#home slice olivia was all me

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-Five: The Battle of Starcourt

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 9,951 Warnings: buckle up, we got a lot - angst, fluff, el's leg, canon violence with the mind flayer, small intentional car accident (no one gets hurt), singing, liv being sleep deprived, main character deaths Smut: no | yes; you're welcome oral (f+m receiving), fingering, protected m+f A/N: Hi, friends! As stated above... you're welcome. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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I felt two arms go around me as I cried, watching El scream and sob in pain from her leg. I knew it was Steve because anytime I cried, he wrapped me in his arms like he was protecting me from whatever it was that caused tears to stream down my face. 

“What is that?” Erica asked.

It sounded like El’s flesh was about to burst into flames as Mike said, “There’s something in there.”

I moved from Steve’s arms as El yelled out “No!”, sitting on my knees at her head, brushing her hair down on her head.

“Jesus Christ,” Dustin said, looking at her leg still.

I think everyone’s eyes were glued to El’s leg as we just watched as something moved under it.

“Keep her talking,” Jonathan said, standing up. “Keep her awake, okay?”

El closed her eyes, whimpering just a little.

“El, baby, keep your eyes open,” I said. “You gotta stay awake, baby, okay?”

“Let’s get on this side, on this side,” Mike said. 

“Just lean her up on me,” I said, putting my arms under hers.

“Easy, easy, easy, easy,” Steve said, helping me pull her up in between my legs as I kicked them out.

Robin’s voice rang out as she said, “It’s, uhh… ya’know, it’s actually not that bad. There was a… the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and like, the whole bone came out of her knee, six inches or something, it was insane.”

“Robin,” Steve and I said.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not helping.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jonathan’s footfalls had me turning my head in his direction, the boy stopping right in front of El, saying, “Alright, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?”

She sobbed out an “Okay.”

“Liv, I need you to help keep her real still.”

“Okay,” I said, gripping onto her a little tighter, feeling her hands doing the same on my arms.

Jonathan put on some gloves and handed me a wooden spoon, saying, “Here. You’re gonna wanna bite down on this.”

I put the handle between her teeth, the young teen biting down on it. Watching him pull out a knife, I said, “Holy shit, Byers!”

Jonathan looked at everyone before Mike said, “Do it.” He plunged the knife into her skin, her grip on my arms tightening tremendously. It hurt, but I didn’t care as she screamed in pain.

He dropped the knife before plunging his fingers into her leg, her grip once again increasing, her screams coming out more painfully. He felt around as Nancy was saying his name, him telling no one in general to stop talking, tossing out a “goddamn it!” in frustration.

“No!” El screamed, dropping the spoon from in between her teeth. “Stop it! Stop! Stop!” She let out a little sob, saying, “I can do it.”

“El,” I said as she sat up from my lap.

“I can do it,” she repeated, sitting up more, feeling for my hand. I scooted closer to her, my hands resting on the outside of my thighs, watching her as she reached out with her right hand, pulling whatever was stuck in her leg out with her psychokentic skill.

She screamed and the glass behind us shattered as she pulled whatever was in her leg out, suspending it for a moment before pushing it away. It started crawling as she leaned back against my chest, but it didn’t get very far before a foot stomped on it. That foot belonging to the one and only, Jim Hopper.

After we had picked El up and moved her to a bench, I wrapped her leg up before she laid on Hop while Joyce sat beside her, everyone else standing around.

Mike began explaining, “The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world.”

“And it almost did,” Nancy added. “That was just one tiny piece of it.”

I sighed, and turned towards Steve, his arms going around me as he walked a few steps forward, taking me with him. 

“How big is this thing?” Hopper asked.

Jonathan replied, “It’s big. Thirty feet at least.”

“Oh, sweet shit,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Lucas said, looking at Hop. “It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry.”

Steve had moved us to stand by Max… well, I was standing by Max, he was on the other side of me. “Okay, so, just to be clear,” Steve said. “This big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it’s some kind of gigantic… weapon?”

“Yes,” Nancy said, sounding annoyed.

“But, instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon… with melted people?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Yeah, okay. I– yeah, I’m just making sure.”

Grabbing his attention, I said loud enough for only him to hear, “Do not let her make you feel small, okay?”

“What was that?” Nancy asked.

“No need to act all annoyed and shit just because someone’s asking a question to fully understand what we’re about to go up against.”

“Well maybe some people shouldn’t ask questions about what this thing is made of.”

Stepping forward, I said, “You wanna go, Wheeler?”

“Olivia,” Hopper said, gaining my attention. “Station?”

Groaning, I stepped back in between Steve and Max, saying, “Someone’s gonna have to teach her a freaking lesson on how to not be in control all the time.”

“Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?” Joyce asked.

“El beat the shit out of it, but yeah, it’s still alive,” Max said.

“But if we close the gate again–” Will said.

“We cut the brain off from the body.”

“And kill it,” Lucas added. “Theoretically.”

I jumped at the sound of Murray’s voice saying, “Yoo-hoo!” while waving some papers around. Looking back at Hop, I said, “Really, Jim? Murray?”

“Since when do you call me Jim?” Hop asked.

Murray walked over to us, saying, “Hello, Olivia,” before he set the papers down on a table, saying, “This is what Alexi called the hub,” while pointing to a spot on the papers. “Now, the hub takes us to the vault room.”

“Okay, where’s the gate?” Hop asked.

Pointing to another spot, Murray said, “Right here. I don’t know the scale on this, but I think it’s fairly close to the vault room, maybe 50 feet or so.”

“More like 500,” Erica said, walking towards the table. “What, you’re just gonna waltz in there like it’s commie Disneyland or something?”

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

With all the sass she could muster, Erica said, “Erica Sinclair, who are you?”

“Murray… Bauman.”

“Listen here, Mr. Bunman, I’m not trying to tell you how to do things, but I’ve been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you’re all gonna die.”

I started laughing during her spiel, not sure if it was from lack of sleep or because she was doing what I had been dying to do since last year. “She’s got a point.”

“I’m sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?” Murray asked.

“I’m ten, you bald bastard,” Erica said.

Laughing, I said, “Oh, my god, this is great!”

“Erica!” Lucas said.

“Just the facts!” Erica said.

“She’s right, though,” I said, my laughter dying down. “You’re all gonna die.” Walking forward, I continued, “But you don’t have to.” Looking at Murray, I smiled. “May I?”

“Please,” he said, smiling.

I sat down, feeling Dustin coming up behind me. Turning towards Dustin, I said, “You got a pencil on you?” Once he handed me his pencil, I said my thanks and moved the paper, marking where I needed to as I explained, “You see this room? Storage facility. There’s some sort of hatch that leads into their underground ventilation system. That will somehow lead you to the base of this massive weapon that I almost died from. It’s a fucking maze down there, but between these two-” I pointed to Erica and Dustin. “-they can get you through.”

“They can show us the way?” Hop asked.

“Don’t worry, Hop, you can be all macho man and do the brunt work, and they will just be your navigators.”

“No.”

“Hopper,” I groaned.

Shaking his head, he shrugged once and said, “Nope.”

~~~

“He can be such a jerk sometimes,” I said, getting whatever supplies we needed.

“Who?” Steve asked.

“Freaking Hopper,” I exclaimed. “He won’t let Dustin and Erica help them through the vent system when we’ve spent the last like–” I looked at the nonexistent watch on my left wrist. “–12 or so hours down there!”

“Eh, just let him take control for a little bit,” he said, passing in front of me.

Taken aback, I said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He sighed, placing whatever he had in his hands down. “Babe, it means you can’t always be in control.”

Sighing, I retorted, “You know why I have to try and be… especially for Dustin.”

“I know,” Steve breathed. “But just… take a step back and breathe for a little bit.”

Closing my eyes, I hung my head forward, my chin meeting the dip in my collarbone. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

I breathed his scent in as he put his arms around my shoulders, my own going around his middle. “It’s okay,” he said. 

“Hey, if you two could stop being all cute and shit and grab some stuff we need, that’d be great,” Robin said.

“I should go check on Dustin,” I said, looking up at Steve’s chin. He looked down at me, saying, “I can see him, he’s fine.”

“I’m being protective now. A sister. Plus, I can sense they’re about to start talking shit and I want to get in on that action.”

Steve chuckled, looking down at me. “Alright, beautiful. Go be a shittalking big sister.”

I smiled at the new nickname, kissing his chin before he looked down at me. “Okay, handsome.”

He smiled, leaning down to place a sweet kiss to my lips. I pulled my lips back into a smile, slowly pulling my body away from his as I backed myself up to the counter to jump over it, making my way over to Dustin and his group of friends.

“Well, that settles it,” Erica said. “He’s gonna die. They’re gonna die.”

“Yeah, most likely,” I said, walking down the small ramp to the fountain they were standing at.

“You guys survived,” Lucas said.

“Barely,” Dustin said, after turning to face Lucas.

“Call it luck,” I said.

“We could have really used you guys down there.”

“Could’ve used you up here, too,” Mike said. “Especially Liv’s protective side.”

“Yeah, well, I probably would’ve knocked your sister out in the process,” I breathed.

“We miss you, dude,” Lucas said, looking at my brother.

I put my arm around my brother’s shoulders, seeing a ghost of a smile on his face. “See? They missed you. I knew it all along.”

“Big-time,” Will said. 

The four younger boys I adored all huddled together in a hug. I tried to get out of it, but Will pulled me in, saying, “You’re a part of this party, too, Liv.”

“Honorary member,” I chuckled, causing them to laugh as well.

“Please, don’t cry, nerds,” Erica said.

Turning around to face her, I laughed, “Shall we tell them the little discovery we made about you in that vent system?”

“Erica,” Lucas said, stepping forward.

“Keep saying my name,” she sassed. “See what happens.”

“Ohh!” I breathed out.

“Hey, heads up,” Hopper said. “You can navigate, just from someplace safe.”

Shrugging with a frown on my face, I said, “Looks like you won’t die after all,” before smiling wickedly. “But it’s not that simple.”

“The signal won’t reach,” Erica added.

“Not with this,” Dustin said. “You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russian’s radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That’s me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start.”

I held my breath the entire time Dustin spoke to Hopper, releasing it once he was done. “Holy shit, I thought he’d never stop talking.” Looking at Hopper, I watched as his brows quickly rose up before Dustin looked at Erica then back at him saying, “And a car.”

Hop looked over at me, my lips scrunching to the side as I shrugged. “He’s right.” I put my hand out, saying, “Fork ‘em over.”

He turned to the side a little, yelling Steve’s name, said teen making his way over. Hopper put the keys in Steve’s hand, telling him to take us where Dustin told him to take us. I gawked at Hopper, who just shrugged and raised his brows like he couldn’t care less.

Letting out a groan, I tiled my head back, turning around and walking towards the front of the mall. Steve and the rest of our group followed behind a few moments later, until Steve got in front of me to open the doors.

“Oh, man, now this,” he said, tossing the keys a few inches out of his hand before they fell back into his hand. “This is what I’m talkin’ about.”

“Toddfather?” Robin and I asked.

“Oh, screw, Todd! Steve’s her daddy now.”

“Please don’t ever say that again,” I said, climbing into the front seat.

“Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?” Robin asked.

“Did he just call himself daddy?” Erica asked.

As the three of them - Robin, Erica and Dustin - all climbed into the back, Steve asked, “Alright, where are we going?”

“Weathertop,” Dustin answered.

“Weather-what?”

“Drive,” I said.

“Okay. Jesus.” Steve turned on the car and put it in reverse, sitting up to see behind him as he backed out, putting it in drive to start us forward on our newest mission.

I sat with my arms crossed, looking to my right at the scenery passing by. I was jealous that Steve got to drive, okay? I could hear the smile in his voice as Steve asked, “Baby, are you jealous?”

“Can you please stop calling her baby in front of me?” Dustin asked. “It’s gross.”

“Dustin, hush,” I said. “Steve, yes. I am. Now let me wallow.”

He chuckled, putting his hand on my elbow to drag my arm away from me, sliding his fingers between mine and kissing the back of my hand.

We drove for what felt like two states before I asked, “Sweet shit, Dustin, how far is this place?”

“Relax, dear sister, we’re almost there,” Dustin replied.

“This girl better be fucking special, Dusty. I mean, because of the fact that you went to camp, met her, built this radio and put it in the middle of nowhere  just to stay in communication with her.”

“Nobody’s scientifically perfect, but Suzie’s about as close to being perfect as any human could possibly be.”

Looking at Steve, who never let go of my hand, I smiled and said, “I know someone.”

“You two are gross,” Erica said. “And this girl sound made-up to me. What about you?”

Steve and I looked at each other before Dustin said, “Why are you two hesitating?”

“I’m-I’m-I’m not! I’m not,” Steve said. “I think she sounds real. Ya’know, totally, absolutely real.”

“Left, turn left,” Dustin said. 

“There’s not a road here.”

“Turn left now!”

“Jesus. Hang on!”

I couldn’t help but scream as Steve made the sharpest turn in the history of sharp turns,  hitting a wooden fence, the car’s tires meeting nothing but grass.

“Whoa! Henderson, where are we going?!” Steve yelled, both hands now on the wheel.

“Up!” Dustin said.

“We’re definitely gonna die!” I yelled, the car bumping against the grass.

“We’re not gonna make it!” Robin and I yelled.

“Yes, we are,” Steve said. “Come on, baby. Come on, baby!” He pressed the gas to accelerate us up this stupid hill, being unsuccessful as the car struggled to get more up. “Come on!"

“I guess the Toddfather has its limitations,” Robin said. 

“In other words, we’re stuck,” I said, resting my elbow on the part the window’s at, letting my fingers rest on my forehead.

Steve breathed heavily before I heard him get out of the car, the rest of the group following, aside from me.

“Liv!” Dustin called. “Come on!”

“Nope, I’m waiting for the Mind Flayer to come and eat me,” I deadpanned. A moment later, a body was leaning against the door, the backs of their fingers gently rubbing up and down my arm. 

“What’s up, babe?” Steve asked, gently.

I sighed. “Guess I’m just wallowing.” I looked up at him, placing my hand on his cheek, careful not to rub my thumb over his bruised eye. “Even with a black eye… you’re still perfect.”

He chuckled lightly, turning his head in my hand, pressing his lips to my palm. “I’m glad someone thinks so.” Locking his eyes on mine, he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you,” I whispered back, smiling.

“Come on,” he whispered, backing away from the car to open the door. 

I sighed and got out, taking his hand after he closed the door, Dustin complaining about Steve and I taking forever, which in reality it was more like a minute.

We started walking up the hill, finally making it to Dustin’s man-made radio, my brother picking up the mouthpiece, pressing the button on it and saying, “Bald Eagle, do you copy? Bald Eagle, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy?”

Standing with Steve a few feet away, I said, “I’m gonna be repeating radio talk in my head for the next two years.”

“Yes, I copy,” Murray responded.

We all chuckled before Dustin asked, “Call sign?”

We had assigned everyone group names and call signs before we left… or at least Dustin did while I was walking away from everyone to get in the car.  In case you were wondering, call signs are as follows;

Griswold Family; El, Max, Lucas, Mike, Will, Jonathan and Nancy.

Eagles Nest; Murray, Joyce and Hop.

Scoops Troop; Robin, Erica, Dustin, Steve and myself.

“Bald Eagle,” Murray responded.

“Please repeat,” Dustin said.

Without missing a beat, Murray came back with “Bald Eagle! This is Bald Eagle!” before Dustin said with a smile, “Copy that. Good to hear your voice, Bald Eagle. What’s your 20?”

“We reached the vent. I’ll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence.”

“Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. 10-10 over.”

I decided to lay on the wet grass a little while later, bored out of my mind. “Ya’know, I have a slight fear of space, but I find it fascinating. I especially love looking up at the stars. This angle suits you.” I chuckled, shifting my eyes from the stars to Steve as he came into view, his head tilted down, looking at me.

“Why are you laying on the wet grass?” he asked.

Shrugging, I said, “My legs were getting tired. And I’m tired. I haven’t slept in over 24 hours.”

“Scoops Troop, this is… hm… Bald Eagle. I’ve reached another junction.”

“This is what?” Dustin asked. 

“The fourth junction,” Erica said.

“Alright, so, if memory serves–”

“Right after the nerd epiphany,” I said, turning on my side a little.

“We went left, so he has to go right,” Erica said.

“Fly right, Bald Eagle,” Dustin said. “Fly. Right.”

“Roger that, flying right,” Murray confirmed.

“What’s the nerd epiphany?” Robin asked.

I noticed Steve walk away a few feet, looking out at Hawkins from our view. I got up, brushing myself off, and walked towards him, wrapping my arms around his middle, pressing forehead in between his shoulder blades. “What’cha doing?”

“Look,” he said.

I looked around him, seeing the mall’s lights flickering. “Uhh, guys!” A few seconds later, Erica, Dustin and Robin walked over to us before I turned to face Dustin, telling him, “Get your ass back over there right the hell now!”

The five of us rushed back to the radio, Dustin picking up the mic, saying into it, “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over! Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop! Do you co–” The radio went staticy, Dustin asking once again, “Griswold Family, do you copy?”

Grabbing the mic from him, I pressed the button and yelled, “Do you copy?!” before hearing a roaring sound that shook me to my core. “Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please, for the love of God, confirm your fucking safety! Griswold Family, please confirm your safety! Are you on your way to Bald Eagle?” I sighed before whispering to myself, “Goddamn it.” Pressing the button again, I repeated my words to Griswold Family.

Dustin grabbed the mic from me, telling them that someone needed to answer to confirm their safety.

“Why aren’t they answering?” I asked.

Dustin repeated “Griswold Family, do you copy?” over and over again. I had to stand up, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by everything going on, so I did what I felt the need to do; run. I ran past the group, hearing Erica ask not a second later, “Where are you going?”

“To get them the hell out of there!” Steve answered. “Stay here! Contact the others!”

I looked back, seeing him gaining speed as he caught up with me, Robin following his lead until we got back to the car, Steve putting it reverse and tearing out of the grass and back onto the main road, speeding like a bat out of hell.

“Steve,” I said. “Faster.”

“I’m already going–”

“Steve! Those kids are in danger! Faster!”

I watched his face as the car gained more speed, the trees zipping by us like the speed of light. Before we knew it, he was slowing down, turning somewhat carefully as to not flip the car and kill us all.

I saw a car headed for Griswold Family’s, so I patted Steve rapidly on the shoulder. “Baby, crash the car into Billy’s.”

“What?”

“He’s gonna kill Griswold! Crash the car!”

Right before Billy’s car went to make an impact, Steve yelled, “Hang on!!” before he t-boned Billy’s beautiful Camaro, both cars spinning 90 degrees before coming to a stop. A few seconds and heavy breathing from all three of us later, Steve asked, “You guys okay?”

“Ask me tomorrow?” Robin answered.

“Babe?”

Looking from somewhere in front of me to Steve, I said, “That was terrifying, but exhilarating! I have so much adrenaline right now, I could beat that motherfucker to a pulp.” Looking up, I said, “Holy fucking shit.” I stood up, resting my arm on the top of the windshield, watching as the Mind Flayer stomped its way up onto the roof of Starcourt Mall before it roared.

“Let the Battle of Starcourt begin,” I breathed. Hearing a horn honk, I looked to my right, seeing Mrs. Wheeler’s new car beside us.

I jumped out as Nancy said, “Get in!”, going to the very back of the stationwagon. I sat against the back of the seats in front of me, Steve right next to me by the door with Robin across from us.

“Byers, drive!” I said, looking at the 90 foot monster about to chase us as it descended from the building. I repeated, “Oh my god” about thirty times in a whisper, watching this thing chase us down the road. 

Steve put his arm around my leg, breathing heavily, my own arms going around his. The radio in Robin’s hand, that Dustin had apparently given her, went off.

“Dusty-bun, you copy?”

“I copy, Suzie-poo. It sounds much better now, thanks.”

I looked at Steve before looking at Robin, all three of us saying Suzie’s name.

“Okay, so, listen, do you know Planck's Constant?” Dustin asked.

“Do you know the Earth orbits the Sun?” Suzie countered.

“Okay, so I know it  starts with two sixes, and then a… w-what is it?”

“Okay, so let me just be clear on this. I haven’t heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can… save the world?”

“Suzie-poo, I promise I will make it up to you as soon as possible.”

“You can make it up to me now.”

“What?”

“I want to hear it,” Suzie said, bribing my little brother.

“What?”

“I want to hear it,” she repeated.

With fear in his voice, Dustin said, “Not right now.”

Sternly, Suzie came back with, “Yes, now, Dusty-bun.”

“Suzie-poo, this is urgent.”

“Yes, yes, you’re saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also saving Earthsea and he’s about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie signing off.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Okay,” Dustin said. “Okay. Okay.” Even from here, I could hear him say, “Shit.” What came next had me groaning the same word, my forehead meeting Steve’s shoulder. “Turn around, look at what you see. In her face, the mirror of your dreams.”

I picked my head, grimacing as Steve looked confused. He looked down at me as I joined in, “Make believe I’m everywhere, given in the light. Written on the pages is the answer to our never-ending story.” Insert vocal run here.

“Reach the stars, fly a fantasy. Dream a dream, and what you see will be. Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds, and there upon a rainbow is the answer to our never-ending story.” Insert second vocal run. “Story!” Last vocal run.

“Plancks’ Constant is 6.62607004,” Suzie said.

“You just saved the world,” Dustin said, super proud of his girl.

“Gosh, I miss you, Dusty-bun.”

“I miss you more, Suzie-poo.”

“I miss you more, multiplied by all the stars in our galaxy.”

Grabbing the walkie from Steve, who had taken it from Robin, I pressed the button as soon as Dustin started talking again, saying into the mouth-piece, “Enough, Dustin!” Looking between Robin and Steve, plus Lucas and Will who had turned around to look at me, I breathed, “Shut up,” before looking back behind us, seeing the monster stopping.

“It’s turning around!” Steve said.

“What?” Nancy said.

“It’s turning around!” I exasperated.

“Maybe we wore it out,” Lucas said.

“I don’t think so,” Jonathan said. “Hold on.” He made the sharpest and quickest u-turn in the history of– oh, sweet shit, you get it!

I yelled out, feeling my body lurch forward towards Robin, who held her hands out to stop me. Once I was sitting right again, I turned my head to the front saying, “Never do that again, eldest Byers!”

~~~

We made it back to the mall in record time, quickly making our way to the second floor. Griswold Family apparently picked up some fireworks from a store they broke into the first time they cared for El’s leg. 

Seeing El on the ground, scared, made me angry and concerned all in one. Grabbing a firework, I lit it before tossing it at the Mind Flayer, the firework exploding once it hit. I lit another one before Lucas and I both yelled out, “Flay this, you ugly piece of shit!” before launching our fireworks at it, Lucas’ landing in the Flayers mouth. 

One by one, we all lit the fireworks, tossing them at the Mind Flayer, trying to either kill it or keep it distracted enough to not kill El.

“Hey, asshole!” Steve said. “Over here!” He tossed his firework at the monster, Robin tossing hers after, Billy going down with each hit.

With all the fireworks going off with our throws of them, you’d think we were having our own firework show in the middle of the mall.

“Shit, we’re almost out!” I yelled.

“Dustin,” Steve said into the walkie. “We’re outta time!”

“Hurry!” Dustin said. “Close it now! Close it!”

One last firework went off before I went to the railing, putting my hands on it, looking out Billy and El, the former leaning over her, still as can be before he turned his head towards the Mind Flayer, standing up before El started scooting back.

“What’s he doing?” I asked, to no one in particular. Just seeing him stand there, I wanted to make my way to El, and started to when two arms went around me. “Let me go, Steve. I need to get to El.”

“You’ll die if you,” he said. “She’ll be okay.”

Before I knew it, I was jumping in surprise in Steve’s arms, watching as Billy reached his hands out as the Flayer’s tongue, tentacle… thing reached out, Billy’s hands grabbing onto it as he said, “No!”

Color me surprised when I felt the protective side of him come out as he walked forward, yelling out to try and keep El from being attacked. Two tentacle-like arms came out of the Mind Flayer, digging themselves into Billy’s sides, him screaming out in pain.

It was very well known that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Billy after what he did to Lucas and Steve a few months ago, but I couldn’t help the tears that began to form at my waterline, knowing he was gonna die protecting Eleven.

Four more tentacles came out, grabbing onto him from all sides, hoisting him in the air as the teenager screamed out in pain. The creature brought Billy to his knees, who had black blood coming out of his mouth as he screamed at the creature roaring at him.

I screamed in horror as the creature’s mouth tentacle came rushing out, piercing itself into Billy’s sternum, Max screaming out his name.

The creature’s tentacles retreated, Billy dropping to the ground with blood coating his white tank top.

“Oh, my god,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand.

All of a sudden, the creature started writhing, tossing itself around. Steve pulled us back as it made its way towards us, crashing into the railing before landing on the floor, hopefully dead.

Making my way back to the part of the railing it didn’t destroy, I leaned over it, looking at the monster, feeling Steve and Robin all around me, fire all around the creature.

Watching Max lean over Billy’s body immediately had me looking around for Dustin, wanting to do nothing but hold him as tightly as I could.

“I’m sorry,” Billy choked out before letting out his final breath.

I moved from Steve and Robin, quickly making my way to Max, sliding onto my knees and wrapping her in a hug that I knew she needed in that moment. She grabbed onto me, sobbing into my shoulder at the loss of her big brother.

“I’m so sorry,” I cried. “I’m so sorry.” I sniffled. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Feeling two hands on me, I looked to see El, our eyes locking before she rested her head on my shoulder.

Before we knew it, we were being brought to our feet by our military, the soldiers rushing us out of the mall before the fire could get any worse. There were soldiers, paramedics and firefighters everywhere when we got outside.

A paramedic went to grab at me first to check me over but I ushered Max forward first, letting them check her. A blanket was wrapped around my shoulders as I looked around to see if Dustin was gonna show up. When he didn’t pop up, fear took hold of me. “Where’s Dustin?”

“What?” a paramedic asked.

“My little brother,” I said, looking into her eyes. “Where is he?”

“Ma’am–”

“H-he’s got curly brown hair, like mine. He’s wearing a-a Roast Beef t-shirt–”

“Babe,” I heard Steve’s voice. I looked at him as he made his way towards me, a blanket around his own shoulders. 

“Oh, thank god,” I breathed, hopping down from the ambulance to rush to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Thank fuck you’re okay!” I pulled back to look at him, crashing my lips to his not a second later. Pulling my lips away from his, I said, “I love you. Holy shit, do I love you! I’m so in love with you, it’s ridiculous!”

He smiled before it faltered a bit, his face slightly scrunching up at the pain in his lip. “You heard that?”

“Every single word.”

We smiled at each other before he kissed me again, our lips moving in sync for a moment before he pulled away, grimacing. I touched the bottom of the cut, saying my apologies before he shook his head, saying we should go check on our friends.

Dustin showed up a few minutes later, Erica right on his heels. I ran over to them, wrapping my brother in the biggest hug I think I’ve ever given him since his birth. A couple minutes later, I pulled away, keeping my hands on his shoulders. “From now on, we’re never separating again, do you hear me?”

He nodded in agreement, pulling me back into a hug. I let all the tears slide down my cheeks, happy that I had my brother, but sad for Max, as she lost hers.

~~~

Three Months Later

I sat in the front seat of Steve’s BMW, he in the driver's seat, Robin in the backseat. “Okay, so what are we doing?” I asked.

“Steve and I are going to see about getting a job at–” Robin said, handing me the classifieds. “Family Video.”

“The movie rental store?” I asked. “You two should get the job! I mean, Steve and I spend a shit ton of time there weekly.”

Steve had asked me to basically move in with him since his parents weren’t home a lot of the time. I had asked my mom and she practically cried as she said yes, saying how much she’d miss me. I had told her that Steve and I worked out a plan that when his parents come back, I’d be back home until they left.

So, Steve and I had movie nights pretty much every single night, although I fell asleep during every single movie we rented.

When we pulled up and Steve put the car in park, the three of us got out as Robin asked, “You put your mom down as a reference?”

“Yeah, why not?” Steve said, standing at the front of the car, hand held out for me to take. “She’s, like, super-well respected.” He opened the door, lifting his arm for me to walk under, Robin walking in behind me saying, “You’re such a dingus.”

Seeing Keith behind the counter eating Cheeto Puffs, I turned to Robin and said, “One of you might get a job.”

Keith, Robin and Steve chatted for a minute before Robin corrected Keith’s words of them getting fired. “Uh, just to be clear, we weren’t fired, ya’know. The mall burned down and, like, killed a bunch of people.”

Keith dropped their resumes, deadpanning, “Thanks for sharing. Didn’t know.”

I scoffed, “Please.

He snapped his fingers, pointing at Robin, asking, “Three favorite movies, go.”

“Uh,” she said. “The Apartment, Hidden Fortress… Children of Paradise.”

“Liv, go,” Keith said.

Confused, I said, “Uh… Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club.”

He scoffed. “Typical. John Hughes.” Snapping and pointing at Steve, he said, “You, go.”

“Favorite movies?” Steve asked.

“Did I stutter?”

I facepalmed as Steve replied, “Uh… Animal House, for sure. Uh…”

Keith snapped at him again, using two fingers to point to his eyes as he said, “Eyes on me, Harrington.”

“Yeah, uh… Star Wars.”

Pressing my forehead against Robin’s shoulder, I muttered, “Oh my god.”

“A New Hope?”

“A New what-now?”

“Which Star Wars?”

“The one with the teddy bears,” Steve said. “Duh.”

“They’re called Ewoks,” I whispered. Steve then proceeded to make noises like an Ewok.

“No? Uh… oh, the one that just came out. The movie that just came out. Babe, we saw it, remember? The one with the DeLorean and Alex P. Keaton, and he’s trying to bang his mom.” Steve chuckled as I closed my eyes and sighed. “The time… yeah, those are my top three. Classics.”

Point between Robin and I, Keith said, “You two start Monday.”

“Wait, what?” I said. “I didn’t even apply! I’m just here for moral support.”

“Monday,” Keith enunciated. Look at Steve, he said, “You start never.”

Steve looked at me, annoyance in his eyes.  I rested my forehead on his shoulder, upset for him. He’d been at this all day.

Feeling a hand on my back, I turned head to face Robin as she said, “Steve, will you, uhm… give Liv and I a moment with Keith? Will you just give us a minute?”

“Why?” Steve asked.

She whispered his name as I picked my head up, looking up at him as he turned his eyes to our best friend before downcasting them to me. I leaned up just as he was leaning down, his bottom lip captured between my own.

We pulled apart just as he was reaching for his resume, sliding it along the counter as he started backing away.

“Alright, Keith, you gotta understand,” I said.

“His taste is a bit pedestrian,” Robin said. “But the dingus has other qualities.”

“He’s a douchebag of the highest order, girls,” Keith said.

“Eh, not anymore,” I defended. “I mean, to be fair, he was a bit of a prick to everyone in high school, myself included, but he’s–”

“A total chick magnet,” Robin interrupted.

I cleared my throat, looking at her with raised brows.

“Yeah, okay, and this is relevant to me, how?” Keith asked. “Besides, he’s with Henderson here.”

“Earth to Keith,” Robin enunciated. “The ladies will come in just to see him. They’ll come in in droves.”

“Quit prostituting my boyfriend,” I said.

Ignoring me, Robin continued, “We sold so much ice cream, they had to get a second shipment from Michigan. Goddamn Michigan, Keith. And these ladies–” She inhaled sharply. Yes, I know about her being gay. “These ladies are hot. They’re so very hot.”

“Okay, calm down.”

“And there are too many of them for little Steve. He needs assistance. He needs your assistance, Keith.”

Munching on a Cheeto Puff, Keith asked, “What’s in it for you? What’s in it for Olivia since she’s dating the douchebag?”

I quickly turned my head to look at the commotion behind me, watching Steve pick up a cardboard cutout of Phoebe Cates from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. 

“Goddammit,” Steve said. “This is–” He tried putting the stand back in place, his resume between his lips.

“We’re just friends,” Robin said.

Turning back to her, I said, “I’m not prostituting my boyfriend. Again.”

“Oh,” Steve said, causing me to look back at him again. “Fast Times. Fast Times. Ever heard of it? Top three for me, Keith.”

Robin and I laughed at him before I went over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck after taking the paper from his mouth. Pressing a kiss to his lips, I brought a hand to his cheek, feeling his hands grip my waist.

Pulling away, I whispered, “I love you. And I think Robin just got you a job.”

“Really?” he whispered back.

“Yeah,” I smiled. “But I have to prostitute you out for sales again. Oh! I need you to take me to the Byers. They’re packing up and I want to be there to send them off.”

~~~

I got to the Byers’ house as soon as Nancy and Jonathan were bringing a mattress out to put in the U-Haul truck that was backed up to their front door. After I greeted them, I went inside, Max’s face lighting up as she saw me.

“Liv!” she said, standing up to give me a hug. Ever since the 4th of July, she’s been by my side, almost like a shadow that I welcomed. Her mom and stepdad weren’t doing so well, so I told her that I’d be there for her. She’s turned into the little sister I’ve always wanted. I’m grateful for Dustin, do not get me wrong. He’s my little buddy, and I love him.

Max guided me to a box that Dustin was sitting at, asking me to help him pack it and tape it up. I wasn’t there for five minutes before her and Lucas started singing, “Turn around, look at what you see.”

I laughed and joined in, “In her face, the mirror of your dreams.” As I looked at Dustin’s profile, the three of us continued, “Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.”

“Wait, did we get that verse right?” Max asked.

“It is ‘unfold behind the clouds,’ right?” I asked.

Turning his head to lock our eyes, he said, “Yeah, you should know it. But all three of you are butchering it, so could you please stop?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “I think we sound pretty good.”

“Yeah, join in, Dusty-bun,” Lucas said, dreamy like before blowing a couple kisses at him.

I laughed, “Yeah, Dusty-bun, join us!” as I put my arm around his shoulder. 

Looking at me, Dustin said, “You’re so funny, you should be on Carson.”

“Can we hear it again?” I asked, smiling. 

“No.”

“Please?” 

“No, Liv. It’s reserved for Suzie’s ears and Suzie’s ears alone.”

I looked at Lucas and Max, still smiling as they shifted their eyes to mine, all three of us starting to sing again. “Turn around, looking at what you see!” Looking at Dustin, I started laughing while continuing my singing as he flipped all three of us his middle finger. Resting my head on his shoulder while looking at Lucas and Max, I laughed harder than I have in the last three months.

Of course, Steve and I have shared laughs like this in the last three months, but I haven’t shared a good laugh with my kiddos.

Yes. I consider the party my kids, as well as Dustin. I used to call him my baby when we were little.

Will packed up some things in the donation box they had set up as Jonathan and Nancy came back in the house, I’m assuming going to his room. Joyce came out with a box in her arms, her face lighting up when our eyes met. 

I smiled at her, standing up and giving her a hug once she set the box down, giving me her thanks for coming to help, even though the majority of everything was already done. “I’m just here for moral support,” I told her.

She picked her box back up and went outside to put in the moving truck. I grabbed a box that the kids had packed and taped, bringing it out to the truck and setting in an open space. Tears streamed down my face as I hugged the Byers family, El included.

“You’ll call me, right?” I asked her, sniffling.

She nodded her head. “Yes.”

“I want to hear every single detail of everything you experience, okay?”

She chuckled. “Okay.”

“Okay,” I whispered. I gave her another big hug, whispering, “I love you, El.”

“I love you, too, Liv.”

Giving Joyce one last hug, she said to me, “You be good… and careful.”

I nodded, the tears flowing once again. “I will.”

Pulling out of the hug, she said, “You take care of yourself. And be safe.” She gave me knowing eyes that I chuckled at, wiping a tear away.

“We’re not there yet, but once we are, we will be.”

She nodded her head, giving me one last hug before moving to the driver’s seat of the moving truck, Jonathan and Will getting into his truck. Joyce’s car was being towed on the back of the moving truck.

The Wheeler’s, Lucas, Max, Dustin and myself stood in their driveway, watching as they drove off for the very last time. The kids got on their bikes while Nancy and I got into her mom’s car, offering me a ride to Steve’s house.

Over the last few months, Nancy and I have been on okay terms. She told me that she didn’t care that I was with Steve, she was just upset that he and I got together as quickly as we did after they broke up.

I told her the same thing, just with Jonathan, who was like a brother to me. I told her that I didn’t want to see him get hurt, but I could tell she loved Jonathan a hell of a lot more than she ever did with Steve.

When we made it to Steve's, I thanked her and got out of the car, making my way to the front door, where I let myself in with the key that he had made for me. I smiled as I took my shoes off, setting my keys down on the table by the front door. The smell of popcorn filling the air.

Steve and I walked into the living room around the same time, a handful of popcorn up at his mouth as he stared at me. “You’re home early,” he said around that handful.

“They pretty much had everything packed and loaded on the truck when I got there,” I said, walking towards him, taking my own handful of popcorn, dropping a couple of pieces into my mouth at a time.

He nodded his head, pointing to the couch with the popcorn bowl. “I was about to watch a movie.”

“Ooooh, which one?” I asked, turning on my toes to walk to the couch, plopping down on it.

“Police Academy.”

Nodding my head with an impressed look, I said, “Nice. Can I join?”

He chuckled. “Of course.” He sat down next to me, the bowl of popcorn on his lap, no sound coming from either one of us. 

As the movie played, Steve and I cuddled, the popcorn long gone, and before I knew it, the movie was long forgotten about, my back to the cushions, our lips in hungry kisses.

***

Steve was slotted between my legs as he pulled my shirt up to just below my breasts, his hand resting on my ribs, lightly.

“Take it off,” I breathed. I knew he knew what I was referring to, but the look in his eyes had me say the material I meant. “My shirt. Take it off.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. 

We’ve only ever made out, clothes staying on the entire time. I knew I wanted to go there with Steve, give him all of me, and I knew he wanted to give me all of him as well, but we never got there. No time ever felt like the right time.

Sure, I’ve had sex with two other guys in high school, but they never made me feel that good. The rumor mill in school said that Steve was the best and he cared for his partners, wanting to make them feel just as good as he did. 

So, as I looked him in the eyes, running my hands through the sides of his head, I nodded my head. “Yes.”

“It could lead to… other things.”

“I know,” I said, softly. “I want it. I want you… again.”

Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned down, saying, “I want you again, too,” before connecting our lips in a kiss that I felt every emotion, all the love and care in. Pulling me up gently, he grabbed the sides of my shirt, lifting it over my head. He stood off the couch, taking my hands in his, lifting me to my feet. He placed his hands on my hips, telling me to jump, which I did, my legs wrapping around his hips.

As he walked towards the stairs, he checked to make sure the front door was locked. It was because I had locked it before taking off my shoes just an hour before. Taking careful steps, he walked us up the stairs, over the landing and to his room, my face buried in his neck the whole time.

I felt my back on the mattress, Steve still hovering over me. “Our first time as a couple shouldn’t be some couch fuck,” he said. “It should be special… like you.” I smiled, threading my fingers through his hair as he leaned down once more to kiss my lips, both of us breathing in deep.

It’s funny how connected you can feel to someone just by kissing them, or being around them. I’ve always felt connected with Steve, ever since we were kids. Before my dad left, he would bring me over to Steve’s, him and I swimming in his pool while his parents and my dad talked inside. When my dad walked out of his and Mom’s bedroom with his suitcase was the last time I saw him before I snuck out, Steve letting me stay over that night.

I felt Steve pull back, our eyes locking, as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I said, “Nothing. I just… love you. So much.”

He smiled, cupping my cheek with his hand. “I love you, too.” He kissed me again, the hand cupping my cheek making its way down my neck and the middle of my breasts before moving more south towards the button of my jeans. I watched him pop it open with one hand, a smile on my face as he did so.

“Look at you, Mr. I-Can-Do-Shit-With-One-Hand,” I mused.

He chuckled, looking down at my stomach. “That’s not all I could do with one hand.”

Flood gates opened at my entrance, my panties becoming wet with my arousal. “Fuck me,” I whispered. “Damn, Harrington. You have a way with words.”

“You bet, babe,” he smiled, kissing me again.

I swear, if a Demogorgon came and killed me, I would want to die right here in Steve’s arms with his lips on mine.

He moved his lips from mine to my cheek, down to my neck where he left a lovely bruise that I would have to cover tomorrow when I go to do my errands, before moving to the valley of my breasts.

They aren’t big, a low B cup, but they’re just big enough to fit into Steve’s hands after he removed my bra from my chest, tossing the material to the side of the bed, a small thud sounding on the floor as he did. I watched as he admired my breasts, looking me in the eyes after a moment. 

“So perfect,” he whispered, before taking his lips to my left nipple, a gasp sounding from me.

“Oh… my god,” I breathed, carding my left hand through the back of his hair as he lapped and sucked and licked and kissed my nipple and breast. He moved the other, showing the same amount of attention as he did my left.

No eye contact was made as I watched him kiss his way down my stomach to the tops of my jeans. He sat up and looked at me before wrapping his fingers around the material hugging my hips, pulling them down slowly before dropping them to the pile that’s being started on the side of the bed. 

I could tell he was straining behind his own pair of jeans, so I sat up and cupped him lightly, hearing him let out a sharp breath. “Don’t worry,” I mused. “I’ll get to him next.”

“Fuuuuuuuuuck,” he breathed as I popped the button on his jeans, bringing down his zipper to help give him more room. He laid me back down, hand resting on my stomach. “Next time, you can take care of me. This time, our first, I want to take care of you.”

All I could was smile at his words as he looked down at the center of my panties. His eyes widening for just a moment before he looked at me.

“Goddamn, babe,” he said. “All that for me?” He lightly ran a finger over my clothed core, a hiss sounding from me at the anticipation I was having.

“Yes,” I nodded. “All for you, Stevie.” There’s only a few people in the world that could call him Stevie. His mother, Robin and myself. His mother because… that’s his mother. Robin because he decided to deal with it, and me because I called him that once when we were in middle school and he said I could call him Stevie anytime.

He pulled my panties to the side, dragging his finger through my folds from my entrance to my clit, where he drew light and small circles, my back arching a little as I moaned. “That all you got for me?” he asked, drawing faster circles. 

“Do other things and I’ll give you more,” I panted.

“Oh?” he asked, arching a brow. “And what else can I give you?”

“Your mouth.”

Putting my panties back in place, he said, “What do you want, Liv? What do you want me to do?”

“Eat me,” I said, hooking my thumbs into the sides of my panties, taking them off and spreading my legs. “Eat me like I’m your last meal.”

He laid on his stomach, wrapping his arms around my thighs, kissing each one carefully while making his way up, his face eventually meeting my core. Looking at me, he asked, “Are you sure?”

I nodded my head almost too eagerly. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Without missing a beat, he licked a long stripe from my entrance to my clit, just like he did with his finger. Letting out a long moan, my head went further into the pillow, my right hand grasping at the sheets while my left went for his hair.

I had also heard in that rumor mill that Steve liked his hair pulled roughly, which I didn’t believe. He would always come to school with a headache or stay home with a headache that I would ask him about the next day.

Steve wrapped his lips around my clit, sucking lightly. There were also rumors about me in the sex department at school, saying that I liked it super rough, but I didn’t. I liked a little bit of roughness when done correctly, not the kind that would have me sore all over the next day, and not the good kind of sore either.

I didn’t believe any sex rumors about Steve, and I don’t think he believed any about me, which is a really good thing. I looked down at Steve as he worked magic on my core, his tongue diving into me as his nose brushed my bud that was growing sensitive. “Steve,” I moaned out. 

He put one finger in me to start, looking at me. “Yeah, baby?”

“Need you.”

Chuckling, he placed a kiss on my bud before licking it again, adding another finger to my entrance. Moaning again, I lightly pulled his hair, hearing and feeling a satisfied groan from him. 

Just as my orgasm was climbing to its peak, he pulled his fingers from me, climbing up my body. “What… the… fuck… did you just do? I was gonna cum in the next five seconds!”

He chucked, kissing me to stop my unnecessary whining. “You’ll cum, don’t worry,” he said, reaching into his nightstand. He stood from the bed, shedding his jeans and boxers as I sat up quickly, getting to my knees in front of him. 

“You’re getting a blow job whether you like it or not,” I said, kissing the head of his penis while wrapping my hand around his shaft. I don’t really like giving guys head because of my experience with other guys being extremely rough. But with Steve, I want to. His cock is like a drug at this very moment for me as I take the head and put him into my mouth, hearing him moan above me.

I slowly take more of him in, going as far as I can to not set my gag reflexes off. Starting my bobbing rhythm, I jerk off what’s not in my mouth. When I look up through my lashes, I see his head is tilted back. Moaning around him, I close my eyes for a moment before feeling him tap my cheek.

Pulling back, I let go of him with a small pop before kissing his shaft and standing up. Steve places his lips on mine as I hear the tearing of a foil packet, Joyce’s words sounding in my head. “Be safe.”

I can’t help but smile through the kiss, breaking apart momentarily to look down, watching as Steve rolls the rubber onto his glistening shaft.

“What’s with the smile?” he asked. “Not that I’m happy to see it.”

Shaking my head, I said, “Nothing. Just something that Joyce said earlier. No biggie.”

“What’d she say?”

“She said to be safe.” I grabbed his hand in mine, crawling backwards on the bed until my head met the pillow again, Steve hovering over me before he pulled back up again, pulling the sheets back.

“Personal preference?” I asked.

He shook his head, bringing the covers over us after I laid back down. “No. Just wanna feel closer to you, that’s all.”

I smiled at that, threading my fingers through his hair once last time before letting out a moan as he carefully and slowly slid his cock inside me. “Fuck, Steve.”

��Damn, you feel good,” he groaned.

We stayed like that for a moment, Steve letting me adjust to his size again. He’s the biggest I’ve ever had. I could cum just from this alone, his head already reaching that spot inside me that my own fingers can’t reach.

“I’m gonna move now,” he said, kissing my cheek.

All I could do was nod my head, basking in this moment. He started moving his hips back and forth at a slow, but good pace, letting me continue getting used to him. When that no longer did anything, I bucked my hips, letting him know he could go a little faster.

Resting his forearms beside my head, he looked me in my eyes and I knew he was going to say what he told the other girls, but what came out of his mouth shocked me. “You’re out of this world beautiful.” Well, I wasn’t expecting that.

Cupping his cheek, I whispered, “And you’re out of this world handsome.”

He kissed me stupid after that, both of us cumming at the same time. 

After he disposed of the condom and carefully helped to clean and dress me, we laid in his bed, his arm around me as I cuddled into his side. He ran his fingers up and down my arm as I closed my eyes, content in this moment with him.

***

“I love you,” I whispered, tears coming to my eyes.

“I love you, too,” he whispered back.

“No, like…” I sniffled, sitting up. “I love you. Like, I wanna marry you one day, have your babies, grow old with you kind of love.”

He cupped my cheek for what felt like the millionth time tonight, wiping away a tear that had fallen from my waterline. “Is that why you’re crying?”

I nodded, leaning into his touch. 

Smiling, he said, “Well, it’s the same for me, baby. Always has been.”

“Aside from–”

“Even with Nance. I think I loved her because I felt like I couldn’t have you.”

Another tear fell, and another wipe with his thumb. I leaned down, capturing his bottom lip between mine before laying back down, my head on his shoulder. I sighed, closing my eyes, ready for sleep.

“I love you, Stevie.”

“I love you, Livvie.”

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

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A/N 2:  hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note: S4 COMING NEXT WEEK!! also, if y'all want a backstory on the "again" comment before they do the smexy time, let me know!!

~~~

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~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

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Posted on April 16, 2024

#steve harrington x olivia henderson #steve x olivia #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #steve harrington #olivia henderson (oc) #stevia #always the babysitter #atb #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #eleven hopper #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #joyce byers #chief jim hopper #max mayfield #billy hargrove #robin buckley #season three episode eight #original character #home slice olivia was all me #stranger things fandom #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction

[nwjws]

WAIT FOR YOU TO LIKE ME AGAIN - LSH

; SYNOPSIS - whether it be in the middle of the halls or during his election speech, heeseung's never passed up an opportunity to ask you out on a date. although you've always said no, that hasn't stopped the boy from trying again anyway - at least until senior year, when he suddenly stopped pursuing you, to your (and everyone's) bewilderment.

; PAIRING - heeseung x fem!reader

; TAGS - one-shot, fluff, slice of life, highschool au, stuco president!heeseung, vice president!reader, one-sided enemies to lovers ; WARNINGS - angst, mild swearing, light mentions of an abusive ex (not hee's or reader's)

; WC - 11.7k (including the bonus at the end)

; PLAYLIST ► blue butterflies (JIHN) ► line without a hook (ricky montgomery) ► making the bed (olivia rodrigo) ► comfort crowd (conan gray) ► love. (wave to earth)

; AUTHOR'S CORNER ! first fic after hiatus omg. also half the things in this fic rlly happened and the other half were google searches guess which ones are which 😝 i planned to post this on the 17th but i finished it just now and my brain is fried so here we goooo

you hated lee heeseung.

throughout the three years you've known him, he's been always the bane of your existence. the boy was constantly bugging you and pulling a new stunt to show off and get your attention. all of this just to ask you out on a date - something he's been doing practically every week since the age of fourteen.

seriously, after a hundred 'no's you'd think he'd learn to back off. and yet, he was still persistent in pursuing you.

at least, until your final year began.

see, you two had been competing against each other for the position of student council president at the end of last year. unfortunately for you, he was immensely popular; an actual threat. on top of being the captain for boys' volleyball team, he was class rep. and actively helped out teachers after school. students and teachers alike were drawn in by his hardworking yet casual nature and how easily he talked to others. despite the busy campaigns and rivalry, he still managed to somehow find time to ask you out, ending his final speech with, "and aren't all these qualities worthy of at least one date?"

of course he'd still find a way to make such an important event about asking you out. whoops and cheers echoed the hall, with almost everyone looking at you. everyone knew your history, with half the school on his side, cheering him on and urging you to say yes.

thankfully, the other half of the student body understood that no means no, and were more sympathetic towards you. after all, it's not like you were disliked or anything - you were as well known as h*es*ung.

you yourself had led the school to win several math competitions over the years, and tutored over ten students in your highschool career (get that money girl!). in addition, you were already on the council as the treasurer.

yet, it was his last sentence that one the people over and he'd been chosen as the president, with you as vice.

"just say yes. one date won't hurt," ningning had chuckled when you complained again, once she'd come back from her summer camp.

"my pride and reputation of always saying no will be."

"maybe he'll back off if you do?"

"no number of rejections has stopped him, how would a 'yes' do that?"

"maybe he'll realise you're absolutely undateable," she laughed at you, which had you throwing a pillow at her in retaliation.

you scowled at her before pulling out your phone and finding heeseung's instagram.

"thanks for meeting with us today, i'm sure you guys are excited to go home. first days are always tough." and with that, heeseung closed up the first meeting of the year.

conversation and the screeching of chairs filled the room as everyone began to pack up and leave, bidding goodbye to each other. as president and vice president, you and heeseung were left behind to clean up after the others and sort out other documents and such.

you half-heartedly expected another question of a date from him as you threw away the paper cups and teabags, but it never came.

instead, all he said was, "good job today."

you turned to look at him, with his bag slung over one shoulder and a hand stuffed into his pocket. he gave you a tight smile and left the room after that, reminding you to lock up before you left.

a little disconcerted, you continued the last few tasks while mumbling to yourself, "that ass, making me clean up and not..." you didn't finish that thought. it almost sounded like you wanted him to ask you out on another date. you thought he would though - he always did, but the first day of school passed without incident.

well, it's only the first day. he'll definitely ask you out tomorrow, or later this week. he's never missed a chance to do so during first week of school.

he hasn't asked you out at all. not in the first week, nor the second, or the third.

a whole month had gone by, and all you'd heard from heeseung was student council-related stuff. he hadn't even talked to you outside of meetings.

"did you two fight, or something?" ningning asked you curiously.

"i dunno?" you reply truthfully. you really weren't sure if what was going on between you was a fight or just a change in dynamics. it was confusing.

the rest of the school noticed too; the halls whispered when you passed by, wary and concerned looks thrown your way. someone even asked off handedly in conversation: 'are you two secretly dating, then?' everyone was walking on eggshells around you two.

"well, i guess you can rest now."

"huh?"

"you said you wanted him to stop, didn't you?" ningning raised an eyebrow at you. "who knows how many times you've complained about it to me in the past. it's made up like, half of our conversations in all our years of friendship."

"oh, right."

ningning tilted her head curiously at you. "what's with the disappointed tone?"

"what tone?" you rolled your eyes. "this is perfect! i can finally concentrate on my work without having to be afraid that i'll be distracted by heeseung trying to get me to date him again." after a moment, ningning hummed in agreement.

"and! those girls can stop giving me death glares. i mean - i've already seen so many triumphant looks from them, as if they've already got him in the bag."

"uh-huh," she said sceptically.

"they'd definitely say yes if he asked them out. unlike me. he can actually go and date for once, instead of embarrassing himself with me."

"riiiight."

"good. that's good! maybe he'll have a girlfriend by next week. and-"

"okay! i get it, i get it," ningning burst out laughing. "i've never seen you overthink about heeseung this much."

"i can't help it! what would you think if some guy who's been obnoxiously pining over you for years consistently suddenly stopped out of nowhere?"

"hmm... i'd hang out with him, break my leg, therefore obliging him to bring me to the hospital, manipulate him to visit me every day as i recover, be overbearing as hell so that he'd realise he doesn't want me anymore, and poof! he's gone."

you stared at your (possibly insane) best friend (how is she your best friend?!) in alarm.

"...i think it's time for another visit to the psych ward."

"hey!"

you two laughed yourself to stitches. she might be crazy, but she definitely got your mind off heeseung, if only for a little bit.

"you guys don't like sports, do you?"

everyone in the council shook their head.

"well, luckily for you, the student council members aren't be required to participate in sports day. we're only expected to volunteer and help the teachers."

you and the others cheered, relieved you wouldn't have to run yourself to death in the cold wind like last year. you might have been gifted in almost any skill and hobby you picked up, but sports was an exception.

"make sure you do help out, as i'll be taking note of who does what." then, heeseung said in a whisper, as if sharing a secret (who in this room he's hiding it from, you don't know), "and we'll hold a little party here. just us members." that definitely got everyone murmuring excitedly.

in the two previous years you've been in the student council, you've never seen one so lively and reactive to their president. you hate to admit it, but you too could feel your mood lighten up with them whenever heeseung was leading another meeting.

not to mention, he listened intently to the others' concerns, always suggested good solutions, and greeted everyone who entered with a cup of tea. he was a lot more considerate than you'd expected.

see, you hadn't really shared that many classes before. and the one or two you ever did, you avoided him at all costs so you never actually noticed him properly until it was forced right in front of your face.

"on another note, we'd like to take in suggestions for places to visit for an upcoming school trip," you started, garnering their attention.

as you began your part of the meeting, you could feel heeseung's intense stare, but every time you looked at him, he'd turn away.

it was a little frustrating, and you didn't know why. you couldn't figure out why you felt a little more upset every time he'd look somewhere else. was he ignoring you? but, this was a totally normal thing to do, right? so it's not like you could just ask him 'hey, why do you always ignore me when i look at you?', you'd look stupid.

when the meeting ended and everyone else had left, the awkward tension between you two was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"make sure to lock up before you go-"

"did i do something wrong?"

heeseung stared at you, mouth frozen from being cut off mid-sentence.

"what? no. why?"

"i just- well, you-" you stuttered, unsure how to answer. "i guess, i'm not used to you not..."

"to me not asking you to be my girlfriend?" he laughed, but there was an odd lack of humour.

you shrunk into yourself. you should have just kept your mouth shut, now you sounded self-centered.

"nevermind," you huffed.

"i'm just doing what you asked. after the date, remember?" he left before you could say anything else.

after he'd gone, you couldn't even hear the silence he left behind - not when your thoughts rang in your ears. shame, embarrassment, rage. you hated him, heeseung.

but most of all, you hated yourself.

you avoided heeseung at all costs after that incident, at least, whenever you could.

previously, with the lack of interactions you two had, you felt like you barely ever saw him. but now that there was this weird air of tension between you, seeing him at three times a week after school for student council activities suddenly felt too often. every time you were alone with him, you were sure you were as red as a tomato; you developed a habit of letting your hair hide your red ears and hide your face.

when sports day inevitably came, you took over his responsibilities, seeing as he was still a part of the volleyball team. that made him the only one in the student council to join any sports activity, whereas the rest of you relaxed. (the privilege was all thanks to heeseung, who advocated for your guys' exemption from activities after everyone had complained, in return for volunteer work.)

"you haven't gone to the volleyball games yet?" soobin, the treasurer, asked.

"no. i planned out a route to visit all the activities, and the courts happened to be last."

he raised a sceptical eyebrow at you.

"really. it's not because you're trying to steer clear of our dear president or something?"

you cringed. "keep your nose out of our business."

"well, if it's affecting student council activities, isn't it our business too?"

"maybe, but i think your priority should be helping out mrs. shin over there," you pointed to the teacher walking across the field, carrying a bunch of equipment by herself. "'looks pretty heavy, it would look bad if our volunteer wasn't doing his work, now would it?"

soobin gave you a dirty look before leaving to help out, but not before bidding you "good luck!"

when you finally made it to the volleyball courts, you spotted him immediately.

he'd done a spike, the slap echoing so loud that it drew the attention of other students passing by. paired with the sound of feet skidding against the ground and the thumps of balls making contact with skin, you decided that you hated the courts. it felt like walking into a battle zone - always fearing you'll get hit by a ball when you're not looking. once, ningning got hit in the face by a baseball and her eye had actually been pushed inwards into her socket. of course, that wasn't on a court, but you weren't taking your chances.

unfortunately, you still had to make sure everything was going smoothly and take note of how many more rounds were left.

"excuse me! students who aren't playing aren't allowed to step into the courts," the teacher yelled at you from the other side.

"sorry, but i have to check on you guys, i'm part of the student council," you explained as you crept closer.

"but-"

"my bad, mr. jeon. i forgot to tell you to expect our vice president to come around eventually, since she's taking over my duties for the day," heeseung said as came jogging up to you two.

"ah, really? was volleyball taking up your time? you should have told me! i wouldn't want this to get in the way of your work."

"no, it's okay. i wanted to play, and she's very reliable," he gestured to you.

"if you say so."

"right," you started, finally looking at heeseung for the first time that day. you nodded your thanks to him, to which he gave a quick thumbs up to before rejoining the game.

"how many sets are left?" you asked mr. jeon, pulling out your pen to note down on your clipboard.

"two. this is our final game of the day."

"great! who won for the girl's team earlier today? i'm sorry i couldn't come earlier. i thought it might be best to come later in the day so i could get all the results at once."

"don't worry about it. the boys' games are always more interesting anyway - in the sense that it's a little more dramatic, what with all the force they put in their hits."

right at that moment, the resounding boom of the ball hitting a wall interrupted you two. geez, were these guys playing with a ball or setting off canons? why men are so aggressive, you'll never understand.

"perfect timing," mr. jeon chuckled. "well anyway, the U-16 girls won the first game, but the U-19 team won the second-"

you should have minded the ongoing game. it was the number one rule when you were on a court, but you foolishly got distracted with mr. jeon's own clipboard. of course, the moment you let your guard down, the ball flew your way, right when you were shifting your stance and was therefore a little more unstable than usual.

the volleyball hit you right in the chest, and had you falling to the ground. by instinct, you tried to catch yourself - but instead of your palms reaching out backwards to save you, it was your elbows that hit the ground.

"fuck!" you cried at the pain that seared through your arm.

"oh my god, are you alright?" the team suddenly ran up to you, with mr. jeon himself trying to help you up.

"i'm so sorry! i didn't mean to." one of the team members apologised.

"watch it next time," heeseung's stern voice came, but you were more focused on trying to minimise the pain as much as possible.

"where does it hurt? your elbow? can you try moving it for me?"

you did as mr. jeon instructed, but underestimated how much it would hurt.

"oh, that popping sound does not sound normal," heeseung commented.

"heeseung, take her to the infirmary."

he nodded and grabbed your unaffected elbow, asking if it was okay. you nodded and followed him as he started leading the way to the school nurse.

"does it still hurt?"

"if i move it, yeah."

"sorry about that."

"it's fine. it happens." a quick silence followed.

"well, you should go to the doctor later. the nurse probably won't do much, maybe just hand you an ice pack or something else useless," he joked. you laughed.

"yeah. she never really does much, does she? all those years of school just to hand us ice packs for a broken bone or twisted ankle."

"right! even the PE department is better equipped for more serious injuries."

"mhm."

another bout of silence. you were going to go crazy, either from the awkwardness of it all or the immense pain in your right arm. you looked at heeseung's back, and the sweat on his skin, soaking his shirt.

"hey, you can go back if you want to," you told him suddenly. "i can walk myself to the infirmary, it's not like i hurt my leg or anything."

"i know, but i'd feel more at ease if i saw you there myself. you're my vice president, of course i'm concerned."

well, you didn't know how to feel about that. you've been downgraded from his crush to coworker, but he still cares for you. so maybe that was a plus?

"i see."

as expected, you were given a cold pack for your elbow and sent to the local hospital. luckily, it was only a ten minute drive and the nurse accompanied you as a staff member drove you two there. heeseung watched you get in the car and leave, going back to his game.

the next time you went to school (two days later), your right arm was in a sling and you pretended like that wasn’t just the most embarrassing moment of your life.

“you’re ambidextrous?” heeseung whispered to you while everyone else was focused on the movie projected.

the council had waited for you to return before they held their (secret) party, since it just felt wrong to hold one when their vice president was suffering in pain and away. up until now, heeseung had only known you used your right hand from all those meetings.

he'd been paying attention to that?

“i’m a better writer with my right.”

“but you can still write well with your left,” he said, impressed. “you really are amazing”

you stared at him, the look of awe on his face, and the slight smile of his mouth. you really had no idea what to say, flustered by his comment.

then he seemed to realise what he was doing, and quickly turned to back to the movie.

“my mom wanted a left-handed daughter, and would always switch the pencil to my left hand when i was younger,” you told him. you had the sudden urge to spill a bit more of your life to him.

“ah, really?” he replied, still looking the other way.

“yeah, but at that point i was already used to my right. i ended up being able to write with both hands though.”

“oh, you can do that?” soobin joined in the conversation. you nodded at him with wide eyes, not expecting the sudden interruption.

“do what?” hanni asked.

“she can write using both her hands. isn’t she so cool?”

“really?” she gasped, looking at the pen in your left hand. “wow. our vice president is way cooler than the president himself.”

“hey!” heeseung exclaimed as everyone giggled.

“seriously though, she’s the whole package. smart, talented, and pretty?” soobin lowered his voice in a mock-whisper, “i can treat you way better than this guy," he joked, pointing his thumb at heeseung.

“alright, i think we need to get a new treasurer,” heeseung suddenly said. he pointed at the projection and yelled, “look! ernesto's actually the villain!” this successfully put everyone's attention back on the movie, all shocked by the plot twist. (you already knew, because coco was your favourite airplane movie.)

when the party finished up, heeseung actually stayed behind this time, and helped you clean up.

“oh, you really don’t have to,” you told him.

“it’s fine, it’s quicker like this. it’s not fair to make you clean up when you don’t have two working hands.”

you watched as he put away the heavy binders and throw out the trash, feeling a little off-put by the new scene. you thought that maybe you should just go home and leave him to lock up, but he wasn’t saying anything, so you stayed and kept him company. his presence was surprisingly comforting.

“you have the keys?”

“yeah,” you answered, trying to open your backpack.

heeseung made his way over and opened your bag for you. “here, i’ll get it. tell me where it is.”

“oh, uhhh in the pocket there. the left one.”

he found the keys and took them before closing the bag again. he waited for you to put it back on, but noticed you struggling a little with the books in your arm.

“why don’t you just put these in your bag?” he asked, taking them from your good arm and helping you slip your injured one through a strap.

“it’ll be really heavy if i do.” you then thanked him, gesturing for him to give back your textbooks.

instead, he kept them, even holding the door open and waiting for you to pass by first.

“where do you live? i’ll try to help you bring these home.”

“you really-”

“it’s fine, i promise. in fact, i insist.” at your expression, he added, “what kind of president would i be if i didn’t help out my vice?”

right. president. and vice president. not friends, not even classmates. just coworkers.

you rolled your eyes and let him help you. “i usually take the bus home. the one that goes to the museum.”

“ah, i know that one. i usually walk home, but i think there’s a stop that bus goes to that’s near my house. so let’s go.”

heeseung led the way, walking in front of you so you took the chance to observe him from behind.

recently, you noticed that although he always looked put together and clean at the beginning of the day, his hair and clothes felt more loose and casual towards the end of the day - particularly on the longer days where there were council meetings after school. you like this version of him; you feel closer to this heeseung, because it’s a side that only you (and the other members) got to see. it felt a little bit like a secret.

“sorry, looks like my stop is earlier than yours. are you fine with carrying these yourself from here?”

“yep.”

“alright. well then, okay.” when he stood up as the bus stopped, he turned to you and waved lightly. “bye bye!” it was a little endearing - the way he'd said it.

“see you.”

you immediately flopped onto your bed when you reached home (on your back side, of course). it was an… odd day, but you didn’t dislike it.

after a bit of a struggle, you finally fished your phone from your bag, sending ningning a message.

“i think you took my advice too seriously,” ningning chortled during class the next day. “when i said i’d break my leg i didn’t mean actually getting injured!”

you dragged your hand down your face, asking whatever being was listening to your pleas to make your best friend stop teasing you.

“it’s not like i sprained my elbow on purpose??”

“oh girl, you don’t have a single athletic bone do you?”

“you know what, maybe i need to learn to shut up and stop telling you things.”

“i know you won’t. when you’re with me, your attempt at a mysterious persona disappears…”

“are you saying i’m loud?” you ask in mock-offense.

“i’m saying you yap a lot,” she rolls her eyes playfully. “but seriously, who knew getting hit by a volleyball would lead you and The Heeseung finally talk. maybe that guy should’ve thrown one at you when we were fourteen.”

“when did you start rooting for him?” you raised an eyebrow at her.

“i just thought he deserved a chance,” she shrugged nonchalantly, but the way she turned away didn’t sit right with you.

“oh, okay,” was all you came up with.

“so, anyway,” she started again after a moment. “i stalked my ex’s spotify and-”

“oh my god,” you groaned at the mention of her ex. “ningning i told you before, you need to forget about him.”

“i know, i know. but i couldn’t help it! his user was just there on the side, and he was listening to memories!! by conan gray!! i had to see what playlist he was listening to.”

“you need to block his spotify.”

“but that’s so embarrassing. it’s never that deep.”

“if you can’t move on from someone who convinced you that you were nothing without him, then maybe it is that deep.”

ningning sighed. “okay, i’ll block him. but do you want to know what his latest playlist was about?”

“duh,” you laughed as ningning pulled out her phone, promising to block him after.

heeseung continued to help you on the way home every time you guys had a meeting, to your surprise. during those bus rides home, you learned way more about the boy in three weeks than you ever had in your three and a half years of knowing each other. you wondered what had made him like you so much before this if he never even really knew you.

“but i did,” he said. “i did know you.”

“did you really?” you asked, thinking he was joking.

“well, at first, i obviously didn’t. i just thought you were pretty, and fun to annoy. so i kept asking you out just to see your response. after that, i did begin to like you - on a superficial level, of course; i was fifteen!”

you listened intently, finally getting answers to a question you didn’t realise you’d been curious about for so long yourself. heeseung didn’t look at you at all during his monologue, but straight forward instead. so you were able to observe the way the gold light from the sun highlighted his features perfectly. (did he always have such a perfect nose?)

“and then there was a time where i just got tired of it. i wanted to stop, but then everyone would have thought it was out of character. so even though i didn’t even like you anymore - in fact, i hated you, i still kept asking you out. just for show. stupid, right?

“but then, one time, i accidentally ran into you at a shop with ningning. actually, more like i saw you and hid behind one of the aisles. but i heard you say you wanted to get something for your siblings too, and i was like, ‘wow, she actually cares about others?’ back then, i was convinced you only thought about yourself.

“another time, you posted one of your competition wins on your instagram, and i could see from the caption how much you adored your team, even tagging each one of them and thanking them individually. i had never seen someone put that much effort into a simple win before. i kind of felt like i wasn’t thankful enough to my own volleyball team,” he chuckled to himself.

“what really had me falling for you though was when you tutored my sister last year . before that, she'd been going through some sort of mental struggle, what with being bullied at school and coming home to our parents telling her she should be ashamed of her grades. i felt so bad that i couldn’t do anything, you know? her older brother; her protector, but couldn’t do anything against the very people who should have been protecting the both of us. when she’d been signed up with you though, she came home for the first time in a good mood - she was humming! and i asked if something good happened at school, and she told me all about her amazing tutor that assured her she wasn’t the useless being she thought she was. how she was finally beginning to understand school for once, and looked forward to your sessions. when i learned that was you, i wanted so surprised, but so grateful."

you had never felt so touched until now. somehow, heeseung’s words made you feel like you really were worth more than you believed.

“really? wait, who’s your sister?”

“lee haseul. the one with autism, remember?”

“ah yes, of course i do!” you said, the name ringing a bell in your head. “she was definitely a little harder to tutor, but once we found a way to use her fixation on cars and link it to what we were learning, it was smooth sailing from there.”

“i really have no idea how you did that, but you have no idea the impact that had on me and my family. sometimes she asks me what it’s like working with you,” he finally turned to look at you, a pretty smile on his face. your face burned at the adoration on his face, looking away yourself.

“i hope you tell her good things about me.”

“there’s not a bad thing to say.”

“really?”

“really.”

when heeseung left the bus that day, a part of him still stayed with you, as words that constantly replayed in your mind.

it made you feel a little self-conscious, knowing that he’d been watching you this closely all this time. you felt like your efforts were appreciated, and that they weren’t for nothing after all. while your admiration of him only begun after really seeing him work on the council, his respect for you had been brewing for way longer.

you went to bed thinking about him way more than you usually did (and you’ve been thinking about him more often since you sprained your elbow). you found yourself a little more excited for the next meeting day, when he’d go home with you again.

what would you guys talk about? will he tell you more of his thoughts? maybe his other interests? should you ask about his team and work? how was he handling all that? or perhaps you should ask about his sister. anything, really. you just wanted to talk. to him.

oh no, you sounded like a typical high school girl with a crush just now, didn’t you? (well, that’s exactly what you are - no shame in that, though!) if your arm wasn’t injured, you would have been punching your pillow and screaming into it right now.

oh, right - the elbow. for the first time, you really didn’t want it to heal. you wanted it to stay sprained for as long as possible, but that would be stupid, and inconvenient. but then, how else would you talk to heeseung outside of council work? it’s not like you two shared any classes, nor did you run in the same circles at school. the bus rides home were really the only times you got to really talk to heeseung, without all the eyes watching you two.

a small part of you began to dread the day your cast came off, because that would mean heeseung would stop talking to you again, right? he wouldn’t have any reason to riding home with you, and it would go back to that awkward thing you two had.

you sigh and turn over, careful with your arm, and finally fall into a fitful sleep.

“you’re staring at him again.”

that sentence had you flinching away and turning back to ningning, looking at you with a knowing glint.

“i can’t help it! his hair just looks so messy, obviously i’m going to notice.”

“his hair looks the same way it always does…”

“well- look at him walking around like he owns the place! he thinks he’s the shit, doesn’t he?”

“to be fair, he’s the student body president and captain of the volleyball team. maybe he is.”

“why are you defending him?!” you cried at all her replies.

“why are you trying to hard to hate him! we both know how much you li-”

“okay, okay, shhhh,” you shut her up by covering her mouth. really, she needed to learn to shut up. it’s not like the whole world needed to know about your massive crush on the boy you previously hated.

ningning pushed your hands away. “why are you more fixated on him today than usual anyway?”

"okay, first of all," you scoffed at her. "you make it sound like i'm always fixated on him."

"you are."

you rolled your eyes, then bit your lip after a moment of thought, knowing that whatever you were about to say would sound stupid(ly in love).

“it’s just that, i finally got my cast off this past weekend, so i can carry my books home perfectly fine again.”

“ah, and so he won’t be escorting you home anymore like he had been these past five weeks,” ningning finished your train of thought.

you buried your face in your arms, flushing bright red. “god, i sound like an idiot. i hate that i even thought that.”

the girl laughed at you, but patted your back consolingly.

“don’t worry about it. i don’t think heeseung’s gonna stop taking the bus with you just because you’re healed now. trust me, he’s one of the caring people i know.” was that a bit of sadness and longing? maybe you were interpreting her tone wrong.

“he probably will! it’s not like he used to take the bus home before i got hurt.” you peeked up at her. “is it wrong to ask you to throw another ball at me?”

“girl…”

when that day’s meeting finally ended, you and heeseung worked in tandem, tidying up the room before locking up, albeit a little more slowly. it was like both of you were waiting for something, but never said it out loud,

as you finally made your way out the school, you and heeseung turned to each other, hoping the other would say something.

“well-” heeseung started at the same time you said, “are you-”

after a brief moment of awkward silence, you guys burst into soft laughter at the silliness of the situation. what were you so afraid of anyway?

“do you still want to ride with me?” you finally asked him.

“if that’s okay with you.”

“of course it is,” you rolled your eyes playfully, falling into step with him.

“honestly, i thought you were going to go back to walking home after i healed up,” you confessed to him on the bus. “it made me kind of sad.”

“you’d miss me?” he teased, but there was excitement in his tone. he was elated.

“well, these rides are kind of fun! i wish i got to know you like this sooner. and then i thought we’d go back to the way we were before after this, but ningning assured me that it’d be fine.”

“ah yeah, ningning’s cool. wish i had a close friend like her by my side.”

it didn’t click until now how they seemed to be familiar with each other. when did heeseung and ningning become friends? in fact, when did they get a chance to even talk to each other?

“are you friends with her?” you tried to ask nonchalantly, like the topic wasn’t bugging you now. if those two were friends, why didn’t ningning mention it to you?

heeseung seemed to notice the shift in your mood though. “we’re just friends, promise. there’s nothing between us.”

that eased you a little, but that wasn’t really your main concern.

“that’s nice to know. but how did you become friends? i thought you two were was close as me and you were before all this.”

“oh! we met up at summer camp. it was purely by coincidence; my parents decided to send me to one last summer, and she happened to be there. i didn’t know anyone else, so i stuck by her for most of the two weeks we were there. we got to know each other then.”

ningning’s summer camp. last summer had been her third year there, so she wasn’t new or anything. the programme usually lasted two weeks, and they’d take away their phones during that time, so you’d have no contact with her until it ended.

but you’re surprised she didn’t tell you about it when she came back. after all, she had said it was ‘just as usual’, but seeing the new face of your best friend’s (previously) most hated person didn’t seem like nothing.

“huh.”

“i swear though, there was nothing between us back then.”

“i see.”

“i hadn’t talked to her much after my date with you-”

the date. ningning had been the one to push you to go. but why? even if her and heeseung became friends during camp, you and her were still closer. so why did she switch sides? you’d thought it was odd how she was suddenly encouraging you to say yes, when she’d spent the last four years sticking her tongue out at heeseung by your side.

the date, which had gone both so bad and yet so good. when everything had gone terribly wrong, but heeseung did everything right.

“i’m so sorry for being late!” heeseung panted as he ran up to your table.

“the one time i give you a chance, and you’re an hour late, lee.”

“i know, i know. it’s just that my sister-”

“i’m not hearing out any excuses,” you huffed.

you’d felt so humiliated waiting for him. you were shaking, your hair was frizzy with stress and your make up probably a little smudged too. the staff had even given you a free cheesecake slice out of pity. a pity cake.

“whatever, you’re here now, so let’s get this over with”

the waitress came over and gave you an encouraging look (which you ignored) and took your orders. when your meals arrived, you stared at the orange slices in the sauce of your orange chicken. although you hated them, you actually loved the sauce and chicken itself, so you ordered them every time you went to a chinese restaurant.

“you don’t like the oranges?” heeseung asked after seeing you pick them out.

“not really, no. i don’t know how to explain it; i love orange chicken, but i hate actually seeing the oranges on the sauce. it’s a little bit jarring for me, fruits and savoury foods together just don’t make sense to me visually, but when i taste them, they’re so good. just like pineapples on pizza, you get me?”

“i guess,” he thinks out loud. he uses his own chopsticks and starts picking them out from your plate, placing them onto his. “mind if i take these then? i love oranges.”

“i’ve literally seen you throw out a whole orange at school before.”

“you were watching?” he smiled sheepishly, a light pink tint to his cheeks.

“n-not particularly.” you look back down at your food, focusing on your task. you need to be more careful with what you say.

after a terrible start to your date, the rest of your lunch went okay. it wasn’t too bad, and you two started discussing your next plan: watching a movie.

“i’m not even a marvel fan,” you told heeseung after he said he’d gotten two tickets for spiderman: no way home.

“don’t worry, i’ll explain everything to you during the movie.”

“really? also, isn’t a movie a terrible date idea? we wouldn’t really talk to each other.”

“well, i will. i tend to talk a lot during movies.” he turned to you with an apologetic look. “i hope you won’t mind.”

“i’ll need it, won’t i?”

turns out you didn’t need his talking during the movie because you two didn't even get to watch it. a kitchen in the food court next to the theatre had gone up in flames, with the fire spreading to it’s surroundings. thankfully, no one died, but the damage was pretty severe, with half the mall having to close down until reparations are finished. and who knows how long that’ll take…

“oh! well, it’s a good thing i was a little late then, right?” heeseung tried to lighten up this messy date as you two passed by the mall which was now in ashes.

“i guess,” you mumbled. “so what now?”

“well, how about a little bowling?” he suggested.

you nodded, and he drove you two to the local bowling alley. you hadn't done it since you were eight, so heeseung showed you how to do it on your first turn.

“swing your arm like this,” he said, holding onto your bicep and holding onto the ball for you.

“you can let go, you know. i can carry the weight, it’s only the small size after all.”

“i know, but it’s just for demonstration. i’m going to let go of the ball now, okay? make sure to hold tightly,” he looked at you intently. geez, how could someone telling you to hold a bowling ball look at you like you hung the stars?

well, you didn’t really need his help anyway. your instincts kicked in and you managed to hit nine pins all together on your first, with similar numbers for the rest of the rounds. you even got a strike twice!

“are you sure you’ve never bowled before?” heeseung chuckled in awe.

“positive.”

“it always surprises me how easily you pick up things.”

“…thanks.”

and then you hit very few pins every single round after that in the second game.

you hadn’t been able to finish your second game however, because a heavy downpour suddenly came down.

“oh my god, the water is rising so fast,” you called over to heeseung as you looked out the glass doors of the main exit. if the floor hadn’t been lifted, the water would have started flowing in by now.

“crap, should we go home before it gets worse?”

“i suggest you should, kids,” the man behind the counter gruffed. he himself was getting ready to go, with the other customers running outside to their own cars.

heeseung looked outside and then at you.

“you can’t walk outside in those shoes, they’ll get wet.”

you were wearing pointy slip ons that would definitely get wet and soaked if you took a step outside, but it’s not like you had a choice.

“it’s alright, let’s just go-woah!”

heeseung picked you up bridal style and started making his way to his car, going fast but careful not to slip.

“hey! let me down!”

“no way, we’re almost there.”

you tried to fight him off, but he just held tightly until you reached the car, and he gently set you down into the passenger seat before backing out of the parking lot.

“are you crazy?”

“are you?” he retorted. “like hell i’m letting you get all soaked on our first date.”

you wheezed. “this date was so unlucky. who imagined everything that happened could’ve happened.”

“i know! and i wanted to make a good impression so bad. it’s like the world is against me,” he whined.

as you finally reached the front of your apartment complex, heeseung turned to you one last time.

“i’m sorry for everything that went wrong. please let me make it up to you.” he sucked in a breath, and you realised what he was going to say just a moment before he did.

“will you let me take you out on another date?”

yes. absolutely. this was fun. it was terrible, but i had a great time. wait, is this him asking me to be his girlfriend? i should ask. if he says yes, would i say yes? i don’t know, i don’t know him that well. i’ve only really only talked to him today. today’s date. everything went wrong. what if that was a sign? if i say yes, will all our dates just keep going to shit? no way, today was just an anomaly. we’ll be fine. but then when i go back to school, everyone will know. they’ll all look at me like they knew this would happen. they’ll clap him on the back and whoop in the halls, that’ll be so embarrassing. i hate that. maybe i should say no. but he was so sweet. it’s not his fault. but i wouldn’t be able to handle the attention. maybe i should-

“oh… i see.”

you looked up at him in confusion. but he wasn’t looking at you anymore. just straight ahead.

had you said something out loud? your thoughts were running wild, and you really couldn’t make up your mind.

“okay, well. have a good night,” heeseung said. when did he make his way to your door? even through the heartbreak clearly displayed in his voice, he still went out and opened the door for you. or maybe he was kicking you out of his car. was ningning right? had he thought you were undateable?

too much. too much was happening; so much happened today that you couldn’t form an answer. heeseung took your silence as a no (or did you actually say no? out of instinct?), which made your mind even more befuddled. you weren’t sure if you were even forming a coherent thought.

“oh, okay.”

you somehow made it out of the car and to the entrance of the apartment. turning back, you found heeseung’s car still there, with him watching you. you gave a weak wave, one he didn’t return, and punched in your house number.

at the last moment, you wanted to say something. anything, you didn’t know what. but when you around back to him again, he was gone.

you didn’t sleep at all that night. or maybe you did? you couldn’t tell. you’d been so worried over that last moment with heeseung, and had replayed it so many times in your head.

eventually, you convinced yourself that things were fine. that maybe you just imagined it. maybe it wasn’t that bad, and things would go back to normal at school.

definitely. he’ll definitely get back to his shenanigans when school started up again. there wasn’t some sort of finality in his tone - no you just imagined it.

you were wrong.

“why didn’t you tell me you met heeseung at summer camp?”

“how’d you-”

“he told me.” you looked at ningning intently. “but it should have been you.”

“i just- i didn’t think it was worth mentioning! you hated the guy, and it’s not like him being there would have affected you in any way,” she defended herself.

“sure, but i would have appreciated hearing it from you. you knew i’ve had a crush on him for months now, and you could have mentioned it to me?? summer camp was in july; it’s already march for fuck’s sake!”

“i wanted to! i just couldn’t find the right time. you were always busy with student council stuff, and whenever you were free you always talked about heeseung,” he huffed exasperatedly. “how was i supposed to just go, ‘by the way, your crush paid me to set you guys up!’”

your head snapped towards her.

“what?”

“what do you mean wh-” when ningning saw the look on your face, she slapped her hands over her mouth. “you didn’t know about that part...”

“no. i didn’t,” you seethed. “well, i’m glad i got to hear at least something from you.”

you stormed out, ignoring ningning’s pleas of ‘wait! hear me out!’

a fool, that’s what you were. somehow, ningning’s behaviour was even more clear. your best friend had been paid to convince you to say yes. who would have thought she was easily swayed by a few bucks?

and to think that heeseung was really that desperate to take you on a date, going so far as to pay someone close to you to get you to agree? wow, he really was a grade A asshole. sports day had just been topped by ‘being played by my own best friend and crush’ on your list of most embarrassing moments.

speed walking through the halls, you couldn’t stand to look at the pictures of you and heeseung’s faces on the student council board. it hurt so bad, that your feelings could just be easily bought. that someone you considered as family could sell you out like this. that the guy you’d fallen for would go to this length to ‘get you’.

at the bus stop, you saw the man himself smile brightly at you and wave, like he didn’t pay your best friend to get you to go in a date with him. one thing that never fails to amaze you is the audacity of men.

was it all a lie? was his kind-hearted and caring personality all fake? just another thing he did to get your attention? did you truly know heeseung like you thought? or just the 'heeseung' he wanted you to see?

you pointedly looked away, and decided to go home by foot. it was twenty minutes away by walking, but that was enough time for you to at least calm down a little and think about it more. sort out your mind.

you ended up skipping the rest of the week, convincing your parents you were sick (by putting a hot pack on your face and neck before they checked). otherwise, you might have actually broken down right then at school if you saw either heeseung or ningning.

"is everything okay?" soobin asked one day.

"yeah! everything's fine," you said cheerily. "why do you ask?"

"well, it's just that you've been sitting with us instead of ningning."

looking at soobin and his friends, you finally noticed the slight awkward air in the group because of your presence. to be fair, you weren't really close with them to begin with. or anyone. you spent most of your lunch breaks with ningning, but now that you've refused to talk to her for the last two weeks, you've been floating between different groups. sometimes, you even spent lunch in the toilets or the student council room.

but who else could you spend it with? you weren't ready to face ningning yet, and it was already hard enough tolerating heeseung during meetings. you didn't miss the worried looks from him, and he's tried to talk to you several times (which you always declined).

a sigh escapes you, and you massage your forehead. obviously, you needed to confront them both eventually. but not right now. whatever the answer is, you don't think you'd be able to handle it right now.

"do you want to talk about it?" soobin asked, a low volume only for you to hear.

"maybe later," you admitted. it would be a good idea to tell an outsider all of this, especially to soobin, who's always been a great advice-giver.

"there won't be a meeting this friday; seniors are having a rehearsal for the graduation ceremony then. the school wanted to have one before finals started," heeseung told the council. he looked around and asked, "anything else?" at everyone's silence, he nodded and closed the meeting. everyone bid their goodbyes and left, except soobin.

heeseung stared at you with anticipation and uncertainty. he'd given up on asking you to talk for a while now, but still waited for you to act first. he understood that you'd come to him when you were ready.

you looked up at soobin, looking at you with a similar expression, but one that had more curiousity and less anxiety.

"let's go?" he asked. you nodded and followed him out, leaving heeseung to lock up on his own.

you started doing that ever since The Incident. of course, you didn't leave all the clean up work to him, but you rushed your own responsibilities to minimise as much time you had to spend with him as possible.

"seriously?"

you and soobin turned back, finding the voice belonging to heeseung. he was standing outside the student council room, looking at you two, fuming. you could practically see the steam coming out his ears.

"you ignore and shun me away, refusing to talk about this issue between us, but talk to soobin about it instead? why are you dragging him into this??"

you rolled your eyes and turned to him fully, blood boiling. "i'm not 'dragging him into this'. i just wanted to talk to someone, is that so wrong?" you retorted.

"yes! you seriously think getting soobin's opinion is gonna help?"

"am i not allowed to talk to him now? are you going to pay him to stop talking to me too?"

"god, i know it was wrong of me, okay?! i'm sorry, it was shitty of me."

"your apology isn't going to suddenly make everything better. it won't take back what you did."

"i know. but please, talk to me. it's driving me crazy, how you go about acting normal with everyone but me. this whole year, did you not feel anything for me at all? do you really hate me?" he asked, his voice cracking at the end. "if you do, tell me now. so i can finally move on."

you stared at the boy, and the way the late afternoon sunlight hit him from behind. you could barely make out his expression, but maybe that was for the better. you probably wouldn't have been able to turn away and stand your ground if you saw the look on his face.

"you can't say that. not when you were the one who put yourself in this situation. did you think i would never find out? that you bribed my best friend into setting me up with you?" you heard soobin's surprised gasp on the side.

although you had your back to heeseung, you could still imagine what he looked like. the scene broke your heart, but not as much as it did when you found out that ningning had even agreed to such a thing.

after it was clear he wasn't going to reply, you started walking away, with soobin tailing you.

"wow... so that's what happened," was the first thing he said after a few minutes of silence.

"yeah."

"what a dick move."

"right."

you sighed, the adrenaline leaving you and now realising how loud you two had been. there weren't many students left at school, but a teacher or two probably heard the commotion. you'll be the hot topic of the staff lounge room for sure.

when you finally explained it all to soobin, he was quiet for a moment, thoughtful.

"i honestly never expected this from heeseung. it just- it doesn't seem like him."

"that's what i thought too. a little part of me wishes it's all some misunderstanding, but i don't know how it could be twisted any other way."

soobin hummed in agreement. "but, i noticed one thing from all of this though: you still call ningning your best friend," he pointed out. "despite everything, you've already forgiven her. or at least, you've begun to."

you bit your lip, realising he was right. you were beginning to accept it. she seemed genuinely sorry, and you could never hate her forever.

"it's just that - after getting to know heeseung, i felt like a terrible person for not giving him a chance. for always turning him down harshly. maybe i drove him to bribe ningning, maybe she got fed up with me too. i couldn't help but feel guilty for causing both of them to act like this.

"and i know this sounds wrong... but somehow, i felt a little relieved that i wasn't the only person in the wrong. that i wasn't the only asshole in this story - isn't that such a twisted thought?"

soobin melted when he saw your face, and pulled you in for a hug.

"of course not. it's alright to feel like this, you know? it's what makes us human, and what are humans without complicated feelings?"

and just like that, a dam was broken. you didn't realise how much you needed to hear those words until he said them.

it wasn't until may that you finally mustered up the courage to finally talk to ningning, and it seemed she had the same idea too.

"please, can we talk?" she asked at the same time you called her name.

"i was just about to ask the same thing."

once you two found an empty classroom, ningning started immediately.

"listen," she called for your attention. "i'm so sorry. you have no idea how many times i want to say it; i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry. it was such a light offer, really. i didn't realise the meaning it would have in the moment."

"what do you mean, a 'light offer'?"

"during camp, i had bought heeseung's sister some ice cream because she was being left out by the other kids. it was only like two dollars, but heeseung insisted on repaying. but the smallest bill he had was a five, so obviously i refused. but he kept asking me to take it and i told him that if i took it, i'd be the one in debt to him instead. so he made a light-hearted joke about getting you to go on a date with him, so that there'd be no hard feelings between us." she looked up at you pleadingly. "we'd been joking around, i didn't even realise the reality of his question. but when i got back from camp, i didn't think you'd actually go on one with him."

"you kept bringing it up; i trusted your opinion."

"i did, but i didn't really mean it. i was hoping you'd continue to say no, and i could just tell him something like 'sorry, i tried. here's your three dollars back.'"

"you didn't mean it?" you prodded.

ningning looked down at her hands and sighed. you could tell something was weighing on her.

"the truth is... i ended up catching feelings for heeseung. you know how i'd just broken up with my ex recently."

you thought back to her ex, who had isolated ningning from you and her other friends. how she'd come to school covered up even in the heat. the way she'd lost a worrying amount of weight. in all honesty, you should have tried to pry more; to break her out of this toxic relationship. but instead, you told yourself that there wasn't anything you could do, and left her to deal with the abuse on her own.

the guilt ate you, but you distracted yourself with work (and heeseung). god, you're so self-centred, aren't you?

"oh yeah, i remember very well."

"exactly," she says, hearing the loathing in your voice. "heeseung was the first person to show me genuine kindness after that whole affair. and so i found myself watching him over those two weeks, falling for him. and i thought to myself: if you didn't want him, then could i? i feel like the worst person ever, how could i even think that?"

her voice broke at the end, and you could see her silently crying; tears poured down her face but her sobs were inaudible. you'd noticed it was a habit she formed after getting with her ex. she'd never cried much before him, but she used to cry as loudly as you. you placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"it's okay. you're not the only one with shitty thoughts."

her wide eyes peered up at you, sparkling with tears. she wrapped her arms around you, and you reciprocated the embrace.

the way she'd hiccuped and the wet spot you could feel forming on your shirt yet the silent sobs broke your own heart, and you had to force your own tears down.

"i'm sorry too. i was too absorbed in my own life that i didn't pay enough attention to the way you were breaking. i mean, how did i not notice anything all this time?"

you wondered if her smile had ever wavered when she was with you, if she had to fake a laugh, or even force herself to talk to you this past year. dealing with her own problems on her own, while you vented to her yours. if she had, you didn't notice (someone give you a 'best friend of the year' award right now!).

as much as you wanted to hate her for liking heeseung, you didn't. you understood her feelings, especially after getting to know the boy himself. he brought a sense of safety with him wherever he went - so how could you ever hate your best friend for needing that security when no one else offered it to her?

"wait, can i ask you something?" you asked. ningning slipped from the embrace, nodding.

"if you liked heeseung, then why did you still ask me to accept his date offers? you could have just kept it from me, and told him that i said no. was it really just because of the three dollar 'debt'?"

"ah, right. well, when he'd asked me to get you to go on a date with me, it reminded me just how much he liked you. i don't think he'd ever see me the same way, not when his sights are so fixed on you. and after getting a taste of his hospitality, i felt that you deserved it too. that not only did he deserve a chance, but so did you.

"i realised that you needed someone like him. i couldn't give you the care and support he could, not when i'm too absorbed by my own problems. and i knew you were feeling guilty, and heeseung was the only one who could really understand you."

oh, you really were going to either jump off a cliff or hug her so tight her eyeballs might pop out. even when you neglected, she still thought about you through it all. heeseung was wrong, he made you out to be this caring person who thought of others, but that person was really ningning.

"but, what about you? you need care and support too."

"it wouldn't work out between us, he's not the kind of person i want. he was just the first kind person in a while. i need to heal and learn to be more independent myself."

a quiet moment followed, with the both of you lost in your thoughts and emotions. you hadn't felt this lonely in so long, and a weight had finally been lifted from your shoulders.

"so what are you going to do? have you talked to heeseung yet?"

"no, not yet. but he's waited four years now, he can wait a little longer. i just want to spend time with my best friend right now."

'a little longer' ended up being another month. when finals started, the school let the older years off on study leave to focus on exams. so you didn't end up seeing heeseung until the final graduation rehearsal.

as president and vice president, you two were expected to perform a speech and be next to each other the whole ceremony. so you decided it was the perfect time to confront him then.

"heeseung, wait," you called, grabbing onto his wrist as he walked by.

he immediately paused in his tracks, whipping around to look at you with wide eyes, surprised you'd finally decided to talk to him. you glanced at his friends behind him, all with a mix of curious and knowing looks.

"oh, uh, you guys can go ahead," he told them, and they left you two alone.

"i made up with ningning..." you told him.

"i see! that- that's good. im happy you guys did."

"...and i'm sorry. for making a big deal out of nothing. for making you wait so long. you're seriously one of the sweetest people i've ever met. you didn't deserve that."

heeseung shook his head in protest. "no, don't say that. i'd wait for you as long as you want, even if you never accept me. and it was a big deal. i'm guessing she told you?" you nodded. "it was fucked up of me to even make a joke like that. in fact, it was worse than if it was a genuine deal. and i can't just buy your love with three dollars, you're worth more than that." you tried to say something, but heeseung continued.

"i screwed up, i know. but i never lied to you. if there's one thing i've always been sure of, it was loving you. don't you ever feel like you have to love me back though, it's not something you can force. but i'll always have your back. no matter how many fights, how many fuck-ups, or if i ever lose my feelings for you - which might never happen. you can always fall back on me for support."

your eyes watered at his sincerity, feeling unworthy of his kindness.

"i don't deserve that though. ningning does."

"you both do. listen to me," he said, grabbing onto your shoulders and forcing you to look up at him. "don't you ever dare say that you're undeserving of love and support. every one does, but i know who you are; i know how hard you work and your honesty. and i want to guarantee you a home with me, if you ever need one. because i love you."

wow. you've cried so much these past few months, and you're sure you're about to start again. heeseung wiped your tears with his thumb, and your heart swelled.

a year ago, you would have never even thought of accepting heeseung's feelings. a few months ago, you thought you had just missed him, finally reciprocating his feelings right as he lost them. but now you were finally on the same page, and you didn't want to waste another moment.

"i love you, heeseung."

graduation day was a busy one. you had to start getting ready earlier than other students in order to prepare your speech and arrive before everyone else. it was stressful, yet rewarding, especially as you crossed the stage and finally received your diploma.

when you and heeseung were set to give your pre-written speeches, you almost didn't notice the way everyone looked motivated during his, being captured by his words yourself. you hoped to be able to instil that inspiration in others one day.

towards the end of his speech though, he did something you didn't expect, but shouldn't have been surprised by.

"so toward my fellow graduates and our families who've supported us all this way, let's celebrate our achievements and strive to follow our dreams," then turned to look back at you, pulling a bouquet of flowers from under podium, which he'd blocked from your view this whole time with his body. "as i will be with mine. so i'll ask one last time: would you let me have the honour of being your boyfriend?"

you rolled your eyes, but couldn't hide the smile on your face. with the cheers echoing throughout the hall, you suddenly got a sense of deja vu, remembering his election speech the previous year.

oh, how much things have changed since then.

"if only you'll let me be your girlfriend."

; BONUS

with exams over and the heatwave taking over the country, you had decided to spend the day at heeseung's house and try to cool off.

"are you and ningning going back to camp this summer?" you asked, hoping he'd say no. having zero contact with your best friends for two weeks sounded like hell. not even a good morning or good night text? shivers went down your spine at the thought.

"i think i'll be busy with college apps. not sure about ningning though."

"really?" you gasped, turning over to look at him. "so basically i get to spend the whole holiday with you."

heeseung grinned at you excitedly, thinking the same. then, his face suddenly lit up, as if remembering something.

"speaking of ningning, i just remembered how she sprained her leg last year. she spent the rest of the week in the infirmary."

"really? she was fine when she came back though."

"it was minor, so it only took one week, in the middle of those two."

suddenly, you remembered something too.

"i'd hang out with him, break my leg, therefore obliging him to bring me to the hospital, manipulate him to visit me every day as i recover, be overbearing as hell so that he'd realise he doesn't want me anymore, and poof! he's gone."

"no way..."

"what?" he questioned.

"did you have to visit her everyday?"

"oh. yeah, to give her her medicine and meals. the other kids had basically made me their makeshift nurse, since i treated them better than the nurse apparently," he laughed at the memory. "i caught the old lady glaring at me several times - maybe she thought i'd stolen her job?"

you laughed with him, but not only because of his story. you couldn't believe ningning's oddly specific solution had actually come out of experience. you were so going to bully her for this later.

"should i glare at you too, then?"

"hm?" he hummed confusedly.

"for stealing my heart."

heeseung blinked at you for a moment, before breaking into a wide smile and suddenly attacking you with tickles (a habit you learned he tended to do when he was flustered, specifically by you).

giggles escaped you, laughing so hard that it began to hurt. if this is how it's going to be with heeseung, you'll grow abs in no time.

"okay! okay, stop-" you cackled.

he obliged, helping you sit back up. then he tucked your hair behind your hear and placed a quick peck on your lips.

suddenly shy, you looked away with a smile facing the fan as it blew air onto your face, pushing your hair back. when you looked back at heeseung over your shoulder, you were surprised to find him beaming at you with awe on his face.

"you're beautiful, you know?"

"only when i'm with you."

"nope. you're always stunning."

"okay."

"you don't believe me?"

"i do."

"good. i'll keep saying it anyway, to make sure you do."

you stared at him for a moment that felt like hours, just staring into each others eyes. you then went in for a hug, toppling over the other and staying in that position - just you two cuddling on his bed.

sure, it was really hot today, but somehow the warmth from his body was more comfortable than anything else. you couldn't have asked for a more perfect moment.

; AUTHOR'S CORNER ! is it obvious i've never had a big injury before... anyway i hope u guys enjoyed this! i wrote this really quick and suddenly like it js came out of nowhere lol but for now i'm proud of it :)

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#·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ mi's works #kflixnet #k-labels #k-films #enhypen #enhypen x reader #heeseung #lee heeseung #heeseung x reader #enhypen heeseung #heeseung fic #heeseung fluff #heeseung angst #heeseung scenarios #heeseung imagines #heeseung fics #heeseung oneshots #heeseung long fics #ੈ♡˳ wait until you like me again

[lokischocolatefountain]

omg say no to me and salvation have me gagging… pretty please write more, i need hubby javi 🥵 ur amazing

I love that you liked hubby Javi! I like him a lot too. So, a little warning: I wrote this out sleep deprived and in a hurry so it’s going to be full of mistakes. 🙈 but I hope you like it. Wrote a little birthday themed thing for Javier Peña and his wife from this married Javi universe because it’s Pedrito’s birthday. Happy birthday to him and tbh fuck him (respectfully) for making me thirst over a fucking cop (on top of a merge mansion ad character I hate him).

Switch It Up

Fandom: Narcos

Pairing: Javier Peña x Reader

Rating: 18+

Word count: 3.8k words

Summary: Javier Peña and his wife switch roles for his birthday

Javier Peña was a grown man. He was a federal agent working for the DEA in Columbia, he saw several horrors a day and had a goddamn gun tucked in the back of his jeans. He was a grown man with a whole wife to show for his age and maturity.

He should not be so bummed about a lonely birthday.

It was her fault really. Before her, he didn’t really do birthdays. His friends usually got him presents— the best whiskey they could afford and a trip to the strip club and paid for prostitutes. It was more for their sake than his own (though he couldn’t deny that he had fun). When it got serious with his now wife, he opted to forego the stripclub and the prostitutes because he had decided that it was no longer fun to sabotage the one good thing in his life. He’d exchanged the bachelor life fun for a perfect day off with her.

Every year brought something different; she was innovative that way. The first year, she woke him up at midnight with her lips around his dick and brought him the cake she baked from scratch. She blew him and he blew the candles. He hadn’t cut a cake in years. The last time was when his Ma was still alive. They ate the cake together, saved some for Steve and Connie and he ate her to thank her for being the perfect girlfriend.

Last year, she took him for an all expense paid trip to Medellín for a whole week. It was the most time he’d gotten away from work and the only time he spent in Medellín without chasing after pieces of shit. She had arranged for some mountain climbing shit because of his love for physical exertion. He chose instead to love her all week long for physical exertion. She complained about having brought her climbing gear for no reason, but that didn’t last long. It was a little hard to complain when you had a dick in your mouth.

He’d been thoroughly spoiled as a husband.

This year, he was all alone with a whiskey bottle from Steve and Connie, sloppy cheek kisses from little Olivia and a whole cake from his wife. He’d kept a sizable slice for himself and placed the rest in the break room for everyone to enjoy. Cake wasn’t as delicious with nobody to share it with.

Javi didn’t mean to be ungrateful. He knew she would’ve stayed behind if she could have. But her parents really needed her to help with the sale of her childhood home and he wasn’t going to act like a kid and ask her to stay because it was his birthday. It would’ve been silly.

“Jav! They found the guys. Carillo needs you in this address right fucking now,” said Steve, barelling into their office with a piece of paper in hand.

“Fucking finally,” he muttered, taking the paper with a scribbled address. He’d sat idly at work all day tackling their paperwork backlog while Steve was out there doing some real work.

The location was…strange. It was oddly quiet and there was no Carillo, no CNP guys. He had a choice to make— he could wait right there and keep an eye on the building and go in when the rest of the guys arrived. Or he could go in by himself. The second was extremely unwise. He would get told off by everyone from Noonan to his wife. If he didn’t get killed first.

Minutes passed by and he chose the latter option. He could handle Noonan. She didn’t approve of his actions, but she always understood. Gun tucked in the back of his jeans, he crept around the building. Once he’d found an open window, he slipped in, praying to the Gods he no longer believed in to keep him safe for another day.

Darkness suffocated his sight as he walked further into the building. The noise from outside the building grew dimmer and dimmer, eventually fading into the background. He crept like a cat, his shoes making nothing but the slightest whispers against the floor of the building. It had looked like a commercial building from the outside and if he remembered right, this place had once been a stripclub. Not one of the good ones for sure. It had to have shut down for a reason.

The place was littered with cardboard boxes, the contents of which he would explore had he not a mission in mind. Three of the most elusive hit men on Escobar’s payroll were hiding out somewhere in the building. The location was a bit too unusual for the men who had a record of gravitating towards luxury, but it wasn’t too out of place for them to have chosen a former strip club.

He spun in place when he heard a clatter behind him, his gun pointed in the direction of the sound and his heart beginning to beat faster. He took a few steps towards the source of the sound, wandering further into the building.

Click, click, click

High heels against wood? No, can’t be…

Nevertheless, he followed the sound.

Ahem

What the fuck…

Lights went up suddenly, illuminating the dark hall. The room had been swept clean with nothing but a chair in front of the stage. Under the bright lights above the stage glimmering a beautiful silver was a pole.

A voice cleared its throat again. When it finally spoke, it had a sultry tone to it.

“Agente Peña…”

No… It can’t be.

Click, click, click, click, click….

He saw the impractically high high heels first. Click, click, click against floors that were probably designed to amplify these sounds. The red of the shoes stopped to give way to white socks stretched tight around legs he would kill to throw over his shoulders. The socks mercifully, or mercilessly, stopped under bruised knees to expose full thighs he wanted to sink his nails into.

“Fuck me,” he muttered under his breath, earning the laughter of the woman on the stage.

“Your friends told me it was your birthday, Agente…”

“It is,” he said, tucking his gun away. Hands on his waist, he took slow steps towards her. He needed to see her up close, confirm that his mind wasn’t conjuring up the most salacious thoughts after having had to go without a good fuck for an entire week.

“Your friends seem annoyed, Agente… They say they miss the fun single Javi who they could take to strip clubs. Now, I’ve never met this fun Javi before, but god if you look like this when you’re not fun,” she said, using her index finger to point at him, “you must look hot as fuck when you’re fun.”

“This your way of telling me I’m usually boring, sweetheart?” He asked, taking a seat on the chair she’d set out for him in front of the stage. He made sure to spread his legs and lean back comfortably in his seat before he folded his arms behind his head.

She smiled her sweet shy smile that he was sure was responsible for landing him in this exact moment in his life. She bit down on her brightly painted lips and wrapped his hand around the pole before swinging around. Her hair was out of the tight pony she put it up in for work. As she twirled around the pole, her hair swung free, caressing the wind before resting on her shoulder and cascading down the crimson shirt she’d stolen from his cupboard.

“You’re going to do as I say if you want a good night, Agente…”

“Ah… That’s how it is?” He taunted, letting condescension slip into his voice. “Alright. As you command, sweet thing.”

“Good boy,” she purred, the sound going straight to his cock. Calm the fuck down, Peña. She hasn’t even begun yet.

“Hands behind your back,” she ordered, looking down at him imposingly from where she stood.

“Sorry, what?” He asked, blinking rapidly and tilting his head to take a good look at her. Habituated to her shy smiles and pleas to be taken and fucked throughout their time together, it wasn’t an understatement to say that he was shaken by her sudden assumption of the commanding role.

Her fingers glided up and down the pole and for the first time he noticed that her nails were done up all pretty with the brightest red nail polish there was. Fuck, she’d gone all out. “You fuckin’ heard me, Peña,” she snapped and took a few steps forward before dropping to her ass, gently like a caress against the surface. He didn’t even know she could move like that. She hopped off the stage and his heart caught in his throat as she got closer to him and he caught a whiff of her perfume in the air. She stopped when she was over him, her legs spread out on either side of him. Oh how he’d missed the scent enveloping him as he buried himself in her and threw her into a world of ecstasy. The soft moan that escaped his lips surprised even him.

“Fuckin’ hell, baby,” he breathed out, tracing a hand up her thigh only to be swatted away rudely. She grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks and digging her nails into his skin just enough to give him a taste of how she’d be piercing the skin on his back as he fucked her later that night. He’d make her keep those shoes on for sure.

“Jesus!” She swore, the scorching heat of her gaze beginning to burn him. “No manners. Is this how you treat dancers, Agent? Fuckin American, touching everything, acting entitled to every goddamn thing, not following a single rule… It’s about time someone taught you a lesson.”

“Well darling, if there’s one thing I’m entitled to, it’s you,” he teased, hoping to rile her up and make her look all adorable and hot with rage. The next thing he knew was a stinging pain on his cheek.

“Once more.”

She raised an eyebrow at him as she caressed the cheek she slapped. He swallowed, looked up at her and tried again, “Please, Ma’am. Once more.”

“Good boy,” she purred, her lips curling up in a smirk of satisfaction. Was this what she saw in him when she laid under him and took all that he had to give her for the night? Seeing her so confident in herself, feeling the sting of her authority on his cheek and sitting underneath her, he felt like he finally understood why liked this so much.

He had a feeling that as the night matured, he would only get a better understanding.

“Hands behind your back.”

Eyes still set on her, he moved his hands behind his back. Just like she’d ordered. She took a step back and he immediately missed her closeness, missed how she crowded over him and put him down in his place with just a stare. She slipped a hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out the leather pouch with the handcuffs. Once she retrieved what she’d wanted, she tossed the pouch over her shoulder. She circled him, their eyes still joined in the heated gaze of expectations. He leaned back on his chair, praying to the lord that he didn’t look absurd doing that. The last thing he wanted to do was make her laugh.

The cold metal of his cuffs nipped at his wrists and he attempted to pull his wrists in opposite directions, enjoying his own failure at achieving the freedoms he only half-heartedly sought. She placed her hands on his shoulders from her place behind him and descended lazily down to his eye-level.

“Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor. Disfruta del espectáculo,” she whispered before giving him a peck on the cheek. He attempted futilely to grab her so that he could kiss her properly, so that he could devour her lips and thank her for showing up for him.

There was music. It didn’t appear magically. She pressed a button on the cassette player he recognized from home before she walked up the stairs to the stage. Everything seemed torturously slow. Even the way she walked away from him looked to be designed as slow poison for him.

She descended gracefully to the floor and sat herself on her side, her back curved as she leaned back, her high-heel clad legs together with her left leg covering her right. She pushed her ass and tits out. She swept her leg out in a circle around herself, lifting it in the air as her right leg followed suit to make a semi circle. He caught a sparkle of something under his shirt that she wore as she exposed herself to him for a few seconds before she bent her knees and brought her legs back to where they started.

Javi drew in a sharp breath as she quickly got to her knees and twirled around again. This time, she let her right knee support her as she let the left kiss the smooth floors with the platforms of her shoes, back and forth, back and forth as his cock twitched in his pants. He would never forgive himself if he ended up jizzing in his pants seconds into her dance that she’d clearly put a lot of effort into.

Next thing he knew, she was upside down— fuckin’ hell— and spreading her legs, giving him a view of the little skirt and thongs she wore underneath as his shirt gave way to gravity and revealed her for him. She snapped her legs shut, as though punishing him for staring before she slid her legs over the floor and laid herself out flat, her delicious behind bouncing from her momentum. Spreading her knees apart, she rose from her position and let her hair flip around before she got up— how the fuck did she get up from that position??

Fuck!

He realized he’d said that out loud when she looked behind her shoulder and laughed before holding the pole, her fingers wrapping around it one by one. She stroked the goddamn thing up and down like she would his cock and fuck he’d be proud if he wasn’t so mad about being locked up with nothing to do but watch, to be a passive participant in her erotic torture of him.

She twirled and twirled a little more around the pole in many different ways. She moved effortlessly, dancing around the thing like it was no big deal. But he knew the strength it took to swing around a pole like that and look sexy as hell while at it. He knew how strong she was from the way she bent one leg around the pole and spun as she let the other draw a circle around her.

His thoughts, as scarce as they were with the sight in front of him, went off to a dreamland where he took advantage of all the flexibility she was displaying to bend her in every which way he wanted, to take her in all the ways he imagined. Sexier was the thought of her practicing this routine. Just for his sake. Just to do something special for him.

When she stepped away from the pole for a few seconds, Javi thought that was it. He was a fool. She stopped at the edge of the stage and looked down at him before she snapped the button of the shirt off, exposing just a bit of her cleavage. Eyes trained on his to derive sick joy from his torment, she snapped the buttons open one by one.

She was a sight.

Back to the pole, she held it like it was a part of her, letting the metal assist her as she closed her eyes and put herself on artistic display for him. He was one lucky man. He’d always known, but it bore repeating. He was lucky as fuck. She shed the shirt and he moaned as the action gave him more of her to see. He would never tire of seeing her body no matter how many times she took her clothes off for him be it to seduce him or simply take a shower.

Behind him, he struggled against his handcuffs, the metal digging into his skin and leaving marks for him to cover up the next morning.

He gasped as she climbed the thing like it was no big deal and wrapped herself around it. His heart jumped right out as her back arched backwards and he thought for a moment that she would fall. But she didn’t. Her legs were holding her in place around the pole. She brought herself back down, landing her shoes on the ground and pinning him with her gaze. She then took the strings wrapped around her waist and tugged, letting the barely-there skirt unfurl from around her.

His mouth was wide open in awe when she threw the sparkly black fabric at him. It covered his eyes for a fraction of a second as it hit him in the face before dropping down to his lap. He growled her name and cursed as his hips rose up from the chair in a desperate search for contact. Any contact. God, he’d even fuck his fist if she’d let him. But she ignored his plight, letting her starving husband continue starving as she moved torturously both on the pole and the floor in front of it.

When her bra came off—tossed in his direction again— he whimpered like a pathetic creature that was kicked by something much bigger and more powerful than he was. He was helpless and horny as fuck and enjoying it.

Perhaps because she’d decided to have mercy on him or just because her dance had ended, she hopped off the stage and stalked towards him like she was a hungry beast and he her latest game that she could wait to tear into.

“Please, Ma’am,” the honorific slipped out without him meaning to. “I need…please,” he begged, his voice shaky as he struggled to articulate what it was that he needed. He let out little mewls of desperation as he struggled to form words that weren’t ‘please or Ma’am’.

She bit down on her lip and tilted her head as she considered him. “Aww baby, it’s alright.”

“P-please,” he muttered, his worldly coming out airy.

She palmed him through his jeans and stroked him, her eyes twinkling as she regarded him in his struggle. His breaths grew fast with just the first touch. He pleaded repeatedly, calling her every sweet name in the dictionary- in two dictionaries of two languages, but she didn’t seem to want to free him. She was enjoying his helplessness too much.

She laughed and bent at the waist to look him eye-to-eye, “I got you so hard just dancing for you huh, Javier?”

He was no longer in control of any part of his body. It was all hers from the hairs on his head to the tips of his toes. They all danced to her beat, worshiped at her altar, awaited her command with bated breath and followed her to his own destruction. His lips, now hers, begged “Y-yes Ma’am. I w-want— please! Want to touch you. Tan bonita... Quiero que tú… Por favor, patróna—”

“You want to touch me?” She asked, raising a cruel eyebrow at him. “Really? What makes you think you deserve that, baby? What have you done to deserve me?”

“I’ll do anything. Anyth— any— fuck!” He whimpered as the world disappeared around him, leaving only a hazy vision of her leaning in front of him, her hand around him. He felt his underwear get wet from his embarrassingly quick release as he muttered a curse in regret.

She tipped his head back and pressed her lips to his, their tongues dancing around each other and their lips taking in as much as they could of the other. The few days of separation had really gotten to him and he was pleased to know that he wasn’t alone with the way she pushed for more from their kiss.

“‘M so sorry, baby. That was…I lasted longer as a teenager, believe me,” he explained himself, wanting to hide himself away yet willing to show her all of him. All his embarrassment and sexual failures and his genuine feeling of regret over the way he ended the night.

She laughed softly, not in mockery but with her love. He could always feel her love.

“It’s okay, mi amor. Nothing to apologize for. You’ve made me cum with less, I swear,” she said, draping herself across his lap and cradling his face in her hand. She kissed him on the cheek and then the other and then his forehead. “Happy birthday, Javi.”

He smiled, no grinned, at her as he felt his heart fill up with gratitude for her. “I can’t believe you came back from stateside just for this.”

“About that…” she trailed, her index finger reaching out and playing with his mustache. “I never left.”

“What!?”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

“You’ve been gone for three days!”

“I was at my friend’s.”

“Your parents called and said you reached home safely!” He exclaimed. How deep was this plot!? Who were all in on it? And what kind of a fool was he to not notice a thing. He should’ve asked her parents to give her the phone! He should’ve checked and caught them in the lie.

“I asked them—”

“You asked them to lie for you to give me a sex present for my birthday?”

“Nooo! Well, not like that! I didn’t call them and ask them to lie to you because I wanted to give you a fucking pole dance- strip show thing for your birthday. I just made something up. My god, Javi!” She huffed, shoving at his chest lightly.

“Wait! And Steve. FUCKIN STEVE! What did you tell HIM?”

“Don’t worry, your dignity is safe with me. Didn’t tell him I was gonna restrain you and make you call me Ma’am and oh, what else was it? Patróna?” She teased, smiling as she played with his hair.

“Si, Patróna,” he retorted right back, making her smile transform into a gasp and her eyes turn wide.

“Shut up,” she mumbled as she got off his lap and reached behind him. She uncuffed him and he was immediately upon her. She yelped as he pulled her into his lap, giggling as he pressed kisses all over her face.

“Javi, stooop!” She whined but leaned in closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Gonna take you back home, baby. Need to do this right,” he mumbled into her hair.

“Oh? Do it right? You gonna hold me down and fuck me hard, Agente Peña?” She asked as he took his leather jacket off of himself. Finding her clothes would take too much time and he was not willing to spend his previous time with her after being deceived into separation.

“Pfft, no! You, my darling wife, are going to hold me down and take what you want,” he declared, excited to lean back and let her do the work for that night. And perhaps other nights when he needed her to take over and take guide him though it. It wasn’t something he thought he would like, but with her, every day was a surprise and he discovered new things about himself even after so many years alive.

Wrapped up in his jacket, she let him carry her to his jeep and he drove her home, a happy and grateful man.

.

.

.

Series Masterlist

Read more of my Javier Peña fics here

#javier peña #javier pena fic #javier peña fluff #javier pena fanfiction #javier pena imagine #javier peña x reader #javier peña x ofc #javier peña smut #javier pena smut #javier peña fic #javier peña fanfiction #javier pena fluff #narcos fic #narcos fanfiction #married javier peña #husband!javier peña x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fanfic #warning: bad spanish

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping | Chapter 3: Watch the Show

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Rating: Explicit (18+) - putting this here as a blanket rating even though it doesn't apply to all chapters

Word Count: 4.4k

Series Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Connor and the boys fix Lucille’s fence giving the Neighborhood Watch its first opportunity for an in-person thirst fest. 

A/N: Thank you again for all of the love on the first two chapters. I am having a lot of fun writing this and interacting with you!

BMW Group Chat

Will: Hey. Benny said that Connor wanted to come over and help with Ms. Lucille’s fence. 

Megan: Yeah - you guys good with that?

Will: Affirmative. Wheels up is 0800 if he wants in on the Home Depot run.

Benny: Cool it Captain America. 🙄 Megan does 8 a.m. work tomorrow for him?

Megan: 😂 Yeah I’ll let him know. I think he’s looking forward to it.

Benny: Sweet! We’ll probably use Frankie’s truck but Connor can ride with me if that’s cool with you.

Megan: Yeah sounds good! About what time do you think you’ll start working?

Will: Probably a little after 9, shouldn’t take too long to get the stuff.

Megan: Ok cool.

_____________________

Neighborhood Watch Group Chat

Megan: ⚠️⚠️ Will said the guys should start working on Lucille’s by 9 tomorrow.

David: HELL YES! Who’s bringing what? Ty and I can bring mimosas. 🍾

Olivia: I can go for a donut run in the morning on the way back from soccer with the boys.

Melissa: I got the fruit salad! 🍓🍍🍉🥭

Katie: Anyone want a fancy coffee? I’ll run to Starbucks … just text me what you want.

Megan: Cool, it’s settled. See you all tomorrow!

_____________________

“You ready for today?” Megan sipped on her coffee, trying to sound nonchalant while eyeing Connor as he rolled into the kitchen.

“Yeah, should be fun.” He made a beeline to the fridge, grabbed a jug of orange juice, and turned around to inhale the breakfast Megan made for him – scrambled eggs and bacon. “Thanks, Mom!”

Bucky was immediately at Connor’s feet, looking up at him, begging for food.

“Despite what he tells you, I already fed him today. And I gave you a slice of bacon, mister!” Megan shook her head at the greedy pup before heading to the sink to rinse off her plate. 

While her back was turned, Connor raised his fingers to his lips making a shushing motion as he snuck the pup half a piece of bacon. 

He cleared his throat to cover up the sound of Bucky scarfing down the treat. “So, these guys used to be in the military or something?” 

“Yea. Will says they were in for like almost 20 years or something but retired a few years ago. With that being said they’re probably punctual as hell so don’t be late!”

“Yes, mom. I’ll head over there right after I get a few more bites.”

After he finished his breakfast, Connor grabbed his phone and wallet, gave his mom a kiss, and gave Bucky some head scratches. He looked at the time, smiling that he was 15 minutes early.

As he walked over to 319 Mulefall Court, he saw a green truck pull up. He recognized the two men who got out, they were Benny and Will’s friends, but he just couldn’t remember their names. The taller guy was in jeans and a gray T-shirt with a blue baseball cap and aviators. The other guy, who was a bit shorter, wore black shorts and a white V-neck shirt that was a bit tighter fitting than the taller man’s shirt. 

Benny walked out of the garage and greeted the two men with a handshake and hug and was dressed comfortably in black and white basketball shorts, a cutoff concert tee, and a black backward baseball cap. He spotted Connor walking over and waved at the boy. 

“Hey, bud!” Benny called over. “You're early, nice!”

“Ha yea, I uh… I didn’t want you all waiting up.”

“All good. Hey I’m not sure if you’ve officially met them but these are my friends Frankie and Santi – or Fish and Pope, whatever’s easier for ya,” he chuckled.

“Nice to meet you boss,” Santiago extended his hand for a firm handshake. 

“We’re excited to have an extra set of hands,” Frankie smiled, giving the boy a handshake too.

“Well, thanks for the invite.”

“You know, for being the one always up my fucking ass about being on time, Will is late. Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to swear in front of you. Fuck!" Benny smacked himself on the forehead laughing.

“Ha, it’s all good. I won’t tell my mom if you won't,” Connor winked.

“Good man!” Pope chuckled, slapping Connor playfully on the shoulder as they all laughed.

“Hi, Connor!” a soft voice called from across the street. 

Connor turned to see Aria walking her dog. He tensed and immediately felt his face getting red. Aria was one of the prettiest girls in school and also his biggest crush.

“Uh…h-hey Aria!” He rubbed the back of his neck, giving a small wave.

“I like your dog!” Benny called over. “Is that a Rhodesian Ridgeback?”

“Yea! No one ever knows what kind of dog he is.” She was impressed at the man’s astute observation.

“Yeah, we used them on missions before. Those dogs are badass!” Benny smiled.

Aria stopped as her dog sniffed the grass, looking over to Connor and the men in the driveway. “Um…you all off to do something fun?”

Connor was frozen and didn’t know what to do. He felt tongue-tied, intimidated by her and the three men behind him who were most likely scrutinizing his every move and probably ready to make fun of him when this encounter was all over.

I bet none of them have trouble talking to girls.

What he couldn’t see was that the three men behind him were exchanging looks and smirks, remembering what it was like to be in high school, faced with talking to a pretty girl. Hell, depending on the woman they still acted that way.

Frankie gave Pope a nod, using the unspoken language they had mastered after decades of friendship.

Pope cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah actually we are. Connor here is helping us build a fence!”

“Build a fence? Wow, cool!” Aria smiled, looking directly at Connor.

“Yeah, he does a lot of work for Ms. Lucille. It was his idea to have us help, wasn’t it Connor?” Benny came up, slapping a hand on the boy's shoulder.

“Uh.” Connor glanced over to Benny who gave him a look and a squeeze to the shoulder. “Uh, ye-yea. It’s not a big deal, should be pretty easy.”

“Cool, well, don’t work too hard. I’ll see you around!” she waved and continued on her walk.

Connor immediately turned around and took what felt like his first breath in minutes. Benny’s arm was around his shoulder and he braced for the guys to give him a hard time before seeing Will come out of the garage.

“Hey, Connor! Sorry guys, I was talking to Joel. Ready to go?” Will smiled, walking over to give the boy a handshake.

“Yeah, let’s do it! I like your shirt,” Connor pointed to Will’s blue Tampa Bay Lightning dri-fit shirt.

“Thanks, man, you ever go to a game?”

“I’ve only been to like two, but I’ll catch them on TV when I can.”

The guys chit-chatted with Connor for a few more minutes before Benny cut in.

“Ok, so since there’s five of us, I figure we could take two cars. Fish, you good driving Will and Pope? I’ll take Connor.”

All the men nodded and got into their respective vehicles.

Benny didn’t say anything to Connor as they got into his car and buckled in. He reversed down the driveway and headed for the entrance of the neighborhood. 

As they reached a stop sign he looked over to Connor, “So…you like her?”

“Who?” Connor kept facing forward, but his eyes darted around. He wasn’t really used to talking about girls with anyone.

“That girl with the Rhodesian. You think she’s pretty right?”

“Uhh…”

“Dude, you practically froze,” he chuckled, glancing over to see the boy was clearly nervous. “Hey, it’s all good, man I get like that too. A pretty girl will have that effect on you no matter how old you are.”

“Really?”

“Ha yea. One time, I got so nervous to walk up to a girl at a bar that I tripped and fell flat on my face,” he laughed. “But it worked out for me, I still got her number," he smirked at the memory. "There’ve been times we’ve had to practically push Fish over to a girl to get her number, the guy gets so shy. Oh and don’t even get me started on Pope. You see the guy and he looks like he’s super suave and shit, but he's had his moments too. Don’t let him fool you,” he glanced over with a wink.

Connor let out a nervous laugh. “Ha, yeah…I like her…I’ve liked her for a while.”

“Then why don’t you ask her out? Do you have her number? Is that a thing you even do anymore or do you like message on social media or something?”

“Ha, yeah I have her number.”

“Ok, and?”

"Well, for starters, she's older than me. She's gonna be a senior this year."

"Ooo an older woman? Nice," he winked. "Nothing wrong with going out with someone older than you. Still doesn’t explain why you just can’t ask her out."

“I can’t, man. She…she…what if she says no.”

“Well, what if she says yes?” Benny glanced over. “Does she have a boyfriend or something?”

“No, at least I don’t think so…I think she and one of my teammates were talking last year.”

“But not anymore right?” Connor shook his head. “Ok, then!”

“I don’t know. She probably isn’t even into me, you should see my teammate. He looks like a younger version of Will…not that I'm calling him old or anything,” Connor chuckled.

As they reached the stoplight Benny assessed the boy in his passenger seat. He couldn’t really tell based on the baggy Orlando Magic T-shirt, but it looked like Connor was a bit on the skinny side. He could relate, he was a string bean when he was younger, so he could only imagine what Connor felt like comparing himself to other guys, especially if his teammate did in fact look like a younger version of his brother. 

“Do you lift?"

Connor nodded, "Yeah I try, don't really know what I'm doing though … clearly." He motioned to his bicep.

"Wanna…wanna start working out with me?

Connor looked over at him confused, “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, like this summer, do you want to start working out with me? I was a personal trainer for a little while and I did some MMA fighting too for a bit, so I know my way around a gym,” he offered with a smile.

“Uh, y-yea that would be cool.” 

“Nice, well we’ll figure something out,” Benny continued as he turned into the Home Depot parking lot. “Welp looks like we’re here.”

___________________

“Lulu, where are you?” Megan called as she walked into Lucille’s home. She knew the rest of the crew would be showing up any minute.

“In here,” Lucille called from the kitchen.

“I should have known,” Megan mumbled to herself as she made her way to the kitchen.

When she turned the corner, she saw Lucille arranging some muffins and pastelitos on a tray.

“We’re going to have so much food!”

“Well, don’t look in the fridge, then” Lucille smirked. “I made some things for lunch for the boys… papa rellenas and croquettes, and of course empanadas for Benny. I just need to fry it all up. Don’t say anything to David, he’ll want to take it all home!”

Right on cue, they heard the door open, knowing instantly it was David and Ty based on the noise.

“We’re here bitches! Let’s get this thirst fest started!” David shouted in a sing-song manner as he and his partner made their way into the kitchen. “We brought a few different juices - orange, pineapple, and your favorite Lulu, guava!” He said, kissing Lucille on the cheek as he set several containers on her counter.

“I also brought my binoculars,” Ty showed off a large pair of binoculars he used for birdwatching. 

“Eres demasiado.” Lucille shook her head as she wiped her hands on her apron and gave the man a kiss on the cheek.

Megan laughed, amused at the two characters who just walked in. 

David and Ty had been together for 10 years and moved into Torrey Hills a few years ago. At first, they were quiet and kept to themselves, unsure how the neighbors would feel about a gay couple living next door. Suburban Tampa was a bit different than Miami, where they previously called home.

They were excited but a bit nervous when Megan and Lucille invited them over for coffee for the first time. But the four of them quickly became thick as thieves, even Julio found the little posse’s antics hilarious. 

“Knock, knock!” Melissa was the next to arrive, with her elaborate fruit salad in tow. “I haven’t missed anything yet, right?”

“No, girl, they are still out at Home Depot,” Ty said as he poured her a mimosa. “Light on the juice, just how you like it,” he winked.

Olivia came frantically through the door a few moments later with an assortment of donuts. 

“Where’s Diana? I was hoping for some baby cuddles,” Lucille pouted, seeing Olivia sans her nine-month-old.

“She’s taking a nap. Chris is watching CJ and Max, leaving momma to have the morning to herself!” She smiled and greedily reached for the mimosa Ty made for her.

“Where the hell is Katie?” Megan asked, looking at her phone to see if Katie backed out.

___________________

“Ugh, I should have asked for another tray,” Katie mumbled to herself as she parked her car. She walked over to her passenger side door and grabbed the tray of drinks along with a few bags of breakfast sandwiches and pastries. 

She decided to walk over to Lucille’s since it was only a few houses over. She had just reached the porch when she heard a couple of cars pull up.

Shit. I knew I should have gotten here earlier.

“Hey, Katie!” Benny called over to her from the car window he had rolled down.

“H-hi Benny!”

“What’re doing here? You all having a party while we work?” he chuckled as he got out of the car. 

She saw Connor and then turned to notice Will, Frankie, and Santiago getting out of a truck, all smiling and waving at her. Will, in particular, looked over at her curiously and she was thankful for her sunglasses so he couldn’t see that she was checking him out.

“Uh, yeah something like that. It’s been a while since we got together and uh…we…uh… wanted to keep an eye …things…like…Connor,” it was the best she could muster and she immediately regretted it.

“Keep an eye on me?” Connor asked confused.

“Oh, not in a bad sweetie, uh…” she was getting more flustered. “There’s some stuff I need help with around my house too so, uh, we figured we’d see how you do. Might need to hire your little crew here,” she smiled hoping she had recovered.

“So, like a trial run of our services, then?” Will smirked.

“Uh, y-yea, something like that. I should probably get inside. If David’s sandwich gets any colder he’s going to freak the fuck out. Shoot, sorry Connor,” she blushed, turning quickly and dashing up the steps.

Once she got inside, she slammed her back against the door, trying to catch her breath. 

“Katie?” Megan asked as she walked around the corner. “There you are! Wait…what happened?”

“Ugh, the line was long and I knew I was running late and was trying to get back here before they did, but I didn’t and shit, I was awkward as fuck in the driveway. And now they know that we’re all here,” she rambled.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you chug six espressos on the way over here? It’s all good. Besides, I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that we were over here, they’re going to be able to see us through the window silly,” she laughed.

Katie let out a breath, realizing she was spiraling. ��You’re right. Sorry, Meg.” She smiled.

“C’mon let’s go before David calls dibs on the best seat.”

__________________

“I can’t believe we are watching this … and for free!” David laughed. "This is better than that time we went to the Magic Mike show, right Melissa?"

Once the guys got all of the materials and tools settled in the backyard, they made pretty quick work of mending Lucille’s fence. They took out some of the panels that were rotting or damaged. Will and Frankie taught Connor how to cut the different pieces of wood, while Benny and Santiago sanded some pieces down.

However, the crew inside wasn’t paying attention to the progress of the repairs, instead, they were admiring the view.

“Ok, but like, I’ve never had a thing for forearms before but holy shit,” Melissa said as she reached for one of the guava and cheese pastelitos.

“Those are for the boys!” Lucille slapped her hand as Melissa rolled her eyes.

“Ok, so before today I thought I was more of a Benny guy, but Santiago, phew!” Ty fanned himself. “The shirt is basically like a second skin it is so drenched.” His eyes were pressed to the binoculars. 

“I think he has the cutest butt,” Melissa chimed in.

“A Benny guy? It’s like they’re a boy band and you’re picking your favorite member,” Megan threw her head back in laughter.

“I am fully on the Will train, but he’s all yours Katie!” Olivia smirked as Katie blushed.

“Well, we all know who I am a fan of!” David glanced over to the group. 

“You just have a curly hair with a hat kink, babe,” Ty teased.

“No! Well… okay, yeah I guess. But his hair baby, look at it. The way it just like peaks out from under his hat. Gimme,” he snatched the binoculars from Ty. 

They see Frankie remove his hat, running his fingers through his hair before returning the hat to the top of his head.

“Also the way his sweaty curls are sticking to the back of his neck? Ay yai yai yai! I just want to bite it.”

“He reminds me of my Julio when he was younger,” Lucille cut in, looking at Frankie fondly. “He was quite the stunner, you know.”

The group continued to look on as the guys moved on to start nailing some of the planks in place. Olivia snorted, laughing to herself, the mimosas starting to take their effect.

“What’s so funny?” David asked.

“I mean, I just … my mind is in the gutter, no thanks to you,” she pointed at him. “But, like with them using the nail gun, I can only think of dirty puns.”

“What, like how long it’s been since you've been nailed?” Ty smirked.

“She has three kids, Ty, I think we all know she fucks,” David chuckled.

“Ok, everyone, my son is literally using the nail gun right now, can we not?” Megan put her hands over her ears shaking her head.

“I just think it’s so sweet how they’re including Connor, it would have been so easy to have him do something small but he’s been involved in every step,” Lucille smiled warmly as she looked out of her kitchen window.

"Ugh, yes! They're getting sweatier now. I’ve never been more grateful for the Florida heat," David raised his hands in praise.

___________________

“Ok, that should about do it, I think,” Will said as Connor put the last nail in. He pulled his shirt up, using it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

“Nice, this looks great. That was fun…Uh, thank you guys. I honestly don’t know if I could have done this on my own.” Connor said as he looked at the four men.

“Oh, I’m sure you would have figured it out, man. You picked things up really fast,” Frankie gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

“Do you think our audience liked the view,” Santiago motioned over to Lucille’s back patio. 

“Well, you sure were flexing anytime you could Pope. Could you get a tighter shirt next time?” Benny joked as Pope slapped him on the chest.

“I can’t help but put on a show pendejo, especially when I have an audience,” he winked. “And don’t give me shit, your brother was doing it too. I saw you eyeing Katie, Ironhead.”

“See,” Benny said under his breath to Connor, raising his eyebrows.

“She’s…nice. And she needs help with her house. It’s not in as bad of shape as ours, but I can tell she has a few projects just from the outside alone. I can only imagine what’s going on inside.”

“Yea, you’d like to know what it’s like inside, wouldn’t y-, oww!” Santiago yelped as Will hit him upside the head and Frankie shook his head laughing.

“Dude, can you fucking cool it in front of the kid,” Will motioned over to Connor who was doubled over laughing along with Benny at the scene in front of them.

__________________

“Oh shit, Will has a six-pack?!” Ty said from behind his binoculars. “Do you want a look, Katie?”

“I can see just fine from here,” Katie smirked. It was obvious that Will was a fit guy and she was grateful to get a little peak at what he was working with. Although she wasn’t usually attracted to blondes, there was something about Will that she was drawn to.

“It looks like they’re about done, so I’m going to go out there,” Lucille grabbed a tray and a basket with water bottles.

“We can all come!” David started to get up.

“Wait. Maybe just Lulu and I go out there first, we don’t need to overwhelm them with all of this…energy,” Megan chimed in.

“Ok, but we’re all coming out at some point,” Melissa laughed, eyes still focused outside taking in the scene.

_____________________

The glass sliding door opened and Lucille and Megan walked out with water and snacks in hand.

“This looks great, boys. You did amazing,” Lucille beamed, she loved seeing Connor so proud of himself.

“Connor did a great job, he’s a natural, Ms. Lucille!” Benny squeezed the boy's shoulder as he smiled at him. 

“Yeah, careful Megan, or we may need him to come over to our place to work on some stuff,” Will added.

“Oh, I’m sure that would be totally fine,” Megan smiled. 

“Who are all of your friends?” Santiago motioned toward the house with his chin.

“Ah, that’s our little crew. We get together every now and again, you’ll like them. We’ve become a little family,”

It was true, this specific group of neighbors had become pretty tight-knit, getting together for Super Bowl or Stanely Cup parties, celebrating birthdays, hosting barbecues and game nights, and just generally looking out for one another.

“We actually were thinking of having a pool party soon, you all in?” Megan asked.

“Hell yeah, we’d be down!” Benny smiled, excited to be included.

“Even us? I mean, we aren’t technically neighbors…” Frankie asked.

“Ay, por favor Francisco,” Lucille shook her head, lightly slapping Frankie’s arm.

“Of course! You two basically live here!” Megan chuckled.

“Is it settled, are we down for a pool party?” David yelled from the porch, waving at the group in Lucille’s backyard.

“That’s David,” Megan rolled her eyes, laughing and shaking her head. Turning back to the house she gave a thumbs up, signaling for the rest of the crew to join them.

***

Everyone shook hands with each other and started talking. Will managed to work his way over to where Katie was standing.

"The fence looks great!" Katie glanced over to Will and she surveyed their handiwork. "You just casually know how to fix fences?"

"Ha, well not entirely. I definitely had to call and get some pointers from my cousin, he's a lot handier than I am, but I can manage just fine," he smirked.

"Well, that's good to know," she felt her face getting red.

"So, you said you needed some help around your house? What projects d'you have?"

"Oh, there's a ton. Seriously, I need to get off of Pinterest because every time I open that damn app I add something new to my list," she chuckled.

"Ha yeah, I've heard it has that effect. My...uh…ex used to constantly be on that…" he trailed off as if he was reliving a memory.

"Was she into home repairs too?"

Shaking his head, "Ah no…wedding planning." He picked up the hem of his shirt again, wiping his forehead.

Seeing his stomach up close made Katie's eyes almost bug out of her head, but she tried to keep her cool.

"Ah yea, been there done that." 

***

“So, the party is at your place then?” Santiago asked Melissa, lingering a little bit longer with his handshake and eyeing her up and down.

“Uh, yeah, my fiancé and I just finished our pool, so it’s a great excuse to have people over,” she blushed, biting her lip and looking down. 

“Oh,” Santiago withdrew his hand. “N-nice, we’re…uh…looking forward to it.”

Melissa snapped out of it and cleared her throat. "Hey everyone, is tomorrow too soon of notice for the party? We can do it next Sunday if that's better?"

A cacophony of "No, tomorrow's great" and "Let's do it" rained down, which then turned into everyone chatting about what to bring. Once everything was settled the Neighborhood Watch crew went inside to clean things up as the boys and Connor collected all of their things.

___________________

"Thanks again for letting me come and help you guys," Connor said after they got everything situated back in Will and Benny's garage. "I had fun."

“You did great, man! And seriously, if you want to help us with other stuff that's cool. Sounds like Katie may have some projects," Will said as he wiped his hands.

"Oh does she, now? Those projects in her bedroom or what?" Benny started to tease his brother, but Will punched him in the stomach. "Ow!"

"You made plans to see what she needs help with?" Santiago raised his eyebrows at Will who shook his head.

*Well, figure it out tomorrow at the pool party then," Frankie shrugged.

As Connor started to head back, Benny stopped him. "Hey, wait. Here gimme your number. I'm serious about what I said earlier. If you wanna get started working out, just let me know, but…don’t feel like you have to." He handed the boy his phone and Connor put his number in.

"Thanks. You aren't going to go all drill sergeant mode on me are you?"

"Ha, nah. I used to train all kinds of people, it's not a one-size-fits-all approach." Benny offered him a warm smile.

"Sweet. Ok, well I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, sounds good. See ya bud!"

Next Chapter

A/N: I can't remember who made the comment that rather than a reader insert this is a group insert, but hopefully the Neighborhood Watch is fulfilling that role! We’re headed to Melissa’s house next for a pool party in the next chapter! 

I’ve loved the asks I’ve received about this universe! In case you missed it here are the two most recent ones:

The Cars: The boys' cars are mentioned in Chapter 2, but it wasn't specified who owned which car, now you know!

Vanity Plates: Going off the cars post, I received an ask about whether the boys would have vanity plates on their cars.

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list moving forward!! Apologies if I accidentally left you off, I added it all manually … just let me know!

@goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @patti7dc / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beholdbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @primosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes

#delta landscaping #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier fic #triple frontier au #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier #frankie morales fanfiction #benny miller fanfiction #will miller #santiago garcia

[caseyqdilla]

The Most Metal Sandcastle

A/N: @oneforthemunny Alright admittedly, this one got away from me, but it had to be done the writing goblin demanded it!

⛱️- "wanna build a sandcastle?" - building a sandcastle on the beach with any Eddie. do it with the kids, on a honeymoon, on a solo vacation.

Janitor!Eddie x Teacher!Reader

Shortly after Olivia turned 2 you and Ollie had been in the kitchen when he asked about it, “Momma”, you hummed in response while you were slicing strawberries for his afternoon snack since Olivia was napping, “why haven’t we ever gone to the beach?” as you finished the last strawberry and put it in his favorite bowl you looked at him, surprised. Ollie had never mentioned the beach or expressed any interest in the possibility of it so you hadn’t put much thought into it; thinking he wasn’t interested. It hadn’t really occurred to you that he may have never gone, but the fact that it made sense which broke your heart. 

“I guess dad and I never really thought about it lovebug, is that something you want to do?” you asked as you led him to the table so he could eat his berries and yogurt. 

He often got bashful when asking for things that he wanted, still not entirely used to the fact that he could ask for things, but when his eyes lit up he exclaimed “YES!” it melted your heart. Knowing that he was getting more comfortable asking for things little by little. Then he launched into the reason he was so excited, “My friends told me all about their trip last weekend, they said it was so fun momma! They said they’d seen fishies that looked like stars; just like the ones daddy put up in my room!!” 

You’re smiling so much your cheeks are starting to hurt, since summer was nearly over and you’d done all the things you’d planned; this was the perfect way to end it; a trip with your little family. “Okay lovebug, when daddy gets home I’ll talk to him and we’ll plan it.” he beamed at you then went back to his snack, you smiled, kissing his head as you made your way to Olivia as she had woken up and started cooing; undoubtedly ready to play with her big brother again. It made you so happy that they were so close, you were afraid that Ollie wouldn’t like having a younger sibling or wouldn’t see them as such since they weren’t biologically related. You were happily proven wrong, when Olivia started crawling and exploring, Ollie was right there helping her explore and teaching her things that he’d learned. As he finished his snack you brought Olivia to the living room for her to play, he happily jumped down, put his bowl in the sink, and ran over to his sister excitedly telling her all about the beach and your plans; which have yet to be hashed out, to her. His excitement was contagious as she got giddy just from his retelling to her. 

You cleaned up what little there was to do in the kitchen while your babies played in the living room, as you finished your husband walks through the door, having come back from the Harington’s to help Steve with a handyman project. 

“Daddy!!”, he shouted as both of them ran to tackle your lanky metalhead husband. Their combined giggles warming your heart. 

“Hey guys! What are you up to?” 

“We’re going to the beach!!” they shouted right in Eddie's face, well Ollie shouted while Olivia babbled slightly she’s still learning to use her words but she’s getting there, making him chuckle as he looks at you, raising an eyebrow. You give him a little nod smiling that says you’d tell him later, after his precious time with them before bed. Since he’d been helping Steve after work, he didn’t get that much time with them today so while you prepared dinner; you’d let them play. 

After dinner, baths, and story time the kids were finally down for the night; exhausted from their excitement. “So what’s this about the beach?” Eddie slipped his arms around your waist as you finished putting the last of the leftovers in the fridge, you felt his smile as he pressed a kiss to your shoulder; making you lean into him as you shut the door. 

“Well,” you started, turning in his arms to wrap yours around the back of his neck, giving him a soft peck on the lips, “Ollie asked why we hadn’t gone to the beach and he told me about his friends showing him pictures and telling him all about their adventures.” you paused, looking into his eyes, “He’s so excited so I figured since we’ve already done all our other plans, we could whip up an impromptu beach trip. What do you think?” 

He hummed for a minute, thinking back to your first beach trip and how much fun the two of you had; it brought a smile to his face. “I think that’s a great idea sweetheart.” you beamed at him and kissed him again. “I can get off early one day and we can make an entire day out of it!” 

The excitement bubbling up in him was so palpable that it made your heart soar, happy that you’d be able to do this with your little family. 

You both decided to try and go during the week so it wouldn’t be too crowded, while Eddie was off at work one day, you’d set out to the store. You dropped the kids off at Steve’s so he could watch them for a few hours while you got the things for the trip ready. You wanted to surprise them with some new beach toys, new bathing suits, and new floaties. You’d been able to hide away your new purchases when you came to collect your troublemakers; something Steve liked to call them since they’ve got him wrapped around their fingers. He smiled as he answered the door.

You’d gotten them situated in the car which then gave you a few minutes to talk with Steve, “So they told me about your beach trip, they’re so excited it's so precious.” he said fondly, “So I was thinking”, 

“Uh-oh.” you playfully interjected, earning you a playful shove. 

“Why don’t you use our beach house? You’ll have privacy, your own little access to the beach, and they’ll get to have a great first experience.” 

You looked at Steve with a dumbfounded expression, having not expected such a generous offer, “That would be amazing Steve, you have to let us give you something for let-” 

He cut you off with a hand, “Nope, you’re family and I love you guys so you’re gonna use the beach house with no expectation for anything in return. Plus you both have watched my brood more than once at the drop of a hat, I think that’s payment enough.” he joked, which caused you to laugh. His kids were so sweet and well behaved, it honestly wasn’t ever an issue. It was an added bonus that your kids hit it off so well and became fast friends; they were inseparable. You pulled Steve into a hug and thanked him profusely and he’d given you the spare keys to his vacation home; something you kept as an added surprise for the kids, but were chomping at the bit to tell Eddie about. 

After dinner and getting them down for bed, you’d told Eddie about Steve’s kind gesture which Eddie then called Steve to also thank him profusely. Your plans changed slightly, but you were so excited now that you’d be able to make a whole weekend out of this beach trip to make it so special for your little boy. 

The day finally arrived, Eddie had gone in early that day to finish the todo list he’d gathered from the staff that were there so that he could have all of it done and they wouldn’t have to wait until he returned. He came home almost more excited than the kids. Luckily they were easy to get up and ready for the day and you’d gone through the day before and discreetly packed a bag for everyone so that the little getaway stayed a surprise for the kids. While they finished lunch, Eddie packed anything that was left to pack into the minivan; that he was soooo opposed to at first, arguing that his van was perfectly fine. Luckily, Wayne stepped in and talked some sense into the boy. “Son, I know your van is reliable and she’s been through a lot with you, but it ain’t got no seats for the kids!” sure he’d pouted at first, but it definitely grew on him. 

You all piled into the van and started the hour and a half long drive to the beach. Since you had the whole weekend, you took your time; stopping at roadside attractions, taking silly pictures, and just in general making memories. The kids finally fell asleep about 30 minutes away from the beach house, the best case scenario so you can make sure they’re properly surprised by the large beach house Steve had lent you all. 

Quietly and as gently as possible Eddie unloaded everything into the house without waking Ollie or Olivia. Finally, you were able to gently wake them up, stroking Ollie's hair as he stirred awake; he looked out the window and his eyes grew 2 sizes looking at the grand house. 

“Where are we momma?” 

“Uncle Steve let us use his vacation house so we can stay the whole weekend!” you excitedly told him as his whole face lit up and he squirmed excitedly to get out of his booster seat. 

As he sees that Olivia has woken up too, he excitedly shouts to her, “Uncle Steve has a big house on the beach and we get to stay here this weekend!” laughing you let them out of the car and let Eddie usher them in, matching their excitement. You smile watching your family get pumped over being able to be in paradise for the weekend. While they’re doing that you load up the wagon with the things from the car so you don’t have to stop their exploration of the sizable house. When Eddie sees you bring it over the threshold he gives you a guilty smile, which you return with a megawatt smile silently letting him know it’s okay; you’d rather them start making memories than have to wait. 

The kids exhausted themselves running around the house exploring while you and Eddie unpacked your belongings, as much as you wanted to at least, when they came to you winding down from their surprise and hungry you’d ordered pizza. After you ate dinner and got them ready for bed, when you were done tucking Olivia in and letting Eddie read to her, Ollie came up to you and tugged gently on your night shirt. 

“Hey lovebug, you okay?” you asked slightly worried by the expression on his face. 

He nodded bashfully and asked quietly, “Can we call Uncle Steve so I can say thank you?” 

Your worries melted away and your heart warmed with the question; you found it so endearing that he wanted to make sure that Steve also knew how thankful they were, “Of course baby, but let’s call him in the morning so sissy can say thank you too okay?” 

He smiled at you and took your hand as you walked to his room and tucked him in, giving him a kiss goodnight on the forehead and rubbing his back gently he drifted slowly to sleep. When you were sure he was asleep you got up trying not to make too much movement and went to the room you and Eddie would be sharing to see the sweetest sight. Your beautiful husband, in his sleep pants, sprawled on the bed already snoring lightly. “Seems like the kids aren’t the only ones that tuckered themselves out by exploring.” you thought fondly. You slipped into bed beside Eddie and wiggled into his hold, as he felt you he shifted slightly and wrapped his arms around your middle pulling you snugly against his chest then you drifted to sleep with a soft smile on your face. 

The sounds of feet running down the hall with excitement stirred you from your sleep, you knew exactly what was about to happen and decided to brace you and your sleeping metalhead. You gently put a few pillows over his crown jewels, anticipating both your overly excited children to launch themselves onto the bed; and launch themselves they did. You’d put the pillow there just in time as Olivia hit the mark; Eddie groaned but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it would have been with absolutely no protection. He looked at you with gratitude before diving in and tickling both the kids. Happy squeals filled the room as they squirmed out of the bed and away from Eddie’s tickling, “Get back here, the tickle monster is still hungry!!” he shouted as he got up and chased after them. You laughed as you also got up and headed down to start breakfast. 

After breakfast was eaten, you all got ready for the kids’ first ever visit to the beach. You were so beyond grateful to Steve that he let you guys use the house, the private access to the beach is going to make their first experience so incredible. 

When all the sunscreen was applied, much to Eddie’s dismay, you stopped before you left asking the kids, “You wanna call Uncle Steve before we head out there?” they both excitedly nodded. When you got him on the phone they both excitedly chattered to him and thanked him. He laughed and told them that he was happy to be able to do it and that he hopes they have so much fun. 

Once you hung up with Steve, you finally made it outside. The weather wasn’t as hot as you thought it would be, the view was beautiful as well and you couldn’t resist taking out one of the many, upon Eddie’s insistence, disposable cameras to snap a few pictures. While you were in the midst of getting those pictures you couldn’t help yourself and got a few candid ones of the kids and Eddie. 

Ollie walked up to Eddie, who was in the process of filling one of the buckets with sand; you’d taken Olivia on a walk along the shore so she could pick up as many seashells as her little heart desired. 

“What are you doing dad?” he’d asked, looking at him puzzled. 

Eddie smiled and explained that he was making a sandcastle, “When grandpa Wayne brought me here shortly after I came to live with him, we made the biggest sandcastle ever!” he recounted fondly, as you and Olivia walked back over you smiled as he told Ollie and got him hyped up as they began to construct the “most metal sandcastle the Harrington beach manor will ever see!” as Eddie put it. Olivia meandered over to help and they accepted her help with excitement; you’d been off to the side taking so many pictures of your family’s smiling faces when an older couple stopped to view the construction fondly. 

“How sweet, is this their first trip here?” the older of the two men asked, smiling at the excited giggles you could hear. 

You returned his fond smile, “Yeah, our little boy was so excited so we wanted to make sure his first experience was amazing.” 

The younger man spoke, “You know, we’re photographers. Would you want us to come and get some pictures of all of you? That way you have your entire family in there?” 

“Oh I don’t think we’d be able to afford something like that, but I really appreciate the offer.” you smiled back, misunderstanding him. 

He laughed lightly, “Honey no, we were offering to do it. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on having pictures with them.” 

Your eyes sparkled, “Are you sure?” 

They both shared a look and smiled nodding to you, “Why don’t you go have fun, give us whatever cameras you have and let us do what we do best.” 

With that you were off, ready to offer your contributions to the ‘most metal sandcastle’. You filled Eddie in shortly so he wouldn’t be worried by random men taking pictures of your family. He smiled and waved excitedly to them as they laughed and waved back with just as much excitement. Turns out, those men happened to be Steve’s uncles who normally watch the beach house for him while they’re not using it; he’d told them about you all coming to stay so they wouldn’t think you were intruders and call the police. After they’d used at least 3 of the 5 or so disposable cameras you’d brought you’d offered them to join you and you spent the afternoon in a sandcastle building contest. You and Eddie on one team, Ollie and Olivia, after much insistence from Ollie, and Steve’s uncles on one as well. You all admittedly didn’t even try to make a good sandcastle becoming distracted by how sweet Ollie was showing his little sister how to make one. Safe to say they definitely won that contest; with that the uncles took a few last pictures, Ollie and Olivia in front of their sandcastle proudly presenting it, then Eddie joining them for one as well, and finally all of you in front of the ‘most metal sandcastle ever.’ 

Ollie and Olivia were adamant about making a card for Uncle Steve, which you of course helped with, when you got all the pictures that were taken you smiled fondly at the very last one; all of you in front of the sandcastle smiling so big it's a wonder your cheeks didn’t still hurt. Since you had more than one print of that picture, you’d had one framed and pasted one in the card for Steve. 

There was a picture you never remembered being taken, but you suppose that made sense as your and Eddie’s backs were to the camera as you held one another and looked on at your beautiful kids having the time of their life, on the bottom of the polaroid a small note from Steve’s uncles that said ‘The Most Metal Beach Vacay Ever’ it brought a tear to your eye as you showed Eddie as you put it into a new photo album that you’d started affectionately named; Metal Memories, which had all your summer adventures in it.

#munnysummergame #oneforthemunny #janitor!eddie munson #teacher!reader #Teacher!reader x Janitor!Eddie #stranger things #eddie munson

[russellsppttemplates]

Arthur being very protective when Olivia brings home a boy to you and George

"So when is he coming?", Arthur asked as he sliced the bread, "he should be arriving any minute now, I think that's what Olivia scheduled with him", you said, "darling, could you cut them a little thicker, please? If you keep it like this, we won't have any bread, just crumbs", you rubbed his back, feeling the tension.

"Is everything alright?", you asked him, resting your back against the counter so you could face him, "it's fine", he grumbled, seeing your stern look telling him he should carry on, "it's just, Olivia has a boyfriend, and you're all fine with it!", he let out.

George arrived in the kitchen the exact moment, catching his son defending his idea, "doesn't it bother you that she's spending more time with him? And who knows what they're doing, because I certainly know how boys can be", he pointed out, seeing George stretch his neck, "I know what they can do because they're assholes, but it doesn't mean I do it, okay?", he defended himself. "I don't want her to be fooled, that's all", he mumbled, bringing the bread basket to the table.

Lunch had been going well, Olivia's boyfriend seemed to be a sweetheart and and over all responsible young man even though your own son was not having it, "did you know Olivia and I once broke that table when we were younger? We were playing fighting, so we could learn how to defend ourselves", Arthur said non chalantly.

"You both have always been a handful whenever the day was just right. Remember when they had that streak, George? Me and George noticed that they always seemed to act out whenever there was a full moon, so we arranged it like that", you looked at George, reminiscing the days when they were younger.

"I can drive you there if you want", Arthur said, meddling in his older sister's plans with her boyfriend, "so you don't have to drive, you know? Keep you safe, no drinking and driving", he advised. "No need, Arthur, we're going together", she added as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"How much do you bet Arthur is going to find someone to go to the party just so he can keep an eye on her?", George nudged you, "it's a certainty at this point, no need for betting on it".

(Thank you for submitting an ask 🤍)

#george russell blurb #inês writes blurbs #f1 blurb #f1 x reader

[itwasthisorthemilitary]

March 14, 2024

¡El Dìa de Campo!

Today both SAS and CEC had a field day at Olivia’s farm! Real spoiled this week seeing the SASers 3 days. We all got to Olivia’s farm for a day of hands on activities and cultural learning. We split up into three groups to run through stations of how things are still done in less modern parts of the country.

Station 1: Prepping chickens.

Today i killed a chicken! It hung upside down from a rope hung to its feet, and I sliced its neck enough to bleed but not enough to kill it so that the blood would flow out.

Moving on.

Then we dunked it in boiling water, plucked the feathers, thankfully someone else dealt with the innards, and then I was handed a big ole butcher knife and was taught how to properly cut it. Unfortunately, i have no photos from this station because my hands were NASTY. Honestly, loved learning how to properly make the cuts. Fuels the belief that i could survive on my own in the wild.

Station 2: Washing our Clothes in the River

This was pretty self explanatory and if you’ve ever washed clothes on a hotel sink, you’re not missing much. The downside of this station was when I put my backpack on the ground i didn’t realize that 50,000 ants would crawl inside of it (I set my backpack down a lot, this has never happened). So when i went to put my backpack on my body, i was then bit by 50,000 ants. I am currently in pain and un poco delirious from the Benadryl. Once again, moving on.

Station 3: Husking Rice!

We had to pound whole grains of rice until they separated from their husks. It was really hot, and to finish the amount we were working with took about 2 hours. Then you use a big flat scooped out wooden bowl thing to toss the rice in the air so that the husks fly off in the wind.

Station ??4??: Prepping Lunch!

With the chickens we killed we made soup, and we also cooked the rice we had just husked! Honestly, the chicken being alive hours prior really didn’t bother me at all? If you can eat the meat you should be able to see how the sausage gets made. I’m more excited that it’s some of the freshest food I’ve ever eaten.

Seems like a lot of stations: Machete lessons!

We were taught the proper way to use our machetes, and then very precariously balanced on the side of a mountain while clearing a path. I really loved that. Had a very serious talk about how machetes are an extension of your arm.

Lastly, we had a dance lessons. All of our current teachers, instructors, and facilitators showed us classic Panamanian dances and then we had the option to try them. Consensus? The gringos can’t dance. But I LOVED the skirt and i really want my own.

Today was more what I thought PST was going to be like and it was so fun. Also, I’m so obnoxiously disgusting right now. A very full day! Nice to see all of our teachers outside of a classroom setting. After i got home, Ahmet, Cate, Natalie and I did some yoga and now I’m preparing for the best bucket shower of my life.

Estoy contenta. Mañana tengo mi segundo entrevista de español. No estoy nerviosa.

Photos to come in a separate post, I’m pushing my hotspot to the limits rn.

[packagecfgirlyevil]

open starter. slice of life affair vibes ; olivia moved back home, married to someone who never truly puts her first. ( your muse ) is her neighbor / high school sweetheart / coworker / husbands bestie / whatever and they've been sneaking around for weeks now. note this can be slice of life and sweet or go smutty - i'm open to all ! olivia barone // early 40s, former wannabe actress turned stay at home wife. heterosexual.

it was always harder at things like this; another block party where the entire neighborhood was floating around, olivia feeling like she was on display every time she even tried looking his way - no matter that her husband's hand was snaked around her waist, a red solo cup in her hand of whatever concoction someone had made in the punch bowl.

she excused herself, winding her way across the street to where he was watching her, far less subtle than she'd have liked, grabbing a plate in an effort to pretend she was just there to load up on the snacks at the table next to him.

"you're going to get us caught," she murmured, sneaking a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. "you look like you're undressing me with your eyes."

#open starter #indie rp #indie smut rp #olivia barone #olivia barone // interactions.

[la--brujaja]

A lil slice of Shane x Haley drama from my fic

“Well,” he heard a voice start, “you sure have cleaned up a bit. I can’t deny that.”

Sighing, Shane bit his bottom lip in annoyance. He placed the box in his hand on the shelf before turning to find exactly who he expected: Haley. She was holding an empty basket and eying him the way she used to when she opened the door late at night. Jaw clenched and a sense of disbelief surging through him, he gave her an inquisitive look.

“Can I help you?” he asked, immediately impatient.

“You used to help me plenty, and you were happy to do it.”

He snorted. “I’m on the clock, okay? I really don’t have time for this bullshit.”

“Shane,” Haley said, lowering her voice. “I miss you.”

“Give me a break, no you don’t.”

“Can you not be an asshole for like, two seconds? We have been fooling around for years, you know.” She shifted her weight awkwardly. “I’m a person, too.”

“Oh, now you’re a fuckin’ person,” Shane grumbled, turning back to the shelf. He aggressively continued to price tag the items in front of him.

Haley scoffed. “So you’re just going to act like there was nothing between us? Ever?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“So, what are you saying?”

He turned back to her and crossed his arms. “Fuck Haley, why are you here? What do you want me to do? Huh?”

She almost looked ashamed. “Let’s just go back to how things were. Alex never found out. Olivia doesn’t have to either.”

Shane’s nose twitched at the sound of her name. “Whatever we had was dead on arrival, Haley. Do you have selective memory or something? Remember your sister? I shouldn’t have fucking done it then, I shouldn’t have done it when I came back. And I won’t do it now.” She reached out to grab his hand and he pulled it away softly. “We’re done. Okay?”

Haley stood there, pink lips pouting with eyes sadder than he would have predicted. Being with her used to be the only thing that made him feel worthy. He was just a piece of shit spending nights with the most gorgeous woman in town, sticking it to her “perfect” boyfriend. In that small fact, Shane held some power over his life and the people who inhabited it - until Olivia showed up. Now seeing Haley, it almost made him sick. She was a beautiful, breathing reminder of the kind of man he used to be. He just wanted to leave that all behind, forget that he ever found solace in her bed and in hurting the people around him. No more desperate nights knocking at Haley’s door. He just wanted to go home to his girl, and try like it was the last thing he could do to scrub the dirt out of his name.

Suddenly, Haley chuckled as her eyes watered. “Look at me, crying over the likes of you. You know, Shane…twice you’ve rejected me for someone else. You dated Emily, never once considered dating me even though I was by your side. Consistently. Then you have the gall to return to this damn town, and not try to date me again. You go and run off with someone else.” She chuckled again, shaking her head. Her voice was light, as if amused at her own fate. “I’ve been caught red handed nearly begging you to come back in a supermarket. Just to sleep in my bed. Pathetic.”

“Haley, what?” Shane was bewildered at this. “What are you talking about? You never wanted to date me, least of all when I came back looking like this. You don’t want to be seen with me.”

“I don’t. That’s the funniest part of all, isn’t it? Humans, so complicated.” She wiped at her eyes and smiled wide, as if nothing had ever happened. “You’ll be back. You always come back.” Biting her bottom lip, she gazed at him as if she knew something he didn’t before spinning on her heels and walking down the aisle. Shane watched her as she dropped the basket by the door and left, not buying a single thing.

#stardew shane #stardew valley #stardew #sdv shane #shane x haley #shane x farmer #sdv fanfic #stardew fanfic

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-Three: E Pluribus Unum

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 1,757 (short chapter this week) Warnings: angsty Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We get a lot of Dustin and Erica in this chapter <3 Also, no Steve gif this chapter! We're getting a Dustin one 'cause of this iconic line!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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Dustin looked up at me - well, past me to look at Steve, both of them saying, “The gate.”

I backed up from between them making my way back down the steps. “Ya’know, Dustin, I really hate being doubted.”

“I don’t understand,” Robin said. “You’ve seen this before?”

“Not exactly,” Steve said.

“Then what, exactly?”

“Trust me when I say it’s really bad,” I said.

“It’s really bad,” Steve added.

“Just said that, babe.”

“Like end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad,” Dustin said. 

“And you know about this how?” Robin asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

“Uhm, Steve,” Erica said. “Where’s your Russian friend?”

I turned around to look at the ground behind me, seeing that the guy was indeed gone. “Sweet shit.”

Next noise to hit our ears was the alarm blaring, Steve rushing to the door to open it and look out into the hub space we sneaked through moments earlier. I heard “Halt! Halt!” before Steve closed the door, saying, “Shit!”

We ran through a couple of doors that led us straight to the control room, all of our feet stopping when the men turned to face us. Looking to my left, I saw another flight of stairs, running towards them.

“Come on!” I yelled, hearing Steve’s voice repeating the word go. I ran down a walkway, screaming as I pushed one of the hazmat suit guys out of the way, stopping once I reached the end, almost falling to my untimely demise.

I felt Dustin’s arms around me, pulling me back, both of us repeating, “Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!”

I breathed in deep before I screamed out, “Holy shit!”

“Guards! Go!” Erica said.

I turned around to face the rest of the group, my arm being tugged by Dustin as Steve yelled, “This way!” and led us down another set of stairs, pushing a guy out of the way before pushing a set of barrels towards some more guards.

I rushed towards him, running past him and to another door, leaving it open for the rest of our group to run through. Hearing it close, I turned back around, seeing Steve and Robin leaning against it to keep some weight on it.

Dustin and Erica went to a vent cover, opening it, Erica yelling out for us to come on. I looked between my brother and boyfriend, wanting to protect both of them, but knowing I’d have to leave one.

“Liv, go with Dustin!” Steve yelled.

“I– I–” I stammered.

“I’ll find you,” he said. “Go!”

“Steve–”

“Go, get out of here! Go get some help!”

I wanted to rush to him, to plant my lips upon his, but knowing I couldn’t against his struggle on the door. Feeling myself being pulled up the stairs, I kept my eyes locked on Steve before I had to look away, almost falling into the vent shaft. Looking back at Steve, I yelled, “I love you!”

“I love you!” Steve replied before I ducked into the shaft, closing the cover as I heard Robin yelling out, guns being cocked.

“He better not die,” I muttered, following after Dustin and Erica down this vent shaft.

~~~

Sitting in front of a giant fan, Dustin explained to Erica what happened that first year when Will went missing and then explained what happened a few months ago with Dart and the demodogs.

“And now, for some insane reason, these Russian assholes want to reopen it, for God knows what reason,” I said, using my hand to fan myself… even though we were by that giant ass fan. “Destroys everything we’ve risked our lives for.”

“By we, you’re including Lucas?” Erica said.

“Yes. Even Lucas was there. Matter of fact, everyone was there, aside from our mom, your parents and Mike’s parents.”

“So, all that shit he told me, Lucas was there?” Erica asked.

“Yes, Erica, he was there.”

“My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?”

“Yes!” Dustin and I exclaimed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” I said, sitting up a little and facing the young girl. “You mean to tell me that you believe everything about El and the gate and Dart, but you don’t believe the fact that Lucas was there helping us protect Hawkins?”

“That’s correct.” She looked from me to Dustin before she asked, “You need help with that?”

“No,” Dustin replied.

“Well, I mean, it’s taking a while, so–”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

“Dustin Wade!” I exclaimed.

“Alright,” Erica said. “So, if we don’t find a more efficient method to stop these fans, we’re never gonna find help, and your ice cream buddies, slash boyfriend and best friend, are screwed.”

“Yeah, with that attitude, they are,” Dustin and I said.

“Jee-zus,” Dustin added.

“I’m just being realistic,” Erica said. Looking at her watch, she said, “I mean, we’ve made it about point-three miles in nine hours. Then we had to walk three hours down that tunnel, so I’d estimate ten miles back to the elevator, which should take us approximately twelve-and-a-half days.”

I looked at her with a stunned expression as she did all that math that quickly. “Holy shit. You just did all that… in your head?”

“I’m good with numbers,” she deadpanned.

“Holy shit,” Dustin said.

“You’re a nerd!” we exclaimed.

“Come again?” Erica scoffed.

“You,” Dustin said.

“Are.” Me.

“A.” Dustin.

“Nerd,” we both ended.

Pointing her finger between the both of us, Erica said, “Okay, you better take that back, nerds.”

“Can’t put that truth back in the box,” I smiled.

“But it’s not the truth.”

“Okay, let’s examine the facts,” I said, scooting a little closer, holding my fingers out while I counted the facts. “Fact One: You’re apparently a math whiz.”

“Pretty straightforward equation.”

“Fact Two: you’re a 10 year old political junkie.”

“Just because I don’t agree with Communism as an ideology–” 

“Fact Three: you love My Little Pony,” I said, grabbing her backpack and turning it to face her.

“And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?” she asked.

“Ah, let’s recall the ponies’ latest adventure, shall we?” Dustin said, which caused a confused look to come from me. “The evil centaur team and Tirek turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle, and then Megan and the other ponies have to use Moochick’s magic to defeat his rainbow of darkness, saving them from a lifetime of enslavement. All the pink in the world can’t disguise the irrefutable fact that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic are all standard nerd tropes. Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy. Ergo, you, Erica, are a nerd.”

“Bro, what the fuck?” I murmured.

“And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?” Erica asked.

“Because I’m… a nerd,” Dustin said, taking the panel off the wall that he unscrewed during his little rant. He pulled the wires from their slots, the fan next to us powering down. “Let’s go… nerds.”

~~~

After we crawled through the blades of the fan, we made our way down the vent shaft. Whenever I spotted holes above us, I started feeling around for a loose square. Once I found it, I pushed it up and out of the way, climbing out of the shaft and onto the floor that we were crawling beneath, seeing a whole bunch of that green stuff they were putting into, what I’m calling, a gate drill.

“Jackpot,” I said, helping Erica and Dustin out of the shaft.

Spotting what seemed like a golf cart, I smiled and made my way towards it. “Hell yes!” “Do you even know how to drive?” Erica asked.

“Of course,” I said. “I’ve been driving on my own for a year. Damn it. There’s no keys.”

“You seriously thought they’d just leave keys in there?”

“There’s always a spare,” I said, more to myself. I started looking around, hearing Dustin’s rustles as he helped me look.

“Hey, Hendersons,” Erica said.

“Yeah,” Dustin and I said, getting out of the golf cart to look around more.

“How big did you say that Demogorgon was?”

“Huge,” I said.

“Nine feet or so,” Dustin said.

“Why?” we both asked.

Dustin moved to another panel box, using his screwdriver to open it, grabbing a key to the vehicle inside. “Found ‘em.”

“Dustin,” I said. “Look.”

What I was looking at was a crate, big enough for a Demogorgon. 

“Ah, shit,” I said.

“Erica?” Dustin and I said, jumping at the sound of a loud zapping noise.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, holding my hand to my chest.

“What the hell is that?!” Dustin yelled.

“A deadly weapon,” Erica said, almost like she was in love with it. “Could be useful.” She zapped it again, Dustin and I jumping once more.

“For what?”

“What do you think? Taking down Commies, saving your friends.”

“Thought you were more realistic than that, nerd?”

I took the keys from him, not wanting to hear anymore of their banter for the moment. As I got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, I said, “We don’t even know where they are, and even if we did, there’s a million guards up there with way deadlier weapons. The best thing we can do is get out of here and find help.”

“Easy with that,” Dustin said. “Our chance of surviving, and theirs, rises substantially. Just trust us on this. Please?”

~~~

Stopping at a certain point, I got out of the cart and looked in the back, seeing boxes of that green goop sitting in it. Grabbing a couple of them, I walked a few feet in front of the cart, taking a deep breath. “Steve… this is for you.” Slamming the glass containers on the ground, I watched as they shattered, the green stuff once again eating away at the floor.

I quickly made my way back behind the wheel, trying my best to speed off. Stopping a few feet from a door, I told Dustin to charge in with that laser thing, to which he immediately did.

I charged in after Erica, standing in between her and Dustin and watching as an evil looking doctor fell to the ground. I turned to face Steve, seeing his eye bruised and swollen.

“Hey! Henderson!” Steve said, excitedly. “That’s… crazy, I was just talking about you.”

Sighing, I undid the bonds that were around his arms, hands and legs before putting my hand on his cheek. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, my god,” Robin said.

“Get ready to run!”

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

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~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note: i absolutely love it when gaten screams shit. it's the best thing ever, lol

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on April 2, 2024

#steve harrington x olivia henderson #steve x olivia #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #olivia henderson (oc) #stevia #always the babysitter #atb #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #eddie munson #eleven hopper #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #joyce byers #chief jim hopper #max mayfield #billy hargrove #robin buckley #season three episode six #original character #home slice olivia was all me #stranger things fandom #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction

[softprettything]

late bloomer, ch 11

AO3 | Previous | Next

Fandom: OHSHC

Pairing: Kyoya/Reader

Tags: 18+, A/B/O Dynamics, College AU, Fake Dating, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slice of Life, Eventual Smut

Taglist: @silverhetdanes @lampalooza

late bloomer, ch 11

“Olivia!” Reese goes over to her with a hug. “Perfect timing.” 

“Now that?” Lou whispers. “That I will definitely not miss.”

"Does she—" You look from her to Olivia, back and forth. "I mean, do they come here a lot?"

"Oh, yeah. Look I'm all for uniting forces or whatever. And most of the Triple O folks are super sweet—"

"Plus, they can organize the shit out of a fundraiser," Regan adds.

"—True. But I went to high school with Livvy Freidmonte, and unless she's changed since then…" Lou shakes her head. "I know a first-class bitch when I see one. I wouldn't trust that girl as far as I could throw her."

"Really?" you ask. "What exactly—"

"Alright, everybody!" Reese claps their hands together, and the room settles down. "Let's get started. Re-started. For the new folks, this is Olivia Freidmonte; she's one of our siblings over at Triple O, and our head coordinator for collabs! Olivia?"

"Hey there!" Olivia is all smiles and pep as she waves at the crowd. "So stoked to be here. Now, as most of you probably know, the Winter Wonderland end-of-term music festival last semester was a huge success. Between ticket sales, merch profits, and voluntary donations, we raised twenty thousand over the span of two days, all of which went directly to fund arts education programs at high schools in the surrounding areas."

A round of applause, which you find yourself joining in on. Whatever your personal feelings on Olivia may be, twenty thousand dollars in two days? You can't help but respect it.

"Looking into the future…the good news is, we're less than two weeks out from our spring fundraiser! Bad news: thanks to a little fire snafu, Grand's is closed for repairs all month. So we're on crunch time to find another venue. It's a smaller event, very lowkey; ideally we want to find somewhere closer to campus, with a kitchen or at least a fridge we can use to store food, mix drinks, stuff like that." She scribbles a phone number on the board. "Just shoot me a text if you know of a place. This is a great opportunity to…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Regan whispers. "She seems super nice."

"You just think that because you're super nice, Ri," Lou whispers back.

"I'm just saying! High school was a long time ago."

"Yeah. I don't know. (Y/N), you're in the same year as her, right? You must have crossed paths. What do you think?"

As you open your mouth to say something, Olivia's gaze falls on you. You freeze. It feels as though time slows to a halt: she pauses in her presentation for a moment. Her smile falters. Her eyes narrow slightly.

Then, as though nothing happened, the smile is back on her face, and she continues on, just as peppy as before. You let out a breath, before remembering that Lou and Regan are still both looking at you, waiting for an answer. You give them a tiny smile. "No comment."

*************

As the evening winds down, you have to admit: you had a pretty good time. Olivia ignores you, to the point that you begin to wonder if you imagined her noticing you during her presentation entirely. You trade numbers with Lou and Regan, offering to answer any questions they might have about surviving senior year, and promising them you'll consider coming to the next Cozy Quorum. Overall, as you exit into the cool early-spring air, you're feeling pretty good.

"(Y/N)!"

"Hey!" You turn to Reese with a smile. "Thanks for inviting me. This was actually really cool."

"Not so bad, right?" You nod. "Now, listen, I swear I didn't have any ulterior motives when I ran into you this morning, but…"

You try to pay attention. Really, you do, but your head is too scrambled. If Haruhi isn't home (it's a Sunday, so probably she is) (on the other hand, she doesn't have any classes on Mondays…) (does Tamaki?) then you only have to worry about dinner for yourself, which means eggs. Or, no, you were supposed to pick up eggs today. Chips and dip, then. And then the paper proposal. Technically you have until the end of class, but you really should email it by morning—were you assigned an early morning shift at the cafe tomorrow? No, an afternoon one.

Your phone buzzes, and you can't help but glance down and see it's from an unfamiliar number, and you're suddenly too distracted to—

"—think?"

"Hm?" Reese is looking at you. Shit. Your cheeks heat up immediately, mortified as you are to be caught so blatantly zoning out. They don't seem to have noticed, though, so you take a crapshoot and give them your most enthused nod. "Right! I mean, yes, absolutely."

"You are a lifesaver." Reese claps. "This is perfect. Let me just put you in touch with—there she is."

Before you can stop them to ask whose life you're saving, and how, and what exactly you just agreed to, they tap someone on the shoulder. That person whirls around and—oh, wouldn't you know, it's—

"Olivia, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), Olivia. You're both first-year grad students, I think?"

"We've met," the two of you say simultaneously. She sticks a hand out, which you accept. "(Y/N) and I have a class together, actually. Some gender-studies thing."

"The Radical Dynamics of Jane Austen," you supply. This handshake is going on for way longer than is comfortable.

Reese nods, possibly sensing the tension, but eventually deciding to bowl through it anyway. "So. (Y/N) works at that incredible coffee shop on the corner of Oak and Whitley, and apparently it's free two Fridays from now, which means…"

Olivia's look of disdain explodes into an overenthusiastic smile. "Oh, my gosh! Seriously?"

Before you can say anything, Reese nods. "I'll leave you two to work out the details—but, (Y/N), seriously? Thank you. I owe you one." With a wink—to you? To Olivia? Who knows!—they're gone.

"Well." Olivia looks you up and down. Between the necklace and the blowout and the perfectly coordinated pink outfit, it’s like looking at Evil Elle Woods. “You’re just popping up everywhere, aren’t you?”

You meet her fake smile with one of your own. “Could say the same about you.”

“Oh, the Trips all love EpPhi. We throw mixers all the time. It was so awesome to have you join us last night!” The smile she gives you practically shows each and every one of her perfectly square, perfectly white teeth, making you feel even more like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. "I didn't realize Reese was finally able to get that due waiver program rolled out."

"Hm?"

"Oh, you know. Greek life can be so…you know. Old money. Reese is super dedicated to trying to diversify—" (somehow, she manages to make that sound like a bad thing) "—and I guess it's working."

"Oh, no. I'm not joining. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with joining." Why are you trying to explain yourself? If Olivia's decided to dislike you, nothing you say is going to win her over. "I just came to check it out. It was cool, though—your presentation was great."

She scrunches her nose at you. "Thanks. Well. Even if you're not pledging, that just makes it even nicer of you to get so involved."

"Oh, no, I'm not—"

"No modesty, please. You're a total lifesaver. Anytime we have insider contact for a venue, it's always, like, an executive whatever, and half the time they don't have any idea what actually goes into putting together an event like this. It'll be so helpful to have the perspective of, you know. A lower-level employee."

You are so, so tempted to just say it was all a big mistake.

But the cafe calendar is empty two Fridays from now. And Reese, who has been nothing but nice to you since you met, seems kind of desperate for you to say yes.

Not to mention, all special events at Ground Up get logged as overtime hours—meaning, double pay.

Double pay plus tips.

So, with no small amount of reluctance, you nod. "Mm-hm. Right." This fake smile is beginning to hurt your cheeks. You clear your throat. "So! We should, um, set up a time to talk through specifics, right? I have a shift at the cafe tomorrow afternoon after class, if that's a good time. That way you can get an idea of what the space looks like?"

"Perf." The gap between her words and the way she looks at you while saying them is starting to make your head hurt. She passes you a card. "Here's my number."

"Great." She's already halfway down the street, clearly just as eager to get away from you as you are from her. "See you in class!" you call after her. Your phone buzzes again—a two-minute reminder of the text from earlier. You swipe it open.

unknown: Shockingly, I did not get 'sexiled' tonight.

unknown: Hopefully this doesn’t mean you’re sleeping on the front porch.

A smile rises to your mouth unbidden. You create a new contact with the number, and then type:

Y/N: I have a bed of my own, you know.

*************

You're shutting the front door of your apartment behind you and kicking off your shoes by the time you get a reply.

Kyoya Ootori: I’m aware. 

Kyoya Ootori: It’s a good one. Best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages.

"You're home late."

You look up. "And you're…home." You toss your bag under a chair and tuck your phone into your pocket as you sit down across from Haruhi, who's typing away furiously at her laptop. "Rewrite?"

"Prewrite." She takes a sip of coffee, then goes back to typing. I'm trying to get ahead on work for the next two weeks, so that I'm not behind when I get back."

It's not unusual for Haruhi to be on top of things—but missing class? "Get back from what?"

"Tamaki's heat is coming up this week. Thursday, probably. Kiera's heats were always pretty long." Kiera…ah, yes, that was two ex's ago. "Tamaki says his usually only last a couple of days, but I want to be ahead. Just in case."

You feel like you're moving underwater. Even blinking seems to take twice as long as usual. "Can't hurt to be prepared," you manage.

"Mm-hm." She takes another swig of coffee, finishing the mug. You grab it and go to brew her some more, if only to get away from the table. Seemingly oblivious to your general state, she asks, "What about you? Good weekend?"

"Weird weekend."

"Weird? Huh." She chuckles, but doesn't press further.

The coffee starts to drip. "That's big," you say. "The heat stuff."

"Oh, this is nothing. I should have it all done by tomorrow."

"A big step in the relationship, I mean. Like, spending a heat together." You lean against the counter, chewing on your bottom lip and shooting another text to Kyoya.

Y/N: My halfprice preowned fb marketplace boxspring is honored

Kyoya Ootori: Hang on, checking my clothes for bedbugs.

Y/N: >:(

Kyoya Ootori: Just a joke. I promise.

Y/N: I know

Kyoya Ootori: Okay, good.

Y/N: That was just the face i made when i realized there isn’t a bedbug emoji

"I mean." You shake your head, bringing your attention back to the present. "Are you nervous at all?"

She stops to think about it, head tilted slightly. "No," she finally says, turning to look at you for the first time since you walked in. "Actually, this is the first time I haven't been nervous to spend a heat with someone new. Is that weird?"

"No." The way she says it, so matter of fact, sends an odd pang of sadness through you. You think of how Tamaki looks at her. The way she looks talking about him. Kyoya's certainty when he talked about what a good match they were. "It's not weird at all."

"Really?"

You pour the coffee, and try to smile as you bring it over. "You know I don't know anything about how all of this heat stuff works. But I do know this guy makes you happy, so. As long as he's treating you well, I'm happy." At least that much is true.

"Mh-hm." She gives a little smile, but you can tell her attention is firmly back on her work.

Which reminds you, you should be getting to your own work. You give her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm gonna hit the hay."

She nods. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Anytime. Don't stay up too late."

"I will."

You share a chuckle at that. "I know," you say softly.

As you reach your doorway, she calls out, "Oh, hey—did Kyoya end up dropping off the vitamins the other night?"

You freeze. "Uh, yeah, actually. He did." She doesn't look up, and you decide to test whether or not she's actually listening. "I invited him in to hide from the rain, we split the bottle of vitamins over candlelight and smooth jazz, he ended up staying the night. Super romantic. We're madly in love now. Instead of fighting during class we just make out on the seminar table."

"Cool."

Yeah, she absolutely isn't listening to you. "Yeah. Cool." Probably this is some sort of karma, for how you did the exact same thing to Reese earlier today—mm-hm-ing and yeah, sure-ing your way through a conversation. But it still stings. "Night."

"Night."

Kyoya Ootori: You’re…sad that there’s no bedbug emoji?

Y/N: Thatss a lie, actually

Y/N: Id pay the emoji people every cent in my bank account to never ever create a bedbug emoji

Kyoya Ootori: Noted.

Kyoya Ootori: I hope you had a good day.

You smile.

Y/N: You too. 

Y/N: Enjoy not being sexiled. I'll see you in class tomorrow?

Kyoya Ootori: Likewise. See you then.

Kyoya Ootori: I actually have something I want to talk to you about in person, if you’re free after.

But by the time that last text rolls in, you’ve already washed your face and brushed your teeth and started typing away at your own laptop, phone face down on your nightstand.

*************

Come morning, you've written a paper proposal that you're pretty proud of, actually. Abe was right—you are capable of more than that first effort.

Unfortunately, writing it did take you most of the night. Meaning you only got a few hours of sleep before your alarm went off. You skim your new notifications, only half processing them—until you see an email from TA Abe asking if you can swing by his office hours after class.

Shit.

Did he already read your proposal? Is it really that bad?

Whatever the verdict is, you’re not going to improve anything by skipping class. You drag yourself in and out of the shower, chug some decaf coffee—a placebo for dire situations like these—and run. When you get there, the seminar table is about halfway full. You slide into an empty seat by the windows. When Kyoya comes in, you give him a wave and a smile, which he returns. You're about to gesture that he should take the empty seat next to you—

When Olivia slides into it.

“Morning.” She pulls a lipgloss and tiny mirror out of her bag, touching up her already perfect makeup. God, you wish you were that put together. Even at nine in the morning, she doesn't have a single hair out of place. "Are you still free after class?"

"Yeah—I just have to pop by Abe's office hours super quickly, if that's alright?"

She gives you a thin smile as she snaps the compact shut. "Sure." Before you can respond, she's turned away from you. "Kyoya! Where did you disappear to this weekend? I was…"

You tune her out. It's too early in the morning to eavesdrop, you decide, especially on two-point-five hours of sleep. You'd estimate you have maybe five hours of awake time left in you before you crash, if you're lucky. And that's not even taking into consideration the sheer amount of energy you're going to have to expend trying to get through this meeting with Abe, and this meeting with Olivia, and your actual job.

Class feels ungodly slow. It's not boring, of course—how could it be? But your exhaustion makes you sloppy, combined with how on edge you are about your meeting with Abe. You try your best to keep a low profile. Kyoya must be able to sense you're a bit out of it, because he goes a little easier on you than usual. Or maybe that's just because he remembers your conversation from this weekend, and because Olivia is literally sitting smack in between the two of you.

In any case, you're relieved to make it through class more or less in one piece. When it's done, you stand up, ready to follow Abe and a few other students to his office elsewhere in the building. As you make it to the door, a wave of dizziness overtakes you, and you stumble.

"Woah." Kyoya is there, steadying you with a hand on your shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." You blink. "Sorry, I just had to pull an all-nighter last night."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing." You wave a hand. "I've been taking my multivitamin, so. Iron for days, over here."

He chuckles. "Glad to hear it." He sticks his hands in his pockets.

As he opens his mouth to say something, you glance a ways down the hall, where Olivia is giving you the death glare to end all death glares.

"—work?"

You blink again, and look up at Kyoya. You get the sense that he's expecting you to say something, though you have no idea what. You're about to ask what, but then, there, behind Olivia, Abe disappears into his office. "Work. Yes, office hours and then work. I have to run—sorry—but I'm all good, I promise!"

He says something else, you think, but you're too far down the hall to hear him. Oh, well. It probably wasn't anything important.

*************

You walk into Abe's office just as another student is leaving. Abe looks up and waves you over. 

“(Y/N), hey! Great timing. Have a seat—this’ll only take a second.”

You drop your bag and coat and sit. He’s busy pulling up something on his tablet. You feel more and more like you’re about to throw up with each passing second.

“So,” he finally says. Your stomach clenches. “Got your email. I only had a chance to give it a cursory lookover this morning, but…” He turns off his tablet, puts it onto the table, and gives you a smile. “It’s really good work, (Y/N).”

Your heart leaps into your chest. “Really?”

“Really. Look, I’ve read all the JLT essays for years now, and you’ve always been solid. But this is a step up.” He gives you a thumbs up. “Good job pushing yourself, kid.”

There’s still a lot to do, of course—the deadline for the assignment, and the contest, is less than a month away. But it’s a step in the right direction. It’s amazing what the tiniest bit of academic validation can do—you feel like nothing could possibly bring your mood down.

Not even Olivia, who's in the hall when you come out of Abe's office, still chatting with Kyoya. When she sees you, she waves to you, then leans in closer to Kyoya to say one more thing, her hand resting on his chest. You do your best to look disinterested. The last thing you need to do is give her any more reason to think the two of you are fighting over Kyoya.

After a few more giggles and another long touch to Kyoya's arm, she bounds over to you.

"Sorry about that," she says. "Let's walk?"

You give her a nod, and a tight smile of your own. As she grabs her phone to shoot off a quick text, you can't help but take one glance back at Kyoya. Kyoya, at the other end of the hall. Kyoya, who you still can't quite figure out.

Kyoya, who's looking at you, too.

*************

The planning part goes relatively painlessly. Olivia might be the most organized person you've ever met, with an event binder perfectly sectioned and highlighted in a rainbow of sunset tones. She has all of the forms needed—some for you to sign, others for you to pass along to your upper manager—and knows all of the right questions to ask about time, spacing, cleanup, fees.

"You're really good at this," you tell her, and you mean it. With her help, you've accomplished in five minutes what would take most people hours—weeks, even—to get done. She shrugs. "No, seriously. It's really impressive."

"Oh, this is nothing. My mom is involved in, like, a billion different charities, and I'm the oldest, so I got roped into helping out when I was, like, eight. And all of the planning for this was done already. All there really is to do is transplant all of the catering and things to the new venue. Reese was right about using this place. It's cute."

Was that…a compliment? Not to you directly, but still. "You think?"

"Yeah! Tiny, but cute."

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. She turns a page, seemingly very interested in the binder as she asks, "So, like. How do you know Reese?"

"Huh?" You were expecting her to ask you about Kyoya. But in the twenty minutes you've spent walking to the cafe, and now sitting here, she has yet to bring up his name once.

"I mean, I'm by EpPhi a lot, and I've never seen you around there. And you said you're not pledging or anything."

"Right." This is still a territorial thing, then—just after actual territory, this time, not romantic territory. "No, yeah, I just—we ran into each other at a party, and I guess they were looking to recruit people for the open-night meetings?"

Before she can answer, you hear: "Livvy!"

Both of you look up and are immediately crashed into by a couple of red-headed whirlwinds.

"Hey guys," you say, once Kaoru has released you from his iron grip. "Oh, shit, am I late?"

"What? No way. You have, like, five whole minutes before our shift even starts." Kaoru says, ruffling your hair before turning to address Olivia. "Miss Freidmonte. Never thought we'd catch you on this side of campus."

You look back and forth between them as they start chatting. Before you can ask any questions, a new voice says, "I came here expecting to see one friend, and here's four!" Brighter than the twins, even. "What are the odds?"

Tamaki, radiantly cheerful as always. When he finishes hugging Olivia and each of the twins, he sweeps you up into a bone-crushing hug of your own. "(Y/N)! Long time no see."

"Oh!" You do your best to smile as he pulls away. "Hi!"

"I hope these three aren't giving you a hard time, are they?" He playfully bats one of the twins on the shoulder. You let out a confused laugh.

"No, we just—Hikaru and Kaoru and I work here, and Olivia and I were just going over a project—what brings you here?"

"Oh, Haruhi wanted some coffee, and I thought it would be nice to come say hello! Since I'll be stealing her from you for the next week," he laughs.

"Hi." Peeking out from behind him—Haruhi. She gives you a little wave, which you return. "I'll be out of the house tonight."

"Oh, yeah," you say, your brain almost entirely blank trying to process all of your different worlds colliding at once. "Totally. No worries."

"I picked up eggs, though. And some more tea."

"Thanks. That's—"

"Haruhi," Tamaki interrupts, "have you ever met Olivia?" As the two shake hands, he claps his own together. "So many of my favorite people, all in one place! And (Y/N), you said you two were working on some kind of project, right? Sounds fun."

"Yeah," Olivia says, flipping back a few pages in her binder. "The EpPhi-Triple O joint fundraiser next Friday? We're having it here—you guys should totally come!"

"Next Friday? I might be out—heat leave."

You're shocked once again at how casually he says it. Even more than that, how casually everyone else responds. "Oh, totally," Olivia says, with a sympathetic nod.

"First heat together, huh?" Hikaru says. "That's exciting!"

You are going to be ill if you have to sit through another second of this conversation. You glance at your phone, desperate for some excuse. "Two minutes! I should start getting ready for work." You grab the stack of papers to be signed. "Liv—Olivia—thank you for…" You wave the papers. "I'll email these to you?"

She nods, only half paying attention as she continues explaining the fundraiser. Good enough. You get up to go. Haruhi gives you another muted smile as you leave, and Tamaki another blinding one.

As you walk away, you turn your attention back to your phone, scrolling, scrolling…and see another text from Kyoya. One you'd missed, last night.

Kyoya Ootori: I actually have something I want to talk to you about in person, if you're free after.

Huh.

It was sent a while after his last text to you, too. You start typing.

Y/N: Sorry I missed this. I'll be at Ground Up until 5

Y/N: Is everything ok?

You backspace that last text, but send the first. Almost immediately, three dots pop up as Kyoya starts typing out his response…

Then the three dots disappear.

You stare at your phone.

*************

It can't be anything bad he wants to talk about, right? That's what you tell yourself as you go through the motions of manning the register, checking mobile orders, rinsing shakers. If it was something urgent, he could have told you as much. But you can't imagine anything he'd need to talk to you about that couldn't be discussed over text.

Olivia's still at her table, which isn't exactly helping your nerves. Not that she's looked your way since you went to go clock in. She's still pouring over her binder, cross-checking a page with something on her laptop, occasionally marking something in highlighter or Wite-Out. More fundraiser stuff, probably. Or homework. Tamaki and Haruhi are still here, too, on the other end, sitting at a table pressed up against the windowed wall. It's probably a bit creepy, you know, the way you can't stop sneaking looks at the three of them, but it's either that or keep thinking in circles about Kyoya.

Which you're still doing.

Maybe…maybe it's the breaking heat news?

That's the only thing you can think of. Yeah, surely that's it—you've set yourself up as someone he can complain to about Tamaki and Haruhi, after all. Maybe he just wants to have a vent session. God knows you could probably use one, too.

"Hello? Earth to (Y/N)?"

"Hm?" You look over to see Hikaru putting order stickers on cups and sliding them over to his brother.

"You've been washing out that one shaker for, like, two minutes straight."

"Oh." You shake your head, grabbing a towel to dry it off. "Sorry."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Nickel?" Kaoru immediately tries to one-up him.

"Dime?" Hikaru counters without missing a beat.

"Quarter?"

You roll your eyes. "Livvy, huh?" They both just shrug. "So you guys just know everybody, now, is what I'm gathering."

Kaoru snorts. "We don't know everybody. You just happen to know nobody, which is why it seems like we know a lot of people by comparison."

"That's true," Hikaru says. "Although, she said you're helping her with this fundraiser thing?"

"Yep."

"(Y/N)!" He slaps you on the back so hard you almost drop the cup you're holding. "Look at you, going out and socializing! Trying new things! Can you believe it, Kaoru?"

"It's not a big de—"

Kaoru places a hand over his heart and sniffs. "They grow up so fast."

"You guys—"

"I'm just so honored we get to see it happen." They both step away from you, wearing identical expressions of mischief. "Although…"

You cross your arms. "What?"

"You still won't tell us who your mystery date was on Saturday."

"Oh, my God."

"You know, I just…" Hikaru lets out a huge, exaggerated sigh. "I thought we were friends, (Y/N)."

"No." You shake your head, turning away from them both, even as an unwelcome smile plays at the corners of your mouth. "None of that."

"I thought the countless hours we spent toiling away here meant something."

"I guess not."

"Kaoru, not you, too," you groan. "Guys. Seriously. We had this conversation. You thought it was Reese Barlow, right? So, sure. It was Reese Barlow."

"Nice try," says Hikaru.

"Yeah. No way we actually fall for that."

You press your lips more tightly together. They look at each other and sigh in unison.

"Such a shame," Hikaru says, shaking his head. "I guess we'll just have to ask Haruhi."

Your head snaps up. "Sorry?"

They both nod towards the far corner of the cafe, where Haruhi and Tamaki are still seated. Or no, sorry, just Tamaki is seated.

Because Haruhi is on her feet and walking towards the counter.

#late bloomer #kyoya/reader #kyoya x reader #kyoyaxreader #softprettything #kyoya fanfic #ohshc x y/n #a/b/o #ohshc x reader #a/b/o fanfic #chai.writes

[serenasoutherlyns]

from the dark with you above me chapter 10

“They’re so in love,” she said to Alex.

“I have never seen Serena this happy before,” Alex replied.

ao3

Alex Cabot always felt like coming home. To touch her, to merely be in her presence was joyful, comforting. It filled her with golden warmth, just to see her smile or hear her laugh. Since she met her, she’d known. And now, they were each other’s. It was a dream come true. Currently, Alex was sleeping beside her, her chest rising and falling as she calmly breathed, her shoulders bare and curving up where she lay on her side. Olivia couldn’t resist placing a little kiss on the warm skin before she swept off the sheets and rose from the bed.

“Mmph,” Alex protested. “Stay.” She couldn’t blame the woman’s insistence, she wanted nothing more than to stay too, snuggle up in the shared warmth, wait for the sun to at least illuminate the sky slightly. It was no fair that she had to leave at the crack of dawn.

“You know I have to go in early,” Olivia said sympathetically.

“Quit your job,” said Alex, “become a full time stay-in-bed-with-me.” It was tempting. She gave Alex another kiss and pulled on a sweatshirt and pair of pants from the drawer in Alex’s dresser where a few of her things now lived.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she said before she left. Alex made a sweet noise of acknowledgment and turned over, pulling a pillow over her head.

---

“Shh,” said Alex when Olivia returned to the apartment that evening. She was later than she wanted to be. She had thought about just going back to her place, but she had promised Alex. Alex gestured to the couch, where Abbie was asleep with her head in Serena’s lap, where Serena was asleep with her head against the back arm. She had a book on her chest and her blonde hair was wild. Abbie snored faintly. Olivia smiled at the sight. It was good to see the both of them so happy.

“They’ve been like this since I got home,” said Alex, pouring Olivia a glass of wine. “Out like a light, both of them. Must’ve been a long day.”

“I heard Kibre’s in one of her moods this week,” said Olivia.

I’ve heard all about it,” said Alex. She handed Olivia a cracker with a slice of fancy cheese on it. Alex was always feeding Olivia, something she hadn’t expected. But she couldn’t cook, so it was always simple hastily arranged snacks. It was uniquely Alex. “C’mon,” she said, gesturing to the bedroom, picking up a cutting board. “Dinner in bed.”

“Alex, cheese and crackers is not dinner,” Olivia said.

“You’re right,” she said. “But cheese and crackers and little pickles and grapes comes much closer.”

---

Halloween at Penelope’s was something else. It was dark in the club, the music shook the whole room, and the drinks were so strong Olivia wondered how they were keeping their alcohol license. She had never frequented the spot before Alex. She had little social life, there hadn’t been many bars in her life that weren’t cop bars.

“Your glasses,” said Alex, handing them to her. “You can’t see without your glasses, remember?”

“Mmm,” said Olivia. “Harder to kiss you with them on, though. And I don’t want to do much but kiss you.” Her Daphne looked great. Something about Alex in a red wig was really doing it for her. The tight purple dress hugging her body were helping, too. Olivia was ready to get out of there whenever she was.

“Save it for home,” said Abbie, coming over with some beers. The pleats of her leather skirt swung as she walked. Serena came up to them too, the Gabrielle to her Xena. She hugged Abbie from behind, resting her head on her shoulder.

“Let’s dance,” she said.

“I’m good,” said Alex.

“Same,” said Olivia.

“Please,” said Serena sweetly. She was a drink ahead of everyone and absolutely insistent. She convinced Abbie, who, Olivia had picked up, indulged Serena’s every whim where she could. She handed Olivia her beer and waved to the two of them. She watched them dance, looking into each other’s eyes with enamored smiles on their faces.

“They’re so in love,” she said to Alex.

“I have never seen Serena this happy before,” Alex replied. Abbie spun Serena under her arm and kissed her tenderly.

“Alex,” a short woman dressed as Mario said, another woman dressed as Princess Peach right behind her. “Good to see you,” she said, giving Alex a quick hug. “You must be Olivia.”

“Yes,” said Olivia. “You must be Lisa, and you must be Elle,” she indicated the woman. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

---

“Love you,” said Abbie, kissing Serena goodbye. “Bye Olivia, bye Alex.”

“Love you too,” returned Serena. Olivia and Alex turned to each other with open mouths.

“Oh my God,” squealed Alex when the door closed. “You two said I love you.” Of course, Olivia and Alex had said it three weeks into being together.

“Yeah,” said Serena with pure joy. “I love her.”

---

It was an uncharacteristically nice Saturday for mid-November, over 60. The bright sun warmed through her jean jacket. The park was buzzing with people enjoying the weather: nannies wrangling kids, elderly couples watching the crowds walk by, joggers in shorts passing each other. There were vendors by the dozen, coffees and hot dogs and even popsicles were all within reach. The air felt full of possibility. Olivia took Alex’s hand in hers, their fingers fitting perfectly together.

“Ooh,” Serena interrupted the group’s quiet conversation, “hot apple cider!” She pointed out an especially well-decorated cart covered in paper leaves and pumpkins, indeed advertising the drink. Abbie scrunched up her nose.

“Too sweet,” she said by way of explanation. Serena looked at her like she’d just kicked a puppy.

“How could you,” she said.

“It’s like drinking syrup, Serena.”

“No, it’s like drinking fall.”

“I’m with Abbie,” said Alex. “Apple cider is for children.”

“Then I’m a child,” said Serena. With that, she peeled off from the group. Olivia followed her.

“Ugh, I love this stuff,” said Serena when she took her first sip. “So good.”

“Agreed,” said Olivia, blowing on the drink through the hole in the top of the cup. As the turned to go rejoin Alex and Abbie, Olivia took in the two of them. They had clearly gotten themselves on quite a topic, talking animatedly with their hands.

“What have those two gotten into,” said Serena.

“I don’t know if I want to find out,” said Olivia. Abbie took off her black hat and smoothed her hair.

“Me neither,” said Serena, but Olivia could hear the adoration in her voice.

“Settle a debate, you two,” said Alex when they returned.

“Oh God,” said Olivia, not liking where this was going.

“They’re both going to agree with me, so I hope you’re ready to go down, Cabot,” said Abbie.

“I have the obviously right opinion, so I hope you are ready to go down, Carmichael.”

“What’s the issue at hand,” Serena said with more genuine curiosity than Olivia had the bandwidth for.

“Pumpkin pie, which is clearly the best pie, or apple pie, which is weirdly mushy and tastes like nothing?” said Alex.

“If you want to talk about mushy,” said Abbie, “look no further than pumpkin pie, it’s literally all mush and no texture.”

“It has a delightfully creamy, custardy texture.”

“Apple pie has the smoothness of the syrup surrounding the apples plus the slight toothsome crunch of the apples themselves, it is clearly the superior pie, texturally. And it actually has a flavor.”

“Pumpkin pie is the most quintessentially fall flavor there is, when was the last time you saw an apple pie scented candle?”

It was at this point that Abbie and Alex noticed that Serena and Olivia were doubled over in laughter.

“What?” said Abbie.

“I’ve got to stop hanging out with lawyers,” said Olivia.

“You two are worse outside of court than you are in it,” said Serena. “Also, the answer is clearly apple pie.”

“Traitor,” said Alex.

“I knew I loved you for a reason,” said Abbie.

“Not my sparkling personality and amazing body?”

“Those too,” said Abbie, and wrapped an arm around Serena’s waist, starting them back on their walk. “Give me a sip,” she said.

“Of my syrup?” said Serena, “absolutely not.” Abbie made a show of pouting, something Olivia never thought she’d see, and Serena gave in, handing her the cup. Alex took Olivia’s hand and squeezed, following close behind.

---

“Oh fuck,” Olivia heard for the tenth time that night. She and Alex were just trying to sleep, with busy days tomorrow, but evidently they were the outliers in the place.

“I’m going to tell them to be quiet,” Olivia said, a half-empty threat.

“I’m glad they’re having fun,” said Alex. Olivia, then, had a better idea.

“Or,” she said, dragging out the word, “we could give them a taste of their own medicine.” Then she touched her lips between Alex’s shoulder blades. She took in a breath sharply, and Olivia gave it another kiss, this one more insistent.

“We both have so much to do tomorrow,” Alex whispered, but she turned onto her other side and wrapped her arm around Olivia’s back, kissing her deeply.

“That’s tomorrow,” said Olivia, reaching her hand down to Alex’s waist and stroking up to her breast. Alex moaned.

“You’re right,” said Alex. Olivia took that as a cue to roll Alex onto her back and straddle her. Once her head was between Alex’s thighs, there was no question: they were winning this competition.

The next morning, on her way out, she ran into Mrs. Lopez from next door in the hallway, who gave her the dirtiest glare she had ever seen from someone who wasn’t a perp.

---

“How did your family end up taking it,” Olivia said, knowing that Abbie had been planning on telling them the day before. It was just the two of them in the apartment, Alex and Serena having gone to pick up dinner. They had been making it a priority to catch up on some much needed best friend time after a week of tough cases had kept all of them apart, leaving Olivia and Abbie to have girlfriends-of-best friends time, something Olivia was growing to love.

Abbie sighed.”Not great,” she said. “My sister said she doesn’t want me around my niece and nephew anymore. My mom scolded me for not going to church, ny dad had to schedule an emergency meeting with his campaign staff.”

“Jesus,” said Olivia. “That’s rough.”

“Yeah,” said Abbie, “It is. But you know what’s funny, I feel so much better now.”

“Good,” said Olivia, “that makes some sense. It feels good to be out in the open.”

Abbie beamed. “I’m ready to love Serena and let everyone know about it.” The door opened and Alex and Serena came in, the smell filling the chilly apartment.

---

“The party is here!” Lisa announced with her right hand in the air, her left hand holding the tray of sweet potatoes that was her responsibility. Elle followed behind with a large bowl containing mashed potatoes. The crowded apartment smelled amazing: the turkey had about half an hour left, Abbie had just pulled the green beans out of the oven. The cranberry sauce was already in its white china bowl. The pies (they had gone a bit overboard in the interest of peace: pumpkin, apple, and cherry) were sitting on the island. Olivia just needed to make the gravy.

“Hi darlings,” said Elle, greeting everyone with a kiss on the cheek: Olivia first, then Abbie, then Alex and Serena, who had been relegated to the couch and instructed not to step foot in the kitchen. Serena had been allowed to set up the table with her grandmother’s nice plates and forks, and Alex had been allowed to make the centerpiece and set the candles, but with those tasks done they were sitting with mugs of mulled wine.

Lisa insisted on watching the game, and Elle joined Olivia and Abbie in the kitchen, sitting on the windowsill and telling stories. Olivia had never liked thanksgiving, but if it could always be like this she saw herself growing to love it.

“Look out the window,” Alex said, turning her head to face the party in the other part of the room. Sure enough, it was beginning to snow.

“So what is everyone thankful for,” Elle said when they were all sat down to eat. The question was cliché, but somehow Olivia didn’t mind.

“I’m thankful for this food,” said Lisa, digging into her potatoes. “And you, my love.” Elle blushed.

“I’m thankful for all of this,” said Olivia. “for the meal, for love, for friends. All of it.”

“Here’s to that,” said Serena, raising her glass. Olivia looked over the table full of abundance, surrounded by people she loved. Yes, she was very thankful.

#law & order #serena southerlyn #abbie carmichael #law and order #svu #law & order svu #olivia benson #serena/abbie #cabenson #alex/olivia #sficx #alex cabot #never written from liv's perspective before #it's interesting

[saiilorstars]

Dare To Forget Me

Ch. 47: The Lesser Gaps

Previous chapters // Montserrat’s masterlist

Fandom: SVU // Pairing: Rafael Barba x OC

Warnings: Due to the nature of the series’ plots, I do have to rate this as ‘mature’ for constant mentions of rape.

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​ @averyhotchner​​​ @abzidabzy​​​ @hellofutur​​​ @foxesandmagic​​ @xovalliegirlxo​​​

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Early in the morning is when SVU received their newest case. A pinboard had already gotten started by the time noon rolled by.

"The housekeeper of the victim confirms what the daughters told us before," Olivia was walking the detectives through the case with the pinboard.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Sonny said all of a sudden. He was leaning forwards on his chair, nearly looking ready to climb over the table to get to the pinboard. "The victim is Mr. Walter as in Walter Briggs, the writer?"

"Does that have any relevance?" Montserrat arched an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, yeah, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award…" He went off the imaginary list on his fingers and since he seemed to be going for the long haul, Olivia cut him off.

"Well, he's nearly 80, and his wife — his sixth wife who's 45 — and making him have sex constantly."

"Is that a crime or an old man's dream?" Amanda asked with a pen raised in the air. Her expression was half disbelieving the story Olivia was presenting.

"The daughters say that she wants another child, so if he is incapable of giving consent, then they're right, it's...it's rape."

"Yeah, and the fact that the alleged rapist is his wife is legally irrelevant but, I mean, of all the people...I mean, have you guys read Briggs' book "The Fifth Assailant"?" Sonny waited for anyone to answer him but he was mighty disappointed to see the same blank faces. "The guy is a literary genius!"

Nick seemed to have been working on something and it was at that moment that he finally remembered what it was. "Isn't he the literary genius who threw one of his wives through a plate glass window?"

Sonny's face fell but, to his credit, he did answer honestly. "Yeah, there's actually a scene based on that in the book."

"Nice guy for sure," Montserrat said sarcastically, eyes darting to the pinboard. "Okay, so the complaints are coming from his daughters, right? What's in it for them? The man's rich, isn't he? Do the daughters get a bigger slice of the estate?"

Olivia shrugged. "We don't know but for now we've got an allegation, we have corroborations, so you two—" Her finger made a point towards Sonny then Montserrat, "—go speak with the happy couple."

Montserrat pushed herself up from her chair. "I'm game but as long as I get to go with my partner and not a fanboy," she sent a pointed look in Sonny's way. He rolled his eyes at her in return.

To his heavy annoyance, she had the full support of the rest of the squad.

~ 0 ~

Charmaine Briggs turned out to be a rather pretty redhead with a graceful aura. She welcomed the strange detectives into her home with a polite smile. She led them to her elder husband who was sitting in the study room. Walter Briggs greeted them normally but it wasn't that difficult to tell that sometimes his mind would wander.

"I should say I'm still not quite sure why you're here," Charmaine's voice was nothing but polite but both Montserrat and Sonny detected the subtle edginess underlying her words. She was practically demanding them to explain the reason for their presence in her home.

"It's called a welfare check," Montserrat started explaining. "We do it from time to time, mostly with seniors."

"I'm guessing that would be me, huh?" Walter's light sarcasm was met with mutual smiles from the others. However, Charmaine's was short-lived.

"Oh, dear, did my husband's daughters call you?"

"They did express some concern," Sonny cleared his throat. "They said they weren't allowed to see Mr. Briggs?"

Charmaine didn't look the least bit surprised by the accusations. She very calmly put her tea cup on the coffee table and offered both detectives apologetic smiles. "This is one of those difficult family situations...stepmother, stepdaughters. I'm sure it happens all the time."

"Mhm, I'm sure it does but actually, Mrs. Briggs, would you mind if we...if we spoke separately?" Montserrat rose from her seat with the question. "It's just standard procedure."

Charmaine shook her head. "As a matter of fact, I do mind. Walter and I don't keep secrets from each other, do we, Walter?"

Walter dutifully shook his head as well. "Not really, no. I humor her." He winked but it was unclear who it was meant for — the detectives or his wife?

"So what exactly did you want to talk about?"

Montserrat shrugged. If that's how the woman wanted to play it then so be it. "It's pretty personal. Pertaining to your sex life."

That certainly got Charmaine to stiffen. "And that's a police matter?"

"79 and stiff as a varnished eel," Walter suddenly said. "A varnished eel. My third wife took up with a bartender because I got distracted by my book on the pope. Now, you spend six months in the Vatican, and you'll see what happens to your testicles."

Montserrat was out of ideas about what the man could possibly be talking about. She was even more discouraged from talking when the man winked at her. Of course then she remembered she did in fact carry the fanboy beside him and turned to him with an expectant look.

""Roman Follies". It was a wonderful book, sir. I read it in college," Sonny told the man. "Okay, so Mr. Briggs, you're happy to keep your wife satisfied?"

"Well, of course I am. I mean, just look at her," Walter languidly gestured towards his smiling wife. "Moreover, I'm obliged. It's a man's duty to nature. A million years of evolution, you know. Oh, these feminists, they can preach and screech all they want, but until the day that a man suckles an infant and a woman goes out and hunts, and…" He trailed off only to return with the same sentence over and over. "A woman goes out and hunts, and…"

It was as if the detectives could see the literal lights switched off.

"What?" The man blinked at them. "I'm sorry. What?"

Charmaine lowered his pointing finger with a sigh. "I'm sorry. My husband's very tired, but as you can see, we are fine."

A short moment later, the two detectives were led out of the house.

"She's got the politeness downpacked," Montserrat said as soon as they were free on the street. "But I'm having trouble deciding whether or not she's being honest."

"I know that Briggs is," Sonny said and was soon subjected to a look from his partner.

"Is this coming from Detective Carisi or the fanboy?"

He rolled his eyes. Montserrat laughed as they came to a stop by their car. "Like you're not a fan of anything?" He unlocked the doors for them.

Montserrat swayed her head a few times before uttering a name, "Alicia Markova." She pulled open the passenger door and got inside while Sonny tried working through the mysterious name.

"Okay, what!?" He climbed into the driver's seat eventually if only for Montserrat to see his utterly confused face. "Who's that?"

"A ballerina you idiot," Montserrat laughed. "She was one of the best ballerinas. She performed in places where ballet hadn't even been done before. But you know what, even if I was around her — or any other of my favorite celebrities — I wouldn't let that get in the way of my job."

"I wouldn't," he assured her.

"Okay," Montserrat raised her hands in a surrender motion. "Now drive. We gotta explain this trip to Olivia and then, if we get lucky, Rafael."

Sonny agreed with a nod. The fact that their visit hadn't gone all that good was enough of a conflict. Hearing Rafael say it out loud was another thing neither looked forward to.

"You're kidding me. His daughters are complaining, but he isn't?" The ADA did nothing to hide his distaste even when Olivia did her best beforehand to make the case sound like a real case, which it was (in her mind).

"Yeah, he says he's doing his manly duty by keeping his woman satisfied," Sonny said, awkwardly clearing his throat in the end. He was pretty sure, like the rest of the squad, that this wasn't a clear point case. There were different elements to it and not all of them were good.

Rafael led the group into his office, doing very little (if he was being honest with himself) to find cause for a further investigation. So far, no one had said anything alarming. "So he's consenting to the sexual activity?"

"Him and his varnished eel…"

"Okay, but is he capable of consent? I mean, what's he like?"

"He winked at Montserrat a couple times," Sonny shrugged, missing the way the woman in question threw him a look.

Bemusement sparked in Rafael's eyes. "Really?"

Montserrat knew that teasing voice anywhere and immediately glared at him. "Shut up." Her command did nothing for his widening smile.

"Alright, anything else?" Olivia motioned the two detectives to move onto more important details.

"He quoted from an essay about manly men that he wrote in "Playboy" in 1972, and then just like that—" Sonny snapped his fingers, "—he goes off into ga-ga land. It was sad. The guy was a titan."

"It does seem like we should dig in a little further," Montserrat said. "If the guy goes off into space so often, who's to say that his wife doesn't take advantage?"

"Who's to say that she does at all?" Rafael countered. Montserrat's face fell flat. "I am only asking a question that needs to be thought of as well."

"Alright, well what about this?" Olivia was suddenly waving her phone at him. "Mr. Briggs just went to the hospital. Apparent heart attack. The daughter said that he had a heart condition. If the wife knew and was secretly feeding him those pills…"

"Yeah, that's assault three," Sonny jumped on her trail. "Recklessly causing physical injury to another person, maybe even attempted murder. Am I right, counselor?"

"Seldom," Rafael flatly shot him down. As soon as he saw Montserrat's growing impatience with him, he tried to remedy some of the situation. He didn't need grief about this later. "Unless the daughters can give you proof that the wife knew about the heart condition and was exacerbating it, you've got nothing."

"Alright," Olivia took on the challenge with a tight smile. She made a motion for Sonny and Montserrat to follow her out.

Montserrat was the last one to follow but before she left, Rafael called out slightly quieter, "Don't flirt back with him, okay?" He absolutely loved her reaction that it was almost impossible not to laugh on the spot.

"Funny?" She glared at him. "Have dinner by yourself. Hope that's fun!"

"Oh, Montse," he was left to laugh alone.

~ 0 ~

"Dr. Tedroe?" Olivia stopped a woman passing by them in the hallway.

The doctor's eyes flickered past Olivia to the two detectives flanking her. "Are you here because of the incident?"

"Yes, we're wondering if Mr. Briggs' heart attack could have been caused by his medication."

"I don't know. I never got the chance to take a complete medical history."

"Why not?" Montserrat arched an eyebrow at the doctor.

Tedro seemed just as puzzled for some reason. That never boded well. "I thought that's why you're here. His wife arrived 20 minutes ago with a private ambulance and removed him from the hospital against medical advice. She pulled him off the EKG monitor and was in such a hurry, she took our IV pump with her. The nurses didn't try to stop her because Mr. Briggs needed it to maintain."

A mutual outrage went from the Sergeant to the detectives. Were they hearing right!?

"Can he maintain outside the hospital?" Olivia asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. His wife has put his life in jeopardy."

"And you just let her take him?" The question tumbled out of Sonny's mouth before he knew it. Of course he realized that it wasn't the doctor's fault for this. It was Charmaine's.

"We got the court order!" One of Walter's daughters, Judith, came rushing towards them with her step sister Delilah in toe. "Where's our dad?"

Everyone exchanged glances with each other as they decided who got the lucky job of answering that question. As her duty entailed, Olivia took it.

~ 0 ~

Two visits in the same day, so close to each other, made Rafael feel ever so lucky. It would've been nice if this time 'round they'd brought him some actual trouble he could work with legally...but no. All they were doing right now was following him down the block back to the office.

"This was my lunch break you know," he said, not that anyone heard him. Well, he could see Montserrat smirking from the corner of his eyes. Sometimes, his blood really did boil...but he wouldn't have it any other way.

"We have checked every hospital in Manhattan. There is no sign of Briggs," Olivia was going on.

"But it's not kidnapping," Rafael said for the third time since the conversation started. "She's his wife. She has the right to take him out of the hospital."

"Even against medical advice?"

"Well—"

"Ripping hospital equipment out of the wall?"

"Want me to file a larceny charge on the IV pump?"

"Stop being a smart ass," Montserrat playfully rolled her eyes at him. "You know his daughter's got a court order to visit him? Charmaine's in violation."

"Has she denied them access?"

"They don't know where he is!"

"So no."

"C'mon Councilor, she's endangering her husband's life," Sonny tried his hand next. "The... the doctors made that clear."

"Yeah, plus the rape and assault charges are still under investigation," Olivia reminded.

"Barely…one of them's a stretch," Rafael scoffed. "And the other's a chasm."

At this point, Montserrat had to wonder to what extent his argumentative talents went to be able to shoot down all three of them in one go. She might be a little bit proud...but right now she was a bit irritated.

"This is a sick old man getting dragged across the city," Olivia tried once again.

"Well, we're not social workers!" Rafael exclaimed, quite exasperated. It wasn't like he was purposely taking their case down but in legal terms, there was nothing he could do.

"But we are cops, and we can keep investigating," Olivia said.

"Knock yourselves out."

"We will," Olivia said as a promise. She headed down the opposite direction, leaving her two detectives to follow.

"You're going to be paying for that one later," Montserrat lingered behind for a bit, though she kept sending cautious glances in Olivia's direction in case the Sergeant looked back. "And not by me…"

"Mm," Rafael glanced over his shoulder. "You people are testing me today."

"Oh," Montserrat feigned offence with a hand over her chest. "I will make sure to remember that the next time you want to, I don't know, lay a kiss on…" She tapped a finger over her lips.

Rafael rolled his eyes. As if she could maintain that threat. Without a word of warning, his hand struck forwards and yanked her close to him. He smiled smugly at her wide-eyed face. "We'll see about that."

Montserrat tried pulling away but he had a strong grip around her wrist. "Stop that! Liv could look back!"

"How are our dinner plans coming along, then?"

"Shut up — Rafael, this isn't funny! I'm going to kill you! Let go!"

"I was thinking Japanese again? Maybe Thai?"

"I'll be busy tonight considering I'll be on trial for murdering you!" Montserrat's eyes blazed with absolute anger. "Now let go of me!" He swiftly let her wrist go but to his amusement, she stayed right where she was...which was pretty close to him. "If I didn't like you so much, I'd seriously consider murdering you," she said sharply. His clean grin was more than infuriating. "I have to go," she shook her head.

"Go, go, I'll call you tonight."

"Not if you're single," she jabbed her finger on his chest.

"Right," he laughed.

She hurried off before he got any other ideas. Sometimes, he actually managed to be properly childish.

~ 0 ~

At the end of her shift, Montserrat hauled herself to her therapist's. It was a long overdue appointment that she wouldn't postpone. Dr. Weslin was ready to go as soon as Montserrat arrived and since there was a lot to go through, Montserrat started straight away. There was one specific thing she wanted to talk about after all.

"I have noticed there's more gaps in-between my, uh, moments," she said, just barely keeping the content from overpowering her. It just felt so surreal being able to say that out loud and mean it. There were times where the longest gap was only about a day. Now she could go months. "I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere, you know? I have no idea what that might be but just the fact that I'm aware that I am going somewhere...it's thrilling."

Weslin watched Montserrat carefully, keeping her comments to herself for the time being. She was expecting Montserrat to make a turn after everything.

"There was just one moment I had…"

There it was.

Because in her experience treating Montserrat, Dr. Weslin tended to notice that Montserrat would often start with the best things that happened to her and then she would shift entirely when she had to admit to something that didn't fit with her happy picture.

Montserrat slowed her shifty movements on the couch. Her gaze would no longer stick to Weslin; her eyes would flicker around the room like she usually did during her first visits. "I don't know if it's a sign that I'm somehow getting worse again, but—"

"Montserrat, it's okay, you have the floor to speak," Weslin had to cut her off or else they might never reach the point Montserrat was trying to make.

Montserrat nodded. She was biting her lower lip nervously. "There was a case that we had a few days ago. Two boys raped a girl. I was fine doing my job up until the trial." Weslin was looking directly at her, somehow making her even more nervous. It was ridiculous to feel that way. Weslin never judged her for anything and she had to get that through her head. "The case was nothing I haven't already seen but...there was one new thing." She swallowed hard. "One of the boys — ironically the one who didn't think he did anything wrong — was, um...his name was Daniel."

Weslin raised her head, blinking a few times out of genuine surprise. As soon as she caught herself, she set it aside and motioned Montserrat to continue.

"Of course I should have realized that this would happen at some point but I just didn't and I...I was caught off guard," the detective started picking at her nails without even realizing it. Weslin silently eyed the motion. "When he was up on the stand, testifying that he didn't do anything wrong. It was a whirlwind of emotions, honestly. I was so incredibly satisfied to see the ADA destroy him on the stand…"

Weslin took note of the new rage that filled Montserrat's words, as well as the new force she was using to pick at her nails. She knew that the detective wasn't even aware that she was close to bringing out blood from her skin.

"He had that coming, I knew it, and I felt it. It was a dark satisfaction," Montserrat finally willed herself to meet Weslin's gaze. "Is that bad? To-to feel that type of satisfaction?"

"It's the retribution you think you ought to have," Weslin said, strategically and wisely avoiding a straightforward answer to the question. It had no real answer, but that wouldn't make Montserrat feel any better.

"But that's the thing, I still don't know what the hell I want," Montserrat admitted, heaving a heavy sigh. "I was talking to Rafael about this and-and he told me that he had looked into my file. I went crazy, Dr. Weslin."

"You were upset that he looked?"

"I felt weak in front of him," Montserrat said quietly. "Exposed. He went through the most horrific part of my life. He knows everything — well, almost — and I just couldn't handle that at that moment. I had a sort of anxiety attack. And when he helped calm me, we talked. I admitted that I was sure Daniel ordered the sniper in retaliation for, um, the drive-by shooting incident. Rafael wanted me to do something about it, talk to someone at the precinct, and I freaked. I realized that I was still unsure of what I wanted."

"Entirely?" Weslin challenged.

Montserrat pulled her hands apart from each other, giving her picked-at-skin a decent rest. "Well...maybe? I don't know. I can say that I would like to one day see Daniel pay for what he did to me. I know that I deserve to see my justice but right now I can't see it happening. I don't want it. It completely terrifies me that someone else might find out what happened to me."

Weslin nodded with her. "As I have said before, the road to recovery is a long one and there is no deadline here. But I would like to commend you because it seems like with time, your thoughts about the matter are changing. As always, I'm going to remind you that it's normal to have setbacks. It's normal to feel the exposure and weakness as if it was still that first day. What's important is how you overcome them each time it happens and it seems like you're doing a very good job with that."

Montserrat smiled lightly. "Yeah," she felt a warmth blossoming over her chest knowing that she was saying the truth. She had gotten much better overcoming her moments. Time was, she would shut herself down and stay like that for days...but not anymore.

"There is only one question I'd like to ask, and of course you don't have to answer…" Weslin trailed off until Montserrat gave her the permission to keep going. "We both know that there is still an important fragment of this case that you have not revealed to anyone. That hasn't become a problem to you throughout all these new things, right?"

Montserrat swallowed hard. "Like…?"

"Your relationship, for starters. By the things you've been telling me, it seems to be getting serious."

"Right…"

Weslin lifted an eyebrow at the detective, expecting some type of answer to her question.

"No," Montserrat ultimately said. "I-I don't think I ever will. That's one part that I'm...I'm sure I've done right. I don't say anything not for me, but...for them. I see no logical reason to ever bring that part to light."

~ 0 ~

On her way out of Weslin's office, Montserrat thought to text Rafael just to make sure he knew that he was still paying for the happenings earlier.

'Are you enjoying your dinner alone?' She texted quickly and easily. She waited for the buzz of his response until she got home. She didn't think it odd considering the workload he often had in the nights but still, she decided to give him a quick call. Maybe they could work something out for the next night.

She called twice and there was no answer. She was just coming into her bedroom when her phone vibrated with his text.

'Sorry, can't talk. Grandmother's in the hospital.'

Montserrat nearly crashed into her bed with that text. "What!?" She screeched and quickly texted back.

'What happened to her? Is she alright? Do you need me there?'

The fact that she was basically offering to expose herself to her family never even crossed her mind at that moment.

'Thank you but don't worry. I'll call later, promise. Sleep well.'

How was she supposed to sleep knowing that he wasn't? Her heart ached and suddenly, she didn't care about meeting his family. She should be at his side, helping him...but she couldn't surprise him like that. His mind must already be frantic enough without her adding unnecessary stress. She'd have to wait for his call.

#ocappreciation #fd: svu #svu #rafael barba #svu fics #rafael barba fics #rafael barba imagines #svu imagines #law and order svu #rafael barba x oc #svu ocs #oc: Montserrat Novak #fic: dare to forget me

[junkshop-disco]

Tagged by @magicalrocketships 💛

Musical tag game. Rules: shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and list the first ten songs, then tag some people.

1. SUNRISE - MICHELLE and Arlo Parks

On all my summer playlists, which have been getting a lot of air time this week. May be my favourite Arlo Parks? Although I really love the new one too.

2. The Divine Chord - Avalanches, Johnny Marr, MGMT

When Avalanches get it right they get it absolutely spectacularly right. And here they then also added Johnny Marr, which is always a solid decision.

3. Where are We Going? - Marvin Gaye

All time favourite album cover photoshoot, all time favourite beanie, all time favourite summer vibes with a side of thoughtful politics.

4. Music Sounds Better With You - Neil Frances

There are two Neil Frances tracks on this playlist. Arguably this is the better of the two. It’s the one you’ve heard before, anyway. That is if you were plagued by the Stardust sample every summer between 1998 and 2004.

5. Come Back Home - Barbara Mason

Do you want a slice of laidback soulful disco that’s a bit of a low-key sad banger? Barb has got you.

6. Drove All Night - Roy Orbison

I have been obsessed with this song since I was like 10. Is there a more perfect line for this time of year than ‘I had to escape, the city was sticky and cruel’

7. Summer Breeze - the Main Ingredient

Superior version, fight me.

8. Be My Own Boyfriend - Olivia Dean

I just really like the idea of this song. Be your own boyfriend. Buy your own flowers and/or dad jumpers.

9. Can’t Fight - Lianne La Havas

New album when, Lianne? Just perfection.

10. I’d Rather Be An Old Man’s Sweetheart (than be a young man’s fool) - Candi Staton

Candi Staton is so deeply underrated as an artist and this is such a bop.

Bonus track

Let it Rain - Levin Kali

Just really love this. Perfect summer vibe for driving down the coast with the windows down. Which I did last weekend and this came on and just… it was a moment.

Tagging: @lordendsavior, @queenoftherodeoo and @silveredsound if you fancy it!

#music

[therrerium-valkryonia]

A Battle Of Kingdoms

The war between the two powerful kingdoms of Tarnirtus the land of volcanion mages and spells while the kingdom of Dendracusk or the land of thunder dragons and sorcerers that trained to have unimaginable power that terrify the realms and why did the two kingdoms wager war, well the two kingdoms are infamous to have stolen a lot of resources from others of the realms but it is not the reason the two had a war the reason is Tarnitus had failed a planned massacre to kill all of Dendracusk's people and they had a counter attack to fight back in revenge to kill the other in a war with all who had a good talent in fighting those who dare to hurt, kill or destroy those who were innocent and in this war a heavily pregnant young elegant, fair and ravishing woman who had a talent to fight and defend others even the ones who had harmed her and having the king bjornthon typhonius impressed as her courage and mind is the reason she caused the most blood spilled on the very ground of the war and being very knowlegeable she even manage to learn spells of extreme power as like polarixion the spell to send strikes of hellstorms to those who oppose her and even healed those who needed it and as her the dark haired brunette Melinda in the very midst of battle gets a very unexpected unfortunate-fortunate big surpise waiting to happen any moment in battle.

" *Aleoxidontarnius!!! Blasts light from her hand and destroys.. hundreds* That should do it" As a sudden strong pain makes her lean against a big rock and then she returns to battle blocking the sword and stabbing them through the heart and she swings her sword to side piercing the head of the armoured foe as she pulls it out she uses the hilt to bash a man in the head with her hand pulls him closer and stabs his stomach also she proceeds to kick him off her sword "Oh dear. You had training but you failed and will die in battle, what a shame and bless you soldier and I am sorry, I hope to meet you in the afterlife" She calmly comforts him and closes his eyes as a battle burial and she stabs someone and pulled her down off the horse gets on and mounts it to the enemy killing those who dare oppose her kingdom of thunder being her only home that's accepted her for her entire life she wasn't going to let it get burnt and destroyed to ruins by any type of reason and she holds her belly laying her head on the horses back in a contraction "Please really not now were in a precaurious place right now so please calm down baby I know your mad and wanna get out" As she raises her head and stabs and cuts more enemies but she sees a ca- ge and goes towards it and gets off the horse on the ground and tackling a guy and stabbing his head and elbowing a guy in the face and cutting his head off and runs around and breaks through the door by magic fire and melting and frees all the pregnant female soldier birth slaves until one catches her eye a female that was so drop dead-gorgues that she went to her and said "Ay, Uhh after the war, C-Could you meet me at a bar in the roundhouse and what's your name." The girl replies "Olivia and if you show me your face." She pulls up her helmet and whips her hair carrying her helmet and Olivia is frozen in beauty as she replies in a calming way "Yes?" Ol- ivia responds "Yes... " As Melinda puts her helm- et back on and gets all the girls huddled to the other soldiers and transporting them to a camp far away and safe as melinda stabs two people in the back and summons thunder strikes from the skies above them being the time she holds her armored low round belly bending down as another contraction hits her really hard and she straightens up and slams a soldier with the hilt stomping his head killing him effectively and swiftly in any circumstance that she needed to and runs forward clashing her sword facing him close the Black Demon and she pulls her sword back and she headbutts his stomach and slicing him open and the shielder getting behind her they create a deadly team slicing and ramming causes the enemies surronding them to dwindle and eventually the were successful in the area near the right wall and striking down lighting destroying most of the enemies in the area.

And in severe consequence it causes a painful powerful contraction making her grip her belly with an extreme prejudice of concern but then she tries to manage it, Whispering "Hey, what did I say earlier, hold on till after the war please cause It's kind of dangerous here baby, just calm down but not now, you could be born later after" Charging into battle she slashes the eyes with a stab through the head but known being difficult she manages and another soldier comes in and attempts to stab her, she just dodges the sword and stabs him in tha back as the feeling of pain makes her fall to her knees, a tight pained grip on the belly as a warm fluid flows down her big round hips and thighs and her muscular body throbbs as the pains of labor begin and knowing the battle will last hours she gets up "Oh...... shit you really wanted be......... Hnnng! Now! Honey I can't we are in war Hnnnnng Ghhhhng! *Huff* Alright calm down I'll find a way" She gets up and walks gripping her belly and slices a few bitches easily and since she kept walking the baby started sliding down her cervix which hurt a lot but she still walked and even accidentally pushed down following her urges and so she had squeezed the child so much she quickly crowned to her full capacity and she still fought above her limits and she eventually pushed the baby back inside as much as she didn't want to but karma got her as she walked the baby inched it's way forward and after five hours of killing and trying not to push her underwear snaps as the lasts soldiers take their stand and being alone she fell to her knees laying her head on the swords hilt and groaning in pain as the baby pops out with fluid and she grabs the baby while she recites a spell "Lucroxinia Theodorum Dyonxinia" A spell which sends a dark energy to her enemies instantly killing them as she lays the baby on her chest, walking to the carriage and leaving her sword in the ground she stops and bends over as another pain hits her and she pushes to her might as the other baby crowns and pops out gripping her belly and she lays on her side to grab the other baby with the same left hand and laying them between her round, plump boobs and she held the babies and stood up carefully calling the captain and she got to the captain sayong tiredly "I need a medic to get these two off their cords" The female captain responds concerned and suprised "You WHAT!? Of course I will need to call the MEDIC." As she calls for a medic Melinda lays on the side of the carrage smiling tiredly as she looks to the sky as she was proud to be a mother in the midst of war being a rolemodel for all the women out there for once in her lifetime being happy she says "Well it seems we have done good haven't we? I'd say even if I'm a woman does it matter?"

#ask box #birth denial #birth kink #painful birth #labor #labor kink #pregnancy #pregnant #pregnant kink #pregnancy kink #war #labor and delivery #birth fic #birth #birth fiction #birth story #giving birth #magic #lgbtqiia+

[kamreadsandrecs]

By Jessica Roy

It’s 90 degrees outside, and you’re too hot and exhausted from a long day of work to cobble together a proper meal. Luckily you’re home by yourself — no kids, no roommates, no partners — and therefore can eat whatever you want for dinner, without having to consider the food preferences or nutrition needs of others. You grab a bag of popcorn, a glass of wine, some bread, some cheese and a hunk of chocolate, and settle into the couch for a night of snacking and watching TV. Is there anything more glorious? Welcome to “girl dinner.”

According to TikTok, where the trend has more than 30 million views, girl dinner is akin to an aesthetically pleasing Lunchable: an artfully arranged pile of snacks that, when consumed in high enough volume, constitutes a meal. Or so the thinking goes.

Typical girl dinners may include some kind of fruit, a block of cheddar, sliced salami, a sleeve of fancy crackers and a dish of olives. Girl dinner is “both chaotic and filling,” as one TikTok commenter put it, requiring none of the forethought, cooking or plating demanded by an actual meal. As another commenter observed: It’s “no preparation just vibes.”

The trend started when Olivia Maher, a showrunner’s assistant currently out of work because of the writers’ strike, posted a video on TikTok this spring extolling the virtues of a humble, medieval-peasant-inspired assemblage that she called “girl dinner.”

“I think the concept of girl dinner came to me while I was on a hot girl walk with another female friend of mine,” Ms. Maher, 28, saidfrom her apartment in Los Angeles.

She said she and her friend had been discussing the unmatched perfection of bread and cheese as a meal unto itself, as simple as it is satisfying. “We love eating that way, and it feels like such a girl dinner because we do it when our boyfriends aren’t around and we don’t have to have what’s a ‘typical dinner’ — essentially, with a protein and a veggie and a starch,” Ms. Maher said.

She decided to debut the phrase on TikTok. “This is my dinner,” Ms. Maher says in the video, flipping her phone camera to display her spread: hunks of butter and cheese, part of a baguette, some grapes and pickles, and a glass of red wine. “I call this girl dinner.” Since she posted it in May, the 15-second clip has been watched more than a million times.

Alana Laverty, a 28-year-old food content creator in London who immediately embraced the phrase, said she started making what she called “snack plates” for dinner during summers when it was too hot to even consider turning on a stove.

“I feel like cooking full meals just gets so repetitive and exhausting, especially in the summer,” Ms. Laverty said. “When dinner came around, we would just pick up one main cheese or one main protein and get a fresh loaf of bread and throw it all on the plate. It’s a really normal way of eating for me now.”

Ms. Laverty started posting her beautifully arranged snack plates on TikTok last year. When the girl dinner trend began to take off, she recalled, “I was like, ‘I have never resonated with something more.’”

“There was this feeling of, ‘Oh my God, I’m not the only one,’” Ms. Laverty said. “I love anything that celebrates something women are all doing, but we don’t all know that we’re doing it.”

Some have pointed out that the grazing isn’t enough satisfy their own appetites and, in some cases, could be masking disordered eating.

“‘Girl dinner’ more like girl please go to the doctor you have an ED,” one user wrote on TikTok.

But adherents are quick to note that girl dinners are not about deprivation. Women have long been programmed to see food as the enemy, but the girl dinner trend is about embracing the simple joy of snacks as meals. Girl dinner represents a conscious choice to opt out of the tyranny of cooking and doing the dishes. It’s also, conveniently, the answer to fridge clean out day.

And though the trend may sound suspiciously like tapas, or mezze, or a charcuterie board, girl dinner differs in one key way: Unlike a Super Bowl-esque spread of appetizers, girl dinner is most frequently made by one person, for the consumption and enjoyment of one person.

“I remember trying to be a meal prepper and I just couldn’t do it,” Ms. Laverty said. “You could go through the effort of it, but why not open up a bunch of jars and satisfy your taste senses the same way?”

Seema Rao, an art historian in Cleveland, sees a historical connection between girl dinner and entrenched gender norms that dictate women prepare a hearty meal for their husbands every evening.

“The idea of cooking dinner was historically women’s work in the home,” said Ms. Rao, 49. “What I like about girl dinner is it takes away the idea that you have to cook anything: You just literally put it together. So you go from a position where the production of the food is what makes it good and makes you a valid woman, to the idea that having food is what makes you a valid woman.”

At least one nutritionist has given her seal of approval to the trend. Kathrine Kofoed, 27, a nutritionist and health coach in Portland, Ore., suggested that part of the reason girl dinner was being so widely embraced was its affirmation of the way women already eat: “It’s a pleasant departure from diet culture, and from all these rigid expectations of what food should be.”

“I see so many more issues for people with overeating and restricting and then perhaps bingeing, or just having this very complicated and often disordered relationship with food,” Ms. Kofoed said, pointing to the benefits of finding “more joy and pleasure in the meals we’re eating.”

Perhaps the most important thing about girl dinner is that you don’t have to be a girl to enjoy it.

“My friends and I were joking that it’s girl dinner, but anyone can have it,” Ms. Maher said. “But it’s for the girls, gays and theys.”

You may be wondering what, by contrast, “boy dinner” may look like. “Go to your local supermarket at 6:30 p.m. and stand behind a single man and see what’s inside of his basket,” the comedian Brian Lee observed on TikTok. “Frozen pizza, deli meats, potato chips, no vegetables.”

For Ms. Maher, it’s less about the content of the meal than the feeling around it. “The girl dinner is a giddy experience,” she said. “You could be having the slice of frozen pizza, but you’ve also got maybe a glass of wine and some grapes to go with it. And you’re just so pleased with yourself. You’re like, ‘I barely worked for this and it feels like an indulgence.’ That’s what makes it girl dinner.”



#food #internet