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eufezco · 2 years

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THE GRIEF OF LOSING EDDIE MUNSON

Steve Harrington x Byers!Fem!Reader, because I need to make everything about Steve sorry.

A/N: Listen to Glimpse of us by Joji, Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens and Die first by Nessa Barret for the full experience. Once again, english isn't my first language<3

Tw: self harm, panic attacks, not eating. I've seen a lot of people having such a strong reactions to Eddie's death and this is super angsty so be careful reading it please.

The door of your room was closed. It was closed most of the day, the only person who dared to open it was your mother to check up on you. Every now and then. She would leave it open, pretending to forget about closing it after going out of your room so she could have an eye on you. But that day you decided to keep it open yourself.

Someone knocked on the door of the house. Joyce being the one opening it to find Steve with a half-smile on his face. She hugged him before letting him inside.

—How is she doing? —The boy asked your mom, her replying with a grimace, pointing at your open door with her head. Steve blinked, nodding. That's good, he thought.

Steve went to the living room where El, Will and Jonathan were having breakfast, Hopper was sitting on the couch watching the TV. Steve said good morning to all of them and sat at the table with your siblings.

Joyce asked him if he had already had breakfast to which Steve answered by nodding his head and thanking her for worrying. Will showed him his new drawings and El talked about something he wished he could've paid attention to, but his fingers were tapping nervously on the table as his eyes escaped from El to the door of your room. He'd been doing it every day since everything ended. He'd usually wait for you there, sitting with your siblings, but today you were taking especially long.

—Should we go and see if she's okay?

Steve nodded and got up from the bed as soon as Will asked, the other three doing the same and following him. Jonathan, Will, El and Steve stood outside of your room, you not noticing them thanks to you wearing your headphones and being with your back turned to the door as you were busy drawing something.

Steve and Jonathan shared a glimpse.

—Is she okay? —El asked. You never used headphones, your music was always rumbling through the house.

—I think she's going through grief —. Steve stated.

El and Will were confused. —What's that? —El asked Steve.

—It's when- It's when you try to process the loss of someone.

The girl nodded, understanding what Steve was saying. Will had a worried expression on his face while Jonathan looked at you with sad eyes.

—And what do we need to do? How can we help her?

Steve kept looking at you while Will looked at him, El waiting for an answer. Both, Steve and Jonathan knew there wasn't much to do for you. —Just be there for her —. Jonathan answered her for Steve.

DENIAL

"Hi, y/n." The four of them decided that it would be better if only one of them went to talk to you. El and Will voted for that person to be Steve while Jonathan voted for Will and Steve voted for himself. Steve tapped softly on your shoulder, making you turn around, startled because you weren't expecting anyone to find out it was Steve who interrupted your thoughts. You said hi back to him as he threw a glimpse at what you were drawing. Steve talked to you, you only responding him with quiet hums.

"Are you ok-?" He finally asked.

"I'm fine." You replied to Steve and immediately after, you put your headphones back on. He stood there, behind you, for a couple of seconds deciding what he should do; you definitely weren't feeling like talking nor spending time with him or with anyone, but he didn't want to leave you. That day he did leave, but that didn't happen ever again.

You spent most of the day drawing, writing, or reading, your headphones never leaving your ears. Steve brought you some of his tapes and he bought new ones for you of artists he knew you liked. El would sneak into your room and just watch you as you painted and sometimes Will would too to draw with you. You couldn't feel anything, not sadness, not happiness, as if there was a hole in your chest that absorbed every emotion not giving your brain enough time to process them before they were gone. You were numb to everything around you; seeing Steve walk into your room made you feel nothing, you couldn't be proud as you used to be when Will showed you one of his new works, and neither you could feel the sadness after losing your best friend. You just were certain that something like that couldn't have happened to him. If Will survived one week alone in the Upside Down, Eddie could too.

"We need to go back." You went to the kitchen where Steve was helping Hopper to cook. There were only the three of you in the house, Joyce and Jonathan were at work but it wouldn't be long before they got home, and El and Will were hanging out with Mike. Steve cleaned his hands and turned around to listen to you, Hopper watching out the pasta for him. "We need to go back to the Upside Down." Steve's body tensed, Hopper stopped mixing the pasta with the tomato sauce. "I've been thinking and- Will was 12 when he spent a whole week alone in the Upside Down and survived, and those bats bit you too and you are alive. Eddie-" Steve shook his head softly, pressing his lips together. "Y/n." Steve cut you off in the softest way he could. Hopper looked at the boy who just finished sharing with him what Dustin told him about Eddie. "We can figure out how to open the gate again. I'm- I'm not asking any of you to go, I'll do it. I'll go and find him."

Steve licked his lips. "That's not possible, y/n."

"You don't understand, I have to find him." Your hands shook, Steve noticing and approaching you. Hopper turned around to see where the boy was going. "I have to save him, Steve." You started crying, your hands covering your face as you used Steve's chest to hide. "He's there alone and he has to be very scared." You sobbed, him wrapping his hands around your body, his chin resting on the top of your head. Hopper approached you both and laid one of his hands on your head. "He hates being alone. He has to be so scared, Steve, please, we need to find him." As he said, Steve knew that wasn't possible and he let you know in the less hurtful way, by not answering you. You begged Steve to help you go back to the Upside Down, his heart breaking into million pieces knowing he couldn't do anything for you and holding back his tears as he heard your desperate sobs trying to get Eddie back.

ANGER

Steve was holding you between his arms as you tried to escape his grip. You had already broken some of the polaroids you had with Eddie on the wall above your desk, the pieces lying on the floor as you tried to go and rip the ones that were still stuck to the wall. Your breathing was fast, your eyes with tears of rage and your body shook violently against Steve's arms. You finally gave up, if it hadn't been because Steve was holding onto you, you would've fallen defeated to the floor. Your head down as you sobbed, your whole body finally relaxing as Steve could loose his arms around you a little bit, still holding you so you won't fall. He gave you a minute as you tried to catch your breath and his eyes were locked on the ripped pictures, Steve let out a sigh because he knew you were definitely gonna regret this later.

"He was a fucking coward. He let himself die because of this stupid town as if he owned this place anything when everyone, literally everyone, thinks he is a murderer. You know what he was, huh? A fucking idiot and he died like one." Steve had to hear things like this every day, knowing you didn't mean it and that it was your trauma talking, not you. After realizing what you just say, you would start crying while mumbling 'I didn't mean it', Steve caressing your back and reassuring you that he knew you didn't.

Joyce had to pick up the pieces of your broken drawings, you destroyed every piece of art you created during your denial stage; ripping the papers and making holes in your canvases. Steve asked her if he could keep them and Joyce gave him each of the small pieces of paper that she collected. Steve repaired your photos with Eddie, using glue and tape to get the pieces together. He kept them in his room, waiting patiently to return them to you. He managed to perfectly repair four of them: you and Eddie posing for the camera with your Hellfire t-shirts, a big smile on your face as Eddie leaned his head on your shoulder. You didn't play D&D but Eddie insisted on you having your own Hellfire t-shirt. Two of them were pictures of Eddie, him lying in a flower field when you both went to that picnic last spring, his hair tangling with the flowers, and another one of him playing his guitar in one of his concerts. The fourth one was taken by Eddie's tattoo artist when he let you use the tattoo pen to color the bats’ tattoo on his arm. You were focused and worried at the same time that you were hurting him, but Eddie was admiring you as you worked on his new tattoo, the shine in his eyes visible in the picture being evidence of what kind of friendship you two had. For the rest of the photos, Steve did the best he could, but some of the pieces were too small to get them together or to even identify what they were.

The relationship between Jonathan and Steve got worse if possible. They only worked hand to hand when it was about you, the rest of the day they'd ignore each other for good. Jonathan hated to see Steve every day at home but he never said anything because he knew that he did not only help you but Joyce and his family too. Jonathan didn't like Steve, not only because he was his girlfriend's ex but now also because he was trying to get with his little sister. It was probably you transmitting your bad mood to them, which they never blamed you for, what caused them almost getting into a fight in the living room. Apparently, Steve heard Jonathan telling that long-haired friend of his how, not so deep down, Steve was still the same person he was three years ago. Steve wouldn't have cared about what Jonathan had to say about him, but you being depressed and your brother assuming that Steve was using you made him snap. Hopper had to step in the middle of the two boys, and Joyce had to call them both out.

Your jaw hurt, it was clenched most of the day and in the palm of your hands were bruises of half-moons because of your nails digging into your skin when you closed your fists. Steve took care of them, asking Joyce for bandages to cover that part of your hand so when you sunk your nails there, you wouldn't hurt yourself. Sometimes you would puke from all the anger you were keeping inside, Jonathan with a hand on your forehead and the other one holding your hair, and Steve waiting with water and a wet towel to clean your face. Then the embarrassment and the frustration would hit you at the same time, leaving you sitting down on the floor of the bathroom for hours, with your back against the door and your head on your knees as you hugged them to your chest. Steve and Jonathan were sitting there with you, looking at you and then looking at each other, their eyes finally locking on the floor as they listened to you cry.

BARGAINING

What if you've never met Eddie? What if you never introduced him and Dustin? What if you had gone with him to the Upside Down instead of going with Max and Lucas to the Creel House? You coudn't save Max and you couldn't save Eddie either. You were so ashamed of yourself, you felt like a failiure. You should've gone to California with your family, if you wouldn't have stayed in Hawkins, Eddie would be alive now. You would've probably distanced yourselves and now he would be living his life, playing D&D and giving concerts. The anger mixed with the sadness and you finally felt like talking with someone about Eddie.

"I should've gone to the Upside Down." You were sitting in your bed, your knees against your chest. Steve was sitting on the floor of your room, his back against the wall right in front of your bed and reading one of the books you recommended him a long time ago. His eyes laid on you when you spoke. You didn't tell him but Steve guessed that those thoughts were going through your head. "It should've been me who-" Steve cut you off. "No. Don't say that." Steve left the book on the floor and went to sit next to you, his gaze trying to find yours but your eyes were lost. "It should have been none of us." Steve tried to comfort you. He threw one of his hands over your shoulder, making you lay your head on his chest. You didn't complain, letting Steve's soft-touch snuggle you to his chest. There was a moment of silence before Steve spoke again. "Dustin asks all the time about you." You sat up, your eyes wide open. You've been so self-centered in your pain that you didn't even think about Dustin.

Steve drove you to the Hawkins High Gym where he knew you would find Dustin. During the drive, he told you that Dustin spent his days there since the supposed earthquake hit Hawkins, helping the people affected by it and giving them comfort. You knew the boy would be doing a good job. "If you want to leave at any moment, just let me know." You nodded, thinking twice about going into the gym. Steve waited with you there until you felt ready, his hands on his pockets as he already saw his friend through the windows, handing bottles of water and limping as he walked. Everything was a mess when you decided to go inside the gym. Even though some time has passed, people were still hurt, homeless and they'd probably lost everything. You saw Robin from the distance, she was talking with that girl she fancied and when she saw you too, she greeted you with a small smile, glad to see you again. Steve was by your side when Dustin noticed you had walked into the gym, him giving you the soft push you needed in the lower part of your back to approach the boy.

Dustin was limping, he later told you it was because of the fall when he went back to the Upside Down. You sat in an empty bed so you both could talk. Steve left you alone with Dustin, a young woman telling him he could help by folding clothes. The boy told you he had been helping there, what happened to his leg, and that Mr. Munson had been asking for you every day. You felt guilty, for not having talked to Dustin before and for not having, at least, called Eddie's uncle. Dustin's voice broke when he talked about Eddie, trying to comfort you somehow by telling you Eddie died like a hero. You also felt guilty for that. Dustin was there when Eddie died, he literally saw him dying in front of his eyes, yet there he was, consoling you. He stopped talking when he saw Mr. Munson entering the gym. You and Dustin got up, the old man quickly lying his eyes on you. He approached you, asked how had you been. You tried to not answer him by just using monosyllables but you felt like if you said anything else you'd start crying. When Mr. Munson was about to leave, he started digging in the pocket of his jacket.

Eddie's uncle handed you the guitar pick Dustin gave him.

"Mr. Munson, I can't. He was your nephew-"

"And you were his person. I'm sure Eddie would want you to have it." The necklace with his pick fell into the palm of your hand, feeling heavier than it should as your eyes filled with tears, but you did not get to cry in front of them. You apologize to Eddie's uncle for not being by Eddie's side when the earthquake happened, for not having made him see that this stupid town was not worth giving his life for. At least you now knew that he was not alone when he died which supposed a strong relief for your soul as you watched Dustin break down when he told you. But you didn't shed a tear, not in front of them. In the middle of this, some asshole from the basketball team you assumed, painted a pentagram and some horns and a tail on Eddie's poster. Mr. Munson was already taking out of his backpack another one to change the ruined poster. "May I?" You asked him. The man looking at you with sadness in his eyes as he nodded.

You knew the poster won't help. That as much as the cops looked for Eddie, they would never find him. But at least, with that poster there, they won't forget about him.

Dustin continued crying, the kid sobbing as you both looked at Eddie's photo on the poster. All you've ever dream about and planned with him was gone. You bit your lower lip when the first tears finally rolled down your cheek. You placed your hand on Dustin's head getting him closer to you as the boy wrapped his hands around you too.

It was the first time after Eddie's death that you were hugging someone and not being hugged.

DEPRESSION

Steve, Joyce, and Jonathan changed their whole work schedule after planning it thoroughly for you to not be alone at any time. You cried of sadness for the first time since Eddie died and you didn't stop for a pretty long time, your eyes getting a permanent shade of red. Your sobs could be heard throughout the house at night, Jim's light sleep making him walk to your room to find you curled up in your bed, almost choking on your tears and snots. "Come on, y/n." Hopper helped you to sit up on your bed, you being barely capable of keeping that posture for yourself. Jim took a tissue from your nightstand and blew your nose, and using his thumbs he wiped your tears. "We're gonna try to sleep, okay?" He sat on your bed with his back against the wall and hugged you against his chest, and using his hands, he caressed your hair and kept you close. "I miss him." You said between sobs. Hopper let out a sigh, hating to see you go through this while his big hand still working on your hair. "I know you do."

Steve always tried to have small gestures with you like buying you your favorite flowers and placing them in a vase next to your bed where you spent most of the day, renting movies for you in case you felt like watching one which never happened, cleaning your room. He just wanted to show you that life was still worthy of living. You hardly ate, not even your favorite dish whetted your appetite anymore, you would just sit at the table with your family, staring at the food on your plate. The feeling of emptiness never left, it was always there like some type of shadow that followed you everywhere. Sometimes that shadow was nice to you, letting you cry to sleep in between Steve's arms playing in your mind the happiest memories you had with Eddie, like watching him win his first D&D game, when he let you braid his hair, the joy on his face as he watched you try to play his guitar... But other times the shadow was mean, fastening your breath to the point you felt dizzy, drying your mouth and throat and making you feel helpless, like not even Joyce soothing words were useful anymore, not even Jonathan sneaking into your room and grabbing your hand as you cried your eyes out and not even Steve hugging you at night could replace the void that Eddie left in you.

Life was meaningless without him.

You were gonna graduate together. You were gonna walk that stage and snatch that diploma together. You were gonna live together, go to the beachside. He was gonna walk you down the aisle by the time you married and he was going to be the godfather of your children. He was going to be the cool uncle, the one that would buy them ice cream on the sly before having dinner, the one buying them their first guitar and teaching them how to play D&D. He was going to be the person you would entrust your children in case something happened to you and your husband. And now all of that was gone. You couldn't even think of a life without him. Like his uncle said, you were his person and Eddie was yours.

ACCEPTANCE

You had your first shower last night, you brushed your teeth, and had a proper dinner. Your mom kissing your forehead and Hopper lying his hand on your shoulder, both of them letting you know how proud they were of you. Now you were in front of your wardrobe, the bright colors of your spring clothes looking especially annoying to you.

You chose the long skirt he always laughed at. It was pink and he said you looked like a cupcake and that it hurt his eyes because it was 'awfully pink'. You also picked a white t-shirt, putting it on and inside of the skirt, you looked in the mirror. Your chest going up and down at a fast pace as you could see him lucidly behind you, teasing you by playing with your skirt. It was fun how when you wore that outfit, you looked like completly polar opposites.

"My baby. You are so pretty." Joyce fixed your hair and grabbed both of your cheeks to kiss your forehead, Hopper behind her showing you a big warm smile, agreeing with what Joyce was saying. Steve got up from the sofa the moment you went out of your room, his eyes never shone so brightly like they did when he looked at you. He had this expression of amazement on his face, you caught him looking at you from up to down, which was pretty intimidating you might say, to finally let out a 'woah' that made your cheeks and ears grow hot. Steve approached you, wrapping one of his arm around your waist and kissing your cheek. "You look beautiful." You showed him a little smile. "You do to." You murmured and melting under his hand holding your waist. "Okay, lovebirds. If you need anything, call me. I want her back at 10 pm." Joyce nudged Hopper in his ribs, shaking her head at Steve. "Don't listen to him. Just take care of her, okay?" Steve nodded showing a comforting smile to your mom that made her know that you would be fine with him. You hugged Joyce and Jim one last time. "Shall we go?" You nodded. Steve took your hand as you walked out of your house to his car.

Steve drove out of Hawkins, to the next town where he knew there was a fair taking place and where he made a reservation in the fanciest restaurant he could afford. He took you on the most idyllic date ever as he promised when he confessed his feelings for you before going to fight Vecna. Every time that he made you laugh during dinner, that you showed him that timid smile of yours, that he saw you eating, something inside his chest tickled. After all you've been through together, he still got nervous when your fingers brushed as you walked, you finally making the move and grabbing his hand, your fingers intertwining as he caressed your hand with his thumb. The fair was the loudest place you've ever been in months, the music rumbled inside your chest. Steve got you a big pink cotton candy that you ate while you watched him trying to win a teddy bear for you. You giggled at his defeated face when he didn't get it, assuring him that he did great and awarding his efforts by giving him a piece of your cotton candy and a quick peck on his lips that made Steve almost fall to his knees.

"Wait, are you leaving?" You asked confused when Steve was about to turn around after walking you to the door of your house. "Mmm... yeah." Steve put his hands inside his jeans pockets. "I don't think I can sleep without you." You confessed hugging yourself.

"Well, you've got a big day coming tomorrow. We should not take the risk of you not sleeping." You giggled.

Your graduation day finally came. You woke up that day feeling empty again, angry because you thought that sensation was gone. You escaped to the bathroom to cry before Steve opened his eyes. This was supposed to be your day. Eddie's and yours. But now you had to do it for both of you. Not only getting that diploma but also learning how to live with the emptiness. You had a shower, the hot water burning your shoulders as you tried to stop crying, but the sound of the water hitting the bathtub made it so easy to hide your sobs. Your gown was too big and you didn't like the cap, as El said, it made you look like a gnome but Steve thought you looked cute. He drove you, El, and Will to the high school, it was almost offensive how they managed to plan a whole graduation after all of this. Your mom had tears in her eyes during the whole ceremony and so you did; Joyce was so proud of her little girl graduating and you were so sad about doing it alone. As the principal gave his speech, you noticed how many empty chairs were around you, one for each of the dead and disappeared students. One of those chairs was right next to you, your eyes staring at the empty seat for a couple of seconds. They ended up focusing on the director's words again to not think about who should be sitting there. "Look at you. That gown is so ridiculous." You could hear his laugh, you could also see him from the corner of your eyes sitting next to you. Your breathing quickened, he felt so real. "You're wearing my pick." Eddie pointed out. You did, the little dark piece hanging from your neck in contrast with the bright color of your gown. "I miss you." You murmured, your eyes getting glossy with tears. "I can't do this without you, Eddie." Your voice could not be heard not even by you, your lips were moving without emitting any sound. "Of course you can. You'll learn how to." Tears started rolling down your cheeks, you thanked you were wearing no makeup. "I miss you too." Eddie confessed when he didn't receive an answer. "We didn't get to say our goodbyes."

"You weren't supposed to leave me." You mumbled between sobs. You caught the attention of the girl that was sitting behind you, she asked you if you were okay and offered you a tissue. You nodded and denied her offer by showing her a little smile. "I didn't run, y/n. I didn't run that time." Eddie sounded proud of himself. You bit your lip down. "Look, this is what you're gonna do. You're gonna snatch that diploma and your gonna live. For us. And I'm not leaving you, not now and not never. I'd be right next to you every day of your life, watching after you. You can consider me your guardian angel if you'd like but I don't think I'm getting any close to heaven." He let out a giggle. "You've been the greatest life partner I could've ever asked for. Please, live y/n." And then he disappeared. You turned your head to look at the chair next to you, empty again, when a gust of wind blew, it was soft, refreshing, it soothingly caressed your wet cheeks and it smelled like him.

You started doing what he said. The walk to get your diploma felt so long as you battled with your knees for them to not give up. Joyce and Hopper got up from their seats, their hands applauding at a scandalously fast pace, and Jonathan taking pictures of you with his best camera. You also could hear Steve's cheers from there, his hands on both sides of his mouth to project his voice louder. El and Will were also clapping their hands, big smiles on their faces. You took the guitar pick on your necklace and placed a kiss on the small object.

"This is for you, Eddie."

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bonesandchalamet · 10 months

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the fourth - j.fisher

masterlist

pairings: Jeremiah fisher x fem!reader

warnings: minor spelling/grammatical errors + fluff

a/n: super excited for the second season 😁😁

the Fourth of July on cousins beach was something else. it was far different from the normal parties at home. there were fireworks for miles at almost every hour of the night. the sky lit up in colors of red, white, blue, and sparkling shimmery gold.

there was nothing more magical than cousins beach lit up under the beautiful dazzling display.

however, you could think of a view much more beautiful to stare at. Jeremiah fisher.

he was one of Susannah’s boys that you began to develop a crush on. you’d seen him lifeguarding the pool from time to time. he’d been on the stand at your very first time at the country club, and while he was rotating around the pool, he crouched down to where you rest against the ledge, “you shouldn’t be in this pool.” he says, a playful smirk forms against his lips, “you’re making my job harder.”

from that point forward, you made it your mission to show up to that damn country club and in whatever skimpy bikini you could find to impress him. it’s what got you invited to the summer bash on the beach with his friends.

“this is Steven, who you’ve met he works at the club, belly, and my brother conrad. guys this is y/n.”

“you come here every summer?” belly asks, she’s the first to whisk you away from the three boys while they searched for the keg or any sightings of drinks.

“no, this is my first time.” you follow her along the sand, allowing the grains to slip into your sandals before situating yourselves towards the water.

“I can see you have an eye for Jeremiah.” belly nudges your shoulder before quickly turning her head in search of the boys. there wasn’t a sight of them for miles, so the coast was clear to chat of them, “he likes you too. he talks about you a lot.”

her emphasis makes you blush. having not known Jeremiah well enough, or even close enough, you’re unsure if he does this often. you’re unsure if it’s compliment that he speaks about you, or if he does this so often it’s annoying for his friends.

you don’t have too much time to question her before Jeremiah is kicking sand in your face and plopping down against the sand beside you. he’s brought two red solo cups, one for you and the other for him.

“thank you.” you smile. you take the cup from his hand, fingers briefly touching, his hand is wet from the condensation of the cup. you’re blushing even harder than when belly was talking about him, and you’re so thankful for the stars and the dark skies to mask it.

“I think shayla is here we should go find her.” belly suggests to conrad and Steven. while the three get up you catch belly’s eyes and she flashes a wink in your direction. you owe her for next time, and you’re sure there will be another.

“so you’ve never seen the fireworks here?” he scoots closer to you, thighs briefly brushing against each other.

you feel the butterflies in your stomach erupt as you look over into his eyes. the stars reflect in them, you can feel your heart beating faster when he looks over at you.

just as you begin to reply, the eruption of the crackles in the sky startles everything in you. you subconsciously jump closer to him, and feel his arm wrap around your shoulders, “I got you, it’s okay.” he chuckles while pulling you almost into his lap.

“I’m sorry I’m not normally scared.” you reply with a chuckle. you’re hesitant to relax against his body. he smells of sun tan lotion and a mixture of cologne, you could get used to that.

he turns his head in your direction. a small smile forms against his lips, “you’re beautiful under these stars.”

you inch closer, eyes glued on his lips. this is the only thing you could ever want. a kiss under the stars, fireworks erupting in the background. you want this.

you wonder what his lips taste like. do they taste like the beer he just drank? or perhaps the cherry popsicle he was previously sucking on that turned his lips bright red. the curiosity was killing you.

“that one’s pretty.” he swivels his head in the direction of the sky, index finger pointed at the golden shimmer against the darkness. you watch them for a moment, how they shimmer and dazzle.

for a moment, you feel the world stop around you. like life beyond you is just background noise and the fireworks are all you can see. you feel like a little kid again, wondering what life was like on cousins at age eight. you wonder how cute Jeremiah was then. you wonder if his family and belly’s did sparklers or cozied up under a fire to witness these very same Fourth of July fireworks.

it’s then when he takes his chance. he gently places his index finger under your chin and turns your face towards him. the curls that brush against his forehead gently tickle your forehead as he leans in. his lips fit like a glove. they taste like a mixture of cherry popsicle and bitter wheat beer he was illegally drinking.

you can feel fireworks in your own stomach erupting. they shoot up and dazzle over and over as he keeps kissing you. his hand is wrapped around the base of your head, fingers tangled in your hair.

“you taste like beer.” you say finally pulling away for air. you feel like you’re floating above water. heart is full of so much joy you’re smiling wider than you ever thought you could.

“is that why you stopped?”

you shake your head brushing a couple of strains of hair that stuck to your face from the wind, “no, I never wanna stop.”

“good,” he pauses for a second, fingers lacing into your hair again, “me neither.”

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sinsofsummers · 10 months

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sinsofsummers masterlist

what am i listening to while writing?? aka songsofsummers.

find my fics & turn on notifs for my sideblog to know when i post!

all fics will be/are 18+. smutty fics to come. beware and be aware. mdni. read the warnings!! i do my best to get them all, but let me know if i miss any!

🌻 = newest: up to a week old.

⏱️ = upcoming within a week!

requests are: closed!!!

joel miller

sensational | part two | 🌻 part three

summary: thanks to becoming an orphan at age 13, you've lived the rest of your life oblivious to all the world can offer. now that you're in jackson, joel miller ignites something in you that only he can give answers to.

cool about it

summary: it’s that day again. you don’t know why joel’s so withdrawn, but you help him manage it in the best way you know how. based on ‘cool about it’ by boygenius.

vicious (requested)

summary: joel fucks you with his gas mask on.

undone

summary: joel worships the day you went braless to his fourth of july party.

din djarin

🌻 push & pull

summary: you show din djarin how to have fun. this is the way. (complete mando au, does not follow canon at all.)

marc spector

insatiable

summary: giving marc head at any and all times of the day is your version of fun.

#sinsofsummers #joel miller smut #din djarin smut #javi peña smut

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brains4brawn · 11 months

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Summer Camp, Football

I was so excited for science camp, it would be my last year as I would start college in the fall. The camp was huge and divided into four major sections; Arts, Sports, Science, and Space with Sports taking up most of the land. The different parts of the camp didn't mingle too much but every Fourth of July there was a gigantic celebration.

It was great seeing old friends and getting to bunk in one of the smaller Sci cabins. My best friend Jeff was assigned with me and we went over the catalog to see what classes there were for the seniors.

In the distance we could hear the rowdy football jocks. It was a trade off, the smaller more private cabins were on the outer perimeter close to the sports section, specifically the footballers. Jeff and I just ignored them while we made our schedules for the following 8 weeks. I started to unpack my huge suitcase into the dresser beside my bed, in the second drawer was a small football key chain with the camp logo emblazoned on it. I picked it up and got a slight static shock, I showed it to Jeff and he thought that some meathead must have forgotten it. We both laughed and well both got slightly turned on at the thought of one of those jocks sleeping in our beds.

The day went by quickly and soon we had our introduction dinner and met everyone in Sci. Soon though I was in bed, tired but excited for tomorrow.

Tomorrow came to early, I awoke at 4:19 am with tons of energy! It was like lightning had struck, i bounced out of bed and began to quietly pace hoping not to disturb Jeff. I decided to go outside where I heard grunting in the distance. I followed the sounds to a flat track woven in-between some cabins where some big jocks were doing an early morning run. One of them saw me and motioned to me, for some reason i went closer. This guy was stunning, he was shirtless and showing off his rock hard body. I felt my penis begin to tent as i drew close, He asked why I was here and I made up some story that my dad always takes me on early jogs and if i could join them. He looked me over and then said that any bro is welcome to join.

I got back around 6:30 my body sore but energized. Jeff was still softly snoring on his side of the cabin. I quickly went to the bathroom and took a shower. Jeff was just getting out of bed when I re-entered the bedroom, he rushed past me into the vacant bathroom, while he was getting ready I still was overcome with energy. I went to a spot on the wood floor and proceeded to do some pushups until I heard the shower turn off.

The next week flew by as I developed a new morning routine. Every morning I'd be up at 4am and jogging with Seth and his bros. They were all really welcoming, and I was having a great time just not thinking. Heck, Jeff even commented one day that I was looking healthier. It felt weird to keep this from my best friend but I know he wouldn't understand. Even though the guys here were awesome, Jeff had been bullied practically his entire life back home.

Afternoons soon became torture as my Sci projects were becoming harder to focus on. My body was brimming with energy and I couldn't wait for the two hours of free time before dinner. Jeff and I used to sit and watch the hunky Jocks play their different sports during the afternoon breaks but now I had the urge to join them. I feel bad for ditching Jeff but now I get in the water and go for a swim or grab some boots and go on a short hike.

Its been almost four weeks since camp started and I haven't felt this good in years. Every morning I get up and run with my bro Seth and the gang, then go and work out at the sports camp gym. By the time I get back to the cabin to shower and change Jeff is already gone. I feel bad for the little bro, he's obviously gay and a guy with my bod can't be easy to room with. It still kinda sucks that I'm in a Sci cabin but at least I'm not far from the rest of the footballers. After morning PT I go to strategy sessions and game history. Then the afternoon is spent playing touch footie with the guys.

The Fourth of July was a blast. All the different sports teams came together and we had scrimmages all day. The Sci Nerds showed off some dope looking robots and the Space Dweebs launched rockets. Later on the Theater Dorks put on a talent show, then came a cookout dinner BBQ. Lastly came the fireworks. As the sky was bombarded by the light, I noticed Jeff off by himself. Not wanting anyone to be alone I picked up my things and moved closer to him. Sitting next to him it was hard not to notice just how much smaller my cabin bro was.

At first he tried to ignore me, but fuck i am not someone who is ignored easily. I scooted my perfect ass up beside him and he told me to go away. I just sat there letting him get used to my presence, I felt an odd need to be protective of the little guy. I heard a sigh and then in a whisper Jeff asked if I knew how perfect I was.

Well duh, I am tall proportionally muscular and let's face it, any guy would be lucky to have a piece of me. Something awoke inside me, feelings that I knew were there but didn't want to admit. I was Mr. Popular, big man on campus, life of the party, but somewhere in the last month I had devolved a crush on this lonely nerd.

It was after midnight when Jeff and I got back to the cabin. I woke up with the little nerd spooning against my bod. Fuck it felt good having him next to me, my morning wood pressed against his back. Jeff woke up slowly and I felt the goosebumps as he realized his situation. His head tilted up and he looked into my eyes, I took the chance and kissed him gently..... which quickly turned into a passionate make out session... which....well, let's say the little nerd is one of the best cocksuckers ever. The moment I erupted into his mouth a slight bit of static electricity passed from me into him.

From then on we became inseparable. Jeff joined me for morning PT and came to support the team in our mock tournament with our sister campgrounds, while I tried my best to support his Sci shit. By the time we left, Jeff had put on some decent size and was getting along with all my bros on the team.

Epilogue:

Two men stand in the tiny cabin, marveling at how they'd spent so much time in such a cramped space. The taller man had just finished his second season in the NFL while his shorter husband had become the CEO of his own successful startup. The men stood there, reminiscing on how they met the summer before college and how they couldn't imagine life without each other. Jeff gave his husband's hand a squeeze before the two of them started their summers as owners of this special place.

#nerdtojock #reality change #male muscle growth #mentaltf #muscletf #personality change #muscle god #Ai art #Muscle4all #tf

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taylorsv3rsion13 · 10 months

Text

we never go out of style || c.f.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

words : 3.0k

synopsis : things were always rocky for conrad and you. after the whole break up, will everything be the same the year later? or will it all turn to shit.

(belly and cam cameron are a thing in this series btw)

The Fourth of July for me was one of my favorite holidays. It's a tradition in Cousins. Susannah decorates the whole house, the dad's come up for the weekend, the boys shoot off fireworks, and most importantly, I get to see my mom.

Usually I was just here, following after the boys with Belly. But this year, I feel like I'm apart of the plans. I have friends.

I finished eating the rest of my cereal.

"Can I have your milk?" Jeremiah said from beside me.

"Yeah. You and your weird obsession with milk." I laughed a little.

I watched as he chugged down the rest of the milk in my bowl/

Conrad walked into the kitchen, "Yo, I'm gonna go wash off the clams. Did you get the lighter fluid?"

"Mm! Yeahh, it's already on the beach." Jeremiah said, a milk mustache on his face.

Conrad whistled in response.

Steven and Susannah came in, Steven wearing a nice dress shirt and Susannah wearing her overalls and t-shirts.

"Are we done with the portrait?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, for today." Susannah smiled.

This year she was painting portraits of all of us. She used to paint them when we were younger, but then we all stopped.

"But you do look good in a dress shirt, Steven." Susannah complimented. "Oh! Which makes me think. If Belly doesn't hurry up and ask Cam to the ball, you should take her."

"Ew. No way." Belly exclaimed from beside me.

"No, no, no, yeah, yeah, I'm already going with Shayla." Steven added.

"To the debutante ball?" Laurel asked as she walked in, holding a batch of towels.

"Yes." Steven said laughing a little.

"As an escort?" Laurel asked.

"Yes mom. Shayla's coming today with Nicole and Gigi, so you'll meet her." Steven said.

"That's wonderful." Susannah smiled. "Oh and girls, don't forget that Ms. Covington's first rehearsal is tomorrow, so uh, tick-tock. I'm not as worried for Belly, but Y/N, you haven't found anyone."

"I know, I know, I'll get to it." I said to Susannah, smiling.

"Yes, and I'm asking Cam today." Belly said.

"Suddenly, I don't know any of these kids anymore." Laurel exclaimed.

I looked at Laurel, squinting my eyes a little, "Wait are you wearing makeup?"

"Yeah, she's wearing makeup." Steven said.

"Oh, my god. She definitely is!" Susannah squealed.

"So What? We're having a party." Laurel said.

"Mhm." I nodded, winking at her. "Anywho, I'm going to go finish getting ready."

From the window of my room, I could see Conrad, shirtless as he was cleaning the clams.

I put on a semi sheer mesh crop top that was red, and a pair of blue jean shorts. I had also added in a white bow in my hair.

I walked downstairs, Laurel making eye contact with me.

Susannah pushed past her though, "Oh my god, look at how gorgeous she looks!"

"Oh Belly, I need you to make up the guest bed." Laurel said to Belly.

"It's okay, I'll make the bed this year. I know Belly's getting ready for Cam." I winked

"Wait, Dad and Victoria are staying here?" Belly asked.

Laurel just gave her a stern look.

"In the room next to mine?" Belly whined.

"Yeah." Laurel smiled, as Belly groaned making us laugh.

Susannah jumped up, "Oh, speaking of dads, yours called. He's closing a deal, so... he can't come."

Jeremiah looked at Susannah blankly, "What?"

The back door closed and Conrad came in, "Did you say Dad's not coming?"

"Mhm." Susannah said.

"But I got some serious fireworks for the show this year." Conrad said.

Susannah shrugged, "We'll take a video."

"It's not the same." Jeremiah mumbled.

Conrad leaned against the kitchen sink, smiling and staring into nothing.

"What are you so smiley about?" I asked, smirking at him.

"No reason." He smiled back.

I took out a flat white sheet, throwing it up into the air and watching as it fell down onto the mattress.

I heard a laugh from the door and Conrad stood there, watching as I put the sheet on the bed, "You have to fold the bottom sheet at a 45 degree angle if you want the tight corners."

I sighed, attempting to fold the corners in a 45 degree angle.

"Yeah not like that." Conrad laughed.

"Okay then, help me." I said, putting the sheet down and laughing a little.

I moved out of the way as Conrad moved to the bed.

"You have to pull this down." He said, as he fluffed the sheet a little. "Like this. Come here."

I shuffled over to his side of the bed as I watched him fold the sheets.

"See?" He asked as he stared straight at me.

"Thank you" I chuckled.

This was the first time I've seen Conrad normal. Like last year. We were actually getting along.

"Do you think it's weird how my mom isn't staying in the house this year?" I asked.

"No, what if she's seeing someone." Conrad asked.

"Ew no." I said to him.

Conrad threw a pillow at me, making me laugh.

"It's gonna be fine, don't worry about it." Conrad smiled.

God his smile. It always made me melt like this.

"Sorry your dad isn't coming this year." I said, looking up to him.

"Don't be. I'm not."

"Y/N?" I heard Laurel's voice shout from downstairs.

"She's here!" I exclaimed, grabbing ahold of Conrad's arm and running down the stairs with him.

My mom stood, her arms held out wide open, but a man was behind her...

"Mom!" I screamed as I let go of Conrad's arm and ran up to hug her.

"Y/N!" My mom said, hugging me back.

I smiled as I looked at her, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you as well! Oh and this is Daniel, he's my..."

"Boyfriend?" I asked.

She smiled, "Yeah, I think I told you about him."

"Yeah, you did, just not his name." I said.

I walked up to him, "Hi Daniel."

"Hi Y/N, it's so nice to meet you. Your mom has said so much about you." He said.

I went inside as my mom and Daniel stayed outside talking to Laurel and Susannah.

Another car pulled up, and we easily recognized it as Belly's dad.

All of us peered out from the window in the door.

"Woah, she's hot." Conrad exclaimed from beside me.

"Conrad." I scolded, hitting him in the arm.

"I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking."

"I wasn't thinking that." Belly said defensively.

In a minute, Conrad and Steven began play righting because of Conrad's remark about Victoria being their potential step-mom.

For once this whole summer, it made us feel like all the summers before. As if nothing had ever changed.

"Guys! They're coming!" I said, hitting Conrad in the arm again.

Jeremiah, Conrad, and I ran into the house, leaving Steven and Belly to greet the parents.

The party was amazing. Gigi was talking to Susannah, Jeremiah was hanging out with Victoria, and Conrad was hanging out with Nicole...

I mostly hung out with Belly as she waited for Cam to show up.

Jeremiah, Belly and were mixing up concoctions in the kitchen after Victoria had showed us how to make her pomegranate margaritas.

"What are you three making?" Conrad asked as he came into the house.

"Pomegranate margaritas!" I exclaimed.

"But with a twist." Belly added.

"Well you have to use the good blender." Conrad said as he showed off a blender.

Jeremiah just stared at the blender. "Oh no. I haven't used that blender since the great Kool-Aid debacle of 2011."

Conrad laughed a little, "I remember, the counters were sticky for- two summers?"

"Ew. I remember that." I said.

Suddenly, it was four of us making margaritas for everyone. We added in protein powder for fun.

"No! Keep your hands on it!" Jeremiah yelled over the blender as we let go of the lid.

"Dude, you know what I miss?" Conrad asked Jeremiah.

"Huh?" Jeremiah asked.

"Watching Laurel and Amanda put Dad in his place. They'd walk in and they'd be like, "Adam." " Conrad said, accenting the name Adam.

"Adam." Laurel and my mom said as they entered the kitchen "You came."

All of us turned our heads to behind us to see Jeremiah and Conrad's dad walking through the door frame.

"Happy Fourth!" Adam said.

I looked over to Conrad, who didn't look as happy as he was a few seconds before.

"Dad!" Jeremiah said, "You came." He ran up and hugged his dad.

"Hey guys, hey Connie." Adam said. "I'll have a little of what you're mixing up there."

"Oh yeah sure." I smiled, handing him a glass.

"Y/N! How have you been?" Adam asked.

"Good, I've taken a lot of time to work on myself."

"Where'd everyone go?" Susannah's voice came out through the kitchen.

Adam looked over to the door, "Hey."

"Adam. You managed to get off work." Susannah said, yet I could sense the tension between the two of them.

"Yeah, how could I miss the Fourth with my family?" Adam said, smiling.

The tension was thick in the kitchen. None of us making a sound as we all stared at each other awkwardly.

"All right, well, let's get back to the party." Susannah said, clapping her hands.

I followed out after Belly and tried to get away from the kitchen as fast as we could.

All of us made it to the beach, hanging out and talking.

"May I present! The Belly special!" Belly exclaimed as she came down with a pitcher of the pomegranate margarita.

Nicole and Conrad were sitting next to each other on two different sun chairs, Cam Cameron had come and he was sitting on the inflatable unicorn with Belly, Steven and Shayla were sharing a floatie, and Jeremiah and I were sharing one as well.

Somehow, we had turned this into a drinking game, with all of us drinking much more than we probably should have.

I don't get Conrad." Nicole said as all of the girls sat on the dock. "It's like one minute, he's all over me, and he stays over, but we don't even fuck, right?"

Shayla, Belly, and I nodded.

"And then this morning, he's like, super into me, he was all over me, and now he's like all about football." Nicole continued. "And I know you've dated him before, Y/N, so like, what's up with him?"

"Oh yeah, he's really hard to read. Especially this year."

"Do you really think he actually likes me?" Nicole asked.

"Of course he does, Nicole. He talks about you to everyone a lot." I said.

"Really?" Nicole asked.

I nodded yes.

"Hi!" Cam said as he came down.

There was a water bottle in hand, "You may want to hydrate." He smiled as he offered it to Belly.

Belly smiled cheerfully as she grabbed his cheeks, "Cam Cameron, you are so sweet! Isn't he sweet?" She asked us clearly under the influence.

Shayla smiled, "Mhm."

"Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" Cameron asked.

"Belly, by the way, I love that dress." Shayla complimented.

"Really?" Belly asked. "Thanks, Taylor got it for me actually."

"Mm, Taylor has great taste." Shayla smiled.

Belly laughed a little, "Yeah, I know, right? She totally does. Oh, my god. You know what? You and Taylor are like twins." Belly laughed yet again as she rambled. "Because you're both super into fashion and you're both like baddies. And you both like the same summer boys, which is.."

Shayla laughed awkwardly, "We do?"

I made eye contact with Cameron as he nodded subtly.

"Come on. Let's go for that walk." Cameron said as he tried to get Belly to sit up.

"No, no, no, Cam!" Belly said. "I'm talking. One sec. Look Shayla, like don't worry, because my brother is an absolute idiot. And it didn't mean anything."

"Let's go for a walk." Cameron said again more urgently.

"Wait, what? What didn't mean anything?" Shayla asked.

Belly stammered, "Uh, them-them kissing."

"Hey..." I said as I pushed Belly closer to the land.

"It was like... He like, loves you. He loves you and, wait, does anyone want another drink?" Belly asked.

I could see the look on Shayla's face. It dropped straight to sadness.

"Everyone's leaving. Tell them not to go." Belly said as she motioned to the group of girls packing up.

"Stay, you guys." I said, though they knew I was slightly urging them to leave.

"Oh, Shayla doesn't feel to well. I think we had a little too much." Nicole said.

"Oh, okay, but I mean. I still feel. I still feel gr-great." Belly said.

"I'm gonna head out as well." Cam said as he took the glass from Belly.

"Why?" Belly asked.

"I just think that we can catch up when you know, you're a little less..."

"A little less?"

"Um, just drink a lot of water."

"Okay. But I'm not, I'm not drunk." Belly explained.

I knew shit was going bad, so I walked off, away from the drama that had basically already unfolded.

"Conrad!" I said as I saw him walking past in the bushes as Belly and Cam were still talking.

"Yeah?" Conrad asked as we both began walking with each other. His body was covered in dirt.

"Belly's messing a little stuff up..." I said.

"Oh she's hammered." He laughed a little.

I watched as Conrad began to wipe off the dirt from his body with the cold water in the shower.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did you buy me this for my birthday?" I asked, holding onto the sun charm. "And did you buy yourself a matching one? The moon to the sun?"

He just stared at me in shock, his mouth slightly hung open.

"Are you drunk as well?"

"No, I've had little to none to drink." I laughed.

"Wait, so you did give it to me?"

"Can you give me some privacy, please?"

Susannah came walking out, holding onto the cake.

"Where'd all the kids go?" Susannah asked.

"Uh, more for us." My mom laughed.

"I agree, Amanda." Susannah smiled.

Belly came out of the kitchen after Susannah, "Ooh! I want the piece with the strawberries!"

Her foot twisted and I watched as she fell to the floor, bringing Susannah and the cake down as well, shattering the cake stand.

"Belly, are you okay?" I asked, running to her.

"Honey, are you okay?" Adam said as he ran to Susannah "Here let me help you."

"Adam I'm fine." Susannah said as Adam attempted to help her up."I got it. I got it. I got it."

"Come on, please." Adam said.

"Stop it." Susannah hissed through gritted teeth. "Now, just go away." Susannah said.

"I-I'm sorry." Belly said as she stared at Susannah on the floor.

"Come on, let's go." Belly's dad said as she helped get Belly up from the floor.

I helped the boys as we cleaned up the backyard. The adults were inside, discussing what ever, while also checking in on Belly.

Conrad swept up the pieces of cake in the water with a net and Jeremiah and Steven threw away plastic cups and other things.

Jeremiah and Steven were bickering about who was worse at throwing cups or keeping a garbage bag open.

"Hey, dumb and dumber, can you guys get the fireworks ready and Y/N and I will clean up." Conrad said.

"Yeah, sure." Jeremiah responded.

I looked over to the left and Adam came out from inside. Conrad seemed a bit tense, but he continued to pick up the pieces of trash left behind.

"You go talk to him, I'll clean up." I said, taking the bag away from Conrad.

"Hey, Dad." Conrad said.

"Oh. Hey." Adam responded as he took out his cigarette.

"Yeah, and Belly's upstairs with her dad."

"Why'd you let her get so drunk?" Adam asked, "You're lucky her and your mom didn't get hurt."

"I didn't know she had a lot to drink." Conrad said.

"You're the oldest, you're supposed to look out for the younger kids. And you haven't been doing that. This year or last year."

"I don't know why, but I just thought I could talk to you." Conrad scoffed before walking back into the house.

"Con." I called out, but he didn't respond.

His dad had also attempted to make some conversation but that didn't work.

"Just leave, Dad." Conrad said.

I walked in after Conrad, but he was nowhere in the bottom level. I ran up to his room, not even caring to knock.

"Hey, Connie." i said, as I sat down beside him. He had his head in his hands.

"You know you can knock." Conrad said cooly.

I sighed, "Conrad, I know your dad is being a dick right now. But please. It's the Fourth."

He stared straight at me. Just staring and nothing else.

I could feel myself melt under his gaze. And it sucked. Did I like him again? It feels like I did after all the encounters we've had.

"What, is something on my face?" I asked as I began to wipe around my mouth.

He laughed a little, "No, no, just thinking."

I grabbed a towel and ran out to the pool. It was nights like these that the pool felt even more alive. When it was the Fourth and people would light up fireworks in the sky.

What caught my eye was Conrad standing at the docks.

Do I run to him?

Yes...

"Do you hate me?" I sighed as I stood beside him.

Conrad turned to look at me with a smile, "Who could ever hate you."

"Y/N" Conrad said, breaking the moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"About the necklace..."

"Oh, no please, I'm sorry I even brought it up, I was just messing around. I know it's probably for Nicole or something." I laughed a little.

"No, no... I um... I actually did get it for you and for us."

I stared up at him, "Then why didn't you give it to me? Why did your mom give it to me?"

"I don't know." He whispered. "I got embarrassed I guess."

"Why?" I asked.

"Y/N, you don't know the effect that you can have on people." Conrad said in all seriousness.

I laughed awkwardly, "Effect on people? Conrad, I don't, I just don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah..." He said quietly, "You do."

I felt us get closer, closer than we have ever been in a year. He stared down at my lips and I stared up at his. We were inches away. Inches before I could have fucked everything up for us.

A firework came from behind us as it sparked green in the sky, bringing my attention away from him.

I stared back up at Conrad, hoping he would come and look back at me. But he didn't, so I only looked back down.

Yet, I could still feel his gaze straight on me as I looked away. He wanted me to look back to him as well, but I didn't. I just couldn't meet his eyes.

I breathed heavily as we both stared across the water, watching the fireworks light up in the sky.

I knew we both felt the same. And I knew we just couldn't get back together.

#conrad fisher x reader #jeremiah fisher #the summer i turned pretty #conrad x y/n #tsitp #belly conklin #conrad fisher #steven conklin #taylor jewel #susannah beck #susannah fisher #laurel conklin #summer #tsitp season 1 #tsitp season 2

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pedrito-friskito · 1 year

Text

strawberry wine - joel miller x fem!reader

during - part five

series masterlist | main masterlist | read on ao3

and then it all comes crashing down.

a/n: outbreak day! plus the time leading up. I couldn’t bring myself to write joel’s side of the tragedy, but here we are. the start of “during”. potentially a little bit of canon-divergence from here until the “after”, but I’m trying to stick with that information we have, while filling in the gaps for reader’s story. (“after” will be when they leave boston with ellie)

word count: 4.4k

warnings: MY BLOG IS 18+, MINORS DNI, angst, fluff, a super brief mention of 9/11, this is definitely not as sad as part four but it’s also involves outbreak day so there’s that, canon-typical violence, death, yes I am turning reader into a badass and I will not apologize.

✨follow @friskito-library and turn on notifications for updates on new works/chapters✨

You never really stop thinking about him. And he never really stops being apart of your life, not truly.

He’s the first person you call, when the Towers fall in New York, not a week after you’ve started your internship. You see it on television, standing in line to get your boss his daily latte, and you pull out your cell phone without a second thought, dialling Joel’s number. “Have you seen the news?”

A freak snowstorm stops you from getting home for Christmas that year; the airport is a disaster to get through after everything that’s happened, so you take a few days off to drive it instead, but you can’t even get out of the state, let alone across the country. So your holidays that year are spent with local friends you’ve made at work, calling your family on Christmas Day and New Year’s.

You try to call Joel on New Year’s, to wish him a good year as the clock strikes twelve, but the call goes to voicemail, and your friends are counting down the ball drop as you ramble into the phone.

Hey, it’s me! Just calling to say Happy New Year, hope you’re having a good night. And hope I get to see more of you in 2002. That year sounds so funny, doesn’t it? Talk to you soon, Joel Miller. Bye.

You almost say it, the words creeping up the back of your throat. The missing him hasn’t abated, even with the time and the distance. You sleep in one of the flannel shirts you’d stolen every night, and you’ll admit that you cried a little when you had to wash them, realizing that it would wash the scent of him away almost completely.

The phone calls get more sporadic, and you don’t blame him. There’s only an hour time difference between Texas and Massachusetts, but it feels like much more. You’re off-kilter from one another, always seeming to catch each other’s voicemail instead of the real person.

You manage to make it home for the Fourth of July the following summer, your internship having turned into a real job, but a real job that’s kept you busier than ever for the first half of the year. Your boss is, blessedly, understanding, and lets you take two weeks to go back to Austin.

He meets you at the airport, your name scrawled on a piece of paper, a bouquet of daisies in his grip, and you nearly burst into tears right there in the terminal. Your entire two weeks is filled with him, though you try to split your time between the Miller’s house and your own, letting your sister talk your ear off more than she already does on the phone, taking a few afternoons to help your dad around the hardware store. But almost every night finds you in Joel’s bed.

You all go to the park for fireworks on the Fourth. Your parents are re-introduced to Joel, though you’re both adamantly just calling each other “good friends” — which earns you an eye roll from your sister. Sarah runs around the field with the other kids, waving sparklers and giggling like mad. You stick close to Joel, the three of you sitting on a blanket in the grass, and you watch the firework together, your head resting on his shoulder, his arm swung around your waist. Sarah’s too preoccupied with the firework display to notice.

When you get home the next morning, your sister hands you a polaroid, the words July 4th 2002 written in sharpie along the border. It’s you and Joel, backlit, your head on his shoulder as a gigantic white firework explodes in the night sky. You don’t know what to say.

“I know you never wanted to leave him,” she says, and you nearly burst into tears as you hug her.

It’s another tearful goodbye when your two weeks are up, and you’re a fool to think it’d be any easier than the first time. You say goodbye to your parents first, and Joel picks you up in his truck, taking you to the airport. He kisses you deeply outside, burying his hands in your hair and squeezing you tight before letting you go.

And always the same farewell, the same thing he said when you first left, the same thing he’s said at the end of every phone call.

“Take care of yourself, baby.”

You meet Dean through a friend of a friend.

It’s almost Christmas, 2002, and you haven’t been home since July. Your phone calls with Joel have dwindled to almost non-existent; you just don’t have the time. Work is busy, to the point where you find yourself still sat at your desk until nearly midnight some nights. And you’re still missing each other, voicemails left occasionally, the missed calls stacking up through the week until it’s the weekend and you feel too tired to put yourself through the heartbreak of hearing his voice.

Hey, darlin’, it’s me. I keep missin’ ya, I guess. Hope you’re doin’ okay. Don’t work too hard, yeah? Been thinking about you a lot and I just…Take care of yourself.

It felt like a goodbye. Standing in your kitchen, takeout spread out on your counter, chopsticks in hand. He hadn’t said it, not specifically. There was no I can’t do this anymore, no this hurts too much, doesn’t it hurt you too? But it still felt like a finality, of sorts.

You took the takeout to bed with a bottle of wine.

That weekend, your friends drag you out to some party. A housewarming thing for someone you don’t know, a fancy loft on the other side of the city. It’s as good a reason as any to get out of your head, throwing on a new dress and a bit of makeup. You do shots in your apartment before piling into a cab, tipsy by the time you get to the party. There’s lots of faces you don’t know, your friends pulling you through the crowds, one of them grinning at you.

“You have to meet Dean.”

He’s tall. Sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes and he’s a lawyer. He laughs at your jokes and gets you another drink when you finish your first. He’s from Boston; a pure-bred, he tells you, and chuckles when you ask to see his pedigree.

You wake up in his bed the next day, your dress and shoes scattered on the floor of his stupidly nice apartment, head throbbing with a hangover, guilt bubbling up on your tongue like bile. Dean makes you coffee and calls you a cab, gives you a business card with his number on it. “God, this feels like a business deal,” he says, shaking his head, nearly taking the card back. “I can find a takeout menu or something, write my number on that instead.”

“No, this is good,” you laugh, and the guilt mixes with something strangely giddy when he kisses you goodbye.

When you get home, you wrap yourself in the flannel you’d taken from Joel, and weep. Part of you whispers that you shouldn’t feel guilty, that Joel’s all the way across the country, that you two aren’t technically together to begin with, but it does little to ease the ache in your chest.

Your friend calls in the early afternoon, and when she hears the crack in your voice, she’s on your doorstep not thirty minutes later. You spill your guts — recount the story of you and Joel, show her the polaroid from the Fourth of July, tell her everything, until you’re crying on your couch again.

“Honey, maybe you should talk to him,” she tells you, and you know she’s right, but the idea of talking to Joel just makes your chest hurt more. “This isn’t good for either of you, holding on like this when you can’t be together. Talk to him.”

Joel beats you to the punch, calling you shortly after your friend has left. “Hey, finally got you instead of your voicemail.”

“Hah, yeah,” you reply, sinking a little deeper into the couch. “Sorry I keep missing you.”

“S’okay,” he mumbles, and it only hurts more when you can almost see him in your head, sitting on his couch or at the edge of his bed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” you lie, wiping the wet from your cheeks. “Just busy lately, y’know?”

“Yeah,” he agrees, then pauses. “You sure you’re okay?”

You inhale deeply, feeling the air rattle its way through your lungs. “Joel, I met someone.”

It’s a long moment, before he says anything, so long you think you’ve lost him for a second, that he hung up. But then, “That’s good.”

“Is it?”

“No,” he says instantly, and you both let out watery laughs. “No, but it…It is good. You’re all the way out there and I’m here and…Missin’ you, not havin’ you around, it hurts, y’know?”

“I do,” you agree, biting into your lower lip when it wobbles. “I miss you too, Joel, it’s just—”

“I know, baby,” he replies, and the tone in his voice makes your eyes slip shut, tears pouring down your cheeks. “I gotta go, I promised Sarah movie night. We’ll….we’ll talk soon, alright?” A pause. “Take care of yourself.”

The line goes dead for real then, and you launch your phone across the room, groaning when it lands on the carpet and doesn’t smash to pieces. You bury yourself in the pillows on the couch, and just cry.

Dean calls the following week, and asks you out to dinner. Dinner evolves into more than that, more dates and more conversation. He works two blocks down from you, and brings you coffee every morning on his way to his office. He takes you to museums and art galleries and introduces you to his friends. It’s easy to fall for him, and you let yourself do it. He kisses you at midnight on New Year’s, whispers that 2003 is going to be the best year of your lives.

You have no idea how wrong he will turn out to be.

It’s September 26th, 2003. It’s your twenty-fifth birthday.

It starts out like a normal day; as normal as it can be, lately. You’ve made a point to ignore the news as best you can, letting Dean recap it for you when he gets home each day, filling you in on the water cooler talk that you only half listen to.

Dean’s up and gone when you wake up, but there’s a birthday card beside your pillow, a cartoon cake with a silly face. You’re another year older… And the inside reads: and other year cuter! Happy Birthday! It’s cheesy and you scoff out a laugh, getting up and going about your morning routine. A fire truck screams down the road when you walk out of the building, cop cars trailing after it, but you think nothing of it; sirens are a common occurrence in the city.

It’s a short walk from your apartment — the apartment you now share with Dean, the pair of you having relocated somewhere that was closer to both your jobs — to work, and you stop by your favourite coffee shop, only slightly disappointed when they don’t have the raspberry scones you like. “It’s a supply chain thing,” the girl behind the counter tells you with a shrug. “They haven’t been able to get ingredients in for weeks. I’m just glad we have coffee.”

“That makes two of us,” you agree, taking your cup with a nod. “Have a good day!”

“You, too!”

There’s a big bouquet of roses waiting on your desk, the card signed with Dean’s name, and the other girls ooh and ahh at the arrangement. One of them asks you if you think he’ll propose, and you have to resist the urge to sprint in the opposite direction.

Dean calls on your lunch break, tells you he’s already pre-ordered from your favourite Thai place, and it’ll be waiting for you when you get home from your post-work drinks with your friends. When he tells you he loves you, it still makes your chest ache, just a touch.

You still think about Joel. It’s hard not to. After that last call, when you told him you’d met Dean, you called back a few days later, unable to stop yourself. There were apologies, from both him and you, and the conversation ended with a promise that you’d still stay in touch, that it would still be friendly between you, and that maybe someday could be an option, if the time was right, but you wouldn’t stand in each other’s way.

So you’ve stayed in touch. The phone calls are still more sporadic than anything, but it’s always nice to hear his voice, and he always has a joke to crack. And, consistent Joel Miller, at the end of every phone call: “Take care of yourself, darlin’.”

You get a surprising amount of work done that day, your friends appearing at five o’clock on the dot and dragging you away from your computer. You let them buy you happy hour drinks and put a Birthday Princess tiara on your head, laugh your way through the evening until it’s almost nine. You thank you friends and leave the bar, and think as you walk past one of the little corner store grocery shops that you could really use a chocolate bar.

You’re walking down the toiletries aisle, the basket hanging from your elbow filled with not just chocolate, but a few other things you couldn’t resist, when your phone rings, an Austin area code flashing on the screen.

“I didn’t know today was your birthday,” Joel says by way of hello, and you giggle. “How have I known you this long and not known that you and I have the same birthday?”

“You never asked,” you answer, reaching for a tissue box with a fun pattern, “and it never came up, really. Wait, today’s your birthday too?”

“Thirty-six and still breathin’,” he confirms, and you can’t help the grin that spreads across your face. “I stopped by the hardware store today for a few things, your dad told me.”

“Ahh.” Your parents had called you just before you’d left for work. “That store must be so boring without me in it.”

“It really is,” Joel agrees, and then his voice drops. “No one around to make out with in the aisles.” A beat, and then. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” you say quickly, shaking your head even though you know he can’t see it, the memory of being pressed between the shelves of paint cans and Joel Miller making your face heat. “It’s a good memory.”

“It is,” he agrees, making a little humming noise. “So, boyfriend got big plans for you tonight?”

“Thai food and a movie,” you tell him, grabbing a bottle of toilet cleaner. “Just left the bar, had some drinks with my work friends. Never really been a big birthday person, y’know?”

“You’re preaching to the choir, darlin’.”

“What about you, Joel Miller?” you ask, heading down the next aisle. A lot of the shelves are empty, and it makes your brow furrow. “What big birthday plans do you have this evening?”

“Hah, none,” he replies. “Working a double with Tommy, just took a break now. Told Sarah I’d be home by nine, but I don’t know if that’ll work out. They gave us the wrong size for the headers and…” He trails off. “That doesn’t mean anything to you, does it?”

“I’d listen to you read the phone book,” you joke. “At least get yourself a cake? Something like that? If I’d known we shared the same birthday I would have had my sister bring something over for you.”

“Sarah made me breakfast, got me out of bed on time. That’s all I need, really.”

“Is it?”

You don’t mean the question to sound as heavy as it does, and silence hangs between you for a long moment before you stutter out an apology. Joel’s quick to change the subject.

“Boyfriend is still your boyfriend, right? No ring on your finger yet?”

“You know, you’re the second person to bring that up today,” you say, heading down the next aisle. It’s just as empty as the one before, and your confusion deepens. “You want the truth?”

“Generally.”

“If he asked, I don’t think I’d say yes.” Heat rises in your face, and you stutter again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“You can tell me anything,” he replies, and there’s a softness in his tone that you recognize, making warmth spread through your chest. “I’m always here for you, darlin’. I know things are different now, but I’m still here.”

“I appreciate that.”

You hear Tommy’s voice in the background, and Joel curses under his breath. “I gotta go. Enjoy your night. Happy Birthday.”

“You, too. Happy Birthday, Joel,” you reply, a smile in your voice, and then the line clicks off.

You loop through the rest of the aisles, sliding your phone back into your pocket. When you ask the cashier about the empty shelves, you get the same answer you’d gotten at the coffee shop. “Supply chain issues.”

The apartment is quiet when you get inside, tossing your keys into the bowl beside the door. The Thai food is sitting on the counter, as promised, and you set your grocery bags down beside it, stealing a few noodles before calling for Dean. “Honey, I’m home!”

There’s no response, and you assume he must be in the shower, so you pad down the hall. The bedroom light is off, moonlight flooding through the window, and as you step into the doorway, you see him, standing there, facing the window. His hands are at his sides, and as you watch, his hand twitches, the movement making your brow furrow.

“Dean?” you call, taking a half-step forward. In an instant, something feels wrong, and worry rises in your chest, makes your heart racket against your ribs. “Babe, what’s going on?”

He turns then, so fast you can’t even blink before it happens. And he just…stares. There’s no light in his eyes, just a dead look that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You say his name again, the worry seeping into your voice, and then he snarls.

“Fuck.”

You don’t understand what’s happening, but your body seems to react of it’s own accord. Dean lunges toward you, an inhuman sound falling out of him, and your eyes skirt around, looking for something to protect yourself with as he scrambles over the bed, limbs flailing, those dead eyes boring into you. Your hand flashes out, curling around the leather-wrapped handle of the baseball bat, and as you’re knocked to the ground, you use it as a barrier, shoving the metal against his chest.

His face is all wrong. It’s not just the dead eyes; his teeth are yellowed and his gums blackened as he snaps at you, trying to claw at you. White marks have risen all over his face, spreading out like a map beneath his skin.

What the fuck is going on?

You manage to plant your foot on his chest, and shove with all your might, yelling as the movement makes your knees twinge. He doesn’t go far, but it’s enough to get him off of you, and you scramble backwards, throwing the door shut as you run for the kitchen, the bat held tightly in your grasp. Heart racing, you find the biggest knife you can in the kitchen, sucking down hurried breaths. You’re in shock.

There’s a flash of red outside the balcony door, and you turn to see flames explode from the building across from yours. On the streets below, cars start to crash into each other, the sound of sirens twice as loud. You can hear people screaming, even through the glass.

A loud bang pulls you back into the apartment, and you turn just as Dean comes sprinting down the hall, losing his balance and skidding across the carpet. You throw the kitchen knife as he lunges for you, but it misses, the blade bouncing off his chest and sliding beneath the coffee table. A guttural growl echoes through the apartment, and when he leaps at you, you swing.

Your first hit smacks his shoulder. It doesn’t do much, but he lets out a pained yowl and when you swing again, there’s a sickening crack. He swipes at you, lunging again as you stumble backwards through the living room, the couch toppling over as you both fall onto it. His fingers dig into your shoulder and you scream, pain radiating through your arm, but you tighten your grip on the bat and ram the end of it into his face.

Another growl, another swing. You manage to get to your feet, blood pouring down your arm, painting your blouse crimson, and you put the kitchen island between you and him, moving quickly, keeping the bat held high.

When he jumps again, you swing. Hard. The bat connects with his temple, his neck cracking loudly as his head snaps to the side, and he slumps to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth. The metal rings as you drop the bat, collapsing onto the kitchen floor a moment later, blinding grabbing for one of the dishrags hanging from the stove, covering your shoulder with it and clamping your hand over the wound.

Why is this happening?

You’re not quite sure how long you’re sat there, curled against the cabinets. The bleeding on your shoulder slows, but doesn’t stop completely, and you’re starting to feel lightheaded. Not just the blood loss, you know, but the shock. Dean’s body has stopped twitching, but there’s something seeping out of his mouth, curling across the tile. When you spot the movement, you’re on your feet in a second, blinking past the momentary wooziness, grabbing the bat again.

When you click on the television, a loud beep echoes, nothing but a black screen, and you try to change the channel, but it’s the same on every one. Finally, the beep ends, and a robotic voice takes its place.

…indoors. Law enforcement and emergency services are in the area and will be in contact with further instructions. Stay indoors…

Over and over again.

Your arm is pulsing, the rag on your shoulder wet with blood. You need to clean it, you think. You need some water, you need to—

The phone starts ringing. Your phone. Cell phone. Where you left it, in your purse. Your purse is by the door, across the apartment. You have to walk around Dean to get there, and you go slow, your eyes glued to his unmoving form. The bat is still in your hand, the end of it dragging over the carpet as you walk towards the door. Another metallic noise when it hits hardwood.

Your eyes are still on Dean as you dig in your purse, on the thing still coming out of his mouth, crawling along the grout lines in the tile. Out, out, out, you need to get out, you need to get away, you need to—

Your fingers close around your cell. Hit the button, bring it to your ear.

“Are you safe?” Joel barks, and you nearly drop the phone, the sound of his voice slamming you back into your head, your breath hitching so hard you almost choke. “Baby, where are you?”

“Home,” you cry, leaning against the wall, gripping the bat so hard your knuckles hurt. “I-I got home and Dean, he just…he…I…” You wheeze, your breath not enough, your head feeling lighter, your vision spotting with black. “He’s dead. I’m bleeding.”

“It’s everywhere,” he says, his voice low, and he keeps talking, but you don’t think he’s talking to you. You space out, your gaze glued to the body on your floor, until Joel says your name. “Why are you bleeding? What happened?”

“He…” you trail off, your eyes focusing on Dean’s bloody knuckles, limp on the kitchen floor. “He grabbed me, he…he was trying to bite me.”

“Did he?”

“No,” you say, your voice sounding a bit more sure. You shake your head, pressing your palm against your shoulder. The pain spikes, but it helps, clears your head a bit. “It’s a scratch. Deep.”

“You need to clean it, you hear me?” Joel says. “Patch yourself up, baby, all right? You have a first aid kit?”

You drop the bat, pressing the back of your hand against your forehead. You’re shaking. “In the bathroom.”

“Good, go, do it now. I’m not hanging up until you do.”

You reach for the bat again, use it as a prop to get back to your feet. You cast Dean’s still form one more glance before retreating down the hallway. He’d burst through the bedroom door, and wood splinters cover the floor, the door still half on its hinge, split down the middle.

“Joel, why is this happening?” you ask, your voice climbing, fear taking over. You get into the bathroom, momentarily shaken by your appearance in the mirror. Your hair wild, the blood smeared along your chest and neck, your stained and torn blouse. “What is happening?”

“I don’t know,” he replies, and the thread of fear in his voice makes tears spring in your eyes. “But I want you to listen to me, okay? You patch yourself up, you grab what you can, and you run. You understand? Get in your car and get out of the city, as fast as you can. You don’t wait, you don’t stop for anyone, and you just keep going.”

You nod for a moment before you realize he can’t see you. “Okay. What do I…?”

“I’ll find you, baby,” he says, and the surety in his voice makes everything in you ache. “I’m gonna find you, you hear me? Just get out of Boston and I swear to you, I’m—”

Static. Dead air. Gone.

“Joel? No, come back, Joel, please—” You stare at the phone, try to redial the number, hit the button over and over and over and over. No signal, the screen informs you.

Nothing. Nothing but the sound of your own heartbeat, the rapid pulse against your ribs, the breaths that seem to rattle through your lungs. Outside of that, silence.

You slam the phone down, slam your hands against the bathroom sink.

“Joel!”

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#my fics #strawberry wine #joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader #joel miller smut #joel miller fluff #joel miller angst #the last of us #the last of us fic #the last of us spoilers

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headkiss · 2 years

Text

it’s just us

pairing: steve harrington x reader

summary: based on a request from anon, falling asleep and cuddling with steve. the aftermath of the fourth of july at the mall. established relationship with steve!

word count: 1.2k

warnings: nothing, it’s fluff!!! maybe a tiny bit of angst?

a/n: to anon thank u sm for the request and i hope u enjoy!! sorry i made it a little bit sad but this is what came to my head!!! it’s still super fluffy <3

༄

The fourth of July was supposed to be fun, celebratory. For you and your friends, it was catastrophe. It was the mind flayer and an evil russian base. It was the battle at Starcourt.

You and Steve had spent part of it underground along with the rest of ‘scoops troupe’ and eventually reuniting with everyone else. Steve had been through hell—more so than you. He was beaten horribly, his beautiful face distorted by bruises and cuts and swelling.

After the battle and a quick check up by the paramedics on scene, and a convincing Steve telling them he didn’t need to go to the hospital, that he just wanted to go home and rest, the two of you were now in his bathroom.

You guided him to sit on the closed toilet while you searched for the first-aid kit. Once you found it, you stood between his legs, his hands resting softly on the backs of your thighs, and began to clean him up.

The room remained silent, neither of you having the energy to start up a conversation. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though, it was the calm after the absolute chaos that happened. The relief was present in both of you; you were both, finally, safe, and that was what mattered most.

Your first step was cleaning the blood off his face, and he sat there, letting you do what you had to. He knew that you needed to do this for him, to feel useful, helpful. Once his face was cleaned up, you moved on to disinfecting the cuts, whispering soft apologies every time he let out a hiss at the stinging sensation.

The routine was not unfamiliar to either of you, Steve sitting quietly watching you focus on helping him, holding you softly in place. You with your brows furrowed in concentration, gentle hands healing him one bandage at a time. He had gotten into his fair share of fights, and you were always the one to take care of him. Never asking too many questions, just being the healer that you were, especially for him.

When you were done, you backed away and started the shower, deciding that washing off the events of the night would be a good idea before going to bed. Steve watched as you stripped, in an appreciative way. He was in awe of you and how you managed to stay so together and take care of him. He followed your lead, taking off his Scoops uniform and stepping into the shower behind you.

He wrapped his arms around your waist, chest pressed to your back, kissing your forehead as a thank you and resting his head against yours. You stood like that for a couple minutes, intertwined under the running water.

After a bit, you turned around in his hold, reaching for the soap behind him and squirting some into your hand. You began washing him off, watching the blood and grime run down the drain, as if being clean could take away the memories of what had occurred. Your hands slipped over his shoulders, down his arms, across his chest, anywhere you could reach, really. You wanted to help as much as you could.

Once you were satisfied, Steve took his turn washing you off. Massaging the suds into your skin to try and take away some of the tension in your muscles. Once you were both rinsed clean, he twisted the shower off, reaching for your towel first and wrapping it around you. He then took his towel and dried himself off.

He held your hand and led you back to his room. Steve laid down first, after changing into nothing but a pair of boxers. You then dug through his clothes, finding your favorite t-shirt of his to sleep in and slipping it on. Once you were more comfortable, you slid into the sheets beside Steve. Facing each other on your sides, faces inches apart, and sharing the same pillow.

You both needed to be close, to feel the warmth and life coming from the other, to be reminded that you were safe. The sudden patter of rain on the roof made Steve flinch, the unexpected noise taking him back to that base.

“Steve, it’s okay, it’s just the rain.”

“I’m sorry,” his voice was raw, broken from all the yelling and fear of the night. It broke you to see him so afraid, so distant from his usual self. But you couldn’t blame him, you didn’t feel the same as usual, either.

“Shhh, don’t apologize, okay? We’re safe. Nothings gonna get us here.”

“I know. I know, I’m just on edge, y’know?”

Instead of replying, you scooted yourself closer to him, resting your head in the crook of his neck, where it met his shoulder; your favorite spot. You pressed a small kiss into the skin there, reassuring and soft. Your hand rested over his heart, feeling it beat rhythmically against his chest. He wrapped his arm around you right away, holding you as close as he could. It was the comfort you both needed, legs tangled together, blankets warm around your bodies.

He was finally relaxing—as much as one could after being beat up by russians—and he knew he wouldn’t be able to without you. You were what kept him grounded, his lifeline and his anchor. He pecked your forehead lightly, once, twice, three times. He couldn’t help but begin to think about what could’ve happened to you had he not convinced you to hide with Dustin and Erica. What could’ve happened if they had captured you, too.

“I’m so sorry for getting you involved in all this. The Russians, the code. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something… if something happened to you I-”

You interrupted him before he could finish that thought, “Stevie, I’m right here. I’m okay and I’m here. I’m not gonna go anywhere. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

He was so thankful for you. Thankful that you knew exactly what to say to stop him from getting caught up in his thoughts. Thankful that he was yours and you were his.

“I love you so much. So so much,” he spoke softly to you, but clearly, making sure you took in those words, because he had never meant them like he did with you.

“I love you too, Stevie. You know that.”

He squeezed you tighter at that, wordlessly confirming that, yes, he did know that, he felt it in everything you did. He felt your love in your words, in your way of keeping him sane, in your soft touches and gentle hands.

“Why don’t we try to sleep?” he knew you must’ve been tired, he sure was.

“One condition.”

“Anything for you, babe.”

“Promise me you’ll wake me up if you can’t sleep? You’re not alone in this. I want to be there for you, so let me. Please?”

“I promise. You do the same, yeah?”

You snuggled into him impossibly closer, mumbling sleepily, “yeah, love you.”

Before he could reply, you fell asleep. Your breaths tickling his neck, hand still resting over his heart. He pulled you as close as he could, closing his eyes, and drifting to sleep alongside you.

He felt safe with you, like as long as you were in his life, he would never truly break. Even if it was just the two of you in this world, he would be content, he didn’t need anyone else. Only you.

#steve harrington #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington x y/n #stranger things #stranger things fic #steve harrington requests #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington request #stranger things fanfic

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joshlmbrt · 5 months

Text

NOW PLAYING;

♫ TRACK 9; You Are In Love. (dad!steve harrington’s version)

. 1:03 ──⚬──── 3:45 .

. ⇆ ◃◃ ıı ▹▹ ↻ .

warnings; this doesn’t follow ST, single dad!steve meets reader <333 had pronouns, but can be easily changed if wanted!

an; i sort of changed it, so i hope you don’t mind and you still enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it! i’m also sorry it’s so short:(

requested by; @bylermaxmayfield

to request, click here!

HAWKINS, INDIANA. 1995.

JULY 2ND.

"Claire!” Steve calls out, watching as she runs off, giggling. She stops at the end of the aisle, her curls flying over her shoulder as her hazel eyes land on them.

He sees the glimmer of mischief. “Claire. . . Come here,” He points. “You promised me you’d be good!”

She cackles, running out of sight now. Steve groans, throwing the smiley face fries into the cart before making quick work of following the gremlin as he curses himself for listening to a promise of a 5 year old.

The cart he had picked out was annoying. Hard to push, the wheels squeaked everytime he pushed it.

Steve had only came to Wally’s for 30 minutes, tops. Since Claire, oh so lovingly, had told everyone that Daddy was doing a cook out for the fourth.

He didn’t have the heart to say no and let it just be another day. Steve Harrington was not that type of father.

If his girl wanted something, he’d gladly do it without any thought.

Hence, why he’s looking for her because she had given him those cute eyes, glossy with fake tears when he had said no at first to walking around the store beside him.

The little gremlin knew how to get him.

He finally spots her, with another person in front of her tiny body. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Daddy! Look!” She holds up the box of Eggo’s that had those red and blue sprinkles in them - sprinkles had always tasted disgusting to him, like plastic. and

He would know after the sprinkles with the side of cupcake and icing.

“Oh,” He makes a face. “Yum.”

“Can we get ‘em?!”

Steve glances at you, who smiles softly as you stand, before back at the girl.

Oh, you were beautiful.

He opens his mouth before closing it and clearing his throat. He does it again.

Claire tilts her head, pinching her brows together. She then shrugs, stepping towards the cart and throwing the cardboard box filled with premade Eggo’s inside.

“You-” His face flushes from the squeak in his voice. He clears his throat again and squares his shoulders slightly. “You don’t want blueberry waffles?”

“Yuck,” She was lying. She liked those but just couldn’t remember ever eating them. “No, thank you.”

Her little body then turns to you, tutu spinning with her. Her chubby hands land on her hips as she tilts her head.

“Are you busy in two days?”

Steve’s eyes widen.

“I don’t think I am, Princess Claire,” He groans internally, but you just wanted to humor the small girl that had seemingly randomly picked you. “Why?”

“Daddy is throwing a cookout! You should come!”

“Sweetheart, I don’t think-”

“Well, it is your father’s house,” You kneel down once again. “So it’s up to him if he wants a complete stranger in his home.”

“You’re not a stranger!” Claire shakes her head. She turns to Steve and says your name. “See! I know her!”

You glance up at the man, smiling shyly before standing. “I’m sure he would feel awkward. But thank you for being so sweet, Claire. It made my day,” She pouts and turns back to you. “You have a sweet daughter. Have a nice day.” You wave at the both of them, turning and stepping out of the aisle.

“Daddy, please! She seemed sad!”

Steve laughs at her but quickly stops when he watches her place her hands on her hips. “Sweetheart, she probably felt weird. Sometimes we gotta know boundaries, okay?”

She nods, staring down at the linoleum floor. “Do you think I’ll ever see her again?” She asks sadly.

“Maybe. Now,” He lifts a brow and picks her up. “You are going in here.” He places her into the cart.

She gives him the eyes again with fake tears. He simply looks away.

🕊️

JULY 20TH.

The bell above Steve and Claire’s head rings throughout the diner. Claire runs to the usual red booth, slipping in by the window before patting the spot next to her.

Steve smiles a bit, sliding in next to her before reaching over and grabbing a menu. “Do you know what you want, pumpkin?”

“Uhm. . . Milkshake?”

He chuckles. “After you eat,” He looks at her. “What do you want to eat?”

She pouts but looks at the menu. “Grilled cheese and fries?” She then looks back at him.

“Drink?”

“Milkshake,” He gives her a look. “With extra sprinkles.” She grins.

He sighs and shakes his head looking back at the menu. A gasp from the girl beside him makes him look over at her quickly. She then says your name. “I thought I’d never see you again!” She lifts onto her knees. Steve looks over, mouth parting.

You laugh softly, nodding. “I thought I’d never see you again! Did you like those Eggo’s?”

“Daddy burnt them.”

“I did not! It was-” You both stare at him and suddenly, he feels intimidated. “It was the oven.”

“Suuuuure, oooookay.” Claire shakes her head, looking back at you and smiling.

You giggle a bit. “What can I get started for you today? Or do you need some more time?”

“Nope!” Claire grins.

Steve smiles a bit. “Uh, she wants a grilled cheese with a side of fries and apple juice-”

“Chocolate milkshake.” She frowns, correcting him.

“Sweetheart, you can have one after you eat. I promise.”

She sighs and falls back into the booth. “Okay.” She mutters.

He then sends you a small, nervous smile. You grin at him. “And I’ll take a hamburger with fries. And cherry coke. Please.”

You giggle quietly to yourself, nodding as you repeat back the order. “Anything else?”

“No. I think we are okay.”

“Alright, coming right up.” You send him a wink and he’s quick to flush.

“Ooooo.”

He turns towards Claire, narrowing his eyes at her. “What?”

“You like her!”

“Shhh! Don’t say that so loud,” He looks around before shaking his head. “I don’t even know her!”

“I like her too! You should ask her to hang out with us sometime.”

“Claire-”

“Please.” She pouts.

He tries to look away, but his eyes keep glancing at you then at Claire whose eyes water.

He sighs and leans back. “Okay. Fine.”

She cheers to herself, wiggling in the booth.

🕊️

Finished with the piece of pie and Chocolate milkshake - extra sprinkles, of course - Steve was waiting for the receipt, while Claire slides on her jacket.

"And here you are!” You smile softly, handing over the receipt. “I hope to see you both again soon.” You smile, eyes landing on the receipt before up at Steve.

You turn and walk off, a small smile on your face.

Steve furrows his brows, glancing down.

‘Call me some time.’

Then below was your number.

He could pass out but decided against it.

“What is it, Daddy? You’re blushing.” She pokes at his cheek.

“No, I’m not. Let’s go, Princess Claire.” She grins at the name and slides out of the booth, grabbing ahold of his hand as she talks away.

“Are you even listening to me?” She looks up at him.

“Uh, yeah.” He nods, helping her in her car seat. He wasn’t.

He was too busy to think about what he was going to say when he calls you and invites you to hang out sometime. (Claire’s request, of course.)

One thing about Steve Harrington, though, he falls fast.

thank you for reading! comments, likes, reblogs, and feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! 🧸

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fluff #dad!steve harrington x reader

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keerysfreckles · 2 months

Text

august — cam cameron

pairing: cam cameron x fem!reader

summary: y/n has a summer job at the cousins bakery. cam cameron likes to find excuses to buy muffins every day.

warnings: none? just a long fic (i got carried away oopsies)

a/n: already rewatching tsitp and i finished it this week I LOVE IT SO MUCH FJSHJDHSH

masterlist !

⋆ ˚｡ ⋆ ୨୧ ˚

cousins beach was so surreal in the summertime. it was the busiest time of the year for the small town. the beaches were crowded and the boardwalk never slept.

everyone practically knew everyone. that's what y/n might have loved most about it. besides her close friend isabel conklin of course.

the girls met in the summer of 2017 when y/n's family started driving three hours to their newly bought beach house. it was in the same neighborhood as the beck house, meaning y/n and belly quickly became friends. belly always invited y/n over, and grew fondly of conrad and jeremiah fisher. she eventually learned to enjoy steven's presence as well.

the two girls have been inseparable since. every summer you'd find them attached at the hip, with conrad, jeremiah and steven following behind.

this summer however was different. not for belly though, she was still just as obsessed with the older fisher brother. the summer was already different for y/n. her father made the decision for the girl to get a summer job. her mother wasn't too thrilled with the idea, just wanting her daughter to have a memorable summer. but after officially getting hired at the local bakery, y/n didn't mind.

she's always loved going to the bakery. it was almost tradition for her mother to buy a pie to bring to susannah's fourth of july parties. y/n always begged for the double chocolate chip muffins before they left at the beginning of august. nine out of ten times she left with a smile on her face and a muffin in her hands.

the first week of work went smoothly for y/n. belly stopped by everyday to check on her. jeremiah went with her one morning for a muffin run, and conrad went with her once to buy chocolate chip cookies to cheer up a very upset steven.

two new faces came into the bakery with belly and the fisher brothers. conrad and jeremiah immediately went to the small stand with different flavors of cupcakes. belly walked up to the counter, with the two newcomers trailing behind her.

"hey bells," y/n smiles, leaning against the cold counter.

"hi," she smiles back, "i just had to bring everyone here for the best muffins in the whole wide world."

belly gestures to the two friends behind her. the girl to her right has dirty blonde hair, with thick mascara covering her eyelashes.

"this is taylor," taylor waves.

the boy to her left has brown curly hair, with darker skin than belly's, and y/n can't help but smile when be does.

"and this is cam," belly pushes him forward a bit.

"it's cam cameron actually!" jeremiah interrupts from the other side of the small store.

y/n can't help bit giggle, "cam cameron?"

"yeah, cam or uh- cameron works just as well."

y/n sends him one last smile before turning back towards belly, "so i'm guessing you didn't just come in here to chat?"

belly shakes her head and gives y/n the muffin order, including steven's request who was busy with his summer job at the pool as a server.

y/n was quick to pack the 7 muffins in a box before handing them to belly. she walked over to conrad after paying, with taylor following behind. cam sent a wave to y/n, which she happily reciprocated, before watching them walk out of the store.

—

the next day at the bakery was quite boring for y/n. an older couple came in and ordered a cake, and a family of four ordered a dozen muffins. y/n was in the middle of cleaning and rewriting on one of the chalkboards on the wall when the bell above the door rang.

"oh hey cam cameron!" y/n turned to see the curly headed boy from yesterday.

he smiled at the name, not hating it when it came out of her mouth.

"what can i do for you?" she sets down the chalk and walks behind the counter. cam follows as he stands on the opposite side.

he gives her his order, which was one blueberry muffin for himself to enjoy. she slides the small bag across the counter, but cam doesn't want to leave the store just yet.

"seeing as you're not busy," cam chuckles as he looks around the store, "do you mind if i keep you company?"

y/n instantly shakes her head, "no, no not at all. i'd actually love that today. it's been so slow."

cam nods, "yeah i saw the boardwalk was pretty busy on the way over here."

the pair talked for over an hour, when to both of them it only felt like ten minutes. y/n couldn't keep her smile off her face when he was around.

cam pauses in the middle of his story when his phone buzzes from his pocket. "shoot," he sighs, "my mom wants me home for lunch."

cam grabs his bag before walking towards the door, "i'll see you!"

y/n smiles and waves, "bye cam cameron."

for the rest of her shift y/n couldn't stop thinking about cam. their conversation earlier ranged from their favorite foods, to cam's love for marine biology, and even to y/n's hidden talent of being a boss at karaoke (belly's words, not hers.)

—

a week had passed and cam stopped by the bakery every day. his order varied from muffins, to cupcakes, to cookies. cam accidentally admitted to the girl he visited her to keep her company. it absolutely warmed her heart and a giggle fell from her lips.

y/n practically skipped out of the bakery and towards her yellow bike. she knew she'd call belly as soon as she got home to tell her what happened with cam today.

the phone rang once, then twice, then belly answered.

"hi y/n! what's up?"

"i may need some girl advice bells."

"i'm sorry?" belly's instantly confused by y/n's words.

y/n groans, not knowing how to word her feelings, "can you just come over? it'll be easier to explain."

not even five minutes after hanging up, belly's knocking on the pale blue door of y/n's parent's beach house.

"cam cameron asked me on a date," y/n was quick to the point once the two girls got to her room.

belly squealed, before asking a million questions. y/n happily answered them all, knowing belly was truly excited for her.

y/n explained to belly that cam asked her right before she left to go home after her shift at the bakery. the sun was setting, and cam was worried he'd miss her if he didn't jog the second half of the route from his house towards the bakery. she found it cute as he seemed more nervous around her today than any other day last week.

cam took a deep breath before asking y/n if she wanted to go to the boardwalk with him. with a bright smile the girl agreed.

which leads to her predicament, of not knowing weather or not cam cameron meant it as a date or not.

"he asked you personally, so obviously it's a date y/n," belly was looking through y/n's closet as the ladder layed on her unmade bed.

"but what if he just sees it as two friends hanging out?" y/n rebuttals.

belly doesn't answer, but instead she comes out with a navy blue corset type of tank top, and grabs the pair of shorts she found in y/n's dresser moments ago.

she holds the articles of clothing together, "because how can he see you as a friend if he sees you in this!"

both girls fall into a fit of giggles before you eventually get ready. y/n still had thirty minutes or so until cam was picking her up, so belly insisted on helping with the rest of the look.

she kept her hair natural, from it already being styled for work earlier in the day. she threw all her jewelry back on, considering she can't wear any at work. y/n always wore two necklaces, five rings (three on her left hand, two on the right), and a handful of bracelets adorned both her wrists.

belly helped with her mascara and lip gloss.

with one last look in her mirror, y/n and belly both giggled as a knock echoed through the whole house.

cam cameron was never speechless, but when he saw y/n standing in front of him words weren't even a thought.

"hi cam," she giggles.

"hey- hey y/n, you look great."

belly not-so-subtley squeezes her way between y/n and the door, greeting cam before she ran back to her own house.

cam and y/n started walking towards the boardwalk. the sun was still in the phase of setting. hues of orange, yellow and pink filled the sky with a couple of clouds.

the walk to the boardwalk wasn't the shortest, but y/n loved the amount of time she's able to spend with cam. they didn't stop talking the whole way there.

cam observed the girl, and noticed the small wrinkles around y/n's eyes when she laughed. he saw her fiddle with the ring on her thumb when she listened to him talk. he loved how excited she got talking about all her favorite rides at the boardwalk.

y/n wasn't the observant type, but cam was the only exception. her heart sped up when his smile got bigger as he talked about marine biology. he loved everything about whales. she noticed during the week, when he got nervous he runs his hand through his hair. he does the same motion as the two finally walk into the buzzing atmosphere of the boardwalk.

"so, what do you want to do first?" cam politely asks.

y/n can't help but giggle again, before grabbing onto his hand, "i have an idea." she simply grabs cam's hand and pulls him towards one of the many games.

—

y/n never thought her favorite night of summer would be with a boy she just met this year.

her and cam played almost every game on the boardwalk. y/n won most of them, but when cam beat her at ring toss, he gave her the purple stuffed giraffe, which she didn't dare loosen her grip on it for the rest of the night.

after games, the two sat down on a bench to eat. y/n had a massive plate of chilli cheese fries while cam had funnel cake. y/n wasn't one to question his choice, as he explained he ate an early dinner before he picked her up.

after eating they went into the arcade for a little over an hour. they walked out and the sky was now dark, with a million stars reflecting off the ocean.

now y/n and cam were walking side by side at the other end of the boardwalk. they were near the railing, away from all the games and bright lights, making it more quiet.

"i had a lot of fun tonight cam," y/n's smile hasn't left her face all day, and doesn't falter when she thanks him.

"me too, i'm glad you were able to come."

for a few moments it was quiet between the two. their hands kept brushing into each other's. y/n could feel the warmth radiating off of his hand, she couldn't help but slowly interlock her pinky with his.

"do you mind if we sit?" y/n points to a bench maybe ten feet away, "all the walking is finally catching up to me."

of course cam says yes. they sit beside each other on the cold bench, with the purple giraffe sitting lopsided by y/n's feet.

"are you not cold?" cam asks, suddenly remembering y/n was outside in only a tank top and shorts.

y/n shakes her head, "no uh- not really. i like the cold."

cam tilts his head towards her, "you sure? cause i could easily go to the gift shop for you."

y/n giggles at how sweet cam is, "really, i'm okay cam."

"do you know what you're gonna name it?" cam gestures to the giraffe he won for her earlier in the evening.

y/n shrugs, "i haven't really thought about it yet," she picks up the giraffe and studies it, "what about muffin?"

cam lets out a chuckle, "it's perfect."

a cool ocean breeze blows through the boardwalk. once it reaches y/n and cam, the girl shivers and subconsciously moves closer to cam. his cheeks flush slightly at the contact of her thigh pressing against his, and her shoulder bumping against his own.

"you sure about you not being cold?" cam laughs.

"okay, maybe it's a little cold now," y/n laughs with him.

silently, cam holds his hand open. y/n takes it, and a warm electric feeling flows through her body. cam's hand was shockingly warm, which was a great contrast to y/n's cold skin.

—

sadly, the fun night cam had planned for the pair had to come to an end. their hands never left each other's grip as cam walked y/n back to her house. once again, the two talked the whole way back.

y/n sighed once they reached the cobblestone driveway of her house. cam walked her up the steps of her porch, now turning to the girl once they reached the door.

"thank you for today cam," y/n thanked him again.

"i'm glad you had a good time," cam smiled down at the girl.

y/n smiled before leaning up to kiss the boy's cheek. her lips lingered there for a moment. just as she was about to unlock the front door, cam's voice stopped her.

"you missed."

y/n's eyesbrows furrowed.

"you missed," cam repeated.

before y/n can respond, cam grabs her hand again to pull her in front of him. he smiles before pushing his lips softly against y/n's. the kiss lasts for a few seconds before the girl pulls away. her cheeks are pink and her cold skin is suddenly warm.

"i really like you y/n," cam's voice is quiet, afraid to break the moment the two just shared.

to respond, y/n leans up to kiss cam again. this time one of her hands goes to his cheek to make the kiss become deeper. cam smiles against her lips, as his hold on her waist never falters.

this was the first of many dates for cam and y/n, and she loved every single one of them.

#shelbi writes #keerysfreckles #the summer i turned pretty #tsitp #cam cameron #cam cameron tsitp #cam cameron the summer i turned pretty #cam cameron x reader #cam cameron x you #cam cameron x y/n #cam cameron x fem reader #cam cameron x fem!reader #cam cameron fic #cam cameron fanfic #cam cameron imagine #conrad fisher x reader #jeremiah fisher x reader

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04mxfutbol · 10 months

Text

Reality (Pt. 3) (Christen Press x Reader)

A/N: Do I love this? Yes. Did I maybe cry? Also yes. Am I hoping you’ll like this? Definitely yes. Is Alex just a soft little bean in this fic? Maybe.

This is Alternate version 1.

P.S. the playlist for this specific fic was brutal. Sad song after sad song. Had to channel my past for this lmaoo. Had Khalid’s first album on repeat. Specifically 8teen. Because OOF the emotions and memories to that one. Then it was happy songs so it was all over lmao. It was BRUTAL.

Enjoy! (:

“She blocked me again.” You tell Alex as you get into the car. “I’m not so bothered by it anymore but it does sting a little.”

“At least it stings less this time.” Alex says as she closes the car door. “Y/N you really need to stop looking at her page.”

“I just miss her so much.”

“I know Y/N.. I know and I’m sorry. Just take a nap okay? It’ll be a while until we get to your parents house.”

“Thanks again for driving.”

“Not a problem.” Alex says with a smile.

You closed your eyes as Alex began to drive. Remembering one specific Fourth of July.

“Okay let’s go on another ride.” You tell Alex as you pull her hand.

“Can’t we take a break? I’m tired.”

“No. No breaks, you said you’d go on another ride with me and you can’t back out.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Alex says with a sigh. Following right behind you.

You looked back to see if Alex was following you and she was, but as you turned around you bumped into someone. You turned back around and saw the one person you didn’t think you’d see.

“Christen?”

“Y/N?”

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Christen says with a smile. “Alex.”

“Christen.” Alex says with a nod.

“I-um. How have you been?” Christen asks you.

“Good. How have you been? It’s been a while.”

“Good as well. Yeah it’s been a while.”

Two years. It’s been two years since Christen decided she didn’t want to be friends. Ever since she saw you at a game with Alex. The night that changed everything.

“I’m here with my neighbor and my boyfriend. I want you to meet him, he’s really nice.” Christen says.

“Uh yeah I’d love to.”

“Come on.” Christen says grabbing your arm.

She walked through the crowd, your hand in hers and you felt like it was all back to normal. It definitely wasn’t, but for a few seconds it felt like it was.

“Y/N. This is my boyfriend Justin. Justin this is Y/N a friend of mine.” Christen says.

Friend?

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” You say as you extend your hand out and shake hands with her boyfriend.

“Nice to meet you as well.”

“Hey do you want to go on a ride with me?” Christen asks. “Nobody else wants to go on it with me.”

“Sure yeah. Alex doesn’t want to go on with me because she’s tired.” You say looking behind you.

“Look it’s not my fault I get dizzy.” Alex says.

“Come on then.” Christen says with a smile. “Please?”

“Okay. Yeah let’s go.”

You wanted to stay there, to stay in that moment. Forever. Like it was all before.

After waiting five minutes in line you both got on the ride. You sat next to Christen, like you always did. The ride was finally being lifted up as it got ready. Once it begun it was spinning and going upside down and all over.

“AHH.” Christen screamed. “Are you not scared?”

“Nope. I like the adrenaline!” You shout.

“I’m scared!” Christen shouts. “Oh yeah that’s right. You and your darn need of adrenaline!”

You extended your hand out and Christen quickly held onto your hand. You turned your head and saw her closing her eyes.

“I forget you scare so easily.” You shout.

“Oh my god I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“You’re fine, I got you.”

As the ride began to slow down Christen still held onto your hand.

“I missed you.” Christen shouted as she squeezed your hand, opening her eyes as she turned to face you.

You felt your heart stop and race at the same time. Oh how you longed to hear those words come out of her mouth.

Once the ride stopped you both got off the seats.

“I missed you too.” You tell Christen just before you both walked back to where her boyfriend and where Alex were. Christen smiled at you as she gave your hand one last squeeze.

“Y/N. Y/N wake up we’re here.” You hear Alex say.

“Already?” You mumble as you rub your eyes.

“Yes already. Come on, your parents are waiting for us.”

Both you and Alex grabbed all your luggage from the backseat not wanting to make two trips to the car. Too exhausted to even walk to the door, having had practice that same morning.

“Honey you’re home.” Your mom says as she opens the door for you. “Alex I’m so glad you decided to come.”

“Happy to be be here, thank you for inviting me.” Alex says as she drops the bags on the living room floor. “We’re very tired though.”

“Very.” You say as you hobble towards the couch and lay down. “Very tired.”

“There’s food but I think you’ll want to sleep. Am I right?” Your mother asks you.

“Indeed I do. Alex can you carry me to my room?”

"You can walk." Your mother says making you groan.

"But I'm tired."

"Oh well, get up and walk to your bedroom."

"It's fine really, I do this every once in a while." Alex says.

"Excuse me?"

"Now why would you say that." You say looking up at Alex. "Why? Do you not love me being alive?"

"I- uhh. I never do this, it’s the first time.” Alex says as she picks you up from the couch and walking to your room.

“Are you going to take a nap with me?” You ask as Alex places you down on your bed.

“Maybe. I kind of want to read or just listen to some music.”

“You can do that here.” You say as you scoot over and get under the blankets.

“I could but then you’d end up taking the entire space.”

“Fair.” You say with a shrug. She was right, you often took up all the space, you slept in the most random positions. But it was comfy, or you thought so.

Alex let you take your well needed nap, as if you hadn’t slept on the way to your parents house. She knew you needed more rest. Letting you sleep, she walked back to the living room, grabbing her book and headphones.

You were home for the Fourth of July. A time of year that Alex knew you couldn’t be alone.

It was the one holiday that stringed you deeply. She wasn’t going to leave you alone.

A few blocks down from your home, Christen was also home, visiting her parents home. Along with her boyfriend.

“What’s this?” Justin says as he grabs something from under Christen’s bed. “A box with a binder? What’s in here? It’s full of notes?”

“Give me that.” Christen says, eyes wide as she realizes what box he grabbed. The binder she kept that was filled with all the notes you had given her.

At the beginning of your friendship you were too shy to actually talk to Christen. So you did the best you could and communicated to her with notes. Christen loved each of them, each having a huge significance to her. They held many memories of you both.

“Christen, thank you for being the best friend I could ever have asked for. Turtle.” Justin reads as he skims through all the notes.

“Give me that.” Christen says as she gets up and attempts to grab it from him, but he only pulls away trying to read more.

“There’s one from you, you wrote this one. Y/N this is part four of the notes and I want to start by saying that this part-.” Justin is cut off as Christen snatches the binder from him.

“These are not for you to read.” Christen says with a stern voice.

“What the hell are those notes? Christen. What was that last note?”

“Nothing. They’re nothing.”

Lies.

They were everything. Everything to her. It was what still somewhat connected you both.

“They sure seemed like something.”

“They’re notes. Y/N never actually talked to me when we first started becoming friends, so she wrote me notes. I talked and she wrote notes. We communicated that way.”

“That’s weird.” Justin says with a chuckle.

“No! No it’s not. It’s not weird. She’s shy, she hates talking, she could only show affection and appreciation through notes. It’s not weird it’s-it’s.”

“It’s what? Cute?”

“No, it’s who she is.” Christen says as she looks down at the binder. “She’s shy, she’s always been shy.”

“Seemed to me like she loved you.”

“In a friend way.”

“Definitely not in a friend way.” Justin says as he gets up from the floor. “And you also loved her.”

“Of course I did, as a friend.” Christen says.

Justin shakes his head and scoffs as he makes his way towards the front door.

“You loved her and definitely not in a friend way.”

“What? No I didn’t.”

“I don’t want to be in the middle of whatever you two are. It’s clear you and I aren’t working. I’ve tried to get through it but you and I don’t work. You’re not in this relationship, it’s all one sided. I don’t want that. Especially when you’re in love with an old friend that you haven’t gotten over.”

“What? That’s not true.”

“I’m done. You may not want that but I’m done. Y/N seems to take all the space in your head.” Justin says as he walks out of Christen’s home.

Christen stood in front of the door in shock. Should she run out and try and save her relationship? Definitely. Not?

Instead she did something else, she got into her car and drove to your house.

As Alex was just about to fall asleep she heard a loud knock coming from the front door. Taking her headphones off she looked around and saw no one.

So naturally she walked to the door and opened it. The Y/L/N wouldn’t mind since she was here a lot.

“Christen?” Alex says as she opens the door, realizing who it was.

“Alex? What the hell are you doing here?”

“No, what the hell are YOU doing here?” Alex asks as she walks out and closes the front door.

“I need to talk to Y/N.”

“No. You can’t.”

“This isn’t your house.” Christen says as she tries walking around Alex.

“And it’s not yours either.” Alex says as she gets in Christen’s way. “But I am a regular at the Y/L/N household. And I’m saying you can’t go in the house.”

“Alex I need to talk to her so get out of my way.”

“To tell her what exactly? To maybe apologize and become friends again but also still hate me? Yeah I don’t think so. You’ve put her through enough. You also blocked her again? So no you can’t talk to her. Figure out another way.”

“Alex. Let me in.”

“You want to know something? She never thought she was good enough, but did you have to make it worse?” Alex shouts.

“Let me in I want to talk to her.”

“You treated her like nothing, like she never mattered. But yet she still stuck around, thinking you would change. Thinking you would keep your promise that you would change! She hoped you would change! Change like you promised her!”

“I know what I did! You don’t think I know what I did? You don’t think it’s not in the back of my mind all the fucking time? You don’t know what our friendship was like.” Christen shouts only making Alex more frustrated.

“You ruined her. Shattered her heart into a million pieces. Oh Christen please spare me the I don’t know because I KNOW. Who do you think has been there for her? Certainly not you.”

“Alex. Let me in the house. I need to see her and I need to talk to her.”

“You know the worst of it all? The worst of it all was you taking the wonderful person she was before you.”

“I didn’t mean any of it to happen.”

“Then maybe invent a time machine and think before you do something. But right now I won’t let you talk to her. She’s tired, she needs sleep. We had practice yesterday and this morning then we drove here, she doesn’t need something or someone else draining her energy.”

“Screw your Alex! Why are you even here at her house.”

"I'm here because I was invited by her family. It's the Fourth of July weekend. Should be a holiday for you to remember right? Fourth of July." Alex says as she turns around and walks back towards the house.

Alex goes to open the door but right before she does, she’s shoved by Christen.

"Oh screw you Alex!" Christen shouts.

“No, screw you Christen. For screwing her over and over. She deserves so much more than you.” Alex shouts as she shoves Christen. “Screw you!”

Alex shoves Christen one last time before entering the house. When she enters she sees you, barefoot and sleepy.

"Al? Were you yelling?" You ask as you rub your eyes. "It's late."

"It's eight pm Y/N." Alex says walking towards you.

"Who were you talking to?" You say groggily.

"Just a neighbor." Alex says.

"Oh uhh everything okay? Wait, why are you yelling at one of my neighbors?"

"Loud music from their car, that's all."

"Oh, who?"

"The neighbor from across the street?"

"Oh yeah they usually have loud music but you get used to it, Alex you definitely shouldn't have yelled at them though. They're nice people trust me."

"Noted." Alex says. "Should we go back to your room?"

"Yes. I'm exhausted." You say as you grab another pillow from the couch. "Carry me?"

"No I already did that earlier today. Now come on before we bother your family with the amount of noise we’re making.”

“They’re not asleep Al, they’re just in their room watching tv or reading. Now come on I’m so tired.”

“When aren’t you.”

- - - -

“So I pushed him and he fell in the pool because he was too distracted by three golden retrievers.” Your aunt says, making everyone laugh. Everyone except you.

“Hey you okay?” Alex whispers.

“I feel so empty.” You whisper.

Alex gives you a sympathetic smile as she wraps an arm around you.

“One day you’ll be here again and you’ll feel happy. I promise you that. You’ll find happiness.” Alex whispers and you give her a weak smile.

“Thanks Al.”

“Alex do you have any good stories? I’m sure you have plenty, especially of Y/N. How long have you guys been together?” Your uncle asks and you turn to look at Alex, then back to your uncle.

“We- we’re not dating.” You say then clear your throat. “We’re best friends.”

“Oh my apologies. I thought, or I guess I assumed which was totally my fault.”

“It’s fine really. We’ve dealt with worse.” You say.

“Have we really?” Alex asks and you shrug.

“I don’t know. No?” You say making Alex laugh.

Alex pulls you closer into her, her hand reaching for your hand.

“But I do have good stories.” Alex says.

Alex began telling your family stories of you from being late to your first practice with the Wave to falling from your seat on the plane because you had fallen asleep. It was definitely a bit embarrassing but Alex also gave them embarrassing stories about herself, probably so you wouldn’t kill her.

You laughed through it all, never letting go of Alex’s hand. As she told all those stories you looked at her and something inside you was feeling nervous. Alex turned to look at you at the most embarrassing parts of each story, squeezing your hand and smiling.

Alex looked at you and she smiled, suddenly Alex felt like she was looking at a different you. Smiling and laughing at her telling the stories. She loved to see that side of you. She was feeling something deep inside her that she hadn’t felt in a while. Alex subconsciously shook her head and turned back to finish her stories.

After a long night with your family, you and Alex went back to your room.

Alex went on to shower to get ready for bed. While she did that, you sat on the floor of your bedroom, pulling a box from under your bed. Already haven taken a shower, wanting to be first.

You opened it and there it was, two folded pieces of paper. You grabbed the first one, unfolding it and knowing, it was part one of Christen’s note to you. The fact that it was written in pencil gave it away that it was part one. Part two was written in red pen.

Dear Turtle,

When I first met you, you were so shy. I asked you a semi awkward question but yet you answered anyway. Since then we became best friends. You never really talked to me the first year of our friendship but instead you communicated with me by notes. I liked that. It was adorable…

A whole page. A whole page that she had written for you. That was part 1. You pulled out the second part of the note. Flipping it to the back as you remembered something about it.

Part 3 until Friday. There’s four parts. I love you so so soooooo much.

You remembered it all too well, Friday came but the third part didn’t. Neither did the fourth. It never got to your hands. You had asked Christen when you’d get them but she said another day. That day never came.

“Hey, you okay?” Alex asks. You turn around and see Alex in her tank top, drying her hair with her towel.

“I- uh. Yeah I’m fine just looking at something.” You say turning back around and placing the notes back in the box.

“Are those the notes?” Alex asks.

“Yeah.” You say putting the box back under the bed and standing up. “Ready for bed?”

“Always.” Alex says with a smile. “You?”

“Always.”

You get in the bed and scoot over, making room for Alex. It also helped that your parents bought you a bigger mattress.

“You look good for going to bed.” Alex says and you laugh.

“Your hair looks good.”

“Thank you. I’m trying out a new shampoo.” Alex says and you smile.

“You smell better than this morning that’s for sure.”

“You weren’t complaining earlier.”

“Yeah well you were driving for me, I didn’t want to risk you making me drive.” You say. Alex let out a gasp as she smacked your arm.

“Oh how sneaky.” Alex says with a stare making you giggle.

“Goodnight stinky.”

“Goodnight Y/N.”

“Wait, can you put your playlist? It helps me fall asleep.”

“I can do that. I see you’ve become a fan of my playlist.” Alex says with a grin.

“Well seeing as you’ve subconsciously made me a fan of your favorite artist over the years, how can I not?”

“Hey now, be real, you loved it the moment I showed you my favorite song.”

“Goodnight stinky.” You say as you face away from Alex. Closing your eyes and relaxing as soon as you hear Alex play her playlist.

You remembered the day she showed you her favorite artist.

“Are you a fan of Taylor Swift?” Alex asks as you both run to the car. Rain pouring down as you got out of practice.

“Haven’t listened to her music so can’t say I’m not.” You say as you open the door to the car.

“This new album, Speak Now is phenomal. Let me play you my favorite song right now and it’ll make you a fan trust me.”

“I trust you.”

You both get into the car and Alex quickly puts skips the tracks on the cd to the one she wanted.

“This song is called Sparks Fly. Definitely one of my favorites so far.” Alex says as the song begins.

You may have enjoyed it a little bit but you wouldn’t dare say that to Alex. That was her favorite song. Personally you thought Fearless was good too, you wouldn’t tell Alex that either. Both were great.

The following morning you were woken up by your phone buzzing. The time alone made you groan, five am. You reached for your phone and saw the name you hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Tyler?” You say groggily. “Is everything okay?”

“Hey, it’s Christen.”

The voice alone made you wake up.

“Before you hang up, do you think you could come outside? I know it’s early but I’d like to talk to you, before our next camp and preferably.”

You turned around and saw Alex still sleeping.

“Give me five minutes.”

You were quick to change and walked outside, Christen was right in front of you. Standing in front of your home.

“Hey.”

“It’s pretty early.” You say with a yawn.

“I know and I apologize but I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” Christen says, hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt.

“Well here I am.”

You both began walking down the block, the sound of birds chirping filling the silence between you both.

“Justin and I broke up.” Christen says and you turn to face her.

“Oh? I’m sorry.”

“We weren’t made for each other. It was bound to happen really.” Christen says and you hum.

“Is that what you were going to tell me?” You ask facing Christen.

“I wanted to apologize to you. I’m sorry I didn’t apologize sooner. You deserved an apology a long time ago, so I know this apology is overdue. But I’m truly truly sorry, you didn’t deserve what I put you through.”

“I accept your apology.”

“Really?”

“What shocks you? That I accept your apology? Christen I’ve never stopped caring about you, your apology to me gives me some type of peace. I wouldn’t say closure but peace because losing you was the toughest thing for me and an apology from you is what I think I needed. So thank you for apologizing.”

“Long overdue.” Christen says and you look down at the pavement. “I don’t expect us to be friends again but I’ll always care about you. But I’d like to maybe try and be friends again?”

“Give me some time?” You ask Christen.

“Of course.”

You nod as you both turned back into your street.

“Thank you for coming out and listening to me.”

“I think we both needed it.” You say and Christen nods.

“Well here we are.” Christen says as you both stop right in front of your home. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” You say as you turn to look at her.

Oh the awkwardness, you remembered it all too well. It was if it were middle school all over again. You never knew what to do.

“Have a good day.” You say as you rock back and forth on your heels.

“Have a good day turtle.” Christen says with a smile.

You smiled softly at her as you turned around and walked into your house.

You let out a loud sigh as you closed the door. Resting your back against the door as you closed your eyes.

“Good morning?”

You were startled, immediately opening your eyes and seeing Alex across from you.

“Geez you scared me.”

“Are you okay?” Alex asks as she walks towards you. “I woke up and you weren’t in bed.”

“I went out for a walk.”

“Are you okay?” Alex asks again.

“I went on a walk with Christen.” You say walking away from Alex.

“And are you okay?” Alex asks as she catches up to you.

“She apologized.”

“Really?” Alex asks, her tone sounding confused.

“Really.”

“Y/N.”

“I know what you’re going to say Al but she called me and wanted to talk to me and I just kind of wanted to see her.” You say turning to face Alex. “It gave me some peace. Maybe I can finally move on Al.”

Alex tilted her head slightly, she took one step towards you and hugged you.

“I’m happy for you Y/N.” Alex whispers as she hugged you tight.

Wrapping your arms around Alex you felt safe in her arms. The warmth she gave you and the feeling of being safe was nice and it was something you hadn’t felt in so long.

As she hugged you, Alex felt happy for you. She was happy you had finally gotten an apology. Resting her chin on top of your head, she rubbed your back and didn’t let you go.

“Peace.” You mumble against Alex.

You weren’t even sure if you were talking about Christen apologizing or being in Alex’s arms. What you were sure of was having some sort of peace.

For the Fourth of July, you and Alex spent it watching movies and fireworks. Munching on snacks you both loved.

“You and me.” Alex says as you watched the fireworks.

“You and me.” You say back as you leaned back into Alex, she was quick to wrap her arms around you the second you leaned back into her.

Your family all gathered around watching the fireworks. Telling more stories and making s’mores.

Peace?

“Smile.” Your uncle says as he grabs his camera and takes a picture of you and Alex.

- - - -

A month later you both headed to national team camp.

You hadn’t talked to Christen since the morning she apologized. You and Alex were also a little closer than usual, something was definitely changing but neither of you knew what.

“You look different.” Megan says as you and Alex walk into the hotel.

“Different good or different bad?” You ask Megan.

“I can’t tell, but different.” Megan says as she raises an eyebrow. Trying to examine your face you looked at her weirdly.

“You’re being weird. If you couldn’t tell I’m happy, or at least in peace.”

“Ah yeah that would do it, that’s different.” Megan says nodding her head and walking away.

You looked at Alex, who was already looking at you.

“You look good.” You tell Alex as you both walk to the elevators.

“Me? In sweats? Please. You look good yourself.” Alex says and you smile.

“In sweats? Please.” You say back making Alex laugh.

“You guys left us!” Naomi shouts.

“Oh yeah we definitely did and weren’t supposed to.” You whisper to Alex. “Sorry! Come on you two.”

“When we go back to San Diego can you make more of that pasta you made?” Naomi asks.

“Of course.” Alex says.

“Umm..”

“We were taking to Y/N.” Taylor says making you laugh.

“It wasn’t bad.” Alex says.

“It wasn’t good either Al.” You say earning a scoff from Alex. “What? Come on I told you not to give it to them.”

“So is that a yes?” Naomi asks.

“I’ll make more don’t worry.”

“You know, you three are absolutely rude.” Alex says walking into the elevator. “My food is delicious.”

“You gotta love us though.” You say as you grab Naomi and Taylor. All three of you smiling.

“I suppose.”

The following day having a day off to get rest and get rid of the absolute terrible case of jet lag. You spent it with Alex as usual.

“Oh sunny day, sunny day.” Alex says as you both walk out the hotel.

“It’s cloudy.”

“Not when you’re around.” Alex says making you smile.

“You’re so corny.”

“Oh but you love me.”

“I suppose.” You say rolling your eyes sarcastically.

You headed to nearby stores, shopping and looking at what you wish you could buy but definitely couldn’t.

As the day went by the sky was slowly being filled with grey clouds. It was smart of you to bring a jacket with you. Walking to the last store before going back to the hotel, you bumped into some of the other girls.

“Wow you guys finally appear.” Megan says.

“We grabbed pretzels, they were pretty good.” You say with a nod.

“We bought Gucci.” Megan says, Rose looks at Megan weirdly as she speaks up.

“No we didn’t.” Rose says. “We bought stuff for Wilma and also found a cool shirt at a local store.”

“You better show me what you bought when we get back to the hotel.”

“Only if you show me what Alex bought you.” Rose says.

“Alex didn’t buy me anything.” You say. Rose looks at you then looks at Alex.

“I bought her stuff yes.” Alex says nodding.

“I knew it.” Rose says. “Ugh next time I’m going with you guys, Megan didn’t buy me anything.”

“I bought you candy.”

“Yeah for twenty five cents on those candy machines.” Rose says making you laugh.

“We’re heading back now, we’ll see you guys later.” You say, leaving Rose and Megan to argue with each other.

“Twenty five cents. She’s so cheap.” Alex says.

“You bought me lemonade for thirteen cents once Al.”

“It was from a lemonade stand.”

“Alex it was your niece’s lemonade stand”

“She didn’t accept card.” Alex says and you shove her.

Ten minutes into your walk back to the hotel it began to rain. Alex grabbed your hand as she pulled you aside, standing below a small space where you couldn’t get soaked in the rain.

“I love the rain.” You smiled as you watched it rain.

“So do I.” Alex says as she pulled you close to her.

Standing below what kept you both dry, Alex ran her fingers through your hair. Your head against her chest and you could hear her heartbeat.

You both always loved the rain.

Alex looked at you as you looked at the street where it was pouring. And maybe it was the way your hair had gotten a bit soaked or the way your eyes lit up as it began to rain. But she hoped you couldn’t see what she was seeing.

You looked at Alex and smiled, Alex smiled back and it was as if someone had flipped a switch, but the way you felt in Alex’s arms made you feel something you hadn’t felt in so long.

The way you felt in Alex’s embrace, made Alex heart melt, it made her feel things she never thought of when she saw you.

As Alex looked at you all your worries left, you knew it right then and there, a new and old feeling you hadn’t felt for someone in so long seemed to appear again.

While Alex looked at you, her heart began to beat in a different way, her eyes began to shine in a way she’d never thought would happen.

It was like you both knew, looking at each other for a few more long seconds you both smiled at one another.

Alex grabbed your stuff and placed it on the dry ground. You looked at her confused.

“What are you doing?” You ask and before she answers she pulls you into the rain.

“Doing something I think we should’ve done a while ago.” Alex says as she cups your face with her hands.

Alex smiles, and you’re still a bit confused but you kind of knew maybe what she was going at.

“And what’s that exactly?” You ask.

“This.”

Alex rubs her thumb on your cheek before she leans in to kiss you. Connecting her lips against yours, you reciprocated, closing your eyes as you placed your hands on her hips.

Happiness. Peace. Happy. Peace.

It almost felt like a movie, a fairytale even.

Kissing in the rain on the sidewalk.

You both pulled away, eyes still closed as your foreheads rested against one another. Alex smiled as she leaned in for another kiss. Neither of you wanting to open your eyes just yet. But when you both finally did, there it was. Sparks.

You hummed as Alex bumped her nose against yours.

“That was also long overdue.” Alex says.

“I agree.” You say.

It was as if someone had attached a string to both your hearts. The string being pulled and having your hearts connect.

Across the street from where you were Rose, Megan and Emily were passing by, noticing what had happened, watching it all unfold. Cheering and clapping.

Both you and Alex turned to look who was cheering, as soon as you had seen who it was you were quick to try and hide.

“Thank god.” Megan says as she walks up to you and Alex.

“Finally. I’m actually so happy for you guys, like otp for sure.” Rose says with a smile.

“Is this why you were so happy? How long has this been going on for?” Meg asks.

“I was happy for other reasons.” You say.

“Be real.”

“We’ve been figuring it out.” Alex says. “I think we just did.”

“We did.” You say with a smile.

“That’s honestly like kind of cute? But you didn’t hear me say that.” Emily says.

What none of you knew was that Christen watched it all unfold as well.

You all walked back to the hotel together, talking about really anything but what had just happened. Your hand intertwined with Alex’s. It all felt so nice.

As you walked into the hotel, your clothes sort of dry from the walk. You headed towards the elevator and up to the fifth floor. As you all walked out the elevator you headed to yours and Becky’s room.

“This was your plan all along.” Christen says as she looks at Alex as she passed through.

“Excuse me?” Alex asks as she turns around.

“Wait what?” You ask, you stumble back startled at the accusation Christen was saying. But also absolutely confused on what she meant.

“I didn’t like you from the moment I knew you were friends with Y/N.”

“And why’s that?” Alex says as she steps closer to Christen. “Enlighten us and tell us why that is.”

"Alex don't." You whisper as you put your hand on Alex's chest, trying to push her back.

“Does that really matter?”

“No but enlighten us. Do you think this..” Alex says motioning to you and her. “Happened because I planned it? No. I didn’t plan it. It just happened!”

“You’ve been after her since the moment you met her. I saw it in your eyes.”

“My eyes? Wow. Christen go look in the fucking mirror and look at yourself. You were in love with her, but you’re so stupid you never admitted it to her and definitely not yourself."

"Alex please, come on this isn't worth it." You say as you look at Alex. "Please."

"That's not true!" Christen shouts.

"I haven't said anything all this time but I know way more about you than you think I do. Word spreads Christen." Alex says. "I didn't plan this, we didn't plan this. You think Y/N planned to fall in love with me? No, it just happened over time."

"It was your plan all along and I know it." Christen shouts as she gets even closer.

"Yeah? Prove it then? You just keep using her, you always have, she's your safety. It's the only stability you've had in your life, but it's time for her to move on from your toxic self.”

Although Christen had apologized, you didn’t recognize who was in front of you. That wasn’t the Christen you knew. But you also didn’t know who she was anymore after spending so many years apart.

So many things flashed through your head, conversations and memories. But specifically one conversation, a conversation she didn’t know about.

"You didn't hear this from me but despite what Christen has told you, I wanted you to know because you deserve something. She didn't want you to know this, but she likes a girl, if that's anything to you."

“You liked a girl.” You say softly.

“What?” Christen asks, snapping her head to look at you.

“In middle school, you liked a girl, a friend of ours.” You say, trying to keep your composure.

“What? Where did you hear that? Who told you that?”

“A friend of ours told me, they told me that you didn’t want me to know but you liked a girl. That I deserved some truth, you liked a girl and you didn’t want me to know.”

“Y/N-.”

“I was always telling you my truth, always. But I swore I’d never say anything to you about it.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want you to know.” Christen says.

“But you didn’t want me to know, our friend told me because she said I deserved to know some truth. I needed some closure, because you weren't giving me that. They found me and told me, a secret that I swore I'd never tell anyone and I never did."

"I just didn't want to hurt you."

"Because I liked you? I knew that, even then why couldn't you trust me that I'd be happy for you for being with someone you love." You say as you stand in front of Alex.

"Coward." Alex says.

“Alex.” You say as you turn to give her a glare. “Christen. You never trusted me. Ever. I don’t know why and maybe I’ll never know. What I do know is that as much as I want closure from you, from us and our friendship. I don’t think I want it anymore. Your apology gave me the closest thing I’ll get from closure from you. I want to move on and I have and I will.”

“With Alex?” Christen says with a scoff.

“You never even liked Alex, she has never done anything to you. But you despise her and I don’t even understand why. Alex has nothing to do with you and I not being friends anymore.”

“She has everything to do with it! She took you away from me.” Christen shouts.

“That’s not true.” You shout. “I always wondered why you were so angry when you saw me with Alex but now I don’t even want to know because that won’t change anything. You never trusted me. At least she’s trusted me this entire time.”

“I trusted you.”

“No Christen you didn’t. You never did and I tried so hard to think you did but you never did.”

“Y/N.”

“I hated that you weren’t at my college graduation. I also hated that I wasn’t at yours. Just seeing pictures of you with your cap and gown from your family’s posts. It gutted me. Because all I ever wanted was to support you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, but I’m tired Chris. I’m tired.”

You sighed as you looked at Christen. Alex squeezed your arm softly, turning around you saw her nodding and then looking at Christen.

“Do you remember the notes you gave me in eigth grade?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember I’d give you notes as well.”

“How could I forget. It was the only way you’d talk to me the first year of our friendship. You were so shy. It was how you communicated with me. I kept them all in a binder. It’s still under my bed.” Christen says.

“You gave me two. Your second one said there were four. I never got them and I still wonder what they said. But I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never know and maybe you never wanted me to know. But I loved you for so long, I can’t live like this anymore. I care about you, I always will but I’m done. I’m happy now, I have peace. Alex had nothing to do with us not being friends anymore.”

You grabbed Alex’s hand and walked to your room, leaving a shocked Christen in the middle of the hallway.

“Are you okay?” You ask Alex as soon as you close the door to your room.

“I’m fine, are you okay?”

“I’m- I’m good.” You say as you breathe out. “I’m sorry she reacted that way.”

“That’s not your fault and you shouldn’t be apologizing for her. She’s responsible for her own actions. It’s not your fault Y/N.” Alex says as she places her hand on your cheek. You leaned into her touch and smiled.

“Thank you.” You turned your head just enough to kiss the inside of her hand. Alex smiled back at you, looking at you with such adoration.

You felt happy, felt at peace. Felt loved.

- - - -

“Close your eyes.” Alex says as she gets out of the car, running to the other side as she opens the door for you.

“You’re not going to kill me right? I didn’t mean it when I said to throw away your terrible terrible food. It was delicious.” You say and you hear Alex laugh.

“Can you just trust me?”

“I trust you I just don’t know what’s going to happen.” You say as you get out of the car.

“Open your eyes.” Alex says and you open your eyes.

Eyes widening as you see all around you, hundreds of floating lanterns being lit up by many people.

“I know the Fourth of July was something that meant a lot to you and that it probably won’t ever mean the same, so I wanted to bring you here. Have a little something of our own. Our Fourth of July but like two months later. Our own day to remember.”

“I love it.”

“Really?” Alex asks and you smile.

“Yes really. It’s lovely.”

“Well.” Alex says as she grabs the floating lantern. Turning it around to so you could see what she had written on it. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

You grinned as you leaped into her.

“Yes.” You say as you wrap your arms around her.

“Oh thank god I was starting to get worried.” Alex says making you laugh.

The sun went down and you released your lantern.

A new beginning with someone you love so much.

You both sat on the ground, looking at the sky as you watched all the floating lanterns. You had never felt so much happiness and love.

As much as you loved Christen, it just never seemed to go back to the way it was.

At every family event, Alex was now officially part of the family. You laughed and shared stories. You no longer felt empty but rather felt peace and joy.

You were kissing Alex every chance you could get, you were a brand new person. The kisses shared at family events as everyone told stories. Fourth of July was no longer so painful.

You healed.

Alex showed you what being loved was and felt like, and how to be treated as a friend but also as a partner. She wasn’t bothered by your constant need of assurance because she knew you always needed to be told every once in a while. She didn’t mind, in fact she loved telling you that she loved you.

“I love you.” Alex says as she wraps her arms around you.

“I love you. It’s you and me.”

“That’s my whole world.”

Three years later you would both come back, except that time Alex would get on one knee asking you to marry her. You obviously said yes because how could you not marry your best friend and lover.

Facing reality was no longer scary, it was exciting.

With the right person you knew facing reality would be an adventure. Alex was your reality and you were hers. You just didn’t know it. But she was reality. And she didn’t know but you were her reality. You were ready to be with Alex forever and face reality together.

This was reality and you were finally happy facing reality.

#christen press x reader #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #woso imagine

174 notes · View notes

thruheavenandhighwater · 1 year

Text

Pairing: Eddie Munson/ Plus Size Female Reader

Requested By: Anon

Word Count: 10,531

Summary: You and Eddie had decided at the beginning of your relationship that kids probably weren't for you. But every summer when your niece visits for two weeks, you find yourself reconsidering. This takes place in like '93 and reader and Eddie are both in their mid 20s.

Content Warning: Smut (18+, minors DNI) Eddie being a horny little gerbil and making sexual/ suggestive jokes. Breeding kink kinda. Unprotected sex.

Stranger Things Masterlist

Eddie Munson Masterlist

~~~~~

You'd always loved summer vacation. When you were in school, you obviously loved getting 10 weeks of freedom. As you got older you learned to appreciate the nice weather and ability to spend time outside with your friends. When you met Eddie you loved being able to follow him to shows, watching him be a rockstar at small festivals and house parties all around the state. But now, you loved summer for a whole new reason.

Your brother and sister in law had moved out of state a few years ago for his job. They were happy in their new city, and your niece had made gaggles of new friends at her school. But you missed them all terribly between visits. Your niece's summer vacation just so happened to be their longest visit. They'd come back the last week of June, stay through the Fourth Of July holiday, and drive back to their own city until November.

You and Eddie were both excited for their visit. You always were. For the last few years, since you'd been dating, you both loved those two weeks in the middle of summer when the baby would be home to visit. Neither of you had ever particularly wanted kids, but you loved spending time with your niece.

She and Eddie got along famously from the first time they met. She'd only been barely two years old at the time. Eddie had been nervous, making himself sick with worry for weeks leading up to the visit. He convinced himself that your brother and his wife wouldn't like him. He thought they'd take one look at him, at his leather and chains and run for the hills. He even had himself believing that you would listen to them and leave him while they were in town.

None of that happened, obviously. You all gathered at your parents house the day after they arrived for family dinner. The only thing stopping Eddie's hands from shaking was the fact that you held one tightly in your own, and the other held the cookies you'd made earlier that morning. You watched all of his worry melt away almost as soon as the front door closed behind you. Before you could even greet your family, your niece was across the room, taking Eddie's hand from yours and leading him into the living room to play Care Bears with her. They ended up playing for most of the afternoon. She made him be Funshine Bear, and your brother still calls him Funshine whenever they see each other.

This year, you and Eddie were finally able to get your own place. It was a rental, admittedly. A small house a few blocks from your work. But it was yours and you were both proud of it. The best part, you both agreed, was the extra bedroom. A few weeks before their visit you called your brother to ask if your niece could spend a few nights with you and Eddie while they were in town. Being that she was six years old now, he left it up to her. She nearly broke the speaker of your phone with how loudly she squealed once you asked the question. You and Eddie spent way too long passing the phone back and forth while you all planned what she was calling "the super awesome mega slumber party." The following weekend you and Eddie went out and probably spent too much money buying a new bed and Disney princess sheets, just for your niece in the extra bedroom.

The day everyone arrived back in Hawkins you met them at your parents house. No more than three minutes after she was in the house, your niece corned you and Eddie in the kitchen demanding to see "her" bedroom.

"It's in our house all the way across town, jellybean," you told her.

"I'm going there tonight?"

"Not tonight, kid," Eddie answered, crouching down to her level. "Auntie and me both gotta work tomorrow. You're comin' over on Friday."

"What's today?"

"Wednesday."

The groan that came from deep within her body would have suggested that she'd just been given the news that her stocks were tanking. Eddie only giggled, promising a fun weekend and as many blueberry pancakes as she could eat. She begged the both of you to come over tonight, claiming that she had to check out her room and make sure it was good enough. You told her no, though you didn't want to. You knew that if she came over tonight she'd be there for the rest of their trip. At the end of the afternoon you and Eddie hugged her goodbye and did your best to ignore the wide eyed, pleading looks she gave you through your parents living room window.

You ended up taking a half day on Friday, physically incapable of sitting at work for an additional four hours. You were practically bouncing as you called your parents house from work. Your brother answered, sounding very arrogant when he simply said your name in lieu of a greeting.

"Is my baby awake?" You asked. He chuckled and told you that she wakes up with the sun. "Has she eaten lunch? I'm about to leave work and I was thinking we could have a little date to Benny's."

"Benny's without me?" He asked, almost sounding genuinely offended.

"I guess if you're like, on the brink of starving to death you can go."

"Thank you so much for such a warm and genuine invitation," he said in a monotone voice. "But I'm gonna watch golf and pass out on the couch the exact moment your car is out of the driveway, so I won't be able to attend."

"Nice to know that nothing has changed in your old age."

"I'm barely four years older than you," he reminded you. "So if I'm old, what does that make you?"

"I'm still young and full of life," you answered. "And I'll be there in like ten minutes so she better be ready."

When you arrived at your parents house, your brother opened the door before you had the chance to knock. "She's been staring out the window since we hung up," he told you. The two of you stood side by side as you watched her slip into her pink tennis shoes. "Where's Uncle Funshine?" He asked.

You swatted at him, the back of your hand smacking softly against his chest. "Stop callin' him that."

"She calls him that!"

"She's six and it's cute," you retorted. Just then your niece stood up and proudly showed off the laces of her shoes, which she tied all by herself thank you very much. Your brother let out an exaggerated groan as he lifted her backpack to hand it to you. You had to admit, it seemed like she had packed everything she owned in that small pink bag. On the drive to Benny's she told you all about everything she had brought with her for the two nights she was spending with you and Eddie.

"I brought two outfits and then a extra shirt in case we go somewhere fancy," she told you. You did your best to hide the laugh that pulled from you, knowing that you were currently driving to the fanciest place in Hawkins. "And I brought some books, 'cause I'm getting real good at reading."

"So you don't want Uncle to read you stories anymore?"

"Well, he can sometimes," she answered. "But only 'cause he does voices and stuff. Oh! And daddy said you're gonna take me swimming so I brought my bathing suit."

"Daddy said that, huh?" You asked, looking into the rearview mirror to find her nodding triumphantly, her bright smile on full display. "Then I guess we gotta find a pool, don't we?"

Later that evening, after dinner and bedtime stories Eddie joined you in bed. "We're going swimming tomorrow?" He asked, turning onto his side to face you.

"Apparently my brother has promised her swimming," you answered with a smile. "Figured we could take her to the pool and let her tire herself out."

"Which pool?"

"There's only one public pool," you laughed.

Eddie groaned dramatically. "That place sucks," he told you. "And the lifeguards are all banging each other and it smells like chlorine and-"

"Okay!" You said, halting his rant. "So where do you suggest we take her?"

"Steve and Robin's apartment has a pool."

"For residents," you told him flatly. "We aren't residents."

"Steve and Robin are residents," he shrugged. You only sighed, telling him that you'd call them tomorrow. Eddie seemed happy enough with that as he rolled onto his back, opening his arms for you to take your usual spot with your head on his chest.

"I love you," you sighed as your eyelids began to feel heavy, the rhythm of his heartbeat lulling you to sleep.

"Love you, too, princess," he whispered. "Goodnight."

Your niece woke both of you up entirely too early for a Saturday. She came into your bedroom, wiping sleep from her eyes with her favorite stuffed bear under her arm. She walked to the foot of your bed and crawled between your body and Eddie's. "Pancakes?" She asked sleepily as she pushed you almost to the edge of the mattress.

"Can I sleep for like, four more hours?" Eddie asked, voice barely audible. She shook her head against his chest. He giggled, now rubbing his own eyes as he started to wake up. He looked over her head to you with a fond smile. "Then I guess it's time for pancakes."

Each of you had a job to help with breakfast. Eddie made the blueberry pancakes, per your nieces request. You stood beside him, frying bacon in a pan. Your niece delegated drink duty to herself, pouring glasses of orange juice for each of you. It was nice, you thought to yourself. Just the three of you bopping around the kitchen while you prepared for your day. Eddie hummed to himself as he added a pancake to the growing stack on the platter next to him.

"We swimmin' today?" Your niece asked as she shoved a syrupy bite into her mouth. Eddie answered, humming positively as he took a sip of his coffee. "When?"

"Later," you answered.

"When later?"

"Can you even tell time?" Eddie asked with a giggle, earning a withering stare from her.

"I'm not sure what time," you told her. "I gotta call our friends and find out."

"Can you call them now?"

You looked at the clock over the stove. It was barely 8 in the morning. You knew that neither Steve or Robin would be awake this early, unless they were at work. You decided to wait, telling her that you'd call after breakfast.

Eddie ended up being the one to make the call. Your niece cornered him while you showered, using her flawless skills of coercion on him. You walked into the kitchen, rubbing your hair with a towel while he was on the phone.

"- rules about dirty little freeloaders using your pool?" You smiled as you stood there, just out of sight while Eddie listened. "You're amazing, Buckley. No, I mean that. I'm gonna commission a statue of you and put it right in the front yard. Of course, very tasteful. Okay, bye. Love you!"

He smiled as he turned to face your niece, who was bouncing on her toes as she waited for the verdict. "We're in, short stack," he announced, holding his open palm out for a high five.

"Yes!" She cried, her small hand slapping loudly against his. "I'm gonna go get ready."

She ran past you, barely sparing a glance in your direction as she ran to her bedroom. The door closed behind her as you walked into the kitchen. "We're getting a statue?" You asked as you wrapped your arms around the back of Eddie's neck. He snaked his hands around your waist, nodding.

"Just a little one," he answered. "She said she's gotta work, but if we give her a few hours she's gonna wake up Steve and force him to let us in."

"So, shouldn't we get a Steve statue then?"

Eddie scoffed, "Absolutely not," he answered, leaning forward to catch your lips in a soft, slow kiss. He traced his tongue along the seam of your lips. Just as you opened them, granting him further access, you heard a door open.

"I need help," came a small voice down the hall. Eddie groaned, tightening his grip around you when you tried to pull away. You satiated him with a quick peck before turning away towards where your niece was half into her swimsuit.

She was beyond agitated when you told her that you weren't going swimming right this second. You recognized the beginnings of a tantrum brewing. Her little hands balled into fists. She sucked in a deep breath, preparing to let out what you could only assume would be an earth shattering scream. Just as she was about to let loose, Eddie swooped in with a day saving move.

"I was gonna go get ice cream," he said casually as he shrugged into a t shirt. "But if you wanna stay here all day and be mad, then I guess I'll just sit back down-"

"Ice cream?" She asked, suddenly dropping her shoulders. Eddie nodded from his seat in the living room. "Can I get sprinkles?"

"Obviously," he answered. "That's the best part."

The small ice cream stand in the center of town had only been open for a few minutes when you all walked up to the window. You were glad to see it was Jenny working today instead of Miranda. Jenny liked her job, whereas Miranda seemed to have a personal grudge against every person who dared order ice cream from her.

"Two chocolate cones with sprinkles, and one vanilla with no sprinkles," Eddie ordered with a smile. He turned to face you as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket. "For the boring and gorgeous love of my life who hates sprinkles for some reason." You only rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest as he handed Jenny the cash.

You all collected your cones and walked to a bench a few yards away from the stand. Your niece sat on your lap while you all ate.

"We goin' swimming now?" She asked.

"Not quite," Eddie answered. "Don't you know you gotta wait 30 minutes after you eat or sharks will get you?"

"Pools don't have sharks." She deadpanned, licking at her ice cream.

"Oh," Eddie scoffed. "Didn't know you were a shark expert."

She turned to look at you. You had to laugh at her expression. She looked so much like her mother, who often gave you a similar look when your brother was acting some type of way.

"Pools don't have sharks," you confirmed. "Your uncle's just… well, I don't know what's wrong with him, honestly."

Eddie giggled, continuing to work on his own ice cream as it rapidly melted in his hand.

Eddie made one more stop on the way to the apartment building that sat on the south end of town. Your niece did nothing to hide her disappointment when Eddie parked the car in front of Melvalds general store.

"You said we were going swimming!" She whined, throwing her head back in annoyance.

"Well, I thought you might want some floaties or toys or something," Eddie told her. She perked back up instantly and began to scramble with her seatbelt before bolting out the back door, letting it fall closed behind her.

The water toys and accessories were pretty much front and center as soon as you pulled open the front door of the store. Your niece made a beeline for the toys and floating tubes. Eddie followed behind her, promising not to let her go crazy with purchases. You smiled to yourself, knowing full well that she was going to walk out of this store with anything she asked for. You walked down the opposite side of the aisle to where the necessities that you knew neither of them cared about were hung. You added a bottle of sunblock, a magazine, a hand pump for the floaties you were sure your niece would pick, three pairs of sunglasses, and some new beach towels to your basket. You originally picked out a plain pink towel for your niece, but put it back on the shelf in favor of the one right beside it. It was smaller than the others, obviously made for children, and featured a scene from the newest Disney princess movie. You knew she'd love it.

When you rounded the end of the aisle you couldn't help but laugh. There Eddie stood behind your niece, both arms full as she continued to shop. Your sandals clapped against the tile floor as you walked over to them. Eddie gave you a pitiful smile over the pile of boxes and toys he was hugging to his chest. From a cursory glance you saw three floating rafts and inflatable rings in matching colors, squirt guns, and a beach ball. He also had a purple plastic bucket dangling from his fingers, which your niece was in the process of filling.

"I told her she can only get what fits in the bucket," he told you in a weak attempt at defending himself. You giggled as you watched your niece add a pair of goggles to the two small dolls that were already in the bucket.

"They're mermaids," she told you when you picked one up. "And their hair changes colors!"

"They change colors, babe," Eddie parroted with a grin.

"One more toy," you told her in your best attempt at a stern voice.

"But Uncle Funshine said-"

"We won't be able to fit it all in the car if we listen to him," you told her, smiling up to Eddie as she returned to diligently scanning the shelves. She ended up choosing a florescent green frisbee as her final choice, even though it didn't fit in the bucket. You loaded all of your things into the trunk, handing out new sunglasses to everyone. They both looked so good, and so happy. You almost kicked yourself for not bringing your camera to commemorate the day.

Steve answered the door already dressed for the pool. It was surprising since you were pretty sure he was asleep less than an hour ago. He stepped back from the door, raising one arm to usher you all inside. Your niece was hesitant, having never met Steve. Eddie crouched down to her level and put one hand behind her back.

"This is Steve," he told her softly. "We're swimming in his pool."

"Hi, Steve," she said shyly, pulling a sympathetic look from Steve.

"Hello, honey," he answered. "Uh… so the bedrooms are empty if you guys need to change or anything."

"Cute of you to think this one would let us out of the house without swimsuits already on," Eddie told him, standing up straight and motioning to his black trunks. Steve looked to you just in time to see you pulling the black strap of your own swimsuit from the neck of your shirt.

"Well okay then," Steve said, clapping his hands in front of him. "What are we still doing inside?"

Once you were inside the black metal fence that surrounded the pool your niece immediately began to disrobe. She dropped her shirt and shorts in a pile before you told her to hand them to you. You folded them neatly and put them into one of the paper shopping bags to keep them dry. Eddie pulled his own shirt over his head and you had to force yourself to look away. The way his trunks hung low on his hips, showing off the bit of hair just below his belly button, accompanied by the mischievous wiggle of his brows as he handed his shirt to you. He knew what he was doing. You took a seat on a lounge chair near the pool and began to unpack your haul as Eddie and your niece stepped into the water.

"What do you think you're doing?" You asked, stopping both of them in their tracks. "I didn't buy sunblock just to put it on a shelf as decor. Get over here."

Both of them hung their heads as they trudged back to you. Eddie pulled the sunblock from the bag and squeezed a dollop into your open palm. You began to rub the lotion into your nieces arms and legs while Eddie did the same to himself. By the time you were finished with your niece, Eddie was holding the bottle out to you. "Help?" He asked, looking pitiful as he motioned over his shoulder with his head. You rolled your eyes, feigning annoyance as you took the bottle from him and stood from your seat. You squeezed a bit more sunblock into your hand and lathered up his back and shoulders, reveling in the warmth of his soft skin. Once you were done he turned back to face you.

"Thanks, babe," he said softly. "But I think you missed a spot." You gave him a questioning look, knowing that you had gotten every inch of him. He wagged his brows again, placing his hands on your hips as he looked down towards his crotch.

"Oh, get away from me," you laughed. He tightened his grip on your hips, pressing himself into you just a bit. "I'm gonna drown you." You threatened, though your smile told Eddie that there was no trace of malice in your words.

"Who's gonna make you pancakes if you drown me?"

"Steve."

Steve barked out a laugh from behind you. You turned to see him sitting on the chair beside the one you'd just vacated.

"You wound me, princess," Eddie whispered. "Now you have to kiss me or I'll think you don't love me anymore." You obliged, leaning into him as your lips met his.

"Can you guys stop?" Your niece called from where she was already in the water. She earned another loud laugh from Steve, who fell back against the seat, his hand over his stomach as cackled. You pressed another peck to Eddie's smiling lips, earning a loud groan from your niece as you pushed him away towards the pool. You sat back down on the lounge seat and began to open one of the floaties.

"What are you doin'?" Eddie called from the steps.

"Someone's gotta blow these up for you hooligans."

"Yeah," Steve called from his seat beside you. "Ya hooligans."

You smiled at him as he brought the beach ball to his lips to inflate it. You almost considered going back to the store and grabbing a second pump for him. But you didn't, instead telling yourself that you'd probably be done with the rest of them by the time he finished the beach ball. One by one you opened each of the floaties, pumped them up, and tossed them to Eddie and your niece.

You looked on happily while they played together. Your niece had her goggles on, absolutely convinced that they helped her see underwater. The pair would alternate between simply splashing water at each other and actual games, most of which were made up by the two of them. Their favorite seemed to be an Eddie original that he had dubbed Shipwreck. It was a fairly simple concept. Eddie would balance her on his shoulders and swim around for a bit. He’d don a happy smile and point out things around them like a cruise director.

“And if you look over here, you’ll see a tree,” he announced cheerily before pointing in an opposite direction. “And over there is… Oh, no. Oh, good god, it can’t be. Sea monsterrrrrrr!” He cried loudly, your niece giggling away above him before he fell backwards, dropping her like a sack of potatoes into the water. She came back to the surface, taking a deep breath before letting out another round of loud, high pitched laughter.

You loved it. You loved seeing the two of them interact. You loved the relationship they had, though they only saw each other a few times a year. It made sense, given that she was six years old and Eddie was basically an overgrown child himself. But still, you loved these moments with them. Just sitting back, watching them together. It pulled at your heartstrings, just a bit. You and Eddie had quickly and unanimously decided fairly early on that children were probably not in the cards for you. Babies didn’t really seem like fun to either of you. And neither of you were particularly jazzed at the idea of being wholly responsible for a human life other than your own. But sometimes, moments like these, a part of you would start to drift away and think about what a life with Eddie and a baby of your own might be like.

As you were finishing up the last of the rings, and before you could let your little daydream go too far, you heard the metal gate to the fence creak open. A woman a few years older than you walked through the gate, followed by three young kids.

"They saw you guys out here and decided it was time to swim," she told you with a laugh.

"Sorry," you laughed just before tossing the pink ring to Eddie.

"Oh, it's fine," she sighed as opened a magazine. "This'll tire them out so they'll sleep all afternoon. And then they're going to grandma's tonight, so it's fine by me."

You nodded, fully understanding and silently hoping for the same outcome with your own rugrat. You pulled your magazine from the bag it sat in as Steve stood from his seat, beach ball fully inflated in front of him. He dropped it and let it bounce off his toe towards the water before walking towards the edge of the pool. He lowered himself so that he was sitting on the edge before pushing off and into the water. You adjusted your sunglasses before settling back into the seat, thankful for the attached umbrella for providing some cover from the harsh summer sun.

"Aren't you gonna come in?" Your niece called to you.

"Maybe in a little bit," you answered.

"Come on, babe," Eddie begged. He swam to the edge of the pool, propping himself up on his elbows. The water from his arms left a large wet spot on the concrete. "The waters not freezing or anything."

"Yeah, come on, babe," Steve called from where he was treading near your niece.

"Yeah, Aunt Babe! It's fun!"

Eddie giggled, looking over his shoulder at her. His smile was beaming when he turned back to you. "Aunt Babe and Uncle Funshine," he laughed. "Sounds like the worst fuckin'comic book ever made."

"You'd probably still read it," you told him.

"Because I'm a glutton for punishment," he shrugged. His smile faltered just a bit as his voice quieted. "You are gonna come in, right? You're not just gonna sit up there all day?"

You sighed, dropping your magazine so that it covered your stomach. You still had your jean shorts and t-shirt on, your one piece black bathing suit underneath. Your niece had forced you into it, though you had no intention of swimming in public. Eddie sighed and pushed away from the side of the pool. You watched as he made his way to the steps and walked out of the water. It dropped off of him, leaving a trail of puddles and wet footprints on the concrete as he walked towards you. He placed his hands on the armrests on either side of the chair. He leaned close to you, his wet curls falling, hitting your shoulders.

"I love you," he whispered. You smiled, feeling a blush crawl across your cheeks. "And I think you look sexy as hell in your swimsuit. But more importantly, I think that nobody but me will care what you look like. Like, I'll probably want to take you up to Steve's apartment and do unholy things to you in his bed," he smirked, seeing the flush on your cheeks deepen from pink to red. "But I'll be good, I promise." He leaned forward, pressing his lips to yours.

You knew he meant every word he just said. That he thought you were sexy. That nobody else would care about what your body looks like in a swimsuit. That given the chance he'd happily defile Steve's bed with you. But you just couldn't shake the insecurities. Having been a bigger girl for as long as you can remember, those harsh judgements from other kids were burned into your brain. Every cruel name, every barnyard related insult, all of it.

Eddie stood up straight and turned back in the direction he'd come from. You watched the wet footprints dry up and disappear beneath the hot sun. Suddenly, your jeans and t-shirt felt constricting. Too hot to be wearing when it was 90° before noon. You called out to Eddie, stopping him in tracks just as he was about to step into the water. He watched as you reached down to the ground beside your chair, grabbing the sunblock. You held it out to him, silently asking for help. He grinned as he walked towards you, taking the bottle from you as he watched you lift your shirt over your head.

"Think Steve would notice if we disappeared for like ten minutes," he asked as you bent over to add your clothes to the paper bag that held everyone else's. You giggled, pulling your hair into a messy ponytail as you heard the cap of the sunblock open.

The lotion was cold. It shocked you just a little when it touched your hot skin. Your eyes fell closed as Eddie's hands began to work it into your skin. Once was done with your back, he placed one hand on your shoulder to turn you towards him. He expertly rubbed the lotion into your arms and chest, smirking to himself as he watched your skin turn pink beneath his fingers.

"Ready to swim?" He asked quietly, closing the bottle and dropping it onto your chair. You only nodded, smiling up at him.

Your niece shrieked with delight as you followed Eddie into the water.

“See?” She cried excitedly as you swam to join her and Steve. “Isn’t this so much fun!”

“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” you told her.

You felt Eddie’s hand slide behind your back beneath the water as he pressed into your side. “Me, too,” he whispered in your ear. You looked up at him to find that he was staring directly down the top of your swimsuit, your cleavage on full display from his vantage point. You pushed him away, repeating your threat to drown him as you and your niece began to work together to splash him mercilessly.

The rest of the afternoon was much of the same. Your little group would alternate between splashing and actually playing. Even the other woman’s kids begged Eddie for a turn at Shipwreck. He happily gave everyone a turn, once he’d okayed it with their mother. He was a natural with kids, you noted. They all seemed to love him. They loved his cruise director voice. They loved his wild attitude. They loved his tattoos, and his crazy hair when he’d break through the top of the water and whip it over his head, sending a burst of water cascading around him. You felt that familiar tug, your mind beginning to wander again.

Steve exited the pool suddenly, grabbing his towel from his chair before heading to the gate.

“You bored of us already, Stevie?” Eddie asked.

“Gonna grab us some waters, if that’s okay with you.”

“We are literally surrounded by water,” Eddie deadpanned.

“But you probably shouldn’t drink it,” Steve told him, closing the gate behind him. A few minutes later Steve returned with water bottles in hand, distributing them to your little group and offering some to the other woman and her kids. A little later a blue car with a Pizza Hut light on top pulled into the parking lot. Steve stood from his seat and met the pimple faced teenager at the gate, handing him some folded bills as he took the pizza from him.

“Lunch is served,” he announced as he set the pizza box on a table and flipped the lid open.

Everyone exited the pool and wrapped their new beach towels around themselves as they ate. You and Steve decided to stay out of the water after you finished. Eddie and your niece, however, were having none of that. Neither of them seemed to be done playing for the day. You and Steve sat back and watched them, smiling to yourselves as you did.

A few hours later, your niece finally allowed you all to leave. You asked Steve to borrow Robin's camera, begging him to take a picture of the three of you. He did so happily, saying that if Robin had anything to say about the missing photo, he’d set her straight. Your niece posed for the photo, one arm around and one around Eddie beside the pool. She yawned loudly as the photo printed from the bottom of the camera, and you took her back to the apartment to change back into her normal clothes. She fell asleep as soon as you began to drive her back to your house. You wondered if this meant that she wouldn’t sleep tonight. But as you looked back to where she was slumped over in her seat, her mouth hanging open as she slept, she looked so precious that you could’t find it in you to care.

Dinner that night was a cookout in the backyard. Eddie had been so excited about having a real yard that he’d gone out and bought a grill as soon as you moved in. And he loved taking any opportunity that he could to fire it up. Eddie manned the grill outside while your niece "helped" you to prepare sides inside. You tasked her with shucking the corn while you popped some potatoes into the oven. She hated it, complaining loudly that the "hairs" were getting stuck to her. Eventually, you took the corn cob in her hand and sent her outside to help her uncle. You walked out a few minutes later, carrying plates and drinks to the small table you'd gotten at a garage sale two weeks prior. The first thing you saw when you opened the door was that she had pulled a chair over to the grill and was standing on it, watching while Eddie flipped burgers.

She smiled over her shoulder to you when she heard the back door open. "You gonna help, too?" She asked.

"I'm helping inside," you told her.

"Come here and help, Aunt Babe," Eddie told you. He was still facing the grill, but you could hear the cheeky smile in his voice. You set the plates and drinks on the table and went to Eddie's empty side. He threw an arm around the back of your neck and pulled you close enough to plant a kiss to your temple. "So what's goin' on inside the castle?"

"Corn in the cauldron, potatoes in the oven," you answer, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"Ah," he sighed, almost triumphantly. "A feast fit for royalty."

After dinner you had to force her into a bath. She fought back, claiming that she was clean from swimming.

"Do you have any idea how many chemicals they put into pools?"

"No."

"Okay," you giggled at her honesty. "Well it's a lot, and you need to wash them off. And out of your hair."

Eventually, after promising as many bed time stories as she wanted, you got her into the tub. You once again let your mind wander a bit as you messaged conditioner into her hair. You wondered if your baby would have hair like hers, fine and stick straight. Or would it be thick and curly like Eddie's? Would you have a little girl, with Eddie's attitude and your laugh? Or a little boy, with your eyes and Eddie's smile?

After she was clean and dry, you brushed her hair and helped her into her pajamas. She walked with you to the kitchen where Eddie was snacking on a plain hot dog that was probably lukewarm at best.

"Will you read to me?" She asked him.

"'Course," Eddie answered before shoving the last half of the hot dog into his mouth. He shot you a sly wink as he walked past you, towards her bedroom.

You smacked him lightly on the shoulder, pulling a giggle from him. "Edward!" You scolded playfully.

Your niece stopped in her tracks, turning back to face you. She had one eyebrow raised high on her head. The picture of confusion as she looked between you and Eddie. "Edward?" She asked slowly, like she wasn't sure if she was saying it correctly.

"Don't say that, honey," Eddie told her. "It's a bad word."

"Like butthead?"

"Yes," you giggled while Eddie tried, and failed, to glare at you. "Edward is exactly like butthead."

She accepted your answer, seemingly adding Edward to her mental list of words not to say. She took Eddie's hand in hers and led him down the hallway and into her bedroom. You giggled as you turned to begin packing away the leftovers from dinner. You placed the Tupperware bowls into the fridge, right next to the untouched leftovers from the previous night. After the dishes were done and put away you popped your head in to check on them.

You poked your head into the room to find them cuddled up together in the small bed. Eddie's feet nearly touching the end of the bed as his back rested against the wall behind him. Your niece was laid against him, using his forearm as a pillow while he read Cat In The Hat to her. They both turned To face you in unison as the door opened slowly.

"How's it going in here?"

"This pesky little cat is causing all types of mischief," Eddie answered.

"Yeah," she agreed with a yawn. "He's a bad cat."

"Well, that's not good," you told them. "I'm gonna go to bed, okay? Goodnight, jelly bean."

She yawned again, her jaw opening wide before she bid you goodnight. As you closed the door behind you, you heard Eddie start up the story again. His Cat voice was similar to the voice he assigned the chubby raccoon outside your old apartment last summer.

You got comfortable in bed with your own book. Eddie could be a bed hog, and you'd never admit it to him but you cherished moments when you'd get the whole bed to yourself without him spreading his limbs across all of it. At first you could hear him reading aloud in the other room. But as you got more and more into your own book, his voice faded into background noise. According to your alarm clock beside the bed, you read for about 40 minutes before you realized that he still hadn't come to bed. You marked your spot in your book and set it beside the alarm clock before leaving the room on a mission to rescue Eddie from your promise of infinite bedtime stories.

You slowly pushed the bedroom door open and nearly melted into the green carpet in the hallway. The pair were in a similar, yet much more cozy position as you'd left them. Only this time, both of them were fast asleep. She was curled into Eddie's side, her little head resting on his chest. He had one arm wrapped around her with his head slumped to the side as small snores fell from his open lips. A new book sat open across his stomach. "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" in a pretty blue font across the hard cover.

You tiptoed and quickly and as quietly as you could down the hall and into the living room to grab your camera. This was without a doubt something you'd want to remember. You snapped off a photo of the two of them so peacefully asleep. You set the photo and the camera on the kitchen table and walked back into the bedroom. You kneeled next to Eddie, placing a hand on his thigh and shaking it just slightly.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," you whispered softly, your lips close to his ear.

He woke up just as peacefully as he'd been sleeping. His dark eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light you hadn't thought to turn off. He took a deep breath through his nose. His eyes found your hand on his leg and you watched a smile bloom over his face as they traced from your hand up to your face.

"Hi, baby," he said, quiet voice already gravely with sleep.

"You wanna come to bed, or am I being replaced?"

His smile grew as he looked down to where your niece was tucked into his side. "She doesn't snore," he answered playfully. You rolled your eyes as he bent his head down to gently kiss the top of her head. It was almost funny watching Eddie, all gangly limbs and no coordination, try to untangle himself from a sleeping six year old without waking her. Luckily for both of you, she took after your brother when it came to sleep. A MAC truck could bust right through the living room and neither of them would stir. You replaced Eddie with her favorite stuffed bear and had to bite back a sigh when she clutched it tightly to herself in her sleep. Eddie threaded his fingers with yours, leading you out of the room and closing the door behind him.

"She tricked me," Eddie laughed as he changed into a pair of cotton sleep pants.

"You're a grown man," you laughed.

"She used magic baby sleeping potion or something."

"Oh, well I didn't realize she was armed when I sent you in there."

Eddie crawled beneath the comforter beside you. You gave him a kiss, smiling as you turned over. His chest was warm and solid as he pressed into your back. His hand dipped below the hem of your tank top, finding purchase on your soft, supple stomach. He rubbed his thumb over your skin as he spoke again. "Shoulda known," he told you. "You have the same shit."

"I have magic baby sleeping potion?"

"Yes."

"I'm not a baby."

You could actually feel him rolling his eyes behind you. He tightened his hold on you, pressing even closer to you. "You're my baby," he told you. "And I mean it when I say I never slept as good as I do now before I met you. You're magic."

"And you're a sap."

"Not a sap, just a lucky bastard who knows how good I got it." You hummed and wiggled your butt against him. He backed away just slightly, whispering in your ear in a tone that went straight to your core. "Unless you wanna make her a cousin tonight, you better stop."

You laughed, feeling a blush crawl over your face and down your neck. You didn't want to stop, but you did. You were not going to be the one to traumatize your niece with your sex noises in the next room.

Sunday morning started much the same as Saturday had. Your niece sleepily crawled in bed between you and Eddie. She quietly asked for pancakes. Eddie tried to bribe her for more sleep. She had none of it and the three of you made breakfast in your pajamas. The only difference was that you were out of bacon, so it was eggs this morning. She made a mess as she helped to scramble them in a bowl. But you loved having the time to spend with her, so you didn't even mind wiping up the goopy yolks with a paper towel.

"I gotta wash my clothes," she announced suddenly. You and Eddie exchanged a confused look, before turning to her in unison. "I'm out of clothes."

"Clothes for what?" Eddie asked.

"For tomorrow."

"You're going back to grandma and grandpa's today," you told her, almost sadly. "I'm sure they have clean clothes for you."

"But I want to keep staying here."

Eddie dropped his fork to his plate, his gaze almost heavy as he looked over to you. You knew you'd have to be the bad guy today. You would have to be the one to put your foot down. You loved Eddie, but right now you found yourself hating how soft he could be. Especially when it came to her.

"Don't you miss your parents?" You asked.

"A little," she admitted. "But I'm gonna miss you guys more."

"We're gonna hang out some more before you go home with mommy and daddy," you explained softly. "But we both gotta work tomorrow morning and it wouldn't be very fun for you to stay here all day by yourself, would it?"

She looked at her half eaten breakfast in front of her. She seemed to be considering what you were saying, trying to understand. "I could go swimming with Steve again." She announced.

Eddie barked out a laugh, throwing his head back. "I bet Steve would love to go swimming with you again, but he probably has to work, too."

"But maybe I'll see if we can go over again before you leave," you told her. "How does that sound?"

She perked back up at the promise of another day in the pool. She still seemed a little upset at not being able to stay with you and Eddie forever, but you knew it would be short lived.

After breakfast you and Eddie offered up different things you could do before she went back to her parents. Shopping, the park, mini golf, ice cream. But she didn't want to do any of those. She opted for a day in with the two of you and as many free children's movies as Kieth would let you rent from the Family Video. The limit, it turned out, was five. Once you were home with your little haul of movies, your niece chose to watch Scamper The Penguin first. She snuggled into Eddie's side as she watched the little penguin and his friends adventures, yawning as the movie came to an end. The next on her list was The Little Mermaid. You stood from the couch to replace the tape, usually a task delegated to Eddie. Once you sat back down beside them, your niece shuffled to your side of the couch, resting her head on your lap. She was out like a light in the first half hour of what she had claimed was her favorite movie ever.

Eddie smiled down at her and rested his arm over the back of the couch. You reached up, placing your hand over his as the movie played. It was mostly forgotten, neither of you paying much attention to the antics of the voiceless teenager on the screen. Just when it seemed like Ursula, the evil mermaid who had stolen Ariel's voice, was going to win the phone rang in the kitchen. Eddie stood with an exaggerated grunt and went to answer it. You listened from your spot on the couch.

"Hello?" He answered, turning to lean back against the counter. "She's nappin' on your sister right now, but we can wake her up. Yes, we did. Thanks for signing us up for pool duty, by the way."

You smiled to yourself as you listened to his side of the call. You always liked how easily Eddie seemed to get along with your family. He joked around with your brother like you did. Your parents adored him, telling you frequently that he was a catch and that you should hurry and get married already.

Eddie hung up the call and walked back into the living room. "They're on their way to steal her," he announced with a sigh. He bent over, his hand coming to your sleeping nieces shoulder. He whispered softly to her, slowly pulling her from her nap with the news that her parents were on their way. She blinked her eyes open, staring at him almost confused for just a moment before sitting up. She yawned, stretching her little arms over her head before going into the guest room to gather her things.

When your brother arrived he greeted both you and Eddie with hugs before turning his attention to his daughter.

"Ya have fun?" He asked.

"Yes!" She answered excitedly. "Uncle Funshine said we can go swimming again with Steve before we go home. Right?" She looked up at Eddie with those big, pleading eyes that he was absolutely weak against. He laughed, and confirmed that they would go swimming at least once more.

"Who's Steve?" Your brother asked you.

"He's Aunt Babe's cute friend."

"Aunt Babe?" He asked, eyebrows rising comically. "And he's cute?" Your niece suddenly got shy, wringing her hands into the front of her shirt as she shrugged off the accusation that she might just think that Steve Harrington was cute. You made a mental note to tell him when you called later.

"I don't think he's anything special," Eddie interjected casually. "But if the little miss thinks he's cute, who am I to argue?"

Your brother nodded, smiling around a laugh that was too much like your dad's. He scooped his daughter up like it was nothing, taking her backpack from you and swinging it over his shoulder. He told her to say goodbye, announcing that they were going back to grandma and grandpa's. She waved at you and Eddie, almost sad as her father said his own goodbyes before leaving.

You and Eddie fell onto the couch in unison after closing the door behind them. It was almost muscle memory at this point to snuggle into him. He put one arm up, beckoning you to him. You wrapped your arms around him and you rested your head against his chest.

"Sometimes when she's here I almost want to rethink the whole baby thing," you admitted.

Eddie chuckled, running his hand up and down your arm. "You say that every time she's here, and two days later you change your mind again."

"I know, but I can't help it. I just love her so much."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I do, too."

You turned to look up at him. "Would you ever want to rethink it?"

"Dunno," he answered. "Doesn't help that you've been on the pill since before we met. And we use condoms."

"Not all the time," you told him.

"Yeah, and when we don't, I always pull out 'cause I love seeing that pretty belly all covered in my cum."

"Jesus," you gasped. You felt your cheeks go warm as you turned to face the TV once again.

"What?" Eddie asked, a smile evident in his voice. "You're the one talking about making babies."

"I was talking about having babies," you corrected. "Raising them. Not making them, ya little perv."

“Okay, well excuse me for getting confused, but ya know you can’t have the baby without making it first.”

You looked up at him again. His eyes were dark, you could feel the bulge beginning to form in his jeans. “You wanna make a baby with me?” You asked, your voice dipping into a husky tone.

“I’d certainly like to try.”

“Yeah?” You asked, barely louder than a whisper. He was already leaning towards you, nodding his head as a small ‘uh huh’ fell from his parted lips.

The moment his lips met yours, it was heated. It was messy and desperate and passionate. His hand cupped your jaw as he moved to lie you down. Your back hit the couch softly. He moved to hover over you, his free hand supporting him on the back of the couch.

“Want me to fill you up? Huh?” He asked between kisses. “Want my babies?”

You nodded as his lips trailed across your cheek and down your jaw. Your soft whimpers were offset by the deep, low growls coming from Eddie above you. He pulled back from you after a moment, towering over you as he straightened his back. He was still perched on his knees between your open thighs but he seemed so much taller than you as you lay beneath him. He took the hem of your shirt in his hands and expertly pulled it over your head, tossing it across the room like it burned his hand to hold it. He cupped your breasts over your bra, a cocky sort of smile on his face as he kneaded your flesh in his palms.

“God, you’re so fuckin’ pretty,” he moaned. He leaned down, connecting his lips to yours as his hands snaked around your back to unclasp your bra. He dropped it beside the couch as his hands traveled lower down your body. His warm, soft palms mapped every inch of your body as he made his way to the button on your jeans. He moved to kiss your neck as he popped the button open, the zipper slowly following.

“Been waiting to taste you all weekend, baby,” he sighed into your neck as he tucked his fingers into the waistband of your jeans. “You looked so fuckin’ hot in your bathing suit. And poor little me, I couldn’t even do anything about it.”

You lifted your hips as he pulled your jeans down your legs, leaving you in just your panties. He dropped your jeans on top of your discarded bra beside the couch. He once again straightened his back so that he was above you. You bit your lip as you watched him shuffle back on his knees. The anticipation alone was enough to have you soaking through the cotton that covered your core.

He gently pulled your underwear down your thighs. Once they reached your knees he lifted your legs one at a time to slide your feet though the holes. He planted soft, open mouthed kisses to your knees in turn before letting them fall back to the couch. Once you were naked beneath him his smile turned downright deadly. He laid down on his stomach, his shoulders between your knees as he gazed up at you.

“Love you so much, baby,” he sighed as he wrapped one hand around your thigh. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head when his pillowy lips finally wrapped around your aching clit. He used two fingers of his free hand to split your folds before dipping his middle finger into your entrance. You mewled, overwhelmed his sensation as he began to move the single finger in and out of you.

“Fuck,” you whined. “God, baby, need more.”

Eddie obliged, like you knew he would. He added a second finger without missing a beat. He began to lap at your clit with his tongue, timing it with the thrusts of his fingers. He groaned, sending a shock of vibrations through you. You reached between your legs and took his long curls between your fingers. He groaned again, and you couldn’t help but to tighten your grip.

Your legs began to shake as Eddie expertly worked you to your orgasm. His tongue and fingers knew you so well. Knew exactly how to get you to the best orgsams of your life. The knot deep in your core suddenly snapped as he curled his fingers inside of you. You came loudly, a broken cry of his name falling from your open mouth like water from a fountain. Eddie kept his speed, never faltering for a second as he allowed your release to wash over his face and hand. You knew he loved it. He’d told you as much when you started dating all those years ago.

Once you finally floated back to earth, you pulled your hands away from his hair. Your signal that you were done. That he needed to stop if he didn’t want to overstimulate you. Eddie sat up on his knees and used his fingers to gather up every drop of your orgasm from his chin. Once he was satisfied that he had gotten every delicious drop, he pulled his own shirt over his head. You reached forward and began to undo his belt as he tossed his shirt behind him.

“Needy little thing, aren’t you?” He giggled as you fumbled with the buckle. He moved your hands out of the way and undid the belt in record time. You expected him to stand and drop his jeans onto the floor. Instead, he only pulled down the zipper and pushed his jeans and underwear down just enough to free his rock hard cock.

You felt yourself begin to salivate as you watched him wrap his hand around himself. He groaned as he gave a few soft tugs to his shaft. His other hand fell to your knee as he shuffled forward just a bit.

He ran the head of his cock through your fold a few times. You jolted when he made contact with your sensitive clit, earning a smile from him each time. It felt like a sick sort of mercy when he finally plunged himself into you, bottoming out with no warning. He fell on top of you, planting his hand into the cushion beside your head.

“Love fuckin’ you like this, princess,” he moaned into your ear. “Soft and warm and tight, just for me.”

You wanted to answer him. You wanted to tell him that you loved it, too. That it was all for him. That he was the only one who could ever make you feel this good. But the words escaped you as he slowly pulled himself out of you. You held your breath as you waited for him to move. When he did, all you could do was let out a noise that fell somewhere between a moan and a cry. You felt him smile into your neck as he set a brutal pace. In and out, in and out. Quick and hard and exactly what you both needed.

You dug your nails into the backs of his shoulders as you felt a second orgasm building. “Can you cum again for me, princess?” He asked, punctuating every other word with another hard thrust. “Can you cum all over my cock for me, baby?”

You nodded quickly. Your eyes wrenched closed as he continued to fuck you. Each thrust pushed you closer and closer to the edge and you knew that this would be a big one.

“Fuck, fuck, fu-” You whined with each thrust. “Gonna- ah, fuck-”

“Yeah,” he moaned into your ear. “Yeah, baby, wanna feel you cum around me. Yeah, just like that.” Each word was accompanied by another deep thrust.

Finally you couldn’t stop it. Your orgasm hit you hard. You saw stars behind your eyelids as Eddie continued, his pace picking up just slightly as you came. He groaned as you clenched around him.

Without a moment to spare, Eddie suddenly pulled out of you. He sat up straight on his knees above you one last time. Just like before, his left hand sat on your knee while his right hand wrapped tightly around himself. He tugged twice before you felt his hot cum hitting against your skin. He covered your stomach and chest with his load. You reveled in the low, gravelly moans that were coming from him as he milked himself all over you.

“Fuck,” he sighed as the last few drops of his cum dribbled from the red, angry head of his cock.

“That’s not how you make a baby,” you panted as he began to drag his finger through the mess he’d made on your stomach.

“Couldn’t help it,” He shrugged as he gathered some of his cum between two of his fingers. “You just look so fuckin’ good. Layin’ there, naked and covered in cum. Fuckin’ masterpiece, babe.”

You reached out and grabbed his wrist. His brows furrowed almost pathetically as you wrapped your lips around his fingers. You swirled your tongue, collecting his cum before swallowing.

"We can't have babies," he announced, breathing heavily. "I really love being able to fuck you into the couch on Sunday afternoons and we probably can't do that if we have kids running around the house."

He giggled to himself as he stood from the couch. He bent over to retrieve his shirt from the floor, wiping himself with it before tucking his spent cock back into his jeans. He left the fly unzipped as he kneeled on one knee beside the church and turned his attention to you. The cheap cotton scratched against your skin as he began to clean his cum from your stomach. As you watched him, you couldn't help but to be a little disappointed with what he'd said. You loved him. You loved him more than anyone. The kind of love that would have you stepping in front of a bus for him.

"You really don't want kids with me?" You asked quietly as he was finishing cleaning you up. "Like, you don't even want to talk about it?"

He was almost surprised when he looked up at you. His dark eyebrows were hidden beneath the blunt cut of his bangs. His eyes were wide, almost sorry looking. You couldn't blame him, really. You were the one who had been the most adamant about not wanting kids. Eddie was more go with the flow. A very "if it happens, it happens" kind of mindset.

"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" He asked. "Right now I'd give you my left eye if you asked for it. And that's a conversation we should have with level heads, yeah?"

"Yeah," you agreed with a small nod. "You're right."

He offered a small smile before taking your hand in his and planting a lingering kiss to the back. He stood up, pulling you by the hand into a sitting position. "Come on, babe," he said softly. "Let's take a shower." You grinned, always happy at the idea of a shower with Eddie. You followed him into the bathroom and let him wash your hair, his long fingers massaging your scalp before you did the same for him.

You did talk the next day. And then again a few years later. And once more when your niece was 13. Each time was after their annual summer vacation visit. And each time, you would sit down with Eddie and ultimately decide that you had made the right choice. You were both happy with the life you made together. You were happy to have a niece, and eventually two nephews, to love and spoil and watch grow up. And that was enough for the two of you.

~~~~~

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queenshelby · 9 months

Text

The Fourth Season (Rewritten)

Part One: Intro

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Religious and Anti-Religious Themes

Notes:

Being obsessed with Cillian’s post Oppenheimer image, I have decided to rewrite this story as well and make it play during the filming of “Small Things Like These”…

I hope I still get some following and promise no further re-writes! Following my break from the fandom last year, I struggled a bit with finding my style and my head was a bit all over the place, so when I started this fanfic, I wasn’t planning it out properly. I do like the premise of it though and do not want to abandon it.

I also won’t rename it as “The Fourth Season” seems quite fitting considering that “Small Things Like These” follow a character leading up to Christmas.

Background

This fic plays in 2023 and, as usual, there will be an age-gap romance as Cillian is 46 and the reader is 25. I made her a little older than usual.

The reader comes from a strictly catholic family and, as a result, her family is appalled by the fact that the reader has taken a roll in this movie as it does not put the catholic church into a very good light.

For the reader, however, this is an opportunity not only for her career but also to get away from her family for a little while which is still in turmoil after the reader had separated from her high school sweetheart and husband James McCallum.

As for Cillian, in early 2023, he is divorced with two young children. He has been single for three years and life was good. He finished filming Oppenheimer and took some time off before embarking in this passion project of his.

Six months ago…

Cillian’s POV

It was late July and the summer heat was scorching as Cillian walked down the pier in Dalkey with a fellow actor friend Matt Damon who, just like Cillian, had invested in the movie production.

The movie was said to be produced by Tim Mielants who also accompanied Cillian and Matt on their walk, and filming was scheduled to commence just after Christmas which left just one minor issue yet to be considered.

Whilst Cillian was staring the lead role of Bill Furlong, the woman who had been casted by Tim to play Bill’s wife Eileen had just pulled out, leaving this role yet to be filled with an affordable actress.

“You could ask Emily” Matt joked, seeing that both him and Cillian were close friends with Emily Blunt, but both of them knew that Emily would not be available for this role.

“I think we should concentrate on getting someone Irish” Tim told both Matt and Cillian who, by this point, had already come up with four unsuitable candidates for Tim to choose from.

“I think Matt was joking when suggesting Emily Blunt for the role” Cillian chuckled while adjusting his sunglasses and looking towards the horizon which prompted Matt to an idea.

“You know guys, I’ve seen a play last night at the Gaiety” he said before pulling out his phone and handing it to Cillian and Tim.

“The actress in that play was good and, when I say good, I mean really good. The play was called Dark Horizon and she played a widow named Siobhan who lost her husband at sea. Her ghost then plagued her until she was driven completely mad” Matt explained while showing Cillian and Tim the video he took from last night’s performance.

“She is good. What’s her name?” Cillian asked as he watched the video with an intention of his own to go and see the play.

“Y/N McCallum, aged twenty-five, from Cork” Matt said after pulling his phone from Cillian’s hand and opening the e-pamphlet which he had saved on his screen instead.

“She might be a little too young to play a forty something year old woman” Cillian chuckled while Matt put your name into Google.

“Make-up can take care of that” Tim said before continuing to read your agency profile and anything else that popped up in his newsfeed. “The bigger problem I see now is that she is married to James McCallum and working with couples on set might get a little annoying” Tim then pointed out, causing Cillian and Matt to furrow their eyebrows.

“Who is James McCallum?” Cillian asked as he could not remember anyone by that name

“He is in charge of logistics. You would have met him on the set of Peaky Blinders last year. He is thorough when it comes to staying within budget and organising essentials for the cast, which is why I hired him for the shoot” Tim explained and Cillian remembered him.

“Fuck, I do remember that guy. He gave me a bible after he caught on to…you know…never mind…” Cillian said, aborting his sentence but Tim already knew.

“After he caught you and Sarah making out?” he thus said, causing Cillian to swallow harshly.

“Who is Sarah?” Matt wanted to know as he was not privy to this kind of onset gossip.

“His ex” Tim explained but Cillian shook his head.

“It wasn’t like that. It was just a fling. Nothing serious” Cillian pointed out but Tim couldn’t help but make another joke about it.

“Yeah, that’s why he gave you a bible, so that you could pray for forgiveness for your sins” Tim laughed before suggesting to see the play together with Cillian that night.

Your POV

Later that night, Cillian and Tim had indeed gone to see your play and the way you performed a troubled woman like the one on stage blew them away.

They were both mesmerised by your performance and ought to speak to you when you finished, which was something that you had not expected.

“This is a little weird but there are two men here to see you” one of the theatre clerks said after barging into the change room where you and some of the other actresses were putting on your regular clothes.

“That sure is weird” you joked, seeing that you did not usually get any visitors backstage.

“One of them is Cillian Murphy” the clerk then said and your chin dropped. You have heard of him, of course. Your husband had spoken of him in the past when working on set, although he did not have the nicest things to say about him.

“The actor?” you ought to clarify nonetheless, causing the clerk to nod.

“Yes” she said. “Do you want to speak with them?” she then wanted to know and, of course, you were intrigued about what they had to say.

“Tell them I will be just a minute please” you instructed the clerk who did as you had requested and, after putting on a jumper and tying back your hair, you met with Cillian and Tim in the lobby.

Both men greeted you professionally and with a handshake before telling you that they enjoyed the play and your performance.

“Thanks. I really appreciate it” you said before asking the men whether there was anything you could help them with and, when Cillian said that there was indeed something you could him with, you looked at him with some surprise.

“Okay, what is it?” you asked with a smile while struggling to focus. His eyes were really as blue as everyone had said and he must have noticed you starring at them by now.

“Well, we’ve got a role for you in a movie” Cillian said, causing Tim to furrow his eyebrows. Cillian was clearly more confident than he was and he would have approached this a little differently to say the least.

“And you want me to audition for it?” you queried, causing Cillian to shake his head.

“No, I want you to take it. Your performance on stage today was incredible and I would love to work with you” he responded, causing your chin to drop again.

“I have never been in front of a camera before” you explained but Cillian did not seem to care.

“There is always a first time for everything” he reassured you and you felt somewhat shocked.

“Well, I feel flattered” you said before asking Tim and Cillian for a script.

“I will send it to your agent tomorrow along with all of the particulars for production” Tim said just before shaking your hand and when Cillian said that he was looking forward to working with you, you could not help but chuckle.

“I didn’t say yes yet” you informed him.

“I know, but I like being optimistic” he winked which left you and some other girls in the lobby somewhat speechless.

To be continued…

Please comment and engage. I love getting comments and predictions pretty please!

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy x y/n #cillian murphy x you #cillian murphy fanfiction #cillian murphy fanfic

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barnesafterglow · 1 year

Text

no other shade of blue

summary: your life is nothing but pure cold, until the day they pull steve rogers out of the ice

pairing: steve rogers x fem!reader

word count: 2.2k

warnings: soulmate au, fluff, not-quite angst??, shield still can't handle their shit but maria hill sure can, maria x natasha till i die, the overwhelming potential for a part 2

a/n: so i ironically started this on the fourth of july, and decided roughly 24 hours ago that i was going to finish it so. here it is.

masterlist ─ i no longer have a taglist but you can follow @theafterglowlibrary to stay updated on when i post 🤍

The first memory you had was of a bitter cold. Before happy memories in a sprawling backyard and cartoon band aids on a scraped knee, there was the brutal chill that seeped into your bones, into every inch of your being.

Though your own memory didn’t serve you, the first moment your mother had with you was much the same - a baby girl laid on her bare chest, only to flinch at the feeling of ice on her skin.

You spent countless years being poked and prodded, every medical test at the disposal of your doctors, and then specialists, and then scientific journals, and an answer was never found. In every other sense of your wellbeing, you were fine. Your organs worked, and there was never any danger of losing your extremities, so they stopped looking for answers and told you to move on.

Eventually, you were resigned to sweaters even at the height of summer, and whispered prayers that your soulmate didn’t have to endure the same icy existence.

You learned to live with it, and your friends learned to keep their distance at sleepovers and movie nights, and boyfriends and girlfriends alike never stuck around for long. It was hard to love someone who only offered cold hands instead of a warm heart.

For all it deterred your love life, the cold had no effect on your studies, and you excelled in the sciences, graduating with honors and securing a job at SHIELD just weeks after you got your degree.

You were puttering around your corner of the lab, pulling your sweater tighter around you despite the warmth of summer in Manhattan outside the floor to ceiling windows, when Maria Hill entered through the sliding glass doors, as frazzled as you had ever seen her.

“You’re going to want to see this,” is all she said before she turned on her heel and headed for the elevator. You managed to slide in just as the doors closed, more than a little bewildered at her behavior. You knew SHIELD and their plethora of secrets, but there were few things that were wrapped up so tight that they couldn’t even be spoken about in the safety of your lab.

“Male, approximately 27 years old, possibility of severe hypothermia but… we really don’t know.” Her voice was hushed, like she couldn’t bear to admit that they didn’t know.

“I’m not a medical doctor, Maria. A PhD doesn’t mean I can see patients, no matter who or what they are.” You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath as the elevator descended far below street level. It was going to be one of those days. “Why are you coming to me about this?”

“We don’t need you as a doctor, we need you as a scientist. He’s been frozen in ice for almost 60 years. We have no idea what to expect when he wakes up. If he wakes up.” She reached over to squeeze your arm, your best friend shining through the facade of your Deputy Director, for just a moment. “It’s Steve Rogers.”

Your jaw dropped, but you weren’t able to formulate a response before the elevator doors slid open, and the immediate bustle of SHIELD agents stole any comment you may have had. She released her grip on you and straightened up, leading you through the winding maze of SHIELD’s underground headquarters, before stopping at a steel door with more security than you had ever seen.

Maria nodded at the two junior agents, putting her hand to the biometric scanner as soon as they stepped aside, and you followed her inside, proud of yourself for barely flinching as the heavy metal slid to a close behind you.

The first thing you noticed was the fact that you could see your breath in the air, which was odd considering the room felt no different in temperature than the one you had just come from, then you followed her gaze to the center of the room.

It was, without any other way to describe it, a huge block of ice. It didn’t necessarily look out of the ordinary, but even from across the room, you could see the lines of distorted red, white, and blue peaking through. And there, as you finally got the courage to step closer, was the unmistakable face of Captain America.

You got the strangest urge, then, to reach out and touch his partially covered face, to see if his frozen temperature rivaled your own, when someone cleared their throat, and you looked up to see a handful of people watching you curiously.

Embarrassed, you stepped back into place beside Maria and waited for further instruction.

After that it’s… a bit of a blur. There were a flurry of more senior scientists than you, and you wondered again Maria needed you there when her team was more than capable. You more or less stood in the corner and watched with your best friend as they took what looked like glorified hair dryers and began melting away Captain America’s icy tomb.

Once the block had melted away and he laid there in his battered stars and stripes, he was hooked up to more machines than you knew their purpose. The only one you could focus on was the heart monitor directly in front of you.

It was a daunting flat line, a slow, steady beep, no indicator of any sign of life. It was a long shot, you all knew that - even you, so out of the loop but kept in the room anyways. He had been at the bottom of the Atlantic for 66 years, and only the grace of god or Abraham Erskine could save him now.

Maria, who always knew more than she ever let on, motioned you towards his side, and you almost gave into your earlier impulse to brush your fingertips against the stark blue of his lips when the monitor changed. A small blip, but enough for a flurry of activity to cascade through the room, and you were pushed right back into the corner where you had been for what felt like hours.

It wasn’t until the monitor was beating in a steady rhythm and Maria finally ushered you back to the upper levels that you realized you weren’t quite so cold anymore.

–

It had been two days since Steve Rogers came out of the ice, and you had steadily felt your body temperature rising. It was odd, feeling warm - like an actual human, because that typically only came with copious amounts of alcohol and a heated blanket.

You hadn’t heard any more news about him, besides the hope they had to slowly acclimate him to the 21st century. Maria had been very tight lipped about the entire situation, and you had a feeling it was more than just the fact that it was a highly top secret SHIELD project, as they usually were.

But you couldn’t help the undeniable pull you had towards him, the sneaking suspicion that it was more than a scientific draw that had you almost desperate to see him, to know how he was progressing.

It was on the fourth day that you reach the average body temperature - something you had never before achieved in your life - which also happened to be the day SHIELD fucked up irreparably on their exposure of Steve to the new world.

Roughly an hour after they managed to draw him away from the streets of Manhattan and back to SHIELD, Maria appeared at your apartment door.

“You need to see him.”

“Why?” you asked, but you were already grabbing your shoes, following her out to the car still running at the curb.

She said nothing until she was behind the wheel, giving you a look somewhere between sympathy and excitement.

“I found out Natasha was my soulmate when we were sparring. She broke my nose - by accident, she swears - and felt it on her own. She kissed me right there, in front of junior agents and with blood streaming down my face.”

You remembered when she burst into your lab minutes later, blood still on her face and gripping Natasha’s hand; she was so excited to tell you.

“I know the story, Maria. Why are you telling me?”

“I’m just saying, meeting your soulmate isn’t always,” she paused, searching for the word, “conventional.”

It rarely was, when so many found their soulmate in the form of pain - spilling searing hot coffee on them and feeling the sting of the burn or a papercut when there was no way for you to get one, but your soulmate had.

There were, of course, cute meetings, like feeling the squeeze of a hug too tight or the pinch of a cheek from a grandmother, but it didn’t happen often. Soulmates didn’t happen very often.

You weren’t even sure if you believed in them; there was no science behind it. Nothing besides the words of love struck couples.

Which is why you were confused by Maria bringing it up. She knew your stance, even after seeing her relationship with Nat.

“I want you to meet Steve,” she said as you pulled into the garage at SHIELD.

You just looked at her, trying to keep your face blank, waiting for further explanation.

“I think he might be yours. Your soulmate, I mean. It makes sense, him being in the ice and you…” she gestured in your direction, “being cold.”

It sounded stupid, it sounded insane, but you trusted Maria’s judgement, and, if nothing else, you could at least say you tried.

When you met Steve, it was in a model SHIELD apartment - sleek and modern and nothing even close to a home - with Maria hovering by the door, waiting to save you if you said the word.

“Hi.” You weren’t sure if he knew why you were even here, so you just started with introducing yourself, telling him you worked for SHIELD.

“I know who you are.” He flushed a pretty pink across his face. “Well, I think I do, anyways.”

You felt your own face heat up and, praying he couldn’t tell, you stuck your arm out to shake his hand.

He must not have known his own strength; his grip on your hand was so tight you flinched a little, and he looked at his own hand in wonder.

“I… I felt that,” he said, sounding just as amazed as he looked. “So, it’s true?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t feel anything. Can I…?” He nodded and you deliberated for a moment before pinching him in the side. Well, you tried at least. The skin there was taunt, and your mouth watered a little at the thought of it.

Snapping yourself out of it, you realized you hadn’t felt anything, and your heart dropped. You knew you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes, should never have gotten in the car with Maria, shouldn’t-

“That didn’t hurt.”

“What?”

“It didn’t hurt. That was a baby pinch, you’ll have to do better.” The corner of his mouth turned up into something akin to a smirk, and you felt like you were being made fun of. “I’m not making fun of you, I swear.” Did you say that out loud? “It just takes more than that to hurt me.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Steve.”

“That’s kind of the whole point of this, sweetheart.” His face flushed red again - even more than before - at his slip of the tongue, but Maria saved you both.

By making her way over and punching Steve in the stomach. He curled over just a bit, and you felt a pressure - something like a punch - in your abdomen. When you looked back up at him, there were tears in your eyes. But not from the pain. No, this was pure joy at finding your soulmate.

It was then that you noticed the calm presence of him, it was as if he soothed every pain you had ever felt, like he was taking it all away. It was as if he were a balm to your very soul.

You were so entranced with each other that you didn’t notice Maria slowly making her way out of the room. All you could see was a deep sea of blue, staring at you with the same intensity you felt burrow into your chest.

You took a step closer to him, then two, three, until you were so close you could feel the heat radiating from his body. Your eyes flitted down to his lips, and you knew he was doing the same to you.

Maybe it was too soon, but no one knew the magic of soulmates, the insatiable need to touch them, unless you were the one experiencing it. So when Steve dipped his head to kiss you, it just felt right.

There were no fireworks or sparks, no fanfare or an immediate need to act on any desires. There was only one word you could use to describe Steve Rogers.

Home.

#steve rogers #steve fic #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers reader insert #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x you #soulmate!steve rogers #soulmate au #mcu #marvel #tiff writes #no other shade of blue

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mochie85 · 10 months

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A Close Shave

One-Shot Masterlist | Complete Masterlist

Summary: You help the captain with his unruly beard. Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader Word Count: 324 (a drabble, really) Warnings: Fluff-ish. Alludes to sex. but mostly harmless. A/N: This is just a drabble for the Fourth of July, Steve's Birthday. Happy Birthday, Captain!

Steve’s hand wandered across your back, making you squirm on his lap. “You better stop that,” you laughed.

“What? What am I doing?” he played coolly.

“You’re gonna get yourself cut, is what you’re doing.” You remembered the first time you did this for him, months ago. You had made fun of Steve for his long hair and overgrown beard. With all the missions and whatnot, he didn’t have time to visit a barber, let alone shave every morning. He just let it go. Often prioritizing the mission over what he thought was so trivial.

So, you volunteered to help him. You had gone undercover as a hairstylist in Paris not too long before and picked up some amazing tips. Lessons you were thankful for because you were now sitting astride the Captain’s lap.

You focused the sharp razor on his neck. The polished metal glides against his smooth skin, gathering the cream along with his stubble. You wiped it on the towel you had in between you. He looked down at you, trying to capture your eyes.

“I’m not done with you yet,” you giggled as you jerked his chin back up and continued shaving his beard.

You watched as his Adam’s Apple bounced when he laughed and talked. “Yes, ma’am.” His hands held onto you firmly as he laid his head back on the headrest. “You could be so bossy.” He couldn’t hide the smile that formed on his face at your command.

“Stop talking.”

“Make me,” he teased. You squeezed your thighs closer together pinning him under you. You ground against his growing length, making him bite his lip.

“Now be a good Captain and follow orders,” you instructed. Steve only chuckled as his eyes darkened, rising up to your challenge.

“You forget who’s in charge here, babydoll,” he growled as he sat up at his full height.

“Oh, no. I never forgot,” you teased. “I just need a good reminder.”

My "all-works" taglist: @emarich7 @michelleleewise @coldnique @vickie5446 @psychospore @mukagentropy @lokisgoodgirl @silverfire475 @fictive-sl0th @springdandelixn @wheredafandomat @goldencherriess @peaches1958 @salempoe @thomase1 @kkdvkyya @a-witch-with-words @mischief2sarawr @sarawr-reads @vbecker10 @peachymallow @irishhappiness @cakesandtom @simplyholl @here4thefanfics @tallseaweed @holdmytesseract @immersed-in-mischief @joyful-enchantress @lovelysizzlingbluebird @lokisninerealms @kikster606 @glitterylokislut @loz-3 @slytherclaw1227 @chantsdemarins @the-lady-amphitrite @eleniblue @km-ffluv @lokidokieokie @n3rdybirdee @melsunshine

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ashleycatchemm · 4 months

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1-24: Finally Free

Part 24 of??

Pairing: Reggie x Reader, Luke x Julie, Alex x Willie

Summary: (Y/n) (L/n) has been able to see and feel ghosts ever since she was little, which made it hard to tell the ghosts from the humans. Everyone has always thought she was a bit crazy, even her best friends, Julie and Flynn. But when three ghosts with a love for music appear in Julie's garage, suddenly (Y/n) doesn't seem so crazy anymore.

Song: Finally Free (Julie and the phantoms)

Season 1 Masterlist

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Pulling into my driveway I parked the truck and hopped out, leaving the door open for Arius to come out behind me. Once the black cat jumped out of the blue truck I shut the door behind him, a banging noise catching my attention from across the street. Looking over, at the big blue house across the street that's been for sale ever since I remember, no one has wanted to buy it, and when they do, something always seems to cause them to back out.

People have been saying that it's haunted, but I've lived here all my life, and I haven't seen or heard a single ghost from over there. My eyes drifted down to the man hammering in a new sign, only this one was different, it had the word 'Sold' written on it in big bold letters. "Hey Arius?" I didn't bother looking back at the black cat, eyes trained on the sign across the street.

A hum in response gave me the okay to ask my question. "Do you think there are ghosts in that house?" Nodding my head over to the house across the street, watching the man start to pick up the sign he pulled out before replacing it with the other. "I doubt it." Looking back at the cat, I noticed he disappeared, (e/c) eyes glanced around to catch any sign of the demonic cat, only to see him sitting next to me. Blue eyes glued to the house in front of us, tail moving in an annoyed way.

"Your grandmother cleared out that house ages ago."

My brows furrowed in confusion, "So then how did it not sell for years?" I shoved my hands in my pockets "If it's been cleared out for ages, how is it just now getting sold?" Arius didn't give much of a helpful response "I don't know." he turned around and started making his way towards the front door. "Wait." I stated, quickly following after him "What do you mean 'I don't know'? Aren't you supposed to know everything about my grandmother?" Sitting by the door, he growled out a response "I don't know, because I wasn't there." Arius' temper seemed to flare up at the subject and that's when I felt it. The pang of emotional hurt, it wasn't big enough to get a reaction from me, but I knew one thing. It wasn't my emotion I was feeling.

No.

It was the demonic cat in front of me.

Arius' ears were drooped downward a little, tail wrapped close around him, the end being curled between his front paws. Sitting down on the steps of my front porch, I asked the question on my mind, not knowing if he'd answer me or just yell at me and go back to being closed off, either way, I need to know. "Why weren't you there?" He was silent for a second, tail whipping back and fourth in an agitated manor. After a minute or two, he finally spoke up "Once witches and warlocks get older, they start settling down. Having kids. Getting married. That sort of thing." I stayed quiet, not wanting to jump in.

If there are warlocks out there, then I wonder just how many more people there are like me..

"Eventually, there is a point in our lives where we feel we aren't needed anymore to our masters, so we would leave. No goodbyes, or farewells. Since demons get attached to their witch or warlock, we feel it's easier on us to leave without goodbyes. Breaks the bond faster."

I watched as the cat next to me looked up at the sky his blue eyes shining with an emotion I've never seen on him before, admiration? Maybe even love. His mouth opened a little, as if trying to smile, pointed teeth visible for all to see. "Your grandmother was different than the other witches and warlocks in your family. She could tell I was going to leave. She knew that something was off when she talked to me that night. She sensed it." Arius looked out in front of him at the house across the street, the same house that started this conversation.

"(G/n) engulfed me in the biggest hug, and begged me to stay with her. And so I did, because she was my weakness. Anything she asked of me I would do, all to make her happy."

Arius' expression seemed to falter "But then, it all turned to shit." His teeth bared in anger, claws gripping onto the front porch. "One of her sons got themselves into deep shit. And so your grandmother sent me away in order to protect her family from the ministry." His expression shifted into a scowl as he laid down, front paws hanging a little off the end of the porch. "I'm not mad at her for what she did. I know that they could've easily tracked me and then her family would've been in danger. I just... I wish there could've been another way. 36 years I spent with (G/n), and yet it still wasn't enough. I wanted a little more time with her." The black cat grew silent, not wanting to say anything else as he rested his head on his front legs.

I stared at Arius, having another aching feeling in my chest, it was the same as the last one, having not been my own emotions. Raising my hand up, I brought it over so that it was hovering over the demonic cat's head. I kept it there for a second or two, debating my choices, He'll probably swat at me. But in that moment I decided that I didn't care, because I felt like I should give him some kind of comfort, even if he does swat me away. Bringing my hand down, I gently rubbed his head, cautious of his movements, not wanting to get hit.

To my surprise, he didn't fight back, closing his eyes, Arius let out a small sigh in content. This bond has to start somewhere. Looking up at the clear blue sky a small smile crossed my lips, feeling good that I finally did something to help someone I'm glad it's starting here. And talking about Grandma no less. Looking back down at the black cat, he let out a small huff before shaking my hand off of him and sitting back up.

"So I don't know what (G/n) did to that house. She probably put a spell on it to keep the ministry from finding her. Or from finding her sons. Everything she did was to protect the people she cared about."

"Before she sent me away, she told me to look after you if something were to ever happen to her. Your mother was pregnant with you at the time. And, well, I could feel it. The bond. Before you were even born. I sensed that you would be a powerful witch and I could tell that (G/n) sensed it too. So now I'm going to train you the best I can, and look after you. But I can only do so much."

I nodded my head, understanding what he was saying. I can't keep running away from what I am. That means I'm gonna have to start cooperating with Arius. The black cat looked over at me, his usual bland stare on his face. I opened my mouth to say something but the noise of a ghost appearing caught my attention. "Hey (N/n)!" The boy clad in his leather jacket was quick to state, walking forward a little he pointed back and forth from me to the cat sitting next to me.

"Is this a bad time?"

I shook my head a little, a smile gracing my lips at just the sight of the ghost in front of me. "No. Not at all." Feeling the pull at my chest, causing me to stand up and walk towards Reggie. "Why?" The bassist in front of me radiated happiness as he met me halfway and grabbed ahold of my hand "We got to practice! Our first gig is tonight!" Dragging me down my driveway "Woah, Woah, Woah, Tonight?" I was quick to stop in place at the end of my driveway, causing Reggie to come to a halt as I pulled back on his hand.

The dark haired bassist in front of me tilted his head a little as if confused as to why I stopped him "And I thought Julie was all done with the band? She told me herself that-" Reggie jumped in, successfully cutting me off to answer my questions. "We all made up. But we have to hurry and practice because our gig is in a couple of hours." He pulled me a little bit along the side walk, only for me to quickly come to a stop once again. Still not processing the information.

"Wait Julie forgave you? When? And when did we get a gig?" Reggie rolled his eyes in amusement "What even-"

I was cut off once again, as Reggie pulled me toward him and wrapped a hand around my mouth. Faces inches apart, his award winning smile sitting on his face "I'll fill you in on all the details later. Right now we need to go, okay?" His arm sat wrapped around my waist, I felt my cheeks grow warm from the close proximity. I nodded my head in response, that being the only thing I could do, even if his hand wasn't covering my mouth, I don't think I would've been able to muster a single word.

Well, At least non that would make sense...

His hand left my mouth, finding my own once again. Gripping it tight, he pulled me along to go to Julie's. Looking back I caught sight of the black cat following close behind me.

I don't think he's gonna leave my side anytime soon.

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"Okay. What's with the cat?"

Alex had his eyes trained on Arius sitting on the couch, as Julie walked over to him. "I think it's cute" reaching her arm out to pet him, I was quick to jump in "Uh, Julie, I wouldn't..." the black cat was quick to jump up from his position on the couch. Hissing at Julie, his fur standing up, back arched, ears pulled back to show his agitation. The curly haired singer pulled her hand away in surprise, Arius was quick to make his way towards the other end of the couch, settling down. His eyes glanced at Julie, sending her one more growl before looking back at me.

"What's its problem?"

Alex questioned, seeing as how Arius almost hurt one of his friends. Picking up my rhythm guitar, I put the strap over my shoulder while speaking on the cats behalf. "He just isn't fond of most people. So don't try to force it." Arius growled briefly as I spoke, causing me to send him a look as if to say 'Behave' the black cat huffed while whipping his tail back and forth in aggravation, but overall growing silent. "Well, now that the cat conversation is out of the way..." Reggie grabbed everyone's attention as he walked over next to me, swinging his bass strap over his shoulder.

"Let's get started."

Julie nodded her head in agreement as her and Alex made their way over to their instruments.

"Right."

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All four of us were playing the cords to Finally Free as Julie sang "Marching on proud, Turn it up loud, cause now we know what we're worth." Luke suddenly appears in the chair by the coffee table, causing the four of us to stop playing. Letting out a small "woah" he noticed the four of us by our instruments. Standing up out of the chair "Julie." He stated, surprised to see her by the piano.

"Grab your guitar. We got work to do."

Luke started at her for a moment, mouth agape, only to let out a small chuckle as he grabbed his guitar, which stood by me. Walking over to Julie he asked "What made you come back?" Julie stood up from her seat "I realized how important music is for all of us. And we've lost so much already. We can't lose this too." Luke nodded his head a little "Thanks." He responded, only to ask "All right boss. Where we at?" In order to lighten the mood a little, letting out a small chuckle at his own question.

"Oh, and by the way, happy birthday."

Julie sat back down in her seat in front of the piano, a small chuckle passing her lips, again Luke stared at her in disbelief. Glancing over at the guys as if they would tell him how she knew, looking back at Julie a smile crossed his lips before making his way across the room.

"Let's take it from the pre-chorus." Julie stated

Alex banged his sticks together "One, Two, Three, Four." And with that the five of us started singing and playing, in order to practice for tonight.

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"You can't come with me Arius. We've already discussed this."

The black cat sat on my bed as I proceeded to do my make up for the gig. "I'll go in my human form."

"What about if Julie and Flynn see you?"

"I'll make up an excuse as to why I'm there."

Putting the mascara down, I turned around to face the black cat on my bed, the two of us stared the other down as if trying to silently win the argument. Letting out a sigh, I pinched the fridge of my nose all while stating "Fine. You can go" The demon determined to be by my side every second of everyday let out a small cheer before getting cut off by me "But..." his cat like eyes seemed to narrow in aggravation as I told him the terms of the agreement. "...You have to stay outside of the coffee shop, in your cat form the entire time. Got it?" My eyes narrowed back at him as if daring him to challenge my decision.

A huff of defeat passed through the black cats nose "Fine. As long as I'm there, I really don't care." The sound of a ghost warping could be heard, grabbing the attention of both me and the demon across from me. "Hey (N/n), you ready to go?" Near the door stood the boy that made my heart practically jump for joy, just from the sound of his voice. Reggie stood clad in his black tank top, biceps clearly being shown which caused my eyes to drift a little to look at them.

My bottom lip found its way between my teeth, all while my thoughts started to get impure. "(Y/n)?" The bassist's voice brought me back to reality, I was quick to let go of my lip as my eyes darted back up to his own. "You okay?" He continued, raising his brows as if to question my behavior. Shaking my head a little to bring myself back to my senses I sent him a small smile "I'm fine. We should get going." all while making my way towards my bedroom door, Arius hopping off my bed and following close behind.

Reggie followed me out the door to my room "The place isn't to far from here is you want to walk together." I started to walk down the steps as I explained "Reggie, if I walked down the street with you, people would think I'm a crazy person talking to herself." The sound of a ghost warping could be heard behind me, only for the dark haired boy to reappear right in front of me at the bottom of the stairs. This surprised me causing me to almost fall back, only for him to grab my arms and hold me steady, our noses inches apart. I felt my face grow warm at the proximity, feeling that tug from my chest, the urge to just lean over and capture his lips in my own.

"We don't even have to talk, just walk and hold hands or something."

Reggie's eyes went wide as he let go of me and took a couple steps back "I-I mean..." I could tell that he was frantically trying to come up with an excuse, but I didn't care at that moment. "not hold hands, but ya know..." because when I looked from his eyes to his hands, I realized how much I wanted to hold it in my own. "I just-" reaching over I snatched his hand in mine, effectively cutting off the dark haired bassist

"Let's go." I stated, all while dragging him towards the door.

Getting a small response of "Okay" from Reggie as Arius followed the two of us out the door.

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Once we got to the coffee shop, I was quick to try to let go of Reggie's hand, only for him to tighten his grip and pull on it a little, refusing to let go. Looking back at the golden retriever boy behind me, my eyes narrowed as if to tell him to let go. "I know. But, just let me hold your hand a little longer...Please?" I was confused, I didn't know why Reggie was acting like this, but tonight feels different with Reggie. I couldn't place my finger on the reason why.

Looking around at the people walking in, I noticed a lot of them eyeing me and whispering to their friends. Looking back at Reggie I leaned over a little to whisper "Reggie. People are staring." It felt suffocating to be standing there with him at the moment, knowing that what everyone was seeing, was that my hand was out in the air holding onto nothing, and I was talking to no one.

Reggie's eyes held an emotion I couldn't quite place, maybe desperation? "I don't care if they stare." The dark haired bassist took a step forward, bringing our interlaced hands up to his chest, eyes begging me to just hold his hand a little longer. "Please (Y/n). I just want your touch right now." I didn't know what to do, I took another glance around at the people and noticed more staring and pointing fingers. I looked down at Arius as if to ask him for some kind of help, only for him to hop on a trashcan and say one thing.

"He's a ghost. So be careful how you handle this. I will explain to you want is happening later. But for now, focus on taking care of this."

My eyes landed back on Reggie's, not knowing what to do or say, I just shook my head all while saying a quick apology "I'm sorry." Pulling my hand away, I walked off into the bustling coffee shop.

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"Hey did I miss anything?"

I asked Julie and Flynn as soon as I got over to them. "Nothing exciting, that's for sure." Flynn stated, directing my attention to the stage. There clad in all pink to perform with her dancing divas was the queen bee herself, Carrie Wilson. "Hope you all came to have a great time!" Carrie's obnoxious giggle left her lips as the crowd clapped. An annoyed growl left my lips from her appearance to ruin my night "Dirty Candy?" Julie asked only for me to jump in "How did she get on the list?" Flynn gave both of us a look, as if we should already know the answer.

"Her daddy made a call"

Crossing my arms across my chest, I stared daggers at the girl on the stage all while Flynn commented on Julie's outfit.

"Whenever I walk in the room, All the focus on me"

Carrie walked forward on stage, her girls joining behind her "The way I talk, the way I move, they all want on my team." I rolled my eyes at her cheap dance moves, not wanting to sit through this what so ever. "Not trying to brag, brag, but I'm flawless. I'm taking over your playlist. Ain't perfect but I can't miss. Yeah" looking back at the boys who suddenly appeared behind us, I noticed Luke smiling and enjoying the performance, Alex looked a bit antsy, and Reggie held a pensive look on his face, not seeming to interested in the girls dancing in front of him. Almost as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

He's probably just as confused about what happened as I was.

Looking back on stage I noticed Alex appear behind Carrie who was now on the floor, I covered my mouth as a laugh almost slipped past my lips. Julie seemed confused, looking back at the boys to see why he did that but Reggie just shrugged in response. Alex seemed lost for a moment, only for the girls to stand back up as he started dancing with all of them, causing a small giggle in amusement to escape my lips.

When he was done he appeared back next to me, I sent him a smile and shook my head at his funny antics while Julie commented "You having fun out there?" Alex cleared his throat before coming up with an excuse "It's not my fault, it's my um..." he paused "It's my feet" I just shook my head while saying "Yeah, okay."

"Put me back in coach."

And with that Alex was gone, back to dancing on stage with Carrie and her crew. I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind as Reggie took Alex's spot beside me. "Can we talk?" I shook my head in response "not here Reggie." I glanced over at the boy next to me only to see his eyes narrowed in aggravation. "I don't care. We need to talk about this. Because what happened earlier was weird, you must have noticed that much. I don't know what's going on with me and, and I'm confused-" I kept facing forward as to not draw attention I whisper yelled at him "Reggie!" Successfully cutting him off I stated "Not. Here." Saying it firmly worked to an extent. An angry scoff left his lips as he crossed his arms and went back to standing next to Luke.

The song was soon to end as Alex took in all the praises. Before warping back next to me a giant smile on his face "I uh... I was just... doing that for you guys" Reggie nodded his head "Mhm. yeah. You can stop smiling now." Alex chuckled at Reggie's comment. Julie grabbed our attention "Not gonna lie. That was... kind of good." Flynn nodded her head in agreement "Yeah. I forgot why I hate her so much." I scoffed while saying "I didn't forget my reason for hating her." I noticed her making her way over to us.

"Speak of the devil."

I stated all while receiving a glare from the bitch in response, I sent her a sarcastic smile all while flipping her off. Carrie ignore my actions and turned her attention towards Flynn and Julie "Hi girls. Um, isn't it past your bedtime?" Flynn looked between Julie and I "Now I remember." Before looking back over at Carrie. "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come." Flynn and I both scoffed in response to her statement, knowing she was just trying to take a jab at Julie.

Stepping towards Carrie, Julie was quick to stick up for herself "That's not why I'm here." The sound of the microphone was quick to grab everyone's attention.

"Ok, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group, Julie, (Y/n), and the fat ones"

The four of us turned towards Luke in annoyance while the girls in front of us laughed. "Really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah man, my Handwriting sucks."

The four of us rolled our eyes as Julie and I went to walk on stage, but not before I angrily bumped my shoulder into Carries.

Julie was quick to make her way to the piano, as I grabbed the rhythm guitar "Hi, it's actually Julie,(Y/n) and the phantoms" looking around she noticed no one was really paying attention, taking a glance over at me I motioned for her to continue. "Okay." She stated into the mic and started to play the piano. "Hearts on fire, we're no liars, so we say what we wanna say." I played my rhythm guitar as I continued the next line of the song "I'm awaken, no more takin' so we push all our fears away." The two of us started singing together "don't know if we'll make it cause we're falling down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder." Julie now sang alone.

"I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine"

The boys appeared playing their instruments as Julie got up, bringing the microphone with her, I stood in the back behind Luke as the two of them sang. "I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free." Julie started singing by herself while she hit a tambourine on her hip.

"We're all bright now, what a sight now coming out like we're fireworks"

I sang the next part alone "Marching on proud, turn it up loud, cause now we know what we're worth"

Julie and Luke sang the next part together as I went back near Reggie "We know we can make it when we're not fallin' down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder." All while Julie and Luke stared contently at each other "I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine" Reggie and I leaned into our mics as we sang "ooooh" while Julie and Luke sang the Chorus "I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and your a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free"

Reggie suddenly jumped over to Luke's Microphone and sang with him, I felt a jolt of pain corse through my chest for a second as I watched Reggie's every move, I could feel the pull on my chest getting stronger and stronger with each passing day, and it doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, considering the effect it's starting to have on Reggie. That's the only explanation for his behavior earlier, but the only way to be sure is to ask Arius.

"I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free"

Julie and Luke now sang alone, meeting halfway Julie sang "I got a spark in me" she leaned the mic over to Luke as he echoed "I got a spark in me" the way Julie and Luke were staring at each other made me look back at Alex and Reggie for answers "And you're a part of me" Alex just shrugged with a small smile "And you're a part of me"as Reggie shook his head a little as if to say that he didn't know either.

"Now till eternity"

"Been so long and now we're finally free"

We all started playing our instruments again as Reggie, Luke and I all sang the chorus while Julie sang in the background "I've got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me" Julie sang "Yeah" as the rest of us continued "now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free."

Reggie, Luke, Alex and I went back to doing the "oooh" as Julie sang "Finally free, yeah" Luke and I jumped in at the end "Been so long and now we're finally free" everyone stopped playing as Julie let me have the last note.

"Finally free, yeah..."

The crowd went nuts as they all cheered and applauded, the five of us took a bow as the boys disappeared. The crowd continued to cheer as walked over next to Julie she stated "Thank you, we're Julie, (Y/n) and the Phantoms." I was quick to grab the mic from her and state "Tell your friends." Before walking off stage with Julie.

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩👻 ♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩

Once we got off stage Julie ran over to Flynn excitedly, engulfing her in a hug as the two of them giggled and squealed in excitement. I leisurely made my way over to them, only to get dragged into the hug as well. Once we all let go Flynn stated "You two were incredible!" To which Reggie smugly replied "Yeah we were." While looking back at Alex and Luke who were currently sitting on the bar.

"Hey, Hey! Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is headed our way!"

Luke was quick to call out to Julie and I, as the two of us turned around to see a women in a pants suit headed in our direction. "She looks all business" Alex commented and Reggie started to panic, asking "Wait. Who should do the talking?" Then once realizing what he said he quickly fixed it "Right, Julie and (Y/n)." Julie glanced back at Luke for support, only for him to say "You got this." The women was quick to grab ahold of my hand to introduce herself.

"Hi I'm Andi Parker, and I would-"

"Julie."

Our attention went from Andi to the man that said Julie's name, which just so happened to be her father. Andi looked back at the man behind her "Dad." Julie stated, not sounding to happy.

"It's time to go."

Ray didn't sound to happy but I couldn't let us loose this, it could be our big break and Reggie would be upset if I didn't try. "Mr.Molina, if we could just have 5 minutes to-" he cut me off, not wanting to hear anything I have to say. "No. Julie is going home. And I'm calling your uncle." I scoffed and shook my head "seriously? What did I even do?" Andi finally spoke up deciding that this was a bad moment. "This seems like a bad time, so I'm gonna take off, wonderful performance, the both of you." She stated, looking from Julie to me before taking her leave.

"No! Wait!"

Luke yelled but of course she didn't hear him. She couldn't. Luke went to go chafe after her, but let out an exasperated sigh after realizing it wasn't gonna work.

"What did you do? You brought my daughter out here on a school night, to entertain your band fantasies."

"Dad!"

Julie said and was quick to speak up before things go south "She didn't drag me out here, I left by myself." Ray shook his head in disappointment "we'll talk about your punishment later. For now I have to get you both home." Turning towards me he stated "And don't think you're off the hook yet missy. Just because you live in that house by yourself doesn't mean you get to go home scott free. I was told to look after you and that's exactly what I'm doing by giving your uncle a call." I felt trapped in a hole, unable to climb out. I hated my uncle. And I hated that I could loose the freedom that I currently had.

He's definitely going to come down here now, and when he does I'm screwed.

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