#also my college classes are ending next week and I have to make a 20 minute video for one | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

slutforln4 · 9 months

Text

libertine — joel miller.

synopsis. you've been having sexual fantasies about the substitute professor at your college. when the opportunity to get a better mark on a shitty essay you wrote arises, you take it. quite literally take it.

pairing. professor!joel x student!reader/fem!reader

warnings. smut, a smidge of fluff at the end, masturbation in a public bathroom, joel's got a southern accent that i tried to make obvious in the fic (if it's crappy, 'm sorry), oral (m receiving), unprotected piv, inexperienced and virgin reader, age gap (reader is in their early 20s and joel's in his late 40s), dom/sub dynamics praise kink, dirty talk. idk what else there is...

goes without saying but this is 18+, MDNI. i'm not responsible for what typa media you consume, but beware for your own good.

word count. 2.6k

author's note. i haven't written smut before so here's my shot at the self-indulgent professor!joel hc that i have... hope you enjoy ❤️ part two in the makings if this does well!!

Classic literature didn't come easy to you, but fucking your professor did.

It started off as every normal day at college did— you flow through your entire schedule, some free time here and there, during which you manage to take a nap or catch up on missing assignments, and at the end of almost every day, you were met with the class you hated, but also loved, the most… Classic literature.

The class itself is fairly easy. All you had to do was read some novels, write essays based on topics from said novels and also write a thorough analysis of it. Easy stuff. But you struggled with the essay writing, it just wasn't your thing.

However, you can't say that you didn't enjoy the class. The most interesting part of it being that substitute professor, Mr. Miller, that just transferred in. Him and that Texan accent of his, those deep, brown eyes, that salt-and-pepper hair trailing down his jaw, those luscious thighs and whatever's hiding behind the zipper of his jeans… You can't stop thinking about it.

It’s been occupying your mind for however long he's been working at your college, and you can't help but have those thoughts when it comes to him. From the way he looks, down to the way he talks about love, he’s attractive inside and out. The way he talks about women, though, was the thing that caught your attention the most. He speaks so highly of them that it almost seems like he worships them, which makes you want to fuck him all the more.

The day you decided to put your mind to rest and have your body do the work, Mr. Miller had put up another assignment.

You dreadfully open up your email at the beginning of class, and groan when the body of it reads “Essay about the importance of expressing love in current youth based on your analysis of Romeo and Juliet due next week Thursday, midnight.”

Turning off your phone, you assert your attention back to your professor. He stood there, in his suit and all, looking more delicious than ever as he reminded your class to check their emails. The stern tone in his voice made your insides flutter, and the way he held onto his waist… God, you can't help but rub your thighs together to hide the throbbing between your legs, already feeling the wetness in your panties.

“Alright, pull out ya laptops and open up that website I told y’all about,” Mr. Miller says, and you’re the first one to obey his order. He gives you a look and when your eyes lock with his, he smiles at you. “As I already mentioned in the emails, we’ll be readin’ and analysin’ Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.”

The more he spoke, the less you could pay attention. Your eyes travelled all over his face, his chest, down to his crotch. Even without a hard-on, there was an imprint in his dress pants. Mr. Miller was the type to speak with his hands, resulting in you ogling at the way his fingers move in the air.

Mr. Miller begins talking about how love is portrayed in the tragedy, his tone changing with each point he makes. You stare at his lips, silently wishing they were on your body, somewhere. Anywhere would be fine as long as all his attention was on you. On all the parts that long for his touch.

You try your best to focus on what he’s saying, writing down what you need to remember. Your thighs are clenching together again when Mr.Miller scratches the back of his head, his bicep visible through the sleeve of his jacket. That’s about as much as you can take.

You hesitantly get up from your seat, mumbling a quiet “excuse me” as you walk out through the doors. It must've looked weird, since you ran out the door in such a rush, but you didn't care. Your main concern was finding a bathroom before all the thoughts about your professor fucking you into oblivion could make you cum on the spot.

You hurry past all the staff that are scattered across the halls and barge into the women’s bathroom. It's quiet and you’re sure you're alone, but you still check. “Hello?” No response. You hurry yourself into a stall and lock the door.

You don't even lift the toilet seat when you sit down on it, your skirt and panties on the floor. You spread your legs and put your fingers into a V shape, spreading your lips open. Using your other hand, you gather some of the arousal that’s been leaking out of you for the past twenty minutes and use it to coat your clit as your finger slowly rubs circles on it.

"That’s it,” you can almost hear Mr. Miller talking in your ear. “That’s my girl.”

“Fuck,” you mumble to yourself, feeling yourself getting more horny with the flood of thoughts that won't stop. Your finger rubs circles on your clit, increasing the pressure from time to time. Subconsciously, your hand unbuttons the shirt you’re wearing to reveal your bare chest and begins twirling your hard nipple. You imagine it's his hands, that he’s the one pleasuring you. Your finger’s now working at a pace you can't keep up with, quietly moaning out your professors last name when you use the hand that was rubbing your clit to finger yourself.

One finger in and you’re already gasping at the image on the back of your eyelids. You’re imagining it's his fingers in you, his cock in his other hand as he jerks himself off. You put a second finger in and start thrusting it in and out, when the image changes to his hips clashing into yours as his dick hits spots your fingers could only dream of. Your hips jolt against your fingers at the image of his veiny cock so vividly throbbing in your imagination.

You bring your other hand down to your clit, rubbing the throbbing nub once again. “Fuck,” you whimper as you feel your climax nearing. Your fingers curl inside you, and you’re about to let go.

“Attagirl,” the voice in the back of your head says and that’s the last push for you to cum all over your own fingers, your juices leaking out onto the toilet seat. You continue rubbing your clit until your climax wears off.

When you’re back in the classroom, everyone's already left, only Mr. Miller’s sat at his desk, typing away. His eyes look up at you when you enter through the door. “Oh, hey. I kept your stuff safe, since ya left in such a rush.” A comforting smile decorates his face. He’s so considerate it makes your clit throb again.

“Uh, thank you, sir.” You mumble shyly, packing your stuff into your bag and getting ready to leave. Mr. Miller’s eyes are on you when you turn back towards him.

He clears his throat. “I also wanted to speak to ya ‘bout somethin’.”

“Oh,” you nod. “Alright, what is it?”

“Listen, sweetheart. Y’know the last essay I assigned you to write?” He asks, eyebrows raised in question. You bite your bottom lip as you think back on what the last assignment was. When you remember, you nod. “Alright, well… You didn't do too good on it.”

“I know,” you laugh awkwardly, trying to hide the shame you feel. “It wasn't my finest work.”

“Yeah.” He laughs with you in an attempt to ease the situation. “But, uh. You can rewrite it and I’ll raise your mark. Whaddya say?”

You think it over for a moment, before shaking your head. “I think I could…” You’re not sure where this confidence is coming from, but you’re suddenly approaching him. “Get my mark up another way…” Your eyes glance down at his crotch and you bite your lip. When Mr. Miller realises what you’re insinuating, he shakes his head, but his eyes say different.

“Honey, it goes against teacher-student policy, you know that.” He reminds you, but you’re already on your knees in front of him and under his desk, batting your long eyelashes at him to get your way. His bulge grows right in front of your face and you don't think anymore, you just do. Your fingers are unclasping his belt, unzipping his pants and pulling them down. “Sweetheart-” he gets cut off by his dick springing up after you pull his boxers down, precum already leaking out of it. “Fuck.”

You look at him, not sure of what to do. You’ve never sucked a dick before, and the one in front of you would surely end up somehow fucking up your throat. You contemplate just sitting down on it, riding it like you did to your pillow when you woke up from a wet dream about him. That is, until he speaks. “You gonna stare at it or suck it like you wanted to?”

The tone in his voice changed from formal and sweet to deep and dominant, and you’re wet again from just the sound of it. “I’ve never, uh… done this before.”

Mr. Miller nods his head towards you. “Put your lips on the tip,” you do as told, your lips wrapping around the tip of his cock. “Just like that,” he says, his voice wavering. “Now put it in your mouth,” you hesitate to do so, instead wrapping your fingers around the base of his large cock. “Don't be shy, you want your mark up, don't ya?”

You nod, slowly opening your mouth to put more of his cock in. When it hits the back of your throat, you gag a bit. “Breathe through your nose, babygirl.” You do as told and the gagging goes away. “Now, slowly bob your head up and down. Yeah, just- just like that, fuck.” You're bobbing your head up and down on his dick, your fingers working at the base of it. His hips buckle and his dick thrusts deeper in your throat. A moan rumbles in your throat and vibrates on Mr. Miller’s dick, and he has to refrain himself from shoving his whole dick down your throat.

“Fuck, just like that,” he moans. “Good girl.” The praise makes you that much more wet, and you moan against his dick again.

Suddenly, the door swings open and Mr. Miller sits up, looking at whoever entered his classroom. Your mouth doesn't leave his cock, you simply thrust it in your mouth harder, using your tongue to caress his shaft. “Good evening,” he greets the janitor who came in to clean the classroom. “I, uh, I still got some,” Mr. Miller balls his fingers into a fist as he holds back a moan, trying his best to focus on the conversation with your mouth still sucking him off. “I’m still workin’, gimme thirty more minutes.”

The door closes behind the janitor and Mr. Miller leans back against his chair, his eyes half-lidded and looking down at you. He feels his orgasm nearing when you begin pumping the base of his cock again, along with thrusting his dick into your mouth. “I’ll be cummin’ in your mouth if you don't pull away right now, sweetheart.”

Your mouth leaves his cock, but your fingers still jerk him off. A deep moan leaves his lips as a string of hot cum shoots out in loads onto your clothed chest and neck. You’re still pumping his dick when he motions for you to get up. You stand up from under his desk and he’s immediately pulling you closer to himself. You're sat on his lap, dick still hard and rubbing on your belly as his lips connect with yours. He can still taste himself in your mouth and he smirks at that.

His hands are on your knees, but with each kiss, they inch closer and closer to where you need him the most. When he reaches the wet spot on your panties, he grins against your mouth. “So ready for me, hm?”

You nod, whimpering at the soft contact of his finger to your clothed clit. “Yes, Mr. Miller, please-”

“Call me Joel,” he mumbles as his fingers wrap around the waistband of your panties and tug them off of you. He slowly grabs you by the waist and aligns his cock with your dripping cunt.

“Wait-” you pause kissing him when you feel the tip brushing up against your folds. “I haven't- Y’know…”

Joel smirks. “You a virgin, baby?” You nod, slowly. “I’ll take care of ya, I promise.” You feel his finger rub over your hole, gathering some of your slick to rub it on his dick.

His hands slowly lower your waist down, his cock slipping past your folds with ease and you gasp at the feeling of him filling you up. It’s everything you’ve been dreaming of. He’s so big that it feels like you’re being split open. “You okay?” He asks you with a kiss to your collarbone. You nod, your bottom lip between your teeth and hands tightly gripping onto his shoulders. “Good, ‘cause this ain't all of it yet,” he says, voice low and taunting, before lowering you all the way down. You whimper as you feel his cock brush against your cervix.

“Fuck,” you whisper, leaning up to kiss his lips as you adjust to the size of him. Joel just holds you there, not moving you until you’re ready. His fingers find your throbbing clit and start rubbing it, your lips still connected. “Mmh,” you moan, your hips jolting towards his fingers and moving his dick deeper inside of you.

You begin pushing yourself up and slipping back down, a string of moans leaving your lips. “Attagirl.”

You’re riding his cock, feeling each and every inch of him filling up your insides. You can feel every throb of his veins pulsing inside of you and you catch all his moans with your lips. His hands are gripping your hips, pulling you down with more force. The classroom is filled with sounds of skin clashing on skin. You’re moaning and whimpering, his cock threatening to tip you over the edge. “I’m… I-” you can't even speak.

“You what, baby?” He asks, his thumbs digging into your hips with the intensity of your thrusts. “You gonna cum for me? You gon’ be a good girl and cum all on my dick?” You can't manage to speak so you nod, tears spilling from your eyes as you feel your climax approaching.

He’s thrusting up at you, now, his climax approaching him again. You're a moaning and whimpering mess, begging him to make you cum with the broken words you’re mumbling. “Ple- Please… Fu-uck, Joel…”

“Let go for me,” he coaxes, his lips right by your ear. “I got you, pretty girl.”

With a loud moan, you’re cumming all over his dick and you feel his hot liquid fill up your insides with a couple more thrusts of his hips. Joel kisses you again. Like a starving man that hasn't eaten for days on end. He kisses you with passion, with more than just lust behind those eyes.

When you both pull away, he makes sure to clean you up. “You were so good for me, sweetheart.” He praises. “So good.”

You’re not sure what to say, so you just kiss him again. And again. And one more time. Until he’s kissing on your neck again, but he inevitably stops and leans into your ear. “I gotta get to work, baby.”

“Okay,” you say with a sigh. “Thanks for helping me with the essay,” your lips pull into a small smirk as you open the door to his classroom.

“All thanks to you.” He returns the same smile. “Couldn’t have finished it without you.”

You shake your head with a laugh. “You’re so unfunny,” and close the door behind yourself.

#joel miller #the last of us #pedro is daddy #joel x reader #pedro pascal #joel miller smut #joel miller fic #joel miller x reader #professor!joel #student!reader #pedro pascal fic #joel miller x you #praise

595 notes · View notes

lyrakanefanaticwriting · 2 months

Text

The grandest game: Chapter 1

———————————————————

GRAYSON:

I took a sip out of my cup of black coffee, glancing at my watch to see what time it was and whether or not Avery would be getting up soon, when I heard footsteps behind me.

“Good morning, Grayson. Did you bring the files from the interviews?” Avery asked, appearing beside me and taking the seat next to me at the table.

“Yes,” I said, pulling them out and placing them in front of her. “Have you found anybody yet?” She makes a face but pulls out her own folder and hands me some pieces of paper.

“Only two people, a girl named Hana Beaumont and a guy named Matthew Monroe. If you take a look at their grades, education, and patents, they’re really talented.” She says. I flipped through them, reading its contents, and was really surprised. Hana had been going to public schools for a good part of her life, until she had caught the attention of a fancy private school that created a program for low income students with spectacular grades. She started going there until students started finding out that she wasn’t actually paying to go to school, and only payed for school supplies. That’s when the bullying started. It was only a couple girls, at first, but then it became groups of people. A girl at her school went to Hana’s dad’s tiny shop and posted the video online, and that’s when it got really bad. It got to the point where the school had to kick her out, because she was causing “too much attention”. She continued going to public schools afterwards, but has yet to apply to college. Probably waiting to see if she got into The Game or not before applying. She’s 20 years old.

“And she wrote this in her admission?” I asked, feeling bad for poor Hana, who couldn’t control how much money she had. Avery nodded.

“I added a section where they could write why they wanted to be in The Game, but it was optional.” She said frowning, and I could tell she too felt upset about the way Hana was treated. Flipping to the next page, I read about Matthew Monroe. Matthew was 20 as well, but he hadn’t gone to a private school. He was in public school all his life, but was known for setting the curve and acing all his classes. He had wanted to apply to a fancy college so he could study criminology, but he didn’t have the money and if he borrowed money he would have to be in major debt all his life. And he applied to The Game, I thought, So he wouldn’t have to worry about debt. Obviously, if he were to win then he would probably be set for life, but something told me Matthew wanted to be a criminologist because he genuinely liked the field.

“So, do you think they’re good?” Avery asks, cutting into my thoughts.

“I think they’re amazing. Both smart, hardworking individuals who I’d like to see in The Game.” I said with a smile. Avery smiled back and opened her mouth to speak, when my phone suddenly rang. I excused myself before getting up and going into the hall. Once I was there, I answered the phone.

“Hello?” I say, remembering what Xander had said to me a few weeks ago. I heard silence on the other end, but only for a few seconds.

“I thought you said you would be working on my riddle.” The girl, the one that had called him before, was on the other end of the line. She had been demanding so much of me, but I had yet to even know her name.

“I was. And I have a few theories that I took from the riddle,” I said, matching her sly tone. “My first one is that a handshake begins a bet, and the not that could mean the opposite of a handshake. The opposite of a handshake is disagreement, misunderstanding, and refusal. So maybe your father and Tobias had gotten into a disagreement, or my grandfather had gone ahead and done something that your father may not have approved of or was aware of yet, which would make the misunderstanding factor make sense. But there’s also another theory that I had come up with. What if you didn’t hear “a bet”, what if you had heard ‘What begins abet’ instead?” I paused to hear her reaction, and on the other end of the phone I heard a sharp inhale.

“It’s possible.” She said. I waited for her to go on, but it seemed she wanted me to explain more. So I did.

“Abet means to aid a crime, so maybe your father had aided one of Tobias’ crimes but was the only one who got any of the blame. Or maybe he did the crime for Tobias and was so guilty that he-“ I cut myself off. I didn’t know her reaction to any of this, and I had no clue if she was still affected by her father’s death. She breathed in slowly, before speaking.

“Are you suggesting that my father and your grandfather had been caught up in some nasty business, and the guilt of it all led my father into taking his own life?” She asked me. I didn’t have to answer, and she seemed to already know the answer herself. There was silence, and I thought for a second that she might hang up, when suddenly she begins speaking again.

“Thank you for your help, Grayson Hawthorne, but I’m sure you have other things to tend to now. You are one of the game makers in “The Game”, are you not?” She asked me.

“I am. And you’re right, I do have things to tend to.” He said, thinking back to the folder that was sitting on the dining room table at this very moment. Suddenly, I realized that this was the end of our conversation. Probably for good. In a split second, I held my phone tighter and spoke before she could hang up.

“Wait,” I said, my voice cutting into the silence. “Whats your name?” I heard a sudden laugh on the other end of the line, before she replies.

“Im afraid I can’t disclose that information, Mr. Hawthorne.” She said, her voice sweet. And then she finally hung up. I still have my phone held up to my ear when Xander bursts into the room.

“Grayson, you missed, like, the entire conversation me and Jameson had with Avery! You need to stay off your phone more, you iPad kid.” He said, walking over to me and grabbing my phone out of my hands. I quickly grabbed it back and shoved it in my pocket, the phone call I just had still lingering in my mind.

“And what was the conversation about?” I asked, raising a brow at him. He grins.

“A masquerade ball! We’ve decided that we’re going to invite a hundred or so people who enlisted in The Game to mingle, and then we can narrow down who we want to be in The Game better. Obviously there will be a limit, and those who don’t want to be in The Game will still have an opportunity to come, but it’ll be a fun opportunity to get to know potential contestants better!” He said, beaming. I mulled it over, and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t such a bad idea.

“That actually might be nice. When will it take place?” I ask Xander.

“A week from now. You better wear a fancy suit! Although I wouldn’t have to tell you twice. Oh, and, don’t forget, but it’s a masquerade ball, so don’t forget to bring a face or eye mask!” He said, shouting while walking away. A masquerade ball? Full of potential contestants? How were we supposed to narrow down just 5 more people? Questions swarmed around inside my head, but I ignored them and walked towards the kitchen, where Avery and Jameson still were. I had contestant applications to go over, after all, and there were still 5 more to go.

——————————————————————————

???

My TV was on, the man on it mindlessly droning about the news and being perfect background noise, when suddenly a reporter comes on, talking about Avery Kylie Grambs. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t hear of her. Suddenly, I was paying much more attention to what was on TV. The reporter claimed that Avery was hosting a masquerade ball, and if you wanted to be a contestant in The Game, then you had an opportunity to come. About a hundred or so people who sent admissions for The Game would be invited to Hawthorne island to mingle with other “potential contestants”, and have a better chance at getting in by speaking with the people who actually ran The Game. While the reporter was still speaking, I heard my phone ring. Fully knowing who it was, I picked it up.

“Hello?” I say.

“I assume you saw the news as well.” She said, her voice low.

“You assumed right. A masquerade ball, huh?” I say, knowing exactly what she’s planning.

“It’d be the perfect time. Not only would they not be able to see your face, but I’m sure your voice would be different too, due to the mask.” She said. It was true. A masquerade ball was the best time to do it. But still, doubt and suspicion crept into my mind.

“Im not doing this if I end up not getting my end of the deal.” I say, my voice low and dangerous. She makes a hmm noise, before speaking.

“Trust me, you will get all the information you’ll need about your father, and some money too. All you need to do is get in The Game, and leave the rest to me. Can you do that?” She asks. I knew that doing this was risky, that she could screw up at anytime and easily drag me into her mess. But I also knew what was in it for me, my end of the bargain. And in the end, it would be worth it.

“I can, Eve.”

——————————————————————————

YES THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER IN ALL OF CHAPTERS IK BUT ITS JUST BC ITS THE FIRST ONE, I PROMISE THE OTHER CHAPTERS WONT BE THIS LONG 😭😭

#the grandest game #grayson hawthorne #lyra kane #lyra x grayson #the inheritance games #the brothers hawthorne #avery kylie grambs #jameson hawthorne #xander hawthorne #nash hawthorne #libby grambs #eve laughlin

38 notes · View notes

chansbabygirlsstuff · 6 months

Text

Just a bet.... Chapter 1

Boring, that's how I describe math class, the teacher shits on us for not remembering the formula for x or whatever she is blabbering about.

let me explain how college works for me, There are always groups of everything and clubs for anything, for example, the soccer majors, you know the leaders there are amazingly fit and all, all the girls there want them for their own, but that's not how it works in here then you have the dance majors who are incredibly sexy because the way they move is so ugh.....and music majors hot af, science majors they are actually the funniest and smartest of all the uni, theater majors, dramatic af, psychology majors they only read your mind and always so nosy in whatever is going around because they are 'trying to understand whats going on in their heads so they can solve it ', law majors super gossips, and more, you know at the end it's a university and there is lots of stuff to study.

My name is Y/n and I'm a law major currently in my 2nd year here, but I really don't have friends, just being around so many people is not a good influence all the time but people talk to me sometimes ( when they need something from you) some girls in my major are amiable and cute so maybe they are not a bad influence.

"Y/n" Yuna screamed my name from across the class making people look at her and then at me, as she walked towards me with her friend group: Tzuyu, Mina, and Lia.

"hey girl you still up for studying in the library?" "Sure" you answered remembering that they invited you to study yesterday for a group project. you stand up and follow them out of the class to change your path to go to your locker, as you put your stuff away you hear loud laughs and teasing between a group of boys passing through the hallways behind you, the sassy, fun, amiable guys at the school, the popular Boys they are pretty chill but of course, they have there bad shit like hookups during the week with different girls and then leaving them heartbroken after

Seugmin is a baseball major he pretty cool ngl, then there is Lee Know a dance major, Felix in computer science major, Han, Chanbing, and Bang Chan are Music majors but they also studying something else Han is in a Scientific major and Chanbing is in Economics Chan is in Business and then there's I.N who also studies law and Hyunjin who is in soccer major and Accounting.

"Y/nnnnnnn" Hyunjin comes running toward me with a cute smile and a wobbly run and grabs me from my shoulders moving me side to side as I almost lose balance "What do you want Hwang?" I said annoyed because he only talks to me to annoy me or ask me for something, like last time...

Flashback*

"Y/nnnnnn," he says screaming from the end of the hallway as I turn to him and say, "What Hwang?" I looked dead into his eyes "Oh don't be mean to me you love me" he said dramatically" " I just wanted to borrow 20 bucks please" he begged "For what?" he stayed silent and said "Well I bet Han that he couldn't fit his whole hand in his mouth and he did it but now it's stuck so Lee know is taking to the hospital, but now I owe that dumb fuck 20 bucks and I didn't bring cash with me, so please have mercy with this beautiful soul in front of you"he pouted his lips and gave the puppy eys as he almost kneeled down "fine! you better give them back tomorrow or you dead meat" I warned him as he left smiling and blowing a kiss at me jokingly

End of Flashback*

"So... I bet I.N to do karaoke night yesterday at his house and I would've done his statistics homework but now I'm too tired to do it and it has Law examples, you and he study that so can I please copy yours for him" he pouted his lips as I sighed and open my locker to give him my notebook "thank you so much I owe you so much girl," he said screaming and running towards his next class as I got to mine.

12:05 pm

it was lunchtime time so I went out to a cafe to get myself caffeine for the rest of the day and a chicken sandwich "That will be 14.99" the cashier said to me as I opened my wallet to get my card "I'll pay for that" a man next to me swiped his card for my order before I could even say anything "ok perfect please wait on the line and your stuff will be here soon" the girl said with a smile and left.

the man looked at me and smiled "Chan?" I asked confused as to why he was there and why he paid for my order "Hey, what up?" he said casually as he leaned against the table "Can I get the same please?" he said to the cashier as he paid his stuff, "umm why did you pay for my things? I was going to do it" I told him while he smiled and told me "You Hyujins friend right? Y/n?"

I looked at him suspiciously and said "Yes and no I'm not giving homework for free" "Technically is not free, I just paid for your meal, but I'm not here for any favours no worries" He said as we took a seat in one of the tables, I ate my food feeling weird cause wtf do he want now? " so is there anything you need?" I said and he looked taken back at my comment that yeah... it was kinda rude.

"no nothing I just saw you were a good friend of Hyunjin's and you seem like a fun friend to have around, so I wanted to be friends with you too," he says smiling at me as I looked confused at him "Plus you're cute," he says with a little smirk appearing in his face "No seriously what do you need?" I said a bit annoyed by his comment and he just chuckled "Nothing relax I just want to be friends, as I said you look like a fun girl" he said as we continued eating, and then before I was finished someone entered the cafe "Chan my man" they fist bombed as the other male sits " hi in Han, your Hyujins friend right?" "OK, what does Hyunjin need now? cause this is weird"

"what do you mean? can we just talk to you?" Han said as he looked offended by my feistiness, I put my head down in shame but you can't trust these guys, they are always up to no good, as I tried to finish my food and just replied to their questions and small talk I got up and picked my stuff "ok I need to go, class is going to start soon, it was nice meeting you all" "let me take you to class" Chan said as he got up to accompany me but I stopped him before anything else "oh you don't have to don't worry I have to go to the library to study anyways" "I was heading there, lets study together" he said keeping up with me as I walked " I have a project with the girls so you will be stuck listening to us, so if your planning to pay attention to what your studying then I recommend to study in another table, they can be loud sometimes" " no worries I would like to learn what you know" he smiles as he follows me, why is he acting as he knew me since forever? doesn't he know that he looks like a creep who is about to kidnap a 23 female or what?.

83 notes · View notes

venus-haze · 1 year

Text

What Is It About Men (Austin!Elvis x Reader)

Summary: When your best friend and college roommate Jenny Presley returns from spring break your junior year with the news that her mother has left her family, you end up taking on the responsibility of helping her power through the rest of the semester. At the end of the semester, she invites you to spend the summer with her at Graceland, and the last thing you expect is to get so deeply entangled with her father, Elvis, as the season heats up.

Note: So I’m back after a month with the longest fic I’ve ever written. I got some inspiration from the incredible Amy Winehouse song of the same name. The reader in this fic is a cis woman but no other descriptors are used. I also made a fictionalized Presley!daughter for this scenario since I’m kinda doing an alternate timeline type thing which I’ll expand on in the fic. Please do not interact if you’re under 18 or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 10k

Warnings: Age gap (Elvis is in his early 40s and reader is in her 20s), angst, substance abuse, toxic relationships, sexually explicit content. Do not interact if you are under 18.

As soon as you stepped foot in your dorm room, your nose scrunched at the smell of what you knew was mold—again. You hoped in the two weeks you’d been gone for spring break the university would have taken care of the maintenance request that you and your roommate Jenny had submitted at least ten times a piece by then. Still, it had been a good excuse to get out of class when the two of you just wanted to watch TV in the dorm’s common area all day. You and Jenny would take turns pretending to sound sick on the phone to whatever department secretary was on the other line, explaining you couldn’t make it to class because of some reaction or another to the mold in your room, send my regards to professor whoever.

When you first arrived at college your freshman year, you were dreading having a roommate. Though you knew plenty of people who’d become lifelong friends with theirs, for some reason the handful of horror stories you’d heard about nightmare roommates played through your mind, especially when the university wouldn’t tell you the name or contact information of your roommate so you could at least try to coordinate who was bringing what. By the time you got there, she’d already been neatly moved in but was nowhere to be seen until later that night when you met your completely normal roommate who would, in fact, end up being your best friend.

For the first few weeks of the semester your freshman year, Jenny was secretive about her personal life, and you figured it was best not to pry—though you did notice her forced laughter when you said ‘Presley, is your dad Elvis or something?’ Only later to find out that yes, her father was in fact Elvis Presley. She was worried it would change your friendship, her being the daughter of the most famous man in the world. It wouldn’t, though, because through the years, before anything else, Jenny was your best friend, practically your sister, which was why when she arrived back at the dorm from spring break, a blank expression on her normally cheerful face, you immediately began to panic.

She didn’t greet you as she trudged over to her bed, dropping her duffel bag on the floor and sitting on top of her covers. You’d never seen her in such a state before. Unsure of what to do, you cautiously approached her and asked if everything was okay. As you’d quickly learn, it wasn’t.

“Mama left,” Jenny answered, her voice hoarse. “Said she couldn’t do it anymore.”

You sat next to her on her bed. “Do what anymore?”

“Bein’ a Presley, I guess.”

“Jesus, Jenny, I’m so sorry.”

You put your arms around her, allowing her to cry into your shoulder. The wall on her side of the room was covered in a collage of posters and photos, some of you and her together, others with your larger group of mutual friends at events on campus or parties, but mostly of her family. While you knew they were close, Elvis made a point of that from his mother’s untimely death and his increasingly strained relationship with his own father, you didn’t know very much about them besides that. They never came to campus, whether by their own choice or at Jenny’s request as to not draw unnecessary attention to her as she worked to get her history degree.

Despite having just about every resource at her fingertips, Jenny was just as dedicated as any student at the university. She studied hard and took the occasional less than stellar grades with more maturity than some of the people in your own program who didn’t have money and a big name behind them. You were drawn to how down to earth she was, crediting some of that to her parents, who she said tried to give her as normal of a childhood as possible, mostly at the insistence of her mother.

“Half her stuff was gone. I found the note she left us on the kitchen counter that mornin’. Dad had fallen asleep on the couch and didn’t even hear her leave,” she choked out.

“Jenny, don’t–”

“I mean I knew since I was young that he cheated on her, and I can’t fault her for bein’ mad about that. But in the note–she said she wanted her life back. Why weren’t we good enough for her?”

You were at a loss for words. From what details you’d managed to pull from Jenny about her family life, her parents had known each other before Elvis became famous and married just ahead of him receiving his draft notice. A couple of years later, Jenny came along, and you assumed the rest was history. After all, Jenny was always excited to visit home during breaks in between semesters and would receive regular care packages from one–or both–of her parents throughout the year that she’d always share with you.

Surely being married to such a busy and famous man like Elvis must have taken a toll on Jenny’s mother, especially knowing him before all of it, but it was unfathomable to you that she could leave Jenny like she was nothing. It wasn’t like any of Elvis’ vices were Jenny’s fault.

Any attempts to get Jenny to calm down and rest were futile, as she somehow powered through her sorrow to explain how the rest of her spring break went in the fallout of her mother taking off. Her father was a wreck, drinking and rarely leaving his room–though you didn’t want to be rude and point out that’s what tabloids said he did anyway in the wake of his public and messy break from his exploitative long-time manager, Tom Parker. He’d sent most of his entourage away, TCB, the Memphis Mafia, whoever the hell they were, making Graceland emptier than ever. This especially distressed Jenny; she’d refer to them as her uncles more often than not. You were shocked she even returned to campus, but understood when she said she needed space away from home, unable to stand the constant reminders of what just days ago was her happy family life.

Jenny didn’t seem to blame Elvis for the situation. After all, he wasn’t the one who left the family in the middle of the night, throwing in the towel of over twenty years of marriage and motherhood. You’d listen to Jenny’s rants about her mother and the subsequent sobbing sessions too. After all, she’d done the same for you when Billy, your boyfriend of two years, had broken up with you just a year prior.

You began to resent Jenny’s mother too, as you found yourself having to pick up the maternal slack. You loved Jenny, but balancing your studies and social life with making sure she got out of bed, took care of herself, and went to class every day was becoming overwhelming. The selfish part of you wanted your best friend back, but with you being the only other person privy to the situation, the damage control fell on your shoulders.

Things began to get better as the semester came to a close, yours and Jenny’s late night study sessions before finals bringing glimpses of her old self back. You did have to give her credit, she was looking at ending yet another semester with a near perfect GPA. You wouldn’t have been surprised if she managed to snag the title of your graduating class’s valedictorian.

The two of you were packing up your shared dorm room after your last finals of the year, excited to be out of the crappy room and moving into an off-campus apartment for your senior year. You’d been worried about how close you and Jenny would stay after graduating and going your separate ways, but she had decided after a meeting with her advisor that she was going to apply for the university’s graduate program, so the two of you would be roommates for the foreseeable future.

“Y/N, I hate to ask this. I’m sure you’re itchin’ to go home for the summer,” Jenny asked with an uncharacteristic hesitancy as you decided which notebooks you were going to keep and which to throw away.

“What is it?”

“Will you spend the summer at Graceland with me? I don’t have any friends in Memphis really–”

“No, Jenny, I don’t want to spend the summer with my best friend in her giant mansion.”

This pulled a laugh from her, so rare those days that you felt a sense of accomplishment at hearing the sound. “Shut up. I’ll let dad know to expect you.”

“I do wanna spend a week or two at home, though, just to see my family.”

She nodded. “That’s perfect, actually. Gives me time to assess the damage.”

You weren’t sure if she meant physical damage to the house in her absence, or emotional damage as her father dealt with her mother’s leaving on his own. Deciding it best not to pry, you instead began excitedly planning the summer with her. You would miss having time with your friends from back home, but you knew you wouldn’t be at Graceland all summer anyway. Every year from the end of July into the beginning of August, Jenny volunteered at a sleepaway camp in the Smoky Mountains for underprivileged kids, so you’d have more time with your friends when she left to go there before the semester started and you headed back home.

The visit with your family the first two weeks of your summer break was short and sweet, ending comically with just about the entire household trying to help you fit a summer’s worth of clothes and toiletries into a suitcase and carry-on. Jenny had told you to pack light, promising she’d take you shopping, but the last thing you wanted to do was seem like you were taking advantage of your rich friend. After all, she had your first-class flight to Memphis billed to Elvis Presley Enterprises, despite your insisting that economy class was fine.

Memphis was bright and sunny when your flight landed, and you were glad to be one of the first people off the flight, excited to see Jenny again. She’d called you a few times while you were home, you suspected partially to try to convince you to get to Graceland earlier than agreed upon, but knowing you had limited time at home, you were busy catching up with as many people as you could before what your family jokingly referred to as your vacation.

You shook your head upon seeing Jenny standing in arrivals, holding up a white poster board with your name written in thick black marker across it. You grabbed your luggage from baggage claim, failing to suppress your smile as you walked over to her.

“You’re so lame,” you laughed, giving her a hug.

She jokingly hit you over the head with the sign. “I was tryin’ to be thoughtful.”

As you and Jenny walked arm and arm out of the airport, you almost stopped in your tracks at the limo that was waiting at the curb for you. You didn’t know what else you expected, but the reality of who your best friend was finally hit you after three years of knowing her. She thanked the chauffeur who put your bags in the trunk of the limo and ushered you inside the luxurious car.

“You hungry? We can stop somewhere,” she offered.

You shook your head. “I’m nervous. Is it normal to be nervous?”

“Don’t be. Dad’s dad,” she said, as if that were supposed to make any sense.

Except your dad isn’t dad, you wanted to argue. Your dad is the most famous man in the world, the king of rock n’ roll. He’s not just some dad, Jenny. Hell, you grew up listening to the man’s voice on the radio or on your parents’ record player. As far as you were concerned, you may as well have been meeting Jesus Christ himself. Maybe what you were feeling in the back of that limo was how old people felt as they neared death, legs bouncing and bile rising in their throats as they neared the pearly gates. In your case, however, it was the music-note adorned gates of Graceland where at least two dozen fans were standing vigil. What’s more, Jenny recognized some of them, asking by name how they were doing. You slunk down in your seat, suddenly considering if agreeing to spend the summer at Graceland was a mistake.

Jenny turned back to you when she finished catching up with the people outside her home. You’d read a few articles that detailed how Elvis was dedicated to his fans, taking more of an interest in them than many other celebrities. He’d stop everything to sign autographs and get to know people, feeling that it was the least he could do for the people who made his career possible. Although it was a foreign concept to you, you thought it sweet that Jenny took on that attitude as well.

An elderly woman stood on the front porch, who Jenny practically jumped out of the car to greet. You figured it must have been Grandma Dodger, Elvis’ grandmother who Jenny was just as close with as he was. She was kind, giving you a hug and asking polite questions about how finals went and what your plans after college were. Dodger could tell you and Jenny were about to melt from the heat when she waved the two of you inside to follow her.

Despite knowing exactly whose home you’d be spending most of your summer in, you were starstruck upon seeing the man in person, standing frozen in awe as Elvis Presley himself walked over to the foyer, a bright smile on his face when he saw the group of you. He gave Dodger a kiss on the cheek as she settled into an armchair in the living room.

Growing up, you’d always thought Elvis was handsome, from the photos you saw of him in magazines and handful of his movies you’d seen, but he was younger then, not quite mythologized yet. Meeting him in that moment, with his evident age and maturity, he was gorgeous.

“You must be Y/N,” Elvis said, his voice deep and smooth as he greeted you. “I do hugs ‘round here, hope you don’t mind.”

You shook your head, because who the hell were you to say no to a hug from Elvis Presley of all people. His arms were warm and strong as they wrapped around you, pulling you close as if he’d done this a million times before—maybe not to you, at least. You returned the gesture, a bashful smile on your face when the two of you broke from the hug.

“You’re all Jenny talks about,” he said. “I call her and ask ‘How’s school?’ and I get an earful about you. Feels like I already know ya.”

“Dad,” Jenny groaned, rolling her eyes before shifting her gaze to you. “He’s exaggerating. He likes to embarrass me.”

He laughed. “That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” you said. “Thanks for letting me stay here. Your house is beautiful.”

“It’s your house for the summer, too,” Jenny said.

“That’s right. Y’all girls got the pool, the horses, go-karts. Hell, Memphis is jumpin’ most nights. I used to go to this club on Beale Street called—“

“Club Handy, yeah dad.”

You almost laughed at the situation. For how much you had built up the Presleys in your head all these years, especially Elvis, it was a relief to see Jenny get just as embarrassed by her dad as you did at your own parents sometimes. Still, you didn’t understand what she had to be embarrassed about, Elvis had been nothing but nice and funny so far. You nearly protested when she began pulling you up the stairs with her, your suitcase in her other hand.

“Alright, don’t want the ol’ man crampin’ your style, I get it,” Elvis said as he noticed Jenny leading the escape.

Jenny smiled. “Love you dad. We’ll see you for dinner.”

“Love you too, kiddo. How’s hamburgers sound?”

“Perfect!” Jenny called back from the top of the stairs.

As the two of you walked down the long hallway to the guest room where you’d be staying for the summer, you couldn’t help but finally blurt out your thoughts at meeting Elvis for the first time.

“Your dad’s like—“

“He’s a lot, I know.”

“What? No, I was gonna say normal. I mean, except for the whole ‘being Elvis Presley’ thing.”

She huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, except for that.”

The guest room was at least twice the size of your room at home, and you couldn’t imagine what the other bedrooms in the house must have looked like. The decor was a bit outdated but in pristine condition. If anyone had stayed there before you, you couldn’t tell as you walked around to observe the large bedroom.

Jenny stood awkwardly in the doorway, clearly unused to having guests of her own over. “I guess I’ll leave you to unpack. Bathroom’s right through that door, and my room is two doors down. Come find me when you’re done, and I’ll give you the tour.”

“Okay,” you said.

You opened the closet door, finding empty hangers for your clothes. It didn’t take you very long to unpack, hanging up some of your clothes and putting others in the drawers of the nearby dresser. The bathroom was just as elaborate as the bedroom, its pink tile walls and floor looked like it’d just been installed. You set your toiletries where you usually kept them at home.

Jenny’s bedroom door was open, and you found her laying on the floor, reading a magazine. Her room wasn’t much different from the dorm room as far as decor went, except the bedroom was naturally far bigger. You wondered how she even survived in the cramped shared living space, growing up with such an incredible room of her own.

She was surprised to see you walk in, not expecting you to finish unpacking so soon. True to her word, she gave you the grand tour of Graceland. She had a story for just about every room in the house, something funny she or her dad had done, but you noticed mention of her mother as scarce. Still, the woman’s presence lingered throughout the mansion like a ghost–family photos that were still on bookshelves, the wallpaper and furniture she’d picked out in some of the rooms.

By the time Jenny had finished showing you the house and just how much there was to do outside, your stomach began rumbling, and you couldn’t ignore the smell of whatever was cooking in the kitchen.

“Dad, what’re you cooking for?” Jenny asked upon seeing Elvis standing front of a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop.

“Changed my mind about burgers. This is one of Dodger’s recipes, I wanted to do somethin’ special for your friend’s first night here.”

“Food poisoning isn’t special.”

“C’mon, that was one time, and I got just as sick as you.” He turned to you. “Don’t listen to her. It hasn’t happened in years.”

You laughed, sitting at the table, amused by their banter. Dodger walked into the kitchen, taking the seat near you and giving you an exasperated glance. Apparently this was a regular occurance.

You hadn’t realized how hungry you were until you started eating, but it didn’t faze them, as you noticed where Jenny had picked up the habit of talking while chewing came from. The whole situation was almost normal, which made it all the more bizarre to you. You hadn’t expected to be catered to hand and foot by butler and maids or whoever they may have employed at Graceland, but having a regular, home-cooked meal with the Presleys wasn’t what you had in mind for your first meal there.

The food was good, and Elvis was especially pleased the next morning when no one showed signs of food poisoning, as he so kindly informed a half-awake Jenny over breakfast the next morning. You slept well in the guest room, the bed was more comfortable than the one you had at home, and having your own bathroom to take as much space as you needed to do your nighttime and morning routines was something you knew you’d savor throughout the summer.

Your first week at Graceland was mostly spent in the house, either in Jenny’s room where the two of you listened to music and planned the rest of the summer.

“Y’all can’t spend all summer inside. We got a nice pool out there, and y’all ain’t even used it yet,” Elvis said. “And those poor horses are neighin’ for you, Jenny.”

“Oh my god,” she groaned, covering her face with a pillow in embarrassment.

Elvis winked at you, and you smiled in return.

“You bring your swimsuit, Y/N?” Jenny asked when she lifted her head.

When you changed into your swimsuit in your room, you looked at yourself in the mirror, admiring how well it looked on you. It flattered your figure perfectly, so much so that you’d bought different patterns and colors in the same style. A brief, foolish thought raced through your mind, what would Elvis think?

As you made your way downstairs, you took a detour to talk to Dodger who was watching TV in the living room.

“Hi Dodger,” you greeted cheerfully. “Are you gonna go swimming with us?”

She scoffed. “I went enough of my life without air conditionin’, I’m not givin’ up bein’ comfortable now.”

You nodded. “I don’t blame you. Do you need anything before I head out?”

“Jenny just got me a Coke before she ran out the door. Thanks for askin’, sweetheart,” she said, smiling.

Jenny was already in the pool by the time you got there, climbing out to head to the diving board. You set down your towel on an empty pool chair and applied your sunscreen, watching as she jumped from the board and into the pool. The sun was unforgiving as you could already feel yourself sweating off the sunscreen. Still, you knew you needed to wait at least a few minutes before heading in.

Sometimes you and Jenny would swim at the pool in the campus gym, but it reeked of chlorine and on more than one occasion had to be cleared out because some hungover asshole threw up in it. The pool at Graceland looked immaculate, though.

“You’re not swimmin’?” Elvis asked, startling you a bit. You hadn’t noticed him walk up.

“I’m waiting for my sunscreen to dry first.”

“I’ll keep you company,” he said, sitting next to you on the towel.

Neither of you spoke as you watched Jenny do a backflip off the diving board, Elvis jokingly calling out a score when she emerged from the water. She stuck her tongue out at him before swimming over to the ladder out of the pool, making her way back up the diving board.

“Did she dive competitively or something?” you asked.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Nope, just likes jumpin’ off the thing. We signed her up for just about everything else she wanted to try. Really is a miracle she ended up alright, Lord knows I let that girl get away with murder growin’ up.”

“Jenny is the best friend I’ve ever had,” you said softly.

He turned his head to look at you, squinting a bit from the bright summer sun that was shining from behind you. Your breath caught in your throat at the sight of him—his tanned skin almost gold in the sunlight with his black styled hair, the faintest hint of laugh lines beginning to show in the corners of his mouth as he gave you a kind smile. “I’m real glad to hear that. She thinks highly of you too.”

Before you could respond, he said, “I’ve spent a lot of time readin’ the Bible recently. Lots of strong friendships in there, people who get through trials and tribulation together. We’re all sinners, but the Lord gives us strength in each other. Seein’ how good Jenny is doin’ thanks to you makes me think maybe I shouldn’t have pushed away all the people I did when her mama left.”

If that was his way of calling you heaven-sent, you’d take it. Jenny had told you he was religious, not obnoxiously so, but had a deep, personal faith that he cherished. People often turned to religion when they felt lost or troubled, seeking comfort that their experiences weren’t meaningless and there was a higher power looking out for them. Regardless of how you felt about it, you weren’t about to tear apart something that gave him peace.

“Isn’t that why God made Eve? So Adam wouldn’t be lonely?” you asked.

You couldn’t read the look he gave you as his expression shifted just enough for you to notice sitting so close to him, yet he answered, “That’s right.”

“Y/N, are you coming in or not?” Jenny shouted from the diving board.

You smiled at Elvis before getting up and taking a careful step into the shallow end of the pool. Standing in the waist deep water was refreshing, and you floated for a bit, talking with Elvis and Jenny who’d taken a break from diving to unsuccessfully convince her dad to join the two of you in the pool. He simply brushed her off, claiming he was fine despite the sweat dripping from his forehead in the Memphis heat.

It wasn’t until you expressed that you felt bad he was sitting out in the sun, he finally relented. To your disappointment, he didn’t take off the t-shirt he was wearing when he got into the pool. You were slightly embarrassed that you even wanted to see him shirtless, especially with Jenny around. It made you feel acutely aware of how much you were talking with Elvis, even though Jenny had become preoccupied with diving again.

The next few weeks were mostly spent poolside, except for the day Jenny stayed out too long and ended up getting heatstroke, confining you inside the house while she recovered. Elvis offered to have a car bring you into Memphis to go shopping or do some sightseeing, but you decided to stay with Jenny instead, watching the TV in her room and bringing her food and drinks, even though she told you that someone else could do it.

When she recovered, she brought you on a shopping spree, ‘To thank you for playing nurse,’ she had joked. She told you not to pay attention to the price tags of anything, but you couldn’t help it, putting back items you deemed too expensive and claiming you didn’t like them that much anyway. Of course, Jenny would go right back behind you and grab whatever you’d left, buying it for you anyway.

You enjoyed Memphis a lot, and Elvis seemed excited when you returned from the shopping trip with Jenny, telling him as much. It was nice to switch things up from the normal pool days, something that you never thought you’d find yourself thinking. As Elvis had pointed out, there was a ton to do in Memphis. Although, on the handful of nights you and Jenny went out to a local bar or club, he waited up until the two of you got back to Graceland. Jenny apologized each time, as if embarrassed by Elvis’ concern. Each time, you brushed off her apologies. Sure, you and Jenny were adults, and her dad didn’t have to wait up by the window for the two of you, but it was sweet.

Apparently, the nights out you’d experienced in Memphis would be nothing compared to the annual Presley Fourth of July party, which Jenny grew more excited for as the day got closer. Every year they had a party that raged on from the height of the afternoon well into the next morning. Though she told you that it wouldn’t be as extravagant as past celebrations, it would be a good time nonetheless. Still, Elvis had apparently invited the “Memphis Mafia” whom you’d heard so much about, the first time they would all be together in months.

She had assured you it would be a casual barbecue type of event, so you decided to dress comfortably for it, figuring you’d be spending most of your time outside in the pool or hanging out with Jenny. You certainly hadn’t underdressed, as when you got downstairs, just about everyone else was wearing some kind of t-shirt and jeans or shorts. You noticed Elvis dressed down in a t-shirt with your university’s logo on it and a pair of jeans that made his ass look fantastic—not that you were looking.

The first hour or so of the party consisted of getting drinks from the open bar and going through introductions to the four dozen or so people in attendance, most of whom Jenny introduced as “uncle” or “aunt” so-and-so. Luckily Dodger knew everyone, and in the two instances Jenny asked you to get someone in particular, she gladly pointed you in the right direction.

At some point in the afternoon, a football game started, unsurprising as Jenny had told you how much her dad loved football. In fact, he’d wanted to attend some of your university’s football games but knew it’d cause a scene if he showed up. You helped Jenny referee the pickup game, not knowing much about football yourself, but it seemed like they were making up rules on the spot anyway.

The game was fun to watch and a good excuse to stare at Elvis, until a football went flying in your direction. Just as it was about to hit you square in the face, you landed on the ground with a thud. You were dazed for a few moments before noticing Elvis was on top of you, looking at you in concern.

“Y/N, you alright?” he asked.

God, he felt nice pressed against you, but as so many eyes were on you, you had no choice but to answer, “Yeah, thanks for saving my face.”

He laughed. “‘Course, darlin’.”

“Sorry about that!” a man shouted from a few feet away.

Elvis helped you up off the ground, brushing away some of the stray dirt that’d gotten on your shirt.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked once again, a steady hand on your shoulder as he searched your face with his ocean blue eyes.

You felt your face heat up at being the focus of his attention. “I’m fine, really.”

He nodded, but still jokingly said, “Jenny, you watch her. Keep her out of trouble.”

The football game didn’t go on much longer after that. Jenny had forgotten what the score was, and you hadn’t been much help. Not to mention with how hot it was out, everyone was getting tired and hungry. You and Jenny talked as you balanced the paper plates filled with food on your lawn chairs, but your mind kept wandering to Elvis being on top of you earlier. So close to him, you could have leaned up for a kiss, pressed your lips against his and found out what he tasted like, something sweet yet masculine you supposed.

You were startled from your daydream by Jenny asking you where you wanted to sit during the fireworks. Jenny. You felt horrible for the crush you’d developed on your best friend’s father and foolish for even considering he’d be interested in you in the first place. After all, you were at Graceland to spend the summer with Jenny. She was the one who’d invited you and extended such generosity that you didn’t feel like you deserved, especially now that your mind was wandering to thoughts of her father.

As soon as the sun set, the elaborate fireworks show began, you and Jenny sharing an old picnic blanket she’d found and sitting on Graceland’s lawn, watching the bright blues and reds light up the night sky. You could hear Elvis laughing and hollering with some of his buddies as they lit the fireworks, each one more dazzling than the last.

About halfway through the palette of fireworks that the guys were going through, Elvis turned to you and Jenny, a big smile on his face as he extended his arms out, raising his eyebrows. You responded with a thumbs up, and Jenny nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Your ears were ringing by the time the fireworks show was over, but there was no denying they were the best you’d ever seen.

The smoke from all of the fireworks left the air hazy, so you and Jenny laid out on the blanket, looking up at the stars while waiting for everything to settle down. You loved how no matter the situation or how long the two of you were around each other, conversation with Jenny always flowed naturally. No matter what, you could tell her anything. Well, almost anything.

At around two in the morning, when nearly everyone else had left or called it a night, as Jenny had, you found Elvis sitting alone at the empty bar, a glass of melting ice next to him. You sat down next to him, your knee touching his as you turned on the bar stool to look at him.

“I wanted to thank you for the party. It was incredible,” you said. “I mean the food and the fireworks, just everything. Also, you know, saving me from an emergency room visit.”

“I’m glad you had a good time, darlin’. Seemed like Jenny was havin’ a lot of fun.”

“She was happy to see everyone. I don’t think I remember all of their names, though,” you said. “She’s got a lot of uncles.”

He laughed. “Yeah, she grew up with all of ‘em. They’ve been part of the family for, well, since I got back from the service.”

“Did you like Germany?”

“No, I was homesick and lonely the whole time. Jenny’s mama was back here, and it didn’t help that—“ he sighed, shaking his head. “I was ‘bout Jenny’s age when my mama died. That ruined me, it really did. Then the same thing pretty much happens to her. It’s like we’re cursed or somethin’.”

“I—I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “You got nothin’ to apologize for, darlin’. You’re bein’ a good friend to my baby girl right now.”

“She’s been a good friend to me. She deserves it,” you said. “I know it’s not the same, but when my ex dumped me, I didn’t think I would ever feel okay again.”

“Can’t believe anyone would dump a lady like you.”

“I could say the same about you,” you flirted back without thinking, horror washing over you as you realized your faux pas. “Elvis, I—“

“I’ll take it as a compliment, comin’ from you, darlin’.”

You gave him a nervous smile, assuming he was just saying that to be nice. It was a ridiculous thing for you to say, after all, hardly knowing the man besides what little your friend had told you and the month or so you’d been at Graceland. His faults were glaring, the repeated infidelity toward his wife—soon to be ex-wife, you supposed—as well as his substance abuse issues, the latter of which you understood he’d been working on, to at least be fair. Still, he was a loving father to your best friend, and he’d been nothing but kind and charming toward you, a near stranger staying in his home for the summer.

Upon speaking with him further, he revealed that the reason he cast out so many of his trusted friends, the people who made up TCB, was that almost all of them, in one way or another, could see Jenny’s mom leaving from a mile away. Meanwhile, Elvis and Jenny were blindsided by her abandonment. He was hurt that no one gave him a heads up, at least so he could try to make things right with her. He did admit, however, that as her husband, he should have noticed something was wrong and she was reaching her breaking point.

About an hour later you excused yourself to go to bed, and didn’t wake up until late the following afternoon. The mood in Graceland shifted after the Fourth of July party. Despite the heavy conversation you had with Elvis that night, things seemed lighter. He had his old friends over more frequently, which Jenny was glad about, expressing that she felt like her dad was slowly getting back to his old self again.

Most notably, Elvis sought you out more. Though you and Jenny were practically attached at the hip, he began occupying the spare moments you had to yourself. You couldn’t even say that you minded too much, but the way he regarded you felt more intimate than before, deeper conversations and fleeting touches punctuated your time with him.

One evening, when you decided to cook an old family recipe of yours for the Presleys, Elvis insisted on helping. He chopped and grated as directed, but when he needed to get past you to grab something, he put his hands on your hips, squeezing them a bit as he moved in the space between you and the counter. Your breath hitched at the action, and when you looked over at him, he appeared preoccupied with what he was searching for.

You tried to burn the feeling of how his hands felt on your hips into your memory. Perhaps it was a reflex, a holdover from domestic moments with his wife. Your heart raced at the thought. Filling the maternal role for Jenny was one thing, but the prospect of inadvertently providing Elvis the intimacy that was absent since his wife had left made your head spin.

You and Jenny already looked after each other, and though helping her push through the last few weeks of the spring semester was a struggle, spending the summer keeping her mind off of her mom was far easier. There were still some nights when she’d knock on your door, tears streaking down her cheeks as she asked if she could talk to you, not wanting to be alone, knowing you would always say yes. They weren’t nearly as frequent, though.

Elvis didn’t seem to have someone like that, who he could be vulnerable with and not have to worry about being judged or taken advantage of. You supposed he gravitated toward you because you were already there, convenient, within reach, and well aware of the situation at hand. The more you spoke with him, the deeper your attraction to him became. For all of the things you’d read and heard about him through the years, none of them mention how smart and sensitive he was.

At that point, it shouldn’t have surprised you that Jenny’s affinity for history came from him. He read a lot in his free time on a variety of subjects and was interested in the details of your major. He told you how proud he was when Jenny expressed a desire to go to college and get her degree. It definitely didn’t surprise you when he said that she’d always gotten fantastic grades, graduating in the top ten percent of her high school class.

You were glad Elvis supported Jenny so much, even if she did regard him as a bit overenthusiastic at times. There were plenty of people you knew with terrible fathers, and Elvis’ dedication to Jenny made you admire him that much more. Of course, Jenny was incredibly important to you too. You liked your other friends, but they weren’t her.

When Jenny approached you toward the end of July, standing in your room and shifting from leg to leg with an anxious expression on her face, you were sure you’d been found out. She knew about your crush on her dad and was going to confront you over it. Send you packing and leave you shit out of luck for a roommate just a month before the semester was going to start.

“I forgot to tell you,” she began, “that summer camp I volunteer at every year is coming up next week, the one in the Smokies.”

You nearly sighed in relief. “Yeah, I know, Jenny. I’ll see you in August.”

“I was wondering—can you stay? I really don’t think dad should be alone, and Dodger needs to rest, not worry about him. He was a mess the week before you got here, Y/N. Just check on him, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, taken aback by her request. “I don’t want to impose. I’m your guest here.”

“He trusts you. He has a hard time trusting people. I swear I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t know he trusts you.”

Fuck, why can I never say no to Jenny, you found yourself thinking as you agreed to look after her father during the three weeks she was away. It was only three weeks, and you liked Elvis a lot anyway, maybe more than you should have considering he was your best friend’s father. Still, you figured there was no harm in the small crush you were harboring, certain it would fizzle out by the end of the summer when you and Jenny returned to campus.

The week leading up to Jenny leaving was hectic on her end, and you got a bit of a trial run on how spending three weeks by yourself with Elvis would be, especially since Dodger was understandably doing her own thing, though she knew how to play just about every card game in the book and could kick your ass at just about every one of them. When you informed Elvis that you had to call it quits on a game of Go Fish of all things with Dodger, having lost all of the Hershey’s Kisses you’d been betting with, he laughed so hard you thought he was going to fall over.

“You’ll get more kisses, I’ll make sure of it,” he said when he finally caught his breath, unaware of how your heart jumped at his statement.

Jenny cried when she left for her volunteer camp counselor position, giving you a long hug and thanking you for being such a good friend through everything. You couldn’t help crying too. Of course, you’d miss her, but the guilt you felt in regards to Elvis allowed itself to peek through at her sincerity.

Elvis was lonely, achingly so, and you weren’t sure if it was because he genuinely cared for you or as you suspected, you were just there already, but the time you’d been spending with Jenny was quickly occupied with Elvis’ presence instead. He’d sit in on your card games with Dodger, not playing despite his competitive streak because he hated to lose, which was almost always a guarantee when playing against her. During the day, the two of you would spend hours in the pool, talking and horsing around. When the weather wasn’t great, you’d hang out in the jungle room, listening to music, or if you were really lucky, he’d sing for you.

You got into a comfortable routine with Elvis, a little too comfortable, you realized, when you’d settled in to watch TV with him after dinner and his arm was around your shoulders, his fingers absentmindedly brushing up and down your forearm as the latest episode of Columbo played. It didn’t matter. No one else was around, which was just the trouble—despite his entourage slowly making their reappearances at Graceland throughout the summer, it was almost as if he reserved his evenings specifically for you.

At the very least, you’d be able to tell Jenny when she returned from her stint as a camp counselor that her dad was doing fine and she had nothing to worry about. That’s how things seemed as the first week of her being away came and went. She sent you, Elvis, and Dodger letters along with some Polaroids of her with her cabin playing baseball, painting, and tubing down a river. You were glad she was having fun.

Elvis did too, until you noticed his face fall as he studied one of the photos intensely for a few moments.

“She looks just like her mama in that one,” Elvis whispered, putting it on the coffee table.

You walked over, noticing that the angle of her leading the painting class did make her resemble her mother, at least from the few pictures you’d seen of her.

Elvis disappeared after that, and neither you nor Dodger saw him the rest of the day. When dinner rolled around, your spirits lifted when Dodger taught you one of her old family recipes, the one Elvis had made the first night you arrived at Graceland. She said she only trusted family members with her cooking secrets but figured you were just as part of the family as you could be, which brought you to tears.

After dinner and chatting with Dodger for a bit, you went to check on Elvis. Graceland being the mansion it was, it took at least twenty minutes of checking rooms and admittedly getting lost at one point before you found him in the jungle room, sitting on the couch with a glass of something amber in his hand. The record player was on, but whatever he had on the turntable had long since stopped playing. You broke the unsettling silence in the room, letting him know that there was still some leftover from dinner if he was hungry.

He didn’t answer you or even acknowledge your presence, simply staring straight ahead, deep in thought. You tapped your fingers against the door frame, letting a few moments pass by before turning to leave. Just as you were about to do so, he finally spoke.

“You give your whole life to a woman, and then she just throws it away,” he slurred.

You did cheat on her, you almost said. You understood what he meant, if it had bothered her so much, why did she wait so long to leave. Perhaps she felt as if she didn’t have an opportunity to before, that spring night she left being the only time she had the chance or the nerve to do something she’d apparently been considering for some time. Maybe it was years of built up resentment or countless confrontations that resulted in empty promises. There was no way of knowing what had been the final straw for her, but she certainly hadn’t chosen the least painful option.

You wondered if she had any idea the fallout that was left in her wake. Neither Elvis nor Jenny had any contact with her in the months she was gone. It probably hadn’t occurred to her that your life would be so drastically changed too.

Sighing, you approached Elvis, your hands on your hips as you took stock of the situation. The last thing he needed to be doing was drinking and overthinking, and while you would have preferred he eat a solid meal, the best option was to just make sure he got to his room okay.

“Elvis, let me get you to bed,” you said softly.

He made a grunting noise that startled you. “Ain’t too bad to hear from a pretty thing like you.”

“I’m sorry. That isn’t what I—” you stammered. “I mean, you should go to sleep.”

“Christ, seein’ you all summer in those swimsuits—like you drive me crazy on purpose.”

“C’mon, let’s go,” you said, helping him up from the couch.

“Shame you’re Jenny’s best friend,” he mumbled. “Ain’t many girls like you ‘round anymore that know how to take care of a man. I’d shack up with ya in a heartbeat.”

You froze in your tracks. He was drunk, that was all. Unable to utter anything coherent in his inebriated state. Still, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of misplaced pride upon hearing Elvis say that he wanted you, that he found you attractive, even.

Taking his hand, you guided him into what you knew was the master bedroom, though you’d never been inside of it before. The dark decor sent a shiver down your spine, even when you turned on the lights to illuminate the way to his bed. You’d never seen a room so ornate before, truly fit for a man like him—the king.

As soon as Elvis hit the bed, he was out like a light, and you pushed his body so he was laying on his side, just in case. You went into his bathroom, finding a bottle of aspirin among the other bottles that were on the counter. After filling up a glass of water, you brought both to his bedside table.

Quickly, as if at risk of being caught doing something you weren’t supposed to, you turned off the lights and left, shutting the door behind you. Padding down the hall to the guest room, you sat on the edge of the bed, your head in your hands. You found yourself wishing Jenny was there, but it wasn’t like you could discuss what had happened with her anyway.

You woke up with a headache the following morning despite not being the one who had been drinking. Slowly, you made your way through your morning routine before heading downstairs to get something to eat. Dodger had made breakfast, so you offered to clean up for her in thanks after you finished your meal.

While scrubbing one of the pans Dodger had used to fry up eggs in, you could hear Elvis’ familiar footfall. You’d already decided not to acknowledge what had happened and hope the rest of the summer would go on without a hitch.

“Morning,” you said, looking at him over your shoulder. “Dodger left a plate for you in the fridge.”

He sighed, making his way over to you and leaning against the counter. “Y/N, I wanted to apologize for last night. I made a damn fool of myself.”

“It’s okay,” you said. “We all have off nights.”

“Let me make it up to you?” he asked. “It’s the least I can do.”

You hesitated, wondering what exactly he had in mind as far as making it up to you. Ultimately you agreed, finding yourself more anxious than excited over what Elvis had planned, simply telling you to be ready and meet him in the foyer around six. To pass the time, you tried reading some of the magazines in Jenny’s room, but couldn’t focus on any of them long enough. Your headache from earlier was still just barely noticeable, so you took a nap in hopes it would go away before whatever Elvis had planned for the night.

You awoke a little over an hour before you were supposed to meet Elvis downstairs, with no idea as to how to dress. He probably didn’t have a t-shirt and jeans type of thing in mind, but formal wear wasn’t anywhere on your list when you packed your suitcase at the beginning of the summer. You’d brought one nice dress with you, as you knew Jenny wasn’t the type to go to high-end clubs or parties that had a dress code. The only heels you had were a pair Jenny had bought you on your shopping sprees earlier in the summer, and while they didn’t exactly match the dress, they looked nice enough together.

Satisfied enough with your appearance, you rushed downstairs a few minutes past five. Elvis was already waiting for you, as expected. At least you weren’t underdressed, as he wore a tailored blue suit, foregoing a dress shirt underneath the jacket so his chest hair was on display. You tried not to stare at him, but all dressed up, he looked like a dream.

“I was startin’ to think you stood me up,” he joked.

Stood him up–like a date? “I’m sorry, the time got away from me while I was getting ready.”

“You look beautiful, darlin’. You always do,” he said, putting his hand on the small of your back.

He led you outside to the limo that was waiting for the two of you, opening the door for you to get in first. Almost as soon as he joined you in the back of the limo, the chauffeur drove off, and you still had no idea where you were going, probably dinner, considering the timing, but there was no way Elvis could go anywhere without being noticed.

“I was able to pull some strings last minute, but this is my favorite restaurant in Memphis,” he assured you. “I booked the whole place out. I didn’t want anyone botherin’ you.”

“Thank you. That’s really sweet.”

“It’s the least I can do. I’m embarrassed you had to see me like that, Y/N.”

“I’m just glad I was able to help,” you said, sincerity in your eyes as you looked at him.

Before he could respond, the limo stopped, and the chauffeur got out to open Elvis’ door. You noticed that the car was parked in front of the restaurant’s service entrance, although you wondered why even bother with the limo if he was trying to be discreet. You supposed you’d never exactly understand how the other half lived.

You could see why the restaurant was Elvis’ favorite. The place was chic yet charming, and you quickly found that the food was incredible. Not to mention, being the only people in the place meant that the service was great. The owner even made an appearance during the meal, talking up Elvis and saying how lucky he was to have such a beautiful date. Neither you nor Elvis corrected him, which sent a thrill through you. So it was a date.

The night went on perfectly, and the way Elvis looked at you, with an intense adoration, made you feel warm. You wanted to be more forward and flirty, but he simply made you melt into a bashful mess without even trying. He’d been kind and respectful, nothing short of a perfect gentleman, as opposed to how crass he’d been toward you less than a day earlier. You were more than happy to brush the incident off as an isolated thing if it meant you got to see this side of him more.

The date ended far too quickly for your liking, but you and Elvis talked all the way back to Graceland. You found it funny when he walked you upstairs, as if walking you up to your front door.

“Is this where we call it a night?” you asked, standing in the hallway near his bedroom door.

“We don’t have to, but I don’t want to overstep, Y/N,” he said. “I don’t remember much of what I said last night, if I’m bein’ honest.”

“Last night you said that if I weren’t Jenny’s best friend, you’d have sex with me,” you said boldly, looking him in the eye. “Did you mean it?”

He shook his head. “No,” he answered, and a lump formed in your throat as you held back tears at his response. You knew it, just drunk nonsense. How could he ever want— “No, I’d make love to you. ‘S’what you deserve.”

You could only manage a whimper in response.

“You can say no, darlin’. I won’t hold it against ya none,” he whispered.

Your chest tightened as you could tell by the intensity of his eyes that he was being truthful, but you were too when you whispered back, “I want you to kiss me.”

His lips were soft against yours as he kissed you tenderly, one hand cradling your face as the other pulled you closer by your waist. The care he handled you with made you want to cry as nearly a summer’s worth of pent-up emotions filled your chest. Steadying yourself on one of his arms, you squeezed his bicep. In response, his teeth grazed your lower lip, and you parted your lips, allowing his tongue to slip inside your mouth. He tasted of whiskey and tobacco, and you wondered if he noticed the cherry chapstick you’d put on just half an hour earlier in the restaurant’s bathroom.

He opened his bedroom door behind him, just as quickly shutting it and turning the lights on. He undressed you, gingerly removing each article of clothing from your body and pressing warm kisses across your skin. When you were fully nude, you did the same to him, in awe of the man who stood before you. Your eyes widened a bit at his length, already hard as it sprung free from the confines of his tight pants.

Just like that evening in the kitchen, his hands were firm on your hips, giving you a squeeze as he guided you backward onto the king size bed. As soon as you made eye contact with yourself with the mirror on the ceiling, you just as quickly averted your eyes. He noticed your hesitation, as a man with a mirror on his bedroom ceiling and extensive sexual experience would, you supposed. Gently, he used his fingers to tilt your head up, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“You’re gorgeous,” he whispered. “Don’t be shy, darlin’, look at how perfect we are together.”

Darlin’. You wondered, as he kissed and sucked on the tender skin of your neck, if he meant it, if you truly were darling to him. He threw around the pet name so often, especially toward you. A burst of possessiveness sprung from within you at the thought of him calling another woman that, even in passing. He was yours, fuck everything, he was yours.

When you looked up at the mirror again, you realized your initial discomfort came from seeing a woman unrestrained, unhinged. You met your own gaze with one of lustful determination and pulled his head away from your neck, pressing your lips to his once more. Threading your fingers through his messy black hair as you deepened what could hardly be considered a kiss at that point—teeth and tongue and the eventual tang of blood as you bit his lower lip a little too hard in your frenzy.

A sense of pride bubbled in your chest as you smugly watched him consider you with bewilderment. He returned your expression with a smirk of his own, his hand slipping between your thighs. You spread your legs farther open, having no intention of playing the ingénue. You weren’t lying in his bed to pretend you didn’t want him to ruin you.

He wanted you. He wanted you. You repeated this mantra in your head as he slid two of his fingers in your pussy. You couldn’t be bothered to stifle the moan that came from your lips and filled the room. This stirred something in Elvis as he worked his fingers, rapidly pumping them in and out of you, using his other hand to rub your clit to elicit more moans from you.

“Fuck, darlin’, you keep doin’ that and I might come before I’m even inside ya,” he groaned.

You could feel your pussy tighten around his fingers as you were pushed closer and closer to climax. He leaned down, pressing kisses to your stomach and thighs while whispering something you couldn’t hear. Your ears were ringing, mind hazed—no one had ever made you feel so good in your life, you weren’t sure if anyone else ever could.

The cry that escaped your lips when you orgasmed was nothing short of primal, your fingers clawing into the satin sheets as your hips bucked against his hand. What was more, he kept at it, using one hand to hold down your hips as he made you cum again with his fingers. It was almost too much, yet you whined when he pulled his hand away.

You could do nothing but lay still as you attempted to steady your labored breathing, but that didn’t stop Elvis, who seemed intent on devouring you.

“I need you,” he mumbled, his desperate prayer repeatedly whispered into your skin that burned at his touch. “Y/N, I need you.”

“I’m right here,” you breathed. “You have me.”

He pressed his lips to yours fervently, holding your face in his hands with a passion that left you even more breathless. You gripped his bicep, kissing him back with a desperation you couldn’t even pretend to be ashamed of.

You gasped as you felt the head of his hard cock against your pussy, digging your nails into his skin as you brought him closer. His chest pressed against yours, he slid his cock inside your still sensitive cunt that immediately responded to being filled.

His thrusts were slow and steady, taking his time with you in contrast to the messy finger-fucking he’d given you just moments before. You looked up at the mirror on the ceiling again, your lips curling in a smile at the sight. His face was buried in the crook of your neck, your hair wild and eyes wide as you clung to him as he had his way with you. A high-pitched moan escaped your lips as he lowered his head to take one of your breasts in his mouth, the other bouncing in rhythm with his thrusts. You and Elvis looked ethereal, immaculate, a Renaissance painting that would put the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to shame.

“Elvis, oh my god,” you choked out, throwing your head back as you felt your third orgasm building up in your core.

“I’m close, darlin’,” he moaned. “You take me so well—I don’t think I can last much longer.”

“I want you to cum inside me, Elvis,” you confessed, voice strained as you tried to form words. “Please.”

Upon hearing your plea, his thrusts became more erratic. It didn’t take much after that for him to climax, and you jolted at feeling his cum inside you, especially when he rubbed your clit again, sending you over the edge yourself. His name emerged from deep within your throat, as your eyes watered and toes curled when you came.

He’d marked you, claimed you, obliging the request you made in the heat of passion. There was no turning back, no undoing what had just been done. Just as much as Elvis was yours, you were his.

He settled next to you, taking one of your hands in his and kissing the top of it before asking, “Darlin’, you feel alright?”

You nodded, although alright was such a gross understatement. You felt beautiful. You felt loved. You felt guilt pool in the pit of your stomach at the thought of Jenny and allowed yourself to drown in it when Elvis pulled you against his chest, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head and whispering that he loved you.

Taglist: @eliseinmemphis @crash-and-cure @kittenlittle24 @im-lame-irl @loudwombatmugkid @rxsesss @roseymary04 @queendelrey @jovialladyaurora @positivitylane112 @moonknightswif3 @holy-minseok @datsavageavenger @21bruhs @luckyevansstan @djsjs13949 @butlerslut @ash-omalley @powerofelvis @sad-bisexual-bitch @peachy-deaths @kibumslatina @adoreyouusugar @raefoxiegirl @ilovehobi101 @donnamarie23 @memphis-menace @animeketsu-yander @phhistheloml @dkayfixates @austinstyles @ophelia-writes-stuff

#elvis x reader #austin!elvis x reader #elvis presley x reader #elvis smut #elvis 2022 #elvis #austin!elvis

378 notes · View notes

dancingtotuyo · 9 months

Text

The Life We Built (Joel Miller)

Part 5 of Build You The World Joel X Reader Rating: PG-13 (Language) Warnings: fluff, that's it. Tags: no outbreak, fluff, craftsman!Joel, Time jump, it's 2023 folks, no mentions of COVID, you decide if it happened Notes: So we've reached the end of this little adventure that was only supposed to be a one shot, but never fear! I have another Joel Miller idea in the works. Check out my Masterlist for some Javier Peña works as well! Thank you everyone for your support! Words: 1998

Series Master List | Author Master list

Joel eased into the chair next to you under the pergola he built 25 years ago. It was still sturdy and spoke to Joel’s craftsmanship. The sun was beginning to set, granting some relief to the spring heat as you watched your three grown children clean up the backyard. They’d insisted the two of you relax.

Emma graduated from Duke last weekend with honors in Pre-med. Which meant traveling to North Carolina for the ceremony. Joel has insisted on driving up. He hated flying. With a 20-hour car ride one way, you caught up on a lot of reading and almost booked yourself a plane ticket home. The two of you had been gone for almost a week. So her graduation party took place this weekend at home. She’d been accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine and would be going back to Durham in a couple of weeks. She was officially moving out, boxes already stacked high in her room. You and Joel both chose not to think about your baby leaving the nest for good.

Emma laughed at something Asher said. You couldn’t see Sarah roll her eyes, but you knew by her body language. Joel chuckled next to you. He sensed it too, both in tune with your children.

Asher graduated with a Bachelor's in Engineering from UT-Austin a few years ago, choosing to stay close to home. He had a small apartment in town working at Miller Construction since graduation. Joel joked that if he didn’t put his degree to use soon, he was gonna have to rebrand as Miller and Son. You had a sneaking suspicion that’s what Asher wanted. He and Joel shared the same love of building things with their hands.

“Grandpa!” Sarah’s 3-year-old daughter, Jessie bounded across the yard, dark curls bouncing like springs behind her. You could see the brightly colored book in her grasp.

She panted heavily as she reached the two of you. Her small hands rested on Joel’s knees. She looked up through dark lashes. “Will you read this to me?”

Joel smiled. She reminded you so much of Sarah at her age. “Don’t you want grandma to do it? She’s a much better reader than me.”

“No, you!”

“Okay, Okay.” Joel chuckled, pulling the child onto his lap. You closed your eyes as you listened to Joel read. His drawl had only deepened with age but it still flowed like honey. It soothed your weary bones and often brought you through time, making you feel 25 again.

Sarah had started college at the University of Georgia but transferred to UT-Austin after her freshman year. She loved Georgia, but she missed being close to her family more. She’d earned her Bachelor's in Journalism and Creative Writing (also with Honors). Working across all aspects of journalism, she went back to get her MFA several years later. She worked freelance for several publications and taught a creative writing class at the community college in town. She’d married Mike 6 years ago. They’d been together since senior year of college aside from a one-year gap. They’d bought a house just down the street from you and Joel soon after their wedding. Jessie’s 4th birthday was next week, and aside from her husband, you were the only other person to know that Sarah was 8 weeks pregnant. They were planning to reveal it next on Father’s Day.

You and Sarah were convinced Joel didn’t have a clue. The two of you were desperate to surprise him. Other than his 45th birthday party, you and Sarah hadn’t been able to surprise Joel in the 31 years you’d loved him. He’d even figured out Sarah’s first pregnancy before they’d told anyone.

Joel continued to read. The world drifted further away only anchored by the sound of his voice. Sometimes a bird’s song drifted in and out. The warm breeze floated across your skin. Joel’s voice stayed constant.

“Grandpa… Shhhhh, grandma is sleepin.”

Joel looked up from the book. He smiled. The wrinkles around his eyes were well-defined now. “I think she’s just restin her eyes, kiddo.”

“That’s what you say when you’re sleeping!” Jessie giggled.

“Keep reading,” you said, keeping your eyes closed. “The story was just getting good.”

He looked at Jessie who nodded her head, and he continued.

The construction business had been good to Joel. Miller Construction kept its outstanding reputation throughout the years, something Joel worried about as the number of crews grew and his ability to check up on every job decreased. Joel spent most of his days on job sites in a supervisory capacity. He trained the new hires to meet his rigid standards, and his body took less wear and tear. He was able to spend more quiet morning moments with you. At 56 years old, he was still the best pitcher in the men’s rec softball league. He took every Thursday morning off to hang out with Jessie while Sarah taught her class at the Community College. He piddled in the garage on weekends, working on the next project. He’d just redone the kitchen cabinets. Tommy joked that Joel lived in partial retirement, but there was some truth to it. You liked seeing him take time

Joel finished the book as Sarah and Mike walked over. You slowly opened your eyes, letting the world envelope you once again.

“It’s time for us to go home, Bear,” Mike said.

Before Jessie could issue a complaint, Joel pulled her into a back-breaking squeeze. She laughed. He tickled her sides. “Grandpa!”

“I gotta make sure you meet your tickle quota.”

“I have! I have!” Jessie laughed, her cheeks turning red.

“Okay,” Joel let out a deep breath. “I think that’s enough for today.”

Jessie wrapped her arms around Joel’s neck, kissing his cheek. “Love you, Grandpa!”

“I love you too.” He kissed her cheek, patting her back. “I’ll see you on Thursday.”

Jessie slid off his lap, rushing to you. A chorus of goodbyes between parties rose in the corner of your backyard in hugs and handshakes. Jessie nestled into her father’s arms, eyes already beginning to droop.

Joel wrapped his arms around you. You leaned into him. His hands traveled down your back, lips finding yours. You grinned feeling warm and giddy. Even after all these years, he still had the same effect on you.

Gagging noises interrupted your moment. Asher and Emma stood on the porch directing said sounds at you.

“Get a room!”

“We don’t want to see that!”

Joel flipped them off before firmly grabbing your ass making a show of the steamy kiss he planted on you. You laughed. He kissed your neck softly.

“You’re gonna traumatize the kids.”

“They’re grown adults. They can leave.” He nuzzled into your neck. “I want to kiss my wife in our backyard.”

“Y’all are gross.” Asher chided.

“If it weren’t for us, you two wouldn’t be here,” Joel shouted back.

“You say that like it’s a good thing!” Emma responded. “Have you seen the world?”

“Hey,” You laughed. “You’re the saving grace of this family, Miss I’m going to be a doctor.”

Asher scowled. “Don’t say that. Her head will get bigger than it already is.” He ruffled Emma’s hair.

Emma rolled her eyes. “We’re done cleaning up. We’ll leave you two to do… that.” She motioned toward you and Joel. “Asher’s gonna take me out on the town.”

“Make smart decisions,” Joel called.

“Always!” Emma smiled.

The duo filed out of the backyard leaving you and Joel alone. Joel kissed your forehead as you swayed to a nonexistent tune.

When you finally stopped, you and Joel sought the respite of AC inside. Joel prepared a plate of leftovers for the two of you to share on the couch. You read as Joel watched the Baseball game on low volume. You propped your feet on his lap. His thumbs found the soles of your feet applying pressure. You hummed.

You had stepped down from your position at Miller Construction after Emma started high school. As much as you loved working with Joel and helping him build and expand the business, desires drew you elsewhere. You started working part-time at the public library. When their head librarian announced plans to retire, the city had offered to pay for you to get your Masters in Library Science providing you could give them a 10-year commitment. Daunting at first, you’d managed to complete the courses in 2 years via an online program. You work at the library full-time now. Joel often brought Jessie in on Thursday mornings along with a coffee for you. You tended to the garden on weekends. Joel replaced your raised beds a few years ago. You had the kids over for dinner once a week. You and Sarah walked the block on pleasant evenings. You spent lazy evenings on the couch with Joel, something that had rarely been a part of your marriage until the past few years.

“I’ve been thinking…”

You looked up from your book. “Uh oh, that’s never good.”

He tickled the bottom of your foot earning a squeal. Everyone talked about growing out of being ticklish. That had never happened to you. “I think it’s probably time to refinish the book nook.”

You glanced behind you, eyes trailing over the bookshelves Joel had built you more than 25 years ago. They’d been through it. The finish was peeling in a few places. The cabinet doors that lined the bottom were dented and scratched from a number of things bumping and running into it while raising 3 kids. You glanced at the farthest one, still stained with faint marks from Emma taking Sharpies to it when she was 3. Residue from stickers marked other areas.

“Sounds like a big project.”

“I’ve got the time.” Joel smiled.

He reached down beside him, revealing a gift bag. A simple brown paper bag with a gold ribbon neatly tied and curled. Sarah’s trademark. He handed it to you with a smile.

“This from you or Sarah?”

“Me.” Joel crinkled his nose. “Just asked Sarah to wrap it for you.”

You lifted the bag up and down. It felt like it was probably a book. It rarely wasn’t. “And what is this for?” You smiled at him.

“Just fulfilling my husbandly duties.”

You laughed as you untied the ribbon. Joel had taken your first line to him like an oath over the course of your relationship. He’d surprised you with a new book at random times. Sometimes you came home to one on the kitchen counter or your nightstand. Other times, wrapped or handed to you, each with an inscription detailing something he loved about you and how “Pretty” didn’t cut it.

You smiled at him, pulling a hardcover book out of the bag. You opened the front cover. A piece of paper slipped out. Before you could investigate, Joel’s handwriting caught your attention.

I don’t know if you’ve been counting, darling, but this is the 100th book I’ve given you. When I met you in that bar, I knew if I had the chance to give you just one, I’d be the luckiest man alive.

We always talked about going on a big trip for our 25th wedding anniversary. I know it’s a little bit late, but I booked us on that trip to Italy you were eying last year.

I’m sure it’ll be beautiful, but I still think the best view is you.

I love you, Darling.

You picked up the slip of paper: the booking confirmation set for mid-September. You looked up at Joel, tears blurring your vision.

He chuckled. “Surprise.”

You set the book carefully on the end table, moving onto Joel’s lap. “You hate flying.”

“But I love new places.” He kissed your nose. He still looked at you like you hung the galaxy. You imagined you looked at him the same. “And you.”

You kissed him, the words whispered for just the two of you. “I love you too.”

#joel miller #tlou #the last of us #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #pedro pascal #build you the world

104 notes · View notes

just-dino-maggie · 1 year

Note

"What the hell were you thinking?" "In all honesty, I'm not sure." With Cole Caufield please!

I love this prompt! Thank you for the request, I hope you like it!

Cole Caufield can only be described in one word, frustrating. We attend Northville High school together in Michigan. He’s part of the popular group of athletes. The USNTDP boys are a tight group, all the guys want to be friends with them and all the girls want to be with them.

I don’t blame anyone for wanting that. They are attractive and fun. Being apart of the coolest group at Northville would probably feel amazing for most people. For me, well I’m just trying to get through school.

High school isn’t my end-all be-all. It’s a stepping stone to get to college. The person who loves to get in the way of my plans is Cole Caufield. We are always in the same classes and for some reason he loves to sit next to me and bug me.

Today in English our teacher announced our end of the year project. It’s worth 20 percent of our grade so I need to do well. It’s a partner project and I’ve already decided that I want to do with my friend Amber who is acing the class.

In order to pick our partners we have to go up to the teacher’s desk and tell her who we want to work with. I walk up to the desk and say “I want to work with Amber on the final project.”

She throws me a confused expression, “I already have you marked down as working with Cole. He told me about the partnership last week.”

My eyebrows shoot up, “No I’m not working with Cole, I didn’t even know he chose me for this!”

“I’m sorry Y/n but unless you both agree to switch or there is a genuine issue then I can’t change it.” She looks apologetic, it’s not her fault.

I sigh and give her an awkward smile, “it’s fine I’ll figure it out.” I practically stomp back to my seat. I’m angry but I’m trying to calm myself.

The bell rings signaling the end of class. I grab my things and hurry to catch up with Cole. “Cole, hey can I talk to you?” He turns around. He has a big smile on his face, what a dipshit.

“Yeah Y/n what’s up?”

I take a deep breath, “Why did you pick me for the final project!? What the hell were you thinking?”

"In all honesty, I'm not sure." He replies scratching the back of his neck.

“Well you better start thinking. I know you probably thought you could just have me do all the work but I will make sure you do your half.”

Part of me hopes those words will scare him off but it doesn’t. He just smiles and says, “Okay, sounds good.”

“Put your number in my phone, I’ll text you my address. We can get started this weekend.” I huff shoving my phone into his hands. He types his number in quickly and walks off to his next class. I glance down at my phone and the name Cole :) stares back at me. It makes my face heat up, I’m not sure why.

Over the week we decided on a time for him to come over. Saturday at 11am. On Saturday I get myself ready, I even clean my room for him. Which is weird because I’m not sure if we’ll even be in there but my nervous energy had to go somewhere.

Suddenly it’s Saturday and Cole is late. At around 11:30 I begin to think he’s not showing up. I’m in a pit of my own anxiety because he’s not answering his phone. I’m trying to keep myself calm but it’s hard.

Finally at 11:45 I hear a knock at the door. When I open the door Cole is standing there. “I’m so sorry I’m late,” he says. “My phone died or I would have texted you. Practice ran late.”

“Right, okay.” I mumble. My mind mixing with anger and relief. “We can study in my room.”

He walks up with me and we are sitting on the bed together. We start brainstorming ideas and we are having trouble agreeing on anything. “Are you trying to be difficult? Why did you even choose me as your partner? First you’re late and now this.”

He sighs, “No Y/n, I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m trying to put in my input to make this work. I know you’re really smart but I also have some good ideas. I chose you because you’re really smart and I enjoy being around you. It’s the same reason as why I sit by you in class. Also I’m sorry I was late, it won’t happen again.”

I can’t but blush. It’s stupid how much I crave academic validation and him telling me I’m smart feeds into it. “Thank you Cole. How about we mix my first suggestion with your second. I think it could be really cool.”

We start working as a team instead of two bulls butting heads. It’s almost magic, he’s so much more dedicated and passionate then I thought he was.

After a while I’m starting to get tired of school work. “Do you want to call it quits for the day? We have a great start.”

“Yeah sure,” he replies. “Would you maybe want to hang out sometime? Like without all the school work.”

I smile, “I’m free the rest of the day if you want to watch a movie or something.”

“Yeah, yeah let’s do that!”

We sit down next to each other to watch the movie as we’re watching he gets a text from someone asking how it’s going with his ‘literature crush’. I’ve never felt better about a school project.

#cole caufield #cole caufield imagine #montreal canadiens #usa hockey #usntdp

60 notes · View notes

anyablackwood · 6 months

Text

Other things to consider when writing about a country/culture not your own:

Maybe it's obvious, but there are some things that I think people might overlook when writing a story that takes place in another country or culture that can actually be very important to look into. I might make this into a series, but as I mentioned in the tags of my last post, one of the most common things I seen people overlook in stories about other countries is the education system.

As I'm only really familiar with American and Japanese school systems, I'm only going to be speaking about those. However, I think this is worth looking into for any culture that you're unfamiliar with!

Unlike the American school system, wherein the school year starts in August/September and ends in May/June with some breaks in between, Japan's school system ends and begins in spring. The first term ends in July, with summer vacation going for just over a month (about 40 days), then continuing into the next term of the year. They have winter, spring, and summer breaks, but none for fall/autumn (at least not for public or international schools; I'm unfamiliar with private schools, but I understand that they operate a bit differently).

The school week is also different. Most schools operate on the standard Monday-Friday schedule, but with the addition of classes every other Saturday. This can vary to some extent depending on the school, but for the most part, this is standard for most high schools and middle schools. On top of that, many students from middle to high (and some elementary) schools are in "cram schools" or extracurriculars (which are technically not required but socially kind of... expected??), which take place after usual school hours and/or on weekends.

Speaking of grade levels, those are also different. "Kindergarten" students are 3-5 years old (this is not considered part of elementary school; more like Pre-K). Elementary school spans from 1st to 6th grade, middle school is 7th to 9th, and high school is 10th to 12th. Which is why many anime/manga will refer to "third year" as the highest high school grade level; they are not graduating younger, the grade levels are just shifted.

So if a character is referred to as a "first year" in high school, they're actually about 15-16, not 14-15. And unlike America, skipping grades or testing into classes isn't allowed. Not that it's rare; it's genuinely NOT allowed, no exceptions given. So regardless, there is no explanation for a 14-year-old to be a high school first-year in Japan unless they've straight up faked their birth certificates/were adopted and didn't actually know their correct birthday until recently. And considering how rare adoptions are in Japan and how difficult it is to make edits to the registry in city hall... those are both unlikely. This is why testing into schools/getting into the "good schools" in high school matter so much in Japan; they're not talking about private schools, they're talking about getting into a school with a more rigorous academic system so that they aren't bored out of their minds in a class too slow for them (also because it looks good to colleges and universities, but that's another post).

That being said, up until recently, the age of adulthood in Japan was 20; this changed a few years ago to 18, but it is worth mentioning, as that would affect characters who have graduated/reached adulthood prior to this change. Side note, the drinking age has not changed; it is still 20. This would affect things such as college applications and the decisions around those, since applicants weren't (until recently) considered legal adults. Especially since most schools don't allow their students to have jobs while in school without their permission (if the family is financially struggling, the parents might tell the school, which would give them special permission to work part-time). This affects things such as financial autonomy, social expectations (it's considered embarrassing to have a job in this context as it implies you're extremely poor, and most teens don't tend to be proud of that). There's much more to be said; uniforms, the extent of control the school/staff have on students off school grounds, social expectations, etc. but this isn't meant to be the essay that it's become so I'll just leave it here.

In conclusion, make sure to look it up! You'd be surprised how much you'd find from such a seemingly innocuous, seemingly unimportant topic. This barely scratches the surface on the differences in these two school systems alone, as well as the many socioeconomic strings attached to them. There's likely way more differences with cultures that are especially on the other side of the equator, with different weather patterns etc. causing differences in schedules!

#writeblr #writing advice #Japanese culture #fanfic #writerscommunity #writing tips #I might make this into a series? Lol #if you have any other questions feel free to ask!#keep in mind I don't know everything though lol

17 notes · View notes

moodywyrm · 9 months

Note

Saw you wanted Jill Valentine asks and came (pun intended) here at the speed of sound. How would she be with a bookworm s/o? Better yet! How do you think she would be in a college au?

birdy you're a goddamn genius. also, can I call you birdy? you've been here literally since my first tlou fic and ily <3

Jill seems older and ik she's supposed to be like 40 in the newest movie? but for the sake of this she's 20-21 and in her last two years undergrad <3 she is not a cop here <3

Jill Valentine, human rights major! Used to be in political science until she realized she cared more about the human side of politics and law than the logistical side. and if you know. you know that a lot of (male) political science majors are the most insanely out of touch/unethical mfers out there. she simply did not want to do that when she could focus on what she actually cares about! people! human rights!

you meet her in a joint-subject class for human rights and history, specifically dealing with instances where U.S. involvement exacerbated and/or facilitated human rights violations. totally not based off a class I took <3 totally <3

it was a required class for your major/minor, so of fucking course you were running late the first day. you got in the door two minutes before class started (late for me), and sat in the first available seat. front row, next to this very pretty and very serious looking girl. the first row type.

you were literally just trying to steady your breathing, having sprinted down three flights of stairs when you realized you were in the wrong classroom, when the very pretty very serious girl handed you a stack of syllabi.

you took one and handed it down, and clearly you must have looked anxious as all hell bc when you turned forward, the very pretty very serious girl leaned over and whispered to you.

"You okay there?" She murmured, looking genuinely worried and a little bit amused.

"I- uh, yeah, sorry, just nervous. I forgot we were in lecture hall 8 and not 108," You rambled, pulling out your notebook and pen, laying everything out.

"Easy mistake to make. It's not exactly easy, finding the basement level in this building," She said, her voice smooth and kept low. The room was loud, so you had to lean in to hear her, and dear god she smelled good too?

She hadn't even really done anything, and yet here you were, melting and panicking because of her.

That was y'all's first meeting!! You got her name and number before the end of class, because it's always good to have at least one contact in a class, and you didn't seem like a creep so she had no problems handing it over <3

Btw Jill? Huge study date girlie. Y'all started having regular study sessions (read: dates) like a week into the class because history readings combined with government/political logistics is just. hard. not a fun combo.

It's usually in the library or in a coffee shop, where she always brings fuel (caffeine and snacks <3) for the two of you <3 even buys you lunch if y'all are studying for a long time!

But eventually, once y'all are closer friends (two sapphic yearning for each other), she just starts inviting you back to her apartment? and cooking you dinner? and letting you sleep over? in her bed? you know, casual friend stuff.

this is in fact how y'all get together, because one day literally neither of y'all can take the tension anymore, but that's for another post

point is! you spend a lot of time at her apartment! even when you're not studying, she'll invite you over literally just to keep her company because she's so down bad. just having you sit on Her Couch, reading your books in Her Blanket makes her melt into a puddle.

that gets us to bookworm reader!! Jill also strikes me as a reader, so she always lets you read from her collection. If you're ever reading a book from her shelf, you leave it at her place and she Refuses to move your bookmark. She is also like, absolutely the type to buy books that you wanted to read but didn't have, just so you could read them. Doesn't matter if they're not her taste, if you want them she's getting them. Mostly because she knows you'd feel guilty if she gave them to you outright, so she had to be sneaky about it <3

Also!! If you read before class, she 100% respects your reading time. Glares at anyone who tries to bother you while you're reading, also started bringing books to read before class!! Y'all literally started showing up super early just so you could read together, in peace <3 (is this kinda like abby in bookish little crush yes. what about it.)

loves having reading dates with you. aka you go to a coffee shop, you read and she either works or watches you (or both). keeps you fueled, keeps you cozy, and by god if you haven't read an insane amount since you've known her. queen <3

this is all I have for now :( sorry :( trying to get the writing brain back online :(

#ohlawdthebirds #jill valentine #jill valentine x reader #jill valentine fluff #jill valentine x reader fluff #re3 fluff #re3 x reader fluff

51 notes · View notes

libra-stellium · 2 months

Text

Personal Zodiacal Releasing - My coming of age???

ZR story from when I was 18 which I think literally shows me “growing up.” Based on my lot of courage and lot of necessity, which are both in Leo.

I started a new L1 on June 17, 2014 and I feel like that started the time in my life where I was facing my first serious situations and making my own decisions and being like okay I need to take my independence.

All this revolves around me getting run over by a car (that my aunt was driving) that summer!! I survived with a small fracture on my leg so it’s all good LOL

L4♋️ May 22 2014 (Cool down period) - I found an email from the IB program director at my high school and the attachment was a profile/testimonial thing for the IB program just saying that I got my diploma and how it helped me in college. I graduated high school June 2013. I’m also pretty sure this is the last thing high school related that happened to me

L4♋️ June 11 2014 (LB) (Cool down period) - my aunt runs me over bc her car hydroplanes as she’s picking me up in front of my driving school in the rain lol to set the scene the driving school has a glass wall and glass door in the front so my whole class, the instructor and the front desk in the lobby area watched this happen 😭 The driving school instructor didn’t know what to say when I came to class the next week 😂

L1♍️ June 17 2014 (Peak period) - I can’t find anything specific to this day but since my driving class was from 6/9-6/20 I think that’s probably the day I went back. I remember having to make up a couple missed classes

From 6/26 to 8/7 I traveled to Haiti while my leg was recovering.

L4♓️ July 11 2014 (Major peak period)- I found an email where I was saying that I could bend my leg and cross it and I was going to carnival later in the month

L4♓️ July 31 2014 (LB) (Major peak period) - I didn’t find anything for this date but I posted on Instagram on 7/30 saying I had fun at carnival on 7/29 and I remember not wearing by leg brace for it because I felt better

L4♓️ August 25 2014 (Major peak period) - Two days before this I have an email from Geico asking for documents relating to my claim bc at that point I think I had already been cleared by the doctor and I moved back on campus 3 days after to start my sophomore year

L4♉️ September 18 2014 - I called geico because they needed to ask me questions and I ended up arguing with them bc they were about to not pay me anything bc it was my aunt driving the car and I had to say how I’m 18 and she’s no longer my legal guardian and what they’re saying isn’t even in her policy. Which I think took a lot of courage!!

L4♋️ September 24 2014 (Cool down period) - they send me the settlement offer and it’s 3x what they tried to make me take before the phone call and I accept that! There was another L4♋️ on July 22 2014 which idk if it's the completion of the LB period I started with since it got cut off by me starting a new L1 period. Either way I have no idea what happened that day.

September 25 2014 - I turn 19!

L4♈️ October 20 2014 - I open my first bank account! Not part of an LB cycle but Aries is my 2H!

What I realized about the L1 sign change is that it was necessary for me to separate myself from my aunt and “become an adult” basically! I’m a pisces rising with 8H libra placements and my family has used money and favors a lot as a form of control. I found an email from May 2014 where I was asking her for permission to go to a concert and 28yr old me is like why??? You’re 18!! And I went to the concert in August 2014 after the L1 change and me and my friend I went with still talk about it because my aunt gave us a ride and it was sooooo stressful to coordinate and she was yelling during the ride. I remember thinking this is the last time I ask for anything! Even during the phone call with Geico I was asserting myself as an adult! And when I got the settlement money my family took 50% of it (after medical expenses) and used it for family costs including a funeral. My aunt even said the accident was necessary because the money was a gift from god lollll I’ve been managing my own money since I opened that bank account! No one in my family knows how much I have or how much I make and I'm gonna keep it that way!

Also the fact that I received the settlement check right after starting an 8H year 🤯 I love astrology lol

I'm still trying to figure out how to interpret ZR things that are coming up instead of using it to reflect on the past! Idk why but I feel like for me the peak periods are not peaking??? Wym I got run over by a car during a cool down period??? But my major peak period is my leg healing?? loll I feel like it should be the other way around.

#astrology #astro #astro tumblr #learn astrology #astro community #libra stellium #pisces rising #libra #zodiacal releasing #loosing of the bond

7 notes · View notes

first-edition · 1 year

Text

Breaking Seasons

New chapter update every Teusday Thursday

HELLO and welcome to the book before we begin this is a Spencer reid x y/n reader book. She/her pronouns however you can change thing to your liking.This book is based in the land of criminal minds so if you've watched it some things hit hard just be aware. Chapters containing graphic info such as smut or active severe violence will be labeled as such.If you want short blurbs or story's please feel free to follow my tumblr page where more content for you to read will be. You can also view this story on my Wattpad for more dexterity.

https://www.wattpad.com/user/JelsaSnowflakes1

Thank you and i hope you enjoy!

Cw- violence, mature language and speak, gore, eventual smut, fluff, angst, abuse, childhood trauma, sexual themes, vewier discretion is advised.

Summary- When y/n takes her sick friends criminology class to take notes in the winter, she meets the guest speaker, BAU-FBI agent Spencer reid. After getting to know more about each other due to a college school related case, that ends up involving y/n herself, they naught just have each to keep warm.

Story begins under cut. Chapter 1

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Icy and winter day last nights snow fall taking a toll on the campus. Cars covered in blankets of white powder, other students and member slipping and spilling their morning Starbucks, and student being late to class as the outside campus dorms were snowed in. But in your case attending a class for your sick friend. You enter the room sitting where she would normally sit.

"Please please please take my criminology classes for the week there's a guest speaker from the fbi and I need the notes" she begs you coughing up a storm after making you go soft and say yes.

Waiting for the class to start your phone buzzes. A text bubble from your friend that reads,

'Thank you so much! I owe you one'

Causes you to roll your eyes.

The door of the room open and the so called "guest" walks in along with two other agents and what you assume to be the usual professor. All the girls gasp a fawn of the African American man who's beefier than the long term gym teacher and what seems to be the entire team.

"Hello everyone my name is SSA Derek Morgan, and this is SSA Jennifer Jareau, And that there is Dr. Spencer Reid. We're ver pleased to be here to talk to you about the BAU and what we do as profiler accept reid here will do all the talking."

Derek steps back as him and Jennifer wave and leave along with the professor leaving some girls sighing in disappointment.

"hi I'm Spencer readier you can call me doctor, or dr Reid, or Dr Spencer, or um...anyway I'll be teaching your class for the next week. I started the Bau when I was 21 although I wasn't aloud in the field until 22, I'm currently 25 and I live by myself in Quantico Virginia, I have an eidetic memory and can read 20 thousand words per-minute so if you could go around and tell me your names, age and major that would be great." He smiles putting his hands together.

A guy named Matt goes first and the train begins for a god 5-10 minutes leading up to you. You debate on telling them your real name or using your friends name but it doesn't take long before all eyes are in you and your snapped out of your thoughts by the person next to you nudging your leg.

"And you are?" Spencer asks looking up moving his hair behind his ear.

"I'm y/n l/n I'm 23 and my major is astrobiology." You answer

Spencer frowns. Confused as everyone else before you had said criminology or something to do in the subject of Fbi workings.

"Astrobiology? The study of stars and outer earth?" He asks baffled somehow.

"Yes. Oh I'm not actually I'm this class I'm just attending for my friend, Mave Donovan she's majoring in biochem and forensics she's sick so I'm here taking notes until..she um recovers." you suddenly set conscious as everyone stares at you.

"It's nice to meet you" he says you nod the next person goes releasing some stress.

The entire class you took notes barley looking up and just listening when it came time for classes end you collected your belongings and got up following the others out unknowingly leaving your book behind. Most days you watch tv or play games in your phone or iPad but you picked up a book at the library one days and now you can't put it down.

Half way across the campus to your car you feel a tad bit empty. Looking around yourself and in your bag,

"Shit." The word leave your mouth ushering you to leave with urgency back to the room. Rushing back to the door it opens abruptly. You step back quickly slipping on stray ice only to be grabbed back up into the Dr Spencer reid.

"I'm sorry!" You both say

"Sorry I didn't realize anyone was out here."

"Yeah no...I left my book I just came back to get it."

"You alright?" He asks

"Slippery." You reply and pull back from him.

"By any chance is this it?" He asks holding up the copy of Romeo and Juliet.

"Yeah, yes thank you." You say taking it and placing it in your bag.

"Romeo an juliet Hm?" He says

"Yeah I'm not actually one for reading but I saw it in the library and couldn't resist."

"It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet" he says

You smile awkwardly and nod.

"Good to know" you reply.

There's a small shared silence between you two before you speak up at the buzz of your phone.

"Sorry I'm gonna get going I'm parked at the quarter lot it's a bit of a walk." You say

"M-mind if I walk with you I've parked there as well." He replies. You shake your head No and begin your walk with him to the lot once again.

"So what exactly does the bau do?" You ask

"BAU stands for behavioral analysis unit we used to be the BSU behavioral science unit but not anymore, its part of the ncbac the National center for analysis of violent crime which is also part of the cirg, critical incident response group, and um..im r-rambling I'm sorry."He apologizes and rubs his nape.

"No, it's alright, it was interesting." You reply which makes him smile.

"U-um im a profiler. I profile people based on what murder they commit. I can see things others can't or would like to see. I study their patterns, behavior."

"You can tell everything about someone by looking at them then" you say

"N-no well hmm?" He thinks you giggle

"Do me." You say and stop. He turns to you.

"Well then doctor...profile me." You reply holding your bag strap.

"Mm well i'm not as good as Arron hotcher, my boss, but um...i can tell you have a cat by the fur on your scarf." He says

"It's too easy to guess something else."

"Okay by the way you wanted to get back to your car so quickly before I can tell you don't live on campus or in a dorm and you probably own a car that is on the more expensive side." He says. You nod and smile.

"And yet I can tell that you have no pets although you wish you wanted one but you can't because of how often you travel." You say

"Well done." He smiles "you could be a profiler."

You shake your head no and look back up at him once again looking down again.

"Again but try harder." You say he nods and observes you as your foot moves around in the snow below you.

"Alright...you live alone, and you have for 4 years, your drawing in the snow with you foots which means you have siblings and played with them every winter, your not fond of eye contact because you keep looking down, it's due to a previous relationship between a parent who abused that privilege to look you in the eyes. By the way your phone is buzzing and you keep ignoring it. I assume it's a significant other...or ex that you don't want to see or talk to." He says waiting for your response.

You chuckle. Beginning to walk again.

"So...that's what you do." You reply

He frowns.

"You talk a lot," you smile at him.

He chuckles and you continue your walk to the lot. After reaching it you find that you're conveniently parked next to each other. His a Prius yours, a GTR.

"You were right Dr Reid about the cat, the car, the parents, the ex." You say.

"What about siblings?" He asks you to press your car key to start it up to make sure it's warm.

"My sister...passed away when we were 14." You reply.

"Sorry." He says you shake your head. "It's alright," you say, putting your bag in your car.

"Will I see you monday?" He asks

"I have to take notes." You say and get in, putting on your seat belt and driving off.

View chapter 2 here

#spencer reid smut #spencer #Criminal Minds #criminal minds x reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #Crimnal #minds #Bau #spencer reid fandom #spencer reid book

144 notes · View notes

infitsovermisfits · 2 years

Text

What's Shakin' Baby? - Eddie Munson x GN!Reader

((i'm crying sm look how pretty he fucking looks AAAAAA))

info: took me days to write which I'm honestly pretty proud of- I had this idea for a while and just thought it was cute lads :) hope u enjoy while I work on the other fics. OMG VOL 2 COMES OUT IN A WEEK WHAT THE FUCK??? That's wild I'm so nervous and excited. this is edited but if I missed any warnings or anything woopsie. I also hope people are ok that I change readers home life around? like in 'Tiny Swords' they've got a family but here they're alone- I'm just trying to be fun with it and change things up for u all please appreciate me please please validate this please please (/lh) HAHAHAHA HAPPY READING!!!

also, i have s o many pictures of eddie on my pinterest its so fucking funny. also, if anyone's going to comic con on the 8/10th of July and seeing Joe i hope u have a lovely time <3

WARNINGS: gender neutral reader, reader is 20, angst, self-conscious issues, underage (America) drinking, drug use, mentions of violence, allusions to season 3, fighting, working through issues ig, angst with a happy ending, reconciliation, confession of feelings, way too long oh my god, idk what else my mind is blank

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART3 | MASTERLIST

11,979 words

"Sorry, we're closed!" You called, focusing on drying the blenders from any leftover water droplets that remained from the night before. It was bright and early at 7 am, and the ringing of the door behind you signified without fail that a customer had entered 'Sam's Smoothie Shack' without bothering to spare a glance at the "Sorry! We're closed!" sign hung on the door. The chart next to it clearly stated that on Mondays, you opened at 7:30 am, not 7 on the dot. You'd gotten the job last year during spring break, and worked part-time when you had school. After your exams, you worked full-time over the summer to make some more money before leaving Hawkins for good, to go to Franklin College...

You were back now, finally finished with your first semester there, and it was... Vastly underwhelming. Sure, you were happy- and perhaps too eager- to finally leave Hawkins behind and experience life as the adult you were. Yeah... Only no one told you how fucking difficult making new friends in a city you had never been in before was going to be. You'd basically lived alone since you were sixteen, so you knew the basics of taking care of yourself. That was nothing you were new to, you just had an issue talking to people. How were you supposed to start conversations? Introducing yourself was weird, and most of the 'normal' people there were judgemental assholes...

Your roommates were nice to you but rarely invited you out to parties. There were a few other goths and punks who studied there but to your luck, you didn't share any classes together, so you rarely saw them. That meant you were often drinking alone by yourself in your dorm, reminiscing on the not-as-shitty-as-you remembered times in Hawkins...

Your whole life, you felt alone, never really fitting in with the other kids. The friends you did have grew into assholes by High School- being alone was better than being talked about behind your back or never included in plans. It made you resent them until it made you a loner. But if you stayed out of everybody's way then you'd be safe, right?

You couldn't be more fucking wrong. It was as if you had 'make this person's life hell' floating above you at all times. Kids, you didn't even know would call you a freak or shove you in the halls. Some days, surviving those 4 years seemed agonising and pointless to you...

At least one person was determined to prove you wrong.

Eddie "The Freak" Munson was the only person you had some sort of a relationship with in Hawkins. When one day, you'd found your lunch being ripped to shreds in the field by some assholes, you ran all the way to the trees, sobbing into your hands. Out of the forest, he emerged, leaves stuck in his shorter hair and round eyes full of worry. He had been the first person to be kind in High School, and that made you admire him so much.

He hadn't called you a freak- he called the dog collar you turned into a bracelet cool and not weird, and he even shared one of his sandwiches with you. That day, in the first week of freshman year, you decided he was going to be your only friend.

Over the years, you watched him grow into himself Eddie: becoming the intense, animated and overconfident 'freak' at your high school that taught you how to grow thicker skin. By junior year, you'd developed your own catalogue of insults you'd hurl at anyone trying to give you a hard time, and laughed maniacally at the 'devil worshipping' rumours they'd spread about the two of you.

If only they knew what you were actually like alone. Eddie was much more laid back, no thanks to the weed he began dealing to anyone who'd be interested greatly helped in relaxing you both. It also jumbled your words and made Hawkins just that more bearable. Through the long summers, you found yourself spending more and more time with him, until you were hanging out every day. If you weren't at work, you were most likely with Eddie- in his van, in his trailer, in your trailer, in the park at Forest Hills, in the woods, wherever. Legal, or illegal it didn't matter because you were there together.

You largely credited him as being the only reason you managed to survive high school and Hawkins in their own ways- existing with him wasn't as shitty as existing alone. He somehow made things more enjoyable. And you'd be lying if you didn't think about kissing him once, maybe twice. You really would give anything just to feel those soft lips against your own... Once...

You lost your chance when you'd received your Franklin acceptance letter and he broke the news to you that they'd called his Uncle Wayne to inform him Eddie had failed his exams and would need to stay behind another year. And you had to bury that anger deep within you and comfort him through chainsmoking and drinking through the rest of your summer together, considering you'd be gone for most of the year.

For the first time in your life, you were separated. And going to college without Eddie by your side was weird in itself. Sure you'd likely be taking separate classes- maybe he wouldn't even be studying at all? Maybe he'd work, or play with a new band he'd find up there... He'd find some way to fit into your life together... But he didn't. Because he wasn't there. He stayed behind while you moved on.

And yet you came back. You knew you could have stayed in Franklin for the summer but where was the fun in that? The one friend you had made that had a very believable fake ID was gone for the summer so you couldn't drink your way through the sweltering heat. You were sort of forced to hop on the next bus to Hawkins, heaving your luggage after you and staring out the window as Metalica drowned out any worries you may have of stepping back home... Home... Didn't fucking feel like it,

"That's a shame," You recognised that voice. You'd had it making small comments that made you smile to yourself in class, and lulling you to sleep with his songs, " 'I was made for loving you, baby...' " He was behind you now. He tapped the bell three times to the beat of the song as you turned up your Kiss song on the radio by your side. You turned sharply with a large grin,

" 'You were made for loving me...' " You finished excited in unison with him, barely on key from how wide you were grinning at the sight of him: long, raven-black mane of hair cascading down his shoulders and covering some of the pins higher up on his jean vest, sitting just on top of the warm leather jacket who's scent and touch you had long committed to memory. You could faintly see the red devil beneath the layers, and you could only make out the 'i' with the flaming dot from the 'Hellfire Club' printed over his chest. He was live and in the flesh before you. Finally, together again, "Hey!" You greeted happily, unable to control the laughter that bubbled up from your chest as you moved forwards to the counter. Quickly, you hopped up on it and slid over the smooth top, ignoring the 'Hey, I just cleaned that!' from your younger co-worker as you fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. His familiar scent of cigarette smoke and weed quickly filled your lungs, warmly welcoming you back. Strangely, you could also faintly smell cologne on him; you'd tease him about that later. For now, you were just happy you were reunited, "God, did I miss you, Munson," You grinned, pulling away in his arms to look up at him, "Did your hair get longer when I was gone?" You teased playfully, twirling a strand around your finger,

"You missed me!?" He asked in a mocking shocked tone, causing you to laugh, "And yeah, it did. Hair grows like that," You grinned,

"I had no clue, Eddie," You said playfully, smirking, "But you didn't even cut it or anything-"

"Who's that?" Your co-worker asked from behind you. He'd turned the music down, which caused you to turn and frown at his confused face, "Is he here for the interview?"

"No man, he's just my very... Good friend," You let go of Eddie from where you were holding him and pat his shoulder with a tight smile, glancing up at him and walking back around behind the counter, tightening the bow at the back of your apron, "It's Eddie? Munson?" You told your coworker, motioning to the man inside the store, "I told you about him, Micheal," You sighed,

"Yeah, well, Sam said if it's not part of the official training, I don't have to listen to you," You rolled your eyes as his voice droned on and he turned back to cutting up a few more fruits for the healthier smoothies,

"See what I gotta deal with on a daily basis, Eds?" You smiled as you leaned against the counter, glancing down at it briefly and grabbing a spray and a wipe, cleaning it,

"Mh- just as awful as last time," He gave you a wink once you were done, and leaned an elbow on the counter so he could talk to you as usual. Things felt normal again- as normal as Eddie could provide you,

"Hey, I like this job," You defended,

"You tolerate this job, barely," He smirked. He knew you too damn well, and you gave him a knowing smile,

"Yeah. I do," You sighed, "But it pays me money to work here. And Sam's nice enough to let me wear my apron again a-"

"Hey, where is the old man, by the way?" Eddie asked, and you glanced around cautiously, before looking up at the newly installed security camera that had gotten busted when some middle schoolers thought it would be funny to construct the most repulsive smoothie known to man at you. Without pay. You didn't have the heart to let Sam know so you just prayed Micheal would fuck it up somehow, "Did he uh...?" Eddie made a cutthroat gesture when you turned back to look at him, and you smirked, shoving his hand away,

"Sam is right as rain, thank you very much for your concern," You smiled at the disappointed groan he gave, and reached over grabbing a toothpick and sticking it between his teeth, chewing on it to relieve a nicotine craving he likely had, "He's in the back doing inventory and helping the boys unload- we get fresh fruit here every day, after all," You tapped the sign that you had drawn, that now rested before the register. Eddie hummed, looking over your work with a small nod, "He still very much doesn't appreciate you loitering around," You teased, smiling at him, "But you're A-Okay in my books, Munson," You grinned at him, resting your elbows on the counter and setting your chin on your hands, "So how've you-"

"Why is he still inside then?" Your co-worker asked, unamused, and unsharing your excitement. You cast him a glare for even piping up, "Wait, is this the guy we're not supposed to let-"

"Because I can be," Eddie piped up from beside you, "And if you tell that old ass I was here, I'll punch you," Eddie threatened. Eddie had only ever been punched. You'd never personally seen him fight back; usually he'd just pick himself off the floor and go scowling to you with a bloody nose you'd clean for him, or a black eye you'd lend your ice to. You smirked, raising your brows at him,

"You actually can't be in here though," The younger kid said, moving to stand closer to you, "The sign says we're still closed. We open in fifteen minutes," When you came back two days ago, you couldn't sleep. You arrived at Forest Hills Trailer Park at the asscrack of dawn and spent the better part of that morning digging through your stuff to find your fake ID you'd wrongfully misplaced before leaving for college. Soon though, you wouldn't need it. Your twenty-first was only a few months away. God, you were old...

The first thing you did was buy yourself beer because Jesus Christ was the summer looking warm as shit. You then went to Sam's to reclaim your apron, only to find your spot taken by Micheal. You didn't know or recognise him- he was either a junior or senior but you weren't paying attention to what he was saying because his voice pissed you off. All mumbly and gross it made you want to rip off your ears. Sam had been convinced he was the best for the job so you didn't question him, and felt relieved to be hired again.

Micheal, like you, couldn't give a shit about this job, or you. Something you were thankful for. You mostly treated him like an annoying little brother, and rarely spoke to him because you really had nothing in common. He seemed so boring to you, so it greatly surprised you that he was the reason you were getting so many, customers. It was amusing, even now, seeing the line of newly 'Smoothie Cleanse' obsessed moms of Hawkins flocking outside and sending Eddie dirty looks for cutting inside. Micheal would get flirted with constantly, only to obliviously blink and just make the smoothie, while you only received death glare looks. It didn't really matter, considering you two shared the generous tips he'd receive at the end of your shifts,

"Shut up, Micheal," You said, waving him off, "Hey- I just remembered I never taught you how to clean the blenders because it's 'unsafe' so you've gotta go in the back to ask Sam," You said, pointing out the blender. He picked it up, frowning,

"But-" You didn't want to argue,

"You want our customers complaining about our dirty blenders, Micheal?" You asked, and watched his eyes widen fearfully, "You want this place to shut down and ruin poor Sam's life? No. You don't. Get your ass in the back, find Sam, asking how to take the blender apart," You said threateningly, watching as he disappeared through the 'employee's only' door. You sighed, turning back to Eddie and grabbing a smoothie you'd made earlier for yourself in place of coffee, "How've you been, Eds?" You asked, smiling at him as you took a sip from your straw,

"Oh, you know, here and there," He said, "Everywhere really. You drink this crap?" He gestured to the drink you were holding, "Thought you'd be sick of it," He hummed,

"I was," You shrugged, taking a sip, "But this raspberry blast is so good," You hummed, handing it over to him so he could take a sip of the pink liquid, "I made it myself. Created the recipe and everything- it's part of the hiring process I told you about? Apparently, it's super popular now. I think Sam's even gonna call it the Smoothie of the Summer which means-" You tapped the counter eagerly, "-I get a promotion!" You grinned,

"Nice!" He smiled, holding his hand out for you to high five, before taking another sip, "I finished this by the way- sorry," He said, shaking the empty cup, "It's really good,"

"I told you!" You grinned, watching him toss the cup and miss the trash bin entirely, "You pick that up right now, we're not even open and you're making a mess," You pointed to the cup with a grin,

"Mmmh- can't I'm still tasting the smoothie," He said, closing his eyes as you grinned,

"Christ, Eds," You hummed, shaking your head as you glanced through the fresh ingredients in the cooling trays next to you,

"What's in there? I can taste the raspberries but it's sweet and not weird like raspberries usually are," He said with a frown,

"You mean tart. They're tart," You explained, and watched as he blinked at you,

"Like a pie tart?" You laughed loudly, shaking your head, "You put a pie in there?"

"No!" You laughed, "No, you dumbass- tart is like a flavour it's not entirely sour but it's not sweet it's like... Between those uh-" You glanced behind you at the overhead menus, "It's got raspberries, obviously, but they're the frozen ones cause we have to get rid of them before Sam orders anymore," You said, glancing at the ingredients set out and pointing to them, "It's also got banana and yoghurt to give it the thick texture, apple juice to help it blend and make it sweet and then also honey. For the sweetness," You smiled, "You do have to tweak and really experiment with the ratios because one thing goes off and it's just gross and too sour or gross and too sweet," You stuck your tongue out,

"I see, I see," He said, resuming his spot where he was leaning against the counter. He had pulled the toothpick from his mouth and was dulling the sharp ends by repeatedly drumming the stick into the counter, "It's nice. Refreshing, babe," He teased, and you rolled your eyes, "Oh and by the way- fuck you for not telling me you were back sooner," He said in mock hurt, putting a hand on his chest. Your eyes widened at his comment,

"Fuck- Shit- Sorry," You hissed, "I know I should have, I'm really sorry," You quickly apologised, "I didn't expect coming back home after so long was gonna be so chaotic but..." You sighed deeply, then shrugged your shoulders "It is," You frowned, "I had to go pay off some bills to Dave 'cause apparently I only paid for six months and not ten," You rambled,

"Oh shit," He said with a frown, looking concerned,

"Yeah, shit," You grumbled, "I was so excited to go buy new clothes for myself tomorrow at Starcourt and bam!- half my savings are gone," You frowned, "Gotta compromise if I want to eat and survive or look nice," You sighed,

"He knows you live alone, right?" He checked; you nodded, "And that you're a student going to college in another city, how many miles from home?"

"Yeah, of course he knows," You said, glancing over at the fruits you had paused in cutting up to dry the blenders. You glanced over to where you kept the single-use plastic gloves and put on a pair, before resuming your task, "He doesn't give a shit about students, though. He's never heard of a student discount," You grumbled,

"He knows you're only twenty, right?" You nodded, "You've been living there for eight years with your parents- three of those alone. He must have... Realised?" He said quietly, and you paused with the knife half sunk in the strawberry.

To be honest, you didn't want to bother Dave with the news your father, your only caretaker, had passed when he did, so all the bills you'd paid for those three years were marked out in his name. You'd secretly hoped someone else would tell him to avoid having that conversation. You never really got used to admitting to what happened with your father; his sickness... His death. Eddie and his uncle Wayne were the only ones you had that day, and you spent the week over there, not ready to enter your home and realise you were alone,

"...Yeah," You said quietly, resuming your task,

"Then why don't you ask him to lower the rent?" He asked, leaning against the glass display and watching the movements of your hands intently, "Considering you're not even using it as a home while you're away in college,"

"Ugh, that was his point too," You frowned,

"But you're not using his stuff? Why is he charging you if you're not there?" He frowned,

"He said something like..." You paused to think, remembering back to the conversation you had "Something like 'doesn't matter to me that you can't pay- you're hogging up the space, kiddo'," You mimicked the older man's voice and sighed, "He's annoying and stubborn and he hates kids," You settled,

"Damn..." Eddie sighed, "You should have told me. I could have covered for you," He said, and you smiled softly at his offer,

"Thanks, Eds that's very kind of you," You said sincerely, and noticed the small smile he flashed you made your heart flutter, "But four months' worth of rent is a lot. And I don't think you could magically pull that much out of thin air" You said, eyes widening slightly. You shook your head "Just gotta spend my summer vacationing away from school work with... Normal work," You grimaced,

"Damn," He frowned,

"Anyhow-" You tried steering the conversation away from your boring life to him. He was bound to have something exciting to tell you, "Anything new with you?" You asked,

"A few freshmen joined Hellfire," He said, as you 'ooo'-ed for him, "Yes, yes. My illustrious charm and endless charisma convinced them to join," You smiled, at his comments as he waved his arm for dramatic purposes,

"You kick their asses yet, babe?" You smiled, glancing up at him from your task,

"Of course, babe, who do you think I am?" You could still remember the first night you started using the pet names for each other. One night, you were getting high in his room, giggling away at something, when he had mentioned his 'sweetheart'. He perhaps sensed your mood shift to serious all too quickly, because your giggles had faded and you were staring at him with a curious look. He lifted his hand above his head to affectionately strum the chords on his then, brand new guitar, which got you to laugh again. You'd started calling each other babe that night and it stuck. It was a friend thing, you were convinced. As playfully as asshole, shithead and dickhead were. But sometimes, you liked pretending there was affection behind the word, and not your usual playfulness,

"Good," You hummed softly. You still had a full bowl of freshly cleaned strawberries to get through, before opening time. When he didn't speak again, seemingly focused on your hands working away at slicing up the fruit, you spoke up, "You know how much I fucking love making shakes for the health moms out there?" You said sarcastically, nodding your head to the line of mostly older women queuing impatiently outside,

"Mhm," He hummed, scanning the line, "Yeah, I'm so jealous of em," He joked, making you breathe out a small laugh, "What did you want to get from Starcourt anyway?" He asked curiously,

"Huh?" You asked, not entirely hearing him,

"I asked what you wanted from Starcourt. The mall?" He elaborated,

"I don't know- anything that caught my eye?" You said with a smile, before sighing, "You know I couldn't afford much last year, considering I was putting the money off for rent and school... It was mostly window shopping then, so I'm excited to go now to actually buy stuff! I have my route planned out already- Sam's even letting taking the day off tomorrow so I can maximise on the buying and he hates the mall! I'm so excited, Eds- Wanna hear?" You said quickly, letting your excitement take over before he could utter a word, "Okay so bottom floor, West wing entrance, straight into JCPennies because there was such a cute necklace there that I think if I layered with-"

"I... Hate to disappoint you but uh..." Eddie said quickly, holding a hand up for you, "The mall burned down," You blinked, setting the knife down as you stared at him,

"It did what?"

"Faulty wiring, I think? If I remember it from the news right... I don't know, my uncle read the paper but he might have burned it..." He said, humming to himself and tilting his head, eyes flicking over the ceiling to try to gather his thoughts, "The ceiling was unsafe and collapsed onto gas pipes and then boom! A fire," He said. Your shoulders dropped in disappointment as you frowned, looking at the pink-stained cutting board and knife. God, it sure had been a while since you were back home... Seems like the most exciting things happened while you were away, "But hey- the stores on the main street were forced to open back up, so that's... Good! You could always go there to shop," He said quickly, seeing your mood shift,

"Nah, that's not the same as walking through a mall," You sighed, "That's... Wow that's so shitty," You huffed, frowning, "So now I just have a day to... Do nothing?" You frowned, shaking your head as you went back to your task,

"You've always got me," Eddie said. You looked up at him, scanning him up and down, "Wherever you wanna go, I'll take you," He smiled, and you narrowed your eyes,

"How are you not burning up in that?" You pointed to his two jackets and long sleeve Hellfire shirt,

"You guys have good air con," He winked, and you raised your brows with a nod,

"We do have good air con," You smiled, "But outside?"

"Well, it's only warm. Not unbearably hot yet," He said, and you nodded, before sighing and dumping the pile of strawberries into their correct, chilled bin,

"If Sam sees you in here-"

"He'll be overjoyed!" Eddie grinned as he finished, "Now come on- hang out with me all day tomorrow. School's out for the summer, you have nothing to do; I have nothing to do. I'll make it worthwhile! Promice. I'll take you around Hawkins and show you everything that's different," He begged, and you sighed as you moved to set the dirty dishes in the nearby sink,

"That's not gonna take us all day though," You said, and watched him pout, "It might take all evening though," You smiled," I get off at one today," You told him, and watched his face as he smiled in recognition,

"Of course you get off at one today," He grinned, "Nice- I'll pick you up for lunch and we'll go driving around like old times," He said eagerly,

"Hell, why not?" You grinned as he hissed a little 'yes' to himself, "I-"

"You could always just come in tomorrow," Your co-worker piped in, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and scaring you. You twisted around to see him holding the now spotless blender, and cast him a glare, "And tell Sam your plans got cancelled,"

"Or you could keep your mouth shut and wash those blenders a little better," You snapped back, holding a hand up to Eddie and sliding off the sticky gloves you were wearing, discarding them in a nearby bin "What the fuck is that?" You said, grabbing one of the blenders and holding it out to him to see the blades.

"...I don't know," He said quietly,

"That-" You pointed inside, "-is peanut butter stuck to the blades," You said, "You better clean this right now-"

"But it's been through the dishwasher," He whined, "Can't we say it's... Clean?" You glared at him,

"Fine, Micheal. Don't clean it," You said, setting the blender and throwing up your hands, "But when you use this blender to make a smoothie for a customer who's got a severe peanut allergy and they fall to the ground unable to breathe and die-" You said angrily, "-You are gonna be singlehandedly paying out lawsuits," You threatened, shoving the blender into his chest and sighing as he moved into the back, "Unbelievable," You shook your head as you approached Eddie, leaning your arms on the counter. He seemed stunned, staring at you with an unreadable look on his face, "What? What is it?" You asked, standing up straighter,

"Y-" He cleared his throat, "You're very uhm... Serious about your job," He said, giving you a small smile. You tilted your head as you looked at him, furrowing your brows,

"Yeah...? I am. I gotta make money and I can't do that if this establishment is paying off hospital bills..." You rambled, noticing the slight pink tinge to his cheeks and smiling softly, "Eds, are you blushing...?" You asked surprised, and stifled a small laugh as his eyes widened,

"No- You know what, babe? I'm actually- I'm late for a Hellfire club meeting!" He said, glancing from the watch on his wrist up to the clock above you reading 7:30 am. It was a warm July day- school was out for the summer- he did not have a Hellfire meeting.

It was always funny seeing him like this, enamoured by something you did. One night, after you were walking home together and drunkenly singing Rocky Horror's 'There's A Light', some asshole thought it'd be funny to follow the two of you yelling insults. The alcohol had added to your enraged state, causing you to stalk up to the creep to punch him in the face. Eddie had quickly grabbed your arm and ran into the forests, but the way he had looked at you in the night made you feel warm,

"I uh- gotta go. See you later!" Did he call you babe there? You blinked to yourself, before smirking as you watched his hair bounce as he approached the door,

"Flip the sign!" You yelled quickly, "Thanks Eds!" You grinned to yourself as he left. God, it was good seeing him again- you wanted to tell him how much you missed him but alas, your coworker had to get in the way, along with the timer on the front counter blaring loud, and the bell at the door jingling with his sudden exit. With a small sigh, you glanced at the disappointed woman as she entered, "Good morning!" You said in your best, cheery, customer service voice, "Welcome to Sam's, how may I help you today?" And so your shift began, then seemed to drag on for excruciating hours...

Eddie had remembered to pick you up at one, even arriving a whole twenty minutes early. You could see him leaning against his van outside, nodding along to 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' blaring obnoxiously loud from inside. His head was downcast, but he'd occasionally look around, or glance inside the shop, a cigarette perched between his two fingers that he periodically brought up to his plump lips, smoke tumbling into the air. Someone had come in a little while ago to complain about the loud music and the man outside, but you simply had to smile and say that technically, because it was a public path he was parked on, you couldn't do anything about him. You kept glancing up, and if you made eye contact, he'd smile or stick his tongue out, making faces to try and distract you as you finished up cleaning for the day. You know he'd come in, but he'd 'overstayed' his welcome, according to Sam.

Sam was an old, old-fashioned type of guy. You didn't mind him- part of you looked up to him. He did have his own business that was as successful as anything could be in fucking Hawkins... At least he loved his home- he told you the countless stories of the establishment being an ice cream shop he ran with his wife up until Starcourt opened up. 'Scoops Ahoy' took all his profits so he had to pivot to the next best thing: smoothies. You had no clue why he didn't just make milkshakes, considering they were only a temperature difference from ice cream, but he'd simply smiled and told you 'Sam's Milkshake Bar' didn't have the same ring to it as 'Sam's Smoothie Shack'.

Sam had always been wary of Eddie, not trusting him as he did you. You tried explaining that if he just got to know him, he'd see he was harmless. Though Sam was still cautious, never failing to mutter about 'kids these days' and their 'loud rock music' poisoning their minds. You smiled as you passed by the older man, letting him know you were off for the day and wishing him a good afternoon as you ducked into the back to hang up your apron and grab your jacket and bag,

"Got it stuck in your head, hmm?" You hummed as you exited the store, faintly hearing the jingling of the bell behind you as you left the small shop and approached him. The song had changed to your Kiss song as you approached, almost on queue. You grinned as he glanced up and saw you, appearing to light up instantly. He pushed himself up, the second cigarette he had sparked up falling to the ground and disappeared beneath his shoe,

"Your chariot awaits, my dear!!" He said loudly, moving his arms to gesture to the van you had long missed since you left Hawkins a year ago, "Go on, get in. I've got you for the rest of the day, right?" He said, pushing his hands in his pockets and coming to stand in front of you so you could hear what he was saying over the music. You opened your mouth slightly, glancing from the van back to him and tilting your head,

"For the rest of the day?" You asked amused, and raised your brows as he nodded,

"Come on- didn't you say you missed me?" You knew him. You'd been friends for so long that you could feel the twinge of hurt behind those amused words. Before you could see his face, he moved to the van and opened the passenger side door for you, letting the music grow louder and drown out your worried thoughts, "Get in!!" He yelled over the music, and being left without much choice, you just grinned, walking over to him,

"You give me no choice, Munson," You told him, before clambering inside and throwing your bag at your feet.

He shut the door once you were inside, you let yourself glance around the van you'd spent most of the summer in. It faintly smelled like weed- you hoped he wasn't high at the moment. Eddie was a reckless driver as it was and being high surprisingly didn't make him more careful. It was still messy, but you could tell he made an effort in cleaning it for you. You turned the music down slightly so you could hear yourself think and pulled the overhead mirror down, glancing over your face to make sure your make-up was still intact after the long day. Glancing to the side, you noticed a polaroid of the two of you that was tucked into the side. It was a little older- from the darker background, you could see it was taken in Eddie's room. Both your faces were grinning back at you. You could barely remember taking it because of how greened out you were, but you couldn't deny the picture was a nice one. You could see the date the picture was taken was scrawled on the bottom, along with a small heart drawn in the corner there. You smiled softly, reaching a hand up to skim your finger over the sharpie. You jumped slightly at the sound of the door opening,

"Snooping?" He asked, shutting the door and putting his seatbelt on, gaze flicking to the polaroid,

"Just reacquainting myself," You said, shutting the mirror and leaning back to put your own seatbelt on, "I'm so glad I'm not walking home, my feet are killing me," You sighed, getting comfortable in your seat,

"Mmmh," He hummed, smiling as he started the car, "You should have asked me to take you," He said, glancing over at you,

"And wake you up at four in the morning?" You raised your brows, "I'd just piss off Wayne. We both know you're a heavy sleeper, Eds," You smiled, grabbing the overhead handle as he pulled out of the spot and began driving off. He laughed softly,

"Should have gone and thrown rocks at my window," He said, sparing you a glance. You noticed him eyeing your hand,

"Wouldn't have worked-"

"Then you should have thrown rocks through my window," He said,

"Have you forgotten the possum incident?" You laughed as he shuddered, "Yeah,"

"Those things have to be my least favourite forest creatures," He huffed,

"You have a favourite?" You asked amused,

"I'm not telling you," He huffed, "You can't even trust me to drive you around, "He said, glancing at your arm again,

"I would trust you if you weren't so reckless. You know, I wasn't gonna mention it but how many curbs have we hit already?" You smirked,

"Like... Two?" You gave him a look, "...Four," You laughed softly, at his response, shaking your head and humming softly to the 'Creeping Death' playing through the speakers,

"So is it a wolf?" You asked after a moment, and laughed at the glare he sent you,

"I'm not answering that," He grumbled, but you laughed it off, "Hey, open the glove box for me," He hummed, and you did as he asked. There was a cassette inside which you pulled out and glanced over. In sharpie, he had written-

"'Darkest Nightmare'?" You asked amused, grinning, "You made another mixtape?"

"Uhuh- put it in, I'm kinda sick of Metallica," He sighed, and you did as he asked, grinning as he turned up the radio. As usual, his driving got worse, focusing more on the music you were yelling and screaming along to at the moment, praying the seatbelt would at least protect you from a crash.

Somehow, you'd survived his tour of Hawkins: unsurprisingly, not too much had changed. You drove by the remnants of Starcourt and were saddened to hear of the passing of Cheif Jim Hopper. As much as the old cop loved to give you and Eddie shit for trespassing, he'd only yell at you as you sped off in the van or ran into the forest, laughing together. You were glad, because you really couldn't deal with a criminal record.

The stores along the main street were opening up again, and you eagerly started making plans for which ones you'd want to go to tomorrow. There were a few new ones that had opened up that you were eager to go into. In the meantime, Eddie filled you in on Hellfire and his campaigns, stopping at a diner and eating dinner in the van. It all felt right, and normal again, and you kept smiling fondly as he excited rambled on. Occasionally, you'd remind him of his now cold burger and fries, but he didn't seem to be listening much to you. You didn't mind- you preferred listening anyways.

Once you were done, he drove you back home in comfortable silence, enjoying the mixtape that now played a song by Megadeath you didn't recognise. The sun was setting, causing the sky to bloom in pretty colours that captured your attention. When the trees started getting thicker as you approached Forest Hills, you sighed, grabbing your stuff from the floor. You'd called the trailer park 'home' for the longer part of your life. It hadn't changed either, but you enjoyed his quiet comments on who lived where and what had changed with them. Nothing too interesting but it was nice to be informed,

"...And finally my humble abode," He said, parking the van and undoing his seatbelt,

"Damn... I really did not miss the Hills," You smiled fondly as you looked over his home, before glancing across to your own home. You hadn't realised he had gotten out until your door opened. He smiled at you,

"Gimmie those," He said, and you gently placed the bag in his hand. He quickly extended his other hand to you, and you rolled your eyes as you took it to get out of the van,

"Thank you, oh fair, kind Sir," You said playfully, shutting the door as you got out. He grinned as he slung your bag over his shoulder,

"Anything for you, fair one," He said as he moved behind you to lock the car. You rolled your eyes, folding the jacket over your arm as you glanced around the area, taking it in again. The playground that separated your homes looked the same, nothing having changed in the almost year you were away. Perhaps there were more cigarette butts and trash around the area but that was common here. You felt his presence near you; the familiar and pleasant scent of smoke and a forest earthiness growing stronger, "It uh... Hasn't felt the same without you here," He said surprisingly softly, and you glanced up at him,

"Yeah," You hummed, but realised that didn't make sense, "Uh- I mean it's... Been strange. I've never been away from Hawkins for this long it's... Weird to be back," You said, sighing,

"Yeah, I get it," Eddie said, sighing, "Oh, by the way, someone finally moved into the haunted trailer next to yours," He pointed out, "You've finally got a new neighbour," You looked at the house, smiling fondly as you saw a person hanging up their laundry,

"Huh. I'm surprised Dave finally managed to rent that place out to someone," You said, digging through your pockets to produce your keys, "Oh- right," You mumbled, fiddling with the keychains, "Here!" You smiled at him as you turned to place the charm into his hands, "I had to put it on my keys so I wouldn't forget- you have no idea how stressed I was thinking I lost it back in my dorm," You breathed, smiling,

"Holy shit," He murmured, fingers skimming over the small metal wolf head you'd gotten him, "This is cool," He grinned, "I'll put it with the others," He teased,

"Thought you liked my keyrings," You said, twirling your keys as you began heading home, eyes flicking to your neighbour curiously,

"I do!" He said quickly, "Thanks, a lot. I think it's really cool-"

"Who is that?" You mumbled to him, eyeing the girl hanging up her laundry on your shared line, "Should we go say hi?" You glanced up at him with a small smile,

"Why'd anyone want to say hi to us?" Eddie asked with a chuckle, but you just rolled your eyes and approached her. Her gaze flicked to you both as you approached, and she removed her headphones from her head,

"Hello!" You said as pleasantly as you could. It was the same tone you'd use with customers to appear more friendly. You pleasantly introduced yourself, and stuck your hand out for her to shake, "I live right next door- I haven't uh... Been here though, because I've been in Franklin for college," You said as she placed her hand in yours and shook it, eyes flicking from Eddie to you with an uncertain look, "We share a line," You also added,

"Uhuh. Yeah I know," The red-head said shortly. You grimaced, glancing at Eddie, before looking down at her. She had headphones around her neck, and you could faintly hear a song playing, "Are you guys just gonna stand there now?" She asked, and you blinked for a moment

"Are you a big fan of Kate Bush?" You asked, recognising the song,

"I guess," She said in a dejected way, shrugging as she went back to doing her chore. You glanced at her trailer before looking back at her,

"She's good, right?" You smiled, still trying to make pleasant conversation and not freak her out, "I love 'Running Up That Hill,'" She nodded once, and turned her back on you, and continued working. With a small sigh, you glanced over at Eddie, who shrugged his shoulders, "What's your name?" You asked,

"I'm Max," She said shortly, casting you a glare. With a sigh, you nodded, trying to uphold your cheery disposition,

"Cool- nice to meet you, Max," You smiled, "If you need anything, I'm nex-"

"I heard," She said coldly, casting you another look that was defiantly a glare, "Do you like bothering people when they're doing something?" She asked,

"No, not really," You said quickly, "I'm just trying to be nice and introduce myself to my new neighbour," You frowned, "I just haven't had one in-"

"Great- be nice somewhere else, freak," She muttered, throwing a sheet over the clothing line and grabbing the now empty basket, storming back into her home,

"Damn," You frowned, "It was nice meeting you, Max!" You yelled after her, before turning back to walk to Eddie. He had walked away a little while ago and was waiting for you by your door. You stood by him with a sigh, looking down at your keys, "Wonder what's up with her?" You mumbled, "Think she got grounded or something?" You asked, glancing back at him, "Do people still ground their kids...?" You said playfully with a slight smile, though it fell quickly,

"No, don't think so," He said, walking after you into your home and removing the keys from your door, "More like her uh... Brother? No- her step-brother died in that fire at Starcourt," You nodded solemnly, glancing around your small home with a frown,

"So she's taking it out on everyone else?" You hummed,

"Guess so," He said softly, and you heard the slight thud of your bag as he set it down on your couch,

"Guess she's tired of hearing condolences," You mumbled, eyes flicking to a photograph of your late father on the wall with a small frown. You heard the door close and the clicking of the locks as Eddie closed it for you. You muttered a small 'thank you' as you stretched your arms above your head tiredly, "Did you know him?" You asked, "This step-brother?"

"Did I know Billy Hargreeves?" He said, turning to look at you. You winced at the mention of the name, "Yeah. We did," He said solemnly. Hargreeves was new but quickly established himself as one of the worst assholes you'd ever met. You did what you could to stay out of his way because of how... Violent he usually got...

"God..." You sighed, "Well..." You mumbled, throwing your jacket over the couch and falling back on it. You still hadn't unpacked since you came back- your suitcase stood where you'd left it by the door, along with a duffle bag that was flung to the ground. You just didn't have the motivation to wash all your clothes or get unpacked... And besides, the clothing line was full, thanks to Max. You could hear Eddie moving around behind you, rummaging through your kitchen to find something to eat, "You know I haven't been called a freak since I left Hawkins?" You said, moving a hand up to your forehead to rub at it, trying to soothe the tension and pain growing there,

"Seriously?" He asked, amusement clear in his tone, "Thought... You know, college? People there would be more..." He trailed off,

"Surprisingly, there are a lot more 'freaks' and 'goths' in the big city," You smiled, leaning your head back all the way to watch him. Eddie had shed himself of his usual jackets, hanging them up on the back of one of the two chairs so he was left in just his Hellfire shirt. He'd rolled his sleeves up so you could see the peaks of the bat swarm frozen in ink on his arm. You watched as he rummaged in your drawer, pulling out a bottle opener and hearing the clicks of two bottles opening. You sighed softly, smiling as he walked over to you, "Have I mentioned you're the best?" You grinned as you sat back up, shifting to give him some space so he could sit with you,

"Mh- you deserve something after a hard day's work," He winked playfully, clinking the bottle with you as you eagerly took a swig of the beer, humming happily as you drank the cold liquid,

"Yeah, uhuh," You hummed between sips,

"I'd also make you something to eat but-"

"But you're banned from my kitchen," You grinned, "After you set fucking popcorn on fire-"

"It's not my fault your microwave is stupid!!" He grinned,

"It's a normal microwave Eds! You set it to thirty minutes and not three," You both laughed, "How the fuck do you burn popcorn?" You ask between giggles,

"I guess it's a special talent of mine," He hummed, taking a sip as you continued laughing, "Anyways, you really should eat something. Knowing you and how long you take getting ready, then with the walk... I doubt you've eaten much today," He said softly,

"When'd you become the food police, Eds?" You smiled,

"Considering you're drinking and only ate dinner today, I don't want you to get too drunk too fast," You almost spit out your beer,

"Eds- I'm not gonna get drunk off one beer," You smiled at him,

"Still. Better to eat and drink," He winked at you, clicking his fingers. You sighed, drinking more of your beer, "You've got nothing but drinks, babe," He added, and you glanced over at him as he took a sip, "And when did you get back?"

"Yesterday? I haven't had the time to go shopping-"

"Nope- you got here two days ago," He said, and you turned your head from where you'd been staring at the decorations you had put up to stare at him,

"How did you...?" You asked softly, and watched as he frowned softly, taking a swig before setting the bottle on the ground near your feet, "How did you know?" You asked with a frown,

"I saw you uh... Coming home," He admitted, "Two days ago..." He said, not looking at you and instead focusing on how much beer was left in his bottle,

"I got here at, like, 3 am Eddie?" You said, blinking,

"Yeah. You did," He nodded, watching you. You were silent for a moment,

"Why were you awake at 3 am?" You asked. He briefly met your eyes, before looking away and taking a nervous, shaky breath,

"I..." His eyes darted around,

"Why didn't you-"

"Dude, who goes to someone's house at 3 am?" He said, quickly standing and walking away from you. You jumped slightly at how fast he moved, before turning your whole body so you could watch him, confused at his sudden mood change, "I didn't want to bother you since you clearly didn't..." He trailed off, back turned to you. Your eyes widened slightly,

"Eddie, what?" You stood, careful of the beer you'd nudged with your foot and following after him, "I didn't do what?" You asked, standing near the couch to give him space. He moved into your kitchen and stood by your table, leaning against it at first,

"You just-" He sighed, sitting on top of the table, eyes focusing on the floor and watching his shoes shuffling around on the floor for a moment, before speaking "You were gone for- what? Almost a year," He said your name quietly, and you frowned from where you watched him on the couch, "I mean, what was I supposed to think?"

"I wrote letters to you," You said, "I sent you packages and letters as much as I could- we never stopped talking," You said,

"But you didn't visit," He said with a frown, glancing up at you. He couldn't hold the eye contact, and found himself looking away quickly, again. He folded his arms across his chest, "What was I supposed to think? My best friend just... Didn't want to hang out with me anymore?" He shrugged. From the dim, setting sunlight shining inside, you could see his eyes twinkling with tears, and you could feel your heart constrict for him in your chest,

"I wrote to you explaining why I couldn't go," You said defensively, walking closer to him, "Fuck, Eds, I don't have the damn money to be driving back and forth between Franklin and Hawkins!" You said louder than intended, "It wasn't about not wanting to hang out with you, it was about saving money-"

"Okay- I get that," He said sharply, "But my point is... What else do you have here?" He glanced at you, "You and I both hate this place, we made plans all the time to get out of Hawkins- you got out and I stayed behind, I-"

"Eddie, I couldn't stay here another fucking year waiting for you to graduate," You tried, coming to stand in front of him, "You... We both know how awful living here is. This small town will only see us as... Freaks and... Damned devil worshipers when we're not-"

"Right- of course!" He said sarcastically, throwing his hands up and laughing coldly, "I'm sorry, I just thought that if you got the privilege to leave Hawkins, it'd at least... Be with me," He said, looking into your eyes. His wide, brown eyes bore into yours and were tinted slightly pink. A few tears slipped down his reddened cheeks and you could faintly see the tremble in his lips. He'd folded his arms again and was digging his fingernails into his forearms, knuckles going white and small crescents appearing in his skin. You blinked, opening your mouth to say something, but closed it,

"Eddie..." You said softly, watching him move his head to look away from you. Seeing another tear rolling down his cheek, you reached a hand up to try and wipe it off of his face without thinking. He quickly flinched, slapping your hand away with his and shaking his head, leaving you shocked,

"Fuck," He hissed, and stood abruptly, making you back away. He reached to the side, grabbing his jean jacket from the chair, "Forget about it," You heard him mutter his name,

"Eddie!" You yelled after him as he moved quickly to your door, fumbling with your keys to unlock it, "Eddie what is going on- talk to me please," You begged,

"I said forget about it, okay?" He turned sharply. You stared at him, never seeing him so hurt with you before. You really didn't know what to do, and instead stared at him as you both stared at one another,

"But- Eddie!" You yelled out of your door as he quickly turned away and began walking away, "Stop running from me- Eddie!" You called again, wincing at how your voice echoed through the park. But he didn't turn. He just walked home faster.

You felt frozen in place, staring after him as his hair fluttered behind him dramatically. You opened your mouth to call after him again, but quickly closed it, feeling tears brimming in your eyes as you disappeared inside. You could hear the door slamming behind him, and you quickly shut your own door, falling back against it as you let your tears fall,

"What the fuck?" You breathed, blinking rapidly. In all the years you knew Eddie, you never... Fought like this: where you were both too distraught to even want to look at one another, or solve the problem. He had never run from you. You had never... Been the problem.

Hours passed but your mind was still occupied with Eddie and the fight. Your mind was always occupied with Eddie, but you were never worried for him like this... You tried distracting yourself by going grocery shopping before the sun would completely set. The burn in your legs as you walked into town helped- at least that was a physical pain and not... Ugh.

The pain in your arms accompanied you on your way home, and you found yourself regretting your decision to walk. Maybe you should have waited until things cooled off with Eddie so you could at least catch a ride here and there. The ice cream you had bought would surely be melted by now- what made you want ice cream anyways? You also couldn't buy any beer or vodka to take the pain away, so unless you wanted to see the one person you really didn't want to right now, you'd have to... Reconcile your emotions...

Okay.

Eddie was obviously upset you had left, but why on Earth was he pissed off at you? It wasn't your choice to leave- you'd sent your applications together... Though you never saw his, he had drunkenly admitted to you that he'd failed his final year days later and would have to stay in Hawkins to repeat it. He'd said it casually and whenever you mentioned it, he'd just wave it off like it wasn't a big deal to him. It had made you sad to know he wouldn't be leaving with you, but he never... Saw it as a big deal. Or made it look like that.

Did he think you left because of him? Eddie always ran from his problems- that's just what he did. If he knew he wasn't able to pass a quiz, he wouldn't show up for it; if he knew he couldn't finish a project in time, he wouldn't submit anything. You were there for all his failures, and tried supporting him through them, but he'd always make the same comment about 'education not defining him' or the 'project being stupid' and 'pointless'. You never realised how... Bad it was for him...

And perhaps it didn't help that you came home and didn't speak a word to him for the two days. It was purely overwhelming being back in a town where every person you passed cast you disgusted looks simply for how you'd dress or do your make-up. What was strange to them was scary, but it made you feel unwelcome and unwanted in a place that was supposed to be home. It's why you hated it in Hawkins. All you had here was Eddie. You sought comfort in your shared strangeness and unwillingness to conform to society- their 'shunning' hurt less when you were together. You had his comfort.

But you should be angry at him too- he was mad at you for something out of your control, and that hurt. If you could have left with him, you would. Why did he not realise that? You spoke about leaving Hawkins all the time... With a sigh, you flexed your fingers, looking over the empty grocery bags now on the floor of your kitchen. You were done unpacking those, and now had nothing to do. You glanced over at the waiting suitcase and duffle. If you were unpacking groceries you might as well make yourself at... home. Briefly, you glanced up at the window, and froze, noticing the very man your brain was occupied by.

A long plume of smoke left his lips, swirling into the dark sky. The end of the blunt he had rolled faintly glowed orange as he took a drag. He was faintly illuminated by the lights around the area, and you could see his shoulders sag as he looked down. You could faintly hear the sound of his shoes kicking against the metal dome structure of the park you both frequently found yourselves in on your peaks or come downs. You'd lay back on the grass together, staring at the multitude of stars, or giggling and shushing one another as you tried to fit into the tiny seats of the swingset...

He was sitting in just his vest, the pins glittering in the night- you could see from where you were that he'd pulled the sleeves of the Hellfire shirt down over his arms to fight the chill of the night. You glanced over your shoulder to your kitchen table and sighed- he forgot to take his jacket with him...

You grabbed it, pulling it over your shoulders and allowing yourself to breathe in his scent. You weren't sure of calling Hawkins your physical home, but you were sure that Eddie's smell was the closest you'd ever feel to describing home... At least now you had an incentive to go make up with him again. Ha... Ha...

Silently, you shuffled to your door, picking the keys up you had dropped. You allowed yourself a moment to gather your thoughts, before stuffing the keys into the pocket of the leather, enjoying the feeling of it brushing against your skin again. As you opened the door, you found Eddie right outside, muttering to himself and seemingly doing the same thing you were a moment ago. You both jumped back slightly in surprise at finding the other person in the same place, and for a moment, you both stared, unmoving and unspeaking. Until finally, you opened your mouth,

"Uh," You tried, clearing your throat and looking down for a moment, "You uh... Got any more blunts we could... Share?" You asked him uncertainly, glancing back up at him. You could still see his face was red in the faint light from inside your home. He had been crying too. He only gave you a small nod, still silent as you turned the lights inside your home off and locked the door behind you.

Together, you walked to the park again, still lost in your own heads and silent. Your eyes flicked to him and you watched him as he sat beside you in your usual spot on top of the dome. His movements were slow and careful as he handed over a roughly rolled blunt and lighter,

"Thanks," You said, picking the blunt up in your fingers and reaching for the lighter, only to have him pull it into his grasp and lighting it. Carefully, you lit the blunt and took a drag, "Thanks," You breathed again as you handed it over for him to take a hit of,

"No problem-" His voice was shaky, "Shit," He whispered. You glanced over at him, noticing one of his hands still shaking. He had this far-away look in his eye that made you fill with a deep sadness for him,

"I'll uhm... Start," You said softly, glancing behind you and carefully setting your hands on the poles of the dome and grabbing on to them to steady yourself. With a sigh, you began, "Okay," You closed your eyes, nodding your head to collect your thoughts, before speaking, "I'm sorry. For not seeing you as soon as I got back, Eddie. It's just... It's been a lot being back here in Hawkins. You know how bad being here makes me feel, and finding out I might be getting evicted and getting back into a job, I just..." You sighed deeply, "I know you're mad at me for leaving and not talking to you and stuff but... I have responsibilities now," You explained, looking up at him. He was listening but not looking at you, focused on rolling the blunt between his fingers as it smouldered idly, "I'm an adult. I have to... Live. Pay bills, make money... That shit," You said, reaching forwards and taking the blunt from him, taking a drag, "It's just been a lot. I did want to spend time with you just... I wanted to wait until I got everything figured out," You concluded, nodding solemnly, "I didn't mean to make you feel like I... Didn't want to see you or anything," You frowned.

From beside you, Eddie sighed, and you could see his hair shaking as he nodded to your final statement. It took a moment for him to say anything- he shifted first, moving so he could rest his hands on his knees and clasp his hands together, pressing them to his mouth,

"Shit," He sighed, pressing his hands to his forehead, "That's... Yeah," He nodded. You stared at him, waiting for him to speak, but frowning as he didn't,

"What's up?" You asked,

"Well, whatever I'm gonna say is gonna sound fucking pointless compared to you," He sighed, sparing you a glance. You frowned at him, shifting so you could look at him better, only for Eddie to turn his head away from you again. You delicately placed a hand on his shoulder,

"Eds, no I'm not gonna..." You sighed, "If you don't run away from me again, I'm not... Gonna find it pointless," You said, patting him gently. You tilted your head to try and appear in his field of vision and gave him an encouraging smile. He grimaced at you, fully turning his head to look back to his trailer, before sighing. You felt him relax under your touch slightly, and turn his head slightly to look at you,

"We just..." He sighed, "I missed you so much," He breathed, and you saw the tears quickly rolling down his face, "And after we'd talked so much about... Leaving Hawkins behind- together," He looked at you, eyes finding yours quickly, "It was always together. Leaving, and living together somewhere. Working... Together," He rambled, "And then... Watching you leave without me... It made me realise that... Fuck," He sighed,

"You can say it, Eds," You said softly. He shook his head slightly, and as you opened your mouth to encourage him again, you felt his shoulder move. He took your hand in his, bringing it down to rest on the cool metal below you. You watched, curiously, as he moved his hand so he was holding yours,

"It made me realise that we've... Spent the better parts of our lives together. It made me realise how much losing you hurt me- and that terrified me," He spoke your name worriedly, and lifted an arm to wipe his wet face, "And made me realise that I never wanted to lose you again," He rambled suddenly, his words making your heart thunder in your chest, "And when you wrote saying that you weren't gonna be back for the summer, the winter, and the spring..." He breathed shakily, "I knew it was because you had nothing left here and I guess a part of me thought you meant me too..." He sniffled, "It made me realise I uhm... Actually want to finish school now-" He laughed to himself, "-So I can finally leave and... Find you again- be with you again, like we always were... I mean, sure I can pretend to be confident, and fine without you- God knows I've had practice with that with Hellfire, but-" He took a deep breath to steady himself, "Pretending to be fine without you just made me miss you way more," He said, breathing shakily, "It... Made me realise I..." The words died on his tongue momentarily, and he just sighed, "I think I'm in love with you," He confessed.

For a moment it felt like time stood still, your eyes captured by his, your breath stuck in your throat as those words left his mouth. You blinked a few times and let the blunt fall from your hand, tumbling to the ground. Your now empty hand balled, your nails dug into your palm to wake you up from this most pleasant of dreams. Your own eyes rapidly filled with tears: here was your best friend, who you have loved and pined over for so long, admitting he finally felt the same for you as you felt for him the moment you first met him,

"And I know you might not feel the same for me, and that's fine," He rambled on, seemingly not realising you were completely dumbfounded by his words, "But I just need you to know that I love you and-"

You quickly pressed your lips to his to silence him, and it took him a moment to register what was happening, causing him to let out a startled 'mmph!' as your lips touched. It was a moment before you felt Eddie's lips moving against yours. Your hands moved up to touch his cheeks, skin gentle yet wet with tears against your hands you pulled him closer. His own hands soon moved to your arms, holding you in place so gently, that when you parted, tears spilled down your face too. You let out a gentle laugh,

"Eddie, you big stupid idiot," You smiled at him, moving a thumb over his cheek to swipe a tear rolling down his face, "I think I love you too," You said, "Don't you think if I could, I wouldn't spend all my time with you?" You said softly,

"Yeah," He breathed, appearing starstruck, round eyes darting over your face for any sign of a lie,

"Yeah," You grinned back, gripping his hand and shaking it a little, "Dumbass," You said affectionately,

"But I thought-"

"Thought what?" You quickly said, "I didn't feel the same?" He nodded slowly, "Eddie..."

"I didn't think you wanted to be around me anymore," He admitted softly, "I thought... You know. You'd find new people out in Franklin and you wouldn't need me anymore," He said softly, looking at you now,

"Oh, Eddie," You said softly, squeezing his hand gently, "I guarantee no one could ever replace you," You assured him, "Besides? It's what? Only a matter of time before you find out if you passed your exams and then you'll move up to Franklin with me," You said softly,

"You want me up there with you?" He asked uncertainly,

"Of course, Eddie," You said, "Those dorms suck. If we got a place together and split the rent somewhere close, I think it'd work out," You said softly, squeezing his hand again. He stared at you for a moment, before smiling slightly and leaning forward to kiss you again. You smiled against his lips, tilting your head to kiss him better and moving your hand back to touch his face gently,

"I've uh..." He said softly as he pulled away just enough to speak, his forehead touching yours, "I've wanted to do that for a long time," He said, breathily. He then whispered your name, and you smiled,

"Well, I'm glad you finally did... Babe," You said with a smile, happy to hear him laugh. He glanced down at your joint hands, and brought them up to his face to kiss your knuckles. The act made your eyes widen and you quickly moved your hand from his to put both hands on his face and pull him close, kissing him again. It was almost like now you'd started, you never wanted to stop...

"Ew," You heard from the blue. You jumped, turning to stare at Max, who was leaning against the flimsy metal of the fence surrounding the park and frowning at you two, "Do you always cry when you kiss?" She asked as you whipped away the tears on your face,

"No," You quickly said, "We're just... Having an emotional moment, okay?" You said with a small laugh,

"Yeah, you spying on us, kid?" You heard Eddie say from beside you, and when you removed your hands from your eyes, you could see he had slid off the structure and was waiting for you with a hand outstretched. Ever the gentleman... Gently, you slid your hand into his, moving off the structure and glancing down at the grass, making sure the blunt had been put out, before tightening your hold on Eddie's hand,

"What're you doing out here anyway?" You asked, turning to look at her. She shrugged, putting her headphones back on and turning on her heel,

"I'm going on a walk," She mumbled, taking a few steps away from you,

"But it's dark?" You said, moving forward with Eddie still holding you close,

"Yeah, kid, it's not safe," He chimed in, and you glanced up at him with a slight smile,

"Why do you two care? Don't you have more crying and kissing to do?" She said coldly, and involuntarily, you let out a snort. You covered your mouth quickly, but Eddie had heard, and began to laugh,

"Shut up, Eds," You grinned, before glancing back at Max, "You're funny, kid-"

"I don't need babysitters," She said, "I'm not a kid, either," She huffed, but you were already hopping over the fence and following after her,

"Sure you do!" You grinned, stuffing your hands into the pockets of Eddie's leather jacket and glancing over as you felt him looping arms with you,

"Yeah, we'll chase the monsters away k- Max," He said, and though she sent you two a glare, it made you feel better knowing you were going after her and ensuring she was safe. Besides- she had her headphones on and walkman playing a tape. She couldn't hear you and Eddie talking and laughing as you caught up on all you had missed when you were apart. Finally, you were together again, and now that you'd confessed you loved him and begun eagerly planning your future together, you hoped he wouldn't feel as alone as he did without you.

#eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things season four #stranger things season 4 #stranger things #stranger things 4 spoilers #stranger things spoilers #st4 #stranger things 4 #joesph quinn #joe quinn

110 notes · View notes