine #robby keene x reader #robby keene

[raainy-daze]

Hidden In Plain Sight

halloween special !

2012 raph x gn!reader

summary: do you ever wonder about what’s really lurking around on halloween? what can so easily walk among normal people without even earning a second glance?

well, you hadn’t until you realized this principle could probably apply to your mutant boyfriend. the hard part, really, was convincing him to help you babysit.

word count: 2302

warnings for some swearing

a/n: welp, here you have it guys. by far the longest oneshot that is going to be in these seasonal oneshots. i don’t know if it’s because i had this more planned out, or because raph’s my favorite, or what. yknow actually now that i think about it it’s probably because im out of town and i write better in hotels for some reason. OH WELL whatever the reason, happy halloween!

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Ah, October, the month of spooks and scares. There’s a chill in the air, and celebrations have begun.

The moon was rising in the sky. It was a beautiful sight. It wasn’t full, but maybe the was a good thing. A full moon on All Hallow’s Eve would be quite the omen.

The crescent you had instead was arguably more beautiful, really. The clouds also quite added to the atmosphere. You would’ve grabbed your phone to take a picture, but you knew it would just come out blurry.

“(Y/N).” You were pulled out of your musings by a voice next to you. “That child is staring at me.”

Your attention was drawn to a child standing a few feet away from your front porch. A little girl dressed as Wonder Woman, her eyes were wide, and her father was distracted talking to one of the other neighborhood parents. Raphael was staring right back at her. He’d been on edge all night, and you could imagine why. He wouldn’t exactly be used to being up top without hiding, or even having any kind of attempt at a disguise.

“It’s fine. Kids don’t have a great grasp on ‘special effects makeup’.” You finger quoted around the cover story. “I had a friend do zombie makeup last year, little kids did not like it.” You reached aside for the candy bucket and held it out, attempting to ease the tiny Wonder Woman out of her fear. “Hey! Want some candy?” Only on Halloween was that not creepy.

With some encouragement from her father, she tentatively approached. “Trick or treat.” She held out her basket, and you dropped a Snickers in it. “Thank you!”

“See? She’ll forget by next week.”

You and Raphael were sitting on your front porch, handing out candy to the first trick or treaters of the night. For the first time in basically ever, Raph was without disguise in plain sight. It was Halloween, so you doubted mutants would bring much attention to themselves, especially with how good people were getting at costume makeup. It took significantly less convincing to get him to hang out with you tonight than you thought. You suspected some part of it was likely to spite Leo’s warnings, but hey, a win’s a win.

“So, when’s the kid going to be here?”

“Oh, Angie?” You checked your phone. “Any minute now, I think.”

“Trick or treat!” You looked back up and smiled, passing each child a piece of candy. “Why don’t you take a turn for a bit?” You held the bucket out to Raph, who only narrowed his eyes at it. “Alright then, geez. Grump.”

“Hey, I’m not a grump!”

“Yeah, sure, hun.”

Over the course of the next few minutes, you’d pass out candy to trick or treaters. When you saw a certain little girl in what you could only assume to be a yeti costume approaching, you set the bucket down atop a paper sign you’d made, which instructed those who read it to take two pieces.

“That’s Angie.” You nudged Raph, still sitting. “Hi, Angie!”

“Hi, (mr/ms/mx) (Y/N!)” She waved a hand at you eagerly. Mrs. Milner trailed behind her daughter, practically jogging to keep up. Her hair appeared somewhat frazzled. The woman herself often seemed somewhat frazzled, really.

The Milners were family friends, and you babysat Angie on the weekends more often than not. She was a sweet kid, if a bit hyper.

“(Y/N), hello!” Mrs. Milner smiled at you. “It’s good to see you. Thank you so much for this.” She reached into her purse before noticing Raph. “Oh, who’s this?”

“Mrs. Milner, this is my boyfriend, Raphael. Raph, Mrs. Milner.”

“And Angie!”

“Yes, and Angie.” You watched as she reached into the bucket on the porch, pulling out two Starburst candies.

“Oh, it’s very nice to meet you. Your costume is very impressive. Are you a samurai alien?”

“Uhh, sure.” Watching Raph stumble as he attempted to adapt to this environment was… well, it was entertaining to say the least. It seemed like everything cut him off guard. “Ninja, technically.”

“Oh, I see!” Mrs. Milner pulled out a wad of cash from her purse and handed it to you. “Thank you again, (Y/N), it means a lot.”

“No problem! I’ll drop her off at your house in a couple hours.”

Mrs. Milner gave you a grateful wave of the hand and began strolling off. “Have fun! Angela, be good!”

“I will!” Angie waved back at her mother. You were pretty sure she already had one of the Starbursts in her mouth.

“Hey, no more candy until we’re done, okay?”

“Okay,” she spoke with her mouth full. You turned back to Raph, who was standing somewhat stiffly.

“It’s alright if you want to go on home, Raph. You don’t have to stay.”

“No, no! I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine?” As per usual, he immediately jumped to the defensive.

You shrugged. “If you’re sure. It’s fine if it gets a little too much, though. Angie, you ready to go?”

“Mm-hm!” The girl instantly jumped up from her gremlin crouch on the porch. She was practically jumping up and down; you couldn’t help but wonder how much candy she’d already had today.

With that, you were off. From the moment you began crossing the street, Angie was pestering Raph with every question she could think of.

“Why are you coming with us?”

“Because (Y/N) asked me to.”

“Why is your face green?”

“Face paint.”

“What are those?”

“Sais.”

“Can I hold them?”

“No.”

Angie ran up on her own to the first house. She was outgoing enough that you usually could just stand back and keep an eye on her.

By the third door down, Angie had already successfully begun tearing at Raph’s nerves.

“How is it that one kid can talk so much?”

“She’s six, she doesn’t have a filter yet.”

“Hey, cool costume, dude!” Every time someone passed and made a comment on Raph’s ‘costume’, he seemed to tense up a little more. This time, he instinctively reached for your hand. You gave it a squeeze. “You’re sure you don’t need a break?”

“What, you calling me weak?”

“Being overwhelmed isn’t the same as being weak, Raph.”

You were met only with a huff. Angie came running back up to you. “They’re giving out full size candy bars!” She waved a Hershey bar in your face. This house gave out candy bars every year, but you weren’t going to point that out.

“That’s so cool!”

And so you continued around the neighborhood. Angie started asking you to go up with her at the more creatively decorated houses. You couldn’t help chuckling at the giant skeleton in the Delaney’s front yard. Where do you even get a lawn decoration that size?

“Trick or treat!”

“Oh, now aren’t you the cutest… white monkey?”

“No, I’m a sasquatch.”

“Oh, I see!” Mr. Delaney dropped a small bag of M&Ms in Angie’s basket. “And what are you supposed to be, (Y/N)?”

“I’m the scariest thing of all. A normal person.”

Mr. Delaney chuckled. “Oh, remember when you were little and you came in that Disney costume? Oh, which character was it…” You glanced back at Raph, knowing you’d be here for a couple minutes. Mr. Delaney’s nostalgia always took up a bit of time for Halloween.

By the time Angie successfully got you away from the old man’s stories, Raph seemed to have eased up a bit. He didn’t flinch at people anymore, at least. Angie ran ahead again, to no one’s surprise. “Hey, stay close!”

“I will!”

You slipped your hand back in Raph’s. “Well? How’s all this?”

“I have had three different people try to start a conversation.” Time for your favorite game! Is Raph pissed, or does he just have resting bitch face? “People up here are too social.” He’s pissed! You weren’t sure the ‘resting bitch face’ theory ever proved true. “Other than that, it’s pretty okay though. But I swear to god, if that kid asks me one more question-“

As if she heard that statement and decided she did, in fact, want to drive Raphael to the brink of insanity, she ran back up to the two of you, attention directed at him.

“Mr. Raph, what’s your favorite candy?zl

He seemed to just stare in disbelief at Angie. You wanted to say you had enough faith in him to not loose his temper in front of a child, but maybe it’d be better to step in anyways.

“Raph likes Twix. Twixes? Twixi.” You paused. “I don’t know the plural.”

“Pretty sure the answer is ‘none of the above’.” Raph raised a non-existent eyebrow at you.

“Shut up.”

You came up to the Carters’ house. The Carters were known for one thing around the holiday season, and that was how all-out they went on their decorating. Whenever you watched Christmas with the Kranks, you couldn’t help but think of the Carters.

This year was certainly no different. The trees across the front lawn were covered in fake spider webs, and the arch over their front door had been decorated to look like a mouth. You even thought you noticed some fake blood smeared here and there.

Angie had hidden herself behind you, just as most six year olds would. “Spiders. No.”

“They’re not real, Angie.”

“But spiders!”

“Do you want to skip this house?”

Angie looked up at the house, as if examining every risk factor. “No…”

“Well…”

Raph tapped your shoulder. “I’ll take her.”

Of all the things you weren’t expecting. “You sure?”

“You’ve asked me that, like, two dozen times over the last hour.”

You took that as a yes. “Okay then.”

Raph crouched down. “Oi. Kid. Come on.”

“But I don’t like spiders.”

“Does anyone like spiders? Look, they’re not gonna hurt you. And hey, if they wanted to hurt anyone, they’d go for the kid in front first. You’d have plenty of time to run away.”

Angie narrowed her eyes. “But they can’t move.”

“Exactly.” You could practically hear the ‘says who?’ he bit back.

Angie had been coaxed towards the door within just a couple minutes. You stood on the sidewalk, trying to process what the hell just happened. Raph never would’ve done something like this without an ulterior motive. Or at least an ulterior motive to use as an excuse. Especially not in front of so many people, even if they were strangers.

Your questions were answered when he came back into sight, munching on a Kit-Kat. You should’ve figured.

“The spiders didn’t eat me!” Angie smiled at you.

“Yeah, I see.”

Raph handed you the second Kit-Kat in his hand. “Grabbed one for you, too. If you’re going to take a kid trick or treating, you should at least take advantage of it. I mean, c’mon.”

You laughed, unwrapping your own chocolate. “Fuckin’ bastard.”

The Milners’ house was just on the next block. You let Angie collect candy from the last couple houses, and then you walked up to her own porch with her. You rung the doorbell for her, and were quickly answered by Mrs. Milner.

“Trick or treat, Momma!” Angie threw her arms open.

“Oh, well what a surprise!” Mrs. Milner laughed. “Did you have fun?”

“I had lotsa fun! Look at all my candy!” She held her candy basket up to her mom. You smiled and looked up to Mrs. Milner.

“Was she good?”

“She was great. Good luck with the inevitable sugar rush!” You quickly briefed Mrs. Milner on the night, Angie occasionally interrupting with her own story. You were astonished that Raph made it through the entire interaction without any sarcastic comments.

Just as Mrs. Milner was about to shut the door, Angie exclaimed, “Wait!”

She stepped up to you and Raph again. She set one of your favorite candies in your palm, and a Twix in Raph’s.

“Happy Halloween.”

You grinned. “Happy Halloween, Angie.”

“Happy Halloween, kid.”

You and your boyfriend began the walk back to your house. “See? She’s not so bad.”

“Yeah, sure. She still talked my ear off.”

“But she gave you candy.”

Raph didn’t respond, probably due to the fact that he was in the process of chewing said candy.

You fished around in your pocket, and pulled one of the two twenty solar bills Mrs. Milner had paid you with and handed it to Raph. “Here you go. You helped, so you get half the pay.”

Raph looked down at the money, and back up at you. “(Y/N)?”

“Yeah?”

“How often do you think I actually use money?”

You paused. “… Just appreciate the feeling. Money, capitalism, yay. Isn’t that nice?”

Raph grinned. “Yeah, sure.”

As you climbed back up on your porch, you picked up the nearly empty bucket you’d left. The last trick or treaters of the night were beginning to filter out, so you thought it was a good time to take the rest for yourself.

“Come on, you enjoyed yourself, admit it.”

“Okay, fine, I enjoyed myself. You happy?”

“Very.” You grabbed your keys and inserted them in the door. “Tell the guys I said hi, okay?”

Raph nodded. He took a step in the direction of the street, but quickly backtracked and gave you a kiss. It wasn’t long, more a peck than anything, but you always enjoyed any kind of kiss from him.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. Don’t let the bed-ghouls bite!” And Raph vanished into the night.

You glanced one last time at the sky. You internally said ‘fuck it’, and pulled out your phone to take a picture. It came out blurry, just like you were expecting, but it was a nice way to commemorate your first Halloween with Raph.

#tmnt x reader #tmnt 2012 x reader #reader insert #gender neutral reader #gn!reader #tmnt raph x reader #tmnt 2012 raph x reader #raph x reader

[kernyen-xo]

Friday

I got out of bed at 3:30p because I’ve been sick and slept a lot. That’s what I get for working instead of healing.

I just spent almost 2 hours browsing Temu and put about 100 journal stickers/acrylic stamps in my Temu cart, and then promptly deleted every item from my cart.

The kid got laid off on Valentine’s Day :(. My heart broke. She loved her job. I’ve never seen her so happy. She is devastated to say the least and still can’t believe it because she never saw it coming. After returning from her leave of absence, she specifically asked her boss if her job was safe, knowing that the company was going through layoffs. Her boss told her yes, you’re good. That was back in December. Since then, they got a new CEO and obviously things changed. The kid told me their revenue was below expectations in 2023, plus they lost crops. Others in the department were also laid off. I believe a company should be transparent to its employees that will be impacted by a layoff.

The kid is a strong woman, and I’m proud of her accomplishments. Not only has she gained valuable experience, she’s very good at what she does. I wonder what she’ll do next :)

Even though I’m sick, I feel warm and cozy. This feeling brings up good memories of my childhood. I have nowhere to be this weekend, so I plan to rest and kick this virus out of my body.

I tried Zicam RapidMelts. I couldn’t handle it. It was horrible and the orange cream flavor couldn’t disguise the grossness.

I watched the K-drama, Gyeongseong Creature. Han So Hee and Park Seo Joon star in the show. They’re both very good. The show was good, not your typical K-Drama, which made it extra-good. It looks like they will be coming out with Season 2 sometime this year. I enjoy Han So See. I’ve watched other shows she’s been in. She’s played some bad-ass characters, including her role in Gyeongseong Creature. She was also in the music video Seven with Jung Kook, which was a pleasant surprise.

I’m glad we have Monday off. More time to recover. I would like to go into the office next Tuesday. Actually, I’d rather retire, but you guys already know this :D

Toodles -xo!

#this has been a kernyen update #20240216 #k dramas #the kid

[bluedalahorse]

YRS3 Fandom Writers Room Challenge: Round #1!

Let’s pretend we’re in the writer’s room for season 3 together.

This is not a predictions post. Nor is it fully a wish list, at least not in the conventional sense. In fact, I want to pause a moment move away from trying to predict what’s going to happen in season 3 exactly, and instead think about ways that it could be written. The wish fulfillment part is that you get to be the writer. You may have an idea you think Lisa herself is unlikely to include in the story, but you’ve thought of a way it would work well in the show. Or you have an idea you’re pretty sure is going to happen, but you have IDEAS about how it could play out onscreen and you want to explain those.

I thought we could spend the next few weeks considering a character or two at a time, and sharing out about what those characters’ arcs could be, if we were the writers. For now I’m planning to leave out Simon, Wilhelm, and August, just because I see a lot of thoughts going around about them already. I may reconsider later.

I will be using the tag “yrs3 fandom writers room” for these posts.

Ground Rules

Dream big, have fun, and share your ideas!

Try to stay in a writer’s mindset rather than an audience member’s mindset. We’re not trying to find secret messages in foreshadowing so much as using it to build a new part of the story that we are pretending we have control over.

Don’t feel like your thoughts have to be complete or perfect. We’re in the fandom writer’s room together, so you can leave some questions open and invite others to weigh in.

Comment on what you like about others’ ideas. If you want to build on someone’s idea, be collaborative rather than combative. Ask questions!

If one of your storyline ideas involves a character encountering or dealing with something triggering (as sometimes happens in the YR universe) please tag appropriately or give a heads up about what’s coming next.

If you’re not a fan of the character(s) of the week and your opinion is that they shouldn’t get any screentime in season 3 at all, this challenge may not be for you. Scroll on by and let other folks participate.

The first Character of the Week is… our wonderful fave Felice!

This Week’s Prompt: Imagine you’re on the writing team for season 3 and you’re deciding how Felice’s arc is going to play out this season. What do you want to do with her character arc? Where do you want her to start and end the season? How do your ideas build on what came before? How can her story interact with the stories of other characters on the show, and deepen the themes of Young Royals?

Think about your answer, and then reblog and respond. You can just write your ideas out, you can make a fun slide show, or you can write a drabble series or whatever, you can come up with a few songs you want played for Felice’s part of the storyline—it’s your choice how you want to respond.

I’m putting my response below the cut. Can’t wait to hear everyone else’s thoughts too!

My thoughts for Felice’s arc:

Heads up for discussions of bullying and conflict in friendship groups.

Sadly, I don’t have any cute graphics this week, or any fanworks. But I do have thoughts.

My writerly thoughts for season 3 are that Felice should be driven by a desire for true, authentic, passionate friendships.

I’ve been reflecting on how in season 2, Felice decides that she’s going to attend the school dance with her Manor House friends group, and prioritize platonic friendships over romantic relationships with boys. At the end of season 2, however, we can see that her friend group is in the middle of a schism. Fredrika and Stella are attacking Sara, and Maddie is nowhere to be found. While Felice is pretty angry at Sara herself, and I imagine she’ll spend the beginning of season 3 not really wanting to take her back as a friend, I wonder if it could perhaps haunt her afterward to see how quickly Fredrika and Stella turned on Sara without having the full story of what happened.

After Wilhelm’s speech, the school will be under scrutiny, and I imagine the general mood at Hillerska is going to grow even more tense. I also imagine this could make students act out more, and for Fredrika and Stella, this could mean power plays and using their gossip powers for evil. Maybe they’re continuing to spread rumors about Sara that have no basis in reality—but really they could be gossiping about anyone. Felice feels increasingly more uncomfortable with it and tries to get them to stop, but either Stella or Fredrika is subtly trying to usurp her role as the group’s “leader” and the group’s power dynamic is shifting. Perhaps by midseason they go as far as turning on her and kicking her out of the friend group entirely.

Felice lets some of this slip to her mother over the phone, and her mother makes an offhand remark about being bullied by her own friend group back when she was at Hillerska. Mamma Ehrencrona quickly tries to laugh off her remark like it’s no big deal, but Felice can sense her mother is bothered by these memories, and realizes that part of her mother’s meddling in her own life stems from unprocessed traumas.  Felice’s mother is a bullied person who became a bully. It doesn’t really lead to a full-on reconciliation between Felice and her mom—there’s not enough time for that in six episodes, and Mamma Ehrencrona probably doesn’t need that redemption arc—it’s more a revelation that makes Felice see some of her mother’s behavior in context.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Simon are publicly together now. Naturally they’re spending a lot of time with one another, meaning Felice can’t hang out with Wilhelm as much, and when she does hang out with them, she feels a bit like a third wheel. The choir’s spreading rumors about how Wilhelm “dumped” Felice for Simon, which adds another layer of awkwardness. Initially I thought, perhaps Felice is frustrated that she can’t get Wilhelm alone so she can open up to him about the struggles in her Manor House friend group, but I feel like that might repeat some season 2 dynamics with Wille being a dumbass who doesn’t take Felice’s feelings into account. So I wonder if instead she could be trying to actively avoid telling him about the conflicts in her friend group, so as not to disrupt Wilhelm’s newfound couple bliss with Simon. This could lead to a midseason moment between Wilhelm and Felice where Wilhelm finds out how Felice’s friends are treating her and he’s like, “dude that’s fucked up, and next time someone treats you that way, tell me and don’t keep it to yourself, because I’m your friend and I want to do what I can to make things okay for you.” 

Alternately, Simon could be the one who discovers Felice’s friend struggles and is there for her, and this leads to a deepening of their friendship. (Perhaps they can also bond as students of color in a predominantly white school—we’ve seen moments where both have experienced microagressions, but I don’t know if we’ve seen characters of color discuss something like that openly yet.)

If I were on the YR writing team, I would also use this as a springboard for Felice questioning if she might be aromantic asexual. Six episodes isn’t really enough for her to have an entire coming out journey, but perhaps she’s reading up on LGBTQIA+ issues throughout the season so she can be more of an ally to Wilhelm. Maybe we get one scene toward the end of the season where she comes across the terms aromantic and asexual and reads about how the aspec communities value friendship, and something about that clicks with her. She’s like, I think I might be one or both of these. I’m going to read more about it. This might be a slight retcon of Felice’s feelings toward Wille, but eh. This idea could also use some workshopping, too, since right now it’s feeling a little Heartstopper. Any ideas on how to make it more YR-flavored?

I do feel strongly, though, that if I were writing Felice and she wasn’t going to end up with a love interest in season 3, that I’d want it to be because she is aroace. There is a repeated trend in television of Black characters as the people who don’t get to be reciprocated love interests (Princess Weekes has a video about it and you should definitely check it out!) and if Felice remains alloallo, she becomes part of that trend, regardless of how well-written she is. On the other hand, there’s also not a lot of Black aspec rep in media right now, so Felice being aroace would at least kind of push back at that trend a little bit.

Overall, I’d like Felice to begin the season worried about her friendships, and ends the season in a place where she can be more confident and knows who a few of her real friends are.

One final thought: Now that Felice has given up riding, I’d like her to either devote herself to choir more fully, or try out a new hobby each episode. (For the latter idea, this doesn’t always need to be a series of in-depth scenes, but something we can see her doing in her scenes with other characters. Like in one scene she’s learning to knit as she chats with Wille and Simon, in another scene she’s doing food photography at lunch, etc.) If Felice gets more into choir, this can be something that deepens her bond with Simon. Maybe they get to do a duet!

Some questions I have for the other writers in the writers room are: I’m not sure how I want Felice and Sara to reconcile yet, but I know I want it to happen. Are there ways Sara’s arc can complement this one? I also want Fredrika and Stella’s arcs to end in a place where they aren’t total villains—I don’t want them to be flattened into basic mean girls, and I think ending them in a space where we understand them would be good. I think we can work out a solution but what do you think it should be? Also, any ways we can use Maddie? She’s always the wild card of that friend group.

Let’s hear your thoughts! Chat with me, fandom writer’s room. Let’s write a season of TV together.

#young royals #felice ehrencrona #yrs3 fandom writers room

[ddaz3d-and-cc0nfused]

༉‧₊˚. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧 || 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜!𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧

― pairing: daryl dixon & little sister!reader

― era: season 10

― summary: it had been too long since you've seen your older brother, and if he was going to be honest, he thought you were dead.

― warnings: mentions of death, arguments, fluff, and angst.

― wc: 1041

⋆ a/n: i was mentioned in a post by @morgan-wolf that gave me some prompts that they had come up with, and i figured why not do a platonic fanfic? i had a lot of fun making this and thank you for the mention! :] it's always so refreshing to write something platonic omg.

masterlist | AO3

You had honestly thought you would never see your older brother, Daryl, ever again. It just didn’t seem possible; with the lengths you’d traveled on foot to the people you’ve lost, the idea of him being alive was almost too good to be true.

You guys had been separated from each other ever since you were fifteen. It was your fault really, but the argument you had between Merle & Daryl was considered a big deal at the time, but now that you’re almost twenty-six, it was almost laughable. You had gone out drinking with some friends and hadn’t come home until the next night, and Daryl was almost losing his mind worrying about you.

You were a complete accident, your parents hadn’t cared about you since you were born, and the caretaking was left up to Daryl & Merle, but of course, Merle can’t take responsibility for anything, so Daryl was the one that took care of you most of the time. Of course, with the pressures of teenage hormones and the fact that there was nothing to do in your small town, you would eventually give in to the mischief of your friends. Daryl had dreaded the day you grew up truly, and that night was an eye opener for him, and he had no idea how to take it.

“What the hell were you thinkin’?!” Daryl asked angrily. He stood behind one of the dining room chairs, his hands having a death grip on the back of it. “I was thinkin’ that I wanted to go and hangout with my friends without you on my back!” You replied back in irritation. Merle chimed in from the couch he was sitting on, “Don’t act like we didn’t do that when we were her age, little brother.” He laughed to himself before taking a swig of his beer. 

“Shut up man!” He growled.

“You’re not my fucking dad,” You bit. “So I don’t even know why you fucking care.”

His face morphed into something nasty. “Ya think I wanted to take care of ya?” He began to slowly approach you. “Yer jus’ some fuckin’ burden that I was stuck with..” His finger jabbed into your shoulder. A sickening feeling settled in your stomach as you bit back tears; his words hurt worse than you thought they would, and without thinking you said, “Fuck you, Daryl.” As you shoved him away from you and stormed out of the front door.

Daryl went to move when Merle piped up from the couch once more.

“Let ‘er go. She’ll be back, jus’ needs some time to cool off.”

Daryl wished that he hadn’t listened to him.

For the next ten years, you were on your own, and you had spent the first five holding on to hope that the only family you had managed to survive. Even though you hated Merle, he was blood, at least that’s what he had said - which you since learned was a shitty manipulation tactic. You didn’t mean what you had said to Daryl though, you didn’t have the right to say what you did to him, and maybe both of you were in the wrong; most nights when you were supposed to be sleeping, you’d stare up at the stars, your head swimming with questions.

Now, you’ve stopped wondering, just opting to live and save the people that were alive.

You were wandering back to your camp when you stopped in your tracks, slowly drawing your bow and quiver as you watched a man surveying your makeshift camp in the woods.

“Drop your weapons.” You said lowly. 

You could see his back muscles tense under his angel jacket, your eyes falling on the dog that was waiting for its owner's command. Your eyes softened, you hadn’t seen a dog in so long you’ve almost forgotten what they looked like.

“No one’s gotta get hurt.” You heard him say. “You’re right, so drop your shit,” You pulled tighter on the string. “I won’t ask you again.” He froze for a second before quickly spinning around, his crossbow brought up and ready to shoot.

Your tense body deflated at the sight of Daryl.

“D?” You asked in disbelief. 

Those same tears pricked at the ducts in your eyes caused you to lower your bow, becoming completely defenseless. You threw your arms around him and began to sob, clinging onto him as you could barely say a coherent sentence. Years of grief and loss completely melted from your body, as that hole in your heart had finally begun to heal.

He couldn’t believe you were still alive; all hope had died off with you the night that you disappeared. He had no idea if you had found a safe zone or if you were bitten. He desperately searched for you until Merle forced him to move, where they inevitably found the quarry and its people.

“God,” You say as you pull away from him. “You look like shit, old man.” You attempted to joke to cover up your embarrassment of showing your vulnerability. “Ya don’ look any better, brat.” He grumbled light-heartedly. 

You two had begun to walk together, a couple of giggles escaping your lips as Daryl’s dog danced around your legs once he learned you weren’t a threat.

“So, where have you been?” You asked. He just shrugs, “I’ve been around.” You nodded in understanding. “Same here. I can’t even tell you where I’ve gone.” You snorted in amusement. There was another beat of silence before you spoke again. 

“Where’s Merle?”

He nibbled on the skin of his lower lip nervously.

“He uh- he didn’t make it.” His voice almost sounded sad. “Oh.” You didn’t know how to feel about hearing about the eldests’ death. A part of you was sad, but the other part of you was also in disbelief, almost like you didn’t believe him. “How did he die?” 

“Doin’ somethin’ stupid but kinda… heroic?” 

“I would have never expected that.” 

“Me neither.” He said with his classic scoff.

Despite losing one brother, you were grateful that you had the other, and if you were going to be honest, he was your favorite. Your conversations flowed as if you hadn’t had to pick up where you left off.

ೃ⁀➷ my lovely taglist!: @alina02 @louderfortheback @minervadashwood @fandomsarelifee @theendofthe70s @nomajdetective @mgg-theprettiestboy

#✰ ― meau's inbox ! #daryl & reader #daryl dixon & reader #big brother daryl & reader #big brother daryl dixon & reader #big brother daryl & little sister!reader #big brother daryl dixon & little sister!reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon #daryl dixon angst #daryl dixon fluff #fanficition #platonic relationships #fluff #angst #big brother daryl dixon #little sister!reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon oneshots #daryl dixon drabble #daryl dixon blurb #daryl twd #twd daryl #daryl dixon twd #twd daryl dixon #daryl the walking dead #daryl dixon the walking dead #twd #the walking dead

[keegansgf]

"perfect as always"

pairing: Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x reader

word count: 1.1k

synopsis: just getting a check up. Something I thought about while making my gaz headcanons which, is above this fic on my masterlist.

tags: Domestic bliss, fluff, getting a flu shot, Gaz being a sweet husband

A/N: This turned out longer than I expected but anything for Gaz <3 This is in reference to my headcanons about him so if you already know, great!

"Traffic is great today, huh? You think you'll have enough energy to go for a walk after this?"

"Probably. That new restaurant near our place is about to open, by the way. I think it's just a two-year checkup and a flu shot– if I can get one during this appointment. We'll finish up by lunch, so just a few ideas."

"Sounds great, sweetheart. I'll get back to you about this after we're done here, yeah?"

Kyle pulled into the clinic's parking garage while you closed the passenger seat window. He wasn't lying when he said the weather was great. The leaves were all shades of red and yellow, but it wasn't a cold day in autumn. The past week had been a bit chilly. You were surprised you could go out without a light jacket today, but the sun felt great on your skin. You saw the park out of the window on the way. A few kids were playing in the leaf piles, and folks were walking their dogs along the stone path. You and Kyle strolled out of the parking garage and into the clinic, hand in hand. 

The waiting room was mostly empty. Your best guess was that everyone was at work or taking advantage of the lovely weather. You walked up to the front desk to sign in, picking up a clipboard with some health-related questions and a couple of sheets to sign. Your husband was on his phone next to you while you filled in whatever you needed. It looked a bit longer than usual.

Any severe stress? Besides wondering if your Mr. is coming home safe, no. Any symptoms of anxiety? Same answer as before. Any blurry vision? No, at least nothing new. Any feelings of sore joints? Nothing unhealthy, but only from work. Any coughing or signs of fev–

"Y/n... Garrick?" You look up to see your doctor in front of you. She looked new. You usually see the same woman for checkups. The fall season did bring in new doctors from summer graduates. She was probably recently hired. You could tell by the lack of confidence in her attitude. First months on the job are pretty rough, she’ll get it soon.

"Yes, that's me."

"Alright, um, this way, please." You look back to see Kyle getting up to go with you. You're so grateful that he accompanies you on appointments. He's probably the best person to be around if you ever get bad news medically. Your doctor takes you into the checkup room and takes a gown for you to wear.

"I'll give you some time to finish up that clipboard and to change into that gown. Are fifteen minutes good enough?"

"Mhm, thank you."

"Alright, I'll be back then." She closed the door behind her, and you started to get undressed.

"She looks new, right?" Your husband spoke.

"I thought so too. I was expecting the other woman from two years ago, but she seems nice. A bit awkward but nice."

"That's fair. I'd be intimidated working a new medical job. Is that clipboard long?"

"Longer than the last checkup, in my opinion. There are more mental health-related questions, which is refreshing, but more work sucks." Your husband hummed in response as you finished getting into the paper-like medical gown. You sat back down to complete your paperwork. As soon as you signed for the last signature needed, your doctor knocked on your door before coming in.

"Are you done, miss?"

"Yup!"

"Okay! For confidentiality reasons, can you step out temporarily, sir?"

"Oh yes, of course. See you in a bit." Kyle kissed your cheek before leaving to sit in the waiting room again. 

"You have one sweet guy." Your doctor joked.

"I know, right?"

Your checkup went fine. There were no new concerns, just the same as last time. Your husband came back in as soon as you finished getting dressed.

"Nothing bad?"

"Of course not."

"Perfect as always, sweetheart." You smiled at his light compliment.

"Will that be it?" Your doctor asked.

"I was wondering if I could get my flu shot done. Better now than late November or December, right?"

"Yes, for sure! I'll go to get that done right away. Can you get one arm out while you wait?" You nodded back, and your doctor left once again. As you were taking your arm out of your sleeve, Kyle had a teasing look in his eyes.

"You scared?" You rolled your eyes at him and didn't answer. Truthfully, who isn't scared of shots? Sure, they don't hurt, but it's still a needle. You were grown now, so it wasn't as terrifying to get a simple flu shot as it used to be. Plus, the love of your life is next to you.

"By the way, that restaurant we talked about opens in about... twenty minutes? You still up for going?" It must've been what he was checking on his phone earlier.

"Oh yes, I'm starving."

"Got it." 

Your doctor came into the room, tray in hand. The syringe always looked scary. Why did the needle have to be so terrifyingly thin?

"Ready?" Your doctor asked, wiping your arm with an alcohol prep pad. Before you answered, you felt a large warm hand lovingly laced with yours. Kyle was looking at you with that sweet honey-infused smile.

"Yup."

"Alright." The shot went by quickly. A few seconds passed, and then you felt a bandaid on the same spot the needle used to be.

"You're done! Just wait for around ten minutes for any concerning side effects. If nothing happens, you're free to go!"

"Alright, thank you so much!" She left you and your husband in the room to wait. Your hands were still holding each other. Your husband made almost anywhere feel like home, even a dull clinic. His coworkers felt the same way, viewing him as a son, nephew, or brother, despite being on a battlefield. He was just that sweet and welcoming. You couldn't be happier to have him.

"Atta girl. So brave." Kyle leaned from his chair to kiss you on the lips while fixing your sleeve. You giggled at his doting. He always praises you for small things.

"Thank you for the words of encouragement, honey.” You replied, half joking. “I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart. Before I forget, come here. Besides the fact I want you close to me, you need to see the menu to check if you're interested in anything." You kissed his cheek after scooting closer.

"You're too sweet, love."

The ten minutes went by quickly. You waved goodbye to the lady at the desk and walked with your husband to the car. Despite being tired from all the social interactions today, you got your food to go to and have lunch at home with your husband. The rest of the day, you and Kyle had some quality time together. The bedroom windows were left open to let the fall breeze blow. You were long overdue for a good afternoon nap.

#kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz garrick x reader #gaz x reader #cod #cod mw2 #cod mw22 #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare 2 #cod headcanons #domestic bliss #fluff

[twdg-and-stuff]

hi, I hope you're doing okay :)

I remember being the anon to request "Could you write the season 1 gang finding an abandoned toddler reader? Like the reader is 2-4 years old, and they just found them completely alone? You can write the characters you're comfortable with writing (and it's platonic ofc, since the reader is a toddler)"

and I was wondering if I could get the same with season 4 gang? Take your time and have a good day/night :)

Hi! Sorry it took so long to get to this, school just started again so I’ve been pretty busy. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!!

Let’s say she’s on a run a little bit outside of the safe zone

And she walks into an abandoned building, maybe a house or an old store

As she’s rummaging through the shelves she hears a soft crying coming from the room next to her

It reminds her of A.J.

She immediately runs into the room, knocking down the door and following the noise

When she sees you, she’s in utter shock

She picks you up and checks you for bites

Once she sees you’re all good and no bites she’ll carry you back to Ericson’s, humming to you quietly to keep you from crying

She begs Marlon to let you stay

He finally gives in because A.J. wouldn’t stop bothering him about how he’d love to have a little sibling

Everyone is a bit hesitant at first but they all warm up to you eventually

Louis is Setting traps outside of the school when he hears a noise

He begins to follow it, finding a toddler sat under a tree

He crouches down and looks each way before picking you up, worried it may be a trap

He runs back to the gates and informs Willy that he has a toddler with him

Everyone was surprised when they saw a baby, alive and in an apocalypse

Louis will try and Name you but picks out the worst names imaginable

I can imagine him trying to think of a name to call you, and Violet is next to him thinking how stupid they all are

But after a few days of being there, the group ends up loving you

Violet is not happy to find you, she’s obviously worried about you but also worried that you’ll attract walkers by crying

She checks you for bites and picks you up, holding you outwards so if she somehow missed a bite you wouldn’t be able to bite her

She acts like you annoy her, but she starts to warm up to you after a few days

Clem was going to the greenhouse and asked Violet to watch after you for a bit

Violet just sat in the room with you until you grabbed onto a toy on the floor that A.J. had left there

“You want that?” Violet asked you

You nodded and she gave you the toy, and began talking to you

Clem found her playing toys with you in the room

And after that Violet isn’t worried anymore

He was on a run with Louis when he found you

You were on a porch, outside of a house

Louis ran up to you and Marlon followed after him

They both were a bit worried and Marlon checked you for bites then picked you up

They both ran back to the school quickly, worried incase it was a trap

Marlon let you stay at the school ‘for a few days’ to see if it was a trap

When nothing happened, it was already too late because everybody loved you

Mitch was finding firewood when he heard crying

He was scared but still followed it, incase it was a baby or a child that was alone

He found you and picked you up, looking for bites and when he found none he walked back to the school

And while walking back to the school in an effort to call down your crying which failed miserably

He went into Marion’s office and told him he’d found a toddler in the woods

Marlon told him to keep you at the school until everybody agreed on what to do

When they decided on keeping you there, Mitch acted annoyed but secretly was relieved

He warmed up to you pretty quickly after that though

To be honest I think Aasim would be more confused than scared or worried

Like, why is there a toddler, alone, in the woods, in a zombie apocalypse…?

He’d definitely take you in to the school no matter what though

He’d beg Marlon to let you stay at Ericson’s with them

And when he finally agreed, Aasim was so happy

Everybody would warm up to you fairly quickly

I feel like if he wanted to give you a name, it would be from a book he read or something

Or he’d let Ruby name you

#the walking dead #the walking dead game #twdg #twdg fanfic #twdg headcanons #fanfiction #twdg x reader #clementine twdg #louis twdg

[annabethy]

aurora // a 'tis the damn season au

Percy and Annabeth had something real. They fell in love somewhere between bookstore kittens and vintage novels with pages tinted yellow with time, and they were happy. It's rare, finding the type of love they did. It's even more rare making it last. (Chapter 8/8) (26.3k words, complete) Read on AO3

It all comes racing back.

Annabeth opens her mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. Instead, his words repeat in her mind, echoing over and over, cutting deep.

Did you break up because you weren’t ready to be a wife, or because you weren’t ready to be his wife?

The reality is she already knows the answer. But she can’t say it out loud. Not when she’s looking into his eyes, green, curious as ever, but also with a hint of omniscience, like he knows the answer too. It would be too close to admitting she’s the one who tore them apart. She feels an influx of emotions: miserable, guilty, and somewhere deep inside, relief, because he gets it, even if he doesn’t really.

She can’t admit to any of it, so she admits to the next best thing: rage.

“Excuse me?”

Percy says nothing. He doesn’t have the decency to look embarrassed, but then again, he’s not really the one in the wrong. 

They stay silent after that for about ten seconds, but it’s tense, able to be cut through with a knife. The last time she felt like this was the day she last saw him, Percy unable to look her in the eyes. She had known how bad she hurt him, but she still walked away, leaving him stuck there cursing her name.

 It feels like it lasts a lot longer than it does.

“You left to get something better,” Percy says. “It seems to me like you found it, yet here you are in front of me. You can’t expect me not to question—”

“I can, actually.” Annabeth’s eyes are burned to his. “And I do. You have no right.”

He takes a deep breath, and he’s looking anywhere but her. She can see the gears turning in his head, juggling his words before he says them, not that it’ll matter. Annabeth’s lost, and there are a lot of things she doesn’t know, but what she does know is that no matter what he says, it’ll be the wrong thing. 

She’ll say anything to avoid admitting she was wrong. 

“I’m not trying to start a fight,” he tries, rubbing his palm over his face. “I just…what are we doing?”

“I got locked out. That’s it.”

“We both know it’s not.”

“Percy, please.”

Annabeth doesn’t know what she’s pleading for. She doesn’t know what they’re doing here. She had a life and things were good until they weren’t.

“I don’t get it,” Percy says, and she can hear him forcing patience into his voice. He was always better at this kind of thing, always giving her two minutes more than he should. “You could’ve called anyone, and yet you called me. I’m not mad or annoyed or anything, but I don’t get it. Why are you here?”

“I came to see my family.”

The pained look he gives her hurts more than anything. What is she doing? What is she doing?

“I’m trying so hard, Annabeth, but you’ve got to give me something to work with. Are you being serious when you say there’s nothing going on, or did you just miss home, or are you running…”

She’s running, but she’s not sure why.

Is she running away from Connor? From the life she was so close to having but didn’t want because there was always the whisper of a name from six years ago in the back of her mind? Reminding her that as great as Connor was, he was never enough because he had everything except one tiny thing.

(That tiny thing is that he wasn’t Percy).

Maybe she wasn’t running from anything after all. Maybe she was running to something. 

(To someone).

It turns out that years and thousands of miles doesn’t erase feelings like what they had. It might dull it a little bit, but returning home, returning to that person unveils what once was, leaving you wondering how you’d missed it all those years in the first place. She should’ve known better than to think she could come back here, like she wouldn’t fall right back into Percy’s arms, finding comfort in his lips against her own, or against her neck, his laugh low in her ear. All those Christmas movie cliches should’ve clued her in.

She can never admit any of it, though, because she has to go back, and Percy has to stay. None of it matters.

“What do you want from me, Percy?”

“I want you to talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about?”

“Yes, there is!” He places his palms on the dark wooden table, rocking back and forth. “You’ve been gone six years and the second that the idea of something new pops up, you come running back. You call me. Why?”

“Would you have liked me to call someone else?”

“Jesus…no, Annabeth. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m asking you what you want.”

“What do you want?” Annabeth says it bitingly, an attempt to scare him off. To get him to back down before she admits something that it seems he knows anyway. 

“I want you.”

There he goes.

Annabeth can’t help it when she starts to cry. It doesn’t matter who wants who because her life is in California, far far away from New York. She loves him, wonders what life would be like if she had taken the other road, or if he had followed her down the first one. She wants him too, but how? There is no fixing the mess she created.

“I’ll ask again. Why are you here?”

Annabeth doesn’t know, so she does the only thing she knows how. She fights. 

“It’s none of your fucking business!”

“It is! You come here, you let me kiss you, and you tell me it means nothing? I’m not an idiot, so please stop treating me like one!”

Annabeth sucks her teeth with a shaky breath. “It did. It meant nothing.”

Percy looks at her, disappointment evident in his eyes. She knows she shouldn’t, but she can’t help but focus on how attractive he looks right now in the dark of the bookstore. He’s frustrated, kind, beautiful, and she wants to run into his arms and apologize, but that was never her strong suit.

She hates that it’s come to this. She hates that because of her, she’d lost him. She hates that he isn’t hers anymore, that he’s been with other people, that above everything she’s forced him through, he’s here trying to fix what she’s broken. 

He laughs in her face. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

She is trying to convince herself, so she doesn’t say anything at all.

“Answer me.”

“I have a life, Percy!” The tears come faster, and she stares to her left as though she’s going to find the figure of her old self back in high school, playing with a stray cat between the shelves with Percy working somewhere else in the store, both of them blissfully unaware of the things to come. “I have a life. It doesn’t matter why I’m here, or if…if I’m running, or whatever else you think I’m doing. This isn’t my home, and I have to go back in two days.”

“I’m not asking you to give any of that up!” 

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you can have me!”

The world comes to a halt.

“I wish I could read your mind,” he tells her, rushed, “but I can’t. All I know is that you’ve been fine for six years, and then Connor proposed, and you were on my doorstep kissing me as though nothing changed.”

“Stop!” Annabeth wipes furiously at her eyes. “It doesn’t matter!”

“It does matter because I’m right here, and you’re pushing me away!”

“Why are you making it so difficult for me to walk away?” It comes out wobbly, pleading. “You don’t think I know the heart I’m breaking is my own?”

Annabeth has always known Percy well. She’s always been able to predict his actions and his words, to know what he’s thinking before even he knows. It was for that reason that it was never easy for him to surprise her back when they were together. She’d always prided herself on finding someone so perfect, a twin flame, but now, things are different.

For the first time, he surprises her.

“Your own?” His words send chills down her spine. “Are you fucking kidding me? Your own?”

“Percy–”

“I know you think that the world revolves around you, but it doesn’t! Believe it or not, there are other people around you who feel the consequences of your actions! You are not perfect! You hurt other people! You are selfish and stubborn and can’t admit when you’re wrong! You run from everyone who actually cares about you!”

Annabeth sobs. “Stop it!”

“You are not the only person here, Annabeth! God, how do you think I felt when you left? Did you ever once stop to think about me?”

There’s nothing for her to say.

“You are not the only person who got hurt here. Did you know I’ve spent six years wishing you’d come home so I could scream at you? You hurt me. I’ve been stuck here in this…this limbo, somewhere nothing ever happens except the same high school drama from people who were never given the opportunity to grow up. I’d wished you would come back, or that I hadn’t stayed in the first place, but you came back, I tried so hard to be mad. I told myself I would never forgive you, but then I saw you in my bookstore petting the stupid cat and everything changed because I knew that even if I was hurt, you were too. I love you and I can’t be mad at you no matter how much I should be, and I cannot let you leave without saying what I should’ve said the first time.”

Annabeth squeezes her eyes shut. When they open again, Percy’s gaze is softer, but his hands stay placed on the counter. She thinks it’s because if he moves, it’ll be to take her in his arms, and even he knows better than to do that. So instead, he watches her with soft, understanding eyes because he loves her and he knows why she’s back, even if she can’t admit it to herself.

“In a few days, you are going back to California,” he says. “But right now, you’ve here with me.”

“Right now won’t last forever.”

“You’re right,” he says. “Not unless you let it.”

Annabeth is seven years old again, and she knows nothing about the world. There had been times in her life where she thought she figured things out, but then she really grew up and she was back to seven years old.

“You need to go back to California, but this isn’t the same as six years ago.” Percy looks around the bookstore. “There’s nothing for me here anymore. This place…it doesn’t make me happy in the way it used to, but you do.”

Her heart pounds in her chest. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I love you.” Percy lifts his hand, and his fingers twitch. “Now I’m asking you to let me.”

Annabeth knows nothing about the world. Maybe that’s okay.

She doesn’t think that coming home for the holidays is supposed to hurt this much. She shouldn’t ache the way she does, and she shouldn’t take the step towards Percy that she does, just like Percy shouldn’t be so fast to open himself to her, pulling her in, letting her dig her face into his neck, ignoring the tears that dampen his skin. 

Nothing is as it should be, and for once, she’s thankful. She breathes him in, wonders if he can feel her pulse over the sobs she lets out into her chest.

“I’m sorry,” she chokes out, but he only holds her tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” he breathes, lips pressed to the top of her head. She thinks he’s crying too. “It’s okay. I’m right here. I’m not going to lose you again. I can’t.”

And so it goes unsaid what’s going to happen after this. 

Annabeth is going to leave because East Aurora, New York was never really her home. She’s going to follow the first path she took, but this time, she’s going to uncover what lies behind the road not taken. 

She lifts her head, and the next thing she knows, his lips are pressed to hers. It’s not enough–it’s never enough when it comes to them–but that’s okay, because they have time. The kiss is salty, either her tears or his, but she leans into it. He grabs her face, surrounds her, forgives her. 

“I know you can’t stay,” he breathes into her. “Let me go with you.”

Annabeth can see how this is going to end.

It’ll be an adjustment. It’ll take a while, but in a few months, she’ll be in California again. He’ll be by her side. She’ll have to reconstruct her life, reconcile with old friends if they’ll have her. They might not, because she hurt their friend when she chose Percy (even if she didn’t know that’s what she was doing at the time). It doesn’t matter because he’ll be with her every step. They get a do-over, a chance to travel an old dusty road, to live the way she thought was gone forever. There is a lot to fix and a lot to figure out, but she knows that more than anything, she has him. 

For the first time in six years, everything is okay.

#my writing #percy jackson #annabeth chase #omg i finished it. i also cut out like three chapters but i DID finish it #shower me in compliments im on a roll. im writing a new fic as we speak (NOT multi chapter we all know im bad at it) #aurora is not centered ignore it

[letterbox-lemonade]

Who would like a dose of some Delicate spoilers? Hell, I’ll give you a whole scene. Chapter 13 is in the works!

Read on below!

We’re in Alcina’s study, she’s working on her desk, for a change, and I’m stretched on the lounge bench by the window, right under a patch of warmth that’s coming in through the trees outside while I study. It’s rare to have the main house to ourselves, and with how busy we’ve both been lately, any moment that we can spend together, is a gift, even if we are both occupied in the same room.

Twirling a lock of my hair between my fingers, I look away from my hematology book to her: Reading glasses, silk shirt, hair up but that stubborn strand falling down one side of her face, that concentrated frown she makes when she’s completely focused. I wish we could stay this way for hours, but soon she’ll have to go teach a class and I’ll have to go back to my hiding place, though it’s so much more than that, the guest house has become my home, and much to the detriment of my fear of attachment, I love it. Alcina and I have made so many memories together there.

Something rattles against the surface of her desk, and it breaks her concentration.

“I’m sorry,” I say, and reach for my phone, and she gives me a tiny smile, It’s nothing, and goes back to her screen.

‘Emergency! What Color is Juliet’s dress, the one she wears for the masquerade ball?’

Emergency? That’s public domain information. ‘Green and red,’

‘Lifesaver, you!’

‘Speaking of, they’re having a small expo at the greenhouse next week, I know how much you loved it when you were there. I could get you in if you want. You could bring a plus one, you don’t have to come with.’

‘I’m flooded, but thank you for offering.’

I wonder if Alcina would like it, the greenhouse. Attending an expo together —no matter how small— would be impossible, but I know she loves gardening so much.

I feel like a jerk for thinking that before thinking of how now I just lie to Irina on command. I’m far from flooded. Miranda has been spending more time with Dani since we’re in exams season and Alcina’s been under a lot of pressure, and has given me more time off than I know what to do with.

Irina texts me again.

“Interesting conversation?” says Alcina, looking at me over her glasses.

“It’s nothing important,” I tell her. She’s been so moody lately that I don’t know if talking bout this will benefit whatever she’s working on. “I’ll go get a snack. Would you like something?”

“I’m all right, thank you. I need to finish this before I go,” she says, and goes back to her work.

Before I get to take a step, my phone buzzes in my hands, and Alcina looks up again.

“Not important?” she says.

“It’s really not,”

“Very well,” she says.

#alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu #lgbtq fanfiction #alcina x reader #age gap romance #countess alcina dimitrescu #ao3 #teacher x student romance