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#feels like a slap in the face after season 4
dungeonpuppykai · 2 months
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|| Party Girl ||
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Summary: You secretly go to a party mid exam season and your friend forgets to exclude Ari, your responsible senior boyfriend, from their social media stories. To make things worse, said party is at his rival, Ransom Drysdale's house, who unbeknownst to you, ends up posting a picture of you two together. 
Pairing: Daddy/Cg!Ari Levinson | Little!You.
Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do not own Ari Levinson. This is a mature story so browse at your own discretion. Minors do not interact.
Warning(s): Smut with plot (c'mon it's me), spanking (ass and pussy), punishment, protective!Ari, possessive!Ari, Daddy kink, ddlg vibes, orgasm denial, rough p-in-v, cock warming, slight angst because we are being responsible for once, mean Ari, dacryphilia, humiliation, begging, doggy style, hair pulling, choking, slapping, dumbification, unprotected but reader is on birth control, creampie, degradation, maybe slight fear kink.  
Note: First independent Ari fic go boommm~ Also omg I'd forgotten how good ddlg can be lmfao the warnings literally increased a shit ton from the teaser. Lots of love to everyone who was so nice to the teaser. Feedback is much appreciated 🩷
MASTERLIST
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"Mmm, Dadduuuuu~" the remnants of the painkillers that you had hurriedly chugged down were still bitter on your tongue as you returned to your boyfriend in the living room. Sliding over the couch from behind, you crawled into Ari's lap and nuzzled your face into the crook of his neck. The stiffness of his form went unnoticed by you due to your much unfortunate hungover state. Him not turning the tv on to watch some sports should have been the second sign that your fate for the day had been sealed before you had even woken up. The first was him showing up to your apartment unannounced and cooking you breakfast. Not that you knew it yet, it was to prepare you for what was coming. You foolishly took it for granted and thought he had come over to study together as he sometimes did on Sunday mornings.
"Slept well, baby?" You purred into his soft hair to signal agreement as one of your hands reached to snake around his dark brown locks.
"Yes, Dada~" you gave the third sign yourself. It was habit for you to get super clingy whenever you were sick… or hungover. "Followed bedtime rules~" as you smiled and craned your neck to bat your lashes up at him after lying through your teeth with shameless confidence, you sighed to yourself. 
God.
You really, really, really loved and appreciated your boyfriend but right now you wished more than anything that he rather have some other plans today. 
Because it was 8 in the morning on a Sunday! 
Since you had snuck out, you had to pretend that you had gone to sleep at your bedtime; which was 10pm. But the truth was that you had stumbled into this very apartment with your roommates at 4 in the morning drunk off your rocker! All you wanted right now was to crawl into your bed and sleep the whole day away. 
"Oh, is that so?" You were too tired to notice the mock in his faux amusement.
"Of course, Daddy!" You tightened your other arm around his broad shoulders in as convincing a way as you could muster. "Good babies follow Daddy's rules, right?" Shame nipped at your cheeks so you kissed his cheek to hide the blush that was spreading across them. 
You felt bad but if Ari found out, your butt would feel worse.
Besides, what he did not know could not hurt him.
… Right? 
Ari nodded, leaning his heavy body to one side in order to fish his phone out of his pocket before he unlocked it, softly squishing and pulling your ass with his free hand. "Do you have a twin, baby?"
Your eyebrows furrowed and you snorted at the randomness. "What?" When he did not respond and kept swiping away on his phone you added, feeling just a little uneasy now. He only behaved like this when something was wrong. "Of course not, Daddy." 
"Then this is just the craziest little thing, isn't it?" He turned to look at you and the intensity in his sky blue eyes made you gulp.
"What is, Daddy?" You had checked your app settings three times to make sure he was excluded so it couldn't be that. 
… Right?! 
"Come here" the pretentiousness in his enthusiasm was clear as he 'excitedly' pulled you closer. Ari was not like that. He was the chill, laid-back kind of guy and you were the frivolous, fussy and noisy one. "Look at what I saw on Dee's story last night!" As he showed you a screen recording of one of the many stories your friend had posted last night, your blood ran cold. "Doesn't this girl standing between her and Steve look just like you?" You gulped as he pointed at a carefree you having the time of your life doing silly TikTok dances with your friends as your titties bounced in the skimpy outfit that you wore to the party.
Oh, he did not appreciate you wearing those kinds of clothes in public settings. 
Especially if he was absent at said settings.
"But of course, it's just a lookalike" Ari nodded sarcastically in a fake reassuring manner, every word laced in mock. "Because… wait, when was this? Oh, yes" he checked the time it had been posted. "This was way past my baby's bedtime who was in bed after studying for her upcoming exam the entire day!" Since it was a screen recording -you could always count on criminology major Ari for precaution-, the next story played and there you stood happily doing another dance with… fuck. 
You were dead, done, dusted, deceased. 
Or at least, your ass was.
Your urge to kick Dee increased with the passing second.
"And of course, the party was at Drysdale's house" the blood under your face was bubbling. "So there's no way that's my baby because she would never betray me like that, right?" Ransom was Ari's arch nemesis. 
The major fellows continuously rivaled each other in grades and their respective sports. While your boyfriend was the football captain, Ransom was that of the basketball team and there was even a rumor that they had initially competed for the title your boyfriend now held all throughout their freshman year. Since Ransom refused to be subordinate to Ari, he had left shortly after losing to him and had joined the team he captained now.
But Ransom had always been so nice to you it didn't feel right being mean to him!
Or yes, perhaps he was a tad bit too nice. 
You were naive and Ari was overprotective.
Another story rolled on. Dee had the camera in selfie mode as she pressed her cheeks against Steve's -her boyfriend-, who was nuzzling against her and laughing at you along with her. You were having a chug off with– you wanted to facepalm with all the strength you had. 
Fucking hell, you did not even remember meeting Ransom let alone having a beer race with the guy! And now there was footage of the event you had blanked out in your unhappy Daddy's phone! 
Why had he even hung out with your group for that long?! 
"This girl is gonna get in soooo much trouble!" Steve tipsily pointed at you as you drunkenly cheered and waved in the camera upon being shown, grabbing another bottle from your boyfriend's rival but only sipping at it now. In your defense, you did not remember the Ransom bits because you couldn't care less for the guy and you were probably too drunk by the time he found your group. 
"Shhhh, it's a secret, guys…" Dee pretended to whisper into the camera. "Ari doesn't know she's here, we excluded him from our stories!" The football captain was a renowned campus topper so it didn't need any more explanation than that. 
How said captain managed to keep up with all of his obligations, was a popular mystery.
"And she's gonna be one sorry little girl when he finds out" Steve spoke like the loyal friend that he was to Ari, both his substitute captain and childhood best friend. His girlfriend laughed and switched to back-camera again to show you. "He's not gonna be happy, you know?" The blonde man was heard speaking to you as though you were a child and you were glaring at him exactly like one. 
"I am a big girl!" You scowled as you shot back, cheeks puffed and arms crossed. "And if he's gonna be unhappy then that's just too bad!" Dee had told you that her boyfriend shared the same old fashioned thoughts as your Daddy regarding certain things. "Because I don't CARE! He's not here and I am!" You giggled into the camera as you stumbled closer, your nose colliding with the lens as your whole group laughed with you. Then, as though you hadn't damned yourself enough, you grabbed the camera and looked into it. "Sorry not sorry, Daddy! If you mind so much… come and stop me? Oh, what's that?!" You winced and cringed at the girl in the video -you- as she put her hand behind her ear to 'listen' better. "You can't?! Because you don't even know?! Oh–" the phone was snatched from you with a cackle and the story ended abruptly along with the music and laughter. 
How the hell did you not remember any of that?!
Your face was hot in embarrassment.
And what the hell would you even do that for?!
"Huh" Ari snorted as he cocked his head to the side. "Did you hear that, baby? They were talking about me" you looked anywhere but at the smug man, praying for your ass and wellbeing. "But since there's only one me and I only have one baby…" You gulped as you gingerly detached yourself from him and tried to move away only to fail. Daddy had a near death grip on your butt. 
His suspicions from yesterday had just been confirmed. Ari could read you like a book and he had noticed something was off about your behavior yesterday. To which you had denied by brushing his questions off and assuring him that everything was fine.
Only…
Your heart was hammering against its cage in panic. Clearing your throat after nervously chuckling a little, you tried to politely twist free from his rough hands. "Y- You're right, Daddy… that's n- not me" now why would you say that?! As Ari raised an amused eyebrow at your sheer audacity, you went to stand. 
"Is that so, little girl?" And then you dared to nod, only digging your grave deeper. 
"Yeaah… Oh! I think my phone's-" you tried to make a run for it but one heavy arm wrapped around your form to make you stay put.
"Oh, yes" much to your horror, Ari took your phone out from his other pocket now. "Your phone, how could I forget?" Unlocking the screen showing a picture of you two cuddled up on a camping trip, Ari tapped on your Snapchat app. "I am so proud of you for following all your rules and studying hard yesterday, baby" he said as he tapped through your many stories from last night before swiping to story settings to find him crossed out. "I really treasure the trust we have built in this relationship" that made you lower your head, his disappointed voice enough for your throat to tighten. Now he tapped on your Instagram and went to a pending tag request. "And the mutual respect is just off the charts" your eyes stung and bottom lip wobbled when he pressed at said request. 
Ransom had tagged you in a selfie he had posted with you, the both of you posing with your drinks. The caption read 'Saturday night shenanigans' and there were comments from his friends about– of fucking course. 
No wonder he had clung to your group like a leech after spotting you amongst them last night! 
He had used you to one up Ari. 
You opened your mouth to speak and raked your tired mind for excuses. But none came. When you slowly looked up at your pissed off boyfriend, you sniffled in defense and gulped down the huge bile that had formed in your throat. His anger was justified. What was he to make of all this? 
You would have reacted in a much worse manner had you been in his place. 
Hell, you actually had ghosted him for a whole week early on in your relationship once because some cheerleader was getting too handsy with him.
That was before Ari had taught you how to communicate. 
Jeez, he knew everything, didn't he?
Why couldn't you just shut up and obey your Daddy without question because he clearly knew best?!
"I… s- so sorry, Daddy…" His face was stern; features hard and eyes a dull disappointed blue instead of the usual intelligent bright coral. You tried to say more but shame strangled you and your bottom lip wobbled again. "Sorry…" Turning around in his arms and placing yourself flat against his lap, you couldn't help but pout. You wanted to say more, you really did. But no words came. 
Ransom's stupid post had closed all paths to easy redemption. 
He was so dead!
You just knew Daddy was not going to let him get away this time. 
"Are you?" The arm that faced your back laid down along its length, his elbow firmly digging between your shoulder blades to nail you in place. "Or are you only saying it because you got caught and are in trouble now?" A hiss left you when he squeezed your ass and caught an old bruise in his grip. 
"N- No, Daddy!" You whined. "R- Really do m–" your words were sucked out of your throat in a gasp when Ari gave a particularly hard pull to one of your cheeks, causing your pucker to painfully stretch sideways in the process. 
"I am sorry, what was that?" You pouted. 
He got so mean during punishments!
Yet, you could feel your special parts bubble up to life. "R- Really do mean that I am s- sorry, Daddy!" 
The older only hummed. "Good" before his calloused fingers disconnected with your ass cheek only to come down on it with a heavy smack a few moments after. "You should be." A loud grunt left you as one of your feet kicked up defensively. 
"Oh!"
Ari hummed as he drew his hand back and then brought it down again, your cheeks jiggling in the process. "Yes, oh" the sarcasm was making your cheeks burn even hotter. But as his hand worked on your poor little butt that was sure to have started blushing even in its still clothed state -which were some panties that you wore under one of your boyfriend's huge shirts-, you realized that things were yet to get worse.
Much worse. 
"Lying" five smacks followed that and you jumped with each one. "Sneaking out" each of your cheeks received a spank before your naturally wet panties -Ari was to fully blame here, his existence alone triggered you- were peeled off with a click of his tongue before six repetitive strikes were administered to your now blushing and much nude butt. "Staying up past curfew!"
"Sorry, Daddy!" You could do nothing but helplessly grip his leg and lay ass up at his mercy. 
"Oh, already, little girl?" Ari's calloused palm was relentless as it continued to collide with your fleshy cushions after being pulled back up in air to produce as much force as possible. "But I have barely even started with you yet" you kicked your legs to help and fight the pain of his harsh slaps, your spoiled little butt jiggling feverishly with each hit. 
"Oh, nooooo!" You couldn't help but sink your teeth down into the hard muscle of his lap when a particularly hard thump fell directly atop your pucker and made you feel as though it had shattered the rim.
Ari was a really strong guy after all.
"Oh, yes" your boyfriend taunted as he paused his hits to harshly squeeze one of your cheeks before pulling it away from the center and creating space between your legs. "You disobey Daddy, lie to him and break his rules to go to a party that–" your lips formed into an 'O' shape as you arched your back and nearly mewled in response when he cupped his free hand against the curve of your blushing ass, fingers tapping against your moist core. "Ransom fucking Drysdale is hosting," your tingling pussy was now beginning to warm up due to his incessant pats. "And then as if that's not enough, you party with him and fucking post about it–"
"Ouchie, Daddy!" You cried out when he pulled his hand out from between your ass cheeks only to resume the spanking. "Please!" You were sure that your whines and pleads were going to wake the girls up. 
… Not that it would be the first time that they would overhear you getting absolutely railed or punished to fuck and back.
"Oh, and let's not forget hiding your silly little social media star adventures from your Daddy!" Your eyes were starting to tear up from how badly your poor ass was throbbing. 
"Swear I am sorry, Daddy!" Ari clicked his tongue when you tried to get away, placing a firm hand on the small of your back to keep you trapped and meek. It continued like that for a couple minutes and it was only when you were afraid his next hit would draw blood did he stop.
Only…
"Dirty little girl" Ari grunted as he moved down and onto your soaking pussy now. "Making a mess all over the fuckin' place while she's being punished, tsk" your bottom lip wobbled as you blinked away stars that the heavy slap had caused. "Is your silly little brain too stupid to understand that this is not playtime, huh little girl?" The tenderness in his mocking words made you the wrong kind of warm and before you knew you it, tears were streaming down your face due to how exposed and sensitive you felt. 
"... N- No, Daddy" you sniffled and he snorted. "N- Not playtime…" Your mouth quivered.
"Ah, great. The good old academy award performance!" Your features scrunched and you sobbed out loud at that, trembling when Ari slapped your core again. "How could we leave that out!" 
"R- Really do mean it, D- Dada!" Your boyfriend tutted before connecting another strike to your vulnerable folds. 
"Is that why you're leaking like a dumb little slut?" Your eyes clenched shut as you anticipated yet another spank but were surprised when one of his fingers pressed into your leaking slit instead. "Because you're so sorry?" Your body tensed and fingers tightened around his leg regardless of the suddenness, whilst his invaded and explored your narrow passage of flesh. 
"Daddy…" Your head fell limp as you hissed, clenching around his finger as it slowly pumped in and out of you. 
"Do you think you deserve to feel good after you humiliated your Daddy like that, little girl?" Your frantic breaths got heavier and more labored as his finger gained momentum. "Making all those asinine big girl speeches and daring your Daddy to participate in your kiddy little games like he has the time?" You could only shake your head as you sucked on your thumb since it had snuck its way into your mouth out of habit, willing your hips closer to your relief. 
But Ari knew your greed too well.
And his thick digit was pulled out of you with a loud and devastating plop to which you reacted with a sharp turn of your head, gaping up at him with your teary eyes with shock painfully evident on your face. 
The male shook his head with a sigh. "You really thought I was gonna let you off the hook just like that?" 
"B- But…"
"But, what?" The edge of his words along with the intimidating raise of an eyebrow killed all your protests in your throat.
"N- Nothing, Da–" You hicupped. "D- Daddy."
"Hm, that's what I thought" Ari nodded sarcastically as he kept his eyes on you but continued to torture your pussy with the lightest of rubs and prods for a short frustrating while. "Get your backpack" you whimpered at his tone which was still as harsh as ever. 
He was still very much upset. 
"Y- Yes, Daddy" lifting your body off his and onto your feet, you couldn't help but lower your head in shame as you waddled away while biting your lip to hold back your sniffles.
Grabbing the carelessly discarded backpack from a corner of your room, you rubbed your stinging eyes as you walked back to your giant of a man, your shoulders trembling into a shake as you tried to breathe and were forced into a hiccup instead. 
Ari didn't take it from you when you held it out to him, as not per usual. "Take out a practice notebook and a pencil" oh, fucking shit. Your eyes welled up with tears again when he refused to acknowledge your puppy dog eyes, instead crossing his huge arms over his broad chest and raising an eyebrow at you, "well?"
You opened your mouth to try and plead your case but his unimpressed expression made you close your mouth momentarily before finally uttering out a quiet, "Y- Yes, Daddy." 
You were not graced with a good girl today. Instead, your boyfriend rested his back against the couch and watched you squirm under his dark, intense gaze while carrying out the order. As your hands shakily fiddled with the zippers of the bag, you contemplated whether to whine and pout your way into getting him to melt. But then a bitter flashback of the image Ransom had posted heated your cheeks and you couldn't help but lower your head in complete defeat.
When you had finally fished out the items he had asked for in the most awkward and downright pathetic manner -as you dropped multiple things a couple times before fulfilling the seemingly basic task-, you nervously shifted your weight onto one foot, silently holding the items out to him again.
Usually, he made the makeshift quiz paper himself.
But.
Ari was not in the mood to pamper you in any way. Well, that's what you got for vehemently lying to him all day yesterday when he was being so loving and sweet. He had even offered to come over and go to sleep together all cuddled up. To which you had made some half-assed lame excuse. 
Your boyfriend's next orders were to open a new page and jot down a question which basically asked for a summary of all the academic tasks he had planned for you yesterday. You gulped to yourself as you pondered whether to confess or pretend to solve the contents that you didn't even bother to look over let alone study. 
In your humble opinion, only geeks studied during the weekends.
But one look at Ari's face and you knew your only option was the latter. Because you could not take disappointing him yet again so soon. 
Though deep down you knew it was inevitable after what you had done.
So, off you went pretending to write into the page while trying to hide it from him, desperately raking your mind for any information similar to the keywords. Except you forgot that you could never win against your boyfriend who was now reaching for your elbow. Your whine turned into a grunt when your throbbing butt cheeks were not only lowered to make you sit on his lap so he could look at what you were doing, but the material of his clothes grazed against your sensitive skin. And then his fat tip prodded against your swollen pussy. 
You weren't allowed any time to adjust -not that you needed any, courtesy of his cruel punishment- before you were lowered all the way down on his angry red leaking cock. Despite your attempts to be as quiet as possible to keep his annoyance in check as much as could be managed at this point, you cried out at the intrusion.
Your boyfriend was way too big for you not to.
The skin of your impaler was hot and rigid, erect in long and thick cable-like patterns in certain places, the top grazing against your most sensitive part and causing the formation of neon stars in your vision while the even thicker base violated your intimate part like it was meant to be treated that way. Your heartbeat was in your ears.
"Well?" Ari's taunt was nearly breathless. "What are you waiting for?" Right. His beard tickled your arm as his cheek pressed against it to have a better look at your nonexistent work. "Go ahead."
You had gotten so carried away by the much needed penetration, that you had momentarily forgotten about the object of your doom that stared up at your hot face blankly from its position in your hands. Though as you went to begin your little game of pretend for just until you could ride his dick -or just rub against it- into relieving the ache between your legs, your boyfriend's heavy arms wrapped around your waist and restricted any and all movement, his warm chest pressing into your back.
Your mouth fell open when you felt Ari press your stomach inwards against his cock, its ridge pressing up into you with the full intent of now intruding you even deeper. His throaty chuckle spent vibrations up your pussy and spine alike from where he connected with you.
"You seriously didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you, little girl?" Your lips wobbled into a pout as you whined softly, feeling sweat break out on your skin as you struggled to write, then erase, scribble a meaningless half sentence and then rub it clean with the eraser once more. 
When you didn't respond and instead took your frustration out on the poor paper that was yet to see something substantial, Ari threw his head back and gave a loud laugh. The action caused formation of another series of cruel reverberations that were still not the required friction but enough to edge you on and you cried out in exasperation, crossing a word out this time because your patience had had it with the eraser though the force you used to do so caused the nib to break. 
"Huh, you did think it was gonna be that easy!" You resisted the urge to fling the notebook across the room, instead half turning to whimper at him in a pleading manner. 
"P- Please, Daddy…" His blue eyes ignored your glassy ones and instead traveled to the notebook in your hand. 
"Hm, let's see what we have here so far…" Unwrapping one arm to hold the bunch of binded papers that was dangling from your hands at this point, Ari hummed. "Nothing, how surprising" you didn't think it possible for him to sound any more disappointed than he had already done but here you were. 
"Daddy, I am sorry!" Your frustrated whine was loud enough for him to finally look at you and that with a challenging twinkle in his eye. "I- I mean…" Biting your lip, you couldn't help but lower your head, unable to hold his gaze in these kinds of situations. Ari Levinson was an intimidating man, boyfriend or not. "I- I am sorry that I broke almost all the rules–"
"Almost?" You bit your tongue and tried to reach for his hand but were denied the pleasure. 
"Sorry, sir…" Taking a deep breath to calm yourself and try to clear your clouded head, you continued. "I am sorry that I b- broke all my rules yesterday" his silence and lack of movement signaled that your offense required more rectification than this. "I am sorry for not being honest and l- lying about everything that I did wrong and– ah~" a sensual whine forced itself out of your throat when his cock suddenly twitched between your walls. 
"Go on" maybe he was liking this. Perhaps this was the way. 
It had to be. 
You had fucked up enough for a month and redemption was a vital need.
"A- And…" Your heart rate picked up even more. "I am s- sorry for not listening to you about Ra-" your heart jumped when his body tensed and you had to recompose yourself before continuing. "... About R- Ransom. You were r- right and I should have trusted your word because Daddy always means well…" You could make out his growing smirk from your peripheral.
"Oh, is that so?" You whined.
"I am sorry, please! I get it! I will never question your word ever again, I promise!" Because that was what this was about, the extra cruelty anyways. "J- Just please…" Your opening was so sore. 
It was crazy how good he was at holding himself back.
You were too impatient for edging.
"Please, what?"
"Please use me, Daddy…" You dared to peak up at him through your lashes. "N- Need you so bad…" 
"But big girls don't need Daddies" you could scream out at this point. 
"I am not big, Daddy! I promise!" Your voice finally broke and tears came flowing down in frustration, his arm still not allowing your hips any movement. "I… D- Daddy's dumb little baby… dunno anything…" Leaning closer to him, you were glad to finally be allowed his hand when you reached out for it yet again. "N- Need him t- to think for me… and take c- care of me…"
Ari sighed and stayed quiet for a few moments before speaking, hopefully contemplating whether you had suffered enough or not.
Preferably the former.
And then. "Because you can't do it on your own?" You shook your head eagerly. "Because you're such a silly little baby that your useless mind needs Daddy to make all the decisions?" Oh, yes.
"Y- Yes, Daddy. B- Baby is too stupid to know w- what's good for her" your pussy clenched around him at your own words, causing his eyes to darken. 
Ari nodded in agreement. "That's right. Nothing without your old man, are you?" Oh, God. You clenched again at his words and hummed in agreement, unable to form any words this time around and ducking your head down to press your lips to his neck submissively.  "You need me, don't you, little girl? To make even the simplest of decisions for you" the notebook and pencil were taken from you before being discarded on the couch. "Tell you when you need to eat, sleep, wake up, go potty, study…" He moved effortlessly with you still clamped on his cock, moving you both down against the coffee table, you on your hands and knees as he straddled you from behind. "Who to speak to, who to stay away from, where to go" your eyes fluttered close as you felt him move inside you, humming along his words. "What to do at what time…" With one firm hand on your hip, Ari gathered your hair into the free one. "When to breathe…" He whispered once he had pulled you closer by your hair, holding your throat with his free hand. 
You gulped and clenched around him again, eyes rolling up momentarily. "P- Please, Daddy~" you squeaked out helplessly.
"What do you want, baby?" The male still refused to move. "Use your words for Daddy."
"N- Need you, Daddy" you tried to rock yourself against him but the attempt was in vain. "Please, Daddy. Need you so bad!" 
"And how do you need me, baby?" You groaned when he curved your body with the grip he had on your hair even more, causing your body to jut outwards and his dick to change position. 
"Every way, Daddy!" You were on the verge of breaking out into sobs again. "Please, Daddy! Please, use me!" You reached behind to tap and feel for his arm, your fingers curling around it when you found it. "Any way you want, Daddy! Please, please, use me! Need you so bad…" As you squeezed his wrist you realized that anything would do at this point.
You just needed him to fuck into you regardless of the position. 
You would cum wet or dry all the same. 
"Any way I want, huh?" His hand let go of your throat to reach for your tits as his chest draped over your sweaty back. You could only nod out with a whine, nether regions in extreme need of relief. "What about… dirty little baby slut getting fucked like the little cockwore that she is for her Daddy?" Your eyes rolled to the back of your head when he finally moved his hips, causing you to whimper out loud, arms trembling as the upper half of your body threatened to give out against the cold floor. "Being reminded of her little place?" You groaned aloud in agreement, moving your head back until it was pressing into the crook of his neck, back arching when he twisted one of your nipples. 
"Yes, please~" you breathlessly whimpered, feeling your knees shake when a loud plop sound resonated against the wooden floorboards behind you as Ari's thrusts gained some speed, your hot slick hanging and thumping out of your weeping pussy and onto the ground. 
"How she can't even– shut up" your head lolled to the side when your boyfriend tugged at your scalp with the grip he had on your hair to turn your face sideways. "Shut the fuck up. Not one word. You have had more than enough undeserved speaking privileges for a few weeks. Now Daddy will speak and you will only listen like the dumb little slut that you are" you pursed your lips tightly shut to hold yourself back from accidentally disobeying him. A harsh slap was addressed to your neglected boob. "Is that clear?" You jumped and gasped, the movement causing his tip to pound against your sensitive bundle of nerves. "Nod if you understand" you cried out in response to how your nipple was pulled.
Fighting the urge to verbally respond, you hurriedly nodded and bit your lip in anticipation.
"Tsk, would you look at this stupid little baby…" Ari's voice was gravelly as he tutted at you, increasing the pace of his thrusts to his typical slut pounding rhythm now from the previous one which was more of a smooth, velvety intrusion that was sometimes for torture and sometimes to get you to adjust. "Can't even fuckin' breathe without my permission" his hand followed his words and enclosed around the shape of your neck again. "But tries to act all big and independent in front of her silly little friends, tsk" the sound of skin slapping against skin was getting louder by the second, your delayed orgasm quickly rebuilding itself through the pressure and haze Ari's denials had caused your insides. 
"S- Sorry, Daddy!" Your knees were literally squeaking against the floorboards at this point and you just knew that you were gonna be very sore everywhere tomorrow. 
"I told you to shut up" his rhythm changed to long and hard penalizing jabs as he pulled your collapsing body back up by your hair and sat up on his knees, now fucking up your tight cavern. "Stupid little baby slut" Ari's grip on your throat disappeared for a few seconds to land a slap on your wet cheeks. You hadn't even noticed that you had started crying from the intensity of it all. "Can't even carry out basic tasks" now your other cheek was made to share the same heat as your body bounced all the way to his ridge only to come gliding all the way down and onto his heavy ballsack with loud squelches. Though it was all happening so fast you could barely keep up or comprehend it. 
"Stop with that mouth breathing" your nails dug into the skin of the arm he was using to suspend your head upwards, the other set pressing into the palm he wrapped around your throat now. "Disobedient little whores like you don't deserve that" and then he finally squeezed, restricting you of what little way of coping you had been clinging on to deal with this prostate shattering pounding. "Think you deserve to breathe after what you've done?" His words were nearly venomous.
Though this much cruel final loss of autonomy caused the hundreds of knots that had formed in your abdomen to finally explode and your loins boiled over. Your tense body fell limp against his and color drained out of your face, eyes rolling to the back of your head as you clenched around his cock and milked it subconsciously. 
Ari was breathless himself as he clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Did I say you could cum?" He let go of your throat when you began to lose consciousness and forced you back to the present. "Tsk, only you would dare to cum when you weren't even allowed to speak" but then how were you supposed to ask? That was just it.
This was why you did not piss Ari Levinson off. 
Now he moved your upper half onto the floor and laid your head against it so your cheek pressed against the cold wooden boards as you numbly blinked out the stars in your vision, feet cold and mind too fucked out to process anything. Your ears were ringing so you could barely make out any of his insults and heart was thumping with such heaviness in quick intervals that you could feel it against the skin of your chest. Although only faintly.
Ari widened your thighs and lifted them off the floor to position himself even better against you. So you were nothing but an actual fuck doll for him to use. But before he began the ultimate battering of your hot and wet walls that had relaxed by now, Ari moved one of his legs out and reached for your head with his foot to both lock you in place as well as to reach you the deepest he could. 
A shiver escaped you when you felt his heavy foot place against the side of your head and push your cheek deeper into the ground. Then one of his hands gathered both your arms into it and bundled them on your lower back. Last was his free hand which smacked both your cheeks before he grabbed a handful of one your hips.
And then the pummelling began. Your body slid, slipped, collapsed, nearly gave out and faded into unconsciousness multiple times as Ari fucked you so hard that both the sound and smell of raw flesh colliding filled the entire room until nothing else remained. 
It was all so much that your mind gave up trying to comprehend it. The only thing you could decipher now was Daddy; inside, outside, under and above. And though Ari had fucked you probably beyond dumbness at this point, you felt your body -that was working independent of your mind now- curve when your pussy clenched again and you got wetter, hitting another orgasm when your boyfriend's hot seed exploded into your cavern and overflowed the narrow space.
"Look at you, baby." Ari panted as he pounded his orgasm out into you, his animalistic thrusts causing little droplets of both your cum to fly everywhere. "You look so perfect in your slutty little habitat. So completely fucked out under Daddy's foot, barely conscious yet inviting all the same." It took him a few moments to slow down and finally stop. 
Though when he finally did, he reached for his phone and turned his camera on to record pulling his monstrous girth out of your battered pussy, snorting at the sight of your pucker winking at him defensively as your pussy dripped of his seed, the abused hole gaping open submissively. 
"Tsk, tsk. What a slutty little baby I have here" Ari tutted as he watched you through the camera, squeezing your bruised ass before landing a harsh slap on it and causing both the cheeks to jiggle as well as some of his cum to plop down onto the floor. "Making all this mess on the floor like a dumb little slut who has no control over her body…" Now he moved the lens towards you and zoomed in on your face, pushing your face into frame with his foot. "Do you have any control over your body, baby?" When you just blinked up at the camera, he snorted. "You may use your words now, come on." 
"... N- No, Daddy…" You croaked out softly.
"Who does?"
"Y- You do, s- sir…" Ari's smile was finally one of pure satisfaction.
"That's fuckin' right" another smack was addressed to your ass. "And you better fuckin' remember that next time you want to be a sneaky little disobedient lying brat" you could only nod submissively as you stared into the camera, feeling him move away before he pulled you up by your hair and sat you on your knees to face the camera properly.
"I- I will, Daddy. Th- Thank you." You wanted to look down and not at the camera but you did not want to take any chances. 
You were so close.
"Hm," Ari caressed your cheek with the back of his hand before softly moving your hair out of your face. "Maybe I should post this on the campus forum, huh? Since you like being a little social media star so much, huh baby?" Your boyfriend cupped the side of your face now and wiped away your drying tears with the pads of his thumbs. "Would you like that? Everyone seeing how good you can be for Daddy?"
There was only one answer to that question. "W- Whatever you think is best, Daddy" your voice was hoarse as you looked up at him from the camera now, moving your face sideways to kiss the hand that was caressing you. 
"There's my girl" a condescending pat was given to your cheek before Ari cut the video off and stood to his feet to fix up himself before putting his phone away. "You're coming with me. I've had enough of this silly cat and mouse chase." The edge of his tone made you whimper.
"Yes, Daddy." 
Ari hummed before bending down to hold his arms out for you. "Now come here" your bottom lip wobbled as you used whatever little strength you had left and flung yourself in his direction with grabby hands that he easily caught and lifted you like the baby you were with little to no effort. 
"I am s- so sorry, Daddy" you wrapped your limbs around him and whimpered into his soft hair gratefully, resting your tired head on his broad shoulder. "Really am."
"I know, baby. You took your punishment well, I am proud of you." His ticklish kiss was tender against your sweaty temple as he slung your now packed bag over his other shoulder and made his way to your room to pack your other things. "Rest that pretty little head now, Daddy's got you." Before he pushed one of your pacis in your mouth: a shiny yellow one shaped like a duck, and tucked your favorite candy doll under the arm you held out for it with a barely audible whine. 
The party girl was gone and only the little girl remained, enveloped in her Daddy's loving hold as she drifted off to sleep.
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Tag List 🩷; @goodkittyspost @loklaufeysonssgodess @emerald-writes @milknhonies @teen-wolfsydia @identity2212 @i-heart-anne-b00nchoy @hazycottagedreams @lokislady82 (can't tag you lovelies :()
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andvys · 4 months
Text
I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss | part 25
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Warnings: angst, mentions of heartbreak, mentions of unrequited love. love triangle. not proofread
Pairings: Steve Harrington x fem!reader | Eddie Munson x fem!reader
Summary: As the summer is starting to come to an end, you begin to understand your feelings a little more. While Steve and Eddie struggle with their own.
Word count: 4.8k
A/N: So, I know I said that this would be the birthday chapter but I decided to split it! Do the angst first and give you the fluff later. I'd need much more time to finish it and I really wanted to give you guys something, so here ya go, enjoy it. Next chapter is gonna be silly, it’s gonna be fun (after a little angst in the beginning hehe)
Also for those who forgot who Dmitri is, it’s ‘Enzo’ from season 4.
oh and also, listen to this one while you read this chapter :')
series masterlist
-
The strong smell of oil lingers in the air, loud noises fill the large hall, laughter and chatter from the break room, the music from the radio at the front desk, yet none of the sounds manage to distract Eddie from the storm that is taking place in his mind. 
Your words keep repeating themselves over and over again. 
I wish I met you first, Eddie. 
That night, he laid next to you and watched you sleep, thinking about your words, over and over again. He could not make sense of them. 
What does it mean? 
He could not even ask you what it meant, after you had said it, he was too shocked to even say anything, at that moment. He could only stare at you, his heart racing, his eyes wide as he watched you stare at his lips. His first instinct was to swoon over these few simple words, over the way you had looked at him, over the way you had showed up at his place because you missed him, over the way you rather wanted to be with him than at a party or somewhere else. 
I wish I met you first, Eddie. 
Does that mean that you would’ve been with him if you met him first? 
Does that mean that he would’ve been the one for you? 
Does that mean that you could’ve fallen for him instead? 
That he could’ve had a chance?
In some way, you must feel something for him. It’s something that he never fully allowed himself to question, if you have feelings for him or not, he can’t get his hopes up, not when it comes to you. You are too perfect, too out of reach. You love Steve, you still love Steve, he knows it. Yet, your words made him question everything. Your friendship, the intimacy, the lingering touches, the stolen glances, your affection. But, that is all something that has been there from the start. It has always been so natural for you to be so close with him. It’s not something new, it might not even be anything special to you. Eddie might not be anything special to you, not the way Steve is, at least. 
He could’ve been the one for you if it wasn’t for Steve. 
He could’ve been. 
You could’ve loved him. You could’ve. 
“What’s with that long face?” Dmitri asks, his voice thick with the russian accent that everyone keeps teasing him for. With a slap on Eddie’s shoulder, he snaps him out of his thoughts, “pass me the screwdriver, boy.”
Eddie nods, not answering the question. He reaches for the tool, he hands it to the older man. Dmitri looks curious as he eyes the expression on his face but Eddie knows that he won’t ask. He’ll wait for him to speak up himself. But, that is something that Eddie usually never does. He’s never one to talk about his feelings, to ask for help or even advice, until now. 
“Can I ask you something?” 
“Sure,” Dmitri mumbles, pulling away from the chevy, he flips the tool in his hand, leaning against the truck.
As Eddie thinks about the question that has been lingering in his mind, all weekend, he suddenly feels stupid. No answer will be one that he wants to hear. 
“Forget it,” Eddie mumbles.
Dmitri raises his brows. 
“Spit it out, come on.”
Eddie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hates this. He hates talking about his feelings, but he needs to. 
“There’s uh, there’s this girl.” 
“Ah, I knew it,” he chuckles. “It’s always about some girl when someone mops around all day and looks like this.”
Eddie rolls his eyes. 
“She’s not some girl, she’s my best friend.”
“And you have feelings for her,” he says, stating the obvious. 
Eddie licks his lips, he had never admitted it to anyone before, he had only admitted it to himself. He looks at him and nods weakly, afraid to say these words out loud. 
“Yeah, but uh, she’s still in love with her ex boyfriend, who she’s friends with again,” he rolls his eyes. “Last Friday, she came to me, drunk and high and telling me how much she missed me and then she said something that’s been messing with my mind all fucking weekend!” 
Eddie isn’t sure why he is telling him all that. Dmitri is friends with Wayne, a colleague and not even someone he’d consider a friend. But, maybe that’s what he needs, to talk to someone who is not a friend. 
He considered talking to Robin but, knowing her, she’d only pick Steve’s side again and tell Eddie to take a step back. 
Then, there is Gareth, who would only tease him about his crush on you and not be of any help. 
Jeff would only give him false hope and encourage him to make a move on you, that is something that could potentially ruin your friendship, and that is something that is way too important to him. Chrissy would do just the same. The girl who had been snappy with him at first, won’t stop teasing him about his crush on you now. 
Then there is Heather. He is scared of Heather. 
“She told me that she wished that she met me first. What does it even mean? That we could’ve been something if we met first?” He asks, throwing his hands up as he voices his questions out loud for the first time. “We can’t be anything now because she’s already in love with him? Because she could never love me after loving him?” Eddie buries his hands in his curls, huffing. “Jesus Christ, I made peace with the fact I can never have her but fuck, she goes and says this.”
“You are way too negative, boy. Has anyone ever told you that? Who says that you can’t have her?” 
“I’m not negative, I’m just seeing things the way they are.” 
Dmitri shakes his head, scrunching his face up in disapproval. 
“No, you are seeing things the way you want to see them because you refuse to believe that she could ever love you,” he says, pointing at him with the screwdriver. “You see her words negatively without even knowing what she actually meant.”
Eddie shakes his head, stubbornly. 
“Tell me,” Dmitri sighs. “That guy, her ex boyfriend, did he break her heart?” 
“Fucking crushed it,” Eddie frowns. “He left her for another girl. She was – she was so heartbroken, I think she still is.”
He nods, “alright, well, she went through heartbreak and a lot of hurt. But, now she has you. Maybe, she loves you, maybe she is even in love with you but she’s scared just like you are. She’s scared of losing you as a friend, of getting her heart broken again, the trust isn’t there anymore after she’s been left for someone else. Maybe she wants to be with you but she is struggling. If she met you first, she would’ve never been with him, in the first place, she wouldn’t have gotten her heart broken, she would’ve loved you fearlessly and you would’ve loved her too, you wouldn’t have left her for someone else, would you?” 
No, Eddie would never do this to you. Eddie would rather get his heart broken than be the one to break yours. 
“Never.”
“See, things could’ve been so simple if she met you first, that’s what she was trying to say. But now, she has all these fears and all these trust issues and probably thinks she isn’t good enough – just what you are dealing with too, Eddie. I don’t know your girl but I’m sure she’s worth fighting for. And, from what Wayne told me about you two, you seem to make each other happy.” 
Eddie’s eyes widen, he is stunned. 
Wayne talks about the two of you? 
He doesn’t know how to feel about Dmitri’s words, knowing that they might hold more false hope than the actual truth for him. 
But, Eddie knows, he feels that there is something. And yet, even if, your feelings for Steve will always be stronger. 
“But she still loves him.”
“Was he her first love?” 
“Yeah.” 
“Ah,” he nods. “Well, you know what? First love is always gonna be something special. I would know.”
Eddie raises his brows at him. 
“I used to be married.” 
Eddie’s head snaps up, he looks at him in surprise, “wait, really? I never knew.”
Dmitri chuckles, shrugging, “well, it’s not important anymore.”
“Why aren’t you together anymore?” 
Dmitri sighs, he places the tool back on the table, reaching for the hanky in his pocket, he looks down at his oil stained hands and begins to clean them.
“Things just didn’t work out. She met someone else, fell in love and uh our marriage was just history.” 
“Oh,” Eddie frowns. 
“Yeah, and you know what? I hated her for a while, she hurt me. But I let go, I moved on and I accepted that I will always love her, despite how much I hated her for the first few months after she left. You can’t erase the past, we used to have something good before it all went wrong. She was special to me and even now, it’s something special when I look back on the good moments. But, never in a million years would I go back to it again or leave my girlfriend for her if she ever wanted me back. The past is the past. And first love is rarely ever true love.” 
Eddie understands what he is trying to say, yet somehow, he struggles to believe that you could ever move on from Steve. 
“Don’t give up, Eddie. She won’t always be hung up on him.” 
“Yeah,” Eddie mumbles. Though, he can’t help but struggle to believe it. Maybe it’s his stubborn mind that can’t let go of the idea of you being unable to let go of Steve for someone like him or maybe, he is just too afraid to get his hopes up only to lose not only his heart but also his mind at the end of it all. 
“Have you ever been in love? I mean, besides with her?” Dmitri asks Eddie, who furrows his brows and shakes his head. 
“Nah, not really,” Eddie mumbles, snorting as he thinks back to his younger self. The one who closed himself off completely, never letting anyone in to even see a glimpse of the real Eddie. “It was never for me, love. I mean, I had a few crushes here and there but it was never anything serious, you know? But shit, I always watched her when we were still in high school,” Eddie says, not even feeling the smile that is creeping up on his face as he thinks back to those days. “I’m pretty sure I failed math class because of her, she was always next to me – she always chose the seats next to me, I’m certain that she wasn’t even aware that she was doing it but she was there and I was there, and she was so focused on class while I spent the whole hour just staring at her. We weren’t friends back then but she always smiled at me even though we never really talked until last summer. We spent a night together after she had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and then, she started paying more attention to me in school and then we became friends and then we got closer and closer and my plan to never catch feelings flew out the window,” he says, dramatically. 
Dmitri chuckles at Eddie, shaking his head. 
“What’s life without love, Eddie?” 
“Less suffering?” He mumbles. 
“Well, yeah. Some people get lucky though.”
Eddie fears that he won’t be one of those who will ever get lucky, especially when it comes to love. 
But maybe, maybe there is just the smallest sliver of hope inside of him. 
-
August is coming to an end, the summer days are slowly passing, fall is coming closer and so is Steve’s birthday. It’s tomorrow. It’s been a while since you had last seen him. It’s been a while since you had hung out with him in a group, let alone. The past few weeks, you have spent a lot of time by yourself, you needed it, you needed it to collect your feelings. Robin was right. 
Though, you could not stay away from Eddie for too long. He is your best friend, you can’t be without him and you won’t let your feelings ruin yet another friendship. 
Despite the distance between you and Steve, you made it a mission to go on a hunt for the perfect birthday present for him. It’s something that Heather rolled her eyes at when you told her about it, this morning. ‘Who in their right mind would buy their ex boyfriend a birthday present?’ She had asked, scoffing. Really, no one would do that, no one except for you. But you and Steve, you have a history that you can’t and don’t want to erase. Not only was he your best friend, once. He was also there when you needed him, when he didn’t even have to be there. 
He gave you a birthday present and he kept up the tradition the two of you had. 
You know that he isn’t alone anymore, that he has Dustin and Robin now, people who care for him, people who love him and won’t leave him hanging on a day like this, but you still want to do something that you used to do when you were still.. friends. 
“I’m telling you, y/n, the Star Wars movie collection would be the best decision ever!” 
Dustin exclaims as he walks through the downtown streets next to you. 
“Dustin, I know you’re a little Star Wars geek but there’s just no way that he will be happy to unwrap a collection of movies that he’s not even a fan of!” 
Dustin rolls his eyes at you, “listen, if there’s someone that can turn him into a ‘Star Wars geek’ then that’s you!” 
“But I’m not a Star Wars geek,” you mumble, furrowing your brows at the boy. 
“Then you and Steve can become geeks together,” he smiles enthusiastically. “You could have movie nights, just watch Star Wars together,” he winks. 
You shake your head at him. 
“I see what you’re trying to do and you’re really no help, Dustin.” 
“I’m not doing anything,” he feigns innocence. “You need a birthday present for Steve and asked for help, so that’s what I’m doing, I’m trying to help.” 
“Well, I was thinking I’d get him a cool bracelet–” “Boring!” He yawns. 
“Hey!” You frown, raising your hand, you ruffle his curls, making him groan in annoyance. 
“Stop!” 
You chuckle at him when he slaps your hand away. Pointing at you with a stern look on his face, “you really need to stop ruining my hair!” 
“Don’t worry, the Farrah Fawcett spray holds your perfect hairstyle together, Dusty bun.” You giggle. “How’s Suzie doing, by the way?” 
He rolls his eyes again, sighing, dramatically. 
“You’re like the older sister I never wanted.” 
You gasp, putting your hand over your heart, “ouch, I thought you liked me.” 
“I do, and I don’t even know why,” he jokes, giggling when you pretend to cry. 
“You only like me cause I drive you around when your mama Steve is working.” 
He laughs, throwing his head back. 
“If he is the mom, then what does that make you and Eddie?” 
You furrow your brows, looking up as you pretend to think, “hmm, Eddie is the chaotic dad and I’m uh, I dunno, the cool babysitter.”
“The babysitter who is secretly dating both the mom and the dad,” he says with a smirk. 
“Dustin!” You exclaim as you halt in your tracks, while he keeps walking, laughing when he turns around to look at you, he keeps working backwards. 
“You should’ve seen your face!” 
“Very funny!”
He stops walking when he notices something in the window at the video store, “ooh, look, Star Wars! I’m gonna check it out, you should too!” He says before he turns around and rushes into the store. 
You roll your eyes, groaning. You’re about to follow him inside the store, when your eyes fall on the couple leaving the restaurant across the street. Enzo’s. You have only been there once. Steve took you there on a date, it was an amazing night, you remember every detail of it. How he gave you the prettiest bouquet of flowers that you had ever seen when he picked you up, how he kissed you and told you how beautiful you looked when you wore a midnight blue dress, how sweet and nice he was, so different from the night before when you fought at his party. He was a gentleman that night, he held you softly, he kissed you gently, he held your hand at the restaurant and he only looked at you, not at the young waitress that kept trying to throw him glances. He only looked at you because you were the one he wanted. That night, he had put a ring on your middle finger, promising that the next one would be on your ring finger, only to crush your heart weeks later when he told you that he wasn’t in love with you anymore, that he fell in love with her. 
That night has haunted you for weeks and months after he had dumped you. Every night, you glared at the ceiling, thinking about the things he had said to you that night, the promises he made, the hope he gave, the love he gave. How you had sat there so pathetically in love not knowing that only days later he would meet her. 
You feel even more pathetic now because it still hurts, because it still shakes the ground beneath you, because it still feels like it just happened yesterday when you think back to that day. It shouldn’t hurt anymore, at least not like this but you get sucked back into the past so easily. 
All it ever took was to hear his name to feel the pain all over again. But months have passed, things have changed, you have changed and it all got a little easier. You’re even friends again. 
But now, it’s the memories, the one that you have locked away, the ones that are still holding you back. 
As you stare at the restaurant, realization floods through you like a cold wave that would make you gasp and shudder. 
You haven’t let go of them, of the memories, of the past, of the old him. Even after so many months, even after making yourself and everyone else believe that you had let go, you never really did. And that is the cause of all of the messes in your head and in your heart. The past keeps calling for you, the past keeps pulling you back. 
You feel stuck. You are stuck. You are still stuck in the past. 
It’s why you can’t move on, it’s why you can’t find happiness, it’s why you can’t find yourself in this timeline because you are stuck in a time that no longer exists. 
You never let go, you never let go of him, you never let go of the anger and the pain that is rooted so deeply inside of you. It’s not even his fault, it’s your own, because you couldn’t let go of all the memories you have made with him, good and bad. 
You have a second chance with him now, you gave him one, despite how wrong it was to do so, you gave him and your friendship a second chance because you did not want to lose him again. He is right in front of you and he is trying, he is trying to be good, he is trying to be your friend. Yet, you kept holding onto something that died a long time ago.
Dustin calls your name, but you are still staring at the restaurant. 
“Hey,” Dustin waves his hand in front of you, watching you in concern, “you… okay?”
You snap out of your thoughts, blinking. You clear your throat, looking into Dustin’s worried eyes, “y-yeah!” 
He looks back, checking out what you’ve been staring at for so long. 
“You uh, don’t plan on buying him a restaurant do you?” 
You crack a smile, shaking your head at the young teen. 
“Come on, I gotta show you something, you’re gonna love it!” He grins as he grabs your hand and drags you into the store, pulling you away from something that had thrown your world upside down, yet again. 
-
The window is open in his room, the cold breeze kisses his skin, distant thunder crashes through the sky but lighting is yet to be seen. The room is silent, as is the rest of the house, as always. Steve is sitting on his bed, his eyes keep flickering back and forth between the watch on his nightstand and the telephone. 
He is waiting, waiting for something that might not happen this year. 
It’s almost midnight. It’s almost his birthday. 
He is willing you to call. He needs you to. He needs to hear your voice, it’s been too long since he had last heard you, since he had last seen you. You had distanced yourself from everyone for a moment, but especially from him. Robin had told him that you needed it, that you needed some time to yourself. And while he understood why, he still felt sad when you stopped showing up at Scoops Ahoy every lunch break. 
He glances at the watch. The clock strikes 12, but the phone isn’t ringing and he fears that it won’t at all. He knew it wouldn’t. He knew you wouldn’t call. Yet, he can’t help but feel disappointment sinking through him. This will be the first year without a call from you at midnight on his birthday. 
He closes his eyes. 
His parents aren’t here, and they won’t be when he wakes up in the morning. They won’t be here, he already knows it. Despite the promise that they had made, he knows they won’t show up. And this time, you won’t be here either. 
For the first time in a while, he feels like crying again. 
It’s 12:01 when the shrill sound of the ringing telephone almost makes him jump up from his bed. He opens his eyes, staring at it for a second before he picks up the phone with a pounding heart and hope in his eyes. 
“Hello?”
For a moment, he can only hear his racing heart and silence on the other line. 
“Hey.”
It’s you. 
You called him, after all. 
“Happy birthday, Steve,” you whisper in a way that mends his hurting heart in an instant. 
He blinks the tears away that have threatened to fall just seconds ago. 
“T-Thank you, Dolly,” he whispers. “I didn’t think you’d call.”
“I always call.” 
“Yeah, but.. things are different now. I’d understand if you didn’t call,” he says, though he wanted nothing more than to hear your voice. For weeks, he had craved to see you, to hear your voice, to feel your presence. But especially tonight, because this used to be something special to you and him. 
You are quiet. For a long minute, you don’t say anything. Steve can tell that you are struggling. 
“But we’re friends, right?” 
“Yes, we’re friends,” he whispers, sadly. 
He pictures the look on your face, right now. He thinks that it matches the sad one on his.
“I missed you,” Steve whispers. 
He can hear your breath hitching in your throat. 
“I missed you too.”
That alone, is enough to make his heart flutter in his chest. You missed him.
You clear your throat. 
“S-So are you throwing a big party tomorrow?” 
Steve lays back, letting himself fall into the soft pillows. 
“No, I think I’m done with those.” 
There haven’t been many parties that ever brought him anything good. Most of them ended badly for him. 
“Oh, but you always used to throw birthday parties.”
He can hear the frown in your voice and he can’t help but smile at that. 
“I’m getting old,” he jokes. 
You laugh at his words, not knowing that the sound of it causes his heart to beat wildly. 
“Oh yeah, you’re such an old man, Harrington,” you tease. “How’d you manage to keep the good looks?” You ask with a giggle. 
His eyes widen and his cheeks heat up. He can feel the blush on his cheeks now. 
“I uh– well, I eat healthy and I work out,” he mumbles, scrunching his face up. 
“You work out, huh? Just when you leave the basketball team, you start working out even more.”
He chuckles. He raises his hand towards his hair, running his fingers through it. 
“Well, I get bored after work and when Robin and Dustin aren’t around to be little shitheads, I use the gym that my dad built for no reason. That old man never uses it.” 
You snort. 
“You should start playing DnD with the guys.” 
“You mean with Eddie?” Steve asks, rolling his eyes. 
“Uh, well, Eddie rarely plays nowadays, he’s busy with work and the band but yeah, sure. You two should spend some time together.” 
Steve raises his brows.
Him and Eddie, spending time together?
Eddie hates his guts. And, Steve doesn’t even blame him for it. But, he’s not a big fan of him either. Eddie has something that he wants back. 
The thought of spending time with him seems like something out of a fever dream. 
“I think you’d actually get along if you both tried.” 
He frowns at your words, shaking his head as though you can see him. 
“Uh, yeah, I’m sorry but no.” 
“You’re both so stubborn, I swear. Trust me, you’re not that much different from each other – Eddie also loves KFC.” 
Steve snorts at your words, rolling his eyes. 
“Did it traumatize you when he took you to KFC for the first time? You know, cause you always hated it so much when I took you there?” 
You giggle. 
“Oh, it was so traumatizing, Steve. I almost had a panic attack.” 
“Always so dramatic, honey,” he says so naturally. 
“You know me.”
You are both smiling, both laying in your beds as you talk on the phone for the first time in forever. This used to be a regular thing a long time ago.
“How are you?” He asks the question that has been lingering on his mind forever. “I haven’t seen you since we met up for lunch.” When Robin had crushed the ‘date’ that he was looking forward to. 
“I’m... good.” 
“Are you?” 
“Yeah,” you whisper. “I’m good.” 
Steve had wondered what went wrong. That day you had met up with him, you seemed so nervous, so anxious and worried. He could not ask you back then, he didn’t want to pressure you. And then, you and Robin had disappeared. When she came back without you and she told him that you needed some time to yourself, that he should stay away from you for a little while, he couldn’t help but feel sick with worry. 
“Robin said you needed some time to yourself, are you okay?” 
“Yeah. I-I uh, I just needed to be alone for a little.”
“Oh.” 
Alone. Alone but with Eddie. 
“So, what are you doing for your birthday if you’re not throwing a party?”
“I’m gonna have dinner with my parents.” 
“Oh! They’re gonna be there?” You ask, surprised. 
“Yeah,” Steve says, knowing that they won’t be there. He wishes you would be there. He wishes that he could spend the day with you. But he can’t ask, knowing that you will say yes only because you won’t be able to say no. 
“That’s nice, Steve.” You say. In a way, it sounds like there is something else you want to tell him. 
“Yeah..”
“D-Do you remember when we went to Enzo’s, last year?” You ask after a beat of silence.
“Yes, of course, I remember,” he says so simply, like he didn’t crush your heart weeks after giving false hope and promises he never kept. 
You’re quiet, again. And despite not seeing you, he knows that you’re sad when he feels his heart clenching. 
“It was.. one of the best dates I’ve ever been on, Steve.” 
Your voice has changed so suddenly, it sounds sick with sadness. 
He remembers it, he remembers it just the way you do. 
Right now, he wants nothing more than to go back to that night, just to see you smile again, just to feel your touch again, just to be with you again. He wants to go back to a night where you had still loved him, where he hadn’t ruined anything yet. 
“Maybe we can go back there sometime,” he whispers with hope in his heart. 
“Yeah, maybe…”
Though, while he sounds hopeful, you sound uncertain.
And he knows, the reason isn't your past. But something, someone else.
-
next chapter
-
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tooearlyforthis · 11 months
Text
Bound in Pain | Steve Harrington
Pairing: Steve Harrington x soulmate!Reader
Word Count: 8.6k
Synopsis: In a world where you can feel your soulmate's pain, y/n gives up hope. That was until Vecna attacked Hawkins.
Warnings: during season 4, fluff, soulmate AU!
I love soulmate au's but they are so rare. Petition for more of these to be written please!
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Y/n didn’t like the soulmate attachment. It seemed weird to her that everyone in the world had someone perfect for them, so perfect, that they could feel each other's pain. A tether that connected souls, meant to help find each other in the sea of other people.
She remembered when she found out. Waking up with bruises covering her, like an artist painting a canvas. A sharp pain pulsated through her arms, as her parents explained why it was happening to her. Why she was feeling pain without cause. 
At first she dismissed the constant pain as reckless behavior. But then the small bruises turned into black eyes, scrapes turned into gashes, and she couldn’t wait for the day she could ask her soulmate why. 
Most people found their other half around the time they turned 16. No one knew why but it always ended up that way. Why did bond forced people together at such a young age? To prevent them from deviating? To start the rest of their lives? 
Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Y/n woke up on the morning of that birthday with a twinkle in her eyes, a sudden hope that maybe today was the day she would find them. She kept her eyes peeled, watching the movements of everyone around her. But days passed, even months and still there was no sign of her soulmate anywhere. 
A majority of the kids in her grade had already found their match and her blood boiled every time she would pass them in the halls. So cute, so perfect together. It was just a reminder that she was still alone. Where could her soulmate be? Was she unlucky? Did they live an unfathomable distance away from her?
After graduating high school, with still no hint as to who her partner could be, Y/n gave up hope. Maybe she was meant to be single forever. Maybe this other person, who was so careless and rash, was meant to stay anonymous. 
It wasn’t until the summer of ’85 that she knew she would definitively be alone. During the cold night of Fourth of July, she was waiting in a churro line at the Hawkin’s Fair, accompanied by a friend she knew back in high school. One minute she was moving forward, watching as someone left with their food and the next…it was like a punch in the gut. 
Falling over, she slammed into the ground, the coarse dirt digging into her sides. But the pain didn’t stop. Punch after punch, slap after slap, Y/n cried out in pain. It was so intense, unlike anything she had ever felt before. 
Her friend had managed to get her home in time for a pulsating sting to go through her neck, knocking her out for the rest of the night. She didn’t hear about the mall until the next day. It was a logical conclusion to say her soulmate died in that fire. After years and years of bruises and punches it all just stopped. No more stubbed toes or bruises on her legs; it was all gone.
For months after, she would stare at the newspaper clipping with the pictures of everyone who died. Somewhere amongst all the fallen faces was her soulmate. Part of her was sad she didn’t get to meet them. That everyone around her got their fairytale ending while she was destined to be alone. 
She had already made her peace with never finding them but now it felt permanent. It wasn’t some lie she was telling herself because of the long delay - it was the truth.
On one particular day in March, Y/n got off from work hoping for a pick me up. One of her coworkers who was still in high school had found her soulmate during their shift and she couldn’t stand to be around them.
She walked into her local video store and began perusing the aisles. Maybe something with action? A Mystery? She wasn’t in the mood for anything in particular. Just something to keep her distracted for a few hours ‘till nightfall. 
One of the staff rounded the corner, speaking before he could even spot who it was. “Hey, welcome to Family Video what can I-” He smiled when he saw her. “Oh, hey, Y/n.”
She smiled back, “Hey, Steve.”
Steve Harrington, former ruler of Hawkins High, slumped against a shelf and crossed his arms. His “customer helping” voice faded as he eased back into his own personality. Y/n didn’t know Steve well in school, despite being in the same grade. She did, however, become somewhat friends with him over the summer. 
Before the mall fire, she had a cushy job as the receptionist at a nail salon right across from the ice scream shop he worked in. Oftentimes, her co-workers would send her over to Scoops Ahoy to get ice cream for everyone, especially when the humid summer air came into effect. 
What started as friendly hellos and waves with Steve and Robin soon turned into conversations and hangouts during lunch breaks. They would often sneak her scoop of rocky road when their manager wasn’t there to help her get through the day. In return, she would offer a free nail appointment. It wasn’t much but Robin did take her up on the offer once. 
She would like to say they were friends by that point, though they haven’t really talked since the summer. When you spend every day so close to people, it's easy to bond. But when you take that away, it can test the strength of the relationships you’ve built. 
“Looking for anything in particular?” Steve asked, slumping further into the shelf. She shook her head, looking back at all the tapes. “How about romance? We just got in Lady Jane.”
“No,” she responded quickly. “No, romance.”
Nodding, he stood up straight, adjusting his green vest. “Okay, no romance, got it. Well…” he trailed off, rounding a corner.
He didn’t even check if she was following. She was; walking closely behind him as he searched for another film. Finally, he eyes fell on one, picking it up and pressing it against his chest. Both his hands encapsulated the case, laying flatly on the top and bottom. 
“What about Clue? It’s a murder mystery; based off the game.” The words curled up at the end, almost like an invitation to keep pushing.
Y/n scrunched her face, her mouth closing to a thin line. “Getting closer.”
A smile crept on his face. “Okay then, I think I know just the-”
Before he could finish, Robin yelled from across the store, “Hey Dingus! Check this out.”
Sighing, he put down the tape, leaning out of the shelves to see what she needed. “Robs, I’m with a customer,” he told her.
Finally, she turned to look at them, pulling her eyes away from the tv that hung near the reception desk in the middle of the room. “Oh shit sorry- oh it’s just Y/n. Both of you come on!”
“Sorry about this-” Steve told her, walking out of the row of tapes.
Y/n waved a hand to stop him. “It’s okay, I’m not in dire need of a movie right now.”
Chuckling, he looked down at his feet as they approached his co-worker. The static sound of the TV grew as they focused on the reporter's words. 
“This just in, a local Hawkins student found murdered at Forest Hills Trailer Park. The police have yet to reveal the identity of the student…”
“Oh shit,” Y/n mumbled to herself. Steve gave a hum of acknowledgment, tilting his head toward her. “That’s where Eddie lives.”
His head whipped over to look at her. “You know Munson?” he asked.
“Yeah, he used to sell me weed in high school. We’d smoke under the bleachers sometimes.” Taking a minute longer to stare at the new broadcast, she finally looked over at a very surprised Steve Harrington. His eyebrows were raised, eyes wide and not closing. “What? Surprised I know him?”
“I mean yeah but…didn’t take you for a smoker.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like you didn’t smoke too. I saw those cigarettes you used to hide on your breaks.”
“Yeah but I didn’t buy them from Eddie Munson.”
“Does that really matter?”
He opened his mouth to respond but the bell of the store dinged loudly, followed by the voice of a young teen. “Hey Steve!”
Y/n watched as he closed his eyes, the muscles of his face contorting into a grimace. Turning, he shouted “What?”
Two young teens came running in, out of breath from whatever journey it took to get there. The one that yelled was a boy with curly hair muffled by a snapback hat. He had on some weird shirt with a devil covered by a patterned button down left open. The other was a girl. A redhead that was dressed relatively normal compared to her friend. 
“How many phones do you have?” the boy asked, leaning over the front desk. 
“Dustin, can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” 
Ignoring the response, he repeated his question. “I don’t care about your flirting, I asked how many phones you have!”
Walking up behind Y/n and Steve, Robin joined the conversation. “Three if you count the phone in the back,” she said.
The two freshmen looked at each other, some sort of silent conversation going on. “That could work,” the girl finally said. 
Before anyone could protest, Dustin threw his bag over the counter, jumping over to follow it. There were immediate protests from Steve as the young kid took helm of the computer, the redhead running around the side to join him. 
“Woah woah woah!” Steve shouted.
“No time for dilly dallying, we have a man to track down!” 
As the boys got into a somewhat heated argument, Y/n figured she wouldn’t be getting a movie any time soon. Leaning over to Robin, she whispered, “I’ll just come back later.”
The girl flashed her sympathetic look. “Are you sure? I could help you out-”
“-It’s all good, you’ve got your hands full.”
“Max, just explain to them what’s going on I’ve got this!” Dustin called out. 
“Okay, Jesus, I was getting to that!” the girl responded. 
Y/n turned, making her way out from behind the counter and toward the front door empty handed. She tried not to eavesdrop but it was hard with only them in the store.
“We need to find Eddie Munson,” Max began.
She could hear Steve groan. “Everybody with this Eddie Munson shit!”
“You’re just mad about me having an older male friend,” Dustin chimed in.
“No, I don’t, but I do have a problem with you bringing it up every five seconds.”
“I do not bring him up-”
“-Oh you so do.”
“Guys stop!” Max screamed at them. “They think Eddie killed Chrissy.”
“Chrissy Cunningham? The cheerleader? She’s the one they found dead?!” Robin added.
Y/n felt her breath hitch as she grabbed the handle on the front door. She wanted to walk out, to ignore the sad news which seemed to be a constant now in their town. But something urged her to keep listening.
“Yeah,” Max continued. “But he didn’t do it. He ran from his house last night and we just need to find where he is.”
Eddie was in trouble? Why was he with Chrissy Cunningham? Thoughts raced through Y/n’s mind at a rapid pace, but not one of them was to push the door and leave. Something in her felt like she needed to help. She could have a lead, she be useful to them.
Not deliberating any further, she turned around. “I might know where he is,” she announced. 
The four teens fell silent, turning to look at her. “You do?” Max asked. 
Dustin, swiveling in his chair and asked, “I’m sorry, who are you?”
Y/n opened her mouth to respond but found she didn’t know what to say. Who was she to them? Was she a friend? They’ve barely spoken in months. They weren’t co-workers, never working in the same place before if you don’t count the mall as a whole. 
Thankfully, Steve answered for her. “She’s a friend. Dustin, Max, this is Y/n.”
Max gave a small wave which she returned, however, Dustin got right to the point. “You know where Eddie is?”
She nodded. “Maybe. I know where he hangs out. If this is serious he probably went to Rick’s place.”
“Rick?”
“Reefer Rick? It’s where Eddie gets his supply from,” she clarified. 
“Do you know where this Reefer Rick lives?” Robin asked.
Y/n nodded. “Okay then!” Dustin announced, getting up from his stool. “Let’s go.”
“What now?” Steve protested. “This is our busiest day, we can't just leave!”
“Steve!” Max shouted at him. “This could be a code red.”
Y/n frowned at the girl's words. Code red? What was a code red? It was clear Steve understood. His demeanor changed, shoulders slumping back as his gaze softened. Looking over at Robin first she only gave a nod. Finally, he looked at Y/n. “Are you okay to show us where he lives?”
“Y-yeah. I’m off for the rest of the day so…”
“Perfect!” Dustin shouted. “Then let’s get going!”
🎬🎬🎬
By the time they were approaching Reefer Rick’s house it was already dark out. The sun had set a while ago, almost blinding her in the back seat of Steve’s car. He had apologized for the seating arrangement when they got in. She was sandwiched between the two freshmen in the back who wouldn’t stop asking her questions on how she was involved.
As she told Steve to turn left down Rick’s street, Dustin asked another question. “Are you Eddie’s soulmate?”
“What? No!” She responded immediately. “We’re just friends and barely at that. He was my dealer.”
“How do you know you aren’t soulmates?” Max asked.
Y/n paused for a moment before responding simply with, “Cause I just know.”
Every time she told people her soulmate died, they would give her sympathetic apologies. It made her sick to her stomach. She was already trying to grapple with the idea of being alone without ever meeting them. She didn’t need the weight of other people’s condolences on her shoulders. Luckily, they turned into the driveway before anyone could ask further questions. 
Everyone piled out of the car and Y/n finally felt like she could breathe. She stepped into the crips night air, breathing in like she had gone a week without oxygen. It was so refreshing, a new wave of energy washing over her. 
“I don’t see anyone inside,” Robin said, peering into the dark window near the front door. 
“What about there?” Steve asked, pointing over to the boat house. “You think it’s open?”
Max shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”
Y/n silently followed the four teens who clearly had more experience with this code red business than her. She wondered what it could be. Up until her junior year of high school, nothing strange had ever occurred in Hawkins. It was just a small, boring town that people were barely aware of. But now… she didn’t know what it was now. 
The boat house was unlocked, much to everyone’s surprise, and they all slowly stepped inside. The only light came from the lamp outside which was now seeping through the cracks of the open door.
Quickly, Dustin dug through his bag pulling out multiple flashlights and handing them out. Everyone took one without question, beginning to search around the small room. He held one out for Y/n.
Hesitantly, she took it. “Do you always carry around this many flashlights?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he responded, like it was a normal day for him, walking away he began his search too. 
“Sorry about him,” Steve said, coming up behind her. “Sometimes he doesn’t remember that not everyone has done the things that we’ve done.”
Her head tilted at his words. “And what exactly have you done?” 
Chuckling, he responded, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He picked up an oar, prodding at the tarp covering the boat.
Stepping closer to him, she responded, “Try me.” 
His breath hitched as his eyes flickered down to the small space in between them. She looked down too, noticing how close she had stepped to him. Heat rose to her cheeks as she peered back up at him, his chocolate brown eyes staring back. 
Y/n liked to think they had a moment, one where she forgot her soulmate was dead. One where there was still the thrilling possibility he might be her match. 
But before she could remind herself of the truth, she was slammed onto the floor, a figure rising from underneath the tarp. There were shouts and screams as something thudded against the wall. Still trying to find her bearings, she felt a hand wrap around her arm.
 “Are you okay?” Robin asked, pulling her to her feet. 
“Yeah,” she said, letting out of breath. Her throat tingled with a sensation she couldn’t quite palace, a hand coming up to graze her neck. “I-I think so.”
“Eddie, he's not a bad guy!” Dustin yelled. 
Y/n and Robin’s attention was brought back to the situation currently at hand. It was Eddie who emerged from the boat, holding a switchblade to Steve’s throat in shock. Steve scurried from underneath the weapon, trying to breath out a response. 
“We’re here to help!” Dustin continued, “This is Max, my friend who never wants to play DND.” Max gave a small wave. “And you know Robin, from band right? She plays the trumpet.”
Robin brought up her hands, mimicking a trumpet motion before regretting her decision and shaking her wrists. 
“A-and Y/n!” he said, motioning to her in the very back. “You know Y/n right?”
Eddie’s eyes scanned over to her, a sense of recognition in his features. “D-Y/n?” he said in a low grumble.
“Eddie, remember me? We used to smoke under the-”
“I-I remember,” he interrupted, his voice softer than before. Slowly, out of instinct or not, the knife began to lower, a click sounding as it flipped back closed. 
Y/n couldn’t stop herself from rushing forward, engulfing him in a hug. His hands tightened around her waist, squeezing her harder than probably intended. “Are you okay? We saw the news.”
She helped him sit back down on an overturned bucket, looking over at her shoulder to make sure Steve was okay. He was, his breaths becoming more regular and Robin soothed his back. 
“I didn’t know where else to go…” Eddie told her, trailing off as he instinctively played with the rings on his fingers.
“Well you’re okay now, got it?” He gave a small nod. “Just tell us what happened.”
“Y-you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
The words echoed through her head, the same words Steve had told her just moments before. What had she gotten herself into?
“Try us,” Max spoke out. 
He glanced at her for a moment, then around the room and everyone's eyes were suddenly on him. 
“Chrissy came to me after school yesterday, wanting to try some of my supply. Then, she tripped over a log and scraped her knee….she…. She was my soulmate.” 
He stopped for a moment, gaging the small reactions throughout the room. “Trust me, I couldn’t believe it either. We talked a little, she wanted to try some stronger stuff so I took her back to my place after the game. 
I was searching in my room for it but when I came out she was…it was like she wasn’t there? Her eyes were blank and she wasn’t responding to anything I was saying. The lights began to flicker all around us and she….she started to float. Shit, like right out of a horror movie ya know? And then… a-and then…fuck.” 
He began to stutter, whatever happened next clearly frightening him more than what he had already told them. Y/n leaned forward, rubbing a hand on top of his. 
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “What happened next?”
Looking up at her, he found the strength to continue. “H-her back slammed into the roof and her limbs…her limbs starting to break in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Then her jaw, and then her eyes…I ran out of there after she fell to the ground.”
The room was silent, nothing but the small waves echoing throughout the room. Y/n was trying to process what he was saying. Trying to find a logical explanation for what Eddie had saw.
“You all think I’m crazy,” he said, curling back. 
“No, we don’t,” Y/n said first. “But there has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this. I mean, maybe she was-”
“-there is,” Dustin interrupted her. She turned back to look at him. “W-what I’m about to tell you guys, might be… a little difficult to take.”
“Okay,” Y/n said, her attention fully on him. 
“You know how people say that Hawkins is cursed? Well, they’re not that far off…There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins.”
“B-beneath Haw- What are you talking about?” Y/n asked, confused.
“This world is like ours, but darker, and sometimes it bleeds into ours.”
“What like ghosts and shit?” Eddie asked. 
Max let out a heavy sigh, “There are somethings worse than ghosts…”
🎬🎬🎬
The last day and a half had been utter chaos. Two more people were dead and it’s all thanks to this Vecna creature - Y/n still didn’t fully understand it. 
They teamed up with even more people on their trek to Lover’s Lake and had another awkward conversation as to why Y/n was there. She even got to properly meet Steve’s ex girlfriend which was…interesting to say the least.
As she made her way through the woods, she felt someone walk up next to her. It was Max, poor Max who had been playing Kate Bush in her headphones ever since they went to the cemetery.
Y/n gave her a smile. “How are you holding up?” she asked. 
The young girl shrugged. “As good as I can be I guess…”
“That’s good…” 
They fell into a silent walk, Dustin leading the group ahead with some of the older teens lagging behind. “Can I ask you something?” Max said suddenly.
“Yeah sure, what’s up?”
“How do you know Steve? He said you’re friends but I thought we were his only friends.”
“Oh…well, we went to high school together,” Y/n began but changed her mind. “But we didn’t really know each other. I worked across from him and Robin in the mall. Kind of became work buddies.”
Max nodded along. “Is he your soulmate?”
She whipped her head toward her. “What’s with you guys and my soulmate?”
“Just curious,” she mumbled, stepping over a log. 
“No, he’s not my soulmate…” 
“Did you ask him?” Y/n shook her head. “Then how do you know it’s not him? Cause like statistically you should’ve found them by now. I mean, I have- had Lucas…I’m not sure he believes in all this soulmate stuff anymore.”
She looked up in the distance where her ex boyfriend was walking with Dustin. Their eyes were glued to the compass in Dustin’s hand. 
Y/n followed her gaze to the boys, mumbling, “I’m not sure I do either.” 
Max furrowed her brows looking back at her. She debated leaving it at that. So many people had asked about her soulmate and every time she refused to discuss the subject further. But this felt different, being with these people, she felt like she could trust them. 
 “My soulmates’ dead,” she blurted out.
It took a moment for Max to think of a response. “Oh…how do you know?”
“The night of the mall fire…I felt this intense pain, worse than I’ve ever felt before and then…” she shrugged. “Nothing. All those years of bruises and cuts gone in an instant…I haven’t felt anything since that night so, I figured they died in the fire.”
She looked next to her, watching as Max interpreted the information. She couldn’t remember the last person  she told about her soulmate. So many sorries and my condolences…Max was staying quiet, it was unlike any reaction she had seen. Something deeper was going on.
“You okay over there?” she asked.
“It…it wasn’t a mall fire…” Max said in almost a whisper.
Y/n felt her heart drop. “What?”
“It wasn’t a fire…it was the-” Max stopped herself, trying to rephrase. “Last year, one of the monsters came out of the Upside Down. It absorbed a bunch of people to get bigger and headed to the mall. We all fought it there.”
“So the pain I was feeling-”
“Was probably them being absorbed into the Mind Flayer… I’m sorry Y/n. If we stopped it the first time-”
“Hey don’t do that,” she interrupted, placing a hand on the girl's arm. They both stopped, facing each other. “It’s not your fault. It’s not any of your faults. I’ll find someone someday. It might not be my soulmate but I’ll still be happy....”
Max stared at her, not fully convinced. “I’ll be fine, trust me.” Ahead of them, the younger friends started giggling. “Go with your friends and listen to Kate Bush.”
She gave her a smile, urging the redhead to not worry about it anymore. The girl did so, walking off to join the conversation. It wasn’t long before another person took her place next to Y/n.
“Girl problems?” Steve asked, falling into the rhythm of her walking.
She rolled her eyes, “Oh yeah we were talking about our periods.” His eyes widened, trying not to comment on the topic. “Oh my god I was joking.”
“Oh,” he said, letting out a long breath. “Okay good I didn’t know what to say.”
Y/n chuckled at his awkwardness. When did he become like this? The Steve she saw in school was a smooth talker. A person who knew how to make everyone fall in love with him. But now, as they were searching for a multi-dimensional gate surrounded by freshmen…it gave him some humility.
“She was asking me about my soulmate again,” Y/n informed him.
Nodding, he asked, “So, about your soulmate…have you found them yet?”
“No, uh…Max was telling me about the Mind Flayer last year? Pretty sure they died during all of that.”
“Oh…” Steve fell silent, not knowing how to react. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, not your fault. I’ve made my peace with it.”
She looked over to him, trying to reassure him that the party’s antics weren’t the cause of her soulmate’s demise. But as she did so, she missed a root sticking out of the ground. Wobbling forward, she felt as Steve reached out, wrapping his arms around her torso. He pulled her up against him, trying quickly to help her regain her balance.
Breathlessly, she looked back up at him and said, “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he responded, backing up slightly as he became aware of how close they had gotten. His hands lingered on her back, not too eager to let go. Slowly, she began to step away, pulling both of them back to reality. 
“So…do you have a soulmate? - I mean have you found them?” She fell back into a slow walking pace, Steve still staying close.
“No, not yet. My soulmate doesn’t really feel a lot of pain so it’s been hard to pinpoint who it is. The occasional paper cut doesn’t really help ya know?” Y/n nodded in agreement. “I thought it was Nancy at first… but then she and Jonathan cut their hands to fight the Demogorgon and found each other so, clearly I was wrong.”
“Oh…well that’s-”
“-yeah…so, still looking,” he said, trying to put optimism in his tone. It was clear he didn’t believe it.
As they approached the edge of the lake, Nancy and Robin working to grab a boat, she turned to him.
“I hope you find your soulmate Steve,” she said sincerely. “You deserve someone.”
A small smile formed on his lips and he couldn’t stop himself from looking down to shake it away. “T-thanks.”
“Alright dingus, come on!” Shouted Robin. 
The two of them looked over to see Nancy and Eddie already on the boat, Robin holding out her hand for the two teens. 
Putting an arm out, Steve said, “Lady’s first.”
Smiling, Y/n grabbed Robin’s arm, tumbling into the boat where Eddie helped her down. She watched as Steve climbed on, yelling at Dustin for them to stay on shore before they began to float out onto the water.  
Nancy was quick to take control of the oars, though no matter how much stability to applied, the boat still rocked. Y/n could feel her brain begin to get fuzzy, the constant movement making her slightly sick. 
“You okay?” Eddie asked, placing a hand on her arm. 
Nodding, she tried to steady herself. “Yeah…a little too late to ask that question.”
“Oh my god what are you doing?” Robin asked, pulling the two of them out of their conversation.
Confused, Y/n looked up to see Steve tossing off his yellow sweater. Someone shined a flashlight up at him and she could clearly see the mess of curls across his chest. He was fit, but not in an overly ripped kind of way. More like someone who was born with a fast metabolism and it took a lot of effort for her not to stare. 
“What are you doing?” Nancy asked.
Steve ran a hand through his hair, leaning over the side of the boat. “Well someone has to check to see if that thing is down there.”
“Just-” Eddie began, reaching down to put a flashlight in a plastic bag, handing it to him. “Here.”
He thanked him quickly, ready to dive into the water when Y/n had the sudden urge to reach out to him. “Wait,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. He turned back, catching her eyes. “Be careful, okay? If you don’t see anything, come right back up.”
“Don’t worry I will,” he reassured her before turning and diving under.
The boat shook as he left and Robin hurled herself toward Nancy in an effort to not get wet. Slowly, as it began to settle, they waited. There was a tightness in her chest, a tension that wouldn’t go away until she knew Steve was okay.
Almost a minute and a had passed and she was growing more anxious. 
“Where is he?” she asked no one in particular. 
“He should have come up by now,” Nancy said, checking her watch.
“That’s it I’m going after-”
Steve bursted out of the water before she could finish her sentence. Gasping for breath, he reached for the side of the boat. Feeling breathless as well Y/n reached forward, guiding him to a steady grip.
“It’s down there alright,” he said.
Eddie sighed in relief, “Okay then dude get back up here.”
“Okay,” he said as Y/n began to pull him up. 
Abruptly, she stopped. There was some feeling, something tugging at her and she could tell Steve felt so too. “What are you waiting for?” Robin exclaimed.
“I-I don’t know,” Y/n began. “Steve, we have to hurry.”
“Yeah, oka-”
Before their very eyes, Steve was pulled under water, his grasp quickly leaving hers. Everyone was calling out to him, but it all felt like a distant echo as Y/n dove in after him. It was so sudden she didn’t even remember making the decision as she swam down, trying to grab a hold of her friend.
The water was making her vision blurry but she could see the outline of him being pulled further and further toward a giant red hole at the bottom of the ocean. She kept pushing through the water with all her might as she saw him disappear through the gate. Determination kept her going, knowing that wherever Steve went, she’d be going after him.
She was almost there, the slimy vines just out of reach as a pain seared through her neck. She curled up, instinctively, feeling something strong closing her air pipe. Reaching her hands out, she tried to pull it away but there was nothing there. Nothing but skin touched her fingertips as she tried to relieve herself of the pain. 
Was her soulmate alive? Was this their doing?
Then, something sharp attacked her side. It felt like something was being ripped out of her, seeking teeth into both her sides. She cried out under the water, her supply of oxygen decreasing faster by the second. 
She tried to swim forward, to make it the extra inch to the gate but the pain made her writhe, floating aimlessly in the lake. Is this how she was going to die? At the hands of her soulmate under Lover’s Lake?
In her peripheral vision, she saw something pass her. Then, arms wrapped around her waist, stinging as they collided with the pain. They pulled her down, pushing her until she was taken in by the current of the gate. 
Y/n felt as she was flipped upside down, finding herself tumbling toward a hard surface. Air finally reentered her lungs, just enough through the choking feeling that still clawed at her throat. The pain in her sides hadn’t stopped either, forcing her to roll on her knees. 
Someone knelt next to her, a hand placed on her back. “Y/n, woah, are you okay? What’s happening?”
“Munson, we need help over here?” Nancy yelled.
“Give me a second we have another problem going on!”
Y/n stretched her neck as much as she could to see where Nancy was calling from. A few feet away, lying on the floor in pain was Steve Harrington. There was some bat-like creature chewing into his side as Robin tried to swat it away. Nancy was working on another one, its tail roped around Steve’s neck.
She could barely put two thoughts together as pain soared through her. But what she could see was that her friend was in pain, in the same spots her soulmate was injured in. Whatever strength she had left was depleted as she rolled onto her back.
“Y/n, honey, you gotta tell me what to do? What happened?” Eddie shouted at her.
Through her raggedy breaths she managed to say, “H-help them.”
“What?” he asked, confused.
“Go!”
With one deep breath he stood up looking around him. Grabbing an oar, he ran towards his friend. “Wheeler! Try this!”
Tossing the wooden paddle, Nancy caught it with ease. She took it with both hands, snapping it over her knee as using the now shard wood to stab into the bat on Steve’s neck. It collapsed on impact, loosening its grip around his throat. 
As Steve gasped for air across the deserted lake, Y/n did too. Eddie was the only one who clocked the similarity, giving her a strange look as she sat up, letting all the air she could enter her lungs. 
Turning back to the group, he helped the girls grab the other two bats, pulling them out of Steve’s abdomen. Sudden energy surged through Y/n as the pains in her sides began to subside. She looked up to the group fighting off the remaining bats. She knew what all this meant. What it meant about her and him.
But for now, it could wait. She ran, helping take down the rest of the bats swarming around them. Nancy and Robin made quick work of one while Eddie and her grabbed the other. They ran in opposite directions, ripping it in half. As her piece of the creature fell to the floor, she looked back up, ready to help with the next one. But there was only one left and it didn’t look like Steve needed any help.
He slammed it into the ground over and over again, the guts of the creature spilling like candy out of a piñata. Using his teeth, he ripped off the head, letting its decapitated body fall to the ground. Nancy and Robin were quick to run to his sides, giving him support to lean on as he began to collapse.
Y/n tried to move toward him too, finding herself tripping over her own feet. She definitely hadn’t recovered from almost drowning, still feeling the tingle of water stuck in her esophagus. Eddie was quick to catch her. “Hey, I’m here, don’t worry,” he soothed.
“Guys,” Nancy called out. “We gotta move.” Pointing behind them, they watched as a giant swarm of bats was heading straight toward them.
Eddie leaned into Y/n’s side. “Can you walk?” She nodded. “Okay, let’s get going.”
Everyone was right when they said the Upside Down was an exact replica of Hawkins. You know, just a little dirtier and full of alien creatures.
They were able to find Skull Rock in a reasonable amount of time, using it as a stopping point to patch up everyone’s wounds. Though, most of the patching would go towards Steve who was still bleeding from his stomach. 
Nancy helped lean him against a rock, using part of her shirt to make a bandage since he dove in shirtless. Meanwhile Eddie helped her sit down on the one log they could find with no vines wrapping around it while Robin paced between all of them.
She lifted her shirt up carefully to find a very bruised stomach. Soulmate marks couldn’t cut as deep as the real one but they did always leave something behind. She glanced up at Steve, wounds matching the placement of her injuries. 
“You have to tell him,” Eddie said quietly.
Y/n pulled her shirt back down. “Not now.”
“We might all die here. I think now is as good as time as any.”
“I thought my soulmate was dead,” she mumbled, looking down at the ground still in shock. “And this whole time he’s been in the back of my algebra class. Working across from me at the mall…”
Eddie pulled her attention back to the present. “Listen, Chrissy died less than 24 hours after we found out. I didn’t get time, just make sure you do.”
She looked up to meet his gaze. It was softer than she was used to seeing him. He was always so stern, so broody. These doe eyes suited him. 
“I will,” she told him. “Let’s just get out of here first.”
🎬🎬🎬
Poor Robin. Poor, poor Robin. 
They had been walking through the army surplus store, gathering supplies to trek back to the upside down when they stumbled upon Vickie Sullivan. 
More specifically, Vickie Sullivan and her boyfriend. 
Robin had gone back to the trailer before Y/n could even protest, telling her it probably wasn’t her soulmate. Loads of people dated before finding their other half. But she wouldn’t listen. 
“She just needs some time,” Steve said, picking up another gallon of gasoline. 
“Yeah, I know…” she responded, pushing the cart. 
With Robin gone, this was the first time they had been alone since she walked into Family Video days before. It had only been a few days but so much had changed. 
Steve loaded another gallon into the cart, and Y/n absentmindedly pushed the it again, right into his side. He stumbled forward, using the cart to balance himself. 
“I’m sorry!” She exclaimed. 
“No it’s alright. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Deep in thought?”
Steve crossed his hands, coming around to stand next to her. “Yeah, something like that… Hey, I just wanted to say thank you.”
She tilted her head. “Thank me? For what?”
“Robin told me you were the first one to dive into the lake when I went under. That was pretty heroic.”
“Oh it was nothing,” she said, leaning toward him slightly, their shoulders grazing. 
“No it wasn’t,” he insisted, turning to face her. As she looked up at him, Y/n became acutely aware of how close they were standing. “It was really brave.”
As the words left his mouth, Steve made no move to back up. She could feel his breath on her skin, see the stubble of his mustache. He looked so calm, so unlike how they had all been feeling the past few hours…If she’d let herself, she would get lost in his eyes. 
“I have to tell you something-” she began to say, before there was an interruption.
“We gotta move,” said a voice, moving closer to them. Y/n stepped away first, willing herself to look anywhere but him. Her eyes landed on Nancy. “Jason is here.”
That got them moving. Steve took the cart, taking it to the front to pay as she followed Nancy back to the trailer. Everybody else was already inside, clamoring back to the seats they had taken earlier. 
Only this time, Nancy moved to the back, motioning for her to take the driver’s side seat. She did so, confused, before Steve came running back to them and started the car without a second to waist.
Y/n gave one last look back at Nancy who flashed her a smile of recognition. Maybe she wasn’t as good at hiding her emotions as she originally thought.
🎬🎬🎬
Being back in the Upside Down was the last place Y/n wanted to be. But if it meant stopping all of the disasters for good? She’d do anything. 
“If they get too close, go, okay? Don’t try to be the heroes,” Steve said, his attention directed at Eddie and Dustin who were staying back at the gate. 
“We will,” Dustin said, standing up straighter with pride.
Giving a nod, Steve turned back to her, Robin and Nancy, ready to begin their trek to the Creel House. They were about to leave when Eddie called out for her. She turned back, walking a foot or two to meet him halfway. 
“Tell him,” he whispered, which only made her roll her eyes. “This might be your last chance.”
“I will if we survive,” she rebutted. “Promise.”
Giving a curt nod, he backed up, letting her return to her group. “What was that about?” Robin asked.
“Nothing,” Y/n dismissed, and no one questioned her further. 
The walk to Upside Down Creel House was a lot easier when you were equipped with the right things. Thick combat boots were laced over her feet; dry clothes covering every inch of her body.  
As they approached the front door, the three girls let Steve enter first, paving a path through the vines that laced the floor. As he hoped over one, Y/n would follow, mimicking his movements. She held out a hand behind her, helping Robin and Nancy who were close to follow. The stairs proved to be more tricky then the rest, the living roots moving faster as they inched closer to Vecna. 
Steve was the first to make it up the first flight okay, helping pull Y/n, and arm wrapped around hers. Just as she was reaching for the last step, something erupted in the distance. They both paused and she could feel Nancy grab on to the bag she had thrown across her back. The sound began to soften, echoing away as a rumble took its place. Not before long the entire ground started to shake, loosening her grip.
In a series of quick thinking, Steve yanked on her arm, pulling her up the stairs to stand behind him as he reached for Nancy, then Robin. By the time shaking had subsided, all four of them were safe on the landing. Y/n took a deep breath, silently thanking that everyone was okay.
The celebration, however, was short lived. The vines reached for her ankle first, slithering up her leg until it wrapped around her waist. Another shot out of the wall, taking her wrist and pulling her flat against the surface. 
“Y/n!” Steve yelled. 
Nancy and Robin were quick to her side, already pulling at the vines as she cried out. Steve rose his axe, ready to strike down as another vine wrapped around her neck. As she gasped for air, her eyes bulging out, she saw Steve’s step falter. 
The axe dropped to the floor with a clang. Hands reached up to grab at his throat, wheezing at the sensation he was being choked. Slowly, he looked back up at Y/n, realization setting in. He fell to his knees gasping for a breath. 
“Steve?” Nancy said, looking down at him, then back up at Y/n. 
Robin looked down too, registering what was happening quicker. “Holy shit watch out!”
But she was too slow. They watched as a vine extended from the opposite wall, wrapping around him. Y/n was already in pain, already writhing from the tightness around herself. But feeling Steve’s pain on top of that…it was unlike anything she had ever experienced.
As Steve was pulled flush against the wall, his gaze never left hers. It was a silent cry for help, one look saying everything she needed to know. Did she know? How long? Get me out of these damn vines!
Nancy and Robin were soon pulled back as well, placed on either side of her. All she could do was hope her death would be swift.
She didn’t know how much time passed. It could have been minutes but with the lack of oxygen it felt like hours. Steve had closed his eyes after a period of time, the pain being too much to take. As she started to accept her fate, to fade into the darkness forever, the unthinkable happened. 
The vines let go.
She dropped to the floor, her knees scraping against the hard wood as Robin collided into her. They were all breathing heavily, trying to take in as much air as possible. After getting back to a reasonable breathing pattern, she looked up at Steve. He was staring right back, taking in deep gulps of air as they all slowly stood up. 
There was no mention of what happened. No acknowledgment that the pair of soulmates had finally found each other after so many years of waiting. Just a simple nod before continuing up the stairs. 
🎬🎬🎬
It wasn’t until much later, that they spoke again. After they killed Vecna, after the silent walk back to the gate. After Eddie and Dustin helped everyone climb back through. 
Y/n was about to walk into the trailer, following close behind with tired feet and too much dirt on her face when Steve grabbed her hand. 
She turned back to face him, already knowing what this was about.
“We can talk after we get through the gate okay?” she told him.
“No, I-I can’t wait, just…” He pulled her to the side, out of earshot from a certain young teen. “Did you know? Have you always known?”
“Not until you got attacked by those bats,” she replied softly. “I told you, I thought my soulmate died.”
“If this what you were trying to talk to me about in the army store?”
She nodded. “You have a lot of explaining to do. I’ve gotten punched a lot.”
He chuckled, head drooping down for a moment. “Well, we got all the time in the world now.”
“Are you mad?”
Picking his head back up, he scrunched his brows. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”
“That it’s me…listen, not all soulmates stay together. If you don’t like me like that then-” 
He brought his hands up swiftly, cupping her cheeks. They were warm under his callous touch, so soft and gentle but it still sucked all the breath from her.
He spoke slowly, finding the words as they tumbled out of his mouth. “I’ve…wanted to kiss you since the moment you walked into Scoops last summer….So no, I’m not mad that its you.”
Y/n’s breath hitched as he said those words, his eyes never leaving hers. She blushed under the touch of his thumb, slowly, caressing her cheek as he continued to hold her close. Bringing her arms, up, she let them rest on his extended arms. For a moment, everything else faded away and she could almost forget they were standing in an alternate dimension.
He moved closer to her, barely an inch separating their camouflage-covered bodies. “Is…is this okay?” he asked, his head drooping down slightly.
And for the first time in what felt like ever, Y/n let herself be happy. “Yes,” she responded. “It’s more than okay.”
A smile crept of his lips as he guided them down to meet hers. His lips were soft against hers, he sensation multiplied as she felt not only her senses, but his as well. She never thought she’d get to experience this side of her life. To have someone that in such a short time of knowing her, could pledge their loyalty as her partner in life.
His breath was heavy in her mouth as he let out a groan. He let his arms drift from her cheeks down her shoulders and wrap around her waist. Being held in his arms, the carefulness of his touch - it felt like heroin. 
Y/n reached up, letting her fingers get lost in his hair as he changed his angle, pressing them closer than she thought was possible. His grip tightened on her waist, pressing into a curve that made her giggle in delight.
He pulled back slightly, letting his eyes drift over her figure. She looked back at him, not hiding her smile as she relished in how flushed she had made him.
“What?” he asked, surprised by the sudden our burst of laughter.
“Nothing,” she replied, looking down for a moment to gain her composure. “Just a little ticklish.”
He rested he forehead against hers, mouth ghosting over hers at the temptation of kissing again. “I really like kissing you.”
Her smile returned. “I like kissing you two.”
Before either of them could lean back in for another kiss, Eddie’s voice rang out, echoing as the trailer door opened with flourish.
“How can you two spend another second in this shit hole-“ he paused when he saw them. 
Y/n jumped at the noise, placing a hand on Steve’s chest as he instinctively an arm around her. Realizing it was just Eddie, she let herself relax in his touch with a sigh.
“Oh…” Eddie began again, drawing a logical conclusion. “As happy as I am for you two lovebirds, those bats could comeback any minute.”
“Alright, Munson, we’re coming,” Steve said, annoyed at the interruption - even though he was right.
“Good, cause we don’t need any upside down babies anytime soon!” 
Eddie sprinted back inside, knowing if he stuck around longer, he would get both of their wraths. “Munson I swear to god!” Steve yelled leaving her embrace to run after him.
He swung the door wide open to reveal their friend already climbing up the rope. Eddie gave a salute as he let gravity do it’s work, pulling him through. Y/n couldn’t help but laugh at Steve’s sudden urge to protect her, though they both knew Eddie could do no real harm. 
“You ready?” Steve said, bringing her attention back to him. She lifted her head to see him extended his hand to her.
With a nod, she took it, ready to start the next chapter of her life.
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hiiii!! absolutely love your crosshair stuff (i’ve been on a crosshair binge since season three started lol) anyways i was hoping you could write something that’s like post-omega and crosshair escaping tantiss and reuniting with hunter and wrecker (end ep 4) with the prompts
11. I promised to love you forever, and that is a promise I intend to keep.
and
16. No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, I never stopped loving you.
like i was thinking crosshair and the reader are married but canon happened so the reader stayed with the bad batch and this would be the first time her and crosshair are seeing each other again since the end of season one at kamino
no rush for any of this btw. thankssss
Hello, hi! Thank you so much for this request. I had something similar going through my mind after the episode aired so was excited to see this drop in!! I hope you enjoy 😊
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Never Stopped
When Omega's cryptic message leads to a heartfelt reunion on Ryloth's nearest moon, you didn't expect her to be accompanied by the one man you never thought you'd get to see again.
Pairing: Crosshair x f!reader
Word count: 2k
Warnings: spoilers for S3E04, we love a good reunion, inner turmoil, fluff, comfort, pet names.
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“I had help.” Omega’s statement hangs in the air until the light sound of footsteps on metal reaches your ears, and you turn alongside Wrecker to watch as someone steps out of the stolen transport.
No. Not someone.
Him.
For a second, you forget how to breathe, unable to tear your eyes away from the man you never dared hope you’d see again. The last time you’d seen him had been after the fall of Kamino, on that blasted platform in the middle of the ocean. You’d pleaded with him to come with you - to leave the Empire’s clutches - but he’d declined. Your stubborn, infuriating husband.
Maker, you’d missed him.
Before you even know what you’re doing, you’re running, crossing the inky darkness between the two ships, closing the distance between you as Crosshair takes the final step down onto the planet’s surface. He doesn’t have time to protest before your arms are around his neck, hauling him into a crushing embrace. His brothers might be wary, but you aren’t.
Crosshair freezes, caught off guard by your affection. In the short time it had taken you to reach him, he’d braced himself for a slap or to be chewed out. This was…unexpected. You’re warm against him, the softness of your body so familiar, as is the scent of your shampoo. Tentatively, he slides his arms around you in return, pulling you close to suffocate all space between you both, soaking up the feeling of having you back in his arms. “Kitten...”
The whispered term of endearment is all it takes, and a heaving sob leaves you before you can stop it.
Everything since the order was given crashes down on you – the shots he’d fired as you scrambled to escape Kamino, how relentlessly he’d chased you across the galaxy, Kamino falling, the distress message he’d sent to your old comms channel…it had felt never-ending.
But it was over now. 
As you bury your face against his chest, the torrent of emotions overwhelms you. There’s a sense of catharsis, a release from the pent-up anguish that had threatened to suffocate you. The weight of his presence feels like a balm to your wounded soul, and with each sob that racks your body, it’s as if a burden is lifted, allowing you to finally exhale the turmoil that had gripped you for far too long.
He’s here. In one piece. Free from the Empire’s clutches, with Omega in tow.
Hunter and Wrecker’s tension eases slightly as they witness the reunion between you and Crosshair, but they’re not ready to let their guard down just yet. They exchange knowing glances before Hunter clears his throat. “We need to go.” He shouts across the distance, feeling guilty for breaking the moment but knowing that the Empire won’t be far behind.
You pull back slightly, hands still clutching desperately at Crosshair as he meets your gaze. He’s never been one to cry, but unshed tears line those sharp eyes you’ve missed so much. Silently, you swipe away your tears with one hand, the other finding his to guide him towards the Marauder. A blur of motion whips past you, and you startle, but with a click of his tongue, Crosshair stills the creature responsible, and a hound falls into step beside him as you lead him back towards the ship.
It feels too good to be true, too easy. The nervousness Crosshair had felt rolling through him as he’d forced himself down the steps of the transport returns. Fingers interlaced with yours, he can feel the skin-warmed metal of your ring. It’s still there after everything.
He feels nauseous as you cross the darkness towards the ship that had once been his home. He glances at Wrecker as you both pass him and the apprehension on his big brother’s face wavers for just a second before Crosshair looks away, unable to stand it.
Hunter has already ushered Omega inside, the young girl saying hello to Gonky, who beeps happily at her return. Crosshair lets you situate him in one of the back seats in the cockpit as Wrecker comes up the ramp, smacking the button to shut it as Hunter takes Tech’s seat and fires up the engines. 
Tech.
Crosshair swallows, bile rising in his throat. His twin is gone. Omega had brokenly told him what had happened during one of her many visits to his cell. Guilt curls through him - his brother had insisted on the mission to Eriadu and had been keen to find him, which ultimately led to his sacrifice.
Crosshair barely registers the ship setting off or the jump to hyperspace.
A soft squeeze of his hand draws his focus, and his head tilts to look across at you. Your wide eyes, which he adores, look at him with concern and something else he can’t quite put his finger on. Hunter and Wrecker are in the pilot and copilot seats, Omega curled in Hunter’s lap as they catch up while Wrecker pets Batcher.
You can practically see Crosshair’s discomfort, so you lead him out into the belly of the ship, closing the cockpit doors behind you to give the pair of you some privacy. “I thought I’d lost you.” You whisper, your voice barely above a breath as you sit side by side on one of the bunks, bodies tilted towards each other.
“Have to try harder than that.” Crosshair’s answer is quick, and the vice-like grip of dread that had encircled his heart slackens as he hears you laugh - it’s a short and sharp sound, nothing like the melodic giggles he’d grown accustomed to during the war, but it’s something. And Maker, does it feel good.
You’d almost forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of his quips, and for a moment, it’s like nothing has changed. But you spot something missing as you turn his hand over in yours. 
His wedding ring is gone.
“They took it from me.” He’s quick to reassure you, seeing the pained expression on your pretty face. He hadn’t even been able to fight to keep it, having woken up on Tantiss without it. The troopers had quickly silenced him whenever he’d asked about its whereabouts.
Silence settles between you both for a moment, your gaze fixed on this hand - on the vacant spot. “We’ll get you a new one,” you state quietly, lifting your eyes to finally meet his.
Crosshair’s brows furrow in disbelief at your words. After everything he’s done and the pain and betrayal, he can’t fathom why you still want to be married to him. Guilt and shame churn in his gut, threatening to overwhelm him. “Why?” he asks, his voice low and raspy, his gaze searching yours for some semblance of an answer.
You reach out and gently cup his cheek, your touch sending shivers down his spine. “I promised to love you forever, and that’s a promise I intend to keep,” you say simply, your eyes reflecting a depth of emotion that Crosshair can’t comprehend. “Despite everything, I still believe in us - in you. No matter how much time we’ve spent apart, I never stopped loving you.”
A lump forms in Crosshair’s throat as he struggles to process your words. He’d spent so long convincing himself that he was better off paying for his sins in that cell. But here you are, offering forgiveness and understanding. He searches your eyes for any sign of deceit or resentment but finds unwavering sincerity and love.
Crosshair reaches out, hand shaking as his fingers brush your cheek. “Maybe you’ve hit your head too many times, kitten.” Crosshair quips, a hint of his trademark sarcasm slipping through. Despite the gravity of the moment, he can’t resist teasing you. But deep down, he’s grateful for your forgiveness and unwavering love, even if he doesn’t understand it.
You roll your eyes at his remark, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “Maybe you just need a few more hits to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours.” You retort, your tone teasing yet filled with affection.
As the playful banter lingers in the air, a moment of quiet settles between you both, the reality of the situation sinking in. Crosshair’s gaze softens, his hand lingering on your cheek as he soaks in your closeness. “I love you too.” He whispers, his voice barely audible above the hum of the ship’s engines. “I never stopped either.”
Your heart swells with relief and happiness, and with a soft smile, you press a gentle kiss to the back of his hand, feeling the slight tremble beneath your lips. “What happened, my heart?” You ask, your voice soft and concerned, brows drawn down as you watch how he shakes.
Crosshair hesitates for a moment. “They did…things. Some I remember. Some I don’t.” He answers vaguely.
You’re familiar with this game. He doesn’t want to think about it. Doesn’t want to talk about it. And while you know he'll need to one day, today’s not that day. Respecting his unspoken plea not to delve deeper into the horrors he endured, you gently squeeze his hand, offering him a reassuring smile. “We don’t have to talk about it now.” You murmur softly. “But we need to get you out of those awful clothes.” You change the subject, wrinkling your nose. “Handsome you may be, but this is not working.” You make a vague gesture at his outfit.
Crosshair chuckles softly at your remark, the memories chased away for the time being by your attempt to lighten the mood. “I’ll have you know; I make anything look good,” he retorts with a smirk. “But I suppose some fresh clothes wouldn’t hurt.”
You nod in agreement, grateful for the ease with which the two of you fall back into rhythm. “Exactly, and I’m sure I can find something more comfortable for you.” You reply, standing up and glancing around the small quarters of the ship.
As you start to pull crates out from the nearby storage racks, Crosshair watches you with a slight smile, admiring the familiar sight of you in motion. “You always know just how to take care of me,” he remarks, his voice low and warm, a tone saved just for you.
You shoot him a playful smile over your shoulder. “Someone has to.” You quip back, pulling out the crate you’d been looking for.
His kit crate. You still had his kit crate, with all your doodles on the outside – his name in Aurebesh, the squad’s symbol, a copy of his tattoo, and ever so slightly wonky hearts that he’d made a show of grumbling about but secretly loved.
Crosshair’s surprise is evident as he watches you retrieve a clean undersuit from the crate. He’d assumed its contents would be long gone - tossed aside, sold, or scrapped. The fact that you kept all his armour, along with his bucket, fills him with a strange mix of emotions. “Didn’t think you’d keep it,” Crosshair finally manages to say.
Before you can respond, footsteps interrupt the moment, drawing your attention towards the source. Hunter steps out from the cockpit – even with the door shut, he can still hear everything. His eyes meet Crosshair’s, and while he knows there’s a lot for them to talk about and work through, and he’s still not entirely sure he fully trusts his baby brother, he wants to offer him some reassurance. It’s the least he can do. “We were never going to get rid of it,” Hunter says, his voice firm yet gentle. “You’re still one of us.”
Crosshair finds himself at a loss for words. Emotions swirl within him, a tumultuous mix of gratitude and guilt. As Hunter’s words sink in, his gaze flickers back to you. Despite the doubts and fears that linger in his mind, one thing is certain: he’s home.
With a small smile, you offer the clean undersuit to your husband. “Here,” you say softly, your voice laced with affection. “Let’s get you changed.”
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s-4pphics · 9 months
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let the rain sing. 4 (a.a)
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wc;cw: 7k, dadsbestfriend!abby, lawstudent!oc, large age gap(oc is 25, abby is mid 40s), abby is bi<3, slight angst yall know the deal, brief mentions of familial death, cigarettes, nasty sloppy sex MDNI, dubcon(they sipped a little), couch action :p, eating out no taco bell(pussy and ass), tribbing, meantop!abby, strength kink, lots of dirty talk, breeding kink😳😳, mult. orgasms, BREEDING STRAP(idk how they work im sowwie if it’s not accurate :/), slight d!p, body fluids(spit, fake and real cum LOL), UNPREPPED ANAL PLS DONT DO THIS, dumbification, degradation kink, pain kink it’s me duh, hair pulling, slapping, slight mirror sex??
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The holiday season passed, and you were standing on Abby’s porch with your tail between your legs and exhaustion weighing you down. 
You’ve never been… nervous to see Abby. Whenever you arrived at her home, you were eager and desperate to be in her presence so she could take care of you, but now you were nauseas at the thought of using her that way. And it was all your fault. 
You haven’t spoken to her since the Christmas party. You didn’t know what to say. How do you approach somebody that you think hates you after an encounter like that? She went from rightfully kicking you out of her home to rubbing your pussy through your pants without care. In front of your entire family despite your mutual rules, and you didn’t even care enough to stop her. It almost felt like you switched places for the night: she was impulsive and irresponsible, and you allowed her to be, just like how she used to when she handled your demanding attitude. You wished she touched you more before she respectfully departed your parents’ home. 
You wanted to speak with Abby properly. You never thought you would be willing to sacrifice your kryptonite once you found it, but she didn’t deserve to be dragged along and solve your problems anymore. Your heart still hurts at the thought of making her cry and leaving her to it. You’re such an idiot. 
You called her before you showed up, but she didn’t answer. You don’t blame her for being distant, but she deserves an in-person explanation as to why you should never see her again. You’re a trainwreck and you need to deal with that alone, no matter how exhausting the journey would be. 
The sun was setting when you finally exited your car knocked on her door, looking down at your scuffed boots that dug into the melting ice on her porch. You wanted to check to see if her key was still in the same spot under her rug, but you refrained. Your heart filled when you noticed her unique little Christmas decorations still dangling from her door and windows. She loved her flowers, for sure.
When the door yanked open, your heart dropped, and your stomach did somersaults. 
Abby was dolled up in a red dress under a black trench coat with matching red nails and shoes, sparkling jewelry, and her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail that cascaded down the back of her neck. She looked fucking gorgeous, and your throat went dry. She leaned against the frame as she eyed you, shock evident on her face. 
Don’t fold, don’t fold, don’t fold!
You watched her surprise swiftly shift into confusion and… aggravation? Your heart sunk further into the floor, but you held her gaze. 
“What’re you doing here?” 
Her voice made your heart squeeze painfully; You missed it terribly, regardless of how stiff she sounded. 
You took a shuddering breath, “… Hi, Abby.” 
She ignored your greeting, “What are you doing here?” She sounded like she was in a rush, and you wanted to cry. 
You swallowed harshly, “I-I know you’re probably busy, but I’m— “
“Look, I can’t deal with this right now. I have somewhere to be,” she quietly huffed with agitation like someone would hear, adjusting the shining watch on her wrist to check the time. You could feel her pulling away. 
It felt like every cell in your body was dying, your brain fighting on its last legs to conjure up a reply to get her to stay and speak with you. You would’ve dropped down to your knees if it wasn’t freezing. Is this how she felt whenever you would shut her down to fuck? Nausea came in waves. 
“I don’t,” you weren’t shaking from the cold. “I don’t wanna do anything. I just wanna… apologize.” 
She rolled her eyes at you, “Keep it. Are you done? I gotta leave soon.”
You were motionless, your hands squeezed into fists in your coat pockets as tears jerked in your eyes and lips quivered. Don’t fucking cry!
Your brain didn’t fight hard enough because she shook her head when you didn’t comment, reaching for the door to slam it in your face. It forced you into action, shoving your arm between the open space to stop the wood from shutting completely. You couldn’t control the panic you felt at the thought of her hating you. You don’t remember the last time you cried like this. 
“A-Abby, please, I’m so sorry, I can’t,” your heaving picked up as you sobbed to her. “I can’t stop thinking a—bout you and I feel awful and I know you hate me, and you s-should but’m so sorr—y. Please, I can’t— “
Abby seemed unsure through your watery gaze, the tensity in her face dropping slowly as she gauged you. You felt her wrap a light hand around your bicep as you broke down, ushering you inside with soft shushes. 
You listened and followed her guide to the couch, taking a seat as you cried out your apologies to her. Your wails overpowered the volume of her coos; She was too fucking nice. 
She stood over your sitting form, her soft, rose-scented hands holding your chin as she massaged the back of your pounding head. “Shhh, stop crying, stop.”
Your eyes met hers, and your heart burned, “M’sorry— “
She sighed, “We’re gonna… we’re gonna talk, okay?” 
You nodded, sniffing harshly. You didn’t deserve her hospitality, and you felt guilty accepting her courtesy. Had you really been so heartless to such a gentle soul?
She hummed, “Want some water?” 
You didn’t answer. 
She took your silence as approval and made her way to the kitchen. 
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You calmed down. Slightly. Abby was able to remove your coat and boots without fuss; You were too busy blowing your nose with the soft tissues she handed to you. 
Abby sat next to you on the couch, earrings, coat, and heels removed and slung on the floor near the coffee table. She allowed you to take some sips of your water before she spoke, voice as soft as ever. 
“Okay to talk?” 
You nodded, setting your glass down on the decorative table and using your sleeves to wipe your still wet face. 
You took a deep breath. A few deep breaths, and she let you. 
But when you finally opened your mouth to speak, her phone rang. 
Both your eyes darted towards the coffee table; a contact named DON’T ANSWER read across the screen. Your brows furrowed in confusion, eyes gliding between her and her device. You’ve never seen Abby have a negative reaction towards anyone except you; Who did she not want to answer? 
She sighed heavily, reaching towards her phone to mute the ringing. A few moments of silence passed, and the call ended, but the caller popped up again. 
She tsked, reaching for her device with agitation. She answered it, annoyance evident in her tone. 
“I'm not coming. Stop calling me.” 
Your ears perked with intrigue. Was she meant to meet with someone tonight? She sounded so upset. 
Some distant ramblings came through her earpiece before she shot back at the person she was speaking to, “I don’t care. It’s not up to you!” 
The person got louder with her, the voice masculine. You saw Abby roll her eyes as she listened to the shouts. Why was she getting screamed at?
She spat nastily at the man before hanging up. “Fuck you. Don’t call me anymore tonight.”
She turned her phone off and tossed it onto the longue chair near the TV before turning back to you, the flame in her eyes slowly extinguishing. 
“Sorry,” she breathed awkwardly, massaging her temples. 
You shook your head, “Don’t apologize, I’m in your home. You can do what you want.” 
She hummed at you, her expression suddenly distant. She wasn’t looking at you, but at the hand that rested on your knee. Why was that making your body hot?
“I really came at a bad time, huh?” You huffed.
“Mhm,” she answered before backtracking. “I hate talking to him.” 
You spoke before you could think, “Who was it?”
“My ex.”
Your heart frosted over. 
“H-Husband?”
She nodded slowly, like it brought her shame to admit. You don’t know why that made your stomach churn with something red. Something fiery that you never felt. How long were they still in contact? You knew they weren’t on good terms due to Abby’s past dismissal of your questions about their past, but now you were really confused about where they stood. 
“D’you still talk to him?” 
“You interrogating me?” You stiffened at her tone, darkly sarcastic. Fuck, stop fucking up! 
You shook your head incessantly, “Not at all! Just… yeah, I don’t know why I asked that.” 
“What an honest lawyer,” you saw her lips curl upward into a smirk, and you exhaled a sheepish laugh, your hands squeezing into fists on your lap. She’s fucking gorgeous. 
“Not a lawyer yet.” 
She bit playfully, “Gonna be soon.” 
You made a noise in agreement before silence passed between you.
Abby’s voice made you look up. “We don’t see each other often, my ex and I. Not anymore at least.”
“… Oh. What were you guys going to do tonight?”
Abby shrugged, “Get drunk. Fuck probably.” 
You probably looked calm on the outside, but you felt every organ in your body burn like fire at her admission. You were stiff, your nails digging into your palms as grounding. Why are you getting so fucking pissed over them communicating? The fuck?
You couldn’t help yourself, “How come?” 
“It’s winter. We’re lonely and miss our daughter.” 
You felt like you were dunked into a bottomless tub of ice water. Your brain went into overdrive and your throat closed like you were going to cry again. 
She shook her head like nothing mattered, “Not the best coping mechanism, but.” 
“A-Abby— “
She cut you off, tone hushed, “We shouldn’t meet anymore, but he just… gets it. Gets me and what I’m still going through. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully get rid of him no matter how much I hate his guts.” 
You sat there and listened. This is the most personal conversation you’ve had with Abby since the first time you met. You finally met her eyes, waves of emotion flowing through them like ocean waves; You were here, and you wanted to listen to her. I’m sorry for shutting you down in the past. Please talk to me. 
You placed an encouraging hand on her bare shoulder, and she sighed, her eyes fluttering shut as you squeezed. She was so tired; You recognized exhausted stiffness from anywhere. 
“He’s the only… person I have, honestly. It’s really weird,” she huffed a laugh, rubbing her nose. “We had her alone, we raised her alone, I buried her without him, and now we just… drag each other along in our grief. She died such a long time ago and we’ve made no progress, but I can’t… I can’t leave him.” 
You could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke, and it tore you to pieces. You can’t imagine what the two of them went through after such a grave loss; You knew it was your parents’ biggest fear. You had no idea how to talk her through this wave she was experiencing, but both your hands flew down to grab hers in her lap. You rubbed and squeezed them tight, hoping she would accept your presence again. You have me! I’m here, too. I'm sorry I wasn't before, but I am now. 
She looked down at your locked fingers, shocked at the gesture. She released a shuddered breath and squeezed back, grabbing your hand like you would slip away. 
She continued, her eyes glossy, “We always meet up around this time of year. For anything. For sex, to cry together. We could spend hours yelling and screaming at each other and then walk out of each other’s lives like nothing happened, just to do it all over again. I’m so… fucking tired.”
You shook your head in understanding. She needed comfort, some solace, a distraction just as much as you did, even if it’s only for a second. You wish you knew a better way to appease her emotional needs, but you didn’t. You didn’t know what to say, so you did what you should’ve done a long time ago. 
She confided in you, and you listened to all of it. 
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Abby pulled out an expensive bottle of wine some time ago. You couldn’t stop smiling. 
Abby’s laugh was music to your ears, “I can’t believe I fucking did that!”
You shook your head as you beamed at her, “You don’t know how shook I was! I thought I was hallucinating! I don’t know what my cousin put in that fucking blunt, but I was on my ass the rest of the night.” 
You and Abby were facing each other, knees touching on the couch, in hysterics about the… events at the Christmas party. She tossed her expensive watch somewhere earlier, her posture content as she leaned back against the arm of her couch. You thought your first conversation after your argument would be much more unnerving, but you were both at ease and light. And a little tipsy. 
You weren’t sure how long you’d been at her house, but you didn’t want to leave. You’re so glad you came to see her. 
Her hands flew to cover her face, her face burning red, “I’m sorry. Aghh, I fuckin’ cringe. Jesus.”
You shrugged, “Great memories.” 
She hummed in agreement, her head tilting as her eyes wandered all over your face. Your face warmed, “You look pretty with your hair up.” 
She raised a brow at you, “Oh?”
“Um… yes,” you replied sheepishly. 
“I think that’s the first compliment you’ve given me,” she joked, but that made your heart hurt. 
“You’re really pretty, Abby,” you replied instantly, tone quiet as your heartbeat picked up. Her expression softened when she called out your name. 
You shook your head, eyes dropping to your hands in your lap, “I'm really sorry for yelling at you.” 
Her hand came up to lift your chin, “Hey. I’m not upset anymore. We’re gonna be fine, okay?” 
You nodded, eyes flickering between her mouth and eyes. She whispered your name again, thumb caressing your face. 
“Yes?” 
She whispered, inching forward slightly, “… How much trouble would I get in for kissing you right now?” 
Your tummy instantly swirled, and you grinned, “I dunno. A pretty good amount, I think.” 
She moved closer, tongue rolling over her lips as she eyed your mouth. 
Your breath shuddered, hand coming up to grab her wrist. You whispered as your face burned, “Kiss me?”
She snorted. Her nose brushed against yours, a smirk plastered on her face as she sniffed, “Yeah?”
Your core squeezed in approval. Abby released the hold she had on your face, strong arms wrapping around your waist to pull you closer. You followed, straddling her lap, arms looping around her neck. You could see the skirt of her dress riding up from beneath you when she stretched her legs out. She smelled like roses and Barolo. 
“Hi,” she whispered with a grin. 
You smiled back at her, “Hi.”
Her lips brushed against yours, “Kiss me.” 
You cheesed, mischievously pecking her cheek, and she stared at you blankly. You giggled and pinched her squishy cheeks. 
“Kiss me for real,” she scolded lightly. 
You snorted, poking the space where her dimples are, “Mmm, nah. changed my mind, actually.” 
“Oh yeah? Don’t wanna kiss me?” Her voice lowered. 
Goosebumps rose on your skin, but you shook your head at her anyway. Your defenses weakened when her grip tightened on your hips and head dropped, planting soft kisses down the expanse of your neck. You could feel her nails tickling the sensitive skin on your back as she softly caressed you. Your eyes went glossy. 
She mumbled against your neck, “Missed you.”
Your heart fluttered. You breathed, “Really?” 
“Mhm, couldn’t stop thinkin’ about you. Doesn’t matter how much you get on my fucking nerves,” her hands slowly crawled up your waist. 
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
How does she speak her mind so easily?! “Miss—missed you too.”
“Missed me touching you like this?” 
You nodded quickly, and her tongue swiped up the side of your neck. You breathed heavily in her ear, eager to touch her. You pulled back so you could see her face, friskiness dissipating when you connected your lips. She purred in your mouth, lips molding against yours as you grinded on top of her, her red lipstick transferring onto your mouth. 
You grabbed her soft cheeks in your hands, gasping when her hands slid down to grab your ass through your jeans. Her tongue licked into your mouth, and your toes curled in your socks. You missed kissing her so badly. 
She was kissing you stupid, tugging the hair at the back of your head as she sucked your bottom lip. You shakily brought your hands up to her ponytail to undo the elastic, and her locks fell down her back like liquid. Your arms wrapped around her neck to kiss her deeper, pulling tightly at her soft strands. 
She moaned into your mouth, sucking on your bottom lip, “Need some head?”
You nails dug into her shoulders, “Y-You don’t have t— “
She rolled her eyes, “It’s not for you, it’s for me. I was just tryna be polite.” 
Well.
“But I wan—“ 
Her hand came up to grab your chin. Fuck, you love when she does that. “Don’t care what you want actually. Lay down.”
You scurried off her like she was on fire, lying flat on the couch and ripping your sweater over your head, tossing it into the pile on the floor. Abby stood as you unbuttoned her jeans. You secretly watched as she unzipped her dress and allowed it to fall down her body. She was completely bare underneath. Your eyes followed the thin trail of hair that led down to her wet cunt, and it made you hot… in more ways than one; She was on a mission tonight, for sure. 
You shoved your jealousy down; She didn’t owe you anything, especially loyalty. You stared down at your busy hands.
You kicked your jeans off, a sock clumsily catching in your pant leg before they hit the floor. You were not prepared for spontaneous sex at all; One lonesome weed sock, panties with chocolate bars on them, and a gray lounge bra. 
You awkwardly scratched your ear and waited for Abby to move, but she didn’t. You looked up at her and noticed her just… staring at your torso. Her expression was unreadable as she took your body in, but you were about to die from her searing ogle. Your face was torched, even more so when she brought a gentle hand up, hooked her middle and index finger into the band of your bra. 
Her eyes bore into yours, silently asking for permission, and you nodded. She bit her lip, slowly raising the elastic band up your chest until your breasts dropped out. She played with the two of them, dark red nails digging into the soft skin, pinching at your nipples. You couldn’t stop squirming, watching her hand move on your body. You lifted your bra over your head and laid the bundled fabric over the back of the couch. 
“Turn over, baby. Wanna see something,” she barely whispered, patting your thigh encouragingly. 
You listened, flipping onto your hands and knees as she climbed on the couch behind you. You sighed happily when she massaged your ass in both hands, rubbing and pulling at your covered cheeks. You peered over your shoulder to watch her pull your sticky panties to the side. She was eyeing your pussy like she wanted to swallow you whole before her eyes flickered an inch up. She was staring at… 
Oh. Oh. 
You jokingly snarked at her, “Find whatchu lookin’ for?” 
Her eyes pierced through yours before she slapped the fuck out of your ass. Your body jerked forward at the force, eyes squeezing shut and groaning at the seering sting. Your head dropped on the arm of the couch.
She sneered at you, “I still feel some typa way. Be nice.” 
You gasped out, “M’so— “
“You’re sorry,” She squealed out mockingly. “I know. Be still.” 
She yanked your panties down your thighs, “Put your head down.” 
You dropped your head onto your crossed arms in front of you. Her hand rubbed down your spine to deepen your arch, pulling your hips farther up. 
“Hold it open for me, baby.” 
You whimpered and reached down between your legs, spreading the drippy folds of your cunt to expose your clit. You heard her curse behind you before you felt slow massages on your clit. They were so delicate, almost ticklish, and it made you shiver. 
Your walls squeezed down and you heard her moan behind you. She rubbed a bit faster, the soft, squishy noises from your cunt filling the room. You tried to push back on her fingers, but she harshly dug her nails into your hip to hold you still, pulling her fingers away from you. 
“Abby, please— “
She ignored you, prying your lips apart with her thumbs. Her breath hit your cunt as she slurred, “You trust me?” 
You nodded incessantly, “Yeah, baby, trust you, fuck, I trust you— “
Her lips sucked around your clit, and you bucked back on her face with force. She wasted no time, shoving two of her fingers inside you and curling them. She poked and prodded at your walls as she flicked your throbbing bud and holy fuck, you missed her so fucking bad—
You couldn’t help the noises that left your mouth when she hit your spot dead on, your walls milking her fingers with eagerness. You cried out her name as your orgasm pulled from deep within your gut, your fingers curling into fists into her couch cushions. The sounds your cunt made were becoming louder as your moans crescendo, your hips moving on their own accord to get her deeper inside you. 
Her tongue slowed on your clit, slowly licking up towards your entrance and… passed your entrance. She moved up, up, and her wet muscle swiped over your ass—
A sharp gasp shot through you, your head whipping around to face her. On any other occasion, she would’ve halted everything and checked in on you, but her fingers didn’t stop. Her thrusts were harsh and unrelenting, her eyes cutting through you, “Fuckin’ trust me, right?”
You sobbed when she slapped your still burning cheek, nodding your consent with tears streaming down your face. She didn’t hesitate to lick over your hole, her tongue sliding back and forth over the puckered entrance. 
“Abby, fuckfuckfuck, oh fuck— “
She hummed against your hole and your head dropped on the cushions completely, using your bent elbows as leverage to fuck back onto her face. 
She mumbled nastily against you, “Just needa be slutted out, baby? Yeah?” 
You could only whine and sob in reply before the strong squeezes of your orgasm built and built. You were right fucking there you just needed her to—
Her tongue shoved inside you, and your body seized and tensed under the pressure of your orgasm. It wracked through your body in waves as you wailed into the pillows beneath you, both sets of walls contracting through your pleasure. Your cunt milked her fingers with urgency, your juices dripping out of your entrance and down Abby’s wrist. She tongued you through the aftershocks. 
She slowly brought you back down as your pulses slowed, planting a kiss on the back of your thigh before pulling out. Exhaustion took over your body as she helped you get onto your back, your head propped up on the pillows behind you. You kicked your dangling panties off and allowed her to lift your leg over her shoulder. She climbed on top of you, straddling your resting thigh. You looked up at her and… the large vein in her biceps made you shiver. 
“A-Abby?” 
She grabbed your tit, “Hm.”
You whimpered, “Are you a gym rat?”
She snorted, a grin spreading across her pretty face as she massaged the soft skin. “Errr… yes? When I wanna be. Why do you ask?”
Throw me across the room! You eyed her bulging vein, “Nothin’.” 
She smirked down at you, “Mhm.” 
… Did she just flex her bicep what the fuck—
You didn’t even have a chance to think before her pussy rubbed up against yours, and nearly cried when you saw your sopping cunts connect, sighs of satisfaction leaving your mouths when your clits bumped up against each other, bonded by strings of slick. You grabbed her thigh for support, digging your nails into her soft skin as her grinds increased in pace. 
Your throbbing bud jerked with each pass of her hips. You did everything in your power to keep your eyes open so you could watch her: her head was tossed back with her lip between her teeth, her defined stomach tensing and she fucked you. She looked so desperate to cum, to feel so good that she forgets everything. She kept taking and taking like you never allowed her to, and you never wanted it to end. 
“Your pussy feels s’good, shit,” she grinded down on you harder as she gazed at the ceiling. “Gonna make me cum— “
“Cum on me, Abby? Please cum on my pussy?” You whimpered up at her as your eyes grew heavy, and she slumped over the pillows, strong arms holding her up as she used you to fuck herself. She was getting louder, and you were squeezing as your second orgasm approached. Her pussy was hitting you right where you needed, right on your clit and you were about to—
You saw a screen flash out the corner of your eye as your device blared, and the drop of your heart matched the tight grip of your pussy. 
Abby was close, and your dad was calling.
Abby was too deep in her pleasure to notice as she begged you to cum with her, grabbing at your tits and yanking your nipples. Your pleasure kept rising and your phone wouldn’t stop fucking ringing—
“Fuck, baby, oh god, m’cumming!—“
Abby’s scream sent you off, your eyes rolling back, and your core squeezing with all you had to give. She was fucking you so hard through your euphoria, crying your name as you did the same. She was hitting your clit so good, you couldn’t breathe. 
Your ears were ringing so loud that you couldn’t hear the second call coming in, and you didn’t care. Your hips bucked as much as they could to meet hers, helping her ride out her intense orgasm. The harder you pushed up, the more you could feel her pussy pulsating. It sent another wave of pleasure through you. 
The feeling eventually subsided, the contractions in your cunt easing into light jerks. Abby caught her breath before moving off and plopping on top of you as she breathed heavily in your ear. You brought a hand up to rub her scalp, twirling her hair around your index finger as her scent infiltrated your senses. Your phone was finally quiet. 
“Can I fuck your ass?” 
Her heavy exhale made your spine bend. You could feel her smile against your neck. 
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You were about to pass out, and it wasn’t from your insomnia. 
Abby carried you upstairs to her bed, and eventually got your legs over her shoulders while she lubricated her deep blue strap… with a slit at the incredibly fat tip? She never used this one with you before. It was veiny, curved, and thick; How the hell was that going to fit in your ass!
You knew one of her darkest secrets was cumming inside of somebody, but you didn’t know she meant it. You couldn’t stop thinking about all the times she moaned about cumming inside you. Knocking you up. She was really going to—
“Stop staring at my dick, it’s rude,” she said blankly. 
Your eyes flickered up to meet hers, “Sorry.” 
She snickered, “I’m kidding, relax.” 
How could you relax when she was jerking off in front of you! Her hands are so pretty on her dick, and you could cry right now because of it!
You squealed when she slapped it on your clit, the silicone getting drenched in her flavored lube and your slick. Your pussy squeezed in anticipation; She was about to destroy your cunt and you couldn’t think, holy shit, you missed her so badly—
She breathed eagerly, “You know what to do, baby.” 
You nodded, reaching down to hold your pussy open for her. She lined her tip up at your entrance, “Need this dick?”
“Fuck yes— “
She cooed, “Yeah? Want me?”
You looked up at her, your head bobbing up and down like you were entranced. You wanted her so much. Too much. The look of pride in her eyes was going to stay in your memory forever. 
“Fucking say it,” she spat.
“Want you inside me, baby, please fuck me!”
She popped the tip in, and you moaned as pleasurable pain rushed through you. She took her time easing into you, allowing you to feel every ridge of her dick against your walls. The veins in the silicone were catching on your walls and it made you squeeze down tight. 
She paused and kissed your ankle, “Ease up, baby. C’mon.” 
“Can’help it, fuck, splittin’ me open,” your tongue felt so large in your mouth. 
“Fuck, missed wrecking this pussy,” she moaned out, staring down at the way your walls choked her length. 
She pushed an inch deeper, and you nearly shouted. 
She smirked, “Right there?”
You were drooling onto your chest as you craned up to watch how you connected. She was pressed right up against the spot that made you see stars, and you felt the beginnings of your orgasm stirring in your gut. 
She pushed inside until she was fully submerged in your juices, your slick coating the entire toy when she pulled out, only to fuck back into you again. She stretched you out until you were grabbing at her hip, trying to pull her deeper into you. She wrapped her arms around both of your calves and drilled in your guts, only pulling out a few inches before shoving back in. 
The power of her thrusts was causing the flowery headboard to bang up against the wall, the soggy noises of your cunt and squeals of pleasure filling the room. She was battering your pussy completely, and you couldn’t do anything to stop her. 
“Pussy’s pushing me out,” she garbled with a limp tongue. “Feel good, baby? Can’t take it?” 
You couldn’t find the strength to respond, nails digging into her soft blankets as she transported you to another dimension, sparkles and glitter exploding behind your eyelids as your unannounced orgasm shook your spirit, “Can feel you cummin’, shit.” 
Her voice was muffled from the ringing in your ears. You could barely register her pulling out and grabbing her girth, quickly rubbing her wet tip on your clit to rub you through your orgasm. You felt speckles of droplets land on your ass and the covers beneath you, eyes crossed in your skull and the taste of copper in your mouth from biting your lip too hard. 
She didn’t let you recover before she released your legs, pinning them down to your chest by the back of your knees, nearly folding you in half and shoving back into your wetness with a disgusting noise.
She bounced you on her cock like a weightless ragdoll, your body shifting up her bed with force. She hit so deep whenever she fucked like this. Her tip was nudging your cervix whenever she dug in deep, the pain plunging into you like a knife as tears filled your eyes and pleasure sizzled all the way down to your toes.
“Gonna cum in this fuckin’ pussy, oh my god— “
You couldn’t help the babbles that came from you, drooly yesyesyesyess’ coming from you, “Yeah, baby? Need me to fill your pussy up?”
You nearly passed out at the thought of her stuffing you, your orgasm built until it crashed into you, snatching the wind in your body as you let out a quiet scream. Your lashes were fluttering, and spit was sliding down your cheek, completely dumb under her. 
And then you felt a thin stream of liquid shoot inside your pulsing cunt. You swore you flatlined. 
Your orgasm only intensified at the feeling of her creaming inside you, her gross whispers making the hairs on your arms stand, “Gonna knock this slutty cunt up and send you home filthy. Want you drippin’ with it.” 
You nodded brainlessly; You’d do whatever she wanted as long as she kept fucking and filling you. Another harsh stream exploded inside you, and your juices sprayed on her lap. You went limp under her, letting her move and toss you around how she pleased. You were getting so fucking tired, but you didn’t want her to stop. 
She gave one last deep grind, poking your cervix one last time before pulling out, her gaze dropping to watch her seed spill out of your battered cunt. She pushed your legs down even further, knees nearly hitting your head as she lined her dick up at your ass, “Would marry this pussy, swear to god. It takes dick so good.” 
You only released a choked noise in approval; She could have you however she wanted! 
Her pretty brow arched cockily, “You like that? Like when I make this pussy mine?”
You shook your head so fast. It’s yours, baby! It’s all yours!
She barely pushed forward, her tip nudging your other entrance, making you squeal, “Is this mine too?” 
“Fuck yes, s’yours, baby!”
She popped in, and you sobbed. You need this, you need this, you need her—
Tears ran down to your neck as you cried, her gentle shushes caressing your ear drums like symphonies, “Such a good girl, doing so good for me, just a little more, okay?” 
You couldn’t stop moaning at the foreign sensation, “G-Gimme all of it, oh my fuckin’ god—“
“… You sure?”
She paused, only a couple inches inside as she gauged you. The gentle aura you're so used to finally returned as she massaged your thighs comfortingly, and your heart swelled. 
You spoke in one breath, “Fuck my ass, Abby, please. S’gonna make me cum again— “
“Tell me if I’m— “
“Please, baby, s’gonna hurt s-so good, gimme— “
“Okay, baby shhh, I gotchu,” she hushed you, quickly grabbing the discarded bottle of lube at your side and squeezing a messy quantity over your pulsating entrance. She tossed it somewhere and pushed in deeper, the burn sending hot shockwaves to your brain. How were you about to cum there’s no way you’re going to cum—
“A-Abby, fuck me, fuckme— “
She was whimpering with you, still pressing in, “Don’t wanna hurt you baby, shit— “
“Fuck me harder, m’so close!”
Your eyes squeezed shut when she pushed the last few inches in, sitting deep in your ass, and you came so hard. You could hear her moaning with you as she grinded you out. The cum that sat deep in your cunt was pulsing out of you with each clench, dripping down to your filled ass and coating her. You forced your eyes open so you could watch her, eyes burning with lust and her toned body drenched in sweat. 
She brought a hand down to your pussy and shoved two fingers in, curling and hitting your spot at a vigorous pace. The squelches were so loud over your pleased shouts, and you squirted all over her hand, some droplets splattering on your chest and chin. 
She yanked her fingers out to pat and spank your throbbing clit before pushing your legs back up, pulling out slowly before shoving her entire length back into you. 
Abby has never been this aggressive during sex, but she was slapping you, fucking you deep and hard, spitting on your face from where she towered over you, and you took all of it like she was paying you. Your ass was rippling on her cock, trying to make space for her cock so it could suck her in deeper. You couldn’t stop squirting, both your cum dripping out of both your holes. 
Gonna cum so hard in this ass, oh my fuckin’ god, you feel so good.
It’s mine? Say it’s mine.
Look at that dirty fucking pussy. Nasty cumslut. You love being my fucking worthless whore, don’t you? 
Just needa turn that pretty brain off? Yeah? Need me to take care of you? Fuck you stupid? 
You were thrown into one long, constant orgasm and she talked you through it. You clawed at her ass and sheets and your own tits to keep yourself grounded but it wasn’t working. You were getting her so wet, a large puddle forming underneath you as your body jerked away from her. But she held you down, made you take what she gave, made you see god. You felt so fucking good that it almost pained you. 
You could hear her moans increase in volume, not bothering to pull out as she grinded deep inside you. You knew she was close, riding her harness into completion. You used the only strength you had to turn your head to the side, making eye contact with yourself in her large dresser mirror. You looked fucked up, but you watched yourself cum before staring at Abby’s reflection. 
Her eyes were squeezed shut as she bucked into you quickly, her tits and fat on her ass shaking in the mirror. You could hear her whispering makemecummakemecum over and over again, and you shuddered when another spurt of liquid left you. 
Cum in my ass, cum in me filled your brain like a mantra.
You fought to keep your eyes open, watching the muscles in her body tighten up before she yelled out, screaming how hard she was cumming and how good your ass sucked her cum in. A line of spit left her mouth and landed on your thigh as she shuddered through her pleasure, and you felt her jizz fill your ass, the second load much larger than the first. It felt so fucking good. 
Another orgasm rushed through as you both screamed in pleasure. You tried to meet her grinds, pushing down to get her squirting dick even deeper inside. 
Abby dropped your legs and they instantly wrapped around her waist as she fell forward, resting her full weight on you as she rode out her orgasm. Her moans of your name didn’t stop, and it felt like you both were cumming for hours. She filled and filled you like you were milking her dry, draining her completely and it made you cum again. Your arms wrapped around her neck to pull her close, nails digging into the flexing muscles in her back and leaving red trails.
She screamed out a warning of another orgasm right before her body trembled on top of you. Her dick wasn't bursting in you anymore; Why did that make you sad?
Her grinds eventually slowed into twitches as you both came down. She was planting gentle kisses and sucks on your neck, her hands coming down to rub the soreness from your thighs as you massaged her scalp. 
You made sure to keep your eyes open so you wouldn’t drift off into dreamland. 
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After Abby pulled out and cleaned you up, she rummaged through her underwear drawer and pulled out a Marlboro box and lighter. 
… Why were you horny again? 
Her wet, semi-leaking dick was still strapped around her waist, her now scarred backside facing you as she stuck the orange end between her lips and ignited it. You watched her through the mirror, her body instantly relaxing as she puffed silently. You looked like a cat in heat. 
She looked up and stared back at you in the reflection, taking the smoke between her index and middle finger, exhaling around her words. 
“What’re you looking at?”
You shrugged and smiled like a ditz. She shook her head at you before sticking the butt in her mouth, undoing the adjusts and stepping out of her dick. She picked it up, eyes flickering awkwardly before throwing it in her hamper. You giggled quietly.
She ashed her cig over her small trash can, before looking at you, “Come shower?”
Your heart pounded in your chest like she didn’t just obliterate your pussy and ass. You consented in silence. 
You could hear her laughing as you hobbled to the bathroom, “I coulda carried you, y’know.” 
You flipped her off. 
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After washing, Abby just… held you. 
The water was still beating down on the two of you, her head resting on your shoulder as she rubbed your back. And you did the same. 
You felt so relaxed, and everything was quiet in your head, the lavender scent of her body wash surrounding the two of you. You could’ve fallen asleep right here. 
Her hushed tone surprised you. 
“Are you leaving tonight?” 
Your heart shredded to pieces at her nervous tone. She sighed in relief at your whisper. 
“No, Abby. I’m not.” 
You didn’t know what would happen when you returned home, but for now, you relished in her warm embrace as you nodded off onto her shoulder. 
You didn’t sleep alone. 
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OOHHHHH im ovulating LOL 
anal whores this one’s for y’all😞😞
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prologue. part one. part two. part three. interlude.
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breadbrioche · 8 months
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apologies
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so mun x reader
➳ summary: after telling mun to take better care of himself, he ends up taking care of you instead
➳ warnings: description of treating wounds, mention of guns/gunshot wounds, self deprecating thoughts, season 2 episode 3-4 spoilers
➳ word count: 1.5k
➳a/n: my offering to the tuc tumblr fandom haha fyi the reader is also a counter but was not with mun during the scenes mentioned
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As you hunch over your desk, trying to get as close as you can to your mirror, you become aware of how pathetic your situation is. Blood soaked cotton balls litter the surface of your desk from your attempt to clean the injuries inflicted on you just hours ago, though you’re doing a pretty horrid job at it because every time an alcohol swab just even brushes against the open wound, you flinch away from your own hand and hiss at the pain.
You sigh regretfully, thinking about how you could’ve avoided all this, been fully healed and pain free hours ago, if you just didn’t cause such a scene earlier.
You bursted into the base, shoes slapping against the floor loudly as you made a beeline towards the table where all the counters were waiting to be healed by Ms Chu. Stopping right in front of Mun, who was looking worried at your apparent injuries, your scowl deepened as your gaze landed on his shoulder and the perfectly circular openings in it.
Frustrated and thinking of no other way to express this, you slapped your palm against the offending shoulder. Mun jerked back with a yelp and looked at you in disbelief.
“You’re an idiot, did you know that?” You began, not beating around the bush.
“Let me expla-“
“Explain what? That you let yourself get shot?” You cut him off quickly. “Us counters may be stronger than average humans but at the end of the day we’re still humans! And humans aren’t bulletproof like how you apparently like to think!”
Words were spilling out of your mouth without a second thought, your voice getting louder with every angry confession.
“Do you think of yourself as someone who can just die whenever they want? Evil spirits aside, did you even think about how your death would impact everyone!”
At this point, you couldn’t remember how the rest of the confrontation went down apart from that when you finally finished your rant he looked at you with an expression incomprehensible to you at the time - maybe he was shocked or mad or sad, either way you didn’t stick around long enough to find out as you finally gained back your sanity and dashed to hide in your room.
Maybe you’re the idiot, and not Mun.
He didn’t get shot for no good reason; he saved the chairman’s life! And you had a go at him for doing what was right. So on top of being a pathetic coward, you were also an idiot who blamed innocent people. What an amazing turn of events.
Before you could wallow in your pity for any longer, knocks on your door pull you out of your thoughts and make you turn towards it. You come eye to eye with So Mun, who’d left himself inside your room before you could even get up to open the door.
“Hey.” He begins awkwardly, probably trying to gauge your reactions to see if you were still angry at him. “You missed dinner.”
“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t realise” you say dumbly.
“I just wanted to let you know that I saved some food for you, its in the kitchen if you ever feel hungry”
You smile slightly; grateful for Mun’s thoughtfulness, even if after your tirade on him earlier.
“Thanks, Mun-ah. I’ll go eat in a sec once I’m done with all of-“ you gesture to the mess of medical supplies on your table “-this.”
Taking note of it, Mun frowns before approaching you and leaning down to assess your injuries. He immediately picks up an alcohol swab and gently cleans the cuts on your face. Instinctively, you jerk away from the sting but Mun keeps you still with a hand on your cheek.
“You know that Ms Chu can heal these for you.” He says gently, though the close proximity of your faces makes you hear it loud and clear.
“They’re not big… I don’t wanna be a bother for a few cuts here and there” you murmur in defense.
Mun’s hands pull away from your face for a moment to reach for a band-aid on your desk but you grab his wrist to stop him.
“I can treat myself, you don’t have to do it”
He huffs shortly before pulling out of your grasp and shaking his head stubbornly.
“I want to. Please?” He asks with a classic So Mun smile that makes it hard to remember why you were ever mad at him. You reluctantly nod, allowing Mun to put the bandage on your face.
It’s quiet as he repeats the process of cleaning and wrapping the rest of your wounds.
“Uh-“ You speak up suddenly, unable to handle the suffocating silence. He perks up and faces you fully, attentive.
“Sorry about what I said to you earlier…you did what you had to save the chairman and I blew up at you for no real reason but when I heard that you’d gotten shot, I guess I started spiralling and assumed the worse so…” you trail off and lower your head in shame, eyes focused on the scrapes on your knuckles that Mun is currently working on.
His hands clasp yours and intertwines your fingers together with his, then pulls you up to your feet which forces you to maintain eye contact with him. He’s smiling at you calmly, eyes creasing ever so slightly.
“Don’t worry about it. Honestly it’s okay.” he says in a reassuring voice. “I’m sure I worried all of you so I would’ve gotten an earful from someone eventually.”
You laugh slightly at his comment lightening your mood. Being around Mun is addictive - his warm presence pulls you in and his positivity infects you, putting a small smile on your face too.
Though, part of you couldn’t let go of your guilty thoughts and you still feel apprehensive. Mun must have sensed it because he squeezes your interlaced hands tight, stroking your hand with his thumb.
“You had every right to be mad at me. I don’t regret what I did but you're right about the fact that I didn’t think about how my actions would affect everyone else. So I guess that was pretty selfish of me.”
Mun rests his head down on your shoulder, face nuzzling into your neck slightly. His breath tickles your skin as he exhales which makes you squirm slightly.
“Could you forgive me?” He whispers into your ear.
Since he entered your room, all of his sweet actions were slowly piling up, making you feel flustered and heartbeat speed up, but this was the tipping point. You try to push away from Mun, feeling far too overwhelmed, but he effortlessly pulls you back in, his eyes twinkling.
“So~?” He insists you answer, dragging out the last syllable. You roll your eyes, feeling heat rise to your cheeks.
“Fine. I guess I could forgive you” you huff out. “But only because you’re annoying and you won’t stop until I do.”
Mun chuckles and brushes away hair hanging over your face to get a clear view of your reactions.
“You’re so cute.” he points out teasingly. He watches your nose shrivel when you scowl at him.
“And you are a little shit.”
“Hey! Is that any way to speak to your cool and amazing boyfriend who patched you up?” Mun grabs your bandaged hand and shakes it in front of your face to emphasize his point.
“I told you that you didn’t have to do it”
“And I told you that you should’ve seen Ms Chu!”
“It’s too late for that now anyways, she’s probably sleeping. I can just have it done tomorrow” you defend yourself.
“But knowing you, you’ll definitely forget!”
God, Mun could be so stubborn sometimes. You sigh before flopping onto your bed, bouncing slightly as the springs in the mattress resist against you.
“If you’re so bothered, maybe you should just sleep with me tonight so you can remind me in the morning.”
Mun gasps dramatically as if your suggestion was something obscene. You roll your eyes at his act, your point from earlier being proven - he is a little shit.
“You’re welcome to go back to your room then” you point out, gesturing to your door. Mun shoots you an offended look before pulling your blankets open to climb onto your bed quickly.
“I never said no!” He complains as he worms his way to get closer to you.
You shuffle about for a second before getting into a comfortable position, with your face pressed against Mun’s chest, head laying on one of his arms. A silence envelops the two of you again but it’s not the awkward tension from before.
This silence was cozy. Relaxing.
“Thank you, Mun-ah” you whispered, cuddling against him more. He pressed a kiss on the top of your head, silently answering you. Gently he stroked your hair, lulling you to sleep.
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biconickyoshi · 2 months
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Okay y’all… I was very critical of eps 3 & 4 (especially 4) of NAtLA. Then all of a sudden eps 5 & 6 kinda slapped me in the face with how much better the show suddenly got.
Spoiler-free thoughts first:
Zuko, Iroh, and Aang have cemented themselves as the best parts about this adaptation - which is really funny considering I’m currently writing a longfic AU where Zuko and Iroh discover Aang in the iceberg right after Zuko is banished at age 13 and end up becoming the first members of the Gaang (albeit reluctantly at first lol). Episode 6: “Masks” (the Blue Spirit adaptation) was so good, I’d venture to say that it actually improved and fleshed out some things from the original series.
Episode 5: “Spirited Away”, while not as good as E6, was not as bad as I heard people say it was going to be. I think that the changes they did make didn’t bother me nearly as much as the changes they made in the last episode, and it was actually entertaining.
There were several scenes that made me cry in both of these episodes (moreso in episode 6, which I’ll get into further down in the spoiler section). These are the scenes that I feel like really tapped into the heart of the original show rather than feeling like a soulless remake.
Now for my in-depth thoughts (INCLUDES SPOILERS):
EP 5: “Spirited Away”
- Staring out, I was bummed because I had just rewatched the first two eps of the original animated series lol.
- It was an interesting choice to have all three members of the Gaang get stuck in the Spirit World, but I think it worked.
- Wan Shi Tong just showing up randomly was a bit unnecessary, but I suppose it will be kinda interesting to see him again in S2 since he’s already met the Gaang
- Hei Bai plays a much smaller role in these eps, but I strangely didn’t mind that either?
- Seeing Katara’s last memory with her mom was devastating, especially the fact that she had to witness her death and hide in the igloo with Kya’s charred body :(( she definitely has severe PTSD.
- Even Sokka’s memory made me tear up a bit
- Koh being the villain and a soul-eater or whatever was a bit of an odd choice, but I guess I can see why they did it. I do prefer him just being an asshole who steals ppl’s faces lol
- Appreciated the Fog of Lost Souls reference from the LoK lore
- Aang reuniting with Gyatso made me cry. I know some people didn’t like him being in the Spirit World, but I really liked it. Also, the fact that Gyatso was the first person to tell Aang that it wasn’t his fault the Air Nomads died, and that if he had been there he would have died too? THANK YOU! My poor boy has been berated enough for “abandoning” the world.
- We got some interesting lore about the afterlife for humans from Gyatso and Aang’s convo, which we’ve never gotten in AtLA media before. Idk if it’s just for Air Nomads, but Aang mentions that Gyatso stayed behind instead of “seeking enlightenment”. I know that the end goal in Buddhism is to reincarnate until you eventually achieve nirvana, so I wonder if that’s what they were alluding to (I’m not an expert on religions so pls correct me if I’m wrong)
- Oh yeah, I forgot June is here lmao. As a queer person I loved her (bc beautiful goth woman) but I didn’t like the weird choice to make her hit on Iroh - I guess to contrast the Iroh being creepy towards her thing in the OG series. I wish they would have just had them interact normally tbh, no weird “flirting”
EP 6: “Masks”
- Here we go y’all. The best episode in the show so far and probably the best the show is gonna get this season. I’m still pretty shocked at how good this one was.
- I think the decision to include flashbacks to Zuko’s Agni Kai was a good decision here. It felt like an appropriate episode for them and the flashbacks were very well done.
- In general, Dallas is doing a phenomenal job at portraying a Zuko who is angry and aggressive, yes, but also so very sweet and compassionate at his core. I love when little inklings of his true self shine through.
- Roku was… not what I expected. He was very much more of a lighthearted and jokey person… I didn’t hate it, it was just unexpected lol. I wonder if they did that to contrast him with Kyoshi. Which, speaking of, I’m glad Roku clarified that Aang doesn’t just need to be a merciless warrior (and that he didn’t berate Aang for “abandoning” the world like she did). But I still am annoyed about the mischaracterization of Kyoshi in general.
- RIP Shyu :/
- Thought it was kind of strange how June captures Aang at Roku’s temple lol. Like how did she get on and off the island??
- Zhao continues to feel like a completely different character to me lmao. I think this version is pretty funny, but it’s so weird to see Zhao being portrayed as so goofy and incompetent when he was such an intimidating force and the main villain of Book 1 in the OG series. Just a weird direction they went with his character.
- The Yuyan archers look cool as fuck. 10/10 no notes
- Still not sure how I feel about Azula already being this insecure and jealous of Zuko. I think it makes her feel a bit more realistically like a child, but the whole point of Azula’s character is that she is really good at maintaining this cool and calm persona on the surface, which she uses to scare and manipulate people. I can see her maybe getting to a point later on to where she hardens herself into that though. We’ll see.
- Baby Zuko asking Iroh how he looks and his little smile 😭😭😭😭 I had a physical “aww” reaction to that. THAT’S MY SON (me and Iroh shouting in unison)
- War Room scene was handled very well. No complaints. I like how Ozai tried to test Zuko with battle strategies.
- Blue Spirit break out scene was extremely close to the original, and it was really good. They adapted it almost shot for shot with all the important parts.
- Here’s probably my favorite part of the episode: Zuko and Aang’s talk inside the abandoned house after they escape from Pohuai!!!!!! Gahhhh I could gush about this scene all day. I love how they expanded it to be an actual friendly conversation between Aang and Zuko. Like we get to see Zuko’s true self coming through - the sweet, kind boy we know he is. Zuko and Aang just have such great chemistry as well, wayyy more than Aang has with either Sokka or Katara. Like I adored them bonding over painting and caligraphy!!! I think this is the best acting we’ve seen from Gordon so far, and Dallas did a phenomenal job switching back to that hurt, angry version of himself (of course a trauma response). And the fact that Aang said “sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you” when he blocked Zuko’s firebending attack??? My sweet boy 😭
- The final flashback to the Agni Kai was really well done too. I’d already heard Zuko fights back, which I wasn’t sure I’d like, but I actually didn’t mind it. I really liked that they showed Zuko’s hesitation whenever he did actually have an opening, and that was what angered Ozai the most - Zuko showing compassion, “weakness”. Daniel Dae Kim is of course doing a phenomenal job (no surprises there), and I really liked that Iroh actually attempted to stop Ozai at one point. It also looked like young Azula had tears in her eyes, which I again actually liked because it humanizes her.
- I loved that Aang was still there when Zuko woke up on the boat 😭 he wanted to make sure he was okay!! I full on started crying when we got the “do you think we could have been friends too?” lines from him. Again, Gordon killed it. I love how you can tell that Aang knows Zuko has been hurt and that’s why he acts the way he does. He doesn’t blame him for any of it. 10/10
- the last flashback to Zuko in his bed recovering from the burn… god the tears just kept flowing. I really liked the choice to have Ozai almost give Zuko a chance to like… idk understand why he did what he did, and how compassion is “weak”?? And then Zuko’s response to give people a chance 😭😭😭 as if I couldn’t love him any more!!! And then of course Ozai gets pissed. But seeing baby Zuko just cry in his bed UGH I’m dehydrated at this point
- Of course I can’t finish this review without mentioning the 41st division. What an incredible way to expand upon the source material by making them Zuko’s crew!!! It shows just how much Zuko truly cares about others and it moved me so much (once again to tears).
I don’t have high hopes for the last two episodes, but honestly, if this is what the live action can be, it gives me a bit of hope (at least for future seasons). I really think that Dallas, Gordon, Paul, and Daniel were the stars of this ep and are a big part of what made it so good.
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peterpparkrr · 1 year
Text
Banter (ch. 1)
Series: Banter
Pairing: Roy Kent x f!Reader
Summary: You and Roy Kent do not get along. But your mysterious Bantr match on the other hand…
A/N: SEASON 3! SEASON 3! Ted Lasso is the only thing holding my sanity together so I figured I might as well write for it. Enjoy! 
(Ch. 2) (Ch. 3) (Ch. 4) (Ch. 5)
series masterlist
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Shutterbug: Do you ever feel like no one really knows you?
SirSwears-a-Lot: Yes. Most of the people I interact with are fucking idiots.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Has something prompted this existential crisis?
Shutterbug: My friends. And work. Everything.
SirSwears-a-Lot: It's hard to be vulnerable with people. 
SirSwears-a-Lot: In the effort to respond to honesty with honesty, I’ve recently been struggling with the question: What the hell am I doing?
Shutterbug: I’m about to start a new job and I’m questioning every decision I’ve ever made.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Same.
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You were trying to navigate your way through the AFC Richmond building when you spotted a familiar blonde ponytail down the hallway.
“Keeley!”
Keeley squealed your name when she turned around to see you. 
“EEEEEE! I’m so excited that you’re here!” She shouted as she ran toward you at full speed before launching herself at you, wrapping her arms around your neck tightly as you spin her in a little circle.
To this day you weren’t sure how you’d ended up being best friends with Keeley Jones. 
You’d met on a commercial set when you were an assistant to the photographer and Keeley as the talent for the shoot had charmed your pants off. 
Not literally. You two didn’t have that kind of relationship. No matter how often Keeley joked about wanting to shag you. 
But Keeley’s uncanny ability to befriend anyone and everyone she met had worked on you. Despite being the model-slash-acress-social media star at the center of the commercial she took the time to ask you your name, understand what your job was, and pepper you with personal and ranndom questions.
And as an unmoored creative professional in London, you’d latched onto Keeley as a familiar face in the circles you both ran in (Well, circles that Keeley ran in and you sort of loitered on the outskirts of with your camera). 
And when the two of you’d walked in on her boyfriend at the time shagging the executive for the brand you two were working on the shoot for, she’d slapped him clear across the face (the boyfriend, not the executive, you both wanted to continue working). And you’d let her move in with you until she could figure out what she was going to do next.
It had bonded you together for life. 
Which is how she’d managed to rope you into taking AFC Richmond’s promo photos despite your strong anti-sport stance. 
You were easily swayed by the Keeley Jones pout. And the promise of a well-paying job.
“Ted! Roy! This is my friend-slash-photographer-extraordinaire,” Keeley called out to two men in Richmond jackets that made their way over to you, introducing you all to each other. They both looked a little too old to be players so you assumed they were coaches. “She’s going to be the photographer for the promo shoot tomorrow.” 
“Nice to meet you, I’m excited to work with the team,” You tell them as you reach out to shake their hands. 
“Pleasure to meet an old pal of Keeley’s,” The one with the mustache, Ted, replies as he shakes your hand eagerly.
“Oh! You’re American!” You exclaim in surprise.
“Yes, we are,” Ted replies with a small chuckle. “But I promise we have nothing but the utmost respect for the game y’all call football.”
“I’m not really a football fan to be honest,” You admit with a shrug. 
You don’t necessarily have anything against the game itself. But the fact that the world pours billions of dollars into an industry built around boys kicking balls around seems silly to you. Especially considering the way some fans of the game react – hooliganism, riots, bar fights, increased rates of domestic violence after matches – it all seems like a waste.
“Roy! this is the photographer for the shoot tomorrow,” Keeley tells a man with a head of dark curls and a deep frown etched into his stubble.
You can’t help but give him the once over. It’s part of the artistic nature of your work, you’re always scanning people for their best angles, natural beauty, etcetera, that you might want to work with when you’re shooting.
And he’s pretty. In that gruff, grumpy mountain man kind of way.
“Nice to meet you,” You greet him with a smile as you hold out your hand to him. “Are you a player?”
“Do I look like I’m a fucking player?” He grumbles at you before he pushed between you and Keeley and walks into the locker room. 
“Excuse me?!” You shout after him, completely taken aback by the rudeness you’d just been faced with.
“You’ll have to excuse Roy,” Keeley tells you with an apologetic smile.  “He wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, well, every morning.” 
“Right,” You reply with a glance over your shoulder in the direction he stalked off to. 
“Since he’s not a player at least I don’t have to work with him,” You add with a halfhearted smile. Trying to play the optimist for the sake of your professionality.
Keeley’s eyes widen slightly when you say that and what smile you had managed drops off your face completely.
“Um…” She mutters.
“What?” You groan.
“He’s one of the other coaches,” Keeley tells you apologetically as she purses her lips at you.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” You grumble. 
“Fucking dick,” You mutter under your breath as Keeley leads you down the hallway, explaining what the team owner, Rebecca Welton, is looking for brand-wise from these promotional photos.
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Shutterbug: Why are men such assholes?
SirSwears-a-Lot: I feel like you’re expecting me to defend my gender but I honestly can’t.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Men are pricks.
Shutterbug: Agreed. This guy I met for part of my new job was a complete and total dick to me today for absolutely no reason. If I didn’t like getting paid I would have gone full psycho bitch on his ass. See how he liked that.
SirSwears-a-Lot: I would pay good money to see that.
Shutterbug: I did meet another guy at this job today who was actually a really nice guy, like unnaturally nice.
Shutterbug: And you’re nice. 
Shutterbug: So I guess #NotAllMen.
SirSwears-a-Lot: I’m not nice.
Shutterbug: Yeah, you are. 
Shutterbug: You let your niece help you come up with your dating app profile.
Shutterbug: And if you weren’t a nice guy you wouldn’t let me complain to you all the time.
SirSwears-a-Lot: I complain back to you so it’s really an even exchange. Plus most of your stories are hilarious.
Shutterbug: Well, I do usually like my work.
Shutterbug: But my pro tip of the day: don’t work with athletes. 
SirSwears-a-Lot: Noted.
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“Hiya,” Ted greets you as you stand in the middle of the locker room on your phone.
You’re so engrossed in your text argument with Bantr boy about whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza that you jump slightly at the sudden noise.
“Ope, sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” Ted apologizes. 
“Oh, it’s fine, I just got wrapped up in a text conversation,” You tell him with a shrug as you tuck your phone back into your pocket and smile back at Ted. 
“Boyfriend? Girlfriend?” Ted asks curiously.
“Just a guy,” You tell him.
Ted nods for you to continue. Something you’ve almost never had someone, especially not a guy do to you in a professional context.
“Well, I’m on Keeley’s app. I figure at least one of us deserves to have success. Even if it’s professional and not personal.”
“You’re a good friend,” Ted interjects.
“And I have been flirting with one guy who’s actually funny. And intelligent. It probably won’t go anywhere but it’s fun to have someone to chat with who doesn’t know who I am.”
“I can’t say I understand the appeal of that sort of anonymity, what if you’re chatting with a serial killer? Or a homophobe? Or someone who hates pizza?” Ted replies. “But then again, I’m not young and hip.”
“It’s a valid perspective,” You reply with a nod. “I’m honestly not even sure if he would like me. If we ever met, I mean, I don’t know if I’m his type.”
“Well, you’re an absolute delight, I can’t imagine a single guy who wouldn’t like you, unless he hates, I don’t know, happiness and joy,” Ted tells you.
“Thanks, Ted,” You reply.
“Anything else I can help ya with?” Ted asks as he slaps his hands down on his thighs. “Got any of those big heavy lights you need moved around?”
“The lights actually aren’t that heavy,” You tell him with a burst of laughter. “I think I’m just about set up here. Just waiting on your team and then we can get started.”
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Shutterbug: What’s your type?
SirSwears-a-Lot: Why do you ask?
Shutterbug: Maybe I’m getting plastic surgery so that I can look like it.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Whatever you look like, you’re my type.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Unless you’re actually my boss catfishing me.
SirSwears-a-Lot: In which case, fuck you.
Shutterbug:  Damn. You’ve caught me!
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You couldn’t wait for this job to be over.
The team was actually easy. Other than a few players who tried to tell you about their best angles (Jamie Tartt had insisted that you needed to only shoot him from the left and seemed unable to not smolder during the shoot which was… an interesting choice), the solo shots of the players had been a breeze.
But these coaches were a whole different beast. 
Ted was happy, almost eager to take your direction. 
But the other three?
Coach Beard hardly spoke during the entire interaction and refused to smile but his pictures came out fairly decent. 
Nathan Shelley was so nervous and fidgety it took you ages to take the photos because he kept breaking the poses to ask you if he was doing alright.
Roy Kent was impossible.
“You have to stay in the pose,” You grumbled as you pushed past your lighting rig to re-adjust Roy for what felt like the hundredth time this afternoon to. 
“I feel fucking stupid in the pose,” Roy grumbled in response.
“Well, you look stupid when you don’t do it,” You shot back.
“Just listen to the nice lady, Roy,” Ted called out, causing a few of the others to chuckle. 
Something of a crowd had formed to watch the entire process. Some of the players who were done with training and the rest of the coaches were standing around watching now that their photos were over and you could tell that Roy hated having an audience.
“Shut up!” Roy shouted at them.
You groaned as he broke the angle again.
“Alright, everyone out!” You shout once you’ve finally lost your patience. You shoo at the men. “Everyone!”
Once it was just you and Roy in the room you turned back to him.
“The sooner you do what I tell you to do. The sooner this is all over,” You tell him. “You’re handsome, I don’t understand why you hate getting your photo taken so much.”
Roy didn’t reply with words, he simply grunted at you as you stepped towards him and lifted your hand to gently tilt his face back to the direction you wanted him to face before stepping away.
“There,” You said a minute later once you’d gotten all the shots you would need. “That wasn’t so painful, now was it?”
“Yeah,” Roy grunted again as he pushed through your set-up and disappeared back into the coaches' office. 
You watched him leave with a puff of mild annoyance before you realized that meant that today’s shoot was over and hurried to back up your things.
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Shutterbug: Would you ever want to meet up?
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You’d gotten to the restaurant too early. After you’d sent that message you’d thrown your phone across the room and tried not to panic. 
When you’d finally built up the courage to retrieve your phone you saw that he’d already messaged you back,
SirSwears-a-Lot: Yes.
SirSwears-a-Lot: Friday night? Bacco’s, 7 pm?
You grinned at your phone for a moment before typing your response.
Shutterbug: See you then :)
And you’d been riding on cloud nine for the last few days. You hadn’t told anyone about the date. Not even Keeley. No matter how hopeful you were about this working out, you hated the thought of getting someone else's hopes up so you decided to keep it a secret. 
Just until after the date.
But it also meant that you’d finished up the day’s shoot, gone home to get ready, and somehow ended up at the restaurant thirty minutes before your reservation. So you were standing in the waiting area, trying not to look too pathetic while you scrolled through Instagram.
Every time you heard the door open your eyes would flicker up only to be met with the view of a sweet elderly couple or a group of business partners making their way through the door. 
Until you heard to door open and looked up to lock eyes with Roy Kent. 
Your eyes widened before you offered him a sarcastic smile. 
“I’m waiting for someone,” You tell him in lieu of a greeting.
“Me too,” He replies gruffly.
“Good for you,” You reply with a furrow of your brows.
“Yeah.” 
You roll your eyes and look back down at your phone, tapping out a quick message to let him know you’re here. You hit send just as your phone pings with a similar text from him. 
You look up to scan the room again just as Roy’s phone buzzes and your eyes lock as you realize that you’re the only two people in the waiting area. 
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” You groan.
“Fuck,” Roy mutters.
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Leo x reader (Mating season!)
Warning: Smut, oral sex, neck biting, penetration sex, male receiving, leo scaring the shit out of you! That pretty much it, let me know if i missed anything!
Request (Note: I'm sad nobody is requesting something about tmnt!)
🔞!!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!🔞
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Leo:
All the turtles were in mating season, but they all had different ways to cope.
This boi would seriously train 24/7. 
HE WANTS TO DISTRACT HIMSELF FROM YOU. (Well because he thinks he’s gonna hurt you.) 
Oh how sweet…… mating seasons last through April to May and maybe even longer.
Well let's say he warned you before it started saying stuff like, “You're gonna have to stop coming over here for a good 2-3 months….. It’s because of….. Mating season.” 
Ok after that 1 month Leo couldn’t stop himself. He had to call you. Even if he had told you that if he tried to call you to come over, “Don't….. it could kill you.”
Hearing your cell phone ring you heard the ringer tone and knew it was Leo first thing. When you answered you heard big puffs of air going through the phone speaker, then some wines. 
“Hello?....”
 That was what had set him off when he heard your voice again after a month, he knew he wanted you right then and there. 
“Oh please Hana I need you so bad, please come over-... nothing will happen. I will only cuddle with you!!!” You knew Leo was lying, but you felt sorry for the man. He had to go through this every year? 
“Leo…..-” Suddenly you start to hear him moaning and a bed frame squeaks. Your body became stiff, already dirty thoughts flooded into your swirling brain, and warmth spreaded through your core. 
“PLeAsE, Hana, come down here.” You knew this was a bad idea, who were you kidding? This was a horrible idea. All 4 turtles were there also and if you showed up stuff could be off the roof. 
“Leo, you know that’s a bad ide-”
“Or I'll come to you.” You could hear the venom dripping in his voice as it sounded like he got up out of his bed. Now this actually scared the shit out of you. You expected him to be civil, not like a horny slut. 
Suddenly the phone call ended and you were being awaited for Leo there. You locked all your windows, and all of your doors. You even closed your curtains and turned off all the lights. 
After some time you thought maybe he thought about his actions and stopped. Carefully opening your window you looked outside to see nothing but new york city. Being grabbed by something, or someone you were hoisted up to find Leo looking face to face at him.
🔞(!!Smut warning!!)🔞
The feeling of something so big inside you was so overwhelmingly good. Leo was laying on your back grunting, squealing, and making a purring noise. Your hand tightened its grip around the bar connecting the fire escape. It squeaked and popped under Leo’s weight as he started to thrust into your throbbing walls. You felt his heavy balls slapping your clit. He started biting your neck, marking you, showing you that you belong to him and him only. Oh, if you had any say in this, that would be a long time ago. Leo had wrapped his blue bandana around your head so you couldn’t speak. But, you were moaning like crazy from the giant green member bulging inside you. He started thrusting so hard you were afraid you would fall off the fire escape. 
After some time, leo moved you onto your bed and kept fucking you drunk on your pussy. You being drunk on his cock were glad your parents were away for 10 weeks, on a vacation.
You stomach was bulging with his seeds as he still fucked more into you like you were some raggdoll. 
“Oh hana, look at you! So round with my seeds.”
Thank you for reading! :)
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m3nt4llyr4v3d · 11 days
Text
Felix v Chloe
Lemme just say, I hate the way Felix is treated in the show and the fandom compared to Chloe
Somehow, someway, the characters can forgive Felix and even have him on the team at the end (?????), and all of his actions are completely absolved due to his backstory: “Oh he was just doing all that for his survival! He was just an awkward quirky guy with no social cues all along!”
But Chloe’s backstory even being brought up for an explanation is immediately shut down, it doesn’t excuse a single thing she’s done! Hell, it doesn’t even explain why she’s the way she is because Mylene has an absent mother and she turned out fine! Doesn’t matter that Mylene had a father that actually taught her how to act and didn’t just buy her love with constant gifts and abuses of power, there’s just no excuse!
Both act in their own self interest, turning to the villain to get something they want, but nonono, Felix, without apologizing once mind you, is redeemed and forgiven while Chloe gets sent off to NY with her mother! Everyone wins!
Not to mention Felix did arguably worse than Chloe
Felix was the one who actively made Hawkmoth more powerful by giving him the miraculous (not to mention giving HM the ring) while with Chloe, Hawkmoth got the miraculous on his own and she was just along for the ride basically. Then Felix came back and snapped away everyone. Chloe sent everyone away when she was akumatized as well, but at least we could see where they went and there wasn’t any confusion as to whether they got snapped to some pocket dimension or straight up disappeared. Oh, and she was akumatized by Gabriel who was literally manipulating her along with Tomoe and Lila at the time??
I feel like any arguments for Felix about worrying for his or Adrien’s safety, any excuses, should’ve been thrown out the window in the season 4 finale. After that point he had full control over himself and gave up Adrien’s free will, and he still came back to snap everyone away! Now, I would absolutely be fine with this (cept the Adrien part) I mean trauma with humans isn’t going to go away just like that even when there’s no immediate risk anymore (unless you get a girlfriend apparently). My issue with that is how this same sentiment isn’t given to Chloe whatsoever, her lash outs aren’t given any thought beyond “oh she’s evil for the sake of it”, ignoring how the trauma of her mother leaving her and treating her like garbage would still affect her, and it drives me up the wall
Not to mention the show actively tries to pretend that the adults surrounding Chloe’s life don’t have any influence on her whatsoever, even though they obviously do and Tomoe and Gabriel literally set her up as a scapegoat in this season. Somehow her father isn’t responsible whatsoever for the way she was raised, her mother leaving apparently didn’t even affect her behavior because we’re genuinely supposed to believe this teenager is just an evil person. Somehow the storyline of her being set up as a scapegoat by two grown ass adults is literally ignored by the narrative including some of the fans
Oh but Felix gets all the sympathy regardless of what he did
Right.
I wouldn’t hate Felix or his character direction so much if it wasn’t a direct slap to the face for Chloe, not to mention giving the Chloe stans fuel! I mean, it literally proved their point that Chloe deserved a redemption because full grown adults who’ve done worse and a guy who’s done nearly the same shit as her are forgiven and “redeemed”, ridiculous (I say that a lot huh)
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eddies-house · 10 months
Text
The Under-Ground (18+ ONLY)
Chapter Two - Baggage
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Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 |
Modern!Barista!Eddie AU - As you continue to train Eddie, words are exchanged. Your life is in shambles and he only adds to it.
Enemies to Lovers, Modern!Barista!Eddie AU, Eddie x Fem Reader
12.1K Words
Warnings - Eddie is an asshole, eventual smut, mentions of drugs and drinking, I don't think there's anything else but please let me know if I missed anything
Author's Note: This story has been lingering in my mind and it took me so long to write this chapter because I want to do it right and I had the worst writer's block but now I am flooded with inspiration. Pls let me know how you feel about it so far
Masterlist
Prev | Next
The biting cold of the morning nipped at your skin, little pins and needles feeling like they were burying themselves there.  The streets were glimmering with puddles, the rain from the night before leaving them behind and the moody clouds still lingering in the sky.  No matter how long you’d lived in Hawkins the changing of the seasons would always sneak up on you like an unwelcome visitor.  Gone were the days of walking around downtown with an iced coffee on your day off, the summer sun beaming down and flowers in full bloom while the trees were leafy and lush.  No more lounging around on a bench outside of the college to complete a few assignments under the shade of a large oak tree in desperate need of a change of scenery in comparison to your shitty apartment.  At least not until next Spring.  
Hawkins Community College was a historical building that used to serve as the town hall but has since evolved into the college after the council elected to have the town hall relocated to a more practical location.  The building was settled just south of downtown and was deemed ‘too out of the way’.  Its bricks were a faded brown, weathered down over the years and not a high enough priority to keep maintained, though the sidewalks were freshly paved and the grass was as green as ever, the morning dew blanketing over it like a fresh coat of paint.  The campus wasn’t very large seeing as Hawkins’ population wasn’t very impressive and the majority of its residents would travel elsewhere for college. 
The front steps of the building were scuffed and scattered with various footprints from students and teachers who walked with purpose to their destination.  On the very top step, front and center sat a disoriented Dustin Henderson, face scrunched up in perplexity.  Though he was still attending Hawkins High as a current sophomore, he enlisted himself in one of the programs offered where students could take classes at Hawkins Community for college credits.  Fingers desperately ruffling through the several papers in his dense binder, he argued with his mother while his phone was clutched in the other hand on speaker.  Something about “I swear it was on the kitchen counter!” followed by the word ‘mom’ being shouted into the phone repeatedly as if it would solve his dilemma.  When she apologetically let him know that there was no such mystery item, he only cursed as he facepalmed, ending the call with a defeated “Okay, love you.  Bye.”  
A heavy sigh escaped the boy as he slapped the binder onto the step beside him, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, agitated.  Dustin was ironically your only college friend, not a best friend but you knew him well enough to gather that he’d definitely left his assignment at home and that this was going to dictate his mood for the entire day.  His eyes resembled emeralds as his focus shifted from his dirty sneakers up to you, a hint of excitement swimming in the deep green of his irises.  
“Rough morning?” You suggest with a sympathetic smile.  He bites his lip in frustration as if he’s holding back every distressed thought racing through his head.
“Mhmm.” He squeaks, still refraining from word vomiting all over your peaceful morning, hands now resting on his denim covered knees.  
“You forgot your essay, didn’t you?” You know you’ve poked the bear but you could feel how anxious he was to blow up about everything that went wrong that morning leading up to this moment and who were you to deny him?  Henderson had a special place nestled in the corner of your heart, always loud and boisterous but also kind and delightful to be around.  
He sucked in a breath before releasing every word that was prodding his brain.  “All because my mom had to clean the goddamn house!  She was all ‘Dusty, this is why we don’t leave our things around!’” He mocks his mothers voice with a high pitch, face twisting in dramatics.  “I left it right on the counter where I could grab it on my way out but apparently, a ten page essay WITH MY NAME ON IT IN BIG BOLD LETTERS was thrown in the garbage.  On its way to a landfill.  Gone.”  His shoulders tensed and all you could offer was a supportive hand to his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Dustin.”  You say carefully, the kid was a ticking time bomb sometimes.  He waved you off, his way of saying ‘don’t worry about it’.  
“And THEN, fucking Will made the dumbest move last night at our campaign.  Completely tanked the whole thing.”  His hands were thrown up in misery as he recalled the memory.  “Eddie had the whole thing set up perfectly, we’ve been playing this campaign for weeks!”  Dustin’s eyes shifted back and forth erratically as the whole thing played out in his mind, your eyes rolled at the mention of the metalhead.  “Oh he was so pissed.  You shoulda seen him, he was throwing dice, screaming at Will, screaming at Mike, screaming at ME!  I finally talked him off the ledge but shit, he was revved up.”
Eddie hosted their DND club a majority of the time per Dustin and from what he tells you about those nights, Eddie is always a sadistic maniac.  Dustin also swears that he’s like his big brother, next in line to King Steve although Steve took on more of a dad role.  There was no way to imagine Eddie embodying the role of a big brother let alone displaying any kind of pleasant behavior.  You cringed at the mere idea of him, knowing you’d have to endure him at work this evening.
Dustin continued his rant passionately.  “And I’m sorry, I know you hate when I bring up Eddie for whatever reason but dude was not having it.  My special edition dice are now lost in the abyss underneath his couch.”  You shake your head in disapproval.  “I told him I’d let it slide though cause he said he’d let me go with him to a concert.” He concludes with a shrug.
At this you nudge the boy’s shoulder, disappointed.  “Dustin!  He can’t bribe his way out of losing your dice after chucking them when he has a temper tantrum!  If those dice are important to you then you need to stand your ground.”  You instruct him.
He lets out a long sigh before responding.  “Socks, respectfully, this is how our friendship with Eddie works.  We piss each other off and then we move on.  Like a few weeks ago, he kept making sexual sounds while I was on the phone with my mom so I hid his shoes from him after he got really stoned.”  At this you can’t help but release a laugh.  
“Good on you, Henderson.” You praise.  “I guess I won’t need to step in when I see him at work later then.  Sounds like you can handle yourself.”  You begin pulling your binder from your bag in preparation for class.  
Dustin shakes his head in confusion, waving his arms in front of him like he’s missing a piece of the puzzle.  “Hold up, Eddie’s a barista now?”  His tone is humorous, on the brink of cackling.  
“Uh huh.”  You answer nonchalantly while opening your binder and shuffling through a few papers, making a note in your planner for some homework you just remembered off the top of your head.  “And our dear Stevie knew about it before me and just decided it’d be a good idea to see my reaction when he walked in the door for his first shift yesterday.”  You chew on your pen as you attempt to remember any other assignments you may have forgotten to write down.  
“Eddie?  Eddie Munson?  Metalhead, former drug dealer, thought it would be funny to piss in Steve’s beer, Eddie Munson?  That Eddie?”  Dustin gapes at you in disbelief to which you nod.  “I’m sorry but–there’s no fucking way!  A barista?  He doesn’t even drink coffee, he hates trendy little cafes, and there’s no goddamn way he would apply for a job where both you AND Steve work.  Sounds like his own personal hell.”  The boy is laughing, clutching his stomach.  
You hang your head and giggle along with him.  As awful as the situation was, it did sound ridiculous enough to laugh.  “I thought the same thing, Dusty.  The universe just has it out for us.” You refer to you and Steve.  As much as you had a rivalry with Eddie, Steve had his own beef with the guy.  This posed as an issue seeing as Steve practically mothered Lucas, Mike, Will, Dustin, Max, and El ever since he was in high school when he dated Nancy Wheeler.  The way Eddie and Steve fought resembled a divorced couple exchanging their kids in a Walmart parking lot.  And to Steve’s disadvantage, Eddie always ended up at the notorious parties he threw since one of the kids always ended up blabbing after he distinctly told them not to.  It always put a damper on your night when he showed up, giving you flashbacks to that one party years ago that you swore you’d forget about but it still lingered in the back of your mind.  
“I hope you know this means that everyone’s going to be placing bets on who ends up dead first.”  Dustin raises a brow at you, throwing his arm over your shoulder, shaking it playfully.
Standing up as classes were about to start, you shot him a glare.  “I can definitely take him.”  You state, holding your hand out to help him up.  He takes it and shrugs, a grin on his face that tells you ‘I don’t know about that’.  “Dustin.  Please don’t tell me you think Eddie is going to get to me.”  You scoff as he opens the heavy metal door leading into the building, the hinges creaking.  
His face indicates that he’s bouncing a thought around before answering.  “Well…” he begins.  “You don’t know what he’s capable of.  The guy is a menace.  He can play games for as long as he needs to.”  He further explains.  
“Okay, you know what?  I’m done talking about some asshole who doesn’t even matter to me.”  You decide, the mostly vacant hallways echoing your footsteps as you step into the heated building. 
“Ugh, it’s like having three parents who don’t get along.  I know Eddie is a lot but maybe if you, I dunno, hung out with him you’d realize he’s actually also really cool.”  Dustin has the audacity to suggest.
Huffing out a breath and holding your binder to your chest, you give him your final piece of mind.  “Munson is never going to even get the time of day out of me let alone a besties hangout sesh.”  You snap bitterly.  Dustin’s hands raise in surrender, you’re done with this conversation and he knows better than to try and change your mind.  
“Anyway…” he sighs, dropping his shoulders while you both make your way through the beige halls.  “Max and Lucas are back together again.”  He nudges your shoulder with his, causing you to sway as you walk.  The couple were always on again, off again.  One week Lucas would do something dumb like stand her up by accident to go to the mall with Mike and another Max would invalidate his feelings.  It was something they claimed they were working out but after every breakup, everyone always reacted with an eye roll, knowing full well that the routine would repeat itself.  You truly did root for them but if they were going to keep hurting each other, there was no reason for them to continue the relationship.  
Glancing at Dustin, your face tells him that you’re not amused.  “Tell me something new, Henderson.”  You deadpan.  He nods, exhaling as he racks his brain.
“Holy shit!”  He sounds as if he’d just had a revelation.  “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!”  His feet stomp on the linoleum floors in excitement, sneakers squeaking against the surface.  “But you have to PROMISE not to tell anyone.”  A finger is pointed at you in warning as you nod for him to continue.  Dustin was very bad at keeping secrets.  “Steve has a girlfriend.”  He chirps.  
Stopping dead in your tracks, shoes screeching against the floor, your eyes widen.  Steve told you everything so if Dustin’s accusations were true you were going to have some words for him for not telling you.  “Who?!”  You inquire, full attention on the curly headed boy.  “You’re lying, Steve would’ve told me!”  You whine like a child.
“That’s the thing, he hasn’t told anyone.  I saw some girl getting out of his car the other night in the mall parking lot.  I didn’t get a good look at who it was cause it happened so fast.”  He explains.
Your excitement drops at his words.  “Dustin, that doesn’t mean he has a girlfriend, that means he’s messing around, he does it all the time.” You remind him of his reputation as King Steve.
“Well pardon me for being an optimist.”  He sasses you, the two of you approaching the class.  
“You’re really bad at gossiping.”  You finish before stepping into the room, leaving him offended in the hallway.  
Class was as bland as ever, your professor, Mr. Randall lectured about marketing the whole two and a half hours and you nearly fell asleep six times, Dustin jabbing the eraser end of his pencil into your side each time you started slouching as he caught up on his calculus homework.  The closer to the evening it got, the more on edge you grew knowing you wouldn’t get to work the peaceful closing shift you were once used to but instead suffer a stress-inducing nightmare while training the local terror of Hawkins.  Life sucked all the way around at the moment.
Bidding Dustin a ‘see you later’ while you were walking in sync just outside the building where you always parted, he flashed you a grin before begging you to snap him a photo of Eddie at work to send it to him later.  More than likely for blackmail reasons for the next time they were pissing each other off.  Their relationship was something you couldn’t quite get a grasp on however you didn’t attempt to even understand it past the fact that for some reason Dustin admired the man child as well as despised him sometimes in that brotherly way.  
“Dustin, fuck off.”  You tell him with a playful tone.  
“What!?  You don’t even like the guy.  I’d venture to even say that this would be benefiting you in the long run.”  He clasps his hands together in front of him in a pleading motion but you don’t seem to budge which his face falls at.  
“I don’t need to be involved in your little war, I have my own!”  A dramatic wave of your arms is enough to stop him from prodding.  
With that you departed from the campus and headed straight to downtown a few hours shy of your shift to lounge around and chat with Robin.  It was either that or go back to your shitty apartment and sit in the freezing stale air, at least this way you could revel in the warmth of the shop and sip on a hot chocolate which happened to be your favorite and the only hot drink you would ever order.  Every other option had to be iced or it was a no go.  
It was around two in the afternoon so there was time to be killed until five.  You figured you’d grab your hot chocolate, gossip with Robin and Steve for a little, maybe work on some assignments, and then take a little walk through the park at the center of the square, a solid plan.  The morning chill was long gone and it was now a tad warmer with the sun sitting high in the sky.  The sidewalks were vacant since everyone was either at work or still in school which was a plus in your book, you liked to keep to yourself and found it especially annoying when you had to stop to interact with random patrons and were expected to indulge in stupid small talk that was lost on you the second you walked away.
A thirty minute walk later and you’d finally reached The Under-Ground, the smell of espresso already invading your nose before you even stepped into the building.  As you reached for the metal handle, the door had already swung open with the bell chiming above it, a rushed Joyce Byers stumbling out with two full cup holders of hot coffees nearly flying out of her hands, eyes panicked and a startled gasp escaping her.  
She mumbles your name with a nervous grin, her nose tinted pink from the fall air.  “So sorry!  I didn’t mean to run you over–I just–I was in such a hurry.  I forgot to get the coffee for a staff meeting.”  She further explains apologetically as she gestures with a tilt of her head to Melvald’s.  
Your expression softens, Joyce was always the sweetest person you’d ever met and she was a regular at the shop.  She was one person you didn’t mind engaging in small talk with because she was genuinely interested in your answers and took the initiative to further the conversation, asking how things were and telling you to let her know if you ever needed anything.  You never took her up on the offer, there was no reason to bother her.  Joyce was somewhat of a mother figure but in a quiet manner and you were so grateful whenever she graced you with her presence.  Her boys were well mannered too, she’d done an amazing job raising them as a single mom.  Obviously you’d hung out with Will since Steve was the designated neighborhood mom and that granted you rights to the movie nights, pool parties, and just about anything that Steve hosted which meant all the kids were there too.  Will was a sweet kid, he was shy at first but an absolute menace once he was comfortable enough.  
For some reason you had a connection with him as well as Joyce, they were like family just not by blood.  Will had always comforted you if things ever felt off.  If no one else in the group noticed your shift in mood, Will did and he would approach it graciously, silently nodding at you to ask if you were okay.  From there you would communicate through your eyes and he’d gather what you were feeling from that alone.  It was like having telepathy and somehow you would both silently step out from whatever scene you were in the middle of.  If it was at Steve’s, the two of you would perch yourselves on the front steps and you would just let him know you weren’t feeling that great mentally.  The conversation really wouldn’t go further than that but it didn’t need to, he was just there for you and you for him.  It worked both ways, if Will looked particularly lonely you would nod your head toward the door and you’d both meet outside.  Sometimes he’d hint that he found it annoying how clingy El and Mike were but you knew it meant that he was sick to his stomach that his best friend and his crush were basically making out on top of him.  Jonathan had always made it a point to bring you to the side and thank you for providing that support to his brother and that it meant a lot to him.  You’d always offer a small smile in return.  The Byers held a special place in your heart, they were so effortlessly nice just because.  They had no ulterior motive, just the intention to be good people.  
Taking in Joyce’s disoriented demeanor, you shake your head and help her to steady a leaning coffee that almost escaped the cup holder.  “That’s okay, I almost crashed into you.”  You tell her.
“No, that was my fault!  I really wanna catch up with you but I have to go!”  She says rather quickly, worried as she begins to scurry back to Melvald’s.  Telling her you’ll have to catch up soon over coffee and that she knows where to find you, she agrees and hurries into the store.  You can’t help letting out a small giggle at her antics.
Finally sauntering into The Under-Ground, the warmth wraps around you like a cozy cocoon, something that was all too unfamiliar at this stage in your life given the circumstances of your apartment where you were meant to spend most of your time but did everything in your power to stay away from.  You welcomed the hot air like a big hug, eyes shutting in content with a deep sigh.  The tables are empty save for one in the very corner where a businessman sipped on a latte while putting together a powerpoint on his laptop.  Steve leaned against the counter scrolling away until he felt your gaze on him, raising his brows in expectancy.
“You’re here early…”  He points out. 
Irritably, you set your bag on one of the tables before making your way over to the register.  “So what you’re saying is, you’re not happy to see me, Stevie?”  You ask with mock hurt.
Steve scoffs as he stands on the opposite side of the register as if to ring you up.  “You know that’s not what I mean.”  He explains.  “I mean, you seem to be coming in earlier and earlier.  Can’t get enough of me?”  A wink is offered your way.  
You gag at this, painting disgust on your features.  “No offense but you’re not my type and I think you know that by now.”  You joke.  The chances of you and Steve getting together were as great as the chances of him and Robin getting together, zero.  And it was mutual but you had this ongoing joke.  “Now can you please make  me a hot chocolate?”  You request with a pout.  “Pleeeeease.”  You add, swaying back and forth like a child asking their mother for candy.
All you receive in return is an eye roll as he begrudgingly obliges and spins on his heels to prepare the drink.  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”  You tell him in an annoyingly high pitched voice.  
“Whatever, SOCKS.”  He pronounces the nickname loudly, the businessman in the corner momentarily looking up at him in displeasure.  You give Steve a glare while taking a seat at your chosen table in the book corner, mouthing his words, mocking him with a dramatic facial expression.  
Shortly after taking a seat, Robin emerges from the back and claims the chair next to you silently, her hair thrown up in a messy ponytail on top of her head, face indicating business.  “You see, Steve was given one job and that was to ask you how last night went with Munson but clearly he was incapable of even the smallest task.”  She rants.  “So here I am.  Asking.  How did it go?  Is he still alive?”  She pushes, crossing her arms while awaiting an answer.  
Raising a brow at her, you continue pulling out your laptop as planned.  “I’m only gonna say this once.”  You affirm.  Steve’s ears perk up as he rushes over while struggling to fit the lid onto your hot chocolate, face twisted in concentration as he approaches the table.  “He’s the actual spawn of the devil and I have contemplated quitting–”  Robin goes to interrupt you before you hold up a finger, finishing your thoughts.  “But I will not give him that power and I’m going to keep working and will only talk to him when absolutely necessary.  I’m also going to forever hold a grudge against Steve for even letting Munson hear the nickname ‘Socks’.  My tranquil closing time has become my own private hell, thanks Steve.”  You ramble.  “Also, yes.  He’s still very much alive, unfortunately.”  You say in monotone.
Steve looks taken back, a hand flying up over his heart in surprise, temporarily giving up on securing the lid of your drink.  “Thanks, Steve???  I didn’t personally hire him!  I admit I slipped up on the name but give me a break here.”  He whines.
You reach for the hot chocolate, making grabby hands as you frown at a distraught Steve, hoping he’ll at least nudge the cup toward your reach.  He throws his hands up in the air with a scoff.  “Socks, I didn’t mean to rile you up by not telling you he got hired, okay?!  I made a dumb decision thinking it would be better for you and it bit me in the ass.  I’m sorry.”  In usual Steve fashion he stares at you with giant pleading eyes, his long lashes blinking at you while his lips pout, all pretty and pink as if he were a Barbie doll.  
“Really, Steve?”  Robin mocks, a smirk pulling at her lips.  
You finally pipe up, still reaching for the drink across the table.  “Steve, I’ll forgive you if you hand me my drink.”  You bargain, tongue darting out in concentration as you inch your fingers toward the chocolatey goodness hidden in a paper cup.  Steve snatches it up and pushes it into your hands, the warmth of the beverage consuming your palms.  The lid is still barely sitting on top, you gently pull it off to allow it to cool down.  
Triumphantly, Steve strolls back behind the counter.  “So we’re good?  I’m free of my mistake?”  He shouts to you.  You and Robin share a look, her attempting to take a sip of your hot chocolate only to burn her tongue, a series of huffing noises leaving her as he waves her hands up and down in front of her mouth. 
“Hoth, hoth, hoth.”  She lisps.  
You offer Steve a thumbs up from across the room while shaking your head at Robin.  “All good, Stevie.  Until the next time you cross me.”  You half joke.  “Robin, it’s hot chocolate.  Hot.”  You remind her as she pinches her tongue with her fingers, her brows knit together.  She whines in response, rushing away to relieve her scalded tongue with some water.  It turns out, you didn’t get that gossip session with Robin seeing as she was too occupied with soothing her tongue along with a sudden wave of customers.  Next time, you suppose.  You’ll have another chance to rant and rave to each other soon enough.
The espresso machine whirs and creates a hum as you craft a macchiato for the customer standing idly by the to go counter.  It’s 5:15.  And you work the shop alone.  Not that you would usually complain, the evening rush was nothing you couldn’t handle on your own but training a new hire wasn’t something you could bypass so either way it would need to get done and the sooner your new terror of a coworker could do things independently, the better.  And yet, he was fifteen minutes late, nowhere in sight, not even the roar of his stupid motorcycle in the distance.
Robin and Steve had taken off at five on the dot, Steve complaining that he was responsible for hauling everyone to Lucas’ basketball game and you grateful for having the night shift.  Sports were a complete snoozefest and although you’d love to support Lucas it just wasn’t your scene.  Of course you’d go when you were free but there was that sliver of relief when you weren’t required to subject yourself to the highschool gym full of sweaty kids and squeaking shoes.
With a polite smile, the drink is gingerly handed to the customer and you are offered a half assed thank you before they exit, no eye contact while they stare down at their phone.  You shrug it off, glancing around at the few people that are lounging around at the tables either working on their laptops or reading.  Everyone seems satisfied and no tables are in need of tidying or wiping down so you return to the hot chocolate you had been nursing, now chocolate milk if anything but still delicious.  Leaning against the counter as you sip, you allow yourself a moment of meditation, breathing in–and out–in—and out, the cocoa taste lingering on your tongue in between sips.
As if god himself had it out for you, your brief moment of silence and tranquility is rudely interrupted by the blaring engine of a certain someone’s dumbass motorcycle, whipping around the corner and into a spot dead center in front of the shop.  You note that you’ll have to have a conversation with him about parking in the back so customers can actually use those spots provided–he won’t listen but at least Ronnie won’t be able to put the blame on you.  Rolling your eyes at the delinquent, he makes his way into the building, pulling his helmet off and shaking his shaggy mane around like a dog.
Knowing that you can’t reprimand him the way you so desire in front of customers, you shoot him daggers from where you lean, gripping the paper cup tight enough to leave crescents from your nails.  If he doesn’t even have the decency to show up for work on time, why should you have to endure closing with him every night?  Why is it that you’re seemingly being punished by the universe?  Haven’t you had enough already?  My apartment sucks, I sleep on a lumpy mattress in the corner on the hard ass floor, my heater doesn’t work even though it's getting cold, hell, even some of my lights don’t work, rent is being raised next month, classes are kicking my ass, and now that actual spawn of satan gets to unleash his wrath on me every day.  The thoughts consume you momentarily until Eddie spins around from clocking in on the computer, delivering a smirk with an amused expression underlying his features.  And you’re having none of it, it’s only his second day and he’s pulling this shit?  Absolutely not.  
Your brows furrow in rage but your voice comes out in a hushed but cruel whisper.  “Were you out rolling with the raccoons again?”  You refer to the time he crashed one of Steve’s parties, maybe it was New Years; he got so wasted that he began befriending some raccoons out near the pool.  He laid on the ground for at least two hours and nearly cried when they ran off, crushing whatever dream he had of either taking them home or whatever he was planning in his drunken state of mind.  In any case, it was something everyone held over him, especially you on the rare occasion that you had to associate with him–so if he wanted to dick around at work and make your life hell (as if he hadn’t already done that) then you would throw anything you could at him to cause him grief.  There was no playing nice.  
The slightest hue of pink makes its way across his cheeks before he straightens his posture in a means to intimidate you.  “Calm down there, Socks.  Don’t get your panties in a twist over lil ol’ me.”  His brow raises as if to challenge you.  Your comment got to him–flustered him.  He’s trying to hide it but you can detect the embarrassment seeping out of his pores, the hatred he has for the fact that he let his vulnerability slip out in his drunken haze that night and the look on your face indicating that you have the upperhand here.  
Taking the lid off of your remaining hot chocolate gone cold, you slurp up the contents of the cup, a layer of the melty whip cream decorating your top lip as you give him a cocky glare.  “Trust me, nobodies getting their panties in a twist over you, Munson.”  You reply, checking around him to make sure no customers are listening in on the exchange.  
His notorious grin takes over his features, dimples on full display and you could just kick him in his stupid teeth.  Leaning in ever so slightly, his breath fans over your face, tobacco evident.  One hand rests next to you on the counter, the other gripping his helmet.  “Nice stache.”  He whispers, tapping the counter twice before heading toward the back.
Nice stache?  What kind of come back–oh.  You gently bring your fingers up to your top lip, feeling the obvious whip cream sitting comfortably there and you feel your blood run hot in embarrassment as well as rage.  What makes it worse is that he had nothing to do with it, it just happened and that gave him the upperhand in return.  The universe or some higher power really it out for you and clearly wasn’t rooting for you in this war.  
Tossing the cup angrily into the trash and wiping off your lip, a quiet groan escapes you, Eddie sauntering in actually wearing an apron today.  Except it's littered in several pins and patches, some room in between to add more later on.  “Do you even care that you’re–” You check the clock.  “Twenty minutes late?!”  You finish, still attempting to stay quiet enough that the remaining customer’s wouldn’t hear.  “And–and your apron.  Do you think you can do whatever you want?”  You whisper yell furiously.  A stupid question, you realize as it tumbles out of your mouth.
“Yes, actually.  I’m a free man in a free country.  What a foreign concept.”  He says tying his hair back into a low bun, a few select pieces framing his face.  “Why don’t you worry about yourself.”  He snaps.  “Also…”  He begins with a point of his finger.  “Who the hell drinks hot chocolate as someone who works in a coffee shop?”  He mocks.  You can’t help but glance at the glint that catches at his earlobe, a little silver hoop reflecting off the lights, something you otherwise wouldn’t notice if not for his hair being pulled back.  You would dare to even call it cute if he wasn’t such a menace, an absolute barbarian that you vowed to never give the time of day to again and yet here you are, giving several hours of your life.
A scoff is earned from you while you cross your arms, leaning on one hip with sass.  The attitude is there but you have no response to counter him.  He stares at you expectantly and you come up with nothing but a mumble under your breath.  “Caffeine makes me anxious.”  He barely catches it, humming for you to repeat it again.  “Hot chocolate doesn’t have caffeine in it, I try to limit my caffeine okay!?”  You snap, still quiet enough to not draw attention. 
Rolling his eyes, he seems to ignore your answer and strolls over to the front counter, reaching over and snatching up a ham and cheese sandwich without a care in the world, immediately tearing into it.  You resist the urge to grab it right out of his hand and launch it across the room, instead opting to massage your temples with your fingers, taking deep breaths.  It was either that or you’d have a homicide charge on your hands.  Sure you also snuck sandwiches from the cooler however you were discrete and no one ever noticed.  If Eddie kept it up, you’d get in trouble for his misbehavior.  
“Do you want this job or not?”  You sigh, trying to reason.  He chews disgustingly on the sandwich, crumbs rolling down his chest.  He shrugs.  A scream is awaiting in your lungs, an unreleased scream of pent up rage for the immature boy towering over you.  It doesn’t escape but it so desperately wants to.  “Munson.”  You grit your teeth, fists forming at your sides. 
“Hmm?”  He hums carelessly, scarfing down the remaining bites and tossing the wrapper into the trash.  
Another deep breath, you try to clear your energy.  “If we don’t at least cooperate here, I am out of a job and I cannot afford to be out of a job.”  You plead with him, eyes becoming the slightest bit watery much to your distaste.  It’s not on purpose, things are really just that bad.  
“What?  Did your trust fund run out?”  He bites, and it hurts.  Though it's not the most vile thing someone could say it pinches you and leaves behind a nagging pain.  Trust fund?  Who did he think you were?
“Excuse me?”  You breathe out, stepping slightly closer to him, still on alert for any customers who might listen in but you’re still in the clear.
“Yeah, did mommy and daddy cut you off?  Welcome to the real world.”  His words are like knives cutting into your skin.  They shouldn’t be, you know that.  His words are meaningless to you–are they though?  Where did he even come up with the idea that you came from any sort of wealth?  Sure in high school you were stable enough but nowhere near Harrington wealthy.  Was he referring to you living comfortably?  If that's the case he would be elated to know that you had close to nothing these days.  But you can’t give him that satisfaction.
Brushing off the interaction as if nothing was said, you grab the clipboard from one of the drawers to find where you left off in training last night and what boxes remained to be checked off.  “So yesterday we learned cleaning procedures and counting the register.  Today we pick up learning drink recipes.”  You suck it up and push through.  His words are nothing, he is nothing.  A certain emotion flashes in his eyes when you glance up to scold him for not paying attention.  You can’t put your finger on what it is but it must be some type of regret for taking this job, there’s something sadder to it though.  He is nothing to me but a warning from the universe on what to stay away from.
“Okay so five pumps of caramel.”  Eddie confirms with you, eyes drooping in boredom.  The shop is now devoid of customers, the evening rush long gone as it was now 7:30 and you only expected to see maybe five more customers at most before closing, giving you ample time to stuff Eddie’s dumb brain with all the drink recipes possible so he could eventually do everything by himself and you’d no longer have to convene with him.
An exhale leaves your lungs while you rest your head in your hands on the counter, shaking your head.  “No.  Four.  Four pumps of caramel.  Four.”  You reiterate, patience wearing thin.  At least he wasn’t arguing with every word that left your mouth.  “Let’s take a break from that one and try this one instead.”  You advise, pushing a new recipe card in front of him.  This one was for a simple iced mocha.  “So for this one you start off with three pumps of chocolate and then two shots of espresso.”  You instruct, eyes tired and the bags underneath them giving it away.
Eddie reaches for one of the syrups and before you can stop him, he’s pumping three pumps of hazelnut into the cup, your hand smacking your face in frustration.  “Eddie, do you just not read the labels?”  You question.
He fakes a laugh, shoving the syrup back into its place.  “Do you just not read the labels?”  He mocks in a high voice.  Your patience is wavering but you know you just need to get through this.  The sooner he finishes training, the sooner you will have peace and quiet.  
“Try again.”  You tell him, holding back all of the anger rattling in your bones.  He rolls his eyes and grabs the correct syrup this time.  Except as he pumps it into the cup, you find that his pumps are way too big, not like you taught him earlier.  He’s pushing down too far.  “Too far!  You’re pumping too far, it’s too much!”  You tell him as the bottom of the cup becomes filled too high with chocolate, practically taking up where the espresso should go.
“Okay, you are like the worst teacher ever.”  He states while sloshing around the flavored syrup in the clear cup, coating it around the sides as it maneuvers in his hand.  
A hand drags down your face and you swear you’ve lost years of your life just in the past two nights.  “Train yourself then.”  You slap your hand on the counter, making your way over to the book corner and taking a seat in your favorite spot near the window to gaze at the streetlights.  
His face contorts in confusion as if he had no idea why you were giving up on him.  “Fine.”  He mutters, taking a look at the little card that had the instructions for an iced vanilla coffee concoction.  He can’t stop himself from glancing over to you in the corner, the warm glow of the street lights embracing you like a blanket.  And he can’t shy away from the pang of guilt in his chest.  Yet he continues to find himself at your throat every time, and you at his rightfully so.  At least you have reason to be, he’s just a pathetic excuse of emotions buried under skin that dug himself so deep into a hole over the years there was no way out and all he could do was what he did best–shove people away and just play the part that had always been assigned to him since birth.
The sudden wail of the blender has you jolting and looking over behind the counter only to find Eddie manning the machine.  You were too beyond exhausted to care anymore.  If he wanted to start making milkshakes in spite of you then so be it.  Your sight continued to set on the glow of the streetlights over the sidewalk.  It didn’t rain today or tonight thankfully since you’d have to walk home.  As you close your eyes, you imagine the warmth of the lights engulfing you and bask in the heat of the shop, silently cursing your landlord for not being attentive to your broken heater, leaving you with chattering teeth every night.  If you could sleep in the back room you would, however that would be an awkward conversation with Ronnie and the openers, Max and El who took on the earliest shift from 4:30AM to 8:30AM, when Robin and Steve would relieve them of their duties.  It was funny how your whole group seemed to now run The Under-Ground but you couldn’t come up with a better team if you tried.  Save for Eddie, you could definitely find someone a hundred times better and then you would have the perfect team.  
You continued to wander around in your imagination, the blender coming to a halt but you were too lost to even open an eye.  The sound of cups scattering on the counter had you wincing but not once leaving your mind, not yet.  It was rare that you were able to just sit and not think about the stressors in your life.  That relaxation is shattered when a cup is slammed down in front of you, the noise causing you to jump back in your seat, eyes flashing open only to be meant with a perfectly curated blended iced mocha, down to the whip cream and chocolate drizzle on top.  Behind it stands Eddie with his arms crossed in front of his chest, eyes stuck on the drink and not your reaction.  All you offer is a nod, hand wrapping around the cup as you push it back toward him across the dark wood.  What did he want?  An applause?  He did his job, congratulations. 
“Good?”  He asks for approval, much to your surprise.  
“Mhm.”  You nod again, standing up and making your way back behind the counter, leaving him to stare at his creation.  There was no way you would give him any type of praise even if he did make the drink without any flaws.  
“You didn’t even taste it.”  He continues to stare down at the beverage on the table, his voice monotone.
As you start to mark a few things off for inventory, pen gliding across the paper, you hold out your other hand, paying him no mind in any other manner.  Reluctantly, he scoops up the drink and strides over, shoving it in your hand like a pissed off child.  You take a sip and are impressed that it actually tastes good but rather than give him any kind of compliment, you offer another nod.  He’s starting to hate that response and if he receives another nod from you he may pull his hair out.  The cold condensation stings your palm so you set the drink down, again pushing it toward him without so much as a glance.
“Just admit it, Socks.”  He starts, grabbing the mocha and licking the whip cream from the top.  “I did good and you hate it.  Oh but if King Steve or Robin made it you’d be falling at their feet.”  His tone is low and his gaze is intense as he burns into your side profile.  
Continuing to ignore him, you jot down a few notes on the inventory sheet for some things that Ronnie may need to order more of on the next shipment.  He scoffs, beginning to walk away from you when you decide to speak up.  “Steve and Robin didn’t make me hate myself.”  You remind him.  It’s as if time slowed down the moment you spoke, the way you let the words roll off your tongue so truthfully, as if those words were in the bible.  Eddie wasn’t religious by any means but that’s how disastrous your words felt.  Yet he still finds comfort in playing his part.
“I made you hate yourself?”  He seethes.  “I made you hate yourself.”  He repeats gritting his teeth.  He knows he shouldn’t let himself go any further, it's a bad idea and it's simply not true what he’s about to say.  But he can’t stop himself from assuming his role, he doesn’t know any different.  He shouldn’t venture into territory where he knows he can never return from.  “Babe.”  The name is far from its endearing meaning, its dripping in hostility, soaked in venom.  “I never made you hate yourself, you did that just fine all on your own.”  The moment the words pierce the air he knows he shouldn’t have said them because there wasn’t even the slightest hint of honesty.  The ugliest parts of him jumped out and now he has to suffer the damages.
A swell of tears stings the backs of your eyes and you desperately suck them back, refusing to let him have this.  Your fists clench as you drop the pen from your grasp, your side profile still facing him, him standing in your peripheral.  Suddenly you're gripping the counter with white knuckles, slowly shifting your gaze to the cowardly man a few feet away.  His mouth opens and closes as if trying to take back what he said but he’s coming to realize it isn’t an option.  In all honesty, the way you look right now frightens him.  There’s suddenly no emotion behind your gaze.  And then you fire right back at him.
“I hope you hate yourself just as much as I hate myself.  I hate you more than I hate myself.”  It stings like a deep scrape after you’ve fallen off your bike as a child, the dirt wedging itself into the skin.  Again, his mouth opens and closes but there’s nothing to respond with.  This may be his last shift since you’re probably going to tell Ronnie that he did some kind of fucked up thing just to get him fired and Ronnie will believe you over him–of course he will.  He deserves it.  But it would also mean he’s back right where he started, no one wanting to hire him.  The Munson name really carried its burdens.  He already had a secure job during the day at the auto shop, Jax & Sons but he needed the extra income.  The only reason Ronnie hired him at The Under-Ground was because the owner, Beth’s husband Sam, owned The Hideout and Eddie was at least welcome there with the other rejects most of the time.  While The Hideout wasn’t hiring, Sam referred him to The Under-Ground and assured him he would put in a good word with his wife.  They were too good to him and he was starting to regret their kindness toward him, he deserved to be run over and have the shit kicked out of him.
No further words were spoken the rest of the night.  Eddie was handed the clip board with the checklist for training, a silent demand that he train himself the rest of the shift while you occupied yourself with finishing some inventory, cleaning, and serving the few customers that came in.  He quietly figured things out, familiarizing himself with the ingredients and learning quicker than he thought.  Whenever he had a question, he refrained and decided he’d either ask you at a later time or eventually sort it out on his own.  He should quit but there weren’t any other options if he wanted to keep himself fed and continue saving up to get out of Hawkins.  Nowhere else was going to hire him, especially for the night shift.  He was lucky they even trusted him to close with a girl though Sam seemed to put the rumors about him to rest if his wife and Ronnie had anything to hold against him and he would forever be grateful although now he didn’t feel he deserved that grace even if he was an innocent man that never amounted to the things his dad did.  
Night after night for the remainder of the week, the evening shift was filled with tension and bruised feelings.  If you had to so much as speak to Eddie it would be short and to the point, no sugarcoating.  Each time you instructed him to clean something or do a task he would roll his eyes but oblige.  He was the least of your problems and you were going to make sure it stayed that way.  His training was almost complete and he was starting to pick up on a rhythm which meant you wouldn’t have to engage with him nearly as much.  By Friday you’d fallen into a routine and while not in the best of circumstances, it was fine since not a whole lot of arguing happened since the previous incident.
You would attend to the customers with a friendly smile and a higher than your normal octave voice as usual and he would be his sarcastic self while also seeming to charm people with his damn dimples.  Ronnie didn’t appear to be phased by all the pins and patches that adorned Eddie’s apron when he made an appearance randomly yesterday, to your dissatisfaction.  You guess as long as none of them had anything offensive then he left him alone.  Why did you care anyway?  You didn’t.  
The evening swarm of coffee addicts had arrived and you churned out drinks left and right, earning tips with the help of your perky attitude that you’d learn to put on over time.  It aggravated you that Eddie had no issue charming his way into bigger tips, it’s like he was a professional.  Some patrons would give him nasty looks while others, particularly the older moms who you’d definitely seen with a husband at some point, would pay him extra attention and drop larger bills into the tip jar while flipping their hair and lingering around longer than necessary.  It made your stomach churn.  Regardless, you continued to put on a smile and work through the rush, hoping by the end of the night the tips split up would give you a little bit of extra rent money to save for next month.  It wasn’t like you were in a position to save money, living paycheck to paycheck but something had to give and you needed that cushion so you actually had a place to live.
As the night winded down and people were heading home, neglecting the coffee shop until early in the morning, you took a rag to the tables to clean and straighten up while Eddie obnoxiously banged on the espresso machine that had been giving everyone a hard time all week, periodically getting stuck and then spewing espresso everywhere.  “Fuckin’ piece of shit machine.”  He mutters, trying to pry off the panel to get a look inside at the machinery.  
Not wanting to be responsible for a five hundred dollar machine broken by none other than your jackass coworker, you decide to step in, shouting over to him.  “Would you knock it off?  We have someone who comes in to fix the machines and I’m not going to be responsible–”  A loud clank of metal stops you as Eddie jiggles a screwdriver you weren’t even sure how he found in the machine.  He pries the screwdriver into the machine as if trying to loosen something stuck in the gears, succeeding when a few coffee beans fly out and fall to the floor, a shit eating grin on his face.
“Fixed it.”  He confirms, shutting the panel and running the machine with a test shot of espresso, the liquid coming out smoothly rather than spraying him in the face.  You shake your head, choosing to keep your mouth shut.  If anything bad happens with the machine you didn’t see it and it wasn’t your fault.  You were not an accomplice if it malfunctioned on his watch.
Eddie glances over at you now sweeping up under one of the tables, somewhat disappointed that you won’t revel in his victory over the machine but also remembering the atmosphere he created from the very beginning, never deserving your positive attention in the first place.  It was 8:00PM, only an hour away from closing and the college students who had occupied the tables earlier were no longer around, the only sounds being the upbeat jazz music playing from the speakers.  He sparked an idea.  
Jogging to the back room where his eye caught the music system the very first day, he starts messing around with it, fingers searching in the back where his eyes can’t see behind the wall for a wire.  Biting his lip in concentration, he locates it with a triumphant hum.  
Too overcome with sweeping the floors clean, you only notice Eddie is no longer in the room when a shrieking guitar blares through the shop’s speakers, leaving you covering your ears and dropping the broom with a smack to the ground.  It’s some kind of metal song that you’ve possibly heard before but wouldn’t be able to recall the name.  Before you can map out your next moves, Eddie appears in the doorway to the back, grinning ear to ear genuinely.  “I hacked the stereo, how sick is that?”  He goes back to his spot behind the counter, head banging away.
“Shut it off!”  You yell over the noise.  Either he pretends not to hear you or he really can’t hear you over how loud it is.  Now you’re afraid that some of the neighboring businesses will call the cops or something and it’s on your dime.  “Eddie!”  You shout once again with no reaction from him.  You take the initiative and scurry into the back, finding the stereo system with a wire coming out of it and Eddie’s phone plugged in.  You scowl and unplug it, killing all sound, an offended “what the fuck!” heard from the front of the shop as you soothe your ear drums in the quiet.
He starts to make his way toward the back only to be stopped by you nearly running him over as you walk with a purpose back out to finish cleaning.  “Um, excuse you?”  He gestures your way as if you’d stepped on his ego.  
The broom is picked back up from its spot on the floor and you finish off by sweeping the remaining dirt into the dust pan, not responding.  When you look up again, he’s not there and you know he’s definitely gone to the back to plug his phone back in.  Your suspicions are confirmed when the riff is taking over the speakers once again, drums pounding through the sound system.  A groan emerges from deep within you as you empty the dust pan into the trash.  There was no winning with him, he always pushed back and you had no energy to keep up.  As he emerges from the back again, he doesn’t even look in your direction.  
“Can you at least turn it down!?”  You yell over the music, hoping he would find some kind of humility within himself so you didn’t go home with a headache.  It wasn’t just that it was too loud, it was overwhelming, your anxiety was spiking and no matter how much you breathed and told yourself to calm down, the volume of the song playing had your heart rate beating faster than you felt it could even keep up with.  Eddie continues ignoring you, and you know damn well that he heard your request since you were close enough, standing just a few feet away.  You swallowed hard as you attempted to keep your cool, keep your nervous system in check.  I’m okay, I’m okay, nothing is going to happen.   
And there was no reason to believe anything bad would happen but your brain was screaming at you that the escalation of the metal riff playing was a warning signal and you couldn’t talk yourself off the ledge.  As much as you tried to contain your breathing and keep it steady, it became erratic as you stumbled over to one of the tables and thankfully made it into a chair.  Your elbows rested on the table top while you covered your ears in an attempt to muffle the suddenly overwhelming sound that wouldn’t otherwise bother you had it not taken you by surprise earlier and had the volume not been set the highest the speakers allowed.  
The world around you blurred out while you seemed to fall apart because of a stupid issue you had with loud sounds that caught you off guard.  You couldn’t think straight, you couldn’t even think to just run to the back and unplug it again.  You didn’t even register that there were hands waving in front of you and a pair of big brown eyes worriedly looking at you.  His lips were moving but there was no way to understand what was being said in this state.  And then he was gone from your vision as you choked on a breath caught in your throat.  You were about to make a run for the door just to get your bearings back when the room went silent and suddenly things started to slowly become clear again.  When you turn your body in your seat toward the back, Eddie stands there with a shocked expression painted on his face, mouth dropped open.
“I—I didn’t—I’m—I—“  For probably the first time ever Eddie Munson is speechless.  No quirky comments, no stupid jokes, just stuttering.  Your breathing, while a lot better now, is still heavy as you recover from the sudden panic.  “I didn’t know—I wouldn’t have—“  Before he can continue rambling you save him the energy.  
“Just—leave it.”  You demand, putting a hand up to signal him to stop.  A warning to never mention it again.  He owed you that much.
Then he goes on to do something you’d never expect.  He makes his way to the table you’ve sat yourself at and pulls out a chair, sitting across from you.  “Are you okay?”  He asks, eyes wide and concerned, hands clasped together on top of the table as he fidgets with his clunky rings.  What the fuck did he care?  He’d jump at any chance to see you upset, why was right now any different?
All you can do is look at him in distress, displaying how you felt on your face and in your body language.  “Oka—does it look like I’m okay?!”  You respond, throwing your arms up before they fall back into your lap.  Your outburst quickly dwindles, a shyer demeanor taking over as you both linger in the quiet, in the aftermath of what he believes may have been an anxiety attack.  “I’m—I'm fine.”  You finally decide, standing and acting as if nothing just happened, taking your place behind the counter.  Eddie looks dumbfounded, unsure of any of his next moves so as to keep the peace for once in his fucking life.  He’d experienced lots of trauma before but never had to come face to face with the kind of terror that took over your face, never experienced being on the other end of the turmoil.  While he’s sure he’s gone through what you just had except with other triggers, there was not one idea in his head about how to approach the situation, how he would dare to even console you if that’s all you really needed.  In a sense, he’s a tad grateful that you seemed to snap out of it on your own but that also makes him feel like the most terrible person on planet earth.  What kind of man was he if not some duplicate of his dad like everyone says and like he feels he’s doomed to be?  He had been in your shoes before, experienced the true fear you held in your body and no one was there for him.  So when he was there fully capable of providing some kind of comfort, he did nothing and suddenly he was his dad.  In his mind he was his dad, doing nothing, helping no one but himself.  
Suddenly he felt like he was 12 years old again, sinking in on himself but before he could be pulled any deeper he shot up and rapidly blinked his eyes.  And you were there perfectly normal, trying to sneakily set aside a sandwich for yourself but it didn’t go unnoticed, it’s not like he cared though.  Had he become this big of a fuck up without realizing it?  He was no better than the man that abandoned him at 12, he genuinely believed he was on the same path as the man that single handedly tore his son’s life apart, who raised him in a crack house until things got too complicated and left only to be arrested 48 hours later.  Eddie had to stop thinking, he was pulling himself down again, an anchor might as well be tied to his ankle.  
“I—I need a break.”  He exhales, not listening if you had any protests which you didn’t, you just tuned him out as the bell on the door jingled and he stopped outside for a cigarette.  Who smokes cigarettes anymore?  You wonder.  Well you answer your own question when you remember the hick town you live in, many people still smoked cigarettes out here but most of them were older.  It was now around 8:45PM, almost time to go home to try and knock out in the chill stale air of your room.  The bell above the door rings again and you glance up but don’t find Eddie and instead meet the vibrant blue eyes of Jason Carver.  While not a close friend, you’d known each other throughout high school and had a few mutual friends and even found yourselves in some of the same study groups during finals.  
“Hey!”  He greets you like an old friend, a smile on his face, his bright white teeth glimmering in the light.  
“Jason!  I thought you were away for college in Boston.”  You say, remembering that he was able to escape this small town and move onto bigger things.  Of course he was, his family had everything lined up for him.  He stuck to his plan and it seemed to be going well for him.  Something you wish you could say for yourself but you never even had a plan if you’re honest.
“Yeah, I’m just in town for the week.  I flew in earlier today.  My grandmas sick so you know…” He doesn’t finish the sentence and doesn’t have to for you to understand.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”  You sympathize with him.  
“No, it’s okay.  This has happened a few times, it just seems like this might be it.”  He tells you with a sad nod of his head.  “Anyway, is that Eddie Munson outside?”  He asks, changing the subject.  You almost roll your eyes at his name but quickly remember how many fights the two had been in previously, usually Eddie walking away with no more than a black eye or a busted lip and Jason always looking worse.  You don’t want to encourage another here tonight so you just nod, shyly avoiding Jason’s gaze.  “Hey, is that freak bothering you while you work?  Is he harassing you?”  He starts to sound like he’s getting worked up, the opposite of your intention.  Jason was always super forward especially when he was agitated which is why you always gravitated away from him.  He’d always put on a sweet front but then come out with pure anger the moment he heard something he didn’t like.  
“No!”  You blurt out, unsure of why you’re even protecting Eddie in any way.  Maybe it’s the fact that while you do hate Eddie with every nerve ending in your body, Jason only hates him for being everything he’s not.  For not being popular, not engaging in sports, not going to church.  None of those are why you hated Eddie but Jason had this bottled up rage toward him and you had the smallest inkling that he was envious in some weird way of the metalhead.  “No, he’s not bothering me.  He just works here and he’s on break.  He doesn’t even talk to me.”  You try to talk him down.  Jason looks at you with suspicion, not fully believing you.  Why you were even explaining yourself to him was beyond you.  
Reluctantly, he drops it and continues on with the small talk which you find yourself growing bored of.  Jason was turning out to be someone that reminded you of your parents, fairly conservative and tightly wound up.  In high school he was a bit more laid back but it seems that whatever college he goes to has morphed him into another stereotypical white guy.  The conversation couldn’t end soon enough for you as he started getting into a story about his frat house.  You tried to hide your distaste but the air just felt sour.  Not once did he even ask what you’d been up to, immediately going off about himself.  As if he could read your mind, the bell above the door is heard and Eddie slowly walks back in, his face twisted in a scowl.  
Jason looks toward him at the sound of the bell, freezing to stare him down as if it would intimidate him.  Did he forget the several times Eddie handed his ass to him?  If this was going to happen again right now, it was guaranteed that with Eddie being a man now, he’d have no problem taking him down.  Jason was a man now too and while he had muscle from what you could see peeking out from under the sleeve of his polo, Eddie had grit and there was no way to go against that.  
“Munson.”  Jason greets with a nod of his head, a fake smile on his face.  Eddie offers no greeting in return, only a glare as he makes his way back behind the counter.  
“Anyway, it was great catching up with you.” Jason directs his attention back to you.  “We should hang out while I’m in town.  Here’s my number.”  He says cockily, using a nearby pen to scribble on one of the shop’s business cards, placing it in your hand.  
“Oh, okay.  Yeah, um.  Okay.”  You respond with uncertainty.  The number would be tossed aside the moment he stepped out the door but you appeased him the best you could while he stood in front of you.  As he backs up toward the door, he shoots you a wink.  While he thinks butterflies are fluttering within you right now, you’re actually internally cringing.  And with that, he was gone, finally.  You piece together that he hadn’t even purchased a coffee.  The more you think about it, he may as well have pissed on you in an attempt to assert dominance over Eddie.  Men were stupid creatures.
Eddie huffs out a laugh as he doodles on his hand, nothing left to do besides leave and lock up.  You pay him no mind while you begin to quickly count the drawer so you’d be able to leave on time.  “Fuckin’ tool.”  Eddie mumbles to himself.
While you agree, you don’t want to give him any satisfaction so you continue counting the money.  Finding that everything is accounted for, you lock up the drawer and grab your bag from the back while Eddie silently does the same.  You meet at the door in some unspoken agreement, him holding the door as you step out into the chill air, turning to shut the door and lock it while he puts his motorcycle helmet on and walks over, straddling his bike.  As you shove the keys back into your bag and start your journey home, he clears his throat.  “Watch out for Carver.  He’s not all sparkles and sunshine.”  He says revving his bike.  Who was he to tell you what to do?  Though you had no interest in Jason whatsoever, you weren’t going to let Eddie tell you what to do, he was the last person on earth you would listen to.  
“Oh, I’m sorry?  I could say the same about you.  You don’t get to tell me who to watch out for.”  You step closer toward the bike, a hand on your hip while the nagging cold pinches at your skin.  If your jaw was tightened it was both out of anger and due to the cold.  
“Listen, Socks–”
“Don’t call me that.”  You snap.
“I’m serious, Carver–”  His voice is muffled under the helmet.
“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve trying to tell me what I can and can’t do, Munson.”  You’re trying to get in his face somewhat but it's hard and a little humiliating when you can only see a reflection of yourself in his visor.
“When something happens you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”  He points a finger at you sternly.
“Oh!  My hero!”  You say with sarcasm laced in the words.  “I don’t need some drop out lecturing me about what I do or who I associate with in my free time.”  The insult shouldn’t affect him, he’s been called every name in the book.  But it does, for some reason it does.  
“Do whatever the hell you want.”  You can’t see his face under the helmet but if you could you knew he’d be clenching his teeth and flexing his jaw by the way he said it.  In seconds he speeds away, bike screeching annoyingly down the street. 
It had been a long day.  A long week even.  The only silver lining was that tomorrow was your Friday and after that you’d have at least one day to not think about work and Eddie Munson’s stupid attitude.  The shop was closed on Sundays and though it wasn’t very enticing to think about sitting in your room catching up on homework, it was far better than having to argue with the equivalent of a stubborn six year old in a man’s body.
Eddie on the other hand was feeling things he’d never experienced before.  There was this persistent worry in the back of his mind that he didn’t know what to do with.  His emotions had been gathered up and thrown into the wind so suddenly and he was struggling to grasp every single one so he could tuck it away again.  And you only angered him beyond comprehension, even if he deserved every venomous word thrown his way, he couldn’t deny that you provoked him in ways no other human has.  The way you had no issue with telling him off but let Jason talk over you made his blood boil.  It was none of his business, genuinely.  That’s what he told himself but deep down he knew it was his business the second Jason flashed that fake smile at him that said everything.   
~end~
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tags - @mmunson86 @haylaansmi @batkin028 @obscureenigmatic
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thelonewolf48 · 10 days
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Hello, Blank the series community!
How are we processing the ending of season 1? Are you angry? Do you understand Khun Neung's actions? Do we want to hit her? Yes, you say? 🤣🤣🤣
I wanted to wait a bit (also got busy at work lol) to avoid any spoilers for anyone who don't watch Episode 6 and last one for a while... I don't know how I'm gonna cope with it tbh... I'm following 23.5 and other web series but tbh... never on the level of Blank... I have to admit that GAP did it first but Blank did it better... which, no shade to GAP because FreenBecky, my beloved, chemistry was so good too!
And to clarify, GAP the series also had its own set of problems, most of them regarding money and locations, but what they did, opened the door for more GLs. Some, with good and bad executions, but that's up to each person and their preferences to decide!
BUT ENOUGH OF GAP (the perfect GL, to me!) Let's talk about BLANK!
As a start... I didn't like that they began from when Aneung knocked on Neung's door... it ate like 4 more minutes with them, plus they didn't keep the same tension.
On Episode 5, the tension was felt thanks to the zoom on their faces that lasted quite a good amount of seconds and Faye's minuscule lean.
This time it was cut and then bam! KISS! (NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING!)
I'm not gonna go on full detail because I believe we all watched the episode, there are a few technical things I want to point out but I won't because nah! There was some foreshadowing to the doom that was to come... and no, I don't say this as a person who has read the book 🤭
I will go straight to that last part...
I had to go back to read that last part in the book because I wanted to keep this as accurate as I can.
So, throughout the episode, we see Aneung's family praising how good of a Role Model Neung is for Aneung. This is the first red flag. Then we see Neung still having doubts about their age gap which I find normal in this setting, because it can happen. This is the second red flag.
The final nail to the coffin, and the one I think everyone should consider whenever questioning WHY Neung broke this as cruel as she did, is that she thought she used Aneung as a way to distract her own pain.
In the book, and the reason why I re-read it, Neung sounds more detached, more out of the moment, and at some point even more aggressive about it. In the series, Neung, although also feeling out of the moment, the scene takes a more soft and romantic approach. They show us Neung's walls falling and accepting that she does indeed love Aneung.
Also, the "brake up" is harsher. Feels like a slap.
Now, we have to consider that in the book, right after their love making Aneung goes to school, everything seems fine, heavy, but good enough. Things happen, that I won't reveal because it could be spoilers, but one of those things is that Fah calls Neung about the funeral and everything. Fah is the one telling Neung that she trusts Neung, she's a role model, and she knows she will take care of Aneung.
Here, there is something I wanted to point out. To hear Fah say it, right after what happened it's what triggers Neung to break Aneung's heart. As logical as Neung is, that is the conclusion she gets after everything.
Aneung is young, thus can fall in love again with someone around her age. This is the conclusion Neung forms in her head. Plus, she sees something else that triggers a reaction. Something we will see in season 2 😆 so, no spoilers but maybe some of you can imagine what.
Neung is very logical, very cutthroat, and as stubborn as their grandmother. We have to remember that, as the eldest, she was trained to be the next heir. So, her life was very, very different. If you see any royal family, the image they project is one of perfection. So, it's no wonder that Neung learnt how to mask her feelings. If something hurts, hurt it back a thousand times worse. Or better yet, just ignore it.
Neung, just like Sam after she became the heir, prefers avoid her feelings because she knows caring equals pain. So, why bother?
There's a whole process Neung does before she goes to Aneung, in the book.
But I have to admit that the series spin was chef kiss! I'm sure that Neung, after waking up, was blaming herself for letting things escalate so quickly.
I will defend Neung with my whole heart because the traumas she carries makes her scared. And like a feral animal, the only way she knows how to defend herself is attacking. She pushes and pushes until she proves to herself that she is right. Everyone leaves.
I could continue rambling and going and just word spit things, but I have to sleep 🤣🤣🤣
Don't share spoilers if you read the book! Unless people want them, I will keep my posts spoiler free! Either way, if anyone wants to discuss the book, you can send me a message too!
Once again, I say this Blank the series set the bar waaaaaaay too high! I can't deny it!
Anyway, guys, do you agree? Disagree? Let's have a respectful debate!
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libellule-saphique · 9 months
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Miraculous Season 5: Luka & Kagami's Wasted Potential
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If this show wasn't already bad enough.........
Like everything else, it disappoints me that the writers of this show are lazy when it comes to additional character development essentially in the love rivals
but who am I kidding? I knew what to expect when Thomas quite literally said Gabriel was redeemable after torturing all of Paris for years simply because he wants his wife back actively neglecting & abusing his son in the process while in the same breath saying Chloe is beyond redemption and she's a teenage girl who's dad couldn't give a rat's ass about her and spoils her crazy to get her off his back 24/7 and her mom who wants nothing to do with her verbally & mentally abuses her with the only real people who like her to the slightest and tolerate her are Sabrina and Armand who's practically her butler. The double comparison and double standard is wild but nonetheless not surprising seeing how the show's narrative is already bias when it comes down to Adrien & Marinette's character treatment. (the misogyny and racism is loud as hell)
Season 4 of Miraculous was already beginning to go downhill and season 5 simply added icing on the cake. To be honest I was partly excited to see the relationship dynamic within the love rival relationships, Lukanette & Adrigami at the start of season 4 because it was different from the repetitive love square and we got to see our two main leads interact with other characters in a romantic light other than themselves only to end before they could really start. It was a slap in the face and a huge cut from some possible major character development and love square progress. But the writers are so afraid of change and cant manage to make a good progressive storyline and felt that Luka & Kagami were too much of a threat to their Love Square that could've heavily improved because of them in the first place. Some episodes could've been focused on friendships between the love rivals and Marinette & Adrien. But ofc we get the same monotonous plotline mid season 3 to the beginning of season 4 Adrien & Kagami spend more time together, Marinette is conflicted and overwhelmed with feelings, Luka is there for emotional support (which felt like his sole purpose in earlier episodes even until now) Kagami is constantly frustrated by Adrien's indecisiveness, passiveness, and hesitance, etc, etc whatever and it continues all until they break up.
Then out of the wood works, we get Adrien realizing he has feelings for Marinette despite her being quote on quote "just a friend" 3-4 seasons straight. Despite. Marinette putting a hold on relationships ever since Lukanette's breakup and the fact that Monarch is still on the prowl and her responsibilities as a hero, because lets be honest if Ladybug/Marinette doesn't tend to Paris & Monarch no one else will, (Chat Noir definitely won't) the writers still say "hey lets tend to and coddle Adrien's feelings bc now he likes her more than "just a friend" and it doesn't matter how Marinette feels, doesn't matter if she's not ready for a relationship even though she's made that clear on multiple occasions after her and Luka's breakup bc at the end of day what we learn is what we already know "Adrien's feelings are more important than Marinette's overall treatment as the female protagonist and discomfort."
And what do you ask happens to the love rivals? Of course! the writers have to find a way to string them away from the complicated love square
Instead we get Luka shipped off with his dad on a world tour and Kagami paired with Felix (which........also doesn't feel right and for what reason did this have to happen?) Felix is the same guy who quite literally SH Ladybug, but ok? the writers feel like it makes sense to pair Kagami with this guy? She seems to like him for the same reasons her and Adrien's relationship took so long to work out in the first place. I don't even know what she saw in him, he's so bland, so passive, and everyone characterizes him as a "perfect cinnamon catboy who's abused and needs emotional support leaning on our main female lead who's not responsible for his baggage at all but hey! Everything is Marinette's responsibility after all right? They decide to give Felix more purpose in the show as Felix's a more assertive, serious, proactive version of Adrien and that's exactly what Kagami's looking for but I honestly think that it's a cop out for the possible unresolved feelings she had/has for Adrien (though he doesn't deserve her anyway) . It's like the show's message when it comes to romance and love is the only way to be genuinely happy is in a relationship which is so beyond fucked up, and its a overall bad message to kids and teens, no one in the show learns to love themselves and learn themselves first, Kagami would be simply fine without any relationship I can say the same for many other characters especially Marinette & Adrien. Why are romantic relationships needed to began with?
Season 5 is a prime example of the garbage dump Miraculous has become over the years and the poor writing decisions the writers have made.
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gale-gentlepenguin · 10 months
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With Season 5 concluded, will you be doing a best and worst akuma designs created by Gabriel Agreste of each season?
Alright everybody it’s time for Gale’s
Akuma fashion show a Go Go
And rules as follows
1. They will be rated only for the season they appeared in, so unless they get a redesign or updated look they don’t count
2. For each season I will be ranking one best and one worst.
3. These are the opinions Based Solely on asthetic, I will not be taking into account their powers or abilities, or even if they are my favorite akuma.
4. Akuma only, so no heroes villains or sentimonsters.
_________________________________________
Season 1 Best and Worst
Best: Stormy weather
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What can I say, the look is iconic for a reason, she set the bar high and she always blows away the competition.
The twisting hair, the purple dress and slick akuma shaped mask. Also the choice of weapon.
Worst: Animan
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The problem is he has no original form. Vanisher also has the same problem but his just seems lazier considering he gets to be the main akuma in an episode.
Not much to say except do better
Season 2 Best and Worst
Best: Reverser
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I love the symmetry of his design. It’s something Death the kid and Thanos would agree with. The asthetic works so well and while I’m grading on looks it’s neat how his power factors in.
Marc knocked it out of the park with this design
Worst: Gigatitan
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It’s boring. It’s so standard that it’s not even bad. Some of the designs this season were weird but I can’t say they were awful. But this one is just bland. I will probably forget it after I post this
Season 3 Best and worst
Best: Desperada
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I want to specify this is Solely asthetic. She isn’t my favorite akuma and the episode she is in is divisive, but I love her look. The music theme and bad ass rocker make up with touches of Gold. Different instrument weapons. Brilliant aesthetic.
Worst: Loveater
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Season 3 had a lot of not that great designs but Loveater is a horrific monster. And is still the UGLIEST akuma to this day. It’s the embodiment of what a toxic relationship looks like.
Season 4 Best and worst
Best: Qilin
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Originally I was going to put wishmaker on here, but Damn does this design Slap! And there are some solid designs. I just wish the episode debut was better. Outside of that, it’s just a cool armor and the glowing jade eyes are cool.
Worst: Ephemeral
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If Loveater is the visual representation of a toxic relationship, Ephemeral is the visual representation of Child abuse. The design looks so wrong, looking like a neon grape and the sad look on his face sells it. While even the ugliest designs have some charm, this is just a crime to look at.
Season 5 Best and Worst
Best: Safari
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It’s the best akuma design. The Hunter/Lara Croft tomb raider asthetic. The shades, then boots. The way her hair looks. The fit got me acting up. Plus while it’s unrelated to the asthetic, the way she tells Monarch to f*** off, and Provides the kwami swap episode we deserved. Easiest pick for me.
Worst: Sans-Culotte
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She looks like a glob of toothpaste. I feel like she was in a Aquafresh commercial and while I get what they were going for… I hate the design. It doesn’t look good. It looks like she doesn’t have a nose.
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billfarrah · 1 year
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i loved how fast and desperate their sex scene was this season compared to how soft and sweet their first time was, like they can't spend another second not touching each other! it's been too long!
Oh yeah, it was absolutely PERFECT for where they were at. They’d been desperate to touch each other for so long and after that kiss in episode 4, you could feel how worked up they were for each other. The way Simon inhaled that sweater and buried his face in it was so sexually charged and erotic. It’s also very important to remember neither of them had sex in months; Simon tried with Marcus and got shut down and Wille also never got that far with Felice.
Their dynamic was different this season and a more passionate, lustful sex scene was exactly what the doctor ordered. I’m also happy to see them allowed to just be horny teenage boys. There’s this uncomfortable purity culture that exists around MLM relationships in media where anything other than soft intimacy between two boys gets criticized when in reality sex exists in many different forms and shouldn’t need to be soft in order to be considered palatable for the audience. I’ve seen it a lot in the YR fandom and it bothers me. Wille and Simon being in love doesn’t mean they also aren’t capable of being lustful, and wanting to have sex that isn’t soft is not something that should be shamed or looked down up. They’re sexually attracted to each other as much as they are in romantically. Those feelings co-exist and can be expressed in many different ways.
Anyway that scene absolutely slapped. 10/10 perfection. The fade to black after the curtains closed? Poetry.
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acrolius · 2 years
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someone please write my steve as djo au!!
it's just rattling around in my brain and it won't leave. just two hyperfixations smashed together
here we go:
the early 90s (about 6 years after the events of season 4) finds steve living in chicago. steve is the last one to leave hawkins. the kids graduate from high school and they, along with nancy and robin, leave the small, traumatized town for college, cities or states away. without the party, there is nothing left in hawkins for steve except a lousy minimum wage job and an empty house that his parents never visit. joyce and hopper moving is what finally gets him to let go.
the nightmares and the anxieties never fully leave him, even after he has left their birthplace. the interdimensional threats may be gone but the scars they left remain jagged and raw. will can't walk alone in the dark, max can't walk at all, and steve pulls away from everyone who tries to help. he sees the kids every few months and talks with dustin on the phone every week. he hasn't seen eddie since eddie left town just months after the dust settled.
in his grief, he finds music. it's something a therapist suggests, to externalize his thoughts and let them live elsewhere. if it worked for for eddie, why can't it work for him? his parents forced him to learn piano as a child, another box to check in their picture perfect family, but he hasn't played for himself in years. he finds a keyboard at a thrift store a few days later. it's scratched up and some of the keys are sticky, but it's all he can afford with his meager salary. his parents cut him off years ago, with harsh words and a slap to the face of their disappointment of a son. as his fingers brush over the plastic keys, he lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. he closes his eyes and plays.
he likes the lyricism of music, once the words leave his head, they don't just belong to him. steve the musician feels different from steve the local bookseller with ptsd and a scrungly cat. hawkins was a small town, but no one knows him in chicago. the anonymity feels freeing. he can be honest because no one is watching.
he writes "chateau" about the calm that was the summer after vecna was defeated. they were finally safe and it felt like he had an actual family for once in his life. but like everything else in his life, it didn't last. eddie was the first to leave. steve had already fallen head over heels for eddie, but now he couldn't tell him. eddie would never be happy in hawkins and steve just couldn't leave. in a choice between his happiness and eddies, he would pick eddie's every time. they were never super close, but with the distance they drift apart.
robin, after listening to him every day in their shared apartment, tricks him into performing live for the first time. she signs him up for an open mic night at a local bar and lets him know by slamming the flier down on their wobbly kitchen table. "do you have plans for friday night? yes? cancel them."
friday nights at the bar becomes steve's night. none of his friends except robin know about his music but the bar regulars greet him with kind smiles each week. it's refreshing to play for strangers, people who don't know who he is and what he's been through.
his anonymity comes to a halt one week when eddie, fellow resident of chicago, happens to choose a new bar to visit. steve is at the keyboard, turned away from the entrance, when eddie walks in for a beer. it's not what eddie normally listens to but he's drawn to the emotion and beauty in the man's voice. imagine his surprise when the man finally turns and it's steve harrington.
. . . then you know, they reconnect, eddie slowly falls in love with steve in return and they live their gay little lives together
anyway, this is all the result of a long speech to text note on my phone. i have listened to djo's music on repeat and have djo!steve hcs for nearly all of them
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