#carol x punch

[fumikomiyasaki]

What do I do when I wanna cheer myself up... draw Carol ships

this one however took a while...

Carol x Amos @rookvonhunt

Carol x Punch @twstinginthewind

Carol x Emrys @sparrow-20

Carol x Amal @silent-dragon

Carol x Worrick @multydoodles

Carol x Gaius @terrovaniadorm

@/kianamaiart Template

#twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland ocs #twst #disney twst #twst ocs #twistedwonderland #twistedwonderlandoc #carol ann #carol x amos #carol x punch #carol x emrys #carol x amal #carol x worrick #carol x gaius

[lyx-writes]

Welcome.

Hi, call me Lyx, Lyxen, or L. I’ll use any pronouns but she/her

If you’re unsure of what pronouns to use, you may usel they/them.

I like anime, video games, art, music and of course writing.

This is a writing blog for specific fandoms I’m in.

Here’s my Masterlist

Fandoms I’ll write for:

Beyblade (burst and evolution unfortunately. However, for any of those characters that are ft in the later shows are ok)

One Punch Man (up to manga)

Brawlhalla (specific characters only)

Possibly Danganronpa (dr1 and dr2)

Carole and Tuesday

Trauma Center (UTK/SO, UTK2 only)

Telltale’s The Walling Dead Game (seasons 1 and 4)

Coffee Talk (1 and 2)

Persona 5 (not royal unfortunately, or strikers.)

Rules for requesting:

For x reader, you may request a certain set of pronouns, or gender. If not specified, will be gender neutral.

A maximum of 4 characters, please

Do not pop up in my asks with anything hateful.

I may take a while when writing since I have horrible memory but also a bit of difficulty thinking. If you believe I didn’t see your request, try to remind me.

I will write:

Character x Character (certain ones)

Character x Reader

Fluff/comfort

Angst

Poly relationships

Platonic relationships

Specific AUs

Headcanons

Drabbles

I will not write:

Character x oc

Smut/nsfw

Yanderes

Child x character/reader (unless platonic/parent)

Incest

Characters I will not write from each fandom:

One Punch man: monster characters, C-class (other than possibly Mumen), child characters (unless specified platonic/parent), Suiryu, Charanko, Bang, Bomb, Puripuri and Suiko

Brawlhalla: every other character besides Caspian, Jiro, Jaeyun, Fait and Nix

Beyblade: Dante, anyone in Rise, background/side/not very involved characters, character’s younger siblings (Toko and Nika for example)

Carole and Tuesday: Gus, Desmond, Dahlia, every other older character

Danganronpa: Junko, Mukuro, the kids from ultra despair girls (I think?), Teruteru, Leon, Hufumi

Trauma Center: Amy, Naomi, Hoffman, and all the non-important patients

TWDG: characters from 400 days, season 2 and 3 (sorry, I couldn’t really get into it.), Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, s1 Clem (unless again, platonic for Duck and Clem), Lilly, Larry, Willy, AJ and Tenn (same rules for Duck and Clem)

Coffee Talk: Officer Jorji, Mr. Hendry, Amanda, the Agent and other Officers/detective.

Persona 5: again, no one from Strikers or Royal. Some of the adults, like Ohya, Kawakami, that one politician.

Characters I’d LOVE to write:

Silas, Wakiya, and Rantaro from beyblade

Lightning Max, Lightning Genji, Stinger and Captain Mizuki from opm

Jaeyun and Caspian from Brawlhalla

Pyotr from Carole and Tuesday

Tyler Chase, Leslie Sears and Victor Niguel from Trauma Center

Ben Paul, Aasim, Omar, and Doug (possibly Travis) from TWDG

Hyde from Coffee Talk

Yusuke and Ryuji from Persona 5

If you are ever unsure of something for a request, do ask. Whether it’s a certain character, or something about me, I’ll try to answer.

#beyblade burst #beyburst #beyblade x reader #one punch man x reader #opm x reader #brawlhalla #carole & tuesday #C&T #carole and tuesday #fanfiction writer #opm #one punch man #trauma center #trauma center utk #trauma center second opinion #trauma center under the knife #trauma center fanfic #ig?? #lyx-writes #coffee talk game #coffee talk 2 #persona 5 x reader

[caroloftheshells]

or to be more precise i rewatched that movie and then rewatched the thief 1981 diner scene as a chaser, as one does. related but here’s netflix’s rating of closet monster which may be the most point-missing content warning i’ve ever seen

like, sure, if that’s all!

#carol overreacts to movies #carol overreacts to life #feels like a situation of ‘i can excuse x [sexual assault / hate crime] but i draw the line at y [smoking]’ ykwim. bizarre to me #good movie though. punched me in the face. can vouch #+yeah the entirety of thief has its moments but that diner scene is so. so good at being about what it’s about yk #so precisely written in the circumlocution; so live & weird & real. watched it like 'i have had This Very Convo out late at a waffle house' #what a thing to put to film. truly

[sytoran]

𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐏𝐓.𝟐

following your erotically fantastical encounter with the mother of the kids you babysit, the aftermath is more of a rollercoaster than you could have ever precedented.

🌸 pairing: milf!pregnant!wanda x dom!babysitter!reader

🌸 cont: smut (18+), mommy kink (wanda), lactation kink, body worship, praise kink, power bottom sex-deprived milf 🤝beefy college service top footballer

🌸 word count: 2042

🌸 note: THIS IS SO LONG-AWAITED im sorry..... also i know im supposed to be writing for kinktober but milf!pregnant!wanda was invading every corner of my mind so here ya go. not proof-read!

part one || main masterlist

“Come on, Y/N, you’re not going to the party tonight?” Natasha grumbles, grabbing the sleeve of your bomber jacket as you try your darndest to escape your friends.

It was the fated next day following your erotically fantastical encounter with Wanda, and you had just completed your classes. As you strolled out of campus grounds, the sun was already setting. It painted a picturesque view of the orange horizon, but truthfully, you only cared about getting back to Wanda for that promised ‘tomorrow’. 

“I told you no, Nat,” you reply with a playful sternness that the others laugh at. It was no secret that Natasha had a crush on you, ever since you first sat next to her in the lecture hall and got a little flirty and perhaps a little too handsy. 

It was also no secret that for every lecture after that, you would sit next to a different girl and activities of the same sort would ensue. Most of the time, those encounters would end up with a pretty girl trapped between the wall of a cramped supply closet and you.

“They’ve probably got a secret girlfriend,” Tony adds unhelpfully, with that classic smirk you want to punch off his face sometimes. 

“Really?” Steve asks genuinely, ever the innocently clueless one. “Is she younger than us?”

“Oh, definitely,” Sam chimes in. “Have you seen the freshmen ‘round our beloved Y/N?”

“Feral,” Carol states in resolution. “They crowd at the field to watch Y/N during football practice.”

“And of course, Y/N doesn’t bother to hide the way she leads them all on!” Natasha adds in partial indignation, nudging you suggestively. “That’s totally your type, hm? Younger, pretty girls who chase after you with a puppy love? Is that why my forward advances have always ended in flames?”

You grin half-heartedly, awkward in the spotlight of your love life. For one, your friends couldn’t be more wrong about this ‘secret girlfriend’ you had. Younger, innocent girls? More like smoking hot single moms in their late thirties.

It was strange, even, how you would normally take these girls’ teasing in your stride, almost basking in the glory of being the most sought-after student on campus. 

But with the looming thought of Wanda intercepting every brain wave of yours, months of pining surmounting to a heated make-out session with the hope for something more, all else was forsaken. 

You try not to think about the implications of that too hard.

As your friends continue to bicker about the prospect of your secret girlfriend, you seize the well-earned distraction and weasel your way out.

Sooner than you’d care to admit, you’re standing outside Wanda’s home, skateboard in hand. You’re buzzing in anticipation with your flushed face and windswept hair.

Before you can doubt yourself and backtrack, you knock on the door sharply, twice. You can’t help but smirk at the muffled shriek that follows, then a muted shuffle, then silence. Your heart hammers in your ribcage. You really were about to do this.

“Come in, sweetheart,” the mother calls out with a sugary tone that feeds your ever-increasing libido.

You open the unlocked door, mentally preparing yourself to face Wanda once more. 

But then you actually lay your eyes upon her ethereal figure, and your athlete-hardened knees nearly buckle.

Fuck.

Sprawled out on the sofa like something out of a classic Renaissance painting is Wanda, clad in nothing but a lacy set of dark red lingerie, the most sultry look on her face that draws all the air out of your lungs.

You’d never seen a more attractive woman, pregnant or not.

The way the lacy bra hugs her swollen breasts tighter, pushing the cleavage to be even more visible, the way her thick thighs are spread to reveal those beautiful stretch marks.

“Fuck,” you say, a lot higher pitched than you would care to admit. It seems to be the only word currently circulating in your mind, your studied vocabulary flying out of the window at the sight of Wanda presenting herself for you like a well-earned present.

“See something you like?” Wanda dares to tease, left hand trailing along the lace of her bra, dipping into the ample cleavage that leaves you salivating. 

It takes approximately three seconds for you to kick the door shut, yank off your jacket and nearly dislocate your shoulder, then press against Wanda like it was always meant to be.

The kiss you pull her into is the opposite of gentle, your head slanting to deepen the kiss immediately, tongues meeting like planets bound to collide, bound to cross paths and cause an eclipse.

Wanda moans into the kiss, and you can barely hide your pleasure at that noise. You wanted to hear it a thousand times over, the breathless cry of your name, the begging tone of the older woman.

It was so wrong, but nothing had felt more right.

Wanda’s relinquishment of power doesn’t last too long, though, because before you can impatiently rip off the fabric of her lingerie, she threads her fingers into your hair and forcefully tugs you closer to her chest.

“My house, my rules,” Wanda states, and you’d be lying if you didn’t feel a rush of arousal coursing through your veins at Wanda’s motherly sense of control.

“Yes, ma’am,” you mutter, half-jokingly, but when your peripheral view catches Wanda visibly aroused by that, you know it isn’t going to be the last time you address her as that.

Your hand slides under Wanda’s body to unclasp the bra, letting out an affected noise at the sight of her full tits on display.

“Shit,” you grunt, pausing for a moment to admire the view.

Throughout the months of babysitting Billy and Tommy, you had only ever discreetly checked out Wanda’s cleavage, or perhaps stare a little too hard when she wore scanty dresses that showed off her side boobs.

Now, with those perfect, swollen mounds right before your face, you give into your urges to bury your face between them. You groan at the sensation of Wanda’s milk leaking out of her hardened nipples, your mouth moving to suckle at her breasts.

“Shit, baby,” Wanda cries, throwing her head back as you drink right out of her breasts, lapping fervently. It wasn’t entirely sexual per se, but the sheer relief of lightening that weight load in her breasts was a pleasure in itself.

You get slightly drunk off the feeling of Wanda’s breasts in your mouth, and it takes Wanda a surprising amount of strength to get your head away from her chest eventually.

“You’re a bit too obsessed with my tits,” Wanda teases, swiping her milk off your lips with her thumb, tilting your head down to lock eyes with her. The tension between the two of you is palpable, thick in the air, and you long to drown in that desire.

You only smirk back, hands resting on the hem of her thong. “May I undress you now, ma’am?” you emphasise, tilting your head to the side in faux innocence.

“So polite,” Wanda retorts right back, fingertips tracing the curve of your jawline as a smile plays on her lips. “How could I say no to such a gentleman?”

That’s all the confirmation you need before you snap the elastic of Wanda’s red thong, stuffing the flimsy material into the pocket of your pants. What you’d do with it later was for another day.

You kiss down Wanda’s breasts to her swollen belly, firm but gentle, then you flatten out your tongue when it reaches her wet heat.

“I couldn’t pay attention,” you growl, licking a long stripe up Wanda’s pussy. “In any of my fucking classes today,” you continue, tongue flicking at her puffy clit. “‘Cause I was thinking ‘bout all the ways I could fuck that pretty cunt.” 

The filthy moan that leaves Wanda’s lips at your words rings around the confines of the four walls. 

It had been so long since Wanda experienced such mindblowing sex; She had been sexually repressed because of Vision’s busy schedule, and it was torture because pregnancy pretty much solidified her daily sexual arousal. 

But what with her split from him meaning no more mediocre sex, and the prospect of a hot babysitter entering her life, Wanda’s pregnancy hormones had skyrocketed to an all-time high.

Long gone were the nights she held a vibrator against her clit under the sheets, eyes screwed shut as thoughts of you swam in her head. Long gone were the times she helplessly fingered herself in the shower, wishing her fingers belonged to you instead. 

Now, your head was buried between her thighs, your mouth like the devil on her cunt, fast-paced and unforgiving and everything Wanda had always longed for.

“You’re perfect,” you grunt into the older woman’s wet heat, the vibrations of your rough tone sending jolts of arousal up Wanda’s body. “You’re so fucking perfect, Wanda.”

“D-Don’t say that,” she answers breathlessly, fingernails digging into your scalp. “You’ve slept with plenty of other younger, prettier girls than me.” 

The insecurity Wanda felt about her body had mainly stemmed from Vision, who was always going on about how she had become less attractive after pregnancy, with the stretch marks and the added fat and other blemishes on her skin.

“I don’t know about that,” you say, relentless in your worshipping of Wanda’s body. The way you were treating her like a temple was overriding the false beliefs Vision had planted into her head. “‘Cause now when I think about those other girls in bed they all end up looking like you.”

At that, Wanda feels tears prick in the back of her eyes, her gaze blurring as she stares at you. ‘

You, who had entered her life like a ray of hope, brightening up her every day with a blindingly charming smile and a selfless heart. You, who had treated her with more care and respect than any man she had ever been with before. You, who tied up all her loose ends and sewed it up to form the shape of a pretty little heart.

“I love you,” Wanda whispers, the words spilling from the tip of her tongue before she can control it. Her breath constricts afterwards when your mouth finally stops to register her words. 

“I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize it,” Wanda continues, breathless, pushing aside your hair to properly look at you in the eyes. “But I do love you, Y/N L/N.”

Wanda feels something wet on her inner thigh, something that’s not her own slick. It takes a moment for her to realize that it’s your tears.

“I’ve loved you since I first laid my eyes on you,” you confess, eyes shining. “I think I was just scared to believe it until today, too.”

Heartstrings get tugged like a harp, crescendoing into a beautiful symphony that was finally requited love, finally coming to a high, finally reaching its summit.

The lust that encaptures the two of you dissipates into a warm glow of love, the tension easing into trials of romance. 

When you dive back in between Wanda’s thighs, you’re determined and emotional and ultimately choked with new possibilities.

You could already imagine cooking dinners together with Wanda, reading the kids bedtime stories, chastising them to go and brush their teeth, stealing kisses when they fell asleep.

You could already map out a navigation of your future years, down millions of paths and possibilites that all brought you to Wanda Maximoff. She was your life, your truth, your unbreakable vow.

With that, her first orgasm comes in a tidal wave, like rushing water breaking free from a dam. 

Wanda sobs, riding your face as she comes harder than she’s ever had in her life, squirting all over your face and the sofa, all else forgotten.

Your expert tongue and naturally-skilled fingers bring her to another plane of existence, where she was floating above the universe, where your name was chanted like a mantra.

The world around you faded as Wanda’s thighs wrapped around your head, as you dived down once more to worship, as you dived down once more to chase the love of your life.

This was the only happy ever after you needed.

hope yall liked it 😋 reblogs are much appreciated!!

main masterlist || AO3

#wanda maximoff x reader smut #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff smut #wanda maximoff x reader #x reader #marvel smut #gxg smut #wlw smut #wanda maximoff x reader fluff #wanda x reader #wanda x reader smut #wanda x y/n #sub wanda maximoff #bottom wanda maximoff #top reader #dom reader

[gingiesworld]

Obsessions

Wanda Maximoff x Nerdy Rogers Fem Reader

Warnings: Angst. Mean Wanda. Internalised homophobia. Homophopia.

AN: I have decided this is going to have another part during the college years. I hope you guys enjoyed this and please feel free to let me know your thoughts as it is my first proper wanda x fem reader.

Taglist: @sytoran @ginnsbaker @gb12d @lifespectator

Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

18+ MINORS DNI

Everyday was the same for Y/N after she was outed after someone had spread around that Y/N was spotted making out with Carol Danvers. Of course it was Wanda who had spotted the two, especially since she had an unhealthy obsession with Y/N.

Wherever Y/N was, Wanda's eyes followed her, watching her every move. Although she had help of the jocks. Jarvis and Tony were always there to push Y/N into her locker, knock her books from her hands, all the while Wanda watched with a smile on her face.

Although, when they had went too far by slashing one of the tires on her car. Y/N had lost it. Heading straight for the two, throwing punches here and there. Although she was scrawny, she had some power behind her that knocked Tony Stark on his ass.

Wanda watched the entire scene with her lip between her teeth, but she could have murdered her brother. Always the hero he was as he helped Y/N replace the wheel.

"Why did you help that freak?" Wanda askes him when he got in the car.

"Because she needed it." He told her sternly. "And tell your boyfriend and his brother to leave her alone." Wanda just scoffed as she shook her head no as he started the journey home.

"We're seniors Wanda." He scolded her. "Don't you think that this is all a little childish. Bullying Y/N just because of her sexuality."

"Just shut up." Wanda told him. "You do what you want in school and I'll do what I want. Just stay out of my way." Once they had returned home, Wanda exited the car and headed straight to her room, closing the door behind her.

As she heard the sound of another car, she instantly looked out of the window and watched as Y/N got out of her 67' Impala. Watching as Y/N headed inside, her bag on her shoulder.

"How was your day sweetie?" Peggy asked as Y/N entered the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

"Ok." She told her as she turned to her mom. "Are you doing Roast Beef?" She questioned as Peggy nodded with a smile.

"I know it's your's and your father's favourite and I just felt like cooking it." Peggy told her with a smile as she put the chopped vegetables in the pan on the stove. "So tell me, what happened today?" She questioned sternly as Y/N sighed.

"The usual and more." Y/N told her. "I have to get a new tire because the Starks decided to slaah my back left."

"Do you want me to talk to Howard or Maria?" She asked as Y/N just shook her head no.

"I." Before she could finish, the phone had started ringing. Peggy gave her an apologetic look before she answered it. Y/N watched as Peggy spoke to whoever it was, and she could see her mom getting worked up.

"You beat them up." She stated as she looked at Y/N with disappointment.

"They deserved it Mom." Y/N defended as Peggy sighed.

"You don't resort to violence!" She scolded as Y/N just scoffed.

"I worked hard on that car. Dad and I worked hard on that car and if he was here he would be on my side." Y/N yelled.

"But he isn't here is he?!" She yelled back. "Because he is dead!!!" She took a deep breath before looking at her with tears in her eyes. "I know you miss him. I do too but he wouldn't want you to resort to violence either."

"I'm going to bed." Y/N told her. "I'm tired."

"What about dinner?" Peggy asked as Y/N just shrugged, heading upstairs to her room. Closing her door as she let the tears fall, sitting on her bed as she covered her face with her hands.

She knew she was hard on her mom, but she hasn't had to deal with everything Y/N has to deal with. The homophobic slurs that get directed at her as she walks through the halls. All of the girls had basically pushed her out of the changing rooms once they had found out, resulting in her opting to change in the nearest bathroom. Just being herself has become a nightmare, especially when everyone frowns upon her sexuality.

Y/N's room was covered in her works, her comic hero designs and other art pieces that she has a lot of pride in. Something she had wanted to do was become an Illustrator, ever since she read her first comic. It was an XMEN comic and she fell in love with it. So she opted to try and make her own, hoping one day she will be as popular as Stan Lee himself.

She also had her favourite records on shelves, the turntable on the chest of drawers as she picked out her Tracy Chapman record. Sighing as she listened to Crossroads, one of her favourite songs as she lay back on her bed.

"What is with you giving Y/N a hard time?" Pietro asked his sister as she entered the kitchen.

"It's fun." She shrugged as she grabbed a can of soda.

"Is it because she is confident enough to be herself and doesn't care what everyone thinks of her." He stated. "Or is it because you're jealous that she has embraced who she is and you're just a scared little girl who hides behind her boyfriend." With that Wanda just scoffed and pushed passed him, although Pietro decided to tell his parents that he was heading over to Y/N's.

"Hi Mrs Rogers, is Y/N here?" He asked her politely as she just nodded to the garage. He thanked her before he headed to the open door. "Y/N, hey." He smiled at her as he approached the car.

"Hi." She spoke quietly as she was concentrating on doing a check up on the engine. "I'm just changing the oil."

"This is a really nice car." Pietro smiled as he admired the body work.

"It is." She smiled at him. "My dad and I rebuilt it a few years ago." She told him as she wiped her hands as she looked over the car. "It was his idea when I was in middle school, he thought it would bea father daughter project."

"I know I am probably late but I'm sorry to hear about him." He told her with a smile.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. "So, why are you here?" She asked him as he smiled.

"I figured we could hang out." He told her as she smiled.

"Sure." She nodded unsurely. "What did you have in mind?" She asked him.

"Well, I figured we could have some food and maybe play a game." He told her. "I've got the new Harry Potter game and I have been dying to play it."

"Just let me get cleaned up." She told him as she disappeared inside. "I'm just going to hang out with Pietro mom." She told Peggy as she disappeared upstairs to get clean.

She was nervous as she followed Pietro into his home, heading straight to his room just as Wanda came out with a teasing grin on her face.

"So you're going to try and turn the dyke straight?" She teased the two as Pietro turned to her, anger evident on his face.

"Shut the fuck up Wanda!" Y/N told her, surprising the two of them. "I am gay and I don't give a fuck what you or anyone thinks." She turned to Pietro who gave her a proud smile. "I have an Xbox at home if you want to play there? I just don't want to be near someone as small minded as your sister."

"Sure, let me grab the game." He told her with a proud smile. Wanda just scoffed as she turned back into her room, slamming the door.

As Y/N and Pietro played the game, he turned to Y/N with a sad smile.

"What happened between you and Wanda?" He questioned as Y/N shrugged. "You used to be best friends when we were kids. Inseparable even."

"I don't know." Y/N told him honestly. "I remember the very first day of high school. We both promised that we would always hang out before school started but she joined the cheerleading squad and well I was me. The nerd with the glasses." She turned to face him. "I guess we drifted apart and well, she hates me now." She turned away, looking back at the screen. "I guess our friendship never meant that much to her as it did to me."

That was the start of a strong friendship between the two, Pietro walked with Y/N to class, always talking about their plans. The Starks had kept their distance from her as Wanda watched the two from afar.

She had been obsessed with Y/N, especially since the two of them had stopped hanging out. She was under pressure from the popular girls so she become just like them, bullying and making fun of anyone she could.

But the moment she saw Y/N kissing Carol behind the school hall, her heart dropped. She knew that she had feelings for her but she was afraid of what others would think about her sexuality so she spread the picture around the school. Because Carol was on the soccer team, everyone turned to bully Y/N who just took everything that was threw her way.

But the jealousy she was feeling as she saw her brother have the friend who she had had for years before.

"So, what are your plans after graduation?" Pietro asked as Y/N helped him with his car.

"I have just got my acceptance letter for NYU." She told him. "I am doing art and english, what about you?"

"I am going to UCLA." He told her. "A full ride for Track."

"That's awesome." Y/N beamed as she wiped her hands. "Turn her over." She told him as he leaned in the car, turning the key in the ignition.

"That sounds so much better." He beamed as she closed the hood.

"You need to lay off the acceleration." She told him. "It can wreak havoc on the pistons and the gasket."

"I'll keep that in mind." He told her. "What are you doing for prom?"

"I don't know." She told him. "I guess maybe give it a miss."

"Come on!!! You have to go." He told her. "I'm asking Monica and maybe you can ask Darcy? You guys are somewhat friends right?"

"I guess you're right." She told him with a small smile. "I'll ask her tomorrow at school."

"Then we can go suit shopping if you want after school?" He questioned as Y/N nodded. Wanda hated the idea of someone else going with Y/N, the idea that someone may be the one to take her away for good.

So when she accepted Jarvis's prom proposal, she had the perfect plan. As the hall filled with the graduating seniors, she watched for Y/N to enter the room. Her heart beat rapidly as she saw her walk in wearing a navy blue suit with Darcy in a light blue dress on her arm. Her twin and Monica was right behind them.

She hated the sight of Y/N being happy with others, a smile that only Wanda used to get from the girl. Wanda took her glass of the red punch and tripped near the four of them, only getting the punch on both Y/N and Darcy.

"What the hell Wanda!" Pietro yelled at his twin as Monica was fast enough to take Darcy to the ladies room to try and clean up.

"What? I tripped." She told him, feigning innocence as Y/N shook her head at the brunette before walking away. Soon groaning as she heard the sound of Wanda's heels on the ground behind her.

"Don't you have a boyfriend to get back to?" Y/N asked her as she turned around to face Wanda.

"I do." She told her with a smirk as she followed Y/N to the exit. "But I want to try something first." Y/N turned around as she approached her car, only to be pushed back by Wanda as she pressed her lips on Y/N's in a hungry kiss. It wasn't until Y/N pushed her away from her.

"What the hell Wanda!" Y/N yelled at her.

"I just wanted to see what Carol bragged about." She smirked. "You are indeed an amazing kisser." She leaned into whisper in Y/N's ear. "Definitely got me going and needing something more." With that, she removed her wet underwear and shoved them in Y/N's face before walking away teasingly. Y/N just stood there in shock with Wanda's underwear in her hands. Watching dumbly as Wanda disappeared back inside the school. She was just happy that she wouldn't have to see Wanda again.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #marvel #elizabeth olsen #elizabeth olsen x reader #wanda x you #wanda x y/n #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x you #natasha romanoff

[quicksilversg1rl]

I’m Never Leaving

daryl dixon x fem reader

warnings: just a bit angsty, usual TWD violence and fluff!

summary: you and daryl both realize just how much you love each other after you have a near death experience.

a/n: set in season 11 & let’s just pretend that Daryl knew beforehand about Carols deal with Pamela to pin all the blame on Hornsby.

flashback

“Jesus Daryl, go talk to her.”

“What?”

“You’re starin’ at her like a teenage boy who just saw his first pair of boobies; just go talk to her, she likes you too ya know?” Carol chimed as she looked towards her best friend.

“You don’t know tha.” Daryl said as he looked at you, catching you smiling as you spoke to Judith.

God you were beautiful to him. He loved everything about you, your smile, your hair, your kind heart.

Truth was, Daryl had no clue how to communicate his feelings towards you, so instead he just kept them to himself and admired you from afar.

“Hey you two.” You suddenly spoke out, causing Daryl to snap back to reality. Carol pulled you into a tight hug, whispering something into your ear which caused you to laugh. You pulled away from her and wrapped your arms around Daryl, causing his cheeks to grow warm.

You were about to speak up but were quickly pulled away from Carol and Daryl by Gracie and Judith.

“I’ll come find ya later okay?” You shouted as you were pulled further and further away.

“Yeah!” Daryl replied, turning to Carol as soon as you were out of earshot.

“What did ya whisper to her?”

“I dunno.” Carol said smiling as she saw her best friend’s face turn red, quickly rushing away before he could question her further.

end of flashback

“Leah I swear to God if there is so much as a scratch on her, I’ll kill ya.” Daryl grunted into the walkie-talkie, rage filling his body as he heard Leah laugh.

“Too late for that.” She said before turning it off.

Leah had been watching you lot for a bit before she decided to attack, she figured since you and Maggie were so close she’d use you to lure Maggie out.

So there you were, tied to a chair in some rusty old cabin, Leah twisting her knife further into your leg, causing you to scream out.

“Where is Maggie hiding?!”

“Even if I knew where, which I don’t, I wouldn’t tell you shit.” You spat as you looked up at her.

“Wrong answer.” She said before pulling the knife out and pushing it back in. You screamed out in pain as she did this, your leg throbbing as well as your head from where she hit you earlier.

“I’ll ask you one more time, where the hell is Maggie hiding?”

“FUCK YOU!” You screamed. You could see the anger flooding into her eyes, now you pissed her off.

Her fist connected with your jaw, causing your head to fall back. You stayed still for a while because unbeknownst to Leah, you had been working the knot on the rope she used to tie your hands, and it was almost loose.

Just before she could punch you again, your hands were free and you were lunging towards her. You fist jammed into her jaw causing her to stumble. You grabbed ahold of her head and slammed her against the wall. She fell against the wall, giving you time to gain your strength back. Before you knew it she had managed to get up and lunge a shard of glass into your abdomen.

Your body fell back at the force, her body on top of yours once again. Her hands made their way around your neck, crushing your windpipe.

“Since you’re not helping me, you’re of no use to me.” She whispered out as her hands wrapped tighter around your throat.

You could feel yourself slipping in and out of consciousness, your vision going hazy.

You felt the little air leaving your lungs, your body wanted so badly to give up but you knew you couldn’t let Leah find Maggie or worse, find Hershel.

So you used the little strength you had left and ripped the knife out from your thigh and jammed it into her neck. Her eyes widened as blood seeped from the wound, her hands let up from around your throat as she moved them to her neck, causing you to take a deep breath in. You kicked her body to the side and jammed the knife into her throat again,

and again

and again.

You could hear her choking on her own blood as her limp body lie to the side. You quickly moved towards her and pressed the knife into her skull.

Your body fell back, your energy drained and your mind fuzzy as you passed out.

Daryl held his gun up as he neared the cabin, his heart racing as he stepped inside. His eyes fell on Leah’s lifeless body, eyeing the knife in her skull. He then moved his gaze until it landed on your limp body.

Panic rushed through his body as he crouched beside you, tears pooling in his eyes as he shook your body, trying to get you to wake up.

“C’mon you gotta wake up f’ me, please!” He yelled out, his arms wrapping around your frame as he lifted you up.

Maggie, Aaron and Gabriel’s eyes fell on your body as Daryl carried you out, Maggie’s face going pale as her hand went up to her mouth to quiet her cries.

“We needa get her to the Commonwealth now!” He yelled out as he moved past them.

He had already lost so much he couldn’t lose you too.

Daryl clung to your fragile figure as he carried you inside the Commonwealth, rushing towards the hospital.

Tomi moved towards you and Daryl, trying to asses your wounds as he placed you down on a hospital bed.

Daryl placed a kiss onto your forehead before Tomi and some nurses took you, immediately rushing you into an operating room.

Daryl sat back, his head in his hands as he ran through every memory he had with you, tears cascading down his face as he thought about losing you.

He was quickly pulled from his thoughts by Carol and a few others approaching.

“She’s going to be okay Daryl.” Carol whispered as she wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to cry into her shoulder.

It felt like forever before Tomi came back, nodding to Daryl to allow him to go see you. He rushed towards your room and a breathed a sigh of relief when he saw you were okay.

He brought a chair next to your bed and sat down, taking your hand in his and squeezing it.

“I love you so much.” He whispered out, bringing your hand to his lips and placing a kiss to the back of your palm.

The blind lights of the hospital room hurt your eyes as you woke up, your throat and mouth dry as you tried to swallow.

Your eyes adjusted to the light as you scanned the room, your gaze falling on a certain someone asleep in a chair next to your bed.

You smiled as you looked at Daryl, his perfect long hair covering his face as he slept. You were oh so in love with him and almost dying made you realize that even more.

You adjusted yourself in the bed, sitting up as you reached for the plastic cup on the bedside table. You winced in pain as you twisted your body, reaching out for the cup. Your fingers grazed the cup ever so slightly and you almost had it but it slipped from your grasp and fell to the floor.

“Shit.” You whispered out as you sat back against the pillows, a defeated sigh leaving your lips.

The sound of the cup falling caused Daryl to open his eyes, rubbing them as he adjusted to the lights.

You noticed him move in the chair and groaned to yourself as you woke him up from hismuch needed sleep.

“Sorry for waking you up.” You spoke out causing Daryl’s eyes to widen. He rushed up to stand close to you looking down at you and smiling.

“You’re awake.” He said out, reaching out for your hand.

Your fingers intertwined with his, smiling up as he placed a kiss against your forehead.

“I thought I- I thought I lost y-”

You quickly shushed him as you brought his face down to yours and placed your lips against his. Daryl was taken aback by your action but nonetheless kissed you back. His mouth moved against yours before you pulled away out of breath.

“You didn’t lose me okay? I’m not leaving you any time soon old man.” You said, causing Daryl to let out a laugh.

He leaned down and pressed another kiss to your lips, whispering a faint “I love you” against your lips. You kissed him back, your lips moulding against his lips almost as if they were made to fit his, before whispering, “I love you too.”

my first daryl fic go easy on me 😣

let me know if anyone wants to be added to a tag-list for daryl fics specifically or to a tag-list for the TWD men in general :)

please like and reblog if you enjoyed as it helps a lot 🩷

#daryl x reader #daryl dixion imagine #daryl dixon fluff #twd daryl #daryl imagines #daryl dixon smut #the walking dead daryl #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon #the walking dead #maggie rhee #aaron twd #twd gabriel #carol peletier #norman reedus fluff #norman reedus #daryl dixon angst

[wileys-russo]

childhood sweethearts (5) II a.russo x reader

series playlist part one part two part three part four

and as we await the fate of our two main protagonists eventual kiss. its time to find out what really happened six years ago. childhood sweethearts (5) II a.russo x reader

"do i need to pick you up tomorrow then?" your older sister lily asked as she pulled up outside the russo household, drumming her fingers on her steering wheel as you unbuckled and shook your head.

"no i'll probably stay the full weekend and just go to school with less on monday." you shrugged, reaching around to grab your bag off the backseat. "what about your uniform? books? your bag?" your sister frowned as you opened her door.

"i've got a spare uniform here, i can borrow a bag to put my stuff in and i've already got my books with me, i have to study." you patted your overnight bag as the girl rolled her eyes. "of course you do, does your brain even know what a weekend is or do you mentally go to school 7 days a week?" she jeered as you mocked her and flipped her off, closing her door as her window rolled down.

"some of us have aspirations to graduate lilian." you smiled, your sister having dropped out early to pursue a career in cosmetics which had lasted all of three months. "have a shit time dickhead!" your sister called out after you as you made your way down the driveway, flipping her off again without turning around.

"none of that here thank you young lady." your face flushed red as carol opened the front door for you before you'd even arrived, having seen you through the window. "sorry carol." you smiled guiltily, giving her a hug as she let you in with an amused smile.

"lessi's just showering sweetheart." the woman explained as you hummed, leaving your bag by the lounge and following her to the kitchen, you'd been wondering why the girl hadn't responded to you on the way over here and now it made sense.

"shortstack! i saw your hot sister dropped you off." gio wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before pulling you into a gentle headlock as you rounded the corner. "urgh you're like my brother gio thats so weird!" you gagged at the comment, wrestling to try and remove his arm to no use.

"oi get off her!" his grip disappeared as alessia entered, bottle blonde hair pulled up into a damp bun on her head as she punched her brother in the ribs, immediately pulling you into a protectively tight hug as gio let you go with a loud groan of pain.

"mum!" the boy huffed in complaint, your girlfriend rolling her eyes and mumbling an apology as the older women told her off. "i wish you'd fuck off back to jordan." the boy sulked, grabbing an apple and heading back upstairs to his room as carol yelled after him for swearing.

your girlfriend had only just gotten back yesterday from a week away at a junior lionesses tournament which had been held in jordan. as much as you'd missed her dearly you couldn't have been more proud of her or the two goals she scored, getting her rightful start in the final game. you'd only wished you were able to be there but you didn't have the luxury of a national call up as an excuse to miss a week of school.

"we'll be in my room mum." alessia announced, arm slung over your shoulder as the woman hummed and waved you off, head buried in a recipe book making you smile as your girlfriend lead you away, stopping to grab your bag for you, silencing your protests with a very quick peck to your lips after she'd triple checked no one else was around.

the pair of you had been seeing one another officially for almost two years now however no one but each other actually knew that, and just assumed you were best friends, forever thick as thieves and inseparably close.

neither of you had any idea how no one had caught on yet, maybe it was because you and alessia had always been so close and so affectionate nothing seemed out of sorts to the average eye.

you'd always loved alessia in one way or another. but when it was just the two of you behind a closed door and your lips were pressed together, cold hands roaming one anothers bodies, murmuring everything and anything you loved about the other, you were absolutely infatuated with her in a way so intense it was almost scary.

and that was one sort of love you both agreed you weren't ready to share with anyone but each other just yet.

though both of you did need to often stumble through pools of awkward lies and ramble quickly made up stories as you'd be called out by your friends for the occasional poorly placed or forgotten about hickey.

this was normally your problem. ever since she'd figured out how sensitive your neck was the taller girl utilised every and any opportunity to capitolise on that.

riled on by the whiny begs for her not to stop as she hungrily attacked and devoured your neck late at night, silencing you with a hand pressed over your mouth and a gentle warning in your ear that if you weren't quiet she would stop.

"hi." you breathed out with a grin, looking up adoringly at the striker once the two of you were finally alone behind the safety and security of her locked bedroom door. "god i missed you." alessia sighed, pulling you into a bone crushing hug as you reveled in one anothers touch.

"we spoke every day lessi!" you laughed into her shoulder, alessia having been told off both by her roommate ella and her coach for the hours spent on her phone when she was supposed to be resting and recovering.

"we could be together every minute of every day and i'd still miss you." the blonde pulled away with a cheeky smile as you rolled your eyes playfully. "don't wish that on me please, what a nightmare!" you groaned teasingly as your girlfriend scoffed, holding a hand to her chest in mock offence.

"lessi!" you squealed as she tackled you down onto her bed, hovering over you. "that's baby to you, thanks very much." alessia pouted as you laughed, thumb stroking her cheek affectionately. "there is also something else i missed that we can't do on the phone." the blonde smiled suggestively, cocking her head to the side as her hair fell around you both like a curtain.

"mmm...nothing comes to mind." you looked off into the distance as if deep in thought, hand coming to stroke your chin as alessia playfully shoved your head. "kiss me then star girl." you smiled softly, tugging at her shirt.

as your eyes met, the world seemed to fade away. you felt her hand gently touch your cheek, slender fingers tracing a line down your jawline. hearts raced as her lips met yours, soft and gentle at first, then with a growing intensity as she poured into the kiss just how much she had missed you.

if you were sentenced to death the next day and were allowed one last day to do as you pleased, you'd be sure to spend it kissing alessia.

every single time felt just like the first. the same nervous butterflies would flutter around inside you, lips would tingle as if you'd just smeared them with popping candy, your heart grew five sizes to the point it felt it might burst in your chest.

each kiss was full of tenderness and passion, a dance of two hearts in perfect harmony as the girl who you trusted with your heart and your life drowned you with her love.

you felt her arms wrap even tighter around you, pulling your bodies close as you lost yourselves in the moment. the world around you ceased to exist, leaving only the two of them in a sea of pure unbridled emotion, two hearts beat as one.

her lips always slightly chapped melded against yours perfectly, kissing you with just the right amount of firm pressure to have your stomach in knots, and yet each touch felt so soft and so tender that your brain went fuzzy at the sensation.

her hand would always reach out to tangle in your hair as your own gently carressed her cheek, thumb stroking her jawline, feeling it clench at the featherlight touch.

and then suddenly your lungs would scream for a reprise and you'd pull away, collapsing into the mattress as both of you lay on your sides, eyes locked as chests heaved and alessia leant forward to brush a few flyaways behind your ear.

gone were the afternoons of her kicking a ball at your head, smearing mud on your face as the two of you wrestled and rolled around in the dirt like steam rollers.

your afternoons now were spent wrapped up in the others arms, sharing kisses as you filled one another in on the seemingly more mundane parts of your day the other hadn't been present for, you and alessia only sharing two classes in your final year of school.

on the days alessia trained after school you studied, often at her house in her bedroom eagerly awaiting her to return.

the striker would have left her boots outside at her mums strict request, trudging up the stairs with an exhausted sigh as you'd perk up hearing the squeak of the infamous stair the two of you learned to avoid when sneaking downstairs for a midnight snack.

she would shoulder open her door and dump her kit bag on the ground, making a beeline for her bed and belly flopping normally on top of you, face buried in your neck as she clung onto you tightly with a mumbled greeting hello.

sometimes you'd wind her up and tell her you wouldn't kiss her until she showered, dodging her attempts as you teased her for smelling terribly which normally ended in her trapping you in a bear hug beneath her until you tapped out on her back and gave in, allowing her lips to finally meet yours.

other times she'd have been told she wasn't starting next game and her head would hang low from the moment she entered the room. you'd immediately sit up and brush your books to the side, opening your arms for her to melt into. carding your fingers through her hair and slipping a hand up her top you'd hold her tightly, rubbing circles on her back, lips lingering on her sweaty forehead.

as you'd always known, you loved alessia, nowadays in a way much more intimate and tender than you'd have ever understood in your youth.

"you're so beautiful." the taller girl spoke softly as you lay side by side, words melting you like butter as you couldn't help but blush, no matter how often she complimented you it still had you swooning.

"why are you so shy? it's very cute baby but we've known each other like our whole lives." alessia laughed as you hid your face in your hands, the blonde prying them away and attacking your face with kisses only making your cheeks heat up further.

her leg nudging yours as you lifted one, allowing hers to slot in perfectly, your limbs tangled up as your foreheads pressed against one anothers.

"il mio bel bambino." (my pretty baby) her lips moved to gently kiss your fingertips, hands held captive in hers.

"you learned more italian!" your face lit up in pride as alessia eagerly nodded, beginning to ramble about how she had made it her mission to continue her online lessons even while away.

"alessia mia teresa russo studying in her free time? has there been an doomsday i wasn't aware of? are you feeling okay?" you gasped holding the back of your hand to her forehead, squealing as her fingers jabbed sharply at your sides.

"yeah well unlike school work this is something i actually want to learn!" she rolled her eyes and you grinned, kissing her nose and swooning as she scrunched it up adorably.

"hey. can we talk about something?" the blonde asked hesitantly, eyes dropping down to avoid yours, messing with your fingers as you nodded, eyebrows knitting into a curiously concerned frown at what was to come.

"okay but i don't know how you'll react so we have to do the thing." alessia decided, looking to you for confirmation as you hummed, the two of you sitting up and spinning around suddenly.

you shuffled slightly so your back was pressed against hers, hands finding one anothers and intertwining your fingers as your heads slumped onto one anothers shoulders, eyes closing.

"what's on your mind lessi?" you asked softly, squeezing her hands supportively as she let out a long sigh. "well. when we were away a few of the girls were talking about their...well their first times, with their boyfriends." alessia started quietly, her heart hammering away in her chest with every word.

"and i guess it just got me thinking about it." she spoke a little quicker now, clearly nervous for your reaction to her words, squeezing your left hand to signal she was done talking for now.

"some of the girls at school have been talking about it too." you confessed. "are you thinking about...wanting to do that?" you asked gently, not wanting her to feel as though you were judging her in any way. "maybe? does that make you feel...weird, or anything?" she asked slowly.

"no, definitely not weird." you promised, the two of you sitting in silence for a moment. "i guess i think i'm ready? to do that. but i don't want you to feel like...pressured into anything. we can do it soon, we can do it later, we can never do it if you didn't want to." she assured, starting to ramble as you squeezed her hands, grounding her into silence again.

"i want to do it with someone i love and someone i trust and you're the person i love and trust the most lessi. i think i'm ready too, whenever it happens." you spoke softly, unable to see the blush creep up your girlfriends neck at your words.

and it did happen. it was a couple of months later when you had your house to yourselves, your parents having taken your brother away for the weekend for a cricket tournament and your sister disappearing around to her boyfriends house.

the first time it was awkward, nervous, weird and clumsy of course, neither of you had done anything like this before and you'd have been lying to one another if you said you both hadn't tried to do some...research on your own to try and best prepare.

but despite that, it was with alessia.

you felt safe and you felt comfortable and loved the whole time, it didn't quite have the ending either of you expected (that sort of ending came a few weeks later and boy oh boy...no amount of research could have prepared you for the feeling) but it only strengthened the trust between the two of you, and was yet another first you'd experienced by one anothers loving side.

they always say your first love is a little foolish, some may even say there isn't something called first love. but what makes those initial feelings of love most beautiful are it's innocence.

when you fall in love for the very first time, that innocence inside you, that's a precious thing. it feels like you give your whole heart to someone, and as if you wouldn't ever know anyone else to treasure and care for it.

which is why it was all too easy for alessia russo to be both your first love, and your first heartbreak.

~

it all started the day you got the letter.

your mum had found it first, fighting her every urge to rip it open and read your fate, instead leaving it neatly on your pillow for you to find when you returned home that afternoon.

you'd spent the day with the russo's, thermos of her dads famous hot chocolate in your hand, bundled up in a hoodie with your girlfriends jersey tugged over the top. you sat shoulder to shoulder with her brothers in the stands, watching your favorite blonde play in one of her final games of the season.

you didn't pretend to understand half the rules of football much as alessia had dedicated years of her life trying to teach you, and so her brothers knew to hit you with running commentary throughout. but the one thing you would always understand was the sense of utter euphoric pride which rushed through you watching her play, especially when she scored.

her arms would shoot up into the air and her eyes would always find yours, pointing up at you and her family with a lopsided grin, sprinting to celebrate with her teammates as you all screamed out encouragement, drowning her in whistles and claps before play resumed.

coming away with a 4-1 win meant they were in pole position to finish top of the table, and so alessia was unable to wipe the shit eating grin off her face as she emerged from the change rooms afterwards, waving goodbye to her team mates and jogging over to where you all waited for her.

she'd always hug her dad first, your girlfriend was the true epitome of his girl, and mario reveled in teasingly holding that over carol. you were always last, alessia always saved the best for last, picking you up and spinning you around off your feet as you'd laugh and sing her praises, the two of you hugging tightly.

"i love when you wear my jersey." she mumbled in your ear, sending you a soft smile as you bumped your shoulder into hers and the two of you made your way back to the car, her brothers talking her ear off about the game as you stayed stuck to her side, watching on with a quiet amusement, not understanding most of what was said but feeling nothing but pride for the taller blonde beside you.

luca had driven himself and gio as they waved you both off and headed across the lot, you and alessia slipping into the back of her dads car. her mum would always fuss over the two of you, throwing a blanket over your legs and ignoring alessia's insistence that she was still warm after running around for two hours, carol always winning out as your girlfriend rolled her eyes and gave in.

but the blanket gave the opportunity for your hand to grab hers, squeezing softly as you looked at her in admiration, her head falling tiredly to your shoulder as the two of you chatted along to her parents, waving them off as you pulled up outside your house.

you promised you'd give your mum a hug for carol, hugging them both goodbye. normally her dad would warn he'd be out the front no later than eight since you both had school the next day, but now graduated there wasn't a reason the two of you couldn't spend the next few days together if you wanted, likely flittering from house to house as you often did.

appeasing your mum with small talk for a few minutes you grew impatient, tugging on the back of alessias hoodie with a longing look as the girl would make an excuse, the two of you hurrying off to your room.

"why do you always make me end the conversations. i quite like chatting with your mum!" alessia rolled her eyes as you closed your bedroom door. "because she loves you more and she actually listens to you. and because i haven't properly congratulated you yet for winning!" you grinned as your girlfriend sat on the end of your bed.

"mm that so?" the blonde smiled, arms settling themselves around your waist as her chin rested on your stomach, your own hands playing with the baby hairs on the nape of her neck.

you were about to lean down and kiss her, when your eyes spotted it.

alessia noticed your frown right away, squeezing your hips to gain your attention as you shook your head, stepping away from her and making a beeline for the letter.

"shit is that-" "i think it is." "well, open it!"

"i'm scared. what if i didn't get in?" you admitted, biting your bottom lip nervously as alessia sat right by your side. "you're the most intelligent person both intellectually and emotionally that i've ever met baby, and you got phenomenal marks in our GCSE's. open it!" she knocked her knee against yours and you nodded.

"oh for god sakes." alessia huffed impatiently as you fiddled with the corner, peeling it off painstakingly slow as your girlfriend plucked it out of your hands, ripping the letter right open.

"no you read it." you shook your head as she tried to give it back to you, alessia nodding as her eyes scanned over the paper, face unreadable as you nervously bounced your knee.

"we regret to inform-" your body crumpled at that, flopping back into the mattress as you felt tears prick at the corner of your eyes. "only joking baby. you got in!" alessia pounced on top of you with a grin as you shot upwards, accidentally smacking your head into hers.

"oh my god i got in?!" you breathed out in shock as the blonde clutched at her throbbing head. "oh god baby i'm so sorry!" you squeaked out as she waved you off with a wince, opening her arms expectantly.

"i am so fucking proud of you. my pretty, smart, funny, kind, gorgeous-" the older girl kissed you with every word, the grin unable to be wiped from your face as your mum burst in, alessia very quickly jumping away from you as you filled her in on the news.

and as you jumped up to embrace her, your sister next to run in to congratulate you, alessia couldn't have possibly been any prouder.

but she also couldn't help but allow her mind to drift back to the box sitting in her wardrobe, signed four year scholarship and enrollment papers filled in and ready to be sent off to the states.

she knew she needed to tell you. but the thought of doing so punched a hole in her chest, and so she put it off as long as possible.

well, as long as she could until you found out yourself.

~

it was around a couple of weeks later, you were spending your usual friday night together, movies loaded and armfuls of snacks spread out on the bed awaiting consumption.

"lessi baby can i have a hoodie please?" you kissed your girlfriends jaw softly, the girl humming and pointing her foot toward her cupboard, engrossed in a video on her phone.

"yeah thanks, such a gentlewoman." you muttered, smacking her thigh as the girl whined and shoved you away. with a roll of your eyes at her lack of attention on you, you thrust open her cupboard, hunting around for your favourite hoodie which you knew she'd hidden, no longer wanting you to steal it as it was also her favourite to wear.

with a victorious grin you spotted the sleeve poking out from a pile of jumpers in the corner, rolling your eyes at her poor attempt at hiding and yanking it out. you frowned as a box lay hidden beneath the material, UNC on the front.

curiousity getting the better of you, assuming it was likely a new pair of trainers she'd bought and hidden from her mum as to not be told off for her spending habits, you opened it.

god, how you wished you hadn't.

your stomach leapt into your mouth as your eyes scanned just the first few words of the letter sat atop a bright blue sweatshirt.

"less. what's this?" at first she only hummed, attention still fixated on the video. "alessia. what is this?" you spoke louder now, the girls phone dropping from her hand as she looked up and saw what you had in your hand.

"baby-" "why the hell have you got a four year american football contract hidden in your wardrobe?"

"i wish you hadn't found that." she sighed, burying her face in her hands as you advanced toward her. "were you even going to tell me?" you whispered now, her head shooting up at the sudden change of tone.

"of course i was! i just...i didn't know how." she admitted guiltily, standing and trying to come toward you but you held your hand up in warning for her not to. "you didn't even tell me you were thinking about something like this, we tell each other everything." your voice cracked and with it so did alessia's heart at the look of utter betrayal splayed across your features.

"love-" "stop. don't fucking coddle me, explain." you forced out, letter still gripped tightly in your hand as you took another step back. "it's a four year scholarship to go play in the states. so long as i play with their junior team i can go to classes, live on campus and get my degree for free, and i get a hell of a lot of experience with a completely different style of football." she explained, a smile tugging momentarily at her lips, wiped right away at the look of disappointment on yours.

"i knew you wouldn't want me to go, or you'd try to talk me out of it." alessia admitted quietly, refusing to meet your eyes. "you what?" you managed out, shaking your head in disbelief. "i-" you started, trying to find the words.

"alessia i have always been your biggest supporter. i don't even like football but i go to every match, i make sure your kit bags got everything in it before you leave, i wear your jerseys, i let you kick balls at my head for years! you adore football. why on earth would you think i'd try to stop you from following that passion?" you frowned, shoulders slumping in defeat at her lack of faith in you.

"because it means we'd be apart for four years. don't even try to tell me you wouldn't have had an issue with that!" you were caught off guard at her sudden shift of tone, this one much more abrupt and sharp.

"don't try to project your guilt for not telling me into me being the reason why you didn't. that's not fair!" you shot back, alessia only shaking her head with a laugh. "you shouldn't have even been snooping around in the first place!" she snatched the letter off of you with a glare.

"snooping? i can see that offer is signed alessia, were you even going to tell me before you sent it off?" you asked with a hard stare, face falling as guilt flashed across her face momentarily. "you've already sent it." you realized quietly, her head hanging low all the confirmation you needed.

"wow." you breathed out, moving to sit down on the edge of her bed as you tried to come to terms with everything, feeling her sit down a few feet away from you. "when do you leave?" you whispered, feeling her eyes pierce into the side of your head but not having the heart to look up from the floor, the room starting to spin.

"two weeks."

your head did shoot up at that, alessia wincing at the anger, hurt, betrayal and disappointment clear as day in your features. "two fucking weeks. you didn't tell me and you leave in two weeks?" you breathed out, tears welling up in the corner of your eyes.

"i was going to i promise but i just...i thought it would make everything easier if we didn't-" alessia struggled with her words, tripping over herself as her fingers twitched and she rubbed her palms against her sweats.

"make what easier?" you caught on right away to what she meant, the room starting to feel awfully small as your chest tightened. and meeting your eyes alessia knew you knew what she meant. "everything." the blondes own eyes welled up with tears as you wiped at your face with the back of your arm.

"were you even going to tell me?" you asked, scarily calm as you stared her down, watching her wither underneath your piercingly angry gaze. "no." she admitted after a moment, burying her head in her hands, body wracking with quiet sobs as she began to break.

your legs buckled at that and your body fell to her floor with a small thump, your knees tucking into your chest as you curled into a ball. "so you were going to just leave and what? expect me to just...be okay with that?" you asked, unable to even wrap your head around any of this.

"you're going to college here, i'll be over there. it wouldn't have worked for four years and we both deserve to be able to make the best of this next chapter, i thought i was making it easier if we never had to say goodbye." alessia admitted quietly, both of you refusing to look at one another.

"never mind the fact i'm in love with you. i've been your best friend since we were five less, and you were going to just...get on a plane and leave me for four years without even telling me where you were going." you whispered, barely able to get your words out as red hot guilt flooded the blondes body.

"i was trying to make it easier."

"for who alessia? for you? by avoiding having to even tell me anything and just leaving me without a word? you're a fucking coward!" you almost screamed those last four words, chest heaving as you struggled to hold back a sob.

her silence told you everything you needed to as you broke down, your body convulsing as you sobbed into your hands, alessia covering her ears unable to handle the noise, tears rolling down her cheeks leaving a bitter salty taste in her mouth.

"get off me!" you spat out, shoving her off as she moved to sit down next to you, trying to wrap herself around you in a hug. "get off!" you yelled again, voice cracking as she shook her head, holding you firmly.

eventually she let go, collapsing into herself as you stood to your feet, vision blurry with tears as you stumbled around trying to collect your belongings.

"stop!" you sobbed as she hugged you from behind, yanking your bag out of your hands and dropping it on the floor. "don't leave me, please." she begged, voice no louder than a whisper as her face buried itself in your neck.

"i'm not the one leaving." you pushed her away, the force causing her to stumble as she caught herself and managed to stay standing. "you know now. we still have two weeks!" she tried, almost begging now as you scoffed.

"oh so i have two weeks to wait for you to break up with me? lucky me!" you spat venomously, trying to pick up your bag as alessia kicked it away. "we have two weeks we can spend together before i go. please! i made a mistake, a huge mistake. baby please i love you so much but-" her hands balled at your top, holding you against her.

"if you loved me you would have never lied to me about this. you would have told me the moment you even starting thinking about it! we could have talked it out! worked things out together! now i don't have a fucking choice and you don't understand how unfair that is alessia!" you pushed her harder and harder with every sentence until she smacked into the wall, blue eyes welled up with tears.

"baby please don't go! not like this!" she grabbed you again as you tried, wrapping her arms around you as you fought her furiously, hitting her over and over as her body shook with silent sobs but she refused to let go of you, feeling her tears drip down the back of your neck.

"i would have been okay if we were able to talk about this. if i had time to process this, to make plans with you, to talk about what it could have looked like for us and what we'd be when you were there. i would have supported you and this choice if you'd given me the chance." you finally broke free, stumbling away from her as you gestured between the two of you before furiously wiping at your eyes.

"but you didn't and you weren't going to. you're a liar and a coward and i can't believe i wasted so much of my life trying to show you i care for it all to mean nothing to you in the end. if you love me less, if you ever loved me, then you will do as you planned. you will get on that plane and you will stay out of my life. you're not my girlfriend, not even a friend would do what you just did to me." you wanted to say more, you wished you could find the words, you wished you could hit her again and scream that you hated her and mean every single word you just said to her.

but you didn't, you couldn't, you wished you could, it would have made it all easier.

you didn't allow her the luxury of a response, far too afraid of how easy it may have been for her to talk her way out of this, to lull you into a false sense of safety and security with sweet words and gentle intimate touches. to shower you with affection and quality time and praise, only to rip the rug right out from under you in just two weeks time.

so you left her before she could leave you, and you didn't turn once to look back.

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

part six

#alessia russo x reader #woso x reader #woso fanfics #alessia russo #woso blurbs #woso imagine #engwnt #woso

[lostalioth]

𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝

→ premise: he only intended to check on you you, he didn’t however plan on you exacting your revenge for him throwing you in the pool at that very moment. though it works out in the end to finally break the thick lingering tension between you two.

→ pairing: s1!steve harrington x fem!reader

→ warnings: 2.3k words, smut | 18+, unprotected sex, shower sex, fingering, edging, semi-drunk sex, underaged drinking they are described as drinking but they are a bit drunk/tipsy, season 1 steve harrington and so tommy and carol are in it, Y/N IS USED ONCE, nicknames [baby, cutie], description of wet clothes

→ a/n: 05 kinktober

“Ahhh Steve noo please!” You squeal and heat washes over your body, your skin burns where Steve's hands are gripping your waist. His touch sends butterflies to start violently fluttering in your stomach. He lifts you up and you feel like the air is punched from your lungs at the strength and his hands all over you. You hear a chuckle eurrupt from his chest right before you’re thrown from his hands. You squeal as your body breaks the frozen barrier of water and you splash into the icey grimy pool. You hold your breath as you look up from under the water and see the stars sparkle in the night sky. Slowly you come up out of the water, pushing your body up on the side of the pool glaring in Harrington's direction. The cold water is working to sober you up a bit, however not as well as you wished it to. The alcohol still streaming through your veins from those last few swings of the bottle now making you only a tad bit tipsy. Tommy and Carol are keeled over laughing, nearly falling off the lawn chairs they were laid out on. “Before you kill me you're gonna need me for new clothes you know? Right?” Steve lightly whines and backs up looking like a deer in headlights as he backs himself up against the sliding patio door.

“Show me where the shower is in this damn mansion of a house and maybe just maybe I'll spare you” you groan and look down at your body as your clothes sag and cling awkwardly to your body, water dripping off of you and onto the patio tile below you making you feel like a wet dog. He slides the glass back door open quickly and waits on you, not daring to make a move. “You're so whipped Harrington, how can you deny that?!?” Tommy calls over at the boy whose frozen stood, making Carol burst out into laughter again. You and Steve glare in their direction as you make your way into the much warmer house.

They shut up and put up their hands in surrender and shrug as you and Steve walk into the house. He leads you up the stairs and points you towards his bathroom. You give him a grimace before you walk into the bathroom, you decide not to lock the door and even to leave it open a crack.

Steve gathers clothes of his own for you to change into as he hears shuffling in the bathroom before the water starts running. He grabs a baggy pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt of his as well as socks of his for you. He walks a few feet out of his bedroom, passing the cracked open bathroom door. The smell of his body wash wafts out the door and under his nose. You were using his body wash, and you were gonna smell all like him and be wearing his clothes. He feels his cock stir and twitch in his suddenly ill-fitting boxers at the thought, god it made his stomach turn. It would be like you were his, all his, only his. He shakes away the cloud of lust overcoming him and makes his way into the laundry room. Opening up the dryer he throws in the clothes he grabbed as well as a towel for you, setting it to run for around 10 minutes so that it all comes out warm. It might appear as though he was sucking up cause he doesn't want you to kill him for throwing you in the pool, but he does genuinely want you to be comfortable and warm. He let Carol and Tommy get the better of him and get in his head, always calling him whipped for you and saying he follows you around like a puppy. The two of you weren’t together in any capacity besides friends and it kills Steve. Cause he knows he's very obvious with his affection and infatuation and yet he's oblivious to yours. Therefore him throwing you in the pool was so they'd stop their comments about how close you two were sitting or how he was looking at you. He shouldn't have let them get to him but that was all he could think to do so they’d shut up.

Making his way back into his bedroom he stands frozen in front of the bathroom door, hand wrapped around the side where it was left open a jar. He takes a deep breath and walks in, looking down at his feet. His intentions were purely innocent and yet he couldn't fight the flush of his cheeks or the growing bulge making a small tent in his jeans as he stood there. This was his bathroom after all and so he knew his shower doors were glass and if he just looked up just an inch. He’d see your beautiful silhouette through the fogged up glass door, your hands running over your body as you rinse off the body wash. his body wash. Steve clears his throat to both catch your attention and regain his own composure enough to speak again.

“Hey uh i grabbed out some sweats and a shirt for you, even a pair of my socks, they're in the dryer with your towel so they can be toasty for ya’ i thought maybe i could take your sopping wet clothes from you to wash those” the words all practically come vomiting out of Steve's mouth in a hurry he was doing his best to make up for his adolescent action. The strain of his aching cock against his jeans persistent and annoying however.

It was killing him, knowing if he only glanced up just a bit he could see your body in all its beauty and yet he wouldn't, he couldn't. He wasn't a perv though it may seem like it sometimes, he just felt the need to check in on you, you were tipsy still and not at your own house after all.

With Steve's head bowed and his eyes apparently glued to his own feet he misses the small evil smirk that spreads on your face. “Yeah yeah that'd be great Steve thank-” you cut yourself off and let out a small fustrated string of curuses before you fake whine.

“Y/N? What happened, hey you okay?” A confused Steve stands even more frozen but he's gotten closer to the shower door and has a hand on the door handle. “Oh fuck- ughh i think i got soap in my eye. I can't tell if I rinsed it all away. Can you look at my eye for me please?” You question and fight back the smile that wants to take over your lips, forcing a squinted and pained expression instead.

Without a second thought Steve flings the shower door open, eyes now glued to your face instead of the floor and his feet. He leans forward trying to get a better look in your eye when you grab him by the collar of his shirt. Quickly before he can question you, you pull Steve into the shower with you, sliding closed the door so no water escapes.

The warm water suddenly spraying at his back, soaking his shirt and running down, working its way to soaking his jeans. His jaw agape and his shoulders raised and tense for a moment before he adjusts and they drop. His already tight jeans are beginning to cling around his now very obvious bulge. “Alright yeah I deserved thattt-” he chuckles but his voice gets caught in his throat and his last word dragging on when he lets his eyes drift down your bare, dripping, glowing wet body standing in front of him. You watch as his brown eyes darken and cloud with desire, your own eyes slowly taking in his own body and landing right on his excruciatingly hard cock that's begging to be let out of his strained jeans. Your own eyes glaze over with lust and reluctantly they scan back up Steve's body to meet his. His eyes droopy and brows furrowed, strands of his brown locks now soaked and a darker color as they stick to his forehead jaw still practically on the floor.

“Steve.. please” you whine, your voice coming out more breathless than you intended and full of vulnerability. “Oh fuck it” he grunts and surges forward, his warm hands wrapping around your slippery wasit pulling your exposed body flush against his colthed one as his lips crash against yours.

You let out a small gasp and shut your eyes tightly before kissing back passionately, lips molding together perfectly as hands roam and slide around each other's drenched bodies. Steve’s hand slips up your side, around your back and up your spine slowly before gripping the back of your neck deepening the kiss. You hum into his mouth and let his tongue invade your own mouth and take over dancing with your tongue. His other hand sliping the opposite way, down your hip and over your soft thigh before cupping your throbbing sex. A whimper escapes your lips, the steam from your hot shower filling the bathroom only seemed to double, surrounding the fogged up shower as well as your and Steve's entangled bodies. “Harrington..baby i need you please” you pull away from the heated kiss and whine leaning into his touch, your hands splayed across his lower stomach. One sliding under his soaked shirt and the other sliding down and starting to work at the button on his pants. The running shower head is still spraying right at Steve's back who's too entranced with you to care about the water bill that's raising higher and higher to longer it runs uselessly.

A cocky smirk is plastered on Steve’s face as water flows down his chiseled face and drips off his chin. His nibble fingers slide through your folds and slip through your slick before plunging deep inside you. His middle and ring finger work in tandem to thrust inside your aching cunt and reach that spongy spot that makes you see stars. Your pussy clenches around his fingers after every thrust inside, his long fingers buried knuckle deep inside you. You let out a loud wanton moan in relief and pleasure that gets muffled when Steve's lips collide with your own once again. You finish unbuttoning his jeans and do your best to push the fabric as well as his boxers down his thick thighs as they cling to his legs. His neglected cock finally springing free, his leaking red tip angry and desperate for attention.

All the tension and Steve's fast and well trained movements make the pleasure build up fast in the pit of your stomach. You moan and whimper into his mouth as his fingers keep thrusting hard and deep inside you, Steve’s thumb starting to rub slow circles on your twitching clit pushing you closer and closer to that edge. “You gonna cum on my fingers cutie?” His voice comes out taunting and condensing, the sound rebervating against the tile walls in the shower and bouncing all around you. You nod frantically and your knees buckle, your legs almost giving out from under you. Steve uses the hand gripping the back of your neck to make you hold eye contact as well as hold your body up steady as you grow limper in his arms the closer you get.

“Well you know how our little game goes right baby? Well you pulled me in the shower for throwing you in the pool” he starts explaining and you fight your eyes fluttering shut and your thoughts drifting away as you get closer and closer to tipping over the edge. You lazily nod in understanding. “Yes baby yes Steve I know i know!” You babble and moan out nearly incoherently as your eyes shut for a second but snap back open. Your cunt begins to throb and ache for releasing and holding it in starts to become painful. “Well it's my turn again and i think i'm gonna edge you cutie you know, for pay back?” He chuckles and as quickly as he slipped them in he pulls his fingers out of you, leaving you empty. Your pussy clenches around nothing and you let out a long whine in protest as your head falls back and your climax dies back down.

A shit eating grin is glued to Harrington's face and he soothes the pain by circling your clit with the two fingers he slipped out softly. Your disappointment doesn't last long however once Steve grabs both of your arms, pulling them behind your back and spinning your body around to press your tits up against the cold shower wall. Your hips nestled and pressed against his, his cock sliding through your folds as he grinds against your ass. Your nipples harden from the shift in temperature from the shower water. The hand that isn't holding both of your arms behind your back comes down to slap your ass before Steve's tip spilling pre cum is pushing at your entrance and with one hard sharp thrust he's inside.

“Oh god~ Baby” you scream as Steve gives you no time to adjust to his size, the painful sting of your cunt stretching and accommodating his cock. He rubs his thumb over the small of your back as he pushes your arms flush to your back keeping your body right where he wants you. Steve thrusts deep and fast, desperately needing this feeling for so long he can't get enough. The sound of your moans and mumbled curses, sweet nothings and whines of ‘baby’ ‘more’ ‘yes!’ fill the room alongside the slapping sound of wet skin against wet skin. Steve's balls slap against your clit in this position adding to your pleasure. You let out a loud scream of pleasure the harder he thrusts, your climax right on the edge faster than you wished. Your hips slam back against Steves and any thought of being mad at him for throwing you in the freezing cold pool have long dissipated along with the steam in the bathroom and long forgotten about with the running dryer with your towel and Steve's clothes.

→ a/n: i got very carried away with this and it took two days to finish so it came out late and im sorry but im actually pretty proud of this one. fun enough this was sort of an idea carried over from last years kinktober that i didnt do and now finally i did it!! leave me feedback and sorry for any typos!

#lostalioth kinktober #kinktober 23 #kinktober 2023 #kinktober day 5 #steve harrington x reader #smut #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington fanficton #steve harrington #steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x fem #fem!reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x f!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n smut #steve harrington hc #steve harrington stranger things #steve harrington x female reader #female reader #blurb #oneshot #steve harrington drabble #steve harrington prompt #steve harrington masterlist #steve harrington scenario #steve harrington imagine

[sheisjoeschateau]

"Oh, so we DO love Steve..." | Part IX (FULL)

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ SERIES MASTERLIST ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Steve Harrington x Bauman!fem!reader enemies to lovers, heavy angst, hurt/comfort, upside down mayhem, S2-S4, post S4 universe hot-take, end-of-the-world / dystopian setting, ugly fights turned smut (...but with hella plot). 18+

CHAPTER IX WARNINGS/NOTES: t.w.'s - language, innuendo / sexual undertones, mention of dr*gs and abuse and childhood trauma, Max in a coma, talks about death, difficult confrontations. 18+

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the 9th chapter, written in full. Not action packed, but vital to the plot. Lots of beautiful moments in here that I really took my time with writing because at this point, I am just so in love with this concept. We learn more about Bauman's past. Steve and Jonathan finally have that talk. Murray is a proud uncle. The kids are adorable. Steve's dream isn't only his. And everyone prepares for doomsday.

Bonus: If you love the song "This Little Life," well then you are in for a treat. It heavily inspired this chapter, and it will be back...

PROOFREAD UNTIL MY EYES BLED. IF THERE ARE STILL TYPOS, SORRY BOUT IT. 18+

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Steve Harrington was no stranger to nightmares.

He’d learned how to endure them.  Over the years, he made friends with his demons.  So much so, it got to a point where he got too used to having them around.  He just nodded at them as they lurked in the darkest corners of his sunshine mind, letting them exist as lonely, miserable wallflowers who were never noticed in the daylight when he was awake…waiting for their fleeting moment of popularity after dark, when his eyes were shut.  He didn’t address them when he was awake. Because if he addressed them, that would mean they were real. But if he let them have their way at night, forgetting them the next day and acting like they did not exist, that meant they had no power over him. They didn’t mean anything. They were nothing. 

They meant nothing.

At least, that’s what Steve told himself. 

Every night before shutting his eyes, he steels himself for whatever hell he was going to face. From the ripe age of four, he learned to simply expect the unexpected when it came to sleeping. Sleep was never going to be his friend — whether he was sleeping alone, or with a friend, or holding naked girl in his arms. Steve was made to suffer in his sleep. His subconscious was a world that was built upon a foundation ruled by the reality of absent parents, being an only child, high school flings that left him longing and the endless search for love. It consisted of repeated dialogues — sometimes the incessant arguing between his parents, or the jabbering of Tommy H. and Carol, or hearing Nancy chanting bullshit, along with all the other voices of people who filtered in and out of his life.  Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.  

Sometimes, Steve was running away from his own voice in his head. There were nights when, within his own nightmares, he himself was the nightmare. That really came into effect during his last year of high school and the summer after he lost Nancy. Adding the entire element of the upside down into his life only fed his nightmares. They were bad before, they were bad then, and they were worse now. 

Trauma after trauma, loss after loss, fight after fight, bloodshed upon bloodshed. 

Every punch to his eye. Every word slapped across his face. Every other worldly creature he was made to battle. Every moment he was paralyzed with fear of losing one of his kids. 

Nightmares loved Steve. And they knew exactly where to find him, every single night.

But right now, sleeping next to you, it wasn’t nighttime. It was still day. Daylight shown through the windows of your assigned guest room in the Harrington house — curtains drawn, and the gloomy afternoon sky filtering the space around you both.

And here he was, fast asleep with his cheek resting on top of your chest, as your heartbeat thumped against his ear. One of his toned arms was looped around your waist, having closed his eyes and letting the steady rise and fall of your chest lull him to sleep. Steve had been fighting sleep for the last two nights. Especially the night after you died in his arms. He had just barely brought you back to life, and he knew that as bad as his nightmares had been before…all of them amounted to nothing compared to the nightmares that would undoubtedly follow him after that. Steve wanted nothing to do with sleep. He was damned for all eternity when it came to sleep, and it was sure to bring him a life of insomnia after the real life nightmare that he was made to face when wide awake. 

That’s the beauty of being asleep: you have to wake up.

Steve told himself that every night before he went to bed. He told himself that no matter how bad it got, he would still wake up. And once he woke up, it would be over.

He learned to do that after he went to the county fair one year with his friends, back in middle school. He’d gotten on a ride, peer pressured by Tommy H. and not wanting to look like a chicken. 

Every second of the ride, Steve was petrified. 

He wanted off, he wanted off, goddammit let me off he shouted.  

Then he remembered having been told by the county fair worker that the ride lasted four minutes.  Steve took a deep breath, realizing he’d likely been on it for already half that time. So he counted to himself. Counting down the last half of the ride, he told himself over and over: eventually, this ride has an end.  

Sure enough, when it did finally come to an end — and when everyone was let off the hellish escapade — Steve realized that he had found the glitch in the matrix. The warp in time. The secret superpower to conquering fear. Suddenly, he wasn’t so afraid anymore. Which is why now, whatever nightmare he was made to face, he would endure it — knowing that the sweet relief of waking up was just right around the corner. 

And after all: stranger things had been proven real in Steve’s real life, far more than in his wildest dreams. 

Loving you had turned out to be the strangest thing of all.  

Even more so, the lack of nightmares that came with that was also strange…

Because right now, as Steve finally succumbed to sleep instead of fighting it, lying next to you…he was not trapped in a nightmare. His subconscious did not have him roaming the unpredictable pathways that led to the darkest corners of his mind. His demons had ceased their dance. Vecna, and all his other worldly monsters, were not the stars of this particular show. Steve was not trapped in the midst of jabbering chants coming from the voices of all the people that he loved, all the people who had betrayed him, or even the voice belonging to himself. 

For the first time in years, Steve Harrington was dreaming.

It wasn’t anything drastic. Nothing that could exhaust him, to where any hours of sleep hadn’t felt like any sort of sleep at all. In fact, his subconscious state was…serene. Quiet, peaceful. It was almost unsettling in a way. 

Little bursts of yellow — pastel and sunshine and lemon — colored the dark walls inside his mind. A light breeze gently wooshed in the distance, coming seemingly from nowhere but still fanning his face and the flop of his perfect hair. Somewhere, someone was humming. Almost like a bird, or the sound of a foghorn super far off in the distance. Maybe even the distant drums of a far away land. The rhythm came and went, but it kept him company. As if it were some little song made up in his head as he went along, saying, “Hey, I’m right here. We are in this together.”

On the other side of Steve’s closed eyelids, you laid beneath him in his yellow crewneck. The air you breathed softly, in and out of your nose, fanned across his forehead and his perfect hair. And while your heartbeat was not even, it was there — beneath his ear, drumming in a makeshift pattern, inventing its own rhythm as it went. 

In the real world, your uneven heartbeat reminded you both that you yourself were not in the clear. Not yet. 

But currently, in this new world that Steve’s subconscious had just discovered, it reminded him that he was no longer alone. Not with you.

In the real world, Hawkins is in trouble. Cursed. 

And while none of you had figured out how to break that curse just yet, along with Vecna’s…one curse had been broken.  

You’d broken the curse to Steve’s endless nightmares.

But would this world even allow for you both to explore a future together, in which you had broken this dark spell cast over Steve Harrington’s life…?

***

Seeing Nancy shuffling out of Argyle’s room is the last thing Jonathan ever could have expected. And he’d seen a lot of shit that prepared him for the unexpected.

The perplexed look in her eyes. The determination in her step to get the hell out of there, despite clearly having been given some sort of useful information after sharing God-knows-what conversation with his Cali best friend. 

The two lovers at war made eye contact. It was quick, fleeting. But tense.  

Eddie and Robin watched as Jonathan turned to stare at Nancy over his shoulder, and how she froze for a moment to stare back at him through her glassy, wide blue eyes. Her gaze, fixed on him, went from longing to hardened. Nancy walked away, and Jonathan letting her without a word only motivated her to keep walking.

And now, Jonathan had been in Argyle’s room for a good long while. Eddie and Robin had left behind their own little comforting conference of sorts to join the adults downstairs, while the kids had set off in other directions of the Harrington house. 

But before that, during all the upstairs drama, Joyce and Murray had been having some drama of their own in the basement.

“You did what?!”

By now, Murray had recounted every single part of his story and how he’d played a huge role — along with you — in how her son had ended up with Nancy Wheeler. Murray’s once upon a time had rendered her speechless. 

Even Hopper — who’d heard them go downstairs and immediately followed when he heard Joyce start rocking the boat as she pressed Murray for information — now stood there beside Joyce, having just listened to everything – stunned.

Because when in the world did you all have time to fall in love, fall out of love then fall back in love / new love like this? How the fuck were you all managing that on top of the upside down mayhem?

“May I remind you both how you two lovebirds have spent the last few years developing your own slowburn of a story arc?” 

Murray’s question was dripping in condescension. But it was valid. It also came from the heart. He loved these two humans to death. And they loved him back.

While Joyce felt an enormous amount of joy that her son had ended up with the girl he loved…her heart ached for Steve. She’d grown to love him like her own over the years, especially these last several months as she lived under his roof. She had no idea just how broken up he’d been about Nancy. Joyce couldn’t help but feel…almost guilty.

But Hopper was shaking his head with a sort of proud grin, noting how as much as Murray had been the one to rock the boat — you had been its captain at the wheel. He pointed out how you had steered that wheel without even trying. 

“Were they even friends in high school?” Hopper asked curiously. “Harrington and Bauman — I can’t see your niece even having time for him back then when he was a punk.”

Murray went on to proudly confirm that assessment, along with explaining how you’d simply participated in your Uncle Murray’s meddling because you happened to be there that night and it’s just a sort of family tradition that you both had formed over the years. And when Joyce asked him how someone like you had not been swept up already by some guy, Murray had scoffed. He looked bitter — in the way that a protective parent is on behalf of their own kid.

“My niece deserves the world. Not one stupid guy at that high school could give her a mere city, let alone a globe’s worth. Doesn’t mean she didn’t…try. I know she was into one guy for a good while at one point. Some friend she’d made with one of the athletes who shared A.P. classes with her. She helped him study. Something she never did, unless it was with the girls and guys from her class that had weekly study group nights. But this kid she liked…he was smart, and he liked her back. She more than liked him…and he let her. Then, as all the petty high school boys do, he ditched her and all her efforts and hours spent studying and helping him pass his classes with flying colors…for a bimbo. A blonde, hip shaking, Pom-pom waving babydoll who’s all body, no brains.”

Joyce frowned. “Bauman is beautiful. She’s body, beauty and brains.”

“Yeah well,” Hopper mumbled, shaking his head disdainfully. “In high school, if you’ve got a dick, we’re letting it do the talking for us.”

“Point is,” Murray continued. “It hurt her. Big time.  But that’s the thing about my niece. Given our Bauman blood, we don’t easily succumb to our sentimental feelings. We just let it broaden our dark comedic chops and cynical worldview. My niece doesn’t have mommy or daddy to run home to and cry. She’s an only child, so no siblings to help care for and bond with. Yeah, she’s got friends. But mainly at school. She’s got herself…and she’s got me.” Murray smiled at that. “Between me and her grandmother, we’ve been the ones that raise her. But to be perfectly honest, my niece pretty much raised herself.”

Hopper’s heart clenched. For both you and your uncle. 

“She’s great, Mur,” Hopper murmured. “You’ve been there for her and it shows.”

Murray was quiet at that. He hated compliments. But he didn’t flinch or get snippy. He actually looked humbled, silently appreciating this observation. 

Joyce sighed. “Murray…you really have been an incredible uncle to her. I know that I’ve…given you a hard time about things, but…really. You’ve never missed with her.”

Murray was still quiet. He looked everywhere but at his two best friends for several beats. Finally, he gave a curt nod. But it was grateful, and full of love. Mainly for you.

“That’s my kid.”

Murray’s voice cracked a bit. It was the most unusual sound in the barren basement of the Harrington house, bouncing off the walls despite its soft decimal in volume. The tight lipped grin on his face as he finally made eye contact with Joyce and Hopper said it all. He loved the shit outta you, like any good parent loves their kid.

“I didn’t get the white picket fence life. Or a lifelong love story with some gal. I got dealt a crazy family of addicts and narcissists and loons. Had a brother who married a gal from rehab, got her pregnant while they relapsed and went forward with having a kid that didn’t stand a damn chance at surviving it.” 

Murray pursed his lips before he continued. “That’s the first goddamn miracle I’ve ever witnessed. That little fetus somehow made it, all of 5 pounds at 9 ounces. Ready to get the fuck out of the womb and live. It made for an early arrival and the risk of being premature, on top of being a crack baby.”

Murray’s eyes shone with a certain kind of fondness. It held both sadness and joy. And his voice was the gentlest it had ever been as he spoke about you.

“She didn’t have one thing wrong with her. Not one thing. Perfect lungs. Perfect heart. Perfect brain activity. Not cursed from the drugs that coursed through her mother’s veins and doomed her life from the start. That kid’s been outsmarting everyone in her life since she was a seed.” 

Joyce and Hopper couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Their eyes shone with Murray’s, having been parents themselves and unable to fathom being so reckless when bringing life into this world.

“I didn’t get my own kid,” Murray continued. He looked at Hopper. “I didn’t get a Sarah.” Then to Joyce, “Or a Jonathan, or Will. A kid who’s my own flesh and blood that I’d fight for to the bitter end.”

Murray stood there, resolute in what he was getting at. “But I got her. I got a niece who loves me. After she was born, I got my dad’s mom to take her in while I traveled and worked. She’s the only family member I’ve bothered keeping in touch with.  She’s an odd one.  But she had a home and money and willingness to take in a stray.  She never thought she’d ever get a granddaughter.  Don’t even think she really wanted one much till she was handed one to take in. Between the two of us, we raised her. She got thrown at whoever would take her and that was fine with me. Meant she still had a damn shot at a life. That’s what we gave her. The rest? She’s done herself.”

Murray sniffed. Then, smirking at himself — 

“I’d like to think my being an unorthodox parental figure of sorts is why she’s built for the war.”

Hopper grinned at that, swallowing back tears of his own. He squeezed Murray’s shoulder. “Yeah, she is. Kid could survive the damn streets of New York on her own.”

Murray laughed at that, and so did Joyce — she finally shook her head and wiped away a couple motherly tears. She took a deep breath, looking up and shifting gears with the topic.

“You know,” she started. “Call me a hopeless romantic… But I’m pretty sure that Steve Harrington has hopelessly fallen for your niece.”

Hopper snorted. “God, I haven’t ever liked the idea of two youngins together the way I like them.”

Murray grinned big. “Yeah that’s a plot twist even I wasn’t expecting.”  

The cynical gent’s expression suddenly went from warm to grave.  “…don’t ever repeat that.”

The adults all shared a heart laugh at that, making their own comments on how the two mortal enemies turned out to be lovers. Hopper cringed at the word, along with Murray — and Joyce gave your uncle hell for that, given he’s the self-acclaimed mastermind at love. 

“My witch doctor hours are limited when it comes to my niece’s love life,” he argued, but it was all with humor and fondness. “I already orchestrated the basics.”

“Which were…?”

“Calling her out.”

Joyce smiled. “What do you think of them?”

Murray’s expression softened. He contemplated that for several sincere moments. 

“Surprises me to say it…but I think she’s got someone who loves her fully. Will love her fully. There’s actual years there, backing them up. Years of real life shit. Abnormal shit. Valid tension, deeply rooted hatred that turned out to be love. She saw Harrington for who he was, and sees him for who he is. I mean — Jesus, she was there for all of it. Steve Harrington’s redemption arc was witnessed by her just as much as those kids that he’s taken on as a babysitter. Well, and the Robin girl. But that’s…not the same thing as what he’s got with my niece.  No threat there.”

Hopper’s eyes narrowed at that, curious. But Joyce gave Murray an all-knowing grin, knowing what he was getting at.

“I don’t think she’s on the same field,” she winked.

Murray winked back. “Exactly.”

Hopper blinked. “…alright, you guys lost me.”

Joyce waved him off, continuing. “So you like him with her. Maybe even…approve?”

Murray slowly nodded. “Didn’t think there’d be a guy who stood a chance at that. But given the whole…letting us all stay here and saving her life thing…yeah. I’d say I’m very good with those two being together.”

Joyce nudged him with her elbow. “Maybe you should tell him that. Y’know…given you��re at fault for ‘ruining his life,’ too.”

Murray rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, those two never stood a chance with your broody son standing in the way of that.”

“Yeah well…that broody son of mine isn’t making much sense right now,” Joyce shook her head. She sighed, worried. Hopper stroked her back. “I need to talk to him.”

“Lover’s quarrel,” Murray pointed out. “Best let that be up to him and Wheeler.”

“Yeahhh, well,” Hopper sighed. “Emotions are high right now. Maybe a little adult intervention would be good for them.”

Murray patted them both on the shoulders, back to his usual self. “WELP! You two have a large time with that. Meanwhile, I’ve got a date with a second drink calling my name.”

***

You watched Steve sleep on top of your chest, thinking about the words he’d spoken to you before dozing off. 

“What about France? Or Switzerland, somewhere with a bunch of acres and nature and a lake nearby or something?”

You’d smiled at Steve’s question. “How would we get the Winnebago over there?”

He’d stared at you for a moment, eyes sparkling as your words landed. A deep grin formed on his face. 

“You really liked my little dream on wheels, huh?”

You grinned back. “Yeah. It’s not little. It’s big.”

He shrugged sweetly. “I mean, it’s not a mansion. Or a house. It’s a home on wheels. Honestly, a really small home on wheels, but…I dunno, I just — wanna travel. With my family. Not leave them behind at some big house while I go off and explore god knows where without ‘em.”

You played with his fingers, listening to his every word. He wasn’t used to this. Having someone who was happy to just…listen to him ramble. Was he even one to ramble at all? Or is that something you just brought out in him?

“I just dream of this…this little life of sorts,” he continued, speaking to you and also to himself. 

You smiled at his words. “I think I like this little life.”

Steve could sing at your response. Something about that one sentence after he’d just further divulged into what a bright future looked like in his mind made him feel on top of the world. The lovesick joy in his eyes, and in his heart, made you melt.

 “I only want that little life with you,” he whispered to you, cupping your neck as he bent down to press his forehead to yours. You loved when he did that. Too much, way too much.

You nuzzled your nose to his. Steve loved when you did that. Too much, way too much.

“And the nuggets,” you whispered back with the cutest grin. Then, daring to say it — “Our nuggets…”

Steve’s heart soared at that.  Ours…

The happy little laugh Steve breathed against you was the prettiest sound in the entire fucking universe. He caught your lips in a kiss, sweet and soft and firm.

“Your heart needs to get its shit together,” he breathed before kissing you again.

“I know, I know,” you breathed back with that playful attitude he had come to love, gliding your lips against his. “Such a pain in the ass. I know you wanna rail me, Harrington.”

He deepened the kissing, his fingers sliding up from your neck into your hair. “Yeah, god forbid I actually just want you to be okay. I only wanna fuck you senseless.”

You sighed into his mouth, clutching his hips with one of your hands and a fistful of his shirt with the other. “Yeah, you dirty, filthy asshole…”

He sucked on your tongue, cutting you off. “Be nice, princess.”

The two of you had eventually pulled back, knowing that you needed to wait on Dr. Owen’s to bring you whatever goddamn medicine was supposed to help even out your heart arrhythmia. Steve had moved in your arms to rest his head over your heart, cheek pressed to your chest with your heartbeat in his eardrum. You could feel him shaking. So, you made up a little tune as you felt fatigue taking over you.

“I think I like this little life…

This little life…

I think I like this little life…

This silly little life.”

You could tell it made Steve smile as he held you closer. He murmured something sweet to you about liking the improvised melody, to which you murmured something back about it becoming a hit one day. Steve let your soft spoken singing play in his mind, giving him the sweetest of dreams as your voice trailed off.

And now, you were awake — humming it again. Steve was still fast asleep on your chest, which brought you tremendous relief. You dared to think it might be the only medicine your heart really needed. 

There was a soft knock at the door. You craned your neck towards the source of the sound, curious. Steve didn’t move a bit. He was out. It made you grin. You sighed lightly, planting a soft kiss on top of Steve’s perfect hair. Slowly, gently — you found a way of standing up without waking him. Little did you know, the sleep he found in your arms couldn’t be bothered easily. He slept harder with you than he ever had in his life.

You padded over quietly to the door, opening it slowly and only enough to show you. Your uneven heart was flooded with warmth as you stared back at 5 familiar faces.

Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will and Eleven all stood there. They held random things. Board games, snacks, and pillows with blankets.

“We are inviting ourselves for a sleepover,” El said.

“A very unexciting one,” Lucas clarified.

“Yes, no excitement,” Dustin agreed.

“Just some good ole fashioned card games that don’t hit pique anxiety,” Mike added.

“Annnnd drawing,” Will threw in, lifting his bag. “Art is always therapeutic.  Good for the soul.  And the heart.”

You felt yourself getting teared up, looking at their faces with pure love and joy. You chuckled wetly, your chest clenching as you so sorely wished that the sixth nugget was awake to add her sarcasm and unwavering love to the mix.

“Plus it really sucks about the mandate coming soon,” Lucas added sadly.

“Yeah,” Mike nodded. “Before we know it, we’ll all be cramped downstairs in the basement or out there in the middle of nowhere.”

You gave them a sad smile.

“A not-exciting sleepover sounds like a grand plan,” you nodded with a wink. Then, cocking an eyebrow, “So I’m hosting then, huh?”

“Yeah, your room’s bigger than ours,” Dustin said.

“True,” you winked. “Orrrr, we could go over to Max’s room and have her join us?”

All of them nodded excitedly. You smiled, turning back to look at Steve sleeping peacefully in the bed. 

“Gimme a few minutes to wake up mom and tell him that Max needs some attending to first, so that we can successfully host a sleepover in her room.”

They all quietly cheered, carefully moving to set down their array of stuff inside of your room. They caught sight of Steve sleeping, snickering to themselves like they were all 8 years old again. You shook your head at them with the biggest grin on your face, adoring how Lucas and Dustin were just so tickled with Steve being in your room. Will and El were giggling into their palms, with Mike shushing them but snorting himself. That made everyone fight back even worse laughter, and you ushered them out quickly before closing the door behind you. Man, you loved these kids so much.

You went into the bathroom, freshening up a bit and turning on the shower to let some hot steam hit your aching shoulder for a bit.

he sound of Steve murmuring your name made you hold off on that. 

You walked out, beaming at him as he stared in your direction while sitting up. You were back in his arms in seconds, mumbling into his neck.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Jesus, how long was I out?”

“A good chunk of hours.”

Steve groaned, pulling you impossibly closer to him — still mindful of your bad shoulder. You giggled in his grasp. His ears perked up, craning his head up towards the bathroom door as he heard the stream of water running.

“How dare you think of showering without me?” he scoffs incredulously in your arms.

You continued giggling harder as Steve nuzzled his face into your neck, pretending to attack you as he smothered you with groggy affection. 

“Just needed to relieve my handicap a bit,” you sighed contentedly.

With that, Steve rose to stand. He was scooping you up into his arms before you could blink, carrying you into the bathroom. He lifted your shirt off, then his. As you stripped your pants, be took the hair tie from your wrist and ran his fingers through your locks, tying it up with ease. With a kiss pressed to your neck, he took your hand and escorted you into the hot stream of water. You watched Steve wistfully as he shed his pants and joined you.

As Steve gingerly massaged the soap into your shoulder blade, you remembered you needed to tell him about the plans that had been made for you both that evening.

“Baby?”

He hummed in response, loving when you called him that.

“The kids have the evening cut out for us tonight,” you started.

Even with your back to him, you knew his eyebrows were raised. “Oh yeah? What, am I making some crazy dinner feast out of canned goods now?”

You sniffed a laugh, turning to kiss his jaw. “No, we’re on for a sleepover in Max’s room.”

“S’that so?” he mulled, a grin in his voice.

“‘Tis so. That, or in here. But I don’t know if we can move her. Plus, I really want her to hear us all talking as much as possible.”

He exhaled, a kiss pressed to your shoulder. “Alright well, I’ll need to go ahead and get her taken care of before we all take over the room.”

“Sounds good,” you sighed contentedly.

You both finished up, and as you got changed into fresh comfy clothes Steve was eyeing the pile of stuff that the kids had unloaded into your bedroom.

“Damn, they just decided to dump the haul here?” he asked.

You snorted. “Yeahhh, they like to make themselves at home here.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but the fondness behind them said it all. He loved it.  

Noticing you struggle with your shirt, he quickly moved to help you pull it over your bad shoulder carefully. 

“Need to get better at asking for help, angel,” he winked at you, pulling your arm carefully through the sleeve. 

You blushed at that, playfully rolling your eyes. “Noted.”

Steve shook his head as he made sure that your shirt was straight, lost in thought for a moment. “Guess we all won’t be able to hang out up here soon,” he murmured.  “Outside of the basement.”

Your heart sank, knowing he was referring to the impending doom that loomed around the corner with the whole mandate going into effect next week. “Yeah,” you mused. “Might as well make the most of tonight with them before we have to go back to doomsday mode.”

He nodded sadly, planting a kiss to your hair before grabbing your discarded clothes along with his to start a fresh load of laundry. 

“I’m gonna go start a load,” he said. “Check with Hopper on when Dr. Owen’s is getting back here with your meds.”

You sighed. “Yeah, those…”

Steve looked at you solemnly. “Hey.”

You gnawed at your lip, looking up at him.

“You will be okay,” he told you. His tone was firm yet soft. Confident, despite the worried undertone laced around his voice.

You gave him a light smile and nod. 

“I’m serious, Bauman,” Steve continued, his brown eyes boring into yours. “We’re getting you on these meds and if they don’t work, then we…do the next thing that does.”

You knew he was stressed. Too stressed. You hated seeing just how fearful he’d been when he lost you before, and how much the fear of losing you again was eating away at him. Of course, Steve being Steve, he now insisted it would be fine. He’d broken down in front of you when it all happened, unable to stop it. Normally, he’d never let that happen. But given the dark reality of things, and just how much everything else had caught up to him, he wasn’t able to be his usual positive, nonchalant self with you over the last 24 hours.

With a mischievous look in your eye, you patted your chest. You gave it a little knocking rhythm, beatboxing under your breath so that he’d laugh. After a moment of Steve glaring at you, the corner of his lips finally twitched up into a grin. He tried to hide it, but you’d already seen it before he could turn away.

“Don’t worry, Harrington,” you told him. “I’m not even close to being done bothering you.”

He turned to look back at you longingly, a smile ghosting behind the way he bit his lip. He nodded. 

“Don’t think that ever really had an expiration date, did it?” he asks, teasing you in his husky voice that you loved whenever he was getting coy with you.

You smirked. “Never.”

He took a moment to soak you in with his eyes. “Good,” he said.  “I’m keeping it that way.”

You knew what he meant. Don’t you dare fucking leave me again. 

And you had every intention of keeping your word. I’m here as long as you’ll have me.

Steve intended to keep you forever.

“Now,” you said, moving towards him. “Let’s go have a big ole sleepover with these six nuggets so that we can stop the end of the world and have another six later on down the road, yeah?”

Steve glowed. He stuttered a bit, unable to breathe. “Y-you really want that? S-six of ‘em…?”

You shook your head, smiling up at him as you stood toe to toe. “Hell yeah, I want that.”

You kissed his jaw. Then, moving to scoop up a bag of the kids snacks — “That’s more buckets of Halloween candy for us down the line.”

Steve smiled and blushed unabashedly, shaking his head with the happiest eye roll you’d ever seen. 

“So we’re gonna be that family, huh?” he asked, moving to grab a sour gummy from the bag you’d just opened.

“We will win every costume contest, Harrington,” you said seriously, that signature dry humor of yours coursing through your Bauman blood at full speed. “I’m very competitive. Don't worry, the kids will be too busy having a great time to know that their mom is secretly a little psycho.”

Steve tugged at the gummy worm between his teeth with the most mischievous, flirty glint in his eye. You could smell his perfect skin mixed with the scent of the raspberry candy.  “Ahh, so you are mom. Thought I was mom.”

You leaned up on your toes, inching your lips towards his where he still dangled the gummy worm. “In this era? You’re mom. I’m dad. Next one, I’ll be Mommy.”

You bit at the end of the gummy worm, going full lady and the tramp with it like a loose spaghetti noodle. Steve’s lips and teeth stretched into a wide grin, eyes swimming in sex and lust as they looked down at you. You both bit and sucked the gummy worm till your teeth and tongues met. In the lowest, sexiest of husky tones, Steve told you…

“Well in this one? I’m daddy.” 

His tongue lapped your mouth, tasting like sugar sweet candy. “Your daddy.”

Before you could completely dissolve into a hot mess of a puddle, familiar voices from the other side of the door sounded off.

“EEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!”

“STEEEEEEVE!”

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god —”

The sound of all your kids gagging and losing their shit were making for an orchestra of triggered teens, and you both jumped at the noise. After gasping, Steve threw his head back and huffed incredulously.

“Seriously??” he snapped. 

You buried your face in your hands, unable to keep yourself from laughing in pure humiliation — but also in adoration.

“You shitheads are listening in, seriously — Jesus.” 

Steve huffed and puffed, but it was clear as day he loved it. You did, too. He moved to open it while you stood back, snickering into your palms with flaming hot flushed cheeks.

“Hello,” he said, voice flat.

“You’re disgusting,” Dustin scoffed.

“And you’re an eavesdropping ass hat.”

“Why do you smell like gummy worms?” Mike asked suspiciously.

“Because you left them in my room, Wheeler,” Steve said wryly.

“Yeah, for tonight!!! For all of us!” Lucas scolded.

“Well Sinclair? Maybe don’t leave your candy unattended in my room.”

“It’s Bauman’s room!” Mike said.

Steve opened his mouth, then shut it. “Right yeah, well. My house, but yeah.”

“Lord, I can’t unhear this,” Will grimaced, but even he was grinning.

“You weren’t supposed to hear it at all,” Steve pointed out defensively.

“If you’re gonna fuck around, you’re gonna find out.”

Eddie’s sing-songy voice was new to the mix as he walked past them all, carrying a bunch of things as he made his way downstairs. “Howdy folks, don’t mind me.”

Steve snapped his fingers, pointing at him as he looked back at his kids. “That. What he said.”

El looked at everyone curiously.  “What does being daddy mean if Steve is that for Bauman —”

Everyone cut her off with sounds of disdain.

“Noooope! Nope, nope nope nope.”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“La la la la la la la la not talking about this la la la la.”

“Alright, enough,” Mama Steve silenced the kiddos. “Move along.”

“No, we’ve been waiting for 30 minutes,” Mike griped.

“It’s okay,” came your voice as you emerged from the room, standing next to Steve. “Why don’t you kids come on inside while Steve gets Max’s room ready?”

They all took you up on that offer, shuffling past you both and making their way inside. Steve shook his head as you grinned, pinching his side.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be grown up and outta the house before you know it.”

You winked at him before making your way into the room with them. Steve watched you fondly, hands on his hips in true Mom Steve Harrington fashion. He had that signature sexy-sassy look on his face that everyone had come to love over the years — you especially. Despite being annoyed, Steve felt his heart fill to the brim as he watched the kids scatter the bags of candy and show you the card game selections. You were hugging El closely while Dustin pointed out that he had plenty more candy hidden in his backpack. Will was telling you about his newest art collection ideas, and you excitedly listened to him while Mike and Lucas bickered about which games were better for everyone.

“Steve, you’re joining us, right?” Dustin asked.

Steve scrunched his face in confusion, doubling back with his shoulders. “Yeah, wasn’t that already happening?”

Dustin shrugged. “Just making sure you’re not gonna be lame.”

Steve shook his head. You looked over at him as you smiled.

“F’course he’s joining,” you winked. “It’s not a party without mom.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at you playfully, making your shoulders shake with a chuckle. 

He felt more at home in his own house than he ever had in 19 years. 

__________________________

Jonathan watched Steve make his way into Max’s room, knee bouncing.

He was seated in the living room, next to Joyce. She’d cornered him earlier, after watching Nancy move to sit on the porch alone and stare at nothing as she sat on the steps. Robin had moved to join her eventually, giving her company and offering to lend an ear.

That sprang Joyce into action, and she found Jonathan standing outside of Argyle’s room with Will. She’d found them both talking, happy to see her boys were in deep conversation and bonding. She could tell they’d been doing that for a little while now, and when they both looked up at her the three Byers all shared warm, solemn smiles. The boys looked a bit sheepish. Mostly the oldest.

Jonathan knew his mom wasn’t gonna let him off the hook. And if he was being honest, a good honest talk with his mother about something not having to do with the upside down was something he’d needed for a long time.

So they talked. Joyce listened while Jonathan spoke, and he listened while she responded. It was the perfect blend of expressed empathy, disappointment and motherly advice shared on her end. He admitted to the fight with Steve in the alleyway, back when Will was missing. And he admitted to making a move on Nancy while she was still in a relationship with Steve. She brought up Murray telling her about him getting drunk at the Henderson’s house, 2 years back…and he shamefully ducked his head as he wrung his hands. But Joyce just rubbed his back, reminding him she wasn’t here to berate him and only to talk through things the way they always have: as mother and son.

“You know, Jonathan…” Joyce spoke softly, her heart heavy. “I don’t think I ever really thanked you for everything that you did in helping me find Will.”

Jonathan did a double take, brow furrowed. “What’re you talking about, of course you did —”

“No,” Joyce shook her head. “No, we talked about it, sure. I verbally thanked you.”

“Many times, mom,” Jonathan assured her.

“Just listen,” she cut him off gently, clutching his hand. “I lost a son…but you’d lost a brother. We both lost him. Twice. God, twice… and each time was a brand new hell. We didn’t even have time to process the first round.”

Jonathan chuckled darkly. “Would we ever have processed that? I mean really…”

Joyce grinned at that. “Psh, yeah. Doubt it.” Looking back at him with a softened expression, she continued. “Point is…in the midst of all that stress, and searching, and worrying…you were still going through so much. Not just with Will missing…but everything else, too.”

Jonathan listened to his mother as she looked deeply into his eyes, clutching both his hands. She went on to tell her eldest son every validating thing a mother could tell her child. She recounted every single thing that Jonathan had been dealing with outside of Will going missing, and it hurt her to relive it all just as much as it hurt Jonathan to hear it all over again. When Joyce got to the part where she’d had to make them all move, Jonathan’s eyes watered up. 

“You and Nancy were just beginning to dive into things deeply,” she was saying. “Really, you’d both gone through so much together and finally you both got to just…start being a couple, and then it all went wrong again, so that — that forced you both back into the upside down bullshit…”

“Mom,” Jonathan said, a bit shocked.

“I’m serious,” Joyce said back, eyes fierce and full of love. “Jonathan, you’ve had to be an adult since you were just a kid. Since you were Will’s age. And then you finally get into a relationship with a beautiful girl, and immediately you’re thrown into war. Not even able to enjoy your teens going into adulthood. Even Nancy, she…she’s been through so much with you. And now…”

Joyce’s voice trailed off. She sighed, exasperated with herself. She re-centered, turning back to her son.

“I love you,” she told him, eyes full of love. “So much, you just don’t know. You are just…a good person. And the fact you feel overcome with guilt as though you’re not —“

“I haven’t been a good person, mom,” Jonathan murmured, voice wobbly.

“Jonathan,” Joyce whispered, squeezing his hands. “Just because you’ve not acted right in certain ways…that does not make you a bad person. Do you understand that? Because if not — then whoever’s telling you that…whether it’s someone you love, or a stranger, or yourself…stop listening. Seek within. Listen to your heart, because it’s never going to steer you wrong. And no, that’s not just some dumb cliche saying, it’s true. Your mind will confuse you, and your soul will get shaken. But your heart? It will always lead you back.”

Jonathan’s lip trembled, and Joyce held him tight as he shook him her arms. He clung to his mother, overwhelmed.

“I’m afraid I’ll never say enough, mom,” he wept into her shoulder. “To Steve, or to Nancy… I’m actually more sure about what I need to say to him instead of her.”

Joyce chuckled early, squeezing him tighter. “Aw, baby… Don’t overthink. Say whatever is going to give your heart peace. You’ll regret anything you never said far more than anything that you did.”

***

“Trust me kid, I’m in the doghouse now for the hell I raised on the phone with him.”

Hopper stood in front of Steve, along with Murray. They’d just spoken with Dr. Owens on the phone, who’d told Murray that he wouldn’t be able to bring them the medication until tomorrow morning. Murray had managed to remain calmer than Hopper, to both their surprise.  Now, they stood in the kitchen with Steve – filling him in.

Steve took a deep breath through his nose, exhaling just as deeply out his mouth like a puff of air he’d been holding while running a hand through his hair. Murray looked at him with a somber, empathic expression. 

“Doesn’t mean I’m not just as furious about it,” Murray pointed out. “But given the whole…having a target on his back thing…I’m trying to have some sort of grace about it, mostly for her sake. And yours.”

That made Steve look over at him gratefully. He couldn’t imagine the stress your uncle was experiencing, knowing your heart — literally — was on the line.

“Says he’ll be here with it as early as he can be,” Murray added. “Just keep doing what you’re already doing. Which is the most.” His lips turned upwards at one of the corners. “The most, and then some.”

Steve allowed himself to give your uncle a sad smile back, appreciating being seen by him. He’s all that you had as far as family goes. With a nod, Steve let that news settle into his brain. He reached out to shake Murray’s hand, who shook it back firmly and dared to pat his shoulder. Physical affection was so not his thing. But he’d make an effort for the guy his niece was in love with, and who not only saved her life — but was still doing everything he could to keep it intact. 

“Kids sleepover, huh?”

Hopper changed the subject, grinning at Harrington — who chuckled lightly.

“You guys know about this?”

Hopper shrugged. “We might’ve told them to allow themselves some fun for one night, before we all go into lockdown…” His expression turned grim, a thought pushing its way to the forefront of his brain. “And whatever plan needs to go into action.”

Steve knew what he meant. Getting back out there. He swallowed hard, giving him a quick nod. No one was ready for this. But were they ever really “ready” for any of this?

Murray and Hopper told Steve to not give any thought whatsoever to anything relating to doomsday until the next morning. They insisted that they just take the focus on laughing and soaking up the night with you and the kids. Steve was surprised at how certain they both were about it, but despite it being out of character for them in an endearing way…it scared him. It meant that they knew just how much everyone here was at risk. It made a sharp chill run up Steve’s spine.

Eventually, Steve had made his way up to Max’s room. He was sorting through it, making room for you all to camp out there. El had already turned her little cot bed into a floor couch of sorts, which made Steve grin. 

He talked to Max out loud as he checked her vitals. Lucas already had, along with Joyce and Hopper. Still, he always wanted to make sure. 

“Not sure if this is gonna be one of those nights where I’ve gotta make Dustin cut the attitude during games,” Steve was telling her with a smirk as he straightened her pillows. “Honestly, it’s probably an excuse for Mike and El to be able to cuddle at night. So I’ll likely be chaperoning the entire night. Good thing I got mad good sleep with Bauman today.”

Steve moved to close the curtains, watching the sun begin to set behind the trees in the distance. It looked dull, given all the debris and toxic air.

“You know what’s crazy?” he asked her.  “Ever since I started sleeping with her — like actually sleeping, head outta the gutter Max — it’s…I haven’t had a single nightmare. I always have those.”

He moved to discard some of the kids’ loose candy wrapped and one of Dustin’s empty pudding containers, glancing over at her sleeping form.

“Seriously, it’s weird. It’s like she just…makes them all disappear.” Steve scoffed a laugh at that. “Who’d have thought… She’s been a nightmare to me, and now I can’t…can’t even stand to think back on the times I never saw her like I do now.”

Steve looked around the room, seeing it was good for the night. It would be a tight squeeze — but having shuffled Max’s bed over enough so that they all had room to play games and draw on the floor with snacks, it would do. He sighed, taking a second to sit on the edge of the bed near her feet.

“Maybe this is a good thing,” he murmured. “Tonight.  Hearing all our voices at once. Arguing and bickering and laughing the way you all do together.” 

Steve poked her knee. “Think that’ll kick start you again, red? Wake you back up so that you can give us all shit?”

Her silence isn’t as long as he expects it to be whenever he hears a knock. Steve looks over to the open doorway, finding Jonathan standing there. He looks…wary. Rough, and timid. Standing awkwardly with his hands buried deeply in his pockets, he shoots Steve a very quick, uncomfortable right-lipped grin.

“Hey.”

Steve blinks. “Hey.”

Jonathan rocks on his feet for a moment. Finally, he clears his throat. “Can I come in?”

Steve blinks again, but eventually nods. “Yeah. Yeah, sure, yeah.”

Jonathan moves to lean against the wall, next to the doorway. Steve would laugh at the fact that this is Byers’ way of “coming in,” if it weren’t for the fact that he was so clearly nervous about something. Steve had a few guesses as to why he was here. He knew this had been coming, and he wishes he’d been the one to initiate it. Because they really needed to talk.

They’d needed to talk for 3 years.

“Look, Byers,” Steve started after waiting for what felt like a century for Jonathan to say something. “I owe you an apology…”

“No,” Jonathan cut him off. 

It made Steve look at him in surprise. But Jonathan continued before he could say anything else.

“No, it’s me who owes you an apology.”

Steve stared. “…what?”

Jonathan sighed, scratching his neck and praying the words could find him as he finally dove into what he needed to let off his chest.

“Look I’m not good at this,” Jonathan said. “Talking, I mean. You know I’m weird.” 

He gnawed at his lip, pensive and twitchy. He looked down at his feet a lot, feeling tense under Harrington’s gaze. But he sucked in a deep breath, going for it. 

“Back in 1982, you had every right to break my camera.”

Steve froze. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah. Yeah you did. I shouldn’t have been spying on you guys like that. ‘Cause even though I was looking for my brother, it…it turned into me just…following the sound of you all partying and watching from afar. So I mean, technically…”  Jonathan chuckled under his breath darkly. “Technically, I was being a stalker.”

He looked up at Steve finally, finding him looking at him in pure shock. 

“You were dating Nancy,” Jonathan continued. “And I took…really inappropriate pictures of her. In a moment when you both were having…or well, thought you were having a private moment together. That wasn’t alright. And if…if someone had done that to me and my girlfriend, I would’ve…probably done the same thing. And honestly, you getting mad at me in the alleyway that morning —”

“Dude, no,” Steve shook his head. “Don’t take the blame for that. That was all me. It was shitty, what I did to Nancy. And what I said to you.”

“Yeah it was, but you found me in your girlfriend’s room, Steve,” Jonathan told him. “I was in there with her, in her bed, sleeping next to her when she told you that she was with her family. It looked…fucked up.”

Steve was just staring again. How in the hell was this happening right now? And why had he himself never made it happen sooner?

“So you chewed me out,” Jonathan shrugged. “And no, you shouldn’t have publicly humiliated Nancy like that at all…”

“I kick myself for it every day,” Steve murmured. “Trust me…”

“I know,” Jonathan told him, voice softer. “I know that now. I’ve…known you have for a long time. Nancy told me. I know you apologized over and over.” He took a moment, going back. “But what you said to me was just…your way of saying fuck you. You felt used, tricked and stupid. After you’d protected Nancy from a guy who’d proven himself to be a creepy stalker, and it looked like she slept with him. So you lashed out. Like any teen guy would.”

“I called you a queer,” Steve says incredulously, cringing at the memory. “I even went as far as saying you were the reason for Will going missing, along with your mom. It was low, Jonathan. What I said and did was just — flat out low. No excuses. None. I’m the one in the wrong.”

“Steve, we both were.”

Jonathan’s voice finally finds confidence. It makes Steve look at him in another light, as if he’s truly seeing Byers for the strong-willed young man that he is. It occurs to him now that maybe Jonathan has been going through some soul searching of his own, just as he had over the last few years. Clearly, he still was.  Both of them were.

“We were barely 17 years old, and stupid,” Jonathan kept going. “We — we didn’t know how the hell to deal with anything. Much less a missing kid, or a guy related to that kid who’d taken creepy photos. We both were idiots.”

Steve let that land. And it actually made him laugh, sheepishly. 

“Yeah,” he nodded slowly, scratching his neck. “Yeah, I guess we were.”

Jonathan laughed too. It was still tense, a bit awkward. But it was becoming lighter. For both of them.

“Shit, Byers,” Steve shook his head. “Have we both been feeling awful about this for years and just… not saying something about it until now?”

Jonathan sighed. “Sounds like it.”

They were both quiet for a moment, letting this newfound revelation settle into existence.

“Thanks for the new camera, by the way,” Jonathan added. “I know that was you.”

Steve looked back up at him, finding kindness and sincere gratitude in Jonathan’s eyes. It made him feel shy. Worse, yet better at the same time.

“Least I could do,” Steve shrugged.

Jonathan sniffed a laugh, shaking his head. “Yeah, well… You didn’t take the credit for it. You let Nancy do that.”

Jonathan pursed his lips, brow pinching as he shifted against the wall and stared down at his feet again. Steve waited as he watched him curiously.

“You extended way more kindness to me than I did you,” Jonathan said softly. So softly, it made Steve wonder if it was actually what he said.

“I shouldn’t have pined after Nancy,” Jonathan said. “I should’ve asked her out. Like actually asked her out, while she was single again. Before you two got back together.”

Steve felt his stomach jump. This was…a lot. So much was being covered right now in this conversation.

“But instead, I just sulked and pretended I still wasn’t in her thoughts at all. Even though I knew that…that she liked me. But I also knew that she liked you. So I just… I convinced myself it wasn’t ever gonna happen. Because that was safer. And hating you made it easier to do that.”

Jonathan looked ashamed of everything that he was saying now, but certain about it. Steve just listened, not daring to interrupt him.

“I might not have cheated with Nancy the first time you both dated…but I did the second time. And that’s not… that’s not right.” Jonathan sighed, taking a breath. “But I was a coward. Maybe not when it came to the upside down and finding Will, but up here? In regular real life? I am. I’m a coward. I don’t say whatever it is that I’m actually feeling or thinking, or wanna say. I just…wait for circumstances to make it happen for me. You don’t do that. You just…go for it.”

Steve scoffed. “Trust me, I’m…I’ve been a coward for years. In many ways, many times, for many reasons.”

“Yeah, well…you still didn’t steal someone else’s girlfriend instead of actually making a move. And I’m really…really sorry about that, Steve. I’m sorry I swooped in like that, and then…drunkenly bragged about it to Bauman Squared while you were in earshot. It made you take it out on her, when she didn’t deserve that. I did. All she did was call me out on it with Murray. They both had no idea it would turn into this.”

That made Steve squirm. He thought about how he’d been pining after Nancy still, even when she was with Jonathan. He took a deep breath, knowing he needed to let that off his chest too.

“Look,” Steve started warily. “Honestly, I really appreciate everything you’re saying. And really — apology accepted. Completely.”

Jonathan could tell that Steve meant it, and he visibly relaxed some once he let that settle into his bones. He released a breath of air that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

Meanwhile, Steve was holding his own.

“And you’re right,” Steve continued. “What I did to Bauman? Taking it out on her like that was…well it was projection. Cowardly projection. Instead of taking it out on you and Nancy, I took it out on someone else. Because that was easier. Because it meant that I still got to be the unsung hero in Nancy’s life, and a bigger person than you.”

Jonathan stared at him now, surprised to hear this. He wasn’t expecting his confessed guilt to lead to Steve admitting guilt of his own.

“I’ll probably be telling Bauman I’m sorry for as long as I live,” Steve continued, voice solemn. Honestly I feel…shitty beyond belief, knowing that I could’ve been kinder to her all this time…maybe even spared myself way more heartbreak...if I’d just gotten mad at you guys instead of her. Because then, I might’ve gotten close with her and discovered feelings for her before this all went down.”

“Maybe,” Jonathan pondered, nodding. “Then again… I don’t think you’d have fallen for her nearly as hard if it hadn’t been for you giving her shit for it.”

They both awkwardly chuckle at that. But it makes them both sad to think about it. How you’d taken the brunt of it all.

“Fuck, she didn’t deserve that,” Jonathan huffs. “And I’m — I’m the one who caused it.”

“No,” Steve shook his head, eyes sad and dark as they swam in regret. “No, that was all me. I was an asshole. And truthfully, I was still so hung up on Nance that I didn’t know how to even remotely look at another girl. Let alone one I convinced myself was responsible for taking that away from me, knowing damn well that it wasn’t. Nance wanted you, and you wanted her. Plain and simple.”

Jonathan looked ashamed all over again, but Steve held up a hand. 

“Trust me,” Steve assured him. “She wasn’t mine to keep. I get that now.”

Jonathan slowly smiled at that. “You love her, don’t you?”

Steve knew who he meant. You. 

“Yeah,” Steve whispered. “Yeah, I…don’t even know what to do with it.”

Steve stared into thin air, lost in thought. Jonathan didn’t push him, just watching him and waiting for him to go on.

“I just…look back on it all and wonder how. How did I not see her in high school, or…see during the summer of ‘84 that she was clearly perfect?”

“It takes time,” Jonathan said softly. “Shit doesn’t always hit you right away. I know that better than you’d think.”

Steve pursed his lips. “Yeah. Yeah no, you’re not wrong. I just… I dunno. I guess I’m just…”

He took a deep breath, knowing he needed to get this over with.

“I was still hung up on Nance while you were in California,” he continued, making eye contact with Jonathan again. “So much so that…I told her I was. And I’d…hoped to get her back. I wanted to steal her back from you.”

Jonathan sighed, giving him a small smile.

“I know,” he said. “She told me.”

Steve stared. Oh.

“Believe it or not,” Jonathan continued. “I’m not…mad about that at all.”

Steve blinked.  “…why…?”

Jonathan chuckled. “Steve, I actually stole your girlfriend. I had it coming.”

After several more blinks, Steve coughed out a laugh. Was he serious? As Jonathan laughed with him, he realized that he truly meant it. He wasn’t mad.

“Sorry man, but I won that round,” Jonathan chuckled.

“Fair,” Steve chuckled back. “Good game, man.”

Jonathan nodded awkwardly, shuffling his feet. “Yeahhh, good game…”

They took a few moments of silence, letting the tension wear off some more. It was…nice. This weird sort of talk was nice.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is,” Steve continued. “I’m sorry, too. For going after Nance again, and not just… facing you both sooner.”

“S'alright,” Jonathan told him. “I’ve honestly been a really shitty boyfriend these last several months.”

Steve’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Long story,” Jonathan waved a hand. “That’s my own wrong that I gotta make right with Nancy.”

Steve contemplated that. Had whatever was going south between Jonathan and Nancy, unbeknownst to him, been the reason she’d seemed to be interested in him again? Or was that just the tipping point for her, and her buried lingering feelings for Steve?

Regardless, it didn’t matter now. Steve was so in love with you, he couldn’t see straight. But it did make him wonder.

“And honestly, I don’t blame you,” Jonathan said, smiling. “Nancy, she’s…perfect.”

Steve smiled at him. “She’s pretty wonderful,” Steve agreed. “I’ll always adore her. But…”

“…but you found your person,” Jonathan finished for him. “Your ‘perfect’ person.”

Steve grinned. “Yeah. She makes everything make sense for me, and I just…god, I love her.”

Jonathan nodded, still smiling. “I know how you feel.”

Steve fiddled his thumbs in his lap, staring down at them and feeling his stomach knot up. There was another thing he needed to own up to…

“Jonathan, what I said to you…” Steve murmured, eyes still downcast. “Yesterday, back at the fence…when Bauman…” Steve winced, skipping that part.  “...it wasn’t at all —”

“I deserved it.”

“Okay, you’ve got to stop doing that, will you let me feel bad for at least one thing I’m saying?”

“No, and especially not this one.”

Steve sighed, perplexed. “…and why is that?”

“Because I deserved it.”

Jonathan watched as Steve just gaped at him, biting back amusement. He let the sincerity of the serious topic ground him again.

“You all searched and fought relentlessly for me and my mom when this all started,” Jonathan went on to say.

“...I so did not do anything from the start.”

“Maybe you don’t think you did? But you did.”

“…I so did not.”

“You got there. And besides…like we both said earlier…lots of misdirected projection. And lots of long overdue confrontation. On both our parts.”

Steve couldn’t argue that. Byers was right, at least in this case.

“You were still mad at me,” Jonathan continued, “and I was just mad at myself but convinced that everything and everyone else — you included — were the problem. Not me.”

Jonathan gnawed at his lip for several moments, clearing his throat.  “You basically unleashed years of deeply buried resentment onto me in one foul swoop.  I gotta say, your words…shit hit me hard.”

Steve frowned, ducking his head a bit.  “I honestly don’t even remember some of it.  I just…saw red.”

Jonathan snorted.  “Blind rage will do that.  Shit, I don’t even remember swinging on you back in ‘82.  Apparently, I did a pretty nasty job.”

“I was positive you’d done permanent damage to my nose.”

“Yeah, and then you took an even worse beating from that Hargrove kid and the Russians,” Jonathan said, nose scrunched with a laugh.  Steve laughed, too.  They had to laugh about it all at this point.

“Christ, man,” Steve groaned.  “It’s a wonder my face isn’t the prime subject for plastic surgery…”

Jonathan shrugged. “And you wonder why we all hate you so much.  You’ve gotten your ass beat so many times, and still look good.”

Steve smirked.  “Thanks.”

Jonathan winked.  “I’m sure Bauman Squared digs it.  All the battle wounds.”

That actually made Steve blush.  “Psh.  Compared to the fall she took?  My experiences look like a walk in the park.”

“So Dr. Owens is bringing her meds tomorrow, yeah?” Jonathan asked, brow pinched with worry.

Steve sighed, raking a hand through his hair before crouching over his knees, elbows pressing into them.  “Yeah.  Yeah, that can’t come soon enough.”

Jonathan looked at Steve with a somber expression.  He hated that he was going through this.  Seriously, when was Harrington going to catch a damn break?

“She’ll be alright, man,” Jonathan told him kindly.  “She’s got you.  Got all of us.”

Steve nodded.  “Yeah, she’s gonna have to be.  I’ll lose my goddamn mind if she — yeah, she has to be.”

“She will,” Jonathan nodded, speaking firmly.  Assuringly.  “She’s not going anywhere.”

Steve bit his lip, staring at his hands.  

Jonathan shuffled his feet, feeling shy again before asking… “So hey…are we cool?  Like actually really, finally cool?”

Steve looked up at that, eyes shining with relief and kindness.  He stood up, extending a hand out for a firm handshake.  “Yeah man.  We’re cool.  For good.”

Jonathan felt relief wash over him entirely as he shook Steve’s hand, pulling him in for a tight hug.  And Steve felt like he had just made so much peace with his old self in a multitude of ways, over one honest conversation with Byers.  While he wished it had happened sooner, he realized…maybe if it had, it wouldn’t have led to this.  This true sense of peace that came with newfound mature understanding that both of them had grown into individually.

Byers and Harrington could be friends now.  They both had peace to find with Nancy Wheeler, but if they were being brutally honest with themselves — that wasn’t going to be possible until the two of them had hashed it out, once and for all.  And now that they had, Steve could let Nancy know that he had finally moved on…once and for all...and so could she.

And Jonathan could go make things right with her — whether that led to them deciding to take time apart, or getting his girl back.

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[holyghostbelle]

STEVE HARRINGTON MUST DIE

Its been a year since someone spread a rumour to you school that you've sucked off half the football team in one night. one year of catcalls, one year of graffitied lockers and bullying, so when you find out his majesty king Steve is behind the rumour its time to take drastic action against him. King!Steve x reader

chapter one:

SLUT is written haphazardly across your locker, the sharpie is smeared unevenly and you spit into a tissue hopping it takes even a little bit of the black ink off, your going to kill who ever keeps doing this, your promise you will, well maybe not kill, maybe throw a milkshake over them or paint on their car. 

It's the fourth time this month and you grimace as the janitor moves you out the way  taking a jar of rubbing alcohol to remove the lovely compliment across your locker, at least it wasn't the sherbet candy like last time, poured in through the crack of the door with spray with perfume, all over your fucking shoes, they stuck the the ground for a week. 

Eddie leans across the locker next to you and smiles. “ they spelt it right this time” you smile remembering the backwards ‘s’ and extra ‘e’ 

“Idk i kinda like slute , felt french, come on freak were going to be late for art” 

“Okay wench” 

That's what you liked about Eddie, his light heartedness towards the shit you got from the cool preppy kids, it didn't matter if they insulted him or you for that matter, words were just words at the end of the day. But anything more and you'd both throw a punch for each other. 

You sit next to each other at the back of class and paint. Eddies drawing some kind of monster with a head and jaws unhinged a Demogorgan? You don't bother to learn the name, apart from the fact he is totally obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons. You usually gossip or talk about music, mainly the music for your band. “Satanic panic” formed after the christian hate of all things nerdy. 

Watched the exorcist movie? Liked a Metallica song? Took out a Stephen King novel from the library? Or do you carry a crystal around in your bag? Well bad news kids you're a satanist you've been possessed by the devil ! Come join the local gay hating church where we rid you of sins and put you in pressed yellow shirts and blue slacks, your sins will all be but forgotten!

“Are you coming to steves tonight?” Eddie grins, he shades in the mouth area as you collage words from the newspaper on to the cast of Baywatch. 

“Yeah of course! I love watching the popular kids get drunk and embarrass themselves” you look over to Tommy and Carol sitting at the table next to you, there with other kids you don't remember the names of carbon copies of whatever stars have been making the rounds on MTV. 

‘Ricks got the shit stuff in again but I'm gonna say it's skunk, you know ?” 

"Good idea, saving the good shit for us huh?” 

He laughs at you, and you gaze at the popular table, carols missing and then something splashes over the table and your hair is all wet , it drips off your face and stains your work and the table a dark red, you look up at her and she winces. 

“Oh I'm so sorry” she pouts and then laughter fills the room. Eddie looks at you with concern, gripping at your arm to stop you from throwing a punch, you wipe your hair and grasp at her shoulder  “it's okay i get it its a mistake” you smile and take your hand away leaving a red stain on her white cashmere jumper. 

‘Oh im so sorry” you fake wince as if you didn't mean too and then you stand. You tower over her by two inches in your boots smiling as you walk away. 

You roll your eyes in the corridor, going to your locker to grab an extra shirt. 

You blindly pull yourself into the bathroom and witness the mess your left with, dark paint water stains your face like blood, your hair is a sopping mess and the shirt you have on its covered in lumps of paint, you shed the shirt leaving it on the floor before rinsing your hair and face under the sink, then your grab some tissue and rub at your forehead where the acrylic has started to dry. The door swings open and foot steps approach you. 

“You're in the boys bathroom” 

You turn your head under the sink to look at whoever has approached, it's the almighty, King Steve . Your eyes widen and you glance over the urinals in the mirror. 

“Fuck” you squeeze the water out of your hair and rinse your hands quickly. Grabbing your shirt off the floor, you turn to exit. Steve grabs your arm and stops you. 

“You're not wearing a shirt,” he grins and you look down at your chest, lacy black bralette covering you. 

You look into his eyes as you shove the clean shirt on. He takes a piece of tissue and wipes the red from around your eyes. 

“your pretty when you're not being mean”

You snatch the tissue out of his hand and throw it in the bin as you swing the door open.

“Asswipe”

“Slut!” he shouts at you, as you flick the middle finger towards him.

“He's kinda an asshole” Eddie sips his beer, hand wet with condensation, the paper label is already peeling. 

“Who, Billy?” you gaze at the glorified Calvin Klein model of a high-schooler, his button up is undone and the crowd of girls are screaming as he does another body shot off sweaty tanned skin. He winks as he catches your gaze, licking his lips and gesturing  you over your face shrivels up in disgust , shaking your head a very clear no.

“No, Steve” he mutters.

And then you glance at  Steve. He leans over another senior high-schooler, glancing down into her eyes and you can tell that her legs are just about to wobble in anticipation. Her hair falls into her face and he pushes it behind her ear, calculated. She swoons and blushes hiding her face in her hands and then he pulls them away and says something. Whatever that is, it's enough because she's grasping at his striped shirt. Steve notices that he's being stared at and he meets your eyes, his hand waves and you scoff into your beer, eyes squinting. 

You tuck your now clean hair behind your ear, “He's a slut yeah, he's not as bad as the others.” Your head cocks to the side as you ponder. You're standing in Steve's house, against the white wall, eddies made about 200 hundred dollars in the past hour from selling coke and weed to the local crowd, he doesn't tell you this but he always sneaks a twenty into your pocket before you leave.

“He broke Jonathan's camera like last year.” 

“Okay but in his defence! I heard from Julie who heard from Carol that he was taking photos of that sophomore Nancy getting undressed, hiding in a bush”  

“He's a bully, he plays around with girls hearts and he only invites us because i sell drugs” 

“Okay so he's an asshole, but he's only ever called me a few names” you shrug sipping you beer as you look over to Eddie, his mohawk has nearly grown out from his punk stage and now he rocks a greasy mullet, his curls tucked behind his ears, you're happy you convinced him to not dye his hair pink, telling him he would get half as many girls as he already did, putting him into the negatives. 

Eddie’s head looks down, his hand bushing back the tiny curls around his forehead.“Oh fuck-okay! Please don't kill me” he put his hands up in defence.

“Spit it out Munson”

“He's the one that started to the rumour that you sucked off half the football team last year”

You clench your teeth, squinting at Eddie before hitting the upside of his head. 

“What the fuck Eddie you didnt think to tell me ? I was blaming Heather the whole time, I'm gonna go over there” your back parts the wall quickly in a fit of rage before Eddie's hand grabs your arm back and you meet the wall again.

“Don't fight him,Jesus!”

You clench your fists.

“Eddie, people still call me a slut, you know what happened today and I was told if I get one more mark on my locker I have to pay to get it painted over.” 

Eddie sighs, staring at you as his eyebrows raise. "starting a fight with Steves not even gonna work, he wouldn't hit you, you're a girl”

“But you could” you smile “He's put me through hell for a year, all because of a stupid rumour.”

“If i hit the guy i lose business, look don't do anything drastic, please”

You smile at Eddie, it's mischievous, the smile takes up your whole face, your eyes are alert and you laugh to yourself. 

“For fucks sake, Go on” he asks intrigued, eyes rolling.

“Okay, you make a bet with Steve"

“What bet?” 

“Something like, i won't date him or say i love you, and then he gains a guilty conscious and tells me it's all a bet because he really likes me, and i tell him oh i knew the whole time, and hes like devastated bcs i was in on it and i don't like him”

“All because he told the school you're a cocksucker, what if he tells you I made a bet?” 

You look at him in the eye and nod “for all the girls he's ever treated like shit Eddie, like really teach him a lesson, make that asshole think he can't do whatever he wants, you said it yourself, he's an asshole, besides he's not gonna tell me if there's something he can get out of it, Men like games” 

“That's horrid and insane.” he smiles.

“What can I say, I'm a feminist”

Eddie sighs, and then laughs, “okay” 

“Really? Oh my god, okay, I'm gonna go out for a joint, act really drunk tell him i hate him and then make the bet , and hit on the girl so she leaves or whatever”

Eddie slaps his face, shaking his hair and then chugs down the beer, he smiles and you watch him head over, you give Steve a dirty look, turn and head outside passing Billy's half naked body pouring shots. 

There's a slight chill in the air, it's not warm enough for people to get in the pool this time of year so you watch couples hunching together on lawn chairs with blankets wrapped around each other. You glance over your shoulder, seeing Eddie point at you through the glass doors and then you catch Steve's eye, you play it coy. Lighting your joint and looking him up and down. You face the pool again. Wrapping your bomber jacket around yourself as the wind hits your face. 

“Brought you a blanket.” you feel something get wrapped around your shoulders and you hide your smile. Looking up at Steve, he's just about six feet. 

“Thanks” you say nodding. Inhaling your joint and blowing the smoke out directly on his face. 

His eyes gaze up and down at yours and he leans against the wooden railing of the decking. 

“Parties huh.” he sighs looking off into the distance one hand smoothing his hair back.

There's a pause “Oh! You don't like them?” you ponder, eyebrows raising. You hear the beat of the Bangles behind you, and a smashing of glass.

“Not really, but you know, gotta make appearances.” he shrugs.

“This is your house, Steve, you invited everyone” you laugh.

He looks at you, head cocking to the side and then he grabs your hand, his thumb rubbing softly against your palm. “yeah” he bites his bottom lip. And you blink through your lashes at him. 

He takes your joint from your hand, breathing it in and then he just walks away. And you're utterly confused, you look at Eddie through the glass door who puts his hands up questioning and you shake your head confused eyebrows furrowed and robbed of half a joint, blanket hanging off your shoulder.

What the fuck.

“So I told him, you like to hate his guts” Eddie grunts, hand against the wheel of his beat up van, he inhales his cigarette and throws it out the window with ease “and he laughed like actually laughed and then said, No one hates me, this will be easy and I was like oh yeah wanna make a bet? and then he was like her?! Easiest three five of my life!" and then he left.” 

“Wow, Dick oh I can't wait to ruin his little life. Rich cunt” you smile as Eddie pulls into the trailer park, parking at his trailer. He looks at you, sprawled across the car seat, your legs pulled up on the chair to avoid getting beer and fast food all over your white shoes.

“Well, what did he say?”he asks.

‘Oh shit! yeah, urm he said he has to make appearances at parties” you bunny ear at the sentence, laughing “and then i was like Steve this is your house, and he grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes for like a minute, stole my joint and just walked off ? I’m so confused” You push your hair back out your face, snatching your bag up from the seat. “can i stay over tonight i way too high to drive home” you ask. 

‘You know you don't have to ask, just be quiet, Wayne's sleeping.” he pats your thigh.

continue on

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#king steve x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things x reader #stranger things but not strange #stranger things

[fumikomiyasaki]

The Apple Princess

A dating sim Idea that was actually started by @wanou-dorm​ mentioning how Nextunia might make a Dating sim based on Carols crushes...

And I made a reality out of it... kinda...

I feel if she noticed this she asked the dorm to censor the game so people don’t know its about her... but she would play it.

I took a lot of time and work on this so I would appreciate anyone sharing it.

Under the cut is the whole prologue, routes and endings:

Once upon a time there was a Kingdom known for its many apple trees, knowledge seeking scholars and Nature filled gardens… among this Kingdom ruled a King and a Queen… and they were busy in the preparations for the Future. 11 Suitors, noble, lord and prince alike to meet the young princess of the Kingdom, often known as Apple princess by the name of Carol… the fair maiden should choose her Candidate to rule the kingdom with her in this very month…

Hesitant, the young princess looked in the mirror at her dress…  Nervous about what Gentleman might await her… why couldn’t it be like the same stories she read about in this book of hers… that she may find true love without being forced in this situation. Alas she couldn’t refuse her parents call… where else would she go if she did. She stepped out of her Chambers… and greeted the same Knight that protected her for a while.

James: Knight in Charge of protecting her… he leads her to the chambers where the suitors arrive… giving her words of encouragement and that he be there for her if someone might cause trouble. They talk about old times a little so she will be less nervous.

Stepping into the Chambers She already finds some commotion going on in the middle. 

Looking at her Suitors she was a bit overwhelmed by the presence…Two very tall men were arguing in the middle while a smaller blond man was trying to get their presence to the princess entering the room… Alas all of them went to the side to not only greet the princess but also the King and Queen who followed right behind her… and so they asked Carol to sit down on the throne in the middle of the room so each suitor could introduce himself to her.

Parker: The first to introduce himself was a young blond man…seemingly serious but when looking at her calmly stating his name and his house… however he didn’t want to share that much about his origins. She was glad he was just polite and her being tense slowly calmed down although she felt somewhat worried given he didn’t share much more and just went to his place in the room. Carol looked shortly over to James a bit nervous about all this but he nodded as if to say it's fine.

Daido: The next to introduce himself.. she heard about him from the previous maids chatting about some of the suitors… the lord of a ruthless Kingdom… At least so they say, his attitude towards the other tall male in the room was aggressive as she had seen before so she was a little intimidated but something about this smirk at her made her shiver… Until he took her hand and said he would keep her safe and with a blush she said she looked forward to getting to know him more. A lie to hide a little bit of her reservation about him.

Jesh: After him the one who previously picked a fight with the Lord from before spoke up, his attitude flirty, his eyes like she is his prey and something about him in general seems off… Her parents told her that he is a Noble from a house that has many businesses with other kingdoms and that he would be beneficial but something about him made her think he is not here for her, but her status. Still he shamelessly kissed her hand and said he could keep her engaged… And then he went back to two other servants of his, also pink haired, that accompanied him.

Des: Next was Prince Des who seemed compared to the previous Suitors a bit more refreshing… He immediately shared a little about him and his kingdom as well that he was also curious if her kingdom also was versed with Art given they had so many scholars. He said he would be interested to get to know what she is interested in, which gave her a good impression as he bowed and went back to his place.

Dos:  Prince Dos approached her with a smile, telling a little about his Kingdom. He made a polite yet excited impression… he started a far more casual chat than an actual attempt at introducing himself, something that overwhelmed her… so the Queen and King said he might have time to chat more with her later. And with a nod he went back to his place.

Damien: The Noble Damien had somewhat of an odd aura. Charming yet she noticed him moving his mouth oddly, as if he tried to hide his teeth… in general he was a charmer, also taking her hand and complimenting her beauty… and how he would love for her to be his… many glares followed him as he let out one smirk and said he will try his all to win her heart… a bold claim yet it was interesting to her. 

Cho-hee: Reserved about introducing himself, Cho-hee stepped up stating his name and his kingdom, as he made a comment about the sea surrounding it Carol got interested because of a book she read. Although her mother noticed her to tone it down Cho-hee got interested. He wasn’t confident in promising her something given he was forced to join as a suitor. But he said that during his stay he will show interest in getting to know her. 

Azure:The Young noble stepped up but instead of introducing himself, he quickly shot to ask the princess what her favorite Book is. As she answered truthfully he had a small smile on his face as if approving. He stated his name and his kingdom, then looked at her saying he would be in general interested in this kingdom and its people, and he would love it if she could tell him a little more…

Kalida: she was surprised as this noble was hiding most of his body in his clothes, as she asked him if she could see his face without the mask he refused, He told the princess to not worry, in due time he would show his face fully if she took interest in him but for now he feels more comfortable like this. She nods that she understands and as he bows to leave to his seat she still looks after him.

Watson: The Noble already pulled out a rose from his pocket and gave it to her… making compliments about how beautiful she is, more beautiful than this very rose he holds. She grew bright red… Before some of the others told him to tone it down he cleared his throat and said he will do his best to impress as much as he can. Before leaving for his seat.

After they introduced themselves the king spoke up, but Carol interrupted him asking that there were 12 suitors, not 11. The King smiled at his daughter and said the 12th she will meet in due time… in confusion they started the banquet… but before Carol sat down with the other suitors, James noticed how uneasy she was and used the usual tactic… taking her out of the room to the kitchen so she can clear her head…

In the kitchen she encountered two men preparing the dinner.

Ronald: Ronald worked in the castle for a while as the one in charge of desserts, she knows him well and often has some nice chats with him, so she greeted him with a smile and asked what he was making this time… They had a comfortable chat about the dinner until someone else came back in.

Trey: He just recently joined the kitchen given his talents and already took over being in charge although Ronald has been here for longer… Trey is a master cake maker and has a bakery of his parents in the city so he tries to get inspired in the royal kitchen and greets the Princess gentlemanly…

Although she wanted to talk with them more James asked if she calmed down and she nodded back going to the dinner table.

She sat on the table with all of her suitors and chats began as they waited for the food… she gets asked some questions and these choices determine in some cases how much affection she shows some suitors and which route you might end up on… She felt slowly more at ease getting to know some of these gentlemen and spoke up more, sharing a little about herself. Although some of those flirts thrown at her definitely got her flustered and a little off.  As soon as the party was done her parents asked her to attend her Piano lessons and then soon she could rest…

And so she went to the music chamber to meet Jonas.

Jonas: Is for a while her Music tutor… She learned from him to play Piano and admires him a lot. Although he is odd and often a little awkward she finds that pretty charming and so gained a feeling of fondness for him…

She chatted with him about the day while he showed her which keys to press… the situation made her mind be occupied with a lot of thoughts and although she did her best, Jonas noticed it and asked her if they would keep the lesson short so she can rest.

Exciting the room she ran into the two servants she saw with Jesh before who smiled excitedly with her.

Lustre: He already held her hand gently and inspected the dress she wore… he introduced himself as a local tailor for the noble and so he is inspired by seeing all the new kinds of dresses in this kingdom, given he rarely goes out of the noble house usually. She did ask how he feels about the Noble and Lustre answered although he can be a mess, he does treat them well…

Maya: Next to him was a servant in a maid dress… having a sweet cute smile at her… admiring her as well… she asked him too about the Noble and he showed some praise that he treats them with care… trying to make him seem in a better light… before he actually notices her being nervous in general and says, it will be fine. 

The both Servants were interrupted by Jesh coming back and asking where they wandered off to as he saw the princess talk to them and had his smirk again beamed at her. 

Making a joke about if she wanted to stay at his chambers so they can talk a bit more privately but she refused politely, bowed and said her goodbyes to the group…

At night she tried to take in the whole situation… and sighed at how many thoughts plagued her.  She noticed her bracelet had some small damage on it from the last time she went out to go through the gardens, so she might visit the town's blacksmith.

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Day 2

At breakfast she sat down with the suitors and they were disagreeing on who gets to spend time with her first… some even started passive aggressively fighting… so much so that she got frustrated and stood up from the table…

It depends on your dialogue options… either you can stay and speak up that she will make a game on who will get to spend time with her first, making a plan… or you can go outside.

Walking outside will enable a secret path… her parents wanted to stop her but she said she will be back once her head is cleared…. she walked into the woods to take a breather… sitting down on a stone… and lightly screaming in frustration… as she heard some of the leaves ruffle in the bush nearby. She stood up and tried to see what it was and as she spied some antlers at first she figured it would be a deer but instead a tall man stood up and looked down at her.

Esca: He put his hand behind his head smiling at the princess and apologizing if he scared her… he has been living in the woods for a while and usually he doesn’t expect others to pass by. She smiled at him and said she wasn’t scared but surprised which caught him off guard… He asked her why she feels sad and basically she just tells him about how she wished her life was more like a fairy tale… that someone would be the true love that rescues her. He put a hand on her head affirming her that things are not that easy but… maybe she will encounter someone if she wanted to. However his words showed a bit of Sorrow, as he was thinking about something.

Another choice pops up… one to promise to visit him again, the other to thank him… if you thank him the path is avoided and you go for the other suitors, if you promise to see him again his route starts.

Staying will make a draw a stick game pass and you can decide who wins. The Esca path sadly won’t be accessible then. She will get to know each of the main 10 suitors more… but she noticed something odd… Dos wasn't there today… but instead it was another pink haired man who looked more grumpy… her parents introduced him as Lord Lio and he is from the same kingdom as Dos. He seemed a little more harder to approach and also his glare frightened her yet she took a deep breath and greeted him. 

Here is the events you will go through with each suitor (how well you answer the more likely you will get that route)

-Parker: takes her to practicing Archery together,  claiming it's a hobby of his however he still seemed to avoid a lot of questions she has. Eventually this closeness and some of his words however got her red and she could have a closer look at how pretty he is.

-Daido: The Lord carried her off himself to a certain tower in the castle.. it was for her a shock to suddenly be carried like this but the view over the kingdom and getting to know a bit more about him made up for it. He mentioned another noble he was in a territory fight with and who wanted to take all he cares about… so he wanted to find someone to be with to support him… She could somehow understand it. 

-Jesh, Lustre, Maya: The Noble and his servants pulled her into a more unknown part of the city she ruled over for a while. Lustre before this offered her a dress that showed a little bit more skin which she did agree one cause she liked the design… they looked at some singers doing small shows in taverns as Jesh let his flirts play a little and although the princess was stubborn… some of them hit. Maya and Lustre also chatted with her throughout this. 

-Des: With him she explores one of the local portraits in the castle taking a small walk… they chat about some things and how she is terrible at painting and making pots so he offered to show her how to make some, they did pottery together 

-Lio: Given she didn't know him yet she tried to strike up a conversation but he was secretive about some things… They just ate some dinner together and she tried to get to know at least a bit of it. 

-Damien: He took her to dance with him in one of the halls of the castle… what she noticed now that she was closer was his very sharp teeth… however he overplayed her gazes with some compliments, hints however showed that he was a little too obsessed with her, still the dance was pleasant

-Cho-Hee: They both took a stroll around the back of the castle near the sea… He was actually honest about him being forced to participate but she said they are alike then… she is also hesitant about the whole suitor search so she relates but she still wants to get to know everyone including him,  maybe she does eventually fall for someone she says… and if not she can still run away…. He was surprised by her view and they continued to chat. 

-Azure: with him she has a date in the Library as they both discuss their favorite books and literature… Although he didn't talk as much it was very comforting to her and she was happy to have someone to chat about books with. She got curious about what he was writing but he was still hesitant to share it. 

-Kalida: He took her around the outer walls of the Kingdom to not be seen by many, she thought he comes off as distant to people in general but getting to actually Talk to him she notices he means no harm… at least not verbally. She also understood not to speak up about why he hid part of his body with accessories…

-Watson: with Watson she walked through the rose garden, he was a gentleman in general, treating her like a true romantic however as she brought up the topic of his family he froze up and tried to avoid the topic, despite that they could share flower thoughts and ideas

After the suitors all had a date she sits in a room with James who asked how she was doing currently,  as she flopped exhausted on the bed… it was so many people to meet at once… he could cheer up with a story of that one time she wanted an adventure and they both encountered some dangerous people Where he protected her from getting Kidnapped… her parents scolded her for suddenly leaving the castle and wanted to take James from his duty but Carol defended him and he was grateful he still got to serve her… they had a moment of silence looking at each other until her parents called her again. With a blush of awkwardness they both again went separate ways. 

Her parents talked to her Piano instructor Jonas, who wanted to help her perform a song quickly for tonight's joint dinner again. 

And so she and Jonas have a long casual chat about the past as well, how he often helped her express her words better to her parents cause the music in her head calmed her and so on. 

She used the leftover free time to go to town and fix her bracelet at the black smiths… however the blacksmith wasn’t present, instead it was one of the people learning under him, Punch who looked at the princess with a blush.

Punch: He actually has been hearing a lot of stories about the princess but meeting her in person was quite the shock. As she handed him the bracelet he did his all to fix up the scratches and damage of it. She bowed to him with a smile but also was fascinated by all the little inventions he had on his shelf… so she asked a little about them… after a casual chat she left him some extra coins and thanked him for the hard work… and made her way back to the castle

Her parents thanked her daughter for being so patient and so far not causing trouble with the other suitors and although she still felt hesitant and worried in her heart… she nodded and asked if to calm her nerves she could get her favorite dish served tonight. They agreed and asked her to tell the kitchen herself… This leads to meeting Trey and Ronald again but talking to them separately. She meets Ronald first in the kitchen and they chat about the old times when he started in the kitchen and had to deal with her pickiness. After a while Trey came in and asked Ronald to serve some of the finished dishes. Carol asked him if he was able to make her favorite dish for her and he meant it would be an honor, he has admired the princess for a while and it is to him something great he can finally serve his dishes to her. After chatting about his bakery you once again get to have dinner with all the suitors… suddenly Dos being part of the group again and Lio being gone. She answered some more questions of the other suitors and finished her food.

After dinner she wanted to walk up to her room but followed a certain noise that made her uneasy… on the balcony she saw a stranger… saying he has been watching her for a while… and he came to ask her some things… if you answer his questions a certain way… you activate the Yasuno route, which is another secret route. After the talk with the stranger she still leaves to her room… trying to think about everything.

Carol looked up at the stars… consulting them about what happened…. And as if in a fairytale…. A little pink haired fairy descended trying to help her with her choice… answering the fairy some questions… the Route will finally lock in and you will be set to follow one of the following routes. 

Trigger warnings: Suggestive, Death (Including families), Kidnapping, Yandere,  BUT ONLY FOR SOME BAD ENDINGS

Please only read good endings when you want fluff instead.

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The Barry Route

If you either managed to piss everyone off or spread affection points even to every suitor…. Carol will be indecisive and ask her parents for more days to decide. Fed up with this seeming like an excuse they sighed and said if she wants to be like this it's best they shouldn't have given her the choice in the first place… and that night they also got and offer from another Noble that was willing to make their Kingdom even richer than those other nobles, princes and Lord. 

And so… they married her off to said Noble… Mr. Parton…. A self fixated arrogant blonde who only cared about her status and looks, as well as that she obeyed his command. 

The other suitors left in disappointment, the workers who cared about her seemed saddened about her leaving, James looked at her with pity and worry as she weakly waved at him… and so she became a Trophy wife… the feeling of love never to be obtained… but at least her parents benefited from this.

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The Parker Route @rookvonhunt​

On Parker's path you mainly slowly find out why he has been hiding so much… most of the time he teaches you some combat and archery, tells you about the Brigade but in a way that you don’t know about his true identity as well as slowly notice his prowess with weapons and all…  the bad ending would happen early if he doesn’t get attached to her but if you spend more time with him, you find him one night holding a knife in his hand and thanks to you words manage to stop him from killing… and talk about why he was ordered to do it. He is confused on why should hear out a person who just tried to kill someone dear to her but she would answer with: Everyone has a reason and she wants to know if she can forgive him somehow or just report him to the guards… this gesture would draw them closer… as he wants to know more about why her way of thinking is just so uncorrupted yet. Over time he slowly grows some feelings and attachment so much that one attack on the castle he protects her and gets injured… 

True Ending: On the last day on the ball, Carol proposes to Parker that she would want him to be the one to rule the kingdom with her… he doesn’t like the thought fully… so she suggested that they just get married and run away instead… her parents could still ask her sister… she just wants to be with him no matter what. He was surprised she was willing to give up so much but agreed to her proposal… a wedding is seen with the brigade present whereas at the ceremony she shoots an arrow right into a fire ring… and they share a kiss sealing the contract. 

Good Ending: She tells her parents she wants to be with Parker but for now she doesn’t want to rush it with a marriage… he takes her to meet the brigade and they make a deal with Satin about how they can search for more comfortable work…. and although she might not be able to stop them from crimes completely it's a deal she is willing to take, if it means Parker doesn’t have to kill anymore. The last scene shows them holding hands looking over the balcony as he asks her if they wanna go on a journey together and then return to the kingdom.

Bad Ending: Not being able to win over his heart… she one night wanted to talk to her parents about how to approach the situation and found… him and the brigade he was with… having slain her parents who laid dead on the floor, with one swift move… he also pushed a dagger into her stomach… avoiding his eyes from her… and so the kingdom had no King, queen or princess anymore.

Alt Ending: One night as she slept in her room she opened her eyes to see parker stand at her bed… as she asked him why he was there he only said she should forget everything about him and makes her drink a potion… it's like the dating sim begins anew… only this time… only that she lost all memories about him… and starts her search for love anew.

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The Daido Route @forestwispocs​

With Daido you slowly unweave what is behind all those rumors… and what is true or not… you encounter some of his underlings, among them Ebi who talks bad about him, his brother Shima who praises him, Tallie who is a maid that often tells he can be aggressive at times but he treats the people under him well and it's hard to believe what is actually the truth… Then on the second day of his Route you encounter Maju who boasts about how he wants to make part of his land his… and stops by this Castle to see if Daido is plotting a strike against him… As he tries to flirt with the Princess Daido gets very aggressive and protective of her�� the bad ending would start if Carol makes him believe this anger is right and to get what he wants he needs to show this mercilessness to his enemies… the Alt ending will be encountered if the next times each time you talk to Maju she will actually be more nice and casual about it rather than refuse him… after the outlash Daido explains a little about his kingdom and the role his father left him behind with and him just trying to fit in as a ruler. He does mention his kid too and opens up as she shows affection and understanding towards him. Showing him there is more than just listening to rumors and being what others want you to be.

True Ending:  Getting so close with one another on that last day he took her to the gardens and asked her to sit down on his lap… he offered her a small box with a ring in it… and once again thanked her for making him realize many things about himself. Overcome by happiness she held him close… and agreed to the proposal but telling him she wants to rule his land with him… not her kingdom… you hear many citizens talking about new rumors circulating… about the woman who brought peace to their so-called ruthless ruler… on the wedding Shima carried Kimi bringing the rings into the altar as she looked up at Daido with loving eyes and kissed him. A symbol of a more peaceful era for this kingdom. 

Good Ending: On the last day she tells him that she is in love with him but wants to help him first resolving the conflict with Maju… and so she asked her parents out on what they could do. In general this good ending just involves them getting back on making peace between them and her meeting Kimi for the first time… She visits his Land with him and they both look over it… she hugs his arm and promises that she will be there for him from now on. 

Bad Ending:  Instead of showing Daido that he is more than those rumors, she manipulates him to believe in them… and become the ruthless ruler people made him out to be. In the end you see her sitting with him on a throne, whispering some words in his ears… which made the person being judged before them be taken care of and executed… She placed a kiss on Daido and giggled in satisfaction… they made a kingdom together, letting her sit on a throne of lies…  Is this really love? It doesn’t seem like it at all.

Alt Ending: Maju was the one mentioned throughout the route to want to take everything that is dear to Daido… and in this route he is successful in kidnapping the princess. Daido tries to stop him but in the end Maju takes her off in a carriage and flees… Back in his noble house you can see a picture of her in a green wedding gown… sitting at a chair looking out the window… waiting for anyone to come and save her…

__________________________________________________________

The Pink Trio Route @silent-dragon​

At first thinking you will only get to date Jesh, Carol was hesitant about this choice… especially after on the first day hearing some rumors that he might only be interested in money but… something about him intrigued her and so she risked the choice. However, as she wanted to talk to Jesh, she found Lustre in his room instead and asked her to model for some of his dresses… she was a little overwhelmed yet agreed because she was curious… Maya helped them as well, stopping the cleaning of the room and choosing some accessories to fit her and as Jesh came back into the room he was amused and somewhat flirting with her on how good she looked.Giving into most flirts he does this path right away leans to the Alt ending… while the bad ending is refusing all of them fully and not taking interest in him… the best way to do this route is to react polite yet a bit keeping him on a short leash yet be curious with choices… the route evolves in him slowly growing attached to her… Lustre often encourages her and also gives her some flirts, while Maya shows some affections towards her as well… she will in the path be conflicted because she has grown to like all three… but if she told her parents that, they would look at her in disdain, given she was supposed to only choose one suitor and not cause a scandal. Deep into the route Jesh will also tell a bit about his greed but that he grew to be genuinely interested in her. 

True Ending: The same conversation as the good ending starts, but after they had an agreement Jesh pulled her to the side to be alone with her… jokingly saying he hates to spend money but he had to get her this and hands out a ring to her… she quickly becomes bright red and gets picked up by him for a kiss to say yes. After telling her parents the news you can see a wedding that in all seems pretty fancy, and although Jesh and Carol marrying in the forefront another scene plays later where Maya and Lustre also wear dresses and Carol smiles brightly. Mainly because they were alone and her parents were gone at that time back to their kingdom… signaling a more hopeful end.

Good Ending: Given she is conflicted because she likes all three, she takes one time to meet Jesh and his servants in a private chamber to talk it out… All three looked each other with a smile saying there is no problem given the 4 of them could just be together but Carol stated the problem of her parents not approving of this… and so the plan is simple… she will announce that she chose Jesh as her suitor and keep the relationship with the other two a secret… and so she goes with them to his Noble house and a scene is played where Lustre is once again picking outfits for them both to wear for a fancy party and all three start to hug her and knock her over.

Bad Ending: One night she followed a howling outside of the castle… and that was when she encountered Jesh in his wereform… and how he injured two servants of the castle… in fear she ran inside and hid away… at first she didn’t know it was him but as she looked outside again, she saw him trying to calm himself and transform back… after this incident she just felt unnerving that he didn’t tell her that… as well as slightly feared the eyes he had in that form. This fear overtook her and she told the king and queen that she asked the three to leave the kingdom… of course they are confused cause this is a sudden decision but… Her eyes and how they looked like a cornered animal made Jesh assume why and he left with his head down… while Lustre and Maya ask him what is going on… Carol still felt saddened about this for a while.

Alt Ending: Following some Flirty advances of Jesh… Carol ended up in a room as the three lay in bed with her… One heated kiss with Jesh and some touches from the other two cut the screen to black… the next day her parents found her with the three in bed together… and were shocked that their daughter would do such things behind their back… she was supposed to keep up appearances… As Carol felt cornered by the accusations of her parents, Jesh stepped up to say if she isn’t home here, he will take her with him to his noble house… and she will have a new home. And although in this ending she also ends up with the three… the relationship leans more on desire than actual love… as shown by her wearing much more alluring clothes and seeming only there to please. After all, she didn’t get to know them much in this ending.

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The Des route @thetwstwildcard​

Mainly she finds him back at the art gallery of her house and asks him to help her overcome her weakness of being terrible at crafts… tension is built up of touching hands and being close but also her getting less nervous about the situation she is in… She would often however notice him speak to himself which she is confused about… 

Often she would tell him about stories she would read and he would sketch some things to it… until slowly feelings blossom and he draws them both in those love stories… It comes out later that he can talk to ghosts. And once she does she gets curious and asks some questions… He sees her slowly as a muse he is dedicated to, and she slowly starts to fall more and more for his charms, seeing him calm her spirits and let her forget her duties as a princess.

True Ending: This time she found the other sketches in a room and got red looking at them, as he came in she tried to act like she saw nothing but he noticed… a comment that guess he has to do this earlier slips him and he hands her a small box with a ring… if she would like to come with him to his kingdom… which she happily agreed to and quickly pressed a kiss on him. The wedding played out with even the ghosts being present during that time, just others don’t notice them. She squeezed his hand tight and looked at him assuredly before taking off her veil to face him… the same smile as seen in previous drawings staring back at him. It became a reality.

Good Ending:  On the last day she finally caught him sketching the both of them and she found it very flattering. He was a bit nervous but she was there to ask him if he wanted to stay with her… Visibly he was surprised but took her hand and let her sit down, so he could actually show more of those sketches he did, making her red from how much he thought about her… both went to her parents so she can tell them the news and a scene plays where she stays at his kingdom. She seems beaming red playing a model for him but after he chatted with her you can see her smile is very genuine and happy.

Bad Ending: Similar to alt ending she got too curious and one of the ghosts start possessing her given Des didn’t manage to calm them… and so he tried to fix the situation and get this ghost out of her but to no avail… worse she pushed him away and hurt him… he left the kingdom in shame… and the princess was never the same…

Alt Ending: The same ghosts he has been talking to he has done a ceremony to keep them under control… however given Carol has misinterpreted his Talking to himself as suspicious she follows him to try to see what is going on… as she actually sees the ghosts talk to him, she stumbles backwards…. falling down the stairs… and as she hit her head but survived she completely forgot about it… but she also forgot about everything anymore… And so she became empty.

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The Dos/Lio/Crimson route @rookvonhunt​

This route will be confusing cause you constantly switch from meeting Dos to meeting Lio on occasion… while Dos makes her smile and laugh a lot, Lio she is somewhat distrustful of yet intrigued by… Eventually throughout talking with both of them she encounters a third individual called Crimson…. a mercenary who stays in town… talking to all three she has a theory but does not speak up on it… if she gets too much and asks too many personal questions the bad end is near. The path introduces Trinity too as Dos told a little story about his former wife, while Carol notices that Trinity also knows Lio too… her theory becomes more clear. She is asking how both Prince Dos and Lord Lio can rule over the land after many talks building up trust and the secret slowly comes out that they both are the same person… 

True Ending:  In the case of this ending she actually knows about his criminal activities but also knows about all three and spends enough time with them to get attached… She herself proposes the marriage in hopes that they don’t have to rely on these activities with her money… but also because she fell for all three of them… Lio reluctantly agreed knowing that Dos as well would be very happy about it… and somewhat he felt attached too he does not admit this though… She goes back to his land and a scene plays with Trinity as the flower girl, and Dos smiling happily next to Carol in her dress. Both looking at each other smiling.

Good Ending: Knowing about the Truth she said she doesn’t mind it cause although she likes Dos a little more she would love to get to know Lio more as well… especially she would care for Trinity as she was her own. Hearing this assurance, Lio agreed if that is her choice he won’t stop her… but that he might be hiding more things. With her words that she doesn’t care as long as she gets to be with them they agreed to this and she told her parents about her decision… they already knew about the two suitors being one… A scene plays where Carol sits on the couch with Trinity reading books and Dos next to her listening to… a new happy family.

Bad Ending:  She prys too much into Lio's affairs… and as known curiosity kills the cat.. knowing she now knows about the things he does, he knocks her out and she gets sold off for money… Dos not knowing where the princess vanished to give an alibi and the king and queen never saw the princess ever again.

Alt Ending: If Carol tells James about her doubts of Lio, a fight between them will happen one night… where they hold knives against another to threaten the other… She noticed what was happening and broke up the fight… Lio makes an offer to the two… to follow him in what he does and accept it…. or to die right here… Both had no real choice given he used some sort of dark magic to keep them in place but James thought at least when he came with her he could protect the princess… and so both started to stay in the lord's mansion… playing their part…

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The Damien route @hades-eternal​

Being drawn in by his charm Carol decided to give Damien a chance even if his line of doing all to win her over seemed to her a bit concerning… He often invited her for dance lessons, complimented her scent and threw just as much charm at her as he could. If you deny him a lot you get the bad end if you give too much into them you get the alt end. At one night after those times are passed she talks with him honest about how she noticed him avoid the sunlight throughout this time, she only met him inside… he overplayed it again and tried to avoid the question but she said how can she be with him if she can’t know what he thinks and actually wants…. hearing these words he shows his teeth and reveals he is a vampire… but as he expected her to be in terror, she just said that explains a lot and thanked him for sharing.

True Ending: He kneels before her after confessing he is a vampire, that he hasn’t met any princess so far that caught his heart that much and made him feel so cared for… so he wanted to ask her to be his wife… she agreed to it but asked him also about his age… benign hesitant why she asked it she said she would ask again after telling her parents the news. As she finished the talk with them… you see a castle wedding play out, where she looked at him and whispered something in his ear… if after the ceremony he could turn her also into a Vampire… so they could actually stay together forever…. hearing that he was very happy and kissed her on instinct before the priest could finish his words. 

Good Ending: After finding out about this he still asked if they could still spend more time… if he could give her one final dance lesson… She agreed and as they shared a passionate dance, both actually shared a kiss… a clear answer that they felt attracted to one another… Eventually she told her parents she would choose him and another scene plays out where she sits down with him on the bed, having him lean over her as both look at the moonlight from the window… they share another kiss… as he asks her about if she wanted to transform and she said she’ll think about it. 

Bad Ending: If you don’t keep him engaged he moves on to meet her in her chambers in secret and reveals his teeth… sinking them in her neck and sucking her dry until she faints… her servants find her later on the floor… while he already vanished into the fogs of the woods.

Alt Ending:  He grew too obsessed with her and attached… The next day she walked into the dinner table and saw all the suitors as well as her parents attacked by the Vampire… he quickly had her caught in a rope and said he had to deal with them so they could be together forever… She is seen later in his castle, a bite wound on her neck, her eyes weak and him feeding her some things smiling… telling her she will be his one and only queen forever. Her Vampire fangs are shown.

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The Cho-hee route @hey-its-cweepy​

Both already know that their meeting with each other was arranged but despite that Carol felt that he was to her pretty interesting and she could talk with him more genuinely about the situation. He was surprised by her asking to walk with him as he went out to gather his thoughts, asked if his scars look scary to her but she told him not at all. He raised his brows but decided to chat more with her… growing more fond. As he opened up about his insecurities and you don't support him much you likely will end up on the bad end. If she instead even shows him her scar he will seem a bit more at ease… the problem during this route is his family and how they trouble him so Carol tries to find ways to support him. 

True Ending: This time Carol found him at the fountain in the courtyard… he knew his parents wanted to take him back that day if he didn't manage to bring good news and Carol approached him as he grew nervous. She took his hand and pressed something in his hand… a ring that could fit his finger… he was in disbelief that she actually chose him out of all of the suitors but agreed that he grew feelings for her too. However as his parents entered the castle and already wanted to scold him for taking so long Carol and her parents declared that now that she and Cho-hee will get married they are commanded to step down as king and queen, something they didn't want to accept until the royal advisor stated some of their misdeeds. The wedding was celebrated pretty and big, near the shores so that the water could be heard as Cho-hee was brought to the altar by his sister. Carol once again took both his hands in hers before the kiss… making them husband and wife. 

Good Ending: One day they met up back at the beach… where Cho-hee stared at it in thought… Carol said she finally has a solution to how he can finally be free and asked him to come to the castle… There he found his sister seemingly happy and his parents taken off by guards which confused him… turned out they found some dirt on them. He let out a sigh in relief and Carol said she is glad she could help but as she wanted to leave he asked her if they could still spend time with another… cutting to a scene later where him, his sister and Carol walked through the city and he held an arm around her… them all finally seeming like they can enjoy things at peace. 

Bad Ending:  Despite Cho-hee telling her all about his insecurities… Carol chose another suitor instead of him… leading to him being saddened about it… As he returns back to his kingdom he faces some judgement and harsh words from his parents… with drawing to his room and trying to get all this pain out.

Alt Ending: After hearing about Cho-hee's situation with his family, both run away together but as they arrive at the Sea… He handed her a magical potion… she was a little confused by it as he explains… she can still go back or she can follow him to the seas. As he said that he drank the potion and jumped in turning into a sea creature. She nodded and drank the potion as well… and so they began a life together under the Seas.

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The Azure route @rosietrace​

Azures Route revolves around Carol getting him out of her shell and them discussing many stories and literature, sharing some favorites… he often asks her questions about the books he gave her to read, if she answers too many wrong… the bad end might happen. Later she often relaxes with him under one of the apple trees, both enjoying the calm… as she falls asleep on his shoulder from all the stress these last days caused her…  The closeness to her is an odd feeling to her yet he somewhat enjoys it… she grows interested in his writing and he often hears her practise with the Piano instructor and staying nearby… Most of their route likely involves small fluff interactions with her , comparing some stories of her books to them. You also meet Yuuta who in this universe is more the moral support to bring Azure to at least try to talk with her more.

True Ending:  She still gives him the book to read and he opens it without batting an eye just… to notice a ring inside… looking at it in shock. She just told him:”What if I tell you I wanted to be with you as long as I can… what if… we married and have a happy ending like in those books?” He was still in disbelief but started to slightly tear up that she felt the same as him… and agreed right away. Fast forward and they both get married with Yuuta being the best man at his wedding… she has almost the same dress as the princess on this book cover they read about… She noticed him being nervous and held his hand with a small smile to assure him it's fine, before leaning in for a kiss… many of the attendees cheered for them.

Good Ending: She read one particular story she found with him… telling about a princess who fell in love… and after he was done reading one passage he closed the book and told her that he had grown to actually like her a lot… so much so that he wouldn’t mind being with her even longer than this week… she agreed to it and that out of the suitors she liked him the most… and so she informed her parents about this decision… a scene is shown of both of them in the library picking a stack of books to take with them. She gave him a slightly teasing comment and he nearly dropped his books out of embarrassment… and as she placed a kiss on his cheek he met her with a more calm smile… seems both finally could enjoy these stories together.

Bad Ending: Instead of getting to be with Azure, he was too hesitant about trusting her… and so Yuuta took the opportunity of Money and asked Carol's parents instead if he could marry her. They saw how their daughter, despite choosing Azure, seemed hesitant… and so they agreed to Yuuta's proposal given it was beneficial… and so on that dinner night they announced him as the one who won the suitors battle… much to both Azure and Carol's shock… however she couldn’t refuse… where would she go if she just left now… she had no way to refuse this marriage for money… but she apologized to Azure for the circumstances… A scene of the Marriage played… where Azure avoided his eyes and Carol's head hangs low… mainly feeling trapped like a bird in a golden cage.

Alt Ending: As both sit down under one of the apple trees one apple falls on her head and knocks her out… waking up she suddenly felt herself into a more futuristic setting and Azure next to her did wake her up but… suddenly there was no kingdom…. no princess… only space around them… it felt outlandish… as if she got transported to another dimension… being stuck here she grew mad not understanding what was going on… and secluded herself.

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The Kalida Route @vale-ocs-roleplay​

Kalida in this route hides most of his body under golden steel and a mask to not show his monstrous features…  him playing flute was his way to calm himself but it was surprising to him as the princess approached him to listen… At first he thought he left a bad impression but she smiled at him and said it only made her a tad more curious… she noticed at the dinner party that he grabbed seconds of the famed apple pie of her country and during this route might give him one… the bad ending will happen if you give him a feeling of not being accepted, so she has to assure him it's fine to share who he is and that she likes him regardless of it… showing him gentleness and kindness. And making him feel well around her.

True Ending: He felt well enough to stay instead of running away and she sent some of the servants to ask him to go to her room… she prepared his favorite pie for him… or at least tried… but not only that… he eyed a small box sitting next to his plate on the table.. opening it he found a ring and looked at her a bit confused… as she told him she would like for him to be his and rule the kingdom with her… he was in total shock until he felt her warm hands snap him back and agreed to her proposal… At their wedding she actually convinced the other castle folk to accept him as he is too, so he could still marry her without having to hide… as they both leaned closer and she looked at him with loving eyes… finally he found a place to call home.

Good Ending: As he wanted to run away from the castle feeling the princess deserves something better she stopped him at the gates asking why he wanted to leave… hearing his words she grows tired and gives him a kiss at the part of the skin she was allowed to kiss… showing that she does care about him no matter what he looks like… a gesture that moved his heart even if he questioned her again if she was sure…. as she nodded and she ran off to tell her parents he had a small smile… You can later see a scene where she sits down on his lap with him on a couch and carefully traces his body, even the more monstrous parts… complimenting each of them and telling him how much she loves him. 

Bad Ending: He doesn’t have his human form under control and loses sight of himself. Mainly because he thought thanks to her words he would never accept his monstrous self… and so he gave back into his instincts… She tried to find him that night but seeing his true form, many servants who noticed a faint scream of her came to protect her… and although she noticed it was him and told them to stop it was no avail… the guards took him out… and she felt mentally not able to continue this whole search for suitors…

Alt Ending: Carol is too eager getting closer to him but accidentally gets poisoned by him after a kiss given his venom… she managed to survive thanks to local healers but… Kalida was gone… left in shame.

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The Watson route @forestwispocs​

This Route mainly revolves about them spending lots of time in the gardens, her sharing some history and how she tends for some of the flowers as well as her trying to see past the fact that he is not only a charming gentleman... bad ending will occur if she feels like he has been lying too much to her... but believing some lies to reach the truth and get him to open up more will make things better... He will share a little about how his brother got striped of his title and how he wants to make things better now... and he gets her to accept how beautifull he thinks she is.... they both learn from another to love each other for what they truely are.

True Ending: At night he actually visited her chambers to meet her, settling down a bundle of Yellow flowers for her and waited for her to come back... as she did he said to take one flower out she liked the most... as she did take a dafodil she found a ring attached to it... and he kneeled down to propose to her. She teared up a little but accepted pressing a kiss on him... as he spinned her around, both go to her parents to tell the news and we flash forward to their wedding and actually Watsons brother being his best man during it. The wedding is filled with flowers around them... Eventually things grow a little chaotic but as they kissed the cheers are high and he carried her right off the altar with a smile.

Good Ending: On the last day he leaves her a note in the bedroom to come at midnight to the rose garden in the courtyard. She follows this invitation and this time he doesn’t wait with a Rose but with a Dafodil... knowing its her favourite... She feels honored to accept it and sat down with him... Quickly he cuts to the chase asking if she would maybe go with him back to his land and took her hand to place a kiss on it... she agreed that she would be interested to see it... there is a scene where they both sit down together late at night as Carol studied some books trying to help Watson about brother and how to get him back in the noble house. Watson compliments her effort and gives her a forehead kiss as she falls asleep, carrying her off to bed.

Bad Ending: After her feeling unsatisfied with Watson she often avoided him, leading to the both of them getting into an argument in the Rose garden… They yelled at each other from the balcony as Watson got closer to ask her to start anew… she was hesitant and took a step back… but this step led into her tumbling and slipping… and so the princess fell into the thorn bushes… dying through the thorns.

Alt Ending: Yasuno overwatched the both of them walking through the garden and took the opportunity to snatch the princess away... a fight escalted between them both but Yasuno defeated Watson, he tried to kidnap the princess but was knocked out by a surprise attack from James... although all three were save something was odd about this Yasuno in particular... a black smoke coming out of him... Soon the Black smoke engulfed the the three and they found themselve seperated in a Labyrinth.... having an open ending on if they managed to escape this thorny place.

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The commoner routes show always a scene where Carol asks her parents if she can get more time. They agree a bit hesitant and she is allowed to roam free but she still chats with some suitors to not give attention she might be falling for a commoner.

The James Route @twsted-princess​

Given they have already known each other for years and are already particular close... You could consider this the childhood friend route... given Carol is still unsatisfied about the suitors and this situation, James sticks close and cheers her up with old stories as well as when problems occur with some suitors. He is there to take care of her and keep trouble away from her but.... the King and Queen are not satisfied by him technically keeping some of these Suitors away from her. Despair grew higher cause she doesn’t no what is right... she can’t grow close to the other suitors and James gives her comfort... she is conflicted and wishes to be with him but... her parents want her to marry someone with money... And so she looked for a solution that she could be with him.

True Ending: She researched into the law a bit more and noticed that could keep her crown and still be with James... as well as provide for her kingdom... she proposed the Idea to her parents and although they sighed that she doesn’t take the easy way out, her mother has noticed how much love she felt for the young knight... and so they both agreed to the plan... Carol called James at night to her chambers and although he expected her to be in distress again she offered him a ring... asking him if he wanted to rule the kingdom with her... he was flabbergasted and wanted to ask if that is even possible but her Parents chimed in giving their agreement... a big wedding in the Kingdom was hosted... crowning the new king and queen of this land... As both lifted their heads after receiving their crowns... she held him close as if relieved that she could finally be with the one she loved... that finally he could be more than just her Knight.

Good Ending: Having decided Love is more important to her than her status... at night she confessed her love to James and asked him if he could take her away on a horse and they could run away... although hesitant about it... he couldn’t deny her feelings for her too... and he couldn’t bear seeing her get married off to someone she doesn’t even love and so both made their way to dash past the guards away.... their escape was sucessfull and they build up a new life in a small town far away... Carol sold her princess dress and accesoires and now works as Scholar... while James takes on more Physical work...  they both sat down in their new house as he kissed her, promising that no matter what happens, he will keep that smile of hers safe.

Bad Ending: Despite her being attached to him her parents grew impatient and caught her as she was pretty close with James... and so they put two and two together and stripped him off his duty... while Carol was forced to pick another suitor... she not only lost the person she loved... but also a dear friend she had forever... and thanks to her parents he was send away.... far away from her... into the dangers to never come back.

Alt Ending: A scene plays out where James runs outside to find Carol and actually tell her that he loves her, thinking a Suitor might be faster, however instead of a suitor, he finds a group of girls with her… the friends she made over this route, Princess Melanie, Lady Kirsten, Keres,Nyphy,  Miss Melody and Queen Orion. The other girls wanted to give up their duties of their kingdoms to form a group of adventurers together… It is a protest against the system of monarchy… and how it forces them into these roles… and so Carol bows and thanks James for all of his service over the years… but for now she wants to make this journey to discover herself. She left him with a cheek kiss and went on with the girls in their new attire.

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The Jonas Route  @rookvonhunt​

To clear her head she gave into the music more to get herself distracted... Jonas was surprised she wanted more lessons... she felt somewhat charmed by his little awkward nature... Eventually she felt herself after each date with one suitor to look more forward to get to play with him... but he noticed some of her hesitance about the situation in how she played those songs, how her fingers lightly were nervous... She was honest about feeling hesitant about marrying any of them... He told her to do what her heart feels is right... But she said she doesn’t even understand her heart right now and so... they use this lesson to put the thoughts of her heart into words. She slowly fell for him throughtout deciphering her feelings.

True Ending: As he entered the practise room... she played one of his favorite songs as she came in... he was impressed how quick she learned but felt like she doesn’t need him anymore... as he said that she asked him to stretch out his hands and handed him a small box... as he saw the ring he nearly fainted if she didn’t catch his fall... She told him she was serious about marrying him and ruling the kingdom with him but as he butted in with he can’t be king she was like, she could still manage most of it... and he would just be there for her... calming her as usual... under these circumstances he agreed to be with her... given he also did have feelings... however both set up the wedding in a autumn forrest... doing the crowning another day as she brushed some leaves off his hair to kiss him... She held his hand calmly and hummed another song in response to make him calm too... as they turned back to the crowd.

Good Ending: Even if he was invited to teach that day she caught him before he could enter the same piano room and dragged him in one of the empty castle rooms... saying she is tired of playing the perfect princess... saying she finally figured out her feelings... that she fell in love with him... he was dumbfounded and in disbelief... he can’t be with the princess... and so she proposed they leave while they still can and start a life together... she would become a commoner for him. And so he agreed under the circumstance that they don’t get caught... Eventually she snuck with him through the gardens and... a scene plays where she is playing the piano again... with him looking over her shoulder... they have comfy house now... and she placed a small cheek kiss on him getting him red.

Bad Ending:  One day he just vanished... and a new instructor was hired to teach her... as she asked her parents why they said she might have gotten distracted by this hobby of hers and should focus more on what is important... saddned she brushed some dust of the Piano and said.... then she doesn’t want to play anymore... not ever....

Alt Ending: As Carol and Jonas practised, they got surprised by a purple haired Lady (Portia) who tried to share some scandals of the kingdom... her and Jonas are buddies and as she heard he was currently teaching the princess she had to come over... mainly cause the whole King and Queen inviting suitors to the kingdom spread rumors of what if their daughter was only hogging these gentleman as a harem... both Carol and Jonas looked at her in disbelief... however in a ball her family has arranged they hear more and more people spreading rumors about the princess... and she felt under pressure... she just ran away to hide in her room... telling her parents to send all of the suitors away... and so the princess isolated herself...

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The Ronald Route @terrovaniadorm​

Both the Ronald and Trey route will enable at the same time but depending on who you chat to or are nice to more you get either of them. With Ronald you have her knowing him for a while but noticing currently he seems under stress to do castle work but also some chocolates on the sides... if you pry to much on why He does these chocolates you will get the alternate endings. After one frustrating dinner he listens to her being burdened and can relate cause his friend relies on him so they can both work towards making their own shops. Both sighed in unison and started to feel like they relate and so throughout the days they both supported the other by visiting them.

True Ending: Speaking out things with the queen and King they invited Ronald and Cadbury into the audience chambers... Carol stepped up to say they have an offer to make... supporting their idea with money, in exchange of the castle getting some chocolates specifically delivered... Cadbury was quick to agree but then Carol walked up to Ronald and said she also had a another thing to ask him... confessing her feelings and offering him the ring... he said he can't cause he would leave Cadbury if he ruled the kingdom with her but she said he doesn't have to rule with her... she can rule alone and still visit him so often... on these conditions he accepted her proposal. The wedding was helt among the streets that the kingdom and they exchanged one chocolate before the vow as a weird tradition... many smiled upon the couple. And accepted their Queen even if she has no actual king to rule with.

Good Ending: Eventually she noticed non of those suitors would make her Happy, this Castle wouldn't either... given her and Ronald have chatted about the small shop his family owns... Carol sneaks out at night to visit him there... of course Ronald was surprised why she didn't go with Guards and suddenly stopped by but Carol got in to explain her thoughts... what If she helped him and his friends make their dream come true in another Kingdom... and she could run away with him. He seemed hesitant but then Cadbury came in saying it would be useful as well as Ronald has been talking about her non stop to, he should admit his feelings too. Being exposed like this he sighed and the three packed their things... all three going on a carriage.. with the valuables Carol sold off they were able to make a big confectionery in the neighbours Kingdom, Carol trying her best to help but her blobs still need some work, Ronald pulled his arms around her and showed how she should do it... as she smiled back at him.

Bad Ending: Trying one kind of chocolate out of curiosity when Ronald is gone... will lead into Carol collapsing on the floor actually... they seemed to be poisoned and given this seemed like an attempt to kill the princess... Ronald gets kicked out the castle. As he got brought out by the guards Yasuno smirked using this commotion to take away the Princess...

Alt Ending: As Carol is about to confess her feelings to Ronald and he is surprised… Cadbury comes into the kitchen and tells about his new plans to open and own a town shop with Ronald to make more profit than his Royal shop. He tells Carol that he can’t give up his precious friend to someone and so she has to pick someone else to marry. Confused about this whole situation they both left her dumbfounded on what to do… She walked to the kitchen counter to find one thing at least…. an apple pie and a small note… a thank you from Ronald before leaving.

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The Trey route

If you get closer to Trey than to Ronald you will notice that although he got used to his new job in the kitchen he asked the princess if she ever tried to cook herself. She did not but was always curious about it and so he offered these lessons in Secret quickly between dinners. As she asked why he would he said, in this world everyone has to learn to do things themselfs so when trouble comes and you are alone, you can still take care of yourselves... during this cooking she fell in Love with his charms and uncomplicated personality compared to the suitors. She felt comfort and assurance in his words.

True Ending: After all those Lessons Carol served her parents a cake made by herself and announced that she thanks the kitchen for teaching her how to do this... but she also has to tell them that she might have fallen for a commoner instead and the suitors... didn’t manage to convince her... her parents nodded and made an agreement with her so she could instead be with Trey. Telling him the news however... he already had a ring for her in his hand... having talked to her parents before as well and asked for their blessing... Their wedding is with his whole family, many fancy cakes and desserts on the table... as he was stunned seeing her come in with her dress, quickly pulling her closer with a gentle smile at her... a kiss shared before the audience.

Good Ending: At one night where they were cooking in Secret, one moment between them got close... so close that Carol kissed him on instinct before apologizing to him... prying into it more he asked her directly if she liked him which she agreed to with a yes....but her parents would likely not allow her to be with him... so he offered to run away... that they go to the town his family stays at and settle there.. surprised by the sudden offer she took it and after she took in a disguise they both took the carriage to his home. A scene plays where she just finished an actual good looking cake for his family. He placed a kiss on her cheek and they lived happy.

Bad Ending: Not taking his lessons serious he feels like he doesn’t want to teach you anymore... he in general does not feel satisfied in this job and so he leaves a note that he left... if she ever needed his sweets she knew where she could find him. However as she did wanted to visit him... the bakery was destroyed... nobody was there... just an empty house.

Alt Ending: He awaits you with some cakes you make one day... somehow Ronald wasn’t nearby and many of the servants were not either... on instinct she chose the cake with an apple on it... mainly cause they were her favourites... however as she did, she felt her mind turn blurry... and her conciousness fade... as she woke up later she sat down with Trey at an unknown place... something about his eyes seemed different... like he was undersomeones control.. as he gave her another peace of the cake... changing her and making her addicted to him.

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The Punch Route (Secret)  @twstinginthewind​

She walked into town again to visit the Blacksmith... mainly cause she was curious about all the small inventions and figures Punch made... and so she asked if she could order some of them for herself... most people only stopped by for weapons so he was glad that someone was interested in his personal work... Eventually he fell for the princess quick while she hadn’t realized her feelings yet... however she often dropped by his shop as an escape from her current situation... With him she could talk honest about her family and why she felt stuck in this situation.

True Ending: The shop on that day didn’t go that well and his family was worried about the future as they got a surprised visit from the princess itself to make an offer... that they be blacksmiths for the Royalguard and live among the castle... Joker seemed excited and Punch almost flabbergasted but even more as the princess walked up to him saying she has a little thank you gift. It was somewhat of a makeshift ring but as he took it in his hand it got broken and she sighed... saying she might need some help to make this work... he said casually he would help her make another one as his sister ellbowed him... saying that the princess wanted to propose to him... which he didn’t believe untill he saw Carol nod at him... A scene of the wedding played out where the Royal guard all held up new swords and the mechanical butterflies flew over the venue. He was still red and in shock that he actually would marry the princess that day but she pulled him clost to make him snap back to reality, before giving him a small kiss as sign of her love.

Good Ending: One day he actually visited her in the castle to show her the newest invention he made... somewhat of a mechanical flying butterfly... she watch it in awe flying over her head as she looked at him with a smile... telling him how she is happy he cheered her up so much those last days... he was blushing about her kind words but what he didn’t expect... was her telling him she might like him more... than just a friend she made the last days... however given her parents she might not be able to be with him... both discussed the situation and after coming up with a distraction both left the castle and Carol used her leftovers to help him and his family to move their forgery to another town... a scene plays where he shows her another invention and she holds his hand tightly looking at it... his sister comes in to tease them both how her brother scored a princess, Carol just answering she is princess no more... and she is glad about it.

Bad Ending: As she dropped by for another task he interpreted her words wrong and confessed early that he had a crush on her... Overwhelmed by the sudden confrontation... she left the blacksmiths house as quick as she entered, without a word... he continued his work the next days although a little saddened about the situation as he heard commotion outside... that the princess finally has found her suitor and announced to marry them... hearing this he was frustrated that he messed up like that and... threw away on invention he wanted to give her.

Alt Ending: For one day Carol was able to invite Punch to the castle after getting some info out of him that him and his sister picked Music up as a hobby. Joined with Jonas who often instructed her for the piano she asked the three if they could perform a song together, one she wanted to perform properly for a while... this ending is moreso a friendship ending in which Carol stops focusing too much on her situation and instead enjoys this little play a bit more and thanks the people she considers her friends...

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The Esca Route (Secret) @silent-dragon​

As she visited him again in the woods he greeted her with a warm smile and showed her around the forest... in this route she already ran away from her castle, curious about the world. And so she stayed with him in the woods, learned about animals, how to survive and many things about herself... however the more trust the both of them built, he told her about a curse he is suffering from but not that to break it he would need someone to fall in love with him, despite how odd he looks... most of this route is them slowly growing closer. At times he often just sticks close and protects her from hostile figures. At night she often worries about his curse and looks at the small scratched he gets through clumsyness to treat them...

True Ending: His time was almost up... the curse was almost upon him as Carol suggested what if she kissed him... confessing that she indeed fell for him... he picked her up for a kiss and to his luck... it worked curing the curse... not only that but he was finally able to step out of the forest... despite that she said they could build themselves a small home in the forest together... she could live with him together and this way he would never be alone... after that promise you can see a fast forward to a small wood cottage where she brought 3 cats in she found... and they all took place somewhere on his body making him chuckle... soon the cats went of to play and she layed down on him.. hugging him tight... saying she is glad she ran away to be with him. And that soon they might not be that alone... not only cause of the kittens but also because they might be a family soon.

Good Ending: Even if she managed to break his curse with a kiss... she also felt a bit worried about her home so as both stepped out the forrest she looked back up at the castle... despite that she did make her decision to stay with him... but only on the term that they travel together through nature untill they find a true home... she didn’t want to be seperated from the humans so finding a forest where they could stay but she could still go into town from time to time was her hope... both found this home as she came back with some fresh fruit and clothes for him... getting picked up and kissed on the forehead... compared to the true ending it felt more her not giving up her connection to the human world and clinging onto it. While still giving him all the love and affection she has.

Bad Ending: He fails to make her fall in love with him and the curse slowly takes him over making him vanish into a forrest spirit... forever bound to the woods and never able to live a normal life again.... he is still with the animals and tend to them but... he would not be able to see humans anymore... including her... saddened she left the forrest back to the castle.

Alt Ending: Her parents send out a search troop to find her and recover her but in this ending they managed to find her and although she struggled and refused to go back... she got dragged away... back in the castle she was far more isolated than before... never to step foot outside the castle again.

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The Yasuno Route (Secret)

Answering all of Yasunos questions right leads him to kidnap her away to his mansion and keep her there... if you encourage his obessions she likely will end on the Alt end while if she makes him distrust her, she would end up on the bad ending. The key is to keep him at bay yet try to understand him better. She will find out about his connection to an underground organization that wanted to trumple the kingdom and how stories about the princess made him fall for her... as well as that betrayed friend and foe alike to get here. And also what he had to sacrefice to get here.  This is one of the hardest routes in the game to finish with a good end.

True Ending: In this case she has managed to fully understand his feelings and what pain he went through... how many people he lost and why he became like this. Away from his lackeys she has a serious conversation and there she told him that she is flattered by his love for her and that there is a way to stop this from escalating... if the both of them marry and become King and Queen of the land... He chuckled if she was foolish enough that he would take care of the kingdom that never helped him... her words were that better that than a kingdom who slaughtered them all... she was right with that... this group only fed up on being neglected... not on being hunted down... and marrying her is something he desired... speaking with the group they agreed to it if it means their living situation gets better too... and so Carol returned to the castle, playing Yasuno off as a suitor she met instead of her kidnapper... once they married although the atmosphere was tense for once she actually saw a genuine smile on the man... as if he finally was free from pain... and that was enough for her as she leaned up to kiss him.

Good Ending: Managing to find the right words she tells him that she doesn’t mind being with him in his mansion but if he wanted to be with her forever she won’t tolerate any violence and misdeeds.. so he has to stop trying to overthrow the kingdom in exchange for her being with him... he agreed and announced the end of the order... some times later a scene played where she sat down with him in a room and he placed some kisses and bites on her neck, holding her tight sitting on his lap... giving her promises that whatever happens... he will make her not regret this choice... although its not fully clear if she truely loves him... at least her kingdom is safe.

Bad Ending: Feeling like she still wants to escape and never be able to give him a chance... he decided she has seen too much and witnessed too much... his feelings grew cold... so instead he decided to treat her like a hostage than a guest instead... and used her for gaining money from her parents and other ways... once he had enough he decided to just kill her off... like a puppet he didn’t want to play with anymore

Alt Ending: His feelings of love for her have grown into an unhealthy way... so much so that he decided to take the life of everyone she cherished before her eyes... one after another... seeing her eyes grow more empty and the kingdom grow more in dissoray... Standing upon this empty throne with her as his queen he will let this kingdom be covered in plants and keep her to himself untill they both die.

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Bonus Routes:

(Unlocked after finishing most routes and obtaining items giving Carol the option to run away from her kingdom)

The Daniel Route: @fullplaidponydreamer

Escaping from her kingdom she landed in a run down part of the Neighbouring city. She wanted to find a place to stay undetected yet got pulled aside by a Criminal holding a knife to her throat... he recognized she was the missing princess of the kingdom, wanting to bring her back to it in exchange for money yet after realizing this plan didn’t work he wanted to trick her into going to the next kingdom to sell her off while she things its to give her a chance... during their journey she tries to talk to him and get through to his inner pain and reasonings for doing this... as well as figuring out how to improve his situation. She also shares more about her sister and herself while he shares about his upbringings.

True Ending: Before they arrive at the kingdom they have a small confrontation with the one who did push Daniel to the life he was in and saving his 3 brothers and 1 sister... thanks to Carols planning they managed to pull a stradegy to take out the stranger and get away save.... the 6 rested at the next Inn together as Carol told the last story about her sister and how she knows the kingdom will be well... leading to him asking her what she would like to do for the future... and her confessing that she wants to stay with him, maybe marry him one day... Surprised by this he hugged her tight and finally let out some of his feelings... telling her he wants the same... fading the scene you see how he carries her into a small house in town in a wedding dress while his brothers smiled at him... seeing them in general be finally have a good life and be well off. As well as Carol giving him a promise to never leave his side.

Good Ending: Arriving at the steps of the kingdom he is honest and apoligizes about tricking her... and that he realized instead he wanted to keep her safe instead... knowing full well that together they might be able to life happier... she agreed to his idea and used at first some of her accesoires and stuff she grabbed from the castle so they could find a living space and both get jobs... She started teaching others about things she learned in the library from her kingdoms as well as reading and writing... discarding her identity as the princess and a scene plays out where late at night the both lay in bed together and promise each other to keep the other safe... while a knock at their doors is heard making it uncertain who it is.

Bad Ending: He gained no feelings for her and goes through with the original plan... meeting a slimey noble who took interest in the beauty of the maiden... he told her in this place she would be save so she agreed to say and he got his money... days later after pulling through with this he walks into a dark alleyway.... and finds her corpse which was pretty messed up and full of different stab wounds... despite no feelings he felt guilt somewhat for this... but also a bit of emptyness.

Alternate Ending: Both of them were cornered by other thugs who wanted to have the princess as well to gain wealth and riches... yet as Daniel fought them of and tried to prevail... an arrow was aimed at him... one which the princess defended him from... the thugs scatter knowing they messed up and their boss would be angry at him while she has one last conversation dying in his arms.

The Terry Route @silent-dragon

Running away from the Castle she lived in for years she arrived at a town and as trying to hide from guards was led by another person into a run down house... he introduced himself as Terry and recoginzed her as the princess... She offered her Jewelry so she could stay hidden in his house for now... eventually chatting with him she found out he knows about her cause he formerly was part of one of the Suitors she had and lived in Jeshs kingdom yet was cast out after a fight with the noble... since then he lived in poverty. She started to figure out that she was good and teaching others, changed her appearance to seem less regal and start gain some money for them both through teaching kids... And slowly finds out more behind Terrys past.

True Ending: One day she was busy teaching as Terry bursted in... she looked at him confused as he told her he was saving up some money and offered her a ring... telling her that since she been there all the hope he lost was finally restored and he wished to keep her for himself before anyone could be first... She felt flattered and smiled telling him she grew attached to him so she would for sure take that offer, on term they move towns... He nods and picked her up happy... after a blend they had their wedding, even Jesh secretly attended giving his apoligies to Terry and hoping he makes her happy even if he seems very grumpy leaving with his servants... With this it ends in a Scene at their wedding night where Terry nuzzled against her and seems in general much happier... Her saying she is glad she gave up on being a princess that day... but for now she wants to just enjoy live with him in the more simpler way. A flirt and a touch led into the end.

Good Ending:  Eventually after getting to know him longer she grew attached to this simple life with him.... one night she offered him her blanket and cuddled close against him, asking him if he mind that she stays for now... given she feels happy when she is near him... he made a cheeky comment that he couldn’t believe he scored himself a princess that also likes him back and they both started laughing... despite her still being worried that guards search for her, he said he will do his best to keep her safe and happy...Eventually they made enough money to get a new house more away from the kingdom as a scene is played where He cuddles her from behind while she is teaching some kids, saying she will give him some more affections later if he needs them trying to continue her work.

Bad Ending: Both of them don’t manage to get enough money and eventually after a while both pass out cause of hunger... as Terry opened his eyes, he saw Jesh who held the princess in his arms, mocking him one last time before leaving... saying he should have chosen better. He did leave him one last piece of bread to survive, yet he didn’t have the energy to stop him from taking the princess with him and... his fate is unknown.

Alternate Ending: Not fully trusting Terry and having her doubts, one night Carol just runs away again, leaving a small note as thank you yet in her running through the forest she hears some ominous howling in the forest.... the scene fades and the next day marks where people rumor about the lost princess that was never seen again... her parents closing the doors of the castle and saying nobody is allowed to enter again. Nobody knows what actually happened to the princess...

The Raede route @silent-dragon

Away from her kingdom she remembered a potion maker and wanted to ask them to get her a disguise potion... with potion in hand she ran into the woods to flee yet tripped and the potion spilled over a single Rose... resulting in Raede coming to existance as half Human half Plant Being... and she decided to take him with her untill they were safe... mainly this route is Raede adjusting to being alive, Carol and him hidding in the woods and growing closer... Carol tells stories about her childhood where she took care of the royal garden and Raede meanwhile keeps her safe for any followers.

True Ending: Similar to the good end Raede got a potion that let him maintain his form... however thanks to all the things Carol taught him he refused the offer of the potion maker at first... saying he instead wanted to focus that Carol can get a happy life... leading to her confessing she is happy with him wherever they go... so they also take the offer but Raede also did learn from her about the concept of marriage hence he made her a small ring made out of one rose to ask her to stay with him.

Fast forward its a pretty garden wedding here Raysel brings in the rings for both of them, both a silver rose on it. Even if not many attended it was fine cause they both felt happy together... growing together and building up a future In their new green house home.

Good Ending: The Potion maker found them both before it was too late and provided a potion that made it so Raede wouldn't lose his form as Human Plant Hybrid... wanting to offer him to take care of the magical plants at his potions farm. Conflicted Raede looked back at Carol and asked if she wanted to come with him and stay. She agreed to his idea and a scene plays where both work in the green House together and notice something that spread of from Raede... finding a small girl in a Rosebed (aka Raysel) Carol picks her up and asks if they both take care of her and he picks her up giving her a small kiss

Bad ending: One day she woke up and Raede was missing... eventually she noticed the a rose looking the same as him before the transformation... coming to the conclusion either the potion wore off or he turned back. Saddened by this she still took him with her as putting the flower in her hair and moving to the next town disheartened.

Alt Ending: In desperate struggle of Carol noticing Raedes form breaking down she tries to find the potion maker but... he was not there.... she tried to use different potions on Raede thinking they were doing the right thing but instead... it made him melt down saying at least a last thank you before Vanishing... in desperation she made a deal with the potion maker.... but to keep Raede happy and living she had to make the potion maker her husband and go back to her kingdom.... at least she felt glad Raede could live his life.

The Emrys route @sparrow-20

Arriving at the neighbour's city the princess heard rumors about a famous Magician in town... he was said to help any person in peril and so she seeks and Audience with him. Meeting with Emrys it seemed like he knew exactly who she was and he problem... his idea that she could live in peace from her pursuers was taking her far away into a more peaceful Kingdom... however given this journey would be dangerous he accompanied Carol there. He reminded her of a certain Magician in the book she read making her admire him more.

True Ending: She connected the dots quicker that Emrys might be in fact that same Magician from her book... and tried to ask him about her theory... which he admitted ir was true that he was already that old and if she minded that. She shook her head saying how much dear he became to her and how he kept her safe this whole time... he could be more millenias and she could still have fallen for him, even if she did ask who this heroine actually was. He answer that it was just the author who fell for him yet he never gave her a chance. Yet that she as princess might have swayed him more to consider moving his magic business. She leaned closer to him and asked if he wouldn't mind to stay with her for as long as her mortal life lasts...pulling her very close his kiss was an answer to he question...

A scene played of them being done with the wedding as she sat down on his lap in her dress... the room decorated in Magic artifacts and potions on the table. She put her arms around him with a sweet smile as he asked if one day their might be a story about the both of them... she joked if not that she was going to write one... leaning into his embrace.

Good ending: Eventually one night where they were close to their goal Carol sat with him at the bonfire... telling him a little story from the book she read and that it reminder her of him... with a smile he approached her saying if she wanted to be the heroine falling for the Magician which caught her off guard... yet she answered with a maybe she already did... admitting she was attracted to him. After a night of sleep and arriving at the destination the next day He swiftly pulled her close, saying that even if she was safe maybe he should stay around to see if she is fully happy here... it they lived some days together and as he had to leave he left her with a kiss saying he would come back for her once he has finished his businesses.

Bad Ending: During their Journey they took a wrong turn, the princess didn't trust him cause of certain actions and so she ran off alone... however not she was in danger, he had pursuers as well... the next day she felt guilty and wanted to apologise however instead of finding him she found a stone version of him... as if he has been turned into stone... in shock she tried to run only to be approached by the same creature... that kept them both as stone statues

Alt Ending: Eventually the dangers of the journey made her doubt if they ever be safe at all... the guards catched up to them both and Carol apoligized to Emrys that she made him come all this way to keep her safe yet she will go back to her kingdom. She said that she will still pay him with the castles money for his effort and looked at him one last time before leaving with the guards. A feel of regret on her but at least she was safe, even if she had to pick a suitor now.

The Kaminari route @vivaresmala

On her escape out of the Kingdom she arrived exhausted on top of a mountain where she encountered a beautiful man that looked up at the stars playing with some thunder magic in his hands. She thought he was a magician and asked him if he minded that she rested there for a while and he noticed how torn her clothing was and how she seemed exhausted offering her to stay where he stayed... given she had no where else to go she spend time with him for some days trying to figure where to go and what to do.

True Ending: For this ending she figures out he is a bit more powerful than your general Magician as he tried to protect her from a mystical creature and saw how strong his magic truely was. As he worried that she might like him less or be scared of him she assured him this was not the case... she feels safe with him... not only that but these past days he captured her heart... seeing a bunch of shooting stars flying by she blurted out if he wouldn't mind that they stay together... to promise it he gave her a pretty lotus flower themed ring and they both kissed among the stars...

The scene continued some time later where she walked with him In a white dress to a shrine looking place, their marriage be sealed in Secret and them smiling happy at another as flower petals flew through the venue... after the ceremony they had their usual traditional tea they exchanged Carol finally seeming to have the free life she wanted.

Good ending: Spending all this time finding her inner peace and chatting with Kaminari made her feel comfortable... she told him she wants to be more than a princess to a kingdom. She wants to see the world, she wants to make a journey and she wanted to ask him to come with her. As he asked why he said cause she slowly grew and attachment to him... as she told him that he handed her a tea... a rose flower tea... as she was confused what he meant by that he told her roses have a meaning of love to them. One he would love to share with her.

A scene fades where they both arrived as travelers together in a foreign country, looking at a calming Zen garden and her leaning her head against him. Things seem more peaceful... her kingdom is instead lead by her sister and she gets to stay with Kaminari.

Bad ending: She disregarded a warning he gave not to go too deep into the mountains... finding a certain cursed stone and her curiosity getting the better of her.... she lost her soul to this stone... as he found her she layed there like an empty husk while the Demon of the stone tried to possess her... leaving him with no choice but to take her out.

Alt ending: Meeting Kaminari one night on top of the mountain he tells her that she currently isn't next to him... she actually fell into a hole and went unconcious.... those days they spent together never happened... and so she woke up in that hole, her clothes soaked in dirt, her mind in despair knowing she is lost... untill she heard the voice of a guard... instead of running away she returned with them back to the kingdom and followed her duty as princess.

The Florence Route @terrovaniadorm

On her way fleeing from the Guards she got injured and found by the Local villages Healer... he took her in and asked her many questions... as she explained her story however Florence showed her understanding and both developed a plan which town would be the safest to go to after her being treated and recovered fully... in those questions they both understand each other more and as her injury got better she also went out with him to the local market... it got her more and more interested in the healer and she felt well taken care of. To the point it was hard for her to leave really.

True Ending: Taking her to the next town to start a new life she turned to him asking how he felt about this time he spend with her. For one he said she was his favourite patient by far yet also that it does feel hard to see her go. With these words she on impulse pulled him by his collar into a kiss. Suggesting that why she shouldn't stay with him then so she won't have to miss him either. Especially because she teased him by saying she would rather one day carry his name than her families implying she wants to marry him... and so she went back with him to his town.

They had a calm wedding, many towns people organized and joined this wedding because they were grateful for the couple treating people all around... and they were surprised as the bride carried her husband of the venue back to their home. Both crash on the ground with her stroking his hair and smiling at him, thanking him for healing her heart as well.

Good Ending: The last day of her Recovery Florence walked outside with her to see if she can still walk well... she thanked him wholehearted for taking care of her so much and asked if she could stay longer. He was confused given she didn't need to but sh offered instead if she could be his assistant... for one to repay him but also cause she took a liking to him. Flattered by her words he agreed but said to be carefull if someone spotted her.

The scene changed to them both taking care of a patient and her doing the main healing as he held her arms steady... after she was done she pressed a kiss on his cheek as thanks for helping... both of them became a popular talk in town yet nobody recognised Carol as the princess anymore given her different look and vibe... making them a power couple to help the people around town.

Bad ending: One night she heard commotion outside of the house and worried that the guards might catch up to her and attack Florence for hiding her... so she walked out still injured into the streets... where she was kidnapped by bandits... Florence searched for her the next day yet... nor him or the kingdom found out what happened happened her... but given they found her crown in his place the castle guards arrested him and threw him into the dungeon.

Alt Ending: She heard rumors from other patients about Florence and how his aura seems scary... she couldn't believe it yet one night she questioned him about these rumors.. making him more distant and thinking she will believe them too he moreso grows cold towards her and after she recovered he just told her to leave without helping her as promised before. Heartbroken she left the place crying cause she didn't know where to go.

The Vigil Route @authoruio​

Remembering from her Childhood and old place she used to visit when she needed a break from the castle she visited a hill with many apple trees, one single stone in the middle. She leaned against it to read in the past and somewhat felt protected. She once against leaned against it, cradling her knees as suddenly someone in Angel wings appeared. She recognized him from her childhood as the one who often fended danger away from her. Vigil told her he would help her find an escape from the kingdom, leading her into safety. Even if he lacked some emotion during their journey she felt calmer next to him and so hoped for a way out without picking a suitor. One way of freedom for herself... and so she rather rely on him and his words than be lost.

True Ending: Even if they made it to safety, Carol asked Vigil if there was any ways she could stay with him, confused by this he asked her why she would... especially cause it means she will have to give up her normal human life. She said it was cause she slowly fell in love with him and now feels like she would feel saddened to see him go. A statement that made him baffled but somewhat he understood what she meant, taking her hand and saying he will do his best to not make her regret this decisions. Fast forward and they build up a life together somewhere, her wearing a white gown as they walked together implying something to a wedding happened between them, both visiting the same stone they first met each other at and telling small stories, smiling she took his hand and hugged him close... feeling much more hopefull than before.

Good Ending: She arrived finally at a small safe town, gets new close and buries her princess dress on a hill nearby... Vigil behind her saying that he finished his job as Guardian angel however she didn’t want him to leave... she grown to like his company to much, so she tries to convince him to stay with her in this town. He had his doubts especially cause of his appearance and why she would keep him around when she doesn’t need someone to protect her anymore, but her answer was cause she likes him, more than she thought at first. Taken aback he says he will think about it.

Cue to a scene of the future where she starts teaching kids and he is always in the back looking after her... he might not have been able to stay but he will always be there for her and visit her... it is open if they got together or not.

Bad Ending: Taking a route into a cursed forrest, cause Carol didn’t fully trust Vigils decisions let her to get into danger by mythical creatures who wanted to posess her body... eventually they managed to get a hold on her and as he found her... she was not the Princess anymore... but moreso a cursed witch to haunt the woods... he left thinking he failed his mission to protect her.

Alt Ending: One night they rested at an old cabin and it started burning, supposedly bandits who stole what they could and left them away... Vigil tried to get Carol out of there in safety but in turn his wings burned off to the sake of him loosing concious... she nursed him back to health but somewhat he grew empty after this... both of them grew distant and eventually she continued her journey without him, regretfull but... he wasn’t the one anymore that she cared and liked... he was nothing anymore.

The Adam Route @silent-dragon​

As she wanted to leave after a dinner with the intent of running away from the kingdom she ran into another Suitor who came late to the party... her parents even forgot about him on the list given they thought he wouldn’t join anymore. However seeing this prince that seemed more like a sweet and fun guy she got curious and played of the commotion staying a bit longer... to make up her mind if he is worthy staying for.... She notices that Adam despite being a prince is far more casual as well as comfortable to talk with, as well as sees him get along with Ronald and Trey in the kitchen, often helping her with her picky food taste. A walk through the Kingdom she also notices he only agreed to be a suitor to find a girl that would not use him like others do but be genuine with him, something she admired and thought similar too... over the course of some dinner dates and strolls they continue to bond.

True ending: Her cooking training was actually sucessfull and she made him a sweet pie with the apples of the kingdom... surprising him one night... And as he looked down the pie in happiness and took a bite he praised her how much she improved. She only returned it with: “If I want to be your Queen one day, I need to at least know how to make my king happy.” Playfully telling him that she chose him as her suitor to marry, and feeling his arms pull her on the chair he was sitting on to his lap holding her close. He offered her a ring he actually saved for this moment and so their plan was official... fast forward to the wedding it was a big feast for the whole kingdom, yet the princess did return to his kingdom to become his queen... many commoners were invited too so all of the food was used and after the ceremony she did share that she actually was expecting their first child already as he smiled at her and pulled her close... both sharing a piece of the wedding cake and looking back at the others that celebrated.... Finally she felt at ease and not under pressure anymore.

Good Ending:  The princess grew fond of the prince and so tried hard with hours to make a him heart shaped donuts to show her appreciation and thank him for still coming to this kingdom... as well as sharing her love... yet how the donuts turned out her message didn’t fully get through subtly...Adam munched on them with a smile however and asked her himself what she thought of him... as to where she shared that she did fall for him... and would love to get to know him more... it caught him off guard yet in an instant he lifted her up with his arms and held her close... planting some kisses on her face... They both agreed to first go to his kingdom as well and a scene plays where they prepare the carriage and the horses for that trip... she wore a shorter yellow dress and carried a basket of apples from the kingdom before waving her parents off and Adam laying and arm around her for a kiss to follow him.

Bad Ending: Having a dinner that upset her stomach, Adam noticed she was only faking that excuse and packed her things in her room... he asked her where she wanted to go but she apoligized to him and dashed out of the room... running away from the kingdom... as he inspected the desk and read what letter she got he quickly handed it to her parents... it was an offer of Yasuno... to come with him so her family won’t be harmed... yet soon another person reported a fire starting in the castle... the night ended with the princess gone, the suitors all confused in the courtyard, King and Queen seeing the castle burn... and the kingdom in chaos. He wished he would have noticed her behavior sooner.

Alternate Ending:  At the second day of spending time with Adam you run into Prince Flint who said something about a proposal to the princess to ditch the current suitors she has and come back to a Royal meeting with Adam together... if you agree to his idea Carol gets transported by a carriage to a meeting with all of the Armonye princes... however she quickly noticed that most of them were curious about her... she didn’t know the plan was for her to play for each of them their wife so they can all live more free and do whatever they want... it was an idea she didn’t mind too much... at least it would give her some time to think... she agreed to it and was treated with lots of care by each of the men... yet found herself in peril some months later as she fell for all of them but couldn’t make a decision... yet... all of them accepted her love without knowing.

The Rowan Route @forestwispocs​

She hid away one night in the rose garden of the kingdom... sobbing cause the situation of all these suitors was overwhelming for her. She was found by the kingdoms gardener who was also the brother of a Commoner friend named Melody. Rowan told her a story to cheer her up that before he was in charge of the garden he was a kingdom soldier... and so each day between spending time with suitors she saw herself often paying Rowan a visit to hear his stories and so gain a bit more understanding about the world outside the castle... he often gifted her flowers and with time they grew more fond of another... moreso that Carol questioned herself if this was unfair to her friend. How she was always lured into the gardens... giving into the sweet smell of flowers.

True ending: A long talk with her parents about means and ways to rule the kingdom with a commoner instead took long but her parents knew they wanted their daughter to be happy... and so they made a deal with her, once she confessed her feelings to Rowan she also has to convince him to be the main organized of a project the king and queen wanted to do for a while... Carol explained this to Rowan and confessed her love to him, offering him a tulip themed ring as prove of her dedication which moved him... And so they both made plans for their joined future.

Melody was welcomed to also live in the castle with her brother and Carol, as th wedding ceremony was prepared full with flower wagons and decor... everything was set up to be a beautiful nature wedding... as Carol waited for him at the altar being brought in by his sister... she thanked him once more how his stories and warmth gave her excactly the affection she longed for and wanted to keep... as both kissed to seal their marriage... the flower wagons were transported in the other kingdoms as a peace offering... dawning a new hopefull era of flower filled kingdoms and advanced natural medicine.

Good Ending: Carol wanted to be truely with Rowan... confessing her feelings to him... even if it meant leaving her kingdom behind.... she went to visit him and Melody to be open about her love for him and seeing Melody accept her as her brothers partner she discusses a plan with the two.... to move to another town and set up a nice home together with the jewelry she brought from the castle...the three made up a plan on how to get out the kingdom in the death of the night and moved to a far away town.

Rowan was able to open a flower shop, while Carol next to it managed a small town library, erasing hints of her being a princess, Melody helped them both out with their work... Rowan stopped by Carols part of the shop to bring her a pretty bouquet and pull her close for a kiss. They lived a simple live yet it was still a nice one where they could enjoy what they wanted.

Bad Ending: Her parents found out about her sneaking off to the Gardener and decided to banish him from the castle... so Carol won’t get distracted by him anymore... she wasn’t even allowed to see Melody anymore or any of her other friends cause of the risk... the practically trapped her in this castle untill she chose a suitor and made up her decision... being a Queen for the kingdom not some run away princess... She often asked castle guards to bring flowers to Rowan but none of them ever reached him.

Alternate Ending:  Both of them met in the moonlight... Carol made an offer to Rowan cause she fell for him yet didn’t want this love to come out to date him in secret. She was worried about his sister, her family and her situation... she wanted to be with him yet didn’t have the courage to admit things... Temporarely he agreed yet it made it even worse as her parents chose a suitor for her and she was technically cheating on him with Rowan... Yet still... their love was enough for him to became the Princess lover who did more than the husband her parents chosen for her... at least she wasn’t in a loveless marriage cause she got love from him.

The Sawyer Route (Ruby on Discord)

She already set on running away from her arranged marriage and her kingdom but this time she was also pursued by Yasuno who already wanted her hand no matter what... she wanted to hide away in a cave only to found a huge dragon... as some sunlight dimmed into the cave she found out the dragon transformed back into a human... one that pushed her away telling her to leave this place... yet she refused.. wanting to get to know the stranger. Over the course of trying to talk to him she gets small informations bit by bit... that he was pursued in the past for what he was,that that his name was Sawyer and that he tries to keep people away from this cave just not to be hunted for his dragon scales... The princess forgot about running and more hoped to help him get rid of this curse he was under.

True ending: Reading up on curses Carol finally found a way to break it but for that the act of a true loves kiss would be in order... something that Sawyer deemed as unacheivable.... hearing him say that hurt the princess at first but with his next words she noticed soon that he didn’t fully mean that... he did ask her given she was the only one caring enough of him if she would attempt it... and with a smile she took his hands and nodded... both of their faces growing red... the kiss slowly got him engulfed in a smoke and actually managed to remove the curse symbol off him, both understanding each others feelings a bit better, even if he was still denying it a little... she didn’t want to ask him to go back to her kingdom so instead she proposed if they start a new life together... her getting them a nice house and him slowly getting used to the outside world again. Leading him out the cave he was not even used to the sun anymore.

Yet some years later... they rebuild themselves a own home... a small son was bon that Carol took care of dearly and made sure no witches were around to curse it. Sawyer may still have been not the most affectionate husband but she understood him and he was there for her when she needed him, holding his arms around her as both looked at the kid.

Good Ending: Slowly seeing the princess be stubborn about staying near him and getting a cure for his cursed he asked her somewhat annoyed why she would go through so much lengths for a person she barely knows much... he could lie for all she cares, but she tried to look at him and shake her head... telling him that she still prefer this to being in her castle only as a representative of the kingdom... that she senses which of his words are genuine and that if she left he would just be alone again... she over this time grew to like this life, even if its only the two of them... which he calls foolish of her... yet he slowly moved his hand to touch hers... this was enough for her... he didn’t need to accept her feeling and affections right away... and even if they don’t find a solution for this curse.... she would stay with him...

Fast forward... she build somewhat more of a comfy place in the cave for the both of them... like their own little house... where they could be alone to themselves but be together... a scene plays where she touches his scars with a smile, his face growing red... she still would be his to protect and care for.. the small thing to make this solitude life a bit better.

Bad Ending: She failed to get his trust and in an argument where she just wanted the best for him she said the wrong things and he injured her gravely by accident in his dragon form... problem stood he couldn’t leave the cave or he would be in danger too... the princess tried to run out the cave to get treatment but in the end... dies before reaching town... many assumed it was a random monsters doing and the king and queen griefed for the loss of the princess... vowing a more corrupt rule that would slay any monster in the kingdom if they find it.

Alternate Ending: They didn’t find a way to break the curse so instead the princess made an exchange with the witch... to take that curse off him and onto herself... something he was heavily against yet she didn’t leave him much choice... given the witch already prefered the princess as her target given her status and so Sawyer was able to leave the cave as a simple human... but still had the burden of leaving the princess behind in her dragon form... He noticed the kingdom Carol came from suddenly had a festivity... the Witch took on the princess appearance to fulfill her role... and he could only watch.

Henry and Nauwe route @fullplaidponydreamer​

As the princess was thinking about running away she walked down the shores at night... hoping the ocean would hear her calling as she found a blue haired man sitting near the water, she recognized his face while getting close as the prince from the neighbouring kingdom, Henry, yet talking to him revealed to her he was on the run from his kingdom as well, hoping to find a better place, as they both chatted suddenly the water was splite before them and out came a man of the Sea, Nauwe, who offered them both to come to his underwater kingdom to maybe find their answer and a way to bring peace between the land kingdoms and the underwater kingdoms.

True ending: Both Carol and Henry shared in a talk over Dinner with Nauwe about their situations, Carol about her having to marry a suitor to be the kingdoms heir and Henry having to do the same but he was moreso forced upon his suitor... he made the crazy offer of what if they introduced each other as suitors, yet he will be actually their Alliance partner and to get the kingdoms to be combined as Allies, they have to accept and Alliance with the underwater kingdom too. Carol was hesitant and confessed she had feelings for the both of them, as Nauwe smiled at her taking her hand and saying, they never have to know the three are together and they still could be, he could just be an ambassador. In the end the three made and official announcement among the kingdoms and two weddings been held... Carol and Henrys in her kingdom, And a poly marriage in Nauwes kingdom. Carol in a seashell and ocean themed dress held both their hands and stole a kiss from both of them at the altar... and the kingdom cheered for a new era of peace that dawned... Fast forward  some years later Carol holds Forsythia in her arms, her first little daughter who already wants to swim around the seas as she for once settles down leaning her head against Nauwe as he layed an arm around her while Henry joined her placing a kiss on her forehead.

Good ending: Telling Nauwe about the surface, the life there got him intrigued as the three discussed a plot to get the kingdoms to work with the Underwater kingdom... Henry and Carol yet knew they didn’t want to return to their respective Kingdoms and be forced into the same situations. And so Nauwe offered them both to stay with him, telling he took a liking to them both and would love if they remain at his side as his advisors... and so Nauwe became some years later the King, Henry his right hand and Carol their Advisor in general. Together the three for now lived in an unofficial relationship as a scene played out where both Henry and Nauwe pulled Carol in a hug looking over the underwater kingdom... focusing on plans how to make it prosper and being caught up in work more than anything.

Bad ending: Carol seems too untrustworthy compared to Henry and given the tension the kingdom already has with humans one soldier framed her for a Crime, Henry who still believed in her and wanted to defend her in the end gets speared by one of the Soldiers of the kingdom, dying in her arms... As she shed her tears, Nauwe told those Soldiers to stop this nonsense yet he couldn’t help much except bringing her back to the surface, letting her return to her kingdom with a somber feelings.

Alternative Ending: Henry and Nauwe don’t come to an agreement and both grow feelings for Carol, fighting among another one day about it as she pulled them apart, telling that she ran away from her kingdom because people were fighting over her. Once again the Soldier misinterpreted this as an attempt of fighting Prince Nauwe and instead this time... Carol got stabbed by them... Henry and Nauwe having to see her both bleed out on the ground... to at least give honor her they set aside their differences they worked together to make this kingdom a better one. Building a statue of her in the square.

Plant Harem ending

Having played Raede and Escas route you get another option in Raedes Route. You have an option to  instead of the Potion maker take Raede to Esca as he is a forrest creature, maybe he would have an answer how to provide Raede with his form... and so eventually the three of them had a plan... using the potions of the potion maker combined with magical ingredients to create new plant society... a way to help all the spirits like Esca to actually get a body and be able to life normally... if it works.... Carol snuck into the Potion makers home and took several of them with her on a carriage as the three tried to see which tonics worked... eventually after a night of testing things they finally found a way to get Raedes body to be Stable as well as create more bodies for the Mythical creatures to go into. Time passed and after Several months a plant kingdom has formed... at Carols side Raede, Esca, Kronos, Mars and Jupiter. Assisting the new Queen of the Forrest Kingdom to make this a more peacefull save haven for any half plant people. Even if humans tried to burn down and take over the little kingdom, once her parents found out their princess daughter was leading this place they got support from the kingdom as well, in a deal for trading fresh fruits and Vegetables. She was a queen loved and adored by many yet only her 5 favourites she spoiled each day with all her love, even if she slowly changed more from human to plant as well thanks to all the experiments.

Gaius Route @terrovaniadorm​

Taking a break after meeting the suitors the Princess stops by her favourite place, the local scholars academy, she often listened to some lessons in secret and snuck into the library to read books that weren’t in her castle, dressed as a commoner. Gaius who worked their knew about her sneaking in but yet here he found her, sighing in dissapointment on the floor. Offering her a book about history she often loved to read he sat next to her and tried to teach her some stuff. Eventually she stopped by more often between the dates with suitors cause she enjoyed the young scholars company with the excuse to her parents that she would learn a ton of new things there. And so she catched him between lessons to get more and more interested in him.

True ending: The time they spend together Gaius gained as much feelings for the princess as she did for him... and so as her parents put more pressure on her given the suitors he decided to reveal his Identity as a Noblemen and ask her parents if he can also ask for the hand of the Princess. Without question Carol got off the throne and leaped into his arms in happiness and so her parents knew what her answer was... the other suitors left the room dissapointed as Carol was ready to walk around the castle with him... some years later a huge wedding that was extrordinary planned was held in the Kingdom... during the crowning, Carol handed him the first book they read together as a gift, smiling brightly at him as they share a kiss together. Time passed again and you could see how despite them being King and Queen they often visted the Academy, it becoming a core of the city and many of the people of the Kingdom became extrordinary people spreading their knowledge around.... in the courtyard after the lessons Carol took his hand, entertwining fingers with him as they both looked at another with a hopefull smile... proudly at what they accomplished. 

Good ending: She slipped a note in his textbook to meet her by the Royal courtyard and in returned showed her around the castles Library. She shares some of her favourite old stories and wanted to thank him for all the teaching he did beside his lessons especially that he did it despite being busy. He told her about how he noticed her sneaking in far earlier than she expected as well as that she was the princess and he was very amused about it as well as admired her for how much she wanted to learn. Hearing this she brought her feelings on the table that she has been often eyeing and admiring him from afar, slowly falling for him and even if he was logical that this relationship might not be beneficial to her she told him that she wanted to have him at her side. Suddenly a knock at the door happened by her father, who just smiled and revealed Gaius was actually also just a noblemen that disguised as Commoner, as well as him accepting that he could be added to the potential suitor candidates. Carol smiled brightly and asked Gaius officially if they could be together. Fast forward to some months where you can see him at her side planning a trip to a far away kingdom with her as she just held his arm and listened to his ideas.

Bad ending: Jealous students make rumors to the king and queen that the Scholar is trying to seduce the young princess for her wealth and in turn Carol gets confined into the castle. She tries to make her escape in hopes for freedom but as a guard finds her she goes in panic and falls off the roof... dying in the courtyard.

Alternative Ending:  Her curiousity led her astray... she wandered into a part of the academy about cursed books and god let away by one of them with a green Gem smiling at her... Gaius finds out about this and tries to stop her from opening it yet... the book sucked her inside and so she became one with it. From that day on the princess is said to be vanished and Gaius kept her with him... keeping the book in his shelf only being able to communicate with her via text and trying to find a cure to get her back.

Keisuke Route @sakuramidnight15​​

At one night after meeting the suitors she couldn’t sleep well... not at all... after all was that it... she was just to be wed off with barely knowing any of the men that were introduced to her... as she thought that she noticed a letter of a poem on her window... she often got such letters and enjoyed reading them yet she never knew who they were from... one note was attached to ask her to meet at the towns fountain... and so the princess chose more common clothes and rushed out of the castle... she met a young boy writing at the fountain who introduced himself as Keisuke and that he wanted to help the princess find her path... and so she followed him to a journey to the enchanted woods... not knowing his intentions yet but curious about what she had to say.

True ending: Similar to the good ending however instead of running away Carol confronts her parents about why Keisukes family was disbanded from the kingdom and genuinely speaks about how she wants him to be her suitor or she won’t accept anyone else. He makes her happy, he brings a smile to her face and she won’t let status get in the way of this. Even if her parents were hesitant they love their daugher and so they accept him as candidate...she also proposed Ideas on how to improve the kingdom thanks to the things her journey taught her as Keisuke promised he would care and protect her smile where he could.... the wedding was a year later combined with the coronation with many improvements in the kingdom settling on bringing stories and tales around to make the peoples life more enjoyable. Carol smiled upon the things they accomplished together, squeezing his hand tight as they watched the spectacle from the gardens and eventually once the other guests were too busy she pulled him away behind a tree for a kiss... thanking him for keeping her life happy this whole time despite the hardships thanks to what he wrote her all the time.

Good Endings:  Following the path of the Forrest he revealed that he previously was someone working in the palace and she remembered him, as both were younger there was a boy who often lurked in the library as the son of one of the servants back then... however his family got disbanded from the castle and he still wanted to keep contact with the princess hence he wrote her those poems.... with a bright smile Carols memory returned as she felt happy that he found her again cause she got really attached to him... Seeing the end of the forrest she asked him if they couldn’t just move away together and stay with another.... after all she knew her parents might not accept him and she cares about him far more than any of the suitors introduced to her... he agreed as both of them walked off hand in hand together... in the future they both managed a book store together handing their favourite stories to customers as She leaned her head on his shoudler with a smile, handing him a small poem she wrote herself to keep up the old tradition.

Bad ending: Turns out that her whole meeting with him was just a dream... nothing more than a wacky wonderland she dreamed up... as she checked her table all the poems have vanished... worse though an injury she got in wonderland followed her here... was it truely a dream or not... eitherway she lost her way... either way there was no saving her... she felt somewhat darkness sink into her... and so the princess neither cared who her parents chose... as long as she could fullfill her role.

Alternative ending:

The forrest led them to a huge apple tree... the apple glowed far more than the ones back in her kingdom... Keisuke and her took a rest under it...however one bite of the apple left her to drift into sleep. Both woke up on a different plain of existence... something of a world that seemed almost like a fairy tale... however was it right to abandon her own kingdom for this world... maybe it would make her happier... Keisuke tried to get her out of these delusions but failed... and so the princess became part of this other world.

A Kingdoms trio Route

Aside James who you got to know in the main story, You will get introduced to Metaron who is a knights commandant and often trains with him and Elias who served as butler the family for years... both also in turne have a particular close connection with the princess yet they also worry about what burdens her... at night she sat down the garden in thought as she noticed Metaron and James spar talking about a exploration the knights will do soon. The next day she snuck in a knight costume between them to join this adventure... throughout the route she will get closer with James, Metaron and Elias... however on the night of the trip they find out already that the princess pretended to be a knight and worried about her... Even if it meant trouble the three tried to keep it a secret from the other knights yet it leads to much tension at night given only they can see the Princess how she usually looks as well as tend to the wounds she got from fights. Basically its very similar to Mulan.

True ending:  Elias reveals that he lied about one thing and that is his true identity... he actually was a prince formerly as well that ran away from his own kingdom similar in a situation as Carol he was to be wed... as they all shared some secrets Carol was more honest about her feelings about them, saying that she wished she could be with all of them forever.... and so the plan they agreed on was that Elias and Carol were about to be wed for Suitors but in secret Carol would be with Metaron and James as well... to keep things easier as she can still take care of the kingdom they all grew up with as well as keep staying together. She agreed on these terms, feeling happy she could return to the kingdom finally with a solution to her lonelyness... The wedding was held among a bed of white flowers yet after the ceremony she snuck away to meet her other partners in their suits and held them closer giving each of them a kiss...she wanted to change the kingdom, make it better for people who seek shelter, make it possible to not be forced into things and decide who you love... she wanted to build it up with them together... and she was determined.

Good ending: One night she stayed in a tent with the three, genuinely talking about her concern about the future... does she want to become queen or does she want to travel instead.... she always appreciated them all around her but... currently she felt lonely with them leaving hence she wanted to join their trip. Hesitantly James asked if she had plans about her suitor situation in which she told him she wish she could just run away from it... if her new partner isn’t as good as they were to her she doesn’t want to be with him... she covered her mouth cause she admitted she had something for all of them yet as she saw them smiling she was confused. The idea came to stage a fake midnight attack where all of them left away their armor and ran away to the next town... the plan worked, the princess seemed like she vanished to the kingdom and they settled away from all the troubles... a bit into the future you see Carol life together with her three partners, James became a fencing tutor, Metaron a mercenary and Elias helped her take care of a small curiousity shop as they all held her close... having their princess safe and in a life she could be more free in.

Bad ending: She can’t keep up her cover however that isn’t the worse problem... knowing the princess is alone away from the kingdom some knights tried to betray the others in favour of the neighbouring kingdom he wanted to claim her. Metaron and James try to get her out of the clutches of the enemy but  one taller soldier smacked them both down and Elias couldn’t do much but hide... he healed their wounds after yet also felt dissapointed that they lost the princess to their enemy.

Alternative Ending:

Again she can’t keep up acting like a Knight but instead Metaron and James are send to return her back to the kingdom... Elias walking behind them... she begs for them to let her run away but they can’t help but obey... yet something still pains seeing the princess locked away in her room to think for herself... was it even worth protecting a caged bird that can never be free and happy. James often heard her crying in her room, Elias barely saw her touch her food and Metaron could barely see her at all anymore... it felt like the distance grew further away.

---

Adenia Route @luvkamishiro​

Noticing the princess needed some cheering up after the whole situation with her Suitors, her parents invited a entertainment troupe into the Castle and seeing their shows she somewhat was capitivated by Adenias charm and how much fun the group had in general with the performances and the music.... as they packed things to leave again she asked about the entertainer life and the next day snuck out the castle to follow the troupe. At first Adenia was worried about the princess running away from her kingdom but admiring her will of freedom and her hopes to become like them too, he allowed her to stay with them as a cover and learn to perform as well.

True ending: Even if she loved performing she knew the troubles with money and everything for the troupe, how flimsy it was... and so combined with her feelings and love she gained for this place, she made a suggestion to Adenia, if he would like the be with her and maybe with the help of the kingdom they could support the troupe for as long as they could... they could use the kingdom to put smiles on so many people faces together... hesitantly she wanted to show him she wanted to stick with him... he said he needed some time to get to know her more but once he did they would return to the kingdom together. Fast forward of a small colorful wedding back in the castle a bunch of commoners, performers and people from all kinds of wealth classes relaxed in the castle having a good day as Carol and Adenia looked over all the fun they are having... this truely was a kingdom blossoming into something better thanks to them both... she laughed seeing how much chaos it was and yet, holding his arm and seeing it all... she finally felt relieved that she in itself made this decision herself, not guided by her parents.

Good ending:  She was sucessful at keeping her cover, not only that, dancing during a performance with Adenia made her realize far more that she wanted to be with him... this runaway life was truely the freedom she seeked for... and so later as they both celebrated together she asked him what he would think of her. Even if he was worried at first given her status she convinced him that his is what she truely wants. And so he agreed to stay loyal to her, keep her safe and continue traveling with her doing these performances. Time past and some months later they both also took care of some orphaned kids of other towns and showed them the wonders and happiness their performances could bring. Smiling together, laughing together even if not every town they went through was so happy.

Bad ending: Many of the other performers were not convinced of the princess and one of the visitors recognized her, however instead of reporting her to the king and queen at night the princess was taken away from the troupe, kidnapped to another kingdom, instead peopel treated her horrible, throwing tomatoes at her and mocking the rivaling kingdom... and she had to endure this misery.

Alternative ending:  The princess was allowed to make food for the performers yet it almost seemed like she made their stomachs messed up by accident, messing it up. The show had the be canceled and even if Adenia tried to keep her, he was overvoted to say goodbye to the princess... as she walked back alone to her castle. 

Noriko Route @terrovaniadorm​

Feeling like taking a break from the whole search for Suitors she asked her father to join a recent court session about a thief who tried to steal a kingdoms artifact... joining the session next to her family especially the Judge and the one convicted caught her attention, curious about reasonings and how the case went... you have two options during the trial... one to defend the convicted given his story was that he stole out of a solid reason which would lead you to the Worrick route or be on the side of the Judge Noriko and agree with that the convicted deserves a punishment. Agreeing leads to Carol getting more curious about the system and wanting to watch some more cases which lead to her hanging a lot with Noriko in their office and getting know them as well as why they chose this path of Justice. However it won’t be always that clear what is wrong or right.

True Ending: One case that Carol dug up again was special to Noriko's past and so she used her influence working to help out to slowly find out the truth about this case…seeing her work day and Night he watched out for her and eventually Carol found something crucial… the case Was put to trial again, King and queen confused about the happenings and why their daughter was also standing aside the Judge bringing arguments but seeing her bring up all she found and the effort she put into it… her parents are more proud… after a celebration however Noriko was so full of relief that the past was settled. The princess thanked for instructions and help yet was surprised as he got on his knee… vowing endless loyalty to her… a bit taken aback she still confessed she had feelings for him for a while… and so both agreed to stick together for now and eventually the princess wanted to have them as their suitor. Time passed and eventually both had a pretty wedding among blue and white flowers… thanks to Noriko's previous experiences the kingdom reformed a little in its Justice system… keeping the Crime rate far Lower than before. Calmly the princess took his hand before stealing a Kiss looking full of trust onto the horizon. She trusted his promise… that he would keep her Safe till the end..

Good Ending:  Spending more time and helping out solving some cases Noriko somewhat got respect for the princess but also worried cause she been neglecting her other duties... one night they spoke up about it and Carols head looked down...She didn’t want to admit she was running away... after all it is important one day she would lead the kingdom to a better future but.. the whole searching for a suitor was too early for her... Both of them brainstormed through the law about means how  to get around this arranged search for a partner... and once they finished working the whole night on that plan Carol finally felt at ease... she would finally be free... yet something still bothered her... Even if she had more time to find a partner.... what if she already found someone she is interested in.... looking at Noriko in curiousity. The next day they tried to bring their plan to court... so that Carol could take her parents role when the time is right but... after the sucess of it she asked Noriko to come to the gardens with her... telling her true feelings out in the open... They were hesitant.... mainly cause she was Royalty and they were a simple judge but the determined look made them at least promise her... promise to be at her side and see how it goes. Fast forward and you can see the kingdom prosper in a more democracy way of the kingdom with Carol having Noriko as asssistant to help her out with the reform of the system... holding his hand and smiling brightly at him... it seems this new way the kingdom was going meant less pressure... and a future full of surprises.

Bad Ending:  The king and queen noticed Carol being away from her actual goal and just trying to escape her responsibilities by hanging with Noriko and so they seperated her from him and made her force her decision for a suitor... she managed to convince her parents to put it under a trial but lacking a deep enough bond with Noriko they also decided against her and so she was instead forced upon a suitor she might have not agreed on. Living unhappy with her new husband... looking back to the court missing the old days.

Alternative Ending:  One night as Noriko wanted to share some thoughts with the princess but on their way they got enchanted by a infamous witch among the kingdom... Miss Vic. This witch manipulated them like a puppet to pin a crime on the princess itself and in court fabricate evidence to convict her... all a scheme to slowly take over the kingdom itself and despite Carols pleas to listen to her that he is not himself right now... her parents looked away in shame and after her being thrown into prison like the previous trials... the witch took over and made this Kingdom still a beautifull blossoming kingdom... but under ruthless reign.

Takeda and Nanoya Route @forestwispocs​

At one night the Princess snuck out of the castle following a letter that promised her a way out of the situation.... in the end it was just the plot of someone to knock her out and kidnap her... she woke up on and unknown boat and as she reached the land she noticed a much more Eastern Village... not knowing where she landed... her clothing was also changed... she found out that she looked similar to a princess from this country and they wanted to use her to replace the current princess... however as she sat down in a prison of the enemies two samurai looking guys helped her broke out and try to flee, preventing this scheme...they introduced themselves as Nanoya and Takeda... and among their side they planned a way to get her home as well as to survive this ordeal.

Takeda Ending:  Among a split path one of the two Samurais had to sacrefice their life to let the other two escape... depending on choice this is where you decide who will be happy with the princess... Choosing Takeda, Nanoya will have a last stand with the enemy while Takeda and her escape on a boat back to her kingdom... she started crying in Takedas arms... she didn’t want to cause all this pain and death that stained their path, she only got dragged into this... yet he promised from now on he will protect her from the pain...Carol guided them in the right direction to land... before they arrived at the kingdom the two camped before it, resting their mind and thinking about Nanoyas sacrefice... Carol leaned onto Takedas shoulders apoligizing for causing the loss of his old friend but Takeda said there is some things worth fighting for and over time this became from a mission to protect someone they both held dearly... something that made her happy to hear but hurt her heart... She promised in return she would try to use her influence to bring peace to their land and expose the machinations and so the two hugged before going to sleep.

Fast forward Carol signed a contract with the former emperor of the kingdom while the enemy soldiers got arrested, Takeda became her personal bodyguard but there was more to it, given her parents gave her the blessing to marry him one day... both wearing rings as he held her hand after the ceremony... there was still a lot to do but they would do it together.

Nanoya Ending: Choosing to Sacrefice Takeda, he will use his sword skills to carve a way to the boat and push them both into safety, the last thing they see is him getting sliced by a sword in the stomach as Carol cried out for him... Silence dwelled as they got let accross Seas... Nanoya tried to give her comfort but she just felt guilt and sorrow well up... to calm her he put a blanket around her and sat back to back telling some old childhood stories of a former noble friend...remembering this instead of going to Carols kingdom they took a stop at count Deradelles Village, and plotted Revenge... one last thing they had to do before having peace and bringing Nanoyas land to a calm time... and enacting thier plans they manage to whipe out most of the enemies who caused this sorrow yet... Carol still was silent and worried about the future.... one night Nanoya joined sitting on the bed next to her and she was surprised by a hug given his previous fear... clinging onto him and sobbing as he promised he would make sure her future would be better.

Both of them married years later... Nanoya making an alliance with Flynns kingdom for Protection... Carol kept a necklace Takeda gave her around her neck in memory as they both honored their fallen friend with his sword stuck in his grave... Holding each others hand letting the emotions out.

Bad Ending: Among Carol talking to Local villagers who missed their princess and worrying about Takeda and Nanoya getting hurt... she decided to go along with the enemies plan in exchange for their safety... they used her as a puppet to control the land and manipulated it in their favour while Takeda and Nanoya layed down their swords after being striped of their titles... the previous Kingdom griefed about the lost princess not knowing she was used to put another land into dissoray...

Alternative Ending: It turned out as Carols head got knocked out this whole ordeal was a fever dream and she been in a coma for weeks after reading too many Samurai books... guess she could only dream of such an adventure and had to accept reality.

#twisted wonderland ocs #twst ocs #twst oc #disney twst #twst #twisted wonderland oc #twistedwonderland #twisted wonderland original character #twisted wonderland #Carol Ann #carol x james #carol x parker #carol x daido #carol x jesh #carol x maya #carol x lustre #carol x pink trio #carol x punch #carol x dos #carol x lio #carol x kalida #carol x azure #carol x cho hee #carol x des #carol x damien #carol x ronald #carol x trey #carol x silver #carol x watson #carol x jonas

[celtic-crossbow]

Write Love Letters Across Your Lips

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Setting: Alexandria

Warnings: Poorly written smut, p in v

Summary: Well, that wasn’t how the night was supposed to go, now was it?

A/N: This wasn’t even one of the 5 I already had started but it took my brain by storm.

They weren’t supposed to be home. 

Rick, Michonne, Carol…Oh, god! Carl and Judith. They were at a dinner. One you didn’t care to attend and, gauging from the eight inches currently pushing into you at an agonizingly slow but so pleasurably deep pace, Daryl didn’t attend either. 

You had never realized just how small the front closet was until the archer had heard the footsteps and voices on the porch, pulled you away from the wall, and crammed you both in there. There had been no time to separate, your legs firmly around his waist. No time to grab your clothes, he had kicked your pants in before closing the door. 

You gasped against his neck, thankful the coats hanging behind you were pillowing you when Daryl decided pumping into you faster was the way to go. You were speeding toward climax while you were certain he was currently just enjoying your suffering. 

As if to emphasize your point, he pressed you further against the clothing and you reached up to grab the pole holding the hangers just as he snaked a hand between you to press his thumb against your clit. Your chest pressed against his when you arched. He was quick to cover your mouth with his other hand, leaving you to pray the pole would hold with nothing else holding you to him but your trembling legs. 

“Ya gonna cum for me, girl?” He smiled against your throat, you could feel his teeth part for his tongue to taste your skin. You nodded shakily, eyes rolling back. 

“Let me just hang my coat and I’ll get the leftovers put away.” 

Oh god, Carol, no!

The door opened, thankfully just wide enough for Carol to see in, her eyes the size of saucers. Daryl had stilled, his palm nearly suffocating you to muffle the sounds of your panting. Your eyes pleaded with her to close the fucking door while Daryl gave her a shrug that was so nonchalant you made a mental note to punch him in the dick once you were finished with it. 

The surprise on her face faded into a smile and she mouthed ‘I knew it’ before tossing her jacket over Daryl’s head. The light faded with the click of the door. You clawed the coat away from his face as quietly as possible with one hand, praising whatever higher power there was that he chose to pick right back up where he left off. 

“Tired’a waitin’.” The circles he rubbed against your bundle of nerves picked up. The thrill of being seen, of knowing others could still catch you, must have set something off in the archer. He was pulsing inside you, chasing his own high while desperately coaxing yours from you. “Cum.”

The harsh whisper against the shell of your ear tipped you over the edge. Darkness exploded into colors as flames ignited in your veins, traveling out from where he was splitting you open. His fingers pressed harder into your cheek in a desperate attempt to keep you quiet while he silenced himself by sinking his teeth into your shoulder. He was still twitching within you when the world came back into focus, his hips thrusting lazily in order to ride out the last dregs of his own orgasm. 

Peeling his hand away from your mouth, you sought out his lips, hungrily tasting him while your head was still spinning. He sank back against the few jackets behind himself, shaking legs barely able to hold you both up now. 

“I wonder where Daryl and Y/N could possibly be?” Carol sing-songed from somewhere outside the door. 

If the woman had a dick, you’d punch her there too. 

#murda writes #daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x y/n #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon smut #the walking dead #daryl dixon x female reader #mdni #Spotify

[powderblueblood]

HELLFIRE & ICE — eddie munson x f!oc as enemies to star-crossed lovers

CHAPTER THREE — EDDIE MUNSON COMMITS TREASON (BREAKS UP a CAT FIGHT)

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summary: you deal with the fallout of your fight at steve harrington's party... in the passenger seat of eddie munson's van. so much for pretending you didn't exist to one another, huh? content warnings: as always, MINORS FUCK OFF, because we have *deep breath* implied fantasy smut, lots of swearing, confused yearning, themes of threat, heavy snark, another mention of the drink tab which i feel like is/was gross word count: 7.2k

Dear Dio, Tommy Iommi, Gary Gygax, Pee-wee Herman, Ronnie Ecker — forgive me for what I’m about to do. 

I know I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my life. Like the time I lit all my hair on fire and spent middle school with a buzz cut. Or the time I almost trapped myself in a spread eagle with my own handcuffs. Or the time I got my arm stuck in a wall for an entire afternoon when I was trying to rescue a feral cat. 

I’ve done a lot of stupid shit. But the stupidest among it all has got to be saving this girl from the bare knuckle wrath of Carol Whatsername. You know the one. 

Tonight, for whatever reason, this insane ex-rich chick has decided to teeter on the edge of a pool of boiling hot lava and for whatever reason, I feel like it’s my responsibility to yank her back.

Which sucks, because she’s a total bitch to me. 

Even if she just told everybody Tommy Hagan had crabs and has been cheating on his girlfriend in such a deranged way that it almost made me pop a semi. 

Anyway. Tell my guitar I love her. 

The world around Eddie slows to the tick of a football game replay as you let the last incendiary word you speak to Carol bounce around the goddamn Roman amphitheater Harrington’s back yard has become. 

This is insane. What he’s watching is insane. Like, he knew you and your dumb little court of Hawkinsites bickered back and forth, but you’re the last person he’d ever expect to air their dirty laundry like this. 

It’s incredible to watch the fascist leadership that he and the rest of the social nobodies have suffered under for so long rupture in real time. 

What’s even more incredible is how little hesitation there is on his part, shoving through the crowd when he sees Carol leaping for you. Eddie’s nearly jostled backwards by some slobbering roid heads— they’ve already called CAT FIGHT! and a crowd is clamoring. But Eddie’s got years of thankless equipment lugging behind him, giving him deceptively strong arms.

And thank god, because you are not an easy girl to hold onto. 

Carol lands a decent punch to your face, slamming with a dull knuckle-on-cheekbone crunch that makes all the onlookers, including him, go ooof! You stagger back in a state of shock (though, c’mon, you heard what you said just now, right?) and Eddie takes his shot just as you dive forward to retaliate.

He grabs you under the arms so you can’t like, elbow him in the fucking nose, a pale imitation of an illegal wresting move that Al Munson had forced him to learn at the tender age of seven. His dad had fancied himself a wrestling manager at the time— you can imagine how that worked out. 

But Jesus, can you ever squirm! Your body writhes against him—stop—hips bucking—don’t go there—as you try to get free. He doesn’t even think you realize who’s dragging you away from the screaming harpy, otherwise you’d probably turn your fury on him. 

He takes full advantage of the rage blackout and manhandles you through the party, earning a baffled look from Steve Harrington, who’s finally graced his own party with his presence. A pinch-faced Nancy Wheeler lingers behind him, but then again, Wheeler’s always all pinch-faced.

“What the fuck?!” Harrington breathes, exasperated. 

Eddie struggles against you struggling, just about dragging you over the front doorstep. Trust this guy to be upstairs in a domestic dispute, missing all the action while getting no action. 

Even in the chaos, Eddie will never pass up an opportunity to fuck with Harrington.

“You gotta start hidin’ your bath salts, man! Chicks are going crazy in there–Evil Dead type shit!” 

—

“You’re dead, Lacy! Monday morning, you are fucking dead!” Carol screams down the hallway. 

“It’s a date, bitch!” you screech, Munson’s nelson hold on you stronger than your thrashing. With a lot of work, he manages to haul you as far as Harrington’s front yard before you wriggle out of his grasp. You shove him, hard, all white hot and punch drunk and regular drunk on top of that. 

He yelps, high and frightened. You weren’t expecting a noise like that to come out of a surly-looking dude like him. 

So you do it again. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” you spit, and Munson flinches.

“Cutting you off!” he exclaims, this half-yell, half-laugh. It stings, the way he’s looking at you– like your anger isn’t anger, like it’s just amusing to him. 

“Well, who gave you the right? Who died and made you my parole officer, Munson?!” 

“Oh, I’m not– but I also didn’t feel like being woken up at home when the cops come looking for you after you go all Raging Bull on Carol. You haven’t been around the park long enough to hear ‘em, but those sirens really perforate the eardrums!”

Your jaw sets itself stiffly and you bind your arms over your chest. Unfuckingbelievable. “I would’ve, you know,” you breathe, seething, “Beat her up.” 

Munson’s dark eyes glide over you, like he’s checking you for concealed weapons or signs of a zombie bite— you avoid his gaze entirely, staring square into the middle distance. 

You promised that he didn’t exist to you, yet here he is. Driving you off the road. Breaking up your fights. Existing.

“Yeah, I know you woulda. You’re scary,” he says. You shrug, and he reaches to massage his shoulder. “And strong. Shit.” 

Your eyes flick over to him, but you don’t feel bad. You don’t feel bad because he’s grinning at you now and despite yourself, despite everything that’s transpired and the everything about him, you’re trying your hardest not to grin back. Adrenaline and vodka are still burning a hole in your chest. 

“Stay out of my way, then.”  

“Noted, but,” a couple of steps from Munson’s end closes some space between you. He’s peering at your face, right where Carol clocked you. A hand reaches out, angling your chin closer to the Harrington’s glaring porch light with his fingertips. You stiffen and squint, performatively wary, but you don’t stop him. You just let his eyes pan over you, looking anywhere but into them. “You might need a little first aid first. And a ride home.” 

“I was actually planning on carjacking Hagan,” you say coolly, the smile you were trying to beat away edging its way across your face. Munson releases your chin and the spot where his fingers were buzzes. It’s just the cold. It’s just your slutty librarian outfit, you tell yourself. You have to swallow in order to speak again. “Seems like fitting payback.”

“Jesus, sweetheart, what did I just say about cops?”

—

Eddie tolerates your eyes rolling back in your head when he props the passenger door open for you, helping you into the cluttered van with an outstretched had. 

See, I’m not the kind of asshole who doesn’t open doors for girls wearing stilts for shoes.

Those things were not made for clambering into a vehicle like this, sure, but they’re– nice. For what he knows about shoes, which is nothing. They make your legs look more… leggy, and for whatever reason this is making his brain soft. 

In your other hand is a cold can of High Life, which is the closest thing to an ice pack he could nab. That bruise blooming under your eye is going to be nasty, and he’s a little curious how you’re gonna look with it. You, with nary a hair out of place on a bad day, with a big ol’ purple shiner in a place that’s hard to hide.  

Gunning out of Harrington’s hood, a silence settles between Eddie and you. The radio hums in the background– a mainstream station for once. He thoughtfully figured that an aural assault by Sabbath would kinda rub salt in your wound. 

He’s thoughtful, but he’s not not nosy. So, of course he’s gonna ask– 

“That whole… verbal smackdown back there,” Munson starts after clearing his throat. “With Tommy H and everybody.”

On your end, the adrenaline has worn off and the numbing effects of the booze have amped up. You feel loose and warm, apart from the beer can cooling your bruise. There are twice as many streetlights streaming past you as usual. This is going to blow later– if you don’t blow chunks first. 

“All that about your dad pimping me out?” God, I mean, Hagan couldn’t compose a written sentence to save his life but maybe he had a future in speculative fiction. Did he just come up with that on the fly? “Take a wild guess, Munson.” 

Eddie recoils in his seat– gross. Gross. “Not the– the shit with Tina and Carol and–”

“Oh, the crabs? Yeaaaah, that’s true,” you slur, “But I rejected Tommy waaay before I knew that. Call it my brilliant instinct. And then he has the nerve to call me frigid, which– trust me, I’m anything… anything but.”

Munson seems a little surprised at this. You can see it in the way his eyebrows dart under his curly bangs. 

But you’ve had your share of disappointing experiences with the blandly acceptable boys in your circle– it’s par for the course, it’s part of advancing in the field. You can’t throw your cat into the street completely, but god forbid you be choosy about the boys you want to copulate with. The ones you’ve hooked up with, all unremarkable and perfunctory, always seemed so smug afterwards. Like they’d conquered something. 

But from Eddie’s purview, you always held yourself like you were above everyone else; not just the underclassmen and the social rejects, but even your own friends. He’d watch you sometimes, because it’s hard not to watch you. He’d wait for the few flickering moments you let your guard down, when you thought no one was paying attention as you sat at the lunch table or walked the hallways. So achingly unamused by the guffawing, the backslapping, the forced camaraderie of your forced high school persona and your forced high school friends. Then, one of them would say something like, Right, Lacy? and your brow would unarch and you’d be right back in the groove with the rest of them, giggling dumbly and glossing your lips. 

He always wondered how you did it, tolerated it. And why.

“Now, far be it from me to agree with a shithead like Hagan–and I don’t, before you get scary–but I kinda get where he’s picking that up,” Eddie winces, throwing a glance to you, glassy-eyed with your head against the window. You’re looking at him with narrowed eyes, eyeliner smudged. Even that look could cut down a man with twice his ego. “You’re a little bit frosty. Cold shock in the middle of a summer’s day– which, y’know, could be–”

You absolutely do not let him finish the thought.   

“It’s caaaalled being aloof, Munson,” you drawl, shuffling your shoulders against the passenger door and pulling a stray thread from your skirt with a sharp snap. “Playing hard to get, duh? Leave them wanting more? You wouldn’t get it because you’re so goddamn big and obvious all the time…”

“Obvious!” he brays, letting his jaw hang open with theatrical flair, “Obvious! Lacy, you wound me, I–”

“Obvious,” you bark back, “Obvious like a neon sign, obvious like a circus tent, obvious like– like– look at me, look at me, I’m a weirdo!” Your Munson impression, complete with devil horns, is a little dorkified but it shuts him right up. That loose little tongue of yours has trasmuted your mood from wrath to barbed silliness. “So obvious you wouldn’t know that kind of subtlety. Not if it hit you in the face.” 

A familiar tune whistles from the radio, distracting you. “… or cause you’re a virgin.”

“Okay—!“ Eddie starts, immediately assuming the position of point guard. His hackles are raised, but to be honest, he’s so willing to let you ramble on. It’s the first time he’s heard you talk this much, ever, save your little t��te-à-tête by the lockers the other day. 

Eddie doesn’t want to stem the flow just yet. He’s not thinking about it too hard.

“Oh shit, do you hear that?” Like a Virgin pumps from the tinny speakers and you reach to turn it up, your head drunkenly bobbling on your neck. Eddie winces; it’s so weird, watching you like this. It’s like dream logic. It’s like opposite day. “Munson’s a virgin! I’m gonna touch him for the very first tiii-iime! Munson’s a vii-iir-gin—“

“First off, no I am not and no,” he audibly swallows, positive you didn’t realize what you just sang, “no, you are not, ‘cause— well.” He clears his throat. A flare of heat burns around his collar. “I’m not the type to bone and tell.”

“Bone and tell.” You guffaw, a sound so unbecoming yet so endearing coming from you, and slump back in your seat. That tight little skirt you’re wearing rides up about an inch and a half. “Sounds like something a virgin would say.”

Eddie huffs; no way around this. You’re fucking with him, and it’s the indefatiguable male ego that’s not going to let him let you win. 

He fucks, okay? Or has fucked, prior to this. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with not fucking. 

But he’s done it.  

Eddie’s eyes dart between you and the road, and you’ve got him like a stuck pig with that expectant glare. His eyes linger on your exposed upper legs for a half a second. 

Christ, you’re annoying. It occurs to him that wants to bite the soft flesh of your thigh and hear you squeal about it, but you are annoying as hell. 

“Fine. Fine. You wanna know?”

Your head lolls against the rough upholstery of the seat and you bat your lashes at him. “I really wanna know.” 

And Munson will tell you, you know, because you’re the kind of person people tell things to. 

“Nicole Summers.”

“Bullshit. Nicole Nicole? My Nicole?”

“Nicole Nicole. Nicole, formerly yours. The only-girl-meaner-than-you Nicole. It was tenth grade,” he snorts bitterly. “Most unforgettable thirty seconds of my life.”

“Nicole told us she got her v-card stamped by a board waxer in Maui.”

“I’ve got a lot of side gigs. You don’t know about me.”

You snort too, despite yourself. That’s a lot of despite-ing tonight, Lacy. You sit up in the seat a little, interest catching. Flame to a candle wick. 

“How was it?” you press. 

Munson furrows his brow, like duh. “Most unforgettable thirty seconds of my life, I just told you.” A beat. “Until— …Cass Finnigan.”

Now, an encounter like that is less surprising, but still you holler, “Bullshit!”

“I’d say the same shit if it hadn’t, y’know, happened to me,” he stage whispers, “In this van.”  

Your eyes widen, a flicker of a grimace sailing across your face. You wonder how he pulled that off, but all that comes to mind is the start of a bad porno– Cass meets him at that dingy little bench out back of the school to pick up and he’s, I don’t know, test driving some of his new supply and offers her a toke. She’s all, why the free samples, Munson? and he’s all, I only let the prettiest girls test the product. And because Cass is notoriously insecure–who among us, girl–she’s all, who, me? and he’s all, come back to my van, and she’s all, but I’m going steady with Mikey B, and he’s all, I won’t tell if you won’t and then he fucks her in the ass. 

Because Cass is saving the first hole for marriage and you know that. You’re the kind of person people tell things to. 

What you don’t expect is a weird pull of… envy. Why, in this imaginary scenario, had he never invited you back to his van? Well. You know why. But you’re drunk, so logic begone. “When did all this go down?”

“Uh, right before school got back,” Munson answers, kind of apprehensively. He could be lying, you figure.

“Well, Cass has been having a weird year,” you mumble, meaning to think that rather than say it. You know, because you’re the kind of person people tell things to.

“What’s that supposed to imply exactly?” Eddie says, an edge in his voice. He can’t help the way something in his chest flares; like he forgot to wait for the other shoe to drop with you, and now it’s dropping. 

“It stands to reason that she’d wanna, like, do something stupid,” you explain, and you know how it sounds. It’s mean. But honestly, you’re so drunk, and so past the point of attempting to spare people’s feelings.

“Like hook up with the local freak,” Eddie finishes for you, tone flat. You couldn’t not put him in his place, could you? Not that he thought Cass liked him or anything, he could feel her (literally feel her) going through the motions like a social experiment but– God, a little delusion doesn’t hurt now and again. 

“Exactly!” and even in your inebriated state, you can feel the tension in the air, hanging between you like a balloon full of noxious gas. Rather than cut it, you want to poke at it, unfeeling as to whether that’ll make it worse or better between you and the boy in the driver’s seat. You hike yourself up further, leaning toward him, pulling the can of High Life from your face. 

Munson’s profile is this beguiling mix of hurt and irritation, lit by the scuzzy orange hue of the passing streetlights. 

“What, did you want me to act impressed? Did you want me to lie to you?” 

“What? No– look, I know what girls like that– think of me, but,” Eddie’s voice shrinks in his throat, making him sound completely pre-pubescent. He notices you lean forward in his peripheral vision, like you have to strain to hear it, “that doesn’t make it any less shitty.” 

Oof. He did not need to unleash that little piss-shake of earnestness right now. He mentally steels himself for a ribbing from you, a cackling, piercing laugh like you let out before Carol punched you. 

“Of course it doesn’t!” you froth, “Just like it doesn’t make it any less shitty when guys act like they’re settling a bet with their buddies when they hook up with me.” You cross your arms to your chest with a quickness, slamming back into the seat. “Bet you couldn’t make it with Lacy, she’s got a combination lock on her pussy. Fuck you, dude.”

That coaxes a bark of a laugh from Munson, which makes you giggle a little in turn. It’s a weird feeling. It’s not quite relief; more like satisfaction. One point to Lacy, you made him laugh. 

“Combination lock, huh?”

“Allegedly.”

“Bet none of those losers even know how to crack a lock.” 

Your head tilts in his direction, forward this time. “And you do?”

Munson’s eyes flash at you, a dangerous orange glint sparkling in the darkness of his irises. “My criminal skillset is pretty diverse.”

He pins you down with this look from the driver’s seat and for a heartbeat or two, and you let him. Just long enough that a stab of sobriety sneaks in– and you can’t deny it, but you wish it didn’t. 

You’re drunk. 

If you can stay drunk, all bets are off. 

If you can stay drunk, whatever you do doesn’t matter, because you were drunk. 

You could reach over and press your fingers into the soft denim between his legs, make something hard there. You could squeeze the thickness of him over his zipper and kiss the shock of alabaster skin on his neck, where his pulse goes all jackrabbity under your touch. You could make him forget he ever heard the name Cass Finnigan. 

And it would mean nothing. 

And you wouldn’t have to justify it, because you were drunk. That’s what you’ve always been taught.

But you uncross your arms and you pull at the hem of your skirt and look to the road, just as the van swerves into the trailer park. Munson doesn’t take such a hard turn at the corner this time, probably wary of your risk of ralphing all over the van if he does. He pulls into that negative space between your trailer and his and instructs you to wait in your seat. 

“Trust me, the descent out of this baby is much trickier than it looks,” he assures you, jogging to the passenger door, a jingle of keys and pocket chains and belts on leather, “and you’re way too gone to make it in one piece, princess.”

So he holds his hand out again (“M’shitfacedlady,”) and gingerly you take it, and it becomes very apparent very quickly that your legs have turned to rubber on the drive home. 

“Oh, shit!” 

Your attempt at gracefully exiting the van is ruined by an unsteady ankle, sending your weight right into Eddie Munson’s chest. Luckily, he was braced for it– just about. “Told you you couldn’t make it without me,” he breathes as you clutch a handful of his Metallica shirt, vision quadrupling. He’s warm, and you suddenly realize that you’re freezing.

Trembling.

“Stop flirting with me,” you hiss to one out of the four Munsons in front of you. “I need to go to bed.”

Eddie forces himself to bite back another double entendre, which is a shame, because they’re doing an awesome job of covering up how goddamn nervous he suddenly is. He moves his arm to your waist, helping you haul ass to your front door. He’s got to keep one arm outstretched behind you in case you lose your balance again– which you almost do, a couple of times, wavering around like a dashboard Jesus. 

He watches you like he’s trying to commit this to memory, the rare case of you being so beyond your usual composure. He’s even got to intervene after the first five minutes, making unlocking your front door a two idiot job.

Eddie’s about to wave you off and disappear to scream and something else into his pillow when he sees you take a dangerous lunge into the darkness of the trailer. “Woah, girl–” 

But you recover, in a kind of brainless way, taking a measured Bambi-like step forward. One after the other. 

Fuck. He can’t leave you like this. 

You’re gonna trip and brain yourself on a Fabergé egg or whatever the fuck it is you and your mom have in there. 

“Uh– Lacy?” 

The trailer is eerily quiet. You feel like you’re trespassing in your own place. Boxes of out-of-place, too-expensive ephemera are still strewn everywhere, but you navigate the maze of them like it’s nothing. Sense memory. You don’t even entirely register that Munson is following you inside, that he’s frantically whispering after you, until you reach your bedroom door. 

A coldness shoots up your spine as you turn on him. You didn’t invite him in here, did you? 

“What do you think you’re doing?” you ask for the second time tonight. This time, it comes out a little fearful. 

Eddie picks this up, right where you’ve erroneously dropped it. His chest gets a little tight. You didn’t think he was trying to–? 

“Making sure you lie down in the recovery position, that’s all,” he throws his hands up in total surrender, Scout’s honor, all that shit. “I’m not tryin’ to pick any locks tonight. I swear.” 

“I don’t need your help, Munson,” but just as you twist the doorknob, you keel over through the door, hitting the floor like a lead balloon. 

“Yeah, you keep telling me that,” he blearily smirks down at you, “And yet.”

But Munson’s not such an asshole about it that he just leaves you there. He hauls you up, again, and you stagger towards your bed, flopping face down on top of the comforter. He says some variation of okay, well, that’s how you choke to death on your own vomit, Jimi Hendrix and bullies you into the recovery position. 

“Don’t freak out, I’m just–” and Munson sits gingerly on the edge of your bed, taking one of your high heeled feet in his hands. 

What the fuck, you mumble, either aloud or in your head. But he’s fiddling with the tiny buckle at your ankle, gently undoing it. Another chill runs through your body but you don’t move, not an iota. You just… let him do it. His hands on your aching feet aren’t a totally unwelcome touch. He’s being featherlight about it, almost afraid to touch you even though he had no problem sheepdogging you into bed. 

“You could do anything to me right now,” you hear yourself saying. “No one would even know. No one would even care, I bet.” 

It’s meant to sound like you’re goading him, or even flirting with him, but it comes out sounding pitiful. You cringe, your hands creeping up to cover your face. 

“I’d care.” Munson’s voice is a tiny mumble– you know he’s just defending himself, but it kind of sounds like something else. He slips your right shoe off and sets it on the floor next to your left one. He hesitates for a moment before getting off your bed. 

“Alright, well– we can forget this ever happened. Resume being assholes to each other on Monday. Don’t, like, die in the meantime.”

“You say resume like we ever stopped being assholes to each other.”

“Have a fun hangover, Lacy.” 

–

You do not have a fun hangover. You wake up late Saturday afternoon after Friday’s bacchanal and don’t emerge from your room save from the occasional bathroom trip to puke up what little dignity you’ve got left. Sunday morning is when your mom hammers on the door and drags you to the kitchenette after confirming that you’re still, y’know, alive. 

“This is your game face, hm?” she says, pulling at your chin to examine your violet bruise that seems to have developed its own heartbeat. She doesn’t hold your face the way Munson did, gentle and searching, just tugs into the sparse light streaming into the dingy kitchenette.

You attempt to steel your jaw, but your bottom lip is starting to waver. 

“What happened?” your mother asks, and beneath all the jagged broken glass, there’s a tiny sliver of tenderness. 

Call it your pride, but you don’t reach for it. 

“I went out,” you say tightly, “and I made a fool of us.”

She hacks up a scoff through her smoker’s cough and disappears into her bedroom, leaving you alone to pick at a cold waffle. The few moments of consciousness you’ve had since Friday night have been spent trying to piece the party together– you remember clearing the better part of a bottle of cheap, cheap, shitty vodka with Robin Buckley’s help (weird), you remember getting into it with Hagan and Carol and getting wailed on. You remember getting a ride home with Munson, but the finer details of that are fuzzy. 

You think, and this is a thought that turns your already 180’d stomach, you let him into your bedroom, but you can’t be one hundred percent sure. All you know for an absolute is that your shoes came off that night, and you would never bother to take your shoes off after a night like that. 

So somebody must have. 

Meanwhile, Eddie’s been having a hell of a meanwhile. 

Fact of the matter is that you managed to detonate a nuclear bomb at Harrington’s party just under an hour after your arrival, which has got to be some kind of world record. It was also a world record for how little product he’d managed to sell during one of those parties, because he was preventing the manslaughter of a teenage girl– could’ve been you, could’ve been Carol. He nearly wishes he let that fight play out, as he stares into his empty wallet. 

Eddie’s gotta busy himself somehow, gotta do something– weirdly, he’s not in the mood to make a whole lot of noise. It’s not such a terrible day for working on his van, so he slams his toolbox on the ground and gives a couple dozen casual glances toward your bedroom window.

Your blinds still aren’t fixed. That’s got to have been shitty when you woke up with a splitting vodka headache and a shiner the size of Canada. 

Eddie keeps finding excuses to pace back and forth in perfect view of your window. Not in a peeping Tom sort of way, but in a way where he’d kind of like to see any sign of life from you. Even if you just rose from your bed like Nosferatu and gave him the finger. Then, he could relax. 

“Ed,” a gruff voice comes from the makeshift trailer porch, “fuck’re you doin’.” 

Those dulcet tones would belong to his beloved Uncle Wayne, who, ever since his hours got cut at the plant, has become unbearably observant of Eddie’s every movement. Wayne’s not a neglectful kind of father figure, not like his blinders-wearing real dad is, so he actually gets concerned when Eddie’s acting out of sorts. 

“Engine,” Eddie mumbles, pivoting fast like a kid caught doing something he shouldn’t, “Engine’s making hinky noises.”

“Sounded alright last night,” Wayne levels him instantly, “when you came home.” 

“Didn’t mean to wake ya,” he twists an oily rag in his hands, avoiding Wayne’s stony stare. 

“I was up.” He crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe. God, whenever Wayne susses him out, it’s like drip torture. He’s slow as molasses with the confrontation on purpose, making Eddie sweat and out himself on every little fuck up he’s ever made. “You go in there?”

Chin jerks towards your trailer. Eddie’s shoulders shrug towards his ears, head tilting back. “Wayne, it’s not– she was real drunk, like blotto, I just–”

“You steer clear of that one.” It’s the definite nature with which Wayne says it that makes Eddie’s stomach drop. No prelude to it, no I know, kid, you were just tryin’ to do right by her. Nothing. 

“Wayne–”

“She ain’t what you think she is. Not if she’s anything like her bloodline.” 

He says this like the realization hasn’t hit Eddie like Carol hit you on Friday fight night. 

He says this like people haven’t been saying the same thing about Eddie for years.

–

Monday morning comes and you’re still somewhat suffering. A headache nags at your temple, but you pin that down to anxiety rather than an extended play of your hangover. 

It occurs to you that you should dress as down as possible today– realistically, of course, as you’d never be caught dead in sweatpants. You need comfort, you need something that feels like a well-worn blanket so you opt for a deep burgundy sweater dress that actually belonged to your mom in the 60s. 

You’d found it in the back of her closet when searching for a belt you knew she’d stolen from you and pulled it out. Mom! you chirped, How cute! How come you never wear this?

Oh, God, she’d cringed, batting the garment out of her way as she passed you in a cloud of Shalimar, Just throw that ratty thing out for me, would you?

But you didn’t. You kept it tucked away in the back of your closet and took it out when you needed it. When you needed to bury your face in it. Substitute it for a comfort she refused to give you. Which you realize is terrifically sad, but so’s life. 

The warm red is a distant cousin in the color family to the bruise under your eye. That bruise, it’s a glaring reminder of what a fucking loser you’ve become. The old you, the real you would never have stooped to that level– never had let them drag her down like that. But now you’re the kind of girl that screams and starts fights at parties, you guess. 

Your rage feels ugly in the cold light of day. 

You’re locking the door of the trailer behind you just as Munson emerges from his humble abode and it’s nothing short of awkward. Like you’d both seen each other naked or something.

You both stand there, in your relative doorways. His mouth gapes like he’s about to say hi, say something, and a memory comes back to you. Cold shock in the middle of a summer’s day. No one likes that. No one wants that. 

Regret stabs at you.

“Can you see it from there?” It’s the only thing you can think of to say, because you’re sure as fuck not saying hi. 

“What?”

“The bruise. Can– can you see it from over there?” 

Munson sort of half-snorts. “Not from here–”

“Ugh, thank god.”

“--but this is like, over fifteen feet away.” 

You roll your eyes, which hurts a lot, thanks guy, and walk toward his van. 

“Now?” you say, waving a hand under your eye, right where you’ve applied and blended and applied and blended a criminal amount of concealer. Munson leaves about a foot of space between you, on purpose, and you crane your neck back, on purpose. Reinstating the forcefield between you. 

“Oh yeah, you can barely even see that you got your ass kicked.”

“It’s not even eight in the morning, Munson. Do you really want to start your day with a knee to the balls?”

“You’re right. That’s usually an after-dinner activity,” he grins and jerks his head toward the van. “Need a ride?”

Need a ride? Like it’s the most ordinary, everyday thing in the world, Eddie Munson offering you a ride to school in his deathtrap of a van. Your stomach pulls at the sense memory of being in there on Friday night, and what you’ll look like getting out of it in the parking lot of Hawkins High. 

“No,” you say, shaking your head, definite and resolute. “I’m walking.” 

He scoffs. “C’mon. It’s too late to start walking now. You’ll be late for first period.” 

You scoff back, imitating him. “So what?”

“You’re never late for first period.” 

“I can be late– how the hell do you know I’m never late for first period?” 

“Because, dummy, I’m always late for first period,” he tells you, yanking open the passenger door, “And I sit behind you in History, and you’re always there when I come in, leaning back with your nose in some dumb book and your stupid hair all over my desk.” 

It’s true– you are always reading in history, because Kaminsky can’t teach for shit and you’ve already read ahead on the coursework anyway. You liked to rub that in his face by pulling out some unprescribed literature during class. Plus, no one you really care about is in your class, so you don’t have to worry about getting made fun of for having your nose in some dumb book. Illiterate jocks would never try that shit with you– nobody there would. 

Until now. 

And it’s true that Eddie Munson sits behind you, and barrels in like an idiotic excuse for a hurricane with some idiotic excuse for being late that you always scoff at, because does he ever get tired of his own bullshit. But after that brief cameo appearance in your day, you really do forget about him. 

Until now. 

“So?” he says, all expectant. 

And you consider it for a second, you really do– but you don’t think you can handle the blowback of leaving a party with Eddie Munson on Friday then turning up with him on Monday. Going to the same class. Where he sits behind you. It’s just… overexposure. 

The same realization must hit him, because all of a sudden he’s slamming the door shut with a roll of his eyes. “Whatever. Your tardy slip, babe.” You can’t help but think he sounds a little wounded. 

But fuck it. Fuck it! Since when do you stand around feeling sorry for Eddie Munson? 

Before you know it, the van roars out and leaves you in the dust. 

You don’t make it to school until after second period, because that so-called bus route a fifteen minute walk from the trailer park must not even exist, so you forge a note from your mom in the parking lot. 

As your fountain pen hovers over the paper, brainstorming an excuse, you consider pulling out the big guns– say you had to attend visitation day at the penitentiary. Use this disaster to your advantage for once; but you pull back. Scribble something about a doctor’s appointment and dot your mother’s ‘i’s with eerie precision.  

You make quick work of dropping the note off in reception– the uptick of being the kid of the town’s gossip beacon is some people still feel sorry for you. Some people weirdly include Janice, Principal Higgins’ secretary, who snatches the note from you before you can even reach the actual receptionist’s desk. 

“I’ll file that for you, dear,” she says, all coo-cooey with an unwelcome hand on your shoulder, “How are you and your poor mother doing these days? And your,” her croaky voice drops to a whisper, “dad? How is… he being treated?”

You blink at her, gripping the fountain pen in your hand. “Do you know what a shiv is, Janice?”

Just then, the bell trills and you take your leave, stepping out into the linoleum. 

Someone calls your name from down the hall. You crane your neck to see Ronnie Ecker jogging toward you, paper in hand. 

Now look, you’ve never had a problem with Ronnie Ecker. You can’t say you’re particularly fond of her but she’s smart; she keeps to herself and she was a decent lab partner during your junior year of dissecting frogs together. Squeamish, but that’s why you were there, to handle the scalpel. As much of a social outcast as she is, she’s not nearly as odious as the rest of them. That’s pretty goddamn remarkable amongst the Hawkins student body. 

She is also, you’ve come to notice, a resident of Forest Hills trailer park. 

“Hey!” she says, “Um, I noticed you missed first period and Kaminsky was handing our papers back so I figured you’d want yours…” 

“Why is everyone so obsessed with me missing first period?”

“Huh?”

“No– nothing,” you huff, taking the paper from her. A solid B on A+ material– told you Kaminsky couldn’t teach for shit. He’d be hearing from you about this. “Thanks for this, Ronnie.”

You start down the hall but notice Ronnie’s keeping in step with you. “I also just wanted to say– I heard about what happened Friday. And I think it’s sick, you standing up to Hagan like that. Asshole needed to be put in his place.” 

Well, there’s only one person she could have heard the nitty gritty of that news from. You know she’s trying to flatter you, but all you feel is a flame of embarrassment, plus a touch of anger– even though the news has easily circulated the school hallways by now. 

Along with the rumors of you taking Hargrove, Buckley and Munson, and not in a fight. 

“Well. Y’know. I was pretty wasted,” you attempt to brush it off and you see Ronnie deflate a little. 

Like you’re not the blazing hero someone made you out to be. 

“Okay, but is it true you had a threesome with Billy Hargrove and Robin Buckley and Robin was wearing the Tigers mascot suit?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ.”

–

Classes pass in a monotonous blur, like most Mondays, but worse. That would be thanks to the extra shot of dread that’s served with your cafeteria meal of a wilted salad and soda. Last week at lunchtime, you at least had a tenuous standing with your former circle– you could still sit between Tina and Nancy Wheeler and suffer Tina’s thinly veiled jabs at you with a semi-placid look on your face. Nancy would look at you with eyes full of pity, and you’d want to punch her face in, but you’d be fine. 

But now, as you stand in the cafeteria swirling with people and catch the death glares from your old table (save for Nancy and Steve Harrington, who just straight up refuse to make eye contact with you), you’re just about ready to snap. 

Your flight instinct tells you to toss the tray out of your clammy hands and run, and keep running, until you disappear into the woods behind the school, never to be found. Your body becomes mulch before anyone remembers to look for you. Maybe you make really good fertilizer and a couple of pretty weeds sprout up from where you die. 

Your bruise, under its flaking layers of concealer, throbs twice– as if to say, don’t you fucking dare.

You make a confident beeline for the table, chin tilted and eyes set in a stare that could be categorized as withering, if only it was trained on anybody in particular. You grab a chair that some dumb underclassman is about to sit in and drag it with you, legs screeeeeching across the waxed floor. 

Who gives a shit who you were on Friday night. 

“I can sit here, right?” you say, and place your tray on the table next to Ronnie Ecker. 

She just stares at you for a hot second. That’s too long to stay standing in uncertainty, so you settle your stolen chair at the table and sit next to her. 

Ronnie isn’t the only one staring, however– the rest of these dorks, all in their matching t-shirts with Satan’s fiery head emblazoned across them, are watching you with their mouths agape. 

“Is this a prank or something?” one of them, a curly-haired freshman, says. 

This question is directed toward their fearless leader, decked out in denim and leather at the head of the table. That is to say, the direct opposite end of the table that you’re sitting at. 

“That’s no way to greet a lady, Gareth,” Munson says, feigning coolness but you can tell he’s a little flustered. The dead giveaway is in the way he misses his mac and cheese with his fork, the way his solid gaze double-blinks. You’ve thrown him off game– and because he’s impossible not to overhear sometimes, you know that game is all he’s got going on at this table. 

There’s that feeling again– point to Lacy. 

“To what do we owe the pleasure?”

This is Munson’s version of what the hell do you think you’re doing, but you choose to ignore him. It’ll drive him insane, and you know that, glaring red warning sign that he is. Instead, you flash a smile at the freshman that almost makes him pass out, Cupid’s arrow struck straight through the heart. 

You cross your legs and angle your body toward Ronnie– and by extension, in the direction of your old table. You can see Carol burying her face in Tommy’s shoulder, the both of them on the verge of losing bowel control with laughter. Laughter at you. 

Who gives a shit who you were before Friday night.

“So, Ronnie,” you say, taking a sip of your Tab, “You get up to anything fun this weekend?”

author's notes: let me get ahead of everything and say yes, i am absolutely fucking with the timeline. suspend your disbelief, my beautiful babies, and enjoy steve, carol, tommy and ronnie ecker still being in high school because I SURE WILL. but on an absolutely serious note, thank you so much for all the support and each and every note you’ve put on the chapters so far. i seriously, seriously appreciate it. now, the notes: - you think eddie munson doesn’t fuck with pee-wee herman heavy? you think he didn’t watch this movie in reefer rick’s, high out of his gourd, and think oh yeah i love this freak? get REAL! RIP paul reubens, this one’s for you. specially every time i mention a handjob - eddie munson also has charlie kelly disease - speaking of iterations of always sunny characters, much like frank reynolds, there’s not a get rich quick scheme al munson hasn’t tried. we’ll get into that a little more… later - admittedly, the whole ‘face eating on bath salts’ thing didn’t gain traction until the 00s, but if hawkins is going to be ahead of its time in anything, it’s fucked up shit happening to people! - did you notice how i blended eddie and lacy’s povs in the van? i’m going to continue doing that in moments where they’re on a similar ~wavelength~ - jimi hendrix did unfortunately die of asphixiation, but instead of thinking about that, watch this sick video of him playing guitar that eddie definitely has committed to memory - RONNIE ECKER KLAXON. i know that in flight of icarus she’s described as tall, but that hasn’t stopped me fancasting her as ayo edebiri in an eddie munson wig - at this point, you might be thinking damn, everyone sure seems to hate each other in this story. like, why is nancy wheeler catching strays? i’m here to remind you it’s the 1980s and teenagers kind of suck. play the track - thanks again for all the love! you can keep this crazy train going by liking, commenting, reblogging and generally showing me the same kindness you’ve shown me so far. love u my little hellcats

#published by powder #in progress #hellfire & ice #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson fic #stranger things fic #e. munson by powder

[avidfics]

Chasing you

Summary: You’ve been on the run from Carol after sending a drunk voicemail. A month later, Carol has found you and doesn’t plan to let you go.

A/N: Came out of a writing hiatus cause I love this woman. There’s not enough carol x reader fics on this app and she gives me the warm fuzzies. Comments and reshares are appreciated :)

Warnings: Pretty PG-13, playful teasing, fluff, some tears, few misspellings, mentions some characters from The Marvels

Three things were painfully obvious as you woke up. This wasn’t your bed. These weren’t your clothes. The “Space Girls Do It Better” sleeveless crop top didn’t belong to you. 

Oh, and there was a fluffy, orange flerken licking its genitals ontop of your chest. A pretty deep cleaning by the looks of it.

“Um.” your voice croaked, the result of a long nap. “Mr. Flerken sir, I’m going to move you and place you on the floor-” Three tentacles shoot out from the confines of its mouth, wraps around a nearby metal dresser, and swallow it whole.

An audible nervous gulp can be heard from your throat. “New plan. Leave when it pleases you.” 

Armed with the killer fluffball, you creep along the cramped halls of the spaceship and take in the colorful murals that are painted inconsistently through the halls. One reads vaguely familiar, “New Jersey.” 

What’s a New Jersey?

In the back of your mind you have a nagging suspicion of the identity of the owner of the ship. But if you were right, then that would be a bigger problem than someone undressing you while you were unconscious. 

You enter the main pilot room as a childlike scream jars both you and the flerken. 

Kamala Khan’s wide eyed, all teeth smile shines from across the room. “OMG you’re awake!”

“God, no.” you groan. You plead to the heavens that this is all just a stress conjured dream even as the teenager morphs a hard light disk to propel her forward to tackle you into a warm hug. “Kamala, please tell me you're the owner of this ship and you’ve gotten your spaceship driver’s license early?

Her lips curve. “Sure.”

A relieved sigh depletes from your body.

“Sure, I missed you. But this is Carol’s ship. After you left she’s been tracking you for the past few weeks. We got an alert that you were involved in a bar brawl on the planet Aladna yesterday. When she found you, you were already beaten unconscious and bleeding from the attack. Carol scooped you up and took care of your injuries in the med bay.” Her signature dopey smile returns. “She nearly blasted the whole bar apart when she found you. It was epic.” she sighs with a faraway look.

Her smile wouldn’t be so bright if she knew you had no interest in being on the same planet yet alone on a small ship with her honored captain. Your frantic eyes start to scan every nook and cranny of the room. As if Carol would materialize from the launch keys at any moment. You drag Kamala to the control panel and start to hit buttons at random. “No, none of this is epic. Kamala, afraid we need to cut this reunion short. Drop me off at the nearest planet or station. Shoot, give me a space jumpsuit and I’ll simply float outside in outerspace. But I Can Not. Be. Here.” 

Kamala gives a sly look at how you’re acting. “Carol said you’d try to jump ship once you woke up.” she smiles as she pets the flerken still in your arms. “Something about you being embarrassed over something moronic.” 

And there it was. Until now there was a slim grasp of hope that Carol hadn’t known what you did but this just confirmed not only did she know but she wasn’t going to let it go. Goody. No way would you tell the whole story of how you’d gone out drinking with some Skrull girls because Carol was driving you crazy in her freaking halter tops. Then you found out she was married to a prince! Sure, it was only a political marriage but still the revelation made you want to punch something or someone. So drunk out of your mind, you left the most pathetic voicemail of all time sounding like a teenager with a crush. Talking about how she attracts you more than the rules of gravity. What was that! The voicemail ended with your declaration to take the prince of Aladna in a fight if that’s what it took to get her attention.

In your defense, she does like to fight. So you did punch someone…or several someones at the bar.

“It’s nothing.” you blink away the memory. “Carol didn’t have any right to kidnap me off the planet”

“Aren’t you a little old to be “kidnaped?” the dreaded voice calls out from behind you both.

You whip your head around, guilt written all over your face even as your jaw slackens at the hottest, yet fatigued, space hero in the galaxy. 

But at the moment Captain Marvel just looked like Carol. A half smile gracing her lips even as she leans against the entrance. Bare arms out, another damn crop top that barely covers her belly button, and an empty space of tantalizing skin at her stomach before the top half of her supersuit hangs limp at her hips. 

It was giving off duty lesbian about to repair an engine and it was making you absolutely feral. 

Which is why you held the flerken outstretched in her direction.

“Not another step, Danvers.” you warn. “This flerkin here has taken a liking to me and isn’t afraid to defend me.”

Carol tilts her head and her full teasing smile tasks force, causing a full quiver in your heart.

Taking slow, meticulous steps toward you, not caring about the fur-covered danger dangling from your hands. “You’ve taken a liking to my pet, sweetheart?” 

A spurtle of incoherent nonsense leaves your mouth. “It found me when I woke up. I even named him Ginger.”

“Real creative.” her deadpan sarcasm does not go unnoticed. “Put Goose down before he decides to eat you.” You get ready to fight the command but ‘Goose’ does a loud meow and you decide that’s him agreeing with his apparent owner. 

Her eyes flicker to the noisy teenager next to you. “Kamala, go find another wall to destroy.”

“Aye aye, captain.” You make a desperate attempt to grab Kamala but the small betrayer just mouths “You’re in trouble.” before prancing away. 

With Kamela’s exit the room is too quiet and the once spacious room feels tiny and empty, leaving only the bruising reminder of why you’ve avoided Carol for weeks. Sure, your friend can fly, shoot rays of energy from her fist, and literally crush you with her bare hands but none of that ever scared you. It wasn’t your physical body you were afraid she would break, but the fragile, sensitive heart you always protected. But then there was Carol with her small, gentle smile and her laughing eyes and a warm presence that made you want to be soft instead of sharp with pointy edges.

Under Carol’s gaze you were a giant raw wound that was left open and too exposed. You just knew Carol could see it. 

Which is why getting off this ship was imperative. With a new, hardened resolve you turn around and commerce pressing every button in sight.

“You trying to order a pizza? Because there’s an easier way than having us crash into the nearest asteroid.”  The pull of her voice is so strong after weeks of zero contact but you ignore it nonetheless. Not that it deters Carol. “But maybe your bad driving is a result of getting your ass whooped down on Aladna.”

She’s baiting you. Do not give in.

“I mean the fact that you got your butt handed to you by a group of people who normally only fight in song has to make you mad, right?” The silence in response finally gets to her as she stomps up to the dashboard controls and undos every button you’ve pushed in concession. Each time she reaches for a button near yours, fingers a centimeter from touching, you yank away and take a step away. She grunts in return and counters with another step closer. 

Her next jap finally hits her mark with stinging precision. “Maybe next time you should ask the Prince for backup.”

A response fires out your mouth even as you slam your hand against a particular shiny button. “I had it handled, okay? That pretty boy prince might’ve impressed you somehow but his presence in a fight is as needed as yours is to me right now.” The lie turned your stomach and made you feel like Goose’s shit. “You had no right and no reason to take me off that damn planet because I had it covered. Just drop me off at the nearest planet.”

Carol could smell the lie a mile away. The words bounced off her chest. If anything she was trying to hide her arrogant grin at successfully getting your undivided attention, knowing it would make you more pissed. Which was always an adorable sight.

When her sources flagged a sighting of you on Aladna she’d left the spaceship at supersonic speed to reach you after hunting your trail down for the past month. 

At first, friendship was all she needed. But time spent together on various missions gave her deeper understanding on how darn sweet you were despite scratching at anyone who tried to get close. 

But once she clicked play on that cute, yet slightly violent, voicemail any vague restraints of being only friends were dashed. Now here you were, her prickly kitten, and she wasn’t going to be deterred by any of your rounded jabs. 

Now here you stood. Causing internal issues to her ship's mainframe. Slight bruises marring your delicate skin. All reminders that you’d rather be dropped in outer space than occupy the same room with her. Well tough luck. Patience was never her strongsuit. 

A blur out of the corner of your eye was the only warning before the sudden warm body surrounded you from behind. Two unyielding hands grasped yours in an attempt to halt any further error messages from appearing on the dashboard. “Are you not satisfied with my ship, sweetheart? Because you’re awfully determined to break it.” In another determined step she removes any space separating you two until her front is flushed against your back. Tense doesn’t begin to describe how rigid your body gets as you realize, to your detriment, she’s forgone a bra. Even the tiniest move from her causes her soft, malleable breast to move against your back. Your knees buckle even as you silently curse Carol for completely smashing the boundaries of your personal bubble. 

Warm fingers grasp each of your hands and her thumbs caress circles on each hand that shoots straight to your flamed core. A whisper of her lips speaks into your ear, tingling all the way into your spine. “Six. There’s six bruises across your delicate body from that stupid fight. But you didn’t need me, huh?”

The touch and slight reprimand in her voice makes your body shiver. “T-that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?” You peek behind to see her face as her fingers gently travel down your arm. Brows furrowed with an intense glare as she inspects your minor injuries in detail. “But that’s what you said, no?” 

In an effort to clutch the last remaining shreds of your pride you squint up at her but end up lowering your glare. “Even if you helped me, that didn’t give you the right to take me off the planet.” you murmur. “And who changed my clothes!” 

The gentle hand remains on your arm but the dark look is dashed away, replaced with a serene smile. “Obviously that was me. Like I would allow anyone else to get a peek at what’s mine.” she snorts. As if the idea was simply absurd. 

All fight leaves your body at the new startling news that Carol, your Carol, just called you hers PLUS  she’s seen you naked? 

You gear up to start a rant but two arms twirl you around and hefts you up. Your legs and arms cling to her even as you yell at her to set you down.

Bullheaded Carol ignores you and instead leisurely walks to her pilot seat. As if this was just a normal Tuesday. When she plops in the driver seat, she settles your weight to straddle her hips. Immediately, you try to scramble away but she wraps her arms around you in a metal vise. That damn innocent smile returns. “The chast act ends now. Because I was prepared to let you go but then you left me this.” It’s like a slow motion car accident as she pulls her cell from her pocket and the dreadful voicemail is played at full volume. 

Renewed vigor allows you to break out of her arms but you're too slow as one hand holds you in place on her lap. Making you listen to your drunk declaration of love.

The tears come as you're forced to helplessly listen, already anticipating the mockery that was soon to come, except Carol didn’t laugh. Instead, you felt soft, slow kisses press against your wet check, trailing your tears.

Carol nuzzling your neck is the only thing stopping your crying as you realize she wasn’t laughing. Her tired smile and fatigued smile returns. “You're so dramatic, kitten. Don’t ask me what “right” I have to kidnap you and bring you on our ship after you left a message like this for me. 

Sensing you were no longer a flight risk, her hard grip releases your wrists. Instead, she traces your face, rubbing away your tear trails. “For now on, you're coming back and helping our missions, warming my bed, and if you start anymore bar fights you better finish them or have your girlfriend there to finish the job for you.”

For the first time in a month, a genuine smile graces your face. Brave enough to fully settle your weight on Carol’s lap, you grasp the nap of her neck to angle her lips for a kiss. When your lips finally connect a deep, dragged out moan leaves Carol’s mouth. Her hands slide up your thighs and squeeze your ass. “Don't run away again.” she warns.

“Aye aye Captain.”

#carol danvers x reader #carol danvers #captain marvel #captain marvel x reader #the marvels #carol danvers x female reader #carol danvers x you #carol danvers fanfiction #wlw

[angelltheninth]

Kate Bishop and Carol Danvers Flirt with You During a Mission

Pairing: Kate Bishop, Carol Danvers x Fem!Reader

Tags: fluff, established relationship, kissing, flirting, missions, working together, late night visits

A/N: You already know Kate is one of my favorites, and I really liked Carol in the new Marvels movie.

Kate Bishop flirts with you over her commlink and sometimes over text while she's taking cover behind something or waiting for her target to show up

Kate Bishop is a lot more confidant when she's not flirting with you in person, hence why she's so bold during missions

Kate Bishop blushes despite herself when you flirt back and it causes her to miss, cursing under her breath as she loads up the next arrow

Kate Bishop wishes you were on this mission with her, she loves to see you kicking villain ass and then taking you to dinner later, burgers mostly because nothing else is open so late at night

Kate Bishop can't help but break in through your window after her mission, with said burgers in hand because she was absolutely craving them, and more then that she needed to see her girlfriend and kiss her after a mission well done

Carol Danvers swops down to kiss you every time she lands a punch on one of her enemies, it's one of the perks of dating a fellow hero

Carol Danvers loves carrying you through the skies and getting you from your shared home to S.H.I.E.L.D. or wherever the place for the meetup is

Carol Danvers flirts with you in front of your teammates and is not at all embaressed about it, if anyone has a problem with her being openly affectionate with her girlfriend they can take it up with her anytime

Carol Danvers definitely shows off when you're on missions together, not that she doesn't take others seriously

Carol Danvers compliments you a lot while you're fighting, sometimes getting mesmerized by you fighting and almost getting hit as a result

#marvel x reader #kate bishop x reader #carol danvers x reader #hawkeye x reader #captain marvel x reader #marvel imagine #marvel headcanons #marvel fluff #kate bishop imagine #carol danvers imagine #kate bishop headcanons #carol danvers headcanons #kate bishop fluff #carol danvers fluff #hawkeye imagine #captain marvel imagine #hawkeye headcanons #captain marvel headcanons #hawkeye fluff #captain marvel fluff #x female reader #femslash february #mcu x reader #mcu x you #mcu imagine #mcu headcanons #mcu fluff

[wildemaven]

don’t drink the punch | dave york

-> pairing: dave york x f!reader

-> word count: 3382

-> content warning: 18+ blog; insecurities, jealousy, holiday party antics, mentions of food and alcohol, office gossip, smut (unprotected p in v, fingering, orgasms), there’s no mention of it but reader is on BC, Dave is divorced from Carol, Soft and Sweet Dave, let’s say this is AU and no murdering is happening (or that at least reader is not aware of), reader is mentioned to be wearing a dress with heels and lingerie, otherwise zero descriptive features for reader, I think that’s everything but let me know if I missed anything

-> notes: more soft Dave because he’s been rotting my brain and making me weak lately. This could be the same universe as Caught Kissing Santa, but also can be read as a stand alone piece too.

-> masterlist / holi-dave masterlist

“I would enjoy these holiday parties a little more if the drinks being served had some actual bite to them. Then I wouldn’t have to give another forced Thank You to my Secret Santa for another gift I’m just going to re-gift to an unsuspecting family member. Did I mention how much I hate these parties?” Cathy shares among the small group of you and a few others, tucked in the corner of this year's CIA Holiday Party. 

You laugh into your fluted glass of sparkling apple juice. Mainly because she’s right. These parties tend to be a little boring, as do most office holiday parties. Lacking any sort of decorum that would indicate there’s an actual party taking place. The lobby has far more holiday cheer than this conference room at the moment. 

Red streamers taped to the wall above the food table and green plastic table runners haphazardly draped over random surfaces help add some festive color to the drab atmosphere. But the tiny plastic tree with misshapen branches bent in different directions placed in the middle of the long table in the center of the room, really ties everything together. Due to budget cuts, there wasn’t much of an allowance for new decorations, according to Cathy. Thankfully, you had convinced Dave to keep leftovers decorations from last year’s party in the supply closet

Once gifts were exchanged, the party felt like it was dragging on longer than it should. Your feeting aching in the too high heels you always decide on, snacking on nearly stale bread and cold artichoke dip, most of the other items already picked over. You patiently wait for the moment everyone else decides it’s time to call it a night and meet up at a local bar to continue the celebration, all while you make your way home to enjoy the rest of the evening with order in pizza and comfy clothes. 

The majority of the party you spend talking with a few friends to pass the time. Catching up on random office gossip, the latest romance rumors that have all departments engrossed in every detail and any other dramatic news that you haven’t heard about. All topics are enough to keep you entertained for the time being. 

“Maybe if York wasn’t so tightly wound and put some actual effort into these things, they would be easier to enjoy.” Sheryl adds to the conversation. “Between us, I might have brought a small flask of vodka to add to the fruit punch— should make things a little more interesting.”

“I’m sure his hands are tied, so you can’t really fault him for not allowing the hard stuff. Plus, are you even allowed to drink on site?” You decide to give your opinion. While you do see where they’re coming from, you can’t really hold it against Dave for not wanting to deal with everyone liquored up. And you’re more than certain there’s a zero tolerance policy for alcohol anywhere in the building, clearly Dave is just following the rules. You’re more than fine enjoying several glasses of the fizzy juice, noting to steer clear of the punch bowl. 

“By the way— did you see the new tie York got? I’m shocked she made him put it on as soon as he opened it— a little awkward to do in front of everyone. I will say, it looks good though, doesn’t it?” Cathy points to where Dave and one of his much younger Agents are still talking on the other side of the room. 

You watch as he holds up the ends of the tie, as if they’re both discussing the color and material of it. He must have said something funny, because she’s laughing now. You no one notices the way you subtly roll your eyes when her hand reaches out to him, holding the side of his forearm as she talks. She must be telling him how hard it was to shop for him, but she just knew he’d love the tie. And how she spent hours searching for the right color— it's black.

She’s cute, whatever her name is. One of the newer recruits you haven’t had a chance to meet yet. She looks to be in her mid to late twenties. A young, confident woman whom you’re definitely not jealous of with all the attention Dave is giving her right now. She’s a good 10 years younger than you if you had to guess. She’s attractive too. Dave seems somewhat oblivious to her slightly flirtatious behavior. Being the nice guy that he is and giving her his undivided attention— makes sense. 

“Don’t you think it looks good?” You realize you’re being asked a question about said tie he’s wearing. 

“Yeah. It looks really good on him.” That’s a lie. It does look good, but you kind of hate that she gave it to him, given how flirty she's being towards him. It’s not anything you would have ever picked for a Secret Santa gift, especially for Dave. The premise of the gift exchange was supposed to be fun, silly gifts. She should have opted for a coffee mug that says, Tears of my Employees, but that’s just your opinion. “Such a great color, too.” That part is the truth, it is a great color on him. 

“Speaking of looking good— that dress on you is killer!” Sheryl shifts the compliments in your direction, catching you off guard and has you feeling slightly embarrassed at the attention. 

“Oh! This? It’s just something I picked up earlier this week. I feel a little overdressed though.” You say all demure like, looking down at the way the black material drapes over your body. The dress feels a bit much compared to everyone else’s business suit attire. The high cut of the slit and the low straight neckline with straps holding it onto your body have you sticking out more than you would like. 

“I’m sure Dave has told you plenty how beautiful you look in it.” Sheryl says confidently. 

“Umm—  no he hasn’t mentioned it. I haven’t had the chance to talk to him much today, actually.” You say meekly, looking back over in the direction of where Dave is. 

When you go to sneak a glance at him, he’s already looking at you, not caring what the cute younger Agent is saying in that moment. His attention fully focused on you. He gives you a wink, raising his half-empty glass— cheers to you from across the room. You mirror the gesture back to him, pairing it with a genuine smile now painted on your face. He turns his attention back to the younger cute Agent, both of them now joined by a pair of Agents from analytics. 

“Well, the night is still young. I’m sure he’ll be giving you all the praise soon enough.” Cathy says, pouring some red punch into her glass.

“Sure.” You smile politely at Cathy and Sheryl. “Umm, if you’ll both excuse me. I need to go use the ladies room.” Deciding you need a minute to yourself. Ditching your glass at the end of the long conference table, you make your way out of the room down the hall. Seeking out a few minutes of quiet to let your mind clear before heading back into the lackluster party. You catch Dave’s profile as you walk by the glass wall of the conference room, paying no mind to anyone outside the little holiday bubble he’s in. 

The echoing of your heels clicking against the tiled floor is the only sound you hear as the bathroom door shuts behind you. You debate whether or not you should give your feet a break from being stuck  in such a high arched position for so long, deciding against it at the thought of walking nearly barefoot in a bathroom. Placing your purse on the porcelain countertop, you take in your reflection in the mirror. Adjusting the straps on your shoulders, then sliding your hands down the front of your body. Admiring and reminding yourself how good you do look in this dress, it’s the main reason you decide to wear it tonight. 

You’re not even sure why you were doubting yourself to begin with. You groan out loud into the unoccupied space for how you were comparing yourself to another woman— a woman you don’t even know. She doesn’t deserve that. Sometimes your insecurities creep in, clouding your mind with lies and false narratives you’ve conjured up. You brush it off. Grabbing your purse, you apologize mentally to yourself as you make your way back out into the hallway. As well as to the young woman who had also been on the receiving end of your near downward spiral. You’ll introduce yourself properly when you get back to the room. 

Someone must have found a speaker. A vibrant Christmas song, you can just barely make out, is coming from the conference room. Most likely another one of Sheryl’s attempts to liven up the crowd. You’d given anything to see the look on Dave’s face right now— he has the worst poker face when he’s annoyed. 

You’re halfway back to the party when you get distracted. An open door to an empty office has you intrigued. The plaque next to the door reads Dave York - Deputy Director NCS. Your fingers tracing over the carved out letters engraved on to the gold metal. 

Laughter pours out of the party filled room at the end of the hall. Your fingers pausing over the last letter of Dave’s name. Glancing back over your shoulder, double checking that you are alone. Shadowy figures are still milling about on the other side of the glass wall. The party far more alive than when you left it. The addition of music was just what it needed. 

You decide you’re in no rush to head back. The open door to Dave’s office practically welcoming you in. 

Wall to wall shelves behind Dave’s desk have some sort of lighting that adds a soft ambient glow to the otherwise dark room. The rest of the walls are adorned with college degrees and various certificates, years and years of hard work and dedication.

You toss your purse to the leather chair that is off to the side as you make your way to the large desk. It’s made of some dark slab of wood, the sleek angles and metal hardware gives it an elaborate modern look. The desk is cool to the touch, your fingertips following the grain of the wood, as you take in the details of Dave’s space. 

There’s a gold frame that catches your eye, twinkling under the dim lighting. You grab it from where it sits next to another photo of Dave’s daughters, Molly and Alice. 

You’re instantly drawn to Dave in the photo. The sheer happiness that’s evident in the smile he’s wearing. A smile that he doesn’t wear often at work or for many outside of it. His dark locks brushed off of his face, in a dressed up polished manner. Face cleanly shaven, allowing his dimple to be on full display. There’s also a brightness in his eyes. You admire the way the photographer was able to capture such a beautiful candid moment. 

“That’s my favorite picture” You turn to see Dave standing in the doorway of his office. Suit jacket discarded somewhere. His hands in his pants pockets. Head tilted ever so slightly as he slowly scans up your body until his eyes meet yours. 

“Hmm… You have to say that, it’s your wedding photo.” You say as a matter of fact. Turning back to his desk, you glance at the framed photo one last time. You finger brushing over the portion of the picture where his handsome face is. 

You’re too focused on the happy couple staring back at you, missing the barely audible sound of his shoes drifting over the carpeted floor as he slides up behind you. You nearly gasp at the sensation of his body pressed up against you, butterflies erupting in your stomach. His touch is captivating, evoking a sense of want, desire blooming immediately. 

Your body doesn’t shy away from the way his hands settle on your hips. Welcoming the way his lips move over your skin, a gentle trail of kisses that lead upwards from the round of shoulder to the small space below your ear. Your stomach tightens. Goosebumps erupting all over. 

“It’s our wedding photo.” A gentle squeeze of your hips as his lips ghost over the shell of your ear. He plucks the frame from your grip, setting it back in its designated spot on his desk. 

“Are you trying to seduce me in your place of work, Mr. York?” A playful smile forms on your lips as you turn to face him, rucking the skirt of your dress over your hips as you sit on the edge of the desk, the silky material pooling around your waist. 

The insecurities you had been feeling earlier in the night, long gone, forgotten under his intense gaze. Your hands lay flat over his documents and files as you lean back into a more seductive position, careful to not disturb their tidiness. 

“Fuck, Baby. Looks like you’re the one doing the seducing, Mrs. York?” The new black lace panties and garter set you picked up this week on display for him. His hands glide over the black stockings that stop mid-thigh, his fingers slipping under the garter strap, continuing their upward movement, as he steps into the space between your legs. 

“Is it working?” You purr, knowing full well it is based on the grip he has on the apex of your thighs. A small yelp escapes your throat as he slides your lower half closer to the edge so your flush against him— not missing how hard he is under his black slacks. You carefully allow yourself to lay back fully over the desktop. 

Your hands catch the end of his new tie. Pulling at it tautly, bringing him down so he’s maneuvering his body over yours. One hand resting next to your head as the other guides one of your legs over his hip, encouraging you to wrap them around him. 

“I just got all of these papers in order. Hours of reading and organizing. They’re going to be a mess now.” Dave’s voice is honeyed, holding zero malice in his words. 

“I’m sure you can have one of your cute little Agents clean them up for you.” You tease, which only encourages his own seductive movements. Your eyes flutter shut at the way he ruts himself hard against your aching mound. Open mouth kisses delivered across your cleavage.

“Are you jealous, Mrs. York?” You can feel the way his lips perk into a smile on the top of your breast when he asks. 

“I-I was. She’s very pretty. But I know who you’re going home with at the end of the night.” Your fingers card through his soft locks at the base of his neck, your head tilted back as he soft nips at your jaw. 

“If it makes you feel any better, I think Julie finds you more attractive than she does me. She asked several times who the breathtaking woman in the black dress was.” That was a twist you hadn’t expected. 

“Oh! Did you let her down easily?” Dave’s wandering lips are halted by your question. He pulls back, eyes filled with reverence as he looks down at you. The air between you is charged with an unwavering love for each other. His hand gently cups the side of your face, thumb slowly tracing over your bottom lip. 

“I told her how you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. How you make my life better. And that I don’t know what I did to deserve such a beautiful woman like you.” He’s the sweetest man you’ve ever met, a wonderful father to his two girls and an incredible husband—  falling in love with him was one of the easiest things you’ve ever done. 

“Dave—“ Tears prick at your eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, let me take you home so I can unwrap you properly.” He tries to lift himself off of you, but you have other plans— more exciting plans. 

Grabbing his face and pulling him back to you, your lips connect with his. Tongues melting into a fiery kiss. No further words needed, as your body does a fine job of conveying exactly what you need from him and you’re grateful he catches on quickly.

His hand slips under the lace material of your panties. Seeking out your pleasure as he alternates between soft deliberate circles over your throbbing clit and working you up with two fingers inside your warm cunt, hitting that delicious spot over and over again, causing you to bite back an explicit moan as you silently tip over the edge. 

Rushed movements blur into the next. Working together to free his hard cock from his boxers and pants. Forgoing the effort it takes to remove your elaborate straps and lace, pulling your underwear to the side is all that’s required before Dave is slowly sinking into you. 

Shared breaths and discreet whimpers fill Dave’s office. Nails biting into exposed skin with each heady thrust Dave delivers. Papers shuffling beneath you as your body tenses, arching into his. Dave senses you’re close, your vise-like grip has him nearing his own release. 

“Dave! —fuckfuckfuck—  Baby, I- I’m going to come!” You're breathless, trying your best to keep your voice low, not wanting to be heard by anyone. 

“I’m right there —shit!— with you, Sweetheart.” 

Your lips connect with Dave’s again as your orgasm surges through you, swallowing each other's moans and triggering Dave to spill inside of you. 

The room is nearly quiet again as Dave’s forehead rests on your chest. His skin is warm against yours.  Your lungs work effectively to help regulate your breathing to a normal state. 

A kiss placed over your heart, then to your lips before he’s slipping out of you. Dave adjusts your underwear back in place as you still lay boneless on his desk, body a tingling mess is bliss. 

“That was a first for us. Surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.” He smiles down at you as he tucks himself back into his boxers, tucking his dress shirt and refastening his slacks. 

“Hmmm— I’m not opposed to it happening more often— make sure to pencil me in.” You hum softly at him. You reach out for his hand to help you off the desk. His hands instantly catching you and your grip onto his shoulders, your legs a little wobbly when your heels hit the ground. 

Your dress adjusted, Dave’s tie situated, compliments exchanged —You look gorgeous in this dress, This tie was a nice choice, she did a great job picking it out— sweat patted down with a tissue— a valiant attempt to look less conspicuous as you both head back to the party hand in hand. 

You both decide to stay a longer, indulge in a little more of the festivities, you suggest ordering some pizza for everyone. Dave agrees and mentions also needing to call Carol at some point to tell the girls goodnight.  

“You think they will notice we were missing?” Dave asks, his arm wrapping your waiting and pulling into his side as you both stop at the door to the conference room. The space is still filled with boisterous laughter as music continues to keep the energy flowing. 

“I doubt it. They’re probably too busy discussing how boring your parties are.” You smirk at him. 

“Boring? Who’s saying they’re boring?” His head whips over to you. You can already see him mentally running through names, his signature scowl now visible, looking back at his fellow agents. 

“That’s for me to know and for you to stress about until the next one. I’m going to go introduce myself to Julie. I’ll see you in a bit.” You kiss his cheek and make your way back inside. You take a few steps before stopping and turning back to him, your dress skirt billowing out around your legs. “Dave, don’t drink the punch.”

#dave york #dave york x reader #dave york x you #dave york x female reader #dave york x f!reader #pedro pascal #wildemaven writes #pedrostories